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. Then there is also Old School Essentials.
Carcass Crawler is ‘The Official Fanzine Old-School Essentials zine’. Published by Necrotic Gnome, Old School Essentials is the retroclone based upon the version of Basic Dungeons & Dragons designed by Tom Moldvay and published in 1981, and Carcass Crawler provides content and options for it. It is pleasingly ‘old school’ in its sensibilities, being a medley of things in its content rather than just the one thing or the one roleplaying game as has been the trend in gaming fanzines, especially with ZineQuest. Carcass Crawler #1 focused on Classes and Races alongside its other support for Old School Essentials, whereas although Carcass Crawler Issue #2 does provide new Races and Classes, it instead focuses on general support for the Player Character and playing Old School Essentials. Carcass Crawler Issue #3 continues the fanzine’s thread of providing new Classes for Old School Essentials.

Carcass Crawler Issue #3 describes five new character Classes and four new Races. What this means is that it follows standard Old School Essentials rules in that it allows for ‘Race as Class’ as well as supporting the separation of Race and Class as per Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy. ‘New Classes and Races’ by Gavin Norman opens with the first of its new Classes, the ‘Beast Master’. This Class gains a number of loyal animal companions equal to its Level, can identify tracks, and can come to understand the speech of animals and communicate with them. Essentially, this is a Class is going to see the Player Character controlling a pack of animals for various purposes depending upon the animal. Exactly what each animal can do is going for the player and the Game Master to decide. The ‘Dragonborn’ is the first of the four ‘Race as Class’ options in the issue and the first which harks back to an earlier edition of Dungeons & Dragons, in this case, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. The Dragonborn has a breath weapon and partial immunity according to its draconic bloodline, and so on, and is generally similar to the Dragonborn of Dungeons & Dragons. The ‘Mutoid’ is the first of two radically different Classes. It consists of a demihuman with randomly determined mismatched body parts, such as Beast Ears for improved hearing and Spring Legs for a leap attack. The Class has several Thief skills, plus Mimicry, and can eventually set up a secret lair and start a Thieves’ Guild, but in general, are shunned by society. The second radically different Class is the Mycellian, a humanoid mushroom who can emit a spray of Fungal Spores—either pacifying or hallucinogenic, grow in stature increasing its unarmed combat damage and natural Armour Class, and relies on telepathy for communication. Once a Mycellian reaches Sixth Level it can found an underground stronghold and create a fungal zombie as a minion. The Mycellian is a pleasingly personal take upon the mushroom men-style monster of Dungeons & Dragons. The last of the new races is the second to be obviously drawn from a previous version of Dungeons & Dragons, this time from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition. The Race is the Tielfling and it has Fiendish Heritage, Fiendish Appearance, and a Fiendish Gift, typically a spell or resistance. It also has the power to Beguile with its words and knows the Thief’s stealth skills.
These are all a nice selection of Classes, presenting the Game Master with plenty of choice in terms of deciding what Races she has in her campaign and she is given advice to that end. All five Classes though are presented in the standard two-page spread for Old School Essentials, making them highly accessible. Four of the ‘Race as Class’ Classes—Dragonborn, Mutoid, Mycellian, and Tielfling—are in turn presented as Races. This enables their use in combination with a Class as per Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy.
Also by Gavin Norman is ‘Expanded Equipment’. For Adventuring Gear, this adds thing such as the bucket, magnifying glass, sledgehammer, and more. Weapons & Armour lists padded armour, furs, studded leather, banded mail, and full plate, so encompassing the wider range of armour found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, whilst new weapons include bastard sword, blackjack, blowgun, bolas, and more. These also have weapon qualities, like Entangle for the whip and Versatile for the bastard sword, which can be used one-handed or two-handed. Overall, it expands the range of equipment and options available to a campaign and the players and their characters.
Donn Stroud pens ‘Woodland Monsters’. This is a bestiary of eight creatures. It includes the ‘Bracketfolk’, humanoid bracket fungi who live in families on a single tree; ‘Burlbug’ are gnarled nocturnal, and territorial simians who howl when disturbed or annoyed and like to collect gems; the ‘Corpse Vine’ is a carnivorous plant that hangs from trees and pulls up its victims to constrict and slowly digest them, tempting them with prior victims turned into twitching corpses; the ‘Ghoul-Stag’ is a horrible decaying corpse of a deer animated after the bite of a Ghoul; the Skull Spider Nettle is a mobile carnivorous plant which occupies skulls and scuttles around injecting its spores into its victims using its lashes; the ‘Spell Croaker’ is a giant tree frog infused with magic as a tadpole, which can randomly disgorge a spell, whilst the ‘Spell Croaker Tadpole’ is the immature form, which flies around disenchanting magical items and spell-casters; and lastly, ‘Stick-Children’ are insects which cover themselves in branches they saw from trees with their mandibles, giving them a humanoid appearance. There is a good mix here which the Game Master can pick and choose from to populate the woodlands in her campaign.

