Miskatonic Monday #413: The Phantom of Gloaming Thicket

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: The Phantom of Gloaming Thicket

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: Dark Ages Britain

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-four-page, 41.17 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise

If you go down in the woods today, you better go in disguise”

—Henry Hall, Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Plot Hook: No matter if you are going north or south, there is horror to be found on the other side of the Watford Gap.

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, seven NPCs, eight handouts, two maps, some Mythos and other monsters, and two artefacts.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Inspired by B10 Night’s Dark Terror

# Side-trek for Cthulhu Dark Ages

# Includes advice to adapt to other eras and settings

# Easy to slip into a campaign

# Easy to prepare

# Catoptrophobia

# Hylophobia

# Scoleciphobia

Cons

# From its size, the Keeper may be expecting more

Conclusion

# Extended ‘things in the woods’ encounter

# Very serviceable addition to any Cthulhu Dark Ages campaign (and other campaigns with some effort)

Miskatonic Monday #412: A Heady Draught

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: A Heady Draught

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: J. Michael Arons

Setting: Modern day United Kingdom

Product: Single-Secession Scenario
What You Get: Eight-page, 30.28 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Possession is ninth tenths of the bottle.

Plot Hook: “I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other.”

― Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Plot Support: Staging advice, no pre-generated Investigators, one NPC, one handout, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Simple investigation

# Suitable for one Investigator, one Keeper play

# Easy to adapt to other eras and settings

# Easy to slip into a campaign

# Easy to prepare

# Focusses on one NPC for strong roleplaying

# Dipsophobia

# Thanatophobia

# Dipsomania

Cons

# Needs an edit

# The Keeper may want to add a map and other NPCs

# Episodic; what are the Investigators doing the rest of the days?

Conclusion

# Episodic, tight scenario focused on one NPC

# Keeper may want to develop the scenario a little wider

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.

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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.

does a good job of introducing both the future that is Planet of the Apes and the rules to the roleplaying game, along with a solid adventure that gives the Player Characters more agency than most quick-start adventures and is thus more complex to run.

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

Friday Fantasy: Fate’s Fell Hand

Out in the lost dimensions there is an island vale floating on a sea of storm-tossed, roiling phlogiston. It is home—or rather, it has become home—to three of the greatest magi of their age, the wizard Darjr, the enchantress Erodiade, and the accursed scribe Al-Hazred, trapped behind a wall of regenerative magic, friendship turned to rivalry turned to hate, and perfectly balanced conflict. Once together, they sought the relic known as the Deck of Fates, and in that they were successful. For they found a dozen of the ivory plaques painted with strange personages and icons, but none could agree as who could possess the Deck of Fates. Their fate was decided after a three-way spell duel that tore their manor, the original vale where it stood, and their vassals out of reality and tossed it onto the sea of phlogiston. They were trapped, each condemned to direct their vassals to find all twelve cards from the Deck of Fates that were once in their possession so that they could gain mastery over the pocket realm they found themselves in, defeat their rivals, and so escape their prison, even as they devoted their energies to holding back the seas that scoured the edges of the vale. And if only it were that is easy, one of them would have achieved this by now, but the vicissitudes of their imprisonment mean that every day, the clock resets, the fealties of their vassals of the day before are likely to change, and they have to start all over again. If only there was factor which might sway the perfectly imbalanced situation to one magi or another?

This is the set-up to Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand, a scenario published by Goodman Games for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. It is designed for a party of four to eight Second Level Player Characters with an easy set-up, but is far more complex than the typical adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. In fact, ‘complex’ is not really fair or accurate, so it would be better to describe the scenario as being more sophisticated than the typical adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. This is because although it is does involve combat and exploration as you would expect for a scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, it emphasises roleplaying and interaction as much as it does those other elements of play. Further, despite the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game being renowned for drawing upon the works of the authors listed in ‘Appendix N’ of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition for their inspiration, Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand draws more deeply and more obviously than most. Especially from the works of Clark Ashton Smith and Edgar Allen Poe, as it has dream-like, baroque quality to it.

