The Other OSR: Miseries & Misfortunes V

Miseries & Misfortunes is a roleplaying game set in seventeenth century France designed and published following a successful Kickstarter campaign by Luke Crane, best known for the fantasy roleplaying game, Burning Wheel. Notably, it is based on the mechanics of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. Originally, Miseries & Misfortunes appeared as a fanzine in 2015, but its second edition has since been developed to add new systems for skills, combat, magic, and more. However, the underlying philosophy of Miseries & Misfortunes still leans back into the play style of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. For example, the differing mechanics of rolling low for skill checks, but high for combat rolls and saving throws. Plus, the Player Characters exist in an uncaring world where bad luck, misfortune, and even death will befall them and there will be no one left to commiserate or mourn except the other characters and their players. Further, Miseries & Misfortunes is not a cinematic swashbuckling game of musketeers versus the Cardinal’s guards. It is grimmer and grimier than that, and the Player Characters can come from all walks of life. That said, it is set in the similar period as Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, so will be familiar to many players. The other major inspiration for Miseries & Misfortunes is Les Misères et les Malheurs de la Guerre, a set of eighteen etchings by French artist Jacques Callot that grimly depict the nature of the conflict in the early years of the Thirty Years War.

Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 5: Homage to Catalonia is the fifth of the roleplaying game’s rulebooks. The first, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 1: Roleplaying in 1648 gives the core rules for the roleplaying game, and the second, Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 2: Les Fruits Malheureux provides the means to actually create Player Characters, and together they make up the core rules. Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 3: The Sacred & The Profane expands on this with rules for magic and related Lifepaths, and Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 4: Plus de Misères offers modes of play and further subsystems that also expand upon the core play, whilst Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 5: Homage to Catalonia provides something that that Miseries & Misfortunes has been missing to date—a scenario.

Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 5: Homage to Catalonia is an introductory scenario set in 1647 in the disputed region of Catalonia. Triggering The Reaper’s War in 1640 by declaring itself a republic independent of Spain, Catalonia then declared itself a county of France the following year, in the process acquiring a strong ally. France accepted and made King Louis XIII the count of the newly acquired region. Of course, Cardinal Richelieu was not doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but rather to keep the Spanish Habsburgs in check, adding one more conflict to those that Madrid faced in the Spanish Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, and South America. It is picaresque in nature, taking the Player Characters back and forth across Catalonia.

The set-up for scenario recommends that the Player Characters include at least one of their number to take either the Lifepath of Barber Surgeon, Doctor, Military Engineer, Miquelet, Officer, Petty Noble, Segador, or Soldier. Of these, the Miquelet, a member of the militia, and the Segador, one of the farmers that rose up during The Reaper’s War, are both detailed at the back of Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia, whereas the Barber Surgeon, Doctor, and Military Engineer are described in Miseries & Misfortunes Book 6: Paris, 1648. The players will have an advantage throughout the scenario if their characters come from a diverse range of backgrounds and social origins. At least one Player Character should have a high Precedence or Reputation. The players also need to decide on a motif, a reason why they are together. Several are suggested going back several years, including The Reaper’s War itself if the Player Characters are all Catalan.

The scenario is divided into twelve events, split into two parts. For an introductory scenario, it is a surprisingly lengthy affair, each half likely taking three sessions at least to play through. The scenario opens in the wake of the first defeat for the daring commander of the French forces, the Prince de Condé, his failure to capture the fortress city of Lerida. Despite the failure, the Player Characters have distinguished themselves—the players need to decide how before the start of play—and brought themselves to the attention of the Prince de Condé. They are invited to attend what turns out to be a rather subdued soirée and have the chance to mingle, learn various rumours about the recent battle and the attendees, and if they are of sufficient standing, pay their respects to the Prince de Condé. The event is interrupted with the arrival of a message from Paris—the Prince de Condé has been summoned home.

To prevent the possibility of a Spanish attempt to capture himself and his entourage, the Prince de Condé decides to play a ruse and a joke on them. Or rather on Governor Don Gregorio Brito of Portugal, the commander of the fortress at Lerida, with whom the Prince de Condé has a surprisingly cordial relationship. The Player Characters are volunteered for this important diversion, which is to accompany a mule train bearing gifts for Governor Don Gregorio Brito of Portugal with the ambitious Chevalier de Jumeaux riding as the stand in or decoy for the Prince de Condé.

The rest of this first half involves dealing with a pensive Chevalier de Jumeaux and a Spanish spy looking to take advantage of the Prince de Condé’s plans, unaware that it is actually a ruse. The spy will lead a force in an attempt to capture the Prince de Condé and steal all of his gifts for the governor of Lerida. This will result in a confrontation of some kind, with where and when depending on the actions and decisions of the Player Characters. The scenario details a dilapidated farmhouse where they might hold out against the Spanish assault, almost mirroring the French efforts at Lerida. If they survive this, the Player Characters will need to find a way of delivering the mules and the gifts they are bearing to Governor Don Gregorio Brito of Portugal, hopefully without ending up in gaol.

The second half of Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia begins with the Player Characters bearing another message, though one not requiring a mule train, to Bishop Duran in the town of Seu d’Urgell. He accepts the letter and also requests that they do some ‘dirty work’ for him. Bandits have plagued the area for some years and more recently they captured a Jesuit priest who was bringing the bishop a valuable bible for him to study and are now holding him to ransom. The bishop would like the Player Characters to free the Jesuit priest and gives them what funds he has free to pay the ransom. This though, is not the asking price the bandits are asking for in return for freeing the priest.

In order to deliver the ransom the Player Characters will need to ascend into the Pyrenees and Andorra via the La Pas de la Casa. Here is where the problems begin for the Player Characters. They run into a traffic jam at a bottleneck which the bandits are cleverly using to rob everyone entering the pass intending to go onto France. This includes the Player Characters! How they deal with this robbery will affect later interactions with the bandits, but the bandits will have the upper hand throughout this half of the scenario and they know the region and have restored a Roman watchtower as their holdout. The Player Characters are free to approach this in whatever way they want and the scenario covers a variety of actions, including going to the local lord and seeking his support in ridding the area of the bandits.

The scenario in Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia comes to a close with a discussion of the possible outcomes. Defeat at the hands of the bandits will be doubly disastrous as the Player Characters will also lose the patronage of the Prince de Condé. In addition, all of the NPCs that the Player Characters will directly interact with are given full write-ups, and there are new options for the Player Characters. These include the aforementioned Lifepaths of the Miquelet and the Segador, and these are joined by the Bruxia, a Catalan witch. Added to these are notes on Catalan skills, mentalities, politics, and religion, plus two types of Catalan magic. These are for the Bruxia, and consist of Bruixeria, which involves spellcasting by applying the Devil’s Unguent, and Felitico, which involves creating fetishes through which their power is channelled. There is plenty of potential as you would expect in these Lifepaths, but the Bruxia is going to have a tough time against devout Christians.

