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

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It is over a thousand years since the founding of the Empire of Thera with the establishment of the Eternal Library by the Elves to study and decipher the Books of Harrow. These volumes revealed that as the magic rose in the world, it enabled unimaginable horrors—previously only seen by wizards entering Astral Space—to break into the world and spread chaos, death, and destruction. Magic was yet to peak, and as the Theran Empire spread its influence and conquered new territories in search of more Books of Harrow, it traded—even warred—for orichalcum, the magically rich metal that would further the research of the Eternal Library, and it preached of the dangers to come. Ultimately, the staff at the Eternal Library determined that the only way for people to protect themselves was to magically seal whole communities in kaers and citadels, there to wait out the centuries until after magic had peaked and begun to decrease. Centuries passed before the Scourge of the Horrors ended and the inhabitants of the kaers knew it was safe to leave, but the land their ancestors had known is changed. Horrors still exist, in dark corners and the kaers whose defences they managed to breach, and there are still kaers that remain sealed, the fate of their inhabitants unknown. In Barsaive, a former province of the Theran Empire, the Dwarf kingdom of Throal arose as the Theran Empire retreated and has already driven back an initial attempt to reclaim the province by the empire. The many peoples of Barsaive, declared by the Kingdom of Throal free from being slaves of the Theran Empire as their ancestors had been, are thriving and there are many, known as ‘Adepts’ for their magical connection to the world, who aid the kingdom and explore its new lands.
This is the setting for Earthdawn, a new roleplaying game published by FASA in 1993. It was a big fantasy roleplaying game published at a time when no other fantasy roleplaying games were being published—except for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition. At the time it looked like an aberration, because after all, if you had Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, did you actually need another fantasy roleplaying game? After all, what did Earthdawn offer that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition did? The answer to that is both plenty and not a lot. Plenty, because it offered a detailed setting from the start, that of Barsaive; it provided a reason to explore the underground locations of its setting, the kaers, in way that the dungeons of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition did not; it offered plenty for the Player Characters to do, such as exploring kaers, sealed and unsealed, exploring the new world, protecting others from the remaining Horrors, and so on; it offered lots of character archetypes that enabled the Player Characters to do exciting things; and it had a rules system that was coherent and consistent from start to finish. Not a lot because it was still high fantasy like that of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition and you are still playing Elves, Dwarves, and the like; and kaers are still dungeons even if they are called kaers.
A Player Character or Adept in Earthdawn is defined by his Race, Attributes, Discipline and Circle, Talents, skills, and spells. There are eight core Races, known as the ‘Name-giver’ races, detailed in the Earthdawn core book: Dwarf, Elf, Human, Ork, and Troll are similar to their depiction in other fantasy roleplaying games, but in Barsaive, Dwarves are the dominant Race and culture. The other three are Obsidiman, creatures of living rock, over seven feet tall and weighing hundreds of pounds; T’Skrang, reptilian humanoids, matriarchal, flamboyant and sometimes frivolous; and Windlings, eighteen-inch tall fairie-like creatures with dragonfly-like wings. Obsidiman are seen as slow, but dependable; Orks as nomads, whose tribes will raid the civilised lands; Trolls as feared sky raiders, aerial pirates who crew longship-like sky boats; and T’Skrang as river traders when they are not part of the river pirate federations. Each Race has its own innate abilities. For example, Obsidiman are stronger and tougher, T’Skrang have a tail attack, Trolls are stronger and tougher and have heat vision, and Windlings are not as tough, but possess Astral Sensitive Sight and Flight. Humans have the Versatility Talent, which enables them to learn Talents from Disciplines other than their own. The six Attributes are Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, Willpower, and Charisma, and they range in value between two and eighteen.
There are thirteen Disciplines in Earthdawn. A Discipline is a way of studying magic and connecting to the magic of the world, and is both a profession and a way of life. They are Archer, Beastmaster, Cavalryman, Elementalist, Illusionist, Nethermancer, Sky Raider, Swordmaster, Thief, Troubadour, Warrior, Weaponsmith, and Wizard. The Elementalist, the Illusionist, the Nethermancer, and the Wizard are the specific spellcasters, with the Nethermancer’s magic involving the other planes. Each Discipline has eight Circles, representing the overall skill and experience of the Adept. In effect, Discipline is the equivalent of Class and Circle the equivalent of level, making Earthdawn as much as a Class and Level roleplaying game as it is a Discipline and Circle roleplaying game.
One of the features of Earthdawn is that both Races and Disciplines are strongly presented in the roleplaying game’s artwork. A colour section depicts all eight Races and each of the eight Discipline listings is accompanied by a ready-to-play archetype of that Discipline. Thus, the Beastmaster is accompanied by an Ork Beastmaster, the Sky Raider by the Troll Sky Raider, the Swordmaster by a T’Skrang Swordmaster, and the Weaponsmith by the Dwarf Weaponsmith. This is typical of roleplaying games designed in the nineties, but very much helped to enforce the feel and look of the world of Earthdawn.
To create an Adept in Earthdawn, a player selects a Race, Discipline, generates Attributes—either randomly or by a point-buy method, determines Step Number and Action Dice for each Attribute, assigns Ranks to the Talents from his first Circle, and assigns Ranks to Knowledge Skills, an Artisan Skills, and Language Skills. Knowledge Skills are areas of study, whilst Artisan Skills represent the arts and craft skills that the people of Barsaive practice in order to prove their creativity and thus not corrupted by the Horrors. Lastly, after equipping his Adept, a player selects one or two personality traits—one of which can be hidden if two are selected, and decides upon some background details.
Name: SheerRace: WindlingDiscipline: Archer Circle: First
ATTRIBUTE – STEP – ACTION DIEDexterity (17): 7/1D12Strength (11): 5/1D8Toughness (12): 5/1D8Perception (15): 6/1D10Willpower (15): 6/1D10Charisma (16): 7/1D12
TALENTSAvoid Blow (2): 9/1D8+1D6Direction Arrow (1): 8/2D6Karma Ritual (1): 8/2D6Missile Weapons (2): 9/1D8+1D6Mystic Aim (1): 8/2D6True Shot (1): 8/2D6
MOVEMENTFull: 48 (Land)/90 (Flight)Combat: 24 (Land)/45 (Flight)
SKILLSArtisan/Fletching (1): 8/2D6Knowledge/Windling Lore (1): 8/2D6Knowledge/Heroes & Legends (1): 8/2D6
LANGUAGESLanguage/Windling (1): 8/2D6Language/Dwarven (1): 8/2D6Read/Write/Dwarven (1): 8/2D6
KARMADice: D10 Points: 15
COMBATPhysical Defence: 10 Spell Defence: 8 Social Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Mystic Armour: 2
DAMAGEDeath Rating: 34 Wound Threshold: 9
Mechanically, Earthdawn uses all of the standard polyhedral dice and to succeed at an action, must roll high to beat a Difficulty Number. Every Attribute, Skill, and Talent has a Step Number. The base Step Numbers for an Adept are derived directly from the Attributes and the ranks that an Adept has in his Skills and Talents will increase their Step Number. The Step Number determines the Action Die or Action Dice that the player will roll for his Adept when using a Skill or Talent. Each Step Number is equal to the average roll on the Action Die or Action Dice. For example, the Action Die for a Step Number of six is a ten-sided die, the average roll for which is six. As an Adept increases the ranks he has in his Skills and Talents, the Step Number and Action Die for each will also increase. In combat, the Difficulty Numbers are determined by the opponent’s Physical Defence, Spell Defence, and Social Defence values, but for other actions, the Game Master assigns a Difficulty Number according to the difficulty of the task. The result of the roll is then compared to the difficulty of the task on the Success Level Table. The result can be Poor, Average, Good, Excellent, or Extraordinary. Higher results are possible because rolling the maximum on any die allows the player to roll and add the result of another die of the same type.For example, Sheer and his friends are exploring a kaer when they discover some ghouls. As his friends move to attack, Sheer draws an arrow and fires at a ghoul. The ghoul has a Physical Defence of seven and an Armour rating of four. Sheer’s player decides to use his Missile Weapons, for which he will roll an eight-sided die and a six-sided die and add the results together. He rolls a six on the eight-sided die and a six on six-sided die, which means he can roll another six-sided die and add that to the total. He rolls five and the grand total is seventeen. The Game Master compares this result versus the Difficulty Number of the Ghoul’s Physical Defence. This is not quite enough to get an Extraordinary result, but it is enough to get an Excellent result. This means that Sheer’s attack bypasses the ghoul’s armour (or hit it in a soft spot if no armour is worn) and it will suffer the full effect of the Damage Test.In addition, all Adepts—and some creatures—have Karma, which can be spent in two ways. Some Talents require Karma to be activated, but it can also be spent to add another Action Die to a test. The size of the die is determined by Race. The amount of Karma an adept has is limited, but it can be replenished through the Karma Ritual Talent and through expenditure of Legend Points, the equivalent of Experience Points in Earthdawn.
Magic forms a major part of the setting and background to Earthdawn and four of the Disciplines—the Elementalist, the Illusionist, the Nethermancer, and the Wizard—can cast spells. All four have their own spell lists and start play with several spells, but for each, this requires the Spellcasting, Thread Weaving, and Spell Matrix Talents. Effectively, casting spells is a three-step process, of which Spellcasting is the third and last. The first is Thread Weaving, which enables the spellcaster to weave threads of magic into a spell’s pattern which is then stored in Spell Matrix. Some spells require more than one thread. The Spell Matrix enables the spellcaster to hold and cast a spell free of interference from astral space. Otherwise, the magic would pass through the caster’s body and in the process, do him harm. Other Adepts can also have Thread Weaving, but this is tied to what their Disciplines do rather than enabling them to formulate spells. A spellcaster can have multiple threads being woven at any one time and will have more than the one Spell Matrix, often enabling him to have more than the one spell ready to cast at any one time. Each Spell Matrix is treated as its own Talent and stores the spell until it is cast or the caster dies. It is possible reattune the Spell Matrix to store a different spell, but this is challenging. Spells can also be cast from a grimoire, but if desperate, a spellcaster could cast raw magic, tapping directly from astral space. This though, makes him vulnerable to Warping, damage, and a Horror Mark Test, as astral space has been warped itself by the Horrors. If the Game Master succeeds at the Horror Mark Test, it means that things have gone badly for the spellcaster. In this case, his use of raw magic leaves a mark on the caster that acts a beacon for Horrors for a year and a day! A Horror Mark can also be gained through encounters with actual Horrors.
During play an Adept will earn Legend Points through play and this is directly spent by the player to increase the Ranks in his Adept’s Talents. In general, Ranks in Talents, because of their magical nature, are easier to increase than those in Skills. An Adept must train to advance to a new Rank and this requires some roleplaying too. One of the most unusual methods of training can be gained from a Ghost Master, one who has died, but whose spirit can be contacted. The requirements for this are demanding and the Adept will need to prepare for it.
For the Game Master, there is advice on the perils of adventuring, handling creatures and Horrors, exploring kaers, and travel, the latter the faster means by river and by air. This accompanied by good solid advice on running the roleplaying game in general, as well as creating adventures and NPCs, and how to award Legend Points. Only here though, is where the Success Level table given and the mechanics of Earthdawn fully explained—and this is some two-hundred-and forty-three pages, almost three-quarters of the way through the book!
One of the notable features of the core rulebook for Earthdawn is the inclusion of a pull-out insert of sixteen cards, each representing a single magical item. Each magical item in Earthdawn is unique—there are no generic items. Instead, a magical item has a pattern, like the spells, that an Adept can attach threads to and weave himself into. This cannot be done randomly, but requires research and tests of knowledge to discover aspects of a magical item. This starts with the Name of the item, then its creator’s Name, its abilities, the source of its materials and the Name of the creature who aided in its creation, and so on. Once this has been done, the Adept can weave threads into the item, the player expend Legend Points, and then make the item not only becomes part of the Adept’s legend, but the Adept also part of the item’s legend. In this way, magical items become important and attached to an Adept both mechanically and narratively in a way that other fantasy roleplaying books did not do.
The creatures in Earthdawn include a mix of creatures, monsters, and Horrors. Some like the ghouls and the zombie-like cadaver men are similar to those of other fantasy roleplaying games. Dragons are immensely powerful creatures, said to be millennia old, but tend to stay away from mortals. Three Dragon types, the Cathay Dragon, the Common Dragon, and the Great Dragon are detailed as are three dragons by name, but unlike in Shadowrun, Dragons do not themselves play a great role in the setting, at least in the core book. Shadowrun is important here, since would be later be revealed that Earthdawn was actually a prequel to the fantasy cyberpunk roleplaying game, which was set at another point in the cycle of magic. However, the ties between the two have been subsequently severed. Where Dragons are powerful, Horrors are powerful and nasty. They can animate the dead, corrupt Karma, shift damage it has suffered to other targets, leave Horror Marks, cast spells, inflect Terror, and more. They can be generic in nature like the Bloatforms which manipulate communities into acts of suicide and murder, and the Kreesca, misshapen humanoids that inflict horrible nightmares on the wounded, preventing them from healing. Or they can be of a singular nature, such as Chantrel’s Horror, named for the troubadour who dreamed it into existence. Some nine Horrors are described, all inventively horrible and difficult to defeat, representing strong challenges for any Adept. They are Earthdawn’s signature monster, but allow for lots of inventive variation.
Lastly, Earthdawn is rounded out with two sections which expand upon the background. The first explores the Passions that shape the spiritual beliefs and customs in Barsaive. Each embodies a trait such as love, art, revelry, and so on. Most Passions are positive forces, but there are mad Passions such as Raggok, who embodies vengeance, bitterness, and jealousy, and Vestrial, which embodies who embodies manipulation and deceit. Passions are worshipped, though not as organised faiths, whilst Questors pledge themselves to a particular Passion. There are no specific mechanical benefit to doing so, although Questers are respected across Barsaive whereas Adepts are too closely connected to magic to gain everyone’s trust or respect. Otherwise, the inclusion of the Passions is interesting to read, but there is not much in the way of application to play. The second is an expanded section of Barsaive, which provides an overview of the province.
Physically, Earthdawn is very well presented. The artwork, a mix of black and white and colour inserts is great, really bringing the setting to life. Yet the writing and certainly not the organisation is not as good as it should be. The spellcasting system, actually a pleasing mix flavour and mechanic, is not as well as explained as it could be since it requires much more work than simply casting a spell and rolling dice. The explanation of the mechanics is scattered across the book, with the actual explanation of the core mechanic and working out how successful a roll is, not appearing until almost three quarters of the way through the book. It really should have been given upfront so that the reader and the Game Master has a good grasp of them before reading the rest of the book. Nevertheless, Earthdawn is a good-looking book, even with the magic item cards removed (though most copies still retain them to this day). If it lacks anything, it is a scenario to play right from the off.

