Reviews from R'lyeh

Green & Unpleasant Land

2012-01-31T13:40:00.000Z

Ian Edginton is no stranger to the Cosmic Horror that is the hallmark of the Cthulhu Mythos, his most notable contribution (with artist I.N.J. Culbard), being the graphic novel adaptation of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. With his latest stories, Ampney Crucis Investigates…, he dabbles and hints at the Mythos rather than drawing directly from Lovecraft’s works, just as he did with 2003’s Leviathan. As with Leviathan, these new tales originally appeared in the British weekly comic, 2000 AD and are now collected into volume of their own.

Ampney Crucis Investigates… Vile Bodies introduces us to Ampney Crucis, upstanding member of the British nobility (and not a small village in the Cotswolds) and Eddie Cromwell, Crucis’ stalwart man servant. Once tipped for high things, a strange otherworldly encounter in No-Man’s Land during the Great War, tipped him into temporary madness from which he has since recovered. The encounter has also left him with both a sense for the outré and a certain strength to withstand its malign power. A decade onwards and Lord Crucis is drawn to investigating the occult as its insidious influence infects dissolutely the Green and Pleasant Land that he holds so dear.

Ampney Crucis Investigates… Vile Bodies contains two cases, the titular story being the first in which Crucis must come to the aid of Lady Calliope Wykes, once his fiancée, but now driven from her home by the overripe advances of her husband. The second story, “The End of the Pier Show,” sends Crucis to a Northern seaside resort gone all to hell after his Lordship’s man Crowell, receives a postcard from a friend he saw shot dead during the Great War. Of the two stories, “Vile Bodies” feels very much the pilot, being a straightforward horror tale whose apian fecundity suggests at the influence of Shub-Niggurath. “The End of the Pier Show” is where the author and artist, Simon Davis, begin to really enjoy themselves, whether it is Crucis’ quartet of maiden aunts being depicted as the United Kingdom’s leading acting dames of the twenty-first century or hinting at the seediness underlying the polite façade of a seaside town with an artistic nod to the saucy postcards of Donald McGill. The threat faced is less obviously Lovecraftian, much more open to interpretation, but far more grounded in the woes of the period.

As the hero of the piece, Ampney Crucis draws from a familiar British archetype – the upper class twit with his resourceful servant. He is in part Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey and P.G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster, but Crucis is no fool, and Cromwell no urbane Jeeves, but rather more akin to Parker of Thunderbirds. Initially and outwardly, the pair do feel like the stereotypes that the author draws from, but by placing them in dire circumstances, their polite façade drops and they become more comradely with each other, lifting their portrayal out of caricature.

Simon Davis’ rich illustrations capture the delineation between the threats and the threatened. The inhabitants of dissolute England are pallid and wain, whilst the threats that Crucis and Cromwell must face are painted in swathes of rich colour.

The characters and situations of Ampney Crucis Investigates… would work as easily in print as on the radio – the latter perhaps the only other medium where its colours could be as rich – helped as much by our familiarity with its characters as its situations. There are certainly and hopefully, more of his Lordship’s investigations to be told of and collected, as the tales in Vile Bodies are most entertaining. That they are not overly Lovecraftian should not dissuade the reader, for these delightfully place manners against monstrosities.

New Train Challenges in the Orient

2012-01-23T18:31:00.000Z

2011 was a good year for Ticket to Ride, the introductory railway themed board game from Days of Wonder that won the Spiel des Jahres and the Origins Award for Best Board Game in 2004, as well as the 2005 Diana Jones award. In its closing months, the publisher inaugurated a new line of expansions in the form of the Map Collection series. Each title in the series features two new maps – on a double-sided map board – as well as new tweaks to the core rules that provide new challenges and playing experiences. The first of these is Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia, and it was quickly followed by Map Collection Vol. 2 – Ticket to Ride India, each of which requires the use of the Train Cards and Trains from Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride Europe to play. It is the first of these, Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia, which is being reviewed here.

So in keeping with the series, Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia contains two maps. The first of these is the Team Asia map, which introduces two elements that sell the Map Collection. One is team play, the other is the addition of another player, increasing the number of maximum players in Ticket to Ride from five to six, but requiring four or six players only. The second map, the Silk Road themed Legendary Asia, is more of a traditional affair designed for two to five players that harks back to Ticket to Ride Europe, but which adds a tweak of its very own. Team Asia was designed by Alan R. Moon, who also designed Ticket to Ride, whilst Legendary Asia was François Valentyne's entry in a competition to design and have published a new map for Ticket to Ride.

Each of the entries in the Map Collection series comes in a two-inch deep album sized box. Inside Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia can be found the new double-sided map, forty-five Trains (nine for each of the Train colours to be found in Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe), thirty-six Destination Tickets for Legendary Asia, sixty Destination Tickets for Team Asia, six wooden card holders, and two full-colour rule books. There is one each for Team Asia and Legendary Asia, and both are twelve pages long with the rules for each map being just a page long and given in ten languages. All of these components are nicely done and nicely packaged in the box with the two maps, one per side, being very attractive. If there is an issue with either map, it is that neither clearly state which variant they are for. Whilst the graphics for each map and accompanying Destination Tickets are similar, so is the geographical region that both maps cover, and it would have been simple enough for the designers to put the name of the variant on its map. This would make game choice and set up just that little more easier, and that much quicker.

Of course, there is the usual problem of learning the geography to be found in Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia, but there is plenty of similarity between the two maps in this expansion, and anyway, not only do the mini-maps on the Destination Tickets help, but learning about geography as basic as this and whilst playing Ticket to Ride, is after all, fun.

The changes in the Legendary Asia variant begins with its Destination Tickets. There are thirty-six of these, of which six are Long Route Tickets, such as Moscow to Calcutta and Khabarovsk to Karachi, that are worth sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen points. At game’s start, each player receives a single Long Route and three normal Destination Tickets of which he must keep at least two. Later in the game he can choose to draw three Destination Tickets of which he must keep at least one.

Opening up the map for Legendary Asia and it looks not unlike the map for Ticket to Ride Europe. There several ferry Routes which require the expenditure of wild or Locomotive Cards to complete in addition to the usual Train Cards, but there are also several where the one or two spaces on a Route are marked with an “X” such as between Kathmandu and Mandalay, a two-space Route with an “X” on both spaces. These are Mountain Routes, which when claimed, require a player to not only expend the Train Cards of the appropriate colour, but for each “X” on the Route, to also expend one of his Trains! This represents the wear and tear on the trains that traverse these Routes and is not as bad as it sounds, because for each Train discarded, he scores an additional two points. So to claim the purple Kathmandu-Mandalay Route, a player has to discard two purple Train Cards and two of his Trains, but scores two points for the Route claimed and another four points for the Trains discarded.

In addition some double Routes, such as that between Perm and Omsk has one Route that does not require the discarding of a Train Card and one that does. In other words, one Route does not go through the mountains. In most, but not all cases, the non-Mountain Route is a grey Route, meaning that any Train Card colour can be used to complete them.

The effect of the Mountain Routes is twofold. First, it increases the completion value of some of the map’s shorter Routes. Compare a three-space Route, like that between Moscow and Astrakhan, which would score a player a simple four points for completing, and the two-space Mountain Route between Agra and Kathmandu which has one space with an “X” and which would score a player a total of four points to complete, two points for the Route itself and another two for the Train discarded. Second, the expenditure of Trains to complete Mountain Routes can be used to speed play towards the moment when a player has four Trains or less and thus trigger the game’s round of last turns.

The other additional rule in Legendary Asia is that of the Asian Explorer Bonus. This is awarded for the highest number of cities connected rather than the Longest Route as on many other Ticket to Ride maps. This encourages the creation of a network of Routes rather a single long Route and emphasises the value of the shorter Routes as they are generally easier to connect to and thus create a network with.

Overall, Legendary Asia feels like a traditional Ticket to Ride board. It offers a new map, but not a radically different playing experience. It is the easiest to adapt to, and in terms of complexity, sits nicely alongside Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe.

Team Asia though, is a different experience. It offers complexity via a radical means of play that also restricts the number of players. It is played with teams of two players, with space for either two teams or three teams. Which means that there must be a minimum of four players if there are two teams playing, and a maximum of six players if three teams are playing. During the game the members of a team have to sit together with two of the wooden cardholders sat in front of them. These cardholders are used to store the team’s shared Destination Tickets and Train Cards, this sharing being the only means that the members of a team can communicate. In other words, during play, a team cannot talk about the Destination Tickets that either has to complete nor about what Routes that either wants to complete.

At game start, each team receives its cardholders and a total of fifty-four Trains in the same colour, the extra ones being provided with Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia. The Trains are divided equally between the two members of a team so that they have a pool of twenty-seven each. During play, a player will draw only from his supply of Trains and just like standard Ticket to Ride, when their combined supply of Trains reaches four or less, the end game rules are triggered in which everyone has one last turn, including his teammate. So a player has to keep an eye on his supply of Trains as well as those belong to everyone else, including that of his teammate.

Then the secrecy begins. Each player receives four Train Cards as normal and a total of five Destination Tickets, of which he must keep three. Out of the kept Destination Tickets, a player must take one and simultaneously with his teammate reveal it and place it in one of the shared cardholders. When a player later draws additional Destination Tickets, he must not only keep one of the new Tickets, but also place one of the Tickets in his team’s cardholder used for their Tickets. Similarly, when a player draws Train Cards, he draws two as normal, but one of them has to go into his team’s cardholder used for the Train Cards. This must be done as they are drawn – a player cannot draw two and decide which of these Train Cards to share.

One additional option that a player has during play is that he can choose to share two of the Destination Tickets in his hand with his teammate by placing them in their shared cardholder. Whilst this can be helpful, it does deny that player the opportunity to pick up new Train Cards or claim a Route.

During the game, play order is by team. Both players on a team will take their turn one after another, then the players on the next team will have their go, and so on. Players in a team always take their turns in the same order.

At game’s end, the members of a team scores together. A ten point Asian Express bonus is awarded to the team with the Longest Continuous Path on the board whilst a ten point Globetrotter bonus is awarded to the team who has completed the most Destination Tickets.

Looking at the Team Asia map, it looks quite open, if not similar to the layout of the Ticket to Ride map of the USA with its long Routes over the top in the North, and shorter Routes to East and South. Three triple Routes run the length of the Chinese coast. In a two-team game, two of these triple Routes can be claimed, possibly by both players on a team, thus wholly blocking that Route to the other team. The map also contain two unnamed destinations – they cannot be cities as neither is named – that are black instead of the grey of the map’s actual cities. Being close to Kathmandu and Lhasa, they are probably the peaks of Everest and K2 in the Himalayas.

The other addition to the Team Asia board is not a new type of Route, but a variant upon a type of Route – the Tunnel. On maps with Tunnels, such as Ticket to Ride Switzerland and Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries, if player wants to claim a Tunnel Route he has to draw three more Train Cards from off the top of the draw deck, and if any of the drawn cards match the colour of the Route, that player must pay an extra Train Card for each extra drawn. If he cannot, he forfeits that turn. In Team Asia, the number of extra Train Cards varies, being determined by the number of the Route. For example, the yellow Route between Lhasa and Cawnpore is one space long, but is marked with a six, meaning that it requires a player to draw another six Train Cards and hope that he does not draw any yellow Train Cards and so have to pay extra Trains Cards. As with Ticket to Ride Switzerland and Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries, a player could also use Locomotive Cards to complete a Tunnel Route in this fashion. Overall, this makes Tunnels a much riskier affair and more difficult to complete.

In purely mechanical terms, Team Asia is not a complex addition to the Ticket to Ride family. In play style, it is much more complex, not just for the fact that the players within a team have to keep quiet about strategy, but also for the fact that Team Asia is not a five, or indeed, a six-player board. Rather, it is a two or three player board that it is as tight as Ticket to Ride Switzerland and Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries before it, though with more trains between the members of a team than is the norm.

Another factor in Team Asia that is similar to Ticket to Ride Switzerland is the high number of Destination Tickets. There are sixty in this set, and like Ticket to Ride Switzerland, once a player has completed his current Destination Tickets, there is the chance that a player will draw new Destination Tickets that he has already completed. It should be made clear that this is not as extreme as in Ticket to Ride Switzerland, which many players of Ticket to Ride consider to be broken for this reason. In our playing experience, this is less of an issue in Team Asia as there is less replication of Routes.

Team Asia feels almost, but not quite as tight as the other two or three player options, Ticket to Ride Switzerland and Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries because its tight play is offset by the higher number of Trains that each team begins play with. The co-operative, though silent play, adds another level of enjoyable challenge to the game and means that this variant requires a bit more thought than is the norm with Ticket to Ride. The means of adding a sixth player is innovative for Ticket to Ride, and the fact that it involves team play means that it still leaves room for someone to design a Ticket to Ride board for use with six players rather than three teams of two. Similarly, the addition of Team Play raises the question of how many other Ticket to Ride maps would its rules work with, something for the game’s fans to experiment with.

For years now, Ticket to Ride has not been receiving the support that it should have been. It did not need dice or a card game variant, nor did it need kaiju themed bits of plastic that were never in keeping with the line’s late nineteenth century, early twentieth century style. What it needed was new maps. Ticket to Ride is a train game. A very light train game it must be said, but train games are all about connecting Routes to new places, whether familiar or exotic. Every single other train game series does this and it works because gamers like new maps and the new challenges that they present. It has been three years since the release of a new map expansion in the form of the two-three player base game, Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries. It has been four years since the release of Ticket to Ride Switerland, the map expansion that sets the pattern for the Map Collection series, which appears in Map Collection Vol. 2 – Ticket to Ride India.

Hurrah! And “Hurrah!” again, because the wait has been worth it. Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia is an excellent expansion that really does add to the Ticket to Ride family. The Team Asia gives a clever means of adding a sixth player to Ticket to Ride combined with a nice hidden objective dynamic between the members of each team. Despite it being a four or six player game, the organisation into team actually turns it into a tight two or three player board. Lastly, the six wooden card holders are nice additions can actually be used in Ticket to Ride game to hold and organise each player’s cards. The Legendary Asia is a more traditional board that offers less radical play than in Team Asia and is the easier option to get out and play. Together, Legendary Asia and Team Asia combine to make Map Collection Vol. 1 – Ticket to Ride Asia a great start to a new series of expansions and a cleverly designed challenge for the Ticket to Ride fan.

Medical Malpractice

2012-01-20T13:02:00.000Z

Invasive Procedures is a scenario written for use with Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ RPG that pitches ordinary folk into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence. Like the majority of the titles published by Pelgrane Press, it uses the Gumshoe System, and so is compatible with its other two horror RPGs, Trail of Cthulhu and Esoterrorists. More particularly, Invasive Procedures includes notes that the GM can use to adapt the scenario so that it can be run specifically for Trail of Cthulhu. What helps with this is the fact that the scenario can easily be set during any period within the last one hundred years or so such that it could be run in the contemporary here and now of Delta Green, the 1890s of Cthulhu by Gaslight, the 1920s for classic Call of Cthulhu, the 1930s for Trail of Cthulhu, or indeed, any when in between. The scenario itself makes use of a foe first described in the publisher’s excellent supplement, The Book of Unremitting Horror, the details of which are included in Invasive Procedures. In the version that Pelgrane Press was kind enough to provide for the purpose of this review, the foe is described in a nine-page booklet that comes in an envelope glued inside the back cover. Later printings of scenario will have the description and motivation of this foe written in as part of the book.

Invasive Procedures works best as either a one-shot or as the opening chapter of a campaign. Its set-up is very specific, making it difficult to run as part of an on-going campaign. A quintet of pre-generated characters/investigators is included, and these can either be used as is, or as the models for characters of the players’ own creation. Using the provided characters as models is necessary, not because the characters are in any way special, but because of both how and where they are.

As the scenario opens, the player characters find themselves in hospital. They are each patients who have been moved from a county hospital to older facility where they are to recover from recent surgery. Our Lady’s Hospital was meant to have been closed down years ago, but despite its crumbling façade and obsolete infrastructure, it has been kept open in order to handle patients who need rest and observation rather than actual treatment. Thus freeing up much needed beds at the more modern hospital nearby.

The medical condition of the investigators has a marked effect upon the scenario and just what they can get up to. For much of the scenario, they will be restricted to their beds by the nurses, as they are expected to rest after all. This does not mean that the investigators cannot conduct any actual investigation, but rather that they will have to have to work hard to get around the nurses. When they do though, their efforts will be hampered by the state of their health. In game terms, an investigator literally must expend points from his Health Ability in order to conduct certain actions, points that can only be restored through bed rest. In effect in Invasive Procedures, each investigator’s Health Ability has a reduced and more temporary feel to it, and this, combined with the reduced number of points assigned to all of the investigators’ Abilities, places an emphasis on the resource aspect of playing a Gumshoe game.

This might be frustrating for some players, as might the fact that escaping Our Lady’s Hospital is intentionally difficult. Not just due to their investigators’ weakened health, but also later in the scenario as the forces they face isolate the facility. Nevertheless, this is intentional; Invasive Procedures is all about isolation and claustrophobia, as much as it is about medical malpractice and the classic duality of the medical practitioner. Despite the constraints placed on the investigators by their status and their situation, they do have room to manoeuvre and explore their environment, the nature of which changes between night and day. These elements are actually tools to help the GM run what is not necessarily an easy scenario to run if he is to both maintain its atmosphere and handle the flow of clues.

The difficulty that a GM might have in running Invasive Procedures is not helped by the pre-generated investigators, which feel underwritten; the lack of a timeline that could help him handle its flow of effects; and a simple map that could help him visualise Our Lady’s Hospital quickly and easily – both for himself and for his players. That aside, the scenario is nicely produced, and the writing excellent. Pasqual Quidalt’s illustrations are all suitably dark and makes for a moody change over the art usually seen in Pelgrane Press’ titles.

Lastly, there is the matter of Invasive Procedures and Trail of Cthulhu. The scenario is clearly written for Fear Itself, which shows in its choice of true foe and its feel as more a traditional horror scenario than a Lovecraftian investigative horror one. Mechanically, there is little that a Keeper needs to do in order to adapt Invasive Procedures from Fear Itself to Trail of Cthulhu. Thematically, he needs to work elements of the Mythos threat into the body of the scenario, the suggested threats being the Mi-go or Elder Things, the former being more appropriate and easier to work in than the latter. This, like the running of the actual scenario, is best done by an experienced GM or Keeper.

As a one-shot horror adventure, Invasive Procedures is a close, claustrophobic, and challenging affair. The challenge rises exponentially for the GM or Keeper if he wants to run this scenario as part of a campaign, though it would make for an atmospheric and scary start for a campaign.

Where's My Mummy?

2012-01-15T14:21:00.000Z

At the heart of The Marylebone Mummy, a scenario published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for Victoriana, its nineteenth century set RPG of Victorian action, adventure, mores and magic, is a fascination with collecting objets-orientalle. As the scenario’s title suggests, the particular fascination in its case is with Ancient Egypt and Egyptology. The actual fascination is that of Doctor Reginald Cantwell. A noted amateur archaeologist, the good doctor has recently returned from holiday in Egypt and brought back with him an array of artefacts. These include papyrus scrolls, wall carvings, and jewellery, but pride of place goes to an ornately decorated sarcophagus, still sealed and thus intact. Of course, the Doctor is immensely proud of his latest acquisition and plans a public unveiling to which the adventurers are invited – or hired to attend and protect if they are of insufficient social class.

This being a scenario, Doctor Cantwell’s plans soon go awry. Too many other parties have an interest in the mummy and what starts as a genteel soiree breaks into an uproar after a break in! With adventurers being adventurers, of course they are soon on the chase for the thieves, quickly leading to the scenario’s denouement and its twist in the tail. As to that, it lies more with the events of another scenario, Rise of the Red God, than with this one.

Indeed, The Marylebone Mummy could be run as a prequel to Rise of the Red God, as there are links in both terms of theme and characters. In relationship with other adventures available for Victoriana, it also works well as a sequel to “Spiritual Matters,” the scenario found in the core rulebook as it also shares an NPC, and whilst it could be run after the events of The Dragon in the Smoke, it works better as a prequel, as NPCs from that scenario also appear in The Marylebone Mummy, though no more than as cameos.

Although The Marylebone Mummy is divided into five acts, in dramatic terms, it is actually comprised of three progressively longer acts. Act one is investigative, act two is social and interactive with roleplaying opportunities aplenty, and act three is combative. At best, the GM and his players should get three sessions’ worth of play out of this scenario, but are more likely to complete it in two sessions. Whilst it is a quick affair, it is detailed, providing not only a plethora of nicely detailed NPCs with which the player characters can interact and the GM will enjoy portraying, each of which is further supported with a thumbnail hook that the GM can develop into something more.

Physically, The Marylebone Mummy is a slim affair. It is cleanly laid out and illustrated with a mix of original art and publically available art. It needs an edit, but is otherwise readable. It would have been nice to have had maps of the scenario’s various locations, but they are reasonably well described such that the GM should be able to draw them himself.

A quick short affair, The Marylebone Mummy is a solid adventure with a surprising number of plot hooks and elements that the GM can add to his campaign.

Roll Me A Story

2012-01-14T15:29:00.001Z

Rory’s Story Cubes is a set of dice that, as the game’s title suggests, can be used to tell stories. Created by The Creativity Hub and published most places by Gamewright, the set is designed to spur a roller’s imagination by giving him a set of elements to include in his story. As a game, it is at best “rules lite,” coming more with guidelines than actual rules, such that it might be better classed as a tool or a toy.

Rory’s Story Cubes comes in a sturdy little box that opens up to reveal nine cubes or dice. Each die is a chunky 19mm to a side and contains six images, such as an “Apple,” an “Evil Shadow,” a “House,” a “Lightning Strike,” a “Lock,” a “Parachute,” a “Question Mark,” a “Tower,” and a “Wand.” None of the symbols are replicated, so with nine dice in the set, there are a total of fifty-four symbols to roll, which promises several million different combinations. The idea is to do “Once Upon a time” with these symbols, incorporating them into a story as the roller fancies. So for example, I roll an “Abacus,” “Flames,” “Happiness,” a “Magnifying Glass,” a “Mobile Telephone,” a “Parachute,” “Sleeping,” a “Tepee,” and a “Tower.” So my story might go like this…

Once upon a time, there lived a man called Dave, who could never get a full night’s sleep. He had a really dull job that involved him using an “Abacus” and never gave him time to examine how dull his life was. News that his life was to change came with a call on his “Mobile Telephone” and a dull monotone voice explaining how both the job and the ivory “Tower” of a life he had built around his job had gone up in “Flames.” This gave him the opportunity to examine his life using a “Magnifying Glass” and thus decide to use a “Parachute” to jump from the top of the “Tower.” Dave did. Now Dave does not have an “Abacus,” a dull job, a “Mobile Telephone,” or the need to visit an ivory “Tower.” Instead, every night he can be found “Sleeping” in a “Teepee.” Dave has found “Happiness.”

Now doubtless, you can do better. And you are welcome to try with your own set of Rory’s Story Cubes. How you do that is entirely up to you, as the extent of the rules in the “game” merely suggest that the stories can either be told solitaire or co-operatively. The problem with this is that it means that as a game, Rory’s Story Cubes lacks the structure that would make it game, because this is essentially not only “use the dice to make up the stories you want,” but also “make up the rules to how you tell those stories.” Arguably then, not sufficient enough to make it a game given its need for further input from the participants. Plus, the clue is in the title – Rory’s Story Cubes, not Rory’s Story Dice. After all, “Dice” infers a game, whereas “Cubes” do not.

As a tool or a toy, Rory’s Story Cubes is much better. The images on the dice are large, friendly, and universal. Although due to their size, the dice feel a bit too much to all together fit in the hand, they possess a satisfying weight and heft. They would work well as an educational tool, whether that is in an education establishment, or simply as a means to spur your child’s imagination and thinking.

There is much to like about Rory’s Story Cubes. The dice are themselves physically pleasing and the concept sound. More rules would have made them even more pleasing, but as long as the users or players are happy to agree on the rules as to how they can tell their stories, then they are ready to roll their imaginations with Rory’s Story Cubes.

The 1980s RPG Undead?

2012-01-08T20:26:00.000Z

With the “Old School Renaissance” barely five years old, the question is, has it grown too old for its inspiration? In those five years, the movement has been exploring fantasy roleplaying as it was played back in the early days of the hobby, but with the hindsight of over thirty years’ worth of gaming experience. In 2011 though, Goblinoid Games, the publisher of one of the major “Edition 0” RPGs, Labyrinth Lord, not only obtained the rights to a game published during the 1980s, but also its associated mechanics. The 1980s publisher in question is Pacesetter, the game is Timemaster, and the Action Table system. Now Goblinoid Games could have just simply republished Timemaster, and whilst it still intends to do so, the publisher has waited to do so in favour of applying the Action Table system to a more modern subgenre derived from the horror movie. The result is Rotworld: A Game of Survival Horror Against Undead Flesh Eaters.

Inspired by Michael Jackson’s Thriller as much by the films of George A. Romero, Rotworld is a roleplaying game of the apocalypse and its aftermath, in which the dead rise as “rotters” and seek to spread their infection with a single bite. Light in terms of advice for the referee or Corpse Master, the game is essentially a tool kit with which to run a zombie apocalypse campaign. To that end, it includes all of the basics needed for both an RPG and for its subgenre – characters and combat, and then the apocalypse, supernatural abilities for both humans and zombies, locations, and of course zombies.

At the heart of Rotworld, and of course, its raison d'être, is its Action Table. With a roll against this table, a player or the Corpse Master can reasonably quick discover the result and effects of a roll. The system uses ten-sided dice, with percentile rolls for all actions. In most instances, a character can get away with simply rolling under the value of his attribute or skill, but if he needs to know how well he did, he simply deducts the number rolled from his skill to get a Margin of Success. In combat, this Margin of Success becomes his Attack Margin, the result cross referenced against the difficulty or Defence Column. This gets a result ranging from a simple scratch to a crushing or crippling blow that knocks the defendant down.

For example, the first of our sample characters, Ulises, comes to the rescue of our quivering second, Otterlie. She is being menaced by Zak the Zombie and has already failed her Fear check. Ulises attempts to sneak up on Zak, but knocks something over and alerts the menacing member of the corpse cortège. Our hero is weaponless, so must rely upon his superior fists to get the damsel out of distress. Fortunately, he has the initiative. He uses his Boxing skill of 81 which is compared with Zak’s Unskilled Melee Skill of 33. This gives the column upon which Ulises’ player will roll. In this case, column 3, a relatively easy column, the columns starting at 1 and rising in difficulty to 10. Ulises’ player rolls 21 and subtracts this from his Boxing skill of 81 to get his Margin of Success to get a result of 60. Cross referencing on the Action Table, this gives “C” as a result; which for unarmed damage, is a crushing blow that delivers between six and sixty points of Stamina damage. In Ulises’ case, this is 42 points of damage. Although Ulises did not get a “CK” result, which would have indicated that he would have knocked the zombie down as well as delivered a stinging blow, he has inflicted damage equal to almost half of the zombie’s Stamina. So the Corpse Master rules that Zak the Zombie is staggered and cannot attack until the next round.

The mechanics, with their use of the Action Table, look more complex than they are in practice. The problem with both the mechanics and their use of the Action Table is twofold. First, there is an almost bewildering number of conditional rules that apply to the various situations and skills that can come up in play. Second, the Action Table is essentially focused on combat. It is meant to, and it does, work with the use of skills, but to actually interpret the results of any skill role the Corpse Master has to look elsewhere in the book. Which can only slow game play down…

That said, when it comes to combat, perhaps the aspect that players today will find the oddest is that mechanically, no weapon in the game does any damage. Rather, the damage is essentially derived entirely from the results of the skill roll. Thus the weaponry tables in Rotworld are all about range modifiers (which do affect skill), reload time, and rate of fire. One interesting mechanic using the Action Table involves a defendant’s action when being fired upon. When this occurs, the defending character has to roll a ten-sided die to determine the Defence Column that the attacker is rolling against, but can influence this by expending Luck to make it a higher Defence Column and thus make himself harder to hit. This is a pleasing way of handling a character’s attempt to dodge.

Character generation in Rotworld again looks more complex than it is, in part because it involves a degree of arithmetic. Eight attributes, each ranging in value between twenty-six and eighty, are rolled for randomly, with a number of factors being derived from these attributes. These factors include secondary factors such as Penetration Bonus and Wounds, and also the unskilled values for various skills. The most jarring aspect of character creation is that the number of skills a character starts the game with is randomly determined, so that one character might start the game with three skills or as many as six. Like attributes, skills expressed as percentiles, with the unskilled value for any skill being equal to the average of two or three attributes.

The majority of the skills listed would cover any time within the last fifty years, but with the inclusion of the Beam Weapons skill could enable a Rotworld campaign to be set in the future, whilst the inclusion of the Horseman’s Lance, Mounted Melee, and Bow skills mean that it could easily be set in the past. From the skill list there is the one odd omission – that of a Drive skill. Every character has base chance when driving – equal to the average of his Agility and Perception attributes, yet in order to improve upon that, a character has to purchase the Stunt Driving skill.

Our sample character is a Hispanic-American ex-army mechanic who worked in Hollywood as an actor and stuntman. He used to run a boxing gym, but when that went out of business, he became a truck driver. He is used to standing up for himself, but even though he learned how to use guns in the army and then point them menacingly on camera, he does not like them.

Ulises Romero
Strength 70 Dexterity 68 Agility 58 Personality 58
Willpower 52 Perception 61 Luck 58 Stamina 60
Unskilled Melee: 64
Penetration Bonus: +15
Wounds: 14

Skills:
Boxing 81, Equestrian 78, Mechanics 70, Language (Spanish) 72, Stunt Driving 75

As an option, characters can also possess Paranormal Talents such as the predictable “Precognition,” “Distance Viewing,” and “Telepathic Sending.” These are joined by the Rotworld particular “Corpse Visage,” “Empathy with Undead,” and “Sense Undead.” Unlike skills whose number is randomly determined, the number of Paranormal Talents that a character can have is determined by his Perception and Willpower, up to a maximum of three. It costs Willpower to use Paranormal Talents, and although a character’s Willpower will refresh, the relatively high cost will preclude their being over used.

Our sample character with Paranormal Talents is Otterlie Rios, a doctoral student, who worked in a funeral home to pay her way through college. Her abilities manifested for the first time when the dead rose, enabling her to walk amongst them and survive. She is still shaken by the experience and is reluctant to use either Talent again.

Otterlie Rios
Strength 48 Dexterity 42 Agility 48 Personality 66
Willpower 72 Perception 80 Luck 66 Stamina 60
Unskilled Melee: 45
Penetration Bonus: None
Wounds: 14

Skills:
Investigation 88, Social Sciences: Anthropology 91, Social Sciences: Psychology 91

Paranormal Talents:
Corpse Visage 73, Sense Undead 71

For the Corpse Master, Rotworld provides a discussion of the cause of the dead rising – from chemicals or toxic waste to radiation or the supernatural – and the effects that these have on a campaign. Similarly, it gives a range of ideas and options for how the zombies work in a Corpse Master’s campaign. Beyond the base corpse chassis, the Corpse Master is free to choose how lifelike or not his members of the corpse cavalcade are, their attacks, their weakness, what they hunger for, and how intelligent they are. If the campaign allows player characters to possess Paranormal Talents, then zombies can also have their equivalent, known as Zombie Talents. Some, such as “Living Visage” and “Sense Living,” correspond to Paranormal Talents, whilst “Absorb Vitality” enables a zombie to repair itself by draining life from the living.

Actual campaign advice examines the practicalities of having civilisation collapse around you, before describing a trio of places of refuge. These consist of a corner grocery, a county airport, and a shopping mall, each essentially a subgenre staple. Each one is fitted into a page and includes a nicely done map. Of course, the survival horror subgenre being what it is, it is relatively easy for the Corpse Master to find other maps or simple enough to set his campaign just in his group’s neighbourhood.

Similarly, the survival horror genre being what it is, Rotworld does not really suffer for its lack of advice on running the game. Certainly, the subgenre should be familiar to almost anyone who purchases Rotworld. If there is an issue with the game, it is that it really could do with an index given both the relative complexity of the rules and the likelihood that the Corpse Master will flipping back and forth through the book. The book also needs another edit and it could do with a re-organisation, as certain elements appear before they need to or away from the sections that they should be in.

Physically, Rotworld is decently written and is infrequently illustrated with some quite heavy art. Another physical problem with the game besides the lack of index is the frequent need to refer to the Action Table as part of playing Rotworld. Such that it really needs to be on the back cover, not just for ease of use, but also because it could have been in colour (which would also be for ease of use). Much of the flipping back and forth will involve looking up the rules that relate to the particular situation, so that the Corpse Master needs to refer to pages twenty-eight through thirty-six as well as the Action Table, and that mostly for combat and actions not directly related to a character’s attributes.

