A secret door in Room 18 leads to a secret treasure room.

This room contains Treasure Types A, G, and H. Additionally there is a suit of elven chain, and a sword +3 vs. Magic-users (Wizards and Witches).

 This giant area (Room 13) has three exits. One on each side of the room and one ahead. The first on the left is Room 18.

This ornate tomb is found at the bottom of a flight of stairs.  The doors are locked but can be picked.

This is the tomb of Dortya, the handmaiden to the Vampire Queen. 

She is a 10 HD Vampire. She has Boots of Speed, Bracers of Defence AC +3, and a sword +2 / +3 vs. Clerics.   Her tomb has Treasure Type F x3.

Her only task is to keep people away from her queen.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Elven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Grave Terrors, the halfling undead. 

Grave Terror are halfling wights.

Grave Terror

Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (31 hp)
Movement: 90" (30")
Attacks: 1 claw or weapon (+2 to hit, 1d6+2 damage)
Special Attacks: Fear aura, Spectral Blades
Special Defenses: Immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells
Saves: As 3rd level Fighter
Morale: 12 (Fanatic)
Treasure: Nil (grave goods destroyed with their undeath)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

These creatures were warriors among the halflings until they were cursed to undeath.  They had high Strength and Constitution scores while alive (16+ each) and were formidable fighters.

They attack with a claw or a rusty sword for 1d6+2 points of damage. They can also summon a spectral blade to attack another opponent at the same level of proficiency. 

These undead creatures have Aura of Fear that acts like the spell Fear 15' Radius.  They are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells. They are turned as Ghouls.

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

—oOo—

Published by Magpie Games, Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game is a roleplaying game based on the award-winning Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right board game, about conflict and power, featuring struggles between cats, birds, mice, and more. The Woodland consists of dense forest interspersed by ‘Clearings’ where its many inhabitants—dominated by foxes, mice, rabbits, and birds live, work, and trade from their villages. Birds can also be found spread out in the canopy throughout the forest. Recently, the Woodland was thrown into chaos when the ruling Eyrie Dynasties tore themselves apart in a civil war and left power vacuums throughout the Woodland. With no single governing power, the many Clearings of the Woodland have coped as best they can—or not at all, but many fell under the sway or the occupation of the forces of the Marquise de Cat, leader of an industrious empire from far away. More recently, the civil war between the Eyrie Dynasties has ended and is regroupings its forces to retake its ancestral domains, whilst other denizens of the Woodland, wanting to be free of both the Marquisate and the Eyrie Dynasties, have formed the Woodland Alliance and secretly foment for independence.

Between the Clearings and the Paths which connect them, creatures, individuals, and bands live in the dense, often dangerous forest. Amongst these are the Vagabonds—exiles, outcasts, strangers, oddities, idealists, rebels, criminals, freethinkers. They are hardened to the toughness of life in the forest, but whilst some turn to crime and banditry, others come to Clearings to trade, work, and sometimes take jobs that no other upstanding citizens of any Clearing would do—or have the skill to undertake. Of course, in Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, Vagabonds are the Player Characters.

Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game is ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, the mechanics based on the award-winning post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, Apocalypse World, published by Lumpley Games in 2010. At the heart of these mechanics are Playbooks and their sets of Moves. Now, Playbooks are really Player Characters and their character sheets, and Moves are actions, skills, and knowledges, and every Playbook is a collection of Moves. Some of these Moves are generic in nature, such as ‘Persuade an NPC’ or ‘Attempt a Roguish Feat’, and every Player Character or Vagabond can attempt them. Others are particular to a Playbook, for example, ‘Silent Paws’ for a Ranger Vagabond or ‘Arsonist’ for the Scoundrel Vagabond.

To undertake an action or Move in a ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, a character’s player rolls two six-sided dice and adds the value of an attribute such as Charm, Cunning, Finesse, Luck, or Might, or Reputation, to the result. A full success is achieved on a result of ten or more; a partial success is achieved with a cost, complication, or consequence on a result of seven, eight, or nine; and a failure is scored on a result of six or less. Essentially, this generates results of ‘yes’, ‘yes, but…’ with consequences, and ‘no’. Notably though, the Game Master does not roll in ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game.

So for example, if a Player Character wants to ‘Read a Tense Situation’, his player is rolling to have his character learn the answers to questions such as ‘What’s my best way out/in/through?’, ‘Who or what is the biggest threat?’, ‘Who or what is most vulnerable to me?’, ‘What should I be on the lookout for?’, or ‘Who is in control here?’. To make the Move, the player rolls the dice and his character’s Cunning to the result. On a result of ten or more, the player can ask three of these questions, whilst on a result of seven, eight, or nine, he only gets to ask one.

Moves particular to a Playbook can add to an attribute, such as ‘Master Thief’, which adds one to a character’s Finesse or allow another attribute to be substituted for a particular Move, for example, ‘Threatening Visage’, which enables a Player Character to use his Might instead of Charm when using open threats or naked steel on attempts to ‘Persuade an NPC’. Others are fully detailed Moves, such as ‘Grab and Smash’. When a Player Character wants to smash through some scenery to reach someone or something, his player rolls the character’s Might in a test. The Move enables the character to reach the target on a hit. However, this is not without its consequences. This can the character hurting himself and the player marking an injury, break an important part of his surroundings, or damage or leave behind a piece of gear. One a roll of 10+, the character suffers one of these consequences; on a roll of 7-9, he suffers two; and on a miss, he smashes but is left totally vulnerable on the other side.

Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is the Free RPG Day 2023 from Magpie Games for Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game. It includes an explanation of the core rules, six pregenerated Player Characters or Vagabonds and their Playbooks, and a complete setting or Clearing for them to explore. From the overview of the game and an explanation of the characters to playing the game and its many Moves, the introduction to the Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is well-written. It is notable that all of the Vagabonds are essentially roguish in nature, so in addition to the Basic Moves, such as ‘Figure Someone Out’, ‘Persuade an NPC’, ‘Trick an NPC’, ‘Trust Fate’, and ‘Wreck Something’, they can ‘Attempt a Roguish Feat’. This covers Acrobatics, Blindside, Counterfeit, Disable Device, Hide, Pick Lock, Pick Pocket, Sleight of Hand, and Sneak. Each of these requires an associated Feat to attempt, and each of the six pregenerated Vagabonds has one, two, or more of the Feats depending just how roguish they are. Otherwise, a Vagabond’s player rolls the ‘Trust to Fate’ Move.

The six pre-generated Vagabonds include Laeliana the Arbiter, an experienced Mole mercenary who is looking for the right battles to fight; Jexri the Champion, a Lizard who is devout follower of the Great Wyrm and defender of those who need it; Yates the Envoy, a Toad envoy who works as a diplomat for hire; Mint the Prince, a young Fox trying to live up to the reputation of her mother; Rackham the Thief, a bird thief who has returned to Hacksaw Dell to show off their expertise as a burglar; and Knohadd the Vagrant, a Possum ex-Riverfolk Company captain, who comes with plenty of baggage. All six of these Vagabonds have links to the given Clearing and its NPCs in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart, and all six are complete with Natures and Drives, stats, backgrounds, Moves, Feats, and equipment. All a player has to do is decide on a couple of connections and each Playbook is ready to play.
As its title suggests, the given Clearing in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is Hacksaw Dell. Its description comes with an overarching issue and conflicts within the Clearing, important NPCs, places to go, and more. The situation in Hacksaw Dell is different to that of most Clearings. Until recently, the Marquisate operated a lumbermill in the Clearing, but this was targeted by the Woodland Alliance and burnt down, only a month ago. An Assembly of Citizens has been established to create a charter to govern the newly freed Clearing, but progress is not fast enough for some. This is includes the Woodland Alliance provocateurs who liberated the Clearing, some of whom want to repeat the action they took in liberating the Clearing and many other citizens who have found succour in the Lizard Cult. Others want to install a prince like they had in the days when the Eyrie Dynasties ruled the Clearing. These four Conflicts make up the plots to be explored and developed in the Clearing and each is fully detailed and includes notes on what happens if the vagabonds do not get involved and leave the Conflict to develop on its own. For the Game Master there is a good overview of the Clearing and notes of where to begin when running the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart and getting the Vagabonds involved. There suggestions also as to how escalate the situation for each of the Vagabonds to draw them further into the ongoing events in Hacksaw Dell.

Physically, Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is a fantastic looking booklet, done in full colour and printed on heavy paper stock. It is well written and the artwork, taken from or inspired by the Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right board game, is bright and breezy, and really attractive. Even cute. Simply, just as Root: The Pellenicky Glade Quickstart was for Free RPG Day 2020, Root: The Bertram’s Cove Quickstart was for Free RPG Day 2021, and Root: Talon Hill Quickstart for Free RPG 2022, so too Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is physically the most impressive of all the releases for Free RPG Day 2023.

If there is an issue with Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart it is that it looks busy and it looks complex—something that often besets ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying games. Not only do players need their Vagabond’s Playbooks, but also reference sheets for all of the game’s Basic Moves and Weapon Moves—and that is a lot of information. However, it means that a player has all of the information he needs to play his Vagabond to hand, he does not need to refer to the rules for explanations of the rules or his Vagabond’s Moves. That also means that there is some preparation required to make sure that each player has the lists of Moves his Vagabond needs. Another issue is that the relative complexity and the density of the information in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart means that it is not a beginner’s game and the Game Master will need a bit of experience to run Hacksaw Dell and its conflicts.

