A Cyberpunk Conjuncture

The year is 2119. Following an environmental collapse precipitated by a limited nuclear exchange, humanity survives in eleven metropolises, great conglomerates encompassing whole cities and former countries, of which the largest is New Europe. Sitting in the centre of Europe, New Europe is a gigantic sprawl that takes in the former Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as parts of Poland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, its environment maintained by great atmospheric processors. New Europe is governed by Gaia, an Artificial Intelligence developed by Hansor Innovations, which dedicates itself to the safety, health, and well-being of new Europe’s citizens. This has been brought about by tighter control of food production, increased surveillance, and roboticised law enforced with limited artificial intelligence. Gaia has also accelerated technological innovation and this has led to the development of cyberware, miniaturised power sources, and the information network known as the Core. Despite the intentions of Gaia, New Europe is no utopia, but a battleground. Outside of the safe zone communes, everyone has access to firearms and the streets are a warzone, if not necessarily one of open warfare. Crime and violence are rife, whether between criminal gangs, criminal gangs and law enforcement, law enforcement and radical protest groups, radical protest groups and corporations, corporations and other corporations, and corporations and mercs. The latter are hired mercenaries—ex-military and ex-law enforcement turned Operators, Core Hackers, Bio Hackers able to tap into the Neural Frame of other users, Parameds, Cyberdocs, MilTechs, Tech Traders, Data Dealers, and so on—that take contracts that further the aims of one corporation over another. Mercs give the corporations deniable assets, enabling them to continue rivalries without the need for open warfare. Yet the strangest aspect of this dystopia is that humanity is not alone. It is only eight years since the Vampires revealed their existence in frenzy of bloodletting, but eventually some asked for acceptance and the development of an artificial blood substitute in return for an end to their preying on humanity. Whether the very human-like Vril or the monstrous Norl, most Vampires have accepted the new situation, but some have not, hunting and preying upon humanity at the fringes of New Europe. Also revealing themselves at the same time were the Ferals, often weaker and suffering from more genetic defects than humanity, but otherwise identical except for the ability to Meld with another animal, such as a dog, cat, or rat, though in more recent times, some have melded with rarer, recreated, and cloned species. Both Vampires and Ferals, as well as the roboticised law enforcement and cyberware proponents are often the targets of radical pro-human groups and protestors.

This is the set-up for The Gaia Complex – A Game of Flesh and Wires, a Cyberpunk roleplaying game of street violence, espionage, vampiric uprisings, and overzealous A.I. governance, published by Hansor Publishing. It feels like a very traditional Cyberpunk roleplaying game, though with an obvious European bias, and with the oddity of the addition of the supernatural in the form of Vampires and Ferals. Of course, this is not the first time that Vampires and Cyberpunk have been brought together. Night’s Edge, published by Dream Pod 9 and Ianus Publications in 1993, brought vampires to Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. from R. Talsorian Games Inc.. That though was an extra option, whereas here in The Gaia Complex, vampires are part of the setting and they add an element of the supernatural and horror to the fringes of that setting. In comparison, their inclusion is not as radical an addition to the Cyberpunk genre as fantasy is ShadowRun. Plus, they are not available as a Player Character options and should a vampire turn a Player Character, he becomes an NPC. It is possible to play a Feral though. They are not as physically strong as the average human, they have allied companion beasts, and their blood is actually poisonous to Vampires!

A Player Character in The Gaia Complex is Merc. He is either a Human or a Feral, and will have a Character Role. The ten Character Roles are Operator, Core Hacker, Bio Hacker, Paramed, Cyberdoc, MilTech, Mech, Tech Trader, Data Dealer, and Handler. Each Character Role sets a Player Character’s Favoured Stats, Core Skills, Starting Items, and a Trait, the latter, a special ability which kicks in under certain circumstances. For example, the Operator has the Favoured Stats of Brawn, Guts, and Reflexes; Core Skills of Firearms, Melee Weapons, Strategy, and Tracking; a Starting Item of a firearm or melee weapon; and the Trait of ‘Combat Readiness’, which grants an Operator a bonus to initiative, able to identity threats and respond to them faster. The Handler has the Favoured Stats of Allure and Perception; Core Skills of Animal Handling, Awareness, Meld, and Tracking; a Starting Item of an animal companion; and the Trait of ‘Feral Mind’, which represents the Feral’s honed mind and senses with a modifier to Awareness skill tests and the capacity to spend Grit to automatically pass a Meild skill test. The Player Character has seven stats—Brawn, Reflexes, Guts, Brains, Allure, and Perception—each rated between one and ten and each having six associated skills. Skills do not have a rating; a Player Character either has the skill or not. The seventh stat is Grit, which is a pool of points that can be spent to ensure success during play. A Player Character also a Disconnect score, which measures his biological functions versus the amount of cyberware he has installed.

