Jonstown Jottings #101: Spiders Gorge

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

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What is it?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween describes a small location and encounter.

It is a full colour, two-page, 284.03 KB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, though a little tight in places, and it is decently illustrated.

Where is it set?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is set in Prax, slightly off the beaten track and far away from any settlement.

Who do you play?
Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween does not require any specific type of Player Character, but general outdoor skills will be useful. Combat skills and the ability to counter the effects of venom may be useful..

What do you need?
Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

What do you get?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is a small location or encounter that a Game Master can drop into her campaign when her Player Characters are travelling through Prax. The travellers or expedition are short on water and are advised of a nearby gorge where water might be found, but told that a sacrifice is required before water can be drawn or potted. The location is literally a gorge and is spider-infested, and the Player Characters must get past them—including, delightfully, being able to dance past them—to get to the altar. Here the Player Characters will encounter a surprisingly chatty spider, whom they can negotiate with or fight and potentially even gain as an ally if they agree to help him.

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is a straightforward, even simple scenario, one that can be played through in a single session, even less. The only thing missing is a suggestion as to what the Player Characters might actually sacrifice to a spider spirit if they do not have a ‘horn ornament’, and development of what the chatty spider wants and where he can find it.

The question of whether or not Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween lives up to its subtitle, really depends on how the players and their characters feel about spiders. At best, it is slightly weird and slightly creepy.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is short, simple, and easy to prepare for a campaign set in or going through Prax.

No—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween has spiders in it? @#$%&! no!

Maybe—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween should be avoided if there is an arachnophobe playing, but could be adapted to elsewhere with very little effort.

Miskatonic Monday #376: A Thread Through Stone

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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Name: A Thread Through Stone

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean Liddle

Setting: World War II Plymouth

Product: Outline
What You Get: Eighteen page, 1.47 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Three Go Mad in Devon (Again)(Again)(Again)(Again)

Plot Hook: Devon lies dreaming and the adults are away

Plot Support: Staging advice, one Mythos monster, and some folk songs

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Sequel to HUM, The Borrowed, and The Hollow Beneath Clapper Tor

# Detailed outline

# Potential for child-like curiosity and terror

# Definitely part of a series rather than a one-shot

# Potential for sequels

# Speluncaphobia

# Chronohodophobia

# Oneirophobia

Cons

# No pre-generated Investigators
# No advice on creating teenage Investigators

# Definitely part of a series rather than a one-shot
# A fair bit of exposition

# No explanation for the Keeper for what is going on

Conclusion

# Detailed outline still leaves the Keeper with lots of work to do in what is an ‘in-between’ scenario

# Ultimately feels like the plot of children’s novel that the players are roleplaying out

Moria on my Mind

Moria looms deep and long in our imagination. When we think of dungeons, we always think of Khazad-dûm, the grandest Dwarven city in Middle-earth, built into the Misty Mountains by Durin the First, which rose to be an ancient, thriving kingdom of Durin’s Folk. Only to be undone by a greed for the greatest of metals—Mithril, that would breach the home or prison of a beast or spirit, a thing of such evil that it once served the Dark Lord, Morgoth. This was the Balrog and it rose, climbing from the depths up the shafts and along the tunnels, even down the road that the Dwarves had the length of the city, burning to ash all before it, including those stalwart defenders who stood to protect the city and what it stood for, even as others fled their home and the Misty Mountains, to become refugees across Middle-earth. From the beginnings of its foundations in the First Age to the day Durin’s Bane killed or drove all of the Dwarves from the city, and killed Durin the Sixth, Khazad-dûm had stood for seven thousand years. It only took two for the Balrog to undo that in the years of the Third Age. The Elves named it ‘Moria’ or ‘Black Pit’ and it has stood for another two thousand years since, its halls once lit by Dwarven artistry and craftsmanship, now dark and cold, stained by fire and Shadow, infested by Orcs and Goblins and worse. It is the year 2965 of the Third Age. It will be another twenty-five years before Dáin II, King Under the Mountain, gives permission for Balin to mount his ill-fated expedition into Moria and another fifty before Gandalf the Grey will lead the Fellowship of the Ring through ancient Dwarven halls, but interest in what still resides inside is growing, if ever really went away.

Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is a setting and campaign supplement for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Published by Free League Publishing. Funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign, it won the 2025 Gold Ennie Award for Best Cartography and 2025 Gold Ennie Award for Product of the Year. What it does is present a complete dungeon, but not in the traditional roleplaying sense of every corridor, every room, every trap, every threat, and every treasure being presented in detail. Instead, it presents Moria as a realm all of its very own, much like Rhovanion, the region East of the Misty Mountains or Eriador, the region to the West of the Misty Mountains. It has history—so much history, it has lore—so much lore, it has secrets—so many secrets, it has landmarks, it has monsters, it has factions, all of which the Player-heroes can explore, discover, confront, and plunder. If they dare. All of this has significant effect on why a Fellowship might come to want to enter Moria and how a Fellowship actually explores Moria, because above all, Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is unlike any other dungeon for any other roleplaying game.

