The Fasting Worm at the Spider Feast is a D&D 5e module created by Remley Farr. This is an adventure with a great story and fun combat that can easily be incorporated into any campaign. This module is intended for groups of 3-5 players at level 8. It also comes with a homebrew cleric domain with lots of great flavor.
My group has previously played “Fishing for Gods” by Strade’s Gallows and “The Sun Goes Down with a Ruby Smile” by Lemley Farr, and we have enjoyed both. In fact, The Sun Goes Down with a Ruby Smile is my go-to adventure for introducing new players to D&D 5e.
Spider Feast’s Fasting Worm checked a lot of boxes when deciding which one-shot to run for players. I wanted something that wasn’t low-level, but I love the Underdark in general. I had really enjoyed other modules written by Remley, so this was an easy purchase.
Players beware – the following contains spoilers.
Pre-match preparation
Formatting
Spider Feast’s fasting worms are very well formatted, and the format is documented and explained before the module background information. That said, the format is very readable, even without going through the preface, which shows its quality.
Each relevant section of the module has an appropriate title, and the rooms and parts within that part have subtitles.
Each of these parts has a block of text that tells a description of the room or scene and is meant to be read out loud to the party. These were particularly nice, very detailed and descriptive.
All related spells, items, and creatures are labeled to indicate which book and page they appear on. For the record, the only books required to run this module are the Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Background information
The first two pages of The Fasting Worm at the Spider Feast contain an overview of the module’s story and backstory leading up to the events the party witnesses.
The backstory was so well written that they decided to read it out loud when the player befriended the blind mind flayer, Ji Yan.
The backstory consists of a conflict between the Spider Queen Lolth and the Feasting Demon Lord Shomara. The two betray each other and make mistakes, and Shomara is killed and fixed in the material world.
Shomara’s body became a monument to Lolth. It is rumored that there is great wealth among them. This may be passed on to the party in the form of rumors, or, as the module suggests, they may be able to find a map leading to Shomara’s Maw from the drow’s corpse.
Either way, The Fasting Worm at the Spider Feast flows well as part of a larger campaign in the Underdark, or just as a one-shot. There’s enough lore surrounding it that you can draw from it or fit it entirely in a play session or two.
This is a big advantage for me when running ready-made modules. I like that I have the option to include these in my campaign, but I also like them when they work individually. In general, this was a great introduction to the Underdark and all the lore within it.
battle map
I love the art style and artwork of the module by Remley and Shawn Daley. Although it has a cartoon style, it is able to convey the emotion of the scene and setting very well.
The included battle maps were especially great. Two battle maps were included: Orlenggin D’Winress and Shomarrah’s Belly. Two or three important battles will take place in these two locations.
Each of these maps had 2-3 versions: ungridded, gridded, and gridded and numbered (for DMs). This was great because I usually make it myself so it saved me a lot of prep time.
One thing missing from this module is a battle map for Shomara’s Garet. About half of my encounters take place there, so I knew I needed it. It wasn’t particularly difficult to make since it’s basically a 500′ x 30′ straight line, but it would have been nice to have all three maps in the same style.
Additional materials for players
Spider Feast fasting worms do not require handouts. Tips from excerpts from books and poems found in Orlengin D’Winress are ready to read aloud.
This module includes photos of some of the main characters and locations. These photos can also be shown to players. These are included not only within the PDF but also as separate files, which I thought was a nice touch.
However, if you are playing in person (unlike my group), it would definitely be fun to write down excerpts and distribute them to your players. The books, people, and possessions found in Orlenggin D’Winress are all very old, so this technique can also be used to age paper.
Executing the module
setting
Spider Feast fasting worms takes place in the Underdark, but not in the Underdark itself. However, it does a great job of conveying the overall theme of the Underdark.
The entire module takes place inside Shomara’s corpse, which was covered in fungi and creatures of the Underdark. For example, bioluminescent mushrooms illuminate the exterior of Orengin Dwenres and help set the dark tones of the Underdark.
As I mentioned before, the configuration descriptor was especially nice. They not only set the tone, but also helped explain where the party was about to delve into. I’m definitely going to try incorporating these into my own dungeons and quests since they worked so well.
combat encounter balance
Overall I thought the combat was fluid and balanced. Since we were only playing with three people, which is the minimum recommended party size, we decided to give each character one rare and one uncommon magic item. The encounter remained difficult for the party.
