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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The most radical release for Free RPG 2023 is as in previous years, Level 1. Published by 9th Level Games, Level 1 is an annual RPG anthology series of ‘Independent Roleplaying Games’ specifically released for Free RPG Day. Where the other offerings for Free RPG Day 2023—or any other Free RPG Day—provide one-shots, one use quick-starts, or adventures, Level 1 is something that can be dipped into multiple times, in some cases its contents can played once, twice, or more—even in the space of a single evening! The subject matters for these entries ranges from the adult to the kid friendly and from action to cozy, and back again, but what they have in common is that they are non-commercial in nature and they often tell stories in non-commercial fashion compared to the other offerings for Free RPG Day 2023. The entries in the anthology often ask direct questions of the players, deal with mature subjects, and involve varying degrees of introspection, and for some players, this may be uncomfortable or simply too different from traditional roleplaying games. So the anthology includes ‘Be Safe, Have Fun’, a set of tools and terms for ensuring that everyone can play within their comfort zone. It is a good essay and useful not just for the games presented in the pages of LEVEL 1 – Volume 1, Level 1 Volume 2, and Level 1 Volume 3, which were published for their Free RPG Day events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 respectively, but for any roleplaying game.
The games in Level 1 Volume 4 all together require dice, tokens, a deck of ordinary playing cards, a tarot deck, and even gifts such as incense, drinks, food, oils or lotions, or a song. It should also be noted that many of the entries include a solo option. The anthology features fourteen roleplaying games all with the theme of ‘endings’. This does not necessarily mean the end, though it does in several of the titles in the anthology, but the end of situations and circumstances. Consequently, the ‘Be Safe, Have Fun’ safety tools are perhaps more pertinent than in previous issues of the anthology.
The first entry in Level 1 Volume 4 though, does deal with a finality. Mark Kennedy’s ‘Hero Catastrophe’ is a storytelling game of the last hurrah of classic epic fantasy genre heroes. They are lost in a magical wilderness with no hope of escape, but armed with four Moves in common—‘Manifest’, ‘Manipulate’, ‘Master’, and ‘Master’—and a weapon and a Heroic Silhouette, such as Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Druid, or Bard, they will be faced with catastrophe after catastrophe, and whilst they can make changes to the world around them, will ultimately fail, wrestling with their fate. They have limited Harm they can suffer and a Fate number and a Death Roll. When this Fate number is rolled on Move, something tied to the Player Character’s Fate will happen to his benefit, whilst when the Death Roll is rolled, it indicates a Fail and each Fail necessitates a roll on the ‘Catastrophes’ table. Procedural in nature, ‘Hero Catastrophe’ is designed to have the players and their heroes ultimately fail, but how they fail and what their last stories are is what matters.
If ‘Hero Catastrophe’ deals with imminent death, ‘Filling an empty breath’ by Dustin Blottenberger deals with a failed funeral ceremony to deal with a death, leaving one of the undead at the Player Characters’ feet. This is the roleplaying game where the gifts are partaken of and the aim is to break the curse that left the deceased one of the restless dead, first establishing connections to the deceased and thus each other, write a eulogy for them, and then describe what went wrong, how the revenant has changed and what their wishes are, and ultimately what rituals need to be performed to put them to rest. This creates a set of written artefacts, which each player must decide if he wants to sacrifice or not. If everyone does, the revenant is laid to rest, but not if a player decides not to. ‘Filling an empty breath’ is storytelling game, primarily driven by prompts, that will see the Players Characters decide the fate of the revenant and the consequences of that fate.
‘Daiquiris and Drunk Girls’ by K.J. and C.J. Lappin is the most fun of the entries in the anthology. It enables the players to roleplay the events of a hen do or bachelorette party and the end of the bride being single. As the players describe their character’s activities, such as karaoke or discovering that really is Elvis who turned up at the bar, they attempt to collect enough Cool Points to actually look cool and be remembered for the great party everyone had before the Mean Bartender accrues too many Anger Points or the characters too many Drunk Points and the Mean Bartender throws them out. ‘Daiquiris and Drunk Girls’ is simple and easy to play, but in embracing the clichés of the situation, there is scope too for some fun roleplaying.
The earlier ‘Hero Catastrophe’ explored the afterlife of heroes. M. Belanger’s ‘Rainbow Bridge’ does the same for household pets. In comparison, this is a safe space, with the pets going on a journey together and having two types of encounters along the way. A Memory is of their past life, a good time which can be shared with others, whilst a Passage gives a character the opportunity to move on to a new life. The players share these until all of the characters have taken advantage of a Passage. ‘Rainbow Bridge’ is the simplest and lightest of the entries in Level 1 Volume 4. ‘Live Without Warning’ is a solo game which explores the last day of the character. Written by Rue Dickey, the character uses Comfort to make his life and those others easier, Thrill to add excitement, and Recompense to address regrets and become a better person. The player draws from a tarot deck to determine a prompt and rolls the dice to determine whether the character struggles with the event or learns from it. This occurs once an hour over the course of twelve hours until an attribute is reduced to zero or the day is over. At which point, the player takes the time to reflect upon the day. Like the earlier ‘Rainbow Bridge’, ‘Live Without Warning’ is simple, but it is more reflective and mature in tone.
Nat Mesnard’s ‘Adventurer’s Respite’ returns to the subject matter of the earlier ‘Hero Catastrophe’. Rather than taking place in an afterlife, the adventurers have come to a valley known for its restorative benefits. Arriving at the Last Homely Hall, the Player Characters realise how tired they are, but want to share what brought them to the valley. In turn, the Player Characters will visit various locations in the valley and attempt to finding healing here. This can be positive or negative, the player narrating the outcome, with the aim being not to lose any Health. If all of the Player Characters lose all of their Health, they are lost to the valley, but a Player Character can sacrifice his own Health to restore others. Players are free to reflect on what their characters gained from the respite if anything, determined mostly by their Health.
‘A Necessary Miracle’ by Gabrielle Rabinowitz is a journaling game in a similar style to Thousand Year Old Vampire. It is about recovering an important treasure which has been lost to you. The player has coins he can spend to gain Miracles in the hunt for the lost object and can effectively never run out, though he not have enough coins to gain the benefit of the greater miracles. ‘A Necessary Miracle’ is short and sweet and benefits from an example of play even for a game as small as this.

Two of the roleplaying games in Level 1 Volume 4 deal with getting lost as much as with endings. Noah Lemelson’s ‘Labyrinth’ is about searching for endless maze whilst being chased by the equivalent of a Minotaur. It is not necessarily the half-man, half-bull of classic Greek mythology, but still a guardian of the Labyrinth which hunt the Wanderers. Both the players and the Spirit of the Labyrinth—the Game Master—define Character Trait cards and Revelation Cards. Character Traits are divided between Traits which define facts about them and Regrets, vague memories of something wrong they did in the past. They also define Revelation Cards, each of which consist of cards for Memory, Object, Location and a Fact About the Minotaur. The Spirit of the Labyrinth reassigns the Character Trait cards randomly to the players and their Wanderers, and will give out the Revelation Cards during play. Wanderers also have a Class—‘The Muscle’, ‘The Survivor’, ‘The Intellectual’, and ‘The Strange’—which defines their die type when rolling Actions. If a player successfully rolls an Action, he narrates the outcome of the Action. Otherwise, the Spirit of the Labyrinth does it. As the Wanderers explore the ever-changing sections of the labyrinth, they begin to recall memories, triggered by the Revelation Cards the Spirit of the Labyrinth hands out. Eventually, all of the Revelation Cards will be given out, memories regained and explored, and full facts known about the Minotaur, leading to a confrontation with the beast. This can be played out in any fashion, narratively or mechanically. Part of the challenge of ‘Labyrinth’ is playing with its randomly assigned Traits and revealed Revelation Cards, and the desire to escape does give it a decent drive.
‘Are You Lost, Traveller?’ by H.L. Black has a labyrinthine quality to it, but has a more interesting set-up than ‘Labyrinth’ does. The Player Characters are both players and their Avatars, playing or exploring one last virtual world before it is shut down. Each Aavatar has a Connection, a combination health and Wi-Fi strength, which if reduced to zero, boots them from the server. It includes a sample world/game called ‘Eternal Realm ’98’ and without that, ‘Are You Lost, Traveller?’ is underwritten, neither Game Master or nor player not knowing quite what to do with the mechanics. A lost opportunity and done better with .Dungeon.

‘Dear Marley’ takes the players back to high school. It can be their high school or a high school of their imagination, but Brigitte Winter’s game take place on the last day. Everyone is friends—more or less-with Marley, the heart of their social group. The game establishes their relationship with Marley and then as they reflect on the end of their time at high school, tell the stories of four yearbook photos in which they and Marley both appear. In the process, they leave messages in in the yearbook and the tells the story of the relationship. This is developed until the yearbook is full and the class song is sung and then everyone has the chance to reflect upon what they created. The connections and relationships are created randomly and that is what prompts the changes to the relationships over the course of the game.
Sylvia Gimenez’s ‘Hauntrification’ is about ghosts. The players take the roles of a Wraith, Poltergeist, Banshee, or Maze, and have to learn to deal with the arrival of mortal Newcomers in their Home, both controlled by the Game Master or Voice of the Living. As Ghosts they have a background in both life and death plus a Binding which ties them to the Home and Bonds with each other. ‘Hauntrification’ is primarily set-up in that it establishes the Ghosts, their Home, and the Newcomers, and then leaves what happens next up to the players. Do the Ghosts want to drive the interlopers from their Home, come to some arrangement, and do something else? Supplied with an example scenario, ‘Hauntrification’ does feel like the BBC and CBS television series Ghosts, although the Newcomers can only sense the Ghosts and possibly their emotions. The Ghosts have a surprising degree of agency, but affecting the living is hard work in this fun roleplaying game.
‘ARC – A Game About The End’ by Zak Eidsvoog & Ian Rickett is a storytelling game about the story of a Subject, from beginning to end. The Subject could be the life of one person or of a whole empire. Players take it in turns to define the Subject and then in turn a Desire that the Subject wants. Whether or not the Subject gets a Desire is determined by a vote, which is held once each Desire is established. The outcome is narrated and a new Desire chosen. Once four or more Desires have been voted on and their outcome narrated, the game ends with each player narrating a Legacy based on the completed story of the Subject. Several sample Subjects and Desires are suggested, but it is easy to create these in play. Being played without cards or dice, ‘ARC – A Game About The End’ is an easy, straightforward framework with which to tell stories almost anywhere.
The penultimate roleplaying game in Level 1 Volume 4 is ‘Atop the Burning Heap’. Designed by Goat Song Publishing, this is a single player game of pyrrhic victory. It uses the Spades cards from a standard deck of playing cards to represent obstacles the player has overcome, whilst the other cards—Diamonds are resources, Clubs are people, and Hearts are morals—represent the costs paid or sacrifices made to overcome these obstacles. Their values determine if they overcome the value of the Spades cards. The player does not name or identify the exact nature of the costs or sacrifices at the time they are made in play. Instead, this is done in the epilogue when the player also asks if they were worth making. The setting for ‘Atop the Burning Heap’ is a city rife with crime and political infighting and comes with tables corresponding to the four suites in the deck of playing cards, but the player could easily create tables of his own. This is another relatively short roleplaying game, but one that intentionally saves the shock of the player’s failure until the very end.
The last entry in Level 1 Volume 4 is ‘An Epic Ending – A Game About Dying For What’s Right’ by Helena Real. It returns to the subject of fantasy heroes and their final chapter. It uses the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics to tell their desperate self-sacrifice which if successful, will stop a villain threatening all of reality. Consequently, it is the closest to a traditional roleplaying game in the anthology, but still intended to be played in a single session. Anyone familiar with Powered by the Apocalypse will have no issue setting this up and running it, but for anyone coming to the roleplaying game and its rules anew, ‘An Epic Ending – A Game About Dying For What’s Right’ will feel very incomplete. Even the author recommends reading a Powered by the Apocalypse to understand the mechanics. Consequently, the setting or settings possible in ‘An Epic Ending – A Game About Dying For What’s Right’ feel underwritten or incomplete and it brings Level 1 Volume 4 to a close in an underwhelming fashion.
Physically, Level 1 Volume 4 is a slim, digest-sized book. Although it needs an edit in places, the book is well presented, and reasonably illustrated. In general, it is an easy read, and most of it is easy to grasp. It should be noted that the issue carries advertising, so it does have the feel of a magazine.

As with previous issues, Level 1 Volume 4 is the richest and deepest of the releases for Free RPG Day 2023, is not as rich or as deep as the entries in previous volumes. Several of the roleplaying games in the anthology feel incomplete or use very similar mechanics and themes so that those which do often play out in a similar fashion, which means a lack of variety, at least on one level. However peruse the pages of the anthology and there are some interesting games to read about and play. These include ‘Filling an Empty Breath’, ‘Daiquiris and Drunk Girls’, and ‘A Necessary Miracle’, which stand out from the rest because they are different. Overall, despite the varying quality and playability of the games in Level 1 Volume 4, its pages still present interesting and challenging storytelling games that are worth playing and an session or so contemplating the end.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, th 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?
Caravan Alley is a supplement for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which describes the next two stops along the Caravan Alley, a trade route running from Sartar to the Eiritha Hills in eastern Prax, its inhabitants, and their daily lives.

It is the sequel to Day’s Rest.

It is a thirty-seven page, full colour 3.98 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and the artwork excellent.

Notes are provided to enable the content to be used with QuestWorlds (HeroQuest).
Where is it set?Caravan Alley is set at at two oases on a southern trade route in Prax. One is ‘Tourney Altar’, which has a temple and dueling ground sacred to Humakt, the other is ‘Biggle Stone’, renowned for its unusual fungi.
Who do you play?
Caravan Alley details two locations that almost any Player Character can visit. A Humkati might want pray or duel at Tourney Altar, an Issaries merchant would want to trade at Biggle Stone for its fungal products, and a Lhankor Mhy might to study the fungi for its properties.
What do you need?
Caravan Alley requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Book of Red Magic. Both Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses may be useful. Day’s Rest has details of how to create Oasis Folk Player Characters and NPCs if necessary.
What do you get?Caravan Alley follows the format of Day’s Rest in detailing its two settlements. Both are populated by tribes of Oasis Folk and both are controlled by the different Praxian nomad tribes. The Bison Tribe in the case of Day’s Rest and Tourney Altar and the High Llama Tribe in the case of Biggle Stone. All three have markets where visitors can trade and stop under the supervision of the controlling tribes, whilst the area where the Oasis Folk dwell and have their fields is separate. Contact between the Oasis Folk and visitors kept limited and the controlling tribe for each oasis benefits from the goods and crops that the Oasis Folk grow and make.