Lastly, Gavin Norman gives advice on monsters in ‘Creating Monsters’. It is a very straightforward piece, suggesting that the Game Master begin with tweaking or re-skinning an existing monster rather than starting from scratch. However, if that does not work in the given situation, it guides the Game Master through an eight-step process, looking at factors to consider at each step. This starts with the imagination and then goes through Hit Dice, Armour Class, Movement Rate, Attacks, and Special Abilities before calculating Derived Stats and taking into account any final details. To be honest the article is one the like of which has been written again and again about Dungeons & Dragons-style monsters and their creation. This does not mean that the advice or the article are poor. In fact, this is a useful article which lets the Game Master look at monsters from another angle.
Physically, Carcass Crawler Issue #3 is well written and well presented. The artwork is excellent.
Carcass Crawler Issue #3 feels as if it is capping off a trilogy that comprises a character Class compendium for Old School Essentials. Indeed, Necrotic Gnome could present all of the Classes and Races to appear in the pages of the fanzine and it would be a serviceable supplement providing further options for player and Game Master alike. Hopefully, future issues will contain fewer new Classes and open up the otherwise excellent support for Old School Essentials that Carcass Crawler provides to wider content. That said, Carcass Crawler #3 is a solid issue and its Classes and monsters are interesting and the fanzine continues to be an enjoyable old school-style publication.

 How about something to lighten the mood around here.

This was shared by a friend. I had seen it on my feed, but he reminded me that it would be good for today.

Periodic Table of Elementals, by Catilus

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/catilus/periodic-table-of-elementals-by-catilus?ref=theotherside

Catilus is giving us something that honestly we should have all figured out decades ago. But here we get her fantastic art and 5e monsters.

Catilus has been putting out some high-quality and fun 5e books for a while now, and I expect this one will be her best yet.

From her project page:

Periodic Table of Elementals is my third book on Kickstarter and (by far) my largest book to date. It features unique elemental creatures inspired by every actual chemical element, with lore and abilities based on each element’s chemical properties!

What’s in the Periodic Table of Elementals?

• 118 fully illustrated unique elementals representing ALL chemical elements
• Abilities and mechanics based on real chemistry
• Familiars, steeds, and gargantuan summonable elementals
• Science-inspired lore for each elemental
• An actual, fully usable periodic table with all the elementals from the book
• Adventure hooks, optional rules, tables, synergies, and more tools
• More than 120 detailed illustrations, including art for each elemental, by me!

Sounds fantastic really.  I am not really into D&D 5e these days, but my issues are with WotC/Hasbro not with independent creatives like Catilus. There will be plenty to convert over to other systems should you want.

 This large opening leads to the grand burial chambers of the Vampire Queen herself. There is a flight of stairs going down, opening to a large chamber.

The chamber has five exits: two to the left, two to the right, and one ahead.  

Between the party and these exits are a hundred or so skeletons. 

This chamber has 6d20+10 skeletons that will rise up and attack.

 Well. I didn't expect to be doing this today. I just got word that my old High School and College DM, R. Michael Grenda, died yesterday.  The cause of death is unknown, but it is suspected it was a heart attack.

I have mentioned him here many times, usually not by name, I don't name people unless they have explicitly said it was fine. But we began playing in my early high school days. We met via our school's theatre group. Yeah, we were both theatre kids. We bonded over our shared love of D&D and the fact that we both owned TRS-80 Color Computers. 

He had his world, based mainly on the World of Greyhawk and I had mine, based on the Known World, or what would later be known as Mystara. And we would go back and forth between these worlds. Eventually, we would merge them and he made a map for it that I would eventually lose and then much, much later find the Mystoerth map I still use today. We played chess together often, had similar tastes in fiction, and discovered computer games together.

When I left town to go to University, he eventually followed me there. He was a computer science major and would eventually end up working with databases for the State of Illinois (which is as much archaeology as it is computer science) and met his future wife while we were all at school together. His wife (then his girlfriend) introduced me to Gopher sites and even this new thing called the World Wide Web.

Much of what happened in our games lives on in my work here.  The "Big Bad" of my Buffy campaign "The Dragon and the Phoenix" was Yoln Shadowreaper, one of his NPCs. The entire background of TDaTP was my big War of the Dragons, which was our world-ending battle before college.

Our "D&D on the Computer" game BARDD was largely written by him. When I6 Ravenloft came out I bought it and then made him run it. Back in college, we even did the "Dreams of Barovia" campaign where the characters shifted from one reality to the next, with him running House on Gryphon Hill and me running the original I6. I ran my first test of my witch class with him and we tried out his Riddle Master, Beastmaster, and Shadowmaster classes.

We had met up recently, back in July, and that was great. We had not seen each other in a long time. Family, jobs, kids. You know the story.  I hate to say it, but when his wife called me last night, I was not 100% surprised. I thought he looked a little unwell. But hell, we are all in our 50s now. None of us look "great."  

