The island of Avallen is one of legend and song. The oldest legend and first song tell of the Wild Hunt, how great heroes of the Vallic peoples stepped into the Otherworld or Annwn where ultimately, they sacrificed themselves to stop Avallen from being plagued by abominations known as Ffieidd-Dra. The victors of the Wild Hunt returned and were acclaimed by their peoples, becoming the ‘Divine Briendal’, or immortal god-kings and god-queens of the five clans that exist to this day. Rivalry between the clans and the ‘Divine Briendal’ led to civil war. The resulting bloodshed would undermine the divine power and influence of each of the god-kings and god-queens as followers either lost their lives or their faith. It was this that brought the wars to an end and made the Briendal to retreat into the Annwn and swear a pact never to intervene in the affairs of the Vallic again. Yet songs of their legend continue to be sung by bards to this day, along with the legends and tales of other heroes who were influenced by the Wild Hunt and then had their own songs. The island of Avallen is one that cries out for legend and song, for heroes and adventurers, for it is a land under threat and a land divided.

The abominations known as Ffieidd-Dra, such as the water-borne Afanc or the mighty porcine Ysgithyrwyn, each driven by a hatred of the Briendal, break through from the Otherworld and spread chaos and destruction. Fiends, like the seductive Baobhan Sith and the cursed Werefolk, also slip through from the Otherworld to spread their malign influence. The undead, ghosts, and vengeful Spirits, all known as the Unshapen, remain in the mortal realm, as yet unwilling to let go and enter the Otherworld. Otherworldly predators, the Wyrd, such the Adar Llwch, great dust eagles which grant great rewards to the winners of the games of riddles they favour and peck the losers to death, or Cat Sith, which feeds off the spirits of both the dead and the living, hunt both the Otherworld and the real world. The Fae can be equally as dangerous, though sometimes their curiosity can make them commit acts of kindness too. These are not the only threats to the Vallic, but there is one that divides them rather than is common to all of the clans. Roughly a generation ago, the Raxian Empire invaded. Aided by the strong ties and an alliance formed by decades of trade with the most southerly clan, Pen Cawr, the Raxian Empire set out to add the barbarous peoples of the island which lay off its western coast at the end of the world, but the defeat of its army by an alliance of the other clans prevented further expansion. Not all of the Pen Cawr clan have accepted the presence of the Raxians, but the assimilation has seen a continued Raxian military presence, Raxian construction techniques and writing being taken, and Raxian culture practices accepted, even as the Raxians adopt the worship of the gods of the Vallic—if only for protection.

This is the setting for Legends of Avallen: A Tabletop RPG Inspired by Celtic Mythology in Roman Britain, published by Adder Stone Games. Although inspired by the historical situation of the Roman invasion of Britain in the first century AD, this is not necessarily a roleplaying about the conflict between the invaders and the invaded, but rather a roleplaying game about keeping the land and its people safe, about protecting it from incursions from the Otherworld, and about men and women who grow beyond their ordinary lives to become heroes and forge legends that the bards will sing of in tales down the ages. Legends of Avallen maps this out, so that such men and women—the Player Characters—begin life with a simple Profession, such as Crafter, Priest, Scribe, Tamer (of animals), or Thief, and after a Quest or two, take up an adventuring Class, like Warrior or Mage, before going on to follow a Legendary Path like Druid, Gladiator, or Slayer. A player can select a Class at Level Two and a Legendary path at Level Five, and then follow that all the way to Level Fifteen. Now there are some obvious paths for a Player Character. For example, a Tamer would become a Reaver and then a Slayer; a Scribe a Mage and then a Magister; and a Bard a Mystic, and then a Fili. However, a Player Character is free to follow whatever path his player decides, so whilst Legends of Avallen provides the framework and structure, it leaves the choices to the player. It does one other thing though and that is make following Legendary Paths difficult. To earn each ability of a Legendary Path—and a Player Character can switch back and forth between several—a Player Character must complete a trial. The book suggests several for the various abilities across all of the Legendary Paths. What this means is that Player Character progression is mere accumulation of Experience Points, but a chance to be tested, and whether or not the Player Character succeeds, to turn that into a storytelling and roleplaying opportunity.

A Player Character in Legends of Avallen has four attributes—Agility, Spirit Vigour, and Wit. These range in value between -1 and +5. He also has a Profession, of which there are ten to choose from. These are Alchemist, Bard, Crafter, Merchant, Priest, Scavenger, Scribe, Socialite, Tamer, and Thief. His Personal Aspects include Motivation, Virtue, and Flaw, and he also has an Origin, Name, and Appearance. Origin will be from one Avallen’s five Clans or the Raxian Empire, and provides typical names and appearances. The process of character creation is simple. The player assigns +1 to one attribute and -1 to another, and then chooses all the rest. The book even suggests Motivations, Virtues, and Flaws that the player can choose from so that they remain unrelated.

Iulia is the eldest daughter of Caeso, a retired military commander with mercantile interests in Port Magnus. Her younger brothers currently serve in the army elsewhere in the Empire. She helps run her father’s business as he is getting older and is not as well as he once was. She fears that with this news, her brothers will be called back to take over, whereas she wants to take control herself and perhaps do some good with her wealth.

Name: Iulia
Origin: Raxian
Appearance: Raven haired
Profession: Socialite
Motivations: I will rise to the top (Influence)
Virtues: I help the needy (Benevolent)
Flaws: My image is everything (Vain)

Vigour -1 | 0 Agility
Spirit +1 | 0 Wit

Expertise: Politics, Etiquette, Courtship
Abilities: Introduce

Beyond that, there are four Classes to choose from at Level Two—Mage, Mystic, Reaver, and Warrior, and ten Legendary Paths to follow at Level Five. These include Druid, which can shapeshift; the luck-based Fae Touched; Fili, a bard who casts magic through music; Gladiator, a warrior who uses flourishes to enhance his combat ability; Magister, a mage who enhance his spells in numerous, often challenging ways; Maleficus, a mage who can bind Unshapen and other lost spirits; Primus, a commander who shapes the battlefield for his allies; Slayer use openings to strike at and take down dangerous creatures; Swyn-Pict, a warrior who paints himself in dyes to protect himself and even draw ethereal weapons from; and Teulu, a protective warrior who increases his Fury as he is hit, using it to enhance his defence and damage. In addition, every Player Character and potential legendary hero has a character arc reflected in mechanics that will see each gain both Resolve and Burdens—overcoming the latter to gain the former, suffer a Descent into self-doubt, undergo Transformation in the course of rising from the Descent, before ultimately, achieving Recognition as to whether the Player Character is a hero or an anti-hero.

Mechanically, Legends of Avallen uses a standard deck of playing cards as its resolution system, including the Jokers. Each of the four attributes is tied to one of the four standard suits. Thus, Hearts for Vigour, Diamonds for Agility, Spades for Spirit, and Clubs for Wit. They are paired three times. First into physical attributes by colour, Vigour (Hearts) and Agility (Diamonds), and mental by colour, Spirit (Spades) and Wit (Clubs). Second, into strength and endurance attributes—Vigour (Hearts) and Spirit (Spades), and into speed and subtlety attributes—Agility (Diamonds) and Wit (Clubs). Third, into diagonally opposing attributes, Vigour (Hearts) versus Wit (Clubs) and Spirit (Spades) versus Agility (Diamonds). When a player wants his character to undertake a task, he draws a card and checks both its rank and if it matches the colour or suit of the attribute being used. Ordinary numbered cards are worth one rank, whilst Court cards are worth two. If the colour of the card matches that of the attribute, it is worth an extra rank, or two extra ranks if it matches the suit. The Joker that matches the colour of the attribute, generates four ranks. These ranks are added to the attribute value.

Conversely, the card’s rank—one if a number card and two if a Court card, is subtracted from the attribute value if it does not match the attribute’s colour. This is doubled if the card is of the suit opposite to that of the attribute. A Joker which does not match the colour of the attribute subtracts four ranks from the attribute. The final result is compared with the Check Difficulty of the task to see if the Player Character is successful. The typical Check Difficulty is one, but can be lower or higher. The result can be a Critical Success, Success, Failure, or Critical Failure, depending on the card drawn. Both a Critical Success and a Failure will earn the Player Character an Edge, but his opponent an Edge on a Critical Failure.

Fortunately for a Player Character, the outcome of an action or task does not just rest on the turn of a single card. A Player Character can gain Advantage from a situation, from someone helping him, or from an ability. Each level of Advantage allows a player to draw an extra card and use the best one. Being at a Disadvantage forces a player to draw an extra card for each level of Disadvantage and use the worst one, although levels of Advantage and Disadvantage do cancel each other out. Edge is essentially a card that the player draws and keeps face down until the task or action that his character needs to succeed, in which case it is used to give his character Advantage. If a Player Character is on the verge of failure, he can also Exert himself or his equipment to upgrade a Failure to a Success, if being opposed, to downgrade an Opponent’s Success to a Failure. However, this means that the Player Character cannot exert himself again until he rests, if his equipment was used, that the item is now broken and cannot be used at all.

Mechanically, the system is simple enough, but its nuances are not easily taught and do take some adjusting to. Nor is it immediately obvious what the Check Difficulty should be for each test. However, once that adjustment is made, the advanced rules come together more easily. Combat has a stripped back feel, with attacks being made using Agility (Diamonds) against an opponent’s Agility—though some weapons favour other attributes, damage being determined by the weapon and the attacker’s Vigour (Hearts), defence by the opponent’s Armour Rating, derived from his armour and his Vigour. If hurt, a combatant does not lose ranks of Vigour, but is simply wounded. Of course, one reaction to this would be for the defender to Exert himself or his equipment to avoid such an outcome. Combat also covers grappling, ambushes, sneak attacks, and more, but also offers tips for the players, the most important of which are co-operation and strategise, rather than to simply rush in.

Similarly, magic in Legends of Avallen is designed to be challenging. Both Mystic and Mage spells have a Complexity rating, ranging from one to four, which acts as Disadvantage when the caster attempts to cast the spell. The caster can also increase the scope and range of a spell, but that also raises the Complexity. So apart from the simplest of spells—which can become more flexible as the Mage Mystic grows in power and is capable of overcoming the extra Complexity—it pays for the caster to prepare, whether that is having the right equipment, setting up a ritual, and so on.

Legends of Avallen pays particular attention to both journeys and socialising. The rules for overland travel are not that dissimilar to that of The One Ring, with the Player Characters taking particular roles—Gatherer, Guide, Lookout, and Scout—each keyed to one of the suits in the playing deck. Having someone in each role will negate most dangers unless a Danger or Opportunity arises, then it is primarily down to the Player Character in that role to overcome the Dangers or gain from the Opportunity. Suggested Dangers and Opportunities are given for each role. The roleplaying game’s social mechanics come into play when an NPC has an Objection to co-operating with the Player Characters or allowing them to undertake a particular course of action. When this occurs, the Player Characters enter into a Parley with the NPC into an attempt to overcome the Objection, and do so before he loses his Patience—again, not dissimilar to the interaction rules in The One Ring. Roleplaying and interaction are encouraged, but much like spellcasting, preparation can greatly advantage the Player Characters, as can Incentives which will give them Advantage. The Motivations, Virtues, and Flaws of the Player Characters can also come into play, as can the social standing for both the Player Characters and the NPC. Although there are parallels here with The One Ring, the mechanics for Legends of Avallen are their own and their card-based nature gives them a very different feel.

In terms of background, Legends of Avallen gives a good overview of Vallic society, the clans and the Raxians and their lands, with the latter including a selection of Otherworldly Tales found within those lands which the Game Master can potentially build stories around. For the Game Master there is solid advice on running the game and her roles when doing so, including narrator, judge, and creator. The latter includes a guide to creating quests. The Bestiary also includes guidelines for Game Master to create her own NPCs and monsters as well as give them trophies which the Player Characters can loot, and in the case of the Alchemist and the Scavenger Professions turn into useful items, such as potions, weapons, armour, and so on. Rounding out Legends of Avallen is ‘The Sealing Stone’, a starting quest which is very nicely structured and sees the Player Characters help restore a relic and search for the persons last sent to restore it, but are now missing.

Physically, Legends of Avallen is a stunning looking book, beautifully illustrated with quite lovely artwork. It is well written, although it needs an edit in places, and a better index would make the book more accessible. That said, the rules are succinctly written with a minimum of fuss and numerous examples. The setting does use a lot of Welsh, especially in name places and monsters, but a pronunciation is included at the beginning of the book.

Legends of Avallen: A Tabletop RPG Inspired by Celtic Mythology in Roman Britain is an impressive roleplaying game. It has a setting which feels both familiar and different, shifting the conflict away from the historical of Celts versus Romans, to one of protecting the land from the dangers and wonders of the Otherworld. Ultimately, Legends of Avallen is a roleplaying game about quests and becoming great heroes and legends, with succinct mechanics and a structured route that together encourage storytelling and adventure.

—oOo—
The Kickstarter for Against the Faerie Queene – A Celtic Campaign for LoA & 5E, the first supplement for Legends of Avallen: A Tabletop RPG Inspired by Celtic Mythology in Roman Britain is currently running.

Given the origins of the roleplaying hobby—in wargaming and in the drawing of dungeons that the first player characters, and a great many since, explored and plundered—it should be no surprise just how important maps are to the hobby. They serve as a means to show a tactical situation when using miniatures or tokens and to track the progress of the player characters through the dungeon—by both the players and the Dungeon Master. And since the publication of Dungeon Geomorphs, Set One: Basic Dungeon by TSR, Inc. in 1976, the hobby has found different ways in which to provide us with maps. Games Workshop published several Dungeon Floor Sets in the 1980s, culminating in Dungeon Planner Set 1: Caverns of the Dead and Dungeon Planner Set 2: Nightmare in Blackmarsh; Dwarven Forge has supplied dungeon enthusiasts with highly detailed, three-dimensional modular terrain since 1996; and any number of publishers have sold maps as PDFs via Drivethrurpg.com. Loke BattleMats does something a little different with its maps. It publishes them as books.
A Loke BattleMats book comes as a spiral-bound book. Every page is a map and every page actually light card with a plastic covering. The fact that it is spiral-bound means that the book lies completely flat and because there is a map on every page, every map can be used on its own or combined with the map on the opposite page to work as one big, double-page spread map. The fact that the book is spiral bound means that it can be folded back on itself and thus just one map used with ease or the book unfolded to reveal the other half of the map as necessary. The fact that every page has a plastic covering means that every page can be drawn on using a write-on/wipe-off pen. It is a brilliantly simple concept which has already garnered the publisher the UK Games Expo 2019 People’s Choice Awards for Best Accessory for the Big Book of Battlemats and both the UK Games Expo 2019 Best Accessory and UK Games Expo 2019 People’s Choice Awards Best Accessory for Giant Book of Battle Mats.
The newest release from Loke Battle Mats is The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats, which presents “60 Pages of Battle Mats for Modern Tabletop RPGs”, marked in either one-inch squares or one-inch hexes. The first map is plain, but the second is where the volume starts getting useful. The first map is of a classic motel, consisting of an office and a ring of small rooms each with an en suite bathroom. There is a certain seediness to it. This is followed by the first of several roads and streets. Some of these have roadside businesses like a bar or café, whilst others do not. 

