And that’s how Aquashella Dallas 2022 ended. Two days of unrelentingly enthusiastic attendees, asking excellent questions, and eventually we had to pack it all in and go home. It’s always bittersweet when a show this good ends, and the only … Continue reading →

Ah. The age-old question. Why do characters adventure?

For the Johans it was always about destroying the forces of evil. Fighting the undead and demons so innocents would not have to perish.

For Larina, it was always trying to uncover that next occult secret. Or in my case with her, discover the ins and outs of a new game system and its magic.  

For each character for me it is usually about exploring some archetype or some aspect of the rules I want to uncover.

And some characters, like my gnome bard Jassic Goodwalker or my goblin warlock Nik Nak, it is just about having a good time. Both for me and the character. 

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 compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another choice is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

Published by Straycouches Press, Crawl! is one such fanzine dedicated to the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Since Crawl! No. 1 was published in March, 2012 has not only provided ongoing support for the roleplaying game, but also been kept in print by Goodman Games. Now because of online printing sources like Lulu.com, it is no longer as difficult to keep fanzines from going out of print, so it is not that much of a surprise that issues of Crawl! remain in print. It is though, pleasing to see a publisher like Goodman Games support fan efforts like this fanzine by keeping them in print and selling them directly.

Where Crawl! No. 1 was something of a mixed bag, Crawl! #2 was a surprisingly focused, exploring the role of loot in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and describing various pieces of treasure and items of equipment that the Player Characters might find and use. Similarly, Crawl! #3: The Magic Issue was just as focused, but the subject of its focus was magic rather than treasure. Unfortunately, the fact that a later printing of Crawl! No. 1 reprinted content from Crawl! #3 somewhat undermined the content and usefulness of Crawl! #3. Fortunately, Crawl! Issue Number Four was devoted to Yves Larochelle’s ‘The Tainted Forest Thorum’, a scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game for characters of Fifth Level. Crawl! Issue V: Monsters continued the run of themed issues, focusing on monsters, but ultimately to not always impressive effect, whilst Crawl! No. 6: Classic Class Collection presented some interesting versions of classic Dungeons & Dragons-style Classes for Dungeon Crawl Classics, though not enough of them. Crawl! Issue No. 7: Tips! Tricks! Traps! was a bit of bit of a medley issue, addressing a number of different aspects of dungeoneering and fantasy roleplaying, whilst Crawl! No. 8: Firearms! did a fine job of giving rules for guns and exploring how to use in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Crawl! No. 9: The Arwich Grinder provided a complete classic Character Funnel in Lovecraftian mode. Crawl! Number 10: New Class Options! provided exactly what it said on the tin and provided new options for the Demi-Human Classes, whilst Crawl! Number 11: The Seafaring Issue took the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

Published in August, 2016, Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue takes the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game on a deep delve into what is perhaps one of the most confusing parts of its rules—and that concerns Luck. In some situations a player has to roll under to make a Luck save in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, but in others a traditional Difficulty Check value needs to be rolled against, the roll modified by the Player Character’s Luck Bonus or Penalty, if any. Numerous authors provide as many options as they can for the Judge to pick and choose from depending upon what would suit her game. This starts with ‘High or Low? Tips for Dealing with Standard Luck Checks’, by the fanzine’s editor, the Rev. Dak J. Ultimak. He suggests using a standard Ability Check, lowering it for a heroic campaign, raising it for a gritty campaign; determining the Difficulty Check randomly each time; or simply just stick to rolling under Luck. There are guidelines too for group Luck Checks. He then counters these options with ‘Alternative Luck Checks – Different Luck Mechanics Instead of Luck Checks’. The options here rolling as per a Traveller skill check; rolling dice al a Craps; pushing a Player Character’s Luck a la the games Dice or Greed; and even what it calls ‘Story Mode’, essentially the Failure, ‘Yes, but’, and ‘Success’ mechanics of roleplaying games using Powered by the Apocalypse. Lastly, in ‘Luck as a Guiding Force – Luck as a Motivator’, Rev. Dak J. Ultimak picks up on using Luck as a motivating force as suggested in chapter seven of Dungeon Crawl Classics, using Luck as rewards for suitable actions in a campaign. So, protecting innocents for a heroic campaign, completing missions in a mercenary campaign, and so on. So numerous options to choose from, the Judge being almost spoilt for choice Except no…
Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue does leave the Judge spoilt for choice. The choices continue with ‘Lucky Strikes of Derring Do – A New Way to Burn Luck’ by R.S. Tilton. This enables Classes other than the Warrior to burn Luck and so gain access to a Deed Die—the more Luck burned, the higher the Deed Die—as well as ‘Dastardly Deeds of Deceit’ for the Thief and Halfling Classes with ‘Hamstring’ and ‘Hindering Strike, or Strap Cutter’ manoeuvres, which open up the range of actions they can do.  These are joined by options such as burning Luck to gain a die reroll, to gain a die bump, to turn an ordinary item into a lucky one, and more. ‘Luck Tables’ cover everything (well mostly) from ‘Recovering the Body’ to ‘Feeling Lucky?’ via ‘Bad Hair Days’, the latter most amusing table in the issue.
Rounding out the issue is ‘The Dungeon Balladeer – Bard Songs’ by Mark Bishop. This gives the lyrics for ‘The Ballad of Pervis Grumcobble’, a song regularly performed in the DCC Tavern about the luckiest Halfling to ever live in the kingdom. Thematically, it sort of fits the theme of Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue, Halflings, of course, being renowned for their luck, but it is such a change of tone and subject matter that the article is very much an outlier in what is very mechanically focused issue. Plus, as what was designed to be the first in a series, ‘The Dungeon Balladeer – Bard Songs’, tuned out to be the only entry as Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue was the last issue of the fanzine.
Physically, Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue is decently done, a clean and tidy affair. The artwork—done by Mario T—is decent enough, but hampered by the theme of the issue as there really is not all that much that can be done to illustrate Luck.
Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue is the most disappointing issue to date. This is not to say that it is a bad issue per se, or even useless. Dedicated to Luck and overflowing with options that a Judge can pick and choose from, the question is, how many options do you need? How many are you going to use? Of course once chosen, the Judge may never want to look at the other articles and options and this issue itself again. The options are all reasonable, yet it is just too much Luck, too many options for the one issue. Then again, once a Judge has read through Crawl! Number 12: The Luck Issue, she will never have to read another article about Luck again.

