Stone Age Science Fantasy Starter

The Cave of Our People is a scenario for Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game. This roleplaying game of a Stone Age that never was, inspired by the fiction and films of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thundarr the Barbarian, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Cavemaster RPG and Hollow Earth Expedition, and more. This is a world in which humanity survives alongside dinosaurs and other creatures and ancient secrets and aliens lurk, with the Player Characters as warriors and hunters, shamans and sorcerers, exploring an environment dominated by a nature untrammeled by mankind. The Cave of Our People is a short, one session—two at most—scenario designed to introduce players and their characters to the Stone Age world of Primal Quest. The Player Characters want to join the People of the Vale. This can be as children wanting to become adult members of the tribe or it can be as newcomers to the area wanting to join the tribe. The latter is the default for the scenario, but either way, the Player Characters will have to undergo an initiation, and it is this initiation that will take the Player Characters into ‘The Cave of Our People’. This cave is located in a stony hill just north of Lakit and it is here that the people of Lakit bury their ancestors. In this way, the cave also serves as a link between them and the wise spirits who reside inside, and this is why it is thus used to initiate newcomers to the customs of the People of the Vale.

The Cave of Our People begins with the Player Characters in a cave with no other exit than the one to the outside,, drinking tea made with rare herbs and magic mushrooms by Brikla, the village elder, shaman, and leader. Under the influence of the tea, the Player Characters undergo a series of challenges. They will fight the Ape King, harvest fruits from an ancient mother tree, be tested by the environment, come to the help of others—both dead and alive, and even make a leap into the unknown… Each encounter will both mystify and challenge the players and their characters in different ways. This will seem like a random series of encounters and for the most part it is. However, there are acts that may not be obvious, but if done, the Player Characters will earn more Experience Points and if they can make it to the end of the cave system (though there is scope for the Game Master to expand it if she wants), they may be able to learn about some of the particular tasks which will earn them these Experience Points, so tenacity and clever play will prevail.

At the end of the initiation, the Player Characters awaken to find themselves in the cave where they started. This brings the scenario to a close as well, but it also sets up what is the most fun part of the scenario. Each of the Player Characters gets to draw a cave painting to add to the wall based on their experiences in the cave, but the best bit is that the players get to draw this out themselves. Even better, is the fact is that given that these are cave paintings, the players do not have to be the best artists to draw them. The scenario even has a blank page of stone where the players could draw them.

Physically, The Cave of Our People is cleanly and simply laid out. The scenario is solidly written, whilst the artwork and the cartography are both excellent.

The Cave of Our People is simple and straightforward, an easy introduction to Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game. It is also simple to adapt so that a Game Master could run it for Paleomythic: A Stone and Sorcery Roleplaying Game and other Stone Age roleplaying games.

Stone Age Science Fantasy Beliefs

Primal Belief is a supplement for Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game. This roleplaying game of a Stone Age that never was, inspired by the fiction and films of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thundarr the Barbarian, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Cavemaster RPG and Hollow Earth Expedition, and more. This is a world in which humanity survives alongside dinosaurs and other creatures and ancient secrets and aliens lurk, with the Player Characters as warriors and hunters, shamans and sorcerers, exploring an environment dominated by a nature untrammelled by mankind. Primal Belief brings ‘Paleo-Faith & Proto-Religion in a Prehistoric World’ to the world of Primal Quest, including esoteric rituals, ancient animism, prehistoric shamans, and forgotten deities from the time before memory and record. What it comes down to is a set of random tables with which the Game Master can create gods, faiths, and religions, and then use them as set of prompts with which to further develop the tribe and world of the Player Characters in Primal Quest.

Primal Belief contains tables for ‘Naming Your Gods’, ‘Placing Your Gods’, ‘Worship Your Gods’, and ‘A Blessing from your Gods’ for a grand total of seventeen tables. All the Game Master has to do is roll a six-sided die several times and within a few minutes he has a complete religion. Or at least the basis for one. This will result in a random selection of results, some of which may not make much sense, but then again, a faith need not make total coherent sense, that is in the nature of a faith. Or alternatively, he can pick and choose, using the entries on the table to create a more tailored faith.

The sample faith is the Church of Zu-Xanu-Huwa, the shade of the stone, who slides between the cracks and breaks in the bones of the earth. He encourages the splitting and breaking of stone to build homes and settlements, but demands the spilling of blood upon those cracks, which includes human sacrifice when a new building is constructed, and in every building, there must be room left in shadow sacred to him.