For fans of Cyberpunk 2077, the collection includes an underground carpark and rooftops, complete with ventilation units and grills, whilst another has a helicopter landing pad. Other sites include an underground station,  plus a street entrance, a suite of offices and a foyer, parts of a cube farm, and a penthouse apartment or suite. For fans of ShadowRun, there is a convenience store a la a Stuffer Shack, whilst for fans of Bladerunner, there is a high floor of an apartment building, complete with parts of the apartments of the floor, a la the Bradbury Building. This is one of the disappointments of the book in that it is only big to one half of the floor. Perhaps if there is a second volume of The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats, the other half could be included in that?

The last few maps in The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats move properly outside. There is a very rough, dirt race track with a couple of burnt out vehicles, a street scene again with a ruined  vehicle and buildings on either side of the street. There are also maps of ruined buildings and ruined railway platform, complete with a train on its side. The book ends with another plain grid for the Game Master to draw the details on it as she needs them, but perhaps the most disappointing map is that of plain grasslands, which seems out of keeping with the feel and tone.

Essentially, as you leaf through the maps of The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats, they move from bright lights to darker places and into a darker, perhaps apocalyptic future. Or just simply ruins, or dilapidated locations out in the Badlands... What this highlights is the flexibility of the maps in the book. They work for several genres, not just the the Cyberpunk one. Most obviously, the Modern genre, but also the Science Fiction and the Post-Apocalyptic genres too. The most obvious is with The Big Book of Sci-Fi Battle Mats, but for the Cyberpunk genre, this collection plugs into Cyberpunk Red, expanding easily the maps and floor plan options which come with Cyberpunk RED Data Pack, Cyberpunk Red: Easy Mode, and the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit. Of course, not forgetting other Cyberpunk roleplaying games such as Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG or ShadowRun. Then there are modern roleplaying games and post-apocalyptic roleplaying too numerous to mention that this supplement would work well with.
Physically, The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats is very nicely produced. The maps are clear, easy to use, fully painted, and vibrant with colour. One issue may well be with binding and the user might want to be a little careful folding the pages back and forth lest the pages crease or break around the spiral comb of the binding.
There is no denying the usefulness of maps when it comes to the tabletop gaming hobby. They help players and Game Masters alike visualise an area, they help track movement and position, and so on. If a gaming group does not regularly use miniatures in their modern, post apocalyptic, Science Fiction, or Cyberpunk roleplaying games, The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats might not be useful, but it will still help them visualise an area, and it may even encourage them to use them. If they already use miniatures, whether for roleplaying or wargaming, then the maps in The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats will be undeniably useful.
The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats is full of attractive, ready-to-use maps that the Game Master can bring to the table for the roleplaying game of her choice—and do so in a surprising range of genres. Both practical and pretty, The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats is an undeniably useful accessory for a surprising range of genres. If your gaming group likes its maps, then whether playing a Modern game, Science Fiction game, a Post Apocalyptic game, or a Cyberpunk game, The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats will definitely look good when put down on the table.

One of the most interesting and innovative roleplaying games of 2021 has to be Inspirisles. Published by Hatchlings Games, Inspirisles is an Arthurian storytelling game in which young teenagers find their way into the mysterious lands of the fae that mirror the British Isles where through the Shaping of magic collect Belief enough to protect the World Tree and so become Pendragons. It is specifically designed to do three things. First it is designed to be played by young adults. Second, it is designed to be played by the deaf and the hard of hearing. As a consequence of the latter, it is designed as both an introduction to and to help teach, Deaf culture and sign language—both American Sign Language and British Sign Language. To do that it uses sign language as part of game play. Just as words, letters, numbers, and expressions are shaped out in sign language, in Inspirisles, the players Shape out their characters’ magical control of the Elements, meaning that the players are literally Shaping what their characters are Shaping, and it gives the game a wonderful physicality.

The first supplement to be released for Inspirisles is Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology. This is a collection of short adventures written by diverse range of writers which are intended to run after the players and their Pendragons have played through ‘Questing Day’, the scenario in the core rulebook. Most of them can played through in a single session or so, but a few might take two sessions, and for the most part, consist of a number of challenges in which the Pendragons will Shape their magic and roleplay around. The anthology opens with Logan Timmins’ ‘Birthday Ball’, in which the Pendragons attend the best birthday party ever held on Avalon, which proves not only difficult to get into, but the organisers also need help getting it ready! The party and event theme continues with ‘Feeding into the Festivities’ by Jerrod Bacon, but instead of a birthday party, the Pendragons attend the Miasma Food Festival, get to play in a few festival games, and help out by gathering ingredients and then by cooking themselves. There are some nice recipes included here and suggestions how the Pendragons can use their Shaping to do the cooking. Dave Thaumavore’s ‘The Great Barrow Derby’ is a step up in complexity and as the Pendragons travel to Barrow to join a competition run there by the Piskies, although initially, they are not given the welcome they would normally expect. There are protests about the event and the Pendragons will have to compete if they are to uncover what lies behind the protests.

The fourth adventure is Bee’s ‘Paint the Night’. It takes place in Shedscale where the Pendragons have come to relax, but instead find a flustered young Wyrmbitten in need of their help. She has a fireworks display to put on and is overwhelmed by the task. This is an opportunity for the Pendragons to bring their Belief into play and so help put on a stunning event. ‘The Polar Express’ by Small Red Robin is set in the frozen north where they are asked to go in search of a postal worker who is late, only to discover his sleigh has been attacked by a wilderwyrm and needs to be repaired. Helping with the deliveries gets them getting caught up in a rivalry between local wrestler, before being chased home by the wilderwyrm. There is more plot to this scenario and elements nicely come back to hunt the Pendragons. Ashley Cheeseman’s ‘A Bridge and a Song’ in contrast is a city adventure, set in Weldspa. The city comes under attack by Trolls who are building another bone bridge which will get them over the city walls. The city’s G.O.A.T. (Grand Operations Against Trollkind) Commander asks the Pendragons to help stop the bridge builders even as his own forces hold back the rest of the Trolls. The scenario sets up a simple race against time and make use of Inspirisles’ Calamity Meter to measure the severity of the challenge the Pendragons will face.

‘A Rising Storm’ by Marren J.T. MacAdam sets up a quest straight away—can the Pendragons track down the dread wyrm pirate captain, Serenalyne? At stake is a cache of stolen Belief that will help heal the World Tree. Set in Trident, the Pendragons appear to be luck because the cache is only being guarded in the pirates’ cave hideout. Can the Pendragons sneak in, take the cache, and get out again before the dread wyrm pirate captain, Serenalyne returns? Well, yes they can, but that is when they get picked up by another ship taking a keen interest in their activities. If there is an issue here it is that the dread wyrm pirate captain does make an appearance and this scenario is either deserving of a sequel where she does—perhaps she tracks the Pendragons down to get the cache of Belief back?—or at least more of an appearance here. Robin S. Carver’s ‘Journey to the Cave of Black Lights’ sends the Pendragons in a different direction—deep into the belly of the Underisles for a dance competition. It proves to be a difficult journey, but it is a chance for the Pendragons to experience a different environment so the scenario should ideally run after they have visited several of the other places in the Overisles. The scenario ends with the Pendragons being offered the chance to learn some Shadow Shaping and warning of what that entails… The last adventurer in the collection is ‘Rockshow’ by Rowan Thorley. The Pendragons receive an invitation from the Knockers of Penreggi to a rock concert. Rock of another kind lies at the heart of scenario’s plot, which involves the appearance of a much older Pendragon and some pleasing links to Dorset and the Jurassic Coast.

Rounding out Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology in the third chapter is a set of nine new Shapes in both American and British Sign Language. This nicely adds to the vocabulary begun in Inspirisles.

Physically, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology is brightly presented. However, it does need an edit in places and the only illustrations are of the new Shapes in the third chapter. What is missing from the collection is both an index and a contents page. Given the relative length of the supplement, the absence of the latter is more of an issue.

Throughout all of the scenarios in Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology, the Pendragons are given opportunities to share their adventures and tell a tale or two, and so increase their fame and reputation. In terms of content, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology does focus on celebrations and festivities. Consequently, as much as it gives the collection a certain joyousness, the occasionally one-note feel makes the anthology difficult to use. That said, many of the scenarios would work as shorter affairs between longer, more involved scenarios, ones that deal with some of the bigger themes and elements in Inspirisles, such as ensuring that the World Tree is not poisoned by Disbelief and Calamity does not befall the Overlisles. However, the relative brevity of the scenarios means that they are easy to read and easy to prepare, and thus easy to run as demonstration scenarios where an explanation of both sign language and deaf culture may be required.

Overall, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology is a solid collection of nine scenarios for Inspirisles that Game Master can use to demonstrate the roleplaying game or work into her campaign with a little care.

Green Messiah continues Kelvin Green’s assault upon the small English village. Not content with dumping giant, Transformer-like fleshy aliens in More Than Meets The Eye: A Short Adventure with Lots of Tentacles on a village in Cornwall and then screwing—literally—with the inhabitants of a Devonshire in Fish Fuckers – Or, a Record, Compil’d in Truth, of the Sordid Activities of the People of Innsmouth, Devon, he does it again with the more simply titled, Green Messiah. However, Town Littleworth, the victimised village—or horrified hamlet—is in Sussex this time, so it is not the West Country being targeted by the author’s ire. The scenario though, is another case of the author taking a well-known intellectual property and inverting it to parodic effect. So in More Than Meets The Eye, it was The Transformers series of films directed by Michael Bay and in Fish Fuckers it was H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’. So what does Green Messiah invert? Most obviously upon reading the scenario, it is the origin story of the superhero, Superman, but as the author suggests another inspiration could have been the film Bright Burn, which also inverts the Superman story. In addition, Green Messiah is inspired by The Invasion of the Body Snatchers—the author wrongly suggesting that the 1978 version is better than the 1956 original—and another of H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories, ‘The Colour Out of Space’, along with its recent film version. Add in a heavy dose of Men in (Puritan) Black as mulch and what you have in Green Messiah is a rich, peaty affair which may well change the Game Master’s campaign, but both her and the Player Characters will have fun playing it.

Green Messiah is a scenario for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. Like other scenarios for the retroclone, it is set in the game’s default early Modern Period. Specifically, in 1630 England, so it would work well with several of the other publisher’s titles or equally easily adapted to the retroclone of the Game Master’s choice. The story begins in 1624 when an alien spacecraft crash lands just outside an English hamlet. Upon investigating the site, a couple discover that the strange object contains a strange, alien baby, but being childless, the couple adopt the young boy as their own and name him Robert. The surname of the couple? Clark. In the following six years, the boy grows up strong and strange, green-skinned, pointy-eared, and black-eyed, almost Elf-like—were there actually any Elves in 1630 England or Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay, loved by his adopted parents, though he cannot truly understand the concept. An enormous tree grows in the centre of the hamlet, the ‘Great Tree’, over four hundred feet tall and fifty feet in diameter, and from atop its foliage, Robert begins plotting his domination of first Town Littleworth, then England, and beyond, the world. Exactly as he is programmed to do. For Robert is the seed of a plant space-empire, sent to Earth to grow and make a better world. Already, Robert has begun sending out his Radicinoids, ambulatory, carrot-like tubers that replicate and replace humans. Otherwise, all is well in the hamlet of Town Littleworth.

However, the appearance of the Great Tree and the strange goings on in Town Littleworth have attracted the attention of outsiders. The Seekers of Love is a cult of non-conformists who see in Robert the Second Coming of Christ, consisting of genuinely nice, peaceful folk. Officer ‘J’, Officer ‘M’, Officer ‘M’, and Officer ‘H’—either agents for the late (or not so late) Doctor John Dee or members of the armed wing of the Royal Horticultural Society (here pre-empting its actual founding in 1804)—have been assigned to investigate the reports of odd plants and weird fruit in the hamlet or signs of alien activity in the English countryside or… A quartet of bandits actually has very little interest as to what is going on in the hamlet except that back in 1622 when its members were on the run from the law, they buried their ill-gotten gains in a field on the Clark family farm. Now they have returned to claim their treasure, which is a bit difficult owing to the grove of alien plants and vegetation which has grown on the very site. Enter the Player Characters…

Green Messiah suggests numerous reasons why the Player Characters might also become interested in the situation in Town Littleworth. The least interesting of which is that they might just be passing through the hamlet. Others include searching for the bandits’ lost treasure, being employed by a wizard or alchemist or horticulturist to collect samples of the strange plants in the hamlet, searching for a missing friend (who of course, has been replaced by a Radicinoid), extracting someone from a cult formed by a bunch of non-conformists which is based in the area, and more…

Green Messiah is all set-up and a solidly described situation. It clearly explains each of the factions present in Town Littleworth and their motivations, including Robert, his adopted parents, the Seekers of Love, the Men in Black, and the bandits. The notable locations in Town Littleworth are also described in detail, including the Clark farm and its alien Grove, and those places associated with Robert. These include the Great Tree, its Roots—the nearest that Green Messiah gets to a dungeon, the Trunk, and the Top of the Tree. In other words, the Great Tree dominates both the hamlet and the scenario, it literally looms large… And it is here that the Player Characters are likely to have their confrontation with Robert after having explored the Grove and perhaps ferreted through the Roots, before climbing the Trunk.
Green Messiah is also one big ‘What If?’ as well as a number of smaller ‘What ifs?’ The big ‘What If?’ is what happens to Robert if the Player Characters do nothing and what happens if they decide to intervene. After that, answers are given to questions such as ‘What if one of the Men in Black has been replaced by a Radicinoid?’, ‘What do the cultists of the Seekers of Love do if Robert is killed?’, and ‘What happens if a Player Character actually eats a Radicinoid?’. (Yes, really.) There is even a set of guidelines for having a Radicinoid as a Player Character, including its Class abilities. Which is perfectly possible should the Player Characters stop (as in kill) Robert, but one of their number also dies and/or is replaced by a Radicinoid…

Rounding out Green Messiah is a table of all twenty of the weird fruit found to be growing in Town Littleworth, its own ‘Apendix N’ of inspiration, a table of random names for random inhabitants of the hamlet—replaced by the Radicinoids or not, and the various NPCs to be found in its environs. The inside of the front cover contains a fetching map of Town Littleworth and a quick description of its key features.