She should be so lucky.

One of the many perks available at Aquashella Dallas this year involved glasses. Specifically, every attendee received a pair of Fritz UV Coral Reef Viewing Glasses included with admission. According to attendees visiting the various live coral dealers throughout the … Continue reading →

(This space left blank, Just go to Aquashella Dallas next year, and get your tickets as soon as they’re available. Judging by the crowd here in 2022, the lines for same-day ticket sales are going to be long and very, … Continue reading →

A little sidenote about Triffid Ranch shows and events is that everything gets measured in “vans.” The stackable tubs used for moving plants and other show gear are a godsend for transport, and a standard U-Haul van packed to the … Continue reading →

Suffice to say, Aquashella Dallas is FULL of stories. The absolute best part comes from casual tourists who have never been to North Texas in their lives: discovering that a particular event caused people from all over the planet to … Continue reading →

It’s been a very, very long time since I had the opportunity to go to a big aquarium show (early 1986, to be exact), and one of the things I’d forgotten was how dedicated aquatic people are to hitting as … Continue reading →

From the register side of the table, one of the more intriguing aspects about Aquashella Dallas was the brand and community awareness aspect. With the overwhelming number of vendors at other Triffid Ranch shows, from Texas Frightmare Weekend to the … Continue reading →

It all started in the Before Times, when a representative from Aquashella, one of the biggest aquarium shows in the country, stopped by the Triffid Ranch booth at the NARBC Arlington show in February 2020 and asked “Would you be … Continue reading →

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

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

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Name: A Fishy BusinessPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Joerg Sterner

Setting: Jazz Age MaineProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fifteen page, 15.25 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Between the Mob and the Mythos in Maine.Plot Hook: More to a delivery and a pickup than meets the eye on a road trip in New England
Plot Support: Staging advice, three handouts, six NPCs, three Mythos monsters to be, and one Mythos artefact. Production Values: Reasonable.
Pros# One night one-shot# Potential criminal campaign starter# Low key, weird road trip# Potential Lovecraft Country addition# Underplayed introduction to the Mythos# Lots of questions to be answered at scenario’s end# Broad scope for non-traditional Investigators
Cons# Needs a good edit# Lots of questions to be answered at scenario’s end# Light on Lovecraftian investigative horror# Underplayed introduction to the Mythos for a one-shot?
Conclusion# Short, but potentially interesting and entertaining introduction to the Mythos for a criminally-based campaign set in New England, which leaves a lot questions to be answered.# Short, underplayed investigation and encounter with the Mythos for a one-shot, which leaves too many questions to be answered as a one-shot.

As of August 22, the months of lack of rainfall at the Triffid Ranch were rectified. In fact, Dallas’s biggest concern right now involves flash flooding for the rest of the week. At the moment, both the gallery and the … Continue reading →

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

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What is it?
An Orlanthi Wedding is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a thirteen page, full colour, 636.29 KB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy. It is art free, but it needs an edit.

Where is it set?
An Orlanthi Wedding is set in and around the home tula of a Player Character who worships Orlanth. The default setting is Sartar.

Ideally, it should begin in Earth season.

Who do you play?
Player Characters of all types could play this scenario, but one Player Character should be a worshipper of Orlanth. By the default the bridegroom—the Player Character—is assumed to be male and the bride, female. This need not be the case and both players and the Game Master may find The Six Paths to be a useful resource if otherwise. In addition, the scenario does involve sex. Not in a graphic fashion, but it does mean that the scenario is best suited for mature players.