Of the two, Tourney Altar is the more important as it is the site of the only permanent temple to Humakt in Prax or the Wastes, outside of the River of Cradles. Consequently, it has more visitors and thus all five of the NPCs given are Humakti, including a zombie-hunting Duck who turned to Humakt because he was squeamish about bringing death to the living, but not the undead, and an Impala Rider wanting to prove himself on the duelling field. Current permanent residents include the current high priest of the temple, Emund Dwarfbane, who is the most senior priest of the cult in Prax and a respected Humakti philosophers. A Pol Joni, he is better suited to the sedentary role of priest at the temple than any Praxian nomad. The temple also has a permanent swordsmith in residence, and that is currently the Bison Rider, Takeer Redson. The description of Tourney Altar includes some details of the worship of Humakt in Prax.

Where Tourney Altar consists of cliffs upon stand the temple to Humakt and the dueling ground with the oasis and the fields and village of the Oasis Folk below, Biggle Stone sits around a swamp that sit in a cleft in the Eiritha Hills. Here the Oasis Folk, different to those of Day’s Rest and Tourney Altar, work their fields and tend to the rich fungal growths that pervade the swamp itself. The description details the secret worship of the Oasis Folk, connected to a Darkness spirit, mostly ignored by their High Llama Tribe masters. The High Llama Tribe residents of the oasis are more transient than those at either Day’s Rest or Tourney Altar, but this does not mean that its current inhabitants are no less interesting, like Bodrak Drosh, the Storm Bull Chaos Fighter, who wandered into the oasis from the caves below, has no idea quite where is, refuses to ask for help, and is still convinced that Chaos can be found in the caves, and Ogzad, a Troll merchant actually come to oasis to find fungi!

The descriptions of both Tourney Altar and Biggle Stone includes a map of each oasis and extra information. In the case of Tourney Altar, this is details of Humakti worship in Prax and in the case of Biggle Stone, it includes foodstuffs, poisons, and medicines derived from fungi as well as several exotic fungi. The numerous NPCs—ten for Tourney Altar and eleven for Biggle Stone—are all accorded detailed descriptions and full stats, but do not include their ages, oddly. However, they do include hooks and motivations that the Game Master can develop into plots for her campaign and Player Characters.
As solid a pair of descriptions as Caravan Alley gives, there are two or three issues which do make it as easy to use as it could have been. A minor issue is that the map of each oasis could have more closely placed to its key or the keys included upon both maps. A few story hooks would have been useful to more readily get the Player Characters to either location, beyond the hooks already included for each NPC. The main problem with the supplement is that it does involve slavery. Now this is part of Glorantha as a setting and whilst the treatment of the Oasis Folk as slaves is not necessarily a poor one—in game or out, this does not mean that everyone is going to be comfortable with either its portrayal or even its inclusion in their game.
Is it worth your time?Yes—Caravan Alley is a useful addition for any campaign set in or passing through Prax, or involves Praxians or worshippers of Humakt. No—Caravan Alley is specific to Prax and a Game Master’s may not be set there or may not want to enter an area of Glorantha where slavery is obvious.Maybe—Caravan Alley is a useful addition for a campaign involving Prax or Humakt worshippers, but it involves themes which not every player will be comfortable with.

Threat Analysis 1: Collateral is simply put, the bestiary and monster book for S.L.A. Industries, the roleplaying game set in a far future dystopia of corporate greed, commodification of ultraviolence, the mediatisation of murder, conspiracy, and urban horror, and serial killer sensationalism. Mort City, its rain sodden, polluted, and overly populated heart, located on the industrially stripped planet of Mort and surrounded by five Cannibal Sectors, is beset by threats from within and from without. Dream Entities materialise from anomalies in the fabric of reality and feed and draw upon the bleakest of thoughts and darkest of desires and so become the monsters that the citizens of Mort City’s Downtown fear the most. Mort City’s gangs offer family and even an element of hope to the city’s disenfranchised youth and as they have corporatized, they have created a niche for themselves in Mort City’s ecology. Manchines are the relics of past age, cyborgs created to quell mass riots, suborned by a threat and intelligence who is a major threat to S.L.A. Industries. Serial Killers are pervasive in Downtown, driven to kill after a childhood of televised gore, junk food, and ingrained malaise, the most murderous of them in turn becoming stars in the televised gore being feed to the next generation. Ex-War Criminals are ex-military veterans unable to integrate back into society who go into hiding with their gear, either deep in Downtown or into the Cannibal Sectors where they really do not want to be disturbed. Unfortunately, S.L.A. Industries has other ideas. Carrien are the descendants of an alien race in S.L.A. Industries, devolved into bestial, ravaging creatures, most likely to be found in the Cannibal Sectors, as are the eponymous Cannibals. Scavs are the result of another scientific breakthrough, this time biogenetic, the gasmask-wearing armoured humanoids who having established outposts deep in Lower Downtown to study the inhabitants and how the city works. These are just some of the creatures, as well as their arms, armour, equipment, and motivation, detailed in Threat Analysis 1: Collateral, and this is not the only content in the supplement.

Threat Analysis 1: Collateral opens with a chapter on the ‘Dream Entities’. First introduced in the excellent supplement, Cannibal Sector One, these are the by-products of the breakdown in reality that initially take the form of negative energy, but which coalesces into a Dream Sac. This feeds on immediate vicinity’s history of violence, fear, and folklore. The Dream Sac gives birth to a still unreal creature that can evolve into something that not only embodies that history of violence, fear, and folklore, it reinforces it. However, there are numerous paths down which the entity in the Dream Sac can evolve, potentially going through multiple phases, from the initial Embryonic Phase, through the Juvenile Phase, Bloom Phase, and Consolidation Phase, and into the Integration Phase when the Dream Entity becomes organic and part of reality. Thankfully, these creatures are rare, but there are numerous other types of Dream Entities that SLA Operatives might encounter otherwise. These include the Titter which likes to present themselves as lost children, crying out for help, but ready to strike at whomever comes to their aid and then torture and murder with childlike glee; the Green Horror which rose up from the massacre of Shivers in Cannibal Sector One and almost organically replicates and warps the green Body Blocker armour that Shivers are renowned for wearing; and the Rainfolk, which whilst looking like ordinary Downtown citizens, unnerve those around them with unblinking eyes and unsettling mannerisms. Then there is the Dream Master, which leads and ensnares other Dream Entities, aiming to build a Dream Army. Lastly even their presence can have deleterious effect upon the environment, infecting Citizens with a deteriorating effect known as The Grey which appears to spread memetically and can lead to whole neighbourhoods being condemned if not dealt with.
In addition to detailing the various types of Dream Entity and their evolution, the chapter details the abilities they can have. These include Manifestation Abilities like ‘Cannibalistic Regeneration’ and ‘Dread Stench’ and Distortions, the main form of attack for Dream Entities, which affect the reality around their victims, like Mind Control and Time Distortion. There is Dream Hardware too, ranging from weapons such as the Dream Blade and Fear Staff to Dream-interpreted equipment such as the Oinky-Boinky and Oopsie Daisy, the former pig-like toy you do not want to possess and the latter a weaponised balloon from a children’s television series… There is no denying the weirdness of Dream Entities and it was a weirdness that seemed intrusive when they first appeared in Cannibal Sector One. Here though, they are better and more clearly explained, and given a wider range of options which will allow the Game Master to underplay that weirdness or go full blast with it.

The treatment of ‘Mort City Gangs’ is a contrast in the conventional after the Dream Entities. This talks about gang structure, gang values and activities, and roles within a gang along with their stats. This goes from Gang Boss at the top all the way down to Gang Prospects. Notably, gangs are organised, many having signed up to a Gang Charter that regulates their activities and those of their members, primarily as a means to make money, but do so without attracting the undue attention of S.L.A. Industries. Several gangs are described as well, including Krosstown Traffic, which is noted as one of Mort City’s oldest surviving gangs (having been referenced in numerous supplements for the roleplaying game), but not necessarily its largest. There is even a gang of Dream Entities, consisting of Titters, though they are not really a gang in the traditional sense. Instead of making money through robberies or protection rackets, its members are sent out to scavenge for ‘objects of interest’ for their Dream Master. The Gang Code is detailed, as are the weapons sold to them by soft companies and K’Shangs, the civilian powersuits that the gangs like to modify and use. Of course, the gangs are presented as a threat, but out of all the threats presented in Threat Analysis 1: Collateral, this one has the possibility to be basis of a S.L.A. Industries campaign, just from a different angle to that of SLA Ops.

However, the one threat that is presented as a Player Character option are the Manchines. Originally built to quell civil unrest, Digger took control of them and turned them against S.L.A. Industries. Now they form a network of lairs connected by a radio network, monitoring activities across the Cannibal Sectors and into Downtown. They are surprisingly docile, really only active when one is disturbed and attacked, and if destroyed, the others moving to fill the hole in the network. Manchines are scary because they wrap themselves in human flesh, but some do break connect with Digger and they resume their old programming. This opens up the possibility of a Player Character Manchine, even as an unsanctioned SLA Op, and there is a full list of modifications to customise both NPCs and possible Player Characters.

‘Serial Killers’ are given a similar treatment to the earlier Mort City Gangs. It categorises them and gives them stats as well as presenting ‘The Homicidal Pattern’, a list of common factors that seem to drive the creation of Serial Killers in Downtown. Cognates—Serial Killer collectives—are also discussed, along with examples, and so is the current status of Serial Killers in Mort City. Whilst they are often hunted by S.L.A. Industries, the soft company, Realtime Media broadcasts film of their activities, most notably on Channel Slice and Dice with its primetime Blood Soaked Hour which shows a Cognate facing another threat. This is supported by S.L.A. Industries to the point where a Serial Killer is allowed to get a ShowBiz Agent and when he has, he can legally travel to see his agent without the possibility of his being arrested.

Both ‘Scary Monsters’ and ‘Planet Mort Fauna’ details a wide of threats. In the former, this includes numerous types of Ex-War Criminals—War World Veterans currently lured into broadcast combat in Cannibal Sector Three by Realtime Media, the feral descendants of aliens known as Carrien, and numerous types of Cannibals, such as Cannibal Butcher, Cannibal Mastiff, and Cannibal Outcast. In the latter, the most normal creatures are the Carnivorous Pigs and Canines. Add to that Arrowhead Cockroach, which infests Downtown and the Cannibal Sectors and can change its carapace pattern and colour in response to threats, but it also can be turned into a cheesy past; Cannibals and other creatures transformed into Sector Mutants—KZ Mutants, KZ Dogs, and Skulkers—after drinking from heavily polluted pools in the Cannibal Sectors; and Gnaggots, maggot-like creatures capable of flight with a headache-inducing stench and mandibles that can bit through some armour, which can spend years dormant underground before bursting from the ground under the right climatic conditions in their thousands and swarming their targets. In between, ‘The Children of Scarogg’ present the descendants of biogenetic experimentation that S.L.A. Industries kept secret. Known as both Scavs and Vodyanoy, the former because they will attack and scavenge the arms and armour of anyone they attack. The gasmask wearing, towering figures have begun to infiltrate Downtown where they establish bases and outposts where they can begin to observe and experiment on the inhabitants. They have even begun taking over or establishing factories far from the eyes of S.L.A. Industries, where for the most part, they are safe from attack or interference.

The last chapter in Threat Analysis 1: Collateral returns to the subject of the first, ‘Dream Entities’, although from a different angle. ‘Naga 7 Division’ is both a new and a very ancient department within the hierarchy of S.L.A. Industries, dedicated to investigating and cataloguing the nature of reality of the World of Progress and beyond and assessing and dealing with the threats to it. This most obviously includes Dream Entities and Naga 7 Division trains agents who often work alongside SLA Ops to handle BPNs (S.L.A. Industries’ assignments) specific to its remit. As well as a detailed history of Naga 7 Division, which highlights its secretive and often duplicitous nature, the chapter gives three new options for the Player Character. These are Field Agents—Humans who have the ability to ‘Sense Artefact’ and locate the relics and legendary items from the past or beyond reality; Aethernauts—specialists who conduct the field work necessary to understand Dream Entities; and AetherTrackers—Advanced Carrien capable of tracking Dream Entities with ‘Dreamhound’. Operatives from Naga 7 Division are assigned Aether Armour suits, capable of withstanding the effects of the Gray and other esoteric threats, and weapons such as the Fracture Blade or Volt Gun, which are capable damaging Dream Entities. Operatives from Naga 7 Division are expected to undertake standard BPNs like any other SLA Op, but in game terms their role is very specific and the Game Master will want to decide whether she wants to include them and how much, just as she will with the Dream Entities from the start of the book. The obvious option is to run a campaign primarily focused around Naga 7 Division and the Dream Entities, which would explore and push at the nature of the reality of World of Progress and S.L.A. Industries as a setting.

Besides all of the threats and monsters described in the pages of Threat Analysis 1: Collateral, the supplement has another aspect which makes it all the more interesting. This is the amount of colour fiction which permeates the book with commentary on almost every aspect of the threats and other content found within its pages. This is both within the World of Progress and without the World of Progress, developing the secrets revealed and hinted at in S.L.A. Industries, Second Edition. Above all, the colour fiction brings flavour and in-game perspective to the setting.

Physically, Threat Analysis 1: Collateral is a clean, tidy looking book. It needs a slight edit in places, but the artwork is superb, brilliantly depicting the weird and worrisome threats in the supplement in almost too rich a detail, just as in other supplements for S.L.A. Industries.

Threat Analysis 1: Collateral is a supplement that every S.L.A. Industries Game Master is going to want and need. It is no mere collection of stats, but lives up to its title of ‘Threat Analysis’ by examining and assessing each danger to Mort City and the World of Progress in detail that will enable the Game Master to make each and every one interesting, even intriguing, and very likely monstrously repulsive, than simply something to just kill.

