Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Life in the Dales has been good and all you have ever known. The working of the soil, the turning of the seasons, the joy of the festivals scattered throughout the year, and shared stories, some of past exploits, others of caution and calamity, and then, legends of great deeds long in the past and far away, outside the mountain fastness of the Dales. Above you know the wind as it blows cold down the mountain and into your bones or wafts along the river to warm your face and sway the barley. Of late, the wind has changed. You know it as it wails through the ruins of an ancient tower. You feel it as it brings a chill earlier in the nights than it should. You see the shadows deepen and hearts fill with uncertainty. The tales of old twist to tell of a fallen kingdom, of the Creatures of Twilight, and of Deceivers that stalked the innocent and the unwary, preying on the lost… Has an age-old threat returned and if so, why do you feel compelled to seek out the truth of the doom whispered upon the winds? To explore the extent of the Dales, before leaving its sanctuary, your home, and embark on a long journey in the Wanderlands?
This is the Legend in the Mist Demo Game, a quick-start for Legend in the Mist: The Rustic Fantasy RPG, published by the Son of Oak Game Studio, best known for City of Mist, the Pulp Noir, Urban Fantasy storytelling game. It is a narrative roleplaying game with optional tactical features intended to evoke the feeling of an old fireside tale. It uses a variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics, and the Legend in the Mist Demo Game includes a short three-act scenario, ‘A Shadow in the Barley’, that can be played through in a single session with the three pre-generated Player Characters provided.
A Player Character in Legend in the Mist is defined by four sets of themed Tags. These Themes vary, but can include Devotion, Trade or Skill, Trait, Personality, People, Trait, Possessions, and more. Themes are categorised as either Origin, Adventure, or Greatness Themes, which define where the Player Character came from, how he works to affect the world, and what he is good at, respectively. Each Theme set contains five Tags which can be used as a ‘Power Tag’ or a ‘Weakness Tag’. For example, the Red Marshal has the Tags of ‘The Red Armour’, ‘Stand Watch’, ‘Reassuring Presence’, ‘Know These Lands’, and ‘Loyal Horse’ for his Devotion Theme. A Theme has tracks for Experience—gained when a Tag is used as a weakness, and Decay, gained for acting against a Theme—that is, out of character—and which if filled, will lead to the replacement of the Theme. Each Player Character has a set of items which can be used as Tags too.
The three Player Characters in the Legend in the Mist Demo Game are ‘the Apple Picker’, a young, orphaned prankster; ‘the Red Marshal’, the new village scout; and ‘the Wise One’, the village healer who knows some of the mysteries of the world. Each Theme comes with some colour text which gives it and the Player Character some context. Lastly, each of the three pre-generated Player Characters comes on a double-sided A3-size sheet, with a female version on one side and a male version on the other.
Mechanically, to have his character attempt a task a player rolls two six-sided dice. If the result is ten or more, the Player Character succeeds without Consequences; if it is seven to nine, he succeeds, but suffers Consequences; and if six or less, the Player Character fails and suffers the Consequences. To the roll, the player adds as many Power Tags as he can and which are appropriate, but has to deduct any Weakness Tags that apply. The resulting value is the Player Character’s Power. This can be spent on various Effects—Attack, Influence, Boost, Create, and Restore. They can also be applied to Challenges and Threats in an attempt to overcome them. Each Challenge or Threat has a rating or a ‘Limit’, for example, to get past an encampment of bandits with two men on watch, the Limits might be ‘stealth: 2’ and ‘wounded: 3’. In the first example, the Player Characters would apply the Effects from a stealth-related Tag to exceed the Limit, whilst in the second, the Effects from an attack-type Tag would be used. This can be done over multiple attempts with the Effects stacking each time, but if successful will change the status of a Challenge or Threat. Thus, the ‘stealth: 2’ Limit changes to ‘evaded-2’ and the ‘wounded: 3’ Limit to ‘wounded-3’.
However, there are ramifications if a Challenge or Threat is not dealt with succinctly or is even ignored. The Narrator can apply Consequences. This might be something as straightforward as ‘bleeding-3’ for a wound, ‘burning-1’ from a spell, or ‘lost-4’ if in a blizzard, but Limits themselves could change. For example, the Limits for the bandits could change to ‘hunted: 3’ and ‘wounded: 4’, now that the Player Characters failed to get past the encampment. The Legend in the Mist Demo Game includes a list of possible Effects, a very quick introduction to character creation—more of an enticement to look at the full rulebook and what it offers than anything else, advice on running the roleplaying game, and possible Challenges, Threats, and Consequences that the Player Characters might face and suffer.
The adventure itself, ‘a Shadow in The Barley’ is set in the village of Ravenhome in the Dales. One autumn morning, the three Player Characters met on the road* outside of the village. They have time to interact before they hear the scream of a child coming from a nearby field of barley. Investigating reveals a very scared child, paralysed with fear, as well as a strange feeling upon the air. Is there something lurking in the field? All is revealed when a shambling, water-logged corpse, wearing old armour and wielding a rusty sword lurches onto the road. This is a Waken Sentry and the Player Characters will realise that the only source of water nearby is that of a pond in a decrepit tower. However, before the Player Characters can investigate they need to get the child to safety and warn the villagers. This sets up a social challenge which can end with the whole village fleeing or even arming everyone with pitch forks to deal with themselves. There is scope here for some good roleplaying versus some interesting, but not always helpful NPCs. The finale of the scenario sees the Player Characters investigate the tower, encounter a strange NPC who wants their help in retrieving a ‘family heirloom’ from the pond, and discover the cause of the Waken Sentry.
* Well, it makes a change from a tavern.
‘a Shadow in The Barley’ is ultimately the introduction to a longer scenario, setting up, as it does, a mystery at the end . In the process of setting that up, it showcases how the rules apply to different situations—one combat related, one social, and one exploratory.
Physically, the Legend in the Mist Demo Game is well presented. The artwork is good and the writing decent. All three Player Character sheets come separate from the main book and there is even a sheet of Tracking Cards to cut and use to keep track of Effects being applied to Threats and Challenges and Limits being reduced.
If the Legend in the Mist Demo Game is lacking anything, it is an example of play or the rules in play. Without either, it is not quite as easy to grasp as it could have been, presenting more of a challenge to learn for anyone new to roleplaying or new to the narrative style of play employed in Legend in the Mist: The Rustic Fantasy RPG. However, for the experienced Narrator or the Narrator willing to grasp its slightly different rules, the Legend in the Mist Demo Game is a solid, engaging introduction to Legend in the Mist: The Rustic Fantasy RPG.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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If there was an award for the most generically useful item released for Free RPG Day 2025, it would go to the Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack. Published by The Story Engine, this is an introduction to The Story Engine: Deck of World, a deck of cards designed to help users create worlds complete with cultures, geographies, histories, flora, and fauna, simply by drawing and combining cards. The Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack contains just thirty-five cards, little more than a tenth of the two-hundred-and-forty cards to be found in The Story Engine: Deck of World, all packed into a seven-by-seven centimetre box. Unlike previous offerings from The Story Engine, the Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack opens easily and then opens up fully and easily. When closed, the box holds the cards firmly in place, but when opened up, forms the instruction sheet, which takes the user through the process step-by-step.
The Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack contains six card types. These are Region, Landmark, Namesake, Origin, Attribute, and Advent. A Region card has one element which gives the setting a basic environment, like ‘Desert’ or ‘Swamp’. The Landmark expands the basic environment and provides a point of interest, such as ‘Tree’ or ‘Workshop’, ‘Peak’ or ‘Town’, and ‘Point’ or ‘Temple’. The Namesake card gives the Region a sobriquet, providing four like ‘Roaming’, ‘Of Fools’, ‘Of Glass’, and ‘That Knows’. The Origin card also has four elements such as ‘Home of a vanished People’, ‘Founded by Outcasts’, ‘Last Known Location of An Ancient Artifact’, and ‘Said To Have Been The Home Of God(s)’, which provides a lore-based background. Similarly, the Attribute card also has four elements and provides a present day feature about the Region, for example, ‘Polluted’, ‘Unusual Election Process’, ‘Hunting Ground’, and ‘Known For Fossil(s)’. Lastly, the Advent card only has two elements, such as ‘They Are Under Siege By A Foreign Power: An Army, Bombardment, or Propaganda War’ and ‘Wildlife Is Behaving Peculiarly: Aggression, Disorientation, Or Hyperactivity’. The six card types are each a different colour, front and back, and so easy to identify.
To create a micro setting, the user draws a card of each type, one-by-one. The core is the Region card, whilst the others are slipped underneath the Region card so that only one of their elements shows. For example, the ‘Island(s)’ Region card is drawn followed by the Landmark card, which presents a choice of ‘Library’ or ‘Cave’. The former is chosen, then for the Namesake card there is a choice of ‘Shattered’, ‘Of Flags’, ‘Of Strays’, and ‘That Sleeps’. Of these ‘Of Strays’ is added the micro setting. The four choices for the Origin are ‘Was Once Encased In Ice’, ‘Origin of A Popular Game Or Sport’, ‘Founded As A Claim Of Independence’, and ‘Linked To Apocalyptic Lore’. The latter is added. The Attribute card suggests ‘Religiously Diverse’, ‘Known For Street Food’, ‘Seasonal Flooding’, and ‘Carnivorous Plants’, of which ‘Religiously Diverse’ is suitable. Lastly, the Advent card suggests either ‘A Leader’s Sudden Death Is Creating A Power Vacuum: To Be Filled By Heirs, Council Members, Or A Vote’ or ‘Earthquakes Are Uncovering Something Long Buried: A Hive, Sinkhole, Or Tomb’, with the former being chosen.
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The Island of Strays (‘Islands’ and ‘Of Strays’) sits at the far end of the world, awaiting the end of the world. Literally, for it is home to the Athenaeum Apocalyptica, its scholars and monks and prophets dedicated to the study of the end of the world (‘Linked To Apocalyptic Lore’). Over the centuries, it has built up the most complete collection of lore—scrolls, books, carvings, songs, and stories—about the end of the world and even has a whole school, Wisdom Pursuant Apocalyptica dedicated to determining when the end is coming. Although its members include adherents of militant millenarianism and devotees of extreme eschatology, as well as mathematical prophets and augural ascetics (‘Religiously Diverse’), only verbal conflict and debate is allowed on the island. However, the death of the Head Haruspex, Marius IX, Envoy of the Epoch, has left the Athenaeum Apocalyptica without a prime prophet. Accession would not be a matter of great consequence, but the Athenaeum Apocalyptica is approaching the turning point between millennial years and the apocalyptic belief of the Herald of Honesty will determine the belief and the funding distribution for the prophetic phrontisteries for centuries to come (‘A Leader’s Sudden Death Is Creating A Power Vacuum: To Be Filled By Heirs, Council Members, Or A Vote’). —oOo—
Physically, the Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack is a delightfully simple package. The artwork is engaging and the instructions on the inside of the clever packaging are very well done.
The Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack is only a taster of the full The Story Engine: Deck of World—a quick-start if you will… Yet it offers a surprising degree of versatility, even with just six Region types and twelve Landmarks, on top of which the Namesake, Origin, and Attribute cards add twenty-four options of their own, that can all be combined to create micro settings that a writer or a storyteller or a Game Master can start her world from and then add to it with further micro settings, developing it micro setting by micro setting, or even just focus on the one micro setting. The Deck of Worlds Sampler Pack is a great introduction to The Story Engine: Deck of World and offers prompts aplenty for what is a release for Free RPG Day.

