Uncharted Journeys is a supplement designed to make getting there as interesting and eventful as actually arriving at the destination. Published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, the supplement provides rules for laying out a route, preparing for the journey, and conducting the trip and involve the Player Characters at every stage; rules for encountering travellers on the way and creating ruins that the Player Characters might pass by; and then hundreds and hundreds of encounters categorised by location. In fact, there are almost two thousand encounters given in the pages in the book and they take up three quarters of the book! However, there is a sense of déjà vu to Uncharted Journeys, the feeling that you might have seen similar rules for such Journeys before. This is because they have been adapted from two earlier roleplaying games published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment which have extensive travel rules if not necessarily the enormous collection of events and encounters. These are The One Ring: Adventures OverThe Edge Of The Wild and its counterpart for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, Adventures in Middle-earth, and with both being based on the journeys undertaken by the Company in The Hobbit and the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings, both roleplaying games placed an emphasis on such journeys. With Uncharted Journeys, the Dungeon Master has the option to make journeys in her campaign as important and as dangerous and interesting as Tolkien does in Middle-earth, whether important, interesting, dangerous, or all three on each and every journey, or only on the occasional journey. Then of course, the Dungeon Master has access to all of the encounters in Uncharted Journeys as well.

Uncharted Journeys begins by discussing what Role each Player Character will undertake on a Journey. There are four—Leader, Outrider, Quartermaster, and Sentry. The Leader will keep the party’s morale and provide Inspirational Resolve during the Group Travel check. The Outrider finds the safest path and has some say over the type of encounter that the Party has. The Dungeon Master will roll and describe two encounters, without giving any specifics away, and the Outrider makes the choice between the two. The Quartermaster keeps the Party well-prepared and fed on the journey. The Sentry is ever vigilant, covering the Part’s trail and looking out for followers and ambushes. It is possible to double up on these Roles, but this will come at a Disadvantage. If there are more Player Characters than Roles, then two Player Characters can take the same Role and its checks will made with Advantage. Particular Classes are better suited to the different Roles. Thus, the Barbarian and the Ranger is a good Outrider, the Cleric a good Leader or Quartermaster, and so on. In general, the various Classes are suited to either Leader, Outrider, or Quartermaster, whilst the Sentry is left as a catch-all in terms of Class suitability.

A journey is divided into three stages—‘Set the Route’, ‘Prepare’, and ‘Make the Journey’. In the first stage, the players and their characters select a destination, which will determine its length and thus the possible number of encounters. A Journey can be Short, Medium, Long, or Very Long, ranging from fifteen miles long to a thousand miles and more, and two days in length to more than a month in length.

Journey Difficulty is determined by the terrain and weather. Having set the boundaries of the Journey and some expectations in ‘Set the Route’, in the ‘Prepare’ stage, Roles are assigned and the Player Characters can make preparations with actions such as ‘Brew Tonics’, ‘Chart Course’, ‘Procure Mounts’, and so on. These require a skill check and will provide a bonus on the Journey itself. For example, ‘Prepare a Feast’ requires a Wisdom or Charisma (Cook’s Utensils) check. If successful, the first time a Player Character would suffer a level of Exhaustion on the Journey, the Exhaustion is ignored. There are lots of options here which enable the Player Characters to play to their strengths. The third stage, ‘Make the Journey’ involves the players each making a Group Travel Check according to the Role their character has for the Journey. Succeed and the Player Characters will reduce the number of Encounters they have on the Journey. Fail and they will have Encounters extra to those indicated by the length of the Journey. For this, the Dungeon Master rolls for the Encounter Type, for example, ‘A Bump in the Road’ or ‘A Place to Rest’ and consults the table for that category for the region type the Player Characters are travelling through. Of course, the Dungeon master will still need to provide the stats and details herself, but everything else is covered in the pages of the supplement.

There is guidance too on what happened if the Journey is abandoned, but oddly, there is more to do once the Journey is complete, but this is not a stage in itself. At the end of a Journey, after all of the Encounters have been resolved, each Player Character make a Constitution check. Failure leaves the Player Character with a level of Exhaustion, success grants him temporary Hit Points, and success for every Player Character means they are also Inspired. The Player Character with the Sentry Role also rolls to see if the Party arrives safely or not, which might mean ‘Unforeseen Danger’ or it might mean complete ‘Safety’ or anywhere in between. It is at that this point that the Dungeon Master can also give out rewards, short-term, bonuses, and Experience Points. The Journey rules take up just twenty-two pages out of a two-hundred-and-ninety-five book. They provide the means to make Journeys not just more of a challenge, but interesting. There is room too within the mechanics to do two things. One is to roleplay out the events of the story, and as a result, allow the other, to play out a story.

The Encounters themselves are listed type by type and region by region in the largest section of the book. First, it sets the parameters and requirements for Encounter Type. For example, ‘A Chance Meeting’ requires the holder of the Leader Role to make a Wisdom (Insight) to gauge the mood of NPCs encountered, which will make the Group Check, which requires everyone to make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Wisdom (Insight) to impress the NPCs, easier or more difficult. Success might mean the NPCs points the Player Characters to a nearby ‘Natural Wonder’, a ‘Place to Rest’, or even ‘Hidden Reserves’, whilst failure could result in ‘A Bump in the Road’, ‘Danger Afoot’, or a ‘Deadly Fight’. These are Encounter Types in themselves, so there is a definite sense of progression if this occurs. ‘A Place to Rest’ has the Quartermaster Role make a Wisdom (Survival) check to gain Advantage—and hopefully not Disadvantage—on the Constitution (Perception) that all of the Player Characters have to roll. Success means they gain the benefit of a long Rest or a Short Rest, but failure can inflict a level of Exhaustion. If the Encounter Type provides the mechanical aspect of the Encounter, the flavour comes from the description given in the Encounter tables. For example, a ‘Place to Rest’ for the Great Cities Encounter Type could be ‘Bardcore’ where the Player Characters can perform at an inn for their bed and board, even after they have gone to bed, or a ‘Perfectly Normal Pub’ where the patrons seem to be highly engrossed in their own doings. Could there be something strange going on? Whereas, a ‘Place to Rest’ for the Hellscapes Encounter Type could be the ‘Sleep of the Just’ where an abandoned iron prison offers a refuge or a ‘Curious Cabinet’ where in a Tielfing trader offers the Player Characters the change rest in her cabinet, some disassembly required—and not of the cabinet! In many cases, if the Player Characters are successful, they gain Inspiration. However, multiple successful Encounters can mean multiple incidences of Inspiration. Of course, this is not possible, so in such incidences, they gain extra temporary Hit Points, bolstered by the success of their Journey.

