Friday Fantasy: Till Death Do Us Part

Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part is notable for one particular fact. That it is written and published by Heidi Gygax Garland—yes, the daughter of E. Gary Gygax—and her husband, Erik Gygax Garland. Published by Gaxland Games, it is a module written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and Player Characters of First Level. Conversion, of course, to the rules of the Game Master’s choice is far from challenging, but the PDF version of the scenario is accompanied with conversions for both Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition and Castles & Crusades. In addition, the PDF version includes some setting background that the module itself does not. This details Sørholde, a warm, dry, and fortified Dwarven port-city sitting on the island of The Dundel. In Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part, the Player Characters are hired by a famed auctioneer to rescue a local noblewomen, Heiress. She has been kidnapped by Crikpaw and is being held hostage on Governor’s Island, which lies north of Sørholde. In addition to returning with the Lady Heiress, safe and sound, the Player Characters are expected to return with the signet ring from the house of Ukoh An—which Crikpaw is searching for—and ideally with Crikpaw. Dead or alive.

Unfortunately, Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part starts by committing a cardinal sin. It leaps straight into the set-up for the Player Characters with a lot of exposition and absolutely no explanation for what is going on for the Dungeon Master. Nevertheless, it quickly moves to the action with a strange encounter just off Governor’s Island. A Septopus—a seven-tailed Octopus—will approach the boat the Player Characters are on and it will await their reaction. If they attack, the Septopus will respond in kind and then descend into the depths never to return, but if they are receptive to communication, it will tell them some of the secrets about Governor’s Island and give them some keys to doors on the island and some treasure. The treasure is nice enough, but cannot be used in this scenario. It is a nicely done encounter and rewards the Player Characters with a little useful information.

After this first encounter, though? There are some truly pointless encounters in Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part. The second encounter is with a beached pair of adventurers, the last survivors of an encounter with the first encounter, the one with the Septopus that the Player Characters have just survived, either by driving it off or by actually learning something useful from it. Both of them want to leave Governor Island and will negotiate with the Player Characters for help in getting to the ship that the Player Characters arrived on. This, though, is not before both adventurers explain to the Player Characters what happened to the rest of their comrades in what is a detailed splurge of exposition that takes up two pages, and apart from this, neither adventurer has anything useful to tell the Player Characters. The encounter will either show the Player Characters what would have happened if they got the first encounter right or show them that they were not the only ones to get it wrong, but how exactly does this help either them or the story? Logically, perhaps this encounter should have been first, with the adventurers clinging to wreckage rather than washed ashore, thus foreshadowing the encounter with the Septopus, rather than the illogical four pages devoted to it to no purpose.

There is a mad goblin who is dressed as a bridegroom and will beg for news of his bride, and when he does not get it, he will attack the Player Characters. He knows nothing that will be of any help to the Player Characters and although there are the scraps of a torn letter to be found in the same room, there is no explanation as to what contents of the letter actually means. Another room consists of a paddling pool in which floats a rubber duck and which contains surprisingly deep water at the bottom of which is a locked gate. There is nothing else in the room. The adventure states that there is no way to get to the gate and the Dungeon Master is expected to advise her players that, “It becomes obvious that the gate is unreachable at this time”. Which begs the question, when will it be reachable and what does it actually add to the adventure? It is bad enough that the description of the room fails to mention its exits—one obvious, one secret—but having the central feature of a room do nothing and add nothing…? Another has two ‘Apocol-imps’ that walk around in a circle each wearing a sandwich board and declaring the end is nigh and again, there is no explanation as to how this relates to the plot, if at all.

Continuing the pointless encounters with containers of water is a room with the magical artefact known as the Bucket of Fish. Its waters contain visions of ethereal figures swimming in the mist and if a Player Character stares into waters and fails a Saving Throw, he will see the ‘partner of his dreams’, is cursed, and loses points of either Intelligence or Wisdom until the curse is removed. According to legend its appearance is a terrible omen, but an omen of what? If the curse is lifted, and that is a challenge all of its own, the person lifting the curse automatically knows where the Bucket of Fish is and knows that he must return to the Bucket of Fish his to rescue his beloved from the bucket. Further, the Player Character who suffered the curse, will lose half of his wealth, including his possessions and any treasure gained from the adventure. So doubly punished for failing a Saving Throw. Lastly, if a player states that his character is going to ‘kick’ the Bucket of Fish, he has to make a Saving Throw versus Death. He does receive a bonus, because as the adventure states, “[T]he writers of this adventure aren’t complete dicks.” However, if the character does die, the writers do give permission for his player to be teased by his fellow players. Which is fine, because as the adventure states, “[T]he writers of this adventure aren’t complete dicks.”

The encounter ends with further advice that, again, the Dungeon Master is expected to advise her players that, “It becomes obvious that the Bucket of Fish cannot be affected by your actions at this time” as the bucket cannot be moved or damaged by their characters. So again, what is its purpose? The only thing it can do is punish the Player Characters and not only punish the Player Characters, but also a player too, all for asking to do the most obvious thing that you would do with a bucket.

There is another hint as to what is going on some twenty-four pages into Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part. After saving Heiress’ best friend, she will tell them that she came with Heiress to Governor’s Island in order to save her friend, Crikpaw, and she will also explain where the love-besotted Goblin came from. This is from the Bucket of Fish, which begs the question why did it work differently for Heiress and her best friend than for the Player Characters?

The scenario comes to an end with a big fight with a demon, the discovery of a sealed letter that the Player Characters are not expected to read, but give to their employer, and the Player Characters failing to find Heiress, Crikpaw, or the signet ring of the house of Ukoh An. They do see a ship sailing off, presumably with Heiress and Crikpaw aboard, but ultimately, everything is fine, as although the Player Characters’ employer is angry, he will still pay them despite their failure.

Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part is designed as the first part of an eight-part series, so obviously, in later parts, the Player Characters will find Heiress and Crikpaw and presumably find out what is actually going on. This though, does not excuse or stop Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part from being a frustratingly stupid adventure. To begin with, the Dungeon Master does not learn the identity of the actual villain until after the adventure has finished and worse, even if she had known at the start of the adventure, it would not have affected the running of the adventure. It certainly would not have affected the plot, as effectively there is no plot to Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part and even if there were, there is nothing that the Player Characters can do to affect it. So, it almost does not matter that nowhere is there an explanation of the overall plot to the series, let alone this single adventure. Except, of course, such an explanation might have persuaded the Dungeon Master to want to look at the sequels to Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part.