Despite what Balin might have to say about it, Moria is not a place that can be reclaimed, since it is infested with Orcs and Goblins, poisoned by Shadow, and probably damaged beyond repair by current standards of Dwarven craftsmanship. After all, so much knowledge was lost when Khazad-dûm fell. Moria – Through the Doors of Durin suggests several Patrons—one of whom is Saruman, who at this time is very much known as Saruman the White, and several reasons as why the Player-heroes might want to enter Moria, whether for themselves, or more likely, their patrons. It notes that the more Dwarves there are in a Fellowship, the more likely it is that Fellowship will return to Moria and the more likely that its forays will be longer and deeper (whether that is up or down). The motives include searching for treasure, perhaps at the request of a patron; searching for mithril, Moria being only known source; rescuing those captured by the Orcs and held prisoner or forced to work in the mines; looking for lost lore—especially ring-lore; gathering information about the inside of Moria and its factions; and especially if one is a Dwarf, then vengeance. These are paired with Patrons, some as far away as Isengard to the south or Tharbad to the west, but others camped out nearby. They of course include several Dwarves, and their suggestions too as to which of the Patrons given in The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings might also have an interest in Moria. In some cases, these do tie in with the new Patrons given here, whilst in the case of Gandalf, he would brand the Player-heroes as fools. Lastly, there is the possibility of the new Patrons becoming rivals and even enemies if the Player-heroes do not enter their employ and possibly sending rival expeditions into Moria that the Player-heroes might encounter or even have to rescue.

For the Loremaster, there are tables of rumours to spread and advice on the themes of a Moria-based campaign. They are divided between themes of wonder and sorrow and fear. The former includes the intricate grandeur of Moria and its epic scale, its hidden places and secrets, the piles of gold and jewels—if not held in hidden caches, then in Orc hoards, and perhaps the possibility of reclaiming the city. The latter includes the long and lonely dark, the toil and hunger of exploring Moria since any expedition will need to carry all of its light sources and all of its food, the triumph of the Enemy with the city firmly occupied by Orcs, Goblins, and more, the lack of a safe place, and horrors beyond record. What is notable here is that the lack of safety (though there is a place of refuge to be found, though doing so would take luck and be a mammoth undertaking in keeping with the rest of Moria), the constant need for the expedition to carry its own food and light, the long and lonely dark which can sometimes be so oppressive that it quenches light, and the horrors without record, all point to the genre that lurks in the distant, darkest places of Middle-earth, but here moves centre stage for all the time that the Player-heroes spend in Moria.

Mechanically, this is enforced by the number of locations and great items that a Player-hero can pick up and so acquire points of Shadow, whilst there is the constant chance that the activities of the Player-heroes will attract attention of The Eye—in the Moria, the equivalent of ‘Drums in the Deep’—and trigger potential events including Dire Portents, Orc Assault, Terrors in the Dark, and Ghâsh. The latter is the Orc word for fire, and when it occurs, it indicates some sort of encounter with Durin’s Bane! Lastly, Dwarves can suffer from Moria Madness in place of other Bouts of Madness whilst in and around Moria.

Where Moria – Through the Doors of Durin does surprise is in its treatment of its foes, not once but twice. For the most part it relies on the bestiary from The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings core rulebook, so there are surprisingly few new entries added here. These include the three factions of Orcs—Orcs of Mordor, Orcs of Moria, and Orcs of Udûn that contest control of Moria, those wretched Dwarves who still slave in the mines for the Orcs and the Goblins, and then some quite foul monsters. The other surprise is not the inclusion of the Balrog, after all, a description had at least to be included, but the fact that its stats are included. For the most part, the Balrog will be a baleful presence, lurking somewhere in the depths of the mine, but sometimes stirring in response to intrusions and strange activities in the mine, triggered by Ghâsh.

Yet the inference of having the stats of the Balrog is that the Player-heroes can fight him—and the truth is, they can. Of course, this is likely to be fatal for them under ordinary circumstances, though not necessarily under extraordinary circumstances and extraordinary circumstances are only likely to be triggered in the only real ‘end game’ situation in Moria – Through the Doors of Durin. This end game allows the Player-heroes to be completely brave, foolhardy, and utterly heroic and do the impossible. And that is to defeat the Balrog. This is possible, not just because the stats for the Balrog are given, but also because there are legendary artefacts to found within the depths of Moria that would aid any warrior capable of fighting Durin’s Bane. Finding them would require an epic journey in its own right and in some cases, repairing them would require a feat of legendary craftsmanship. And then there is the fight. Whether the Fellowship survived or not, defeated the Balrog or not, it would be a campaign ending climax. And yet, if the Balrog nearly defeated Gandalf, why should the Player-heroes be allowed to do so? Well, Player-heroes are Player Characters and Player Characters like to do the unexpected. Plus, as pointed out in the description of the Balrog’s lair, Shelob, was a very powerful foe encountered in The Lord of the Rings, and she too was injured grievously by a simple gardener! Further, Durin’s Bane might not be a Balrog, but instead be the Witch-King of Angmar or a dragon or a betrayal. This would mean that the Player-characters could still win and still be legendary heroes, but leaves the Balrog to face Gandalf on Durin’s Bridge.

The heart of Moria and Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is mapped out across twenty-eight locations from Dimril Dale in the east to the mansions of Thrain I in the west, and from the Mountain Galleries atop the Halls of Khazad-dûm to The Balrog’s Throne in the Deeps. They are marked and the routes between them are broadly mapped out on a stunning map of the city and its outside environs that also includes a good cutaway away of the city that shows the depths between them. There is plenty of scope and room and tables for the Loremaster to develop her own sites, but the focus is upon the twenty-eight, each of which is given its own rumour, old lore, background, and descriptions of the particular places within that locale as details of any important NPCs and then their associated schemes and troubles. Plus, a delightfully drawn map of the location that depicts the grandeur and scale of Khazad-dûm and its despoilment over the millennia.