Physically, Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia is well presented and written. It is lightly illustrated with the major illustrations being used to locations where the scenario’s major confrontations take place. Each scene is very well organised with a detailed breakdown that provides an overview, details of patron, antagonists, supporting cast, opportunities, and outcomes. They do have ‘Mood and Bread’ ratings for each event, but these are for the Crowd rules from Miseries & Misfortunes Book 6: Paris, 1648. Footnotes throughout provide translations and further explanations as necessary.

Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia is no simple introductory adventure and even when it is presenting a situation typical to an introductory scenario, that is, dealing with banditry, there is no simple and direct method of dealing with them. They are, like all of the NPCs in the scenario, presented as intelligent persons and as having strong motives. Some of those accompanying the Player Characters will want to fight too readily, whilst others will avoid fights as best they can, and when it comes to the villains, if the players and their characters do defeat them, they should feel like they have achieved something. That Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia pulls away from the politics and mores of Paris typical of the Roleplaying genre by shifting to a little known conflict is also a plus. The scenario is also supported by a wealth of historical detail, including capturing some of the region’s radical politics.

Miseries & Misfortunes Book 5: Homage to Catalonia showcases how Miseries & Misfortunes and its genre can be more than the swashbuckling and the savoir faire and the politics and Paris so beloved of the genre. It includes a good mix of roleplaying and action in an unfamiliar land and conflict that will surprise many expecting a more traditional swashbuckling foray.

Dangerous Disapora

When Malcolm Donnaughy, an aspiring Boston politician with links to Irish nationalism is found decapitated in his back yard, followed by Michael Cyr, a New York journalist who wrote about Irish War for Independence, hoping for a peaceful resolution, and then, Corinna Franz, a German immigrant in Boston, questions are asked. In the fractious and often hot tempered has ardent nationalism turned into a bloody vendetta for one faction against all others? Or is there something else going on. It is set in late 1920 in Boston and New York, and points between, as the USA stands on the brink of tremendous change in the aftermath of the Great War. As a result of their contributions to the war effort, women have already received the vote following the passing of the 19th Amendment, but many other groups campaign, raise funds, and foment for radical change. None more so than amongst the Irish diaspora in North America. As the Irish War of Independence rages on the other side of the Atlantic, the disparate groups amongst the Irish nationalists cannot agree on what they want exactly, even though they may share a common cause.

This is the set-up for The Wild Hunt: A Race Across the North-Eastern U.S. to Confound an Ancient Imported Evil, a scenario for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, published by Stygian Fox Publishing. It is set against a backdrop of radical change and often radical activism that the scenario takes the time to explain, not just for the benefit of the Keeper, but also for the player as several of the pre-generated Investigators are activists—radical and otherwise. Further, these activist roles are represented by some of the new Occupations included in The Wild Hunt, whilst others, no less political, represent the establishment. The political Occupations include the Activist, the Political Animal, and the Political Machine Lieutenant. The more mundane Occupations consist of the Bootlegger, the Knocker-Upper, literally someone who goes round the city waking people up by knocking on their windows, the Messenger/Runner, the Performer, the Pinkerton Agent, Prohibition Agent, and Travelling Salesman. The only outré Occupation is the Occultist. Some of these are new, others are variations upon those found in Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition.

Setting up the scenario in terms of the Investigators requires some decisions to be made by the Keeper. Some of the pre-generated Investigators are members of law enforcement, some are activists or political operators, others are journalists or connected to the book trade. Each is connected to the investigation in some way and the ten are equally divided between Boston and New York. Some care is required to get them involved and working together, especially if they come from different cities.

Once set up, the scenario proper begins with the discovery of Corrine Franz’s dead body, perhaps even by one of the Investigators. After this, the investigation begins to clip-clop along in a timely fashion, Corrine’s ex-student, turned book thief, toy boy boyfriend (and likely thief from the bookshop owned by one of the pre-generated Investigators) providing the first clues, leading to the dirtiest speakeasy ever (really, it is under a coke plant) and onto New York’s Book Row. Key to continuing the investigation is learning the names of one or more activists connected to what turns out to be an extreme wing of the Clan na Gael, a fundraising organisation dedicated to the establishment of an Irish free state. Once the names are known, the investigation can swing into high gear and multiple lines of inquiry open up. This includes tracking their activities before and after the Great War, having been very busy in the last two years. The Investigators may even have the aid of other Irish nationalists embarrassed at quite what these extremists are doing in the name of the cause.

Ultimately, the Investigators will have enough information to have some idea of what the Irish nationalists-turned-cultists have been trying to do and what they might have unleashed. It is possible for the Investigators to stumble into the final scenes, which will involve a confrontation with the cultists and then what they have summoned, but hopefully by the time they do so in the back woods of Massachusetts, they will have at least learned enough information to have a good idea what is going on. And what is going on, as the title of the scenario suggests, is that the cultists are attempting to summon and harness something out of Celtic myth as a means to aid the Irish nationalist. Of course, this being a Call of Cthulhu scenario, this has not gone well and now, the cultists are suffering the consequences, scared, almost mad, but coherent. Facing the summoned threat is challenging, again, dedicated research should be enough to forewarn and perhaps, even forearm the Investigators.

The scenario is very well supported. The clues and links are made clear, the NPCs are nicely detailed, and there are lengthy sections devoted to library research in both Boston and New York, and there are detailed write-ups of the Mythos tomes that appear in the scenario. There is also a handful of new Mythos spells too. The various handouts are very well done and do include a puzzle that the players may have to work out.

The Wild Hunt is not a Mythos scenario per se, but rather that its monstrous antagonists are a Mythos interpretation of Celtic myth, one that the scenario’s human antagonists believe too much in and fall foul of. This is then layered out over the American north-east of New York and New England, taking in a little of Lovecraft Country along the way, from the heights of academia to the lows of the dirtiest dives imaginable, and then out into the swamps. Around this is built a rich, meaty investigation that will be really enjoyable to conduct with numerous interesting NPCs to portray—even the minor ones. The jazz trio of Black American NPC investigators deserve not just a mention, but scenarios of their own, suggesting a link to Harlem Unbound, whilst there are links to Masks of Nyarlathotep in the scenario, and thematically at least to Cthulhu Ireland. The scenario is not dissimilar to The Order of the Stone: A Horror Mystery in Three Parts, which could even be run as a thematic sequel to The Wild Hunt.

Physically, The Wild Hunt is pleasantly presented. The layout is clean and attractive, though it could be tighter in places, and the maps are well done. What stands out is much of the artwork, done in pastels that gives it a distinctive look reminiscent of Edward Hopper.

The Wild Hunt: A Race Across the North-Eastern U.S. to Confound an Ancient Imported Evil explores a side of its default period rarely explored in Call of Cthulhu. Its presentation of activism and especially Irish nationalism is maturely handled, though warrants the ‘For Mature Gamers’ label on the cover. This is a very good investigative scenario, with a string emphasis on the investigation before the horror is confronted, mixed with an enjoyably unhealthy dose of politics.