Physically, Green Messiah is very well produced. The slim, but sturdy hardback feels good in the hands and whilst green predominates, judicious use of colour makes the interior stand out. The cartography is also good, and the scenario is written in a light tone and with a very knowing wink. If there is anything missing, perhaps a countdown or reaction tracker could have been included that would have helped the Game Master determine Robert’s responses to the Player Characters’ actions as they go about Town Littleworth and attempt to find out what is going on in the hamlet.

Well written, well presented, Green Messiah is one of the more engaging releases from Lamentations of the Flame Princess for quite some time. Not a little ridiculous, Green Messiah is an entertaining and fun scenario.

Now in its fifteenth year, Free RPG Day in 2022, was celebrated not once, but twice. First on Saturday, 25th June in the USA, and then on Saturday, 23rd July internationally. This was to prevent problem with past events when certain books did not arrive in time to be shipped internationally and so were not available outside of the USA. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Reviews from R’lyeh was get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

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How to Raise the Dead is perhaps the most different—or at least most singular—of the releases for Free RPG Day in 2022. It is not a quick-start or a scenario for a roleplaying game, but a set of instructions booklet on how to build and paint a piece of terrain which can be added to a game and provide space in which the brave heroes can confront some undead in their natural environment—or is that their unnatural environment? This is at the doors of a necropolis, surely the tomb of some dark master or the entrance to a crypt network below a cemetery, but however it is used and brought to the table, the necropolis is sure to be the site for a confrontation between some brave adventurers and a band of armed and armoured skeletons or zombies before the adventurers dare to open to open the door to the necropolis and enter... Designed and written by Dave Taylor Miniatures, it shows a Game Master—or of course, a Dungeon Master—how to use a combination of Speedpaints Set from The Army Painter and miniatures and terrain pieces from Mantic Games’ Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges.
In comparison to How to Build a Boss-Fight Final Chamber, the release for Free RPG 2021, How to Raise the Dead is relatively short and focused. It starts off by stating that many a Game Master wants to present her players with an immersive experience and one way of doing that is not only to use the appropriate terrain and miniatures, but also make it look good. It acknowledges that this can be daunting prospect in terms of the preparation and painting required, and so the aim of How to Raise the Dead to help break down the barriers that might stand in the Game Master’s way. How to Raise the Dead does this by taking the reader through a step-by-step process, not once, not twice, but three times, each with a different set of miniatures or pieces of terrain, in order to show the prospective painter how it can be done in as uncomplicated a fashion possible—and of course, using the Speedpaint Set. The latter is not included in the release for Free RPG Day 2022, but ‘The Necropolis’ along with the How to Raise the Dead booklet is. To follow completely the guide included in its pages, the Game Master will also need the ‘DUNGEON DEAD’ from the Mantic Games Dungeon Essentials Range and the bare trees found in Mantic Games’ Gothic Grounds set. Of course, the Dungeon Master is free to use these or similar terrain and miniatures from other manufacturers, and the likelihood is that the guidelines in How to Raise the Dead would still apply.
The two piece of terrain which come up with How to Raise the Dead—the necropolis and sturdy iron gate—are chunky pieces. How to Raise the Dead addresses these two pieces first, showing the Game Master how to prepare, prime, and then apply a ‘zenithal prime’ the model. The latter involves priming a layer of black first, and then a layer of white from above so that the black remains uncovered in the shadows. Then the model is painted using the Speedpaint Set. This includes going over it with grey for the base stonework, adding colour to the roof to represent an oxidised copper roof, and then adding highlights to pick particular details. It is really is simple, showing how this can be done in just eight steps. If there is an issue here, it does not quite focus in on the details in the latter stages, but with some experimentation, the Game Master should be able to pick out these details.
How to Raise the Dead then proceeds to show how to paint a cadre of undead and a set of trees and trunks using the Speedpaint Set. In comparison to the earlier guide to painting the Necropolis and Gate, these two actually better illustrated and consequently, more clearly explained. In comparison to the advice given in How to Build a Boss-Fight Final Chamber from last year, the advice in How to Raise the Dead is clearer and easier to understand, and it is better aimed at the Game Master new to this aspect of the hobby. If there is an issue with the instructions, it is that How to Raise the Dead does not state what items the Game Master will need before setting out to work on the project.
The last two pages in How to Raise the Dead before a raft of adverts are devoted to quartet of scenario hooks written with the Necropolis model and the band of undead guarding it in mind. The four are divided between three fantasy ideas and one modern one.
In ‘The Tomb of Varan Tor’, the resting place of a paladin has been desecrated by the black dragon Rotslug and it is rumoured that he has risen as a Death Knight, whilst in the ‘Lost Mines of Draul’, the necropolis is actually an entrance to a mine where Dwarves in search of mithril found a metal so malign that it corrupted them and turned them into the undead. In both cases, the threat is rumoured to be on the rise, ready to step out of the Necropolis and spread their dread to the wider world. The Necropolis stands at the heart of ‘The Dark Depths of Forlakk Forest’ in the third hook, thought by some to be connected to the Feywild, but by others to the Shadowfell. There is certainly some corruptive force at the forest’s heart, but what? And does it represent a greater threat? The modern hook is ‘The Freaks Come Out at Night’ in which a would-be reality television star and his friends search the sprawling tunnels of hospital in search for the results of horrific experiments said to have been conducted by a renowned medical expert. It is not quite clear how the latter uses the Necropolis and that is disappointing.
Physically, How to Raise the Dead is decently presented with lots of photographs as illustrations. It is underwritten in places, both the instructions and the hooks, and it does need an edit in others.

Of all the releases on Free RPG Day 2022, How to Raise the Dead is the least useful—at least in the short term. It will take time for the Game Master to bring any of the contents to the table. Most obviously because she will need to have access to the Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges, as well as the Speedpaints Set. Then prepare and paint the terrain following by developing and writing a scenario, perhaps one of the story hooks in How to Raise the Dead, perhaps one of her own. In comparison, most of the other titles released for Free RPG Day 2022 are quick-starts and scenarios and so can be brought to the table much more immediately. And of course, because How to Raise the Dead is designed to make use of the Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges, plus the Speedpaints Set, it is also very much obviously designed to sell both them and other terrain sets. The other releases are similarly designed to do that too, so that is no criticism, but with How to Raise the Dead, it is more obvious.
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An Unboxing in the Nook of How to Raise the Dead appears here.

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.

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Name: Hunter and HuntedPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Florian Klamt

Setting: Rocky Mountains, CanadaProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Thirteen page, 1.67 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Some predators are worse than man...Plot Hook: A hunting trip turns to horror as the host becomes the hunter.
Plot Support: Staging advice, six NPCs and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Event-driven exploratory scenario# Easy to adapt to Cthulhu by Gaslight and other time periods# Ideal for Investigators with physical skills# Potential addition to an Ithaqua-focused campaign# Pleasing sense of place and atmosphere# Arkoudaphobia
Cons# Needs an edit# No map# No pre-generated Investigators# Ideal for Investigators with physical skills# Involves hunting of animals# Exploratory and event-driven nature may be harder for the Keeper to run
Conclusion# Solid hunter-turned hunted one-shot which really needs a map.# Easy to adapt to other time periods and settings.

The year is 1510. Italy is not just being transformed by the Renaissance, but by the New Science that is driving the Republic of Florence to new prominence. Water-powered looms and assembly lines radically alter its industries and their output, gliders soar above the city’s skies and provide reconnaissance and a message service, paddle steamers ferry goods and people far and wide, and the republic’s military fields new rapid-firing organ guns, armoured turtle-tanks, and more, that have seen it defeat all traditional armies sent against it. At the heart of the city is the Gran Meccanismo, a complex calculating engine driven by water clocks, windmills, and capstans turned day and night by prisoners of war and debtors, which uses the new mathematics to forecast the weather and provide calculations for a wide variety of projects, military and civil. With the rush to mechanise and advance the New Science, the Florentine Republic has thrown off the shackles of old social attitudes. Neither women nor Jews are seen as secondary citizens, especially if they can contribute towards the New Science. Yet all is not well in the Republic of Florence. Pope Julius II denounces the New Science as a Satanic design, the Venetian Republic sends its spies to ferret out the secrets of its new arisen rival’s technology, and worse, the Gran Meccanismo may yet become an engine of uniformity and control. Already Florentine citizens are required to carry a Catalogo identity card, although they are not yet commonly checked, but if some apostles of hydronetic management theory have their way, how far and how rigid will its control go? Imagine a world if Niccolò Machiavelli, military commissioner of the Republic of Florence, had not seen the potential in the drawings and designs of Leonardo da Vinci and instead left him to his painting?

This is the setting for Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in da Vinci’s Florence, a roleplaying game designed by Mark Galeotti, best known as the designer of Mythic Russia: Heroism and Adventure in the Land of the Firebird and his contributions to the setting of Glorantha, and an academic specialising in Russian affairs. Notably, he brings his experience with the storytelling mechanics of the HeroQuest to Gran Meccanismo in what is a slightly radical shift in choice of mechanics for the publisher of the roleplaying game, Osprey Games. Although set at the height of the Renaissance, Gran Meccanismo takes the machismo and bravado, fractious politics and religious orthodoxy, and rigid social attitudes and superstitions of the period and combines and contrasts them with the features of two other, connected genres—Cyberpunk and Steampunk. These two feature a combination of lowlifes and high tech, advanced and rapidly advancing technology, both a reverence for and a fear of this new technology, but one aspect of these genres that Gran Meccanismo does not include is societal collapse or decay, although there is potential for the utopia promised by the New Science and the city block-sized Gran Meccanismo to turn the Florentine Republic into a dystopian nightmare of control and uniformity.

The first third or so of Gran Meccanismo is dedicated to its background, covering the state of Italy and its various other city-states, republics, and kingdoms, including Venice, Milan, Genoa, Rome, and others. The neighbouring nations of Europe—France, Spain, England, and others—and beyond are detailed in broader detail since they are not necessarily the stage for Gran Meccanismo, although their agents possess an interest in and will doubtless want to intervene in the affairs of the Florentine Republic. This is understandable, since taking a Gran Meccanismo campaign too far away and too often from the city of Florence would in part deny access to the technological wonders that are the roleplaying game’s raison d’être. Florence is given more detail, including its bureaucracy and notable figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci, the now one-eyed engineer and inventor due to an explosion of a device, and of course, Niccolò Machiavelli, as well as everyday life, business, war and the military, medicine, scholarship, faith—both Catholicism and the heretical, vice, and more. Mostly, this is covered in broad detail, enough to both intrigue the reader and bring that flavour to the Guide’s game. Where perhaps Gran Meccanismo is a little short on detail is in its coverage of New Science and the devices that are being invented as a result of it. This leaves scope for the Guide and the Player Characters to create their own inventions, but more starting suggestions would have been welcome.

A Player Character in Gran Meccanismo is defined by his Attributes and Traits, with the Traits being grouped under the Attributes. There are three of the latter, Body, Mind, and Soul. Both Attributes and Traits are rated in terms of the number six-sided dice assigned to them, and Traits can be as simple as Swordsmanship d2 or Student of the Dardi School d6. In comparison, a simple NPC can be defined as By the Clock Bureaucrat d3 or Drunken Tough d3. To create a character, a player defines a concept, such as ‘Religious Scholar Obsessed with the God in the Gran Meccanismo’ or ‘Rake on the make’. Nine points are divided between the three attributes and then the player is given three options in terms of defining the character’s Traits. These are by Archetype, Narrative, or Improvisation. In the Narrative method, the player assigns fifteen Traits ranging in value from one to four, and in the Improvisation method, the player starts with just two Traits and defines the rest through play. The Archetype method is a case of selecting a role such as Artificer, Banker, Bravo, Nobleman and Noblewoman, Rabble-Rouser, and more. All of the Archetypes have variations as alternative suggestions. To this the player adds three goals—one long term, one medium, and one short term, again valued by a dice pool, three Nudges, and Traits for the Player Character’s Origins. The Archetype method is the easiest and most flavoursome, whilst the others are suited to more experienced players.

Artificer Viviana Valente
Origins: Florence
Knows Florence 1d, Unfazed by the New Science 1d
Body 2
Draughtsman 2d, Fine Manipulation 2d, Dressed for Success 2d
Mind 4
Gadgeteer 4d, Knows Scientific Principles 4d, Can Read and Write 2d
Soul 3
Obsessed with the New Science 6d
Goals: Discover God in the Gran Meccanismo (Long Term), Serve my apprenticeship to Madame Patrizia Moretti (Medium Term), Pass Today’s Examination (Short Term)
Nudges: 3
Equipment: Small knife (+1d), Tools of the Trade (+2d), Pen and papers

Mechanically, Gran Meccanismo employs the TRIPOD or ‘Traits In Pools Of Dice’ system. Once the player and Guide have agreed on the intent of the test and its outcome, this involves a player building dice pools typically consisting of an Attribute and a Trait plus any benefits from the situation or scene or equipment. This is rolled against the difficulty of the test, which will require the player to roll a number of successes. For an Easy Test, just two successes are required, but a Challenging Test requires six. Rolls of four or five count as one success, but rolls of six count as two. The Guide can do this for her NPCs, which will come into play if the situation requires a confrontation or contest, such as a race, a duel, or a debate. Where this occurs, the Margin of Victory table indicates the effect of each participant’s roll, which if one or more can inflict a Damage Trait on an opponent’s Attribute. If all together the value of the Damage Traits exceeds an Attribute, then the participant in the contest or confrontation will be knocked out of play. Which might be that he is successfully robbed in a mugging, flees the scene, or is forced to concede in a debate.