It is suitable for one-on-one with a Player Character and the Game Master, with the Player Character as the Orlanthi of course.

What do you need?
An Orlanthi Wedding requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and the Glorantha Bestiary. King of Sartar and The Smoking Ruin and Other Stories will be useful references, but are not required to play the scenario. The original scenario was run as part of a Six Seasons in Sartar campaign and references are made to NPCs from that campaign, but it is not required to run the scenario and they can be substituted with other NPCs.
What do you get?An Orlanthi Wedding is written to be played over the course of several seasons and in between other adventures. When Doreva the Weaver from a neighbouring clan visits the Orlanthi Player Character’s village at the annual Earth Season festival of Ernalda’s high holy days, they meet and begin to form a relationship, and then court each other. Later in the year, their two clans will negotiate the marriage between the two.
Before the marriage takes place, the tribal Eurmali suggests that the Player Character present his bride with the same gifts that Orlanth gave Ernalda. This will require some persuasion and bargaining, as well as possible expenditure of coinage, but if successful, will trigger a minor HeroQuest in which he must fight for his bride against another suitor, just as Orlanth did for Ernalda. In the original encounter, this was with Yelm, but in this recreation, the Player Character must face a Yelmite heroquester—and must do so sans weapons! The other Player Characters have no such restrictions in facing those companions accompanying the interceding Yelmite heroquester.
Then, of course, the marriage takes place. Participants in the HeroQuest are greatly rewarded, the Player Character bridegroom in particular, and an important NPC will be added to the campaign.
If An Orlanthi Wedding has any limitations, it is that it is written specifically for an Orlanthi Player Character. Whilst this makes the scenario relatively easy to use because there are likely to be Orlanth-worshipping Player Characters amongst the party, it leaves the other side of the marriage—the Ernalda worshipping bride and what she experiences—unexplored. Similarly, it does not explore the possibility of both bride and bridegroom being Player Characters. The inclusion and exploration of those options would have increased the flexibility of the scenario. (Another option would be to explore this from the point of view of a Yelm worshipper, but that probably lies outside the scope of the scenario—unless they are a major NPC in the campaign or even a Player Character!)

Lastly, An Orlanthi Wedding will require careful roleplaying upon the part of the Game Master and the player whose Orlanthi Player Character is getting married.
Is it worth your time?Yes—An Orlanthi Wedding is an engaging scenario which draws the Orlanthi Player Character deeper into his community whilst showcasing Orlanthi marriage customs and myths and encouraging strong roleplaying.No—An Orlanthi Wedding is an engaging scenario, but unless one of the Player Characters is a worshipper of Orlanth, it is unlikely to be of use in your campaign.Maybe—An Orlanthi Wedding is an engaging scenario and even if one of the Player Characters is a worshipper of Orlanth, its subject matter and tone may be unsuitable for your campaign. However, it could be used to showcase the possibilities of that subject matter.

For newcomers, this is a semi-regular newsletter from the Texas Triffid Ranch, Dallas’s pretty much only carnivorous plant gallery. Feel free to forward early and often, and to subscribe if you haven’t already. For those outside of the Dallas area, … Continue reading →

Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970  Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970  Key Largo, the Unexplored Planet, 1986

The publisher 12 to Midnight has developed its horror setting of Pinebox, Texas through a series of single scenarios written for use with Savage Worlds, the cinematic action RPG rules from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. In July, 2014, following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the publisher released the setting through a particular lens and timeframe, that is as students at East Texas University. Over the course of their four-year degree courses, the students undertake study and various academic activities as well as having a social life, a job, and even an annoying roommate. Then of course, there is the weird stuff—ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and more… The challenge of course is that the students have to deal with both, but need to grow into being able to cope with both.

The ETU or East Texas University setting is fully supported by Degrees of Horror, a complete plot point campaign that builds and builds over the course of Study Group’s four-year degree courses. A plot point campaign differs from a standard campaign in that it is a framework of scenarios that advance the plot around which the Game Master can fit and run single scenarios not necessarily pertinent to the campaign’s core plot. These can be of the Game Master’s own design or bought off the shelf—several are available for the setting. The plot points are triggered under certain circumstances; it might be because the Player Characters visit a particular location or because of an action that they have taken. In Degrees of Horror the plot points are also built around areas of academic study and the year in which the Player Character student—or Study Group—are currently in. What this means is that in Degrees of Horror, the Study Group will encounter the first notions of the outré things to come in the first term as Freshmen and both the campaign and the Study Group’s investigations will come to fruition as Seniors at their graduation. However, what happens if the administration and the Dean at the university become aware of the Study Group’s activities? What if the Study Group manages to deal with a threat, but manages to bring outside attention to the strangeness going on at the university in the process and the Dean wants the members of the Study Group out of the way? The Dean cannot expel them, because that would arouse more attention, so what can he do? Well, he can send them abroad. Abroad where they will be out of harm’s way! Abroad where there are no supernatural dangers! Abroad where they cannot get into trouble!

