Tactics & Tales (Part II)

13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster’s Guide is not the companion volume to the 13th Age Second Edition Heroes’ Handbook. Published by Pelgrane Press, it is instead a direct continuation, literally picking up with chapter eight following on from the character seven at the end of the 13th Age Second Edition Heroes’ Handbook. Together, they make up the core rules for 13th Age Second Edition, the ‘Fantasy 20’ or ‘F20’ roleplaying game derived from different editions of Dungeons & Dragons which combines the crunch of epic battles with narrative or story-telling aspects for grand adventures where the Player Characters are special because of their individual ‘One Unique Thing’ which sets them apart from the inhabitants of the Dragon Empire. They are true heroes, each linked to two or three of the Icons, the great powers of the Dragon Empire in 13th Age, whose influence over the story can be positive or negative, depending upon the nature of the relationship. The 13th Age Second Edition Heroes’ Handbook contains everything necessary for the players, including rules for character creation, the place of the characters in the world and their relationships with the Icons, the great powers of the age, the core mechanics, and combat, plus a fantastic example of play and character creation. The 13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster’s Guide contains everything else, including a description of the Dragon Empire, the setting for 13th Age, advice on running the game, a bestiary, a treasury, and an introductory scenario.

The 13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster’s Guide starts with a description of its setting, the Dragon Empire. This is located at the centre of a large disc-shaped land surrounded by ocean and consists of the Land, the Underworld, and the Overworld. Seven cities line the shore of the stable Midland Sea, enabling easy travel between them, and each associated with one or more of the Icons. For example, Axis, the City of Swords, is home to the Emperor, but also has links to the Archmage, Crusader, and Great Gold Wyrm, whilst Glitterhaegen, the City of Coins is linked to Prince of Shadows, the Emperor, and the Dwarf King. It dips in and out subject matter, highlighting interesting elements of the setting, such the fact that the magic that causes the calmness of the Midland Sea forces monsters onto the nearby shores; that nobody likes to live too near the Imperial roads because they are haunted; and dungeons claw their way out of the earth and roam the land until stopped! Particular attention is paid to these dungeons as they are important and potential adventuring sites in a campaign, but for the most part, the write-up of the Dragon Empire is described by the authors as being ‘half-designed’. This is intentional as it leaves room for the Game Master to add her own details. There is a gazetteer which adds more specific details, whilst still leaving room aplenty for the Game Master’s own input.

This even applies to the history of the Dragon Empire with just a whole two pages devoted to it; or rather to the 13th Age and the past twelve Ages. Each Age began, rose and prospered before collapsing due to some catastrophe, and was replaced by a new Age. Each Age is associated with particular Icons and some Icons my appear in some Ages and not others, and so on. The overall description is brief at just two pages and so the Game Master may want to refer to one of the best supplements for the first edition of the roleplaying game, The Book of Ages.

Campaign advice discusses various topics—campaign identity, the ten-arc structure for the shorter campaign, customising the Icons to fit the campaign, and some examples. Campaign identity offers up a few other suggestions beyond the classic ‘Heroes on a Mission’, but clearly states that the ‘Forbidden Theme’ of a bait and switch theme to an Icon should never be done. The ten-arc structure is tailored to the maximum of ten Levels that a Player Character in 13th Age can achieved, essentially one arc per Level, this replacing the Ten-Session Campaign concept from 13th Age First Edition. Customising the Icons to fit the campaign is intended to be a collaborative process between the Game Master and her players, starting with the Game Master selecting the Icon to her campaign’s main focus, whether as patron or villain, the players adding the Icons they want to see, and the Game Master deciding on the involvement of the unnamed Icons. This is supported by examples from each of the book’s authors. For example, ‘Servants of the Court’ sets up the Elf Queen as the primary heroic Icon with more powers and purviews than the Player Characters suspect as she was also the Prince of Shadows with a combination of Archmage and Diabolist as the Icon villain. Of the other Icons, the Dwarf King had died whilst killing the Orc Lord; the Priestess championed civilisation whilst propping up a weak Emperor and was also the Dawn Captain, prophesised to die and become the Crusader; and both the High Druid and Lich King were involved elsewhere. These four examples actually better explain the concepts the customising process than the advice itself, showing the flexibility of the Icon roles in a campaign, whether that is in the 13th Age or a previous Age.

13th Age is played out in arcs, each consisting of three or four combat scenes or battles leavened with narrative scenes in between. The 13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster’s Guide discusses in detail how to design battles per arc, primarily adjusting them for the Level and number of Player Characters. There is an optimal balance for the Monster Level versus the Player Character Level, but the advice suggests ways in which this can be adjusted up or down, usually to fit a narrative. This might the Game Master wants the Player Characters to wade through one or two hordes of monsters before they confront a bigger threat at the end of the arc, but there is plenty of scope to vary this or just simply balance all three or four of the battles that make up an arc. The advice also covers balancing the roles of monsters on the battlefield, such as archers, blockers, casters, troops, and so on; fighting a single monster type versus a single monster; ways making an encounter unfair and thus more challenging; and even making the battlefield itself dangerous as well as adding traps.

The process of designing a battle is not complex if the Game Master decides to use the suggested optimal Monster Levels, simply choosing the appropriate foes and their roles from the bestiary. However, the process does involve a little bit more arithmetic if the Game Master wants to create a battle where the Monsters Levels are not optimised to make a battle less challenging or more challenging. Fortunately, the designers have worked out the adjusted values beforehand and provide them for the Game Master in a handy table. That said, the Game Master should probably stick to the optimised Monster Levels for the first few battles and tinker with the battle design on subsequent ones. The process is pleasingly supported with a lengthy example of a Game Master designing multiple battles across the whole progress of the Player Characters for First Level to Tenth Level.