To some extent, once a confrontation begins to go in favour of one participant or the other, it is difficult for the other to make a successful comeback. Fortunately, each player has several Nudges that he can use each session. Each Nudge shifts a die roll up one step, from a failure (one, two, or three on the die) to a success (four or five on the die) or from a success to a double success (six on the die). The Guide also has Nudges to use on her NPCs, but these are fewer in number. Some Traits can be Flaws though, and a player is encouraged to nominate one of his character’s Traits as such each session. Then once or twice in that session, the Guide should use it against the Player Character to make his life more complicated and the story interesting and then reward him with an extra Nudge and a Minor Advancement at the end of the session. Goals also work as Traits and can also add extra dice if the task at hand is relevant. The reward for using them is fairly substantial, but if unsuccessful, the Player Character earns a Doubt Trait, which persists until the Player Character can work it off by successfully using the Goal Trait in pursuit of the goal.

When it comes to the New Science, the Florentine Republic of 1510 has yet to achieve mass production. Some devices have been standardised, mostly for the battlefield, otherwise every item is an individual piece, almost a prototype and highly decorated. The advice is thus to make almost every item bespoke and a one-off, as well as temperamental and fragile. Mechanically, the TRIPOD system means that the numbers for a New Science device equate to that for a more traditional one, and the New Science adds flavour and verisimilitude. Which highlights the fact that the New Science is also a narrative device. Further as much as the Clockpunk of Gran Meccanismo are informed and influenced by the Steampunk and Cyberpunk genres, the one aspect of either that Gran Meccanismo lacks is the equivalent of the Internet. There is though the possibility of Clockers hacking the Gran Meccanismo in Florence, either directly at the central machine in the Palazzo Altoviti, a dedicated cogent engine attached to some nascent industrial process, or one of the stations at the city’s guard posts where one day Catalogo identity card checks might be carried out.

For the Guide there is advice on running Gran Meccanismo and on the types of games that can be run. Suggestions include Missione Impossible espionage-style games, travelogues, family sagas built around noble or even crime families, and of course, tilting the Republic of Florence into a Clockpunk Dystopia. There is advice too on scaling up the game to include the clash of armies, as well as keeping combat exciting and pushing towards a cinematic, even slightly pulpy style of play, with the use of cliffhangers. Although there is no scenario included, there are hooks throughout the book, along with numerous asides and historical notes in sidebars.

Gran Meccanismo is missing an index and a glossary as well as a timeline, which would have been useful. Similarly, given the historicity of the setting, a bibliography would have been equally useful. The lack of all three does make the roleplaying game that much harder to use as a ready reference, let alone prepare a scenario or campaign.

Physically, Gran Meccanismo is a decent looking book. The artwork is excellent, the book is well written, and the flavour text helps bring the setting of Florence and its surroundings alive.

Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in da Vinci’s Florence is arguably the first storytelling roleplaying game from Osprey Games—or at least the first to use storytelling mechanics. It combines the fast-playing, easy to grasp rules of the TRIPOD system with a setting that not only can genuinely be called unique, but one to which your first response should be, “That’s a cool idea!”

It is four decades since the armies of the Zahjik Khaliphate stood before the walls of Drakenheim. It was a turning point for the Cimbrian Empire. The Burgher Wars which broke the power of the emperor and nobility, and saw the rise of the both the merchant classes and the city-states were forgotten in the face of the invasion from the east across the steppes. Emperor Maximillian III rallied the empire and together with the High Prelate of the Sigurdian Church, in command of a retinue of Siguardian templar-monks, broke the siege and drove out the invading forces. In the decades since, the city-states have retained their sense of independence, but maintained stronger ties of fealty to the emperor; the Sigurdian Church has cemented its place as the dominant faith in the empire; the nobility, their power greatly weakened by the Burgher Wars, have strengthened their ties with the merchants; and the peasantry has continued to toil, whether on the land itself or in the towns, either for the merchants or the nobility. The Cimbrian Empire has also undergone a new renaissance in terms of the arts and sciences. Despite having driven out the armies of the Zahjik Khaliphate and remained at peace for some four decades, the Cimbrian Empire is not entirely safe. Crime is rife, especially in the city-states. Dark cults hide across all strata of society, their members worshipping all manner of demons and malevolent beings, whilst sorcerers practice dark magic in secret—and both sorcerers and cultists are the targets of the empire’s witchfinders. The restless dead haunt the ancient ruins to found in the mountains and deep forests which separate the city states, and that is when the forests are not infested by ape-like beastmen or by bestial mutants transformed by corrupting magic, both intent on murder—or worse. There are rumours too of monsters out of legend still being found in dark places, and of the Zahjik Khaliphate once again preparing to invade, and of the Elves, the masters of the land before the rise of men and the founding of the Cimbrian Empire, manipulating those in power and working to restore their control once again.
This is the setting for Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay, published by Broken Blade Publishing. It is a grimdark roleplaying game set in an empire of Germanic city states, which humanocentric, combines elements of science and magic, and sees a few desperate men and women prepared to step up and if not be heroes, then at least do their best to protect the empire, for even if they succeed, their efforts will rarely be recognised. Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay includes complete rules, numerous character options, mixes firearms and magic and fencing, a bestiary, campaign options, and a starting scenario.

A Player Character in Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay is defined by six attributes—Might, Toughness, Agility, Willpower, Intelligence, and Fate—rated between one and four, a Lineage, and a Class. A Player Character will also have three ambitions, one of which he will have in common with the other Player Characters. These will reward the Player Character with Experience Points as he works towards fulfilling them and encourages the player to roleplay and look for opportunities to work toward their completion. The Lineages each provide two special traits and can be divided between the Cimbrian and the non-Cimbrian. The Burgher, Commoner, Highborn are Cimbrian, whilst the non-Cimbrian are Brythonian (from the Brythonian Isles to the north), Changeling, Smolyani (travellers noted for their luck), Valentino (from Valenti, the dominant city-state of the former Tiberean Empire to the south), and Zahjik (from the Zahjik Khaliphate). There are eight Classes in Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay, each of which provides several Class traits, skill and equipment proficiencies, and starting equipment. Each also has several Subclasses, for example, the Brute has Berserker, Brawler, Folk Hero, and Thug, each of which has its own Special Trait. The Classes are Brute, Cultist, Duellist, Engineer, Magister, Man-at-Arms, Scoundrel, and Wayfarer. Of these, the Cultist includes Priests and Templars rather than members of a demonic or other cult; Duellists study at Schools of Fencing and the Engineer actually does not have Subclasses; and the Magister includes the Alchemist, Necromancer, Seer, and Wizard.

To create a Player Character, a player assigns one attribute at Rank 4, two each at Rank 3 and Rank 2, and one at Rank 1. He selects a Lineage, chooses a name, decides on three Ambitions, selects a Class, and then one Class Trait. If selecting a Class like the Engineer or the Magister, the player also selects Inventions or spells as appropriate. The process is quick and simple.

Name: Otto Vogel
Lineage: Commoner (Cimerian)
Class: Brute Subclass: Thug
Ambitions: Humiliate Hans Hiegel, Keep the neighbourhood safe, Do right by his old mum
Might 4 Toughness 3 Agility 2
Willpower 3 Intelligence 1 Fate 2
Traits: Labourer, Rugged, Crushing Blows, Ignore Pain, Mighty Blows, Rogue
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Fighting 2, Grit 3, Intimidate 2
Equipment Proficiencies: Light, Medium, & Heavy Armour, Common & Heavy Melee Weapons, Throwing Ranged Weapons
Equipment: Club, gambeson, bottle of spirits, dice, seven pennies

Mechanically, Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay employs a dice pool system using just six-sided dice, although dice of three different colours. This is white, red, and black, but other colours can be substituted. Rolls of four or more are counted as successes, but that is only on the white dice. On the red dice, rolls of three or more are counted as successes, and rolls of two or more are counted as successes on the black dice. All of the dice explode on rolls of six or more. Modifiers—bonuses and penalties—adjust the number of dice in the pool, with a Player Character’s Fate attribute providing a number of luck points a player can spend each session to provide a bonus of two dice. The dice are rolled against Difficulty Values which range from one for routine to four for impossible. Various items and traits upgrade the white dice to red or black dice, whilst others downgrade the red and the black back down to white. The outcome of opposed rolls is determined by the number of successes rolled. In general, dice pools are formed from the appropriate attribute value for an attribute check or the combination of the attribute and skill for a skill check.

Combat consists of opposed rolls, typically the attacker’s Fighting skill or Ranged skill against the defender’s Defence skill. The number of the successes rolled determines the number of bonus damage dice rolled in addition to that of the weapon. Successes rolled on the damage dice rolled inflict Grit damage. The combat rules cover most situations, including shooting in melee, dual wielding, grappling, and more. The weapons include bombs like grenades and choking gas bombs, and firearms such as the blunderbuss, harquebus, musket, and pistol. Weapons can have special traits, as can armour.

Although there are rules for a Critical Failure, there are no rules for a Critical Success. In general, if a player rolls enough Successes, his character succeeds at the action, but that is that. Combat is the exception, since Successes increase the number of Damage Dice rolled, but in other situations the excess Success have no effect. However, one feature missing from Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay found in similar roleplaying games is that of a critical hits table.

Magic is divided into white magic and black magic. White magic is acceptable to most of society in the Cimerian Empire, with divine magic being the rarest forms of white magic, whilst back magic is the province of necromancers, cultists, demon worshippers, and the like. With arcane magic, there is the chance of backlash and aetheric manifestations. This occurs when ones are rolled on a skill roll for a Magic check, and might be tremors shaking the earth, the temperature suddenly changing, a swarm of locusts blacking out the sky, and so on. Casters of arcane magic directly manipulate aetheric energy and need their hands free, so cannot wear armour and must have their hands free. Miracles, or divine magic, also uses the Magic check to see if the caster is successful. However, casters of miracles can wear armour and do not suffer from aetheric manifestations, but they call upon the deity they worship, and potentially invoke said deity’s wrath or mercy. What this means is that the Difficulty Value of the Magic check increases for each spell cast over the course of each day. If a subsequent Magic check is failed, then the caster loses the ability to cast miracles for the day. This makes arcane magic much freer and miracles much more of a resource to hold in reserve.

Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay includes a list of miracles and spells, as a well as a list of apothecary’s ingredients and potions, the latter useful for the Alchemist Subclass. For the Engineer Class there is a list of Inventions, such as Bounding Boots, Electric Cloak, Targeting System, or Wrist Rocket. Magical items are intended to be rare and difficult to find, but numerous examples are included. For example, Ghost mail has been enchanted to be silent; Zahjik Janissaries carry a single, one-use Black Arrow which is enchanted to slay enemy champions and powerful monsters, and can do great damage and pierce armour; Witch Bottles protect the owner from curses; Hag’s Fingers enable the spell Wither to be cast once per encounter; and more. The bestiary includes beasts like the Bogtopus and werewolf, the Deep One-like Drowners, Fey such as the Banshee and the Spriggan, Formorians, and more.
A broad overview of the Cimerian Empire is given, including its geography, law and order, crime, attitudes to duelling, religions, and more, there is a good discussion about campaign types. These include having the Player Characters as house retainers, ship’s crews, members of the town watch, witch finder’s assistants, and more. This is combined with themes, whether that is horror, politics, mystery, trade, or others. The advice for the Game Master is short, but to the point—keep it grim and keep it gritty, and whilst there are plenty of monsters in the bestiary, to keep their appearances rare to ensure that the horror when they do appear is maintained. Rounding out Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay is a ready-to-play scenario, ‘Finkelstein’s Laboratory’. It is a short affair which plays upon Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and has the Player Characters hired by a noble to collect some property and possessions from the laboratory of a medical doctor whose work he was researching. It is a short affair, one that the players could very well complete in the same session as they create their characters and should provide them with a feel for the setting and the roleplaying game’s mechanics.

Physically, Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay is presented in black and white with red used here and there. It does need a slight edit in places, but the artwork is decent and the book well written.

Ultimately, it is difficult to avoid comparisons between Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Both are set in an empire of Germanic city-states, both have a dominant faith whilst allowing the worship of the Old Gods, both have a grimdark tone, and so on.

However, Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay is a humanocentric roleplaying game and the other race, the Elves, are mistrusted and feared. The setting is not beset by the forces of Chaos. The Classes for the Player Characters are kept simple and streamlined and there is no great progression along varying career paths, which means that progression wise, the roleplaying game is quite limited in scope; and the mechanics are designed to be easier, faster, and more abstract than simulationist.

Streets of Peril: Fantasy Roleplay offers grimdark fantasy roleplaying, even grim and perilous roleplaying, but with lighter, faster mechanics. It is a solid entry in the grimdark fantasy subgenre and if a gaming group is looking for a lighter alternative to those available in the hobby, then it might be just what they need.

Welcome to the Valley takes you into ‘The Valley Out of Time’. Written for use with both the Dungeon Crawl Classics RolePlaying Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, ‘The Valley Out of Time’ is a ‘Lost Worlds’ style setting a la X1 The Isle of Dread, and films such as The Land that Time Forgot, The Lost World, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, One Million years, B.C., and others, plus the artwork of Frank Frazetta. Combining dinosaurs, Neanderthals, and a closed environment, it is intended to be dropped into a campaign with relative ease and would work in both a fantasy campaign or a post-apocalyptic campaign. It could even work as a bridge between the two, with two different entries into ‘The Valley Out of Time’, one from a fantasy campaign and one from a post-apocalyptic campaign.

The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley, however, is short. Published by Skeeter Green Productions, it is the first part of a series of fanzine-sized scenarios and just an introduction, and by the end of it, the Judge is definitely going to want to know more about its setting of the Timeless Valley and where the rest of The Valley Out of Time series will take her campaign. The problem is that although The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley provides ideas on how to get the Player Characters into the setting—and why, but not necessarily and not definitively how to keep them there. However, it has a strong sense of atmosphere, sweltering and sweaty, and it will provide a session or so’s worth of play. The adventure which is included along with the introduction is designed to be played by four to six Player Characters of First and Second Level.

