TROIKA! is the Science Fantasy roleplaying game of weird and whimsical adventure across the universe and beyond. Originally published by the Melsonian Arts Council in 2016, mechanically, it is inspired by the most British of roleplaying games—the Fighting Fantasy series of solo adventure books—and fiction as diverse as Jack Vance’s Dying Earth tales, Michael Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius adventures, and the baroque future of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. With no limit as to where, and possibly even when, the Player Characters can go—whether by eldritch portal, non-Euclidean labyrinth, or golden-sailed barge from crystal Sphere to another, they are essentially the flaneurs of the far future. The game combines simple character creation and easy rules, but with rich character ideas. However, what strikes you about the new edition of TROIKA! is its format: a light softback book with spine cover unglued so that the front cover folds out and sits flat to show the map of ‘The Blancmange & Thistle’, the hotel that is the site for the adventure of the same included in the book. Not only does the front cover sit flat, so does the book as a whole on the table, making it physically very easy to read. That is in addition to the fact that TROIKA! itself is easy to read and digest.

TROIKA! begins with character creation. A Player Character is defined by his Skill, Stamina, and Luck. A player rolls for each of these, notes his possessions, and then rolls for his Background. Each Background provides several Advanced Skills, which can be actual skills or they can be spells. There are thirty-six of these, ranging from the ordinary to the outré—and there are definitely more of the latter than the former. So the ordinary include the Burglar, the Chaos Champion on a sabbatical from plunging worlds into chaos and speaks Kurgan no less, the Member of Miss Kinsey’s Dining Club whose members will and can eat anything that can be imagined edible, and Questing Knight, whilst the outré includes the Befouler of Ponds, high priest of the Great Toad and his reed filled waters; a Parchment Witch’ long dead sorcerer who wraps herself in perfectly beautiful paper skin; and many more.

Name: MacKack
Background: Monkeymonger
Skill 5
Stamina 19
Luck 6

ADVANCED SKILLS
Climb 4, Trapping 2, Club Fighting 1, Knife Fighting 1

POSSESSIONS
Knife, rucksack, lantern, flask of oil, provisions (six), 4 silver pence, monkey club, butcher’s knife, pocket full of monkey treats, five small monkeys

Mechanically, TROIKA! is very simple. To undertake an action, including casting a spell, a player rolls two six-sided dice, the aim being to roll equal to, or less than, his character’s Skill attribute. If the character has an appropriate Advanced Skill, the player adds that to his character’s Skill attribute. A roll of two sixes always indicates that the action fails. In contests, such as a race or a combat, the combatants roll two six-sided dice each, and each add any appropriate bonuses or Advanced Skill. The highest roll indicates the winner. Luck is tested when a Player Character is subject to fate. It is reduced by one no matter whether the test is a success or a failure. It can be recovered after several hours of rest.

Combat uses the same mechanics except initiative. This requires a lot of different coloured tokens and a container or cloth bag. The players each then add two dice of the same colour, but different to the other players, to the bag. The Game Master also adds a number of dice equal to the total enemy initiative. One last token, of an entirely different colour, is also added to the bag. This is the ‘End of Round’ token. All together, this is the called the Initiative Stack. When a token is drawn from the container, the NPC or Player Character whose token has been drawn, gets to act. When the ‘End of Round’ token is drawn, the round ends. This has an interesting range of effects. Players no longer know when their characters are going to act and may face innumerable actions upon the part of the enemy, before they have the opportunity to act. Further, they may not even get to act before the round ends. Opponents can have multiple tokens in the stack, perhaps because they are faster, more cunning, or better prepared, or have fewer tokens in the stack, because they are slower, cowardly, uncertain, and so on. It can also mean that the same opponent acts multiple times in a round, though this really applies to bigger or more powerful monsters, for example, a dragon, who have multiple options in terms of what they can do or attack with. (As an aside, this has a side effect of TROIKA! not being easy to run online.)

Armour is classified as either light, medium, and heavy, and reduces damage suffered by either one, two, or three points respectively. If a Player Character’s Stamina is reduced to zero, he is dying and his fellow Player Characters have roughly a round or so to act before he actually dies.

Casting a spell in TROIKA! costs the caster points of Stamina and also requires a Skill roll. A rolls of two ones always succeeds and a roll of two sixes not only fails, but necessitates a roll on the ‘Oops! Table’. The spells again range from the ordinary to the outré. The ordinary includes Darkness, which creates a sphere of blackness, and Find, which enables the castor to locate a lost object. Examples of the outré include Coal Resolve, which turn the target’s heart into a burning ember of grief which captures his entire focus, rendering him immune to mind control or physical pain, and Thought Vapour, which grants the caster’s nose a multidimensional presence enabling it to smell emotions, attitudes, and thoughts, though strong smells can block this effect.

Enemies in TROIKA! are simply defined. An Enemy’s Skill covers everything it can do, including the equivalent of a Player Character’s Advanced Skills as well as covering Luck, Stamina is generally lower to encourage faster combat and play, Initiative indicates the number of tokens that the Game Master adds to the Initiative Stack, and Armour indicates how much its protection, whether thick hide, worn armour, or incorporeality, reduces damage suffered. The damage an enemy can do is random, but the range determined by its size. Every one of the enemies described in TROIKA! is given a Mien table to help indicate its behaviour. And again, just like the spells and the Backgrounds, Enemies include the ordinary and the outré. There are Boggarts, Cyclops, Dragons, Goblins, and Harpies, but also Khabits, the cloned handmaids and officers of Exultants, used to fill out the attendance at parties and often as a source of spare organs for their clone-parents, but really want to replace or inherit from them; Notules, formless and freezing star-creatures which are sometimes used as a means of murder by targeting a victim to have their warmth sucked out to leave behind an unmarked corpse; and the Sympathy Serpent, which does not aggressively constrict its prey, but takes them in a gentle embrace and soothes them reassuringly that life is indeed soul-crushingly awful whilst swallowing them whole…

Rounding out TROIKA! is the introductory adventure, ‘The Blancmange and Thistle’. It is as weird as the Backgrounds that the Player Characters are likely to have. They arrive at their hotel to discover that it is hosting the Feast of the Chiliarch on the top floor, the consequences of which are there is only one room left in the hotel and it too, is on the top floor. Getting to their hotel room is a challenge and the meat of the scenario. The primary routes are by the Mandrill-operated lift or the stairs. There are some absolutely terrific encounters here, such as a Sweet Old Lady who asks lots of questions and the process gets the players to think about and describe their characters, rewarding their characters with magical bonbons; a Gas Form alien whose presence will drown the Player Characters, essentially forcing them to deal with an environmental threat; let them go shopping and peruse the wares of a Pushy Wall merchant; and more. There is an entirely different set of encounters on the stairs. This a genuinely fun adventure, for player and Game Master alike, well designed with just about the right level of oddness without overwhelming the players.

Physically, TROIKA! is cleanly and tidily presented. The artwork is cartoonish, mixing humour and weirdness in equal measure. The book itself is very light in the hand.

TROIKA! combines very quick and easy to learn and play rules with a set of fantastically entertaining and enticing choices for both for the players and the Game Master. These choices are wonderfully weird and whimsical in a very British way, slyly humorous, and all in readiness to explore the Crystal Spheres starting with the really fun scenario in the book.

In the mile-high tower of the Spire, the Aelfir—the High Elves—enjoy lives of extreme luxury, waited upon by the Destra—the Drow—whom they have subjugated and continue to oppress the criminal revolutionaries that would rise up and overthrow them. In the City Beneath, where heretical churches have found the freedom to worship their forbidden gods and organised crime to operate the drug farms that supply the needs of the Spire above, the Aelfir find themselves free of conformity, the Destra free of repression. They are joined by Gnolls and Humans. Some simply live free of the stifling Aelfir control, whether by means lawful or unlawful, others are driven to beyond the Undercity, delving ever deeper into the bowels of the world in search of the fabled Heart, or perhaps their heart’s desire. There are also those who use the Undercity as a sanctuary, as a base of operations, from which they lead the rebellion against the Aelfir. They are members of the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress, both a faith and a revolutionary movement, and outlawed for both reasons. As the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress foments and funds rebellion and unrest in the Spire above, it sends cells of its black ops paramilitary wing, Throne Division, scurrying up the Spire to conduct assassinations, acts of sabotage and blackmail, abductions, extractions, and more. This is done via the Vermissian, the great public transport network that would have bound the Spire and the City Beneath together. Throne Division takes advantage of its non-Euclidean magic to access every level of the Spire, but there are dangers to travelling its length, let alone the dangers to be faced in the execution of its missions.

Vermissian Black Ops is a supplement for Heart: The City Beneath, the roleplaying game that explores the horror, tragedies, and consequences of delving too deep into dungeons, published by Rowan, Rook, and Decard Ltd. In Heart: The City Beneath, the Player Characters are concerned with what lies beneath, and very rarely will they concern themselves with events in the Spire above, but in Vermissian Black Ops, the reverse is true. They will be conducting missions in the Vermissian and in the Spire, thus going up rather than down. This requires some significant changes to the rules of Heart: The City Beneath to account for this change. Thus, Player Characters gain advancements not from hitting story beats related to their Calling, but from completing missions; Domains, which represent experience of an environment or a knowledge of some kind, can be found in the Vermissian rather than just the Technology Domain; and in stead of using Haunts to remove Stress and Fallout from a character, the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress has numerous safehouses and access to doctors and spiritual guidance! To reflect the more combat oriented nature of a Vermissian Black Ops campaign and that the Player Characters are working for a proscribed organisation, the Combat and Ministry Fallout and Resistances are detailed.

Notes are included for combining Heart: The City Beneath and Spire: The City Must Fall via Vermissian Black Ops, essentially in troupe style play with players making characters for both roleplaying games and switching back and forth as necessary. Spire: The City Must Fall can also serve as a setting supplement for Vermissian Black Ops. That said, Throne Division operatives are advised not enter the Spire outside of their missions as they are wanted terrorists with a price on their heads, their time in the City Beneath has changed them enough that they stand out, and exposure to the Heart, even at a relative distance, means they leak weirdness…

Game play in Vermissian Black Ops is conducted as a series of operations, beginning and ending with using the Vermissian to get and from the target. In between can be many scenes, including the actual execution of the mission. Mission creation is intended to be co-operative, the Game Master as the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress assigning a mission and the players outlining together the objectives involved in completing the mission. One-shots are slightly different in that it is suggested that the Game Master creates the mission and its objectives herself. Numerous example operations are given here.

A list of Throne Division equipment is also detailed, such as the Coffin-Crawler, a multi-legged lead-lined box capable of automatically ferrying an operative juddering and lurching shielded from the invasive energies that flood parts of the Vermissian and the Witch-Hunter Railgun, which fires fizzing electro-magnets inscribed with runes designed to rip a magician’s soul from his body and pin it in place. Pride of place, of course, goes to the descriptions of the five lines of the Vermissian, from the Loft Lint atop the Spire with its access to the connected cathedrals to the Aelfir gods and the Autumnal Vaults, sanctified murder corridors where the masked adherents of the Harvest Church ceremonially hunt the Drow, to the Pulse Line which snakes underneath the City Beneath, all the way down to the Heart itself… Bar the Pulse Line, all of the lines are accorded a general description so as give each one a different flavour and feel, and numerous stations and accessible locations are detailed so that the Game Master can bring the transit from the Vermissian to the Spire and back again to life as well as the places that the Throne Operatives will be targeting with their Operations.

Rounding out Vermissian Black Ops is a selection of NPCs and enemies ready for the Game Master to use in her campaign. Arrayed against Throne Division operatives and the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress are the Paladins, the mighty army of one hundred killers sanctified by the Solar Church, which also uses the Vermissian to navigate the Spire and interdict against intrusion by Throne Division operatives, and the Spiral Council, the rulers of the city above, including each of its seven members and its elite guards, the Black Guard of Amaranth. Directing Throne Division operatives is the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress itself, the most successful and possibly maddest of the revolutionary fronts against the Aelfir in the Spire, with possible motivations for joining listed. Between them are the Vermissian Collective, a group of scholars and explorers who map and examine the transport network as much as they collect and hide the secrets of the Drow, and Gutterkin—Goblins, Kobolds, Trash Fairies, Toadgirls, and others—which form a secretive underclass in the City Beneath, but flourish in the Vermissian.

Physically, Vermissian Black Ops is a slim, very well-presented book. The artwork is excellent and the book is easy to read and understand.

Vermissian Black Ops essentially inverts Heart: The City Beneath and sends its players and their characters in the opposite direction, that is, up into the territory of Spire: The City Must Fall, rather than down towards the Heart. Thus, it focuses on campaigns that are not ‘traditional’ to Heart: The City Beneath, and not necessarily of use in Heart: The City Beneath, more episodic in nature given the operation style structure and emphasis on action and combat, whilst the expanded details of the Vermissian will be useful in a Spire: The City Must Fall campaign. Otherwise, Vermissian Black Ops enables the Game Master and her players to bring the revolutionary fervour of Spire: The City Must Fall to Heart: The City Beneath and send it all the way back up the towering city from a different direction.
—oOo—
Dagger in the Heart, a full length scenario for Heart: The City Beneath written by Gareth Hanrahan is currently funding on Backerkit.

