The extinction is coming and America is dying. It began in 1974 in the wake of President Ford pardoning Nixon after Watergate and an assassination attempt on Ford. A civil rights spokesman was blamed and in the demonstrations that followed, the Capitol in Washington D.C. was stormed and the US Army was sent into to quell the protestors, resulting in hundreds of deaths when they opened fire with live ammunition. Across the USA, people took up arms in response and incidents of guerrilla warfare broke out across the country. Within a year, the conflict escalated and first California and then Texas seceded, and the country was in civil war. The Second Civil War lasted until 1984, prosecuted by the sophisticated drone technology adopted by the military following the development of scientific field of Neuronics. There were no winners and the former USA remains divided still thirteen years later. In the west, the nation of Pacifica has arisen out of the old state of California, its wealth built on Hollywood and further development and widespread adoption of neurotechnology. The biggest company in Pacifica and arguably the power behind its president, Sentre, made Neuronics available to the public through Neurocasters. Wearers of these high-tech devices are not only capable of controlling drones, but also of accessing neuroscapes, hyperreal landscapes. With the release of Mode 6 by Sentre last year, something changed—and changed for the worse. Some suggested a God awoke within the Machine, some say Pacifica’s enemies were attacking via the system, but whatever it was, users became addicted to their Neurocasters. They preferred it to real life. Some, deeply immersed in the virtual worlds that give them every experience they want, wear their Neurocasters until they die. Others roam the roads and the landscapes, stilling wearing their Neurocasters and controlling hulking great drones. Nobody was immune. As more and more people have become addicted to their Neurocasters, the more services and tasks have begun to break down. This lassitude is spreading and with it an impending apocalypse… Elsewhere there are rumours of technocults hiding out far from the cities and shambling mechanical creatures assembled by the Neuronic network rather than man. Yet there are a few who are immune to the effects of the Neurocasters and there a few who want to move, to become Travellers ready to make the long and dangerous journey to elsewhere, to get away, to find something, to find someone.

This is current situation in The Electric State Roleplaying Game, a pre-apocalyptic Science Fiction dystopia set in 1997, based on the book by Simon Stålenhag, whose artwork has also inspired the roleplaying games, Tales from the Loop – Roleplaying in the '80s That Never Was and Tales from the Flood. All three are published by Free League Publishing and all three use the Year Zero mechanics first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. This is the 1997 of Nirvana and Sony Walkmans, Bart Simpson Tee-shirts and Nintendo Game Boys, hoop earrings and slackers, and so on. Recognisable were it not for the rise in advanced technology that has given the world drones, robots, and Neurocasters. It is a world in which the Player Characters want to get somewhere else. They each have their different reasons, but travelling together is safer than travelling alone. Society is not what it was with everyone immersed in the worlds of their Neurocasters. The landscape is not what it was, swathes left untended or poisoned from the Second Civil War. The Journey that these Travellers undertake is the focus of The Electric State Roleplaying Game, its route marked by a Starting Point and a Destination, and in between, Stops. Stops can be a place where the Travellers get food, petrol for the car, find a payphone, and then move on, but they can be a place of danger and mystery…

A Traveller in The Electric State Roleplaying Game has four Attributes—Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy, which are rated between two and six. Health and Hope are derived from this, with Hope being a personal resource that can be reduced to push rolls or traumatic events. He also has an Archetype, a role representing what he is. The options here include Artist, Criminal, Devotee, Doctor, Investigator, Outsider, Runaway Kid, Scientist, and Veteran. Perhaps the one signature Archetype is the Drone Pilot, who will not bodily appear in play necessarily, but instead be represented by the Drone that he constantly controls via his Neurocaster. Each Archetype provides options—either chosen or rolled for—in terms of starting Talent, Dream, Flaw, Neurocaster, and Personal Item. The Talent will either grant him extra dice under certain circumstances, such as ‘Drone operator’ or ‘Sleuth’, or provide a more specific benefit, such as ‘Medic’ being able to stabilize someone who is Incapacitated or ‘Neuroresistant’ which means the Traveller is better able to resist the Bliss of neurocasting. Beyond this, the details of Traveller are more personal than mechanical. These start off with a Dream and a Flaw. A Traveller’s Dream is their motivation, their push to go far and make the Journey rather than give into the easy lure of Neurocasting. His Flaw is something that will hold him back and something that he needs to overcome. Roleplaying the Dream and the Flaw will give a chance for the Traveller to improve. The Neurocaster is the model that he owns (though he may not own one) and he also has a Personal Item and a favourite song.

To create a Traveller, a player selects an Archetype and then rolls for the Attributes on a single six-sided die each, with the minimum roll being two Then he rolls for the Talent, Dream, Flaw, Neurocaster, Personal Item, and Favourite Song. This is not the complete Traveller creation process, but that is done collectively during the set-up for the Journey.

Name: Jake
Age: 17
Archetype: Outsider
Strength 3 Agility 5 Wits 6 Empathy 6
Health 4 Hope 6 Bliss 0
Talent: Stealthy
Dream: Get a normal life, like everyone else
Flaw: You don’t trust anyone.
Neurocaster: None
Personal Item: Dog
Favourite ’90s Song: Wannabe (Spice Girls)
Tensions: A dispute about hierarchy (Karen Brooks) [1], Religious or political differences. There’s reason Americans say never discuss religion or politics (Jesus Castillo) [1]

The Journey is the central part of the play to The Electric State Roleplaying Game. Setting this up is a collective process. This includes creating a personal Goal for each Traveller which lies at the end the Journey, whilst the Threat which is working to stop the Traveller from fulfilling his Goal. The Threat is created by the Game Master, whilst key to the Goal is the Kicker, the event that pushes the Traveller to decide to make the Journey in that moment. Together, the Travellers have a vehicle and a shared item, such as a bottle of hard liquor or walkie-talkies. Each Traveller also has a difficult relationship with one of the companions in their vehicle, which could be ‘Hidden contempt pent up for ages.’ or ‘Distrust. Something another Traveler does offends you deeply. It’s all you can do not to scream at them every time they do it.’. This is measured by Tension, which ranges between zero and three. If a Traveller acts against another Traveller who he has Tension with, the Tension value is used as bonus dice. It is possible to reduce Tension simply by talking things through or even arguing about relationships can reduce it and this will restore Hope, but equally, Tension can go up depending on circumstances and roleplaying.

Mechanically, The Electric State Roleplaying Game uses the Year Zero engine, so the rules are light and fairly quick, with dice rolls primarily intended for dramatic or difficult situations such as combat, hiding from members of a Technocult intent on inducting you, making repairs in a hurry, and so on. To have a Player Character undertake an action, a player rolls a number of Base dice equal to the appropriate Attribute (notably, The Electric State Roleplaying Game does not use skills or skill dice), modified by an applicable Talent and the difficulty. To this can be added Gear dice for weapons and other gear if used. Rolls of six on either count as Successes. One result is enough to succeed, whilst extra successes can be used to do it in a showy fashion, quickly, quietly, and so on. However, if the player does not roll any Successes, which is a failure, or needs more Successes, he can opt to Push. In this case, he rolls any dice that are not showing a one or a six, and any Successes rolled count towards the task.

However, any rolls of one after the Pushed roll, have negative effects. For the Base dice, they reduce the Traveller’s Hope for each one rolled, whilst ones on the Gear dice reduce the bonus provided by the Gear used. When Hope is reduced to zero, a Traveller suffers a Breakdown and is in danger of suffering further mental trauma.

Combat in The Electric State Roleplaying Game uses the same mechanics. Initiative is determined narratively, and when a Traveller gets to act, he has an action and move or two moves. An action be an attack, reloading, taking cover, rallying a demoralised comrade, and so on. If in close combat, the defender can choose to take the hit or fight back, in which case it becomes an opposed roll, whilst if being shot act, the defender can dodge, and that too is an opposed roll. Cover provides protection if Successes are rolled on its dice. If a Traveller’s Health is reduced to zero, he is Incapacitated and if he suffers damage equal to twice his Health in one hit, he is dead. If his Traveller is Incapacitated, the player makes three Death Rolls with four dice. If he rolls a total of three Successes in the course of the three rolls, he survives, if not, the Traveller is dead. It is also possible for another Traveller to rally one who is Incapacitated and the Medic Talent means he can be stabilised without the need for Death Rolls. An Incapacitated Traveller also suffers an injury, which can be anything from a broken finger to internal bleeding.

The most important mechanic in The Electric State Roleplaying Game is Hope. It is a measure of a Traveller’s motivation and it can be lost in a variety of ways, such rolling ones on a Pushed roll or suffering a Traumatic Event like seeing a friend get badly hurt or being confronted by your worst fear. When it is reduced to zero, the Traveller suffers a Breakdown and potentially from mental trauma ranging from ‘Confused’ to ‘Personality Split’. The challenge after losing Hope is that there no automatic means of recovering it. Instead, the players and their Travellers have to work at it. It is possible for a Traveller to be rallied following a Breakdown and this will restore Hope, but otherwise the two means to increase Hope are to reduce Tension with another Traveller or spend time with an item of Gear that will increase Hope, like a dog or a Walkman, or a religious book. Certainly, in the case of Tension, this requires dedicated roleplaying between two players, and The Electric State Roleplaying Game makes clear that time should be set aside for this. Further, these scenes should not always be about reducing Tension, but about increasing it. This is because in the long term, if there is no Tension between one Traveller and another, there is no reason to reduce it and thus no means to increase Hope. It also reduces scope for interpersonal roleplay. This then is the ‘Hope Loop’ at the heart of The Electric State Roleplaying Game.

The ‘Hope Loop’ in The Electric State Roleplaying Game is complicated by Bliss. One of the most interesting aspects of roleplaying game is how Hope and Bliss interact. Bliss is a measure of a Traveller’s addiction to using his Neurocaster. A Traveller is going to be spending most of his time on the road or at Stops along the Journey, so in the physical, rather than the virtual worlds. However, this does not mean he will never have to enter a Neuroscape, which can be global or local, as he may need to find information, use or hack a system linked to the Neuroscape—such as drones and alarms, or interact or fight with the other avatars in the Neuroscape. It is possible to act in the physical world whilst Neurocasting, but it is slow and the option are limited. It is also possible for Travellers to help another who is Neurocasting.

However, any time a player fails a roll whilst his Traveller is Neurocasting, whether any ones were rolled or not, his Bliss increases by one. This is before the player chooses to Push the roll, which whilst the Traveller is Neurocasting, has its own extra danger. This is because any rolls of one after a player has Pushed a roll reduce his Traveller’s Hope by one each, and Bliss has dire effects if it equals or exceeds the value of a Traveller’s Hope. If this happens, the Traveller is trapped in the Neuroscape, is lost in the ‘Electric State’, and cannot willingly disconnect himself from it. A Traveller lost in the ‘Electric State’ can be forcibly disconnected, but this has disturbing consequences. It automatically reduces his Hope to zero, which again causes a Breakdown.

Bliss is lost at a point per day spent without doing any Neurocasting. However, this has its own dangers too, since there is a chance that the point lost that day will become permanent. Effectively reducing a Traveller’s Hope in the long term and modelling the effect that Neuroscaping has had on society with the introduction of Mode 6.

The focus of play in The Electric State Roleplaying Game is the Journey. As described earlier, setting this up involves deciding on a Starting Point, Destination, and the route. It also involves choosing the number of Stops, each one an adventure in itself that the Travellers’ Dreams and Flaws will drive them to explore. The number of Stops determines the overall play length, from one Stop for a one-shot to a long Journey of eight or more stops. The Game Master creates these Stops using the advice and prompts given in the roleplaying game, including a Setting, the Blocker (which what makes the Travellers pause their journey), and Threats, as well as adding a Countdown that is triggered by the arrival of the Travellers and will push events forward during the playthrough of the Stop. There is good advice for both creating and running Stops, including playing Neuroscapes, and it is supported by a range of threats each of which has their own example Countdown. Mechanically, this makes them easy to insert into a Stop. The Threats include people, such as cultists or local business leaders as well as the expected technological ones, like drone growths and robots, and environmental ones, such as extreme weather or disease. There are only two entries listed for the technological and environmental, which feels too few in either case. There are rules for travel and chases to reflect the nature of play as a Journey.

The Game Master is also provided with a complete mini-campaign, ‘Into the Dust’, which takes up a fifth of the book. This is a three-part Journey, though it could easily be expanded and some of the stops could be used as one-shots, which takes the Travellers from San Francisco Memorial City into the Blackwelt Exclusion Zone (former state of Nevada), but a long route which takes them south via the Sierra Nevadas and the Mojave desert in a run-down 1993 Buick Roadmaster Estate. Between them, the Stops involve a cult, a murder mystery, and a strange festival, and between the Stops, there are encounters that the Game Master can use to make the Journey even more interesting and exciting. There is also a pre-generated Traveller with their own Goals and Threats for each of the Archetypes in the roleplaying game, giving the players plenty of choice. Overall, this is the basis for a decent campaign that could expanded to eight or more Stops. Lastly, in The Electric State Roleplaying Game,  there are rules for solo play.

Physically, The Electric State Roleplaying Game is very well presented. It is clean and tidy and easy to read. Of course, what makes it stand out is the artwork of Simon Stålenhag which depicts an American landscape in decline as Neurocasters wander like zombies and kitschy robots loom and lurk almost everywhere. The Game Master should absolutely be using this artwork to show off the state of Pacifica.

The Electric State Roleplaying Game is not a traditional roleplaying game in that its world is designed for long term play. The story of the Travellers is going to be told in a single Journey rather than in multiple Journeys because the surviving Travellers are going to need new Goals if they are to set out again. Further, there is not a huge scope for development mechanically as arguably, if a Traveller is only doing the one Journey, however long it is, there does not need to be. The emphasis on Pacifica as a setting and journeying across it also limits the scope of the roleplaying game. These are not criticisms, because instead, what The Electric State Roleplaying Game is, is a narrative, storytelling roleplaying game designed for one-shots and short campaigns that tell specific stories about Journeys across a strange new landscape within which there is scope for interaction, discovery, and horror. In this way, The Electric State Roleplaying Game adds a new twist to the classic American road trip.

Miseries & Misfortunes is a roleplaying game set in seventeenth century France designed and published following a successful Kickstarter campaign by Luke Crane, best known for the fantasy roleplaying game, Burning Wheel. Notably, it is based on the mechanics of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. Originally, Miseries & Misfortunes appeared as a fanzine in 2015, but its second edition has since been developed to add new systems for skills, combat, magic, and more. However, the underlying philosophy of Miseries & Misfortunes still leans back into the play style of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. For example, the differing mechanics of rolling low for skill checks, but high for combat rolls and saving throws. Plus, the Player Characters exist in an uncaring world where bad luck, misfortune, and even death will befall them and there will be no one left to commiserate or mourn except the other characters and their players. Further, Miseries & Misfortunes is not a cinematic swashbuckling game of musketeers versus the Cardinal’s guards. It is grimmer and grimier than that, and the Player Characters can come from all walks of life. That said, it is set in the similar period as Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, so will be familiar to many players. The other major inspiration for Miseries & Misfortunes is Les Misères et les Malheurs de la Guerre, a set of eighteen etchings by French artist Jacques Callot that grimly depict the nature of the conflict in the early years of the Thirty Years War.

Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères is the fourth of the roleplaying game’s rulebooks. The first, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 1: Roleplaying in 1648 gives the core rules for the roleplaying game, and the second, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 2: Les Fruits Malheureux provides the means to actually create Player Characters, and together they make up the core rules. Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 3: The Sacred & The Profane expands on this with rules for magic and related Lifepaths, whilst Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères offers modes of play and further subsystems that also expand upon the core play. As the introduction to the supplement states, what it it offers is ‘More Misery’, with the majority of the supplement intended for use by the Game Master, but all of the new rules will add detail and flavour to her campaign and affect the lives of the Player Characters in some ways.

The supplement opens in interesting fashion. If the majority of Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères is for the eyes of the Game Master, the opening essay should be read by player and Game Master alike. ‘Modernity’ provides the reader with an eye-opening perspective of what life was like and people believed in 1648. This includes the belief that the world was in decline, the high point having been classical Rome and Greece, that the science and philosophy of thought we know of today were not for the common man, history and its ideas were accepted truths, disease was spread by miasmas and worms, cities had yet to be transformed by the dictates of either mass or public transport and so streets remained as they did in the Medieval period, and so on. It is a fascinating read that does not swerve the worst that the era had to offer, including misogyny and ant-Semitism. This is not necessarily to enforce their presence in play, but rather acknowledge that they were part of the culture in 1648. This is an excellent start to the supplement.

The majority of Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères consists of two sections. One is ‘Mode de Jeu’, or ‘mode of play’, the other is ‘Petits Systémes’. ‘Mode de Jeu’ begins with ‘Moments’, which examines the structure of play in Miseries & Misfortunes, which is made up of the eponymous ‘Moments’ in time, essentially situations or scenarios that the Player Characters can involve themselves in. It divides them into two types—‘Historical’ and ‘Novel’. The first of these are based around actual events, the aim being to involve the Player Characters in their events, whilst the second are plots and events that the Game Master creates herself. The Game Master sets up a timeline of moments, a mix of both types, that he weaves a plot through. The players do not roleplay through them one after another in linear fashion, but have the freedom to dip in and out of the timeline, according to their needs and those of the plot. There is even a full breakdown of a Historical Moment, making you wish that there was a full book of such events for the Game Master to use. To mark the passage of time, after the playthrough of a Moment and any subsequent downtime, the play of Miseries & Misfortunes switches to narrative scenes in which the lives of the Player Characters’ dependents are examined to see what has happened to them in the meantime and how they might have been affected by the actions of the Player Characters.

To support the ‘Moments’, ‘Mode de Jeu’ breaks down two types of plots—quests and intrigues—and discusses how to prepare for play. This includes right at the start of a campaign and comes with some excellent suggestions, such as having the player recap the adventures and heroics of their characters, even just the one of their characters. There is good advice on creating antagonists and the supporting cast too and the chapter ends with a discussion on safety tools. Arguably, given the nature of the setting for Miseries & Misfortunes, this could have been placed earlier in the book.

‘Petits Systémes’ or small systems, provides a number of sub-systems that expands options and rules for Miseries & Misfortunes. These begin with ‘Favour’, the gaining of the patronage from notable figures, based on the traits that these potential patrons seek or value, such as charm or cleverness or piety. If the Player Characters perform tasks and missions in accordance with those traits, they will gain patronage and be rewarded. If not, the patron will feel disappointed and even feel betrayed. The Player Characters can have more than one patron and it is suggested that beyond the first or major patron, the players should each control and roleplay a patron rather than the Game Master in what is another shift to narrative style play.

Perhaps the new addition that most players will be interested is ‘Duello’, which are rules for duelling in Miseries & Misfortunes. This starts with the legal difficulties of duelling, having been outlawed by the king’s father and grandfather, versus the desire of the nobility to satisfy their honour, and goes on to cover issuing a challenge, employing a duellist, the duelling code, and more. A duellist’s Duelling skill is based on his Mêlée and how many Lifepath skills he has in Fencer. This greatly favours the latter as it should, hence the need for some to hire a duellist to protect their honour. Ideally, the duel should be played out on a grid of squares—which can be constrained by the location and its features—with the actual cut and thrust of the swordplay done as series of initiative tests to first see who can outmanoeuvre the other and the options then available to both, such as ‘Barbed Words’, ‘Break Grips’ if the duellists are in a tie, ‘Trip’, ‘Inside Cut’, and more. There is a pleasing back and forth flow to the rules, but whilst they allow for manoeuvre and movement, these are not duelling rules for swashbuckling and cinematic play. So, footwork, but not jumping and leaping. This is all about swordplay and honour, but as the rules suggest, not necessarily to the death. Lastly, ‘Duello’ points out there are legal ramifications for duelling even when a duel does not end in a death, such as a six-month prison sentence for the soufflet—the slapping of another in the face with a glove! Overall, ‘Duello’ adds a nice combination of skill and roleplay to Miseries & Misfortunes and is likely to be one of the most used rulesets in the supplement.

Penultimately, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères takes an unpleasant turn with ‘Disease’, an examination of maladies and infections in the period. As noted in ‘Modernity’ earlier in the book, disease was rife in the period. The best that a Player Character can hope for is rest and the hope that he receives proper treatment—or at least what can be regarded as the proper treatment of the day. There are three recognised sources of treatment—Barber, Chirurgy, and Physic—which provide different means to treat different diseases. The use of the improper source, insufficient skill (represented by Gnosis , the degree of knowledge a practitioner knows, as detailed in Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 3: The Sacred & The Profane), and even a complete of skill can result in Quackery, the ability to appear to be aiding the sufferer whilst not actually doing anything to help or even inflicting further suffering. This can include a range of tonics, baths, and pills—and even prayer! The section includes a full list of diseases, their symptoms, and cures—both legitimate and quack. It all makes for very grim reading and a player had best hope that his character does not fall ill, because having to roleplay the treatment, let alone the symptoms, is not going to be pleasant. Lastly, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères gives guidelines on communications and languages in ‘Communications’.

Physically, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères is well presented and written with lots of period artwork and etchings which helps impart its historical setting. It does lack an index, but this is not so much of an issue given the compartmentalised nature of its various subjects.
Ultimately, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères is the equivalent of a Miseries & Misfortunes miscellany or a Miseries & Misfortunes companion. Some of the content is more useful than others and some does add more detail and complexity than every group will want to in engage with. ‘Chevaux’ is an example of the latter, whilst ‘Duello’ is an example of the former. Then some of it is fascinatingly revelatory, like the ‘Modernity’ essay, and in the case of ‘Disease’, both revelatory and grim. Elsewhere, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères provides support for campaigns with its discussion of ‘Moments’ and ‘Favour’ that also at the same time do shift the roleplaying game away from its Old School Renaissance roots towards a slightly more narrative style of play. Ultimately, the ‘Duello’ chapter is what is going attract the Game Master and her players to the supplement, but there is a lot more misery in the pages of Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères to explore and bring into play.

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 two. 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 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 God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens is the quick-start for Cthulhu Awakens, the roleplaying game of Lovecraftian and Cosmic Horror investigative horror using the AGE System published by Green Ronin Publishing.

The time frame for The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens and thus Cthulhu Awakens is roughly one hundred years. It begins in the 1920s and runs up until the present day and is known as the ‘Weird Century’.

It is a forty-five-page, 22.36 MB full colour PDF.

How long will it take to play?
The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens and its adventure, ‘The God Beneath the Tree’, is designed to be played through in a single session, two at most.
What else do you need to play?
The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens needs three six-sided dice per player. One of the three dice must be a different colour. It is called the Stunt Die.
Who do you play?
The five Player Characters—or Character Types—in The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens consist of an immigrant athletic brawler and aspiring soldier, a stealthy refugee turned farmer, a volunteer farmer good with her hands, a cosmopolitan and observant merchant, and a veteran Soldier. The five Character Types represent a diverse range of backgrounds and origins, including a Black Briton and a Basque, whilst the veteran is a Sikh.
How is a Player Character defined?A Character Type in The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens is defined by Abilities, Focuses, and Talents. There are nine Abilities—Accuracy, Communication, Constitution, Dexterity, Fighting, Intelligence, Perception, Strength, and Willpower. Each attribute is rated between -2 and 4, with 1 being the average, and each can have a Focus, an area of expertise such as Accuracy (Pistols), Communication (Persuasion), Intelligence (Medicine), or Willpower (Faith). A Focus provides a bonus to associated skill rolls and, in some cases, access to a particular area of knowledge.
A Talent represents an area of natural aptitude or special training. For example, ‘Brawling Style’ increases base damage when fighting unarmed, whilst ‘Scouting’ enables a player to reroll failed Stealth and Seeing tests. A Player Character also has one or more Relationships with other Player Characters or NPCs and Fortune Points to expend on adjusting die rolls. He is further defined by a Drive, Resources and Equipment, Health, Defence, Toughness, and Speed, and Goals, and Ties.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens uses the AGE System first seen in in 2009 with the publication of Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5. If a Player Character wants to undertake an action, his player rolls three six-sided dice and totals the result to beat the difficulty of the test, ranging from eleven or Average to twenty-one or Nigh Impossible. The value for an appropriate Ability and Focus is added to this. If any doubles are rolled on the dice and the action succeeds, the value on the Stunt Die generates Stunt Points. The player can expend these to gain bonuses, do amazing things, and gain an advantage in a situation. Stunts are divided into Combat, Exploration, and Social categories. For example, ‘Lightning Attack’ is an Action Stunt which gives an extra attack, ‘Assist’ is an Exploration Stunt which enables a Player Character to help another with a bonus, and ‘Spot Tell’ is a Social Stunt which gives the Player Character an advantage when an NPC is lying to him.
How does combat work?
Combat in the The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens uses the same mechanics as above. It is a handled as ‘Action Encounters’ in which the Player Characters have one Minor Action and one Major Action per turn. Major Actions include attacks, running and chasing, rendering first aid, and so on, whilst Minor Actions can be readying a weapon, aiming, and so on. Damage suffered reduces a character’s Health, but a Player Character can also suffer a variety of conditions.

How does ‘Alienation’ work?
Although the genre for The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens and thus Cthulhu Awakens is that of Lovecraftian investigative horror, encounters with the unnatural, supernatural, or the weird do not cause madness in those that witness them. Instead, anyone who encounters the Mythos suffers from Alienation as his mind attempts to understand what he has witnessed actually disobeys the natural laws as mankind inherently understands them and forces us to challenge our preconception that mankind’s role in the universe matters.
Alienation can come from seeing Entities of the Mythos, from being confronted by Visitations from the Elder Gods and Great Old Ones, other Phenomena, and from Revelations contained in Mythos texts and other similar sources. A successful Willpower Test can withstand the immediate effects, but if this is failed, then the Player Character gains Alienation Bonds, one for the player and one for the Game Master. If either Alienation Bond exceeds five, it resets to one, but the Player Character suffers from distorted thinking. This can be roleplayed by the Player Character or the Game Master can provide false information based on the Player Character’s now flawed thinking.
The points in Alienation Bonds can be spent as bonuses. By the player as bonus Stunt Points in understanding and fighting the forces of the Mythos and by the Game Master as bonus Stunt Points to enhance the actions of the Mythos and its agents. Effectively, Alienation represents a Player Character’s capacity to confront the Mythos, but it also makes him more vulnerable to it.
What do you play?
The scenario in The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens is ‘The God Beneath the Tree’. This is based on a real historical mystery and takes place in 1940 at the height of the Birmingham Blitz during the Second World War in the nearby village of Hagley. The Player Characters are Home Front volunteers, ordered to keep an eye out for downed Luftwaffe airmen, or worse, German paratroopers, after the local Home Guard is ordered to help in Birmingham, which was badly bombed the previous night. As the Player Characters go about their duties of patrolling the town, there is some lovely period advice for the Game Master in terms of tone and they will be challenged with various tasks that will engender trust with the townsfolk who otherwise regard them as children. It is at this point, all very Famous Five, the Player Characters do begin to detect hints that something is amiss, but are not quite sure what. The scenario takes a dark turn when a storm descends on the village and a German aircraft crash-lands in the surrounding woods.
The scenario really consists of two parts. The first is primarily social, whilst the second is more exploratory and action-packed. Both halves are a lot of fun and all together, the scenario has knowing English sensibility to it. The scenario also provides an interesting explanation for the local and very real historical mystery. It is likely that players who are British and also have an interest in the oddities of history will get more out of ‘The God Beneath the Tree’ than those who are not.
Is there anything missing?
No. The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens includes everything that the Game Master and five players need to play through it.
Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens are easy to prepare. Anyone who has played or run an AGE System roleplaying game will adapt with ease.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens presents the basics for a fast-playing and slightly more action-orientated roleplaying game than most roleplaying games of Lovecraftian investigative horror, and supports them with an enjoyably bucolic scenario that turns nasty when something is unleashed from deep in the woods.

The God Beneath the Tree: A Quickstart Playset for Cthulhu Awakens is published by Green Ronin Publishing and is available to download here.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, 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?The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is an anthology of two scenarios and the fourth and final part of the campaign set in Sun County in Prax following on from Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1, The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2, and Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

The quartet is based on material present in Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun.

It is a full colour, one-hundred-and-nine page, 28.95 MB PDF.

It is one-hundred-and-seven page, full colour hardback.

The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is well presented, decently written, and has excellent artwork and cartography. Both scenarios are very well supported with handouts, maps, and illustrations for all of their NPCs, creatures, and monsters.

Where is it set?
As with previous volumes in the series, The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four takes place in Sun County, the small, isolated province of Yelmalio-worshipping farmers and soldiers located in the fertile River of Cradles valley of Eastern Prax, south of the city of Pavis, where it is beset by hostile nomads and surrounded by dry desert and scrubland. Where Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 is specifically it is set in and around the remote hamlet of Sandheart, where the inhabitants are used to dealing and even trading with the nomads who come to worship at the ruins inside Sandheart’s walls, The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2 is set in and around Cliffheath, on the eastern edge of the county, and Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three focuses on  a cave known as Dark Watch on the edge of the county, The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four takes the Player Characters onto a bigger stage both in and beyond the borders of Sun County.
The events of The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four take place in ST 1621.
Who do you play?
The player characters are members of the Sun County militia based in Sandheart. Used to dealing with nomads and outsiders and oddities and agitators, the local militia serves as the dumping ground for any militia member who proves too difficult to deal with by the often xenophobic, misogynistic, repressive, and strict culture of both Sun County and the Sun County militia. It also accepts nomads and outsiders, foreigners and non-Yemalions, not necessarily as regular militia-men, but as ‘specials’, better capable of dealing with said foreigners and non-Yemalions.