The locations include those inside Moria and out. The notable ones outside include Dimril Dale where there can be found the famous Dimril Stair that leads up to the pass over the mountain and the Mirrormere, the lake where the Dwarves come to look into the waters to seek wisdom, and then the Doors of Durin on the far side. Inside can be found the Second Hall and Durin’s Bridge, where in fifty years, Gandalf will face Durin’s bane, and the King’s Hall, where Durin the Sixth took his stand against the Balrog and in defeat laid a curse upon the hall. Throughout, the locations are populated by some fantastic NPCs—Orcs, Dwarves, Goblins, and more. They are all well drawn, none of them really trustworthy, but the Player-heroes can deal with and interact with them and that includes the evil, spiteful Orcs and Goblins. The more includes Mocker Crawe, a big crow who has learned the speech of men and Orcs and acts as a messenger over the mountains and beyond, but might befriend passing travellers or explorers coming to Moria before luring them into a trap. As his name suggests he constantly mocks others, but he is very partial to shiny things, and he is afraid of the Giant Eagles who have recently taken to flying over the mountains. Another interesting NPC is Har, a Dwarf far from the East in the service of Sauron, who leads the Orcs of Mordor and hopes to rule Moria in his master’s name.

The appendices to Moria – Through the Doors of Durin suggest further ways in which it can be explored and played through. It examines Balin’s expedition and how it was doomed to failure, and how that might be used as the basis for a campaign as well as looking at the search for Thráin II made by Gandalf and Aragon’s entry into Moria. The latter includes the possibility that one of the reasons why the Player-heroes might want to enter Moria is to enter Aragon, the rewards for which would be a wealth of contacts and even Gandalf as a patron. There are details too on mithril and some sample magical treasures, as well as a new Culture, that of the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost, representing Dwarves of another House to that of Durin.

However, the longest appendix in Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is on ‘Solo Play in Moria’. This expands on The One Ring – Strider Mode to provide the means for the reader to join Balin’s quest and undertake various missions as part of his attempt to reclaim Moria. This will be as a Dwarf who will command a band of six allies. As part of Balin’s expedition, it should be no surprise that ultimately, the efforts of this Dwarf and his allies will fail. Instead, the solo option is intended to tell the story of that expedition before bringing it to a close with one last, heroic mission into Moria. The player is encouraged to record the outcome of these missions in his own version of the Book of Mazabul, Balin’s own record of his expedition, the inference being that a future expedition might find it and so have a better understanding of what they face in Moria. Overall, this adds another unexpected dimension to the supplement, but one that has plenty of potential for telling stories.

Physically, Moria – Through the Doors of Durin follows the look of The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings with an almost parchment look upon which the pen and ink art sits stark, but still capturing the character of the many NPCs and the dark horrors below. The cartography is more art than maps, whether that is the individual locations or the map of the whole of Moria.

As a campaign, Moria – Through the Doors of Durin does not have a beginning, a middle, and an end, barring the almost impossible end game already mentioned. Much of its actual story will be told in the future and unless the Player-heroes work for multiple patrons and thus multiple reasons to enter Moria, it is unlikely that they will explore all of its heights and depths. As a campaign, it also stands alone from The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Whilst it can be used for one-off expedition into its halls as part of an ongoing campaign, Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is more intended for long term play and dedicated expeditions in and out of its halls, with the Player-heroes focused on what they encounter and find there rather than what might be going on elsewhere.

Mapping Moria and making it playable was an almost impossible task, but there should be no doubt that in Moria – Through the Doors of Durin, Free League Publishing has not only succeeded in achieving that task, but exceeded it too. It draws heavily on the lore to develop and present a gloriously impressive overview of a complete realm of its own in Middle-earth and then gives the Loremaster all of the tools necessary to draw the Player-heroes into the dark of Moria. This includes plots and machinations of allies and foes inside and out, and once they are inside, landmarks to not only explore, but ultimately, survive. Above all, Moria – Through the Doors of Durin is not only a superbly reverent treatment of its source material, but a great toolkit of multiple plots, numerous secrets, and far too many horrors to help the Loremaster, her players, and their heroes experience the magnificence and malevolence of lost Khazad-dûm.

The Old World Anew (Part II)

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide introduced the Old World to roleplaying. The first of the two core books for the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, it began the roleplaying adaptation from Cubicle 7 Entertainment of Warhammer: The Old World, the miniatures combat rules from Games Workshop. This is set in a period two centuries prior to the better-known roleplaying game set in the Old World, that is, the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. Its focus is less on the assaults and attacks by the forces of Chaos and on the Chaos within, and more on internal strife, whether political, between the Elector Counts, or religious, between the Sigmarites and Ulricans and others. The Old World as a setting has always drawn heavily from history, particularly the Early Modern period of Europe, but with Warhammer: The Old World and thus Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, the inspiration is more heavily that of the Thirty Years War and its political and religious strife. It covered character creation, the core rules, combat, magic, and more, but as a very player-focused book, it left a great to explained. Primarily, what the Player Characters are going to be doing in the Old World and how that differs from the future of the venerable, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition.

