Outsiders & Others
Friday Fantasy: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache
Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache is all about lost love and broken hearts, in the case of the latter, literally. As opposed Valentine’s Day Module: Love in the Age of Gongfarmers, which was all about finding and celebrating love. The set-up to Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache is that Olathvee, Mad Un-God of mortal passion—who is detailed in The Book of Fallen Gods—has had his heart broken. His romantic overtures to a would-be patron god, a sorceress on the path to her own divinity, have been resoundingly rebuffed and he has fallen into despair and despondency. Being a god, these feelings and emotions have had repercussions. His wretchedness and woe has spread throughout the cosmos, from world to world, breaking up one relationship after another, until no partner can stand the sight of the other, and so threatening to end civilisation within a generation because of the birds and the bees.
The scenario begins with the Player Characters being invited to Castle Heartache. There his seneschal, Sanguecaldo, asks them to help restore the Mad Un-God’s broken heart. So almost like ‘The Key to Time’ storyline of Season Sixteen of Doctor Who, the Player Characters must search for its constituent parts and bring them all together and so repair not just Olathvee’s heart, but everyone’s heart across the entire cosmos. Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache takes place inside the lower levels of the castle, the upper levels being accessible, but not of any particular interest or relevance. These lower levels are a demi-plane, a reflection of the Mad Un-God which has been twisted and altered by his current melancholy—as to an extent, will the Player Characters. The resulting dungeon is short, consisting of just thirteen locations, and if not a physical reflection of Olathvee’s heart, then at least a weirdly thematic one. Rooms and locations are themed around tears, memories, misplaced desire, sorrows drowned, and poetry. The locations are each described in some detail, the majority of them involving interaction and roleplaying along with opportunities for combat and puzzle solving. The latter as well as several of the other locations will require some patience upon the part of the players and their characters, and certainly in the case of the puzzle, a knowledge of classic literature.
In addition, Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache includes what are either the worst Valentine’s Day cards or ones that the recipient really needs to have an understanding sense of humour upon being given. There is also an afterword from the author in which he explains how the adventure came about, drawing deeply, if (thankfully) humorously, from his own experiences with love and loneliness. A fair warning though, if the Judge has got that far and it is likely that she has, there is a shocking photograph of the author, one which really only his wife needed to see. Thankfully, he is not clutching a rose in his teeth by the stem. That might have been too much.
Physically, Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache is as decently done as you would expect for a title for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. It is lightly illustrated in a cheesy style and the map is fine. It needs a slight edit in places, but is otherwise easy to read.
Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache is a mini-dungeon or adventure that can be played in a single session or two. If the players can overcome their cynicism and engage with its themes drowning in the tears of the lovelorn and the lachrymose, Holiday Module #12: Love Mutants of Castle Heartache gives the players and their characters the opportunity to overcome its forlorn fantasy, set things right and return love to the world!
Kickstart Your Weekend: Demons! Classes! Adventure! and Mice!
Lots for you this week. All worth your time to look into.
Demonology For Old-School Essentials - Zinequest 5
We always need more demons. While I do have my own I have been using for a while now this will be a welcome addition to my OSE library.
Kibbles' Compendium of Legends and Legacies
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kibblestasty/kibbles-compendium-of-legends-and-legacies?ref=theothersideI am still supporting third-party 5e folk. I am sure they panicked when the OGL fiasco broke, so I am here to boost their signal. Still looks like a lot of fun.
After Winter Dark: Aihrde A Fantasy Campaign Setting
How do I love thee Castles & Crusades? Let me count the ways. Wait, that will take too long. Instead I'll just back this new book!
I mean this just looks so cool, and I have been dying to do something that I have been calling "endless Winter" in my mind. Maybe this is it?
Escape from Undergarden - RPG Adventure for 5e D&D
Another adventure and it looks like a lot of fun. I will admit a certain level of dissatisfaction with some of the D&D 5 adventures of late. This one looks like it could turn that trend around. Of course I would run it under Castles & Crusades now.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peterelroy/feathertail-falls?ref=theotherside
Ok now this one looks like a lot of fun. From the creator:
This adventure collection is a mouse-fantasy tabletop role playing game that builds on the free Mausritter rules, a deceptively simple system perfectly suited for mouse-sized expeditions. The collection’s adventurous yet melancholy tone is inspired by Over the Garden Wall, Hilda and Studio Ghibli’s Arrietty, as well as the art of Júlia Sardà.The adventures take place in Feathertail Forest, a place little mice pups may know from bedtime stories, about mice that dream to fly. When you start to explore it, you will find that the unwelcoming forest has been petrified in time. It is up to you to decide if and how to reawaken it, and how to deal with the consequences as you discover more of the forest's secrets.
This would be great for the right group!
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So much great stuff and so little time and money.
Friday Filler: Fluxx Remixx
The core gameplay is simple. On his turn, a player draws one card and plays one card. His aim is to have two cards called Keepers in play, in front of him, which match the Keepers mentioned on the Goal card currently in play. For example, the ‘Squishy Chocolate’ Goal requires the ‘Sun’ and ‘Chocolate’ Keepers to be in front of a player for him to win, whilst the ‘Brain (No TV)’ Goal needs the player to have the ‘Brain’ Keeper in front of him and nobody to have the ‘TV’ Goal in front of them. Fluxx being as old as it is means that the game has become familiar to many players. An old standby that is easily remembered and brought to play. Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is designed not to be familiar. Its game play remains the same as the original 1997 version, but the Keepers have been reimagined to provide the players with a whole new set of unfamiliar challenges as well as a whole new rule and set of cards. Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is designed to be played by two to six players, aged eight and up, with a game lasting between five and thirty minutes. The game consists of one hundred cards, divided into five types. These are New Rule cards, Action cards, Keeper cards, Goal cards, and the new Surprise cards. All five card types are clearly designed, colour-coded by type, and easy to understand in play. Everything on the double-sided rules sheet is boldly presented and includes not just an ‘Exec Summary’ of what the game is, but also examples of a game in play and how the cards interact. Anyone who has played Fluxx before will be able to open up Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition and begin play with very little preparation. Anyone unfamiliar with Fluxx will really only need five minutes to read through and prepare the game for play.
The core card for the game is the ‘Basic Rules’. This tells the players to draw one card and play one card each turn. The yellow New Rule cards either replace a New Rule card in play or add a New Rule card to play. They include ‘Draw 2’, which changes the number of cards each player draws on his turn; ‘Play All’ means that every player has to play all of the cards in his hand on a turn; and ‘Card Transfusion’ enables every player to discard as many cards from his hand as he wants to and draw as many cards as he discarded. The blue coloured Action cards provide single actions a player can play and do on his turn. For example, ‘Draw 3, Play 2 of Them’ means that the player draws three cards, chooses two of them to play, and discards the third; ‘Trade Hands’ allows a player to swap his hand of cards with that of another player; and ‘Taskmaster’, which instructs the player to draw a number of cards equal to the number of player and assign one to each player face down, including himself. The players then reveal and play these cards in turn. The green Keeper cards include Dreams, Love, Peace, Chocolate, Cookies, Music, Moon, and more. The pink Goal cards are the winning conditions for the game. When there is one on the table, all of the players are either working to play Keeper which match the Goal or change the Goal to match the Keepers they have in play in front of them. The Keepers, though, are the biggest change in the new version of Fluxx. They give the players new winning objectives, ones different from the original version of the game, but still using the familiar Keepers. For example, ‘The Wedding’ Goal requires ‘Love’ and ‘The Party’ Keepers to win; ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ Goal requires ‘Music’ and ‘The Moon’ Keepers to win; and ‘All You Need is Love’ Goal requires ‘Love’ and no other Keepers in front of a player to win.