I have not quite processed it all yet, to be honest.  I owe a lot of my my current writing to him and the games we played. Thought we might roll some dice one more time, but I guess not.

I'll end with him flipping me off at a party a bunch of us were at in college. He would have found it funny.

 A secret door here is similar to the one in Room #18 to Room #19.  Finding that one makes finding this one easier; an extra 1 (on a d6), a +16% (d%), or +3 (on d20).

This room contains Treasure Types A, G, and H. There is also a sword +3 here. The sword and all the treasure here is cursed. Removing any of it from this room results in the possessor needing to make a saving throw vs. Magic or begin losing 1 point per turn to a random ability: d6 1=Strength, 2=Intelligence, 3=Wisdom, 4=Dexterity, 5=Constitution, 6=Charisma. To stop the drain the items must be returned to this room.  

Only magic can restore ability loss. 

 You know how I have lamented how I never have found the perfect sci-fi RPG?  Well. That all might be changing.

Thirteen Parsecs

https://tinyurl.com/13psignup

Thirteen Parsecs: Adventures Beyond the Solar Frontier is the latest tabletop role-playing game project from Elf Lair Games, producers of Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars and Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age. It forms the third of our trilogy of core games - we've given you modern and fantasy, and now we bring sci-fi to the forefront with the same rules, completely customizable and ready for you to build exactly the type of science fiction gaming you want. As always, it's your game your way when it's Powered by O.G.R.E.S.!

I am so excited for this.  I have been dying to work on a solid sci-fi game since forever.

A bit of background, I think I have mentioned in the past that prior to switching gears to become a psychologist I had actually started out in physics, and astrophysics in particular. I got to a point in calculus where I just stopped understanding it, so I had to switch. BTW this makes my former Actuary (with degrees in math) wife laugh her ass off all the time. 

So it will be wonderful to put all this knowledge I have about astronomy, space, and science to good use.

Launch is not till later in the year, but Jason is already working out all sorts of great things. I hope to resurrect Space Truckers, get some more mileage out of Dark Star (formerly BlackStar), and more.

So please sign up and watch for more details!

 On the other side of Room 12-17 from Room 18 is another set of stairs to an ornate tomb.  This one belongs to the Vampire Queen's Majordomo, the Dwarf Fizko.

Fizko was in charge of the household of the Vampire Queen. She rewarded his faithful service by turning him into a Death Knight.

Death Knight

Armor Class -1 [20]
Hit Dice 12+36 (90hp)*****
Attacks 2 × weapons (1d10+4) + Special
THAC0 6 [+13]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 5,900
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type None

The Dwarf Fizko is a supernaturally strong Death Knight.

He attacks with a great mattock +3 that he can use to hit twice per round.  He can summon 2d6 Haugbui twice per day.

As a death knight, he has the powers and spells of a 12th level anti-Paladin.  His "lay on hands" ability causes damage instead of healing.

Fizko is fanatically loyal to the Vampire Queen, whom he believes is a Goddess and he swore his oath to her.

 A secret door in Room 18 leads to a secret treasure room.

This room contains Treasure Types A, G, and H. Additionally there is a suit of elven chain, and a sword +3 vs. Magic-users (Wizards and Witches).

 This giant area (Room 13) has three exits. One on each side of the room and one ahead. The first on the left is Room 18.

This ornate tomb is found at the bottom of a flight of stairs.  The doors are locked but can be picked.

This is the tomb of Dortya, the handmaiden to the Vampire Queen. 

She is a 10 HD Vampire. She has Boots of Speed, Bracers of Defence AC +3, and a sword +2 / +3 vs. Clerics.   Her tomb has Treasure Type F x3.

Her only task is to keep people away from her queen.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Elven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Grave Terrors, the halfling undead. 

Grave Terror are halfling wights.

Grave Terror

Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (31 hp)
Movement: 90" (30")
Attacks: 1 claw or weapon (+2 to hit, 1d6+2 damage)
Special Attacks: Fear aura, Spectral Blades
Special Defenses: Immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells
Saves: As 3rd level Fighter
Morale: 12 (Fanatic)
Treasure: Nil (grave goods destroyed with their undeath)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

These creatures were warriors among the halflings until they were cursed to undeath.  They had high Strength and Constitution scores while alive (16+ each) and were formidable fighters.

They attack with a claw or a rusty sword for 1d6+2 points of damage. They can also summon a spectral blade to attack another opponent at the same level of proficiency. 

These undead creatures have Aura of Fear that acts like the spell Fear 15' Radius.  They are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells. They are turned as Ghouls.

