I am going to post about all of the Russian figures I have in backlog over the next few days/weeks.  Ebay has cut off Russian sellers and I do not have the direct links I had a few years ago.  Who knows when, or if, this stuff will ever be on the market again.  Sadly, the soldiers that Russia is exporting these days are no longer toys.  
These are around 54mm - 60mm.  The detail is outstanding.  This is only the second set of Russiam made Orcs I have found that includes a magic user.  

In ages past, following the defeat and death of King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, Queen Guinevere slipped the All’s Well portal and into the mysterious lands of the fae that were a mirror to the British Isles. These lands were and are known for their magics—their ability to Shape, that is the Shaping of the four elements—Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, and two powerful opposing energies, Belief and Disbelief. Disbelief, brought about through greed, corruption, cruelty, and bloodshed, is strong enough to damage the World Tree at the base of the Islands, but Belief can be stronger still, strong enough to restore the health of the World Tree. The islands are also home to many fae, known as the Friends. These include the flightless, but birdlike Glimmer who sometimes use Shadowshaping for criminal ends; the goatlike Capra, typically traders, but who dislike Trolls and their bridges; the four-armed Piskies who like building automata; the regal Wyrmbitten who regret knowing nothing about their heritage; the turtlelike Bucca who prefer the freedom of the ocean; the molelike Knockers who enjoy solitary lives digging for silver and gems; the winged and birdlike Glow, who research Belief; and the Giantheld, peaceful stone giants. Queen Guinevere found the Islands at war with powerful Shape-wielding Wyrms who hoarded Belief, the conflict enabling Disbelief to wither the World Tree. Together, Queen Guinevere and the fae forced the Wyrms into hiding, and she made a pact with the fae, that whenever the World Tree was poisoned by Disbelief, some of her descendants would follow their dreams into the Islands, and there learn to Shape magic, collect enough Belief, and so heal the World Tree. Every few generations, several teenagers enter the Islands and learn and adventure together. They are known as Pendragons, and once their adventures are over, they can return to the real world as if no time has passed at all, but some do stay, and continue to adventure and even train new Pendragons.

This is the setting for Inspirisles, a storytelling roleplaying game published by Hatchlings Games. It is a storytelling game set in a magical realm, in which teenagers learn to Shape the elements and go on adventures together, solve puzzles, combat Disbelief through Belief—though not through bloodshed as it is forbidden in the Islands n, heal the World Tree, and prevent Calamity befalling the islands. The latter is done by undertaking a second quest—the recovery of the pieces of Excalibur which were stolen following King Arthur’s burial in the Islands. Calamity is gained by failing tasks or tests, and as it grows, Trolls build new bridges into communities and ravage them, cold iron is used to kill fae, a Wellbeing from another dimension appears via the All’s Well, and the Questing Beast might slip free of the Underisles to stalk the Pendragons.

Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Inspirisles is inspired by Arthurian legend and Celtic myth, and by films such as Labyrinth and The Neverending Story. Designed to be played by teenagers and young adults, it is written to be inclusive of identity and gender. Ideally, this should be five players, one for each of the four Elements, plus the Grail Guide, the name for the Game Master in Inspirisles. More particular though is the fact that it is designed to be played by the deaf and the hard of hearing, and to support that, not only does it provide an introduction to and help teach Deaf culture and sign language—both American Sign Language and British Sign Language—it uses sign language as part of game play. Just as words, letters, numbers, and expressions are shaped out in sign language, in Inspirisles, the players Shape out their characters’ magical control of the Elements. Of course, magic has always had a somatic aspect, even in something like the shaping and casting of Isho in SkyRealms of Jorune, but in Inspirisles, the players are literally Shaping what their characters are Shaping, and it gives the game a wonderful physicality.

A Pendragon is simply defined and very quick to create. They have a name and set of preferred pronouns, a past memory of their ancestor’s time in the Islands and a connected Friend associated with that memory, a preferred Element (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water) and its associated patron, a hobby they are passionate about, and a Sanctuary which is entered via the Questing Cabin they share with their fellow Pendragons. The Questing Cabin is somewhere they can reflect on their adventures and plan further adventures. The latter is a personal space where they will always feel safe and contains five items which are important to them. Several tables are provided for the players to choose from if they are short of ideas.

Name: Bowie
Pronouns: Them/Their
Element: Water Patron: Athelyn Friend: Wyrmbitten
Hobby: Tarot
Sanctuary: My grandmother’s room with its rich colourful hangings, smell of incense, well-worn and much used tarot deck on the table, and a plate of her favourite
Items Worn: Headphones, nose piercing, jumper
Items Carried: Ukulele, mug

Mechanically, Inspirisles is all about its magic through the Elements and Shaping. Both Elements and Shaping are used to overcome Belief Barriers and enter into Disbelief Battles. The former are puzzles or problems which the Pendragons need to solve or overcome, whilst the latter are contests against a threat infused with Disbelief, for example, a troll who has built a bridge into a community and is about to pillage it. Players and their Pendragons work together to solve a problem, explaining how their Shaping and their use of their Element contribute to the solution, working through a Leader. The Leader will change from problem to problem, depending upon which Element is best suited to dealing with the current situation.

Shaping itself comes in three Levels—Weak, Strong, and Potent. These are increasing complexities of sign language, from signing out simple words to facial expressions and body language to full sentences with syntax. At its simplest, a player and their Pendragon would sign ‘W-A-T-E-R’ or ‘E-A-R-T-H’, and the greater the Level of the Shaping, the more bonuses can be contributed to a situation. Learning to Shape—and thus sign language—is helped by the Lexicon in Inspirisles’ appendices of both American Sign Language and British Sign Language.

To undertake a Test, the Leader rolls three six-sided dice, the target number always being eleven or more. The difficulty is represented by the number of Tests, typically one, two, or three, but can go as high as five for tough opponents or situations, that the Pendragons have to pass. A roll of three or four is an automatic failure and always adds Disbelief to the Calamity Meter, whilst a roll of seventeen or eighteen is an Unshakeable success and grants the Pendragons Belief. The Level of Shaping and the contribution of the other Pendragons both add bonuses and allow rerolls. As aggressive Elements, Air and Fire can force an opponent to reroll some of their dice, whilst the defensive Earth and Water enable a Leader to reroll some of their dice. In Disbelief Battles, the dominant Element—Fire dominates Earth, Earth dominates Air, Air dominates Water, and Water dominates Fire—can remove an opponent’s capacity to reroll. The point of having the one Leader roll is that it keeps the mechanics simple and fast, but by having everyone else round the table contribute, Inspirisles encourages teamwork.
For example, the Pendragons need to cross over to a nearby island, but the bridge has been badly damaged in a severe storm. If they can get to the island, they hope to find out why. The Pendragons decide that Dana will be the Leader as the dominant Element is Earth, her player described how she will restore and repair the bridge. In turn, Bowie describes how she Shapes the Water to keep it away from the bridge and being washed away, Ember will Shape Fire to light the way, and Nolan will Shape the Air to make it easier to lift the stones of the bridge back into place. Each of the players successfully Shapes and their Element, granting a bonus of four to the roll. Dana rolls the three six-sided dice and gets one, two, and three. With the bonus of four, this gives a total of ten, so not enough to succeed. Fortunately, Earth is the dominant Element and allows a Leader to reroll. So Dana’s player rerolls the one and gets a two, which changes the total to eleven and thus a success.For the Grail Guardian, there is advice on the types of Tests which Shaping can be used in, including Smarts, Speed, Survival, and Social Tests, handling and narrating failure, and more, noting that whilst injury is possible, Bloodshed is not. There is only a small selection of ‘monsters’ or threats described, but the Grail Guardian could easily find other sources. Besides a description of the Islands and the Underisles—written as a tour, there is an adventure, ‘Questing Day’ and suggestions to further inspire the Grail Guardian.

Where Inspirisles comes up short is really handling Pendragon progression—it is possible to be rewarded with items infused with the Elements which add bonuses in Tests, but Inspirisles never gets round to detailing its end point, that is what happens at the World Tree and the giving of collected belief there. Whilst there are Cheat Sheets for Belief Barrier and Disbelief Battle Tests, both are perfunctory at best, and do not reference the rules for them earlier in the book. In fact, the rules for Belief Barrier and Disbelief Battle Tests are best explained in the examples rather than the rules. This is compounded by the lack of an index, which would have made everything much, much easier to find.

Physically, Inspirisles is clearly presented and written in an engaging and personal style. The reader is constantly addressed by in-game characters and the book is illustrated with bright depictions of Pendragons, and the Islands and their inhabitants. The book could have been better organised in places and it definitely needs an index. Overall though, there is very much a sense of warmth to the book.

Inspirisles is primarily a roleplaying game written for the Deaf community to play, but it is also a teaching aid in that students (and others) can learn both sign language and the skill of storytelling through play of Inspirisles. As the latter it does have its limitations in that it is only primer, and likewise, being aimed at a teenage audience does mean that it will not necessarily appeal to everyone. Another limitation perhaps is that not everyone will want to learn a sign language to play, so Inspirisles is unlikely to be for them. Then again, think of it as learning magic, and actually learning something new and magical which has a use away from the table.

Inspirisles is definitely a roleplaying game with an audience which is unfortunately not always considered by the hobby, but by creating a roleplaying game built around sign language, Hatchling Games has created a game which supports and recognises the way in which the Deaf community communicates and brings a physicality to the play. The result is that Inspirisles is both a clever way and a novel way in which to introduce gaming to the Deaf community and both Deaf culture and sign language to the gaming community.

Since 2018, the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG, beginning with the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG – Player’s Survival Guide has proved to be a popular choice when it comes to self-publishing. Numerous authors have written and published scenarios for the roleplaying game, many of them as part of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest, but the publisher of the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG, Tuesday Knight Games has also supported the roleplaying game with scenarios and support of its own. Dead Planet: A violent incursion into the land of the living for the MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game is one such scenario, but Tuesday Knight Games has also published a series of mini- or Pamphlet Modules. The first of these are The Haunting of Ypsilon 14 and Hideo’s World. The third is Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly. Where The Haunting of Ypsilon 14 was a traditional ‘haunted house in space monster hunt’ and Hideo’s World, presented a horrifyingly odd virtual world, Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly is a locked room—or locked ship—McGuffin hunt against the clock and Player Character cluelessness!