Uncharted Journeys is a supplement designed to make getting there as interesting and eventful as actually arriving at the destination. Published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, the supplement provides rules for laying out a route, preparing for the journey, and conducting the trip and involve the Player Characters at every stage; rules for encountering travellers on the way and creating ruins that the Player Characters might pass by; and then hundreds and hundreds of encounters categorised by location. In fact, there are almost two thousand encounters given in the pages in the book and they take up three quarters of the book! However, there is a sense of déjà vu to Uncharted Journeys, the feeling that you might have seen similar rules for such Journeys before. This is because they have been adapted from two earlier roleplaying games published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment which have extensive travel rules if not necessarily the enormous collection of events and encounters. These are The One Ring: Adventures OverThe Edge Of The Wild and its counterpart for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, Adventures in Middle-earth, and with both being based on the journeys undertaken by the Company in The Hobbit and the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings, both roleplaying games placed an emphasis on such journeys. With Uncharted Journeys, the Dungeon Master has the option to make journeys in her campaign as important and as dangerous and interesting as Tolkien does in Middle-earth, whether important, interesting, dangerous, or all three on each and every journey, or only on the occasional journey. Then of course, the Dungeon Master has access to all of the encounters in Uncharted Journeys as well.

Uncharted Journeys begins by discussing what Role each Player Character will undertake on a Journey. There are four—Leader, Outrider, Quartermaster, and Sentry. The Leader will keep the party’s morale and provide Inspirational Resolve during the Group Travel check. The Outrider finds the safest path and has some say over the type of encounter that the Party has. The Dungeon Master will roll and describe two encounters, without giving any specifics away, and the Outrider makes the choice between the two. The Quartermaster keeps the Party well-prepared and fed on the journey. The Sentry is ever vigilant, covering the Part’s trail and looking out for followers and ambushes. It is possible to double up on these Roles, but this will come at a Disadvantage. If there are more Player Characters than Roles, then two Player Characters can take the same Role and its checks will made with Advantage. Particular Classes are better suited to the different Roles. Thus, the Barbarian and the Ranger is a good Outrider, the Cleric a good Leader or Quartermaster, and so on. In general, the various Classes are suited to either Leader, Outrider, or Quartermaster, whilst the Sentry is left as a catch-all in terms of Class suitability.

A journey is divided into three stages—‘Set the Route’, ‘Prepare’, and ‘Make the Journey’. In the first stage, the players and their characters select a destination, which will determine its length and thus the possible number of encounters. A Journey can be Short, Medium, Long, or Very Long, ranging from fifteen miles long to a thousand miles and more, and two days in length to more than a month in length.

Journey Difficulty is determined by the terrain and weather. Having set the boundaries of the Journey and some expectations in ‘Set the Route’, in the ‘Prepare’ stage, Roles are assigned and the Player Characters can make preparations with actions such as ‘Brew Tonics’, ‘Chart Course’, ‘Procure Mounts’, and so on. These require a skill check and will provide a bonus on the Journey itself. For example, ‘Prepare a Feast’ requires a Wisdom or Charisma (Cook’s Utensils) check. If successful, the first time a Player Character would suffer a level of Exhaustion on the Journey, the Exhaustion is ignored. There are lots of options here which enable the Player Characters to play to their strengths. The third stage, ‘Make the Journey’ involves the players each making a Group Travel Check according to the Role their character has for the Journey. Succeed and the Player Characters will reduce the number of Encounters they have on the Journey. Fail and they will have Encounters extra to those indicated by the length of the Journey. For this, the Dungeon Master rolls for the Encounter Type, for example, ‘A Bump in the Road’ or ‘A Place to Rest’ and consults the table for that category for the region type the Player Characters are travelling through. Of course, the Dungeon master will still need to provide the stats and details herself, but everything else is covered in the pages of the supplement.

There is guidance too on what happened if the Journey is abandoned, but oddly, there is more to do once the Journey is complete, but this is not a stage in itself. At the end of a Journey, after all of the Encounters have been resolved, each Player Character make a Constitution check. Failure leaves the Player Character with a level of Exhaustion, success grants him temporary Hit Points, and success for every Player Character means they are also Inspired. The Player Character with the Sentry Role also rolls to see if the Party arrives safely or not, which might mean ‘Unforeseen Danger’ or it might mean complete ‘Safety’ or anywhere in between. It is at that this point that the Dungeon Master can also give out rewards, short-term, bonuses, and Experience Points. The Journey rules take up just twenty-two pages out of a two-hundred-and-ninety-five book. They provide the means to make Journeys not just more of a challenge, but interesting. There is room too within the mechanics to do two things. One is to roleplay out the events of the story, and as a result, allow the other, to play out a story.

The Encounters themselves are listed type by type and region by region in the largest section of the book. First, it sets the parameters and requirements for Encounter Type. For example, ‘A Chance Meeting’ requires the holder of the Leader Role to make a Wisdom (Insight) to gauge the mood of NPCs encountered, which will make the Group Check, which requires everyone to make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Wisdom (Insight) to impress the NPCs, easier or more difficult. Success might mean the NPCs points the Player Characters to a nearby ‘Natural Wonder’, a ‘Place to Rest’, or even ‘Hidden Reserves’, whilst failure could result in ‘A Bump in the Road’, ‘Danger Afoot’, or a ‘Deadly Fight’. These are Encounter Types in themselves, so there is a definite sense of progression if this occurs. ‘A Place to Rest’ has the Quartermaster Role make a Wisdom (Survival) check to gain Advantage—and hopefully not Disadvantage—on the Constitution (Perception) that all of the Player Characters have to roll. Success means they gain the benefit of a long Rest or a Short Rest, but failure can inflict a level of Exhaustion. If the Encounter Type provides the mechanical aspect of the Encounter, the flavour comes from the description given in the Encounter tables. For example, a ‘Place to Rest’ for the Great Cities Encounter Type could be ‘Bardcore’ where the Player Characters can perform at an inn for their bed and board, even after they have gone to bed, or a ‘Perfectly Normal Pub’ where the patrons seem to be highly engrossed in their own doings. Could there be something strange going on? Whereas, a ‘Place to Rest’ for the Hellscapes Encounter Type could be the ‘Sleep of the Just’ where an abandoned iron prison offers a refuge or a ‘Curious Cabinet’ where in a Tielfing trader offers the Player Characters the change rest in her cabinet, some disassembly required—and not of the cabinet! In many cases, if the Player Characters are successful, they gain Inspiration. However, multiple successful Encounters can mean multiple incidences of Inspiration. Of course, this is not possible, so in such incidences, they gain extra temporary Hit Points, bolstered by the success of their Journey.

In between all of the rules—well all twenty-two pages of rules—and the Encounters—all two-hundred-and-twenty-three pages of them—are the means to create NPCs which the Player Characters might meet in the Encounters, as well as where and when. This covers their backgrounds and their demeanours, and is supported with twelve example encounters. Then Uncharted Journeys does the same for ruins. This is more extensive with tables for who built the ruins, how old they are, what the ruins are and their possible points of interest, what they look like now, and what they might be used for currently. They are very nicely done, the result being a quick and dirty location created with a few rolls that the Dungeon Master can take the time to further detail, as necessary.

Physically, Uncharted Journeys is very well produced. Its rules are clearly written and easy to use, and the artwork excellent throughout.

Uncharted Journeys provides the means to support an aspect of fantasy roleplaying games and Dungeons & Dragons, that Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in particular does not do—and that is journeys and expeditions and their consequences. With an inexhaustive list of Encounters and clear simple rules Uncharted Journeys gives the Dungeon Master and her players the option to play journeys and expeditions out and make them both challenging and interesting, and events along the way matter.

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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Losing Face is a quick-start and adventure for Swords of the Serpentine, the swords and sorcery roleplaying game using the GUMSHOE System. Published by Pelgrane Press, this is a roleplaying game of daring heroism, sly politics, and bloody savagery, set in a fantasy city full of skullduggery and death, inspired by the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Thieves’ World stories. Since, it uses the GUMSHOE System, Swords of the Serpentine is an investigation-orientated roleplaying game, which means that if a Hero has points in a particular Investigative Ability, he will always be able to find clues related to the ability, and if he has points in that ability, can gain further clues, and then it is up to the players to interpret the clue or clues found to push the story along. Alongside that though, it mixes in social and physical combat so that the Heroes can defeat their opponents through wit, guile, and intimidation as well as with a blade, and sorcery powerful and easy enough to tear a tower apart, if the sorcerer is prepared to accept the corruption to both his body and soul. Losing Face presents the rules for Swords of the Serpentine sufficient enough to play through the scenario, a five-scene mystery which has scope for expansion by the Game Master and for plenty of input by the players, and six pre-generated Heroes ready to be played as part of the scenario.
A Hero in Losing Face and thus Swords of the Serpentine is defined by his Investigative Abilities and their associated pools of points, General Abilities, Allegiances, and Corruption. Investigative Abilities, such as Charm, Vigilance, Forgotten Lore, and Skulduggery, enable a Hero to find clues related to the ability and when spending points from their associated pools, to gain bonuses of various types. This includes increasing the amount of damage inflicted, increase the effectiveness of a General Ability, gain temporary Armour or Grit, create a unique special effect, and more. Investigative Abilities are divided between four categories or roles—Sentinel (a cross between a private investigator and a ghost hunter, because they can sometimes see ghosts), Sorcerer, Thief, and Warrior—and a Hero can rating in any of the Investigative Abilities across the four categories or roles, or specialise in one or two. Allegiances are with factions within the city, like the Ancient Nobility or The Guild of Architects and Canal-Watchers, and can be spent like Investigative Abilities. General Abilities require a six-sided die to be rolled and a player can expend points from the General Ability pool to improve the roll. Typically, the target for this roll is three or four, and for each three points the roll exceeds the target, the attack can affect an extra target. A result of five or more higher than the target indicates an attack is a critical and inflicts an extra die’s worth of damage. Attacks use Warfare, Sway, or Sorcery depending on whether they are physical, social, or sorcerous. These three can also be used to perform Manoeuvres, which do not inflict damage, but do have an effect, like disarming a foe, persuading them, and more.
Corruption represents a Player Character’s capacity to perform sorcery. Points from its pool can be spent to cast powerful spells, but expending Corruption like this triggers a Health check. Whether this fails or succeeds, it causes Corruption, either ‘Internalised’ or ‘Externalised’. If Internalised, it changes something physical about the Player Character, but if ‘Externalised’, it can affect the other Player Characters’ morale or sickens and pollutes the reality in the immediate area. Overall, there is a lot of flexibility to how the players describe their Heroes’ using their Investigative Abilities and General Abilities, and so on.
‘Losing Face’ is the eponymous scenario in the quick-start. It takes place in the constantly sinking city of Eversink where funerary statuary ensures the deceased persons’ place in heaven, but if broken, their spirit is broken or flung out of heaven. Unfortunately, the statues are everywhere and breaking them is both a sin and a crime. The scenario begins with a contact or patron bring them the body of a woman who is all but lifeless, and left without a face! Who is she and how did she end up like this? Numerous clues are provided as to what and who she is. Plus, who did this to her and why? The antagonist of the scenario does indeed have a grand plan, and determining what that is and stopping it will challenge the Player Characters. It is a really good piece of investigative fantasy that should take a session or two to play through and in the process show of the investigative process of Swords of the Serpentine.
Losing Face also includes six pre-generated characters. These include an ageless warrior, a retired church prophet, an under-acolyte in training, a likeable thief, a disinherited noble sorcerer, and an intimidating inquisitor or sentinel. These are slimmed down versions of the full character sheets, but more than adequate for the scenario.
Physically, Losing Face is speedily presented. It rushes through the rules for Swords of the Serpentine in six pages, including quick reference tables for difficulty numbers, sorcery, health, and morale. These are quite handy, as the rules will need careful study to comprehend as there is fair number of options in the terms of ways that the players can spend their characters’ Investigative Ability and General Ability points.
Losing Face is a good introduction to Swords of the Serpentine. The rules are presented in handy, if speedy fashion, and once the players grasp how they work, they provide scope for improvising details and aspects about their Heroes and bringing dynamic action—whether physical, social, or sorcerous—into play. This is packaged with an engaging scenario which again allows scope for some improvisation whilst still having plenty of meaty investigation to get involved in.

