A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement A Warm and Pleasant Hum

A Warm and Pleasant Hum is a role playing game supplement written and published by Michael Van Vleet. The supplement is an Incursion, or adventure, for Trophy Dark.

The supplement is available as a 14-page PDF from itch for $5 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one page is the front matter and one the inside back page.

The introductory paragraphs explain that The Humming Woods has only one Queen who has access to royal jelly. The jelly itself is valuable but control of the Queen herself would allow control of her family. The characters are seeking the royal jelly at the very least

The theme for this Incursion is bees. It starts with Moments and Conditions which do not have any game effect, simply adding to the game’s feel. Moments are sentences describing what is seen; Conditions are how a character is affected non-mechanically.

There are the standard five rings as the characters proceed into the woods. Each ring has Terrors and Temptations connected to it and the overall theme of bees. The rings are the approach to the hive and the final ring is the hive.

A Warm and Pleasant Hum in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and is short enough that they are not needed but would have been appreciated. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format with backgrounds of a honey-like colour and appeared to be free of errors. There are some stock illustrations related to bees. Presentation is decent.

This supplement is not in and of itself enough to play it; a copy of Trophy Dark’s rules are also needed. These are free to get and the system is rules-lite, based more on narration than mechanics. Trophy Dark Incursions are rarely tales of success but of the greedy being defeated by their greed. Though the characters may get to the hive, getting back out again is going to be more difficult, especially as the bees get larger. Success, as is the standard for Trophy Dark, is unlikely. A Warm and Pleasant Hum is a decent Incursion and it can be found by clicking here.