Creating a Player Character is a matter of selecting a Character Role and applying its bonuses, dividing twenty-five points between the stats, and picking twelve skills in addition to those granted by the Character Role. This gives him a total of sixteen skills and two of them must be Specialisations. Lastly, the Player Character receives some clothing, somewhere to live, enough food to last a week, and a budget to spend on starting equipment and cybernetics. The process is quite straightforward; the most complicated part being making the choices in terms of equipment and cybernetics.

Name: Ottilie Harsholm
Character Role: Core Hacker
Trait: Digital Life

STATS
Brawn 3 (Unarmed Combat)

Reflexes 6 (Firearms, Pilot Drone, Stealth)
Guts 5 (Gambling, Streetwise)
Brains 8 (Electronics, Hacking, Mechanical, Programming)
Allure 4 (Barter, Deceive, Persuasion)
Perception 5 (Awareness, Lock Pick, Surveillance)
Grit 4

HIT POINTS
Endurance 9 Pressure 24
Morale 10 Disconnect 78
CYBERWARE
NVI ProKL Neural Frame, NVI Flashline Neural Rig, THD Drone Remote, DrillBit Mk.2, Transplant

Mechanically, The Gaia Complex uses what it calls the 12.3 System. To have a Player Character undertake an action, the appropriate Stat is first compared against the difficulty, ranging from one for very easy to almost impossible for eleven. If the appropriate Stat is equal to, or less than, the difficulty, the Player Character automatically succeeds and no roll is required. If a roll is required, the player rolls two twelve-sided dice and compares the result against the Stat. A success is generated if the result is equal to, or less than, the Stat.

If the Player Character has the appropriate skill, only one Success is required, but if the Player Character does not have the skill, a Success is required on both dice. If the task is still difficult, the Game Master can also apply a Complexity Modifier to the roll. If the skill is marked as a specialisation, a player can reroll any single die that did not roll a twelve. Grit can be spent to reduce the result rolled, each point spent, reducing the result on both die by one for each point spent—though not if a twelve was rolled. If the test is failed and either die rolled a twelve, the result is a critical failure. This can result in the loss of Endurance or Morale, inability to undertake the task again, gaining the wrong information, equipment failing, and so on.

Combat uses the same mechanics. Initiative is a simple roll of one die plus Reflexes or Perception and during each three second Combat Round, a combatant can perform one action—either Movement, Supporting, Close Combat Attack, or Ranged Attack. Any attack action requires a successful roll, again against the appropriate Stat. However, there is a greater range of Complexity Modifiers which can apply to the actual roll. For example, in close combat, charging adds a +1 Complexity Modifier and a +2 Complexity Modifier is added if the target is actively dodging, whereas in ranged combat, an aimed shot grants a -1 Complexity Modifier, a snapshot adds a +1 Complexity Modifier, and cover adds a variable Complexity Modifier depending upon how heavy it is. Burst allows a single damage die for the gun to be rerolled, any result of an eleven becomes a twelve, whilst suppressive fire applies a -1 Complexity Modifier, all damage dice to be rerolled, and any result of ten or eleven becomes a twelve. Each weapon has its own profile in terms of damage and effect, as well as background. A Player does need to keep track of how much ammunition has been used.

In terms of Hit Points, a Player Character has both Endurance and Pressure. Endurance represents his physical health and Pressure his mental health. Weapons inflict Endurance damage, typically 3d3+1 for a handgun, whilst attacks from programs in the Core or some

vampire abilities reduce Pressure. There are serious side effects if either Endurance or Pressure are reduced to five or less and if Endurance is reduced to zero, the Player Character is dead, and if Pressure reduced to zero, the Player Character is either brain dead or insane. There are also EMP weapons that can affect electronics and cybernetics. Armour will Endurance damage by a random amount, in some cases can be stacked, and optionally, can be damaged when it stops incoming blows. Other optional rules allow for knockdowns, hit locations, bleeding, and morale. Overall, the combat system is brutal.

As a Cyberpunk roleplaying game, The Gaia Complex includes a wide range of cyberware. Cyberarms and legs with storage comparts, magnetic plates, pop-up weapons, toolmate and TASER fingers; cybereyes with X-ray scanners, UV options, and targeting systems; cyberears with improved hearing range; cyberjaws with lockjaws and sharpened canines; titanium ribs and spinal replacement; neural frames and rigs for accessing the Core, storing data safely, and operating drones remotely; and more. Bioware options add improved hearts and lungs, whilst other implants include nasal filters, chip ports, and cable jacks, and exo-skeletons have their options. Many of the items of cyberware are available from legitimate CyberDocs where the newly installed devices will be legally recorded and also from backstreet CyberDocs who install ‘Hackjob’ versions of the devices, as functional, but often clunkier and more obvious, though without it being reported to the authorities. Either way, installing any device reduces the Player Character’s Disconnect. This starts out typically at about ninety, but is reduced for each item or upgrade. When Disconnect drops below fifty, the Player Character begins to suffer deleterious effects. ‘Hackjob’ versions tend to incur a greater Disconnect loss than legitimate versions.

