Razzmatazz & Roleplay

In 1981, Emperor Ronald I was chosen by the Gods of Olympus to ascend to the throne of the North American Empire, the greatest nation in the world. As the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Leader of the Aristocracy, and the Master of Temple, a secular title rewarding him domain over all the Olympian Temples, and thus the religious life of all Americans, he had the fate of the nation in hands. In response to his fear of the foretold Usurper, the one who will come and destroy the American way of life, he gave the people of the NAE and the world his greatest gift—Xcrawl! Based on a popular strategy game called Dungeonbattle, which used miniatures and dice to simulate underground combat, and was inspired by the heroic tales from before the Cataclysm millennia ago, this is a televised death sport played in leagues and arenas across the world, but primarily in the NAE. In each event, brave adventurers face dungeons and challenges designed by Dungeon Judges, battling through monsters hired and summoned for each event, puzzling through tricks and traps, overcoming deadly obstacles, and performing before the crowds in the arenas and the audiences watching from around the world, whether at home or at dedicated Xcrawl bars via Arcane Video Screens in the arena. If they succeed, they will win fame and fortune, gain sponsorships, be promoted to higher and even deadlier divisions, and become celebrities in their own right as they gain the favour of the Gods of Olympus and maybe even Emperor Ronald I himself!

This is the set-up for the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, a roleplaying game which combines the fantasy and play styles of Dungeons & Dragons and World Wrestling Entertainment, turns it into a blood sport, televises it, and throws in celebrity culture in an alternate dystopia of the noughties shot through with a knowing black humour which realises just how ridiculous it all is. Published by Goodman Games, this though is not the first iteration for the Xcrawl setting. It originally appeared as Xcrawl: Adventures in the Xtreme Dungeon League in 2002 for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition, before being reimplemented as Maximum Xcrawl for Pathfinder, First Edition in 2014, and it is not even the first for Xcrawl for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. That would be with the Dungeon Crawl Classics 2017 Holiday Module: Xcrawl New Year’s Evil. This is history is not only acknowledged at the beginning of the book, but the differences between the versions highlighted so that prior fans can pick up on the new rules changes. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game combines the setting with the mechanics and rules of Dungeon Crawl Classics to make it an official Dungeon Crawl Classics setting, the most modern setting—even an alternate modern setting—for Dungeon Crawl Classics, and arguably the most gonzo of Dungeon Crawl Classics settings.

As a Dungeon Crawl Classics variant, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a Class and Level roleplaying game, the Player Characters—or Xcrawlers—as they are known, climbing their way up the increasingly deadlier and more dangerous Divisions of Xcrawl as they also rise in Level. The main focus of play is in the arena, effectively a sport, and thus it comes with hard rules about what an Xcrawler can and cannot do in the arena, all laid down by the Xcrawl League. Yet an Xcrawler will have a life away from the arena. Much of it will have to do with dealing with his agent and his sponsors, doing publicity, and the kinds of activities that fame and celebrity from success in the arena can bring. Yet there are also real dungeons, not just in the feudal nation of the North American Empire, but also around the world, many of them in Zura’ah’zurah, the ‘land beneath the land’, home to a number of squabbling Alfar city states, one of which is under Montreal. (Most of the monsters and creatures used in the arena come from Zura’ah’zurah, purchased via brokers.) Of course, since there is no such thing as a professional dungeoneer, who better to explore them than a professional Xcrawler? This was effectively the story in ‘Tucson Death Storm!’, published as part of the DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack.

As a Dungeon Crawl Classics variant, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides everything necessary to play. Thus, it includes all of the new Classes, core rules—old and new, including magic, a detailed setting that covers the Xcrawl Games and how they are run as well as the wider Xworld, a guide to the Olympic Pantheon and Gods and Non-Gods of America, how fame and fortune works in the Xworld, a bestiary, advice for the Judge, and not one, but two adventures, ready to play. One of these is a Character Funnel, a scenario specifically designed for Zero Level Player Characters in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Level Zero characters and have them play through a generally nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. The Character Funnel is a signature feature of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and now the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, and whilst they are challenging to play, they are also both fun and wrought with emotion as players often become highly attached to the poor four unfortunates. The other adventure is for First Level Xcrawlers, ready to play after they survived the Character Funnel.

An Xcrawler is defined by his attributes, Race, Saves, Birth Augur, Occupation, and Alignment. There are six attributes—Strength, Agility, Stamina, Personality, Intelligence, and Luck—which range in value between three and eighteen. The Races are Human, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, and Halfling. Whereas Humans have access to a wide range of Classes, the Races have access to their Classes, as the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game does ‘Race as Class’. The Saves are Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower, and the Birth Augur indicates when an Xcrawler and if his Luck is high enough, if he gains any benefit from it. There are numerous Occupations, representing what the Xcrawler did before training for the arena. During play, a player can draw upon them for types of skills he might have learned whilst working as his Xcrawler’s Occupation. There are three Alignments in the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Lawful, Neutral, and Chaos, none of which are necessarily good or evil. Lastly, an Xcrawler will be trained with a single weapon like a sling or a spear.

Xcrawler creation involves rolling dice for the attributes and rolling for an Occupation. Beyond that, a player can choose his Xcrawler’s Alignment, weapon, and so on. All of this is to create a Zero Level Xcrawler. The book also advises choosing the actor who would play the Xcrawler if it were a film, essentially as a quick shorthand to describe who the Xcrawler is and what he is like.

Name: Milton Waddams
Race: Human
Occupation: Office Assistant
Birth Augur: Late March, Toasted by Bacchus (Stamina-based Skill Checks)
Alignment: Lawful
Level: 0
Armour Class: 9
Hit Points: 4

Strength 11 (+0) Agility 08 (-1) Stamina 11 (+0)
Personality 13 (+1) Intelligence 16 (+2) Luck 07 (-1)

SAVES
Fortitude +0 Reflex -1 Willpower +1

LANGUAGES
English, Latin

EQUIPMENT
Spear, Adventurer’s pack A, stapler (red)

In terms of Classes, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides eight to choose from. They include the Athlete, who is in peak physical condition and specialises in grappling and wrestling with monsters and creatures of all sizes. The Blaster is a natural spellcaster, trained in battlefield magic, but with limited access to spells—only up to Third Level—and who cannot scribe scrolls, create magic items, or have familiars. The Brawler is a warrior who specialises in unarmed combat, able to use it alongside the use of weapons as well as fight unarmed. The Jammer is a performer, whether that is singer, musician, rapper, or comedian, who can lionise his fellow team members to grant them bonuses or disrespect an enemy to demoralise them and then hit them with a devastating attack. The Messenger is descended from and serves one of the gods in the arena, able to scourge his god’s unholy enemies, commit Holy Acts such as bringing an ally back from the dead, cleansing an area of the unclean, and unleash his god’s holy weapon, but can gain his god’s disapproval and so lose the gifts grant by his god.