[Free RPG Day 2025] :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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Two days ago, a terrorist cyber team was able to identify, isolate, and take control of an anomaly in cyberspace. An informant in the Tokyo Tangle has identified the team as belonging to the Ōgama marauders, a radical terrorist organization which has been frog-like yōkai who have been attacking civilian targets in the Megacity, likely in an attempt to destabilize the local government. The team’s target is the anomalous cyber Domain, BNZ4I-10, known to display cutting-edge or supernatural capacities with regard to data control. Now that Ōgama have control of BNZ4I-10, it has the ability to manipulate the flow of data throughout cyberspace. This includes the capacity to redirect data packets, including highly sensitive information sent from secure locations, into this anomalous Domain. With this, their cyber team has unchecked reach and significant advantage in terms of access to communication.

Although the location of the physical server hosting this Domain cannot be determined, but communications access has been gained. You will be placed in Harness and projected into the Domain’s virtual representation. Your objective is to infiltrate and take over BNZ4I-10, eradicate Ōgama presence and code, and transfer control to Section 7. As a secondary objective, identify and secure any tech or artifacts used by Ōgama operatives to control or access the server.

Mission begins.

This is the set-up for :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game, a quick-start for :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG, published by the Son of Oak Game Studio, best known for City of Mist, the Pulp Noir, Urban Fantasy storytelling game. It is a narrative roleplaying game set some time during the next century in which the Player Characters are inhabitants of a dystopian Megacity who make a living undertaking dangerous jobs that their employers want temporary, deniable assets for. Typical tasks include hijacking, extraction, procurement, security sweeps, and so on. More recently, the Player Characters have made contact with something inexplicable, a legend or a Mythos that they hitherto only thought to be fiction, but is currently proving to be actually real. Almost as if it was out of a book of myths and legends, they find themselves capable of warping reality in a way that can only be described as magic! It uses a variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics, called the ‘Mist Engine’ and the :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game includes a short strike mission, ‘BNZ4I-10 Cyber Anomaly’, that can be played through in a single session with the three pre-generated Player Characters provided.

A Player Character in :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG is defined by four sets of themed Tags. These Themes vary, but can include Esoterica, Expertise, Affiliation, Assets, Artefact, Personality, and more. Each Theme set contains five Tags which can be used as a ‘Power Tag’ or a ‘Weakness Tag’. For example, the Wilson has the Tags of ‘Oni Strength’, ‘Demonic Durability’, ‘Rapid Regeneration’, ‘Acute Sense of Smell’, ‘Muscular Overgrowth’, and ‘Easily Angered’ for his Oni Mask Theme. A Theme also has background details that develop and explain who the character is. Each Player Character has a set of items which can be used as Tags too.

The three Player Characters in the :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game are ‘Genji’, a grizzled detective working for the Bureau of Onmyu, a secret government organisation that that tracks Mytho-related activities that are a threat to Tokyo and the rest of Japan; ‘Unagi’ is a scavenger and urban explorer looking for her kid sister who has also received the boon of Unagi Hime, the Eel princess; and ‘Wilson’ is a gaijin ronin, an ex-soldier turned mercenary armed with a cutting edge rail gun, who wears an Oni mask which gives strength and endurance. Each Theme comes with some colour text which gives it and the Player Character some context. Lastly, each of the three pre-generated Player Characters comes on a double-sided A3-size sheet, with a full illustration on one side and the full stats and details on the other, including an explanation of the roleplaying game’s core mechanic.

Mechanically, to have his character attempt a task a player rolls two six-sided dice. If the result is ten or more, the Player Character succeeds without Consequences; if it is seven to nine, he succeeds, but suffers Consequences; and if six or less, the Player Character fails and suffers the Consequences. To the roll, the player adds as many Power Tags as he can and which are appropriate, but has to deduct any Weakness Tags that apply. The resulting value is the Player Character’s Power. This can be spent on various Effects—Attack, Influence, Boost, Create, and Restore. They can also be applied to Challenges and Threats in an attempt to overcome them. Each Challenge or Threat has a rating or a ‘Limit’, for example, to get past an encampment of bandits with two men on watch, the Limits might be ‘stealth: 2’ and ‘wounded: 3’. In the first example, the Player Characters would apply the Effects from a stealth-related Tag to exceed the Limit, whilst in the second, the Effects from an attack-type Tag would be used. This can be done over multiple attempts with the Effects stacking each time, but if successful will change the status of a Challenge or Threat. Thus, the ‘stealth: 2’ Limit changes to ‘evaded-2’ and the ‘wounded: 3’ Limit to ‘wounded-3’.

However, there are ramifications if a Challenge or Threat is not dealt with succinctly or is even ignored. The Narrator can apply Consequences. This might be something as straightforward as ‘bleeding-3’ for a wound, ‘burning-1’ from a fire, or ‘lost-4’ if in darkness, but Limits themselves could change. For example, the Limits for the bandits could change to ‘hunted: 3’ and ‘wounded: 4’, now that the Player Characters failed to get past the encampment. The :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game includes a list of possible Effects, advice on running the roleplaying game, and possible Challenges, Threats, and Consequences that the Player Characters might face and suffer.

The adventure itself, ‘BNZ4I-10 Cyber Anomaly’ is set within cyberspace into which each Player Character and his abilities are projected, a process known as Harnessing. What this means is that whilst what is actually happening is that lines of code are running and interacting with each other, they are visualised and anything a Player Character could do in meatspace, he can do in the virtual space too and it will look exactly what it does in the real world. BNZ4I-10 is a ‘thin place’, a place where the mythic and the real meet. BNZ4I-10 actually looks like a shrine, complete with several pagodas, a bathhouse, and a pond. These locations are not mapped out in detail, but they do not need to be. Both these locations and the Ōgama marauder threats are described in detail enough that the Master of Ceremonies—as the Game Master is known in :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG—will handle how they react to the actions of the Player Characters. The scenario be played as is, but options explore what might happen if the Player Characters are betrayed by their employer or they betray their employer.

Physically, the :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game is well presented. The artwork is good and the writing decent. All three Player Character sheets come separate from the main book and there is even a sheet of Tracking Cards to cut and use to keep track of Effects being applied to Threats and Challenges and Limits being reduced.

If the :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game is lacking anything, it is an example of play or the rules in play. Without either, it is not quite as easy to grasp as it could have been, presenting more of a challenge to learn for anyone new to roleplaying or new to the narrative style of play employed in :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG. However, for the experienced Narrator or the Narrator willing to grasp its slightly different rules, the :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG Demo Game is a solid, engaging introduction to :Otherscape – The Mythic-Cyberpunk RPG, with an exciting strike mission that puts the Player Characters in the heat of the action.

