Introduction
The creators of Widow’s Web are taking a novel approach to PVP in 5e Dungeon and Dragons. While typical PVP is typically direct single or squad-based combat, Widow’s Web pits the players against each other in a gauntlet of challenges aimed to gradually eliminate players until a single player emerges triumphant. It lands somewhere between Hunger Games and a traditional dungeon crawl.
Players are expected to be evil, back-stabbing jerks. Character optimization is strongly encouraged, which is always exciting. Life is short and brutish, so this is a great game for your favorite optimized build, especially if it’s one that would lose its novelty in a longer game.
I read the sample encounter, which challenges a group of 8 players to race across a hazard-rich room, retrieve a totem, then return to the safety of the exit portal. Players might cooperate to cross safely and quickly, or they might interfere with each other, but direct combat will likely result in the combatants lagging behind everyone else and ultimately dying in what is the first section of the Widow’s Web.
The challenges feel novel, and there’s enough there to discourage players to immediately resort to stabbing each other, but players might still throw obstacles in each other’s way if their own situation gets desperate. It looks like a ton of fun!
Q’s and their Assorted A’s
Karl Miller, creator of Widow’s Web, was kind enough to answer my questions after reviewing the sample encounter.
Q: How do you handle players who are eliminated early in the tournament? Sitting out most of the game seems like it would be unpleasant. Do those players have a way to interact with the game post-mortem?
Unfortunately there is no way for the eliminated players to interact directly in the game once they are killed. The nice thing is that the first room normally takes between an hour and a half to two hours. (After that things speed up significantly.) So they do get a decent amount of time to play. After that it’s kind of like watching a critical role podcast.
In my experience of running this game for over three decades, it’s VERY rare for anyone to leave before the game is completely finished. The game is so Gonzo and crazy that most people stick around to see how it plays out.
Also as more players die they tend to form what could be considered almost “in-game ghost groups” sitting on the sidelines and commenting on what’s happening and what they would be doing in that situation.
Finally… The object of the first room is always the same: Get out of the room as quickly as possible. If someone doesn’t make it out it’s almost always their fault for the choices they made. This takes some of the sourness out of it as they know that if they would have played differently, they could have made it out like everyone else. I guess what I’m saying is that dying in the first room never feels unfair.
Q: The demo adventure which you shared halves damage dealt by players to other players, but doesn’t inhibit spells or special abilities beyond the damage reduction. Have you found that spellcasters interfering with other players have an unfair advantage?
Not at all. Part of the fun of the game is coming up with your build, trying to plan ahead for every scenario. Sometimes casters can be great. Misty step and shield are lifesavers. But in all of our play tests (So many playtests) we have not seen any particular class excel above the others. Monks are great because the extra movement can really help. And we’ve definitely seen a few Tyrannosaurus Rexes make an appearance. The reason for the half-damage against other champions in the first room comes from experience. Having a bloodbath in the first room ruins the rest of the game for everyone. And often in the first room, players don’t quite know what to do so they start lashing out at each other. (Especially the first time they play in a Web) The half damage keeps them focused on the task at hand. (get out of the room.)
Also, the damage reduction only applies in the first room. After that they are more free to go crazy but at that point they also have a better idea of what’s happening as they start understanding how the challenges and the game itself plays out. In fact, I consider the first adventure to be almost a tutorial to teach the players how to play the subsequent adventures.
Q: Have you considered running these adventures at conventions? This seems like it would be an amazing convention game!
Absolutely! One of our play testers ran the first Adventure three times at Ragecon in Nevada this summer. I went down and observed it and it went really well. A lot of players said it was the most fun they had playing Dungeons & Dragons in a long time. (Not making that up.) I consider the web to be something of a pallet cleanser. Something to break up a normal campaign. Something where you can get in there and be evil and go crazy and kill your buddies and have fun. We’re talking about heading down as a group and running it several times at Gen Con this year.
But, Tyler, What About the Spiders?
My fear of spiders was definitely an issue here. One of our Patreon supporters was kind enough to download the Kickstarter page and replace all instances of spiders with bears, which was absolutely crucial in my ability to read it. I shared this amusing anecdote with the Eight-Legged Entertainment folks, and they responded with this image with no further context:
