RPGs

New Releases Tuesday: Adventure Time!

The Other Side -

 Normally, Tuesday is a great time to talk about the sort of RPG goodies I got in the mail. But nothing new this week (or last), and I am waiting for the local Games Plus RPG auction before buying anything else.  So, imagine my delight when one of my recent adventures got published over the weekend.  Then, my delight doubled when another adventure I wrote got its own stand-alone treatment!

 Golem Witching Weather

Frightshow Classics: Golem is published by Yeti Spaghetti & Friends and is for the Chill 1st Edition RPG. It also works with Chill 2nd Edition, Chill 3rd Edition (with some mods), and Cryptworld and can even be used as a rules lite adventure. 

A rabbi and a neo-nazi have been found murdered in Queens, NY. Is there a connection? People have spotted a large figure near the synagogue and a former professional wrestler is being held for questioning. But is something stranger going on?

I really loved writing this one and it made really appreciate all the great things about New York. As a Chicagoan, I don't give New York enough credit. But I approached this with the frame of mind of "write this with the same love as I would if this were Chicago." Cause one thing I know for sure. New Yorkers LOVE their city, and I wanted that to show.

Adventures in Aldea: Witching Weather from Green Ronin is older, but I discovered it while working on my Blue Rose characters last week. This adventure appears in the collection Six of Cups. But here, you can buy it as a stand-alone adventure for Blue Rose AGE 2nd Edition. 

A group of orphans have turned up in Garnet, and now the weather is out of control, and the forces of darkness want them. One believes they are his children, and another wants to eat them to gain even more power. You have to stop them both. 

This one was so much fun to work on. Blue Rose is sometimes described (somewhat unfairly) as a "Fantasy Seattle," but my Garnet here is "Fantasy Alton, IL," a blue-collar river town (now sea town) with a deep history and pride. And maybe a monster or two hiding in the bluffs. In addition to the adventure, there is a gazetteer for the City of Garnet with some history and background on some major NPCs.

Grab both if you can! I already got paid, so I don't get anything more from the publishers, but if the sales are good, they can hire me back! 

Miskatonic Monday #264: Re-Animator 2508

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

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

—oOo—
Name: Re-Animator 2508Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Quico Vicens-Picatto

Setting: Deep space in the 26th CenturyProduct: One-shot
What You Get: Nineteen page, 8.27 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Herbert West–Reanimator in spaaaace...!
Plot Hook: “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” – The AnimalsPlot Support: Six pre-generated Investigators, thirteen NPCs, one map, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Colourful
Pros# Fantastic cover# Detailed NPCs# Highly detailed Investigators# Highly detailed background
# Highly detailed timeline# All female cast# Interesting new Occupations# Kinemortophobia# Teraphobia# Cultphobia
Cons# Needs a good edit# Highly detailed background# Highly detailed and tight timeline# Investigators need to work hard to uncover the plot
Conclusion# Unclear plot with no obvious solution# Ultimately, a countdown-driven survivor versus zombies scenario in space, but the set-up is interesting

Monstrous Mondays: Thunderbird (and Basic Bestiary updates)

The Other Side -

Work on Basic Bestiary has picked back up. I have 360 completed monsters for it now. I still have my next pass at editing and mechanics tweaking to complete.  What I really need is art. I don't have any, and while I am happy to use some PD art for it (and it fits the look I want), I will need more. A lot more. While I don't mind AI art (and appreciate the computer science that went into it), I can't in good conscience use any in this. 

Still playing around with stat block ideas. Since this is a "Basic" Bestiary, I figure I should get closer to the Basic-era stat block details as I can. I am adding some "modern" ideas like creature size and type (something we see in BECMI and RC, but not BX), and Ascending AC (Basic Fantasy, OSE and LL).  I need to decide if I want to include other details like Advanced era alignments (I am leaning towards yes), Languages (also yes), and Frequency. I am also still considering hp adjustment due to size. I like it a lot, and it makes creatures a lot tougher.

I believe I have settled on using BX/OSE style XP awards and having a table in the back for all the other games I think people might want to use this for, as long as they are OGC.  Edited: I noticed my math might be off on some higher HD monsters. 

The stat block below is what I am thinking so far. Love to hear some feedback on it.

Yes. I am still going to use the OGL for this one. I have gone too far down that road to go back.

Here is one of the last monsters I worked on for the book. As always, the final version might be different.

Giant BirdThunder Bird
Gargantuan Beast (Magical)

Armor Class: -5 [24]
Hit Dice: 17d8+68 (145 hp)
   Gargantuan: 17d20+68 (264 hp)
Move: 90' (30')
   Flying: 360' (120')
Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite, special
Damage: 1d12+5 x2, 2d8+5, special
Special: Lighting bolt, thunder, wing buffet
No. Appearing: 1 (1, or 1d4+1, mated pair with chicks)
Save As: Monster 17
Morale: 10 (12)
Treasure Type: None, See below
Alignment: Neutral (True Neutral)
XP: 6,600

Languages: Avian

Thunderbirds are gargantuan birds that appear as storm gray-colored eagles. They have a 70' wing span that can blot out the sun and talons that can carry off livestock, usually one or two cattle each. Their eyes flash with electrical light and can shoot lightning bolts. When their wings flap, they can cause storms and thunder. Natives of the lands the thunderbird calls home to revere the bird as a messenger of the forces of good and liken it to a spirit. It is a mortal animal, albeit a very powerful one. 

The thunderbird can attack with its massive beak and talons.  It swoops down from their mountain homes, which can be hundreds of miles away, to attack its prey. It prefers large cattle, like horses, cows, and bison, and can carry off up to 2,000 pounds worth at a time. Thunderbirds that live near oceans will even make a dinner out of whales when they can catch them. They do not attack humans if they can avoid it. They do not like the taste and attack humans since humans often return in greater numbers and with weapons. If attacked by humans on the ground, the thunderbird will often just opt to fly away. Thunderbirds and Rocs do not get along as they tend to go after the same prey. Their relationship is similar to that of eagles and hawks.  

The thunderbird gets its name from the magical storm-creation powers it has. By flapping its wings and remaining stationary, it can create a thunderclap that does 10d6 hp of damage; Breath Weapon saves for half the damage. Which will also define anyone within a 120' long cone, 60' at its widest.  Targets outside of the 120' are unaffected by either the damage or the deafness. It can also 3 times per day cast a 10d6 lighting bolt from its eyes. The range on this is 100', save vs. Breath Weapon for half damage. Ranges outside of 100' to 300' are at half-damage or save for no damage.  The thunderbird will not use this attack against food prey but rather to defend itself from humanoids or other large creatures it finds itself engaging with.  A thunderbird can also summon storms as per the Summon Weather spell. 

Thunderbirds have no need nor interest in treasure. The feathers of the thunderbird are highly prized as a main ingredient for a staff of lightning bolts and other magical staffs. Their feathers are also used in other magic item creations, typically Wings of Flying. Any item that requires a roc feather can use a thunderbird feather instead for a 50% increase in either speed or duration. The feathers of a thunderbird usually can bring in 1,000 gp on the right markets (usually only 2d6 are viable for arcane use). The eggs of thunderbirds are so rare to discover that bounties of 12,000 gp and more are sometimes offered. The lairs of the thunderbird are usually at the tops of mountains so high they are very nearly impossible to reach. 

Tales tell of a great thunderbird so large that when it flies, the land below is thrust into night. This could be a single unique specimen or an undiscovered variety.  


Miskatonic Monday #263: Operation Midnight Sun

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

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

—oOo—
Name: Operation Midnight SunPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Chicho OCARIZ ‘Arkashka’

Setting: World War II IcelandProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 13.25 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Nazis versus dinosaurs versus ‘hoard of the Nibelungs’ meets Journey to the Centre of the Earth under Iceland… in World War IIPlot Hook: Iceland is neutral right now, but will it be after Operation Weserübung?Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, eight NPCs, three maps, and one dinosaur type.Production Values: Decent
Pros# Can be run using Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos# Straightforward scenario# Easy to run one-shot or convention scenario# Nyctophobia# Speluncaphobia# Ornithoscelidaphobia
Cons# Needs a good edit# No location map# More military operation than Mythos investigation# No Mythos content
Conclusion# Short, action and stealth-focused World War II scenario# Ultimately more military operation than Mythos investigation

A Gloranthan Gear Guide

Reviews from R'lyeh -

Equipment books in roleplaying serve numerous functions. At their most basic, they are a book of goods and gear that a player can have his character purchase to help that character survive the next scenario, whether it is a sword, shield, and some armour that the character will wear from one adventure to the next, or thick furs or padded clothing that will help him weather the freezing temperatures over the high mountains and into the snow and ice beyond. Then they are the virtual equivalent of a Sears & Roebuck catalogue at the table, that the players can pick and choose from as their characters go shopping within the game and there is even semi-tradition of the Player Characters actually going shopping within the game and buying all of the things—whether the genre is fantasy Wild West, Science Fiction, or Cyberpunk—that their players never could. Literally roleplaying a fantasy of going shopping for fantasy things! Of course, just as the items within an equipment guide can be used to equip a Player Character, they can also be used to equip an NPC. If such an equipment guide includes a good mix of arms and armour, then all the Game Master has to do is pick out some different weapons and some different armour, and she has the beginnings of an interesting NPC, at least in terms of what wields and what he looks like. In addition, if the Player Characters have amassed some loot—jewels, gems, object d’art, and that sort of thing—then they will want to sell it and an equipment guide will often discuss the means to do so. In addition to arms and armour, an equipment guide will often detail a range of services and experts that the Player Characters can purchase or hire, as well as bigger things that they might want to invest in, such as land and buildings. This though, is not all that an equipment guide can be used for. A good equipment guide can do all that and more. A really good equipment guide can do all this and be used to help bring a world to life and it can be used as a spur for stories.
RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment is a supplement for Chaosium, Inc.’s RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. As an expansion for the core rules, RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment does everything that a good equipment guide does. It details and describes a wide range of items, goods, services, training, magical items, and beasts, plus new arms and armour, new rules for land ownership and use, and much more. And it is fair to say that the least interesting aspect of the supplement is actually the arms and armour. This is not to say that the included weapons and armour, which together draw from a range of cultures and races from across Glorantha, are not useful, because they very much are, but they are not actually interesting in comparison with the rest of the book.

RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment begins in broad detail with the market and what goods might be available depending upon the size and location of the market, explains Gloranthan currency, and looks at the economy, prices, handling and creating masterwork items, and more. The interesting aspect here is the effect that the size of the local economy can have on what a Player Character can buy and sell and what effect selling loot can have on the local economy. In smaller, more local economies, favours and bartering are more likely as means of exchange—even when it comes to settling debts—rather than money, and if the Player Characters sell too much loot, it can not only depress the economy, it can also attract the attention of the local authorities and temples, who will want them to contribute to the community!

One of aspects of Glorantha is the prominence and importance of different metals and their use. Most obviously bronze, since Glorantha is most often described as a bronze-age world, but other metals, ranging from aluminium and copper to silver and tin are also examined. This includes its properties when enchanted, such as weapons and armour made from enchanted copper being particularly hardy and enchanted quicksilver having the property of not being able to sink in water, Gloranthan cults and the enchanted metal spells they grant, and how enchanted metal is crafted. Here is where RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment begins rise above being just a simple shopping catalogue, because this is a useful section for metal workers—redsmiths for bronze, goldsmiths for gold, and so on. This is because it is possible to play such craftsmen in RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment and this directly supports them, as does the rules for creating masterwork items, which might be to increase an item’s Hit Points, armour points, or increase the amount of damage it can do. These are not fully detailed rules for creating masterwork or enchanted items, but they are more than sufficient. Plus, they enable a master craftsman Player Character, who needs a skill of at least 90%, to use his skill to greater effect, whilst at the same time working towards creating objects with enchanted metal. They are also accompanied by ‘The Metals of Acos’, a First Age document which provides some engaging in-game thoughts upon the various metals. Similar sections cover pottery and weaving, though not in as much depth, and there is an accompanying list of prices of crockery for the former and a list of clothing types and their prices under the common goods section.

‘Common Goods’ lists thumbnail descriptions and prices of a wide variety of everyday items. Clothing, jewellery, cosmetics, tools, musical instruments, toys and games, food and drink (including honey, wax, and royal jelly from bees), herbs and plants, exotic materials, and trinkets. There is some pleasing little details here, such as slimming girdles, made from either zebra or whale bones, being worn by Lunar nobility as means to appear thinner, but usually causing the wearer to pass out due to their tightness, or that popular board games are God’s Eyes and Fingers, Ouranekki, and Swords and Shields. Sadly, there are no rules any of the board games only relatively sparse descriptions, but whilst the mundane nature of many of these items and certainly their prices may not mean much to the average adventurer, they might to an NPC. Also, these items can be used to add verisimilitude to huts and houses and other dwellings as they are the everyday items which might be found at home. And just like the ingots of metals used by the various smiths, they will be found for sale at markets, in shops, and from the backs of the pack animals of travelling Issaries merchants. Further details, such as the fact that the popularity of rubies in the Lunar Empire means that Etyries merchants are willing to pay more for them and that reed baskets and bags, inexpensive when bought in Prax or New Pavis, are seen as foreign and fashionable items elsewhere, are more interesting than how much they cost. By comparison, though necessary, the section on adventuring gear feels almost mundane!

The chapter on beasts covers meat beasts, pack animals, riding beasts, and war beasts. Exotic beasts are listed for the different Elder Races, and stats for two new riding bests are given, expanding upon those in the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary. These are the Moose and the Reindeer. Alongside the list of riding gear, including various saddles, harnesses, saddlebags, and stirrups, there are details of various mobile dwellings and a table of mount speeds. Also given here are details of awakened animals. The most obvious of which is the alynx or shadowcat, and in roleplaying terms, thus associated with the worshippers of Odayla and Yinkin. However, any Player Character can have an awakened animal, not just a worshipper of Odayla or Yinkin, but a shadowcat is not always the most appropriate. RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment looks at several options, including birds, lizards, and snakes as well as other mammals. It notes that parrots are popular in Nochet and Glamour, crows and ravens with worshippers of Ty Kora Tek, Durulz children have frogs and toads, and geckos are commonly found in both Lunar and Sartarite Tarsh. Possession of an awakened creature at least adds colour to a character, but the roleplaying possibilities it opens up are endless.

