a meaningful use of the lush graphic makes this gloomy, strong entry one of the best depthcrawl of the jam

When I scale this to print size, that is some awfully small print. I am starting to notice a pattern in the jam that depth crawls are all quite detailed. Detailed to the point they really can't be fit into a double sided sheet of paper well. Tiny font required. Of course, it's pretty clear this is never meant to be printed out given the color choices being used. For me, if I couldn't print it, I very rarely keep it. My style of running a game involves having the physical pages of whatever I need in front of me to reference. Even when doing a game online. It keeps me from jumping between different screens and better able to stay focused. Something to consider.

Right away, the cover offers information that tells me this isn't something I can plug into an existing game (with rare exceptions). 'Last city on earth' is a limiter. It's also flavor though, creating depth. This isn't a problem so much as just something I as a GM need to keep in mind. One-shot only. I also notice pixelation on the cover image that doesn't seem to appear elsewhere. This feels less like an intentional decision for aesthetics and more like trying to upscale an image beyond it's limits. I think I would smooth the lines out if you decide to do revisions or expansion.

Next page starts with more art and a quote. This feels like a mixed blessing. All of this feels very on theme. Absolutely building on a vibe here that I don't know you could otherwise pull off the same. The down side is that it's all eating into space that caused the decision to have such small print. It's a catch 22. You can't have one without giving up the other.

Depthcrawl rules are clear enough. Getting lost is clear enough too, but made me pause to look around the rest of the document. I didn't notice a system mentioned. As I am writing this, my internet is down. I can't go digging on the landing page trying to figure it out and only have the document to work from. There's information on an Intelligence AND a Wisdom roll. It kind of implies it isn't system agnostic since not every system uses the old D&D stats, but for the life of me I can't find where it says a single system. It also lacks anything to tell me what sort of difficulty I am facing on the roll. If you're avoiding a number, you can still use words that imply a range. Easy, Difficult, Extremely Hard, etc. Does it get harder?

Since the player is making 2 rolls here on 2 different stats, the idea that it feels off that the results remain the same regardless of which fails. I would change this slightly. One of the rolls is to avoid an encounter. That could be recognizing the signs of something around or picking paths unlikely to draw attention. The other would be to navigate and find their way. This creates a different dynamic and a very different experience depending on who is navigating the path.

Lastly, I find myself wondering something. I do a navigation roll every time I move anywhere but back. So what about a cascading failure? I can only do explore or delve style actions while having a bad roll. 1D4+1 turns. As written, Each of those turns I am also rolling again. Rolling again has only the benefit of avoiding attention. With meh numbers and bad luck, I could get stuck in an endless loop here. So on average, once a bad roll happens, it's going to be 3 more rolls before they have a chance to escape the loop.

Gloom's fine. Mentions more stats so I am going to assume this is /not/ system agnostic. It's made with a system in mind. Probably mentioned on the landing page. Just add something to the cover to clarify this so two years down the road when I can't remember where I downloaded it from I can still know what I am looking at. I skim through for more stat-focused elements and it looks like it could fit into a number of OSR style games. Not really a shock.

Setting, flavor, and initial location description finish off the back cover section. No complaints here on the content. I would, however, flip which side it is on. English speakers generally track left to right. Personally, I want to see my flavor text first. It gives me a sense of the setting and location that will influence how I read what comes after them. As currently laid out, I read about descending and gloom before I even know more. It's a minor issue. I could have just jumped over, but I feel like a lot of people will just read in the order presented. It's just a little change to curate the experience.

Gloom notes on the side imply an increase depending on which location you roll. The likelihood of deeper gloom increases with depth which makes sense. That said, why in the world is an Orchard in the deepest gloom area? I would expect that to be way up on top where the odds are incredibly low. Also those apples are absolutely brutal. No roll, just done. Given the common idea of what a golden apple is, I could see at least one player just taking a bite without hesitation. Dumb? yes. Going to happen? Also yes.

I see a few words here and there that are probably not familiar to the average person. I'm always mindful of overusing my vocabulary. The double edged sword of words is sharp. The more you know, the more you can say in a single word... but the fewer people will understand what you said. Personally, I don't hate it here. It adds some feel without being too hard to work around. Even if someone doesn't know what chryselephantine statues are, they can pretty much infer it from the rest of the text. If they get it wrong, it doesn't really change much about the entry. Works. A little surprised you reach to goal potentially within 6 turns with good rolls. Probably not going to happen, but given the 'vast' nature of the theoretical location, that feels short.