The set-up for Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly is simple and requires that the Player Characters possess a ship, especially one suited to carrying large amounts of cargo. They are making one more cargo run when they have to dock and refuel at the remote service station of Anarene’s Folly—which when their troubles begin. Their problem is twofold, at least initially. First, someone, and it is up to the Warden to decide, has placed an experimental planetary colonisation device, ‘volatile warhead of chemicals, biological agents and mutagens’ (a bit like the Genesis Device from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan) aboard their vessel and they know nothing about it. Second, someone else does, the Space Traffic Controller of Anarene’s Folly, and he is prepared to go to ordinary lengths to get hold of it. This is when the Player Characters’ problems multiply…

First, all of the docking berths on the Anarene’s Folly are in use. Then the Anarene’s Folly seems to target the Player Characters’ ship, and when the Player Characters’ vessel is allowed to dock, the maintenance crews aboard the space station seem really, really insistent on getting aboard the ship and carrying out repairs. Does the Player Characters’ space ship require repairs? Should maintenance crews like that actually be armed? Or are the maintenance crews actually coming aboard for some other reason? If so, then what have the Player Characters down to warrant such interest? Those are all questions that that will be flying the minds of both the players and their characters as the events of Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly unfold.

The Game Master is given a large number of tools with which to taunt and even gaslight the players and their characters! These are built around a pair of time lines, one which escalates events on the station, whilst the other tracks the hacking attempts on the players’ ship. Together, they form a count up of escalating events and challenges for the Player Characters which threaten to overwhelm them if they do not deal with each one in turn. Accompanying this are details of the marine’s battle plan (the marines having disguised themselves as the Anarene’s Folly maintenance crews) and the profile of the main NPC the Player Characters will interact with. It is likely that the players and their characters will come to hate him, as he will prove evasive and unhelpful. The Warden can colour this interaction by using the ‘Small Talk Table’ and ‘Improvised Marine Tech Jargon Table’, and further, there is ‘Gaslighting Table’ for essentially confusing the players and their characters… 

Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly as written feels very much like the scenario and thus the Warden is setting out to screw with the players and their characters. This is because they are placed in what is essentially a reactive stance from one event to the next in the scenario’s escalating timeline, and that escalating timeline really does require the Warden to keep track of lot. Ideally, this should be set up beforehand as part of the Warden’s preparation. The scenario also feels as if it would benefit from the use of deck plans so that the Warden and players can track where their characters are from scene-to-scene and thus which problems they are trying to deal with at any one moment.

Like Hideo’s World before it, Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly is different to other scenarios for Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG. Again, it is very much less of a horror scenario than you would normally expect for a roleplaying game which is best known for its Blue Collar Sci-Fi horror one-shots. It is much more of an escalating, against the clock affair where the horror is bureaucratic in nature, its cause unknown for much the scenario. Like Hideo’s World this scenario will need a higher degree of preparation because of its multiple timing mechanisms.

Physically, Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly has less of a presence than Hideo’s World primarily because it consists mostly of text. It is broken up into boxes, but it is still text heavy. Lastly, it does need a slight edit in places.
Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly is a fairly busy scenario with lots of things that can happen to the Player Characters in quite a confined space—their own spaceship—and piles event after event on them. It requires preparation in terms of what all those events are, but Terminal Delays at Anarene’s Folly is a grueling, often confounding scenario that will test the patience of both players and their characters.
—oOo—
An Unboxing in the Nook video of Hideo’s World can be found here.

Given the origins of the roleplaying hobby—in wargaming and in the drawing of dungeons that the first player characters, and a great many since, explored and plundered—it should be no surprise just how important maps are to the hobby. They serve as a means to show a tactical situation when using miniatures or tokens and to track the progress of the player characters through the dungeon—by both the players and the Dungeon Master. And since the publication of Dungeon Geomorphs, Set One: Basic Dungeon by TSR, Inc. in 1976, the hobby has found different ways in which to provide us with maps. Games Workshop published several Dungeon Floor Sets in the 1980s, culminating in Dungeon Planner Set 1: Caverns of the Dead and Dungeon Planner Set 2: Nightmare in Blackmarsh; Dwarven Forge has supplied dungeon enthusiasts with highly detailed, three-dimensional modular terrain since 1996; and any number of publishers have sold maps as PDFs via Drivethrurpg.com. Loke Battle Mats does something a little different with its maps. It publishes them as books.

A Loke BattleMats book comes as a spiral-bound book. Every page is a map and every page actually light card with a plastic covering. The fact that it is spiral-bound means that the book lies completely flat and because there is a map on every page, every map can be used on its own or combined with the map on the opposite page to work as one big, double-page spread map. The fact that the book is spiral bound means that it can be folded back on itself and thus just one map used with ease or the book unfolded to reveal the other half of the map as necessary. The fact that every page has a plastic covering means that every page can be drawn on using a write-on/wipe-off pen. It is a brilliantly simple concept which has already garnered the publisher the UK Games Expo 2019 People’s Choice Awards for Best Accessory for the Big Book of Battlemats and both the UK Games Expo 2019 Best Accessory and UK Games Expo 2019 People’s Choice Awards Best Accessory for Giant Book of Battle Mats.
The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats is a ‘Set of 2 Battle Map Books for RPG’. As a set, it comes as two volume set of map books in a slipcase—open ended at either side for easy access. Each of the two volumes is a twelve-inch squire square, spiral bound book, with each containing sixty maps, all marked with a square grid. These start with a pair of maps with just a plain, but quickly leap into depicting particular locations. There are settlements with rough stone crofts, a harbour with wooden jetties, paved squares, taverns with just chairs and tables and taaverns with stages, a warren of brick buildings, great hallways, battlements, dungeon entrances, ruins, an inn, a fortified settlement, a small market, a warehouse, and much, much more. And this is more or less the same in each of the two books. This does not mean that the maps are exactly the same in each book. Rather they are thematically similar and this leads into what is perhaps the greatest feature of The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats.
Each two-page spread of the two volumes of The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats consists of two linked maps—physically and thematically. The Game Master can use either of the maps on the two-page spread on their own or together, as a twelve by twenty-four-inch rectangular map. That though is with the one volume. With two volumes together, the Game Master can combine any single map from one volume with any single map from the other, and if that is not flexible enough, any two-page spread from one volume can be placed next to a two-page spread from the other, in the process, creating a twenty-four by twenty-four-inch square map. What is means is that the Game Master can connect the two harbours or the coastal fortifications to increase their size and length, extend the harbour into the town, add ruins and cemetery around the dungeon entrance, and again, much, much more. As with the other titles in the range, this gives The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats a fantastic versatility which the Game Master can take advantage of again and again in choosing a combination of map pages from the two volumes to create location after location, and then use them to build encounter after encounter.
The individual maps are excellent, being bright, vibrant, detailed, and clear. They are easy to use and easy to modify. A Game Master can easily adjust them with a write-on/wipe-off pen to add features of her own. This is especially important if the Game Master wants to use a map which has previously featured in one of her adventures. She can also add stickers if she wants new features or even actual physical terrain features.
There are three books in the series—The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats, The Wilderness Books of Battle Mats, and The Dungeon Books of Battle Mats, and The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats combines the best features of the other two. Whilst its maps are not as open The Wilderness Books of Battle Mats, they also do not feel as constrained as those in The Dungeon Books of Battle Mats. Or rather their constrained nature befits their locations, as after all, they depict locations which to varying degrees are built up and lived in. These locations tend to have specific uses and so in turn they do possess limitations on how and when the contents of the two volumes can or should be used. Consequently, they are not necessarily that easy to use on the fly, to ready up an encounter at a moment’s notice. Instead, they are easier to use as part of the Game Master’s preparation and then have everything necessary to play. Then obviously, the maps cannot be used over and over lest familiarity become an issue. Neither of these are issues which will prevent a Game Master from using The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats, but rather that she should be aware of them prior to bringing them to the table. 
Physically, The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats is very nicely produced. The maps are clear, easy to use, fully painted, and vibrant with colour. One issue may well be with binding and the user might want to be a little careful folding the pages back and forth lest the pages crease or break around the spiral comb of the binding. Although there is some writing involved in The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats, it is not really what a Game Master is looking for with this two-volume set. Nevertheless, that writing very much needs the attention of an editor—just as it was with both The Wilderness Books of Battle Mats and The Dungeon Books of Battle Mats.
There is no denying the usefulness of maps when it comes to the tabletop gaming hobby. They help players and Game Masters alike visualise an area, they help track movement and position, and so on. If a gaming group does not regularly use miniatures in their fantasy games, The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats might not be useful, but it will still help them visualise an area, and it may even encourage them to use them. If they already use miniatures, whether fantasy roleplaying or wargaming, then the maps in The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats will be undeniably useful. And there are so many fantasy roleplaying games which The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats will work with, almost too many to list here…
The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats is full of attractive, ready-to-use maps that the Game Master can bring to the table for the fantasy roleplaying game of her choice. Both practical and pretty, The Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats is an undeniably useful accessory for fantasy gaming in general. 

