[Fanzine Focus XXVIII] Strange Inhabitants of the Forest

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. A more recent retroclone of choice to support has been Mörk Borg.

Published in November, 2020, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is one of three similar fanzines released by Philip Reed Games as a result of the Strange Citizens of the City Kickstarter campaign, the others being Strange Citizens of the City and Strange Visitors to the City. It follows on from the publisher’s Delayed Blast Gamemaster fanzine, by presenting a set of tables upon which the Game Master can roll and bring in elements to her game. Whilst Delayed Blast Gamemaster detailed monsters, environments, and more, with a cover which reads, “Roll 2d6 and say hello to Evil”, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is all about the encounter and all about encounters with evil. 

The issue opens with the eponymous ‘Strange Inhabitants of the Forest’ which presents a table of villains or villain-like NPCs to be encountered in the forest. Each is given their own two-page spread, with a large illustration, a full page of text providing background, and of course, notes and stats. The notes typically suggest how much money the Player Characters might make from their loot or handing in proof of their deaths, though not always. They include the Armoured Suit of Despair, Being of Animated Evil is a suit of armour forged in the deepest pits of hell with only one purpose—slaughtering the living! However, there is no means of destroying it and upon their first encounter with it, the Player Characters will find it doing something unspeakably evil. A handful of options are included. Jannick Pückler, Undead Huntsman, was a huntsman of the undead in life, and even in his unlife as a skeletal huntsman, he has continued his calling. Despite being dedicated to destroying evil, he has a hard time persuading others that he himself is not evil. Zakari Echautz is a Frustrated Angel, driven to act against evil in the face of infighting amongst his kind, who has become intolerant and unlikely unable to determine who or what is exactly evil and who or what is not. A huge pack of rats drive the Player Characters to find refuge at the isolated mansion of Lady Jeni Dargonmir, but she is not what she seems, but a ‘Connoisseur of Blood’. A night in her demesne should set up a night of horror. What all eleven entries have in common is that they appear to be evil, though this is not necessarily the case—as evidenced by Jannick Pückler. Most though, are tough opponents, some more than the players and their characters might imagine, and if there is another common theme, though not to all of the entries, it is that a few of them are actually bodies animated by items of clothing or armour, and in many cases, should a Player Character decide to don such an item or clothing or armour, then he is dead! Or at least an NPC turned to evil. Nevertheless, there is a good mix here and definitely after  encountering one or two of these, the Player Characters are going hate being in the forest.

‘Strange Inhabitants of the Forest’ takes up over half of Strange Inhabitants of the Forest. It is followed by ‘Strange Encounters’. This provides twelve encounters, or locations, which the Player Characters can come across on their journeys through the forest. These are shorter, just a paragraph long. For example, ‘The Collapsed Bridge of Neumark’ is a ruined bridge across the Soulless River, leaving dangerously rabid waters to cross or the ‘The Woodcutter’s Hut’, home to the friendly and helpful Arno Schottenstein who does not tolerate rudeness. These are uninteresting, even banal, as encounters go, at best contrasts to others such as ‘The Mound of Skulls’, literally a pile of hundreds of human skulls and so evil that anyone of that persuasion has a bonus to their damage rolls when in that vicinity, or ‘The Wizard’s Walking Hut’, an animated walking hut, who has little time for intruders now that his master is dead! Can the Player Characters loot the hut before it galivants off? Overall, the weird encounters outweigh the mundane, and again, these are going to make the Player Characters hate the forest even more!

Lastly, ‘1d12 Travellers on the Road’ presents exactly that. This is the third table in the fanzine and like ‘Strange Encounters’, it consists of single paragraph entries. The travellers encountered might include Soli Kamolov, a cheesemaker on his way to market who might sell the Player Characters some of his hard cheese; Karolina Strle, a terrified deserter who fears her former employer, a powerful warlord might be after her and so would be happy to sell her sword and armour which identifies her as one of his soldiers; and Nusret Oblak, a bamboozled merchant who will be happy to see the Player Characters because the men he hired to guard his goods swindled him, leaving him penniless, but he wants revenge and will pay if he can get his good back! These are generally more mundane encounters than in the previous articles, and so act as contrasts.

Physically, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is very nicely presented. Although it makes strong use of colour, it uses a softer palette than Mörk Borg, so is easier on the eye. The artwork throughout is excellent, but the one of Jannick Pückler really stands out.

To be honest, none of the encounters in Strange Inhabitants of the Forest actually have to take place in a forest and there are possibly too many encounters for one forest—unless it is a very big forest! Yet, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is full of dark and deadly encounters, to varying degrees, that the Game Master can pick and choose from, all to make her Player Characters fear the forest.