Details, the first thing I latch onto is the sand entry. The idea of going deeper being prevented is solid. Forces a backtrack action some groups would otherwise not choose. Not much for me to add here. Same with the encounters table. I'm a little surprised that the encounter chance doesn't go up with depth or gloom. Then again several locations have automatic encounters and a bad roll is an automatic encounter as well. Probably fine.

I'm in a weird spot with my overall assessment here. On one hand, the tight print makes me want things spread out more. On the other hand, the art is applied well and the flavor text added a lot to the theme/vibe elements. Then I have to borrow someone else's hand to say on the third hand, it's not big enough. For some ancient city sprawling and decaying, I wanted more locations and details. I wanted a much broader spread of potential things to find and explore before reaching the 'riches untold'. With a larger spread of options, it could become a multi-game setting. Instead of a one shot, it could be ongoing. They delve to find things, return with treasures. Go back to delve deeper looking for even better things... back and forth. I could see it being a really interesting way to step away from the main game for a month or two to avoid burnout.

So yeah. It's a pretty interesting little entry. I already pointed out things I thought could be improved, but overall it is solid. There's a lot of heart to this, giving a sense of setting and scope. Despite the majority being game-elements, it still offers a lot of world building. Good job.

Very strong on the Appendix N vibe, really like this, you've fit a lot of good stuff in. Some of the text is a little bit hard to read esp. on page 3, love the Lich King there though. I would like to know more about the Dark Eidolon!

Love a good depth crawl!

Great writing, hallucinatory layout. Love it.

This is a beautiful adventure in every way. It's nice to see the depth crawl mechanics out in the wild.

First of all: beautifully done! I love just looking at it.

I wasn’t familiar with depth crawls till this jam. The triple-randomization gives it a lot of variety while exploring the city.

The setting is drawn just deep enough to get a grasp and vague enough to improvise. I wish I had this when my players villy-nilly plunged into an ancient city that one time -for months of sessions.

The writing is evocative and makes one to read more.

As this setting RAW is the last place to be, it is “simply” push your luck till it runs out? Or are you seeing some kind of second part, delving into the vault line and somehow restore parts of this world? Not that it has to. The whole setup about the Last City on Earth is a banger!

Full disclosure: I have never run a depth crawl
That being said I do now feel like a depth crawl is a really cool way to work within the limitations of the Jam. I think you knocked it out of the park. I'm also jealous of all the creators who used a portion of their title to design some sort of Subsystem; the Gloom roll is a cool wrinkle in my opinion.

Awesome, I love me some Dying Earth.

A really evocative Depth Crawl, with just enough context to allow for slotting in easily into a game. The layout, cover and presentation are nigh immaculate, the contrast is a little harsh in some sections but I don't think it limits it much. The depth crawl mechanics are really solid and are a good way to make an expansive location in limited space. The prose is succinct and evocative, and  creatures grisly and weird. Excellent work!

First thing; the cover is so dope and if I saw this in a LGS, I would definitely gravitate towards it!

I'm a sucker for depth-crawls, and your adventure is no different; cool locations, plenty of treasure, and a stunning, ominous design! Would love to see a deluxe version of this with more lore, a level recommendation, and more art!

Great job!

Killer visuals, vibes, design, and layout that is still somehow outshone by the incredible writing!

Such a cool location, and an absolutely harrowing, brutal trek downwards.

A really strong adventure; it seems like it will be accessible and very fun to run. Thank you for making this, I am excited to bring it to my tables. 

I like the atmosphere captured by the descriptions. The art fits perfectly. I can see this being a lot of fun to be a player in and easy to run it, the way it is set up. Well done. 

Delightful! The vibes are immaculate, the writing is killer, the depth crawl mechanics are easy to understand! The art is perfect. Great work!

Hell yes, a fellow depthcrawl author! Really evocative, impactful stuff. Visual design is a little hard to read at points, but I'm a big fan of the way the Gloom is integrated, and you keep a tight hold on the theme.

You absolutely nailed the theme on this one, and the visuals are punchy but don't overwhelm legibility. Great atmosphere overall!