It opens with a list of hooks and motivations to get the Player Characters into the Timeless Valley, whether that is to search for a rare item or McGuffin, ending up in the valley via random gate or teleport, simple discovery of the vale between two mountain chains, or a previously closed off valley suddenly being opened by gods or the like, for reasons which will become clear. Regardless of the reasons, the adventure has the Player Characters make their way into the valley and struggle through the dense undergrowth and under the thick canopy, suffering from the sweaty heat and the attentions of the local insect life, ultimately to find themselves lost. Then they encounter the first signs of life, a tribe of massive bipedal humanoids going about their business. Tall and hairy, these are Urmanoids, who have the level of development equal to that of the Neanderthals. The Player Characters are free to engage with them in any way they see fit and several options are given for the Urmanoids’ reaction to how the Player Characters act—docile, sneaky, or bold and/or violent. Ideally, if the Player Characters opt for the former options, the Urmanoids will attempt to communicate with them. This sets up some challenging roleplay because the Urmanoids are unable to speak, so the players and their characters will have to find another way.

Once the Player Characters and the Urmanoids have begun to communicate, the camp comes under attack, not once, but twice. First by a giant lizard and then by a pack of Dinychus attracted by the first attack. Helping to defend the Urmanoids cements the relationship between them and the Player Characters, and this should be compounded after a further attack on the way to the Urmanoids’ next camp. This is where the adventure, such as it is, comes to a close.

Supporting the adventure in The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley and ‘The Valley Out of Time’ setting is a trio of appendices. The first, ‘Appendix A: New Monsters’ gives full write-ups for the various monsters and creatures which appear in the adventure, including the Urmanoids and Dinychus. The second, ‘Appendix B: Appendix N Monsters for use in the Timeless Valley’ lists some of the creatures in both the Dungeon Crawl Classics RolePlaying Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic that could be sued in the setting of the Timeless Valley. The list is not exhaustive and a whole lot more can likely be found in the ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’ article in the Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book. (In addition, The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley could be used as a way into the setting of ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’, or even be used as a dinosaur disaster film scenario using ‘1970’s Earth Characters for DCC’ from Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book.)
The third, ‘Appendix C: The Timeless Valley’ further discusses some ideas as to how the Player Characters might be motivated to enter the Timeless Valley and potentially keep them there, such as searching for resources which can be exported back home, looking for cities paved for gold, looking for a lost mentor, and so on. These, however, are suggestions that the Judge can add rather than The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley give any through the setting itself. The appendix also details the other aspect apart from the dinosaurs where The Valley Out of Time is different, and that is ‘Ultrascience’. This is a mixture of magic and technological, which combines and replaces those elements from Dungeon Crawl Classics RolePlaying Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic. The Timeless Valley is a low magic, low technology environment, which often reduces the effects of technology, sometimes limiting the access of Clerics to their deity and Shaman to their A.I. Patron, Elves and Wizards definitely need to keep their spellbooks with them, and the denizens of the Timeless Valley are resistant to the effects of ‘Ultrascience’.

Physically, The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley is well presented, although the artwork does vary in quality. The Valley Out of Time: Welcome to the Valley presents an intriguing set-up, but it does not intrigue beyond that—and that is because of its almost ‘Partwork’-like structure. The Judge and her players will simply have to wait for the next issue to hopefully receive that.

Cyberpunk RED Data Pack is a supplement for Cyberpunk RED, the fourth edition of the classic Cyberpunk roleplaying game. It provides a number of tools that the Game Master can use to support her Cyberpunk RED game, including scenarios, lists, maps and character sheets. These are useful in a number of different ways, the least of which is probably the pad of character sheets. The character sheets are done in landscape rather than in portrait and in a mix of red and black. They are clear and easy to use. The twelve maps are full colour, double-sided, and marked in one-inch squares. The majority of them are road sections and connect link up easily. There are plain desert sections too, as well as a helicopter or aerodyne landing pad atop a building and an underground carpark—the latter which Game Masters and players alike will probably recognise from playing through Cyberpunk 2077. However, there are no internal locations mapped, which restricts their use. Perhaps Cyberpunk RED Data Pack 2.0 will address that? Fortunately, they are compatible with the Cyberpunk RED Battle Maps from Loke Battlemats and that range does include some internal buildings.

The meat of Cyberpunk RED Data Pack consists of a thirty-six-page booklet, which can be divided into two sections. The first consists of six Screamsheets, the single-sheet newspapers which can be purchased from kiosks on the streets of Night City and contain the most up to date news, printed at the moment of purchase. In game terms, they consist of a one-sheet which contains several news stories that can be handed to the players to provide them with information about what is going on in Night City, some of which form the background to the scenario which is effectively on the back of the Screamsheet. So effectively, one side for the players and their Edgerunners, and one side for the Game Master. For example, the first Screamsheet has stories about Night City PD reporting a rise in missing persons cases, a Militech executive being sacked for ethics violations, Night City hiring labourers for the city’s continued reconstruction, a rise in gang activity, and a hit on the Forlorn Hope, the signature Solo bar, by the Bozos, the clown gang. On the other side is ‘Hilaria 2045’. This is a scenario outline, in which the Edgerunners are hired to protect a block from an annual and very violent celebration held by the Bozos, Night City’s ultraviolent clown gang. This is in effect a big sprawling combat as the Bozo gang members ride into the neighbourhood in ice cream vans and will definitely be easier to run and manage with maps and counters.

The other Screamsheet scenarios continue with ‘The Digital Divas Burn It Down’ and its sequel, ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’. In the former, the Edgerunners investigate a rash of arson attacks linked to an up-and-coming local band, whilst in the latter, they follow up a death that occurred at one of the concerts for the band. ‘Cargo Race’ sends the Edgerunners into the Badlands in search of a downed Delta and the cargo it was smuggling. It leads to a standoff between several interested parties. ‘Snuff’ is another investigation, this time into someone selling bad Braindances and giving other ‘legitimate’ sellers a bad name… The sixth scenario is the longest in the Cyberpunk RED Data Pack. ‘ThrillKill’ drops the Edgerunners into the middle of a new craze, a competition for territory between gangs in which points are scored for killing particular types of individuals. The Edgerunners are hired to shut the competition down and this requires them to identify the next victims and prevent them from being killed, which means tracking the gangs involved. This is this the most mobile of the half dozen scenarios and the Edgerunners will definitely need the Drive skill. Of course, there are other stories on the front of the Screamsheets which are not given the scenario treatment and so there is potential there for the Game Master to develop them into something playable for her campaign.

Rounding out Cyberpunk RED Data Pack is ‘20 Things in Night City’. This consists of five separate lists: ‘20 Freelancers of Night City’, ‘20 Night Spots in Night City’, ‘20 People in the Night City Subway’, ‘20 Safehouses in Night City’, and ‘20 Vendors at Mister K’s Market’. These are an excellent set of tables of thumbnail descriptions for each of the categories and they can either be rolled on or an entry be selected by the Game Master to provide an element which she can add to her campaign. This can be done as their broader subject comes up in play, or the Game Master could consult the tables ahead of time, possibly even for inspiration. Overall, these tables are ready to add detail and flavour to a Game Master’s Night City.

Physically, Cyberpunk RED Data Pack is decently done. The booklet is sturdy, the maps colourful if not necessarily as varied as they could be, and the character sheets serviceable.

Cyberpunk RED Data Pack provides solid support for Cyberpunk RED. Whilst the maps and the character sheets are serviceable, the Screamsheets and the quintet of ‘20 Things in Night City’ tables really help support a Game Master’s campaign. The ‘20 Things in Night City’ quintet is rife with inspiration and ideas and flavour, and the Screamsheets are a varied selection of scenarios and set-ups. They can easily be dropped into a Night City-set campaign or run as the occasional scenario. Hopefully, Cyberpunk RED Data Pack will provide as equally good support for Cyberpunk RED.

Relic of the Lost Kingdom is an adventure for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Published by Fumble Folks, it is designed as a ‘Starter Adventure for New Game Masters’ as well as four to five new Player Characters of First and Second Level. The set-up is simple, the plot direct, and the background manages to be detailed enough to support the plot, but sufficiently generic that the Dungeon Master could easily drop it into or adapt it to her own campaign world. The setting is an alpine valley, once part of a great realm—the Lost Kingdom of the title, now dotted by farms, small villages, and the occasional town, but still important as a trade route through to neighbouring kingdoms. At the foot of the mountains stands a monastery dedicated to the Goddess of Grain. For the past few weeks, the undead have poured out of nearby crypts where the dead from the battles between the barbarians and the Lost Kingdom were buried centuries ago, and on successive nights, attacked the monastery in an attempt to break in. The Player Characters are hired to travel to the crypt, there to replace a stolen artefact, and so help to repel the undead, if not put them to rest.

Relic of the Lost Kingdom begins in the town with the Player Characters either seeing the notice for the job or hearing it announced by town crier—a nice touch given that not every Player Character is literate—and then being interviewed by the Elven priest, Rhys, at the monastery. He is direct in what he asks the Player Characters, including telling them not to trick him by running off with the artefact or dumping it in the river. If they decide to trick him, it is outside the scope of the adventure, but otherwise, this pushes the players and their characters to follow the scenario’s plot. In any other scenario this might be seen as the designers pushing the players and their characters down a railroad, but the point of Relic of the Lost Kingdom is to introduce the Dungeon Master to running Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and to do so in a direct and uncomplicated fashion. Another nice touch is that the adventure introduces the idea of there being other adventurers in the world, as they were the ones responsible for having opened the crypt and removed the artefact in the first place—although Rhys does not blame them for that. Rhys can also have Lilith Mosswater, a Halfling Cleric, to accompany them, and she will be the main NPC who the Dungeon Master will portray in the adventure. She is there if the Player Characters do not have a Cleric or Paladin amongst their number.

After an encounter in the Veridian Woods, the Player Characters arrive at the crypt. The crypt itself is linear and involves a mix of exploration and combat. There are two combat encounters which will be quite challenging for the Player Characters, the final one in particular. Both can be avoided though—one by not following a particular route through the crypt and the other through interaction. However, that interaction relies upon a Player Character being able to speak a particular language, otherwise, a fight ensues. Perhaps an alternative here would have been to give Lilith Mosswater that language just in case the Player Characters do not have it.

Physically, Relic of the Lost Kingdom is in general, well presented and well written. It is lightly illustrated in mostly silhouettes and the cartography is simple and clear. It does need an edit in places, for example, the adventure cannot decide whether it is an abbey, monastery, or temple, which is being assaulted by the undead, or indeed a tomb or crypt where the undead can be found.

Relic of the Lost Kingdom can be run in a four-hour session and so at a convention as well. It is easy to use, it is easy to adapt to a campaign world, and it is easy for the experienced Dungeon Master to develop as necessary. Unfortunately, Relic of the Lost Kingdom is not quite as helpful as it could be for the new Dungeon Master. For example, it lacks the stats for Lilith Mosswater. Not only could she be a replacement Player Character, but she could also be a useful source of information for the Player Characters. Now she is in places in the adventure, but arguably not enough. The advice for the Dungeon Master in terms of staging each encounter or room and reacting to the players and their characters could also have been a bit stronger in places too. Of course, an experienced Dungeon Master will be able to run Relic of the Lost Kingdom with a minimum of preparation and effort.

Relic of the Lost Kingdom is a simple, direct adventure. It is suitable to be run by the neophyte Dungeon Master as intended. However, it does need a little more development in places and consequently requires a little more preparation time for the new Dungeon Master than it necessarily should have done.

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.

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Name: Fork in the RoadPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Riley Kruger

Setting: Jazz Age USAProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 6.91 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Devil at the Crossroads meets the MythosPlot Hook: Jobbing musicians forced to make a choice
Plot Support: One NPC, one Mythos monsters, and five pre-generated InvestigatorsProduction Values: Plain.
Pros# Short thematic scenario# Excellent artwork
Cons# Short thematic scenario# Linear scenario# Tortuous imposition of the Mythos# Needs a slight edit# Underwhelming ‘Investigator’ agency# Tortuously difficult to envision and portray the scenario’s central gamut
Conclusion# Short thematic scenario imposes the Mythos on the ‘Investigators’ in a linear, difficul to grasp, gamut.# Tortuous affair terrorises the ‘Investigators’ and leaves them with little agency.

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.

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Name: ContactPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Cameron Tressler

Setting: Modern Day TexasProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Nine page, 1.42 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Modern Myth & Mythos collidePlot Hook: Missing persons case reveals a terrible truth behind a belief.
Plot Support: Three NPCs and a Mythos monsterProduction Values: Plain.
Pros# Straightforward, modern day investigation. # Easy to adapt to other locations# Potential modern day campaign starter# Suitable for convention play# Has the feel of a television series episode# Dramatic finale# Potential X-Files-style (Delta Green) investigation
Cons# Underwhelming scenario hook# Has the feel of a television series episode# Familiar plot for experienced Investigators/players# Needs a slight edit
Conclusion# Straightforward, modern day investigation which will be too obvious for experienced Investigators and their players.# Solid, introductory X-Files-style one-shot which would work as a convention scenario or even a campaign starter.

