Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—
Name: The Secret Song of Lake BillingsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Aaron Hawke

Setting: 1980s VirginiaProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Eighteen page, 5.29 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What if Bruce wasn’t a shark and it wasn’t set at sea?Plot Hook: Tourism must go on, even as the killer beast strikes.
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, five NPCs, two handouts, and one Mythos creature.Production Values: Decent
Pros# More ‘creature feature’ than Mythos mystery# Straightforward, easy to run scenario# Nice sense of small town issues and paranoia# Decently done pre-generated Investigators# Entomophobia# Decantophobia# Ovophobia
Cons# More ‘creature feature’ than Mythos mystery# Needs a slight edit# More maps would have been useful
Conclusion# Easy to run, eighties ‘creature feature’ one-shot# Sometimes the mayor is the real evil

 Encounter area 27 is quite bright. For 100' feet in either direction (East-West) of 27 is filled with glowing mushrooms. There is a mushroom every 5'. 

As the party moves through there is a 1 in 6 chance that they will set off one of the mushrooms. 

The mushrooms, if touched, will explode. If it explodes there is a 1 in 4 chance that the next one will explode as well. This will keep going for the 200 total feet.

Each explosion deals 4d6 hp of damage, save for half. Drop a d6 for every 10' the mushroom is from the victim. 

For over a decade, there is something that Leagues of Adventure: A Rip-Roaring Setting of Exploration and Derring Do in the Late Victorian Age! has been lacking. The roleplaying game of globetrotting adventure and mystery set during the ‘Gay Nineties’ at the end of the nineteenth century is published by Triple Ace Games and in its time has been very well supported with numerous supplements, including Leagues of Gothic Horror, which took it into the realm of classic horror and Leagues of Cthulhu, which took it into the far realms of Cosmic Horror. However, in that time, what it has not had, is a campaign. That all changes with the publication of The Great Campaign – A Globetrotting Campaign in Four Glorious Parts. Inspired by the works of Joseph Conrad, in particular, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent, as well as H. Ridder Haggard and Rudyard Kipling, even a little Indiana Jones, and a big fat serving of treacle sponge history covered in lashings of occult custard and radical political thought, The Great Campaign will take the Player Characters—or Globetrotters—from a missing persons case in Cambridge to the ‘Roof of the World’ via assorted assassinations, anarchy in the UK, a journey to the Russian Wild West, and the ‘Great Game’. Throw in a mix of steampunk technology and what you have in The Great Campaign is an over-the-top, unashamedly Imperialist, pulpy campaign that delivers murder, mystery, intrigue, corruption, and more, but ultimately, just one big ripping yarn.

The Great Campaign – A Globetrotting Campaign in Four Glorious Parts, published following a successful Kickstarter campaign, can be played using just the core rules for Leagues of Adventure: A Rip-Roaring Setting of Exploration and Derring Do in the Late Victorian Age! even to the point of playing using the seven pre-generated Globetrotters in the book, plus their followers. There are several supplements which will prove useful to run the campaign if the Game Master has access to them. These are The Globetrotters’ Guide to Expeditions, Leagues of Gothic Horror, Globetrotters’ Guide to London, The Globetrotters’ Guide to Dramatic Developments, and the character collection, Dramatis Personae. Of these, Leagues of Gothic Horror adds rules for Corruption and Sanity, the former earned and the latter lost for vile deeds and suffering the travails of journeys beyond the borders of civilisation. Both Corruption and Sanity are included as part of The Great Campaign, but only come into play if Leagues of Gothic Horror is being used. Their inclusion does suggest an interesting possibility though. Though The Great Campaign is not a cosmic horror campaign, through Leagues of Gothic Horror and then Leagues of Cthulhu, it connects to Cthulhu by Gaslight, the Victorian era supplement for Call of Cthulhu. Should the Game Master—or rather Keeper—have a mind to, The Great Campaign could be adapted to run with Cthulhu by Gaslight, though the use of Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos is highly recommended should she decide to do so. Another option would be run the campaign using the Ubiquity system version of Space: 1889, though the Game Master will need account for aerial vessels in the third and fourth parts of the campaign. Perhaps by having the Czar impose an aerial interdiction in the region?
The campaign opens in late 1891 with ‘The Dreaming Spires’ which takes place in Cambridge (rather than Oxford and its dreaming spires). Sir Reginald Ponsonby and his wife, Lady Fenella, are worried about their son, Edmund, who has gone missing after having been sent down from Trinity College, Cambridge. Hunting for clues as to his whereabouts reveals that Edmund Ponsonby had got himself mixed with a bad lot—foreign radicals (but not French!) and Socialists to boot. The trail leads away from the college to a house in the fens and back again. By the time the first adventure is over, the Globetrotters should have stopped one anarchist plot—here in Cambridge—and gained hints of another, playing out far away in Central Asia, and gained the Ponsonbys as patrons. The last few scenes should ideally involve a race back to Trinity College and a desperate search for its hidden secrets, but there is also an exciting chase across the rooftops of the university to get the heart racing a little earlier.
If they are successful in ‘The Dreaming Spires’, by the time of the second part of the campaign, ‘The Emerald Scarab Conspiracy’ in late November of 1891, the Globetrotters will be famous enough to be invited to a grand Christmas ball to be hosted by the Russian Embassy aboard by HMS Hrimnir, the ice leviathan capable amphibious land and sea movement, especially on the ice. Before then they are asked to investigate the death of a prominent rocket scientist, which will draw them into London’s Russian immigrant community and bring them into contact with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. All quickly too quickly, someone takes a violent interest in the Globetrotters’ investigation, but before they can find out the Globetrotters must attend the grand ball. With numerous members of different governments in attendance, the event does not end with the Prussian Princess Charlotte ending up dead and the gift she has just been given—the Emerald Scarab of the title—in the possession of one of the Globetrotters. If an international incidence is to be avoided the Globetrotters need to think and investigate fast. Fortunately, their good reputation should be enough for them to avoid incarceration, but that is not enough for the true culprit who will strike first at the Globetrotters in classic location before launching an even bigger attack elsewhere, hoping to bring the major powers of Europe to the brink of war and beyond. As with ‘The Dreaming Spires’, ‘The Emerald Scarab Conspiracy’ is a pacey affair which ends in a race to save the day, but much more scaled up.
‘The Emerald Scarab Conspiracy’ climaxes with the Globetrotters thwarting the plans of the anarchist cell in London and hopefully, defeating its leader. It leaves the matter of N.F. Fyodorov, who is somehow connected to the anarchists and their plot, but is far away in Central Asia. Of course, if that is the case and the man is dangerous, could India, the Empire’s jewel in the crown, be danger. As a part of a ‘Justice Expedition’, the third part of the campaign, ‘Journey to the Roof of the World’ quickly takes the Player Characters across Europe in comfort and style on the Simplon-Orient Express, but once in Constantinople, that is where the comfort and style ends. From Batum to Baku across Transcaspia, across the Caspian Sea—where of course, the Globetrotters might run into the ‘Pirates of the Caspian’—to Krasnovodsk, and from there fabled Samarkand, and beyond into the Pamirs, said to be the ‘Roof of the World’. Unlike the first two scenarios which were quietly tightly focused in their storytelling, ‘Journey to the Roof of the World’ opens up and is more episodic in nature, focusing on the travel and its possible difficulties, having to deal with both the region’s Russian overlords and the native peoples, and in the process discover some of the secrets of the region.
The campaign comes to a close with ‘Paradise Lost’, the title hinting at what the Globetrotters will find at the ‘Roof of the World’. Once past the native peoples protecting farther progress, they must climb the mountainous glacier high into the Pamirs. Here, in an isolated valley, the Globetrotters have the opportunity to locate and apprehend N.F. Fyodorov, hopefully discovering whether he was connected to the anarchist plots back in England, and possibly secrets that go all the back to the Garden of Eden. It is a classic climax to this type story, revealing the secrets to a big mystery like that of Eldorado or Atlantis.
Besides the seven pre-generated Globetrotters and their cohorts given in its first appendix, The Great Campaign comes with another four appendices providing further support. This includes sixty-one additional Followers, for the Game Master who needs a Bagpiper or a Mime; eight additional Globetrotters; Professor Pennyworth’s Catalogue of Gadgets, such as an Endless Chain Saw, Enhanced Itching Bomb, Targeting Monocle, Aquatic Tripod, and Clockwork Soldier; and More Leagues of Adventure, from the Alpine Horticultural Society and the Author’s Club to the Tobacconists Club and The Turkophile Society. In fact, not all of it directly supports the campaign, but Globetrotters and Followers are useful as a source of replacement characters and the devices for the scientist or engineer to design.
Physically, The Great Campaign is ably presented. Much of the artwork is decent and the cartography clean and easy to read. However, the layout is busy, often relying on a lot of bold text especially when presenting NPCs and interrogations of NPCs. This very much a case of the style for Leagues of Adventure, but it can be a lot to take in.
The Great Campaign – A Globetrotting Campaign in Four Glorious Parts is the campaign that Leagues of Adventure: A Rip-Roaring Setting of Exploration and Derring Do in the Late Victorian Age! wanted and needed. It certainly has plenty of opportunities for both rip-roaring and derring do, along with the investigation and the exploration. The Great Campaign – A Globetrotting Campaign in Four Glorious Parts is a classic campaign of Victorian adventure, torn from the pages of Victorian novels and the film cells of the silver screen.

