One of the most interesting and innovative roleplaying games of 2021 has to be Inspirisles. Published by Hatchlings Games, Inspirisles is an Arthurian storytelling game in which young teenagers find their way into the mysterious lands of the fae that mirror the British Isles where through the Shaping of magic collect Belief enough to protect the World Tree and so become Pendragons. It is specifically designed to do three things. First it is designed to be played by young adults. Second, it is designed to be played by the deaf and the hard of hearing. As a consequence of the latter, it is designed as both an introduction to and to help teach, Deaf culture and sign language—both American Sign Language and British Sign Language. To do that it uses sign language as part of game play. Just as words, letters, numbers, and expressions are shaped out in sign language, in Inspirisles, the players Shape out their characters’ magical control of the Elements, meaning that the players are literally Shaping what their characters are Shaping, and it gives the game a wonderful physicality.

The first supplement to be released for Inspirisles is Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology. This is a collection of short adventures written by diverse range of writers which are intended to run after the players and their Pendragons have played through ‘Questing Day’, the scenario in the core rulebook. Most of them can played through in a single session or so, but a few might take two sessions, and for the most part, consist of a number of challenges in which the Pendragons will Shape their magic and roleplay around. The anthology opens with Logan Timmins’ ‘Birthday Ball’, in which the Pendragons attend the best birthday party ever held on Avalon, which proves not only difficult to get into, but the organisers also need help getting it ready! The party and event theme continues with ‘Feeding into the Festivities’ by Jerrod Bacon, but instead of a birthday party, the Pendragons attend the Miasma Food Festival, get to play in a few festival games, and help out by gathering ingredients and then by cooking themselves. There are some nice recipes included here and suggestions how the Pendragons can use their Shaping to do the cooking. Dave Thaumavore’s ‘The Great Barrow Derby’ is a step up in complexity and as the Pendragons travel to Barrow to join a competition run there by the Piskies, although initially, they are not given the welcome they would normally expect. There are protests about the event and the Pendragons will have to compete if they are to uncover what lies behind the protests.

The fourth adventure is Bee’s ‘Paint the Night’. It takes place in Shedscale where the Pendragons have come to relax, but instead find a flustered young Wyrmbitten in need of their help. She has a fireworks display to put on and is overwhelmed by the task. This is an opportunity for the Pendragons to bring their Belief into play and so help put on a stunning event. ‘The Polar Express’ by Small Red Robin is set in the frozen north where they are asked to go in search of a postal worker who is late, only to discover his sleigh has been attacked by a wilderwyrm and needs to be repaired. Helping with the deliveries gets them getting caught up in a rivalry between local wrestler, before being chased home by the wilderwyrm. There is more plot to this scenario and elements nicely come back to hunt the Pendragons. Ashley Cheeseman’s ‘A Bridge and a Song’ in contrast is a city adventure, set in Weldspa. The city comes under attack by Trolls who are building another bone bridge which will get them over the city walls. The city’s G.O.A.T. (Grand Operations Against Trollkind) Commander asks the Pendragons to help stop the bridge builders even as his own forces hold back the rest of the Trolls. The scenario sets up a simple race against time and make use of Inspirisles’ Calamity Meter to measure the severity of the challenge the Pendragons will face.

‘A Rising Storm’ by Marren J.T. MacAdam sets up a quest straight away—can the Pendragons track down the dread wyrm pirate captain, Serenalyne? At stake is a cache of stolen Belief that will help heal the World Tree. Set in Trident, the Pendragons appear to be luck because the cache is only being guarded in the pirates’ cave hideout. Can the Pendragons sneak in, take the cache, and get out again before the dread wyrm pirate captain, Serenalyne returns? Well, yes they can, but that is when they get picked up by another ship taking a keen interest in their activities. If there is an issue here it is that the dread wyrm pirate captain does make an appearance and this scenario is either deserving of a sequel where she does—perhaps she tracks the Pendragons down to get the cache of Belief back?—or at least more of an appearance here. Robin S. Carver’s ‘Journey to the Cave of Black Lights’ sends the Pendragons in a different direction—deep into the belly of the Underisles for a dance competition. It proves to be a difficult journey, but it is a chance for the Pendragons to experience a different environment so the scenario should ideally run after they have visited several of the other places in the Overisles. The scenario ends with the Pendragons being offered the chance to learn some Shadow Shaping and warning of what that entails… The last adventurer in the collection is ‘Rockshow’ by Rowan Thorley. The Pendragons receive an invitation from the Knockers of Penreggi to a rock concert. Rock of another kind lies at the heart of scenario’s plot, which involves the appearance of a much older Pendragon and some pleasing links to Dorset and the Jurassic Coast.

Rounding out Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology in the third chapter is a set of nine new Shapes in both American and British Sign Language. This nicely adds to the vocabulary begun in Inspirisles.

Physically, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology is brightly presented. However, it does need an edit in places and the only illustrations are of the new Shapes in the third chapter. What is missing from the collection is both an index and a contents page. Given the relative length of the supplement, the absence of the latter is more of an issue.

Throughout all of the scenarios in Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology, the Pendragons are given opportunities to share their adventures and tell a tale or two, and so increase their fame and reputation. In terms of content, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology does focus on celebrations and festivities. Consequently, as much as it gives the collection a certain joyousness, the occasionally one-note feel makes the anthology difficult to use. That said, many of the scenarios would work as shorter affairs between longer, more involved scenarios, ones that deal with some of the bigger themes and elements in Inspirisles, such as ensuring that the World Tree is not poisoned by Disbelief and Calamity does not befall the Overlisles. However, the relative brevity of the scenarios means that they are easy to read and easy to prepare, and thus easy to run as demonstration scenarios where an explanation of both sign language and deaf culture may be required.

Overall, Shapes of Adventure: An Inspirisles Anthology is a solid collection of nine scenarios for Inspirisles that Game Master can use to demonstrate the roleplaying game or work into her campaign with a little care.

For those outside of Dallas, this weekend is Texas-OU Weekend, and all this really means to anybody outside is that downtown is going to be full of cosplayers living out the best documentary about the pregame festivities ever made. For … Continue reading →

Green Messiah continues Kelvin Green’s assault upon the small English village. Not content with dumping giant, Transformer-like fleshy aliens in More Than Meets The Eye: A Short Adventure with Lots of Tentacles on a village in Cornwall and then screwing—literally—with the inhabitants of a Devonshire in Fish Fuckers – Or, a Record, Compil’d in Truth, of the Sordid Activities of the People of Innsmouth, Devon, he does it again with the more simply titled, Green Messiah. However, Town Littleworth, the victimised village—or horrified hamlet—is in Sussex this time, so it is not the West Country being targeted by the author’s ire. The scenario though, is another case of the author taking a well-known intellectual property and inverting it to parodic effect. So in More Than Meets The Eye, it was The Transformers series of films directed by Michael Bay and in Fish Fuckers it was H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’. So what does Green Messiah invert? Most obviously upon reading the scenario, it is the origin story of the superhero, Superman, but as the author suggests another inspiration could have been the film Bright Burn, which also inverts the Superman story. In addition, Green Messiah is inspired by The Invasion of the Body Snatchers—the author wrongly suggesting that the 1978 version is better than the 1956 original—and another of H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories, ‘The Colour Out of Space’, along with its recent film version. Add in a heavy dose of Men in (Puritan) Black as mulch and what you have in Green Messiah is a rich, peaty affair which may well change the Game Master’s campaign, but both her and the Player Characters will have fun playing it.

