Icelandic Stories

It is the Age of Vikings. From their homes in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the Norsemen have spread throughout Europe—and further beyond. They have conquered and settled in the British Isles, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Normandy, as well as following the trade routes deep into Eastern Europe. They have not always been welcomed and they have often been feared. They have a reputation as raiders and pillagers, plundering towns and monasteries wherever their boats can take them, even sailing up the Seine to besiege Paris! These are the infamous Vikingar—or Vikings—who banded together to honourably raid other lands, and less honourably to raid the lands of other Norsemen. Yet such Vikings are not the only perils that Norsemen face. Some from within, some from without. On the harsh island of Iceland, far to the west, they are independent and free of kings and queens and nobility. Instead, they answer to the law courts of the assemblies where disputes are settled by the chieftain-priests known as goðar, to their families, and to their honour. Yet this would lead to revenge killings and blood feuds that passed down generations and violence perpetrated to restore slights and injuries to honour—perceived and otherwise. The Norsemen of Iceland are not the only inhabitants of this land. It is home to spirits of nature and mythical creatures. The Hidden Folk watch mortal men and sometimes meddle, their motives unknown. Travellers abroad on the wind and ice swept island can be attacked by Trolls. Curses and spells can be laid upon family and friends as well as neighbours and enemies, for magic is real, whether in the form of Rune Magic drawn from the Well of Fate beneath Yggdrasil or the ritualistic Seiður magic that comes from communing with the spirits, the powers of the land, and the gods.

This is the set-up for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game in which the Player Characters are farmers and adventurers in medieval Iceland. They seek fame and fortune through adventure and also raiding during the season, but to protect their honour and their family too. It is published by Chaosium, Inc. and it is not the publisher’s first foray into the Viking Age and medieval Iceland, having previously published Mythic Iceland and been associated with Avalon Hill’s Vikings: Nordic Roleplaying for RuneQuest, published in 1985. Like those roleplaying games, it uses the mechanics of the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, but mechanically, it bears some similarity to RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Such that if you have played RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, then mechanically, adjusting to Age of Vikings will not be an issue. That said, any experience with Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine will work too. Lastly, it should be pointed out that Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game straddles the line between the historical and the mythical. It draws heavily upon both the history of the period and on the Icelandic Sagas, but allows the Game Master and her players to decide to focus on the historical elements of the setting or the mythic elements of the setting or both. The default is the latter as it reflects the outlook of the Icelanders upon the world and the land around them.

A Player Character in Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game is defined by his name and nickname, his Passions and devotions, family history, characteristics and skills, plus Spirit Animal, Devotions, Family, and distinctive features. A Player Character’s Passions represent his values and emotional desires, and in play, they can drive him to act (and mechanically grant a bonus) and bring him into conflict with others. He starts with three: Honour, Loyalty (goði), and Love (Family), and he will have more, typically created during the process of roll for his Family History. The latter gives the Player Character his backstory from the time of his grandfather in 900 CE all the way up through his parents’ history to his own 977 CE. The characteristics are Strength, Constitution, Size, Dexterity, Intelligence, Power, and Charisma. These are rated between three and eighteen, although the minimum value for Size and Intelligence is eight. Skills are divided in seven categories—Agility, Communication, Knowledge, Manipulation, Mythic, Perception, and Stealth, plus Weapons. His Spirit Animal reflects a Player Character’s soul and will grant a bonus for certain categories, such as the Owl, Snow Fox, or Weasel, which means that the Player Character is cunning and gains a bonus to Perception and Stealth skills. A Player Character’s Devotions are made to the gods that he most values and can draw upon for inspiration, represented by points of Dedication that grant him a bonus when acting according to their ideals. For example, the ideals for Baldur are light, happiness, and peace, whilst those for Óðinn are magic, war, and wisdom. The worship of Loki and Hel is rare and frowned upon.

Creating a Player Character in Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game is a mixture of random rolls and making choices. Options are given to simplify the process, but the default does take time. The player chooses or rolls for his character’s name and nickname, his family background, and then selects his Homeland skill bonuses. If the character is to be a Runemaster or a Seiðkona, his player selects from the skills for those options. He selects the three gods for his Devotions and assigns the Dedication points to them. Lastly, he rolls for his family details, its wealth, and its farm, and thus the equipment he has access to, as well as the distinctive feature.

Name: Álfdís Hallisdóttir
Nickname: Coal-brow
Passions: Honour 90%, Loyalty (Goði) 60%, Love (Family) 60%, Loyalty (Sweden) 60%, Hate (English) 70%, Loyalty (Norway) 60%
Devotions: Óðinn (1), Freyr (1) Forseti (1)
Animal Spirit: Cat (Spiritual)
Distinctive Features: Alluring expression, Eyebrows grown together, Red hair

CHARACTERISTICS
Strength 09 Constitution 13 Size 11 Dexterity 15 Intelligence 16 Power 18 Charisma 14

ATTRIBUTES
Move 10 Magic Points 18
Hit Points 14
Head 5 Left/Right Arm 5/5 Chest 6 Abdomen 5 Left/Right leg 5/5
Healing Rate 3
Maximum Encumbrance 10
Reputation 13
Status 25%

SKILLS
Agility (+10%): Ride 30%
Communication (+10%): Sing 45%, Skaldic Poetry 30%
Knowledge (+10%): Area Lore (Iceland) 40%, Customs (Norse) 35%, Farm 50%, First Aid 45%, Law 30%, Myth Lore 45%, Survival 35%, Treat Poison 25%, Treat disease 25%
Manipulation (+15%):
Mythic (+10%): Go Under the Cloak 45% Prophecy 40% Second Sight 40% Seiður Magic 60% (Weave), Worship (Forseti) 30%, Worship (Freyr) 10%, Worship (Óðinn) 30%
Perception (+10%): Insight 55%, Spot Hidden 45%
Stealth (+15%):
Weapon Skills (+15%): Knife 55%

Her grandmother, Bergdís, journeyed to Iceland from Sweden where she travelled, but did not settle. She was at the Alþing as one of the thirty-six first Goðar to preside over the law courts. The following year she was aboard Gunnbjörn Ulfsson’s ship when it sailed to the west, but what she saw there, she swore never to reveal. When she returned, she dreamed of the Fire Canyon breathing once again and her warnings persuaded her family to leave their farm in time. She dreamed again of the invasion of kings and fought at the Battle of Wineheath as part of the Norse army and fled when they were defeated. She hated the English ever after. Late in life she travelled far, dying with glory in the Battle of Constantinople. Her son, Halli, did not agree with his mother’s dislike of the English at first, but when in England fought alongside Eiríkur Bloodaxe at the Battle of Stainmore in England and saw him betrayed by the English, barely escaping with his life, he found himself in the wrong. Fleeing England, he found favour at the Norwegian royal court, but left for Iceland to avoid converting to Christianity. Sadly, King Haakon the Good followed him and began converting the Icelanders, but Halli resisted this and helped throw up a temple to Óðinn. When the prophet Þórdís visited the farm in honour of Bergdís, she prophesied that love would take someone away. Halli’s oldest son, Gaukar, disappeared a year later, only being seen with someone who was suspected of being one of the Hidden Folk. Halli fought honourably at the Battle of Assembly Bay, but his wound did not keep him from being at the assembly later that year where he spoke in favour of dividing Iceland and his words were greatly received.

In the Great Winter of Famine, the family survived by foraging and hunting and when the seas settled and the priests of Christ came to Iceland once again, Bergis mocked them in song to the pleasure of many. When the Goði’s hall was set alight, she rode a horse dedicated to Freyr and was rightly scolded even though she caught the culprit. More recently, she has been involved in the feud between the family of the renowned warrior poet Egill Skallagrímsson and Önundur Ánason over cattle grazing rights. She helped protect Egill Skallagrímsson against those who would kill him. Last year, she came across a spooked and bloodstained horse. In its saddle bag was a healing stone.