Operative’s Primer

What is it like being Operative for SLA Industries? What do you do all day? Where do you live? How do you handle BPNs? How do you get around? What do you have for dinner—a Piggy Wiggy roll or sausage and mash? When you get bored in your Downtown studio closet with its leaky basin, wipe-down, guaranteed one prior owner, roll-up futon, collapsible closet, and self-installed AA rated security locks, where do you go for a good time? Hit a Ye-Old Tavern or if you are on the up, get into the Pit, the premier Uptown nightclub? Got a hobby, like darts or hoops, gambling on the Pig Runs, or collecting BPN Coins or Carrien teeth? Do you have a side hustle such as a Sponsor, selling recovered gear on the black market, an actual second job, or even a life of crime? These are all questions a graduate from Meny University might ask, as might his player. Then how do you play SLA Industries? How does a skill roll work and what modifiers do you apply? What do you need to roll for combat—shooting your Fen 603 Auto Pistol or stabbing that carrien with your Bosh SLA Blade? How do you actually create a Player Character? What do you play? These are all questions a player new to SLA Industries might ask.

Fortunately, Operative’s Handbook: A Sourcebook for SLA Industries Second Edition is the supplement which will answers both sets of questions. This is a supplement for S.L.A. Industries, the roleplaying game set in a far future dystopia of corporate greed, commodification of ultraviolence, the mediatisation of murder, conspiracy, and urban horror, and serial killer sensationalism published by Nightfall Games. Specifically, it is an introductory supplement for the setting and thus the Player Character, but is also an introductory supplement for the setting and the rules, and thus the player. The supplement is designed as complete an introduction to SLA Industries Second Edition as is possible for it to be and it succeeds at this admirably. It is literally designed to be given to the prospective player who can take it away, read up about the basics of the World of Progress and how to be a SLA Operative, and then create a SLA Operative. In doing so, it more or less replaces those sections of the core rulebook and a player could even buy it and use it without the need to purchase his own copy of the core rulebook. Plus, it gives a player an accessible book to reference at the table during play. However, the Operative’s Handbook is not just for the new player and new Player Character. There is background information included that the Game Master can bring into her campaign, especially in terms of flavour, detail, and verisimilitude. There is a whole new species and new equipment too—as well as the old, so that an existing player will find the supplement useful if he does not have the core rulebook.

The Operative’s Handbook does start out with a description of what a roleplaying game is, ordinarily surprising in a supplement, but not so here given its remit. Very quickly it moves on to the World of Progress, the setting for SLA Industries, written with the worries of a recent graduate from Meny University in mind. It eases him through graduation, explaining that every six months, three hundred students graduate—always in the presence of Mr. Slayer, even if he cannot be seen—knowing that if he cannot move up the ladder before the next group graduates, he might as well count himself as a failure. It has all the worries of a graduate in his first job. Where will he live? How does my job actually work? And in answering that, gives a means of randomly determining his initial accommodation and even creating Bespoke Accommodation if his player wants to spend build points on it. Rated for comfort, security, location, and neighbours, all of these factors add to play of the game and are there for Game Master to make the SLA Operative’s downtime that little bit more ‘interesting’. This is accompanied by a good guide to Mort City, from Mort Central down through Uptown into Downtown, noting how large these areas are and that there is an area of Downtown called ‘Sector Dark’, actually two adjacent sectors currently dominated by gangs with deep DarkNight connections, where there is no surveillance as all the infrastructure has been vandalised and both SLA Operatives and Shivers are really not welcome. Numerous options for travel across and up and down Mort City are discussed, the most notable of which are the Shift Blocks, massive elevators capable of transporting vehicles, cargo, and people like a large ferry, up and down Mort City. However, to limit widescale access between districts, Shift Blocks can only lower and raise a limited number, so travellers often have to change to travel further up or down, effectively staggering their journey in order to main security.

Besides the question of where an Operative will live, there is a lengthy lifestyle section in the Operative’s Handbook. This covers food (unsurprisingly British in feel), restaurants and fast food outlets, bars and clubs, care products—for all species, clothing styles—including a fashion for wearing mock-power armour which means that an operative can mingle on a night out in his actual power armour and not look out of place, hobbies and gambling—the latter including various sports like sector racing and the bloodsport events held in the District Two Arena, and collecting. There is a great deal here that will add verisimilitude to a campaign. The supplement takes a left turn with a discussion of politics in Mort City, more interesting background that the Game Master can use to create details for her campaign, but noting that although there are numerous political parties and there are governors who control the various districts in Mort City, politics are an effective distraction for the masses for SLA Industries which has no problem replacing a governor with silent prejudice. Law enforcement is something that Operatives are more likely to be working with, made slightly challenging because laws can differ from district to district, and if one citation does not fit the crime, the Shivers usually have the time to apply another.

Whether the accused goes through civil mediation, televised arbitration, or gives himself over the bureaucratic complications of a public trial, if found guilty, the most common sentence is a fine and since most Mort City citizens cannot afford to pay this, prison time to work this off. Of course, the prison system is designed to extract the most out of its inmates, so getting out is really, really difficult. Several other forms of punishment are discussed, all of them with their own unpleasant futility.

