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 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.
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