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

—oOo—

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

Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 opens with ‘Old Guns Never Die: A step-by-step conversion guide for bringing weapons from Cyberpunk 2020 into Cyberpunk RED’ by Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, and J Gray. One of the issues with Cyberpunk RED is that its technology is often genericised and that includes its guns. This is in comparison to the weapons of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., in which all of the weapons are named and branded. In part, this has been offset by the release of the Black Chrome, but that does not include every weapon or piece of gear from the previous versions of the roleplaying game. Which is where this article comes in, providing a step-by-step process that enables a Game Master to take a design from the previous editions of the roleplaying game and bring it up to Cyberpunk RED. The article is nicely supported by an example and enables the Game Master to loot her old sourcebooks for material just as the Player Characters can loot the city and beyond for old technology.
‘Red Chrome Cargo: A Cyberpunk Red Screamsheet’ by Cody Pondsmith is the single adventure in the magazine. Tensions have come to the boil in Night City’s Combat Zone as two gangs, the neo-fascist Red Chrome Legion and the heavily cybered Iron Sights, the Player Characters are connected by a fixer. His clients wants them to rob a train and steal a Red Chrome Legion shipment. In other words, this is a train heist, and it is as simple as that. The Player Characters have to get from one train to the target train, deal with any opposition, and bring the goods back. This is all action and combat, though the mission definitely requires a Netrunner. Although simple, the mission is nicely detailed and the Screamsheet makes a great handout. The mission will also make a decent demonstration scenario and so could be run at a convention, and it is easy to add to a campaign.
Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, and J Gray further provide ‘Single Shot Pack: Pregen Characters and NET Architectures’. This presents ten pre-generated Player Characters (or detailed NPCs as required) and six ready-to-use NET Architectures for the group’s Netrunner to hack. There is one Player Character for each of the roleplaying game’s archetypes and the NET Architectures include ones for conapt security, clinic security, a small corporate facility, and even a vault for anyone who likes to lock their valuables away. All of these are designed for use on the go. The NET Architectures are easy to use and the ten pre-generated Player Characters can easily be used as replacement characters, as NPCs, or even in conjunction with the ‘Red Chrome Cargo: A Cyberpunk Red Screamsheet’ for the demonstration game.
‘Cyberchairs: New options for mobility’ by Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, and Sara Thompson detail two models of cyberchair. The Mecurius Cyberchair is wheeled, whilst the Spider Cyberchair has legs. Both require operation, but both can plugged into operated cybernetically of course. Their inclusion opens up options in terms of representation of the disabled in the Time of the Red and enables their characters to become actively involved in missions and adventures.
The longest entry in Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 is actually two entries, dedicated to the same in-game MMORPG played via Braindance. ‘Elflines Online: A Segotari Rush Revolution Exclusive’ by James Hutt and Mike Pondsmith explains what it is, whilst ‘Elflines Online: Expansion Pack’ by James Hutt and Melissa Wong adds further background—online and offline—as pre-generated ready-to-play characters for the MMORPG, to the game within a game. Essentially this pair of articles is about a popular leisure activity in the Time of the Red, that the Player Characters really can play if they want to, almost as if they were roleplaying like the players. It has rules for in-game character creation, but otherwise uses the mechanics of Cyberpunk RED. The articles suggest the game as a platform where the Player Characters met, can encounter other NPCs, or simply as diversion. It is an interesting option that adds a layer of both immersion and complication, and that perhaps means it may not be suitable for every Cyberpunk RED campaign.
Lastly, the all-new article in the magazine is ‘All About Drones: Your Amazing Animatronic Friends!’ Written by Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, and J Gray, this adds the element of biomimicry to drone design, such as the giraffe-like Zhirafa GRAF3 construction drone (there is even a junior model, My First GRAF3 for the budding engineer to build) and the Savannah Panther patrol drones. The five drones here have a generally utilitarian to them despite the thematic design, and they are all solid additions which add colour and flavour to the streets of Night City.

Physically, Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 is cleanly, tidily laid out. The map for the screamsheet is somewhat scrappy, but the artwork elsewhere is excellent, and the shorter page count means that that it feels as if there is more of it.

Although much of it was originally available for free, with the publication of Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 it is nice to have it in print. There is much that is useful and helpful in its pages, but none of it is absolutely necessary to expand either the rules or setting of Cyberpunk RED, and some of it, will be simply labelled as silly by some gaming groups. Overall, Interface RED: A Collection for Cyberpunk RED Enthusiasts Volume 1 is a solid, but essential first issue.

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

—oOo—

Most magazines for the roleplaying hobby give the gamer support for the game of his choice, or at the very least, support for the hobby’s more popular roleplaying games. Whether that is new monsters, spells, treasures, reviews of newly released titles, scenarios, discussions of how to play, painting guides, and the like… That is how it has been all the way back to the earliest days of The Dragon and White Dwarf magazines. Wyrd Science is different—and Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue (Wyrd Science Vol. 1/Issue 3) is different in comparison to both Wyrd Science Session Zero and Wyrd Science – Expert Rules. Gone is the ‘BECMI’ colour coding of the colours and the focus upon fantasy and the Old School Renaissance. Instead, the issue focuses on a much darker genre—horror, and instead of providing new monsters or scenarios, it explores the genre which has threaded its way through roleplaying since 1981 with the publication of Call of Cthulhu with a range of interviews and articles. This is not say that other genres are completely ignored, but the emphasis in this issue is very much on the dark and the forbidding, the scary and the spinetingling, and the unknown and the uncertain.

Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue (Vol. 1/Issue 3) was published by Best in Show in September, 2021 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. There are some ten interviews in the issue, beginning with ‘Publish & Be Damned: The Merry Mushmen’, or rather Eric Nieudan and Olivier Revenu, the French publishers best known for Knock! #1 An Adventure Gaming Bric-à-Brac and its subsequent issues. They give a little of their history and how they came to work together and their interest in the Old School Renaissance, including both Knock! and other projects. ‘Cast Pod: the Vintage RPG Podcast’ continues the magazine’s showcasing of a podcast in each issue and this time it is the podcast, The Vintage RPG Podcast run by Stu Horvath and John ‘Hambome’ McGuire. The podcast is dedicated to the history and art of RPGs, but the interviewees explain how they came to hosting a podcast and how they about creating an episode and in the process create a community around themselves.

Two artists are interviewed in Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue. The first is Tazio Bettin in ‘Art of Darkness: Tazio Bettin – Fighting Fantasy’. An Italian artist, he is the illustrator of Secrets of Salmonis, one of the two titles released for the fortieth anniversary of the Fighting Fantasy series and the first to be written by the series’ co-creator, Steve Jackson. There is some fantastic artwork on show here alongside the interview, in which the artist talks about his work and his turning his interest and hobby into a full time occupation. The second is Jonathan Sacha. In ‘Monstrous Arcana: Goblins & Gardens’ we find out how he came to be interested in Tarot decks and adapting the monsters of Dungeons & Dragons in weirdly bucolic, but unsettling Tarot deck by combining them with a gardening book!

Where all of the previous interviews have been conducted by John Power Jr, the editor of the magazine, Will Salmon interviews David Hughes of Plumeria Pictures on the release on Blu-ray of the 1982 television film starring Tom Hanks, Monsters & Mazes. The interview provides some context for the film and is more positive about it than others might be.

The issue’s horror theme swings into action with ‘I Will Show You Fear In A Handful Of Games...’ by Shannon Appelcline, which takes the reader through a history of the horror genre in roleplaying. He does this in a series of one-page mini essays, each one dedicated to a particular ear. Thus we begin in the early days of the hobby and Dungeons & Dragons, in which its horror was best seen in modules such as X1 Isle of Dread and I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City veering towards the Lovecraftian, but quickly steering away following issues with Deities & Demigods and mostly adhering to Pulp horror. The title of the opening essay, ‘Dark Shadows: 1974-1986’ is a nice nod to the soap opera of the period. The article really takes off with the appearance of Call of Cthulhu, the Satanic Panic of the eighties (of which the aforementioned Mazes & Monsters was a partial instigator), and the appearance of Vampire: The Masquerade in 1990, tracing their evolution over the past forty years and coming up to date with the more recent broadening of means, such as the Jenga of Dread, and areas explore, like LGBT adolescence with Monsterhearts and the feminine fairytale in Bluebeard’s Bride. It is an excellent history and with any luck, should future issues of Wyrd Science explore other genres, there will be similar articles.

Roleplaying games and the Gothic collide in Jack Shear’s ‘Wuthering Frights’. Here he looks at his favorite setting, Ravenloft. First seen in the 1983 module, I6 Ravenloft, this would be later developed into a full setting with the Realm of Terror boxed set in 1990. Shear examines the origins of Dungeons & Dragons’ signature villain, Count Strahd von Zarovich, of I6 Ravenloft fame, in Dracula and then each of the other Domains and their villains more recently for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition presented in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. A clearer bibliography might have helped what is otherwise an informative article and useful accompaniment to whichever version of the Ravenloft setting that the Dungeon Master is using.

Just as horror roleplaying games have changed over the decade, so have their portrayal of mental health. After all, the nature of the genre is all about the loss of self and control—physically, emotionally, and mentally. However, as Stuart Martyn points out in ‘Mind Games’, the portrayal of that loss, especially the mental loss, has not always been an accurate one, often leading to the enforcement of stereotypes about mental health and a lack of understanding of those suffering from poor mental health. To be fair, much of this can be explained by a game’s age. Call of Cthulhu is rightfully acknowledged as the first roleplaying game to explore fear and model the loss of control through its Sanity mechanics, but Call of Cthulhu and Vampire: The Masquerade are singled out as leading examples poor portrayals of mental health. However, as the article moves into the twenty-first century and comes up-to-date, it makes clear that modern iterations of these roleplaying games, as well as others, designers have shown more awareness and understanding of the subject and better tried to reflect that in their games. This is a fascinating look at a key mechanic, or least concept, that almost no roleplaying game can really avoid dealing with, and how it has changed over the years.

John Power Jr. takes us temporarily to the ‘Mythic North’ of Scandinavia, before returning to the British Isles in ‘This Septic Isle’ and an interview with Graeme Davis about Mythic Britain & Ireland, his supplement for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying. This highlights the stronger tensions and divisions present in nineteenth century Britain, discusses some of the new Vaesen to be found in the new setting, and interestingly, suggests how the limited geography of the setting can lead to distinct variations upon the Vaesen within only a few miles. Davis also draws the distinction between the horror of Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying and the horror of Call of Cthulhu, primarily in that the later the aim at best is not to lose, whilst in the former, it is possible to resolve situations without necessarily resorting to despair. A different type of horror roleplaying game, Campfire, is discussed in ‘Flames of Fear!’, Samantha Nelson’s interview with its creators, Adam Vass and Will Jobst. Campfire is a storytelling game inspired by the horror anthologies such as Creepshow and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? The game uses decks of cards as prompts to encourage the players to tell horror stories about the protagonists rather than a single character each and also allows the players to step back from the story itself to comment upon the ongoing narrative as they are watching it unfold. This is shared storytelling and designed for shorter sessions than most roleplaying games.

Just as Call of Cthulhu remains the template for horror roleplaying in general, Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien remains the template for all Science Fiction horror games. John Power Jr.’s ‘Dark Future’ looks the three roleplaying games and how they handle horror and fear in examining this meeting of genres. Most obvious here is Free League Publishing’s Alien: The Roleplaying Game, but Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG – Player’s Survival Guide is also inspired by the film too. The third roleplaying game is The Wretched, a solo-journalling game about the last survivor aboard a spaceship whose crew was killed by alien monstrosity except for the survivor. One aspect of these settings that the article does not really explore is the class distinction between these and other horror roleplaying games. These are all Blue-Collar sci-Fi horror roleplaying games whereas many horror roleplaying games are not. Again, this is a legacy of the film Alien. Featuring interviews with the designers of three roleplaying games, article however, does nicely balance the unknown, but not cosmic, nature of the sub-genre’s horror against the possibility of survival—and even hope.

Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue also interviews the team at Rowan, Rook, & Deckard. They talk to Luke Frostick in ‘The Importance of Powerful Deaths’ about the origins of Spire: The City Must Fall and the consequences that its protagonists—Drow rebels seen as terrorists by the High Elf state—suffer in acting against the regime. Spire is not necessarily seen as a horror roleplaying game, at least not in the traditional sense, but the article makes it clear that it has strong horror elements. The article explores how the team works together and some of the ideas and concepts which make it into the setting, but without restricting the setting for the Game Master and her creativity. The issue returns to the Old School Renaissance with ‘In The Darkest Recesses of Ourselves’, an interview by Walton Wood with Paolo Greco of Lost Pages about The Book of Gaub. This brings out the horrific nature of the book and its spells and their broader effect upon a campaign. It is a pity that this book comes from Old School Renaissance, because being systems agnostic it can have a wider use in non-fantasy genres and settings too. The interview does not necessarily suggest this, but it highlights the nature of the book and will hopefully bring it to the attention of a wider audience. The interview by John Power Jr. of Guilherme Gontijo, in ‘Silver Scream’ turns to mundane horror, but horror, nonetheless. Blurred Lines – Giallo Detective Solo RPG is the Brazilian designer’s solo journalling game designed by the Italian giallo cinema of the sixties in which the protagonist is a crime scene photographer who hunting, and in turn being hunted, by a serial killer. Like the earlier The Wretched, this explores the notion of playing alone and at night, how that can immerse the player deeper into the game. The interview also notes the difficulty in bringing designs from Latin America to the English-speaking hobby and various attempts to support this.

The last two articles in Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue do not switch subject, but they do switch format under discussion. In ‘Roll & Fright’, Dan Thurot asks whether a sense of horror can be created in playing a board game, pointing to hidden identity or movement games such as Fury of Dracula or Battlestar Galactica, as possible vehicles as they both add a high degree of uncertainty to play. Whilst he acknowledges that most horror board games are merely themed, adding the veneer of the genre, he ultimately concludes that it is possible, if only under its terms. The challenge being that sense of immersion and the loss of control at the heart of the genre makes it all the more difficult to do in a board game. The last interview in the magazine is again by John Power Jr. and with wargames designer, Joseph McCullough. In ‘A Field of Horror’, the designer of the highly regarded Frostgrave: Fantasy Wargames in the Frozen City talks about his latest design, The Silver Bayonet, which fuses Napoleonic wargaming with horror and narrative storytelling. This looks to be a fascinating setting and with rules for solo play included suggests it can be played on a more casual basis without the need for more confrontational play of traditional wargaming.

Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue is rounded out with ‘Hit Points’, its extensive reviews sections. It includes reviews of wargames such as Warlord Games’ Sláine – Kiss My Axe Starter Set, roleplaying games like the RuneQuest Starter set from Chaosium, Inc. and Orbital Blues from Soulmuppet Publishing, board games such as Tales From The Loop: The Boardgame from Free League Publishing, and a range solo games (all revewed by Anna Blackwell), like Be Like a Crow and Bucket of Bolts, before looking at Christopher Frayling’s Vampire Cinema – The First one Hundred Years and various films and television series, which has a report from the FrightFest 2022. Two of the more interesting reviews here are of The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity by Jon Peterson and Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons by Ben Riggs, pleasingly placed opposite each other in an entirely appropriate pairing. Lastly, the issue catches up with the adventures of Mira Manga in ‘Appendix M’. It adds a personal touch to the magazine and brings it to a close.

Physically, Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue is impressively bright and breezy—despite its subject matter. The layout is clean and tidy, but the issue does need another edit in places though.

Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue covers a wide range of roleplaying games in exploring the issue’s genre. Some of the roleplaying games and supplements, such as Call of Cthulhu, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, and Mythic Britain & Ireland obviously fall into the horror genre, others less obviously so, for example, The Book of Gaub. There is a lot to read and discover in the pages of the magazine and that is where it is at its best, finding out about a game you never heard of or wanted to know more about. Yet the format of the magazine, or at least this issue, makes it unbalanced and often not as engaging to read as it deserves to be. There are simply too many interviews in the issue compared to other articles, so that the other articles, whether Shannon Appelcline’s ‘I Will Show You Fear In A Handful Of Games...’ and Jack Shear’s ‘Wuthering Frights’ stand out more because they are different rather just because they are both interesting and informative. Consequently, whilst the issue is interesting and informative, providing an engaging look at a particular genre in roleplaying, Wyrd Science – The Horror Issue is better for what it covers rather than the way it covers its content.

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

—oOo—

Senet—named for the Ancient Egyptian board game, Senet—is a print magazine about the craft, creativity, and community of board gaming. Bearing the tagline of “Board games are beautiful”, it is about the play and the experience of board games, it is about the creative thoughts and processes which go into each and every board game, and it is about board games as both artistry and art form. Published by Senet Magazine Limited, each issue promises previews of forthcoming, interesting titles, features which explore how and why we play, interviews with those involved in the process of creating a game, and reviews of the latest and most interesting releases.

Senet Issue 4 was published in the Spring of 2021 and as is usual, opens with ‘Behold’, a preview of some of the then-forthcoming board game titles. Perhaps the most notable of these are Tales From The Loop: The Board Game and The Thing. Both are based on well-known properties, the former the roleplaying game, Tales from the Loop – Roleplaying in the '80s That Never Was, in which Player Characters are teenagers living an alternate Sweden and the latter, the 1981 film directed by John Carpenter. Both of these games have an emotional heft to them. Tales From The Loop: The Board Game in that the players are teenagers with difficult family lives as well having to deal with the mysteries of the Loop and The Thing with the uncertainty that one of your fellow base members might be a mutating alien infection! Other games previewed include Dreamscape, a solo exploration of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands and HEL: The Last Saga, a dark fantasy co-operative board game in which the players create their own Viking saga. These are not quite full reviews, but they are given as much prominence as the reviews are later in the issue, and in each they entice the reader to investigate further.

‘Points’ provides a selection of readers’ letters, two of the letters making some interesting points about using board games as part of the teaching process, whilst in ‘For Love of the Game’, Tristian Hall continues his designer’s journey towards Gloom of Kilforth. In the previous issue, he explored how the game became a vehicle for roleplaying and storytelling, but here he he looks at how he uses the mechanics to bring the setting to life and have events going on in the background that can affect the lives of the Player Characters. There are some interesting ideas here that draw parallels with roleplaying worlds and much that will be familiar to Game Masters running their own campaigns. These connections continue to make the series a fascinating path and it will be interesting to follow in in future columns.

As with previous issues of Senet, the fourth issue of the magazine dedicates its centre section to a quartet of lengthy, immensely enjoyable articles. These begin with Owen Duffy’s ‘How The West Was Fun’ examines how the Western and the Wild West figures in board games. Perhaps the most well-known board game in the genre is the Spiel des Jahres-winning Colt Express, but as entertaining as banditry and shootouts is in games like BANG! and Flick ’em Up!, the genre offers more than just that. For example, Western Legends offers multiple means of achieving victory, including herding cattle and mining for gold as well as the banditry and the hunting for the perpetrators of such banditry. Along with recommendations for the best Western-themed board games, the article interviews several designers, most of them surprisingly European rather than American. This highlights how the Euro games that employ this theme are often inspired not so much by Hollywood as the bandes dessinées, such as those of the character, Lucky Luke.