In between all of the rules—well all twenty-two pages of rules—and the Encounters—all two-hundred-and-twenty-three pages of them—are the means to create NPCs which the Player Characters might meet in the Encounters, as well as where and when. This covers their backgrounds and their demeanours, and is supported with twelve example encounters. Then Uncharted Journeys does the same for ruins. This is more extensive with tables for who built the ruins, how old they are, what the ruins are and their possible points of interest, what they look like now, and what they might be used for currently. They are very nicely done, the result being a quick and dirty location created with a few rolls that the Dungeon Master can take the time to further detail, as necessary.

Physically, Uncharted Journeys is very well produced. Its rules are clearly written and easy to use, and the artwork excellent throughout.

Uncharted Journeys provides the means to support an aspect of fantasy roleplaying games and Dungeons & Dragons, that Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in particular does not do—and that is journeys and expeditions and their consequences. With an inexhaustive list of Encounters and clear simple rules Uncharted Journeys gives the Dungeon Master and her players the option to play journeys and expeditions out and make them both challenging and interesting, and events along the way matter.

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.

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Losing Face is a quick-start and adventure for Swords of the Serpentine, the swords and sorcery roleplaying game using the GUMSHOE System. Published by Pelgrane Press, this is a roleplaying game of daring heroism, sly politics, and bloody savagery, set in a fantasy city full of skullduggery and death, inspired by the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Thieves’ World stories. Since, it uses the GUMSHOE System, Swords of the Serpentine is an investigation-orientated roleplaying game, which means that if a Hero has points in a particular Investigative Ability, he will always be able to find clues related to the ability, and if he has points in that ability, can gain further clues, and then it is up to the players to interpret the clue or clues found to push the story along. Alongside that though, it mixes in social and physical combat so that the Heroes can defeat their opponents through wit, guile, and intimidation as well as with a blade, and sorcery powerful and easy enough to tear a tower apart, if the sorcerer is prepared to accept the corruption to both his body and soul. Losing Face presents the rules for Swords of the Serpentine sufficient enough to play through the scenario, a five-scene mystery which has scope for expansion by the Game Master and for plenty of input by the players, and six pre-generated Heroes ready to be played as part of the scenario.
A Hero in Losing Face and thus Swords of the Serpentine is defined by his Investigative Abilities and their associated pools of points, General Abilities, Allegiances, and Corruption. Investigative Abilities, such as Charm, Vigilance, Forgotten Lore, and Skulduggery, enable a Hero to find clues related to the ability and when spending points from their associated pools, to gain bonuses of various types. This includes increasing the amount of damage inflicted, increase the effectiveness of a General Ability, gain temporary Armour or Grit, create a unique special effect, and more. Investigative Abilities are divided between four categories or roles—Sentinel (a cross between a private investigator and a ghost hunter, because they can sometimes see ghosts), Sorcerer, Thief, and Warrior—and a Hero can rating in any of the Investigative Abilities across the four categories or roles, or specialise in one or two. Allegiances are with factions within the city, like the Ancient Nobility or The Guild of Architects and Canal-Watchers, and can be spent like Investigative Abilities. General Abilities require a six-sided die to be rolled and a player can expend points from the General Ability pool to improve the roll. Typically, the target for this roll is three or four, and for each three points the roll exceeds the target, the attack can affect an extra target. A result of five or more higher than the target indicates an attack is a critical and inflicts an extra die’s worth of damage. Attacks use Warfare, Sway, or Sorcery depending on whether they are physical, social, or sorcerous. These three can also be used to perform Manoeuvres, which do not inflict damage, but do have an effect, like disarming a foe, persuading them, and more.
Corruption represents a Player Character’s capacity to perform sorcery. Points from its pool can be spent to cast powerful spells, but expending Corruption like this triggers a Health check. Whether this fails or succeeds, it causes Corruption, either ‘Internalised’ or ‘Externalised’. If Internalised, it changes something physical about the Player Character, but if ‘Externalised’, it can affect the other Player Characters’ morale or sickens and pollutes the reality in the immediate area. Overall, there is a lot of flexibility to how the players describe their Heroes’ using their Investigative Abilities and General Abilities, and so on.
‘Losing Face’ is the eponymous scenario in the quick-start. It takes place in the constantly sinking city of Eversink where funerary statuary ensures the deceased persons’ place in heaven, but if broken, their spirit is broken or flung out of heaven. Unfortunately, the statues are everywhere and breaking them is both a sin and a crime. The scenario begins with a contact or patron bring them the body of a woman who is all but lifeless, and left without a face! Who is she and how did she end up like this? Numerous clues are provided as to what and who she is. Plus, who did this to her and why? The antagonist of the scenario does indeed have a grand plan, and determining what that is and stopping it will challenge the Player Characters. It is a really good piece of investigative fantasy that should take a session or two to play through and in the process show of the investigative process of Swords of the Serpentine.
Losing Face also includes six pre-generated characters. These include an ageless warrior, a retired church prophet, an under-acolyte in training, a likeable thief, a disinherited noble sorcerer, and an intimidating inquisitor or sentinel. These are slimmed down versions of the full character sheets, but more than adequate for the scenario.
Physically, Losing Face is speedily presented. It rushes through the rules for Swords of the Serpentine in six pages, including quick reference tables for difficulty numbers, sorcery, health, and morale. These are quite handy, as the rules will need careful study to comprehend as there is fair number of options in the terms of ways that the players can spend their characters’ Investigative Ability and General Ability points.
Losing Face is a good introduction to Swords of the Serpentine. The rules are presented in handy, if speedy fashion, and once the players grasp how they work, they provide scope for improvising details and aspects about their Heroes and bringing dynamic action—whether physical, social, or sorcerous—into play. This is packaged with an engaging scenario which again allows scope for some improvisation whilst still having plenty of meaty investigation to get involved in.

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.

