On the tail of 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 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, such as Crawl! and Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Some of these fanzines provide fantasy support for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but others explore other genres for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. One such fanzine is the aforementioned Crawling Under A Broken Moon.

Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 6 was published in in December, 2014 by Shield of Faith Studios. It continued the detailing of post-apocalyptic setting of Umerica and Urth which had begun in Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 1, and would be continued in Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 2, which added further Classes, monsters, and weapons, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 3, which provided the means to create Player Characters and gave them a Character Funnel to play, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 4, which detailed several Patrons for the setting, and Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5, which explored one of the inspirations for the setting and fanzine, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The setting has, of course, gone on to be presented in more detail in The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, now distributed by Goodman Games. The setting itself is a world brought about after a rogue object from deep space passed between the Earth and the Moon and ripped apart time and space, leaving behind a planet which would recover and it inhabitants ruled by savagery, cruel sorcery, and twisted science.

If Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 drew heavily from one of the inspirations for the setting and fanzine, then Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 6 draws just as heavily, if not more so, from another. This is the Mad Max series of post-apocalyptic films, which popularised the notions of vehicular combat between radically customised vehicles across the post-apocalyptic landscape. It begins by introducing a new Character Class, ‘The Petrol Head’, a car-crazy scrapper with a supernatural bond with his vehicle. Tending towards the Chaotic Alignment, the Petrol Head has an Ace Die that can be used when rolling for vehicle control or stunt rolls, vehicle appraisals and repairs, and collision damage inflicted on other vehicles. The Class also has a Mojo Die, rolled whenever Luck is expended to determine how many points are available and recovers spent Luck by spending time behind the wheel of his vehicle. The ‘Fuel Hound’ ability means that he can sniff out nearby sources of fuel and he begins play with a buggy or small car, but can of course, steal, salvage, or even build bigger. The Class is simple and easily slots into the rules provided for vehicles and vehicular combat presented in the rest of the issue.
The rest of the rules continue with ‘Mayhem Behind the Wheel’ which details the basic effects of speed. The latter is given a level between one and ten, equating between ten and one-hundred-and-fifty miles an hour, giving each level a Handling Modifier for vehicle control rolls, a Wipeout Die rolled when a vehicle control roll is failed, and a Ram/Collision Damage Bonus, as well as a rough figure for movement, both per hour and Round. A vehicle control roll is made for various actions and manoeuvres, such as making a sharp turn, a bootlegger turn, drifting, avoiding hazards, and jumping gaps of various sizes, which can be modified by driving at night, with flat tires, accelerating too fast, and so on. If the vehicle control roll is failed, a roll has be made on the ‘Wipeout Result’ table. This can result in a skid or spin, minor, full, or multiple rolls, and worse! ‘Vehicular Manslaughter’ presents the rules for vehicle-to-vehicle combat, which are kept relatively abstract to prevent play from bogging down in technical details. Thus, range is kept to three bands—‘Close & Personal’, ‘On your Tail’, and ‘In the Distance’, with the latter equating to a variable number of steps between two vehicles. The lead vehicle sets the basic speed of the chase, and then anyone behind decides their own speed, typically to gain enough steps to get within ‘On Your Tail’ and ‘Close & Personal’ ranges. Vehicles that fall twelve or more steps behind loose the chase, but those with ‘On Your Tail’ and ‘Close & Personal’ ranges can make attacks. Drivers and passengers can make ranged attacks against another vehicle and its driver and passengers. This can be with personal weapons or it can be with flamethrowers, grapples and tow hooks, chemical weapons, flamethrowers, and more. It can also include magic! Plus, of course, one vehicle can ram another.
‘Popping the Hood’ covers what happens when car combat is over and a vehicle has come to a stop, and everyone aboard needs assess the damage and how much work is needed to repair it. This is determined by a rolled on the ‘Wreck Damage’ table with a modifier for the amount of damage suffered. ‘Fuel Consumption’ highlights fuel as an important commodity and a factor that a Petrol head will need to keep track of during play. Every vehicle has a Fuel Tank and a Guzzle rating, the latter a penalty to Fuel Use rolls. A Fuel Use roll is made after each hour or travel and after a battle, with modifiers for speed, time, weight, damage, and more.
‘What’s Under the Hood?’ lists numerous vehicles according to Type, Quality, and Traits. Type includes motorcycles, buggies, cars, vans, pickup trucks, and trucks of all sizes, all with their own stats and Traits. The stats look very similar to that for an NPC or monster, although with additions for Fuel Tank and Guzzle ratings, plus various Traits. For example, a Pickup Truck looks like this:Pickup Truck: Init +1; Atk rundown +5 melee (2d8+Ram); AC 16; HD d12;
Speed Level cruise 3/ max 5; Act 1d20; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will NA; Fuel Tank
1d10; Guzzle 4.
Basic Traits: Extra Cargo ×2, Rugged, HaulerTo the basic stats can be added a Quality Level—‘Beater’, ‘Keeper’, or ‘Custom’—and various Traits. A ‘Beater’ Quality Level vehicle just runs, most of the time, a ‘Keeper’ vehicle is relatively reliable, and a ‘Custom’ vehicle is a prized artefact of a bygone age. Each Quality Level modifies the basic stats for a vehicle, starting with its Hit Dice and Wreck Check, and then more and more as the Quality Level improves. The list of Vehicle Traits is extensive. It includes ‘Armoured’, ‘Dangerous’, ‘Fuel Efficient’, ‘Off Road’, ‘Open’, ‘Weapon Mount’, and a lot more. This being a Dungeon Crawl Classics setting, it even includes the ‘Possessed’ Trait, which means that the vehicle is powered by a trapped elemental or minor demon. This provides extra bonuses, but changes the fuel needed from petrol or alcohol to something like raw meat or sweets!
The issue changes tack slightly with ‘The Random Road Gang Generator’, a guide to creating gang threats and NPCs to be encountered in the wastelands. The options determine the appearance of the gang, the weapons it is armed with, what vehicles it has, and its motives, as what special features it might have. The latter can include anything from trained beasts to combat drugs. The trained beasts range from pterodactyls and giant ant workers to pigtipedes and ape-men. There are numerous options here that the Judge can randomly determine, or simply pick from. Also listed here are the setting’s vehicular weapons, oddly out of place. Otherwise, this a really good set of tables and entries, allowing for a lot of variation and individualisation between one road gang and another.
Penultimately, ‘d100 Stuff Found on Apocalyptic Roadways’ is not just a table of random stuff to find, but also a table of encounters too. It is pleasingly useful. Lastly, the entry for the ‘Twisted Menagerie’ is the ‘Petrol Zombie’. Written by R. Dale Bailey, Jr, this is not a new monster, though it is new to Dungeon Crawl Classics. The Petrol Zombie is a mutated undead which stores petrol in its guts, which can then spew in an attack that can cause Petrol Sickness. This can cause cancerous boils that erupt and turn the defender into another Petrol Zombie, or at the very least, difficulty breathing, confusion, and vision loss! This is a nasty monster, but at least if unpunctured, its stomach can be pumped to collect the petrol.
Physically, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 6 is serviceably presented. It is a little rough around the edges, as is some of the artwork, but overall, it is another decent affair. Of course, the problem with Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 6 is that much of its contents have been represented to a more professional standard in the pages of The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, so it has been superseded and superseded by a cleaner, slicker presentation of the material.
Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 was a good issue, full of lots of tongue in cheek post-apocalypse Swords & Sorcery fun, and whilst it may not be Swords & Sorcery, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 6 continues that fun. It handily adapts its source material and makes vehicles, vehicular combat, and vehicular mayhem very playable using Dungeon Crawl Classics. The familiarity of the source material also means that this is the most accessible of the issues of the fanzine to date.

 I have a lot of characters. Often times, the difference between a PC and an NPC is only "Am I running this game."

One of my favorite NPCs is my unquestionably evil necromancer / warlock Magnus. 

I have had this guy for a few decades now really. He began as a Death Master from Dragon Magazine #76, expanded on him a bit more when Quagmire came out, and he got a big boost in college when he became my big bad for my "Atlantean" campaign. 

I created my Death Pact Warlock to make sure I could use him in my Basic-era games, too. 

One thing I've never done is play Magnus as a PC. However, I'm now experimenting by using the Dread Lord mod for Warlocks in Baldur's Gate 3. He's currently a 2nd level warlock, but I plan to give him some levels in Wizard (Necromancer). I'm playing him as a 'Dark Urge', which is a change from my usual preference for good characters fighting evil. 

Maybe I'll even hire some NPCs and mod them to be Runu and Urnu. I have a witch mod (naturally) for BG3, so that actually might be fun. I'll have to see if I can manage that.

I'll have to keep you all posted. 

--

I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

 Letter detailing the delivery of Dracula's boxes of Earth.

Letter, Messrs. Carter, Paterson & Co., London, to Messrs. Billington & Son, Whitby.

“21 August.

“Dear Sirs,—

“We beg to acknowledge £10 received and to return cheque £1 17s. 9d, amount of overplus, as shown in receipted account herewith. Goods are delivered in exact accordance with instructions, and keys left in parcel in main hall, as directed.

“We are, dear Sirs,
“Yours respectfully.
“Pro Carter, Paterson & Co.”

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

The biggest question here is, how do we know about this letter? All correspondences are assumed to have been collected by Mina and organized.  But how did she obtain these letters?

Were they discovered by our hunters when they went and searched for clues? I mean I am sure Holmwood could demand to see them, he was a Lord afterall.

In any case they got them and it helped to track down the boxes.

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

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

—oOo—
Name: The Missing FossilPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ashiki

Setting: Uvs Nuur, the Mongolian People’s Republic, 1925Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-four page, 32.05 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The Mongolia that time forgotPlot Hook: The chance to outdo Roy Chapman Andrews and make the find of the centuryPlot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, three maps, and three Mythos monsters.Production Values: Adequate
Pros# Rare scenario translated from the Japanese# Not a hunt for the Mongolian Death Worm# Decent pre-generated Investigators# Eremophobia# Scoleciphobia# Batrachophobia
Cons# Needs a good edit# No investigation, no paleontology # Long, messy set-up time# Panama Canal

Conclusion# Needs a better developed set-up or it should cut to the chase—which is what it becomes# A scenario to do up rather than run from the page# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

—oOo—
The Arzium Quickstart Guide is the introduction to the Arzium Roleplaying Game. It is not, though, an introduction to the World of Arzium. That would be the series of board games designed by Ryan Laudkat and published by Red Raven games, including Above and Below, Near and Far, and others. It presents a fantasy world filled with mysteries, magic, and forgotten technology, above and below ground. The Arzium Quickstart Guide is a slim affair, providing a very basic overview of the setting, an explanation of the mechanics, a short adventure, and four pre-generated Player Characters. Arzium is described as a world of strange mechanics and strange magics, some of it scavenged from fallen civilisations, some of its developed by the newly arisen city-states, industrialised with devices powered by bottled demons and rare crystals. The world is also a diverse one, being home to Humans, Hogfolk, Fishfolk, Lizardfolk, Birdforl, and other species, including Robots! Not every region is a hive of magical and industrial development. Out in the Surstrayne Forest stands the village of Above, and underneath it is the village of Below, established to easily mine and harvest the resources to be found in the nearby surrounding underworld. It is here that, ‘Empty Cave Town’, the adventure in the Arzium Quickstart Guide is set.

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

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

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

Other rules for the Arzium Quickstart Guide and the Arzium Roleplaying Game can be found on the character sheet. For example, it uses an inventory system of boxes for gear and offers Memory Knots as a means to maximise a die roll. This requires the player to explain why a particular memory will help his character in the current situation. The Arzium Quickstart Guide includes four pre-generated Player Characters. They include an Ancient Robot Soldier, a Toadfolk Cook with a grasping tongue, a Human Machinist equipped with a firework rocket and a piercing rifle, and a Human Mystic.

The scenario in the Arzium Quickstart Guide is ‘Empty Cave Town’. The citizens of Above have established a second settlement in the underworld called Below next a lake of crystal-eyed fish and emerald waterfalls. Unfortunately, all townsfolk of Below have disappeared and the town is inexplicably empty. A note left by the Mayor of Below points to the nearby Chamber of Screaming Walls. There are a couple of encounters on the way there, but once at the Chamber of Screaming Walls, the Player Characters find the missing townsfolk, held silent. The Player Characters will need to fight their captor to save them.