East Texas University: Study Abroad offers not one, but four options for the Study Group which wants to see foreign climes and the Game Master who wants to take her campaign elsewhere—if only for a little while. The options include Costa Rica, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Each chapter includes background and history for the country, cultural differences, descriptions of the institutions where the Students will be studying, a number of Savage Tales (or scenarios) which the Game Master can run over the course of the Semester that the Study Group spends there, and full stats for all of the NPCs, monsters, and other threats that the Students will encounter as part of their investigations. One major cultural difference which is highlighted in each of the four countries is the lack of access to firearms, which may or may challenge some players and their characters in addition to the change in setting and culture. Of course, an East Texas University campaign is unlikely to use all four of settings in East Texas University: Study Abroad, so for those that go unused, the Game Master has a ready supply inspiration for Savage Tales of her own and the monsters to go with them. The anthology already includes a selection of fellow exchange students from around the world which the Game Master can include as NPCs alongside the Player Characters.

The anthology opens with Costa Rica. Geographically, this is the closest to Texas, and culturally it feels not dissimilar too—though of course, there are plenty of differences. The Students will be studying at the Tejas Learning Campus which turns out to be a secret outpost for the Sweet Heart Foundation, one of the major villains from Degrees of Horror. The isolated nature of the campus means that its research can be conducted away from prying eyes and the local cryptids, including Chupacabras, are suitable for both study and experimentation. These are not the only local cryptids that the Students will face, but they are the primary ones. All too quickly, the Students will discover why they have a newly and very recently appointed counsellor as their guide, have both a black dog and white dog stalking them, take one or terrible field trips, and discover quite why it is not a good idea to visit the local town alone—especially if you are female. Whilst there is a good variety of Savage Tales here, they still feel connected to the plots the Students left hanging back in Texas, almost as if they never left. Several of them could easily back to Texas, or at least the south west of the USA without too much difficulty, which cannot be said of the other three Foreign Exchange settings.

The Italy trip takes the Students to the northern city of Turin. Here they will find The Egyptian Museum, the Lombroso Museum—the Museum of Criminal Anthropology—which houses numerous remains of criminals and ‘madmen’, so is likely home to numerous ghosts, and of course, the Shroud of Turin. There are plenty of secrets too, mostly in the extensive network of tunnels below the city. Both museums feature in the first two Savage Tales, whilst the third takes the Students into the tunnels below the city. With just the three Savage Tales, all of them decent, the chapter feels somewhat underwhelming, but in fact, there is a lot here that the Game Master can develop herself, especially as there are several villains which the chapter does not make use of.

The horror in the Poland chapter is definitely Slavic and Jewish in nature—the Morowa Dziewica (murrain maiden), an old crone which bears the plague; the Dybbuk, or those possessed by a spirit; the Upir or ‘peasant’ vampire; and the Rusalka, spirits of women who lead others to their deaths. The Students will encounter one or more of these whilst studying in Białystok in the cold north east of Poland. Again, there is a lot of background and cultural detail here, but instead of sperate Savage Tales, this supports a mini-campaign consisting of five Savage Tales. The strangeness starts almost straight away, with an attack by a fellow student with a surprisingly explosive temper and creepy encounters at a puppet theatre, both of which bring the Students to the attention of certain interested parties, some who want their help, some who do not. The last three Savage Tales focus on the campaign, an investigation into a series of missing persons cases, which includes more than the one option for defeating the villain, one of which amusingly mundane. As a chapter and mini-campaign, the Poland chapter is a pleasing diversion away from the main campaign back at East Texas University if the Game Master is running Degrees of Horror.

The last chapter in East Texas University: Study Abroad is set in merry olde England at Ascalon University near the village of Uffington. The village, once the home of poet John Betjeman, is real even if the university is not, but the chapter incorporates plenty of the local features and history into its setting and accompanying Savage Tales. After a trip from Heathrow to Uffington, which not only highlights the fun of travel in the United Kingdom, but which is also literally beset by Gremlins, the Students settle in only to discover that death and strangeness has followed them! Like the Poland chapter before it, the Savage Tales in the England chapter before it builds towards a mini-campaign, but of course grounded in British folklore, legends, and the poetry of John Betjeman. It is perhaps not quite as focused as the campaign in the Poland chapter, but once it gets going, it has a sense of the bucolic and the ethereal to it. Again, this is a pleasing diversion away from the main campaign back at East Texas University if the Game Master is running Degrees of Horror.

Physically, East Texas University: Study Abroad is well presented and well written. It needs a slight edit in places, but the artwork is excellent and the maps clear and easy to read.

