Cloud Monster Zine Factory - The Snarl

The Snarl is an improvisational, rules-light, low-prep “dungeon crawler” / “dungeon mapper” wherein players take on the role of Seekers exploring a dangerous and unstable (in the reality bending, metaphysical, potentially non-euclidean sense) zone full of anomalies, perils, and opportunities for both material and spiritual enrichment. It is, in large part, inspired by Roadside Picnic / Stalker.  

To be fair, however, pretty much any kind of magickal, metaphysical, liminal, hyperdimensional, or otherwise “weird” dungeon space is more or less an expression of the same underlying trope. The Snarl is the Zone of Roadside Picnic fame, yes, but it’s also the cave of wonders from 1001 Nights, and the Navidson House from the House Of Leaves, and the Schwarzwelt from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and the Labyrinth of Minos, and the Land of the Faery, and every magickally active gonzo dungeon you can imagine. So, you know, you can freely take it in whatever direction strikes your fancy, whether that be science fiction, or weird fantasy, or cosmic horror, or what have you. It’s a trifold pamphlet zine. We ain’t got room for “official lore” in here. It’s about as “no-nonsense” as this famously and pathologically verbose designer could manage. As such it falls to you to make of it what you will.

The Snarl is not intended to shift any paradigms or to be a definitive, one-stop-shop of pen-paper dungeon crawler games. It is intended to be something one can quickly pull out, play, and put away and is tuned primarily for loose and “vibey” one-shots. It does not have pages of specialized combat procedures, or other kinds of specialized procedures, really, aside from those for building out the Snarl itself (using tokens and playing cards) and resolving the various problems it throws up.  The Snarl not a bad beginner game, though this zine does assume a willingness to read closely, make inferences, fill in the blanks, and/or learn on the go. 

For brand new groups, the “Classic” mode of play is recommended, wherein one player serves as Guide / Game Master. However, the Snarl can also be played in a GMless group or solo.