‘Empty Cave Town’ is short. Playable in an hour—or two at the most. Yet, the whole of the Arzium Quickstart Guide is short. Consequently, it feels underwritten and slightly underexplained, particularly when it comes to NPCs and combat, but the mechanics are simple enough that they can be understood. The scenario though is underwhelming and does not give the players and characters much to do beyond face a series of combat challenges. It would have been nice if the suggested connections between the Player Characters and the town of Below—that one of them wants to be mayor, one of them has bought the town’s tavern and does not want to lose any customers, that one of them is owed money by one of the missing townsfolk, and more, could not have been made more of and written into the scenario instead of leaving the Game Master to do it.

Physically, the Arzium Quickstart Guide is decently put together. The cartography and artwork are good, and it is all clean and tidy. Yet as nice as it looks, the Arzium Quickstart Guide does not successfully bring the world of Arzium to life and make it a setting that you want to visit in play. There is not enough of the setting and the scenario is cursory and short and not enough to really sell the reader on the Arzium Quickstart Guide. At first sight, the Arzium Quickstart Guide appeared to be one of the most interesting things about Free RPG Day. Instead, it is the most disappointing.

It is two centuries since Survival Day, the day that marked the end of the war against the Builder. Many sacrificed themselves to deliver the EMP devices and nuclear bombs that free humanity from the influence of the A.I. and cause its mecha that had so terrorised mankind to fall asleep. The war with the Builder was not the first apocalyptic event that had been faced by mankind on the world of Evera Prime. Centuries before, the Gateway that enabled relatively fast travel between the Earth and Evera Prime, isolating the attractive and highly colonised world from outside contact and forcing its population to adapt and survive on its own. Although it came close to world war, the people of Evera Prime survived and adapted, instituting Project Builder, a programme to develop resource and power control that was so successful that it would usher in a golden age of post-scarcity and rapid scientific advancement. The people of Evera Prime survived and then thrived, hoping one day that a way would be found to make contact with the Earth again. Then the Builder and its connected systems began to glitch. It stopped anticipating the needs of the people of Evera Prime, and worse, when scientist tried to fix the problem, it turned on them, unleashing its Mech servants and its armoury in a conflagration in which cities would be destroyed, the landscape pockmarked with craters, populations atomised, and Una Avenito, the larger of the planet’s two continents, left a wasteland. Most survivors live today on the other continent, Nedresita.
Yet in the two centuries since the Builder War, just as their ancestors did, the survivors also learned to adapt and survive before going on to establish, protect, and develop communities. Many are formed from particular factions, but no faction on Evera Prime stands against another and nor is there division based on faith or other difference. Everans are the most widespread, forming the basis for many communities, whilst Archivists both protect and seek out knowledge of the old world, Spears protect communities and peoples wielding their signature Electrospears each with a lineage inherited from their previous users, Dreamers prefer to avoid the old technology if they can, and Rivers travel up and down the remaining waterways of Evera Prime providing trade and transport. Yet all fear the possibility that the Wakers, the mechs built to serve the Builder that are littering the landscape and have been silent and immobile since the Builder War will awaken to fulfil their last deadly order and the possibility of the Thralls, humans wrapped in loops of wire and marked with ash and paint, boiling up out of the ground to aggressively raid and steal food and technology from the communities. This is the setting for Dreams and Machines, a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game in which the tone is positive and optimistic, emphasising the strength of community and wanting to build a better future.

Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide introduces the setting, it mechanics, and the means of character creation. Further background details, as well as an adventure and advice on running the game are provided in Dreams and Machines: Gamemaster’s Guide. Published by Modiphius Entertainment, it is a 2d20 System roleplaying game which uses a lighter version of the game. Right from the start, this combination of a familiar genre, yet hopeful version of that genre together with light, but engaging mechanics makes for a winning game. The Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide starts with a good overview of the setting, one that does not overwhelm the reader with too much detail, but gives more than enough for a player to make choices about the options he wants to choose when creating a character. It also highlights the differences between the world before the Builder World and after. Then it explains the mechanics.

As with other versions of the 2d20 System, such as Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 or Dune – Adventures in the Imperium, in Dreams And Machines, to have a character undertake an action, a player rolls two twenty-sided dice, aiming to have both roll under the total of an Attribute and a Skill. Each roll under this total counts as a success, an average task requiring two successes, the aim being to generate a number of successes equal to, or greater, than the Difficulty value. Rolls under the value of the Skill also count as two successes. A roll of twenty adds a complication to the situation. Dealing with higher Tech levels increases the Difficulty value and adds Threat. Successes generated beyond the Difficulty value generate Momentum.

Momentum is a shared resource. It can be used to gain a ‘Second Wind’ and increase a Player Character’s Spirit, ‘Create Truth’, ‘Ask a Question’ of the Game Master, increase ‘Damage’ against a target, ‘Reduce Time’ for an action, and gain a second action with ‘Follow-Up’. The players as a group have a maximum Momentum of six. If a Player Character has access to no Momentum, he can instead give the Game Master Threat. In addition to access to Momentum, a Player Character has his own resource to fall back on. This is Spirit, his inner reserves of concentration and stamina. It can be spent to add an extra twenty-sided die to a test or to re-roll one. It can also be spent to avoid an injury. It can be recovered by resting, spending Momentum (as per ‘Second Wind’), gaining an ‘Adrenalin Rush’ in return for increasing the Game Master’s pool of Threat, and through a Player Character’s Bonds. If a Player Character loses all of his Spirit, he becomes exhausted, which means he can be weary, breathless, confused, and so on. This will mean he will automatically fail tests related to the type of exhaustion and suffer a penalty on all others, until he rests.

Whilst the players have access to Momentum, the Game Master has Threat. This is gained from the aforementioned ‘Adrenaline Rush’, from a player rolling Complications on the skill test, and even from ‘Escalation’ triggered by an action or decision taken by a player for his character. (In the case of the latter the Game Master may warn the player of the consequences.) Threat can also be added due to ‘Threatening Circumstances’ and ‘NPC Momentum’, whilst can be spent like Momentum, but for NPCs, as well as to buy off Complications rolled for NPCs, to create negative Truths about a situation or location, to bring in ‘Reinforcements’, and more.

Aspects of the setting in terms of locations and situations, as well as Player Characters and NPCs, can be defined as Truths. These are significant facts about each, often the most obvious. They can be a location Truth, a situation Truth, a personal Truth, or an equipment Truth, and whilst they are descriptive, they also grant permissions. This can be to make an action easier or more difficult, or even actually possible or impossible. Even if a Truth makes an action impossible, this is not set in stone, and the nature of a Truth might change to make the action possible. Truths in play can be handled informally, but the other option is to bring them to the fore and place them in front of the players from one scene to the next. This allows both players and Game Master to understand the key aspects of a scene, allows each to focus on them and bring them into play, and build more of the game’s play around them much like a more narrative storytelling game.

A Player Character in Dreams And Machines is defined by his attributes, skills, Tech Level, Talents, Spirit, Supply Points, and more. The four attributes are Might, Quickness, Insight, and Resolve. They range in value between six and sixteen. The seven skills are Move, Fight, Sneak, Talk, Operate, Study, and Survive. These are all quite broad, and range in value between one and six. A Player Character’s Tech Level is a measure of their familiarity with science and technology, whilst Talents are special abilities and Bonds are a Player Character’s connections to his fellow adventurers. Either through support or rivalries with his Bonds, a Player Character can gain Spirit. Supply Points represent salvage and parts that the Player Character can use to make temporary, but useful items. Lastly, every Player Character has two Truths. To create a character a player selects an Origin, an Archetype, and a Temperament. The Origins consist of Everan, Dreamer, Archivist, River, and Spear; the Archetypes of Fixer, Gatherer, Grabber, Tech, Guardian, Mediator, and Tech; and the Temperaments of Circumspect, Conspicuous, Demonstrative, Stubborn, Manipulative, and Maverick. An Origin provides a Truth, starting Attributes, Skills, and Tech Level, as Spirit, Supply Points, and one or more special abilities. An Archetype gives another Truth, bonuses to Attributes and Skills as well as possibly Tech Level and Spirit, plus another Talent, Goals, and equipment. The Temperament adds further bonuses as well a Drive—a means by which the Player Character can regain Spirit, Exhaustion which potentially triggers Threat for the Game Master, and an Attitude which grants scope for the Player Character’s Growth.

To create a character, a player selects an Origin, Archetype, and Temperament. Each of which has several options to choose from. The process is quite straightforward, although there are some ready combinations which work well together, such as Spear and Guardian, Archivist and Tech, Archivist and Grabber, Dreamer and Gatherer, River and Fixer, and so on. In general, the Everan Origin acts as a catchall, tending to work with most Archetypes.

Name: Dunken Gungnir
Origin: Spear Archetype: Guardian Temperament: Circumspect
Truths: Spear, Guardian
ATTRIBUTES
Might 10 Quickness 8 Insight 6 Resolve 8
SKILLS
Move 2 Fight 4 Sneak 4 Talk 1 Operate 1 Study 1 Survive 1
Tech Level 2
Spirit 6
Supply Points 2
Special Abilities: Hunter-GLIFs, Spear’s Blend, Decisive Strike
Goal: Defeat a notable NPC

Besides discussing Player Character growth, and even retirement and death, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide lists numerous other talents alongside three Advanced Archetypes. These are the Weaver, the Sentinel, and the Firebrand. These are for play later in a campaign, perhaps after a Player Character death or retirement, and are only available with Game Master permission. The Weaver wears a contact lens or monocle that enables him to interact with augmented reality controls and information of the technology of the past to learn more about and control it. The Sentinel is a wandering warrior who protects communities, uses the best arms and armour, and trains the guardians that normally protect their communities. The Firebrand is a leader who wants to change history. Of these, the Weaver is the most interesting Advanced Archetype because of how it interacts with the advanced technology of the past. Through knowledge and skill of Weaving, the Weaver can activate or deactivate computer systems, lock or unlock closed doors, activate or deactivate specific systems, communicate with AIs, and command Atoma, the automated manufacturing devices. This is done via patterns, a combination of words and gestures. Some Weavers are capable of Nanogram Weaving, not just interacting with computers and devices, but interacting with the environment around them through control of a nanoswarm to create holographic effects and grasp objects. In terms of play, Nanogram Weaving is almost a necessity since it allows a Player Character Weaver to do more than operate Atoma.

The Weaver represents advanced control of the technology found almost everywhere on Evera Prime—outside of Dreamer communities that is. The most common form of technology found is the GLIF, or ‘Graphic Layer Instruction Format’. In the past, GLIFs were everywhere, providing instructions to machines as to where they could go and what they could do, which humans could enter an area, and so on. Technicians also used them as diagnostic tools, whilst most people learned to read them too. In the present, GLIFs abound everywhere. Archivists search for new GLIFs to learn and Spears are covered with tattoos, scars, warpaint, and clothing called Hunter-GLIFs that temporarily conceal them from the optical sensors of hostile machines. GLIF patterns include ‘Discharge’ which forces a machine to discharge its powered tools and weapons, ‘Glitch’ forces a machine to seize up as it is overwhelmed by a burst of junk data and logic errors, and ‘Protect’ forces a machine to priories the safety of a marked object or person. Only a handful of GLIFs are given, and whilst they might be seen as being spell-like, they bring to life the direct interaction of the Player Characters between themselves and the world around them. They also highlight the tension in the setting between fearing the machines and what they can do and the possibilities of what can be learned from them and how they can be harnessed to explore and improve the world.

Besides the GLIFs, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide includes an extensive list of equipment and discusses the nature of technology on Evera Prime. Technology is found everywhere, some communities even possessing Atoma, automated manufacturing devices that will produce anything from commonplace domestic items to advanced weaponry and armour, depending on the model, of course. The Weaver Advanced Archetype specialises in the control of Atoma, whilst Grabbers are always on the hunt for the working Atoma, new patterns, and the material to supply them. The list of technology in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide covers weapons, armour, general tools and equipment, services, and vehicles. The descriptions of the latter are accompanied by rules for vehicular combat. Technology is rated between one and five, so a spear is Tech Level 1, a sword Tech Level 2, and a thermal staff Tech Level 4. A Player Character is limited by his Tech Level in terms of what advanced devices he can operate, though he can be taught to use a single item of a higher Tech level than he is accustomed to. Many of the devices listed in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide can be found somewhere in the world and if access is gained to the right model of Atoma and the right pattern known, even manufactured.

Rounding out the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide is a piece of colour fiction that presents the world and explores the relationship between humanity and the Wakers though Kari, a young girl who has formed a relationship with a non-aggressive Waker called Abe. As a Waker, Abe is feared, but over the course of the story others begin to trust him too. Again, it highlights the tension in the relationship between men and technology. It does though feel oddly placed at the end of the book, when it is normal to have such colour fiction at the start. However, its placement makes sense given that throughout the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide there are annotations and illustrations made to the text in a child’s hand. These are Kari’s commentary upon the world, one that she is forced to flee into in the colour fiction at the end of the book.