Rotworld feels very much like the archetypal RPG of its period. It obviously moves away from the class and level structure that dominated the decade before and continues to dominate the “Old School Renaissance;” it clearly pushes towards the use and application of a universal mechanic in the form of the Action Table; and its starting point is not necessarily the heroic protagonist, but the protagonist who has the potential to be heroic. Yet it is also archetypal in that its use and application of the universal mechanic is hampered by numerable situational rules and the need to reference individual rules for far too many things. As with so many RPGs of the period, in Rotworld the result is far from perfect and far from perfectly easy to run for the reasons already given, and ultimately, all it would have taken to address this problem is the actual page opposite the Action Table being devoted to notes and references that covered situations outside of combat and the character sheet being moved on a page or so.

Yet for all of its failings, Goblinoid Games should be praised for possessing the drive and desire to look beyond the boundaries of the “Edition 0” movement. Similarly, the publisher deserves praise for doing something more with the Action Table system than just releasing the RPGs that used it back in the 1980s, and whilst the truth is that the game and its treatment of its subgenre is hardly radical by anyone’s standards, its pages do contain a solid survival horror toolkit. Once you get past its all too close an emulation of the 1980s RPG, Rotworld: A Game of Survival Horror Against Undead Flesh Eaters is quite possibly the start of something new and interesting – the next period of gaming history for revival. Post-"Old School Old School Renaissance," anyone?

Tales of the Star Guard

2012-01-01T15:32:00.001Z

In many reviews an RPG’s designer rarely gets a mention, and even if when he does, it invariably comes a long way into the review and even then not by name. His contribution usually gets mentioned in passing or obliquely, but for this review I am going to mention a name. Matt Heerdt. It is not a name that I have encountered before, though it has to be said that I rarely check those details, and to be honest, that is unlikely to change. Nevertheless, that name is Matt Heerdt. His design for Cosmic Patrol, the latest RPG from Catalyst GameLabs of which he is also the author, captures its genre to perfection with just seventeen words and one image. Done in a simple two tone design, the front cover looks exactly the manual that every good Cosmic Patrol cadet should have in his locker, whilst the back cover looks exactly like a recruiting poster for the Cosmic Patrol. It is also beautifully simple.

Anyway, Cosmic Patrol, of which Matt Heerdt is also the author. Thirty years ago in the Pre-Cosmic Era, the Earth was hit by the fragments of a comet that upon impact disgorged a horde of alien “lizardmen” known as the “Uth.” It took a united effort to wipe out the rampaging raiders who in their wake left not only a united Earth, but also a cache of advanced, disparate, but stolen technology. In order to both study this and protect the Earth from further cosmic threats, the united world government forms scientific space program known as the “Cosmic Patrol.” Within a decade, Cosmic Patrol expeditions to Mars and Venus discover humans on both worlds; within two decades, the governments of Earth, Mars, and Venus would agree to form a single organisation known as the Great Union; and within three decades, Cosmic Patrol rocketships, equipped with the revolutionary “Fractum Drive” would not only explore the outer reaches of our Solar System, but also far out into the cosmos itself, quickly discovering an on-going intergalactic war whose sides it cannot quite yet determine.

This is the setting for Cosmic Patrol, a story-telling RPG of “Rockets and Rayguns!” set in a retro future based on the Golden Age of science fiction. Inspired by the covers of classic science fiction pulp magazines, the works of E.E. “Doc” Smith, Harry Harrison, Robert Heinlein, and Philip Francis Nolan, and classic science fiction radio series like X Minus One and Dimension X, Cosmic Patrol with its mantra of “Rockets • Rayguns • Robots” is not the Buck Rogers RPG, but it could be. Nor is it the Flash Gordon RPG or the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet RPG, but again, it could be. As the Grand Union’s first and last line of defence against a dangerous galaxy, the players take the roles of Patrolmen of the Cosmic Patrol crewing rocketships that set out to explore the galaxy, investigating its strange phenomena, and responding to emergencies as necessary. They could be cocky, stalwart heroes from Earth; Red Amazon warriors from Mars armed with their infamous red steel axes; or high thinking Venusian scientists, but whatever their origins, they are not only members of the Grand Union, but as members of the Cosmic Patrol, they are its first line of defence against the universe.

Cosmic Patrol is played in a series of Mission Briefs, each beamed to the characters’ rocketship from Cosmic Patrol headquarters. It might be that a ship has gone missing in the asteroid belt or that a survey team is under attack on the surface of Venus, but in game terms each Misssion Brief consists of a setting and one or more scenes that present the patrolmen with a series of enemies and obstacles. Each scene is further down into a number of turns, the number of turns depending upon the number of players. This is because each player will undertake the role of the Lead Narrator once during a scene. As Lead Narrator, a player not serves as the GM and presents the NPCs and environment just as you would expect in most RPGs, he also ensures that each of the characters has a chance to act in the turn. In serving as the Lead Narrator, a player does not ignore his own Patrolman, but allows him to act, though he always goes last in a turn. This completes the turn and narration passes to the next player, who then becomes the Lead Narrator and sets the scene for the new turn.

Narration can be taken from events in previous Turns, but also from “cues,” little suggestions and descriptions that the Lead Narrator can take inspiration from. Cues are given for Mission Briefs as well as Patrolmen and NPCs of all stripes. Narration can also to an extent be co-operative in that a player can turn to his fellows if he is bereft of inspiration and ask for advice. If a player wants to grab the narration then he can spend a Plot Point, which can also be expended by a player to modify dice rolls – either way, regain health points, and of course, to add a plot twist! The role of Lead Narrator also has its own pool of Plot Points, which passes from player to player as the role does. A Lead Narrator can only spend Plot Points to aid the NPCs and add plot twists, but not to impede the Patrolmen. Players earn their Plot Points through good narration, whilst the Lead Narrator earns one whenever a player expends one.

Player character actions that require dice come in two types. A Challenge handles actions against an inanimate object, while a Test is against another person, be it another player character or an NPC. To undertake a Test or Challenge a character adds the results of a twelve-sided die, an appropriate attribute die, plus modifiers to beat a target roll determined by a twenty-sided die. The modifiers are set by the Lead Narrator. For example, “in a blizzard” (-1), “Experienced” (+1), “the right tools” (+1), “already performed a scan” (+1), and so on, which with the character below having to perform emergency field surgery on an important NPC, might give the result of D12 + Medicine D10 + modifiers of +2 against the Lead Narrator’s roll of a D20. The end result of 1 (D12) + 6 (D10) +2 versus 4 (D20) means that the character has succeeded.

Character creation involves assigning various dice types to four attributes – Brawn, Brains, Charisma, and Combat; a Special Die or a D10 to something that the character is particularly good at; and determining his Luck. The latter is not a Die type, but a number between one and twelve, which when rolled on any die during any test or challenge means that a character always succeeds. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of character generation in Cosmic Patrol is the creation of a Patrolman’s Cues, and Disposition. The first are prompts from which a player can draw inspiration when it comes to his narration, whilst the latter more describe his manner. “Doc” Mulligan only has thirteen Cues, leaving room for a player or Lead Narrator to add more. This Patrolman also has Tags, essentially descriptors that give the Lead Narrator the gist of the character were he to be used as an NPC.

REGINALD MULLIGAN/ROCKETSHIP DOCTOR
VITAL FACTORS
Name: Reginald “Doc” Mulligan Age: 29
Homeworld: Earth Rank: Doctor
Tags: > Earthman > Friendly > Curmudgeon
> Brilliant > Medicine > Manners > Scottish
Brawn: D6 Brains: D8 Charisma: D10 Combat: D8
Medicine D10 (SPECIAL) Luck: 11
Armour: 17
Health: 3/3/3/2/1
Equipment: antique Webley Revolver, Install MK. VII anatomical scanner, classic doctor’s black bag, and bottle of 13 year old single malt
Cues: Och no! I am just a country doctor; Quiet! I’m trying to think!; This thing isn’t even a sasanach – I need time to analyse it; I’ll drink to that; Yes Ma’am; There are things that an Autosurgeon will not repair; This might not be a single malt, but she’ll do; My word as a gentleman; Captain, you just can’t blow it to bits; It’s a man’s place to grumble – it proves he’s alive; As my old aunt Jenny would say…; By Jupiter’s Trojans!
Disposition: Trustworthy, Ever the Gentleman, Exasperated at the lack of scientific training in the Patrol, Cautious

The setting for Cosmic Patrol is sketched in broad detail from the inner most worlds of the Solar System to the Outer Planets and beyond into the Deep Black with its Coalsack Dead Zone, some twenty astrons in diameter; the Eiger Empire with its army of triple-eyed clones; and the rumoured meddling of the cosmic beings that the Patrol has named the Metatherions. Whilst there are mysteries and intrigues galore to be placed by the Lead Narrator and unravelled by the player Patrolmen, there is still room aplenty for those and more within the Solar System itself. To support the setting, the Lead Narrator is given an array of pre-generated characters, some of whom can be used as player characters, the rest being a set of entertaining NPCs that should keep a game going for a while. An octet of Mission Briefings of increasing difficulty is certainly more than enough to get a game and thus a season of Cosmic Patrol going. Rounding out the book is a good, though unexplored, bibliography of suggested reading and viewing.

Perhaps if Cosmic Patrol as a game has a weakness, it is that the advice for the GM or Lead Narrator is underwritten. Which in what has leanings towards being a storytelling game, does seem odd. Yet whilst those leanings are present, this is not an RPG that focuses like so many storytelling RPGs on handing the players narration rights in order to tell a particular type of story. Nor should that be taken as a criticism of that type of game. Rather, Cosmic Patrol is all about a lightness of touch that encourages the players to work together to tell of adventures of “derring do” against a backdrop of Golden Age Science Fiction. It does include suggestions as to how it could be run using a single Lead Narrator, but to be fair, the narration duties in Cosmic Patrol are far from onerous, especially given how those duties are about everyone taking responsibility for telling a good story.

As has already been pointed out, physically, Cosmic Patrol is well done. The book is cleanly laid out and the artwork thoroughly excellent. The lack of an index is irksome.

Cosmic Patrol has three paragraphs devoted to the Theremin. That is enough for me to recommend this RPG. The fact that this game made me want to read some of the fiction suggested in the bibliography is also indicative of how much I like Cosmic Patrol, despite the fact that the book I re-read after some thirty years was Robert Heinlein’s Space Cadet, which is not in the bibliography. Having re-read it, I would suggest that it should be. In truth, I have wanted a good Golden Age Science Fiction RPG for a long time. Cosmic Patrol is not that RPG – it is better. Rather Cosmic Patrol captures its genre of Golden Age Science Fiction to not just perfection; it does so with charm and gusto.

Quest for a Story

2011-12-30T22:00:00.000Z

The traditional generic or multi-genre RPG is an attempt to provide an all-encompassing set of rules and mechanics that allow a GM to create and run, and the players to play, a roleplaying scenario or campaign in a setting of their choice. It can be set in any time, any place, and any genre, and the rules will often reflect this. This is either by trying to cover every detail or by trying to cover everything in broad swathes; the former approach often threatening to overwhelm the game in those details, whilst the latter can lose flavour as the details are glossed over. HeroQuest is a generic RPG with a difference. Published by Moon Design Publications, its approach is anything other than traditional, for it does not approach roleplaying in any genre mechanically, but instead approaches it narratively. At its heart is not the question,”Can I roleplay in this genre or setting?” Rather it is, “Can I tell a story through roleplay in this genre or setting?”

Designed by Robin D. Laws, HeroQuest originally appeared as Hero Wars and then HeroQuest, each in their own way strongly tied to the Glorantha of the RuneQuest setting. Indeed, this version of HeroQuest continues this association by including a “genre pack” for Glorantha – a genre pack being an information kit for the players about the setting or world that they will be gaming in – as an example. For the most part, this version of HeroQuest is divorced from Glorantha to give a generic set of rules, or as the rules state explicitly, a set of tools to tell a story.

HeroQuest’s primary means of approaching storytelling is changing how everything is defined. Although numbers do play a part of this definition, they only come after the important aspects of a character, a thing, or other part of the world is described in words. Just about anything can be described in this way and not necessarily in absolute terms, as in HeroQuest a player is encouraged to be more imaginative in terms of what his hero can do. So instead of “Fight with Sword,” a hero might have “Flashing Blade” or “My surroundings are my weapon.” During the game, the player is free to use the abilities however he wants if his GM accepts that his suggested use is applicable. So instead of the player saying, “I hit him with my sword,” he might instead say, “I try to impress Lady Beatrice by defeating Captain Raymond with a display of swordsmanship that humiliates him rather than hurts him, using my Flashing Blade ability.”

Also important here is the fact that the player explicitly states what he wants to achieve before his character attempts the action. This can be as simple as climbing up a rock face, as lengthy of setting out to woo the governor’s daughter, or as complex as “banging the bodyguards’ heads together before drawing their guns and emptying each weapon into their gangland boss.” All can be settled with a roll of the dice that quickly help both GM and player determine the outcome and move on. Relatively slight steps up in terms of complexity enables both GM and player to determine the degree of failure or success in Simple Contests and then Extended Contests, the latter actually a series of Simple Contests.

Once a player has set his objective, he decides upon the ability he will use and the GM will choose what will resist it. Both player and GM will each roll a twenty-sided die and compare the results to their respective abilities, results of 20 being a fumble and 1 being a critical success. For example, Gordon is playing “Delaware” Miller, archaeological adventurer, who is chasing his rival, the Belgian treasure hunter, Bernard Monami, and got aboard his lorry. Next he wants to reach around to the cab, pull open Monami’s door, and sock it to the Belgian across his smug jaw. “Delaware” is using his ability of “Determined Action” 3W – actually an ability rating of 23, but each point above 20 represents a level of Mastery – whilst the GM, Stef, decides that Bernard’s ability of “Escape the Clutches…” 1W is suited to the situation.

Both Gordon and Stef roll the dice. “Delaware” Miller gets a result of 5 and Stef a result of 11. Both rolled Successes, but although neither rolled a 1, “Delaware” Miller rolled lower than his rival and thus achieved a marginal victory. With this result, the GM could say that although has managed to swing into the cab, he did not land his wanted blow on Monami. Such a result is not good enough for “Delaware” and so Gordon brings into play the levels of Mastery that “Delaware” has in “Determined Action” 3W. Since Bernard also has a level of Mastery in “Escape the Clutches…” it cancels a level of Mastery that “Delaware” Miller has in “Determined Action,” reducing it to “Determined Action” 2W.

With the first level of Mastery, Gordon raises his result from a Success to a Critical Success, but with the second, he lowers Bernard’s Success to a Failure. With that result, the GM agrees that “Delaware” Miller has achieved his aim and narrates that into the story. Similarly, a character can use Hero Points to alter contest results in the same fashion.

If this was an Extended Contest, then this might just have been the first exchange, the aim for both “Delaware” and Bernard being to take control of the lorry and drive off with the artefact. In this case, Successes and more would gain each participant Resolution Points, the exchanges continuing until one side had acquired five or more and won the Extended Contest. As a general rule, the more interesting a contest is and the greater its importance as part of the story or scenario, the more the need for the more complex contests.

As in any RPG, in HeroQuest the loser in a Contest takes damage. It is usually expressed as levels of Impairment, and depending upon the nature of the Contest, this Impairment can be physical, mental, and social. Impairment can also affect a character’s relationships, whether that is romantic, business, political, criminal, and so on. Further, Impairment can have an effect on not just the relationship that a character has with his Community, but with the Community itself. HeroQuest goes into some detail about the creation and running of Communities, the creation process usually being conducted by the players collectively. Primarily, a Community is a resource that the characters can add to and draw upon, but it has a life of its own and if the characters use its resources badly, the characters can fall out of favour and have to find their way back into its good graces.

So far, so good. HeroQuest is clearly geared towards both imaginative play and players, and this continues with character generation. Three methods of character generation are given: Prose, List, and “As you go,” each one being easier than the former. Under the Prose method, a player writes a hundred word statement and underlines his character’s abilities and keywords; under the List method, the player chooses his character’s keywords and abilities; and with “As you go,” the player adds keywords as play progresses.

Of his character’s starting Abilities, a player choses one as his best and assigns it a score of 17, with the rest being set at 13. A player can then divide further 20 points between these abilities. It is possible to raise an ability’s rating above 20. In doing so, for each point above 20, the ability gains a level of mastery, represented by a notation using an orthogonal “W.” In fact, this symbol is the Mastery Rune from Glorantha. So if a player gave his character the ability Flashing Blade 23, he would actually have Flashing Blade 3W.

Our sample character is my current one from the Legends of the Five Rings campaign I am playing in, called The Silken Knot. To give you some comparison, I include his Legends of the Five Rings stats for comparison.

Yasuki Kiosho, Crab Courtier
Air: 3 (Awareness 3, Reflexes 3), Earth: 3 (Stamina 3, Willpower 3)
Fire: 2 (Intelligence, Agility), Water: 3 (Strength 3, Perception 3), Void: 2
Honour: 2.3, Status: 0.8, Glory: 1.0, Infamy 1.0 (Mantis), Insight: 157
School/Rank: Crab Courtier, Rank 2
Advantages: Clear Thinker (3), Forbidden Lore: (Cult of Ruhmal) (5), Inner Gift: Empathy (7), Language: (Rhuumal) (1), Seven Fortunes’ Blessing: Daikoku’s Blessing (4)Disadvantages: Black Sheep: Crab Clan (3), Black Sheep: Mantis Clan (3), Hostage (3), Lechery (3), Lost Love (3), Pyrophobia (1)
Skills: Art: Painting 1, Athletics 1, Calligraphy 1 (Crab Cipher), Commerce 3 (Appraisal), Courtier 3 (Manipulation), Defense 3, Etiquette 2, Intimidation 2 (Control), Investigation 1, Jiujitsu 1, Knives 1 (Kukri), Lore: Ivory Kingdoms 1, Lore: Mantis Clan 1, Lore: Cult of Ruhmal 1, Lore: Underworld 1, Sailing 1, Sincerity 2 (Deceit), Temptation 1 (Seduction)

As part of the campaign set up, it was necessary to create a background that in part explained his current situation. Some of this is implied in the character’s advantages and disadvantages, but to make it more explicit and to get his keywords and abilities for HeroQuest, I describe him in exactly one hundred words. As part of the process I underline the important aspects of him, thusly:

Yasuki Kiosho, Crab Clan courtier, is a mannered, but wily, sharp tongued and perceptive merchant. A Mantis Clan hostage, he sailed to the Ivory Kingdoms, there learning to use the flexible steel sword, the Urumi, and the Kukri knife to defend himself, and of the evil Cult of Ruhmal, a new threat to Rokugan. Back home, his lechery almost dishonoured him and Sayomi, his host, Yoritomo Chikao’s daughter, resulting in his being cast out. Now he works the underworld as a smuggler and hunts for the cult to redeem himself. Sometimes controlling, he can easily lie or spot a lie.

From this I derive his abilities and assign the points as described above. His key ability is “perceptive merchant,” which is set at 23 or 3W. The remaining fourteen points are distributed to reflect what the player feels to be important about Kiosho.

Yasuki Kiosho
The Job: mannered Crab Clan courtier 1W
Doing Stuff: perceptive merchant 3W, sailed to the Ivory Kingdoms 13, works the underworld 15, hunts for the cult 13, can easily lie or spot a lie 15, redeem himself 13
Social: Mantis Clan hostage 13, smuggler 13, lechery 13, almost dishonoured 13
Knowing Stuff: evil Cult of Ruhmal 13, Rokugan 13, Sometimes controlling 13, wily & sharp-tongued 13
Stuff I Own: flexible steel sword, the Urumi 13, Kukri knife to defend himself 15
People: Yoritomo Chikao 13 and Kisosho’s lost love daughter Sayomi 13

Despite HeroQuest’s simplicity, the rules that support that simplicity are explored in some depth. Whether this examining how modifiers work with character abilities, how healing works, or how to bring relationships into a game, the rules never really stray from helping the reader how they affect both the core Contest mechanic and the story. In fact, the author and thus HeroQuest is at its best when it discusses how the game should be played and how it should be narrated.

What HeroQuest does is make clear the differences between the story found in literature and that found in roleplaying. With a single controlling author, the story in literature rarely veers away from being a direct series of obstacles that the protagonists either overcome or fail to overcome. Whereas because the story in roleplaying has several authors, in other words, the fickle players, and because the use of dice to resolve obstacles, it can split away from the direct series of obstacles into branches of them. To counter the fickle nature, HeroQuest suggests adjusting the difficulty of the Contests according to the number that the characters have overcome so far. So the more Contests that they fail, the easier the GM needs to set the difficulty of the next Contest.

The concept that the story in roleplaying has multiple authors is continued in HeroQuest’s approach to narration. As is traditional in storytelling games – traditional in the sense that they have been around for more than a decade – HeroQuest suggests that narration should be a collaborative process involving the players as well as the GM. He is encouraged to look for opportunities to involve his players to the point of actually leaving gaps in the story so that the characters can pursue their own agendas. The advice takes a further step in suggesting that the GM be prepared to break the narration to rewind and re-interpret the outcome of a Contest if the players are unhappy with it. This is possibly narrative roleplaying at its more radical, and it is open to abuse by a domineering player. Still, as a means of re-writing the outcome of overcoming an obstacle is in keeping with the story based nature of HeroQuest.

Unfortunately, for a generic or multi-genre RPG, HeroQuest is disappointing in its treatment of actual genres. It discusses how to create the technical elements that would go into a genre pack for any setting, the ones that you would find in many roleplaying settings – occupations, creatures, cultures, magic, powers, religions, species, technologies, and so on. This is done through keywords, under which can be grouped a number of abilities. Keywords can also be used during character generation if the GM allows players to select cultures, occupations, and species. In each case, a fully worked sample is provided. Powers and magic require extra explanation for each genre pack, this explanation being organised into a framework that neatly sums the origins, limitations, and requirements of each power or type of magic. Whilst this is all technically useful, it still does not address any one particular genre.

Similarly, when it comes to the Glorantha genre pack, HeroQuest comes up short. The problem is that it focuses entirely on the magic of Glorantha and how the runes associated with that magic are interpreted along with a description of the various deities in Glorantha’s pantheons. Since many inhabitants of Glorantha understand these runes and many of them can cast magic, this is useful. Yet it does not offer any information beyond this. Which for an information kit that a genre pack is meant to be is decidedly disappointing.

The reason for the inclusion of the the Glorantha genre pack is to provide a means for players of Hero Wars and the previous edition of HeroQuest, which were both specifically tied to the Glorantha setting, to convert their games to the new edition and thus the more recent HeroQuest sourcebooks for Glorantha. Which is laudable, but it does not offer any information beyond this and that means that the last thing that anyone can do with this genre pack is start playing.

And the fact that neither the GM nor the players can get playing very quickly with a copy of HeroQuest is its main problem. For a generic or multi-genre RPG, the lack of sample genre packs that showcase how the game can do various genres seems an odd omission. Whilst HeroQuest has an abundance of examples throughout its pages, fully worked up genre packs in say the Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction genres would have helped cap all of those examples for the GM and given him something that he could have worked with right away.

Physically, HeroQuest is well written and in general, simply and clearly laid out. If there is a problem with the presentation it is in that some of the artwork is disappointing. Still, it is the writing that shines and that is profusely supported with innumerable and always useful examples.

At the heart of HeroQuest is the art of telling stories, an art that it supports with simple rules and mechanics that are illustrated with copious illuminating examples. In return, it asks more of both GM and players alike, not just in the act of telling a story, but also in trusting each other when the focus of the game is the narrative rather than absolute numbers. In removing those absolute numbers, HeroQuest is more flexible and more encompassing in the genres that it could tackle, and even though the genre support in this rulebook is itself weak, the rules themselves are pleasingly clear and easy to grasp. HeroQuest gives you the rules to which you only need to add your imagination to roleplay the story that you want to play.

The Ogrecave.com Christmas List

2011-12-25T13:10:00.000Z

It has been vaguely traditional for the past decade that in the first weeks of December, OgreCave.com runs a series lists suggesting not necessarily the best board and roleplaying games of the preceding year, but the titles that you might like to receive and give. Breaking with that tradition – in that the following is just the one list and in that for reasons beyond our control, this list is not appearing at OgreCave.com – Reviews from R’lyeh would like present its own list. Further, as is also traditional, Reviews from R’lyeh has not devolved into the need to cast about “Baleful Blandishments” to all concerned or otherwise based upon the arbitrary organisation of days.

Nevertheless, Happy Gaming and enjoy the suggestions. Consider them perfect for purchase for yourself. If the world is to end in 2012 – and the denizens of Reviews from R’lyeh doubt that the stars have come right as yet – then at least enjoy a few last rolls of the dice with a favourite new game…

Elder Sign (Fantasy Flight Games), $34.95
For its third game of Lovecraftian investigative horror, Fantasy Flight Games brings us a co-operative dice game of battling the Mythos, monsters, and madmen at Arkham Museum where a concentration of eldritch artefacts have weakened the barriers that prevent the return of an Ancient One. Designed for between one and eight investigators, they must make the best use of their tools, allies, spells, and clues to locate Elder Signs if they are to re-seal the barriers between worlds and so prevent the Ancient One’s return. Fail to find the Elder Signs, and the Ancient One and his minions grow stronger until the investigators must face the Ancient One armed only with their stamina and their sanity. With sixteen investigators to choose from and eight different Ancient Ones to face, Elder Sign offers plenty of replay value as well as a challenge every time. Also available as an App.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box (Paizo Publishing), $35
With this weighty box, Paizo Publishing enables you to get playing one of the most popular and certainly best supported of fantasy RPGs of recent years. Not only is it designed to get you playing quickly by letting you play one of the four pre-generated adventurers and reading up on them while the GM reads the first few encounters, but in the long term, it provides the rules needed to create a human, dwarf, or elf cleric, fighter, rogue, or wizard character and then take that hero from first up to fifth level. The GM gets just as much support, first with an introductory adventure, and then with advice on creating your own in a variety of environments, plus there are maps and tokens for both the characters and the monsters to help bring your adventurers to life on the table. With its slightly streamlined rules and some great art work, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box is an attractively easy way into the hobby.

7 Wonders (Asmodée Éditions), $49.95
If there was one game that deserved to win the “Spiel des Jahres” (German “Game of the Year”) award in 2011, it was 7 Wonders, a civilisation themed card game that can be played with as many as seven players in forty-five minutes. It did not win the “Spiel des Jahres,” but it did win its new bigger brother award, the "Kennerspiel des Jahres" (roughly "Connoisseur-Enthusiast Game of the Year"). Played one card at a time over the course of three ages with players passing their card hands to their neighbour after every turn, 7 Wonders tracks up to seven ancient civilisations as they attempt to establish and trade for resources, build their militaries, enhance their cultures, advance their scientific knowledge, and of course, complete one of the wonders of the age. Not only is 7 Wonders a lovely looking game, its multiple paths to victory give it a high replay value.

Abney Park's Airship Pirates RPG (Cubicle Seven Entertainment), $49.99
In the Neo-Victorian era of 2150 AD, America has become a great wilderness, home to mammoths and sabre-toothed cats, criss-crossed by the tracks of the armoured railroads that connect Emperor Victor III’s walled cities within which nothing ever changes and within which his clockwork policemen ensure nothing ever changes. Freedom can only be found with the Neobedouins who cross the wilderness and aboard the vessels of the airship pirates that sail the skies ready to pounce from behind the clouds. Based on songs of the Seattle Steampunk band, Abney Park, in Airship Pirates the player characters take to the skies in command of a skyship, perhaps as a band or merchants or mercenaries, setting to discover the secrets of this Steampunk, Post-Apocalypse, Pirate, Time Travel RPG!

Paris Connection (Queens Games) $62.99
A surprisingly light game from hard core train game designer/publisher, Winsome Games, Paris Connection has been given an attractive new look by Queen Games. It is a track and share game played across France, the players building six networks out from Paris, connecting to the nation’s various towns, cities, and ports to increase the share value of each network. Every player begins with a hidden allotment of shares, but cannot hide the shares they pick up during the game, often necessary if they are to acquire any shares that are increasing in value. The clever, but still simple aspect of Paris Connection is that its wooden train pieces represent both track pieces and shares in each network, so eventually, every player must ask themselves, at what point do share/track pieces become more valuable as shares than as track? Answering that question will keep this lovely looking, light and quick filler game coming back to the table.

Bookhounds of London (Pelgrane Press), $34.95
The book has always been important to Lovecraftian investigative horror, but Bookhounds of London, written by Ken Hite for Trail of Cthulhu, brings it to the fore like never before. This is a campaign setting in which the investigators are bookhounds in Depression Era London, working the book trade for the “squiz” (an exquisite item in bookseller’s slang) that will keep the doors of their “fine books” shop open. With debts and death duties to pay, England’s finest families have ransacked their extensive libraries leading to the market being flooded with both mundane and esoteric titles. Are the bookhounds willing to make money on these, even if it means selling a copy of Unaussprechlichen Kulten to some all too ambitious occultist? These are the choices faced by the book sellers, all played out against fog bound haze of a city full of ancient secrets behind its bureaucratic indifference and metropolitan façade. Bookhounds of London is another seedily evocative campaign from the pen of Ken Hite and another fine book for Trail of Cthulhu.

Discworld: Ankh-Morkpork (Treefrog Games), $60
Lord Vetinari is dead! Or on holiday. Either way, this is your chance to take control of Ankh-Morkpork in what is Martin Wallace’s most a commercial game yet, being based on Terry Prachett’s Discworld novels. Designed for two to four players each with a secret personality and a secret aim – are they Chrysophrase the troll (who wants money), the Dragon King of Arms (who wants to be king again), Sam Vimes of the Guards (who literally does not want any trouble), or Vetinari himself (secretly returned to sniff out his rivals) – Ankh-Morkpork is an area control game in which every action is card driven with every card and its actions being designed around the Discworld personality on each card. Another great looking game, Discworld: Ankh-Morkpork has enough game play for the dedicated gamer and enough theme without too much complexity to be enjoyed by the Discworld fans too.

The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild (Cubicle Seven Entertainment), $59.99
With Smaug and the Battle of Five Armies won, a kind of peace has come to the peoples of Northern Middle Earth. Dangers still lurk beyond the borders of civilisation, whether from the Orc-holds of the mountains or the deepest recesses of Mirkwood where a corrupting foulness resides to reach out again and taint the hearts of the free peoples… This is the setting for The One Ring, the latest RPG based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that focuses on character and culture, and on the fellowship that the characters form and becomes a character of its own as they progress. Notably, this is a fantasy RPG that does not include any magic casting player characters, but that is perfectly in keeping with Tolkien’s setting. Lastly, it comes as a beautiful rule set complete with maps and dice, all within a sturdy slipcase.

Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 - Team Asia & Legendary Asia (Days of Wonder), $30
It has been a long wait since Switzerland for what the Ticket to Ride fan really wants: more maps with destinations to reach and routes to claim. With Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 - Team Asia & Legendary Asia, you get not only two maps – on a double-sided board, but two different ways to play. François Valentyne's Legendary Asia map lets you take the long Silk Road or climb the high passes of the Himalayas with the new mountain routes. With Ticket to Ride’s designer Alan R. Moon's Team Asia map, you can add a sixth player by playing in teams of two working together to claim routes. Neither member of a team is allowed to talk strategy with the other, but they can hint at it by playing destination and train cards from their hands to a wooden card holder that both can see. With six of these card holders in this expansion, they can just easily be used in other Ticket to Ride titles or even other games!

The Legacy of Arrius Lurco (Miskatonic River Press), $29.95
In an age when the appearance of a campaign for Call of Cthulhu is a rare occurrence, 2011 brings us a campaign not for Call of Cthulhu, but for its Ancient Rome setting, Cthulhu Invictus. The investigators are asked to look into why wealthy patrician, Arrius Lurco, went missing in Crete years before and why he cannot recall what he did. Uncovering this mystery and the mystery of Lurco’s strange behaviour will take the investigators across the Empire to reveal an ancient horror behind a creature born of legend and a cult prepared to move against the investigators as they uncover its secrets. This is a very different Call of Cthulhu campaign, involving more classic detective work than sifting through dusty libraries, and some quite, quite horrible moments for investigators and players alike. Not a campaign for the timid or anyone looking for an easy game, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco is not only the best campaign for Call of Cthulhu for years, but it also sets the standard by which all future Cthulhu Invictus titles will be measured.

Stars Without Number Core Edition (Mongoose Publishing), $39.99
One of the very few Science Fiction RPGs to come out of the “Old School Renaissance,” Stars Without Number is far from an old school RPG. Rather it is an “Edition Zero” tool kit that comes with everything necessary to both play and build a campaign of the GM’s creation, whether that is set within one of his devising or the setting provided. This is set in the far future in an age of recovery following a long collapse. There are old worlds to be re-discovered, new dangers that have taken advantage of the chaos to be faced, and secrets of the pre-Scream Golden Age to be revealed. Supported by extensive advice and ideas, Stars Without Number is the perfect RPG for exploring a Science Fiction “sandbox.”