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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The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is the quick-start for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns for any roleplaying game. Published by Magpie Games, this is the roleplaying adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, animated series which are inspired by the indigenous cultures of North America and Asia, in particular, China, Chinese martial arts, and the ability to ‘bend’ or manipulate the four elements—water, earth, fire, and air. Only one person can bend all four elements, and he is known as the ‘Avatar’, and not only does he serve as the link between the physical world and the spirit world, but he is also responsible for maintaining harmony between the world’s four nations. In the roleplaying game, the players roleplay characters, or companions, who are capable of bending one of the elements as well as practising martial arts, all with the aim of protecting the world from harm and those unable to stand up to misuse of power. The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is designed for three to six players, one of whom will be the Game Master, and includes five pre-generated Player Characters, rules and advice for the Game Master, and a situation or scenario, the ‘Movers & Shakers’, of the title.
The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and thus Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, the mechanics based on the award-winning post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, Apocalypse World, published by Lumpley Games in 2010. At the heart of these mechanics are Playbooks and their sets of Moves. Now, Playbooks are really Player Characters and their character sheets, and Moves are actions, skills, and knowledges, and every Playbook is a collection of Moves. Some of these Moves are generic in nature, such as ‘Guide and Comfort’ or ‘Rely on your Skill and Training’, and every Player Character can attempt them. Others are particular to a Playbook, for example, Qacha, the Guardian, one of the five pre-generated Player Characters, has the Moves, ‘Catch a Liar’, ‘Suspicious Mind’, ‘Martyr Complex’, and ‘A Warrior’s Heart’.
To undertake an action or Move in a ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, a character’s player rolls two six-sided dice and adds the value of an attribute such as Creativity, Focus, Harmony, and Passion, to the result. A full success is achieved on a result of ten or more; a partial success is achieved with a cost, complication, or consequence on a result of seven, eight, or nine; and a failure is scored on a result of six or less. Essentially, this generates results of ‘yes’, ‘yes, but…’ with consequences, and ‘no’. Notably though, the Game Master does not roll in ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, although she does have Moves of her own.
So, for example, if Erdene, the Prodigy, wants to assess an opponent, her player will select the ‘Judging a Rival’ Move. The aim is to have Erdene determine the rival’s strengths and weaknesses, how she can show dominance or submission to the rival, what the rival intends to do next, and what the rival wishes that Erdene would do next. To make the Move, the player rolls the dice and his Erdene’s Focus to the result. On a result of ten or more, the player can ask two of these questions, whilst on a result of seven, eight, or nine, he only gets to ask one.
Besides the four stats, a Player Character has Backgrounds, for example, Urban and Military, Demeanours like Confident and Warm, and a Training, such as Airbending. He also has a Fighting Style, like ‘Strong individual streams of air, like a Firebender’s flame jets’. His Balance is represented by a track, which runs from ‘+3’ to ‘-3’, for example, between the Principles of Excellence and Community. Events and the effects of Moves can shift the Player Character’s Balance up and down the track. This represents a Player Character’s core personality and if this Balance is pushed off the track, which can lead to a loss of a Player Character’s powers, his acting against his principles, or even give in to the enemy. A Player Character’s Balance can be restored through rest and reflection, but this takes time. In addition, a Player Character has an aspect that adds depth and detail, as well as motivation. For example, Thi, the Hammer, has ‘Bringing Them Down’ which sets him up to confront a single enemy. In his case, it is Amrita, the lieutenant of the Creeping Crystal Triad that Thi once worked for and is trying to make up for having done so. When facing Amrita, Thi has a penalty to all interactive Moves, but when fighting Amrita, becomes Inspired and clears all fatigue. A Player Character has two or three ‘Fighting Techniques’ and notes on connections, a Moment of Balance when he can restore his Balance, and a Background.
As the quick-start for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet provides both an introduction to the setting and the mechanics. The former includes a basic overview of the setting, the ‘Avatarverse’ and its five ages and four nations, plus descriptions of Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Waterbending, followed by Weapons and Technology, and the roles that they all play in the ‘Avatarverse’. It provides a short, basic introduction to the setting, whilst the scenario gives more setting specific details. The explanation of the rules is more extensive, covering what a roleplaying game is, the need for safety tools, how to frame scenes, and more, all before going into detail about Moves. This includes the Basic Moves common to every character, plus Balance Moves, which affects the Balance Track, as well as Combat Exchanges. In general, combat in the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is run as a series of one-on-one combats rather than mass brawls, no matter the number of combatants. They require combatant to first select an approach, either ‘Defend and Manoeuvre’, ‘Advance and Attack’, or ‘Evade and Observe’, this being the basic style the character wants to assume. After that, a combatant can select a Fighting Technique associated with the approach. For example, Erdene, the Prodigy, has three Fighting Techniques. Both ‘Steady Stance’ and ‘Air Swipe’ are associated with the ‘Defend and Manoeuvre’ approach and ‘Small Vortex’ with the ‘Evade and Observe’ approach.
What there is not in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is any Moves connected to Bending, or the manipulation of an element. A Player Character needs to be trained in Bending, whether Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, or Waterbending, and these colours what he does and the Moves he makes. For example, Meeka, the Idealist, is a Waterbender and she has the fighting style involving ice spikes, either flung or driven up from the ground or through the walls. With the ‘Disorient’ Fighting Technique, she pummels the foe with quick blows, in this case a flurry of ice shards, but with ‘Slip Over ice’, she slides around the environment with ease to put off an enemy off-balance, this could be over the ice she creates or the water from partly melted ice she has created.
The scenario in the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is the eponymous ‘Movers & Shakers’, which is set during the Korra Era of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The Player Characters are hired to protect the production of a new mover—or film—called ‘Sengo: lady of the Winds’. It has been plagued with equipment malfunctions and breakdowns, and an executive at Varrimovers International Studios fears that someone is attempting to sabotage the production of a mover that could restore the studio’s fortunes. This is certainly the case and that someone is connected to the backstory of one of the five pre-generated Player Characters. Over the course of four days, the Player Characters must protect the film, its production, its crew, and its cast from attacks from without by members of the Creeping Crystal Triad and tensions from within between the cast and crew. With the latter there is scope for investigation and roleplay and with the former, there is scope for roleplaying and combat. Like the publisher’s scenarios for Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, ‘Movers & Shakers’ is not a linear scenario. Rather it is a situation or scenario, comprised of detailed descriptions of the various locations and NPCs, that the players and their characters can explore, the Game Master reacting to their decisions and making Moves of her own to keep up the tension, the storyline, and the action as necessary. It is primarily player-driven and the Game Master will need to understand all of the scenario’s elements to run it properly. This does mean that the scenario—and also the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet—are really designed for the beginning Game Master. She is accorded good advice on how to run the scenario, but for someone new to the hobby, it is likely to be daunting prospect.
The five pre-generated Player Characters include a rash airbender with great airbending ability who exasperates her sister, who has sworn to protect her. The others are a former triad employee who is good with technology, who is trying to redeem himself; a former soldier and waterbender who wants to help and heal the world; and an earthbender who wants to live up his father’s skill, but not his reputation. All five pre-generated Player Characters are nicely designed, capable, and interesting, and include backgrounds and connections to one or more of the other Player Characters.
Physically, the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is well presented, sturdy booklet. Running to some fifty-pages, there is plenty of advice and help for the Game Master, including summaries of the Moves, Combat Exchanges, Fighting Techniques, and more at the back. Although it needs a slight edit in places, the main issue perhaps is the lack of examples that would ease the learning of the ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ mechanics, especially the Combat Exchanges of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. The detailed nature of the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet also means that the Game Master does have a lot to learn and prepare.
The density of Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and the non-linear, sandbox style nature of its scenario, ‘Movers & Shakers’, means that Game Master needs to study the booklet in order to prepare and run the adventure. For anyone new to roleplaying, perhaps fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra and having picked up the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet to find out what roleplaying is, this is too dense and not supported with examples that would have made the learning process easier. For the more experienced roleplayer, and certainly anyone with experience of ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, this will be very much less of an issue.
The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is a fun, entertaining introduction to Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game and the worlds of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Fans of both will enjoy this, as will any player who enjoys anime and martial arts, but Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet definitely benefits from an experienced Game Master.

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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If the releases for Dragon Shield Roleplaying have been one of the two oddest releases for Free RPG Day 2023, the other is the Loup Garou Free Preview. This is a preview for Loup Garou, part of the ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ from Van Ryder Games, best known for its board games like Final Girl and Hostage Negotiator. Funded via Kickstarter, these ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ are solo or ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ adventure books. The publisher has released several series of these and what sets them about from other solo adventures is that they are presented in graphic form rather than text format. So essentially, what the reader is reading and playing in is a graphic novel. Such things are not new, of course, in the nineteen eighties, Diceman was a five-issue series from Fleetway which published stories involving characters from its sister publication, 2000 AD, including Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Sláine, Rogue Trooper, Torquemada, and ABC Warriors. Diceman also ventured into political satire with the comic strip ‘You are Ronald Reagan in: Twilight’s Last Gleaming’ and Fleetway would continue this theme with the separate solo adventure book, You are Maggie Thatcher: a dole-playing game in nineteen eighty-seven. However, times have moved on, and in comparison, to both titles, Loup Garou, as well as other titles in the ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ series are done in full colour.
The story of Loup Garou is this. The protagonist is Eoras, an apprentice to the mage, Thedocred. One night, Thedocred sends him out into the forest to collect a vital ingredient for a potion, but whilst out on the errand, a foul beast—a loup garou—attacks him. Although a hunter comes to his rescue and slays the monster, Eoras discovers that he has been scratched and is thus condemned to transform into a loup garou himself! As a mere mage’s apprentice, Eoras knows just the single spell, but as a loup garou, he has tremendous physical strength and endurance, but can he use it wisely? Will he find a cure or will he tracked down by the hunter who slew the beast that scratched him? Above all, can Eoras survive? This, ultimately, this is the aim for the reader with Loup Garou.
The Loup Garou Free Preview is a heavily truncated version of Loup Garou. It takes some thirty-one panels and a two-page spread explanation to get to the start and ‘Panel #1’. The actual adventure consists of just twenty-nine panels drawn from the full version of Loup Garou, which contains at least two-hundred-and-eighty-nine panels, this being the highest number in the Loup Garou Free Preview. Eoras begins play with ten Hit Points and ten Magic Points and a rating of four in his Strength and one in Defence, these last being his attributes. In loup garou form, five is added to both. He also has a skill point which the reader can assign. At the back of the Loup Garou Free Preview is a Skill Tree, each of which consists of eight boxes, each containing three improvements a player can choose. Eoras is an Apprentice, so would select that box and tick off its first entry, ‘Spell: Shock’. The others are ‘Ice Armour’ and ‘Spell: Fireball’. From the Apprentice box, Eoras could improve via the Sorcerer, Mage, or Lycanthrope boxes. Other starting options include Healer, Soldier, and Survivor. For every ten Experience Points gained, either through defeating an enemy or solving a riddle, Eoras gains one Magic Point and one Hit Point, and the reader can gain one improvement.
Mechanically, Loup Garou is quite simple. Combat requires a roll of a six-sided die each round to determine how many Hit Points an opponent loses. The combatant’s Strength is added to this in mêlée to get the total result or the base damage of the spell being cast if magic is being used. It costs one Magic Point to cast a spell. The other major mechanic involves riddles. Solve these and the reader and Eoras is awarded with a good number of Experience Points. A minor mechanic involves picking up items to use later. These are included in the comic panels and the reader is free to decide whether Eoras picks up one or another.
In terms of play, Loup Garou Free Preview is limited. Which is fine because it is a preview. Consequently, there is just the one incidence of combat and one of solving riddles, whilst there are several items to spot and pack in Eoras’ bag, although no reason to use them in the preview. What the Loup Garou Free Preview does show off is the excellent artwork, though in places, the number indicating the next panel to turn to or choose from is a bit small to read with any ease. The visual means also exacerbates the aspect of any solo adventure book with illustrations. Even one with a few illustrations will have the reader intrigued by them and wondering how he can guide the protagonist of the adventure to that paragraph and thus that location to discover what is actually going on there. In the Loup Garou Free Preview and thus Loup Garou, with all of paragraphs being graphic novel panels, that is an even bigger feature. Even to the point of being a distraction!
Physically, Loup Garou Free Preview is very well presented. The artwork is excellent throughout and nicely captures Eoras’ desperation and worry throughout its few pages.
As a preview, Loup Garou Free Preview is surprisingly playable given its scant number of panels and plotlines. It should really only take the reader a single effort or two to play through the whole thing and even then, only fifteen minutes or so. Yet there remains the much longer and deeper story in Loup Garou, which Loup Garou Free Preview does leave you wondering about and whether or not Eoras survives or even discovers a cure to his malady. Loup Garou Free Preview is a solid introduction to Loup Garou and by the end of it, the reader will know if he wants to find out more. Reviews from R’lyeh definitely did.

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: A Network of TunnelsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean F. Smith

Setting: 1920s LondonProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 1.63 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Never leave a lawyer in a locked room when death is on the linePlot Hook: A lawyer missing from his locked room
Plot Support: One map, three NPCs, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: High School Power Point Essay.
Pros# Interesting twist upon ‘Megapolismancy’# More detailed outline than scenario# Straightforward, tightly plotted # Easy to add to a campaign# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Blennophobia# Molluscophobia# Gephyrophobia
Cons# More detailed outline than scenario# Underwritten# Untidy layout
Conclusion# Easy to add to a campaign ‘Megapolismantic’ scenario# More underwritten outline than scenario, but otherwise a serviceable investigation

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 Art of HyggePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Poul Holmelund

Setting: Pre-millennium DenmarkProduct: One-shot
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 3.12 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Let’s get hygge before the horrorPlot Hook: A hunting trip turns on the hunters.
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated (non) Investigators, eight handouts, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Reasonable.
Pros# Short non-survival horror scenario# Straightforward, tightly plotted # Excellent handouts# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Extreme hygge/horror divide# Cherophobia# Pyrophobia# Xenophobia
Cons# Needs a strong edit# No relationships between pre-generated Investigators# Reactive, not proactive scenario# Limited scope for investigation# Investigators have to die# Extreme hygge/horror divide
Conclusion# Short non-survival horror scenario with limited (non) Investigator actions # Extreme hygge/horror divide that contrasts the cosy and the cosmic

Since 1979, what has been fundamental to RuneQuest and to the world of Greg Stafford’s Glorantha, has been the integration and prominence of its myths, pantheons, and their worship into the setting and as part of everyday life for the Player Characters. Although the original RuneQuest—more recently published as RuneQuest Classic—mentioned the importance of cults, it only detailed three of them, offering limited choices for the player and his character. That changed with the publication of Cults of Prax, which presented fifteen cults and their myths and magics dedicated to fifteen very different deities. Fifteen very different cults and deities which held very different world views and very different means of approaching problems and overcoming them. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with a link to their gods and in turn their gods with a link from god time to the real world. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with great magics granted by their gods and with paths to become Rune Lords and Rune Priests and so bring the power of their gods into the world. Cults of Prax provided the RuneQuest devotee or Gloranthaphile with a framework via which his character could enter the world of Glorantha, giving form and function to faith and above all, making it something that you could play and something that you wanted to play. For at its most mechanical, a player and his character’s choice of cult works almost like a character Class of Dungeons & Dragons, giving the character benefits and powers in terms of what he can do and how he does it. However, to reduce the cults of Glorantha to such mechanical simplicity is to ignore the ‘why’ of what the character can do, and it is this ‘why’ where the world of Glorantha and its gods, myths, and cults comes alive. Cults of Prax did not ignore this ‘why’, but introduced it, and that is arguably why it is the most important supplement ever for both Glorantha and RuneQuest. However, in 2023, some forty-four years after its publication, Cults of Prax has a successor—or rather, a series of successors.
Cults of RuneQuest is a ten-volume series of supplements each of which is dedicated to the different pantheons of Glorantha. Each entry in the series details the gods—both major and minor—within their pantheon, along with their myths and cults, magics, favoured skills, requirements and restrictions for membership, outlook and relationships with the other gods, and more. Each book is standalone, but because each of the gods and pantheons has connections and often entwining myths with other gods and pantheons, the series will together provide a wider overview of all the gods of Glorantha as well as differing approaches to them. This is further supported by the two companion volumes to the series—Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and Cults of RuneQuest: Mythology. The standalone nature of the series means that the Game Master or the player—and it should be made clear that each of the ten volumes in the Cults of RuneQuest is intended to be used by both—can pick or chose their favourite pantheon and use the gods and cults from that book. However, some volumes are quite tightly bound to each other and some are, if not bound geographically, have strong ties to certain regions of Glorantha. So, for example, the first two entries in the series, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses are tightly bound to each other as the myths of their gods often combine and cross paths, not least of which is the fact that the heads of the pantheons in both books are married to each other. Thus, with these two volumes, the first two in the series, it is difficult to argue that one should not be bought without the other. Geographically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses provide support for the region of Dragon Pass, including Sartar, Esrolia, Prax, and Tarsh, whilst Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way provides geographical support for the Lunar Empire and its client states. This is not to say that the presence of the cults in these volumes will not be found elsewhere, but rather that these are the regions where their worship is most prevalent and if a Game Master is running campaigns in these locations, then the relevant geographical volume will be very useful. Lastly, of course, the Gloranthaphile will want all of these volumes because he is a Gloranthaphile.
Each of the entries in the Cults of RuneQuest series is well-organised. The introduction explains the purpose and subject matter for the book, highlights how the book is useful for player and Game Master alike, and examines some of the book’s themes and both their nature as myth and mature treatment of subject matters including death, sex, gender, survival, vengeance, and unconscious fears given form. It also notes that the artwork throughout the book is divided between depictions ‘in-Glorantha’, seen within the world itself, and those seen from without in reading the book. All of this is tailored slightly to the pantheon presented in the particular entry in the series. This is followed by a group depiction of all of the gods of the pantheon—which the book notably returns to a few pages later with a labelled version—and a hymn to them all, and then an overview of the pantheon, answering questions such as, “Where does the world come from?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Why am I here?”, “How do I do magic?”, and more. Lastly, there is a discussion of the relationship that the pantheon has with other pantheons and a listing of all of the gods in the pantheon or associated with it.