Name: Zu-Xanu-Huwa
Elemental Focus: Earth (Stone)
Title: Daemon Domain: Civilisation
Rank: Regional Deity
Form: Phantom
Sacred Space: Stone Altars Veneration: Human Sacrifice Following: Church of…
Totems: Painted Tattoos Totem Figure: Miniature Hammer Patronage: Poets & Storytellers
Blessing: Marble Effect: Blast

Physically, Primal Belief is cleanly and simply laid out. It is easy to use—and that includes with any roleplaying game where a Game Master might want to create and add a faith to her campaign setting. It does include a ‘PRIMAL DEITY card’ that the Game Master can copy and use to record the details of the new faith she has created. It is only a half a page in size, so it is difficult to use. It would have been easier to use if it had been a full page in size.

The main problem with Primal Belief is that it is just six pages in length and amounts to a set of tables. Given the lack of advice on how to develop and portray the faiths that its tables can be used to create, or indeed, any type of advice, it is sparse, bordering on the threadbare. This is because, despite how it is sold, Primal Belief is not a supplement for Primal Quest, but an article. As an addition to a supplement, such as Primal Quest Companion, the tables of Primal Quest would be a fine addition. As a supplement on its own for which money is being charged? Just feels a bit rich…

Stone Age Science Fantasy

Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is a roleplaying game of a Stone Age that never was, inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot, Quest for Fire and One Million Years, B.C., Thundarr the Barbarian, Horizon Zero Dawn, and the Cavemaster RPG and Hollow Earth Expedition. This is a world in which humanity survives alongside dinosaurs and other creatures and ancient secrets and aliens lurk, with the Player Characters as warriors and hunters, shamans and sorcerers, exploring an environment dominated by a nature untrammelled by mankind. Designed by Diogo Nogueira because of his love of dinosaurs and published by Old School Publishing, the core rules for Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game are presented in Primal Quest – Essentials. Besides a surprisingly thorough bibliography, this includes a simple set of mechanics using six-sided dice designed to handle both consequences and narrative control, character creation, survival and exploration, sorcery, and a complete mini-hexcrawl that encompasses twelve, lightly-detailed locations, that introduces the World of Thaia. In addition, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is not only supported by its own licence enabling others to write and publish for it, but also its own series of supplements, including The Primal World of Thaia fanzine.

A Player Character in Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game has three attributes—Body, Mind, and Heart. These can be negative values, but typically range in value between 0 and +3, though can be higher through experience. He has five Tags, one each for his Concept, Talent, Motivation, Relationship, and Trouble. His Vitality represents his Hit Points, whilst his Defence is dependent upon armour worn and shield carried. To this are added name, gender, looks, and personality. To create a character, a player divides three points between the three attributes, to a maximum of +3. A bonus attribute point can be gained by lowering one attribute to -1. He defines his five Tags and the five aspects of his character, and then chooses an equipment option. Three are given, one each suitable for a warrior with more weapons and armour and shield, one for a hunter with hunting tools, and one for a sorcerer or shaman with three foci for casting spells.

Name: Dres’zhi
Body -1 Mind +3 Heart +1
TAGS: Curious Shaman (Concept), Secrets (Talent), To Prove Herself (Motivation), Cantankerous Master (Relationship), Mother (Trouble)
Vitality: 9
Defence: 1
Equipment: wood spear, light armour, arcane foci (Fire, Spirit, Life), three torches, fire, three units of Food, three units of Water.

Mechanically, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game uses pools of six-sided dice, needing several of two different colours. One colour is Positive Dice, the other Negative dice. A player always rolls one of each die type. More Positive Dice can be gained by invoking a Tag, which can be a Player Character’s own, or come from an item of equipment, the environment, and even an opponent. Extra Effort, gained by sacrificing Vitality, provides further Positive Dice. Further Negative Dice can also be added to the pool, whether from poor equipment, difficult terrain, or spell or monster effect. Once the combined pool is rolled, the value of the highest Negative Dice is subtracted from the value of the highest Positive Die. The value of the appropriate Attribute is added to the resulting value and compared to the Difficulty of the task, which ranges between zero and moderate and six or Legendary. The default is zero, but it is otherwise determined by a stat, such as an Attribute, Defence, and so on. If the final value is equal to, or greater than the difficulty, the character succeeds.