There are hooks for Player Characters of all Classes that the Judge can use to pull them into the scenario and eventually, they will find themselves in the vale, overlooking a run down and dilapidated manor house standing amidst trampled fields marked with signs of slaughter and battle. The house is most obviously inhabited by an overbearing raptorial priest, a drunken warrior captain, a trio of simpering Ladies-in-Waiting, and a quartet of skeletal warriors. Of the magi, there is no sign, initially, but perhaps the Player Characters may dig around for them as they explore the manor? In addition, a Matron sees to the well-being of the Ladies-in-Waiting, whilst a Fool capers in the background. The Priest will sermonise on the benefits of merciful release from the suffering of existence and will seek one of the Player Characters to set a good example; the warrior captain will spoil for a fight in the hope that one of their number proves a worthy foe; and the Ladies-in-Waiting will individually entreat one Player Character or another to be her champion, each attempting to outdo her sisters in highlighting and debating the advantages and disadvantages of one potential champion over another. Meanwhile, the warriors go about their duties in the service their master, one or more of the three Magi. Then at dawn, it changes…

Not where the Player Characters are. Not who the overbearing raptorial priest, the drunken warrior captain, the trio of simpering Ladies-in-Waiting, and quartet of skeletal warriors are and what their manners are, but who they owe their allegiances to, reflected by the colour of the clothing they wear. It is always to one of the three Magi. Yesterday, it was to one of the Magi. Today it is to the same Magi or a different one. Tomorrow, it might be to the same Magi, the Magi from the previous day, or the third Magi. Who can tell?

What is happening is that Deck of Fates—or at least the cards from the deck within the vale—are being reshuffled and dealt back out at each new dawn, randomly shifting allegiances in the process. In the scenario, this is done behind the scenes, but in the play of Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand, it is done by the Judge. This is facilitated by a set of handouts, each representing a single card. The Judge is expected to copy or cut these out and construct her own mini-Deck of Fates and at start of each day in the scenario, collect up all of the cards, reshuffle them, and then deal them out between the three Magi. And then do the same the next day, and so on, and so on, resetting the balance of power between the three Magi in their attempts to gain complete control of the Deck of Fates. So far, and despite their best efforts, all three have failed. Enter the Player Characters.

The Player Characters are the deciding factor, for they do not owe allegiance to any of the three Magi. As free agents, they can choose to ally themselves with one Magi or none at all. They may simply decide to search for a way out or the truly ambitious might even decide to campaign to do what the Magi have been unable to do and that is to collect all of the cards from the Deck of Fates themselves and take control of them. If they manage to pull this off, it will be a truly magnificent achievement, but of course, it is fraught with danger and even the process of trying to tune the Deck of Fates might kill such an ambitious Player Character. Ideally, this should be a Wizard, of course. As difficult as the process is, the Player Characters do have an advantage over the Magi. When they manage to obtain cards from the Deck of Fate, the Player Characters keep them. They are not lost with the dawn reshuffle and as they gain more cards, the Magi have fewer allies to control… However, finding some of the cards is really challenging.

This is an incredibly juicy set-up of shifting allegiances and strings being pulled from behind the scenes against the backdrop of a decaying manse and against the clock. The latter, because unfortunately, in bringing the Player Characters to the vale, the Magi have doomed its existence. In just a few short days, the phlogiston seas will swallow the island and remove the one point of stability in the endless waters it floats on. However, thus will not be readily apparent to the Player Characters as they interact with the inhabitants of the manor, realise the next day (and if not the next, then definitely the day after that) that something even stranger is going on in the vale, and that they really need to work on what is going on.

All of which makes it a much more challenging than the average scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Although there are dungeon-like elements in the scenario, Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand is not a classic dungeon, but a puzzle or a mystery to be solved. It is also challenging to run, since it involves multiple NPCs whose allegiances can shift that the Judge has to roleplay. The author even acknowledges how different this scenario is by including ‘Tips for Running the Adventure’ in the first of its two appendices. This boils down to the need for the players and their characters to be proactive, since they are up against the clock, as well as giving advice for the Judge on portraying the various NPCs in the scenario.

Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand is decently presented. The writing is good, the artwork is excellent, and the handouts are nicely done, even having been updated to colour since the original publication of the scenario.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand is a tough adventure for Player Characters of Second Level and probably even those of a higher Level, so is best suited to the experienced player and Judge. It rewards good roleplaying as well as exploration, and its emphasis on these two are a pleasing change of pace. It is also a good adventure for a Wizard Player Character given the potential rewards, whilst its arcane, even arch nature mean that it could easily be run using the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set and Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth without any difficulty. Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand is a really good, really well written adventure strongly inspired by the Appendix N awaiting the nimble fingers of a good Judge in whose hands the players and their characters are going to have a ball of time playing.

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Dungeon Crawl Classics #77.5: The Tower Out of Time was the previous scenario •
The next scenario is Dungeon Crawl Classics #79: Frozen in Time.