Friday Fantasy: DCC Day #6 DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2025’, which took place today on Saturday, July 19th, 2025,* the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #108: The Seventh Thrall of Sekrekan. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ and ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock. Both DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock and ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst the other, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena sport and monetises it!

* The late international delivery of titles for DCC Day #6 means that these reviews are also late. Apologies.

As in past years, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack contains two adventures. The first and longest of the two is ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. It is designed for a party of four to six Player Characters of First Level and begins with them in an enchanted forest, come to a grove where a rose bush whose petals are known to have healing properties is known to grow. When they attempt to pick them, a ghost of a knight appears and begs for their aid. Introducing himself as Al-Razi, he was once a great knight, but in an accident, he fell from his horse, but then a fairy queen caught him and stole him from death. He asks that the Player Characters free him from his torment. The opportunity for this will come at fairy parade through the village of Taribat, which takes place only once every seven years. Al-Razi will ride at the head of the parade and if the Player Characters can catch him when he falls from horse, he will be freed. Unfortunately, in order to be able to see past the veil of the fairy, the Player Characters need water from an enchanted pool to wash their eyes in. Fortunately, Al-Razi knows there is such a pool—beyond the Twilight Cave.

The thrust of the scenario is for the Player Characters to enter the Twilight Cave and search for the pool. This is a race against time to the pool and back again to the village of Taribat. There are fun encounters here, such as the giant kittens playing with a giant mouse, a chance to make some purchases from a ‘Ye Olde magic Shoppe’ in what is actually a scenario befitting cliché, and some not entirely unhelpful witches. The second part of the scenario is the parade itself, which will lead from one stone outside the village to another on the opposite side. The whole of the village will turn out to watch and celebrate with costumes, drinks, and music, completely unaware as to the true nature of the parade. Only the Player Characters will have any idea as what the parade is and will only be able to see who really is in the parade by wiping their eyes with the enchanted water. This is a rolling combat as the parade will constantly be on the move and the members of the parade will take action if they realise what the Player Characters are trying to do. The Queen will respond with an array of deadly illusions, backed up with her paper handmaidens, and the Fey Riders encircle Al-Razi.

The scenario requires a bit of staging upon the part of the Judge in order for the Player Characters to get past the Fey Riders and be with Al-Razi at the right time to catch him as he falls. One thing to be avoided is fighting the fairy queen, as she is a very tough opponent for First Level Player Characters. It is also possible to fail—though the consequences are quite minor, as well as do very well. Otherwise, this is a raucous climax to an entertaining scenario.

The second scenario is ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, which is designed for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game and again for party of four to six Player Characters of First Level. In the Player Characters are invited to participate in the annual Division III Balticrawl Blitz. As this title suggests, this event takes place in the rundown and corrupt city of Baltimore. The Player Characters get a taste of the latter when someone knocks on the door of their hotel room and are offered a bribe to throw the Xcrawl in a particular room! The event itself is very much themed around the city of Baltimore and its history. This starts with the DJ, or ‘Dungeon Judge’, ‘DJ Nevermore’, a thin sallow moustachioed man in Victorian dress with a raven on his shoulder, who has designed the event and will be running it. So, quite literally inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, this scenario has Gothic streak as wide as a white one running through a Goth’s hair. The other inspiration for the adventure is the city’s love of crabs, but this is mainly because the event’s main sponsor is the Elder Bay Spices Company, whose blend of spices is popular with seafood all along the east coast.

At just five locations, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is a small scenario. It is playable in a single session if paced right and some of the encounters are tough for Player Characters of First Level. A Player Character Messenger will be needed to provide healing. Another issue is that it is a very American scenario and not everyone is going to be fully aware of Baltimore’s history, and having to explain some of the references will break the immersion. Otherwise, a solid scenario for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game that is easy to slip into a campaign.

Physically, DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places—which actually suits the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game—and the cartography is definitely better for the Dungeon Crawl Classics scenario than the Xcrawl Classics scenario. Similarly, the cover is very cartoony, but it still works.

DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack delivers two good scenarios for two different games, but of the two, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is the more inventive and interesting. Both are easy to add to a campaign though and both could be run as Character Funnels, though ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is probably the better of the two for that as well.

Magazine Madness 36: Senet Issue 15

The gaming magazine is dead. After all, when was the last time that you were able to purchase a gaming magazine at your nearest newsagent? Games Workshop’s White Dwarf is of course the exception, but it has been over a decade since Dragon appeared in print. However, in more recent times, the hobby has found other means to bring the magazine format to the market. Digitally, of course, but publishers have also created their own in-house titles and sold them direct or through distribution. Another vehicle has been Kickststarter.com, which has allowed amateurs to write, create, fund, and publish titles of their own, much like the fanzines of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest. The resulting titles are not fanzines though, being longer, tackling broader subject matters, and more professional in terms of their layout and design.

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Senet is a print magazine about the craft, creativity, and community of board gaming. Bearing the tagline of “Board games are beautiful”, it is about the play and the experience of board games, it is about the creative thoughts and processes which go into each and every board game, and it is about board games as both artistry and art form. Published by Senet Magazine Limited, each issue promises previews of forthcoming, interesting titles, features which explore how and why we play, interviews with those involved in the process of creating a game, and reviews of the latest and most interesting releases. Senet is also one of the very few magazines about games to actually be available for sale on the high street.

Senet Issue 15 was published in the summer of 2024 and as its cover hints, the issue includes an article exploring Ancient Rome as a theme in board games. The theme is also linked to the issue’s exploration of a gaming mechanic, that of dice rolling, as well as highlighting a joke reference in the article about Ancient Rome that is very obvious. It is surprising to see a pair of roleplaying games advertised in the issue, but this not worry the regular reader. Senet is still very much about board games.

The issue proper begins with highlighting some of the forthcoming games with its regular preview, ‘Behold’. Highlights here include Power Vacuum, a game about power and power in a government of power household appliances after their dear leader, a vacuum cleaner (hence the title, a glorious pun), has died; Final Cut, a card game about making horror films; and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There is a filmic theme running through several of these previews, both in terms of inspiration and title. ‘Points’, the regular column of readers’ letters, contains a mix of praise for the magazine and a discussion of gaming culture. It still feels limited at just a single page and it is clear from the letters that the magazine is well liked, so it seems a shame that it cannot be expanded to build a community around the magazine via the letters page. ‘For Love of the Game’, continuing the journey of the designer Tristian Hall towards the completion and publication of his Gloom of Kilforth—and beyond. By now, very beyond. In this issue, he focuses on the joys of being a solo designer as well as the pitfalls of working with others. Of course, he cannot name names, but the lack of details or examples means that there is no important advice to learn or dangers to warn about, and the article is simplistic and obvious.