Green Messiah is a scenario for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. Like other scenarios for the retroclone, it is set in the game’s default early Modern Period. Specifically, in 1630 England, so it would work well with several of the other publisher’s titles or equally easily adapted to the retroclone of the Game Master’s choice. The story begins in 1624 when an alien spacecraft crash lands just outside an English hamlet. Upon investigating the site, a couple discover that the strange object contains a strange, alien baby, but being childless, the couple adopt the young boy as their own and name him Robert. The surname of the couple? Clark. In the following six years, the boy grows up strong and strange, green-skinned, pointy-eared, and black-eyed, almost Elf-like—were there actually any Elves in 1630 England or Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay, loved by his adopted parents, though he cannot truly understand the concept. An enormous tree grows in the centre of the hamlet, the ‘Great Tree’, over four hundred feet tall and fifty feet in diameter, and from atop its foliage, Robert begins plotting his domination of first Town Littleworth, then England, and beyond, the world. Exactly as he is programmed to do. For Robert is the seed of a plant space-empire, sent to Earth to grow and make a better world. Already, Robert has begun sending out his Radicinoids, ambulatory, carrot-like tubers that replicate and replace humans. Otherwise, all is well in the hamlet of Town Littleworth.

However, the appearance of the Great Tree and the strange goings on in Town Littleworth have attracted the attention of outsiders. The Seekers of Love is a cult of non-conformists who see in Robert the Second Coming of Christ, consisting of genuinely nice, peaceful folk. Officer ‘J’, Officer ‘M’, Officer ‘M’, and Officer ‘H’—either agents for the late (or not so late) Doctor John Dee or members of the armed wing of the Royal Horticultural Society (here pre-empting its actual founding in 1804)—have been assigned to investigate the reports of odd plants and weird fruit in the hamlet or signs of alien activity in the English countryside or… A quartet of bandits actually has very little interest as to what is going on in the hamlet except that back in 1622 when its members were on the run from the law, they buried their ill-gotten gains in a field on the Clark family farm. Now they have returned to claim their treasure, which is a bit difficult owing to the grove of alien plants and vegetation which has grown on the very site. Enter the Player Characters…

Green Messiah suggests numerous reasons why the Player Characters might also become interested in the situation in Town Littleworth. The least interesting of which is that they might just be passing through the hamlet. Others include searching for the bandits’ lost treasure, being employed by a wizard or alchemist or horticulturist to collect samples of the strange plants in the hamlet, searching for a missing friend (who of course, has been replaced by a Radicinoid), extracting someone from a cult formed by a bunch of non-conformists which is based in the area, and more…

Green Messiah is all set-up and a solidly described situation. It clearly explains each of the factions present in Town Littleworth and their motivations, including Robert, his adopted parents, the Seekers of Love, the Men in Black, and the bandits. The notable locations in Town Littleworth are also described in detail, including the Clark farm and its alien Grove, and those places associated with Robert. These include the Great Tree, its Roots—the nearest that Green Messiah gets to a dungeon, the Trunk, and the Top of the Tree. In other words, the Great Tree dominates both the hamlet and the scenario, it literally looms large… And it is here that the Player Characters are likely to have their confrontation with Robert after having explored the Grove and perhaps ferreted through the Roots, before climbing the Trunk.
Green Messiah is also one big ‘What If?’ as well as a number of smaller ‘What ifs?’ The big ‘What If?’ is what happens to Robert if the Player Characters do nothing and what happens if they decide to intervene. After that, answers are given to questions such as ‘What if one of the Men in Black has been replaced by a Radicinoid?’, ‘What do the cultists of the Seekers of Love do if Robert is killed?’, and ‘What happens if a Player Character actually eats a Radicinoid?’. (Yes, really.) There is even a set of guidelines for having a Radicinoid as a Player Character, including its Class abilities. Which is perfectly possible should the Player Characters stop (as in kill) Robert, but one of their number also dies and/or is replaced by a Radicinoid…

Rounding out Green Messiah is a table of all twenty of the weird fruit found to be growing in Town Littleworth, its own ‘Apendix N’ of inspiration, a table of random names for random inhabitants of the hamlet—replaced by the Radicinoids or not, and the various NPCs to be found in its environs. The inside of the front cover contains a fetching map of Town Littleworth and a quick description of its key features.

Physically, Green Messiah is very well produced. The slim, but sturdy hardback feels good in the hands and whilst green predominates, judicious use of colour makes the interior stand out. The cartography is also good, and the scenario is written in a light tone and with a very knowing wink. If there is anything missing, perhaps a countdown or reaction tracker could have been included that would have helped the Game Master determine Robert’s responses to the Player Characters’ actions as they go about Town Littleworth and attempt to find out what is going on in the hamlet.

Well written, well presented, Green Messiah is one of the more engaging releases from Lamentations of the Flame Princess for quite some time. Not a little ridiculous, Green Messiah is an entertaining and fun scenario.

A preamble on the enclosure backstories: For every subculture, there’s that one seemingly unattainable artifact that sums up the hopes and dreams of so many of its members. For computer buffs, it’s a piece of Charles Babbage’s original Difference Engine … Continue reading →

Now in its fifteenth year, Free RPG Day in 2022, was celebrated not once, but twice. First on Saturday, 25th June in the USA, and then on Saturday, 23rd July internationally. This was to prevent problem with past events when certain books did not arrive in time to be shipped internationally and so were not available outside of the USA. 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, Reviews from R’lyeh was get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