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The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is the quick-start for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns for any roleplaying game. Published by Magpie Games, this is the roleplaying adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, animated series which are inspired by the indigenous cultures of North America and Asia, in particular, China, Chinese martial arts, and the ability to ‘bend’ or manipulate the four elements—water, earth, fire, and air. Only one person can bend all four elements, and he is known as the ‘Avatar’, and not only does he serve as the link between the physical world and the spirit world, but he is also responsible for maintaining harmony between the world’s four nations. In the roleplaying game, the players roleplay characters, or companions, who are capable of bending one of the elements as well as practising martial arts, all with the aim of protecting the world from harm and those unable to stand up to misuse of power. The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is designed for three to six players, one of whom will be the Game Master, and includes five pre-generated Player Characters, rules and advice for the Game Master, and a situation or scenario, the ‘Movers & Shakers’, of the title.
The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and thus Avatar Legends: The 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 ‘Guide and Comfort’ or ‘Rely on your Skill and Training’, and every Player Character can attempt them. Others are particular to a Playbook, for example, Qacha, the Guardian, one of the five pre-generated Player Characters, has the Moves, ‘Catch a Liar’, ‘Suspicious Mind’, ‘Martyr Complex’, and ‘A Warrior’s Heart’.
To undertake an action or Move in a ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ roleplaying game—or Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, a character’s player rolls two six-sided dice and adds the value of an attribute such as Creativity, Focus, Harmony, and Passion, 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 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, although she does have Moves of her own.
So, for example, if Erdene, the Prodigy, wants to assess an opponent, her player will select the ‘Judging a Rival’ Move. The aim is to have Erdene determine the rival’s strengths and weaknesses, how she can show dominance or submission to the rival, what the rival intends to do next, and what the rival wishes that Erdene would do next. To make the Move, the player rolls the dice and his Erdene’s Focus to the result. On a result of ten or more, the player can ask two of these questions, whilst on a result of seven, eight, or nine, he only gets to ask one.
Besides the four stats, a Player Character has Backgrounds, for example, Urban and Military, Demeanours like Confident and Warm, and a Training, such as Airbending. He also has a Fighting Style, like ‘Strong individual streams of air, like a Firebender’s flame jets’. His Balance is represented by a track, which runs from ‘+3’ to ‘-3’, for example, between the Principles of Excellence and Community. Events and the effects of Moves can shift the Player Character’s Balance up and down the track. This represents a Player Character’s core personality and if this Balance is pushed off the track, which can lead to a loss of a Player Character’s powers, his acting against his principles, or even give in to the enemy. A Player Character’s Balance can be restored through rest and reflection, but this takes time. In addition, a Player Character has an aspect that adds depth and detail, as well as motivation. For example, Thi, the Hammer, has ‘Bringing Them Down’ which sets him up to confront a single enemy. In his case, it is Amrita, the lieutenant of the Creeping Crystal Triad that Thi once worked for and is trying to make up for having done so. When facing Amrita, Thi has a penalty to all interactive Moves, but when fighting Amrita, becomes Inspired and clears all fatigue. A Player Character has two or three ‘Fighting Techniques’ and notes on connections, a Moment of Balance when he can restore his Balance, and a Background.
As the quick-start for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet provides both an introduction to the setting and the mechanics. The former includes a basic overview of the setting, the ‘Avatarverse’ and its five ages and four nations, plus descriptions of Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Waterbending, followed by Weapons and Technology, and the roles that they all play in the ‘Avatarverse’. It provides a short, basic introduction to the setting, whilst the scenario gives more setting specific details. The explanation of the rules is more extensive, covering what a roleplaying game is, the need for safety tools, how to frame scenes, and more, all before going into detail about Moves. This includes the Basic Moves common to every character, plus Balance Moves, which affects the Balance Track, as well as Combat Exchanges. In general, combat in the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is run as a series of one-on-one combats rather than mass brawls, no matter the number of combatants. They require combatant to first select an approach, either ‘Defend and Manoeuvre’, ‘Advance and Attack’, or ‘Evade and Observe’, this being the basic style the character wants to assume. After that, a combatant can select a Fighting Technique associated with the approach. For example, Erdene, the Prodigy, has three Fighting Techniques. Both ‘Steady Stance’ and ‘Air Swipe’ are associated with the ‘Defend and Manoeuvre’ approach and ‘Small Vortex’ with the ‘Evade and Observe’ approach.
What there is not in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is any Moves connected to Bending, or the manipulation of an element. A Player Character needs to be trained in Bending, whether Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, or Waterbending, and these colours what he does and the Moves he makes. For example, Meeka, the Idealist, is a Waterbender and she has the fighting style involving ice spikes, either flung or driven up from the ground or through the walls. With the ‘Disorient’ Fighting Technique, she pummels the foe with quick blows, in this case a flurry of ice shards, but with ‘Slip Over ice’, she slides around the environment with ease to put off an enemy off-balance, this could be over the ice she creates or the water from partly melted ice she has created.
The scenario in the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is the eponymous ‘Movers & Shakers’, which is set during the Korra Era of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The Player Characters are hired to protect the production of a new mover—or film—called ‘Sengo: lady of the Winds’. It has been plagued with equipment malfunctions and breakdowns, and an executive at Varrimovers International Studios fears that someone is attempting to sabotage the production of a mover that could restore the studio’s fortunes. This is certainly the case and that someone is connected to the backstory of one of the five pre-generated Player Characters. Over the course of four days, the Player Characters must protect the film, its production, its crew, and its cast from attacks from without by members of the Creeping Crystal Triad and tensions from within between the cast and crew. With the latter there is scope for investigation and roleplay and with the former, there is scope for roleplaying and combat. Like the publisher’s scenarios for Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, ‘Movers & Shakers’ is not a linear scenario. Rather it is a situation or scenario, comprised of detailed descriptions of the various locations and NPCs, that the players and their characters can explore, the Game Master reacting to their decisions and making Moves of her own to keep up the tension, the storyline, and the action as necessary. It is primarily player-driven and the Game Master will need to understand all of the scenario’s elements to run it properly. This does mean that the scenario—and also the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet—are really designed for the beginning Game Master. She is accorded good advice on how to run the scenario, but for someone new to the hobby, it is likely to be daunting prospect.
The five pre-generated Player Characters include a rash airbender with great airbending ability who exasperates her sister, who has sworn to protect her. The others are a former triad employee who is good with technology, who is trying to redeem himself; a former soldier and waterbender who wants to help and heal the world; and an earthbender who wants to live up his father’s skill, but not his reputation. All five pre-generated Player Characters are nicely designed, capable, and interesting, and include backgrounds and connections to one or more of the other Player Characters.
Physically, the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is well presented, sturdy booklet. Running to some fifty-pages, there is plenty of advice and help for the Game Master, including summaries of the Moves, Combat Exchanges, Fighting Techniques, and more at the back. Although it needs a slight edit in places, the main issue perhaps is the lack of examples that would ease the learning of the ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ mechanics, especially the Combat Exchanges of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. The detailed nature of the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet also means that the Game Master does have a lot to learn and prepare.
The density of Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet and the non-linear, sandbox style nature of its scenario, ‘Movers & Shakers’, means that Game Master needs to study the booklet in order to prepare and run the adventure. For anyone new to roleplaying, perhaps fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra and having picked up the Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet to find out what roleplaying is, this is too dense and not supported with examples that would have made the learning process easier. For the more experienced roleplayer, and certainly anyone with experience of ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, this will be very much less of an issue.
The Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet is a fun, entertaining introduction to Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game and the worlds of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Fans of both will enjoy this, as will any player who enjoys anime and martial arts, but Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet definitely benefits from an experienced Game Master.