In addition, Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition adds a new card type. This is the Surprise card. Coloured purple, they are perhaps one of the most complex card types introduced to the game. This is because unlike the other four card types in the game, a Surprise card has not one play condition, but three! This is because a Surprise card can be played ‘Out of Turn’, ‘During your Turn’, and ‘At Any Time’. For example, if played ‘Out of Turn’, the ‘Cancelled Plans’ card forces a player to discard the Goal he just played, including if playing the Goal would mean he would win the game. If played ‘During your Turn’, they force the current Goal to be discarded and the other players to discard a Goal or other card in their hand. If played ‘At Any Time’, it cancels the effect of another Surprise as it is played. The ‘At Any Time’ option is common to all four Surprise cards in FFluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition. The Surprise cards increase the interaction between the players in a game already known for its high interaction between the players. Yet the relative complexity of the Surprise cards may mean that they are not suited for play by the younger audience for this game, but this should be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. That said, if the Surprise cards are removed, Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition still plays as Fluxx.
If there is an issue with Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition, it is that the cards do refer to a card type not actually present in this version—the Creeper. Originally introduced in Zombie Fluxx in 2007, this card type sits in front of a player and prevents him from winning, very likely increasing the length of game play. Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is a return to the original version of Fluxx, so the Creeper really does not warrant inclusion in its deck of cards. Mention of them here is likely to be confusing. On the other hand, mention of them is a nod to the fact that like many of the Fluxx sets, Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition can be integrated with many of the Fluxx variants.
In play, Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is random, chaotic, and frustrating, but nevertheless. It is all but impossible to plan from one turn to the next as the state and nature of the rules fluctuate and change. A player can go from almost winning to having to start again, not necessarily on his turn, but on the turns of the other players. Then again, a player can find himself the winner as the rule changes, cards have to be played, forcing the play of a Goal and Keeper in just the right combination. The new Surprise cards add a new element of interaction and complexity, but more of the former than the latter as they add to the chaos of play. Games can be really quick. A winner could be lucky in the very first round, but a typical game will last no more than twenty minutes. (That said, I have played in games that have lasted twice as long!)
Physically, Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is clearly and tidily presented. The Fluxx format is tried and tested and this variant is no exception. The card stock is not as glossy as in previous variants and it might be an idea to sleeve this one.
The original Fluxx did not have a theme and neither does Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition. Or rather, it does and it is a subtle one. The clue is in the title, Fluxx Remix because its theme is music and all of the goals are song titles. Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is as familiar and as fun as Fluxx was in 1997, simple to play, but still chaotic and enjoyably frustrating, with the addition of a new if quiet theme and a new card type for more interaction. Fluxx has always been a great filler game,Fluxx Remixx – Extra Chaos Edition is no exception.
#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 10
Room 10 is in the middle of this long hallway. This door is not only not locked, but the door is also slightly ajar.
There is a golden glow coming from this room. Inside the room is a shimmering portal. The portal connects this room to another room elsewhere. The elsewhere is much warmer, and the night time sky can be seen outside of large windows. The room seems to be in a palace in a desert somewhere.
Inside this larger-than-expected room (160' x 160' x 20' tall) are 10 large Constrictor Snakes that attack.
The snakes guard a treasure of 10,000 GP in gems. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. There are also three bags of gold worth 150 GP each.
The room has no other doors. The windows are 15' to 20' up. If the PCs climb (via any ropes they bring) they can see they are in a tower some 350' up from the desert floor below.
As the PCs leave the room back through the portal, it closes.
Witches to the Rescue
It is no secret. I really love witches and anything and everything to do with them.
It is also no secret that I used to be a pretty solid Potter-verse fan. I have read all the books, seen all the movies, been to the theme park, and played the mobile game. It was something fun I could do with my family, and we all enjoyed it.
And then, J.K. Rowling began to show her ugly side. I am not going to debate what she said here. Why? She is wrong, plain and simple, but I am not out there burning my Potter books (besides, burning books is a coward's move) I am just not supporting her and trying in my own small way not to popularize her. Trust me, I have no illusions about my effectiveness here.
So the new game coming out was going pass by these pages unremarked.
Then I saw this post on both Facebook and Twitter.
All of the profits that @JonGilmour, @SpenserStarke & I earn on DriveThruRPG this Friday for Kids on Brooms will be donated to charities supporting trans folks.
We want to make our love and support for the trans community clear every day—but especially this Friday.
And I realized that, yes, there is something I can do. I have a LOT more books about witches.
So. In solidarity with Kids on Brooms team and always in solidarity with the LGBTQI, but especially the trans community I will donate ALL profits from ALL my witch books starting at 12:00 am Midnight Friday, Feb 10, 2023 to 11:59 Sunday, Feb 12, 2023 to the Trevor Project.
So every book. Every profit. Even my newest one, Monster Mash.
Yeah, I know some will call this "Virtue Signaling," but I want to clarify where I stand and let others know what their purchases will do this weekend. Besides, calling out Virtue Signaling is just virtue signaling to other assholes. Don't like what I do here? I don't care. Get your own fucking blog and books and sell them how you like.
So pick up some books about witches this weekend. Go grab Kids on Brooms tomorrow and some of my stuff later. And avoid the Potter game.
#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 9
This room is up from Room #8 and is also locked.
Behind this door are three giant rats.
How they got in is anyone's guess, but now they are too large to leave and they are starving. There are the bones of many other smaller rats here, ones they have eaten prior to this.
Due to their hunger they gain +1 on initiatives and attacks. They also suffer a -1 penalty to their AC since they are not taking the time to guard themselves. Their morale is 12 and they will fight to the death.
There is no treasure in this room.
Converting D&D 5 to Castles & Crusades: Character Conversion
Like my last conversion, this is not going to be a full conversion but rather a character with a high concept. While the OGL kerfuffle has more or less died down into a steady state of noise, the issues brought up then are still good now. There are more games out there than just D&D5.
Today I am converting a major NPC of my Second Campaign to Castles & Crusades.
I have often said that Castles & Crusades is the spiritual descendent of AD&D, so let's see how that works out.
So in truth this one is likely to be very easy in terms of game system. The Second Campaign is made up of a lot of AD&D 1st ed and BECMI D&D adventures. Ones I enjoyed but were not part of the Gygaxian-cannon. Other adventures for it to help fill in some gaps are all solid OSR ones. So converting the actual adventures was something I had to do anyway to make them work for D&D 5e. Now I am converting them to Castles & Crusades and that conversion is so much easier.
The Second Campaign began, much like the Order of the Platinum Dragon/Come Endless Darkness, as an AD&D 1st Ed/OSRIC game and, for a brief moment, as a BECMI game. Over the years, it morphed into other things until it settled as a 5th Edition game.
The next adventures for this campaign have been fairly well decided:
The Desert of Desolation series:- I3 Pharoah (levels 5-7) (maps)
- I4 Oasis of the White Palm (levels 6-8) (maps)
- I5 Lost Tomb of Martek (levels 7-9) (maps)
- X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (levels 6-9)
- X5 Temple of Death (levels 6-10)
- I9 Day of Al'Akbar (8-10)
- Gary Gygax's Necropolis d20 / Swords & Wizardry / 5e (starting levels 7-9)
My NPC going along with the group then is a traveling scholar. I wanted her to be something of a magical dabbler, an occultist, and lore expert. Given the desert theme here I was thinking of someone like Rachel Weisz's character Evelyn Carnahan from the 1999 movie The Mummy. I
The Character: Celeste Holmes
Celeste is a character concept that has seen a few iterations over the years. This current Celeste is as much Charlie Bradbury from Supernatural as she is Evelyn Carnahan. There is also a bit of Poppy Kline in her from the Magicians series. Both characters, Charlie and Poppy, were played by Felicia Day, so it makes sense that she looks like her. Given the Basic-era roots of the character giving her the last name of Holmes seemed to be the right thing to do. Very recently I also remembered that Celeste, as she is presented in D&D 5 for me, is also a nod to "Lady Nyctasia Selesqe Rhaicime brenn Rhostshyl ar'n Edonaris" of the Silverglass series, a witch and noble who pretends to be a student and bard. I always pronounced her "middle" name, Selesqe, as "Celeste."