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is the counterpart to the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide. What Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide gives the Game Master is a toolkit with which to run a campaign, backing it up with Game Master specific rules and a bestiary of allies and antagonists, creatures and monsters, and more, that all together takes half of the book. It opens though with a description of the setting for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game—and it is a very specific setting. This is the fortified, if ramshackle river port of Talagaad, perched between the Talabec River and the towering walls of the Taalbaston—the giant crater in which the nearby city of Talabheim sits, which stands on the Wizard’s Way, the road that crosses over the bridge known as the and up over the walls of the Taalbaston and is the only legal route into the crater. Control of Talagaad is important since it is a source of much wealth, whether from the taxes levied on the goods going to Talabheim and from lower prices paid for goods being smuggled into the city. Consequently, the town is rife with crime and corruption, petty and otherwise, whether committed by its ordinary citizenry, criminal underclass, or even its excise officers.

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide expands upon the description of Talagaad given in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide. This covers the port’s origins and current state, law and order, and descriptions of two notable districts—the docks and the Markebundt, where all the trade occurs. There are descriptions of various NPCs, but more importantly, the tensions and points of conflict within Talagaad. These are primarily political and criminal, but all to do with the wealth that flows through the port. Not just the corruption between the Talagaad Watch and the criminal underworld, but also between Magistrate Raggusera and the local nobles and merchants and between Magistrate Ragguser and Duke Ludwig XII, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Talabec, over what Magistrate Ragguser tells the duke when he is secretly in his employ. There are tensions too between the state army regiments in Talagaad. On the one hand there is the local Talagaad Longsights, which occasionally backs up the Watch and is partly trusted by the locals, and on the other, there is the Talabheim 11th, recently posted to the port by Duke Ludwig following the assassination of several nobles from the neighbouring Duchy of Osterlund, and not at all trusted.

Spread between the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, the description of Talagaad is far from complete, but the Game Master should get a good feel for it from the details so far. This is helped by the numerous hooks and scenario ideas spread through the description, but what really helps are the Contacts. These are really only mentioned as part of the character creation process in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide, but here they come into their own as fully rounded NPCs, complete with descriptions of who they are, what their motivations and needs are, what favours they might bestow, their allies and enemies, and what gossip and secret they know. They are each based on a different archetype—a lord, a conspirator, an old soldier, a vagabond, a heretic, and so on—and linked to several of the character types in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide as well as the other Contacts. These are designed as a Game Master tool, a cast of characters that can link the Player Characters together (since there are only twenty and each Player Character has two contacts, there is bound to be some crossover), hook them into a story or plot, bring the world to life, tie the Player Characters to the setting, and more. Above all, they give Talagaad a personal touch and differing views of what the town is like and what is going on.

What is going on in Talagaad is explored through what Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game calls ‘Grim Portents’ and ‘Dark Threads’. Some of the latter may be connected to the former, and some of the Contacts are connected to both, but ‘Grim Portents’ are really events that initiate a plot and bring the Player Characters together—no matter what their background, confronting them with a situation that they cannot ignore and cannot deal with alone, whose consequences will endure long after the problem has been dealt with. Three examples are given, each with a detailed opening scene and then descriptions of what happens next as the plot thickens and its instigators move against the Player Characters, and then grim reminders of that opening scene that will haunt the Player Characters as the plot plays out. The three include an incendiary encounter with an Osterlund noble with a very, very dark family secret; suffering a curse from beyond the grave from a witch whose fiery execution the Player Characters witnessed; and the aftermath of escaping a fearsome band of Beastmen ritualists who captured the Player Characters and were about to sacrifice them. The three are backed with a good explanation of what a ‘Grim Portent’ is, what it is designed to do, and how to run it. This includes how to get the Player Characters involved—either at the start or later with a new Player Character, what to do if the Player Characters just decide to run away, and so on

‘Dark Threads’ are the network of links and bonds which together link and bind the various NPCs—including the Contacts detailed earlier, and factions in and about Talagaad. This includes not just the Grand Duchy of Talabec and Talagaad, but also the neighbouring Grand County of Osterlund and Principality of Reikland, the Red Eyez Tribe of Goblins, the Hexenguilde, a devious band of warlocks, The Sheltered Flame, a band of fanatical Sigmarites, and more. These are all mapped out on a diagram and then further detailed in the Contact descriptions and in entries in the bestiary that makes half of the book. Of course, the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’ are designed around the default campaign for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, set in and around Talagaad, and if the Game Master wants to set her campaign elsewhere, she will need to adapt these or create her own.

In addition to the advice on handling the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, and the ‘Dark Threads’ as a Game Master, the general advice in the Warhammer: Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is also good. Whilst it makes clear that Warhammer: Old World Roleplaying Game could be run as a one-shot, it is designed to be run as campaign, and certainly, the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’ are all designed to facilitate that. The advice compares the advantages and disadvantages of a sandbox versus a directed campaign, gives guidance on portraying memorable NPCs, help with Player Character creation—especially with tying the results into the Game Master’s campaign, designing adventures, how to create a mystery, and more. The advice on creating mysteries is a good list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ as is that for creating one-shots, and there is excellent advice on handling fights in the roleplaying game to make them challenging, but fun, and also on how to make the game more ‘Warhammer’. The advice on combat includes setting stakes to make the fight both interesting and worthwhile, allowing enemies to run away rather than just be lambs for the slaughter, and knowing when NPCs will decide that it is better to retreat rather than simply give up. The section on making the roleplaying game more ‘Warhammer’ gives fun little pointers, like the eerie green light of Morrslieb appearing from behind a cloud, bathing the street in its baleful glare or the sound of a trumpet heralding a troop of Knightly Order cavalry, trotting down the Wizard’s Road whilst mere commoners scatter to avoid them.