Some skills and knowledges lie outside that of the Player Characters and this is where hirelings and services are useful. There are rules here for the availability of either, the expected skill ratings and rates pay, plus specific sections on mercenaries, personal services, heralds and poets, sages and scribes, and magic services. Notable here are terms of employment and contracts for mercenaries, plus a typical oath sworn by mercenaries and a guide to how loot is divided among them, including the Orlanthi and Yelm methods, plus an adventurer’s pact. These work for both NPCs and Player Characters, whether they are entering employment or hiring. There are details too of how slavery works in Glorantha, primarily as punishment for crimes and debts, or being captured as prisoners of war, and which species do own slaves. This does not include the Orlanthi who abhor the practice. That said, the authors do address the subject of slavery from a modern point of view and how it relates to the game, ultimately advising that the Game Master discuss the issue with her players beforehand. Besides this, there is a list of magical services, including the decidedly ungodly practice of sorcerous divination and casting magic for enchanted items—the latter to accompany the earlier rules on enchanted items, and also prices for renting rooms in the short term at inns and residences in the long term. The section on funerary rites covers various practices and their prices, including ceremonies and funeral pyres humble and grand, but again adding depth and detail to the world, though greater specifics will lie with the various cults.

The chapters on arms and armour expands upon those listed in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, adding a variety of new weapons like the Orlanthi Broad-axe, Moon Blade polearm, trident, war boomerangs, chakrams, and more. All are described and listed in the expanded weapons tables, as is the rhino hide armour in the armour tables and the armours for beasts and non-humans including Elves, Ducks, Trolls, and Trollkin. All of the arms and armour are illustrated, the armour in full colour, with some nicely depictions of various types of helms to differentiate between the types. One surprising omission is that of Dragonewt weapons, especially since the weapons of other species are included. (They can though, be found in the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary.) The major addition are the rules for entangling and net weapons, which bring throwing hooks, lassos, nets, and whips into play.

The rules for travel focus on group travel, including caravan, river, and ocean travel. Typical travel times are listed, and there are even rules for length of journey depending on circumstances and skill, as well as details of vehicles and vessels, such as chariots and reed boats. It would have been handy here for them to be illustrated and even be given deck plans where necessary, but there are none. As a campaign progresses, there is scope for the Player Characters to own their own dwellings and land, possession of which can lead to further adventures. The example here being is land grants being handed out by Prince Argrath in the Big Rubble, enforcing that being a big challenge. Land is treated as a potential reward and then responsibility, something that the Player Characters might earn and then have to protect and nurture. There is list of improvements which can be made, profits or losses to be made during sacred time, and possible random land-related events. The aim is not to provide a detailed set of rules for resource management, but more as a means to support the narrative and roleplaying. There is scope though, for a supplement, whether in whole or part, dedicated to this subject.

The penultimate chapter in RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment revisits training from RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, adding rules for learning new Runes, which typically has to be done via a cult associated with the cult a Player Character is an initiate of. However, since a maximum of only 5% can be gained at the end of training, it takes at least two seasons to increase a Rune to the minimum of 10% necessary for it to be used in play. Lastly, the section on exotic items expands on the rules for magic crystals given in the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack with a list of strange enchanted items and extraordinary gems. The former include an Empty Purse, which transfers only local currency to a nearby strong box and Walktapus Gloves, made from the skin of the feared Chaos creature, but valued by redsmiths for their ability to withstand extreme heat, whilst the later includes a Lhankor Mhy’s Mark, used to copy and transfer text via rubbings and a Vengeance Black, which if an oath is sworn it, provides a temporary bonus to skills dedicated to fulfilling the oath.

Physically, RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment is very well presented. It is clean, tidy, and easy to read. The cover is excellent, depicting the pre-generated signature characters from the pages of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – Quickstart and Adventure at rest, camping between adventures.

There is a degree of repetition in the pages of RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment and other books for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but in most cases, the repetition means that the new information is brought together with the old so that it is all together. Then there is the fact that a quarter of book, that devoted to arms and armour, is actually utilitarian rather than interesting. The majority of the book, fortunately, is both interesting and useful, presenting content that will be of great use to Issaries merchants with the market and price guides; Chalana Arroy initiates for the herbs and plants details; and craftsmen of all types for details particular to their crafts. Player Character of all types will find the supplement of use, whether they want to make a purchase or sell some loot, or undertake some training or hire some experts. However, RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipmentcomes into its own for the Game Master, because of the richness of the tiny details that even the most mundane of items brings to Glorantha and the verisimilitude that creates, helping to bring the world to life for her players. In this way, RuneQuest: Weapons & Equipment does exactly what a good equipment guide should.

1984: Rhand: Morningstar Missions

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

—oOo—

Five hundred years ago, Rhand was a rich, verdant colony with vast forests that supported agriculture and attracted tourism. Technologically advanced, easy travel was facilitated by four satellites which operated a world-spanning teleport network. Then the Spectrals came. The faceless, jet black invaders from deep space launched attacks that shattered the climate, smashed the teleport network, and unleashed bioagents which drove many of humanity on the planet into barbarism. Five centuries later, Rhand’s climate is dominated by advancing ice and devastating storms and tornadoes. The only habitable part of the planet is the equator, populated by a thousand kingdoms and city states, competing for resources as the war against the Spectrals and other monsters continues as their societies face further collapse. The only hope lies in Orca, the last remnant of the government from before the Spectral attack, dedicated to recovering and protecting what knowledge it can, conducting operations against the Spectrals, and preventing the total collapse of society into barbarism and anarchy. Orca fields a range of military and auxiliary units, the elite of which are named after mythical beasts like the Dragons and the Targa. Where Targa units specialise in hand-to-hand combat and heavy assault missions, Dragon units specialise in commando missions and strategic planning. In addition to its dedicated forces, Orca has one other advantage—it can anyone anywhere on Rhand. It has access to Morningstar, the surviving satellite that had been part of the teleportation network. The magic of the Morningstar is accessed via an Encoder. Activate this and anyone also wearing a Thrall, a chain worn on the wrist, will be teleported to the desired destination. However, being the only surviving satellite remaining in the network means that Morningstar does not cover all of the planet all of the time. Depending upon Morningstar’s orbital position and the intended destination, an Orca team can be out of contact with the Morningstar network for as short as a few hours and as long as two weeks!

This is the set-up for Rhand: Morningstar Missions. Published in 1984, it was the first roleplaying game to be designed and released by Leading Edge Games, which would later be known for the Phoenix Command combat system and the Aliens Adventure Game as well as a number of other licensed roleplaying games. Indeed, the mechanics for Rhand: Morningstar Missions were a precursor for Phoenix Command, just as its setting would be revisited in Living Steel. Set not long after the attack by the Spectrals, this was a prequel to Rhand: Morningstar Missions, and it would not be until the release of Rhand 2349, a supplement for Living Steel, that the world itself would get more detailed attention. At its heart, Rhand: Morningstar Missions is a post-apocalyptic setting with magic and medieval-style combat on a post-technological world. It is a roleplaying game of special forces-style military missions in which the Player Characters—as members of Orca—have access to a device which can get them anywhere, a la Fringeworthy from Tri Tac Games, Wraith Recon from Mongoose Publishing, and of course, Star Gate: SG1.

A Player Character in Rhand: Morningstar Missions is defined by his characteristics, skills, equipment, and various derived factors. The primary characteristics are Strength, Intelligence, Will, Health, and Agility, typically ranging in value between three and eighteen, although they can go higher. The secondary characteristics are Charisma, Motivation, Size, and Telepathic Sensitivity. The primary characteristics are purchased from a randomly determined pool of points and the secondary characteristics are all rolled randomly individually. This requires referencing a number of tables at the back of the book. Base skill levels are determined randomly. Skills are rated between one and twenty, with eight being a Professional level and fifteen World Class. They are categorised into Class 1 General Skills that all characters possess, and then Class 2 General Skills and Class 3 General Skills, plus Specialist Skills. The Magic, Medicine, and Science skills fall into the latter category, as does Special Fighting Forms, themed around the four elements, which greatly enhance a Player Character’s Combat and Martial Arts skills. A Player Character only begins play with levels in Class 1 General Skills, but can dedicate training time between missions to improve already known skills and learn new ones. This is limited by his rank in the Orca organisation and only by increasing his rank can he gain the opportunity to learn or improve Specialist Skills. This also takes him out of play as it requires dedicated learning time. Training grants a player Training Rolls. Each one is made against his character’s Learning Roll and if successful, grants him a Learning Point which can be assigned to a specific skill. When the number of Learning Points in a skill exceeds the threshold, its Skill Level increases. So, to become a Professional in a skill, Skill Level 7, a Player Character needs to accumulate eighty-eight Learning Points, and to be considered World Class or Skill Level 15, he needs six-hundred-and-seventy-four-Learning-Points!

A beginning Player Character only has the Skill Levels in the Class 1 General Skills at start of play. Effectively, he is a recruit, waiting to go on his first mission.

Name: Robert

CHARACTERISTICS
Strength 13
Intelligence 13
Will 10
Health 12
Agility 13

Charisma 15
Motivation 17
Size 11
Telepathic Sensitivity 14

Combat Value: 15
Combat Speed: 1+
Knockout Value: 15
Learning Roll: 84
Magic Learning Roll: 14

Skill Factor: 16
Base Action Time: .8
Damage Bonus: 1.0

SKILLS
Balance and Footwork – LP 0 Level 3
Bard – LP 0 Level 4
Combat – LP 0 Level 3
Diplomacy – LP 0 Level 2
Fall Recovery – LP 0 Level 3
First Aid – LP 0 Level 2
Horsemanship – LP 0 Level 2
Martial Arts – LP 0 Level 2

EQUIPMENT (Encumbrance: 37.7):
Studded leather, round shield, light spear, dagger, broadsword, mess kit, personal hygiene kit

WEAPONS
Dagger – Weapon Speed: 2.8 Weapon Class: +2 Impact: (3) +2 (Slashing), (3) (Stabbing); Attack Level: 5 (Slashing/Stabbing) Weapon Actions: 2.24
Spear – Weapon Speed: 2.1 Weapon Class: -2 (Stabbing) Impact: (5) (Stabbing); Attack Level: 1 (Stabbing) Weapon Actions: 1.68
Broadsword – Weapon Speed: 2.2 Weapon Class: 0 (Slashing), -1 (Stabbing) Impact: (6) +2 (Slashing), (3) (Stabbing); Attack Level: 3 (Slashing), 2 (Stabbing) Weapon Actions: 1.76
Round Shield – Shield Speed: 1.1; Shield Actions: 0.88

Mechanically, Rhand: Morningstar Missions is intended to be played out on a two-foot wide hex grid and uses a percentile resolution mechanic and what it calls the ‘Action/Reaction Table’. To undertake an action, the Game Master refers to the skill being used and determines the Base Odds for the skill being used. This is multiplied by the Player Character’s Skill Level to get the percentage chance of success. It is that simple, but as written it does not look that simple and from the exceedingly concise options listed under each skill it does not look that simple. So, it takes a lengthy example of play for the Game Master to even understand the basics, and even after that, she may be floundering.
For example, Robert wants to perform a song to bolster the mood of his fellow Men-at arms in his unit. The Base Odds are determined as follows: 5 for composition of average melodies and written material and ability as a scribe and 10 for the ability to evoke emotion in the audience. This gives a total of 15, which is multiplied by Robert’s Skill Level of 4 in Bard to give a total chance of 60%. If the ‘Action/Reaction Table’ of Rhand: Morningstar Missions attempts to be simple, its combat rules attempt to be complex. It details some thirty weapons from a range of cultures, divided into four damage types—Cutting, Stabbing, Flange, and Blunt—and further categorised as either One Handed, Two Handed, or Blunt Impact. Combat is intended to be played out on a grid of two-foot-wide hexes with Combat Speed indicating the number of hexes or changes of direction a combatant can move in a single phase. The number of Weapon Actions spent on an attack can alter the amount of damage inflicted, so that a Short Stroke inflicts half damage, but only takes a single Weapon Action, whereas two Weapon Action s are a Normal Stroke for normal damage, and three Weapon Actions a Long Stroke for double damage. A single Weapon Action is enough to parry and the use of shields have their own number of Actions. The issue with this is if a Player Character has a number of Weapon Actions less than two, he cannot do more than the one Action per combat round and he cannot do more than a Short Stroke. However, a single Weapon Action can be carried over from one round to the next, giving a Player Character more options in the next round rather than the current one.

The Odds of Hitting, of successfully attacking an opponent are based on the defender’s Parry Type and Combat Skill, and the attacker’s Attack Level. The Parry Type is either Partial Parry, meaning that the defender makes fewer parries than the number of attacks by the attacker, or Total Parry, meaning that the defender makes a number of parries equal to, or greater than the number of attacks by the attacker. The Game Master then refers to the appropriate ‘Odds of Hitting’ table for the Parry Type and the number of parries versus attacks to determine the chance of a successful attack by cross-referencing the attacker’s Attack Level versus the defender’s Combat Skill. If the attack is successful, the table for the damage type of the weapon and the blow, either Cutting, Stabbing, Flange, or Blunt, to determine hit Location and Physical Damage inflicted. This generates the Impact Damage of the attack, which is cross-referenced with the Armour Class value of any armour worn to find the actual Physical Damage suffered. Inflict enough damage and blows can disable a limb or knock out an opponent.
For example, Robert, our sample Player Character, is facing a brigand, who is armed with a spear and a shield versus Robert’s broadsword and shield. Robert has charged the brigand and saved a Weapon Action so that he has two Weapon Actions to use on a Normal Stroke. The brigand has done the same, but will use both to parry Robert’s slashing attack. This is a Full Parry, equal to one attack versus two parries. Comparing Robert’s Attack Level for his broadsword of 3 versus the brigand’s Combat Skill of 2 gives Robert’s player a 33% chance of successfully hitting. Fortunately for Robert, his player rolls 18 and Robert’s slashing blow gets past the brigand’s parry attempts. Robert rolls 8 for the Impact Damage—the maximum damage possible and this is cross-referenced with the Armour Class value for the brigand’s leather armour on the Cutting Damage table. It is a blow to the brigand’s abdomen and since the brigand’s leather armour is classed as light, he suffers 5 points of Physical Damage. There is a chance that the blow will know the brigand out, but since it is less than the brigand’s Knockout Value, it is only 10%. The Game Master rolls 03% and Robert is lucky! The brigand collapses with a grunt. The fight continues, but Robert probably has the group’s first prisoner. The combat rules also cover dodging, archery, mounted combat, and the special fighting forms available as Specialist Skills. Including the healing rules, the rules for combat run to some twenty or so pages versus the three dedicated to explaining the ‘Action/Reaction Table’—and the latter includes all of the Base Odds factors per skill. The upshot is that the combat mechanics for Rhand: Morningstar Missions are far better explained with a ready clarity that the skill resolution mechanic is not afforded.

