imagine if elden ring never existed but an official guide book was published so that you could try to piece together its mysteries without ever playing the game for yourself thats basically the concept behind vermis an artbook series exploring the world of a terrifying horror game that isnt actually realvermis i is the first of an artbook series by the artist plastiboo as publisher hollow press explains in the official description a pure act of worldbuilding inspired by old dungeoncrawler games it could be considered an official guide of a game that doesnt exist since its not a game at allits pages describe character classes like the stone scholar unable to see or smell due to the scars from the rocks that were tied to their faces for ages there are monsters like the stench champion moving in a strangely human way trying to mimic the warrior they once were as if they are unconscious of their new body you might encounter creatures like the dubious friend a manshaped figure dancing and jiggling in the darkwhile the aesthetics are clearly inspired by pc dungeoncrawlers its tough not to see the echoes of fromsoftwares notoriously obtuse worldbuilding here half the appeal of soulslikes comes from piecing together tiny bits of lore into something cohesive and vermis builds itself entirely around that element to impressive resultsdespite being a niche concept run by a boutique publisher vermis has found a whole lot of crossover appeal and just a few months after launch is already on its third print run oldschool dungeons and dragons fans are using it to inspire their own campaign settings and vermis seems captivating whether youre looking for similar inspiration or just a cool worldbuilding exercise to explorelooking for the best dungeons and dragons books you can follow that link for an extensive guide on what to buy