Martin Wallace, best known as the designer of Age of Steam, Brass, and Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, is the subject of the interview by Sara Elsam in ‘Lord of Creation’. The discussion focuses on his exploration of both history and technology—many of his designs involving trains and early industry, if not both—in games, before branching out to look at the fantasy games he has designed and the difficulties involved in making that switch. Written just before the release of Rocketmen and Wildlands: The Ancients, the interview is not quite as interesting as those in previous issues, but still worth reading. The artist interviewed by Dan Jolin in the issue is Dominik Mayer, whose work has been seen in cards for Magic: The Gathering, the cyberpunk game In Too Deep, and ISS Vanguard. His artwork is rich and deep and as with previous artists interviewed in Senet, it is given a fine showcase here.

Previous issues of Senet have explored various mechanics key to board game design and play, such as deck-building in ‘Decks in Effect’ from Senet Issue 2 and ‘Roll-and-Write’ from Senet Issue 3. The mechanic examined in this issue by Matt Thrower is tile placement in ‘On the Tiles’. Tracing a line back to medieval China with Dominoes, the mechanic is much older than those, and in modern terms is still predates those other mechanisms. Having appeared in Acquire and 1829—the later the first railway construction and stocks game which would spawn a large family of its own—before featuring at the heart of classics such as Settlers of Catan, Tikal (Tikal is in fact, this reviewer’s first modern Eurogame), and most famously of all, Carcassonne. In the case of the latter, and for most tile-laying games, there is usually a pleasing sense of organisation and having built something using the mechanic at the end of the play. In addition, there is also often a semi-co-operative aspect to play, the players building something together even if they are still competing for the points in doing so. It is a solid overview of the mechanic, but being an older one does feel as if the limits of what it can have already been reached and that sense comes across in the article.

As ever, the ‘Unboxing’ section of Senet Issue 4 covers only a relative handful of games, but there there is a range to them and they are all interesting titles. Leading the way are reviews of the big titles, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion and Pandemic Legacy 0, providing roleplaying and dungeoneering and legacy-style espionage respectively, whilst Dune Imperium offer strategic play and intrigue and Mysterium Park, confrontation-free deduction. None of the reviews are necessarily long, but they are to the point and they cover a decent range of titles in smart fashion. Three of games reviewed also appear in the self-explanatory ‘The Best of 2020’, so their reviews are a pleasing accompaniment and like any good list, this one is worth checking out because it does contain some classics even two years on.

Rounding out Senet Issue 4 is ‘How to Play’ and ‘Shelf of Shame’. In ‘How to Play’, Andy Bush of the podcast, Bush’s Board Game Thing, discusses ‘The tricky art of explaining rules’ and how to get around the problem of someone having to explain how a game is played for the first time. It is a challenging problem still today, in general not for the dedicated board game enthusiastic, but certainly for the more casual player, but there is good advice given here that is still useful. In ‘Shelf of Shame’, Ella Ampongan of Ella Loves Boardgames, in which takes her copy of Bärenpark off the shelf and plays it for the first time. Her verdict that it is better than Carcassonne, which is high praise indeed.

Physically, Senet Issue 4 is very professionally presented. Previous issues of the magazine have all looked sharp and attractive, and this issue is no exception, ensuring that the games it covers live up to the magazine's motto of “Board games are beautiful”.

Senet Issue 4 maintains the high standards set by the previous issues, another fine looking magazine with a good mix of reviews, interviews, and articles. In places the articles do feel shorter, with less depth to them, and so not quite as involving. Nevertheless, the quality of the magazine and its writing is excellent, maintaining its place as vehicle to show off and explore some of the best ideas, contributors, and games in the hobby.

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

—oOo—

The fourth issue of Parallel Worlds magazine was published in the winter of 2020. As with previous issues, beginging with the the inaugural issue, Parallel Worlds Issue #01 published in 2019, it contains no gaming content as such, but rather discusses and aspects of not just the hobby, but different hobbies—board games, roleplaying games, computer games, films, and more. Unlike like later issues, for example, Parallel Worlds Issue #21 and Parallel Worlds Issue #22, this fourth issue is a fairly unbalanced issue, with relatively little, direct gaming content in favour of focusing on computer games and films. Further, the standard of writing is better, which when combined with its selection of interesting articles and brevity serves to make it overall an engaging, even sometimes thoughtful read. Of course, Parallel Worlds Issue #03 is readily available in print, but all of the issues of Parallel Worlds, published by Parallel Publishing can also be purchased in digital format, because it is very much not back in the day of classic White Dwarf, but here and now.
Parallel Worlds Issue #04 opens with its editorial from Tom Grundy, briefly mentioning the importance of escaping into the fantasy of a new book, film, or video during the winter, before giving an overview of the issue’s contents. It is followed by the first of several articles in the issue dedicated to computer games. This is the issue’s ‘Interview’ with Julian Gollop, designer and programmer of the classic, turn-based strategy games, Laser Squad and UFO: Enemy Unknown. Timed with the then release of Phoenix Point, this is a relatively short piece which looks back at the creation process of UFO: Enemy Unknown in particular and how that has developed with the then new game. It would have been useful perhaps if there had been some more information on the designer’s earlier titles, perhaps to give context for younger readers, but otherwise an enjoyable read. Aliens are the subject of the second article dedicated to computer games. In Louis Colvert’s Thinkpiece, ‘Why Aren’t Aliens In Video Games More… Alien?’, the author explores the role and expectations of the alien in our most modern form of fiction—the video game. Drawing from a number of different titles, Halo and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee in particular, he notes how the design of the aliens have been used to reinforce and subvert the expectations of the players. In Halo, the size and speed of the aliens often reflects what expect of the animal world—larger aliens are slower, hit harder, and take more damage, whereas with the smaller ones, the reverse is true. Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee has alien creatures which are human-like in all but appearance, meaning that in telling a story around slavery it can draw parallels with our own history. Ultimately, the near familiarity of how these aliens act is how we are best able to interact with them in game.
Under ‘Video Games’, Parallel Worlds Issue #04 continues its computer game strand with Ben Potts’ ‘Anthem: The game that nearly was’ examines the perceived failure and difficulties of Bioware’s Anthem, drawing parallels in terms of development with Destiny and Destiny 2 and highlighting the anticipation for the game following its 2017 demo versus the disappointment upon its release. That was in 2019 of course, and Anthem can be seen as a failure now, since development on the game ceased in 2021. Nevertheless, the article is another interesting read, and contrasts nicely with the piece that follows by Thomas Turnbull-Ross. ‘Lambda Cubed: The continuing mystery of Half-Life 3’ sets up and then explores the anticipation, even then a decade old, for the eagerly awaited, but yet to appear, third part in the Half-Life series from Valve. Even several years on from the article, fans will have to be satisfied with a sequel of sorts, Half-Life: Alyx, though that, of course, is unlikely. Consequently, this article has not really dated!
The ‘TV & Film’ articles in the issue open with ‘Star Wars Rebels: A Love letter To The Fans’ which examines the animated series and how it fits into Star Wars canon. Exploring the links to what is now known as ‘Legends’, but which was previously known as ‘The Expanded Universe’, the article highlights how much fan service it delivered, how it delved into and developed the lore, and some of the stories it told. It is clear that its author, Louis Colvert, is a fan, and he very much sells the series. Fans of Star Wars Rebels will enjoy the article, whilst anyone else should be intrigued enough to want go and watch it. Next, Jane Clewett provides thumbnail reviews of various genre films, such as Us, Midsommar, and It Chapter Two in ‘2019 in horror cinema’, which are decent enough. More interesting is ‘Let’s Talk About... Ad Astra’, which is a follow on from Parallel Worlds Issue #03 and its ‘Let’s Talk About... The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’. This is a discussion piece, a two-hander between Tom Grundy and Jane Clewett about their reaction to the film and their thoughts about it. This article is shorter, but it highlights the odd nature of the film and disparity of its story elements.
The issue includes three entries under the ‘Tabletop Games’ label. First, ‘We Found a Body’ launches the first in a series of ‘The Generic Adventure Module’ which explore particular plot types which can be added to a game. In this case, Allen Stroud adds a corpse and accompanying mystery. Graphically, it suggests that this is for a modern game, but the article is broad enough to suggest otherwise, in turn examining ways in which the body can be introduced, forensics applied, suspected questioned, and the death investigated. This is all from a point of setting up a good story and whilst it could have been more detailed, the advice is sound and the article lays the groundwork for future articles to come. It is followed by Christopher Jarvis’ review of Zombie Kidz, which is given high praise. The trio is rounded out the ‘Mini of the Month’, this time by Allen Stroud. The regular article, this time devoted to ‘Grak, warlord of the Clan’, an orc miniature that he purchased at Gen Con UK, benefits greatly from being a page in length, but is very much a nostalgia piece, since the convention and the miniature date from 1995.
Ant Jones and Tom Grundy follow up Allen Stroud’s ‘Diamonds in the Rough: Read Adventurous!’ on self-published novels in Parallel Worlds Issue #03 with ‘Self-Pub Review’, a trio of reviews of three self-published books. These are all good and sound interesting reads from the reviews. With half of the article devoted to its award winners, Allen Stroud’s ‘Fantasy Con Glasgow’ is never given sufficient space to make the event come alive or sound interesting as other entries in the ‘Events’ department in previous issues managed to do. Rounding out the issue are two pieces of short, ‘Original Fiction’. They consist of ‘Lazaraki Chronicles’, a horror piece by Connor Edles, and a Science Fiction piece, ‘Red 14’ by Ben Potts. These are decent enough.
Physically, Parallel Worlds #04 is printed in full colour, on very sturdy paper, which gives it a high-quality feel. Unlike in previous issues, it not does suffer from a lot of empty space and the articles are compact rather than stretched out. Consequently, the issue does not feel as empty as was the case with the first three issues.
Parallel Worlds Issue #04 is the best issue yet. It has more content, the less interesting articles take up decidedly less space, and there are more interesting articles to read. ‘We Found a Body’ is good, as is, again ‘Let’s Talk About... Ad Astra’, and also ‘Star Wars Rebels: A Love letter To The Fans’. Yet as much as there is more interesting content in the pages of the issue to read, it is unbalanced. The tabletop gaming content does not come off as a poor second or third so much as a poor fourth or fifth. Three articles, one of which is a review (and compare that to the fact that three books are reviewed to one game) and another a nostalgia piece about a twenty-five year old miniature, compared to four computer game articles and three film and television articles, all lengthier articles, do not feel enough for magazine which was at the time being pitched to sell in game shops. ‘We Found a Body’ is a good start, but Parallel Worlds needs more gaming content to balance everything else out. In the meantime, Parallel Worlds #04 is still a decent read.

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 noneeless—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: Victor Frankenstein-ReanimatorPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Al Smith

Setting: Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England
Product: Pamphlet ScenarioWhat You Get: Two-page, 1.92 MB Full Colour PDF (Plus more)
Elevator Pitch: H.P. Lovecraft writes Mary Shelly/Mary Shelly writes H.P. LovecraftPlot Hook: Victor Frankenstein’s greatest experiment!Plot Support: Staging advice and FAQ, four pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, one NPC, one floor plan, one Mythos tome, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Minimalist pseudo-scientific one-shot# Low preparation scenario# Plenty of elements left up to the Keeper to decide# Another find the solution to the unstoppable monster scenario (but themed)# Chemophobia# Necrophobia# Diokophobia
Cons# Minimalist pseudo-scientific one-shot# No stats for Victor Frankenstein or Igor (Fritz)# Plenty of elements left up to the Keeper to decide# A grand manor with one floor?# Another find the solution to the unstoppable monster scenario (but themed)
Conclusion# Lovecraftian creature-feature in minimalist style# Easy to set-up and run Mythos-Monster mash that goes all points Herbert West

The world—nay, the universe—is drawing to its end, and the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos will come to its fruition. What will be born in the wake of that mighty battle, who knows, but now there are enemy forces upon enemy forces arrayed before, threatening you, your loved ones, and your family. Whether a doomed prince, cunning vagabond, or greedy mercenary, you cannot escape the conflict to come, so where will stand as the final trumpet is blown? Take up your mighty sword infused with the power of demons, place the helm capable of shining the light of law upon world upon your head, remember the spells you stole long ago from the longest library of the age and slip onto the tip of your tongue ready to cast, and renew the pacts of power with the lords of law and counts of chaos and the elemental earls. Their might and magics are yours to command one last time as you explore the dark streets and mausolea of the forbidden city, ride alongside a mercenary band in driving back the raiders from the north, entreat with the wealthiest of mercantile leagues for support lest all theirs be sunk by creatures summoned from the depths—and beyond, and more, for you are a champion of the age and the final fight will come to you.
This sounds much like the classic Swords & Sorcery stories of Michael Moorcock and his Eternal Champion, most notably Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer, the great blade he wields which infamously feeds upon the souls it kills and infuses the albino prince with their vitality. And it is, but it is also the tales of R.E. Howard’s Conan, Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Lankhmar, and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth. It is all of those things, but not. Rather this is a roleplaying game of dark Swords & Sorcery fantasy inspired by them—rough and ready, decadent and dangerous… Several of these story series have had their own roleplaying games. Most obviously Stormbringer from Chaosium, Inc., Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set from Goodman Games, and Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth: Adventures in a Doomed World, also from Goodman Games. The influence of these stories is not just seen in these roleplaying games, but also Dungeons & Dragons going back to 1974, and thus to the Old School Renaissance. The Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition takes these influences—none more so than that of the Eternal Champion—and puts them front and centre.

The Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is an update of the earlier Black Sword Hack. Published by The Merry Mushmen—best known for the Old School Renaissance magazine, Knock! An Old School Gaming Bric-à-Brac—following a successful Kickstarter campaign, as its title suggests, the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is written for The Black Hack Second Edition, the player-facing retroclone originally published in 2016. Although it uses the base architecture of Dungeons & Dragons, what this means is that the players are going to be making all the rolls—not just to attack, but also to defend, resist magic effects, and so on. The Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is standalone though, eschews the Classes of The Black Hack and thus Dungeons & Dragons, allows the Player Characters of all backgrounds to learn sorcery and enter into demonic pacts, and provides the Game Master with the tools to create her own world (or worlds) and have her Player Characters encounter runic swords, the fae, arcane science, and more.

A Player Character in the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is defined by six Attributes—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These are initially rated between eight and thirteen. He also has an Origin, which is either Barbarian, Civilised, or Decadent, and three Backgrounds. These provide him with extra bonuses. There is one Background unique to each Origin, Berserker for Barbarian, Inventor for Civilised, and Assassin for Decadent. A Player Character can only have a unique Background if from its Origin. In effect, Backgrounds replace the Classes of The Black Hack. Each gives a single attribute bonus and a skill or ability. To create a character, a player rolls to generate the value for his character’s Attributes, selects an Origin category and rolls for its specifics, and then selects three Background. Two must tie into his Origin, but the other not. The process is quick and easy.

Name: Frivif
Origin: Civilised (Born on the prison island where the monarch’s political opponents are sent)
Backgrounds: Street Urchin, Sword Master, Storyteller
Languages: Thyrenian, Askavian

Doom Die: Ud6

Strength 11 Dexterity 12 Constitution 9
Intelligence 10 Wisdom 11 Charisma 13

Hit Points: 9
Damage: Weapon d6 Unarmed d4
Coins: 50

Mechanically, the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is simple. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls an Attribute Test. He rolls the twenty-sided die and if under the appropriate attribute, his character succeeds. If it is equal to the Attribute or higher, he fails or succeeds at a cost. A roll of one is always a success and twenty a failure, and the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition also uses a standard Advantage and Disadvantage mechanic. To handle resources, such as arrows or influence or debt, a Usage die is used. For example, ‘Arrows Ud10’. When a Player Character uses a resource, its associated Usage die is rolled. If the result is one or two, the die size is decreased and when a four-sided die has to be decreased, all of the resource it represents is expended. One genre addition that every Player Character has is the Doom Die. This is a Usage die. It is rolled when a Player Character repeats an action in combat, rolls a critical failure on an Attribute Test, or uses a Gift which requires it, and so on. However, it can be called upon and rolled to modify an Attribute Test, but this forces it to be downgraded. With rest it can reset. Once the Doom Die has been depleted, a Player Character cannot use any actions or Gifts which require it and is considered to be Doomed. All rolls are made with Disadvantage until the Player Character rests.

Combat in the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition uses the same rules and is designed to be quick and deadly. Attacking with melee weapons and parrying require a Strength Test, ranged attacks and dodging a Dexterity Test. Armour subtracts damage, but a shield enables a player to roll a Strength Test at Advantage when parrying. Attack effects such as breaking an opponent’s weapon, disarming an opponent, and making a brutal attack are possible, but require a player to roll his character’s Doom Die. These effects provide a more cinematic feel to combat. Each time a Player Character survives a number of adventures—recorded as story titles—equal to his current Level, he goes up a Level. At all Levels, a Player Character gains a Hit Point, but at even Levels, he increases an attribute and at odd Levels, he is granted a Gift. These divided between the Gifts of Balance, Law, and Chaos, for example, Spirit Alliance, Riddle of Steel, and Bloodlust, respectively. A Player Character in the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition has a maximum of ten Levels and the gifts his player chooses will affect his final fate.

The Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition grants certain Player Characters access to certain powers from ‘Dark Pacts & Other Vileness’. Initially, these are dependent on particular Backgrounds. Thus, the Warlock for Demonic Pacts, the Shaman for Spirit Alliances, Forbidden Knowledge for Sorcery, the Changeling for Faerie Ties, and Inventor for Twisted Science. None of these are quite straightforward. For example, Demonic Pacts can be invoked daily, such as ‘Ruin’ which breaks a single targeted item or ‘Nightmare’ which prevents the target from sleeping. If more than Demon is invoked per day, the Doom Die is rolled with Disadvantage and the Demon can take its revenge on the invoker if the Doom Die is depleted. There are also suggestions as to how new pacts can be created. Spirit Alliances work in a similar fashion, but are primal in nature and their powers are broader. Sorcery is tied to Chaos, but not as powerful as Demon Pacts and the roll to cast a spell is only at a Disadvantage if it has been cast before that day. Faerie Ties are broader and more varied, such as ‘Barrow Wisdom’ which lets the Player Character talk to the dead, but takes a Wisdom Test and decreasing the Doom Die to get them to co-operate or ‘Cold Iron Weapon’, an inherited blade of legend that inflicts extra damage on the faerie. Twisted Science allows the Player Character to design and build technological marvels a la Steampunk. There are some examples provided, but it is up to the player’s imagination and whether the device fits the world as what his character might create. The Player Character has weekly invention Points to spend creating devices, but must maintain the old ones he already has, so the more devices he has, the less time he has for inventing. This is simple and clever. Lastly, with Runic Weapons, the Game Master can create a great weapon to be wielded by an agent of Law, Chaos, or Balance, often as dangerous to the wielder and his friends as his foes.