Mechanically, as a Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine roleplaying game, Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game is a percentile system. All a player has to do is roll percentile dice and get a result equal to, or lower than the value of the characteristic roll or the skill, and his character succeeds. A characteristic roll is typically a characteristic multiplied by three, but can be higher or lower depending on difficulty. Any result of ninety-six and above is always a failure and can be a fumble, whilst a roll of one fifth of the success or less is a Special success and one twentieth a Critical success. These will give enhanced outcomes, such as increased damage. Rerolls may be possible, but impose a penalty each time. Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game does make use of the Resistance Table to make determining the outcome of opposed rolls, such as withstanding the effects of poison or overcoming the mind of another, easier and faster. It is possible to have skills above 100%, but not at the start of play. If a roll is failed and the situation is absolutely dire, a player can choose to spend his character’s Wyrd. This turns a failed roll into a successful roll, but at the permanent cost of a point of Power. Do this too often and a Player Character’s Wyrd or fate has played out.

Rolls can also be augmented prior to a characteristic or skill roll. This can be done with another skill as well as a Passion. A failed augmentation roll will actually levy a penalty on the roll being augmented, whilst a successful augmentation roll will apply a bonus, which will be better with a Special or Critical success. Passions lie at the heart of a Player Character for they reflect his emotions and values, but they are more than a means to augment a skill or characteristic roll, to explain why he is acting the way he is. They can also be used to compel a Player Character to act according to them. This can be with a roll or if high enough he can be forced to.

Combat uses the same core mechanic. Initiative is determined according to Dexterity values, and once in physical combat, each combatant can either make a physical attack and defend or make a magical attack and defend. Defending is either dodging or parrying, and the outcome of both is determined by comparing the quality of the success for both the attack roll and either the parry or dodge rolls. This requires reference to their own tables often from blow to blow and the need to consult both tables does slow the flow of combat, if only slightly. (It is where the Age of Vikings: Gamemaster Screen Pack will undoubtedly prove to be useful.) If an attack is a Special success, it will do roughly double damage, whilst a Critical success indicates that any protection or armour has been bypassed and maximum damage inflicted. Of course, it is possible to roll a Fumble for an attack or parry, and there is a table of results for that. Rune magic can be used in combat, but Seiður magic cannot as it takes too long.

Armour protects, but not all locations and the best armour—either helmets, chain, or scale—is expensive. Shields will also stop damage, but can be damaged too. Damage is done by location, but if the Hit Points in a particular location are reduced to zero, a limb becomes useless, the combatant is left bleeding to death, or knocked unconscious and dying. Damage done to locations is also applied to general Hit Points and reducing those will knock a combatant unconscious. First aid and healing magic are available, but natural healing takes weeks.

What Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game makes clear is that combat is deadly and should be avoided if possible. If it cannot, it suggests that the Player Characters should prepare beforehand, casting weapon-enhancing magic and defensive spells, if possible, ambush and attack first, use missile weapons, and wear even minimum armour. And lastly, be prepared to flee if necessary.

In keeping with the setting, the rules for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game cover alcohol and drinking contests, ships and seafaring, the latter giving stats for the classic longship, as well as cogs, biremes, and triremes, plus combat and other dangers. Alongside the guide to Viking life, including the gods (and that does include a section on Christianity in the Iceland of the period), and there are rules too for running a raid, on anywhere from an isolated farm or monastery all the way up to a metropolis with their associated Risk and Reward Ratings. Once any immediate opposition has been dealt with, the Player Characters can search the location, what they find being primarily determined by the Loot Table. Depending upon the nature of the campaign, both the seafaring and raid rules will be consulted again and again when the Player Characters decide each year that it is the time to be ‘going Viking’. Similarly, the rules for Icelandic legal system will probably be consulted again and again as a means to resolve conflicts without resorting to combat—though it is likely too as going before the courts is a measure of last resort when everything has failed. The process takes the participants through the legal battle in four phases consisting of travel to the court, presentation of cases, giving testimony, and final arguments, in between which both sides—but primarily the Player Characters—can conduct manoeuvres, such as intimidating a witness, researching the law, and even offering a favourable marriage to a judge to persuade him to one side or another, in order to gain Legal Advantage Points. Acquire seven Legal Advantage Points and the case is won, but then the winning side has to enforce it. Depending on how underhanded the Player Characters want to be, there is plenty of scope for roleplaying a Viking legal drama.

Magic in Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game takes two forms. Rune magic has specific rules, but essentially involves him choosing and carving three Runes or more closely associated with the desired effect and dying them with the caster’s blood. He also needs to create a Galdur, a script that he intones upon casting them. The more runes carved, the greater the number of effects and the greater the number of Magic Points that need to be expended. In the form of the twenty-four Elder Fúþark, the Runes offer incredible flexibility. For example, Vend means bliss and has the purview of happiness, relationship, hope, and kinship, and it can be used to give a bonus to the Charm and Insight skills as well as increase Charisma. Vikings: The Roleplaying Game does not just detail the twenty-four Elder Fúþark, but gives multiple combinations, their effects, and Galdur in each case. As with any magic system in any roleplaying game, there is a lot to learn, but player and Game Master alike are encouraged to create and prepare scripts, lest play get bogged down as they try to put a script together.

Where Rune magic can be cast all but immediately and only has a short effect, Seiður magic requires a long ritual and once completed, has a much longer-lasting effect. The Seiður practitioner, or Seiðmaður, is only really limited by the number of Magic Points that his player wants to expend in determining the duration, distance, and dimension of the spell, and whether or not the effect falls within the preferred Realm. There are four of these—Mind, Body, Spirit, and Weave (fate)—and the Seiðmaður favours one over the other three. This means that he is at a penalty when working within the realm of the others. In this way, Seiður magic is even more freeform than Rune magic, only limited by the player’s imagination. There are no formulaic spells for Seiður magic, but there are examples given drawn from the sagas for each of the four realms.

Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game gives a history of Iceland, from the Mythic times all the way up to the start of the game, as well as a Traveller’s Guide to the land itself. The guide is threaded with numerous adventure seeds. There are details too, on the lands beyond Iceland, but they are very much not the focus of the roleplaying game. It also reveals the secrets of the Hidden People and gives a detailed bestiary, which lists a variety of mortals, from berserkers, foreign raiders, and goði to thralls, traders, and warriors. The Mythic Folk include the Hidden People, Jötunn, Merfolk, and Trolls. There are descriptions of beasts too, but also Draugur, Fallen Ravens, and Seal Mothers, plus horrors like Wicked Whales and Kraken.

Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game supports the long term with rules for experience and downtime activities, such as worshipping, the progress of the farm and family, which again though mechanical, can spur opportunities for roleplay and stories. In the short term, it provides a single scenario, ‘The Alþing’. This is the annual meeting of the community, at which there are opportunities to arrange for the collection of goods, conduct courtships, settle disputes, recruit for raids in the coming season, and so on. ‘The Alþing’ gives plenty of opportunity for the players to roleplay and learn more about the community and the scenario itself sets up a potential dispute between the Player Characters and some NPCs as well as having both players and their characters participate in the rules for the court. Certainly, its general set-up really does show off the social aspect of the setting and its mundane rather than mythical nature means that it is suitable for historical as well as mythical play. However, it is not necessarily the best adventure for the group that wants more of a directed adventure or one that deals with more of the mythical elements. The Game Master may want to work with her players to develop some motivations as what their characters want from attending and build those into the scenario. Yet is still a good adventure, its format being one that the Player Characters can return to again and again, with unused elements being saved for the next one and the Game Master adding new ones, perhaps more tightly tailored around the drives and activities of the Player Characters.