The Great River gives all that you need. Fish swim in abundance through the Silver Pits and rice grows thick and luscious on the Glas Road. Storms break on the riverbanks, leaving treasures to be found in the silt. Trade brings goods downstream and upstream, from far away. It is all that anyone would wish for, but for the curious. To the curious, the River simply flows by without answering the questions, “What lies at the beginning?” and What lies at the end?” For no one has ever found the Source of the River and thus the source of both its riches and the magic of the world. Likewise, no one has travelled to the mouth of the River. Anyone who would search for the Source is a fool, looking for faerie gold, whilst anyone who would go in search of the Sea is seen as already lost, drowned in the ravenous Sea. Yet there are such curious fools and you are one of them, for you and your crew has sworn a magical Oath to make the perilous journey to either the Source or the Sea, one that commits your very soul—even after death!—to reaching your destination or forfeit your souls and your ship to the water. This is the set-up for Upriver, Downriver, a roleplaying designed to be played somewhere in somewhere between four and twelve sessions’ worth of game play. At the end of that, the story of the voyage has been told and to play Upriver, Downriver again means setting out with an entirely different crew and boat and quite possibly in the other direction to that taken in the first campaign. In addition, the use of Tarot cards to determine the outcome of the crew communing with the River to receive either her Blessing or her Curse in combination with the twenty locations along the River do give it scope for replay. It is no surprise that Upriver, Downriver is built around limited play time, for the publisher has form with this with Odd Jobs: RPG Micro Settings Vol. I, a superlative collection of systemless mini-campaigns.
Upriver, Downriver is published by MacGuffin & Co. following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The direction of the sworn Oath sets the theme and tone of the campaign. An Oath sworn to reach the Source is for a crew looking for adventure, magic and secrets, pirates and treasure, monsters and the challenges of the natural world from white water rapids and waterfalls to canyons and mountains, whereas an Oath sworn to reach the Sea is for a crew looking for freedom and wanting to get involved with politics, revolution, and intrigue, escape and redemption, war and peace, and facing thieves and illusionists, soldiers and fugitives, and reparation and healing. A campaign consists of three steps. There is character creation, there is a Session Zero, and then there is the play. The Session Zero is not just about Safety Tools and setting the tone and content of the campaign, but also about setting who the members of the crew and building the boat. The latter is a collective endeavour, partly determined by where the crew comes from and player choice. Play consists of journeying to locations and exploring and adventuring at each one, communing with the River for guidance, and once the stories to be told at a location have played, navigating to the next. When the crew and its ship have reached their destination, whether Source or Sea, the story as a whole is done and any who died along the way and have completed the journey as ghosts can pass on. To play Upriver, Downriver, a group will need four-, eight-, and twelve-sided dice and a set of the Major Arcana from a Tarot deck.

A Player Character in Upriver, Downriver is first defined by Origins, or species. These are the Riverfolk or Naiads; the long-lived and intuitive shapeshifting Kiwi, the near immortal, but rare Elves, long ago defeated by the Human Empire; the Halflings, militant weaponsmiths and armourers who hide in valleys from the Human Empire for their support of the Elves; and Humans. Each species has an Origins ability and notably, there are no descriptions of the Naiads or Kiwi. It left up to the players to agree upon what they look like. A Player Character has three attributes, Swords, Spirits, and Tongues. These are initially rated between one and four, but can go as high as ten. Then a Player Character also has a Role and Path. There are seven Roles—The Captain, The First Mate, The Gunner, The Doctor, The Engineer, The Cook, and The Priest—and within each Role, three Paths. A Path is both a code of conduct and the values that the Player Character adheres to, each Path also representing a Face of the River and so connected to the Major Arcana of the roleplaying game’s Tarot deck. A Path grants special abilities and gives commandments that the Player Character must follow. For example, the Cook can follow the Path of Judgement, The World, or The Magician. The Cook of Judgement follows his Path by making amends and help others find peace, but cannot attack the innocent, make unprovoked attacks, or aid the powerful. The Cook of The World follows his Path when travelling or making progress on his journey, but cannot remain stagnant, turn backwards, or becalm an enemy ship. The Cook of The Magician follows his Path by trusting his instincts and using magic, but cannot break a curse, kill a magical creature, or reject his magic and intuition. A Role also grants a Knack, a skill or other ability, some equipment, a Ship Battle Move, whilst each Path also gives another Knack. A Path has four Levels and each Level grants a bonus or ability. Player Characters begin play at Level One. To create a character, a player chooses an Origin, Role, and Path, and then rolls a four-sided die for each attribute. He also chooses two other Knacks. Lastly, a Player Character has a Scar. This can be physical, mental, or emotional and when it comes into play, it forces the player to roll with disadvantage.

Kiawah
Origins: Naiad
Role: The Priest
Path: The Empress (Heal others and commune with nature. Cannot curse another or cause death)
Level: 1 (Add 1d4 to healing rolls)
Swords 1 Spirits 3 Tongues 4
River Sense: 2
Health: 11
Physical Defence: 7
Spiritual Defence: 8
Abilities: Charm, Create Comfort, Create Medicine, First Aid, River Sense
Ship Battle Move: Salt-Stained Pages

Scar: Failed to cure a plague
Equipment: Talisman of The Empress

Together, the players all create their characters’ ship. This can be the durable and manoeuvrable Schooner; light and swift Catamaran; a sturdy, engine-powered Narrowboat; or a versatile and balanced Barge. The origins of the crew, north or south of the River will determine the type of boat, but the players are free to describe characters’ their boat and its origins. Each player is also free to detail as much of his character’s background as he wants.

Mechanically, to have his character undertake an action, a player will attempt to pass a Difficulty Check by rolling a twelve-sided die and adding an appropriate attribute. This is Swords for all physical tasks; Spirits for knowledge and magic-related tasks; and Tongues for wisdom, instinct, and charisma-related tasks. An average Difficulty Check is eight, difficult is twelve, and very difficult is sixteen. If the result is equal to or higher than the Difficulty Check, the Player Character succeeds, less and the Player Character must find other means of succeeding at the action. Rolls can be made with Advantage or Disadvantage, but never more than the single extra die in either case. The Swords attribute is also the primary attribute used in combat, the aim being to roll above an opponent’s Physical Defence, but unless a Player Character has a Prowess Knack like Brawling, Swordplay, Archery, or Improvised Weapons, the roll is made at disadvantage. Combat, including battles with enemy ships and river monsters, is intended to be light and fast, a possibility within play, but nots its focus. That said, ship combat is more complex and more detailed than standard combat, and in general, the rules for handling ships are mechanically, the most complex part of the roleplaying game.

The River plays an extremely important role throughout the play of Upriver, Downriver. To move from one location to another, the crewmember assigned to Helm—and this can be any Crewmember as each has to take turns going on watch—rolls four-sided dice equal to the crew’s total combined River Sense. A location has a level rated between one and four, indicating how difficult it is to sail there, the aim being to roll a number of successes, or fours, equal to the level of the chosen destination location. Some Roles and Paths grant bonuses to this Navigation roll, but if failed, the boat is swept randomly to a location between the starting location and the intended location. Navigation rolls are made at the end of sessions to enable the Game Master to prepare for the next session.

Before a Navigation roll is made, the Player Characters have the chance to Commune with the River. Mechanically, this handled via the random drawing of a Major Arcana card from the Tarot deck. If the card drawn is upright, the River has bestowed a Blessing upon the Player Character, but a Curse if it is reversed. For example, if a player draws The World, as a Blessing, it enables a Navigate the River test to automatically succeed, but as a Curse, it indicates that the Navigate the River test automatically fails and the ship is blown off course in a great storm to a randomly determined location. If a player draws the Blessing of his character’s Path, it is rare and quite specific in its effects. For example, if a Cook of The World’s player draws The World, the ship and its crew is guaranteed to survive an encounter on the River which might otherwise destroy them.