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.

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If the releases for Dragon Shield Roleplaying have been one of the two oddest releases for Free RPG Day 2023, the other is the Loup Garou Free Preview. This is a preview for Loup Garou, part of the ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ from Van Ryder Games, best known for its board games like Final Girl and Hostage Negotiator. Funded via Kickstarter, these ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ are solo or ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ adventure books. The publisher has released several series of these and what sets them about from other solo adventures is that they are presented in graphic form rather than text format. So essentially, what the reader is reading and playing in is a graphic novel. Such things are not new, of course, in the nineteen eighties, Diceman was a five-issue series from Fleetway which published stories involving characters from its sister publication, 2000 AD, including Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Sláine, Rogue Trooper, Torquemada, and ABC Warriors. Diceman also ventured into political satire with the comic strip ‘You are Ronald Reagan in: Twilight’s Last Gleaming’ and Fleetway would continue this theme with the separate solo adventure book, You are Maggie Thatcher: a dole-playing game in nineteen eighty-seven. However, times have moved on, and in comparison, to both titles, Loup Garou, as well as other titles in the ‘Graphic Novel Adventures’ series are done in full colour.
The story of Loup Garou is this. The protagonist is Eoras, an apprentice to the mage, Thedocred. One night, Thedocred sends him out into the forest to collect a vital ingredient for a potion, but whilst out on the errand, a foul beast—a loup garou—attacks him. Although a hunter comes to his rescue and slays the monster, Eoras discovers that he has been scratched and is thus condemned to transform into a loup garou himself! As a mere mage’s apprentice, Eoras knows just the single spell, but as a loup garou, he has tremendous physical strength and endurance, but can he use it wisely? Will he find a cure or will he tracked down by the hunter who slew the beast that scratched him? Above all, can Eoras survive? This, ultimately, this is the aim for the reader with Loup Garou.
The Loup Garou Free Preview is a heavily truncated version of Loup Garou. It takes some thirty-one panels and a two-page spread explanation to get to the start and ‘Panel #1’. The actual adventure consists of just twenty-nine panels drawn from the full version of Loup Garou, which contains at least two-hundred-and-eighty-nine panels, this being the highest number in the Loup Garou Free Preview. Eoras begins play with ten Hit Points and ten Magic Points and a rating of four in his Strength and one in Defence, these last being his attributes. In loup garou form, five is added to both. He also has a skill point which the reader can assign. At the back of the Loup Garou Free Preview is a Skill Tree, each of which consists of eight boxes, each containing three improvements a player can choose. Eoras is an Apprentice, so would select that box and tick off its first entry, ‘Spell: Shock’. The others are ‘Ice Armour’ and ‘Spell: Fireball’. From the Apprentice box, Eoras could improve via the Sorcerer, Mage, or Lycanthrope boxes. Other starting options include Healer, Soldier, and Survivor. For every ten Experience Points gained, either through defeating an enemy or solving a riddle, Eoras gains one Magic Point and one Hit Point, and the reader can gain one improvement.
Mechanically, Loup Garou is quite simple. Combat requires a roll of a six-sided die each round to determine how many Hit Points an opponent loses. The combatant’s Strength is added to this in mêlée to get the total result or the base damage of the spell being cast if magic is being used. It costs one Magic Point to cast a spell. The other major mechanic involves riddles. Solve these and the reader and Eoras is awarded with a good number of Experience Points. A minor mechanic involves picking up items to use later. These are included in the comic panels and the reader is free to decide whether Eoras picks up one or another.
In terms of play, Loup Garou Free Preview is limited. Which is fine because it is a preview. Consequently, there is just the one incidence of combat and one of solving riddles, whilst there are several items to spot and pack in Eoras’ bag, although no reason to use them in the preview. What the Loup Garou Free Preview does show off is the excellent artwork, though in places, the number indicating the next panel to turn to or choose from is a bit small to read with any ease. The visual means also exacerbates the aspect of any solo adventure book with illustrations. Even one with a few illustrations will have the reader intrigued by them and wondering how he can guide the protagonist of the adventure to that paragraph and thus that location to discover what is actually going on there. In the Loup Garou Free Preview and thus Loup Garou, with all of paragraphs being graphic novel panels, that is an even bigger feature. Even to the point of being a distraction!
Physically, Loup Garou Free Preview is very well presented. The artwork is excellent throughout and nicely captures Eoras’ desperation and worry throughout its few pages.
As a preview, Loup Garou Free Preview is surprisingly playable given its scant number of panels and plotlines. It should really only take the reader a single effort or two to play through the whole thing and even then, only fifteen minutes or so. Yet there remains the much longer and deeper story in Loup Garou, which Loup Garou Free Preview does leave you wondering about and whether or not Eoras survives or even discovers a cure to his malady. Loup Garou Free Preview is a solid introduction to Loup Garou and by the end of it, the reader will know if he wants to find out more. Reviews from R’lyeh definitely did.

 Normally I avoid tie-in fiction for RPGs. 90% of the time, you can what I call, "hear the dice being rolled in the background." Most of it tries to cleave too close to the rules and less interested in telling a good story. 

But that is not always the case.

Back when I was gearing up to run the GDQ series for my family, I wanted to read what others had done, to immerse myself in the world and the adventures again.  That is when I discovered the writing of Pauli Kidd.

Pauli took the familiar locations and then gave me characters I really enjoyed. The Justicar, Escalla, even Cinders. They were a very rare treat. She did a fantastic job here, and I never heard the dice once.

Set in the World of Greyhawk, these books are less about these fabled locations and more about the characters. I had so much fun with them that I included Evelyn, the Princess Escalla as the daughter of the Justicar and Escalla (half-human/half-pixie, looks like an elf) in my own running of these adventures. Through interaction with the party, she became the lead freedom fighter to free the surface elves from their enslavement by the Drow across multiple planes. 

Another set are the Brimstone Angels series for the Forgotten Realms by Erin M. Evans. While the books focus on the twin tieflings Farideh and Havilar, the books cover some of the biggest events in Faerûn and even deftly cover things like the changes in world history from 3rd Edition to 4th Edition to 5th Edition.

Her books were so well received that it even added details to the rules, such as Mahen, Farideh, and Havilar to the list of Dragonborn names. 

There are few others, but these are the best in my mind.

 Moving through the door, the party finds themselves in a long room. Inside waiting are two succubi.

They look at the party and tell them that all they really need are two more souls, and their 1,000 year servitude to the Vampire Queen is complete. So they are taking volunteers. 

If two characters agree to give up their souls (not likely) all four disappear in a cloud of brimstone.