Ultimately, the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart comes with everything necessary to play and keep the attention of a playing group for probably three or four sessions, possibly more. Although it needs a careful read through and preparation by the Game Master, Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is a very good introduction to the rules, the setting, and conflicts in Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game—and it looks damned good too. For the Game Master who is already running a Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game campaign, the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart provides another Clearing that she can add to her campaign with the others available in the proper quick-start for the roleplaying game as well as releases for previous Free RPG Days.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Elven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Alp, the elven undead. 

Alp are the undead forms of elves.

There are at least six here and the potential for many more.

Faecal Lands is quite possibly the dirtiest book published for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. The simplest description of the book is that it details a pocket dimension for use with that roleplaying game, or indeed any Old School Renaissance-style retroclone—and this is true. Which it does. However, the very nature of that pocket dimension and what it contains is certain to make every player, every character, and every Game Master recoil in a combination of horror and disgust. And seriously, if any of them react differently, you should be worried. So be prepared to be disgusted at the content of this book and even be disgusted at this review, because such a reaction to either is perfectly understandable. If though, you have no desire to read further, whether because of the warnings given so far or because even the title hints at too much, that is also understandable. Faecal Lands is definitely not a book for everyone and it is definitely difficult to quite work out who Faecal Lands is actually for. So last warning then…

Faecal Lands, published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, is written by the publisher and creator of The Midderlands setting and the author of the highly regarded The Staffortonshire Trading Company Works of John Williams. It details a pocket dimension where all of the worlds’ excrement and urine are dumped. This is the Faecal Lands of the title, a brown-stained, stench-laden mini-world consisting of hills and valleys of compacted excreta cut through by lakes and rivers of urine. Here swarms of Bloated Shit Flies go in search of corpses to feed on and implant eggs that will hatch into Bloated Shit Fly Maggots; the black serpentine Egg Collectors burrow in search of the eggs laid by the Bloated Shit Flies, often herded by Excrement Golems; Pisscatore, demonic angler fish hunt in the lakes, even waddling ashore to pull corpses into the lakes; Faecal Goblins, the creation of Dreadmaster Balayoch in the Flatulent Pits, conduct tunnelling and other menial tasks; and Lord Faecius, twelve feet tall, sits on his throne of compacted ordure in his tower of compacted dung from where he rules his domain as the white juice of Bloated Shit Fly eggs dribbles down his belly… The Faecal Lands are home to various other demons too, typically the excretory analogues to the demons of Dungeons & Dragons, and even a Faecal Dragon.

In addition to all of these monsters and a size character for all of them, Faecal Lands describes several locations, as well as how to travel and survive in this rancid region, suggests ways to bring the Player Characters there, lists two hundred encounters and plot hooks, and explains how the Player Characters can escape their poopy prison and gives them several means to do so. So, the question is, how do you use Faecal Lands? As written, the Player Characters find themselves in this dimensional dung heap, either through reading the wrong tome, suffering a curse, being punished by a demon, or similar things, and have to find their out of the pocket dimension. Thankfully, the Faecal Lands are small and their options limited, but exploration will discover ways through which they can make their escape—and even a potential ally!

Physically, Faecal Lands is well presented and easy to use. Especially if you like shades of brown (and yellow). The artwork cannot be described—for the most part—as anything other than grotty, but the maps are unsurprisingly decent given the identity of the author.

So the other question is, how would you even use Faecal Lands? Well, definitely not as a one-shot, probably not somewhere to take the Player Characters intentionally, and unless your players have the strongest of stomachs, not somewhere to spring on them and their characters unexpectedly. Yet there are ways of using it. The contents describe a hellish pocket dimension where demon lords banish others as a punishment and if you can have Hell in your campaign, why not Hell for the hellish and the demonic? It could exist in a campaign and maybe never be visited, just hinted at in dark tomes and whispered about in furtive conversations between demonologists, demon hunters, and demon-worshipping cultists, as one of the nastiest places imaginable, a hell for other demons. The Player Characters might hear about it, know of its existence, and so, in way, at least be slightly mentally prepared when they end up in the Faecal Lands, whether through a miscast Teleport spell, reading from the wrong book, being cursed, or being punished by demon for reneging on a deal…

Faecal Lands is an unpleasant book and undeniably and intentionally so. It is not unusable though, and the book is well done, but whether a Game Master actually would use it is another matter. It would take a strong stomach as well as a good reason to do so. Ultimately, the appeal of Faecal Lands, let alone its utility is limited, probably extremely so. As to the author, who knew he had a book, let alone a setting like this, in him? Well, now he doesn’t.

—oOo—
DISCLAIMER: The author of this review is an editor who has both edited titles for Lamentations of the Flame Princess on a freelance basis and edited titles for the author of this book on a freelance basis. He was not involved in the production of this book and his connection to both publisher and author has no bearing on the resulting review.

 Interesting one this week. I am unsure if I am calling people to support it. My purpose here is often to shed some light on a crowdfunded project you may not have seen. This one though is at $3 Million right now so it doesn't need my help.  But that is not why I am talking about this one today.

But first, the campaign.

The MCDM RPG

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mcdm-productions/mcdm-rpg?ref=theotherside

This is a new big FRPG from Matt Colville (the "MC" in the name I am guessing).  It is obviously modeled on D&D style play and it is being pitched as a D&D alternative in all but name. Back in the day we would have called this a Fantasy Heartbreaker.

The game looks slick as hell and it will certainly be a lot of fun and look good. Matt does good work on his design so I have no doubt this will be a good game.

BUT...(there is always a but) there are a few things about it that I am not quite connecting with.

If you take D&D as the middle ground and go far out on the gritty/old-school side you get another wildly successful RPG ShadowDark.  Go the same distance in the other direction and you will have MCDM RPG.  Many of the selling points about this game read like "everything ShadowDark is, we are not." For example from the project page:

Compared to what ShadowDark say they are on their Kickstarter Project page:

NOW PLEASE UNDERSTAND. I am not trying to set up a MCDM vs. ShadowDark thing here. I think both games are great and their respective successes give evidence that both games are wanted and needed. AND (more to the point) both provide that D&D-alternative to those that want it. 

I think having a good D&D-alternative is a good thing given the bookend events from Wizards/Hasbro this 2023.  

Just as I don't click well with some of the things in ShadowDark, I also don't click very well with some of the things in MCDM.  I *do* want monsters to be able to avoid spells sometimes. I *do* want there to be a chance that the PCs can fail. I do want some grit. But I also want hope. My preferred gaming experience is somewhere in the middle.

Also, reading through the material, I get the sense that the design is not 100% complete yet. That is a red flag for me these days. When NIGHT SHIFT went to Kickstarter the book was done and playtesting complete. When Wasted Lands went to Kickstarter the playtesting on the new mechanics was done, the core rules were done, and the Gazeteer was nearly complete. Both games shipped early.  My concern is this game won't ship for a while.

I have seen online people calling this a "D&D Killer" which I have my doubts about. Pathfinder is a great game but it was not a D&D killer. I have seen a lot of so-called D&D Killers over the years. I don't think this one will be either.  But it might get WotC to pay attention. Maybe.

Even if it doesn't make WotC/Hasbro take notice it will provide a new game to people who love this sort of style and help keep role-playing going for a bit longer. Who knows, maybe I'll pick it up as well one day.

The gaming magazine is dead. After all, when was the last time that you were able to purchase a gaming magazine at your nearest newsagent? Games Workshop’s White Dwarf is of course the exception, but it has been over a decade since Dragon appeared in print. However, in more recent times, the hobby has found other means to bring the magazine format to the market. Digitally, of course, but publishers have also created their own in-house titles and sold them direct or through distribution. Another vehicle has been Kickststarter.com, which has allowed amateurs to write, create, fund, and publish titles of their own, much like the fanzines of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest. The resulting titles are not fanzines though, being longer, tackling broader subject matters, and more professional in terms of their layout and design.

—oOo—
Senet—named for the Ancient Egyptian board game, Senet—is a print magazine about the craft, creativity, and community of board gaming. Bearing the tagline of “Board games are beautiful”, it is about the play and the experience of board games, it is about the creative thoughts and processes which go into each and every board game, and it is about board games as both artistry and art form. Published by Senet Magazine Limited, each issue promises previews of forthcoming, interesting titles, features which explore how and why we play, interviews with those involved in the process of creating a game, and reviews of the latest and most interesting releases.

Senet Issue 7 was published in the spring of 2022. It opens with an editorial that highlights the reach and width of board games, often to unexpected corners and fans. This includes, in this case, the late lyricist and composer, Steven Sondheim, who was a subscriber of the magazine. This quite made the editor’s week. It an aspect of the hobby that is highlighted elsewhere in the magazine, notably in the ‘Points’, the regular column of readers’ letters.

The issues gets down to its contents with ‘Behold’, its regular preview of some of the then-forthcoming board game titles. As expected, ‘Behold’ showcases its previewed titles to intriguing effect, a combination of simple write-ups with artwork and depictions of the board games. The standouts here are Don’t Go In There, a spooky exploration of a haunted house that is strong on apprehension versus the desire to delve deeper into the house and has some fantastically gothic style artwork, and Crescent Moon, an asymmetrical area-control game whose theme is the five factions and their differences of the Abbasid Caliphate.