The treatment of Hacking in The Gaia Complex is kept surprisingly short, just four pages long. Physically, it requires a Hacking Rig, Neural Frame, or Jack sockets and leads, and access can be found all across the city. Mechanically, it uses the Hacking skill and asks the player to define the objectives and the Game Master the number of layers of security that a hacker must penetrate or bypass to find the data he wants, access the permissions he wants, or plant the data he wants. The Game Master places countermeasures, such as a Data Wall, Cortex Trap, or Watch Dog, in these layers as challenges and threats that the Hacker has to overcome. All of this is played out in abstract fashion rather than mapping it necessarily, primarily relying on roleplaying to handle the narrative. The confrontations and encounters in the Core take roughly two to three seconds each, so that a Hacking attempt can be run alongside combat, although the Hacker can only focus on the attempt and finds it difficult to communicate.

Bio Hacking is treated in a similar fashion and length. Where Hacking involves electronically breaking into data systems and servers, Bio Hacking involves breaking into someone else’s mind, whether through the Core and into his Neural Frame or by directly jacking into the target’s systems via a port. Once inside, instead of experiencing the consensual network of neon and structure of the Core, the Bio Hacker finds himself in a void dotted with colourful nodes representing the target’s memories and the functions of his Neural Frame. It is extremely disorientating as the Bio Hacker constantly feels as if he is falling in a loop over and over, and it takes some getting used to. However, whilst in the target’s mind, the Bio Hacker can do a number of things. One is to steal desires, knowledge, memories, and secrets from the target, another is to plant thoughts, and even completely dominate the target to place them in forced servitude. As with Hacking, Bio Hacking is to be run in an abstract fashion, emphasising roleplaying with the Game Master setting up Bio Hacking Countermeasures for the Player Character to overcome.

As you would expect, The Gaia Complex includes an extensive list of arms, accessories, armour, clothing, hacking gear and accessories and programs, drones, accommodation and property, and more. Of course, it adds a range of animals for the Ferals’ Meld ability.

The non-Cyberpunk aspects of the setting of New Europe get their own sections, detailing in turn the world and cultures of the Ferals and the Vampires. Ferals have spent much of history as loners, drifters, and outsiders, and for the most part, still do in 2119. They simple lives, tend to avoid the use of cyberware, and when they do become Mercs, often follow their affinity for and love of animals to act against Sephron Corp, wanting to free the animals it clones. Feral culture continues to be street-based, the most notable organisation being the Circadian Network which operates throughout New Europe, managing a hidden surveillance and data trafficking network. Vampires, being non-human, receive more mechanical detail. What happens if someone is turned and becomes a Vampire, the special abilities that they can gain such as Deathtouch, Exsanguinate, Regeneration, Telekinesis, and Telepathy, and the rules of their survival, as well as their leading figures and corporations, like the Un-Set Corp; the vampire-operated investment firm, and Belvoit Media, a human/vampire co-run media firm specialising in urban advertisements.

There are details too, of the various corporations operating in New Europe, and in the wider world, New Europe and the other metropolises. Here there are descriptions of each of the districts of New Europe, all of the city or country sized, giving a bit of flavour and background so that the Game Master has reason to get her Player Characters there and feel enough to describe it to her players. Less useful are the descriptions of the other ten metropolises around the world since environmental effects have limited contact and travel between them for decades. Although the metropolises do feel reminiscent of the world of Judge Dredd from the pages of 2000 AD, their inclusion does give the Game Master a greater feel for the world. More useful perhaps is the information on the major corporations operating in New Europe as they provide at least a set of potential employers and targets.

There is decent, if brief, advice for the Game Master along with three data seeds—extended plot outlines—and good advice on inclusivity and safety. However, the last fifteen pages of The Gaia Complex is devoted to ‘The Truth Behind The Screen’. This gives the real history of the future of New Europe, shifting the setting in a radically unexpected direction and potentially changing what the roleplaying game setting purports to be. It includes an actual timeline that encompasses everything, which is slightly annoying because there is no timeline without those changes earlier in the book for the players’ benefit. As welcome as this new and expanded background and timeline are, it is of limited use. The problem is that there is no accompanying advice on how to use this extra timeline and background details, on how to bring it to the attention of the Player Characters, and how they might learn of it, and what they might do if they learn of it. So, at best, the Game Master can run the setting as is, as a more or less straight cyberpunk roleplaying game, but with supernatural elements, and perhaps begin work in the esoteric elements of the deeper background if she wants to and is confident enough to do so. Either that or wait for a supplement that brings it into play, because otherwise, the secret background is interesting, but just not yet relevant on the strength of the core rulebook alone.

Physically, The Gaia Complex is well presented. The artwork is excellent, but the cartography is serviceable at best and the book is slightly overwritten in parts. Every chapter is prefaced with a piece of colour fiction that helps to bring the setting to life.