Further, only three encounters matter in the whole of Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part. The first is the encounter with Septopus, which will provide the Player Characters with some useful information to be found in the dungeon; the second is with the Heiress’ best friend, who will tell them a little of what is actually going on; and third, discovering that Heiress and Crikpaw have already left. Between the first and last encounters, it does not matter what the Player Characters do in this linear dungeon. In fact, the best thing that the Player Characters can do is touch nothing and just get to the end as quickly as possible, because almost everything they encounter is either pointless or designed to punish them, if not both. The last thing that these encounters are designed to do is engage in the plot to Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part, putting aside the fact that there is actually very little plot to Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part.

Physically, Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part is not a bad looking product. It apes the classic booklet in a card folder with a white on blue map on the inside format of many of the modules from TSR, Inc. The map is incredibly large given that it has to depict twelve locations one after another. The scenario needs a slight edit in places, but the artwork is decent and it is tidily laid out.

There are encounters in Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part which are interesting and playable—the encounter with the Septopus and another with some Leaf Spiders. They suggest that the authors can write encounters that are either interesting or playable—or even both, but two interesting and playable encounters out of twelve do not make for a good adventure. The rest really are dreadful, often managing to be just randomly pointless and punishing, taking up time until the Player Characters can discover that all of their efforts have been to naught. To be fair, that is often the way of stories, the protagonists failing to achieve their objectives in this part, but making another attempt in a later part. Yet that failure should be interesting in itself and the protagonists of the story—in this case, the Player Characters—should learn something that will help in the subsequent parts. Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part fails to do this. It also fails to tell the Dungeon Master its own plot, let alone that of the series as a whole. So, it fails to sell the whole series too.

Lastly, Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part costs $35.

Dungeon Module GG1: Till Death Do Us Part does not provide the purchaser with $35’s worth of entertainment. As to the amount’s worth of entertainment it does offer, it is difficult to determine how much this exercise in frustration and pointlessness is actually worth, but $35 it is not by any stretch of the imagination.

The Other OSR: Knave, Second Edition

There can be no doubt that Knave, Second Edition succeeds at two things. First, it is definitely the prettiest microclones you can buy, and certainly one of the prettiest Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying games you can buy. Second, it is one of the most accessible of microclones you can buy, and certainly one of the most accessible Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying games you can buy. It is pretty because it uses just the one artist and that gives it a look all of its very own. Peter Mullen’s artwork is excellent. It is accessible because the play style of Dungeons & Dragons is incredibly familiar and because the core rules take up two pages and because every aspect of the rules is neatly and concisely presented on a single page. The rules for Ability Checks and Character Creation together take up a single page; for handling Checks, a single page; Delving, a single page; Combat, a single page; and so on. The core of these are even presented in the inside and back covers for easy reference. Barely thirty of the eight pages that make up Knave, Second Edition are dedicated to rules, and that is including the author’s own commentary, advice on play, and an example of play as maps that the Game Master can develop as her own adventure sites. The rest of the book consists of tables. Tables for signs, locations, structures, and place traits, tables for delve shifts, rooms, room details, and room themes, tables for mutations, delusions, disasters, and magic schools. Each of these tables has a hundred entries and each of these tables is designed for two elements of play. One of course, is preparation prior to running the game by the Game Master, the other is to generate content through emergent play, the book itself is slim enough, short enough to make it easy to use at the table.

Knave, Second Edition is a toolkit designed and published by the author of The Waking of Willowby Hall, the earlier Maze Rats, and host of the YouTube channel, Questing Beast, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The toolkit begins with advice on the duties of both the Game Master and the Player. The tasks of the Game Master are to create locations to explore, flesh out the cast, let the players guide the action, keep the game moving, immerse the players, reveal the world, signpost danger, reward smart plans, and so on. The task of the player are to create and play a character, take initiative and ask questions in driving play forward, apply tactical infinity—that is, treat the world as if it was real and turn any and all aspects of it to his character’s advantage, scheme and fight dirty, but be prepared to die! It is really simple and direct advice, in keeping with the concision of Knave, Second Edition. The advice also fits the play style which has each Player Character as a “tomb-raiding, adventure-seeking ne’er-do-well who wields a spell book just as easily as a blade.” Some of the Game Master’s role, certainly when it comes to the ‘Edit the Rules’ set down at the beginning of the book is expanded upon in the Designer’s Commentary at the end of the book.

A Player Character in Knave, Second Edition has the six standard attributes—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma—of Dungeons & Dragons and other retroclones. Each is rated in value between one and ten, and each one has a specific role in play and is associated with a specific role, or Class, from Dungeons & Dragons. Strength is the Fighter ability and is used for melee combat checks and physical activity. Agility is the Thief ability and covers any action involving reflexes or dexterity. Constitution is the Adventurer ability and is used to resist poison and diseases, but also determines how many item slots a Player Character has and how much damage a Player Character can suffer before dying. Intelligence is the Magic-User ability and is used for cunning, lockpicking—surprisingly not Dexterity, and spell use. Wisdom is the Ranger ability and is used for ranged combat, perception, and willpower. Charisma is the Cleric ability and is used to determine initiative and persuasion. What this means is that there is some shifting of what traditional Dungeons & Dragons do and are used for in Knave, Second Edition, and that in addition, every attribute is useful. In other words, there is no dump stat! In addition, a Player Character has one or two previous Careers which determine his extra equipment to the standard that every Player Character receives. If his Intelligence is high enough, he can have a random spell book as well.