‘Points’, the regular column of readers’ letters, covers a number of different topics. One discusses the misuse of the word ‘cull’ in terms of excising boardgames from your library, whilst another highlights the issues with the use of apps in games and their likely obsolescence, essentially making the games unplayable. There is also a lovely letter about a teenage gamer having discovered not only the joy of boardgames, but also the joy of introducing the hobby to his friends and family. The most interesting letter is from an American in Korea who was amazed to discover the cultural differences between the USA and Korea in terms of boardgame mechanics. These differences have been highlighted, at least for Call of Cthulhu, in the pages of Bayt al Azif – A magazine for Cthulhu Mythos roleplaying games, and perhaps this is a possible thread that Senet magazine could follow up in future issues. In ‘For Love of the Game’, Tristian Hall continues his designer’s journey towards the completion and publication of his Gloom of Kilforth. In previous issues he explored how the game became a vehicle for roleplaying and storytelling, used the mechanics to bring the game and its background to life, marketing options, and dealing with feedback and criticism about a game’s design, but in this issue, he writes about world-building and immersion through text and art, and how historical research can really benefit the design of a game.

Senet follows a standard format of articles and article types. One explores a theme found in board games, its history, and the games that showcase it to best effect, whilst another looks at a particular mechanic. In between there are two interviews, one with a designer, the other with an artist. The mechanical article in Senet Issue 7 is quite short and is on word games. Of course, ‘Word Play’ by Owen Duffy, begins with Scrabble—and arguably a whole article could be devoted to that game—but it quickly expands to explore more modern designs, such as Paperback and Wibbell++ (or The Ell Deck). The article also highlights five word games that can used as party games that also pull the word game away from its dry spelling contest origins. Though a little short, the article is a good overview of the format.

The artist interviewed in ‘The Pathfinder’ is with Francesca Baerald, best known for her work on Gloomhaven and Descent: Legends of the Dark, big boardgames with strong roleplaying aspects to them, as well as to roleplaying games such as Legend of the Five Rings. The article explores her background and how she became an artist before providing her space to comment upon a handful of her pieces. Not all of them are maps, but those maps do stand out, presenting rich and detailed worlds that beg to be explored. There is no pullout in this issue showcasing her artwork, but nevertheless, this is artwork that pulls the viewer into its depth and detail. The artist interviewed in the previous issue was with Miguel Coimbra, best known for illustrating the mini-civilisation-style 7 Wonders and the fantasy wargame of variable races and powers, Small World. So its seems apt that the games designer interviewed in Senet Issue 7 in ‘Wonder Man’ is with Antoine Bauza, the designer of the award-winning 7 Wonders and Hanabi. Interviewed at the same time as his new game, Oltréé, was published, the interview is far ranging, covering his gaming and publishing history, his love of co-operative games, his fascination with Japan as seen in Takenoko and Tokaïdo, and unfortunately, his frustrations and disillusionment with the hobby. This is not something that has been seen in interviews in previous issues and here it ends the interview on a downbeat tone. Nevertheless, this is an interesting interview and Antoine Bauza’s games are shown off to best effect.

The theme or genre of game showcased in Senet Issue 7 is the trading card game or ‘TCG’. Where the earlier ‘Word Play’ began at the obvious starting point of Scrabble, in ‘Trade Wars’, Alexandra Sonechkina begins with Magic: The Gathering and its history. This is quickly rushed through—no surprise given that it could have taken up the whole article, but it has its own history in the form of Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering—before the article looks at some of the variations and concepts behind the format. Unfortunately, there is an emphasis in the article on the bigger games such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon, which is understandable, and there no real exploration of smaller trading card games bar the one, Flesh and Blood. There have been hundreds of trading card games since the publication of Magic: The Gathering and it seems so limiting to have explored some of them. Worse perhaps, is that the article does not explore in any depth variations upon the trading card game format, so that for example, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, is mentioned as a co-operative trading card game format, but it only a mention and that element of co-operation is then ignored. Overall, the article is decent enough, but there are aspects of the trading card game format that the article sadly ignores.

‘Unboxed’, Senet’s reviews includes a review of Antoine Bauza’s Oltréé, and is joined by good reviews of Cascadia, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and others. it is a good mix and the reviews are all useful and informative. The reviews section is rounded out with top ten list of the Senet’s ‘The Best of 2021’, which is worth comparing with the reviews that appeared in previous issues.

Rounding out Senet Issue 7 are regular end columns, ‘How to Play’ and ‘Shelf of Shame’. For the former, Fred Cronin explores ‘Cultivating a collection’, suggesting ways to build a game library you can enjoy whilst avoiding some of the missteps he took himself. It is good advice and in a callback to the latter in ‘Points’, the readers’ letters column, in which a reader discusses the misuse of the word ‘cull’, suggests using the term ‘prune’ for removing games from your collection. For the latter, comedian and boardgames fan, John Robertson, looks at the heist game, Theives. It was a title he he was enticed by at UK Games Expo in 2018 after he handed the designer an award for it, but never got to play until after the copy he bought then he gave to his flatmate.

Physically, Senet Issue 7 is very professionally presented. It looks and feels as good as previous issues of the magazine.

As with previous issues, Senet Issue 7 offers a good mix of articles, interviews, and reviews. In places its articles feel slightly limited in their scope, but not to the point they where they needlessly detract from their content. For the boardgames fan, Senet continues to be a solid read.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Dwarven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Haugbui, the dwarven undead.

 

Haugbui

Armor Class 4 [15]
Hit Dice 6+6 (33hp)***
Attacks 2 × claws (1d6+4), 1 bite (1d4+4) + Ability Drain
THAC0 14 [+5]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (6)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 1,025
Number Appearing 1d8 (1d8)
Treasure Type None

Haugbui are undead dwarves of fierce warriors cursed to remain in their barrows and underground chambers. 

The attack with a claw, claw, bite routine. On a successful bite attack, they can drain blood at 1 point of Constitution per round. The get these undead unattached requires a strength ability check to pull them off.  

These creatures are very strong; Strength 20 and silver is required to hit them.

These creatures turn as Wights.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of many horses. 

There are Undead Horses and Nightmares here.

Undead Horses

Armor Class 7 [12]
Hit Dice 4 (18hp)
Attacks 2 × hoof (1d6+1)
THAC0 16 [+3]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (4)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 125
Number Appearing 1d8 (1d8)
Treasure Type None

Undead horses are skeletal remains of normal horses. They attack much as they did in life, only now they can also be turned as Wights.

Nightmares

Armor Class -4 [24]
Hit Dice 6+6 (33hp)
Attacks 1 bite (2d4), 2 × burning hooves (2d4+2); Breath smoke
THAC0 14 [+5]
Movement 150’ (50’) / Fly 360' (90')
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (4)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 1,025
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type None

Nightmares are the steeds of night hags and other demons, black horses with flaming hoofs and mane. Their breath is a cloud of brimstone smoke, which causes any nearby opponent to attack at –2 (saving throw applies). These horrible creatures can become incorporeal and travel between the planes of existence, bearing their evil/chaotic riders.

(Section 15: Nightmare, Swords & Wizardry SRD)

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Again, GMs choose as many as they need to challenge the PCs.

 Thanks to the magic of Withers (and a mere pittance of 100gp), my warlock Larina from my first run can now join my paladin Johan on his current run.

The game is still rather fantastic and 300+ hours later, I am still discovering more. With some of the mods I added I don't think I'll be able to get Sinéad in there as well. The "half-elf" hireling is gone, replaced by Alfria.

 Moving into the larger area of Encounter Area 12.  These are the graves of the human sacrifices. There are 666 total graves, from these rise a horde of zombies.

--

How many zombies?  All of them. The idea here is to overwhelm the PCs to keep them from going forward. Indulge your little black heart. 

 I have discussed my fondness for the Green cover B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. It is a fun adventure and great for newbie DMs. It came to me just as I needed it. For its ability to run and more lore to Glantri, and (for me) the ability to easily code it into a computer when I was trying to D&D on my little TRS-80 Color Computer. 

I like the adventure. A lot. But not this much.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/315023385002

Right now is it going for just a bit over $10k.  That is up $1000.00 from when I first saw it this morning.

The adventure is fun, no where near as good as the revised Green cover version. And it is certainly not with $10k except to a serious collector. 

Makes me wish I knew what dumpster they were dumped in at the time! I could pay my kids' college tuition with that. 

 The hallway of Encounter Area #11 opens up to a massive room filled with stone sarcophagi.  A plaque as the PCs enter describes this as the Hall of Sacrificed Dead.

These are the final resting places of the followers of the Vampire Queen. She sacrificed them to further her own power and appease her demonic lords.

There are 1,000 sarcophagi here, divided into groups.

• Group 1 (Encounter Area 13): Humans (666 total)
• Group 2 (Encounter Area 14): Horses (180 total)
• Group 3 (Encounter Area 15): Dwarves (55 total)
• Group 4 (Encounter Area 16): Elves (54 total)
• Group 5 (Encounter Area 17): Halflings (45 total)

This room is guarded by the undead temple guardians, 10 Huecuva.  They will wait until the characters enter the room and attack them from all sides.

Huecuva

Armor Class: 3 [116]
Hit Dice: 2*** (9 hp)
Attacks: 2 claws or 1 weapon (1d6 x2 or 1d8), ability drain
THAC0: 18 [+2]
Movement: 90’ (30’)
Saving Throws: D11 W12 P13 B14 S15 SS14 (Cleric 2)
Morale: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 35
Number Appearing: 1 (0) (see below)
Treasure Type: C
Turn As: Wight (Type 5)

A huecuva is a Cleric who has been cursed to undeath for their faithlessness. It resembles a skeleton wrapped in old, tattered robes or rusting armor. Small points of red light can be seen in each of its empty eye sockets. A huecuva speaks and reads all the languages it knew in life.

 A huecuva is a cowardly combatant, preferring to set up traps and ambushes for potential interlopers. It will attack Clerics before anyone else. Those struck by the huecuva's claws must save vs. Poison or contract a terrible wasting disease. Each day the target takes 1d3 points of Constitution damage. Those reduced to 0 Constitution die, and rise as a zombie on the following day, under the control of the huecuva. A cure disease spell must be used to prevent death. 