Magic in Rhand: Morningstar Missions has seven Subjects—Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, as well as Mental Magic, Body Magic, and Astral Projection. Earth, Fire, Air, and Water are Elemental magics, but are not as specialised as Mental Magic, Body Magic, and Astral Projection and have a greater number of spells each. Each Subject is a Specialist Skill in its own right. The total number of Learning Points a Player Characters has in seven Subjects determines his Magical Skill Level, which determines range for a spell. The target of a spell receives the Resist Roll to withstand the magical effects of a spell. This is determined by comparing the Magical Skill Level of the target with the Magical Skill Level of the caster. Should a target have no Magical Skill Level, then he has a much lower chance of resisting a spell. The amount of points a Player Character has to spend on spells within a Subject is equal to the number of Leaning Points he has in the associated skill, but expressed as Magical Force. Each spell has a cost in Magic Force to cast. Casting magic takes concentration and should a mage be distracted, there is a chance of his failing to cast the spell and suffer Psychic Damage. Rhand: Morningstar Missions includes a wide range of spells, but there are some oddities, such as Create Fire and Thicken Water being under the Earth spells, Raging Waters under the Fire spells, and so on.

At a Skill Level of 6 and beyond a Mage can gain attributes such as Magic Sense and Weatherwise, mainly protective, but permanent abilities. Mage can also make enchanted items, and there are also optional rules for resisted spells bouncing back, joining specialised magical groups, and spells being enacted in ascending order of Magical Force invested in them. Overall, the magic rules are decent enough and there are plenty of spells to choose from. Their use is not quite as well explained as combat is, but still better than that given for the ‘Action/Reaction Table’. The main issue with magic in Rhand: Morningstar Missions is its inaccessibility at the start of play, along with the Class 2 General Skills and the Class 3 General Skills, meaning that beginning Player Characters are mechanically very similar.

Rhand: Morningstar Missions also includes rules for physical phenomena such as terrain and travel, complete with generation tables, sight and sound detection, spreading and flowing fluids, fires, explosions, breaking down doors and walls, explosions, earthquakes, and mob actions and riots. Optional rules allow for glancing blows, aiming blows, cutting through shields and parries, collisions and tackles, and more. Much of these serve to make combat in Rhand: Morningstar Missions more dynamic, but it comes at the cost of further complexity.

Mission types in Rhand: Morningstar Missions include Guard, Escort, Assault, Rescue, Holding Action, Defence, and Special Action Squads. The latter are actually held within the magic of Morningstar, ready to be teleported to a location at a moment’s notice. In general, the type of mission will be determined by the Risk Level that the players and their characters want to face. The Risk Level will determine the random encounter odds and the combined value of the Player Characters Combat Values the level of any potential opposition. Three sample missions are provided, ranging from Risk Level 1 to Risk Level 10. These are decent outlines for what are straightforward military missions—actually too straightforward military missions since there is no real plot to any one of the three—and require development upon the part of the Game Master. Descriptions of various creatures are given, including several types of Spectral, as well as their subject races that they brought with them when they attacked. The book comes to a close with a topographical map of the planet Rhand, which actually is not that detailed or useful, followed by the roleplaying game’s various tables.

Physically, Rhand: Morningstar Missions is a surprisingly short book—barely a hundred pages long. But being printed on sturdy thick paper with heavy card inserts combined with being spiral bound gives it a surprising heft. Bar the map, the book is completely devoid of illustrations, which gives it a bland look. This is actually offset by the large margins, typically used—as was the case with future titles from Leading Edge Games—for in-game quotes, some of them quite humorous. The writing is not too bad, mainly suffering from a lack of clearer explanation when it counts, but there are plenty of explanations that do go some way to offset this. As well as being able to lie flat on the table and fold over, what the format of Rhand: Morningstar Missions does remind you of, though, is a technical manual for a computer or a major piece of machinery? Could it be that designer Barry Nakazono, an actual rocket scientist, decided upon the format he knew best for the books that Leading Edge Games published?
In many ways, Rhand: Morningstar Missions is a complex roleplaying game, but not as complex as the roleplaying games that Leading Edge Games would later publish, most notably Phoenix Command, Living Steel, and the Aliens Adventure Game. Combat is complex, but at least it benefits from a clearer explanation than that given the ‘Action/Reaction Table’ and its associated resolution mechanic. The real problems with Rhand: Morningstar Missions start with the uninteresting and similar starting Player Characters which are given no capacity for differentiation until a long way into the play of the game and they have progressed up a Rank or two within Orca. Then there is the setting. Rhand and Orca are severely underdeveloped such that neither is given enough description for them to come alive and for a group to want to play within the setting. The set-up to Rhand: Morningstar Missions is a fun concept, of being able to hop back and forth across the planet because of the ‘magic’ of the past, performing missions to hold back alien invaders and recover or prevent knowledge from being lost. Yet there is not enough of the past in the setting to know what it is that the Orca is attempting to save or protect and knowing that would have given the Game Master hooks and motives to pull the players and their characters into the setting. So, if the Game Master and her players can get past the complexity, what they will find Rhand: Morningstar Missions offers in terms of what they play and what they roleplay to be underwhelming, if not outright disappointing. Rhand: Morningstar Missions presents a potentially interesting setting and campaign set-up, but ultimately undoes itself by failing to develop either beyond their core concepts.

Quick-Start Saturday: Swyvers

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

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

—oOo—

What is it?The Swyvers Quickstart is introduces the rules light roleplaying of guttersnipes, rogues, grifters, charlatans, shysters, and chisellers on the make in filth and detritus of The Smoke, where it is always wet, foggy, smoky, and dirty, whether that is above ground or in the extensive Midden that runs deep under the sprawling metropolis. The Player Characters—or Swyvers—are desperate and dirty, but have to deal with corrupt officials, looming war, rogue sorcerers, monsters below and nobs above.

It is an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game.

It is an eighty-seven page, black and white book.

The quick-start is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is superb, capturing the grubbiness of the setting.

The Swyvers Quickstart requires an edit.

Technically, the Swyvers Quickstart is not a quick-start. It is an extensive exert from the core rulebook for Swyvers and there are missing an important number of elements usually found in quick-starts.

How long will it take to play?
The Swyvers Quickstart can provide multiple sessions of play, although it does not include an actual adventure.

What else do you need to play?
The Swyvers Quickstart requires five six-sided dice and a standard set of polyhedral dice.

A standard deck of playing cards is also necessary.

Who do you play?
There are no ready-to-play Swyvers given in the Swyvers Quickstart.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Swyver has three stats—Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength—and a chance of being literate (though the player needs to explain why in under five seconds!) and starts with a few coins, a trinket, and a personality trait.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, the Swyvers Quickstart and thus Swyvers, uses two types of rolls—Competing Rolls and Saves. The rolls are made on pools of six-sided dice which can be adjusted in size to reflect the difficulty of the task. The aim is roll a total equal to, or less than, the appropriate attribute or a target number set by the Game Master.

In addition, a Swyver can have skills, for example, lockpicking, drinking contests, clipping and counterfeiting coins, or evaluating goods—stolen or otherwise, but mostly stolen. Each level adds increases the value of the attribute when using that skill.

There are also rules for chases, the random consequences of carousing, researching marks for cons, creating stooges and putterers (putterers are apprentices that a Swyver can train) and the possible revenge if they are abandoned, and fences and offloading stolen goods.

The rules for advancement highlight how Experience Points are gained from the sale of loot ‘conveniently’ found and for expenditure on carousing, research, and training a putterer. Of course, like other activities, these have associated damagers of their own.

How does combat work?
Combat in the Swyvers Quickstart involves a roll of two ten-sided dice to beat the Defence Value of the target. A roll of two tens by a player means that his Swyver has automatically killed the defendant, but is a standard attack by an NPC. A roll of two ones is a fumble and requires a roll on the ‘Critical Miss’ table.

Defence Value is determined by the weapon a combatant is wielding. So the Defence Value if a combatant is ‘Shooting’ or ‘Unarmed’ is six, but twelve if wielding a ‘Medium Weapon + Shield’. Armour soaks damage, the amount determined randomly, whilst weapon damage is dependent upon quality. Ropey weapons roll damage twice and take the lowest value; decent weapons roll once; and mint weapons roll damage twice and take the higher result.

There are notes on how to ‘Fyte Lyke a Swyver’. Essentially, a quick and dirty guide to fighting and not getting killed. Fighting fair will get a Swyver killed.

In other words, combat in Swyvers is brutal and meant to be that way.

How does Magic work?
Magic in Swyvers is uncommon, though rumours of witchcraft are not. Casting magic involves playing Blackjack to obtain a score of between seventeen and twenty-one. Results of sixteen and below indicate a failure, whilst results of twenty-two and above are critical failures—and there is a nasty table for that. With more understanding of magic, a caster can match the right card suit with the right Hippocratic Humour to gain extra spell effects if the spell is successfully cast, enhance it with spell components, and even gain an inkling of demonic forces behind what magic can be cast in The Smoke. The included grimoire is full of grim and ghastly spells.

What do you play?
There is no adventure in the Swyvers Quickstart. As an excerpt from the Swyvers rulebook, what it includes instead is a combined guide to The Smoke and set of procedural tables to enable the Game Master and her players procedurally generate the city. This starts with the city in broad details before focusing upon a district. The tables enable to the Game Master to determine the power and nature of the ruler of The Smoke, power and nature of the church, commonly supposed facts about the war going on, and districts and their features and qualities, including rumours and opportunities—the latter for every ‘good’ Swyver to take advantage of, random encounters, and some absolutely great street names!

Since Swyvers are anything but honest, so there is a list of crimes and their punishments. Plus a guide to making bribes and dealing with the watch and detectives. A watchman may make a Swyver’s lfe a misery, but a determined detective can be positively bothersome! Tables are provided to enable the Game Master create both and add quirks to bring them to life.

Below The Smoke is The Midden. First, the Shallow Midden and then the Deep Midden. Entrances to the former can be found all over The Smoke, the latter can only be accessed via the Shallow Midden. The dead are are entombed in the Shallow Midden, whilst the Deep Midden is where secrets are hidden and the call of the sea can be heard...

Although the Swyvers Quickstart does not include an adventure, there is nothing to stop a Game Master from using the content of the tables in the excerpt to create adventures.

Is there anything missing?
The Swyvers Quickstart is not complete, since it is truly not a quick-start, but a rulebook excerpt designed to give a taster of the full book. Aside from the lack of an adventure, the excerpt is missing a list of ready to use names and unlike other Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying games, there

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in the Swyvers Quickstart are far from difficult to prepare. The Game Master will need to create content herself, but this process is supported by the festering feast of details and descriptions included in the book. Thus the Game Master will need to come up with a plot, some NPCs, and more, which will take longer than preparing a typical quick-start.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The Swyvers Quickstart is a scrumptious feast of vile vagabounds, dastardly deceivers, and pernicious pilferers whose grotty shabiness and unscrupulous shadiness as told in a series of Dickensian penny dreadfuls. And as appalling and as awful as those penny dreadfuls are, there is a fascination with this wicked world that means that the Swyvers Quickstart is begging to be played and demanding that you roleplay the snot out of these tricksy little bastards.
Where can you get it?
The Swyvers Quickstart is available to purchase and download here.

Friday Fantasy: The Toxic Wood

Reviews from R'lyeh -

The Toxic Wood is a descent into a poisoned world, a forest whose verdancy has been darkened by a noxious, even baleful, baneful influence has twisted and transformed a whole landscape. At its heart lies the village of Mugwort, trapped, but protected from the noxiousness surrounding them, and desperate for rescue. Fortunately, a secretive council of wizards has heard the arcane distress call sent out by the wizard residing in the village and hires a group of adventurers to mount a rescue mission. The poisonous nature of the wood includes the air and so the employing wizards have fashioned a magical orb which ensure that there is a bubble of safe for them as they journey to Mugwort. It will require power, whether of lifeforce or magic, but it will keep the adventurers safe. Exposure to the toxic air will corrode metal and mutate those who breathe it in, but it is not the only danger that the adventurers will face. There are plants so twisted that they curse magical items or cause them to explode, that spy on the adventurers are they proceed through the forest, shoot parasitical needles that want feeding more than the victim, and worse… Druids corrupted into accepting the toxic nature of the wood as the new norm, half-ghosts lost between this world and the next, trapped by the mutating growths which keep their bodies from decomposing, corrupted fairies that swarm in search of flesh, and other terrible things. There are terrible things that want spread the toxicity, terrible things that take advantage of it, and terrible things that want to rid it from the wood—and not all of them are telling the truth…

The Toxic Wood: A Corrosive Hexcrawl Adventure written by the Lazy Litch and was published following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of Zine Month 2022. As with the publisher’s other titles—The Haunted Hamlet & other hexes, Woodfall, and WillowThe Toxic Wood is written or use with Old School Essentials, Necrotic Gnome’s very accessible update of the Moldvey/Cook and Marsh version of Basic Dungeons & Dragons, which means that not only is it mechanically accessible, it is also easily adapted to the retroclone of the Game Master’s choice. However, it is not clearly stated what Level the adventure is designed for, but from the relative Hit Dice of the various monsters The Toxic Wood, it feels roughly suitable for Player Characters of Third, Fourth, and Fifth Level. Beyond the introduction, there is a some advice as to the adventure's play style, which is standard to all of the scenarios published by the Lazy Litch. This limits Experience Point gain to finding treasure, making discoveries, and achieving objectives rather than kill monsters; monsters are intentionally unbalanced; game is deadly and Player Character death a possibility; and an emphasis is placed upon resource management. In addition, The Toxic Wood includes a number of optional backgrounds and objectives that be assigned to the Player Characters or rolled for, which set up conflicting agendas between them. The conflict between them exacerbated by the fact that the Player Characters are forced to travel together within the safety of the magical orb and the clean air it generates, forcing them more obviously to both work together and negotiate where they will go and what they will do. As well as the information provided by their background, each Player Character will also begin the scenario with a rumour about the area detailed in The Toxic Wood.

The toxicity of the scenario’s title is infused into every aspect of it, from the strange nature of the plants and inhabitants of the woods and the mutations that the Player Characters can suffer if exposed to it for too long to the vileness of the various factions to be found in the woods and the weirdness of their various aims. Although there are several monsters given, it is these plants which play a major role in the scenario and are the most obvious evidence of the transformation that the wood has undergone. There are Energy Consuming Flowers that absorb spells, which can be carried as a form of protection, but which ill implode if too many are absorbed; Fungi Outposts that act as the ears and eyes of one for the factions in the wood; and Rune Fruit, marked with dark arcane runes, which can be eaten, but have side effects that are deleterious upon the consumer’s mental health.