Another Saturday in March, another open house, open from noon until 5. (Incidentally, for those who have only come out to the gallery in winter, the next few months should be very instructive. This week is the traditional week for … Continue reading →

It is the year 10,191. Urth, the last refuge of humanity is marked with smoke-filled skies, a fractured surface smashed by centuries of warfare and bombardment, whilst firestorms of pyroclastic heat scour the land in. The planet is orbited by the stone cathedral ships of the Infinitum—the empire known as the ‘War Pigs’—amidst a thick field of debris and broken ships and corpses known as the Death Cloud, which rain down death and destruction, and launch assaults by their Borg battalions. Worse, the constant attacks and bombardments have awoken the forces of Hell and driven literal Hellholes from which legions of demons crawl to seek out the last of mankind. Caught between mighty enemies above and below, humanity hides in the cracks, avoiding conflict apart from the rebel bands known as the Screaming Skulls—and they have pulled off not one coup, but two. The first was through a slave engineer forced to work the War Pig vessels, who managed to persuade some of the Infinitum’s mightiest warriors to join the cause of saving humanity! These are the Immortals, clones of the Viking warriors of old, equipped with mighty blades and wearing massive suits of armour, standing ten feet tall, and imbued with the sense of honour they had in the past. For millennia they have been kept in cryostasis, destined to fight and die, and then return to the Infinitum’s Grave Ships to live and fight again. The second was to permanently disable the Grave Ships. The Immortals can now die, and there are only a few of them left. Only the Immortals are capable of taking the fight to both the War Pigs and Hell itself. Will they save humanity before they all die?
This is the setting for Viking Death Squad, a roleplaying game of Heavy Metal fighting, death, and honour in the very far future, inspired by the song, War Pigs, by Black Sabbath. Published by RuneHammer Games, this is a roleplaying game in which the Player Characters go on desperate missions against dark and dangerous foes, knowing that every hit they take could be their last. No mere human can withstand the damage dealt by weapons in the hundredth century—one blow is enough to kill a man, and no Immortal has been known to survive more than three. So they enter every fray in great layers of armour, and when that is smashed, they scavenge Urth’s seemingly endless battlefield for more! Healers are for the weak and those still in the refuges where mankind skulks—on the battlefield, the Healer scrounges up replacement pieces of armour! In addition, the Screaming Skulls can use spell stones, limited use magic, and even Blood Runes, which they can carve into themselves. This is also a roleplaying game with a built-in end—there are only ten Immortals alive in the hundredth century, and when the last one dies, so does hope for all mankind.
A Player Character in Viking Death Squad has six stats—SPEED, WITS, GUTS, AIM, POWER, and RESOLVE—rated between one and six. He also has a Type, either Human or Immortal, which provides some bonuses to stats, plus some skills, and a Role, which also provides bonus skills and the number and types of gear he begins play with. An Immortal typically only begins play with two skills, whereas a Human typically has three or four. The roles also differ for Immortals and Humans. For the latter, there is Hijacker, Grave Robber, Exorcist, Assassin, Junker, Excavator, and more, whilst for the former, there is the Viking Warrior, Shield Maiden, Visigoth, Mariner, Berserker, Trickster, and so on. There are hints in these, as there is elsewhere in Viking Death Squad, to classic gods of the Norse pantheon, but these flavour the setting rather provide in-game benefits. In terms of background, a Player Character has an Oath which he must fulfil, a Debt owed to an organisation or person, and a Code, something that he will never do, no matter how bad the situation becomes.
Character creation consists of choosing a Type, assigning points to stats, choosing a Role, the Background options, and some gear. Alternatively, a player can roll for some of these, but this is definitely an option. The process, though, begins with a player thinking about his character role in terms of what he will do in play. These are very much informed by MMORPGs, so ‘Defender/Tank’, ‘Slayer/Damage’, ‘Supporter/Healer’, ‘Scout/Control’, and ‘Nuke/Utility’.  These are very base concepts though, and not really followed through in the rules. So there is no guidance on how to create characters based around the concepts. Nevertheless, character creation is straightforward with an interesting range of types.
Ragnar the RagerType: ImmortalRole: Berserker
BackgroundOath: Destroy the War Pigs entirelyDebt: A human broke you free of your cryo chamber and you owe himCode: You refuse to use guns
SPEED 3 WITS 2 GUTS 3 AIM 1 POWER 4 RESOLVE 1
Special Skill: SunderSkills: Chains 3 Fearless 1 Whirlwind 2
Gear: Iron Chains, Hag Stones, Thermite Blow Torch, Insect Shield (+1d Surprise), Gorgo Shell (+1d Power, undetected amongst insects), Retread Pauldrons (+1d Surprise), Slip Vest (Immune to blades)
Mechanically, Viking Death Squad uses a dice pool mechanic of six-sided dice. If a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls the appropriate stat and attempts to beat a target number. This target number is determined by a similar die roll made by the Game Master, which varies from two to six dice depending upon the difficulty. Alternatively, skills are rolled for their special effects. For example, the Combat Repair skill enables a character to repair a piece of gear for each four, five, or six rolled, whilst for the Chains skill, for each four, five, or six rolled, the character can inflict one hit, grapple a foe, or catch an anchor point to pull or climb.
To augment a roll, a player has two choices. One is to Push his character’s gear. This can add a die to the roll, hit more than one foe with an attack, throw a melee weapon, reduce the target number, narrate an extra effect, or destroy armour completely without rolling a critical result. The other is to expend Resolve to add more dice to the roll. Both have their downsides. Resolve is a limited resource, but is restored after a safe rest, whilst Pushing gear damages the item. Push that piece of gear three times and it is destroyed.
There are a couple of results on a roll other than a simple success. A Critical success is achieved on a roll of twelve higher than the target number. This means that the roll achieves the maximum narrative effect, the character completely destroys a piece of armour worn by the enemy, can take another turn immediately, gain a tick on a Blood Rune, or two on a skill. A Critical success is also achieved if the player rolls six on three dice, but the character also refills his Resolve. Players are also invited to recite Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast, and the Game Master to bring Lucifer’s influence into play…
Combat is intended to be fast and furious. Speed is rolled to determine who goes first in combat and how hard they are to hit, so is a vitally important stat. Then rolls are made to hit and their effects determined and narrated. Range is either Arm’s Length, Ranged, or Out of Reach, and hits are inflicted to destroy armour. After that, hits are deadly. Although there is no healing in Viking Death Squad, armour can be replaced, repaired, or even scavenged—even on the spot and in the middle of battle.For example, Ragnar the Rager and his band are on their way to a settlement when they  come across an attack force of twenty-two Borg led by two Hulk Borgs intent on assaulting the settlement. They decide to ambush them. The Game Master rolls four six-sided dice for Hulk Borgs’ Speed, for a total of thirteen. Rager’s player rolls three six-sided dice for his Speed and gets fifteen. First there is the matter of the ambush. Rager’s player assembles his dice pool—three for his Chains skill, three for attacking from ambush, plus two for his Insect Shield and Retread Pauldrons. This gives his player eight dice and he rolls one, two, three, six, six, six, and six, for a total of thirty. So a Critical, but not the Number of the Beast. This means Rager gets another turn and two ticks on his Chains skill. For the six, six, six, and six on the roll, he inflicts one hit each. However, he also has the Whirlwind skill, which is rolled after a successful melee attack and inflicts another hit for each six rolled. Rager’s player rolls the two dice for that and gets a four and six, inflicting another hit. This gives him a total of five hits. Normally, that would be against one target, but Rager’s iron chains attack two targets, so both Hulk Borgs are hit. Hulk Borgs have five Armour and Rager’s player narrates how Rager leaps down into the ravine and with a divine roar, the chain whips back and forth ripping armour from the cyborg monstrosities.
Rager’s turn would end there, but the Critical hit got him a second turn. He does not have surprise though, which means no bonus dice from that, and so is only rolling the three dice for his Chains skill. This time, his player decides to use a point of his  Resolve and adds an extra die to give him four dice. He rolls three, three, five, and five. This is two hits and again, will affect both targets. Rager’s player fails to roll any sixes on his Whirlwind skill, but two hits on the two Hulk Borgs because of his Iron Chains, is enough to shatter them as neither has any armour left. Rager looks up at his fellow members of the Screaming Skulls and roars! It is up to them to take down as many of the ordinary Borg before they swarm him. Above him, they open up with their guns…Both magic and advancement in Viking Death Squad are simple. Spell Stones can be used by all and each stone has a straightforward effect which can be used three times before it crumbles, like Shield Stone, which absorbs one attack against the caster, or Loki’s Pebble to create illusions for a few turns. The Runes skill also allows a character to carve a one-use Spell Stone effect on a nearby surface. For advancement, successful skill use gets a tick—or two if the roll was a Critical—and five ticks get a skill increase of one die. A Player Character’s Resolve pool is both refreshed and increased by one die after each session, and Critical hits also add a tick towards the three needed to gain a Blood Rune. Blood Runes are engraved on a Player Character’s skin for a permanent, but powerful effect. For example, an increase of the POWER stat, the ability to select an enemy on the battlefield and ignore its armour, or gain three Deaths like an Immortal (if Human) or erase any previous Deaths (if Immortal). A Player Character can have four Blood Runes.
For the Game Master, Viking Death Squad provides quite a lot to play with. The background is sketched out in broad, but flavoursome detail. This includes the twenty or so important locations across the ruined Urth, the great fungal forest across Eurasia; the nature of Hell and its ongoing civil war between Lucifer and Azael the Butcher; and the fact that technology is solid state and weird and alien rather than relying upon electricity or fossil fuels. What new technology there is, or at least new equipment, is made from solid, single materials, for example, an iron helm or a stone maul. ‘Relic Tech’ can be scavenged though, and the Player Characters can expect to find guns which shoot flaming skulls, swords sheathed in ice, and more. Further, in terms of its background, Viking Death Squad does not hide its secrets. All are there for the Game Master to read and then use in her game.
Viking Death Squad also comes with five ready-to-play pre-generated Player Characters—the Moldy Bunch; ‘The Dogs of Leadgrave’, a short adventure in which the Player Characters investigate why the town of Leadgrave is constantly being attacked by cyBorg dogs; and over twenty foes, including various types of Borgs, giant insects, Iron Dragons, the animated dead, sentient and toxic Tar, and gigantic unkillable Tardigrade Beasts. All have a Tactics roll, a table which the Game Master can roll on to determine how the foe acts from round to round. There is good advice too on running Viking Death Squad and the book is rounded out with ‘Blood and Justice’, a complete nine-part mini-campaign.
Physically, Viking Death Squad is well presented, with some fantastically oppressive comic-style artwork which captures the heavy metal style of the game. However, as written it feels slightly fragmented and not as well organised as it should be, plus it is underwritten in places. In particular magic and the general mechanics could have been done with a clearer explanation, plus the underlying concept behind character creation be developed rather than ignored.
With limited lives available to the Player Characters, Viking Death Squad is not meant for long term play, but rather one-shots or mini-campaigns. Indeed, a Game Master could run ‘Blood and Justice’ and be done with the game, though there would still be aspects of Urth in the year 10,191 still to explore—and there is plenty of scope in Viking Death Squad’s setting for the Game Master to develop. These could even form mini-campaigns of their own and companion, perhaps detailing further campaigns and perhaps firming up some of the rules would not be unwelcome.
Viking Death Squad is meant to be played fast and furious, a roleplaying game of bombast and blast, action and adversity, heroism in a far future of hard horror and heavy metal. Unsubtle and unrestrained, Viking Death Squad demands that you rock your roleplaying and swing your mighty axe to smash the future!