Ability points lost due to a huecuva's disease return at a rate of 1 per day of complete rest. All huecuva can cast spells as a Cleric (level 1d4+1). However, these spells are always reversed.

A huecuva can only be harmed by silver or magical weapons. In addition, it takes 1d6 points of damage from the touch of a holy symbol. A huecuva can be Turned by a Cleric (as a wight), and like all undead are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells.  

They are turned as Wights.

 We decorated our "Geek Tree" this past weekend.  Even though my kids are older now and not really "kids" anymore (my oldest is a professional and is saving for a house, and my youngest is in school and has a girlfriend), we all still like to watch the old Christmas specials like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Rudolph, in particular, is a favorite, not for itself but for how badly it has aged. There is one character in it, though, that is redeemable...well, two. Yukon Cornelius and King Moonracer.  We were talking while hanging up ornaments of starships, astromechs, and TARDISes about what sort of monster Moonracer was.  Manticore? No. Androsphinx? Maybe. Shedu? Maybe. Lammasu? Likely closer. 

This got me thinking later on while indulging in our other favorite Christmas-time indulgence, our re-watch of Game of Thrones.  I was digging around in my notes about Lammasu and Shedu for my One Man's God posts and thought I would resurrect them for today.

Lamassu and Shedu

One thing that bugged me way back when reading the Monster Manual was that many of the monsters were very similar. For example, there are Manticores (Greek), Sphinxes (Egyptian and Greek), the Lammasu, and Shedu, with these last two based on Babylonian/Sumerian/Akkadian myths. Sort of. The Lamassu and Shedu in these myths are actually two different names for the same creature. Also, the name in the Monster Manual has a different spelling ("Lammasu").

I always considered these to be related creatures. Something I would later see in the Forgotten Realms lore.  AD&D 2nd Ed made their differences a little more pronounced by making the Shedu the "psionic one."

Lamassu
Large Celestial (Outsider, Lawful)

Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 1-4 (2-8)
Alignment: Lawful [Lawful Good]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
   Fly: 240' (80') [24"']
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 8d8+8**** (44 hp)
   Large: 8d10+8**** (52 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 12 (+7)
Attacks: 2 claws + Special Damage: 1d4+2 x2
Special: Magical abilities, spell use.Save: Monster 8
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: XVI (G)
XP: 2,608 (OSE) 3,040 (LL)Languages: Celestial, Common, Telepathy

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 14 (+1) Con: 15 (+1) Int: 16 (+2) Wis: 18 (+3) Cha: 17 (+2)

Lamassu are spiritual guardians,  often in the service of a Lawful Good god or order, who spend their lives on the Material Planes guarding houses and temples. They can be found in the wild, typically warmer climes. They appear as winged lions with human faces. They are loath to attack mortals but will attack demons, undead, and evil creatures with fear or hesitation.  

The lamassu can attack with two foreclaws for 1d4+2 hp damage each on a single target. They can also employ the following spell-like powers: Protection from Evil 10' at all times, become invisible, and cast dimension door at will.  Additionally, they have the spell-casting and undead-turning ability of a Lawful Good Cleric of the 7th level.

Lamassu are typically viewed as female due to their association with the Goddess Lama. As guardian spirits, though, they are neither male nor female and both at the same time.  They are often compared to sphinxes (whom they share areas with and tolerate), manticores (whom they despise), and shedu (qv.). As spirit guardians made flesh, they are not "born" but come into being at the will of their Goddess. Though it could be argued that She is their mother.

Shedu
Large Celestial (Outsider, Lawful)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 2 (2-8)
Alignment: Lawful [Lawful Good]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
   Fly: 240' (80') [24"']
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 10d8+8**** (65 hp)
   Large: 10d10+8**** (75 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 12 (+8)
Attacks: 2 hooves + Special Damage: 1d4+2 x2
Special: Magical abilities, spell use.Save: Monster 10
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: XVI (G)
XP: 3,606 (OSE) 3,800 (LL)Languages: Celestial, Common, Telepathy

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 14 (+1) Con: 16 (+2) Int: 18 (+3) Wis: 16 (+1) Cha: 17 (+2)

Shedu are often considered to be the "male" versions of Lamassu. This comes from observations that shedu typically has thick, curly beards, and lamassu does not. Both, though, are genderless spirit creatures. Shedu have the bodies of great equines or bulls, with hooves of brass, the wings of an eagle, and the face of a human. 

Like lamassu, the sheu is loathe to attack mortals of any sort, save for the most evil. The will attacks demons and undead on sight.  They can attack with their great forehooves on a single target, each hoof getting an attack. Additionally, they have the following spell-like abilities they can use at will: Protection from Evil 10' radius, become Etheral or Astral, teleport without error.  They also can cast spells as a 9th-level magic User (wizard). 

Shedu are often found roaming the mortal planes, searching for evil to destroy and lawful good mortals to aid. They are always found in multiples of two. Sheu in their lair are often guarding a larger temple to a Lawful Good god, power, or order. Lamassu and Shedu are rarely found together unless they are working with a more powerful Lawful Good force. Even here, they are always found in multiples of two. When a Shedu is killed on the mortal planes, its spirit will return in seven days. 

Greater Shedu: There are shedu that are greater in power and size than the common Shedu.  These creatures have 14 HD, and their damage is +3 to each attack. They cast spells as a 13th-level Wizard. Greater shedu do travel and work in pairs, but they are also the only type of shedu that can be encountered alone. 

As the world turns and dies and the prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisk come true one after another, the coming apocalypse edges ever closer. On the last land in the Endless Sea there is no hope for those who have survived the pre-apocalyptic events to date, but for some faith in the Two-Headed Basilisk and her prophecies can blind them to all else and for others it can them away from the prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisk seeking solace and hope in other gods, false gods. In the family of one priest of one church, both of these things have happened. When her father’s devotion to the Two-Headed Basilisk blinded him to the love she sought, jealousy took root in the daughter and impregnated her, leading to the birth of a demon son. Aghast at the two-headed monstrosity and its wailing from mouth and the heresies whispered from the other, the father’s faith was broken and cast both daughter and grandson into the earth under his church, where they fell under the influence of the vile-servant of They, the Seamstress. As the boy grew and wailed in the darkness, the Seamstress filled son and daughter with dark dreams until she became the Queen of the Darkest Chamber and he founded the Order of the Two-Headed Man. She wants her son to be worshipped as a god and he wants to take the prophecies of his demonic grandson to the people and the Order of the Two-Headed Man to supplant the Church of the Two-Headed Basilisk. Are their wishes one more heresy against the Church of the Two-Headed Basilisk or do they actually fulfil the prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisk as was foretold?

This is the set-up for Psalm IV:I, a scenario for Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance retroclone designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. Published by Storeywood following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Psalm IV:I is a short, vile and bloody scenario that interprets ‘Psalm IV:I’ of the Two-Headed Basilisk’s prophecies, enabling the Player Characters to explore its revelations and both its ramifications and those of their actions as events in and under the church of the Two-Headed Man play out. Thus, it is designed around a specific timed event in the pre-apocalypse of Mörk Borg, although the Player Characters—and even the players—will not be aware of this. Alternatively, Psalm IV:I can simply be used as a short encounter in the Game Master’s campaign, easily slotting into that or any one of the various hexcrawl adventures published for Mörk Borg as a singular encounter of its own.
Psalm IV:I includes several hooks to get the Player Characters involved, including a local priest—the Father—beginning to flay and crucify the local townspeople, the Church of the Two-Headed Basilisk hiring them to suppress the Father’s heresy, a priest escaped from the Order of the Two-Headed Man asking them for their help, and their hearing rumours of a Two-Headed Man promising to save them. It provides a detailed background and backstory to the situation at the single church dedicated to the Order of the Two-Headed Man, including a lengthy timeline. Motivations are given for the quartet of involved in the story—the Daughter/Queen of the Darkest Chamber, her son, her Father, and the Seamstress—so that it is possible to interact with them and even side with them depending upon their actions and attitudes. Ways are suggested how such interactions might play out as are the possible effects of the Player Characters’ choices.
As a place to explore Psalm IV:I describes three distinct areas. These consist of the Courtyard with the Father’s crucified victims and the blood-trailed church; the Undercroft, the cramped crypts which have been twisted into the service of worshipping the Queen of the Darkest Chamber even as the Seamstress lurks, and ‘The Darkest Chambers’, where no light can reach or shine, and the Son wails and whispers piteously… The maps to each location are clear and Psalm IV:I adheres to the Mörk Borg format of keying maps and locations and their descriptions on the same page.
Psalm IV:I only introduces the one monster, the ‘Undead Courtier’, drawing primarily upon those in the Mörk Borg rule book. It does provide a guide for handling fear in the Undercroft, which includes exploiting the possible phobias of the Player Characters, which can be accrued either during character creation or through the result of trauma during play. There is also the means detailed to overcome the phobia as well. These phobia rules are optional though.
Physically, Psalm IV:I is a small book. It is mostly done in black with its artwork almost scratched into the pages in white or crayon-like colours. The effect is weird and creepy and adds to the gloom and sense of darkness that pervades the whole book.
Psalm IV:I is a solid scenario for Mörk Borg. The Game Master will need to make sure that she grasps the motivations of the four NPCs in the scenario, but otherwise Psalm IV:I is easy to add to a campaign, drop into a hexcrawl, or run as a one-shot, serving up a helping of spurned love and double heresy.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—

What is it?Porcupine Cat is a “A 2 page terror for padding out Prax” for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which presents a creature and three hooks to use the creature in a campaign that the Game Master can develop and run as a single session’s worth of play.