Although there are hints as to the true nature of the plots swirling and around the Toxic Wood in the various backgrounds and rumours, the Player Characters will only discover more details by visiting the various locations dotted throughout the woods. This starts with Mugwort, a village trapped in its own bubble, its inhabitants desperate and divided, on the edge of the collapse if the Player Characters do not intervene. The others include a dragon atop a plateau building his own cult as a defence against ongoing events in the wood; rival twin sisters, long since transformed into insectoid creatures spinning and feuding for control of a mycelial network that runs throughout the wood; and an abandoned tower from whose roof grows a pair of trees and whose lowest level is filled with a green gelatinous thing filled with eyeballs that refuse to look at anyone who enters the tower—though the orb supplying the Player Characters their life-preserving air will actually speak before they do and warn them not to enter! The Toxic Wood is full of little details and fantastic writing like this which brings its combination of weirdness and dark whimsy to life.
The lack of indication as to what Level it is designed for, is not the only issue with The Toxic Wood. The other is the hexcrawl map used in the scenario. It is an attractive piece that uses a lot of icon-like pieces of art to fill its hexes, The majority of the symbols or icons used are all very similar, which has two important consequences. The first is that the icons used for specific locations do not stand out, and the second is that it is difficult to track the progress of the Player Characters across the map.

Then there is the fact that hexcrawl are of The Toxic Wood is too large for ease of play. It has an area of fifteen by twenty hexes, but there is no scale to the map. The only hint the Game Master is given is that in a single day, the Player Characters can either explore a single hex or they can travel across a total of three. (That said, there are a lot of hexes where nothing much will happen except the occasional random encounter.) It will take a minimum of three days’ travel to get to Mugwort from the edge of the map and then the other locations on the map are a similar distance away from the village. So play is going consist of a lot of dice rolls for encounters in the poisoned forest and the Player Characters scavenging for fuel to power the air-generating orb they need to maintain in order to survive. This is only going to worse if the Player Characters get lost. Resource management is a part of the play of The Toxic Wood, but the size of its play area means that the scenario over emphasises it. Ultimately, The Toxic Wood could have been smaller without any loss of play and a smaller size would have made it easier to slot into a Game Master’s own campaign.
Physically, The Toxic Wood is a fairly busy book, but everything is neatly organised and for the most part, easy to use when the Game Master needs it. The artwork is excellent and so is the writing. Although it does have an introduction, it does not explain what is fully going on until a fair way into the scenario.

The Toxic Wood is a fantastically noxious and nasty scenario, a combination of Stephen King’s Under the Dome meets Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation crossed with The Fantasic Voyage and Tron. Which reads like a thoroughly odd mixture, but there is a strand of Science Fiction which underpins the scenario, with the orb that the Player Characters must take with them to breathe being almost like a submersible and the Emergency Bubbles they are given which enable them to operate away from the orb, being like aqualungs, and the twin sisters’ mycelial network a cross between an information network and a surveillance network.

Ultimately, The Toxic Wood may be slightly too odd and slightly too large for some campaigns, with the Game Master needing to work a lot of its details into her own setting to effectively work. If the Game Master can do that, then The Toxic Wood is a poisonously fantastic scenario.

Character Exploration with Blue Rose 2nd Edition: Duchess and Candella

The Other Side -

 A side-step today. I have been working on my reviews of the Forgotten Realms products, but my next one is not yet ready. I was reading over my material for this week, and I thought maybe I should put my money where my mouth is and explore some more relationships within my own games.  

I don't have that ready yet, either! But I did go through my goto game for all things romance, Blue Rose. Since I have a few characters I currently use for various explorations, I thought I would try starting them up in Blue Rose AGE 2nd Edition.  This is also good since last year I was doing some D&D 5e conversions to other systems as D&D replacements.  Blue Rose 2nd Edition is a wonderful replacement for D&D.  

Duchess and Candella for Blue Rose

My two current fun characters are Duchess and Candella. I wanted to explore some more about their characters, especially since I already had plans to run module B3 Palace of the Silver Princess as a Blue Rose game. Back then I mentioned that they were caria daunen, or lovers, but I am not getting that vibe from them now. I mean, yeah, they could be certainly, but I think for these builds, they are not. Or at least not yet. Let's see where they end up.

Candella and Duchess

Blue Rose only has three classes. Adept, Expert, and Warrior. Fantasy Age 2nd Edition adds a new one, the Envoy, but I am sticking with these three. The great thing, though, is even with only three classes, there are lots of ways to customize characters. In D&D Basic (which only had four human classes) they are thieves and their stats are fairly interchangeable. Here I can start them both out as Experts and then through Backgrounds, Powers, Talents, and Focuses (Foci?) they can become very different. I abuse that in my second batch of characters later on.

Concept-wise, some things came up while doing my research the other day.

Candella is:

  • The older one
  • The smarter one (but plays dumb)
  • More acrobatic / higher dexterity

Duchess is:

  • The younger one
  • Has a better constitution
  • Higher wisdom (so acts older)

Their weapons are more or less the same. They are not averse to using poison. Also an interesting note. While done to save space, they have the exact same treasure, save for a pearl necklace Candella has. What is the implications of this for the game? They steal things, but with each other, they are fair; the treasure is split 50/50. The pearl necklace can be explained by having it be something Candella had before they teamed up.

Blue Rose, in addition to what I consider "class" customization, there is a lot of interpersonal customization as well. This is in the form of Blue Rose's Callings, Destiny, and Fate. The relationship mechanics are also great to use. All of these can be ported over to another game. For the example of D&D 5, anything you do to gain Conviction in Blue Rose can be used to grant Inspiration in D&D.

DuchessDuchess
Female Human Expert, Level 3 (Age 19)

Accuracy: 2 (Primary)  Focus: Light Blades
Communication: 3 (Primary) Focus: Deception, Gambling
Constitution: 4 Focus: Drinking
Dexterity: 3 (Primary) Focus: Stealth
Fighting: 2 
Intelligence: 2
Perception: 3 (Primary) Focus: Searching
Strength: 1
Willpower: 3 

Speed: 13
Defense: 13
Armor: 3
Penalty: 0

Health: 42
Conviction: 4

Powers, Talents, and Specializations

- Pinpoint Attack (+1d6 damage)
- Light Armor training
- Starting Talents: Thievery (Novice), Carousing (Novice)

Arms and Armor

Sword (Fighting) 2d6
Dagger, Melee (Accuracy) 1d6+1

Crossbow (Accuracy) 2d6 30/60 Major
Dagger, Ranged (Accuracy) 1d6 6/12 Minor

Leather (Light Armor)

Persona

Calling: The Wheel, Wealth
Destiny: Knight of Chalices, Charismatic
Fate: Manipulative
Corruption: 0 (but likely to be 1 soon enough)

Relationships

Candella (3), "We are sisters in crime. I am closer to her than my own kin."


CandellaCandella
Female Human Expert, Level 3 (Age 21)

Accuracy: 3 (Primary)  Focus: Brawling, Light Blades
Communication: 2 (Primary) Focus: Persuasion
Constitution: 3
Dexterity: 3 (Primary) Focus: Acrobatics, Stealth
Fighting: 2 
Intelligence: 3 Focus: Evaluation
Perception: 2 (Primary) 
Strength: 2
Willpower: 2

Speed: 13
Defense: 13
Armor: 3
Penalty: 0

Health: 40
Conviction: 4

Powers, Talents, and Specializations

- Pinpoint Attack (+1d6 damage)
- Light Armor training
- Starting Talents: Thievery (Journeyman)

Arms and Armor

Sword (Fighting) 2d6
Dagger, Melee (Accuracy) 1d6+1

Crossbow (Accuracy) 2d6 30/60 Major
Dagger, Ranged (Accuracy) 1d6 6/12 Minor

Leather (Light Armor)

Persona

Calling: The Fool, Adventure and Excitement
Destiny: Eight of Swords, Free Spirit
Fate: Stagnant
Corruption: 0 (but likely to be 1 soon enough)

Relationships

Duchess (3), "We are sisters in crime. I am closer to her than my own kin."

--

Ok, this is fun. It also helps me think about who these characters are a little better. I have always gotten a Harley and Ivy vibe from these two, with Candella being Harly Quinn and Duchess as Poison Ivy. Or maybe even a Fire and Ice (from DC) vibe. Duchess certainly looks more like Fire, but Candella has her personality.  I can see a common tactic where Duchess gets a bunch of adventurers drunk, Candella distracts them with a strip tease, and then Duchess robs them all blind. The two run off laughing with all their ill-gotten gains. 

I made them a year older and a level higher. While they are both 3rd level Experts with a Talent for thievery, they have enough differences to set them apart.

At 4th level, they both will take a Specialization. There are many great ones in the Blue Rose book and more in the new Second Editon Fantasy AGE book. But none feel quite right to me.

I think, and I am not 100% sold on this idea yet, but I might go with Assassin for Duchess, though Hunter might be a better choice. Candella could take the Razor from FAGE2, but in reality, I want something more akin to an Acrobat. 

Still. A lot of things I can still do with these two.

Candella & Duchess for Blue Rose


The Enchanted World: The Lore of Love

The Other Side -

 The Lore of Love I saw an online conversation in an old-school RPG group a bit ago. This guy was boasting that his games never had romance, sexuality, or anything at all like that. My first thought was, "How sad," and my next immediate thought was, "How boring his games must be!"

Without the stories and contributions of love and romance or just plain good old-fashioned sex, we would loose most of the works of Shakespeare, many of the Greek myths, and practically all of modern music. Ancient Greeks to Motzart's Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, to "Silly love songs" by Paul McCartney to most of Taylor Swift's catalog. Love just might make the world go 'round.

That is the topic of today's The Enchanted World. I mentioned before that I am not going in publication order, save for the first, and instead going to post the titles that have some connection with when I post them. Today is February 14th, Valentine's Day, so let's look at Love...Enchanted World style. 

Lore of Love 

by Editors of Time-LIFE Books, 1987 (144 pages)
ISBN 0809452812, 0809452820 (US Editions)

This is a later one and does not have a single author. Tony Allen is listed as "text editor" and Ellen Dupont is listed as "staff writer." Of note, in the US, the cover is purple. In the UK, this book had a green cloth cover. 

Like the others in this series the art is a mix of newer pieces with a lot of classical ones. There are for example a lot of John William Waterhouse. The bibliography for this one is also rather impressive. I imagine that as they went on there were a lot more texts collected that they could reference.

Like Wizards and Witches, this one is divided into three larger sections. These can be roughly described as "Finding Love," "Love Gone Wrong" and "Keeping Love."   That's not a perfect match, but it will do.

 Destiny's Playthings

Chapter One: Destiny's Playthings

This covers love as a shaper of destiny. The six stories here involve the gods getting involved with the love lives of mortals to some degree.  "A Groom for the Sea-Lord's Daughter," for example, tells about the fairest sea nymph of all, Thetis, and how she spurred the lust of both Poseidon and then Zeus, only to be given to a mortal Peleus because it was prophesized that her son would defeat his father. As an aside I noticed that Thetis' requests of Peleus are very much the same as we see in later mermaid and selkie tales of Northern Europe. 

Maiden's Visions

Tales of the problems when mortals try to avoid their fate abound as in "The God of Marriages" a Chinese tale of a man who sees his bride to be as a toddler and tries everything to avoid his fate, and just playing into it. Or the Indian tale of "A Love Forgotten" of two lovers reunited at last. 

Sometimes, love, though meant to be, is also tragic. Such is the tale of a German knight in "The Cursed Embrace" whose betrothed is already dead.

 Blighted Passions

Chapter Two: Blighted Passions

The story of love is not always about happy endings. Romeo and Juliet aside, there was Popocatepetl and his love Princess Iztaccíhuatl. When an army could not stop Popocatepetl the Jaguar Knight, his own spread lies about his death so they could possibly claim his bride. When she heard her love had died she died herself. When the Jaguar Knight returned and learned of her death and why, he killed all his men.

Across the ocean in Spain we are treated to the story of Don Juan and his ill-fated affairs. Of the tragedies of Narcissus, Daphne, and Thisbe of Ancient Greece. 

The Warlock's Comeuppance


Though not was all tragedy. There were times when love went wrong and it was comical. Such is the tale of the Warlock's Comeuppance. A warlock found a young women he wished to put a spell on, so he convinced his young Latin pupil to get three hairs from her head. The girl caught her brother trying to steal the hairs and instead gave him three hairs from their young heffer. The warlock performed his dark arts spell and soon had a lovesick cow following all over the town!

 True Love Triumphant

Chapter Three: True Love Triumphant

Of course the best tales are the ones where true love wins out over all odds. Tales like Aucassin and Nicolette the Saracen Maid. They were separated by wars, pirates, and separation of years. Or of Hiku, the Polynesian hero who was so brave he went to the underworld itself to find his lost love Kawelu.  Can your characters claim that? (Yeah. Mine can.)

I am a little surprised that the tale of Cupid and Psyche is not here, but maybe that one is so well known they dropped it in favor of these other stories.

Like all the ones I have read through so far, this one is wonderfully illustrated and amazingly researched. Combining the bibliography for all of these would provide a lifetime's worth of reading.  

This one might have fewer "game-related" details than others, but there is undoubtedly a treasure trove of ideas here. 

Next time: Here there be Dragons!

In Search Of Duchess and Candella

The Other Side -

 I mentioned earlier in this year that my oldest son's group is running through ALL editions of D&D to celebrate 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons. They made characters, and they are taking them through each edition. They have done OD&D, Basic and they are now ready for 1st Edition Advanced.  The characters are now 2nd to 4th level, but there are only 5 of them. And they want me to run an AD&D game for them.

Last week I finally figured out what I am going to run.  They will go through the Orange version of module B3 Palace of the Silver Princess.

Palaces of the Silver Princess

I will explain its infamy to them and run it like it was 1981 for them. So, a mix of B/X and AD&D. Just like we did it.  I'll talk more about the adventure, but for now, I want to focus on a small side matter with the adventure(s). 

That is, who exactly are the thieves, Duchess and Candella?

Duchess and CandellaIn Search of...Duchess and Candella

In both versions of the adventure, you encounter two thieves pretending to be Lady Maidservants. Well... not convincingly, since they know very little about what a maidservant does or where anything in the castle is.  But they are earnest and "very attractive" and ask to join the party. 