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Buffalo Bill & the Southsea HorrorPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: C.M. Arnold

Setting: Ewardian PortsmouthProduct: Scenario for Cthulhu by Gaslight and Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos in the Old West
What You Get: Fifty page, 13.33 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Cowboys & Indians & Rhinoceroses, oh my!”Plot Hook: Why is patronage in Portsmouth so poor?Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, no NPCs with stats, eight handouts, one map, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Adequate
Pros# Marvelous sense of period parochialism# Nice period handouts# Culminates in a Wild West Shoggoth Showdown (hoedown?)# Possible sequel to Pilgrim’s Hope?# Zoophobia# Megalophobia# Plokámiphobia
Cons# No Investigator backgrounds
# Needs an edit
Conclusion# Cowboys & Indians & a Cthulhu Confection, OH BOY!# Short, single session period piece

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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If there was an award for the smallest roleplaying game—not the smallest item—released for Free RPG Day 2025, it would go to the Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster. It consists of twenty-four cards which all together provides a roleplaying experience that can be played through in an hour and even be played through more than once. Nobi Nobi is a Japanese roleplaying game, published by Arclight Games, and intended to be played at board game cafes as well as with beginners as introduction to roleplaying. The four core games, each covering a different genre, are designed to be played by between one and five players, including the Game Master, and played through in thirty to sixty minutes. These four have since been translated into English by French publisher, Don’t Panic Games, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster is easy to transport, fitting into any pocket, and requires just six six-sided dice. Which means that it can be played just about anywhere that has a flat surface.
The cards in the Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster consist of two Epilogue cards, one of which contains the roleplaying game’s rules on the reverse; two Introduction cards, one for the Game Master and one the first Main Character; eight Scene cards; four Darkness and four Light cards; and four Character cards. The Character cards are double-sided, each side depicting a different character archetype. Altogether, the eight archetypes are Enchanter, Wizard, Priestess, Cleric, Warrior, Shieldmaiden, Huntress, and Samurai. Each has two stats, Power and Technique, rated from one to six (together they total seven), and an Ability. These are quite simple, requiring specific rolls, add bonuses, and even require dice to land on the Character card itself when rolled! For example, the Warrior has a Power of six and a Technique of one, plus the ‘Destiny’s Strike’ Ability, which grants the player a roll with straight +7 bonus rather than adding either Power or Technique, but only if the player can persuade the Game Master that “a sword could come in handy” for the Scene.
The Scene cards come in two types, a ‘Check’ or a ‘Role-play’ Scene. Each comes with a prompt and a description that the Game Master reads out and the means of resolution. For a ‘Role-play’ Scene, this might require a player to roleplay in the traditional sense, add a storytelling element, and even act out a mime! A ‘Check’ result requires a dice roll, a player rolling two dice and adding either Power or Technique as indicated by the Scene card. If the player succeeds, determined by the dice roll for a ‘Check’ Scene or the Game Master for a ‘Role-play’ Scene, he earns a Light card. If the player fails, he earns a Darkness card. A Light card grants a bonus that can be used later in the game, for example, ‘Disciple’ reads, “You can designate any player with the arrow on this card or spin it to pick one at random. From now on, the designated PC will be your disciple. To guide them in their learning, you will need to steer them gently at times, and at others, be more severe.” and grants ‘Technique +1’. Whereas, a Darkness card grants an effect that breaks the rules, such as ‘Dark Force’, which reads “A dark force capable of twisting the laws of nature, rearranging causality… Even though it darkens your soul, right now you have no choice but use it.” and gives the ‘Dirty cheat’ ability to alter a Check by +2 or -2.
Nobi Nobi is played with a revolving Game Master and Main Character. At the start of the game, the designated Game Master sets the game up by reading out an Introduction card out and drawing the first Scene card and reading that out. The player to her left is the designated Main Character for the scene and his character will resolve the scene described. This can involve one or more of the other characters and their players, but it is the Main Character and his player who resolves the Scene. Once done, the role of the Game Master and of the Main Character passes to the left. Play like this continues until all of the Scene cards have been drawn and played. Then an Epilogue card is drawn and resolved, with every Player Character participating, and the session brought to a close.
Nobi Nobi is quick and easy to play though and the Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster even quicker. With just eight Scene cards, it plays better with either two players or four players so that every player is accorded a fair share of the Scenes. An experienced group of players will likely run through this in thirty minutes or so, whereas a less experienced group will take slightly longer. That said, the reaction to the demands of each ‘Role-play’ Scene will vary according to the experience of the players. The more experienced roleplayers will be au fait with the dice rolling, whereas the less experienced players will be more comfortable with the scenes which require something like miming to resolve.
Physically, the Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster is a simple pack of twenty-four cards. All are colour-coded according to type and so easy to spot, whilst the Character cards are illustrated in classic Manga style. The Scene cards do each have line art on them which depicts what is going on, but due to the size of the card, the artwork is slightly small.
Nobi Nobi looks to be an interesting format and means of introducing roleplaying to a wider audience, as well as having a low presence at the game table. The Nobi Nobi Quickstart Booster is an intriguing introduction, offering both a surprising amount of play in a very small package and easy replay value with different groups.

The halls of each of the Mappa Mundi Institutes stand as a repository of memory and a cradle of curiosity. Each is an archive of what was before and an empty store of what is to be found and discovered. Their Chroniclers are ready and eager to explore the world anew, to travel to the next valley or the other side of the world, and return with tales of what they have seen and stories of how such places have changed. For the world of Ecumene is a world that has changed. People once willingly travelled, making the long and sometimes difficult journeys from their homes to the other three continents and returned as living libraries of all they had experienced and all that they had seen. People, places, and Monsters and Creatures were learned about and from, and the stories shared and remembered, again and again. Then the Flux came and the world changed. Storms rose so big and so furious that travel became impossible. Rivers burst their banks and mountains were lost to fog so thick, it was as their very existence was greyed out. The Monsters and Creatures too changed. Before they had been studied and known, their behaviours and patterns respected, and some had even lived alongside and been protectors of the people, now some retreated into the Wilds, whilst others became aggressive, even monstrous… The nature of the Flux has long been debated, but now change has come again to the world of Ecumene. It is receding and people can begin to travel again. The Chroniclers can not only recover the stories of old, before the coming of the Flux, but observe anew and record stories of the world of Ecumene as it is now.

This is the set-up to Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG, a collaborative storytelling roleplaying game of exploration, discovery, and ecological change. Published by Three Sails Studios following a successful Kickstarter campaign, this is a roleplaying game with a firm emphasis on world building through play and a firm emphasis on non-violence to the extent that the roleplaying game does not actually have a combat system! Instead, the Chroniclers—as the Player Characters are known—having sworn an oath to ‘Do No Harm’, will explore new regions of the world, encounter new peoples, discover Monsters and Creatures, and interact with them, whilst their players are encouraged to ‘Shape’ the world around their Chroniclers, describing and adding detail to what they see, building upon what has been described before. The roleplaying game uses a deck of cards called the Journey Deck to create the story and the challenges the Chroniclers will need to overcome, all before coming face-to-face with the Monster or Creature they want to study and learn about. What they will not do, though, is discover what the Flux was—and perhaps still is—as that is not the point of the roleplaying game and the roleplaying game goes out of its way to not define it.

As a Chronicler, a Player Character will receive a Licence from the Mappa Mundi Institute, representing the training he has received. This is either Archivist, who specialises in recording folklore and separating it from the truth about Monsters and Creatures, and surveying new lands; Diviner, linked to Fate, who reads the signs in everything around him and the cards he draws and bones he rolls; Fixer, good at recognising social cues in both people and Monsters and Creatures, but also capable of jury-rigging tools, traps, and other helpful devices; and Guardian, who defends people from Monsters and Creatures, Monsters and Creatures from people, and also serves as a tracker and guide. A Chronicler has general Training in four Abilities— Traversal, Observation, Deduction, and Exploration—represented by ‘Bones’ or dice, the higher the better or more capable a Chronicler is. Mappa Mundi maps the Bone or die size to age and experience, the ‘Fate Bone’ or two-sided die represents childhood, the ‘Growth Bone’ or four-sided die represents young adulthood, the ‘Travel Bone’ or four-sided die represents the freedom of adulthood, the ‘Life Bone’ or eight-sided die represents experience and maturity, and the ‘Scholar’s Bone’ or twelve-sided die represents mastery and wisdom, but also deception. A Chronicler’s Licence determines where two of his Trainings are assigned, representing a strength and weakness, as well as the first Skills from the Licence’s Skill paths and then gives choices in terms of Interactions, how the Chronicler approaches the world.

In terms of development, all four Chronicler Licences can improve their Bones and possess extensive Skill trees that will see them be recognised for their Specialisations. For example, the Diviner can be recognised as a Cartomancer, Ossimancer, or an Augur, whilst a Guardian can be recognised as a Warden, Survivalist, or Trapper. It is also possible for a Chronicler to learn Skills from a Licence other than their own, and when a Chronicler gains two Specialisations or more, he will receive Endorsements. In general, it is faster to learn from failure than success.

Edmund
Licence: Archivist
ABILITIES
Traversal d4 Observation d6 Deduction d6 Exploration d4
SKILLSTraversal:
Observation: Behaviourist, Politics
Deduction: Folk Tradition
Exploration: Geography
INTERACTIONS
Diagnose, Study, Study

Mechanically, Mappa Mundi is quite simple. Whenever the Narrator asks a player to make an Ability Check for his Chronicler, the player rolls the die appropriate to the Ability. If the roll is equal to or higher than the Target, the Chronicler succeeds. A player can choose to substitute an Ability with a Skill and if the Narrator agrees—and she does not have to—then she can allow the Chronicler to automatically succeed or the Target for the Ability roll be reduced. One oddity here is that Mappa Mundi does not list set Target values, which initially is going to leave the Narrator and players at a loss. However, Mappa Mundi does, a few pages later, explain that mechanically, Mappa Mundi is intended to be adaptive and proportional. The difficult Target value for each of the four Abilities is determined by the average of the dice values assigned to each Ability for all Chroniclers and then values are set above and below for more or less challenging Targets. For a group of beginning Chroniclers, the average would be five, so the challenging Target would be six, an impossible Target set at eight, a standard Target at four, and an easy Target at two. The actual difficulty of a task depends on the context and some tasks will remain challenging no matter what the Chroniclers do.

In addition, a Chronicler can earn Fate Points for good play and good roleplaying. These can be spent on Fate Checks, with more challenging situations requiring more than one Fate Point. A Fate Check requires both the expenditure of Fate Points and the roll of the Fate Die, so even if the Chronicler has the Fate Points and his player wants to use them, success is not guaranteed. Lastly, Fate Points can be saved and used to unlock new Interactions.

Lastly, although Mappa Mundi does not have a combat system and a Chronicler cannot die, he can still be hurt, whether that is from getting into a fight or getting too close to a Monster. In which case, he suffers one of four conditions—Minor, Major, Unconscious, or Transformative. Each of these will affect the Chronicler in some fashion, making it more difficult for him to succeed until he either recovers or adapts.

Whether played as a one-shot or a campaign—and it really is designed for long term play, The Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG is played in three phases. These are the Research, Journey, and Encounter phases. During the Research phase, the Chroniclers will investigate a region, interact with its inhabitants, and learn about what they know about the region’s Monsters and Creatures. In the Journey phase, the Chroniclers will strike out into the wilderness in search of where the Monster or Creature they are looking for is located, and then, in the Encounter phase, they will confront the Monster or Creature. This is not to defeat it or tame it, perhaps as you would in another roleplaying game, but instead to observe it, learn about it, and discover its Behaviours. This requires the use of the Journey Deck. This consists of seventy-one Tarot deck-sized cards. These depict terrain such as a Summit, Stream, and Tor, and Monsters and Creatures such as the Afrit, Tiamat, and Shoroon Khutgagh. As well as being presented in full colour, each has a name at the top whose orientation in play will affect the challenges that the Chroniclers will face and work to overcome.

Prior to the start of play, the Narrator sets up the Journey Deck for the trip the Chroniclers want to make and the Creature or Monster that they want to encounter and learn about. This does not use all of the cards from the Journey Deck, but only the one representing the Creature or Monster and those that represent the terrain that the Chroniclers will traverse. This Monster or Creature and this terrain can be one of the Narrator’s own creation, or the Narrator can set it up based on the regions, Monsters, and Creatures detailed in Mappa Mundi. In response to the Chroniclers actions during the Research phase, the Narrator constructs the deck for the Journey phase. When added to this deck, a card can be placed ‘Rightwise’ or ‘Inverted’. ‘Rightwise’ if the Chroniclers encounter an NPC or learn a true fact during the Research phase, but ‘Inverted’ if they fail to find information, annoy an NPC, or so. During the Journey phase, reaching a location whose card is ‘Rightwise’ means that the travel is easier and more pleasant, and in game terms, the players have scope to ‘Shape’ the environment and narrative around their Chroniclers. Conversely, an ‘Inverted’ terrain card represents a challenge that the Chroniclers must overcome, but if they do, then they have the opportunity to again to ‘Shape’.

In the Encounter phase, the Chroniclers will come face-to-face with the Monster or Creature. Each Monster or Creature is defined by its Behaviours—eight for the Monster and four for the Creature—that are linked to and can be revealed by the Chroniclers’ Interactions, and Threads, which can either be Intact, Frayed, or Severed. These Threads require the Chroniclers to carefully handle them, and they can change according to the Chroniclers’ actions. Fail an Ability check and a Thread can go from Intact to Frayed and from Frayed to Severed, but where a Frayed Thread can be repaired to Intact, a Severed Thread cannot be repaired. Success means that a Chronicler can ultimately learn about a Behaviour and his player ‘Shape’ how it manifests. Overall success means learning about a Creature or Monster as much as the Chroniclers can and returning to the nearest Mappa Mundi Institute to share.

A Narrator is free to create her own regions and Monsters and Creatures, but almost two thirds of Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG is dedicated to ten regional guides and Monster and Creature descriptions found across Ecumene. These provide geographies, histories, cultures, and bestiaries to explore, examine, and enter into the records, backed up with ‘Tales of Interest’ that provide rumours and hooks that the Narrator can use to draw the players and Chroniclers in to investigate further. Every region’s bestiary includes three Monsters and a list of the more mundane Creatures complete Threads, Interaction, and ‘Shaping’ inspirations that the players can draw from to ‘Shape’ their Chroniclers’ interactions with them. Each Region is prefaced by a map that the Narrator can also draw from for inspiration in terms of the Terrain cards that she will use from the Journey Deck.