What do you need?
The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Both RuneQuest – Glorantha Bestiary and Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun might be useful. 
What do you get?
The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is a collection of two scenarios, ‘The God Skin Incident’ and ‘Mad Prax: Beyond Sun Dome’. The first will involve the Player Characters in a murder mystery and then a quest and several moral quandaries they are unexpectedly required to complete, whilst the second brings the Player Characters to the attention of Solanthos Ironpike, Honoured Count of Sun County, and involves them in events that are a precursor to the Hero Wars.
The Sandheart Militia is called into apprehend a band of murders and thieves at the beginning of ‘The God Skin Incident’. The culprits are already known, a group of Elves, actually allies of Sun County and tolerated visitors, that has murdered the head of a hamlet and stolen an artefact important to the hamlet’s economic future. In the first part of the scenario, the Player Characters chase them down into the scrublands on the edge of Sun County, where they face their first moral quandary. Do they aid the Elves, aid another group chasing them, or do nothing? Either way, as a result of this confrontation, the Player Characters find themselves under a geas to fulfil the same quest that the leader of the Elves had sworn to complete. This is possible because he and his cohorts worshipped a different aspect of Yelmalio known as Halamalao.
The second part takes the Sandheart Militia back into Sun County and out again into Prax, this time on a journey to Biggle Stone to complete against an ancient enemy known as ‘The Betrayers’.  The journey borders on the picaresque with numerous engaging encounters along the way in the company of an interesting, often demanding protector of the stolen artefact. Where the scenario feels weakest is that it does not make very much of the settlements of Horngate and Agape, both stops along the route. The climax of the scenario sour is dark and sour, dank and sodden, unlike anything that the Sandheart Militia are likely to have encountered before, making it all the more challenging. Its grungy, earthy feel and tone make it the more interesting of the two scenarios in the collection.
The epilogue to the scenario again presents the Player Character with a moral dilemma. Unfortunately, the options are presented in black and white, leaving no room for nuance or other choices.
Originally run at Necronomicon III in Sydney, New South Wales in 1991, ‘Mad Prax: Beyond Sun Dome’ has here been updated to bring the Sandheart Militia quartet to a close. When the Sandheart Militia come to the aid of Yelanda Goldenlocks, a would be Yelmalian hero held back by the conservative and misogynist attitudes of her fellow Sun Domers, they come to the attention of Sun County’s ruler, Count Solanthos Ironpike. Despite his disdain for her, he instructs Yelanda Goldenlocks to undertake an important mission, to deliver a package to the Sun Dome military forces which have been despatched elsewhere, and because of his disdain for her, he assigns the Player Characters to accompany her as well as Melo Yelo, a Baboon who is annoyingly keen to become a Yelmalio cultist. Which, of course, is completely anathema to the Sun Domers.
The scenario is again another travelogue, one that takes them to the River of Cradles, the journey interrupted by increasingly odd occurrences and encounters, including the very entertaining one of the title with a berserk Praxian which is made all the more challenging because it triggers all of Yelenda’s geases, riddles with an Orlanthi, and desperately running Trolls. There is a real sense of this part of Sun County being in disarray, though the Sandheart Militia will not discover why until the climax of the scenario. This occurs in Harpoon overlooking the River of Cradles and sees them participate in an assault on a Giant’s Cradle, something which has not been seen on the river for centuries. Ultimately, the Player Characters, posted to the Sandheart Militia due to their non-conformity, have the opportunity to prove themselves heroes in front of the whole of the Sun County military. It brings the  whole campaign to a big rousing climax, literally on a big stage!
Both scenarios are linear in nature and do not provide much in the alternative when it comes to dealing with the situations that the Player Characters find themselves in. To be fair, both are military missions and the Player Characters are under orders, so that they do have their orders. The Game Master will have fun portraying both Yelanda Goldenlocks and Yelo Melo, but there is also the option for them to be roleplayed by a player. This works better if the scenario is being run as a one-off.
Is it worth your time?
Yes—The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four brings the series to a rousing climax and provides an opportunity for the Player Characters to prove themselves worthy of Sun County.No—The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is not worth your time if you are running a campaign or scenarios set elsewhere, especially in Sartar.
Maybe—Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three might be useful for a campaign involving Yelmalions and the worship of Yelm from places other than Sun County, but its framework structure may be more challenging to use if the Game Master has already run the previous scenarios in the campaign.

Between the quotas and the quanta, there is time for questions. Between the propaganda and proselytism there is time for pondering. Between the machinations and murders there is time for messages. Between the intrigues and insurgencies there is time for infatuation. Between the assassinations and alterations there is time for assignations. Between these moments, there is time for love. These are not moments that matter to great empires that believe that the only way to survive is to make the past, present, and future theirs, to adjust every version of themselves so that it survives and every version of their rival so that it does not. To wage wars violent in word and deed, but also subtle and imperceptible. There is a war up and down the timeline and sideways across the multiverse fought by armies and agents and two of those agents—one on either side—are beginning to question if the war will ever end? If either side will win? If there is more than the futility of fighting and thwarting each other’s efforts? If the other feels like they do? And if they do, can they shape reality so they are no longer foils for and reflections of each other, but together? After all, as elite agents in the war for time and reality, only they know what the other has experienced.

This is the set-up for The Words We Leave Behind, an epistolary roleplaying game for two players inspired by the multi-award-winning Science Fiction LGBT novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War. It is published by Lunar Shadow Designs and uses the same mechanics and format as the publisher’s interstellar epistolary roleplaying game of increasingly challenging communication and saying goodbye, Signal to Noise. In Signal to Noise, the players, as friends, relatives, or lovers, beamed letters to each other back and forth across vast distances of space, between the Earth and a gigantic colony ship. In The Words We Leave Behind, the players take the roles of Proxies on opposite sides of a massive time war, one that has the capacity to spread to other worlds and dimensions. Each is their Faction’s ultimate warrior and agent because they perfectly embody the emotional profile which their Faction views as the ultimate driver behind the rise and fall of civilisations. In The Words We Leave Behind, each player will take the role of a Proxy, each guided by three emotions, which can be opposed to, or in direct competition with, the other Proxy. Over the course of play, the players will not exchange letters as in other epistolary roleplaying games, but draw cards to create points in the future and the past of a Timeline, each an Incursion which their Proxy will enter and alter details. As they play, they may visit previously visited Incursions, adding and changing other details, even to Incursions created by their rival Proxy. These changes can cascade down the Timeline to alter further points in the future. This is all played out on a shared document, meaning that The Words We Leave Behind is intended to be played online.
Besides the shared online document and a means to send each other messages, each player in The Words We Leave Behind requires a standard deck of playing cards. These have their jokers removed, separated into their four suites and shuffled in four decks. A card is drawn from each suit to form the starting hand and there is always a card from each suit in the suit. (An extra Hearts card can be added to simulate the themes of This Is How You Lose the Time War.)

A Proxy is first defined by the three emotions that also define the Faction they serve. The player is free to develop their Proxy’s Faction as much or as little as they want, including its objectives, and will also ask the other player what their Proxy’s Faction thinks of theirs and what their Proxy’s Faction calls their Proxy whom it regards as the enemy. A Proxy also has a preferred form, worn between missions, and three anchors or possessions, which helps maintain the association with their roots, one of which is a trinket, an actual physical object that the player owns. Lastly, each Proxy decides how they perceive themselves and their rival.

Verdigris
I am CALCULATING and you are RECKLESS
Prime Emotion: Hope
Secondary Emotions: Shame, Anger
Anchors: The skull of bird whose species was made extinct by dangerous technology (it reminds me of what we lost); a blade grass from my home farm (it is what we work to preserve and I leave behind on every mission to show what we are working to save); trinket: a single-sided die (from the game we played as children)

Play consists of several turns, typically four to five, in which each player will take control of the narrative and send a message as their Proxy to the other player and their Proxy. In subsequent turns after the first, a player will have their Proxy read the message from their rival, be assigned by their Faction to make an Incursion—roughly between five and thirty sentences long—and manipulate events there, before leaving a message behind for their rival to find. The Incursions are recorded on the Timestream document as are their effects on downstream Incursions. If a Proxy returns to an existing Incursion, their player can edit it by adding text at the beginning or end of the current Incursion, effectively changing the lead into the Incursion or the outcome. These changes can cascade down the Timestream, the current player examining subsequent Incursions and if necessary, adding, deleting, or altering a single sentence in the Incursion description. (Whilst the changes are made directly to the Timestream document, the prior state is tracked via the messages between the players. One of the potential issues with the play of The Words We Leave Behind is losing track of earlier incarnations of the Timestream.)

Cards are played randomly from the hand and provide two important details. First, the number determines the Incursion, whilst the suit advances the emotion which it matches. Once played, the cards represent a Proxy’s emotional state, the more cards a Proxy has in a suite, up to a maximum of three, the more intense the state. Roughly, Hearts equate to the emotion of love, Clubs to anger, Spades to uncertainty, and Diamonds to understanding. The emotional state will influence how the player describes their Proxy’s actions in an Incursion and their Proxy’s reactions to their rival’s actions.

A player can spend his Proxy’s Anchors for various effects. The first two anchors can be used to either let the player choose a card to play, alter three sentences in an Incursion when the changes cascade down the Timestream, or even to reverse the cascade, so back up the Timestream and into the past rather down into the future. The third anchor, a trinket, can be used to revert an Incursion to its original state, place an Incursion under a Temporal Lock so it is immune to the cascading effect, or to take a second turn.

The interaction between the proxies and thus the play of The Words We Leave Behind comes to climax when a player plays the third card from a suit and so acts on the emotional prompt it triggers. As in This Is How You Lose the Time War, this is the point when the Proxies decide to meet, and as in the novel, in The Words We Leave Behind it is not via the messages going back and forth between the Proxies, but in person, face to face (or alternatively, via a video call). Based on the current state of the Timestream, the messages exchanged, and their respective emotional states, the Proxies have a simple choice to make. Will they place their trust in each other or attempt to take advantage of the other. If they both place their trust in each other, their feelings transcend the conflict and they leave both it and their Factions behind together. If they attempt to take advantage of the other, the war continues to a calamitous end. Lastly, if one Proxy attempts to take advantage of the other and one Proxy places their trust in the other, the Proxy who attempted to take advantage prevails and their Faction gains greater control of reality. In all three cases, the outcome is then narrated.

Love and trust are not common themes in roleplaying games, with trust being a more common theme than love because it is easier to deal with via humour or politics or espionage rather than feelings. This is not to say that love cannot play a part in a roleplaying game, but in general, love is not a core theme of most roleplaying games. When it is, it has tended to come out of the storytelling and narrative style of design, such as Emily Care Boss’ The Romance Trilogy, consisting of Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon, and Under the Skin. Nor does this mean that more mainstream publishers have not ignored the subject, such as Thirsty Sword Lesbians from Evil Hat Productions and Blue Rose: The AGE RPG of Romantic Fantasy from Green Ronin Publishing. This, though, does not escape the fact that ‘love’ as a theme in roleplaying games is challenging to handle for the players because it requires trust between the participants and it requires them to roleplay feelings that are normally kept private. Lastly, The Words We Leave Behind has the possibility of the most devastating response to both love and trust—betrayal. As with those other roleplaying games, The Words We Leave Behind is best played by mature players.

The Words We Leave Behind can be played from start to finish in a matter of a few hours, but its epistolary format means that it can be played at a more leisurely pace over the course of a few days or weeks. It can also be played on an Earthly, Galactic, or Dimensional scale, but really this only adds to flavour and scope of the setting rather than the themes. Those themes are explored in the messages between the Proxies and in the changes made to the timestream, pushed and prodded by the suits of the cards played and then escalated. Each player and their Proxy is aware of how the other feels as the card details are exchanged in the messages and whilst for the most part the cards themselves are played randomly from their hands, each player has the choice to change how their Proxy feels by playing an anchor and being able to select a card instead of drawing it randomly.

Apart from the aforementioned issue with keeping track of the timestream, The Words We Leave Behind is more challenging to play if the participants have not read This Is How You Lose the Time War to understand the themes and structure of the roleplaying game. The roleplaying game is also part of the publisher’s Dyson Eclipse future setting, the same as Rock Hoppers, Signal to Noise, and The Kandhara Contraband: A System Agnostic Sci-Fi Adventure, but it is not clear how. Lastly, as an epistolary roleplaying game, The Words We Leave Behind feels that it should have more emotional prompts for longer play rather than the three for each suit which befit a game played in one go.

Physically, The Words We Leave Behind is neat and tidy and includes a lot of helpful advice and prompts on handling its themes, which undeniably are all needed give the nature of those themes.

Fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War will doubtless be intrigued by The Words We Leave Behind, but will find it a daunting prospect if they have not played a roleplaying game before or their roleplaying experience is with more mainstream roleplaying games. The Words We Leave Behind is a personally demanding game, asking us to explore themes and feelings that not every roleplaying game, but the epistolary format means that this exploration does not have to be immediate and it can be more considered, which ameliorates some of the challenge to The Words We Leave Behind. Nevertheless, for mature players willing to do so, The Words We Leave Behind presents the demanding means to explore the growth of love and trust—and potentially betrayal—in considered fashion in an age of a time war.

—oOo—
This review is of the ‘Ashcan’ edition of The Words We Leave Behind. The full version is currently being funded via Kickstarter.

Drelnza holding Daoud's Wondrous Lanthorn aloft.
Art by Jeff Easley, 2012.My son is getting ready to run Module S4, The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth, one of my all-time favorite adventures. And as it turns out I recently re-acquired my original S4 from my old DM's collection. So I have that, the 5e version from Quests from the Infinite Staircase, the 3e extension, and other variants so I am well prepared to help him out.

Then he asked about Drelnza.

Of course I know who she is in the context of this adventure. I know who she is in relationship to Iggwilv, but beyond that...there is just not a lot about her. So I set out to discover more. Was she once a Lawful Good Paladin? Who was her father? How did she become a vampire? I might not be able to answer all these questions, but I will give them a try as I go In Search of Drelnza, Iggwilv's Treasure.

In Search Of...Drelnza, Iggwilv's Treasure

What can we say we know for certain?

Drelnza (sometimes Drelzna) is a vampire found in the spherical chamber guarding Iggwilv's stash of magical treasure. 

She is called "Iggwilv's Treasure" and is her daughter. Whether that is a biological daughter can be debated.

 She is a standard vampire in the original S4 for AD&D 1st Ed. In later editions, she gets a few upgrades, including fighter (or Samurai) levels and a really powerful sword (named "Heretic").

What is tantalizing about her is how little we really know. 

From reading the original Winter Con V version of the adventure, we do know that she was originally just a "vampiress lord" sleeping on a stone slab, a bit like Sleeping Beauty, and designed to catch the characters and players off guard. It is a ruse that is only likely to be used once and lampooned in the later Castle Greyhawk adventure "Temple of Really Bad Dead Things."

Outside of that, there is very, very little about her in the adventure itself. However, I have learned that on Oerth-Prime, she was killed by Melf.