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Stewart Wieck reviewed Earthdawn as a ‘Feature Review’ in White Wolf Magazine #37 (July/August 1993). His review began the same that other initial reviews did. Comparing it with the then as now biggest roleplaying game in the industry, he opened with “What can be said about Earthdawn? Well, it’s better than AD&D. Then again, you’d have to wonder about a company that went to the trouble of releasing a fantasy game that isn’t better than AD&D. Even an outstanding game is going to have little chance of overtaking this grandfather of games, so what hope does a crappy game have? None. What chance does Earthdawn have, even though it’s better? None. There’s just not enough that’s new in the game to make it really stand out in the minds of current fantasy gamers.” The review continued in this fashion until Wieck awarded the roleplaying game a score of three out of five, and concluding with, “Earthdawn is a solid game, but the “innovations” seem like unnecessary complications. The world is fun, but not fresh. This is not the fantasy game to leave your current campaign for unless you want to bank on the ever-fulfilled FASA promise— an extensive line of support material, much of which will be very good and will undoubtedly add a lot to the game.”
Alongside Wieck, Sam Chupp and Travis Williams added their own brief reviews. Chupp also awarded Earthdawn a score of three and compared it to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, suggesting that, “If, however, you are looking for a new twist in fantasy roleplaying, you going to be patient and wait for another company to get brave enough (in a crowded market) to put out a brand-new, radical, out-of-this-world fantasy role-playing game.” Williams was more positive, awarding it four out of five, and praising it for its story, artwork, and sense of why the things were that they were, and, “Last, but not least, I gave Earthdawn one more point for their effort to make the game more colorful, and I mean this in an ethnic sense, I never really wanted to play a white person in AD&D, and [I] to play someone black I had to choose a dark elf. I respect FASA for making the effort to include black people in their fantasy games. Maybe more of us will play them as a result.”
Earthdawn would be reviewed in Shadis magazine, not once but twice. First in a ‘Feature Review’ by Jeff Zitomer in Shadis #10 (November/December 1993), which he began with the almost formulaic response of, “What, yet another fantasy RPG? Wrongo folks. Let’s face it, the market is flooded with bland fantasy role playing games. Has this become the hack genre of choice? Today’s gamers are a pretty savvy bunch. Sure, a big company like FASA certainly has the resources and talent to put together a snazzy-looking game, but can this newcomer compete?” Ultimately, Zitomer would be more positive than other reviewers, bring his review to a finish with “To sum it up, I think EARTHDAWN is going to be a classic. The background is unique and rich with adventuring possibilities. The rules, though voluminous, won’t take a lifetime to understand and won’t turn an adventure into a numbercrunching session. The game isn’t 100% perfect, however. There are some problems, such as the organization of the rules. In addition, I would’ve liked to have seen more background in the basic book instead of having to wait for supplements. As I mentioned before, these problems are more of an inconvenience than an impediment, and can be excused considering the sheer size of the game.” before closing with, “I give EARTHDAWN an “A-“. Check it out.”
The second review would appear in Shadis #24 (February 1996), again as a ‘Feature Review’, but this time by Jerome Rybak. As much an overview of the then range of supplements available as a review, Rybak’s review is by far the most positive: “Earthdawn has it all . Fantasy role-playing with dashes of horror (sec the Horrors supplement), exploration and adventure. It has enough of the traditional so I feel the swirls of nostalgia inside and enough innovation to keep me on my toes when I start to take things for granted. While the system is a bit too innovative for my taste, I highly recommend Earthdawn to anyone who runs a fantasy campaign. It really gives the fantasy genre a long-needed (albeit friendly) kick in the pants.”
Earthdawn was a ‘Pyramid Pick’ in Pyramid Vol. 1 Number 3 (September/October 1993). Reviewer, Chris W. McCubbin noted that, “The neat thing about Earthdawn’s setting is that it provides a completely logical framework for all the traditional fantasy roleplaying adventures. In D&D-style games, the realism-minded player is forever wondering, “if this kingdom is so ancient and civilized, why is this treasure-filled, haunted ruin sitting undisturbed ten miles outside the capital city?” He concluded the review by saying, “Although it never becomes bogged down in cliches and avoids outmoded concepts, Earthdawn is, at heart, a very traditional heroic fantasy RPG. In fact, it might be, in a very literal sense, the last word in heroic fantasy roleplaying – as the art of the RPG continues to expand beyond its sword-and-sorcery roots, Earthdawn might just turn out to be the last great FRPG. I predict it’s going to be a hit, and a fan favorite for years to come.”
Rick Swan reviewed Earthdawn in ‘Role-playing Reviews’ in Dragon #202 (February 1994), initially noting that a decade earlier, he would have questioned the “…[S]anity of any publisher attempting to go head-to-head with the AD&D® game.” He countered this with that wisdom that, “Almost any new fantasy RPG has a shot at elbowing its way into the market providing the publisher has a professional quality package, commits enough resources to promote it, and supports it with supplements. A good hook, preferably one that can be summarized in one line of ad copy, doesn’t hurt. (“Every character a spell-caster!” “Our dwarves are 10’ tall!”) It also pays to be different, but not too different. Successful RPGs tend to favor new twists on familiar concepts, not radical re-inventions; no one’s going to get rich with a game about magic-wielding kitchen appliances.” Yet his initial assessment was not favourable since it is clear that he felt that Earthdawn was not different enough, his opinion being that, “Despite workable rules and a clever setting, EARTHDAWN is more frosting than cake, with little of substance to distinguish it from the competition. Much of the game seems to parallel the AD&D system, including the archetypes (dwarves, dragons, and wizards), terminology (“circle” for “level”) (“legend points” for “experience Points”), even its polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20). Maybe a better title would’ve been “DÉJÀ VU”.” These reservations would continue with his summation: “Wall-to-wall innovation isn’t necessary or even desirable for a new RPG. On the heels of FASA’s imaginative SHADOWRUN* game though, EARTHDAWN feels like a step back. The best stuff (the thread magic) doesn’t make the so-so stuff (the knotty mechanics) any more palatable.”, but similarly balanced with, “The more I played it however, the better it got. I liked the spells. I liked the background. I loved the t’skrang. Mists of Betrayal made me hungry for the next round of supplements. This game ain’t RUNEQUEST. It ain’t even TUNNELS & TROLLS. But in a greasy pizza, let’s-not-take-this-too seriously kind of way, EARTHDAWN holds its own. Will it be around in five years? I wouldn’t be surprised. Will I still be playing it? Now that would surprise me.”
In a 1996 reader poll conducted by Arcane magazine to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, Earthdawn was ranked twenty-fourth. Editor Paul Pettengale commented that, “Very good indeed. Earthdawn combined traditional fantasy with Call of Cthulhu-style horror and a detailed background to create an evocative and interesting setting. Combined with a clear, well-designed rules system and an impressive range of supporting supplements and adventures, this is an excellent fantasy game. It’s also of special interest to fans of Shadowrun, because it describes the past of the same gameworld.”
Lastly, in 1999, Earthdawn was included in ‘Second Sight: The Millennium’s Most Influential Company and The Millennium’s Most Underrated Game’ in Pyramid (Online) (November 25th, 1999). He stated that, “Earthdawn had an original, inventive magic system (no mean trick given the hundreds of fantasy RPGs that came before), and a game world that gave you the classic ‘monsters and dungeons’ sort of RPG experience, but made sense doing it.”
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It is clear that at the time of its publication that Earthdawn drew strong comparisons with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition and questions as to whether there was any need for another big fantasy roleplaying game, since after all, Earthdawn offered a lot of similar things to the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Yet it offered a whole lot more—a coherent rules system, an interesting magic system, and a fascinating world right from the opening pages of the book, with everything designed to support and service that world.
With its emphasis on its setting, its combination of genres, fantasy and horror, and its coherent Step Number and Action Dice mechanics, Earthdawn does feel like a roleplaying game from the nineties, but one from the second half of the nineties rather than the first half. Earthdawn offered Dungeons & Dragons-style play in 1993, but explained that why style of play existed and how it worked by sliding it into a setting where it did not look of place and did make sense. And although designed in the early nineties, none of those choices or the mechanics have dated. Earthdawn is a roleplaying game that you pick up and play and not really know that it was published decades ago. With its big, bold treatment of high fantasy, magic, and horror, Earthdawn stands out as the preeminent fantasy roleplaying game of the decade.