The Gaia Complex – A Game of Flesh and Wires is a surprisingly light roleplaying game for the Cyberpunk genre, at least mechanically. In terms of setting, it feels very much like a standard Cyberpunk dystopia, complete with widespread violence, gangs, feuding corporations, and overbearing A.I. directed governance, though one with a European emphasis and one with a view of weirdness and horror with the inclusion of the Ferals and Vampires. The European emphasis gives it a certain freshness of a long history upended and a less traditional setting for the genre, whilst the horror and the weirdness give it an unexpected, if slight bite.

A Wick’d World

Operating in the shadows, untouched by the police, and with the utmost of professionalism, there is a world of killers. Professional assassins and hitmen, trackers and bounty hunters. Killing not because they are evil or cruel. Killing because it is their duty, because it is their skill, because it is their style, because it is their job, because it is their honour. They may be employed by one of the great families. They may be freelancers hired from one job to the next. They may belong to secret society that has long used assassination as a tool. Their world is governed by the secret and ancient organisation known as the Stone. Beneath the Stone are six families, each representing one of the major criminal organisations—the Bratva, the Camorra, the Cartel, the Mafia, the Triads, and the Yakuza—which the killers may be allied with or work for as freelancers, and which control great swathes of territory and influence the direction of whole cities and nations. They also feud with each other and that is in part why the actions of the killers are so regulated by the Stone, lest such feuds get out of hand and come to the attention of the wider world. The killers, in return for their skill that they hone constantly, live lives of luxury. They also have access to the Belmont, not just a chain of businesses that serve the world of the professional killers, but also a hotel where they can stay, relax, arrange for new contracts, and order the latest tactical gear like it was fine wine. And best of all, the Belmont is neutral ground. Of course, if a professional killer is declared a renegade by the Stone, then it is game on, and the renegade is anybody’s to hunt and kill.

This is the setting for World of Killers, ‘A Supplement of Assassins, Hired Guns, and Secret Societies for Outgunned’. Published by Two Little Mice, Outgunned: Cinematic Action Roleplaying Game is the cinematic action roleplaying game inspired by the classic action films of the past sixty years—Die Hard, Goldfinger, Kingsman, Ocean’s Eleven, Hot Fuzz, Lethal Weapon, and John Wick. It expands the rules for Outgunned with five new roles and a special role, nine new tropes, rules for trained dogs and both hunts and getaways, new gear, and a cinematic campaign, ready to play with four pre-generated killers. All of this is inspired by John Wick, Kill Bill, Leon, Assassin’s Creed, and Hitman. Of these, the first is important because essentially, World of Killers is unashamedly the John Wick series of films with the serial numbers filed off, and short of an actual licence, that really is no bad thing. After all, the players get to play in a very similar world to the one they have seen on screen.

Arguably, because most players of World of Killers will have seen the John Wick films, or at least be aware of them, the supplement does not need a huge amount of detail to describe its setting. The background covers the Stone, its organisation and the important roles within it, all six families who get a page each, the Belmont and the services it provides, paying particular attention to the New York Belmont, and then the Rats. The Rats live on the fringes of society and on the fringes on the fringes of the world of killers, a mixture of criminals, dropouts, derelicts, and outcasts, led by a Rat Queen in New York, and providing similar services to the Belmont—protection, gear, information, and favours. This all costs of course, and nothing more than offering a sanctuary for renegades.

The five new roles in and for the World of Killers are the Samurai, Hired Gun, Aristocrat, Dog Trainer, and Derelict. As in the core rulebook, these are templates that give options in terms of Work, Catchphrase, Flaw, and Characteristics, including attribute and skill points feats, and gear, that a player customises. They include a list of inspirations from a variety of action films as well, starting off, of course, with the John Wick franchise. If the Samurai and Hired Gun are obvious, the others less so. The Aristocrat relies on breeding, manners, and charisma; the Dog Trainer operate with a trained canine companion, which can be a tracker dog or an attack dog; and the Derelict lives on the streets and very likely has a past with the world of killers. In addition, the World of Killers gives a sixth, special role, one that combines a standard Player Character’s Role, Trope, and Job in one, and that is the Assassin. The Assassin does get more skill points to assign and three Feats instead of two. Although there is no inspirational list of films to accompany it, the illustration makes it obvious that the role is inspired by the Assassin’s Creed series of computer games. Its inclusion opens up the possibility of setting Outgunned stories in the past.

Besides new Tropes such as ‘Battle Butler’, ‘Gone Rogue’, ‘Magnificent Bastard’, and ‘Professional’, and new Feats like ‘Deflect Bullets’, ‘Elegance’, ‘Endure Pain’, ‘Gun Fu’, and ‘Sword Fighter’, World of Killers adds two new Plan B options. ‘Blade’ grants an immediate success or amazing advantage with a slash of the sword, whilst ‘Belmont’ brings the intervention of the organisation, whether its personnel or its services. Gold, particular coins, is introduced as an exclusive currency to gain access to Belmont services, equipment, and favours and services, and is earned communally for completing tasks and contracts for the Stone, the Belmont, and the families.