Character creation is fast and easy. The player distributes three points between the six Attributes (or he can roll), rolls for Hit Points, and two Careers. He also receives some coins with which to buy arms and armour. What he does not do is pick a Race or Class. Knave, Second Edition does not use either. A player is free to decide upon the Race of his character, but there are no mechanical benefits to doing so. Instead of a Class, a player can can choose to have his character specialise in one of his Attributes and its associated role. So, for example, to play a Magic-User type, a player would points into his character’s Intelligence Attribute so that he knows more spells and is better at casting them or to be a Ranger type, he would put points in the character’s Dexterity and Wisdom Attributes. Alternatively, a player does not have to have his character specialise and can mix and match roles. For example, he could increase his Intelligence to cast spells and his Strength to be a better warrior. Although a Player Character only starts with three points to assign to his Attributes, he will be given more as he goes up in Level.

Crispin Cromditch

Level 1

Careers: Cobbler/Cultist

Hit Points: 1

Armour: Gambeson (AP 1) Armour Class: 12

Helmet: None Shield: None

Weapon: dagger (d6)

Personality: Dogmatic

Goal: Serve the Needy

Mannerism: Slow Speech

Strength 1 Dexterity 1 Constitution 1

Intelligence 0 Wisdom 0 Charisma 0

Equipment: leather roll, fancy shoes, tacks, dagger, ritual robes, amulet, day’s rations, 50’ rope, gambeson

Mechanically, Knave, Second Edition calls for checks to be made against specific attributes on a twenty-sided die. The base difficulty is eleven and may be as high as twenty-one. In combat the difficulty number is the defender’s Armour Class, which is based on the number of Armour Pieces the defender is wearing. In comparison to other roleplaying games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Advantage and Disadvantage is not handled by rolling extra dice, but applying a flat ‘+5’ bonus or ‘-5’ penalty per modifying factor. Beyond this, checks are used sparingly. There are no Lore check, the Player Characters will know common knowledge and the knowledge granted by their careers, but anything else is waiting to be discovered. Similarly, there are no Search checks, but finding hidden things is handled narratively and through Player Character action.

Initiative in combat is handled by an opposed Charisma check and if the player rolls twenty-one or more on the attack check, his character can perform a manoeuvre such as disarming, blinding, tripping, and so on. Sneak attacks always hit and bypasses Hit Points to Wounds, and power attacks double damage, but break the weapon. Damage is taken from a defender’s Hit Points and then in the case of a Player Character, from his Inventory Slots, which effectively serve as wounds. As his Inventory Slots are filled, his capacity to carry objects is reduced and if they are all filled up, the Player Character is dead.

Spellcasting is not just done spell by spell, but spellbook by spellbook. A spellbook holds a single spell and takes up a single inventory slot. Spells are not taught, but found, so that a spellbook is a treasure all of its own. Spells are automatically cast, but their effects can be saved against to avoid them. The rulebook includes one hundred spells, each consiusting of a short, one or two sentence description. There are some fun spells here, like Astral Prison which temporarily freezes the target in time and space; Catherine, which makes a woman dressed in blue appear and fulfil any polite, safe requests; and Shroud which makes the affected creatures invisible for as long as they hold their breath! In addition, there is a set of tables to create even more spells.

Divine magic is called Relic Magic and is granted by patrons, such as gods, spirits, and saints, through relics. Rather than finding a scroll with a divine blessing on it, a Player Character will visit a shrine to communicate with a patron whose favour he has, and be given both a relic and a quest. Fulfil the terms of the quest and the relic will be imbued with a Blessing which can be performed multiple times per day. Of course, a relic takes up an Inventory Slot just as a spellbook does. The various tables for magic, potions, and powers are intended to provide inspiration for what these blessings might be.

Beyond these basic rules and those for delving, Knave, Second Edition scales up to encompass travel and weather, really simple and easy rules for alchemy, buildings and warfare, and of course, monsters. The bestiary itself, is short, at thirty-five entries, but enough to get started. Their format is close to Dungeons & Dragons, so easy for the Game Master to import and adapt monsters from other sources. Outside of adventuring and delving, there are rules too for downtime. The latter includes carousing and gambling, but also career training for everything from carpenter and hunter to lawyer and assassin. The rare careers take a lot of time and are very expensive.

Knave, Second Edition is round out with an example of play—which probably should have been more up front—and the ‘Designer’s Commentary’. Here the designer explains the decisions he took in redesigning Knave for this new edition. His voice comes through here most obviously—the reader can imagine him actually saying all of this—and pleasingly, he acknowledges the inspirations for each of those decisions. There are some interesting choices made here and the ‘Designer’s Commentary’ brings Knave, Second Edition to a close with a personal touch. Lastly, there is a map of a dungeon and a wilderness area that the Game Master could develop into actual adventuring material.

Physically, Knave, Second Edition is very well presented, the layout done in ‘Command’ style so that everything needed for each aspect of the rules is presented concisely on the one page (two at most). This makes everything accessible and easy to grasp. The artwork is excellent.

From start to finish, Knave, Second Edition has been clearly designed for use and accessibility. The layout is great, the mechanics combine simplicity and brutal Old School Renaissance play with player choice, and the tables provide the Game Master with hundreds of prompts. Knave, Second Edition is the microclone’s microclone, a superb little roleplaying game and toolkit, perfect for playing fast and light in the Old School Renaissance.

Miskatonic Monday #331: Trouble At Scarrick Isle

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: Trouble At Scarrick Isle

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Man Of Thousand Hobbies

Setting: Jazz Age Massachusetts

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Ten page, 778.23 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: One goes missing off Innsmouth Island?

Plot Hook: Missing off Massachusetts

Plot Support: One map, eighteen NPCs, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# A project for the Keeper to rework

# Batrachophobia

# Sanguivoriphobia

# Thalassophobia

Cons

# Is it a sequel or isn’t it?

# Deep Ones and vampires

# Not enough set-up

# Needs an edit

Conclusion

# Too bare bones, too many NPCs, and not enough clarity

# The Keeper needs to pull it apart and put it back together again
# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Miskatonic Monday #330: Missing in the Rocky Mountains

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: Missing in the Rocky Mountains

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Derek Zimmer

Setting: Rocky Mountain National Park, 1926

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-five page, 23.80 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: ‘Inland Innsmouth Incursion’

Plot Hook: Missing persons and misdirection

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, seven handouts, eight NPCs, three maps, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Excellent