The degree of success, or Effect, of a task, is determined by subtracting the result from the Difficulty. In addition, a Player Character can benefit from Boons and Setbacks. A Boon is gained for rolling a six on a Positive Die, a Setback for rolling a six on a Negative Die. A Boon can be used to add an extra Stat if appropriate to the result, give an extra Positive Die to another Player Character’s action, impose a Negative Die on an opponent, or to gain insight about a situation. A Setback can grant an extra Stat if appropriate to an opponent’s result, add an extra Positive Die to an opponent’s action, inflict a Negative Die on the Player Character’s next action, or add a negative consequence to the current situation.

Combat uses the same mechanics, with an opponent’s Defence value, derived from his armour, determining the Difficulty. A shield blocks an attack entirely, but used to block too many attacks and it will break. Weapons inflict either one, two, or four points of damage depending upon their size, plus the Effect value of the attack roll. Combat can be short and brutal, but the healing rules are fairly forgiving.

The primary resources in the game are food and water, and Player Characters need one of each per day to survive. The primary means of exchange is barter, and there are simple rules for encumbrance and material durability, which includes bronze—though not copper—as well as wood, stone, and bone.

Sorcery requires two things—an Arcane Focus and an associated word. The latter can be ‘Fire’ or ‘Truth’ or ‘Grasp’, and once a focus—a particular object like a stone with a hole through it or a piece of carved leather or bone—it cannot be used with another word. That said, different foci and their words can be combined for different spell effects. Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game does not include spell lists, but instead a sorcerer decides upon the desired spell effect and describes how he is using the Arcane Focus to cast it. Once a player has described the spell that he wants his character to cast, the Game Master decides whether it is a Cantrip, Invocation, Ritual, or Miracle, each one more difficult to cast than the last.

For the Game Master there is the recommendation that safety tools be used and several pointers of good advice. Much of it will be obvious to an experienced Game Master, but useful, nonetheless. Further rules cover opponents, exploration, getting lost, camping, and so on. Half of Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is dedicated to ‘Mother’s Vale’, a ‘Weird Stone & Sorcery mini-Hexcrawl’. To the north lies Father Mountain rich with life upon its slopes; to the south in the Deep Jungle the Mother Tree upon which grows fruit that can restore life to the dead, to the west the Fanged Hills that smell of fear, sweat, and death; and to the east, lies the Tower That Fell, a strange organic structure that left a ravine and Mother’s Mounds, a series of ravines that stretch for miles and lead beneath the vale where the remains of ancient, non-human civilisations can be found. There are twelve locations strewn across Mother’s Vale, each given a broad description, a combination of a problem, a secret, a danger, or a special detail, and a table of random encounters. The latter ranges from tribesmen from the three humankind villages in the Mother’s Vale, aurochs, and Triceratops to Argentinosauruses, a Giganotosaurus, and Devouring Chaos Beasts via Red Gorillas, Yeti, Giant Constrictors, Brachiosauruses, and a whole lot more. These encounter tables also serve as the bestiary for Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game.

Although obviously an anachronistic mix of Stone Age man and dinosaurs, in very Ray Harryhausen fashion, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is also a Pulp adventure setting, a lost world of sorts which mixes in elements of Science Fiction too. Much of these require further development upon the part of the Game Master, as the ‘Mother’s Vale’ is drawn in quite broad detail. Once that is done, the Game Master can add an adventure site or two and be in position to respond to what the players and their characters want to do. That said, there is plenty of further content available for the roleplaying game, plus each of the three villages in Mother’s Vale—the obvious starting point for any campaign—has a problem that can easily serve as a hook for the Player Characters.

Physically, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is well done. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is decent, whilst the cartography for Mother’s Vale is engaging. It does need an edit in places and feels slightly underwritten in others.

In terms of tone and to an extent play style, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is like an Old School Renaissance roleplaying game, but mechanically, it is anything but that. Its dice pool mechanics are far more modern and its narrative controls in the form of Boons and Setback are distinctly opposite the mechanics you would find in an Old School Renaissance retroclone. That aside, Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game is a solid Pulp-style Stone Age-set roleplaying game in which its Science Fiction and Fantasy elements and thus many of its stories are wrapped up as mysteries for the Game Master to develop and make her own.

[Fanzine Focus XXVIII] Screams Amongst The Stars

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

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, whilst the fanzine format is typically used to support other roleplaying games, it has also been used as a vehicle for complete, if small roleplaying games of their own.

Screams Amongst The Stars: A Space Horror Role Playing Game is a minimalist roleplaying game built on the architecture of Into the Odd. It was published by Gallant Knight Games in 2020, following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of the Old Skull Zine RPG Trilogy—the others being Running Out of Time and The Dead Are Coming: a zombie apocalypse survival rpg —for ZineQuest #2.

