THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

The Desperado Club

First seen: Book 2, Chapter 12

Physically seen for the first time: a tower rising over the skyfowl settlement, topped by a familiar rotating knife symbol. Long known only as the thing Carl and Donut's matching Desperado Pass brands grant access to; still not entered.

Members OnlyCasinoEscort RequiredNo PetsShared InstancePrivate SecurityRequirementAccess MechanicEntrance FloodedEntrance Collapsed

Appearance

A large, art deco sign, out of place against the town's otherwise primitive style, topped by a rotating knife symbol. Reads "The Desperado Club" in tall, thin letters, with "So fun it hurts" and "Members only section + public pub" underneath in smaller printB2C12

Exterior:

The station #131 entrance is nothing like the block-sized building from the previous level: a tiny dive bar with a small neon sign, confirming entrance size varies by location even though the members-only room inside is shared. Not yet entered this visitB3C7

Looks straight out of 1920s New York: square concrete columns topped by a semi-circular sunburst relief, similar to the construction style atop the Empire State Building. Takes up an entire street and rises six stories, a glowing neon knife logo spinning above it allB2C15

Members-Only Room:

Packed with roughly 200 people of every shape and size, pounding dubstep, strobing lights, smoke in the corners. Casting a privacy bubble (a translucent dome over the head) filters out about 95% of the noise for anyone wearing one, leaving normal conversation audible. Retro-futuristic decor throughout: neon speakeasy-style signage over every side room, giving off what Carl calls a Blade Runner vibeB2C15

Side Rooms:

Nine doors branch off the main room. Three signs sit dark for now: Casino (not ready yet, though a card game can be found if you look), The Hunting Grounds (stairs down to a much bigger location that only opens at floor six), and Guild-O-Rama (rogue-themed guild rooms, including an explosives guild, gated to later floors). Lit and open: Bitches and Penis Parade (the club's brothels, strictly off limits per Mordecai, on pain of getting shanked and mocked by viewers), Jobs (a board of NPC-assassination and theft quests), The Silk Road (a marketplace), and Restrooms. A ninth, unmarked door near the back is guarded by a rock monster; only a passing waitress gives away that it leads somewhere tooB2C15

Entered for the first time at station 131: smaller than the dance floor, six card tables, a roulette table, a vertical Wheel of Fortune, and a craps table, all earth-based games, no slot machines. Sultry jazz plays over the speakers in place of the dance floor's thump; Carl wonders if it's Manasa's own voice. Guards here are tuxedoed crocodilians rather than cretins. Two guarded spiral staircases sit by the entrance: one down to the Hunting Grounds, the other down to LarracosB3C9

The station-131 location's Guild-O-Rama is finally open: a dark hallway lined with doors, most rogue-themed, from Lockpicking to Sleight of Hand. Several rooms still aren't open yet. One, marked "Dodge," is locked to crawlers with a Dodge skill under sevenB3C9

Works like a paid version of the party's own training room: the first session is free and raises a crawler's Dodge skill a full level, after which further levels cost gold that climbs steeply, 20,000 for level nine and 250,000 for level ten. Carl himself isn't let in the door; only Donut and The Sledge go insideB3C14

Where

Physically entered at station 131: a jackal-faced gnoll tends the station-only entrance bar, then the shared members-only vestibule and dance hall beyond it, only moderately busier than the last visitB3C8

Physically entered for the first time: the public front room, then past Clarabelle's checkpoint into the members-only main roomB2C15

A tower in the skyfowl settlement, on a street Carl and Donut haven't gone down yet; spotted from outside the tutorial guild, not enteredB2C12

Per Xander at the All-Seeing Spleen: one branch sits a long walk away in the next crater over, status unconfirmed, and another in nearby tunnels has been overrun by bloodworms since the local Rat Queen diedB4C32

Stats

Always open per Mordecai, but won't be too busy on this floor; he says floors six and nine are where it really gets interesting. Carl and Donut are told to wait until tomorrow night, once Carl's had restB2C13

Connections

Donut:

Wants to go clubbing the moment she spots it, and asks Mongo if he wants to go dancing with "mommy"; Carl doubts they'll let Mongo inB2C12

Astrid:

Comes out from the club's back offices to personally handle the aftermath of the attack on Donut, the first time management is seen taking a direct hand in anythingB3C9