Physically, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide is very well produced. It is decently written and the artwork is excellent. Much of it depicts the technology, especially the Wakers in action, although the latter are shown as silhouettes, giving them an ominous, scary presence. If there is anything missing from the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide it is perhaps a bibliography, although the most obvious touching point for the roleplaying game is the computer game, Horizon Zero Dawn.

Of course, the details and nature of the Wakers and other technological threats, as well as the secrets of Evera Prime are explored in the Dreams and Machines: Gamemaster’s Guide. What the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide does though is present the world from the point of view of those who both fear and are fascinated by technology and mechs of the past, as well as the means to create characters and roleplay them. The world of Evera Prime is engagingly presented in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide and brought to life through the Player Character options and abilities it provides. Above all its optimistic tone marks it out as being very different to other post-apocalyptic roleplaying game and it will be fascinating to see this hope explored and developed in further releases for Dreams and Machines.

Just in time for the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe is a one-shot adventure for use with the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. Of course, this is not the first time that Deadpool has made an appearance in roleplaying, but that was only in solo format. First with You Are Deadpool and then You Are (Not) Deadpool. However, this is a proper roleplaying game scenario requiring both a Narrator and up to six players in which the infamous ‘Merc with a Mouth’ puts together a team of minor superheroes—many of whom only dedicated Marvel Universe devotees will have heard of—and sends them off on a mission. These consist of ex-Valkyrie, Annabelle Rigs, the attack macaque Hit-Monkey, the secretive mercenary Paladin, the Inhuman-infused Ren Kimura, the alternative She-Hulk, Lyra, whose strength weakens as she gets angrier and angrier, and the undead Terror, cursed to suffer immortality! Alternatively, stats are included for Deadpool himself, along with Wolverine, so that a smaller group of players could play through Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe.

Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe opens with an eight-page comic strip that introduces each of the Player Character options for the scenario—and not just for the Narrator, but also the players which can read this strip to get an idea of how each of the cast should be played. Then it is into the scenario and explaining what the Narrator requires to run it. This is no more than the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game core rulebook, from which the Narrator will need to draw several NPC villains who will appear in the scenario. The advice for the Narrator is to keep it moving and to keep it light and not too serious. This affects the tone of Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe, but it is more tongue in cheek and slyly snide, rather than in your face and obnoxiously insulting. So, it is not adult in tone and thus is suited for a teenage audience.

The scenario starts with the Player Characters individually hired by Deadpool and asked to meet at a shipyard. This triggers the first action scene in the scenario as the Player Characters have to make a run in between and over the shipping containers, all whilst under attack, before they get to meet up with their employer. At this point, Deadpool explains that he is trying to set up his mercenary agency, but all of a sudden, the pool of soldiers for hire seems to be shrinking and he suspects that something or someone is behind it. Deadpool wants the Player Characters to investigate and if they are successful, he might have more work for them. This assignment will take the Player Characters around the world and back again, starting in New York at the Lower Manhattan Mercenary Job Expo. This is a fun scene in which the Player Characters get to attend a jobs fair where the possible employers are A.I.M., The Hand, Hydra, Latveria, and others, and sell themselves as well as investigate who might be hiring all of the hired guns. The persons or organisations responsible are present, but the other potential employers lend themselves to further missions for the Player Characters to undertake beyond the pages of Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe. Subsequent chapters will see the Player Characters participate in an underground tournament over the skies of Madripoor, before having to fight to save the day, and lastly, confront the scenario’s actual villain in a deathtrap maze!

There are a few notes on continuing the adventure after Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe, but the scenario is rounded out with all of the write-ups for its Player Characters and some of its NPCs. The others appear in the pages of the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game core rulebook. Included here is the new Power, ‘Power Slider’. This specifically for the version of She-Hulk which appears in the scenario as her power wanes when she gets angry. ‘Power Slider’ is for powers that change due to certain circumstances or situations.

Physically, Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe is bright, colourful, and exciting, with lots of Marvel Universe artwork as you expect and want. The writing is decent and if you are not reading the Deadpool dialogues in the style of Ryan Reynolds, then you are not fulfilling that secret contractual obligation you signed when you purchased the book. In which case, Ryan Reynolds’ lawyers will be in contact with you shortly.

Deadpool Role-plays the Marvel Universe is an action-packed, fun scenario for Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game which should take a session or two to play through. Although the players could create their own, it gives a chance for the players to roleplay some lesser-known characters from the Marvel Universe and throw them up against a threat that Deadpool could deal with, but honestly can’t be bothered. Which makes for a good one-shot and the chance for the players to make these lesser lights their own rather than necessarily adhering to their portrayal on the page or on the screen.

In ages past, the Kotoamatsukami, the First Great Spirits of the Land, created the peaceful land known as Nakatsukuni. All was well in this land until the Great Mother Spirit Izanami died giving birth to the Spirit of Fire. Her husband, Izanagi, attempted to retrieve her spirit from Yomi No Kuni, the Afterlife, and appeared to have succeeded when given permission to return her by the Ruler of the Dead. Unfortunately, Izanami has been corrupted by the Ruler of the Dead, and she brought with her an army of twisted souls and horrible monsters and after corrupting the minds of the Yokai, Izanami set out to destroy reality. The peace was at an end and the war known as the Hundred Years of Sorrow was only won by a combined effort of Izanagi and the Kami. It was a victory won at great cost. Although Izanami was cast into the Void—or the Inbetween, via a Shadow Scar rent in the fabric of reality, her monstrous minions were scattered across the Mosaic, a vast array of worlds and realities that to this day remains unexplored. These Yokai continue to do the bidding of Izanami on these worlds, often served by human agents and cults, most of whom have no idea who they are serving or the true nature of reality that is the Mosaic. Whilst there a few worlds that fortunate enough to be free of Yokai, both their presence and their influence, there are many which are infected by both, and there are even more where the situation remains unknown. On Nakatsukuni, an organisation was established by the Kami to counter the threat of the Yokai. This is the Shadow Scar Agency, an order of Shinobi—or ninja clans—trained by the Six Great Clans of Shadow. Its task is to investigate potential signs of activity of both the Yokai and their human servants across the worlds of the Mosaic, stop such activities when discovered, and prevent the inhabitants of those worlds from learning about either the Yokai or the Mosaic. The Shadow Scar Agency still fights this Veil War today.

This is the set-up for Shadow Scar, a new roleplaying published by R. Talsorian, Inc., best known for Cyberpunk RED and Castle Falkenstein. It is a world/parallel Earth hopping setting across what Shadow Scar calls the Mosaic in which modern day Ninja, armed with high tech tools and magical artefacts, leap from one world to the next to defeat the Yokai and other minions of the corrupted Great Mother Spirit Izanami. The Player Characters—or Agents—are these Ninjas, members of the Shadow Scar Agency, a secret organisation dedicated to keeping reality safe. The Ninja must conduct their assignments in secrecy and ‘Maintain the Veil’, both to keep the civilian population safe and prevent any mystical monsters from learning of their presence and activities until they absolutely have to reveal both to the targets of their operations. It was introduced in Shadow Scar: Eyes in Darkness as part of Free RPG Day 2024, which provided a basic primer for the setting and rules as well as scenario to play and the Player Character Agents needed to play it. The scenario in Shadow Scar: Eyes in Darkness is a prequel to ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’, the scenario in Shadow Scar Starter Set, and although it is not necessary to play through ‘Eyes in Darkness’ in order to play ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’ and the contents of the Shadow Scar Starter Set, ‘Eyes in Darkness’ serves as a good build up to it.

The Shadow Scar Starter Set comes as a solid box containing three booklets, six pre-generated customisable Player Characters, a pair of maps and tokens to help play out the action of its scenario, and a set of Shadow Scar six-sided dice. Beside the dice, the first thing that you see upon opening the box is the ‘Welcome to Shadow Scar’ sheet. This is a sperate sheet tells the reader what to expect from the roleplaying game and starter, that the Player Characters will learn the ways of Ninjitsu, assassinate deadly foes, foil complicated plots, work with powerful factions, explore the Mosaic, and hunt down rogue agents, and tells the player where to go next. On the back is a glossary. Altogether, this primes the player up, ready to learn to play, and the Storyteller ready to learn to run Shadow Scar.

The first of the three books in the Shadow Scar Starter Set is the twenty-eight page ‘World Lore’ booklet. This introduces Shadow Scar Agency and expands on the on-going Veil War as well as explaining the nature of the Mosaic and the Utsushiyo and the Kakuriyo. The former is the Unveiled or Material World, whilst the latter is the Unseen or Spirit World. To most mortals, the Kakuriyo, home to spirits, Kami, and even spirits that fail to pass and become monsters, is inaccessible although it does mirror the Utsushiyo in an exaggerated way. Every world has its own Utsushiyo and Kakuriyo, but the Kami can traverse between the Kakuriyo of one world and the Kakuriyo of another. Some mortals can see into the Kakuriyo and sometimes monsters and dangers can find their way out of it. The Mosaic itself is described in broad detail, but the accompanying shows the rough relationships between just a few of the worlds within it and the links between them. Several of these worlds are described in some detail. These include the primary base of operations for the Shadow Scar Agency, Nakatsukuni, which remains an archipelago of islands—many floating—shattered by the war against Izanami and her minions. The others include ‘Steel Court’, a Grand Victorian Empire in which the Stewart Steam Turbine Engine has powered fantastical industrialisation and inventions even as revolt foments the Empire’s ‘Protectorates’; ‘5th Street’, an early twentieth century world recovering from the Great War that would seem to be utterly mundane except the masked vigilantes on the rooftops and the racial inventors working in their workshops; and ‘Refuge’, a world so blighted by the Yokai that humanity has been forced to retreat to a Lunar Colony and massive station orbiting the moon. All three locations will be visited as part of the scenario included in Shadow Scar: Eyes in Darkness. Thumbnail descriptions are given for the three worlds as well as the Shadow Scar Agency and the six Shinobi clans. These consist of the war at any cost Arashi Clan; the spiritualist Futsumashi working to pull the world back into balance; the fire-using Hibana; the espionage-focused Kuromaku; the Tantei clan which works to free Yokai from Izanami’s grasp; and the Yokai-hunting Wanami clan. These are not the only organisations detailed in ‘World Lore’. ‘The Hollow Eye Syndicate’ is a secret criminal organisation that offer a refuge to ‘nukenin’, those missing ninja who have left the Shadow Scar Agency. The Shadow Scar Agency takes a very dim view of the ‘nukenin’. Lastly, there are some details of the Yokai.

The forty-eight-page ‘System’ book is both a rules book and a bestiary for Shadow Scar. First, it breaks down a Player Character, which has three attributes, Mind, Body, and Spirit, rated between one and five. Each attribute has six associated skills, each of which is rated between one and three. He has Techniques, Mikkyo, and Quirks. Techniques are special abilities, such as ‘Nimble & Quick’, which increases an Agent’s speed, whilst Mikkyo are secret techniques taught by the shinobi clans which require an Agent to expend Ki to trigger, such as ‘Duplicates’ which enables the caster to create silent duplicates himself that he can control.
Mechanically, Shadow Scar is a dice pool system that uses six-sided dice. Every roll of a three or more is a success, whilst a roll of six is equal to two successes. If the number of successes is equal to or greater than the Difficulty Value, the task is successful. An average task has a Task Difficulty of two, Challenging has a Task Difficulty of three, Difficult has a Task Difficulty of four, and so on. Bonuses and penalties adjust the number of dice a player has to roll. To reflect that the world of Shadow Scar is pulled in two directions by different forces of nature, an Agent has access to ‘Inyo’—Japanese for Yingyang. If an Agent fails a task by a single Success, he can call upon the power of ‘Inyo’ to gain that much-needed Success. Or he can use to inflict an additional three points of damage upon a target. However, when the Agent draws upon the power of Inyo, he draws only upon one side. In response, the other side draws back and the Storyteller can draws upon the Agent’s Inyo to make him fail a task by one Success or have an enemy inflict three extra damage on the Agent. Once that has happened, the Agent has access to Inyo again. Essentially, the fortunes of each Agent swings back and forth quite literally.

Combat is an extension of the rules, with Initiative Order being determined by an Awareness Check. During a turn, each Agent can conduct two actions. Some fifteen possible actions are detailed as are the conditions and hazards that they might suffer. The hazards covered include environmental, mechanical, and magical. When an Agent is reduced to three points of Vitality or less, he suffers the Grievously Wounded Condition, and when his Vitality is reduced to zero, in combat, he can either be killed or knocked out. The latter reduces his Vitality to one rather than zero. If an Agent’s Vitality is reduced to zero or less, it is possible to become a Wandering Spirit, but an Agent equipped with a Spirit Lantern can collect and protect a Wandering Spirit. At the end of a mission, if the other Agents return with a dead Agent’s body and his Wandering Spirit in a Spirit Lantern, the Agent can be resurrected. Otherwise, a new body has to be created.