It is a two page, full colour 255.71 KB PDF.

The layout is tidy, the artwork rough, but serviceable.

The creature and the scenario hooks can be easily be adapted to the rules system of the Game Master’s choice.
Where is it set?As written, Porcupine Cat details a creature found in Prax and the Big Rubble.

Who do you play?
Porcupine Cat does not require any specific character type, but as it can be found anywhere where there are granaries or rats and other vermin, almost any type of character encounter it.
What do you need?
Porcupine Cat requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha only.
What do you get?Porcupine Cat details a simple creature and provides three hooks involving the creature. The Porcupine Cat is a feline-like creature noted for the quills that run along its back and protrude from the end of its tail. It is not a threat to most adults, but can be to children. It can fire the quills from its tail. Quills that get stuck in the flesh are difficult to remove and painful enough to impede movement and other physical activity.

The supplement provides a general description of the Porcupine Cat, the effect of its quills, and an illustration along with the stats. This followed by the three adventure hooks. These are quite inventive, including spine getting stuck in the spirit of a warrior, obtaining quills for a Tarshite Lunar scribe who believes them to be perfect for writing the New Pelorian script, and going into the Big Rubble to find a sample beast for a local alchemist. These contain a reasonable amount of basic information, but will require the Game Master to develop further details.
Ultimately the usefulness of Porcupine Cat will depend upon if the Game Master does not mind adding another creature to Glorantha and does not mind developing the included scenario hooks.

Is it worth your time?Yes—Porcupine Cat is a short and simple supplement, and surprisingly better than anything intended “... for padding out Prax” deserves to be.No—Porcupine Cat is either set in Prax where the Game Master’s campaign is not or leaves too much for the Game Master to do given the simplicity of the content—if not both.Maybe—Porcupine Cat is not as bad as it sounds and the scenario hooks are workable.

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

—oOo—
It is over a thousand years since the founding of the Empire of Thera with the establishment of the Eternal Library by the Elves to study and decipher the Books of Harrow. These volumes revealed that as the magic rose in the world, it enabled unimaginable horrors—previously only seen by wizards entering Astral Space—to break into the world and spread chaos, death, and destruction. Magic was yet to peak, and as the Theran Empire spread its influence and conquered new territories in search of more Books of Harrow, it traded—even warred—for orichalcum, the magically rich metal that would further the research of the Eternal Library, and it preached of the dangers to come. Ultimately, the staff at the Eternal Library determined that the only way for people to protect themselves was to magically seal whole communities in kaers and citadels, there to wait out the centuries until after magic had peaked and begun to decrease. Centuries passed before the Scourge of the Horrors ended and the inhabitants of the kaers knew it was safe to leave, but the land their ancestors had known is changed. Horrors still exist, in dark corners and the kaers whose defences they managed to breach, and there are still kaers that remain sealed, the fate of their inhabitants unknown. In Barsaive, a former province of the Theran Empire, the Dwarf kingdom of Throal arose as the Theran Empire retreated and has already driven back an initial attempt to reclaim the province by the empire. The many peoples of Barsaive, declared by the Kingdom of Throal free from being slaves of the Theran Empire as their ancestors had been, are thriving and there are many, known as ‘Adepts’ for their magical connection to the world, who aid the kingdom and explore its new lands.
This is the setting for Earthdawn, a new roleplaying game published by FASA in 1993. It was a big fantasy roleplaying game published at a time when no other fantasy roleplaying games were being published—except for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition. At the time it looked like an aberration, because after all, if you had Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, did you actually need another fantasy roleplaying game? After all, what did Earthdawn offer that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition did? The answer to that is both plenty and not a lot. Plenty, because it offered a detailed setting from the start, that of Barsaive; it provided a reason to explore the underground locations of its setting, the kaers, in way that the dungeons of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition did not; it offered plenty for the Player Characters to do, such as exploring kaers, sealed and unsealed, exploring the new world, protecting others from the remaining Horrors, and so on; it offered lots of character archetypes that enabled the Player Characters to do exciting things; and it had a rules system that was coherent and consistent from start to finish. Not a lot because it was still high fantasy like that of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition and you are still playing Elves, Dwarves, and the like; and kaers are still dungeons even if they are called kaers.
A Player Character or Adept in Earthdawn is defined by his Race, Attributes, Discipline and Circle, Talents, skills, and spells. There are eight core Races, known as the ‘Name-giver’ races, detailed in the Earthdawn core book: Dwarf, Elf, Human, Ork, and Troll are similar to their depiction in other fantasy roleplaying games, but in Barsaive, Dwarves are the dominant Race and culture. The other three are Obsidiman, creatures of living rock, over seven feet tall and weighing hundreds of pounds; T’Skrang, reptilian humanoids, matriarchal, flamboyant and sometimes frivolous; and Windlings, eighteen-inch tall fairie-like creatures with dragonfly-like wings. Obsidiman are seen as slow, but dependable; Orks as nomads, whose tribes will raid the civilised lands; Trolls as feared sky raiders, aerial pirates who crew longship-like sky boats; and T’Skrang as river traders when they are not part of the river pirate federations. Each Race has its own innate abilities. For example, Obsidiman are stronger and tougher, T’Skrang have a tail attack, Trolls are stronger and tougher and have heat vision, and Windlings are not as tough, but possess Astral Sensitive Sight and Flight. Humans have the Versatility Talent, which enables them to learn Talents from Disciplines other than their own. The six Attributes are Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, Willpower, and Charisma, and they range in value between two and eighteen.
There are thirteen Disciplines in Earthdawn. A Discipline is a way of studying magic and connecting to the magic of the world, and is both a profession and a way of life. They are Archer, Beastmaster, Cavalryman, Elementalist, Illusionist, Nethermancer, Sky Raider, Swordmaster, Thief, Troubadour, Warrior, Weaponsmith, and Wizard. The Elementalist, the Illusionist, the Nethermancer, and the Wizard are the specific spellcasters, with the Nethermancer’s magic involving the other planes. Each Discipline has eight Circles, representing the overall skill and experience of the Adept. In effect, Discipline is the equivalent of Class and Circle the equivalent of level, making Earthdawn as much as a Class and Level roleplaying game as it is a Discipline and Circle roleplaying game.
One of the features of Earthdawn is that both Races and Disciplines are strongly presented in the roleplaying game’s artwork. A colour section depicts all eight Races and each of the eight Discipline listings is accompanied by a ready-to-play archetype of that Discipline. Thus, the Beastmaster is accompanied by an Ork Beastmaster, the Sky Raider by the Troll Sky Raider, the Swordmaster by a T’Skrang Swordmaster, and the Weaponsmith by the Dwarf Weaponsmith. This is typical of roleplaying games designed in the nineties, but very much helped to enforce the feel and look of the world of Earthdawn.
To create an Adept in Earthdawn, a player selects a Race, Discipline, generates Attributes—either randomly or by a point-buy method, determines Step Number and Action Dice for each Attribute, assigns Ranks to the Talents from his first Circle, and assigns Ranks to Knowledge Skills, an Artisan Skills, and Language Skills. Knowledge Skills are areas of study, whilst Artisan Skills represent the arts and craft skills that the people of Barsaive practice in order to prove their creativity and thus not corrupted by the Horrors. Lastly, after equipping his Adept, a player selects one or two personality traits—one of which can be hidden if two are selected, and decides upon some background details.
Name: SheerRace: WindlingDiscipline: Archer Circle: First
ATTRIBUTE – STEP – ACTION DIEDexterity (17): 7/1D12Strength (11): 5/1D8Toughness (12): 5/1D8Perception (15): 6/1D10Willpower (15): 6/1D10Charisma (16): 7/1D12
TALENTSAvoid Blow (2): 9/1D8+1D6Direction Arrow (1): 8/2D6Karma Ritual (1): 8/2D6Missile Weapons (2): 9/1D8+1D6Mystic Aim (1): 8/2D6True Shot (1): 8/2D6
MOVEMENTFull: 48 (Land)/90 (Flight)Combat: 24 (Land)/45 (Flight)
SKILLSArtisan/Fletching (1): 8/2D6Knowledge/Windling Lore (1): 8/2D6Knowledge/Heroes & Legends (1): 8/2D6
LANGUAGESLanguage/Windling (1): 8/2D6Language/Dwarven (1): 8/2D6Read/Write/Dwarven (1): 8/2D6
KARMADice: D10 Points: 15
COMBATPhysical Defence: 10 Spell Defence: 8 Social Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Mystic Armour: 2
DAMAGEDeath Rating: 34 Wound Threshold: 9
Mechanically, Earthdawn uses all of the standard polyhedral dice and to succeed at an action, must roll high to beat a Difficulty Number. Every Attribute, Skill, and Talent has a Step Number. The base Step Numbers for an Adept are derived directly from the Attributes and the ranks that an Adept has in his Skills and Talents will increase their Step Number. The Step Number determines the Action Die or Action Dice that the player will roll for his Adept when using a Skill or Talent. Each Step Number is equal to the average roll on the Action Die or Action Dice. For example, the Action Die for a Step Number of six is a ten-sided die, the average roll for which is six. As an Adept increases the ranks he has in his Skills and Talents, the Step Number and Action Die for each will also increase. In combat, the Difficulty Numbers are determined by the opponent’s Physical Defence, Spell Defence, and Social Defence values, but for other actions, the Game Master assigns a Difficulty Number according to the difficulty of the task. The result of the roll is then compared to the difficulty of the task on the Success Level Table. The result can be Poor, Average, Good, Excellent, or Extraordinary. Higher results are possible because rolling the maximum on any die allows the player to roll and add the result of another die of the same type.For example, Sheer and his friends are exploring a kaer when they discover some ghouls. As his friends move to attack, Sheer draws an arrow and fires at a ghoul. The ghoul has a Physical Defence of seven and an Armour rating of four. Sheer’s player decides to use his Missile Weapons, for which he will roll an eight-sided die and a six-sided die and add the results together. He rolls a six on the eight-sided die and a six on six-sided die, which means he can roll another six-sided die and add that to the total. He rolls five and the grand total is seventeen. The Game Master compares this result versus the Difficulty Number of the Ghoul’s Physical Defence. This is not quite enough to get an Extraordinary result, but it is enough to get an Excellent result. This means that Sheer’s attack bypasses the ghoul’s armour (or hit it in a soft spot if no armour is worn) and it will suffer the full effect of the Damage Test.In addition, all Adepts—and some creatures—have Karma, which can be spent in two ways. Some Talents require Karma to be activated, but it can also be spent to add another Action Die to a test. The size of the die is determined by Race. The amount of Karma an adept has is limited, but it can be replenished through the Karma Ritual Talent and through expenditure of Legend Points, the equivalent of Experience Points in Earthdawn.
Magic forms a major part of the setting and background to Earthdawn and four of the Disciplines—the Elementalist, the Illusionist, the Nethermancer, and the Wizard—can cast spells. All four have their own spell lists and start play with several spells, but for each, this requires the Spellcasting, Thread Weaving, and Spell Matrix Talents. Effectively, casting spells is a three-step process, of which Spellcasting is the third and last. The first is Thread Weaving, which enables the spellcaster to weave threads of magic into a spell’s pattern which is then stored in Spell Matrix. Some spells require more than one thread. The Spell Matrix enables the spellcaster to hold and cast a spell free of interference from astral space. Otherwise, the magic would pass through the caster’s body and in the process, do him harm. Other Adepts can also have Thread Weaving, but this is tied to what their Disciplines do rather than enabling them to formulate spells. A spellcaster can have multiple threads being woven at any one time and will have more than the one Spell Matrix, often enabling him to have more than the one spell ready to cast at any one time. Each Spell Matrix is treated as its own Talent and stores the spell until it is cast or the caster dies. It is possible reattune the Spell Matrix to store a different spell, but this is challenging. Spells can also be cast from a grimoire, but if desperate, a spellcaster could cast raw magic, tapping directly from astral space. This though, makes him vulnerable to Warping, damage, and a Horror Mark Test, as astral space has been warped itself by the Horrors. If the Game Master succeeds at the Horror Mark Test, it means that things have gone badly for the spellcaster. In this case, his use of raw magic leaves a mark on the caster that acts a beacon for Horrors for a year and a day! A Horror Mark can also be gained through encounters with actual Horrors.
During play an Adept will earn Legend Points through play and this is directly spent by the player to increase the Ranks in his Adept’s Talents. In general, Ranks in Talents, because of their magical nature, are easier to increase than those in Skills. An Adept must train to advance to a new Rank and this requires some roleplaying too. One of the most unusual methods of training can be gained from a Ghost Master, one who has died, but whose spirit can be contacted. The requirements for this are demanding and the Adept will need to prepare for it.
For the Game Master, there is advice on the perils of adventuring, handling creatures and Horrors, exploring kaers, and travel, the latter the faster means by river and by air. This accompanied by good solid advice on running the roleplaying game in general, as well as creating adventures and NPCs, and how to award Legend Points. Only here though, is where the Success Level table given and the mechanics of Earthdawn fully explained—and this is some two-hundred-and forty-three pages, almost three-quarters of the way through the book!
One of the notable features of the core rulebook for Earthdawn is the inclusion of a pull-out insert of sixteen cards, each representing a single magical item. Each magical item in Earthdawn is unique—there are no generic items. Instead, a magical item has a pattern, like the spells, that an Adept can attach threads to and weave himself into. This cannot be done randomly, but requires research and tests of knowledge to discover aspects of a magical item. This starts with the Name of the item, then its creator’s Name, its abilities, the source of its materials and the Name of the creature who aided in its creation, and so on. Once this has been done, the Adept can weave threads into the item, the player expend Legend Points, and then make the item not only becomes part of the Adept’s legend, but the Adept also part of the item’s legend. In this way, magical items become important and attached to an Adept both mechanically and narratively in a way that other fantasy roleplaying books did not do.
The creatures in Earthdawn include a mix of creatures, monsters, and Horrors. Some like the ghouls and the zombie-like cadaver men are similar to those of other fantasy roleplaying games. Dragons are immensely powerful creatures, said to be millennia old, but tend to stay away from mortals. Three Dragon types, the Cathay Dragon, the Common Dragon, and the Great Dragon are detailed as are three dragons by name, but unlike in Shadowrun, Dragons do not themselves play a great role in the setting, at least in the core book. Shadowrun is important here, since would be later be revealed that Earthdawn was actually a prequel to the fantasy cyberpunk roleplaying game, which was set at another point in the cycle of magic. However, the ties between the two have been subsequently severed. Where Dragons are powerful, Horrors are powerful and nasty. They can animate the dead, corrupt Karma, shift damage it has suffered to other targets, leave Horror Marks, cast spells, inflect Terror, and more. They can be generic in nature like the Bloatforms which manipulate communities into acts of suicide and murder, and the Kreesca, misshapen humanoids that inflict horrible nightmares on the wounded, preventing them from healing. Or they can be of a singular nature, such as Chantrel’s Horror, named for the troubadour who dreamed it into existence. Some nine Horrors are described, all inventively horrible and difficult to defeat, representing strong challenges for any Adept. They are Earthdawn’s signature monster, but allow for lots of inventive variation.
Lastly, Earthdawn is rounded out with two sections which expand upon the background. The first explores the Passions that shape the spiritual beliefs and customs in Barsaive. Each embodies a trait such as love, art, revelry, and so on. Most Passions are positive forces, but there are mad Passions such as Raggok, who embodies vengeance, bitterness, and jealousy, and Vestrial, which embodies who embodies manipulation and deceit. Passions are worshipped, though not as organised faiths, whilst Questors pledge themselves to a particular Passion. There are no specific mechanical benefit to doing so, although Questers are respected across Barsaive whereas Adepts are too closely connected to magic to gain everyone’s trust or respect. Otherwise, the inclusion of the Passions is interesting to read, but there is not much in the way of application to play. The second is an expanded section of Barsaive, which provides an overview of the province.
Physically, Earthdawn is very well presented. The artwork, a mix of black and white and colour inserts is great, really bringing the setting to life. Yet the writing and certainly not the organisation is not as good as it should be. The spellcasting system, actually a pleasing mix flavour and mechanic, is not as well as explained as it could be since it requires much more work than simply casting a spell and rolling dice. The explanation of the mechanics is scattered across the book, with the actual explanation of the core mechanic and working out how successful a roll is, not appearing until almost three quarters of the way through the book. It really should have been given upfront so that the reader and the Game Master has a good grasp of them before reading the rest of the book. Nevertheless, Earthdawn is a good-looking book, even with the magic item cards removed (though most copies still retain them to this day). If it lacks anything, it is a scenario to play right from the off.