East Texas University: Study Abroad is solid addition to the East Texas University campaign setting and diversion away from the events of Degrees of Horror. Its use is limited though. The Game Master is unlikely more than one or two of these in an East Texas University campaign, but the anthology can be used in serval ways. As a diversion, but still with links back to the main campaign back home, as in the Costa Rica chapter; as a diversion of unconnected adventures as in the Italy chapter; or as separate mini-campaigns, as in the Poland and England chapters. The Poland and England chapters are the more engaging of the quartet, the Poland chapter in particular. Then of course, whatever that the Game Master does not use, she can draw from for inspiration for her own campaign, and there is always scope to develop further Savage Tales and drop them into the chapters as needed. Certainly, both the Poland and England Chapters could be developed into longer campaigns if the Game Master wanted to do so.

Previous Monster Brains posts sharing the work of Mizuki can be found below
Yokai / Mythological Creature Illustrations, 2002Illustrated Guide To Yokai Monsters, 2004 God of Pestilence Yokai, 1974 Yokai Illustrations 
And finally, the first post on Monster Brains sharing the work of Mizuki in 2006.

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

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It is often forgotten that Star Trek: The Role Playing Game, published by FASA in 1982 was not the first Star Trek roleplaying game. It is often forgotten that Call of Cthulhu, published by Chaosium, Inc. in 1981 was not the first licensed roleplaying game. The very first licensed roleplaying game and the very first roleplaying based on Star Trek was Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, published Heritage Models, Inc. in 1978. It was best known for its miniatures and besides manufacturing fantasy miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons, it also produced miniatures for the rulesets it published, including both John Carter, Warlord of Mars: Adventure Gaming Handbook and Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier. In the late seventies, it was a major company in the growing hobby market, rivalling TSR, Inc., but by the beginning of the eighties, it was out of business.

Being published in 1978, means that Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is based upon just the two sources—the original Star Trek series from the sixties and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Consequently, this includes the inclusion of the Kzinti from the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, ‘The Slaver Weapon’, which would mark the first inclusion of the Kzinti in a roleplaying game a full six years before the publication of The Ringworld Roleplaying Game by Chaosium, Inc. However, the roleplaying and play in Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is limited to landing missions, and there are no rules for starships or space travel whatsoever. The style of play emphasises exploration and especially combat, essentially ‘dungeon crawl’ or ‘sandbox’ style adventures or missions across planetary surfaces or inside alien structures, all played out over a hex grid. Despite this, the designer admonishes potential players that, “Combat should be the last resort of an officer of the Federation…” Even so, the majority of the rules are devoted to combat and if truth be told, Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is still more miniatures combat game than roleplaying game with rules primarily designed to necessitate the use, and of course, purchase of miniatures, all available from Heritage Models, Inc.

Play in Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier primarily revolves around the Star Trek personalities, at least initially. Numerous members of the bridge crew and other crew aboard the Enterprise are listed, as well as numerous ‘villains’ such as the Klingon, Captain Koloth, and Sub-Commander Tal of the Romulan Star Empire. Just the basic stats though. There is no background given for any one of these personalities, let alone the Star Trek setting itself, so in coming to play or run Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, both player and Mission Master—the roleplaying game’s term for the Game Master—need to know the stetting and the characters. On the plus side, Star Trek is so baked into the cultural zeitgeist—and was in 1978—that anyone coming to Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier should have more than a passing similarity to both, if not the nuances.

Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is divided into the Basic Game and the Advanced Game. The Basic Game covers the basics of Personalities, the basics of the rules and combat, and a Basic Game scenario. The Advanced Game includes its own scenario, rules for character creation, expanded combat rules, familiar Star Trek life forms and their creation, expanded equipment, guidelines for creating scenarios, and notes for the Mission Master. So, in the Basic Game, the players take the roles of the Personalities from original Star Trek series from the sixties and Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Bridge Crew and other members of the Crew. A Personality in Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is simply defined by his six abilities, all of which are self-explanatory bar one. That is Constitution, which works as a Personality’s Hit Points.

Captain James T. Kirk
Strength 13 Dexterity 14 Luck 15
Mentality 14 Charisma 16 Luck 13
Command
Phaser II
Communicator
Class 2 Hand-to-Hand
Plus 2 to Initiation
Plus 5 in Hand-to-Hand