Pros

# Nicely detailed investigation

# Challenging investigation
# Not a sasquatch hunt (but it could be)

# Part of ‘Cthulhu in the Parks’ series
# Easy to adapt to other periods for Call of Cthulhu

# Easy to adapt to other similar mountain ranges

# Could be updated as an introductory scenario for a Park Ranger scenario for Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game

# Decent handouts

# Good Keeper advice

# Batrachophobia

# Orophobia

# Teraphobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit
# Likely to end in a shootout

# Challenging investigation

Conclusion

# Good mix of investigation and action with solid Keeper support

# Short, but challenging investigation

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Razzmatazz & Roleplay

In 1981, Emperor Ronald I was chosen by the Gods of Olympus to ascend to the throne of the North American Empire, the greatest nation in the world. As the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Leader of the Aristocracy, and the Master of Temple, a secular title rewarding him domain over all the Olympian Temples, and thus the religious life of all Americans, he had the fate of the nation in hands. In response to his fear of the foretold Usurper, the one who will come and destroy the American way of life, he gave the people of the NAE and the world his greatest gift—Xcrawl! Based on a popular strategy game called Dungeonbattle, which used miniatures and dice to simulate underground combat, and was inspired by the heroic tales from before the Cataclysm millennia ago, this is a televised death sport played in leagues and arenas across the world, but primarily in the NAE. In each event, brave adventurers face dungeons and challenges designed by Dungeon Judges, battling through monsters hired and summoned for each event, puzzling through tricks and traps, overcoming deadly obstacles, and performing before the crowds in the arenas and the audiences watching from around the world, whether at home or at dedicated Xcrawl bars via Arcane Video Screens in the arena. If they succeed, they will win fame and fortune, gain sponsorships, be promoted to higher and even deadlier divisions, and become celebrities in their own right as they gain the favour of the Gods of Olympus and maybe even Emperor Ronald I himself!

This is the set-up for the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, a roleplaying game which combines the fantasy and play styles of Dungeons & Dragons and World Wrestling Entertainment, turns it into a blood sport, televises it, and throws in celebrity culture in an alternate dystopia of the noughties shot through with a knowing black humour which realises just how ridiculous it all is. Published by Goodman Games, this though is not the first iteration for the Xcrawl setting. It originally appeared as Xcrawl: Adventures in the Xtreme Dungeon League in 2002 for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition, before being reimplemented as Maximum Xcrawl for Pathfinder, First Edition in 2014, and it is not even the first for Xcrawl for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. That would be with the Dungeon Crawl Classics 2017 Holiday Module: Xcrawl New Year’s Evil. This is history is not only acknowledged at the beginning of the book, but the differences between the versions highlighted so that prior fans can pick up on the new rules changes. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game combines the setting with the mechanics and rules of Dungeon Crawl Classics to make it an official Dungeon Crawl Classics setting, the most modern setting—even an alternate modern setting—for Dungeon Crawl Classics, and arguably the most gonzo of Dungeon Crawl Classics settings.

As a Dungeon Crawl Classics variant, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a Class and Level roleplaying game, the Player Characters—or Xcrawlers—as they are known, climbing their way up the increasingly deadlier and more dangerous Divisions of Xcrawl as they also rise in Level. The main focus of play is in the arena, effectively a sport, and thus it comes with hard rules about what an Xcrawler can and cannot do in the arena, all laid down by the Xcrawl League. Yet an Xcrawler will have a life away from the arena. Much of it will have to do with dealing with his agent and his sponsors, doing publicity, and the kinds of activities that fame and celebrity from success in the arena can bring. Yet there are also real dungeons, not just in the feudal nation of the North American Empire, but also around the world, many of them in Zura’ah’zurah, the ‘land beneath the land’, home to a number of squabbling Alfar city states, one of which is under Montreal. (Most of the monsters and creatures used in the arena come from Zura’ah’zurah, purchased via brokers.) Of course, since there is no such thing as a professional dungeoneer, who better to explore them than a professional Xcrawler? This was effectively the story in ‘Tucson Death Storm!’, published as part of the DCC Day 2024 Adventure Pack.

As a Dungeon Crawl Classics variant, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides everything necessary to play. Thus, it includes all of the new Classes, core rules—old and new, including magic, a detailed setting that covers the Xcrawl Games and how they are run as well as the wider Xworld, a guide to the Olympic Pantheon and Gods and Non-Gods of America, how fame and fortune works in the Xworld, a bestiary, advice for the Judge, and not one, but two adventures, ready to play. One of these is a Character Funnel, a scenario specifically designed for Zero Level Player Characters in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Level Zero characters and have them play through a generally nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. The Character Funnel is a signature feature of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and now the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, and whilst they are challenging to play, they are also both fun and wrought with emotion as players often become highly attached to the poor four unfortunates. The other adventure is for First Level Xcrawlers, ready to play after they survived the Character Funnel.

An Xcrawler is defined by his attributes, Race, Saves, Birth Augur, Occupation, and Alignment. There are six attributes—Strength, Agility, Stamina, Personality, Intelligence, and Luck—which range in value between three and eighteen. The Races are Human, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, and Halfling. Whereas Humans have access to a wide range of Classes, the Races have access to their Classes, as the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game does ‘Race as Class’. The Saves are Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower, and the Birth Augur indicates when an Xcrawler and if his Luck is high enough, if he gains any benefit from it. There are numerous Occupations, representing what the Xcrawler did before training for the arena. During play, a player can draw upon them for types of skills he might have learned whilst working as his Xcrawler’s Occupation. There are three Alignments in the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Lawful, Neutral, and Chaos, none of which are necessarily good or evil. Lastly, an Xcrawler will be trained with a single weapon like a sling or a spear.

Xcrawler creation involves rolling dice for the attributes and rolling for an Occupation. Beyond that, a player can choose his Xcrawler’s Alignment, weapon, and so on. All of this is to create a Zero Level Xcrawler. The book also advises choosing the actor who would play the Xcrawler if it were a film, essentially as a quick shorthand to describe who the Xcrawler is and what he is like.