Although the Trained Dog is specifically for the Dog Trainer Role, it is possible for a Player Character to gain one later. The Trained Dog itself is treated as character in its own right, complete with a flaw, attributes, and Grit. Stats are given for a hunting falcon and a monkey as well as a dog. The other major addition to Outgunned are the rules for ‘Hunts’. This handles how assassinations and kills play out by tracking two numbers, ‘Need’ and ‘Kill’. ‘Need’ measures how close the Player Characters are to the target and how exposed the target is, whilst ‘Kill’ tracks the Player Characters’ position and advantage over the target. From turn to turn, the players roll and narrate how they get closer to the target, increasing their ‘Kill’ until their characters are in the position to carry out the shot. A Hunt can then turn into a chase, whether the Player Characters fail and have to go after their target, or fail or succeed and are then pursued by the target’s forces. Supported by an example, the ‘Hunt’ rules set up great set pieces full of tension and pent up violence.

Half of World of Killers is dedicated to a cinematic scenario, ‘Family Business’. It incudes four pre-generated Player Characters, a Hired Gun, an Aristocrat, a Dog Trainer, and a Samurai. They are asked for help by the manager of New York’s Belmont, an old friend or someone whom they are indebted to, who has let two renegades slip out of his grasp. The Stone has given him twenty-four hours to make up for his error. The hunt for the two renegades—who turn out be star-crossed lovers and killers—takes the Player Characters to a showdown on a cruise and back to New York where they discover that the Stone has already taken away their own friend to be judged at a Tribunal. This is not how things are normally conducted, so the Player Characters’ suspicions should have been aroused and they will want to investigate. As they do so, they run the risk of being declared renegade, must face the Stone’s own forces and those of some of the families, travel around the world from New York to Rome to Tokyo, and unmask a conspiracy that could upset the balance between the six families. It is a highly entertaining scenario that takes the Player Characters from the highs to the lows of the world of killers and back again. There are some great set scenes and the players get to try out the ‘Hunt’ rules more than once. The five-shot scenario will probably take several sessions to play through and very nicely showcases the setting.

The scenario is supported by several handouts, actually portraits of all of the Player Characters and NPCs, not handouts in the traditional sense, since Outgunned is not an investigative roleplaying game. The scenario is expertly presented though with scenes detailed on the lefthand page and advice for the Game Master on the right. This format makes the scenario easy to run from the page. There are some sequel suggestions too in addition to some scenario ideas given earlier in the book.

Physically, World of Killers is, like Outgunned, a good looking book. The artwork is excellent and the layout clean and tidy, and easy to read.

If you are a fan of Outgunned, then you are going to want World of Killers, and if you are a fan of the John Wick films, you are going to want World of Killers. As an action film roleplaying game, Outgunned is great for one-shots, but World of Killers gives it a setting, a structure, and a franchise that the players can return to again and again.

Screen Shot XVI

How do you like your GM Screen?

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

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

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

So how do I like my GM Screen?

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

The Pendragon Gamemaster Screen Pack is for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It includes the ‘Pendragon Gamemaster Screen’, the ‘Gamemaster Resources’ book, the ‘Gamemaster Gazetteer’ book, and the poster map of ‘Britain in the time of King Arthur’. The ‘Pendragon Gamemaster Screen’ is a sturdy, three-panel affair in landscape format. On the front it depicts two knights on horseback clashing under the Grail. On the back, the various tables are clearly laid out and each come with page references to the books they are taken from. The centre panel is the most useful, since it includes a list of ‘Combat Action’, ‘Mounted Lance Charge Fumble Table’, ‘Follow-Up Actions’, and of course, the ‘Combat Action Resolution Results’ table, which is probably the most likely referred to table in the roleplaying game. On the right-hand panel, the tables are for the ‘Passion Crisis Outcomes’, ‘Unopposed Passion Roll Results’, ‘’Winter Phase Procedure’, ‘Emergency Dismounts’ table, ‘Ageing’ and ‘Characteristic Lost’ tables, and lastly, the ‘Beginning Knight Skill Values’. The latter arguably less useful than the other tables and it is the same on the left-hand panel. Here the ‘Skill Modifiers for Challenges’ is going to be the most referenced up in the far left corner, whilst the ‘Hunting Vs. Avoidance Results’, ‘Intoxication Results’, ‘Favour Value Synopsis’, ‘Mounted Charge Opportunity’, ‘Battle Sizes’, ‘Glory Distribution Amongst Knights’, ‘Combat Glory’, and ‘Feast Event Cards by APP’ tables arguably less so. This is not to say that their inclusion is anything other than useful, and overall, the ‘Pendragon Gamemaster Screen’ is handy. Unlike other roleplaying games, Pendragon, Sixth Edition is not one that relies heavily on tables, but the most important and regularly consulted tables are included here.