Just as with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Player Characters in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game can suffer Corruption and fall into the swirling, betentacled arms of Chaos. Indeed, the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game all but pushes the Player Characters down this path to Damnation as they are drawn into events by a ‘Grim Portent’. When a Player Character is exposed to corruptive influence, whether that is fighting a battle against Beastmen or mutants, witnessing a Chaos ritual or minor daemon, reading a passage from the Liber Chaotica, or becoming possessed by a daemon, a Willpower test is required. Failure means suffering a condition such as being ‘Drained’ by an unnatural malaise or ‘Deafened’ by the sound of demonic laughter and also becoming Vulnerable. The Player Character has been touched by, but not yet embraced Chaos. At this point the Game Master presents the player and his character with a boon that will give the character an advantage in return for accepting a darker aspect of their character. If this is accepted, the Player Character no longer Vulnerable, but Tempted, and puts him on the Path to Corruption. There are five of these paths described. Four of these—‘Blood Must Flow’, ‘Secrets of Sorcery’, ‘Enduring the Unendurable’, and ‘Dark Obsession’—equate roughly to the four Ruinous Powers, whilst the fifth, ‘Child of the Forest’, takes the Tempted down to the route to transforming into a Beastman! Each path describes the benefits and downfalls gained, all ultimately leading to the Player Character becoming Damned and either lost to Chaos or a new and dangerous, but familiar NPC for Game Master.

There is guidance on gaming and roleplaying with a Player Character on of the five paths, but this most comes down to the other Player Characters not wanting to associate with such a Player Character for very long! Also discussed is the possibility of a Player Character finding his way back up a path, but this is a daunting challenge as you would expect. What is surprising is that throughout all of this, there is only the one die roll—the first Willpower test. After that, it is all down to the choices made by the player and his character. In other words, beyond that first Willpower test, it is about roleplaying and whether the character will give into temptation or not, and not about relying on or blaming the dice for the outcome. The player decides, not the dice, and that has great roleplaying potential.

The penultimate chapter describes some thirty or so magic items—weapons, armour, talismans, and arcane items, but no potions of any kind. Nor are there any rules for creating potions or healing draughts, or for crafting items. The entries are all neatly detailed and many illustrated, but it is noted that they should be difficult to get or find. Given that, their inclusion given the lack of potions and rules for crafting, whilst it is interesting to see what such magical items look like in Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, they are so far out of the reach of the Player Characters that their inclusion seems out of place.

The last section in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, ‘Allies and Antagonists’, is the longest in the book. Although it does categorise its entries as Minion, Brutes, Champions and Monstrosities, this is no mere bestiary, since it is designed to do two things. One is to provide NPCs and threats for the Old World in general, allowing the Game Master to use them in her own scenarios and campaigns, whilst the other is to provide NPCs and threats for the default campaign and its set-up for the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, much of it tied into the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threats’. So for Grand Duchy of Talabec, there is a description of the noble house of Feuerbach, it goals and methods, what it is like as an enemy, and what might be the cause of the feud with it, and then there are stats and details of citizens and subjects of Talabec—from peasantry and footpads to the nobility and state troops, knights, Ogres and Halflings, Imperial Dwarfs, and more. It then does the same for the Grand County of Osterlund and the Principality of Reikland, adding different groups and NPC types, so that a Priest of Ulric and Knight of the White Wolf are described under the Grand County of Osterlund, whilst the Sigmarite Cultist and Witch Hunter are described under the Principality of Reikland. This does mean that entries are not organised alphabetically how a bestiary might arrange it, but rather done thematically.

There are other sections of ‘Witches and Warlocks’, ‘Pets and Mounts’—the latter including the Giant Spiders that Goblins might ride in the woods, but also enemy groups which are effectively organisations and so presented treated in the same format as those for Grand Duchy of Talabec, Grand County of Osterlund, and Principality of Reikland. Thus, for the Beastmen there is the ‘The Slaughtered Stag Warherd’; for the Orcs and Goblins, the ‘The Red Eyez Tribe’, and for the undead, the ‘Dominion of Dusk’. There are some really nasty creatures here, especially amongst the ‘Dominion of Dusk’ and the ‘Monsters of the Great Forest’ which in the case of the latter mean that the Player Characters are really not going to want to go down the woods with each other, let alone. All of the entries in the ‘Allies and Antagonists’ section have very clear and simple stats accompanied by a lot of useful information about how they might be used in a scenario or how the Player Characters might run into them. What is missing from the options available, are any real Chaos creatures beloved of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the Old World, although some of the ‘The Slaughtered Stag Warherd’ do count. This is intentional, since the threat of Chaos is not a big part of the setting, which instead focuses on internal conflicts and tensions. Overall, this really is not just a good bestiary, but a further source of background material and advice on use the contents of that bestiary.

And yet, for all that is presented in the pages of both Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, there is something missing, and that is an adventure. An adventure that comes complete with a plot and a beginning, a middle, and an exciting end. In other words, we do not quite know what a Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game scenario looks like. There is no denying that the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’, combined with the contents of the bestiary, are all really good. Yet they only lay the groundwork for the campaign to come, whether that is the one published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment or the one developed by the Game Master. To be clear, an experienced Games Master will be able to take what the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide provides and develop that into the start of a campaign, but a less experienced Game Master is likely to have some difficulty without more of a helping hand.