As part of its inbuilt limit on play time, Upriver, Downriver intentionally curtails a number of elements within the game. One is their Oath. It binds both crew and ship, preventing a Player Character from leaving his ship for more than seventy-two hours, from making any attempt to turn back, or end the crew’s journey before the intended destination is reached. Another is that a Player Character can only rise in Level a number of times, up to Level Four, gaining improved Path abilities, increased attributes, and more Knacks each time, so that a Player Character can quickly become quite capable. Further, a Player Character can only Commune with the River three or four times depending upon their Role and Path. Consequently, choosing when to Commune with the River is an important decision, perhaps at an important or emotional juncture in the story of the journey. In effect, it places the Player Character in the spotlight and gives both him and his player a chance to shine.

However, one aspect of Upriver, Downriver does not limit play as it would in other roleplaying games—and that is death! Journeying up or down the River can be dangerous, even deadly, but the Player Characters have the advantage of having sworn an Oath and this Oath is so strong that as long it is active, the spirit will remain as a ghost, tied to his ship and the River. As a Ghost, a Player Character gains an extra Commune with the River and gains access to certain abilities. These are divided between Ghost Abilities such as ‘Consult the Ancestors’, ‘Appear as Lost Loved One’, and ‘Grant Peace to a Restless Ghost’, and Secrets of the Dead like ‘Become Intangible’, ‘Fly’, and ‘Curse to Wander’. A Ghost is tied to his boat and can only remain on land for a few minutes. It is also possible for a Ghost to return to life, retaining the Ghost Abilities gained when he was dead, but losing the Secrets of the Dead.

The setting for the River is broadly drawn. The discovery of gold by Humans drove them to greed and violence, caused the pollution of the River, and the persecution of the Kivi in the belief that they could sense gold. In response to these atrocities, the Elves and the Naiads warred with the Humans, supported by the Halflings. The Human Empire won and the Elves, Halflings, and Kivi went into hiding. They are rarely seen even in this age of peace, the new Human Crown wanting peace and reparations made to defeated enemies of the Human Empire, even as their advisors are divided on this stance. Magic pervades the River, it is the source of magic and all life and dreaming, bubbling up at the Source and dissipating at the Sea, with each of the species up and down its length taking different approaches in the way they use it. In some places, such as The City, it is forbidden, with severe punishments for its use, especially for Human practitioners. The Human Empire is Downriver, whilst the bucolic, fen-like The Glas Road lies Upriver. In general, Human Empire distrusts anyone not Human, whilst the inhabitants of The Glas Road dislike anyone from the Human Empire.

The play of Upriver, Downriver takes place on River and at various locations along its length. The book details twenty such locations, ten upriver, ten downriver. Each location, like the Paths within the Roles chosen by the players during character creation is associated with one of the Major Arcana or Faces of the River. The last two of the Major Arcana, The Hermit and Death, are associated with the Source and the Sea, respectively. Each location is described in some detail, and includes several NPCs and a Tidesong, or adventure hook. Some locations are large enough to require more than a single session’s worth of adventuring there. Whichever direction the Player Characters are heading in, they begin play in Meadowbrooke, the midpoint between Upriver and Downriver. There are certain requirements which they must fulfil to travel in either direction, locating and verifying The Map to the Crystal Nets to go Upriver and upgrading their ship if going Downriver. As a journey nears its end in either direction, the locations narrow in terms of their descriptions, becoming more fixed in their details as they funnel the Player Characters to the endpoints that anchor the players’ choice of campaign direction. In between, there is scope for more adventure, limited, of course, by time, and this is something that the Game Master will need to prepare, whether one of her own design or the given scenario hook, prior to each location once the players have made a Navigation check, whether it succeeded or failed.

Physically, Upriver, Downriver is cleanly and tidily presented. It needs a slight edit in places, but the artwork is decent and the use of the Faces of the River as a motif is charming.

Upriver, Downriver fulfils a need that we often forget is there—that of the short form campaign. It is not though, a one-play-through and done campaign, as it can be played through at least twice, once in either direction, plus there is variation enough in the locations in either direction that Upriver, Downriver could be played again. Whether going upstream or downstream, Upriver, Downriver will take the players and their characters on a magical journey through enchantments, enigmas, and hostilities to discover the ultimate beginning and ending of the River—and their story in the process.

 A portal in Area 26 is similar to the one found in Area 25. From this one, a horse-headed demon comes out.

This is a Mezu Demon, a type of Yokai demon.

Mezu Demon (Yokai)

Armor Class -1 [20]
Hit Dice 8* (36 hp)
Attacks 2 claws (1d8+6, 1d8+6), 1 bite (1d10+6)
Special Magic resistance (45%), darkness, immune to poison.
THAC0 12 [+7]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaotic
XP 1,750
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type C

Mezu demons are low-level, but powerful horse-headed demons that have two purposes, keep people out of hell nad keep those in from coming out. 

They are very strong (22 strength). They can use weapons but prefer to use their claws and bite. Their heads are horse-like, but filled with sharp teeth. 

They can gate in 1d4 Mezu Demons or 1d4 Jigoku Demons (similar stats, but with Ox heads). Gating them in comes with an obligation of future service, so the Mezu will not gate them in unless the Hóu Yaoguai is with the party.

If the party has the Hóu Yaoguai demon with them they will attack each other. The Yaoguai and the Yokai are ancient enemies. This is true is the Mezu is with the party when encountering the Hóu.

As we await the arrival of the Fourteenth Doctor—in just half an hour at the time of this review being posted—it seems appropriate that we return to Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s celebration of Doctor Who’s fiftieth anniversary for the Ennie-award winning Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game by leaping backwards in time to examine the adventures of the Tenth Doctor, the longest incarnation yet of the ‘Nu Who’ era and the one who would cement the modern Doctor in our collective conscious. From the foundations laid done by his predecessor, as detailed in The Ninth Doctor Sourcebook, the Tenth Doctor would run full tilt at life—“Allons-y!”—with new found enthusiasm, proud once again to embrace who he is as both a Time Lord and the last Time Lord, prepared to do what is right and even save the universe. His adventures will see finding both friends and enemies old and new, even falling in love with more than one of the friends (and they with him), before ultimately, the Tenth Doctor would have to let them go, and face the perils of his pride alone. His adventures though, are big, including big story arcs—story arcs that would grow very big indeed during his next incarnation, The Eleventh Doctor.