For the Narrator, there is advice and suggestions, not just on running the game, but also its tone and its key principles, to create a living world that will react to the actions of the Chroniclers. There is advice too on the Narrator creating her own Monsters and Creatures beyond those given in the book, and also a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ which addresses some of the enquiries already raised by Narrators.

Where Mappa Mundi underwhelms is in terms of its reader friendliness and accessibility. For example, there is no mention of the use of the cards to drive a story until the Narrator’s section and the explanation of how Target difficulties are rolled by the player and how Target difficulties are rolled by the Narrator are separate. Similarly, there are terms mentioned, such as various aspects of a Chronicler, that the reader is left to wonder at until several pages later. Consequently, there is a slight sense of disconnection in reading the book. Some of this could have been addressed with the inclusion of an index or even just a glossary. Further, whilst the use of the cards to set-up a story through its three phases is far from poorly explained, an example of play, from set-up to the three phases, would have eased the reader into what the designers intended. To be clear, none of these problems are insurmountable or impede play, they just mean that Mappa Mundi is just slightly harder to learn to play and harder to teach to play.

Physically, Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG comes in a sturdy box that also contains the cards of the Journey Deck. The art and cartography of the book and the art of the Journey Deck are lovely, the Monsters in particular, portraying new Monsters as well as new interpretations of old ones. The book itself is engagingly written, especially in the colour text. However, there are sections of italicised text after italicised text which is awkward on the eye.

Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG is a storytelling game and so offers a different style of play in comparison to traditional roleplaying games. Its lack of combat rules in particular, force the players and Chroniclers to roleplay and interact with the world in a different way, searching for signs of recovery from the Flux and finding out what has changed and what has stayed the same, and sharing what they have learned. This will require some adjustment for players and Narrators more used to the traditional style of roleplaying games, whilst those with experience with storytelling games will require far less adjustment, if any. The lack of fuller explanations and examples of play is likely to mean that the roleplaying game is better suited to be run by a Narrator who has some experience of running storytelling games. Nevertheless, the absence of combat rules and the ecological theme, very much mark Mappa Mundi out as a non-traditional roleplaying game and may open it up to a different audience. Overall, Mappa Mundi – An Exploration + Ecology RPG is a beautiful game about hope, discovery, and telling the story of the world around the Chroniclers.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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The Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart introduces the most recent version of the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, the rules system which has underpinned a variety of roleplaying games over the past forty-five years. Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, and Pendragon, Sixth Edition all use a variation of Basic Roleplaying, and there are several others not published by Chaosium, Inc. which do not use the system. Key features of Basic Roleplaying are that its resolution mechanic is percentile-based, with rolls under the value—skill or attribute—ensuring success, low Hit Points which means that combat can be quite deadly, armour points reduce damage suffered and adaptability to a variety of different genres. Of all the releases for Free RPG Day 2025, it seems almost superfluous to review the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart, since it is the one whose contents will be familiar to the majority of the readership for this blog. Nevertheless…

The Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart is very much written as a mini-roleplaying game. It explains what roleplaying is and what it entails, what is needed to play, and so on, before explaining the rules these start with characters and their creation. A Player Character has seven attributes—Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, and Charisma, rated between three and eighteen. Character creation begins by rolling for an array of values to assign. Each attribute also has its own active value that can rolled like a skill and skills themselves are divided in six categories—Communication, Manipulation, Mental, Perception, Physical, and Combat. Depending upon the type and genre of the setting or scenario, a Player Character will need to make use of Power Points, Fatigue, Sanity, Powers, and Attack Powers. (Only one pre-generated Player Character has spells rather than powers.) A Player Character will also have a Profession which provides a standard set of bonuses to apply. The Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart includes twelve, from Cowboy and Detective to Thief and Warrior, whilst the core rulebook provides four times as many. The Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart even go so far as to provide an example of the creation process.
The system is explained simply and easily. A standard task will not modify the chance of a success, but an easy chance simply means that a player rolls only to see if the result is a critical success or a fumble. A difficult task halves the chance of success, whilst an impossible task will always fail. A critical result is one tenth of the skill chance or less, while a fumble is equal to one tenth of the chance of the Player Character failing (unfortunately, the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart does not make this clear). For opposed rolls, the quality of the rolls are compared, whether critical successes, successes, failures, or fumbles. For more granular detail, the mainstay of Basic Roleplaying, the Resistance Table is included.
The rules also coverts time for various actions and combat. The combat round is broken down into five phases—‘Preparation’, ‘Social’, Ranged’, ‘Movement’, and ‘Close’. Attacks can be parried or dodged, critical successes double base damage and ignore armour, so are very deadly. Otherwise, armour reduces damage taken, as can shields. The spot rules for cover ambushes, backstabbing, cover, disarming, knockout attacks, and more. Just as the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart actually includes an example of character generation, it also includes an example combat, which amusing involves an anachronistic fight involving an Elf with a bow and a starship captain with a laser rifle.
The Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart comes with three adventures. These are ‘The Prisoner of Richelieu’ by Anthony Warren, ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ by Nick Middleton, and ‘The Lost Temple of Garthoon’ by Troy Wilhelmson.’ These are quite short affairs and each comes with its own set of four pre-generated Player Characters. In ‘The Prisoner of Richelieu’, the Player Characters are asked by the Queen to rescue her messenger, Monsieur Treville, who has been arrested by the evil Viceroy Renault. They have to break into Viceroy Renault’s secret prison and in the process will discover his own dark nature and why the prisoners look rather pale. ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ is a Science Fiction scenario in which the crew of a starship is forced to crash land on a planet after it has been fired upon when responding to a distress call. They must fight their way past robot sentries to get to the source of the signal, and then decide whether or not they actually want to save the source of the signal. ‘The Lost Temple of Garthoon’ is a mini-dungeon delve into a lost temple for treasure in a fantasy world. Now all four come with tips for the Game Master, but all three are really extended encounters that should take a group of players a couple of hours or so to play through. Of the three, ‘The Prisoner of Richelieu’ is the best one, allowing for that much more roleplaying and planning than the other two, which rather underwhelm the reader.
Physically, the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart is clean and tidy. In terms of its content, it feels slightly dense, but the content is not at all that complex. So, it is easier to read than it looks. The artwork is good as is the cartography, the map and text do not always align as they should. It is easy to work out what the author means, it means that the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart feels rushed in places.
Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart is a basic introduction to the Basic Roleplaying because it does not cover the more advanced aspects of the roleplaying game, such as Power Points, Fatigue, Sanity, Powers, and Attack Powers. In this, it feels like an update of the Basic Roleplay introduction published in 1981 and similar in complexity to the roleplaying game built directly off of that, Worlds of Wonder, which like the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart, detailed three different settings. Overall, the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine Quickstart feels old as well as new and is a good basic introduction to the Basic Roleplaying.

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

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Technically Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 is not a magazine. It collects some of the downloadable content made available for Cyberpunk RED , the fourth edition of R. Talsorian Games, Inc.’s Cyberpunk roleplaying game. So, its origins are not those of a magazine, but between 1990 and 1992, Prometheus Press published six issues of the magazine, Interface, which provided support for both Cyberpunk 2013 and Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. It this mantle that Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 and future issues is picking up in providing support for the current edition of the roleplaying game. As a consequence of the issue collecting previously available downloadable content, there is a lot in the issue that is both immediately useful and can be prepared for play with relative ease. There is also some that is not, and may not make it into a Game Master’s campaign.

Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 starts on a hard note, or rather, on a ‘hardened’ note. James Hutt begins the anthology with two connected articles—‘Hardened Mooks: break glass in case of powergaming’ and ‘Hardened Lieutenants: break glass in case of powergaming’, both of which provide tougher versions of the standard threats, mooks and lieutenants, to provide the Player Characters with more of a challenge. The former includes stats for the bodyguard, boosterganger, road ganger, and security, whilst the latter has stats for the netrunner—anti-personnel and anti-program; reclaimer chief, including a ‘lightning’ version for lieutenant who likes to fight form the front and a ‘thunder’ version’, who prefers to support from the back; and raid and siege versions of the security officer. None of these are suitable to be used against combat-orientated Player Characters, especially the lieutenants. In addition, the Game Master can customise them further with a table of complications for the mooks and tactics for the lieutenants. Further, the second article actually lists what a hardened Player Character actually looks like, so that the Game Master has a definitive ideas as to what that also looks like! Overall, solid support for when the Player Characters are finding things a little too easy.
Infamously, Night City is the site of a nuclear weapon being detonated, as well as having subject to numerous chemical spills and the ongoing effects of climate change over the years. All of which is reflected in ‘Night City Weather: The Sky Is Crying Blood’ by J Gray and James Hutt gives advice and a set of tables that the Game Master can use to colour her depiction of Night City. The latter are organised by season and each has a one-in-six chance of the weather turning strange. When it does, this could be anything from a radioactive windstorm or blood rain to dust storm or blackout. These are extremes, of course, but virtually all of Night’s Weather is extreme, whether that is suffering from exposure in a cold snap or increased armour penalties in a heatwave to suffering as if poisoned and a foreign object critical injury during an ash storm if not wearing a filter mask or nasal filters or simply being exposed to a biotoxin during a blood storm! All of it is nasty and extreme, and all of it is going to make the Player Characters value days when the weather is not a danger. The article details new gear and clothing designed to deal with this weather, including a Militech Combat Umbrellas, which of course, is also an umbrella gun! The article is the first of two in the that further develops Night City as a place and gives it some verisimilitude, being the sort of thing that can be worked into a scenario cannot only add atmosphere, but also affect how a mission might be played.
Infamously, Night City is the site of a nuclear weapon being detonated, as well as having subject to numerous chemical spills and the ongoing effects of climate change over the years. All of which is reflected in ‘Night City Weather: The Sky Is Crying Blood’ by J Gray and James Hutt gives advice and a set of tables that the Game Master can use to colour her depiction of Night City. The latter are organised by season and each has a one-in-six chance of the weather turning strange. When it does, this could be anything from a radioactive windstorm or blood rain to dust storm or blackout. These are extremes, of course, but virtually all of Night’s Weather is extreme, whether that is suffering from exposure in a cold snap or increased armour penalties in a heatwave to suffering as if poisoned and a foreign object critical injury during an ash storm if not wearing a filter mask or nasal filters or simply being exposed to a biotoxin during a blood storm! All of it is nasty and extreme, and all of it is going to make the Player Characters value days when the weather is not a danger. The article details new gear and clothing designed to deal with this weather, including a Militech Combat Umbrellas, which of course, is also an umbrella gun! The article is the first of two in the that further develops Night City as a place and gives it some verisimilitude.
The other is ‘Cargo Containers & Cube Hotels’ by James Hutt and J Gray, which asks the question, “Where might my character living and what is it that I am getting for rent each month?” Essentially, what can a Player Character can afford and with a few extra eurobucks afterwards, what he buy to make the place a little more homely. There are tables of locations and accompanying descriptions for both habitat types and then descriptions of potential upgrades, like some wall art, a fire safe, and even a hidden compartment.

In between, ‘Jumpstart Kit Conversion Guide: JSK adventures using core rules’, by James Hutt, Mike Pondsmith, and J Gray, addresses a problem with the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit. This is that its rules do not match those of Cyberpunk RED. The article is not simple an adaptation, but rather a rebalancing of its missions and adjustments so that it can form the basis of a starting point for a campaign. It includes advice too on how to run each of the missions in the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit. It is rare that game designers get to revisit an earlier product in their roleplaying game line—especially without the publication of an entirely new edition—but the release of the original PDF article and its inclusion here in Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 gives them space to do so. The article is easier to use if the Game Master has not run the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit, but makes it more accessible and easier to use overall.
‘Daeric Sylar’s Guide to Elflines Online’ by James Hutt continues exploring the online world of the most popular MMO played via Braindance in Night City, Elflines Online. First described in ‘Elflines Online: A Segotari Rush Revolution Exclusive’ and ‘Elflines Online: Expansion Pack’ in Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1, this third article includes a map of the setting and a guide to levelling up in the game and when to visit the various locations in the game, plus various monsters. The level of detail in the article feels like gilding the lily, adding extra detail to a world that feels superfluous to most Cyberpunk RED campaigns. That said, Elflines can be added as an activity in the game that NPCs and Player Characters engage in as flavour, but there is nothing to stop that the Player Characters needing to play in order to find an NPC or hidden data, or even adding fantasy roleplaying game that uses the Interlock system of Cyberpunk RED.
One of the issues with Cyberpunk RED is that its technology is often genericised and that includes its guns. This is in comparison to the weapons of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., in which all of the weapons are named and branded. In part, this has been offset by the release of the Black Chrome, but that does not include weapons or piece of gears from the previous versions of the roleplaying game. This was addressed in part by ‘Old Guns Never Die: A step-by-step conversion guide for bringing weapons from Cyberpunk 2020 into Cyberpunk RED’ in Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1, and is continued in Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 with by James Hutt’s ‘The 12 Days of Gunmas: A Cyberpunk Red Holiday Special’. As much a parody of The Twelve Days of Christmas, the article updates some classic weapons from Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., such as the Arasaka WAA Bullpup Assault Weapon, Militech Crusher, and Stolbovoy ST-5 Assault Rifle. Drawn from various supplements, these are a welcome addition that add weapon variety and flavour.