Now, I always thought that "Duchess" was the dark-haired one and "Candella" the light-haired one. Largely because I thought the dark-haired one looked like a Duchess and Candella is said to have a string of pearls on her. The orange version gives us their ages as 18 for Duchess and 20 for Candella. 

I always liked that art. You are catching two thieves almost red-handed, and the look of surprise on Candella's face and her hair flying about was just great. 

They became minor recurring NPCs in my games. Showing up, stealing something here and there, and then disappearing again. If the PCs were ever tossed into jail, then sure enough, Duchess and Candella were already there.

I had not thought about them much, and they certainly don't get the ink that the likes of Aleena or Morgan Ironwolf get, but they were/are fun NPCs, and I wanted to know more about them.  Turns out I am not the only one.

What does the Web Say?

There are a few links worth visiting and following up on. First is Greyhawk MusingsOn Duchess and Candella.  This is a great place to start due to its thoroughness. In fact, this blog is a treasure trove of information on them, and I respect David Leonard for that.  He speculates that the dark-haired woman thief in G3, The Hall of the Fire Giant King, is Duchess now 11th level. This begs the question, what happened to Candella? Side note: I used that very same thief as a recurring character when I ran G3, but for me, it was Evelyn the Princess Escalla. But I appreciate what he is doing here.  Like me, he equates Duchess with the dark-haired woman and Candella with the light-haired one. 

We learn from no less of a luminary himself, Frank Mentzer, that these two figures were not just Jean Well's characters; they were her favorite duo of characters. She also did the art of them in Polyhedron #4.  

Candella and Duchess in Polyhedron #4

Sadly, we can't ask Wells herself, as she passed away in 2012.

Greyhawk lore master Jason Zavoda made some similar observations and connections for Greyhawk.

I mentioned I was not the only one to find these two fun. They have appeared in more recent products as well. Or at least homages to them.

Candella, sans Duchess, appears on the cover of Blueholme.

Blueholme

She is the one getting the treasure. Wearing the same outfit as Candella at least.

In a minor cameo, but also a cover, no less, they are part of the new D&D Companion Project. I hope to have more on that soon. 

And as I mentioned above, the 11th-level thief from G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King might also be Duchess, without Candella.

Duchess and Candella in Other Adventures

B12 Queen's Harvest is another Basic-level adventure. This time though the "B" is from the BECMI flavor of Basic and not the BX one.

Very early on in this Carl Sargent-penned adventure from 1989, we are introduced to two thieves, Erren and Sarrah, on pages 6-7.  Their ages and appearances line up with Candella and Duchess, even if their stats don't quite match, though. It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that Candella and Duchess also have other aliases. They are presented in an NPC Mini-Capsule, so they are important to the adventure, though no other details are given.

The fan module by Agathokles, The Dymrak Dread, makes this connection solid with Sarrah, now known as "the Duchess," and part of the Thieves Guild, and her friend Erren Candella. Here they are 5th and 6th level respectively.  This adventure also has Orcus and witches in it, so it is worth my coming back to.

Another adventure to feature them, and this time by name, is the Palace of the Golden Princess, an homage to the original (Orange) Palace of the Silver Princess and Jean Wells herself. There are 5e and OSE versions of the adventure, and they are tied to a comic series taking place in a land inspired by the map in the Original B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. There are even some allusions (in an oblique way) to the Return to the Keep on the Borderlands.

They also briefly appear in Mr. Welch's Mystara Player's Guide for 5e, notably under Mystara's Most Wanted.

Mystara Players Guide 5e - Most Wanted
Mystara Players Guide 5e - Most Wanted

Thought their biggest feature run has been in the various Folio Black Label adventures. Most notably in Folio: Black Label #10 and The Complete Folio Black Label

In The Complete Folio Black Label (covering Black Label 1-6 with extras), nearly every piece of art features our daring duo in all sorts of predicaments throughout all the adventures.  They are also rendered by various artists like Brian Brinlee, Peter Bradley, and Simon Adams, among others. Folio: Black Label #4  and Folio: Black Label #5 even feature them on the cover. Honestly, I bought a bunch of these just to see how much Candella and Duchess art there was in them.

Another artist whose work has been featured in the Folio: Black Label books is Domenico Neziti.  He has done so many pieces of Duchess and Candella that I am giving him his own space below.

Here are a few of his pieces from his Instagram page.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


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A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Domenico Neziti (@domenico_neziti)


And another I could not find on his Instagram.

Duchess and Candella Demon BaitDomenico Neziti "Demon Bait"

He clearly has these two down, with some more on his DeviantArt page.

With new books out like Folio: Black Label series it is easy to see how these two have had all sorts of adventures. I can see something akin to distaff versions of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, though maybe less magic. Likely a bit closer to The Rat Queens. When I used them in games I always made Candella closer to the Thief-Acrobat concept and Duchess maybe a little closer to a Thief-Assassin. But I don't get "evil" off of either of them, really. Plus, Duchess doesn't have the strength score to be an assassin. Maybe more fighter-thief.

Duchess and Candella in my Games

Duchess and CandellaDuchess and Candella, Sheets from Dark Wizard Games

I have used them in the past, as I mentioned, but never to the extent I have some other characters and certainly not to the level some other gamers have.

Given all the art out there, they have certainly had a lot of adventures, and some that look outright crazy. But these two seem like fun characters to have "madcap adventures."  I mean, is Morgan Ironwolf going to pretend to be half-naked bait for a demon? No, I don't see it.  I'd love to use these two in my Forgotten Realms adventures but honestly they are so Mystara/Oerth feeling for me I can't see moving them over any easier than I could move the B-modules over.

I have at least figured out how they met. This came up in an adventure before. They were both, independently trying to steal this ruby, from the local guild-mistress of thieves. They didn't know the other was also trying, nor did either know this was the guild mistress. They failed, and the guild mistress, Amara, impressed by their attempt or something else, took them in and made them work together. The two became good friends, and their careers began.  In my mind, Candella had been a tavern wench who had become tired of watching adventurers coming in with ill-gotten gains when she could have all that gold. Duchess' background is a bit darker. She was a servant girl working for a Baron and Baroness. The Baroness had accused her of stealing a necklace, but she had not. The Baron, who was broke, had sold it to cover some of his debts and suggested she could work off her guilt in his bed chamber. When she refused, he got violent, and she ran to escape him, and he fell down the stairs to his death. Knowing she would be blamed and likely executed, she ran. She thinks she is still wanted for the Baron's murder. She isn't; no one ever looked for her. In fact, the Baron's debt was so great that the local authorities had plenty of other suspects. The Baroness died soon after in the home of a relative.

I know, according to the art above, that Candella gains some Boots of Flying, and Duchess gets a huge magic sword. 

Since my oldest is running his group through all of the editions of D&D I'll also do versions of them for every edition. Say 2nd level for D&D Basic/Expert, 4th level for AD&D 1st, 8th level for AD&D 2nd Editon, 12th level for D&D 3.x, 16th level for D&D 4e Essentials (better Rogues), and 20th for D&D 5th Edition.  That should be fun, really.  Course I'll need some good prestige classes when I get to 3.x. I think I'll post them when I get around to stating them all up. 

While I will keep them at the same level, at any given time, Candella is about 600 XP ahead of Duchess. 

Candella and Duchess for BXCandella and Duchess for B/X. Art by Brian Brinlee and Domenico Neziti, 
Vitruvian Character Sheets Blog of Exalted Deeds

While reading up on them, I saw one person online refer to them as a couple of "party girls." I mean, sure, that fits. The vibe I have always had with them was they were both adventuresses out for a bit of fun and hopefully score some treasure. Ok, a lot of treasure. Though at least one academic dissertation places them in the role of temptresses. I suppose that would work too, though not how I would play them. 

Have you used these two in your games? How did it work for you? What happened with them?

Links

Monstrous Mondays: Dragon, Wood

The Other Side -

 On Saturday, February 10th we ushered in the Chinese Year of the Dragon.  Since this is 2024, it is the Year of the Wood Dragon.

Reflecting on my last This Old Dragon, I have always tried to balance how powerful dragons need to be in an old-school game.   I want to keep dragons powerful but not so powerful that they make 1st edition Tiamat and Bahamut look weak. 

It is a balancing act. I also want to consider how much more powerful they get as they age. 

Wood Dragon, by GrumpyBeereDragon, Wood
Huge Dragon

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Neutral [Chaotic Neutral]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
  Fly: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 7d8+28** (66 hp) (6HD to 8HD)
  Huge: 7d12+28** (74 hp)
THAC0: 8 (+11)
Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite, + special
Damage: 1d6+3x2, 2d8+3
Special: Breath weapons (Choking Cloud), camouflage, dragon fear, low-light vision (120’), magic use, shape change
Save: Monster 7
Morale: 10 (10)
Treasure Hoard Class: Special

Habitat: Temperate Forests
Probability Asleep: 25% 
Probability of Speech: 90%
Breath Weapon: Choking Cloud
Spells: First: 3, Second: 3, Third: 1

Wood dragons appear similar to green dragons in general form but lack wings. They can still fly due to their innate magic. Their coloration is usually some sort of brown that looks like polished wood, accented with bits of green and yellow. This gives them a natural camouflage ability (75% hide outdoors) in their preferred environment, temperate forests.

These dragons can attack with a claw-and-claw-and-bite routine in dragon form. In human form, they can wield a weapon. In either form, they can use magic as a magic-user of the 6th level. 

Their breath weapon is a cloud of choking smoke. It requires a save vs. breath weapon or take damage equal to the dragon's current hit points. Save results in half-damage. The area of effect is 50 ft by 50 ft in front of the dragon, which has reduced vision to all but the dragon. Attacks are at -2 for the next round following the breath weapon attack.

Wood dragons are lively, dynamic creatures. They can be quite friendly, but their moods switch easily and quickly. Many pursue some artistic or academic endeavor that takes all of their time and focus. It is in this pursuit they are most likely to engage with others.  Like all dragons, they hoard their treasures, which are always related to their interests. So, instead of gold and jewels, it will be art, paintings, or books. 

Wood Dragon encounters both Green and Orange dragons in their home environments and finds both sorts unpleasant and distasteful.

Figures of Fantasy

Reviews from R'lyeh -

Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters is an anthology of monsters and figures from myth, fantasy, and history, all presented for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Published by EN Publishing, it collects the ninety or so entries in the Mythological Figures column written by Mike Myler, which ran from March 2018 to April 2022. Within its pages, the reader will find gods from a variety of pantheons, creatures from numerous folklore traditions, characters from Shakespeare, heroes and villains from history, and figures from fiction and popular culture. Together, they and the format of the book draw on two older sources in roleplaying. One is the Deities & Demigods supplement to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, which presented a panoply of pantheons, including the gods and heroes of each. So, it is no surprise that James M. Ward, co-author of Deities & Demigods, provides the foreword to Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters. The other is Dragon magazine, which during its early years would publish adaptations of heroes and villains from myth, legend, and popular culture. Just Deities & Demigods and the articles in the pages of Dragon magazine, the entries in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters are a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar, from a range of cultures around the world.
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters divides its entries in to two types—at least mechanically. All of the heroes and villains are designed as if they were Player Characters in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, including characters with multiple Levels in different Classes. For example, the Pirate Queen, Ching Shih, is a Fifth Level Bard, Seventh Level Rogue, and an Eighth Level Fighter, whilst Hercules is an Eighth Level Barbarian and an Eleventh level Fighter. Where possible, the builds for entries favour Feats that grants the characters greater abilities than a flat increase to an ability score would. For example, Robin Hood has the Superb Aim Feat rather than an increase to his Dexterity which would take it above eighteen. Many of the entries use the Warlord archetype, such as George Washington or the Pirate Queen, Ching Shih. This provides a range of Warlord Tactics and Tactical Manoeuvres with which to build the character. The detail of these and the Warlord archetype are given at the front of the book. The book also makes use of Classes from The Masterclass Codex: Sixteen New Character Classes For Your Fifth Edition Campaign. They include the Gunfighter for Billy the Kid, Fatebender for Harry Houdini, Tinkerer for Nikola Tesla, Savant for Sherlock Holmes, and Geomancer for Zhuang Zhou, but the Dungeon Master does not need access to The Masterclass Codex: Sixteen New Character Classes For Your Fifth Edition Campaign to use these characters in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters.

The other type of entry in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters are its monsters. They are designed as monsters and thus not designed to be playable, and all have their own fantastical abilities. For example, Baba Yaga has Agonising Cackle which racks that hear it with pain, Dracula has Misty Escape enabling him to transform and escape as a cloud of mist, and Dorian Gray has Regeneration, which grants him a massive bonus of thirty Hit Points at the start of his turn! In Dorian Gray’s case, the latter ability is granted by his Life-Catching Portrait that he famously keeps hidden in his attic. Many of the entries have artefacts and magical weapons and devices, and these too, are included in the write-ups, such as Excalibur for Arthur Pendragon, Baba Yaga’s Broom and Baba Yaga’s Chicken Hut for Baba Yaga, the Somnambulatory Brew and Transforming Wand for Circe, the Wings of Icarus for Daedalus, and so on. Some characters detailed in the book are known for being accompanied by their companions, so these too, are also included. Thus, Sancho Panza is included in the entry for Don Quixote and Doctor John Watson alongside Sherlock Holmes.

Most entries in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters are given two pages, but some like Genghis Khan or Thor Odinson warrant four pages. Each includes a decent and description alongside the full stats and mechanical details. There are design notes included as necessary and a Background option.

So what of the individual entries in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters? Well, the most modern historical figure is Harry Houdini, famous escapologist. The most modern monster—and most modern entry in the supplement—is the Mothman, the infamous furry flying cryptid found in West Virginia. Most the entries are of much older figures. Many are drawn from particular pantheons and mythologies. For example, Achilles, Antaeus, Cerberus, Circe, Daedalus, Hercules, Odysseus, and Perseus are all drawn from Greek Myth, whilst Fafnir and Fenrir, Loki, and Thor Odinson come from Greek Myth. Other come from specific stories, such as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza from Miguel de Cervantes’ novel of the same name or Caliban and Prospero from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Others have their own stories which they are drawn from, but together form another story. For example, Allan Quatermain, Dorian Gray, Dracula, The Invisible Man, Jekyll & Hyde, and Nemo all come from works by different authors, but together they lend themselves to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. There is also a lot that will be unfamiliar to readers. They include the aforementioned Pirate Queen, Ching Shih; Droṇa, the Indian warrior and guru who wielded Asi, the sword of Lord Vishnu; Hayreddin Barbarossa, the greatest naval commander of the Ottoman Empire; seventeenth century opera singer and duellist, Julie D’Aubigny; the hero Māui from the Pacific Islands; and Musō Gonnosuke, rival to Miyamoto Musashi, also detailed in the book. Such entries cast light on the unfamiliar and the unknown, entreating the reader to want to find out more.