—oOo—
How to Raise the Dead is perhaps the most different—or at least most singular—of the releases for Free RPG Day in 2022. It is not a quick-start or a scenario for a roleplaying game, but a set of instructions booklet on how to build and paint a piece of terrain which can be added to a game and provide space in which the brave heroes can confront some undead in their natural environment—or is that their unnatural environment? This is at the doors of a necropolis, surely the tomb of some dark master or the entrance to a crypt network below a cemetery, but however it is used and brought to the table, the necropolis is sure to be the site for a confrontation between some brave adventurers and a band of armed and armoured skeletons or zombies before the adventurers dare to open to open the door to the necropolis and enter... Designed and written by Dave Taylor Miniatures, it shows a Game Master—or of course, a Dungeon Master—how to use a combination of Speedpaints Set from The Army Painter and miniatures and terrain pieces from Mantic Games’ Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges.
In comparison to How to Build a Boss-Fight Final Chamber, the release for Free RPG 2021, How to Raise the Dead is relatively short and focused. It starts off by stating that many a Game Master wants to present her players with an immersive experience and one way of doing that is not only to use the appropriate terrain and miniatures, but also make it look good. It acknowledges that this can be daunting prospect in terms of the preparation and painting required, and so the aim of How to Raise the Dead to help break down the barriers that might stand in the Game Master’s way. How to Raise the Dead does this by taking the reader through a step-by-step process, not once, not twice, but three times, each with a different set of miniatures or pieces of terrain, in order to show the prospective painter how it can be done in as uncomplicated a fashion possible—and of course, using the Speedpaint Set. The latter is not included in the release for Free RPG Day 2022, but ‘The Necropolis’ along with the How to Raise the Dead booklet is. To follow completely the guide included in its pages, the Game Master will also need the ‘DUNGEON DEAD’ from the Mantic Games Dungeon Essentials Range and the bare trees found in Mantic Games’ Gothic Grounds set. Of course, the Dungeon Master is free to use these or similar terrain and miniatures from other manufacturers, and the likelihood is that the guidelines in How to Raise the Dead would still apply.
The two piece of terrain which come up with How to Raise the Dead—the necropolis and sturdy iron gate—are chunky pieces. How to Raise the Dead addresses these two pieces first, showing the Game Master how to prepare, prime, and then apply a ‘zenithal prime’ the model. The latter involves priming a layer of black first, and then a layer of white from above so that the black remains uncovered in the shadows. Then the model is painted using the Speedpaint Set. This includes going over it with grey for the base stonework, adding colour to the roof to represent an oxidised copper roof, and then adding highlights to pick particular details. It is really is simple, showing how this can be done in just eight steps. If there is an issue here, it does not quite focus in on the details in the latter stages, but with some experimentation, the Game Master should be able to pick out these details.
How to Raise the Dead then proceeds to show how to paint a cadre of undead and a set of trees and trunks using the Speedpaint Set. In comparison to the earlier guide to painting the Necropolis and Gate, these two actually better illustrated and consequently, more clearly explained. In comparison to the advice given in How to Build a Boss-Fight Final Chamber from last year, the advice in How to Raise the Dead is clearer and easier to understand, and it is better aimed at the Game Master new to this aspect of the hobby. If there is an issue with the instructions, it is that How to Raise the Dead does not state what items the Game Master will need before setting out to work on the project.
The last two pages in How to Raise the Dead before a raft of adverts are devoted to quartet of scenario hooks written with the Necropolis model and the band of undead guarding it in mind. The four are divided between three fantasy ideas and one modern one.
In ‘The Tomb of Varan Tor’, the resting place of a paladin has been desecrated by the black dragon Rotslug and it is rumoured that he has risen as a Death Knight, whilst in the ‘Lost Mines of Draul’, the necropolis is actually an entrance to a mine where Dwarves in search of mithril found a metal so malign that it corrupted them and turned them into the undead. In both cases, the threat is rumoured to be on the rise, ready to step out of the Necropolis and spread their dread to the wider world. The Necropolis stands at the heart of ‘The Dark Depths of Forlakk Forest’ in the third hook, thought by some to be connected to the Feywild, but by others to the Shadowfell. There is certainly some corruptive force at the forest’s heart, but what? And does it represent a greater threat? The modern hook is ‘The Freaks Come Out at Night’ in which a would-be reality television star and his friends search the sprawling tunnels of hospital in search for the results of horrific experiments said to have been conducted by a renowned medical expert. It is not quite clear how the latter uses the Necropolis and that is disappointing.
Physically, How to Raise the Dead is decently presented with lots of photographs as illustrations. It is underwritten in places, both the instructions and the hooks, and it does need an edit in others.

Of all the releases on Free RPG Day 2022, How to Raise the Dead is the least useful—at least in the short term. It will take time for the Game Master to bring any of the contents to the table. Most obviously because she will need to have access to the Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges, as well as the Speedpaints Set. Then prepare and paint the terrain following by developing and writing a scenario, perhaps one of the story hooks in How to Raise the Dead, perhaps one of her own. In comparison, most of the other titles released for Free RPG Day 2022 are quick-starts and scenarios and so can be brought to the table much more immediately. And of course, because How to Raise the Dead is designed to make use of the Terrain Crate and Dungeon Essentials ranges, plus the Speedpaints Set, it is also very much obviously designed to sell both them and other terrain sets. The other releases are similarly designed to do that too, so that is no criticism, but with How to Raise the Dead, it is more obvious.
—oOo—
An Unboxing in the Nook of How to Raise the Dead appears here.

I was reorganizing my shelves trying to find some room for some new books when I found this little gem hiding in my lower shelves.  I totally forgot I had this!

Wizards (1982)

Wizards is described as "Avalon Hill's game of fantasy adventure."  It is easy to see why they would want to make this game too.

1982 was some prime years for Fantasy RPGs and D&D in particular. 

There are board game elements to this as well as plenty of RPG elements.  For example you can choose what sort of wizard character (Order) you will play; Wizard, Sorcerer, or Druid. Each also has four levels (Ranks).

The first part of the game is setting up all the locations of the various islands on the hex grid sea map.

After that the various wizards race around the map to collect various gems for the High Druid. There are seven, six are needed to win.

While this is going on there are various Event and Task cards that send your wizard on quests, trap them or other hazards. These add time it takes to complete your missions but they can also raise your Wizard rank and make you more powerful. 

From the rule book. Here is what is needed to play and win.

1. Join a Magical Order. Without that, you may not accept any Tasks or gain points of any kind.
2. Acquire Tasks and complete them for points of Knowledge, Power and/or Perception.
3. Fight the Evil Powers that take over the islands, making them inaccessible.
4. Advance to Rank 4 in your Order. 
5. When you are at Rank 4, collect all 6 Gems from the High Wizards.
6. When you have the Gems, pass them to the High Druid Rüktal in the Center of the Sacred Circle to win the game.

The game uses two six-sided dice.  










I love the *idea* of this game, but while I enjoyed the set up I could not get anyone to play it here.  My wife does not care for board games with RPG elements and my kids would rather play D&D.

I am adopting some ideas from this game though for my own games, most notably the War of the Witch Queens, but certainly others as well.

Traveller Envy and the Avalon Isles

I have talked a bit about my Traveller Envy here in the past. To finally overcome this I am taking all the various board games I am going to cover this month and create a new area of my world; the Isles of Avalon. The origins here should be pretty obvious, I am going to base a lot of the mythology of the lands on England, Ireland, and the various islands around them. Also, I am drawing heavily from the Avalon Hill games, so much so that the currently unnamed main island has a place called Avalon Hill. It will be my world's Glastonbury Tor.  There is a volcano on one of the islands (this will be an archipelago) where a famous Warlock lives.  With a volcano I can also get representations of all the elements; Earth, Water, Air and Fire.