Cosmic Patrol (Catalyst Game Labs), $24.99
Inspired by the Golden Age broadcast Science Fiction of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and X MINUS ONE as well as the writings of Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, and E.E. “Doc” Smith, Cosmic Patrol is a light storytelling RPG in which the characters are stalwart members of the Grand Union’s last line of defence against a dangerous universe. As Patrolmen, they crew rocketships sent out to explore the galaxy, to investigate its strange phenomena, protect the Solar System, and respond to emergencies as necessary. The mechanics are kept light with everyone taking it turn to narrate scenes in the current adventure with heroics being encouraged. Plus the little rulebook is a work of art itself, looking exactly like a handbook for the Cosmic Patrol itself.

The Indigo Ivory Depths

2011-12-24T19:36:00.000Z

Tony Dowler is best known as the cartographer who developed, How to Host A Dungeon, a toolkit that enabled the GM to create an ancient dungeon complete with history, inhabitants, denizens, treasures, and more. He also draws micro-dungeons along a series of different themes, each a quirky little affair often drawn in both two dimensions and three isomorphic dimensions. Now he an actual dungeon adventure that you purchase: The Purple Worm Graveyard.

Published through his Planet Thirteen Games, The Purple Worm Graveyard is a mini-dungeon of just fifteen locations designed for a party of first through third levels. It is written for use with Labyrinth Lord, but can just as easily be used with other “Edition Zero” fantasy RPGs. Equally, it can be dropped easily into most worlds and even added as easily to most dungeons, and presents a thoughtful challenge that should provide an evening’s worth of interesting play, either as part of a campaign or as a one-shot.

The purple worm graveyard of the title is said to lie below the barren Rockspyre Mountains. It is thought to be where the largest and most ancient of purple worms go when they approach the end of their lives. Commonly thought to be a legend, it is rumoured that the graveyard itself holds an untold treasure of purple worm ivory. Now, a sage has discovered its location and hired the adventurers to travel there, confirm its location, and explore its limits.

The purple worm graveyard actually turns out to be located beyond another underground complex, this one a temple devoted to an ancient worm god. Its influence spreads outside of the temple, such that at certain times, the players can commune with it, fall under its spell, and of course, be driven to madness. The god itself does not make an appearance in the scenario, but its presence adds a pleasing eldritch element to the proceedings.

In addition, The Purple Worm Graveyard adds a set of “Dungeon Moves” mechanics. This provides a table that the DM can roll against to gain a die modifier for a particular situation. As is traditional, the scenario adds a new monster and a new treasure or two. The monsters are variations upon creatures that we have seen before, are but feel perfectly suited to the dungeon, whilst the new treasures are thoughtful if simple little affairs.

At just twelve pages long, The Purple Worm Graveyard is a quick and easy read. In places it takes a moment to ascertain exactly what a certain rule is for or how it pertains to the adventure, but this becomes clear relatively quickly. The booklet is nicely illustrated, and the map feels pleasingly heavy. That said, the map, located on the inside of the card sleeve, could have done with more detail, but what detail there is, is excellent.

Ultimately, The Purple Worm Graveyard is an entertaining, pocket friendly dungeon. It would work well with most “Edition Zero” fantasy RPGs, but given its eldritch feel, then it would work well with Lamentations of the Flame Princess’ Weird Fantasy Role-Playing. Nicely themed, requiring just a little thought or so to overcome its challenges, The Purple Worm Graveyard is a charmingly petite adventure.

Threatened Empires

2011-12-17T21:03:00.000Z

Ruined Empires: An Adventure for Abney Park’s Airship Pirates is the first release for Abney Park’s Airship Pirates RPG Based on the Songs of “Captain” Robert Brown, Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s Steampunk, Post-Apocalypse, Pirate, and Time Travel RPG. This is a scenario in three parts designed for three to six players which can be completed in two good sessions, or three if your players like to take their time. It involves an assignment with menaces, a treasure hunt, ravenous beasts, a stylish MacGuffin, a chase, a betrayal, and more!

It opens with the player characters in the Skyloft known as “Jewel of the Skies,” Isla Aether, dining upon the best deep fried that money can buy! They are approached by an aide to the Skyloft’s dissolute governor and asked politely and pointedly if they would like to go on a treasure hunt for him. He needs funds and he has a genuine treasure map. Getting to where “X Marks the Spot” is nary a challenge, but once on the ground, the player pirates must deal with wild and hungry beasts; rival, if not potential allied treasure hunters; and the somewhat soggy nature of the site. There is a decent amount of treasure available if the characters decide to stick around and search.

Once back in the air there is opportunity for an aerial fight, but this is against a difficult foe and the inference is that they should run for it. Having returned to Isla Aether, they discover that the fortunes of the employer have been reversed and their own with it. All too quickly, they find themselves slung behind bars and having to engineer not only their escape, but also having to engineer a change of government.

Ruined Empires is for the most part a fairly straightforward adventure. The authors give advice here and there as to how to stage various scenes and give pointers as to where a GM might insert a scene or encounter of his own devising. There is also an opportunity for the GM to place in the hands of the player pirates the MacGuffin of all MacGuffins, if he has not yet done so. That given that this is the first title released as support for Airship Pirates and the supplement supporting said use of the MacGuffin of all MacGuffins is yet to be released, it well be a bit early in a campaign for the GM to introduce that…

Physically, Ruined Empires is a nice looking book. The cartography is clear and simple, and the artwork attractive. The writing is good and is more than flavoursome in places, especially when adding colour and detail to the adventure’s setting and personalities. If there is an issue with Ruined Empires, it is that its starting and ending location could have been more detailed so that a GM could have used it beyond the length of the adventure.

If all goes well, at the end of Ruined Empires the pirate characters should have added a little to their coffers and made an ally or two. Of course, it could go the other way and they be rewarded with enemies and penury for their failures. Along the way it will have further shown how the rules work and given the GM some colourful NPCs to add to his game. Whilst a book of adventures, a campaign, or some other support would have been welcome, Ruined Empires: An Adventure for Abney Park’s Airship Pirates is a solid, uncomplicated affair that should slot into most Airship Pirates campaigns.

Freeport in Peril

2011-12-14T14:32:00.000Z

Freeport: City of Adventure, the very setting that heralded the arrival of the d20 System and third party support for Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition is over a decade old now. We saw our very first glimpse of this pirate island nation back in 2000 with the release by Green Ronin Publishing of the classic scenario, Death in Freeport, and in the decade since, the city and its environs has been supported with sourcebooks and scenarios, and a campaign, as well as companion guides for running the setting using a variety of different rule sets, including Savage Worlds, Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, Castles & Crusades, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and True20. All of these, bar Savage Worlds, it should be noted, being variants of Dungeons & Dragons in one form or another. Of late, the Freeport: City of Adventure setting has received little in the way of support, but since it is a personal favourite, it was pleasing to note that there has been one scenario for it this year, Peril in Freeport.

Published by Adamant Entertainment through Cubicle Seven Entertainment, Peril in Freeport is for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. It is written for a party of characters of between sixth and eighth level, each of whom should get a level’s worth of experience from playing through the adventure. To get all of the details of the monsters that appear in Peril in Freeport, the GM will need access to a copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary as the main villains of the piece are fully described there. He will also find a copy of the Freeport Companion: Pathfinder Edition useful, although it is not totally necessary as much of the action in the adventure actually takes place away from the city itself. Indeed, this is such that a GM could easily place the events and plots of this scenario around any island chain or archipelago within his own campaign world. Of course, as a setting, Freeport: City of Adventure is designed to be dropped into most fantasy worlds. The scenario does not specify that any particular class is needed to play through it, but the player characters will find the Perception, Profession: Sailor, and Swim skills to be useful. Of course, this being a Freeport adventure, the adventurers are more than likely to end up under water and so will need a means of breathing once submerged.

Peril in Freeport opens with a bang, or rather a wave! The city being struck by tidal is a sign that it is in danger again, but a more insidious threat appears when the adventurers come upon a Halfling, desperately in need of a good cup of tea, who has been shipwrecked after the vessel he was travelling aboard was attacked. He suspects that both his family and the ship’s crew have disappeared and offers a reward for their safe return. Tracking the culprits down puts the adventurers on the track of a conspiracy to sink ships sailing in and out of Freeport, and then a slaving ring, and then eventually a really big bad!

As an adventure, Peril in Freeport involves lots of sailing and swimming and sneaking and fighting. In fact, this is a more physical adventure than a cerebral one, but given the piratical nature of the setting, an action orientated adventure is fitting. During the first few chapters there are plenty of breaks during which the GM could insert adventures of his own devising. In fact, it might be a good idea for the GM to add them as the scenario’s plot could be a little linear in nature.

Physically, Peril in Freeport is good in places and bad in others. Certainly both the art and the cartography are good, while the editing veers towards the bad in places. Also, presenting the book using a serif rather than a sans serif fount might have made it easier to read. Similarly, some GMs might object to having the adventure’s monsters all in one place in a large appendix at the back of the book due to the need to flip back and forth between the adventure’s text and its monsters.

Lastly, given the fact that much of the scenario takes place away from the city of Freeport, its title of Peril in Freeport does not feel wholly apt. Now, the convention when naming scenarios for Freeport: City of Adventure is to use some kind of threat word followed by “…in Freeport.” Hence, Death in Freeport, Crisis in Freeport, and of course, Peril in Freeport. Yet, the nature of the scenario means that “Freeport in Peril” feels far more appropriate.

Over all, this is a solid affair that should present no difficulty to the GM in adapting to the other RPG rules that support Freeport: City of Adventure. Once under way, Peril in Freeport should provide a gaming group with several solidsessions of straightforward action and adventure – more if the GM adds his own adventures.

Old School Distilled

2011-12-09T19:15:00.001Z

Originally published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1977, Chivalry & Sorcery was written as response to the medieval fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons. Instead its focus was medieval chivalry and roleplaying in a feudal society, though one that did not wholly ignore fantastic elements such as magic and non-human races. Since then, the game has gone through a number of editions, never quite losing its reputation for possessing complex rules, but now it has been out of print for almost a decade. Almost thirty-five years on from its original release, Brittannia Game Designs Ltd. is re-releasing Chivalry & Sorcery Essence, the revised introduction to the game.

Available as a forty-five page, 6.78 Mb PDF, Chivalry & Sorcery Essence comes with everything necessary to play. This includes rules for character generation, combat, and magic, equipment, skirmishes, a setting, and an introductory scenario. The rules themselves are supported with examples throughout.

Character creation in Chivalry & Sorcery Essence involves rolling dice to generate the numbers to assign to attributes, and then choosing a Social Class and a Vocation. A character’s Social Class provides some base skills, some skill points to spend on skills, one or more attribute bonuses, and some equipment and money. His Vocation will grant extra skills. The process is quick and easy, with the five Social Classes given – Serf, Freeman, Townsman, Guildsman, and Noble combining easily with the eight Vocations, Warrior, Forrester, Bandit, Thief, Friar/Priest/Shaman, Mage, Physician, and Mountebank to give the players plenty of choice. For example, Wilf of Gotham is a serf who had to fight for his lord in France. He was injured in battle and lost his right ear. The injury denied him the opportunity to loot the enemy and he has returned to England almost as penniless as when he left. Not wanting to return to the farm, he still knows that he has little choice but to continue serving his lord. Wilf is renowned for his prestigious strength.

Wilf of Gotham
Social Class: Serf Vocation: Warrior
Strength 20 Constitution 15 Agility 15
Intelligence 8 Wisdom 13 Discipline 13
Appearance 6 Bardic Voice 8 Piety 10
Body Points 35
Fatigue 35
Skills: Bargaining 1, Brawl 2, Craft (Carpentry) 1, Craft (Farming) 2, Detect 1, Dodge 2, Flail 2, Language (English) 1, Language (French) 1, Knife 1, Willpower 1
Equipment: Threshing flail, clothes he is wearing, and two days’ worth of food

Mechanically, Chivalry & Sorcery Essence relatively straightforward. To do anything, a character needs to roll under a target number with a twenty-sided die. The target is invariably the total of an appropriate attribute plus any suitable skills, bonus, or penalties. Higher rolls are better than lower ones, and a critical result is scored if a character rolls the target number exactly. The penalties are quite harsh though, running from -1 for even a “Very Simple” task up to -24 for a “Seemingly Impossible” task. These penalties are worse if a character does not have the required skill for a target and will vary according to how much it costs to buy a level in that skill. For example, if Wilf had to swim across a still pond on a warm day, a “Very Simple Action,” he would suffer a -2 penalty to his Constitution before he rolled against it. The Swim skill is cheap to buy though, a much harder task such as identifying even a relatively common poison for someone without the skill would face a -9 penalty.

Combat uses the basic mechanic, but adds a number of factors in. The number of attacks or Blows a character can make per round or minute is determined by the Weapon Class of his chosen weapon and his Agility. Lighter weapons are much faster. So for example, if Wilf attacked with a knife, he could attempt to stab his opponent five times in a minute because it is classed as a Light weapon. Wilf’s threshing flail is much heavier and thus much slower, so he can only make three Blows with it. Critical Successes with swung weapons or a defensive manoeuvre such as Dodge, weapon parry, or Shield use cause an opponent to be bashed backwards with the chance that he might fall over. Making a defensive manoeuvre requires the expenditure of a Fatigue point or the foregoing of the defender’s next Bash.

Damage inflicted is determined by the weapon type, half of a character’s Strength, and by how well he rolled. Both armour and shield reduce this damage, with any leftover being deducted from an opponent’s Fatigue and then his Body Points. Critical successes on an attack mean that the damage is deducted from the Body Points instead. For example, Wilf, facing a French knight in combat, must roll under his Strength plus Flail skill, plus a bonus from his Craft (Farming) skill, for a target of 23. He rolls 19, getting a Critical Success (target numbers over 20 grant better Critical Success ranges), whilst the knight chooses to try and get his small reinforced shield in the way of the farmer’s weapon and does so with an 11. Wilf inflicts a maximum damage on the knight, some 24 points! Fortunately, the knight’s shield and coate of plates armour stops 13 of that, but the remaining 11 points are deducted from his 30 Body Points. In addition, Wilf’s Critical Success inflicts extra damage which is not stopped by the armour, losing him another 8 points from his Body Points. Lastly, the knight was hit by a swung weapon on a Critical Success and must roll against his Agility to remain standing. On a result of a 16 he fails and is knocked to the ground, losing another horrible 10 points from his Fatigue. At this point, the knight is down, has lost half of his Body Points and a third of his Fatigue. The knight might not be out of the fight, but he is at a serious disadvantage!

Magic use in Chivalry & Sorcery Essence varies according to the type. Prayer and Shamanism both use the Piety attribute and the Prayer skill as the basis for the Target, with the actual Difficulty Factor being determined by the prayer being made. In addition, any Prayer attempt also costs a priest Fatigue which increases for each extra Prayer made. In general, Prayers are low and supportive in nature, such as Bless, Lay on Hands, or holding a Mass. Shamanistic prayers are not regarded as being civilised and let a shaman Converse with Spirit, Purify Blood to remove disease or poison, or Animate the Dead, for example.

Magic itself is more complex, each mage having a limited number of Spell Points with which to spend on spells that he knows. Actually casting a spell will cost him Fatigue – and even Body Points if he casts too many, modified by his Magic skill and his Spell Focus. This Spell Focus, a device such as a ring, staff, or wand, also allows a Mage to store fatigue for use in spell casting. In addition, extra Fatigue can be spent to enhance a spell’s range, duration, intensity, and the number of people affected. The mage also receives the longest list of spells, from which he must choose carefully. Further spells can be purchased with Experience Points.

Alternatively, a mage could use the Enchant spell to implant other spells into devices. This is expensive, not only in terms of the materials required – which can actually resist the enchantment attempt, but also in terms of the mage’s Magic Skill. The mage actually expends Magic Skill levels to carry out the enchantment.

Our sample mage is an itinerant book binder who travels from court to court repairing books. This enables him to look for interesting works, not only to read, but also to copy for their spells. He also works as a tutor and translator when his book binding are not required. He learned his magic from his first master with whom he travelled to Paris.

Richard le Lieur
Social Class: Guildsman Vocation: Mage
Strength 10 Constitution 10 Agility 11
Intelligence 18 Wisdom 10 Discipline 14
Appearance 10 Bardic Voice 8 Piety 6
Body Points 25
Fatigue 20
Spell Points 18 (9)
Spells Known: Charm, Light, Sense Magic, Strike
Skills: Craft (Book Binding) 2, Detect 2, Dodge 1, History 1, Language (English) 2, Language (French) 1, Language (Latin) 1, Lore (Astronomy) 1, Magic 2, Read/Write (English) 2, Read/Write (French) 1, Read/Write (Latin) 1, Sword 1, Willpower 1
Equipment: Suit of clothes, two shillings, a sword, book binding tools, and spell focus ring

The GM receives little advice in Chivalry & Sorcery Essence bar some suggestions as to alternative skill use. He does get though, a short bestiary and a set of ready-to-play heroes and villains, both of the latter with a set of adjustments to make any one of them more of a challenge. There is also a setting in the form of “Darken Expansion,” which is taken from the publisher’s The Dragon Reaches of Marakush campaign setting. The nation of Darken is ruled by the Great Queen Dragon Shugaloth, who is attempting to establish a feudocracy despite the temples devoted to her wanting to maintain a theocracy in her name. Shugaloth’s chancellor, the lich known as Ingravain funds the “The Queen’s Falconeers,” not to support a sport that she has no interest in, but as his personal spies and enforcers. Used to check the efforts of the temple, it is suggested that the player characters be members of this group.

Darken is also home to other races including Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Dark Elves. These are available as player character races. Two new Social Classes are available, the Darken Warrior, more slave and militia overseer than true warriors; and the Mystic, which combines elements of the Priest and the Mage Vocations. This is continued with the Shaman Vocation, which gives a character access to both prayers and spells.

Chivalry & Sorcery Essence also includes a scenario, “The Serpent Of Paun-I-Tawe,” which takes place in a village in a border region recently annexed by Darken. Its set up is that the player characters are forced to stop at the village due to bad weather and must find shelter either with the villagers who resent being occupied by Darkic soldiers or with the soldiers who prefer to be stationed elsewhere. Into this situation will enter a thief prepared to take advantage of the tensions between the soldiers and villagers.

The problem with the scenario is that it is entirely possible for the player characters to wander through unaware of what is really going on. Now this intentional, the idea being that the characters should be the stars of their own particular stories and that often, there will be events going on in which they are only marginally involved in, and never get to see the whole picture. Whilst this is laudable in a longer campaign, in a short scenario, especially in one designed to introduce and showcase the new edition of your RPG, this is a mistake. The GM needs to get his players involved in the scenario as quickly possible and then keep them involved. Otherwise the likely result is that the players will not have been involved enough to play again.

The other reason why this was the wrong scenario to include is that it has very few ties to setting background given in Chivalry & Sorcery Essence. Had there been a scenario included that involved members of “The Queen’s Falconeers,” then the player characters would have had more of a drive to explore this or any other scenario.

Rounding out Chivalry & Sorcery Essence is a quick and dirty means of handling skirmish combat, plus a character sheet, a guide to character generation, and a sample character. Surprisingly for a supplement of this size, Chivalry & Sorcery Essence actually comes with an index!

Physically, Chivalry & Sorcery Essence is nicely illustrated and generally well presented. It could have been slightly better organised though, as some of the elements of the game are explained before the rules for them. For example, how arms and armour work is explained before combat. It does need a closer edit too.

Putting aside the poor choice of scenario – and it should be made clear that it is not necessarily a bad scenario, but rather not a suitable for either an introductory product or the background given – there is much to like about Chivalry & Sorcery Essence. Neither the rules nor the mechanics suffer from the complexity that Chivalry & Sorcery is supposed to suffer from. They are instead a nicely balanced mix of simplicity and brutalism, with a magic system that firmly and successfully aims for low fantasy rather than high. Overall, Chivalry & Sorcery Essence is a pleasing introduction to the game’s mechanics.

An Electronic Elder Sign

2011-12-04T23:21:00.001Z

If you play board games, owning a good smart phone or a tablet is an excellent device to add to your games collection. Although neither will replace the social aspects of playing a board game nor the pleasure of handling a game’s physical components, a good version of a board game adapted to either device will capture exactly the feel and tactics of its play whilst handling the game’s mechanics. Such a good version should also offer solo play as well as play against other opponents, or if a co-operative game, allow the participants to play together. The version of Rio Grande Games’ Carcassonne adapted by exozet games is excellent example of the former, whilst Elder Sign: Omens is an excellent example of the latter. It is available on the Android and iOS platforms, this review having been done on an Android tablet.

As the title suggests, Elder Sign: Omens is the electronic adaptation of Elder Sign, the third co-operative board game of Lovecraftian investigative horror published by Fantasy Flight Games. Where Elder Sign has up to eight investigators exploring Arkham Museum to prevent the strange goings on that herald the coming of an Ancient One such as Azathoth, Cthulhu, or Yog-Sothoth, Elder Sign: Omens has a team of up to four investigators exploring Arkham Museum to prevent the strange goings on that herald the coming of the Ancient One known as Azathoth.

The game has the intrepid investigators visiting the various parts of the museum, some of which might lead to other dimensions, and casting glyphs that will counter to stop the strange goings on in each location. The investigators will each have their own special ability that will help them in this casting as various spells, items, and clues that in turn enable then investigators to hold onto glyphs between castings, add more glyphs, and re-cast the gylphs. If successful, the investigators can gain more spells, items, and clues as well as the all-important Elder Signs that they need to accumulate in order to prevent the coming of Azathoth. If unsuccessful, the investigators can suffer deleterious effects to their health and sanity; have monsters appear particular locations that need to be dealt with before the tasks there can be attempted; and let Azathoth gain more of the Doom Tokens that mean that the Outer God is closer to Earth.

Elder Sign: Omens begins by asking the players to assemble an investigation team, either by selecting from one of the sixteen available or by taking a random team. Each of the investigators is illustrated and is accompanied by a description of his or her ability. For example, Harvey Walters can alter Terror glyphs to Lore glyphs, whilst Carolyn Fern is a Psychologist who can help restore her own Sanity or that of another investigator. From there, the investigators can proceed to the Museum itself, shown by a map upon which are marked the first of the game’s many bizarre incidents. These can be scrolled through and examined before going there, enabling the players to make a choice as to which ones they tackle.

At each incident, an investigator will be confronted by one or more tasks. Sometimes these have to be done in a certain order, but most can be completed in any order. Either way, only a single task can be completed with a single casting of glyphs. These are cast to match the symbols on each task, the glyphs either being used to match the symbols or re-cast to get the ones needed. Re-casting the glyphs is usually done at the cost of losing a glyph on the next casting. Consistent quickly leads to the investigator failing to deal with the incident and suffering various effects as described above.

The players need to accumulate fourteen Elder Signs if they are to prevent the coming of Azathoth, who only needs to gain twelve Doom Signs. This is not an easy task, especially if monsters appear that make tasks more difficult or even prevent glyphs from being cast until they are dealt with. In addition to the growing number of Doom Tokens, a sense of urgency is built into the game with a clock that regularly strikes midnight and heralds further terrible effects such as more monsters appearing or Azathoth acquiring yet more Doom Tokens. The players’ choice of investigators will ease or hinder this task, with investigators who can re-cast glyphs tending to be easier to use, if not being more useful. With sixteen investigators to choose from, Elder Sign: Omens has the capacity for the players to experiment to get the right combination of investigators that they are happy to explore the museum with.

Physically, Elder Sign: Omens is very well presented. The artwork, much of it seen in previous games of Lovecraftian investigative horror from Fantasy Flight Games, is used to great effect with some of it animated as certain events occur. In fact, on a tablet device, the artwork is better presented than in the actual Elder Sign board game, where the artwork, although very good, is too small to be really appreciated. Elder Sign: Omens also handles the physical mechanics of the game, such as the clock striking midnight and the appearance of new incidents, with a pleasing deftness that makes the game flow uninterrupted. Together, the removal of these mechanical processes away from the players’ gaze and the removal of the clutter of components that can be an issue in Fantasy Flight Games titles, combined with the use of the map to guide the investigators around the museum serve to give Elder Sign: Omens something akin to a narrative flow, which unfortunately, is somewhat lacking in the board game itself.

If anyone has played the Elder Sign board game, they will notice certain differences between it and Elder Sign: Omens. Most obvious is that fact in casting the glyphs to attempt tasks, the players are not actually rolling dice as they are in the board game, but the removal of the dice gives the play of the game much more an immediacy. The other noticeable differences between Elder Sign and Elder Sign: Omens are that only the one Ancient One is ever faced in the current version of Elder Sign: Omens and that it is not possible for the investigators to have Allies in Elder Sign: Omens as they can in Elder Sign. Neither of these should be seen as actual omissions, but rather as a streamlining that eases the flow of the game.

The final major difference is that in Elder Sign it only matters whether the investigators prevented Azathoth from coming to Earth or not, whereas in Elder Sign: Omens, not only does that matter, but so does how well they did. At the end of each game, the performance of the investigators, and thus the players, is scored. The game keeps a record of the scores, so everyone can check to see how well they have done.

For anyone new to the game, Elder Sign: Omens comes complete with a tutorial that guides you through the game with the aid of a nicely ominous voiceover – this voiceover also narrates various events throughout the game. To chilling effect. The tutorial itself needs careful attention to fully grasp how the game is played, and is probably worth watching again after at least one full play through of the game. Fortunately, the tutorials can be reset to watch again. Overall though, anyone who has played Elder Sign will have an easier time in playing Elder Sign: Omens than someone who has not.

As a playing experience, Elder Sign: Omens is an excellent solo experience. It also plays well with two participants, their discussing various courses of action and deciding what each investigator will do and what each will do with their glyphs. With more players, the game slows a little essentially because everyone is sat around a small screen and the decision making process takes a little longer. Nevertheless, having the tablet makes the game feel faster and slicker, as well containing everything needed in one easy to hold package.

Just like the board game it is based on, Elder Sign: Omens offers a pleasing balance between decision making and luck, the latter in the form of the casting of the glyphs. As an adaptation, it is a polished and assured version of Elder Sign, one that every fan of Lovecraftian gaming should enjoy. Is Elder Sign: Omens a sign of things to come that other Fantasy Flight Games titles might be appearing in electronic format?

A Cthulhu Christmas

2011-12-03T18:18:00.001Z

So let me open up with a confession. I am not fond of Christmas. I do not enjoy Christmas. I never want to hear a Christmas carol or a Christmas song ever again. I do not believe that there is anything special about Christmas dinner. Now, having confessed all of that, I would expect that you, my gentle and occasional readers, to apply to me the appellation of “Scrooge.” Whether or not I am deserving of such a label is for you to decide, but what I do like about Christmas is giving gifts. The wrapping of gifts is another matter, but I like taking the time to choose the right gift and hoping that I get it right. So, what exactly am I doing writing a review of an advent calendar?

The clue is in the name – the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar.

Now this is not the traditional type of advent calendar constructed of card with twenty-five little doors to open and reveal both a pretty picture and a piece of chocolate to consume, and not always a good piece of chocolate at that. Instead, the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar is an App, an application such as a small, dedicated program that can be downloaded and run on the smart mobile device of your choice. Which explains in part why the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar does not come with chocolate, because after all, anyone who had worked how to do digital chocolate would not be producing weirdly themed Christmas Apps and would instead have either sold the rights to digital chocolate for big money, or be selling digital chocolate and making even bigger money. In the meantime, the publishers of this App, Red Wasp Design, are designing Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, a turn-based strategy/role-playing video game set during the Great War and based on Call of Cthulhu. That though, is by the by…

As an App, the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar is available for your iPhone, your iPod, your iPad, and your Android device. I bought and downloaded mine to a pair of devices, both for the Android platform. First my smart phone, an HTC Wildfire S, and then my tablet, a Motorola Xoom. Both downloaded readily and installed without any problem. The interface will need to be stretched in order to be viewed on a tablet, but this affects the resolution of the calendar only ever so slightly. Having it two devices means that both myself and my girlfriend can enjoy this in cackling competition.

So, having installed it, what then is the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar?

It is both an advent calendar and a quiz. Touching great Cthulhu’s looming head reveals a swirl of numbers, running as you would expect from one to twenty-five. These of course match dates of your traditional advent calendar and on each new day, touching the appropriate number reveals a new piece of artwork and a related question with three answers. So for the accompanying artwork, the question is “This hopeful beast is posting a letter to Santa, but who created it and its ilk?”

Select the right answer and you will score a point. Come December the 25th and all of the points are tallied to get your Mythos Rating. Every good Cthulhu Cultist should get twenty-five out of twenty-five, but the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar lets the user reselect his answer until he gets the right one. Which to be fair makes getting an enhanced Mythos Rating in the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar a whole lot easier for the Cthulhu Clot!

So what is there to like about the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar if you are more the Cthulhu Clot than the Cthulhu Cultist? That question is simple to answer – the artwork. Which is not to say that the Cthulhu Cultist will not enjoy the art work, as he will. Red Wasp Design has taken all of the Christmas imagery that people seem to like – Christmas pudding, Christmas trees, mistletoe, and more, and through a process of coagmentation, coalescence, and commingling has intermingled them with the Mythos of author, H.P. Lovecraft – tentacles, cultists and cultist celebrations, a gibbous moon, eldritch entities, and more… All to be revealed as the season progresses. The result is that every day, the Cthulhu Christmas Calendar adds a joyous subversive slithering and an ichorously interesting anomaly to the baleful blandishments that blight the season.

Merry Christmas? I think not.

Rocket's Red Glare!

2011-12-03T12:40:00.000Z

There is something just so cool about strapping on a jet pack, putting on a be-finned faceless helm, grabbing your Mauser C-96 automatic pistol, and once dressed, leaping into the air on a jet of flame. Whether it is the Republic serial, King of the Rocket Men or its graphic novel adaptation from Innovation Comics, or the late Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer, both the comic book and the movie, the “rocket man” is one of my favourite Pulp action archetypes. It is so iconic of the two-fisted, Pulp action genre that it appears again and again in numerous Pulp genre RPGs, so it is no surprise that it gets a supplement all of its very own for Triple Ace Games’ Daring Tales of Adventure line. True, Daring Tales of Adventure: Rocket Rangers is a short supplement at just ten-pages, but it includes just about everything that a GM needs.

Triple Ace Games’ Daring Tales of Adventure line is a series of mostly scenarios leavened with the occasional supplement – like this one – that are set against a pre-World War II background of two-fisted, heroic action. They are written for use with Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s Savage Worlds, which handles Pulpy, slightly cinematic action rather well, but Rocket Rangers is available not just for Savage Worlds, but also for the Ubiquity System, which makes it compatible with Exile Game Studio’s Hollow Earth Expedition.

Rocket Rangers presents the story of how with US government backing, Professor Alexander MacDonald developed the technology behind the rocket-packs that enable the wearer to fly and how they were used to equip the Rocket Rangers Corps which operated during World War II and beyond. Commanded by Colonel William “Goat” Gruff, the handpicked and highly trained members of Rocket Rangers Corps are organised into squads of eight, each squad being deployed on fast strike missions, usually deployed in bombers and transports. Arriving near the target, the Rocket Rangers would either jump out of their transport or be dropped from their bomber to fall almost to the ground before igniting their rocket-packs and leaping back into the air. Although the use of the Jetpacks allow cruising at high altitude, their limited fuel supply usually means that the Rocket Rangers have enough to perform their current mission, but no more and thus need to find their own way home.

Highly trained, strongly motivated patriots, and upright, moral characters, each squad consists of Commander, Heavy Support trooper, Medic, Scout, and Technician. The Technician not only doubles as the mechanic for his squad’s equipment, he also handles all of its demolitions needs. Given their role as a fast strike unit and the low load capacity of the rocket-packs, the Rangers travel lightly armed, usually only a handgun or an SMG. Indeed, even the Heavy Support trooper does not carry anything heavier than a Browning Automatic Rifle.

In addition to describing the formation of the Rocket Ranger Corps, Rocket Rangers also gives the rules using their rocket-packs in a game, complete stats for all of the positions in a Rocket Ranger Corps squad, and an enemy to fight. In keeping with the period setting of the supplement – primarily World War II, and the classic Rocket Man sub-genre, it is no surprise that this enemy consists of the Nazis. In particular, SS-Raketentruppen (SS-Rocket Troops), which with the outbreak of war would be reformed as the 1st SS Totenkopfraketentruppedivision (SS Death’s Head Rocket Troop Division).

Unlike the Rocket Ranger Corps, this unit is not kept secret, it first having been seen at the Berlin Olympics of 1936, and unlike the Rocket Ranger Corps, this unit goes into battle using advanced weapons, most notably, their “Gyro-Jet”-like Raketengewehr or “rocket rifle” and “electricity rifle” or Spannungsgewehr. Stats are given for both of these weapons, a typical SS-Raketentruppen trooper, and Doctor Werner Schmutzig, the inventor of Germany’s rocket-pack technology.