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

—oOo—

Published by Magpie Games, Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game is a roleplaying game based on the award-winning Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right board game, about conflict and power, featuring struggles between cats, birds, mice, and more. The Woodland consists of dense forest interspersed by ‘Clearings’ where its many inhabitants—dominated by foxes, mice, rabbits, and birds live, work, and trade from their villages. Birds can also be found spread out in the canopy throughout the forest. Recently, the Woodland was thrown into chaos when the ruling Eyrie Dynasties tore themselves apart in a civil war and left power vacuums throughout the Woodland. With no single governing power, the many Clearings of the Woodland have coped as best they can—or not at all, but many fell under the sway or the occupation of the forces of the Marquise de Cat, leader of an industrious empire from far away. More recently, the civil war between the Eyrie Dynasties has ended and is regroupings its forces to retake its ancestral domains, whilst other denizens of the Woodland, wanting to be free of both the Marquisate and the Eyrie Dynasties, have formed the Woodland Alliance and secretly foment for independence.

Between the Clearings and the Paths which connect them, creatures, individuals, and bands live in the dense, often dangerous forest. Amongst these are the Vagabonds—exiles, outcasts, strangers, oddities, idealists, rebels, criminals, freethinkers. They are hardened to the toughness of life in the forest, but whilst some turn to crime and banditry, others come to Clearings to trade, work, and sometimes take jobs that no other upstanding citizens of any Clearing would do—or have the skill to undertake. Of course, in Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, Vagabonds are the Player Characters.

Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game is ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, the mechanics based on the award-winning post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, Apocalypse World, published by Lumpley Games in 2010. At the heart of these mechanics are Playbooks and their sets of Moves. Now, Playbooks are really Player Characters and their character sheets, and Moves are actions, skills, and knowledges, and every Playbook is a collection of Moves. Some of these Moves are generic in nature, such as ‘Persuade an NPC’ or ‘Attempt a Roguish Feat’, and every Player Character or Vagabond can attempt them. Others are particular to a Playbook, for example, ‘Silent Paws’ for a Ranger Vagabond or ‘Arsonist’ for the Scoundrel Vagabond.

To undertake an action or Move in a ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, a character’s player rolls two six-sided dice and adds the value of an attribute such as Charm, Cunning, Finesse, Luck, or Might, or Reputation, to the result. A full success is achieved on a result of ten or more; a partial success is achieved with a cost, complication, or consequence on a result of seven, eight, or nine; and a failure is scored on a result of six or less. Essentially, this generates results of ‘yes’, ‘yes, but…’ with consequences, and ‘no’. Notably though, the Game Master does not roll in ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game.

So for example, if a Player Character wants to ‘Read a Tense Situation’, his player is rolling to have his character learn the answers to questions such as ‘What’s my best way out/in/through?’, ‘Who or what is the biggest threat?’, ‘Who or what is most vulnerable to me?’, ‘What should I be on the lookout for?’, or ‘Who is in control here?’. To make the Move, the player rolls the dice and his character’s Cunning to the result. On a result of ten or more, the player can ask three of these questions, whilst on a result of seven, eight, or nine, he only gets to ask one.

Moves particular to a Playbook can add to an attribute, such as ‘Master Thief’, which adds one to a character’s Finesse or allow another attribute to be substituted for a particular Move, for example, ‘Threatening Visage’, which enables a Player Character to use his Might instead of Charm when using open threats or naked steel on attempts to ‘Persuade an NPC’. Others are fully detailed Moves, such as ‘Grab and Smash’. When a Player Character wants to smash through some scenery to reach someone or something, his player rolls the character’s Might in a test. The Move enables the character to reach the target on a hit. However, this is not without its consequences. This can the character hurting himself and the player marking an injury, break an important part of his surroundings, or damage or leave behind a piece of gear. One a roll of 10+, the character suffers one of these consequences; on a roll of 7-9, he suffers two; and on a miss, he smashes but is left totally vulnerable on the other side.

Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is the Free RPG Day 2023 from Magpie Games for Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game. It includes an explanation of the core rules, six pregenerated Player Characters or Vagabonds and their Playbooks, and a complete setting or Clearing for them to explore. From the overview of the game and an explanation of the characters to playing the game and its many Moves, the introduction to the Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is well-written. It is notable that all of the Vagabonds are essentially roguish in nature, so in addition to the Basic Moves, such as ‘Figure Someone Out’, ‘Persuade an NPC’, ‘Trick an NPC’, ‘Trust Fate’, and ‘Wreck Something’, they can ‘Attempt a Roguish Feat’. This covers Acrobatics, Blindside, Counterfeit, Disable Device, Hide, Pick Lock, Pick Pocket, Sleight of Hand, and Sneak. Each of these requires an associated Feat to attempt, and each of the six pregenerated Vagabonds has one, two, or more of the Feats depending just how roguish they are. Otherwise, a Vagabond’s player rolls the ‘Trust to Fate’ Move.