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Stewart Wieck reviewed Earthdawn as a ‘Feature Review’ in White Wolf Magazine #37 (July/August 1993). His review began the same that other initial reviews did. Comparing it with the then as now biggest roleplaying game in the industry, he opened with “What can be said about Earthdawn? Well, it’s better than AD&D. Then again, you’d have to wonder about a company that went to the trouble of releasing a fantasy game that isn’t better than AD&D. Even an outstanding game is going to have little chance of overtaking this grandfather of games, so what hope does a crappy game have? None. What chance does Earthdawn have, even though it’s better? None. There’s just not enough that’s new in the game to make it really stand out in the minds of current fantasy gamers.” The review continued in this fashion until Wieck awarded the roleplaying game a score of three out of five, and concluding with, “Earthdawn is a solid game, but the “innovations” seem like unnecessary complications. The world is fun, but not fresh. This is not the fantasy game to leave your current campaign for unless you want to bank on the ever-fulfilled FASA promise— an extensive line of support material, much of which will be very good and will undoubtedly add a lot to the game.”
Alongside Wieck, Sam Chupp and Travis Williams added their own brief reviews. Chupp also awarded Earthdawn a score of three and compared it to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, suggesting that, “If, however, you are looking for a new twist in fantasy roleplaying, you going to be patient and wait for another company to get brave enough (in a crowded market) to put out a brand-new, radical, out-of-this-world fantasy role-playing game.” Williams was more positive, awarding it four out of five, and praising it for its story, artwork, and sense of why the things were that they were, and, “Last, but not least, I gave Earthdawn one more point for their effort to make the game more colorful, and I mean this in an ethnic sense, I never really wanted to play a white person in AD&D, and [I] to play someone black I had to choose a dark elf. I respect FASA for making the effort to include black people in their fantasy games. Maybe more of us will play them as a result.”
Earthdawn would be reviewed in Shadis magazine, not once but twice. First in a ‘Feature Review’ by Jeff Zitomer in Shadis #10 (November/December 1993), which he began with the almost formulaic response of, “What, yet another fantasy RPG? Wrongo folks. Let’s face it, the market is flooded with bland fantasy role playing games. Has this become the hack genre of choice? Today’s gamers are a pretty savvy bunch. Sure, a big company like FASA certainly has the resources and talent to put together a snazzy-looking game, but can this newcomer compete?” Ultimately, Zitomer would be more positive than other reviewers, bring his review to a finish with “To sum it up, I think EARTHDAWN is going to be a classic. The background is unique and rich with adventuring possibilities. The rules, though voluminous, won’t take a lifetime to understand and won’t turn an adventure into a numbercrunching session. The game isn’t 100% perfect, however. There are some problems, such as the organization of the rules. In addition, I would’ve liked to have seen more background in the basic book instead of having to wait for supplements. As I mentioned before, these problems are more of an inconvenience than an impediment, and can be excused considering the sheer size of the game.” before closing with, “I give EARTHDAWN an “A-“. Check it out.”
The second review would appear in Shadis #24 (February 1996), again as a ‘Feature Review’, but this time by Jerome Rybak. As much an overview of the then range of supplements available as a review, Rybak’s review is by far the most positive: “Earthdawn has it all . Fantasy role-playing with dashes of horror (sec the Horrors supplement), exploration and adventure. It has enough of the traditional so I feel the swirls of nostalgia inside and enough innovation to keep me on my toes when I start to take things for granted. While the system is a bit too innovative for my taste, I highly recommend Earthdawn to anyone who runs a fantasy campaign. It really gives the fantasy genre a long-needed (albeit friendly) kick in the pants.”
Earthdawn was a ‘Pyramid Pick’ in Pyramid Vol. 1 Number 3 (September/October 1993). Reviewer, Chris W. McCubbin noted that, “The neat thing about Earthdawn’s setting is that it provides a completely logical framework for all the traditional fantasy roleplaying adventures. In D&D-style games, the realism-minded player is forever wondering, “if this kingdom is so ancient and civilized, why is this treasure-filled, haunted ruin sitting undisturbed ten miles outside the capital city?” He concluded the review by saying, “Although it never becomes bogged down in cliches and avoids outmoded concepts, Earthdawn is, at heart, a very traditional heroic fantasy RPG. In fact, it might be, in a very literal sense, the last word in heroic fantasy roleplaying – as the art of the RPG continues to expand beyond its sword-and-sorcery roots, Earthdawn might just turn out to be the last great FRPG. I predict it’s going to be a hit, and a fan favorite for years to come.”
Rick Swan reviewed Earthdawn in ‘Role-playing Reviews’ in Dragon #202 (February 1994), initially noting that a decade earlier, he would have questioned the “…[S]anity of any publisher attempting to go head-to-head with the AD&D® game.” He countered this with that wisdom that, “Almost any new fantasy RPG has a shot at elbowing its way into the market providing the publisher has a professional quality package, commits enough resources to promote it, and supports it with supplements. A good hook, preferably one that can be summarized in one line of ad copy, doesn’t hurt. (“Every character a spell-caster!” “Our dwarves are 10’ tall!”) It also pays to be different, but not too different. Successful RPGs tend to favor new twists on familiar concepts, not radical re-inventions; no one’s going to get rich with a game about magic-wielding kitchen appliances.” Yet his initial assessment was not favourable since it is clear that he felt that Earthdawn was not different enough, his opinion being that, “Despite workable rules and a clever setting, EARTHDAWN is more frosting than cake, with little of substance to distinguish it from the competition. Much of the game seems to parallel the AD&D system, including the archetypes (dwarves, dragons, and wizards), terminology (“circle” for “level”) (“legend points” for “experience Points”), even its polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20). Maybe a better title would’ve been “DÉJÀ VU”.” These reservations would continue with his summation: “Wall-to-wall innovation isn’t necessary or even desirable for a new RPG. On the heels of FASA’s imaginative SHADOWRUN* game though, EARTHDAWN feels like a step back. The best stuff (the thread magic) doesn’t make the so-so stuff (the knotty mechanics) any more palatable.”, but similarly balanced with, “The more I played it however, the better it got. I liked the spells. I liked the background. I loved the t’skrang. Mists of Betrayal made me hungry for the next round of supplements. This game ain’t RUNEQUEST. It ain’t even TUNNELS & TROLLS. But in a greasy pizza, let’s-not-take-this-too seriously kind of way, EARTHDAWN holds its own. Will it be around in five years? I wouldn’t be surprised. Will I still be playing it? Now that would surprise me.”
In a 1996 reader poll conducted by Arcane magazine to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, Earthdawn was ranked twenty-fourth. Editor Paul Pettengale commented that, “Very good indeed. Earthdawn combined traditional fantasy with Call of Cthulhu-style horror and a detailed background to create an evocative and interesting setting. Combined with a clear, well-designed rules system and an impressive range of supporting supplements and adventures, this is an excellent fantasy game. It’s also of special interest to fans of Shadowrun, because it describes the past of the same gameworld.”
Lastly, in 1999, Earthdawn was included in ‘Second Sight: The Millennium’s Most Influential Company and The Millennium’s Most Underrated Game’ in Pyramid (Online) (November 25th, 1999). He stated that, “Earthdawn had an original, inventive magic system (no mean trick given the hundreds of fantasy RPGs that came before), and a game world that gave you the classic ‘monsters and dungeons’ sort of RPG experience, but made sense doing it.”
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It is clear that at the time of its publication that Earthdawn drew strong comparisons with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition and questions as to whether there was any need for another big fantasy roleplaying game, since after all, Earthdawn offered a lot of similar things to the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Yet it offered a whole lot more—a coherent rules system, an interesting magic system, and a fascinating world right from the opening pages of the book, with everything designed to support and service that world.
With its emphasis on its setting, its combination of genres, fantasy and horror, and its coherent Step Number and Action Dice mechanics, Earthdawn does feel like a roleplaying game from the nineties, but one from the second half of the nineties rather than the first half. Earthdawn offered Dungeons & Dragons-style play in 1993, but explained that why style of play existed and how it worked by sliding it into a setting where it did not look of place and did make sense. And although designed in the early nineties, none of those choices or the mechanics have dated. Earthdawn is a roleplaying game that you pick up and play and not really know that it was published decades ago. With its big, bold treatment of high fantasy, magic, and horror, Earthdawn stands out as the preeminent fantasy roleplaying game of the decade.