Name: Milton Waddams
Race: Human
Occupation: Office Assistant
Birth Augur: Late March, Toasted by Bacchus (Stamina-based Skill Checks)
Alignment: Lawful
Level: 0
Armour Class: 9
Hit Points: 4

Strength 11 (+0) Agility 08 (-1) Stamina 11 (+0)
Personality 13 (+1) Intelligence 16 (+2) Luck 07 (-1)

SAVES
Fortitude +0 Reflex -1 Willpower +1

LANGUAGES
English, Latin

EQUIPMENT
Spear, Adventurer’s pack A, stapler (red)

In terms of Classes, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides eight to choose from. They include the Athlete, who is in peak physical condition and specialises in grappling and wrestling with monsters and creatures of all sizes. The Blaster is a natural spellcaster, trained in battlefield magic, but with limited access to spells—only up to Third Level—and who cannot scribe scrolls, create magic items, or have familiars. The Brawler is a warrior who specialises in unarmed combat, able to use it alongside the use of weapons as well as fight unarmed. The Jammer is a performer, whether that is singer, musician, rapper, or comedian, who can lionise his fellow team members to grant them bonuses or disrespect an enemy to demoralise them and then hit them with a devastating attack. The Messenger is descended from and serves one of the gods in the arena, able to scourge his god’s unholy enemies, commit Holy Acts such as bringing an ally back from the dead, cleansing an area of the unclean, and unleash his god’s holy weapon, but can gain his god’s disapproval and so lose the gifts grant by his god.

The Specialist is the equivalent of Thief and in fact, the first Specialists in Xcrawl were actual criminals or trained by criminals. However, Xcrawler Specialists have taken that training and developed into a number of specialities. These include the Acrobat, the Commando, the Criminal, the Scout, and the Crypt Raider. Yet, this is not all. The various Races of the North American Empire and beyond have also developed their own versions of the Specialist. These include the Dwarf Mechanic, which focuses on traps and locks; the Elf Trickster who can cast limited magic; the Half-Orc Slayer is a backstabber extraordinaire; and the Halfling Rogue is good with ranged weapons, including backstabbing at a distance. What this means is that it opens up the options for non-Human Xcrawlers, if only a little.

As to the ‘Race as Class’ Classes of the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, the Dwarf is a warrior who specialises in a single weapon and shield use, but is looked down upon by his fellow Dwarves. The Gnome has limited magic, can taunt an opponent to attack him, a few Specialist skills, and tends to serve as the team mascot, gaining extra points of Mojo. The Half-Elf can cast arcane spells and has some of the skills of the Specialist. The Half-Orc comes from Zura’ah’zurah—either Orc City 1 or Orc City 2—and has an athletic visa to participate in Xcrawl, and may even earn North American Empire citizenship. They are warriors who can fight like a Brawler, but also make an extra wild attack. This leaves the Half-Orc open to a free attack, but the wild attack has a greater chance of inflicting a critical attack. There is no Halfling specific Class, which instead becomes a Halfling Rogue as per the Specialist.

Mechanically, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a d20 System roleplaying game, the player rolling a twenty-sided and adding any bonuses, including dice bonuses for specific actions according to an Xcrawler’s Class, and aiming to roll equal to or higher than an opponent’s Armour Class or a Difficulty Class, which typically ranges between five and twenty. In general, then, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game plays very much like the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, at least mechanically. There are differences though. This starts with Grandstanding, a Personality check used to impress the crowd to gain one or two Fame points. What Grandstanding also makes clear is the fact that Xcrawl is about performance as much as it is surviving a Dungeon Judge’s dungeon. Fame is a measure of an Xcrawler’s celebrity and status, and chance of being recognised. It can go up and down, and with ‘Fameburn’, an Xcrawler can spend Fame to make sure a story in the media has a positive spin or the police to look the other way for a minor infraction. As an Xcrawler’s career develops he can create a signature move and bring that into play to gain bonuses.

The biggest change is Mojo. Mojo is like Luck as grants bonuses to rolls, but although it can be earned for rolling a natural twenty, successfully completing an encounter, or from an Xcrawler’s Class Mojo feature, an Xcrawler cannot spend it on himself. Rather, it must be given to another Xcrawler, about to attempt a task and apart from the Jammer, who can give it after a roll, for everyone else, it must be done beforehand. If a one is rolled on any roll, everyone loses their Mojo! Mojo is designed to encourage team play and co-operation, as it also cannot be asked for, and even further, the Judge can even encourage wild stunts by offering Mojo to do it!

One of the features of Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game—and also of Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic with its mutations list—is a lengthy list of detailed spells. The same is of the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, which has over a quarter of its page count devoted to spells, primarily for the Blaster, but also the Gnome. There are some fun spells here, like Pixelization Evocation, which pixelates the caster or an ally to obscure them, Quicksand to immobilise an opponent, Villalobos’ Attack Outta Nowhere which strikes a target from any direction, 7 Agents of Fate which summons a character out of a blockbuster film to aid the Xcrawlers and was originally created to promote a blockbuster film, and The Arcane Collection, By Terry Paris©, which creates the perfect Terry Paris fashion for the caster who cannot take any other sponsor except Terry Paris!

In terms of setting, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game provides a good overview of Xcrawl and the Xworld outside it. This also includes the various gods whom a Messenger can worship and be descended from, all drawn from the Roman pantheon. Similarly, the Patrons for the Blasters are drawn from the Roman (and consequently, Greek) pantheon. They include Medea, whose followers become instruments of her vengeance against those in the world who have wronged her. The standout Xcrawl specific Patron is Barzodi, the immortal un-dead spirit of necromancer Antonio Barzodi, who served revolutionary General George Washington, who would later declare himself George Augustus I, first Emperor of the North American Empire. Later assassinated by the Emperor’s allies, his rage enabled him to come back as a Patron to American Necromancers everywhere. (Necromancers have to join the Necromancer’s Guild, show their Guild Card if they create any undead creatures, and complete the mandatory three-hour safety course in the proper creation, use, and destruction of undead creatures before they are allowed to cast any of Barzodi’s patron spells.) There is a new bestiary of creatures to populate the arena and advice on how to use them given that the Xcrawl League actually has professional monsters (one of which actually become a Dungeon Judge!), and lastly good advice for the Judge on running the game.