The bulk of each book though is dedicated to individual entries in the pantheon. Each of these follows the same format. They begin with the Mythos and History of the god, the Nature of the Cult and its Organisation, its membership at various levels—lay member, initiate, God-Talker, Rune-Lord, Rune-Priest, and Chief Priest, and continue with subservient cults, associated cults, and subcults, and more. This will vary from god to god and from cult to cult. This follows the format seen in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but in every case greatly expands what is included in the core rulebook, whether in terms of individual entries or additional entries. The number of pages dedicated to each god and thus each cult will also vary. A god whose worship is widespread—and also a popular choice for players to select for their characters to worship—is explored over the course of multiple pages whereas a less popular and less worshipped god many only receive two or three pages. All gods though, receive a full colour depiction at the start of their entry that includes their runes too, in addition to their being depicted elsewhere.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses is the second examination of a pantheon in the series. It is a slimmer volume than the first, detailing just sixteen cults in comparison to the nineteen of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers. As with the previous volume, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses begins with the head of the pantheon, Ernalda. Hers is the lengthiest of the entries and mythologies, but nowhere as near as long that given for Orlanth in Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers. The initial focus is upon Ernalda and her cult and role in society, but it broadens out to examines various facets of her worship. This adds the Summon Snake Daughter Rune Spell—neatly supporting the depictions of Ernalda with snakes wrapped around her arms—as well as various other Rune spells under subservient and associated cults. Thus for Eninta, the goddess of childbirth, there is the spell Birthing, and for the god of brewing, Minlister, the Rune spell, Brew, as well as rules for the new skill, Craft (Brewing). The list of subservient and associated cults consists of a mix of deities mentioned just under this entry and those given their own entry elsewhere in the book, such as Babeester Gor and Ty Kora Tek. In addition, there is some crossover with Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers with the inclusion of Barntar, the Plowman.

The entries for both Aldrya, the Goddess of the Woods, and Mostal, the Maker, are of a similar length to that of Ernalda. In the case of Aldrya, worshipped in particular by the Elves or Aldryami, this includes ‘The Elf Story’, which highlights the differences between the deities worshipped by Humans and the non-gods of the Elves in telling they grew and came to be planted across Dragon Pass. Guidelines are given for Aldrya shamanism, the High King Elf subcult, which is the most widespread, and even Elder Sister for Dryads! In this way, the book is both a useful supplement for the player who wants to play an Elf and the Game Master who wants to support that and create interesting NPCs with a more detailed look at Aldryami culture. In either case, it supports the details of the Aldryami given in the Glorantha Bestiary. The inclusion of Flamal, the Father of Vegetation, complements Aldrya, though is not as detailed. As with Aldrya, the inclusion of Mostal expands Player Character and NPCs options and backgrounds in similar fashion, but for the Mostali or Dwarves, rather than the Elves. Just as with the entry for Aldyra, the entry explains that Mostal is not revered as a cult as with other gods, but rather that ‘way of Mostal’ is a ‘socio-magical complex’ which structures and organises Dwarf society. Consequently there is less variation here than with other cults and what there is concerns itself mainly with a page or two of new Sorcery spells organised according to Dwarf type and a discussion of heresies, which of course, allows for more Player Character and NPC options.

Besides Ernalda, there are several entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses that will be familiar. Primarily, these consist of Babeester Gor, the Avenging Daughter and Maran Gor, the Earth Shaker, both tightly bound to the Ernalda cult, and they are joined by the God of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Donandar. His inclusion nicely complements the Entertainer occupation in the core rules and covers his half-brothers and similar gods, as well as his links to both Eurmal and the Puppetteer Troupes. Eurmal typically performs as the clown, whilst the half-brothers emphasise different styles of performance. Just as Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers expanded geographically into Prax by including Waha, so Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses complements this with the inclusion of Erithia. Again, her coverage is more detailed as she fulfils a similar to Ernalda in Prax and her worship is widespread across the region. Ty Kora Tek, the Goddess of the Dead and Underworld, is an interesting addition for older Player Character Earth worshippers, whilst there is a pleasing nod to Apple Lane and its lone temple, with inclusion of Uleria, the Goddess of Love.
In addition to the many entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses which will be familiar, there are many that are not. For example, the Cult of the Bloody Tusk, the god of the Tusk Riders, which again expands upon information in the Glorantha Bestiary as well as the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack, is included, but really only for NPCs, as it comes with the advice that Tusk Riders are not suitable as a Player Characters and no details of the Cult of the Bloody Tusk initiates are given, preventing their creation. Perhaps the strangest inclusion is that of Pamalt, the Earth-King of Pamaltela, the southern continent of Glorantha. There is no denying that it is an interesting read, but given the roleplaying game’s focus upon the northern continent and Dragon Pass, its inclusion is not of immediate use. Other cults in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses include Asrelia, the Goddess of Wealth and Fortune, as important to miners as protecting the collected harvest; the volcano twins Caladra and Aurelion; the Grain Goddesses, the regional Goddesses of the Land; and Voria, the Spring Virgin. These last few are better suited for NPC use rather than for Player Characters, but they add setting detail in each case.
Physically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess is very well written and presented, but needs a slight edit here and there. As with the earlier Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and the Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, what stands out is the quality of the artwork, which begins with its cover and its depiction of Ernalda. In comparison to the majestic imposition of power in the depiction of Orlanth on the cover of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, that of Ernalda on the cover of this book is all poise and assurance. The power of the Earth goddesses are instead saved for the energetic, even manic illustrations of Babeestor Gor and Maran Gor. In many of the illustrations there is a sense of embracing warmth, but whatever the nature of the gods and goddesses depcted in the volume, the artwork is uniformly excellent.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess continues the series’ options for the players and their characters in terms of who and what they want to play and what gods they want their characters to embody, providing them with the background and the details to do so and the Game Master to also make interesting NPCs. There are perhaps more options for the latetr than the former in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess, but all of the entries add background detail and flavour to the world of Glorantha. Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess is the second essential book in the series for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, complementing Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers with connections between their respective pantheons as well as expanding upon the information, background, and options for the Earth goddesses.
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An unboxing video of Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses is available to watch on Unboxing in the Nook.

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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One of the perennial contributors to Free RPG Day is Paizo, Inc., a publisher whose titles for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game have proved popular and often in demand long after the event. Since 2018, with the release of Starfinder: Skitter Shot, these adventures have showcased the adventures of four of the cheerfully manic, gleefully helpful, vibrantly coloured, six-armed and furry creatures known as Skittermanders—Dakoyo, Gazigaz, Nako, and Quonx. For Free RPG Day 2023, Paizo, Inc. introduces new Player Characters and a new situation in the scenario, Operation Seaside Park. The scenario is designed to be played by five Player Characters of Third Level. Five pre-generated Player Characters, none of them diminutive as in prior scenarios for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game released for Free RPG Day. Alternatively, players can create their own characters using the core rulebook for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, the Starfinder Character Operations Manual, and any of the playable options from the various volumes of the Starfinder Alien Archive.

Operation Seaside Park takes place on the hot, humid world of Castrovel. It begins with the Player Characters receiving a message from their employers or patrons, each alerting them to news that an unidentified spaceship has crashed on the world and they have been assigned to investigate. The crash site is a closed down amusement park, which gives the situation a rundown feel and sense of abandonment. Once the Player Characters have introduced themselves, they have to find a way into the amusement park and locate the actual crash site. The one route into the park which is detailed is via the maintenance tunnels under the park, though the Player Characters will find themselves stalked by aliens... Although other means of entry into the amusement park, including scaling the fence or picking the lock on the game, ideally, they should take the route underground since the encounters there add both tension and action in equal measure. If the Player Characters decide not to enter the maintenance tunnels first time, they should be encouraged to do so, possibly by their patrons, in order to deal with the threat at the heart of the scenario.

Once inside the amusement park, the Player Characters soon encounter a variety of different, but somehow connected aliens, which will not hesitate to attack. After that, they will quickly locate the site of the crashed starship. The rest of the scenario takes place aboard this vessel. Consisting of nine locations, the wreck of the starship is nicely detailed and there is a tension to even the exploration of these nine locations! Overall, the scenario focuses on exploration and combat rather than interaction.

Rounding out Operation Seaside Park is a quintet of pre-generated Player Characters. This consists of a robotic Agenda SRO Trooper Soldier, the avian Espraksa Wild Warden Mystic, Morlamaw Icon Envoy (space walrus!), Feychild Gnome Mercenary Operative 3, and a Human Guard Solarian 3. All five are good characters and have enough background for the single scenario that is Operation Seaside Park.
Physically, Operation Seaside Park is well presented. The artwork is good, but the cartography is excellent. In terms of content, the scenario includes a good mix of aliens for the Player Characters to face and provides a good mix of combat and exploration. Overall, Operation Seaside Park is a solid adventure that does a good job of showing off the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.

Since 1979, what has been fundamental to RuneQuest and to the world of Greg Stafford’s Glorantha, has been the integration and prominence of its myths, pantheons, and their worship into the setting and as part of everyday life for the Player Characters. Although the original RuneQuest—more recently published as RuneQuest Classic—mentioned the importance of cults, it only detailed three of them, offering limited choices for the player and his character. That changed with the publication of Cults of Prax, which presented fifteen cults and their myths and magics dedicated to fifteen very different deities. Fifteen very different cults and deities which held very different world views and very different means of approaching problems and overcoming them. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with a link to their gods and in turn their gods with a link from god time to the real world. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with great magics granted by their gods and with paths to become Rune Lords and Rune Priests and so bring the power of their gods into the world. Cults of Prax provided the RuneQuest devotee or Gloranthaphile with a framework via which his character could enter the world of Glorantha, giving form and function to faith and above all, making it something that you could play and something that you wanted to play. For at its most mechanical, a player and his character’s choice of cult works almost like a character Class of Dungeons & Dragons, giving the character benefits and powers in terms of what he can do and how he does it. However, to reduce the cults of Glorantha to such mechanical simplicity is to ignore the ‘why’ of what the character can do, and it is this ‘why’ where the world of Glorantha and its gods, myths, and cults comes alive. Cults of Prax did not ignore this ‘why’, but introduced it, and that is arguably why it is the most important supplement ever for both Glorantha and RuneQuest. However, in 2023, some forty-four years after its publication, Cults of Prax has a successor—or rather, a series of successors.
Cults of RuneQuest is a ten-volume series of supplements each of which is dedicated to the different pantheons of Glorantha. Each entry in the series details the gods—both major and minor—within their pantheon, along with their myths and cults, magics, favoured skills, requirements and restrictions for membership, outlook and relationships with the other gods, and more. Each book is standalone, but because each of the gods and pantheons has connections and often entwining myths with other gods and pantheons, the series will together provide a wider overview of all the gods of Glorantha as well as differing approaches to them. This is further supported by the two companion volumes to the series—Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and Cults of RuneQuest: Mythology. The standalone nature of the series means that the Game Master or the player—and it should be made clear that each of the ten volumes in the Cults of RuneQuest is intended to be used by both—can pick or chose their favourite pantheon and use the gods and cults from that book. However, some volumes are quite tightly bound to each other and some are, if not bound geographically, have strong ties to certain regions of Glorantha. So, for example, the first two entries in the series, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses are tightly bound to each other as the myths of their gods often combine and cross paths, not least of which is the fact that the heads of the pantheons in both books are married to each other. Thus, with these two volumes, the first two in the series, it is difficult to argue that one should not be bought without the other. Geographically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The EarthGoddesses provide support for the region of Dragon Pass, including Sartar, Esrolia, Prax, and Tarsh, whilst Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way provides geographical support for the Lunar Empire and its client states. This is not to say that the presence of the cults in these volumes will not be found elsewhere, but rather that these are the regions where their worship is most prevalent and if a Game Master is running campaigns in these locations, then the relevant geographical volume will be very useful. Lastly, of course, the Gloranthaphile will want all of these volumes because he is a Gloranthaphile.
Each of the entries in the Cults of RuneQuest series is well-organised. The introduction explains the purpose and subject matter for the book, highlights how the book is useful for player and Game Master alike, and examines some of the book’s themes and both their nature as myth and mature treatment of subject matters including death, sex, gender, survival, vengeance, and unconscious fears given form. It also notes that the artwork throughout the book is divided between depictions ‘in-Glorantha’, seen within the world itself, and those seen from without in reading the book. All of this is tailored slightly to the pantheon presented in the particular entry in the series. This is followed by a group depiction of all of the gods of the pantheon—which the book notably returns to a few pages later with a labelled version—and a hymn to them all, and then an overview of the pantheon, answering questions such as, “Where does the world come from?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Why am I here?”, “How do I do magic?”, and more. Lastly, there is a discussion of the relationship that the pantheon has with other pantheons and a listing of all of the gods in the pantheon or associated with it.