Over half of the ‘System’ book is devoted to a ‘Rogues Gallery’. This describes some sixteen or so creatures. There is a good mix of the mundane and the monstrous to the book, all of which appears in the ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’ scenario.

The six pre-generated Player Characters in the Shadow Scar Starter Set come from each of the six clans who contribute to the Shadowscar Agency. Each is done in full colour and as a folder. Each comes with an illustration, background, and history of the Player Character, full stats and abilities, and options for improving the character over the course of the adventure. It also includes a set of bullet points suggesting why a player might choose to roleplay a particular character.

The longest of three books in the Shadow Scar Starter Set is ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’. It is ideally run as a sequel to ‘Eyes in Darkness’ from Shadow Scar: Eyes in Darkness as that already gets the players and their characters involved in the scenario. Of course, it need not be, and either way, the scenario opens with the Player Characters being introduced to a fellow member of the Shadow Scar Agency prior to the briefing. This Agent Jasmine Gamble, who has been investigating a notorious Yokai and crime lord, Green Demon, whose activities and network spreads across the four known worlds that the Shadow Scar Agency has ready access to and is suspected to spread into others unknown. Her work has greatly been enhanced by a notebook that Agents recently uncovered (this is mission is detailed in ‘Eyes in Darkness’) and she has begun to decode. Her notes so far point to a Green Demon operative working in a pleasure quarter on one of the floating islands of Nakatsukuni. This set-up scene is designed to introduce Agent Gamble as she plays an important role in ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’ and ideally the Player Characters should come to like her. This needs a careful portrayal by the Storyteller to make her as likeable as she is written and to build up a relationship between her and the Player Characters.

The missions in ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’ will take the Player Characters from a pleasure house in Nakatsukuni where tensions between a pretentiously arrogant noble scion, the staff, and other patrons, helped by a mischievous kami, get in the way of capturing the target Green Demon operative all the way to Refuge in Lunar orbit where they have an opportunity to capture one of the Green Demon’s most loyal lieutenants before he is assassinated! In between, they must travel to an abandoned island infested with venomous ghost centipedes left over from the Hundred Years of Sorrow; investigate Green Demon activities on Steel Court only to discover that the Green Demon has been investigating them; and dive into an ancient, submerged, and of course, puzzle and death trap-filled Olmec temple in the Gulf of Mexico in 5th Street, which holds a magical artefact said to give access to the Hollow Earth.

‘The Mask of the Green Demon’ is a fun exciting adventure, with a good mix of action and intrigue, that also showcases both the different worlds of the Mosaic and some of the history of the roleplaying game’s setting. It also hints—just a very little—at how ruthless the Shadow Scar Agency can be. The adventure is designed to be played through in roughly five to six sessions and make use of the tokens and maps included in the box. Notably, the booklet does begin with some excellent advice for the Storyteller on how to run Shadow Scar and ‘The Mask of the Green Demon’. Much of it will be obvious to experienced Storytellers, but it is still worth reading and it is good advice for anyone running Shadow Scar Starter Set as her first game. However, what the Shadow Scar Starter Set does not do is give any advice for the players. The Storyteller has her role explained, is given tips, and then advised on how to run Shadow Scar. There is no similar advice for the player, except for the ‘Welcome to Shadow Scar’ sheet at the top of the box, which does not do as good a job.

Rounding out the Shadow Scar Starter Set is a set of maps. There are four of these, depicting various locations in the scenario. Using in conjunction with the two sheets of tokens, these are bright and colourful, done by Loke BattleMats, which previously created The Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats for use with Cyberpunk RED. Lastly, there is also a ‘Reference Sheet’, which includes rules for everything up to and including the assassination manoeuvre, and ‘The Armoury’, a sheet of traits, gear details, and information about artefacts that will play a role in the adventure.

Physically, the Shadow Scar Starter Set is an attractive product with a pleasing heft and sturdiness. All three books are on thick paper and all have card covers. Similarly, the maps and tokens have a good physical presence. The artwork is excellent throughout, having an anime style that reflects the genre of the Shadow Scar setting. Particularly attractive is the piece showing players sat round playing the game itself, but there is also plenty of artwork show different scenes across the Mosaic as well. However, the Shadow Scar Starter Set does need a further edit as it feels slightly rushed in places.

Shadow Scar is both a spy and a ninja roleplaying game, a sidebar for the Storyteller noting that it is inspired by the anime series Demon Slayer and Naruto as much as it is the James Bond and Men in Black films. Mix in martial arts, magic, and the supernatural and it offers a stealth and action orientated genre mashup—all of which is on show in the Shadow Scar Starter Set. The result is that the Shadow Scar Starter Set is a very well presented, fun and exciting introduction to the Shadow Scar setting and roleplaying game.

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 is an introduction to Shadows of Esteren, the French roleplaying game of low dark fantasy with elements of Gothic and Lovecraftian horror. Published by Studio Agate, this originally debuted with Shadows of Esteren 0-Prologue in 2013, providing not only an introduction, but also descriptions of the setting, some pre-generated Player Characters—all of whom were key to the ongoing campaign tied to the setting, and three scenarios to get started. When it was introduced, the English-speaking hobby was fascinated by this French roleplaying game with its themes of tradition versus modernity, science and industrialisation versus faith, and monotheism versus spiritualism, as well as captivated by its artwork which looked like nothing then being published. Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 is similar to Fateforge: A Journey in Eana – 1, the introduction to Fateforge: Epic tales in the World of Eana, also published by Studio Agate. Thus, Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 serves not only as an introduction to the setting, it also provides an overview of the game line as a whole and includes a scenario as well.
Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 begins by highlighting the key points about Shadows of Esteren, that it combines a dark universe with a low fantasy, has a unique visual atmosphere, involves a intuitive game system, and is supported by music and a video game. There is a short guide to all eight books in the Shadows of Esteren series, but it focuses upon the first two in particular—Shadows of Esteren 0-Prologue and Shadows of Esteren 1-Universe—are available to download or ‘Pay What You Want’, providing a more detailed background for both.
Then there is detailed exploration of the setting for Shadows of Esteren. This is the Tri-Kazel peninsula. It is home to three nations—Tol-Kaer with its old tribal ways and Demorthèn spiritual cults; Gwidre which has been converted to the Temple of the One God by missionaries from the Great Theocracy from the rest of the continent to the north and adopted feudalism; and Reizh, which has taken up the science of Magience, developing and creating devices, machines, and ‘toys’ powered by ‘Flux’, an energy derived from matter itself, though not without its cost to the environment and land itself. This sets up the core tensions within the setting, although elements of Demorthèn spiritual cults, the Great Theocracy, and Magience are found across all three nations, although to varying degrees. What unites the different peoples is a fear of the unknown, of the Feondas, hideous monsters with a ghastly reputation for doing the vilest things. The introduction notes that The Shining is a major inspiration, so there is the constant danger in Shadows of Esteren of the Player Characters and the story slipping into this other genre, a feeling of dread that threatens to tip over into something worse. Shadows of Esteren is a roleplaying game about the psychology of horror as much it is the clashes between culture and faith.
‘A Solitary Path’ is the scenario in Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1. It takes place near a Cinthareïd, a Demorthèn sacred place infused with the essence of spirits, located alongside a wooded mountain path. Not so long ago, a Varigal, a local guide, get separated from the party he was guiding, fell, and died. His restless spirit haunts the path, angry at being abandoned and left alone, despite the fact that he was actually a loner. The Player Characters are drawn into the situation simply by travelling along the same route, perhaps on their way to another location, perhaps actually investigating word of restless spirits besetting the way. As they get closer to the Cinthareïd, the trees rustle more ominously, the tracks the Player Characters leave in the snow disappear, the ground shakes, brambles thicken and grow, and worse… The mist grows and perhaps threatens to separate the Player Characters, lead them astray, perhaps to suffer a similar fate to the lost Varigal?
Finding a solution to the scenario does involve separating one Player Character from the rest of the party. The problem with this is that it places one Player Character in the spotlight, leaving the others with little to do in order to resolve the situation. The solution perhaps is instead to run the scenario for just a single Player Character and so place him in the spotlight from the start. This makes it suitable to run between other longer scenarios and slot into an ongoing campaign, especially as it can be run in a single session. ‘A Solitary Path’ is strong on atmosphere and horror, with a sense of isolation that makes it perfect to run for a single Player Character.
Physically, Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 is a solid looking booklet. It does a very good job of showcasing the artwork found in the v line and it also includes a very nice map of the Tri-Kazel peninsula.
Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 is good introduction to the world of Shadows of Esteren, explaining both what the setting is and what books are available. The scenario is atmospheric, but the Leader—or Game Master—will need to take some care in how she chooses to use it in her campaign. Overall, Shadows of Esteren: A Journey in the Shadows – 1 does a serviceable job of setting the player and Leader alike up for their first proper exploration of the setting with Shadows of Esteren 0-Prologue.

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Shards of the Spellforge is a scenario for Tales of the Valiant, the alternative to Dungeons & Dragons published by Kobold Press. It is designed to be played using four to five First Level Player Characters and using Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide and Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault, and can be played through in a single session. It involves a mystery concerning malfunctioning inventions and a missing inventor that will lead to an encounter with some of the secrets of the word buried deep underground!
The scenario is set in and around Fernhaven, an idyllic town that straddles of a trade route. Here the Player Characters are contacted by Serina Tass, a local herbalist and inn owner, who wants help in finding her husband, Feren. He left home in a hurry and she has no idea where he went. The Player Characters will need to talk to various townsfolk and friends of Feren Tass to learn about where he has gone. What she can tell the Player Characters is that Feren was concerned about Eglantine ‘Egg’ Tass, local inventor and the wife of his late sister. In particular, he was worried that Eglantine’s most recent inventions are dangerous, and Serina Tass has found that a stall in the inn’s stables has been severely blackened by fire. To determine where Feren has gone, the Player Characters will need to talk to other townsfolk who Eglantine has sold inventions to, and it is here that the scenario shines. Besides Serina, there are four other highly detailed NPCs that the Player Characters can talk to and learn what it was that Eglantine invented and sold them. They include a self-absorbed artist who does not want to give up the invention he purchased and Eglantine herself. Eglantine does not share her brother-in-law’s concerns, but will explain where she got the several shards of an ancient device she discovered deep in the caverns near the town.
Once the Player Characters learn where Eglantine ‘Egg’ Tass had been before creating her new and wondrous and possibly dangerous inventions, they can follow her route there and then into the caverns. These are broken down into six locations, mapped using the Map Tiles: Caves & Caverns also available from Kobold Press, though these are not obligatory to run Shards of the Spellforge. The dungeon locations are nicely detailed and one of the most fun is the traverse that the Player Characters have to make across an underground lake to get to the caves on the other side. Here, the Player Characters discover the source of the shards—a spellforge. This is a remnant of an ancient civilisation known as the Pthrull and it is guarded by the devolved descendants of the Pthrull. Once the creatures guarding the spellforge, the Player Characters can rescue Feren and get him back to the surface.
Physically, Shards of the Spellforge is decently presented. The artwork is excellent, and the scenario is well written. However, it could have been better organised so that it is easier to run to get the Player Characters into the scenario and then follow through on the hook so that they know what to do next and where to go.
Shards of the Spellforge is a short, solid scenario. It does leave the Player Characters and Game Master alike wanting when it comes to the Pthrull and their background, so it can at best be seen as a teaser to the full setting. It is strong though on interaction and the Game Master will have fun portraying the various NPCs.