Lastly, the issue gets a bit weird with ‘Exotics of 2045: There’s nothing you can’t become’. Again, written by James Hutt, this details some of the options available as part of the Biotechnica’s Bioexotics programme, which for two decades has offered a range of full body sculpts and modifications, evolving into a month-long intensive ‘Zoo camp’ that requires a fixer and money beyond the cost of any surgery done, to attend. It has become highly exclusive, but can be accessed during character creation with the purchase of an Exotic Package using non-fashion/fashionware locked money. Seventeen packages are detailed, including what each package includes and its resulting Humanity Loss. They divided between major and minor Bioexotic packages. The minor include the ‘Embrace Rodentia’ rat form, ‘LagoForm’ rabbit form, and ‘Serpentise Yourself’ snake form, whilst the major include the ‘AquaForm’ whale form, ‘Bughouse’ insect form, and ‘UrsaForm’ bear form. Added to these are the FantaForms, which represent classic fantasy biosculpts, such as with the ‘Draconic FantaForm’ and the ‘Elvish FantaForm’. All of the new cyberware for these Exotic Packages is given too, like the ‘Reflex Co-Processor’ to super enhance a character’s Reflexes and a Combat Tail which act as a Heavy Melee Weapon. All of the options here push Cyberpunk RED into the realms of the fantastic to one degree or another, even to the point where with the FantaForms, the Player Characters could find themselves in the LARP equivalent of the Elflines Online! Certainly, these provide Cyberpunk RED with an anime element not as extrovertly present in the setting.
Physically, Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 is cleanly, tidily laid out. The artwork is decent too and everything is easy to read.

Although much of it was originally available for free, with the publication of Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 it is nice to have it in print. Some of its content is more useful than others, and some of it is going to find less favour with some Game Masters. The latter includes the articles on Elflines Online and the Exotic Biosculpts, whereas the ‘Cargo Containers & Cube Hotels’ and ‘Night City Weather: The Sky Is Crying Blood’ articles will add flavour and verisimilitude to a Game Master’s campaign, however they are used. Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 2 is a mixed bag in terms of content, but not quality of content. There is definitely something in its pages that every Cyberpunk RED Game Master is going to find useful.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition Quickstart is the introduction to, and quick-start for The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition, which is an update and expansion to The Expanse Roleplaying Game. Both roleplaying games are published by Green Ronin Publishing, and both are based upon The Expanse series of Science Fiction novels by James S.A. Corey, and the television series of the same name. However, where The Expanse Roleplaying Game is set during the events of Leviathan Wakes, Caliban’s War, and Abaddon's Gate, the first three novels, The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition moves the action on to the Transport Union era, the thirty-year period between Babylon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising, the sixth and seventh books in the series. The events of the series to date have taken place across a settled Solar System with tensions between the United Nations of Earth, the Martian Congressional Republic, and the Belters of the outer planets, which would lead to the establishment of the Outer Planets Alliance to protect their interests. The discovery of a strange molecular technology on Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, would lead to radical changes across the Solar System. The Protogen Corporation, the corporation assigned by the Martian Congressional Republic to study it, branded it the Protomolecule and conducted experiments which would kill millions and ultimately threaten the Earth. Fortunately, there were some who could direct the threat away from the Earth and towards Venus, where it would radically transform the planet beyond all understanding. Further conflict would arise with the discovery of the first ring gate, but the establishment of the Transport Union has placed the Belters on an equal footing with the United Nations of Earth and the Martian Congressional Republic, and given them access to over a thousand worlds beyond the Solar System.

The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition uses what has become known as the ‘AGE’ or ‘Adventure Game Engine’ was first seen 2010 in Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5, the adaptation of Dragon Age: Origins, the computer game from Bioware. It has since been developed into the Dragon Age Roleplaying Game as well as the more generic Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook and a more contemporary and futuristic setting with Modern AGE Basic Rulebook.

A Player Character in The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition is defined by his Abilities, Focuses, and Talents. There are nine Abilities—Accuracy, Communication, Constitution, Dexterity, Fighting, Intelligence, Perception, Strength, and Willpower. Each attribute is rated between -2 and 4, with 1 being the average, and each can have a Focus, an area of expertise such as Accuracy (Gunnery), Communication (Leadership), Intelligence (Technology), or Willpower (Courage). A Focus provides a bonus to associated skill rolls and, in some cases, access to a particular area of knowledge. A Talent represents an area of natural aptitude or special training. A Player Character also has a Background, Social Class, and Profession, plus a Drive, Resources and Equipment, Health, Defence, Toughness, and Speed, and Goals, Ties, and Relationships. Instead of Hit Points, a Player Character has Fortune Points, which can be used to alter the result on the Drama Die or withstand damage, reflecting the Player Character’s luck being used up or running out.

Mechanically, the AGE System and thus The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition, is simple enough. If a Player Character wants to undertake an action, his player rolls three six-sided dice and totals the result to beat the difficulty of the test, ranging from eleven or Average to twenty-one or Nigh Impossible. To this total, the player can add an appropriate Ability, and if it applies, an appropriate Focus, which adds two to the roll. Where the AGE System gets fun and where the Player Characters have a chance to shine, is in the rolling of the Drama die and the generation of Stunt Points. When a player rolls the three six-sided dice for an action, one of the dice is of a different colour. This is the Drama die. Whenever doubles are rolled on any of the dice—including the Drama die—and the result of the test is successful, the roll generates Stunt Points. The number of Stunt Points is determined by the result of the Drama die. For example, if a player rolls five, six, and five on the Drama die, then five Stunt Points are generated on the Drama die. What a player gets to spend these Stunt Points on depends on the action being undertaken. In the original 2010 Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5, the only options were for combat actions and the casting of spells, but subsequent releases for the roleplaying game and then Modern AGE and The Expanse Roleplaying Game, have expanded the options. Now they include not just combat options, including firearm-related actions of all kinds, but also movement, exploration, and social situations, plus, of course spaceship operation and combat.
The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition Quickstart explains all this in twelve pages and provides everything needed for the accompany scenario, ‘Lost, But Not Alone’. The Player Characters are the crew of the Miriam Makeba, bound for Castila, when they pick up a faint distress call coming from a moon orbiting one of the outer planets. Following the signal to its source reveals the Ratel, a cargo hauler that appears to have crash-landed after being attacked. Further investigation locates the crew in a nearby series of tunnels. Unfortunately, only one has survived, the others having been attacked by something in the tunnels. The lone survivor will be able to tell the Player Characters what happened, but now they find themselves also at the mercy of what killed the surviving crew. ‘Lost, But Not Alone’ is a survival horror scenario, which takes place in a complex built by the same species which built the rings that give access to so many extra-solar system planets. It is a classic Science Fiction survival horror scenario, so not too demanding for either the Game Master or her players.
The scenario does include options for adding it to a campaign or beginning one if the Player Characters have no spaceship. There are ways—legal and illegal—included to make some money as well. Six pre-generated Player Characters are also included with the quick-start. These consist of Cho Ha-Neul, an engineer with a zest for life who’s good at fixing things and making friends; Koa Garcia, a former MCRN engineer seeking adventure and opportunity; Marcus Toussard, an ex-UN soldier who survived the devastation of Earth during the Free Navy Conflict; Olivia Anand, a former combat medic who has seen their fair share of pain and suffering; Phoenix Wu, a hotshot pilot who is still haunted by their involvement in the Free Navy Conflict; Titiana Osun, a natural leader and activist from the Belt who seeks to help those still suffering from the depredations of war and disparity.
Physically, The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition Quickstart is cleanly presented, illustrated throughout in full colour, the artwork nicely depicting the future of The Expanse, as well as its various characters. In places, it is perhaps slightly too busy in terms of its layout, sometimes making it less than an easy read. However, it is well written and an engaging read, especially the background and the advice for the Game Master on running a game.
The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition Quickstart is a serviceable introduction to what is the second edition of The Expanse Roleplaying Game. The accompanying scenario is well presented and easy to slip into a campaign, but just feels a bit too familiar.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a scenario for Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting published by 1985 Games. Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass is designed to be played using Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and describes itself as ‘leisure fantasy’, in which the Player Characters do go on adventures, but take the time to ‘stop and smell the roses’, to regard the world around them and its wonders, and interact with the fairytale creatures that might live next door or up a mountain. It is a ‘lo-fi’ setting that takes as its primary influence as the anime films of Studio Ghibli, in particular, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and sets in a version of eighties Japan. The result combines the modernism of the rise of the Electronic Age with Japanese folklore and fantasy in a rural island setting. A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is designed for two to four Player Characters of Third Level.
A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure opens with the Player Characters completing a hike to the base of Mount Arbora and the village of Dorrin. Mount Arbora is also home to Jumaga, the Sky Salamander, one of the three great beasts of Obojima. Islanders from all across Obojima to Mount Arbora to make the difficult ascent and leave something of value on the Ledge of Offering, in the hope of appeasing Jumaga. Most of Dorrin’s income comes from the Rockwinders, guides who take people up the mountain, although recently, Dorrin Plate, a common stone that can be broken into sheets and used as roofing tiles, crockery, and building materials, has been discovered to be also good for enhancing the magic properties of potions. Not every Rockwinder, or indeed, visitor to Dorrin, is entirely honest or scrupulous, and some do visit the Ledge of Offering to steal and sell the most valuable items left there.
The Player Characters are approached by a clearly distressed brother and sister. She will explain that they have been robbed by a gaggle of Harpy thugs who stole their money and the family heirloom they were planning to place on the Ledge of Offering following the death of their father. The Player Characters can ask around about the Harpies and their boss, and will quickly learn the location of their hideout, a rusty old pickup on a nearby cliff. In other settings, the Harpies would be portrayed as thoroughly evil creatures, but whilst they are Neutral Evil in Alignment, in A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure, they are depicted as teenagers, wearing shorts and tee-shirts, more bullies than true villains. This sets the tone for the adventure, not without confrontation, but certainly less combative.
The second part of the adventure focuses on the climb up to the Ledge of Offering, first in hiring a Rockwinder and then in making the climb. Two Rockwinders are given, one of whom is less scrupulous than the other, so the Player Characters had better make the right choice! The Player Characters will confront the Harpies’ boss, but before that they will have a few encounters up the mountain. Some of these are quite fun, even a little silly, such as being swarmed by a flock of chicken spirits or being joined by Buttercup, a goat spirit, who is not only very chatty, but also has no break between her inner and outer voices—so she should be fun for the Game Master to portray. Others are more dangerous and so the Game Master should mix and match. Ultimately, the Player Characters will get to place the brother and sister’s family heirloom on the Ledge of Offering and survey what has been left before. The adventure does explore the possibility that one or more Player Characters might actually want to steal from the Ledge of Offering, and certainly several of the items are actually worth sealing, but such a course of action is not without its consequences. The adventure ends with the confrontation with Big Bonnie, the Harpies’ boss.
Physically, A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a very good looking scenario. The artwork is excellent, whether in line drawing and full colour, imparting a delightful sense of place and wonder. The scenario is well written and comes to a close with a short explanation of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.
A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a thoroughly charming and engaging scenario. There is a lovely sense of whimsy to it from start to finish, and it does a good job of showcasing both setting and tone of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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The year is 1348 and mankind is subject to a divine punishment for its sins. For the last two years, all of Europe has suffered the devastating Black Plague which seems to spread fire and kills almost everyone it touches. The symptoms are easy to spot, black spots on the skin and swollen lymph nodes called buboes. Yet there is a second symptom, one that remained secret, one that the Papacy fought in secret and one it managed to eradicate—the Revenant Plague. Victims of the Black Plague are known to rise and not only spread its symptoms, but also feed upon the flesh of the living. The Papacy instituted the Ordo Mortis, a military order dedicated to not only fighting the secret war against the Revenant Plague, but also to keeping knowledge of the war against the Revenant Plague a secret. Word of it cannot spread, for it would weaken faith in the Catholic Church. This is the set-up for Píaga 1348, a storytelling game from NEED! Games, the Italian publisher best known for the Fabula Ultima TTJRPG.