The six categories for ‘Dark Pacts & Other Vileness’ are all optional and the Game Master can pick and choose which ones she wants to have for her Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition campaign world—or worlds. Their inspirations are obvious too from the works of Michael Moorcock. The Young Kingdoms for Demonic Pacts and Runic Weapons, the Dark Empire of Granbretan for Twisted Science, and so on. For the Game Master there is also bestiary as well as the all but obligatory for the Old School Renaissance ‘What Do You Find On The Corpse?’ table, and then a complete toolkit to help her create her campaign world. This provides options on the nature of Law and Chaos and the struggle between them; pages of adventure seeds by region or group, like a forbidden city or an iron horde; tables for creating great cities where the forces of Law and Chaos feud; and tables for making travel interesting as it should never be trivial. Balance receives its own section, which also discusses the end game, placing the point of True Balance far away, and it is here perhaps that in the final clash, the Player Characters will be forced to choose a side—losing the Gifts of Chaos if they side with Law and vice versa—and bring the campaign to then end. All of this is written in succinct style, yet this is not enough for the end game. More advice would have been useful for creating such a climatic, campaign-ending adventure.

Two adventures are included in the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition. The first, ‘Dark Seeds’ is a good starting scenario, the Player Characters waking up with amnesia after having served some kind of prison sentence and forced to work together to survive in a strange land where everyone seem to want them dead. The ending is open and can go anywhere the Game Master decides her campaign is set. The second, ‘Slayers of the Blood God’ is more a mission, the Player Characters sent after a mercenary captain to prevent him from performing a ritual. Both scenarios are short, easily playable in a single session, and leave details ready to be expanded upon by the Game Master. Lastly, there is ‘Heimdallir: Port of the North’, a complete city port standing on the edge of the tundra, ready for the Player Characters to visit.

And there are the appendices. The Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition contains not just one, two, or three appendices, but twelve! In turn, they give advice on running the game, take advice from various inspirational authors, provide solo rules and a bibliography, introducing a Cosmic Usage Die for both Law and Chaos, a complete world with map by Evlyn Moreau in two pages, and more. It is an unexpected embarrassment of riches, short and direct, but always useful and interesting, giving the Game Master more tools and further inspiration.

Physically, the full colour Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is clean, tidy, and very well laid out. The artwork, oppressive and foreboding, is excellent throughout, and the book easy to read and understand. There are plenty of examples too, and if the book is unnecessarily succinct in places, such occurrences are rare. Otherwise, the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is a grand treatment of The Black Hack.

To be clear, the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition is not an Elric of Melniboné roleplaying game, a Conan roleplaying game, a Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane roleplaying game, a Lankhmar roleplaying game, or a Dying Earth roleplaying game. It is none of these—but it could be. Its inspirations are clear throughout and what they inspire is generic in nature, rather than specific to any particular setting. Think of it, instead, as a tribute act to all of them, but to Elric of Melniboné and the Eternal Champion in particular. And then it goes one step further in providing both players and the Game Master with the tools to tell great adventures and stories in the style of the constant struggle between the primal forces of the universe. In the absence of a roleplaying game in the English language set in the Young Kingdoms—there only being Mournblade from Département des Sombres Projets and that is in French—or indeed any of the other worlds of the Eternal Champion, the Black Sword Hack: Ultimate Chaos Edition not only fills that niche in but perfect fashion, but does so with a very well presented, accessible, and impressive set of roleplaying tools to run dark fantasy in its style.

Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is supplement for Spire: The City Must Fall, the roleplaying game of secrets and lies, trust and betrayal, violence and subversion, conspiracy and consequences, and of committing black deeds for a good cause. It is set in a mile-high tower city, known as the ‘Spire’, in the land of the Destra, the Drow, which two centuries ago the Aelfir—or ‘High Elves’—invaded and subjugated the Dark Elves. The Drow have long since been forced to serve the High Elves from their homes in the city’s lower levels and allowed only to worship one facet Damnou, the moon goddess, instead of the three they once did. However, not all of the Drow have resigned themselves to their reduced and subjugated status and joined ‘The Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress’, or simply, the Ministry. Its members—or Ministers—venerate the dark side of the moon, the goddess of poisons and lies, shadows and secrets, her worship outlawed on pain of death, and they are sworn to destroy and subvert the dominion of the Aelfir over the Drow and the Spire. Published by Rowan, Rook, and Decard Ltd., Spire: The City Must Fall inverts traditional fantasy, making the traditional enemy in fantasy—the Drow—into the victim, but not necessarily the hero.

Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is a a companion to Spire: The City Must Fall. Born of four years development, it brings together a number of new systems, new stuff for every Character Class in Spire, including content drawn from the Strata and Sin sourcebooks, as well as advice for the Game Master. It is a fairly slim book, but comes packed with content for both the player and the Game Master. The book opens with four New Systems, beginning with ‘Liberty’, based on the ‘Control’ mechanic from Strata. This is a further measure of control and oppression applied by the authorities on the Dark Elves in response to actions of the Ministers that make the High Elves feel threatened. It does not target them specifically, but the Drow population in general. Liberty is a broad response and its Fallout can be Minor, Moderate, or Severe. For example, Light Fallout might be ‘No Congregation’, meaning that no Drow can gather together, Moderate Fallout might be ‘Branding’ or tattooing of Drow criminals, and Servere ‘Sanctioned Killers’ which arms the agents operating against the Ministry. Its broad nature means that Liberty is difficult to reclaim or remove. Only two options are listed, but the rules suggest using ‘Acquisitions’, the third of the new Systems to supplement these two.
‘Advancement Beats’ give a Minister and his player options in terms of challenges, goals, and achievements. Each ‘Beat’ can be a personal aim or shared with a fellow Minister, but is not specifically tied to the broader advancement of the Ministers’ cell and overall objectives of the The Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress. A Minister can have as many Beats as he wants, but only two are active in play at any one time. They are measured in terms of time they take to achieve. So a Low Beat such as ‘Sell someone out to the authorities’ can be fulfilled in a single session, a Medium Beat like ‘Research and perform a demonological ritual’ takes two or three, and so on. Essentially an adaption of the concept of ‘story beats’, this New System provides a player with story options that flag to the Game Master what he would like to have happen to his Minister—good or bad—in a session or more.

‘Acquisitions’ provides a further means of Player Character improvement, not just a means of getting items of equipment. One way to use them to is reclaim or remove the aforementioned Liberty, but options here include gaining an Ability from an entirely different Class, Favours, extra Advances, and a Safehouse. The latter nicely ties in with the rules for safehouses later on. For the Player Characters, this takes time, but they can push the attempt and act recklessly, to increase the Stress they suffer. Acquisitions are similarly categorised into Low, Medium, and High. The system is nicely worked through with a couple of good examples and enable a Player Character to have something going on in the background that he is working towards in terms of story and bring it into the action when necessary.

The fourth and last of the New Systems is for ‘Safehouses’. Out of all of the New Systems in the Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook, this does like the most obvious addition. After all, the Player Characters do make a terrorist cell and will need somewhere to hide out and operate from. Once they have a safehouse—and the rules here suggest a ‘starter’ safehouse—the Player Characters can upgrade it with facilities such as a secret entrance, a gunsmith, and even a sacrificial chamber! Each of these is rated as a Medium Advance or a Medium Acquisition, using the previously presented ‘Acquisitions’ system. Suggested too are options for making the sanctuary a community instead of a hidden base and for using it as part of the story, so again giving both the players and the Game Master some flexibility in how the System is used.

The bulk of the Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is devoted to new options for the roleplaying game’s numerous Character Classes. Each is given various options including, but not all, new abilities, equipment and special equipment, adversaries, and Fallout (or consequences specific to the Class). For example, the Midwife emphasises the arachnid nature of the Drow and her role in the nurseries with Abilities such as ‘Hands of Silk’ which give her silk glands in the wrist from which can draw and combine with any hand-to-hand weapon to stun and bind, whilst with ‘Trapped Door’ she casts glyphs upon a door to hide it. She can use equipment such as a ‘Prosthetic Limb Array’, useful for the Midwife who finds it difficult to partially change into a spider, or a weapon like a ‘Arachnid Glaive’ . Her Special Equipment includes ‘Frenzy Incense’ which allows her to shrug off the negative effects from Minor or Moderate Blood Fallout. Her Adversaries include ‘The Black Sheep’, those that the Midwife raised, but which turn out bad—criminals, High Elf loyalists, apostates, heretics, and worse... Potential Fallout specific to the Midwife consists of ‘Spiders’ which crawl out her clothing, the walls, or even her mouth, much to the consternation of those around her.

In addition, the entry examines the nature of birth and child-care amongst the Drow, but also neatly provides a list of elements related to her role that the Game Master can bring into play. So, children, families, sacrificial altars, upholding traditions, and so on, and these work for NPCs as much as they do for the Player Character. The Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook does this again and again for each of the Classes in Spire: The City Must Fall, each time providing options for the player to chose from, as for the Game Master to add to the story.

Rounding out the Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is a quartet of short essays in ‘Essays and Advice’. ‘Just the Basics’ is a relatively short blurb which the Game Master can use to explain the setting to prospective players or even for convention games. Even better is ‘Preparing For A Game of Spire’, which gives advice on how to prepare a scenario if a Game Master has no time, twenty minutes, an hour, or two hours. The advice of course, directly applies to Spire: The City Must Fall, but could easily be adapted to any roleplaying game. The essay also includes advice for preparing for a one-shot and again, is applicable to other roleplaying games. If Rowan, Rook, and Decard Ltd. was to publish a generic book of advice for running games, a version of this essay would definitely be included. Similarly, ‘When To Roll, And When Not To’ and the shorter ‘Creative Use Of Skills’, can apply to this roleplaying and others, but are not quite as interesting.

Physically, the Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is well presented and its contents are neatly organised and easy to reference, done in a succinct style for start to finish. All of that content is really very good, providing options in terms of Player Character abilities and actions, that both the player and the Game Master can use or effectively tag in the game. It is backed up by really good advice for the Spire Game Master, that is applicable in any roleplaying game. Overall, the Magister’s Guide – A Spire RPG GM Handbook is great supplement for the Spire Game Master, which the Game Master for almost any other roleplaying game should borrow (from her Spire Game Master) just to read the essays.

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

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

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What is it?The Terminator Quick Start is the quick-start for The Terminator RPG, based on 1984 film, The Terminator, in which Resistance Fighters travel back from the future to prevent Skynet, a computer system, from achieving awareness and declaring war on mankind and so bringing about a devastated world where the survivors are hunted by robots.

It includes a basic explanation of the setting, rules for actions and combat, details of the arms, armour, and equipment fielded by the Player Characters, the one-shot mission, ‘Two Steps Back’, and seven ready-to-play, Player Characters, or Resistance Fighters.

It is designed to be played by three to five players, plus the Game Master.

It is a fifty-two page, full colour book.

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

The themes and nature of The Terminator RPG and thus the The Terminator Quick Start, specifically the horror and despair associated with the future it depicts, and the fact that the Resistance Fighters will be hunted, means that it is best suited to a mature audience.

How long will it take to play?
The Terminator Quick Start and its adventure, ‘Two Steps Back’, is designed to be played through in one or two sessions.

What else do you need to play?
The Terminator Quick Start requires six ten-sided dice per player. One of these dice should be a different colour to the rest, ideally, black.

Who do you play?
The seven Resistance Fighters in The Terminator Quick Start consist of a mechanic-turned explosives expert and strategist, an engineer and hacker, a heavy weapons expert with the best hair in the future, a medic with a sense of humour, close-in knife-wielding Sikh, a veteran sniper, and a rookie grunt. Two are core characters, needed for the plot, and three standard characters. The other two are ‘advanced’ characters intended as replacements or alternatives.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Resistance Fighter has six stats—Strength, Dexterity, Knowledge, Concentration, Cool, and Luck. Stats are rated between zero and six, whilst the skills are rated between one and four. A Resistance Fighter can have Traits, such as Addiction, Arrogant, Exceedingly Cool, or Vision (Good). He also has Hope Points, which divided between three categories—Body, Brains, and Bravado—and indicate the ways in which a Resistance Fighter can emulate the cinematic style of The Terminator. For example, with Body 2, Brains 3, and Bravado 1, Minguez the strategist could ‘Go Crashing In’ to dive into a room and gain a single charge or ranged action before combat begins, to make a ‘Luck Guess’ and gain a free bonus to a Knowledge or Concentration skill roll, or ‘Lead From The Front’ to lead soldiers into battle and bolster their morale. Some of the pre-generated Resistance Fighters specialise in one category, whilst others are more balanced.

All of the Resistance Fighters have a special ability related to their role. For example, Davis is the Engineer and has ‘Technical Minded’. This allows the Resistance Fighter’s player to spend a point of FATE to reroll any or all dice for any Techanical Skill Test.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, The Terminator Quick Start uses the ‘S5S’ System first seen in SLA Industries, Second Edition. This is a dice pool system which uses ten-sided dice. The dice pool consists of one ten-sided die, called the Success Die, and Skill Dice equal to the skill being used, plus one. The Success Die should be of a different colour from the Skill Dice. The results of the dice roll are not added, but counted separately. Thus, to each roll is added the value of the Skill being rolled, plus its associated stat. If the result on the Success Die is equal to or greater than the Target Number, ranging from eight and Challenging to sixteen and Insane, then the Operative has succeeded. If the results of the Skill Dice also equal or exceed the Target Number, this improves the quality of the successful skill attempt. However, if the roll on the Success Die does not equal or exceed the Target Number, the attempt fails, even if multiple rolls on the Success Dice do. Except that is where there are four or more results which equal or exceed the Target Number on the Success Dice. This is counted as a minimum success though.

FATE can be spent to reroll the Success Die or any of the Skill Dice. The rules also cover fear and willpower. Failing Fear Tests, which typically occur when the Fear Rating of situation is above a Resistance Fighter’s Cool stat, lead a loss of Willpower, as can losing too many Hit Points or encountering a Terminator. As long a Resistance Fighter’s remains above ten, they should be fine.

How does combat work?
Combat in The Terminator Quick Start is designed to be desperate and dangerous. It is detailed and tactical. It takes into account offensive and defensive manoeuvres, rate of fire, recoil, damage inflicted on armour, cover, aiming, and so on. The scenario features a lot of combat and the Game Master should pay particular attention to those rules in the quick-start.

All Resistance Fighters are combat trained, though some do specialise more than others. In general, the more combat capable Resistance Fighters should be working to protect the less capable, but less important specialists on their mission.

How does Hacking work?
One of the pre-generated Resistance Fighters possesses the Computer skill and is the designated Hacker for the mission. This enables him to hack electronic devices and computer systems. In general, hacking small systems requires only a simple skill test, but for bigger systems and where it is narratively appropriate, the hacker can attempt to infiltrate a system consisting of a series of connected nodes represented by a ‘Network Architecture Diagrams’. The player rolls Computer skill tests to generate points of Progress which can be expended to move deeper into the network, create a backdoor, capture a node, exploit a subroutine. If alerted, Network Security, or ‘NetSec’, will spread through the system attempting to locate the hacker and halt his progress.

Hacking is in effect a two-player mini-game between the Hacker’s player and the Game Master. Fortunately, it is intended to take place at the same pace as combat rounds do, so it can be run in parallel with them if need be. It needs careful study by both the Hacker’s player and the Game Master, and although there is an example hacking attempt given of the system include in the scenario, it would be a good idea for the Game Master to run through this at least once to understand it.

What do you play?
The Terminator Quick Start includes ‘Two Steps Back’, a short, one-shot mission. Set in the future, the Resistance Fighters must break into a Skynet compound to find their captured leader and prevent Skynet from sending several Terminators into the past to destroy several armouries set up by John Connor. It begins en media res with the attack on the compound, and after some bloody encounters with Terminators and a chance for hacker to show off his skills, before they can get into the Time Displacement Chamber and take command of it. Once alerted, Skynet will do its very best to prevent the Resistance Fighters from taking command of and using the Time Displacement Device. It ends in an even bigger battle and a cliffhanger...

As a mission, ‘Two Steps Back’ feels very appropriate for The Terminator setting.

Is there anything missing?
The Terminator Quick Start is complete and it even comes with advice for the Game Master on running the game. Where it is lacking is in art. None of the Resistance Fighters or NPC are illustrated, and neither are the weapons. The Game Master may want to provide them. In addition, the Resistance Fighter biographies are separate to their character sheets, so the Game Master will make sure that each player receives both.

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in The Terminator Quick Start are relatively easy to prepare. The Game Master will need to pay closer attention to how combat works in the game as it is the most complex part of the rules and highly tactical in play, as it figures heavily in the scenario. She should also study and work through the hacking rules so that they can be easily taught to the player who roleplays the hacker.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The Terminator Quick Start is a short, bloody, and brutal mission that demonstrates the desperate and dangerous nature of the future under the dominance of Skynet. The emphasis on combat and the hacking rules make it slightly too complex for a convention scenario unless the Game Master knows the rules for both well. Otherwise, The Terminator Quick Start is solid introduction to the setting and potentially more if the Game Master decides to run the sequel, The Terminator Quickstart Part II ‘One Step Forward’.
Where can you get it?
The Terminator Quick Start is available to download here.

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

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Published in 2003, Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King was the first adventure to ask the question, “Remember the golden days of role playing, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Well, those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dungeons, and no NPCs who aren't meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know must be there somewhere.” In doing so, it launched the Dungeon Crawl Classics line from Goodman Games that in the twenty years since has seen the publication of over one hundred titles for three different roleplaying games. It began with Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition in 2003, before moving on to Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition in 2008 and finally finding a home with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying and the release of Dungeon Crawl Classics #66.5: Doom of the Savage Kings and the classic Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King is designed to ape the appearance of early adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Thus, the blurb is on the front cover rather than the rear, the rear being saved for a list of other products, and the maps inside the card cover are done in white on blue to thwart photocopying. The scenario itself is set in and around the town of Silverton, known for its silver mines. In recent months, goblins have been raiding the caravans carrying the silver and so hindering the town’s primary trade and means of income. The scenario begins with the Player Characters at the entrance to an abandoned mine whose silver has long been worked out and where the tracks of the raiders on the last caravan lead back to. The Player Characters have been hired to deal with the raiders and end their menace once and for all. Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King is designed for a party of Player Characters of First to Third Level. It is recommended that a Rogue, a Good-aligned Cleric, and a strong Fighter, preferably one armed with a silver sword be amongst their number. That said, an Elf, which his ability to spot secret doors will also be very handy.

The bulk of the scenario consists of a four-level ‘Abandoned Silver Mine’ infested with goblins and worse. The rooms of the played-out mine are all decently described, and where the Player Characters do encounter opposition, the location descriptions do include their tactics upon seeing intruders. Initially, the Player Characters will face a fair bit of opposition. The goblins are on guard and prepared to defend their home. The first level of the mine appears to be quite lightly populated, but an encounter with the Goblin Chief reveals that there is something else going on in the mine. Patience upon the part of the players and their characters will pay off if they find the secret vaults scattered across this level. The secret vaults and chambers on this level and the levels below contain not just treasure, but also useful, silvered or magical weapons and clues to the secrets of the mine.

