Diary of Death: Gorm

Published: November 24, 2016 1:00 PM /

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With the coming of the Gorms came a change in the weather. For years on end the sky poured rain, hail, and despair. The survivors had long since forgotten what it meant to be dry, and yet they persisted.  Despite the sodden ground, the lumbering Gorms were easy to find and provided ample resources for the settlement, if the survivors could manage use them all before they rotted away.

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This hunt was no different. As soon as they set out, they encountered a fresh corpse of a Gorm, newly dead, yet already rotting in the rain. The mournful cry of a bull Gorm warned them away from the carcass before they could claim any part of the corpse, and the survivors fearfully steered well clear. As they gave the corpse a wide berth, they stumbled upon a large area of ground that was completely flattened by the huge beasts. Zachary stopped and picked up a sharpened stone that he tucked into his belt before the hunters continued in their pursuit.

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They found the Gorm between patches of tall grass. Rather than taking shelter in them, the beast appeared to be trampling them down. The giant monsters seemed to love the hostile weather, and the beast gave the grass one final stomp before charging straight at Zachary. It pivoted its massive bulk just as it reached him, and shot out a lightning fast kick with its back legs.

Zachary's experience hunting Gorms helped him easily dodge out of the way, while Erza moved to flank the monster with a giant sword made out of the rib of a Gorm that they'd killed before. Despite the beast's size, Erza missed her attack.

Taking careful aim with an arrow made from the claw of the one White Lion they hunted, Lucy skillfully fired the projectile, which struck the bobbing Fluorescent Lure dangling from the fleshy stalk that grew from the Gorm's forehead.

Zachary cut across the beast's mouth while Allister sliced across the great beast's rump and tail.

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The searing pain of the cut caused the Gorm to jump backwards while simultaneously retching foul juices and chunks of unrecognizable meat. The vomit coated Allister, burning his chest. The caustic vomit blasted Erza in the face, stunning and knocking her to the ground.

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Before the hunters could react, the monster's damaged Lure began to Strobe. The pulsating light caused Zachary and Lucy to lose their balance. Allister managed to regain his feet as the Gorm turned away from the survivors, ready to kick again or dash away.

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Thanks to some encouraging words from one another, the downed survivors regained their feet. Erza slammed her Rib Blade across the behemoth's Mammoth Skull as the beast spun again. It charged straight for Zachary, who narrowly avoided getting trampled.

As it moved past him, Zachary cut a chunk out of a massive goiter at the Gorm's neck. The monster's instinctual defenses kicked in again as the beast jumped back, spraying another gout of vomit from its mouth. This time, though, the survivors avoided the acidic spray entirely.

The monster's charge stopped. Lucy put an arrow in its leg while Allister again slashed at its face before dodging away as the Gorm tried to eat him. Ducking quickly beneath its jowls, Allister gouged the monster's hand with his blade while Lucy sunk another arrow in its back.

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Erza put all of her weight behind her Rib Blade as the beast's jaws snapped shut, slamming the force of the blow against the Gorm's Bloated Face, while Zachary cut deeply into the animal's side.

Desperate and hurt, the Gorm bit down on Zachary, shredding his waist and leg armor.

Lucy continued pounding the beast with arrows while Allister, with all of his might, smashed his blade across the Gorm's spine, shattering his weapon and taking the monster's life.

They bent to scavenge what resources they could from their fresh kill while the susurration of the ever present rain surrounded them.


The Gorm expansion for Kingdom Death: Monster doesn't have a slew of flashy new mechanics, but it may be the single best expansion for increasing replayability for veteran Kingdom Death players. Throughout the early game in a Kingdom Death campaign, players fight the White Lion, and they fight the White Lion a LOT. If you've played multiple campaigns, especially campaigns that have failed in  the first 10 or so Lantern Years, you've probably fought more White Lions than you can remember.

This is where the Gorm comes in. The Gorm is a quarry monster that becomes huntable from the very beginning of a campaign, and it breathes a huge amount of life into the early stage by not only being a fun and very different feeling supplement to the White Lion, but by also being a legitimate replacement for it for people who want to play a Lion-free campaign. The fight itself is about on par with the White Lion difficulty-wise, but players need to learn and use a whole different set of tactics against the Gorm.

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Gorm also comes with Gorm Climate, a settlement event that shows up early and completely changes the way the campaign feels. I won't spoil it what it does, nor how to deal with it, but I will say that it really adds to the game's narrative.

The Gorm comes with two settlement locations, Innovations, Disorders, Fighting Arts etc, and can remain relevant for quite a while longer in a campaign than the White Lion as well, so the value from this expansion isn't simply in making the early parts feel fresh and exciting again.  Whether you supplement with the Gorm, or fully replace the White Lion, the expansion comes with numerous relevant weapons and a good armor set, and there are quite a few interesting tactical ways to use the potions made in the Gormchymist. All told, the Gorm rests comfortably at the top of the must-have list for Kingdom Death expansions, and it's the expansion I would recommend to anyone who was only planning to pick up one. Not only does it extend the life of the game considerably for people who are planning to play multiple campaigns (and why wouldn't you?), but even if you are brand new to the game, the option of extra huntable quarry monsters early is a great one.

Like everything else Kingdom Death, the plastics in the Gorm expansion are awesome. The Gorm itself is hideously ugly, but its sculpt suits the theme of the monster perfectly. The armor kits are some of my favorites, although I don't have any pictures of them as I haven't painted them yet.

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The copy of the Gorm expansion used for this article was purchased by the author.


Have you picked up any of the Kingdom Death: Monster expansions yet? If so, let us know what you think the must-haves are in the comments below.

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twilliams
| Senior Writer

Maestro of cardboard and plastic, former Tabletop Editor. Now I mostly live in the walls and pop in unexpectedly from time to time. If you ever want to talk… More about Travis