The World Below...

The book itself is great quality, heavy with lore, thematic artwork and features everything a corebook should have. The system has a refreshing new tone but also familiar enough that it's easily digested. Its perfect for running those classic dungeon delving expeditions, partying up with your friends to face the grim horrors lurking in the depths. Those of you who survive come back wiser and wealthier, building resources and getting re-loaded ready for more kaotic carnage. As a ttrpg enthusiast and game tester of over 15 years, I fully recommend the world below to anyone. It's a fantastic book and definitely worth picking up for your collection.

I already love the Storypath Ultra system, and I'm a HUGE fan of OSR games like Shadowdark. So, when I hear about a more narrative game that simulates the dungeon crawl stuff of Old School games, my interest got peaked. But when I also found out that the magic system is similar to Mage, I was sold!

To me, the setting reminds me of a bit of the Dolmenwood stuff, but a lot like a unique version of The Underdark. And then there is the art!

LIke the unique fantasy setting. Love the use of the Storypath Ultra system.

I really want to play this as it reminds me of Survival Based RPGs like Dark Sun.

Storyoath ultra works good for this setting. Lore is a great smattering of tidbits to pick up and run with. Character creation is severely flawed in the fact that everyone needs a religion and everyone needs membership in one of a limited selection of guilds. Personally I don't see a zealot of the Temple working as a member of the Kitchen guild as they'd be too busy investigating heresy. No matter how dark or perilous the setting, not everyone would take on religion for comfort. When this was brought up on the discord one of the flavor of the month onyx path contractors blew a gasket and called any argument about it stupid and uneducated so also deducting rating for being stymied by the onyx path echo chamber. Was also told on the discord thatfan created updates would be what's counted as "supporting the setting with ongoing official content" past the core book, screen, monster book and adventure book funded in the kickstarter campaign so another deduction there.

In the hands of another publisher this could be much better, but the premise is sound.

OSR meets deep storytelling. Folks who like SHadowdark but want more complexity and rich storytelling: this is your game.

Very good world building. I enjoy the mix of traditional prose telling me what the world is combined with first hand accounts from its denizens.

I've always been a Gamemaster of horror games, but strictly speaking, the World Below is not a full on horror game. And yet, it probably is more horrifying than a lot of dedicated horror games. Why? because in games that are fully dedicated to horror, the horror is EXPECTED by the players, which automatically makes it less scary. TWB lends itself perfectly for the occasional unexpected horror scene. From parasitic enemies to big monsters to claustrophic dark tunnels as well as personal horror, they can all be so easily implemented in this World Below. I also have to talk about the Storypath Ultra (SPU) system. Coming from the Chronicles of Darkness games, I feel right at home with the D10 pool system. But it feels like a huge step in evolution. It is slightly more complex in its basic rules, adding tricks, complications , variable difficulty, enhancements and advantage, but by having this slightly more complex base system, subsystems can use the exact same rules, meaning you have to remember way less rules at the end of the day. By almost completely eliminating dice modifiers, a player can roll their skill+attribute without having to worry about the GM deciding that you get a -2 to your pool after you already hastily rolled. It also feels better as a player because your dice pool actually represents how good your character is instead of just being part of an equation. The World Below also includes a freeform magic system besides the fixed spells. It uses the base system of complications and difficulty making it very easy to learn and try out for a curious player while also being completely optional. If you ever tried to run a game with a complex freeform magic system and found that you need a very specific, impossible to find, group of players to make it work, this game is for you. One more thing not mentioned in the other reviews so far: Kalm seasons: The game is (by default) split into the regular game time (adventure) and Kalm season. It's an intentional misnomer of sorts. It's anything but calm outside of settlements. But inside it is, and it's the time for social interactions, crafting, doing rituals to help the settlement, leveling up and a chance for the Storyguide (GM) to change things up between adventures (Kaos energies can literally change the layout of the tunnels if the SG wants that, but thats just one example out of many). It also means players have a dedicated time to think about where to spend their XP. Yes I love this book

A great combination of horror and fantasy. You can definitely see the effort that's gone into this superb setting, which ticks all my boxes for a fantasy RPG. The system is also great, the rules and mechanics cover a very broad range of actions, but they don't bog down play. If you are thinking of playing a dark fantasy game you can't really do better than The World Below.