Drelnza's Life and Unlife

Nearly nothing is known here. We have one tidbit of information, though. The warlock Mary Greymalkin is the daughter of Drelnza and an Eladrin. This makes Mary the grand-daughter of Iggwilv. Something I should explore more. 

According to the Dastardly Decimal System Podcast, Drelnza was a warrior Princess. I like the idea of her being something akin to Xena. 

In any case, she must have had Mary while she was young, which means she is not a very old vampire at all.

Who's Your Daddy?

Gary never confirmed, or even really knew, who Drelnza's father was. He firmly left that in the hands of the players to decide in their own games if they ever felt the need.  According to Dragon Magazine #336 (October 2005), Drelnza was born between 481 and 491 CY. But this seems really late into Iggwilv's rule of Perrenland and not long enough ago to be "centuries" since Iggwilv was last seen. Reminder the "current" year in Greyhawk is considered to be 591 CY.  

In the article "History Check: The Iggwilv-Graz’zt Affair" from Dragon #414 it is stated that her father is still unknown and she might be the only being in the multi-verse Iggwilv ever truly loved.  So I'd like to think she was born early enough in Tasha's/Iggwilv's life when she was still capable of loving someone. 

Let's say that Iggwilv conquers Perrenland with her undead army in 481 CY. She is a Queen, but she needs a general, and who better to be a general of her undead army than her own vampire daughter, who also happens to be an excellent fighter (or even paladin/anti-paladin). 

So, her exact date of birth is really in question (by me), but honestly, I would push it back to the 460s or even the 450s. This would give Drelnza time to grow into a woman, have her own child (Mary), and then get turned into a vampire, likely something caused by Iggwilv herself. 

As for her father, there are many interesting prospects here. Let's look at them one by one.

Graz'zt

He has been the father of Iuz since his time with Iggwilv, but it is almost universally agreed that he is not the father of Drelnza.

Mordenkainen

Now here is an interesting idea. I like the idea that Iggwilv, maybe when she was still known as Tasha, and Mordenkainen having an illicit affair resulting in a daughter. The basic trouble here is one of timing. Back when Iggwilv/Tasha was young she had not met Graz'zt yet and it widely held that Iuz is older than Drelnza. Unless Drelnza is older, but was turned into a vampire and the age refers to her "living" age. Still...the timing is not exactly right. 

Ok. So not Drelnza's father, but maybe there is another child out there where Mordy and Tasha are the parents. Maybe this is the origin of the "Son of Pohjola" who she gave birth to on an alternate Earth?

Orcus

This is who I went with when I created the Noidan Tytär, or the Daughters of Iggwilv. However, I think I will stick with this for Iggwilv's Nine Daughters. I feel less inclined these days to make Drelnza among their number. This means Noidan Tytär, Iuz, and Drelnza are all half-siblings.

Tsojcanth

We also don't have many details on who Tsojcanth was. The ever-helpful OSR Grimoire features a bit of an interview with Gary about Tsojcanth, stating he was a powerful wizard, and almost certainly Good and human. This contradicts what is presented in Iggwilv's Legacy: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. I am more inclined to go with Gary's notion that Tsojcanth was human and good if not Lawful Good. The "fiend" Tsojcanth feels lazy and dull to me. Not to say he was not corrupted later on, but it still feels lazy. Plus it just means that Tsojcanth is the same as Iuz, only instead of Graz'zt and Iggwilv it is Fraz-Urb'luu and Vilhara. Even down to the imprisoning. No. We can do better. 

I am more likely to go with Tsojcanth dying and Fraz-Urb'luu pretending to be Tsojcanth turned evil.

So let's say Tsojcanth was a lawful good wizard. Iggwilv in her search for more power seduces and corrupts him (she is evil, after all) but there is an unexpected consequence; Drelnza. Drelnza becomes a fighter, no, a lawful good Paladin, until Iggwilv twists her into her "treasure" and makes her a chaotic evil Anti-Paladin Vampire.

I like it. It is evil, devious, and filled with tragedy. 

BUT the dates don't work here either since Tsojcanth was also supposed to have been dead for centuries. 

Lerrek

One last choice comes from The Oerth Journal. In Issue #13 Lerrek (and sometimes "Lerrik") is mentioned as the father of "Drelzna." According to author Andy Seale (aka Fallon, Ranger-Sage of the Vesve), Drelzna was born in 453 CY. 

Now this is from a fan publication, but the Oerth Journal has some weight behind it, and in the absence of other details we might as well use it. 

Given her two "birth" years, I am going to say she was born in 453 CY and turned into a vampire between 481 and 491 CY. That 453 CY works well with my own thoughts on when she should have been born. 

Ultimately, I guess it doesn't really matter who Drelnza's father was. The more important relationship is between her and her mother Iggwilv.

In the current state of things, Iggwilv is shedding her past to become the new Arch Fey Zybilna, and her alignment is drifting from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Neutral. I guess we all slow down as we get older. While it is often stated that Iggwilv truly loved her daughter, I don't think there would really be a joyous family reunion even if Drelnza had somehow survived. 

Still. I would like to say she did somehow and is still out there somewhere in the Multi-verse. Is she searching for her mother? And if so what will happen if they meet up again after so many years apart?

Sounds like something I might want to run someday.

Links

• The Adventures
• S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e)
• WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1e)
• S4 Acaeum.com entries
• My previous posts
• Daughters of Iggwilv
• Adventures in Hyperborea
• Iggwilv tagged posts
• Quests from the Infinite Staircase
• Posts tagged "Iggwilv"
• Drelnza wiki entries
• at the Great Library of Greyhawk
• at the World of Greyhawk wiki
• Drelnza, the Vampiress Lord
• Drelnza, The False Disney Princess, Sarah Dark Magic
• Dastardly Decimal System, Episode 31: The Daughter of Tasha: DRELNZA
• Tsojcanth
• Iggwilv
• Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Iggwilv's Legacy: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
• Canonfire discussion
• Dragonsfoot discussion
• OSR Grimoire
• WinterCon V: The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth
• Drelnza the Vampiress Lord
• Dragon #414: History Check: The Iggwilv-Graz’zt Affair
• Iggwilv's Treasure Miniature

 A few days late to report this, I completed TARDIS Captain's 2025 Character Creation Challenge with 40+ characters. I am mentioning it today because last night, I finally got all of Grenda's characters added to protective sleeves and put into a three-ring binder.

No idea how many this is, upwards of 250 characters. Most have multiple sheets. The binder itself can hold close to 1000 pages. The characters are predominantly AD&D 1st Edition with an odd GURPS, AD&D 2nd Edition, and D&D Basic Edition character here or there. 

If I ever need an NPC, I'll have one, or a score, ready to go.

It was a bittersweet exercise and I admit I really pushed the limit on the spirit of the Challenge. Not exactly new characters, all the same system. But I was really happy to do this. These characters were important once upon a time, and I wanted to make sure that, if just for a month, they were important again. 

31 Day Character Creation Challenge

Follow Timothy's board 31 Day Character Creation Challenge on Pinterest.

Character Creation Challenge by Aurora Stark

Looking forward to next year, though I don't know what I'll be doing yet.

 I am still having fun with Jason Vey's Cd8 Fantasy Roleplaying game. I thought I would give it a spin with some more characters. Getting a feeling of what the various power level benchmarks are and so on.  So I thought, let's bring back the Fearless Five and give them a go at it!

Not sure what mission they will be going on next. They got already Bargle. I just 3D printed Kelek on a Warg so maybe they are going after him.

Skylla

Name: Skylla
Species: Human
Attitude: The only thing important is power

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 3
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 7
Cut of My Jib: 5
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 26
Armor: 0 None
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 2, Doctoring 2, Fighting 1, Herbalizing 4, Magicking 6, Mythologizing 2, Performing 1, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/BugsEnhanced Senses 1Prodigy (Magicking) 1 (3pts)Super stats (Child Like Wonder) 4
Super stats (Cut of my Jib) 4Psychic 3- TK, PK, Mind contrtol
Weapons
Staff

Aleena

Name: Aleena
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping others

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 4
Cut of My Jib: 2
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 10
Armor: Heavy
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Doctoring 4, Fighting 1, Magicking 3, Mythologizing 2, Researching 3, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/Bugswhy me? -5
Weapons
Mace

Mogan Ironwolf

Name: Morgan Ironwolf
Species: Human
Attitude: Hitting things

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 3

Life Points: 21
Armor: Medium
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 1, Driving 1, Fighting 6, Running 3, Shooting 3, Sporting 3, Tumbling 1

Benefits/BugsTakes A Licking 1Keeps on Ticking 5Lucky 3
Weapons
Longsword, Bow

Duchess

Name: Duchess
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 20
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 3

Benefits/BugsLuckyIron ConstitutionYou Want to Get Out of Here Real Fast? 4Stat Increase 4
Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

Candella

Name: Candella
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself and have a good time doing it!

Gumption: 2
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 3
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 2

Life Points: 17
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 4

Benefits/BugsLuckyStat Increase 4
Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

 OK! These are fun. I did not detail Skylla's or Aleena's spells, really. They have them. If I expand them into a one-shot, then I may. I would totally run a game at a convention with these—some sort of heist where everything goes sideways.

That is not really a bad idea. I already built them all for ShadowDark and now again for Cd8. Well, minus the Sorceress. She was done with Skylla's interference. 

Cd8 does not have "levels" for characters. The game assumptions between this and level/class systems are too different. But for this round, I was working under some assumptions about how many XP to give out to equal a level. So far, my numbers have panned out, but I want to try it with a few more to be sure. 

So far I rather enjoy this game. 

 I want to spend some time focusing on other fantasy table top RPGs this year. I still love my D&D and likely always will, but I also have a lot of other games I enjoy as well. Here is one I have been playing around with for a little bit now. It is the newest from Jason Vey at Elf Lair Games. Cd8 Fantasy Role Playing.

Cd8 Fantasy Role Playing is described as a "beer and pretzels" fantasy RPG. Everything you need to play (minus paper, pencils, some d8s and some friends) is included in 32 pages.

It is designed to be picked up in an afternoon and have you playing right away. It is based on his previous RPG, Chutzpah! A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi. While designed as a bit of a joke and a design challenge, it turned out to be a very solid game. Cd8 Fantasy takes that same game design and applies it to fantasy. You do not need either game to play the other. 

You have the same attribute stats as Chutzpah, "Gumption," "Moxy," "Chutzpah," "Cut of My Jib," "Childlike Wonder," and yes, a "Certain Je ne Sais Quoi," and build your character. It is a point spread, so you are given 10 points to fill in each attribute. Minimum 1, max 3 with 2 as the human average. Then can go all the way up to 10 with experience.

You have your skills, 13 of them, and another 10 points to spend. Obviously, some of these are going to be 0.  

Rolls are a number of d8s equal to Stat + Skill or sometimes Stat + Stat or Stat x2. So, it is a d8 dice pool mechanic. Rolls of "6," "7," and "8" are called "Fist Bumps" or successes in other games. An "8" counts as having rolled 3 "Fist Bumps," and a roll of 1 takes one away.  

Let's say that you want to cast a spell. That would be your Childlike Wonder stat (we will say that is a score of 3) and your Magicking skill (say a 2) for a total of 5. Roll 5d8. You get 1, 3, 5, 8, 8. That two "8s" counts as 3 fist bumps instead of 2. But the die roll of one takes one away, so you have a total of 2 fist bumps. The God of Me (GM) says you need 2 fist bumps (above average difficulty) to cast the spell, so you got it!

That's it. That is the entire system! Granted, the next couple of dozen pages have more details, but you can learn the game that fast.

There are options to change the die from a d8 to something else to adjust the difficulties. There are options for fantasy species ("Elves and Dwarves and other Crap?") and examples of various monsters. 

Given this is an Elf Lair Games product, there are also conversion notes for Wasted Lands. 

To give your characters more depth or variety, there is an appendix on Benefits and Bugs, an advantage/disadvantage system. 

Honestly, it is a really fun game and simple to pick up.

Characters

Characters are terribly easy to make in this game. Over the weekend my oldest and I decided to try out the new D&D 5.5 system and make some characters. I will come back to that in a bit, but on the average it took about 15-20 minutes to make a character.  

With Cd8, I can create a character in about 5 minutes. This year, I will spend a lot of time comparing and contrasting a few characters. So here are a couple of my iconic characters. 

Johan Werper VII

For these experiments, I am going to start a new Johan. This guy is the son of Johan VI and Lana, mine and my wife's D&D 5.0 (2014) characters, respectively.  I did do a version of him for D&D 5.5 that I will detail later on.

Name: Johan Werper VII
Species: Human
Attitude: Do good things

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 2
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 3
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 12
Armor: 3 (Heavy)
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Doctoring 2, Fighting 3, Magicking 1, Mythologizing 1, Running 1, Shooting 1, Sporting 1

Benefits/BugsProdigy (Fighting): 1 (3pts)
Honorable: 1 (-3pts)
Weapons
Sword: 3 + FB

Not bad, really. I like it, a great starting character. 

How about a much more powerful one?

Larina Nix

Of course, I am going to try my witch in this. 

Name: Larina Nix
Species: Human
Attitude: Do witchy shit
Experience: 440

Gumption: 5
Moxy: 6
Chutzpah: 2
Childlike Wonder: 8
Cut of My Jib: 2
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 4

Life Points: 15
Armor: 1 (Light)
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Doctoring 4, Fighting 1, Herbalizing 5, Magicking 8, Mythologizing 6, Performing 2, Researching 6, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/BugsEnhanced Senses (Magic): 1
Prodigy (Magicking): 1 (3pts)
Psychic
- ESP- TK
Resist Magic
Everyone I Care About Dies: -1
Weapons
Staff: 1 + FB
Spells

Again, very quick, and I like the results. I gave her 440 experience to spend. No idea if that tracks well with a 20th-level Wasted Lands character, but it feels right. 