The tried and tested format of the magazine continues in Senet Issue 15: Two interviews, one with a designer, one with an artist, and one article exploring a game mechanic whilst another looks at a game theme. It is a format that works well since it throws a light on different aspects of the hobby and its creators. The first interview is with Bruno Cathala, a designer whose output is often eclipsed by other designers. His notable designs include Shadows Over Camelot with the late Serge Laget, which was an early co-operative design with the innovative addition of a traitor mechanic—later reimplemented in Battlestar Galactica, the Spiel des Jahres-winning Kingdomino, and the delightful Sea Salt & Paper. Cathala talks about his most notable successes and their development, often leading the reader to realise that they have played more of his games than they had realised. It closes with a list of just some of the stats related to his games—numbers, popularity on BoardGameGeek.com and some of the themes he has explored and some of Senet’s own picks of the best. It would have been interesting to expand on the latter as to why the magazine staff liked those games.

The second interview is with the artist, Cinyee Chiu, whose dream-like depictions of nature can be seen in games such as Harvest Island and Dragon Castle. Just three games are highlighted, so the interview does not feel as expansive as other interviews with artists in previous issues.

Dan Thurot’s ‘Roll Playing’ examines dice as a mechanic in board games. They have the longest history as a mechanic, going all the back to knucklebones of sheep, or astragaloi, used as dice. At their most basic they are rolled in ‘roll and move’ games and they are used in gambling games too. Pointing out that dice add tension and suspense, the looks at a number of different games and ways in which dice are used. The primary means is to generate a result, or ‘output randomness’, but the opposite of that is ‘Input randomness’, where the dice results are used to decide actions. In addition, because they have different numbers on their faces, these can be manipulated, the example cited being Roll Player, the board game of creating fantasy roleplaying game characters. Dice Realms, a game of improving medieval realms, goes even further, by allowing players to actually chance the numbers on the faces of their dice. There could have been a list of other mechanics involving dice that Senet has covered in previous issues, but this is an interesting overview of dice and their use beyond simple ‘roll and ‘move’.

The issue’s theme is Ancient Rome and ‘Empire Building’ by Alexandra Sonechkina starts with the Monty Python reference promised by the editor. The article points out that with a thousand years of history and culture, Ancient Rome has much that can inspire board game design. In board game history, it starts with the many wars and battles fought by the Roman Empire, but there is the gladiatorial arena and chariot racing, the ruthless politics, and ultimately, the construction of Rome itself. From Avalon Hill’s mammoth The Republic of Rome to Matt Leacock’s Pandemic: Fall of Rome, which organises the last defence of Rome as a tower defence game using the Pandemic engine, the article highlights a wide range of games. Magna Roma and Foundations of Rome both deal with the construction of Rome, (though sadly not Glory to Rome), Chariots of Rome and Chariot Race both deal with chariot races, and Gladitores: Blood for Roses, is a crowd-pleasing, blood and guts treatment of gladiators in the arena. So, lots of history and multiple themes in article which could have been much longer. The only issue are the illustrations which focus too tightly on parts of the games rather than the whole games themselves.

‘Unboxed’, Senet’s reviews section covers a wide range of games. The most notable are of Osprey Games’ Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa, a big, heavyweight Eurogame of rival North African school teachers at the University of Timbuktu is awarded ‘Senet’s Top Choice’, whilst the reviews actually start with big review of small games such as Rafter Five and Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs. Another heavy game reviewed is Wyrmspan, the draconic sequel to the highly regarded Wyrmspan, which has been the subject of previous issues of the magazine. Overall, a pleasing selection of games reviewed.

As is traditional, Senet Issue 15 comes to a close with the regular end columns, ‘How to Play’ and ‘Shelf of Shame’. For ‘How to Play’, ‘How to serve up a great game night’ by Meeple Lady, suggests a recipe to creating and running a game night, which is quite common within the board game hobby. It is good advice, though hosts are likely to swap out the suggested games for ones that they prefer. If the article is surprising that has taken so long for the magazine to talk about hosting a game night. Lastly, Calvin Wong Tze Loon pulls Lands of Galzyr for his ‘Shelf of Shame’. What is interesting is that this a game that he and his partner worked on during the Lockdown, so coming back to it was a kind of rediscovery for him and the strange adventures that the game takes the players on. The article is a change of focus in that the subject is a game designer rather than a reviewer.

Physically, Senet Issue 15 is shows off the board games it previews and reviews to great effect, just as you would expect. It contains a good mix of interesting and informative articles, but the illustrations in ‘Empire Building’ are not as clearly handled as they could have been. There is a sense that Senet is beginning to outgrow its page count at this point. Some of the articles feel as if they should have been longer, ‘Empire Building’ and the regular ‘For Love of the Game’ being examples. Nevertheless, Senet Issue 15 continues the showcase that the magazine has been for the boardgame hobby with very readable content and pleasingly sharp design.

[Fanzine Focus XL] The Travellers’ Digest #7

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 how another Dungeon Master and her 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. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in December, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure, in the case of this issue, The Travellers’ Digest #7, Adventure 5, Trillion Credit Squadron. Of course, that was in 1985, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created using the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest #7 was published in 1986 and is a ‘Special Starship Issue’, the editors highlighting this and the big interview with Traveller creator, Marc Miller, in the issue. It also highlights the forthcoming publication in early 1987, of the Grand Census, its companion supplement to the Grand Survey, and looks back at some of the previous issues with the publisher’s warehouse manager having found some back issues.

The seventh part of ‘The Grand Tour’ in The Travellers’ Digest #7 is ‘Feature Adventure 7: The Fourth Imperium’, written by Gary L Thomas and Joe D. Fugate Sr. The publishing date for adventure is 344-1112, or the three-hundred-and-forty-fourth day of the year 1112, whilst the starting date for the adventure is 014-1103, or the fourteenth day of the year 1103. The adventure takes place in the Dynam system of the Masionia subsector of the Lishun Sector. This is the site of an Imperial Naval Depot where over a thousand mothballed starships are held. These ships are held in readiness in the event of another interstellar war or emergency and all can be restored to full operation with relative ease. The Player Characters are continuing their journey to Capital and having got half way there, Doctor Theodor Krenstein wants to stop off at the depot in the Dynam system to visit the August, a 75,000-ton battlecruiser on which his great-grandfather served during the Third Frontier war. Admiral Walter, who has been in command of the Dynam Depot for over two decades, readily welcomes them and will even give them a guided tour, the fact that they all have been recently knighted for their bravery being a contributing factor towards their recognition.

The action begins with the Player Character coming aboard the August and beginning the tour, given by Ensign Amherst. The tour is brought to an abrupt halt when another Naval officer is discovered in the bridge of the ship, much to the Ensign’s surprise, as the officer draws his gun and shoots him dead! This leaves the Player Characters unarmed and facing an armed opponent, though ‘Aybee’ can use the laser in his arm. The scenario escalates from there, with the discovery of another four men aboard the ship, all armed, and then, once the Player Characters alert the rest of the base, it becomes clear that more of the mothballed starships are being powered up. And then some other ships turn up… It appears that there is a grand hijacking taking place.