Masks of Lankhmar is the first scenario written for Fritz Lieber’s Lankhmar setting published for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Indeed, the publisher, Goodman Games, released the scenario in 2015 before it published the actual Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set in 2017. Thus, it is written for use with the standard rules for Dungeon Crawl Classics rather than those given in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set. That said, the differences are relatively slight, and the Judge could easily run this scenario using the rules in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set. The scenario is designed for First Level Player Characters, who are dropped into the action en media res, and it can be played in a single session or so. It is designed as a ‘Meet’ scenario, one that throws a diverse bunch of characters together and as a consequence they decide to work together to perform a heist. In effect, Masks of Lankhmar is a starter scenario, one that can be used as the beginning adventure for a campaign set in the City of the Black Toga.
Masks of Lankhmar [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/161925/DCC-Lankhmar-Masks-of-Lankhmar?affiliate_id=392872] begins with the Player Characters in a cellar in the middle of a fight. This is not with each other, although they have all just discovered that they are in the cellar for the same reason. That is to break into the treasure vault of wealth caravan master, Igrik of the East, and steal a treasure known as the ‘Key of the Unwitnessed Sisterhood’, whilst Igrik of the East is holding a masque party to show off his acquisition. The fight is with members of the Slayers’ Brotherhood, hired to provide security, but once dispatched, the Player Characters have a moment to reflect and explain how they got there. This allows a moment of invention upon the part of the players before they decide to team up and continue the robbery together. This proceeds apace with the Player Characters facing a number of obstacles which are not too difficult to overcome before making their escape from the mansion of Igrik of the East. Between them and the exit though, are members of the Thieves’ Guild, which takes a dim view of freelancers like the Player Characters, especially if they are robbing the same place as the guild sanctioned thieves! Like the ways in which they got into the mansion of Igrik of the East, numerous options are suggested as to how they leave, each player being free to choose one or devise his own. Both of these are really fun montages of scenes as first their way in and then their out are played in the classic style of heist film.
What the Player Characters steal from Igrik of the East, ‘Key of the Unwitnessed Sisterhood’, is not so much a treasure, but a clue to an even bigger treasure. This is one of the Gilded Masks worn by the Unseen Sisters, the priestesses of the Mysteries of Djil. This cult absolved its worshippers of their sins with a single kiss in return for donations and as its coffers filled and it grew more popular, the jealousy of other temples in the city along with various nobles also grew, until a century ago, they banded together, convinced the city Overlord to outlaw the Mysteries of Djil, sacked its temples, and drove its priesthood from Lankhmar. The clue points to the Temple of Djil on the Plaza of Dark Delights, now the site of a slum tenement. There are options here for the Judge to run scenes where the Player Characters go to a scribe to get a translation and learn some more about their next target and then be accosted by one of Nehwon’s foremost wizards, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, to obtain one of the Gilded Masks of Djil for him. These two scenes can be omitted if the Judge wants to run a shorter game or is running Masks of Lankhmar as a convention scenario, but for a campaign game, these scenes are almost obligatory. In both cases, they introduce NPCs which can play a role in the campaign again and again, the sage as a useful source of information that the Player Characters can consult, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face as a lurking patron…

The second part of Masks of Lankhmar takes place in the Plaza of Dark Delights and the Temple of Djil that spires above it. Here they run the gauntlet of the local gang and the downtrodden slum dwellers, before getting into the temple itself. This is quite small, consisting of just six locations, a mix of puzzles and traps rather than combat encounters. The latter will come when more members of the Thieves Guild turn up, having followed the Player Characters to the temple. The ending of Masks of Lankhmar very much depends on who has possession of the Gilded Masks of Djil—the Player Characters, the Thieves Guild, or they have escaped themselves. Yes, the Gilded Masks of Djil are sentient! Whomever they end up with, there will be a chase across the city, probably over its rooftops in true Lankhmar fashion.

Physically, Masks of Lankhmar is as well presented as you would expect a scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game to be. The artwork is decent and the maps excellent, but the text could have been better organised in places.

Masks of Lankhmar is a linear adventure, but it is a solidly plotted one, with the focus entirely on the Player Characters and their actions. However, outside of that plot, there is little room for the Player Characters to act beyond its confines, bar the entertaining moments when the players get to describe how their characters get in and out of the mansion of Igrik of the East. Part of that is due to when Masks of Lankhmar was published, before the release of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set, so there was little for the Judge to work with. Now that is not the case. Part of it is also due to its short length and part of it is due it beginning en media res, so a lot of the planning and interaction associated with a heist takes place off-camera, before the adventure proper starts.

Masks of Lankhmar is an entertaining and fast-paced and atmospheric introduction to the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes. It would work well as a convention scenario and it would work well as a campaign starter that can be played in a single session or fleshed out using the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set.

It does not matter what you are doing. Working construction, cooking barbeque just like any dad, going to school on your skateboard, playing football for your champion team, on shift as a paramedic, or even just being a good dog, you always remember where you were when the invasion began. Not just Space Aliens are invading your hometown, but also Spider Robots, Sentient Plants, Giant Tentacles, and the Junk Blob! All of these Threats can be defeated, but only with the right scientific knowhow, and thus the right scientists. Unfortunately, the invasion has damaged buildings across the town and the fallen rubble has trapped every scientist in the town. With authorities busy elsewhere dealing with the Threats, it is up to you, ordinary men, women, and children, to rescue the scientists and defeat the invading Threats. All it takes is the right tools, a bit of co-operation with each other, and above all, speed. This is the set-up for Last Defense!, a game of planetary and hometown defence that is noticeable for three things. First, it is co-operative. Second, it is played in real-time. Third, it has a time limit. That time limit is twenty minutes. A time limit that never changes from one game to the next.

Last Defense! is designed to be played by between two and six players, aged eight and up. It also requires an app to play, as this acts as the game’s timer—hence the twenty-minute time limit. Published by Funko Games, it is designed by the Prospero Hall team, which has a track record of taking intellectual properties—some of them decades old such as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws: A Boardgame of Strategy and Suspense—and turning them into playable games. Last Defense! is not based on any intellectual property, but instead takes its inspiration from the Science Fiction ‘B’ movies of the nineteen fifties. The game is easy to learn and play.

The game consists of a game board, six character cards and figures, two dice, thirty-two tool cards, thirteen rubble tokens, thirteen scientist tokens, five Threat movers, five Threat cards, and the rules pamphlet. The board depicts various locations in the town, such as a school, bank, farmers’ market, hospital, megastore, plaza, and rest area. The six characters cards depict a BBQ Dad, Construction Worker, Good Dog, On-Call Nurse, Skateboarder, and Soccer Champ. Each character card has a full illustration, the character’s starting location, and a list of what a player does when it is it his turn. The character figures match their illustrations on their cards, and whilst not very detailed, do stand out in play on the board. The Tools die is numbered between one and three and indicates how many Tool cards a player draws when rolled on his turn, whilst the Move dice is numbered between two and four, indicating how many spaces he can move on his turn. The Tool cards depict a variety of objects, most notable of which are the Flare cards, which can be used to distract an invader and get past it. The rubble tokens hide the tools needed, such as a hard hat and a pair of pliers, to move the rubble and free the trapped scientist. The scientists include meteorologists, astrophysicists, biologists, chemists, and more. The five Threat cards and Threat movers (or standees) consist of Giant Tentacles, Junk Blob, Sentient Plants, Space Aliens, and Spider Robots. Each Threat card indicates which scientists known how to defeat it. For example, an astrophysicist and meteorologist will defeat the Space Aliens, whilst the biologist and engineer will defeat the Giant Tentacles.
To win Last Defense!, the players need to explore the rubble, reveal the tools necessary to free the scientist trapped by the rubble and get the tools to the location, then transport the rescued scientist to the plaza space in the middle of the town. If the right pair of scientists is in the plaza, they will defeat one of the Threats, whether a player is there or not. Only four of the five Threats will be invading the players’ hometown, but which ones varies from game to game. Once all four Threats are defeated, the players win the game. Otherwise, they lose.
Last Defense! is set up with the characters in their starting locations, the tool cards shuffled, and several sets of Token Stacks created. Each Token Stack consists of a rubble token placed on top of a scientist token, both face down. The app guides the players through this process, step-by-step, and then when everything is ready, it indicates which of the locations on the board have people trapped by rubble on them. A Token Stack is placed on these, with more being added when a Threat moves to a location. Both the four Threats invading and when they move are randomly determined by the app, which periodically announces threat movement.
On his turn, a player rolls both dice. He draws a number of Tool cards equal to the roll on the Tool die and moves as many spaces as he wants, up to the number rolled on the Move die. If he enters a location with a token stack, he can turn over a rubble token, revealing the tools required to free the scientist trapped by the rubble. If he has the right tools, he can free the scientist and transport him to the plaza. If a player ends his move on the same space as another player, he can give a Tool card to that player or take a Tool card from that player. A player can hold a maximum of five Tool cards. Instead of a scientist, a player might uncover a helicopter. This can be used to transport a player directly to another location on the board. If a threat occupies a location, a player cannot move into a location or end his turn on a location occupied by a threat, unless he can distract it with a flare or the location is special to the player, such as the school for the soccer champ or the shopping mall for the skateboarder.
If a player is in a location when a Threat appears in or moves to a location, the player is sent to the rest area and starts his move from there next turn, but leaves any scientists he had behind in that location. A new Token Stack is added to that location. In this way, the appearance or movement of a Threat impedes movement around the board, although what it can do is actually impede overall player progress as it can prevent them getting already revealed scientists to the plaza to stop the threats. Scientists on a location with a Threat on it cannot be reached unless the player has a Flare Tool card or the location is special to the player.
Play proceeds like this until the Threats are defeated and everyone wins or time runs out with one or more Threat left undefeated and everyone loses. Play is fast and energetic, the board game’s real time nature requiring a player to act rather than overthink his actions lest time be wasted, rolling the dice, drawing cards, moving, and then handing the dice to the next player. All the while, the players are listening to ominous nature of the app soundtrack, waiting for its news reporter to interrupt with some breaking news as to where a Threat has appeared or moved too.
Physically, Last Defense! is a very well done board game. All of the artwork is bright and breezy and the rules are clearly explained, and quick and easy to learn. The components are also of high quality. The app includes a link to a video to learn how to play, but once a game begins keeps everything moving, reminding the players as to their time limit. One player will need to keep an eye on the app as the game progresses.
Last Defense! is a simple, straightforward co-operative game. It is easy to lean by both younger players and a family audience. As a family game, it is bright and breezy, fast playing, and tense. For board game veterans, Last Defense! is solidly playable, but does not offer much in the way of depth or replay value. There is an option for a more advanced game, but this does not add anything in the way of complexity or extra options. Any player wanting special ability like that provided for each of the characters in Pandemic will be disappointed.
Last Defense! is a solid family game that mixes modern, co-operative play with play against the clock that adds just about the right sense of jeopardy. Its twenty-minute play time means that it does not outstay its welcome, and whilst veteran players will find it a little too light, this is still game that they can play with their family.

I needed a bit of a break before tackling this one.

I covered Gary Gygax's Dangerous Journeys: Mythus on Tuesday. I also wanted to go over the second (or third) volume of his Mythus game, the book of magic called, easily enough, Dangerous Journeys: Mythus Magic (1992).   I will not go into as much detail on this one for the same reasons I actually find this book more interesting, it is largely a collection of spells and rituals.

Gary Gygax's Dangerous Journeys: Mythus Magick (1992)

Gary Gygax with Dave Newton. 384 pages. Color covers. Black-and-white interior art.
Published by Games Designer Workshop.

We open this book and it is described as "the Colossus (or more appropriately, the Merlln) of all magick books!" Well...it is certainly large and very in-depth.

I will start in the middle and mention that a full 270 pages of this book are "Castings," so Spells, Cantrips, Rituals, and the like. They are interesting in a very academic sense. If you are going to play this game (ve con Dios) and play any type of spell caster, then this is a must-have book.  IF you are the type like me and love reading about different sorts of magic and magical systems, then this is a very interesting book with some RPG applications. I am not about to try to convert these to any form of D&D mind you. It just would be easier to convert something like Judika Illes' "The Element Encyclopedia of 1000 Spells." And at least Illes writes in a way that can be plainly understood. 

The spells range from the useful (Heka Bolt, Find Traps) to the oddly named (Acclumséd—make someone clumsy) to the largely unneeded (Candlemake Formula—make 10 beeswax candles. Still need 10 BUCs of supplies; might be cheaper to buy them.) That's fine; it's hard to come up with 1,400 different spells. All of these spells are split up by vocation. So, at least, we have that going for us. 

Returning to the beginning, we get a repeat of the material from the core book on what Heka is. Or rather, I should say the core book summarizes what is here. 

We learn more than we ever wanted about the sources of Heka. To be fair, there is some material that people might find useful in their games. However, I will point out that a lot of this can be found by going to other sources. No, I am not saying that Gary copied anything here! These are some classical ideas (crystals, times of day, times of the year, places) that have more or less magical energy. Gary takes these ideas and codifies them for his game. Again, similar information can be found in other sources that are a bit more approachable. Bard Games' "The Complete Spellcaster" comes to mind. Still, this is much easier to read than, say, Isaac Bonewits' "Authentic Thaumaturgy."

There are chapters on Heka Users, Replenishing Heka, and the Structure of Magick. Look. I like reading this stuff, but there is more here than any RPG needs. 

This covers the first 30 or so pages. We learn that Heka (and it's pronounced "HEE-ka" not "Heck-Ah") is the sum of your Heka-producing K/S STEEPs, and every casting level has a base Heka cost and sometimes extra costs.

Remember all of those Spell Points and Mana systems for AD&D that started appearing on the internet (and before if your town had a good-sized gamer population)? Well, this is that dialed up to 17. If you play a caster, then your books are going to get used—a lot.

After all the spells there are sections on how to create new castings. Useful, for this game, but not others. It would be easier to create your own. There is even a section for on the spot creation. I think someone got a glimpse of Ars Magica or Mage and realized that for 1992 this was already an old and clunky system.

There are chapters on non-human Heka using HPs and Heka-based powers.

The last Chapter covers various magic items, which makes it a good read. 

There is a huge Bibliography that dwarfs Appendix N. What stops it from being truly useful are a complete lack of publication dates and publishers. I mean, yeah I can figure them all out (and have more than a few in my own library) but it seems...well, sloppy.

We also get a tome sheet for all the spells you can cast.

So, maybe even more than the Core Rules, I enjoy reading this book for the content, and I hate it more than the Core Rules in terms of playability.  There is just so much dense text here geared toward such low returns. People point to D&D Basic and Expert (B/X) as a masterpiece of word economy. In just 128 pages total there is everything you need to play to last years. That's not hyperbole, that is a documented fact at this point. Something that Mythus can't do in 800 pages (so far). This is yet another example of how a good editor is worth their weight in gold. 