The Specialist is the equivalent of Thief and in fact, the first Specialists in Xcrawl were actual criminals or trained by criminals. However, Xcrawler Specialists have taken that training and developed into a number of specialities. These include the Acrobat, the Commando, the Criminal, the Scout, and the Crypt Raider. Yet, this is not all. The various Races of the North American Empire and beyond have also developed their own versions of the Specialist. These include the Dwarf Mechanic, which focuses on traps and locks; the Elf Trickster who can cast limited magic; the Half-Orc Slayer is a backstabber extraordinaire; and the Halfling Rogue is good with ranged weapons, including backstabbing at a distance. What this means is that it opens up the options for non-Human Xcrawlers, if only a little.

As to the ‘Race as Class’ Classes of the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, the Dwarf is a warrior who specialises in a single weapon and shield use, but is looked down upon by his fellow Dwarves. The Gnome has limited magic, can taunt an opponent to attack him, a few Specialist skills, and tends to serve as the team mascot, gaining extra points of Mojo. The Half-Elf can cast arcane spells and has some of the skills of the Specialist. The Half-Orc comes from Zura’ah’zurah—either Orc City 1 or Orc City 2—and has an athletic visa to participate in Xcrawl, and may even earn North American Empire citizenship. They are warriors who can fight like a Brawler, but also make an extra wild attack. This leaves the Half-Orc open to a free attack, but the wild attack has a greater chance of inflicting a critical attack. There is no Halfling specific Class, which instead becomes a Halfling Rogue as per the Specialist.

Mechanically, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a d20 System roleplaying game, the player rolling a twenty-sided and adding any bonuses, including dice bonuses for specific actions according to an Xcrawler’s Class, and aiming to roll equal to or higher than an opponent’s Armour Class or a Difficulty Class, which typically ranges between five and twenty. In general, then, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game plays very much like the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, at least mechanically. There are differences though. This starts with Grandstanding, a Personality check used to impress the crowd to gain one or two Fame points. What Grandstanding also makes clear is the fact that Xcrawl is about performance as much as it is surviving a Dungeon Judge’s dungeon. Fame is a measure of an Xcrawler’s celebrity and status, and chance of being recognised. It can go up and down, and with ‘Fameburn’, an Xcrawler can spend Fame to make sure a story in the media has a positive spin or the police to look the other way for a minor infraction. As an Xcrawler’s career develops he can create a signature move and bring that into play to gain bonuses.

The biggest change is Mojo. Mojo is like Luck as grants bonuses to rolls, but although it can be earned for rolling a natural twenty, successfully completing an encounter, or from an Xcrawler’s Class Mojo feature, an Xcrawler cannot spend it on himself. Rather, it must be given to another Xcrawler, about to attempt a task and apart from the Jammer, who can give it after a roll, for everyone else, it must be done beforehand. If a one is rolled on any roll, everyone loses their Mojo! Mojo is designed to encourage team play and co-operation, as it also cannot be asked for, and even further, the Judge can even encourage wild stunts by offering Mojo to do it!

One of the features of Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game—and also of Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic with its mutations list—is a lengthy list of detailed spells. The same is of the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, which has over a quarter of its page count devoted to spells, primarily for the Blaster, but also the Gnome. There are some fun spells here, like Pixelization Evocation, which pixelates the caster or an ally to obscure them, Quicksand to immobilise an opponent, Villalobos’ Attack Outta Nowhere which strikes a target from any direction, 7 Agents of Fate which summons a character out of a blockbuster film to aid the Xcrawlers and was originally created to promote a blockbuster film, and The Arcane Collection, By Terry Paris©, which creates the perfect Terry Paris fashion for the caster who cannot take any other sponsor except Terry Paris!

In terms of setting, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides a good overview of Xcrawl and the Xworld outside it. This also includes the various gods whom a Messenger can worship and be descended from, all drawn from the Roman pantheon. Similarly, the Patrons for the Blasters are drawn from the Roman (and consequently, Greek) pantheon. They include Medea, whose followers become instruments of her vengeance against those in the world who have wronged her. The standout Xcrawl specific Patron is Barzodi, the immortal un-dead spirit of necromancer Antonio Barzodi, who served revolutionary General George Washington, who would later declare himself George Augustus I, first Emperor of the North American Empire. Later assassinated by the Emperor’s allies, his rage enabled him to come back as a Patron to American Necromancers everywhere. (Necromancers have to join the Necromancer’s Guild, show their Guild Card if they create any undead creatures, and complete the mandatory three-hour safety course in the proper creation, use, and destruction of undead creatures before they are allowed to cast any of Barzodi’s patron spells.) There is a new bestiary of creatures to populate the arena and advice on how to use them given that the Xcrawl League actually has professional monsters (one of which actually become a Dungeon Judge!), and lastly good advice for the Judge on running the game.

Penultimately, the Judge is supported with two adventures. ‘Xcrawl’s Got Talent!’ is a nicely done Character Funnel, entertainingly designed as a talent show, but Xcrawl-style. The set-up is really well done, all hustle and the staff getting the job done. It is followed by ‘Showdown In Grind City’, designed for First Level Xcrawlers, which serves as a decent continuation of the Xcrawlers’ career after the previous funnel. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game comes to a close with more advice for the Judge, an idea of how an Xcrawl event comes about, some suggested curses and poisons, some ideas for adventures outside of the arena, and a guide to writing Xcrawl events. Finally, there is a short bibliography.

Physically, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is well done. It is an entertaining read and it really brings the world of Xcrawl to life. It is liberally illustrated to great effect.