In terms of the job, what a SLA Operative is doing is picking up BPNs—Blueprint News Files, completing them, getting paid, and gaining Security Clearance bonuses, and working up the corporate ladder. The Operative’s Handbook breaks down the Security Clearance structure, how a squad goes about getting a BPN, raises issues and gets paid either straight to each Operative’s Finance Card or oddly in cash (something that criminal gangs like to take advantage of if an Operative owes them a favour), and if there is anything amiss, how a BPN review is handled by the Auditing and Sanctions Office, which often staffed by failed Meny graduates! Since the focus of SLA Industries’ play is completing BPNs for the income and the promotion, any impediment to that is going to be frustrating, but will expose the Operative and his player to SLA Industries’ bureaucracy. In addition to a SLA Operative’s main source of income, the supplement also examines other options.

The Operative’s Handbook devotes just a handful of pages to the rules for SLA Industries. It does not need more than that to explain everything that the player needs to know in terms of rolling dice and making skill tests followed by combat.

More detailed are the rules for character creation. Every species is clearly presented and a nice touch for each is the advice for new players. This includes an ‘It’s My First Day’ box and suggestions on how to build the optimal character. For example, the ‘It’s My First Day’ box states that, “A Carrien is a skull faced dog person whose planet and civilisation was stolen from them. While you might be lovely as an individual, as far as most of Mort is concerned, you’re a scary dangerous animal responsible for unknown terrors.” It is followed by the ‘Building an Adv Carrien’ which suggests which stats to favour. Each species includes suggested values as explanations of species specific abilities, and a table of random species elements (for Carrien these are trinkets that personally value), and tables of ‘Good’ and ‘Unfortunate’ Life Events that add some background and some variation to the Operative.

In addition to doing this for Ebonites, Frothers, Humans, Neophrons, Shaktar, Stormer 313 Malice, Storner 711 Xeno, and Wraithen, it also does it for the Omaja. This is a new species introduced in the Operative’s Handbook. The Omaja, a pre-Formation Era that has recently returned to the World of Progress, are allies of the Neophron, and are trying to earn enough to buy back their original home world from SLA Industries. They are short, monkey-like, with a mane of bright blue hair for males and bright orange for females, are quadrodextrous meaning that all four limbs end in hands, have three eyes, and known for their technical aptitude. They also have a reputation for being very grumpy. In play they give any Neophron Operative a natural ally, whilst their technical aptitude means that they are good at fixing things, handling machinery, and modifying equipment, so focusing on skills that tend to be secondary for other Operatives.

The Operative’s Handbook even explains how Meny University and SLA Industries goes about organising graduates into squads as well as presenting fifteen new Training Packages as well those from the core rulebook and also the supplement, Threat Analysis 1: Collateral. The new includes the Academic Institute of Meny (representing academics who want to conduct field research into Operative activities), Advanced Ebb Training, Alternate Vendor Recruitment (handling Props and Contract Killers for SLA Operative operations), Combat Pilot Training, Combat Property Management, Construct Exploration, Employee Headcount Reduction, Media Management, Modern Policing, Motorised Recon, Radical Conflict De-Escalation Unit, Rapid Conflict Resolution Teams (previously known as ‘Kick Murder Squads’), Rapid Site, Breach & Entry, Sector Ranger Survival School, and Stakeholder Appeasement & Crisis Management. These all have minimum Stat requirements and many have electives to choose from as well. These open up the options not just in terms of the training for the Player Character SLA Operative, but the NPC too. Plus there are lists of the Skills and Traits for SLA Operative creation both old and new. Only the new are fully explained, meaning the that player may still need to refer to the core rulebook for full explanations.

The Operative’s Handbook even explains how Meny University and SLA Industries goes about organising graduates into squads as well as presenting fifteen new Training Packages as well those from the core rulebook and also the supplement, Threat Analysis 1: Collateral. The new includes the Academic Institute of Meny (representing academics who want to conduct field research into Operative activities), Advanced Ebb Training, Alternate Vendor Recruitment (handling Props and Contract Killers for SLA Operative operations), Combat Pilot Training, Combat Property Management, Construct Exploration, Employee Headcount Reduction, Media Management, Modern Policing, Motorised Recon, Radical Conflict De-Escalation Unit, Rapid Conflict Resolution Teams (previously known as ‘Kick Murder Squads’), Rapid Site, Breach & Entry, Sector Ranger Survival School, and Stakeholder Appeasement & Crisis Management. These all have minimum Stat requirements and many have electives to choose from as well. These open up the options not just in terms of the training for the Player Character SLA Operative, but the NPC too.

Similarly, the Operative’s Handbook does not list or detail all of the equipment options available in the core rulebook. This is understandable as it would substantially increase the supplement’s page count. What it does do is suggest starting packages based on a SLA Operative’s Training Package, which is very useful, handily speeding up character creation. There are new items of equipment too, such as lightweight, recyclable Shiver Ties used by Shivers instead of handcuffs (which weigh too much for a Shiver to carry on patrol), the FEN 603A Automatic Pistol (a fully automatic version of the venerable FEN 603 that is much heavier and no body likes because it is unwieldly), and a host of weapon upgrades such as a bayonet mount or Klip Killer reconfiguration to fit standard weapons on armour shoulder mounts. There are several new types of ammunition, like ABC or ‘Airburst Biological Countermeasures’, which have limited applications; new armour options and options for customisation; and vehicles. The new equipment list is not extensive, but all adds to the variety.