If we look at this game as a Fantasy Heartbreaker, we can be amused and laugh a little at some of the ridiculousness of it all, and then brush of our heavily marked characters sheets and try to play a session. No one though in 2024 is going suggest playing a regular game of this though. Fun for an experiment while one of the regular players is away and you put the campaign on hold.

If we look at this though as something that was supposed to be the Magnum Opus of the father of RPGs, then we can't help but come away a little confused and maybe even a little sad about it.  What went wrong here? How did this get out of Gary's hands and into mine? Was it hubris? Was it something else? Was there so much desperation here to keep this from looking anything like D&D that good ideas were thrown out in favor of bad ones? I honestly have no idea. But here is the score right now, Gary made two games (or 1½), D&D and AD&D, that are nearly universally loved to this day. Then he made Cyborg Commando and Dangerous Journey, which are nearly equally reviled. 

I was going to spend some time figuring out Larina's spells, but honestly, I really can't anymore.

A Note About Mythus: Epic of Ærth

I had this book once upon a time and I will readily admit I enjoyed it. For fluff it was great stuff and reminded more of the Gygax of old. Yes I also remembered there were some questionable bits in it, but nothing I can recall off the top of my head. It was enough that I unloaded years ago at a game auction.

Ærth in the Mythus books reminded me a lot of the sort of Earth one sees in games like "Man, Myth, & Magic (1982)" or "Lands of Adventure (1983)." A mythical Earth that only exists in some sort of dreamtime.  Mind there is nothing wrong with this as a game world. In fact arguments could be made that these sorts of Earths are great for gaming. Obviously, I am a fan of the idea and would 1000% do a "Crisis on Infinite Ærths" one day.  If trying to get those three to work together didn't drive me insane first.

At the end of this I find this is where I am at. Mythus does not give me anything that Man, Myth, & Magic didn't also do 10 years before. Even as a Fantasy Heartbreaker, it doesn't live up. But I keep coming back to it, hoping to find something here that I missed. 

Sadly, due to the lawsuits that did come from TSR, Game Designers' Workshop was forced to close in 1996, leaving games like Traveller, Twilight2000, and Dark Conspiracy adrift for a number of years.

Today is the Spring Equinox, an in-between time of light and dark, winter and summer—the perfect time to talk about Fairies and Elves. My reading of this has already been fruitful, with two more monsters added to my Basic Bestiary: the Trollkönig and Rübezahl. I am sure there are more to come. Many of the Faerie Lords you will find in my Basic Bestiary can also be found here, in one form or another. So let's get into it.

Fairies and Elves

by Editors of Time-LIFE Books, 1984 (144 pages) 
ISBN 080945212X, 0809452138 (US Editions)

There is a certain Euro-centrism to this book and that is to be expected, though there are plenty of creatures that are similar to Elves and Fairies around the world. This gets better with other books and we saw this in the Wizards and Witches and the Lore of Love books.

Like all the books, this one is hardcover with canvas-like covering (this time green) illustrated by John Atkinson Grimshaw.  This volume has four chapters. Also like all the books this one is lavishly illustrated with both new and classical pieces. 

Chapter One: Lands Behind Enchantment's Veil

We are introduced to the worlds of the faeries and their myriad of names; the Daoine Side, the Tylwth Teg, and the Tuatha Dé Danann. Sometimes, they are also divided into camps of light and dark, like the Seelie and Unseelie or Liosálfar and Döckálfar. And all have multiple spellings. But all are immortal, or nearly so, and are members of a world long since gone by the time humans, or at least Christian humans, enter their lands.  But for a time, a brief time the Fair Folk and humans could live side by side and these tales would enter into the legends of a later time. 

Here, the fairies were more similar to humankind, with an air of regalness and otherworldliness, and of course, there were tales of their magic. One how the mere touch of the Queen of the Seelie court cured a young knight of his curse. Other tales on how trees would spring magical fruit or fountains of ale and wine. 

Some lived on the land, but many lived under it or even under the sea like the chieftan O'Donoghue. These lands, regardless of where they were had the same otherworldliness about them. 

A World in Miniature 

The great peoples of the fairies reduced in nature and size, so when the lands they had lived in were settled, it was believed that they had shrunk and were living, somewhat literally, under our noses. 

Chapter Two: Guardians of Field and Forest 

Here, many different types of fairies are discussed, and we move further afield than just Northern Europe. We meet the changeable Leshy, who could grow from diminutive size to that of a giant. Sylphs, some as small as mice, would flit about in the air. Hobgoblins like Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, were tricksters, but others like Churn-milk Peg were malicious. Willow fairies from Czech legends were as common as German wood nymphs and the mountains of Rübezahl.  Nearly every type of natural setting had a multitude of faeries of all shapes, sizes, and dispositions. 

And that was the problem. Wander too far off into a fairies' home territory and one ran the risk of becoming lost and not finding their way home for years, if ever.

Not all faeries were human in appearance, either. The Kelpie was an underwater horse that drank the blood of swimmers, for example. 

Others fit a theme. Russia's Father Frost was the lord of Winter, except in Denmark where that role was taken by the Snow Queen, and in Scotland it was the dreaded one-eyed hag, the Cailleac Bheur that ruled over winter and the cold. 

All faeires were considered to be part of and guardian of their locales or area. From the dread three Faerie Lords and Ladies of Winter mentioned above to the tine Brown Man, who was content just to protect one small house.

The Myrtle Tree's Sweet Tenant

This is the tale of a dryad of the Myrtle tree and her love of a human prince, and the women who were jealous of her and the extent they would go. To match with the theme the tree from which the dryad came from was in the prince's palace courtyard. She would come to the young prince at night for lovemaking and disappear before sunrise.  This infuriated the women he had been pledged too and must choose among them a wife. They stripped the leaves from her tree and broke of branches.  Out came the dryad and the women turned on her, stabbing her and breaking her bones. The prince distraught, gathered the bark, the leaves, and the bones and tried to fix the myrtle tree, but could not. He stayed in his chambers, distraught. The rains came and new tree grew and when it had bloomed, the dryad stepped out again. The Prince married her and cast his former mistresses into his dungeons.

Chapter Three: Of Fairy Raids and Mortal Missteps

The last chapter had a happy ending, but that was not always the case when it came to fairy and human interaction. Princesses were abducted by fairy kings. Faerie maidens seduced otherwise virtuous knights, and faeries of all sorts made sport with the poor wives and daughters of locals. Sometimes though the mortals were the ones looking for trouble, stepping into faerie rings to become lost or seeking out their feasts, or, as in the case of the infamous Goblin Market, find their wares. 

Faeries were notorious for stealing children, leaving ugly, mal-formed changelings in their place. Sometimes the babes could be found and rescued, other times, most times, they could not.  

Tam Lin 

It wasn't always the maidens that had to fear from the intentions of faeries, often mortal men were the target. Such was the case of Tam Lin the son of the Earl of Roxburgh. He had caught the eye of the Fairy Queen. He would have been lost forever had it not been for the courage, strength, and love of a mortal woman named Janet, who was able to turn Tam Lin away from the Fairy Queen. 

Chapter Four: The Heart's Far-Carrying Call 

Love between a mortal and faerie was never an easy path to take. Swan maidens could love a mortal, but only if the mortal hid their feather cloaks from them. Lamias craved the love mortal men, but equal craved the flesh of their children. Tales abound that if a mortal man ever struck his fairy bride she would leave him forever; maybe good advice for mortal brides as well!

Though not all tales ended bad, but all had a common theme; the road to true love is a hard one. We saw that in Lore of Love as well. Such is the next tale.

Trials of a Charmed Passion 

Sir Launfal was a knight in King Arthur's court. By chance, one night, he spied a fairy lady of such beauty that all thoughts of mortal women left him. She also saw him and would visit him whenever he wished for her by name, Tryamour. The Queen, though, became jealous and asked him who it was that had given him so much happiness. He then insulted his Queen by saying she was not as beautiful as the fairy lady's lowest handmaiden. An insult, of course, and one that nearly got him burnt at the stake. But Tryamour comes to the court, and all agree that there is no way that Sir Launfal is lying or insulting. They ride off together, leaving the mortal world.

Again, like Wizards and Witches, the theme here is that once there was magic in the old world, but now it is gone. Though that theme is less overt here and more of a given. Faeries, creatures of magic, were once part of this world and now they are not.

Again the stories tend to bleed into each other and there is the feeling of half being told a story and half reading a factual account of things that had happened. The effect is an engrossing one. 

It reflects what I have felt games like D&D have been missing. While yes, there is a Feywilde and lands of Faerie in many versions of the game, there is no real magic to them, if you know what I mean. There is nothing about them that brings them to life. There are few, if any, Faerie Lords and Ladies, and no reasons for them to do what they do. This is a book I'll come back to for more ideas and certainly more names and ways to use them.

Next time: Here there be Dragons! (for real this time)

 This week is Gary Con, so I thought while I am celebrating 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons, I would also spend some time with Gary Gygax's other two games he made after leaving TSR, where he created D&D. This week, I am coving Dangerous Journeys: Mythus.

A bit of background for those not 100% up to speed. Back in 1985, D&D brought in a lot of money, but the publisher, TSR, was in debt of $1.5 million. These reasons have been explained better and in more detail elsewhere; suffice to say that by the time the dust settled (almost), Gary Gygax had been kicked out of the company (but not yet the industry) he helped create.  He spent some time doing some novels with his New Infinity Productions where he also published his near-universally reviled Cyborg Commando. No, I am not going to review that one. Plus I don't own it.

After a little time away he returned to RPGs in 1992 with his new game, "Dangerous Dimensions," or DD for short. Well, TSR was not going to have any of that and threatened to sue (in fairness, it is from a playbook that Gary helped write), and his new game became Dangerous Journeys, and Mythus became the fantasy setting. 

Dangerous Journeys would be his new core system with Mythus, the Fantasy RPG. There was a mention of the supernatural horror game Unhallowed, which would have been fun. Plus, I would have loved to have had a fantasy RPG and a supernatural horror RPG that used the same system. 

Eventually, more pressure from TSR would kill Dangerous Journey, leaving only Mythus produced.

But what is Dangerous Journeys, and what is its setting, Mythus?

Gary Gygax's Dangerous Journeys (1992)

Gary Gygax with Dave Newton. 416 pages. Color covers. Black-and-white interior art. Some full-color art plates.
Published by Games Designer Workshop.

First some clarifications.

Dangerous Journeys is the system being used here. Mythus is the Fantasy RPG that uses the Dangerous Journeys system/rules.  Mythus is also divided into Mythus Prime, which is a basic game and Mythus Advanced, which is the advanced or full game. This book covers both the Mythus Prime and Mythus Advanced games.

This game was designed to address some of the perceived shortcomings of AD&D, though Gary could not come right out and say that. He had to be a bit oblique about it.  This book is huge and there is lot going on. 

Welcome to the Mythus Game

This introduction introduces us to the game and some RPG ideas like what an RPG is, what a Gamemaster is, and so on. None of which I think are needed here to be honest, its a bit much. But the meat is the Game Premise and, in some ways, the most interesting to me. Mythus takes place on Ærth, a world like our own but 1000 years in the past, so at the time of publication, 992 CE. Here, the myths of old are real, and we know about them because of Ærth's connection to Earth. So elves, dragons, and vampires are stories here, but there they were/are real. The trouble I am having with Ærth as presented is there is very little to differentiate it from our Earth save for window dressing. This is disappointing really since I feel there is something here if given the chance to grow a little. The maps and hints throughout the book are tantalizing but not enough.

Here we are also introduced to the next two books in the line "The Epic of Ærth" and "Mythus Magic." Of those two, I only have the Mythus Magic book. We are also introduced to the concept of the Basic and Advanced games. 

Your character in the game is a persona, or Heroic Persona, or HP. This game uses regular d6s and d10s for all the rolls. There are also d3 and d5 rolls here, but most will d%.

Mythus Prime Rules

Note: There is also a "Basic Set" sold separately as "Mythus Prime" that is a 144-page book. It is essentially the same as this section, with some expansions. 

This is the "Basic" game designed to get people started in the Mythus game. It is like the Advanced Mythus game in many ways but obviously simpler. I am not going to delve too deep here. I have read it many times over the years and I like some of the ideas here. But I can talk about them when I cover the Advanced Rules. This does cover the next 45 pages or so. Reading the chapter Creating your Heroic Persona, though, is a good one since the Advanced Mythus points back to it for character creation. There is more in the advanced game.

HPs (remember, Heroic Personas) have three Traits: Mental, Physical, and Spiritual. It is not a bad division, really, Tri-Stat would later do it to much success. In this Basic section all the steps are outlined by an example. So choose SEC (Socio-Economic Class), Traits, Vocation (not a class...), choose K/S (Knowledge/Skills), and STEEP points (Study, Training, Education, Experience, Practice); get your finances and possessions., and round off your character.  Compared to the flipping through pages, one has to do with AD&D 1st ed. This is an improvement, but compared to other games from around 1992, like, say, Vampire the Masquerade, it already felt dated. Still better than World of Synnibar, released the year before.

All characters get three K/S for free, Perception (Mental), Perception (Physical), and Riding/Boating.

There is a chapter on rolling and success. I go into that in detail with the advanced game. The same is true of the chapter after the next on Combat.

The third chapter is on Heka, or the force of Magic in the Mythus world.  Now this was an interesting one to me. In the 90s I was dying for a new magic system. It is interesting but wildly crunchy. Heka is determined by your HP's magical K/S. Again, more on this in a bit. 

Improving Skills & Abilities is after Combat, and the rules here as simple enough. you spend APs (accomplishment points, our XP stand-in) to improve. This one also gets more complicated in the Advanced Game.

A Chapter on Playing your HP, moving to the Advanced Game and some Gamemaster advice.

I like the idea of a simpler game to introduce the more complicated one, but I can't help but feel that the real game, the one that would been more successful, isn't somewhere in between. I mean we all did the same with Basic and Advanced D&D.  Feels like the same mistakes are being made here for completely different reasons.