Píaga 1348 Quickdeath is the quick-start released for Free RPG Day 2025. It includes the core rules, three scenarios, and four pre-generated Player Characters. The core mechanics are simple and straightforward, but the roleplaying game is played with shifting focus on the Soldiers of the Ordo Mortis who take it in turn to be the Soldier on Duty, whilst the other Soldiers will provide him with support—if they can. A Soldier is simply defined by several traits. These are the ‘Motto of the Ordo’; ‘Name’, including both full name and nickname, if any; ‘Description’; ‘Weapon’, which can also be an ability; and ‘Armour’. These are the five core traits, but he also has entries for ‘What I Want’, ‘What I Don’t Want’, and ‘Traumas’, the latter physical, psychological, and social wounds suffered when a conflict is lost. A player simply has to define these traits in order to create his Soldier.
At a start of scene, the Ludi Magister—as the Game Master is known in Píaga 1348—asks the player whose Soldier is the Soldier on Duty what he perceives and based on those answers, frames the scene for her players. When a conflict ensues, the Soldier on Duty’s player decides what his Soldier wants to do and builds a dice pool based on his five core traits. For each of them that the player can persuade the Ludi Magister to include, a six-sided die is added to the pool. Every result of five or six counts as a Success and only one Success is required for Soldier to achieve the objective outlined by the player. The Ludi Magister will narrate the outcome of the dice roll, though if a failure because no Successes are rolled, the Soldier on Duty will suffer a Trauma.
Any excess Success go into the Morale Pool, which on subsequent turns, the Soldier on Duty can draw from to increase the size of dice pool. Additional dice can come from the two sources. One is the other Soldiers, who can contribute dice based on their traits. The second is from a ‘Gamble’, in which the player adds a die of another colour to his dice pool. On a result of one, two, or three, nothing happens, but on a four, five, or six, the Soldier is ‘Exposed’. What this means that is a Soldier on Duty can still succeed—that is, roll a five or six—and still be ‘Exposed’. When ‘Exposed’, a roll is made on the ‘Gamble’s Outcome’ table. The result might be that a Soldier cannot use any further ‘Gamble’ attempts in the mission or that the Soldier is wounded and infected by a Revenant! Whatever the result, the outcome is narrated by the player.
What is important here is there is an economy to a player’s use of his Soldier’s five core traits. If they can be used all in one go whilst a Soldier is the Soldier on Duty, then they can be refreshed to be used on subsequent turns. Whilst a Soldier can use them to help another Soldier who is the current Soldier on Duty, it will mean that he will have fewer to use when it is his turn to be Soldier on Duty. Running out of traits and having none to confront a situation when a Soldier is Soldier on Duty means that he will automatically fail. This forces a player to husband the use of those traits from turn to turn.
The aim in Píaga 1348, and thus the Píaga 1348 Quickdeath, is to tell a choral story of life and death in the Middle Ages. This need not be a wholly accurate treatment of the Middle Ages and the Ludi Magister is free to add whatever anachronistic elements fits her campaign. For example, one of the pre-generated Soldiers is a Plague Doctor, a decidedly seventeenth century figure, but still feeling appropriate to the secret world of Píaga 1348. The basic elements driving a story are the Mission itself and ‘What I Want’ and ‘What I Don’t Want’ for each Soldier. The Ludi Magister is provided with decent advice for what is a quick-start, a set of prompts to set up her Missions, and three ready-play scenarios. They include investigating a haunted villa where several nobles fled to avoid the plague, tracking down a strange group of knights in rusted armour, and even ascending into the Carpathians to confront Count Vlad III who is said to have survived the Plague and become something more. All three come with detailed backgrounds, locations, secondaries (as NPCs are termed), and rumours. Lastly, there are four pre-generated Soldiers ready to play. They include an actual knight, a noble nun, an ex-assassin, and a plague doctor!
Physically, Píaga 1348 Quickdeath is fantastically presented. The woodcut style artwork and the use of a Gothic fount very gives it a singular look and conveys a lot of atmosphere to the Ludi Magister.
Píaga 1348 Quickdeath is simple to play and easy to grasp. After all, it could be described as just another zombie apocalypse roleplaying game, but the setting is different and the inclusion of the Black Death makes it even grimmer than most zombie apocalypse roleplaying games. As does the need for secrecy, which might result in the Soldiers going to deadly lengths to carry out this part of their duty. Overall, the Píaga 1348 Quickdeath provides a thoroughly engaging introduction to the setting of Píaga 1348 and purpose of the Ordo Mortis, as well as a gaming group with three good sessions of play.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Battle for Nova Rush is a scenario for Starfinder, Second Edition and in terms of support for Free RPG Day 2025, feels very much like a reset. Back in 2018 for Free RPG Day, Paizo, Inc. published Starfinder: Skitter Shot, a scenario in which four of the cheerfully manic, gleefully helpful, vibrantly coloured, six-armed and furry creatures known as Skittermanders, have an adventure and find themselves in possession of their own starship. They would then have further adventures in subsequent releases for Free RPG Day. Battle for Nova Rush involves a familiar setting, though not Skittermanders. Well, almost not Skittermanders. The scenario is designed to played with four First Level Player Characters—all of which are provided—and can be played through in a single session.

The scenario begins in classic Science Fiction fashion. The Player Characters are locked up in the brig of a starship. The vessel is the Nova Rush, previously owned by a thrill-seeking amateur archaeologist, but recently captured following a violent hijack by Captain Phaedra Firestorm. The Player Characters will need to find their way out of their cell, several methods including persuasion, intimidation, and deception, being suggested. Their gaoler is surprisingly helpful and quite happy to see them go up against Captain Firestorm. The Player Characters will soon garner the aid and advice of the ship’s Virtual Intelligence, Captain Concierge, a Skittermander, who will be very helpful. As they proceed through the ship, dealing with pirates, it will quickly become apparent that the ship is under attack by the ghastly sounding ‘Corpse Fleet’, so repairs are required before the Player Characters can climb to the bridge and face the pirate captain. Once she is defeated, they can make their escape a second time, this time from the battle.
Battle for Nova Rush comes with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Chk Chk, a male Shirren Mystic; Dae, a nonbinary Pahtra Solarian; Iseph, a nonbinary Android Operative; and Navasi, a female Human Envoy. All four are given a double-page spread, which includes an illustration, detailed background, advice on playing the character, explanations of how they operate in combat, exploration, and healing modes, what they think of their fellow inmates, and lastly their full stats. The Player Characters are very well presented, just as you would expect for a release for Free RPG Day from Paizo, Inc. The scenario also includes a nicely done set of deckplans for the Nova Rush.
Physically, Battle for Nova Rush is as professionally presented as you would expect for Paizo, Inc. It is in full colour, the art and cartography are excellent, and the adventure is well written.
Battle for Nova Rush is a straightforward, even clichéd Science Fiction adventure. The Player Characters begin as prisoners, have to escape, fix a few things and fight a few things before confronting the villain of the piece and escaping once again. Consequently, it is an undemanding affair, but one that still leaves room to showcase the Starfinder, Second Edition rules and let the players have a good time.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is not a quick-start, but rather than an introduction to the rules. It is published by Hit Point Press, best known for the anthropomorphic Humblewood Campaign Setting, written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. It is designed to be quick to learn with minimal rules. Both Player Characters, their Traits and those for everything else in the game are measured in SHIFT Dice. These form a ladder that starts with the four-sided die, and then runs down the ladder with the six-sided, eight-sided, and ten-sided die to the twelve-sided die. Lower dice are better than higher dice. When rolled, the aim is to a get a result of one, two, or three, no matter the die size. A result of one is a critical success, whilst results of two and three are ordinary successes. Any other number is a failure, except for the maximum number on the die, which is a critical failure. When a critical failure is rolled, the die type for the trait is shifted down and that is what the player will the next time he tests the trait. Ultimately, if the player rolls critical failure on the twelve-sided die, the trait becomes exhausted and is unable to use it until the character rests. What this means is that the lower the die type, the greater the chance of roll being successful. Of course, the lower the die type, the greater the likelihood of rolling a critical failure.

A Player Character has three Core Traits. These are Mind, Body, and Soul. A six-sided die is assigned to one Core Trait, an eight-sided die to a second Core Trait, and a ten-sided die to the third Core Trait. Other Traits are Focus Traits, the example given being ‘Ray Gun’. As well as a Keyword, the Focus Trait can also have a Drawback. A Drawback can gained because the roll with the Trait roll failed or the Trait’s die is shifted down.

Action rolls typically involve a combined roll of a Core Trait plus a Focus Trait. If both dice roll a one, then it is a critical success; if a success is rolled on one die and the highest value on the other die is not rolled, the action is a success; if a success is rolled on one die and highest value on the other die is rolled, the action is a mitigated success; if there are no successes rolled, the action is a failure; and if no successes are rolled and highest value on the other die is rolled, the action is a critical failure. A critical success grants a bonus, such as the player being able to shift a die up to a smaller die type for either his character or that of another, or shift an enemy’s die down twice to an even larger die size. Other options include a negate a Drawback, gain information, grant an advantageous situation, and so on. A roll can also be Risky or Inspired. A Risky roll means that all failures on the dice are counted as Critical Failures, and are going to be stepped down, whilst an Inspired roll means that all successes on the dice are treated as Critical Successes.

SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules explains some basics of encounters and combat. Initially, the Game Master determines which side has the advantage and acts first, whilst on subsequent rounds, each player will roll an Action Roll using his character’s Core Trait to determine if his characters acts before or after the enemies. Action Rolls are rolled as normal for anything that the player wants his character to do in a round.

And that essentially, is it as far as the SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is concerned. There are no rules for combat included, there are no stats provided for anything other than the Ray Gun mentioned, and there is no setting or background material. Mention is made of ‘Dorado Station: A sci-Fi Western World Spark’, a micro-setting that the Game Master can download.

Physically, the SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules looks good, but the layout is untidy.

The SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is an adequate introduction to the basic mechanic of the SHIFT Roleplaying Game. However, that is exactly what it is and no more, there is no explanation of combat, no sample Player Character or adversary, no sample setting or scenario… What it means is that the Game Master really cannot do anything with it beyond reading it.

The Third Horizon is a place of mystery and mysticism. The location of the thirty-six star systems that comprise the third wave of colonisation from Earth via a series of portals built and abandoned long ago by an alien species now known as the Portal Builders, it stands isolated once again following an interstellar war between the First Horizon and the Second Horizon that closed the Portals. The identity of the Portal Builders remains a mystery, as does the identity of the recently arrived faceless aliens known as the Emissaries who rose from the gas giant Xene. Compounding that is the fact that one of the Emissaries claims to be an Icon and ordinary men and women have been seen to use abilities said to be the province of the Icons themselves. Are they heretics, evolving, or the result of Emissary meddling? Then what secrets are hidden in the dark between the stars and the portals? This is the situation in the Middle East-influenced Science Fiction roleplaying game, Coriolis: The Third Horizon, originally published in Swedish by Free League Publishing, but since published in English. It is also the situation at the start of Mercy of the Icons, a campaign trilogy for Coriolis: The Third Horizon, that will explore them in detail and reveal some of the secrets to the setting.
By the end of the Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost, the first part of the campaign, the Player Characters discovered starting revelations in the wake of the disappearance of the Emissary. These were the identity of the organisation behind the death and disappearances of mystics from aboard the Coriolis station, the so called ‘The Mysticides’, and more information about who the Emissaries are and that they in danger after receiving a vision of the Second Horizon. It seems that despite the Third Horizon having been long isolated from both the First Horizon and the Second Horizon, the former is attempting to make long lost contact and manipulate events in its favour, whilst the latter is trying to prevent it. The action having shifted from Coriolis station to tracking across the world of Kua below, the first part of the campaign ends with the Player Characters wanting to get off planet knowing that some of the most important figures in the Third Horizon are in danger.
To continue playing the campaign, it is recommended that at least one Player Character be combat capable. In addition, a Player Character with the Data Djinn skill is definitely going to be useful and whilst a Mystic character is not mandatory, the presence of one will add an extra dimension to the campaign. The Player Characters do not necessarily need to have their own starship, but should have access to one. That said, they may able to recover their own spaceship, which they lost access to in Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost, and carry one from there. One way in which the Player Characters can acquire a ship from the start of the campaign is in playing The Last Voyage of the Ghazali, a prequel scenario to the Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost. It is worth running Last Voyage of the Ghazali before Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost, but it should be noted that the connection between The Last Voyage of the Ghazali and Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost is never really explored from the perspective of the Player Characters. However, it becomes much more important in Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade and then Mercy of the Icons – Part 3: Wake of the Icons. As with Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost before it, the Atlas Compendium is likely to be useful in running the ongoing campaign
The second part of the campaign, Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade, published following a Kickstarter campaign, is divided into three very different parts. The first part, ‘The Uharan Echo’, is really divided into two highly contrasting halves. It opens with the Player Characters having been hired to investigate the possible reappearance of the Zafirah, the destroyer lost during the rescue operation conducted during The Last Voyage of the Ghazali. This requires that they run a blockade from the long way round into Uharu system via the Taoan-Uharu portal, before the Player Characters literally dive on the wreck submerged in the chemical waters of a moon, perhaps prefiguring the tone of Coriolis: The Great Dark. This gives it a claustrophobic, unworldly feel that escalates as they reach the wreck where it lies on a cliff, ready to tip over and fall into the depths below, and begin to search the ship. Inside they make a startling discovery, a second wreck, that of one of the strange Butterfly Ships that the Player Characters encountered at the end of the first part of the campaign. The inside of the Butterfly Ship is nothing like the Player Characters will have seen before and is almost ‘alien’ in its creepiness. The scenario ends in a rush as the Butterfly Ship begins to collapse and force the wreck off the cliff, and then attacking the portal itself, which disrupts the whole of the Uharu system. The unexpected discovery of the Butterfly Ship is a fantastic payoff to the Player Characters’ encounter at the end of Mercy of the Icons – Part 1: Emissary Lost.
The second half is a radical shift to the first, taking place back on the Coriolis station where the Player Characters find themselves the centre of attention, feted as heroes after the events in the Uharu system. After recovering in hospital, the Player Characters are approached by multiple factions wanting to employ them whilst also being the guests of honour at a grand banquet to celebrate the end of the year or Cyclade. They are dressed to nines and effectively paraded through the scenario, but there are plenty of opportunities for the Player Characters to interact with the great and the good along the way, with plenty of opportunities to roleplay and with some good Manipulation rolls potentially learn what each faction wants. What each faction wants and knows is nicely detailed, as is the support they will provide the Player Characters, what they will do if the Player Characters do not enter their employ, and what they will do if the Player Characters betray them. There are also plenty of other scenes too that the Game Master can add to contrast and display the varied reactions to the Player Characters’ being treated as the heroes of the hour.