Finally, and if players are do not have the time to create their own SLA Operatives, the Operative’s Handbook includes a complete, ready-to-play squad of five Operatives. Complete with biographies, the Squad Arnold Nutter II, heirs apparent to the infamous Squad Arnold Nutter, whose leader, Arnold Nutter, died on camera in Cannibal Sector 1, became hero to the masses, and was subsequently restored to life via the Life After Death process. Still famous, he and his squad have their own television show and his catchphrase is now, “Pigeon!”. Nobody knows why and this is not a good for a squad that looks good on camera, but not all of them want to be members and there are some serious trust and attitude issues between them. The squad would work as media darling NPCs too, but would be fun to play for a short campaign as intended.

The Operative’s Handbook is not quite perfect. As a means to create new SLA Operatives, it is still going to rely upon the content of the core rulebook in places. In particular, equipment and skill definitions. Also, Squad Arnold Nutter II is not a typical starting Squad. It is too high profile for that and playing anyone of its members could be a challenge to the target audience, that is, someone new to the World of Progress and SLA Industries. It probably works better for more experienced players who will appreciate its twisted backstory and set-up. If the supplement is missing anything, it is a map of Mort City.

Physically, the Operative’s Handbook: A Sourcebook for SLA Industries Second Edition is well presented, is full of great artwork as you would expect, and is an easy read. It does need an edit in places.

The Operative’s Handbook: A Sourcebook for SLA Industries Second Edition an impressively useful book. A solid and accessible introduction to the World of Progress and SLA Industries in terms of both setting and rules. As a quicker means to helping create SLA Operatives, it does contain a lot that is old and been reprinted, but that is point, and there is plenty of new content too, especially about the life of a new Operative. All of which the Game Master can read and take inspiration from as much as the player simply reads through it. The Operative’s Handbook: A Sourcebook for SLA Industries Second Edition is good supplement, but not one that the Game Master and her players absolutely have to have in order to play SLA Industries. However, it is undeniably very useful.

Quick-Start Saturday: Time Without Tide

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

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

—oOo—

What is it?
Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog is the quick-start for Time Without Tide : Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog, a post-apocalyptic steampunk horror roleplaying game set during the Time Without Tide following the Victorian Age of Decadence during which the moon fell from the sky, vaporising as it hit the ground, splintering cities, shrouding the ruins in Lunar Dust, and unleashing the Unknown, an unforgiving horizonless fog that mutates anything unprotected by bright light.

The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog is a sixty-two e page, 22.91 MB full colour PDF.

It is well produced with excellent artwork. The maps also very good.

How long will it take to play?

The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog includes the scenario ‘Lonely Phareflaw’. It can be played in a single session.

What else do you need to play?
The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog needs several six-sided dice per player.

Who do you play?
The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog includes six pre-generated Player Characters. Six are given and are members of the Dowsing Odd relay crew. They include a steadfast protector who wields a Greatlight, a heavy, double-handed lantern to burn protect the fog and protect her allies; a charming socialite who is a radical freethinker and a good shot; a sturdy mechanic who wields a pickaxe to smash monsters; an orphan with a lot of luck; a noble turned reluctant assassin with amphibian traits; and a reanimated corpse turned doctor.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Player Character in the Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog is defined by his name and pre-delving resumé, Traits, Skills, Health, and Records. Each Trait—Body, Mind, and Will—has a score value and a health value, which range which one and five. The six skills—Culture, Industry, Navigation, Skulduggery, Survival, and Violence—are rated between zero and five. Records are what makes a Delver special. They consist of Items, Features, and Adaptations. Items are equipment that a Delver takes with him and things he found. (Notably, it is assumed that a Delver is competent enough to replenish supplies and so basic supplies do not need to be tracked.) Features are specialities and skill focuses that make each Delver stand out. Adaptations reflect exposure to the Unknown, evolving the infecting with malign detrimental powers or beneficial mutations. All Records take up slots. For Items, they take up Body slots; Features take up Mind slots; and Adaptations take up Will slots. Records can be depleted and typically require a safe or three-day rest to restore.

How do the mechanics work?

The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog uses a dice pool of six-sided dice. The dice pool is equal to the value of a Trait and a Skill. This can be any pair suitable for the situation. Each roll of a five or six is a counted as a success or Mark. A standard difficulty requires a player to roll two or more Marks, but the difficulty can range from one and easy to five and very hard. An ally can spend a whole action to assist and add half his dice to the pool and if the roll is a failure, a Delver can strain, suffer damage to the Mind, and reroll any dice. Any Marks in excess of the difficulty become Boons. These can be spent on extra effects. This is generally to halve the time of a task or to improve its quality, but this is not covered in any depth in the Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog, although they are used for combat.

How does combat work?

Combat in The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog uses a combination of the Violence Skill and Body Trait to hit things, the Violence Skill and Mind Trait to shoot things, and the Violence Skill and Will Trait to scare things. Initiative is a simple roll of a six-sided die and a Delver can take one major and one minor action. The action is fought across zones, each of which has room for four combatants.  The Unknown floods the battlefield and not only deplete Will, but make things harder to hit. The only way to counter this is to cast the light from a Lantern, which will hold back the Unknown, protecting the Delver and perhaps his allies. Exposure to the Unknown can lead to a loss of Will.

Combat includes a number of a number of Boon options for surplus Marks. For example, if a Delver is wielding two weapons, he can use a Boon to trigger Flurry and make an extra attack or increase the effect of a Invigoration on another ally Boon by Boon.

Most damage amounts to either one or two points depending upon the weapon and benefits gained from Boons. Damage represents an injury rather than a scrape or bruise. If the Health of any Trait is reduced to zero, the Delver is on the verge of dying. A simple recovery test will restore the Delver to one Health, but if failed, the Health of the Delver is still restored, but suffers a malignant Adaptation (for example, he becomes an ‘Overthinker’, his brain swelling painfully against the inside of his skull, meaning that it is harder for him to Strain), is closer to death, and everything is harder to do.