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

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Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow is the release from Steamforged Games Ltd for Free RPG Day 2023. It is a scenario and preview of Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea, the new expansion to the publisher’s Animal Adventures: Secrets of Gullet Cove, the cats and dogs anthropomorphic campaign and setting for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Where Animal Adventures: Secrets of Gullet Cove takes place in and around an English style port, Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea moves the action and story to sea where the Player Characters, based in the floating city of Flotsam, set sail to explore the nearby islands that shift in and out of a magical vortex which lies a few miles travel from the Flotsam. Designed for group of three to six awakened animal Player Characters of Second and Third Levels, it is a short, intriguing affair combining action and mystery that can be played in a single session or so...

Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow lets the Player Characters ‘Journey to the Heart of Barkness’* on the trail of Sadie the Corgi, an explorer of legendary repute, who led an expedition to explore the recently appeared Spine Fish Island. Unfortunately, only a few of her companions have returned, battered and bruised, with strange tales of ‘Clawptain Katz’ and the ‘spine fish’. Brave adventurers—in this case the Player Characters—are wanted to sail out to the island to discover what has happened to Sadie, and hopefully rescue her.

* Publisher’s pun, not mine.

The Player Characters do have the opportunity to prepare for the voyage, both by taking some expert advice about Spine Fish Island and asking the survivors of the expedition led by Sadie the Corgi. Armed with this, the voyage itself is easy and the seas are calm. The Player Characters’ trouble begin when they reach the island, which turns out to be mostly desert, but there is a river running through it, which is only accessible by trekking overland. The initial problem is the welcoming committee, a bunch of poorly armed cats who shout at the Player Characters to leave the island, but are otherwise not aggressive. Which seems odd given that both they and Clawptain Katz want the Player Characters to leave the island. Whether the Player Characters decide to attack or negotiate, the defending cats quickly reveal their true character and turn tail, almost apologetically, as if they have no fight in them. This encounter is staged on the map included in the centre of Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow.
With the knowledge gained from the cats and likely a clearer explanation of what is going on, the Player Characters can make their way to the encampment of Clawptain Katz and there confront him. This requires them to cross a short stretch of the desert and then travel along the river, on which they will have to protect their boat from the predating Spine Fish. At Clawptain Katz’s encampment, it is quickly clear that he is holding Sadie the Corgi prisoner—but not so that she is unable to shout a few hints—and that Clawptain Katz seems to have the rest of the cats held under his rather selfish and autocratic sway. Has he turned dictator whilst he has been on the island, or is there another explanation?

Animal Adventures: Apocalypse Miaow is a likeable affair. It is more about the investigation and the interaction than the fight necessarily as the confrontation when the Player Characters land on the island might not result in a fight. Overall, it showcases some of basic details to Animal Adventures: The Faraway Sea and provides a good solid, session’s worth of play.

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

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For Faerie, Queen, and Country was the first ‘Universe Book’ to be published for the Amazing Engine game system, the first attempt at a generic system from TSR, Inc. It is set in an alternate Victorian Era, roughly in the 1870s, with Queen Victoria on the throne, with some radical differences. The most obvious of these is the presence of magic and the fae. The Unseelie Court has long been a presence on British Isles, ever since its horde rampaged out south from the Highlands of Scotland to be defeated by Aurelius Ambrosius and they continue to be a threat today, often hand-in-hand with the Esteemed Order of Thaumaturgists, which has connections in both Scotland and Ireland. In particular, it claims that James of Calais is the rightful claimant to the throne that Queen Victoria currently occupies. This is despite the Prince of Scotland having an important role in Scotland’s governance title established in 1701 as a condition of accepting the Hanoverian Succession to the throne. Ireland remains part of the empire, but Tir Nan Og remains under the independent rule of the Tuatha de Dannan, only adding to friction between the authorities and those fomenting for the settlement of the Irish question. Even so, every Tuatha sidhe barrow requires a sperate embassy of its own lest a fairie noble be slighted.
Abroad, France remains a rival led by Napoleon III, the grandson of the Corsican Ogre, whilst Otto von Bismarck foments not just a Prussian resurgence, but a German one. America is the crown in the British Empire, returned to her embrace following the defeat of the rebels in the War of 1812 and the Limited Rule and Tax Reform Acts of 1821. Great Britain has colonies dotted here and there around the world, but to date, the magic of the Moguls of India have limited European inroads into the Indian subcontinent.
In For Faerie, Queen, and Country, the Player Characters can be Human or Tainted, Marked, Blooded by Fairy Blood, or even be Full Fairy. Fairy features include arched eyebrows, bulging eyes, hooves, pointed ears, and more. A Fairy can be a Brownie, Bwca, Grugach, Gwragedd Annwn, Killmoulis, Piskie, Tuatha de Dannan, Urisk, or Wag-at-the-Wa’. The greater the degree of Fairy Blood a character has, the greater his susceptibility to cold iron, resistance to fairy glamours, and may even be able to cast glamours himself. A Player Character must either be English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Anglo-Irish, or Foreign, although a Foreign character cannot have fairy blood. There is some social distinction between the Pagan Irish and the Church Irish, not dissimilar to that between Protestants and Catholics of our own history. The type of Fairy will also determine where he comes from in the United Kingdom, since fairies vary from region to region. His Social Class—Working Class, Bourgeoisie, or Gentry—determines the professions open to him.
To create a Player Character in For Faerie, Queen, and Country, a player takes the base character he created using the Amazing Engine System Guide and adds a flat twenty points to each attribute. He rolls for Fairy Blood and Fairy Type—if necessary, selects Nationality, and determines his Class from his Position attribute, and thus the Professions open to him. A Player Character typically has one or two Professions, each Profession offering a number of skill pools from the player can choose from. A Full Fairy will not have a Profession, but instead selects skills based on his Intuition rather than his Learning attribute.
Our example Player Character is a Blooded Fairy, a half-fairy whose father was an Urisk, half-man, half-goat. Douglas Gunn is a farmer’s son, who was always willing to defend his Fairy origins with his fists and until this got him arrested and given a choice of gaol time or taking the Queen’s shilling. He choose the latter and served for ten years in Queen Nicnevin’s Own Highlanders. He earned a battlefield commission for bravery which he retained upon retirement.
Douglas GunnFairy Blood: BloodedFairy Type: UriskNationality: ScottishProfession: Farmer/Soldier (2nd Lieutenant, Queen Nicnevin’s Own Highlanders (Ret.))
Physique (Rank 1/Dice 8): Fitness 61 Reflexes 53Intellect (Rank 4/Dice 4): Learning 30 Intuition 42Spirit (Rank 2/Dice 5): Psyche 38 Willpower 52Influence (Rank 3/Dice 5): Charm 56 Position 28
Stamina: 21Body Points: 13
Skills: Brawling 53% (Athletics), Fairie Lore 30% (The Craft), Farming 42% (Rural), Rifle 53% (Marksmanship), Woodlore 42% (Rural)
Glamours: ConcealNotes: +10 resisting glamours, +5% to all reaction rolls by the fairy folk, -5% on all reaction rolls involving non-fairy NPCs, suffer one point of extra damage from cold iron.
Languages: English, Scots Gaelic
Mechanically, of course, For Faerie, Queen, and Country uses the percentile of the Amazing Engine, as does the combat system. In the Victorian Era, brawls and knife fights are not uncommon, whilst firearms are primarily used to commit crime, and are wielded by criminals and some police. General ownership is not uncommon, but mostly in the home or on the owner’s land. Combat can be brutal in For Faerie, Queen, and Country, not just because a Player Character has lower Hit Points than in other Universe Books, but because alongside their loss, there is a chance of the injured suffering a complication, ranging from a scar, fever, or infection to deafness in one ear, mild paralysis, or a limb requiring amputation!
The most mechanical attention in For Faerie, Queen, and Country is given to its magic system. Magic in the setting is so important that there are even several regiments of Royal Thaumaturges in the British army and magic can be studied at university. ‘The Art’ of magic falls under the sciences and can include Alchemy, Divination, Goetic, and Wizardry, whilst Divination, Fairie Lore, Folk Medicine, Herbalism, Hyperaesthesia, and Spiritualism fall under ‘The Craft’. ‘The Art’ is studied at universities and in colleges, though Goetic magic, the evil practice of trafficking with spirits is not taught at any reputable institution There are also innate spell effects that Fairie can cast called Glamours, primitive magic taking the form of either illusions to fool the senses or enchantments to betray the heart.
Apart from the Glamours for the benefit of the Game Master, For Faerie, Queen, and Country does not include a list of off-the-shelf, ready-to-cast spells, but instead asks a would be spellcaster to literally formulate a spell using several factors. These are Agent, Action(s), Target, Effect, and Conditions, which all increase the difficulty of casting the spell, whilst Taboos, which place restrictions on a spell, reduce the difficulty. Typically, this preparation takes time and it is also possible to research spells, although that takes days. Ultimately, the Game Master has to give her approval of any spell and total difficulty value reduces the ability of the spellcaster to cast the spell. It costs Stamina to cast a spell and spells can be resisted. It is possible to formulate and cast a spell on the fly, but this reduces the chance of being successfully cast. The system is handily supported with some examples, but this is perhaps, despite the intended simplicity of the Amazing Engine, quite a demanding aspect of the setting and any player wanting to play a spellcaster will need to have a good grasp of these mechanics work as each spell requires actual preparation and set-up upon the part of the player, let alone his character.
The counterpart to magic in For Faerie, Queen, and Country are the clergy and the church. Across the United Kingdom there are parallel denominations to those our own, such as the Church of Albion, the Old Church, and the Reformed Church of Scotland. Members of the clergy do not cast spells or perform miracles, but their faith enables them to use the powers of ‘Sanctify’, ‘Fortify’, and ‘Cast out’. The Church and its grounds are anathema to the Fairie, and in most cases, the Fairie loath the church. Whilst the chapter covers the equivalent of the different Christian denominations, For Faerie, Queen, and Country unfortunately not only ignores other faiths which might be found in the United Kingdom, it also ignores paganism, the practice of which is found across the country, often entwined with the Fairie.
For Faerie, Queen, and Country includes a wealth of background on the Albion of its 1870s. There is a list of goods and services and their prices, money and savings are discussed, an array of awards and forms of recognition are given, but For Faerie, Queen, and Country comes into its own when with a pair of chapters written as in-game pieces. The first is ‘Peak-Martin’s Index of Faerie’, a series of three lectures given to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1877. This categorises the Fairie as well as giving stats for the Game Master to use for NPCs and providing an overview of the Unseelie Court, the Seelie Court, Tir Nan Og, and more. There is also a guide to portraying Fairie for the Game Master. The second is ‘Crompton’s Illustrated Tourbook of Great Britain’, a relatively decent guide to the United Kingdom, which begs for expansion and which any native of the British Isles will find wanting. Anyone from Wales will be disappointed to find folded into the description of England. This is followed by ‘The Glorious British Life’, a guide to life in the United Kingdom, which covers money, rural and urban life, how much your servants should be paid, how things are done without modern conveniences, transport, how to conduct research, government and politics, crime and law enforcement, pleasures and pastimes, and more. In comparison to ‘Crompton’s Illustrated Tourbook of Great Britain’, this is solidly useful content. Enjoyably, For Faerie, Queen, and Country comes to a close with ‘How to Speak Proper’, but not just in the Queen’s English, but also for rural speech, but also Scots and Irish Gaelic, briefly and poorly, a little Welsh, and a lexicon of criminal phrases.
There is a lot to like about For Faerie, Queen, and Country. Primarily this is the range of Fairies described, the magic system which will force players to think about their character’s spellcasting long before they cast anything, and the general background. In the fact, the latter feels not dissimilar to What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century. However, anyone from Wales will be severely disappointed by its lack of coverage in For Faerie, Queen, and Country compared to that of Scotland and Ireland, similarly, its treatment of paganism is non-existent in comparison to that of the Church. Mechanically, For Faerie, Queen, and Country is simple, but it is not always explained as clearly as it could have been, especially the means of creating characters. Further—and despite the wealth of background—that background is not always easy to use or extract to be used, and it does not help that For Faerie, Queen, and Country lacks a scenario or even scenario hooks. Though an experienced and determined Game Master will be able to mine the background for ideas and hooks.
Where this leaves For Faerie, Queen, and Country is a setting that is playable, but not complete. In some ways, it works better as a sourcebook for other Victorian Era-set roleplaying games than it does stand alone. Had it been further developed, that might not have been the case.
Physically, For Faerie, Queen, and Country is decently presented, but lightly illustrated with publicly sourced artwork, so the book is text dense. It comes with a pull-out, full colour map of the United Kingdom.
As the first Universe Book for the Amazing Engine, what For Faerie, Queen, and Country does is showcase the possibilities of the system and what it can do. It also hints at the radicalism of the ideas that were to follow in subsequent Universe Books, as if the writers had been set free to design interesting settings with intriguing ideas that might not have been able to bring to fruition had they been for Dungeons & Dragons. Ultimately, For Faerie, Queen, and Country for the Amazing Engine is definitely not without its charms, but it does not feel as complete as it should and it leaves the reader wanting more.