Today I present the last (so far) of the Castles & Crusades mythological Codices.   This one takes away from Europe and back further in time to antiquity.   It was also one I was really, really looking forward to and I am not disappointed.  

Castles & Crusades Codex Egyptium

Nothing gets people excited quite like Egypt.  A kingdom that began at least in 3,100 BC to the time of the Romans, it has missing time where "nothing really happened" (according to one Prof. used to joke) that lasts longer than the entire history of the United States. It is an impressively long amount of time and even one that seems incalculable. There is the old saying. "Man fears time, but Time fears the Pyramids." 

This codex takes on the "newer" Codex format.  This is one makes the new format a little clearer. The "Chapters" covers history and mythology with some game material while the "Appendicies" are game material proper. 

For this review I am considering the PDF from DriveThruRPG and the hardcover edition.  Again our author and designer is Brian Young.  Color covers, and black and white interior art. 

Chapter 1 The Black Land Arose (Geography and Worlds)

This chapter begins with a basic map of the lands around the Nile and even up to the Mediterranean Sea and out East to the Fertile Crescent.  This chapter covers the geography of these lands and a bit on the people. To call it brief is a massive understatement.  We are talking about nearly 3,500 years of history and people and change.  While the Egyptians were notoriously resistant to change and very xenophobic, there is still a glossing over of history here.  Of course, this is again a gamebook and not a history text.  No problem then, there is more to come. 

Chapter 2 From Early Darkness (History and Mythic Background)

This covers the history, real and mythical, of the lands. This covers the stone age (Paleolithic) to all the Dynasties up to the Fall of Rome in terms of real-world history.  The remaining covers the mythical history of Egyptian creation and gods. 

Chapter 3 Presided over by the Divine (Gods, Goddesses and Supernatural Figures)

This chapter opens up with some spiritual concepts like priests, mummification, souls, and the afterlife.  For the Egyptians, the afterlife WAS life. Everything they worked for the afterlife.  The gods and their place in the afterlife is also discussed.

Chapter 4 Rife with Charms and Spells ( Magic in Egypt)

As with many ancient societies, magic was not "Supernatural" but a part of nature and that has never been more true than with Egypt. Various words of power are discussed and listed. Descriptions of the Egyptian "wizards." 

Chapter 5 Neter and Netert - The Divine

Egypt is the land of Gods.  Lots and lots of Gods. Here only some of the Gods are detailed. Since Egyptian history is so long that even the gods changed.  There are 40 pages of gods here.  Some are listed more than once as their roles changed over the centuries. Young has a Sisyphean task here, trying to catalog all the gods that Egpyt has had.  Even if it not complete it is the most complete one I have seen in a game.

Chapter 6 Using Egyptian Mythology In Airhde

For the first time the Codex covers the Troll Lords' homeworld of Aihrde.  Parallels are drawn between the gods of Aihrde and the gods of Egyptian.   The advantage here, beyond the page, gives a nice mixing pot (Aihrde) that all the other Codices can be mixed. 

Appendix A Names This covers names for all sorts of people, PCs, NPCs, Gods and more.

Appendix B Social Classes The various classes in ancient Egypt.  Note that social class was ironclad; you didn't move around between them. 

Appendix C Defended by Fierce Warriors (The Military and Soldiers) Covers the different sort of warriors.  None are different from the Fighter game-wise, but there are a lot roleplaying ideas here.

Appendix D Chariots The high tech of the ancient world. It could not be understated that this was the implementate of war for the time. 

Appendix E The Sphynx A little bit of background on the creature.

Appendix F Where Monsters And Demons Dwell The creatures of ancient Egypt. 25+ creatures here and each one is more interesting than the last to be honest.  I am hesitant to say this is the best chapter, but it is really fun.

At the end is a really nice bonus map.  The map is included with the PDF.

While there is a lot of information in this book, it still makes me want more.  I have a feeling that to do this topic justice we would need a 500+ page book. I can't even begin to imagine what Young had to do to pare it down this much. 

Eygpt is just so damn interesting.  There is so much here to play with that my cup runneth over with ideas. I honestly don't even know where to even start to be honest.

With all of these Codecies, one would be tempted to combine them all.  Build something akin to Lands of Adventure or Man, Myth, & Magic.  While I could see this working somehow in Aihrde or a homebrew campaign, I would avoid it for a purely mythic Earth where I feel this would work best. 

For my money and time, play these various codices in their own times and their own places.  For me, that would be the best way to really get the feel for them. Nicely they are written in such a way to allow pretty much anything. 

I understand that Dr. Young is working more of these.  I am really looking forward to them! 

Knave is a toolkit designed to do Old School Renaissance roleplaying. Written by the author of The Waking of Willowby Hall, the earlier Maze Rats, and host of the YouTube channel, Questing Beast, Knave is very much a retroclone of Dungeons & Dragons, but with significant differences. The most obvious of which is that Knave eschews both Classes and Races. There is no default Race, but every Player Character in Knave is a “tomb-raiding, adventure-seeking ne’er-do-well who wields a spell book just as easily as a blade.” The latter is the obvious difference—a Player Character can cast spells as easily as he can wield a weapon. In addition to this, Knave provides a systematic means for handling Attributes and Attribute bonuses, actions and Saving Throws, defences, and more. Despite these changes, Knave is designed to be compatible with Dungeons & Dragons and its various iterations, so that the Game Master can run numerous scenarios and settings using its rules.

A Player Character in Knave looks like a Player Character in Dungeons & Dragons. He has the six requisite Attributes—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Five of these cover aspects as you would expect. Thus, Strength is used for melee attacks and physical Saving Throws; Dexterity covers agility and speed; Constitution to resist poison and sickness; Intelligence for handling concentration, recall, using magic and more; and Charisma for interacting with NPCs and hiring henchmen. The difference is that Wisdom, in addition to covering the usual perception and intuition, actually handles ranged attacks! It is a radical change, but it means that Wisdom can be used as a more active attribute and that ranged attacks are associated with perception, and also it shifts some of the traditional emphasis in other retroclones away from Dexterity.

Each Attribute has both a bonus and defence. The bonus is equal to the lowest value rolled during character creation. This is done using three six-sided dice, in order, as is traditional. Thus if a player rolled three, four, and five, to get a total of twelve, the bonus would be three. The Defence for an Attribute is the bonus value, plus ten. A Player Character also has a Level—though of course, no Class, which determines the number of eight-sided dice rolled for Hit Points; a number of item slots representing what he can carry, equal to his Constitution Defence; and an Armour Defence value, determined by the armour worn without any modifiers.

To create a character in Knave, a player rolls three six-sided dice for the six Attributes, noting their Bonus and Defence values, and then rolls for Armour worn, and a piece of dungeoneering gear, and two pieces of general gear. In addition, he can roll or choose various traits, including physical, face, skin, hair, clothing, virtue vice, speech, background, misfortune, and alignment. The process is relatively quick and easy.

Frederick Bellini
Level 1
Hit Points: 7
Armour: Gambeson Bonus +2/Defence 12
Helmet: None Shield: None
Weapon: Cudgel (d6)
Strength 09 Bonus +1/Defence 11
Dexterity 11 Bonus +2/Defence 12
Constitution 09 Bonus +2/Defence 12
Intelligence 16 Bonus +4/Defence 14
Wisdom 17 Bonus +5/Defence 15
Charisma 13 Bonus +3/Defence 13

Traits
Physical: Short Face: Bony Skin: Tanned Hair: Oily
Clothing: Perfumed Virtue: Honourable Vice: Cowardly Speech: Flowery
Background: Herbalist Misfortune: Robbed Alignment: Law

Gear
Torches (5), Lockpicks, Lens

Mechanically, Knave uses a throw of a twenty-sided die against a standard difficulty. If the player rolls sixteen or more, his character succeeds at the action. When it comes to opposed Saving Throws, this can be rolled by the player or the Game Master. For example, if a Player Character casts the Web spell, which shoots thick strands of webbing from his wrists, at a thief who has just robbed him, the player could roll and add his character’s Intelligence Bonus against the thief’s Dexterity Defence, or the Game Master could roll against the Player Character’s Intelligence Defence adding the thief’s Dexterity Bonus. The option here is whether or not the Game Master and her players want to play Knave with player-facing rolls or use the standard method in which both players and the Game Master roll as necessary.

The option is also included to use Advantage and Disadvantage, as per Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Typically, this will come from the situation or the environment, but it could also come from any one of the several Traits rolled or chosen during character creation. The mix of these underlie who or what a character is and so bringing them into play encourages roleplaying.

Combat in Knave is kept simple. The Player Characters and their opponents both have a fifty percent chance of winning the Initiative, and attack rolls, whether using the Strength Bonus for melee attacks or the Wisdom Bonus for ranged attacks, have to be greater than the Defence value of the armour worn. Alternatively, if using player-facing rolls, the defending player would roll his character’s Armour Bonus to beat the attacker’s Defence value. In addition, Opposed Saving Throws can be used to do Stunts, such as stunning an opponent, knocking them over, disarming them, smashing armour, and so on. Stunts do not do damage though, although they can be combined with an attack attempt if the attacker has Advantage. This is instead rolling the two twenty-sided dice which is normal for Advantage.

Successful attacks inflict damage per the weapon’s die type, more if the defender is vulnerable to that type of attack. Critical hits—a twenty if using the standard rolling method, one if the player-facing method when attacked—smash the defender’s armour, reducing its Quality be one. When the armour’s Quality is reduced to zero, it is destroyed.

Magic in Knave is also simple. Spells can be taken from any Old School Renaissance or similar source or those in Knave can be used. All spells require a spellbook of their own and a spellbook takes up a slot in a Player Character’s inventory, and each spell from a spellbook can only be cast once per day, requiring a Saving Throw to do so. So literally, spells are a physical burden!

Further, spells cannot be copied, created, or transcribed. They can only be adventured for or stolen… Which begs the question, where did these spellbooks come from? What it does mean is that if the traditional Dungeons & Dragons spells are used, then the higher-level spells become valuable commodities! However, Knave offers its own list of one hundred Level-less spells, and these are interesting in that they shift magic from inflicting damage to having an interesting, often odd effect. For example, Catherine summons a woman wearing a blue dress appears who obeys polite, safe requests; Marble Madness fills the caster’s pockets with marbles and continues to refill the pocket over; and Snail Knight, which summons knight sitting astride a giant snail who rides into view ten minutes later and will answer most questions related to quests and chivalry, and who might aid the caster if he finds him worthy. The spells are fun, but very simply described, so the Game Master will need to adjudicate as necessary.