Also, Celeste is not the firepower of this group. She is the translator and the one who sets up the shield spells and figures out what monsters will attack or talk.
In D&D 5e Celeste is a Wizard/Bard multiclass. This gave her a lot of skills and some magic, but not as much as her level might suggest. She is not a combat character, so feats largely went to improving how many languages she knew.
She has 5 levels in Wizard (Order of Scribes from Unearthed Arcana then Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) and 1 in Bard (College of Lore). Again to get a few more cantrips and 1st level spells, but mostly for the skills. I see her Bardic inspiration as being able to urge the team on with her pep talks.
What would she be like in Castles & Crusades?
Castles & Crusades has a lot of "multiclass" options, and they would all work for her. But there is one I think is suited to her concept the best. Celeste is a "Class and a Half."
I mean, it fits her concept well, and it is a uniquely Castles & Crusades option. She is a 5th-level Wizard/1st-level Bard, so in C&C Class-and-a-half, that will make her a 5th-level Wizard, giving her 2nd level in Bard (main class divided by 2 and rounded down).
She would need more experience points than a Wizard alone. So Wizard plus 1/2 of Bard per level.
She gets all the same powers, spells, and abilities of a Wizard here, plus some bard. The C&C Bard is not a spellcasting one, but they get some powers. The half-class bard does not get the Fascinate or the Exhort Greatness powers. Exhort Greatness is a 9th-level power, so it would not be an issue until she is 18th level anyway, and by then, I am sure she will have plenty of spells. The Fascinate one is a loss, but one I can deal with, to be honest. I really wanted the Legend Lore, Dechpire Scripts, and Exhalt powers. This also gives her slightly better HD and hp; d10 for the bard and d4 for the wizard gives us a d6 and +2 after "name" level.
Wizard pretty much stays the same. Spells and some other cool stuff at higher levels.
Honestly, the concept is so much fun I do want to try other class and half combinations. But that is for another time. I have to look for a way for her to be able to speak all the languages I want her to be able to speak. In D&D 5e she can speak Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elvish, Infernal, and Primordial, thanks to Linguist Feat. Her Intelligence is 19 so that is +3 languages in addition to "common." Thankfully the C&C rules are pretty open here. There are options from Amazing Adventures I could borrow from. For example, sacrifice a level for the ability to speak a lot of languages. I am not sure how to do it yet, but I know there is a way. Actually, there are a few ways I can think of. She could be Powered 1 (for the languages) and then the Wizard 5/Bard 2 which would give her the 6 total levels she has in D&D5. Hmm. I think I will try that combination at a future date. Today I want to concentrate on the Class and a Half today.
Moving over to C&C from D&D5 is simple. So simple I went back to my C&C PHB just to ensure I did it all right. Yup. Everything looked good.
Celeste Holmes
Human Wizard (Bard) 5/2 LG
STR: 12 (+0)
DEX: 13 (+1)
CON: 16 (+2)
INT: 19 (+3) *P (wizard)
WIS: 15 (+1) *P (choice)
CHA: 16 (+2) *P (bard)
AC: 11 (no armor)
HP: 23 (HD d6)
BtH: +1
Weapons: Dagger, Staff
Class Abilities
Wizard (5th): Spells and spellcasting, bonus spells
Bard (2nd): Decipher Script (Int), Exalt (Int), Legend Lore (Cha)
Spells
Cantrips (5): Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Light, Mage Hand, Message
1st level (4+1): Burning Hands, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Identify, Magic Missile
2nd level (2+1): Locate Object, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shatter
3rd level (1+1): Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Tongues
Details
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 129 lbs
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Hair: Red
Eyes: Brown
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Saves are largely the same in D&D5, and C&C. Primes help cover that. The spells are also very much the same drawing from the same sources. Weapons, armor, and the like are all virtually identical. Alignment and classes have the same names and work largely the same.
So yes, I am quite pleased with this build, and I am eager to try other class-and-a-half combinations. With just the Players Handbook alone, I can see about 150 possible combinations. Less when you remove ones that don't actually work out, but still, that is a lot to try.
To extend my Felicia Day/Charlie Bradbury reference a step further, the D&D 5 version of Celeste is Charlie in the "normal" world and the C&C version of her is Charlie from the Apocalypse World.
Edited to add: I was reminded that there is an official D&D 5 to C&C conversion document. Get is here for free.
#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 8
Moving on from Room 6 down the hallway the characters will come up to Room #8 on the right. Note: All rooms are on the right-hand side of this hall.
Special Note: Dwarf characters will notice a slight downward slope to this hallway as well. It parallels the halls above them.
The lock on this door is very difficult with an extra 5% penalty above and beyond the penalty for other locks here. The zombies attack as soon as someone steps into the room.
Inside this cell are 1d4+1 Zombies in terrible shape. Each only has 2 hp due to how long they have been here but are fast due to all the necromantic energies they have absorbed. They turn as Ghouls and can attack at any point in the turn per normal initiative. They also have +1 to hit.
Their XP is the same as regular zombies due to their low hp.
They guard a small chest of 500 sp. Obviously left by other adventurers and not the original prisoners of this cell.
Updates on the Liquidation Sale
Russian Amazons.
These are the last of the Russian made figures I was able to buy off of ebay before the war started and all the Russian sellers got kicked off. A few Russian sellers are back on ebay but they are listed as operating out of Albania. Imagine that.
Some of the figures are made to be classic greek style Amazons and others are just female Viking style warriors.
Publius classic Amazons.
Viking Women
Scale Shots.
Miskatonic Monday #175: Host and Hostility
Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is published via the Miskatonic Repository, Chaosium, Inc.’s community content programme for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Unlike the pair of scenarios in Regency Cthulhu, the trilogy are not designed for group play, but rather one-on-one player, with a single Investigator and the Keeper. They are designed to be run in a single session each, all have a female Investigator as the protagonist, and are in parts heavily influenced by both Austen’s own fiction and the gothic mysteries that were then in vogue. The set-up is simple. Three young ladies, all of marriageable age, have entered into the Season in 1812 in Brighton in order to themselves a good husband. They are Miss. Janitra Chatterjee, Miss. Marina Garrick, and Miss. Georgiana Dillwyn, and each is of different temperament. In turn they are a social meddler and matchmaker, a spirited and frank outdoorswoman, and an intelligent, passionate reader of books, respectively. They are also, in turn, based upon the protagonists of Jane Austen’s Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. Full Investigator sheets are provided for each and although different, they all designed to be played with the three scenarios in the anthology. A player could simply choose one of the three to play through all three scenarios, play a different one for each scenario, or choose one and keep the other two as eminently marriageable replacements should the first have unfortunate cause to die under mysteries circumstances or be scandalously confined to the nearby infamous Bedlam hospital! Whatever way the trilogy is used, the Investigator is staying in Brighton as the guest of family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton, and as the Season draws to a close, attends a public ball at the Assembly Rooms where she will receive invitations that involve three eligible men. Which invitation she accepts determines which scenario the Keeper runs, for all three men have secrets to hide and plans to enact—and they all involve the Cthulhu Mythos.