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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One-Shot Wonders is a preview of the One-Shot Wonders, the supplement for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition published by Roll & Play Press. The supplement, which won the 2024 Silver Ennie for Best Adventure – Short Form, contains over a hundred adventures, of which this preview provides a total of seven as samples. These are divided into five, longer, double-page adventures, one shorter, one page adventure, and three hooks, each of which can be used as a one-shot or a sidequest or an extended encounter. All include some stats—Armour Class, Hit Points, Initiative modifier, and key ability—but these are kept to a minimum. This though, has two consequences. The first is that the adventures in the One-Shot Wonders preview can be used in any Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying game or retroclone. The second is that the Game Master will need to undertake some preparation in terms of the extra stats needed. However, on the plus side, the format of each adventure is extremely well done. Below the name of the adventure is its theme, objective, and setting. For example, for the first adventure, ‘Flower Power’, the theme is ‘Adventurous’, the objective is ‘acquisition’, and the setting is an ‘oasis’. After the opening summary, the entry for each adventure gives its start for the Player Characters, lists its important NPCs and gives their quick stats, outlines the ‘Suggested Story’ in bullet point format, describes the quest rewards, its three important locations, the ‘Secrets and Clues’ which will be revealed as the players have their characters play through the scenario. Lastly, there is a base line indicator as to what Level Player Characters the scenario is designed for. This includes notes on to make the scenario harder, or even harder (and occasionally, easier), so that the Game Master can use it with higher Level Player Characters. There is even a broad outline of events given in the footer of the page!
This layout is terrific. It is easy to use and everything is clearly laid out on the page, which even has room for an illustration! The shorter, one-page scenario outline feels slightly more cramped and has less information and so needs more work, but that should not detract from the rest of the book. Of course, the hooks will need much more work.
The anthology opens with ‘Flower Power’ in which the Player Characters are hired by a Druid to harvest a single petal from a plant at a secret oasis, but must contend with a gang of rival plant hunters hired by a wizard and a team of unsurprisingly stubborn team of mules who are the only creatures who know the way. ‘Curtain Call’ is a murder mystery which takes at a performance at a caravan theatre which the Player Characters are called upon to investigate. It has a flexible set-up with three suspects, three motives, and no given murderer, so its outcome can tailored to the result of the Player Characters’ investigation rather than adhere to a set story. ‘Fishy Business’ is probably the most fun adventure in the anthology, ruining the Player Characters’ fish of the day dinner when the chef at the restaurant they are at, comes running out of the kitchen, yelling that the fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods he was preparing for dinner have suddenly come alive and started attacking him! It is up to the Player Characters to engage in a ‘food fight’ and deal with the seafood strike.
The one shorter adventure consists of ‘Sting Operation’. In this, the Player Characters are hired to deal with an outbreak of wasps out of season and become pest controllers, and follow a string of clues to the ultimate cause. The three hooks involve a hunt for a werewolf, an outbreak of undead at a mortuary, and the theft of an artefact by some of the very knights who are parading it through the street. 
The penultimate adventure in the One-Shot Wonders preview is ‘Dangerous Delivery’. The Player Characters are hired as postal workers in a town recently cut off from the rest of the area by snow. The post mistress has lots of deliveries to catch up on and employs them to make a delivery to a reclusive knight whose estate is up a mountain. Unfortunately, after making the difficult journey up to the estate through the barely melted snow, the Player Characters are attacked by several of the animal denizens who live there. This annoys the knight who blames the Player Characters rather than the animals and who also rejects almost all of his post. This is worst entry in the One-Shot Wonders preview and likely to be deeply dissatisfying for the players and their characters as they are subject to an unprovoked attack, and blamed for the attack, and essentially all of their efforts in getting up the mountain are rebuffed.
‘Spectator Sport’ is the last adventure in the One-Shot Wonders preview and the nearest to an actual dungeon in the short anthology. It is a funhouse dungeon in which the Player Characters are trapped in a series of caves which promised to be a carnival of games and challenges in which they could win a mighty jackpot. What follows is a series of deadly games at their expense all to entertain the devilish owner of the complex. In comparison to the other fuller entries in the preview, the adventure feels underwritten, primarily because it is the only entry with a map, so there is less text. The Game Master will probably want to explain why the carnival is the caves and not been noticed before and definitely work out the mechanics of the various games, but this linear—quite literally—adventure has a surprisingly Old School aesthetic and feel to it.
Physically, the One-Shot Wonders preview is very well done. It is bright, breezy, and easy to read. The artwork is decent.
The One-Shot Wonders preview is a bargain. Five adventures which require minimal preparation in order to play? Plus, some hooks should the Game Master be short on ideas? And not only free, but well presented and fun, too? The One-Shot Wonders preview is worth having on the shelf, just in case, all by itself for that reason. Of course, its real purpose is as a showcase for the full One-Shot Wonders: Over 100 Session Ideas for Fantasy RPGs itself, and on the strength of the One-Shot Wonders preview, it looks to be a supplement worth adding to the shelf of the Game Master running any Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying game.

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: Flash Cthulhu – Waves to Vistas UnknownPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Michael Reid

Setting: British Columbia, 2024Product: One-Location, One-Hour Scenario
What You Get: Eight page, 1.81 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Cocaine Bear as written by H.P. LovecraftPlot Hook: Group therapy and chance to reconnectPlot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, one handout, one NPC, and two Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent
Pros# Short slide beyond the veil# Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s From Beyond# Weird and woozy encounter with the bear from beyond# Easy to adjust to other eras and locations# Hylophobia# Trypophobia# Arkoudaphobia
Cons# Too short# Needs a slight edit

Conclusion# Short, punchy, slightly tongue-in-cheek genre mashup# Easily expanded, especially to bring out the roleplaying tensions between the characters

The Stolen Child is a short, one session for Castle Falkenstein, the roleplaying game of manners and magic, faeries and fabulative fiction, action and adventure all set in an alternate nineteenth century in which Bayern (or Bavaria) leads a Second Concordant against an alliance between Baron Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, and the Unseelie Court, the presence of Dragons and Faeries is commonplace, Prussia has failed to unite the Germanies, steampunk technology is being adopted everywhere, and fact meets fiction and fiction meets fact. Published by R. Talsorian Games, Castle Falkenstein is a highly regarded roleplaying classic that is as polite and as well-mannered a roleplaying game as ever you would want. It is not even so gauche as to use dice for its mechanics! Published by Az AVU Emberei and translated from the original Hungarian, The Stolen Child is easy to add an ongoing campaign or even use as a demonstration scenario.

In The Stolen Child, the Player Characters are invited to the birthday party of Rudolf von Dunkelberg, the son of Prince Johann of Dunkelberg, a principality so small that it can barely be found on the map. However, following an English education and training as an army officer, Rudolf von Dunkelberg has made a name for himself as a loyal and stalwart companion of the Player Characters. Hence, they are invited to his birthday party. They arrive on the day of the birthday ball—the principality being so small it does not have a railway station for its one town, also called Dunkelberg. An early morning stroll in one of the town’s parks throws them straight into the action en media res! A woman’s scream alerts them to the perfidious kidnap attempt of herself and a small boy by three men with scarves wrapped around their faces. The kidnappers make every attempt to kidnap the boy at least—and if they fail, will try again. The authorities do not seem to want to help and if the Player Characters rescue the woman, if not both the woman and the boy, she will be thankful, but initially quite close-lipped about who their kidnappers were and what they want.

Ideally, what should happen is that the boy be kidnapped and the Player Characters rescue the woman, who it turns, is his mother. After the local soldiery arrives to conduct a surprisingly cursory investigation, the woman will reveal that she is actually Irene von Drachenfels, the boy is her son, Hans, and her husband is Major August von Drachenfels, a Prussian armoured officer who is disillusioned with Bismarck’s regime and wants to escape Prussia. Of course, should he manage to defect, von Drachenfels’ knowledge of the LandFortress Works and his experience as a commander of a LandFortress, will provide Bayern and the Second Compact, with a wealth of knowledge about the Prussian military. Understandably, the Iron Chancellor does not want Major August von Drachenfels to what is effectively defect to the enemy and has despatched his own agents willing to doing anything to prevent that, including kidnapping the major’s wife and son.

Unfortunately, the scenario does have an issue in how the Player Characters get from the kidnapping scene to the next scene, no matter whether both the woman and the boy are kidnapped or just the boy. It is possible to chase the automotive vehicle that the kidnappers escape in all the way to a seemingly abandoned shoe shop at the foot of Dunkelberg mountain, but this really requires that one of the Player Characters be a Dragon and thus able to fly. If the Player Characters manage to capture one of the kidnappers, they can interrogate him or find some clues from the contents of his pockets. However, if this is not the case or if the Player Characters fail to foil the kidnap attempt, what should ideally happen is that one of the kidnappers should accidentally drop a key to the door of the shoe shop and since that has the name of the shop on it, should help get the Player Characters to the next part of the scenario.

The town of Dunkelberg and thus the shoe shop abut the base of Dunkelberg mountain, itself famous for its mines now abandoned. The Player Characters find themselves in a case, running after the kidnappers as they run pell-mell through the mine. Their progress is potentially hampered by a Knocker Faerie who distrusts any intruders, especially after his run in with the Prussian agents. How well the Player Characters do in persuading the Knocker that they are not his enemy greatly influences the amount of time they have left when they confront the Prussians and hopefully rescue the kidnap victims.

Physically, The Stolen Child is simply presented, although there are some nice flourishes around the borders. There are a couple of pieces of period art and it is a pity as there is not more of it as adventure feels plain without more. It does need an edit in places and it does feel as if it is rushed towards the end. More information about the town of Dunkelberg would have been useful if the Player Characters deviate from the linear story of The Stolen Child, as well as extending the usefulness of the supplement. 

The Stolen Child is a simple affair. It does feel underdeveloped, or at least, not as clearly explained as it should be, though with careful preparation by the Game Master this should not be a problem. Overall, The Stolen Child is best suited as pick-up or filler scenario that the Game Master can easily slot into her campaign between longer adventures.

For a decade now, since 2014, Free League Publishing’s Mutant: Year Zero post-apocalyptic future has been explored in a quartet of core books that each described and told the story of a different faction with the setting. The four factions—mutants, mutant animals, robots, and humans—each represent a classic group within post-apocalyptic roleplaying and each was given time in the spotlight with their respective books. In turn, mutants with Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, anthropomorphic animals with Mutant: Genlab Alpha, robots with Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying, and humans with Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium. The climax of the campaign in each of the four books would see members of the factions leaving the environment which had kept them safe throughout the apocalypse and beyond, ready to explore the wider world, interact with each other, and even discover some of the secrets that had led to the apocalypse in the first place. Yet at the end of each of the four campaigns, there remained an unanswered question: “What happens next?” The question was partially answered in 2018, with the release of The Gray Death. This was a sequel to Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium in which the Player Characters must thwart an attempt to prevent an expansive organisation known as the Army of Dawn from conquering all of the Zone that the Player Characters have made their home. However, at the end of ‘Path to Eden’, the campaign in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, the first book in the series, there is another story hinted at and it is this story that is explored in Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra.

Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra does something wholly unexpected, and in doing so, opens up a whole new number of worlds and environments to the Player Characters, ones that would ordinarily be beyond their imagination—space! The supplement most obviously provides a campaign whose outcome will decide the future of the Mutant: Year Zero setting, not just the devastated Earth, but habitants and worlds beyond. It also provides an overview of the Solar System, detailing bases, settlements, and habitats specific to the campaign, and gives new rules, equipment, and character options for playing in Zero-G and other hazardous environments. Although the campaign is intended to be run as a continuation of the ‘Path to Eden’ campaign in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, there are numerous suggestions in Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra as to where to place its starting point, including at the end of the most recent supplement, The Gray Death. The other suggestions encompass Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying and Mutant: Year Zero – Elysium as well as Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Compendium 1 – Lair of the Saurians and Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Compendium 2 – Dead Blue Sea. Together this gives the Game Master several options to choose from, but whatever supplement the Game Master decides to use as the jumping off point for Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra, the Player Characters will find themselves in a rocket, being blasted into space, headed for the unknown, allegedly for their own safety.
The Player Characters find themselves transported into Earth orbit, to the space station Jotunheim. Once they have explained who they are and where they have come from, the administrator will tell them where they are and then ask them for help. Jotunheim is a perilous situation. Its core engine has been stolen and without it, the space station is unable to maintain orbit. Entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up is inevitable, and with it the death of everyone aboard, let alone those on the surface that are struck by the falling debris. The perpetrators plan to use the core engine to power a starship—the Ad Astra—that is being constructed in orbit around Jupiter and will take the survivors to a hopefully better and brighter future in another star system! Unfortunately for them, their plans have been halted by Dirac Thirteen, a mutated ape and technician who has stolen memory circuits needed to allow the Ad Astra to launch. Despite having worked on the Ad Astra for years, he now sides with the Jotunheim and has fled from Jupiter into the Inner Solar System. This is an opportunity for the administrator and Jotunheim. Although he does not know what Dirac Thirteen has stolen, the administrator knows it must be important as a bounty has been placed on his head. Thus, he asks the Player Characters if they can find the escaped ape before anyone else can.
In order to find Dirac Thirteen, the Player Characters will need to travel across the Solar System, from Earth’s orbit to the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt before making the longer journey to Jupiter. To facilitate each of these perilous trips, the administrator lends the Player Characters a spaceship, the Mundilfari. Named for the Norse father of Sól, goddess associated with the Sun, and Máni, associated with the Moon, the Mundilfari is in a severe state of disrepair and this presents the Player Characters with their first challenge. On Earth, the Player Characters will have encountered a wide range of technology, some of it jury-rigged by themselves and their fellow survivors, some of it high tech leftover from the Old Age. In space, the technology is primarily and obviously that of the Old Age, far greater than the Player Characters will have had ready access to before. However, the technology aboard the Jotunheim and else where in the Solar System is either being barely maintained, breaking down, or beyond the capability of anyone to repair it. This includes the Mundilfari, which the Player Characters will need to repair and refuel in order to travel anywhere. In Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra, the Mundilfari becomes the Player Characters’ home, replacing the Ark in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days.
The adoption of the Mundilfari as the Player Characters’ temporary home marks a radical shift in emphasis in the campaign in Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra. In Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, the Player Characters face a constant struggle to find sufficient grub, water, and bullets, making the role of the Stalker with its ‘Find the Path’ special ability highly significant to the survival of a group. However, access to grub and water is less important in this campaign. Instead, the Gearhead has a much more prominent role. This is because of the constant need to repair and upgrade the spaceship, the Mundilfari. Without a Gearhead, the difficulty of the campaign is much more challenging.
The campaign proper begins on the space station Jotunheim and the Player Characters’ attempts to repair their newly acquired spaceship. This requires interacting with the various factions aboard the space station, including descending into the Dark Corridors where the Jotunheim’s Underfolk lurk, and bargaining with them for components that will either repair or upgrade the Mundilfari. This teaches the Player Characters some of the skills they will need to survive their greater mission, such as going on a spacewalk. Once they have managed to make the Mundilfari spaceworthy, the Player Characters have a number of objectives, chief of which is finding Dirac Thirteen and then getting to Jupiter. It is thought that Dirac Thirteen is on Mars and the Mundilfari has sufficient fuel to get that far and to other locations across the Inner Solar System. However, it does not enough to make the longer trip to Jupiter, so a visit to the Selene Mining Field on the Moon, the only working source of Helium-3, is also required. Each of the various destinations—the Moon, Mars, and also the Asteroid Belt—are given their own chapters and can be played in any order. The Jupiter chapter is played after these as the climax to the campaign.
Along the way to Jupiter, there are some great encounters. These include holding off an attack by the space pirates of the Rust Fleet, getting involved in a possible meat versus machine rebellion on the Moon, discovering some the dark secrets of the Titan Powers that fomented the war that ended the Old Age, and going out onto the range and deep into the Mariner Valley, chased by Bounty Hunters. The scenes on Mars in particular veer between the remains of the shattered colony in Total Recall and the Wild West feel of Tatooine in Star Wars, but the campaign in general has a pulpy Sci-Fi feel contrasted by the increasing state of disrepair as devices and technologies fail and cannot be repaired.

Ultimately, the Player Characters will make it to Jupiter and there confront both the future of everyone in the Solar System and on Earth and the architects of the situation on Earth, and then make some choices. The latter may see Jotunheim being repaired, the Ad Astra being repaired and leaving, and even the Ad Astra leaving the Solar System with the Player Characters aboard! What happens next is outside the scope of Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra, although if the Player Characters decide to stay in the Solar System, there is enough information in the supplement to start a campaign that focuses on exploring it in the wake of the events of Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra.
There is another option though, and that is to play through campaign using characters who have grown up in space, though this is not explored in any great depth. Even if Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra is played as a direct continuation of ‘Path to Eden’, the campaign in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days, the Game Master will still need access to Mutant: Genlab Alpha and Mechatron – Rise of the Robots Roleplaying as they detail the mutated animals and robots to be found in Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra. If run as a direct sequel to ‘Path to Eden’, the Game Master may also want to play up the culture shock of the Player Characters encountering mutated animals and robots for the first time, as well as being in space for the first time.

Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra includes new rules and additions for roleplaying in the expanded setting of Earth’s Solar System. ‘Pilot’ is a new Role which specialises in flying spaceships, and has the specialist skill of ‘Drive’ which applies to all vehicles, not just spaceships. There is guidance too on adapting skills like Comprehend, Know the Zone, and Jury-Rigg to space and other planets, and on mutations such as Insect Wings and how they work in Zero-G. ‘Free-floater’, ‘Drone Pilot’, and ‘Flying Ace’ are amongst the new Talents given as well. Alongside the relatively short guide to how spaceships and spaceship battles work, there is a list of events in space and aboard space stations—for example, ‘Toilet Problem’ or ‘Magnetic Field’, and new gear. The later includes the ‘Scrap Rocket Launcher’, and the ‘Space Suit’ which has two slots for modules so that a Player Character can customise his space suit. Lastly, there is a decent overview of the Solar System, including descriptions of locations not visited as part of the campaign, that the Game Master can use to create her own adventures and encounters—though hopefully, Free League Publishing will support the setting with further material.

Physically, Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra is well written, nicely presented in full colour with excellent cinematic-style artwork. Fans of anthropomorphic creatures in spacesuits will certainly appreciate many of the illustrations in the book. 

Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra opens up the setting of Mutant: Year Zero and takes it in a wholly unexpected direction. As a sourcebook it lays the groundwork for a post-apocalyptic setting that is not confined to the one world, but found across many and awaiting further development and exploration. As campaign, it places the Player Characters fore and centre as heroes who can either save the day or found a whole new civilisation, and in the process confront the consequences of some of the actions made by the Titan Powers. The campaign itself in Mutant: Year Zero – Ad Astra is the fantastic continuation of the ‘Path to Eden’ campaign found in the pages of Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days that the roleplaying game’s fans have long been waiting for, whilst the sourcebook material provides scope to explore rest of the Solar System.

The Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and the swashbuckling tales of Alexandre Dumas are closer than you think. Or at least, they can be moved closer than you think. After all, both involve conspiracies and secrets and assignations in the night and shocking revelations and dark organisations plotting to end the current regime–whether that is a total end to mankind or a change in who controls the fate of France. However, when it comes to roleplaying, it has not been a close fit, bar the very occasional scenario. In fact, the easiest way to do it has been to combine Leagues of Cthulhu, an expansion to Leagues of Gothic Horror for Leagues of Adventure: A Rip-Roaring Setting of Exploration and Derring Do in the Late Victorian Age! with All For One: Régime Diabolique, because both are written for use with the Ubiquity System. Step forward–or swing through a window on a rope and land on its feet, rapier drawn–Nightfall Games, because the Scottish publisher has a much easier solution for you.
Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple NightfallRPG Book is a campaign and sourcebook for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, published by Chaosium, Inc. It is based on ‘The Tablet’, a short story by Claudia Christian–yes, that Claudia Christian–and Chris McAuley from the anthology, Musketeers vs. Cthulhu in the Court of King Louis, from Black Ink. It is also based on The Three Musketeers and others in the series, includes some basic background, guidelines to creating Musketeers and other period Investigators, genre rules, and over twenty new manoeuvres, because after all, what would a game involving Musketeers be without the means to swash a buckle or two! As you would expect, it includes stats for all four Musketeers and those of the villains and villainesses they face in the course of Dumas’ classic novels. Of course, in Musketeers vs. Cthulhu, the Musketeers will face things that are much, much worse, and much more of a threat to France–and the world in general!

Musketeers vs. Cthulhu very quickly opens with the first part of its four-part campaign. It is set in 1626. King Louis XIII holds the throne with Cardinal Richelieu as his adviser, opposed to the influence of the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici, who was once regent for her son. ‘L’Affaire du Possion Rouge’ opens with the musketeers at a ‘dive’ bar on the Seine, meeting Damian De Salazar, a friend on behalf of Monsieur le Colonel de Tréville and then getting him away from the attentions of the Cardinal’s Guards and back to Musketeer headquarters. With barely enough time to take in the less than salubrious ambiance, disaster, or rather the Cardinal’s Guards strike! The clientele of the bar take strong exception to their presence and the first of the campaign’s many brawls breaks out. With the Cardinal’s Guards outside and a brawl inside, this is the perfect cover to make an escape, but in the process, the musketeers discover that the bar flies were hiding secrets of their own. Dark secrets.

At the end of the first scenario, the musketeers should have Damian De Salazar in tow, but where he ends up is down the musketeers. If they successfully get away from the bar, they should get him back to the care of Monsieur le Colonel de Tréville, but if they get captured, they find themselves before Cardinal Richelieu. If this happens, the rest of the scenario will play out as described in the book, but with the musketeers secretly beholden to the manipulative Cardinal.

The affair in the Possion Rouge sets the events of the campaign in motion as factions working beyond the shadows begin to plot against the King–and in the process against the King’s Musketeers and Cardinal Richelieu. De Salazar himself, is a scholar of the occult, and has recently decrypted and translated a document known as the Third Key of Solomon. Unfortunately, a faction of cultists known as the Court of Chaos has kidnapped De Salazar’s daughter and is demanding that he hand over the manuscript in return for her life.

In the second scenario, ‘The House of Hasteur’, the musketeers undertake a second task, the delivery of the manuscript in exchange for the life of De Salazar’s kidnapped daughter. Although they may have gained some slight awareness of the strangeness that these doings entail, it does not prepare them for the strange encounters in the house. This is not so much a ‘madhouse dungeon’ as a ‘Mythos madhouse’ in which their experiences verge into the hallucinogenic. If they succeed though, no matter who exactly they are working for–Monsieur le Colonel de Tréville or Cardinal Richelieu–the actions of the musketeers bring them to the attention of the King. He has another task for them, one that takes them to ‘The Courtyard of Miracles’ and into the Paris catacombs via a newly opened up entrance.

The fourth and final scenario, ‘Nuit d’Apocalypse!’, begins almost immediately after ‘The Courtyard of Miracles’ comes to a bloody close. The streets of Paris are rife with fear and fighting as it appears that the city is subject to a riotous assembly as Protestant Huguenots run amok, citizens either blockade the streets to prevent anyone from passing or hide behind locked doors, and dark forces take advantage of the chaos. A series of running street battles, including a standing battle with a Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, build to a climactic showdown with the forces of the Court of Chaos and hopefully the opportunity to save Paris and thus all of France.

Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple Nightfall RPG Book is a short campaign. Some of the individual scenarios might only take a session to play through, though most will probably take two or three. They are also not investigative scenarios in the more traditional sense of Call of Cthulhu, so no consulting of ancient documents or perusing the shelves at libraries. Instead, the scenarios involve more interaction, and definitely more action and combat. In fact, a lot more of the latter, and although Musketeers vs. Cthulhu is written for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, it might actually be better to run it using the rules in Pulp Cthulhu, especially as there is a lot of combat and there are a lot of Mythos monsters.

The campaign can be played in one of two ways. First, the players can take the roles of the Musketeers from Dumas’ novels—Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and d’Artagnan—and Musketeers vs. Cthulhu provides full stats and background for all four. Second, they can create their own Investigators and play through the campaign. Thus, there is a guide to creating Investigators suitable for the period, beginning with Musketeer, but also including members of the Clergy, Spy, Courtier, and Occult Scholar. Along with a list of weapons appropriate to the period, there is guidance on playing with just one or two players. The given options allow for increased starting Luck, narrative style combat when fighting members of the supporting cast, and almost immediate adaptation to seeing the Mythos. The latter minimises the amount of Sanity lost for seeing a Mythos monster a second time—after all, once you have seen one Ghoul, you have seen them all!

To fit the other genre of Musketeers vs. Cthulhu, there is also a list of new Manoeuvres. These include ‘Charge’, ‘Counting Coup’, ‘Creative Flamboyance’, ‘Flipping a Table’, ‘Leaping onto a Horse’, and ‘Using a Cape’ or ‘Throwing a Drink to Blind an Opponent’. All enable the Investigators to engage in the type of swashbuckling action that their players will have seen on screen.

Lastly, there are full stats for both the other characters from the novels, such as Milady de Winter and Cardinal Richelieu—though no backgrounds as are given to the Musketeers, and all of the Mythos monsters that appear in Musketeers vs. Cthulhu. Add in the table of phrases and events and the Keeper has a few prompts with which to add colour to her depiction of seventeenth century France.

Physically, Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple Nightfall RPG Book is a short, buff, and unillustrated affair. It is well written and easy to read. It needs a slight edit in places and there are fun flourishes here and there. The cover though, is particularly eye-catching and feels not dissimilar in style to a certain series of very long running children’s story and reference books.

Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple Nightfall RPG Book leans into two things. First, the ‘Simple’ aspect of its title, the campaign being a straightforward confrontation with the forces of the Mythos rather than a convoluted investigation, and second, the swashbuckling action of The Three Musketeers. As a result, this is an action-orientated, often combat focused, Pulp-style campaign rather than a Purist scare fest. Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple Nightfall RPG Book is not just “All for one, and one for all”, but “All for one, and one for all—and all against the Mythos”, and the musketeer-mythos movie you never knew you wanted.