Knave also includes a decent equipment list—with the prices in copper pieces as the default coin in Knave, guidance for adapting monsters from the standard Old School Renaissance bestiaries, rules for morale and healing. Advancement is done every time a Player Character accumulates 1000 XP, Experience Points being awarded for accomplishments rather than for simply killing monsters or finding treasure. At each new Level, the player rolls for his character’s new Hit Points and increases the Defence and Bonus values for three of his character’s Attributes.

Physically, Knave a is a well presented, short, twenty-page booklet done on heavy stock paper, meaning that it feels rather pleasing in the hand. It could do with a slight edit for clarity in places and it is lightly illustrated. It is also underwritten in places, but that may be by design, since Knave does belong to the ‘Rulings not rules’ school and in many cases, such as the exact effects of spells, will come down to play and what happens at the table rather than from the pages of Knave itself.

Knave is designed as a toolkit, something for Game Master to build from as is her wont. For example, she might add rules for Races, such as adding their Traits and using them in combination with the Advantage and Disadvantage mechanic, or build a world in which Snail Knights go on quests (slow, of course, and always leaving a trail). However, beyond the guidance for spellbooks, there are no rules for including magical items at all, and perhaps what v needs is not necessarily more rules, but options. So not just one way to present Races, but two or three, not just one way to do magic items, but again, two or three. The point is, as a toolkit, the Game Master could do with a few extra tools.

Knave is a really easy system to pick up and play, everything it covers is boiled down to a few pages, and with a slight bit of getting used to, a Game Master could easily run any number of settings or scenarios, especially those from the Old School Renaissance. It does contain the lightest of setting elements, that magic is helpful and occasionally odd, but not hurtful—everyone has access to it if they can find a spellbook, that combat can be deadly—but does not have to be (though it will be), and then there is implied medievalism of the equipment and background traits. How much of these will come into play will depend upon both Game Master and her players.

Knave is an engaging piece of concise design, perfect for the Game Master and her players who want simple mechanics with scope for narrative outcomes, and the Game Master who wants simple mechanics she can build from to create the roleplaying game she wants.

Okay, so the last of the big winter freezes has (probably) passed by Dallas, and the Sarracenia and temperate sundews are starting to wake up from winter dormancy. The move to the new house is complete (the workroom may look … Continue reading →

Again, today is a good day for this one.  I just finished my review of the Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum so I wanted to compare and contrast it to the earlier work on a similar topic, the HR3 Celts Campaign Sourcebook for AD&D 2nd Edition.  I reviewed the HR1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook a while back and always wanted to get back into the series.  

HR3 Celts Campaign Sourcebook (AD&D 2nd Edition)

For this review, I am considering both the PDF and softcover copies.  96 pages with color (well, green) covers and black & white interior art.  There is a color map attached to the original softcover I bought in the early 90s. The PDF has the map appended to the end.  Graeme Davis is the author here. He got his RPG start with Games Workshop.  

Illustrations are by Roger Raup and Cartography by Steve Sullivan.

The publication of this book is contemporaneous with the famous BBC-2 series, The Celts.  The one with all the music from Enya.  They do cover similar ground and if you are interested in using this for any *D&D sort of game I would recommend the series.  Yes, there has been newer scholarship since then. But are you working on a dissertation or a game?  The obvious choice for newer and game-related scholarship is Brian Young's Codex Celtarium for Castles & Crusades from Troll Lord Games. 

Chapter 1: Introduction

This covers the question of "Who Were the Celts?" and what this book is for.  The goal here is an AD&D gamebook, not one on Celtic history.

Chapter 2: A Mini-Course of Celtic History

I discussed updated scholarship above, but for pretty much any game (but especially AD&D) this chapter is a great overview of Celtic real-world history. Covering roughly 1,500 years, 600 BC to 900 AD, and all of Europe a lot does get left out.  But this is enough to get you going to the right place.  Today we have the advantage of the latest scholarship at the click of a mouse, but in 1992 this was what we had. Ok. That is not entirely true. Even in 1992, there was BITNET access for a lot of great articles and Usenet for talking with others.  But that is beyond the scope of this conversation and this book.  For an AD&D game world this will get you going rather nicely.

The timeline graphic is a nice touch.

Chapter 3: Of Characters and Combat

This covers differences from the standard AD&D 2nd Edition character creation.  In particular, you will typically only have humans.  Humans can get a random "gift" and possibly "sidhe" blood, but do not expect to see dwarves, elves, and halflings in great abundance.  

The classes also get a facelift more or less.  Fighters of course are the most important with the druids tied.  Paladins are limited to Christians on the Continent.  Rangers get a bit of an update.  Wizards are to be used sparingly. Clerics are relegated to Christian missionaries (so St. Patrick was a Cleric!).  Bards and Druids get the attention.  A new class under Priests is introduced, the Manteis or Vates is the Celtic Seer.

Names and homelands are discussed along with social class. Various Warrior "feats" are also discussed.  They take proficiency slots but otherwise "feel" like feats in the D&D 3/5 sense.

Chapter 4: Magic

Covers changes to spells and magic items.  Also makes a distinction between "gifted" and "trained" spellcasters.  If this were D&D 3rd Edition then we would call them "Sorcerers" and "Wizards" respectively. 

There are new magic items and magical places characters can find themselves in.  

Chapter 5: Monsters

I do love monsters.  This section covers all sorts.  First, we get a list of monsters that can be used unchanged.  Then a section of "new" monsters, or more to the point Celtic variations on existing monsters from the Monstrous Compendiums. Then we get whole new monsters in Monstrous Compendium formats. Not a lot mind you, but enough to give some flavor.

Chapter 6: Equipment and Treasure

This covers equipment, treasure, gifts, and the barter system used.  Coins are still used (and for ease mentioned in GP amounts). The big issue here is that a lot of older equipment will be Bronze Age and some will be newer Iron Age varieties.  An important notion given that this is not a "Medieval" setting.  

Chapter 7: The Celtic Culture

We get a brief overview of Celtic Culture through the eyes of Conall Mac Eogan.  This 15-year-old is coming of age and we see how the next year of his life touches on aspects of the culture.  Now obviously the events for Conall would be very different if this had been Deirdriu or Eithne we were talking about.  Some discussion is given on the advanced, atypically for the time, role of Celtic women.  

The topics of Fostering and Trade are also mentioned. We also get the wheel of the year (adopted by many modern pagans) and some of the gods with nods to the AD&D 2n Ed Legends & Lore book.

Chapter 8: A Brief Gazetteer

Covers the lands we typically associate with the Celts. Heavy on the British Isles and Ireland. Various "other worlds" like Avalon, Tir Na Og, and Annwvyn are also briefly discussed. 

Appendix 1: Enech

The notion of Celtic honor price is given in AD&D 2nd Edition terms.

Glossary

A brief glossary of terms and names.

The PDF ends with the map and the softcover book has it as a tear-out attachment.

I did not go into this expecting graduate-level work and that is fine.  It is a great source for playing in a Celtic-themed AD&D 2nd Ed game world.  If the goal had been to provide AD&D 2nd Ed rules for a Celtic world then it would have needed to have been larger, but as it is it met the scope of their requirements.

This book is also 30 years old. It holds rather well really, both physically and in terms of what it needs to do, and can still be adapted to any version of D&D you care to think about.   

All in all I am as happy with it now as I was when I got in 92.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate. While the rest of Dallas focuses on excessive drinking (this incredibly NSFW piece, and I’m not kidding about it being NSFW, should be the city’s anthem today), my personal anthem is a … Continue reading →

If there was any doubt where Dr. Brian Young's true love lies in this series, the new second printing of the Codex Celtarum should dissolve those.   This new book brings the original Codex in line with the other codies in terms of style and feel.  This new book is also expanded to 256 pages, up from the previous 178 pages.  It is without a doubt also my favorite of the codies. 
Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum, 2nd Printing

For this review, I am considering both he PDF and hardcover copies.  256 pages with color covers and black & white interior art. 
The Codex Celtarum is written by Brian Young.  He is a gamer and an academic in Celtic history and languages and an all-around nice guy.  Honestly, he is the kind of person I want writing this sort of thing.  You talk to him and get the feeling that he could immediately tell you a story from the Mabinogion and it would roll off his tongue like the bards of old.  This is the guy you want working on your Celtic game.
Introduction

The first thing I noticed in his introduction was his acknowledgement of the differences in legend and in history and where he was putting his cards.  For me, as someone that has had to have the same tug of war, the value of this book went up several degrees.   
Before moving on to the book itself I spent a lot of time with Castles & Crusades again, this time from the point of view of a Celtic-themed game.  Like the others in this series, it could be used with any D&D-like game.  Now at this point it should be noted that the design of this book is to play in a Faery realm, so it is something you can drop into any game world.  There are some game-based assumptions made, but nothing to keep you from making this your own.
This section also talks a bit about the changes from the 1st to 2nd printing.

Chapter 1: In Lands Far Away

This covers the lands of the Celts and how the Castles & Crusades player can drop their game into this world.  The advantage here is this 2nd Edition does talk about how you can use the Codex Germanica along with this.  This covers not just the expected British Isles, but all (mostly all) Celtic Europe. 

Chapter 2: Mythical Locations

This brief chapter discusses mythical locations like Hyberborea and the Hercynian Forest.  These lands were assumed to be real just "over there."

Chapter 3: Once Upon A Time 

This chapter covers the history of the Celtic real-world universe including the various wars that happened at the dawn of time and various involved countries/lands in Europe.  

Chapter 4: Otherworldly History

This is the "myth" part of the mytho-historical background of the Celts.  It overlays the stories of the gods and other powerful beings on top of the history of the Celts.  This chapter is rich in storytelling and follows a tale very familiar to me, but there are always new things to read and learn.

Splitting Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 into two separate and distinct chapters is good since for most books on the topic they are intertwined so much that it is hard to tease out the "myth" and the "history" from the mytho-historic events. Certainly one has had a profound effect on the other and I think Young demonstrates this well.  

Also while I am 100% behind his enthusiasm here (and I share it) we have yet to see anything game-related and we are 75 pages in.