Be Like a Crow: A Solo RPG is a journaling game which enables the player to take to the skies as a corvidae—crow, magpie, jackdaw, or rook—over multiple landscapes and differing genres, achieving objectives, exploring, and growing as they learn and grow old. Published by Critical Kit, a publisher better known for its scenarios for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. The roleplaying game combines the simple mechanics and use of a deck of playing cards typical of a journaling game with five genres—‘Urban Crow’, ‘Cyber-Crow’, ‘Gothic Crow’, ‘Fantasy Crow’, ‘Clockwork Crow’, and ‘Ravens of the Tower’. Each of these presents a different place and time for the bird to fly over, land on, encounter the denizens, and more, whilst Crowthulhu: A Cosmic Horror Setting For Be Like A Crow is a supplement that took the game in an entirely different direction, to the edge of Lovecraft Country. Now, A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow takes the player all the way to American frontier. As in Be Like a Crow: A Solo RPG, the player’s crow will take to the air, but here fluttering and feathering over the Rooklands, perhaps as representative of the law deputised by the local sheriff or a bounty hunter, or even an outlaw on the run. Protect towns from predating gangs, take part in a sharpshooting contests (with a tiny gun), discover a nugget of gold and trade it in for cash, and more. From the Dread Canyon and Prospector’s Peril in the north to Storm Creek and the Howling Mines in the south, the Rooklands are a frontier for your crow to explore and make her own.

Mechanically, Be Like a Crow: A Solo RPG, and thus A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow is simple. It uses a standard deck of playing cards and when a player wants his bird to undertake an action, he draws a card from the deck. This sets the difficulty number of the task. To see whether the bird succeeds, he draws another card and adds the value of a skill to the number of the card if appropriate. If it is equal or greater than the difficulty number, the bird succeeds. If an action is made with Authority, whether due to circumstances or a skill, the player draws two cards and uses the highest one, whereas if made at a Penalty, two cards are drawn and the lowest value one used. When drawn, a Joker can be used or saved for later. If the latter, it can be used to automatically succeed at a combat or skill check, to heal injuries, or to discard a card and draw again. Combat is a matter of drawing a card for each opponent, adding a skill if appropriate, and comparing the totals of the cards and the skills. The highest total wins each round and inflicts an injury. Eventually, when the deck is exhausted, the discard pile is reshuffled and becomes the new deck.

The play and thus the journaling of Be Like a Crow is driven by objectives as achieving these will enable a player’s crow to advance through his lifecycle. An objective for the ‘A Fistful of Feathers’ setting, might be for example, “A wealthy merchant is convinced her husband was murdered by [character] using [object] in [location]. Try to find the evidence and bring the culprit to justice. ($3 reward)”. The player will also need to draw cards to identify the character, the object, and the location, and then as his bird flies from hex to hex across the map, draw cards for events in flight, and then for events when he lands. The player is free to, and advised to, ignore prompts if they do not fit the story, and this may be necessary if a prompt is drawn again, but ideally, the player should be using the prompts as drawn to tell a story and build the life of his crow.

A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow requires the core rules of Be Like a Crow, as well as a standard deck of playing cards. As well as providing the rules, it provides the prompts for events in flight and on land that are standard to each of the roleplaying game’s settings, but what A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow provides is its own set of tables its objectives, objects, characters, and locations. Two sets of objectives are provided, one for the red suits and one for the black suits, the same again for characters or NPCs, and again for objects and locations for A Fistful of Feathers. Thus locations can be a hotel on main street or a broken stagecoach, an object might be a single Morgan silver dollar or the skull of a vulture, and a character a snake-oil seller whose product actually does what it claims or a town sheriff who will turn a blind eye to most things if they are bribed with the right object.

Most, if not all of the entries have a Wild West theme, whether that is having to rush to a town where a character is due to be hanged for crime that he did not commit with evidence that will exonerate the condemned or a debt-ridden gambler (human or otherwise), desperate and dangerous. In addition to the core play of Be Like a Crow, what A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow does is extend the play to ‘suited, booted, and looted’. A player’s crow can earn dollars for achieving objectives and purchase objects with the money. He also has an archetype which grants a particular bonus. The Sharpshooter can inflict extra damage if the player draws a high enough card in combat. The Law Master can attempt to befriend or scare a character, and if successful, the character will give the player’s crow the information or an object in his possession. The Bounty Hunter can generate an objective to bring in a character when he lands as a bounty and if completed, will collect an object or $2. The Outlaw is hardy and resilient, suffering fewer injuries, has better navigate and search checks, and heals quicker.

In terms of locations, A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow includes its own setting, the Rooklands, a Wild West frontier of rocks, semi-desert, mesas, canyons, mines, and more. This is a classic Wild West setting as depicted on screen.

Physically, A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow is a slim affair. It is lightly illustrated with images appropriate to the genre and the map is nicely done, but it does need a slight edit. As a supplement to Be Like a Crow, there is a dusty, hot wind quality to A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow. Between the vultures overhead and the varmints on the ground, A Fistful of Feathers – a Wild West Setting for Be Like a Crow is a new way to explore a crow’s life in a classic genre from a bird’s-eye view.

Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is a scenario for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and the fifth scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set. Scenarios for Dungeon Crawl Classics tend be darker, grimmer, and even pulpier than traditional Dungeons & Dragons scenarios, even veering close to the Swords & Sorcery subgenre. Scenarios for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set are set in and around the City of the Black Toga, Lankhmar, the home to the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, the creation of author Fritz Leiber. The city is described as an urban jungle, rife with cutpurses and corruption, guilds and graft, temples and trouble, whores and wonders, and more. Under the cover the frequent fogs and smogs, the streets of the city are home to thieves, pickpockets, burglars, cutpurses, muggers, and anyone else who would skulk in the night! Which includes the Player Characters. And it is these roles which the Player Characters get to be in Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar, small time crooks trying to make a living and a name for themselves, but without attracting the attention of either the city constabulary or worse, the Thieves’ Guild! The job in this scenario is a night spent breaking into the abandoned tower temple dedicated to a long-forgotten god.
Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is designed for two to three Player Characters of Fifth Level, but can be expanded to between four and six Player Characters. It could be played through in a single session, but will probably take two. The scenario takes advantage of one of the best features of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set in building a story and a plot around the Player Characters’ activities around the city. Much like the first scenario for the setting, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #1: Gang Lords of Lankhmar, it grounds them in the city as scum, trying to make a living or get by through grift or theft. It begins with one of their number, waking up in an alley, groggy and hung over after a night out, of which the Player Character only has a hazy memory. Staggering out of the fog comes someone he knows, a local pawnbroker, Vigomia, suffering from multiple stab wounds, and before he dies leaning over the Player Character, he whispers an apology for hiring him for a job into his ear. The alleyway is on the edge of the Forbidden Temple Quarter and the trail of Vogomia’s blood leads back to one of the city’s forbidden temples… No-one knows exactly what lies in these forbidden temples—secrets, treasures, mysteries, blasphemies?—but being caught breaking into one will land even the best of thieves in deep trouble with the city authorities and result in their execution. If though, such burglary could be carried out, it would be quite a coup for those in the know.
This is a good hook, one which the player of this character will need to use to bring his fellow players and their characters into the action. This is handled in the next scene in the Rat’s Nest tavern as the Player Character who went with Vigomia explains the situation and attempts to persuade his fellow thieves to investigate. The player is also helped with the first in a series of player handouts each of which represent his memories of the night before, dripping clues into his foggy memory as he and his fellow thieves investigate. Armed with a rumour or three, the scenario picks up with the Player Characters outside the walls of the forbidden temple that was the target of Vigomia and the Player Character the night before.
The forbidden temple consists of a tower, four storeys high, standing in narrow overgrown garden behind high walls. Consisting of eleven, quite detailed locations, the tower-temple is home to a forgotten cult which might be behind the rumours of abductions on the streets of Lankhmar recently and plenty of secrets as well as some nasty horrors. There is plenty of opportunity to explore and examine the rooms of the temple, plus combat against the aforementioned horrors and a little roleplaying too. With luck, the Player Characters will uncover why the servitors of this long-forgotten god—a vile deity in itself—have become active of late and what it is they are up to. Theirs is a plan to bury a stinger into the heart of Lankhmar, a plan which they are putting into action just as the Player Characters are exploring their tower-temple base! At this point, the Player Characters have a choice. Will they run away, let whatever plan the cultists have play out and the city suffer the consequences, and hope that no one finds out that they were in cultists’ base, discovered the plan, and did nothing about it? Or will they rush after the cultists in the hope that they can stop them before chaos is unleashed and maybe even come out of this looking like heroes?
Of course, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is designed to be run as part of a Lankhmar-based campaign. There are notes though on dropping the adventure into another city and on running the scenario as a convention scenario, as as well as suggestions throughout the scenario on how to expand it for two to three Player Characters to four to six. Best of all, though, are the suggestions for when to run the scenario, using the omens of the date to add a little extra mechanical effect, and so reinforce the superstitious nature of the inhabitants of the City of the Black Toga. If the Player Characters succeed and survive, they may be in for a big reward, but if they fail, they may earn the enmity of the city authorities, hopefully only temporarily though...
Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is as decently presented as you would expect from Goodman Games. It is well written, the handouts are plain, and the cartography decent. The floorplans of the temple would work very well on a virtual tabletop with their secrets and numbers excised.

If there is an issue with Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar, it is that the Player Characters find themselves in another temple so soon after Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #4: Violence for Votishal. In comparison to that scenario, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is both shorter and more dynamic, more action-orientated, but the Judge will likely want to run something between the two. Overall, Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar #5: Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar is a quick, grim, and nasty, but entertaining scenario that nicely mixes action and larceny.

