Skrelle Whitebox Review (Patreon)

Skrelle's earliest memories are blurred by tears provoked by the lush, sulfurous stench that entered her settlement as she slept. She often wonders if the rippling shape stooped over her in the darkness was a dream. It left the vivid impression of desperate striving, life bursting from the barren soil. Now she chases the strange vegetation cultivated in the darkness.

From now forward I am going to start these beta content reviews with a critique of not just the mechanical aspects of these releases but also the thematic ones. I've decided to do this in part because I want to highlight when we're seeing content that builds more into the world; why it does so, what real world references or tropes are being used and if the whole thing is effective. If you're not interested in that part of the critique, skip to the section titled The Gameplay

The Thematics

Skrelle's name is a bit of a fun one; it's the Norwegian word for “Peel” and I am going to take that one as an intentional choice rather than a coincidence because she is themed as a gatherer of herbs and vegetation. The lore snippet we see above however is a somewhat of a let down because it is another piece that is evocative without really developing anything further into the world. Skrelle experienced some strange presence in her childhood and that's driven her obsession; oh, that trope.

Now if this “lush, sulfurous, stinky, rippling shape” was clearly coded as a known entity from either the current releases or the ones which have been shown in the second kickstarter then we'd have something a bit more going on here. A question with an answer already out there; as it stands though we do not really have a clear being that could be this thing. If this lore is brought back full circle with a matching release in some point where we do still remember this connection (tricky because APG's Watcher like behaviour results in them deleting their own lore. That means we're reliant on third parties to preserve the records, thankfully KDM collector does a good job of keeping it all preserved).

But, the thematics of the cards we get with this release are thankfully really good; the survivors finmd a curious plant and stone tablet at the outskirts of their settlement and with the right innovations, use of endeavors and a little time we get a Fig Tree. The Fig Tree has a very long history of being considered a sacred giver of life; in Christianity this is the third named plant after the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Both of the previous trees are not ones present in our world, they are only in the Garden of Eden; the Fig Tree is in Christianity therefore the “first tree” that also came out into our world. They are also the plants who's leaves were used to cover Adam and Eve's “shame” after they ate from the Tree of Knowledge.

The ancient Greeks likewise revered the Fig Tree; so much so that Sykeus transformed into a Fig tree to save her son Ge from Zeus and it was so highly prized that fig trees were given as an honour to the winners in competitions. These trees were first cultivated by the Mesopotamians and they have symbolised wisdom and abundance for thousands of years. They are also present in the Roman tale of Romulus and Remus who were saved by Fig tree roots; in India the goddess Nirantali created human tongues from the leaves of Ficus Religiosa and the roots represent Brahma the creator, the leaves Shiva the Destroyer and the trunk Vishnu the Preserver. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs believed that the goddess Hathor would emerge from the foliage of a fig tree to welcome them into heaven. This was also the tree which Buddha was beneath when gained enlightenment.

I could go on for a lot longer; because the fig tree is such an important symbol in human history, religion and culture that it turns up many, many times. So having a small fig plant found near the settlement (with instructions on how to care for it) is very appropriate for a game based around human analogues at the start of their civilisation.

Before I move on I'd like to also quickly point out the mechanical theme here where the if the survivors do not read the tablet because they haven't innovated Pictographs then they eat the plant with the settlement event being shuffled back in vs. when they tend the plant the event archives itself  out of the game is just another great piece of “show, don't tell”. Something or someone is trying to give the settlement this tree; they plant the fig, they leave the tablet for the survivors and if the survivors eat it, the mysterious benefactor may try again. But once the tree has grown enough this third party will move on elsewhere. This is a much better piece of storytelling and lore than the passage at the head of this article.

The Miniature

Skrelle's miniature is an evocative sculpt with a lot of intricate details; she is another survivor who appears to wander through the darkness like Aya, protected by several lights in her botanical quest. Her clothing is quite sophisticated for the game; with a lot of elements that are evocative of not just a botanist but also a miner. She has suitable tools for the job with her Axe, walking sickle staff, pouches of herbs and even an iron spade. She's also holding a mandrake and she has on her belt a very interesting skull with an exposed brain pattern on it. The only other character with exposed brain matter as a part of its helmet is The Hand; this could be a coincidence; it could indicate multiple Hands out there and she's found the skull, or she's killed a Hand, or The Hand grows from the ground like a plant. It is hard to tell at this time which of these it might be, but it is certainly one of the most striking details on the model and it is just visible in the artwork from Lokman.

This is for myself, right up there in the higher tiers of recent KDM miniatures; good pose, sensible clothing, intricate world building and she is a great miniature to represent an Acanthus Doctor survivor. So I'm giving this one full marks.

The Gameplay

This is a very simple pair of cards; the first is “The Plant and the Stone” settlement event; I am 100% always behind more settlement event cards because not only do they increase variety in campaigns and can provide external factors that change the directions of a settlement, but they also reduce the chances of drawing Murder or Cracks in the Ground. This settlement event is either a neat little +1 survival and +1 insanity for departing survivors or if you have Pictograph then you get the Fig Sapling science innovation in exchange for one survivor not being able to depart (they also gain +1 understanding representing their gained knowledge from the tablet).

The Fig Sapling is a simple little endeavor that does nothing at all; but two 9+ rolls later it will transform into its reverse side. As one of the people who uses double sided “transforming” cards as a part of my preferred design ethos I love this a great deal. The reverse side depicts the fully grown tree and it gives +1 survival limit and departing survivors can consume the fruit for +1 survival.

It's very simple, it's elegant, it's a nice piece of storytelling for the settlement and it fits right in with all the creation myths and Christianity that saturates every other part of Kingdom Death.

The Summary

Really that's it here, there's not a lot of content in the box and it doesn't have profound sweeping consequences for a game's run outside of giving another innovation and speeding up any innovation based triggers like Hooded Stranger. It's beneficial, it's not going to rock the boat and it's beautifully illustrated with a miniature that can be used on the table due to builds that are either plant themed (Acanthus Doctors) or use the Manhunter's Toolbelt to use tools as their offensive weapons.

Everything in this is tidy and well designed, while the box itself a little expensive for the amount of content you get, one can overall give it two green thumbs up.