How does travel work?

Travel is a major part of play in The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog as the Delvers leave their Safe Harbours and explore the World of Fog to preserve the fading light. The day is eighteen hours long and divided into three segments. Each segment spent travelling requires the assignment of the Ward or effect of a lantern, rolling to overcome any obstacles that the Game Master places in their path, and dealing with random events—two dice are rolled and for each six, a random event happens. Yes, this means that two can occur in the same Segment. During any Segment spent in camp resting, a Delver can also take a major one-hour action and any number of immediate actions. The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog only provides a basic introduction to travel.

When travelling on an expedition, the Delver will carry a Relay, a ‘Decadent Device’, that is, a relic from the Age of Decadence, which are calibrated beacons. Using the Relay, a Delver party can teleport to any beacon they have calibrated their Relay to, typically using it to return home after an expedition.

What do you play?

The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog includes the scenario ‘Lonely Phareflaw’. The scenario involves an expedition to the Phareflaw Lighthouse, which went dark during Deep Winter. The Delvers are hired by the Saltport council to restore Phareflaw’s light travelling aboard the Riverboat Drastic which will be used to construct a Tenderhold, a fortified settlement around the lighthouse. The scenario begins with the Delvers’ arrival on the beach below the lighthouse and once ashore they will need to make their way up the cliffs to the lighthouse. The latter is indeed dark and the Delvers will need to break in and in exploring, restore its light. ‘Lonely Phareflaw’ is a solid, action-orientated scenario that in a very, very slight way feels like a Dickensian version of Aliens.

In addition to the scenario, The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog includes an introduction to the Delvers’ home port of Saltport, the Last City. It is accompanied by a fetching map. As well as including the pre-generated Delvers, the appendix includes a good introduction to the setting and the roleplaying game for the benefit of the players.

Is there anything missing?
No. The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog has everything that a Game Master needs to run the included scenario.

Is it easy to prepare?
Yes. Although The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog does feel slightly out of order in places, it is relatively straightforward and not too challenging to prepare.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog is a well done, solidly engaging introduction to the basics of The Time Without Tide: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog. Anyone looking for a post-apocalyptic, Dickensian steampunk horror roleplaying game should definitely give this a try.

The Time Without Tide Quickstart: Mirth & Misery in the World Of Fog is published by Chaosium, Inc., and is available to download here.

Friday Fantasy: Haunting of Beggar’s Creek

Haunting of Beggar’s Creek is a scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the roleplaying game set on the world of Erth in the Borderlands between the remnants of once great empires and the realm of the Weird Wizard greatly changed by his magics. The unexplained disappearance of the Weird Wizard allowed all manner of creatures and strangeness to flood into the empires and kingdoms causing strife and civil war, as refugees fled into the borderlands and adventurers ventured into the Weird Wizard’s lands into explore its strangeness, hopefully stop any dangerous threats, and perhaps return with treasures both magical and mundane. Player Characters progress from Level One to Level Ten, their progress divided between three Paths—Novice, Expert, and Master, gaining greater ability, skill, and specialisation. A Novice Path begins at Level One, an Expert path at Level Three, and a Master Path at Level Seven. Adventures for Shadow of the Weird Wizard are tailored to these three Paths. Haunting of Beggar’s Creek is designed for Expert Heroes and can be run as a scenario for slightly more experienced Player Characters for Shadow of the Weird Wizard.

Haunting of Beggar’s Creek opens with the Player Characters traveling along Towers Track, one of the roads leading to Four Towers, the guild-dominated city known for the dungeons that extend deep under the city and Delver Halls, its distinctive district home to the delver companies, the groups of professional treasure-hunters who live off what they can recover from the depths. The countryside either side of the road is lightly wooded and dotted with small farms, but what catches their attention is the body of young man on the road. There is blood encrusted around his nose and eyes as well as on his face, and his bluish-white skin, feels cold to the touch. There is no obvious cause of death and no obvious sign of a scuffle. The nearest settlement is Beggar’s Creek, just along the road, a town best known for Beggar’s Bridge which crosses the creek and the large inn, the Muggin’s Rest, which caters to the townsfolk, the farmers and farmhands, and the frequent travellers on their way to Four Towers.

The scenario is a murder mystery, almost a cliché in its backstory and its set-up. The Player Characters are not suspects themselves and once they have been directed to take the body to the nearby cemetery for burial, they are free to do what they want. They could walk away, continue their journey, and leave it at that—and that is the scenario’s biggest weakness. It really does rely upon the players’ curiosity and that of their characters. If they remain and investigate, the Player Characters will discover that their discovery was not the first and the bodies of several men have been found on the road in similar circumstances. Worse, their spirits have been seen prowling the area at night and the locals are worried, including the owners of the Muggin’s Rest. So, the question is, what is killing the men and causing their spirits to walk at night instead of passing on?

Haunting of Beggar’s Creek mixes a mini-sandbox with some decent interaction and investigation with a big dollop of horror thrown in. There is a surprisingly large cast of NPCs to talk to and question, a few locations to visit—none of them overly detailed, and a distinct difference in tone between day and night. By day, it is bucolic, tinged by the locals’ concern at the curse which seems to have beset the area. By night, ghosts and worse walk, perhaps leading to situation wherein the owners of the Muggin’s Rest, their family, guests and patrons, as well as the Player Characters, all find themselves under siege by the undead! This is only one possible climax to the scenario, but it is one that can be used to push the plot behind the scenario to a conclusion, especially if the Player Characters have not resolved it by then.

