I met Jason Woollard as a mutual fan of RPGs, GURPS, and various other interests. It was only after a few years were we actually able to game together, when I joined his table at GaryCon in his new adventure inspired by Southeast Asian fantasy – Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves. It was a setting I was unfamiliar with, but I happily grabbed a monkey-man smuggler as my character and we had a ton of fun sailing through dark mangroves, dodging dangers, and rescuing a cursed village from an eerie song.
What occurred to me afterwards was that Jason’s adventure was very different than what I would have written myself. The faraway setting was one that never occurred to me, the mystery of the adventure was paced in a new way, and there was a sense of wonder imparted that my own, sometimes more grounded adventures, don’t often achieve. Jason’s adventure stuck in my head more than most adventures do.
So this month, I was inspired to try an experiment. I asked Jason for his detailed adventure notes for Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves and rather than act as an author, I acted as an editor. I took his adventure, reformatted it, added additional detail, and fleshed it out with a few more optional side quests. I think the end result is 95% of what Jason authored, and 5% of my own tweaks. I’m proud that this marks my first collaboration… and the first adventure on this site not authored by me!
Interview with Designer Jason Woollard
In Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves, travelers find themselves stranded in a remote village haunted by a mournful melody. This eerie “Bitter Song” drifts from the mangroves at night, luring innocent villagers into the swamp from which none have ever returned. To save the village, PCs must venture deep into the mist-shrouded forest, brave treacherous tides, and uncover the source of the curse before its sorrow spreads…
I asked Jason a few questions about his own design process:
Q. What inspired you to write this adventure?
Well, I have a bit of a problem. I’m constantly buying new rpg material, scenarios, modules, to read and mine for ideas and inspiration, especially if it’s a Kickstarter! I had supported a system-free book, Reach of the Roach God, a few years ago, and when I got it, the images in the book cast a spell on me. I literally couldn’t find enough of Munkao’s work – and his spinoff, Kala Mandala – and I started writing it that weekend. (JC’s Note: And one Munkao’s Kala Mandala adventures just got nominated for an Ennie!)
Q. What was the hardest part to get right?
I was really concerned with getting the feel of the setting correct. At first I thought it would be done through the places and NPCs, but really, I think it was how I crafted the characters and their individual backgrounds and story hooks. And outside of the adventure itself, the hardest part for me was coming up with a character sheet format that didn’t make GURPS look super complicated and daunting. I try to make the game as accessible as possible.
Q. Did you ever have a player do something wildly unexpected, so you went back and made changes?
Well, of course, the most wildly unexpected thing a player does is what you actually expect them to do…. and they never do that. But with my adventures, they’re never in a “finished” state, always in a WIP limbo so I run them differently every time. One stand-out player moment was funny though. The party was floating through the swamp, and they spotted the tiger on the bank, crouching to leap onto the boat. I had foreshadowed him several times and the players were pretty concerned. As the tiger leapt, Peleko, the monkey-man character (JC’s favorite!), jumped up into the trees above. The tiger missed the boat entirely and it was snatched out of the air by a huge crocodile! The party sailed onward, leaving poor Peleko stranded above and the other players were too scared to go back. The look on that player’s face was priceless when she realized she was completely left behind!
Q. What did you leave on the cutting room floor? Any encounters or scenes you would have added in?
Probably lots, but since I always run them different each time, I assume it will all make it back in there eventually. Some things I haven’t utilized as much: the villager Toba, which is featured more heavily in this new version; Darsa the healer isn’t visited often; more use of environmental hazards in the mangrove swamps like insect swarms, clinging branches and vines, quicksand, etc; additional instances of the Bitter Song, too. The first time I plastered this the party slept overnight in the village and the Song was heard. They frantically ran around town stopping several villagers from wandering into the mangroves. That was a scene I need to include every time but have often cut for con play because the party is always ready to embark on the quest immediately.
Q. What new adventure are you working on now?
I’m putting the finishing touches on a cyberpunk-ish train heist game. I’ve run it once but it needs a little more fine tuning before GenCon. I’ve also recently written the bulk of a second adventure set in Kala Mandala. That was inspired by our collaboration on this story… and a monster encounter from Dungeon Crawler Carl! It didn’t take much to get my head back into that space, so thank you for that!
And there you have it. There’s no one “right” way to write and run RPG adventures, and I learned a lot through this collaboration with Jason. If you get a chance to join in one of his games at a convention this summer, do it!
Download Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves for FREE
- Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves (GURPS)
- Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves (GURPS) – Printer Friendly
- Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves (Old School Essentials)
- Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves (Old School Essentials) – Printer Friendly
- Bitter Song of the Black Mangroves – VTT Assets
As always, if you play or run in the adventures here, let me know how it went!
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