Physically, Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game is very presented. The book is well written, the artwork is excellent, and there are plenty of examples of play throughout, as well as a set of six ready-to-play pre-generated Player Characters. It needs a slight edit in places.

Given that Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game employs the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, there is a complexity to the core rules, especially in combat, and whilst it can be argued that Rune magic and Seiður magic are both complex, that is more conceptual than mechanical. In comparison, the rules for Viking legal battles and for raiding do not add complexity, but rather add depth to the setting and help develop situations and opportunities for roleplaying. This is balanced by the richness of the medieval Icelandic setting and its historicity versus fantasy, leaning towards the former than the latter in portraying a people (and thus Player Characters) and their outlook rather than the clichés of Viking raiders. It places the Player Characters as farmers first, part of a wider community whose disputes and stories that they can become a part of as well as creating their own. Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game is a low fantasy, deeply historical  game that is designed to help tell stories of home, hearth, and honour, myth and magic, and bring new sagas to life, and in that it succeeds admirably.

The Twelfth Doctor

Every regeneration ushers in a new era, but the Twelfth Doctor ushers in one of uncertainty and reflection, a last era for the Doctor as he reaches the last of the twelve regenerations that every Time Lord has. Of course, he would be granted more beyond the dozen, but for this incarnation, the Doctor, initially unsure as to who he was, proved himself to be irascible and grumpy, unhappy with the state of the universe, and full of regrets about his failures. If the Eleventh Doctor looked back to the Second Doctor, the Twelfth Doctor looked back to the First Doctor, for he was more prickly grandfather than likeable uncle. This connection would culminate in ‘Twice Upon a Time’, the last episode for the Twelfth Doctor, in which he encounters the First Doctor at the South Pole as both are faced with their regeneration, but refuse to let it happen. The Twelfth Doctor could be funny and joyful, passionate and empathetic, but was always fierce, fearless, and gruff. This would change over time as he softened, but there were still regrets to be addressed and made, perhaps the greatest and most challenging of these being his failure to reform his oldest enemy and best friend, the Master. Sadly, he never would, for his old adversary cannot change his true nature, but in Missy, the most mischievous and malicious of the Master’s incarnations, there was hope. There are regrets of his own as well as the past, often due to his austere demeanour, self-importance, and sometimes dismissive attitude towards those he regarded as beneath him. Too often his companions would suffer for his nature, in turn, Clara Oswald, Danny Pink, and Bill Potts, all either dying or being lost as a result of their adventures with the Twelfth Doctor. Yet the reflections also meant the Doctor would encounter monsters old—Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons, and Ice Warriors—as well as new, whilst his desire to explore would send him and his companions on perhaps his most fantastic adventures yet!

The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook is part of Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s celebration of Doctor Who’s fiftieth anniversary—celebrated itself with the special episode, ‘The Day of the Doctor’—for the Ennie-award winning Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. It returns the series to its shorter page count, after the lengthier sourcebooks devoted to the Tenth Doctor and Eleventh Doctor, but actually reduces the number of chapters down to three, consisting of just ‘The Twelfth Doctor And Companions’, ‘Playing in the Twelfth Doctor’s Era’, and ‘The Twelfth Doctor’s Adventures’. What is missing here in comparison to previous sourcebooks is ‘The Twelfth Doctor’s Enemies’ chapter, its absence really pointing to the fact that the Twelfth Doctor’s enemies are not as memorable as those of previous incarnations of the Doctor. In fact, The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook really treats what would be the most notable of the Twelfth Doctor’s enemies—Missy and Ashildar (Me)—as companions rather than enemies and even notes that there is a deceitfulness to Clara Oswald that the Doctor distrusts. Not since Turlough who travelled with the Fifth Doctor has there been companions that the Doctor cannot wholly trust or being himself to trust. Stats are provided for both the Twelfth Doctor and all of his companions, but like those in the rest of the sourcebook, they are written for use with the first edition of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game, rather than the second. (That said, adapting them is relatively easy.)

In terms of themes, it presents and examines concepts such as ‘What’s Old is New Again’, ‘Hard Decisions’, ‘Places to See, People to Annoy’ all backed up with suggestions as to how they might be used. As already mentioned, the Twelfth Doctor would meet many of his old foes, but ‘What’s Old is New Again’ means that when he does, they are often radically different. Most notably, Missy rather than the Master, but also a Dalek who hates other Daleks and Zygons who can be persuaded to integrate into Earth society rather than conquer the planet. Similarly, he visits places that ‘Familiar, but Strange’, such as the Orient Express, but in space with a Mummy! The era of the Twelfth Doctor is one of ‘Hard Decisions’, sometimes having to decide who has to die and who has to live, and for how long, often because it up to the Doctor to make them because no-one else is coming to save the day. ‘Places to See, People to Annoy’ examines some of the motifs of the incarnation such as a love of deserted places and locations, though often these hide dark secrets, and perhaps because the Doctor has seen so much and cannot decide where to go, actually setting the TARDIS controls to random, so that nobody knows where they might end up. However, since the TARDIS has telepathic circuits, it can pick up on subconscious desires, and so The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook suggests that the players and their characters might take it in turns to suggest a destination, adding a collaborative element to play. It also examines the more fantastical nature of the Twelfth Doctor’s stories, typified by ‘Robot of Sherwood’, ‘Kill the Moon’, and ‘In the Forest of the Night’, noting that ultimately a more Science Fictional explanation will prevail.

There is advice for the Game Master too, on different campaign frameworks, such as the companions being left behind when the Doctor runs off an adventure of his own, leaving them to try and cope with a situation where they have to do his job, or more extreme, running a campaign without a Time Lord, with the Player Characters being on equal footing. This is an option that the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game has considered before, but never before has it been brought to fore as in the era of the Twelfth Doctor where he is not always present and his Companions have to emulate him as best that they can. Later, the relationship between the Doctor and Bill Potts lends itself to a campaign where the relationship between Time Lord and companion is that of teacher and student, with each new adventure becoming a learning opportunity, which again is another nod in this era and The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook between the First Doctor and his companions. Penultimately, the supplement examines the relation between the Doctor and UNIT, standoffish at best, as is that of his relationship with Gallifrey which he engineered the return of, but has also left it to its own devices, with no real government or direction, suggesting that perhaps another Time Lord might need to get involved depending upon how its politics or lack of them play out. Lastly, The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook details several of the gadgets and associated traits that appear in the era, most notably the Sonic Sunglasses.

The third and final chapter in The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook is, as with the previous entries in the series, its longest. Again, it takes up some four fifths of the book, detailing all thirty-four of the Twelfth Doctor’s stories, from ‘Deep Breath’ to ‘Twice Upon a Time’. The format is simplified with the removal of the ‘Changing The Desktop Theme’ section—a reference to the changed look of the TARDIS interior after some thirty or so years—which suggested ways in which the story might be reskinned with another threat or enemy, and the like. Instead, all open with a synopsis, including notes on continuity—backwards and forwards to stories past and future, followed by advice on ‘Running the Adventure’. This includes ‘Further Adventures’ that the Game Master can develop enabling the players and their characters to visit its themes and setting.