Rounding out the supplement is a sextet of adventure seeds. These, just like the rest of the content in Rocket Rangers, are the same between the two versions of the supplement for Savage Worlds and the Ubiquity System, except that is, for the last scenario seed. In the Ubiquity System version, the last scenario seed gets the Rocket Rangers to the Hollow Earth, whereas for the Savage Worlds version, several Daring Tales of Adventure scenarios are suggested as being suitable for being adapted to a military style campaign.

Given that Rocket Rangers focuses on a “Special Forces” hit-and-run style American unit, it is no surprise that it is suitable for use with Weird Wars: Weird War II, Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s setting for Savage Worlds that combines World War II with weird science and the occult. In fact, it is a perfect plug in. The supplement also makes suggestions as how its contents can be shifted back from the 1940s to the 1930s, the GM using the material to run a more Pulp Adventure style game, or even as an aside, to use the material in the Victorian era, with Red Coats as Rangers rather than Americans. In this way, the contents of Rocket Rangers could be used in conjunction with Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s Space 1889: Red Sands.

Our sample is perfect for a Pulp style campaign set during the 1930s. Jimmy’s Uncle Albert used to do work out his family’s barn and when his chores and homework was done, and sometimes even when they were not, Jimmy would go out and help him. Whatever Uncle Albert was working on, it involved a lot of bangs and whooshes, and Jimmy was pretty sure that involved a rocket of some kind. Jimmy had always been fascinated by anything that flew and was happy to help out. Whoever wanted Uncle Albert’s project wanted it bad enough to blow up the barn and seriously injure him, but Jimmy managed to get away with his Uncle’s latest invention. Currently he hunts for whomever it was who attacked his Uncle, armed with a pair of guns he got from his Uncle’s attackers and a store of rocket-pack fuel that his Uncle had elsewhere.

Jimmy “Kid Rocket” Coltrane
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d4, Vigor d4
Skills: Fighting d4, Healing d4, Notice d6, Piloting d8, Repair d6, Shooting d4, Stealth d4
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6 Parry: 4 Toughness: 4 (+3/+1) Bennies: 5
Hindrances: Loyal, Stubborn, Youth
Edges: Ace, Luck, Two Fisted
Gear: Helmet (+3), flying suit (+1), rocket pack, paired Walther PPKs (Range: 10/20/40, Damage: 2d6–1, ROF 1, Semi)

Similar shifts in setting can be made with the Ubiquity System version of Rocket Rangers. It is already compatible with Exile Game Studio’s Hollow Earth Expedition which is set during the 1930s, both on and under the surface of the Earth. Rocket Rangers includes one suggestion as to how the American unit it describes could be brought to the Hollow Earth and the enemies it presents are Nazi villains, and since there are Nazis already in the Hollow Earth… Lastly, Triple Ace Games has its own Victorian era RPG, Leagues of Adventure, which describes itself as “a rip-roaring setting of exploration and derring-do in the late Victorian Age!” So more than suitable then.

Physically, both versions of Rocket Rangers are well done. A nice touch is the use of fully painted miniatures as illustrations, these figures actually having inspired the supplement’s additional, Patriotic rule about carrying and planting the Stars & Stripes to inspire members of Rocket Rangers Corps. Of course, the source of the miniatures is mentioned at the end of the supplement. If there is an issue with both of the supplements it is that they both need an edit and a fact check – Yale is not in Boston, but Connecticut!

At its heart, Rocket Rangers is a wargaming supplement, one describing a unit best suited for use with Savage Worlds’ skirmish rules. After all, the use of miniatures as illustrations does more than imply the fact. Yet there are plenty of roleplaying elements in there too, so a Rocket Ranger Corps squad could easily be run as a roleplaying party performing small scale operations. Plus, the supplement includes a suitable enemy to fight and there is a companion piece available for both rules systems in the form of Elite Nazi Units. Short and sharp, Daring Tales of Adventure: Rocket Rangers has everything you need to strap on a rocket-pack and launch your Rocket Rangers game.

Tome Team

2011-11-25T08:05:00.001Z

As the effects of Depression spread across England, the great families of the land, the aesthetes, and the bibliophiles have fallen on hard times. Turning to assets of least consequence, they ransack their libraries to pay the bills or death duties, resulting in a flood of horrid heirlooms and terrible tomes on the book trade. Ready to pick up the rarest and hopefully the most profitable of the titles are the Book Scouts, Book Sellers, and Catalogue Agents, working to get a cheap price and a high sale, no matter the book’s title, content, or provenance, let alone the nature of the purchaser. If it happens that this means that there is one more copy of William Pynchon’s 1539 “Monstres And Their Kynde” on the streets of London by their hand – the hand of an “artist” rather than a forger – what matter? And if the latest sale involves knowledge that no man should ever hunger for, what matter that either?

This is the set up for Bookhounds of London, Kenneth Hite’s new campaign setting for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu, the GUMSHOE System powered, clue orientated RPG of Lovecraftian investigative horror. As a setting, it brings to the fore one of the major elements of the genre, the Mythos Tome and all of the eldritch innards that lie between its covers. Not that books will be the only dangers faced by the bookhounds of the game’s title – there are rivals after the same books for sale; forgers are all too willing to “find” them the exact title that they are after; “occult” collectors equally as willing to do more (or even less) than pay to obtain certain titles; and of course, some of the all too dark secrets bound up in London’s history that might be revealed in the hunt for one book or another.

In Bookhounds of London, the player characters take the roles of the titular bookhounds, looking to make ends meet under the fog bound haze of smoking chimney stacks in the heart of an empire that has forgotten so many of its ancient secrets. This is a London that hides a rot behind a metropolitan façade and a bureaucratic indifference, a setting inspired by Alan Moore’s From Hell and the Roman Polanski film, Ninth Gate.

For its Occupations, Bookhounds of London suggests Antiquarian, Criminal, Dilettante, and Tramp (known as the Hobo in other campaign frames) as being suitable, whilst adding several new, altered, and particularly English Occupations suited to the setting: Book Scout, Book Seller, Catalogue Agent, Forger, and Occultist. Greed is added as a new Drive along with new abilities, including Auction, Bibliography, Document Analysis, and The Knowledge (of London).

So far, so English, but what is more interesting about the default Bookhounds of London campaign framework is that its set up provides the investigators with a base of operations – their shop. Best created collectively by the players, it becomes almost a character in itself, granting not just investigative points for the investigators to spend on clues, but also a means to create scenario hooks in the game. A really nice touch is that Hite acknowledges that the idea for the book shop did not come from him, but from a playtest group and was incorporated into the framework.

Naturally, the Book Trade is explored in detail, including ordinary titles and Mythos Tomes as well as the libraries of London and how to handle an auction in dramatic fashion. The latter, as with the running of the investigators’ bookshop, handled in such a way as to avoid their getting bogged down in the minutiae of half-crowns and ha’pennies. Libraries and in particular, the libraries of London are covered in some detail, including what they stock, how an investigator can gain access, and what bonuses such an access might grant.

Pride of place naturally goes to an exploration of the book, detailing in turn their format and condition, and both Occult and Mythos Tomes. Surprisingly, just seven Mythos Tomes are described in detail, but using the earlier detailing of the book formats and their conditions together with his knowledge of the genre, a Keeper should come up with more. Failing that, Trail of Cthulhu has more information on Mythos Tomes as does the Keeper’s Companion for Call of Cthulhu.

Beyond the shelves of the investigators’ bookshop, Bookhounds of London takes the reader on a flavoursome exploration of London in Thirties. This is broken down by area and supported by detailed contact types and rumours plus asides for various topics such as legendary London, law enforcement on the streets, the Underground and London underground, and London’s clubs. London’s physicality is delightfully captured with a stunning set of period maps, not just of her streets, but of her major buildings also. Many of them are done in full colour and like much of the material in Bookhounds of London, will find a use in Trail of Cthulhu in general as well as other RPGs set within the period.

As the heart and crossroads of the Empire, it is no surprise that London is home to numerous cults and secret societies. The presence of many of these, like the Ahnenerbe operating out of the German Embassy and the infamous Brotherhood of the Black, are no surprise, Bookhounds of London expanding upon their descriptions given in Trail of Cthulhu. Added to the expected cults and secret societies are the Hsieh-Tzu Fan, a network of terrorists, smugglers, slavers, and rebels headed by “The Scorpion,” which based out of a Limehouse opium den is most certainly a nod to the Si-Fan of Doctor Fu Manchu fame; and the Keirecheires, an insidious and highly placed cult devoted to Y’golonac. In each case, how the cults and organisations might be encountered in the book trade is discussed as well as how they might react to the investigators’ meddlings.

In addition to the London’s cults and monsters – the emphasis with the latter as is traditional in Trail of Cthulhu being upon their description more than their game stats -- the Keeper can further bring out the strangeness of London with “Megapolismancy,” a magic that uses the city itself as an engine to fuel its sorcery. Inspired by Fritz Leiber’s novel Our Lady of Darkness and developing from the rules given in Hite’s Rough Magicks, it is also a means by which the investigators can involve themselves in the ancient architecture of the city – if they possess the right Lore – or a means by which a Megapolismancer “madman” can turn the city against them.

Where Trail of Cthulhu offers two campaign styles – Pulp and Purist, Bookhounds of London, as part of its campaign advice, introduces three that they can be combined with. The “Arabesque” gives London a Dreamlands-like quality, described as “Baghdad on the Thames;” the “Sordid” offers a city of sin at its worst; whilst the “Technicolour” brings out London’s vibrancy, offering a hyperrealism that owes as much to Hammer Horror movies as it does the works of Dennis Wheatley and Sax Rohmer. Curiously, of the three, it is the Technicolour that is the most easily expanded upon within Trail of Cthulhu, its lurid colours easily bleaching away as the investigators journey into Shadows Over Filmland, a dream-like world merely a penny away. The Keeper is under no obligation to adhere to just the one of these new styles and can easily slip between the three depending on the nature of the dangers that the investigators face. Either way, these options enable the Keeper to flavour his game and serve to mark a Bookhounds of London campaign as being very different to a standard one.

The three campaign styles are supported with a hextet of ready-to-play NPCs. These include rivals and connections both, each including notes that enable the Keeper to configure them not only to the three campaign styles, but also to re-configure them so that they can be reused under different names and slightly different personalities. Each of their descriptions includes a singular element, that of how they might be tainted by through contact with the Cthulhu Mythos. It is a commendable method of presenting NPCs and the format begs, if not for the inclusion of more NPCs within this book, then for a sourcebook all of its very own.

Beyond the three new campaign styles, Bookhounds of London brings a new style of campaign to Trail of Cthulhu. In traditional Lovecraftian investigative horror, the Keeper presents the clues to the threat and the players react to it with their investigators. Here, with the placing of the campaign within a geographical location, it means that the investigators can literally go out and find the adventure. After all, the bookhounds do have to go out in search of a “Squiz,” and who knows what else they might turn up? Bookhounds of London explores this through its advice on running player driven campaigns in relatively short a fashion. Essentially it is a collaborative process, but if that fails, the advice comes down to aping Raymond Chandler’s suggestion of having “two men (or Things) with wavy daggers burst through the window.”

Rounding out Bookhounds of London is “Whitechapel Black-Letter,” a scenario that naturally has the investigators on the trail of a particular book. At the Keeper’s option, it can be tinged with the Ripper murders, but primarily it is a sandbox scenario in which the characters can explore an Occult London and uncover some of its dreadful secrets.

If there is an issue with Bookhounds of London, it is that in places it feels concise. For the most part, this leaves the reader wanting more rather than feeling that the author has not given him enough, except that is, for the somewhat mechanistic Megapolisomantic workings. The section feels as it does need more flesh, though the scenario does include a fully worked through example. Physically, the book is beautifully done, with Jérôme Huguenin’s artwork being excellent as ever.

Given the lack of a sourcebook detailing London within the genre of Lovecraftian investigative horror, Bookhounds of London is a much, much needed resource. Although its focus is primarily the book and the booktrade, the information on outré tomes is equally as relevant to Call of-, Realms of-, and Shadows of Cthulhu as they are Trail of Cthulhu. The background to London is equally as relevant and useful to all of these games.

To draw an analogy, Bookhounds of London is to Trail of Cthulhu as Star Trek: the Next Generation is to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It gives the campaign and its investigators a base of operations, in the form of their bookshop, so that adventures and characters can legitimately come to them as much as they can go to the adventures, whether those created by the Keeper or driven by the investigators in a Sandbox style campaign. The book itself brims with detail that supports the setting and brings it alive, though in places it feels perhaps a little too concise, as if it needs just a little more information. Otherwise, Bookhounds of London is another beautiful book for Trail of Cthulhu that brings the Old Smoke and its dissolution to life with the investigators on its intellectual coattails.

At the 19th Kobold

2011-11-13T00:03:00.001Z

Regular as clockwork, along comes another issue of Kobold Quarterly from Open Design, the only games magazine to support Dungeons & Dragons – and its primary variants – or any more than the one RPG and make it to the shelves at your friendly, local gaming store. As with previous issues, Kobold Quarterly #19 provides support for Dungeons & Dragons style RPGs, particularly Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition as well as of Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying from Green Ronin Publishing; and as with previous issues, Kobold Quarterly #19 comes with a theme or two. This time around, those themes are death, magic, and a trip to the East along with various other articles and regular columns.

It should be made clear upfront that the focus upon the games that the magazine normally covers shifts with Kobold Quarterly #19. There is just the one articles for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition in this issue, the rest primarily being for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This is not to say that the articles written for one system will not be of use for the other, but the DM or GM will have to provide the mechanics.

The issue’s death theme gets off to a decidedly clean start with Marc Radle’s “The White Necromancer: To Understand Life One Must Also Understand Death.” Written for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, this explores characters that though fascinated with the dead, instead honour them and aid the living. The White Necromancer is an arcane spellcaster with a limited spellbook, but with the ability to heal and as his studies of the undead advance, knowledge of some of the abilities of the undead, including Ghost Walk. This is a nice twist upon the Necromancer concept, allowing a character to interact with the undead without turning to the dark side.

More deathly characters for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game are discussed in “Archetypes of Death: For a More Badass Barbarian, Druid, Monk, or Summoner” by Phillip Larwood. The three Archetypes are the Deathrager, a Barbarian whose link to the spirit world is so strong that he can stave off death and eventually, even fight on after death; the Grave Druid, a Druid that protects graveyards and wards against the undead; the Master of Worms, a Monk that uses the abilities of the undead to fight them; and the Zombie Master, a Summoner that summons a zombie or skeleton, and then is able to evolve it to his own design. Of the four, the last again feels the least interesting, but the first three feel well thought out and will make nice additions to campaigns with a darker tone to them.

With “Bottled Hubris: New Discoveries and Archetypes for Alchemists,” Jerall Toi gives new options for the Alchemist Class in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Using options available in the Advanced Player’s Guide and Ultimate Magic, this delves into the issue’s magic theme by giving deeper areas of study for the alchemist and new ways of playing the Class. The new Discoveries range from hardening the Alchemist’s mind to the influence of Outsiders and his skeleton with spikes against melee weapons to enhancing the intimidation effect of his intelligence and enhancing a familiar or other animal companion with another Discovery. The three new Archetypes are the Calligraphist, able to conjure creatures and weapons from his ink drawings; the Evolutionist specialises in the enhancement of his animal companion; and the Specialist, which takes up the study of singular areas of knowledge, such as the stars and planes beyond, plants, or the transmutation of metal. Of these Archetypes, the Calligraphist is likely to be the most attractive to play, whereas the Specialist as presented feels a little undeveloped.

The magic theme continues with what is potentially a divisive discussion of the magic shop in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. “Magic Shops, What's In Store: How to Turn a DM Nightmare into a Tool for Better Games” by Christina Stiles and Spike Y. Jones explores how and why the magic shop might exist in a Dungeons & Dragons style world, the divisive aspect being that some GMs feel that allowing players to purchase magic items for their characters detracts from the wondrous nature of magic and the sense of achievement in gaining such items during their adventures. The arguments are well realised and the article is supported by several sample magic shops, the most entertaining being “The Bargain Bin” and its accompanying list of items that are magical, but far from perfect (Scroll of Faecal Storm? Euw!).

The last entry following the issue’s magic theme is “The Gordian Knot” by Mario Podeschi. Again for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, this is winning entry in the magazine’s the Relics of Power competition. It is an artefact created from the very tapestry of the planes that protects the owner against detection and scrying. In either case, the owner has to work the threads of the Knot to activate its abilities. This is great artefact for any campaign that involves high level magical scrying and intrigue.

“Welcome to the Dragon Empires” is the first of two articles that take the reader out East to Tian Xia in the world of Golarion, the home setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Written by James Jacobs, this is a quick introduction to the region of Golarion that will be detailed further in the forthcoming Dragon Empires Gazetteer and Dragon Empires Primer supplements as well as the current Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Adventure Path, Jade Regent.The piece is really a list of the setting’s key points, since it lacks the space to go into any detail. That said, it is a preview and the setting does look interesting.

More detail though, is to be found in the companion article, “Làu Kiritsu: Golarion’s Lord Of Absolute Obedience.” Written by Richard Pett – one of my favourite writers for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game – it describes Tian Xia’s greatest archdevil as well as the strictures that his adherents must obey absolutely. There is plenty of flavour in this article, not just in how he is worshipped, but also in the magical objects particular to Làu Kiritsu’s worship that constrain and admonish those that they are used on. The author also provides some nice advice as to how Làu Kiritsu can be used in a game and a trio of good adventure seeds.

The issue comes with three generic articles. The first is Rick Hudson’s “Courting Adventure: Bringing the Royal Court to Life in Your Games,” an excellent description of the courtier and the offices that he could take at court along with some adventure hooks and the author’s inspirations. This would be useful for any game that takes place at court – not just one in a fantasy setting, whether that is a court that the player characters have to visit or hold themselves. The latter is a possibility for characters of higher levels, of course. The second is “10 Ways to Turn Dull Traps into High-Stakes Encounters” by Britian Oates, which discusses how to make traps in a GM’s game much more of a challenge. The last is Monte Cook’s “Balance-Free Bonuses (Or, Making the Elf More Elvish),” part of his regular Game Theories column. It explores how to give “little” benefits that expand racial abilities without resorting to the traditional “+1” effect. For example, whilst Elves never get dirty and can see half again as far as humans, they also possess mystical empathy/intuition that grants them occasional flashes of insight. Only though, when the DM wants impart some information, and not when a player wants it to work. It is a well thought out set of ideas and a referee should be inspired to add these to his game or create some of his own.

The two articles for Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying from Green Ronin Publishing are not actually for the Dragon Age setting, but rather for the age system. They are all about characters and backgrounds, both written to tie in with Open Design’s forthcoming Midgard Campaign Setting. The first of these is “Land of Horse and Bow: 6 Midgard Campaign Setting Backgrounds for AGE” by Simon English, which give Backgrounds suitable for characters originating from the Rothenian Plain, whether that is a Free Tribes Centaur, Windrunner Elf, Steppes Shaman, or Vidam Boyar. The sextet are pleasingly accompanied by a list of Arcane Lance variants such as Flame, Lightning, Wind, and Winter that are more likely to find their way in to Dragon Age before the Backgrounds, that is until the arrival of the Midgard Campaign Setting.

Just as the “Land of Horse and Bow” provides Backgrounds for one region, Josh Jarman’s “Scions of Terror: 4 New AGE Character Backgrounds for the Midgard Campaign Setting” gives Backgrounds for another, in this case, the Western Wastes. These Backgrounds have a harder edge to them, each necessary to survive the dangers of the Western Wastes, the grey desert created following a war of magic. What is interesting about both of these articles is seeing how they model elements particular to Dungeons & Dragons. In this case, races more commonly found in Dungeons & Dragons such as the Goblin with the Dust Goblin Dune Trader which scavenges the Western Wastes for artefacts and the Tiefling with the Tintagerian Hellborn.

The one article in Kobold Quarterly #19 for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition is Brian A Liberge’s “Bark at the Moon: Werewolf Themes for Your Character.” This explores the origins of lycanthropy and how to make the werewolf playable as a player character, moving it away from the ravenous beast into a more heroic role. As much as the author tries to add flavour to the various powers of this new character theme, it still feels all too mechanical and not up to the ideas presented in the main body of the article.

Similarly, this issue comes with a single adventure. As with recent issues, Matthew J. Hanson’s “Aneela, Human Cleric: Party of One” is a solo adventure. It is a quick affair, easy to play, and pits a young cleric against some undead, keeping it in theme with the issue’s deathly theme. Rounding out the issue is Kobold Quarterly’s usual book review column; Kobold Diplomacy column, this time interviewing the award-winning indie designer of Grey Ranks and Fiasco, Jason Morningstar; and Wolfgang Baur’s regular Free City of Zobeck end piece.

Physically, Kobold Quarterly #19 is disappointing. This is not to say that some of the artwork, including the cover, is excellent, but in places it feels ill suited. Further, the magazine needs editing in places, which was not the case with previous issues. Overall, the impression with Kobold Quarterly #19 is it has been rushed. It also feels as if there is less to this issue than previous ones, but that may be due to the fact that “Welcome to the Dragon Empires” is more of an enticement than something that can be added to a game.

There is much to like about this latest issue. Though some will decry its shift in emphasis away from Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition to Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, this does mean that there is more room for the Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying articles, and the likelihood is that there will be more of them given the forthcoming publication of the Midgard Campaign Setting. Kobold Quarterly #19 contains an interesting selection of articles that each in their own way can be added to a game, with the plethora of strong options for the player outweighing the GM support.

Swash My Buckle Aloft!

2011-11-04T15:13:00.000Z

Come the year 2150 AD and the choice for humanity is simple. Live under the reactionary yoke of the Neovictorians under Emperor Victor III in the few walled Change Cage cities that scatter the Earth, or live free far from the walls, either as Neobedouins, travelling the American Wilderness in mammoth or steam drawn caravans, or as air pirates, sailing the open skies between the sky-cities. This is the setting for Abney Park’s Airship Pirates RPG Based on the Songs of “Captain” Robert Brown, the latest RPG from Cubicle Seven Entertainment. As the full title suggests, Airship Pirates is based on the songs of Abney Park, a Steampunk inspired band from Seattle, the result being a spicy melange of genres spliced and riveted together. These include Steampunk, Post-Apocalypse, Pirates, and Time Travel, the latter only apparent deeper within the game’s setting. This mixing of genres has an influence on the game’s airships as they are not dirigibles with gondolas attached underneath, but more akin to vessels from the Age of Sail slung from bags of gas rather than sails. Some airships do use sails, but most are driven by steam engines or rarely, old and reclaimed diesel engines.

In the default setting for Airship Pirates, the players take the roles of the leading crew and passengers aboard an airship, running between the sky-cities and before the vessels of the Imperial Air Navy, just like the members of Abney Park, who travel aboard the HMS Ophelia. In the world of 2150 AD, the members of Abney Park are more than just pirates; they are also a popular band that performs at various sky-cities. This is their shtick, and similarly, the player characters are more than mere pirates – they might be performers themselves, mercenaries or merchants, or even owners of an aerial brothel. The game allows the players to take their shtick and not just customise their airship around it, but also gain a few skills to support their shtick.

The players have plenty of character options. They can be Neobedouin drivers, hunters, outriders, shaman, or beast dancers (who turn dance into a deadly martial art) or Skyfolk mercenaries, musicians, pirates, privateers, or showmen. Neovictorian options are unsurprisingly more Class riven, from Agitator, Chuno Ggun member (feared killers who track down escapees from the Change Cage cities, usually radical threats that the Emperor has had imprisoned), and Ganger to Academic, Air Navy Officer, and Dilettante. The Neovictorians also use Automata, employed as servants, pleasure dolls, and peelers (members of the Imperial Constabulary which enforce the law in the Emperor’s name), all of which can be player characters, their having “gone rogue.” Lastly, the Misbegotten are mutants, their bodies twisted by the toxins beneath each city and either confined to the Change Cage or assigned to the Chuno Ggun if they can fight.

Character creation is a mix of player choice and spending points. A player chooses his character’s culture (Automaton, Misbegotten, Neovictorian, or Skyfolk) and a Background, which determines a character’s starting skills that he must spend two thirds of his Character Points on. It should be pointed out that the number of skills listed under each Background varies from one Background to the next, such that one character might have ten skills to choose from and another only five. In the case of the latter, it forces the character to have only a few high skills as opposed to the former who must either generalise or choose to specialise. Then he assigns a few points to his characteristics. These can be negative as well as positive, but player characters all start with a score of one in each characteristic. A character is free to spend the last third of his Character Points on more skills and Traits (or advantages), though the likelihood is that these will not be enough. In this case, whilst a few more points are available if a player decides to take some Complications.

Name: Algernon Aston-Muggeridge
Culture: Neovictorian Social Class: Upper
Age/Gender: 23/Male Vocation: Writer
Build: Slim Hair/Eyes: Blonde/Blue

Attributes
Strength 0 Dexterity 1 Fortitude 0
Presence 2 Wits 3 Resolve 2

Derived Attributes
Initiative 8 Health 2

Common Skills
Bull 4, Charm 2, Dance 1, Empathy 4, Etiquette 1, General Knowledge 4, Perception 4, Seduction 2

Specialities
Art (Writing) 4, Conversation 3, Gambling 2, Martial Arts (Boxing) 1, Medicine 3

Complications
Family Feud, Glass Jaw, Social Chameleon

Traits
Drink Like A Fish/1, Rock Your World/1

Our example characters are an Upper Class Neovictorian Writer and a Misbegotten ex-member of the Chuno Ggun. How exactly Algernon Aston-Muggeridge and Sidney Stinger came to be companions is not something that either discuss, but one is rarely seen without the other. Records indicate that he is a qualified doctor, whilst rumours suggest that he fled the city after getting a young lady in trouble. He only says that he wanted to see the world beyond the walls. Sidney Stinger was a Misbegotten member of the Chuno Ggun silently creating a fearsome reputation as a tracker and killer. Sidney has a long, prehensile tail that ends in a sheath containing a tooth like stinger that she can use to lash out at an opponent in a lunge-like attack. She was assigned to track down Algernon, but was injured during the task and abandoned by her the other members of her team. It was Algernon that nursed her back to health and befriended her. These days she keeps an eye on Algernon whose penchant for wine, women, and dice often lands him in trouble, whilst he has been teaching her to read. Algernon is a regular contributor to Tales of the Airship Pirates, whilst Sidney works as a scout and finder for hire.

Name: Sidney Stinger
Culture: Misbegotten
Age/Gender: 17/Female Vocation: Chuno Ggun
Build: Lithe Hair/Eyes: Black/Green

Attributes
Strength 3 Dexterity 2 Fortitude 2
Presence 0 Wits 1 Resolve 3

Derived Attributes
Initiative 5 Health 4

Common Skills
Athletics 2, Dodge 2, Firearms 2, Hide & Sneak 2, Improvised Weapon 1, Intimidate 2, Might 2, Perception 2, Streetwise 1, Swordplay 2

Specialities
Business 1, Craft (Cookery) 2, Interrogation 2, Martial Arts (Baritsu) 3, Survival 2, Tactics 1, Tracking 2

Complications
Black Sheep, Distinctive Feature (Tail), Shy, Time-Sick

Traits
Assassin’s Law/1 (Baritsu), Lunge, Mutation (Claws)

Neither of these characters has been given the three skills associated with their airship and the three skills associated with their airship crew’s shtick. Character generation is easy and does not take all that long. Alternatively, Airship Pirates includes a sample airship and sample set of player characters, the HMS Cordelia and the musical band that crew her.

In addition to creating their characters, players also get to create their characters’ airship from a pool of fifty Resource Points which are spent to customise a standard design. These allow a party to design their airship around its shtick, so for example, if the HMS Good ‘Ol Days is home to the best aerial Music Hall in the known skies, she would have a Props Room and a Training Room, as well as space for the extra crew (or chorus), sails for longer voyages, a workshop for carrying repairs, and the luxurious cabin that the ship’s star, songstress Marlene Langtry-Philipps demands – otherwise she refuses to perform!

Airship Pirates is the third RPG from Cubicle Seven Entertainment to use the Heresy Game Engine mechanics previously seen in the Victoriana Second Edition and Dark Harvest RPGs. It is a dice-pool system that uses both black and white dice, the pools usually created from adding an attribute and a skill together. Any roll that comes up a one or a six counts as a success, while any roll of a six can be re-rolled to generate yet more successes. The primary method of setting difficulty is by adding black dice to the pool, three black dice for a difficult task, six for a very difficult task, and so on. Any roll that comes up a one or a six on a black die reduces the total number of successes rolled. Fortunately, rolls of six on a black die do not get rolled again. The other method of setting the difficulty of a task is by modifying the total number of dice in the pool. Anyway, a single success rolled counts as a partial success, two rolled successes as an adequate success, three rolled as a good success, and so on. For the most part, the rules used in Airship Pirates are a streamlined, simpler version of those used in Victoriana. This simplicity also aids the intention of the authors that Airship Pirates should be a cinematic game. The rules themselves are not inherently cinematic in style, but the GM’s section advises that Airship Pirates be played that way and the rules are no impediment to this.

Given the setting it no surprise that aerial combat is likely to be a regular feature of Airship Pirates. The danger is that it could have been hideously complex, but the rules given keep things simple with vehicles manoeuvring into range and unloading broadsides on each other. The rules allow for player participation, whether that is piloting the ship, manning a gun, or keeping the engines running. Once broadsides start being delivered, the player characters need to keep their heads down as it can get deadly very quickly. A ship’s crew does get abstracted though and usually bears the brunt of any incoming fire.

The included equipment list is not extensive, but it includes just about everything a game should need. It describes six types of aerial vehicles, as well as Neobedouin caravans, automaton cabs, and armoured barges and trains; ordinary rifles and revolvers and steam ones too; various services (including those provided by a lady) and tool kits; and useful items such as “Bloomers of Concealment,” Crinoline Frame – Collapsible (“Ladies, don’t perform martial arts without it!”), goggles, mechanical grog dispenser (“Let everyone get their share!”), and even a Difference Engine. If there is a downside to the equipment list it is that not everything is illustrated and certainly none of the weapons are. Another downside is that only the one airship in the game is given deck plans, that of the default vessel, the HMS Cordelia.

The setting material for Airship Pirates describes not only the setting, but how the Neovictorian Age of 2150 AD came about. Back in 2006, Abney Park was flying to gig when the aircraft the band were aboard collided with the airship, the HMS Ophelia. Not just an airship, HMS Cordelia happened to be a British time-travelling airship from 1906 on time patrol duty for the Empire. With people dead aboard both vessels, the surviving members of Abney Park took command of the Ophelia and set out on a mission of their own: to set time right and make a peaceful world. Which they did, but this new world was unprepared for the rise of Emperor Victor III’s grandfather and a new dictatorship at the dawn of the twenty-first century. In the decades since, humanity has been mostly confined to the Emperor’s Change Cage cities, leaving the rest of the North American continent to be returned to a state of primordial wilderness that it has been seen for millennia populated by bison, giant condor, giant sloths, mammoths and mastadons, and sabre-toothed cats.

The description of the setting is confined to the North American continent, describing its features in broad terms before examining the Sky-Cities, Neobedouin Tribes, and Neovictorian Change Cage cities along with their cultures in detail. Besides giving rules for the GM to create his own Sky-Cities, this background material also provides the GM with the physical room to create whatever he wants for his campaign as well as a decent amount of information to draw upon as ideas for his campaign.

At the heart of the GM’s section is a solid discussion of the various genres that make up Air Pirates and how to bring them into a game, drawing in each turn, from various lyrics by Abney Park. This is accompanied by an excellent example of how to use song lyrics as inspiration for adventure, using not one of Abney Park’s songs, but a very well-known pop song by the British rock band, the Electric Light Orchestra!

Particular attention is paid to time travel as this is what sets up the premise for the game. It is entirely possible for time to be altered by the player characters, this being the implied point of the game. Despite the fact that the guidelines for handling time travel and its effects are just about as straight forward and uncomplicated as they could be, time travel is not necessarily the focus of the game. This is primarily due to the fact that the player characters are not meant to start the game with access to a “Chrononautilus” and nor are they meant to be aware of the changes made to the timeline by Abney Park that got the world where it is in 2150 AD. In fact, apart from the “Chrononautilus” aboard the HMS Ophelia, there is only meant to be one other in a GM’s campaign and that is the one that will eventually fall into the hands of the player characters.

Physically, Airship Pirates is done in full colour throughout. This being a game whose primary genre is Steampunk, it is very brown, but there is enough to colour to keep it from getting monotonous. Some of the artwork is perhaps too cartoon like in style, jarring somewhat with the rest of the book. The book itself is well written, and despite needing an edit here or there, it is very readable.