There is a brief adventure for the Basic game, High Time at the Winged Pig, at the end of this section. To be honest, it's not really all that interesting, especially given that this is the same guy who gave us B2 and the TGD series. I mean the HPs meet in a tavern. Fine for 1974-1977, but 1992? We deserve better than this really.

Advanced Mythus

Now 55 pages later, we are now in the Advanced Mythus game.

We are referred to the Basic Mythus game often, but the steps for character creation are pretty much the same.

1. Determine Socio-Economic Status. It may not be the best way to run a game since no one will go here first anyway. People choose a concept and/or a class first. This, though, does have effects on what your HP can and can't do. A table of the percent of the population of every SEC level is also presented. Not sure if it is here for illustrative purposes or if you are supposed to have your character population conform to it. I should point out though that frequency distribution for "rolled characters" will never match the SEC Populations table, no matter what you do. This is why I wonder why it is here.  A lot depends on your HPs SEC. If the acronyms get to be too much, remember this is a Gygax game, and there will be a lot more. Now personally, I am not a fan of so much to be dependent on my HPs SEC (damnit now I am doing it), I mean I have my Taxes for that. I want to make kick-ass characters. Honestly, I'll just choose my vocation and then find an SEC that fits it.

2. Generate numbers for Traits/Categories/Attributes. We have the same traits as before, Mental, Physical, and Spiritual. These are divided into two categories each. Mnemonic/Reasoning (Mental), Muscular/Neural (Physical), Metaphysical/Psychic (Spiritual).  Each of these six has three Attribute scores: Capacity, Power, and Speed. So a total of 3+6+18=27 numbers to describe your character, I mean HP. That seems a bit excessive. Granted, we only need to roll up 18 of those (OR assign 6 in the point spread) and the others are derived. These scores range from 6 to 20, with 8-11 as the average. The maximum of any human attribute is 30 for physical (cap, pow, or spd) and 40 for mental or spiritual (cap, pow, or spd). There are two ways to get these numbers. The first is a point distribution method. You get a range of numbers to divide among the 6 categories the split them up for the cap, pow and spd scores and then add them up for Mental, Physical and Spiritual. The second is a 2d6+8 rolled for all 18. Again, examples are utilized here which helps. These numbers are used to determine "Critical Levels," "Effect Levels," "Wound Levels," and "Recovery Levels." They will also be used to determine an HP's Heka. 

3. Calculate STEEP for the HPs Knowledge/Skill areas. Players are encouraged to look over the vocations to see what areas they need to increase here. The same basic vocations are here, but a lot more are added. Now, vocations are not classes. Classes are picked in other games and then the skills are given. Here you start with the skills. While there are vocational packages that feel like classes, you could in theory ignore them and build a vocation of your own. There is an Appendix (E) here for that.  STEEP scores are 00 to 91+ with 00 as "no knowledge" and 91+ as Ultra-genius. There is a K/S of "Witchcræft," and it is sadly presented as nothing but pure evil. Even Demonology here is not so vilified.  Yes. I am taking this as a challenge.

4. Choose the HPs K/S sub-areas. This goes along with the various vocations. In the advanced game, there are three additional automatic skills, Etiquette/Social Graces, Native Tongue, and Trade Phoenician, which is the "Common" of Ærth.

5. Determine Personal information. This can be random or chosen.

6. Calculate the HPs Resources.  This is random based on SEC. The unit of currency is the BUC or...Basic Unit of Currency. So 50' of rope costs 10 BUCs. I am not sure if this is clever or irritating. 

This all covers about 70 pages. I glossed over a lot of it. 

Core Game Systems

These are our core rules. Rolls are made with the K/S areas. The six difficulty levels all have a multiplier to the HPs STEEP. They are Easy (x3), Moderate (the default x2), Hard (x1 [one would think a x1 would be the better default]), Difficult (x0.5), Very Difficult (x0.25), and Extreme (x0.1).  So if I want to read a scroll and my K/S in Dweomercræft is a 20 then if this were an Easy Challenge, then my chance to succeed is 20 x 3 or 60%. Moderate is 40% (20x2); if it is Very Difficult, then 20x0.25 or 5%, and 2% for Extreme. While so, a lot of the math is front-loaded on figuring out those K/S scores. These are roll-under abilities (roll under or equal). So, rolling 96% or above can be considered an automatic or even a special failure. 

We get guidelines for combining efforts, for rolling a K/S vs another K/S and so on.

There is also something called a Joss Factor (JF) which work like luck or hero points. At least...I think they do. There is not much here about it at all. If there are rules about how to regain Joss (and WHY is it called that?? Oh, I found an "in game" reason that explains nothing.) I have not found them. 

Spending APs is also covered for Traits and K/S areas. For this, advanced K/S descriptions are given. 

Combat is largely an application of the appropriate K/S areas. Combat is done in units called Critical Turns (CTs) of about 3 seconds each. The initiative is a d10 roll.  Armor reduces damage so HPs can take a lot of damage.  Combat can target hit locations, given the names with damage multipliers of: Non-Vital (x1), Vital (x2), Super-Vital (x3), and Ultra-Vital (x4). This is to account for creatures that might have different sorts of vital parts. It feels weird, but given what this game was trying to do, I can see the utility here. 

There is an insanity and madness mechanic, but as I have said before, I am never very fond of these. 

Heka & Magic

Heka was the god of and the word for magic in ancient Egypt (or Ægypt in this book). Now I will freely admit, this is also one of my favorite sections. It is a wonderfully complicated system that would have made Isaac Bonewits proud. We get a few spells, but there are more in the Mythus Magic book (Thursday).

More on Personas

This covers anything that can change in an HP, like a change in SEC to becoming a vampire. This also covers some basic monsters.  There are some examples of NPCs, or er...NHP? Oh, actually, they are OPs, or "Other Personas."  The "monsters" are divided into three categories: Evil Personas (EPs), Monstrous Personages (MPGs), and Mundane Personas (MPs).  Other than being descriptive, there is no real difference between these that I can tell, save for name/label. Maybe if they had different point spreads.  There are also Friendly Personas (FP), which are what they sound like. 

Magickal Items

Pretty much what is says on the tin. There isn't a lot of stuff here.

Condemned as Galley Slaves

An adventure for new HPs. 

Appendices follow.

So. This game. 

Let's be honest. It is not good. It's actually kind of embarrassing how bad it is. Not to say there are not good things in it.

There are a lot of things I do like about it, though. I love the idea of Ærth, and Necropolis is still a fun adventure. The Mythus Magic was also a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to going over it again on Thursday. That said, I love some of the fluff here and there are things I could use, but it is a lot od shifting wheat from chaff here. 

Larina ferch Siân of Ærth

The over-heavy-handedness of the "Witchcræft is pure evilTM!" and the inclusion of "wicca" vis-à-vis through the Wisewoman/Wiseman vocation (or Mystic, the book is not very clear on this) is just too tantalizing to pass up, even if character creation in this system has been universally reviled.  I think I will try the character today and some spells on Thursday.

I did find some character sheets online, but I am going with the one in the back of the book.  I considered doing the point spread, but I opted to roll up a new character instead. The numbers I got were a bit higher, but not very different from the point spread or the sample character. It also works out since I wanted a character similar to her AD&D stats.  

I admit that rolling up the characteristics and getting my derived scores was much faster than I expected. But then I got to the K/S area, and things ground to a halt. It is not that it is hard, just tedious.

Note: For all the talk that this is a Class-less system, the Vocations are classes in all but name really. 

So, our basic K/S skills are figured out as follows:

• Etiquette/Social Graces: SEC Level (6) x 5 = 30
• Native Tongue (Welsh/Keltic): 30 (above) + MMCap (16) = 46*
• Perception (Mental): 2d10 + MRCap (15) = 31**
• Perception (Physical) 2d10 + PNCap (12) = 28
• Trade Language: SEC (6) x 3 +MMCap (16) = 34
• Riding: SEC (6) x 5 = 30

* In some places it says SEC x5 for language others SEC x3.
** The formulas are reversed for these in the book. 

Now, I have to pick my Vocational K/Ss. I picked Wisewoman for Larina since that fits well, but be sure I'll be bumping up her Witchcræft. Since this is a spiritual Vocation, I can choose which perception to use, so I chose Perception (Mental). I think I could figure out how to knock together a "White Witch" option per Appendix E, but instead, I am just going to tweak the Wisewoman a bit.

For this, I just shifted the same K/Ss around and kept the same number of STEEP points (248).

Crap. Forgot to adjust for age. Not going to do it. Say I rolled the appropriate number, and those above are the adjusted ones.

Attractiveness: Got a 16. Not bad. Should adjust for age or other factors I am sure, but not going too.

Joss: Rolled a 62, so 10 Joss factors. 

Not rolling for birth rank, despite some fun things for a 7th child of a 7th child. This character is way established in my mind as the 1st born daughter. 

She is from Cymru (Wales), and her birthplace was near Gŵry (Gower).

Quirks: A bit of roleplaying fun here. A lot like Qualities and Drawbacks in point-buy games. I'll choose two as long as they don't change any trait numbers (good or ill). I am not recalculating all of this. I'll take Psychic Awareness and Heka Channeler. For "Conter Quirks" I'll take Obsessive/Compulsive and Low Tolerance to Alcohol. 

Connections: She gets two of these, so I am giving her access to the local Druid Hierarchy and an Apothecary; both of these are due to her parents.  

Results below.

Larina ferch Siân of Ærth

Ok. That was fairly tedious, but in the end, I got a character that I think will be fun to use IF I ever play this game.  I'll figure out her Heka and do spells on Thursday.

I need a mental break now.

 News came out last night that former TSR writer and game designer Jim "Drawmij" Ward had passed.

Jim was responsible for some of my favorite books—not just the amazing "Metamorphosis Alpha" and later "Gamma World," but also "Gods, Demigods and Heroes" and "Deities & Demigods," to which I owe a lot of virtual ink here at The Other Side.

Jim was always very nice to chat with. I wanted to make sure I included his point of view on the whole Cthulhu Mythos issue in D&DG when it would come up since there was always so much misinformation about it. He had been sick for a bit, so while last night news was not a shock, it is still a loss.

I got the chance to chat with him a couple of times at the Troll Lords Games booths at various cons. He was always nice.  I was disappointed when he began hitching his wagon to Justin LaNasa, but I had assumed he just wanted to make games and saw this as a chance.

Of course, that doesn't matter now. I had been hoping to see him again at Gary Con in a couple of days, even if I knew that chance was very, very slim.

It has been a bad three months for loosing people in this hobby for me. So if there is any advice I can give at this time, if there is someone out there you want to talk with, do it now. Don't wait for "oh we can meet up this summer" or "Oh, I catch them at the next con." No. Do it now.

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: Tiger in Human SkinPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Agata Brig

Setting: Swindon, Lovecraft Country
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-one page, 1.47 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The circus always leaves chaos in its wake...Plot Hook: When a monster crosses your path...
Plot Support: Staging advice, four NPCs, one Mythos monster, and a piglet.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# Begins en media res
# Easy to slot into an existing campaign
# Easy to adjust to other times and places# Coulrophobia# Achondroplasiaphobia# Tigriphobia
Cons# Needs a slight edit# Linear# Easy to spot the villain
# Feels as if the background could been more accessible for the Investigators

Conclusion# A circus came to town and left a monster in its wake# Linear push to get the Investigators to the showdown without any real investigation

"Rübezahl" by Moritz von Schwind (1859) I am working on a post for tomorrow, and while doing some reading, this guy came up. Since I am still in the middle of editing the "F's," I figure I might as well add him. 

The concept of having Faerie Lords in my games goes way back—maybe to the first time I read "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The machinations of Oberon and Titania were so much fun that I had hoped the whole play had just been about them. I added them to my games immediately, and I was disappointed that AD&D had nothing of the sort then. Faerie Lords next appear in Ghosts of Albion and many of my WitchCraft games. 

Adding them to my Basic games is a no-brainer, really.

Faerie Lord Rübezahl
Krakonos; Lord of the Mountains
Medium Humanoid (Fey, Faerie Lord)

Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 14d8+42 (105 hp)
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 2 fist slams, 1 weapon (staff) 
Damage: 1d6+2 x2, 1d6+2
Special: Magic resistance (25%), immune to poison; can communicate telepathically, Magic +1 weapons to hit, grow to giant size, druid spells, alter appearance
No. Appearing: 1 (unique)
Save As: Monster 14
Morale: 10 (NA)
Treasure Type: C x5
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Neutral)
XP: 6,100

Languages: Elven, Sylvan, Telepathic, Goblin

S: 17 (+2) D: 16 (+2) C: 18 (+3) I: 14 (+1) W: 15 (+1) Ch: 20 (+4) 

Faerie Lord Rübezahl lives in a large mountain range and avoids civilized human contact. He often appears as a tall (6'5") wild man with long gray, unkempt hair and a beard. He wears very tattered clothing and looks like a wild man or a woodwose. He can also appear as a gruff stone giant or a beautiful young maiden. He takes pleasure in transforming between all his forms to confuse and bedevil others who enter his lands. He is the lord of bugbears, ogres, trolls, and other wild fey creatures not given over completely to evil. 

His true form is shrouded in mystery, but his presence is undeniable.  Rüberzahl is a force of nature, as unpredictable as the mountain storms he commands.  While he protects the mountains and those who respect them, he delights in testing mortals by shifting his form and blocking passages with rocks and fallen trees.  He is the guardian of his range of mountains, and he does not tolerate the greedy, arrogant, or environmentally destructive who cross his path, for Rübezahl may lead them astray or unleash the fury of the mountains upon them.

Rüberzahl is a formidable opponent in combat.  He wields his staff with devastating power.  His true strength lies in his magic, however. In addition to being able to change his form to a giant, he also has the abilities and spells of a 14th-level druid. He will use spells to deal with large groups and shift to giant form to attack (use Stone Giant for combat). He is fond of casting barkskin on himself and call lightning on large groups.