The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a reinvention of a reinvention. It is a reinvention of a roleplaying game that reinvented how the first roleplaying game was played. Not only reinvented it, but radically updated it for the modern day, even if an alternative modern day. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is Dungeons & Dragons, but instead of delving deep underground, its heroes now delve in front of mass audiences and for fame and fortune. Theirs is no longer a slog down dark and dank tunnels, to confront intermittent threats whilst hidden from the world, but to face those intermittent threats without the slog in overengineered encounters and under the blazing bright lights of the cameras. And playing this is great fun, because each player is not just roleplaying a character who is dungeon delving, but also roleplaying a character who is giving a performance as well. And a character whose motivation is simple, but easy to understand—fame and fortune! Plus, the Judge gets his own character—at least for each Xcrawl event in the form of the Dungeon Judge, as well as the Xcrawlers’ agents, and in search of that fame and fortune, the characters can have interesting lives outside of the arena too. And whilst the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is not new, it feels right at home as a Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is the biggest, boldest, and most modern version of Dungeons & Dragons-style play, you could ever imagine, all played out like the biggest sport you could ever think of. It is bright, glitzy, and fun, so make your prayers at the Temple of Apollo, give thanks to Emperor Ronald I, thank the Xcrawl League, and hope your agent has got you the best deal he could, because the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game lets you perform no other Dungeons & Dragons-style has ever done.

An Achtung! Cthulhu Anthology I

Achtung! Cthulhu is the roleplaying game of fast-paced pulp action and Mythos magic published by Modiphius Entertainment. It is pitches the Allied Agents of the Britain’s Section M, the United States’ Majestic, and the brave Resistance into a Secret War against those Nazi Agents and organisations which would command and entreat with the occult and forces beyond the understanding of mankind. They are willing to risk their lives and their sanity against malicious Nazi villains and the unfathomable gods and monsters of the Mythos themselves, each striving for supremacy in mankind’s darkest yet finest hour! Yet even the darkest of drives to take advantage of the Mythos is riven by differing ideologies and approaches pandering to Hitler’s whims. The Black Sun consists of Nazi warrior-sorcerers supreme who use foul magic and summoned creatures from nameless dimensions to dominate the battlefields of men, whilst Nachtwölfe, the Night Wolves, utilise technology, biological enhancements, and wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) to win the war for Germany. Ultimately, both utilise and fall under the malign influence of the Mythos, the forces of which have their own unknowable designs…

Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines brings together the first five scenarios published for Achtung! Cthulhu. They will take the Agents from the White Cliffs of Dover and the coast of east Scotland to the coast of the Netherlands and into the mountains of Romania, as well as to a baseball game in the USA. In addition, there is an extra mission, new to Achtung! Cthulhu, that will involve the Agents conducting a mission that parallels Operation Chariot, the raid on St. Nazaire. All six missions can be run as one-shots, but most of them can be run in chronological order and woven into a Game Master’s ongoing campaign that will take the Agents from the Phony War of 1939 through to the height of Nazi and Axis power occupation around the world. With care, this includes being worked into and around a campaign such as Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis. Two of the scenarios are not designed for this, the one set on the home front in the USA and the new addition, both being set after the events of the campaign and one of them being designed as a one-shot, suitable for convention use. Both though, offer changes of pace and tone, enabling players to experience the Secret War in other places and with other types of character.

The six missions follow the same format. Each begins with a Synopsis for the Game Master, a Mission Briefing & Goals for the Agents, and some Historical Background to provide context. This is followed by the actual scenario itself, divided into its various acts, and ending for the Agents with a Debriefing. For the Game Master there the stats for the NPCs—both enemies and allies—and monsters that the Agents will encounter over the course of the mission.

The anthology opens with the short, sharp Under the Gun. This is set both atop and in the White Cliffs of Dover, where the army, preparing fortifications against a much-feared German invasion, discover strange stone pillar which seems to make everyone feel at least queasy, if not leave them suffering nightmares… Of course, the pillar is not just of interest to Black Sun, but also the local villagers, who possess a certain goggle-eyed appearance. Effectively, this is a mini-encounter with parallels with The Shadow Over Innsmouth—or at least the 1928 raid on the town—and it is combat focused, more so than other scenarios for Achtung! Cthulhu. Its short length also makes it easy to add to a campaign or to serve as a combat-focused interlude.

The second scenario is Operation Vanguard, which could thematically carry on from ‘Under the Gun’ as the links to Deep Ones are more obvious. The action, more detailed and involving stealth and investigation, as well as combat, switches to the Dutch coast and the Dutch fishing town of Nermegen. Section M has learned of a strange installation being constructed at both St. Olaf’s lighthouse and on the nearby Skellen Island and of the presence in the town of Nachtwölfe. This is a commando-style mission, right down to having to paddle ashore in folboats—or folding canoes, as used in Operation Frankton and made famous by the film, The Cockleshell Heroes. Whether making contact with the local Resistance or investigating Nachtwölfe activities, the emphasis is on stealth and that also goes for getting into both the lighthouse and the Nazi installation on the island. In the latter, the Agents will discover what Nachtwölfe has been up to, which has been experimenting on captured Deep Ones! The scenario will end in a big, bruising battle as the escaped Deep Ones take their revenge on their Nachtwölfe scientist and soldier captors. Throughout, the Deep Ones are kept implacable and mysterious, so although the players will know what they are facing, their Agents will not. One option here is have the players handle the Deep Ones as well as their Agents in combat so that the Game Master is not rolling too many dice, especially when it comes to the monsters of the Mythos versus the Nazis.

Operation Falling Crystal takes place on the east coast of Scotland where an archaeological dig discovered a strange blue crystal in nearby caverns. The archaeologists have no idea what it is, but Section M does! It is Blauer Kristall—or Blue Crystal—much coveted by Nachtwölfe, which uses it to fuel its increasingly weird weapons of war. Section M would very much like to get its hands on some of the strange mineral so that it can study it and perhaps develop a means to counter the strange technology being fielded by Nachtwölfe. With its set-up of something strange being discovered under the ground and it attracting the attention of the Nazis and as well as Section M, this scenario is very similar to the earlier ‘Under the Gun’. However, it does go beyond this, if only a little. There is both scope for investigation beyond the archaeological dig itself and for interaction with the Mythos beyond running away or blasting it to bits. This lifts what is otherwise adequate scenario that the Game Master would not want to run too soon after ‘Under the Gun’.