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

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Pokémon is one of those huge intellectual properties and franchises that has never had a roleplaying game. Arguably it is too big to have something as small as a roleplaying game and arguably a roleplaying game is too small a vehicle to really push the brand or really expand its reach. Yet, whilst Pokémon has never had a roleplaying devoted to its world of Pokémon Trainers catching and training Pokémon to battle other Pokémon for sport, it has had a storytelling game designed to be played by children aged between six and eight and run by their parents. Published in 1999, the Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game was designed by Wizards of the Coast with the publisher planning to release twelve titles in the series. Unfortunately, despite it be a big seller for the publisher, only the first entry in the series, Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency was released.
Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency is designed to be played by a Parent and one to six players aged between six and eight. It employs simple, easy-to-understand mechanics, makes every player a Pokémon Trainer and gives them a checklist of Pokémon to capture and train, and has them participate in a lengthy story which will take them from Professor Oak’s laboratory to choose their first Pokémon to going out into the wild to find more to facing Team Rocket and a whole lot more. Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency comes in a tiny box which contains twenty-six Pokémon ‘Power Cards’, six ‘Pokémon Trainer Checklists’, two ‘Pokécoins’, 48 ‘Hit Tokens’, a sixty-page ‘Rule & Story Book’, and a single six-sided die. 
For the players or Trainers, the twenty-six Pokémon ‘Power Cards’ are the heart of the game. Bar a double or two, each one represents a different Pokémon and designed to be look like a data entry on a Pokédex. Each is double-sided. On each side there is a picture of the relevant Pokémon, an ability and how much damage it does to another Pokémon, its Hit Points, an extra effect when the ‘Pokécoin’ is successfully flipped (though not all Pokémon have this), and a little information. For example, Pikachu is depicted on his happy side as having nine Hit Points, a Thunder Wave attack that hits on a roll of five and six, inflicts more damage if the Pokécoin’ is successfully flipped, and a note from Professor Oak telling the owner that Pikachu does not being inside Poké Balls. On his unhappy side, his Growl Roll attack hits on a three, four, five, or six, and inflicts a point of damage, allows an extra attack if the Pokécoin’ is successfully flipped, and Professor Oak telling the owner that Pikachu can be moody and shy. 
For the Parent, as the Narrator, there is the sixty-page ‘Rule & Story Book’. This is not as intimidating as it sounds as the rules run a few pages and the bulk of the book is devoted to some sixteen stories or episodes which would enable the Narrator to run a mini-campaign. The ‘Rule & Story Book’ even opens with with ‘A Note to Parents’ explaining what the game is, and that is a game in which they and their children tell a story together, the children exercising their imagination and their minds, with the game emphasising reading, mathematics, and creativity. It advises the parent to encourage questions and interaction, to praise everyone’s efforts because there are no wrong answers in the game, and above all to ensure that they all have fun. Its last point is that the parent should have fun too, especially as it is time with their children and to use voices and to get into character. So it is pitched very much as a collaborative storytelling game in which everyone has fun, but not as a roleplaying game. In fact, roleplaying is never mentioned in Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency, and so the spectre of Dungeons & Dragons is avoided…
Play starts with each Trainer selecting their Pokémon from the basic six— one Charmander, one Squirtle, and two each of Bulbasaur and Pikachu. Each child ticks the box for their Pokémon on their ‘Pokémon Trainer Checklists’. The Narrator selects a story from the ‘Rule & Story Book’ and play begins. There are sections for the Narrator to read aloud and sections with staging advice, both of which are clearly marked, with prompts in the narration where the Narrator asks the Trainers what they want to do or say. For example, in ‘Episode 2: Gotta Catch ’Em!’, the Trainers go outside to the edge of Pallet Town to catch their first Pokémon in the wild. When they have done so, the Trainers are attacked by a Spearow flock and must work together to defeat it. Afterwards, Police Officer Jenny arrives on her motorcycle and thanks the Trainers for helping her out. At that point, the Narrator says to the Trainers, “What do you say to her?” It is designed to be simple and direct and to encourage a response.
Although play starts with the Narrator and her narration, from there it proceeds around the table, starting with the player on the Narrator’s left. This avoids any one player dominating the story and gives everyone their turn, and in addition, using the prompts, allows the players to build the world around their Trainers. Primarily, this will be drawn from their having watched the Pokémon cartoon series, but it also allows space for the players to go beyond this and bring their imagination into play.
The rules of Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency focus on Pokémon duels as you would expect. Each Trainer selects his Pokémon and chooses which side of the card he will use—this can be switched at the beginning of the round. Pokémon duels are simultaneous, both Trainers or the Narrator and the Trainer rolling to successfully activate and hit the other Pokémon with their Pokémon’s ability, inflicting hits and reducing their opponent’s Hit Points in the process. Some Pokémon have an extra ability when the ‘Pokécoin’ is successfully flipped, such an extra attack, inflicting more hits, healing Hit Points, or even doing damage to the attacking Pokémon. When a Pokémon’s Hit Points are reduced to zero, it faints rather than dies, and if a Pokémon Hit Points get too low and the Trainer has other Pokémon in his Pokédex, he can bring one of them into play instead.
The ‘Rule & Story Book’ is sixty pages long, but it is a small rulebook and the rules—such as they are—take up less than a quarter of the book. The rules for sixty-page Pokémon duels are clearly explained and are supported by a good example of how they work. The remainder of the ‘Rule & Story Book’ consists of stories, ranging length from one to four pages. Depending upon the number of players the playing time for can be as short as five minutes or as long as thirty. Essentially, none of these should challenge the attention span of the players too much and the chance to explore the world of Pokémon and capture more Pokémon to add to their collection should keep them interested (this essentially also being the equivalent of Experience Points in the game).
Physically, Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency is bright and cheerful. The various Pokémon ‘Power Cards’ are nice and sturdy, as are the game’s various counters. The rulebook uses lots of illustrations from the cartoon and is well written, its language direct and simple for the then-Parent with no previous experience with the storytelling type of game to grasp the rules, understand how the game is played, and run it for her children and their friends. Then in a few years, an older child could easily read through the rules and run Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency for his friends. An obvious issue with Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency is that there are only twenty-six Pokémon ‘Power Cards’. Enough to play through the stories in the ‘Rule & Story Book’, but not beyond. Had there been more entries in the Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game series, then that would have solved that issue, but it was not to be.
Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency is a bright, cheerful, and simple game. It uses the basic elements of the Pokémon cartoon to draw the players into the world and get them imagining themselves doing all of the things that they see Ash and his friends doing on screen. It obviously then uses these to inspire both the Parent and the children interact and work together to tell a story and develop a world as they play the game. In the process, it gets everyone roleplaying very quietly and without even mentioning the word. Two decades on in 2020s, there are more than a few roleplaying games designed to introduce younger players to the concept, but what got there first was Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency—and with little in the way of fanfare. It might have very different had the Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game series not been cancelled. It might have been a case of Pokémon Jr. Adventure Game #1: Pokémon Emergency having been many players’ first adventure game, first storytelling game, and first roleplaying game.

Imagine if a giant monster, a Kaiju, attacked the city where you lived? Stormed ashore and began stomping across one neighbourhood to the next, one district to the next? Crushing cars underfoot, smashing buildings, driving thousands upon thousands out of the city to flee to safety? Do you have friends and family in the city, and can you ensure their safety, let alone your own? As you move back and forth across the city, you will see the Kaiju again and again, and perhaps discern its weakness. Armed with that knowledge there are those who bring it to bear—the military, whose forces can drive the Kaiju from the city and back into the sea! It sounds like a film starring Godzilla, or Gojira, but is in fact the set-up and play for Caltrop Kaiju: A Monstrously fun and fast-paced TTRPG published by Button Kin Games. This is a small game which can be played in two ways, both of which are in solo mode. The first is as a mini-board game, whilst the second is as a solo roleplaying game in which the player keeps a diary of both his character’s actions and those of the Kaiju, much like other solo journaling game such as Thousand-Year-Old Vampire.
Caltrop Kaiju: A Monstrously fun and fast-paced TTRPG is designed to be played by one player aged ten and up. It requires a seven-by-seven grid to represent the city, marked with locations such as the nuclear power plant, city hall, and telecommunications tower, a two four-sided dice (the ‘Caltrop’ of the game’s title comes from the use of this die type), and a token to represent the player and a token to represent the Kaiju. The Kaiju comes ashore at the harbour and the game starts from there, whilst the player begins play in his mountain home. The player moves first, then the Kaiju. The player can only move one space, but the Kaiju moves three spaces in a randomly determined direction. As the Kaiju travels, it does damage to each square or each neighbourhood it passes through. If it passes through a neighbourhood three times, it is completely destroyed and becomes impassable for the player. The player can pass through partially destroyed locations, but whether due to the falling wreckage, flailing power lines, explosions, or collapsing buildings, there is a chance that he will be wounded. This means that the player rolls at a disadvantage on all die rolls. If the Kaiju does damage to the various locations, there are extra effects. For example, destroy the nuclear power plant and all of the surrounding squares are also destroyed!
In the short term, the aim of Caltrop Kaiju is for the player to trail the Kaiju and gain sightings of the gargantuan beast—hopefully whilst avoiding being stomped on and so wounded. If the Kaiju passes through the same square as the player, there is the chance that it will wound or even kill him in a dramatic fashion. However, from the same square as the Kaiju or an adjacent square—where there is no chance of the player being stomped—the player can attempt to gain a sighting of the leviathan. With each sighting, there is a chance that the player will learn the Kaiju’s weakness (if unsuccessful, the player automatically learns this weakness on the fifth attempt). Armed with that knowledge, the player can search for the secret military base, which necessitates a die roll, and if successful, pass on the knowledge to the military whose forces will attack the Kaiju and force back into the sea. However, the Kaiju now has the player’s scent and will be actively hunting him. Although the Kaiju is slowed as it hunts, the game becomes a race to find the base and pass the knowledge of the monster’s weakness before the player is stomped on or zapped or burned to a crisp. If that happens, the player, of course, loses the game.
Caltrop Kaiju is a simple mix of puzzle and programmed movement with the player playing against the game and the Kaiju. It can be enhanced and become something else if the player records a journal of his travails across the city in the wake of the massive monster, what he sees, and what he discovers about the Kaiju. To set this, Caltrop Kaiju suggests the player answer a few questions, such as who his character is, how he is the best person to determine the Kaiju’s weakness, what family he has in the city, and more. The player is also free to determine what sort of Kaiju the attacking beast is and what its weakness is. In this mode, the player records a journal of his character’s success or a journal of his character’s failure that will be found on his dead body in the rubble of the city long after the Kaiju has wandered back into the sea…
In comparison to other journaling games, Caltrop Kaiju is lacking in terms of tables and thus prompts. Other journaling games have numerous tables that the player can roll on or draw cards for, and use the indicated prompt to drive the narrative being recorded in the journal. Caltrop Kaiju lacks these. There are no tables for the type of Kaiju, its powers, or its weakness, or who and where the character’s loved ones are. There is a table for describing otherwise empty neighbourhoods, which though useful, seems an odd inclusion given the lack of other tables. With that lack of other tables, there is not perhaps the replayability of other journaling games because there is not the obvious variability.
Physically, Caltrop Kaiju is cleanly and tidily presented. Despite being a British game, it is written in American English which might be confusing for a younger audience. 
Caltrop Kaiju: A Monstrously fun and fast-paced TTRPG is a small game about a big event and facing a big behemoth. On one level, it is a simple puzzle, but on the other, it has the scope to tell a classic tale of man versus a colossal Kaiju tale in a modern city, done as an exercise in creative writing. However, if the player wants to return to the city and once again, face the Caltrop Kaiju, he may well want to create some random tables of his own to add a wider degree of variability.

The very latest entry in the Ticket to Ride franchise is Ticket to Ride: San Francisco. Like those other Ticket to Ride games, it is another card-drawing, route-claiming board game based around transport links and like those other Ticket to Ride games, it uses the same mechanics. Thus the players will draw Transportation cards and then use them to claim Routes and by claiming Routes, link the two locations marked on Destination Tickets, the aim being to gain as many points as possible by claiming Routes and completing Destination Tickets, whilst avoiding losing by failing to complete Destination Tickets. Yet rather than being another big box game like the original Ticket to Ride, Ticket to Ride: Europe, or Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, it takes its cue from Ticket to Ride: New York, Ticket to Ride: London, and Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam. Part of the cities series for Ticket to Ride, it is thus a smaller game designed for fewer players with a shorter playing time, a game based around a city rather than a country or a continent. It is also notably different in terms of theme and period.

Published by Days of Wonder and designed for play by two to four players, aged eight and up, Ticket to Ride: San Francisco is easy to learn, can be played out of the box in five minutes, and played through in less than twenty minutes. As with the other entries in the Ticket to Ride ‘City’ series, Ticket to Ride: San Francisco sees the players race across the city attempting to connect its various tourist hotspots. Ticket to Ride: New York had the players racing across Manhattan in the nineteen fifties via taxis and Ticket to Ride: London had the players racing across London in the nineteen sixties aboard the classic double-decker buses, although Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam took the series back to the seventeenth century and had the players fulfilling Contracts by delivering goods across the Dutch port by horse and cart and claiming Merchandise Bonus if they take the right route. Ticket to Ride: San Francisco continues the lack of trains in the series by having the players travel around ‘The City by the Bay’ aboard its icon form of transportation—the cable car! In Ticket to Ride: San Francisco, the players can take the ferry from Pier 39 to Alcatraz, travel to the Golden Gate Bridge, and stop off at Sunset or Potrero Hill, and if they do, collect some souvenirs too!

Inside the small box can be found a small board which depicts the centre of San Francisco, from the Golden Gate Bridge in the northwest to Potrero Hill in the southeast and Sunset in the southwest to Alcatraz in the northeast. Notably, several of the destinations are marked in red, including Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Potrero Hill, Sunset, and The Embarcadero. This is where the Tourist Tokens—representing the souvenirs collected by the players when they connect to those destinations—are placed at the start of play. There are also the expected Cable Car pieces (as opposed to the trains of standard Ticket to Ride), the Transportation cards drawn and used to claim routes between destinations, and the Destination Tickets indicating which two Destinations need to be connected to be completed. The Cable Car pieces are nicely sculpted and can actually be seen through from one side to the other. Each player has twenty of these at the start of the game. The Transportation cards come in the standard colours for Ticket to Ride, but are illustrated with a different form of transport for each colour. So black is illustrated with a bus, blue with a tram, green with a car not unlike the Ford Mustang as driven by Steve McQueen in the film Bullitt (which of course is set in the city), purple with a Volkswagen Camper, and so on. This really makes the cards stand out and easier to view for anyone who suffers from colour blindness. Similarly, the Destination Tickets are bright, colourful, and easy to read. As expected, the rules leaflet is clearly written, easy to understand, and the opening pages show how to set up the game. It can be read through in mere minutes and play started all but immediately.

The board itself is also bright and colourful. The scoring track round the edge of the board is done as a series of cable car tickets in keeping with the form of transport used in Ticket to Ride: San Francisco. Most routes are one, two, or three spaces in length, and there is one five-space route. One difference with the previous titles in the series is that it includes ferries, the slightly more complex routes first seen in Ticket to Ride: Europe, though only three of them, two of which go to Alcatraz. There is a very knowing joke on the board. 

Play in Ticket to Ride: San Francisco is the same as standard Ticket to Ride. Each player starts the game with some Destination Tickets and some Transportation cards. On his turn, a player can take one of three actions. Either draw two Transportation cards; draw two Destination Tickets and either keep one or two, but must keep one; or claim a route between two connected Locations. To claim a route, a player must expend a number of cards equal to its length, either matching the colour of the route or a mix of matching colour cards and the multi-coloured cards, which essentially act as wild cards. Some routes are marked in grey and so can use any set of colours or multi-coloured cards. Three routes are ferry routes and require a Ferry or multicolour Transportation card and the indicated number of Transportation cards in the right colour to claim. 