Mechanically, Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier uses the rules from Space Patrol, published by Gamescience in 1977. If a player wants his Personality to undertake an action, he rolls three six-sided dice and if rolls under the appropriate ability, his Personality succeeds. Luck is used as a general saving throw. Combat takes place over Turns of a minute long, divided into Action Phases of two to five seconds long. Each Action Phase consists of four steps—Decision, Initiation, Execution, and Record-Keeping. Of these, Initiation is actually initiative, which is done in descending order of Dexterity. Decision is when the players decide what their Personalities do, and Execution is when their Personalities do their actions. This includes a full move, half move and attack, attack, reload, or stand up or lie down. Hand-to-Hand combat is handled through opposed rolls of a singe six-sided die plus modifiers. Hand-to-Hand and modifiers above twelve and below nine for Strength and Dexterity for the attacker, and Hand-to-Hand and modifiers above twelve and below nine for Luck for the defender. In Ranged Combat, the attacker and the defender again one die each. For the attacker, the player cross-references his Personality’s Dexterity with the range and roll under the result. If hit, the defending Personality’s player applies modifiers above twelve and below nine for Luck and the resulting number subtracted from the damage, the end result deducted from the defender’s Constitution. This can reduce the damage to nothing, but weapons can also stun. Creatures do not have the same abilities as the Personalities and characters, but just a simple Ability Rating.

The Basic Game also includes rules for basic equipment and even includes an example of play. The scenario in the Basic Game is ‘The Shuttlecraft Crash’. Essentially, this is a rerun of the classic episode, ‘The Galileo Seven’ in which the Personalities have crash-landed their shuttle and must search the area for dilithium deposits in the face of attacks by large, spear-wielding humanoids and other natural hazards. Strangely, the Advanced Game begins with the second scenario in Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier rather than the advanced rules. ‘The Slaver Ruins’ is partially based on ‘The Slaver Weapon’ episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series and sees the Player Characters investigate some ruins and try and stop the ancient technology hidden there from falling into Kzinti hands. Although both scenarios have strong exploratory elements, neither is really a roleplaying scenario by today’s standards since they consist of objectives for the Player Characters to achieve within a limited space and possess little in the way of story or plot development.

The Advanced Game introduces character creation. The default species for Player Characters is Human, but the list of ‘Familiar Star Trek Life Forms’ includes various playable species, such as Andorians, Caitians, and Vulcans alongside Tribbles, Horta, and Sehlats. Abilities are rolled on three six-sided dice and Player Characters have a one percent chance of possessing a single Psionic ability. Psionic ability rolls use the Mentality ability. In addition, a Player Character also has the Size and Movement abilities, the former modified by a roll of a twenty-sided die, the latter by the Player Character’s Strength and items carried. Besides the ‘Familiar Star Trek Life Forms’ lists there are rules for creating creatures as well as a greatly expanded list of equipment. In terms of characters, there are no rules for skills or progression or rank, so no sense of progression in the roleplaying game, at least mechanically.

Unsurprisingly, the Advanced Game also expands the rules for combat. So, Initiation is now a die roll modified by Dexterity and weapons now include an Initiation modifier. Weapons now take into account rate of fire, rounds, reload time, and so on. There are rules too for armour and shielding, from chainmail and kite shield all the way up to energy and kinetic shields and the Klingon armour vest. Grenades the effects of Phaser weapons on overload as well as high explosive, sonic, and photon types.

Whilst the introduction to both Star Trek and roleplaying in Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier can be best described as rudimentary, the advice for the Mission Master in terms of creating her own scenarios and notes is surprisingly good, amounting to roughly three pages between them. The Mission Master is advised to give her creatures motivations—such as the Horta protecting her young—and several scenarios are discussed, such as interstellar police and space salvage. There is even the suggestion that the players roleplay Klingons or Romulans instead! The notes cover both how to take inspiration from the source material and how not to, warns the Mission Master to be a fair arbiter and designer of scenarios, and lastly warns that if the Mission Master fails as a script writer, then just like Star Trek itself, her game will get cancelled!

Physically, it is difficult to judge Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, since what is being reviewed is a facsimile rather than an original copy of the game. On that basis, it is surprising to see that it has an index, but there are no illustrations and the two maps, one for each scenario, are serviceable rather than attractive. However, on that basis, Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier very much needs an edit, because otherwise, no one will look at Commander Spack quite the same way ever again. The writing in general is concise and easy to understand for anyone coming to the hobby for the first time.

Another surprise is that the facsimile of Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier includes two extra articles, both of which are reprinted from Different Worlds magazine and are the only coverage that the roleplaying game received. ‘Kirk On Karit 2’ (Different Worlds Issue 4, August 1979) by Emmet F. Milestone is primarily a play report of a scenario that he wrote and ran at DunDraCon IV, but it includes an overview of the game plus rules for romantic entanglements, which of course, plays a big part in James T. Kirk’s activities, as well as other personalities in the series. Of more use is ‘Star Trek – Beyond the Final Frontier’ (Different Worlds Issue 18, January 1982), as it expands the rules and arguably rounds them out. Paul Montgomery Crabaugh’s article covers rolling for Player Character species, provides a Rank and Experience Point table as well as discussing Rank within the game, and adds rules for skills and shipboard assignments, including starship type and department. Lastly there are basic rules for creating planets and their populations and level of technology, as well as guidelines for travel at Warp speed. These are well thought out and greatly flesh out Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, making it much more of a roleplaying game than the miniatures combat with roleplaying elements it was published as. However, Paul Montgomery Crabaugh’s greatly needed article came four years too late. FASA would published its highly regarded Star Trek: The Role Playing Game that same year as Crabaugh’s article and it would include just about everything that article did. Plus of course, it had photographs from the series and more importantly, rules for starship combat.

Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier dates from the early days of the hobby when its ties from wargaming had yet to be truly cut. Thus, this is far more of a wargame than a true roleplaying game, although there are rudimentary roleplaying elements present. The emphasis on combat also means that Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is a poor Star Trek game, although in the hands of a good Mission Master and players knowledgeable of the source material, that could very much change. By modern standards, Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is not a good, licensed roleplaying game, not really satisfying the interest of the average Star Trek fan, and neither is it a good roleplaying game. Yet it is not truly terrible, nor is it unplayable, even today. If someone was to run this at a convention as a wargame, complete with miniatures and terrain, it would be accepted as a slice of nostalgia. As a roleplaying game, it be less likely to be accepted as something that was playable. Then again, even in 1978, it is likely that Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier would have been regarded as no more than a serviceable game. Of course, we have since been spoiled with numerous and better Star Trek roleplaying games since 1978, but Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier deserves at least to be remembered as the first Star Trek roleplaying game and the first licensed roleplaying game.

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’, which sadly, is a very North American event. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2022’, which took place on Saturday, July 16th, 2022, the publisher released not one, not two, but three booklets. Two of these were specifically for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game—the supplement, Dungeon Crawl Classics Day: The Book of Fallen Gods, and the scenario, Dungeon Crawl Classics Day #3: Chanters in the Dark. The third, DCC Day 2022 Adventure Pack, is a duology of scenarios for both the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic. Both scenarios are designed for Player Characters of Second Level, both are nicely detailed, and both can be played in a single session, but neither should take no longer than two sessions to complete.

DCC Day 2022 Adventure Pack opens with ‘Incident at Toad Fork’, a scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game written by Brendan Lasalle. This returns to the Appalachian-style fantasy setting of The Shudder Mountains, first seen Dungeon Crawl Classics #83: The Chained Coffin and more recently compiled in Dungeon Crawl Classics #83: The Chained Coffin anthology. Consequently, the scenario has a strong sense of the rural versus the urban, the backwoods culture versus the sophisticated manners of the city, the distrust of the latter by the former, and the feeling that them there city folk are invariably out to bamboozle the good folk of The Shudder Mountains.
The scenario opens with the Player Characters invited to the Harvest Moon Dance, an important annual event when all of the Shudfolk from the communities across The Shudder Mountains come together. It is normally a joyous affair, with plenty of dancing and music, but this year is different. A strange shadow is cast over the activities as several of the young men suddenly bolt, running pell-mell into the surrounding woods, oblivious to all entreaties. The Elders entreat the Player Characters to go after them and they quickly encounter strange glamours and a representative of one the devil which competes for Shudfolk souls. This is a fun roleplaying encounter for the Judge to portray, the NPC being akin to the charming and seductive Mister Dark from the film, Something Wicked This Way Comes, as portrayed by Jonathan Pryce (or in this case, Vincent Price). Overall, reminiscent perhaps of Halloween, but set way in the mountains with a Hillbilly sensibility, if the Judge has not yet run Dungeon Crawl Classics #83: The Chained Coffin, then this is an entertaining and engaging adventure to add to the campaign setting.
Marzio Muscedere’s ‘The Last Life Guardian’ is the second scenario. In this adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, members of the Player Characters’ village have learned a terrifying tale of horror and hope from a dying outland trader. He told them that a Pure Strain Human wizard with the ability to heal and even bring the dead back to life is being held prisoner by savage mutants within a time-ravaged superstructure of the Ancient Ones. The village Rememberers—the wisest of the villagers—have said that the trapped wizard must be none other than a fabled Life Guardian, a surviving member of an ancient pre-disaster order sworn to heal and protect mankind. Consequently, he must be rescued. Which of course, as village’s Seekers, those that go out and search for technology and knowledge of the Ancients and protect the villagers from outside threats, is a task for the Player Characters.
Once at the site of the time-ravaged superstructure, both Seekers and their players will quickly realise one fact each. The Seekers that even the lake is artificial and their players, what with the ruins of café alongside the lake and the tubes curling all over the place, that it is actually a former waterpark! Part of the fun of the scenario is in recognising this fact, as is discovering that it is home to a tribe of fishmen! So what you have is not-Deep Ones at the deep end of the pool and they are not happy with the presence of the Seekers. As well as dealing with the not-Deep Ones, there is still a decent bit of exploration and investigation to conduct, with only a relatively small bit of roleplaying at the scenario’s end. The various locations are nicely detailed, and a lot of thought has gone into twisting a simple waterpark into an aquatic den of danger in Terra A.D. Especially the zombie which appears if the Seekers are just that too curious! Primarily an exploration and combat scenario, the isolated location for ‘The Last Life Guardian’ makes it easy to drop into a campaign, with success granting the Player Characters a potentially useful campaign reward rather than personal ones. 
Physically, DCC Day 2022 Adventure Pack is decently done. The artwork is fun and the maps clear. The map for ‘The Last Life Guardian’ though will need careful examination by the Judge as it is a little busy. Both scenarios are well written and easy to read.