Another issue with the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is the way it is organised. The ‘Grim Portents’ are followed by the Contacts, followed by the advice for the Game Master which after a few pages covers the ‘Grim Portents’ and the ‘Dark Threads’. Then there is a table of ‘Events in Talagaad’ placed oddly at the end of the section on advice for the Game Master, when ideally that should have been placed earlier in the book with the description of Talagaad. Given that this book is for the Game Master, the advice and the subject of that advice could have been better placed, ideally following on from each other rather than sperate. Everything is there, but simply not in the right place to use as easily as it should have been.

Physically, the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is very well presented. The artwork is excellent, and the book is easy to read. However, it could have been better organised in places, and it does need an edit here and there.

If you want to play Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, then the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is absolute must. It provides a setting, it provides the beginnings of stories, and it provides friends and enemies as well as solid advice for the Game Master. However, it does not provide a ready starting point for Game Master and that limits its utility to Game Masters who are less experienced, and it very much focuses on Talagaad as a setting, which limits its utility to the Game Master who wants to set her Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game elsewhere. That said, where it shines is in the tools provided to make Talagaad and the beginnings of the campaign come alive—the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, the ‘Dark Threads’, and numerous entries in the lengthy ‘Allies and Antagonists’ section. The Game Master will need to do some development work in terms of actual adventures and even a campaign to bring all its great content into play, but the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide gives the Game Master all that she needs to work with to make a start.

Quick-Start Saturday: Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart

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?
Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart is the quick-start for Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, the roleplaying game based on the satirical fantasy works of Sir Terry Pratchett published by Modiphius Entertainment and focusing on the great city of Ankh-Morpork, set in a particular Now somewhere around the events of the novels, Going Postal and Thud!.

It is a forty-eight page, 12.99 MB full black and white PDF.

It is decently written and the artwork is excellent. It does need an edit in places.

How long will it take to play?
Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart is designed to be played through in a single session, two at the very most.

What else do you need to play?
The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart needs a standard set of polyhedral dice, including percentile dice, per player. Except that is, the die between the seventh- and nineth-sided dice. This known as as the ‘Narrativium Die’ and is rolled by the Game Master.

It also requires some puns.

Who do you play?
The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart includes six pre-generated Player Characters, all of whom are members of Ankh-Morpork’s City Watch. They consist of a veteran Zombie who very close to retirement; an Igorina recruit good with a needle; a surprisingly charismatic Troll; a Dwarf Crimescene Iconographer; a gifted beggar who surprised her parents by joining the Watch; and a very observant Gargoyle.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Player Character in the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart has a number of Traits that define who and what he is and what what he can do. They include the character’s name, the group he belongs to, species and background, his experiences and where he fits into his group, his core—his outlook on life and how he reacts to the world, quirks, and description. He may gain other Traits, primarily consequences for failing Tests. He also has several points of Luck. All six come with a good description as well as the other Traits and an excellent illustration.

How do the mechanics work?

Mechanically, Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork uses an opposed dice roll system. A player decides what he wants his character to do, selects a Trait, and explains how said Trait is appropriate for the Test. The player is encouraged to define how appropriate a Trait from one situation to the next, even that twists the meaning of the words. The Game Master will assign an Outcome Die that the player will roll. If the justification is perfect or suitability appropriate for what the Player Character can do, this is a twelve-sided die, but if the rationale is dodgy or shaky, or the Player Character has no idea what he is doing, it is a four-sided die. The Game Master may also assign the six-sided die or the ten-sided die depending upon the quality of the reasoning. In addition, the Game Master decides on the consequences of failure.

The roll of the Outcome Die is compared with the ‘Narrativium Die’. If the result on the Outcome Die is higher, the Player Character succeeds, but if the result on the ‘Narrativium Die’ is higher, he fails and the Game Master can narrate the result, which can be a new Trait, representing unforeseen consequences or twists.

If the test was a failure, another Player Character can attempt to help. This costs a point of Luck and the player will decide on the appropriate Trait and the Game Master assign it an Outcome Die. The roll is made against the result of the ‘Narrativium Die’ already rolled. If the result of the new Outcome Die is higher, then the Player Characters succeed, but if it is a tie or lower, the consequences affect both Player Characters and and are worse.

Luck can also be spent to reduce the effects of consequences.

On extremely rare occasions, a Game Master can decide that a plan devised by the players is so outlandishly absurd or ridiculously clever or astoundingly unlikely, that, “it’s a million to one chance, but it just might work.” In which case, it actually does.

How does combat work?
There are no specific combat mechanics in the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart. Instead, Tests are rolled as normal with the ‘Narrativium Die’ standing in for the opposition and the outcome narrated.

How does magic work?

If you are not prepared to put your time in and complete your studies at Unseen University, there really is no hope of you actually finding out...

What do you play?

The scenario in the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart is ‘Up in Smoke’. As member of the Watch, the Player Characters are assigned—by Sir Samual Vimes, no less—to investigate a burglary at Lady Ramkin’s Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons. The investigation will take the Player Characters back and forth across the Misbegot Bridge over the River Ankh and the scenario is actually organised geographically, with the various sites of investigation laid out either side of the bridge. Every location includes a description, details of what happened there previously and any NPCs, as well as a list of clues and possible consequences should things go wrong. This is slightly odd if a bit clever, as it also places the finale in the middle of the investigation! The finale is very written as an action scene with a chase, a dilemma, and plenty of complications and consequences.