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

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The origins of roleplaying, of course, lie in wargames and the development of both would weave back and forth between the two over the first decade or so of the history of the roleplaying game. They had begun, of course, with Chainmail out of which would come Dungeons & Dragons. In the United Kingdom, the interaction between the two would arguably culminate in the publication of the Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy Roleplaying Game in 1983 by Games Workshop. This hybrid between the wargames rules and the roleplaying game would form the basis for the future of Games Workshop, and both a hobby and an industry in their own right. Its origins lie in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, which like Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons, combined mediaeval warfare with the fantasy genre. Designed by Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley, who would go on to design numerous games and supplements for Games Workshop, the first edition of Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules was published by Tabletop Games in 1978 with a second edition that followed in 1981. It is the latter, second edition of the rules that is being reviewed here.

Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are not mass combat rules, but a set of skirmish rules designed to handle thirty figures per side. There is no setting as such, but there are descriptions of a mini-pantheon of gods and army lists of goblins, Wood Elves, High Elves, Dragon men, and more. Notably, it is advised that battles be conducted with an umpire—or Game Master—present to not only handle results difficulties, but also set up plots, games, work out the abilities of the troops on each side, and arrange the terrain and any hidden features. This is optional, but as an option, it removes the involvement of the players from any battle until they arrive at the table and begin writing orders. What it suggests, especially with the inclusion of single hero and magic user figures, is that Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules could be used as ‘Braunstein’ style of wargame, although it is not explored in its pages. Really, the role of the single Hero figure is undertake great feats of martial prowess and the role of the single Magic User figure is to employ great spells, both on the battlefield.

Once a battle has been set up, play progresses in a manner similar to many other wargames rules. Players write their orders, and then from one round to the next, players take in turns to move their troops, missile fire is conducted, morale tests are conducted for troops who have suffered missile fire, mêlée engagements are fought, morale is tested again for any remaining troops who have been fighting, and the round ends. This is simple and straightforward, and will be recognised by most wargamers today. Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, though, wastes very little time in getting to the rules. Troops, of all types, are primarily classified by their Strength Value. This is where the rules—and we are only on page three—begin to get a bit fiddly. A figure has a Strength Value ranging between three and thirty, but this can go higher. Halflings have a Strength Value of three, Humans have six, Medium Giants have eighteen, and Large Giants have Thirty. Mythical creatures given stats in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules include classics such as Wyverns, Centaurs, Harpies, and Gargoyles, whilst the inclusion of the Tree Men shows the influence of The Lord of the Rings and of Owl Bears the influence of Dungeons & Dragons. These are joined by sillier options like the incredibly lethal Fat Corgies—one of which could win a battle on its own, if you could find a suitable miniature, that is—and Stampeding Cattle. Of course, in the second edition of the rules there are a handful of suggested codes for various figures from the then fledgling Citadel Miniatures. The listed Strength Value though, is only a base. Armour increases Strength Value piece by piece, the value depending on the size of the wearer. It takes a bit of arithmetic to work what the final Strength Value is for a figure. The figure’s Ability Factor, ranging from -10% for peasant and slave troops to +1-% for household troops and guards, modifies this further. Morale Value ranges from ‘A’ for staunch household troops to ‘E’ for disgruntled or starving troops. Most troops are rated at ‘C’. A unit of troops can be ‘Drilled’, ‘Organised’, ‘Tribal’, or ‘Levy’, a categorisation which dictates the speed at which its troops can replace (or elect) a leader lost in combat. Every unit will have leader who can be targeted. The categorisation also helps determine whether a unit is routed, force to retire, or simply okay when it is forced to make a morale check, whether due to suffering high casualties, being attacked by a superior force or foe, or even a nearby allied unit suffering a loss of morale and breaking. Non-intelligent creatures suffer a panic test instead of a morale test.

Movement allows for Walk, Trot, and Run speeds, and flying too. Both mêlée and missile attacks have a base percentage chance of striking, varying by weapon type, and a Killing Power value according to the size of the wielder. Modified by range and size of the target, the final percentage chance of striking is multiplied by the number of figures in a unit. This results in a total equal to hundreds of percentile points. A single hit is scored for each full one hundred percent and then percentile dice are rolled for the remainder to see if another hit is scored. For example, a unit of ten peasant levy troops has a base chance of hitting with their billhooks of 35%. This is multiplied by ten to give a total of 350%, to give three guaranteed hits and a 50% chance of a fourth. To work out the effectiveness of an attack, the defendant’s Strength Value is divided by the attacker’s Killing Power. This is multiplied by the number of hits to determine the percentage chance of the defendant being killing. For example, unit of ten peasant levy troops with a Killing Power of seven attacks a single, fully armoured knight with a Strength Value of sixteen. Dividing the Strength Value by the Killing Power and then multiplying it by the number of peasant levies (16/7×10) gives a 22% chance of them killing the knight. To quote the rules, “This may sound complex but it isn’t.” In fact, it actually is because of the way in which it is worded. Thankfully, two handy charts, Chart A for determining the percentage chance of hitting and Chart B for working out the percentage chance of hitting a killing blow, both handle all of this heavy lifting for the player or the Umpire.

As you would expect, Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules provides rules for unit organisation, using bases, the observational awareness of units, and much more, but a third of the book is devoted to magic and spells. A Magic User is treated as a standard figure on the battlefield, but his use of magic adds a lot of extra detail. A Magic User is graded according to the type of spells he can cast, from ‘A’ to ‘Z’, with ‘A’ being the worst grade and ‘Z’ the best, so that he can be good at all spells, better at some, and worse at others. He also has a Constitution which indicates how many spells he can cast before he gets tired, sixteen or seventeen being the expected average. (It is suggested that this actually be rolled on three six-sided dice as in a roleplaying game.) The type and number of spells known by a Magic User is determined by the Campaign Organiser, otherwise known as the ‘Tin God’, by which of course, the writer means the Umpire. They are allotted randomly, but other methods are suggested to, though not in any great detail. If the rules are being used as a roleplaying game, only the one spell should be known to the novice Magic User, another nod to Dungeons & Dragons.

There are spells listed in Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules, as well as some good examples, such as ‘Swords into flowers’, which turns any non-magical weapon within 10” into a bunch of flowers, the rules are not just a simple listing system of spells, but by design, a costing system. They allow for the creation of spells with specific battlefield effects. Each spell takes into account nineteen factors. These start with range, and then take into account whether the effect of the spell is to kill, is on an area or individual targets, creates an object, raise the dead, inflict general or specific destruction, movement, immobilise, transmute, mind control, change the senses, illusionary, shrink or enlarge, protect against ordinary weapons or magic, raise a magic barrier, and lastly, its length of time. Each factor that the design of the spell takes into account increases the Difficulty Points value of the spell. For example, a Mind Control spell with a range of 5-15” (1 DP), affects a single target (1 DP), and influences the minds of sapient creatures (3 DP), for two throw periods (2 DP), has a total Difficulty Point value of 7. To successfully cast the spell, the Magic User’s player cross references the Magic User’s Grade, either in the specific type of magic or in general magic, with the Difficulty Point value of the spell. This gives a percentage vale that the player must roll under to succeed. Casting a spell, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, will temporarily tire a Magic User, preventing him form casting a spell again for a few rounds as well as reducing his Constitution, again, also temporarily. The lower his Constitution, the more difficult it becomes for the Magic User to at first cast spells, then move, and even speak. If a Magic User’s Constitution falls to zero, he is dead.

Alongside the rules for spell design, there are rules for variable magic and then spell specialities, including charms, necromancy, summoning, and elementalism. There is a lot of fully worked out detail in both the rules and effects of these, including the details of the types of creatures and elementals summoned by the summoner and the elementalist, respectively. This is followed by a set of sixteen pre-designed spells that the Umpire can pull of the shelf quickly as part of his preparation. To support the summoner, Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules includes a sample mini-pantheon and summoning circle of deities. The chief deity, Aarlum, sits in a circle of neutrality, but the two houses to his right, Ashra and Oona and Aleel are inclined towards law and good, whilst the two houses to his left, Calyn and Tanith, are inclined to chaos and evil. Only a true neutral summoner can summon Aarlum or his forces, and similarly, the summoner must be aligned with the other gods to summon their forces. When they are summoned, they will enter into a pact with the summoner for a number of rounds. Full details of their manifestations are given in each case. Lastly, a handful of magic items are briefly described.

The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are rounded out with a set of five appendices. These in turn covers the use of buildings and the laying of sieges, setting things on fire and its effects, several army lists and assorted monsters, some play hints, and rules for wounds and kills as well as creating heroes. A Hero has a random Strength Value and Ability Factor, with a high Strength Value also increasing his Killing Power. In general, a Hero fights in hand-to-hand combat, but there is an option for a missile specialist too. The hints in the fourth appendix are really more a collection of random ideas, such as anachronistic ideas like Science Fiction weapons, the use of the scenery to set the battlefield, converting miniatures, preparing games, and so on.

Physically, the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are well presented. Much of it is also well written and the artwork, mostly hewing to a Swords & Sorcery style, is serviceable enough. As befitting that genre, there is some nudity, but it feels out of place in the book itself. However, there are points where the writing is unclear, such as in the way in which kills are worked out.
—oOo—Ken Rolston reviewed the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules in ‘Advanced hack-and-slash – Combat plays a big role in four fantasy games’ in Dragon #85 (May 1984) along with Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy role-playing game. His evaluation was that, “Reaper is not a state-of-the-art fantasy wargame. The best thing that can be said about the vague and incomplete rules is that they are flexible and open to local customized variants. The real value will be for established fantasy miniatures gamers who already have satisfactory wargame rules (like Wargames Research Group’s War Game Rules, the standard rules for ancient, classical, and medieval historical miniatures warfare) but are looking for a good magic system. With the basic principles of Reaper’s magic system and a lot of work, the spells and magic items of a local campaign can be worked into large-scale fantasy engagements. At $8, Reaper’s price is a value for the experienced fantasy miniatures gamer. For a beginner unfamiliar with miniatures wargaming, it will not be a good introduction to the hobby; Warhammer would be far preferable.—oOo—
The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules are over forty years old, but they could be brought to the table and a battle fought with them and it would provide an exciting game experience. It might not be as slick or as smooth as more modern designs, but the rules do work as intended. Whilst not necessarily complex in play, they are complex in terms of set-up, in designing units with the determination of the Strength Value of each figure and in the designing of individual spells. Nor is there any real advice on setting up a battle or specifically for the Umpire, on designing one. Yet the complexity—which has been eased between the two editions of the rules—has its benefits. The determination of the Strength Value means that a figure can be accurately represented on the battlefield according to the armour worn and the weapon wielded. Similarly, the spell design system allows the creation of individual spells to both great effect and variation, and this system really is the highlight of the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules. The system was highly innovative at the time and were it to have been incorporated into a roleplaying game it would have been recognised as a great piece of design. There are hints that the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules could handle roleplaying, though more likely on the battlefield in a ‘Braunstein’ style rather in the traditional fantasy roleplaying style of dungeon delving. This though, is an aspect that the rules do not explore.

The Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules combine classic fantasy with both complexity and choice. The magic rules and spell design system stand out and could have been a supplement all of their very own. As the precursor to the Warhammer: The Mass Combat Fantasy Roleplaying Game of 1983, the Reaper: Fantasy Wargame Rules foreshadow what was to come, but remain a playable and demanding—especially in terms of set-up—set of rules.