Citizen, congratulations on your appointment as a WATCHER. You will be continuing the work of the whole of BASTION which since 1943 has been studying the continuing effects of THE BREACH which occurred following THE COLLISION as a result of the experiments conducted by the Ministry of Culture and Science of The Enlightened Confederacy to test the theory of Space-Time Flows, developed by Möbius-Higgs. As a WATCHER you will continue your service as a Citizen of BASTION by conducting regular mandated and moderated penetrations of THE BREACH and explore the PARADOX known to exist on the other side. Adherence to the R.A.C.E. Protocol (Research, Analyse, Collect, and Eradicate) is mandatory at all times. You will be equipped with a CLOAK to protect you from any one of the identified and unidentified alien environments known to exist in the PARADOX and a modified DISINTEGRATOR and GUTTER to protect the Citizens of BASTION and The Enlightened Confederacy from any potential emergent incursion from the PARADOX via THE BREACH. Beware that penetrations of THE BREACH for reasons yet to be determined by previous penetrations and study of THE BREACH and the PARADOX are time limited assignments. All PARADOXES are subject to MELTDOWN. Loss of a WATCHER, CLOAK, DISINTEGRATOR, GUTTER, and all samples and data collected is an impediment to the continued study of THE BREACH and the PARADOX and progress by your fellow WATCHERS, the entirety of BASTION, the Ministry of Culture and Science, and The Enlightened Confederacy. Upon return from a penetration, you will report to the WARDENS who will collect and analyse all data from the penetration, including oral, aural, physical, and emotional. Remember your loyalty and safety as a WATCHER to BASTION, the Ministry of Culture and Science, and The Enlightened Confederacy is appreciated at all times. Thank you for your service.
—oOo—
The Breach is a roleplaying game published by Need Games!, best known for the roleplaying game inspired by Japanese console roleplaying games, Fabula Ultima. It is a bleak, dystopian Science Fiction roleplaying game of exploration and survival set in Bastion, a city-sized bunker dedicated to the exploration and examination of the consequences of an experiment that went wrong decades before. The experiment connected the world via The Breach, a portal to other dimensions and planets, which the programme within the bunker sends dedicated teams through to study and collect samples. Contact with the world outside of the bunker is extremely limited and knowledge of its current status and history since the experiment and establishment of the bunker and the programme to study the other worlds and dimensions is known only to the highest echelons of the bunker. It is set some in and inspired by the Science Fiction of the sixties and seventies, as well as range of other influences, including the television series, Chernobyl and Loki—right down to having Miss Goldie, a Miss Minutes-like figure dispense advice to the Operator, and the films, 12 Monkeys and Brazil. One other influence is the book, Roadside Picnic, though via the computer game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. In overall terms of setting, The Breach is ahistorical as the location of The Enlightened Confederacy is never identified.

Players take the role of Watchers who are assigned to perform a series of missions through The Breach and into the Paradox, randomly generated by the Operator, as the Game Master is known. This includes the Briefing—what the mission objective is, the Paradox Danger Level—how long before its suffers meltdown, the layout of the area to be explored—six such layout maps are provided as Paradoxes frequently exhibit repeating structures, and then what is found within the layouts. Missions are intended to last a single session or so’s worth of play.

A Watcher is defined by four Approaches—Aware, Mighty, Quick, and Sneaky—which represent different means of overcoming challenges, whilst Stamina is a measure of a Watcher’s mental and physical resources. He has two Traits, which can be used to gain an Advantage or Disadvantage when facing a dangerous situation. He also has a call sign, name, a backpack, and two tools. A Watcher is protected whilst in a Paradox by a sealed suit known as a Cloak and carries a Disintegrator for ranged combat and a Gutter for close-in combat. The Cloak also collects data for the Watcher to monitor his health and external readings, which is then analysed by the Wardens when he returns to Bastion. To create a Watcher, a player assigns a d10, a d8, a d8, and a d6 to the four Approaches, and chooses his Watcher’s pronouns and the colour of his Watcher’s Cloak. Everything else is randomly determined. Throughout the process, the player is posed a number of questions which develop his Watcher.

Name: Banca
Call Sign: Supernova

APPROACHES
Aware d10 Mighty d6 Quick d8 Sneaky d8
Stamina d12
Traits: Cunning, Artistic

Disintegrator d10 (Bayonet)
Gutter d8 (Versatile)
Cloak (yellow) (Clock: 4 3 2 1)
Shield Generator d6 Motion Detector d10

Mechanically, when a Watcher fasces a difficult problem or dangerous situation, a Reaction roll is required. This requires the player to select a suitable Approach and describe both his Watcher deals with the problem or situation and what his desired objective is. The Breach uses a dice pool system with the dice being drawn from the Watcher’s Approaches, equipment or weapon, Stamina if extra effort is required, and help from another Watcher in the form of his Stamina die. All of the dice are rolled and the highest counted. A roll of six or more is a success, a roll of four or five is a success, but with consequences, and a roll of one, two, or three is a failure. Essentially then, a ‘Yes’, ‘Yes, but…’, and a ‘No’ result. A Trait can be invoked to gain an Advantage or a Disadvantage. If an Advantage, the player can reroll any dice, but if a Disadvantage, results of one, two, three, four, and five, are treated as failure.

If the result is a success, the player achieves his Watcher’s desired outcome. On failure, a complication might occur or an opportunity is lost, or the Watcher suffer Harm or a Condition. A Watcher’s Cloak will automatically resist both Harm and a Condition, but is limited in the number of times it will do this. If a Watcher does suffer Harm, the player rolls his Watcher’s Stamina die equal to the number of points of Harm suffered and suffers the lowest and worst result on the die. This ranges from instant death or severed limb to dazed or bruised, and even nothing happens. The latter is unlikely. A Watcher can only suffer five Harm before dying.

Combat in The Breach is intended to be swift and brutal. It uses the same Reaction mechanics, but allows the Watchers to take the initiative and whatever plant, creature, and other alien species that the Watchers might encounter in a Paradox to react to the Watchers rather than always attack first. When a player rolls five or less on a Reaction roll, then the Operator can counterattack with an action by the plant, creature, or other alien species. Each enemy has its own table to roll on in terms what attacks it can make, Traits that will grant it Advantage or Disadvantage, and a single die rolled for actions and which also serves as its Harm, being reduced one step for each point suffered.

What is important about the Reaction rolls made by the players that any time the dice are rolled, all of those rolled, are stepped down. Apart from items, a die cannot be stepped down below a d4. Items either break or become exhausted. However, at this stage it means that a Watcher will fail most of the time and at best hope for a success, but with consequences. What the dice are is resources and what they represent is not so much what the Watcher can do, but what the Watcher can do and for how long.

The other key mechanic to The Breach is the Clock. These represent the danger level of a Paradox, the lower the number of segments in the Clock, the greater the danger. It is filled up during the Operator’s turn when she rolls low on the danger die. As it fills up, the conditions in the Paradox will worsen and if it ever fills up completely, the Paradox suffers Meltdown and is destroyed along with everyone and everything in it.

Play of The Breach is to an extent procedural. It begins with the Briefing, which outlines the mission and its objectives. Movement within the Paradox is handled as pointcrawl with movement in the passages between the points, or areas to explore, played out as a montage. Within the areas, play switches back and forth between a turn when the players and their Watchers act and a turn when the Operator acts. During their turn, the players and their Watchers investigate and explore, to which the Operator will respond with answers to the players’ questions, whilst on her turn, the Operator will introduce and handle dangerous obstacles, roll the Danger Die, and so on. If the Watchers are finding a mission challenging, they can take a respite, put up a shelter and conduct actions such as long rests, repair items, analysis, and others.

Besides the six regular layouts for the Paradoxes, the Operator and exploration of the Paradoxes is supported with tables to determine their essence and keywords (essentially their theme), landmarks within an area, and twelve creatures that the Watchers might encounter. These provide some variety in terms of missions.

However, there is a limited description of Bastion, one which focuses on what the Watchers do when they return from a mission. This includes gaining Experience Points for making discoveries in a Paradox, undertaking training, maintenance, research and development, and even hit the bar. Of course, this gives room for the Operator to develop and describe the Bastion of her design in keeping with its period feel and tone. Without this information though, it renders Bastion as a nebulous place without the Operator knowing what its objectives are and to what purpose the leaders of Bastion are putting the discoveries made by the Watchers to. Of course, the Watchers are not meant to know, but that does not stop them asking questions or at least wondering. Thus, there is no greater story to tell, the play of The Breach being all about the short termism of one mission after another. The nearest that The Breach gets to the idea of playing through a campaign is playing a limited number of missions and successfully completing three quarters of them. It feels inadequate.

Physically, The Breach is a great looking book. The artwork is mysterious and has a half-glimpsed look as if viewed through a screen with a poor signal. The manuals and documentation issued by the Ministry of Culture and Science that litter the pages of The Breach are brilliant and develop the weird, near-dystopian tone of Bastion and life as a Watcher. The book is also well written and is packed with good advice for player and the Operator.

There is a lot to like about The Breach. It has a weird desperation to it, a strangely orderly do what we must to survive drive to it, and undertones of authoritarianism, both within Bastion and outside it. Yet whilst it handles the exploration and examination of Paradoxes well, the efforts of the Watchers never seems to have any effect beyond themselves so that they cannot affect any change or have any change to react to. If this is disheartening to the Watchers, it is equally as disheartening to the players. If so, why would the Watchers want to continue exploring the Paradoxes and why would the players want to continue playing? Ultimately The Breach feels like its should be a bigger game with bigger aims, but currently limits itself to one aspect of play without any consequences or change.

In the midst of the galactic war, the authorities are stretched thin. They cannot prosecute crime in the way that they before hostilities began. This role has been supplanted by the Nomad’s Guild, an independent, neutral organisation which licenses individuals to locate persons who have had a bounty placed on their head(s), to bring those persons to justice, dead or alive—no disintegrations, and collect the bounty. Such individuals are called Nomads and as long as a Nomad adheres to the Guild Code—Finish the Job, Only Kill When Necessary, Nomads Don’t Fight Nomads, Your Employer’s Business is their Own, and Don’t Get Attached—he can continue to collect bounties. Break the code and he is in danger of having a bounty put on his own head and becoming a target. In the course of prosecuting a contract, a Nomad will track down his target, scour the underworld and backwaters of the planet where he is hiding, and take him in. Resistance by the target of the bounty will not be the only difficulty faced by the Nomad. There may be suspicious locals and rival Nomads to be faced or avoided in getting to the target. Worse, there are six factions who regularly post bounties, and sometimes rival faction may take exception to the bounty you are about to collect! The question is, should a Nomad finish the job, collect the bounty, and so enhance what may be an infamous reputation? Or may be there is a reason not to collect at all, which means putting a price on a Nomad’s head?

This sounds like a situation in the Star Wars universe with bounty hunters going after criminals and rebels, and whilst it is not that, it is one inspired by the likes of The Empire Strikes Back and The Mandalorian. This is the set-up for Notorious: Hardscrabble bounty hunting aid intergalactic war, a solo journalling game published by AlwaysCheckers Publishing, published following a successful Kickstarter campaign. A Nomad falls into one of six types—the Armour, the Assassin, the Bot, the Brute, the Scoundrel, and the Uncanny. Each provides a Loadout—Ranged and Melee weapons, and Outfit, as well as Origin, Scar, and Trigger. The latter three add colour to the Nomad and the player is encouraged to think about others might react to his appearance and how his Nomad acts. The illustrations for these heavily suggest the influence of Star Wars. For example, the Armour looks not unlike Bobba Fett, the Bot like IG-88, and the Uncanny like Forom. He also has three attributes—Favour, Notoriety, and Motivation—representing a Nomad’s reputation on planet, adherence to the Nomad Code, and drive to succeed. Lastly, he has a Species, a Name, and a Personality. To create a Nomad, a player rolls for everything bar the attributes which always start out the same, or picks the options he wants.

Name: Mako Suds

Type: The Brute
Species: Kimano (Amphibious)
Personality: Assured
Weakness: Expectant father with eggs in his pouch
Origin: Your whole life has been dedicated to pursuing victories in worship of a fickle god
Scar: You proudly wear a belt flaunting teeth, pelts, and other morbid hunting trophies
Trigger: A New Uprising member thwarted your most glorious and lucrative bounty capture

Favour 2
Notoriety 0
Motivation 2
Loadout: rapid-fire Laser Rifle, Power Hammer, no helmet, chest bandolier, ill-fitting jumpsuit

Key to play are the Nomad’s ‘Reactions’ used to interact with Locals, Assets, Hostiles, Leads, and Target on a planet. These are ‘Speak’, ‘Threaten’, ‘Attack’, and ‘Recruit’, and not all of them can be sued against the various persons a Nomad will run into. For example, a Nomad can ‘Speak’ to anyone, but a Hostile; can only ‘Threaten’ a Hostile’; and cannot ‘Attack’ a Local or an Asset. Reactions are generally resolved by rolling two six-sided dice, one for the Nomad and one for the opponent. Whichever one rolls the highest wins the challenge and indicates the outcome. The roll for the Nomad is modified by half the value of his Favour, except for ‘Threaten’, when half of his Notoriety is used. A player can expend a point of his Nomad’s Motivation to reroll. Some Reactions automatically work. For example, a ‘Speak’ Reaction always works against a Lead or a Target. The ‘Speak’, ‘Threaten’, and ‘Recruit’ Reactions have random tables that provide a prompt for the player if successful.

The ‘Attack’ Reaction works differently in that it can be repeated and the roll is modified by Assets and Equipment for the Nomad and by Equipment for the opponent. Assets and Equipment that provide defence simply block a single attack per point. The Outcome of the ‘Attack’ Reaction is more complex and more varied than other Reactions and depends on the opponent. A Nomad will gain Favour for sparing a Hostile or Lead, but lose it for sparing a Target. He will gain Notoriety for killing a Hostile or Lead, and Favour for killing or capturing a Target. Failure can result in the Nomad being badly beaten up or injured, attracting the attention of local law enforcement and lose Notoriety, and so on.

Play of Notorious can be as a one-shot telling the story of one bounty or a series of stories each telling the story of a bounty. There are tables to create planets along with their predominant species and destinations, as well as giving the competing factions on that world. The factions consist of the Old Empire, the New Uprising, the Targ Cartel, the Red Moon syndicate, the Trade Alliance, and the Mystic Order. Each is given a short description and several reasons why it might issue a contract. They are all used to create the details of the contract. The fulfilment of the Contract is told through a loop which consists of two parts, ‘Exploration’ and ‘Destinations’, during which the player rolls on tables for each. These can generate events and Leads that will take the Nomad closer and closer to his Target. Every entry includes two options to add variety and allow for the Nomad to revisit an entry. Some Destinations also enable the Nomad to search the area.

The easiest way to generate a Lead is for the Nomad to increase his Notoriety. Effectively, as the Nomad’s reputation grows, the more likely they are to talk to him, but what this means is killing Leads and Hostiles. There is a table for creating a Lead, but the third Lead becomes the Target of the bounty, whom the players gets to detail based on the prompts on the Targets table. There are also ‘Showdowns’ tables to determine where the Nomad faces the Target down. Lastly, the ‘Epilogue’ table determines the response to how the Nomad completed the Contract.

Physically, Notorious is a short, spiral-bound book, a format which eases the player’s need to flip back and forth between tables. The writing is clear and easy to understand, and the artwork is excellent, cartoonishly invoking the feel of Star Wars without copying from it directly. One oddity is the number of reference numbers, but without any footnotes or endnotes.

Notorious is easy to pick up and play, and at two hours at most, has a pleasingly concise playing time. It can be played with the player taking just a few notes as he goes along, but he also can take the time to write the Contract up as a story in journalling fashion. The latter enables the player to build the planet where the hunt takes place up around the Nomad as he progresses. Much of the setting of Notorious is described with the barest of bones, but this leaves plenty of room for the player to flesh out the world based on the prompts provided in the tables. As the factions come into play, their motivations will also begin to influence the bigger story, especially over the course of multiple Contracts and whilst the Nomad Code says that ‘Your Employer’s Business is their Own’ and ‘Don’t Get Attached’, how long that will last up to the player and his Nomad. There is also another way in which Notorious can be used and that is to generate contracts, bounties, and thus adventures for other Science Fiction roleplaying games. Effectively, a player could play Notorious for himself, but use its content as a Game Master to run it for other players.