Inspired by the real-life medical case of James Tilly Matthews, ‘Loom and Lucidity’ opens with an invitation from a handsome naval captain with an oddly mysterious past. Scandal threatens the Investigator almost from the start when Lord Cosgrove, about to utter some truths about the man, drops dead at her feet! Nothing seems quite right at Captain King’s London soirée as evening turns odder and odder until the attendees are begin acting in a decidedly strange manner. ‘Loom and Lucidity’ is a short affair which in parts echoes the influences of the Yellow King, but instead combines the sciences, technology, and fears of the period to expose—literally—the Investigator to radical thought. The end does feel mechanical in nature and the outcome of the scenario, certainly in regard to what happens to the NPCs afterwards, is not explored as fully as it could be. It does include some interesting NPCs for Keeper to portray, notably the scenario’s villains, who surprisingly, are not insane, but merely radical! This does not stop them from being villains though, but they would be suitable to return appearance in a future scenario if they managed to escape.
Where ‘Loom and Lucidity’ combined Science Fiction horror with period radicalism, ‘Curate and Curability’ combines classic Lovecraftian horror with classic gothic melodrama. In this scenario, the suitor is the Reverend Henry Mortimer, a widower who recently lost his wife, who invites the Investigator to stay with him and his sister. The vicarage though is dusty and uncared for, perhaps a sign of the reverend’s grief, perhaps something more. There are odd signs about the house that something amiss, which perhaps crystalise when the Investigator sees a ghost in the churchyard! Could the house be haunted by the ghost of the reverend’s late wife? This scenario is linear in nature, although there is room for the Investigator to make enquiries and snoop about, and again, mechanical in terms of handling its denouement. This one is much more physical and combative in nature and the Keeper will need to be conversant with the Chase rules for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Overall, the scenario has a nice sense of loneliness and another presence in the house, as well as a certain ghoulishness, but again, does not really fully address what happens if the Investigator escapes the Reverend’s clutches and wants to do something about him.
In the third and last of the anthology’s scenarios, ‘Note and Notoriety’, the Investigator is invited a ball hosted by renowned aristocrat Sir Jasper d’Ulfrey. It promises to be a lavish affair, and will end with the performance of a new dance that the baronet has devised! What promises to be an exciting night, culminating fireworks, turns out to be so for all the wrong reasons. Sir Jasper’s demeanour veers between the oddly distracted and the oddly excitable, only coming alive when talking of the new dance which is due to take place in the ballroom under a ceiling newly painted with stars. Meanwhile his aunt looks on with disdain, likely to relate the strange family history as dismiss the Investigator out of hand, and Sir Jasper’s cousin, Harriet’s infatuation may lead her into folly and ruin. Then at heart of the family estate is a maze which has an otherworldly feel to it… There is a certain heady rush to the events of ‘Note and Notoriety’, the plot lightly tripping forward to a momentous event liked to the d’Ulfrey family history. This has the feel of more classic Call of Cthulhu scenario and it does a better job of dealing with its possible aftermath and in giving the Investigator multiple methods of foiling its plot.
One similarity that the three scenario shares is the procedurally mechanical nature of their final scenes. This would be less of an issue if there was more than the single Investigator involved as it would lessen the chance of complete failure upon the player’s, and thus the Investigator’s part. A way around that would be to have a companion accompany the Investigator, perhaps a chaperone and one of the other two pre-generated Investigators given in the anthology, portrayed by another player. However, there is no advice provided to that end in Host and Hostility, and only ‘Note and Notoriety’ has any advice on running it with more the single Investigator. Otherwise, the player had better be prepared to spend some Luck in completing any one of the three scenarios.
Host and Hostility comes with a lengthy set of appendices. In turn, these provide a further glossary to add to that of Regency Cthulhu, a description of Brighton during the period, reprints of the handouts, and an Investigator sheet each for Miss. Janitra Chatterjee, Miss. Marina Garrick, and Miss. Georgiana Dillwyn. However, these are only the fronts of each sheet and the Keeper and her player may want to develop the content on the back. The scenarios are themselves well written, the various NPCs decently presented, including roleplaying notes.
Physically, Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is genially and genteelly presented. Period-style artwork is used throughout and both the handouts and the maps have a suitably period feel. Although the anthology occasionally includes the manipulated portrait, one engaging touch is that where the outré does occur it is always depicted in a style akin to that of the cartoon satirist, James Gilray. It appropriately undermines the sobriety of Host and Hostility as much as the Mythos does society. Also enjoyable is the silhouette of bonneted member of the Great Race of Yith!
On one level, the title of Host and Hostility is a delightful play on words, highlighting the difficulty and unnatural natures of each of the places where the Investigator is invited to stay. On another, it is an exercise in misogamy, since any one of the three scenarios is likely to put the Investigator off the idea of marriage—let alone the player! Overall, Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is congenial trilogy of one-on-one scenarios for Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England, their engaging plots and menaces all superbly supported and presented in period style.
A Grave Future
The Fall that brought about the end of humanity was generations ago. Who knows how long? Most were lost in the balls of nuclear fire that blossomed around the world and then by the biological and chemical agents which ravaged the remainder, followed by disease and starvation. The survivors and their children and their children only lived because they were infected by a fungus, one that mutated into different strains until those infected were different from one strain to the next and they were definitely not human. Some were closer to the zombies which arose from the dead, though they retained a spark of intelligence and even what might be called humanity. Others have mastered the powers of the mind. Whilst the Infection, as the fungus which infects everyone and everyone is known, enables the different Strains to survive the new world, it is far from a safe world. Areas are still poisoned by radiation and other agents from the Fall, the Fungus has also mutated animals and plants, the dead can still rise as zombies or zeds, and towns, settlements, and trade caravans can be attacked by raider clans, cannibalistic scavengers who spread the Bad Brain disease, which turns those it infects and kills into yet more raiders of those clans! Yet there is hope. The survivors of Nor’Merica—and particular, the Nor’East—are rebuilding, recovering old technology and inventing new ones. There are ways to generate electricity, but it is always in short supply. Travel is possible via trade caravans which wend their way between the fortified settlements of the Wastes as well as by sea. Yet there is another strangeness to the Infection. The Grave Mind. Death is not the end. When a Survivor does return from the dead, they often come back having had deeply strange personal experiences… And the more often a Survivor is killed and returns from the Grave Mind, the more of his personal connections with the world are lost.
This is the setting for Dystopia Rising: Evolution, the Post Apocalypse roleplaying game from Onyx Path Publishing. Originally published as Dystopia Rising by Eschaton Media in 2011, the new edition was published in 2019 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. It employs the Storypath system, a simpler and streamlined version of the earlier Storyteller system designed for slightly cinematic, effect driven play, each player able to turn his character’s actions into stunts. The core rulebook includes everything necessary to play—rules for character generation, the Storypath system, the dangers of the wastes, factions and secret societies, faith and belief, psionics, descriptions of the Nor’East, an introductory scenario, and advice for the Storyguide as the Game Master is known.
A Player Character in Dystopia Rising: Evolution has nine Attributes—Intellect, Cunning, Resolve, Might, Dexterity, Stamina, Presence, Manipulation, and Composure; several of the roleplaying game’s sixteen skills plus Skill Tricks and Specialities associated with those skills; and Edges, Paths, and Aspirations. Both Attributes and Skills are rated between one and five. A Speciality provides an enhancement when using it, for example, ‘Knifework’ for the Close Combat skill or ‘Wound Treatment’ for the Medicine skill, whilst Skill Tricks can add more dice to a roll, increase scale of what a character can do, change the Target Number for an action, or provide a free Stunt, for example, ‘Born to Ride’ for Pilot skill or ‘Bomb Awareness’ for the Lore skill. Dystopia Rising: Evolution includes examples of three for each skill, but encourages the Storyguide and players to create their own. Either way, it costs of point of Momentum to activate a Skill Trick. Edges are the equivalent of advantages, and for certain characters can be Faith or Psi Edges. A Player Character has three Paths. His Strain Path represents his history and strain of humanity, as well as his Strain Condition; his Role Path is his occupation or what he is good at; and his Society Path represents his connection to a group or society. The Strain Condition represents a situation or response—whether by the Survivor or to the Survivor—which will penalise his actions. In some cases, it is possible to overcome a Strain Condition, at least temporarily, but with others it is impossible. For example, one of the five pre-generated characters has the Strain Path of Vegasian, which means she is flamboyant and an entertainer, and consequently, the Strain Condition of ‘Born Coward’, meaning she is not always trusted and suffers the complication of Shifty; the Role Path of Scoundrel, good at deceiving others and relieving them of their money; and the Society Path of Black Market. In play, Paths are avenues of progress for Survivors, but also storytelling tools that the Storyguide can pull a player and Survivor into the ongoing story of a scenario or campaign. Aspirations are a character’s goals and are either short or long term.