Thus, for the episode, ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’, the synopsis describes how the Doctor offers Clara one last trip in the TARDIS, this time somewhere special. Once aboard the Orient Express, they discover that a Mummy is killing the passengers, but is actually a cover, not once, but twice. One for ‘The Foretold’, a deadly mythical creature, and one for the whole of train, which it turns out is a travelling laboratory on the train. ‘Continuity’ notes that premium travel in the future looks like premium travel from the past such as ‘Voyage of the Damned’ for the Tenth Doctor, how the Twelfth Doctor is dispensing Jelly Babies in a silver cigarette case, and how he offers Perkins, the engineer aboard the Orient Express, a job as ‘his engineer’! In terms of ‘Running the Adventure’, it suggests that the Orient Express is background and it can be set anywhere and that given that ‘The Foretold’ is an unstoppable killing machine, so the Game Master needs to be careful to have it kill the Player Characters (unless it really matters), and instead kill the NPCs they form attachments to. ‘Further Adventures’ suggests ways in which its elements can be further explored. For example, they could discover the site where ‘The Foretold’ are created and one of the companions is converted and has to be rescued, or the Player Characters suddenly find themselves aboard the Orient Express and have to work out how. There are no stats for ‘The Foretold’, but there are for Perkins.

The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook adheres to this format throughout, for all of its thirty-four episodes and specials. The write-ups are lengthy, and in the process the Game Master is given detailed background and advice on running an array of great episodes, including ‘Dark Water/Death in Heaven’ which sees the return of Missy, and ‘The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion’ in which a new conflict with the Zygons is being fomented.

Physically, The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook is well presented in what is very much a tried and tested format. The supplement is richly illustrated with lots of photographs from the series and decently written, all backed up with a good index.

The Twelfth Doctor brought a fractious relationship between the Doctor and his Companions as well as a sense of the fantastic to ‘Nu Who’ and The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook enables the Game Master to bring these to her campaign for the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. There are some excellent suggestions as to how these and other themes can be used, as well as adventure hooks throughout the supplement to support the Game Master. That said, the nature of the relationship between the Doctor and his Companions is harder to run than the average Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game, since it brings in elements of mistrust and potentially challenging roleplaying into play. Ultimately, The Twelfth Doctor Sourcebook is a sound guide to the era of the Twelfth Doctor that captures its prickliness, its regrets, and its empathy in bringing the Doctor Who generation sourcebooks to a close.

Quick-Start Saturday: Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide is the quick-start for Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG, the alternative history roleplaying game inspired by, and set five years before, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. The Player Characters are members of peasanty, barely recovering from the disastrously disruptive effects of the Great Mortality, who want to challenge the powerful, the greedy, and the tyrannical, and build a new version of England, one known as ‘The Anarchy’, where they would be free of bondage and have the liberty to live in peace.

It is a ninety page, 65.57 MB full colour PDF.

‘A Spark Takes Hold’, the introductory adventure is a thirty page, 15.48 MB full colour PDF.

It is decently written and the artwork really is very good.

How long will it take to play?
Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide together with the scenario, ‘A Spark Takes Hold’, is designed to be played through in two sessions.

What else do you need to play?
Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide requires three each of four-sided, six-sided, and twelve-sided dice, which should be of a different colour.

Who do you play?
Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide does not include any pre-generated Player Characters. Players are expected to create their own using the included rules, but the process is quick and easy.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Player Character in Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG is a peasant who has a name and description, a Trade and a Job, as well as Experience, represented by three Traits which are Physical, Emotional, and Intellectual. Trade, Job, and the three Traits are each represented by a die. Six Trades and their associated Jobs are given. The Trades are Soldier, Herbalist, Barber-Surgeon, Pickpocket, Smith, and Scribe. Each has four Jobs. For example, the Scribe has ‘Teacher’, ‘Trusted Confidant’, ‘A Comfortable Life’, and ‘Local News’, whilst the Barber-Surgeon has ‘Setting a Bone’, ‘Bite down on this’, ‘Leeches’, and ‘Pain Artist’. Trade, Job, and two of the Traits have a six-sided die assigned to them, whilst the third has an eight-sided die assigned to it. These dice can change and grow in number over the course of a campaign.

How do the mechanics work?

Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide—and thus Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG—advises that a player relies upon his own abilities as much as those of his character, since he will be more aware of the world rather than the character, that collaboration is the key to success, death is likely and combat to be avoided—most of the time, and that they should embrace failure.

The roleplaying game uses a dice pool system. It advises that a player relies upon his own abilities as much as those of his character, since he will be more aware of the world rather than the character, that collaboration is the key to success, death is likely and combat to be avoided—most of the time, and that they should embrace failure. When a player wants his character to act and pass a Test, he forms a dice pool formed of his character’s Experience dice, Trade dice, and Job dice. A result of five or more is counted as a success, four or less a failure, and only singled success required for the peasant to succeed. The rules tell the player to advocate for as many dice as he can to form the pool, but ideally, a player and his character should rely upon roleplaying and Skills rather than attempting Tests. A Skill represents something that a Player Character can automatically do.

The players as a group can also spend ‘Opportunities’ to alter the world around or give an order to member of their Retinue. This might be to send a member of their retinue to scout out a village, to wait in ambush ready to strike at an enemy, or to gather resources or craftsmen to reinforce their camp or improve their community, but they can also be spent to allow a player to bring their character’s Job into play once again.

Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG is played out over a series of Seasons, Scenes, and Clocks, the latter being used to track something that the Player Characters are struggling against, such as being hunted by a local Sherrif’s soldiery, attempting to erect fortifications in a hurry, and so on. They are attempting garner ‘Influence’, a combination of their fame and notoriety that enables them to do greater and bigger things as it grows. Primarily, it allows them to recruit a Retinue, but as it goes from ‘Unknown’ up through ‘Spoken Of’, ‘Recognisable’, ‘Well Known’, and ‘Notorious’ to ‘Famous’, they will be able to more, granting Benefits and Detriments that can be used once per Season. Their overall Collective Influence is measured against ‘Control’, which represents the power and domination that the state—the crown, the nobility, and the church—hold over the immediate county and over all England. By undertaking acts of liberation and challenging the power of the state such as writing and spreading mocking songs, disrupting the activities of tax collectors, and even burning the manors of the landed classes, the Player Characters can reduce the ‘Control’ value for the county. If the ‘Control’ value is reduced to under the Player Characters’ ‘Collective Influence’, a Showdown can be staged.

How does combat work?

Combat is quick and deadly. It is played out as a series of opposed Physical Experience rolls, each combatant attempting to reduce his opponent’s condition from ‘Standing’ to ‘Knocked Back’ to ‘Down’, and then ‘Retreating’. This also applies an increasing penalty to the roll. The victor always chooses the outcome, but can also improve his own condition, offer assistance to an ally, kill or capture an enemy, and so on.

What do you play?

Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide does include some background on the counties north of London, a short adventure, ‘At the Centre of the World: A Stirbitch Adventure’ that could be dropped into a campaign and is really a set-up for a freeform, some NPC details, and various tables of events. These can be developed into fuller situations, but do suggest the consequence of success and failure. The main scenario in Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide is ‘A Spark Takes Hold’ which opens with the Player Characters having been captured by the militia after agreeing to help a woman, Blackwater Maggie, a wanted outlaw, some hours earlier at a midsummer’s eve celebration the previous night. The bulk of the scenario is spent attempting to persuade the river port of Maldon and its most notable inhabitants to their cause, and working to reduce the ‘Control’ value the state has over the town, ultimately to force a Showdown. Effectively, this showcases the play of Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG in just a single location which can then be scaled up to a whole county and the creation of The Anarchy.

Is there anything missing?
No. Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide does not include the ‘Pointcrawl’ mechanics of the full game, instead focusing upon the core game play of ‘Influence’ versus ‘Control’.

Is it easy to prepare?
Yes. Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide is easy to prepare, but there is a lot to read through. Ultimately, the rules are straightforward and easy to understand.