Salvage & Secrecy

Ernsteyn Industrial Materials (EIM) is a thriving concern operating a pair of Type J Seekers out of the orbital starport of Yres in the Regina subsector of the Spinward Marches. Or was until a week or so ago. Losing a contract with Ling Standard Products came at the wrong time when one of the company’s vessels, the Evan’s Endeavour, suffered a drive failure, and whilst insurance will cover the cost of some of the repairs, it will not cover them all. The company needs a good contract, one that will cover the bills that are due soon. Fortunately, one of the shareholders, Neal Slessinger, a senior starport administrator, got EIM a job. This is to salvage cargo from the Deutsche Post, a merchant tender lost in the wake of the Fourth Frontier War some thirty years ago, with long term plans to go back and salvage the rest of the vessel. However, the Deutsche Post’s location is at the edge of the Menorb and Yres systems. Getting to the site of the lost ship will not be easy and will require Sydni’s Search, EIM ‘s only operational ship, to be fitted with demountable tanks to fuel the necessary Jumps to get into the system and out to its edge. Unfortunately, the company’s only demountable tanks are aboard the Evan’s Endeavour, the vessel in dry dock, undergoing extensive repair… This is only the start of the problems for the crew of Sydni’s Search and the set-up for Cold Dark Grave.

Cold Dark Grave is a scenario of salvage and secrets for Traveller, the Science Fiction roleplaying game and setting published by Mongoose Publishing. The scenario itself is published by BITS UK Limited, or ‘British Isles Traveller Support’, a British organisation dedicated to supporting Traveller, especially at conventions. To that end, Cold Dark Grave began life as the BITS tournament adventure From a Cold Dark Grave for Gen Con UK 2005. It is designed to be played in a single session with six players, though can be run with less, and is both demanding technically and in terms of roleplaying. The technical nature because the players and their characters will need to think about refitting their ship, getting it out of the Yres system without looking suspicious, locating the Deutsche Post, getting on board it, and not only finding the cargo to be salvaged, but also get it off the ship and back to the Sydni’s Search. The roleplaying challenge comes in the form of roleplaying and trusting Neal Slessinger. He is designed to be a Player Character—though with fewer players, he need not be—and despite being (or because he is) a major shareholder in Ernsteyn Industrial Materials, he is hiding a lot of secrets. Secrets that the player roleplaying him has to cover for lest the other Player Characters either beat the hell out of him or simply space him… The likelihood is that one of those will occur by the end of the scenario, but until then, the player roleplaying Neal Slessinger really needs to be good for the others to maintain a degree of trust in him. That said, it both helps that the crew of the Sydni’s Search are desperate to make enough money to keep EIM a going concern and that the scenario is designed to be played in a single session and therefore at some pace, since the players and their characters are unlikely to have the time to worry too much about Slessinger’s caginess. However, if Cold Dark Grave is played in longer, multiple sessions, the danger is that it gets bogged down into the other Player Characters trying to get answers out of Slessinger. And if they do, then the scenario, depending upon what the players and their characters decide to do, will either be truncated or go in another direction and potentially fizzle out.

The plot of Cold Dark Grave kicks into gear once the Sydni’s Search has made its first Jump and arrives at the edge of the system where the crew find themselves on the edge of a huge battlefield of dead and broken ships. This is the first of the physical dangers that the crew will face, but as the physical peril grows so does the moral—and legal, peril. The story is presented as a series of nuggets that in turn give the basic situation and then explore the likely options that the Player Characters might choose. The scenario presents several possible resolutions to the situation that the Player Characters find themselves in and these should bring the scenario to a satisfying solution. That is, for everyone except Neal Slessinger…

To support the scenario’s plot and set-up, Cold Dark Grave includes six detailed pre-generated Player Characters, details and deck plans of both the Type J ‘Wobbegong’ Class Seeker operated by the Player Characters and the Maagukii Class Bulk Carrier operated by the pirates. There are details of the Deutsche Post ‘Earth Mail’ Class Tender, primarily in its current state, though no deck plans are provided. Its internal, highly damaged state is described in some detail as is getting aboard her, finding their way around, and finding the cargo are the most physical challenges that the Player Characters will face in the scenario.

To support the play of the scenario, Cold Dark Grave does include some slightly alternative rules. The ‘BITS Generic Task System’ is designed to handle Classic Traveller, Mongoose Traveller, Traveller 4, GURPS Traveller, MegaTraveller, and Traveller T20, and despite all of those games systems were available in the noughties when Cold Dark Grave was first published, its inclusion has really been superseded by Mongoose Traveller as the dominant rules for Traveller. The ‘BITS Generic NPC System’ is more useful since it simplifies the handling and presentation of NPCs in the scenario.

Physically, Cold Dark Grave is solidly presented. The illustrations are all of a technical nature as is the writing in many places.

Cold Dark Grave is a good convention scenario, played at pace and emphasising the physical peril as much as the moral peril that the Player Characters are placed in. All backed up with the technical detail that you would expect of a scenario for Traveller.