The ‘Gamemaster Resources’ is thirty-six pages and designed to do three things. The first of these is to provide a means of generating a more detailed family history, specifically for Player-knights in the default starting location for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. This, of course, is Salisbury, and the ‘Salisbury Family History’ helps a player create a history for his knight’s family, specifically his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, going all the way up from 437 CE to 508 CE, covering in turn the Tyrant and Uprising Period, Aurelius Ambrosius Period, Uther Period, and the Anarchy. Rolling for the great-grandfather is short and simple; the grandfather’s death is rolled for first and then the player works year-by-year up to the year when it happens; and then the father is rolled for as normal. There is a lot of detail and information to note down, though there is an alternative quick method provided too. The other thing that the narrative does with the ‘Salisbury Family History’ is entwine the Player-knight’s family history with the Counts of Salisbury—Robyn, Roderick, and Robert. The process is detailed and lengthy and probably best done as part of the preparation for play.

The second thing is ‘Finding Spouses’. With this, the Player-Knights can gain the hand of a wife. Several ways are suggested, including questing for a wife, taking a war bride, having it arranged, and more. The wife is determined randomly, her qualities and status heaving influenced by the Player-Knight’s status, favours, gifts, loyalty, and a Courtesy check. There are rules too, for creating husbands for female Player-Knights, but the results are not quite as interesting or as detailed. Lastly, ‘A Mighty Host: Random Knight Generator’ is a means to create NPC knights. This covers everything, including age, Glory, status, outfits, traits, skills, roles, motivations, and more.

The second book is the sixty-four page ‘Gamemaster Gazetteer’. This provides a guide to the places, regions, and landmarks of Britain and a little further away. Whether a settlement, forest, or river, every location is broken down into categories for ‘First Glance’, ‘About This Place’, and ‘Further Investigation’. It covers Cornwall, Cambria, Cumbria, Logres, and the North, but also Brittany, Ireland, and the Continent. The latter includes Aquitaine, Burgundy, Île de France, and Occitania. There is detail sufficient in each entry to help the Game Master bring each location to life and the map excerpts are helpful, though if there is a downside, it is that there is no pronunciation guide.

The Pendragon Gamemaster Screen Pack includes two maps. One is the poster size map of ‘Britain in the time of King Arthur’ seen elsewhere for the line. It is this map that excerpts have been taken from for the ‘Gamemaster Gazetteer’. The other map is of the Hundreds of Salisbury County. It is found on the back of the ‘Gamemaster Gazetteer’ and gives the thirty or so administrative subdivisions of the County of Salisbury.

Physically, the Pendragon Gamemaster Screen Pack is sturdy and well produced. The artwork is good and the cartography characterful. It does need a slight edit in places.

The Pendragon Gamemaster Screen Pack gives great support for the Pendragon Game Master and her campaign. Whilst its contents will help set up a campaign with expanded Player-Knight creation guidelines, the majority of its contents will support that campaign in the long term, both at the table and in preparation.

Friday Fantasy: Milk

As the Christmas holidays approach, there comes bad news. First, the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land—have sold out everywhere. Second, when they do come back into stock, they are not sold reputable outlets and vendors, and although they all of the correct branding, they are far inferior to the truffle chocolates that everyone knows and loves. What has happened to the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land? Is the maker ill? Has his supply of milk gone sour? The makers are, in fact, a tribe of Merfolk, who live in a lake of pure milk under a mountain, and it is this milk that ensures the creamy quality of the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land, made together with the Dwarf servants to the King and Queen of the Merfolk under the mountain. And surely this calamity cannot be allowed to continue? Someone should be sent to check on the King and Queen, their tribe of the Merfolk, their Dwarf servants, and the production of the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land. Perhaps a chocolate connoisseur might employ such a useful party? Or a tribe of Merfolk want news of their fellow tribe that live under the mountain? Or perhaps a rival group of chocolate makers want the secret to the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land? Any or all of these could be used as hooks for Quick Delve #1: Milk.

Quick Delve #1: Milk is an adventure for OldSchool Essentials from Necrotic Gnome and is designed to be played with Player Characters of Second Level. The scenario is the first in the publisher’s ‘Quick Delve’ series. Each is designed for one or two sessions’ worth of play and is intended to be perfect for side quests, one-shots, and conventions, as well as easily into any campaign. The scenario starts outside the mountain factory in front of double doors on which has been scrawled, “All Hail the Chocolatier, Goddess of Chocolate!”. Which does not bode well for what ever is inside. Fortunately, the Chocolate Golems with their chocolate drop-shaped heads with glowing orange candy-coated eyes and smelling of rich dark, chocolate, will readily let the Player Characters in, and the cagey, if rather jolly and waggish Skeletons in their purple monastic robes would prefer to have a song and dance than fight. However, the deeper the Player Characters penetrate into the chocolate factory, the more the Chocolate Golems and Skeletons turn against the Player Characters. As the fights from encounter to the next escalate, the Player Characters quickly discover many things awry in the chocolate faction. One is that the chocolate can have magical effects, for both the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land—and the chocolate that seems to being made in the chocolate factory now. The latter is like to have more negative effects than eating the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land, though they can be additive. There is a pool of rancid milk. A distraught King of the Merfolk. And then there is the glum workforce. The Dwarves. Who are described as having “Orange skin, green hair, and white eyebrows.” In other words, they are not Dwarves, but Oompa-Loompas. The workforce in the factory in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. And yes, Milk in inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Which all makes sense with its chocolate theme. Milk then, is a seasonal dungeon or adventure, one that the Game Master might run as a seasonal break from the rest of the campaign at Christmas. There is no Christmas theme to the scenario, but there is a tweeness and a sweetness. The problem is, there is not much else.