As the title suggests, Screams Amongst the Stars is a weird space horror set on the frontier of known space where Spacers are caught between the conflicting interests of organisations—governments and corporations—competing to explore, colonise, and exploit alien worlds. Mankind though, is not alone. The universe is full of strange environments, strange aliens, and even stranger phenomena. Bugs which corrode flesh, things which burst out of bellies, and then there are the weird aliens which simply watch, never revealing why… Ruins which defy purpose and explanation even as they whisper to you. Stars which pulse and flicker, causing time and space to fluctuate. Far out on the edge of space, can the rational mind of man withstand the inexplicable and incalculable? Inspired by films such as Alien, Event Horizon, Apollo 18, Pitchblack, and others, Screams Amongst the Stars provides a broadly drawn background and minimalist mecahnics in which to do Blue Collar Science Fiction horror and supports it with several strange aliens and then table after table of rumours, colonies, weird encounters, alien ruins, impending catastrophes, job events, and more.

In Screams Amongst the Stars, players take the roles of Spacers, mercenaries, company reps, grifters, space marines, scavengers, pilots, cleaners, bartenders, and more, who work in space, whether that is on a colony, a spaceship, or station. Each is defined by three attributes—Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower, his Hit Points, his Oxygen, and his Background. His Oxygen keeps him alive in space or on hostile worlds, whilst a Background can be anything from an Academy Student and Cantina Cook to Grifter and Movie Star. To create a Spacer, a player rolls two six-sided dice and adds three for each attribute, and can swap two, and rolls one six-sided die for both Hit Points and Oxygen. (Unlike in The Dead Are Coming, there is much less of an emphasis on Resources in Screams Amongst the Stars.) Cross-referencing the results for Hit Points and Resources determines the Spacer’s Background, which gives him one or two useful items. Name, physical details, and personality traits can be rolled on separate tables. The process is quick and easy and takes a few minutes.

Name: Angela Amato

Strength 11

Dexterity 08

Willpower 11

Hit Points 3

Background: Navigator

Oxygen: 3

Equipment: Star Maps, Starship Miniatures, Torch, Lucky Faux Rabbit's Foot, two Oxygen Cannisters, Holdout Pistol

Description: One-Eyed, Competitive

Mechanically, Screams Amongst the Stars uses Saves. These are rolls of a twenty-sided die against the appropriate attribute. Depending upon how well prepared a Spacer is, what equipment he has, or whether he an appropriate Background, his player will roll with Advantage, that is roll two twenty-sided dice and use the lowest result. Conversely, if the Spacer is ill-prepared, outmatched, or hindered, his player will roll with Disadvantage.

Combat in Screams Amongst the Stars is deadly. Initiative is handled narratively, the Game Master determining who acts depending upon the situation. Any attack always hits, so instead of rolling to hit, the player or Game Master just rolls damage. All weapons ‘explode’ and allow an extra die to be rolled and added to the total if the maximum number on a die is rolled. It is also possible to attack with an advantage or a disadvantage. The former increases the damage inflicted, whilst the later reduces it. Defence, either from cover or armour, even a space suit, worn by a Spacer will reduce the amount of damage done, but after that, it is first deducted from their Hit Points and their Strength. Once a Spacer suffers damage to his Strength, this is Critical Damage and his player must make saves against his Strength and if failed, he becomes Incapacitated. If a Spacer’s Strength is reduced to zero, he is dead, and similarly, if his Dexterity is reduced to zero, he is paralysed.

In between Strength and Hit Points, there is the Scars table. This is rolled on if a Spacer’s Hit Points is reduced to exactly zero without any Strength damage. The amount of damage suffered determines the result. For example, a two means that the Spacer falters and shakes his head, is forced to reroll his Hit Points, and can Save against one of his attributes, which if failed, will increase its value by one. This and other options are the only way to increase a Spacer’s attributes or Hit Points. The entries on the Scar table are all interesting and can lead to some fun roleplaying outcomes, but because attacks are more likely to inflict damage that will result in Critical Damage, the likelihood of these results coming into play is uncommon.

Screams Amongst the Stars is a horror roleplaying game and it includes rules for the effect of encountering the strange things of the universe. Seeing even the mildest of strangest things means losing a point of Willpower, all the way up to losing the result of a roll of a ten-sided die for encountering something earth-shattering. When Willpower and when that is reduced to zero, a Spacer suffers a Crisis Event. This can be anything from the Spacer holding it together and having Advantage for all saves for a short while, to suffering a heart attack and either dying or passing out. Willpower is regained by resting and spending time with a personal item.