The bulk of each book though is dedicated to individual entries in the pantheon. Each of these follows the same format. They begin with the Mythos and History of the god, the Nature of the Cult and its Organisation, its membership at various levels—lay member, initiate, God-Talker, Rune-Lord, Rune-Priest, and Chief Priest, and continue with subservient cults, associated cults, and subcults, and more. This will vary from god to god and from cult to cult. This follows the format seen in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but in every case greatly expands what is included in the core rulebook, whether in terms of individual entries or additional entries. The number of pages dedicated to each god and thus each cult will also vary. A god whose worship is widespread—and also a popular choice for players to select for their characters to worship—is explored over the course of multiple pages whereas a less popular and less worshipped god many only receive two or three pages. All gods though, receive a full colour depiction at the start of their entry that includes their runes too, in addition to their being depicted elsewhere.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers is the first examination of a pantheon and its title is both a misnomer and not a misnomer. It is not a misnomer because it does detail the gods and other mythical figures—Orlanth, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy, Chalana Arroy, Flesh Man, Ginna Jar, and Eurmal—who performed the Lightbringers Quest, redeeming Orlanth’s slaying of Yelm with Death which brought about the Great Darkness, by descending into the Underworld and having Orlanth test himself before the dead emperor that would lead to agreement between the two that would see the restoration and repairing of the world. However, it is a misnomer because it details with more than just those figures, encompassing some nineteen gods, the majority of whom did not participate in the Lightbringers Quest, and their cults. It is thus more accurate to say that Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers is the book of the gods of the air or the storm, but given the significance of the Lightbringers Quest and its participants, still appropriate to call it Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and both the Lightbringers Quest and its participants are examined in detail throughout the book.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers begins with Orlanth, who has over a tenth of the book and over twenty pages devoted to him. His is the lengthiest mythology, exploring his life and role before and after history began in some detail before presenting the details of his cult. This encompasses subcults, Orlanth Adventurous, Orlanth Thunderous, Orlanth Rex, and Orlanth Lightbringer, and including new Rune spells such as Command Priests, Command Worshippers, and Detect Honour for Orlanth Rex. Barntar is included here as well as having his own entry elsewhere in the book, because of his close association with his father, and Sartar is detailed as a subcult too, along with his Rune spell, City Harmony, which can be cast in any city or any road with Sartar. There are also details of the spells provided to the Orlanthi subcults by Engizi, the river god, and Kero Fin, the Mountain Goddess, as well as descriptions of Vinga—Orlanth’s daughter and/or female incarnation—his numerous associated cults (many detailed elsewhere in the book) and the depiction of Orlanth and his cult in lands beyond Dragon Pass. It is a huge amount of information, but presented in very accessible format that provides numerous options for paths through the cult that an Orlanthi can take, from impulsive warrior-adventurer and Orlanth Adventurous to the wisdom and responsibility of Orlanth Rex. Throughout there are pieces of flavour text that can add colour and detail to an Orlanthi and the cult, such as the section of poetry that sets down the price to be paid when calling for assistance in combat. Alongside all of this is a section of boxed text that present the starting skills, cult spirit magic and favoured passions of the main cult and the subcult, similar to that in the cults chapter in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. In the case of Orlanth, this repeats some information, but for many of the other gods and cults it will be new.

Similar treatments are accorded to each of the other entries in the book. This continues with Chalana Arroy, which has notes on her healers as adventurers and expanded healing rules that include the use of plants and spirits. The disorderly nature of Eurmal feels suitably upside down and roundabout with determined lack of cult or organisation and fascinatingly odd subcults like Dismembered, Fool, Glutton, Imp, Lightbringer, Mask, and Murderer! The entry on Issaries also discusses trade across Glorantha and Issaries caravans as well as the legendary Desert Trackers that trek into Genert’s Wastelands, daring to lead where only Praxians might. Lhankor Mhy perhaps feels the most political of all entries, though that is only within the cult itself and Barntar, the most ordinary, but his association with Orlanth means he is still interesting (perhaps even as a cover for Orlanthi-related activities under the watch of Lunar eyes). Other entries include Daka Fal, the Judge of the Dead, which is suitable for Shaman Player Characters; Heler; Humakt, which includes details on Humakti duels, honour, and sword; Odayla, the Sky Bear and god of the wilderness favoured by hunters; Storm Bull, the foe of Chaos; Waha, the God of the Animal Nomads of Prax and the Wasteland; and lastly, the God of Cats, Yinkin.
Whilst there are many entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers which will surprise no-one, there are some that will. Some of these include Gagarth, the Wild Hunters, whose worshippers are mostly violent outlaws and outcastes, and Lanbril, the God of Thieves, a covert cult that hides all. Other gods are included who have almost no worshippers, like Mastakos, the God of Movement or Valind, the God of Winter, or Ygg, the Roaring God, who is little worshipped beyond the Wolf Pirates and the peoples of Ygg’s Isles. Their inclusion will probably be of interest to the Game Master in creating interesting NPCs rather than to the players.
Physically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers is very well written and presented. What stands out is the quality of the artwork, which begins with its cover and its majestically imposing depiction of Orlanth, that perhaps is only matched by the depiction of Vinga wearing the same regalia as her father and/or male counterpoint inside the book. The illustrations throughout are uniformly excellent, with some of the in-world depictions having a fascinating sense of otherness in capturing the key myths around the gods, such as those for Yinkin and his relationship with his half-brother, Orlanth. It is a pity that there are not more of these are as they are exceptionally good.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers presents options for the players and their characters in terms of who and what they want to play and what gods they want their characters to embody, providing them with the background and the details to do so and the Game Master to also make interesting NPCs. In doing so, it both expands upon the information in the core rulebook and complements its sister volume, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses, in a very accessible, readable, and literally fantastically illustrated fashion. Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers is an essential book for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, opening up the mythologies and gods of the air and making them playable by player and Game Master alike.
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An unboxing video of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers is available to watch on Unboxing in the Nook.

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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One of the perennial contributors to Free RPG Day is Paizo, Inc., a publisher whose titles for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game have proved popular and often in demand long after the event. The emphasis in these releases have invariably been upon small species. Thus, in past years, the titles released for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game have typically involved adventures with diminutive Player Characters, first Kobolds, then Goblins, and then with the release of A Fistful of Flowers for Free RPG Day 2022, Leshys, humanoid sapient plants of various species and Classes, typically crafted by a druid as a minion or companion. For Free RPG Day 2023, the same Leshys from A Fistful of Flowers return in A Few Flowers More, a second scenario which continues the ‘Spaghetti Forest’ theme of the first. As before, four pre-generated Player Characters are included, each of Third Level, each independent of their creator, and the scenario requires the Game Master have access to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Pathfinder Bestiary, Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide, and the Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide. The scenario can be played through in a single session and unlike in past years, is more combat focused, than the previous scenarios.

A Few Flowers More, like A Fistful of Flowers before it, begins in Verduran Forest, a large woodland in Avistan. There is a Wildwood Treaty in place between the forest and the nearby settled lands, affording the forest certain legal protections which limit what the nearby humans can harvest from under the eaves. In A Fistful of Flowers, the Player Characters traced a number of missing Leshys to a nearby village where they discovered an alchemist transforming the kidnap victims into showpieces to display at the tea parties of the snooty, venal aristocrat, Lady Constance Meliosa. Having prevailed and rescued the missing Leshys, the Player Characters have taken the chance to rest and recuperate and enjoy life in the forest. Unfortunately, the events of A Few Flowers More means that their respite is cut short and their bravery will be called upon once again.

The scenario begins with Stella, a tiny, bat-featured spirit known as a Nyktera, and also a pillar of the community, summoning the Player Characters to her home. Here, she explains that part of the forest has seen the rapid growth and spread of strange plants and this has attracted the attention of Humans harvesting them and thus annoyed the local fey. With the treaty between the humans and the forest under threat, the Player Characters are instructed to investigate. When they do, they discover that the harvesters’ is already in disarray and there are signs that somebody has already attacked the intrusive Humans. By now, the Player Characters may already be suspicious that the plants are neither native to the Verduran Forest or indeed, the prime material plane. Investigation will quickly confirm this, pointing to the First World, the primeval home of the fey, as the source of the new plant life. The question is, has there been breach between the Verduran Forest and the First World, and if so, who caused it?

A Few Flowers More is a short adventure, taking up less than half—including the maps for the scenario—of the sixteen page booklet. It effectively consists of three scenes: a roleplaying scene which introduces the scenario, followed by two combat scenes. The better and more inventive of the two combat scenes is essentially a big game of peekaboo as the Player Characters try to get into the cabin belonging to the harvesters, but since occupied by Fey who have hacked holes in the walls. The combat in the third scene is nowhere near as interesting, or even actually interesting. That said, the scenario does finish with the Player Characters needing to decide what do with the cause of the breach with the First World.

If less than half of A Few Flowers More consists of the scenario, what comprises the bulk of the booklet? Simply, the Player Characters. These consist of a Gourd Leshy Druid, Leaf Leshy Bard, a Vine Leshy Barbarian, and a Fungus Leshy Rogue. Each is neatly arranged on their own two-page spread and complete with background and clear, easy to read stats. Of course, the players do not have to use these, but could instead substitute their own characters, created using the rules in the Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide. Otherwise though, these are a decently diverse range of characters. The Player Characters are all Third Level and highly detailed. In fact, too highly detailed. Arguably, all four Player Characters are accorded too much information given that they are designed to be played in a scenario intended to be played in a single session and in effect, the two-page spread for each Player Character becomes filler.

Physically, A Few Flowers More is as well presented as you would expect for a release from Paizo Inc. Everything is in full colour, the illustrations are excellent, and the maps attractive.
Unfortunately, unlike A Fistful of Flowers before it, A Few Flowers More is not an entertaining and likeable scenario—or a sufficiently entertaining and likeable scenario. What is there is, is detailed and decently written, but A Fistful of Flowers is simply too short and focuses too much on combat instead of investigation and interaction. Consequently, A Few Flowers More fails to provide Pathfinder, Second Edition with the showcase it should for Free RPG Day. Paizo, Inc. has a proven track record of providing great content and support for the Pathfinder roleplaying game over the fourteen years that it has supported Free RPG Day. That track record is broken with A Few Flower Flowers 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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It is more common for roleplaying games to get turned into board games, for example, Exalted: Legacy of the Unconquered Sun for the Exalted roleplaying game from White Wolf Entertainment and Grand Tribunal, the board game set in the world of Atlas Games’ Ars Magica, but that trend is on the turn. Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game from Magpie Games is based on Leder Games’ Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right, whilst the popular Zombicide board game from CMON Global Limited now has its own stand-alone roleplaying game in the form of Zombicide: Chronicles – The Roleplaying Game. For Free RPG Day 2021, CoolMiniOrNot and Guillotine Games released the Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day Mission Booklet. This contained a trio of short scenarios which can either set up or continue a post-apocalyptic campaign in which the dead rise, walk, shamble, or even run, and want to munch on your brains. However, it did not contain any rules from Zombicide: Chronicles—for that the Zombie Master needed to download the Zombicide: Chronicles Quick-Start, which has everything necessary to play through the three scenarios in the Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day Mission Booklet. This is also the case for the Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet.

The Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet contains two scenarios rather than the three of Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day Mission Booklet from Free RPG Day 2021. They will work with either the Zombicide: Chronicles Quick-Start or the full rules from Zombicide: Chronicles – The Roleplaying Game. The first of the two missions in the booklet, ‘Car Crush’, is the longer and the more detailed—and is the better for it. The scenario begins with the Survivors encountering Reginald, a chauffeur—who happens to be an English chauffeur for a well-known rapper in the pre-Zombicide Chronicles world—in a spot of difficulty. His limousine’s battery is flat and needs replacing, but he is surrounded by zombies. If he can get a replacement battery, he can get to a source of food and supplies that has yet to be scavenged. Can the Survivors help? Thankfully, the chauffeur has stopped right outside the perfect place to find a replacement battery: Monster Joe’s Used Auto Parts. The rest of the mission is a sandbox adventure set entirely within the confines of a junkyard. Which just happens to be full of zombies because the Mob used ‘Billy Boy’, Monster Joe’s enormous car crusher, to dispose of bodies. Unfortunately, the Mob has been using it for years and whilst that was not before the apocalypse, after an apocalypse when the undead have arisen to walk the earth and feed on the living, it definitely is! This results in a great set-up with members of the corpse cortege ready to leap out of partially crushed wrecks and the junkyard’s car graveyard. It being a junkyard, it has towering piles of well, junk, and scrap, some of them noteworthy and interesting some not, and it has dogs to discourage would be thieves and intruders, and some of these are, of course, zombie dogs.

‘Car Crush’ details nine locations, each one a set-piece of its own. In addition to this, there are a trio of events which add flavour and a little pathos to the whole affair. The scenario also serves as a prequel to Road to Haven, which is the first campaign for Zombicide Chronicles. To play that, Reginald should survive the mission and drive the Survivors to the Shopmarket, which marks the start of the campaign proper, where they will be able to resupply with food and perhaps even run into Reginald’s boss, Adam W. Clever. Even if the Zombie Master decides not to run the scenario as part of the Road to Haven campaign, this is a really fun scenario which plays up to the classic tropes of American junkyard, right up to including links with the Mob.

Where ‘Car Crush’ was more open and had more of a freeform feel to it, the second mission, ‘Oliver Twisted’ is more constrained and tactical, and as the title suggests, it involves children. It is also the shorter of the two. It also assumes that the Survivors have access to a Shelter and have made contact with other Shelters such that the Survivors possess a radio and a codebook which enables the various occupants of the Shelters to communicate with each other in secrecy. Unfortunately, the Survivors have had their copy of the codebook stolen—and stolen by children, no less! So to enable the Survivors to remain in contact with the other Shelters, they need to retrieve the codebook. Which means finding the children, who all turn out to be orphans with a strong distrust of adults. Plus, the one orphan who stole the codebook has been kidnapped by the ‘Devils’, a band of soldiers who have holed up in the upper levels of a city block. Worse, they have surrounded it with zombies! This sets up a tactical situation in which the Survivors—none of them trained soldiers—have to assault or break into hideout occupied by trained soldiers. Whilst there is some roleplaying to be had between the orphans and the Survivors, ‘Oliver Twisted’ primarily consists of combat and stealth, and it lacks the inventiveness of ‘Car Crush’. Not every scenario has to be quite as inventive, but ‘Oliver Twisted’ is just merely okay.

Physically, Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet is well presented, the artwork, all cartoonish zombies and Survivors, is decent, and the one map in the booklet does the job very nicely.