The Romanian Imperative leans into the Pulp sensibilities of Achtung! Cthulhu by sending the Agents into the unstable situation of the Balkans chasing after a Zeppelin! Jokingly referred to as a “wee holiday” by Section M, the Agents are to reconnoitre the area to determine why Nachtwölfe has sent a Zeppelin to a mining village in the Mures Mountains in Romania, discover what it is doing there, and take action. This entails a flight to Belgrade, in Yugoslavia, via Athens in Greece and from there a lengthy drive across the border into Romania and to the mountains, guided by a friendly smuggler. Dealing with checkpoints—Romanian and German—will be the least of the Agents’ problems, but once they reach the village, they will be able to learn a little about what has happened recently and also in the past. This, when combined with the opportunity to observe the work camp below the nearby castle over in the next valley, gives the players and their Agents all the information they need to make their next move. Ideally, this should start with contacting the locals who have been hired to rework the mine, but can also involve investigating the ruins of the castle, the work camp, and ultimately, getting aboard the Zeppelin itself, stationed, unmoored, and unnaturally immobile above the camp. The Zeppelin, enhanced by Nachtwölfe technology, is fully detailed and comes with a set of deck plans. The scenario should end with a fight aboard the Zeppelin—although a very careful one since nobody wants to set it alight—and with the chance that the Agents capture it and fly it back to Britain. They will be handsomely rewarded for their efforts if they do. This is a fun and exciting adventure that fully plays into the Pulp action of Achtung! Cthulhu.

‘Operation Eastbourne’ is the first of the two scenarios in the anthology intended as a change of pace and the only new scenario. Thematically, it can be run as a sequel to both ‘Under the Gun’ and ‘Operation Vanguard’, but need not be. It is effectively two missions in one. The Agents make up ‘Team Beta’ accompanying ‘Team Alpha’, a unit of commandos who will assault a gun battery as part of Operation Chariot, the raid on the French port of St. Nazaire intended to put its dry dock out of action and so prevent German navy ships like the Bismarck or Tirpitz being repaired there. This means that it is set later than the other missions in the book, so the Game Moderator may want to save it for later in her campaign. However, assaulting the gun battery is not the Agents’ objective. Instead, they will investigate a Black Sun archaeological dig and determine what the Nazis are up to. The players will play through both missions as part of the scenarios, the idea being that not only do they roleplay their Agents, but also the commandos (stats for the latter are provided to enable them to do so). The Agents can stick together or they can mix and match, so the players will be roleplaying mixed group of Agents and commandos for each mission. What this means is that either team could come to the help of the other if it gets into difficulty and since, unnaturally, both missions will involve encounters with the Mythos, roleplaying the commandos will remind the players that not everyone has encountered the Mythos before and will not necessarily be quite so blasé about it.

Although divided into the three traditional acts of an Achtung! Cthulhu scenario, ‘Operation Eastbourne’ need not necessarily be run in linear fashion, but could instead be run with the action in parallel, switching back and forth between the different missions at dramatically appropriate moments. In whatever way it is run, ‘Team Beta’ should meet up with ‘Team Alpha’—or even come to the rescue of—in the third and final act when the Black Sun operatives bring their plans to fruition on the rocky beaches of the Atlantic coast. This sets the stage for a big fight as the Nazis attempt a summoning, the Allies attempt to stop them, and all hell breaks loose! It is another grand finale which plays out more like a miniatures game and which calls for big heroic action. A very classic Achtung! Cthulhu scenario.

The last scenario in Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is Seventh-Inning Slaughter! This switches the action to the USA and a game in the All-American Girls Baseball League which is being attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Unfortunately, so is Jörg Becker, a Nazi sorcerer, determined to prove both himself a capable agent to his Black Sun masters and thus get promoted, and that no-one is safe from the reach of Nazi Germany, not even thousands of miles away on American home soil. This is the second of the two scenarios in the anthology intended to as a change of pace and is probably the best one suited as a one-shot. To that end, it comes with four pre-generated Player Characters, divided between two baseball players, a war correspondent, and a would-be technical genius, and a plot that is played out innings by innings, with weirder and weirder things happening from one innings to the next. Food spoils and writhes with worms, a foul ball hits a member of the crowd, a lightning storm gathers, a dog goes crazy, there is spontaneous vomiting, the same man keep disappearing and reappearing, and so on. Although there is not much that the Player Characters can do to thwart Becker’s efforts until it is almost too late, they will be kept busy dealing with all of the other weird issues as they pop up until then. Effectively, this is a firefighting mission against the Mythos until the Player Characters can root out, and are prepared, to face the cause. This is a different style of scenario to the others in the anthology, offering a change of pace and location that works as a one-shot, a convention scenario, or respite from the main campaign.

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is cleanly and tidily laid out. The illustrations and the maps are excellent, although it does need an edit in places.

Initially, the title of Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines reads like a misnomer. After all, not all of the scenarios take place behind enemy lines—at least not as far as the Allies and Section M are concerned. Once you get Black Sun and Nachtwölfe involved, then three of the scenario do take place behind enemy lines on British and American soil! If there is anything missing from the anthology it is advice on when to run the scenarios in relation with Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis, as most of its scenarios would work well with the campaign. Otherwise, Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is a solid collection of scenarios that offers plenty of punching, bullet flying, Pulp-action against the Nazis.

Screen Shot XV

How do you like your GM Screen?

The GM Screen is a essentially a reference sheet, comprised of several card sheets that fold out and can be stood up to serve another purpose, that is, to hide the GM's notes and dice rolls. On the inside, the side facing the GM are listed all of the tables that the GM might want or need at a glance without the need to have to leaf quickly through the core rulebook. On the outside, facing the players, can be found either more tables for their benefit or representative artwork for the game itself. This is both the basic function and the basic format of the screen, neither of which has changed all that much over the years. Beyond the basic format, much has changed though.

To begin with the general format has split, between portrait and landscape formats. The result of the landscape format is a lower screen, and if not a sturdier screen, than at least one that is less prone to being knocked over. Another change has been in the weight of card used to construct the screen. Exile Studios pioneered a new sturdier and durable screen when its printers took two covers from the Hollow Earth Expedition core rule book and literally turned them into the game’s screen. This marked a change from the earlier and flimsier screens that had been done in too light a cardstock, and several publishers have followed suit.

Once you have decided upon your screen format, the next question is what you have put with it. Do you include a poster or poster map, such as Chaosium, Inc.’s last screen for Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition or Margaret Weis Productions’ Serenity and BattleStar Galactica Roleplaying Games? Or a reference work like that included with Chessex Games’ Sholari Reference Pack for SkyRealms of Jorune or the GM Resource Book for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu? Perhaps scenarios such as ‘Blackwater Creek’ and ‘Missed Dues’ from the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Screen for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition? Or even better, a book of background and scenarios as well as the screen, maps, and forms, like that of the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack also published by Chaosium, Inc. In the past, the heavier and sturdier the screen, the more likely it is that the screen will be sold unaccompanied, such as those published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for the Starblazer Adventures: The Rock & Roll Space Opera Adventure Game and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG. That though is no longer the case and stronger and sturdier GM Screens are the norm today.