‘Feature Adventure 7: The Fourth Imperium’ presents an interesting situation, but arguably, not one that is actually interesting to play. It starts with a lot of exposition, including directing what the Player Characters, notably, ‘Aybee’ acting oddly before the tour begins. Once past the point where the rogue Naval officers aboard the August have been dealt with, bar a diversion to find out what might be happening to fuel being siphoned off from the depot, the scenario rapidly scales up in terms of scope and away from what the Player Characters are expected to do. At this point, the Player Characters are no longer involved in events, primarily because only one of them has any applicable skills to participating in a grand space battle. Instead, the players are expected to play out the battle using the rules given in Traveller Book 5: High Guard, using the given stats for the various ships and incorporating the highly detailed sensor rules included in the scenario.

If the players are happy to switch from roleplaying their characters to handling such a space battle, then ‘Feature Adventure 7: The Fourth Imperium’ is fine. If not, half of the scenario is wasted. Either way, however the Game Master has had to tailor the adventure to her players, in roleplaying terms, ‘Feature Adventure 7: The Fourth Imperium’ is actually very short and should take no more than a session to play through. The space battle may be longer, but that is optional and the fact it is optional and it ignores the Player Characters is why it is simply underwhelming.

The key feature of the issue is ‘The Future of Traveller: An Interview with Marc Miller’. It covers how he got into gaming and founded Game Designers’ Workshop, and discuses some of the early games published, including its first roleplaying game, En Garde!, before getting into Traveller and its development. It also discusses the development of what would become Traveller: 2300 as a game alongside Traveller rather than replacing it, Miller making clear that he believes that the future of the roleplaying game to be secure. It is an interesting read, capturing the optimism of the period and about the future of the roleplaying game.

The scenario is further supported with background information for the Dynam System and the Masionia subsector, as well as ‘Library Data of the Lishun Sector’. There is also ‘Computer Software for High Guard’ by Dale L. Kemper and J. Andrew Keith, which adds three new programs. ‘Squadron Operations’ enables computer-linked ships to operate more efficiently; ‘Fleet Operations’ does the same for fleets; and ‘Simulation’ offers a means of handling simulations aboard ship without interfering with ship’s operation. These are useful for campaigns which focus on large scale ship operations and combat.

Gary L. Thomas examines the role of the Social Standing attribute in Traveller for ‘The Gaming Digest’ in ‘Characters with Class’. The article begins by acknowledging that Social Standing has little effect on game play if it is not ‘A’ or higher and a Player Character is not a noble. It breaks down the social classes according to Social Standing and suggests that a Player Character spend Cr250 per point of Social Standing per month to maintain it. Otherwise, it falls. This is fine in a static game in which Social Standing is important, but Traveller is about travel, the Player Characters typically moving from one star system to another. In which case, who is a Player Character trying to maintain his standing against? It also suggests that by spending more, a Player Character can improve his Social Standing. It should be pointed that this will only go so far and not beyond Social Standing ‘A’, since the Player Character is likely to be looked down upon as nouveau riche. Snobbery counts, after all. Also, a Player Character with high Social Standing spending time with someone with a lower Social Standing will also affect their Social Standing, which means that Player Character with high Social Standing will suffer for it by spending time with his fellows. The article comes to a close with guidelines for when a Player Character of higher Social Standing wants to throw his weight around, which are useful. Bar the breakdown of what Social Standing ratings mean, the rest of article is not, since it is divorced from the style of play at the core of Traveller—travel where few NPCs are going to know who a Player Character is versus a static location or even organisation where more NPCs are going to know who they are.

Rounding out The Travellers’ Digest #7 is more background support for the scenario, ‘Feature Adventure 7: The Fourth Imperium’. Part of the fanzine’s ‘Traveller Tech Briefs’, ‘Starships in Mothballs’ by Joe D. Fugate Sr. and R. Leibman, is a guide to putting a starship into and taking it out of mothballs. This is solid explanation of how it is done and nice background detail.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest #7 is, as with all of the issues so far, very obviously created using early layout software. The artwork is not great, but it does its job and it is far from dreadful.

The Travellers’ Digest #7 is the ‘Special Starship Issue’, which it is and is not. Yes, there are lots of articles about starships and a scenario involving starships, but none of the content about starships in the issue is relevant to a Player Character. It is all pitched at a level above the core play of Traveller and whilst it is interesting, it fills out details of the Traveller universe rather than being immediately playable content. Similarly, unless the players are really keen on running large scale starship battles, the scenario does not offer the amount of play that scenarios in previous issues did. Overall, interesting, but not enough playable content.

[Fanzine Focus XL] Pamphlet of Pantheons

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 how another Dungeon Master 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.

Pamphlet of Pantheons: Guide to Creating Fantasy Myths and Religions is a systemless sourcebook designed for fantasy games in general, rather than a specific roleplaying game. Which means that it will work with many Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying games. It would also work with Science Fiction settings too if there are cultures with polytheistic faiths. Released following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is designed and published by Gonzo History Project, better known as James Holloway, the host of the Monster Man podcast, who also published The Magonium Mine Murders.

The aim of the Pamphlet of Pantheons is to make the creation of a fantasy pantheon relatively simple and easy, whilst avoiding two pitfalls. One is avoid making them boring or irrelevant to either the setting or the Player Characters. In other words, they should not be boring and they should matter to the players and their characters. The other is to avoid unnecessary complexity. A richness of detail can be off-putting, Greg Stafford’s Glorantha of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel of Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne being quoted as examples. Both are rich and complex, but requirement commitment to get the most out of them. What the fanzine offers to avoid both is a set of twenty-five tables which a Game Master can roll on and using the prompts provided build a relatively complete pantheon.

The first sixteen tables provide the divine archetypes that are the core of the pantheon. These include ‘Bestower of Plenty’, ‘Celestial Sovereign’, ‘Fruitful Earth’, ‘Hierarch of Hell’, ‘Laughing Rogue’, and more. As archetypes, it is easy to recognise gods from various real world (and even fantasy) pantheons, but the aim is for the Game Master to create her own rather than simulate another. The author admits that the archetypes do have a European (though he does reference middle eastern gods too) feel because that is where his influences come from, but that should not limit the imagination of the Game Master. Further tables define the look and feel of the gods, whether they look human or have fantastic features or are disembodied cosmic forces, what their signs of divinity are, which one is the head of the pantheon, what titles they bear, and what do the religions devoted to them look like? Every table has six entries and most also have little asides and thoughts that serve as further prompts for the Game Master to ponder.