There are not a lot of moving parts to Haunting of Beggar’s Creek, but they are enough to keep the Sage busy and most of them will require more preparation than most other scenarios for Shadow of the Weird Wizard. This mostly consists of a lot of NPCs and ideally a map and a floorplan. The scenario would certainly benefit from a map of the area around the Muggin’s Rest and Beggar’s Creek, and whilst the Sage will need to draw one herself, she will probably find it easier to find a floorplan of an inn to represent the Muggin’s Rest. These are perhaps the only omissions from Haunting of Beggar’s Creek.

Physically, Haunting of Beggar’s Creek is decently presented and well written.

Haunting of Beggar’s Creek is a thoroughly likeable and engaging scenario, a classic set-up in terms of fantasy and horror roleplaying. It does need pulling apart a bit to make clear all of the clues and a fair amount of preparation, but once done, this player-driven scenario will provide a good session or two’s worth of solid play.

Grey City Future

With its near future setting of a San Franciso ravaged by climate change and protected from the sea by seawalls, the bulk of its population having moved off-world  in ‘The Scramble for Stars’ to start again on the megacorporate-sponsored colonies, and the use of Synths or biological androids as a pliable workforce in their stead, Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG feels very much inspired by Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. Published two years after the latter film by British publisher, Dragon Turtle Games, Ltd., Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG is also noticeable for the fact that its mechanics are derived from those used for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Although San Francisco is the default city setting in Carbon 2185 and the one detailed in the core rulebook, there are other cities around the world. The cities of London, Manhattan, and Tokyo are detailed in the Carbon 2185 | Cities Sourcebook, mapping out their glittering highlights and grungy lowlifes, whilst Berlin 2185 explores what could be a brighter future.

The Berlin of Berlin 2185 is different to other cities of the late twenty-second century. Whilst their response to environmental collapse has been to cede control to the corporations and slide into a cyberpunk dystopia, the Berlin Mandate Group, at the direction and donations of the Philanthropist has instead sought to share the city’s wealth. To use to protect the city, preserving the old buildings for prosperity whilst constructing more sustainable ones; to introduce a Universal Income and eliminate homelessness; and to establish a drone-driven energy dome over the city, protecting its citizenry, flora, and fauna from the worst effects of UV radiation and other contaminants—effectively, cutting edge weather control. Free from corporate control and capitalist drives, Berlin has become both a scientific and technological paradise and powerhouse.

Another big difference between Berlin and the other major cities of the world is the limited presence of the big corporations—Tusk in particular. The anti-corporate attitude is not just Berlin Mandate Group policy, but deeply woven into Berlin society. In particular, its Punk scene, heavily influenced by the Punk scene in London, but given a German twist in the form of NuWave Punk. A popular slogan of the Berlin Punk movement is, “Keine Unternehmen mehr, keine Lügen mehr!” or “No more Corporations, no more lies!”. The music and associated underground scene are nicely detailed, noting the degree of crossover between London and Berlin whilst emphasising the differences, that it is more accepting of LGBTQA+ members and LGBTQA+ bands as the ‘Gay Capital of Europe’, and that the authorities in the city have a grater tolerance towards the scene than might be found in other cities.

In general Cyberpunk terms, the description of Berlin amounts to a paradise. It is well organised and divided along need, not greed, the roads are uniform, the public transport system non-obtrusive, there are actual trees growing in the city, and at night, one can see the see the stars—unlike any other city in 2185. So where then are the tensions that will bring the Player Characters—or Cyberpunks as they are known—to Berlin and help the Game Master create plots and stories for her campaign. Obviously, one scale there may be tensions one band and another in the city’s punk scene, but on another, the corporations, with their limited presence in the city, would like to know the secrets of Berlin Mandate Group and how the city is run so effectively, let alone steal the flora of the city found nowhere else quite so obviously. For the most part there are jobs that most of the roles in the city legitimately. Docs are in high demand in the city’s medical sector, whether in emergency response teams operating in the city or beyond it or in medical research; Enforcers can find work as bodyguards, and even do clandestine work for the Berlin Mandate Group; Hackers can find work protecting from net-based and Sphere-based corporate intrusion; and the net-based and the Berlin Mandate Group might even employ a Scoundrel.

Some of these tasks are reflected in the new character options included in Berlin 2185. They include a Public Enforcement Officer highly trained in de-escalation and non-lethal resolution, but also heavily scrutinised  by their precincts and the Berlin Mandate Group for wrongful use of violence, and then Media Officer, Scientist, and Agent for the Berlin Mandate Group. The Media Officer will be covering up details as well as presenting them to the press; the Scientist will have access to some of the most advanced technology on the planet; and the Agent does the dirty work that the Media Officer for the Berlin Mandate Group avoids doing. The others include the Eco-Punk Ganger—an environmentalist punk rocker, Drone Operator—much in demand in the skies above Berlin, Media Personality, and Construction Engineer. There is also a discussion of Origins for Cyberpunks appropriate to Berlin, of which Korporate Kids and Badlanders are rare and High Flyers and Sleekers uncommon. The most common are Regular Joes and Gutter Punks.