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

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Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow is the release from Steamforged Games Ltd for Free RPG Day 2023. It is a scenario and preview of Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea, the new expansion to the publisher’s Animal Adventures: Secrets of Gullet Cove, the cats and dogs anthropomorphic campaign and setting for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Where Animal Adventures: Secrets of Gullet Cove takes place in and around an English style port, Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea moves the action and story to sea where the Player Characters, based in the floating city of Flotsam, set sail to explore the nearby islands that shift in and out of a magical vortex which lies a few miles travel from the Flotsam. Designed for group of three to six awakened animal Player Characters of Second and Third Levels, it is a short, intriguing affair combining action and mystery that can be played in a single session or so...

Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow lets the Player Characters ‘Journey to the Heart of Barkness’* on the trail of Sadie the Corgi, an explorer of legendary repute, who led an expedition to explore the recently appeared Spine Fish Island. Unfortunately, only a few of her companions have returned, battered and bruised, with strange tales of ‘Clawptain Katz’ and the ‘spine fish’. Brave adventurers—in this case the Player Characters—are wanted to sail out to the island to discover what has happened to Sadie, and hopefully rescue her.

* Publisher’s pun, not mine.

The Player Characters do have the opportunity to prepare for the voyage, both by taking some expert advice about Spine Fish Island and asking the survivors of the expedition led by Sadie the Corgi. Armed with this, the voyage itself is easy and the seas are calm. The Player Characters’ trouble begin when they reach the island, which turns out to be mostly desert, but there is a river running through it, which is only accessible by trekking overland. The initial problem is the welcoming committee, a bunch of poorly armed cats who shout at the Player Characters to leave the island, but are otherwise not aggressive. Which seems odd given that both they and Clawptain Katz want the Player Characters to leave the island. Whether the Player Characters decide to attack or negotiate, the defending cats quickly reveal their true character and turn tail, almost apologetically, as if they have no fight in them. This encounter is staged on the map included in the centre of Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow.
With the knowledge gained from the cats and likely a clearer explanation of what is going on, the Player Characters can make their way to the encampment of Clawptain Katz and there confront him. This requires them to cross a short stretch of the desert and then travel along the river, on which they will have to protect their boat from the predating Spine Fish. At Clawptain Katz’s encampment, it is quickly clear that he is holding Sadie the Corgi prisoner—but not so that she is unable to shout a few hints—and that Clawptain Katz seems to have the rest of the cats held under his rather selfish and autocratic sway. Has he turned dictator whilst he has been on the island, or is there another explanation?

Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow is a likeable affair. It is more about the investigation and the interaction than the fight necessarily as the confrontation when the Player Characters land on the island might not result in a fight. Overall, it showcases some of basic details to Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea and provides a good solid, session’s worth of play.