There will be a smaller island nearby that I am calling the Island of the Necromancers.

I will spend this month detailing this place further.

If I get nothing else out of these board games then I think I will be fine.

Switching worlds, editions, and even systems now.  

This adventure was released in 2010 and is a prelude to their Reign of Winter adventure path released in 2013.

I am not entirely sure to be honest, but I think this is the adventure that prompted Paizo to make the Reign of Winter adventure path. 

The Witchwar Legacy

PDF and Print 32 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This adventure is for characters level 17 and essentially is a MacGuffin hunt for the Torc of Kostchtchie. The characters can choose to aid Elvanna, the Witch Queen of Irrisen gain the Torc or the demon-lord Kostchtchie. 

It is a short adventure, essentially a single location with a lot of monsters and NPCs.

It is a quick one, to be honest for such a high-level adventure. If it wasn't so high level it would be a great introduction to the Reign of Winter series. 

I feel like it could be run in the afternoon, but I also think I would like to adjust the threats to make it a little lower level. I would also tweak it a bit to fit the Reign of Winter series. 

My Snow/Ice/Winter Witch?

Elvanna is fantastic, but she never shows up here. She is a good witch...well an evil witch, but she is great at that. The Reign of Winter also features Elvanna but in a different sort of role and she dies in the end...or at least could die. Plus she is so wrapped up in everything I would have to change the Reign of Winter to work for War of the Witch Queens.

Still, she is rather great and I really want to use her. BUT I am also covering the "Reign of Winter" campaign in a couple of days and that, well, changes things. Tune back in for that.

1974 is a sweet spot for cheesy Italian Giallo horror. I don't think I have seen them all, but I have seen a lot.  

This one is also known as "L'ossessa" and "The Eerie Midnight Horror Show" (complete with Rocky Horror-style lips) it revolves around a religious statue of crucified Jesus purchased by Danila (Stella Carnacina). Luisa (Lucretia Love) It is obvious from the start that the "statue" is an actor (Ivan Rassimov) in heavy makeup but that is fine.

It is 1974, so the Exorcist is on EVERY Horror filmmaker's mind and this movie is no exception. 

Danila is some sort of art expert so she is working with the statue.  But while at a party she watches her mother,  in some sort of S&M affair with a younger man she leaves to go back to work. There she is all alone with the statue.  When he starts to move it is no surprise, but I wonder what the audiences in 1974 thought?  Likely they saw the same things we do now.   Eventually, the statue transforms into a human and in one stroke rips off ALL of Danila's clothes (neat trick that) they have very enthusiastic sex while the place burns...or not. It could all be in Danila's mind.  But she does keep experiencing things and no one believes her.   

Naturally, she is possessed and tries to seduce her own father. They bring over a psychiatrist whose professional opinion is that she is unduly affected by her work. They head out to the country ("Better than any medicine" according to the medical professional) but they get a flat and Danila wanders off into an "Etruscan temple to Baal" where she sees an ancient ceremony to Satan.  In mid-hallucination, she is back in her own bed again freaking out. When the doctor examines her she does have the stigmata wounds inflicted on her in her hallucination.

I give the movie credit, they try really hard to make this a serious movie about an exorcism.  They get a priest in and I can't help but notice her room is set up similar to Regan's in The Exorcist.

The later half is basically Danila going crazy and various priests trying to exorcise her and it sorta falls apart here. 

Still, a neat idea even if not executed as well as the filmmaker might have liked.

Use for War of the Witch Queens

I love the idea of the old statue coming to life and the "Etruscan temple to Baal" just screams Orcus to me for D&D use.

Use for NIGHT SHIFT

All I could think of while watching this one was I need to figure out a way to do a psychiatrist or psychologist in NIGHT SHIFT.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 5
First Time Views: 4

Last night I covered an adventure that mentions the Ice Queen, but no more details than a mention. This works fine for me since I have a plethora of choices. Here is the first one I considered, but not my only one.

FIGHTING FANTASY - Caverns of the Snow Witch

PDF and Print. 45 pages. Color covers, black & white interiors.

This adventure has a solid pedigree.  It is based on Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy books from 1984.  This adventure is for the d20 system / D&D 3.0 system published in 2003. So nearly 20 apart, here I am nearly 20 years after that reviewing it. 

This adventure covers the same plot and situations from the Fighting Fantasy "choose your own adventure" book.  

The adventure is designed for one character or a small group of adventures.  Reading through it does follow the same plot lines as the Fighting Fantasy book. 

This adventure also features the Luck saves from the original book. It has some changes to the d20 ruleset. There are a few new monsters (including a Yeti!), some new spells, campaign notes, and some new NPCs.

There are a lot of location-based adventures, essentially a collection of encounters the PCs jump from one to the next. The advantage here is that it is easy to convert from d20 to what I am planning to use it with, Old-School Adventures.  

The Snow Witch in this adventure is a sorcerer/vampire which works great for d20/3.0. For my adventures, I would make her a proper witch. 

The adventure is fine, but I think I might be viewing it through what my "Nostalgia Goggles."  Am I reading a good adventure or am I reading something because it was enjoyable to me in the 1980s?

I guess in the end it doesn't matter, as long as I am having fun with it. 

Is She My Snow/Ice Witch?

Well, I guess I should really ask do I just need one? I have a few more choices but this one has some serious old-school street cred. My other Snow/Ice/Winter witches though are a little more interesting.

Still, this is a fun adventure and one I am looking forward to using.

 

I was not expecting much with this one and that is pretty much what I got. 

Four old friends, Kayla, Blake, Stacey, and Trish, decide to have a girls' weekend together. They rent out an old cabin at the Mabon Inn while an ancient Pagan festival is also going on. During the ceremony, the girls write down their fears on paper and burn them.  While they proceed to partake in the drugs, drinking, and dancing, one of the parishioners, Mrs. March, warns the girls not to stay till the end and that they should leave now.

They return home and head to bed. Kayla begins to hear noises and sees a hallucination of "Tyler" (some dude from her past that is never really explained). Blake goes for a swim and sees a dog coming for her. Stacey, who is always taking selfies, sees herself getting old.  For Trish, it is insects and bugs.

Weird stuff starts to happen, but everything is just so slow. Even the sex scene is dull.

Our first victim, Stacey, gets it while seeing herself getting old again in a mirror. She slips on her own blood and impales herself in the head on a bit of garden equipment.  The others go looking for her, but the creepy gardener has already hidden her.

Turns out the girls were the sacrifice and the "Goddess Mabon" is killing them with their own fears. While Trish and Kayla are learning this from Mrs. March, Blake is being chased by dogs. Runs until she is impaled on the antlers mounted on the gardener's truck.  I sense a pattern here.

