I wanna talk a bit about the main threat to adventurers' lives in The Rumbling Forest: the Boars

The Boar Horde

I make it no secret that a big inspiration for this adventure is Princess Mononoke. I wanted players to deal with themes similar to the film, and also I wanted them to face a relentless fucking horde of boars.

The Boar Horde is a calamity on hundreds of hooves. I think Into the Odd's detachment mechanics work well in giving them this feel. They are not something you fight head on. You can't even inflict damage on them without a powerful enough weapon.

In my playtests, an encounter with the boar horde means the PCs will scramble up trees to avoid them. I've yet to see a boar horde encounter where all trees in the area have been cut. Maybe I'll need to run a playtest of the latest revision to see that dynamic in action.

The Ancient Boar

The inspiration for this boar is unfortunately lost to me. I stupidly didn't take note of that particular source of the Philippine myth I read. The only trace I found in my hopelessly messy notes was "Baybulan earthquake pig".

I wanted to the players to understand that this Ancient Boar is a god, able to change landscapes and shake regions. Even its weakening, dying breaths make ground tremble. I hope I was able to do that.

I had more difficulty in figuring out its purpose in the adventure. I only thought about it being on the verge of death when I was revising for the Cairn Jam.

Before then, the Ancient Boar was just sleeping in that underground river. It's still an ordeal to get to it, but it felt like getting to the Ancient Boar solves most problems.

Having the Ancient Boar on the verge of death means there is a sense of urgency, no easy solutions to the adventure, and condemns colonialism all at the same time.