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Downcrawl 2E - Roleplaying in a Weird, Wondrous Underworld

user avatar image for Aaron A. Reed
5,095 Followers
2 projects fulfilled since 2014

Downcrawl 2E is a TTRPG toolkit for exploring a weird, wondrous underworld of stalactite cities and fungal gods. Now supports zero-prep and solo play!

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Latest from the Creator
Aaron A. Reed
7 months ago
Adventure Zine #2 now available!
Hi Downcrawl fans-- In the Clutchlands, far below even the Deepest Down, cities and wilderlands cling desperately to an endless roof, suspended over a black and monstrous...
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Aaron A. Reed
11 months ago
All Shipments (Should Have) Arrived! (May 2025)
TLDR: All packages should have arrived; reviewers wanted! Hi backers, To my knowledge, all Downcrawl packages should have arrived at this point. Read the "Downcrawl Fulfill...
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Aaron A. Reed
12 months ago
Downcrawl Officially Released!
Hi friends-- Just a quick update to note that if you missed the crowdfund campaign, Downcrawl 2E is now available for general sale (woohoo)! Read on for some more updates on...
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Aaron A. Reed
12 months ago
What's In Your Package?
I realize it's been a hot minute since you may have backed Downcrawl, and I've gotten a few questions about package contents, so thought I would shoot out a quick update expl...
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Aaron A. Reed
12 months ago
Shipping Update; Digital Version Released!
TLDR: Most orders in progress; hardcovers delayed; digital version releases today! Hi backers! It's been a flurry of activity here-- after a long day of packing, with the h...
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Aaron A. Reed
about 1 year ago
March Update: Shipping Details!
TLDR: Shipping happening this month, small Journey Rule update Hi backers! You'll be happy to hear that later this month I'll be shipping all your Downcrawl goodies to you (...
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Explore cursed mazes. Build stalactite cities. Get addicted to mushrooms.

Welcome Down.

Downcrawl is a tabletop roleplaying toolkit that helps you build and explore a weird, wondrous underworld, so far from the surface that the sun and sky are only legend. Evocative prompts help you improvise stories of dangerous journeys, curious creatures, and strange underground empires. Just-in-time generation rules give you just what you need to continue your story, allowing your world to keep growing step by step as you explore it. 
 

Cheerful skeleton bards sing ballads on fragile lutes. Antlered children race giggling through shell-paved streets. Faceless cultists worship huge red worms, chanting behind obsidian walls. This is the Deep, Deep Down.


Revised and expanded from the original 2017 edition, Downcrawl 2E features new rule options for solo or collaborative play, and an optional deck of prompt cards that makes sparking weird underworld adventures easier than ever.

Follow the Downcrawl Digest blog for news, sneak peaks, and insider access!


Key Features

  • Bring dangerous journeys and story-based encounters to your campaign, as you explore a weird underworld called the Deep, Deep Down 

  • Compatible with any TTRPG system, or stands alone with a lightweight Fate-inspired TTRPG ruleset (requires only d6 dice to play).

  • Exploration Moves and Inspiring Tables offer procedures and ideas for everything from story hooks to mushroom names to underground terrain types:



  • Need inspiration even faster? Use the optional Downcrawl Deck to get a Table result in seconds: simply flip the top card and align the colors for the prompt you need. (More about the Deck further down the page!)


Some prompts generated by the Downcrawl Deck.


  • Generate places and peoples unique to your underworld, either between sessions or together at the table as you play

  • A focus on just-in-time generation for zero-prep roleplay: invent your world, adventures, and complications as you go along

  • Play with a gamemaster, without one, or solo, with rule tweaks to ensure a delightful experience no matter what your play style.

Features incredible original cover art by J.P. Targete (concept artist for Marvel and Pixar)!


  • Chart your course on a communal map, but keep in mind that routes in the Deep, Deep Down are mercurial: each journey adds and removes connections between the places you've discovered. Gain and lose Tack, an abstract resource representing route knowledge and travel moxie... but don't run out, or risk getting lost.


Launching Soon! Sign up at the top of the page to be notified when we go live...


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