So how do I like my GM Screen?

I like my Screen to come with something. Not a poster or poster map, but a scenario, which is one reason why I like ‘Descent into Darkness’ from the Game Master’s Screen and Adventure for Legends of the Five Rings Fourth Edition and ‘A Bann Too Many’, the scenario that comes in the Dragon Age Game Master's Kit for Green Ronin Publishing’s Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5. I also like my screen to come with some reference material, something that adds to the game. Which is why I am fond of both the Sholari Reference Pack for SkyRealms of Jorune as well as the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack. Which is why the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is perhaps the most disappointing screen in some years.

The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is the Game Master’s Screen for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying. Published by Free League Publishing, best known for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings, and Alien: The Roleplaying Game, this is a reimagining of Sweden’s first fantasy roleplaying game, Drakar och Demoner, originally published in 1982. It promises to be a ‘deluxe’ Game Master Screen and it fulfils that description and it certainly showcases Johan Egerkran’s fantastic artwork for the roleplaying game on the front, facing the players where they can see it. Published in sturdy, thick card, it consists of three panels. On the left-hand panel, there is the ‘Typical NPCs’ table accompanied by spot rules for NPCs and skills, initiative, attributes, and being at zero Hit Points. The middle panel is all about combat. So, there is an ‘Actions’ table, listening possible actions as well as free actions and the effects of rolling a Demon in both melee and ranged combat. There are no tables for weapon damages, armour rating, or the like. On the right-hand panel is the ‘Fear Table’ and the tables for ‘Leaving the Adventure Site’ and ‘Pathfinder Mishaps’. This is it, so what is missing? There is no listing for ‘Special Attacks’ or ‘Conditions’ that the Player Characters are likely to suffer, or no ‘Magical Mishaps’ table. These are important omissions and so the Game Master and her players are going to need to refer to the ‘Dragonbane Rules’ book on a regular basis during play as a consequence.

The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is undeniably, a sturdy, attractive looking Game Master’s screen. However, its usefulness is questionable since it omits a number of tables that are commonly referred to in play, and perhaps a fourth panel with those omissions on it might have negated this issue. Then there is the matter of what accompanies the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen. In the case of so many other Game Master screens, there have scenarios, forms, and books for the Game Master, but for the Game Master who has the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen, there is nothing. Which only exacerbates its lack of utility.

Most Game Master’s screens are useful and do help the Game Master run the game that she wants and anything beyond that is a bonus. The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is of limited use and there is no bonus, so where a good Game Master’s screen is always worth purchasing, the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen simply is not.

Which begs the question, what should, or rather, could have been included along with the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen? One option might have the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set. One of the great extras in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying core box is a set of standees, which depict in full colour, the pre-generated Player Characters and the monsters they will face over the course of the campaign, and are, of course, designed to be used with the maps in the box. Each is done on thick cardboard and is illustrated front and back so that they are easily identifiable from any angle. The Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set adds another sixty-four monster standees done in the same style and to the same standard as those that come in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying core box. They include cat people, ghouls, a hippogriff, a Pegasus, a giant octopus, and a whole lot more. In addition, there is also a battlemat, double-sided, on stiff, glossy paper, that they all designed to be used with. Further, they are designed to be used with the Dragonbane Bestiary as well. The artwork on the standees is excellent, the standees are all done on sturdy card, and lastly, they standees that can be used as Player Characters, which may be useful if the Game Master is allowing some of the entries from the Dragonbane Bestiary that can be used as Kin. In whatever way the Game Master decides to use the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set, it will enhance the play and look of her game and is very nice addition to the Dragonbane roleplaying game. (And yes, it would have made an excellent accompaniment to the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen, but is actually sold separately.)

Ultimately, an accessory like a Game Master’s Screen is not needed to play, but in a great many cases , they can be useful and they can help the Game Master run a game. The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is not one of them, not being as helpful it should have been. Whereas, if the Game master is using the roleplaying game’s standees in her game and has the Dragonbane Bestiary, the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set is definitely a useful accessory, greatly expanding her threats to throw into the path of the Player Characters.

Friday Fantasy: Wyvern Songs

An insect-infested thieves guild operating below a cliffside lighthouse whose lamp has gone out. An invisible, flying wizard’s workshop that casts a shadow on the ground and which is in danger of malfunctioning and crashing to the ground to unleash a deadly threat. A valley where the rock hoodoos and stone spires hum and sing, the last location of a missing prince lost on a secret quest. A song of Chaos radiates up and out of a dormant volcano, stealing the ability to dream wherever it is heard. These are the hooks for the four scenarios in Wyvern Songs: A Fantasy RPG Adventure Anthology. Published by Swordlords Publishing, the four are written for use with Old School Essentials, Necrotic Gnome’s interpretation and redesign of the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Steven M. Marsh. The anthology includes an introductory dungeon, a puzzle dungeon, a pointcrawl adventure, and a deadly dungeon, as well as extra content, all of which is presented in a charming digest-sized book. All four scenarios open with an introduction and a summary of their varying situations and all four include a quartet of adventures hooks that the Game Master can mix and match to get her players and their characters involved. In most cases, more than one of these could be used, so that there can be multiple motivations in play. In addition, each adventure closes with a list of suggestions as to what might happen next depending upon the actions and decisions of the Player Characters which the Game Master can develop herself.

Wyvern Songs: A Fantasy RPG Adventure Anthology opens with ‘The Sinister Secret Of Peacock Point’. This is for First Level Player Characters and is designed as an introductory adventure for both new players and Old-School veterans alike. They explore the guildhall belonging to the Apple Bottom Gang, a band of thieves operating out of a repurposed dungeon below a lighthouse. Whether the local mayor is concerned that the lighthouse lamp has gone out or the Player Characters are hired by a wizard to recover a music box—which he specifically warns them not to open— stolen by the Apple Bottom Gang, they discover the complex in darkness, seemly abandoned and suffering from an insect infestation. This mystery turns darker when the Player Characters discover the first bodies, stripped off their flesh… There is an element of nicely judged lurking horror to this scenario, enough to ratchet up the tension, but not overwhelm Player Characters, as they move from room to room, revealing more of what is obviously a home and a working environment that has suffered a disaster of some kind. This is reinforced by some of the encounters, such as with a teenage guild initiate, returned from his first assignment and traumatised that all of his erstwhile colleagues have disappeared.