The process of pantheon building involves rolling some dice and making a few choices. First is to decide on what archetypes will be in the pantheon, not all sixteen are needed, with eight being suggested as a good number. Having selected the gods for the pantheon, the Game Master rolls a complication for each, the pantheon’s aesthetic, adds a duplicate god or two (or combines them), adds secondary attributes and complications to the gods in the pantheon, and then rolls for minor gods, if needed, to cover very specific aspects of the setting. The pantheon is ready at this point, but to it, further rolls for temples, rituals, servitors, and treasures will define how the pantheon is perceived by its worshipers and how the religion is practised. All the results are noted down on the Pantheon Sheet included in the fanzine. With this done, what the Game Master does next is flesh out the details of her pantheon, making connections between its deities and so creating elements of its mythology. The prompts beneath many of the tables will help with this.

The process is simple and quick. Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is actually thinking up names for the goods themselves (though that can be eased with an online name generator). It helps that the author includes a fully worked out example, based on a livestream he hosted as part of the Kickstarter, with a filled in Pantheon Sheet. The simplicity of tables means that Pamphlet of Pantheons could be created as an online pantheon generator, but arguably that would be too easy and it would not avoid the first pitfall that the fanzine warns against, that is, making the religion and its gods boring, since what it avoids is the process itself which gives time for the Game Master to think about the pantheon and the relationships of the gods within it, building connections, areas of conflict (such as when there two or more gods with the purview for the same thing), and so on.

Physically, Pamphlet of Pantheons is clean and tidy, and lightly illustrated with public domain artwork, most of it small and all appropriately placed.

Pamphlet of Pantheons is an engaging little supplement, a simple set of prompts that direct a Game Master, with a few rolls, to not only create a complete pantheon, but to think how the pantheon works and is worshipped by a particular culture. In the process, she will create background to part of her campaign world and a religion that she understands and can impart to her players, and so bring her campaign world to life.

[Fanzine Focus XL] The Beholder Issue 5

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 how another Dungeon Master 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. As new fanzines have appeared, there has been an interest in the fanzines of the past, and as that interest has grown, they have become highly collectible, and consequently more difficult to obtain and write about. However, in writing about them, the reader should be aware that these fanzines were written and published between thirty and forty years ago, typically by roleplayers in their teens and twenties. What this means is that sometimes the language and terminology used reflects this and though the language and terminology is not socially acceptable today, that use should not be held against the authors and publishers unduly.

The Beholder was a British fanzine first published in April, 1979. Dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, it ran to twenty-seven issues, the last being published in July, 1981. It was popular and would be awarded ‘Best Games Fanzine’ at the Games Day convention in 1980. After the final issue of The Beholder, the editors would go on to release a number of anthologies which collected content from the complete run of the fanzine such as Beholder Supplement Glossary of Magic, which collected many of the magical items which appeared in the fanzine and collated them into a series of tables for easy use by the Dungeon Master, and Fantasie Scenarios – The Fanzine Supplement No. 2, the first of several scenario anthologies.

The Beholder Issue No. 5 was probably published in August 1979, given that the fanzine was published monthly and on a regular basis throughout its run. The issue’s concerns are typical of the period for a fanzine devoted to Dungeons & Dragons—problems with different aspects of the roleplaying game and possible solutions, new monsters, new spells, an adventure, and so on. The editors—Michael Stoner and Guy Duke—implore readers to submit ides for the forthcoming monster issue, likely to be Issue 8 to coincide with Games Day V and note that, “In a few weeks the long-awaited DM’s Handbook will be on sale. Watch out for a review of it in issue 7. There is no doubt that it will have a large impact on the way many people play D&D , and will most probably alter several basic parts of the game. We hope to be able to “move with the times” and cater for the many new players who will be coming into D&D because of this (just as many started when the “Basic Rulebook” first appeared). However, if you still play “old style” D&D, don’t panic! We will try to ensure that articles are of use to everyone, from rank amateur to top-class pro.” Thus, the issue comes at a point when there is a definite shift in the hobby from Dungeons & Dragons and Basic Dungeons & Dragons to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, a split that would mark the first of the edition wars that followed over the years. This split then will not be as sharp since mechanically the similarities between the two really are very strong.

The issue’s content opens with ‘View Point: Specialised Clerics Are More Interesting’ [sic] by John Norris. His viewpoint is that the Cleric Class as presented is unsatisfying and vague, calling Gygax’s design simplistic and the only thing that distinguishes one Cleric from another is the plain and boring Alignment system. He suggests that real clerics have “…[A]ll sorts of interesting foibles, some of which stem from the particular tenets of their various faiths and others which seem to be a kind of professional “occupational hazard” of clergy in the society to which they belong.” The article highlights one of the longstanding and oft-addressed complaints about the roleplaying game, in that Clerics are depicted as a holy warrior a la the Crusades, when in the fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons, Christianity was not the faith of choice and there were plenty of other options. The solution is typically to design pantheons with gods that grant different spells and demand different tenets and the article more or less suggests that with a detailed example of a ‘Subclass’. This is ‘The Way of Anubis’, which believes that it is the proper doom of all living things to die and that it is wrong to interfere with the dead, especially via resurrection. There is some divide in the faith too, between those that believe that the process should not be interfered with and those that believe its process should be hurried. In game terms, Clerics of the Way of Anubis better turn and dispel the undead and they cast Lay Undead better and more effectively than the standard Animate Dead spell. Counter to this, Clerics of the Way of Anubis do not use healing magic and are opposed to its use, even seeking to reverse the effects of such magic if used! Clerics of the Way of Anubis also seek to kill anyone who has been resurrected.

‘The Way of Anubis’ is a fascinating creation. One that follows through on the author’s initial complaint about the Cleric Class, but to an extreme. ‘The Way of Anubis’ is a Cleric Subclass is unplayable as a Player Character type since it is antithetical to what a standard Cleric is supposed to do in play and that is heal. One way which the author suggests getting around this is to keep the ‘The Way of Anubis’ Cleric’s faith hidden until the full meaning of his tenets are realised in play. This is odd in itself since a reason would have to be given why this was kept hidden and keeping it hidden feels like a dirty trick to play upon the players by the Dungeon Master. In a way, the article shows the reader how not to do it when it could have been exploring more options.

‘Monster Summoning’ gives eight new monsters. They include the Wood Golem for the Druid to create; the Thin Giant, essentially a giant with invisibility due to permanent Duo-dimension spell having been cast on them; the Bactos, a living cactus that uses its offshoots to pin victims against it and drain all moisture from their bodies, making resurrection impossible; and the Death Grub, an flying insect related to the Rot Grub, which does not attack, but instead infests dead bodies and again, resurrection impossible. The daftest monster is the Time Rat, a rat from the future with time travel powers that likes to come to the past and explore dungeons and is curious about adventuring parties. If attacked, it can cast Time Stop, after which it will steal any item its can, especially magical items, and then phase out back to the future. It is essentially a means to deprive Player Characters of their hard won magical items and it could have been a whole lot more interesting. Lastly, the Thin Giant is simply boring.