Rüberzahl is a solitary creature who does not need companionship. His capricious nature makes it difficult for him to get along. However, he has a grudging respect for other powerful beings who dwell in the world's wild places. He avoids the other faerie lords, and they avoid him. The stone giants give him respect, and he avoids getting into their affairs. He has been known to aid those lost in the mountains in finding their way out. Whether he does this out of benevolence or simply to get people out of his mountains is not entirely clear. 

His home is a large cave near an expansive field of turnips. This has also given him the title of Lord of Turnips. A name he does not much care for. 

--

The editing of Basic Bestiary continues.

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: A Murder at Heck’s PeakPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Vovina Games

Setting: Colorado, 1877
Product: Scenario for Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos
What You Get: Forty-eight page, 80.69 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Strangers and murder don’t mixPlot Hook: Hell comes to Heck’s Peak—or has it already left?
Plot Support: Staging advice, seven NPCs, and eight Mythos monsters.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# Scenario for Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos
# Lengthy investigation
# Clear information on what every NPC knows# Mythos on Mythos action# Ichthyophobia# Scotophobia# Phagophobia
Cons# Needs a good edit# No maps# Parts of the backstory left undeveloped# Could have been better organised
Conclusion# Solid mix of investigation and action let down by poor organisation# Expect to be deranged on the range in this Mythos mix-up showdown

You are a Dog. You are a Dandy Dog. You are one of the Devil’s Dandy Dogs. You are a creature made of the Devil’s shadow and a shadow of what you once were. As a Dandy Dog you are tasked with collecting souls for the Devil. This will take you back to the world that was once your home and face numerous peoples, visit various places, confront creatures, engage in experiences that perhaps might recall your memories, and solve conundrums. You may even be Tempted. In the process, you will gain a Soul, through agreement or through guile, but never force, that you return to your Master. Neither good nor evil, the Devil is smart, wily, debonair, wicked, generally willing to play by the rules, a cunning conversationalist, a fierce and loyal protector of their dogs. Thus, he will be grateful for the Soul, but he will always have one more task and that is for you to tell him of how you gained the Soul. In other words, he wants to be entertained.

This is the set-up for The Devil’s Dandy Dogs, a storytelling game published by Monte Cook Games. Best played by four or five players, who together make up a pack, plus the Diviner—as the Game Master is known—it is designed to be played with a minimum of preparation, and more! That more is very easy set up by the Diviner and play straight out of the box for the players. In fact, a would-be Diviner could open the box, read through the rules in thirty (at the very most) minutes and be ready to run The Devil’s Dandy Dogs. All of which is facilitated by quick and easy character or Dandy Dog options and creation, and equally as easy, card-driven, scenario or soul fetch creation. It can be played in a single session or over multiple sessions, making it suitable for both one-shots and convention play, as well as extended play. Play itself is collaborative with the Diviner establishing the set-up and soul fetch and then working with her players building the world that their Dandy Dogs will operate in. This world can be historical, it can be fantasy, it can be horror, it can be Science Fiction, it can be today or it can be yesterday. This is decided upon by the Diviner and her players, as can the tone and mood of the game. No matter who the soul belongs to that the Dandy Dogs have been sent to collect and the problem they need to overcome or condition they need to fulfil in order to do so, when the session begins, the Dandy Dogs will already have succeeded in bringing a Soul to the Devil. And since they have already succeeded, the Dandy Dogs will be telling the story of what has happened and so The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is played in the past tense. This facilitates a certain play style, such as being able to remember what happened next and ask another player what happened next, meaning that the “I did this” of The Devil’s Dandy Dogs rather than the “I do this” of other roleplaying games brings a certain nuance to play.

The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is a boxed game. Below the handy ‘What’s in the Box?’ sheet, there are two books, a playmat, eleven character sheets, four dice, and over one hundred cards. The first book, ‘The Devil’s Dandy Dogs’ explains the rules and how to set up a game, whilst the second, ‘The Devil’s Playbook’ is the reference for the thirty-six cards of the ‘Diviner’s Deck’, explaining how the cards are used on the ‘Soul’s Arrow’, the cloth playmat where the spread of cards is placed after it is drawn. The eleven character sheets are mini-portfolios, one each for the roleplaying game’s eleven roles, with explanations of how the roles work in play and how the game’s mechanics work. Three of the dice have the symbol for success on one face and the symbol for failure on one face, with the other four blank. Successes and failures are named different things depending on the situation. The Temptation die has the success symbol on four faces and failure symbol on two. It can be rolled during an action to bring a Dog’s Drive into play, but has a chance of the Dog falling prey to his Temptation. The cards are large, Tarot-card sized, done on glossy stock and done in very full colour. Their primary use is to set up the ‘Deal with the Devil’, the details of the Soul Fetch that the Dandy Dogs have to undertake, including the Person, the Place, the Pact, the Complication, and more.

A Dandy Dog is defined by his Role, Name, Goal, Devil’s Mark and Traits. The Roles include The Beloved, The Hearthed, The Faithful, The Vermillion, and more. Each Role gives a Dandy Dog his personality, Drive, Temptation, Tricks or supernatural gifts, and storytelling style. The player picks his Dandy Dog’s Role, Goal, decides on the Devil’s Mark, and decides whether his Dandy Dog is Good in one Trait, Very Good in a second, and Best in a third. The three Traits are Devil, which represents supernatural and magical actions, such as Dreamwalking, Sensing Magic, Shadowwalking, and Soulbearing; Dandy, used in social situations and interacting with the world; and Dog, which is all about the things a dog can do. Each Dandy Dog must be unique, different from one player to the next.

Name: Dasha
Role: The Frolic
Devil: Good Dandy: Very Good Dog: Best
Drive: Play
Temptation: Hunger
Goal: To become a real dog
Tricks: Become Dog, These Violent Delights
Devil’s Mark: A Dog Chasing Its Tail

Mechanically, The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is simple. To undertake an action, a player rolls a number of dice equal to the rating of the Trait used. Three for Best, two for Very Good, and one for Good. A roll of six or ‘Devil’s Eyebrow’ means the Dandy Dog succeeds superbly; two, three, four, and five are blank and are the ‘Devil’s Duty’, meaning the Dandy Dog has succeeded without being either entertaining or exciting; and one or ‘Devil’s Delight’, means that the Dandy Dog has failed and done so spectacularly. In combat, a six becomes ‘Devil’s Tooth & Claw’ and a one becomes a ‘Devil’s Concern’. During a scene, the Diviner can use ‘Call & Response’ to bring a Dandy Dog into narrative and go back and forth to the Dandy Dog’s player who narrates what he does according to each result on a die. It is possible to save one die if a Dandy Dog has any left over at the end of this, and if he does run out, a Dandy Dog can ask a packmate to ‘Throw Me A Bone!’ if another Dandy Dog has kept one spare.

In addition, a Dandy Dog can bring his Drive into play if relevant. If a roll of three, four, five, and six, then the Dandy Dog succeeds and something amazing happens. However, on a role of one or two, the Dandy Dog’s Drive overtakes him, he gains a Temptation card, and he cannot act until his Pack helps him. (Notably, the symbols are not named on the Temptation die, unlike on the standard dice for ordinary and combat results.) There are also two further outcomes. ‘Fates Folly’ is triggered when three ‘ones’ are used in a scene by the Pack as a whole and the Diviner adds a ‘Fates Folly’ card to the ‘Soul’s Arrow’ playmat. A ‘Devil’s Door’ card is added to the ‘Soul’s Arrow’ playmat by the Diviner when the three ‘sixes’ are used in a scene by the Pack as a whole.

The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is structured into several beats. In ‘Hearth & Home’, the players collectively describe what their Dandy Dogs’ Devil is like—this is the character that the Diviner will be portraying, and then in ‘Deal with Devil’, the Diviner draws the three cards and plays them on the ‘Soul’s Arrow’. One for the Person who made the Pact with the Devil—that person already having made the pact to give up his or her Soul, second for the Place where the Person can be found, and the third for Pact between the Person and the Devil. Each card has a corresponding entry in the ‘The Devil’s Playbook’ which can be used to guide the Diviner. Each Pact involves a Deal, and this can help the Person retrieve something or someone important, achieve mastery or success, complete unfinished business for them, protect or heal someone for the Person, or Assist the Person in some way… These options give some great situations and set-ups that essentially complicate what the Dandy Dogs will have had to do in order to obtain the intended Soul, which will be played out the third best, ‘Fun & Games’. The last beat is ‘Dark Night of the Soul’, in which the Dandy Dogs face their toughest challenge in obtaining the Soul, but the Diviner also presents three Pact of the Pact cards from which the Dandy Dogs can choose from one. This will give them a collective ability such as the Dandy Dogs assume a ‘True Form’ all together, a single solid creature with all of its advantages and disadvantages, or ‘Through Time’ when the Dandy Dogs step out of time and place into a safe, warm comfortable place and then return with ‘real’ no time passed, but subjectively having had a chance to plan, discuss, and prepare to continue the resolution of the scene. Lastly, the Dandy Dogs return to ‘Hearth & Home’ and the Soul Fetch.

There is another best, ‘The Devil’s Interlude’. It is an optional best, which can be used to add a scene between the other beats, pause the story, or to add a moment of levity. Whilst in the short term, a Dandy Dog and his pack are trying to retrieve a promised Soul, in the long term a Dandy Dog can be working towards his Goal and the gaining of Memory Shards. The latter are primarily gained for collecting a Soul and go towards completion of a Goal, but they can also be expended to ‘Mend a Tear’ and heal the damage that would disconnect a Dandy Dog from the Devil’s shadow or together with other Dandy Dogs keep a Pact of the Pack card.

As much as The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is a lovely looking game, the main, but minor issues are due to that physicality. First, the cards could have been slightly thicker. The cards are also quite bendy. Not all of the card types are readily named so that does impede play slightly. Secondly, the symbols on the dice are consistent across the standard and Temptation dice, but are not consistently named in the game, which is confusing.

Physically, The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is very well presented. The artwork on the cards is great and the rulebook is very well written. This includes good examples of play and solid advice from start to finish.

The Devil’s Dandy Dogs is a very good game in a box and it is a very quick game in a box, combining portability, ease of set-up, and mechanical simplicity with scope to tell the great stories of the final moments of those who have sold their soul to the Devil. Honestly, once the Diviner has learned how to make a ‘Deal with the Devil’ and read through the rules, she can run The Devil’s Dandy Dogs at any time. Mechanically, it is that simple. The complexity comes in the Pact made between the Devil and those willing to give up his Soul and ensuring that it is fulfilled, that is, in the story not the rules. Beautifully presented, The Devil’s Dandy Dogs’ combination of easy-to-learn rules and challenging storytelling make it the perfect pick-up, no preparation, be a good dog, dance with the Devil roleplaying game.

In 1307, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, were summarily attacked and arrested by French forces, on orders from King Philip IV of France with permission from Pope Clement V. It marked the beginning of the end of the order, which for two hundred years had dedicated itself to protecting Christians making their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Its leaders would be tried for heresy, but before the arrest their arrest in Templar’s Parisian stronghold, the Enclos du Temple, they would issue one final set of orders: the last Templars were to take the secrets of the order to safety. They would be the last thirty to escape the fallen stronghold and theirs would be a perilous journey across Europe in search of sanctuary, harried all the way first by forces loyal to King Philip, and then the Inquisition. Their story and their efforts to find sanctuary, perhaps in the process discovering the true secrets of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, are told in Heirs to Heresy: The Fall of the Knights Templar, a roleplaying game published by Osprey Games.

Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear is the first supplement for Heirs to Heresy. That roleplaying game is essentially a toolkit to run a single type of campaign, one that tells of the Player Character Templars’ flight away from Paris to a sanctuary, whichever one that is… Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear is a companion volume, providing a range of support and content that adds to that toolkit, thus giving the Grand Master more options to enhance her campaign or even run a new campaign. The supplement includes the advice and warning from the core rulebook about dealing with the negative aspects of both history and the portrayal of the Knights Templar, before getting on with the new content. The first of which is three new knightly orders—the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, which was concerned with protecting and ensuring the sanctity of the holy sites; the Knights Hospitaller, which operated hospitals for the benefit of pilgrims; and the Order of Saint Lazarus, Leper Knights who aid commoners who have been harmed or hurt. Each Order has two special abilities. For example, a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre has ‘First Among Equals’ and ‘Secure the Holy Spaces’. The first of these gives the knight an advantage when dealing with other orders because the Order of the Holy Sepulchre is the oldest order, has precedence, and reports directly to the Pope, whilst the second increases their Damage Reduction when defending a sacred or consecrated sites. The inclusion of these three orders open up Player Character and NPC options, and perhaps because none of the three orders have been arrested by the French King and accused of heresy, also perhaps as a more general roleplaying game involving militant orders rather than one dealing with the last actions of the free Templars.

Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear does include a fourth order, the Teutonic knights. They are not, though, included as a Player Character option, but as NPC villains. Several options are suggested as to why, from Teutonic Grand Master simply coveted the Templar wealth to the Teutonic Order having been corrupted by some dark influence. However, as a possible ally, a location somewhere in the Teutonic Order’s lands might become the sanctuary that the Player Characters are trying to reach and that lends itself to a campaign with a Gothic feel located in Eastern Europe.

‘Modes of Play’ gives rules for solo play or play without a Grand Master. This includes the ‘Yes/No Oracle’, a simple means of resolving player choices, and tables of Action and Theme options to inspire and prompt the player. A set of tables, based on their Health level, whether Full, Halved, or Quartered, provides random actions in combat for NPCs, whilst another provides reactions out of combat. A further set of tables enable the Grand Master to create a conspiracy and the basis of a campaign using the content in this supplement and the core rulebook.