The world of Praelar dying. It was driven to the point of collapse by climate change and then exacerbated by colossal poisonous tornados called ‘spore storms’. It was then that dragons appeared. They came from a world parallel to us to save us. They drew Dragon Essence extracted from their unhatched eggs and used it to power machines long-buried under the spore fields that cleared the poisons from the air and the water, and even began to abate the spores storms. Yet humanity took advantage of them. The Mecharch leaders took the power of the dragon yolk and reprogrammed the machines as devices of war before sending them out to slay dragons and take their eggs. As one dragon after dragon died, the Mecharch leaders gained power and many eggs were lost or abandoned, or broken. There are those who see this as an injustice and have rallied around to rescue the remaining eggs and not only save them, but raise the hatchlings. Their hope is that the newborn dragons would heal Praelar and restore the communities to what they once were.
This is the background for Dragon Dowser: A Journalling Game for One Player, in which the player will use his dowsing crystal to overcome the elements, uncover ancient secrets, battle long-buried machinery, and in the process, save the last of the dragon eggs. It is published by Hatchlings Games, best known for Inspirisles, the Deaf-aware, sign-language as magic, Arthurian roleplaying game. In comparison, Dragon Dowser is more anime-inspired, though not heavily so and leaves much of its setting to be interpreted, created, and written down by the player. It is a solo journalling game in which the aim is to locate abandoned dragon eggs and return to a Sanctuary. However, this requires the expenditure of resources. If the Dowser succeeds before all of his resources are expended, the hatchling can be reared to adulthood and together change the world. It requires a standard deck of playing cards, a six-sided die, a set of tokens, and a journal for the Dowser to record his story. As an alternative to the deck of playing cards, the game has its own deck of cards. These have their art and text, so that the player does not have to refer to the book for the card descriptions.
The game requires some set-up before play begins. The first is choose one of four Dowsings. These correspond to the Ace cards of the four card suits and determine the story’s element, season, and theme, which all together suggests where the dragon egg might be. For example, the Hearts dowsing is associated with water, spring, and community, and the egg is lost to the currents of a river and washed away downstream from the chasing soldiers. The player chooses one of the four and draws twenty-three cards from the deck. Together with the selected Dowsing, these are placed face down in a six by four grid. Two Sanctuary cards are placed either side. The player’s die is put on one of these Sanctuary. Together, this forms the play area.
On a turn, the player moves from one card in the play area to another. A card can give the dowser more Resources or force him to expend them. Cards also have a Description and a Prompt. For example, the ‘3 of Hearts’ has the Card details, “I should trust my instincts… and my crystal more!”; the Description, “A stranger you meet at a crossroads says there are a clutch of dragon eggs to the north. You follow the path to straight into an ambush.”; and the Prompt of, “Describe the fight. How do you survive the ambush?”. Lastly, its Effect of -4 deducts Resources from the dowser’s pool. It is possible for the dowser to move in any direction, including returning to a card that has already been flipped over. Doing so will trigger the effect upon the Dowser’s Resources, but not the Description and the Prompt. The likelihood is that this will cost the Dowser in times of Resources, so it is better to keep moving forward and continue the search. At each stage the player describes what happens to his Dowser, taking inspiration from the Description and the Prompt. Both are written to be open-ended rather than proscriptive, allowing the player to engage his imagination.
If the Dowser finds the Dowsing he drew at the start of the game, he has found the egg. It is then his objective to return the egg to one of the Sanctuary cards. In doing so, he has succeeded and the game is over. There are still years of nurturing and training of the hatchling to come, but those are outside the scope of Dragon Dowser: A Journalling Game for One Player (though there is potential in a sequel to the game here). If the Dowser runs out of Resources before then, the play comes to an end, the Dowser has not succeeded, but he has not died. This does not mean that the Dowser cannot try again, whether from a rearrangement of the current spread of cards or from a completely fresh spread. It is also possible to discover other Dowsing cards or Aces in the grid of cards. This a definite moment of sadness for the Dowser as he has discovered the site of broken eggs. At this moment, he has the opportunity to offer a eulogy or a ritual to the lost hatchling.
The rules to Dragon Dowser are simple and easy to learn and play. This makes it suitable for younger players and this is helped by an extended example of a Dowsing that shows how the game is played in just a quick read through. The fact that the Dowser cannot die—just try again—also makes it suitable for younger players.
Physically, Dragon Dowser is well presented. It is a small, landscape format book with some excellent artwork, much of it replicated from the game’s cards. The writing is clean and simple, making the game easy to pick up and play. With only half of the deck being used at any one time, there is plenty of replay value in the game.
Dragon Dowser: A Journalling Game for One Player is both a solo journalling game and a map game, both of which require some Resource management. Proper handling of the latter will keep Dowser exploring, but the random nature of turning over cards and exploring means that the Dowser and his player is going to be constantly challenged, constantly weighing which up card to move to next. There is a high degree of luck in that the Dowser’s objective card—the Ace or Dowsing card—might be flipped over early in the game or much later. (One way to offset that might be to place it in the lower half of the cards drawn to form the grid.) Overall, Dragon Dowser: A Journalling Game for One Player is a charming journalling game that leaves a lot of room in how the player interprets the game’s prompts and how he tells his Dowser’s story.

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’, which sadly, is a very North American event. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2023’, which takes place today on Saturday, July 20th, 2024, the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #104: Return to the Starless Sea. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Grinding Keep’ and ‘Tuscon Death Storm’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #5: Gods of the Earth. Both DCC Day #5: Gods of the Earth and ‘The Grinding Keep’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst ‘Tuscon Death Storm!’ is the first scenario for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena spot and monetises it!

The DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack contains two scenarios. The first scenario is ‘The Grinding Keep’, a scenario by Marc Bruner written for four to six First Level Player Characters for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Drawing from the Appendix N of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, it is inspired by the works of Michael Moorcock and John Bellairs. The scenario is a locked room—or manor house—puzzle box, where the Player Characters have been sent to locate the Enduring Light, a lantern whose light is said to bless those it falls upon. The butler seems welcoming as silent staff serve them drinks and later diner as they await an audience with the lord of the manor. It is of course, designed to lull them into a false sense of security as the following morning, the Player Characters find themselves trapped in a house that seems to change around them in random fashion as they move from location to location. The home definitely feels bigger on the inside and if the Player Characters are not careful, they will get lost and separated from each other. There is something strangely organic about the house and this becomes increasingly apparent as the Player Characters explore further and it literally comes alive. Surprisingly, the Enduring Light is easy to find, but getting out of the house is another matter. To do this, they will need to work through several puzzles, some of which are quite challenging and some of which do rely on player knowledge.

Although the scenario is short, it is not straightforward and it does require more preparation than its length suggests. This is primarily due to the random nature of the movement throughout the scenario’s second half and the puzzle elements that need to be solved before the Player Characters can progress. Consequently, the scenario may be slightly too complex for anyone playing the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game for the first time. It is possible for the Player Characters to hack their way out, but the puzzle solving method is much more satisfying. Overall, ‘The Grinding Keep’ serves up a solid dollop of Dungeon Crawl Classics weirdness.

‘Tuscon Death Storm!’ is the first scenario to be released for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, prior to its actual release. Written by the game’s designer, Brendan Lasalle, it is a bit of an odd choice—at least as a first release. First, it is designed for Second Level Player Characters, and second, it takes place outside of an Xcrawl arena where most of the action in the roleplaying game takes place. So, it is of no use to a Judge beginning her Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game campaign and it requires the Player Characters to have acquired at least a Level before attempting it. As a demonstration game it also does not showcase what the game is about either. In fact, it is closer to a straightforward dungeon for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game than it is a Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game scenario. However, this does not mean that it is actually a bad scenario, but rather that its set-up and release are untimely. Plus, if the Judge can hold on and run this scenario once the Player Characters in her campaign have reached Second Level, then ‘Tuscon Death Storm!’ comes into its own.

In ‘Tuscon Death Storm!’, the Player Characters are Xcrawlers on the up, having taken their first footsteps in the area. This brings them to the attention of DJ Creature Feature, an industry veteran notorious for the popular Necromerica event. She has lost contact with a colleague, producer Margaret Cauldwell, who was working on converting a recently discovered temple just outside of Tuscon, Arizona, into an Xcrawl dungeon arena. Having already sent people to check up on her and her team, DJ Creature Feature asks the Player Characters to go and investigate. If they, then she promises access to a Division II event and sponsors for the event, which would be a big step up in terms of the Player Characters’ careers. This—and the fact that the scenario showcases how playing in the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game—is where ‘Tuscon Death Storm!’, adding depth and detail to the Xcrawl world beyond the walls of the arena.

The scenario is short, running to just nine locations and seven pages. It is also linear, but it is nicely detailed, the descriptions neatly contrasting the ancient feel of the temple with the equipment and plans of a modern work crew along with health and safety concerns. The monsters that the Player Characters will face are modern twists on old creatures—though at the end of it, they are likely to be sick of a certain breed of dog. They will have to face on the sponsored beverage monsters that the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game is fond of. A great touch is that the Player Characters’ efforts to investigate the old temple are being filmed so that the footage can be turned into a documentary to promote the new area. The recording process also means that the Player Characters are still performing and still do grandstanding moves to gain bonuses.
Ultimately, ‘Tuscon Death Storm!’ gives the Player Characters opportunities to be heroes outside of the arena, make some contacts, and hopefully give their careers a lift. It is a decent ‘in-between’ scenario that slips into an ongoing campaign with ease and pushes it along a bit.

Physically, the DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent and the cartography well done. The cover is very nicely done, showing the Xcrawlers at a bar watching the activities of the Player Characters in ‘The Grinding Keep’ scenario, whilst the inside artwork depicts the reverse. That is, the Player Characters of ‘The Grinding Keep’ scenario looking at a group portrait of the Xcrawlers in a victory pose. It is a nice touch.

The DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack is a solid release for Goodman Games’ own celebratory day. Both scenarios are good, but not immediately useful, either due to the extra preparation required or the relative awkwardness of fitting it into a campaign.

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

—oOo—

Treasures of Deep Grotto is a scenario for Sink!, the piratical setting for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Published by Crimson Herald via Hitpoint Press, it is designed to be played by four Third Level Player Characters in a single session. Notably, it employs the unique mechanic called the ‘Soul Link’. It represents a Player Character’s connection to his soul, mechanically represented by his Hit Dice. During play, a Player Character’s Hit Dice can be affected and drained by various effects, such as traps and magical attacks, but it can also be used as a source of power to fuel magical items. However, the downside is that if a Player Character suffers the ‘Sunken’ condition—potentially common in a nautical and piratical setting like Sink!—he can die if he is reduced to zero Hit Points when he also has his Hit Dice reduced to zero! Thus, Hit Dice are an important new resource in the Sink! setting. In addition, Sink! also adds tattoos as magical items. These are treated as wondrous items and are created using a magical needle. Four are detailed. They are the Assassin’s Tattoo, the Flicker Tattoo, the Ironbound Tattoo, and the Skyward Tattoo. Each grants a special effect, such as ‘Feather’s Grace’ for the Skyward Tattoo, which grants limiting flying speed.
The scenario begins en media res with the Player Characters already having been shipwrecked and suffering the ‘Sunken’ condition. The Player Characters are part of the crew of the Misty Mermaid, which has been attacked and sunk by the Hades Hound, a pirate ship commanded by Captain Grimscar, a warlock in the service of the powerful sea-bound fiend, Y’agthul. The Dread Admiral Y’agthul commands the Black Armada, and as one of his lieutenants, Captain Grimscar has been ordered to sail the seas around the chain of islands known as ‘The Blots’ and seize ships for plunder and the souls of their crews and passengers. These he must return to the Isle of Journey’s End where the Deep Grotto, home to one of the crossroads of life and death, and give them to his master. After the prologue which explains how they got there, the Player Characters, washed ashore, they are approached by the Misty Mermaid’s lucky—lucky were it not for the attack by Captain Grimscar and the Hades Hound—Sea Gnome* who tells them where they are and what they need to do. Which of course is to defeat Captain Grimscar and his master!
* Somewhat tweely dressed in tweed flat cap and cream-coloured cable knit sweater.
Although other adventure hooks are listed, they are all to get the Player Characters to the Isle of Journey’s End. There are three of them, whereas perhaps four would have been better to each give the four Player Characters the adventure is designed for to each have their own motivation. The Deep Grotto is a small dungeon, with just four locations. These are decently detailed, with links to monster stats and other details in the book clearly marked. The plotting is quite simple. The Player Characters must overcome or solve two puzzles located in two parallel watery chambers. Doing so enables them to unlock access the main room, the Sanctuary, where they confront Captain Grimscar before his master, the fiend, Y’agthul. This is a challenging combat, as not only do the Player Characters have to fight the pirate captain, but they also have to defeat Lubber and Swabbie, his eel fiend familiars, and all under the baleful influence of Y’agthul!
Four pre-generated Player Characters are available to download via the publisher’s website. They consist of a Half Orc Mist Born Ranger who can tether others with magical, ethereal harpoons and then zap them with lightning; a Human Buccaneer Fighter; a High Elf Spellskin Wizard whose spells are tattooed onto his skin some which can be shared with his allies; and a Half-Elf College of Tidesong Bard who can entreat allies to join in a Sea Shanty and gain Advantage on a single attack, ability check, or saving throw each turn for a minute. Of the four, the Fighter feels underwritten, but otherwise they showcase some of the Player Character options in the Sink! setting.
In addition to the four tattoos in the book—which the Dungeon Master is encouraged to let the players choose one each for their characters, Treasures of Deep Grotto describes three magical items. All of these work with the ‘Soul Link’ mechanic introduced in the scenario. For example, Dead Man’s Promise is a ring of coral found on the fingers of drowned sailors which grants the wearer an extra Hit Die to use with the ‘Soul Link’ mechanic and which can be used once to expend that Hit Die to recover Hit Points.
Physically, Treasures of Deep Grotto is a small, slim book. It needs a slight edit in places, but artwork stands out. Done in the style of traditional nautical tattoos, they really are very good and for the Dungeon Master impart an engaging sense of the Sink! setting. The writing could have been clearer in places. In particular, it is not quite clear if Captain Grimscar has the Player Characters’ souls or not.
Treasures of Deep Grotto is a short, action-packed scenario, with an emphasis on combat and puzzles. In fact, there is very little interaction and roleplaying involved in the scenario. For a one-shot, that is less of an issue than for a longer scenario where the plot would be longer and more involved. That said, Treasures of Deep Grotto can easily be added to a campaign in the Sink! setting and with some adjustment shifted to another setting with a strong nautical or piratical theme. Overall, Treasures of Deep Grotto is solid introduction to the Sink! setting and some of its ideas, with much of the flavour being imparted by the traditional tattoo artwork.