The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook follows the same format of the previous nine entries in the series. It is divided into five chapters—‘The Children of Time’, ‘Playing in the Tenth Doctor’s Era’, ‘Torchwood’, ‘The Tenth Doctor’s Enemies’, and ‘The Tenth Doctor’s Adventures’—as opposed to the four chapters of the previous nine volumes. The first chapter, ‘The Children of Time’, opens with a discussion of who the Tenth Doctor is and a guide to playing him, along with his character sheet, before detailing his many companions. First, Rose and Mickey Smith, both carryovers from the Ninth Doctor, and then Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness, and Donna Noble, long term companions of the Tenth Doctor. Minor characters are included also, who only travelled for an episode or so, including Wilfred Mott, Astrid Peth aboard the Titanic, Sally Sparrow, Lady Christina De Souza, and more. The longest section here is the most surprising and this is dedicated to Ood and Ood Sigma. Their inclusion here does feel odd, but then they would feel out of place in ‘The Tenth Doctor’s Enemies’ chapter as the Ood are not that. Character sheets are provided for all fourteen of the Tenth Doctor’s companions, as well as his TARDIS.
‘Playing in the Tenth Doctor’s Era’ opens at the same pace as his adventures. Speed, curiosity, and switches in pace from action to emotion and back again, riding on waves of giddy joy and ebbs of introspection. The incarnation would also explore and build a family, looking at the effect of a companion journeying with the Doctor would have on the companion’s family and on having a wider circle of companions within the TARDIS. Another theme is that of the Doctor exploring the Earth of the twenty-first century and with its growing realisation that humanity is not alone in the universe, a range of responses by humanity, from altruism to arrogance (and worse). There is advice too on building story arcs, but this feels a little short at just a page in length, though the episode guides will show this in action. There is one new alien trait added alongside several gadget traits.
The Tenth Doctor’s era saw the return of several of his biggest foes—and more than once. ‘The Tenth Doctor’s Enemies’ focuses on the Cybermen and the Daleks at first, providing an overview of their activities and clashes with the Doctor throughout this era. Thus from the Cyber Contoller of John Lumic’s world to the weird Cybershade of 1851 London and from the Cult of Skaro and Dalek Sec to the Supreme Dalek and Dalek Caan. In-between there is the return of an old foe, the return of old foes being a hallmark of this era. Thus, for the Daleks, the returning figure is their creator, Davros, but for the Doctor himself, his greatest returning foe is the Master, first as Professor Yana (though he does not know it) and then back on Earth as Harold Saxon. The Master gets very full stats as befitting his importance, but much like the era of the Tenth Doctor, the last return is saved for the end. This is the return of the Time Lords whom the Doctor thought destroyed in the Time War and this marked with the inclusion of Rassilon as the Doctor’s last enemy here.
The fifth and final chapter in The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook is, as with the previous entries in the series, its longest. Here, some four fifths of the book, adding greatly to its length. ‘The Tenth Doctor’s Adventures’ details all forty-four of the Tenth Doctor’s stories, from ‘The Christmas Invasion’ to ‘The End of Time’. All open with a synopsis, include notes on continuity—backwards and forwards to stories past and future, followed by advice on ‘Running the Adventure’. ‘Changing The Desktop Theme’—a reference to the changed look of the TARDIS interior after some thirty or so years—suggests ways in which the story can be reskinned with another threat or enemy, and so on. Rounding out the writeups are full details of the monsters and NPCs appearing in the episode. Thus, for the episode, ‘School Reunion’, the synopsis describes how the Doctor and Rose investigate strange goings on at a school and encounter Sarah Jane Smith doing exactly the same. Unsurprisingly, the ‘Continuity’ section has a lot to cover with Sarah Jane’s previous travels and encounters with the first five Doctors, the adoption of her family (as detailed in The Sarah Jane Adventures), her relationship with K-9 and Mickey’s referring to K-9 as a ‘tin dog’ (which would later have his own significance for him), the numerous aliens that she has met (all linked to particular stories in The Third Doctor Sourcebook and The Fourth Doctor Sourcebook), and the mention of the spaceship hovering over London as seen in ‘The Christmas Invasion’ episode. All that and the use of lottery ticket by the Doctor for the first time.
Then, ‘Running the Adventure’ explores how ‘School Reunion’ is both a classic adventure and much more, in that it links back to the classic era of Doctor Who through a former companion. Not only that, it presented a way to tie lose threads left hanging from the companion’s last story and by bringing in a former companion, give the story more emotion and feeling. The writeup suggests that the story could also be used to start a campaign involving the students who have had a strange year with unbeknownst to both them and their parents, aliens in charge, perhaps leading to later involvement with both Torchwood and UNIT. Of course, strange activities at the school could also simply attract the attention of Torchwood. The villains behind the story are also detailed, including Mr. Finch and the Krillitane, along with the effects of Krillitane Oil, and there are stats for them and K-9. Lastly, there is a trio of further adventure ideas.
The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook follows this format again and again, detailing in the process some absolute classic adventures for ‘Nu-Who’. ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’, ‘Blink’, ‘The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords’, ‘Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead’, and ‘The End of Time’ all stand out as great episodes and it a pleasure to see them explored and detailed here, as both a guide to the episodes and the means to make them gameable.
Perhaps the most surprising and unsurprising inclusion in The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook is that of the third chapter, ‘Torchwood’. Founded in 1879 with the episode ‘Tooth & Claw’—Queen Victoria versus werewolves, oh my!—Torchwood has become very much part of Doctor Who, dedicated to protecting the Earth from alien threats, including the Doctor himself! There is, however, no sourcebook for it. The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook, of course, is not the Torchwood sourcebook, but it is the nearest to it that there is with just the five pages in this two-hundred-and-fifty-six-page book. What there is, is good, even at just five pages. It includes a history all the Battle of Canary Wharf, Torchwood 2.0, and beyond, discusses its relations with UNIT, and more. In terms of game support, there is a guide to creating a Torchwood agent with suggested traits and a discussion of the nature of Torchwood team and how to put one together, both before and after the Battle of Canary Wharf, and a handful of plot hooks. These are accompanied by character sheets for Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones, to go along with the one given earlier for Captain Jack Harkness. It is a pity that this is all there is, as there is plenty of gaming potential in Torchwood, but what there is, is a good start.

Physically, The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook is as well presented as the rest of the line and is profusely illustrated with photographs from the series. The volume is well written and enjoyable to read. However, there are missed opportunities, though not really of the sourcebook’s own making, in that Torchwood is only covered slightly and The Sarah Jane Adventures not all. At least there is some detail about Torchwood provided.

Just as the Tenth Doctor expanded ‘Nu Who’ with a wider range of foes—old and new, and a growing family of companions and almost-companions, so The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook expands ‘Nu Who’ for the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. It is a great continuation of The Ninth Doctor Sourcebook, building on what came before, covering some classic adventures, and showcasing why the Tenth Doctor was so popular.

Quick-starts are means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps too. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game for the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
The Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook is not as its name suggests a quick-start. Instead, it is an introduction to and preview of the rules and a then chance to provide feedback to the designers of the roleplaying game, the fifth to be based on the Marvel Universe. It includes the rules combat and action as well as the means for players to create superheroes of their own, ten superheroes from the Marvel Universe, and a short scenario.

It is a one-hundred-and twenty-page, full colour softback book.
The book is lavishly illustrated with comic book art.

The rules are clearly explained, but more complex and detailed than would be found in a quick-start.
How long will it take to play?
If the pre-generated superheroes in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook are used, its, ‘Enter; Hydra’, can be played through in one session. If the players want to create their own, another session will be required.
What else do you need to play?
The ten pre-generated superheroes in Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook consist of three six-sided dice per player, one of which should be a different colour to the other two.
Who do you play?
The six Player Characters in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook consist of the Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Groot, Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon, Spiderman, Storm, Thor, and Wolverine.
How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook—and thus the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game—has a Rank, Archetype, scores in six abilities, Health, Focus, Karma, Power Sets and Powers, as well as a Backstory and Traits. Rank ranges in value from one and ordinary human to twenty-five. Rank 5 is equal to Daredevil, Rank 10 to Spiderman, Rank 15 to Captain America, Rank 20 to Doctor Strange, and Rank 25 to Captain Marvel. Rank determines how many points a player has to spend during character creation and the values of various secondary factors. Archetypes include Blaster, Bruiser, Genius, Polymath, Protector, and Striker, and suggest how a superhero’s powers might work. The six abilities Might, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic, their initials spelling out ‘Marvel’. Backstory includes Origin and Profession, which grant Traits that Traits cover talents, skills, circumstances, vulnerabilities, minor superpowers, and more.
What Does a Sample Player Character Look Like?
Heaven Granado is a struggling medical student studying in New York. To make ends meet, she volunteered for program of medical trials, thinking they were new vaccines. Unfortunately, Heaven had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs and was hospitalised and had to abandon the trial. In the weeks following her recovery she discovered that she was suddenly very stretchy and resilient to damage, the first when absentmindedly reaching across a room and the second when she was hit by a car. She still does not quite know the extent of what she can do, but wants to wrap her head around it.
Real Name: Heaven GranadoCodename: WraparoundOrigins: Weird ScienceProfession: Health Care Worker/Medical Student
RANK: 5
ABILIITIES – Score – Modifier – DefenceMight – 2 – +3 – 14Agility – 2 – +5 – 16Resilience – 3 – +6 – 17Vigilance – 3 – +8 – 19Ego – 4 – +9 – 20Logic – 4 – +8 – 19
Initiative Modifier: +8 Speed: 27Fight Damage: 3d6 Ranged Damage: 3d6+4Health: 45 Focus: 55Karma: 3
POWERSInspirationPlasticity: Extended Reach 1, Flexible Bones 1Tactical Mastery: Battle Plan, Change of Plan
TRAITSClinician, Extra Career (Student), First Aid, Mentor, Obligation: School, Poor, Prescription Pad, Quick Leaner, Weird
How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook—and thus the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game—uses the d616 System. To have his character undertake an Action Check, a player rolls three six-sided dice, adds an Action Modifier, whether from ability or a power, and if the result is equal to or higher than the Target Number—which can range between eight and forty. One of the three six-sided dice is a different colour. This is the Marvel die. If the result on the Marvel die is a one and those on the other dice is any number except one, it counts as a Fantastic Roll, triggers a triumph result, and the one on the Marvel die counts as six towards the total. The Ultimate Fantastic roll is a six on both of the standard dice a one on the Marvel die. This means the task automatically succeeds and ignores any Trouble. A roll of one on all three dice is a Botched Roll and counts as a failure.
If the Player Character has the Edge or an advantage due to a special skill, ability, or the circumstances, the player can reroll a single die and take the better result. This often to achieve a Fantastic Roll. Trouble, whether due to lack of skill or equipment, forces a player to reroll a die and take the worst result.
Heroes and villains have Karma equal to half their Rank to spend each day. karma can be spent to give a Player Character the Edge on an Action Roll. The Narrator can reward more Karma for good roleplay.
The aspect of a Fantastic Roll, derived from a roll of one on the Marvel Die and any numbers other than one on the other dice, but the roll of one on the Marvel Die still counting as a six towards the total is, mechanically, counterintuitive. However, the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game is set on the default Earth of the Marvel Universe, Earth-616, so thematically it makes sense.
How does combat work?
Combat in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook details initiative, the various types of movement, use of firearms—mostly the province of NPCs and villains, numerous conditions, and damage inflicted to objects, including ploughing through them. It covers most of the typical eventualities that might turn up in a superhero roleplaying game.
How do Powers work?
Powers are divided between those organised into related sets and those not. A set suggests origins and effects, and within the sets, the powers are arranged as trees which the hero can progress along as he grows in his abilities. Every power has a narrative effect, the mechanical effect handled via the Action Check.
Power Sets included in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook consist of Battlesuit, Blades, Cybernetics, Energy Control, Firearms, Martial Arts, Plasticity, Shield Bear, Spider-Powers, Super-Strength, Tactical Mastery, and Weather Control. These specifically support the pre-generated heroes included in the book.