In Heirs to Heresy, a Player Character Knight can bring his faith and commitment to bear on a situation. To reflect this, he has Faith points to spend on various effects, including adding his Faith Attribute to a single Test, damage total, or reducing incoming damage by the same, to reroll a single Test, and if they factor into a campaign, power esoterica, Gifts, and Relics. Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear adds an option for using Faith called ‘Acts of Faith’. These include ‘Acts of Exorcism’, ‘Acts of Foresight’, ‘Acts of Healing’, and ‘Acts of Sacrifice’, the latter enabling the Player Character to protect a fallen ally against a grave threat. All four ‘Acts of Faith’ require the expenditure of a point of Faith and a may require a Religion skill test. The converse, ‘Acts of Fear’, including ‘Acts of Deceit’, ‘Acts of Incitement’, and ‘Acts of Violence’, require Corruption points, which are gained for committing sins, to be used. It is possible for a Player Character Knight, to be corrupt and have fallen from the Grace of God, and use these ‘Acts of Fear’. However, should such a Knight become too corrupt, there will be no way back for him to the Grace of God, and he becomes an NPC under the control of the Grand Master and likely a major threat to the Player Characters.

‘Strongholds and Sieges’ adds rules for building bases, such as castles and fortifications, and then laying siege to them. These include natural caverns, towers, and new fortifications, and a stronghold has actions of its own that the players can trigger. This can be to Fortify, Repair, or Upgrade the structure, Hire an employee (such as a Blacksmith, Builder, or Priest), Rest, or spend time in Introspection. Rest grants temporary Stamina points and Introspection points to spend on advancing Faith. Strongholds have Traits of their own, such as Famous, Gnostic Monastery (which grants an esoteric benefit), Living(!), and even Religious Sanctuary. The Siege rules are an addition to the Mass Battle system and are fairly quick and dirty, the aim being to reduce the Army Strength of one side to zero. Both Attacker and Defender have a limited number of options—Assault, Resupply, Sabotage, or Starve Out for the Attacker and Fortify, Repair, Sally Forth, and Smuggle in Supplies for the Defender, but can undertake four actions per day. There is room too for Player Character actions and roleplaying too, but the rules are quick and simple.

At the core of Heirs to Heresy are the relics, one of which the Player Characters are attempting to get from Paris to sanctuary. The choice can determine certain aspects of the campaign, such as how Faith interacts with the Player Characters. The four here are the Ark of the Covenant, the Head of Saint John Baptist, the Turn Shroud, and the Spear of Longinus. For example, the Ark of the Covenant will slay the unfaithful, grant insight and Faith for a battle, and if unlocked, that is, a Player Character attunes to it, it grants further Faith. Of course, it is relatively large and so not easy to transport. Each one of these four is major Christian relic and will really affect the nature of a campaign.

As well as the relic they are charged with protecting, the Player Characters may have access to another resources, that of the Templar spy networks to be found in the cities and towns across Europe. Most obviously, they could be used to provide safehouses as the Player Characters flee from Paris, but they can also provide supplies and information, and perhaps they can actually be made greater use of if the Player Characters establish a stronghold and want monitor or weaken the forces hunting for them. There are tables too for creating NPCs and their personalities, for exploration and the weather, and a host of new enemies, mobs both supernatural and mundane, and supernatural foes such as the Basilisk, Maddening Mist, and Warlocks or Witches.

The supplement also comes with four adventures of varying length and complexity. ‘The Wolfcairn’ finds the Player Characters camping somewhere deep in the forest when they begin to be stalked by a massive wolf that is more than it seems; in ‘The Basilisk’s Den’ they visit a tavern of that name looking for a connection to the local Templar spy network and run against all manner of NPCs with their own interests; in ‘Last Stand’, the Inquisition has caught up with the Player Characters who will have to hold them off, perhaps giving one of their number to make a desperate final defence of the others; and lastly, the ‘Cursed Brothers’ interlude gives the Player Characters a chance for respite at a Templar castle, but their fellow brothers turn out to be as bad as King Philip IV of France claimed the order to be. All four scenarios are easy to run and include pointers on their set-up descriptions of locations and NPCs, and both consequences and possible complications. They are all relatively easy to drop into a campaign. Lastly, the supplement includes another three pre-generated Player Characters, one for each of the new orders given at the start of the book.

Physically, Heirs to Heresy is cleanly and simply presented. The book is easy to read and the artwork is excellent.

Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear is not absolutely necessary to play a campaign of Heirs to Heresy. What it does do though, is provide a range of options and rules that can be used to expand the Grand Master’s campaign. The new scenarios are the easiest to use, each one readily dropped into a campaign, whilst the rules for spy networks, sieges, and ‘Acts of Faith’ require more effort and perhaps certain situations to arise to be fully useful. Overall, Heirs to Heresy: Faith & Fear widens the number of options that the Grand Master can choose from when planning her campaign and when making it more exciting in play, so making it useful for any Heirs to Heresy: The Fall of the Knights Templar campaign.

Thank you for accepting this assignment. As a valued employee of the HAZMOS CORP we have trust in your resilience and reliability to undertake this task. TEL 022 is the only artificial structure on Unadopted Planetary Body 154, or UPB 154. HAZMOS CORP currently owns the maintenance contract on this facility and the Department of Offworld Contact Monitoring has detected that TEL 022 is currently without light or power. The Department of Offworld Contact Fulfilment has signed you, a fully trained LAMPLIGHTER, to fulfil the immediate terms of the contract. You will be transported to UPB 154. An atmospheric vehicle will insert you onto UPB 154 and you will gain access to TEL 022. Once inside you are directed to descend to the bottom of TEL 022 and proceed section by section through TEL 022. In each section you will restore power and light. In each section, please record your visual assessment and maintenance report in the MemoComm module for HAZMOS CORP records as part of the contract. You are advised that TEL 022 is a sub oceanic facility. Please record any depth complications in consultation with the PNEUMATIC AND NARCOTIC INCIDENT CHART, or PANIC reference, provided. Throughout this assignment you are reminded to adhere to the standard practice for the fulfilment of HAZMOS CORP maintenance contracts and follow the OBSERVE RESOLVE ACT CONCLUDE LEAVE EVIDENCE, or ORACLE, System. By following the ORACLE System, you will ensure your safety and HAZMOS CORP’s continued responsibility for your safety and wellbeing. Failure to adhere to the ORACLE System may threaten your safety and wellbeing, the capacity of HAZMOS CORP to fulfil the contract, and negate any liability HAZMOS CORP is contractually obliged to fulfil with regard to your physical and mental status. On behalf of the HAZMOS CORP, the Director thanks you for your attention and action in these matters and looks forward to you being a continued and valued member of the HAZMOS CORP family.

This is the set-up for Thousand Empty Light, a supplement for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game, published by House of Valley following a successful Kickstarter campaign, which is several things which together make it more than a straightforward supplement or scenario. On the one level, it is actually the manual and guidance book released by the HAZMOS CORP for fulfilling the maintenance contract for TEL 022. On another, it is actually a piece of horror fiction which follows the progress of the assigned Lamplighter as he descends into TEL 022 and makes his way along it one segmented tunnel, visually scanning each area, reading the reports recorded by the previous Lamplighter to conduct maintenance on the facility, recording his report, and coming to the realisation that there is something odd going on in TEL 022 and that HAZMOS CORP is not telling its employee the true purpose of the facility. And lastly, it is a solo adventure for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game, one whose rules can be adapted to use in other scenarios for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game. As a solo adventure, it can be played as written, but the player can also record his reports, turning Thousand Empty Light into a journaling scenario. Further, given that Thousand Empty Light is designed for solo play and thus one player, it could actually be run one-on-one, with a single player and a Warden. The latter will be easier than in most solo roleplaying experiences because the structure of TEL 022 actually informs the structure of the scenario—it is linear. Although it is interactive fiction, Thousand Empty Light is literally straightforward as opposed to the non-linearity of most works of interactive fiction such as the Fighting Fantasy series.

TEL 022, the setting for Thousand Empty Light, is situated deep under the ocean of UPB 154. It is accessed via a caisson that juts above the ocean surface, the Lamplighter descending via the caisson and undergoing hyperbaric intervention. At the bottom, the Lamplighter is tasked with proceeding through the five sections of the facility in order, each one sealed at either end. In each section, he must follow the standard WORKFLOW: review the reports previously recorded on the hand-cranked MemoComm module, assess the situation, and restore both light and power, record his own report, and check for depth complications. This includes following the ORACLE System.

Notably, the ‘O’ or ‘OBSERVE’ step of the ORACLE System uses Semiotic Standard as a means of providing a randomising factor. Semiotic Standard is actually a system of signs and symbols—‘Semiotic Standard For All Commercial Trans-Stellar Utility Lifter And Heavy Element Transport Spacecraft’—created by the American film designer, Ron Cobb, as icons for the commercial spacetug, Nostromo, in the film Alien. There are fifty of these and they are recreated on the back cover of Thousand Empty Light and numbered. Where there is a degree of doubt and uncertainty, the player can roll to determine which one will influence the actions of his character. Each has been amended with a potential outcome, either ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Yes, But’, and ‘No, but’, to prompt the player along with the icon itself. They are not the easiest of prompts to use, but their verisimilitude and the sense of worldbuilding they enforce are undeniable.

In addition, the player, as the Lamplighter, has to record incidents and near misses and record them on an Incident Form. These can be trips and falls, injury and illness, unsafe disrepair, excessive noise, newly-identified, and more. When they occur, they are randomly assigned a value between one and ten. They do not have an immediate effect, but if another incident occurs which is randomly assigned the same value as a previous incident, it triggers repercussions from that previous incident. The higher the assigned value, the greater the effect of the repercussions. It also triggers a PANIC check upon the part of the Lamplighter which requires referring to the PANIC reference. This is also required when the Lamplighter transitions from one section to another.

In terms of a Player Character and his abilities, Thousand Empty Light recommends Mechanical Repair and Jury-Rigging as skills and training in industrial equipment. Otherwise, it adheres to standard rules for character creation for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game. He is assigned a flashlight, a rebreather, and a dive gauge, and some of the hazards he will face are explained—depth complications, unlit areas, corrosive seawater, flooding, raiders, and an array of strange creatures and environmental effects. Once the Lamplighter has signed a Letter of Last Resort, he enters the caisson and the first section. It is at this point that Thousand Empty Light begins to resemble a journalling game, because what the player will be in each section is using its description and the MemoComm module recordings his Lamplighter has access to as prompts to ask questions. Answers to these questions are determined by rolling on the Semiotic Standard table on the back of the book, as well as other factors. The player can then decide how his Lamplighter responds, what action he takes, and so on, following the ORACLE System again and again until the section has been fully explored and the Lamplighter has completed the WORKFLOW for that section.

As the Lamplighter proceeds from one section to the next the oppressive, often claustrophobic atmosphere grows, the unsettling nature of even the first four sections of TEL 022 exacerbating his sense of panic. This is first forced by the need to make a PANIC check when entering a new section and then by events generated by the player from the questions prompted by the descriptive content. One thing that Thousand Empty Light does not explain is what is in the fifth section. It is described as a High Value Asset early in the maintenance manual, and the Lamplighter is cautioned not to interact with it. In a sense, it does not matter, since getting to the last section will have been trial enough and asking those questions may be too much. Like the story of his Lamplighter’s progress through TEL 022, it is up to the player to decide, though there is, perhaps, the hint that it lies closer to home…
In addition, there are secrets in Thousand Empty Light that are hidden by a code. These are not decipherable without further purchase by the player. They are not necessary to play through Thousand Empty Light though.

Physically, Thousand Empty Light is impressive. The writing captures the right tone of corporate attitude and care, which of course, is never going to be enough as a playthrough reveals. Similarly, the layout adds to this and the combination of the two is why Thousand Empty Light actually works better as a piece of fiction perhaps more than it does as a solo adventure or a set of solo rules for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game. Part of that is due to the fact that the explanation of how they work is written as a corporate maintenance manual rather than as a roleplaying game supplement. At the same time though, if it actually had that clearer explanation of the rules, it might actually have disrupted the veracity of the atmosphere in Thousand Empty Light.

Lastly, it should be noted that the name of the scenario has been randomly generated. By any stretch of the imagination, it is meaningless.

As a piece of horror fiction and interactive fiction, Thousand Empty Light superbly and successfully combines a sense of corporate sheen and corporate creepiness, the former ratcheted down, the latter ratcheted up, as the player and his Lamplighter proceeds further into TEL 022. As a set of solo rules, Thousand Empty Light underwhelms due to under-explaining and that, combined with their specific application by the HAZMOS CORP here, makes them difficult to apply elsewhere for MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game. Perhaps a new ORACLE System and PANIC reference is required?

Blizzard Vale is the most northerly of the Empire’s provinces, a long valley cutting through the mighty Moonmaiden Range, perpetually snow-covered and marked with sparse stands of conifers, ice-covered lakes, and frigid rivers. Here can be found the clans of the barbarian Elves, long driven out of the vale by the Empire and into the surrounding mountains and much reduced from what they once were, and no longer considered a threat by the Empire. At the entrance to the valley stands the town of Ysvindur, an imperial provincial capital that would have long since been abandoned were it not for the exotic goods that merchants from the south come to buy from the Elf clans. Indeed, both the governor or legate and his various bureaucrats consider a posting by the Emperor to Ysvindur and the Blizzard Vale a disappointment at the very least, a punishment at the very most. Yet there are those who welcome assignment or exile to Ysvindur, either because they wish to make a new start on the frontier and escape whatever misfortune or scandal befell them in the capital or because they have been sentenced to serve in the north for crimes that might have otherwise seen them imprisoned or even exiled. They serve in the Wolfguard, whose members are dedicated to protecting the vale and Ysvindur. Their endeavours are explored in Tales of the Wolfguard.