There is also a whimsey and weirdness to the adventure, obviously in the random encounters, such as finding a peacock has got into the complex somehow from atop the cliffs or ‘Fish Guts’, the mascot for the Apple Bottom Gang, an undead, but toothless skeleton that shambles about wearing a horned helmet with his name on it in large letters. In addition, there is a link to the wider underworld—in both senses—with complex’s access to the Night Road, a subterranean highway controlled by Skunk Goblins! If the Player Characters are successful, they walk away with a lot of treasure as well, though they will need a way to transport some of it and find buyers. Overall, ‘The Sinister Secret Of Peacock Point’ is a cracking good start to the anthology.

If ‘The Sinister Secret Of Peacock Point’ had a drop of the weird and the whimsey to it, ‘Fabien’s Atelier’ has a whole vial’s worth. Designed for Player Characters of Second to Fourth Level, this is a puzzle dungeon set on a puck-shaped floating disc that is invisible to the naked eye, but which still casts a shadow on the ground. It can be run on its own, but it is actually a sequel to the author’s Hideous Daylight where it is the home to a wizard that has prevented the Sun from setting over a duke’s favourite garden—though for a good reason. In Hideous Daylight, the Player Characters were able to get up onto the disc, but not explore it. With ‘Fabien’s Atelier’ they can. As a puzzle dungeon, the puzzles themselves are more odd than overly challenging. Upfront, there is good advice on how to run a puzzle dungeon and the adventure itself has its clues repeated over and over, and ultimately, does state that the Game Master should allow for there being no right answers and that violence is always the answer! Again, there is a ticking clock at the heart of the heart of the adventure, but slightly more obvious as the floating disc rocks and rumbles. The adventure is not very big, but it is nicely detailed and there is lovely sense of otherworldliness to the whole of the wizard’s complex.

The third adventure, ‘The Singing Stones’ is even stranger than the previous two in the anthology. Designed for Player Characters of Third to Fifth Level, it is a pointcrawl set in a weird valley whose towering hoodoos and stone pillars have had their wisdom freed so that they constantly sing and drone, the sound reverberating up and down the valley. The setting also recalls both the frontier of the Old West and Death Valley of the USA, so the adventure could actually be run in a roleplaying game like Weird Frontiers. What drives the adventure is the search for a missing prince who is actually suffering from a poisoned wound that would kill him were it not for the fact that he has been turned to stone. This though, is only the start of the Player Characters’ problems as they search for a solution to both problems. Thankfully, the adventure does not give only the one solution, so there are multiple ways in which to solve both problems. In the process of looking for answers, the Player Characters will encounter various NPCs and get involved in their stories and plots and make further discoveries about the strangeness of the valley. Again, there are great random encounters, like the bottom half of a shattered stone golem futilely stomping about in search of its upper body, a rock formation being chomped on by creature that is slowly eating its way through the valley with the surrounding rocks all suddenly going silent as if in mourning or hiding, and a hungry stone giant hunting for food whose stone body has been affected by the area’s magic that it broadcasts his thoughts! ‘The Singing Stones’ really takes its central concept and develops into some wondrous ideas and encounters, combining them in a very well designed pointcrawl for the best adventure in the anthology.

The last adventure in the anthology is ‘The Dreaming Caldera’, a tough dungeon designed for Player Characters of Fifth and Sixth Levels. It is set atop and inside the dormant volcano Mount Embersnake below which a Chaos godling sings and it tries to give birth to itself. Its singing has been heard all across the region, summoning many to climb the steep sides of the volcano and descend inside to assist. During the adventure, this will include the Player Characters if their Alignment is Chaos, so they had better make their Saving Throws! What they find is a compact dungeon that is actually a cross between a factory and birthing pool with the godling’s worshippers working to put together a body suitable for young Chaos god. So, there is a chicken farm where the chickens are being slaughtered for their body parts—though nobody knows what to do with the feathers, so there is a room full of mounds of feathers—and some of the chickens have been evolved by their conditions into unsurprisingly angry Dire Chickens, whilst Ogres working as incompetent stone masons attempting carve bones for the godling, but blaming their incompetence on the neanderthals they force to mine the stone. Meanwhile, the previous god to whom the shrine atop the volcano was dedicated wants it back and will reward those who stop the godling from being born. The rewards would be great, except that this god is an evil deity of gluttony! ‘The Dreaming Caldera’ is the most grim and perilous adventure in the anthology, and the most challenging. It is a solidly designed dungeon, but in terms of tone, it feels different to the previous three adventure, darker, with less whimsy, and so a bit out of place.

Wyvern Songs: A Fantasy RPG Adventure Anthology also includes four appendices of bonus content. The first presents a new Class, the Mektaur. This is effectively, a one-off, an option for a recently deceased Player Character to live on in a new form, that of a rare magical relic and warrior. It is a centaur-shaped magical automaton into which the blood of the recently deceased is poured. Whatever the Class of the Player Character now dead, he now becomes a warrior proficient in the use of polearms, good at charging, and if that Class involved spellcasting, the Player Character is longer able to cast spells. He can though, speak with the undead, but requires weekly winding like a clockwork device and cannot climb ropes or vertical surfaces.

The second appendix, ‘Adventurer’s Guilds’ suggests the benefits of joining an Adventurer’s Guild. This includes information about adventuring sites, getting properly outfitted (enabling a player to declare that his character has an item even if it is not on his character sheet), and free lodging. It is accompanied by sample guilds, one whose membership is primarily mercenaries and landsknechts and one that specialises in mushroom hunting. Both have their extra benefits, but the latter is more interesting, suggesting that its members team up with wizards and thieves for the more dangerous dungeon expeditions. Mushroom identification training is mandatory, though.

‘The village of NANLET’ is described in the third appendix. It is a frontier settlement with its own oddities, like the fact that the local witches protect the inhabitants in return for their keeping a sealed coffin in their homes and never, ever opening it. What is in the coffins? That is for the Game Master to decide. Both of the Adventurer’s Guilds mentioned in the previous appendix have chapter houses in the village and the village centre is dominated by the head of a cyclops and an adjacent cathedral where the chanting continues unabated for twenty-four hours a day. There is also a table of town gossip, which the Referee can use to create adventure hooks, including one to Hideous Daylight.