The two remaining girls try to call 999 but this splits them up and Trish starts hallucinating about bugs and Kayla about Tyler.  Trish ends up drinking some drain cleaner or bleach because she thinks there are bugs in her mouth.  Kayla tries to drive her the hospital, but the way is blocked by the pagans.

In what has to be known as Chekhov's Flare Gun Kayla uses the Flare gun from early in the movie to shoot the wooden effigy of "Mabon" and break the Pagans' hold on them. Reminds me of a Batman comic I had read back in 1988 or so, but can't recall which one it was. 

We end with Kayla and Trish professing their love for each other as Kayla tries to drive them to a hospital.

I like the elements of the old creepy Pagan cult still lingering in the untamed places in rural England. That is fun, but this movie doesn't offer much more than that.

Use for War of the Witch Queens

Plenty of good background for folk horror, which is why I watched this one. But as usual, the writers don't quite get things right with mythology. Or more to the point they get it all wrong enough to be irritating.

Use for NIGHT SHIFT

Pretty much any movie I watch this month is going to have uses in NIGHT SHIFT.  For this one, I would love to use the old creepy pagan cult that still lives on in the dark and quiet places of the world. Though the original Wicker Man might be a better model for this.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 4
First Time Views: 3

Getting a new book in the mail is always a joy. Getting one you helped create is even better!

I got my author's copy of Blue Rose Six of Cups.

The PDF has been available for a bit and now the print book can be ordered from Green Ronin's online store.

As I have said in the past I adore Blue Rose. I just love the world, the system, everything about it. It is such a refresher after decades of "grim dark" RPGs.

I am particularly happy with this one. It has a new character I am particularly fond of.  My homage to the Piasa Bird and places I used to frequent. Another distateful member of the less than pleasant Meacham family. But most of all it was a joy and an honor to write something for Aldea. 

The Storm of the Century

The project lead, Joseph D. Carriker, for this book posted in Green Ronin News a little about this book. In particular, he talked about the "Storm of the Century" theme.  This was not something I (or to my knowledge) any of the other authors tried to do. I was pretty much working in my silo just to get this done with my only contact being Joseph. Who, please allow me to add, was great to work with.

Here is what he had to say about the storm.

One of the things I asked of our authors was to send me proposals for their adventures and gazetteers. In short order, it became apparent that (perhaps inspired by the elemental association of Cups with water) no less than three of the stories feature a massive coastal storm. Rather than require some of the authors to change their ideas, I thought I could include them all to highlight one of the interesting ways to use generally unrelated adventures.

Finding a common thread to run between adventures is an awesome way of building a sort of “accidental” campaign. The tumultuous weather plays a role in all three of the stories, and they are not written as being interrelated. An enterprising Narrator might, however, come up with some connecting concepts to help tie them together. Perhaps these are all part of a single, major storm system of some kind, a sort of terrifying storm of the century to strike the southern coast of Aldis? Or, perhaps there is something (or someone…) nefarious at work, hurling storm after storm into the world.

I do love this idea and the thought of a great storm coming to the southern coast of Aldis is too good to pass up. 

Personally, I think this is one of Blue Rose's greatest strengths when compared to D&D.  D&D can do a lot of great things. But it is largely still a game about and centered around combat.  In Blue Rose, you could make an adventure where the central focus was protecting a small coastal town from the coming storm. Not by fighting some demonic force or elemental, but as the Sovereign's Finest playing the role the National Guard does here. Organizing relief efforts, building sandbag walls, and figuring out what to do. Fantastic role-playing opportunity.  

So my darkfiend Dorgogz is not the cause of this massive storm, but rather he is here because of it. 

The adventures are leveled from 1 to 8 (mine for example is level 2-4). A new adventure, say levels 8-10 called "The Storm of the Century" would be this giant coastal storm.  Hmm...I am getting some ideas here.  With this sort of build-up, one could see that there is something connected and nefarious here. 

Can't wait to try out the other adventures in this book. They look great.

Honestly, I could not pass this one up. It is a low-level adventure featuring a witch, it is quick and it is for Old-School Essentials.  So yeah, I had to grab it.  But how does it play?  Let's look into it.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

A Witch's Desire - Adventure for Old-School Essentials

PDF and PoD. 27 pages. Color covers and interior art.

The designed levels for this are 1 to 3, but I find that it works well as an "interlude" adventure, that is as the characters are moving from one major adventure to the other.  Not to say that this can't be a major adventure, it can. But for me, I wanted to feel more like the characters "wandered into a dream" sort of deal. 

To start with, and what helps fuel this notion of an interlude, are some rules for travel.  While the PCs are moving from their last adventure to this one using these rules helps give this one it's own feel. Yes they can be used elsewhere and adapted. Adding to this is the section after the travel and before the adventure proper, and that is the influence the witch has on the lands near her. I have been using something similar for my War of the Witch Queens based on the old superstition of Hex Signs, but the rules here are more explicit in their application.

 The adventure is a "straightforward" mission to get some water for the Witch of the Wilds they meet at the start of the adventure. I say "straightforward" because obviously, it isn't.  They are plenty of hazards along the way and foes to fight. The adventure is scaleable so that is also quite good. 

There are no stats for the witch herself, nor should there be. The PCs should not be fighting her.

This adventure is set in the Forever Winter setting. Honestly a name like screams to be used.  Also, there is mention of the Ice Queen and her rivalry with the Witch of the Wilds.  The Ice Queen is not mentioned much here save for a sidebar, but the potential is great.  So great in fact that I have an idea of how to work the Ice Queen (also a witch in my world naturally) into my War of the Witch Queens.  I'll discuss her tomorrow. It is likely that their A Wintry Death adventures could be used in conjunction with this one, but I am pretty pleased with it as is to be honest.

While the art is wonderful for this it does make you think the Witch of the Wild could be something of an evil-ish character, certainly otherworldly.  While reading through this I kept asking myself, what if this witch was good and just really needed the character's help?

Suddenly all I could think of was Ginny Di's character Morelia the Wood Witch.  She would need the water for her potions obviously. Changes the whole tenor of the adventure.   Not that I have any problems coming up with witches. It would also change the nature of the relationship between the Witch of the Wilds and the Ice Queen. They are still rivals, but now it is different.

VS

Note: I just noticed that Morelia's familiar Crimini is a cat with white fur and gold eyes. Much like the art for the Witch of the Wilds. Maybe Morelia polymorphs Crimini to act as the scary Witch of the Wild? She then hides in the background so that the PCs she is hiring don't know she really is about as dangerous as a bunny. A lot like Balok in the classic Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver."  Instead of tranya she offers them tea of course. Yeah, I like this idea. 

In either case, the Witch of this adventure would need to be a potential ally for the characters in my game.  I can't actually see Morelia getting mad with them anyway. And I really want to use Morelia. I just don't think I can pull off the voice Ginny Di uses for her!