The six pre-generated Vagabonds include Laeliana the Arbiter, an experienced Mole mercenary who is looking for the right battles to fight; Jexri the Champion, a Lizard who is devout follower of the Great Wyrm and defender of those who need it; Yates the Envoy, a Toad envoy who works as a diplomat for hire; Mint the Prince, a young Fox trying to live up to the reputation of her mother; Rackham the Thief, a bird thief who has returned to Hacksaw Dell to show off their expertise as a burglar; and Knohadd the Vagrant, a Possum ex-Riverfolk Company captain, who comes with plenty of baggage. All six of these Vagabonds have links to the given Clearing and its NPCs in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart, and all six are complete with Natures and Drives, stats, backgrounds, Moves, Feats, and equipment. All a player has to do is decide on a couple of connections and each Playbook is ready to play.
As its title suggests, the given Clearing in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is Hacksaw Dell. Its description comes with an overarching issue and conflicts within the Clearing, important NPCs, places to go, and more. The situation in Hacksaw Dell is different to that of most Clearings. Until recently, the Marquisate operated a lumbermill in the Clearing, but this was targeted by the Woodland Alliance and burnt down, only a month ago. An Assembly of Citizens has been established to create a charter to govern the newly freed Clearing, but progress is not fast enough for some. This is includes the Woodland Alliance provocateurs who liberated the Clearing, some of whom want to repeat the action they took in liberating the Clearing and many other citizens who have found succour in the Lizard Cult. Others want to install a prince like they had in the days when the Eyrie Dynasties ruled the Clearing. These four Conflicts make up the plots to be explored and developed in the Clearing and each is fully detailed and includes notes on what happens if the vagabonds do not get involved and leave the Conflict to develop on its own. For the Game Master there is a good overview of the Clearing and notes of where to begin when running the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart and getting the Vagabonds involved. There suggestions also as to how escalate the situation for each of the Vagabonds to draw them further into the ongoing events in Hacksaw Dell.

Physically, Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is a fantastic looking booklet, done in full colour and printed on heavy paper stock. It is well written and the artwork, taken from or inspired by the Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right board game, is bright and breezy, and really attractive. Even cute. Simply, just as Root: The Pellenicky Glade Quickstart was for Free RPG Day 2020, Root: The Bertram’s Cove Quickstart was for Free RPG Day 2021, and Root: Talon Hill Quickstart for Free RPG 2022, so too Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is physically the most impressive of all the releases for Free RPG Day 2023.

If there is an issue with Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart it is that it looks busy and it looks complex—something that often besets ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying games. Not only do players need their Vagabond’s Playbooks, but also reference sheets for all of the game’s Basic Moves and Weapon Moves—and that is a lot of information. However, it means that a player has all of the information he needs to play his Vagabond to hand, he does not need to refer to the rules for explanations of the rules or his Vagabond’s Moves. That also means that there is some preparation required to make sure that each player has the lists of Moves his Vagabond needs. Another issue is that the relative complexity and the density of the information in Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart means that it is not a beginner’s game and the Game Master will need a bit of experience to run Hacksaw Dell and its conflicts.

Ultimately, the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart comes with everything necessary to play and keep the attention of a playing group for probably three or four sessions, possibly more. Although it needs a careful read through and preparation by the Game Master, Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart is a very good introduction to the rules, the setting, and conflicts in Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game—and it looks damned good too. For the Game Master who is already running a Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game campaign, the Root: Hacksaw Dell Quickstart provides another Clearing that she can add to her campaign with the others available in the proper quick-start for the roleplaying game as well as releases for previous Free RPG Days.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Elven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Alp, the elven undead. 

Alp are the undead forms of elves.

There are at least six here and the potential for many more.

Faecal Lands is quite possibly the dirtiest book published for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. The simplest description of the book is that it details a pocket dimension for use with that roleplaying game, or indeed any Old School Renaissance-style retroclone—and this is true. Which it does. However, the very nature of that pocket dimension and what it contains is certain to make every player, every character, and every Game Master recoil in a combination of horror and disgust. And seriously, if any of them react differently, you should be worried. So be prepared to be disgusted at the content of this book and even be disgusted at this review, because such a reaction to either is perfectly understandable. If though, you have no desire to read further, whether because of the warnings given so far or because even the title hints at too much, that is also understandable. Faecal Lands is definitely not a book for everyone and it is definitely difficult to quite work out who Faecal Lands is actually for. So last warning then…

Faecal Lands, published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, is written by the publisher and creator of The Midderlands setting and the author of the highly regarded The Staffortonshire Trading Company Works of John Williams. It details a pocket dimension where all of the worlds’ excrement and urine are dumped. This is the Faecal Lands of the title, a brown-stained, stench-laden mini-world consisting of hills and valleys of compacted excreta cut through by lakes and rivers of urine. Here swarms of Bloated Shit Flies go in search of corpses to feed on and implant eggs that will hatch into Bloated Shit Fly Maggots; the black serpentine Egg Collectors burrow in search of the eggs laid by the Bloated Shit Flies, often herded by Excrement Golems; Pisscatore, demonic angler fish hunt in the lakes, even waddling ashore to pull corpses into the lakes; Faecal Goblins, the creation of Dreadmaster Balayoch in the Flatulent Pits, conduct tunnelling and other menial tasks; and Lord Faecius, twelve feet tall, sits on his throne of compacted ordure in his tower of compacted dung from where he rules his domain as the white juice of Bloated Shit Fly eggs dribbles down his belly… The Faecal Lands are home to various other demons too, typically the excretory analogues to the demons of Dungeons & Dragons, and even a Faecal Dragon.