Simple rules for other hazards, such as starvation, pressure, vacuum, radiation, and more, are all covered in Scream Amongst the Stars, as well as for running groups or units, called Detachments, if the game warrants larger combats. Detachments are treated as having the same attributes and stats as a Spacer, but on a much larger scale, and spaceships are treated like Detachments. The rules for spaceships are kept simple and as close to those for Spacers as possible, but it is possible to upgrade spaceships and in combat, each of the crew has particular tasks they can do. There are some notes on types of spaceships—military, scout, scientific, transport, and so on—all of which can be modelled by adding various upgrades.

Scream Amongst the Stars includes advice for both the player and the Game Master. For the player, this is ask questions and plan and work with others, build alliances, especially to avoid both risk and dice rolls, the latter because dice rolls because they have consequences. He should also play to survive and play hard—dirty if necessary—but enjoy his Spacer’s death. After all, Spacers are replaceable. For the Game Master, the world of Scream Amongst the Stars should be presented as dangerous and make that danger obvious to her players, present choices, show the consequences of those choices, and have her players roll Saves as a result of their making choices.

In terms of background, Scream Amongst the Stars presents only some basic details. There are four major governments—the United Americas, the People’s Union of Prosperity, the Confederation of Free Nations, and the Great Africa—all formed to survive the ecological and economic crisis at the end of the twenty-first century, whilst there are just the two corporations described. Several alien species are described, including the elusive Engineers and Watchers, and the more dangerous Devourers and Dopplegangers. These are actually all decently described, and are perhaps the highlight of Scream Amongst the Stars. All come with one set of stats, tables of rumours, related jobs, and rumours. Similarly, there are extensive tables for creating colonies, weird encounters, alien ruins, job ideas, impending catastrophes, and more. All of which are really bullet point prompts from which the Game master is expected to develop for her game. Now this does mean the Game Master is left very much on her to create the content and scenarios for her game, and that is much harder to do with Scream Amongst the Stars, than it is with The Dead Are Coming, primarily because the Blue Collar Science Fiction horror genre is more complex than the zombie uprising, post-apocalypse genre. It should not be an issue for the experienced Game Master, but for the Game Master with less experience and less knowledge of the genre, Scream Amongst the Stars presents is definitely more challenging. The prompts of course, would also work with other Blue Collar Science Fiction horror roleplaying games, such as Alien: The Roleplaying Game and the MOTHERSHIP Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game.

Physically, Scream Amongst the Stars is well presented, but the heavy use of colour and the often clashing images do not always make it an easy book to read. As mechanically simple and straightforward as Scream Amongst the Stars is, it will require some set-up upon the part of the Game Master. Whilst the players put their Spacers together and design their spaceship, the Game Master will be needing to detail threats and environments and aliens, and as many prompts as there are in Scream Amongst the Stars, this takes no little effort. As good as the alien descriptions are and as useful as their associated tables of rumours and jobs are, some advice could have been included on creating alien threats to help the Game Master when not using these major species. That is really the major omission in this roleplaying game and their inclusion would have made Screams Amongst the Stars much more of a toolkit for the genre.

Screams Amongst the Stars combines simple rules with a familiar genre, that of Blue Collar Science Fiction horror. Its future universe is no less brutal or dangerous than similar presentations of the genre, but it is weirder and stranger, including its aliens which have an engaging elusiveness and enigmatic sense of the unknown to them. For the less experienced Game Master, Screams Amongst the Stars is underwritten though, especially in terms of background and advice, but for the experienced Game Master, there are lots of tools, ideas, and prompts to develop here and make the Blue Collar Science Fiction horror genre of Screams Amongst the Stars her own.

[Fanzine Focus XXVII] The Dead Are Coming

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

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, whilst the fanzine format is typically used to support other roleplaying games, it has also been used as a vehicle for complete, if small roleplaying games of their own.