Chapter 5: The Otherworld of Faery

This chapter covers the various "otherworlds" (yes plural) of the lands of Faery. Usually tied to a physical location in the real world.  It reads like an unreal Gazeteer of Europe to be honest, a mist-shrouded tour into a land that is similar but still very different. The faery lands don't have the same rules of nature as the mortal realms. So there are some tables about the odd passage of time or the nature of the land.  

Chapter 6: There Lived a People 

ALmost everything you want to know about the Faery races.  This includes traits faeries can have and their weaknesses.  This also includes a list of the giants of Wales.

Chapter 7: Great of Magic and Power 

This details, what else, magic.  If human wizards study magic and human priests pray for it then the Fae ARE magic. The distinction is not a subtle one.  The magical powers here are listed as spells. So they can be used by the fae as if they were spells, but that robs them of what makes them so interesting. Instead, go with the suggestion in the book that each member of the fae gets a number of special powers based on their intelligence.  And there are plenty of powers here!  If you are anything like me and love magic, spells, or powers for characters then this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.  

It is one of the largest chapters so far and has the most "game" material.

Chapter 8: With Great Gods and Lords 

This covers the gods, demigods, and named faeries of the lands. There are no stats for these gods or heroes.  Why? That is easy. They are not meant to be killed or even interacted with.  They are the legends of this land. If you have any familiarity with the gods of Celtic myth and legend you can find them here. 

Appendix A: The Druidic Order This covers the druid classes for Castles & Crusades within the Celtic world. There is the Druid (Wisdom), the Celtic Bard (Charisma), and the Druidic Seer (Wisdom).

Appendix B: The Secrets of the Druids This appendix covers the Ogham writing and runes.

Appendix C: Druidic Spells What is says, the spells the various druid classes can use. 

At this point, I wonder if all three could not have been combined into one Appendix. 

Appendix D: The Enchanted of Faerie Here we get a nice discussion on Faery Metals and how they can be used.  There is a list of divine items (artifacts in other games) listed by the owner; that's right the Gáe Bulga is not just lying around waiting for you to find it. No this +8 spear (!) is well in the hands of Cú Chulainn.

Appendix E: The Severed Head discusses the importance of taking the head of your enemy.

Appendix F: The Feast Hall details the Celtic hero's feast.

Appendix G: The Celtic Chariot. what it says on the tin.

Appendix H: The Celtic Warrior Society. Gives us a very brief overview of the importance of warriors and how they were organized.  I wish this one had been much longer. 

Appendix I: Accoutrements of War. Deals with the arms and armor of the celtic warrior. 

Appendix J: Strong Feats and Deeds. Covers the tales of the heroes of the Celtic myths and legends. 

Honestly, Appendices E to J should be combined into a chapter on Celtic Warriors. This is what the other Codices have done. 

Appendix K: Holidays & their Customs.

Appendix L Celtic Themed Adventures.

Appendix M: Monsters

Also, this should have been a chapter. There are 30 pages of monsters here. Many are very familiar to me, but again are closer to their "roots."

Ok. So what can say here?

The book is fantastic and I loved every bit of it.  BUT, I find the new organization of the 2nd Printing to be inferior to that of the 1st Printing.  I felt some of the material could have been organized and combined a bit better. I still find it a delight to read, but is that due to this book or the subject matter?

Again, there is no doubt that Brian Young is not only an expert in this field, he also loves it.  That enthusiasm shows and I am sure he could have written a book twice this size.  I do love the expanded history and the raised importance of the continental Celts over the typically well-trodden lands of the Irish and British Celts.  Looking over my review of the First Printing this is exactly one of the things I thought was missing from that version. Though some of the material from the first edition (some classes) are missing from this edition.  I guess I should keep both on hand.

Still, if you are a fan of Celtic myth, Faery lore, or Castles & Crusades then I highly recommend this book.  Even if you don't play C&C, I would get this book.

Coming up on some myths I know the least about and maybe the most excited to read.  There is a lot of great stories I have read and watched over the years.  What I like, so far, is that these are mostly new stories to me.  Well. Not entirely new. I have been using Baba Yaga for years and my first published Ghosts of Albion adventure deals with Chernbog (Czernobog in this book).  
So let's instead say I am less familiar with all of these.

Castles & Crusades Codex Slavorum

For this review, I am considering the PDF and hardcover book.  The book is 94 pages. Color covers, black & white art. Written once again by Brian Young.  He doesn't say it in the books, but it is Brian N. Young, Ph.D.  He worked hard and earned his degree and it should be recognized.  

Chapter 1: In Bygone Years

Like the previous volumes, this chapter covers both the real-world history and the myths of the area.  The area in question surrounds the Black Sea in Eastern Europe.  

We get some pre-history, but the people we call the Slavs will get their start in this volume with Byzantine Empire.  The time period here is parallel to both the Germanica and Nodica books.

The myths of the area are all new to me and while Young (the author) does a good job in his summary, it leaves me wanting to seek out more.  I suppose that is the point right?

Chapter 2: The Whole World & That Which is Beyond

This goes into detail about the lands of the Slavs and these myths.  I have now gone through five of these Codecies and I am thinking that a Castles & Crusades game in Mythic Earth is a great idea.  There is a nice map of the Slavic Kingdoms.  

The second half of this covers the mythic lands of the Slavs; the three worlds.  Like the Norse, these are placed on the World Tree, the Drugi Svet. Young even mentions that combination is possible but does not (correctly) tell you how since it would depend on YOUR world.  The three worlds are Parv (or Iriy or Vyrjy), the realms of light, the lands of summer, and the home of the Gods. Lav (or Yav) is the middle realm of men, and Nav the Underworld.  Here Czernobog becomes the Devil-like figure.  Indeed it might be hard to tease out what is Czernobog and what is "Lucifer" in modern depictions of "the Devil."  Svarog is our creator deity of light. 

In a case of supporting my "One Man's God" series, there is Peklo, the Abyss, which is the home of various demons.  Demons it seems very much in the AD&D mindset.

There are more lands and frankly, the more I read the more I want to use all of this in a game. 

Chapter 3: Did Dwell Many Peoples

Our monster chapter.  Monsters are "false creations" (my words, not so much Young's) of Czernobog.  And there are some GREAT monsters here. Nearly 50 monsters here. Some are familiar to any D&D players, but many are new to *D&D games or at least in this form.  

There are a couple new "races" that characters can be.  The Zmajevit, or the "Dragon born" are humans with dragon blood in them. The Zduhac, or the Elemenatal ones, are elemental influenced humans. 

There is also a new class here, the Vampirdzhija or the Vampire Hunter. This is a Wisdom-based class. Essentially the Vampire Slayer of the Slavic cultures. 

Chapter 4: Filled with Great Magic

Another favorite section this one covers magic and new magic-using classes.   The Kolduny is a new type of wizard that is Wisdom-based.   The Molfar is the Slavic shaman, also Wisdom-based.

There are a few names mentioned for other types of spell casters. These are just names for other types, but do not have their own class per se. 

Chapter 5: Of Mighty Gods and Spirits

This chapter takes the myths and reshapes them into something that can be used with Castles & Crusades but of course any other game.  And there are a lot of gods here! Some are familiar to me, but most are brand new.  

There is some text on the pagan religions of the Slavs and their practices. 

Chapter 6: Battle Strong and Heroic

This is typically the "fighters" chapter. This one covers the weapons used by the Slavs and mentions of the heroes and groups of heroes of their tales. 

Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info

This is the GM's or Castle Keeper's information on running a game using these rules. Like the others in this series, this includes names and the various laws of the lands. 

More so than the other books this one left me wanting more.  This is a good thing and not a fault of the book. It is due to my own unfamiliarity with these myths and stories.  It would work well with the Germanic and Nordic books for greater world-building.  Now I want books like this for all the big myths of the world. 

Maybe one for Spain and Al-Andalus should be next?  What do you think Dr. Young?

Ah, March in Texas. As much as everyone wants to joke about Texas weather in general, the real fun is waiting for the week of St. Patrick’s Day/the vernal equinox, because just about anything can happen. Tornadoes, dust storms, snow…stick … Continue reading →

Today I am going further south and a little more back in time.   Related to the Nordic myths and tales are the older Germanic ones.  Given the connections between the two, I am going to have to point out the differences and commonalities. 

Castles & Crusades Codex Germania

For this book, I am reviewing the PDF and hardcover edition of this book.  This book has 110 pages, so slightly smaller than the other codices.  Like a lot of Castles & Crusades books, the art here is from Peter Bradley.  Once again Brian Young is our author and designer.  Young also spends some time comparing the Germanic and Nordic myths and tales.  

These myths come from central Europe and begin as early as the 1st century BCE right on up to the time of the Vikings.  

Chapter 1: In Ancient Tales

Like the previous books, this chapter covers the history of the Germanic peoples as well as a brief bit on their legends and stories.  Like the Nordic (or to the point the Nordic myths are like these) we get an origin story about Giants and three Gods.  Young takes pains to differentiate these myths from the Norse and talks about the shortcomings of the source material.  Here we see the first comparisons between Woden and Odin.

Chapter 2: Of Germania & Beyond

This chapter covers the Germanic lands.  Now to assume there is only one Germany is a huge mistake and one that Young deftly avoids. There are lots of lands here and lots of peoples dating back to the height of the Roman Empire to it's fall.  It is helpful to consult the map or hit up various maps online.  

Chapter 3: Magical Beings & Monsters Dwelled

Once again we have a chapter on monsters and it is a real collection of gems.  Here are 40+ monsters. All are a little bit familiar to any D&D players, but these harken back to their "original" forms so great for players that have "seen everything."  

The monsters are of course enough on their own, but there is a nice section here on the complexities of the Germanic dragons.  Essentially if you ever have read about the dragon Fafnir, then you have an idea of what this is about.   Honestly, this is something that all dragons should have or at least the really interesting ones.  Speaking of the interesting dragons, there are also tables to determine what a unique dragon's name would be.  

Chapter 4: In Wizardry & Enchantments

Here we get some new magic-using classes.  There is the Halirúna, or the Dark Witch (Intelligence-based) which I absolutely love, the Erilaz, or the Rune Master (Wisdom-based) which also has runic magic (like the Nordic book), and the Gudja. or People of the Gods, the clerics for this setting. 