At the heart of a Survivor is a Strain. Dystopia Rising: Evolution presents eight Strains—Devoted, Elitariat, Evolved, Gorgers, Landsmen, Mutants, Nomads, and Townies. These are further divided into three Lineages to provide a total of twenty-four base archetypes upon which to base a character. For example, the Devolved Strain include the unbreakable Irons, the strong Reclaimers, and the Unstable who are capable of controlling psionicists and the undead. Not all of the Strains get on with each other, but what Dystopia Rising: Evolution makes clear is that they are very much not the equivalent of race. Further, it also makes clear that the post apocalypse of the Fall means that the Survivors have transcended the negative attitudes of humanity from before.
To create a Survivor, a player devises a concept and then selects a Strain Path, Role Path, and Society Path. Each Path provides dots or points to assign to associated skills. Plus, the player has another six to freely assign. Depending upon the rating of the skills, a Survivor can also have a Skill Trick and a Speciality. He has three pools of points to assign to his Survivor’s Attributes to the three Arenas they divided into—Mental, Physical, and Social. Lastly, the Survivor receives all of the associated Edges and gear from the Paths.
Name: Mortlake
Strain: Devoted – Unborn (Condition: Not Like the Others)
SKILLS
Academics 0, Athletics 0, Close Combat 1, Culture 0, Empathy 1, Firearms 0, Integrity 1, Leadership 0, Lore 3 (Grave Mind Expert), Medicine 3 (Medical Genius), Persuasion 1, Pilot 0, Science 1, Subterfuge 0, Survival 2, Technology 0
ATTRIBUTES
Force – Intellect 3 Might 1 Prescence 1
Finesse – Cunning 4 Dexterity 3 Manipulation 3
Resilience – Resolve 2 Stamina 1 Composure 3
PATHS
Strain: Devoted – Unborn 1
Role: Sawbones
Society: Psionicists’ Guild
ASPIRATIONS
Short: To rescue his mentor
Short: To find work as a sawbones
Long: To explore the Grave Mind
EDGES
Acute Sense 1
Meditation 1
Mentor 1
Psionicist 3 (Death Shroud, Whispered Insight, Borrowed Memories)
Skilled Healer 2
Unshakable Devotion
GEAR
Bandages, Healing Herbs, Shiv
Mechanically, Dystopia Rising: Evolution employs the Storypath system. The core mechanic uses dice pools of ten-sided dice, typically formed from the combination of a skill and an attribute, for example Pilot and Dexterity to sail a boat, Survival and Stamina to cross a wilderness, and Persuasion and Manipulation to unobtrusively get someone to do what a character wants. These skill and attribute combinations are designed to be flexible, with a character’s preferred method described as a character’s Favoured Approach. So, a character whose Favoured Approach is Force, would use Close Combat and Might in a melee fight; if Finesse, Close Combat and Dexterity; and if Resilience, then Close Combat and Stamina.
The aim when rolling, is to score Successes, a Success being a result of eight or more. Rolls of ten are added to the total and a player can roll them again. A player only needs to roll one Success for a character to complete task, but will want to roll more. Not only because Successes can be used to buy off Complications—ranging between one and five—but also because they can be used to buy Stunts which will impose Complications for others, create an Enhancement for another action, or one that it makes it difficult to act against a character. Some Stunts cost nothing, so ‘Inflict Damage’ costs nothing, though may cost more if the enemy is wearing soft armour, a ‘Critical Hit’ costs four Stunts, and so on. Instead of adding to the number of dice rolled, equipment used adds Enhancements or further Successes for a player to expend, but the player needs to roll at least one Success for equipment to be effective.
Under the Storypath system, and thus in Dystopia Rising: Evolution, failure is never complete. Rather, if a player does not roll any Successes, then he receives a Consolation. This can be a ‘Twist of Fate’, which reveals an alternative approach or new information; a ‘Chance Meeting’ introduces a new helpful NPC; or an ‘Unlooked-for Advantage’, an Enhancement which can be used in a future challenge. Alternatively, a character gains Momentum which can be expended to gain an Enhancement or to activate a Skill Trick or an Edge.
The rules in Dystopia Rising: Evolution cover narrative and dramatic scale, combat—players roll an appropriate Resilience Attribute to generate Successes to be expended on Defensive Stunts, and procedurals such as information gathering, intrigue, influence, and so on. These are all clearly explained and all easy to use in play. In general, the Storypath system is clearly presented and quick to pick up and have a cinematic quality to them, especially with the availability of Stunts and Consolations in the face of failure. The rules specific to Dystopia Rising: Evolution also cover what you would expect in a post-apocalyptic setting—food and water, the dangers of dehydration, weather and radiation, diseases from Bad Brain Disease to Necrosis, scavenging and crafting, and so on.
In addition, neither death nor disability marks the end of a Survivor in Dystopia Rising: Evolution. In the case of the latter, there is discussion of and rules for continuing to play a disabled Survivor, including with the use of assistive devices. Indeed, one of the pre-generated Survivors is depicted as being in an armoured wheelchair and equipped with armoured leg braces. In the case of the former, there is a chance that the Survivor will return anew, the fungus that infects him, breaking down his corpse, and rebuilding it to reappear at a settlement’s Morgue, a site enhanced by psionic crystals, a few days later, memories intact, wounds repaired, but emotional attachments stripped away. If this occurs too often the Survivor may come back as a Zed, a true zombie. It is also possible to actually walk among the Zeds undetected with the Necrokinesis psionic influence, and even reach into the Grave Mind ask questions of it. Other psionic influences are more traditional, for example, Pyrokinetics and Telekinetics.
In terms of setting, Dystopia Rising: Evolution adds factions, a bestiary of strange creatures and things locations, and more across the Nor’East. The factions include genre classics like the bounty hunters of the Lone Star Rangers and the postmen of the Post Walkers of the Postal Service, but also those particular to the setting, such as the Road Crew which scouts out locations for the ‘Guts N Bolts’ racing tournaments, the Psionicists’ Guild—the acceptable face of psionics, and the Priests of the Sound, whose members have the blueprints of radio equipment tattooed on their skin and are zealously dedicated to building radio networks. There are secret societies too, like the Black Market, the Dead Sight Society dedicated to the eradication of psionicists, Murder, Inc, the Servants of the Undying which holds that the Grave Mind is the path to immortality, and more. Add to this a variety of different faith and churches, such as the Church of Darwin and The Nuclear Family, and the Story Guide has a rich source of background and potential NPCs to build upon. The various faiths and their churches are actually more detailed than the other organisations. This is partly because faith can play a key role in the future of Dystopia Rising: Evolution and of the Survivors, especially if a Survivor adheres to a particular creed and backs this up with Faith related Edges. Although Dystopia Rising: Evolution is a not a supernatural roleplaying game and its zombies are not the zombies of classic horror, the use of some Faith Edges push the game in that direction if only slightly.