The Dead Are Coming: a zombie apocalypse survival rpg is a minimalist roleplaying game built on the architecture of Into the Odd. It was published by Gallant Knight Games in 2020, following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of the Old Skull Zine RPG Trilogy—the others being Running Out of Time and Screams Amongst The Stars—for ZineQuest #2. As the title suggests, it is a post apocalyptic roleplaying game in which the dead have arisen and the survivors are forced into a struggle to survive, look after their friends and family and keep them safe, and perhaps build a refuge from which they can gain some measure of protection. Arrayed against them are not just small bands of the living dead, but potentially hordes—and not necessarily of the ordinary members of the shambling corpse cortège. They include the Sluggish, the Runner, the Hulk, the Spitter, the Toxic, and more... The Dead Are Coming includes thirty-six character backgrounds, simple player-facing mechanics, a deadly combat system which emphasises some potentially deadly nasty outcomes, simple rules for handling communities and their actions, ten zombie types, and a set of tables around which the Game Master can build a scenario or campaign. Throughout the world of The Dead Are Coming is presented as a dangerous one, a world where choices have consequences, and a world where death is just around the corner... Typically shuffling towards you on two legs.

A Survivor in The Dead Are Coming is defined by three attributes—Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower, his Hit Points, his Resources, and his Background. Resources consist of Food, Water, Bullets, and Fuel, whilst a Background can be anything from a Highschool Student or Foodtruck Chef to Clown or Soccer Star. To create a Survivor, a player rolls two six-sided dice and adds three for each attribute, and can swap two, and rolls one six-sided die for both Hit Points and Resources, the latter determining how many the Survivor has for all four types of Resource. Cross-referencing the results for Hit Points and Resources determines the Survivor’s Background, which gives him one or two useful items. Name, physical details, and personality traits can be rolled on separate tables. The process is quick and easy and takes a few minutes.

Name: Ryan Murdock

Strength 9

Dexterity 10

Willpower 11

Hit Points 4

Background: Zookeeper

Resources: 2 (Food 1 Water 1 Bullets 0 Fuel 0)

Equipment: Torch, photograph of partner, monkey, tranquiliser darts, dart gun

Description: Goatee, Fanatical

Resources and a Survivor’s Inventory are an important aspect of the game. Food and Water are required daily, Fuel is consumed per four hours of travel, and Bullets are expended only when a one is rolled on a damage die. For ease of play, there is no difference between Fuel types or Bullet types, the emphasis being on survival and play rather than unnecessary details. A Survivor’s Inventory is not just important because of what he is carrying, but how he is carrying it is. It is listed in order of packing and accessibility on the Survivor’s character sheet and if he needs to pull something out of a bag or backpack fast, his player needs to roll higher than the number it is stored on. Of course, this only comes into play when dramatically appropriate, but when it does, it adds to the tension. In addition, every items has a limited durability, after which a Survivor will need to repair, recharge, or refill it that item to use it again—if the item has not been destroyed.

Mechanically, The Dead Are Coming uses Saves. These are rolls of a twenty-sided die against the appropriate attribute. Depending upon how well prepared a Survivor is, what equipment he has, or whether he an appropriate Background, his player will roll with Advantage, that is roll two twenty-sided dice and use the lowest result. Conversely, if the Survivor is ill-prepared, outmatched, or hindered, his player will roll with Disadvantage.

Combat in The Dead Are Coming is deadly. Initiative is handled narratively, the Game Master determining who acts depending upon the situation. Any attack always hits, so instead of rolling to hit, the player or Game Master just rolls damage. All weapons ‘explode’ and allow an extra die to be rolled and added to the total if the maximum number on a die is rolled. It is also possible to attack with an advantage or a disadvantage. The former increases the damage inflicted, whilst the later reduces it. Defence, whether unnatural for a Zombie or cover for a Survivor, and any armour worn by a Survivor will reduce the amount of damage done, but after that, it is first deducted from their Hit Points and their Strength. Once a Survivor suffers damage to his Strength, this is Critical Damage and his player must make saves against his Strength and if failed, he becomes Incapacitated. If a Survivor’s Strength is reduced to zero, he is dead, and similarly, if his Dexterity is reduced to zero, he is paralyzed.

In between Strength and Hit Points, there is the Scars table. This is rolled on if a Survivor’s Hit Points is reduced to exactly zero without any Strength damage. The amount of damage suffered determines the result. For example, a two means that the Survivor falters and shakes his head, is forced to reroll his Hit Points, and can Save against one of his attributes, which if failed, will increase its value by one. This and other options are the only way to increase a Survivor’s attributes or Hit Points. The entries on the Scar table are all interesting and can lead to some fun roleplaying outcomes, but because attacks are more likely to inflict damage that will result in Critical Damage, the likelihood of these results coming into play is uncommon.