The book is not perfect though. If in coming to Airship Pirates unaware of Abney Park and what they sing about, the reader might be left a bit ill-informed as what the game is about. The problem is essentially that the book does not give up enough information up front as what it is about and what there is tends to be a little too broad in nature. Similarly, some of the setting material is buried deep in the book and even finding it (or anything else) having read the book is problematic because the index is anaemic.

One problem with Airship Pirates is one that many a RPG suffers from in that although the Inventor is available as a Background for determining his core skills, his raison d'être is not actually addressed in the rules. Until they are, the GM is just going to have to rule on an inventor’s gadgeteering himself. Another issue might be the lack of campaign advice in terms of set up. As written, the idea is that the player characters will form a group, fly an airship, and either form a circus troupe, a mercenary group, or go trading, and have adventures along the way. The book lacks advice on these different concepts and the adventures that they might lend themselves too, and neither does it look at other campaign ideas. Without more support, the default campaign feels a little too much like that of Firefly with a genre twist and a shtick added on. True, the addition of Time Travel adds an interesting wrinkle to this set up, but again, it is not necessarily the focus of Airship Pirates.

Hopefully, some of the problems inherent to Airship Pirates will be addressed in a forthcoming supplement, but it should be made clear that they do not impede the play of the game in the short term – and Airship Pirates is very playable. Its core mix of the Steampunk and pirate genres will appeal to many gamers and allowing them to choose their crew’s shtick is an excellent means of directing the type of game that they want. Whether it is manners or buccaneering that the players want, Abney Park’s Airship Pirates RPG Based on the Songs of “Captain” Robert Brown does both in equal rip-roaring, swashbuckling measures.

Halloween Horror II.III

2011-10-31T23:14:00.000Z

In coming to this review, I find myself with something of handicap. You see, being English and of a certain antiquity, I never came across Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell. I never read it when I was a child, nor did I read it to my daughter when she was of a similar age. I was all about Doctor Seuss and Maurice Sendak and Roald Dahl, and not Norman Bridwell. Which is a shame when coming to Cliffourd the Big Red God, a re-interpretation by Kennith Hite of the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, “The Dunwich Horror.” Being by H.P. Lovecraft, I have read “The Dunwich Horror,” although I have not read it to my daughter. (Come to think of it, perhaps the next time she visits, I should bind her to a chair and make her listen to my reading…).

In the children’s book, Clifford is a puce puppy, which despite being the runt of the litter, is chosen as a pet by Emily Elizabeth. Good natured, if naïve, Clifford grows to love his owner and she her dog in return, their becoming the best of friends. Clifford also grows in size, being the big red dog of the title such that Elizabeth Emily frequently rides on his back as if he was a horse.

In “The Dunwich Horror,” young Wilbur Whateley also has a close friend who grows to massive size, though it unlikely that he ever went for a ride on his back. Wilbur certainly cares for his friend, though he is rarely seen and Wilbur never takes him out for a walk, on a leash or otherwise. Wilbur’s friend does get to go on a walk – well, it is more of a rampage actually – but only after Wilbur’s death at the paws of a dog. And no, the dog is not Clifford. Then again, Emily Elizabeth does not die either, so Clifford never goes on a rampage across the Dunwich countryside. Hold on, but what would happen if Clifford actually did kill Wilbur and… Well, that is a tale for a crossover and not the tale of Cliffourd the Big Red God.

Cliffourd the Big Red God is the third in Atlas Games’ Mini Mythos series by Kenneth Hite and illustrated by Andy Hopp that re-tell classics of children’s literature through the short stories of horror author, H.P. Lovecraft. Or re-tell the classic short stories of horror author, H.P. Lovecraft through the works of children’s literature. Anyway, in this bright and breezy retold tale, young Wilbur Whately and he too has a big ruddy dog, er god. This is Cliffourd, who is big and red and does not like dogs (so the Cliffourd the Big Red God meets Clifford the Big Red Dog crossover seems unlikely), but does like eldritch tomes, non-Euclidian games, hide ‘n’ seek, and is the biggest, reddest god in Dunwich! He would actually like to be the biggest, reddest god in all of the universe, but when you track as much mud into hush, book-lined halls as Cliffourd does, the librarians usually have something to say about that!

Of course, at the end of it all, Wilbur still has his Cliffourd, and just like Elizabeth Emily loves Clifford despite the scrapes that his size gets him into, Wilbur loves his Cliffourd. Of course, Cliffourd the Big Red God is better than all of the other batrachian, cyclopean, squamous, and tentacular gods – because Wilbur loves him.

Cliffourd the Big Red God is another charming tale written for old children. Warped and twisted old children, who can either read it to each other or to children in the hope of making them warped and twisted too.

Halloween Horror II.II

2011-10-31T21:10:00.000Z

The very latest title for Call of Cthulhu, Chaosium, Inc.’s RPG of Lovecraftian investigative horror, is strange for several reasons and quite possibly the strangest release for the game for some time. Red Eye of Azathoth: Unspeakable Adventures Straddling a Millennium is strange because it has been released not by one of the usual suspects – Chaosium, Inc., Pagan Publishing, Goodman Games, Miskatonic River Press, Super Genius Games, Cubicle Seven Entertainment, or even Pelgrane Press, but by Open Design, LLC. Which is a publisher better known for publishing Kobold Quarterly and various supplements for Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, especially for the Midgard Campaign Setting and its Free City of Zobeck. Second, it is strange because this experience with the Dungeons & Dragons format informs the feel and style of Red Eye of Azathoth throughout. Third, it is strange because although Red Eye of Azathoth adheres to the traditional onionskin format so beloved of the Call of Cthulhu campaign, it does not arrange its slivers of onionskin location by location, but time period by time period. Fourth, each of the five scenarios that comprise Red Eye of Azathoth can each be played through in order as a campaign, or as a series of one-shots in any order. Fifth, Red Eye of Azathoth is strange because it is only available as a PDF, physical copies only being available to patrons of the project at Open Design that eventually became Red Eye of Azathoth.

The five parts of Red Eye of Azathoth are in turn set in Dark Ages England, early Medieval Japan, Renaissance Spain, the New World, and the Wild West. What these disparate times and places have in common are the effects of the garish, gaudy glow of a ruddy comet the passing of which leaves in its wake, death, destruction, madness, and chaos. In each of these times, the adventurers find themselves confronted with strange situations and presented with mysteries, each of which takes a series of flashbacks to understand, the number of flashbacks growing as the campaign progresses. It is these flashbacks and the information and skills that they impart that together make up the campaign’s primary clues. Thus by the end of the fifth and final chapter, the adventurers will have learned what is really going on.

Not only are all five of the scenarios in Red Eye of Azathoth written for use with pre-generated characters, they are also written to be played with four participants. In some cases, the scenarios suggest how another player could be added, but not always. Further, the issue of creating new characters is not really addressed as part of the campaign, though new skills are explained. This necessary because this quintet is set entirely outside of the time frames discussed in Call of Cthulhu. In fact, the two sources that Red Eye of Azathoth draws from for its rules are actually out of print and unavailable, being the otherwise disappointing Cthulhu: Dark Ages and still the best treatment of its subject, “The Good, the Bad, and the Utterly Insane: Call of Cthulhu in the Wild West,” which appeared in Pegasus Press’ Worlds of Cthulhu #2.

Red Eye of Azathoth opens with a bloody bang, in media res, with “That Which is Dead Shall Refuse to Lie.” It is Walpurgis Night, Sunday April 30th, 887 AD on the tidal island of Lindisfarne, Northumbria, and the famed monastery has been stormed by a Viking raiding party. Under a blood red sky and before rising seas, the four adventurers – two Viking pagans and two enslaved Christian monks, must overcome their natural mistrust of each other to face a sorcerer that they can all see on top of the monastery’s tower. This is bloody affair, gorier than most Call of Cthulhu scenarios, the need to enter and explore the monastery to get to the final showdown and the number of combat encounters, make it all read very much like a dungeon. Apart from the dangers present in the scenario itself, the initial danger is that the Viking characters will overplay the master-slave relationship that the scenario opens with, possibly hampering the investigation later on. Still, this gets the campaign off to a start with a bang.

It is followed by “The Silence of Thousands Shall Quell the Refrain,” which is set in Japan in 1287 AD. This places the investigators in the pre-samurai era with their being sent to study the marvellous village of Iwaizumi, which come war, famine, or typhoon has always been able to pay its tribute to the emperor, and this without petitioning the throne on any matter in return. The curious reputation of the village is exacerbated by the curious nature of villagers, everyone one of them silent and illiterate. This sets up what could be a stumbling block to the easy running and playing of the scenario in that the villagers communicate through the use of sketched pictograms. The Keeper is encouraged to act this out between the player characters and the NPCs, a process that could grow wearisome all too quickly. Fortunately, the scenario does feel that long, but again, like the scenario before it, “The Silence of Thousands Shall Quell the Refrain” is a combat orientated adventure.

This is not to say that there is no investigation involved, but the real issue with the scenario is that unlike its predecessor, it really does feel like a generic Dungeons & Dragons scenario, one that could be set elsewhere, let alone early medieval Japan. Effectively that of there being a village under threat and the adventurers must deal with the threat, though the twist at the beginning is that the village of Iwaizumi is at least initially mysterious rather than obviously dangerous.

The middle scenario though, is more interesting, at least historically. “Fires of Hatred Defile the Sky” takes place in Valencia, Spain in 1487 AD at the height of the Spanish Inquisition. The descent of three angels upon the city has been taken as a blessing by the “Grace of Valencia,” Bishop Esteban del Cassandro, to root out every non-believer and heretic in the city. As the scenario opens, each adventurer finds himself gagged and hooded, under arrest and held by the Inquisition. The adventure involves the characters finding allies and avoiding being subject to inquisitive torture, their escaping the prison, all already with a good idea as to who the scenario’s antagonist is. Proving it is not just another matter, but also the point of the scenario. Doing so, involves a chase sequence before breaking into the antagonist’s quarters.

If there is an element in “Fires of Hatred Defile the Sky” that feels at odds with Lovecraftian investigative horror, it is the inclusion of magic that feels more Euclidean. For example, one investigator knows how to construct a golem whilst another can command snakes and even transform himself into a snake. Lovecraftian Purists are unlikely to appreciate this, and Dungeons & Dragons players will probably be dismayed at the lack of spells. Ultimately, their inclusion does feel out of place providing as they do too easy a solution to some of the situations presented in the scenario.

The lost colony of Roanoke is no stranger to Call of Cthulhu, having previously been visited in “Whispers from the Abyss” in the Theatre of the Mind Enterprises’ anthology, Whispers from the Abyss and Other Tales – pleasingly acknowledged in the text of the fourth scenario. Set in 1587 AD, “Lost Shall Be Those Bearing Souls Split in Twain” finds the adventurers crossing the Atlantic to join in the colonisation efforts spearheaded by Sir Walter Raleigh in the New World. Upon arrival, they and their fellow colonists find the existing settlement abandoned, which sets up the scenario’s first mystery and first problem. That is, what happened to the former inhabitants and was it something to do with the indigenous peoples native to the region; and how will they survive the all too imminent winter? At least looking into the first problem will bring the newly arrived colonists into contact with the natives, and here the scenario’s tension lies – dealing with one or more peoples whose relationships with new colonists’ predecessors threaten their own relationship with the native. This is all the whilst both the colonists and the natives are haunted by creature out of legends of the New World.

Unlike the previous scenarios, “Lost Shall Be Those Bearing Souls Split in Twain” is a more event driven adventure and by setting it on the edge of the New World, it also feels less confined than the previous adventures. There is also less of a reliance upon the format and play style of the Dungeons & Dragons scenario, it is less combative in nature, and ultimately, less linearity.

Red Eye of Azathoth comes to a close in the “Weird West” of the Arizona Territory of 1887 AD. “And Madness Shall Rise to Devour the West” opens with such a shuddering bang, it behoves me not to spoil it for any potential player. Once the scenario gets moving, the investigators must make their into the isolated township of Desperation to find its inhabitants harrowed by hunger and the perpetual sandstorm that rings the town, and the town itself under the control of several fierce Marshals with a tough approach to law enforcement. After the more traditional feel of a Call of Cthulhu scenario in “Lost Shall Be Those Bearing Souls Split in Twain,” this scenario reverts to the pattern by the first three adventures and is more combative and explorative in nature. Given the modern era of the setting, it would seem natural that this combative aspect would involve firearms, and indeed the scenario does. Yet there is an effect within the scenario that prevents their working, forcing the investigators to rely upon their comparatively weak melee skills. It seems so odds at the setting to remove something so intrinsic to it. Another issue with “And Madness Shall Rise to Devour the West” is its change of tone compared to the earlier scenarios; it is inherently pulpy with super competent investigators two of whom possess several spells.

The influence of the Dungeons & Dragons format on the feel and style of Red Eye of Azathoth shows most obviously in the characters and the campaign’s physicality. It is important to stress the difference between the characters of Red Eye of Azathoth and the investigators of Call of Cthulhu. In Call of Cthulhu, the investigators are ordinary men and women of varying degrees of competence though rarely what might be called super competence, especially when it comes to combat. Whereas the “investigators” of Red Eye of Azathoth owe more to high level adventurers of Dungeons & Dragons in terms of skills and combat expertise, rather than arcane or divine abilities, although several of the pre-generated adventurers possess both spells and knowledge of the Mythos. Their skills are thus high – though this often matched by the capability of the antagonists – which when combined with the lack of traditional investigative processes, makes the “investigators” of Red Eye of Azathoth more like adventurers. Further, without those traditional investigative processes, the means of resolving the five scenarios takes on a more physical, more combative nature.

It should be noted that the structure of the campaign and its use of different adventurers in each time period also impacts on the campaign in interesting ways. In the traditional onionskin campaign, an investigator’s Sanity is whittled down as the events of the campaign progress, such that there is often a loss of player characters due to deleterious effects of encountering the Mythos. In Red Eye of Azathoth, this is avoided because essentially, the characters are refreshed from one scenario to the next. Though to an extent, the traditional Sanity whittling is countered with some quite strong Sanity losses within the scenarios themselves. Red Eye of Azathoth also avoids the loss of knowledge common to other Call of Cthulhu campaigns that would come with the death of investigators with the flashback mechanic, though they still begin each scenario unaware of who the campaign’s villain is and of course, who he will be in each scenario.

The structure of the campaign also expects a little more of the Keeper. Naturally, the protagonist is working to achieve certain objectives, but in each scenario, the adventurers have the opportunity to curtail certain elements of these. So a Keeper needs to maintain a track of what the adventurers have done or not done in one adventure, as this not only has an effect during the subsequent adventures, but also on the campaign’s finale. Essentially, by campaign’s end, the Keeper will have assembled a check list in which he needs to have checked off what the investigators have done and determine how well they will have done overall.

Physically, Red Eye of Azathoth is a clean and tidy looking book. Oddly, it is actually better for a Keeper to own the PDF version of the book, rather than the printed version. This is because the PDF makes use of colour, making it easier to read, especially the maps. In the printed book, they are sometimes too dark to read. If there is an issue with the book, it is that it needs another edit just to tidy it up.

Ultimately, it is difficult not to read Red Eye of Azathoth as a Dungeons & Dragons campaign written with the drier, less forgiving set of rules in Call of Cthulhu. There should be no criticism inherent to such a concept, but in the execution as evidenced by this mini-campaign, the result is not wholly satisfying. The individual scenarios themselves feel too short and often too linear; the antagonist too fleeting a figure until the climax of each scenario when the investigators get a chance to beat him up; and the campaign often a little too fantastic in the way that the characters are designed. This is not to deny the interest that lies in exploring the settings and period of at least the first four scenarios or in the way in which the first four scenarios are set up. Similarly, the means of passing information from previous scenarios to the latest is interesting and well done, helping to get past the issue of dealing with player knowledge (though to help work against player knowledge, I would suggest that initially they only be told that they are playing one-shots rather than a campaign).

For some players, Red Eye of Azathoth: Unspeakable Adventures Straddling a Millennium is just going to be too different a campaign for them to play, whether they normally play Call of Cthulhu or Dungeons & Dragons in their classic styles. For Call of Cthulhu, it is too pulpy and too reliant on combat to deal with its threats, whilst for Dungeons & Dragons, the investigators are probably too weak and the settings not quite fantastic enough. Given the campaign’s source, it is no surprise that its influences are worn so readily, and if both players and Keeper can embrace both these influences and the campaign’s structure, then there is an interesting experience to be gained from playing through the campaign. Whilst those influences and its structure is always going to make it a stranger when compared to other campaigns, Red Eye of Azathoth: Unspeakable Adventures Straddling a Millennium is nevertheless a brave attempt to do something different with the classic Call of Cthulhu campaign.

Halloween Horror II.I

2011-10-30T13:21:00.000Z

Out of Time is an anthology for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu that collates four scenarios previously singly as PDF titles. Each of the four is a detailed one-shot complete with pre-generated investigators with each scenario in turn taking place on the Western Front during the Great War; on the most barren outpost of France’s colonial empire in the 1930s; to Science Fiction’s lunatic fringe in early 1950s California; and to the after effects of nuclear testing in the South Pacific, again in the early 1950s. Any one of the four, all of which tend towards the Purist rather than the Pulp style of play, can with some effort be run as a convention style scenario, but really any of these four merits a good session or two’s worth of play.

The anthology opens with Adam Gauntlett’s “Not So Quiet,” which is set entirely within the confines of Military Hospital Number Five not far behind the Allied lines in 1917. The investigators have either been posted there as staff or wounded, have been sent there as patients. Arriving after a hellish journey in an ambulance convoy, the patients are assigned to their wards to rest and the staff sent to work. In the days to come, it becomes apparent that not all is well at the hospital: mortality rates seem high, even amongst those that would otherwise appear to be on the road to recovery; the wards are ruled by the head nurse with a rod of iron; the experimental electro-shock therapy seems to be more than therapy; off the rounds drug treatments; and simply an air of malevolence that hides something more desperate.

Discovering what is going takes careful interrogation; such is the paranoia that pervades the hospital. The process is hampered by the patient-staff divide, for while individually each investigator will be able to gather a certain amount of information, but bringing the investigators together to share that information is another matter. So for the most part, the GM will be running single scenes until the climax itself. Nevertheless, “Not So Quiet” is strong on atmosphere, with plenty of opportunity for the investigators to inveigle their way into what is really going.

The second scenario is “The Black Drop” by Jason Morningstar. As it opens, the investigators find themselves aboard a freighter bound for the Kerguelen Islands located at the far southern reaches of the Indian Ocean. The French government has decided to shut down its failed colony there and the passengers are either to aid in its closure or to take advantage of this very last opportunity to visit the islands. The windswept and almost sub-Antarctic archipelago is a known site from which the Transit of Venus can be viewed and some have suggested a potential deep water anchorage for use in the forthcoming conflict that everyone fears, so when the crew of the freighter picks up German radio traffic, just who else has an interest in the Kerguelens and what is the nature of that interest?

All too quickly, the investigators find themselves ashore and at the mercy of the elements, the foreign barrenness of the island, and the colonists whose intentions are anything other than the desire to return to France. Given their situation the investigators need help, if not allies, and the latter come in the form of the German party which has its own objectives. This sets up the first of two tensions within “The Black Drop” – can the investigators, let alone the players, ally themselves with forces that they know to be “evil,” in other words, the Nazis? The other being that of how far the investigators will go to prevent the coming of a greater evil, one that has been present on Kerguelen from when it was part of a much larger land mass...

“The Black Drop” has quite an open structure with even the evil at its heart being left up to the GM to decide. The Kerguelen Islands are themselves nicely described, with a focus on the dangerous nature of their landscape. Whilst the provided pre-generated investigators do together possess some potential tensions contemporary of the period between them, they do themselves feel underwritten. Conversely, of all of the four scenarios in Out of Time, this is the one that would be the easiest to fit into an existing campaign, the given flashbacks that develop the scenario’s background being easily adapted into scenes that would push the investigators to visit the Kerguelen Islands. If there are parallels between this scenario and any other, it would be the classic Beyond the Mountains of Madness for Call of Cthulhu. The author deserves kudos, not just for a bleakly desperate scenario, but also for labelling one of the sections, “The Unholy Lambeth of the Antipodes.”

Bill White provides two scenarios for “Out of Time,” both of which are set in the early 1950s. The first of these is “The Big Hoodoo,” a big slice of Californian Voodo that draws heavily from Science Fiction history while setting it quite literally in the parallel universe next door in your neighbour’s backyard. Further, the pre-generated investigators are not your typical antiquarian or your gun-toting Private Eye, but the literati of the Science Fiction world – Robert Heinlein, ex-Navy engineer and author; his second wife, Virginia, also an ex-Navy engineer; Anthony Boucher, Science Fiction editor and mystery author; and lastly, a young and up and coming Philip K. Dick. As the scenario opens, all four are in Los Angeles en route to attend the funeral of late Jack Parsons, rocketry pioneer and occultist who was killed in an explosion in his garage laboratory. The scenario suggests other Science Fiction luminaries who might be attendance should there be more than four players.

What follows is a complex, dense affair that echoes Film Noir, though sun drenched rather ensnared in shadows. This complexity and the wide array of clues available would need careful pruning for a convention game, let alone a normal one, threatening as it does to sprawl wildly if the GM does not keep a tight rein on the narrative. It presents a heady mix of science and the occult, government interest and charlatanry, the Mythos and Enochian Magic all based on the real world relationships, histories, and beliefs of the scenario’s antagonists, most notably those of a renamed L. Ron Hubbard. The author puts an amusing twist upon them and Hubbard’s self-actualisation teachings – though fans of Asimov might object to said twist – that just exacerbates the weirdness of “The Big Hoodoo.”

There are a number of issues that a GM must address in wanting to run “The Big Hoodoo.” It is very specific in terms of setting and protagonists, not only making it difficult to adapt to other times and settings, but also making it difficult to run it without using the pre-generated investigators. The ultimate issue is one of how much the players are prepared to buy into playing and interacting with Science Fiction luminaries – unless they have read the works of the authors in question, they are unlikely to gain much from this scenario.

Rounding out Out of Time is Bill White’s second scenario, “Castle Bravo.” Again set in the early 1950s, this is an attempt to do the period’s “Atomic Horror” without veering off into the more traditional campiness of the genre. Like the rest of the scenarios in the collection, it is a Purist affair, and like “Not So Quiet” before it, “Castle Bravo” concerns the military. This time the investigators are members of the crew of the USS Bairoko, a US carrier assigned to monitor a series of secret thermonuclear test shots in the Bikini atoll called Operation Castle.

In comparison with “The Big Hoodoo,” this is potentially a more action orientated adventure, despite being a Purist scenario. It is also a more focused and direct affair that starts with the bang of the atomic detonation and from there events take on an increasingly weird turn. The investigators face not only the dangers of the fallout, but also the transmogrification of fellow crewmembers and their own falling into increasingly odd fugue states. They also haunted by an antagonist whose own transmogrification echoes that of Doctor Manhattan from Alan Moore’s Watchmen. In addition to having to get to the heart of the threat that they really face, the investigators must also help keep their vessel at a necessary readiness to face their threat and negotiate with their superiors in order to gain the means to deal with said threat.

The oddity of the latter means that having roleplayed their way into military characters, the players then have to roleplay their characters doing unmilitary actions. Another issue with the scenario is that only the one investigator is subject to the anagnorisis, the scenario’s “big reveal.” Nevertheless, this is an enjoyably muscular adventure, one that relies on interaction as much as it does action.

Physically, Out of Time is another excellent looking book, just as you would expect for a title for Trail of Cthulhu. It is not quite as well presented though. This shows in the poor handling of the some of the page references, a hangover from when the four scenarios were available individually. That said, the page numbers on the contents page are correct. It also shows in some of the artwork. It is not a matter of the artwork being bad, for Jérôme Huguenin’s work continues to be excellent, but rather some of it feels irrelevant to the story.

All four of the scenarios in this anthology need a very careful read through, though this is in part is eased by the inclusion of a set of designer notes from the supplement’s three authors. Thus for “Not So Quiet,” Adam Gauntlett discusses the dangers of being wounded during World War I; for “The Black Drop,” Jason Morningstar explores how his scenario might be run during the nineteenth rather the twentieth century; and for “The Big Hoodoo,” Bill White provides detailed, if not to say, very welcome, playtest notes. He does not however, provide any for “Castle Bravo.” This is not as much of a problem as it might have been with the previous three scenarios, as “Castle Bravo” is a comparatively straightforward. Still, their inclusion would have been useful.

Being one-shots and particular to a time and place in each case, the four scenarios herein are far from flexible. With a tweak here and there, they can be moved towards the game’s Pulp mode of play, but shifting out their periods is more difficult. Of the four, “The Black Drop” is the easiest to run with a standard group and existing campaign, whilst “Not So Quiet” could be used as the start of a World War I set campaign. “Not So Quiet” could be run as a flashback to explain the investigator’s previous experience with the Mythos.

The very title of Out of Time hints at the desperate nature of the four scenarios in the anthology. Three of the four also take Trail of Cthulhu out of its traditional period of the 1930s, while the fourth, “The Black Drop,” certainly takes Trail of Cthulhu far from civilisation. All four though continue Trail of Cthulhu's tradition of strong strong with well written and well realised scenarios.

Dicing For Sanity

2011-10-23T15:23:00.001+01:00

The focus of so many exotic curios and occult artefacts at the museum is the cause of a new threat to Arkham. They weaken the barriers to the beyond, letting Gates open and monsters in, and laying a path for an Ancient One to make its way to Earth and lay waste to mankind. Only a number of dedicated investigators have the knowledge and will, and perhaps the allies and the tools, if not necessarily the time, to locate a sufficient number of Elder Signs that will seal the portals and prevent the arrival of the Ancient One. This is the set up for Elder Sign, the latest board game from the designers of Arkham Horror that uses the same art work and trade dress as seen in both Arkham Horror and the recently released Mansions of Madness.

Fantasy Flight Game’s third board game of facing Lovecraftian horror, Elder Sign is, like Arkham Horror, a co-operative game designed to be played by between one and eight players, with a playing time of between one and two hours. The co-operative element means that the opponents faced by players are not each other, but by the game itself and its mechanics. It also means that there is a time component to Elder Sign, not only in terms of a time limit before the Ancient One arrives, but also in terms of events (of a random nature) that occur regularly throughout the game’s play. In order to counter the effects of these events, and eventually, the arrival of the Ancient One, the Investigators will explore the Museum and have Adventures within its confines, the aim being to marshal the resources necessary to save the world.

Elder Sign is comprised of several sets of large and small cards, various tokens and counters, a card clock, and a set of customised dice. The large cards are divided between decks of Investigators, Adventures, and Ancient Ones, whilst the small cards are divided between decks of Common and Unique items, Spells, and Allies – all beneficial to the Investigators, whilst Mythos cards describe the events and effects that occur every time that the clock strikes Midnight and linger until the clock strikes Midnight again.

There are sixteen individual Investigators to choose from. Each one gives an Investigator his maximum Sanity and Stamina, his Starting Items, and a special ability. For example, Dexter Drake is a magician who whenever he gains a Spell card during play, he always gains an extra one, whilst Gloria Goldberg is an author whose Psychic Sensitivity grants her extra dice to roll when visiting Other World Adventure Cards.

During a game, the Investigators will face one of eight Ancient Ones. They include Azathoth, Cthulhu, Hastur, Ithaqua, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Yig, and Yog-Sothoth. Each one gives the number of Elder Signs needed to prevent it from being awoken, which occurs when the Doom Track on the card is filled; a special ability that applies throughout a game; a means of Attack once it is awoken; and a Combat Task that must be completed by the Investigators to weaken and eventually banish it from the Earth. So for example, for Cthulhu, the Special Ability is “Dreams of Madness,” which reduces every Investigator’s maximum Sanity and Stamina by one. Thirteen Elder Signs are needed to banish this Ancient One, but it only needs eleven tokens for the Doom Track to be filled and Cthulhu to be woken up. When Cthulhu does Attack, it reduces each Investigator’s Sanity or Stamina by one and adds another token to his Doom Track. The latter is a problem because in order to defeat an awoken Ancient One, the Investigators have to remove all of the tokens from the Doom Track. To remove a Token, an Investigator has to roll the given Combat Task.

Each Adventure Card has a title, a Trophy value, some flavour text, a set of Tasks that need to be completed if an Investigator is to succeed at the Adventure itself, and a set of Penalties for if an Investigator fails to complete the Adventure and a set of Rewards if he does. Some Adventure Cards also have a Terror effect that occurs if an Investigator does not complete a Task on each roll and some stipulate that their Tasks have to be done in order rather than the order of a player’s choosing. Most of the Adventure Cards take place in the Museum such as “Remains of the High Priest” and “The Gift Shop,” but others take place off world, like “The Dreamlands” and “The City of the Great Race.” In general, the Rewards and Penalties for the Other World Adventure cards are greater and they are also harder to complete.

Penalties on an Adventure Card can deduct Sanity and Stamina from an Investigator, cause a Monster to appear, advance the Clock, or add another Doom Token to the Doom Track on the Ancient One Card. Rewards can grant Items, Spells, and Allies as well as Elder Signs and Clue Tokens. They can also open Gates to Other World Adventure Cards. Not all of the Rewards are good – sometimes they are mix of the good and the bad.

The small cards represent Common and Unique items, Spells, and Allies as well as Mythos effects. They add extra dice to a Task attempt or alter dice rolls; enable an Investigator to restore Sanity or Stamina; or in the case of some Spells, let an Investigator store dice results between attempts at a Task. Allies grant another special ability, such as Richard Upton Pickman’s being able to change results on the dice in a certain fashion. Each Mythos card has two effects. The first occurs as soon as it is drawn, whilst the second lasts until the next Mythos card is drawn. For example, immediate effect of “The Stars Align…” is to add a Doom token to the Doom Track, whilst the lingering effect, “…Before Reason Fails,” lets the Tasks on Adventure Cards be done in any order, even if they stipulate that they must be done in order.

The game includes Sanity, Stamina, Investigator, Clue (these allow re-rolls of the dice), Elder Sign and Doom Tokens. There are also Monster Markers, little card strips that when summoned can replace Tasks on an Adventure Card to make them more difficult to complete. Each Monster Marker has a piece of flavour text on the reverse and a Trophy value.

The final components are the card Clock, used to measure the passing of time and determine when new Mythos cards are drawn; the Museum Entrance card; and the dice. The Museum Entrance card represents somewhere where an Investigator can go to “Receive First Aid,” “Search the Lost & Found,” or “Buy A Souvenir.” This usually requires an Investigator to expend Trophy points won by completing Adventure Cards or defeating Monsters, or to expend various tokens or items.

The dice are the heart of the game, rolled by an Investigator to try and match the symbols listed for each Task on the Adventure cards. They come in three colours. The six green dice are the most common and all of them are usually rolled when a Task is attempted. The yellow dice gives better results than a green die whilst the red dice gives better results than the yellow die. It usually takes the expenditure of a Common Item card to add the Yellow die to a player’s roll and the expenditure of a Unique Item card to add the red die. There is only the one yellow and one red die in the game.

Game set up is quick and simple. Each player selects an Investigator and receives its starting items. An Ancient One is chosen and placed on the table where everyone can see it along with the Clock – which is set at midnight, the Museum Entrance card, and six Adventure Cards. The first Mythos card is drawn and takes effect.

On his a turn, a player sends his Investigator to the chosen Adventure Card. He takes up the green dice and the yellow or red die if he decides to use an Item or has a Special Ability. The Tasks are arranged on each Adventure Card in lines and with each roll of the dice, a player must match the symbols on a single line with those on the dice. He can only attempt to match the symbols on one line at a time and if he does, he places those dice on the symbols on the card. He can then go on to roll for the Tasks on the other lines. If he fails to roll the right symbols for a line, he can continue rolling, but must discard a die each time he fails to match the symbols. On some Adventure Cards, there is a Terror effect for failing to match any symbols and rolling a Terror on the dice. If the player completes all of the Tasks, he receives all of the rewards at the bottom of the Adventure Card. He also receives the Adventure Card to keep as a Trophy which can be spent at the Museum Entrance for various effects. If he does not complete any of them, he suffers the penalties also given at the bottom of the Adventure Card.

Alternatively, a player could have sent his Investigator to the Museum Entrance. As soon as a player’s turn is over the Clock is advanced one quarter of the way round its face. When the Clock reaches Midnight a new Mythos Card is drawn and its effects applied. Since the two effects on the Mythos Cards vary greatly, often the players will find themselves hoping for one with less dangerous effects. So drawing one every fourth turn is another way in which Elder Sign can turn up the tension.