Is there anything missing?
No. The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart has everything the Game Master and her players will need to play, including advice on tone, safety tools, and a good example of play. There is also a Reference Sheet on the last page.

Is it easy to prepare?
Yes. The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart is very easy to prepare.

Is it worth it?
Yes. There a lot to like about the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart. It is simple and straightforward, the rules are very easy to grasp and allow for a lot of player input and Trait twisting in light, narrative fashion. ‘Up in Smoke’ is a solid scenario and the pre-generated Player Characters are all nicely, nicely done. The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart really is one of the easiest of quick-starts to run and play.

The Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Quickstart. is published by Modiphius Entertainment and is available to download here.

Friday Fantasy: The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet

Only scholars and adventurers care about the past. One for the knowledge they can gather and the other for the treasure they can find. The civilisation of the ancient Azinir people, lying in the Great Desert south of The Known Lands fell a thousand years ago after thousands of sacrifices were made in both blood and labour to build a great temple for their king. It was dedicated to his demonic patron Atum-Isfet, Lord of Entropy and patron of un-death and upon its completion, the King of the Azinir people sealed himself, his concubines, and his attendants inside the temple-pyramid, taking with him some claim, the royal treasury. The King of the Azinir was never seen again and the kingdom collapsed, the king’s disappearance passed into legend, and then even that was all but forgotten. Except recently, a nomad stumbled into the city of Dumatat, half mad after surviving a terrible journey across the desert, and told stories of how he had survived in shadow of a great structure, but had not dared enter the dark and foreboding entrance high up on its surface. As these spread, the people of Dumatat suddenly recalled the legends of the King of the Azinir and wondered if the nomad had found the mad king’s final resting place. So too did the flood of treasure hunters and adventurers which flooded into the city, hoping to find the temple and plunder the by now famed lost treasury of the recently remembered kingdom.

This is the set-up for The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet published by Death Guaranteed Games. It is designed for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game from Goodman Games and is a ‘Character Funnel’. This is a feature of Dungeon Crawl Classics, a scenario specifically designed for Zero Level Player Characters in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Zero Level characters and have them play through a nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet requires between sixteen and twenty-four Zero Level Player Characters, so between four and six players. In terms of the set-up for The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet, what this means is that the Player Characters are not the adventurers and treasure hunters come to plunder the kingdom of Azinir’s treasury—though unusually for a ‘Character Funnel’, there is potential scope for them to do so within the scenario itself. They are instead the members of the poor and the down at heel of the Dumatat, lucky enough to be employed by these adventurers and treasure hunters as servants and hirelings, muleskinners and hunters, and so on, all for the princely sum of ten gold apiece.

Unfortunately for their employers and potentially, fortunately for the Player Characters, events do not turn out quite how they expect. The Player Characters are ordered to stay outside in the base camp whilst their employers climb to the entrance to the pyramid high on its side. This lasts only so long when the camp is attacked by an enormous Roc and the only cover is that entrance, now lit by torches. Inside, the Player Characters make a grisly discovery, a corpse freshly stripped down to the bone lying on the floor, its boots recognisable as belonging to one of the six treasure hunters that employed them! What the players and their characters find inside the pyramid is a classic Ancient Egyptian tomb whose design designed by both classic pulp horror and pulp action. There are swarms of flesh-eating scarab beetles, there are vengeful spirits, there are traps, and more. The scenario is influenced by both The Mummy and Raiders of the Lost Ark and every encounter is nasty and deadly, not just for Zero Level Player Characters, but also First Level Player Characters—as the NPCs employing the Player Characters discover. As with any Character Funnel, the Player Characters will need to rely on their wits and their luck and whatever they find in order to survive The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet. There is a distinct possibility of a TPK, or ‘Total Party Kill’, especially if the Player Characters are too inquisitive.

However, the seven detailed locations of the Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet make up only the second part of The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet. This middle section of the scenario can be begun with the Player Characters at the base camp and run in a single session, perhaps as a one-shot or a convention scenario. To run as a longer scenario, the Judge can use the first and third sections of The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet. The first takes the expedition from the city of Dumatat to the site to the pyramid, mostly physical in nature, crossing rivers and climbing mountain passes, but also a chance to gain the benefit of a fortune being told. The third section continues the scenario and takes the Player Characters further below the pyramid. It is recommended that the Player Characters have a chance to rise to First Level and so have all the benefits of a Class. This third part of the scenario feels more random in nature and less thematic than the second part, so not as coherent.

To support the scenario, The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet includes details of Atum-Isfet as a Patron and write-ups of three spells—Entropic Hand, Swarm Walker (which enables the caster to transform into a swarm of scarabs at the moment of being attacked to avoid injury), and Dire Supplication. Should a Player Character end up worshipping Atum-Isfet as a Cleric, these spells are a lot of fun to use and are even better if he can find the intelligent dagger, the ceremonial blade of Atum-Isfet! Lastly, there are a couple of handouts which should give the players and their characters a clue or two that might aid their survival. Oddly, none of the NPCs use these spells, which is a pity.

Physically, The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet is decently presented. It is decently written, whilst the maps and artwork are serviceable, and of course, not quite as polished as the scenarios from Goodman Games. The handouts are good though.

The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet is an entertaining and suitably nasty and challenging Zero Level Character Funnel for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. For the Judge wanting an Egyptian-themed, pulp-horror-fantasy scenario that is surprisingly flexible in its set-up, The Great Pyramid of Atum-Isfet is a decent choice.

The Other OSR: Three Weeks In The Streets

Galgenbeck is the last refuge of humanity and the last refuge of all in the land of Tveland. As the seas rise, the crops fail, wars continue without reason, the dead walk, plague runs rampant, the burden of taxes weighs heavier on all, and the peasantry seek help and succour within the walls of the city. Perhaps from the Shadow King, King Sigfúm, perhaps from the church of the Two-Headed Basilisks, its cathedral in Galgenbeck dedicated to the god Nechrubel and headed by the arch-priestess Josilfa. Both king and priestess heed the prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisks that the herald the end of the world and are slowly becoming true. What happens though if the city itself is cursed, or worse, infested? What will authorities do to prevent the spread of the infestation beyond its walls? How will those trapped inside cope with increasingly limited supplies of food and water survive? Will law and order hold, or will the city descend into mob rule? When arch-priestess Josilfa declares Galgenbeck to be infested with the Mind Parasites, the city is closed and ringed by the implacable soldiery of the king’s Shadow Guard, and the city’s thousands of inhabitants, rich and poor, are trapped within its walls—the Player Characters amongst them. How will the Player Characters survive Three Weeks In The Streets?

Three Weeks In The Streets describes itself as a city-prison scenario for use with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and also published by Free League Publishing. Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign,it even comes with its own official playlist to provide a soundtrack and begins with an encounter or two on the way to the city. It kicks off with the official announment made by the town crier, that the mind parasite is spreading and the arch-priestess has ordered the city closed. What do the Player Characters do? Do they try to fight or sneak their own way past the king’s Shadow Guard, the chance of being successful being very doubtful? They must try to find ready supplies of food and water, and every day the mob grows—and may even absorb the Player Characters—fuelled by truths and rumours that spread as surely and as quickly as the mind parasites. They are likely to encounter some of the worst and the best of Galgenbeck’s citizenry, those not wealthy enough to lock themselves up in their fortified and guarded mansions. One day after another takes on a regular pattern, of dread as yet another day dawns, of doom as night falls. As the rumours swirl and food and water supplies dwindle, the inhabitants of the city grow desperate and the tension rises, the collective stress and anxiety threatens to explode into mass hysteria. And then…

Only the first week of Three Weeks In The Streets is meant to be played out in this fashion and then it is meant to jump two weeks to the conclusion of the quarantine. By this time, the Player Characters, as well as everyone else in the city, is starving and dehydrated, but it is now that the arch-priestess Josilfa decides to step out of the Cathedral of the Twin Basilisks and deliver her judgement upon the people of Galgenbeck. It is as monstrous as you would expect.

The process is handled through an array of tables that explain survival and foraging, the waxing and waning of the mob and its mentality—gloriously depicted above a depiction of a mob a la Les Misérables, rumours and truths, events by day and by night, cover ‘Red-Eyed Rowdiness’ and ‘Drunken Debauchery’, and more. The events by day—the ‘Daily Dread’—may be as simple as the Church distributing food (with a chance of violence) or as horrible as citizens being dragged by their hair, screaming, to the town circle for execution, whilst those for the night—the ‘Daily Doom’—might see the mob breaking into the city stores for food or younglings being sold for food or labour, and a malaise sets over the city. ‘Mass Hysteria’, when it breaks out, is worse and ranges from the town burning for five days to the mob scouring entire city for personal items that it is sure is infested with the Mind Parasites.

The advice for the process is explained at the end of the scenario. This notes the fact that NPCs are likely to fall victim to group-think and that there are various factions that the Player Characters can take advantage of or ally with. The mob is described as a looming threat, one that the Player Characters can only avoid for so long. Similarly, there is advice too on what to do if the Player Characters simply decide to hunker down and try to wait it out with the supplies they have. Also detailed are various NPCs and creatures that threaten the city under lockdown, including the Shadow King’s Guard and Clerics of Josilfa Migol, plus the Galbeckian Pale Ones that do not understand why they might be blamed for the Mind Parasite infestation, Nerhrubel’s Rats that steal items (including those of the Player Characters), Wolves that specifically gather to prey on the weak, and more. Above it all are the bells of the cathedral, rung daily by Josilfa Migol, as she curses the city!

Three Weeks In The Streets is a toolkit that turns all of Galgenbeck into a prison in which the guards are as much inmates as the Player Characters and the rest of the city’s inhabitants. It has an incredible sense of uncertain, but still escalating calamity and probable rather than potential doom as the mob swirls in and out of the rumours and truths that ripple back and forth. It requires an experienced Game Master since it is not quite as tightly procedural as it could have been. That said, because it is not as as tightly procedural as it could have been, there is room for the Game Master to add her own content. Some of the scenarios or content which could be used in conjunction with Three Weeks In The Streets includes The God of Many Faces mini-hexcrawl and the various NPCs from Strange Citizens of the City, which could be woven in and around the events already outlined.

Physically, Three Weeks In The Streets apes the Artpunk style of Mörk Borg, but without overwhelming the look or legibility. The choice of artwork is appropriate and the result is that Three Weeks In The Streets is a decent looking scenario.

Three Weeks In The Streets is executed in a slightly chaotic fashion, so it is not quite as easy to run from the page as it could be. Nevertheless, Three Weeks In The Streets is a genuinely original and clever idea for Mörk Borg, giving the Game Master everything necessary to run a city-wide prison riot and have the Player Characters try to survive starvation, paranoia, and mass hysteria!