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

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

—oOo—
Name: The Pirate and the BridePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jazmin Ospa & Meghan Kuschner

Setting: Regency-era BahamasProduct: Scenario for In Strange Seas: Horror in the Royal Navy for Regency Cthulhu and Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England
What You Get: Seventeen page, 6.21 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Dagon’s ‘Red Wedding’Plot Hook: A sudden society wedding threatens to reveal all manner of scandal
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, eight NPCs, four handouts, and several hundred  (Mythos) monsters.Production Values: Decent
Pros# Strongly plotted combination of societal and nautical mystery# Easy to run once past its issues# Thalassophobia# Decantophobia# Kinemortophobia
Cons# Needs an edit and further development# Needs a clearer explanation# No maps
Conclusion# Solid scenario that needs a bit more work to make it run easily# A ‘Red Wedding’ meets Pirates of the Caribbean is a perfectly good combination

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

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

—oOo—
Name: Season of GrowthPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Carrer Marco

Setting: 1990sProduct: One-on-One Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 1.06 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Twin Peaks-style small town, forest mysteryPlot Hook: What secrets does the oldest tree in America hide?
Plot Support: Staging advice, one pre-generated Investigator, one NPC, four handouts, and one Mythos creature.Production Values: Rushed
Pros# More folk horror than Mythos# One Keeper, one Investigator one-shot# Nicely played sense of eeriness# Nice sense of small town paranoia# Dendrophobia# Seismophobia# Ruraphobia
Cons# Needs a strong edit# Familiar and linear plot# More folk horror than Mythos
# Why not just use Shub-Niggurath?
Conclusion# A familiar combination of Twin Peaks meets The Wicker Man# Strong atmosphere directed down a familiar and linear plot

ACE!—or the Awfully Cheerful Engine!—is a roleplaying game of fast, cinematic, action comedy. Published by EN Publishing, best known for the W.O.I.N. or What’s Old is New roleplaying System, as used in Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, this is designed to handle anything from ghost hunting in New York to mercenaries operating underground in Los Angeles and everything in between, whether heroic galactic guardians, vampire slayers, or even cartoon animals fighting crime. Beyond being fast, cinematic, action comedy, it is meant to be multi-dimensional time-hopping, genre-mashing in terms of what it can cover, so long as the combination can still be enjoyed with bucket of popcorn and extra-extra-extra-large bucket of whichever coke variant you prefer. The core rules for ACE! are short, just forty pages in length, but a tenth of those are devoted to a long, rambling, and silly introduction by designer Sandy Petersen which will lead you into thinking that he is dead and speaking from beyond the grave. (Fortunately, he is not, but if you want to run a scenario in which he is and the heroes have to rescue him from hell, then ACE! might be a good start.)

A Hero in ACE! has a Role; four Stats—Smarts, Moves, Style, and Brawn—rated between one and five, stats for Defence and Health, and Trait. A Role can be a Talking Animal, another species like an Alien or Goblin or Vampire, a figure out of fantasy such as a Ninja or a Knight, an occupation such an Actor or an Inventor, or a Superhero. A Role provides a special ability, for example, a Kangaroo packs a mighty punch, so inflicts an extra point of damage, whilst a Trait, is a descriptive adjective which primarily serves as a complication, but under the right circumstances, might even be helpful. For example, cynical, Punk Rock, or Vain. To create a Hero, a player divides twelve points between the four stats, adds a Focus—an area of specialisation or expertise—for each Stat, which gives a bonus when using the Focus, and then selects a Role and a Trait. The process is quick and easy.

Name: Dino
Trait/Role: Clumsy Dinosaur Detective
Health: 8 Defence: 9
Karma: 6

Smarts 2 (Perception 4)
Moves 3 (Juggling 5)
Style 2 (Persuasion 4)
Brawn 6 (Brawling 6)

Mechanically, ACE! uses handfuls of six-sided dice. One die is a different colour, the Calamity Die. To have his Hero undertake an action, a player rolls a number of dice equal to the appropriate Stat or Focus. An Easy Target Number is equal to ten or more, Hard twenty or more, Herculean or more, and so on. These rolls are open-ended as rolls of six explode. If a one is rolled on the Calamity Die and the roll is failure, something goes disastrously wrong for the Hero. The nature of the disaster is determined and narrated by the players of the other Heroes, always for comedic effect. Fortunately, every Hero also has a number of Karma points. These can be spent to add an extra die to a roll, reduce the damage suffered by an attack, negate the effect of the Calamity Die, or to instigate a Flashback to reveal a previous event or action which helps the current one.

Combat in ACE! uses the same rules. Initiative is determined by the Moves Stat and mêlée by Brawn, ranged attacks by Moves, unless the Hero has the Brawling Focus or Shooting Focus, respectively. In either case of the latter, the result of the roll has to be equal to or higher than the defendant’s Defence value. Damage ranges in value from one for a punch, two for a club, and three for a pistol to four for a machine gun, and five for a bazooka. Heroes in ACE! do not die, but they can be knocked out.

ACE! also adds rules for magic with the addition of the Power stat. In fact, the Power stat can be magic, psionics, the power of prayer, and so on. It just depends on the type of game being run, but the Power stat can be used to do anything in the game—it just costs a point of Karma per use. There is no list of spells or psionic abilities, but a player can easily come up with ones of his own.
For the Director—as the Game Master is known in ACE!—is given a selection of ready-to-use Extra, from Mooks to specific Extra, like a Dark Lord and a Tyrannosaur. What ACE! does not have is an adventure. Instead, it points to adventures already available, such as ACE #2: Spirits of Manhattan and ACE #3: Montana Drones and the Raiders of the Cutty Sark and presents a list of inspirations. These range from Ghostbusters, Dangermouse, and Guardians of the Galaxy to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Star Trek, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course, ACE! is itself inspired by the Ghostbusters roleplaying published by West End Games in 1986 and the publisher’s own W.O.I.N. or What’s Old is New roleplaying system.
Physically, ACE! is cleanly presented with lots of colour artwork. If there is anything to grumble about ACE!, it is perhaps the lack of an opposite to the Calamity Die. So, either a Hero can succeed, fail, or fail catastrophically, but cannot succeed with elan or great success. The most obvious would be to have a roll of six on the Calamity Die count as this if the roll succeeds or if a certain threshold above the Target Number is rolled. This though will be down to the Director rather than the rules.
ACE! is lightly written and designed. It is easy to pick up and play, and it wears its inspirations on its sleeves or rather, in its Roles. Whether Ghost, Druid, Archaeologist, Con Artist, or Stuntman, ACE! draws on a lot of genre sources for the types of Heroes that the players can roleplay, each one pointing to one or more films, comics, or television series. The lack of dramatic success in the mechanics means that it cannot necessarily be as cinematic as perhaps it wants to be, but the Flashback option for Karma use adds a fun storytelling option and the rules for magic or Power are pleasingly open and flexible, but without being overpowerful. ACE!—or the Awfully Cheerful Engine!—is just that, an awfully cheerful, light system that is easy to pick up and play whether inspired by a particular film or setting or mashing their genres together.

So, the first room presents a challenge, such as trapped or hidden entrance or is protected by a guardian placed to keep intruders out. The second room contains a puzzle or roleplaying challenge, like a chessboard puzzle across the whole floor or dirt floor filled with snakes. In the third room, the Player Characters will face a trick or a setback, which might be a one-way exit or a collapsed ceiling or the means to defeat the villain, but which is broken or has parts missing. The climax comes in the fourth room, when the Player Characters are forced into a battle or a conflict, for example, a villain already alerted to the progress in the previous rooms, a villain who offers to settle the dispute with a wager, a duel, or a villain who threatens to break the very item that they have come to get. Then at last, in the fifth, and last, room, the Player Characters gain their reward, are given a revelation, or come upon a plot twist, which could be another guardian in the chest of treasure, that the whole series of rooms have been set up to further another villain’s plot, or that the villain turns out to be the mother of a Player Character. This is the set-up for the ‘5 Room Dungeon’.
As explored in The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons, the idea behind the concept of ‘5 Room Dungeon’ is that they can be slotted into any location and their short length means that they quick to run, quick to create, easy to move around in an actual dungeon, and easy to integrate into an existing dungeon. All this as opposed to the classic megadungeon, which takes a great of planning and design, months if not years to run and play, and is not as flexible or as easy to integrate. The ‘5 Room Dungeon’ can played through in a single session and together, offer a complete adventure and dungeon, but one very much in miniature, both in terms of time and design. Published by Roleplaying Tips Publishing, The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons is a guide to the concept of the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ and more. It takes the format of ‘Entrance And Guardian, Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge, Red Herring, Climax, and Plot Twist’ and applies it to other genres, like the horror genre and running battles, it adds in further tools, whilst also adding new ones. The basic book does with a few examples of a ‘5 Room Dungeon’, some as worked through examples, others as ready-to-play examples. Then it goes one step further. It gives examples. Even more examples. Reader submitted examples. Eighty-seven of them. Really. Eighty-seven of them. The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons is three-hundred-and-sixteen pages long. Two-hundred-and-fifty-five pages of that consists of sample ‘5 Room Dungeons’. Two-fifths or eighty percent of the book.

In some ways, the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ format is reminiscent of the short dungeon encounters that appeared in the pages of magazines and fanzines, independent of their origins and flexible enough that that they could dropped into the pages of the Dungeon Master’s own dungeon. The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons goes beyond that to use the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ format as not just as dungeon-specific, but an encounter format. The Player Characters need to get into a nightclub to steal some evidence? That can be a ‘5 Room Dungeon’. Want to have the Player Characters engage in a mass, but not necessarily be aware of the whole picture? That can be a ‘5 Room Dungeon’. Want to run a short horror adventure? That can be a ‘5 Room Dungeon’. The author’s methods and advice builds from this, adding Game Master moves such as effects and feedback/counteraction loops, which a fan has taken used to present the Mines of Moria encounter in The Lord of the Rings as inspired by inspired by Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It is a lovely bit of interaction between the author and one of his patrons and it is one of the best examples of the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ format presented in the book.

The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons also includes advice on making encounters intense, avoiding the TPK or ‘Total Party Kill’, how to work secrets into campaign and their effects, using spikes of danger to add a sense of threat and thrill to a scenario, to add features to a dungeon and develop ideas around them, and more. All of it presented in a short punchy style befitting its origins as a series of blog posts, which makes it easy to read and digest. There are lots of ideas and lots of good advice, the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ core format fundamentally serving as a design framework as much as a constraint to help the Game Master focus upon what she needs. Of course, what The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons does not do is step back from the format to look at its use in the wider framework of a Game Master’s campaign. Nor are the limitations of the format fully explored, the primary possibility being that the format could become too limiting in the long term or too familiar. Nevertheless, the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ format is a good starting for the Game Master and useful tool to have.

Unfortunately, the book takes a nosedive in quality, if not quantity, when it comes to the examples. The eighty-seven varies widely in terms of length, from half a page to five pages. There are pirate treasures to be discovered, delves to be made on a drowned realm, a haunted house to explore, and tombs aplenty to be plundered—and a whole lot more. The problem is none of them are edited, none are given stats, and the longer ones are often so overwritten as to be unreadable. Wading through the morass of raw text to get to the good ones is a disappointingly dispiriting challenge in its own right. There is nothing wrong with reader-submitted or inspired content, but the author has done nothing to curate them or even organise them, so that in the printed version, their use is severely hampered because there is index or categorisation. Consequently, the Game Master has to read all eighty-seven to not just find the good ones, but to find out what their themes and ideas are, so that she can take ones she wants to use because they fit her campaign or she needs one to quickly prepare a scenario for the next session. This is slightly less of an issue in the PDF because that can be searched through, but nevertheless, the utility factor of the eighty-seven worked examples never arises from being a hard slog.