If the alu-fiends are still alive, they do have souls, but the party would need to trick them somehow into giving their souls to the succubi.

The party can kill the succubi, but they will return in 21 days to do it all over again.  If it looks like the party will fight they will simply disappear and return later.  They have no treasure and are really prisoners of the Vampire Queen.

These demons are smart and are not fond of combat.

Succubus

Armor Class: 0 [19]
Hit Dice: 6+6*** (33 hp)
Attacks:  2 claws (1d3 x2) or 1 kiss (see below)
Special: Energy drain, demon abilities.
THAC0: 13 [+6]
Movement: 120’ (40’) / fly 180' (60') 
Saving Throws: D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (6+)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 825
Number Appearing: 1 (1d2) 
Treasure Type: I, Q (typically)

Succubi are demons (Lilim) that appear as beautiful women. They are not particularly strong, nor do they work well in groups, but they are cunning and exceptionally intelligent. 

The succubus's kiss can drain a victim of one energy level (or one point of Constitution). 

Succubi have the following demonic powers:

• Become Ethereal at will
• Charm Person
• Clairaudience
• ESP
• Shape-change, humanoid forms only
• Suggestion
• Succubi can also gate in other demons, but there is only a 40% chance the gate will open: 

• Type IV (70%)
• Type VI (25%)
• Lord or Prince (5%)
• Succubi never gate in Type V demons due to a long-standing enmity. 

 some of these new buildings aren't Polyestrine at all, I've begun doing some from Spunkdumpling like these;

 Favorite dice??? How do you choose that? I have different sets for different needs.

This is the set I use when playing Ravenloft of any other Horror themed D&D-like game. Made up my black and red dice with some Castles & Crusades dice thrown in.

These are my main D&D dice right now.

My Ghosts of Albion Dice.

I got a bunch of Drow Dice at Gen Con and have used at Gen Con when running the GDQ series.

Some of my oldest dice. Used these throughout highschool.

Various witch-themed dice.


Halloween-themed dice!

More old dice to add to my collections.

Some "Holmes-themed" dice, including some Gary Con ones.

A box of character-themed dice with their minis.

Various dice bags from my years of playing.

These though are my best sets. Original TSR-era Dragon Dice from the Basic and Expert sets. These are my "showcase" ones. These are the rules and dice that don't get played. I have plenty of other copies for the table. 

So you see...how can I choose?

Going back to Room #2 the next passage looks similar to the passageway for Room #6 (and #3).  Once entering the room the party sees two succubi.

These "succubi" are in fact two Alu-fiends.

Alu-Fiend Demon

Armor Class: 1 [18]
Hit Dice: 6+6*** (33 hp)
Attacks:  2 claws (1d4+2 x2) or 1 weapon (1d6) +2
THAC0: 13 [+6]
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws: D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (6+)
Morale: 10
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 1,250
Number Appearing: 1d2 (1d4) 
Treasure Type: C

The alu-demon is the female demonic offspring of a succubus (or other Lilim) and human. Though part demon, not all alu-demons are inherently chaotic (although good alu-demons are extremely rare). The typical alu-demon has black or brown hair and dark green, brown, or black eyes.

Alu-demons might be sent to the Material Plane to seduce mortals. When on such missions they typically arrange their flowing hair so it hides their horns and also fold their wings against their backs (and tuck them under their robe, shirt, or whatever garment of clothing one happens to be wearing at the time).

Each time an alu-demon hits with its claw attack it gains temporary hit points equal to the damage she inflicts. These temporary hit points disappear in one hour. 

Alu-fiends have the following demonic powers:

• vampiric touch 
• immune to poison
• magic resistance (15%)
• telepathy 100 ft.
• Alu-fiends can cast the following spells: 

• Charm person (3/day)
• Dimension door (1/day)
• ESP (3/day)
• Suggestion (1/day)

There is a 15% chance that these alu-fiends will not attack at all.  They are here to drive victims to their "sisters" in Room 10, behind the closed door ahead.  They will claim they are trapped here due to the magic of the Vampire Queen. This is mostly true. They will claim that if the party can get a scepter from the next room they will be freed and seek their vengeance against the mages of the Vampire Queen (this is a complete lie. They heard this from other demons here).

Recently I read on fred's HM fan blog that Heavy Metal magazine is no more.

I have often said that Heavy Metal (the music, the magazine, and the movie) was/were as much of an influence on my early 80s gaming style as were the likes of Dragon magazine, White Dwarf, and really, far more than most of the Appendix N books.

The news comes to us via Bleeding Cool and Multiversity Comics.

While I have not read HM in a long time, it was part of my D&D experience as much as anything. I even rank Taarna among the celebrated heroes of fantasy, right along with Conan, Elric, Frodo, Fafhrd, and the Gray Mouser.

This is not an age that is kind to the printed word, less kind even to the printed word on paper. I don't hold out any hope that HM will return in a new form any more than I hope that Dragon will.

 I do have a few. There is the whole Werper family with Johan I as the first character I ever created and played for longer than one session. Every version of *D&D gets a new version of Johan as either a Paladin or Cleric. A (mostly) unbroken line of father and son dedicated to fighting evil, particularly the undead.

But I have to say my favorite character has to be my little witch Larina Nix/Larina Nichols.  Johan gets a new version (a son of the previous) in every version of D&D. Larina gets a version for every game I ever play.  I don't play her in every game, but I at least give her a try in the character creation rules.

I also like to get custom art of her and support artists.

I might be a little obsessed. 

 This room has no door, but is difficult to find due to the unnatural darkness.

Once in this room magical light can be seen.  There are treasure chests with coins (4,500 gp worth) and 1d10x10 rings of various shapes and sizes.  Of these 1d4+5 will be magical. 

The magical rings can be determined from the following table; Magical Rings.

There is no other treasures or creatures here.

 We live in an unprecedented time of access to media. For example, when I was a kid if I wanted to watch a Godzilla movie I had to wait for the various "creature feature" shows that would be on my local Channel 8, 11, or 12 on the weekends and then hope that one of them would be showing Godzilla.  As I got older my options progressively grew to cable channels, VHS, DVD, and then BluRay. Now I have streaming choices. Tubi was (and is) always good for horror, but now Pluto has stepped into the ring with their 24-hour Godzilla channel and Godzilla movies on demand. Subtitled, not dubbed, for the most part.

As expected, I have been watching it all the time. I am reminded there are some really, really bad ones here (Son of Godzilla comes to mind) but also some I really enjoy.  One of those was 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Yeah, I have it on DVD, but catching it one night was a nice treat.

It also made me want to come back to my idea of giant, Kaiju-like demons for my games.