By the end of the banquet (or not long after), the Player Characters will themselves having taken up one faction or another as a patron. It is possible to maintain links with some of the other lesser factions, but in the main, they will be working for and supported by a single patron throughout the next part of the campaign. What the different factions want is explored in further detail as the campaign shifts again in tone and structure. ‘The Cyclade Dance’, the second part of Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade is more open in structure, being built around a mission generator and a series of events that the Game Master can weave the Player Characters’ progress around. The Player Characters will not be present for every event nor do they have to play through all of the suggested adventures. Some of the events will take place off screen and the Player Characters will only learn about them afterwards, but they do serve to keep them updated as to ongoing events across the Third Horizon. Sixteen missions are detailed to varying degrees with the final four being more detailed and necessary to continue the campaign. The missions focus on the investigation of the Nazareem’s Sacrifice cult, originally a Firstcome faction, but long since reviled for its nihilistic and brutal practices, including alleged human sacrifice, performing dark rituals, and making unholy pacts with evil spirits and djinn. The Nazareem’s Sacrifice has long been driven underground in the Third Horizon, operating in secret, but has become more active in recent years. For the majority of the factions in the Third Horizon it is seen as the primary threat. The types of missions begin with the Player Characters hunting lone agents and cultists to Tier I and infiltrating Nazareem’s Sacrifice cells, through Tier II and exploring ruins associated with the cult, to Tier III and actually conducting a strike mission against active cells. Throughout, the Player Characters will have been gathering information that will ultimately set up the Tier III mission. However, not every mission involves Nazareem’s Sacrifice directly and one of the creepier missions is ‘Curse of Rusah’ in which the Player Characters explore the Ash Belt in the desolate Odacon in search of a rumoured lost weapon. The encounter verges on cosmic horror and has a creepy, weird feel that echoes the earlier exploration of the Butterfly Ship. The last mission, ‘The Fire of the Icons’, is the assault upon a Nazareem’s Sacrifice temple and it holds some weird encounters of its own, that again verge on being horrifying.
The last part of Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade is ‘In the Shadow of the Zenith’ returns the Player Characters to the Coriolis station, and Kua, it hangs over, for a more direct finale. Against a backdrop of a hastily called election to the Council of Factions called in the face of continued political polarisation and growing distrust by the electorate, the Player Characters’ patron asks them to locate a defector who has valuable information. Coriolis station is packed with pilgrims and refugees and this only adds to the tension as the Player Characters locate and search safehouse after safehouse and then, as they locate the defector and learn the truth behind the election, its results are called, the previous administration is denounced, martial law is declared, and rioting breaks out in response. It is against this backdrop that the Player Characters race to get off the station and the Emissaries make an open move that brings Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade to a shattering conclusion.
Physically, Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade is a good-looking book. The artwork is excellent, but the writing does need an edit in more than a few places, and it does feel as if the English translation of the campaign has been rushed. The campaign is light on handouts and there are very few physical clues. This is not an issue, but the campaign does feel as if a few more maps would have been useful, certainly ones suitable for use by the players and their characters.
The Mercy of the Icons campaign is a demanding campaign to play and run. There is a lot of information for the Game Master to take in and impart that to her players, and in Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade that comes to the fore as politics plays a big role in the story and there is a lot going on in the background as the events of the foreground where the Player Characters play out. Even if the players have characters who do not have as much interest in the politics of the Third Horizon as others, for example, agents and journalists versus merchants and ship’s crew, they are still going to need the same background since they are going to be dealing with the same factions. And whilst the Nazareem’s Sacrifice are definitely evil, the other factions are definitely shaded in a lot of grey. Nevertheless, Mercy of the Icons – Part 2: The Last Cyclade very effectively pushes the plot on, gets the Player Characters’ involved, and reveals more of the secrets and the horrors of the Third Horizon.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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In the Beast’s Wake is a scenario for the Grim Hollow setting published by Ghostfire Gaming, one of three released by the publisher for Free RPG Day 2025. All three scenarios and settings are written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and designed to be played by a party of five to six Player Characters of Third Level. The scenario opens with ‘Welcome to the Grim Hollow’, a much needed description of the setting and its key features, because the scenario does not have a back cover blurb. What it tells the reader is that the setting for Grim Hollow is called Etharis, a realm of grim fantasy and horror in which true goodness is rare and beautiful, and darkness and terrible evil prevails such that moral choices are not between good and evil, but between the lesser of two evils. The specific setting for In the Beast’s Wake is the former Bürach Empire where a civil war instigated by Emperor Leopold I to determine which god should reign over the others led to both the provinces of the empire and the gods themselves fighting each other. God’s End led to The Era of the Beast in which there are no gods and the common folk turn to fake deities and demons for succour from the Great Beast that stalks the remnants of the Bürach Empire and casts its shadow long and deep. It is a grim dark setting not a little reminiscent of Ravenloft for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition and in its Germanic setting, not a little reminiscent of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or even the Diablo series of computer games.
In In the Beast’s Wake, the Player Characters are hired by Lord General Vassily Roemer of Ulstenburg to investigate the violent attacks on trade caravans and villages near the village of Niederhalde. There are rumours of lycanthropes stalking the roads and of members of a cult dedicated to the Arch Daemon Tormach being responsible, and as such scurrilous talk verges on heresy, the puritanical Hearthkeepers have decided to conduct a spiritual intervention. The Player Characters are sent to aid Adele of the Hearthkeepers, beginning with investigation in the neighbouring village of Grünbach, before going on to Niederhalde. The investigation involves questioning those who have fled Niederhalde, which is actually quite challenging as they are reluctant to talk, either because they do not want to recall what they saw, have secrets to hide, or both.
The focus of the adventure, Niederhalde, is described in more detail and the Player Characters will have to investigate and literally dig deep in order to uncover the secrets of what has been going on the village. This includes the church and the cemetery, as well as a farm that is currently home to the most fearsome of beasts in all of fantasy roleplaying—the Gasdra! This is a three-headed goose with teeth. After that, it is probably going to be a relief that the Player Characters discover signs of demon worship and human sacrifice of the worst kind before confronting the creatures responsible for the attacks on the nearby villages and trade routes. Armed with the secrets uncovered in Niederhalde, the Player Characters can return to Grünbach and make choices as to what they should with the information they have learned.

The scenario comes with just the one appendix. This is the bestiary for the scenario, which of course, includes stats and description for the Gasdra. It is debatable whether the creature should have the Alignment of Neutral Evil, as opposed to just ‘Evil Evil’. A set of resources is also available for all three of the scenarios published by Ghostfire Gaming. They include maps, tokens, and pre-generated Player Characters for each. For In the Beast’s Wake, the Player Characters consist of a Grudgel Monster Hunter who belongs to the Carver Guild; a Wechselkind—a type of Construct—Rogue who is a Misfortune Bringer; a Wulven Barbarian of the Fractured Path; an Elf Wizard of the School of Sangromancy; a Human Cleric with the Purification Domain; and a Gnome Bard from the College of Fools. All six are nicely detailed and come with some background as well as an illustration and an explanation of all their abilities and features.

Physically, In the Beast’s Wake is well presented. The artwork and the maps are excellent, and the scenario is well written. The only disappointment is the lack of a back cover blurb to inform the reader what In the Beast’s Wake actually is.

In the Beast’s Wake is much more accessible than the other scenario published by Ghostfire Gaming, Whispers of Chaos. The background is easier to explain and there is a greater familiarity with its mix of horror and grim fantasy. Overall, In the Beast’s Wake serves up a dark and nasty mix of investigation and combat that reveal dreadful secrets and make the Player Characters deal with the consequences.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Root: Laurel’s Canopy Quickstart is the Free RPG Day 2025 from Magpie Games for Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game. It includes an explanation of the core rules, six pre-generated Player Characters or Vagabonds and their Playbooks, and a complete setting or Clearing for them to explore. From the overview of the game and an explanation of the characters to playing the game and its many Moves, the introduction to the Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game in Root: Laurel’s Canopy Quickstart is well-written. The publisher is well practised when it comes to presenting these Root quick-starts. It is notable that all of the Vagabonds are essentially roguish in nature, so in addition to the Basic Moves, such as ‘Figure Someone Out’, ‘Persuade an NPC’, ‘Trick an NPC’, ‘Trust Fate’, and ‘Wreck Something’, they can ‘Attempt a Roguish Feat’. This covers Acrobatics, Blindside, Counterfeit, Disable Device, Hide, Pick Lock, Pick Pocket, Sleight of Hand, and Sneak. Each of these requires an associated Feat to attempt, and each of the six pregenerated Vagabonds has one, two, or more of the Feats depending just how roguish they are. Otherwise, a Vagabond’s player rolls the ‘Trust to Fate’ Move.

The six pre-generated Vagabonds include Nimble the Thief, a stealthy raccoon burglar and pickpocket looking to prove his skill; Saga the Chronicler, a possum and fearlessly inquisitive scholar; Lucasta the Raconteur, a weasel storyteller and singer who wants to hold truth to power in her performances; Keilee the Tinker, a messy, but adept beaver who advocates freethinking and is hunting her enemy, Minuet de León; Laeliana the Arbiter, a mole mercenary looking to defend those who cannot defend themselves; and Umberto the Raider, a mouse who loves the fight and being adored as a hero. All six of these Vagabonds have links to the given Clearing and its NPCs in Root: Laurel’s Canopy Quickstart, and all six are complete with Natures and Drives, stats, backgrounds, Moves, Feats, and equipment. All a player has to do is decide on a couple of connections and each Playbook is ready to play.
As its title suggests, the given Clearing in Root: Laurel’s Canopy Quickstart is Laurel’s Canopy. Its description comes with an overarching issue and conflicts within the Clearing, important NPCs, places to go, and more. The situation in Laurel’s Canopy is different to that of most Clearings, dominated as it is by the diktats of power from before the Grand Civil War. It is part of the Eyrie Dynasty, led by Nanit Osprey, whose uncle, Pandion, instituted a set of Decrees that ensured stability in the Clearing. However, in the wake of Grand Civil War, the strict interpretation of the decrees has led to famine with fish left rotting the warehouses, over foraging in the surrounding forest, and a standoff between Nanit Osprey and the Clerkdom which enforces the Decrees. Meanwhile, Corvid Conspiracy Leader Ambrosius Conroy campaigns for fairer representation of all, whilst seeking to undermine Nanit Osprey’s rule and Silver Sally leads a rebellion which gives her cover for her own objectives. Lastly, the mouse scholar, Theodore Twitchwhisker has been accused of plagiarism by Mister Stubby, a lizard who runs the Lost Tail Bakery. He contends that the mouse’s Book of Twin Dragons, an inflammatory description of the Lizard cult orthodoxy, was based on a work of fiction of his own, for which the manuscript is missing. This has led to the bakery being picketed, the relationship between the lizards and non-avian citizens of Laurel’s Canopy becoming strained.

These four Conflicts make up the plots to be explored and developed in the Clearing and each is fully detailed and includes notes on what happens if the vagabonds do not get involved and leave the Conflict to develop on its own. For the Game Master there is a good overview of the Clearing and notes of where to begin when running the Root: Laurel’s Canopy Quickstart and getting the Vagabonds involved. This is enhanced by each Vagabond having a link to and thus a motivation for visiting Laurel’s Canopy. There are suggestions also as to how escalate the situation for each of the Vagabonds to draw them further into the ongoing events in Laurel’s Canopy. Some of the conflicts are a little subtle too, often with NPCs attempting to achieve the same quite personal aim, so the Game Master will need to read them more closely to understand them and be able to impart them to her players.

