Flesh Bees and Twisted Classics: The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow

What is happening in town?

The module starts with a large part of the town’s population having secretly been implanted with parasitic flesh bees. Those not given the gift of the bee are concerned with the changes happening throughout town. People have gone missing unexpectedly, some have come back different, and all the animals in the area are long gone. All the while, Brea and her “followers” are preparing for a community-wide baby shower to usher in the birth of Trigona, God-Queen of the Flesh Hive.

What is a Twisted Classic?

The Liminal Horror Twisted Classics line are ground up reimagining of classic adventures. Instead of direct conversions, we take inspiration from the core elements of these older adventures and add a variety of twists to give them a unique flavor and bring them into the era of modern horror. The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow presents a new take on Against the Cult of the Reptile God. Thank you to Douglas Niles and team for the inspiration. The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow will be a 6"x9" hardcover book with a color cover and black & white interiors.

Writing: Goblin Archives & Josh Domanski
Design: Josh Domanski & Goblin Archives
Copy and Sensitivity Editing: Roz Leahy
Proofing: Jarrett Crader
Illustrations: Amanda Lee Franck
Publishing: Space Penguin Ink

What is Liminal Horror?

Liminal Horror is a rules-lite, adaptable modern horror roleplaying game about normal characters and their struggles against the things that go bump in the night. The game focuses on investigation, blending simple, old-school inspired rules with modern, narrative first principles, where survival is not guaranteed and those that do survive are often forever changed. It is a rules-lite, fail forward system that leverages creative problem solving in order to create memorable experiences at the table. Players act as 'investigators' navigating a modern world full of terrible and unknowable horrors.

Since its release in 2021, it has sold over 1000 physical copies and been downloaded digitally over 100k times. Hungry Hollow will be the 5th official module for the LH line. It has been translated into multiple languages (Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, French) and has a robust third party community (over 120 items created including 53 adventures and 22 items in print).

The current physical edition is Liminal Horror: Investigators. This uncoated zine is perfect for players at the table and has all the tools for a Facilitator to run the adventure. The core rules can be accessed a few different ways:

• PDF version can be purchased on it's itch.io page.
• A free web-based version can be found here.
• A physical + pdf can be purchased at Space Penguin.

Want to know more about what you'll get in the book?

• Includes multiple formats for play (with two different one-shot options and 3 custom starting scenarios that include party building questions).
• 8 custom archetypes for players to use when creating their Investigator.
• 6 Investigation Kit Loadouts for the party (extermination, artillery, heavy duty, reconnaissance, containment, espionage)
• 6 easy to use premade associates (additional party members).
• 50+ keyed locations throughout town (4 of these are larger mapped "dungeon" locations).
• 75+ NPCs. Both Citizens (non-implanted) and Apiarists (implanted) tied to a location. There are additional townsfolk provided in the Appendix NPC table .
• New Monsters. 1 multiphase boss (Brea and the growing God-Queen) and four “followers” (Apiarists, Parasite Bee, Husk, Swarm)
• A custom kidnapping procedure the Apiarists use each night to grow their ranks.
• Four factions throughout the town trying to forward their plans or learn about what is going on.
• A custom Doom clock aligned to a Friday-Tuesday escalation of events (culminating in a baby shower for Brea and the God-Queen)
• Voidcrawl Encounter Procedure with six sub tables with 10 entries each (Nothing Happens, Day Encounter, Bees, Clue, Setback, Night Encounter)
• Appendix Consequences: 9 scenarios that posit what will happen in the short term and long term if they occur. 
• Appendix Resonant Artifacts: There are 8 new Resonant Artifacts (magic items) provided.
• Appendix Fallouts: 7 module specific fallouts to go along with the Legacy Fallouts provided in Liminal Horror.
• Appendix The Archivist (patron): a custom patron to align with some of the scenario framings.
• Appendix Residents and Tourists: 24 additional NPCs, divided between Citizens and Apiarists.
• Appendix  Talk of the Town: 50 pieces of gossip, rumors, and what people are talking about in town.
• Appendix Random Search: 80 items that can be rolled on four d20 search tables while investigating (on bodies, hidden items, in drawers, among the clutter)
• Appendix NPC Quick Reference: A quick summary of name, occupation, location for all module NPCs divided by citizen and apiarist.
• Reference page:  A page assembling the different tables for ease of Facilitator reference (stats, kidnapping table, voidcrawl table, NPC reaction tables, Doom Clock.

Check out some spreads from the book (along with art from Amanda Lee Franck):