Arguably, what The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons should have done or would have been better, is if the author had curated the examples or even run a competition to present the best of them in this book. Or even included the eighty-seven in a book of their own rather than in The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons, which would have given space for the author to present several (ideally five), fully worked, fully explained as to why he included this or that and why it fits the ‘5 Room Dungeon’ format, that put his ideas—and his ideas alone—into practice. That would have made the book shorter, infinitely more useful, Game Master friendly, and so much easier to use.

Physically, The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons is punchily presented in its first sixty as befitting its origins as a series of blog posts. The remaining two-hundred-and-fifty-five pages are unreadable, unprofessional, and unbearably uncurated and undeveloped.

There is no denying that The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons is full of good advice designed to help the Game Master create an exciting encounter for her players. The book shows how that advice and its format can be used and applied to different genres and situations, from the dungeon to the battlefield, and that is all good. However, The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons is poorly supported, even burdened, by the content and examples that it has chosen to showcase its ideas. Given that four-fifths of the book is so poorly presented, it begs the question, is The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons actually worth it? Well, yes and no. As a free PDF, available to download from the publisher’s website, of course. As a PDF to purchase, possibly. As a printed book? Definitely not. Ultimately, the Game Master will get some good advice and ideas on how to write and prepare quicker dungeons and encounters with The Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons, but has to weigh that against being given a deluge of raw ideas whose utility is negligible.

Deep in the water-logged, sodden neighbourhood of Mire End comes word of a crime so bad that it transcends the criminality rife throughout its streets and alleys. A crime that has the potential to arise the ire of the community which is indebted to and reliant on the ‘services’ provided by the Hohler Gang and its affiliates, which both runs crime throughout the neighbourhood and taxes everyone by collecting protection money. Mire End is notoriously poor, damp, and forgotten, left to rot by The City and the neighbouring Three Canals Metropolitan Authority, the latter possessing relative wealth and the drainage system that Mire End lacks. The crime is child slavery. Granny Nicely is rumoured to be abducting children and putting them to work, if not necessarily with the tacit support of the Hohler Gang, then at least with its leaders looking in the other direction whilst taking her protection money. If the Hohler Gang will nothing, then it falls to the Troublemakers, the community activists who want to make the streets, alleys, and homes of Mire End better for its inhabitants. This is the set-up for Nicely, Done, a short scenario for A|State, Second Edition, published by Handiwork Games.

A|State, Second Edition is a roleplaying game of community and conflict, set in The City, a metropolis of baroque, dystopian Dickensian contrasts, between rich and poor, high and low technology, law and order and crime, and so on. The Troublemakers—the Player Characters—are members of a community who banded together to form an Alliance, staking out a Corner and working to protect and improve the Corner and its surrounding community that they call home. In the process, they will travel across The City, further than any other members of their community, discover secrets, and more importantly, in returning to the Corner, bring usually unwanted attention upon themselves and their community, and accrue trouble. The Corner itself is not predefined, but created collectively during the roleplaying game’s set-up process and through play, the players and their Troublemakers can expand and upgrade its features in ways which grant them further benefits whilst also having to protect the newly added Claims.

Nicely, Done is, in fact, a very short scenario or mission for A|State, Second Edition. It is designed to be played in an hour or two and in the process, both showcase the roleplaying game’s mechanics and how the roleplaying game is played. It comes with four pre-generated Troubleshooters who make up an Alliance in Mire End. These are an Activist, a Ghostfighter, a Lostfinder, and a Sneakthief, the Ghostfighter and the Lostfinder being signature Player Character types in A|State, Second Edition. They are also paired so that the four Troubleshooters and their players can take advantage of the roleplaying game’s Trust benefits. Nicely, Done is designed to be played in three stages. In the first, the Troubleshooters will roleplay and roll to gather information, and then in the second, decide what their plan is, either assault, deception, stealth, or social. The third stage consists of playing out the mission itself. Full details of Granny Nicely’s tenement workshop and its occupants are given, including the details for her, her thugs, the leader and members of a Hohler-affiliated gang, and the Mob, with illustrations of each. There is also a really nicely done map of Granny Nicely’s tenement workshop. However, it is the Mob that is important here. This represents the reaction of the wider community to the news that Granny Nicely is abducting children and forcing them to work for her, and its anger and response is measured by a clock. Tick off all six segments of the clock and the Mob will attempt to do what the Troublemakers have failed to do, which is to rescue the children and deal with Granny Nicely, though with rotten consequences. The clock for the Mob is both a timing and a narrative mechanism, but it is not the only clock in Nicely, Done. There are two or three others which can come into play depending upon the actions of the Troublemakers.

Besides the Mission and engagement of the Troublemakers and their players, Nicely, Done suggests possible consequences and ways in which the scenario can be expanded. Here is where Nicely, Done disappoints. The conclusion consists of a single paragraph and the three possible consequences run to a line or two each. Even in a scenario as short as Nicely, Done, both conclusion and possible expansions are very short. It leaves the Game Master with a lot to do. The other issue with Nicely, Done is that it does not include the community building aspect of A|State, Second Edition, the staking of Claims to expand the Troubleshooters’ community out from their initial Claim for their Corner. However, there are new rules for involving guns and the consequences of doing so, and for Trust, Care, and Noise and Attention and their consequences.

Physically, Nicely, Done is very well presented. The artwork is excellent, the writing decent, and the map nicely done. In particular, the artwork is given space to breath, the first ten or so pages of Nicely, Done being dedicated to showcasing the artwork and introduce The City. That said, none of it is new artwork, all of it has come from the core rulebook for A|State, Second Edition.

Nicely, Done is bit of an odd product. It is too short to be a full scenario and it does not have an explanation of the Trouble Engine used in A|State, Second Edition for Nicely, Done to be considered a quick-start. It is more of a demonstration scenario for the Game Master who already knows the rules to A|State, Second Edition to run the game or a scenario which the Game Master can add to her own campaign. Ultimately, Nicely, Done is a decent little scenario, but it does leave you wanting more.

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

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A Taste of the Moon is a story for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition suitable for a coterie of four to six neonate Anarchs. It is the second title to be released for Free RPG Day by Renegade Game Studios after Cobra/Con Fusion for use with its G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game and its Transformers Roleplaying Game. It can be played through in a single session as a one-shot or worked into the Storyteller’s own chronicle. It is set in a city large enough to have had a meat-packing district, nominally an American one—but could easily be adjusted to the city of the Storyteller’s choice, whether that is in the USA or elsewhere. The scenario requires some set-up in determining the Sires of the particular Player Characters, but beyond that, nothing extra is required other normal preparation upon the part of the Storyteller. The core rules for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition are required to play A Taste of the Moon.
A Taste of the Moon opens en media res. The Player Characters are together, waking to find themselves in a night club, the Velveteen Bunny, felling slightly strung out, the body of a ghoul in the same room with them. Did one of them kill the ghoul? Well yes, and which of their vampires exactly it was, is for the players to decide between themselves. Worse, the ghoul belonged to the sire of one of the Player Characters, so they have to go before the sire and seek absolution. The sire will forgive them in return undertaking a task for him, and that is finding samples of Cherry Moon, a new type of blood that does not spoil and gives the imbiber a fantastic rush. Blood spoils a few hours after being drawn from the source, so having a type which does not is huge advantage. The investigation will lead the Player Characters back to the scene of their crime, the Velveteen Bunny. The problem is that finding a source is difficult, but finding the actual source is a whole lot more difficult.
A Taste of the Moon is primarily set-up. There is good advice on how to set the scenario up and how to use it in play, and there is not one opening scene, but several. There are four alternate opening scenes which could be used instead of the given one, plus there are hooks which the Storyteller can develop if she wants to use the scenario as part of her Chronicle. These are followed by numerable complications, ranging from the various Player Characters’ sire wanting a sample of Cherry Moon, and as word spreads of the Player Characters’ interest, more and more local Kindred come out of the woodwork wanting some too. With the addition of a complication or three and a handful of further adventures, along with the stats for the antagonists, and what A Taste of the Moon actually is, is a toolkit to run the adventure. The plot kept short and simple, a couple of locations are described, and the bulk of the text is dedicated to NPCs that the Player Characters will run into and have to deal with as their investigation proceeds.
Rounding out A Taste of the Moon is the coterie of pre-generated Player Characters. There are six, a mix of thirteenth and twelfth generation vampires, consisting of two Brujah, a Caitiff, a Malkavian, a Gangrel, and a Toreador. Unfortunately, this is where A Taste of the Moon is disappointing. There are points where the dots in a Player Character’s skills does not match his description. For example, Melika Red is described as charming and brutally honest, but has no Persuasion skill and does have the Subterfuge skill. Then she has a single level in Presence, but it is attached to ‘Lingering Kiss’, a power not available at just the single level. Cassandra Barrantes has the roleplay hook of “Use Obfuscate to leave an awkward situation you don’t want to be part of.” but no dots in Obfuscate. The problem is that the mechanical design of the characters has been rushed and so they are full of inaccuracies. Now, this is not difficult for the Storyteller to fix—indeed, Renegade Games Studies has done exactly that with the PDF version of the scenario—but she should not have to. 
Physically, A Taste of the Moon is well presented. It is clean, bright, and tidy. The artwork is excellent. Barring the issues with the pre-generated Player Characters, A Taste of the Moon is a good set-up for a scenario—in fact, several good set-ups for a scenario—which are followed through with the plot. Once past the set-up, the plot itself is quite straightforward. Overall, A Taste of the Moon is solid support for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition.

Traditionally, roleplaying scenarios involving Christmas have the Player Characters doing one of two things. Either Santa is unable to complete his round the world trip and cannot deliver of the presents to boys and girls everywhere, so the Player Characters have to complete the task for him, or Santa’s grotto is under attack or he has been kidnapped, probably by the Elfish Workers’ Collective or decidedly non-Christmassy Trolls, and so the Player Characters have to go and save him. In the process, the Player Characters save Christmas and everyone is happy. Which is boring and a cliché and does not exactly reflect that sometimes Christmas is not always as good everyone hopes and sometimes it is even rotten. So, for a change, why not have a Christmas roleplaying scenario is also rotten and horrible? Why not make Father Christmas the evil for change? Why not run Operation S.A.N.T.A., an anti-festive scenario in a world where it turns out that Santa is a horrible tentacled alien who has turned the North Pole—technically Greenland—into a dystopian, nuclear waste spoiled horror-land, Polar Bears are still grumpy and hungry, but Penguins turn out to be anarchists able to talk and use tools, the latter very badly. Operation S.A.N.T.A. is not going to ruin Christmas for you, but it might make you appreciate the one you are going to have, because it serves up the worst December the twenty-fifth that you can imagine.
Operation S.A.N.T.A.—or the Strategic Annihilation of a Nefarious Tentacled Alien—is published by Beyond Cataclysm following a successful Kickstarter campaign, and includes stats for use with two different, Old School Renaissance adjacent roleplaying games. One is Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance retroclone designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. The other is Troika!, the Science Fantasy roleplaying game of baroque weirdness published by the Melsonian Arts Council. That said, the technical nature of the setting means that it would work better with Troika! rather than with Mörk Borg, but the tone of Mörk Borg fits Operation S.A.N.T.A. better than Troika! does. That said, Operation S.A.N.T.A. is easily adapted to the roleplaying game of the Game Master’s choice.
At the top of the world and thus at the heart of the scenario sits Rødt-På-Hvidt, an alien tentacled being, all red and white—or rather red on white—which crashed to Earth in Gertrud Rask Land, the very northern-most tip of Greenland. Its exact plans are unknown, but it has twisted both the land and all those who enter the region where it holds sway. Thus, has arisen the legends of the Elves in red and white with thin stature and pointed ears, but that is the least of their mutations. Aerial reconnaissance has revealed bear patches of rock, free of the ice, clouds of toxic mist, zones of unexpected life in the arctic region, and deep pools of liquid radiation. Few stand against Rødt-På-Hvidt, who continues his experiments unhindered, his ‘Elves’ loyal and his ‘E.E.’ Elite Elves troop ready to defend the strange patch of land that is his. The Polar bears might snap and claw at the Elves if they could, for they hate Rødt-På-Hvidt, but only slightly more than they hate everything else. The Penguins would bring down Rødt-På-Hvidt immediately, were it not for the fact that every action needs a mandate of the masses and so vote on anything and everything, and they are too busy putting up subversive posters and developing an amazing array of fish-flavoured ice cream. Then of course, there is the United Nations, which would like something done about the region, so it might suggest that Canada or the USA investigate…