There are some extras included too, such as the Nautilus for Nemo, the table of Master Alchemist’s Treasures for Jekyll & Hyde and the table of Viking Treasure Hoard for Harald Hardrada, the last Viking! There are also some odd shifts in tone between entries. Thus, the book switches from describing the Easter Bunny to detailing Elizabeth Báthory and from Santa Claus to Sherlock Holmes. This is due to the entries being originally published as columns, so the shift in tone would not have so readily apparent.

So how to use the content of Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters? The monsters are there, of course, the Player Characters to fight and confront, and in turn, for them to plot against the Player Characters. The characters are a mix of archetypes and classic roles, which the players can aspire to for their own characters. The characters can also be threats on their own, for example, the book suggesting an encounter with a time-travelling Billy the Kid, but as archetypes, they can be used as replacement Player Characters or NPCs. All the Dungeon Master need do is change the name. For example, need a peasant thief? Then Aladdin is a good choice. Or a folk hero who is good with a bow? Robin Hood is good for that.

Physically, Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters is solidly presented and organised. The artwork varies in quality, most of it decent, but not necessarily great. Some entries feel brief, but in most cases, they serve as an introduction to the figure or monster detailed. Rounding out the book is a good index of its entries including their origins, and of their treasures too.

So what is missing from the pages of Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters? What might have been useful is a bibliography, but research is not difficult, so not as much a problem as it could have been. In terms of entries, there are a lot from Greek myth, especially in comparison to Norse myth, so more of the latter would have been welcome. If there is one figure missing from book, it is that of Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor James Moriarty.

Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters is a solid sourcebook of the familiar and the unfamiliar, of heroes and villains, of monsters and magical beings. It picks up and continues a grand tradition of presenting figures out of history, myth, and popular culture in way that they can be brought to the table to be fought, interacted with, learned from, emulated, and more, whilst also leaving the reader wanting to find out more about them.

Quick-Start Saturday: Chivalry & Sorcery

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

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

—oOo—

What is it?
The Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules are designed to introduce the rules and setting for the fifth edition of the medieval-set roleplaying originally published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition is now published by Britannia Game Designs Ltd. and draws deeply upon Medieval history, but offers options in terms of elements of fantasy and magic and miracles that the Game Master can choose from to create her setting and game style.

It is designed to be played by between four and six players, but includes seven pre-generated Player Characters. Plus, of course, the Game Master.

It is a fifty page, full colour book.

The quick-start is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is excellent. The rules are a slightly stripped down version from the core rulebook, but do include examples of the rules which speed the learning of the game. The maps are nicely done.

How long will it take to play?
The Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules and its adventure, ‘Where Heroes Fear to Tread’, can be played through in one or two sessions.

What else do you need to play?
The Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules requires a pair of percentile dice and a single ten-sided die per player. The extra ten-sided die should be different in colour to the percentile dice.

Who do you play?
The seven Player Characters in the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules consist of Master William Malister, a Forester; the Knight, Sir Edmund Silverheart; Magus Barnabus Hook, Mage; Rosamund Godspell, a Priest; the Warriors, Ursilda Dortmund and Heartha Brunswick; and the Herald, Lord Otto Gavilon. All seven Player Characters are Third Level and have their own character sheet. In addition, Magus Barnabus Hook has his own grimoire and Rosamund Godspell her own prayerbook.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character has nine stats—Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intellect, Wisdom, Discipline, Bardic Voice, Appearance, and Spirit. Agility, Ferocity, and Charisma are derived attributes. Each Player Character has a similar set of base skills, skills relevant to his Vocation, and Combat skills. Attributes can range between two and twenty-five, whilst skills are represented as percentage values. A Player Character has a number of Action Points which are primarily expended on actions taken and attacks made in combat, whilst Fatigue Points are lost in combat prior to Body Points. Fatigue Points are also used to power spells.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules, and thus Chivalry and Sorcery, Fifth Edition, uses the ‘Skillskape’ system. This uses percentile dice as well as an extra ten-sided die. This extra die is the Crit Die. Both the percentile dice and the Crit Die are rolled at the same time. The Total Success Chance (TSC%) of a skill or action is a combination of the Basic Chance of Success (BCS%), the Player Character’s Personal Skill Factor (PSF%) in the skill, and any modifiers. It is possible to have a Total Success Chance above Maximum Chance of Success (Max%) or a Total Success Chance below the Minimum Chance of Success (Min%). The higher it is above the Maximum Chance of Success, the greater the bonus to the Crit Die, whereas the lower it is below the Minimum Chance of Success, the greater the penalty to the Crit Die.

The roll on the percentile dice determines whether the skill or attribute roll is a success or a failure. The Crit Die determines the magnitude of the success or failure. A roll of ten on the Crit Die is always a Critical result, whether a success or failure. Skills in Chivalry and Sorcery, Fifth Edition have their own specific Critical Outcomes table, but the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules uses the one table, ‘Critical Outcomes - General’.

How does combat work?
Combat in the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules uses an Action Point economy to handle movement, attacks, defensive stances, spellcasting, and other actions. Damage suffered is deducted from a combatant’s Fatigue Points, but if a Critical success is rolled on the Crit Die, an extra die’s worth of damage is rolled and that is deducted from the defendant’s Body Points. Armour and shields reduce damage, but both can be rendered useless and shields even shattered if too much damage is suffered.

How does Magic work?
In the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules, spells are fully learnt and are cast automatically. Once cast, a spell must be aimed at the target recipient, opponent, or area that the caster wants the spell to affect. A Resistance Roll by the target, if allowed, can ameliorate or even negate the effects of a spell. A spell has a cost in Fatigue Points for it to be cast. If the targeting of a spell is unsuccessful, it is dispelled without having any effect. A Critical Failure doubles the Fatigue Point cost, a Critical Success halves it.

The pre-generated Player Character, Magus Barnabus Hook, is a Hex Mage and knows a number of cantrips, sorcery spells, and hexes. Sleep and Hold Person are both cantrips; Fear and Shadowbolt are sorcery spells; and Blurred Image and Lesser Illusion are hexes. Each spell is described in detail in a sperate grimoire for Magus Barnabus Hook.

How do Miracles work?
A miracle is performed via an Act of Faith, such as a , in a fashion similar to casting spells. Some prayers or rituals automatically work, but others require a die roll. This is made against the priest’s faith or that of the person being targeted. An Act of Faith costs the priest both Fatigue Points and Spirit. A successful Act of Faith costs no Spirit, but a Critical Failure means it does and the Priest’s Faith is shaken. A Critical Success means that the Priest actually gains Spirit!

The pre-generated Player Character, Rosamund Godspell, is a Priest. She has access to prayers such as Blessing, Prayer for Luck, and Sanctification. The prayer, Restore the Faithful, can be performed to grant a believer restored Fatigue Points, whilst Cure the Wounded, does the same for Body Points. A believer can be a recipient of either spell only once per day. Each prayer is described in detail in a sperate prayer book for Rosamund Godspell.

What do you play?
In the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules, the scenario is ‘Where Heroes Fear to Tread’. This is set in Marakush, the default world for Chivalry & Sorcery. It takes place in the Kingdom of Urtind where a few days ago, a group of pilgrims was attacked and captured by a Goblin and Tylwyth Du (Dark Elf) warband and taken back to their Lord, Grink of the Rock, in the Darken Forest. The Player Characters are hired by the religious fighting order, the Order of the Blue Rose, to deliver a ransom for the pilgrims to Grink of the Rock, a dragon! The Player Characters need to cross some rough farming country and through an area known as the ‘Killing Ground’ having been the site of numerous border conflicts to get to the forest. Here they will have to deal with the dragon lord and goblins. The scenario is action-packed and can be played through in a single session or expanded with the included random encounters to last a second session.

Is there anything missing?
The Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules are complete and it even comes multiple examples of play to help the Game Master understand the rules.

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules are not too difficult to prepare. The primary issue with the rules is the number of abbreviations that the Game Master and her players need to learn, which makes the rules look more complex than they are.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The Chivalry and Sorcery rules have a reputation for being complex. Not so in the Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules, which presents a streamlined version of them and supports them with plenty of examples of play and a decent scenario that can be played in a single session.Where can you get it?
The Chivalry and Sorcery, 5th Edition Quick Start Rules is available to download here.

Friday Fantasy: Wet Grandpa

Reviews from R'lyeh -

Far up the River Whey there lives a monster. Well, not exactly a monster to be. It is not even as if he wants to be a monster. He is just old and lonely without his late wife and he has not long come back from being drowned. He has his grandchildren. After all, not for nothing were he and his wife known as Grandpa and Grandma Tolling. But they are young and he is old, and the young and the old do not understand each other. Especially when one of them has come back from the dead. So now Grandpa Tolling, not long since drowned, in the idle moments of his busy like—mostly as it was before—dreams of having companions like himself. Drowned. Connected to the waters of the river—somehow. And as the dead old man sleeps, the river rises and lowers, thrashes and surges, and the natural inhabitants of the river, the Naiads, are frightened. The river is their realm and they do not want to lose to some strange dead thing. The few remaining inhabitants of the nearest settlement, the town of Fatfish, have other worries. The river nearby was once full of fish just waiting to be hauled from the waters and fill the fishermen’s nets. Now the stocks of fish have long since gone and the fishing boats and their crews with them, leaving the once rich river port to fall into destitution, its inhabitants into despair and desperation. The few remaining inhabitants are divided between those who want to leave, those who want to stay, and those who simply no longer care. What might give them cause to leave are the dangers of the rising and falling waters of the fish-depleted river, were they to understand what those dangers mean. Were they to understand the now unnatural nature of the ‘Wet Grandpa’ on the Cursed Island, just across from the village, they might be more concerned…
Wet Grandpa is a scenario from Melsonian Arts Council, a publisher best known for Troika!, the science-fantasy role-playing game of exploring the multiverse. The scenario is ostensibly written for use with the Old School Renaissance, but in terms of stats it is relatively light. This means that Wet Grandpa can be run using all manner of Old School Renaissance retroclones, much in the manner of The Haunted Hamlet & other hexes, but with relatively little adjustment the scenario would work with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or even RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha or Old Gods of Appalachia. Wet Grandpa sets up a fantastic situation, one full of roleplaying potential, but the uneven presentation and tone works all too often to undermine what is an evocatively sodden and bedraggled situation built around the interaction and relationships between various NPCs. Fundamentally, the problem is twofold. First, the players’ introduction consists of a man selling a roughly printed treasure map to their Player Characters. The seller explains that the treasure site is near Fatfish, a community about two weeks’ travel up the River Whey. This is not only an underwhelming hook for the players, let alone their characters, it ignores the richness of the situation in and around Fatfish and the interactions between the NPCs, any part of which could have been used to hook the Player Characters. Instead, the given hook is bland, even boring.

Second, the Referee’s Introduction does not start with an introduction to the scenario, but with an explanation of the situation of Grandpa Tolling. At that point, the Game Master is wondering how the two are connected. In fact, there are three strands to the scenario—Grandpa Tolling, the town of Fatfish, and the Naiads—but it is not until the reader gets to the last strand that he can begin to work out what is going on. So, from the start, the Game Master is unclear as to what she is reading and how it all links together, which hampers both her understanding and her preparation time. To be fair, once the Game Master has read much further into the book, she will be able to grasp what is going on and make the connections ready for her and her players, but this does not negate what is a fundamental error upon the part of the author.

Fortunately, once Wet Grandpa gets into its individual sections, it begins to come alive—or not in the case of the undead Grandpa Tolling. The descriptions of his current life and that of the few remaining inhabitants of Fatfish are evocatively forlorn and forgotten. An elderly couple, the Caplins, sit in their cabin, waiting for their sons to return, but they never will; with the loss of fish stocks, former fishing boat owner, Karlin Wilamyer, has forbidden his family from leaving though they want to, whilst his brother who did get away, wants to rescue his niece and nephew; the families of Dana Strix and Haren Greene have all died or left, either that or the two lovers simply murdered them; and Jorf Quine is waiting for his aunt to die so he can leave, and he might hurry it along—just a little. The families, what there is of them, are mouldering into the ground. Here there are some taunt little tensions between the various NPCs which only need the presence of the Player Characters to be brought out into play. The Game Master will need to develop her description of Fatfish itself, mostly drawing upon the detailed timeline included, such as suggesting the number of houses, the insect swarm ridden gardens, and so on.

As much opposed to Grandpa Tolling as scared of what he might become, the four Naiads—one per season—are also similarly detailed. Each of the four Naiads has a distinct form and character, Winter being an emaciated cougar, Summer a giant glass-eyed crow, and so on. They are minor gods at this point, but depending upon the actions of the Player Characters may grow in stature and power to become gods. Although capricious, they can be interacted with as what they really want is Grandpa Tolling dealt with. As a reward, the Naiads will grant access to their shared treasury, or simply abandon it, leaving for the Player Characters to discover and plunder, if they ascend to godhead. The treasury is a short, little dungeon whose primary threat is a nasty trap.

Rounding out Wet Grandpa is a guide to what happens if nobody stops Grandpa Tolling, followed by stats and more descriptions of the inhabitants of Fatfish and an encounter table for the area around the village. This includes the River Whey and the Cursed Island upon which Grandpa Tolling and his family of orphans live. It could also be used for the long two-week journey up the River Whey to Fatfish.

Physically, Wet Grandpa is presented as a board book, with a non-glossy, plain matte cover and no spine so that the glue binding is visible. The feeling in the hand is rough and tactile like that of the much later Frontier Scum. The scenario is readable and well written—in places. Elsewhere, the content is poorly organised. The artwork is bright and colourful, if rough.

Wet Grandpa has all of the elements to present a tensely playable situation between a dying village, a rising, but unwanted unnatural power, and fearful natural powers. Yet time and again, its poor organisation and its poor presentation of information hamper its ease of use and preparation. Potentially, there is a good scenario to be played in Wet Grandpa, if the Game Master is prepared to put the effort in pulling it out and putting the various parts together in a more playable fashion.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Wizards, Witches, Wonderland, and Whatever this is!

The Other Side -

 Some fun Kickstarters this week and quite the random selection. So let's get to it.

Wizard Van: The Roleplaying Zine Where Rock Never Dies

 The Roleplaying Zine Where Rock Never Dies

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barrelridergames/wizard-van?ref=theotherside

James M. Spahn is one of the good guys. He has scores of titles and has worked some of the best games of the last 10 years. This 22-page zine is rather a modest release; it takes a short time to fund and has no stretch goals, but it looks absolutely fun.  Plus it is only $10 for both the print and pdf.