Is it worth it?
Yes. Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide is a very good looking product that is somewhat overwritten for what is effectively a quick-start. That is, it does give a more than sound introduction to the rules of the roleplaying game and how it is played, but not all of it is pertinent to the playthrough of the included scenario. The combination though, of the rules and the scenario, ‘A Spark Takes Hold’ superbly showcases Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG and gives a good taster of what is to come in the full RPG.

Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG Prerelease Guide is published by Three Sails Studios and is available to download here.

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Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG is currently on Kickstarter.

1975: En Garde!

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

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En Garde! is one of the first five roleplaying games to be published and it was the first to be published by Game Designer’s Workshop. It was not the first historical roleplaying game—that likely would have been Boot Hill from TSR, Inc., published like En Garde! in 1975—but subtitled, “Being in the Main a Game of the Life and Times of a Gentleman Adventurer and his Several Companions”, it was definitely the first swashbuckling roleplaying game and the first to emphasis what a Player Character was doing socially and what a Player Character’s social status and standing was. Although it began life as a set of rules for handling duels, the expanded rules provided the scope for roleplaying as gentlemen attended their clubs and caroused and quaffed and gambled, spied pretty ladies and courted them as potential mistresses, joined a regiment and went off on campaign to fight either the Habsburgs, the Spanish, or the Protestants, aiming to win prestige, promotion, and position, all the whilst attempting to maintain sufficient monies to support themselves and their mistresses in the lifestyles they have become accustomed and want to become accustomed to! There is always the danger of death and penury, and insults flung, leading to a duel and its consequences.

Yet, En Garde! has always been overlooked as a roleplaying game and may not even be a roleplaying game in the traditional sense of even the Dungeons & Dragons of 1974. There are good reasons for this. The game play is rarely one of being sat round the table in the traditional sense because a player programs the actions of his character a month in advance. There is none of the immediacy of a traditional roleplaying game, no back and forth between the players and their characters, or indeed between the players, their characters, and the Game Master’s NPCs. Nor is there a real strong sense of place, since the Player Characters move between locations automatically, whether between their club and their barracks, between their mistress’ apartments and the duelling ground, and between Paris and wherever the French army is in campaign. Consequently, En Garde! abstracts France rather giving it any sense of place or geography.

Consequently, the baton of the swashbuckling genre and the period of Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers would be taken up other roleplaying games, most notably Flashing Blades from Fantasy Games Unlimited. Yet En Garde! has had a long life of its own parallel to the roleplaying hobby. This is because its pre-programmed style of play lent itself very easily to what was then Play by Mail, turns and results being sent and received through the mail, and more recently Play by E-Mail. It thus found a home in fanzines devoted to postal games such as Chess and Diplomacy. The current owner of En Garde! began running postal games of En Garde!, and convention games of it, before becoming the publisher.

To be fair, just because the game is played in a procedural fashion, it does not mean that it is truly lacking roleplaying possibilities. En Garde! does have a definitive aim for every Player Characters and that is to acquire better social standing and status—and keep it. That desire to better oneself and maintain it drives a Player Character’s decisions and how he reacts to the outcomes of those decisions and those of the other Player Characters, and it is this space that En Garde! has scope for roleplaying? If a Player Character discovers another man has been courting his mistress, what should he do? If facing certain death on the field of battle, an act of poltroonery might save him, but should the act be exposed, should the Player Character challenge his accusers to a duel and protect his honour or confess and suffer the consequences? As a King’s Musketeer, what insults should he be taunting members of the Cardinal’s guard with? Answering them spurs a roleplaying response in character, even if only written down, and in being written, unlike in most roleplaying games, you have a specific chronicle of the actions, reactions, and responses of all of the Player Characters.

A Player Character in En Garde! is simply defined. He has four stats, Strength, Expertise, Constitution, and Endurance. The first three are rolled on three six-sided dice, whilst Endurance is determined by multiplying Strength by Constitution. Strength is a Player Character’s ability to inflict damage, Expertise his skill with a sword, Constitution his health, and Endurance his ability to withstand punishment. His Social Level is determined by rolling on tables for his Birth, Sibling Rank, Father’s Position, and Father’s Title (if Noble). His Military Ability, used when he is on campaign, is rolled a single six-sided die.

Our sample Player Character, Cyrille Mageau, is of a very lowly origins, with barely a Louis d’or to his name. His lack of status means that his prospects are equally as low, but Cyril is ambitious and not without potential. Given his very high Military Ability, his best option is to enlist and prove himself on campaign. If he is successful there, he may improve his fortunes in Paris.

Cyrille Mageau
Social Level: 1
Class: Commoner
Sibling Rank: Bastard
Father’s Position: Peasant
Strength 09 Expertise 13 Constitution 13 Endurance 117
Military Ability: 6
Initial Funds: 9 Allowance: 0 Inheritance: 0

Mechanically, En Garde! does not really offer much in the way that looks like a roleplaying game. It starts by offering the mechanics out of which the rest of the game grew. These are the duelling rules, with participants programming manoeuvres such as Close, Cut, Slash, Lunge, Throw, and more. This is written out in a sequence of letters as a routine, for example, ‘-X-L-X-’ for a Lunge, ‘-CL-K-X-X-X-’ for Kick, ‘-P-(R)-’ for Parry and possible Riposte, and so on, with the ‘X’ standing for Rest or Guard. These sequences are then compared step-by-step and the results determined, with duellist’s Strength, manoeuvre, and weapon type. The latter includes rapier, dagger, foil, sabre, cutlass, and even two-handed sword! A duellist who has a lower Swordsmanship—later called Expertise—will be slower against a duellist who has a higher Swordsmanship, and this is represented by the player having to be put in more ‘X’s. Duels are played out until one participant either surrenders or is killed. Winners will gain Status Points and Social Levels in general, depending upon the Status Points and Social Levels of the participants.

The actual play structure is based on four weeks per month, three months per season, and four seasons per year. A player will program his character’s activities four weeks at a time. These could be to a club with a friend, practice with a weapon, carouse at a bawdyhouse, and court a mistress. A Player Character can also join clubs, gamble, take out loans, join a regiment, and so on. The aim throughout is for the Player Character to maintain his Social Level at the very least, but really the aim is to increase his Social Level. To do this he needs to acquire Status Points. If at the end of a month, the Player Character has acquired Status Points equal to his current Social Level, he maintains it, but he acquires Status Points three times the next Social Level, he can increase it. Just as a Player Character can rise in Social Level, he can also fall, but he will also be seeking out actions that will gain him Status Points. Being a member of a club, carousing, toadying to someone of higher Social Level, successfully gambling, winning duels—especially against members of rival regiments, and belonging to a regiment. Actions such as losing when gambling, losing duels, and not spending enough money to maintain his Social Level will lose a Player Character Status Points and his Social Level. Most of these actions will cost a Player Character money. Most Player Characters have some income, but can gain more from gambling, taking out a loan, making successful investments, receiving an inheritance, being in the military and returning from a campaign with plunder. Conversely, loss of money and income will lead to bankruptcy and a Player Character enlisting in a lowly frontier regiment in the hope of restoring his name and fortune.

Once per year, members of a regiment will have to go on campaign for a complete season. There is a chance of a Player Character being killed in battle, but he could try to be heroic and make a name for himself, get mentioned in dispatches, get promoted, and take some battlefield plunder. Being mentioned in dispatches gains a Player Character national recognition and ongoing Status Points. In the long term, a Player Character can apply for various positions in both the military and the government. For example, being appointed regimental adjutant, Army Quartermaster-General, or Inspector-General of the Infantry, or Commissioner of Public Safety, Minster of War, or Minister Without Portfolio. Titles can also be won. Once a Player Character achieves a high position, he gains some Influence that can be used to help others.