‘Monster Reaction Roll Tables’ provides a more detailed means of handing interactions between the adventurers and the dungeon denizens if the former are looking to do more than fight, whilst Andreas J. Sarker’s ‘More Gem Tables’ provides a means for the Dungeon Master to detail the gems that might be found as treasure. The included ‘Computer Program’ is a simple BASIC computer program, running to just fifteen lines of code and designed to generate attribute values for Dungeons & Dragons characters. This dates to a time when home computers could easily be programmed at home to run programs typed in.

‘The Dragon Race’ presents the Dragon as a playable Race. As a playable Race, the Dragon has high minimum attributes, can only be a Magic-User or a Fighter—and cannot cast magic if the latter, and has a breath weapon that inflicts damage equal to its Hit Points and can be used a limited number of times a day. They have a natural claw and bite attack, but the bite attack gets better for the Fighter Dragon. All Dragons can attack creatures and enemies that require magical weapons or attacks to hit, but need to be higher Level to attack creatures and enemies with higher magical protection. However, there are two downsides to the Dragon as a playable Race. One is that all Dragons are suspicious of everyone and everything and they are only accepted in society because they are feared, and mechanically, they suffer a high penalty to Experience Point gain. This is -20% for the Fighter Dragon and a massive -40% for the Magic-User Dragon! Honestly, this is not a bad version of the Dragon as a playable Race as the penalties do offset any advantages that the Dragon has and a player of a Dragon will see the characters of his fellow players racing ahead in terms of power and ability.

‘New Spells’ are taken from the ‘Barad-Dur Spellbook’. The eight spells include Mirage for the Illusionist, which makes something appear very attractive, like a fine meal or a pile of gold, and can be used as a distraction for all but the most intelligent and similarly, for the Illusionist, Premonition, with which the caster runs his finger across his neck as if to cut and then points at the victim of the spell, who gets a bad feeling that his about to die, and if he fails a Saving Throw, runs away! Effectively, a Fear spell then. The Clerical spell Cure Paralysis is good for after encounters with Ghouls and Ghasts and the like; Death Bomb turns a Magic-User into a living bomb if he is killed, potentially destroying every item on his body, if not his actual body, so good for the Dungeon Master to use on a villainous wizard; and Probability Travel gives the spell’s recipient the ability to see a few seconds into the future, see what he is going to do, and give him the opportunity to improve on it. In game terms, Probability Travel lets a player roll twice for his character’s next action and take the best result. So, Advantage in 1979, then?

Lastly, ‘Thoughts on NPC’s’ (sic), suggests ways of getting away from anonymous NPCs who are just there to provide services such as Cure Disease and Resurrection. Ultimately, the point of half the article is not about NPCs as such, as more finding ways of making the Player Characters work to access spells such as Cure Disease and Resurrection, whether that is through simple, but big payments or more interestingly, require a quest to get the right ingredients or components, or fulfil a task required by the caster. The other half is a call to make normal NPCs more interesting, especially those that adventure with the Player Characters, such as having an Assassin pose as a Paladin in a party of Good-aligned Player Characters. Arguably, this is a call to make NPCs more of a threat—in this case, an internal threat—than necessarily interesting.

The highlight of any issue of The Beholder is its scenario. ‘Legend of Leshy’ is what it calls a ‘stage-by-stage’ mini-scenario. What this means is that its plot and story will be revealed in discrete sections or scenes. Roughly designed for a group of five Player Characters of First and Second Level, one of whom should be a Druid, the scenario is based on Slavonic mythology and calls upon them to capture the ‘Leshachikha Bond’. The Leshachikha is the mortal wife of Leshy and bearer of the Leshonki, the children of Leshy. By capturing the ‘Leshachikha Bond’, it will free her from her subservience to Leshy. He is the spirit of the forest and tends to be good natured, though he does lead travellers astray. The scenario begins at the Ivanovich family farm where the Player Characters are staying, put up in a barn overnight. This barn is locked and the Player Characters are warned about the Keeper of the Barn and told not to enter the yard after 11 pm as there will be strange spirits about.

The farm and its inhabitants are nicely detailed and will be a challenge to get past as the Player Characters will need to break out of the barn and into the house in order to really get the scenario going. This is to begin the quest that spirit of the barn sets, which includes actually setting fire to the barn(!), and puts them on the path to capturing the ‘Leshachikha Bond’. Much of the scenario is an exploration of the surrounding wilderness, almost jump-cutting from one scene to the next, one encounter with a mystical inhabitant of the forest to the next, as the Player Characters go in search of the ‘Leshachikha Bond’. In places, the scenario can be quite tough physically, such as attempting to get across a battered rope bridge, but bar the occasional random encounter, is low in terms of combat. Most of the encounters will give clues as to where to search next and ultimately, if the Player Characters complete the quest, they will be well rewarded.

In 1979, ‘Legend of Leshy’ would have been a fine scenario. It is rough around the edges and the background to the scenario, based on Slavonic folklore, would not have been familiar to many players or Dungeon Masters, so adding it to a campaign would have been a challenge. (Today, there is at least a Wikipedia page.) More background would have helped and it would have been good if the possibility of the Player Characters returning to the Ivanovich family farm after the quest ends had been addressed. The main problem is the lack of detail on the otherwise large, two-page spread map of the region. The Dungeon Master really needs to work through the scenario hard in order to extract clues as to where various locations are on the map. That aside, ‘Legend of Leshy’ is a fine fantasy folkloric adventure, possessing an at time eerie and unsettling atmosphere that would have been enhanced by the lack of familiarity with the folklore.

Rounding out The Beholder Issue No. 5 is the ‘Contacts & Info’ section. Not only does this gives details of the then forthcoming Games Day which would take place on October 20th later that year, but lists a couple of players looking for players. This was how it was done back in the dawn of the hobby and people were then quite happy to hand out their address as contact details! One of the two is Simon Washbourne, later designer of roleplaying games such as Lashings of Ginger Beer.

Physically, The Beholder Issue No. 5 is slightly untidy in places, but readable. The layout is tight and that does make it difficult to read in places. The illustrations are reasonable, but the cartography simply lacks the detail its scenario requires. Of course, every issue of the fanzine was published when personal publishing was still analogue and the possibilities of the personal computer and personal desktop publishing were yet to come. In the case of The Beholder that would never be taken advantage of.

The Beholder has a high reputation for content that is of good quality and playable. The Beholder Issue No. 5 does not yet match that reputation, but as with previous issues, the signs are there and there is content aplenty that the Dungeon Master could have used in her game at the time and in some cases, still use to today. The standout piece is the scenario, ‘Legend of Leshy’, which is a rough, but interesting attempt to write a folklore-based scenario that just about works. It is certainly the best scenario in the fanzine to date. Elsewhere, the other articles are not quite as interesting or as thoughtful as in previous issues, though still very much concerned with what would have been traditional topics for Dungeons & Dragons at the time. The Beholder Issue No. 5 would have been a solid issue of the fanzine in 1979 and even today in 2025 is an enjoyable read.