When a player claims a route connected with one of the cities with the Tourist Tokens on it, he takes one Tourist Token. At the end of the game, each player will be awarded a number of points depending on how many Tourist Tokens he has collected. This is reminiscent of, is the Stock Share cards of the Pennsylvania map from Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 5: United Kingdom + Pennsylvania. In that expansion, every time a player claimed a route, he could in most cases, also claim a Stock Share card in a particular company. At the end of the game, a player would score bonus points depending upon the number of Stock Share cards he held in the various companies in the expansion. In that expansion though, all routes had a Stock Share reward, but in Ticket to Ride: San Francisco, they can only be gained from five Destinations on the outer edge of the map and two other locations. These other locations can be anywhere on the map and are chosen by the two players who go last in the turn order.

The number of Tourist Tokens each player has at the end of the game can tip the balance and potentially help a player win the game. However, their limited location limits access to them, as can the Destination Tickets each player draws and completes over the course of the game. Only half of the Destination Tickets in the game have Destinations with Tourist Tokens. This means that a player should take this into account when drawing and discarding Destination Tickets as it will alter his score at the end of the game. This can be offset by the placement of the Tourist Tokens by the last two players in the turn order during the set-up of the game, which adds an element of randomness. Connecting to Destinations with Tourist Tokens can counter one issue with Ticket to Ride: San Francisco and that is it is possible to draw Destination Tickets it is impossible to complete because a player can only draw two and must keep one. So a possible strategy might be to complete a fewer number of Destination Tickets and try to get more Tourist Tokens instead.

Physically, Ticket to Ride: San Francisco is very nicely produced. It is bright and breezy and has a very sunny disposition. Everything is produced to the high standard you would expect for a Ticket to Ride game.

Like Ticket to Ride: New York, Ticket to Ride: London, and Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam, what Ticket to Ride: San Francisco offers is all of the play of Ticket to Ride in a smaller, faster playing version, that is easy to learn and easy to transport. In comparison to those games, it is tighter with players needing to more carefully balance the number of Destination Tickets they attempt to complete versus the number of Tourist Tokens they can grab. Ticket to Ride: San Francisco is a great addition to the Ticket to Ride family, offering fast, competitive play, and tactical choice in an attractive, thematic box.

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: A Small Tremor in the MountainsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Laurie Hedge

Setting: Modern Day IcelandProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-two page, 1.18 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What scares the scary down below?Plot Hook: Earthquake opens a new cave network. What thrills and treasures does it hide?
Plot Support: Staging advice, cave plans, three NPCs, two Mythos monsters, some vermin, and a Chase diagram. Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Linear, physically-orientated one-shot# Claustrophobia# Speluncaphobia# Good use of the Chase mechanics# Dramatic finale# Finally, an Investigator gets to use the Climb and Jump skills!
Cons# Primary NPC actions poorly handled# Needs a slight edit and localisation# Little scope for Adventurer/Mythos interaction or finding out what is going on in the scenario# Main Mythos threat not really a threat, not even to the Minor Mythos threat—until dislodged.# Finale kicks in with little time for interaction
Conclusion# One-shot with strong physical element puts the adventurers on the path to confrontation with—and desperate escape from—the Mythos, ending in a good use the Chase mechanic.
# Backstory remains hidden and the main Mythos threat is not a threat until dislodged.

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: Radio Killed Verna StarrPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Michael Schaal

Setting: Jazz Age PennsylvaniaProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Thirteen page, 2.83 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Radio control in rural PennsylvaniaPlot Hook: Strange deaths in small town Pennsylvania reveal the dangers of new technology
Plot Support: Staging advice, three handouts, six NPCs, one Mythos monster, and one Mythos entity. Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Weird first encounter # Works as a single Investigator scenario# Keeper can prepare period recordings as handouts and atmosphere# Switch to the 1950s for televisiophobia?# Radiophobia# Pun title# Finally, an Investigator gets to use the Electrical Repair skill!
Cons# Underwhelming hook for the Investigators# Needs a strong edit# First encounter should be the hook# NPCs with similar names# Pun title
Conclusion# Weird first encounter signals an entertaining period side-trek Call of Cthulhu investigation highlighting our fears of technology and the new.# Pun title does give the plot away, but solidly plotted, easy to run twist upon the zombie horror genre (and back again).

Cyberpunk is back. Or rather it returned in 2019. The original roleplaying game which drew from Cyberpunk literary subgenre—of which William Gibson’s Neuromancer was a leading example—was first published by R. Talsorian Games Inc. in 1988 as Cyberpunk (now known as Cyberpunk 2013) before being given a second edition with Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. in 1990. Putting aside the less than well-received Cyberpunk V3.0 of 2005, what is in effect the fourth edition of the roleplaying game—Cyberpunk RED: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future—came out ahead of the highly anticipated computer roleplaying game, Cyberpunk 2077, but was not only designed as a standalone roleplaying game in its own right, being set in the year 2045, it also serves as a bridge between the period of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. and the computer game. Thus there is much that will be familiar to the Game Master and the player of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. There are the same ten character Roles, many of the MegaCorporations are still present, the same Interlock mechanics are used, as is the ‘Friday Night Firefight’ combat system. However, Cyberpunk RED has almost post-Post Apocalypse feel to it, taking place in and around a city which is recovering and suffering from environmental and radiation damage, the influence of the MegaCorporations has been reduced, and mechanically, the Interlock system has been streamlined for ease of play.
Cyberpunk Red: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future takes place in the Time of the Red. The Golden Age of Cyberpunk, of freewheeling embrace of technology, acceptance of cyberware as a way of life, of easy access to the NET where Netrunning console cowboys and cowgirls jockeyed for prestige as raided corporate networks, of the massive growth of corporations as extraterritorial entities, all radically dividing the future into one of extreme haves and havenots... That ended on August 20th, 2023, when a ‘pocket nuke’ was detonated in the Arasaka headquarters in the west coast metroplex of Night City. It ended the Fourth Corporate War between Arasaka and Militech, devastated Night City, and brought economic and environmental devastation to the world, causing a depression which continues two decades on... It ended corporate domination, reducing corporations to being local and international; turned much of the USA into a new Wild West where safe travel could often only be promised by the Nomad tribes. For years after the nuclear detonation, the sky was red and still is at dawn dusk, leading the new age to be known as the Time of the Red.

Night City is a frontier town, an independent city state rebuilding after the effects of the bomb. Services, supplies, and law enforcement are what you pay for. The reduced corporations still supply and provide almost everything, from power to food to medical services to media, with goods often brought in by Nomad tribes that run transport in the new North America, independents do grow real food though, and whilst the corporations have their own security, freelancers and bodyguards are available for hire, though the city maintains a Maximum Force Tactical Division or ‘Psycho Squad’ or ‘MAX–TAC’ which handles cybernetic criminals or anyone suffering from Cyberpsychosis. As inhabitants of Night City, you get your information from city wide freestanding dataterms and news from screamsheets downloaded to a personal agent helps you with your daily life from phone calls to shopping; you wear clothing able to emit sounds and video, even monitor your condition; you do your shopping at self-contained, armed and armoured Vendits; you eat kibble or good prepack food if you can; and you go armed. Either a Polymer One-shot easily bought or printed, or something bigger purchased from a Fixer after it has been scavenged from the Fourth Corporate War or smuggled into the city and purchased at a secret Night Market. The same goes for Cyberware...

The world of Cyberpunk RED is violent, neon cast, and dominated by technology to the point where it has been subsumed into the body. Cyberware enables humanity to be faster, stronger, have better senses, and more. Some have reacted to this mechanical invasion of the body with technoshock, but other have embraced it, living on the edge, taking advantage of their enhancements to be able to rip doors off with their cyberarms, drive their car or aerodyne with inhuman reflexes via interface plugs, tune into the infrared with cybereyes, or even cast their consciousness into local NET architectures at the speed of data. All to survive, make money, and build their rep. They are known as Edgerunners.
In terms of what you can play, Cyberpunk RED offers ten Roles or Edgerunner types—Execs, Fixers, Lawmen, Medias, Medtechs, Netrunners, Nomads, Rockerboys, Solos, and Techs. Execs represent the MegaCorporations, protecting their interests and reputations; Fixers are dealmakers smugglers, organisers, and information brokers; Lawmen enforce what law they can on the streets and the highways; Medias are journalists, media stars, and influencers who bright stories to light and make names for themselves; MedTechs are street doctors, capable of patching up wounds and damage to flesh and metal alike; Netrunners are the cybernetic master hackers of the post-NET world and brain burning secret stealers; Nomads are transportation experts and the ultimate road warriors; Rockerboys are rock and roll rebels who use performance and rhetoric to fight authority; Solos are assassins bodyguards, killers, and soldiers for hire in a lawless new world; and Techs are renegade mechanics and inventors who build devices and keep others running.
An Edgerunner has ten stats—Body, Cool, Dexterity, Empathy, Intelligence, Luck, Move, Reflexes, Technique, and Willpower—typically ranging between one and eight, but can be higher. Of these, Empathy is important because it helps withstand the potential effects of Cyberpsychosis, and is primarily lost due to the implantation of cyberware. The Luck stat is used as a pool of points to apply to skill rolls if needed. It refreshes at the start of each session. In addition, an Edgerunner will have numerous skills, again rated on a one to ten scale, as well as various items of cyberware and equipment. Each Role has its own Role Ability, also on the same scale. The Exec builds on ‘Teamwork’, gaining all the corporate benefits of being employed—housing, health insurance, and more—as well as loyal team members to do his bidding, such as a bodyguard, driver, netrunner, or spy. The Fixer has ‘Operator’ which represents his contacts and reach as well as his skill at haggling. The Lawman has , indicating the number of law enforcement officers he can call into help. The Media has ‘Credibility’ and can get rumours, gain access and sources for stories, and build both an audience and his believability. The Medtech has ‘Medicine’ which enables him to perform surgery, operate medical technology, and use pharmaceuticals. The Netrunner has ‘Combat Awareness’ which enables him to run the Net and do various actions within the Net. The Nomad has ‘Moto’ which represents their familiarity with vehicles and the various types of vehicles he has access to in the family motorpool and can upgrade. The Rockerboys has ‘Charismatic Impact’ which determines the size of clubs he can play and his ability to affect his fans, from one to a single group. The Solo has ‘Combat Awareness’, which lets his player determine his combat effectiveness from round to round, such as Damage Deflection, Precision Attack, and Threat Detection. The Tech has ‘Maker’ which enables him to specialise in various types of expertise, such as Field Expertise, Upgrade Expertise, Fabrication Expertise, and Invention Expertise, and so repair, invent, and improve technology.
Not all of the Role Abilities are necessarily that easy to use or bring into play or even that interesting. The ‘Combat Awareness’ of the Solo will always be useful in a fight whereas the ‘Backup’ Ability of the Lawman has a limited use—after all, how many times can he call for backup? Most of the Role Abilities of the other Roles have specific uses, and whilst in general easy to use, those of Rockerboy and the Tech—especially the Tech—require closer reading to fully understand.
In terms of Edgerunner creation, a player is provided with three options—‘Streetrats’, ‘Edgerunners’, and ‘Complete Packages’. ‘Streetrats’ uses templates to create an Edgerunner; ‘Edgerunners’ starts with templates, but lets a player customise them; and ‘Complete Packages’ allows a player to create his Edgerunner using pools of points. Beginning with the player selecting his Edgerunner’s Role, ‘Streetrats’ is the simplest and fastest, with the other two increasing in both complexity and time to complete. Each one sets both the level of the game and its relative complexity. All three use a Lifepath set of tables to determine the Edgerunner’s cultural origins, personality, dress and personal style, motivations and relationships, background and more, all the way up to life goals. These can be customised as necessary, and a player can roll or select as is his wont. Each Role has its own subset of Lifepath tables. Altogether, they add to the detail and background of an Edgerunner without providing any mechanical benefit. The process is quite fun too.

Melina ElviraRole: TechRole Ability: Body 7 Cool 4 Dexterity 7 Empathy 6 (4) Intelligence 6Luck 5 Move 5 Reflexes 7 Technique 8 Willpower 4Hit Points: 50Humanity: 60 (48)Athletics 2 Basic Tech 6 Brawling 2 Concentration 2 Conversation 2 Cybertech 6 Education 6 Electronics/Security Tech (x2) 6 Evasion 6 First Aid 6 Human perception 2 Land Vehicle Tech 6 Language (Spanish) 6 Language (Streetslang) 2 Local Expert (Your Home) 2, Perception 2 Persuasion 2 Science (Chemistry) 1 Shoulder Arms 6 Stealth 2 Weaponstech 6

Equipment: Shotgun, Basic Shotgun Shell Ammunition ×100, Flashbang Grenade, Light Armorjack, Body Armor (SP11), Light Armorjack Head Armor (SP11)Agent, Anti-Smog Breathing Mask, Disposable Cell Phone, Duct Tape ×5, Flashlight, Road Flare ×6, Tech Bag, Generic Chic: Bottoms ×8, Tops ×10, Leisurewear: Footwear ×2Cyberware: Cybereye, MicroOptics, Skinwatch, Tool Hand

