The Nature of the Beast is the first scenario to be published for The End of Kings: Core Rules for 17th Century Adventure, the roleplaying game of magic, monarchy, and division set in the early modern period prior to the English Civil War. Published by MontiDots Creations, best known for publishing horror scenarios such as The Fenworthy Inheritance and scenarios for the Old School Renaissance such as Limbus Infernum. It is a roleplaying game in which weaselly Vagabonds, stout Commoners and Yeomanry, and gracious members of the Nobility, as Cunning Folk or Woodkernes, Clubmen or Soldiers, Priests or Witch Hunters, Warlocks or Outlaws seek adventure and perhaps work to protect the realm from creatures from beyond the Veil and machinations of those men and women who would take advantage of the weakening of the Veil. Notably, it uses the GORE Generic Old-School Role-playing Engine published by Goblinoid Games. This is a percentile system which means that anyone familiar with the Basic Roleplay mechanics will have no difficulty adapting The End of Kings and thus The Nature of the Beast.
The scenario opens with the ‘Adventurists’—as it terms the Player Chaarcters—being hired by Reverend Richard Hinde, the corpulent priest of the village of Cranfold in the north of England. The flocks of sheep kept round the village have been subject to a spate of vicious attacks, the corpses left mutilated and half-eaten. The village is divided as to the nature of the culprit. Although no wolf has been seen in the country for a century, some say that is what it is, but others think it to be something much, much fouler. The priest, though, will confide that he thinks it a thing summoned through the Great Veil, though by whom or to what end, he can only conjecture. He had thought to hire the local hunter, but he has not been seen for days, but there is worse news for the reverend’s employer, the local squire. Lord Perfleet’s eldest daughter has also gone missing. The Adventurists are thus to travel to Cranfold and investigate the activities of the creature before hunting it down and killing it.
These events are of course, all connected, as the Adventurists will discover in the course of their investigations. Initially, it is suggested that this take the form of divination. The scenario gives crystallomancy as being the most effective and suggests that one of the Adventurists be capable of this, whilst another should be a priest with a sanctified silver cross capable of holding twenty Magic Points. The divination will grant them some initial hints, and can be used to gain further insights once the Adventurists arrive in Cranfold and want to examine the surrounding valley. Beyond this, their efforts are hampered by the arrival of the county Intelligencers—members of the inquisition who search for witches and signs of the devil—who have come to Cranfold in order to uncover what they think to be the activities of a witch. Bullies, man and woman, they will be quick to discover the ‘culprit’, denounce her, and condemn her to her fate, all in the name of god and coin in the pocket! The witchfinders are a reprehensible bunch, and are likely to arouse the ire of the Adventurists. This may lead to confrontation, if not between the Adventurists and Intelligencers, then between the Intelligencers and the returned hunter. The issue for the Adventurists is that the Intelligencers have the law on their side and any confrontation will get them into trouble. If he can be found, he knows much more about what has been happening and will point the Adventurists in the right direction, including approaching a caravan of Roma who are due to pass through the village as they regularly do at this time of the year. They will be able to help with advice and more before the Adventurists home in on the source and centre of the horror going on in Cranfold.
The Nature of the Beast is well supported with excellent maps and stats of the various NPCs and monsters. However, it could have been better organised, such as giving the description of the village towards the start of the book rather than in the middle of the adventure. Otherwise, physically, The Nature of the Beast is well presented, decently illustrated, and does come with great maps.
Where The Nature of the Beast is at its weakest is in the overreliance upon crystallomancy and divination as a means for the players and their Adventurists to gain hints and clues. It does not allow for other options and this, combined with the poor organisation means that The Nature of the Beast is not as easy to run as it should be. Here is where it could be better developed to be more flexible and less reliant on magic.
The Nature of the Beast is a solid adventure that combines some familiar elements—attacks on animals, revenge from beyond the grave, fear of witches, folk horror, and so on—with a pervading sense of horror and the unknown, the result feeling very much like a Hammer Horror film. The climax of the scenario does lend itself to cinematic action, so enforcing that feel. Even if the Game Master does not want to run the scenario using The End of Kings: Core Rules for 17th Century Adventure, the plot and set-up of The Nature of the Beast is relatively easy to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition or Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay, as both are set during a similar period.
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