In addition to all of these monsters and a size character for all of them, Faecal Lands describes several locations, as well as how to travel and survive in this rancid region, suggests ways to bring the Player Characters there, lists two hundred encounters and plot hooks, and explains how the Player Characters can escape their poopy prison and gives them several means to do so. So, the question is, how do you use Faecal Lands? As written, the Player Characters find themselves in this dimensional dung heap, either through reading the wrong tome, suffering a curse, being punished by a demon, or similar things, and have to find their out of the pocket dimension. Thankfully, the Faecal Lands are small and their options limited, but exploration will discover ways through which they can make their escape—and even a potential ally!

Physically, Faecal Lands is well presented and easy to use. Especially if you like shades of brown (and yellow). The artwork cannot be described—for the most part—as anything other than grotty, but the maps are unsurprisingly decent given the identity of the author.

So the other question is, how would you even use Faecal Lands? Well, definitely not as a one-shot, probably not somewhere to take the Player Characters intentionally, and unless your players have the strongest of stomachs, not somewhere to spring on them and their characters unexpectedly. Yet there are ways of using it. The contents describe a hellish pocket dimension where demon lords banish others as a punishment and if you can have Hell in your campaign, why not Hell for the hellish and the demonic? It could exist in a campaign and maybe never be visited, just hinted at in dark tomes and whispered about in furtive conversations between demonologists, demon hunters, and demon-worshipping cultists, as one of the nastiest places imaginable, a hell for other demons. The Player Characters might hear about it, know of its existence, and so, in way, at least be slightly mentally prepared when they end up in the Faecal Lands, whether through a miscast Teleport spell, reading from the wrong book, being cursed, or being punished by demon for reneging on a deal…

Faecal Lands is an unpleasant book and undeniably and intentionally so. It is not unusable though, and the book is well done, but whether a Game Master actually would use it is another matter. It would take a strong stomach as well as a good reason to do so. Ultimately, the appeal of Faecal Lands, let alone its utility is limited, probably extremely so. As to the author, who knew he had a book, let alone a setting like this, in him? Well, now he doesn’t.

—oOo—
DISCLAIMER: The author of this review is an editor who has both edited titles for Lamentations of the Flame Princess on a freelance basis and edited titles for the author of this book on a freelance basis. He was not involved in the production of this book and his connection to both publisher and author has no bearing on the resulting review.

 Interesting one this week. I am unsure if I am calling people to support it. My purpose here is often to shed some light on a crowdfunded project you may not have seen. This one though is at $3 Million right now so it doesn't need my help.  But that is not why I am talking about this one today.

But first, the campaign.

The MCDM RPG

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mcdm-productions/mcdm-rpg?ref=theotherside

This is a new big FRPG from Matt Colville (the "MC" in the name I am guessing).  It is obviously modeled on D&D style play and it is being pitched as a D&D alternative in all but name. Back in the day we would have called this a Fantasy Heartbreaker.

The game looks slick as hell and it will certainly be a lot of fun and look good. Matt does good work on his design so I have no doubt this will be a good game.

BUT...(there is always a but) there are a few things about it that I am not quite connecting with.

If you take D&D as the middle ground and go far out on the gritty/old-school side you get another wildly successful RPG ShadowDark.  Go the same distance in the other direction and you will have MCDM RPG.  Many of the selling points about this game read like "everything ShadowDark is, we are not." For example from the project page:

Compared to what ShadowDark say they are on their Kickstarter Project page:

NOW PLEASE UNDERSTAND. I am not trying to set up a MCDM vs. ShadowDark thing here. I think both games are great and their respective successes give evidence that both games are wanted and needed. AND (more to the point) both provide that D&D-alternative to those that want it. 

I think having a good D&D-alternative is a good thing given the bookend events from Wizards/Hasbro this 2023.  

Just as I don't click well with some of the things in ShadowDark, I also don't click very well with some of the things in MCDM.  I *do* want monsters to be able to avoid spells sometimes. I *do* want there to be a chance that the PCs can fail. I do want some grit. But I also want hope. My preferred gaming experience is somewhere in the middle.

Also, reading through the material, I get the sense that the design is not 100% complete yet. That is a red flag for me these days. When NIGHT SHIFT went to Kickstarter the book was done and playtesting complete. When Wasted Lands went to Kickstarter the playtesting on the new mechanics was done, the core rules were done, and the Gazeteer was nearly complete. Both games shipped early.  My concern is this game won't ship for a while.