The various sectors of the city are also described, including a few notable locations, the feel of the place, what food and drink options are available, and what secrets are hidden there. This is followed by a table of encounters. For example, the feel of the Science Park is dominated by the smell of actual live plants and clean water in the fountains, there are vending machines from the city ubiquitous currywurst can be purchased, but few restaurants, and the area is home to Research & Development Labs, Tech Facilities, and the Berlin Mandate Group’s Science Division, as well as the Foresters Houses. The latter is where the city’s foresters live, their job to protect the city’s flora—with prejudice. The secrets here include the Berlin Mandate Group’s complex here, hidden by trees, and rumours of access to an old botanical garden from before Berlin was built over. Compare that to the Construction Sector with its Drone Stations, Barge Launches which launch the huge vessels that do the heavy construction across the site, often deploying massive 3D printers to manufacture on site whole buildings and parts of buildings, and the Observation Watches from their launch can be safely viewed. Its atmosphere is of low hum from all of the devices across the vast maintenance and construction complexes, the air filled with drones and transports. Food and drink are available via vending machines or at canteens, whilst alcohol is forbidden. There is a secret construction project going on here, one that requires printers and factories to operate day and night. All of the nine sectors come with a set of encounters that serve as prompts for the Game Master to develop.

Berlin 2185 does include a section on the Undercity, the dark underbelly of what is old and new Berlin in 2185. Out of the old buildings and tunnels formed through collapse and being built over, long poisoned and irradiated by war and pollution, a nascent organisation called the Cabal is trying to establish itself in the city above. It has corporate connections, but mostly consists of bully-boy asshole white-supremacist fanatics. The Undercity is the Cabal’s territory, but it is home to mutated plants and animals and former humans. (The supplement suggests appropriate monsters from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.) It is quite a short section in comparison to the descriptions of the sectors in the upper city and the city as a whole. Plus, as  really only the main antagonist in Berlin 2185, it does lack advice on how to use it and on how to interface its plans with the upper world, as well as possible hooks that the Game Master could develop into something playable. It leaves the Game Master to handle that.

Another issue with Berlin 2185 is its treatment of its secrets. Some it does tell the Game Master what they are and others not. Whilst the main two threaten to change the nature of Carbon 2185 towards a more Science Fiction genre rather than a Cyberpunk one. It is never quite explicitly explained what they and certainly the ramifications of their discovery are never explored. This would not be so much of a problem if Berlin was not so much of paradise and had a bit more conflict that the Game Master could work from.

Physically, Berlin 2185 is well presented with plenty of artwork to get across the idea that Berlin is a radically different, all but utopian city comparison to the others of Carbon 2185. Sadly, this leaves less room to depict the seamier side of the city where the Cyberpunks are likely to congregate. There is no map either and the layout is untidy.

Berlin 2185 presents something radically different for Carbon 2185. A city with a positive outlook and a sense of hope. The result is engaging, even fascinating in comparison to the other cities in this future, but it does leave the Game Master with a lot of work to develop content and story lines given the lack of conflict in Berlin. There is possibility in the well done section on Punk and the underground music scene, but the remainder feels as if the content could have been developed a bit more, made that bit more engaging. Berlin 2185 is a welcome addition to the Carbon 218 setting, but the Game Master is going to work harder to bring more than its utopia to life and tell interesting stories.

Snæland Sagas #06: The Mystery of Raider Monks

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, and The Companions of Arthur for Pendragon, Sagas of the North is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Iceland the other lands that the Vikings travelled to. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Age of Vikings. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Icelandic settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Vikings Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Age of Vikings campaigns.

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What is the Nature of the Saga?

The Mystery of Raider Monks is a supplement for use with Age of Vikings.

It is a full colour, seventeen page, 14.13 MB PDF.

It contains a secret message the author’s cat.

The layout is tidy, but it does need an edit in places.

Where is the Saga set?

The Mystery of Raider Monks begins near the home of the Player Characters or that of their goði, but will take them far away and back again!

Who should be the subject of this Saga?

Any type of Player Character can take part in this saga. A Player Character able to sail a ship will be useful.

What does the Saga require?

The Mystery of Raider Monks only requires the Age of Vikings core rulebook.

Where will the Vikings go in this Saga?

The Mystery of the Raider Monks starts with a bang—or rather, with the clash of steel—and a mystery. As the title suggests, why are monks landing on the Icelandic coast and attacking any farmstead they find? It sounds as they are going ‘Vikinging’ or raiding, but they seem hellbent on beating to death anyone they find with their clubs and maces and do so in the name of Christ. The influx of Christianity and its increased adoption by many Icelanders is seen as a threat by many, but is this taking things too far? The scenario opens with such a raid and the Player Characters close by to intervene and hopefully drive the monks back to their ship. The staging advice for the battle is solid and the opening scenes provide some decent opportunities for the Player Characters to shine.

Even though the behaviour of the monks seems very strange, everyone after the battle will be calling for revenge and likely for the blood debt now owed by the monks to be paid. This will take the form of a raid on the monastery in Ireland where the monks who attacked the farmsteads came from. Securing the necessary boats can be run in as much detailed required, but could present some opportunities for roleplaying if the players want their characters to negotiate and bargain for supplies and boats. Or it could be run somewhere between the two, but either way it should make use of the Preparation rules in Age of Vikings. A second round of preparation should follow once the Player Characters and their ships reach the Irish coast as they scout the area, land in a favourable position, and so on. The sea journey is glossed over in the scenario, but an encounter roll or two would not go amiss if the Game Master and her players have more time.

The raid itself uses the rules from Age of Vikings for handling the process, and again, can be as abstract or detailed as is necessary. Again, the Player Characters will be facing yet more surprisingly fanatical Christian monks, but also, potentially, the true villain behind the raids. Although the scenario can be played as a one-shot, it works best as an addition to campaign as there are ramifications and consequences of the events of the raid on Ireland.