Notorious: Hardscrabble bounty hunting aid intergalactic war successfully combines a thrilling Science Fiction journalling game of investigation and action all of its own with a systems neutral sourcebook for other Science Fiction roleplaying games. It is a winning little combination.

The narrow streets of the city are cast in chaos as men and women flee screaming. Some are cut down by the crossbow bolts fired by the bat-winged and hooting apes from above. Some writhe in agony, set alight by the bearded and hooded wizard sat astride his black stallion with its flaming eyes. The city watch seems powerless to stop this seemingly random assault. The wizard Emirikol, resident of the Shifting Tower in the north of the city, has struck! As death and destruction rain down, the Player Characters are targeted by the flying beasts, and if they can defeat them, they have the chance to chase down the marauding wizard. Before they have the chance to defeat him, Emirikol disappears. Such is the way of wily wizards. The question is, why did Emirikol randomly attack people in the streets of the city? The Player Characters are given the opportunity to find out a day later, when the captain of the city guard approaches them and asks them if they will do what he cannot. This is to enter the Shifting Tower with its ever-changing appearance, investigate Emirikol’s activities, and confront the wizard in order to discover why he attacked the city.

This is the set-up for Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed!, the sixth scenario to be published by Goodman Games for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Designed by Michael Curtis for a group of six Fourth Level Player Characters, it is a city-based that primarily consists of an assault on a wizard’s tower. If the name ‘Emirikol’ sounds familiar, then it should be. It first appeared in an illustration by David Trampier called ‘Emirikol the Chaotic’ in the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, depicting a wizard riding down a street attacking members of the city watch with a beam of magical energy as onlookers reacted with horror. The street itself, is based on a real location, the Street of Knights, part of the old Hospitaller fortress on the island of Rhodes in Greece. From this first depiction, Emirikol the Chaotic would go on to appear in subsequent editions of Dungeons & Dragons, most notably in the adventure A Paladin in Hell for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, as a Twenty-Fourth Level Wizard! (There is an excellent history of ‘Emirikol the Chaotic’ here.) Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed! is obviously inspired by ‘Emirikol the Chaotic’ in many ways, most obviously the cover. However, as the title of the scenario clearly states, Emirikol was framed and is an innocent man—at the very least, of the most recent crimes people have accused him of. Whether he is innocent of anything else remains to be seen, but the fact that he is known as Emirikol the Chaotic suggests very probably not… In the meantime, if the title of the scenario is giving a big plot point away, what exactly is going on and what is the big plot point which is not being given away?
Once past the guard leopards or after having scaled its weird, ever-changing walls, the inside of the tower is delightfully weird and non-linear—non-Euclidean, even—making it a challenge for the Judge to navigate as it is for her players and their characters. The twelve floors of the tower are not arranged or presented in linear ascending order, so that as the Player Characters move from floor to floor, the Judge is tracing their route back and forth across the map in maze-like fashion. What this means is that the map will need as careful a study as the accompanying text does. As the Player Characters explore, what they find is a classic wizard’s tower full of trophies and projects, some of which are complete, some which are not, laced with traps and the weirdness found in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. These include a workshop packed with incomplete golems, a library of skulls containing secret knowledge that the Player Characters can access, and an upside-down waterfall which is the only means of accessing the next floor up—which means that the Player Characters will need remove any heavy armour they are wearing! The traps include tower floorplans which animate and attempt to smother the overly curious Player Character and the incomplete Golems themselves which can suck the souls of the Player Characters into them and force them to proceed in entirely artificial bodies. There is also an odd alien plant whose tendrils are embedded in the bodies of several prisoners allowing it to feed on the human bodily fluids and produce a nectar that can be sucked out of the plant’s stalk that provides both sustenance and healing! This is only one of the signs in the tower that Emirikol is Chaotic (and evil) and there are penalties for any Lawful Player Character who makes the woeful choice to imbibe any of this nectar. There is some fun treasure to be found, including Ruin, Chaotic magical sword with a hatred of man, a liquid metal hilt, and the ability to increase both the wielder’s Critical Range and die size when rolling fumbles. Ruin rewards ambition and success, not failure, so has a nasty to sting to it.
Eventually, after having traversed most of the Shifting Tower’s floors, likely having been denuded of heavy armour and possibly occupying now complete Golem bodies, the Player Characters will find their way to Emirikol’s Inner Sanctum. This is a hall of mirrors, a cliché in itself—but one that Emirikol the Chaotic takes advantage of not once, but twice. First, with the Player Characters, who is not pleased to see after their having ransacked his dwelling, and then, against Emirikol the Chaotic. This though, is not against himself, but Leotah, a rival and former lover who staged the attacks in the streets below. The end of the scenario devolves into a mass battle between the two Wizards and their cohorts, one of which the Player Characters will need to support if having both sides turn on them is to be avoided. The actual Spell Duel between Emirikol the Chaotic and Leotah is handled randomly rather being fought, although that is still possible, if complex. It is a big grand battle that will need careful handling upon the part of the Judge, but a fitting finale to adventure.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed! also includes four handouts, including images of both Emirikol the Chaotic and Leotah, and all six of the Golems complete with stats. Plus, there is the new spell, Altered Visage (used, of course, by Leotah to make her look like Emirikol the Chaotic), and ‘Four Scenes From A Conflict Eternal’. Written by Daniel J. Bishop, these are four scenes from the centuries spanning feud between the former lovers. They include the Library of the Order of the Blue Monks where they were said to study and first became lovers, an attempt by Leotah to assassinate Emirikol at the end of the world, and alternate world where, as the only humans, they renewed their romance until fate took another tilt at them. There is no advice on how to use these, the Judge being left to create his own links, but perhaps the most obvious one is have developed into mini-encounters and then stored in the library of skulls for the Player Characters to experience. All four will need some development to be turned into something playable.

Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed! is well done. The scenario is decently written and the artwork is overall good. The cartography is good, but problematic given its lack of linearity.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed! takes a classic situation—the need to assault or break into a wizard’s tower and find what has happened to the wizard himself. In fact, so much a classic situation, it is all but a cliché, right down to the Player Characters having to race out of the tower as it collapses behind them. Yet, Dungeon Crawl Classics #73: Emirikol Was Framed! is an entertaining treatment of a cliché, in turns weird and exciting, the result being a fun scenario that is really easy to insert into a campaign and run.

 I had a post ready to go for today but I am moving it in favor of this dream I had last night.

My wife and I are HUGE Star Trek fans. One of the very first things we did as "just friends" was to watch the premier of the first episode of Star Trek the Next Generation together. When the episode "All Good Things" aired, we were taking our first vacation together as a couple. When Voyager began we were dating. When it ended we were married, had a house and a kid. Throughout our relationship Trek has been there.

Right now, we are in the process of re-watching all the Trek series. We didn't go in order, but we have watched Enterprise, Voyager, Discovery, and now we are on Strange New Worlds. Likely to hit The Original series next.

Where am I going with this? Well Trek has been on my mind lately. I was chatting with Steve over at Vulcan Stev's Database (a great place for Trek information) about his Beckett Mariner post that inspired my own. I have been doing TARDIS Captain's Character Challenge and one of my popular posts was about my USS Challenger and Capt. John Adnerg. AND I have been talking a bit in the FASA Star Trek Facebook groups about printing more FASA-era Starships on my 3D-Printer.  So yeah. The fact that I am dreaming about Star Trek is no shock or surprise; save for what I was dreaming about.

Stardate 1000000.0

One idea I keep coming back to is extra-galactic travel in Trek. During the Next-Gen eras travel was still confined with the Alpha and Beta quadrants of our galaxy. The Gamma (Deep Space Nine) and Delta (Voyager) quadrants had been stepped into, but only a little bit. Even in the post-Burn, post-reformation of Starfleet and the Federation of the 32nd Century (Discovery, 3190) have not ventured outside the Galactic Barrier. 

I must have had the DC Comics "DC One Million" on my mind as well. This takes place in a future where DC comics, from their then current numbering system would hit issue 1,000,000 of Action Comics. That would be  853rd Century CE.

For my Stardate 1000000.0 I figured it would be 200 or so years after the end of Discovery. Trekguide.com tells me that Stardate 1000000.0 is Thu Jul 23 3407 08:33:20 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time). So, the start of the 35th Century CE. Memory Alpha has nothing for this time period.

So what is this all about?

The mission for this Trek game (and I have NO idea what system yet) is a newly constructed ship made mostly of programable matter and holotech, leaving our galaxy to explore the Andromeda Galaxy. This obviously goes way beyond warp drive. It is 2.5 million light-years from Earth.

Extra-galactic travel is not really a thing in Star Trek. Though there have been some run-ins with refugees from the Andromeda Galaxy in Trek (some androids, the Iconians) there has been enough to explore in our own Galaxy. Extra-galactic travel is a thing in many other franchises like Dune and Doctor Who, and very recently Star Wars. 

I don't know what system to use yet (13 Parsecs maybe), nor what the general adventure hooks are save for "explore strange new worlds." I am not planning on a huge horror element, but given that this is me talking horror is going to be there somewhere. I don't even know what sort of drive will get them there or even what ship. At Warp 9.0 it would take 2000 years to get there and I have no idea how fast the new (3191) Pathway Drive is. 

In any case, this is not something I am going to take on soon. But I'll keep thinking about it and see where I end up.

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—
Adventures—beginning, of course, with dungeons for Dungeons & Dragons—had long been a feature of roleplaying game magazines, such as the Dragon magazine and White Dwarf, but they had been included alongside other content such as news, reviews, and other supporting content. So, it was rare for any magazine to be devoted to entirely adventures and nothing. Of course, the long running Dungeon magazine from TSR, Inc. is the major exception, running for some two-hundred-and-twenty-one issues, in print and online between 1986 and 2013. Bootstrap Press published six issues of Adventures Unlimited in 1995 and 1996, but before both that and Dungeon, there was Tortured Souls!. Published by Beast Enterprises Limited—or ‘Beast Entz’—it ran for twelve issues between 1983 and 1988, providing support primarily for Advanced Dungeon & Dragons, First Edition and Dungeons & Dragons, but later RuneQuest.

Tortured Souls! stood out not just for its adventure-focused content, but also for its format. It was magazine-sized, but it was not quite professionally-presented enough to be a magazine like White Dwarf or Imagine, yet it was too professionally-presented to be a fanzine. Instead, it sat somewhere in between, a ‘pro-zine’ if you will. Part of this is due to the heavy look and feel of its style, unbroken by any advertising in the early issues, which at the same time gave it daunting appearance and acted as an impediment to actually reading it. The other oddity was Tortured Souls! was almost designed to be pulled apart, with its featured adventure often appearing the middle with coloured sections or on different-coloured paper more like an insert than a part of the magazine. This meant that adventures would often be split between before and after this ‘insert’ and that the magazine was not a linear read in that sense. 
Tortured Souls! Issue One launched with the following description: “TORTURED SOULS! is unique among fantasy publications, combing high quality module material with an inexpensive magazine format. Every issue contains solid gaming material, consisting solely of ready-to-play scenarios for the leading role-playing games systems, put together by some of the most experienced writers in the country.” That said, none of those writers are credited in the issue, but the editorial continued, “With four or more complete scenarios in every issue, we believe that TORTURED SOULS! gives you a much better deal than ordinary packaged modules.” In addition, issues of Tortured Souls! provided support for its Zhalindor Campaign, designed for experienced players.
Published in October/November 1983, Tortured Souls! Issue One contains three scenarios and one solo scenario, all for Advanced Dungeon & Dragons, First Edition. Two of these are for the Zhalindor Campaign. The first of the four adventures in the issue is ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’. This is designed for a beginning party of six to seven First Level Player Characters, although not totally beginning players and the introduction to the module makes much of the fact that it is not designed for players inclined to “[M]indless ‘hack-and-slay”, but for players who want a more challenging test for their roleplaying skills. Similarly, the Dungeon Master is advised that the adventure will require some development to bring its description to life as this has been kept to a minimum. What the adventure does make use of is the Dungeon Floor Plans series published by Games Workshop and the Dungeon Master is encouraged to use them and lay them out as shown in map, together with 25 mm miniatures, in order to keep the players interested. There are notes too, on running the scenario with more experienced players and their characters, suggesting two players with a Fighter and a Thief, each of second Level, as well as notes on how to incorporate it into a campaign and possible endings to the scenario.
The setting for ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’ is the market town of Greendale. It is notable as being besieged by a band of Orcs led by an Ogre some years, the siege being broken by a Chevalier challenging the Ogre to single combat and when he defeated the Ogre, the Orcs turned on him. The quietly conservative townsfolk repurposed an old temple to create a shrine for the fallen chevalier and forbid any townsfolk from entering the shrine or its garden whilst armed. However, as relayed to the Player Characters by a captain of the town watch after he takes them aside from their scandalous behaviour of drinking watered-down beer, something is amiss at the shrine. Since he cannot investigate armed, he asks the Player Characters to enter the shrine, determine what is going on and report back, promising to pay well. What is so delightful about ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’ is that it has a joyously, grubby and British feel to it. Essentially, the two clerics assigned to look after the shrine have got bored, seen the lack of nightlife going on in Greendale, and decided to turn the shrine into a private members’ nightclub for the town’s wealthiest and most bored inhabitants. This though, has led to further exploration of the shrine beyond hitherto unknown secret doors, dealing with the local Thieves’ Guild with plans for expansion, and an Octopus which would not going back to being worshipped as a god! What this means is that the Player Characters are attempting to get into a medieval nightclub and depending on what they find out during their investigations and when they try to get in, they may actually be able to just waltz in, having arrived at the right time when the club is actually open and the guards thinking them to be new members! The temple is one half nightclub, one half temple to a hungry octopus with delusions of grandeur, and both run by a pair of greedy, petty clerics.
The accompanying map of the temple—done using tiles from Games Workshop’s Dungeon Floor Plans is surprisingly colourful, though very orthogonal in its layout. The secret doors are not as obvious as they could be. There are multiple ways in which ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’ could end. The Player Characters could simply return with a report for the watch captain, they could end in a fight with the octopus, or they could find the membership for the ‘club’ and blackmail them! More altruistic Player Characters will doubtless want to free the dancing girls who are being kept prisoner in the temple. ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’ is unexpectedly different to almost any Dungeons & Dragons adventure, almost over the top in its banality, but brilliant at the same time.
‘The Crystal Keys’ is the solo adventure in Tortured Souls! Issue One. Designed for a party of five to seven Player Characters of Second and Third Level, it can be played with a single player controlling all of the characters, with a player reading out the entries and handing the whilst the players control their characters, or with the included notes, it can be run as a standard adventure with an actual Dungeon Master. There is quite a bit of backstory to the scenario, but it boils down to the party having recently come into possession of a Red Crystal Key whilst on an expedition for their friend, the Archmage Rabellion and had it stolen by a Thief. The key is one of three necessary to open Zamgardrar’s tomb which is said to hold a great treasure. To prevent this from falling into the hands of the Thief, the Player Characters are chasing after him north into the Orc and Lizard Men-infested Badlands. 
The set-up and the actual adventure are several pages apart in the issue of Tortured Souls! It consists of two parts. The first is descriptions of the two-hundred-and-thirty hex descriptions which make up the wilderness map. Each entry has numbers indicating which paragraph to turn to as you would expect for a solo adventure book—which were incredibly popular at the time given that The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was only published the year before—as the directions they lie in. If the hex has something of interest, an entry will also refer to a lettered hex type. There twenty-six of these, one for each letter in the alphabet, and each depicts an area of terrain that the player records on his hex map. There are a lot of brigands and the like preying on the locals and other travellers, as well as some annoying Orcs and Trolls, but despite the nonlinear fashion in which the information is presented, this half of the adventure is a decent hexcrawl in which the Player Characters may have the opportunity to find the other two Crystal Keys.
‘The Crystal Keys’ gets complex is the other six-hundred-and-sixty-seven entries which detail the forty or so locations of the adventure’s dungeon. Complex because the individual entries not only have to include a description, but all the possible outcomes to the actions that the Player Characters might take. The dungeon is quite  detailed, built around puzzles involving the three Crystals and their different colours, but it is difficult to get a feel for, or an overview of, the dungeon because it is written in non-linear fashion. What this means is it is complex to play through because the player or players are acting as their own Dungeon Master, and even if run by a Dungeon Master, preparing the dungeon to be run means actually playing through it herself. Which is a time-consuming challenge all of its very own. ‘The Crystal Keys’ is cleverly done, but far more complex than most solo adventures were at the time or have been since.
The third adventure is ‘The Rising Tower’, which is the first of the two scenarios for the Zhalindor Campaign in the issue. It is intended for a party of three to eight Player Characters of Fifth to Eighth Level and takes place several hundred miles outside of the Empire in the Tumarian provinces in a valley in the Yagha-Tsorv foothills. (Unfortunately, neither the scenario nor Tortured Souls! Issue One as a whole give any further details as to the Zhalindor Campaign setting.) The tower was once the place of judgement and execution for a small kingdom, but has long since been abandoned, fallen into partial ruin, and ben occupied by a small tribe of Fire Giants. The tribe has intimidated several tribes of lesser humanoids in the area into paying tribute, but the area beyond the tower is not detailed. The tower is described in odd fashion—from the top down rather from the bottom up. The upper part of the ramshackle tower is home to the tribe of Bugbears that serve and fight for the Fire Giants, whilst the later live on the lower floors and sleep in the underground rooms, making the tower’s former gaol cells their individual sleeping quarters. Underneath are the rooms where judgement and sentence were carried out in the past, and if the Player Characters are too inquisitive, find themselves being judged and sentenced whether they are guilty or innocent.
Unlike both ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’ and ‘The Crystal Keys’, what ‘The Rising Tower’ lacks is a hook to get the Player Characters involved, let alone anything in the way of plot. The dungeon, tower, and their inhabitants are highly detailed, the execution and judgement chambers in particular, such that the Dungeon Master would need to pay particular attention to how they work with the rest of the tower and how the Player Characters get to them. This is in addition to providing something in the way of plot or motivation for the Player Characters to want to explore the tower in what is otherwise is a big challenging situation rather than scenario.
The fourth and last scenario in Tortured Souls! Issue One—and the second for the Zhalindor Campaign—is ‘Tomb of Qadir’. It is written for a party of four to seven Player Characters of Second and Fourth Level and details the temple dedicated to the god, Ha’esha, which was turned into the tomb of its last priest, after which the cult he led died out. More recently, the tomb, which lies to the east of Eldenvaan on the edge of the desert, has been occupied by a band of Goblins. The Goblins have taken up residence following a failed uprising against their former chief in the Tsorv Mountains (as opposed to the Yagha-Tsorv foothills of ‘The Rising Tower’), but they are well organised and will put up a stiff defence against any attackers. The temple is ruined and run down, but been fortified by the Goblins. They have also moved into the rooms under the temple, but have not explored the furthest extent of the tomb. There are some nice touches here, such as zombies that have a chance to overcome being Turned by a Cleric, who can then attempt to Turn them again, and so on… and a couple of nasty traps. Again, the adventure is nicely detailed, but much like ‘The Rising Tower’, there are no hooks or motivations given for the Player Characters to want to come to the tomb.