Our sample Adventure Card is “Lights Out.” Harvey Walters’ player decides that the reward of an Elder Sign is worth going for. The individual Tasks on each line are not difficult in themselves, but the Arrow symbol beside them means that they have to be done in order. Harvey has at his disposal one Unique Item – a copy of “Cultes des Ghoules” that lets him add the red die to a Task attempt, and one Spell card, the spell “Flesh Ward,” which lets him store a die roll between attempts. Harvey decides that he will use both, meaning that he rolls both the green and the red dice.

On the first roll, Harvey gets the results of 1 Clue, 2 Clue, Scroll, Scroll, Skull, and Tentacle on the green dice. On the red die, he gets the Wild Card symbol, which can be used to match any other symbol. The 1 Clue and 2 Clue symbols are enough to complete the Task on the first line and places those dice on the Adventure Card. He takes the red die and stores it on the Spell Card. This leaves him with just four green dice to roll.

On the second roll, Harvey needs two Skulls, but is unlucky and gets neither. He is forced to discard one of the green dice leaving him with three to roll. He gets 1 Clue, 3 Clue, and a Skull. He needs another Skull, so uses the Wild Card symbol on the red die that he stored earlier to match the symbols needed to complete the Task. This leaves him with just two dice and needing two Scrolls to complete the third Task and the whole Adventure Card. He rolls a Scroll and a Tentacle. Ordinarily this would not be enough, but Harvey’s Special Ability allows him to change a single Tentacle result on the dice to a Scroll, and as soon as he does he has completed all of the Tasks and the Adventure Card.

As a reward, he gains an Elder Sign and a Spell Card plus the Adventure Card to spend as a Trophy. A new Adventure Card is then added. If he failed, he would have lost two Stamina and added another Token to the Doom Track on the Ancient One’s card.

When the Doom Track is fully filled on the Ancient One’s card, it awakes and comes to Earth. At that point every Investigator has to face it, battling to remove the Doom Tokens from the Track. This uses the same dice mechanics as for the Tasks on the Adventure Cards.

Should either the Sanity or Stamina of an Investigator be reduced to zero, he deemed to have been devoured! His player must start afresh with a new Investigator, including new Starting Items. He loses those previously held by the now devoured Investigator. If an Investigator is devoured by the awakened Ancient One, no new Investigator can join the fight against him.

Winning a game of Elder Sign is not easy, but it is made all the harder when certain Adventure and Mythos Cards and Monsters appear that have the Locked Die icon on them. These temporarily remove a die that matches the colour on the icon from the game, thus reducing the number of dice each player has to roll on his turn until the Adventure Card or the Monster that has confiscated the die has been dealt with, or the effects of the Mythos Card have been replaced with a new one when the Clock strikes Midnight. Fortunately, in addition to using Investigator Special Abilities and the various Spell and Item Cards to give themselves an advantage, players can do things. First, Clue Tokens allow players to re-roll dice. Second, they can Focus a die – saving a die result for a subsequent Task, but at the cost of discarding another die, or Assist another player on the same Adventure Card – giving them a die result that they can use on their turn in attempting the Tasks on that Adventure Card. The downside to this is that it reduces the number of dice every player has to roll until the Assisted player’s turn.

Physically, Elder Sign is up to Fantasy Flight Games’ usual standards. Everything is of a high quality as you would expect, and the illustrations, all of which will be familiar to players of Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness, are excellent. The rulebook is perhaps a little succinct at twelve pages, with some more examples of play being needed to better get the play of the game across. If there is an issue with the components, it is that some of the components are just a little too small for easy handling and thus some of the artwork’s effectiveness is lost.

Elder Sign is described as a co-operative dice game, but whilst the dice rolling lies at the heart of mechanics and game resolution, the game is really a “co-operative dice and decision” game. The players have to decide where their Investigators have to go and which Adventure Cards they should attempt to resolve, this decision usually being influenced by the number of Elder Signs available as Rewards on the current Adventure Cards or the Adventure Cards or Monsters with the locked dice on them. Of course, sometimes a player will attempt to resolve an Adventure Card for the Item and Spell Cards that it would reward him. They also need to decide how to apply their dice rolls, and in all of this, a player is free to solicit advice from the other players. This then, is the game’s “co-operative” element.

In comparison with Fantasy Flight Games’ other titles of Lovecraftian investigative horror, Elder Sign is simpler, more direct, and quicker to play. It is less location focused than either Arkham Horror or Mansions of Madness, so it has less of a narrative structure to it, but because a player is rolling the dice multiple times during his turn, it actually feels like you are doing more than in either of those games, especially in Mansions of Madness where a player’s actions feel severely limited.

The combined effect of the reduced narrative structure in comparison to Fantasy Flight Games’ other Lovecraftian board games and the focus on the dice rolling to resolve the Adventure Cards is to make Elder Sign feel mechanical in play. It is possible that much of the game’s flavour and colour could fade into the background if the players do focus too much on the dice and the mechanics. That said, this is not necessarily an issue for the more casual player.

With eight Ancient Ones to face and forty-eight Adventure and eight Other World Adventure Cards, and sixteen Investigators to play, the core set for Elder Sign offers plenty of replay value. Plus, the format is ripe for expansion. The actual downtime between turns is not necessarily high, but of course with more players there is a slightly longer wait. When it is a player’s turn, the rolling of the dice to resolve the Tasks of an Adventure Card can be quite tense, which just adds to the atmosphere and feel of the game seen in the art.

Above all, Elder Sign captures much of the tension and atmosphere of fighting desperately against the Mythos. That it does so in such a self-contained and time constrained manner is a sign of a good design, at the heart of which is the clever, tension inducing dice rolling. Not too complex for the casual player, but still evocative for the Lovecraft devotee.

The TALENT Campaign

2011-10-22T18:04:00.000+01:00

For a game as old as Arc Dream Publishing’s GODLIKE: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 1936–1946, it seems a shame that there is so little support for it, let alone the fact that for a game with a setting – the whole of the Second World War – as rife with possibilities, it has never been given a campaign of its own. All that changes with the release of Black Devils Brigade: The First Special Service Force and the Italian Campaign, 1943–1944, the first full length adventure campaign for the GODLIKE, the RPG that took Talents or the common soldiery with an amazing abilities to war against the Axis Powers. In GODLIKE the player characters are soldiers first, not only highly trained, but also trained in how to use talents such as being able to open any locked door simply by pointing at it, momentarily freeze time and sidestep bullets, or go to sleep and have their skeleton climb out of their body to fight for them. Not only are the Allied Talents up against the military might of Nazi Germany, but also the Übermenschen, the Nazi Talents who are part of the SS and who revel in their powers and the Aryan ideals of the “Super Race.” At the heart of the game lies each Talent’s Will, this fuels his powers and his ability to cancel out another Talent’s powers, but which can be lost if he loses a contest of Wills with an enemy Talent. In Black Devils Brigade: The First Special Service Force and the Italian Campaign, 1943–1944, this will all come to the fore as the Talents are taken from training right through the length of the Italian campaign.

The Talents in Black Devils Brigade are members of the First Special Service Force (FSSF), a joint American-Canadian unit raised and trained as commandoes specialising in winter warfare, their intended mission to carry out strike missions behind enemy lines in Norway and Romania. When this became impossible, the unit was first sent to the Pacific to help re-capture the Aleutians from the Japanese, before being going to Italy and fighting at Anzio. Many of the initial recruits were originally miners, mountaineers, and lumberjacks, tough outdoorsmen who were also expected to speak a second language. This is reflected in the extra points that a Forceman receives for his Stats. One factor reflected in character generation in this alternate world is the fact that the First Special Service Force kept its Talents when they manifested and did not send them to train with Talent Operations Group at its Achnacarry Commando Training School. Thus a player receives just twenty points with which to create the abilities of his FSSF Talent.

Our sample FSSF Talent is Henning Huber, a Canadian who as the son of German immigrants wants to prove himself to be a Canadian rather than a German. He trained as a telephone engineer, which often meant repairing telephone lines in all weathers and which resulted in him being assigned to the FSSF’s Communication Detachment, part of its Service Section. His Talent manifested during a live fire exercise when one of his detachment was wounded and he found himself without sufficient medical equipment to treat the wound. With no one else available, he literally grabbed other kits from Forcemen elsewhere on the battlefield. He can grab objects vital to his survival or that of others, but only if he is scared and he has no control over what item he gets. In recent battles he has managed grab weapons from both his colleagues and his enemies, and even one occasion, a whole tank! For his reason, he is known as “Lucky Dip.”

Corporal Henning Huber, “Lucky Dip,” Talent Section, FSSF
Body 3 Coordination 3 Sense 2
Brains 3 Command 2 Cool 2
Base Will 4
Current Will 8
Motivations: Prove himself to be Canadian, not German; Force Esprit des Corps
Skills: Anti-Tank Rocket 1 (4d), Bluff 1 (3d), Brawling 1 (4d), Climb 2 (5d), Drive (Automobile) 1 (4d), Electronics 2 (5d), Endurance 2 (5d), Explosives 1 (4d), Forward Observer 1 (4d), French 1 (4d), German 2 (5d), Grenade 1 (4d), Instrument (Piano) 1 (4d), Knife Fighting 2 (5d), Machine Gun 1 (4d), Map Reading 1 (4d), Mechanics 1 (4d), Mortar 1 (4d), Navigation (Land) 1 (4d), Parachuting 1 (4d), Pistol 1 (4d), Radio Operation 2 (5d), Rifle 2 (5d), Sight 1 (3d), Skiing 1 (4d), Stealth 2 (5d), Submachine Gun 2 (5d), Survival 2 (5d), Tactics 1 (4d), Telephony 2 (5d)
Talents (16 Will Points)
Fetch: Reflexively grab what he needs when in an emergency 8d+1wd (Qualities: Attacks, Robust, Useful Outside of Combat. Base Cost: 4/8/16. Extra: Reflexive +2/+4/+8; Flaw: Peace of Mind – Scared -2/-4/-8; Flaw: Uncontrollable -3/-6/-12; Final Cost 1/4/8; 16 points).

So a Forceman Talent character can be created with twenty points, but this is a real problem for Black Devils Brigade as a supplement. In a standard game of GODLIKE, Talent Operations Group characters receive twenty-five points to spend on their Talent abilities and it can be challenging enough to create interesting characters on this point total. On the twenty points that an FSSF Talent gets it is very difficult without resorting to the common default of buying Super Stats and Super Skills. In play, this disparity widens when the FSSF Talents face the Übermenschen, who are often built on as many as eighty or more points. To an extent this is a feature of the game, pitching the better trained Allied Talents with less effective abilities against the Übermenschen with emphasis on powers over training. It forces a player to be inventive, not just in creating the character, but also in playing the game. Now while the inclusion of the FSSF’s first eight Talents as playable characters is laudable, it would have been useful to have if not more characters, then at least some ready-to-play, Talent packages built on twenty points.

Although the bulk of Black Devils Brigade is devoted the FSSF’s time in Italy, it includes enough background information with which the GM could run the Talents through some sessions training stateside or the anti-climax that was the recapture of the Aleutians. Once in Italy, the Talents will naturally find themselves constantly at the centre of the action, being called upon to perform scouting missions, assaults, patrols, and more over mountain, rural, and urban terrain. Not only will they face normal veterans of both the Wehrmacht and the SS, but also the Übermenschen, who are also members of the SS. More specifically, the Talents will often themselves sent out to deal with the threats posed by the Übermenschen. The campaign details some fifty of them, complete with fully worked powers and personalities, both of which vary widely. It should be made clear that not every of the Übermenschen is an avowed Nazi – many are simply trying to survive, while others have second thoughts.

Naturally, the focus in Black Devils Brigade is on combat, and plenty of it, with the player characters finding themselves being tested again and again. That said, the campaign includes several situations that do not involve combat, including comfort missions, relationships with civilians, inter-unit rivalries, and army politics. These both break up what could have been a very one-note campaign and provide yet more opportunities for roleplaying. Throughout the campaign, the Talents are at the centre of the attention and the action, reflecting the fact of their importance in the war fought in GODLIKE and the need to keep the player characters at that centre of attention.

Rounding out the campaign is a lengthy appendix that not only includes the pre-generated Talents but also several sets of rules. These cover making Sneak Attacks – a common tactic used by the Forcemen in their raids across enemy lines; Bombardment – artillery is a constant threat; One Roll Patrols – a means of generating random patrol missions from the type, terrain, and complications with a single roll of eleven dice; Minefields – laid by both sides; and FUBAR situations. The latter dealing with the random bad things that can happen on the battlefield, coming into play only when a player rolls poorly.

Physically, Black Devils Brigade is well laid out and well written with decent artwork. In places the GM will need to pay careful attention to the maps and their descriptions in the text as it is not always easy for the GM to visualise the battlefield, and this may well be a problem in trying to impart the lay of the land to the players. Even though the campaign does work hard to keep the emphasis in the battles on the player characters, there is the feeling that miniatures would help in order to have both players and GM visualise and interact with the battlefield, though in bringing them to the game would make it much more expensive.

In truth, we have been waiting for Black Devils Brigade for quite some time now. To date we have had excursions for GODLIKE to the Pacific and Western Europe, but for the most part, the Italian Campaign has been ignored. Not now though, for Black Devils Brigade: The First Special Service Force and the Italian Campaign, 1943–1944 does it full justice in presenting a challenging, sometimes too challenging, a roleplaying campaign that will give months of play.

Track or Share?

2011-10-16T21:32:00.000+01:00

One of the odder games to be released at Essen in 2010 was SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) from Winsome Games. The oddity being that Winsome Games is best known for developing, publishing, and licensing detailed, historical train games – board games that focus on the building and development of railway networks and the trading in the shares of railway companies. SNCF was anything other than detailed or historical, but was instead a simple track and share game that could be played in thirty minutes. Nevertheless, it offered up careful tactical play and was quickly licensed to Queen Games and released as Paris Connection.

As both titles suggest, Paris Connection is set in France in which the players take the role of investors in the new railway companies that want to connect Paris with the rest of France. Designed for between three and six players, aged ten and over, the aim of the game is to increase the value of shares in one of six railway companies and to hold shares in these companies. Share values are increased by laying track and building connecting routes from Paris across France to her towns and cities. The first clever aspect of the game is that the wooden train pieces that represent the track or routes in the game also represent the shares in the company, so there will come a point at which it is more profitable to own shares in a company rather than build with them. The second clever aspect about the game is that share ownership is hidden throughout the game and only revealed at the very end, though share transactions are done in public.

The game consists of a board depicting a map of France with her various towns and cities. Most towns are worth a single point when scored, but in general, the further a town or city is away from Paris, the more valuable it is to score. Around two sides of the board is a scoring track that runs from one to thirty, showing not a player’s score, but the share values for each company. Besides the main board, there is a small storage board for each of the game’s six sets of share/track pieces. These come in six colours, are done in wood, and are shaped like steam locomotives. There is a card screen for each player behind which he can hide his shares. The last two components are a black cloth bag used to determine random share ownership at the start of a game and two sets of rules. One set of rules is in French, the other in English. Both are double sided, done in full colour with one side explaining how to set the game and the other the game’s actual rules.

Game set up is simple. Each player receives a screen and a train of each colour is placed on the start of the Scoring Track and on the start hexes in Paris. The remaining train pieces of all six colours are placed in the cloth bag and given a good mix. Each player then draws a number of random train pieces from the bag and hides them behind his screen. The number drawn depends on the number of players. The greater the number of players, the fewer the initial number of shares that they can hold at the start of the game and the fewer maximum shares that a player can hold at the end of the game without their scores being penalised.

On his turn, a player has two options. He can either lay track or take shares. To lay track he takes up to five train pieces from any one storage board and places them board so that they are connected to trains of the same colour. To take shares, a player places one the shares he has behind his screen on the storage board that matches its colour and takes two shares of another colour from another storage board. This is only way in which a player can increase the number of shares that he holds.

Play continues until there are only share/track pieces remaining on the single storage board with the remaining share/track pieces either behind the players’ screens or on the board. The other way to end the game is for a player to build into Marseilles. At this point everyone reveals the shares they hold behind their screens and receives points for each share according to its value on the Scoring Track. The player with the highest value share portfolio – after penalties are levied for holding more than the maximum number of shares – is the winner.

Initially, the idea that you are not building your own railway and that you do not own train pieces of a single colour is counter intuitive. In almost every other game, you are building your own railway and you do own all of the train pieces of a single colour. Once past this stumbling block, Paris Connection presents one base tactical question and then a number of smaller questions to a player. That base question is, at what point does it become more valuable to hold multiple shares in a railway network than to extend that network? In other words, at what point do share/track pieces become more valuable as shares than as track?

The subsequent and smaller questions revolve around how does a player affect the share values in the other rail networks? The game is not complicated enough that it includes rules on how to reduce share value, but it is possible to limit the growth in share value. The most obvious means is place the share/track pieces in such a way that they do not connect to any town or city and so do not score any points. Thus a rail network’s share value is not increased for a player’s turn.

The last question that a player needs to address is, how quickly does he need a rail network need to get to Marseilles? It might be that with several high value shares in his portfolio, he might want to end the game early to capitalise on those values. Conversely, the other players might want to lay track in a high value share to both stop it rising in value and it reaching Marseilles, hopefully giving them time to improve other share values and increase their portfolios.

There are three great aspects to Paris Connection. First, there is its simplicity. The rules are not only simple to learn, they are also simple to teach. In fact, the game is simple enough that after a single read through of the rules; a group could get playing, meaning that it is entirely possible to play Paris Connection out of the box. The second great aspect is that the game has almost no randomness to it, and what there is, consists of determining each player’s share portfolio at game’s start. The third great aspect is that this is a Euro Game not for two to five players as many good Euro Games are, but for three to six, and light games for six players are not necessarily all that common.

The production values on Paris Connection are very high. The board is attractively done and clearly laid out. The screens are nice, though prone to falling over. The wooden train-shaped track/share pieces are equally attractive if a little small and perhaps fiddly to handle. The rules sheet is bright and easy to read. Yet these high production values are source of the game’s single real flaw. Paris Connection is not an inexpensive game. In fact it is an expensive game given both how long a play through lasts and how simple it is. It is engaging and enjoyable to play, but it does not offer value for money.

The purchase of the copy of Paris Connection that we have been playing was an impulse buy. The promised lightness of the rules and the upper limit on the number of players were the draw despite the price. Having played it a few times, we have found it to be light and easy, but still offering some tactical choices. Not only is Paris Connection an excellent filler game, it is also a good starter game, a title that can be played and enjoyed with casual games players… that is, if you are happy to overlook the price.

An Elizabethan Whirl

2011-10-15T14:46:00.000+01:00

On occasion I want to delve into the extensive library/ludography upstairs and pull out a classic or an item of interest and review it. If all I did was review games, then it would happen, but the truth is that there is never quite enough time to review games from the here and now, let alone review those from the past. Yet the reflective nature of the twenty-first century and our yearning for late twentieth century nostalgia has led to the games of our yester years actually being made available once again just as if they were appearing on the shelves all that time ago. Such is the case with Maelstrom.

Originally published in 1984, Maelstrom was something of an oddity. It was a full RPG, but not one that was released not by a hobby publisher, but by Puffin Books, the imprint of Penguin Books that was, and remains a major publisher of children’s books. This meant that an actual RPG appeared not just on the shelves of your local games shop, but also on the shelves of your local, and thus any, book shop. Now this sounds strange, but in 1984, the hobby in the United Kingdom was at the height of the Fighting Fantasy craze. Titles in the solo game book series were selling very well, but Maelstrom was a very different beast, a semi-historical RPG set in the late Elizabethan Age, that came not only with a magic system and potentially, a treatment of the supernatural, but also a solo adventure and an adventure written for multiple characters. Further, its characters were not the traditional warriors and wizards, but nobles, professionals, craftsmen and artisans, tradesmen and labourers, as well as mercenaries, priests, mages, and rogues.

Now Arion Games have brought it back. It still comes as a thick, slightly over-sized paperback with the terrific snow scene of a man defending a cart and his companions from members of the soldiery. Inside the book is still split between two parts, one for the players and one for the referee, with a solo adventure in the players’ part, and an adventure to run in the referee’s. The book still has the heavy ink illustrations that do so much to give it a heavy atmosphere and a historical feel. Everything looks about the same as my now somewhat shelf worn copy that I bought back in 1984. The question is, how do the game’s rules and the game itself stand up to scrutiny with the benefit of twenty-five years’ gaming experience?

Maelstrom uses a percentile system, with characters having to make rolls or Saving Throws against one of nine attributes that define each character. So for example, to parry a sword thrust, a character must roll against his Defence Skill, whereas to work out the state of a noble’s household accounts, a clerk would roll against his Knowledge Skill. If this sounds simple, then it is. Even the complications only add just a little more to account for critical results, combat, and magic.

So in a fight, the blows of the combatants go back and forth with rolls on their Attack and Defence Skills with damage from successful hits rolled according to the weapon type, which often requires the use of six-sided as well as ten-sided dice. One interesting aspect of combat is that whilst all damage is recorded against a character’s Endurance – who will fall unconscious if he suffers damage equal to his Endurance – each wound is recorded individually. So for example, Alfred, waylaid by thugs, is beaten several times with their cudgels for a total of sixteen points of damage, which is recorded blow-by-blow as 5/5/2/4 (16). Wounds are recorded this way because each heals individually, at a rate of one point per week if resting or one point per month if pursuing a normal life, so that in our example, after a week’s bed rest, Alfred’s wounds are reduced to 4/4/1/3 (12). This makes for a dangerous combat system, but the issue of a character falling unconscious after receiving damage equal to his Endurance is problematic in that it is not necessarily deadly. Delivering a mortal blow is technically not possible, at least in the basic rules.

The rules for magic continue Maelstrom’s simplicity, requiring a Knowledge Skill roll by a mage to recall the correct incantation and a number of Will rolls equal to the desired effect’s difficulty. The game does not come with dedicated spell lists and the referee is expected to determine the rolls needed for the effect that the player mage wants. Again, critical successes and failures are possible, and their effects also need to be determined by the referee. In casting a spell, a mage taps into the “Maelstrom,” a dangerous and chaotic force that can, at the referee’s option, act independently for or against the mage, or even serve as a strange dimension that the mage and his fellow player characters can be cast into and out of, perhaps to end in some strange place or time.

Creating a character in Maelstrom involves assigning fifty points between nine attributes, each of which starts at a base of thirty. After that each character requires a Living, representing his past prior to going adventuring. Each Living determines a character’s age, appropriate skills, and possessions. The given selection of Livings is diverse, from Noble to Labourer, and includes Professionals (Architects, Clerks, Doctors, and Scriveners – lawyers), Craftsmen and Artisans (Armourers, Blacksmiths, Bladesmiths, Masons, Tailors, Tanners, and Wood-carvers), Traders (in everything from fish and fruit to wine and groceries), Travelling Players (musicians, minstrels, and players), and Herbalists. The latter are usually pacifists that collect and prepare herbs for medicinal purposes, knowing in which seasons herbs are available. The Herbalist Living is supported with excellent appendix detailing the herbs its practitioners work with.

Our sample character is Henyre Powlett, an architect who has been studying and working under a master architect in Bristol for almost half of his life. He wishes to travel to gain further work and experience. He is a gentleman whose family owns land in the county of Somerset.

Henyre Powlett
Architect, Age 26
Attack Skill 30
Defence Skill 30
Endurance 35
Speed 35
Agility 30
Will 35
Persuasion 40
Knowledge 45
Perception 40
Equipment: horse, dagger, good clothes, pouch with 49 shillings, a week’s food, skin of wine, and architect’s tools

Of the Livings available, the closest in terms to classic types in other RPGs are the Mage, the Mercenary, the Priest, and the Rogue. Mages are generally older as they need to take up a second Living in order to provide a cover for their sorcerous activities and likely membership of a cult. Mercenaries are excellent fighters and know how to use their armour to lessen blows taken and to use their weapons to inflict more injurious wounds. A Priest can exalt those around him through Preaching, and has limited powers – Detection, Warding, Casting Out, and Exorcism – over spirits. Rogues though, are further divided into Beggars, Thieves, Assassins, Tricksters, Burglars, and non-specialists, each with their own particular skills in addition to those general to the Living.

The Player’s Section is rounded out with a solo adventure and some advanced rules. The adventure is relatively short, but still atmospherically grim. It is designed to be played with an Assassin character who is given a target to kill. The advanced rules add encumbrance, attribute modifiers for Livings, rules for making a living out of a character’s Living, more detailed weapons and wounds, and the effects of critical rolls in combat. For the most part, the Referee’s Rules gives even more details on each of the Livings as well as a scenario. The latter describes a road trip from St. Albans to London in which various events occur and comes full of colourful detail. The adventure is well done and serves as a good introduction to the setting.

So far, Maelstrom is an immensely likeable RPG. It is full of period detail, never more so than with the character types which get more coverage in Maelstrom than any other subject, though this information is split between the book’s two parts for the player and the referee. It is also easy to play and run, the rules being simple and easy, but although the game can be run as is, it is not without its problems.

The rules themselves are too simple, especially the basic rules. The advanced rules are necessary to avoid the game being too simplistic, especially for combat, which needs the rules for serious and critical wounds for it to be more than straight fight to a knockout. For an RPG set during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, it seems a curious omission that no rules are given for the use of firearms. Another problem with the RPG’s list of weaponry is that whilst multiple damage listings are given for each weapon type – for example, “1-10, 2-12, 3-18, 2-20, 4-24, 3-30, and 5-30” all under sword – the listings do not actually assign an actual sword type to each damage value. Suggestions are given separately, which is anything other than helpful.

Perhaps, the biggest problem with Maelstrom is the lack of adequate background. A little over two pages is devoted to “Background: The Lie of Land,” discussing the period in the broadest of terms. The truth of it is that it not enough. Without more background, the referee is forced to look elsewhere if he wants to write adventures as beyond the wealth of detail accorded the various Livings, Maelstrom is sorely lacking. The Elizabethan Age is a period of religious strife, exploration, treason, and more, all of which is ignored in Maelstrom. The result is that the referee will need to come up with a background and a focus for his game, for Maelstrom lacks a sense of conflict that would provide that focus.

Further, perhaps too much information is paid to the characters and their Livings. You can of course, have too much information, but at the same time, there is the matter of whether a player would chose to play a Fruiterer or an Engraver versus a Mage or a Mercenary?

Physically, this edition of Maelstrom does need an edit and perhaps its layout could be a bit more open and easier to read. Worse, much of the artwork has a slightly faded, washed out look that renders the road map in the adventure very hard to read.

There is much to like about Maelstrom. Its rules are easy, and even with the use of the advanced rules included, the game is still quite light. The magic system is simple, but also flexible, and what is included in the book, is supported with two good adventures. The historical detail is excellent, but it is too focused. It needs more historical background rather the detail about the Livings and perhaps, it even needs a second edition. As it is, Maelstrom is not without charm, but it is without focus.

Dungeons & Dagon

2011-10-01T21:48:00.001+01:00

If you look carefully enough, the Cthulhu Mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft and many of his writing circle has always existed in Dungeons & Dragons. Most notably it appeared in the first edition of Deities & Demigods, but in the decades since that book, it was hard to find, the horror to be found in Dungeons & Dragons having been derived from both Gothic and cinematic sources. As Lovecraft’s own works have slipped into the public domain, their influence over gaming has grown, including Dungeons & Dragons. Not necessarily the Dungeons & Dragons as published by Wizards of the Coast, but that born of the Open Game License for Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition. So we see it in releases for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game – from both Paizo Publishing and Open Design, and also in “Old School Renaissance” or “Edition 0” titles such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess’ Weird Fantasy Roleplaying Game, but never more so than in the supplement, Realms of Crawling Chaos: Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy.

Published by Goblinoid Games, Realms of Crawling Chaos is a supplement written for use with the “Old School Renaissance” RPG, Labyrinth Lord in both its standard (in which Demi-Human races are treated as Classes, as in Basic Dungeons & Dragons) and Advanced (in which race is separate to Class) versions. It is co-authored by Daniel Proctor, the creator of Labyrinth Lord, and Michael Curtis, the author of Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls and The Dungeon Alphabet. What it sets out to do is meld the genres of Dungeons & Dragon’s “Swords & Sorcery” or “Adventure Fantasy” with Lovecraftian Horror. At the heart of the latter lie several factors: the insignificance of man, the vastness of the universe, an uncaring natural world, the reality of mankind as an animal, superior otherworldly beings, and science as a double-edged sword. No doubt many of these will be familiar to devotees of Lovecraftian investigative horror, but not necessarily to players or DMs of Dungeons & Dragons. Fortunately, Realms of Crawling Chaos details each of these clearly, but succinctly in turn before explaining their merging with Adventure Fantasy.

Still set in the Middle Ages, Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy posits a brutal world in which humanity predominates, but has to work hard and fight for survival. Magic is rare and what high technology there is, is a holdover from civilisations past. None of the common creatures of “Adventure Fantasy” exist in this world, instead darker, more twisted creatures exist, some from other dimensions, others having seeped down from the stars, and some that have evolved in parallel with mankind. At the heart though is the concept – best discussed by Ken Hite in “The Man Who Shot Joseph Curwen: Prolegomana to a Critical Approach to Call of Cthulhu” in his Dubious Shards, now available from Atomic Overmind Press – that in gaining recognition and reward for facing the unknown, the adventurers themselves become akin to that unknown.

Realms of Crawling Chaos presents no new Classes, but rather several new Races: Sea Bloods (Deep Ones), Subhumans (human-Voormis hybrids), White Ape, and White Ape Hybrids. Under Labyrinth Lord, where Races are also Classes, Sea Bloods are a Fighter/Cleric combination; Subhumans and White Apes are Fighters; and White Hybrids combine the Fighter and Thief Classes. Under Advanced Labyrinth Lord, only Sea Bloods and White Ape Hybrids can be Magic-Users or Illusionists, whilst all of these Races can be Assassins, Clerics, Fighters, and Thieves. Naturally – or is that “unnaturally”? – each of these new Races has something at least inhuman about them, but those of Sea Blood take on an increasingly Batrachian cast and are drawn more and more towards the sea as they gain levels.

The new magic in Realms of Crawling Chaos has a scientific slant, apart from the usual “Summon…” spells, being more alchemical in nature. They allow a Magic-User to “Condense Essential Saltes,” create a “Fluid of Preservation” for use on dead body or body parts, and such useful items as the “Powder of Ibn Ghazi,” whilst spells such as Geas of the Descendant with which a caster can influence a descendant much in the manner of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward; gain a companion like Keziah Mason’s “Brown Jenkin” from The Dreams in the Witch House with Initiate Familiar; and navigate the non-Euclidean architecture of the Old Ones with Walk Among Angles.

Perhaps a good third of Realms of Crawling Chaos is devoted to a Mythos bestiary, which adds two new characteristics for monsters to Labyrinth Lord – Intelligence and Psionic Strength. The latter ties in with the supplement’s rules for Psionics and allow for the mental abilities of races like the Elder Things and the Fungi from Yuggoth. The bestiary itself covers everything from Giant Albino Penguin and Serpent People to Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth, the descriptions never quite escaping the physicality necessary to Dungeons & Dragons. Nevertheless, what is so striking about the bestiary are its illustrations. Sean Aaberg’s heavy inks ooze a stark menace that the text descriptions never amount to.

A variety of Eldritch Artifacts is given a similar treatment, from the Fungi from Yuggoth Brain Cylinder and the Cthulhu Idol to the Mind Projection Machine and the Great Race Ray Gun. Realms of Crawling Chaos goes further than its bestiary in offering rules for the GM to create his own random artifacts in one of the supplement’s three appendixes. The rules for Psionics will be familiar to anyone who played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, though in comparison they are pleasingly streamlined and anything other than complex. Nor are they intended for use with player characters, for as the authors state, their use could outbalance the player character Classes. Anyone who recalls the Psionics rules from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons will find this something of a refreshing approach.

Rounding out Realms of Crawling Chaos is a series of fourth appendices. The second of these provides the aforementioned means of creating artifacts, whilst the third tells you how to use the Psionic powers in this supplement in Goblinoid Games’ post-apocalyptic RPG, Mutant Future. The fourth does a nice job of listing the literary sources for all of the Lovecraftian artifacts, entities, and spells; but it is the first that is most archly Lovecraftian. As its title, “Reading Eldritch Tomes” suggests, it deals with that most Lovecraftian of endeavours and its inherent dangers. Under its rules the Magic-User rolls against a tome’s given Complexity in order to Comprehend a portion of its contents and thus learn one of the new spells given elsewhere in Realms of Crawling Chaos. Simple failure to Comprehend the contents of a tome has no consequences, but a severe failure will force a save against its Potency and that can result in the reader suffering from an affliction such as acquiring an unseemly compulsion, developing a phobia, being only to speak in tongues, and so on.

Whilst the inclusion of the deleterious effects of the tomes is positively Lovecraftian, Realms of Crawling Chaos unfortunately does not apply the rules throughout the supplement. It would have been interesting if the Potency effects had been applied to actually encountering the creatures, entities, and gods given in the bestiary. That would have been made for a much darker “Dark Fantasy.”