Focus represents a superhero’s mental fortitude, but also has to be spent to activate certain powers.
What do you play?
‘Enter Hyrda (An Adventure)’ is the shortest section in Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook. It is designed for three to six characters of Ranks 10 or 15—most of the pre-generated characters in Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook are of the appropriate Ranks—who must face a squad of Hydra agents with powers remarkably similar to their own. It is specifically designed to showcase the rules, especially the combat rules, in practice. That said, it is a cliché and it is one note, good for a single session, but absolutely no more.
Is there anything missing?
Yes and no. There numerous types of powers not included, such magic, phasing, psionics, and teleportation. Beyond the ten heroes included, there are also no stats or details of actual Marvel Universe villains. Of course, space is limited in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook, but the inclusion of a villain would have been useful.

There is also no PDF version available.
Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook are relatively easy to prepare. There is a lot of information in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook though and it is tightly packed, so it require a close read through.

It helps that it includes a good combination index and glossary and a reference sheet for Action Checks for the Narrator.
Is it worth it?
Yes and no. Yes, because it does include everything necessary to play at least a single session and even a few more should the Narrator and her players want to create their superheroes and associated villains and run a few sessions of the roleplaying game. No, because it is not readily available in PDF. This is a shame because the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game does need an introduction or quick-start and the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook would fit that bill.
Where can you get it?
The Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook is available through retail at comic book shops and on Kindle.
There is no PDF version available.

 Area 25 is the home to a portal to another world. Like all the portals on this level is it one way. When the party gets within 15' of it a humanoid monkey-like creature steps through.

The creature is a Hóu Yaoguai. It is evil, it is angry, but it is also intelligent.  If the party explains their are not the reason it is here it will not attack them, yet.  The Hóu Yaoguai will attempt to discover all it can about his world and attempt to recruit the PC to its side by claiming it will aid them in their quest to find the Vampire Queen. 

This is all true, but the demon still plans on betraying them the first chance it gets.

 A couple of weeks back, I took a bit of a break to talk about some SciFi ideas I had.  Well, it must have nestled into my brain and laid eggs that hatched because I now have a bunch more ideas. Or maybe because Doctor Who has been on my mind a lot lately since yesterday was the 60th Anniversary of the show and tomorrow is the premier of the 60th Anniversary special.  One of those ideas was something I was calling "The Lost Children of Time."  The idea was half-baked, at best, but that ended today.

Doctor Who RPG: The Lost Children of Time

Now to be fair this doesn't have to be used with the Doctor Who RPG. But I think the feel of the 2nd Edition game might fit this the best. Plus I think I would run this as a one-shot.  So who are the characters? The eponymous Lost Children of Time?  Well, they are the reason I put this together to start with so let us see who they are.

• Jonas Kahnwald (Dark) - Age 20, he ceases to exist when his world timeline is destroyed.
• Martha Nielsen (Dark) - Age 20, from a parallel world/timeline. Her timeline is also destroyed when Jonas' is to make room for a third (or original) timeline where they do not exist.
• Cal Stone (Manifest) - Age 22. The older version of the Cal Stone that was temporarily displaced on Flight 828. When the time was reset Cal was returned as age 11. This is 22-year-old Cal.
• DC Iris Maplewood (Bodies) - Age ??. From an alternate future (2053) where England is under near fascist rule. She is sent back in time to 1890, 1941, and 2023.  For reasons unknown, her 2023 counterpart survives the collapse of her timeline.

The characters all bring something to the table. Jonas is our everyday guy. Martha is already used to fighting and dealing with strange things. Cal has a sixth sense and visions (Callings), and Iris is a cop. All have time-travel experience. 

But who is it they are after? Well, that came to me today.

They are fighting a time and space displaced Jack the Ripper.

How is that possible? Easy. Let's take another time travel movie, Time After Time from 1979. It features Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells and David Warner as Jack the Ripper. Both who have solid sci-fi credits to their name including parts in various Star Trek movies and series.   In this movie H.G. Wells builds a working time machine, but it is stolen by his friend Stevenson, aka Jack the Ripper. He travels to 1979 where he picks up his killings anew. Wells follows him when his time machine returns.  While in 1979 Jack attempts to escape but Wells removes the "vaporizing equalizer" from the machine. This causes the time machine to remain, but send Jack to "oblivion" according to Wells. We assume he is dead.

But if he wasn't?

Que the Second Season Star Trek episode "Wolf in the Fold."  In this episode (note: it really doesn't hold up well despite being a good horror episode written by Robert Bloch) we meet Redjac, a non-corporeal entity that murders women to feed on their fear. Spock's reasoning aside I am going to go back on to my tried true explanation of psychic ability is a sex-linked trait on the X chromosome. People with XX chromosomes are more likely to have psychic abilities than people with XY. This is what Redjac feeds on. Everyone feels fear, but people with greater psychic potential are a better meal to it.

Redjac in the episode is believed to have been the cause of Jack the Ripper. But what if it was the other way around? What if H.G. Wells sending Stevenson/Jack to "oblivion" only freed it from its corporeal form and sent out into Time and Space to hunt anew?

I would need to figure out how this group comes together. How they find the clues and then how they solve the mystery of the Ripper-like murders of women in 2023.

Easiest of course would be to have Jonas and Martha in London where they get into Iris' cab/Uber. Cal is easy, he has a vision and goes there.  There is my plot twist too. Redjac normally only murders women because of their greater psychic potential, but Cal with his callings is a much tastier target. 

How do they defeat the Ripper/Redjac? 

No idea yet. But it will involve some time travel to be sure. 

The key here was David Warner. He was amazing as Stevenson/Jack the Ripper in "Time After Time." He has played no less than three separate characters in Star Trek and a character in Doctor Who. He was also in an Outer Limits episode about Jack the Ripper that uses a similar idea. 

Also is Redjac/Jack content to travel in time or does he have a greater purpose? 

It sounds like a lot of fun and I can't wait to try it out.

 Entering Encounter Area 24 the characters hear growling and the squawking of birds.

Here are two Type I demons, Vrocks, fighting over a dead elf.

Vrock Demon: HD 8; AC 0 [19]; Atk 1 beak (1d6), 2 foreclaws (1d8), 2 rear claws (1d6); Move 12 (Fly 18); Save 8; AL C; CL/XP 11/1700; Special: Magic resistance (50%), darkness, immune to fire.

Type I Demon (Vrock)

Armor Class 0 [19]
Hit Dice 8* (36 hp)
Attacks 2 foreclaws (1d8), 2 rear claws (1d6), 1 beak (1d6)
Special Magic resistance (50%), darkness, immune to fire.
THAC0 12 [+7]
Movement 120’ (40’)
  Fly 180' (60')
Saving Throws D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale 10
Alignment Chaotic
XP 1,750
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type A

These demons are vulture-headed, with feathered but humanoid bodies, and huge dark-feathered wings. All can create darkness in a radius of 5-ft. and are immune to fire. They use their wings to allow both their arms and legs to be brought into combat, along with their beaked bite. Vrock demons are quite stupid, though like most demons they consider themselves to be tremendously intelligent. A Vrock has a 10% chance to gate another first-category demon to its assistance. (S&W SRD).