Of course, En Garde! is a profoundly masculine game. As the subtitle says, it is, “Being in the Main a Game of the Life and Times of a Gentleman Adventurer and his Several Companions”. Women are not really characters at all, merely dalliances there to prove a Player Character’s masculinity and bolster his social standing. It is difficult to get around this, since the role of women both at the time when En Garde! is set and in the fiction it draws upon, is not as protagonists, but even as in some cases in both, as antagonists.

En Garde! is not a roleplaying game that looks beyond achieving high rank, position, or social status. So, there is a limit to how much play potential there is beyond this. Certainly, in a typical group of players, this would be the case. In a larger group, there is greater room for manoeuvring and jostling for status and rivalry with players being members of rival regiments, competing for the same positions, even for the same mistresses, and so on. This lends itself to play at a club if it has plenty of members or simply playing with a more dispersed group of players by mail—electronic or otherwise.

One way in which En Garde! is not a roleplaying game is in how little scope there is for the players to roleplay and affect the world around the characters through roleplaying. Perhaps through delivering an insult to a member of a rival from another regiment? Further, players will find themselves playing at odds with each other when they join rival regiments or compete for the same mistress or position. In some ways, to get the most out of En Garde! it is best for the players to play characters who are rivals and so it is adversarial to one degree or another.

Physically, En Garde! is surprisingly well presented and written. Illustrated with a mix of period pieces, the only real downside is that it starts talking about duels rather than characters and what they do and who interact with each other beyond duels. This organisation lends itself to the idea that the rest of the rules grew out of wanting more to the game and more reasons to duel.

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It appears that En Garde! was never reviewed in the roleplaying hobby press, though it was covered by magazines and publications devoted to games. The designer and publisher, Charles Vasey reviewed it in Games & Puzzles Issue 55 (December 1976) saying that GDW has, “…[P]icked a really splendid period for the new duelling game.” He was critical though, saying, “Despite its complexity, the system does not play as well as one might think. Often duels end very swiftly.” and “It is complex and convoluted, and it feels like real life. Players will soon find they have natural enemies and rivals who must be crushed directly or by a hired blade. One must seek to be in the best set, but beware bankruptcy or it’s the frontier regiment and disgrace until you pay off your debts.”

Similarly, games designer Greg Costikyan reviewed En Garde! in ‘Games fen will Play’ in Fantastic Science Fiction. Vol. 27, No. 10. (July 1980). He was very positive, calling En Garde! “[T]he the first well-written set of role-playing rules.... En Garde! was the first role-playing game by a major company and by established designers; and, as one might expect, it set new standards for role-playing rules — standards to which few subsequent games have risen.”

Perhaps the oddest vehicle for a review was The Playboy Winner’s Guide to Board Games (Playboy Press, 1979). Author John Jackson said that, “There is a minimum of player interaction; play is geared toward individual deeds rather than group action.”, but that, “Although lacking neither color nor detail, the rules to En Garde! are clear and comprehensible.” He concluded that, “If it lacks the scope of true fantasy role-playing games, it’s not as time-consuming, either, and it appears to be a pleasant diversion.”

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En Garde! is not a roleplaying game per se. There is more of a simulation to it, a means of modelling the life of an officer and gentlemen in the early seventeenth century as he makes his way in life and attempt to better himself. Yet like any simulation, the result of dice rolls on the roleplaying game’s various tables sets up interesting, intriguing, and involving results that draw you in and make you want to explore how to resolve them and how to respond to them. This is where the roleplaying potential lies in En Garde!, even if it is not written to support roleplaying and all but ignores it. Ultimately, it has been shown again and again, in multiple games, all this is best handled and roleplayed away from the table and at distance, whether by mail or email.

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The current version of En Garde! is available here.

Friday Fantasy: Nations & Cannons

The year is 1775. The long simmering resentments of the colonies in North America towards the British Crown have finally boiled over. The first military clashes between the British garrisons and new raised rebel militias have occurred and the Second Continental Congress is working towards the establishment of an American government and the establishment of both a Continental Army and a Continental Navy in defiance of the colonial governors and the British army that will be sent to quell the rebellion. The rally cry has gone out across all thirteen colonies for patriots to serve in any way they can and men and women of every stripe and background, all nations and origins, to help throw off the yoke of the British oppressor. Some will serve in the front line against the massed ranks of the Red Coats, some will help organise supplies, some will run messages, and some will serve, if not in secret, then in ways that are quick and quiet. They will perform missions that do not call for massed ranks, but engage instead in ‘petite guerre’, or small war. This is the situation in Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e.

Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e is published by Flagbearer Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign. As the title suggests, it is a historical campaign setting for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but almost as radical as the Revolutionary War was in the eighteenth century, Nations & Cannons makes profound changes to some of the fundamentals of Dungeons & Dragons. It is a purely historical setting. The Player Characters are all Human and the foes they will face are all Human—bar the odd wolf or angry bear. The Player Characters have all taken up arms and all Classes have a martial bent. Only four Classes from Dungeons & Dragons are used—the Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, and Rogue, and these are joined by the Firebrand as well as new subclasses for the included Classes. Magic and all magic-using Classes, whether arcane or divine, are deliberately left out. All monsters are left out. This is not a setting in which the Player Characters will face the supernatural as written. Instead of spells, the Ranger and the Firebrand can employ ‘Gambits’, ploys or tactics born of personal knowledge and skill, to gain an advantage in certain situations, whether on the battlefield or in the drawing room or in front of a restive crowd. The end result is a Dungeons & Dragons setting unlike any other and a Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying experience unlike any other.

The core book for Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e presents the means to create Player Characters, lists equipment and gives a new means to carry it, rules for ‘Gambits’ rather than magic, artillery rules, a roster of enemies and threats, Game Master advice, and a short, introductory adventure. There is also a short timeline and an appendix detailing the effects of ‘Inclement Weather’, including on the forearms of the period. Of course, the Player’s Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition is required to play. Given the lethality of firearms, it is suggested that Player Characters in Nations & Cannons begin play at Second Level.

A Player Character in Nations & Cannons has the same core stats as an adventurer in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and will also have a Class and Subclass, but instead of Race has an Origin and a Heritage. Heritage is the Player Character’s cultural upbringing and the source of his first language. Some thirty or so such Heritages are listed, representing a wide range of cultures, including African, European, and Indigenous. This is accompanied by a quick guide to the regions of the Thirteen Colonies—and beyond—which provides some geographical context to the Origins. Where a Heritage provides no mechanical benefit beyond a known language, a Player Character’s Origin gives him all of the mechanical benefits that Race would in other Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying games. There are six Origins—Officer, Pioneer, Renegade, Scholar, Scout, and Veteran—representing what the Player Character did before joining the patriotic cause.

In terms of Class, Nations & Cannons uses four from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. These are Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, and Rogue. Each represents a different approach to fighting the war against the British. The Barbarian is a big brave warrior, ready to take part in military assaults; the Fighter is a skilled soldier or mercenary; the Ranger is a sapper, sentry, skirmisher, or scout; and the Rogue, the ex-criminal, sailor, or hired gun. Each of the four Classes has its own Subclass. These are the Grenadier for the Barbarian, Turncoat for the Fighter, Trailblazer for the Ranger, and Marksman for the Ranger. Nations & Cannons suggests that players use these Subclasses only, but also suggests that other Subclasses from standard Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition can also be used. These are the Berserker and Totem Warrior for the Barbarian, Champion and Battlemaster for the Fighter, Hunter and Beastmaster for the Ranger, and the Thief and Assassin for the Rogue. However, some of these do possess more magical abilities, which are not in keeping with the tone of Nations & Cannons, so the player and Game Master will need to work out mundane explanations for how they work.