The supplement does lack a scenario and at first glance, appears to lack advice for the GM. What advice there is, lies in the hints and suggestions given in the discussion of the genre and the suggested campaign types, and as to the point that this advice is, perhaps some advice to running a “Dark Fantasy” game and writing for it would not have been unwelcome. More of an issue though, is the fact that the effects of the otherworldly hideousness of the Mythos is confined to the Magic-User or Illusionist Class and then only when members of the Class take the time to read Eldritch Tomes. Despite this omission, Realms of Crawling Chaos: Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy provides a set of workable tools to create a grimmer, starker, and less forgiving fantasy world.

Curse of Chaosium II

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since there has been a Keeper’s Screen for Call of Cthulhu. Well, now there is, and it has two problems. First, it is French. Second, it is from Chaosium, Inc..

Now it should be made clear that this is anything other than a case of Francophobia. I neither possess nor can I profess any bias against the French. Not so, Chaosium. I do possess and I profess a bias against Chaosium. Perhaps then, I suffer from a case of “Chaosiumophobia”? All of which requires an explanation, and at that, I promise that you will get one. Just not quite yet.

The Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen is based on a screen originally published by Éditions Sans Detour, the French publisher of Call of Cthulhu or rather, l’Appel de Cthulhu. It comes as a three-panel affair in landscape format on thick, glossy hardcover stock, the type of card stock used for book covers of most RPG hardbacks that is now industry standard. The front of the screen shows a muted colour panoramic photograph from the archives of Miskatonic University that depicts three investigators surveying a strange site. It is a nicely done illustration, but somewhat lacking in atmosphere. It seems unfair to do so, but it does draw comparison with the Keeper’s Screen for Trail of Cthulhu, the front illustration of which is dark, atmospheric, and evokes a sense of dread.

The reverse of the Keeper’s Screen, or rather, inside it, is done in black, white, and grey. Running across the top of the Screen is an “Indefinite Insanity Gauge” which indicates exactly how much Sanity needs to be lost in an hour for an investigator to go indefinitely insane. The left hand panel gives charts for “Skills And Base Chances,” “Quick NPC Statistics,” “Sample Sanity Losses,” “Sample Phobias,” and “States of Sanity.” The centre panel gives “Prevailing Rules In All Situations,” “Characteristics And Attributes,” “Damage Bonuses,” the “Resistance Table,” and “Physical Injuries.” The right hand panel gives “Qualification Levels,” “The Order of Attack,” “Quick Weapons, Ranges And Modifiers,” “Combat Summary,” “Grapple Results,” “Skill Roll Results,” “States of Injury,” “Selected Weapons Notes” (which encompasses improvised, hand-to-hand, and natural weaponry as well as firearms, explosives, and armour), “Healing,” and “Attack Modifiers For Cover.” In many cases, the various tables and charts come with page references to the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook.

At first glance, it would appear that the Keeper’s Screen has everything that the Keeper needs to run a game and that all of the various tables and charts are very useful. At second glance, the page references in nearly all cases are very broad, referring to whole sections of the rulebook, rather than the specific pages from where the rules are taken for this Screen. For example, the “Physical Injuries” chart refers to pages 51 to 65 of the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook when in fact, the actual Spot Rules from which they come is on page 57. Another oddity occurs with the “Quick Weapons, Ranges And Modifiers” which handily gives the range modifiers for the various weapon types against creatures of varying Sizes indicated by silhouettes. Alongside the silhouette of a man, the chart uses those of a cat, a dog, an elephant, and a horse. Which begs the question, how many times are the investigators going to be shooting against creatures as ordinary as this, as opposed to Ghouls, Mi-go, Shoggoths, and so on? Alright, so the use of ordinary creatures is a handy reference to gauge the size of a foe in game terms, but not exactly relevant in the game itself.

Besides this, while the “Grapple Results” chart is useful, the Keeper is still required to refer to the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook – page 68 for the actual skill of Grapple – in order to actually find out how the skill works. It would have helped if there had at least been a reference to that page, but either way, the omission actually negates the point of the Screen – to make the game easier to run.

Beyond a glance, and perhaps with a successful Spot Hidden roll or two, it becomes apparent that the Keeper’s Screen hides some inconsistencies. So on the left hand panel, the “States of Sanity” lists effects from the loss of Sanity that are not described in the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook, namely social effects that decrease an investigator’s Credit Rating skill. On the right hand panel, the “Qualification Levels” for skills at 25% (Amateur), 50% (Professional), 75% (Expert), and 90% (Master) make sense, but are not found in the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook, though something similar is found in the Keeper’s Companion. Similarly, “The Order of Attack” chart states that firearms that can be fired three times in a round can be fired that third time in order of the combatants’ DEX, whereas in the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition rulebook, it is based on half of the Combatants’ DEX. Then the “Selected Weapons Notes” suggests that for natural weapons such as fists, kicks, and headbutts, possess a “knockback” effect. Nowhere in Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition is this ever discussed…

Accompanying the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen is a large poster done by the artists Christian Grussi and El Théo that explores the possible relationships between the various deities, entities, and minions of the Cthulhu Mythos. It is done as a kind of chart, complete with annotations in Gothic script and various anatomical sketches. The question that the poster raises is, “What’s it for?” Is it an in-game artefact, meant to be found by the investigators? Or just a free poster to be hung on the purchaser’s wall? If the former, then it hints at too much knowledge. If the latter, how many purchasers will actually hang it on their wall? The likelihood is that this poster is destined to get lost in a purchaser’s gaming collection, a creased or scuffed frippery, because it is not something that the Keeper needs to take to his game. Ideally, the Keeper should have had something that could have been useful for his Call of Cthulhu game, and if the poster is a bonus, then that exactly is what it is and absolutely no more and no less.

The design and content of the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen begs two questions, both asking what exactly it is. Given its suggested rules changes, is it intended as a preview of the proposed Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition? Or rather is it simply a translation of the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen published by Éditions Sans Detour? As much as many devotees of Call of Cthulhu – including this one – would wish the former question to be true, for the latest version of the game from Éditions Sans Detour is not only beautiful, but actually progressive in terms of its rules in comparison with Chaosium’s conservatism, it is very unlikely to be so.

Which leaves the purchaser of the Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen to wonder why Chaosium did nothing more for what is a major aid for its game than the literal translation of the French l’Appel de Cthulhu Keeper’s Screen? In doing that nothing more, it shows both a lack of attention to detail and a lack of understanding of the latest version of the rules that it has been publishing for thirty years.

As an aside, if Chaosium can simply translate l’Appel de Cthulhu Keeper’s Screen, is there any reason why it simply could not just translate and publish the latest version of l’Appel de Cthulhu and in doing so, give Call of Cthulhu not only the update and rewrite it needs, but also make it a more appealing product? That in truth, would have been a better celebration of the game than the Call of Cthulhu Thirtieth Anniversary Edition which was just not that special…

Penultimately, Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition’s Keeper’s Screen is a “curate’s egg,” an object that is in parts good and in parts bad, but as a combined result is entirely spoilt. Physically the Keeper’s Screen is sturdy and it has many charts on its reverse that will be useful when running the game, but enough of them are substantially different to the rules currently and easily available – unless you read French, that is – to make its use problematic to say the least. The simple is this: in publishing a product for its game line that is not compatible with said game line, but rather compatible for another game line in another language, Chaosium, Inc. got it wrong.

Lastly, I should address two issues raised at the top of this review. First is my possible Francophobia. Having already denied either possessing or professing this, I would go further and express Francophilia when it comes to the latest edition of l’Appel de Cthulhu from Éditions Sans Detour. I would like to see that translated into English and published in colour. Then there is the matter of my “Chaosiumophobia,” of which I leave you the reader to diagnose. I will though, leave you with a definition:

Chaosimophobia
cha•os•ium•o•pho•bi•a [kay-ozy-um-o-foh-bee-uh]
noun
an abnormal fear of a publisher shooting itself in the foot by not paying enough attention to detail to a long running and popular application of its intellectual property

A Third Savage Start

2011-09-24T22:23:00.000+01:00

With the release of Savage Worlds Deluxe, it does two things. First, it provides a full update to give a Third Edition of the Origins Award winning game. Second, it provides fans of the game with something that has been missing for almost five years now – a single core rulebook that provided everything necessary to play a game and run a game of Savage Worlds. Now in that time, the Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition has always been available, and in that time, it has been a very handy, pocket friendly introduction to the game, but in that slim book, there were things missing, most notably the rules for creating characters that were not human. In the cases of these missing rules, players and GMs had to turn to the various setting and campaign books for these additional mechanics. Which to be fair is no bad thing, as Savage Worlds is both supported by, and supports numerous settings and campaigns such as dark fantasy across islands in the sky (Triple Ace Games’ Sundered Skies), Victorian Imperialism and adventure on Mars (Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s Space 1889), and investigation into dark nihilistic horror (Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu), as well as many, many more. In fact, in terms of single different settings and campaigns, Savage Worlds is one of the best supported available.

What these settings have in common is the “Fast! Furious! Fun!” of Savage Worlds. The RPG focuses on action orientated, cinematic style play, with the player characters able to take down mooks or Extras with ease, but always having a fight on their hands when they face any villains, either minor or major. The system is also designed to handle skirmishes between multiple opponents, so that the players can easily engage in small scale wargaming as part of a campaign. In fact, Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s Weird Wars series, as seen in Weird Wars: Weird War II and Weird Wars: Tour of Duty, each of which takes place during World War II and the Vietnam War respectively, are written with this feature in mind as are many of the game’s Edges or advantages that a player can select during character creation or as part of experience gained during play.

Nevertheless, Savage Worlds is an RPG, so the focus is always on the player characters. Each is comprised of his Attributes, Skills, Edges, and Hindrances (disadvantages), with both Attributes and Skills defined by die type – four, six, eight, ten, or the twelve-sided die. The bigger the die type the better the Attribute or Skill. Human characters start with a free Edge, whilst to play a Dwarf or an Orc or an Android, the player has to select a Race package that comes with its own benefits.

Our sample character is from the setting of Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne and is a scholar-priest in the service of Thúmis, Lord of Wisdom, Knower of Arts, Hidden Seeker of Eternal Knowledge, and Sage of the Gods. Besides studying history, theology, and the ancient language Engsvanyáli, Uchang is trained as Dedaratlkoi, a bodyguard for the High Priests who knows how to fight unarmed and react instantly in times of danger. He wears form-fitting vambraces with which he can parry blows and even block arrows.

Uchang hiKharsan, Dedaratlkoi of Thúmis
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigour d6
Skills: Fighting d8, Gambling d4, Investigation d4, Knowledge (Engsvanyáli) d4,Knowledge (History) d8, Knowledge (Theology) d8, Notice d4, Persuasion d4
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6” Parry: 6 Toughness: 4 (+1) Bennies: 3
Hindrances: Loyal, Stubborn, Vow (Serve the Temple of Thúmis)
Edges: Martial Artist, Quick, Scholar
Gear: Vambraces

To do anything, a player rolls the die associated with his character’s Attribute or the Skill as well as an extra six-sided Wild Die because the heroes – and some villains – are Wild Cards and thus unique in the Savage Worlds setting. The highest result of either die is chosen by the player as his result, with the maximum result or Ace on either die allowing a player to reroll and add to the total. The base target for most rolls is four, but can be higher depending on the situation. Rolling Aces usually enables a player to roll higher than the target, with results of four higher than the target providing Raises that give extra benefits. Every Wild Card has one or more Bennies, these used to get re-rolls or to soak damage.

Combat uses the same mechanics with initiative being determined by an ordinary deck of cards. In general, Wild Card characters have the edge over their opponents, able to shrug off damage or soak it with the expenditure of Bennies before they start suffering Wounds. The combat rules in Savage Worlds cover not just man-to-man, man-to-Orc, or man-to-Xenomorph combat, but mass combat and vehicular combat too. The rules for mass combat lend themselves towards to the use of miniatures, either actual miniatures or counters, and the book comes with effect templates that can be copied and used with them.

The treatment of Powers, whether they be Magic, Miracles, Psionics, Superpowers, or Weird Science, is kept very uniform in Savage Worlds. Each is fuelled by Power Points, each has an associated Arcane Background Edge and Skill, and each of the Powers can have an associated set of Trappings. So for example, the common Bolt Power could have different Trappings depending upon its source. Thus a wizard’s fire Bolt spell could have the flammable Trapping, potentially causing materials to catch alight, whilst a Gadgeteer’s Bolt Power could be an Electro-Zapper that with the Electricity Trapping causes target’s to spasm. What this provides is a flexible set of rules that are really only let down by the Superpower option, which feels underpowered and clumsily implemented. Were I to run Savage Worlds, it would not be in the Superhero genre.

So for the second sample character, a spellcaster, we have a slightly reluctant agent who investigates the Occult for Crown and Country. His spells are geared towards to detecting and dispelling the arcane rather the zap-bang-pow type of magic.

Tim Dudley, Occult Agent for The Service
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigour d6
Skills: Guts d4, Investigation d8, Knowledge (Computers) d6, Knowledge (Occult) d6, Notice d4, Shooting d4, Spellcasting d4, Streetwise d8
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6” Parry: 2 Toughness: 5 Bennies: 4
Hindrances: Bad Eyes (Minor), Quirk (Cracks Jokes) (Minor), Vow (Reveal No Secrets of The Service)
Edges: Arcane Background (Computational Sorcery), Investigator, Luck
Spells: Detect/Conceal Arcana, Dispel, Divination
Gear: Apple spellPAD

One interesting point about the character is that he has the Guts Skill, which is no longer standard within the Savage Worlds rules, but rather found in particular settings or campaign worlds. This is one of several changes made, and features included, with the Third Edition of Savage Worlds, such as providing ready-to-play archetypes; allowing character to select Background Edges, such as Arcane Background and Linguist, at any stage rather than only during character generation; and the aforementioned removal of the Guts skill from most Savage Worlds settings. Throughout the book, the authors step in to give “Designer Notes” on these changes and other subjects from roleplaying, healing and “the Golden Hour (a term for the first hour of treatment when the injured have a high chance of survival), to the naming conventions of Powers and keeping design setting simple.

Beyond the game’s core rules, Savage Worlds Deluxe covers everything from chases and dramatic tasks to mass combat and “Interludes.” The rules for the latter set up simple scenes between the action in which a player gets a chance to relate something from his character’s past to the rest of the group, a nice new means to encourage roleplaying. Further, new Setting Rules allow a GM to tweak his game world, such as Fanatics, which has overly loyal goons leap into the path of damage that would otherwise hit a Wild Card villain – great for Pulp-style games with “larger-than-life” bad guys and High Adventure, in which player characters can spend Bennies to temporarily gain an Edge that they do not possess.

The “Designer Notes” and new Setting Rules are supported by a solid chapter on how to be a GM. This covers everything from getting a group together and group etiquette to running the game and creating game worlds. Much like the rest of Savage Worlds Deluxe, there is no great depth here, but the advice given is never less than friendly and helpful.

Savage Worlds Deluxe is rounded out with five “One Sheet Adventure,” short scenarios that can be played in a session or two. None of them are particularly sophisticated or complex and include a Viking mini-saga, a horror investigation, and a creepy zombies in space encounter. In several cases, the One Sheets make use of the Setting Rules given earlier in the book. In all cases, the adventures could easily be expanded upon, perhaps with sequels or even into campaign worlds with some effort upon the part of the GM.

Physically, Savage Worlds Deluxe is a slim hardback done in full colour throughout. Its larger fount size makes it easy upon the eye and the book has quite a light feel. All of the art is in full colour with not a single bad piece amongst them. If there is an issue, it is that because the art is illustrating a set of generic rules, it does not give the book a cohesive feel. This though, is not entirely fair, because what the art is illustrating is the action that should be at the heart of every Savage Worlds game.

Now what is important to note with Savage Worlds Deluxe is that it is backwards compatible. Every Savage Worlds title would run as easily with the version of these rules as you would in those found in the Explorer’s Edition. That compatibility is one of the great aspects of Savage Worlds, this one set of rules giving access to numerous settings and campaign worlds. Another is the simplicity of the rules, which are quick and easy to play, and support cinematic, action-orientated play. All of which are presented in this very accessible hardback that should serve Savage Worlds for some time yet.

Who's Got Zeus?

2011-09-10T20:12:00.000+01:00

Sometimes a game just lands in your lap. In my case it was a copy of Zeus on the Loose: A Card Game of Mythic Proportions, a new card counting game from Gamewright. I was on Twitter and Coiled Spring announced a simple competition for the game and I won. Once it dropped through my letterbox, I opened it up and read through the rules, ready to take it along to Afternoon Play, a regular monthly boardgame meet at a coffee shop in the city centre. I got the game out and we played it a couple of times in between longer games, in this case Ghost Stories (a very difficult co-operative game about Chinese monks ridding a town of ghosts and monsters), Railways of the World: The Card Game (laying tracks, connecting cities, and transporting goods using cards rather than lengths of track), and Red Empire (my favourite game of Soviet Politburo Politics). It was agreed that it was indeed a nice little filler. So I will probably take it along next time.

The idea in Zeus on the Loose is that the Greek god has gone missing from Mount Olympus and it up to you to grab him and return him to the summit. This is done by playing numbered cards – bringing the card total to a multiple of ten (ten, twenty, thirty, forty, and so on) means that can grab Zeus and getting to the summit (represented by the card total getting to a hundred or more) with him in tow will win a player the round. In addition, Zeus’ fellow gods – Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hera, Hermes, and Poseidon – will sometimes help you out in your efforts over your competitors. The winner of each round is awarded a letter. The first letter won by a player is a “Z.” On later rounds a player will be awarded the letter “E,” and then a “U,” and then an “S” for winning. The first player to win enough rounds to spell out “ZEUS” wins the game.

Designed for two to five players aged eight and up, Zeus on the Loose consists of sixty cards, a Zeus figure, and a foldout rules leaflet. Two thirds of the cards are numbered between one and ten, whilst the remaining cards depict the various gods and their special abilities. Each player starts with a hand of four cards and can only play one card per turn, which is placed face up on Mount Olympus card pile. If a numbered card the new number is added to the total of the cards so far, the players keeping a running total from turn to turn.

If a player brings the current total to a multiple of ten, he gets to grab Zeus and place the Zeus figure in front of him. If when a player puts a number down and another player has the same number on a card in his hand, he can immediately take his turn by playing the card in his hand. Sometimes this means that other players will miss their turns because turn order continues normally from the interrupting player. For example, the turn order consists of Dan, Geoff, and Paul. If Dan plays a seven card and Paul has a seven card in his hand, he can immediately play it with play order continuing normally – that is, to Dan rather than Geoff who misses his turn.

Alternatively, a player can play a God card. There are eight types of these, each of which provides a particular effect. These either alter the current total value of Mount Olympus, let the player steal Zeus from another player, or a combination of both. Lastly, a player has to draw his hand back up to four cards at the end of his turn or he must play with fewer cards until the end of his next turn.

Physically, Zeus on the Loose, is very nicely put together. The number cards are clear and simple, whilst the God cards are done in an attractive cartoon style. The rules leaflet is easy to read and in addition to the rules, contains a description of each of the Greek Gods that appear in the game.

Like many games from Gamewright, Zeus on the Loose has a strong educational aspect. The most obvious one being the arithmetic necessary to play, but there is also the information about the Greek pantheon in the rules and what it teaches about game play – that you need to pay attention to play well. Otherwise, a player will find himself losing turns as his competitors steal turns from him.

As intended, Zeus on the Loose is a well-designed educational game. Its designers have got the age range about right, making the game suitable for the classroom or for families with children of that age group. Adults will find the game play a little limited, more so if they are practised gamers. Nevertheless, Zeus on the Loose: A Card Game of Mythic Proportions is a nice little game that is great for families and great as a gift for families.

Prometheus Bound

2011-09-04T11:21:00.000+01:00

What if Victor von Frankenstein’s scientific endeavours came to fruition? What if he really could revive the dead, and how would he develop and use his new found knowledge? What if both he and his “creation” escaped their fates in the frigid wastes of the far North to return to Europe and alter the fate of a continent? These questions are answered in Dark Harvest: The Legacy of Frankenstein, a new setting from Cubicle Seven Entertainment that presents an alternate history of science perverted to the darkest of ends.

One thing that’s needs to be made clear is that whilst it says that Dark Harvest is “Compatible with Victoriana Core Rulebook” on the front cover, this is not a supplement for the RPG of magic, clockwork, and horror, Victoriana. Rather, it is an RPG all of its very own, one that uses a streamlined version of the Heresy mechanics first seen in Victoriana. Other differences – a shift from the 1860s of Victoriana to the 1910 of Dark Harvest and involving science more than fantasy – also mark it as a standalone RPG. Dark Harvest is not just an RPG, but also a sourcebook and an anthology of fiction for its setting – Promethea.

Having freed itself from the shackles of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-eighteenth century, the newly independent country of Romania forged ahead, flexing its muscles to assert her borders and territorial claims and sponsoring scientific and engineering learning even as the nobility balked at political and social reform. Amidst growing political tensions at home and abroad, ruler of Romania declared martial law, revealed himself to be none other than Victor Frankenstein, and renamed the country, Promethea. In the opening years of the nineteenth century, the new nation would transform itself into a scientific utopia and militarised state that would become both the wonder and the mystery of the age, its borders closed to prying eyes that speculated at the advances made by the new nation.

Behind Promethea’s fortified and patrolled frontier, King Victor hides a dark, dark secret. The country’s elite consent to his rule in return for incredible benefits that come with the Harvest, whilst the peasantry is kept downtrodden by the effects of this Harvest. This Harvest is not of crops in the traditional sense, but of the very body parts of the member of the lower castes of Promethean society. Organs, limbs, and facial features are “donated” by the peasantry, not just to enhance the physical capabilities of the Promethean Military Forces’ soldiery through Augmentation, also known as Frankenstein’s Gift, but also to enhance the beauty, the longevity, and the vitality of elite such that the rich need never grow old or die, but remain young and beautiful forever.

The lower castes have not wholly acquiesced to this state of affairs. It is not unknown for mothers to deliberately scar their children to prevent their being taken in the Harvest, and then there is the Resistance. Lead by the Creature itself, the original creation of Victor Frankenstein, who wishes not only to overthrow his creator and end the practice of the Harvest, but also to prevent his creator’s dark sciences falling into the hands of rival nations. Were they to come to master the knowledge of Augmentation, he fears that they would be barely as scrupulous as Promethea in the implementation of the new biology. Under the watchful eyes of the Promethan Military Forces (PMF) and the Domestic Security Forces (DSF), perhaps the greatest fear of any who defy the absolute monarchy of Promethea is not that their bodies be Harvested for the Augmentation of others, but that they be subject to Evisceration, a terrible punishment that sees their flesh and bone worked out into artistic tableaus hung on wire racks and kept alive by Promethean science despite their impossible agonies. It takes a great artistry and skill to pose each Evisceration for all to see…

In addition to being a more horrifying, less fantastical setting, Dark Harvest is also a humanocentric one. The only player option is that of human characters, but the setting and range of Augmentations available suggest numerous character concepts such as Augmented PMF soldier on the run, spy for a foreign power, huntsman augmented to sniff out his quarry, itinerant peddler who acts as a courier for the Resistance, or a wealthy socialite appalled by the nature of the Harvest who is caught between wanting to aid the Resistance and needing the latest fashionable facial sculpt in order to keep an ear on the comings and doings of the upper classes… (This is the sample character below).

Character creation is a mix of player choice, assigning points, and spending points. A player chooses his character’s social class, and then assigns a handful of points to his characteristics. These can be negative as well as positive, but player characters all start with a score of one in each characteristic. A larger pool of points is available to spend on Skills (divided between ordinary skills and speciality skills), Traits (or advantages), Privileges (social advantages), Augmentations, and Assets, while a few more points are available if a player decides to take some complications.

Name: Monica Flurinescu
Social Class: Upper
Age/Gender: 24/Female Vocation: Socialite
Build: Slim Hair/Eyes: Black/Green

Attributes
Strength -2 Dexterity 1 Fortitude 1
Presence 3 Wits 2 Resolve 1

Derived Attributes
Initiative 5 Health 3

Common Skills
Act 2, Charm 4, Dance 3, Dodge 1, Empathy 4, Etiquette 3, Firearms 1, General Knowledge 2, Intimidate 2, Perception 2, Streetwise 1

Specialities
Conversation 2, Cryptography 1, Fashion 2, High Society 2, Interrogation 1, Language (French) 1, Politics 1

Complications: Annoying House Mate, Glassjaw, Proper Sensibilities
Traits: Beautiful/1, Deduction/1, Drink Like a Fish, Natural Charisma/1
Privileges: Society Friends, Theatrical Patron
Assets: Wardrobe
Augmentations: Augmented Beauty/2

Some of the Augmentations available in the setting replicate Traits already, such as (Augmented) Beauty/Handsome and Mere Flesh Wounds, and so are slightly cheaper to purchase during character generation, whilst others are more outré, like All-Round Vision (eyes in the back of the head), Elongated Neck (works great for looking around corners or with the Bite Augmentation), and Webbed Digits. When a character has Augmentations installed, even during character generation, the GM has to roll a Surgery Test for each Augmentation, the skill of the surgeon being determined by the character’s social class. If this Test is failed, it can lead to medical complications, such the patient suffering from Tremors or Crossed Signals, the latter meaning that the Augmentation works, but its use triggers another involuntary action. If made successfully, it can mean that the result is Flawless – ordinarily no Augmentation can be grafted onto a patient without scars.

Beyond the actual surgery involved in their grafting, Augmentations involve other complications. The first is physical, in that they can suffer from Stress through extreme exertion, while the second is social, each class having a different attitude to the type and quality of Augmentations installed. For example, the lower castes despise the more frivolous types favoured by the elite whilst the elite revile the scarring associated with the quality of surgery available to the peasantry. Overall, the Augmentations have grotesqueness to them that comparable Steampunk devices never could.

Dark Harvest uses the same Heresy Game Engine first seen in Victoriana. It is a dice-pool system that uses both black and white dice, the pools usually created from adding an attribute and a skill together. Any roll that comes up a one or a six counts as a success, while any roll of a six can be re-rolled to generate yet more successes. The primary method of setting difficulty is by adding black dice to the pool, three black dice for a difficult task, six for a very difficult task, and so on. Any roll that comes up a one or a six on a black die reduces the total number of successes rolled. Fortunately, rolls of six on a black die do not get rolled again. The other method of setting the difficulty of a task is by modifying the total number of dice in the pool. Anyway, a single success rolled counts as a partial success, two rolled successes as an adequate success, three rolled as a good success, and so on.

The setting itself is supported with a full gazetteer for Promethea, which breaks country down region by region complete with a map for each region. It is a pity that these smaller regional maps could not have been in colour as the full map inside the front and cover. This full map is very nicely done, though I suspect that it is based upon a more contemporary map as Promethea’s neighbours include Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and others. For more flavour the RPG includes an anthology of five short stories that capture the desperation of the setting and some of key moments, horrid as they are. Mechanically, the setting is supported with details of creatures particular to Promethea (after all, how likely was it that her surgeons would place Augmentations in just humans?), plus a plethora of NPCs each accompanied by a story hook and a series of “Untold Tales” or scenario ideas.

Despite possessing a rich and evocative setting, Dark Harvest is not quite the fully rounded RPG that perhaps it should have been. Certainly there are more than enough hooks to overlook the lack of a scenario, but the lack of advice for the GM is more of issue as Dark Harvest is different from the atypical horror RPG, its gothic horror being born of scientific endeavour rather than from superstition and folklore. Some guidance towards that end would have been helpful as would a discussion of campaign ideas beyond the obvious one of having the player characters be members of the Resistance. Just as for the players, some character ideas and perhaps some sample characters might have also been useful.

Another issue not addressed the setting of Promethea is that of technology other than Frankenstein’s Gift. The DSF is given two signature weapons, but other weaponry is kept generic and so uninteresting. Other technologies are not even mentioned, leaving the GM to wonder if the setting is primarily one of early twentieth century biowear rather than the Steampunk so attached to the period – and to a certain extent to Victoriana itself. The option of course would for the GM to check out Victoriana for rules compatible ideas and its excellent supplement, Faulkner’s Millinery and Miscellanea, for possible equipment, but both of course have a fondness for fantasy and magic rather than the purely scientific pursuits to be found in the pages of Dark Harvest. Both of course, are also set in 1867 and not 1910… Indeed money is barely even mentioned in the setting and it seems odd that the prices for the weapons listed are given in sterling.

Physically, Dark Harvest is a nice looking book. The layout is kept clean and simple with some excellent illustrations, especially the pen and ink pieces that you just wish were accompanied by the full stats for each one as an NPC. If I have to quibble about the layout it is that the use of a non-serif fount looks anachronistic in places…

Now the idea of combining the biopunk genre in an altogether more mannered age is not new. Rippers for use with Savage Worlds explored some of the same elements, but to a pulpier, more simplistic end, that of monster hunting. Dark Harvest has its failings, most of which could be fixed with a companion volume, but otherwise, it is more interesting than Rippers, primarily because it draws from a deeper, more profound source. Ultimately, Dark Harvest: The Legacy of Frankenstein presents a grim alternate history, one born of pure scientific ambition perverted by vanity.

Tea, Taxes, & Terror

2011-09-03T14:57:00.000+01:00

Two conflicts lie at the heart of Colonial Gothic: A historical supernatural role-playing game, Rogue Games’ RPG set in the new world during the eighteenth century on the eve of the American Revolution. The second decides the future of the Thirteen Colonies, but the first determines the course of the Secret History that will affect outcome of the first... Flames of Freedom: Boston Besieged explores both of these conflicts by bringing the heroes to the city where the American Revolution began, presenting both a sourcebook for the city of Boston and a complete scenario set there.

In a way, Flames of Freedom: Boston Besieged is a sequel to game’s Colonial Gazetteer in that it presents both an area in greater detail previously explored in that a supplement and the first part of a campaign that is a sequel to the scenario presented in Colonial Gazetteer, "A Surprise for General Gage." It moves on the game’s timeline from 1775 into 1776, and thus deep into the efforts by the Colonists to throw of the over taxing yoke of the British Crown. The split between the source material and the scenario is one third for the former, two thirds for the latter. As ever the book lots of excellent period artwork that nicely captures the feel of the setting and while the writing is good, the book could have done with a closer edit. If there is a real issue with the book it is that the city map of Boston is too dark, especially the one given for the scenario, making the pertinent locations hard to find.

The section on Boston opens with a history that expands upon that given in the Colonial Gazetteer for the colony of Massachusetts, going from the area’s first colonial settlements in the 1620s up to the city being besieged. There is an understandable focus on the events that lead into the American Revolution, with the timeline projected through to the end of 1775 and into early 1776, so that once the scenario is begun, the GM can involve the player characters in future events, or at least keep informed as adventure progresses. The description of Boston itself covers not just every important or interesting location with the city, but also the fortifications that General Gage has ordered to be erected along her shores and the numerous islands within Massachusetts Bay.

Throughout this section many of the events and places are accompanied by one or more Adventure Seeds. For example, the player characters might have the opportunity to prevent the Boston Massacre with some adroit oratory, get involved in the Boston Tea Party, protect an occultist’s corpse, and encounter some very odd side effects of Smallpox. There are almost forty Adventure Seeds in Flames of Freedom: Boston Besieged, with about the right mix between the straight historical and the outré, that all together nicely extend the usefulness of the book and with some effort upon his part, can be used by the GM to add adventures aplenty between the parts of the campaign provided. These are in addition to the suggestions on how to carry on the included scenario.

The short scenario given in the Colonial Gazetteer, "A Surprise for General Gage," was designed to get the player characters to Boston. The adventure in Flames of Freedom: Boston Besieged, “The King’s Gambit,” begins with them in Boston itself, so the GM will have to find a way of getting them through the lines as it were. Through contacts the heroes learn that one Henry Jones wishes to hire true Patriots to help with the cause, leading to the first of several tasks and several encounters that increasingly involve the adventurers in the Secret History that will determine the future of the Colonies. More specifically, the scenarios will involve them in the Secret War that will determine the future of Boston, with the efforts of the heroes if successful, helping to bring about the taking of the city by Continental Army. In the process, they have to smuggle some leverage out of Boston; uncover some strangeness at a cemetery; and encounter both malign natives and a White Witch!

Each of the four individual scenarios in “The King’s Gambit” should take a session or two to complete. They focus very much on the game’s Secret History and that is no bad thing, as in the process they expose the player characters to both the good and the bad aspects of magic. The adventures are primarily combative and interpersonal in nature, but there are horror elements too, and over all they have a grim edge to them.

Flames of Freedom: Boston Besieged does a good job of getting what is the signature campaign for Colonial Gothic, off to start. It would be great to have a companion to this volume – perhaps a set of ready-to-play player characters and single, shorter scenarios to complement this first part of the campaign, but in the meantime, I am already looking forward to the next part, Flames of Freedom: The Philadelphia Affair.