There is good advice for the Storyguide on running Dystopia Rising: Evolution, from adjusting the tone of the post-apocalypse to bringing the world to life, presenting hard questions and hard choices in play and dealing with difficult players, and more. In some ways it feels familiar, but this does not stop it from good advice. Specific advice is given on how to manage the Grave Mind in play since it is intended to be a traumatic experience for the Survivor. The background hints at the horrifying nature of the Fall, before going on to emphasis the efforts to made to rebuild civilisation, hold off the raider clans, and the wariness of over expanding and exploring too far, the Midwest having become dominated by a spreading mass of trees and foliage that is home to a vast array of mutant animals and creatures. The base setting is that of Philly del Phia, which is described in some details, as are parts of Old York. The rest of the Nor’East is described in broader details and the rest of the world in details broader still. These are areas for the Storyguide to develop. Rounding out Dystopia Rising: Evolution is ‘Let the Dead Lie’, an introductory scenario for the setting which takes place in Philly del Phia. It is a two-session affair which sees the Survivors investigating the death of the brother of an NPC who has suspicions that something is amiss following his own return from the Grave Mind. It should introduce the players to the core aspects of the setting and serve as the starting point for a campaign.
Physically, Dystopia Rising: Evolution is cleanly and tidily presented. It is done in full colour, often with a rust-streaked palette. If there is an issue with Dystopia Rising: Evolution it is that the character generation is not as easy as it could be. Not from a mechanical process, but a conceptual one. Putting together a Survivor means looking at a lot of options and trying to work out what works with what. In preparing a campaign of Dystopia Rising: Evolution, the Storyguide may want to work through some concepts before presenting them to her players.
Dystopia Rising: Evolution is an engaging entry into the post-apocalyptic genre. It shifts the zombie apocalypse in a different direction, dangerous and intriguing, of course making zombies the threat, but also pushing the Player Characters ever closer and right up to that line where they too might be considered zombies themselves. And while the aim of the roleplaying game—like any other—is not necessarily to die, the Grave Mind suggests that there is something more to dying than simple oblivion. As with Onyx Path Publishing roleplaying games, humanity remains at the forefront of the roleplaying game and in Dystopia Rising: Evolution, retaining is about not losing it to the Grave Mind, protecting the community, rebuilding civilisation, and holding off the dangers which threaten from beyond the Wastelands. Dystopia Rising: Evolution is a roleplaying game about still being human even if the body and the mind has evolved, sometimes to the point of near undeath, and it is superbly with an interesting array of character options for the players and a richly detailed background for the players and Storyguide.
Tea, Cake, & Adventure
However, the Verdant Isles are not entirely free of troubles and mysteries. Such as they are, they are not grand troubles and mysteries, but small intrigues and difficulties that upset or unbalance the calm and modesty, and take away the joy of everyday life across the Verdant Isles. It is some of these small troubles and mysteries that the Player Characters will investigate and sooth ruffled feathers—all helped by a nice hot cup of tea and a slice of cake—in Teatime Adventures: A Verdant Isles Roleplaying Game. Published by Snowbright Studios following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Teatime Adventures is an anthropomorphic roleplaying designed to be non-violent, identity and gender friendly, and compatible with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Thus, it does not have rules for combat or physical resolution, only the barest of suggestions—since it is considered incredibly rude, but it does include an extensive magic system, a gazetteer of the Verdant Isles, four adventures, and most importantly cake recipes galore, a suggested tea or each scenario, and a tea steeping guide!
A Player Character in Teatime Adventures: A Verdant Isles Roleplaying Game an Ancestry, six abilities, an Occupation, a Morale die, and an Astra Alignment. The six abilities are Bustle, Fidget, Vigour, Wits, Sensibility, and Personality, and they range in value from three to eighteen. An Occupation grants a Skill Bonus in three skills and a d8 Morale die or a Skill Bonus in one skill and a d10 Morale die. A Player Character’s Morale Points represents his motivation and will to continue. They can be lost through failure, sad situations, and discovering that you left that tray of scones in the oven for too long. They can be healed through magic, time, and roleplaying reflection. The Astra Alignment is really only important if the Player Character wants to use magic. Skills include Borrowing, Event Planning, Minding Details, Not Getting Lost, Random Facts, and Relish.
To create a character, a player selects an Ancestry, assigns an array to the abilities, and chooses an Occupation. However, deciding on an Occupation is slightly problematic since Teatime Adventures does not list any. Although the example Player Characters have Occupations such as Mason, Event Planner, and Mail Carrier, Teatime Adventures suggests that the Game Master and players work together to decide on their characters’ Occupations and suitable skills. It would have been useful if a list of suggested Occupations and their associated skills had been listed.
Otterlie
Ancestry: Hoptop
Occupation: Librarian
Level: 1
Bustle 10 (+0) Fidget 10 (+0) Vigour 12 (+1)
Wits 16 (+3) Sensibility 14 (+2) Personality 12 (+1)
Morale: 8 (d8)
Skills: The Arts +1, Borrowing +0, Charlatanism +1, Cooking +3, Daydreaming +3, Event Planning +1, Fauna Friendship +2, Flora Friendship +3, Focusing +2, Gardening +0, Labour +1, Local Lore +3, Minding Details +4, Not Getting Lost +2, Noticing +3, Random Facts +4, Relish +1, Snooping +2
Mechanically, Teatime Adventures is simple and straightforward. The Game Master sets the difficulty of a task and the appropriate skill, and the player rolls a twenty-sided die aiming to get a result equal to or greater than the difficulty, adding the skill value in the process. And that really is it to the base mechanics of Teatime Adventures and that is something of an issue with the roleplaying game. Just like the lack of suggestions for Occupations, there is no guidance on skill difficulties or what exactly constitutes a Morale loss and how much that loss might be. An experienced Game Master will have no issue with any of these problems, but Teatime Adventures is designed and written to attract an audience that does not want to embrace Dungeons & Dragons’ traditional focus on combat and ‘power fantasy’ and wants a roleplaying game that is LGBTQ+ and disability-friendly. This is undoubtedly a laudable aim and Teatime Adventures achieves this though the range of NPCs it includes who have their pronouns, details about how they identify and other information clearly presented. Yet if that the members of that audience have bounced off Dungeons & Dragons and similar roleplaying games because the aforementioned issues, the problem they will have is the lack of advice on running the Teatime Adventures, which conversely, Dungeons & Dragons, the roleplaying they do not want to play, actually has.
Where Teatime Adventures expands in terms of it mechanics. It has two types of magic—Kitchen Magic and Harmony Magic, but both are divided into five types of magic each aligned to the Astra. Kitchen Magic involves the casting of Innate spells or cantrips. For example, the Flourish Astra is all about growth and potential, and its Innate spells are Duplicate Food and Soil Check, whilst Twilight Astra is all about the edge of everyday life, hopes, and dreams, and its Innate spells are Beguile and Dim. Beyond that, Harmony Magic requires multiple participants to harmonise and cast a spell together. It is entirely in keeping with feel and tone of the setting, but Teatime Adventures completely undermines the concept. How it is works is that once the players have decided to cast a spell, they select harmony components necessary to cast it. For example, Snowfall has the components of Area, Cold, and Weather and the requirements of a cup of water and a smidge of soot. The players then add Harmony tokens to a pool face down on the table, the number based on their ability bonuses and Astra Alignment. Then against the clock, players flip the Harmony tokens and use them to match the Harmony component’s pattern on their mats. If this is done within the time limit, the spell is cast. It is a lovely idea, making spellcasting a weighty decision and part of play, but…
The section on Harmony magic in Teatime Adventures is a single page in length. The section on Harmony magic in Teatime Adventures is the first time anywhere in the roleplaying game that it is mentioned that physical components are required to play an aspect of the game. The section on Harmony magic in Teatime Adventures lacks an example of Harmony magic works. It is deeply frustrating that an intriguing system is so poorly, underwhelmingly treated in this fashion. It leaves the Game Master to try and interpret how it works on her own, and ultimately, the easiest and simplest solution, is to replace it with another magic system, which what the authors suggest as an alternative.