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

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For Faerie, Queen, and Country was the first ‘Universe Book’ to be published for the Amazing Engine game system, the first attempt at a generic system from TSR, Inc. It is set in an alternate Victorian Era, roughly in the 1870s, with Queen Victoria on the throne, with some radical differences. The most obvious of these is the presence of magic and the fae. The Unseelie Court has long been a presence on British Isles, ever since its horde rampaged out south from the Highlands of Scotland to be defeated by Aurelius Ambrosius and they continue to be a threat today, often hand-in-hand with the Esteemed Order of Thaumaturgists, which has connections in both Scotland and Ireland. In particular, it claims that James of Calais is the rightful claimant to the throne that Queen Victoria currently occupies. This is despite the Prince of Scotland having an important role in Scotland’s governance title established in 1701 as a condition of accepting the Hanoverian Succession to the throne. Ireland remains part of the empire, but Tir Nan Og remains under the independent rule of the Tuatha de Dannan, only adding to friction between the authorities and those fomenting for the settlement of the Irish question. Even so, every Tuatha sidhe barrow requires a sperate embassy of its own lest a fairie noble be slighted.
Abroad, France remains a rival led by Napoleon III, the grandson of the Corsican Ogre, whilst Otto von Bismarck foments not just a Prussian resurgence, but a German one. America is the crown in the British Empire, returned to her embrace following the defeat of the rebels in the War of 1812 and the Limited Rule and Tax Reform Acts of 1821. Great Britain has colonies dotted here and there around the world, but to date, the magic of the Moguls of India have limited European inroads into the Indian subcontinent.
In For Faerie, Queen, and Country, the Player Characters can be Human or Tainted, Marked, Blooded by Fairy Blood, or even be Full Fairy. Fairy features include arched eyebrows, bulging eyes, hooves, pointed ears, and more. A Fairy can be a Brownie, Bwca, Grugach, Gwragedd Annwn, Killmoulis, Piskie, Tuatha de Dannan, Urisk, or Wag-at-the-Wa’. The greater the degree of Fairy Blood a character has, the greater his susceptibility to cold iron, resistance to fairy glamours, and may even be able to cast glamours himself. A Player Character must either be English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Anglo-Irish, or Foreign, although a Foreign character cannot have fairy blood. There is some social distinction between the Pagan Irish and the Church Irish, not dissimilar to that between Protestants and Catholics of our own history. The type of Fairy will also determine where he comes from in the United Kingdom, since fairies vary from region to region. His Social Class—Working Class, Bourgeoisie, or Gentry—determines the professions open to him.
To create a Player Character in For Faerie, Queen, and Country, a player takes the base character he created using the Amazing Engine System Guide and adds a flat twenty points to each attribute. He rolls for Fairy Blood and Fairy Type—if necessary, selects Nationality, and determines his Class from his Position attribute, and thus the Professions open to him. A Player Character typically has one or two Professions, each Profession offering a number of skill pools from the player can choose from. A Full Fairy will not have a Profession, but instead selects skills based on his Intuition rather than his Learning attribute.
Our example Player Character is a Blooded Fairy, a half-fairy whose father was an Urisk, half-man, half-goat. Douglas Gunn is a farmer’s son, who was always willing to defend his Fairy origins with his fists and until this got him arrested and given a choice of gaol time or taking the Queen’s shilling. He choose the latter and served for ten years in Queen Nicnevin’s Own Highlanders. He earned a battlefield commission for bravery which he retained upon retirement.
Douglas GunnFairy Blood: BloodedFairy Type: UriskNationality: ScottishProfession: Farmer/Soldier (2nd Lieutenant, Queen Nicnevin’s Own Highlanders (Ret.))
Physique (Rank 1/Dice 8): Fitness 61 Reflexes 53Intellect (Rank 4/Dice 4): Learning 30 Intuition 42Spirit (Rank 2/Dice 5): Psyche 38 Willpower 52Influence (Rank 3/Dice 5): Charm 56 Position 28
Stamina: 21Body Points: 13
Skills: Brawling 53% (Athletics), Fairie Lore 30% (The Craft), Farming 42% (Rural), Rifle 53% (Marksmanship), Woodlore 42% (Rural)
Glamours: ConcealNotes: +10 resisting glamours, +5% to all reaction rolls by the fairy folk, -5% on all reaction rolls involving non-fairy NPCs, suffer one point of extra damage from cold iron.
Languages: English, Scots Gaelic
Mechanically, of course, For Faerie, Queen, and Country uses the percentile of the Amazing Engine, as does the combat system. In the Victorian Era, brawls and knife fights are not uncommon, whilst firearms are primarily used to commit crime, and are wielded by criminals and some police. General ownership is not uncommon, but mostly in the home or on the owner’s land. Combat can be brutal in For Faerie, Queen, and Country, not just because a Player Character has lower Hit Points than in other Universe Books, but because alongside their loss, there is a chance of the injured suffering a complication, ranging from a scar, fever, or infection to deafness in one ear, mild paralysis, or a limb requiring amputation!
The most mechanical attention in For Faerie, Queen, and Country is given to its magic system. Magic in the setting is so important that there are even several regiments of Royal Thaumaturges in the British army and magic can be studied at university. ‘The Art’ of magic falls under the sciences and can include Alchemy, Divination, Goetic, and Wizardry, whilst Divination, Fairie Lore, Folk Medicine, Herbalism, Hyperaesthesia, and Spiritualism fall under ‘The Craft’. ‘The Art’ is studied at universities and in colleges, though Goetic magic, the evil practice of trafficking with spirits is not taught at any reputable institution There are also innate spell effects that Fairie can cast called Glamours, primitive magic taking the form of either illusions to fool the senses or enchantments to betray the heart.
Apart from the Glamours for the benefit of the Game Master, For Faerie, Queen, and Country does not include a list of off-the-shelf, ready-to-cast spells, but instead asks a would be spellcaster to literally formulate a spell using several factors. These are Agent, Action(s), Target, Effect, and Conditions, which all increase the difficulty of casting the spell, whilst Taboos, which place restrictions on a spell, reduce the difficulty. Typically, this preparation takes time and it is also possible to research spells, although that takes days. Ultimately, the Game Master has to give her approval of any spell and total difficulty value reduces the ability of the spellcaster to cast the spell. It costs Stamina to cast a spell and spells can be resisted. It is possible to formulate and cast a spell on the fly, but this reduces the chance of being successfully cast. The system is handily supported with some examples, but this is perhaps, despite the intended simplicity of the Amazing Engine, quite a demanding aspect of the setting and any player wanting to play a spellcaster will need to have a good grasp of these mechanics work as each spell requires actual preparation and set-up upon the part of the player, let alone his character.
The counterpart to magic in For Faerie, Queen, and Country are the clergy and the church. Across the United Kingdom there are parallel denominations to those our own, such as the Church of Albion, the Old Church, and the Reformed Church of Scotland. Members of the clergy do not cast spells or perform miracles, but their faith enables them to use the powers of ‘Sanctify’, ‘Fortify’, and ‘Cast out’. The Church and its grounds are anathema to the Fairie, and in most cases, the Fairie loath the church. Whilst the chapter covers the equivalent of the different Christian denominations, For Faerie, Queen, and Country unfortunately not only ignores other faiths which might be found in the United Kingdom, it also ignores paganism, the practice of which is found across the country, often entwined with the Fairie.
For Faerie, Queen, and Country includes a wealth of background on the Albion of its 1870s. There is a list of goods and services and their prices, money and savings are discussed, an array of awards and forms of recognition are given, but For Faerie, Queen, and Country comes into its own when with a pair of chapters written as in-game pieces. The first is ‘Peak-Martin’s Index of Faerie’, a series of three lectures given to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1877. This categorises the Fairie as well as giving stats for the Game Master to use for NPCs and providing an overview of the Unseelie Court, the Seelie Court, Tir Nan Og, and more. There is also a guide to portraying Fairie for the Game Master. The second is ‘Crompton’s Illustrated Tourbook of Great Britain’, a relatively decent guide to the United Kingdom, which begs for expansion and which any native of the British Isles will find wanting. Anyone from Wales will be disappointed to find folded into the description of England. This is followed by ‘The Glorious British Life’, a guide to life in the United Kingdom, which covers money, rural and urban life, how much your servants should be paid, how things are done without modern conveniences, transport, how to conduct research, government and politics, crime and law enforcement, pleasures and pastimes, and more. In comparison to ‘Crompton’s Illustrated Tourbook of Great Britain’, this is solidly useful content. Enjoyably, For Faerie, Queen, and Country comes to a close with ‘How to Speak Proper’, but not just in the Queen’s English, but also for rural speech, but also Scots and Irish Gaelic, briefly and poorly, a little Welsh, and a lexicon of criminal phrases.
There is a lot to like about For Faerie, Queen, and Country. Primarily this is the range of Fairies described, the magic system which will force players to think about their character’s spellcasting long before they cast anything, and the general background. In the fact, the latter feels not dissimilar to What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century. However, anyone from Wales will be severely disappointed by its lack of coverage in For Faerie, Queen, and Country compared to that of Scotland and Ireland, similarly, its treatment of paganism is non-existent in comparison to that of the Church. Mechanically, For Faerie, Queen, and Country is simple, but it is not always explained as clearly as it could have been, especially the means of creating characters. Further—and despite the wealth of background—that background is not always easy to use or extract to be used, and it does not help that For Faerie, Queen, and Country lacks a scenario or even scenario hooks. Though an experienced and determined Game Master will be able to mine the background for ideas and hooks.
Where this leaves For Faerie, Queen, and Country is a setting that is playable, but not complete. In some ways, it works better as a sourcebook for other Victorian Era-set roleplaying games than it does stand alone. Had it been further developed, that might not have been the case.
Physically, For Faerie, Queen, and Country is decently presented, but lightly illustrated with publicly sourced artwork, so the book is text dense. It comes with a pull-out, full colour map of the United Kingdom.
As the first Universe Book for the Amazing Engine, what For Faerie, Queen, and Country does is showcase the possibilities of the system and what it can do. It also hints at the radicalism of the ideas that were to follow in subsequent Universe Books, as if the writers had been set free to design interesting settings with intriguing ideas that might not have been able to bring to fruition had they been for Dungeons & Dragons. Ultimately, For Faerie, Queen, and Country for the Amazing Engine is definitely not without its charms, but it does not feel as complete as it should and it leaves the reader wanting more.