I have seen online people calling this a "D&D Killer" which I have my doubts about. Pathfinder is a great game but it was not a D&D killer. I have seen a lot of so-called D&D Killers over the years. I don't think this one will be either.  But it might get WotC to pay attention. Maybe.

Even if it doesn't make WotC/Hasbro take notice it will provide a new game to people who love this sort of style and help keep role-playing going for a bit longer. Who knows, maybe I'll pick it up as well one day.

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

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

Senet Issue 7 was published in the spring of 2022. It opens with an editorial that highlights the reach and width of board games, often to unexpected corners and fans. This includes, in this case, the late lyricist and composer, Steven Sondheim, who was a subscriber of the magazine. This quite made the editor’s week. It an aspect of the hobby that is highlighted elsewhere in the magazine, notably in the ‘Points’, the regular column of readers’ letters.

The issues gets down to its contents with ‘Behold’, its regular preview of some of the then-forthcoming board game titles. As expected, ‘Behold’ showcases its previewed titles to intriguing effect, a combination of simple write-ups with artwork and depictions of the board games. The standouts here are Don’t Go In There, a spooky exploration of a haunted house that is strong on apprehension versus the desire to delve deeper into the house and has some fantastically gothic style artwork, and Crescent Moon, an asymmetrical area-control game whose theme is the five factions and their differences of the Abbasid Caliphate.

‘Points’, the regular column of readers’ letters, covers a number of different topics. One discusses the misuse of the word ‘cull’ in terms of excising boardgames from your library, whilst another highlights the issues with the use of apps in games and their likely obsolescence, essentially making the games unplayable. There is also a lovely letter about a teenage gamer having discovered not only the joy of boardgames, but also the joy of introducing the hobby to his friends and family. The most interesting letter is from an American in Korea who was amazed to discover the cultural differences between the USA and Korea in terms of boardgame mechanics. These differences have been highlighted, at least for Call of Cthulhu, in the pages of Bayt al Azif – A magazine for Cthulhu Mythos roleplaying games, and perhaps this is a possible thread that Senet magazine could follow up in future issues. In ‘For Love of the Game’, Tristian Hall continues his designer’s journey towards the completion and publication of his Gloom of Kilforth. In previous issues he explored how the game became a vehicle for roleplaying and storytelling, used the mechanics to bring the game and its background to life, marketing options, and dealing with feedback and criticism about a game’s design, but in this issue, he writes about world-building and immersion through text and art, and how historical research can really benefit the design of a game.

Senet follows a standard format of articles and article types. One explores a theme found in board games, its history, and the games that showcase it to best effect, whilst another looks at a particular mechanic. In between there are two interviews, one with a designer, the other with an artist. The mechanical article in Senet Issue 7 is quite short and is on word games. Of course, ‘Word Play’ by Owen Duffy, begins with Scrabble—and arguably a whole article could be devoted to that game—but it quickly expands to explore more modern designs, such as Paperback and Wibbell++ (or The Ell Deck). The article also highlights five word games that can used as party games that also pull the word game away from its dry spelling contest origins. Though a little short, the article is a good overview of the format.

The artist interviewed in ‘The Pathfinder’ is with Francesca Baerald, best known for her work on Gloomhaven and Descent: Legends of the Dark, big boardgames with strong roleplaying aspects to them, as well as to roleplaying games such as Legend of the Five Rings. The article explores her background and how she became an artist before providing her space to comment upon a handful of her pieces. Not all of them are maps, but those maps do stand out, presenting rich and detailed worlds that beg to be explored. There is no pullout in this issue showcasing her artwork, but nevertheless, this is artwork that pulls the viewer into its depth and detail. The artist interviewed in the previous issue was with Miguel Coimbra, best known for illustrating the mini-civilisation-style 7 Wonders and the fantasy wargame of variable races and powers, Small World. So its seems apt that the games designer interviewed in Senet Issue 7 in ‘Wonder Man’ is with Antoine Bauza, the designer of the award-winning 7 Wonders and Hanabi. Interviewed at the same time as his new game, Oltréé, was published, the interview is far ranging, covering his gaming and publishing history, his love of co-operative games, his fascination with Japan as seen in Takenoko and Tokaïdo, and unfortunately, his frustrations and disillusionment with the hobby. This is not something that has been seen in interviews in previous issues and here it ends the interview on a downbeat tone. Nevertheless, this is an interesting interview and Antoine Bauza’s games are shown off to best effect.

The theme or genre of game showcased in Senet Issue 7 is the trading card game or ‘TCG’. Where the earlier ‘Word Play’ began at the obvious starting point of Scrabble, in ‘Trade Wars’, Alexandra Sonechkina begins with Magic: The Gathering and its history. This is quickly rushed through—no surprise given that it could have taken up the whole article, but it has its own history in the form of Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering—before the article looks at some of the variations and concepts behind the format. Unfortunately, there is an emphasis in the article on the bigger games such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon, which is understandable, and there no real exploration of smaller trading card games bar the one, Flesh and Blood. There have been hundreds of trading card games since the publication of Magic: The Gathering and it seems so limiting to have explored some of them. Worse perhaps, is that the article does not explore in any depth variations upon the trading card game format, so that for example, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, is mentioned as a co-operative trading card game format, but it only a mention and that element of co-operation is then ignored. Overall, the article is decent enough, but there are aspects of the trading card game format that the article sadly ignores.