--

Here are a couple of Turkey Demons, Happy Thanksgiving from The Other Side!

 Encounter area 23 is the strangest one yet.

When the characters enter the area they hear a loud metallic grating sound. A blue box, about 8 ft tall and 4ft by 4ft on base appears out of nowhere. A light shines on the top of the box.

A man in strange garb pokes his head out and looks around. He says "Oh. Hello. Sorry, but stupid question, is this Earth? I am supposed to meet someone, about a thing. Well. Two things." 

He looks around for a moment, then says "Right. Have to be off." 

He goes back into the box and it makes the same grating and groaning noise and disappears.

--

Happy 60th Anniversary Doctor Who!

Please feel free to use any version of the Doctor you like.

Encounter area 22 has another Gate. This one swirls and out stomps a giant demon. 

This demon is an Utukku, his name is Zaidu, the Hunter and he is bound to the Vampire Queen to hunt her enemies.  Which is currently the PCs.

 Encounter area 21 is a cul-de-sac with a flight of stairs down to a collection of books in a small library.

There are scores of books. Most are mundane but there are 30 books detailing monsters enough to grant readers an additional 500 xp.

There are also five spell books with random spells.

First level: 1d10+3
Second level: 1d8+4
Third level: 1d6+2
Fourth level: 1d6+1
Fifth level: 1d4+1

The end is nigh! I have one more set of gods I want to do for this project, and then I'll see if I can put together a PDF for everyone.  

I said I was not going to treat this as an academic work. Especially since I blatantly ignored things like real archeology, anthropology, and ethnographic studies. But I thought others might be interested in some of the legwork I did to get where I am on this today.

This is not a comprehensive bibliography, not even a targeted one. It is a catch-as-catch-can one based on the books I was reading when I started having these ideas.

References

Daileader, P. (2013). The Early Middle Ages. The Teaching Company.

Drake, J. (2020). Viking Mythology: 2 Books In 1 – The Complete Guide to Norse Mythology and Celtic Mythology Including Legends, Beliefs, Norse Folklore, Norse Gods, and Celtic Myths. Josh Drake.

D’Aulaire, I., & D’Aulaire, E. P. (1962, 1992). Book of greek myths. Doubleday Books for Young Readers.

Gaiman, N. (2018). Norse mythology. Bloomsbury.

Gosden, C. (2021). Magic: A history: From alchemy to witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the present. Picador.

Hale, J. R. (2013). Exploring the Roots of Religion. The Teaching Company.

Harl , K. W. (2011). The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity. The Teaching Company.

Harl, K. W. (2005). The Vikings. The Teaching Company.

Higginbotham, J., & Higginbotham, R. (2018). Paganism: An introduction to earth-centered religions. Llewellyn Publications.

Lecouteux, C. (2016). Encyclopedia of norse and germanic folklore, mythology, and magic. Inner Traditions.

Lewis, S. (2018). Mythology mega collection: Classic stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology. Scott Lewis.

Line, P. (2015). The Vikings and their enemies: Warfare in Northern Europe, 750-1100. Skyhorse Publishing.

O’Donnell, J. J. (2016). Pagans: The end of traditional religion and the rise of Christianity. ECCO an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

River, C. (Ed.). (2018). The Ancient World’s Most Mysterious Religious Cults: The History of the Cult of the Apis Bull, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the Mysteries of Mithras. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Voth, G. L. (2013). Myth in Human History. The Teaching Company.

Waggoner, B. (2009). The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok. The Troth.

 The creature in Encounter Area 20 looks like some sort of glowing ball floating in mid-air. In truth it is the glowing heart of an Infernal Gelatinous Cube.

An Infernal Gelatinous Cube is a larger cousin to the common Gelatinous Cube. 

In addition to greater HD (10) and enhanced hp, this monstrosity has an infernal intelligence. 

It has an aura of heat that causes 1d8 hp of damage to all within 5' of it. It is also immune to fire and flame attacks. 

 Characters can hear a loud droning sound coming from encounter area 19 long before they see it.

The monster is a Mezzalorn (a Wasp Demon).

Mezzalorn Demon (Wasp Demon)

Armor Class -3 [22]
Hit Dice 12* (54 hp)
Attacks 2 claws (1d6), 1 sting (2d6 + poison)
Special Magic resistance (10%), immune to poison
THAC0 11 [+8]
Movement 120’ (40’)
  Fly 120' (40')
Saving Throws D6 W7 P8 B9 S10 (12)
Morale 10
Alignment Chaotic
XP 3,400
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type A

A mezzalorn looks like a hellish giant wasp with the head and torso of a man. When reduced to half its hit points it releases a pheromone that gives it and all other mezzalorns a +1 to-hit bonus. The poison injected by a mezzalorn’s stinger is lethal if the victim fails a saving throw.

Mausritter – Sword-and-Whiskers roleplaying is a rules-light fantasy adventure microclone in which the very big and very dangerous world is explored from a mouse eye’s point of view. It encompasses not only the world of nature, but also the world that the players themselves live in. This is our world, but one in which the mice are anthropomorphic and can talk, as can other species. Beyond the walls of their home, the world is one of opportunity and adventure, fraught with hazards natural and unnatural, those untouched by mankind and those imposed by mankind. Using the base mechanics from Into the Odd, mice in Mausritter need to be brave, resourceful and clever, as well as lucky if they are to survive. Scenarios for Mausritter tend to be location based. Either the mice having to explore a single location, which could actually be a tree stump, a human-sized suit of armour, a grandfather clock, or an abandoned human-made shack, as in Mausritter: Honey in the Rafters or a sandbox setting containing numerous locations, such as Mausritter: The Estate Adventure Collection or Mayfield. In being real places—or places inspired by the real world—there is definitely a sense of wonder about these locations because we are seeing and exploring them from a very different angle. Would this sense of wonder be invoked if the setting were real, and not only real, incredibly familiar to almost everyone in the world, let alone the country? What if a Mausritter campaign took place in a seat of power? What if a Mausritter campaign took place in 10 Downing Street, one of the most famous addresses in the world?

10 Downing: A Mausritter Campaign is set inside the cramped splendour of the Georgian townhouse that is 10 Downing Street, home to the Prime Minster of Great Britain and the seat of the government in office. In recent decades, it has been home to some colossal figures of British politics, including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Boris Johnson. It is also notoriously infested with mice and other rodents and for several centuries there has been a cat in residence at 10 Downing Street, appointed as ‘Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office’. The current holder of the title—and the first to do so officially, is Larry. Having served through five premierships to date, Larry is the lord of all he surveys. His reputation as a mouser has varied over the years, but Larry is no fool. He knows that his presence is enough to instil fear in the mice also resident in 10 Downing Street and so in order to avoid undue chasing and catching of mice, he has come to an agreement with the mice. If they avoid making trouble and certainly avoid coming to the notice of the building’s many human inhabitants, he will leave them be. This leaves him with a mice retinue of servants and time to focus—at least occasionally—upon a more pressing problem: rats! This then, is the basics of the situation as describing in 10 Downing, which also presents the complete floorplans for all three floors of the house and numerous storylines and five ready-to-play quests and adventures involving six rival factions, eight new hirelings, new creatures, new treasures, and new spells. 10 Downing: A Mausritter Campaign includes everything a Mouse Master and her micey medley need to play through a mini-campaign of multiple mouse sessions.

10 Downing presents an overview of the house combined with the floorplans. These have been marked with the important locations, such as the Cocked Hat Rats stronghold, tunnels through the wall, and the Chief Mouser’s domain. These are briefly described as are the locations throughout the building, adding in details such as available quests to be started there and treasures to be found there. Some of these are thematically fun, such as the Flaming Churchill, a cigar which belonged to Winston Churchill and whose odour keeps cats away. The various factions, such as The House of Lordly Mice, the original mice in the house, or the Cocked Hats Rats, a gang of cockney rats, which are interlopers in the house. This sets up a social divide in 10 Downing Street over which Larry the cat lords it all. 10 Downing includes six quests, such as scavenging for food during a feast held in the dinning room, fomenting rebellion against Lord Mouse and his cabinet.