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

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

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

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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The Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 is the introduction to the Arzium Roleplaying Game, the second following the release of the Arzium Quickstart Guide for Free RPG Day 2024. It is not, though, an introduction to the World of Arzium. That would be the series of board games designed by Ryan Laudkat and published by Red Raven Games, including Above and Below, Near and Far, and others. It presents a fantasy world filled with mysteries, magic, and forgotten technology, above and below ground. The Arzium Quickstart Guide is a slim affair, providing a very basic overview of the setting, an explanation of the mechanics, a short adventure, and four pre-generated Player Characters. Arzium is described as a world of strange mechanics and strange magics, some of it scavenged from fallen civilisations, some of its developed by the newly arisen city-states, industrialised with devices powered by bottled demons and rare crystals. The world is also a diverse one, being home to Humans, Hogfolk, Fishfolk, Lizardfolk, Birdfolk, and other species, including Robots! In the City-state of Arc, far to the south of Surstrayne Forest, location of the village of Above, and underneath it, the village of Below, the Academy of Gom has been beset by a series of thefts, which are believed to have been committed by a mysterious organisation known as the Shattered Knife! Although the Academy of Gom has tight purse strings, the thefts need to be investigated!

Mechanically, the Arzium Quickstart Guide and thus the Arzium Roleplaying Game, is a dice and resource management game. A Player Character has six attributes—Strength, Reflexes, Knowledge, Cunning, Perception, and Craft. Each ranges in value between zero and ten, and presents a pool of points that a player can spend to modify dice rolls. A standard difficulty is seven, whilst a hard one is ten. The maximum that a player can spend on a challenge is five. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls a ten-sided die and attempts to equal or exceed the difficulty. Results less than the difficulty have a failure forward outcome in that the story continues despite the negative outcome. The latter might be an actual failure, but it can also be that the action succeeds and the Player Character or an item of equipment suffers damage, or even that the whole situation changes. In addition, if a six is rolled on the die, then a complication is automatically added to the situation. Resting for at least half a day will restore a Player Character’s spent attribute points.

In combat, the Player Characters typically act first and then the enemy. When a Player Character acts, he moves first and then takes an action. All attacks succeed in hitting and inflict damage as per the die type for the weapon or type of attack. The damage inflicted can be increased by spending points from the associated attribute. Armour reduces the amount of damage suffered. Attacks, abilities, and spells can also temporarily affect Power, a measure of NPC and monster ability to inflict more damage. Each monster and NPC gains one Power at the start of each turn, but because the Player Characters act first, they directly affect the monster and NPC capacity to inflict more damage. The rules also allow for gambits, inventive actions which can change the environment or affect monsters and NPCs, but without inflicting damage.

Casting spells requires the expenditure of Attribute points, but not a dice roll. However, a dice roll is required to take account of magic being whimsical and occasionally dangerous. When a spell is cast, the Game Master rolls a ten-sided die and if a one or two is rolled, she also rolls on the ‘Whimsical Magic’ table. This might result in the caster smelling like rotting garbage for a day or temporarily grants a nearby object life as it grows limbs and runs around in a chaotic manner.

Other rules for the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 and the Arzium Roleplaying Game can be found on the character sheet. For example, it uses an inventory system of boxes for gear and offers Memory Knots as a means to maximise a die roll. This requires the player to explain why a particular memory will help his character in the current situation. The Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 includes four pre-generated Player Characters. They include a Human Treasure Hunter good at exploring caves and old facilities, a Toadfolk Investigator with a grasping tongue, and a Hogfolk Curstic Mystic with a knowledge of curse-related spells.

The scenario in the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 is ‘Flight into Madness’. The Player Characters are hired by the Academy of Gom in the City-state of Arc following a series of thefts by the secret organisation known as the Shattered Knife and following an attempt by the Academy of Gom’s best and brightest to investigate the thefts thwarted by sabotage upon the part of the Shattered Knife. Boarding a ramshackle airship, the Player Characters are only armed with a couple of leads that their employer, Professor Argof, gave them. Following both will lead them over the seas to a large island and eventually to the secret base where the Shattered Knife has its headquarters. There they will meet, Zaradin, the head of the organisation, who will give them to opportunity to join him. The Player Characters are fee to do, fight, or run away. Fighting is a difficult option as there are so many members of the Shattered Knife that can call upon Zaradin. However, no stats are given for Zaradin.

‘Flight into Madness’ is short. Playable in an hour—or two at the most. Yet, the whole of the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 is short. Consequently, it feels underwritten and slightly underexplained, particularly when it comes to NPCs and combat, but the mechanics are simple enough that they can be understood. The scenario though is underwhelming and does not give the players and characters much to do beyond face a series of combat challenges.

Physically, the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 is decently put together. The cartography and artwork are good, and it is all clean and tidy. Yet as nice as it looks, the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 does not successfully bring the world of Arzium to life and make it a setting that you want to visit in play. There is not enough of the setting and the scenario is cursory and short and not enough to really sell the reader on the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2, let alone on the Arzium Roleplaying Game. Ultimately, the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 showcases everything that the Arzium Quickstart Guide got wrong for Free RPG 2024 by repeating them exactly. As an introduction to the setting of Arzium,the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 just about works. As as a quick-start the Arzium Quickstart Guide 2 comes up woefully short at barely four pages long of actual adventure...

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Whispers of Chaos is a scenario for the Aetherial Expanse setting published by Ghostfire Gaming , one of three released by the publisher for Free RPG Day 2025. Both scenario and setting are written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and the scenario is designed to be played by a party of five to six Player Characters of Third Level. It opens with ‘Welcome to the Aetherial Expanse’, a much needed description of the setting and its key features, because the scenario does not have a back cover blurb. What it tells the reader is that Aetherial Expanse is a realm of high fantasy which lies on the Astral Plane, one which combines the Age of Sail and Golden Age of Piracy with magic and swashbuckling action under a sky of swirling stars. Wind flows from the Elemental Planes to fill the sails of the ships, rain falls from the Material Plane on the islands that dot the Astral Plane and swirl around the Maelstrom, the enormous aether-storm at the heart of the Astral Sea. Planar Portals lead elsewhere, lost civilisations lie beneath the poisonous liquid aether of the Astral Sea, and aether comes in three forms—liquid, vapour, and solid. Aetherium crystal can be found floating in the Astral Sea like icebergs, but is rare and can even be used as a power source or a weapon. The Astral Emergents are those reborn and healed in the bodies of the recently dead, having been lost in the waters of the Astral Sea. Two powers from the Material Plane have invaded the Aetherial Expanse and founded colonies, the Kingdom of Ayris, a small, but powerful mercantile kingdom, and the expansive Karelagne Empire. It is less than a decade since the warring powers signed an uneasy truce, their rivalry exhibiting in feuds and acts of piracy and privateering.

In Whispers of Chaos, the Player Characters are hired by Professor Delkin Doss, an anthropology teacher. He wants to recover an ancient book of dark secrets, Godlike: Research, Stories, and Theories, which has been stolen from him by a sage, Dr. Marigold Brambletoe. A student, the Gnome, Sophia Blush, has managed to get word to him of where Doctor Brambletoe has taken the tome. This is the uninhabited Tumult Isle which lies close to the Maelstrom, where Nth Degree, a cult of Karelagne zealots, have established a base of operations where she can conduct his research. Unfortunately, Professor Delkin Doss is on a budget and has a booked passage on the Ethnos, completely unaware that some of the crew are very unhappy. So unhappy that they mutiny! This is the first big event of the scenario, throwing the Player Characters into the action, ideally being able to deal with the mutineers before sailing on, though notes are given suggesting what might happen if the mutineers prevail. Either way, the Ethnos is left shorthanded and the Player Characters are expected to pitch in. Here is where the scenario mixes it up with fun with some activities aboard ship—cooking meals, coming across a derelict ship, searching for Moose, the ship’s cat, and much more… These are pleasingly entertaining and keep the Player Characters busy until it throws them into the main action of the scenario.

This takes place in the Tumult Facility. The Player Characters need to find a way past the partially open frond or, but once inside discover a scene of bloody devastation. There are bodies everywhere as if monsters have been rampaging through the facility, and as they explore further, they will not only find several of those monsters, but also that the Tumult Facility has a surprisingly modern feel, including a welcome centre, shower room, and games room! Their progress is marked by the whole facility suddenly shaking again and again, each time the intensity increasing as if Tumult Isle was beset by ground tremors building up to an earthquake. This adds to the creepy tension that pervades the blood spattered facility, but eventually the Player Characters will discover the cause—a Maw, a great toothy mouth protruding from a crack in the ground, spitting monsters into the realm, as its tentacles flail and attempt to draw power from several Astral Emergent prisoners! The Player Characters are likely to have found Godlike: Research, Stories, and Theories by now, but this monstrous thing, even one constrained by the size of the crack in the floor of the facility, needs to be defeated, and even though it is constrained by the size of the crack in the floor of the facility, it is a challenging foe. Defeating the toothy, tentacled terror will bring the scenario to an exciting close.

The scenario comes with three appendices. The first gives stats and details for the scenario’s monsters, including a ship mimic! The second and third describe a card game that the Player Characters might play aboard ship and the effects of aether poisoning. The scenario includes maps of the Tumult Facility, the Ethnos, and the Astral Sea. A set of resources is also available for all three of the scenarios published by Ghostfire Gaming. They include maps, tokens, and pre-generated Player Characters for each. They include a Kobold Cleric with the Aether Domain; a Dwarf Fighter with the Corsair Raider subclass and Starlight Sea Raider Background; an Automaton Wizard with the Technomage Subclass and the Karalagne Naval Magewright Background; a Dragonborn Rogue with the Veiled Guardian Subclass and the Ayrissian Magnate Background; a Bard from the College Of The Blade Dancer and with the Opportunist Of The Expanse Background; and an Astral Emergent Ranger with the Expanse Wayfinder Subclass and the Silvery Sea Wanderer. All six are nicely detailed and come with some background as well as an illustration and an explanation of all their abilities and features.

Physically, Whispers of Chaos is well presented. The artwork and the maps are excellent, and the scenario is well written. The only disappointment is the lack of a back cover blurb to inform the reader what Whispers of Chaos actually is.

The biggest problem with Whispers of Chaos is the background. Not that it is not a good background—it is. Rather that there is a fair bit of it to impart to the players before they can start to play the scenario. Once over this hurdle, Whispers of Chaos is a really entertaining scenario, especially the scenes aboard the ship, that all together serves as a solid introduction to an intriguing setting.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit is a preview of, and a quick-start for Dragonbane, the reimagining of Sweden’s first fantasy roleplaying game, Drakar och Demoner, originally published in 1982. Funded via a Kickstarter campaign by Free League Publishing in 2022, Dragonbane promises to be a roleplaying game of “mirth and mayhem”. It includes a basic explanation of the setting, rules for actions and combat, magic, the adventure, ‘The Sinking Tower’, and five ready-to-play, Player Characters.
‘The Magistrate’s Gambit’ scenario is designed as a tournament style adventure and can be played in two hours. This means that it is intended to be run for multiple groups and their scores at the end collected and compared to determine a winner. However, this does not mean that it cannot be added to an ongoing campaign, but rather that it includes a scoring sheet to determine how well one group of players fared compared to another. That said, two hours is tight for the scenario and outside of a tournament, the Game Master can easily prepare the scenario and run it in a single session. The Game Master will need a timer of some kind. The scenario includes everything necessary to play—pre-generated Player Characters, maps, puzzles, and more. If the scenario is being run as part of a standard campaign, a Rogue and a Wizard are recommended Player Characters. The scenario setting also suggests that it is located near a large town or city.
The five pre-generated Player Characters include a Human Wizard (Fire Elementalist), an Elf Hunter, a Mallard Knight (yes, a duck knight!), a Halfling Thief, and a Wolfkin Warrior. All five Player Characters are given a double-sided sheet with one side devoted to the character sheet whilst the other gives some background to the Player Character, an explanation of his abilities, and an excellent illustration. One issue is with the Human Wizard, whose player will need to refer to the magic section of the rules in Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit to find out how his spells work. It would have been far more useful for them to be at least listed along with costs for the benefit of the Wizard’s player.
A Player Character has a Kin, which can be human, halfling, dwarf, elf, mallard, or wolfkin. He also has six attributes—Strength, Constitution, Agility, Intelligence, Willpower, and Charisma—which range in value between three and eighteen, as well as a Profession. Both Kin and Profession provide an ability which are unavailable to other Kin and Professions. Various factors are derived from the attributes, notably different damage bonuses for Strength-based weapons and Agility-based weapons, plus Willpower Points. Willpower Points are expended to use magic and abilities derived from both Kin and Profession. A Player Character has sixteen skills, ranging in value from one to fourteen.
To have his player undertake an action, a player rolls a twenty-sided die. The aim is roll equal to or lower than the skill or attribute. A roll of one is called ‘rolling a dragon’ and is treated as a critical effect. A roll of twenty is called ‘rolling a demon’ and indicates a critical failure. Banes and boons are the equivalent of advantage and disadvantage. Opposed rolls are won by the player who rolls the lowest.

If a roll is failed, a player can choose to push the roll and reroll. The result supersedes the original. In pushing a roll, the Player Character acquires a Condition, for example, ‘Dazed’ for Strength or ‘Scared’ for Willpower. The player has to explain how his character acquires the Condition and his character can acquire a total of six—one for each attribute—and the player is expected to roleplay them. Mechanically, a Condition acts as a Bane in play. A Player Character can recover from one or more Conditions by resting.
Initiative is determined randomly by drawing cards numbered between one and ten, with one going first. A Player Character has two actions per round—a move and an actual action such as a melee attack, doing first aid, or casting a spell. Alternatively, a Player Character can undertake a Reaction, which takes place on an opponent’s turn in response to the opponent’s action. Typically, this is a parry or dodge, and means that the Player Character cannot take another action. If a dragon is rolled on the parry, the Player Character gets a free counterattack!

