The Gloom of Burglovt

The town does not wait while the party follows another lead.

The Gloom of Burglovt: Volume I is an English digital 5e town sandbox for characters of levels 1–6. Across 35 chapters, the party follows linked problems through Burglovt. Evidence can be lost or preserved, delays give threats time to develop, and earlier choices change what becomes possible later.

The book combines independent jobs, conditional follow-ups, parallel branches, regional task lines, and a later sequence shaped by evidence gathered earlier in play. Many chapters can be run as independent jobs. Others open only after specific clues, outcomes, or player decisions.

What players do

• Investigate. Question witnesses, inspect damaged places, trace supply chains, scout routes, and decide which account can be trusted.
• Prepare. Time, alertness, tides, damaged goods, missing evidence, wounded people, supplies, and escape routes can shape the next move.
• Choose. Negotiate, rescue, infiltrate, defend, seal a hazard, drive a threat away, capture an opponent, or fight when necessary.
• Carry consequences forward. Retreat, partial success, enemy escape, public accusations, property damage, and protected supplies can change later scenes.

Thirty-five chapters, not thirty-five mandatory steps

Independent jobs can begin from a request, rumor, loss, or local consequence without forcing the group through the preceding chapter.

Conditional follow-ups read earlier choices. A clue, surviving NPC, unresolved object, new threat, or explicit player decision may determine which later scene exists.

Regional task lines connect problems through places, people, and evidence. Supply fraud, altered forests, border patrols, burial grounds, the harbor, spatial anomalies, old debts, and family legacies develop through connected locations, clues, and consequences.

The later sequence draws on evidence from earlier play. The table must agree before dreams are compared; each participant separately chooses what to share and later whether to enter the planned dream-bound final sequence. Declining to share, delaying the transition, or not entering are valid choices.

Free GM sample: Rats in the Brewery Cellar

CH02 is the free GM sample. It includes the complete runnable chapter, the NPC and adversary information needed at the table, combat and noncombat procedures, retreat and settlement outcomes, and two embedded GM maps.

The sample includes:

• the complete CH02 GM text;
• NPC and adversary information required to run the chapter
  areas, procedures, outcomes, and two embedded GM maps;
• combat and noncombat routes;
• retreat and partial-completion outcomes.

The free sample does not include a separate player-map download package. The $29 tier begins the standalone map rewards with 16 player-safe PNGs: Grid and NoGrid versions for eight named locations.

Maps in play

GM information and player-facing space serve different jobs.

$18 Digital Core: required numbered and spoiler-marked GM maps are embedded in the adventure PDF; no standalone map files.

$29 Digital Play Pack: 16 standalone player-safe PNG maps covering eight named locations, with Grid and NoGrid versions for each location.

$49 Living NPC Dossier Edition: 48 standalone PNG maps covering sixteen named locations, with Player Grid, Player NoGrid, and GM Annotated versions for each location.

The free sample embeds the G01 brewery-ground-floor and B01 brewery-cellar GM maps with numbered GM anchors. Standalone player-safe and GM Annotated maps remain formal-product deliverables.

Digital reward tiers

Three editions add maps and table references in clear steps. The itemized reward list below defines what each tier includes.

$18 — Digital Core

Run Volume I from the GM adventure.

- Complete English-language Volume I GM Adventure PDF in US Letter format
- Rules, NPC information, and creature information needed to run the included content
- Required numbered and spoiler-marked GM maps embedded in the PDF; no standalone map files
- Creature & Adversary Index for Volume I

Digital delivery. Standalone player-safe maps and reference cards are not included in this tier.

$29 — Digital Play Pack

Add player maps and table-ready cards.

- Everything in Digital Core
- 16 standalone player-safe PNG maps: Grid and NoGrid versions for eight named locations
- At least 12 Important NPC Quick Cards as a compiled PDF and 12 individual PNG files
- At least 12 Creature & Adversary Reference Cards as a compiled PDF and 12 individual PNG files

The standalone map files remove room numbers, secrets, traps, hidden routes, and other GM-only information.

$49 — Living NPC Dossier Edition

Expand the location library and the people behind it.

- All non-map content from Digital Play Pack
- 48 standalone PNG maps total: Player Grid, Player NoGrid, and GM Annotated versions for sixteen named locations
- At least eight front-and-back GM NPC dossiers as a compiled PDF and 16 individual page PNG files

Each dossier combines character art and equipment with routines, relationships, knowledge boundaries, task links, and role-appropriate 5e information.

Each reward tier receives its own ZIP package. Every package contains a Read Me and the Books, Maps, or Cards folders required by that tier. All rewards are digital, use the September 2027 estimated-delivery target, and exclude physical shipping and Foundry VTT content.

The eight $29 map locations are Flame and Forged-Iron Brewery, Holy Light Abbey and Graveyard, Wizard Tower, Crimson Dusk Tavern, Oathfire Blacksmith, Forest Apothecary Cottage, Harbor Fishing Village, and Eastwatch Fort. 

The $49 tier adds Fur Shop, Yordak Mill, Greenwald Farm, Greenwald Villa, Zoe's Charming Clothing, Mithril Wheel Trading Company, Mayor's Residence, and Obsidian Bookstore. 

These are minimum guaranteed quantities; additional bonus files may be included without reducing the listed contents.

Stretch goals

The complete Volume I campaign and every item listed in the $18, $29, and $49 reward tiers are funded at the $2,800 base goal. These cumulative goals add bonus play aids or expand existing packs; they do not remove, replace, or delay any core reward.

$3,100 — Town State Tracker

Every tier receives a fillable and print-friendly PDF for tracking district pressure, damaged property, protected supplies, open leads, and unresolved consequences.

$3,400 — Crafting & Upgrade Quick Reference

Every tier receives a compact PDF reference for the campaign's existing rare materials and weapon or shield upgrades. No core rule is withheld from the main book.

$3,800 — Eight More Reference Cards

The $29 and $49 tiers each receive four additional Important NPC Quick Cards and four additional Creature & Adversary Reference Cards. The guaranteed minimum becomes 16 cards in each pack, delivered as a compiled PDF plus 16 individual PNG files.

$4,200 — Two More NPC Dossiers

The $49 tier receives two additional front-and-back GM NPC dossiers. The guaranteed minimum becomes ten dossiers, delivered as a compiled PDF plus 20 individual page PNG files.

$4,700 — Two More Mapped Locations

Two named locations join the standalone map library. The $29 tier expands to 20 player-safe PNGs across ten locations. The $49 tier adds the corresponding GM Annotated versions and expands to 54 PNGs across eighteen locations.

Production plan and use of funds

Editorial: complete the English editorial pass and consistency review across adventures, rules, NPC identities, creature information, cross-references, and player/GM boundaries.

Production: complete layout, selected illustrations, approved GM and player-safe map variants, reference cards, and selected dossiers.

Verification: finish rights and credit review, accessibility and readability checks, PDF and package QA, and reward-by-reward manifest verification.

Delivery: prepare one ZIP package per tier. Use Kickstarter's native digital-file delivery when platform limits allow; otherwise provide a download link that does not require another account. Project updates will identify file availability, revisions, material format or scope changes, and schedule changes.

Campaign funds support English editorial work, final layout, digital file preparation, remaining map and reference-product production, rights and credit verification, delivery QA, platform and payment-processing costs, and production contingency.

About the project

Piaomu Studio is the independent tabletop RPG label behind the project. A single creator leads the writing, adventure design, rules review, production, and final editorial decisions. Driftwood Entertainment LLC raises the campaign funds and is responsible for reward fulfillment.