History by chapter
Book 2
Chapter 12
  • RELATIONSHIP Donut: Wants to go clubbing the moment she spots it, and asks Mongo if he wants to go dancing with "mommy"; Carl doubts they'll let Mongo in
  • PHYSICAL Signage: A large, art deco sign, out of place against the town's otherwise primitive style, topped by a rotating knife symbol. Reads "The Desperado Club" in tall, thin letters, with "So fun it hurts" and "Members only section + public pub" underneath in smaller print
  • LOCATION Location: A tower in the skyfowl settlement, on a street Carl and Donut haven't gone down yet; spotted from outside the tutorial guild, not entered
  • TAG Members Only: Per its own sign, a members-only section plus a public pub, so at least part of it doesn't require the brand to enter
Chapter 13
  • STAT Hours: Always open per Mordecai, but won't be too busy on this floor; he says floors six and nine are where it really gets interesting. Carl and Donut are told to wait until tomorrow night, once Carl's had rest
  • TAG Casino: Houses the High Roller's Roulette Table and the Wheel of Fortune game, where comp casino chips get played; still not entered as of this chapter
Chapter 14
  • TAG Escort Required: Mordecai's stated rule: Carl and Donut do not go to the Desperado Club without him along
  • TAG No Pets: No pets allowed inside per Mordecai, one reason behind buying Mongo his own carrier; there's a "playroom" for familiars, but their safety inside it isn't guaranteed
Chapter 15
  • LOCATION Location: Physically entered for the first time: the public front room, then past Clarabelle's checkpoint into the members-only main room
  • PHYSICAL Exterior: Looks straight out of 1920s New York: square concrete columns topped by a semi-circular sunburst relief, similar to the construction style atop the Empire State Building. Takes up an entire street and rises six stories, a glowing neon knife logo spinning above it all
  • PHYSICAL Members-Only Room: Packed with roughly 200 people of every shape and size, pounding dubstep, strobing lights, smoke in the corners. Casting a privacy bubble (a translucent dome over the head) filters out about 95% of the noise for anyone wearing one, leaving normal conversation audible. Retro-futuristic decor throughout: neon speakeasy-style signage over every side room, giving off what Carl calls a Blade Runner vibe
  • TAG Shared Instance: The members-only room exists on its own plane, shared by every Desperado Club location across the whole floor, the same trick as Mordecai's guildhall: step in from any city on the floor and land in this same shared room, but always exit back out wherever you physically walked in. Can't be used as a fast-travel point
  • PHYSICAL Side Rooms: Nine doors branch off the main room. Three signs sit dark for now: Casino (not ready yet, though a card game can be found if you look), The Hunting Grounds (stairs down to a much bigger location that only opens at floor six), and Guild-O-Rama (rogue-themed guild rooms, including an explosives guild, gated to later floors). Lit and open: Bitches and Penis Parade (the club's brothels, strictly off limits per Mordecai, on pain of getting shanked and mocked by viewers), Jobs (a board of NPC-assassination and theft quests), The Silk Road (a marketplace), and Restrooms. A ninth, unmarked door near the back is guarded by a rock monster; only a passing waitress gives away that it leads somewhere too
  • TAG Partial Saferoom: Security is solid in the main room and the casino, per Mordecai, but nowhere else in the club; plenty of nooks and crannies where the bouncers don't reach
Chapter 25
  • TAG Partial Saferoom: Its back room entrance vanishes during the settlement-wide evacuation; the club insulates itself from the blast instead of taking anyone in, closing off the group's usual escape route
Book 3
Chapter 7
  • PHYSICAL Exterior: The station #131 entrance is nothing like the block-sized building from the previous level: a tiny dive bar with a small neon sign, confirming entrance size varies by location even though the members-only room inside is shared. Not yet entered this visit
Chapter 8
  • LOCATION Location: Physically entered at station 131: a jackal-faced gnoll tends the station-only entrance bar, then the shared members-only vestibule and dance hall beyond it, only moderately busier than the last visit
  • TAG Casino: Now open, per Clarabelle, having sat dark and "not ready yet" as of book 2's own visit to the floor 3 location
  • TAG Private Security: Offered by club management on request: 500 gold for a team of two bodyguards, 300 for one, escorting a crawler anywhere in the club including areas where the usual security is lax; spending at least that much at the tables earns a coupon for free security next visit
Chapter 9
  • RELATIONSHIP Astrid: Comes out from the club's back offices to personally handle the aftermath of the attack on Donut, the first time management is seen taking a direct hand in anything
  • PHYSICAL Casino: Entered for the first time at station 131: smaller than the dance floor, six card tables, a roulette table, a vertical Wheel of Fortune, and a craps table, all earth-based games, no slot machines. Sultry jazz plays over the speakers in place of the dance floor's thump; Carl wonders if it's Manasa's own voice. Guards here are tuxedoed crocodilians rather than cretins. Two guarded spiral staircases sit by the entrance: one down to the Hunting Grounds, the other down to Larracos
  • PHYSICAL Guild Row: The station-131 location's Guild-O-Rama is finally open: a dark hallway lined with doors, most rogue-themed, from Lockpicking to Sleight of Hand. Several rooms still aren't open yet. One, marked "Dodge," is locked to crawlers with a Dodge skill under seven
Chapter 14
  • PHYSICAL Dodge Guild Room: Works like a paid version of the party's own training room: the first session is free and raises a crawler's Dodge skill a full level, after which further levels cost gold that climbs steeply, 20,000 for level nine and 250,000 for level ten. Carl himself isn't let in the door; only Donut and The Sledge go inside
Book 4
Chapter 32
  • LOCATION Nearby Branches: Per Xander at the All-Seeing Spleen: one branch sits a long walk away in the next crater over, status unconfirmed, and another in nearby tunnels has been overrun by bloodworms since the local Rat Queen died
  • TAG Requirement: Access to a bubble's own Desperado Club is one of two hard requirements, alongside all survivors sharing one quadrant, for that bubble to qualify for Carl's mass extraction plan
Chapter 33
  • TAG Access Mechanic: Destroying a bubble's own entry pub removes that bubble's Desperado Club access entirely, cutting those crawlers off from the mass extraction plan too
Chapter 34
  • TAG Entrance Flooded: Larracos's entrance bar and its staffing NPCs are killed off when Katia floods the city, cutting off sponsor access to the club's gambling and hunter markets for good
Book 5
Chapter 5
  • TAG Entrance Collapsed: Zockau's entrance facade and bar collapse in Carl's blast, trapping those already inside the real club and cutting off access through Zockau