In any case a fun adventure with a lot of ideas for use in my home campaign. The PDF version comes with separate maps. The PDF also features layers so you can turn on the background image for readability. That's worth an extra star in my book to be honest. 

My "soft theme" this challenge is "films with pentagrams on the cover." Silly I know, but I have subscribed to a few streaming services and I was adding a bunch of movies and noticed many of them had pentagrams on the covers. So I decided to just kept going with it.

Tonight I am already questioning the logic of this plan.

Witchouse (1999)

This comes to us from 1999 and Full Moon Features. Now I love Full Moon. Their movies are short, silly, and usually fun. You can expect some kids to get themselves into stupid situations and usually dying in dumb ways.

Our plot concerns Elizabeth LaFey (yes that is her name) inviting a bunch of her old high school friends to her new house for a party. The house has a "dark history" as does LaFey.  It also has copies of "Le Necronomicon." The characters are less than characters and really little more than clichés. But that is fine because you are not really supposed to be relating to them as characters but rather as relatable archetypes. The stoner, the football player, the cheerleader, the hot girl who doesn't know she is hot, the juvenile delinquent, the nerd, and so on. 

Elizabeth plans to sacrifice her friends on May 1 to resurrect her ancient witch ancestor.  Nothing shocking or surprising here really, but it was still kind of fun. The acting, for the most part, is pretty terrible. Honestly, it looks like it was filmed in a single night. 

This one has been on my list for a bit largely just based on the name. 

Directed by David DeCoteau, responsible for, I have no idea how many Full Moon movies.  This one even features scenes from Dark Angel: The Ascent. Actually, the scenes of Hell here have been in at least two other movies.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 3
First Time Views: 2

And now we’re getting into the homestretch. 89 days until the beginning of 2023 in the Gregorian calendar, 80 days until Christmas Eve, and precisely four weeks until Halloween. This is when things start getting busy at the Triffid Ranch, … Continue reading →

Welcome to October. If there is any time of year to remind me of my love of monsters it is now. Watching horror movies (or "monster movies" as my dad and I used to call them when I was little) is so deeply tied into my love of both Halloween and D&D that it is hard to tease them apart.  

This month I want to cover some horror-themed monster books for review. My ultimate goal here is to get a good feeling of what makes a monster book "good" and what doesn't. Or maybe what makes them good for me. All year I have been focusing on D&D monster books of all sorts. My second goal is to wrap up this process before 2023 when I do something a little different.

Given I have some D&D 3.x books still cover and five Mondays in October I am going to cover some of these or at least the ones that have the most horror elements to them.

Up first, the Fiend Folio.

Fiend Folio (3e)

PDF and Hardcover. 226 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This is the third "Fiend Folio" we have gotten for *D&D over the last 20+ years.  Like the first one for 1st Ed AD&D, this one is a hardcover book. Like the second one for 2nd AD&D, this one expands the list of monsters. 

This Fiend Folio lives up to its title a little bit more by giving us a lot more fiends. There are demons and devils here as well as the demodands (originally from the AD&D Monster Manual II). Here they get the alignment of "often Neutral Evil."  There are plenty of new demons and devils here too.

There are some Fiend Folio "repeats" here, or my updates is the better term.Just eyeballing it there is the Blood Hawk, Caryatid Column, Dark Creeper and Stalker, Death Dog, Disenchanter, Flame/Fire Snake, Fossergrim, Huecuva (now a template), Iron Cobra, Kelpie, Necrophidius, Skulk, Slaad, Yellow Musk Creeper, and Zombie.

No flumphs though. 

There are also plenty of new monsters too, like the Bacchae and Feytouched which are fun. All in all 167 monsters for D&D 3.0 (3.5 is still a couple of months off).  We are a point in the 3.x development cycle where the monsters still run from one to the next, like the original Fiend Folio. 

This book also includes some Prestige Classes, some Grafts and Symbionts, 

There was a free "Web Enhancement" back when this was new called Fiendish Fun which extended some of the ideas in the Fiend Folio. It is still out there thanks to Archive.org.

This is one of the books I consider central for a D&D 3.x horror campaign. The rest, well that is what the rest of this month is for. 

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

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

—oOo—
Name: Hunter and HuntedPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Florian Klamt

Setting: Rocky Mountains, CanadaProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Thirteen page, 1.67 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Some predators are worse than man...Plot Hook: A hunting trip turns to horror as the host becomes the hunter.
Plot Support: Staging advice, six NPCs and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Event-driven exploratory scenario# Easy to adapt to Cthulhu by Gaslight and other time periods# Ideal for Investigators with physical skills# Potential addition to an Ithaqua-focused campaign# Pleasing sense of place and atmosphere# Arkoudaphobia
Cons# Needs an edit# No map# No pre-generated Investigators# Ideal for Investigators with physical skills# Involves hunting of animals# Exploratory and event-driven nature may be harder for the Keeper to run
Conclusion# Solid hunter-turned hunted one-shot which really needs a map.# Easy to adapt to other time periods and settings.

Another adventure from casl Entertainment featuring the "Witch Queen" which may or may not be Iggwilv. 

When Comes the Witching Hour

PDF and Print. 80 Pages. Color covers. Black & White art.

This adventure is designed for levels 9 to 12 for the OSRIC game, which is the clone of AD&D 1st Edition.

I grabbed this adventure back in February after reviewing The Witch-Queen's Lament, a later, but lower-level adventure.

There is a nudge-nudge-wink-wink commentary on how to fit this adventure into the World of Greyhawk. But it is also fully usable in any world. 

The adventure is overtly the search for a missing princess. What makes this different is the missing princess is likely in the Dungeons of the Mad Archmage and might have something to do with the Queen of Witches.

Now. Before I get too much further let me point out what this adventure can do. Obviously, there are the fans of the World of Greayhawk who can use this to expand on their game worlds. You can grab nearly any other version of the Castle or Dungeons of the Mad Arch Mage.  It is really a nice piece that could fit into a lot of campaigns. 

The adventure is a wonderful romp through some of the storied locations of the World of Greyhawk, if in a thinly veiled manner. Also, anything that involves Iggwilv or the Witch Queen is a must-buy in my mind.

The adventure covers the first half of the book. The last half has new monsters including many unique demons, new magic items, pre-gen characters, and finally the maps. Note. The print version maps are a little difficult to read. I have the PDF so I printed them out.

One other nitpick. There are no page numbers printed on each page. 

--

For Use in War of the Witch Queens

This one is so on brand for my War of the Witch Queens that I am shocked how well it works for me. It covers several bases for me. For starters, it is OSRIC thus satisfying my need to involve all sorts of OSR rule sets. It is set in Greyhawk which satisfies my desire to involve many of the game worlds as I can. And most of all it features the machinations of not just "A" Witch Queen, but "THE" Witch Queen. I mean really. If I have any complaints about this adventure it is I didn't write it myself.