In terms of new Classes, Nations & Cannons offers only one. This is the Firebrand. Whether through stirring speeches given before a crowd or inspiring poetry distributed via pamphlets, the Firebrand can inflame the passions of the masses with his words. The role encompasses orator and authors, diplomats, preachers, and the like. It has the Subclasses of Chaplain and the Demagogue. The former is more of an eloquent speaker and emphasises soothing words and healing through its Gambits, whilst the latter tends towards more barbed turns of phrase. The Firebrand is Nations & Cannons’ equivalent of two Classes, depending upon the Subclass. Chaplain is akin to the Cleric, but relies on advice and gentle guidance to both heal and advise, whilst the Demagogue is akin to the Bard Class, but relies more on rhetoric than rhyme to taunt and jab at his opponents.

Lastly, a Player Character will have a Background. The eight given include Career Soldier, Convict, Folk Healer, Fur Trader, Homesteader, Immigrant, Parishioner, and Son of Liberty. There are also some new Feats, such as Bayonet Charger, Printer’s Apprentice, Rifle Expert, and Ruffian. Overall, the character options in Nations & Cannons represent a wide diversity of archetypes from the period that the players can create or play against. One nice touch is that throughout, Nations & Cannons points to historical figures who fit these archetypes. Thus, Allan McLane for the Officer Origin, Thomas Paine for the Firebrand Class, Sally St. Clair for the Convict Background, and so on.

In terms of equipment, Nations & Cannons gives starting packages for each Class and suggests rewards such as Leave Accrued and salary for successfully completing Missions. Amongst the various items of equipment and weapons, such as the Gunstock Club, Coat Pistol, and Liège Musket, Nations & Cannons provides a means for the Player Character to carry more weapons and equipment and gain other benefits. This is through the wearing of Wargear. For example, a Powdered Wig enables the wearer to cast the Code Duello gambit once per day, carry three more pistols with a Pistol Brace, and gain the Proficiency Bonus to the damage and healing properties of potions and poultices by wearing a Hunting Pouch. Some of these do require attunement, much like magic items in Dungeons & Dragons, but here it is more akin to getting used to using such items.

Firearms, as expected of the setting, are slow to load, deadly, and unreliable. Thus, it takes an action or an attack to reload a single round (and weapons that have more than one load are rare), typically inflict two or three dice worth of damage, and have a misfire chance. When rolled, the firearm—and also artillery—cannot be used until it is repaired. Artillery pieces are ‘crew-served’ weapons meaning it takes multiple people to crew such a weapon and co-ordinated action. It is not enough to simply have a gunner ‘Aim & Fire’, but other crewmembers will need to ‘Swab & Reload’ the weapon, and if necessary, ‘Reposition’ it. Bonuses to the roll for these actions are gained if more than one crewman does them, but even if fully crewed, an artillery piece cannot be reloaded and fired on the same round. The rules for artillery are kept short, but also cover a range of ordnance types and ballistic damage. As expected, artillery damage is nasty!

The most radical change that Nations & Cannons makes to Dungeons & Dragons is to dispense with magic. Except not quite. Nations & Cannons replaces them with ‘Gambits’, representing tricks, schemes, and stratagems, rather than just simple spells. That said, Nations & Cannons uses the architecture of Dungeons & Dragons, so mechanically, a ‘Gambit’ still looks like a spell. Each has a Level, a casting time, range, component requirement, and a duration. Those targeted can also make a Saving Throw against their effects. Two of the Classes in Nations & Cannons can use Gambits, the Firebrand and the Ranger, drawing from the spells in the Player’s Handbook as well as the new ones in Nations & Cannons. For example, the Code Duello, can be cast as a bonus action to challenge someone to single combat, but cast over a single hour, it becomes a public notice that the target has seven days in which to respond, whilst with Foxfire, the Player Character grabs a handful of fungi and throws it into the air to create an eerie glow of bioluminescence, outlining targets. Some have a heroic, action-film quality, such as Blowback, with which the Player Character shoots a grenade coming towards him to disable or deflect it, or Improvised Artillery, in which the Player Character turns a log into a one-shot cannon.

The Firebrand effectively knows all of the Gambits available for his current Level. What limits their use is the number of slots the Firebrand has to use per day, and the number of Resolve Points he has to use per day. Resolve can be spent cast Gambits that a Firebrand does not have access to, whether because that they have not been selected by his player or because the Gambits are of a higher Level than the Firebrand knows. There is one issue with the Gambits in that they can sometimes emulate actions that the Player Characters might want to take, but not necessarily know the Gambit for. For example, they might want to turn a log into a one-shot cannon or issue a duelling challenge. In such incidents, the Game Master will need to adjudicate the effects, but whatever they are, they should be less than the Gambit. What the Gambit actually ensures is that the desired effect works and has a defined effect.

Overall, Gambits are a fascinating way to get around the intrinsic aspect that Dungeons & Dragons has magic and certain Classes can cast spells. They are grounded in the period setting and they force a player to think differently. No longer does he say, “My Wizard casts Spare the Dying”, but instead would say, “My Chaplain will call upon the Lord’s name and with his guidance, he will Spare the Dying.” There is potential for far roleplaying in the use of Gambits than there is for the ‘fire and forget’ Vancian spell-casting of Dungeons & Dragons.

As befits the historical setting, the ‘Enemy Roster’ in Nations & Cannons focuses on men and women rather than beasts. There are a few of the latter, like the bull moose and the rattlesnake, but aside from the artillery units, the ordinary human threats are categorised into three types according to role and Hit Die. From the six-sided die to the ten-sided die, they are in turn, Partisans, Irregulars, and Soldiers, representing greater threats. Each of the Partisan, Irregular, and Soldier types is given a little background alongside the stats and even at just twenty or so entries, provides a good mix that the Game master can use as threats and NPCs.

Nations & Cannons includes a single beginning scenario, designed for five Player Characters of Second Level, which actually takes place early in the uprising in the autumn of 1775. In ‘Invasion of Canada’, the Player Characters accompany Ethan Allen of Vermont on a second attempt to scout the length of the Richelieu River and recruit locals to the American cause, prior to an invasion by the Continental Army. Unfortunately, the mission does not go well and the Player Characters are forced to retreat, but can take part in the assault of a British held fort. The scenario is set against the historical events of the period, but does not negate player agency. It is playable in a single session, but will more likely take a little more than that, especially if the optional scenes are used. The various NPCs are nicely detailed.

Physically, Nations & Cannons is a slim book, mostly done in sepia tones with depictions of the period. The result is attractive and for the most part written. Where it is a little odd is that it occasionally refers to soldiers and NPCs as ‘creatures’, implying at some point they would be crewing artillery pieces!

Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e has two big problems. The first is that it is written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and no matter how hard the designers have worked to make Nations & Cannons a roleplaying game setting that fits its historical background whilst still retaining the underlying architecture of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, to some minds, it is still too much. There is no getting away from this, but in Flagbearer Games’ defence, the changes it has wrought make Nations & Cannons unlike any other roleplaying game setting written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.

The second problem is the history. Nations & Cannons is a historical setting which enables the Game Master and her players to run and roleplay a game set in a politically and militarily turbulent period of history with definite heroes and villains. It is highly unlikely that any British roleplayer is going to object to roleplaying a character fighting the British oppressor in 1775 in order to establish a nation free of the British Empire. This is because the American War of Independence is but a blip in British history, and the loss of the Thirteen Colonies was quickly eclipsed by an even bigger British Empire. Whereas to an American roleplayer, the American War of Independence is integral to his country’s founding mythology. What this means is that to the American roleplayer, the setting of Nations & Cannons will have a familiarity that most non-Americans will not. At barely more than a hundred pages long, Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e does not pack a lot of history into its pages. Nor does it include a bibliography. Ultimately, this leaves a lot of research and reading to do for the Game Master not steeped in the conflict and period.