Notably, although the Goblins are Neutral Evil, and signs of their nasty, vicious ways are found throughout the mine complex, the scenario specifically states that Good-aligned Player Characters suffer an Experience Point penalty should they put the females and young of the tribe to the sword. There are several nurseries and day-care rooms where they may be found, but there are also several temples dedicated to the rat gods, Narrimunth and Nimlurun, as well. The lower levels—three and four—are smaller, with the third actually being worked by miners still. Zombie miners, including zombie badgers, but miners, nonetheless. The nature of the encounters down here changes too, and whilst there no dragon in the final room, there is a definite sense of something much bigger on the fourth level. In comparison to the upper levels, there is scope on the lower for more than combat. The important NPCs will at least initiate or engage in conversation before they turn on the Player Characters and attempt to kill them. Some of the encounters on the lower levels are tough.

So what is going in the mine and Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King? The back story explains that century ago, one Jasper Gannu discovered the first silver mine outside what would become Silverton. However, the miners uncovered a great evil which had been buried there in ages past—a vampire named Serrenna. She was only stopped and locked away once again after twenty miners were killed. The survivors turned on him, lynched him, and drove his wife and child out with a curse. This curse turned them both into wererats, and now, Jasper’s grandson, Lawrence, has returned to the area to enact his revenge. Not only is he directing the goblins in the raids on the caravans, but he has also turned some of them in Wererats too! This is the reason why the Fighter needs to come armed with a silver weapon. The other is the vampire, Serrenna. If the Player Characters do not discover the clues to the ’ancient evil’ buried in the mine or ignore the warnings when they do, they may well free her from her prison and that would be a bad thing to do. Of course, she is evil, but Serrenna is very tough opponent too. That said, the Dungeon Master should have fun roleplaying her should the Player Characters encounter her.

In addition, Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King includes two appendices. One describes the Silverton Area and its inhabitants. Lawrence Gannu can be encountered here, performing as a Bard, and spying on the townsfolk and anyone who passes through the town. The handouts hint at the great evil in the mine as well as give the Player Characters a map. The start of the scenario provides three possible employers who would pay well for the Player Characters to investigate the abandoned mine.

Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King is a mixed bag. The layout is clean and tidy. The artwork is decent. However, the handouts are plain, just handwriting founts and whilst the map of Silverton is clearly done using Campaign Cartographer, so is decent enough, the map of the four levels of the mine is dull. To be fair, we have all been spoiled by the fully featured and illustrated maps of the scenarios for Dungeon Crawl Classics, but here they are all but featureless. The maps primarily consist of straight corridors and rectangular rooms, so all of the detail comes from the room descriptions. Trying to describe the route through the mine can only be challenging for the Dungeon Master because the maps are so bland.

One issue with Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King lies in the presentation of the monster stats and that comes from the d20 System and Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5. NPCs, including monsters, in Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition and Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 can have Classes and that leads to extended, detailed stat blocks. In addition, there are lots of Wererat Goblins in the scenario, so for every encounter there are three sets of stat blocks—one for Goblin form, one for Dire Rat form, and one for Hybrid form. There is a lot of detail for the Dungeon Master to handle in terms of game stats in the scenario. Also, placing the town details in appendix makes it feel like an afterthought, but at the same time, it means that the Dungeon Master can get straight into the adventure without having to flip to the back of the scenario if it is not required.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King received an Honourable Mention for Best Adventure, at the ENnies in 2003. It would be followed by a sequel in 2006. This was Dungeon Crawl Classics #27: Revenge of the Rat King designed for Player Characters of Fourth to Sixth Level. Then in 2008, the two modules were compiled for release at Gen Con 2008, but not for Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5. Rather it was written for use with the version of the roleplaying game whose style for its scenarios the two scenarios were aping—Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First edition. In addition, Dungeon Crawl Classics: Saga of the Rat King included a third adventure, ‘The Scourge of Silverton’, which bridged the two. Although titles for the Dungeon Crawl Classics line for previous iterations have since been updated for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying is not one of them. Perhaps on its twentieth anniversary, it deserves the Dungeon Crawl Classics treatment? Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King would also be the subject of several reviews at the time of its release—one of which is here.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King is twenty years old and was even a nostalgia piece back then. There is much to like. The choice of monsters is a surprising combination, and with its mixture of the Undead, Vampire femme fatale, and Wererat Goblins, there is an element of horror to the scenario which adds to both its atmosphere and mystery. Yet this is undone in part by the maps, which are featureless and uninteresting, adding nothing to the adventure and barely even supporting it. The scenario is primarily combat and exploration focused, but it does have the mystery of the unspeakable evil and a few roleplaying opportunities here and there. For a twenty-year-old, nostalgia focused scenario, that is not bad. Indeed, Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King is not perfect, but definitely not bad, and it definitely got the Dungeon Crawl Classics line off to a solid start.

Chariot Race is a ‘Roll & Race’ board game. Now lots of board games are races, involving the rolling of dice to move. For example, Snakes & Ladders and Ludo are both children’s classics, both involving races, but Chariot Race is a modern board game and uses its dice rolls to create different effects and determine what a player can do from turn to turn, much like the earlier King of Tokyo. In the game, the players are charioteers, standing in their chariots, reins and whip in hand, javelins and caltrops to one side, ready to race, to the sound of the roaring crowd of the colosseum. To win, a player must be first across the line after completing two laps of the arena. Unfortunately, his rivals will not only do their best to outrace him, but they will also do their best to stop him—dropping caltrops into his path if he is behind, throwing javelins at him if close enough, and even ramming him! The result is a fantastic spectacle for the crowds and glory for the winner who can survive long enough to cross the finishing line. All this will be done according to the rolls of the dice—can a player slow his chariot down enough to get round a corner without risking damage or speed up to catch his competitors? Can he change lane to avoid an obstacle, a rival charioteer and his chariot, or caltrops thrown in his path? Can he attack a competitor? Can he gain the Favour of Fortuna and make repairs to his damaged chariot or alter the results of the other dice? Only the bravest of the brave and luckiest of the lucky charioteer will be able to find out in Chariot Race.

Published by Pegasus Spiele, the biggest draw for Chariot Race is the fact that it is designed by Matt Leacock, who is best known for designing Pandemic, the board game of the CDC attempting to find cures to diseases before they overwhelm the world. Where Pandemic is co-operative, Chariot Race is not. It competitive, combative even. Designed for two to six players aged eight and up, it can be played in fifteen to forty-five minutes, is easy to set up and play, and includes advanced options too.

The core components consist of a double-sided game board, six chariot pieces in different colours, six double-sided chariot boards which match the chariot pieces, twenty wooden caltrop markers, eighteen pointer clips, and five dice. There are also Dolphin tokens to indicate if a player is on his first or second lap. Everything is in full colour and easy to use in play. The game board depicts the oval of the colosseum with three tracks. On the one side, this is plain, but on the other, it is marked with heaps of stone which will damage any chariot which runs over them. The chariot boards are marked with three tracks—the Damage Track, the Speed Track, and the Fate Track. The Pointer Clips are used to track these numbers. The amount of Damage a player’s chariot has taken restricts its maximum speed and the amount of dice the player can on his turn. The five dice are marked with Horse (Normal movement), Double Horse (Sprint), Steer, Attack, and Favour of Fortuna symbols. In play, a player will use these to alter his chariot’s speed, change lane, attack his competitors, and alter his luck.

Initial order of the chariots is determined randomly and then the turn order works from the chariot in the lead backwards, that is, from front to back. A player’s turn consists of six phases—Repair, Adjust Initial Speed, Roll Dice, Obtain the Favour of Fortuna, Move, and Attack. The Repair and Attack phases are optional. In the Repair phase, a player can spend three Fate Points to repair his chariot by up to three points of damage. The Adjust Initial Speed requires the player to check that his chariot’s Initial Speed does not exceed its current Damage Value as more damage reduces its maximum speed. The player than rolls the dice, the number again determined by the chariot’s current Damage Value. Then the player rolls the dice. A player can reroll as many dice as he likes once, but can spend Fate points to reroll again or to adjust a single die face to any non-Fortuna side.

Once a player has rolled the dice and made any rerolls, he begins applying them to his chariot. To Obtain the Favour of Fortuna he records any Fortuna symbols rolled on the dice. He can have a maximum of six. Then he can Move and Attack. However, actual movement is equal to his chariot’s Speed, and what the Horse (Normal movement) and Double Horse (Sprint) symbols do, is adjust that Speed. Horse (Normal movement) symbol lets a player adjust his chariot’s Speed, up or down, by one, whereas the Double Horse (Sprint) symbol lets a player adjust his chariot’s Speed, up or down, by two, but at the cost of a point of damage. The obvious reason for adjusting his chariot’s Speed is to catch up with another chariot, whether to pass it or ram it, but he may also need to slow down. This is because he might want to avoid another chariot or because he has to career around a corner! Both ends of the arena are marked numbers—higher numbers on the outside, lower numbers on the inside. If a chariot has a Speed higher than this number when it crosses through it, the chariot suffers damage. The inside track is shorter, but tighter, and so their number is lower. The outside track is longer, and its number is higher. On the expert board, which has stone heaps, the player might slowing down to avoid hitting them.

The Steer symbol allows a chariot to change lanes. Lastly, the player can use the Attack symbol to inflict damage on his rivals. First, by dropping a Caltrop on the track which another chariot might ride over and take damage from, and second, by throwing a javelin at a rival chariot. Another means of inflicting damage is to ram a chariot, but this inflicts damage to both the ramming chariot and the rammed chariot. It is possible to destroy a chariot, whether through poor handling round corners, riding over caltrops, being rammed, or having javelins thrown at it. A destroyed chariot means the player is out of the game, it leaves wreckage which does the same damage as a caltrop.

Chariot Race includes rules for two- and three-player games, with teams of chariots rather than singles. This enables a player to keep playing if he loses a chariot. Besides the alternative board on the other side marked with stone heaps, the chariot boards each have a different chariot on the back. They add a degree of variety to the game and a bit more individualism to the game.

Physically, Chariot Race is underwhelming. The components, done in full colour, are on thin card. The chariots are cardboard standees rather than wooden or plastic pieces. The dice are decently done though. Consequently, the feel is of a game with a lower budget and less durability. The rule book though, is clearly written, easy to read, and includes examples of play that ease learning the rules.

Chariot Race is primarily luck driven, with little in the way of player choices or tactics. Does a player race ahead to get a good start or hold back and avoid the carnage upfront as players battle for the lead, only to push forward on a chariot that has taken less damage and can thus maintain a higher speed? Other than that, a player is really only trying to make the best use of his dice rolls from one turn to the next. The result though tends to be a chaotic free-for-all, a brawl on two wheels drawn by thundering hooves and steaming nostrils of the horses. So, in the way Chariot Race does make a good filler. It is light, easy to understand, and quick to play. However, a group wanting something more thoughtful, less combative, but of a similar length, might try Ave Caesar. For more detailed, simulationist version of chariot racing, the classic Circus Maximus would be a good choice.

Ultimately, Chariot Race feels just a little too light, a little too lacking in depth for repeated play, and not enough choices. The variant rules do not add enough to keep the players’ attention for more than a few games, and ultimately, Chariot Race is more going to be remembered for the designer than the design.

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 Things We FeedPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Zander Ford

Setting: 1926 New Orleans
Product: ScenarioWhat You Get: Twenty-page, 15.28 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Hunted house horror as theft turns to terror.Plot Hook: Can a book be recovered before state officials intervene?Plot Support: Staging advice, six handouts, one NPC, one map, one Mythos tome, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Suitable for criminals, antiquarians, and art experts alike# Weird haunted house horror in which the horror lurks between# Easily adapted to other time periods# Mnemophobia# Toichophobia# Ommetaphobia# Paranoia
Cons# Needs an edit# No pre-generated Investigators# Investigation could be better developed
# The horrors seen in the scenario could have been better developed# Pre-generated Investigators could have meant more tailored horror
Conclusion# Claustrophobic ‘haunted’ house horror with engaging sense of otherness.# Rushed and slightly underdone in places, but otherwise solidly serviceable scenario

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

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

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Name: Walk Among UsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Marco Carrer

Setting: 1926 New Orleans
Product: One-hour scenarioWhat You Get: Fourteen-page, 3.90 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Zombies, werewolves, and the Black mafia down the bayou. Oh my!Plot Hook: William Faulkner asks the Investigators look into the return of a friend’s friend and his listless state.Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, four NPCs, one map, four non-Mythos monsters, one Mythos artefact, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# Pulpy, noir-style mystery in New Orleans# Decent plot to be found if properly prepared# Kinemortophobia# Lupophobia# Limnophobia
Cons# Needs a strong edit# Underdeveloped, unclear, and unkempt# Decent plot to be found properly prepared# Irrelevant werewolf# No handouts
Conclusion# Messy, underdeveloped plot and set-up hides a reasonable plot to be found if properly prepared by the Keeper# Irrelevant werewolf

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

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James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service was published in 1983 by Victory Games, a subsidiary of Avalon Hill. It was not the first espionage roleplaying game. That honour goes to Top Secret: An Espionage Role Playing Game for 3 ormore players, ages 12 to adult, published by TSR, Inc., and whilst Espionage! from Hero Games and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes from Blade, a division of Flying Buffalo, Inc., were both published in 1983, it was the James Bond 007 roleplaying game which not only took the crown, it remained the preeminent espionage roleplaying game, arguably never to be equalled. After all, what it had was brand recognition and few of the espionage and spy roleplaying games which came after James Bond 007—and certainly none of those that came before it, were not influenced by the films adapted from Ian Fleming’s novels. The James Bond 007 roleplaying game took that brand recognition and offered the players the opportunity to roleplay in the setting of the world’s greatest spy, to travel the world and visit its greatest cities, enjoy the most luxurious food, play at the best gaming tables, seduce the most attractive women, use the most amazing gadgets, thwart the diabolical plans of evil masterminds, and so save the world, and of course, seduce the attractive women again. All whilst looking suave.

James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service is based upon the James Bond films and the original James Bond novels, but drew more from the former than the latter. This would have consequences for the roleplaying in terms of background. The rules—primarily percentile based—covered every type of action seen in the films. Action, combat, chases, gambling, seduction, thrilling cities, and gadgets are all there. Most of the major characters to have appeared on screen are also included with full stats, Bond himself receiving a chapter of his own. The one element missing from the roleplaying game and the one that everyone expected to be there, is SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. At the time of James Bond 007’s publication, the rights to them were contested and so they could not be included. Instead, the roleplaying game provided a similar organization called T.A.R.O.T. or ‘Technological Accession, Revenge, and Organised Terrorism’, complete with a range of NPCs, including its leader, the evilly named Karl Ferenc Skorpios. Although disappointing, the absence of both SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld actually frees up the Game Master to create her own missions, free of the associated backstory between Bond and Blofield and obviously designed around the Tarot card theme of T.A.R.O.T., and Karl Ferenc Skorpios and his minions can become the nemesis for the Player Characters in ways that SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld never quite will.

James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service opens with a bold statement: “The James Bond 007 Game in [sic] not like most role playing games available today. Those games are designed to make the GM all-powerful and give the NPCs a much greater advantage over the Player Characters.” It expands on this by saying that NPCs in fantasy games are often incredibly powerful because of their armies or magical artefacts, and that in Science Fiction settings, the universe is so big that the Player Characters have little influence on any course of events, before explaining whyJames Bond 007 is different. It gives Player Character agency, the ability and authority to act and so succeed rather than fail, to fulfil a mission and save the world rather than fail and let some criminal mastermind’s plans come to fruition. There is both truth and hyperbole in this statement, but JJames Bond 007 does place the Player Characters at the centre of the story and the action. It also gives both them and their players the means to succeed. The Player Characters are skilled spies and they are often equipped with gadgets devised by ‘Q’ which give them an advantage. For the players, James Bond 007 provides them with a magnificent gift—Hero Points. Arguably the roleplaying game’s greatest innovation, in play they are used to alter the effect of skill rolls and to shrug off wounds and even death, and so allow the Player Characters to be more heroic. Although a Player Character will not necessarily succeed on every action—and why should he, otherwise how else is he going to be captured and have the opportunity to listen to the villain’s monologue?—he has the means to succeed where it counts. The rest of course, is down to player decisions and roleplaying, although it is interesting to note that although the players are encouraged to roleplay like Bond, when it comes to the published scenarios, most of which were directly based on the films, they are advised not to roleplay like Bond, or at least not follow the exact same actions as he did in the films. This is because although a scenario like Goldfinger would follow the plot of its film, it had significant details changed to make it challenging and to ensure that the Player Characters would fail if they followed the exact same path of investigation and action as seen in the plot.

The introduction to the roleplaying game is excellent. Besides the provocative opening statement above, it explains the nature of roleplaying in James Bond’s world, the core concepts, terms, and rules of the game, and provides six example characters ready to play—James Bond, Anya Amasova, Felix Leiter, Holly Goodhead, Mary Goodnight, and Lieutenant Chong Sun Hip, all taken from the films. It also includes an exceptionally good example of play. In fact, it is arguably the best example of play in any roleplaying game. Six pages long, it takes two scenes from Goldfinger, first where Bond escapes the factory in the company of Tilly Masterton, but when she is killed by Oddjob, he gives himself up before attempting to flee again, using the ejector seat built into his Aston Martin DB5 by ‘Q’, and when captured again, his interrogation scene with Goldfinger. Parallel to the fiction is Game Master Jessica running the game for Dave, who is playing Bond. This is great writing, the parallels between the two working our imagination, showing how a roleplaying is played (and its highs and lows), and of course, the rules. Although the rules do not include another example of play like this, they do include numerous examples of the rules, all highly thematic and readable.

In James Bond 007, the Player Characters are secret agents working for MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, and sometimes its allied agencies, such as the CIA or Japan’s Public Security Intelligence Agency. Depending upon their ability and assignments, they are ranked ‘00’, ‘Agent’, or ‘Rookie’. James Bond is of course, ‘00’ rank, as is Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me, whilst Felix Leiter is ‘Agent’ rank and Mary Goodnight from The Man with the Golden Gun is ‘Rookie’. Rank determines the number of points to be spent during character creation and to a certain extent the number of Player Characters in the game. Higher ranked characters are more capable and thus fewer of them are required to complete a mission.

A Player Character in James Bond 007 has five characteristics, Strength, Dexterity, Willpower, Perception, and Intelligence. These range in value between five and fifteen. He also has numerous skills, such as Charisma, Driving, Evasion, Local Customs, Science, Seduction, and Sixth Sense. Notably, like the films, the roleplaying game does not include the use of languages (and similarly money). These are rated between one and fifteen. His height, weight, and appearance also matter, as the more notable a Player Character looks, the more Fame Points he will have, and the easier it is for him to be recognised. Derived values such as Speed, Hand-to-Hand Combat Damage Class, Stamina, and Running/Swimming Value are all primarily used in combat. All Player Characters have the Connoisseur, First Aid, and Photography, which are set values and work like skills, but optionally, a Player Character can also have Fields of Experience, which represent areas of knowledge and skill gained prior to becoming an agent for MI6, and also a weakness, for example, Board Games, Computers, Toxicology, and Rare Collectibles. Selecting one or more Fields of Experience increases a Player Character’s age, but grants him more points to spend on associated skills. To create a character, a player is given Generation Points to spend on the skills and attributes. The skill level is then added to the appropriate attribute to determine its Primary Chance. A Rookie receives 3000, an Agent 6000, and a ‘00’ 9000 points to spend. The process is a little complex and does take a bit of time.