Penultimately, the Judge is supported with two adventures. ‘Xcrawl’s Got Talent!’ is a nicely done Character Funnel, entertainingly designed as a talent show, but Xcrawl-style. The set-up is really well done, all hustle and the staff getting the job done. It is followed by ‘Showdown In Grind City’, designed for First Level Xcrawlers, which serves as a decent continuation of the Xcrawlers’ career after the previous funnel. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game comes to a close with more advice for the Judge, an idea of how an Xcrawl event comes about, some suggested curses and poisons, some ideas for adventures outside of the arena, and a guide to writing Xcrawl events. Finally, there is a short bibliography.

Physically, the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is well done. It is an entertaining read and it really brings the world of Xcrawl to life. It is liberally illustrated to great effect.

The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is a reinvention of a reinvention. It is a reinvention of a roleplaying game that reinvented how the first roleplaying game was played. Not only reinvented it, but radically updated it for the modern day, even if an alternative modern day. The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is Dungeons & Dragons, but instead of delving deep underground, its heroes now delve in front of mass audiences and for fame and fortune. Theirs is no longer a slog down dark and dank tunnels, to confront intermittent threats whilst hidden from the world, but to face those intermittent threats without the slog in overengineered encounters and under the blazing bright lights of the cameras. And playing this is great fun, because each player is not just roleplaying a character who is dungeon delving, but also roleplaying a character who is giving a performance as well. And a character whose motivation is simple, but easy to understand—fame and fortune! Plus, the Judge gets his own character—at least for each Xcrawl event in the form of the Dungeon Judge, as well as the Xcrawlers’ agents, and in search of that fame and fortune, the characters can have interesting lives outside of the arena too. And whilst the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is not new, it feels right at home as a Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

The Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game is the biggest, boldest, and most modern version of Dungeons & Dragons-style play, you could ever imagine, all played out like the biggest sport you could ever think of. It is bright, glitzy, and fun, so make your prayers at the Temple of Apollo, give thanks to Emperor Ronald I, thank the Xcrawl League, and hope your agent has got you the best deal he could, because the Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game lets you perform like no other Dungeons & Dragons-style has ever done.

An Achtung! Cthulhu Anthology I

Achtung! Cthulhu is the roleplaying game of fast-paced pulp action and Mythos magic published by Modiphius Entertainment. It is pitches the Allied Agents of the Britain’s Section M, the United States’ Majestic, and the brave Resistance into a Secret War against those Nazi Agents and organisations which would command and entreat with the occult and forces beyond the understanding of mankind. They are willing to risk their lives and their sanity against malicious Nazi villains and the unfathomable gods and monsters of the Mythos themselves, each striving for supremacy in mankind’s darkest yet finest hour! Yet even the darkest of drives to take advantage of the Mythos is riven by differing ideologies and approaches pandering to Hitler’s whims. The Black Sun consists of Nazi warrior-sorcerers supreme who use foul magic and summoned creatures from nameless dimensions to dominate the battlefields of men, whilst Nachtwölfe, the Night Wolves, utilise technology, biological enhancements, and wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) to win the war for Germany. Ultimately, both utilise and fall under the malign influence of the Mythos, the forces of which have their own unknowable designs…

Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines brings together the first five scenarios published for Achtung! Cthulhu. They will take the Agents from the White Cliffs of Dover and the coast of east Scotland to the coast of the Netherlands and into the mountains of Romania, as well as to a baseball game in the USA. In addition, there is an extra mission, new to Achtung! Cthulhu, that will involve the Agents conducting a mission that parallels Operation Chariot, the raid on St. Nazaire. All six missions can be run as one-shots, but most of them can be run in chronological order and woven into a Game Master’s ongoing campaign that will take the Agents from the Phony War of 1939 through to the height of Nazi and Axis power occupation around the world. With care, this includes being worked into and around a campaign such as Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis. Two of the scenarios are not designed for this, the one set on the home front in the USA and the new addition, both being set after the events of the campaign and one of them being designed as a one-shot, suitable for convention use. Both though, offer changes of pace and tone, enabling players to experience the Secret War in other places and with other types of character.

The six missions follow the same format. Each begins with a Synopsis for the Game Master, a Mission Briefing & Goals for the Agents, and some Historical Background to provide context. This is followed by the actual scenario itself, divided into its various acts, and ending for the Agents with a Debriefing. For the Game Master there the stats for the NPCs—both enemies and allies—and monsters that the Agents will encounter over the course of the mission.

The anthology opens with the short, sharp Under the Gun. This is set both atop and in the White Cliffs of Dover, where the army, preparing fortifications against a much-feared German invasion, discover strange stone pillar which seems to make everyone feel at least queasy, if not leave them suffering nightmares… Of course, the pillar is not just of interest to Black Sun, but also the local villagers, who possess a certain goggle-eyed appearance. Effectively, this is a mini-encounter with parallels with The Shadow Over Innsmouth—or at least the 1928 raid on the town—and it is combat focused, more so than other scenarios for Achtung! Cthulhu. Its short length also makes it easy to add to a campaign or to serve as a combat-focused interlude.

The second scenario is Operation Vanguard, which could thematically carry on from ‘Under the Gun’ as the links to Deep Ones are more obvious. The action, more detailed and involving stealth and investigation, as well as combat, switches to the Dutch coast and the Dutch fishing town of Nermegen. Section M has learned of a strange installation being constructed at both St. Olaf’s lighthouse and on the nearby Skellen Island and of the presence in the town of Nachtwölfe. This is a commando-style mission, right down to having to paddle ashore in folboats—or folding canoes, as used in Operation Frankton and made famous by the film, The Cockleshell Heroes. Whether making contact with the local Resistance or investigating Nachtwölfe activities, the emphasis is on stealth and that also goes for getting into both the lighthouse and the Nazi installation on the island. In the latter, the Agents will discover what Nachtwölfe has been up to, which has been experimenting on captured Deep Ones! The scenario will end in a big, bruising battle as the escaped Deep Ones take their revenge on their Nachtwölfe scientist and soldier captors. Throughout, the Deep Ones are kept implacable and mysterious, so although the players will know what they are facing, their Agents will not. One option here is have the players handle the Deep Ones as well as their Agents in combat so that the Game Master is not rolling too many dice, especially when it comes to the monsters of the Mythos versus the Nazis.