If the mechanics are underwhelming and poorly explained, where Teatime Adventures: A Verdant Isles Roleplaying Game comes into its own is in describing its setting. The world of The Verdant Isles is described in loving detail and flavour, covering their origins, the nature of the Astra, its holidays and festivals enjoyed by all, and its various places and locations in a lengthy gazetteer. The latter drills right down to Oakenbend, which is where the scenarios in Teatime Adventures are set, describing individual buildings and places in and around the village are set. Thirty or so of the villagers in Oakenbend are given full write-ups ready for the Game Master to portray. In addition, there is a full list of the ‘Spells of the Verdant Isles’, maps of the locations, a set of pre-generated Player Characters, and more.
However, the means to explore the Verdant Isles setting of Teatime Adventures are threefold—and each one is a delight. The first and most obvious, is the roleplaying game’s artwork, which is luscious and rich, echoing the style of children’s stories read to us when we were young or those we read to our own children and grandchildren. The second is plethora of recipes for cakes and sundries scattered through the book, clearly intended to be baked and served at every tea-infused sitting (or session) of an adventure. Golden Corn Cake, Oakenbread, Hoptop Harvest Pie, and more, plus each adventure includes the teas which should be served with it. The third is the adventures themselves, all set in and around the village of Oakenbend where the Player Characters are sent as part of the Arts & Culture Society of Amberhaven as part of a cultural exchange to learn about the village and its life. The scenarios involve the Player Characters attending the autumnal Leaping of the Hoptops festival in which all but one of the entries in the Hoptop Pie competition are sabotaged and find one of their number accused of the crime; investigating how and why the village’s crop of Star Light plants have withered to dust; working who or what is causing the villagers to disappear during the winter solstice festival of the Feast of Forge and Flame; and exactly what the strange crystalline plant is that has bloomed everywhere in the village during the Feast of Flourish. These are all lengthy adventures, typically requiring two or three sessions to play, plus there is plenty of scope and room for the Game Master to add her own content and scenarios.
Physically, Teatime Adventures is lovingly presented. Both the artwork and the maps are delightful and the writing is engaging. However, the lack of an index is inexcusable.
Teatime Adventures: A Verdant Isles Roleplaying Game is utterly charming and engaging, its aims highly laudable, but flawed. Its problems all stem from the underwhelming treatment and development of the rules, the lack of presentation and development of the Harmony magic system a thorough disappointment. Yet put those flaws aside, which is entirely possible because the roleplaying game’s mechanics are light enough for the Game Master to substitute a known system which works in the case of magic, and Teatime Adventures lives up to all of its aims. The roleplaying game is all the more relaxing and thoughtful without the threat of physical violence or combat being present, and of course, the combination of play with tea and cake enhances that. Teatime Adventures: A Verdant Isles Roleplaying Game is a lovely roleplaying game, friendly and amiable, which the Game Master will need to develop aspects of the roleplaying game to get it really working as the designers intended.
Quick-Start Saturday: SINS
Quick-starts are means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps too. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.
Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game for the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.
What is it?SINS: Deadly City is a quick-start for SINS, the post-apocalyptic survival horror roleplaying game. Its events take place during the apocalyptic event prior to the post-apocalyptic event so is therefore a prequel which explains the beginning of the setting. It is designed to be played by five players.
It is a thirty-three-page, full colour booklet.
It is published by Nightfall Games. (It was previously published by First Falling Leaf.)
How long will it take to play?
SINS: Deadly City is playable in between three and five hours, so can be played through in a single session.
Who do you play?
Five Player Characters are included. These consist of a group of friends who all live in New York city. The five are a firefighter (oddly listed as an ex-football player), a young bartender with a criminal past, a junior police officer, a graphic designer with a criminal past, and a student at medical school.
How is a Player Character defined?
The Player Character has six attributes. These are Body, Conviction, Cunning, Passion, Reason, and Prowess. Each is rated between one and six. He also has points in sixteen skills divided in three categories—Natural, Learnt, and Combat. Skills are broad in nature, for example, Athletics, Knowledge, Marksmanship, and Melee. These are rated between one and six and no Player Character has a rating higher than three. With a skill rating of one, the Target Number is six, and then five or six for a skill rating of two, four, five, or six for a skill rating of three, and three, four, five, or six for a skill rating of four. A Player Character also has a Fate point, although this is never used in the quick-start, and some Drama Points.
How do the mechanics work?SINS uses the HOPE Engine. This a dice pool system which uses six-sided dice. A dice pool is expressed as X/Y where the ‘X’ is the number of dice in the dice pool and equal to the attribute, plus one, and ‘Y’ is the number of successes the player must roll to succeed. A six can be rerolled to generate Successes. A typical difficulty requires one success, but harder tasks require two or more Successes. Modifiers add or subtract dice from the pool. Extra Successes will increase the amount of damage inflicted in combat or reduce the amount of time a task takes.
Drama Points are used to make an action dramatic. When played, it adds an extra die to the pool and reduces the Target Number needed to generate Successes.
SINS: Deadly City presents a streamlined version of the HOPE Engine. The full rules are detailed in the SINS core rulebook.
How does combat work?
Combat uses the same mechanics as the HOPE Engine. Awareness is used for an initiative roll and when an opponent attacks or acts against another, the defender is tagged and can act. When targeted by either a Close or Ranged attack, the defender can Evade. Any Successes generated will counter those generated by the attacker’s roll. Damage, which is calculated as the base damage of the weapon plus any Success, reduces a Player Character’s Vitality, first Light, then Wounded, and lastly Mauled. When the Player Character’s Vitality is at the Wounded or Mauled level, he suffers a penalty to all dice pools until healed.
How does the enemy work?
Although SINS and SINS: Deadly City both initially look like a ‘zombie apocalypse’ and its aftermath setting, but that is very much not the case and the SINS: Deadly Sins makes this explicitly clear. However, there is nothing to stope the players and their characters from believing this until the scenario reveals otherwise. They are presented with a minimum of details.
What do you play?
SINS: Deadly City is set in New York city. The scenario opens with the Player Characters meeting in a bar following a possible end of the world situation from a shower of meteorites which failed to do the predicted damage as they seemed to melt into a ‘Black Rain’. Suddenly, a car careens through the bar window and strange things start happening… The scenario as a whole is actually presented as a series of Scenarios, which are effectively scenes. These are organised so that they can be slotted into the order that the players will play them in. So, in ‘Scenario A’ the Player Characters begin in the bar, but ‘Scenario B’ presents what will happen if the Player Characters decide to hide out until the whole situation has blown over and ‘Scenario C’ what happens if they go the authorities. Other scenarios explore the possibility of their attempting to escape the city, their encountering the National Guard enforcing quarantine, and so on. Finally, the Player Characters can find some sanctuary, make a final stand, and discover more about what is going on.
Is there anything missing?
SINS: Deadly City could have done with a map of the various locations in the scenario. However, they are fairly generic and the Game Master should be able to find suitable floorplans.
Is it easy to prepare?
The rules are easy to grasp, but the scenario needs careful study. The ‘plug and play’ aspect of the seven scenarios (or scenes) makes the whole scenario easier to organise, but the individual scenes are fairly detailed and require preparation.
Is it worth it?
SINS: Deadly City is a prequel to SINS, which means that it does not present the world described in the SINS core rulebook. Technically, this means that in parts, SINS: Deadly City is not a quick-start for the roleplaying game except in a mechanical sense as it shows off the rules. However, SINS: Deadly City is not a poor prequel, preparing as it does the players and their characters for the Post Apocalyptic world of SINS.
Where can you get it?
The SINS: Deadly City is available here.