The quests and the adventure locations are given more detail. These include breaking into a bust in search of a powerful spell tablet or rescuing the nephew of the Lord Mouse after the Cocked Hat Rats have kidnaped him. Some of the quests have random elements and some also have the potential to change the balance of power in 10 Downing Street. All six quests are solid affairs, and supported for stats of the major NPCs and creatures. In addition, there new items in the forms of traps (to ensnare the corgis), new stealth spells, and treasures such as razor blade or teacup handle weapons and even Paddington’s Coat as armour.

What 10 Downing cannot really do is bring the human element into play. Of course, the many human locations that are the setting for other Mausritter campaigns and scenarios are busy places with many humans moving about, living and working, but in 10 Downing Street, the footfall is incredibly high. There are politicians, ministers, government officials, Downing Street staff, security, and even the Prime Minister’s family all moving about, and doing so through much of the day. Only once do the humans appear in the Encounters table, and even then, they are the cleaners, there after everyone else has gone—for the day, or to bed. That said, one of the quests does involve the Queen coming to tea—which of course, dates 10 Downing—and the Player Characters setting traps to prevent the corgis from causing any trouble. It gives the quest a delightful personal presence that everyone will enjoy. Yet it is disappointing that the personal presence comes from a visitor rather than anyone who is expected to be in 10 Downing Street. More so because we all have good idea who would be in the house, depending, of course, upon which Premiership the Game Master decides to set her 10 Downing campaign during. Now of course, the author cannot account for the five (actually, three if we want to be historically accurate since the Queen could really only have visited three of them for tea) Prime Ministers, the members of their cabinets, staff, or family. This is something that the Game Master will have to work into her campaign herself. Which will require some research upon the part of the Game Master.

Physically, 10 Downing is breezily presented. The self-penned artwork is cartoony, but the author mixes in a lot of public domain art too. The floorplans are a little small, but the PDF comes with larger maps that a little clearer.

10 Downing: A Mausritter Campaign has everything that the Game Master needs to run a campaign set in 10 Downing Street. However, it requires some research and development upon the part of the Game Master to fully bring out its political nuances and influences, but for a certain audience, 10 Downing: A Mausritter Campaign will give a chance for their mice to play when the Prime Minister is away.

 Encounter area 18 has a hidden pit trap.

The 15' by 15' trap is hidden. The floor gives way and the party falls 20' for 2d6 hp of damage. The walls are smooth and offer no footholds. 

Deep in the forest stands a grand cathedral. A grand cathedral dedicated to ‘Aulde Dawne’, a Gold Dragon who answered the call to protect the peoples of the nearby village and give them her blessing. In return the villagers gave tribute to her and a temple was built, then upgraded, and more tribute was made. Yet this was never enough, for eventually ‘Aulde Dawne’ went mad and rampaged across the countryside, and it took heroes a great effort to be put a stop to her predations. Yet as successful as those heroes were, they never found the treasure hoard that had been given to ‘Aulde Dawne’ over the years and neither has anyone else since. For a great many years, the Cathedral of the Golden Dragon has been sealed up, but rumours abound of not just the great treasure to be found in its vaults, surely hidden where none has been able to find it to date, but also great secrets. This is the set-up for The Dragon’s Secret, a dungeon adventure published by Fifth Wall Games & Miniatures for use with Swords & Wizardry that requires a party of six to eight Player Characters of Fifth to Seventh Level. Notably, it is designed by Jennell Jaquays, best known as the designer of one of the greatest Dungeons & Dragons scenarios ever published, Dark Tower, and certainly the best scenario that Judges Guild ever published. If The Dragon’s Secret is half as good as Dark Tower, or even Caverns of Thracia, then this is definitely a dungeon worth looking at.

The Dragon’s Secret is based on maps that Jaquays drew as a teenager and the adventure that she subsequently developed for both the 2017 North Texas RPG Con and the Dungeons of Doom IV Kickstarter campaign. The current and completed version consists of some thirty-four locations across three levels, homebrew rules, a few factions, two new Player Character species, several new monsters, and a potential means to access the author’s own The Thousands Worlds campaign setting. All packaged in an easy-to-use fashion. The ease of use extends to adapting to the Game Master’s own campaign, since the Cathedral of the Golden Dragon is located in a relatively isolated forest. Consequently, it would work in settings such as The Midderlands or Dolmenwood without any problems, just as it would in the Game Master’s own campaign setting. The scenario includes several ‘Dragon Tales’ or reasons why the Player Characters might want to get involved, including helping would be villagers resettle an abandoned village called Dragon’s Gold; going for the bounty on a pair of wizard’s apprentices; collecting a spider venom which could induce a zombie-like effect; and so on. These can be used to involve the Player Characters and tie the scenario into the Game Master’s campaign.

The Dragon’s Secret begins with the author giving some engaging context and history to the dungeon before she settles down and provides the backstory to the scenario and explains how the book works. The backstory is genuinely original and clever, leaving you to wonder why you never thought of it. Essentially, the presence of ‘Aulde Dawne’ and the construction of the Cathedral of the Golden Dragon was one big confidence trick. A good one, which is one reason why the Game Master should take a look at The Dragon’s Secret rather than the reviewer unnecessarily giving too much away. Then the scenario’s format for its room features—Snapshots, Backstory, Remarkables, Secrets, Curios, Traps, Treasure, and Denizens—is explained. Of these, ‘Snapshots’ represents what a Player Character would be aware of upon first glance; ‘Backstory’ adds further details, sometimes for the benefit of the Player Characters rather than the Game Master; ‘Remarkables’ are the standout features of the location; ‘Curios’ are often exotic, out of place, or out of context objects randomly found (and rolled for on a table at the back of the book); and Denizens covers everything that might be encountered in the location. Denizen descriptions then have their own features—Tactics/Roleplay, Encounters, Snapshots, Insight, Profiles, Lore, and Tales. ‘Encounters’ is where a denizen may be encountered; ‘Insights’ the Player Characters’ first impressions of him; ‘Lore’ gives any rumours or gossip associated with him; ‘Profile; a more detailed description of the denizen; and ‘Tales’ are ideas for further adventures which might involve the denizen and the Player Characters. Not every denizen or group has all of these features, but they all do provide a structured means of providing detail about them.

Besides random encounters, The Dragon’s Secret includes several factions. These include a band of Fowl Folk Adventurers and a group of merchants. All of whom have full stats and guides on their tactics in a fight and on how to roleplay them. Their presence, as well as that of Erebox the Aardvark, can drive the adventure forward or can impede the Player Characters’ progress depending on how they interact with them. There is also a table of random encounters for outside of the dungeon, though in the main, The Dragon’s Secret is not a wilderness and dungeon adventure. There is scope here for the Game Master to expand this aspect of the adventure if she wants to.

There are some decent encounters to found across the dungeon, supported with some terrific NPCs. For example, there is a Giant Clockwork Automaton, which will clank and bash about with the Player Characters in its chamber, but search further and they find the operators of the device, who were having ‘fun’ with them. Both are very well described and the Game Master will have a lot of fun herself in portraying them. Then there is a Black Onyx Skull, a cursed magical item that wakes up nearby undead, but a cost of draining a Player Character’s Levels. The finale itself takes place in a giant cavern against a trio of ghoulish-dragons and their ghoul minions, each of the undead dragons slightly different in design and personality. It is a grand fight around a towered spiral staircase and in and out of the nearby tunnels, and definitely deserves to be played on the table with miniatures.

However, the design of The Dragon’s Secret is split in two. One half is dedicated to its backstory, with the Player Characters attempting to find their way to Aulde Dawne’s hoard and possibly learning about the Cult of the Gold Dragon. The former is more likely than the latter, with it unlikely that the Player Characters will ever learn the back story to the scenario. The half of the dungeon is dedicated to a series of rooms that are only tangentially connected to each and not to the back story. These locations draw from the funhouse style of dungeons, with rooms full of random ideas and concepts. The Player Characters will have to investigate these in order to find the keys to puzzle to get to the end, but they do not anything more than a weird randomness to the whole thing.

As good as the back story is to The Dragon’s Secret and as fun and as entertaining as some of its encounters are, problems abound with the scenario, the majority of which extend from it not quite being a completed book and it not being fully edited. There are design issues with the format of room descriptions and adherence to that format, which can often lead to minor elements being mentioned before the more important elements that the Game Master will definitely need to know. For example, the fact that there might be a curio at the bottom of a pit before mentioning the fact that the room does actually contain a pit trap or waiting until the description of the denizens in the Denizen section that there are actually zombies in the room. It is often unclear how one room connects to another or how aspects of a room interact with another, or where the important pieces of a puzzle are in the rest of the dungeon, let alone the fact that there is tunnel going nowhere. The dungeon maps are almost, but not quite decent, being numbered in an odd order and there being one location mentioned in the text, but which is not on the map. It turns out that this location is actually outside the dungeon, on the plateau behind the cathedral. Obviously, the description should have been in the wilderness section where the Player Characters could have encountered it there!