Character Name: Claudia Romanov
Character Rank: Rookie
Age: 33 Fame Points: 76 Hero Points: 0
Appearance: Striking Height: 5’ 3” Weight: 125 lbs.

Strength 5 Dexterity 10 Willpower 7 Perception 8 Intelligence 7

Speed: 2 Stamina: 28 Running: 25 Carry: 60-100
Hand-to-Hand Combat Damage Class: A

Charisma (5) 12, Driving (4) 13, Fire Combat (3) 12, Gambling (5) 13, Hand-to-hand Combat (4) 9, Lockpicking and safecracking (7) 17, Mountaineering (4) 10, Seduction (2) 8, Sixth Sense (5) 12, Stealth (7) 11

Weakness: Greed
Abilities: Connoisseur, First Aid, Photography
Fields of Experience: Fine Arts, Jewellery, Law, Mechanical Engineering, Rare Collectibles, Snow Skiing

Mechanically, James Bond 007 employs a percentile system. The Success Chance of an action is determined by multiplying the Primary Chance—typically that of a skill—by an Ease Factor, which ranges from ½ to ten. The harder the task, the lower the Ease Factor, and vice versa. A roll under the Success Chance succeeds, whereas a roll of one hundred always fails. For ease of play, a multiplication table is included on the character record sheet. In addition, the quality of a successful roll can matter. This is measured by the Quality Rating of the roll, which ranges from 1 to 4, or Acceptable, Good, Very Good, or Exceptionable. These various degrees of success determine how well the Player Character has done or how quickly, or in combat how damage is inflicted.
For example, Claude Romanova is attending the party held by the Russian oligarch, Samuil Vorobev, at his villa on the Côte d’Azur. She has already sneaked upstairs, into a bedroom, and then into his study. She quickly locates the safe and begins to crack it. The Game Master sets the Ease Factor at 3, as the safe is modern, meaning that with Claudia’s Lockpicking and safecracking Primary Chance of 17, her Success Chance is 51%. Claudia’s player rolls 18. This gives a Quality Rating of 3 or Good. This means that she has cracked the safe, purloined the jewellery that Samuil Vorobev’s girlfriend is not wearing that night and closed up before one of the oligarch’s security guards comes knocking at the door. Now to get back downstairs to the party…Combat and other action scenes in James Bond 007 are played out in Action Rounds. Declarations of actions are made in reverse order of Speed—slowest first, and then enacted in order of Speed—fastest first. Combat handles hand-to-hand combat and gun combat in a decent fashion, with the Ease Factor used to modifier the Primary Chance if a specific location is being targeted. Chases are a special case though. Whether Boating, Diving, Driving, or Piloting, the participants in a chase bid against each, not up, down, lowering the Ease Factor and increasing the difficulty of the manoeuvre they want to perform. The manoeuvres include ‘Pursue/Flee’, ‘Force’, ‘Quick Turn’, ‘Double Back’, and ‘Trick’, the latter a catchall for all manner of stunts—jump a ditch, grab an opponent’s parachute mid fall, and so on. Failing a roll can lead to mishap as can driving below the Redline of a vehicle and exceeding its capabilities. The chase rules are clear and simple, handling the narrative of Bond-style chases in a tense fashion.

Other rules in James Bond 007 cover interaction with NPCs—Persuasion, Seduction, and Interrogation, as well as gambling and gambling life. The latter includes a range of card games plus descriptions of casinos around the world. Fame handles the chances of the Player Characters being recognised by the wrong (or right) people, and then there are Hero Points. These enable a Player Character to alter the outcome of a skill roll, adjusting Quality Rating in his favour. So, he might lower the Quality Rating during a chase to ensure he pulls off a manoeuvre or raise the Quality Rating of an NPC’s attack roll to reduce the damage he would otherwise suffer. They are also used to perform a stunt or at the Game Master’s discretion, even affect the environment around the Player Character. The advice on handling Hero Points in this fashion is underwritten in comparison to their mechanical use, but the possibility is there to pull off some great stunts. For the Game Master, there are Survival Points, which she can spend on her important NPCs to do the same thing. In play, this can lead to great action scenes as the Player Characters and villainous NPCs attempt to outdo each and the Hero and Survival Points fly.
Having successfully raided the safe, Claudia is attempting to return downstairs to the party, but a security guard has come looking for her. As she exits into the hallway, bottle of champagne and glass in hand, slightly dishevelled after clambering over the balcony, she is confronted by the guard, asking what she is doing there. The Game Master sets the Ease Factor at 4, since the guard is suspicious and although out of place, she looks as if she is meant to be at the party, meaning that with Claudia’s Charisma primary Chance of 12, her Success Chance is 48%. Claudia’s player rolls 61. This is a failure, but Claudia’s player decides to spend a Hero Point to adjust the roll to Quality Rating of 4 or Acceptable. She has just about convinced the guard. …For now.It is important to note that James Bond 007 was not actually the first to use a mechanic similar to its Hero Points. The earlier Top Secret: An Espionage Role Playing Game for 3or more players, ages 12 to adult had included an optional rule for Fame and Fortune Points. However, they were only used to overcome a fatal wound and not affect game play in a wider fashion as in James Bond 007. Essentially, James Bond 007 takes the concept and refines them, making them intrinsic to both play and playing in the style of James Bond.

In terms of support, James Bond 007 details and illustrates numerous weapons and vehicles, as well as detailing other pieces of equipment. These all feel just enough to get started, but really the Game Master is going to want to have a copy of the Q Manual: The Illustrated Guide to the World's Finest Armory, which along with equipment descriptions and illustrations includes an assessment of every item by ‘Q’. The book is brilliant read and consequently a great resource for any cinematic spy roleplaying game. For the Game Master there is solid advice on running the game and handling NPCs and personalising major villains; a description of MI6, its facilities and full write-ups and stats for its personal, including ‘M’, ‘Q’ (Major Boothroyd), Miss Moneypenny, and more; and of course, T.A.R.O.T. This is followed by similar stats and write-ups for James Bond’s allies and enemies, enabling the Game Master to have her players be helped or confronted by the signature characters from the films. Thrilling Cities describes some of the exotic locations that Bond and thus the Player Characters might visit—Hong Kong, London, Nassau, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. Included in the descriptions are hotels, casinos, places to visit, restaurants, and so on, essentially location guides where encounters can be had in places of interest. Just as with the equipment section formed the basis for the Q Manual supplement, these city locations would form the basis for the supplement, Thrilling Locations.

Rounding out James Bond 007 is the introductory adventure, ‘The Island of Dr. No.’ This is a solo adventure based on the film of the same name (though it would also receive a standard adventure that could be played with a group in 1984). It is intended to be played after the reader has read the introduction and understood the basics of the game. Consisting of just over a hundred entries, if used in this fashion, it does leave the player unprepared for any combat that might occur. Ideally the player should read that beforehand as well, or at least be prepared to refer to them in play. Otherwise, the scenario can be run by the Games Master and one player with relative ease. The scenario is decent and should help a player learn the rules, but it does leave the prospective Game Master needing a new scenario if she wants to run something for more players.

Physically, the James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service core rulebook is done in black and white with tones of blue, which gives it a distinctive look all of its own. It does need an edit here and there, but what really stands out is the artwork. Unable to obtain the rights to stills from the films, the roleplaying game is illustrated throughout with black and white line art. Unfortunately, although inspired by the firms, the artwork does not always work. In general, the action pieces feel slightly off, but the character pieces and the portraits are actually really very good. Plus, the use of black and white line art actually gives the rulebook a consistent look and style whereas black and white stills from the various Bond films from the sixties, seventies, and eighties would have looked discordant.

Ultimately, the issues with James Bond 007 as a roleplaying game are fourfold. First, there is the matter of the source material. To quote Judi Dench as ‘M’ in the 1995 Goldeneye, “I think you’re a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War.” The social attitudes of both the novels and the films, then starring Roger Moore as Bond, are outdated, but reflected those of the time. Worse, Bond himself is seen to travel world, drinking, gambling, and seducing women, with the latter in particular, embodying the least attractive aspects of the character. Of course, the roleplaying has rules for seduction, but it has to in order to fit the genre. The Game Master advice for Seduction—as well as Persuasion and Interrogation (and Torture, though for NPCs only)—are they that are used as tools to gain information. To be fair, the inclusion of the Seduction mechanics cannot really be seen as the fault of the roleplaying game itself, and although attitudes have changed since the publication of James Bond 007 in 1983, it would be difficult to write a roleplaying game based on the licence today without including them. However, the likelihood is that the advice for their use would be very different in a contemporary Bond roleplaying game. Just as the depiction of Bond has changed over the years so have roleplaying tastes.

Second, it is a fantasy. The stories of James Bond and thus James Bond 007, do not reflect reality and certainly not the reality of espionage during the Cold War when the stories are set. Compared to the often-grubby world of spies, James Bond is an outlandish superhero, but in the public imagination, he is a spy and not only that, a superspy and his missions and adventures are exciting and thrilling. James Bond 007 reflects this, just as the many other espionage roleplaying games do. Ron Edwards’ Spione: STORY NOW in Cold War Berlin is one of the very few spy-themed roleplaying games to actually eschew the over-the-top style of James Bond.

Third is the absence of SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. This is less of a problem than it first seems. After all, the Game Master is free to create both if she wants and the provided T.A.R.O.T., and Karl Ferenc Skorpios free her to create a wide range of themed missions. Fourth, James Bond 007 is not a roleplaying game for multiple players. It simply does not work with the typical group of four, five, or six players in other roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons. There is rarely enough story for every Player Character to have time in the spotlight, plus, when it comes to the gadgets, not every Player Character is going to get to play with them. After all, who wants to sit in the back seat of the Aston Martin DB5? James Bond 007 can of course be played with a single agent and the Game Master, but works equally well with two Player Characters or three. There are other minor issues. James Bond 007 is chart heavy, so requires more page flipping than a Game Master might like. Then there is artwork which is used instead of stills from the films. Some of it is bad, but not all.

—oOo—James Bond 007 was reviewed extensively at the time and since. It was first reviewed in Space Gamer Number 67 (Jan/Feb 1984) by Aaron Allston. (Notably, the issue also included ‘Spy Vs. Spy Vs. Spy: a comparative review’ by W.G. Armintrout of Espionage! and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, the then newly released rivals to James Bond 007.) The review was extensive, Aaron Allston was critical of elements of the game—the Hero Points gave the players too much power, the legal issues over the rights to Spectre and its associated characters, its Britishness, the art, the lack of references for the NPCs presented in the book, and its preponderance of charts. However, he liked the rest of the game and its innovations, saying that, “James Bond 007 does a good job of simulating the Bond milieu. It won’t make me give up Espionage, but I was intrigued by some of the game mechanics, impressed by the flow of play, and glad of the background detail involved. Bond aficionados looking for a decent game will find it here. Gamemasters for practically any contemporary RPG should look into the Q Manual. And the price isn’t bad. I give the game a qualified recommendation; it’s a valid effort, and generally does what it set out to do.”

James Bond 007 was reviewed not once, but twice in the pages of Dragon Magazine. First in Dragon Magazine #83 (March 1984) in ‘Good evening, Mr. Bond – The 007 role-playing system reviewed’ by Tracy Raye Hickman. He concluded, “As a game designer, the James Bond game made me sit up. I guess I’ll have to work a little harder. As a game player, I decided this game fills the bill. With a rule book that is easy to digest and use, the game system conveys all the sizzle of 007’s world. Don’t expect this game to be anything more than James Bond fantasy – but be assured that you.re getting nothing less.” It was then reviewed in Dragon Magazine #137 (September 1988), in ‘Role-playing Reviews’ by Jim Bambra, who said in his evaluation that, “The JAMES BOND 007 game is a good, action-packed system that neatly captures the flavor of its subject. The need to refer to numerous tables during play tends to slow the action down, but the Hero Point system allows agents to perform just like 007 himself. To anyone looking for a game firmly based in the Bond mythos, the need to check tables proves to be a minor inconvenience, but for anyone looking for easy-to-use mechanics, the JAMES BOND 007 game is not an ideal choice.”

Nick Davison reviewed James Bond 007 in Imagine No. 11 (February 1984). He said, “Needless to say, I have some reservations about this game. The combat system takes a backward step, which is a pity: there is no hit location. Presumably the designers would argue that their simplistic approach was to speed up the game. True, but most role-players want interesting combat. Finally, this game is clearly unsuitable for a large group of players — imagine them packing into M’s office, packing into lifts and queueing up to seduce the villainess. Indeed, if there are too many, then villains will need platoons of infantry to overcome them. A necessary evil to improve play balance would be to separate them. However, this never works due to the extra complication for the GM.” Despite this, his review ended positively, “An excellent game for those primarily interested in role-playing rather than combat. It is not recommended for more than three players and is best with less.”

It was reviewed by Larry DiTillio in Different Worlds Issue 34 (May/June 1984). He said, “Overall I give 007 the highest marks as a game. It is easy and fun to play, and it simulates the Bond films (not the books, as fans know there is a big difference) excellently. Players could even play Bond himself with ease, using the stats provided (of course the mission would have to be big). Most of all, the designers have instilled the flavor of Bond, the color, the dash, the improbable stunts, and the adventure we expect from the world of Bond. Moreover, since it works in a milieu that players can easily relate to, it is more vivid than most spy games on the market. Most of all, it is true to its subject, the designers state that it is not created to play hard-edged spy stories in the John Le Carre genre, it is Bond, plain and simple.”

Bob Neville reviewed James Bond 007 in ‘Open Box’ in White Dwarf Issue 57 (September 1984) and only gave it a rating of six out of ten. Despite this, he said, “As a complete system, the 007 game stands up quite well, with a real feeling of belonging to part of the Bond mythos being generated in play. There are faults, however, resulting from complexity of mechanics which can hinder play if adhered to. The rules also concentrate on the more modern pieces of equipment to the detriment of earlier Bond movies (which relied more on plot and action rather than gadgets) and a number of essential areas remain untouched or insufficiently developed. The game might not be the best spy role-game available, but is more complete and playable than any of its rivals.”

Retrospective reviews would follow in 1996. First in Shadis Issue 27 (May 1996) by John Wick in the ‘Lost Treasures’ section of the Reviews department. He said, “A lot of people ask me why I run games without dice Well, it all started with the James Bond Role-Playing Game. You see I was dating this girl when I was living back in St. Paul who was also a gamer and a Mission Impossible/Avengers fan (they used to run them back to back on Channel 11 on Saturday afternoon). So, when I saw the JBRPG, I had to pick it up. We spent many a long, cold evening in front of a fire—with me as the GM and her as the Agent. Sheila and me, we didn’t need any dice. So when gamer couples came into the store (yes, they do exist!), I’d always refer them to the James Bond RPG. The system was simple: it was great for beginners and those of us who prefer storytelling over statistics. 0f course, as the engineers in the office remind me, it’s the guys who know statistics that make it easy to play. The sourcebooks were also a lot of fun (although not accurate). The Q Manual was packed with gadgets and submarine cars, wristwatches with laser cutters and iron teeth.” … “So if you sit around on Saturday afternoons watching old reruns of Mission: Impossible, The Avengers, Secret Agent and The Saint, then you must go out to your local con and start digging through those used game boxes. I picked mine up for $5.”

The second retrospective review appeared in Arcane Issue Nine (August 1996). In the regular ‘Retro’ department James Swallows described the roleplaying game consisting of, “Larger than life characters, loose, almost non-existent plots, fantastic gadgets, fast cars, beautiful women, lots of shooting and explosions, megalomaniac villains and ludicrous names – all set in exotic locations in a glamorous version of our own drab world.” His review was positive, concluding that, “The James Bond 007 roleplaying game had exactly the same sort of instantly playable background that, say, Star Wars does. It had ‘M’, ‘Q’, Moneypenny, Oddjob, Jaws, Goldfinger, and Scaramanga. It even had the infamous Pussy Galore! What more need be said?” It was followed in Arcane Issue Fourteen (December 1996) by its inclusion in ‘The 50 favourite RPGs of all time’ based on a reader’s poll at position #46. Arcane’s editor Paul Pettengale commented: “Because of the subject matter, and because the rules are easy to get to grips with, this proved to be an instant hit. It has also been backed up with a couple of cracking supplements – Thrilling Locations and the Q Manual – which makes creating all manner of interesting scenarios an absolute breeze.”—oOo—
James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service would go on to win the H.G. Wells Award for ‘Best Roleplaying Rules of 1983’ at the 1984 Origins and at the 1984 Strategists’ Club Awards, it won ‘Outstanding Role-Playing Game of 1983’. It is not difficult to see why. Long out of print—although a retroclone of the rules shorn of the licence, Classified, is available—James Bond 007 is still the best emulation of James Bond stories seen on screen. The mechanics are at their core simple and elegant, and its various subsystems—gambling, chases, seduction—do all really work together to emulate the source material in a fashion that can only be described as pitch perfect and peerlessly playable. Add on top of that, the innovation of Hero Points that enable the Player Characters to get into the story and action of Bond in a fashion that had never before been seen in any roleplaying game, and what you have in James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service is an impeccable roleplaying game, the first great licensed roleplaying, the like of which would not be equalled, let alone bettered for decades.

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

—oOo—
Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore was published in 1983. It was the first supplement for Call of Cthulhu, a roleplaying game which in its forty-year history has had relatively few supplements compared to the number of campaigns and scenario anthologies. It brings together a collection of essays and scenarios, some of which are drawn from the pages of Different Worlds, providing the Keeper with source material and extra scenarios, all set within the classic period of the Jazz Age. The supplement actually opens with a quick guide to adapting a Keeper’s campaign from the first to the second edition of Call of Cthulhu. The changes here are to what is recognisably the version of Call of Cthulhu which would form the basis of the roleplaying game for the next few decades until the advent of Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition.