Have a Safe Weekend
The Other OSR—Chimneyhaus
Chimneyhaus is published by Fey Light Studio. It details a single location and the surrounding area. The single location is the McRheetz Farm, a fairly isolated dairy farm which stands in the middle of County Langlade. Here the mice have made their home in a disused chimney stack on the farmhouse and inhabit a series of cliffside-like homes up the inside of the chimney, with a smoker at the top where the mice smoke cheese and a cheese cave and brewery at the bottom. Home to a family of some sixty mice, they have an odd relationship with the farmer and his family. They think the mice are fairies and so leave a pint of milk out daily, lest the ‘fairies’ turn the rest of his milk sour. Of course, the mice turn the milk into cheese! However, Frey, the McRheetz family cat, is always hungry and has both the run of the farm and the trust of the farmer! The farm itself is nicely detailed, and include the Haystack Market where traders met, the Sugar Maple Orchard where the mice regularly tap the trees the syrup for mead, and the Chicken Coop where the chickens are plotting a revolution, but their short-term memory means that they forget and must start again in the morning!
Beyond the boundaries of the farm, Chimneyhaus presents County Langlade, a complete mega-hex full of locations. The McRheetz Farm stands at the centre with strange places like a cave, home to a bear, but which has strange markings on its walls; a lake home to a frog prince; and a cemetery where ghosts wander in search of the living to leech heat from. There is a hamlet nearby too, the site of an abandoned well that was once home to mice and pigeons strut the streets. These are supported by details of the factions, such as a centipede army, the Queen B’s Hive, and Willy the Weasel, plus more detailed adventure sites. These expand upon their descriptions in the County Langlade write-up and come with complete with plot hooks, and encounters and things that the Player Characters might find. There are four of these, plus a short bestiary with new creatures for Mausritter, some new conditions, and a handful of new spells.
Physically, Chimneyhaus is short and succinctly presented. The conciseness of the writing means that not only is everything is easy to grasp, but there is space too for the Game Master to add her own content. The artwork and look of the book does vary in quality though. One illustration is at least too big, whilst the actual chimney where the mince live is charmingly illustrated in rich colours, the map of farm itself is terribly bland and uninviting.
Chimneyhaus is a charmingly rural sandbox for Mausritter which can be run on its own, or combined with other titles for Mausritter. There is certainly space in County Langlade for Mausritter: The Estate Adventure Collection or Mayfield. Equally, the Game Master has plenty of room to add her own content, or even developing something already mentioned in the supplement, such as the abandoned well in the nearby hamlet. In whatever way it is used, Chimneyhaus will be a classic player-driven sandbox which the players can explore at their leisure, their mice discovering in the process a world of magic, mystery, and menace, whether as a campaign on its own or expanded by the Game Master.
The Aftermath: The Last Triffid Ranch Open House – 2
Friday Faction: Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale
There is a certain familiarity in how the author began gaming. Later influxes to the hobby would begin with Dungeons & Dragons, a Fighting Fantasy solo adventure book, or even Vampire: The Masquerade, but Owen, like all gamers of his age, began with wargames and in particular, Avalon Hill titles like Africa Korps, before moving onto miniatures wargaming played across the traditional sand tray to simulate terrain. It would remain a hobby for all of his life and heavily influence his career working in the family travel business. As a travel agent, Owen was able to ease some of the logistics that Judges Guild would face in its first few years in terms of travel and printing, but it was his father’s first businesses—a regional chain of toyshops and a mall—that would arguably prepare him for the hobby market that burgeoned in the years following the publication of Dungeons & Dragons. Indeed, the Franklin Mall would be first headquarters for Judges Guild.
Owen’s involvement with Robert Bledsoe and Dungeons & Dragons begin when he ran his first dungeon using the Dungeons & Dragons boxed set that he had acquired at Gen Con in 1974. Bledsoe would borrow Owen’s copy and run his own campaign, heavily drawing from and influenced by Tolkien. Eventually, and now friends, Owen and Bledsoe would go into business as Judges Guild with their first products being play aids for Dungeons & Dragons—the Ready Ref Sheets and the Dungeon Tac Cards—that collated and better presented the charts for the roleplaying game, followed by the map and booklet for City State of the Invincible Overlord. Initially, these and other releases would be distributed via subscriptions. Owen reveals some of the challenges that he and Bledsoe faced in bring Judges Guild titles to print. Not just the fact that they were doing on it a budget, but also the technology involved. The initial difficulties of drawing and printing the map for the City State of the Invincible Overlord in colour that would push Bledsoe to redraw the whole map in black, and the Dungeon Tac Cards being typeset at a printing company between the time that its employees opened up and the office staff arrived! There are endearing tales of the first two times that Judges Guild was at Gen Con in 1976 and 1977. The first visit was done almost guerrilla style, selling subscriptions for future releases and even a few map sets out of the back of the car that Owen and a friend drove to Wisconsin in. The second visit has an even greater unreality to it, being hosted in the Playboy Mansion in Lake Geneva, which turned out to be an eyeopener for all concerned.
Yet Owen’s time with Judges Guild and as partner to Robert Bledsoe quickly comes to an end. By 1978, he had burnt himself out and lost the energy and drive that would keep Bledsoe in the hobby games industry for another five or so years. He sold his share of the business to Bledsoe and returned to the family travel business. Owen has not been involved in the roleplaying industry since, although he has remained a keen wargamer, both in terms of miniatures and wargames. It is at this point that the reader’s interest in Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale is likely to wane…
Updated and expanded in 2014, the third edition of Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale, which includes addenda for both the second and third editions, is some one-hundred-and-forty-eight pages long, but Owen’s direct involvement with Judges Guild ends at page sixty. Much of the longer rest of the book consists of rambling reminiscences and reflections. Most notably these look back upon the combined wargaming and World War II battlefields of Europe tour that Owen arranged, discuss some of the author’s favourite games, and so on, but there are snippets of interest to the Judges Guild and roleplaying fan here too. For example, Owen muses not just whether was paid enough when he sold his half of Judges Guild to Bledsoe, but more interestingly, what if he had remained at the company and sold it to E. Gary Gygax later on when Gygax began to have difficulties at TSR. Inc.? The author does not explore this idea very far, but there is the possibility of an interesting ‘What if?’ scenario there. Elsewhere, Owen provides a close up look at the original map for Tegel Manor; looks at early, pre-print history of City State of the Invincible Overlord when it was ‘No Name City’ located in Middle-earth; and just how the Bledsoe got away with some of the names of the shops and stores in the city, such as ‘Beat-a-Slave’ and ‘Messy Massage’… These are intermittent throughout the book though.
Perhaps one of the pleasures of the book is its many photographs. Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale is profusely illustrated with photographs from the author’s time with Judges Guild, the games he played, and much more. They are not always as clear or as light as the reader might want them to be, but they are included and they are all each clearly described by the author.
Perhaps one reason why a modern gamer might want to read Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale is the fact that it subtitled, ‘A Cautionary Tale’. Owen clearly faced the challenges of any young, fresh start-up business. A combination of long hours, great effort, and having to find its own way in an industry that had no precedent, that enthusiasm will only carry you so far in overcoming. Bill Owen burned out and left the industry after two years, and whilst his story of what happened and the mistakes the company made are now over forty years old, they retain some validity today.
Physically, Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale is presented as series of short essays accompanied by handfuls of photographs. It is an amiable enough read, often slipping into digression, and not always coming to any clear conclusion.
Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale is a rambling affair that is far from being an official history of Judges Guild. Of course, it does not set out to be, but if the author’s reminisces about his time at Judges Guild are the most interesting sections in the book, they are also the shortest. Meaning that for the roleplaying historian and devotee of Judges Guild there is not as much within its pages to really interest them as perhaps there could have been. Ultimately, what comes across from the amiable reminisces in the pages of Judges Guild’s Bob & Bill – A Cautionary Tale, is that Bill Owen does look back upon his time with Judges Guild and the late Robert Bledsoe with great fondness, as well as having greatly enjoyed his gaming.