What I would like to emphasize is not to give the party long breaks throughout this module. It’s very fast and consists of only 5-6 encounters in total, making for a very balanced day of adventure. Encounters will definitely be easier if you give them a long break in the middle of the module.
If your party has a lot of magic items and/or 5 people, adjust the numbers a bit to your advantage, or add a minion or two to the Hylari and Sot’Zerrik encounters. We recommend adding one.
Characterization and storytelling
Overall, all the major NPCs had great characters. Each NPC has a reason for being trapped in Shomara, and each has their own quirks.
This module does a great job of preparing the DM to show how these NPCs will be involved in the story in the backstory section. All NPCs have a stake in Shomara’s life or death, and will interact with the party accordingly.
They were fun to role-play, each in their own way, and the party made an effort to interact with each one.
You can use Jiyan and the library to tell the party some backstories and lore. Many of the module’s stories can also be relayed in these two ways.
The module’s story is told in several ways. NPCs and cryptic hints and clues can hint at what the NPC is doing or feeling, and the party can make a lot of assumptions based on this. Both Jiyang and the Library are great tools for telling stories to parties if they are interested in a more detailed explanation.
Multiple ways to solve the problem
There are many encounters in The Fasting Web at the Spider Feast that can be resolved in multiple ways. This module does a great job of informing the DM of some options the players may have to solve puzzles or facilitate encounters on the player’s side.
The best example of this is when the party tries to find a way to open the secret entrance to Sotzerik. Ji Yan knows the password, but he just won’t give it out. This information can be found in any of the books in the library. Inside the room with the entrance are clues that invite the party to explore different areas of Orengin Dwenreth.
If you decide to kill Jiyan, it’s very important to have a character who knows Undercommon or has a way to read Undercommon. Otherwise, you will not be able to find the clues that open the secret entrance to Shomara’s belly, as described in the book located in the Undercommon.
Moral conflicts and plot twists
Fasting Web in Feast of the Spiders does a good job of presenting the party with some plot twists and moral quandaries. It works well in that the party is very reluctant to blindly trust the creatures and denizens of the Underdark. It uses this distrust to reward players and parties who just let their guard down and accept the chaos.
The mind flayer Jiyan befriends the party and sees them as a viable option to escape the keep. If your group is like mine, you’d think he was trying to devour their brains.
99% of the time they will be correct, but this module uses this assumption to its advantage. It wants to discourage the Party from accepting Jiyan’s help, which could make finding Sotzelik even more difficult.
After the party learns more about the conflict between Shomara and Lolth, they may be hesitant to try to awaken Shomara. Many groups may not want to deal with the demon lord’s potential wrath and machinations. It’s also possible for them to completely distance themselves from the ending of the story.
Self-made content
Feast Domain Cleric
I haven’t played any of the Feast Realm clerics yet. However, it seems like a very flavorful cleric domain and fits the standard format for domains.
The Feast Domain revolves around supporting your party by dealing acid damage. This is done by giving benefits to Constitution saves and temporary HP.
A domain’s spell list is well suited to the domain’s characteristics and roles. It gives the cleric an additional acid damage spell and a bit more overall support. Another perk is that you can cast Heroes’ Feast as a 5th level spell.
My only issue with this domain is that Communion appears to be a 17th level feature of the domain, but it’s not labeled as such.
All in all, the feast domain seems like a fun cleric option. Feel free to let players use it in future games.
Final thoughts on Fasting Web in Feast of the Spiders
You can purchase the module here for $1.99. Personally, I think this is great considering it took my group about 5 hours to complete. Honestly, it took me about an hour to prepare before playing, most of which was reading the modules and backstory.
Spider Feast’s Fasting Worm does a nice job of having something for every play style. Combat, role-playing, puzzles, investigation, and lore were all present throughout the module.
What I especially liked is that players always have a choice in how they want to approach a challenge. With so many options, players were able to avoid ending the module entirely.
This module requires little backstory or setup, and also suggests ways to introduce plot hooks to the players. It also generates some plot hooks following the events of the story, depending on the player’s choices. This is a great option both for one-offs and as part of a campaign.
I definitely recommend The Fasting Worm at the Spider Feast or any of Remley’s other modules.