DCC Day 2022 Adventure Pack contains two entertaining scenarios. ‘The Last Life Guardian’ makes a great deal from the one location for the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, but ‘Incident at Toad Fork’ for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and specifically, The Shudder Mountains, is a fun, fast-paced Hillbilly horror scenario which will want to make the Judge take a closer look at the Appalachian-style fantasy of Dungeon Crawl Classics #83: The Chained Coffin—if he has not already.

Maps form such a fundamental part of our gaming experience. We explore them. We journey across them. We delve into them. We defend them. We attack them. We draw them. We create stories using them. We have been gaming maps for centuries, whether it is to conduct wargames like Kriegsspiel or H.G. Wells’ Little Wars, or more recently explore great dungeons such as B2 Keep on the Borderlands or sprawling sandboxes such as X1 Isle of Dread, or even create a community and its history with a game like The Quiet Year. There is also something else that we can do with maps and that is contemplate, and it is something that Paths does. Designed and drawn by the British Children’s Laureate, children’s book illustrator and author, and political cartoonist, Chris Riddell, Paths is the first game to be published by Betonmond. Or rather it is the first game published by Betonmond that is not a game, although it could be if you wanted.

Paths consists of fifty-two, large one-hundred-and-twenty-five by eighty-five-millimetre cards. Each depicts a landscape crisscrossed by one or more paths. A steep path leads up a hill to a round tower with a single door. A statue of a mermaid sits in the middle of a plaza around which stand a pyramid, a column, and other features. Paths cut through tunnels in the hills. A narrow path joins a junction surrounded by tall, narrow houses. A village sits atop a cliff overlooking a tower below. A field is divided by several routes, but leaves a single tent isolated. An abyss is encircled by the paths. A great viaduct crosses over a valley path. Paths connect to steps that descend to a single platform over a chasm or seemingly connect at random underneath a house that hangs from a wall. Who lives in the tower? Who was the mermaid? What lies in the tunnels? Who lives in the village and where does the narrow path lead? Why is the village higher than the tower? Who lurks in the abyss? What is the platform over the chasm used for? Who lives in the home hanging from the wall? These are just some of the questions that the cards in Paths provoke.

All of the cards are beautifully bucolic and are designed to form a grid, depicting an ever-greater area and range of terrain. As a deck they can be shuffled, cards drawn and laid out to form a whole map, and then done again and again to create new maps each time. Paths suggests that two cards be selected to mark the beginning and the end of a route, and then cards be drawn to map out the route between them, whether direct or meandering. The participant is encouraged to examine each card, asking what it makes him think of or how he feels? The process is intended to be contemplative, even meditative, the participant almost taking a walking holiday across his loving room table.

Lastly, Paths turns the participant into a player and the map cards into a game. It is suggested the map is built collaboratively with perhaps one player as the map-maker who knows the secrets behind each card and location to be revealed as the other players and their heroes add each card to the map. It is suggested that tokens be used and notes taken and dice be used for dice-battles—if needed. These are the limits of the suggestions in Paths, but it would be incredibly easy to import a set of simple rules or even create some. For example…

Paths: The RPG

1. Each player creates an adventurer, for example, a wizard or a warrior. Then name the character.
2. Players take turns as the Map-Maker. When it is your turn, draw a card and add it to the map. Describe it and answer any questions the other players have about it as their adventurers explore it. Portray any characters who live there. Perhaps they want to help the adventurers? Have something to tell them or sell to them (or both)? Perhaps they are hiding secrets? Is there an obstacle or some monsters? Are there secrets to be found?
3. As a player, describe what your adventurer does. Who does he talk to? Where does he look? Let the other players do the same.
4. If there is an obstacle or monster, the Map-Maker rolls a six-sided die. Each player rolls a six-sided die for his adventurer (another player rolls for the current Map-Maker’s adventurer). The highest result defeats or stops the other. If an adventurer would have an advantage because of the situation, a good idea, or he just would (perhaps through force of arms as a warrior or a spell cast by a wizard), he rolls two dice instead on one.
5. The next player becomes the Map-Maker.

Physically, the cards in Paths are large, glossy, and feel good in the hand. The leaflet runs to four pages and is a quick and simple read.

However the participant, player, or Map-Maker uses Paths, there is ultimately a simple truth to Paths. Which is that this set of cards is a beautiful and lovely artifact. A beautiful and lovely artifact which works as inspiration, contemplation, or a game.