The opening essay in the supplement is ‘The Cthulhu Mythos in Mesoamerican Religion’ by Richard L. Tierney. This builds on Zealia Bishop’s novella, ‘The Mound’, to draw correlations between the Cthulhu Mythos and the religions of Mesoamerica. Thus, Cthulhu is the Aztec Tlaloc, Yig is Quetzalcoatl, Nyarlathotep is Tezcatlipoca, Shub-Niggurath is Coatlique, and more. It suggests that there are signs of Cthulhu worship at Chichen Itza, explores the role played by the Mythos in the Aztec religious practices, and so on. A more contemporary sourcebook, for example, The Mysteries of Mesoamerica: 1920s Sourcebook and Mythos Adventures for Mexico and Central America from Pagan Publishing might not necessarily equate the deities of Mesoamerica with those of the Cthulhu Mythos quite so readily, instead leaving it up to individual cults and cultists to interpret however the Keeper wants. Nevertheless, as one of the first articles on comparative theology for Call of Cthulhu and on Mesoamerican religion, there is much here for the Keeper to work with if she wants to develop the parallels for her scenarios. This is followed by William Hamblin’s translation [sic] of the Bulgarian scholar, Phileus P. Sadowsky’s ‘Further Notes on the Necronomicon’. This is a linguistical examination of the Kitab al-Azif or the Necronomicon which works from Arabic through Greek, Latin, and Egyptian to explain the meanings derivations of the names of various Mythos entities and races. It is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of faux scholarship which could worked into a campaign or scenario as a lengthy handout.
One of the great additions to Call of Cthulhu is ‘A Sourcebook For the 1920’s’, both an almanac for the Jazz Age and an expansion to the rules. The Cthulhu Companion expands upon this with ‘Sourcebook Additions’. These include a range of prisons by Lynn Willis, such as H. M. Deathoak Prison, Great Britain and the American Wayshearn Co. Work Farm. Each includes a physical description, the penal theory in force, routine functions, staff, and more. These are all horrid places and the Investigators best hope that they never end up behind the walls of any of these establishments, but in case there is plenty of detail here to help the Keeper bring them to life should an Investigator end up a prisoner for crimes he did, or did not, commit. Keith Herber details two skills, Photography and Lock Picking. The former is more interesting than latter, hinting at the difficulties of taking and developing photographs of the Fungi from Yuggoth, ghosts, and similar entities. This is an aspect, if only a small one, which Call of Cthulhu would revisit later. Sandy Petersen pens a ‘Lovecraftian Timeline’ for the various works of H.P. Lovecraft, running from the disappearance of the Starry Wisdom cult in Providence, Rhode Island in 1877 (from ‘The Haunter of the Dark’) to the autopsy performed on the Eridanus mummy in late 1932 after its attempted theft and deaths of the would-be thieves (from ‘Out of the Eons’). It is a handy little thing for the Keeper who wants to tie her scenarios into particular events depicted in Lovecraft’s fiction.

The ‘Rulesbook Additions’ gives new content to supplement the core rulebook for Call of Cthulhu. Glenn Rahman provides a long list of ‘New Phobias’, everything from Acrophobia, Ailurophobia, and Algophobia to Verbophobia, Vestiophobia, and Zoophobia. More phobias are always useful, as are the two Insanities—Quixotism and Panzaism—which Sandy Petersen contributes before working with Alan K. Crandall and Glenn Rahman on ‘Additional Deities, Races, and Monsters for the Cthulhu Mythos’, an expanded ‘bestiary’ of more Mythos entities for the roleplaying game. Many, like the Atlach-Nacha, Gnoph Keh, Gugs, Moon Beasts, and Lloigor will be familiar in the Call of Cthulhu canon today, but this article marks their first appearances and they would have been welcome additions, though not necessarily what the Cthulhu Companion would be remembered for.

‘Excerpts and Prayers’ collects pieces drawn from the works of H. P. Lovecraft, J. Ramsey Campbell, Frank Belknap Long, and Clark Ashton Smith and includes excerpts from the Necronomicon and Revelations of Glaaki as well as others. Much like the earlier ‘Further Notes on the Necronomicon’, these are all begging to be used as handouts in a campaign or scenario where they would add to their flavour and sense of verisimilitude.

If the Cthulhu Companion is remembered for anything, it is its four scenarios. These begin with John Sullivan’s ‘Paper Chase’. This is a then rare, one-on-one, one Investigator, one Keeper scenario in which the Investigator is hired to find out who is stealing some books. The trail quickly leads to a nearby cemetery where the Investigator will encounter the ghoul who is not only responsible for the thefts, but was the previous owner of the books! This is a classic which would be included in ‘Book Three—Paper Chase and Other Adventures’ of the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. ‘Paper Chase’ is fairly benign scenario, really only deadly depending upon what the Investigator decides to do. Of course, there is the sanity-sapping realisation that the truth of the world is not as the Investigator knows it be, but this is a gentle introduction to Lovecraftian investigative horror and shows how although the Mythos is antithetical to mankind, aspects of it are not necessarily actively working against mankind.

The first long scenario in the Cthulhu Companion is ‘The Mystery of Loch Feinn’ by Glenn Rahman. Set in Scotland, it concerns the death near Loch Feinn of Professor Willard Gibbson, a noted palaeontologist working at the British Museum, whose last words were that he was onto “the biggest scientific discovery of this century or the last!” Putting aside the fact that ‘Feinn Loch’ is actually in the west of Scotland rather than due north of Inverness in the east as ‘Loch Feinn’ here, the scenario brings together the Loch Ness monster (or its equivalent) and the Mythos, a backward Scottish clan, a gothic ruin, and the first appearance of the Lloigor in a scenario. There are moments of silliness, such as giving an NPC the surname ‘MacGuffin’, but there is lots to investigate here and the scenario has an eerie, mystery of the moors feel to it, with very nasty encounters both below the castle and—if the Investigators venture out—on the waters of the loch.

Lynn Willis’ ‘The Rescue’ is a much more linear affair, taking place in the Appalachians where a US State Department official has been found dead and his daughter has gone missing. Joining the search party leads to encounters with the lowlife and the poor of the nearest town before the search sends them into the nearby hills, where the culprits behind the death and the abduction are lurking. The scenario turns feral as those responsible decide to hunt the Investigators. This is physically brutal confrontation with a Wild West style shootout in a ravine as the culprits—now revealed to be werewolves—stalk the Investigators. The scenario funnels the Investigators into this confrontation and that and the fact that it involves Lycanthropy is a potential issue. This may or may not fit the Keeper’s view of the Mythos, but the scenario gives a means of passing the Lycanthropic curse, treating it as a form of rabies.

The longest and grandest scenario is ‘The Secret of Castronegro’ by Mark Pettigrew and Sandy Petersen. Intended for moderately experienced Investigators, it sends them to the town of Silver City in New Mexico where there has been a rash of disappearances, including a Professor of Psychology, an anthropology student, and a local man from the nearby town of Castronegro. The clues should lead the Investigators to Castronegro, an odd, out of the way place dominated by two corrupt Spanish families, the de Diaz and the Vilheila-Pereira families, noted for their long teeth, black hair, and vibrantly green eyes. The Mythos seems to have run quietly wild in the town, a weird combination of Port Merion and Innsmouth, but both set in the desert. One notable establishment in the town is ‘The Tomb’, bizarrely stuffed with Mythos gewgaws and doodads for sale! The town’s inhabitants reactions to the Investigators’ presence and questions will be slow at first, but ramp up to daily pot shots and nightly bad dreams and then a kidnapping. The latter is unfortunately, a deus ex machina, that the player and his Investigator can do nothing about once it happens, forcing the player to create a new Investigator. Looming over the town is the Casa de Diaz and it is here that the Investigators will confront the scenario’s ultimate villain. If the preceding investigation has been weird and creepy, the confrontation is likely to be physical and combative and this perhaps is the biggest weakness of the scenario. It either ends in combat against tough opponents here in the almost dungeon-like or lair-like house or not at all.

The Cthulhu Companion draws to a close with ‘Poetry’. This includes four poems by H.P. Lovecraft taken from The Fungi from Yuggoth and Other Tales, but also includes the one item that the Cthulhu Companion is really remembered for. This is ‘The Lair of Great Cthulhu’, an eyebrow raising set of Filk lyrics by Joan Carruth and Larry Press set to the tune of Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Lastly, Morgan Conrad’s ‘Sanity Quiz’ which anything other than that, but instead a lengthy, two-page listing of every adjective that H.P. Lovecraft used in his fiction to describe his unworldly creations. It is either useless, or a priceless list of descriptive words for the Keeper to add to her vocabulary with describing the monsters of the Mythos at the table.

Physically, the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore is very well presented. The artwork is uniformly good and the cartography, if a little quirky, is as good. The cover depicts a desperate explorer trying to climb up out of a walled pit, chased by grasping tentacles. The inclusion of the fedora being knocked from his head hints at Indiana Jones, if only a little…

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Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore was first reviewed in ‘Open Box’ in White Dwarf Issue No. 51 (March 1984) by Jon Sutherland. He awarded it 7 out of 10 and ended his review with, “In conclusion, this tome is really of use only to the Keepers of Arcane Knowledge and given that this does not set out to fundamentally change any of the basic rules themselves, again this will limit appeal. The scenarios are quite good and altogether, this represents a predictable package and is reasonable value for money.”

Graeme Davis reviewed ‘The Cthulhu Companion’ in the Game Reviews department of Imagine No. 15 (June 1984). He was slightly dismissive of the supplement’s poetry, ‘Sanity Quiz’, and other bits and pieces, and said, “Apart from these, there is nothing which is not immediately useful to any campaign, and it is to be hoped that future supplements will maintain the very impressive standard of the Cthulhu Companion. The value for money is excellent, and no Call of Cthulhu referee can afford to be without it.”

Lastly, it was reviewed in Different Worlds Issue 36 (Sep/Oct 1984) by Steve Marsh. He said, “I liked the Cthulhu Companion. For a keeper who uses a great deal of background and whose investigators live for giblets of lore, it is easily worth the price. For a keeper who uses preset scenarios (I rarely do but will use some of these) it isn’t bad deal excepting for the hack-and-slash elements of the last scenario. Pricewise a keeper might be better off purchasing one of the scenario packs available for Call Of Cthulhu if not inclined to use the material in the Companion except such are by far too rare.” He expressed disappointment that more of the source material could not have been integrated into the supplement’s gaming content, but concluded that, “However, on the net, it is a good buy for the money. It meets Chaosium’s demanding physical product standards. Every article can be easily understood. Everything does have a use even if requiring a bit of work. Its only failure is that it is merely a good solid work instead of the brilliance I was expecting.”

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The Cthulhu Companion would be reprinted in the 1986 collated Call of Cthulhu, Third Edition, which for the British audience would be the definitive edition of the roleplaying with hardback from Games Workshop. ‘The Secret of Castronegro’ would be reprinted in 1989 in Cthulhu Classics, along with Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, and of course, in ‘Paper Chase’ in the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. The other scenarios and the rest of the volume’s content has not.

In 1983, there can be no doubt that the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore greatly added to Call of Cthulhu—new supplementary information, new Mythos monsters, and four scenarios—and all of it useful in some ways. It was a good supplement, which set the blueprint for the subsequent, but nowhere near as good, Fragments of Fear: The Second Cthulhu Companion, and the superior, Island of Ignorance – The Third Cthulhu Companion. Today, the content of the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore is still playable, although by modern standards too many of scenarios emphasise combat solutions over other means of resolution. Yet the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore genuinely added to Call of Cthulhu, expanding its background material and exploring the types of scenarios which the roleplaying game could support.

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An unboxing of the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore can be found here.

The previous release in 1982 from Chaosium, Inc. for Call of Cthulhu was Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. The next would be the anthology, The Asylum & Other Tales.

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

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

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What is it?
The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset is the quick-start for War Stories: A World War 2 RPG, the roleplaying game of the stories of the men and women whose desperate missions and harrowing exploits would help win the greatest conflict of the twentieth century.

It includes a basic explanation of the setting, detailed descriptions of the various elements which make up a Player Character, rules for actions and combat, details of the arms and equipment fielded by the Player Characters, the mission, ‘Cut the Lines’, and five ready-to-play, pre-generated Player Characters.

It is a forty-five page, 20.42 MB full colour PDF.

The quick-start is well illustrated and the artwork is uniformly excellent, especially that of the pre-generated Player Characters. The maps for the scenario are also good and like the newspaper-style layout for the quick-start, they grant the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset a pleasing verisimilitude.

The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset is published by Firelock Games.

How long will it take to play?
The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset and its adventure, ‘Cut the Lines’, is designed to be played through in one session, two at the very most.

What do you need to play?
The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset requires six-sided dice, no more than ten per player, as well as a single ten-sided die each. Ten cards from a standard deck of playing cards, numbered Ace through ten are also required. They will form the Initiative Deck.

Who do you play?
Four of the pre-generated Player Characters consist of members of the 101st Airborne. They include an ex-baseball player turned intimidating sergeant, a farm boy who is an impatient scout, an unlucky ex-police officer now rifleman, and an educated, but naïve medic. The female Player Character is a French ex-con artist turned partisan.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character in War Stories: A World War 2 RPG has four Attributes—Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Empathy. These are rated between one and five. He also has several skills, rated between zero and five. These are associated with each of the four Attributes. For example, Calisthenics is a Strength skill, Ranged Combat an Agility skill, Insight an Intelligence skill, and Guts an Empathy skill. Specialisations, such as Grunt, Stealth, Sharpshooter, Born to Lie, and Counsellor add dice to Action Tests. Talents like Intimidating, Fast Reflexes, Hardy, Polyglot, and Intense Focus: Empathy provide further bonuses. For example, Polyglot grants a chance to understand the basis of other languages, whilst Fast Reflexes enables a player to draw an extra Initiative card and chose the best. All five Player Characters have Flaws and Virtues, but these not defined in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset and the Game Master will need to consult the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG core rules if she wants to bring them into play mechanically.

In addition to Endurance, a Player Character’s capacity to handle the physical and mental stresses of combat and other challenges, he also has a Conditions Tracker which measures the effect of damage suffered. The Conditions Tracker has four categories, one for each Attribute, and each category has three ranks. Wounds is linked to Strength and a Player Character can either be ‘Gashed’, ‘Cut’, or ‘Nicked’. Weariness is linked to Agility, Fear to Intelligence, and Morale to Empathy. Each rank levies a penalty on all rolls made with its associated Attribute.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG uses the Year Zero Engine first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, published by Free League Publishing. To undertake an action, a player must roll an Action Test. The player rolls a number of six-sided dice equal to the skill value and its associated Attribute. Each six rolled counts as a Success. Only one Success is typically required to succeed at an Action Test. Extra Successes can be used to generate additional effects, for example, bonuses to damage in combat or extra Lucky Strike tokens.

If no Successes are rolled or if he wants to generate more Successes, a player can chose to ‘Push Your Luck’. This enables him to reroll any dice that did not roll Successes or results of one. He can only this once for any Action Test. However, a ‘Push Your Luck’ attempt turns any result of a one—on either the original roll or the reroll, into Duds. Any Dud results after a ‘Push Your Luck’ earn the Player Character a FUBAR point. A Player Character can hold up to a maximum of two FUBAR points, any excess going into a pool that the Game Master give out to a Player Character when narratively appropriate.

Along with FUBAR points, Lucky Strikes are the two types of luck or hero points in War Stories: A World War 2 RPG. A player can use his Player Character’s Lucky Strikes or FUBAR points to reroll ones on a ‘Push Your Attempt’, add more dice to an Action Test, reroll a damage roll, change a minor plot point, and so on. Thus FUBAR points are not necessarily as dangerous as they first appear or sound, but the Game Master can use them in three other ways that a player cannot. This is ‘Push an NPC Test’, essentially a ‘Push Your Luck’, but for NPCs; impose narratively suitable Condition on a Player Character without the need for Endurance loss; and introduce a Random Bad Luck Event into the current scenario. The latter is not explored in any detail in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset and if the Game Master wants to use this aspect of the rules, she will have to improvise.

All sixteen skills in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset are described in detail and include the results of Success, Failure, and extra Successes. In each case, several options are given for the latter.

How does combat work?
Combat in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset uses the same rules as Action Tests. Initiative is handled by drawing cards from the Initiative Deck, and can be altered as the result of Talents, such as ‘Fast Reflexes’ or Extra Successes generated on certain Action Tests. In one Round, a Player Character can undertake one Slow Action and one Fast Action, or two Fast Actions. Slow actions include Close Combat Attack, First Aid, and Rally, whilst Fast Actions include Aim, Go On Overwatch, and Operate Vehicle. The rules cover aiming, rendering first aid, rallying an ally, and overwatch, as well as range, obstructions, visibility, and zones. The latter are combat areas which vary in size according to the needs of the narrative. Thus, one room in a house-to-house fight could be a zone, as could a wheat field outside a village. The rules also take into account rapid fire by semiautomatic weapons, burst fire, and full auto, along with suppressive fire, explosions, protection, cover, and personal armour.

When an attack is successful, a roll is required on the Damage Table. This is made with the ten-sided die. Bonuses to this roll can come from the weapon used, depending upon its lethality, and any extra Success rolled on the Action Test. Damage is deducted from the Player Character’s Endurance and applied to his Conditions Tracker. The first Condition is determined by the Game Master as narratively appropriate, whilst the player is free to assign the damage elsewhere on the Conditions Tracker. Rest, First Aid, and Rally can also be used to restore Endurance and remove Conditions. (Amongst other rules the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG core rule book also covers Critical Injuries, Stress, Fatigue, and more, which are not included in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset.)

In addition, the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset includes a table of the weapons used by the Germans in the scenario as well as a glossary of the various Qualities that the arms and equipment used by both sides can have. 

What do you play?
The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset includes ‘Cut the Lines’. This set in Normandy on the morning of June 6th, 1944 shortly after members of the 101st Airborne have parachuted into enemy occupied territory. Scattered, they have met up, together with a French partisan and are investigating a town which is currently ablaze. After foiling an ambush attempt on advancing Allied troops, the squad is assigned a mission. This is to knockout an enemy communications post based in the town post office and recover as much intelligence as possible. The squad is given free range as how they do it, though the involvement of French civilians may complicate the situation.

Is there anything missing?
For the most part, the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset is complete. However, a table of the Allied arms and equipment for the benefit of the Game Master would be useful. Similarly, given the relatively short length of the scenario, some scenario hooks or a link to sequel scenario would be a nice bonus for a group playing at home. Lastly, although mentioned in the rules and each Player Character comes with at least one Virtue and one Flaw, there is no explanation of how Flaws and Virtues work in the game. To bring them into the game, the players will simply have to roleplay them.

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in the War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset are relatively easy to prepare. The Game Master will need to pay closer attention to how combat works in the game as it is the most complex part of the rules and highly tactical in play. There is decent advice for the Game Master on how to run the scenario.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset includes everything necessary to play out a desperate mission at the beginning of the greatest military invasion ever seen. The rules are clearly explained, the mission straightforward, the players are given free agency for their characters to approach it however they want, and the consequences of how the choices made by the players and their characters explored for the benefit of the Game Master. The scenario, ‘Cut the Lines’, is short, but that also makes the perfect length if the Game Master wants to run it as a convention scenario. Plus if run as a convention scenario, there is also scope to scale the scenario up into a skirmish roleplaying scenario, complete with terrain, miniatures, and maps.
Where can you get it?
The War Stories: A World War 2 RPG Quickstart Ruleset is available to download here.

Before the advent of the internet, the magazine was the focus of the hobby’s attention, a platform in whose pages could be news, reviews, and content for the roleplaying game of each reader’s choice, as well as a classified section and a letters page where the issues of day—or at least month—could be raised and discussed in chronically lengthy manner. In this way, such magazines as White Dwarf, Imagine, Dragon, and many others since, came to be our community’s focal point and sounding board, especially a magazine that was long running. Yet depending upon when you entered the hobby and picked up your first issue of a roleplaying magazine, you could have missed a mere handful of issues or many. Which would have left you wondering what was in those prior issues. Today, tracking down back issues to find out and complete a magazine’s run is much easier than it was then, but many publishers offered another solution—the ‘Best of…’ magazine. This was a compilation of curated articles and support, containing the best content to have appeared in the magazine’s pages.