‘Unboxed’, Senet’s reviews includes a review of Antoine Bauza’s Oltréé, and is joined by good reviews of Cascadia, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and others. it is a good mix and the reviews are all useful and informative. The reviews section is rounded out with top ten list of the Senet’s ‘The Best of 2021’, which is worth comparing with the reviews that appeared in previous issues.

Rounding out Senet Issue 7 are regular end columns, ‘How to Play’ and ‘Shelf of Shame’. For the former, Fred Cronin explores ‘Cultivating a collection’, suggesting ways to build a game library you can enjoy whilst avoiding some of the missteps he took himself. It is good advice and in a callback to the latter in ‘Points’, the readers’ letters column, in which a reader discusses the misuse of the word ‘cull’, suggests using the term ‘prune’ for removing games from your collection. For the latter, comedian and boardgames fan, John Robertson, looks at the heist game, Theives. It was a title he he was enticed by at UK Games Expo in 2018 after he handed the designer an award for it, but never got to play until after the copy he bought then he gave to his flatmate.

Physically, Senet Issue 7 is very professionally presented. It looks and feels as good as previous issues of the magazine.

As with previous issues, Senet Issue 7 offers a good mix of articles, interviews, and reviews. In places its articles feel slightly limited in their scope, but not to the point they where they needlessly detract from their content. For the boardgames fan, Senet continues to be a solid read.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of the Queen's Dwarven sacrifices.  Rising from the graves are Haugbui, the dwarven undead.

 

Haugbui

Armor Class 4 [15]
Hit Dice 6+6 (33hp)***
Attacks 2 × claws (1d6+4), 1 bite (1d4+4) + Ability Drain
THAC0 14 [+5]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (6)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 1,025
Number Appearing 1d8 (1d8)
Treasure Type None

Haugbui are undead dwarves of fierce warriors cursed to remain in their barrows and underground chambers. 

The attack with a claw, claw, bite routine. On a successful bite attack, they can drain blood at 1 point of Constitution per round. The get these undead unattached requires a strength ability check to pull them off.  

These creatures are very strong; Strength 20 and silver is required to hit them.

These creatures turn as Wights.

 This section of the larger area is the home to the graves of many horses. 

There are Undead Horses and Nightmares here.

Undead Horses

Armor Class 7 [12]
Hit Dice 4 (18hp)
Attacks 2 × hoof (1d6+1)
THAC0 16 [+3]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (4)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 125
Number Appearing 1d8 (1d8)
Treasure Type None

Undead horses are skeletal remains of normal horses. They attack much as they did in life, only now they can also be turned as Wights.

Nightmares

Armor Class -4 [24]
Hit Dice 6+6 (33hp)
Attacks 1 bite (2d4), 2 × burning hooves (2d4+2); Breath smoke
THAC0 14 [+5]
Movement 150’ (50’) / Fly 360' (90')
Saving Throws D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (4)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 1,025
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type None

Nightmares are the steeds of night hags and other demons, black horses with flaming hoofs and mane. Their breath is a cloud of brimstone smoke, which causes any nearby opponent to attack at –2 (saving throw applies). These horrible creatures can become incorporeal and travel between the planes of existence, bearing their evil/chaotic riders.

(Section 15: Nightmare, Swords & Wizardry SRD)

--

Again, GMs choose as many as they need to challenge the PCs.

 Thanks to the magic of Withers (and a mere pittance of 100gp), my warlock Larina from my first run can now join my paladin Johan on his current run.

The game is still rather fantastic and 300+ hours later, I am still discovering more. With some of the mods I added I don't think I'll be able to get Sinéad in there as well. The "half-elf" hireling is gone, replaced by Alfria.

 Moving into the larger area of Encounter Area 12.  These are the graves of the human sacrifices. There are 666 total graves, from these rise a horde of zombies.

--

How many zombies?  All of them. The idea here is to overwhelm the PCs to keep them from going forward. Indulge your little black heart. 

 I have discussed my fondness for the Green cover B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. It is a fun adventure and great for newbie DMs. It came to me just as I needed it. For its ability to run and more lore to Glantri, and (for me) the ability to easily code it into a computer when I was trying to D&D on my little TRS-80 Color Computer. 

I like the adventure. A lot. But not this much.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/315023385002

Right now is it going for just a bit over $10k.  That is up $1000.00 from when I first saw it this morning.

The adventure is fun, no where near as good as the revised Green cover version. And it is certainly not with $10k except to a serious collector. 

Makes me wish I knew what dumpster they were dumped in at the time! I could pay my kids' college tuition with that.