A Gothic Lay of the Land

2011-08-28T14:50:00.000+01:00

Two conflicts lie at the heart of Colonial Gothic: A historical supernatural role-playing game, Rogue Games’ RPG set in the new world during the eighteenth century on the eve of the American Revolution. The second decides the future of the Thirteen Colonies, but the first determines the course of the Secret History that will affect outcome of the first... With the release of the Colonial Gazetteer, one of those two conflicts is supported and developed a little further with both background detail and a scenario.

More specifically, over the course of sixteen chapters, the Colonial Gazetteer presents a history of the Thirteen Colonies, details each of the Thirteen Colonies in turn, and describes the various native tribes and their relationships present in and around the Thirteen Colonies, all before giving a scenario, "A Surprise for General Gage," that can be run as a one-shot or as an introduction to Rogue Game’s campaign, Flames of Freedom. It is primarily a historical supplement; although the setting’s supernatural elements are not ignored. This is not to say that the history is unwelcome, for as much I have a love of history, pre-revolutionary American history is not something that I know a great deal about.

The supplement opens with an overview of the Thirteen Colonies, covering their history from early attempts by the English and the Dutch to establish colonies right up to the break down in relations with England. After that, it explores each Colony chapter by chapter, from New Hampshire and Massachusetts and the Province of Maine to North and South Carolina and Georgia, the youngest of the Colonies. Each chapter opens with box of key facts – each Colony’s First Settlement, Capital, the main source of its Economy, Native Tribes, and Governor as of 1775; followed by a more extensive timeline than was given in the first chapter, plus sections detailing the Colony’s geography, society and politics, major locations, and lastly, some of its “Mysteries.” This is a lot to cover in the five or six pages allotted to each chapter, but there is enough information here to make each of the Colonies feel distinctive and there are plenty of details included that the GM can use to add flavour to his game or a player to add flavour to his character.

Every Colony has local associated Mysteries, from the New Castle Lithobolia or stone-throwing devil of New Hampshire to The Lost Mission somewhere south of Georgia. Included amongst them are not only many Mysteries of native origin, but also many that are more modern and contemporary in origin, such as The Mothman of Virginia and Maryland’s Cumberland Bone Cave. These might sound anachronistic, and the author says as much, but their inclusion provides more options for the GM and none are so anachronistic as to not fit in with the period.

The penultimate chapter is devoted to the natives of the Thirteen Colonies. It gives the culture and history of the Algonquian and Iroquian tribal groups, plus a more detailed history for each of the individual tribes within each group. It feels a little too brief in places, but is nevertheless very welcome information for both the GM and the player with a Native character.

The scenario, "A Surprise for General Gage," opens with the player characters on the road to Boston in 1775, the American Revolution already having begun and the city being besieged by the Revolutionary forces. It is a short affair, and should take a session or so to play through. Once played, the heroes will be in the Boston area and have made the contacts necessary to begin playing the Flames of Freedom campaign.

Physically, the Colonial Gazetteer is a nicely presented booklet, one that makes excellent use of clipart. The maps are also decent, and everything on the whole is well written. If there is an issue with the book it is the editing, which is not quite as sharp as it could be.

If you to be running or want to run a Colonial Gothic campaign, then the Colonial Gazetteer is a useful supplement to have to hand. It provides plenty of historical background, if not in any great depth, then at least in enough detail to provide the GM with the basic information and a little more. Fortunately, a bibliography lists ready avenues for further research. In addition to the scenario included, the individual Mysteries particular to each Colony serve as both extra adventure hooks and as counterparts to the occasional dryness of the history. That history though, nicely imparts the feel of a society struggling with political and religious issues. Overall, the Colonial Gazetteer is decently researched, informative, and useful.

Kobold Comes of Age

2011-08-27T22:29:00.000+01:00

Another three months and another issue of Kobold Quarterly reaches the shelves of your friendly local gaming store to provide the reader with more support for Dungeons & Dragons in the form of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, as well as Open Design’s house setting of Midgard, best typified by the Free City of Zobeck. This issue – number eighteen – brings the magazine to its “Age of Majority” and in doing so, devotes itself to the themes familiar to players of both games, that of adventurers, flaws, dragons, and magic, supporting them with the usual mix of articles and columns as well as three whole scenarios.

Unfortunately, Kobold Quarterly #18 begins with some bad news. Its first article is the only one for use with the AGE System, the mechanics seen first in Green Ronin’s highly regarded Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying – Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5, and then more recently in Open Design’s Midgard Bestiary Volume 1. Fortunately, Steve Kenson’s “Gifts of the Gods: Divine Talents for the Adventure Gaming Engine RPG,” plugs a hole that opens up as soon as you move the AGE System into any setting that resembles a Dungeons & Dragons style campaign setting. Which is that it does not delineate between the divine and the arcane roles in the same way or as clearly as Dungeons & Dragons does, but by allowing the Divine Gift to be attached to each of the AGE System's three classes – Mage, Rogue, and Warrior – Kenson enables a player to create a scholar-priest, proselytizing preacher, or crusader type character. Taking the Divine Gift also allows a character access to miraculous abilities and divine stunts tied into the Domain of the god worshipped. Of course, the Domains of the Gods of Zobeck are listed. This is an excellent means by which divine characters can be added to an AGE System game without resorting to the less flexible option of adding a whole new Class.

The class options continue not for the AGE System, but for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Ryan Costello, Jr. offers us “The Savant: Master All Trades as a Universal Hero,” a Class that writes down things that he sees and hears about as Knacks and Trades in a Notebook and then is able to recall them and bring them into play. The idea is one day he might see how a wizard casts Magic Missile or an Orc wield a double-headed axe, and then on another day he can do both or any of an array of abilities and powers that taking a single Class would not allow him to do. It presents a very flexible Class concept, though one that is not straightforward to play.

More straightforward is Tracy Hurley’s “Ecology of the Minotaur: Children of the Moon,” which describes the Minotaur for the Midgard Campaign Setting. It does a good job of mixing the race’s bloodlust and love of mazes whilst also making them an honourable people. Mike Welham and Adam Daigle provide another character option and add to the issue’s dragon theme with “The Dragon Hunter: Taking Down the Titans,” a ten-level Class focused entirely on taking down dragons, whilst “Beast Masters: Why Should Humanoids Have All the Fun?” by Marc Radle gives an alternative to the Leadership feat in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. With the Beast Leadership feat a character can take fauna as followers rather than fellow men, a useful expansion for Druid or Ranger characters.

More feats are added to the issue’s draconic and magic themes with David Schwartz’s “Into the Dragon’s Den: Lair Feats and Auras.” Written for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, it allows the GM to add spell effects to the lairs of his dragons. For example, with Inspiration [Lair], a Bronze Dragon would let its servants and visitors breathe in its aquatic environment, whilst a White Dragon might cast Fickle Flurries [Lair] to impede the movement of any intruders in its lair. This is a nice combination of colour with rules effect. Two further articles carry on the draconic theme. These include Adam W. Roy’s “Cavaliers of Flame and Fury,” which add two knightly orders to the Midgard Campaign Setting, one of which rides dragons; and Wolfgang Baur’s regular Free City of Zobeck column which also looks at dragons in the Midgard Campaign Setting.

The other magic article in the issue is Phillip Larwood’s “Synergistic Magic: Combining Spells for Twice the Power,” which does exactly what says on the tin and has the potential to add the most fun in the game. Again written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, it allows a wizard to combine two of his spells or his spells with another wizard to get extra effects. For example, combining the Maze and Summon Monster V spells gets you Claw Maze which allows the caster to not only trap an opponent in a labyrinth, but subjects them to claw attacks from the walls of the maze too!

The flaw theme comes in three flavours. It gets very personal in Anthony W. Eichenlaub’s “Soul Broker,” which details a type of contract that once signed, lets a character borrow either rare or magical items in return a temporary portion of the character’s soul. Another option allows for a player character to actually offer these contracts instead of taking them, this it suggests as being a task favoured by Tieflings. Either way, the inclusion of this in a game gives it a diabolic tinge.

Situational flaws come with a discussion of “10 Reasons Why Your Characters Should Be in Jail” for both Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Written by Russell Jones, it is really more of a generic fantasy piece that explores how to use these suggestions to create adventures rather than to punish the player characters. Philippe-Antoine Menard gives us the type of flaws that every player character wants in “The Heroic Flaw.” An actual generic article, players of other more progressive RPGs will be familiar with its concept of a player character having a personal flaw such as a Code of Honor, Vow, or Personality Quirk, and in return for bringing it into the game, the GM will reward the player with a point that can be used for a variety of effects. Familiarity should not breed contempt though, as this is good way to encourage roleplaying.

The first two of the issue’s three scenarios are written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Matthew J. Hanson’s “Silus and the Red Dogs” is a solo adventure that comes with a ready-to-play character, a Halfling Thief, and in just forty paragraphs sees Silus attempt to escape his current life as a member of a street gang. This is enough to show how the basic combat rules work and tell a decent little story, though it would have been more interesting if Silus could have been allowed to make use of his Thieves Skills. It is followed by “The Exorcists,” a scenario that combines the themes of dragons, flawed characters, and magic. Written for four characters of first level by Tim and Eileen Conners, it begins with the adventurers waking up to find themselves having been resurrected by mistake and trapped in a monastery by a rampaging, possessed Gold Dragon! This is a single-session adventure that can either be run as a one-shot or the start of a new campaign, and is a clever, well thought out little affair.

The third scenario, by Jonathan Roberts, is for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Designed for a party of four characters of fifth level, “Who Watches the Watch Fires?” opens with the adventurers discovering not only the dead bodies of some border guards, but their watchtower still manned and foreign troops making their way beyond the border. Can the adventurers find out who now mans the watchtower and ensure that the fires are lit to warn of the impending invasion? This is an efficient, short adventure whose focus is primarily upon the Skill Test, which only serves to highlight one of the reasons why I dislike Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, that skills are a feature of the game, sort of a bonus to all that combat. (Open Design is to be commended for having Josh Jarman, author of the Midgard Bestiary, Volume 1, do a conversion of this scenario for the AGE System and make it available for download on its website).

Of the other articles, Paul Baalham’s “Elementary, My Dear Wizard: How to Build a Rock-Solid Mystery” works as well for other fantasy RPGs as much as it does for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition which it is written for. “Tools of War – Siege Weaponry” by Matt James is also for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition, adding these weapons of war to work with the rules given in Open Design’s Soldiers of Fortune supplement.

All of which of course, is supported by the usual selection of cartoons, advice columns, book reviews, and more. Amongst the assortment is “Battle Wizards & Sword Maidens: Essential Asian Movies for Gamers” by David Gross, which provides a nice introduction to the Wuxia genre.

If there is a downside to Kobold Quarterly #18, it is there are fewer articles for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. That is subject of course, to Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition being the game of your choice. Not so this reviewer, but it seems only fair that said reviewer point that out. That aide, this is another fine issue, the mix of articles achieves a pleasing balance and the inclusion of three scenarios makes the issue all the better.

7 Wonders

2011-08-21T15:57:00.001+01:00

Every so often there comes along a game that acquires the status of being the new “hotness,” a game that has acquired such a cachet all by word of mouth. The latest title to do so is the board game 7 Wonders. Released by the French publisher, Asmodée Éditions, this card/board game hybrid has the distinction of being the winner of the first "Kennerspiel des Jahres" award. This is a companion honour to the “Spiel des Jahres,” the German “Game of the Year” award, and roughly translates as "Connoisseur-Enthusiast Game of the Year." So what has got everyone, including a committee of German board game critics, so excited by 7 Wonders?

Designed to be played by three to seven players – though a two-player variant is included in the rules – 7 Wonders is a card drafting, resource management, simultaneous play card game with a Civilisation theme that can be played in thirty minutes from start to finish. All of which is done without the use of maps or extensive conflict, the heavy reliance on cards serving to simplify and ease the handling of elements that might otherwise be relatively complex in other games. The aim of game is to score the most points and 7 Wonders provides multiple means of scoring so that a player can win by being the greatest cultural, economic, military, or scientific power, or a combination of all of these.

Each player controls an ancient civilisation attempting to prove itself to be the greatest by building one of the great wonders such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, or the Pyramids of Giza. Every civilisation is represented by a rectangular board. An icon in the top left hand corner indicates the resources generated each turn, while three boxes along the bottom mark the three stages of the civilisation’s wonder. Completing each stage grants a benefit to the player, usually Gold that can be spent or saved, or Victory Points that go towards a player’s total at game’s end. Other Civilisation Boards grant simple scientific or military benefits, but some allow a card to be played for free or a card to be played from the discard pile. Every Civilisation Board is double-sided, marked (A) and (B). The (B) side is harder to complete then the (A) side.

The cards in 7 Wonders come in seven types. Brown cards provide basic resources like brick, ore, stone, and wood, whilst Grey cards give the advanced resources of cloth, glass, and paper. Red cards are military facilities and fortifications, whilst Yellow cards are economic, either generating an array resources or making them cheaper to buy from your neighbours, or simply granting a civilisation more Gold. Blue cards are cultural, representing buildings such as alters, baths, palaces, and theatres. Each is worth a straight Victory Point value at the end of the game. Green cards are scientific and marked with one of three symbols. At game’s end the number of Green cards with the same symbol that a player has before him is squared and the total added to his final score. Points are scored for sets with one of each symbol that a player has. Lastly, the Purple cards are Guilds that each score in particular ways. For example, the Strategist’s Guild grants a Victory Point for every defeat inflicted upon your neighbours, whilst the Philosopher’s Guild gives Victory Points for every Green or science card that your neighbours have played.

The cards are also divided into one of three Ages – I, II, and III, each more advanced than the previous one. The third Age is the most advanced and is the only one in which the Purple or guilds cards appear.

At heart, play in 7 Wonders is very simple. It is played in three rounds or Ages. At the beginning of each Age, each player receives a hand of seven cards. Simultaneously, every player selects one card and plays it at the same time. When done, a player passes his hand to his neighbour, while receiving a new hand from his other neighbour. Everyone selects a new card and again, passes on the hand. This is done until each player has played six cards in each Age. The seventh card is discarded. At the end of an Age, military conflicts are resolved. This involves each player comparing the size of his military – shown on the Red cards – against that of his neighbours’, with the winner gaining Victory Tokens and the loser, Defeat Tokens. Both Tokens contribute to a player’s Victory Point total at game’s end. This all happens once for each of the three Ages at the end of which Victory Points are totalled and a winner declared.

On each turn a player takes his chosen card and does one of three things with it. He either brings it into play, if necessary checking that he has access to the necessary resources, either on the cards before him or from his neighbours’ cards. If gained from a neighbour, these resources have to be purchased with Gold. Every player starts with three Gold, but can gain more from playing certain cards or from sales made to neighbours. Such sales are automatic and cannot be stopped. Some cards are free to play, either because they are a basic type or a player has a card in front of him that allows him to play the new card for free. Instead of bringing a card into play, a player can discard it from the game in return for three Gold. Lastly, if he has access to the necessary resources, a player can build the next stage of his civilisation’s Wonder, indicating that it has been built by sliding it under the bottom of the Civilisation Board where the stage is marked.

In playing a card a player has three things to consider. If he plays the card will it grant him the resources necessary to build his civilisation’s Wonder? If short of Gold, can he discard it for more? If he does not play it or discard it, will it benefit another player? For example, if you have played a lot Blue or cultural cards and the Magistrates’ Guild, one of the Purple guild cards, comes into your hand, you might want to play it, discard it, or use it to build a stage of your Wonder in order to prevent a neighbour from playing it. If he does, you know that it will score him a point for each of the Blue cards that you have played. It should be noted though, that sometimes a player will have little choice in what he can play, and his choice will be reduced as an Age progresses, and more and more cards are played, thus lowering the hand size. Essentially, a player is always attempting to make the best of his current and immediate situation, or rather of his current and immediate hand of cards.

The first interesting point about 7 Wonders is that you only ever interact with your direct neighbours although every player’s Victory Point total is compared at game’s end. The second is that often a Civilisation Board will influence a player’s strategy. For example, if the stages of a Wonder on a Civilisation Board grant a scientific bonus, then a player might want to play Green or science cards. The third is that the game plays slightly different the more players that there are. With fewer players, the hands of cards in each Age will come through a player’s hand more than once. While with seven players, each hand of cards will be seen by a player just the once. The clever thing is that 7 Wonders scales, the number of players determining the number of cards to be added to the game, but every player always starts each Age with a hand of seven cards.

The fourth interesting point about 7 Wonders is that there is no one way in which to win. I have won by acquiring lots and lots of Gold; by having the most successful military – although the maximum number of Victory Points to be gained this way is limited; by having the most cultural Victory Points from Blue cards; and by scoring Victory Points from others via the Purple or guilds cards. No card type is necessarily more valuable than any other, although the Purple or guilds cards and the Green or science cards can score a player lots of Victory Points. For example, I have seen my friend Dave score a total of forty-eight points from Green or science cards – which is a lot. (This was done with three Green cards for each symbol, for a total of nine cards. For each set of three symbols the same he scored nine points – for a total of twenty-seven points, plus for each complete set comprised of one of each of the three symbols, he scored an additional seven points. Altogether, forty-eight points. Again, a lot of points). The fifth interesting point about the game is that it is difficult to see exactly who is winning until scoring happens at the end of the game, although it is obvious who is doing well in each area.

Physically, 7 Wonders is very well done. The Civilisation Boards are of sturdy card with excellent artwork that matches the theme, while the various card tokens are clearly marked and easy to handle. The cards are all attractive and of a slightly larger size, so are easy to read. It should be noted that this means that slightly larger card sleeves are required to protect the cards. This is recommended because the cards will get a lot of handling. The cards are also illustrated with suitable art that matches the theme. The rules booklet is actually as large as the box and is not only easy to read, but also well laid out with plenty of examples.

Since my friend Dave bought a copy we have played lots and lots of games of 7 Wonders. After all, it is easy to do given that once a game has got going, it only lasts thirty minutes. Trying it with new players has never failed to leave them intrigued and wanting to play more, a situation that I found myself in upon the first few plays. I even went through a stage of disliking the game, but actually still being intrigued enough to keep playing. Now I find it an easy game to play and do so at some pace. If there is an issue to the game it lies in the difficulty of teaching it to new players. Not that the basic rules are difficult to grasp, but what it is difficult is gaining an understanding of how the cards interact and work with each other. On our initial play throughs this meant that games were lasting more than an hour, but with practice and an understanding of the game’s card interaction this dropped to the listed playing time of thirty minutes or less. Plus we have guided a group of seven players, only three of which have played it before, through a game in an hour.

Once the hurdle of grasping how the cards work is passed, then 7 Wonders turns out to be an excellent game, one that it is going to receive a number of expansions, with the first of these, 7 Wonders: Leaders already being available. Rare is a game that offers this level of complexity for its suggested range of players, in particular seven players. It offers thoughtful play and thoughtful replay value, and while competitive is rarely adversarial. 7 Wonders manages to achieve a nice balance between the light filler game and the massive Civilisation style game without bogging a player down in a welter of options.

Dae ya ken Cthulhu?

2011-08-20T15:05:00.000+01:00

From “The Coven of Cannich” in Shadows of Yog-Sothoth to “The Horror of the Glen” in Green and Pleasant Land, Scotland has figured not infrequently in scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. Yet despite being mentioned in the unfortunately out of print Green and Pleasant Land, it has never received the attention it deserved, for the country north of the border is very different in character and culture to the England that usually predominates in any supplement devoted to the United Kingdom. Fortunately, the latest supplement in Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s Cthulhu Britannica series, Shadows Over Scotland: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in 1920s’ Scotland sets out to remedy this lack of attention.

Shadows Over Scotland comes as a sturdy hardback, done in greyscale throughout with excellent artwork and a tidy layout. The book is divided equally in two sections. The first provides a detailed description of Scotland’s culture and history, geography and major cities, and major Mythos dangers, whilst the second gives six ready to play scenarios. The geography sections are very well organised, being divided into three regions – the Lowlands, the Highlands, and the Islands. Each section details the people and culture, flora and fauna, climate, Mythos Threats, and major cities. These are all very informative, but the highlight in each of the three sections is the descriptions of the Mythos Threats to be found in each region. No mere thumbnail descriptions, these portrayals are highly detailed, presenting for each four subsections comprised of Intrigue, Introduction, Investigation, and Revelation, the result being that for each Mythos Threat the Keeper has the outline of a scenario that has everything bar a narrative structure.

The treatment of the Mythos in Shadows Over Scotland in both its outlined Threats and in the scenarios keeps itself to a narrow range of entities and species. Deep Ones, Ghouls, Mi-go, Serpent Men, and Shoggoths all make an appearance, as do a number of unique creatures. Rare is it that a Great Old One or Elder God makes an appearance, and for the most part, the more immediate Mythos dangers come in the form of cultists rather than the unknowable, although there is plenty of that also. In keeping with Scotland’s urban/rural divide, the creatures to be found in Scotland’s towns and cities differ greatly from those to be found across its varied countryside.

Scotland itself is described as country whose inhabitants are still reeling from the loss of life in the Great War and are yet to recover from the economic downturn that was a result of the Great War. With so many of her people impoverished, the country finds her masters in London to be wanting and seeks answers in radical politics of the Left, with both the Labour and the Communist Parties. This is in addition to a growing sense of nationalism. There is also a growing artistic movement and of course, Highland culture continues to be popular. From this a Keeper should be able to inject plenty of period and national details into his game, while a handy guide to the phrases and expressions of the period should allow him to add colour to many of the NPCs, if not mystify the investigators and players at the same time!

The first of the six scenarios in Shadows Over Scotland’s second half takes the investigators to Glasgow for “Death and Horror Incorporated.” Scotland’s second city is beset by a previously unknown plague and a rash of deaths culminating in the discovery of a sloop from Ireland with her hold full of corpses. Designed for experienced investigators, this requires plenty of detective work, some ferreting around underground, and probably the creation of some more newspaper hand-outs by the Keeper at the scenario’s start.

This is followed by “The Hand of Abyzou,” which changes locations to Edinburgh and the vaults below the city with the investigators being asked to determine how a friend came to be near comatose in an asylum. The friend happens to be an expert on cults, so what was it that left him in this state? Like “Death and Horror Incorporated” before it, “The Hand of Abyzou” takes the investigators underground, though, much, much deeper this time.

The introverted nature of village inhabitants is brought to the fore in “Uisge Beatha” or "The Water of Life.” They are as unwelcoming to the investigators as they are to the new Laird, the reason being relatively easy to uncover, but probably beyond the scope of the player characters to wholly deal with. This has a well done atmosphere to it supported by a cast that the Keeper can get his teeth into portraying.

The death of a famed Norwegian deep sea explorer brings the investigators to Inverness to discover clues that will take them down the Great Glen and along Loch Ness. “Heed the Kraken’s Call” has a slightly pulpy feel to it with an action-packed finale that will need careful handling given the number of participants beyond the investigators.

Privately owned by Sir George Bullough, the Western Isle of Rum has an increasingly dreadful reputation with its inhabitants either having disappeared or left all too suddenly. Few now are prepared to step ashore even the owner is paying high wages as part of his effort to turn it into a haven for the rich and famous. Members of Bullough’s new staff have begun disappearing and he wants to know why. It is up to the Keeper to build a sense of isolation and possible paranoia as the investigators uncover the cause. Suitable for investigators of any experience, this is relatively straightforward affair that should last a single session or two.

“Star Seed,” the last scenario, takes the investigators to the archaeological dig of Skara Brae on Orkney, where a colleague from Miskatonic University has uncovered a strange artefact. They need to determine the nature of the threat it represents and find a way to stop it before it is too late. This is the shortest of the six scenarios and perhaps the most mechanical. It is also least interesting, and perhaps the best candidate for being replaced with more background material on Scotland.

All six scenarios are of a uniformly decent standard, such that it is difficult to really distinguish between them in terms of highs and lows. Of the six, “Death and Horror Incorporated” is enjoyable for the investigative process; “Uisge Beatha” or “The Water of Life” for brooding sense of paranoia; and lastly, “Heed the Kraken’s Call” is enjoyable for its slightly pulpy feel.

The Keeper will need to be inventive if he wants to involve the investigators in any of these six scenarios. The issue is not with the scenarios themselves, but with the given means of involving the investigators – too often they are introduced to the problem via a letter from a friend or someone wanting their help having heard from “somewhere” that they are capable of dealing with strange matters. While the inclusion of Plot Maps that list each scenario’s locations, personas, relationships, motivations, and clues is more than welcome, each would be easier to run if the attribute, skill, and Sanity checks given in each scenario was clearly marked for the Keeper to pick out of the page.

One of the aspects that Shadows Over Scotland shares with Cubicle Seven’s earlier Avalon: The County of Somerset – A 1920s’ Reference for Call of Cthulhu, is that every explanation it has for a legend or folktale involves the Mythos. This includes not only the infamous cannibal, Sawney Bean, and the shipwrecking Blue Men of Minch, but also why so many clansmen failed to get away from Culloden and what might actually be in Loch Ness – though this is Scotland, so giving a Mythos explanation for the Loch Ness monster is a given. Where this aspect felt cloying in Avalon: The County of Somerset, in Shadows Over Scotland, it never feels oppressive because the book’s Mythos elements are spread out over a wider canvas, not crammed into a limited space. Further, because they are separate rather on top of each other, the Keeper is better able to choose the ones that he wants to include in his game.

Similarly, while it is hinted at that the Mythos is the subject of scholarly research, Shadows Over Scotland never makes it the feature that Avalon: The County of Somerset did. Again, the Keeper is free to embrace or ignore this, but unlike Avalon: The County of Somerset, it never threatens to overpowerShadows Over Scotland.

Whilst Shadows Over Scotland is a possible definitive sourcebook for the Mythos in Scotland in Call of Cthulhu, it is not the definitive sourcebook for Scotland in Call of Cthulhu. The distinction is important, because the sourcebook does not fully deal with the mundane Scotland. It covers Scotland effectively both in cultural and physical terms, but ignores it in legal terms (important because the legal system differs greatly from English law), in terms of how to get to the country, and in terms of the media. Further, in terms of the game, it utterly ignores the player. There is no advice on how to create and play an investigator from Scotland. So whilst Shadows Over Scotland has been written with Keeper alone in mind, it still leaves him with a certain amount of mundane research to do.

Physically, Shadows Over Scotland is a well-produced hardback. The writing is clear, the content is nicely organised, and the artwork is well done. The cartography is unfortunately in places disappointing and indistinct, the latter usually down to the choice of fount. Also, none of the larger scale maps reflect the physical geography of the country as described in the text, so that the reader is only able to gain a limited grasp of Scotland’s geography. Also disappointing is the editing, which in places feels rushed towards the end, and shows a lack of understanding of the Call of Cthulhu rules.

One fact not mentioned so far is that Shadows Over Scotland is the work of a first time author, and then a resident, rather than a native of Scotland. Although this needs to be taken into account, the fact that it is the work of a first time author does not show. Indeed the errors and issues with the book do not lie with the writing, but with the book’s editing and intent, for Shadows Over Scotland is packed with informative background, details about the Mythos, and material that can be played, whether it be the scenarios or the Mythos Threats. It is these that are the strengths of this supplement, so whilst it could have been just ever so slightly better, Shadows Over Scotland: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in 1920s’ Scotland gives decent support in properly introducing Scotland toCall of Cthulhu.

AGE'd Creature Feature

2011-08-13T11:47:00.000+01:00

While we await the publication of Wolfgang Baur’s own campaign of Midgard into a full blown campaign setting, we continue to be fed little morsels of information about the setting, most notably about the Free City of Zobeck, through issues of Kobold Quarterly and other supplements. That changes a little with the publication of the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1, a collection of monsters for the setting that adds lots of little details and plenty of threats. What is significant about the supplement is that it not written for Open Design’s traditional choice of systems, Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, but for the AGE System or the Adventure Game Engine System. First seen in Green Ronin’s highly regarded Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying – Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5, the RPG based on the popular Dragon Age: Origins computer game, the AGE System is also the same system that will be used for the Midgard Campaign Setting. In presenting some fifty of the creatures, peoples, and threats to be found in Midgard, the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 has to answer two questions. First how does it hold up as a monster collection for its intended setting; and second, will its contents be of any use for the GM who runs a Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying game?

The book is very cleanly presented. Each entry gets its own page with a paragraph or two of flavour text, two or three paragraphs or so of background, a full illustration, and a full stat box for the AGE System. The latter includes its Abilities and Focuses, Combat Ratings, Attacks, and Powers along with associated Stunts. The range of artwork is generally excellent, some of it in colour, some of it not, the worst of the pieces echoing a style found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons thirty years ago and which feels at odds with the rest of the book.

The Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 reflects the setting’s mid-tech, low fantasy feel with its heavy use of both clockwork and the undead. Clockworks in Midgard are not mere devices, but sentient constructs, each often fused with the soul who gains a certain immortality within the mesh of gears and iron. Most of these, such as the Clockwork Myrmidon, Steam Forged, and Zobeck Legionnaire, are constructed in Zobeck and continue to serve the Free City to this day as its watch and soldiery, while the Clockwork Hound is a holdover from before the rebellion against House Stross. Similarly, many of the undead to be found in Midgard are equally as sentient, including the Ghost Knight of Morgau, Imperial Ghast, and the Bone Collective. All three serve the Ghoul Imperium in one fashion or another, the first two as part of its military, whilst the Bone Collective is actually a created swarm of mini-skeletons that ride ghouls or zombies and serve as the Imperium’s spies and assassins. These two elements come together in the Fellforged, a castoff clockwork automata whose device that normally house the soul of a volunteer has been occupied by a Wraith instead!

Away from the clockwork and the undead, the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 gives a variety of creatures such as the cowardly fire elementals that hide in smoke, the Firegeists; Goblin Sharks, previously described in the Sunken Empires supplement for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game; Kyprion Deckclearers, Minotaur sailors that specialise in boarding actions; and Merrow, cannibalistic river trolls. Nor is the sentience of the creatures in the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 restricted to the clockwork and the undead with several examples of several intelligent species given. Examples include Neiheim Enchanters, the charming Gnome prestidigitators with diabolic secrets; Harem Assassins, courtesans with the ability to entertain and then take a life suddenly and swiftly; and the Kobold Slyblade, thuggish Kobolds who work as hired muscle and prefer to strike from ambush rather than directly and openly.

In keeping with the AGE System, every creature described in the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 includes a list of its preferred Stunts, the special manoeuvres that give it an edge over its opponents. In the case of some entries, they rely entirely upon those given in Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying, an example of this being the Kobold Slyblade, with its preferred Stunts of Lightning Attack, Pierce Armour, and Skirmish. Others add new powers to this list of Stunts. A prime example of this is the Harem Assassin, whose preferred Stunts are Lightning Attack, Seize the Initiative, and Skirmish, but in addition can Backstab as per a Rogue, and also perform a Garrotte Strike with her necklace and deliver Poison, either by blade or in food.

If there are any issues with regard to the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1, they are born of the issue that have always plagued the setting. The lack of an overall background to which the reader has easy access without which he cannot place each of the entries in this volume in context, for example, the entry on the Imperial Ghast mentions the Imperium. Yet without access to other supplements the reader is left wondering about the nature of the Imperium, and perhaps a page or so of background would have been useful to that end and also as a taster to anyone coming to the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 with an interest in it as an AGE System supplement rather than as supplement for the Midgard setting. Of course, this will change come the release of the Midgard Campaign Setting, but nevertheless, such a page would have served as a possible enticement.

So how to approach the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1? If coming to it as the GM for a Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying, then it will be of limited use. This will be mostly due to the flavour and nature of the monsters it describes, they being more fantastical and traditional in their origins, such as the Goblin (Shark), or have their origins routed in Dungeons & Dragons, such as the book’s various Ghouls and the Derro Fetal Servant and the Kobold Slyblade. Whilst the setting of Ferelden of Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying is dark – well, it is in the title, after all, that darkness is unique to the setting and very different to that found in Midgard, which is drawn from the “Mittel-European traditions” with their heavy focus on the undead. Also, Ferelden lacks the heavy use of clockwork seen in Midgard. Nevertheless, careful poking around the contents of the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 will reveal several singular creatures that can be added to Ferelden without disrupting the feel. Typical of these are the Cave Dragon, the blind, ever-hungry, draconic creatures that sometimes work as mercenaries underground; the Death Butterfly Swarm, fey insects that feed on life energy; and Putrid Haunts, moss and detritus filled corpses of those that came to a sticky end in swamps.

For the Midgard devotee, many of these creatures will not be new, their having appeared before in previous supplements; but nevertheless, it is good to have them all in one place. Whether or not he wants the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 will be purely down to his like or dislike of the AGE System. For anyone running a campaign using the AGE System, but not necessarily in either Midgard or Ferelden, the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 represents an imaginative collection of monsters, each with a dark edge.