A collection of DIY Demons

Destroyah is about the same size as the official D&D (4th Edition) Orcus, though Destroyah was only about 10 bucks. Given the 1" = 5' scale, a 6½" Destroyah comes out to about 32.5'.  With horn, 35'.

It makes for a very scary demon to be honest.

D&D Demons with your humble 5'9" blogger to scale.

I have done these Gargantua demons before for both Spellcraft & Swordplay and D&D 5.  I should also do them for my hybrid Basic/Advanced "Basic Bestiary" stat block.

Gargantua
Gargantuan Fiend (Demon, Calabim)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 240' (80') [24"]
   Fly: 300' (100') [30']
   Swim: 300' (100') [30']
Armor Class: -7 [26]
Hit Dice: 30d8+180******** (315 hp)
 Gargantuan: 22d20+44******** (495 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 4 (+15)
Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite, 1 tail, 1 breath weapon (typical) Damage: 4d8 x2, 4d12, 2d12, as per dragons
Special: Alternate forms, breath weapon, fear aura 120', immune to mind-affecting magics, magic resistance 75%, vulnerable to holy weapons.Save: Monster 30
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: None
XP: 38,750 (OSE) 38,750 (LL)

Str: 25 (+6) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 25 (+6) Int: 6 (-1) Wis: 7 (-1) Cha: 2 (-4)

These horrors are destruction incarnate. These demons stand 40 to 50 feet tall.  Each one is unique, but all have characteristics in common.  They are typically humanoid in shape but could be covered in scales, leathery skin, fur, chitin, or any combination of these. Some gargantuas even have alternate forms they can transform into. This includes the sprouting of wings or even juvenile or ultimate forms. In one recorded case, a gargantua was able to divide into dozens of smaller forms of 1 HD each and then reform later as the larger, composite creature. 

Their intellect is far below that of animals, and they exist only to destroy.  Powerful Balor or even Arch Fiends can control them, but it is challenging for them to do.  Mostly they are sent somewhere where everything must be destroyed or eaten.  Gargantua will even fight and kill other demons.  

All gargantua have massive claw and bite attacks.  Any critical hit roll on a bite indicates the victim has been swallowed whole.  Every gargantuan also has a breath weapon attack like that of a dragon. Typically fire, but lighting and wind are also typical. They do damage equal to the number of hp they have remaining, save vs. Breath Weapon for half.

Human wizards have been known to try to summon these creatures, but the destruction they cause usually outweighs any perceived benefits they may offer.  The spells to do so are carefully guarded.

Some scholars theorize these creatures are the remains of the ancient Titans like the Jötunar or even Die Hüne. But most believe these creatures began as normal animals infused with the evil essences of demons and their homes in the vast Abyss. 

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

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

—oOo—
Name: A Network of TunnelsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean F. Smith

Setting: 1920s LondonProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 1.63 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Never leave a lawyer in a locked room when death is on the linePlot Hook: A lawyer missing from his locked room
Plot Support: One map, three NPCs, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: High School Power Point Essay.
Pros# Interesting twist upon ‘Megapolismancy’# More detailed outline than scenario# Straightforward, tightly plotted # Easy to add to a campaign# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Blennophobia# Molluscophobia# Gephyrophobia
Cons# More detailed outline than scenario# Underwritten# Untidy layout
Conclusion# Easy to add to a campaign ‘Megapolismantic’ scenario# More underwritten outline than scenario, but otherwise a serviceable investigation

 Oh, now that is an interesting question.

It is a tossup, really.

Victoria and Baker Street are two very historically accurate Victorian-era RPGs. No steampunk, no gothic horror, no supernatural. Straight-up exploration of one of the more fascinating ages (in my mind) in history.  I love my Steampunk. I LOVE my Gothic Horror and Supernatural. But that loves comes from a solid grounding in the age, and these game both managed to give me what I love and be very clever about it.

Likewise, I love the tales of King Arthur and an age of a Mythic Britan.

While less grounded in actual history, these books both capture their subject matter well. Pendragon and Chivalry & Sorcery are great fun, and I just don't get to play them enough. 

It is great to do a historically accurate RPG as Victoria and Baker Street show, but Pendragon and C&S also demonstrate why historical accuracy sometimes needs to take a backseat (or passenger seat) to a good game.

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: The Art of HyggePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Poul Holmelund

Setting: Pre-millennium DenmarkProduct: One-shot
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 3.12 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Let’s get hygge before the horrorPlot Hook: A hunting trip turns on the hunters.
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated (non) Investigators, eight handouts, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Reasonable.
Pros# Short non-survival horror scenario# Straightforward, tightly plotted # Excellent handouts# Easy to adjust to other time periods# Extreme hygge/horror divide# Cherophobia# Pyrophobia# Xenophobia
Cons# Needs a strong edit# No relationships between pre-generated Investigators# Reactive, not proactive scenario# Limited scope for investigation# Investigators have to die# Extreme hygge/horror divide
Conclusion# Short non-survival horror scenario with limited (non) Investigator actions # Extreme hygge/horror divide that contrasts the cosy and the cosmic

Moving on in this area, the party comes to a wider chamber. 

Lurking in the shadows is a true horror.  A skeletal horror, covered in blood with glowing red eyes.

It appears undead, but it is a Babu Demon. 

Babau Demon

These 7’ tall demons have ebony flesh that clings closely to their skeleton, appearing almost like a leathery corpse. They have a single curving horn that emerges from the back of their heads. 

Armor Class: -3 [22]
Hit Dice: 7+7 (45 hp)
Attacks:  2 claws (1d4+3 x2), 1 horn (1d6+3) or 1 weapon +3
THAC0: 12 [+7]
Movement: 150’ (50’)
Saving Throws: D8 W9 P10 B10 S12 (7)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 2,050
Number Appearing: 1d3 
Treasure Type: C

Babau demons prefer to attack with weapons from a distance when possible and have STR 19 which grants bonuses to attacks and damage with some weapons.

• Glowing Eyes: Any creature within 20’ that looks into a babau’s glowing red eyes must succeed in a saving throw versus spells or be affected as if from a ray of enfeeblement. 
• Slimy Skin: A slimy red jelly coats the babe’s skin when in combat, reducing damage by 50% from cutting and stabbing weapons.
• Thief Skills: These demons have the abilities of a thief of 9th level. 
• Weapon Damage: Babau suffers damage from ordinary weapons and +2 damage from weapons of iron.
• Spell-Like Abilities: The babau can use the following at will.
• darkness 10’ radius
• dispel magic
• fear (as the wand of fear, by touch)
• fly
• levitate
• polymorph self
• heat metal.
• Gate Demon: a babau may gate (25% probability of success) another babau demon.

