The Big Squirm is a hardboiled detective RPG adventure for TROIKA! RPG. Players take the role of private investigators working for one of several factions embroiled in the mystery of the Scarf-Worms.

Players will search, steal, and trade for clues, exploring a wealthy neighbourhood in the city of Troika. What they uncover will have massive implications for your ongoing campaign, and provide a huge amount of gameable material to take your games even further. The clear goals and open-ended creativity of The Big Squirm is also the perfect way to introduce new players into the world of TROIKA!, and TROIKA! is a great introduction to the world of roleplaying.

Player characters have been hired as investigators by various factions vying for position after the collapse of the Scarf-Worm investment bubble. They will explore the wealthy district of Downgate Arches, its buildings suspended by chains over a dark expanse, as they compete with rival investigators, meet interesting people, and attempt to secure the goals of their chosen faction for a fabulous reward.

The chains of custody are long and spectral – speculation was rampant before the Pretender Worms began to hatch, and when they did, the crash hit everyone. There were no Scarf-Worms.

The estates of Downgate Arches are suspended on chains from their over-wrought arches, the space between them marked by servant-access walkways and the streaking paths of Silver Gondolas. Cheaper buildings are built directly on the walls, growing with the demand for labour and homes. What lies at the bottom of the district is unknown – hidden beneath a toxic, roiling fog of bright gold and burnt, copper-hued gases.

Despite its privilege and reputation, Downgate Arches has worms. They slither down the support-chains, snacking idly upon animals, citizens and visitors alike. Assassins play poison-dart tag in the open space between the hanging buildings. They have been dispatched by aggrieved parties – all have paid out small fortunes for ownership of yet-unborn Scarf-Worm futures.


 

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Released in 2018, TROIKA! has since become a phenomenon in science-fantasy roleplaying. In that time TROIKA! has attracted thousands of players and hundreds of third-party creators with its simple and robust rules, open-ended skill system, unpredictable initiative system, implied world-building and wry tone. It's truly "The Other World's Favourite Fantasy RPG." With TROIKA! you and your friends can wander across the innumerable crystal spheres drifting the humpbacked sky in search of adventure.