Cultural Origins: South/Central AmericanLanguage: SpanishPersonality: Moody, rash, and headstrongClothing Style: Bag Lady Chic (Homeless, Ragged, Vagrant)Hairstyle: MohawkAffectation You Are Never Without: TattoosWhat Do You Value Most?: HonestyHow Do You Feel About Most People?: Every person is a valuable individual.Things You Value the Most?: A public figureMost Valued Possession You Own?: A piece of clothingFamily Original Background: Nomad Pack (You had a mix of rugged trailers, vehicles, and huge road kombis for your home. You learned to drive and fight at an early age, but the family was always there to care for you. Food was actually fresh and abundant. Mostly home schooled.)Childhood Environment: In a decaying, once upscale neighbourhood, now holding off the boosters to survive.Family Crisis: Your family vanished. You are the only remaining member.Friend’s Relationship to You: Someone with a common interest or goal.Enemy: Person you work for. You just don't like each other. Connected to a powerful gang lord or small Corporation.Revenge Against the Enemy: Backstab them indirectly.Tragic Love Affair: Your lover is imprisoned or exiled.Life Goals: Hunt down those responsible for your miserable life and make them pay.Tech Type: WeaponsmithWorkspace: Everything is colour coded, but it’s still a nightmare.Workspace Partner: Possible romantic partner as wellMain Clients: Local Fixers who send you clients.Source of Supplies: Corporate Execs supply you with stuff in exchange for your services.Who’s Gunning For You?: Larger manufacturer trying to bring you down because your mods are a threat.
Mechanically, Cyberpunk RED is relatively straightforward. To have his Edgerunner undertake an action, a player rolls a ten-sided die and adds the Edgerunner’s Stat and Skill to beat a Difficulty Value. This Difficulty Value ranges from nine for Simple to twenty-nine for Legendary with thirteen for Everyday and fifteen for Difficult. A Critical Success is a roll of ten and another roll of a ten-sided die is added to the result of the first roll. A Critical Failure is a roll of one and another roll of ten-sided die, plus the Edgerunner’s Stat and Skill, is added to the result of the first roll. Combat or ‘Friday Night Firefight’ uses the same core mechanic, for example when shooting at an opponent, the player rolls a ten-sided die and adds the Edgerunner’s Reflexes and Weapon Skill to beat a Difficulty Value, that either can be the Range to Target or the Defender’s Dexterity plus Evasion Skill plus a roll of a ten-sided die (the latter because a Defender with a Reflexes of eight or more can attempt to dodge a ranged attack). Melee attacks take into account the various forms and special moves for various martial arts, whilst ranged attacks cover the use of crossbows and bows as well as autofire. ‘Friday Night Firefight’ stresses the use of cover and armour—including the use of a human shield if grappling—as it can be deadly. One or two rounds can be enough to kill an unarmoured target and if two or more of the dice rolled for damage are six, a critical hit is inflicted. A critical hit has nasty effects. The ‘Trauma Team’ rules, named for the subscription ambulance service, cover damage of all kinds, including Cyberpsychosis. ‘Friday Night Firefight’ also takes in vehicle combat, but it adds another form of combat too—Reputation. An Edgerunner builds this through his actions and the things he has done, and it can be good or bad. As well as being used to determine if an NPC has heard of the Edgerunner, it is used as a modifier when a facedown occurs and there is a battle, not so much of wills, but to see which person is more Cool.
One of the potentially more complex aspects of Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk RED is Netrunning. A signature aspect of both roleplaying game and genre, in the past this involved the Netrunner jacking into the vast datasphere of the NET, rendering him unconscious whilst his fellow Cyberpunks were actually on the mission. Mechanically, it was also complex and time-consuming, a sub-game within the roleplaying game, but for one player only and only taking up seconds of in-game time in comparison to real time. As a result of the Fourth Corporate War, by the Time of the Red in Cyberpunk RED, the NET has been shutdown and whilst the Netrunner still has to jack in, he does it on scene and wearing Virtual Goggles. Which means he is present with the other Edgerunners and he can switch back and forth between the real world or ‘meatspace’ and the virtual space of the local NET. Netrunning is modelled as riding in an elevator going up floor by floor, opening the doors at each floor where the Netrunner might face a Program, Black ICE, another Netrunner, File, Control Node, and so on. This NET Architecture can also branch.
Netrunning runs at the same scale as ‘Friday Night Firefight’. The Netrunner is limited to a Move Action in Meatspace and another Meatspace Action or a number of actions—between two and five—in the NET determined by his Interface Role Ability value. A Netrunner can use these actions to Cloak his presence in the local NET Architecture, use a Control Node to direct connected cameras, drones, turrets, laser grids, and so on, examine files with an Eye-Dee program, implant a Virus, attack or defend against another program, and more. The Netrunning rules include descriptions of various programs and Cyberdeck hardware, advice for the Game Master on building NET Architecture, and notes for the Edgerunner who wants to install his own NET Architecture as home security. The rules are focused, streamlined, and within a game, keeps the Netrunner on scene, as well as keeping him at the same time scale as combat. However, they do still feel that when doing a Netrun, the player and the Game Master are doing a mini-game, one that is comparatively more complex than the rest of the game. Fortunately, the rules are not as complex or as time consuming as those of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. or Cyberpunk 2013.
In terms of background, Cyberpunk RED provides details of numerous pieces of gear and equipment—weapons, cyberware, food, fashion, and more. There is flavour too in the inclusion of in-game adverts and three short stories. ‘Never Fade Away’, the first, is set in 2013 and retells the reasons behind the Rockerboy icon Johnny Silverhand’s hatred of the megacorporation, Arasaka, which will lead to the final confrontation in Night City which triggered the end of the Fourth Corporate War as detailed in the second story, ‘The Fall of the Towers’. The third short story, ‘Black Dog’ brings the history up to date with events in 2045.
There is a lengthy timeline, which runs from the nineteen nineties up to the twenty forties, and descriptions of what the world and Night City is like in the Time of the Red. This includes the major corporations of the period, a mix of the old and the new, and for Night City, the various districts, gangs, and influential persons. Quick overviews are provided of the nations beyond the borders of the USA, but these only set the scene rather than provide any actual detail. The default setting is still Night City though, and here it gets down into the personal, everyday life, explaining how a personal Agent works, the legalities of weapons and how to get them, travel, what you eat, your entertainment, where you shop, and a lot more. There is a lot of flavour and detail here, all of which can be used by the Game Master to bring the future of 2045 to life for her players and their Edgerunners.

For the Game Master, there is plenty of advice on running Cyberpunk RED. This includes genre advice such as using the urban environment, trust no one, set the mood, know the world, and so on—there is similar advice for the player at the front of the book—and campaign types, typically built around specific team types like a band or gangs or Trauma Team unit, and character and player types. It suggests using a ‘Beat Chart’ to script plots and stories and goes into the various types of beat that the Game Master can use. It has a pleasing modularity and comes with examples which the Game Master can use or adapt. Besides various NPCs and encounter charts, there are two Screamsheets, essentially newspaper headlines around which is presented a scenario. Both are quite short and should provide a session or two’s worth of play. The rules for Edgerunner improvement are placed here too, which feels a little odd. They are interesting though, Cyberpunk RED offering an optional ‘Playstyle-Based Improvement’ system which rewards players and their characters depending upon what they favour and whether their playstyle is that of a Warrior, Socialiser, Explorer, or Roleplayer. Determining this requires each player to take a small quiz after Edgerunner creation, which is why it feels so odd being placed almost at the end of the book.
Physically, Cyberpunk RED is an imposing volume, containing a lot of information. For the most part it is well written, with excellent artwork and cartography. There is some repetition between some of the tables and sections in the Edgerunner creation rules and the sections where equipment and cyberware is explained in more detail. This, though, is really designed to help speed up Edgerunner creation, and speeding this and other processes is clearly the layout designers’ intent. There are pointers to other sections of the book if a player wants to know more about particular aspects of the setting or rules (numbered pages for the print book, hypertext links in the PDF), flowcharts pull the player through the Edgerunner creation process. Despite the wealth of information contained in the book, there is every effort here made to ensure that it is accessible.
Yet, for all of the degree of detail and flavour, especially at the level of living and working the streets of Night City, where Cyberpunk RED does not quite succeed and feels as if it could have used more of, is in-game branding. A lot of the equipment, the weapons, the cyberware, and the Netrunning gear are generic, and although there are a few weapon names and the like, finding this is not easy and it definitely needed more to help enforce the verisimilitude of the Time of the Red. This though is a minor complaint and if the Game Master has access to supplements for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. then she can cannibalise all of the branding and names from the Golden Age of the Cyberpunk and put them on sale at a Night City Night Market.
Cyberpunk RED: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future is a streamlined and accessible update of the classic Cyberpunk roleplaying game. It brings the Time of the Red to life with a wealth of detail and engaging flavour and supports it with familiar mechanics and solid advice—for both the player and the Game Master.

Three decades after the release of the last supplement for MegaTraveller in 1992, a lost book comes to print, and it is fitting that it should come from Digest Group Publications. Published in 1987, it was in effect the second edition of Traveller, updating Games Designers Workshop’s classic Science Fiction roleplaying game with both a streamlined cohesive set of mechanics and an updated background. This updated background would begin with the assassination of Emperor Strephon and over the course numerous supplements see open rebellion and civil war break out across the Third Imperium, which would ultimately lead to a long decline in terms of trade and technology known as the Hard Times. Worse was to follow. Digest Group Publications designed MegaTraveller, but Games Designers Workshop published it, a relationship which would continue for five years. When Digest Group Publications closed its doors in 1993, it left behind it a legacy of some highly regarded and subsequently, much in demand, supplements and sourcebooks that have not since been reprinted. It also left behind a number of books which never print and are so regarded as having been lost. Notable amongst them would have been Digest Group Publications own roleplaying game, A.I. However, there were supplements for MegaTraveller too, and Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is one of these. 
Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 was originally projected for publication in 1990, but is now available for the first time, more than three decades on, thanks to some digital archaeology which was able to rescue the original files. It is an adventure module set in the years 1119 and 1120 prior to the Hard Times which concerns the adventures of the crew of the Robin Ascendant, a Type J Class Seeker. The crew is seeking the location of the Victory Belt, a legendary asteroid belt said to contain enough Onnesium-118—a highly efficient metaconductor—to give a man enough wealth to last not one lifetime, but several. This quest will begin on Trin, the capital of Trin’s Veil Subsector in the Spinward Marches and take them trailing through the Corridor Sector and into the Restored Ziru Sirka. Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 consists of two adventures—‘Cometfall’ and ‘Fharnas’—which take place at the beginning and end of the journey outlined in the supplement. In between there is plenty of scope and distance (over one hundred parsecs) for the Game Master to insert her own adventures and encounters and the supplement includes several detailed ideas for ‘transitional’ adventures which can be worked into the journey.
In ‘Cometfall’, the crew of the Robin Ascendant track down an elderly Vargr scientist who is conducting research into comets from a highly advanced base built into the rock of a comet! The crew hopes that the scientist knows of the location of the Victory Belt, and although he is welcoming, he seems to be prevaricating when it comes to actually telling the crewmembers what they want to know. Eventually, he will tell them what he does know, but not before they join him on an exploration of the comet’s surface—an incredibly dangerous environment, the base being attacked by pirates, and their managing a desperate escape. This information consists primarily of a destination, a Scout Service base on the world of Fharnas in the Kasear Subsector of the Vland Sector, the location for the second scenario, ‘Fharnas’. Here on and in another hostile environment—hostile because the world has ammonia oceans and an ammonia-tainted atmosphere and hostile because the Restored Ziru Sirka does not welcome speakers of Galanglic, the language of the Third Imperium and the Solomani, as opposed to the Vilani of the Ziru Sirka—the crewmembers find themselves conducting a ‘raid’ on an Imperial Interstellar Scout Service to obtain some information in return for the information that they want. With this information, they are ready for travel further trailward to the world of Antares in the Julian Protectorate. The adventures were to be the subject of the next supplement, Antares Down: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 2 and then concluded with Beyond the Seventh Moon: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 3.
Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is designed to be played with the four pre-generated Player Characters, crewmembers of the Robin Ascendant. These consist of Fencil Tufo, a driven Belter and owner of the Robin Ascendant; Shalya Lyric, an ex-Navy engineer who simply wants to travel and see the universe; David Janier, a religious ex-Merchant; and ‘Mak’, a translation robot who owned by Janier. In this it follows the same format as seen in the campaign which ran through the pages of the Traveller’s Digest magazine—also published by Digest Group Publications. Suggestions are given on how to use the scenarios with different Player Characters and a different starship, but the default is the Robin Ascendant and its crew (or at least another vessel with Jump capability of Jump-2). As well as the stats and background of the crew, which also come with illustrations, the supplement includes deck plans for the Robin Ascendant and a passenger submersible, floor plans for both the comet base and the Scout Service archives (the latter having a weird maze-like layout designed to confuse), and the stats and details of various other vehicles. These are of course designed for use with MegaTraveller, but an appendix provides conversions for both Mongoose Publishing’s Traveller and Game Designers’ Workshop’s own Traveller 5.
In terms of background, Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 includes information on Onnesium and the Victory Belt, as well as details of Trin’s Veil Subsector and Trin itself and Fharnas and the Kasear Subsector. This background is well written and presented for what would have been the first time back in 1990, which includes a detailed description of the Kur’Apaa. These are the ammonia ocean dwelling sophonts native to Fharnas, a lobster-like species which was the first to be encountered by the Vilani when they began their first steps into space. Again, this was the first they were presented as Traveller canon. Some of this, of course, has been superseded by later supplements—as outlined in the supplement’s fourth appendix, ‘Wonderful Things’—and some of that later information has been incorporated into the setting background for Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1.
Rounding out Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is a quartet of appendices. These detail the Player Characters and their ship, the latter complete with deck plans, provide conversions for the most recent rules used for Traveller, and in ‘Wonderful Things’ provides some historical background to the relationship between Digest Group Publications and Game Designers’ Workshop, the origins and intent of Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1, and how it was finally brought to availability and print. This provides it with some welcome context and is a particularly good read.
In terms of story structure, Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is a quest and involves a long journey of more than a year across the remnants of the Third Imperium. This does mean that it is linear in nature and ‘Visual Nugget’ format of presenting the plot and various scenes does contribute towards this. However, the format neatly organises the plot and its various scenes for the Referee, as potential alternative scenes as well. The Referee will also need to do more than just prepare the two scenarios at either end of the journey if she wants to run Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 as a fuller campaign. One suggestion given is have the pirates which appear in ‘Cometfall’ chase the Robin Ascendant and its crew across the Third Imperium, and that is a good idea, since it adds an element of continuity between the two scenarios, which could be strengthened by the pirates’ patron also chasing the Player Characters as well.
The obvious issue with Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is that it takes place in a timeline which is not currently supported. Suggested sourcebooks such as the Rebellion Sourcebook from Game Designers’ Workshop and The MegaTraveller Alien: Vilani and Vargr from Digest Group Publishing are long out of print, although the Rebellion Sourcebook is available as a PDF. So, anyone not steeped in the lore of Traveller is going to have a harder time preparing this supplement than those who are.
Physically, Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is cleanly laid in the style of a Traveller book of thirty years ago. Entirely done in black and white, the artwork is straightforward and has an understandably technical feel to much of it. The deck plans are all excellent, but the writing is dry in places.
Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 is a piece of history, but not an unwelcome one. Its two scenarios are still playable, with some development upon the part of the Game Master, the space and time between them can be used to begin an entertaining space quest. Fans of Traveller will very much appreciate having Manhunt: The Onnesium Quest Vol. 1 available at last—especially if they are fans of MegaTraveller—whilst anyone new to it will appreciate it as a snapshot of Science Fiction roleplaying from another future.