If you were to remove the sweetness and the tweeness from Milk, you would be left with a bland dungeon with no plot beyond ‘less skilled manufacturer takes over factory of much more skilled rival, imprisons their family, and puts out inferior product; Player Characters have to clean it up.’ Which would be fine if the NPCs had a character or personality, and if there is no personality, there is no roleplaying. Unfortunately, in Milk none of the NPCs have any personality, least of all the villain of the piece, ‘The Chocolatier’. She should at least get a cackle, if not a parcel of chocolate-themed puns, but nothing. A villain should be memorable. This one is not, at least not as written. The scenario leaves it up to the Game Master to decide the personalities and attitudes of the NPCs, so giving her yet more work to do.

Yet, Quick Delve #1: Milk is competently written in a mechanical sense. There is some play with the chocolate theme, especially in the random effects of eating the chocolates and the best truffle chocolates in the land—indeed, any land, the scalding hot chocolate-spitting chocolate worm in its molten chocolate pool, and the Chocolate Sceptre of Control—solid chocolate, encrusted with candied cherries—which can cast Charm Person. But there are no chocolate-themed spells or other magical items.

Then there is inspiration, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl’s writing was not sweet in its tone, it was sour too, veering into the grotesque and the comic. There is none of that in Milk. Just the sweetness. As something inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the scenario only takes partial inspiration from it and is all the worse as a result. As a pastiche of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory it is barely half a pastiche.

Physically, Quick Delve #1: Milk is serviceably presented. The layout is clean and tidy, the map easy to read, the artwork reasonable, and if perhaps tending towards the succinct, the scenario is easy to run.

There is a market for seasonal adventures, whether set at Christmas or other times of the year, but Quick Delve #1: Milk is unsuitable for all of them. Whilst as a ‘Quick Delve’ scenario, it can be run in a session or two, but as a side quest or a convention scenario, why would you? The tone is unlikely to match any other scenario or setting and as a convention scenario, it does not showcase Old School Essentials in a very good light. The design is perfunctory at best, the tone is one note, and the villain viciously underwritten. Quick Delve #1: Milk is easily the worst scenario that Necrotic Gnome has ever published. Not because it it is bad, but because it is boring.

The Best Witches

It is an undeniable truth that the Witch gets a lot of bad press. Not necessarily within the roleplaying hobby, but from without, for the Witch is seen as a figure of evil, often—though not necessarily—a female figure of evil, and a figure to be feared and persecuted. Much of this stems from the historical witch-hunts of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeen, and eighteenth centuries, along with the associated imagery, that is, the crone with the broom, pointy hat, black cat, cauldron, and more. When a Witch does appear in roleplaying, whether it is a historical or a fantasy setting, it is typically as the villain, as the perpetrator of some vile crime or mystery for the player characters to solve and stop. Publisher The Other Side has published a number of supplements written not only as a counter to the clichés of the witch figure, but to bring the Witch as a character Class to roleplaying after being disappointed at the lack of the Witch in the Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. However, there is a tradition of telling stories about witches, often aimed at younger readers, such as in the Harry Potter stories or The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, and if your players are fans so either, a book like The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games is probably not going to the most appropriate option. In which case, Tales of the Village might be.

Tales of the Village is an introductory roleplaying game published by Arion Games, best known for reprinting the Elizabethan-era Maelstrom and its other iterations, such as Maelstrom Domesday. The roleplaying game is intended to be played by younger players, aged between seven and twelve, but run by an experienced Game Master. Each Player Character is a young witch, living in a small, rural village, helping out with day-to-day tasks, but also helping the sick, finding lost animals, and dealing with such threats as greedy bandits, mischievous faeries, and scary ghosts! Or at least they aspire to do so, because being young, they show plenty of promise, but have only recently graduated as fully fledged witches.

To create Witch, a player rolls first for her Background, which explains what her parents do and grants her an appropriate skill. For example, the daughter of weavers learns Clothworking, whilst if the parents are castle guards, the Witch knows Brawling as a skill. A second roll determines how she became a Witch, such as a local witch shouting and pointing at the aura around the young Witch or because the Witch’s memory proved to be so good that a witch took her on immediately. Whatever way in which the Witch became a Witch, she is granted a random ability, and then two more, one from the training she receives from her Witch teacher and another from a life-changing event towards the end of her training.