If the Zombie Master wants two more Missions for Zombicide: Chronicles – The Roleplaying Game, then Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet will give her that. If the Zombie Master is planning to run Road to Haven, the first campaign for Zombicide: Chronicles – The Roleplaying Game, then the Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet is exactly what she needs. Either way, the Zombicide: Chronicles Free RPG Day 2 Mission Booklet includes two Missions which are decent, but one of which is a lot more fun and inventive than the other.

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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The award for the slimmest release for Free RPG Day 2023 goes to Dragon Shield for its Mini-Adventure, ‘The Knights of Botan’. It amounts—more or less—to a single sheet of card, in US Letter-size, upon which is detailed an encounter which a Dungeon Master can easily add to her Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition game. If that sounds underwhelming, well, that is because it is and also it is not. For in actuality, the release from Dragon Shield—better known for its range of accessories for the collectable card market rather than the roleplaying hobby—consists of three things. One is the aforementioned one-sheet adventure for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, the second is a monster card for the major NPC in the adventure, and the third is The Pocket RPG Guide, a miniature booklet of tips for both player and Game Master.

The first is the adventure, ‘The Knights of Botan’. This is presented on a single sheet of light card. There is no set Level for the Player Characters, but it is assumed that they are heroic and have completed several adventures. The scenario begins when they awake in a dream. This enables the scenario to be run either between adventures or even during an adventure as a side quest. The scenario thus takes place on the astral plane where they are faced with four doors, each connected to a dragon. Beyond each door lies a similarly structured, but thematically different challenge. All require certain bones to be identified and rifled through to locate a certain object, a terrain and environment to be overcome, and so on, with monsters impeding their progress if the Player Characters falter. All four challenges adhere to the same format, with only their various elements differing. The Dungeon Master will need to prepare some monster stats here and probably break down the procedure to best understand it. If they succeed, the Player Characters will be rewarded with the trust of the Botan, the dragon of dreams. The idea here is that Botan will return to call upon the Player Characters for aid as Knights of Botan.
The structure and set-up for ‘The Knights of Botan’ is presented on the one side of the card, whilst on the other is the set of four tables for the scenario’s four challenges, along with an illustration of an unnamed dragon. In terms of presentation and design, ‘The Knights of Botan’ is succinct. It needs close attention and a little development upon the part of the Dungeon Master to make it easier to use and in the long term, some ideas of the Dungeon Master’s own if she wants to bring Botan and the Player Characters new positions as Knights of Botan into her campaign.

The second of the items is the Monster Card. This is of Abigan, the small Fey Dragon who is part of the events of ‘The Knights of Botan’. This is the creature’s full stats and abilities, or rather ability. This is ‘Fey Dragon Charm’, which enables Abigan to charm a single humanoid and convince him that he is the Fey Dragon’s truest, most trusted friend. On the front is an illustration of Abigan. Unfortunately, there are no personality or roleplaying notes for the creature.
The third of the items is The Pocket RPG Guide. This is a seven-page, full colour booklet which contains tips for player and Game Master alike. For the player, there is ‘Breathing Life Into A Character’, a quick and dirty step-by-step guide to creating interesting Player Characters. It starts off a bit silly with a Player Character called Milly Cyrus, a bard who wants to go to the magical land of Las Vegas. However, the advice is not without merit, highlighting the difficulty of creating interesting characters and suggesting a way round this by starting with a cliché and combining that with a motivation, and using it to drive the Player Character’s actions, whilst also throwing in a contradiction to add complexity and generate interest in the Player Character and his actions. The advice is obvious, but that does not mean that it is bad advice. In fact, for the player new to roleplaying games, it is good advice as a starting point, and for the experienced player, it is advice worth revisiting because it still works, especially if the player is short of ideas or inspiration. Similarly, the advice for the Game Master is obvious, but not necessarily bad. ‘5 Tips To Becoming A Great GM’ talks about how to get the right players involved that want to be involved, the importance of running a ‘Session Zero’ and being consistent to it, and so on. Much like the advice for the player, there is nothing new or innovative in the advice given, but it is good advice and it is helpful advice. Rounding out The Pocket RPG Guide is two sets of tables, one for generating locations and one for NPCs. Each is given four tables, for example, ‘Personality’, ‘Quirk’, ‘Archetype’, and ‘Desire’ for the NPC Generator, with six entries per table. The mix of options is limited, but as a starting set, is reasonably serviceable.

What is noticeable about The Pocket RPG Guide is that it is heavily illustrated with photographs, especially for a booklet as short as this is. The photographs all show two items that Dragon Shield makes as aids for both the player and the Game Master. These are the Game Master Companion and the Player Companion which are shown throughout The Pocket RPG Guide in actual use.

The literally slim offering from Dragon Shield means that as a scenario, ‘The Knights of Botan’, is not as easy to use in play as other releases for Free RPG Day 2023. It is underdeveloped and it underwhelms, but it has scope to be further developed and made easier to use by the Dungeon Master. Similarly, the Monster Card feels the same way, whereas there is that little bit more to The Pocket RPG Guide that makes it more obviously useful. Overall, succinct, but potentially serviceable is the best description of the Monsters Cards, Mini Adventure, and The Pocket RPG Guide from Dragon Shield for Free RPG Day 2023.

Gaming conventions are scary and terrible. Going to a gaming convention means meeting all of those other attendees, who are people—and as we know, people are terrible. Gamers are worse. Who knows who we might end up with sat around a table playing a game, trapped with them for four hours? How are you going to cope with queues to get in—to everything—let alone the crowds in the trade hall and the dealers pushing things at you, trying to sell their latest and greatest games? And if the number of other attendees is an assault on the senses, so are the smells of the other attendees and the range of food on sale. Invariably bland and greasy, and whilst you might be hungry, are really you hungry enough to bolt that burger down and gulp that bottle of fizzy pop in the few minutes you have between the last event and the next? And there is, of course, the ‘con crud’ factor… Just how bad are you going to feel on Monday morning after the convention and your weekend away? What minor illness did you back with you which is going to leave you under the weather for days? Above all, are you really going to have fun, or end up exhausted and hungry with little to show for it except the ‘Con Crud’? Not all gaming conventions are really that bad, but the one you are about to attend in Stuck at a Gaming Convention very probably is.

Stuck at a Gaming Convention: A silly, thematic role playing game is a storytelling game published by Beyond Cataclysm Books. It can be played with a Game Master or without and is designed to take a group of players through the convention experience from the safety of their own home without necessarily having attended a gaming convention—though the experience of play will definitely be heightened if they have. Of course, Stuck at a Gaming Convention could actually be played at a gaming convention and even be influenced by that gaming convention as much as any other! Stuck at a Gaming Convention is a game about surviving the travails and traumas of being at a convention—encountering Coplayer Monsters, Leafleter Monsters, Crowd Monsters, Stallholder Monsters, running to the Food Court and the Nap Station, and all that before even managing to get to the games and actually play something!

Stuck at a Gaming Convention is played using a ten-sided die and a six-sided die. A Conventioneer has three stats—Fun, Fatigue, and Famine. All three are rated between zero and ten and Fatigue and Famine are negative stats, whereas Fun is not. A Conventioneer also has a Name, a non-gaming hobby, a reason why he came to the convention, and a favourite game, the latter selected from the six games detailed in the back of the book. The occupation, non-gaming hobby, and the reason for attending the convention each allow a single reroll during play if appropriate to the situation. The favourite game allows a single reroll in that game if it is played. If any Conventioneer’s Fun reaches a score of ten, then everyone will have had a good time at the gaming convention, everyone can go home happy, and the gaming convention has been a success and Stuck at a Gaming Convention is won. Conversely, if the Fatigue or Famine of any Conventioneer reaches ten, then that Conventioneer is reduced to misery as the gaming convention has beaten him, he and his friends have had a terrible time and decided to go home, and Stuck at a Gaming Convention is lost.

The roleplaying game is played into two phases—the Action Phase and the Gaming Phase. These alternate until the game is lost or won. In the Action Phase, the Conventioneers face the monsters of the ’Fan-dom Encounters’, including the Cosplay, Leafleter, Crowd, and Stallholder monsters. Face-offs against each monster are dice-offs, the player rolling the ten-sided die, trying to roll higher than the monster, who uses the six-sided die. Defeating a monster grants a reward that increases a Conventioneer’s Fun. Visiting the Food Court or the Nap Station will reduce a Conventioneer’s Fatigue and Famine respectively, but at the cost of Fun.

In the Gaming Phase, the Conventioneers play one of six games which include Settlers of Takan, Storm the Castle, and Escape the Dungeon. These are mini-games, typically dice games which are parodies of well-known board games, though Dream It is a drawing game. These are thankfully short affairs, not necessarily that interesting in themselves. They really offer only the one type of game as opposed to the range of games typically offered at a gaming convention, so no roleplaying, no LARPS, and so on. What this means is Stuck at a Gaming Convention may actually be asking the players to have their characters engage in gaming activities which they themselves do not find fun. Some random events might have been useful too, to give more chances of having Fun or suffering Fatigue, and they perhaps, could also have made the games themselves that little more interesting.

Physically, Stuck at a Gaming Convention is a busy, fuzzy affair in pale pink and purple that lives up to its name. Stuck at a Gaming Convention: A silly, thematic role playing game is silly and it is thematic, a one-shot game about surviving the game as much as the imaginary convention. It is also a game with a dichotomy. The part of the game where you are actually not meant to be having fun in-game is actually more fun out-of-game, whereas the part of the game where you are actually meant to be having fun in-game is actually less fun out-of-game. Stuck at a Gaming Convention: A silly, thematic role playing game is a game where the more fun that the players put into it, the more fun they are going to get out of it, and ultimately it is a game that people are not really going to want to that do that more than once or twice.

Far to the north stands the island of Ormil. At the heart of the island is the Great Lake. In the centre of the Great Lake is Olla’s Island. Standing on Olla’s Island is the Sorcerer’s Enclave. This is the last high point of civilisation in the north and no man should have reason to go beyond. This is a bastion for the study of magic and it can only be reached by the Dragon Ferry. A village, warded against those who would wish the Sorcerer’s Enclave ill, stands at the foot of the sorcerous sanctuary, but it is a mere steppingstone to the enchanted enclave that looms over it. Inside the Sorcerer’s Enclave, numerous schools of magic are studied and practised, some even simply recorded lest the knowledge be lost and need to be rediscovered in later generations. Druidic magic is one such school, part religion, part sorcery, which combines magics from across numerous later schools. The Druid’s way is practised outside, like the study of natural magics—practitioners insist the schools are very different, whilst inside, all wizards and wizards have the opportunity to learn how to use their magics offensively and defensively in the Duelling Pit, where that rarest of sights is seen—a Battle Magic wizard or witch in actual armour! Deep in the bowels of the Sorcerer’s Enclave is the Golem Manufactory where raw heartstones are infused with magic and inscribed with runes to dictate the behaviour of Golems they are placed deep within. Elsewhere alchemical arts are studied in their own laboratories, portents and omens are tracked across the sky from the observatory atop the Sorcerer’s Enclave, whilst mystic signs and alignments are tracked immediately below using a giant orrery.
The wizards and witches of the Sorcerer’s Enclave are even whispered to practise demonology, for how else can they explain the behorned, sometimes bewinged sprites that serve as their servants and assistants? All of these Minions wear hooded caps with bells on the end to prevent their presence from never being heard. After all, who wants demonic minions sneaking about a wizards’ school? Winged Minions work in The Arcanum or Great Library or the Sorcerer’s Enclave guard, members of which are recognised by their height of four foot or more, their bronze masks, and their hooked polearms. The members of Sorcerer’s Enclave are also served by Familiars as is traditional in many other schools, but here the Familiar is not duty bound to bond with a master or mistress. Instead, the Familiar Whisperer—a position of honour amongst the Minions—trains Familiars to accept that bond. This is the setting for The Sorcerer’s Enclave.
The Sorcerer’s Enclave is not a roleplaying book in the traditional sense. Published by SquareHex—best known for The Black Hack—The Sorcerer’s Enclave is more artbook than sourcebook, describing and depicting the rooms and locations of a great magical redoubt, hidden away from curious eyes and from accidentally unleashing some disastrous dweomercraft upon civilisation! The Sorcerer’s Enclave begins with a map of ‘The World as it is known’, showing the islands and their relationship. This is, unfortunately, too small to pick up on any detail on the page, but The Sorcerer’s Enclave is accompanied by a small poster map that shows the geography to far better effect. Our journey literally begins aboard the Dragon Ferry, crewed by Minions—many at the oars—with its dragon wing keel and rudder, and dragon head prow. This, like the whole of the Sorcerer’s Enclave, is shown in cross section with the Minions working and resting and there being actually little room for passengers.
Once ashore on Olla’s Island, the tour of the Sorcerer’s Enclave takes us roundabout and inside the enchanted establishment. Each location or section of the Sorcerer’s Enclave is given a two-page spread which showcases the room or facility itself as well as highlighting its location within the building as a cutaway on a silhouette of the Sorcerer’s Enclave. There are lovely little details such as a snoring wizard asleep in his chair, his feet resting on a Minion who is working on some notes and of the wooden tower atop a tree alongside the towers of the Sorcerer’s Enclave which is home to study of the Natural Arts. There is also a sense of story to The Sorcerer’s Enclave, one that becomes apparent as the reader turns its pages and progresses through the book and moves from the left to the right of the Sorcerer’s Enclave and its towers. Thus, the reader goes from the Dragon Ferry and the Dragon Jetty from the Druid’s Way and its menhir through the laboratories of the Alchemical Arts, the Great Library, the storehouse of the Masters of Secrets, and perhaps out beyond via the Portal Chamber. As the guide moves rightward, danger looms and so do the darkest secrets of the Sorcerer’s Enclave. First, there is the Thing Below, a betentacled creature lurking in a cleft in Olla’s Island, altered like many other fish and beasts of the lake by magic and alchemical spills, and then the tower that is home to the enclave’s lone necromancer, whose studies concern at least two of its Grand Magi and are revealed to the reader…
The Sorcerer’s Enclave is written and drawn by Aaron Howdle whose lovingly detailed pen and ink artwork is clearly influenced by the style of artwork being used by Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures in the nineteen eighties such as the late Russ Nicholson and Ian Miller. Even the appearance of the Sorcerer’s Enclave as a silhouette echoes the castle logo of Citadel Miniatures. This is all confirmed by the artist’s biography at the end of the book, which actually contains more text than the rest of the book. Physically, The Sorcerer’s Enclave is lovely, the artwork is a delight, worth poring over for its exquisitely detailed locations and characters.
In game terms, there is almost nothing in The Sorcerer’s Enclave that is actually game-related. There are no stats or similar details. This means that whilst it is not immediately useful for a roleplaying game setting or rules set, the Game Master is entirely free to apply the numbers and mechanics that she wants to the setting to use it in her game world. One obvious direction of development for this, like the direction of the book’s exploration of the Sorcerer’s Enclave, would be to bring the threat of the establishment’s lone Necromancer and his plans into play. Others might be to use as a location and world to visit via the Portal Chamber or from somewhere within its own world, or to use it as a place of study for a wizard or witch-focused campaign. Of course, as a magical institute, the Sorcerer’s Enclave holds numerous tomes, potions, and other secret artefacts, all of which would interest the Player Characters.
The Sorcerer’s Enclave is simply a lovely book to own, a delightful and detailed homage to British fantasy artwork of the eighties that fans of Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures will appreciate. As a gaming resource, The Sorcerer’s Enclave, very much awaits the input and development of the Game Master, but is especially suited to the Old School Renaissance.