The Dead Are Coming is a horror roleplaying game and it includes rules for the effect of encountering the cadaver cavalcade. Seeing someone devoured by zombies results in the loss of Willpower and when that is reduced to zero, a Survivor suffers a Stressful Event. This can be anything from the Survivor holding it together and having Advantage for all saves for a short while, to suffering a heart attack and either dying or passing out. Willpower is regained by resting and spending time with a personal item.

The Dead Are Coming is not just about fighting the undead threat, but also dealing with other Survivors, gaining Followers, and eventually forming a Band and perhaps even a Community. Guidance is given for how many Resource Units it might take to gain a favours or trade deals, and simple rules acquiring Followers and how to use them when they coalesce into a Band of twenty people and then a Community of a hundred or more, composed of five Bands. Mechanically, they are treated like a large Survivor, and in battles, they can become broken when they suffer Critical Damage. As part of a Community, a Band can be assigned activities such as scouting ahead, recruiting other Survivors, searching for Resources, and reinforcing the walls of the Community’s home.

For the Game Master there are rules for handling travel, the weather, and encounters, the latter supported with some NPC stats—which are not your average Survivors, for example, Death Cultists and Opportunities pricks—and tables for their gear. Another set of tables, the ‘Apocalypse Toolkit’, provides landmarks, structures, findings, and hazards to be found in the countryside, small towns, and cities. Another pair of tables gives simple adventure hooks and ideas on what to do in the zombie apocalypse. Then there are the zombies. Unlike Survivors, they do not suffer Critical Damage when they suffer Strength damage, but all damage against them explodes when the highest result on any dice is rolled. However, if a Survivor suffers Critical damage against, his player make Saves against Strength, first to avoid being Infected, and when Infected, three more for it to be permanent. The zombies are nasty, and include the expected Sluggish and Runner type zombies, as well as the Zombie Mass, the Exploding Zombie, the Z Dog, and the Z Elephant! Plus there is a table of mutations to spice them up a bit…

The Dead Are Coming includes advice for both the player and the Game Master. For the player, this is ask questions and plan and work with others, build alliances, especially to avoid both risk and dice rolls, the latter because dice rolls because they have consequences. He should also play to survive and play hard—dirty if necessary—but enjoy his Survivor’s death. After all, Survivors are replaceable. For the Game Master, the world of The Dead Are Coming should be presented as dangerous and make that danger obvious to her players, present choices, show the consequences of those choices, and have her players roll Saves as a result of their making choices. 

Physically, The Dead Are Coming is well presented, its discordant and sometimes urgent layout stressing the unnatural of its post apocalypse. The writing is succinct and to the point, and the artwork decent.

As mechanically simple and straightforward as The Dead Are Coming is, it will require some set-up upon the part of the Game Master, but that will typically amount to no more than the details of an environment where the Survivors will come together, whether that is one of the Game Master’s devising or one based on a real-world location. Either way, since the game is set in the real world just a few moments into the future, it is a world that is easy to imagine and a world that will be easy to contribute by both players and the Game Master working together. Plus, there is the familiarity of the zombie genre and the roleplaying does come with a good of tables for added inspiration. 

The Dead Are Coming combines simple rules with a familiar set-up and genre in which the Survivors need to learn from their Scars to withstand the dangerous nature of the world they now find themselves in. However, that world is brutal and nasty, a post apocalypse in which sometimes the best option is to run—whether that is from the zombies or other Survivors—and that should be a lesson learned fast...

Micro RPG II: Lost in the Fantasy World

For every Ptolus: City by the Spire or Zweihander: Grim & Perilous Roleplaying or World’s Largest Dungeon or Invisible Sun—the desire to make the biggest or most compressive roleplaying game, campaign, or adventure, there is the opposite desire—to make the smallest roleplaying game or adventure. Reindeer Games’ TWERPS (The World's Easiest Role-Playing System) is perhaps one of the earliest examples of this, but more recent examples might include the Micro Chapbook series or the Tiny D6 series. Yet even these are not small enough and there is the drive to make roleplaying games smaller, often in order to answer the question, “Can I fit a roleplaying game on a postcard?” or “Can I fit a roleplaying game on a business card?” Although a micro roleplaying game, Lost in the Fantasy World fits all of its content on the two sides of a single sheet of paper.