The writing also veers between humour and annoyingly pointless text. Examples of the former include, “What’s worse than zombies or spiders? Zombie spiders!!” and a room called ‘The Unpopular Dead’. Examples of the latter include the Backstory for the ‘The Pot O’ Silver’ location, which reads, “There’s obviously a story here, but now is not the time for its telling.” and the Backstory for ‘She’s Got Legs …’, which reads, “This was a room that originally just had centipedes in it. I made it more interesting in the update. Oh? You were expecting backstory about the centipede goddess? That’s yet another story.” And? Exactly when is a good time to tell that story? If so much attention is paid to providing the Game Master with detail and information throughout the rest of the scenario, why not here?

All of these problems are not insurmountable. All it takes to overcome them is good preparation upon the part of Game Master. However, it is not just ‘good’ preparation required by the Game Master, but extra preparation, in order have the necessary and often wayward information at her fingertips.

In addition, there are also two further problems, both idiosyncratic in nature. These are the addition of the two new Player Character species—also given as monsters—from the author’s campaign. These are the Fowl Folk and Earth Pigs, or rather Ducks (and other waterfowl) and Aardvarks. The latter are clearly drawn from the long-running comic book series, Cerebos the Aardvark, whilst the former are heavily influenced by the Durulz, or Ducks of Glorantha and RuneQuest. In fact, one major NPC, Erebox the Aardvark is more or less Cerebos the Aardvark renamed and given stats for the adventure. Both species tend to be played for their inherent humour, let alone their oddness, both of which may feel out of place in the Game Master’s own campaign. As a one shot, their inclusion is fine, but as part of a campaign, they will probably require adding in earlier lest their inclusion feel unnecessarily odd or out of place.

Physically, The Dragon’s Secret looks great. The artwork is excellent and the maps good bar the missing and the extra locations. The text itself needs a good edit and the scenario as a whole a little more development that would come with a good editor asking the author questions.
The Dragon’s Secret is playable as written, but requires more preparation time than it ordinarily should. In general, the funhouse aspects of the dungeon outweigh its theme and the plot of its backstory, and anyone coming to the adventure expecting something like Dark Tower or The Caverns of Thracia will be disappointed. Nevertheless, with some extra effort upon the part of the designer, let alone the Game Master when she comes to run it, and The Dragon’s Secret will be an enjoyably detailed funhouse dungeon. Unfortunately, The Dragon’s Secret is not a Jaquays classic.

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—

Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is the contribution to Free RPG Day 2023 from Wet Ink Games, best known as the publisher of horror roleplaying games, Never Going Home and Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall. In comparison, Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is anything other a horror roleplaying game. Heckin’ Good Doggos is a light, family friendly roleplaying game of canine anthropomorphism in which the player take the roles of family dogs who go on adventures which involve ‘Dogs doin’ Dog Stuff’ and being a ‘good doggo’, and Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is the quick-start for it. It contains the quick-start rules for the roleplaying game’s +One System, six ready-to-play pre-generated dog characters, and a full adventure, ‘Someone’s Last Day at the Track’. In order to play, a group will need a pool of six-sided dice and at least one deck of ordinary playing cards. One if there are less than five players, two if there are six players. In general, the +One System is not too complex, the idea of playing dogs will be familiar to almost everyone, and the scenario is fairly simple. The only possible downside to the scenario is that it takes place at a dog track, that is, a track where dogs are raced and there is gambling on the winners of each race. What this means is that the scenario takes place in a more adult setting than may be suitable for younger participants and that not everyone is going to familiar with what a dog track is.
A Good Doggo in Heckin’ Good Doggos is defined by his Breed, his Best Friend, three Attributes, Training, Paw Size, and Character Growth. Breed can be Cute, Friendly, Big, and Fast, and this allows the player to add a card to a Conflict without playing a card. For example, the Cute Breed allows a Heart card to be played and Fast a Club card. His Best Friend is his human owner or a human the dog knows and who has an occupation or equipment which the dog can call upon the human to use if necessary. Attributes are Brawn, Smarts, and Guts, each of which has three associated areas of Training. For example, ‘Sensing’, ‘Knowing’, and ‘Fiddling’ for Smarts. His Paw Size indicates how many cards his player can hold in his hand during play. Attributes range between one and ten, skills between one and five, and Paw Size between four and seven. Character growth is achieved at the end of an adventure and can give a dog a new skill, or improve an Attribute, Skill, or Paw Size. A dog also has a note to indicate how he helps and what his neighbourhood is like.
Mechanically, Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track and thus Heckin’ Good Doggos uses the +One System. This involves rolling a number of six-sided dice each to the skill being used. Each five or six rolled is a success. Harder tasks require more Successes. ‘+One Manipulations’ enable a player to change the outcome using points from the Attribute associated with the Skill. Prior to a roll, a manipulation can be made to add a die to a roll or even gain a skill in a previously untrained skill, if only temporarily. After the roll, to increase the value of a die roll by one—typically from a four to a five—and to reroll any number of dice. In addition to skill rolls, dogs can face Challenges, which are attempted by the whole pack as a group effort. They simply need to roll a number of Successes equal to the target number for the Challenge for the whole pack to succeed.
Playing cards in the +One System are played on a one-for-one basis rather than their value with each suite being tied to a narrative theme. These are Spades to friends and relationships, Hearts to cutes and being cute, Diamonds to Teeth and direct physical attacks, and Clubs to Paws and overcoming physical obstacles. Jokers can substitute for anyone of these and players begin play with four cards. All cards can be spent to help heal a dog, but normally they are used to resolve a conflict or add a Success. A player has to narrate how his dog takes advantage of the card’s theme in helping his dog overcome the conflict or Challenge.
Conflicts are like Challenges, but do not use dice, only the cards. Conflicts are also not necessarily fights, but situations that the dogs might have to defeat, escape, or otherwise end the conflict. The Narrator sets a Target Number in terms of the number of cards required, and the Target Number can vary not only in terms of difficulty, but also in how the Conflict can be resolved. For example, the dogs wants to get into a building where dog fights are being held. The Narrator might suggest that the dogs push past the bouncers on the door (three Clubs or Paws), but the bouncers will know they have got in; sneak in via a broken widow (four Clubs or Paws) and nobody knows they are in the building; and being friendly with the bouncers (four Spades or Friends). The objective is to provide the players and their Pack with options, and if the Pack lacks the right cards, they can play any card and narrate how its suit works to overcome the Conflict. However, this is likely to come at the cost of a consequence suffered.
In general, the rules are clearly explained and there are plenty of examples play as well. There is advice also on setting the tone of play and on using Safety Tools such as the X-Card.
Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track comes with six pre-generated dog Player Characters. There is a good mix of dog types, but the Narrator should be careful to makes sure that there are as many areas as possible of Training covered if there are fewer than five or six players.
The scenario in Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is the eponymous ‘Someone’s Last Day at the Track’ It takes place at the local dog track on the biggest race day of the year, the State Derby. The dogs have the opportunity to get in on their day, ideally with their Best Friends, mooch around for a bit, being a good doggo, sniffing about, and hopefully finding some good, if not necessarily wholesome treats to scarf down. There are the kennels to investigate, the concessions area, and the race track itself, but very quickly, the dogs will run into the track’s criminal fraternity—the dog gang under the stands! The leader of the dog gang wants to know who the fastest runner is going to be in the State Derby. Can the Player Character dogs find out or do they have other plans? It is a fairly simply plot, but this combined with the other doggy activities and learning the mechanics will provide a gaming group with a single session’s worth of play.
Physically, Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is brightly, cheerfully presented. The writing is clear and the illustrated of the various dogs are excellent. It is a pity that none of the character sheets for the dogs have illustrations, although it does leave room for the players to decide their own dog species. 
Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track is a good quick-start and a good introduction to Heckin’ Good Doggos. Its setting and its mechanics make it suitable for younger teenagers and older players and an experienced Narrator, especially one who has run some storytelling style games, will be able to grasp the +One System and explain how it works with ease. Overall, the setting and theme to Heckin’ Good Doggos – Someone’s Last Day at the Track will be familiar to almost everyone, making it very accessible, because everyone knows how to be a good dog, if only for an evening.