Looks fantastic.

Bellatryx #1

Bellatryx #1
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geezercomics/bellatryx-1?ref=theotherside

This new indie comic is about a 300-year-old witch back to get revenge on the apprentice who betrayed her. This also looks fun and the witch makes me think of the daughter of Willow Rosenberg and Hermione Granger.  Not a bad mix really.

$5 for the PDF is also a good deal.

Morgana Le Fay #1

Morgana Le Fay #1

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/etherealcomics/morgana-le-fay-1?ref=theotherside

There are only a few hours left on this one, and it also looks like fun. Plus it is about Morgana Le Fay, so that is always a plus in my mind. 

Nightmare in Wonderland #1 - NSFW Queer Fairytale Romance

Nightmare in Wonderland #1 - NSFW Queer Fairytale Romance

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/comicuno/nightmareinwonderland1?ref=theotherside

Kat Calamia and Phil Falco are the creators who gave us "Beast and Snow," a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and Snow White as a werewolf and vampire. This is her next one and is part of the same universe. In fact this comic is the first of a shared universe, the EverAfterVerse.

If this one is half as fun as "Beast and Snow" then it will be great. 

Plus, like the Kickstarter for "Beast and Snow," you get an indie comics bundle that is absolutely huge. Tons of fun comics from various creators. 

And now for something completely different.

Sentai & Sensibility RPG

Sentai & Sensibility RPG

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/9thlevel/sentai-and-sensibility?ref=theotherside

This is best described as "Power Rangers in Regency England."  Well, I am a sucker for any Regency or Victorian RPG, and this one looks like a lot of fun.

Replace the crazy Power Ranger tech with Steampunk and the proper society of the Regency era you come close to this game. 

It looks silly and it looks like a ton of fun.

--

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Filler: Fast & Furious: Highway Heist

Reviews from R'lyeh -

Race down the highway in pursuit of a tank whose driver, dangerous mercenary, Own Shaw, has stolen a top-secret computer chip, ramming and forcing the SUVs protecting Shaw into and under the tank to stop it. Chase a semi-truck and manoeuvre close to it so that you can climb out of the driving seat of your vehicle onto it roof and leap onto the semi-truck, through open its back door, and throw its cargo to the other waiting drivers, all the while the semi-truck driver blasts away at you with his shotgun! Protect a hacker as you are chased by a helicopter which can track her laptop and launch missiles at her to stop her getting away. Leap from vehicle to vehicle, brawl atop different vehicles with the enemy, take control of an enemy vehicle and wreck it before leaping back to their own to climb back behind its wheel, and perform amazing stunts in order to beat the bad guys… These are the tasks faced by Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner, Letty Ortiz, Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, and Han Seoul-Oh at the wheel of either an American Muscle, Import Racer, Street Drifter, or Exotic Supercar vehicles. This is also the set-up for Fast & Furious: Highway Heist, a board game which brings the high-octane action of the Fast & Furious franchise of films to the table. It is a co-operative, dice and stunt game designed to be played by one to four players, aged twelve and up, published by Funko Games. It has also been designed by the Prospero Hall team, which has a track record of taking intellectual properties—some of them decades old such as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws: A Boardgame of Strategy and Suspense—and turning them into playable games. In taking advantage of decades’ worth of game design and mechanical improvement, these games typically far outshine those games published at the time when the intellectual properties they are based on were first released, both in terms of mechanics and play style. In other words, a Prospero Hall design is respectful of the source material and bases both play style and mechanics directly upon it.

Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is a superbly supported with lots of bits and pieces in its box, the most eye-catching of which, are of course, the vehicles. These consist, not just of those driven by the heroes—American Muscle, Import Racer, Street Drifter, and Exotic Supercar—but also a tank, a semi-truck, and a helicopter. All are nicely detailed and look great on the table. There are six Character Boards, one each for Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner, Letty Ortiz, Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, and Han Seoul-Oh, and four Vehicle Boards for the vehicles they will drive. The game has three scenarios—‘Tank Assault’, ‘Semi Heist’, and ‘Chopper Takedown’—each of which is supported by its own instruction sheet, Scenario Board, a set of Stunt cards for the players, and a set of Enemy Cards for the opposition’s Actions. Plus, there are Reference Cards, tokens for cargo and certain characters and Boosts to Actions, dice for both the players and the enemy, and pegs for the characters and the enemy which slot into holes atop each vehicle to indicate if a driver is on top of, rather than driving, a vehicle. Which all together means that it both looks a lot and busy as well as complicated. Fortunately, whilst it is a lot, it is actually not as complicated as it looks and it turns out to be quite fun.

The Character Boards and Vehicle Boards slot together and are double-sided. A Character Board depicts the character, his special Action, the standard Actions he can take, and ratings in Speed, Control, Athletics, and Defence. Speed and Control are used when the character is behind the wheel of his vehicle, Athletics is used when he is atop his own or another vehicle, and Defence is used to avoid damage from other vehicles. A Vehicle Board has its own special ability, plus ratings in Speed, Control, and Defence, and a series of slots to indicate how much damage the vehicle can suffer. The combined rating in Speed, Control, or Defence from both Character Board and Vehicle Board indicates how many dice a player rolls, and whilst this will not change for the Character Board, it will change if the character is driving another vehicle and the Vehicle Board is changed. The Character Board is turned over at the end of a player’s turn to indicate that the character is exhausted and can only roll Defence against incoming damage and that the player needs to roll the Enemy die. The Vehicle Board is turned over and used whenever a character is driving an Enemy SUV rather than his own vehicle.

Each of the scenario instruction sheets explains the set-up, additional rules, and winning conditions, as well as giving some strategy tips for the players. Each set of Stunt Cards for each scenario details a manoeuvre that the players can attempt. For example, ‘Chain Reaction’ in ‘Tank Heist’ enables a player to drive into two SUVs which are in a straight line. This causes one SUV to crash into the other, turning it into a Wreck which can be tossed into any direction, potentially hitting the tank and causing damage. It requires a Speed roll. ‘Grappling Hook’ lets a player snare another player’s vehicle, enemy SUV, or wreck and pull it towards his vehicle. It requires a Control roll. ‘Stop Hitting Yourself’ requires a player to be atop an enemy SUV which he forces to swerve into the tank, inflicting damage, and ending with him atop the tank. This requires an Athletics roll.

There is a set of Enemy Cards for each scenario. Each Enemy Card has two sets of effects, one when it is drawn and another when it is in the ‘Activate!’ spot on the Scenario Board. For example, ‘Meat Grinder’ for the ‘Tank Heist’ scenario adds two new Enemy SUVs behind the Tank when revealed, but when activated on the ‘Activate!’ spot on a Scenario Board, each Player Vehicle adjacent to both the Tank and an Enemy SUV is squeezed and suffers damage. The Stunt cards are large, whereas the Enemy Cards are standard size.

The Scenario Board for each scenario is double-sided. One guides the players through the set-up of the scenario, which when done, is turned over to provide the rules for the scenario. Each Scenario Board spots for the Enemy Cards, one of which is the ‘Activate!’ spot, and also a track for the amount of damage the Tank—or other vehicle—can suffer during play. The tracks are actually cut into the Scenario Boards, much like the damage track is cut into the Vehicle Boards. The Character Boards do not have a damage track as the players cannot be killed.

Play of Fast & Furious: Highway Heist—for all three scenarios—takes place on the Road Board. This shows a simple road, marked with a twelve by six grid. Player Vehicles and Enemy SUVs are constantly moving along and manoeuvring back and forth on the road represented by the Road Board, but they do not leave it. In other words, they constantly keep pace with each other. Only when a vehicle is wrecked and becomes undrivable does it get left behind as all of the other vehicles continue moving.

Core play in Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is simple. On his turn, a player can undertake two Actions. There are eight standard Actions. In the ‘Drive’ Action, the player moves his vehicle a number of spaces equal to the combination of his character’s Speed and his vehicle’s Speed. The ‘Leap’ Action lets a player’s character jump from atop his current vehicle onto another player’s vehicle or an Enemy SUV. The target vehicle must be within a number of spaces equal to the character’s Athletics skill. Pegs are used to indicate if a character or an enemy is atop a vehicle. A ‘Ram’ Action is used to destroy an Enemy SUV and turn it into a Wreck; ‘Force’ Action lets a player force another Player Vehicle or Enemy SUV two spaces in any direction; ‘Shake’ forces an Enemy Peg off the top of a Player Vehicle whilst at its wheel; ‘Brawl’ can happen when a player and an Enemy Peg are atop the same vehicle and if successful, the player knocks the Enemy Peg off the vehicle, and the ‘Hijack’ Action lets a player already atop an Enemy SUV take control of the vehicle. The last Action a player can take is Take Boost Token, and this must be done as the second of his two Actions on his turn.

Alternatively, a player can take a ‘Stunt Action’. These are represented by the Stunt Cards and there are always three in play at any one time. Each has specific conditions which have to be fulfilled and are much more effective than the standard Actions. The Stunt Cards are constantly changing, moving off the end of the Road Board, and the players have three rounds in which to perform before it is replaced. A Stunt can also only be performed once or twice, as indicated by the number of Boost Tokens on its Stunt Card. After successfully performing it, a player receives the Boost Token on the Stunt Card and when there are no more Boost Tokens on the Stunt Card, it is exhausted and cannot be performed. However, it remains on the Road Board until it moves off the end, reducing the number of possible Stunt Actions available until replaced. Stunt Cards come in three levels for each scenario and get progressively more spectacular and effective.

The ‘Ram’, ‘Force’, ‘Shake’, ‘Brawl’, ‘Hijack’, and most of the ‘Stunt’ Actions all require a roll of the Effort Dice to succeed, using the Skills from both the player’s character and his vehicle, as necessary. A player can use Boost Tokens to either improve his roll on the Effort Dice or to assist another player and increase the number of Effort dice he has to roll.

Once a player has taken his two Actions, he rolls the Enemy Die. The results on this die can activate all of the Enemy SUVs, which either move closer to or slam into the player vehicles; activate the Enemy Pegs which either damage or hijack the player vehicles; and move the Main Enemy—which is different depending on the scenario—and then move the Enemy Cards on the Scenario Board and resolve the one in the ‘Activate!’ spot.

Once a player has taken his turn, he flips his Character Card over to its Exhausted side. When every player’s Character Card is exhausted, the round is over. On the Road Board, all of the Wrecks move back, possibly off the Road Board, as the Player Vehicles and the Enemy Vehicles speed forward. If a vehicle, including a Player Vehicle, is behind a Wreck, it will crash and also become a Wreck! Both the Enemy Cards and the Stunt Cards are moved along their respective boards and new ones added. This ends the round.

Play continues like this until the game is either won or lost. Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is won by achieving the objective in a scenario or performing the Level 3 Stunt Action that will win the game. However, it is lost if the players do not achieve the winning conditions in a scenario or the Level 3 Stunt Action for the scenario moves off the Road Board, meaning there are no Stunt Actions for the players to attempt.

The three scenarios in Fast & Furious: Highway Heist all vary in terms of their objectives and complexity. ‘Tank Assault’ is the simplest and should be played first. The players have to destroy the tank before it can get away. This is done by manoeuvring Enemy SUVs and Wrecks into it and inflicting damage. In ‘Semi Heist’, the players must get atop the trailer of a semi-truck and open its cargo door—this actually opens on the model of the semi-truck!—to throw stolen cargo to waiting Player Vehicles below. The Player Vehicles need to be in the right position to receive the cargo and whilst this is happening the driver of the semi-truck is taking shotgun blasts at the character atop his trailer. ‘Semi Heist’ adds ‘Reactive Stunts’, which can be performed even when it is not a player’s turn. ‘Chopper Takedown’ is the most complex. The players are trying to get a hacker to safety, but there is a helicopter which can pick up her computer on radar. The stronger the radar signal, the more damage the helicopter’s missiles will do. The players win by destroying both the main villain’s vehicle and the helicopter. The latter is done by a player launching his vehicle into the air via a wreck and performing a mid-air ram attack! It is possible to transfer the hacker from one vehicle to another if the one she is in is damaged. Where in the earlier scenarios, the players have to track the damage suffered by the Tank and the shotgun shells fired, here they have to track the Radar signal strength, the damage done to the villain’s vehicle, and the damage done to the helicopter.

Physically, Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is very well presented and designed. The rules are well explained, the vehicles nicely detailed, and whilst the art does not use photographs from the films, it is still very good, capturing their high-speed action.

For a family or younger audience, Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is probably a bit too complex, both in terms of the number of options a player has and co-operative play. That though, can be alleviated with the help of a more experienced player and the online guides to play video. Also, being scenario-based means that once the three scenarios in Fast & Furious: Highway Heist have been played through two or three times and won, the longevity and replayability of the game is greatly diminished.

Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is another fine adaptation of an intellectual property by Prospero Hall. In fact, the designers have taken an intellectual property that would seem not to lend itself to adaptation as a board game and actually turned it into one that is exciting and fun. It has physicality to its play as the vehicles manoeuvre back and forth across the road, speed up and slow down, brake to avoid wrecks, and the drivers jump from atop one vehicle to another to brawl each with other and hijack vehicles, which you can all visualise as you play. Yet that is only the standard play. Add in the Stunt Cards and the action of the play goes up, getting more and more spectacular. In doing so, it captures the action of the Fast & Furious films and there can be no doubt that fans of the franchise will enjoy game. For more general board game players, the attraction is of another good adaptation by Prospero Hall of mechanics to fit the game’s theme. Ultimately, whilst it may not offer long term play,Fast & Furious: Highway Heist captures the speed and action of the films, bringing their physicality to the table in a solid design.

This Old Dragon: Issue #134

The Other Side -

Dragon Magazine #134 This weekend, Saturday, February 10, is the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. Very nice how it lines up with the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. So I cheated a little and went digging for a Dragon Magazine that featured Dragons. Not too difficult really. So lets head to the Summer of 1988. I just finished my Freshman year of college. I spent my summer working and calling this girl I had met in the fall, piling up a HUGE bill on my Sprint card. No worries, in just seven more years I'd marry her. George Michael dominates the airwaves. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" hit the screens, and on the shelves and game tables everywhere was Issue #134 of This Old Dragon!

Our cover, "Sword of Dawn," is from Charles Vess. I have seen a lot of his work since this issue and I have always liked it. 

Letters let us know that this is the 12th Anniversary issue of Dragon Magazine, so it's a nice milestone to be sure. 