Lost in the Fantasy World is a roleplaying game in which a group of children is magically transported to a fantasy world complete with magic and monsters. Once there, they are each given an amazing artefact by a mysterious Mentor, which enables them to come to the plight of the peoples—and they have many plights—and so become heroes. Yet, they still want to return, and ultimately, will have to choose between going home and the powers that the artefacts grant them. How the children get to the fantasy world—going on a strange ride in an amusement park, being sucked into a weird old book, going through a very small door in a scary abandoned house—suggests the inspirations behind Lost in the Fantasy World. Narnia, perhaps? The Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series? Well, definitely the latter, and that definitely comes down to nationality. 

Lost in the Fantasy World is designed by Diogo Nogueira and Diogo Nogueira is Brazilian. Now where the Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series might not be held in the highest regard in the English-speaking hobby, it had more of an impact in Brazil where it was more popular. To the point the Renault launched an advertising campaign in Brazil for one of its vehicles based on the Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series and it was very well done. Published by Gallant Knight Games, Lost in the Fantasy World is not retroclone in the Dungeons & Dragons sense, but is definitely inspired by it.

A Player Character in Lost in the Fantasy World is simply defined. He has a name, concept, four traits, and an Artefact. The concept, such as ‘Brendan, the quiet D&D geek’ or ‘Emily, the bolshy cheerleader’, defines the Player Character, whilst traits can include a quality like ‘Athletic’ or ‘Good with his Hands’; an object such as notebook and pen, a football, or a torch; a companion like a pet rat or a baby unicorn; some training or knowledge, foe example, ‘Read up on all the myths’ or ‘Works in my dad’s garage’; or a relationship with another character, such as ‘David is my best friend’ or ‘I always have to keep an eye for Andrea’. At the beginning of the game each Player Character will receive an artefact and have some idea of what it can do from its name, but not exactly what. What, exactly, it can do, will be developed during play. For example, the Torch of Unending Light, the Pipes of Piercing, or the Buckler of Shielding.

Tristian the inquisitive musician
Fine singing voice (Trait), I must protect my sister, Monica (Trait), helps his grandmother with the garden (Trait), Catapult (Trait)
Artefact: Lyre of the Living

Mechanically, Lost in the Fantasy World is direct and simple. When the outcome of a situation is uncertain, both the player and the Mentor—as the Game Master is known—make a Resolution Roll. This is the roll of a six-sided die each to which the player can add a +1 Modifier for any pertinent Trait, the Expenditure of an Adversity Token, a great description of his character’s actions given by the player, as well as the situation itself, the later mostly provided by the Mentor. Whomever rolls highest, narrates the outcome of the situation or scene.

If the player’s roll is lower, then he earns an Adversity Token, which can later be used to gain a Modifier. A player can also Push the roll, which allows him to make the Resolution Roll a second time, but if it is failed, the Player Character temporarily loses a Trait. Use of a magical Artefact enables the player to make the Resolution Roll with two dice—or even three dice if used in a creative and exciting fashion—and the highest result used. Combat uses the same mechanics, the winner of the Resolution Roll narrating the outcome and the loser temporarily losing the use of a Traits. A lost Trait can be recovered in time, but a Player Character or a monster or NPC is ‘Taken Out’ if they lose all of their Traits. They are not dead, but cannot act decisively and are at the mercy of other Player Characters or even their opponents.

For the Mentor there are several suggested opponents and obstacles complete with Traits which she can bring into play and there is also some advice on running Lost in the Fantasy World. The role of the Mentor is actually twofold. First, she serves as the Referee, and second, she actually roleplays the Mentor as character in the game world, who guides the Player Characters to some extent, mysteriously presenting them with both opportunities for adventure and rumours and hints as to the way back to the Player Characters’ home world. Ideally, there should be a balance between the two, a pull and a push, the push to undertake more adventures and help others becoming stronger as the players narrate new and more interesting capabilities for their Artefacts. However, Lost in the Fantasy World does not fully support that notion. There is no mechanical means provided to model the balance between the Player Characters’ supposed desire to help and their desire to get home. Perhaps some kind of countdown or count-up which a player can roll against to determine which of the two desires that his character follows, such that ultimately the pull towards one or the other becomes too much.

Physically, Lost in the Fantasy World comes as a simple pamphlet which folds out to just a single sheet of paper. It is nicely, simply presented and the artwork has a certain charm, but the pamphlet does need another edit for all of its brevity.

Lost in the Fantasy World is a clever little concept which draws upon something often ill-regarded by Dungeons & Dragons fans and develops it into a simple narrative, storytelling game. It is easy to learn and quick to play, but ultimately does not quite follow through on its concept when there was very much room and scope to do so. Hopefully, Lost in the Fantasy World, Second Edition will do that.