Operation Falling Crystal takes place on the east coast of Scotland where an archaeological dig discovered a strange blue crystal in nearby caverns. The archaeologists have no idea what it is, but Section M does! It is Blauer Kristall—or Blue Crystal—much coveted by Nachtwölfe, which uses it to fuel its increasingly weird weapons of war. Section M would very much like to get its hands on some of the strange mineral so that it can study it and perhaps develop a means to counter the strange technology being fielded by Nachtwölfe. With its set-up of something strange being discovered under the ground and it attracting the attention of the Nazis and as well as Section M, this scenario is very similar to the earlier ‘Under the Gun’. However, it does go beyond this, if only a little. There is both scope for investigation beyond the archaeological dig itself and for interaction with the Mythos beyond running away or blasting it to bits. This lifts what is otherwise adequate scenario that the Game Master would not want to run too soon after ‘Under the Gun’.

The Romanian Imperative leans into the Pulp sensibilities of Achtung! Cthulhu by sending the Agents into the unstable situation of the Balkans chasing after a Zeppelin! Jokingly referred to as a “wee holiday” by Section M, the Agents are to reconnoitre the area to determine why Nachtwölfe has sent a Zeppelin to a mining village in the Mures Mountains in Romania, discover what it is doing there, and take action. This entails a flight to Belgrade, in Yugoslavia, via Athens in Greece and from there a lengthy drive across the border into Romania and to the mountains, guided by a friendly smuggler. Dealing with checkpoints—Romanian and German—will be the least of the Agents’ problems, but once they reach the village, they will be able to learn a little about what has happened recently and also in the past. This, when combined with the opportunity to observe the work camp below the nearby castle over in the next valley, gives the players and their Agents all the information they need to make their next move. Ideally, this should start with contacting the locals who have been hired to rework the mine, but can also involve investigating the ruins of the castle, the work camp, and ultimately, getting aboard the Zeppelin itself, stationed, unmoored, and unnaturally immobile above the camp. The Zeppelin, enhanced by Nachtwölfe technology, is fully detailed and comes with a set of deck plans. The scenario should end with a fight aboard the Zeppelin—although a very careful one since nobody wants to set it alight—and with the chance that the Agents capture it and fly it back to Britain. They will be handsomely rewarded for their efforts if they do. This is a fun and exciting adventure that fully plays into the Pulp action of Achtung! Cthulhu.

‘Operation Eastbourne’ is the first of the two scenarios in the anthology intended as a change of pace and the only new scenario. Thematically, it can be run as a sequel to both ‘Under the Gun’ and ‘Operation Vanguard’, but need not be. It is effectively two missions in one. The Agents make up ‘Team Beta’ accompanying ‘Team Alpha’, a unit of commandos who will assault a gun battery as part of Operation Chariot, the raid on the French port of St. Nazaire intended to put its dry dock out of action and so prevent German navy ships like the Bismarck or Tirpitz being repaired there. This means that it is set later than the other missions in the book, so the Game Moderator may want to save it for later in her campaign. However, assaulting the gun battery is not the Agents’ objective. Instead, they will investigate a Black Sun archaeological dig and determine what the Nazis are up to. The players will play through both missions as part of the scenarios, the idea being that not only do they roleplay their Agents, but also the commandos (stats for the latter are provided to enable them to do so). The Agents can stick together or they can mix and match, so the players will be roleplaying mixed group of Agents and commandos for each mission. What this means is that either team could come to the help of the other if it gets into difficulty and since, unnaturally, both missions will involve encounters with the Mythos, roleplaying the commandos will remind the players that not everyone has encountered the Mythos before and will not necessarily be quite so blasé about it.

Although divided into the three traditional acts of an Achtung! Cthulhu scenario, ‘Operation Eastbourne’ need not necessarily be run in linear fashion, but could instead be run with the action in parallel, switching back and forth between the different missions at dramatically appropriate moments. In whatever way it is run, ‘Team Beta’ should meet up with ‘Team Alpha’—or even come to the rescue of—in the third and final act when the Black Sun operatives bring their plans to fruition on the rocky beaches of the Atlantic coast. This sets the stage for a big fight as the Nazis attempt a summoning, the Allies attempt to stop them, and all hell breaks loose! It is another grand finale which plays out more like a miniatures game and which calls for big heroic action. A very classic Achtung! Cthulhu scenario.

The last scenario in Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is Seventh-Inning Slaughter! This switches the action to the USA and a game in the All-American Girls Baseball League which is being attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Unfortunately, so is Jörg Becker, a Nazi sorcerer, determined to prove both himself a capable agent to his Black Sun masters and thus get promoted, and that no-one is safe from the reach of Nazi Germany, not even thousands of miles away on American home soil. This is the second of the two scenarios in the anthology intended to as a change of pace and is probably the best one suited as a one-shot. To that end, it comes with four pre-generated Player Characters, divided between two baseball players, a war correspondent, and a would-be technical genius, and a plot that is played out innings by innings, with weirder and weirder things happening from one innings to the next. Food spoils and writhes with worms, a foul ball hits a member of the crowd, a lightning storm gathers, a dog goes crazy, there is spontaneous vomiting, the same man keep disappearing and reappearing, and so on. Although there is not much that the Player Characters can do to thwart Becker’s efforts until it is almost too late, they will be kept busy dealing with all of the other weird issues as they pop up until then. Effectively, this is a firefighting mission against the Mythos until the Player Characters can root out, and are prepared, to face the cause. This is a different style of scenario to the others in the anthology, offering a change of pace and location that works as a one-shot, a convention scenario, or respite from the main campaign.

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is cleanly and tidily laid out. The illustrations and the maps are excellent, although it does need an edit in places.

Initially, the title of Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines reads like a misnomer. After all, not all of the scenarios take place behind enemy lines—at least not as far as the Allies and Section M are concerned. Once you get Black Sun and Nachtwölfe involved, then three of the scenario do take place behind enemy lines on British and American soil! If there is anything missing from the anthology it is advice on when to run the scenarios in relation with Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis, as most of its scenarios would work well with the campaign. Otherwise, Achtung! Cthulhu Mission Dossier Volume One: Behind Enemy Lines is a solid collection of scenarios that offers plenty of punching, bullet flying, Pulp-action against the Nazis.