What is striking about Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e is that it feels and reads like a historical setting rather than just a Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition adaptation. The underlying architecture is still there, making Nations & Cannons mechanically familiar, but the changes in terms of the Origins, Heritages, Classes, and especially the new Firebrand Class and the Gambits, change the feel, the flavour, and the tone of the game. Nations & Cannons: A Revolutionary Campaign Setting for 5e is the most interesting and the most impressive adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition to date, an intriguing invocation of the Revolutionary War that begs to be played and begs for more support.

The Other OSR: Ship of Fools

The year is 1395. The Hundred Years War has long been over, but neither Europe, or indeed, Christendom is stable. The Crusades continue in the Levant to the great cost of Europe’s great kingdoms. Outbreaks of the Black Death are all too frequent. The peasantry and the labouring classes bristle against the continued abuse of privilege and ill-treatment they suffer at the hands of both government and nobility, resulting in civil unrest and uprisings. Trade and production are held in the vice-like grip of mercantile and craft guilds, limiting scope for growth, enrichment, and improvement. And the Papacy is itself riven in two. In the past, unrest in the Holy See and Rome forced the Pope to flee to the French city of Avignon. Now there are two members of the church claiming to be the Bishop of Rome and thus head of the church. Pope Boniface IX sits in Rome, whilst Benedict XIII sits in Avignon. Which of the incumbents has the right to call himself the Holy Father? Which of the incumbents is ready to accept the other as the rightful Pope? Which of the incumbents is willing to resign, so that a new Pope can be elected and so reunite the church? It does not matter, for now Pope Benedict XIII fears the influence of the other Pope and outside influences, undermining his authority and that of the faithful. In the city of Avignon, made grand by his beneficence and that of his predecessors, all legitimate Popes, the paranoia of Pope Benedict XIII runs deep. The security and integrity of the Papal Court must be maintained in the face of continuing subversion, greedy priests, proud kings, angry mercenaries, lazy clerks, not said the neuroticism of the Pope, and so Papal Investigators must be deployed.

This is the set-up for Ship of Fools, a ‘Genre Set-Up’ for Sanction: A Tabletop Roleplaying Game of Challenges & Hacks. Published by Just Crunch Games, this is setting in which the Player Characters are members of the Office of Papal Investigation charged with finding peaceful—or at least the least disruptive—solutions to the issues that the Avignon papacy faces, ensuring the safety of the Pope, and enforcing the pronouncements and decrees made by Pope Benedict XIII. The setting is based upon historical research, its bibliography referencing The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and Ars Magica by Jonathan Tweet, let alone books on the Avignon Papacy and the Medieval world. In tone it suggests the setting is Father Ted meets Kafka’s The Trial, but add to that the roleplaying game Paranoia and the animated Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. The degree of research shows succinctly in the first few pages, which in turn describe the world of Avignon, the papal palace, the ladder of stations—from Pope all the way down to the Monk and the layman—in the Catholic Church, and its world in turmoil.

A Papal Investigator in Ship of Fools has three Resources, here called Influence, Eminence, and Passion, the equivalent of Charisma, Reputation, and Willpower (or faith). These are not necessarily physical abilities, although there is nothing to stop a Papal Investigator from applying them to physical situation, but rather ways in which a Papal Investigator can apply his standing and belief in his standing in the church—that belief being his own and that of the NPCs around him. He also has three Abilities, one for each of his three Lifepaths. One Lifepath is his Curia Role, what was his original assignment within the Avignon court before being appointed to the Office of Papal Investigations; one is from his Secret Order which gives him secret purpose; and one from his Papal Duties, the training that marks him as a Papal Investigator. There are eight orders of the Curia, which together run the church. For example, the Camera Apostolica, whose lawyers extract taxes, whilst their most devout examine and catalogue relics for signs of their divinity; the Hospitallers protect the church, but their lack of faith is  doubted by the Inquisition; and the Transitus maintains the Papacy’s means and lines of communication across Europe, leading to rivalry with the Supportare, which maintains the infrastructure of the Papacy and Avignon. The other Curia include the Chancery, Dominican Order, Roman Inquisition, Apostolic Penitentiary, and the Supportare. The Secret Orders consist of the Adminsitratum, Anarcho-Syndicalists, Black Friars, Clementines, Committee, Free Spirits, Gardeners, Knights of the Holy Ghost, Metéora, Mumblers, and Occamites, whilst the Papal Duties include Barber Surgeon, Cellarer, Lector, Sacrist, Almoner, Financial Steward, and Liturgist.

In addition to two devices and pieces of equipage, the Papal Investigator has Corruption. This is a measure of his lack of Piety. It begins play at one and can go as high as ten. When his player fails a Challenge, that is, rolling one or two on a Challenge, the Papal Investigator suffers doubts and his piety is tested, requiring a roll higher than his current Corruption score. Calling upon a relic for its divine power or making a confession—as every Papal Investigator must do at the end of a Calling—also requires a similar test. If failed, the Papal Investigator gives into a sin or Folly, such as pride, sloth, deceit, or petulance. One point of Corruption and its associated Folly can be expunged between adventures, but a Papal Investigator can also beg an indulgence of another Papal Investigator (though if this fails, both suffer more Corruption) or pay a penance to remove more.

Although the Camera Apostolica controls the vast archive of holy relics held by the papacy and access to them, each Papal Investigator has his own that he can pray on and draw inspiration from. He may even find more in play, though not all of them may be ‘holy’. A Papal Investigator’s Relic is supplied by his Secret Order. Each Relic grants a particular power, but the Game Moderator is encouraged to create and fully develop Relics to make them interesting and unique. Several sample Relics, all nicely detailed, are provided. (The Game Moderator might want to look at Burgs & Bailiffs: Trinity – The Poor Pilgrim’s Almanack for more information on Relics.)

Catalina the Benignant

Origins: Toledo

Influence D8 Eminence D4 Passion D6

Curia Role: Chancery

Secret Order: Clementines

Papal Duties: Barber Surgeon

Abilities: Ciphers, Dance, Craft (Tailor)

Pressure Track: 0

Equipment: Vial, Medicinal Cordial, Scribe’s Kit

Hits: 3

Corruption: 1

Relic: Candle of St. Thomas (Extinguish: Fervour)

An adventure or assignment in Ship of Fools is known as a ‘Calling’. There is a little discussion on what a ‘Calling’ is, as well as an example as a suggested opening. At the start of a Calling, one Papal Investigator is appointed the leader, or Prior. He has two Fortune which can be sued on anyone’s roll, but at the end of the Calling, his player assesses the other Papal Investigators and rates them. The Game Moderator then tests their Corruption on this basis. This adds a tense and slightly adversarial element to play, the feeling that the Papal Investigators are constantly being monitored. To balance this, the Papal Investigators can take turns being the Prior.

Rounding out Ship of Fools is a set of short, sample Calling hooks and five sample pre-generated Papal Investigators, some enemies, and a complete Calling. This is ‘The Relic, The Ruse, and The Ridiculous’ in which the Papal Investigators are tasked with locating a missing relic. It is an entertaining affair which can be played through in a single session, perhaps two. The final pages discuss what might happen in the future of the twin Papacy.

Physically, Ship of Fools is well presented, but lightly illustrated with nicely period artwork. The supplement is a pleasing read.

Ship of Fools is a thoroughly engaging and enticing setting. The idea of playing papal investigators in a world of apostolic bureaucracy, religious dogma, and papal perturbation is a delight. This setting definitely deserves more content and even a campaign, but in the meantime, Ship of Fools is a very good introduction to a world of papal paranoia and sacred shambles.