For Use in NIGHT SHIFT

While I love to use some of these adventures for NIGHT SHIFT not everything will fit. This is a perfect example, while I love the idea of this adventure it would not be good for NIGHT SHIFT. This adventure is too deeply tied to the World of D&D and especially Greyhawk.

This one had been on my radar for a bit. Described as a "gothic folk tale" I knew I had to check it out. The name of the movie also comes from the old German word for "Witch."

Hagazussa (2017)

Told in four acts with very little dialog we see how the local villagers treated a goat-herding woman and later her daughter, Albrun, as witches.

In the first act young Albrun begin to menstruate, but before she can even talk about it with her mother all sorts of strange things happen. They are accosted one night by men wearing masks. Soon after Mother comes down with the Bubonic plague.

While attending to her mother Albrun is sexually assaulted by her mother, who is losing her mind.  At some point, Mother runs out of their cabin and dies in the night. Alburn finds her dead mother the next day covered in snakes. 

Act 2 takes place 15 years later. Alburn is still living in her cabin and now how has a baby of her own. She lives alone and is a little strange now. She is treated as a pariah in the local town where the local boys pick on her, and the local priest gives her the decorated skull of her mother.  She befriends another local woman, Swinda. But when Swinda sees the skull of Alburn's mother set up on an altar. Swinda later takes Alburn up into the mountains where they encounter a man Swinda knows. Swinda holds down Alburn while the man rapes her.  In revenge, she takes a dead rat and blood and poisons the water supply.

Act 3 Alburn comes to town with her baby and sees a lot of people dead and dying. She walks into the woods and eats some mushrooms. She begins to hallucinate and accidentally drowns her baby. 

Act 4 Alburn wakes up and discovers her baby is dead. So she cooks the baby in a stew and eats it. She gets sick. Her hallucinations come back as she hears her mother talking to her. She wanders outside and catches fire in the rising sun.

The horror of this movie is the abuse of Alburn from her childhood to her adulthood. She would be considered a witch or hag in the legends of the local village and that is the tragedy of this tale.  It is not a feel-good movie. 

Use for War of the Witch Queens

This movie has something of a timeless feel about it. It takes place in the 14th century or thereabouts, so it would be a good background for any sort of lower-level witch. To quote the TV show Magicians "magic is pain" and Alburn knows pain.  From this, you can assume there is really no such thing as a happy witch.

It is also a good example of how others treat these women, outside of outright hate. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 2
First Time Views: 1

The year is 1510. Italy is not just being transformed by the Renaissance, but by the New Science that is driving the Republic of Florence to new prominence. Water-powered looms and assembly lines radically alter its industries and their output, gliders soar above the city’s skies and provide reconnaissance and a message service, paddle steamers ferry goods and people far and wide, and the republic’s military fields new rapid-firing organ guns, armoured turtle-tanks, and more, that have seen it defeat all traditional armies sent against it. At the heart of the city is the Gran Meccanismo, a complex calculating engine driven by water clocks, windmills, and capstans turned day and night by prisoners of war and debtors, which uses the new mathematics to forecast the weather and provide calculations for a wide variety of projects, military and civil. With the rush to mechanise and advance the New Science, the Florentine Republic has thrown off the shackles of old social attitudes. Neither women nor Jews are seen as secondary citizens, especially if they can contribute towards the New Science. Yet all is not well in the Republic of Florence. Pope Julius II denounces the New Science as a Satanic design, the Venetian Republic sends its spies to ferret out the secrets of its new arisen rival’s technology, and worse, the Gran Meccanismo may yet become an engine of uniformity and control. Already Florentine citizens are required to carry a Catalogo identity card, although they are not yet commonly checked, but if some apostles of hydronetic management theory have their way, how far and how rigid will its control go? Imagine a world if Niccolò Machiavelli, military commissioner of the Republic of Florence, had not seen the potential in the drawings and designs of Leonardo da Vinci and instead left him to his painting?

This is the setting for Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in da Vinci’s Florence, a roleplaying game designed by Mark Galeotti, best known as the designer of Mythic Russia: Heroism and Adventure in the Land of the Firebird and his contributions to the setting of Glorantha, and an academic specialising in Russian affairs. Notably, he brings his experience with the storytelling mechanics of the HeroQuest to Gran Meccanismo in what is a slightly radical shift in choice of mechanics for the publisher of the roleplaying game, Osprey Games. Although set at the height of the Renaissance, Gran Meccanismo takes the machismo and bravado, fractious politics and religious orthodoxy, and rigid social attitudes and superstitions of the period and combines and contrasts them with the features of two other, connected genres—Cyberpunk and Steampunk. These two feature a combination of lowlifes and high tech, advanced and rapidly advancing technology, both a reverence for and a fear of this new technology, but one aspect of these genres that Gran Meccanismo does not include is societal collapse or decay, although there is potential for the utopia promised by the New Science and the city block-sized Gran Meccanismo to turn the Florentine Republic into a dystopian nightmare of control and uniformity.

The first third or so of Gran Meccanismo is dedicated to its background, covering the state of Italy and its various other city-states, republics, and kingdoms, including Venice, Milan, Genoa, Rome, and others. The neighbouring nations of Europe—France, Spain, England, and others—and beyond are detailed in broader detail since they are not necessarily the stage for Gran Meccanismo, although their agents possess an interest in and will doubtless want to intervene in the affairs of the Florentine Republic. This is understandable, since taking a Gran Meccanismo campaign too far away and too often from the city of Florence would in part deny access to the technological wonders that are the roleplaying game’s raison d’être. Florence is given more detail, including its bureaucracy and notable figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci, the now one-eyed engineer and inventor due to an explosion of a device, and of course, Niccolò Machiavelli, as well as everyday life, business, war and the military, medicine, scholarship, faith—both Catholicism and the heretical, vice, and more. Mostly, this is covered in broad detail, enough to both intrigue the reader and bring that flavour to the Guide’s game. Where perhaps Gran Meccanismo is a little short on detail is in its coverage of New Science and the devices that are being invented as a result of it. This leaves scope for the Guide and the Player Characters to create their own inventions, but more starting suggestions would have been welcome.