Physically, Tortured Souls! Issue One looks decent enough for a fanzine, but amateurish for a professional magazine. It does need an edit in places and the artwork varies in quality. The cartography is plain in places, but otherwise decent.
—oOo—Doug Cowie reviewed Tortured Souls! Issue One in ‘Games Reviews’ in Imagine No. 12 (March 1984). He said, “Tortured Souls represents amazing value. The quantity of material for the money  makes it a recommended purchase. The quality of that material makes it an essential purchase. My only worry is — can they possibly keep it up issue after issue?” In answer to that question, he added the following postscript: “(PS: I have just seen issue 2, and I must say that the quality seems to have been maintained and the physical components are improved in that the covers are now thin card rather than thick paper. Issue 2 contains four ref’s scenarios and one solo — all for the AD&D game. After a quick scan, I would say that it looks like  another good issue.)”—oOo—

Tortured Souls! Issue One contains a mix of the potentially good and the excellent. ‘The Rising Tower’ and ‘Tomb of Qadir’ are potentially good because in each case, the Dungeon Master needs to supply the hooks and the motivation. ‘The Crystal Keys’ is an excellent, if complex, solo adventure, possibly the most complex solo adventure then published given it was written for a party of Player Characters for Advanced Dungeon & Dragons, First Edition! Given the complexity of ‘The Crystal Keys’ and its format, it would be very challenging to run it as a standard scenario. That leaves ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’, which is undoubtedly the highlight of the issue. It comes with both plot and hooks and is not just an excellent scenario, but a fun one too. The overall quality of Tortured Souls! Issue One is good, providing the Dungeon Master with solid material to work with, but with ‘The Chevalier’s Shrine’, the Dungeon Master is really going to want to run.

 I went to my FLGS yesterday and picked up the last of the new Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 core books, the new Monster Manual.

It was the original AD&D Monster Manual that got me into D&D originally, so any new Monster Manual has a long climb to impress me.

Yes, it is true. There are no orcs in this book, nor humans, halflings, elves, dwarves, duergar, dragonborn, or gnomes.

There are goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins. Also, monsters still have alignments. So the oft repeated rumor that WotC/Hasbro was getting rid of alignments is not true. There are still plenty of purely evil creatures to kill. Note: Goblins are now chaotic neutral. I actually like this, more akin to how I have been playing them.

The art is gorgeous, as expected, and there is art for every monster and then some.

The stat blocks are mostly the same as D&D 5.0 (2014), they are a bit clearer to read. Saving throws are all listed now, even when they are just the same as the ability modifier. 

The new book sits at 384 pages. The 2014 Monster Manual was 352.

Following in the footsteps of every major "Even" release (2nd ed, 4th ed, and this as 6th ed) each monster fits on 1, 2, or 4 whole pages. This makes reading the monster stat easy while in game; everything is right there. It also follows the trend established by many OSR and D20 publishers. Lots of monster books have been doing this, going back to the Creature Collection from Sword & Sorcery Studios in 2000. While it does make reading easy, sometimes narrative text and lore takes the hit to make room for stat blocks. I am mixed on that. I love the layout, and I am generally a fan of one-page monsters, but I feel like some monsters get shorted.

My biggest pet peeve, though, is the alphabetical organization. For example, Blue and Black Dragons are listed under "B" right along with Balor. Red Dragons are under "R."  This continues for all groups, including Giants, demons, devils, and everything. 

An interesting little quirk of this and a logical extension from the 2014 MM, Succubi are now an independent fiendish creature and Neutral Evil. They are also distinct from the Incubus. They are no longer separated by gender, but by role. Succubi (male and female) drain life via physical touch and Incubi (male and female) drain via dreams. I like the split in roles and it allows us to have two creatures to fill the role of the mythological succubus.

You can see this movement away from "gendered" monsters throughout the book. The art for the dryad is androgynous, which is fine. I have had male and female Ginko Dryads ever since I learned that ginko trees can be male or female. There are female satyrs. Again, there is precedent for that in art.  Sphinxes are no longer Andro- or Gyno- but rather Sphinxes of Wonder, Secrets, Lore, and Valor. Ok, that I actually like.  But, there are no nymphs.  I came to the D&D Monster Manual by way of Greek myths, so this feels a bit odd to me.

Honestly. I have been moving away from Orcs as my big bads for a while now. Goblins have always been too much fun to make completely evil. Give me gnolls, yuan-ti, or beholders as my monsters, and I can slaughter them indiscriminately. 

Even Star Trek made allies out of the Klingons and, eventually, the Romulans, so why can't D&D grow in its nuanced takes as well.

While the book is plenty large, I am disappointed there are no named Demons and Devils here. No Demon Princes, no Lords of the Nine, no Slaad Lords.

This book completes the Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 aka 2024 version of the Core Rules. I am not 100% sure I'll get much more of this line. I am not playing D&D 5 in any flavor at the moment. But who knows. 

 I have a new release for fans of the Old-School Essentials game (and any Basic Era game).

The Swan Maiden Class

Whether you are a fan of Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions," or old Welsh myth and tales of the Gwragedd Annwn, or the Swanmay from AD&D, this is the class for you.

From the DriveThruRPG page.

The swan maiden has appeared in the pages of literature and tales of legend. Many of which were the foundational tales of the Fantasy RPG hobby.  In this new supplement, you can now play as a member of this shapeshifting sorority of protectors of the natural world.

Inside, you will find:

- The Swan Maiden Class for Old-School Essentials (compatible with other Basic-era games).
- New spells for the swan maiden (and for rangers and druids if you choose).
- New magic items, including their fabled Cloak of Feathers.
- Alternate swan maidens including the Gwragedd Annwn, Crane Wives, and the evil Strix.

Requires Old-School Essentials Core Rules.

One and Two-page spreads are offered.

Classic Classes

This class came about while I was going through all of the material I was bequeathed from my late friend and former DM R. Michael Grenda. He had so much unfinished work here that it reminded me of my own oft-mentioned unfinished classes I have. So, I resolved to finish them up this year. This is the first.

I am calling this series "Classic Classes," though some are not "classic" per se, save for how long they have been languishing on my "to be completed" lists. I do not have a projected timeline for them all yet, but I plan on completing the Healer, the Sun-Priest (I just need to give it a new name), and a few more. For now, the plan is only to complete my own unfinished work. Grenda had his reasons for not wanting his published, and I have to respect that. However, some, like the Swan Maiden here, will get pushed up the line because of material of his I have read. 

Though there is a "Classic" in another sense. I have been going through and rereading all the Appendix N works and many of the "Further Reading" mentioned in the D&D Basic book from Tom Moldvay. So, my opinions on what those classes will do will be informed by those readings.

I am most likely to publish these for the Old-School Essentials RPG. I like the rule set, and the levels 1-14 are a nice sweet spot. But I leave myself open to whatever system works the best. 

Most of these classes will be classes I was working on at the same time I first developed my witch class. Some might even have some cross-over, but for the most part they will be non-witch classes.

I could not find the option to list this when I set up the title, so I'll state it here. 

This product has no AI art, and no AI/LLM was used to generate text. 

Why would I need AI to generate more text? I have hundreds of notebooks and files filled with notes. The last thing I need is a new way to generate MORE.

 I love HeroForge minis. I have made hundreds, but I can't afford to buy all the ones I want. Thankfully, I spent my Christmas break getting our resin 3D printer working. Once I got going, I went nuts.

That may not look like a lot, but it takes a while for them to print, and there are many casualties along the way. But I wanted to get all the Archdevils and Demon Lords from the AD&D Monster Manuals.

All of these demons and devils were made with HeroForge, and then I downloaded the STL files.

Geryon, Asmodeus, and Titivillus

Moloch, Mephistopheles, and Beelzebub 
Belial and Glasya (Fierna broke)
Lilith and a succubus.
Lilith is from the cover of Eldritch Witchery and the Succubus is my version of the Sutherland Succubus. 

Kelek on a Warg
Camazotz and Akelarre
Camazotz and Akelarre are two demons from my own games.


Archdevil Zariel. The only "newer" devil I use.
And I had to do a witch!

I bought this STL (3d printer file) online from Torrida Minis because I thought it looked like Larina. It is Tasha, from D&D, but she has been looking more and more like Larina over the last few years anyway. I still prefer her 3.x look. I kinda want his BloodRayne one too. My wife painted it for me. She also painted Belial and Akelarre above.  

I am going to try my hand at painting some of the demons and devils here but that is WAY outside my comfort zone. I am not very good at all. I still need to prime them all first. That at least I can do.

These are all resin prints, but Akelarre is from our FDM printer (which I still need to get fixed) and is a lot heavier than the others. 

Still have a few more to print out, but I am having a blast with this.

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. 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: Dead Body ShorePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Agata Brig

Setting: Scandinavia, 1925Product: One-on-One Scenario
What You Get: Forty-six page, 2.24 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: When your Evil Grandpa is dead, he should stay deadPlot Hook: Go climb a mountainPlot Support: Staging advice, three NPCs, two dogs, seven handouts, one map, two Mythos spells, two Mythos tomes, and three Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent
Pros# One-on-one scenario, but can be adjusted# More Norse than Mythos# Descent into the depths of Norse myth and betrayal# Necrophobia# Orophobia# Apeirophobia
Cons# Needs an edit# Could be better organised# Underwhelming Investigator hook
# Needs pre-generated Investigator(s)# More Norse than Mythos# The Lockheed Vega is a year out, so why not shift the scenario date?
Conclusion# More Norse than Mythos# Fear of the family is the greatest danger in a linear descent into Norse myth and betrayal

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

—oOo—
What is the Nature of the Quest?Horse Racing Expanded is a supplement for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, ten page, 1.45 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated.

Where is the Quest Set?Horse Racing Expanded is suitable to run anywhere where a horse race, whether impromptu or at tourney, might take place.
Who should go on this Quest?
Horse Racing Expanded is suitable for knights of all types, but focuses on the Player-knight with a high Horsemanship skill.
What does the Quest require?
Horse Racing Expanded requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set. Graph paper and tokens may also be useful (but a simple grid of squares and pen works just as well).
Where will the Quest take the Knights?Horse Racing Expanded is a supplement that that focuses on the one skill and a specific use of it. This is the Horsemanship skill and its use in races than in battle. The horse race, whether impromptu or taking place at an organised event is handled over the course of between two and four rounds with the players rolling Horsemanship tests for their knights and the Game Master for her NPCs each round. The position in the race for each Player-knight and each NPC is tracked on a grid with the result of the Horsemanship tests determining how many columns they move forward on the grid—two for a critical result, one for an ordinary success, but nothing for a failed roll and back one for a fumble—and thus, potentially, if they change their order in the race. At the end of the race, the Player-knight or NPC who in the furthest column to the right to win the race.