Lastly, the fourth appendix, ‘The Grand Duchy of Bhosel’ is a setting where the author has not only placed the four scenarios in Wyvern Songs, but also recommends where other scenarios for Old School Essentials might be placed, including those from its publisher, Necrotic Gnome. However, as a setting it is not developed much beyond this, so that the Game Master will need to do a lot of work to tie these individual adventures and locations into a coherent whole, rather than the scrappy patchwork which is presented here. There are some connections between the four scenarios in Wyvern Songs, but they are very light and so not strong enough to reinforce what the ‘The Grand Duchy of Bhosel’ is trying to do. In a very good anthology, this is the least interesting and least useful entry.

Physically, Wyvern Songs is very well presented. The adventures are concisely written and easy to grasp and accompanied by decent artwork and excellent cartography. The adventures are also colour-coded for easy identification. However, the book is not perfect. The secret doors on the maps could have been more easily identifiable and sometimes the text is accompanied by maps of their individual rooms or locations taken from the main maps for the adventures, sometimes not. So, the scenarios are inconsistent in how easy they are to run.

Wyvern Songs: A Fantasy RPG Adventure Anthology is a superb collection of adventures. Each entry in the anthology gets to the point, and consequently, is easy to prepare and run, yet packed with lots of intriguing little details alongside their engaging plots that really make you want to run them. No matter which retroclone a Game Master uses, Wyvern Songs: A Fantasy RPG Adventure Anthology will have something that she will want to adapt and run—more likely, all four of them.

The Other OSR: Lost in the Fold

All you know is Here. There is no need to know of anywhere that is not Here. Where is Here? You know nobody who knows. It is your Home. It is your community. It gives you a function. It gives you opportunities for recreation. It gives you the chance to contribute to the Community. Everything you need and everything anyone needs, flows through The Chain. You know it works. Its pipes run everywhere and wheeze and pop and whistle and clang, but always deliver what you need when you need it. When the Community needs it. Starting every day with a morning clothing bullet to make sure everyone is dressed in fresh apparel. All of which is overseen by The Authority, the municipal administration which ensures that The Chain continues to operate, to ensure everyone is assigned to the right sleeping quarters, given the correct amount of recreation time, they contribute to the Community, and they keep a record that they do. Yet… There is the Threshold. It might be the edge or the end of Here, but nobody knows. Or at least nobody is saying. And definitely, nobody who has gone beyond the Threshold, whether deliberately or be accident, has returned to tell anyone what the Threshold is or what lies on the other side.

This is what anyone knows—including the Player Characters—of the Here, a habitat occupied by humanity, surviving on limited resources, and living on borrowed and definitely bureaucratic time. What the habitat of the Here is, is unknown. It could be a bunker, buried underground after a nuclear apocalypse, a space station orbiting Jupiter, a long-term social experiment, or at the end of the universe. Wherever and whatever it is, the scarcity of resources means that if anything went wrong, the Here would no longer be viable. It could collapse. It could be shut down. Either way, it would be ‘Lost in the Fold’, in a bureaucratic reshuffle as its last resources are reassigned.

This is the set-up for the Lost in the Fold. Published by Just Crunch Games, this is a ‘Genre Set-Up’ for Sanction: A Tabletop Roleplaying Game of Challenges & Hacks, which describes itself as a set of “Universal Rules for Challenge-driven Games”. It is a separate ‘Genre Set-Up’ to the two given in the core rulebook—as expanded in .GIF and For A Rainy Day—one inspired by the Post Apocalyptic dystopian Science Fiction of The Silo and Brazil, Yokohama Station and The Trial. It is a roleplaying setting of Science Fiction horror, for there is constant threat of the Habitat in which the Player Characters make their Home or themselves being ‘Lost in the Fold’ or the Player Characters being exposed to the Threshold or perhaps what might be lurking within the Threshold. Lost in the Fold includes some discussion as to that the Habitat might be, but does not decide on any one. What it does do though, is provide the means for the Player Characters to explore the Here and undertake assignments for The Authority as there are issues with The Chain and the Threshold.

A Player Character in Lost in the Fold has three Resources, here called Grit, Rote, and Wile, the equivalent of Physical, Mental, and Willpower, but here also representing the ability of a Player Character to persuade others that he is capable or knowledgeable, rather than necessarily actually being so. He also has a past, represented by a Lifepath. In Sanction, this is a Past, a Diversion, and an Influence. In Lost in the Fold, it is Communal Purpose, representing a Player Character’s place and responsibilities, a Troubling Keepsake which is his unhealthy interest secreted away instead of being returned to The Chain for recycling, and a Downtime Distraction, which is what the Player Character does to reduce stress and contribute towards the sense of community. He also has two items of gear, some base Hits, and a Pressure Track.

Renton
Physical D4 Mental D8 Willpower D6
Communal Purpose: Civil Assistant
Troubling Keepsake: Fencing
Downtime Distraction: Mediating
Abilities: Accounting, Commence, Negotiation
Pressure Track: 0
Equipment: Glow Tube, Stanly Knife
Hits: 3

One key aspect of a Player Character is the degree which he is under Pressure. It is not danger as such, but how a Player Character feels when under the scrutiny of the company he keeps and the situation that he finds himself in. It begins at zero, but when first affected, is set to a twelve-sided die. It increases whenever a non-Pressure check results in Falter or directly due to the nature of a situation, and each time it does, the die size decreases, from a twelve-sided die to a ten-sided, from a ten-sided to an eight-sided, and so on. This step down in pressure die size occurs automatically in these situations rather than a player rolling for it as if Pressure were being treated as a Resource. When something occurs that is so traumatic, such as seeing an unnatural death or an inexplicable situation, a Player Character’s Pressure is Triggered. This requires a Pressure check and when a Player Character rolls a one or two on this roll, a Falter, he will Fold. This does not mean that he disappears, but rather that he shifts in terms of his personality. For example, he may suddenly gain a sense of being Persecuted, be Belligerent, or Rash. These are only temporary, but the lower the Pressure Die, the more often he is affected. Through rest and recreation, a Player Character can improve or increase his Pressure Die.

In terms of running Lost in the Fold, the Game Moderator can use the Mission Triggers table to create assignments, such as ‘Understand/Collect’, ‘Restricted/Uncontrolled’, and ‘Damage/Safety’. In leaving the Habitat she is advised to listen to her players and take cues from their conjecture as to its nature. She is also given advice, including safety advice, on how to create Nightmares, the things that might in the Threshold or even invade the pipes of The Chain. Four sample Nightmares are included for play beyond the scenario given in the book. This is ‘Chain Reaction’. It opens with a problem. The expected and usual Chain Drop and daily arrival of the Clothing Bullet did not take place today or the day before. Dressed in what they can scavenge or have previously hidden away despite it not being socially acceptable, the Player Characters are assigned to investigate. This sends the Player Characters into an industrial space, a space in between, which could be the Threshold, the space between the walls, or even another Habitat, another Here. The scenario does not make this clear, and intentionally so. It is an exploration scenario, with the Player Characters interacting with each other and with the space they discover rather anyone else.