Name: Ottilie

Class: Witch

Background: Minstrels

Skill: Entertainment

How Did You Start: Drove a mischievous faerie away

Teacher: conventional Witch

Event: Lifted a cure of locusts

Gift: Broomstick

Abilities: Naturebond, Potion Making, Shapechange

All of the backgrounds and events as well as the skills and abilities are nicely expanded upon and clearly explained. In the case of the abilities, there are some examples of their is too and the Witch creation process is supported with an example too.

Mechanically, Tales of the Village is simple. To have her Witch undertake an action, her player rolls three six-sided dice. Each result of five or six is counted as a Success. One Success is required if the task is Awkward, such as catching a pig; two Successes are required if the task is Difficult, like catching a sheep; and three Successes are required if the task is Very Difficult, such as catching a goat or wild hill sheep. This represents a Witch who is untrained, but if a Witch is trained in a skill, her player only has to roll four, five, or six to succeed, and if the skill or ability is mastered, her player only has to roll three, four, five, or six to succeed. The advice for failure suggests that it need not be absolute, and that if a player rolls Successes, but not enough to succeed, her Witch might get half way there or do most of a task, and so on. The consequences for failure comes into play in when the Witch loses in a mental, physical, or social contest. In which case, the player ticks a box on either the mental, physical, or social track. On each track, the Witch starts at Fine, but will go from Fine to Shaken to Beaten to Defeated. It is up to the player to roleplay most of these conditions, but if ever one of the tracks is reduced to Defeated, the Witch has failed at the adventure!

The advice for the Storyteller Guide  is simple and straightforward. This is to set up minor challenges, a mix of challenges related or unrelated to bigger challenges, and even the main challenge. Overcoming such challenges should not wholly rely upon the Witches’ skills and abilities, but allow for player ingenuity and roleplay. The more minor challenges that the Witches overcome or deal with, the easier it should be to confront and deal with the main challenges. Unfortunately, there is no advice on running Tales of the Village for the specific age range it is intended for, and what this means is that the roleplaying game relies upon the experience of the Storyteller Guide more than anything else.

In terms of support, the Storyteller Guide is provided with a scenario, ‘Goblin Rings’. It is set in a happy, fairly ordinary village except that it is home to the Witches and there are unseen threats roundabout. The scenario consists of a series of small events, such as a child being sick or sheep going missing, the child being a sickly green in colour and there being no trace of the sheep. As the Witches solve each problem, they earn Success Points, and these can be used to ease the final confrontation against the villain responsible for the situation. None of the problems are overly challenging, should not take too long to play through before the final encounter, and is thus suitable for play by its intended audience. ‘Goblin Rings’ is a charming scenario with a fairy-tale feel that its audience will enjoy.

Physically, Tales of the Village is neatly and tidily presented. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is certainly cute.

In the strictest of senses, Tales of the Village is not an introductory roleplaying game, one that anyone new to the hobby can pick up and start playing. It is, as intended, best suited to be run by someone who has some roleplaying experience and can therefore run the game for the intended audience—younger players who like witches and fairy tales. Yet as playable and runnable as it is, it is underwritten in places and the lack of advice on running roleplaying games with a younger audience is disappointing. And, of course, once the scenario is played through, the Storyteller Guide will need to write some more, and again, the advice to that end is underwhelming. Overall, Tales of the Village is a serviceable roleplaying game that does what it sets out to do and does it with a little charm, but it feels like it could have done a little more.

Miskatonic Monday #439: Fear of Overtime

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: Fear of Overtime

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Phanzar

Setting: New York, 1929

Product: One-shot

What You Get: Twenty-three page, 8.22 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: ‘Karoshi’ would be a safer way to go…

Plot Hook: It starts with a bang!
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, five NPCs, two handouts, one map, one Mythos artefact, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# Overtime survival horror

# Closed location one-shot

# Escalating horror that builds and builds

# Nicely done location

# Ergophobia

# Diokophobia

# Microphobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Investigator templates rather than pre-generated Investigators

# Escalating horror is very procedural

# Only way to defeat the hunter is through violence

Conclusion

# Opens with a bang and the horror builds and builds

# Literally brings a shrinking feeling to survival horror

Miskatonic Monday #438: Abracadabra!

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: Abracadabra!

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Steven Hernandez

Setting: New Jersey, 1926

Product: One-shot

What You Get: Thirty-eight page, 40.94 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Never try to fool children, they expect nothing, and therefore see everything.” – Harry Houdini

Plot Hook: There should be nothing magical about a missing boy
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, five NPCs, five handouts, one map, one Mythos tome, one Mythos monster, and one boiled cabbage recipe.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# Solid double crime investigation

# Strong on investigation and interaction

# Horror of the Mythos versus horror of a distraught gangster father

# Easily adapted to other periods, especially Cthulhu by Gaslight

# Easily adapted to other cities

# Excitingly weird, but pacy finale

# Tycophobia

# Scelerophobia

# Rhabdophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Not every location is mapped

# Finale needs careful study and staging

Conclusion

# Solid set-up leads to strong investigation and a race to the finish

# Police procedural which proves that Mythos and magic should never mix…