Magic is not a "supernatural" force here, but rather a natural one; THE natural one to be honest.  This chapter uses magic as a means of connecting the people to the gods. Which are coming up next.

Chapter 5: To Serve the Gods

This chapter covers the gods and discusses the overlap between these cultures and the Nordic.  Young points out that due to the Roman Empire the gods and myths of the Germanic pagans are a bit better documented than that of the neighboring Celts. Among these gods it is likely that Woden (Odin) and Þūnor (Thor).  Again there are no stats for gods here (as it should be).  

The chapter also details Germanic pagan beliefs and practices. 

Chapter 6: Skilled in Battlecraft

Warriors are still one of the highest castes in the life of the Germanic peoples.  This chapter gives us information on arms and armor used. How retainers were used and honored, and other topics on warcraft, including special unique weapons. 

The new class, the Drachentöten (lit. "Dragon Killer") is a Dexterity-based class. 

Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info

Like the other codices, this covers running a Castles & Crusades game with this worldview.   The importance of the king and lawgivers are established and explained. 

The common folk are not forgotten and details like the importance of names (and many tables of names) are detailed. 

Chapter 8: Sample Adventure Module

The sample adventure, "The Monster of the Fens," is given.  It reminds me, naturally enough, of Beowulf.  The adventure takes place in East Anglia so Young states that it can be integrated with the Codex Celtarum.  The adventure is for 2 to 4 characters of 3rd to 4th level. 

It is a fun little adventure and reminds GM/Castle Keepers that even a "simple" monster like a Troll would be a menace to the folks of pagan Germanic lands. Indeed, much like Beowulf shows.

The temptation is great to compare this to the Codex Nordica and also to find it lacking.  This temptation must be avoided!  The Codex Germanica is its own thing. While the myths and stories will feel familiar to the more popular Norse myths, they are their own, situated within their own time and place.   These myths feel older and darker in many respects.  In many ways, I like these myths and tales a little more than those of the Norse. 

Again, this book is light on actual rules details, save for the classes, so it is an excellent resource for any RPG.  Converting it over to AD&D, D&D 5, or your favorite OSR-Clone would be trivial at worst. Of course it is designed for Castles & Crusades which is fantastic in it's own right.

Fiends, Fiends, Fiends!

Today I delve into a dark subterranean world filled with long-forgotten creatures that have not seen the light of our sun for ages. Of course, by that, I mean the Usenet, and that age was the early 90s.  

What I think was one of the first big battles of the Edition Wars was the one concerning demons and devils.  Namely, where the hell were they for AD&D 2nd Edition?  They have not appeared in any of the Monstrous Compendiums so far and the official word was they were no longer needed.  Which everyone knew was a smokescreen for TSR caving into concerned, busy-body mothers and the religious right.  The discussions on Usenet had a LOT of opinions on why they were gone and then what to make of them when they finally came back.

Thankfully this did not last and by the start of 1991, we got demons and devils back, albeit in the names Tanar'ri and Baatezu. Ok, the names were changed but they were back.  In truth, I never minded the name change and it opened up the lower planes to have more than one type of demon or fiend. Something we are still benefiting from today.

MC14 Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix

PDF 64 pages (70 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99. 

While not full of fiend per se, the Fiend Folio has always had a place in the games of many 1st Ed AD&D players.  It was the second "Monster Manual" and it collected a number of creatures from various modules and the White Dwarf Fiend Factor column.  It was also either really loved or really hated, depending on who you asked.  Maybe that is the reason it did not get published until much later (1992) and was the 14th MC to be published.

This MC contains 65 monsters, Aballin to Zygraat, and is a fairly good representation of the monsters listed in the original Fiend Folio.  Some new (the aforementioned Aballin) but a few notable ones had appeared in other volumes already.  Drow appeared in the main Monstrous Compendium. Death Knights were moved to Dragonlance (a loosing their demonic heritage in the process) and Styx Devils had been published in the MC8 (see below).  The "oriental" Dragons are not here, but Gem Dragons are. There is no flumph here though. We don't see those again until Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two. 

Also there are no explanatory notes here that many of the others also had.  I guess at this point you are expected to know how to read the stat blocks. Not a complaint at all, merely an observation.

It is a mostly generic compilation of monsters and I mean that is a positive way.  These monsters can be used anywhere.  For example, I pulled out the Penanggalan and put it in my Ravenloft collection.

MC8 Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix

PDF 96 pages (102 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99.  

This collection has 90+ monsters (Aasimon to Zoveri) from the various outer planes.  There are good and evil ones here so plenty for DMs taking the characters out of the dungeon and into new worlds.  There are a lot of old familiar faces and some new ones.  The "named" Demon Princes or Dukes of Hell are not here. Many, like Orcus, will never even get AD&D 2nd Ed stats. Most of the 1st Ed converts feel buffed up in stats. Even the succubus, a demon with little desire for combat, feels tougher with all her powers defined.

Demons and creatures from the Outer Planes in general really feel like they benefit from these expanded monster entries. While the Planescape Setting is still a bit away, we get tidbits of information about the Blood War and more.  Reminding us that when it comes to settings, 2nd Ed really was quite superior. 

Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III

PDF, 128 pages. Color art. $9.99

This book was one of the bound softcover Monstrous Compendium Appendices and it took on the trad dress and style of the Planescape line rather than the Monstrous Compendium line. The monsters inside conformed to the standard of the Monstrous Compendium stat blocks, but there was no doubt what line this belonged to.

This volume has 128 pages and 71 monsters from Animental to Xill.  Many of these monsters appear on both sides of the page, usually due to the larger art elements, and expanded details including a bit of fluff for each one.  This makes this book actually better for use in the three-ring binders.  Even though this one was never designed to be added!  Again another point for the PDFs.  That is if you don't mind printing out all the full-color pages this one has.

Interestingly enough the Xill appears here and the Fiend Folio MC 14.  In fact, many monsters from the AD&D 1st Fiend Folio also make it here. Cases in point the Quasi-elementals, the khargra (with much improved art), thoqqua, and trilloch.  The Khargra and the Xill appear in all three (1st ed and both 2nd Ed books).

This one does have explanatory notes and it also covers the ecology of the outer planes.  By this time the Planescape setting had been in pretty wide use so the "Planescape" view of the Outer Planes has superseded, for good or ill, the AD&D 1st Edition Manual of the Planes version.

AD&D 2nd Ed may not have started out with fiends (of any sort) but they ended with not just a few, but a whole new outlook on them that changed how D&D would use them for the next 30 years.

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

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

The world of Glorantha has had any number of fanzines dedicated to it over its forty year or so history, most notably, Wyrm’s Footnotes and Tales of the Reaching Moon. Published by John Castellucci, RQ Adventures Fanzine ran for six issues between 1993 and 1998, each issue containing scenarios written around a particular theme or location. Published in 1993, the inaugural issue of RQ Adventures Fanzine contains just the one scenario, ‘Escape from Duckland’, which the author and publisher had previously released as a standalone title. The scenario is set in 1621 ST in the kingdom of Sartar and sees a band of adventurers tasked with locating a small band of outlaw Ducks which has been struck down with the Red-Feather plague, a disease which fortunately only seems to affect Ducks and seems to be directly related to the intensity of the Red Moon in the sky. The only healer known to be capable of curing this disease resides by the mouth of the Marzeel River where it flows into the Mirrorsea Bay, many days travel away in the Holy Country. The adventurers must make their way to Apple Lane where they can find a guide, the famed Quackjohn, and then travel south and west into the Delecti Marsh to locate the stricken ducks, and from there escort them south to the border between Sartar and Esrolia. They will need to take some care, as not only are the Ducks outlaws and have a price on their heads (or beaks), but the infamous proclamation issued by General Fazzur Wideread, blaming the Ducks for the 1613 ST rebellion led by Kallyr Starbrow and placing a bounty of one year’s Imperial taxes for every Duck head/bill turned over to the provincial Lunar government is still in effect.

The scenario proper begins in Apple Lane. After they have dealt with a would-be Lunar tax collector and his bully boys on the make, the adventurers can sneak their guide out of the village and west to Runegate, but to avoid Dragonewt entanglements they are diverted south along Starfire Ridge and then over into Greydog territory. There are a couple of nasty encounters along the way—a band of Broo and horde of the undead which comes swarming up out of Upland Marsh. After both locating and placating the refugee ducks, the adventurers can begin their long journey south. There are some more nasty encounters along the way, a band of mercenary Tusk Riders which has decided to go Duck hunting—and have some horrid plans for any they catch, and there is one last attack by a threat encountered earlier. Not all of the encounters are quite so confrontational, an old man on Starfire Ridge proves to be good company and potentially helpful in speeding their journey, and there are dinosaurs to be found along the way, who might prove to be nuisances, or they might actually be helpful.

Consisting of ten encounters, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is a linear scenario, but then it is designed to be a journey. In terms of framing, being set in 1621 ST and thus written around elements of the Lunar occupation, it would be challenging for the Game Master to set the scenario elsewhere—or else when. That said, it could be adjusted to a few years earlier, but only few as they have to be after the Lunar proclamation on Ducks. This does not mean that the scenario could not be run today despite its strict time period. Since it takes place following the destruction of Gringle’s Pawn Shop in Apple Lane, it could be run as a flashback for Player Characters being run in the current timeline of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, especially if they have played through the events of Apple Lane at the very start of their careers. If so, then the old man they encounter on the Starfire Ridge early in the scenario could easily be the shaman they would have run into at the beginning of ‘The Broken Tower’ from the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – QuickStart Rules and Adventure. Alternatively, it could be run as part of The Company of the Dragon campaign which takes place during this period.

Mechanically, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is written for use with Avalon Hill’s RuneQuest III—as would all six issues of RQ Adventures Fanzine would be. The differences between those rules and the previous and subsequent rules for RuneQuest are relatively minor, such that ‘Escape from Duckland’ can be run with relatively few changes. In terms of support it is suggested that the Game Master be familiar with Apple Lane, Snakepipe Hollow, King of Sartar, and Gods of Glorantha. Were ‘Escape from Duckland’ be run today, The RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack would be useful for information about Apple Lane, and the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary and The Red Book of Magic will be useful for details on the various creatures and magics encountered as part of the scenario, but otherwise it is easy to set up and run. An experienced Game Master would have no problem running the scenario.