Since 1979, what has been fundamental to RuneQuest and to the world of Greg Stafford’s Glorantha, has been the integration and prominence of its myths, pantheons, and their worship into the setting and as part of everyday life for the Player Characters. Although the original RuneQuest—more recently published as RuneQuest Classic—mentioned the importance of cults, it only detailed three of them, offering limited choices for the player and his character. That changed with the publication of Cults of Prax, which presented fifteen cults and their myths and magics dedicated to fifteen very different deities. Fifteen very different cults and deities which held very different world views and very different means of approaching problems and overcoming them. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with a link to their gods and in turn their gods with a link from god time to the real world. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with great magics granted by their gods and with paths to become Rune Lords and Rune Priests and so bring the power of their gods into the world. Cults of Prax provided the RuneQuest devotee or Gloranthaphile with a framework via which his character could enter the world of Glorantha, giving form and function to faith and above all, making it something that you could play and something that you wanted to play. For at its most mechanical, a player and his character’s choice of cult works almost like a character Class of Dungeons & Dragons, giving the character benefits and powers in terms of what he can do and how he does it. However, to reduce the cults of Glorantha to such mechanical simplicity is to ignore the ‘why’ of what the character can do, and it is this ‘why’ where the world of Glorantha and its gods, myths, and cults comes alive. Cults of Prax did not ignore this ‘why’, but introduced it, and that is arguably why it is the most important supplement ever for both Glorantha and RuneQuest. However, in 2023, some forty-four years after its publication, Cults of Prax has a successor—or rather, a series of successors.
Cults of RuneQuest is a ten-volume series of supplements each of which is dedicated to the different pantheons of Glorantha. Each entry in the series details the gods—both major and minor—within their pantheon, along with their myths and cults, magics, favoured skills, requirements and restrictions for membership, outlook and relationships with the other gods, and more. Each book is standalone, but because each of the gods and pantheons has connections and often entwining myths with other gods and pantheons, the series will together provide a wider overview of all the gods of Glorantha as well as differing approaches to them. This is further supported by the two companion volumes to the series—Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and Cults of RuneQuest: Mythology. The standalone nature of the series means that the Game Master or the player—and it should be made clear that each of the ten volumes in the Cults of RuneQuest is intended to be used by both—can pick or chose their favourite pantheon and use the gods and cults from that book. However, some volumes are quite tightly bound to each other and some are, if not bound geographically, have strong ties to certain regions of Glorantha. So, for example, the first two entries in the series, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses are tightly bound to each other as the myths of their gods often combine and cross paths, not least of which is the fact that the heads of the pantheons in both books are married to each other. Thus, with these two volumes, the first two in the series, it is difficult to argue that one should not be bought without the other. Geographically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses provide support for the region of Dragon Pass, including Sartar, Esrolia, Prax, and Tarsh, whilst Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way provides geographical support for the Lunar Empire and its client states. This is not to say that the presence of the cults in these volumes will not be found elsewhere, but rather that these are the regions where their worship is most prevalent and if a Game Master is running campaigns in these locations, then the relevant geographical volume will be very useful. Lastly, of course, the Gloranthaphile will want all of these volumes because he is a Gloranthaphile.
Each of the entries in the Cults of RuneQuest series is well-organised. The introduction explains the purpose and subject matter for the book, highlights how the book is useful for player and Game Master alike, and examines some of the book’s themes and both their nature as myth and mature treatment of subject matters including death, sex, gender, survival, vengeance, and unconscious fears given form. It also notes that the artwork throughout the book is divided between depictions ‘in-Glorantha’, seen within the world itself, and those seen from without in reading the book. All of this is tailored slightly to the pantheon presented in the particular entry in the series. This is followed by a group depiction of all of the gods of the pantheon—which the book notably returns to a few pages later with a labelled version—and a hymn to them all, and then an overview of the pantheon, answering questions such as, “Where does the world come from?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Why am I here?”, “How do I do magic?”, and more. Lastly, there is a discussion of the relationship that the pantheon has with other pantheons and a listing of all of the gods in the pantheon or associated with it.

The bulk of each book though is dedicated to individual entries in the pantheon. Each of these follows the same format. They begin with the Mythos and History of the god, the Nature of the Cult and its Organisation, its membership at various levels—lay member, initiate, God-Talker, Rune-Lord, Rune-Priest, and Chief Priest, and continue with subservient cults, associated cults, and subcults, and more. This will vary from god to god and from cult to cult. This follows the format seen in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but in every case greatly expands what is included in the core rulebook, whether in terms of individual entries or additional entries. The number of pages dedicated to each god and thus each cult will also vary. A god whose worship is widespread—and also a popular choice for players to select for their characters to worship—is explored over the course of multiple pages whereas a less popular and less worshipped god many only receive two or three pages. All gods though, receive a full colour depiction at the start of their entry that includes their runes too, in addition to their being depicted elsewhere.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses is the second examination of a pantheon in the series. It is a slimmer volume than the first, detailing just sixteen cults in comparison to the nineteen of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers. As with the previous volume, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses begins with the head of the pantheon, Ernalda. Hers is the lengthiest of the entries and mythologies, but nowhere as near as long that given for Orlanth in Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers. The initial focus is upon Ernalda and her cult and role in society, but it broadens out to examines various facets of her worship. This adds the Summon Snake Daughter Rune Spell—neatly supporting the depictions of Ernalda with snakes wrapped around her arms—as well as various other Rune spells under subservient and associated cults. Thus for Eninta, the goddess of childbirth, there is the spell Birthing, and for the god of brewing, Minlister, the Rune spell, Brew, as well as rules for the new skill, Craft (Brewing). The list of subservient and associated cults consists of a mix of deities mentioned just under this entry and those given their own entry elsewhere in the book, such as Babeester Gor and Ty Kora Tek. In addition, there is some crossover with Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers with the inclusion of Barntar, the Plowman.

The entries for both Aldrya, the Goddess of the Woods, and Mostal, the Maker, are of a similar length to that of Ernalda. In the case of Aldrya, worshipped in particular by the Elves or Aldryami, this includes ‘The Elf Story’, which highlights the differences between the deities worshipped by Humans and the non-gods of the Elves in telling they grew and came to be planted across Dragon Pass. Guidelines are given for Aldrya shamanism, the High King Elf subcult, which is the most widespread, and even Elder Sister for Dryads! In this way, the book is both a useful supplement for the player who wants to play an Elf and the Game Master who wants to support that and create interesting NPCs with a more detailed look at Aldryami culture. In either case, it supports the details of the Aldryami given in the Glorantha Bestiary. The inclusion of Flamal, the Father of Vegetation, complements Aldrya, though is not as detailed. As with Aldrya, the inclusion of Mostal expands Player Character and NPCs options and backgrounds in similar fashion, but for the Mostali or Dwarves, rather than the Elves. Just as with the entry for Aldyra, the entry explains that Mostal is not revered as a cult as with other gods, but rather that ‘way of Mostal’ is a ‘socio-magical complex’ which structures and organises Dwarf society. Consequently there is less variation here than with other cults and what there is concerns itself mainly with a page or two of new Sorcery spells organised according to Dwarf type and a discussion of heresies, which of course, allows for more Player Character and NPC options.