What will the Skalds sing of this Saga?

The Mystery of the Raider Monks is a short scenario that will probably take a session or two at most to complete. It not only presents an intriguing mystery—though quickly resolved—it also makes good use of the Preparation and Raiding rules. Although the Game Master may want to flesh it out a little, primarily in the scenes in which the raid on the monastery is being prepared, The Mystery of the Raider Monks is solid addition to any Age of Vikings campaign.

Miskatonic Monday #449: Whispers In The Frostbound Woods

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.

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Whispers In The Frostbound Woods – A 1940s Call of Cthulhu Scenario is an interesting scenario set at intriguing period in time and with two close, almost parallel storylines which can only be played by different groups. Set in February, 1941, it takes place in the deep winter of the frozen north on the border between the Soviet Union and Finland. An interim peace has broken out between the relatively new countries, uneasy after the Winter War of the previous two years which led to Finland being forced cede territory to the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, these concessions are not enough for Moscow and it has intensified its espionage and infiltration activities across the border, especially in Karelia, parts of which it had gained from Finland in the settlement of the Winter War. To that end, it has been sending small groups of infiltrators, called ‘Desants’, often consisting of Fins living in the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (the former parts of Karelia gained from Finland), across the border. They are tasked with reconnaissance, sabotage, and disrupting Finnish efforts to maintain control over its borders. In response, Finland sent patrols of the Finnish Civil Guard to track and counter Desant operations.

At the start of Whispers In The Frostbound Woods, as part of Projekt Snegoviy Tsar—Winter King—an NKVD-led unit of desants has been dropped into Finnish Karelia to examine a location to determine whether it matches historical records and folklore descriptions and document any significant findings at the location, including photographs, sketches, and notes. Alerted by the sighting of parachutes and Soviet aeroplanes in Finnish airspace, a patrol of the Finnish Civil Guard has been ordered to locate and apprehend all foreign operatives that have landed in Finland. At the start of Whispers In The Frostbound Woods, the players are presented with a choice—play the Desants or the Finnish Civil Guard. Of the two, the story for the Desants is more fraught.

The scenario is supported with a lot of historical detail, which itself makes for an interesting read. All together, this covers the relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union, recent history of Karelia, the history of the Desants and the Finnish Civil Guard, and the typical equipment used by both groups. There are not only descriptions for the Keeper for both groups involved in the situation in Whispers In The Frostbound Woods, but a detailed description of what each does if they are used as NPCs rather than as Investigators. There is also a guide to hypothermia taken from the pages of Malleus Monstrorum Volume I: Monsters.

Effectively, two storylines run through Whispers In The Frostbound Woods, one slightly behind the other. For example, Desant team will experience fully its parachute landing in Finland, whereas the Finnish Civil Guard patrol will discover it afterwards and get to examine it. Other scenes either group will experience the same. As they travel, they will experience horrors of both past and present, including some quite visceral scenes, a flashback to a sacrifice that took place more than a thousand years in the past is particularly nasty. Eventually, the Desants group will reach the location indicated by their orders with the Finnish Civil Guard patrol close behind. The latter will find the former in disarray, split by infighting, if not actually dead. This is driven by the strangeness that both groups have experienced, but also the Mythos entity which has been manipulating events all along—for both groups. It is up to the Keeper to decide where and when this manipulation directly takes place. Some advice is included to that end, but given that this does involve the direct manipulation of an Investigator, the scenario is best run by an experienced Keeper and played by experienced players.

Beyond the details of the Mythos threat—a rival to Ithaqua—Whispers In The Frostbound Woods includes a lot of support for both Keeper and players. This includes nine well-done handouts as well as eight Investigators for the Finnish Civil Guard patrol and seven Investigators for Desants. This is to allow for a ready supply of replacement Investigators no matter which group is being played. The appendices include lists of period names and clocks for tracking both body temperature in conjunction with the earlier rules for hypothermia and also the influence of the Mythos entity at the heart of the scenario. Perhaps the most important appendix is the one providing Keeper guidance on the mind control used in the scenario. The advice is decent, but perhaps could have been put together with the details of the scenario Mythos threat and the progress clocks so that it does not feel as if the scenario is avoiding giving any advice at all.

Physically, Whispers In The Frostbound Woods – A 1940s Call of Cthulhu Scenario is decently done. The artwork is serviceable, but the handouts and choice of photographs used are very good.

An ambitious pair of Keepers could actually run the two strands in Whispers In The Frostbound Woods – A 1940s Call of Cthulhu Scenario separate, but in parallel to each other. One running the Desant mission, the other the Finnish Civil Guard patrol, before the final confrontation at the end. It would involve careful staging, but it could be done. Another option would be one group to play through the scenario as the Desant mission, and then a second group play through the scenario as the Finnish Civil Guard patrol, encountering the events and whatever was left behind in the wake of the Desant mission’s passing. It is a pity that options like this are not addressed in the scenario. Of the two groups, the progress of the Desant mission will be more freeform, whilst the Finnish Civil Guard patrol will often be reacting to whatever the Desant group has left behind and so its progress is more structured.

Whispers In The Frostbound Woods – A 1940s Call of Cthulhu Scenario is a linear scenario, not once, but twice. First on an expedition scenario and second on a chase scenario, and whilst each also has its own different tone, both are wintery, unsettling, and disturbing in places. Although there is more potential to its structure than is explore in the scenario, there is a sharp, icy grip to Whispers In The Frostbound Woods – A 1940s Call of Cthulhu Scenario.