‘Escape from Duckland’ is supported with a total of eight pre-generated adventurers. Ranging from a young and headstrong Orlanthi and a cold, hard Tarsh Exile to a peaceful centaur from Beast Valley to a bachelor of the Newtling race, they run the gamut of the standard Gloranthan types to the slightly odd, even weird. The scenario suggests the type of player each is suitable for and each is given a full page, including stats and nicely done background briefing. It also includes a copy of the Lunar proclamation on Ducks, some reasonable maps, and an enjoyable write-up of both Hueymakt Deathdrake, Druulz God of Death & War and the Indroduck Greydog subcult. Plus there are full stats for all of the creatures and monsters encountered in the scenario.

Physically, RQ Adventures Fanzine Issue 1 is scrappily presented. It is very far from unreadable, but it does need another edit and the art is rough. The maps are decent though. Another issue is the tone, that taken with the Ducks, which involves more than a few puns. Of course, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is very much a case of ‘Your Glorantha May Vary’ and another Game Master will have a different approach. The scenario includes a lot of flavour and detail about the various locations it visits over the course of its journey and each of the NPCs is decently done as well.

RQ Adventures Fanzine Issue 1 is rough around the edges, but ‘Escape from Duckland’ is decently serviceable and playable, taking the Player Characters on a challenging and nicely described tour of southern Sartar. For a modern campaign and a scenario of its vintage, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is a far more flexible scenario than at first seems.

The Castles & Crusades Codecies series are great books to add some flavor and history to your game.  While overtly for the Castles & Crusades game they can be used by nearly any game.  The Codex Nordica is another I was looking forward to getting and it did not disappoint.  Norse myths are among my favorites, right behind the Greek and Celtic myths. 

Castles & Crusades Codex Nordica

For this book, I am reviewing the PDF and hardcover edition of this book.

The book is 146 pages with color covers and black & white interiors.  The art is up to the high standards you should expect from Troll Lords with plenty of evocative art from Peter Bradley.   Like the other books in this series, this one was written by Brian Young, who has the educational background to tackle these books.

Norse myths are some of my favorites and rarely have they been more in vogue.  Young makes it clear that this book is a game guide to myths, legends, and history of the Swedish, Danes, Norse, and the other peoples of Scandinavia and not a full recounting of history, myths, and/or legends.

Chapter 1: History & Cosmology

This chapter gives us both the real-world historical background of the lands and the people of the area.  This also covers the basic myths. It will not replace a history text or a book on Norse Mythology, but it is a great overview for a gamebook. This book is likely better researched than most game accessories you will find. 

Chapter 2: The Nine Worlds

This takes the material from the previous chapter and some more to build on a game world of the Nine Worlds of Norse myths and how they could work in Castles & Crusades.  Each world is covered, in as much detail as can be provided, which also includes what random creatures can be found.  My favorite bits are the two maps that include the Viking colonies and migrations across Europe. 

Chapter 3: Magical Beings & Monsters

I would be tempted to say that this chapter is worth the price of the book alone, but while this is true there is a lot of great stuff in this book. But seriously this chapter is a lot of fun. There are nearly 40 creatures of varying degrees of familiarity to D&D/C&C players. Some are new enough to be quite fun.   Since the format is for Castles & Crusades they can be easily converted to AD&D, D&D5, or any OSR game of your choice. 

Chapter 4: Wizardry & Enchantments

This chapter is the most "Norse" of all of the ones in the book if I may be so forward.  It covers magic in its Nordic version or Seiðr.   Since war is the realm of men, magic belongs to women. There are two new character classes, the Seiðkona, an Intelligence-based sorceress or more accurately, a "Magic-user" and the Völva or Vǫlva, a Charisma-based prophetess who is quite similar to the notions of a "Witch." 

The Seiðkona uses Intelligence as her primary ability and casts the same spells and magic as the Wizard does.  If she had used Charisma, I would naturally compare her to the Sorcerer of D&D3/5.   Though given her role, Intelligence (or maybe even Wisdom) is the proper choice here.  This is a class that is very much part of the mythology of the world she is in. She has access to the Wizard's spell list in C&C. 

There is also the Völva, which is the clerical counterpart to the Seiðkona.  This class also serves the role of a priestess and uses a distaff.  Her gift is divination and prophecy.  So by means of a rough comparison, she is more similar to the Oracle class in Pathfinder.  She uses the Cleric's spell list until 5th level and then can split between Divine and Arcane magic. 

Also, this chapter covers the runic magic system from this world.  The runes are used along with the traditional magic powers (aka Spells). 

Chapter 5: The Gods and Giants

This chapter covers the gods of the Nordic lands as well their primary adversaries the Giants.  Here are names that will be familiar to nearly everyone who has ever played D&D or even watched a "Thor" movie or A&E's/AAmazon's "Vikings."  There are similarities with the names found in the Deities & Demigods, but enough differences that readers should be sure to attend to the details.  

Here the tale is more on the side of myth and legend rather than history.  We learn of the Æsir and the Vanir; the gods and goddesses of the Nordic people.   Also covered here in more detail than other gamebooks are the Giants and "other evil beings" spelling out the role Giants have in this mythology.  They are more akin to the Titans of Greek or even the demons of other myths.   You will not find stat blocks here though.  Gods are not "epic-level monsters" to be fought; least of all by the likes of player characters. 

Chapter 6: Warriors & Battlecraft

Magic and gods are great, but the world is made of warriors.  This chapter covers the various warrior types and additions to the basic fighter of Castles & Crusades.  The "upgraded" fighter includes basic warriors, elite warriors, and shield maidens.  New classes include the Berserker, who is a Charisma-based fighter, and the Giant Killers (more traditionally Strength-based).

There are some details on fighting styles and weapons unique to this area as well.

Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info

This chapter details running a Castles & Crusades game in the Nordic lands during the time of these myths and stories; aka the Viking Age. Here you can learn about society, laws, and the people that make it work.  Of course, sea voyages are covered and various types of boats were used.

There is a section on poets and Kennings.  It makes me wish they had included more for Bards here other than a brief mention that Skalds are Bards. But I guess this works.  Names and their importance is covered with examples. 

Most importantly there is a section on the Eddas (Prose and Poetic) and how they can be adapted to a game. 

Chapter 8: The Precious Works

"The dwarves of lore made mighty spells," Tolkien told us in The Hobbit, but the dwarves he was thinking about likely were the Sons of ĺvaldi rather than the Children of Durin.   Here we learn of the great magical artifacts of the Nordic myths including Gundnir, Skidbladnir, Draupnir, and Mjölnir.

Save for monsters and classes, the vast majority of this book is fairly neutral in terms of game rules.  What does that mean? It means that you could easily use this book with AD&D, D&D 3 or 5, or an OSR game of choice.  Of course, it works the best with Castles & Crusades, but the book is such a good resource I would hate to see it missed by people that do not play C&C.

Brian Young has a unique combination of Ph.D. level research and game design and writing credit to bring a series like this to life and make you want to play exclusively in the world he describes.  Many have tried over the years, but I feel he has achieved the rare success of balancing the needs of mythological research and game design. 

I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to add a little bit of Norse myth to their games. And really who wouldn't?  

US, UK, Australian prints

I’m so excited to get to the first official module. The adventure modules are what I enjoy reading the most.

What’s New

• Its’ the first D&D module designed, produced and distributed by TSR – woohoo! (Lost Tsojcanth wasn’t distributed by TSR, Vampire Queen et al were written by others. Temple of the Frog was a scenario contained in a rulebook, not a standalone module).
• It’s the first AD&D product besides the Monster Manual (and the Players Handbook released just a touch later)
• This is the last product to use the Lizard logo (as far as I can tell). That’s on the first printing and the Australian print.
• Instigation of the module letter/number scheme
• Concept of a series of modules is introduced – “First of 3 modules” (basically as a consequence of the 3 part structure of how it was used at the Origins tournament)
• Instigation of the cover wrap around cover with map inside and separate module booklet
• Note – map style is not new – that style was introduced in the Geomorph products

Art

• Pretty cool cover and art throughout by DCSIII with the exception of a kitchen scene by Tramp
• I really like how the back cover is a high perspective shot of the Steading which matches the map
• Oddly, on the Australian edition, the back cover has no product info and is just the same picture of bugbears from the 3rd panel of the cover of D1. (Note, first US printing only lists the G modules, not the D modules.)

General

• What’s great about this module is that it’s actually coherent! The environment and layout makes logical sense. The “wandering monsters” are not just random monsters but various of the giants and other creatures moving from location to location. There’s also a hint at a guiding force behind the banding together of giants, to be revealed in later modules.
• Uhhhh, the chief hill giant, described as a sly, backstabbing, despicable creature, has the name Nosnra, which is suspiciously close to Arneson backwards…
• In being logically coherent, it means most of the rooms are empty of inhabitants because they’re almost all in the main hall – which makes for one enormous battle if the party takes that on – 29 giants, 8 ogres and a bear!
• It’s pretty darn short at 8 pages but it still crams a lot in – this is definitely still the era where the DM was meant to come up with a lot of stuff
• On to G2 next!

Image Information

From left to right in all pictures, US 3rd print, UK print, Australian print.

Date Information – July 1978

The dating of this one is fairly clear. The 3 G modules were used for the tournament which ran at Origins ’78 and put on sale immediately after the end of the tournament. So July it is. You can read a bit about it on DriveThruRPG. More info at The Acaeum.

Further timeline information:

• Ads in June and July Dragon mags for Origins (July) saying D&D tourney modules (and Gamma World) will be available at the booth and Players Handbook available at GenCon (August)
• G’s were played at Origins in July
• G’s have Lizard logo (1st print)
• Gamma World has Lizard logo (1st print)
• Judges Guild Journal Issue 10/S June/July lists the G’s and Gamma World for sale
• Players Handbook available in August with Wizard logo (1st print)
• Ad in August dragon mag saying PH is available
• D’s were played at Gencon in August
• D’s have Wizard logo
• second print of PH has date of September and Wizard logo
• the ad in the Oct Dragon for the G’s says they’re available and 3 more (the D’s) to be made available at GenCon (plainly should have been in an earlier issue – but then it’s always hard to figure out the lead times of the Dragon mags)

This last week, Dallas’s weather confirmed the general warning I give people about any kind of gardening, whether with carnivores or any other plant: don’t make plans to get anything in the ground until after St. Patrick’s Day, Sure, the … Continue reading →