A Player Character in Gran Meccanismo is defined by his Attributes and Traits, with the Traits being grouped under the Attributes. There are three of the latter, Body, Mind, and Soul. Both Attributes and Traits are rated in terms of the number six-sided dice assigned to them, and Traits can be as simple as Swordsmanship d2 or Student of the Dardi School d6. In comparison, a simple NPC can be defined as By the Clock Bureaucrat d3 or Drunken Tough d3. To create a character, a player defines a concept, such as ‘Religious Scholar Obsessed with the God in the Gran Meccanismo’ or ‘Rake on the make’. Nine points are divided between the three attributes and then the player is given three options in terms of defining the character’s Traits. These are by Archetype, Narrative, or Improvisation. In the Narrative method, the player assigns fifteen Traits ranging in value from one to four, and in the Improvisation method, the player starts with just two Traits and defines the rest through play. The Archetype method is a case of selecting a role such as Artificer, Banker, Bravo, Nobleman and Noblewoman, Rabble-Rouser, and more. All of the Archetypes have variations as alternative suggestions. To this the player adds three goals—one long term, one medium, and one short term, again valued by a dice pool, three Nudges, and Traits for the Player Character’s Origins. The Archetype method is the easiest and most flavoursome, whilst the others are suited to more experienced players.

Artificer Viviana Valente
Origins: Florence
Knows Florence 1d, Unfazed by the New Science 1d
Body 2
Draughtsman 2d, Fine Manipulation 2d, Dressed for Success 2d
Mind 4
Gadgeteer 4d, Knows Scientific Principles 4d, Can Read and Write 2d
Soul 3
Obsessed with the New Science 6d
Goals: Discover God in the Gran Meccanismo (Long Term), Serve my apprenticeship to Madame Patrizia Moretti (Medium Term), Pass Today’s Examination (Short Term)
Nudges: 3
Equipment: Small knife (+1d), Tools of the Trade (+2d), Pen and papers

Mechanically, Gran Meccanismo employs the TRIPOD or ‘Traits In Pools Of Dice’ system. Once the player and Guide have agreed on the intent of the test and its outcome, this involves a player building dice pools typically consisting of an Attribute and a Trait plus any benefits from the situation or scene or equipment. This is rolled against the difficulty of the test, which will require the player to roll a number of successes. For an Easy Test, just two successes are required, but a Challenging Test requires six. Rolls of four or five count as one success, but rolls of six count as two. The Guide can do this for her NPCs, which will come into play if the situation requires a confrontation or contest, such as a race, a duel, or a debate. Where this occurs, the Margin of Victory table indicates the effect of each participant’s roll, which if one or more can inflict a Damage Trait on an opponent’s Attribute. If all together the value of the Damage Traits exceeds an Attribute, then the participant in the contest or confrontation will be knocked out of play. Which might be that he is successfully robbed in a mugging, flees the scene, or is forced to concede in a debate.

To some extent, once a confrontation begins to go in favour of one participant or the other, it is difficult for the other to make a successful comeback. Fortunately, each player has several Nudges that he can use each session. Each Nudge shifts a die roll up one step, from a failure (one, two, or three on the die) to a success (four or five on the die) or from a success to a double success (six on the die). The Guide also has Nudges to use on her NPCs, but these are fewer in number. Some Traits can be Flaws though, and a player is encouraged to nominate one of his character’s Traits as such each session. Then once or twice in that session, the Guide should use it against the Player Character to make his life more complicated and the story interesting and then reward him with an extra Nudge and a Minor Advancement at the end of the session. Goals also work as Traits and can also add extra dice if the task at hand is relevant. The reward for using them is fairly substantial, but if unsuccessful, the Player Character earns a Doubt Trait, which persists until the Player Character can work it off by successfully using the Goal Trait in pursuit of the goal.

When it comes to the New Science, the Florentine Republic of 1510 has yet to achieve mass production. Some devices have been standardised, mostly for the battlefield, otherwise every item is an individual piece, almost a prototype and highly decorated. The advice is thus to make almost every item bespoke and a one-off, as well as temperamental and fragile. Mechanically, the TRIPOD system means that the numbers for a New Science device equate to that for a more traditional one, and the New Science adds flavour and verisimilitude. Which highlights the fact that the New Science is also a narrative device. Further as much as the Clockpunk of Gran Meccanismo are informed and influenced by the Steampunk and Cyberpunk genres, the one aspect of either that Gran Meccanismo lacks is the equivalent of the Internet. There is though the possibility of Clockers hacking the Gran Meccanismo in Florence, either directly at the central machine in the Palazzo Altoviti, a dedicated cogent engine attached to some nascent industrial process, or one of the stations at the city’s guard posts where one day Catalogo identity card checks might be carried out.

For the Guide there is advice on running Gran Meccanismo and on the types of games that can be run. Suggestions include Missione Impossible espionage-style games, travelogues, family sagas built around noble or even crime families, and of course, tilting the Republic of Florence into a Clockpunk Dystopia. There is advice too on scaling up the game to include the clash of armies, as well as keeping combat exciting and pushing towards a cinematic, even slightly pulpy style of play, with the use of cliffhangers. Although there is no scenario included, there are hooks throughout the book, along with numerous asides and historical notes in sidebars.

Gran Meccanismo is missing an index and a glossary as well as a timeline, which would have been useful. Similarly, given the historicity of the setting, a bibliography would have been equally useful. The lack of all three does make the roleplaying game that much harder to use as a ready reference, let alone prepare a scenario or campaign.

Physically, Gran Meccanismo is a decent looking book. The artwork is excellent, the book is well written, and the flavour text helps bring the setting of Florence and its surroundings alive.

Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in da Vinci’s Florence is arguably the first storytelling roleplaying game from Osprey Games—or at least the first to use storytelling mechanics. It combines the fast-playing, easy to grasp rules of the TRIPOD system with a setting that not only can genuinely be called unique, but one to which your first response should be, “That’s a cool idea!”

Tonight I am starting my deep dive into a bunch of witch-related adventures, many of which I would like to use with my War of the Witch Queens campaign.

The adventures will come from the various versions of D&D and the retro-clones in the OSR. They all have or feature witches in them.  Sometimes these witches are the antagonists, other times they are allies or even friends. The point is to show this rise in witch-related activity.  The players would see this rise but only later learn the reason is that the High Witch Queen had been murdered and now the witches are running wild.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

The Coven

PDF. 45 pages. Black & White cover and B&W and color interior art.

This is a 0-level or 1st-level "adventure". In fact the adventure covers creating a coven of new "witches" (1st level magic-users).  There are a lot of random tables to help generate these characters including their background, patrons, enemies, and more for these witches. You also generate the lands and homes of these witches and their enemies.

This book is designed for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but that is close enough to B/X that you can use that or OSE instead. 

I say "adventure" in quotes because there is not an adventure here. There is a setup for future adventures and there are plenty of ideas here to create your own. But no "going to point A to point B and kill monster X."

What it might lack (and I don't think it is lacking) in structure it makes up for in style and detail.

For Use in War of the Witch Queens

I would use this as a session zero for a future run of WotWQ (right now my characters are around 3rd level) but this would be a fun start.

Instead on 1st level magic-users I would use my witches, with a random table to also help choose their tradition.  

For Use in NIGHT SHIFT

So this is set up for LotFP, but with some tooling, I could make it work for a modern-age NIGHT SHIFT game. Certainly something for Ordinary World or even Generation HEX.