I prefer the first two weeks of the new year over Christmas, because that's when the best presents I ordered for myself usually arrive. This morning the postman finally brought me my order from Lamentations of the Flame Princess. There were two items in the box: the already reviewed
Broodmother Skyfortress (which is even more amazing in hardcover format), and the dirt cheap Slügs!, which was also LotFP's Free RPG Day product last year.
Slügs! is a 36 pages long digest monster supplement. It's written by James Raggi, who introduces 16 unique slugs you can use in your campaign. An intriguing choice, one that has a huge gap to fill because mollusks are extremely underused in D&D. It's a pity, they are weird and disguisting things - which are also the two of Raggi's specialties, so my expectations were high in this regard.
I can't complain about the quality. The color cover is outstanding, and the interior black & white illustrations are pretty good too. The artists knew when to get serious, funny, trippy, or weird. Those who are looking for the hardcore visuals seen in other LotFP products will be disappointed though, there isn't much disturbing stuff here except for two sexual themed pictures.
Raggi starts the book with ranting about the rpg industry in the introduction, which is not devoid of some cheap Trumpish rhetoric. Will this product make gaming great again? While slimy invertebrates aren't enough to save the OSR, they can surely spice your campaign up! Slügs! is fun to read, offers imaginative new creatures, and silly pop culture references that made me grin like an idiot.
My favorite is Slügatron, a robot in disguise who on Saturday mornings will take you on random adventures. The Sluggish Slug spreads apathy, slowly turning everyone within a few miles into me during my university years. An encounter with the Love Slug will answer the ages old question about what perverted things the player is willing to do with for a few extra levels. Then there is the Christmas Slug, who eats junk, leaves a delicious trail, and carries treasure in his hanging colorful tumors.
Of course Raggi didn't forget about those who want to mess more directly with the PCs either. They will get what they are looking for in the Acid Slug, Glass Slug, Rock Slug, Vomit Slug. My only disappointment is the Mentallo Slug, which provides funky adventure opportunities, but otherwise feels very bland despite his huge brain. I was hoping for some psionic powers in vein of Carcosa.
The best thing I got with this book aren't the monsters themselves though, but the writing kindling my creativity. After reading Slügs! I came up with a dozen new creatures, which I can't wait to deploy against my players.
If you are ordering anything from LotFP do yourself a favor and put this book into your cart. It's inexpensive, and you're also doing a favor for the community, because the sooner his stock is out, the sooner Raggi will put up the Pay-What-You-Want PDF.
Tl;dr: Slügs! shows you how mollusks can improve your campaign. You can buy it on
DriveThruRPG.
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