1980 got the format off to a good start with both The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios and The Best of White Dwarf Articles from Games Workshop as well as the Best of Dragon from TSR, Inc. Both publishers would release further volumes of all three series, and TSR, Inc. would also reprint its volumes. Other publishers have published similar volumes and in more recent times, creators in the Old School Renaissance have begun to collate and collect content despite the relative youth of that movement. This includes The Gongfarmer’s Almanac which has collected community content for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game since 2015 and Populated Hexes Monthly Year One which collected the content from the Populated Hexes Monthly fanzine. The ‘Best of…’ series of reviews will look at these and many of the curated and compiled from the last four decades of roleplaying.

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The Best of White Dwarf Articles was published in 1980. Containing “Selected material from the first 3 years of White Dwarf”, from White Dwarf Issue No. 1 to White Dwarf Issue No. 20, its focus is Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller. This is no surprise given the popularity of the world’s first roleplaying game and the world’s leading Science Fiction roleplaying game. It is also no surprise that the versions of Dungeons & Dragons supported within the pages of The Best of White Dwarf Articles were the original version published in 1974 and the J. Eric Holmes designed Basic Dungeons & Dragons. By 1980, the three-core books for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had only just been published, and consequently the content of the compilation predates them. This is not to say that The Best of White Dwarf Articles lacks sophisticated content, either for 1980 or now. However, gaming needs and tastes have greatly changed in the last forty years and not everything in the pages of The Best of White Dwarf Articles would find its way into Dungeons & Dragons today.

The Best of White Dwarf Articles opens with the majestic ‘The Monstermark System’ by Don Turnbull. Appearing in the first three issues of White Dwarf, this is a system of rating monsters in Dungeons & Dragons for their lethality versus the ability of base Player Characters to defeat them. It first rates them for their Defence and Aggressive values to provide a Monstermark value which could be further modified by their abilities and special powers—paralysation, poison, regeneration, and others. Turnbull first works through fairly standard monsters such as Kobolds and Manticores before moving on through undead, fire-breathing monsters, demons, and more. Throughout he compares the completed Monstermark Level for each monster versus their Greyhawk Level, the latter more often than, not quite providing an accurate measurement of their lethality versus the Player Characters. Turnbull also uses his Monstermark System as a means to more fairly award Experience Points, but avoids extending it as a means to measure treasure.

‘The Monstermark System’ was much lauded in its day. It is still a good example of a writer dissatisfied with a mechanical aspect of a roleplaying game and devising and working through an alternative system. There is no doubt that at the time, some groups would have adopted this over the Greyhawk system, but of course, it would have remained a house rule. These days it is a hard read, feeling outdated and outmoded, and it would have probably felt the same fairly quickly as new versions of Dungeons & Dragons were taken up. There are points of interest in the article though, Turnbull often referring to his ‘Greenlands’ dungeon. These sadly, are only in passing, the only existing details being here and other mentions in the pages of White Dwarf magazine.

‘The Magic Brush – Fantasy Figure Painting As An Art’ by Shaun Fuller is another three-part series. It ran from White Dwarf Issue No. 17 to White Dwarf Issue No. 20 and provided a comprehensive guide to figure painting. With the roleplaying hobby only being six years by this time and having strong roots in miniatures wargaming, it is no surprise that miniatures would feature in the early issues of White Dwarf. Coverage of them would lessen during the early eighties, but would make a resurgence as the importance of Citadel Miniatures to Games Workshop grew and grew. Nevertheless, painting guides always proved popular and it is subject that White Dwarf would return to again in subsequent issues. Even if the paints and styles have changed over the years, this is a solid article on the subject whose advice could still be followed today.

The compilation includes two new Classes, one familiar, one unfamiliar, for Dungeons & Dragons by Brian Asbury, another regular contributor to White Dwarf. ‘The Barbarian’ is from White Dwarf Issue No. 4. There are similarities between it and the Barbarian Class which E. Gary Gygax would design and include in Unearthed Arcana and thus the Class we have today in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. It combines features of the other Classes with those new to it. Thus, the Class can track like the Ranger and hear noise, climb, and hide in the shadows like the Thief, and catch missiles like the Monk, but cannot wear armour until later Levels, possess a Fearlessness which can send them berserk any time it is subject to fear effects, and has a First-Attack Ferocity which grants a bonus to hit and damage if the Class attacks on the first round and has the initiative. Notably, this version of the Class is allowed to use magical items. There is an option to treat the Barbarian Class as a Race as per Basic Dungeons & Dragons. This version of the Barbarian Class is more constructed than built from the ground up, and with elements such as First-Attack Ferocity is fiddly in places.

The second Class is ‘The HOURI character class’, published in White Dwarf Issue No. 13. The Houri is an alternate magic-using Class whose primary abilities focus is on the seduction of members of the opposite sex and a combination of Charm-related spells and spells whose somatic component involves kissing the target. There is even a seduction mechanic in which Paladins, Rangers, and Monks are very hard to seduce, whereas Barbarians and Half-Orcs and Orcs are relatively easy. Primarily intended to be a female only Class—the option to play a Gigolo rather than a Houri is male is suggested, the description includes new spells, such as Impotence and Ecstasy, and entertaining new magic items like the Manual of Advanced Lovemaking and Lipstick of Irresistibility. Subtle the Houri Class is not and it feels very much out of place in a magazine which had a primarily male readership. The salaciousness of the Class borders on the tasteless if not the offensive—and yet… The Houri Class is not unplayable. It would be unsuitable for most campaigns, especially any focused-on dungeon adventures as much of her magic and certainly her abilities would have little application down there, unless as suggested, she also has Levels in the Thief Class as well. Instead, use the Class in an urban campaign with pulp or noir sensibilities and plenty of roleplaying and it would really work. It would take a mature audience. Ultimately, the Houri is too specialised a Class and as a subject for inclusion in the pages of White Dwarf, best regarded as a misstep.

The barbarian theme is continued with ‘The Barbarian’ a two-player board game designed by Ian Livingstone for White Dwarf Issue No. 15. One player takes the role of Vaarn, a barbarian seeking to restore civilisation and withstand the onslaught of mutated beasts and the undead. He can only do this by locating the magical sword and shield of the Old Fathers. The other player controls the werewolves, wild hill men, wraiths, zombies, goblins, and giants arrayed against him. Vaarn’s player wins by locating both sword and shield and leaving the play area, whilst the creature player wins by killing him. Vaarn must explore six types of terrain to locate the magical items, although there are decoys and cursed items to be found too. It is a serviceable hex and counter, fantasy-themed game, not dissimilar to the highly regarded solo board from Heritage, Barbarian Prince, but simpler and more straightforward. Enjoyable for a playthrough or two.

‘Chronicle Monsters’ is the first of two contributions from designer Lewis Pulsipher. Published in White Dwarf Issue No. 15, this presents the various monsters from Stephen Donaldson’s ‘The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever’ for Dungeons & Dragons. The novels were very popular at the time and these adaptations would have been welcomed by the magazine’s readership. However, the novels have not been fully adapted in their own right and this is likely one of the few times where material from them has received such a treatment. Including such creatures as the Raver, the Ur-Vile, Cavewrights, and Seareach Giants they look to be well done and made all the better by being illustrated by Russ Nicholson.

Andy Slack’s ‘Expanding Universe’ ran for four issues from White Dwarf Issue No. 13 to White Dwarf Issue No. 16. Written for use with Game Designers’ Workshop’s Traveller roleplaying game—and thus the only non-Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying content in The Best of White Dwarf Articles—this greatly expanded upon the core rules with additions for skills, poisons and chemical warfare, ship weaponry, artillery, and explosives, campaign locations, alien life, and robots, and social status and psionics. In many cases, they supplement the often-sparse rules in Traveller—the ‘Classic Little Black Books’ original edition still available today, such as handling skill rolls by Player Characters without a relevant skill and suggesting an Experience and improvement mechanic, something that Traveller lacked. In the main, the articles cover aspects of a far future setting not covered in the rules, such as those for poison gas and other weapons of mass destruction, more detailed missile design, and so on. The rules here are excellent, efficiently expanding and supplementing the core rules of Traveller in useful fashion. Slack has since expressed his unhappiness with the editing and updating of the contents of the four original articles for inclusion in The Best of White Dwarf Articles and in their original format can be found at the Citizens of the Imperium Traveller website.

‘The Fiend Factory’ collates some of the best monsters from the long-running department that appeared in the first fifteen or so issues of the White Dwarf. First appearing in White Dwarf Issue No. 6 and edited by Don Turnbull, the department grew out of an earlier series in the magazine called ‘Monsters Mild and Malign’, also edited by Turnbull. With White Dwarf issue No. 18, Albie Fiore would edit the reader-submitted content of ‘The Fiend Factory’, but the entries in ‘The Fiend Factory’ in The Best of White Dwarf Articles consist of the ten best creatures as voted for by the magazine’s readership. The article includes some classics, many of which would be included in the Fiend Folio, which Don Turnbull would edit for TSR UK Ltd. Here then, are the Hook Horror, created by Ian Livingstone, Cricky Hitchcock’s Svart, the Necrophidius (or Death Worm) by Simon Tilbrook, and of course, the Githyanki, by one C. Stross. Stross, of course, would go on to become a Science Fiction and horror author. These are all fun, entertaining monsters and this ‘The Fiend Factory’ collation is one of the highlights of The Best of White Dwarf Articles.

Lastly, ‘D&D Campaigns’ is Lewis Pulsipher’s second contribution to The Best of White Dwarf Articles. This ran in White Dwarf Issue No. 1, White Dwarf Issue No. 3, White Dwarf Issue No. 4, and White Dwarf Issue No. 5, but not White Dwarf Issue No. 2. In this series, Pulsipher examines what Dungeons & Dragons and how he views it can be best played, particularly as a campaign. For example, in terms of style whether as the players versus the game and its monsters, puzzles, or traps, or as a fantasy novel and thus telling or experiencing a story. It is interesting that he notes that the latter style prevails in California, which would be related and explored in more detail in Jon Peterson’s The Elusive Shift. There is advice on being a fair Referee, be logical in in the design and play of both dungeon and campaign, the dangers of a Player Character being played in more than one campaign world (an odd practice by modern standards), handling the division of treasure according to Alignment (Lawful Player Characters fairly, Chaotic Player Characters on a who grabs it first basis), regulating the learning of spells and the time to do so, and more. Some of the advice has dated because both the rules have since changed—multiple times in fact—and how Dungeons & Dragons is played differently. If many of the specifics are now obsolescent, there is nevertheless, broader advice here that still holds and would be could for the latest version of Dungeons & Dragons. For 1977 and 1978, when Dungeons & Dragons was just four years old and ‘D&D Campaigns’ was serialised, this was all good advice.

However, interspersed between all of this is content from the other long-running department in White Dwarf focusing on reader-submitted content—‘Treasure Trap’. Four themed compilations for ‘The Best Of Treasure Trap’ appear in the pages of The Best of White Dwarf Articles. These are ‘Magic Items’, ‘Potions’, ‘Tricks and Traps’, and ‘Spells’. For example, Roger Coult’s ‘The Swords of Meryn Caradeth’ presents two powerful blades and some flavoursome background to work them into a setting. Drink James Meek’s Potion of Truth and the imbiber must tell the truth; David Bell’s Potion of Ultravisibility and the imbiber shines like a torch, the colour of light depending on his Alignment; and a Dragon Breath Potion by Kathryn George—one of the few female contributors to White Dwarf—and the imbiber gains a one-shot breath weapon that varies according to the dragon’s colour. David Bradbury’s ‘Frozen Food!’ is an old trick of setting up the Player Characters to eat frozen Troll meat and then have it regenerate inside them, whilst Roger Musson’s ‘The Pit and Rope Trick’ sets up several Gelatinous Cubes as traps above and below the Player Characters. These definitely feel ‘Old School’ in their design. Phil Masters’ spell, Sword of Warning, is inspired by the sword of Damocles and can be cast by a Cleric as symbol of divine displeasure, whilst ‘Jebansalf’s Eye of Back-Seeing’ by Daniel Adler is for both Cleric and Magic-User and turns the caster’s Pineal gland into a backwards facing eye, thus preventing attacks from behind or backstab attempts. Whilst some of the traps might not make it into a modern dungeon, the content of all four parts of ‘The Best Of Treasure Trap’ are playable today as they were in the late seventies. If not for Dungeons & Dragons, then certainly for the retroclone of the group’s choice.

There is one last aspect of The Best of White Dwarf Articles which deserves mention and that is the adverts. There is a sense of nostalgia and wonder in examining these adverts from the past, for shops that have long since closed down such as Dungeons & Starships or Forever People and for products long out of print, like the Knights of Camelot board game from TSR, Inc. Ral Patha’s board games—Witch’s Cauldron, Final Frontier, Galactic Grenadiers, and Caverns Deep, and then Metagaming’s The Fantasy Trip.

Physically, The Best of White Dwarf Articles is cleanly, tidily presented. It does need an edit here and there, but what stands out is the amount of art on display. All of the monsters in ‘The Fiend Factory’, many of the traps in ‘The Best Of Treasure Trap’, and so on are illustrated, and it gives the compilation an airy feel. The Conan-esque cover by Steve Brown—complementing the one which would appear on the cover of The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios—is excellent.

The Best of White Dwarf Articles is a bit hit and miss, primarily because what might have been seen as the best content drawn from the first three years of issues of White Dwarf in 1980 do not look like the best today. The Houri Character Class deserves mention as a miss, even in 1980, unnecessarily prurient and unsuitable for much of its readership, and perhaps ‘The Monstermark System’ might be regarded as miss today, but not in 1980 when dissatisfaction with an aspect of the rules could be expressed in the pages of a leading magazine in the industry and an alternative readily suggested. The rest of The Best of White Dwarf Articles consists of hits and that is how it should be for a compilation or ‘Best of…’ volume. The Best of White Dwarf Articles highlights how even though the magazine might not yet have hit its stride—and when that was, is dependent on the reader—there was still a lot to be found within the pages of White Dwarf that was useful, playable content then and surprisingly, now. Consequently, The Best of White Dwarf Articles manages to show how the hobby has, and has not, changed since it was published in 1980. The Best of White Dwarf Articles is a snapshot of the British roleplaying hobby in the seventies, that for the most part, remains still readable and if you want, still useful.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time is a scenario for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, the Dungeons & Dragons-style retroclone inspired by ‘Appendix N’ of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Published by Goodman Games, scenarios for Dungeon Crawl Classics tend be darker, gimmer, and even pulpier than traditional Dungeons & Dragons scenarios, even veering close to the Swords & Sorcery subgenre. One of the signature features of Dungeon Crawl Classics and its post-apocalyptic counterpart, Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, is the ‘Character Funnel’. This is a scenario specifically designed for Zero Level Player Characters in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Level Zero characters and have them play through a generally nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time is designed for a party of six First Level Player Characters and thus is not a Character Funnel. However, it includes notes on how to run it as a Character Funnel, suggestions on how to use it as a campaign starter, and although predating the publication of the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game by five years, the scenario could easily be run as part of a campaign for that post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, with some adaptation, since it veers heavily into the realms of Science Fiction.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time is set in the Forlorn North, home to various barbarian tribes where there stands a mighty and deadly glacier known as Ghost Ice, infamous for the number of tribesmen who have perished on its frigid reaches, ripped apart by the claws and teeth of the ice demons known to live there. The Elders of the tribe have long forbidden exploration of Ghost Ice, declaring it to be taboo, but now Ghost Ice has shattered, leaving two holes in the face of the glacier from which green smoke emanates. The Elders of the tribe have decided to send their best champions to investigate and determine if the breaking of the glacier means that the ice demons have gone. The set-up is simple—a group of humble tribesmen, a nearby mystery or taboo to be revealed or examined due to a circumstantial change or cataclysm, and the need for it to be investigated for the safety of the tribe. It is a formula which has been well tread in previous releases for both the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, which means that the scenario needs to be inventive and interesting to make it other than formulaic.
This however is only the default set-up and the scenario suggests several others. One is still as standard Player Characters approached by barbarian envoys wanting ‘great champions of the southlands’ who could explore and investigate the Ghost Ice glacier when taboo prevents them from doing so. Another is to use the scenario as the start of a campaign with the Player Characters all members of a primitive tribe who know the legends of the Ghost Ice. This can still be with First Level Player Characters or it can be with Zero Level Player Characters who sent out to investigate the Ghost Ice as part of their ‘Rites of Passage’. The latter would thus mean running the scenario as a ‘Character Funnel’. Appendix A of the scenario includes a ‘Primitive Occupations Table’ to determine the starting occupations of such Zero Level tribesmen. All together, this gives Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time a pleasing degree of flexibility when it comes to running the scenario.

It should be noted that later printings of Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time go further than this by including a guide to the Forlorn North. This is a mini-campaign setting which provides a history and gazetteer of the region as well as several scenario hooks. The history of the scenario ties in with Dungeon Crawl Classics 2013 Holiday Module: The Old God’s Return, but otherwise this provides the Judge with the basis upon which to develop further adventures in the Forlorn North once the Player Characters have finished playing through Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time.
Once the Player Characters have ascended Ghost Ice and find their way through the tunnels, they discover a strange complex of objects covered in blinking lights, objects and creatures held perfectly immobile in stasis, pools of ice and slush, and empty columns which connect areas with no obvious explanation for how they work. The dichotomy at the heart of the scenario is that the players will quickly realise what their Player Characters are exploring, but their Player Characters will not. This is because they will recognise many of the features of the ‘dungeon’ as machinery and devices, the ‘dungeon’ itself as some kind of technological habitat, and many of the items being held in stasis, including a tyrannosaurus rex, the Mona Lisa, and more. In fact, the Judge is encouraged to add his own preferred artefacts and pieces of artwork here as well. There is also a lone human held here as well. He could easily be a replacement Player Character, but who is not say that this could be Jimmy Hoffa, Elvis Presley, or anyone interesting that the Judge chooses. There is also an amusing encounter with a very Robby the Robot-like robot much like that of Lost in Space—as depicted on the cover of the scenario.