Screen Shot XV

How do you like your GM Screen?

The GM Screen is a essentially a reference sheet, comprised of several card sheets that fold out and can be stood up to serve another purpose, that is, to hide the GM's notes and dice rolls. On the inside, the side facing the GM are listed all of the tables that the GM might want or need at a glance without the need to have to leaf quickly through the core rulebook. On the outside, facing the players, can be found either more tables for their benefit or representative artwork for the game itself. This is both the basic function and the basic format of the screen, neither of which has changed all that much over the years. Beyond the basic format, much has changed though.

To begin with the general format has split, between portrait and landscape formats. The result of the landscape format is a lower screen, and if not a sturdier screen, than at least one that is less prone to being knocked over. Another change has been in the weight of card used to construct the screen. Exile Studios pioneered a new sturdier and durable screen when its printers took two covers from the Hollow Earth Expedition core rule book and literally turned them into the game’s screen. This marked a change from the earlier and flimsier screens that had been done in too light a cardstock, and several publishers have followed suit.

Once you have decided upon your screen format, the next question is what you have put with it. Do you include a poster or poster map, such as Chaosium, Inc.’s last screen for Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition or Margaret Weis Productions’ Serenity and BattleStar Galactica Roleplaying Games? Or a reference work like that included with Chessex Games’ Sholari Reference Pack for SkyRealms of Jorune or the GM Resource Book for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu? Perhaps scenarios such as ‘Blackwater Creek’ and ‘Missed Dues’ from the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Screen for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition? Or even better, a book of background and scenarios as well as the screen, maps, and forms, like that of the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack also published by Chaosium, Inc. In the past, the heavier and sturdier the screen, the more likely it is that the screen will be sold unaccompanied, such as those published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for the Starblazer Adventures: The Rock & Roll Space Opera Adventure Game and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG. That though is no longer the case and stronger and sturdier GM Screens are the norm today.

So how do I like my GM Screen?

I like my Screen to come with something. Not a poster or poster map, but a scenario, which is one reason why I like ‘Descent into Darkness’ from the Game Master’s Screen and Adventure for Legends of the Five Rings Fourth Edition and ‘A Bann Too Many’, the scenario that comes in the Dragon Age Game Master's Kit for Green Ronin Publishing’s Dragon Age – Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Set 1: For Characters Level 1 to 5. I also like my screen to come with some reference material, something that adds to the game. Which is why I am fond of both the Sholari Reference Pack for SkyRealms of Jorune as well as the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack. Which is why the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is perhaps the most disappointing screen in some years.

The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is the Game Master’s Screen for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying. Published by Free League Publishing, best known for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings, and Alien: The Roleplaying Game, this is a reimagining of Sweden’s first fantasy roleplaying game, Drakar och Demoner, originally published in 1982. It promises to be a ‘deluxe’ Game Master Screen and it fulfils that description and it certainly showcases Johan Egerkran’s fantastic artwork for the roleplaying game on the front, facing the players where they can see it. Published in sturdy, thick card, it consists of three panels. On the left-hand panel, there is the ‘Typical NPCs’ table accompanied by spot rules for NPCs and skills, initiative, attributes, and being at zero Hit Points. The middle panel is all about combat. So, there is an ‘Actions’ table, listening possible actions as well as free actions and the effects of rolling a Demon in both melee and ranged combat. There are no tables for weapon damages, armour rating, or the like. On the right-hand panel is the ‘Fear Table’ and the tables for ‘Leaving the Adventure Site’ and ‘Pathfinder Mishaps’. This is it, so what is missing? There is no listing for ‘Special Attacks’ or ‘Conditions’ that the Player Characters are likely to suffer, or no ‘Magical Mishaps’ table. These are important omissions and so the Game Master and her players are going to need to refer to the ‘Dragonbane Rules’ book on a regular basis during play as a consequence.

The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is undeniably, a sturdy, attractive looking Game Master’s screen. However, its usefulness is questionable since it omits a number of tables that are commonly referred to in play, and perhaps a fourth panel with those omissions on it might have negated this issue. Then there is the matter of what accompanies the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen. In the case of so many other Game Master screens, there have scenarios, forms, and books for the Game Master, but for the Game Master who has the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen, there is nothing. Which only exacerbates its lack of utility.

Most Game Master’s screens are useful and do help the Game Master run the game that she wants and anything beyond that is a bonus. The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is of limited use and there is no bonus, so where a good Game Master’s screen is always worth purchasing, the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen simply is not.

Which begs the question, what should, or rather, could have been included along with the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen? One option might have the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set. One of the great extras in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying core box is a set of standees, which depict in full colour, the pre-generated Player Characters and the monsters they will face over the course of the campaign, and are, of course, designed to be used with the maps in the box. Each is done on thick cardboard and is illustrated front and back so that they are easily identifiable from any angle. The Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set adds another sixty-four monster standees done in the same style and to the same standard as those that come in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying core box. They include cat people, ghouls, a hippogriff, a Pegasus, a giant octopus, and a whole lot more. In addition, there is also a battlemat, double-sided, on stiff, glossy paper, that they all designed to be used with. Further, they are designed to be used with the Dragonbane Bestiary as well. The artwork on the standees is excellent, the standees are all done on sturdy card, and lastly, they standees that can be used as Player Characters, which may be useful if the Game Master is allowing some of the entries from the Dragonbane Bestiary that can be used as Kin. In whatever way the Game Master decides to use the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set, it will enhance the play and look of her game and is very nice addition to the Dragonbane roleplaying game. (And yes, it would have made an excellent accompaniment to the Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen, but is actually sold separately.)

Ultimately, an accessory like a Game Master’s Screen is not needed to play, but in a great many cases , they can be useful and they can help the Game Master run a game. The Dragonbane Gamemaster Screen is not one of them, not being as helpful it should have been. Whereas, if the Game master is using the roleplaying game’s standees in her game and has the Dragonbane Bestiary, the Dragonbane Monsters Standee Set is definitely a useful accessory, greatly expanding her threats to throw into the path of the Player Characters.