The first module in a series of 7 that can be played in one to two sessions each. Players will have to gather 6 ancient blades, then decide to destroy them, or use them to summon forth the Chaos Lord that created them in a time long forgotten.
Several millennia ago, a great lord of Chaos rose to power behind the armies of his six generals empowered with mighty blades, forged by the Chaos lord himself and imbued with powerful chaos magic. As these forces spread over the land, they eventually stretched too far and too thin and the forces of Law were able to overwhelm and defeat the forces of Chaos and the powerful blades were lost to time and faded from all memory.
Our adventure starts with one of these blades being discovered by one who would seek to use its influence to spread chaos and terror. From this blade spreads a dark mist that creeps into the mind and awakens your deepest fear. Succumb to the terror and become one of his thralls.
This mist creeps north, into your village and many of your neighbors and family are snatched up by the thralls and dragged away into the very mist itself. The evil creature wielding the blade oversees the raid and vanishes as quickly as they arrived. Now your party must seek out this threat and rescue those who were taken, but beware the creeping mist or you too may become just another thrall under the blades command.
If your party manages to survive, they will discover this is merely the first of the 6 ancient blades and will be called upon to seek out those that remain. Will the party fight on the side of Law to recover and destroy these blades, banishing the powerful Chaos Lord for good, or will they embrace the doom and unite the blades to summon it back into our mortal realm?
Judge Shadowfoot, or just Judge Shadow for short grew up as an avid soccer player and video game enthusiast, but arrived in the realm of TTRPG after he was already over 30. In 2019, after he became bored with video games and looking for something that would allow a bit more creativity and options he remembered listening to the Adventure Zone podcast and started listening to the Critical Role podcast. He fell in love with the comedic and wacky situations that would happen and felt like this was something that would scratch the itch he had been searching for.
So, Judge Shadow reached out to some friends and offered to run a DnD 5e game for them. This game would end up running for over 2 years before new jobs and relocation would bring it to an abrupt halt. They rolled poorly on our luck checks I guess. Although he had enjoyed his time with DnD 5e, it felt clunky and rules heavy and far more fun for players than the DM. He searched for something else and in the depths of an ancient and dark tomb and found the writings of Joseph Goodman and his world of Dungeon Crawl Classics. He picked up the tome, failed his will save, and will forever be cursed to follow the cult of DCC! The wacky and gonzo worlds of DCC, MCC and XCC fit Judge Shadow’s game style perfectly. Whether running one shots online, game days at my local gaming store, or killing characters at conventions, 6 years of running games at this point and he has only ever played as a character in a handful of games; many of those at Judge Cro’s or Judge 451’s tables.
Judge Shadow prefers being behind the Judge screen and bringing to life adventures for other players. This experience has left his mind overflowing with ideas for new adventure modules and with the assistance and guidance of Judges Cro and 451, he looks forward to bringing our unique adventures to life…and DEATH!
Noel Espinoza's work has received the First Prize recognition from the Cypress Art League and has been featured in Image Magazine as well a few places our DGG fans may have noticed. He is the artist behind our Triclops Skull logo. Here is the back of Judge Cro's battle jacket that Noel designed:
And here is my favorite of his four sketches that made it into The Cult That Never Was:
Here is an excerpt from one of his art exhibits, Noel Espinoza wrote: "Making art is a therapy that I found is unlike any other. Through this medium of expression, I have explored the multidimensionality of the Self; channeled what my dreams and subconscious are always drumming in the background and given it tangible form. It is a continuous practice of trance and surrender. The less I think during the process, the more the subconscious stream works through me. It is the closest thing to feeling free."
In working behind the scenes on the Gongfarmers' Almanac, we were impressed and inspired by Joe's art and work ethic. He offered us three to four rough sketches each with a different look for our illustration needs. Once we chose the favorite, he got right to flushing out the impactful images. Check out a few teasers below and see if you can predict which ones we chose! And pop over to his website and see how perfect his style is for Dungeon Crawl Classics.
We will work quickly once the campaign ends, while we await the funds to be sent (minus Backerkit's fees). Writing is 100% done, Editing is 85% done, and Layout has begun. We are printing, packing, shipping all ourselves. We are committed that order fulfillment meet or exceed expectations. We will send updates as we progress so you will know what to expect.
Once the campaign closes, we enter the pledge manager phase. The PDFs will go out as soon as the funds are transferred. Then we collect and confirm addresses for orders of physical copies so shipping can be calculated*. We offer a last chance for add-ons. And then we close, send our print order, and prepare to ship.
Please reach out at [email protected] or through the Backerkit messaging with any questions or concerns! ~Judge CRO
*Shipping fees will be collected post-campaign in the Pledge Manager
The focus of Death Guaranteed Games is actually on the freedom one gains from embracing the inevitability of death. Often, game play is more fun that way. This is one of our favorite parts of Dungeon Crawl Classics and the funnel session. Starting off playing multiple characters not knowing which, if any, will survive gives the game a bit of the old flavor when tabletop roleplaying games were new. We didn't survive every campaign then and rolling up new characters and carrying on was just how it went. We embraced the chaos!
We are a trio of lifelong RPG enthusiasts who all love DCC and the tabletop experience. We play in person at our FLGS (friendly local gaming store) and at local conventions. We do use online games to fill in the gaps, but our preference is for the shouts of excitement when the whole table sees the result of a risky roll. For triumph or epic death, we cheer just as loudly.
As publishers, we each bring unique skills to the table. Although one works in brain surgery, one as a professor, and one as a data analyst, we converge in the creative process. Not one of our projects is a solo effort. We all invent, write, playtest, edit, commission art, and edit some more. In fact, the next 2 modules in the Calisdoom series are currently being written and nearing the playtest phase! Additionally, we have an arctic exploration module that is well into development and playtest to look out for soon. Keep an eye on Death Guaranteed Games as 2026 promises to be a great year!
As a thank you for your support, we have added a couple stretch goals to offer some free additional swag with your physical copies of Discovery of the Doomweaver.
-$2500 - [DGG Sticker]: If we hit this, every single physical backer gets 1 of our DGG Triclops logo vinyl stickers at no additional cost.
-$2800 - [Doomweaver cover art sticker]: If we hit this, every single physical backer gets 1 of the cover art vinyl stickers at no additional cost.
-$3000 - [2 Doomweaver Sword Sticker]: If we hit this, every physical backer gets 2 of Doomweaver sword vinyl stickers (1 for the judge to keep and 1 to handout to the soul brave enough to claim it!) at no additional cost.
How you can help: Share our page with one person today. Word of mouth is the only reason we've come this far! Thank you for being part of this journey.