Tales of the Wolfguard is a hexcrawl published by Hellwinter Forge of Wonders for use with Old School Essentials, Necrotic Gnome’s interpretation and redesign of the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Steve Marsh. It is designed to be played using Third Level Player Characters, ideally members of the Wolfguard, newly appointed, prepared for exile and a new life in the frigid north. The roles within the Wolfguard map onto Classes of Old School Essentials and other retroclone. As record keepers for the Wolfguard, Chroniclers are Acrobats and Bards; Priests provide spiritual and healing needs as Clerics and Druids; Rooks are its frontlines warriors and are Barbarians, Dwarves, Fighters, Knights, and Paladins; Striders are its spies and scouts, so are acrobats, Assassins, half-Orcs, Rangers, and Thieves; and Warlocks deal with arcane magic and thus are Elves, Illusionists, and Wizards. The Wolfguard also has its own headquarters, the Faraway Den, roughly a day’s ride from Ysvindur, a keep carved out of the mountainside and featuring an armoury, a thermal pool, infirmary, and temple. Fully mapped and detailed, the Faraway Den is relatively small, capable of housing only twelve members, which also indicates the maximum size of the Wolfguard. Also housed in the Faraway Den’s temple is its ‘Syare’. This is an arcane orb, part of a network which enables magical and instant communication between the sites where they are installed. Essentially, think of the Palantir devices from The Lord of the Rings. It enables the Wolfguard to maintain contact with the Legate through his Syare in Ysvindur and even with Emperor Egon Kruvaja XII, far to the south, via the Sovereign Syare housed in the Imperial Palace.

If the Game Master does decide to use the Wolfguard as her Player Character organisation—which feels similar to that of the Night’s Watch from A Game of Thrones, one of its great features—and that of Tales of the Wolfguard—is the capacity for the Faraway Den and the Player Characters to attune to each other. This is done by the players investing their characters’ Experience Points in the Faraway Den itself. Invest enough Experience Points and it unlocks a feature. For example, for nine hundred Experience Points, the orb lights in the Faraway Den will turn red whenever someone with evil intent enters Windswept Pass that leads to the Wolfguard’s base of operations. There are a total of fourteen upgrades, some of which grant Reaction bonuses with certain groups or enable the keep’s thermal pool to restore an energy drain caused by the undead once a month, and they let the Player Characters make the Faraway Den their home and collectively personalise it. This echoes the community building rules to be found in Free League Publishing titles such as Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days and Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, and are more than welcome here.

The setting for Tales of the Wolfguard, Blizzard Vale, is described in a mix of broad and thumbnail detail, the latter typically focusing on particular locations and points of interest across the valley. Ysvindur lies partially dug into a mountain, its notable buildings beside the Legate’s palace include House of Pleasures where the Last Stand is popular gambling game (its rules also included) and Kastran’s Bric-à-Brac, from the Dwarf owner sells all manner of things, including potions and even magical items. Local traditions and typical dishes, like elk jerky (dried with a blend of spices and perfect for long journeys through the Blizzard Vale) and the hearty frostberry stew, add flavour and feel. There are secrets too, including threats that belie the reputation of the Blizzard Vale as a sleepy backwater. One of them is a sect of assassins and criminals known as the Scorpion Milk, and although Tales of the Wolfguard does not actually tell the Game Master what the sect’s aim is in and around Ysvindur, it does provide a random table of its possible actions as it works to destabilise the region and take advantage of it. This is one of the features of Tales of the Wolfguard, tables that provide hooks and details.

A more obvious threat—according to some in Ysvindur—are the Barbarian Elves. This attitude dates back to the Empire’s first encounters with the Elves of the Blizzard Vale and the rumours of demihuman and human sacrifice. The Legate, Lord Rathlas, believes them to be a threat. Of course, the situation is not quite as simple and the Player Characters have the chance to interest with the Elves from the moments they arrive in the Blizzard Vale and again on a regular basis at the Barbarian Market held each month by the Elf leader, Byrde of the Ice Gaze, outside the walls of Ysvindur. This is where the merchants who come from the south can purchase the exotic goods that can be sold elsewhere in the Empire. A table of such goods is given too, and include the foul-smelling ‘Ice Grease’ which is very effective against the cold, and ‘Tnar’, a board game played by the Elves. Tales of the Wolfguard also gives the rules for the board game too along with a full sized board. The game is simplistic, but getting a player and his character to play against an NPC would add a certain verisimilitude.

Other secrets include a race of birdmen and a set of ancient ruins. The former, the Ikaryas, reside in mystical seclusion atop the mountains, their existence is either completely ignored or regarded as nothing more than myths. The latter consists of a shattered tower that was once the home of a dark sorceress known as the Winter Crone. Although the tower itself is not mapped out or detailed, several mini-dungeons are described, including caves, temples, libraries, and more, their entrances strewn across the ruins that litter the small valley where the Winter’s Crone tower stands. Their exact locations are not mapped out, but instead triggered by the rolls on the encounter table. The dungeons themselves—each generated by Watabou’s One Page Dungeon [https://itch.io/profile/watabou]—are briefly described and the Game Master may want to flesh them out some more. Similarly, the Ikaryas have their own set of encounters.

The Game Master is further supported by stats for all of the various monsters and NPCs, a table of legends and rumours that the Game Master can use to develop her own encounters, and a ‘Quest Plot Generator’, a set of tables which determines a quest or scenario’s setting and theme, villain and his motivation, possible reward for the Player Characters, the scenario starting point, twist, and climax. Lastly, Tales of the Wolfguard includes an introductory adventure which assumes that the Player Characters are members of the Wolfguard. It begins at the entrance to Windswept Pass which leads up to the Faraway Den and sees them investigate the disappearance of the former garrison there and involves Elf Barbarians and a dark villain. The scenario mentions the villain only by name, the intention being to have the Game Master develop this herself.

In addition, Tales of the Wolfguard comes with six pre-generated Player Characters, each with a reason to join the Wolfguard. Not all of them are pleasant. They also all have magical weapons. That said, if there is anything actually missing from the pages of Tales of the Wolfguard, it is a table of reasons to join the Wolfguard should the players want to create their own characters. There is even a mini-soundtrack to play during the running of the scenario.

Physically, Tales of the Wolfguard is well presented and the layout clean and tidy. The artwork is decent and the cartography good.

Tales of the Wolfguard comes with lots of playable content and room for both the players and their characters to make their mark on the Blizzard Vale and the Game Master to develop further material. This can be her own content or it can be inspired or drawn from the many prompts and hooks to be found in the pages of Tales of the Wolfguard. This is by design, as beyond the starting scenario and initial setting content, the Game Master is expected to develop further material. That can also apply to some of the existing content, such as the dungeons, which do require further fleshing out. Overall, Tales of the Wolfguard is a good combination of hexcrawl, hexcrawl toolkit, atmospherically frigid setting, and hooks for the Game Master’s imagination. It would be great to see some further content released for Tales of the Wolfguard, but in the meantime, the Game Master has everything she needs to make it her own.

 There were so many this week, and so many were good ones. Let's get going.

Tales of Voracious: Ragnarok

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bluestocking/tales-of-voracious-ragnarok?ref=theotherside

Kate Bullock is back with a new set of erotic horror monster tales.  This one covers the nine realms fo Norse Myths. If it is anything like her first book in this series then it should be a lot of fun. This one has the added benefit of a connecting theme.  

Kate is a great write and great person to boot, so I'd love to see this one do well.

Fey Earth

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brambleheartgames/fey-earth-1?ref=theotherside

I have been following this one for a while now, and their Kickstarter is live. It is set in the 19th Century and has Fey races, magic, and more. That sounds exactly like my cup of tea, to be honest.  Add in some witches and that makes it a must buy! 

So yeah, I know next to nothing about the system but the premise sounds good and the art is great. I also want this one to do well.

The tiers are nice and simple. Easy to figure out what I want.

THE EXPANSE Collectible Action Figures

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thenacellecompany/the-expanse-collectable-action-figures?ref=theotherside

Before it was a TV Series, or a Green Ronin RPG, or a Book Series, the Expanse was a d20 Modern game. I just learned that today.  This Kickstarter is for action figure line. Because really, you need Chrisjen Avasarala and Camina Drummer figures!

As of this writing this has not hit it's goals yet, but I am sure it will get there.

Gary Gygax's World Builders Archive

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ckg/gary-gygaxs-gygaxian-fantasy-worlds?ref=theotherside

Troll Lords continues to add weight to their claim that Castles & Crusades IS the spiritual successor to AD&D. This Kickstarter brings new Gygax material to C&C.

There is so much here that I can't get into it. If the name Gygax means anything to you then click on this and see what they have.

BX Advanced Bestiary, Vol. 2

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdkingdom/bx-advanced-bestiary-vol-2?ref=theotherside

More monsters are always great! The only I like more than making monsters is reading about them so this one is also a must-get for me.

Legend of Seven Golden Demons & Slime Pits of Sewer Witch

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marktaormino/legend-of-seven-golden-demons-and-slime-pits-of-sewer-witch?ref=theotherside

Mentioned this one last week, but it is worth repeating!

NOW some upcoming ones.

Djinn Unboxed - NSFW Artbook

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/djinnintheshade/djinn-unboxed-nsfw-artbook?ref=theotherside

Djinn is a great friend of the Other Side. I feature her art here a lot. She is coming out with her own art book and it should be great.

Not live yet, but please sign up for updates.

Murders at Lorelahc Manor - a mystery campaign for D&D 5e!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/margomods/murders-at-lorelahc-manor-5e?ref=theotherside
This one is also not out yet. But a murder mystery for D&D? Hell yes!
There is also a pre-launch page for it on Backerkit.https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/1a3ccacf-6061-4c0f-a4c0-40a34400abfa/landing

Sign up for more details.

And of course, this one!

Thirteen Parsecs

http://tinyurl.com/13psignuptim

Thirteen Parsecs is coming! Please sign up to get notified of our launch of the Backer kit.

We really want this game to be your sci-fi RPG of choice, so help us make that happen.

 The minds behind Critical Role have come up with their new Fantasy RPG and honestly, it has some things going for it.

Daggerheart Fantasy Role-Playing is now in Open Beta Playtesting and you can grab a copy for free from DriveThruRPG or their website. 

Galapa, one of the new Ancestries. Art by Jessica Nguyen

I began reviewing it yesterday and quickly decided to take the plunge to print out the entire 375+ page playtest document so my kids and I can try it out.

You can see the DNA of many systems and games here, which they acknowledge.  I have not read a bunch, but there is a very interesting world here and one I think many will like to play in.

I know most of my readers are "old-school D&D" so I'll say this. If there is something about D&D 5 you dislike chances are good it is here and turned up to 11. 

That all being said there is a really interesting game here. 

Will this game be a "D&D Killer?" too early to say. I mean we didn't see Pathfinder taking D&D's throne when 4e was out, but then it happened. And when was the last time an RPG Playtest made the pages of Business Insider the day of release?  Do not underestimate the fanship of Critical Role, who, in their nine years, has only seen their popularity rise. Sooner or later, Hasbro will do something boneheaded again, like the OGL or maybe even AI art, and people will look for more options. 

One thing is for certain, the crew at Critical Role will make the game look great to play. Cases in point, they have already produced some videos for it. 

• How to Play Daggerheart | Open Beta (16:18)
• How to Make a Character in Daggerheart | Open Beta (31:55)
• Critical Role Creates Characters in Daggerheart | Open Beta (2:00:05)
• Critical Role plays Daggerheart | Live One-Shot | Open Beta | LIVESTREAM (4:33:57) 

I am watching the One Shot now, and the game looks fun. The feel is a solid fantasy RPG. Their enthusiasm is infectious. 

Character Creation

I have gone through character creation. It will be faster once I know the system better, but it is still very fast. There are a lot of options. LOTS. If you are the type that looks at D&D 5's choices of species and shakes your head then this will not be the game for you.

Daggerheart is a Class and Level based system, so that will be familiar to most; especially what I perceive as their main target, D&D 5e players. 

So, there are nine classes, each with two sub-classes (Foundations) and 18 ancestries. Like I said, there are lots of choices. Watching the "How to Make a Character" video is helpful here, but I just dove right in. That's how we did in the 1980s! The video shows Travis Willingham of Critical Role rebuilding one of his Campaign 3 characters, Bertrand Bell, in this game.  I can relate. 

Each class has two "Domains" and these overlap. These help decide what sorts of powers, abilities, and spells they can take. For example "Arcana" is magic and is the Domain of Druids and Sorcerers. But Sorcerers are also "Midnight" which is sneaky, shadowy stuff and also a Domain of Rogues. 

You choose a Class, then a Foundation (which gives you benefits), then your first-level powers/abilities.

Choose your Heritage (Ancestry and Community) which gives you yet more powers/abilities. There are nine Communities. Think of these as being like your background. 

So where are we? We have 9 classes, 2 foundations, 18 ancestries, and 9 communities. So 2,916 combinations at level 1. 

There are Traits, which line up more or less with d20/D&D abilities. 

Damage Thresholds are bit like HP, with a tracker. Damage gets deadly really fast.  Oh and damage to you also damages your armor. 

A note about Death. This game has a great rule that I might steal for my home games. 

I like the whole "Embrace Death and Go Out in a Blaze of Glory." You die and stay dead, but you do it with style. Oh, it also seems that coming back from the dead is rare and not at all easy. When a character does, they permanently lose one point of the Hope resource.  I have not talked about the Hope and Fear resources yet. But they are spent like Drama or Hero points depending on the situations. These use the oft-neglected d12.

You choose your abilities/powers/spells based on your Domains. The feel is similar to some of the choices for characters seen in D&D 4e.

There are Background questions. They are optional, but they are fun.

Experiences are fun. These are bits on your background that you can use a bonus to your Hope roll. These are figured out in Session 0 and work best if they complement (or aggravate!) the other characters.

Connections are similar. This has a solid Blue Rose feel to it. 

Character creation is fun and would work best during Session 0 with your group. 

Larina Nix in Daggerheart

Of course, I am going to try this with my Drosophila melanogaster of character creation experiments. There is no witch class here, so the first thing I need to do is figure out what her class is. 

While the playtest materials give me plenty to create a class (and the videos use them) there are other options. One is the Character builder at the Daggerheart Nexus at Demiplane.app. This is what I did for my witch Larina. 

Looking through my options here and with the playtest I am opting for Sorcerer over Wizard. Larina knows things, but they didn't all come from books (which she loves) plus I like the idea of the Midnight Domain for her, so she is a Sorcerer. For her Foundations (subclasses), I gave her Primal since her magic needs to feel a little old and a little wild. Her ancestry is human, and in this reality, she is Loreborn to tie into her connection to reading and books. 

