Preview: EIDOL - the weird-fantasy setting for 5e with endless dungeon generation rules

Compass Publishing House will launch EIDOL: the Endless Dungeon on Kickstarter on the first of October.

The project alert page is live. You can see preview extracts from the setting here.

Written with 5e in mind the world of Eidol, is a prison planet, and the inmate is Great Goddess Pandora. Keeping the Goddess confined is the cube-shaped planet forged from six sprawling dungeons of ever-changing layouts.

That aspect of ever-changing layouts is brought to life by the Delve system, which has been designed as a simple way to run randomised megadungeons without bookkeeping and dozens of maps.

If the Kickstarter succeeds, EIDOL will be a 200+ book, due to be released in both PDF and hardcover. Sage Cato-Atlas is helming the art, and the book will be fully illustrated.

I had the chance to ask a few questions of designer E. R. F. Jordan.

What sets EIDOL apart from other 5e settings?

The main allure of EIDOL is its flexibility. It presents so many different spots an adventure might be uncovered—from the nations and wilderness on the surface to the six themed megadungeons buried inside the planet. If players want a political romp, there’s a variety of factions to join and navigate between; if they want to explore, there are six distinct regions with interesting landmarks to spur on improvised adventures—and, of course, for the battle-hungry hack-and-slashers, there are hundreds of random encounters waiting in the dungeons just beneath the surface. EIDOL is a sandbox of tools and encounters for GMs and players to forge their own campaigns from.

What’s the atmosphere of the setting? Any weird fantasy inspirations?

“Weird fiction” is all about reinterpreting old tropes in new, interesting ways, and EIDOL is rife with that. Take angels, for instance—rather than beautiful human-looking spirits of absolute good, the angels of EIDOL are these grief-stricken horrors that build altars and churches out of bones and gore. Witch governments, blind and wingless dragons, living temples of flesh and stone—all the building blocks of fantasy are there, but they’re rearranged in unusual ways.
The strongest inspirations of EIDOL are the HEART and SPIRE books by Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor, far and away. They’re excellent RPGs that I’d recommend to anyone who wants a bizarre, terrifying, wonderful experience. However, games like Bloodborne and movies like Annihilation also have a strong presence in the genes of EIDOL.

Are you able to tell us any more about the Delve system, or is that a mega dungeon secret reserved for backers?

The Delve system is at the heart of EIDOL, and represents a gigantic dungeon that keeps shifting and changing and replenishing itself. It’s a lightweight method of exploring a megadungeon that eschews maps and precise layouts in favor of theatre-of-the-mind. The gist is simple: you declare a destination, determine how long it’ll take to get there, and roll to see what kinds of obstacles you encounter along the way, be they skill challenges, combat encounters, or other delvers exploring the megadungeon. If a GM wants to hand-shape every monster and treasure the players encounter, they have lots of room to do so—but if not, there are lots of pre-written hooks for encounters and challenges in the book, many of which use the book’s 60+ new stat blocks.