The location is in fact, ‘The Vault of Zepes Null-Eleven’. This the secret hideout and last resting place of a time traveller from the far future who rode the timestream looting art and artefacts for both himself and to order. The vault is where kept everything far from the prying eyes of his fellow, but more law-abiding time travellers. What this sets up is an obvious nod to S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, but the scenario feels like Gamma World too. Either way the scenario embraces Arthur C. Clarke’s Third law that ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’

The play of Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time primarily focuses on exploration of Zepes Null-Eleven’s complex, the Player Characters prodding and poking at buttons and not always getting a very interesting response. The scenario involves relatively little combat, although it has its moments. The scenario does end on an exciting, action driven climax though. Where the scenario is weakest is roleplaying as there are few opportunities for it written into the scenario. The scenario also misses opportunities for further adventure, primarily because it is limited by length. The scenario includes a time machine and artefacts and persons from across time and space, including a Mark III blaster rifle from the Android Wars, a katana dating from the Eternal Shogunate of the Lich, and more. The question is, how exactly are the Player Characters expected to find these details out? There are some cases where the Wizard in the party can cast Comprehend Languages, but that does not apply to every situation and will definitely not if the scenario is being run as a ‘Character Funnel’. Other than that, they remain amusing little Easter Eggs for the Judge’s eyes only.
There is an opportunity to use the time machine in the scenario, but really only to trap a Player Character or two in the primordial past. Besides wanting to keep time travel out of the hands of the players and their characters, this misses opportunities in not allowing the Player Characters to visit these epochs mentioned in the artefact descriptions and adventure there, if only temporarily. Or indeed to have the colleagues of Zepes Null-Eleven turn up and deal with the mess he left behind as well as interact with the Player Characters. Another issue is that whatever the Player Characters do and do not do, the complex explodes, which undercuts their agency and makes the scenario rather linear.
Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time is well presented. The artwork is excellent and the scenario is clearly written and easy to understand. The maps are as decent as you would expect.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time was the first Science Fiction crossover scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. It can be played through in a single session or two, in the main because it is exploration rather than combat or roleplaying driven. As written, it is a fun adventure, with lots of detail, but as much as the scenario is written to present a Science Fiction experience for a fantasy roleplaying scenario, it also wants to reign those elements in, to never let the players and their characters explore them fully despite their throwaway mention in the text. Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time is a fun if linear Science Fiction scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, which is never fully allowed to play with all of its ideas. If it had, it could have been an even more fun and fantastic adventure for ‘Appendix N’ style gaming.

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, for fanzines of some roleplaying games, it is necessary to look to the past.

Polaris Issue 1 was published in the summer of 1987. As the cover states, it is “For Players Of The ‘Call Of Cthulhu’ FRPG’, it is a British fanzine—actually published less than two miles from where I write this review in Birmingham, which came out towards the end of the British fanzine boom of the period and at a time when the highly regarded Dagon fanzine from Carl Ford was going strong. The concerns of the thirty-six-page volume will be familiar to the Keepers of today, and certainly will be familiar to veteran players and Keepers of Call of Cthulhu. Thus, it contains articles about how to create and maintain an atmosphere of fear around the table, examinations of particular Occupations and Mythos tomes, a description of an occult tradition and its parallels with the Cthulhu Mythos. It also contains two scenarios and so edited by Simon Prest, the issue contains quite a lot of content that is both playable and applicable today.

Written for use for Call of Cthulhu, Third Edition and named after H.P. Lovecraft’s short story of the same name, Polaris Issue 1  opens with a very English concern. This is Green and Pleasant Land: The British 1920s-30s Cthulhu Source Pack, Games Workshop’s seminal sourcebook for the United Kingdom. First, in ‘The Lamp of Alhazred’, Andy Smith reviews the book to positive effect, although he does not think much of either Brian Lumley’s short story, ‘The Running Man’ or the scenario which precedes it, ‘Shadows over Darkbank’. Both are notable low points in the supplement, which otherwise still stands up as a very playable affair. ‘Down To Earth With A Bump’ by Peter F. Jeffery is a set of optional rules for handling aircraft damage, whether from another attacking aeroplane or a flying Mythos creature, such as a Byakhee. Originally submitted as an accompaniment to the aviation article in Green and Pleasant Land, the rules were ultimately rejected and printed in the pages of Polaris. They handle the effects of damage as a series of escalating saving throws, with the amount of damage determining the percentile target which if rolled under has the undesired effect. The base roll is to see if the aeroplane crashes, makes a crash landing, a forced landing, or suffers structural damage, the percentile target more or less doubling each time. Supported by several examples, this is both simple and complex at the same time, with lots of dice rolls which would slow down play at the table and it is clear to see why they might not have been accepted for inclusion in Green and Pleasant Land.

Andy Bennison’s ‘The Heat on the Streets’ is the first of the two scenarios in Polaris Issue 1 . It casts the Investigators as private detectives thrown into a classic Film Noir-like case involving a mysterious femme fatale, a missing man, gangsters, Prohibition, and a grumpy police detective. Not only does the police detective not like the Investigators, but he is also not far off retirement, and these are just the most obvious of the scenario’s clichés. Angelica Peach wants her brother, Jonathan, found as their mother is terribly sick. Given some names to contact, the investigation leads to the door The Dragon Club, a restaurant owned by local gangster, Valentino D’Al, and the first of many shootouts in the scenario. The author admits the scenario is linear and it is also heavily plotted. It leans more into the Pulp style of play and is suitable for a group who prefers a more action orientated type of mystery. The Keeper will also need to provide more a few sets of stats for the various NPCs and there are a few areas where she will also need to add names and personalities to various NPCs. It is also never explained who the femme fatale is, but her presence does lead to some nice moments of horror in the scenario.

Under the Keeper’s Lore department, Dave Hallett makes the point that ‘Fear Is The Key’. This looks at ways in which fear can be invoked in Call of Cthulhu and maintained. His advice is to ground the game in the mundane, the engage and keep the attention of the players, involve all of the senses, and so on, before moving on to undermine the Investigators’ sense of reality, and using tools such as false alarms and ambiguity. It is a well-worn path, seen in subsequent articles over and over, but good advice, nonetheless. ‘The Dark Brotherhood’ by Simon Prest is not a regular feature about cults as the title might allude to, but rather a look at Occupations, that, what the Investigator did before he began investigating the unknown and tries to do whilst suffering its travails. Here the Occupation is the Author, with suggestions as to what the author might be writing about, what publications he writes for, and so on. Overall, it provides some useful questions for the player to think about when creating his Investigator.

The subject of ‘Illuminating Manuscripts’ is another perennial favourite of Call of Cthulhu—Mythos tomes, showing even back in 1987, the roleplaying game did not provide much in the way of information about for the Keeper. The particular tome covered by Adrian Jones here is The G’harne Manuscripts, taken from Brain Lumley’s The Burrowers Beneath. The article examines its history and its content, referencing the various works by Lumley where the book has appeared. It is a decent examination of the book with plenty of detail that the Keeper can include should her Investigators want to find and study a copy. Even in 2023, it shows how the Mythos tome is an important part of the game, but there is no definite treatment of them for the roleplaying game. They very much deserve their own supplement. The article adds the spell, Call Shudde-M’ell, and provides guidelines for handling the Chthonian susceptibility to water.

‘The Secret Doctrine’ by Michael S. Carter is an article about Kabbalism, the Jewish esoteric mysticism which for Call of Cthulhu, played a significant role in the scenario The City Without a Name from Curse of the Chthonians. Explored in more detail elsewhere for Call of Cthulhu, the article does not delve too deeply into its subject before making an odd swerve into discussing the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its dissolution and then back again to link Kabbalism to the Mythos by drawing parallels between the former’s Tree of Life and its circles and Yog-Sothoth of the latter. This includes the travel required by separating spirit from body and journeying onwards to make contact with god. The article avoids the subject of numerology and is thus short, direct, and to the point.

It is also the inspiration for the second scenario in Polaris Issue 1 . ‘The Acolyte Of The Ultimate Gate’ by Simon Prest is set in London, but feels a little like ‘The Vanishing Conjurer’ from The Vanishing Conjurer & The Statue of the Sorcerer and ‘The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight’ from Shadows of Yog-Sothoth: A Global Campaign to Save Mankind with a secret cult operating in the city about the enact a terrible ritual. The scenario opens with the Investigators staying at a friend’s house for Christmas, when one of the guests collapses to the floor, and before he dies, thrusts a letter into an investigator’s hand and utters a warning. What dread occurrence is he warning about and what was it that was keeping him working even as the other guests enjoyed the celebrations? The Investigators must overcome doctor-patient privilege to get to the nub of the situation and identify the threat, before finding a way to deal with it. Of the two scenarios in the fanzine, this needs less effort upon the part of the Keeper, the Investigators have greater freedom to explore the situation, and the tone is far more restrained and mannerly. It is thus the better of the two and much easier to add to a  United Kingdom campaign set during the eighteen nineties, nineteen twenties, or nineteen thirties.

Elsewhere in the fanzine, there is a decent piece of poetry from J. Pentalow, The Beast of Yaem’, and as with all fanzines, the adverts capture the feel of hobby at the time of their publication. As the first issue, there is very little in the way of adverts or classified adverts in Polaris Issue 1 , but there is a little dig by author Paul Mason at Games Fair for his own convention, Koancon, which points to the attitudes of the hobby at the time.

Physically, Polaris Issue 1  feels slightly rough and is slightly difficult to read in its choice of typewriter typeface, but this is really only at the beginning of readily available desktop publishing software. Yet, much of the artwork is quite reasonable and the layout is tidy.

It is disappointing that it only ran to the one issue because Polaris Issue 1 is a surprisingly good first issue. There is much that will be familiar to veterans of the Call of Cthulhu, and the various articles would have definitely useful at the time of its publication, if not today. That said, both scenarios could be run today if the Keeper wanted, and likewise, the Keeper could definitely draw inspiration from one or two of the other articles. Overall, Polaris Issue 1 is impressively solid and any Keeper would have been glad to have had this in 1987.

—oOo—
An unboxing of Polaris issue 1 can be found here.

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, seen in titles such as Crawl! One notable feature of the range of fanzines for Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game is that they often support and showcase the settings and campaigns created by their authors. Crawl Under a Broken Moon, for example, details a post-apocalyptic setting which would be collated in the pages of the Goodman Games distributed The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, whilst Ghostlike Crime #01, One of Us, Ninja City, and Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1 all explored familiar genres of their own for the mechanics of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

Similarly, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules supports a very familiar genre, one that has much in common with Ninja City. One of the cultural hits of the eighties was the indie comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and then for roleplaying, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness roleplaying game, published by Palladium Books. Bronx Beasts provides the rules to create and play bizarre mutant animal characters in wild eighties urban action, much in the mode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but written of course, for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. In fact, not so much in the mode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, but exactly like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness. Republished via a Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #3 by Bronx Beasts, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules provides the rules to create anthropomorphic animals and mutate and modify them, and then the rules for playing them.

Character creation in Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules is built around a series of tables. Beast Origin is random mutation or deliberate experimentation. Determined randomly, if the former, the player rolls on the Random Mutation Experience Table’, but if the latter, he rolls on the ‘Deliberate Experimentation Origin Table’. The results for this are further tables for ‘Biological Research Origin Experience’, ‘Military Origin Experience’, ‘Criminal Origin Experience’, or ‘Special Interest Origin Experience’. None of these add stat bonuses or other benefits, instead simply creating elements of the Player Character’s background. The ‘Beast Type’ table provides a hundred entries, from aardvark, alligator, and ape to wolf, wolverine, and zebra. None are described, so the player will need to do some further reading, but in the main, these animals are all familiar and easy to read up about. ‘Beast Size’ does modify the character, adjusting Armour Class, Strength and melee check die, Hide and Sneak die, Hit Dice, Movement, and weight. Bigger creatures will have lower Armour Class and Hide and Sneak die, but everything else will be higher.

The player is then free to adjust the ‘Beast Form’ of his animal character, shifting his speech, legs, hands, and looks to be more human-like or more animal-like. Either full, partial, or none, these are randomly determined and adjusted by expending Evolution Points. These can also be spent to change a Beast’s size, for example, to play a larger mouse or smaller elephant, add abilities such as a prehensile tail, natural weapons or natural armour, and better movement. These are not hard and fast rules, so instead the player and Judge will need to work together to create Beast-type character that fits the style and setting of the genre. Otherwise, character creation follows the standard rules for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, although Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules does have its own ‘Lucky Signs’ table.

Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules does not provide any new Classes. In fact, a Beast has no Class, and instead, a player can choose between increasing his character’s Base Attack Modifier or Saving Throws Level by Level. In terms of game play, Beasts are Lucky. They always have a bonus on the Lucky Sign and they both benefit and suffer from Fleeting Luck. One way of gaining Fleeting Luck is for the Beast to give into his animalistic urges, typically in socially or intellectually challenging situations. If the player declines the offer of Fleeting Luck in return for his Beast succumbing to his urges, a Beast Check against Personality or Intelligence is required to overcome them. A Player can also do ‘Fur Burn’ or temporarily burn points of Personality or Intelligence to gain a modifier to die rolls. The last big change is to the rules for Armour Class, which is based on Reflex, Beast Size, and any shield carried. Armour is represented by a die and is instead rolled to soak damage. The armour worn is damaged and steps down a die size any time a one is rolled on the Armour Die. The rules for armour use are similar to those for The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, but not as developed.

Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules ends with an announcement of what is in the next issue. This includes an adventure against a criminal ninja gang and ‘Natural Weapon Crit Tables’ amongst other things. It would have been useful to have had the latter in the pages of Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules to make it more versatile.

Physically, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules is well presented. The artwork has a certain rough quality, but is as cartoonish as you would expect.

As standalone product Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules can be played as is, but it feels incomplete. Certainly, the ‘Natural Weapon Crit Tables’ would have rounded it out. However, plug the pages of Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules into another setting or genre and the content comes alive. Take it into the post apocalypse of The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide for possible mutant action or throw it down alongside Ninja City for some real new York eighties action, and Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules feels right at home.

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Not every fanzine is written with the Old School Renaissance in mind, with more recent fanzines being inspired by roleplaying games that, if not part of the Old School Renaissance, are often adjacent to it. One such roleplaying game is CY_BORG, a cyberpunk purgatory that is modelled upon Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance retroclone designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing.

CY_OPS Issue.One has the distinction of being the first issue of the first fanzine for CY_BORG. Published by LETTUCE following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it also has the distinction of being one of the smallest fanzines, being only A6 in size. Then, at least in its physical format, it has the distinction of coming with its own cloth patches and its sticker, which is designed to be used to fill in the picture of the empty vest (or possibly body armour) found in ‘PATCHES!’ on pages fifty-seven and fifty-eight of the fanzine and then submitted to the editor to not win a prize. Which one of the three distinctions is actually important, if any of them are, is up to the reader to decide. What is important is that CY_OPS Issue.One provides a lot of support and content for CY_BORG and CY_BORG being a Cyberpunk roleplaying game, a lot of that support is technical in nature. Essentially guns and gear. There is more than that in the pages of the fanzine, but nevertheless, a great deal of it consists of guns and gear. Surprisingly, given that its genre is Cyberpunk and it contains a lot of guns and gear, there are no stats in CY_OPS Issue.One. This lack of stats is also intentional. CY_OPS Issue.One is designed to be player facing, meaning that it can be read by both the player and his character and is thus an in-world artefact in its own right. And doing something as low grade as a physical print fanzine would be both punk and low fi, even anti-corporate if you will.

However, the player-facing nature and the lack of stats in CY_OPS Issue.One raises issues of their own. The lack of stats means that the fanzine is all front and no backend. There is nothing for the Game Master to use readily and easily. So the Game Master will need to supply them. Fortunately, the mechanical simplicity of CY_BORG means that this is relatively simple. The downside to the fact that CY_OPS Issue.One is player-facing means that the fanzine is not necessarily a sourcebook for the roleplaying game that the Game Master can simply take something from and add to her game, ready for her players and their characters to encounter and interact with. Instead much of the fanzine works as a series of prompts that the players can choose from and have their characters go and do something with, whether that is undertake a job, make a purchase, or visit. Which the Game Master will respond to, meaning that CY_OPS Issue.One is an improvisation tool as much as it is a fanzine.

Yet the first article in the fanzine very cleverly helps the Game Master out no matter whether she has a copy in print or PDF. The ‘Classified’ section provides a set of adverts that suggest jobs the Player Characters can get involved in. On one level, the Game Master could go away and create her own, but each classified advert is linked to a published adventure, by a QR code in the printed fanzine and a hyperlink in the PDF. For example, “Alert. Reward available for any information on missing C.A.U Board members. Rogue crazed experiment on the loose. Ignore its lies.” links to the scenario, Cybergorgon. This is clever and subtle and nicely done, serving not only as a series of in-game adverts, but adverts for other authors’ adventures.

Only the first article in the fanzine makes use of this device. Elsewhere, ‘BREAKING INTO A CREDITS TELLER MACHINE’ is a guide to robbing every cash dispenser in the city and ensuring the Player Characters have a ready supply of petty cash until some corpo notices and puts in a fix, whilst ‘Know Your Enemy – Rehabilitation Frame’ describes a ghastly piece of ‘police brutality technology’, a prisoner mounted in a remote controlled drone forced to conduct pacification duties and who cannot be freed without setting off the tamper sensors and crushing the captive. Gear comes in a range of forms. The first is in ‘AD BY UNINF3CT3D_R4P3RD0C_666’, who is selling anti-nanite devices, such as the ‘TL.5HAd3s.rcd’ eye mod which visualises nanoswarms and ‘SCREECH_E-Z’ which encrypts your audio and text outputs against nanite detection. There are services too, the best of which is ‘BOTS.4.HIRE’, which offers bots for hire, the payment being a portion of any job undertaken, though a deposit is required if there is the possibility of the bot being damaged. Several sample bots are detailed and nicely illustrated. ‘Bounties’ provide a wide range of targets for the Player Characters to take down, for example, ‘DOLLY _XD’, a pleasure cydroid gone rogue, whilst ‘NuRelics’ describes items and things which the Player Characters could find, retrieve, or steal, such as ‘0x2020’, a master timepiece whose hands stopped at the moment of thermonuclear impact. Doubtless, there are collectors willing to pay to have them. ‘Tech Request’ gets inventively weird with its devices and weapons. For example, the ‘Head_Cannon’, unnervingly, really does shoot heads at targets, whilst the massive ‘Dreihander’ is a sword so big it has to be supported by a mechanical arm all of its own grafted onto the wielder!

Longer pieces such as ‘[Dispatch from an Abandoned Terminal]’ suggest a hacker at work, using a combination of social hacking and subtle hacking to free the bonds of A.I.; ‘Cold Storage Club’ a venue to frequent and an event, a battle of the bands to get involved in—whether as participants, support, or protection; and ‘Rumours About STNGR’ takes the reader into the underground world of street races to talk about “The Queen of the Streets”, known for her electronic eye-scrambling vehicle and her rumoured generosity as well as her determination to win every race. Their length means they are not quite as easy to bring into play. Lastly, ‘Cydonia Hanging Gardens’ describes a hanging footbridge which has been taken over and turned into a venue of sorts, which seems to be a mycobotanist’s dream gone wild, a sterilised, air gapped bar where lichen and other plant life is allowed to grow unfettered and free of the contaminants rife in the rest of the city. The question is, is it just a bar or is there something going on there? And just what are the staff growing and why?

Physically, CY_OPS Issue.One is presented in the Doom Punk style of both CY_BORG and Mörk Borg, though leaning more heavily into the punk style of the former. Consequently, it has a very busy, frazzled and fractured style, though it is not quite as artful as the core rulebook and is thus easier to read.

Ultimately, the contents of CY_OPS Issue.One do need a bit of effort upon the part of the Game Master to bring into play. Some, like the ‘Classified’ section and their linked scenarios are much easier to use than others, but there still is a wide range of content to pick and choose from. This though, is all for the players and their characters to pick and choose from, and for the group wanting more player facing, player driven play, CY_OPS Issue.One is a solid option.