Background I can skip over since this not with a group yet, but I do want to cover her Experiences here. For her +2 Experience I went with "I understand that! (Magical Scholar)" so she can spend a Hope die anytime something magical needs to be explained or figured out. For her +1 Experience, I went with "Wait, I need to read this (Seeker of Magical Secrets)" to cover that sometimes her curiosity overrules her common sense. So that +1 to her Hope die would be great in situations where she is trying to read a magical inscription on a tomb wall while avoiding getting hit by a mummy. 

For my Domain Cards (yes there are cards, but also slots on my sheet) I took one Arcana and one Midnight out of my choices of three each. I wanted to try a balance of the two. 

The effort was fast, really fast. And I am pleased with the results. 

Yeah, I am quite pleased with this character and character creation. But the proof is in the playing.
So now, after reading, making a character, watching some videos, and retweaking the character, I'll try my hand at making a character from the start again to see how long it takes. For this I will do my other active character Sinéad.  She is also a sorcerer, but I want to see how different two characters of the same class can be. Then I'll also try her as a multi-classed Bard.

Sinéad in Daggerheart

In D&D Sinéad is a half-elf Magic-user (Sorcerer)/Bard. Now her history is very, very much tied to the Forgotten Realms. So unlike Larina, her home is a very integral part of her. It will be interesting to see how that works in a game like Daggerheart.

Ok, that took about 4 minutes. While I can get into the details, suffice it to say that this worked well for me and I was EASILY able to capture the concept here that this is character who can't control her magic and is working on figuring out how.  She isn't a bard yet. But that also fits in well with my starting concept of her.  For her item, Family Heirloom, I have it as her father's lute.

In Daggerheart, you can multi-class starting at the 5th level, so I am going to try that. When Multi-classing, you choose one of the two Domains of the second class. I rather like that. The Bard Domains are Grace and Codex. While Codex would be great for the added magic, concept-wise, Grace is a better fit.  She also chooses one of the Foundations (Subclasses). For Sinéad, I picked Troubador so she can get some game advantage from her lute.

Level 0 to Level 5, plus making screenshots? 25 mins.  A PDF export would be nice here.

So, despite Larina and Sinéad both being Sorcerers in Daggerheart, they do look and feel different.

There is a lot to try out for this game and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Links

• Main Website
• Daggerheart Nexus (character creation)
• Daggerheart Open Beta Playtest rules, DriveThruRPG

 I have a slight sidestep today. I have been playing around with something for a bit. You all know I am a fan of Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem adventures from Dark Wizard Games. I have been getting his latest in both the 1st Ed and 5th Ed versions, one for me and one for my kids. I have also mentioned that while they are designed overtly for "First Edition Rules" or what I call "The Advanced Era" the adventures top off at the 14th level, making them compatible "in spirit" with my beloved B/X rules.

The obvious solution to this was to run some sort of mutant B/X-Advanced hybrid. The ruleset that won out was Old School Essentials-Advanced Fantasy Edition. While there are some bumps, it is a surprisingly good fit. To be honest, I would love to test out OSE-Advanced vs. 1st Edition vs. OSRIC and see how they all fare with the same sort of character. I have not done this, nor do I think I will. I think that the differences would be so minor as to be unnoticeable in actual play. 

But I do have the characters. 

A while back, I introduced a lovely druid couple, Maryah and Asabalom. They were OSE characters from the very start. They have connections to previous characters of mine, but nothing major. I see Asabalom as the grandson (or maybe great-grandson) of my "Beastmaster" character, Absom Sark. Because of this, I am fudging things a little and giving him the ability to wild shape into a wolf at the 4th level. He just doesn't have the control a 7th-level druid does. Right now, he can only shift into a wolf. 

For a variety of reasons that are too minor on their own but added up, these two characters are my natives of Mark's Maximum Mayhem world. One that uses OSE-AE. They are the ones I am taking through these adventures, and their son, Áedán Aamadu, will go through the 5e versions. 

The biggest issue has been finding the time to do these. With his new Kickstarter now live, I figured I needed to get caught up. 

So. I will review these, knowing I really can't go through them anymore. Sorry, Mad Master! I am reviewing these in "campaign order" and not in release order.

Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0: Village on the Borderlands

by Mark Taormino, 64 pages. For levels 1-3. Art by Justin Davis, Jacob Blackmon, Carlos Castilho, Daniel Commerci, Jeff Dee, Felipe Faria, Mark Lyons, William McAusland, Brian McCranie, Matt Morrow and JE Shields. (How's that for a who's-who among OSR artists?)

First Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). First Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store.

Fifth Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). Fifth Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store. 

The first edition has "blue" maps, and the fifth edition has full-color maps.

A lot of us freely mixed Basic D&D and Advanced D&D back in the early 80s. It was not uncommon then to find groups that had gone through B2 Keep on the Borderlands and T1 The Village of Hommlet. Mark knows this, and this adventure is a nod and homage to that experience.  This is also Mark's biggest adventure to date.

While this could have come off as pastiche or, even worse, a bunch of hamfisted clichés, instead it is a nod and even an homage to not just how much fun those old adventures were, but also to the experiences we all had. Don't get me wrong, there is a great a adventure here; but if you were playing the Keep or the Village or Giants series back in the early 1980s then this will hit differently. 

The is best described as "what if the Village of Hommlet was set outside the Cave of Chaos and not the Keep?"  You have a local village in need of help. There are roving bands of ogres and weird fungi and skeletons. Whats a local farmer to do? Easy, call upon some brave, and expendable, adventurers for help. 

There are some hooks for the adventure but for me they are unneeded. THOUGH I will add that the whole Valley of the Moon was a great hook for me. Not just because the name is similar enough to where my characters Maryah and Asabalom were from, but it is nothing if not a nod to one of my earliest crushes, Moon Unit Zappa. 

We have all sorts of classic monsters, rumor tables, nods to (in)famous NPCs, tarot readings, standing stones, name puns, an inn to meet in, places to buy equipment and weapons. 

The Inn of the Whistling Pig is wonderfully detailed and loaded with all sorts of characters. In fact, while reading, I half expected to see stand-ins for Duchess and Candella. 

I said, "Caves of Chaos," but there are only a few caves where a lot of the "out of town" action takes place, and that is plenty. The Hill Giant cave is the first. There is also the Forest of Fallen Oaks, the Ruins of Sternholm Keep, and the Caverns of the Wicked Peaks.

A great non-linear adventure where the party can start at the Inn and head out in any direction to find adventure. They can come back, heal up, spend their loot and go back out, OR keep going. That last one is not advisable as everything here has a good reason to see the PCs dead. 

There are hooks here to other Maximum Mayhem adventures, too.

The plot and organization of the first and fifth editions are the same. The Fifth edition version features color maps.  

Maximum Mayhem Dungeons Mini Adventure #1: Shadow of the Necromancer

by Mark Taormino, 16 pages. For levels 1-3. Art by Phred Rawles, Chet Minton, Adam Black, Brian Brinlee, Carlos Castilho, Bradley McDevitt, and Phred Rawles.

First Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). First Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store.

Fifth Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). Fifth Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store. 

The first edition has "blue" maps, and the fifth edition has full-color maps.

This is a mini adventure, and the first one Mark has done. Much like his Vampire Queen adventure I have used a figure called "The Necromancer" in my own games. Get out of my head Mark!!

These are designed to be played in one or two sessions. We managed to get through it in three short sessions. It has a great "Hammer Horror" vibe to it, and honestly, I rather love it.

The adventure comes with a map, in beautiful old-school blue for the 1st ed version and full color for the 5th edition version. The module is 16 pages (one page for title and credits, one page for OGL , and one-page blank).  The adventure is a simple "strange things are going on! The PCs must investigate!" situation. It turns into "stop the minion of the Necromancer from finishing his evil plans." It's tried and true, and it works fine here.  As with many of the Darl Wizard/Maximum Mayhem Dungeons, the adventure is a deadly affair. Not as deadly as the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen, but it is not a walk in the graveyard either. It is a fun romp and really captures the feel of old-school playing. Both versions are great, and I can keep the 1st-ed version for myself and give the 5th-ed version to my kids to run.

Exactly what you want in an adventure. Despite the size and scope Mark gives this one the same love and attention he does to all his larger adventures.

The plot and organization of the first and fifth editions are the same. The Fifth edition version features color maps.  

Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #7: Dread Swamp of the Banshee

by Mark Taormino and Alan Chamberlain, 48 pages. For levels 4-8. Art by Jacob Blackmon, Brian Brinlee, Ed Lacabanne, Mark Lyons, Brian McCranie, Matthew Ray, and Phil Stone.

First Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). First Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store.

A noblewoman has returned to her family estate and finds it has been taken over by a swamp. Worse, there is an evil banshee stalking the lands. But what is the noblewoman hiding?

This adventure is for characters of 4th to 8th level. But I will say this. 4th and 5th level characters are going to die. This is not a meat-grinder like Hanging Coffins, but it is deadly. There is a mystery here too so, so it is not all fireballs and swordplay. But there is a lot of that too.

Like the adventures of old, there are also new monsters here. Mark always adds a little something like that. I also get the vibe that Mark and Alan were reading a lot of B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. Not for the plot but just the feeling. It works here to be honest. 

In the series, I would run this one after Vault of the Dwarven King and have the characters between the 5th and 8th levels. Not that Vault is easier, just not as deadly as this one. 

Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #6: Moving Maze of the Mad Master

by Alan Chamberlain, 40 pages. For levels 6-10. Art by Jacob Blackmon, Alan Chamberlain, Ed Lacabanne, Mark Lyons, Brian McCranie, and Phil Stone.

First Edition PDF (DriveThruRPG). First Edition PDF and Print Dark Wizard Games Store.

This one is by Alan Chamberlain, who was also on The Dread Swamp of the Banshee and Vault of the Dwarven King. So the feel is right. In fact, until Mark kickstarted his Maximum Mayhem #8: Funhouse Dungeon of the Puppet Jester, THIS was the funhouse dungeon. 

The premise is simple but very effective. A bunch of metal monsters are attacking small towns and villages, and the PCs decide to help. What we get is an honest-to-Gary, Mad Scientist building all sorts of clockwork and autonomous horrors. To get to him, you need to get through his maze of deadly traps and clockwork terrors. 

If the other adventure is a meat grinder, then this one is a food processor. It's brutal, but of course, the fun is just as great.

You could get this one for the circular maze map and all the stats of the clockwork creatures alone (6) for a total of 11 new monsters. 

It's insane, really.

I am not sure any character can survive this campaign.

Don't forget Mark has two more of these adventures on Kickstarter now: Legend of Seven Golden Demons & Slime Pits of Sewer Witch both for 1st Edition and 5th Edition rules.

 I am finally releasing my latest project based on the Roman-Norse Myths I was playing around with last year. 

Myths & Monsters Vol. 1 - The Black Forest Mythos

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/473864/myths-monsters-vol-1-the-black-forest-mythos?affiliate_id=10748

This is the first of a series of myths and legends that began as a thought experiment about gods, monsters, and syncretism of beliefs. These gods did not exist, at least not in the classical sense. They are, however, great for a fantasy adventure game where elves, dragons, and magic are real. They are also based on some of the most well-known myths in the world.

This product is the start of a new series of smaller publications aimed at covering the Gods, Demigods, Heroes, Demons, and Monsters of various mythologies. Some will be thought experiments like this one, a set of syncretized Roman and Norse/Germanic myths. Others will be reconstructions of some ancient and less well-known myths.

These aim to provide your Advanced-era game with new gods and goddesses, as well as new monsters, demons, and other adversaries. 

Myths & Monsters Vol. 1 - Black Forest Mythos covers the myths, gods, and monsters of the people of the Black Forest.  This began as an idea; what if Roman pagans and Norse/Germanic peoples met up somewhere in the Black Forest region of Germany circa 600 CE and combined their gods into one pantheon?  And what if I had created this pantheon based on what I knew of both groups back in 1986?

Roman-Norse (Black Forest) Pantheon 

Imagine, if you will, some Roman Pagans, say circa 300-900 CE. While Christianity is becoming the Empire’s official religion, not everyone is taking up the Christian Gods. There is still a mix of Pagan Roman gods, Greek Gods, local gods and spirits, house gods, and more. The further you are from Rome (and later, Constantinople), the more likely you will still hold on to your local gods.

Now, far to the North, there are the Nordic-Germanic tribes. They are the “barbarians” of Roman lore; they want Rome’s treasures and power. But most of these people just want to find new lands to grow food on. While the Viking raids to England and Ireland are so stamped into our collective subconscious there were other forays into other lands. Some we know went South. But most of these did not happen till the 800s CE when most of Europe was firmly Christianized. We know that the Romans interacted with the Norse and made connections between their respective sets of Gods. Romans were rather practical when it came to religion.   

Imagine a time between 300 CE and 900 CE when not all Northmen were Viking raiders, and not all Romans were Christians. Let’s say that a group of Roman pagans and Northmen headed south and north, respectively, but ended up in the Black Forest region of Southern Germany, moving slightly westward. Instead of going to war, they decided to build a community together by finding common ground in their beliefs. Since both groups were polytheistic, they could accept each other’s gods. As time passed, the gods merged, just like the people. For the purposes of this story, let’s assume it was around 600 CE.

This is that project. Now, it is updated and edited, and the art is all from Larry Elmore (used with permission).  This first volume has 24 Gods and Goddesses and 17 monsters. 

This volume features art from Larry Elmore, but future volumes will feature new art from other artists. I just have to make enough from this one to pay them. 

So get your copy. Any and all feedback is welcome. I want to make this series something people will find helpful. 

 It is that time of year again. Time to reveal my theme for the annual Blogging A to Z challenge.

This is the year I have known what I would do for a long time. Since it is the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons and I am spending the year celebrating, for April, I am doing the A to Z of Dungeons & Dragons.

Granted, this might not really be much of a "challenge" for me, but I hope to inform and maybe even get some people into this weird little hobby of ours.

Who knows. Maybe I'll learn something new myself.

Catch all the other A-to-Z-ers doing theme reveals this week here: https://tinyurl.com/mv4nhbmj 

The main Blogging A to Z website is here:  http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/