The story of Demeter is told in full after it runs a ground.

CUTTING FROM “THE DAILYGRAPH,” 8 AUGUST

(Pasted in Mina Murray’s Journal.)

From a Correspondent.

Whitby.

ONE of the greatest and suddenest storms on record has just been experienced here, with results both strange and unique. The weather had been somewhat sultry, but not to any degree uncommon in the month of August. Saturday evening was as fine as was ever known, and the great body of holiday-makers laid out yesterday for visits to Mulgrave Woods, Robin Hood’s Bay, Rig Mill, Runswick, Staithes, and the various trips in the neighbourhood of Whitby. The steamers Emma and Scarborough made trips up and down the coast, and there was an unusual amount of “tripping” both to and from Whitby. The day was unusually fine till the afternoon, when some of the gossips who frequent the East Cliff churchyard, and from that commanding eminence watch the wide sweep of sea visible to the north and east, called attention to a sudden show of “mares’-tails” high in the sky to the north-west. The wind was then blowing from the south-west in the mild degree which in barometrical language is ranked “No. 2: light breeze.” The coastguard on duty at once made report, and one old fisherman, who for more than half a century has kept watch on weather signs from the East Cliff, foretold in an emphatic manner the coming of a sudden storm. The approach of sunset was so very beautiful, so grand in its masses of splendidly-coloured clouds, that there was quite an assemblage on the walk along the cliff in the old churchyard to enjoy the beauty. Before the sun dipped below the black mass of Kettleness, standing boldly athwart the western sky, its downward way was marked by myriad clouds of every sunset-colour—flame, purple, pink, green, violet, and all the tints of gold; with here and there masses not large, but of seemingly absolute blackness, in all sorts of shapes, as well outlined as colossal silhouettes. The experience was not lost on the painters, and doubtless some of the sketches of the “Prelude to the Great Storm” will grace the R. A. and R. I. walls in May next. More than one captain made up his mind then and there that his “cobble” or his “mule,” as they term the different classes of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passed. The wind fell away entirely during the evening, and at midnight there was a dead calm, a sultry heat, and that prevailing intensity which, on the approach of thunder, affects persons of a sensitive nature. There were but few lights in sight at sea, for even the coasting steamers, which usually “hug” the shore so closely, kept well to seaward, and but few fishing-boats were in sight. The only sail noticeable was a foreign schooner with all sails set, which was seemingly going westwards. The foolhardiness or ignorance of her officers was a prolific theme for comment whilst she remained in sight, and efforts were made to signal her to reduce sail in face of her danger. Before the night shut down she was seen with sails idly flapping as she gently rolled on the undulating swell of the sea,

“As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.”

Shortly before ten o’clock the stillness of the air grew quite oppressive, and the silence was so marked that the bleating of a sheep inland or the barking of a dog in the town was distinctly heard, and the band on the pier, with its lively French air, was like a discord in the great harmony of nature’s silence. A little after midnight came a strange sound from over the sea, and high overhead the air began to carry a strange, faint, hollow booming.

Then without warning the tempest broke. With a rapidity which, at the time, seemed incredible, and even afterwards is impossible to realize, the whole aspect of nature at once became convulsed. The waves rose in growing fury, each overtopping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster. White-crested waves beat madly on the level sands and rushed up the shelving cliffs; others broke over the piers, and with their spume swept the lanthorns of the lighthouses which rise from the end of either pier of Whitby Harbour. The wind roared like thunder, and blew with such force that it was with difficulty that even strong men kept their feet, or clung with grim clasp to the iron stanchions. It was found necessary to clear the entire piers from the mass of onlookers, or else the fatalities of the night would have been increased manifold. To add to the difficulties and dangers of the time, masses of sea-fog came drifting inland—white, wet clouds, which swept by in ghostly fashion, so dank and damp and cold that it needed but little effort of imagination to think that the spirits of those lost at sea were touching their living brethren with the clammy hands of death, and many a one shuddered as the wreaths of sea-mist swept by. At times the mist cleared, and the sea for some distance could be seen in the glare of the lightning, which now came thick and fast, followed by such sudden peals of thunder that the whole sky overhead seemed trembling under the shock of the footsteps of the storm.

Some of the scenes thus revealed were of immeasurable grandeur and of absorbing interest—the sea, running mountains high, threw skywards with each wave mighty masses of white foam, which the tempest seemed to snatch at and whirl away into space; here and there a fishing-boat, with a rag of sail, running madly for shelter before the blast; now and again the white wings of a storm-tossed sea-bird. On the summit of the East Cliff the new searchlight was ready for experiment, but had not yet been tried. The officers in charge of it got it into working order, and in the pauses of the inrushing mist swept with it the surface of the sea. Once or twice its service was most effective, as when a fishing-boat, with gunwale under water, rushed into the harbour, able, by the guidance of the sheltering light, to avoid the danger of dashing against the piers. As each boat achieved the safety of the port there was a shout of joy from the mass of people on shore, a shout which for a moment seemed to cleave the gale and was then swept away in its rush.

Before long the searchlight discovered some distance away a schooner with all sails set, apparently the same vessel which had been noticed earlier in the evening. The wind had by this time backed to the east, and there was a shudder amongst the watchers on the cliff as they realized the terrible danger in which she now was. Between her and the port lay the great flat reef on which so many good ships have from time to time suffered, and, with the wind blowing from its present quarter, it would be quite impossible that she should fetch the entrance of the harbour. It was now nearly the hour of high tide, but the waves were so great that in their troughs the shallows of the shore were almost visible, and the schooner, with all sails set, was rushing with such speed that, in the words of one old salt, “she must fetch up somewhere, if it was only in hell.” Then came another rush of sea-fog, greater than any hitherto—a mass of dank mist, which seemed to close on all things like a grey pall, and left available to men only the organ of hearing, for the roar of the tempest, and the crash of the thunder, and the booming of the mighty billows came through the damp oblivion even louder than before. The rays of the searchlight were kept fixed on the harbour mouth across the East Pier, where the shock was expected, and men waited breathless. The wind suddenly shifted to the north-east, and the remnant of the sea-fog melted in the blast; and then, mirabile dictu, between the piers, leaping from wave to wave as it rushed at headlong speed, swept the strange schooner before the blast, with all sail set, and gained the safety of the harbour. The searchlight followed her, and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship. No other form could be seen on deck at all. A great awe came on all as they realised that the ship, as if by a miracle, had found the harbour, unsteered save by the hand of a dead man! However, all took place more quickly than it takes to write these words. The schooner paused not, but rushing across the harbour, pitched herself on that accumulation of sand and gravel washed by many tides and many storms into the south-east corner of the pier jutting under the East Cliff, known locally as Tate Hill Pier.

There was of course a considerable concussion as the vessel drove up on the sand heap. Every spar, rope, and stay was strained, and some of the “top-hammer” came crashing down. But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat tombstones—“thruff-steans” or “through-stones,” as they call them in the Whitby vernacular—actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which seemed intensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight.

It so happened that there was no one at the moment on Tate Hill Pier, as all those whose houses are in close proximity were either in bed or were out on the heights above. Thus the coastguard on duty on the eastern side of the harbour, who at once ran down to the little pier, was the first to climb on board. The men working the searchlight, after scouring the entrance of the harbour without seeing anything, then turned the light on the derelict and kept it there. The coastguard ran aft, and when he came beside the wheel, bent over to examine it, and recoiled at once as though under some sudden emotion. This seemed to pique general curiosity, and quite a number of people began to run. It is a good way round from the West Cliff by the Drawbridge to Tate Hill Pier, but your correspondent is a fairly good runner, and came well ahead of the crowd. When I arrived, however, I found already assembled on the pier a crowd, whom the coastguard and police refused to allow to come on board. By the courtesy of the chief boatman, I was, as your correspondent, permitted to climb on deck, and was one of a small group who saw the dead seaman whilst actually lashed to the wheel.

It was no wonder that the coastguard was surprised, or even awed, for not often can such a sight have been seen. The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix, the set of beads on which it was fastened being around both wrists and wheel, and all kept fast by the binding cords. The poor fellow may have been seated at one time, but the flapping and buffeting of the sails had worked through the rudder of the wheel and dragged him to and fro, so that the cords with which he was tied had cut the flesh to the bone. Accurate note was made of the state of things, and a doctor—Surgeon J. M. Caffyn, of 33, East Elliot Place—who came immediately after me, declared, after making examination, that the man must have been dead for quite two days. In his pocket was a bottle, carefully corked, empty save for a little roll of paper, which proved to be the addendum to the log. The coastguard said the man must have tied up his own hands, fastening the knots with his teeth. The fact that a coastguard was the first on board may save some complications, later on, in the Admiralty Court; for coastguards cannot claim the salvage which is the right of the first civilian entering on a derelict. Already, however, the legal tongues are wagging, and one young law student is loudly asserting that the rights of the owner are already completely sacrificed, his property being held in contravention of the statutes of mortmain, since the tiller, as emblemship, if not proof, of delegated possession, is held in a dead hand. It is needless to say that the dead steersman has been reverently removed from the place where he held his honourable watch and ward till death—a steadfastness as noble as that of the young Casabianca—and placed in the mortuary to await inquest.

Already the sudden storm is passing, and its fierceness is abating; crowds are scattering homeward, and the sky is beginning to redden over the Yorkshire wolds. I shall send, in time for your next issue, further details of the derelict ship which found her way so miraculously into harbour in the storm.

Notes: Moon Phase: Full Moon

This is the start of Chapter 7.  I have already placed the Demeter's logs in chronological order in this series to get a full reckoning of all events. 

This is a rather picaresque bit of prose to describe the Whitby environs. While newspapers of today are more direct and to the point, this style was very common.  

Stoker invokes Coleridge here for "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." This won't be the last time. His descriptions of Lucy later on are similar to Coleridge's Specter-Woman. 

The captain of the ship, steadfast to the end, is discovered dead at the helm. 

Even now, the storm that would inspire so many artists (as claimed) is abating. 

The question I have remaining. Did Mina paste this into her Journal right away, or did she add it after the event were known to her? 

 I picked these up last week but forgot to mention them here.

These are the first class "Forever" stamps and there are 20 stamps of 10 designs. At 73¢ each this sheet costs $14.60.

Given the amount of letters I send, this might last me till D&D's 60th anniversary!