It is simple enough, but there are modifications for the quality of the horses ridden and even the Size of the participants, and of course, a Player-knight or NPC is also free to invoke a Passion to Inspire their Horsemanship skill. At the end of the end of the race, the winner earns a Horsemanship skill check, prizes are awarded if the race is part of a tourney, and there are Glory awards too.

So far, so good, but Horse Racing Expanded does sound just a little perfunctory up until this point—and to be fair, it is. It also sounds as if it favours the Player-knight with the high Horsemanship skill—and to be fair, it does. However, what addresses this imbalance and gives a chance for participants with a lower Horsemanship skill to gain ground on the rider ahead of them are ‘Events’. Horse Racing Expanded includes a table of ten events which can occur during a horse race, the Game Master rolling randomly or picking something suitable to happen during one or more rounds of the race. Each event is given a simple description, the skill or attribute to be tested, and a list of the possible outcomes. For example, with Awareness or Hunting, the entry reads, “Up ahead, the road meets a wood bridge to allow easy crossing of a brook, but the old, neglected ford can still be seen beside it. A rider could gain time by galloping right through the shallows.” The outcome of this test result will grant a modifier to the Horsemanship skill test for the Player-knight or NPC for that round.
Some of the events are more fanciful than others, but they do two things and have one consequence. The events give a chance for Player-knights and NPCs with better skills other than Horsemanship to use them in the race and so give them a better chance against more skilled horsemen, and they make the race exciting. As a result, the race becomes a narrative rather than just a series of rolls.
Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?Although, there is nothing to stop the Game Master from using its rules and events for chases as well as races, with its limited focus, Horse Racing Expanded is more of a solid, serviceable supplement rather than a must buy purchase. If the Game Master has a player whose knight is good on horseback and wants to show off that skill, then Horse Racing Expanded will provide opportunities for that, whilst still allowing the other Player-knights to shine, and potentially, race almost as well.

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, and the new edition of that, Dungeons & Dragons, 2024, in the year of the game’s fiftieth 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—
In 1985, TSR, Inc. published the Conan Role-Playing Game, the first of five roleplaying games to be based on the Conan the Barbarian stories of Robert E. Howard. Which means that it is forty years old in 2025, but this was not the first foray into the archetypal Swords & Sorcery genre by the publisher. After all, the Conan the Barbarian stories had always been an influence upon E. Gary Gygax, TSR, Inc., and Dungeon & Dragons, with stats for Conan actually appearing in Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes for the original version of Dungeons & Dragons, which was published in 1976. That though, was unofficial, whereas his appearance in two modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition was official. CB1 Conan Unchained! and CB2 Conan Against the Darkness! were both published in 1984 and both were designed for Player Characters of Tenth to Fourteenth Levels and to be played by the four pre-generated Player Characters included in each module, which of course, included Conan amongst their number.
Behind the eye-catching image of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, CB1 Conan Unchained! provides not only a scenario set within the Hyborian Age, but also an introduction to the setting and the rules to run the scenario using Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Although the image from the cover was taken from Conan the Barbarian, which was only released two years before, CB1 Conan Unchained! does not use any more images from it and it is not based on its story. Rather, CB1 Conan Unchained! takes its cue from the short stories by Robert E. Howard—‘Queen of the Black Coast’, ‘Red Nails’, and the unfinished ‘The Hall of the Dead’. It is from these stories that Conan himself and two of the three other pre-generated Player Characters come from. Besides Conan, they include Nestor the Gunderman and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, whilst Juma the Warrior is inspired by later comics. All have weapon proficiencies and secondary skills, whilst Conan has a special ability which means he is very rarely surprised. Conan himself is a Thirteenth Level Fighter and a Seventh Level Thief, Valeria a Tenth Level Fighter and a Ninth Level Thief, Juma a Twelfth Level Fighter, and Nestor the Gunderman a Fourteenth Level Fighter.
One notable addition to all four Player Characters is that of Luck Points. This is the first of several new rules in CB1 Conan Unchained! Conan has twelve of these, Nestor and Juma have ten each, and Valeria has sixteen! These are included because, “Conan is sometimes able to do things beyond the range of the AD&D rules. These impossible actions are part of Conan’s special abilities. It is important for characters to be able to do the same things, so they are given Luck Points.” However, they are not spent by the player per se, but by the Dungeon Master. She is told to encourage the players to have their characters perform “…[H]eroic, amazing, or impossible feats…”, with a player expected to describe what his character is trying to do and the Dungeon Master then adjudicate the cost without the player being told how many Luck Points his character has left. For a single Luck Point, a Player Character can make an extra attack in a round, automatically hit an opponent, climb without falling, leap a chasm, and so on; whilst for two Luck Points, he can knock out a person with fist or weapon, spring back from a trap just in time, and climb while carrying another person; and for three Luck Points, do something heroic beyond the scope of the rules. They cannot be spent on a roll that has already been made, on a Saving Throw, or a Fear Check. Some opponents also have their own Luck Points.
To account for the lack of the Cleric Class in the Hyborian Age and thus the lack of healing magic, a Player Character always heals a single Hit Point per day and Hit Points equal to half the Player Character’s Constitution if he rests for a whole day.
The other major addition is the Fear Factor to found in certain creatures and monsters as well as magic effects and reflect Conan’s own instinctive reaction to the unnatural and things that defy explanation. Whenever a Player Character fails a Fear Check, he is struck dumb momentarily or flees for his life, until he overcomes his fear or is hurt again. Sources of Fear include monsters, spellcasters, and unusual magic items or situations and have a Fear Statistic ranging between one and ten. When a Fear Check is required, the Fear Statistic is multiplied by the Player Character’s Wisdom and the resulting value is rolled against on percentile dice. Succeed and the Player Character is unaffected, but fail and he is filled with fear.
There can be no doubt that the inclusion of Luck Points and Fear Checks are radical changes to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, that certainly in the case of Luck Points take the roleplaying game far beyond what it is normally expected to do. In fact, what the inclusion of Luck Points highlights is that as much as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition is pitched as a roleplaying game of heroic adventures and fantasy, it is actually not heroic. Arguably, the fantasy of Conan the Barbarian and the Swords & Sorcery genre is pulp fantasy, but if that is case, then given the fact that Dungeons & Dragons is inspired by Swords & Sorcery, what Luck Points show is that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition cannot do Conan-style, Swords & Sorcery as written without them. And since they encourage roleplaying in a particular style, they are actually the first roleplaying mechanic to appear in Dungeons & Dragons! (As opposed to Inspiration, which appeared in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in 2014!)
In fact, the inclusion of Luck Points in CB1 Conan Unchained! is not only a highly radical design choice for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition and TSR, Inc., but also a very modern one. Top Secret: An Espionage Role Playing Game for 3 or more players, ages 12 to adult, published by TSR, Inc. in 1980 included an optional rule for Fame and Fortune Points which enabled a Player Character to overcome a fatal wound. It would be James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service, published in 1983 by Victory Games, that developed the concept fully as Hero Points that could be used to adjust skill rolls, shrug off wounds and even death, and enable the Player Characters to be more heroic. However, in The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game, published by TSR, Inc. in 1984, only offered Player Points, which can only be spent to reduce the severity of a Player Character’s wounds or injuries. It is incongruous that in two roleplaying products from the same publisher and the same designer—David Cook—released in the same year, it is a scenario for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition that is given Luck Points.
If the Luck Points are a good addition, Fear Factor, less so. It is not so much a case of CB1 Conan Unchained! not needing a mechanic for handling fear, but rather a question of whether it not it needs a specific new rule for handling fear. Could not the Saving Throw mechanics of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition be used instead? That said, the Fear Check mechanic is simple and fast.
One other change that CB1 Conan Unchained! makes is to classify its scenes into several types. These are normal, random, and plot encounters. Normal encounters are those typical of an adventure, such as exploring a ruin or attacking a pirate ship, whilst random encounters are there to spice up the action. Plot encounters are scenes in which the Player Characters have to act through with only a limited number of choices in how they can act. The Dungeon Master is advised that they be handled with care lest the players feel forced in their characters’ actions. Unfortunately, ‘plot encounters’ like this were not well received at the time and are still looked at with some disdain, though more so in the case of DL1 Dragons of Despair—which came out the same year as CB1 Conan Unchained!.
The introduction to the Hyborian Age in CB1 Conan Unchained! is short, but informative. It highlights how the countries and peoples of the Hyborian Age are formed of different individual groups, each easily identified and with different attitudes and behaviours. The latter means that is often possible to identify someone in the Hyborian World just by their actions. Steel weapons are available, but armour is rarely more than chain or scale. Monsters like those of Dungeons & Dragons are very rare, with giant beasts and demons, elementals, giants, and golems being common. Magic in the Hyborian Age is practiced, but rare, confined to summoning, illusions, charms, and death spells, so greatly feared. Magical items are even rarer and invariably dangerous to those who wield them, though this does not stop sorcerers hunting for both them and dusty tomes of magic.
The scenario on both sides of the narrow Sea of Vilayet and opens with the adventurers as mercenaries in the employ of the Khan of Turan, hired to put down a rebellion by Kustafa, the governor of a city who has refused to pay the taxes that are due. However, a strange magical attack by darkness and shadows finds the army they were part of destroyed and the adventurers on the run. This is the first of the scenario’s four Plot Encounters, the second following close on its heels as the Player Characters are captured by the Mongel Horde-like Kozaki nomads who plan sell them to Stygian slavers. The problem with this Plot Encounter is that the Player Characters have to be captured for the scenario to proceed and given that this is at the beginning of the scenario, they have a lot of Luck Points to spend. Now the nomads do use lariats to capture them, but it is possible for the players to burn through an awful lot of their characters’ Luck Points before that happens and this is right at the start of the scenario.
The Player Characters are not expected to escape, but to prove themselves worthy of being one of the Kozaki and then over a series of events make themselves popular, and eventually, challenge the hetman of the group. There is a good mix of events and encounters to throw at the Player Characters throughout this process and they are given plenty of opportunity to prove themselves. There is even an encounter when a rival to the post of hetman attempts to assassinate a Player Character who looks like he is vying for the position. Of course, it also possible for the Player Characters to escape, but it is not nearly as interesting as when the scenario presents. Whether or not the Player Characters escape, or they become part of the Kozaki, they will in the third Plot Encounter of the scenario run into a female NPC. She will reveal herself as Costhiras, the mistress of the Khan of Turan, who was visiting the city that he sent the army that the Player Characters were part of to recapture it after it rose in rebellion and stopped paying taxes. She tells them that Kustafa, the governor of the city did not do this willingly. He has fallen under the influence of Bhir-Vedi, an evil sorcerer who searches for her still—and to enforce that fact, she is attacked by an Invisible Stalker that instant!
Costhiras begs for the Player Characters to help her and offers to guide them to The Citadel of Bhir-Vedi (or they can follow her if she was snatched by the Invisible Stalker). Either way, this leads them to travel with a band of pirates lead by a somewhat tiresome pirate captain (though he does fight with a sword blade attached to the steel cap on the stump of his wrist and if desperate, can fire it on a spring), but eventually the Player Characters will get to the other side the Sea of Vilayet and the entrance to The Citadel of Bhir-Vedi. There is a short maze-like cavern to navigate before coming upon Bhir-Vedi’s tower, a fairly standard sorcerer’s tower by any measure. There are a fair number of traps to avoid, mostly requiring a check to see if the Player Characters are surprising before they can spend Luck Points, and there is the strong possibility of them being captured after being put to sleep and then waking up to find themselves chained atop the tower ready to be sacrificed to some god or other by Bhir-Vedi. Hopefully, they will have retained enough Luck Points to break their chains (or at least make a Bend Bars/Lift Gates roll)! And after that? Enough points to kick Bhir-Vedi off the top of the tower!
Physically, CB1 Conan Unchained! is disappointing. It looks good, with good art and cartography, but the editing is poor with names constantly changing and inconsistent descriptions.
—oOo—
CB1 Conan Unchained! was reviewed by Steve Hampshire in the ‘Game Reviews’ section of Imagine No. 24 (March, 1985). He said, “The module itself also has some uniquely ‘Conan’ features. Normal AD&D monsters are almost totally replaced by various human opponents and potential opponents. Surprisingly, some of these are good enough to challenge Conan! The plot is simple and rather derivative, but it takes in some interesting settings and encounters. For most part it plays well, despite niggles like a ship that keeps changing its name, and monsters using their useless wings to fly into attack.” He concluded his review by saying, “The mood of this module is different form the normal run of AD&D material, and the players and referee really need to get into the swing of the thing. It helps if one is familiar with the Conan books or film. This scenario is good for introducing the characters, but stronger plotlines will be needed of there is to be series.”
Rick Swan reviewed CB1 Conan Unchained! in the ‘Capsule Reviews’ in The Space Gamer Number 73 (March/April, 1985). Of the new rules—the Fear Factor and Luck Points—he said, “D&D purists may freak, but the rules work and add to the heroic feel of the setting. Fans of R.E. Howard will happy to know that Cook has approached the source material with considerable respect and that Conan Unchained is generally consistent with the Hyborian world we all known and love.” However, he added that, “The basic problem is that Conan isn’t a particularly good choice for the D&D system. Compared to most D&D settings, Conan’s world is pretty barren. There’s no magic or interesting settings to speak off, and the adventure is nothing special (the characters are captured by slavers, negotiate their freedom, and rescue a fair maiden from a nasty castle).” He concluded that, “Conan Unchained can be played as part of a regular D&D campaign without Conan and associates, but what’s the point? There are plenty of better roleplaying modules available from TSR and elsewhere. Conan and D&D go together like peanut butter and tuna fish – it can be done, but you can bet there’s going to be a funny taste.”—oOo—
CB1 Conan Unchained! suffers from several problems. Most obviously, if you going to play it, who plays Conan and why would you want play anyone else? Second, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition does not feel right for it and is not right for, as evidenced by the inclusion of Luck Points which enables the heroic feats that Conan calls for and which Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition is not designed to do. In fact, what it highlights is how staid the design to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition was by 1984. Third, how poorly plotted it is. The adventure does not really start until the Player Characters get captured, so why does that have to be played out and the players waste their characters’ Luck Points? Then the sequence with the pirate captain is tedious, designed to barb the Player Characters into action. The plot really is most straightforward. Yet there are flashes of excitement to found in CB1 Conan Unchained! The sequence in which the Player Characters free themselves from the nomads and then take over is actually quite fun and the inclusion of Luck Points encourage the players to be a little more inventive than Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition necessarily might be in normal play.
Ultimately, CB1 Conan Unchained! feels rushed and underdeveloped, an attempt to bring fans of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition and fans of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition to Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, that is not really good enough to attract either and satisfies neither.