His Majesty the Worm

COMING SUMMER 2024! 

Signup below to receive notifications upon release. 

 

The forest's thickness is lessening, with room for paths of turned earth, rectangular pits, a whiteness as of mushrooms peeping from the ground. With horror we see from the thirteenth tarot that the underbrush is fertilized with half-withered corpses and fleshless bones.

"Why, where have you brought me, Fool? This is a cemetery!"

And the Fool says, pointing to the invertebrate fauna feeding in the graves:

"Here a monarchy reigns, mightier than you..."


His Majesty the Worm Bursts Forth from the Underworld!

What is His Majesty the Worm?


His Majesty the Worm is a new-school game with old-school sensibilities: a classic megadungeon experience given fresh life through a focus on the mundanities and small moments of daily life inside the dungeon. 

His Majesty the Worm is a tabletop roleplaying game designed for dungeon crawling written by Josh McCrowell and published by Exalted Funeral. The Game Master is given tools to create a megadungeon called the Underworld. The players create adventurers to explore the Underworld in pursuit of their personal quests. Tarot cards are used as a randomizing element.

  • Food, hunger, light, and inventory management are central to play and actually fun.
  • Tarot cards are used to create an action-packed combat system that ensures that all players have interesting choices every minute of combat: no downtime!
  • The game has robust procedures. Characters adventure in the Underworld, rest in roleplaying-driven camping scenes, and plot long-term schemes in the City at the center of the Wide World.
  • The relationships between companions, called Bonds, powers the rest and recovery mechanic of the game. Roleplaying drives the game forward.

 

Everything You Need to Play (Just Add a Tarot Deck!)

 

The game is intended for a traditional setup between a single GM and 3-6 players. It emphasizes long-term, Metroidvania-like play. The book is 404 pages long, split up over 10 chapters and 5 appendices. The print edition is silver foil stamped and has a ribbon bookmark. The digital edition is thoroughly cross-linked, with a robust index. It is a complete game with everything you need in one tome (just add a tarot deck).

 

What People Are Saying


“Very cool and creative stuff here”

—John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats


“His Majesty the Worm is a dungeon crawler masterpiece, bridging the way to the next generation of tabletop fantasy games. Inventive mechanics that spur your game forward, it is a must-read for designer tinkerers and a must-play for fans of avant garde roleplaying games.”

—W.F. Smith, Prismatic Wasteland (author of Barkeep on the Borderlands)


“His Majesty the Worm is a dungeon crawler honed to the sharpest edge. The tarot card mechanics are novel while easy to understand. Every design decision and subsystem has been painstakingly hand crafted, with explanation for WHY it exists right here in the book, letting you hack the game into something that fits at your table. The Challenge mechanics reward clever players and tactics, keeping everyone engaged and tuned in for the perfect opportunity to lay down their next card. This game will blow your socks off!"

—Ty Pitre, Mindstorm Press (author of Swineheart Motel)


“An instant classic. Brilliant and weird and eminently portable—my favorite combination. The monsters you choose to include in your campaigns and dungeons turn into the powers your players can wield. Love it. The formatting is beautiful and the prose is readable and clear while still being evocative. Fantastic.”

—Zephyr Studios

The Team


Created by Josh McCrowell

Published by Exalted Funeral Press


404 pages, hardcover, A4 size, black and white throughout, silver foil stamped cover, a ribbon bookmark. PDF included. 


Price
$60.00
This item is temporary out of stock

Ships From

Shipping Information

Orders typically ship within 24-48 hours after being placed, business days only Monday - Friday. If you place an order on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday then it will not ship until the following business week. 

We use USPS, UPS and DHL. Rates are based on current service rates and are subject to change. For the majority of items we ship in deluxe padded bubble mailers with bags and boards for added protection or with cardboard book mailers. Larger orders will be finely packed as well. We care about the product getting to you safe and secure.  

 

SHIPPING OPTIONS:

US DOMESTIC ORDERS: 

FREE MEDIA MAIL SHIPPING WITHIN THE US FOR BOOK ONLY ORDERS $100 AND UP!

MEDIA MAIL

  • Inexpensive
  • Takes 6-10 days
  • Includes tracking
  • Only books are available for shipping Media Mail
  • NO INSURANCE- This means all sales are final. By choosing this option you understand the inherent risk with ordering

USPS Priority, UPS, and DHL

  • Takes 2-4 Business days, usually
  • Tracking included
  • All items in store are available to be shipped using these methods
  • Insured, lost or damaged items will be covered

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS:

Please note that ALL SALES ARE FINAL. Shipments are sent via DHL. Shipping does not include customs fees, which are subject to each countries' tax requirement. We want you to buy with confidence but please understand that once the items leave the USA we will not be responsible for lost or damaged items unless you contact us to get additional insurance if available. 

 

RETURNED PACKAGES

If your shipment is returned to us due to insufficient address or marked as undeliverable for any reason, we will need to collect another shipping fee in order to resend your item. 

If you request an item to be returned (excluding damaged or incorrect items) then you will be responsible for the return shipping fee. 

COMBINING ORDERS  

Only orders that contain items that are in stock at the time of ordering will be combined, when possible. 

WE DO NOT HOLD ITEMS

Essentially it is the same as above. We adore all of you and strive to give you the best possible customer experience possible but inventory tracking not only for us but for our vendors and partners makes this almost impossible to do now. 

PRE-ORDERED ITEMS

Pre-order dates are subject to change. We get as frustrated as you do when things come up but this happens from time to time. Sometimes circumstances beyond our control will create delays. We try to communicate via social media and our weekly newsletter to keep everyone as up to date as possible. 

All items in an order containing pre-orders will ship with the pre-order item once it is in stock. If you would like the other items earlier, please place a seperate order from the one containing the pre-order. 

We cannot combine pre-orders with existing orders nor combine new orders with existing pre-orders. 

Pre-orders will be exempt from any type of general sale.

You may also like