Forum gives us some ideas on modifying the Magic-user to make it less prone to dying early on. Others debate the merits of the Experience system.

We get to our main feature right away. Dragons!

The Dragon's Bestiary gives us seven new dragons from various authors including Dragon VIP and the father of the Realms, Ed Greenwood. They are all interesting to be honest, and I'd like to see new versions of them. Had there been a Monster Manual III, they would have been it. 

Ed Friedlander is up with Give Dragons A Fighting Chance, which aims to make dragons much scarier. Something that started with Dragonlance and continues to today. He discusses physical attacks, making better use of dragon spellcasters, and better tactics. He uses the example of Razisiz the Blue Dragon from the DMG p. 81. Both in his "regular" stats and his beefed-up version here. A few recommendations for previous articles that cover similar ground are also mentioned.

An advertisement for an AD&D computer game, Pool of Radiance, is next. Get it for the IBM-PC and Commodore 64/128.

Friend of the Other Side, Vince Garcia, is next with Serpents and Sorcery. This article is all about getting more out of the spell-casting powers dragons have and making good use of their spells in their local environs. Really good article that you can still use today. 

Lords & Legend was a sometimes feature with various personalities. This time it is Dragotha the Undead Dragon from module S2 White Plume Mountain. He would make an appearance again in the 3e days, but his 1st Edition AD&D stats and background are given to us here by William Simpson. 

Greg Sharp gives us a good one, The Ecology of the Red Dragon. I am surprised that there were not more Ecology Of articles about Dragons. They are some of the biggest creatures in the game, and yet they don't feature very often. 

This issue is already falling apart, so I can go ahead and do this without worry.

Ecology of the Red Dragon

Skip Williams is dispensing wisdom again in Sage Advice. This time, covering a lot of character questions. 

Bazaar of the Bizarre is usually a favorite feature of mine. But this one not so much. It has a bunch of "less than serious" items, and honestly, it feels like an April feature that they could not fit in. I would have rather seen more dragon-related treasures. 

Another friend of the Other Side, Bruce Heard, is up with some errata, clarifications, and more for the Orc Wars game they had back in issue #132.

Jame Brunet has our short fiction piece, "Eyes of Redemption."

TSR Previews covers Summer 1988. Lots of Marvel Super Heroes, some Dragonlance, and Top Secret.  The Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game is up for June. I didn't understand the fascination with Bullwinkle and Rocky then, and I still don't. Keep in mind that when this game was released, there had not been any new B&R content made for 20 years. I mean, I am not completely immune to the effects it had on pop culture, but it seems like an odd choice. Yes, I would later learn why this game was made, but back then, it made no sense to me. 

Arcane Lore from D.F. Fjellhaugen gives us some cleric spells for healing.

The official Origins Awards ballot for 1987 is next. What were your choices?

Best of 1987

This year was an odd one where Gen Con and Origins were held together in 1988. 

Dennis McLaughlin has some sniper rifles for Top Secret in Sighting In. Likely this could all be converted to other games if needed.

Part of my The Game Wizards is cut out.  Looking at my Dragon CD-ROM, I can only guess the previous owner wanted the picture of the Godzillia-like monster.

Ah. How can you tell it is the 80s? The fascination with all things Japanese. Hell, I even read Shōgun that summer. The Role-Playing Reviews from Jim Bambra covers Bushido, the AD&D Oriental Adventures, and the RuneQuest Land of the Ninja.  "Oriental" is now considered to be an archaic term at best and pejorative at worst. I will not debate that here. In fact, what I am most interested in here now is how 1988 Dragon was talking about Gary Gygax. So how are they? Well, while the plainly visible cover says "Gary Gygax" right on it, his name is never mentioned in the review. Design is credited to David "Zeb" Cook, who, in all likelihood, did do the lion's share of the work on it. Again, not going to debate here and now, but maybe if I ever do review it myself.  The article largely focuses on how closely the various products are linked to real feudal Japan. Bambra mentions that by making Kara-Tur a fictional land using influences from Japan, China, and Korea you can side-step some of these issues.

Catching Some Rays by Daniel Salas deals with radiation damage in Gamma World. 

The Lessers (Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk) are back in The Role of Computers with Dream Zone, Strike-Fleet (Naval Simulator), and The Pawn (adventure) get the most coverage. 

David Edward Martin, another friend, is up with more powers for the Marvel Super Heroes game in The Ultimate Addenda's Addenda.

This means that outside of some reviews, every article here was about a TSR game. This is a trend that will continue and grow. 

Gamers' Guide covers some small ads. Always fun to look at these. A half-page section alone on Play By Mail games. One in particular is out of Ottawa, IL, a tiny little farm town a few miles south and west of Aurora. It was even smaller back then. My wife is from that area, I am sure I have driven by it.

Convention Calendar gives us the best conventions for the Summer and into the Fall of 1988. One was within easy driving distance to me back then, Capitol-Con IV at the Prairie Capital Convention Center on July 9. Wonder what I was doing then? Likely working at Pizza Hut.

Dragonmirth has the usual collection of comics. Among them was Yamara, whom I caught occasionally enough to find amusing but never often enough to know what was going on with it. There is Elmore's Snarf Quest, now up to episode #58, that's close to 5 years. 

I am sure this is not the first "All TSR, All the Time" issue, but I know that trend is coming. Eventually, all game magazines went this way. White Dwarf had made this switch as early as two years prior, so I guess I am not surprised. It makes sense from a financial point of view, I suppose I miss the days when a game magazine covered multiple games from a variety of publishers.  Today we have the internet for all that. 

So overall a fine issue with some gems; the dragon stuff is great, and I'd like to use it somewhere. 

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Review: Module N4 Treasure Hunt

The Other Side -

N4 Treasure HuntI knew my exploration of the Forgotten Realms would take me to new and unexpected places. I just didn't think it was going to be this soon.

In my exploration of the Forgotten Realms product Moonshae, I discovered an interesting bit of knowledge. In the back of that book it mentions that Adventure Module N4 Treasure Hunt can be used with the Moonshae Islands. I later discovered that the islands in N4 were moved over to the Forgotten Realms for this purpose.  So I had to switch courses and check out this module. I am really happy I did.

This module is not just an introduction module, but maybe THE introduction to the game module. Where you have an honest-to-Gary Session 0 and start with 0-Level characters in 1986. Given I am new to all things Realms, I might as well start at level 0!

N4 Treasure Hunt

by Aaron Allston, 48 pages (2 full color map pages, 36 pages of adventure, 10 pages of character profiles) black & white interiors. Art by Stephen Fabian. Cartographers: David F. "Diesel" LaForce, Stephen D. Sullivan, Bill Reuter, Stephanie Tabat. Cover art by Jeff Easley/

For this review, I am considering the PDF and Print on Demand version from DriveThruRPG/DMSGuild.

Treasure Hunt is a completely introductory adventure for players of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition game. I say "players" since I feel this adventure still requires a bit of rules savvy from the Dungeon Master, at least in terms of some of the lifts needed to work with the 0-level characters. However, reading this one nearly 40 years later, with honestly tens of thousands of hours spent on this game, there are nice gems here.

Speaking of which. I am not going to attempt to judge this adventure by the same yardstick as new Level-0 or the so-called "Funnel" adventures. That is not fair to the author nor the adventure itself. This has to judged on the merits of its time. But I will tell you this, I'd run this today, as is, with no changes to be honest.

There is a Player's Introduction and Dungeon Master's Introduction. 

This is the most interesting parts for me today since they cover the rules of rolling up and playing Level-0 characters.  For starters, you don't have a class yet. You are a Normal Human (or elf, or half-elf, or whatever), and you have 1d6 hit points and maybe a secondary skill. You don't even have an alignment. The plot revolves around your character, either one you make or use from the starting characters, being kidnapped by pirates, and then your pirate captors are shipwrecked and mostly all killed. Now, you are stuck in the Korinn Archipelago, later added to the north of the Moonshaes.

Korinn Archiipelago

From here the new PCs work out an escape plan and defeat their first enemy, the last pirate.

As the players play through the challenges presented on these islands they can build up what their character does and earn some XP. They are all 500 xp away from level 1. The adventure explains that even 1st level characters have some training. A fighter at level 1 is called a Veteran. A 1st level Cleric is an Acolyte. Even thieves and magic-users have some skills at first level that 0-levels do not.  Want to be a thief? Try picking that lock. Want to be a Cleric? What do you feel when you enter the Temple of the Goddess and how do you react? You won't know till the end (or near that) and you won't get there till you try.

0-level and skills

Frankly, it is great. A fantastic set of mini-mechanics to get the story going and flowing.  

The adventure itself is divided into six "episodes." And episode is a good word here since there is a bit of cinematic feel to this. It feels like Aaron Allston watched a lot of Raiders of the Lost Ark, or more to the point, Romancing the Stone. This is a good thing.

Each episode gives the new PCs something tangible to do. Defeat the pirate, stop the orcs and goblins, explore the Temple, explore the Sea King's Manor, and so on. While there is a great feel to all of this, add a bit of the Moonshaes to it, and thus some Celtic and Old Norse culture to it all, and it becomes a fun mix.

Even for the time, the adventure is a bit linear, but not in a terrible way. I mean, let's be honest, the plot is "I've been captured, now I am free, but how do I get out of here?"  At the end of each episode, there is a debrief for the DM on handling anything that went amiss, tracking the character's class and alignment progression, and so on. There are even contingencies if certain NPCs are not encountered or die before they are supposed to do something. So, linear but with enough branches to keep it fresh. 

Experience points are tracked all along the way, so there is a chance the characters will break the 500 XP threshold by the end of episode 5. 

There are appendices on "What if Things Go Wrong" or "What if the Character Dies?" and all are handled pretty well. There are some clever Player's Maps and the map of the islands. 

The character profiles in the back can be used as potential PCs or NPCs. A few are even worded to be male or female. Someone online would have screamed, "Woke!" at it, but it is presented here as just one of many options. I do feel more care was taken here to entice both male and female new players to the game.

This adventure is a good one for new players. The only thing missing here is some more guidance for new DMs. Something that B2 Keep on the Borderlands does rather well. Maybe the perfect starting trilogy is this adventure, then T1 the Village of Hommlet, and ending with B2 Keep on the Borderlands.

N4 Print on Demand

About the Print-on-Demand Scan

This is a print of a scanned image. So there is some fuzziness to some of the letters. It is obviously not as sharp as, say, a direct from digital print. It is still very readable.  Getting the PoD and PDF will give a book you can use and be able to print out the character cards and player maps as needed. 

Treasure Hunt in the Forgotten Realms

I already mentioned that the location of this adventure, the Korinn Archipelago, was dropped as right into the Moonshae Isles, which were already an addition by Douglas Niles to the Forgotten Realms, supplanting Ed Greenwood's own islands that were there. Already the Realms are evolving in front of our eyes and it is not even fully 1987 yet.

As an adventure, it is also a great start for Realms-centric characters. I had already planned to make my start in the Moonshaes, this just sets characters on the path of adventure in a different way. You didn't meet in a tavern or bar. You were captured and met your companions along the way. Something we will see again in Baldur's Gate 3 or even, to a degree, Skyrim. 

The Temple of the Goddess in Episode Three can easily become a Temple to the Earth Mother / Chauntea. Lots of different Goddesses are given as example, but I thought it might be fun if the Earth Mother appears as all of them. Playing into my fascination with "the Goddess is all goddesses" motif.

Sinéad for Treasure Hunt

Sinéad's Perspective

At the outset of these reviews, I said I wanted to explore the Realms through the eyes of a native, but one that was just as naïve as me. Sinéad is that character. She was chosen partially because she has a pseudo-Celtic background (so starting the Moonshaes was great). She was a Forgotten Realms native already, but mostly because she was just so much damn fun in Baldur's Gate 3. 

For Sinéad, I re-did her sheet as a 0-level character.  The DMG suggests using Method I for rolling up characters; 4d6 drop the lowest and arrange as desired. Well. I did that with Sinéad as a first level, so I opted to use a trick I used all the time in Unisystem's point build, I just knocked a few points off. 

Her "1st Level" abilities add up to 92, so I took 10 off and re-distributed the points among her six abilities. Then I added on back. My world. My rules. I also felt that since her main defining feature at this point is that she is a half-elf, I decided that was her class. So I used a Basic-D&D style sheet. The one I have above is from New Big Dragon Games Unlimited's GM screen.

Since my concept of her is a proto-Bard at this point, and she is young, I figure she really doesn't have any secondary skills yet. At best, she can play the lute or flute. If she was captured by pirates, she likely lost whatever she had. This would be a bigger loss to her than however much gold she had. 

At the end of the adventure, she becomes a magic-user with her one spell, Burning Hands. The same spell she accidentally burned down the barn she was in back at home, which was why she was running and how she got caught by pirates. 

After this adventure, how could she possibly go home? There is an entire world out there. 

Besides, she survived pirates. What can be worse than that?

Oh. And since I have had friends do this exact thing, after her adventure here, Sinéad uses the dagger she found to chop off her hair and dye some of it. Seems like a perfectly reasonable trauma reaction to me. 

Sinéad at the end of N4

She is just a kid at this point.

Final Thoughts

If I had been smarter, I would have used this first when re-creating Sinéad on paper, but as it is, this worked out fine. This is also a great new-to-me adventure for a new-to-me world. While I LOVE B2 Keep on the Borderlands, it is too closely tied to Greyhawk and the Known World for me to really adapt it over the Realms. Would it even fit in the Realms? I am sure many online users have found a home for it. Maybe one day I could as well, but for now, this is a great adventure to start with. In fact, I want to go through all the N, aka "Novice," adventures and see how they fit my needs here. But for now, I am pretty happy with this.

Miskatonic Monday #260: Stars Over Siberia

Reviews from R'lyeh -

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

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

—oOo—
Name: Stars Over SiberiaPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Rjurik Davidson

Setting: 1920s Soviet UnionProduct: One shot
What You Get: Sixty-two page, 10.91 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The horror of the Soviet Union lies within and withoutPlot Hook: Will a Scientific discovery be for the Soviet Union or Stalin?Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, eight handouts, one new spell, and one new Mythos creature.Production Values: Untidy
Pros# Engaging atmosphere of political uncertainty# Strong sense of history# Brilliant colours, but not a Colour Out of Space# Paranoia# Metathesiophobia# Paranoia
Cons# Needs an edit# Could have been better organised# Not a Colour Out of Space, but like a Colour Out of Space? # Does every Soviet-era scenario always have to involve things falling from the sky?
Conclusion# Untidy, but atmospheric allegory of Stalinist crystallisation # Reveals the horror of Stalinist Russia

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