The Christmas Annual is a traditional thing—and all manner of things can receive a Christmas Annual. Those of our childhoods would have been tie-ins to the comic books we read, such as the Dandy or the Beano, or the television series that we enjoyed, for example, Doctor Who. Typically, here in the United Kingdom, they take the form of slim hardback books, full of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games, but annuals are found elsewhere too. In the USA, ongoing comic book series, like Batman or The X-Men, receive their own annuals, though these are simply longer stories or collections of stories rather than the combination of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games. In gaming, TSR, Inc.’s Dragon magazine received its own equivalent, the Dragon Annual, beginning in 1996, which would go from being a thick magazine to being a hardcover book of its own with the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. For the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023—as with the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 and the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022—the format is very much a British one. This means puzzles and games, and all themed with the fantasy and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, along with content designed to get you into the world’s premier roleplaying game.

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 moves on from the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 in a surprising nod to recent events—it acknowledges the effects of COVID-19 and the Lockdown, and how that changed our gaming practices, many of us moving online to play Dungeons & Dragons and other RPG, for example, via Zoom. It suggests means of doing so and what those means offer in terms of play and interaction, making the point that it is still a viable option even though in-person play has returned. This is explored a little further in ‘Virtual Play Weekend’, which looks at events organised online by Wizards of the Coast.

However, where the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 starts with ‘Welcome to the Multiverse’, an overview of some of the settings explored in official releases for Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast. This itself begins with the Forgotten Realms—because it always does—but it includes some of the lesser know worlds such as Exandria of Critical Role and both Strixhaven and Ravnica from Magic: The Gathering. These are only thumbnail descriptions, so they are all too brief, leaving the reader wishing that any one them of had pages of their own in the book. Thankfully, several of them do, but not all. The three that do each receive this attention via a series of articles, sometimes paired, sometimes not. One is from the ‘Heroes & Villains’ series and the other is from ‘Mapping the Realms’. The first is Ravenloft, and its ‘Heroes & Villains’ entry is a description of Strahd, the Darklord of Barovia, one of the lands of Shadowfell. Included here too, are descriptions of his allies and enemies, such as the vampire hunter, Doctor Rudolph Van Richten, and Strahd’s rival, the Sun Elf vampire, Jander Sunstar. Van Richten receives more attention in the accompanying, paired ‘Mapping the Realms’ entry which also highlights Castle Ravenloft and its location on the map. Acerak, the villain of Tomb of Annihilation is given similar treatment, whilst the other ‘Mapping the Realms’ entries explore ‘The Feywild’ and its unpredictable, primal magic—later detailed in its own section in ‘Wild Magic’, ‘Gewhaawk’, the original campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons, and ‘Avernus’, the first level of hell explored in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. The heroes described in the ‘Heroes & Villains’ series are Mordenkainen and Volothamp Geddarm.

Community is not ignored in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 as it highlights the generosity of players in playing and donating to good causes. Being British means that one of these covered in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is Comic Relief, a big event very other year in the United Kingdom. It is a sign of just how far Dungeons & Dragons has been accepted into the mainstream that it is part of such a big event. Other events highlighted are Extra Life and Playing D&D for Mermaids. The spotlight here is on the ‘Three Black Halflings’ podcast, ‘Girls Guts Glory’ streaming group, and even an interview with renowned Dungeon Master, B. Dave Walters in ‘Meet the DM’, which together showcases the appeal and diversity of the Dungeons & Dragons community.

Even if the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 has no stats or adventures or anything mechanical for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in its pages, it does talk about the basics of getting ready to run the game. ‘Planning a Dungeon Delve’ looks at all the elements of an adventure, whilst ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Homebrewing’ suggests ways in which Dungeons & Dragons can be modified, including characters and worlds. There is a guide too, to ‘Writing a Backstory’ as part of a character creation checklist, whilst ‘Session Zero’ examines how a pre-campaign session works and sets out eveyone’s expectations, and ‘One-shots’ suggests alternatives to longer multiple sessions of play and how they work. That said, describing a one-shot as a self-contained campaign is absurd. Lastly, ‘Level Up Your Table’ suggests ways to enhance play, such as using maps and miniatures and secret messages and even physical puzzles. Thus there is a mix of advice and suggestions for both player and Dungeon Master across the volume.

Beyond play, the ‘D&D Bookshelf’ suggests fiction to read, starting with the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden, but also mentioning the Dragonlance and Ravenloft series. ‘Loot Table’ suggests gifts and collectible that a Dungeons & Dragons devotee might like beyond the core rulebooks and dice. This notable for the inclusion of ‘Crocs Jibbitiz’, official Dungeons & Dragons-themed adornments for your crocs. Thankfully, there are no official Dungeons & Dragons Crocs, but the Jibbitz are daft enough as it is.

The ‘Bestiary’ series covers otherworldly creatures. So, in ‘Fiends and Celestials’, it is Imps, Balor demons, Pegasi, and Solar Celestials. ‘Aberrations and Undead’ such as the Intellect Devourer, Aboleth, Ghoul, and Death Tyrant, and ‘Elementals and Fey’ like Mephits, Fire Elementals, Dryads, and Quicklings, are given quite detailed descriptions. Conversely, the ‘Gem Dragons’ only receive descriptions in comparison, so there is not really enough of an idea who they might be used in a scenario.

Of course, Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 being a British annual, it is not without its puzzles. So there are mazes, spot the difference, word searches, and more. In comparison to previous annuals, the theming is more generic Dungeons & Dragons than a specific campaign world or characters, so not as engaging as in past years.

Physically, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is snappily presented. There is plenty of full colour artwork drawn from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and the writing is clear and kept short, so is an easy read for its intended audience.

In past years, entries in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual series have proven to be decent introductions to Dungeons & Dragons, but the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is beginning to push against the limits of what it can explain and showcase without actually showing what Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition actually looks like. It has moved on since the earlier introductory annuals to look at more advanced aspects of character creation with character backstory and play with a discussion of Session Zero, but it constantly feels as if it is preparing the reader and potential player for something that it can never show. Which is any actual element of the doing of Dungeons & Dragons, so consequently, it is all description, all tell, and no show. Of course, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is intended to showcase the numerous aspects of the roleplaying game and its setting, and this it does, but it constantly leaves the reader wanting to take the next step and not quite sure what that is. Taking that step is big one and perhaps a solo adventure would give the reader a better idea of what play is like?

To be fair, this is not a book or supplement that a dedicated player or Dungeon Master is going to need, or even want, to read. After all, much of this will be familiar to either. For the casual reader, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is reasonable starting point, but the casual reader will quickly want more. For the collector, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is an attraction addition to his bookshelves. Still as something to receive at Christmas (or not) in your Christmas stocking (or not), the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is an attractive product, informative about Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and whilst its own limitations can only help the reader so far, a stepping stone from they can look for further starting points from which to play.

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 Elk Jaw Dagger, It Drives ’Em MadPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Clio Urquhart

Setting: Seventies ColoradoProduct: One-shot/Side Encounter
What You Get: Seven page, 8.67 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Revenge is a powerful motivator.” – Marcus LuttrellPlot Hook: Stopping off could mean stopping off forever.
Plot Support: Staging advice.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Short one or two hour scenario# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Suitable for one or two Investigators# Non-Mythos horror scenario# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Aichmophobia# Cartilogenophobia# Scopophobia# Foniasophobia

Cons# Non-Mythos horror scenario# More detailed plot outline# Title gives everything away# Non-Mythos horror scenario# No NPC stats# No Maps# Scenario backstory left undeveloped for investigation
Conclusion# Potentially effective tale of possession and revenge horror undone by lack of scope to investigate the backstory.# Very short, bloody, slasher-horror scenario built around a dark relic which leaves too much for the Keeper to develop.

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?Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a ninety-one page, full colour, 41.20 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, but the text feels disorganised in places and requires a good edit. The artwork varies in quality, but some of it is decent.

Where is it set?
Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 is set on the archipelago of five islands that make up the Korolan Isles which lie in the Jeweled Islands, the Islands of Wonder that lie to the east.

Who do you play?Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 is designed to be used with Player Characters who are native to the Korolan Islands.
What do you need?
Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the Glorantha Bestiary, and The Red Book of Magic. In addition, the Guide to Glorantha and The Stafford Library – Vol VI Revealed Mythologies may be useful.
What do you get?
Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 introduces the five islands of the Korolan archipelago—Luvata, Mingai, Sitoro, Sereneto, and Tamoro—and their peoples, their gods, and religious practices. Part of the shattered remains of the eastern continent of Vithela, they once constantly warred with each other, but following a great heroquest, established a unity between the islands which channelled their rivalries into an annual athletics contest that established the five island’s rulers for the next year. Although all five islands share a similar culture, each has its own god. The inhabitants of Luvata worship the freshwater nymph, Irvata; those from Mingai worship Mingemelor, a fiery son of Karkal, the Burning God; Aoea, a spirit of the mountain peaks of her island, is worshipped on Sereneto; the island of Sitoro has no known god and the island is shunned; and the island of Tamoro is home to Tamorongo, both mountain god and mountain. These island gods are known as the ‘Parondpara’.
The supplement introduces the history, geography, flora and fauna, culture and the differences in culture between the islands, and also a playable species. These are the Keet, an avian species similar to the Ducks, but who can be found in separate albatross, cormorant, gull, mallard, pelican, puffin, seagull, tern, and other tribes throughout the East Isles. The pterodactyl Sorn are also given stats, but are presented as a possible threat.
All four cults of the known ‘Parondpara’ are described in detail, including an associated myth for each and these add enjoyable flavour that helps to bring each cult to life. The ‘Parloth’, the gods worshipped across the East Isles are given similar, but not quite as extensive treatment. It is common for islanders to be lay members of one or more cults dedicated to the Parloth in addition be initiates of their individual Parondpara. As you would expect, the requirements necessary to becoming an Initiate and a Rune Priest are given for both Parondpara and Parloth, but in addition to that, there are also requirements stated for becoming an Ombardaru Low Priest. This can be seen as the equivalent of the God Talker in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but where the God Talker speaks for one cult and god, an Ombardaru Low Priest resides over worship rites for any and all of the Parloth. This enables a temple for one god to serve as a shrine for another and counters the issue of needing to travel far sea distances to worship on holy days and holding rites where there are relatively few worshippers for one individual Parondpara versus another.
In addition, Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 also examines other approaches to magic in Glorantha found in the East Isles. Spirit societies are only given cursory treatment, but Mysticism and its paths to enlightenment and Illumination are discussed in detail. Mysticism in the East Isles differs from either Nysaloran Illumination or Draconian Illumination. It is integrated into everyday society and aspects of it are practised widely, but its adherents study at asharams under sages. Here they can learn ‘Austerities’, magical powers and other abilities via ascetism and voluntary denial. Suggested Austerities include Permanent Countermagic—even asleep, and countering characteristic losses from aging, at high levels, effectively, immortality. All require the student to follow certain restrictions. Numerous Sages and their Mystic Paths are discussed as well linking Austerities to martial arts as these require similar restrictions and practices. One sample martial arts school is described, ‘Roaring Orangutan’, which has its own lore, alongside ‘Climb of Will’, which enhances the climbing skill, but requires the practitioner to not touch the ground or floor for a week; ‘Strength of Ape’, which grants the user the Strength spell for unarmed or school weapon attacks, but mandates that fruit must be eaten daily; and ‘Running on all Fours’, which increases his movement rate and reduces his Strike Rank, but prevents him from using missile weapons. Sadly, this is the only school detailed in the supplement, but there is scope for more.
Despite the focus in Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 on the five Korolan Isles, the Homelands section, multiple Homelands are offered as Player Character and NPC choices, including the Haragalan Islands, Shorenti Islands, Jabbi Isles, and Dessheetan Isles. A nice touch is that even the individual islands have their own cultural bonuses. Numerous new Occupations are detailed, including Marine, Martial Artist, Mystic Student, Pirate, and Temple Guardian. The Marine Occupation is the nearest to the traditional warrior Occupations of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and is included because warfare in the East Isles primarily takes place at sea. There is no Family History table, so this is skipped as per RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha in favour of various bonuses. There are tables for character backgrounds which add interesting details as do the Family Heirloom table. Lastly, there are details of arms and armour wielded in the East Isles plus short descriptions of other nearby islands and a list of all of the gods.
As an introduction to the East Isles, Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 sometimes suffers from too broad a focus. For example, the inclusion of four other island groups as possible Homelands shifts the sourcebook away from the Korolan Isles, as do the descriptions of the other islands, and the other gods. The other issue with the other gods is that all too often they are mentioned, but not given any further attention. For example, the antigods are mentioned several times throughout the supplement, but never fully explained or detailed. Also missing is anything in the way of advice for the Game Master. The culture and setting of Korolan Islands are very obviously different to that of Dragon Pass, but there is no advice as to what a scenario or campaign in the Korolan Islands would be like. However, Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2, the next supplement in the series does provide that campaign.
Suggesting influences such as the cultures of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, from a setting perspective, Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 presents a culture and its outlook that is radically different from that given in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Mostly notably in its geographical outlook, but also in its acceptance of Mysticism and Illumination. This presents interesting storytelling and roleplaying options, but some aspects of the setting do demand further development.
Is it worth your time?Yes—Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, with its background and character options, is a solid introduction to playing RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha from a different cultural perspective in a dispersed island setting. No—Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign.Maybe—Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign, but the two could be brought together in a culture clash situation.