Besides Ernalda, there are several entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses that will be familiar. Primarily, these consist of Babeester Gor, the Avenging Daughter and Maran Gor, the Earth Shaker, both tightly bound to the Ernalda cult, and they are joined by the God of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Donandar. His inclusion nicely complements the Entertainer occupation in the core rules and covers his half-brothers and similar gods, as well as his links to both Eurmal and the Puppetteer Troupes. Eurmal typically performs as the clown, whilst the half-brothers emphasise different styles of performance. Just as Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers expanded geographically into Prax by including Waha, so Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses complements this with the inclusion of Erithia. Again, her coverage is more detailed as she fulfils a similar to Ernalda in Prax and her worship is widespread across the region. Ty Kora Tek, the Goddess of the Dead and Underworld, is an interesting addition for older Player Character Earth worshippers, whilst there is a pleasing nod to Apple Lane and its lone temple, with inclusion of Uleria, the Goddess of Love.
In addition to the many entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses which will be familiar, there are many that are not. For example, the Cult of the Bloody Tusk, the god of the Tusk Riders, which again expands upon information in the Glorantha Bestiary as well as the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack, is included, but really only for NPCs, as it comes with the advice that Tusk Riders are not suitable as a Player Characters and no details of the Cult of the Bloody Tusk initiates are given, preventing their creation. Perhaps the strangest inclusion is that of Pamalt, the Earth-King of Pamaltela, the southern continent of Glorantha. There is no denying that it is an interesting read, but given the roleplaying game’s focus upon the northern continent and Dragon Pass, its inclusion is not of immediate use. Other cults in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses include Asrelia, the Goddess of Wealth and Fortune, as important to miners as protecting the collected harvest; the volcano twins Caladra and Aurelion; the Grain Goddesses, the regional Goddesses of the Land; and Voria, the Spring Virgin. These last few are better suited for NPC use rather than for Player Characters, but they add setting detail in each case.
Physically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess is very well written and presented, but needs a slight edit here and there. As with the earlier Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and the Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, what stands out is the quality of the artwork, which begins with its cover and its depiction of Ernalda. In comparison to the majestic imposition of power in the depiction of Orlanth on the cover of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, that of Ernalda on the cover of this book is all poise and assurance. The power of the Earth goddesses are instead saved for the energetic, even manic illustrations of Babeestor Gor and Maran Gor. In many of the illustrations there is a sense of embracing warmth, but whatever the nature of the gods and goddesses depcted in the volume, the artwork is uniformly excellent.
Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess continues the series’ options for the players and their characters in terms of who and what they want to play and what gods they want their characters to embody, providing them with the background and the details to do so and the Game Master to also make interesting NPCs. There are perhaps more options for the latetr than the former in Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess, but all of the entries add background detail and flavour to the world of Glorantha. Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess is the second essential book in the series for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, complementing Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers with connections between their respective pantheons as well as expanding upon the information, background, and options for the Earth goddesses.
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An unboxing video of Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses is available to watch on Unboxing in the Nook.

 My favorite game I never get to play? Easy.

C. J. Carella's WitchCraft.

I love everything about this game and I never ever get to play it.  I think the last time was at Gen con maybe 10-12 years ago.

It was my inspiration behind Ghosts of Albion and NIGHT SHIFT. Neither of those games would have been made if it had not been for WitchCraft.

I can't even adequately put into words what this game means to me. Only the AD&D Monster Manual comes close.

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.

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One of the perennial contributors to Free RPG Day is Paizo, Inc., a publisher whose titles for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game have proved popular and often in demand long after the event. Since 2018, with the release of Starfinder: Skitter Shot, these adventures have showcased the adventures of four of the cheerfully manic, gleefully helpful, vibrantly coloured, six-armed and furry creatures known as Skittermanders—Dakoyo, Gazigaz, Nako, and Quonx. For Free RPG Day 2023, Paizo, Inc. introduces new Player Characters and a new situation in the scenario, Operation Seaside Park. The scenario is designed to be played by five Player Characters of Third Level. Five pre-generated Player Characters, none of them diminutive as in prior scenarios for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game released for Free RPG Day. Alternatively, players can create their own characters using the core rulebook for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, the Starfinder Character Operations Manual, and any of the playable options from the various volumes of the Starfinder Alien Archive.

Operation Seaside Park takes place on the hot, humid world of Castrovel. It begins with the Player Characters receiving a message from their employers or patrons, each alerting them to news that an unidentified spaceship has crashed on the world and they have been assigned to investigate. The crash site is a closed down amusement park, which gives the situation a rundown feel and sense of abandonment. Once the Player Characters have introduced themselves, they have to find a way into the amusement park and locate the actual crash site. The one route into the park which is detailed is via the maintenance tunnels under the park, though the Player Characters will find themselves stalked by aliens... Although other means of entry into the amusement park, including scaling the fence or picking the lock on the game, ideally, they should take the route underground since the encounters there add both tension and action in equal measure. If the Player Characters decide not to enter the maintenance tunnels first time, they should be encouraged to do so, possibly by their patrons, in order to deal with the threat at the heart of the scenario.

Once inside the amusement park, the Player Characters soon encounter a variety of different, but somehow connected aliens, which will not hesitate to attack. After that, they will quickly locate the site of the crashed starship. The rest of the scenario takes place aboard this vessel. Consisting of nine locations, the wreck of the starship is nicely detailed and there is a tension to even the exploration of these nine locations! Overall, the scenario focuses on exploration and combat rather than interaction.

Rounding out Operation Seaside Park is a quintet of pre-generated Player Characters. This consists of a robotic Agenda SRO Trooper Soldier, the avian Espraksa Wild Warden Mystic, Morlamaw Icon Envoy (space walrus!), Feychild Gnome Mercenary Operative 3, and a Human Guard Solarian 3. All five are good characters and have enough background for the single scenario that is Operation Seaside Park.
Physically, Operation Seaside Park is well presented. The artwork is good, but the cartography is excellent. In terms of content, the scenario includes a good mix of aliens for the Player Characters to face and provides a good mix of combat and exploration. Overall, Operation Seaside Park is a solid adventure that does a good job of showing off the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.