Operation S.A.N.T.A. suggests reasons why the Player Character might have come to Gertrud Rask Land and how and why they got there, but suggests that the players develop these in play too. The majority of the scenario is dedicated to describing the locations of the region, from the Polar Bear Compound and the Elfanage to the Power Plant and Santa’s Grotto Lair. Each is given a page or two of detail and a colour illustration or map which neatly depicts the location. The locations are presented with a minimal of fuss, enough for the Game Master to bring into play, but still leaving plenty of room to add or create content of her own. The monsters are given similar space, if not more, to help them come to life, especially the Elves and their mutations. Included alongside that are the Nisse, mythological creatures from Nordic folklore associated with the winter solstice and Christmas. These can replace the Elves already in the scenario or even be included alongside them if the Game Master wants to add an element of factionalism to the play of Operation S.A.N.T.A.
Physically, Operation S.A.N.T.A. is presented in big bold colour. Suitable then for a Christmas celebration, but not one of jollity and joy. Operation S.A.N.T.A. twists the annual festivities into a journey into the unknown, to face anarchy in the Arctic and horror for the holiday, but not in the traditional way. Operation S.A.N.T.A. serves up a scenario that is as poisonous as Christmas can be, fouls the festivities, and could just make Christmas an utter catastrophe. 

YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE manages to be both fantastic and a failure. Fantastic because it describes an intriguing setting that begs to be played and explored, whilst being very rules light, but a failure because it never once tells you what it is and it cannot do this this because it does not know itself. However, this does not mean that it cannot used to create and run an exciting mini-campaign aboard its massive floating garbage scow, but to do that, the Game Master will need to do something that the authors of YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE fail to do. Which is to pull back, look at it as a whole, decide whether it is a sandcrawl (trashcrawl?) with factions, locations, and motivations, or more focused with locations and location adventures. As written, it is mix of both, which clash not only together, but also with the higgledy-piggledy mix of ideas from different contributors. Another issue is the format, which is that of a fanzine. YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE was published via Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #2, but make no mistake it is not fanzine. At least not in the traditional sense. YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is a setting supplement using the fanzine format, an increasingly regular outcome as the ZineQuest events progressed from year to year. Effectively, YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE has all the messiness and sensibility of a fanzine when what its content called for was something less than an amateur approach to its design and detail.

The problems with YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE start with the cover and continue with the first page. Nowhere does YYOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE clearly state what it is. Not on the cover and not inside the book on the first page or any page. Literally, you pick this up and you have no idea what you hold in your hand. There is no doubt that you will be intrigued enough by both cover and the title to ask, “What is this?” Unfortunately, it is a question left unanswered in an unforgiveable failure of design, a failure that goes right back to the lack of overview upon the part of the creators. The point is, it is the role of the players and their characters to discover what YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is through play, not that of the Game Master.

So, the question is, what is YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE? It is a setting which describes a floating sandbox, a massive trash scow which grinds its way up and down the coast years, heaving into the harbours of towns and cities to collect their rubbish and unwanted gubbins in return for gas to keep the garbage barge’s tugboats running and other supplies, whilst also letting the workers aboard come ashore. The garbage barge could be one of the biggest things afloat, but it is definitely the unloveliest, a towering, leaking wreck, ready to take a town’s unwanted items, whether they are dangerous, embarrassing, or even on fire. It is also a source of employment and the garbage barge is always looking for new employees. Once aboard, they will be responsible for handling and ensuring the safety of the trash collected and helping to keep the garbage barge afloat. What they will discover is weird and wonderful and wretched. Rusting barrels of chemicals which grow legs and go off to seek their fortune as they leach their contents. Talking possums, raccoons, beetles, the latter always ready to tell their life stories—never more than a year long! Baroque pearls to be dived in the oil-slick bilge waters of the garbage barge. A gas lake that threatens to explode and destroy the whole garbage barge. A whole town on fire. The workers will stay in the company town aboard the garbage barge and buy from the company stores, such as a dried fish with living eyes which can be swallowed to be able to breath water for an hour. At the end of the hour, it is vomited up and the user has to catch it so he can use it again! Animal sentinels such as ‘Gentle’, a rat who communicates through expressive shrugs, can be rented and will warn workers of bad air, damps—dangerous mists, and pressure changes. Workers can return from a day’s labour with scrap and barter with it at Kat’s Salvage Armoury—a workshop in a scrapyard in a junkyard on a garbage barge—for rickety devices or even upgrades to devices they already have. Copper mask wizards meet and lurk on the garbage barge, hiding their thefts of beloved objects until they have been forgotten and can be destroyed for the psychological backfire to fuel their magic. ‘Speaking Bettas’, large, floating, and telekinetic floating fish pop out of nowhere much to their chagrin and disdain.

YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE includes two scenarios. The first is ‘Your First Job Is To Keep The Gas Lake From Exploding’, in which the Player Characters are directed to the gas lake—a combination of damned river and drowned slime mould—where they must vent some of the gas before it explodes. It is a great set-up, combining a great set-up with the garbage barge’s pervading sense of industrialisation and decay, and initiating the Player Characters into the weirdness of the garbage barge. Unfortunately, the presentation is not as clear as it could be in terms of the maps and how they relate to each other and how the various aspects of the scenario connect to each other. Much like the fanzine as a whole, it does not pull back to provide an overview and connect everything for the benefit of the Game Master. Worse, it gives the Player Characters a major task to complete, but does not define exactly what they have to do, especially in mechanical terms. Part of this is due to the general lack of mechanics in YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE, but the tasks themselves and their difficulties could have been at least described.

The second adventure is ‘You’re Going On A Trash Dive’. This sets out to find out just how much trash there is aboard the garbage barge and find out just how deep that trash goes. Not so much Journey to the Centre of the Earth as ‘Journey to the Centre of the Garbage Barge’, this is much more coherent affair, with some excellent NPCs, some of whom have other plans for Scoopin’ Jenny, the giant drilling machine. It is also a much weirder adventure in tone than the previous adventure, verging on cosmic horror and veering into obsessive monster hunting a la Moby Dick, though with an ÜBËRGÖÄT rather than a whale. However, the scenario has the potential to underplay the cosmic horror angle very nicely. This is a much better presented and easy to understand scenario, but it pulls strongly away from the tone of the YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE.

Rounding out YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE are a series of tables which randomly determine the smells around the Player Characters, whilst also adding a new Bard College, the Scent Skald, which uses smells to power and target his magic. Other tables provide random items of trash, and of course, encounters aboard the garbage barge. The back cover blurb consists of a Trash Shanty with which the Game Master can either torment or entertain her players—if not both. The tables are great and add a lot of atmosphere, and are just one more thing to like about YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE, whether it is map, Kat’s Salvage Armoury, the talking animals, and the general tone of the setting.

Using YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is also a problem. Whether it is the inclusion of a radio mast or go-kart, YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is not a traditional fantasy setting. It is a technologically advanced setting, more akin to the early twentieth-century than the traditional medievalism of the Old School Renaissance. Consequently, a roleplaying game with those elements already present would work better, such as Into the Odd or Electric Bastionland. YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE does use the mechanics of the Old School Renaissance, but adapting them or writing your own, would not be too challenging for the Game Master.

Physically, YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is a mess. It dives straight into describing parts of the garbage barge without describing what the garbage barge actually is and just keeps that up, more or less, from beginning to end. It is also table-intensive, including one with multiple fount sizes and formats that is eye-wateringly terrible. The artwork is not necessarily great, but it fits the setting of the garbage barge.

YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is an almost incoherent mess. Any prospective Game Master is going to have pull its contents apart to find out how they work and work together, before putting it all back together herself in a fashion that will work for her game and her players. And that is what YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE needs. To be pulled apart, to be put back together, to include an overview of what it is, to decide what it is, to present its contents in a way that is easier and more immediate in its use. And again, the content of YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE is not unplayable and there is nothing to stop a Game Master and her players from getting great gaming experiences from that content, but too many times YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE fails to facilitate that. YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE undoubtedly deserves a second edition and developing into what could be a great supplement. Right now, it remains a not entirely incoherent beta.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

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What is it?The Bandit Den is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which presents a simple, straightforward plot outline that the Game Master can run and prepare for a single session’s worth of play.

It is a two page, full colour 367.16 KB PDF.

The layout is tidy, the artwork rough, but serviceable.

The scenario is can be easily be adapted to the rules system of the Game Master’s choice.

The scenario requires some scaling to match its threat to the number of Player Characters.
Where is it set?As written, The Bandit Den takes place in Hiording lands, but starts in Apple Lane. It takes place after the Dragonrise.
Who do you play?
The Bandit Den does not require any specific character type, but warriors of any kind are highly recommended.
What do you need?
The Bandit Den requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha whilst the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack will be useful if the scenario is set near Apple Lane.
What do you get?The Bandit Den is a simple strike mission. The merchant Irella Goldfoot has been ‘taxed’ once too often and vows revenge. Consequently, she hires the Player Characters (or if this is played in Apple Lane, appeals to the Thane) to deal with the problem. A Divination reveals the location the bandit hideout, an abandoned hunting lodge. The scenario begins there, with the Player Characters attempting to get into the tumbledown building and attack the bandits. Their access is complicated by a couple of traps outside, but once inside, this a standup fight, either to the death or until the bandits, a desperate, sorry lot, surrender.

The scenario includes a map of the hunting lodge, complete with ‘sad furniture’, a set of stats to adjust match the Player Characters, and a little treasure. It is very easy to prepare and can be run in a single session. However, it is not an original scenario and the Game Master could easily come up with something similar of her own without any difficulty.

It does bear superficial resemblance to Jorthan’s Rescue Redux. However, The Bandit Den benefits from being vastly shorter, much simpler, and far easier to prepare, as well as having a shorter running time.
More scenarios in this format this would be a welcome addition to the the Jonstown Compendium, but perhaps not as simple in terms of plot.
Is it worth your time?Yes—The Bandit Den is a short and simple, easy to prepare, and there for when a group is a few players short or the Game Master needs a scenario idea in a hurry.No—The Bandit Den is nothing that the Game Master cannot create on her own.Maybe—The Bandit Den might be good to hold in reserve, but it really does not provide anything more special than a filler scenario.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—oOo—

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

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

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

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

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

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