The books is great and the world is interesting. Civilizations becoming more prosperous yet more greedy the deeper one goes into the world. The Storypath Ultra works really well for this style of game and it is possible to do a kind of dungeon crawling with the rules as written which is really cool. The only thing that prevents this from getting a perfect score is that character creation can take some time as players pick their various paths. This isn't inherently a bad thing with most Storypath games, however the World Below is intended to be more deadly can character deaths are more frequent than other Storypath games. So that could likely get a hair frustrating for some players.

I backed The World Below during the crowdfunding campaign and since then I have been amazed by the world and fascinating creatures. There is much to love about the game. Just look at the art. I didn't expect to be enthralled like this by the color scheme, that's for sure, but here we are. What stands out for me is the community building aspect of the World Below. Building your own settlement or contributing to an already existing one within an ever changing and hostile enviroment ist amazing. The Kalm phase has dangers and opportunities for your community to offer and it is your job to keep the people alive by bringing ressources, experts and knowledge home. And you can watch this community developing over some time, since there are rules and options for generational play. I am a forever GM by choice and so I am excited to see a section where you get some options to tune the rules to a certain tone, you might want to go after. You want to emphasize on the theme of Hope? Here are some suggestions. You want to show how grimm, deadly the World Below is? Then tune up these things and adjust these rules, to bring home the message mechanically. Also highly appreciated are the sample settings, locations to port directly into your game. They provide a quick overview of the larger area, what kind of problems and enemies might be waiting there and then very flavourful descriptions of sites of note, that provide you with events to throw at your players. You are looking for adventure ideas? There are two pages full of story seeds aside of the ever present ideas within the regular text. Amongst all the other good stuff in this book, I need to point out the antagonists. Dang, I love them. The World Below is teeming with amazing and horrifying creatures. I have to end my review at this point, because I really need to set up a gaming group for The World Below. ;)

As a designer and longtime freelancer, I am incredibly fussy when it comes to the RPGs I enjoy. I've owned, ran, and played innumerable RPGs over the last forty years and know precisely what I enjoy and don't enjoy. In a period where the abundance of games has never been higher, precious few match exactly what I look for. The World Below is one of those few.

I've always had an appreciation for weird and post-apocalyptic fantasy, though the current trend of gonzo, psychedelic fantasy is not my thing. The World Below, with its strange subterranean setting, where characters bond with fungi, with crystals, with insects in a truly perilous realm, hits the weird sweet spot for me. The world the characters inhabit is, in essence, a giant living dungeon, where strange beasts prowl, fungal zombies shuffle, and clusters of luminous minerals provide light. But it is also a realm of wonder and beauty, of vast dark waters, strange amethyst magics, settlements diverse and unique. That the game also features options for settlement building and generational play is icing on the proverbial cake.

System-wise, the new Storypath Ultra is, for me, a middle crunch game on par with D&D5e. It is relatively elegant, a refinement of the d10 dice pool Storyteller system of old. A game simple at its core, but with a diverse array of tricks, effects, and qualities that lend mechanical weight, verisimilitude, and flavour. For strictly Theatre of the Mind gamers like me, it also eschews battlemats and miniatures in favour of range bands, while still providing some tactical options.

Do I have any noteworthy criticisms? Yes. It does, unfortunately, use modified versions of commonly-used names, so Elf is Elv, Dwarf is Darv, etc. This, in my opinion, is an awkward modification, because 99% of people playing will trip over them, forget the change, and revert to calling them elves and dwarves. Renaming established, widely-used fantasy species is never the best idea, and this is compounded by the fact that the new names are barely changed at all, making it largely pointless.

Still, the name changes are a minor issue easily ignored, and I heartily recommend The World Below for folks looking for weird fantasy that's not gonzo, for Theatre of the Mind gamers, and for fans of the various d10 dice pool iterations we've seen over the years.

The World Below is a fantastic approach to the fantasy genre, it's got enough recognizable beats in it to feel familiar, but by shifting the location underground, everything is filtered through this unique perspective. As characters, you've got so many options, powers, sorceries, and unique elements to customize them with, and you can take them into some truly unique directions - I'm particularly fond of the insectoid elements you can inherit! The books jam packed with hooks and story ideas, but for my money, my favourite element is Kaos - a raw element that fuels all magic, but that can also create unpredictable and fun twists at any given point! There's so much story potential to be mined from just this mechanic! As a final point, the book looks gorgeous. You'd expect a book about the underground to be dark and earthy, but everything here glows with an otherworldly light - it's very atmospheric! Great book and highly recommended!