Combat takes into account weapon length, grip, length, and so on. The effects of a dragon roll, or a critical hit, can include damage being doubled and a dragon roll being needed to parry or dodge this attack, making a second attack, or piercing armour. Damage can be slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning, which determines the effectiveness of armour.

Armour has a rating, which reduces damage taken. Helmets increase Armour Rating, but work as a Bane for certain skills. If a Player Character’s Hit Points are reduced to zero, a death roll is required for him to survive, which can be pushed. Three successful rolls and the Player Character survives, whilst three failures indicate he has died. A Player Character on zero Hit Points can be rallied by another to keep fighting. Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit also includes rules for other forms of damage such as falling and poison, plus darkness and fear. Fear is covered by a Willpower check, and there is a Fear Table for the results.
A Wizard powers magic through the expenditure of Willpower Points. Typical spells cost two Willpower Points per Power Level of a spell, but just one Willpower Point for lesser spells or magic tricks. Spells are organised into schools and each school has an associated skill, which is rolled against when casting a spell. Willpower Points are lost even if the roll is failed, but rolling a dragon can double the range or damage of the spell, negate the Willpower Point cost, or allow another spell to be cast, but with a Bane. Rolling a demon simply means that the spell fails and cannot be pushed. A spell cannot be cast if the Wizard is in direct contact with either iron or steel.

Three spells and three magical tricks are given in Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit. These are all fire-related, designed for the Wizard Player Character. The magical tricks include Ignite, Heat/Chill, and Puff of Smoke, whilst the full spells are Fireball, Gust of Wind, and Pillar.
The scenario in Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit is ‘The Magistrate’s Gambit’. This takes place in Archmage Kalisial’s palace where each year she meets an old friend, Magistrate Stalomer, for a game of smickleboard. When they were young, they were adventurers, and together they found a magical necklace. Both wanted to wear it, but to decide who would for the following year, they decided to play the game, with the winner getting to wear it. Magistrate Stalomer has never won a single game despite his having studied smickleboard for years, and as he nears the end of his life, he just wants to wear it the once. Yet he suspects that Archmage Kalisial, his old friend, is cheating by using three magical artefacts. These are a wig, a pair of gilded spectacles, and an onyx game board and if he can replace them, he thinks that for once, he will prevail in the annual game. To that end, he hires the Player Characters and instructs them to attend the party, find each of the suspect artefacts and replace them with replicas he has made.

So what the Player Characters have to do is sneak away from Archmage Kalisial’s party and explore the rest of her palace for the location of the three artefacts. Given that they only have an hour to explore the palace, it is actually quite large, with eleven rooms that they will probably want to examine. There is a strong emphasis on puzzles and interaction, with the possibility of a little combat along the way, and the puzzles are actually supported by handouts that the Game Master can cut out and present to her players. All of the locations are highly detailed and there is usually a lot to examine and interact with in each room. The Player Characters will also find plenty of treasure to take away with them, which they will, as this is how Magistrate Stalomer plans to pay them. The Game Master will need to keep track of the Player Characters’ actions as they have the potential to first arouse Archmage Kalisial’s suspicions and eventually alert her to their activities. Her initial suspicions will make it increasingly difficult for the Player Character to sneak about and act surreptitiously, and will ultimately result in her sending servants to investigate if she becomes too concerned.
Eventually, a bell will ring (in other words, the timer set by the Game Master will go off) and the party proper will begin. This will be followed by the game itself being played between Archmage Kalisial and Magistrate Stalomer. How well he does will depend upon how successful the Player Characters have been in substituting the three items. In game terms, the Player Characters earn points for various objectives achieved throughout Archmage Kalisial’s palace, whilst her vigilance level is substracted from this and a twenty-sided die is rolled against the resulting value. If the roll is equal to, or below the value, then Magistrate Stalomer wins!
Physically, Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit is clean and tidy. The cartography is excellent, but the artwork and illustrations are superb. The handouts are also very good. They are done by Johan Egerkrans, who also illustrated Vaesen and possess a grim, if comic book sensibility.
Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit is a well done tournament adventure, packed with puzzles and secrets that the players and their characters need to discover and solve before the time limit of the scenario. It is effectively, an anti-heist scenario that is till played out with all of the stealth of a classic heist scenario. As a standard adventure, it can be played out at a more leisurely place and will be no less challenging, though without the time limit. Either way, Dragonbane – The Magistrate’s Gambit is a tightly designed and impressive little scenario, which not only has the potential to be a lot of fun, but which also feels refreshingly different from other scenarios for Dragonbane.

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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One of the perennial contributors to Free RPG Day is Paizo, Inc., a publisher whose titles for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game have proved popular and often in demand long after the event. The emphasis in these releases have invariably been upon small species. Thus, in past years, the titles released for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game have typically involved adventures with diminutive Player Characters, first Kobolds, then Goblins, and then with the release of A Fistful of Flowers for Free RPG Day 2022 and A Few Flowers More for Free RPG Day 2023, it was Leshies, where as for Free RPG Day 2024, it was the turn of toys with The Great Toy Heist! However, for Free RPG Day 2025 literally makes a big change by making the scale of its contribution for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game big and make the villain of the piece even bigger!

The Scourge of Sheerleaf is designed for four Tenth Level Player Characters and makes use of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Player Core, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game GM Core, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Monster Core, Pathfinder Rage of Elements, Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, and Pathfinder Last Omens Grand Bazaar. It is a lot of sourcebooks and rulebooks, and what it means is that it supports the Game Master and the gaming group who has already invested time in the roleplaying game. This is not to say that the Game Master who has access to all of those books could not run the adventure for players who do not, running it as one-shot or demonstration adventure. That said, being designed for use with Tenth Level Player Characters means that The Scourge of Sheerleaf is more complex to run and play than the useful offering for low Level Player Characters that Paizo, Inc., normally releases for Free RPG Day.
The Scourge of Sheerleaf is set in the town of Sheerleaf which stands below Mount Zoldos,  between the Arthfell Mountains and the Arthfell Forest. It comes to the attention of the Player Characters when come across a pamphlet being circulated in nearby taverns. It tells of how the village has been attacked by a dragon, demanding fealty from the villagers, and wrought its revenge when the demand was rebuffed. When they arrive in Sheerleaf to help, they will find several collapsed buildings, many people now living in tents, and the town’s the mayor, Eliana, waiting for them. She will be able to tell the Player Characters that Zikritrax, the dragon, is an Adamantine Dragon, and with its ‘Avalanche Breath’ attack, was able to pummel the buildings into collapsing; that he has a lair in a cave up on Mount Zoldos; and worse, that Zikritrax not only refuses to negotiate, but because the town has still not acquised to his demands, has kidnapped Eliana’s wife and children. So, not only do the Player Characters have to defeat an Adamantine Dragon, they have to recuse a women and her children!
The action part of the scenario sees the Player Characters ascend the mountain, avoiding an avalanche on the way, and entering the cave. Here, they will face Zikritrax and his Armoured Cave Bear minions. Zikritrax is a tough opponent, being thirteenth Level, possessing 220 Hit Points, fearsome claw and tail strike as well as the ‘Avalanche Breath’ attack, let alone the fact that it has a ‘Fearsome Presence’ and a ‘Resilient Form’. The former inflicts fear, of course, whilst the latter potentially downgrades critical attacks against the creature.
And that is it. As an adventure, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is short. It is also very combat focused and arguably really only consists of combat since there is no other way to resolve the situation.
The rest of The Scourge of Sheerleaf is dedicated to the four pre-generated Player Characters. They are all Tenth Level and they all share a similar feature—their Heritage is ‘Dragonblood’. They consist of Brave Wanderer, a Leshy Sorcerer; Kiana, a Human Figher who has the wings, horns, and scales of a dragon; Ruvior, an Elf Cleric who uses a wheelchair; and Sizkmi, a Kobold Rogue with dragon wings. All four are given a two-page spread each and each includes his background, a guide to playing the character, with notes on whet he will do in combat, exploration, and when healing is required, as well as what he thinks about the other characters. The four Player Characters are very well done and easy to read, and also include references for the various abilities.
Physically, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is professionally presented. The artwork is excellent and the writing is clear. The one map included, which is of Zikritrax’s lair, is serviceable.
Despite how professionally The Scourge of Sheerleaf is done, it is difficult not to be disappointed at the end result. The adventure consists of three scenes, an underwritten roleplaying scene, an exploration scene, and a combat scene, the combat scene being the one that dominates the whole scenario. And that is it. There is very little on the town of Sheerleaf, and certainly no map of it, and the players and their characters have no real agency as to how they tackle the scenario and there is almost no scope for roleplaying. Further, whilst the adventure is simple—arguably simplistic—its Player Characters are complex with a lot of mechanical detail as befitting a Tenth Level Player Character. The end result is that The Scourge of Sheerleaf is likely to be too complex for players new to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and little more than a single encounter for players who have been playing it for a while. It is thus difficult to work who exactly, The Scourge of Sheerleaf is aimed at. 

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Scry, Scry My Little Eye is a scenario for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. It is published by Loke BattleMats and a tester, not to say a taster, for the publisher’s Dungeon Designer Cards. It is designed to be played with four Player Characters, each of Second Level, and completed in a single session, two at most. The set-up is simple. A powerful Mage offers the Player Characters a job. This is to test a dungeon that he has designed and built. All the Player Characters have to do is survive, locate ten Runes that have been hidden around the dungeon, they will be rewarded with a 1000gp for their efforts. The mage, Sazovar, explains that he will monitoring their progress and in return promises no fatalities, even in the if it would appear that the entire party has been killed. What it means is that as far as they are concerned, the Player Characters are being paid to practise their dunegeoneering skills. What it actually means is slightly creepier...

Sazovar has designed the dungeon to be watched. However, not just by himself, but by his friends and colleagues too, and to keep the tension and excitement high, he is quite happy to change things in the dungeon and thus keep the hired adventurers on their toes. This is represented by the key feature dungeon, which itself consists of several connected rooms across two maps included in the centre of the adventure. This feature consists of the Dungeon Designer Cards. These are double-sided. The front depicts a piece of dungeon furniture or dressing, such as a chest, desk, storage shelves, broken floor, pool of water, and so on. Flip them over, and they present the Dungeon Master with a set of four choices. So, the ‘Pool of Water’, “A broken section of floor has filled up with brackish foul smelling water.” The choices on the back consist of a ‘Deep Dive’, ‘Acid’, ‘Damp Coins’, and ‘Watery Dead’. The Dungeon Master can chose one or roll for one, and in the case of ‘Pool of Water’, the ‘Deep Dive’ is a narrow, deep pool containing a glinting Clue; the ‘Acid’ will inflict damage to anything or anyone which falls in; the pool contains ‘Damp Coins’, but the water stinks; and in ‘Watery Dead’, there is a Ghoul hiding just under the surface of the water! The clues in the case of Sazovar’s test dungeon all give the Player Characters a Rune which they need to complete the dungeon and gain Sazovar’s reward. There is a total of sixteen Dungeon Designer Cards, each measuring roughly fifteen-by-twenty feet.

The scenario begins with ‘5E in 5 Minutes’, a very quick guide to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, followed by an explanation of the scenario’s adventure, the hook to get the Player Characters involved, how the Dungeon Designer Cards work, an explanation of the background for the Dungeon Master. All of this is easy to read and prepare, and there is advice too, on how to run the dungeon. In this case, it means adding audience interaction, adjusting the difficulty as necessary, and so on. There are suggestions to, as how to use the scenario once the Player Characters have through it once. There is scope here, of course, for the Player Characters to replay the dungeon with the different options on Dungeon Designer Cards, ones they have not previously encountered, or for Sazovar to populate it with tougher challenges.

The Dungeon Master is supported, not just with maps she can use and the Dungeon Designer Cards she can cut out, but also tokens for the monsters and the Player Characters. The latter also have their own character sheets and consist of a Half-Orc Barbarian, a Halfling Bard, a Human Wizard, and a Half-Elf Rogue. These are all fully fledged characters with some background as well as their stats.

Physically, Scry, Scry My Little Eye is well presented. The artwork is decent, but the maps are very good. This should no surprise given the publisher. One nice touch is that references to monsters, items—magic or not, and clues are colour-coded to make them easier to spot.

Scry, Scry My Little Eye is an easy dungeon to run with very little preparation since the Dungeon Designer Cards do the dungeon design and dressing. It can be run as a one-shot, a convention scenario, or run as part of a campaign, perhaps with the Player Characters becoming dungeon scouts and surveyors to find wilder and more extravagant encounters to implement in their patron’s dungeon, and even expanding the size of test dungeons with further maps from Loke Battle Mats.