‘Chain Reaction’ is also self-contained in that it only shows the Player Characters on an assignment which takes them out of the Habitat, or at least, their Here. Consequently, there is insufficient contrast between this and what their life is like in the Here. So no interaction with The Authority or with the Community. The scenario is unbalanced and the Game Moderator might want to address this before she runs it.

Physically, Lost in the Fold is short and simple. The layout is clean and tidy, everything is easy to grasp, and it is very lightly illustrated.

Lost in the Fold has the feeling of Paranoia, but without its budget or all of its satire, and with the sensibility of sixties and seventies Science Fiction shot on a budget in industrial zones. It also has the feeling of promise and of having interesting ideas, but which it also does not have the budget to realise. Although a short book, there are some interesting ideas in Lost in the Fold, but the low page count and a scenario that emphasises what lies beyond the experience of the Player Characters, means that those ideas remain unexplored. Lost in the Fold is an interesting ‘Genre Set-Up’ with some intriguing ideas, but no more than that, leaving the Game Moderator wishing that it had gone further in exploring its set-up.

Companion Chronicles #9: The Barnyard Tournament

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, The Companions of Arthur is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon. It enables creators to sell their own original content for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This can original scenarios, background material, alternate Arthurian settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Pendragon Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Pendragon campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

The Barnyard Tournament: A Three Damosels of the Fountain Adventure is a scenario for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, eight-one page, 11.63 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is nicely illustrated, often to amusing effect.

Besides six pre-generated Player-knights, The Barnyard Tournament includes thirty-three handouts, a game board and thirteen tokens, one map, and a Game Master reference card.

Where is the Quest Set?

The Barnyard Tournament is set in Huntland County and quite literally, beyond, on the border between Logres and the Saxon kingdom of Anglia.

It takes place in the Boy King period directly before a battle, either against the Rebel Kings during the Civil War or against the Saxons in the Saxon War.

Who should go on this Quest?

The Barnyard Tournament is suitable for knights of all types. The Passion of Hate (Saxons) is likely to be advantageous, but not necessary to complete the scenario.

What does the Quest require?

The Barnyard Tournament requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition rules or the Pendragon Starter Set.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The Barnyard Tournament is a grand adventure which begins with the Player-knights as exploratores on the road, conducting a scouting mission for King Arthur on the eve of battle. An encounter with three ‘Weird Sisters’ will divert them onto three different paths that together allegorise the need to grow up and assume the responsibilities of adulthood, in the scenario on a small scale, but in the kingdom at large, on a much bigger scale. The diversion is actually a dishonourable act for the Player-knights, as it will take them away from their assigned mission, but there is much to be learned and much to be gained by taking the path rather than ignoring it. (Plus, there is a chance to redeem themselves at the end of the adventure.) The paths in turn lead the Player-knights to a prosperous manor, almost an idyll in the face of the oncoming war. None are prepared for the conflict to come, including the young man due to inherit the manor. On the first path, the Player-knights are directed to inspire the young man to follow in the footsteps of his father, a famous knight, and prepare both him and the manor in case of an attack by Saxon raiders, looking for easy pickings. On the second path, the Player-knights find themselves in a very strange situation where they must attempt to bring together squabbling, but potential allies in the face of greater aggression and so protect the king—much like the situation with the young King Arthur. On the third path, the Player-knights must put into practice what they have preached and defend the manor from the marauding Saxons.

The first path introduces the location and the cast, presenting a community and pastoral respite that the Player-knights can indulge in, just a little, as they begin to teach the folk of the manor more of the wider world. There is a playfulness to this first chapter, one that the Player-knights tumble out of and into the second chapter and into the magical realism of tooth and claw in the nearby forest. Here on second path, the scenario is at its strangest, not just in terms of what both their players and their knights are now playing, but also in terms of how it is played out, more like a board game than a roleplaying game. If the first path teaches the lesson, the second cements it, and the third enforces the need for it. On the third path, the Player-characters become the generals as a wild assault is made on the manor by marauding Saxons. The likelihood is that the second path will be remembered for its oddness, whilst the first and third paths stand out for their roleplaying and storytelling opportunities, the third path offering opportunities for heroism.

The Barnyard Tournament is designed to showcase the various aspects of Pendragon Sixth Edition and its rules. Thus, there is a mock tournament, a battle to engage in, and opportunity aplenty for the Player-knights to show off their knightly virtues. All of which veiled in the mystical strangeness of Arthur’s realm and a little beyond. The scenario is written for use by Game Masters new to Pendragon—though this does not mean that old hands will not either appreciate or enjoy it—and to that end there is advice throughout its pages on how to stage and run The Barnyard Tournament with numerous possibilities and outcomes suggested and discussed.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

If as the Game Master, you do not yet have The Barnyard Tournament: A Three Damosels of the Fountain Adventure, then you should, and if as a player your knight has not yet participated in The Barnyard Tournament: A Three Damosels of the Fountain Adventure, then ask your Game Master why not? This is an excellent adventure, one that showcases the richness of King Arthur’s realm—if only in miniature—and have the Player-knights become part of it and defend it. All of the scenarios to date on The Companions of Arthur have been good, so it no slight against any of them to say that The Barnyard Tournament: A Three Damosels of the Fountain Adventure is the best community content adventure published for Pendragon Sixth Edition to date.

Miskatonic Monday #329: Thicker Than Water

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Thicker Than Water

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jack Currie

Setting: Arkansas, 1933

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-four page, 679 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Monstrousness runs through more than the blood.

Plot Hook: A kidnapping sends the Investigators down south

Plot Support: Staging advice, one handout, one Mythos Tome, One Mythos spell, and one-hundred-and-ten Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Short and straightforward

# Scope for development by the Keeper

# Hemophobia

# Anthropophagusphobia

# Teraphobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# More plot outline than investigation

# Why isn’t the FBI involved?

# No maps or floorplans

# Much, much shorter playing time than suggested
# Scope for development by the Keeper
# If they are tied to the kidnap victim, why no pre-generated Investigators?

Conclusion

# More plot outline than scenario with limited scope for investigation

# Underdeveloped, but not without potential
# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends