A Talagaad Tally

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game – Game Master’s Guide introduced the Old World, the prequel setting to the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. Based on the Warhammer: The Old World, the miniatures combat rules from Games Workshop, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game is published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment and focuses on a setting that is torn by internal strife, whether political, between the Elector Counts, or religious, between the Sigmarites and Ulricans and others, rather than on the assaults and attacks by the forces of Chaos and on the Chaos within, though this does not mean that Chaos is no less of a threat to the Empire. It is also very specific in its 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. This is the subject of Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures.

Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures is an anthology of five adventures that can be run with any type of Player Characters, though a good mix is recommended in terms of capabilities and status. As in the case of the latter, it will enable the Player Characters to interact with all levels of society. It is suggested that the Player Characters have two adventures under their belt, so the Game Master may want to run the Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Starter Set at the very least. The adventures themselves are tied into ‘Grim Portents’ and ‘Dark Threads’ at the Talagaad and thus to the various Contacts that the Player Characters have. However, the adventures do not explore those ‘Grim Portents’ as such, the plots that will bring the Player Characters together and push them to act. Rather they connect to them, but do not develop them directly. Further, the five together do not form a campaign, and they can be played in any order, though it is suggested that the last scenario in the anthology, ‘The Siege of Klepzig’ be run last as a climax to the quintet. What this means is that the individual scenarios in Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures can be run on their own or woven into the Game Master’s campaign

The adventures take place in and around Talagaad, but also up and down the River Talabec and back again. ‘Something Fishy’ begins in Talagaad with the Player Characters inadvertently caught up in the assassination of the town’s town crier in the Fischmarkt. The Talabheim 11th State Troops are sent into to keep the peace as much as investigate and by investigate, pin the blame on the Player Characters! Sergeant Dunkel suggests they have links with the Redgrins, a brutal criminal gang that claims part of the docks as their turf. With Dunkel on their tail, the Player Characters will need to investigate the victim himself and his associates, survive a blunt interview with the Redgrins, and get the killer to confess. The scenario has a grubby, greasy feel to it and it climaxes in a big showdown between the villain of the piece and a horde of vengeful ghosts dragged up from the riverbed, the Redgrins, and the Talabheim 11th State Troops with the Player Characters caught in the middle!

In ‘The Hungry Towers’, the Player Characters are sent upriver to two villages standing opposite each other on a tributary of the Talabec River where a longstanding feud between the lords of Taggenfeld and Silberwald, the von Taglich family and the Fasthner-Ludenhofs respectively, has broken out once again. As a result of the feud, huge towers have been erected on opposite banks of the river and manned in fear of war between the minor baronies. Although they have letters of introduction, the Player Characters have to deal with stubborn nobles and their advisors, try to get to the bottom of the situation, and make it clear to either side, that everybody is going to lose in the unnecessarily tense situation. Multiple paths to resolving the situation are suggested, including suing for peace, revealing a bigger danger, siding with once faction or the other, and even inciting a rebellion. This is a thoroughly entertaining scenario, a mini-Cold War playing on the pettiness of the Empire’s nobility, and giving the Player Characters agency aplenty to resolve the situation.

If ‘The Hungry Towers’ feels like a mini-Cold War scenario, ‘Oars in the Water’ is more like Heart of Darkness. A contact of the Player Characters asks them to go down river to Ahlenhof and return with a river trader, Sibylle Reiss, who writes that she fears being attacked by a band of river pirates. As they travel back aboard her vessel, The Limping Lass, it is soon clear that Reiss is being tracked by another vessel, though her pursuers are no ordinary pirates. They are instead, fanatical Sigmarite cultists and they will do anything to stop The Limping Lass from reaching Talagaad. This includes attempting to sink her, attacking her crew when she is beached to make repairs, blocking the river, and more. However, as they travel upriver, the situation grows ever more tense and Reiss is forced to take desperate actions, ones that threaten reveal her secrets. The scenario brings out some of the tensions in the Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game setting and takes to monstrous extreme.

The Player Characters and the whole of Talagaard gets to party in ‘If the Leaves are Green’. If ‘Oars in the Water’ twists the classic Warhammer trope of travelling by river, ‘If the Leaves are Green’ firmly tweaks the classic Warhammer trope of a carnival or festival. In the harvested fields outside of Talagaard, the townsfolk enjoy the Mittherbst festival at which the Priests of Ulric welcome the approach of winter as the Rhya’s faithful give thanks for the recent harvest. As darkness falls, the Hounds of Taal, fervent worshippers of the god of nature, begin a ceremony, having donned masks of beasts and imbibed potent wine, and it is at this point that Beastmen stream into the firelight, slashing and biting and headbutting and then grabbing and retreating! As the town guards rush out to rescue any survivors, it is clear that they are not going to do anything about those kidnapped until daylight. After all, who can blame them? Who would be foolish enough to rush into Beastmen-infested woods in the middle of night? Only the Player Characters, of course. Their motivation should at least that one of their contacts has been taken, and what results is a harrowing race through the night to track down the various bands of fleeing Beastmen and get to them before they carry whatever foul plans they have for their captives! If successful, the Player Characters will have proven themselves mighty heroes, but the scenario does not ignore the costs of defeat either.

The quintet comes to a close with ‘The Siege of Klepzig’. The Player Characters are conscripted or volunteered into haphazard force of professional soldiers and militia to help defend a village which stands in the path of an army of Orc and Goblin raiders of the Red Eyez Tribe bearing down from the nearby Barren Hills. The scenario is a classic military muddle under siege with the added complication of claims to Klepzig from rival noble families, and the search for some secrets. The scenario is solidly written, but does not feel as exciting as the previous ‘If the Leaves are Green’. Instead, of desperate acts of heroism, this more desperate acts of survival under siege, and perhaps if the Game Master wants a more rousing finish to the anthology, she might swap the order of the scenarios. Essentially, if there are opportunities for grim and glorious storytelling in ‘If the Leaves are Green’, then ‘The Siege of Klepzig’ is definitely more grom than glorious.

Physically, Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures is well presented. The illustrations are also good and the maps clear and easy to use, although there could have more of them.

Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures is a solid selection of scenarios for Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game that is going to serve as great additions to a Game Master’s campaign. At their best, they explore the Old World in unexpected, exciting, and entertaining ways.

[Free RPG Day 2026] Age of Vikings Quickstart

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, it did not take place outside of the USA due to US customs issues, which means that none of the physical content has shipped to the UK. It is hoped that with the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh will able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day for future reviews.

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

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

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What is it?
Age of Vikings Quickstart: Further Adventures in a Land of Sagas and Mystery is the quick-start for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game, the low fantasy, deeply historical game published by Chaosium, Inc. and designed to help tell stories of home, hearth, and honour, myth and magic, and bring new sagas to life.

The Age of Vikings Quickstart is a thirty-nine page, 8.38 MB full colour PDF.

How long will it take to play?
The Age of Vikings Quickstart includes the scenario ‘Belly of the Beast’. It can be played in roughly two hours

What else do you need to play?
The Age of Vikings Quickstart needs a standard set of polyhedral dice.

Who do you play?
The Age of Vikings Quickstart includes four pre-generated Player Characters. They include two warriors, an archer, and a skaldic poet.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Player Character in the Age of Vikings Quickstart is defined by his name, his Passions and Devotion to a single god, characteristics and skills, and personality. A Player Character’s Passions represent his values and emotional desires, and in play, they can drive him to act (and mechanically grant a bonus) and bring him into conflict with others. He starts with three: Honour, Loyalty (goði), and Love (Family). The seven characteristics are Strength, Constitution, Size, Dexterity, Intelligence, Power, and Charisma. These are rated between three and eighteen, although the minimum value for Size and Intelligence is eight. Skills include combat skills and standard skills. A Player Character’s Devotion is made to the gods that he most values and can draw upon for inspiration, represented by points of Dedication that grant him a bonus when acting according to their ideals and then spent. For example, the ideals for Baldur are light, happiness, and peace, whilst those for Óðinn are magic, war, and wisdom.

The Player Characters in the Age of Vikings Quickstart are stripped down versions in comparison to those that can be created using the full rules in Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game. What is not included are the Spirit Animal, Family details, and extra Devotions that such Player Characters will have. Full versions of the demonstration Player Characters are available, but not all of the rules in Age of Vikings are used in the Age of Vikings Quickstart. An experienced Game Master for Age of Vikings could easily run the scenario in the Age of Vikings Quickstart using standard Player Characters, whether the demonstration versions or ones created by the players.

How do the mechanics work?

The Age of Vikings Quickstart uses the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine as its mechanics and is thus a percentile system. Rolls equal to, or lower than the value of the characteristic roll or the skill, and a character succeeds. A characteristic roll is typically a characteristic multiplied by three, but can be higher or lower depending on difficulty. Any result of ninety-six and above is always a failure and can be a fumble, whilst a roll of one twentieth a Critical success (the full rules also also for a Special success).

Rolls can be augmented with another skill or Passion. A successful augmentation roll will apply a bonus, which will be better with a Critical success. A failed augmentation levies a penalty whilst a Critical failure results in the temporary despair of the Player Character. Devotion points can be spent to gain a bonus and Player Character can also call upon his Wyrd to change his fate. This turns a failed roll into a successful roll, but at the permanent cost of a point of Power. Do this too often and a Player Character’s Wyrd or fate has played out.

How does combat work?
The combat rules in the Age of Vikings Quickstart and Age of Vikings are skill-based. Order of action is based on Dexterity, and during a round, a combatant can move, act or attack, and defend. Attacks can be dodged or parried and armour deducts damage, as does a shield, but only a few points in each location. Damage is done by location, but if the Hit Points in a particular location are reduced to zero, a limb becomes useless, the combatant is left bleeding to death, or knocked unconscious and dying. Damage done to locations is also applied to general Hit Points and reducing those will knock a combatant unconscious. First aid is available, but natural healing takes weeks. (Age of Vikings includes rules for healing magic.)

How does magic work?

The Age of Vikings Quickstart does not include rules for magic. Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game details two types of magic. These are Rune magic, which uses the Elder Fúþark and can be cast relatively quickly, and Seiður magic, which requires ritual casting and takes much longer to cast.

What do you play?

The Age of Vikings Quickstart includes the scenario ‘Belly of the Beast’. It beings in media res with the Player Characters waking up to find themselves in a strange tunnel after their boat encountered the kraken! They must extract their boat before it gets crushed and attempt to climb up out of the temple. Fortunately, the Player Characters are not alone in the tunnels and can find allies who will help them as they try and find their way out. They will also encounter monsters. The fight is clearly staged with advice and instructions for the Game Master on when the Player Characters act, what they might do, and how the monsters work. The final scene is treated in the same way.

‘Belly of the Beast’ is short and linear, but it clearly teaches the rules and advises the Game Master on how to handle and stage its encounters. There is some limited opportunity for roleplaying, but the main focus of the scenario is on action and combat. As its title suggests, the action of the scenario takes place within the belly of the Kraken from which the Player Characters must escape. It is a great set-up and the tale of escaping from it is worthy of a saga.

Is there anything missing?
No. The Age of Vikings Quickstart has everything that a Game Master needs to run the included scenario.

Is it easy to prepare?
Yes. The Age of Vikings Quickstart is direct and to the point and the advice makes the rules easy to understand and the various scenes easy to run.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Age of Vikings Quickstart is a well done, solid introduction to the basics of Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game. It clearly explains both rules and the action of the scenario.

The Age of Vikings Quickstart is published by Chaosium, Inc., and is available to download here.

[Free RPG Day 2026] From Here to There

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, it did not take place outside of the USA due to US customs issues, which means that none of the physical content has shipped to the UK. It is hoped that with the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh will able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day for future reviews.

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From Here to There: A Free RPG Day OSR Hexcrawl is a simple, straightforward hexcrawl. It is setting agnostic and can be dropped easily into a Game Master’s campaign, ideally somewhere in between locations that the Player Characters might want to travel to, hence the title. It is published by Third Kingdom Games, best known for its ongoing Populated Hexes series collected in Populated Hexes Monthly Year One, Populated Hexes Monthly Year Two, Populated Hexes Monthly Year Three, and Populated Hexes Monthly Year Four. What this means is that the publisher has form when it comes to creating hexcrawls. The scenario is written for Player Characters of First to Fourth Level and for use with two different rules systems. One is Old School Essentials from Necrotic Gnome, whilst the other is Bree-YARC, retroclone inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition, but still based on the ‘B/X’ version of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. What this means is that mechanically, From Here to There, will work with a lot of other retroclones, whilst in terms of its story and setting, it is easily adapted to other fantasy roleplaying games and would work just as well. This is because the fantasy of the setting is itself low key. The Player Characters are going to be facing bears, brigands, deer, Orcs, skeletons, zombies, and so on. The only creature that is particular to Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy is the Stirge and that is easily replaced.

From Here to There is set in a heavily forested valley, some thirty-to-thirty-six miles wide and about fifty miles in length. Roughly every twenty miles along the rough track that runs along its length is a camp site where the occasional merchant caravans of mule-trains usually stop. There are rumours of a ancient magical fountain that can restore the dead to life to be found in the valley, barrows the final resting places of ancient kings are believed to dot the sides of the valley, rumours of an Orc tribe preying on anyone who leaves the road, and mumblings of brigands attacking the merchant caravans. The Game Master can simply drop the valley into her campaign setting and just have it as a route from ‘a’ to ‘b’, but there are several ways in which it can be used. The Player Characters might follow up on rumours to search for treasure in the valley or have a map suggesting that there is treasure in the region; the Player Characters might be hired to protect a merchant caravan; or they might be hired to discover who is ambushing the merchant-caravans. Or even a mix of the three.

Across the valley, there are twenty-one sites of potential interest to the Player Characters. Their descriptions are marked as either ‘Landmarks’, ‘Hidden’, or ‘Secrets’. ‘Landmarks’ are found without needing to search for them; hidden features need to be searched for, but this takes rather than requiring a die roll; and secret features can only be found if they are searched for and a die roll is made. Exploring the valley is built around the rumour table and the encounter table as the Player Characters wander from one hex to the next. Some locations have a set encounter, such as a solitary grizzly bear who will only bother the Player Characters to decide to camp out in his hex or an area where a rare herb grows, but others contain more random encounters. The more obvious such encounters include the camp sites where there is a chance of a caravan having made a stop, but others include the possibility of an abandoned bear trap being triggered, disturbing a nest of yellowjackets and getting stung, and so on. Others though, serve the general plot of From Here to There, in particular, pointing to the activities of the brigands. For example, the Player Characters encounter a caravan that is later the victim of the brigands’ predations. It is also in  encounters such as these that are the most opportunities for roleplaying. Lastly, there are two locations that are more detailed with individual maps and will make more time to play through, one of which is the brigands’ base of operations.

Both of the set locations use cartography by Dyson Logos, so are very good. The scenario has two other maps though, both of the valley. One is a simple hex-grid map using mapping symbol, so can be used as a map for the Player Characters. The other map is pictorial and actually pleasingly attractive. It is a pity that the players are unlikely to get to see it, because it is for the Game Master’s eyes only (though if adapted to a VTT, the Game Master could reveal the map hex by hex).

Physically, From Here to There is decently done. The maps are good and the artwork, though not extensive, does a reasonable job. One notable factor which sticks out is that the stat blocks for both monsters and NPCs are combined for both Old School Essentials and Bree-YARC. The stats for the latter are done in red, so do stick out a bit, at least initially. The Game Master will get used to it.

As written, it is fair to say that From Here to There: A Free RPG Day OSR Hexcrawl is perhaps a bit bland. However, that affords the Game Master flexibility in terms of how it is used. It can be used as an area to explore or as area to be travelled through again and again, with perhaps the Player Characters learning new rumours each time and uncovering more of its secrets as they travel back and forth. The Game Master will probably want to add some detail and flavour to the NPCs that the Player Characters might run into, as not all of them are detailed as they might be. The scenario is low-key enough that the Game Master has scope to adapt the setting to her own campaign, changing names and encounter types as necessary. Overall, however it is used, From Here to There: A Free RPG Day OSR Hexcrawl is an enjoyably low-key, low fantasy scenario.

Cthulhoid Choices: Ripples

Call of Cthulhu is the preeminent roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror and has been for over four decades now. The roleplaying game gives the chance for the players and their Investigators to explore a world in which the latter are exposed, initially often indirectly, but as the story or investigation progresses, increasingly directly, to alien forces beyond their comprehension. So, beyond that what they encounter is often interpreted as indescribable, yet supernatural monsters or gods wielding magic, but in reality is something more, a confrontation with the true nature of the universe and the realisation as to the terrible insignificance of mankind with it and an understanding that despite, there are those that would embrace and worship the powers that be for their own ends. Such a realisation and such an understanding often leave those so foolish as to investigate the unknown clutching at, or even, losing their sanity, and condemned to a life knowing truths to which they wish they were never exposed. This blueprint has set the way in which other games—roleplaying games, board games, card games, and more—have presented Lovecraftian investigative horror, but as many as there that do follow that blueprint, there are others have explored the Mythos in different ways.

Cthulhoid Choices is a strand of reviews that examine other roleplaying games of Lovecraftian investigative horror and of Cosmic, but not necessarily Horror. Previous reviews which can be considered part of this strand include Cthulhu Hack, Realms of Crawling Chaos, and the Apocthulhu Roleplaying Game.

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Something terrible happened to the town of Shingleford in 1962. The enigmatic, if friendly, Peddler came to town and sold the people what they wanted. Trinkets. Trinkets which unknowingly twisted their resentments into Curses and as they became exhilarated by the eldritch power granted by their Trinkets, their owners cast Curses on others and spread the influence of the Peddler. Fortunately, due to the efforts of a troop of River Scouts led by Hilda Buckle, under the eye of the Watcher, these Curses and the influence of the Peddler were stopped in 1962. Unfortunately, it was not without loss, for it led to the deaths of several of the River Scouts. Sixty years later, the Peddler returns, spreading Curses once again, poisoning the river and the lands on either side of its banks. It is another group of teenagers, who discover the old River Scouts clubhouse, abandoned after the events of 1962, who turn it into a den and are then visited by the ghost of a young girl who told them of how she helped lift the Curse in 1962. Other ghosts asked them to read the River Scout Pledge and provide protection for the Clawfoot and Shingleford once again, presenting them with Sashes that will help them defeat the Curses.

This is the set-up for Cryptid Creeks, a roleplaying game of eldritch investigative horror, that takes its inspiration from films such as The Goonies and Stand by Me, television series like Gravity Falls and Stranger Things, and graphic novels such as The Lumberjanes. Although a roleplaying game of eldritch investigative horror, and thus adjacent to it, Cryptid Creeks is not a roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror and does not involve the Cthulhu Mythos. Published by Hatchlings Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is described as ‘Cosy Horror’, meaning that it is suitable for a family audience, much like its earlier roleplaying game, Inspirales. Cryptid Creeks is also ‘Carved from Brindlewood’, which means that it is a Powered by the Apocalypse system roleplaying game, but one using the lighter, more investigative-focused variant of Brindlewood Bay. Ripples: Cryptid Creeks Curse Collection is the first supplement for Cryptid Creeks.

Ripples: Cryptid Creeks Curse Collection is primarily a collection of eight Curses, mysteries and situations, that the River Scouts can investigate, determine a cause, and ultimately resolve. Three of those are set in the present, but of the rest, Ripples takes the River Scouts—the characters and their players—somewhere interesting, and that is the past. These five Curses are the ‘Ripples’ of the title and they take place over the course of the summer of 1962. They explore what happened that fateful summer when the Peddler was stopped for the first time and the River Scouts were disbanded. They are triggered by certain situations and also tell the stories of the River Scouts who lost their lives in the effort to defeat the Peddler and whose sashes the Player Characters in the modern day were given and wear as River Scouts. They are essentially flashbacks in which the players roleplay not their usual characters, but the River Scouts of 1962.

Each Ripple is introduced by a Seed, of which three are given for each Ripple. The playthrough of a Ripple requires some changes to the play of Cryptid Creeks to take into account the fact that events of each Ripple have not yet taken place and thus not yet had an effect on present of the modern day. Thus, there is no River Phase or associated Riverbank Stops and Playbook Moves tied to the River Scouts’ Clubhouse Collection and the Sash of Ages are unavailable. Instead of the River Phase, the ‘Bond Move’ allows a one-to-one moment with another Scout to gain a Clue or Advantage on a subsequent roll. Similarly, the ‘Guidebook Move’ replaces the ‘Hilda Move’ to gain advice on the current situation. The most radical change is the inevitability of character death, since the players are roleplaying the original River Scouts who in the future will become the Clubhouse Ghosts. However, such deaths take place offscreen and River Scouts cannot recall exactly how they died, but once they do, the dead characters become Ghosts, not just for the rest of the Ripple, but all subsequent Ripples. This sets up a challenge in that Ghosts cannot communicate with the living, only themselves, and can only impart information gained from an investigation via a haunting.

Of the five Ripples, ‘The Cryptid Creek’ must be run first and ‘The Curse of ’62’ must be run last, but the others can be played in any order. ‘The Cryptid Creek’ handily takes the Navigator and her players through the process of going back into the past and into what is the very first encounter with the Watcher and the Curse he suffered at the hands of the Peddler. ‘The Curse of the Old Hackitt House’ explores a haunted house and how its owner became a figure of both fear and fun; ‘The Curse of the Lich Root’ examines how and why the flora around Shingleford changed and warped following the events of the town gardening competition in 1962; and in ‘The Curse of Heartwood Locket’, the River Scouts make a new friend as they find out why the forest became strange and seemed to strike back at the loggers working it in 1962. Lastly, ‘The Curse of ’62’ confronts the River Scout with the terrible events that led to the deaths of the remaining Clubhouse Ghosts and the temptation of Hilda Buckle aged twelve, which will set in motion of the events and involvement of the new River Scouts in the modern day.

The five Ripples are not the only Curses explored in the supplement. The other three are all set in the modern day. Children run wild in ‘The Wildren’s Curse’ and the River Scout must find out if faeries are involved or there is another cause; the people of Shingleford are beset by waking dreams in ‘The Curse of False Awakenings’ and the River Scouts must find a way to shift between the realities of ‘The Night’, ‘The Library’, and the ‘Waking World’ to locate the cause and deal with it; and lastly, ‘The Curse of the Rogue Playthings’ has the River Scouts chasing after an beloved, but beloved toy, now awakened, that is breaking into houses and toy shops to steal other toys. Of the three, ‘The Curse of False Awakenings’ is the most challenging to run and play, yet feels like a more traditional weird mystery. The other two provide inventive ways in which different aspects of childhood can be explored. Lastly, ‘Ripples’ closes with short, but entertaining piece of fiction.

Physically, Ripples is tidily organised. It is light on artwork, but what is there is good. What stands out is the layout, which is not only well done, but includes pages colour-coded to each Ripple or Curse. For example, ‘The Curse of the Old Hackitt House’ involves a haunted house, so its pages are dark grey, but ‘The Curse of the Lich Root’ involves plants and so has light green pages. It is a small detail that adds a difference between the various Curses and Ripples.

The Ripples are a fantastic idea, enabling the Navigator and her players to journey back into the past and explore the events that set up the here and now. They work better played before—as a prequel—the events of Cryptid Creeks or doing the campaign itself with the flashbacks worked into the main story. This is not to say that they cannot be played after a Cryptid Creeks campaign has been finished, but the ramifications of the original River Scouts’ actions and deaths will be not as great if run as a sequel. Any Navigator wanting to run Cryptid Creeks should definitely look at Ripples: Cryptid Creeks Curse Collection as a possible addition to her campaign because it will add depth, back story, and just for one last summer, bring the Clubhouse Ghosts to life.

Jonstown Jottings #107: Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4

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?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is the fourth volume of source material and scenarios begun in Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 and continued with Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 and Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, all written for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a one-hundred-and-seventy-four page, full colour, 48.83 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, but the text feels disorganised in places and requires an edit. The artwork varies in quality, but some of it is very good.

The cartography is decent.

Where is it set?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is set Sironomandidi, a large islands in the Shorenti Chain of islands located to the north-east of the Korolan Islands.

Who do you play?

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is designed to be used with Player Characters who are native to the Korolan Islands. The possibility of outsiders playing the scenario, along with a Player Character native to the islands, is explored in more depth than in previous volumes in the series, suggesting that alongside at least one Player Character who is native to the islands, the outsiders could be ‘new hires from strange lands’.

What do you need?

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 requires Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2, Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the Glorantha Bestiary, and The Red Book of Magic. In addition, the Guide to Glorantha and The Stafford Library – Vol VI Revealed Mythologies may be useful.

What do you get?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 explores an island that is radically different to those visited in the previous supplements. It is notable for its lack of buildings and other structures, the earth god Olaraoshay having forbidden their construction. Indeed, any building put on one day will be found collapsed the following day. Instead, the inhabitants of the island live in cave dwellings, several of them the size of cities. Indeed, the only building still standing on Sironomandidi is a temple to the antigod, Bodastu, located in the Bleeding Morass, an anti-god-infested swamp. Three Human factions dominate the island’s politics. The Lingbutans are ruled by hereditary nobility of the northern clans; the Polished Grounders worship the gods rather than recognise mortal leaders; and the Gouvanists are followers of the ancient Dragon of Gou, who long ago defeated a heartless trio of rock monsters and transformed Sironomandidi into the vibrant island it is today. However, the Dragon Gou has not been since before the coming of the demonic Slavering Horde, and his worshippers have become adept martial artists, capable of protecting themselves. Besides Humans, Sironomandidi is home to Varanids, Mostali, Black Elves, and the Eresteenes of the swamp.

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 provides a wealth of setting and background information on the island. This includes its history, descriptions of its cave cities and other places of note, full write-up of all the island’s current leaders and notable personalities, and the cults particular to the island. Amongst these are Sedsaru,the antigod associated with theft and deception, the Cave City Gods, and Dragon Gou, all written up in the standard format. The combination of its large size and the urban nature of its cave cities means that certain Occupations are found here that are rarely followed on the other Eastern Isles. Thief is the one that stands out, but the others include Captain, Noble, and Scholar. There is a surprisingly extensive bestiary too, with entries for such creatures as the Three-Eyed Blood Bat; a variety of the demon breeds known as Andin; the Manananggal, the demonic female which can grow bat wings from its back and preys on pregnant women; Orangutans who sometimes learn Roaring Orangutan Martial Arts; and the demonic shapeshifting Rakshasa. Varanids, a lizard men species with semi-intelligent workers and warriors and intelligent Shamans are presented as a playable option. More fully detailed Sofali, whose culture is tied to the lifecycle of the turtle and with so few breeding islands and beaches, they are very much dispersed across the Eastern Isles.

The Game Master is supported with a wide selection of rumours and an even wider selection of encounters and events, some which the supplement notes the Game Master should use to lay the groundwork for Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5. There is no help to that end and it would have been useful had the rumours and events been marked in some way to help the Game Master in that objective.

The ‘Korolan NPCs Encounter Table’ and the ‘Sironomandidian NPC Encounter Table’ are both useful since they also lists= the possible mini-adventures they are involved in, as well as the adventures, involvement in previous supplements, and where extra information about them may be found. Some of the encounter write-ups are surprisingly lengthy and many can be developed into fuller adventures. There are some interesting and entertaining encounters here, such as being asked by a Dream Dragon for help, receiving helpful advice from a Great Sea Turtle, needing to appease a Hungry Ghost in a set of temple ruins, and discovering a tribe of red-skinned islanders who revere a giant crocodile who walks on two legs and definitely do not want the adventurers to leave.

In addition to the some detailed forty encounters of the encounter tables, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes eight mini-adventures such as coming to the aid of a Sofli tribe on whose island hunters from a neighbouring island who have set up camp to hunt the tribe’s totem animal, the Olive Sea Turtle; guarding a caravan of dinosaurs on a trip into the interior of Sironomandidi; and the High Chief of the Lingbu Caves, fearing that he is soon to die, hires the Player Characters to clear out a tomb despite it still being occupied by Queen Rogo’s gold-masked mummy! This is followed by forty adventure seeds! All together what this means is the Game Master is given an impressive array of playable content—and yet, none of this is immediately playable content. To one degree or another, the Game Master must prepare this content. Plus given that unlike the previous supplements detailing the Eastern Isles, there are no pre-written scenarios, the Player Characters are not necessarily going to experience particular plots, events, encounters, and intrigues on Sironomandidi. Instead, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes will play out more like a sandcrawl and feels radical compared to the previous supplements in the serious. As much as this gives a lot of freedom of action to both the Game Master and her players, it is not the best set-up as a lead into the scenarios in Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5.

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is rounded out with a selection of supplementary information. These include details of various martial arts schools from across all of the islands; a description of  Ferendalo, an island to the north of Sironomandidi in the Haragalan Commonwealth; and descriptions of Dream Magic, which is practiced in the islands. It possible for a Player Character to become a Dream Magician, but it takes years of sacrifice, and in the Eastern Isles, its practitioners are not always trusted. It depends primarily on if the Dream Magician are worshippers of Thella, Goddess of Dreams, or Avanapdur, the God of Nightmares.

As with the previous entries in the series, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 would have benefitted from the inclusion of a set of pre-generated Player Characters. Given the differences between the setting of Dragon Pass and the Korolan Islands, pre-generated Player Characters would serve as a way to ease the players into and past those differences, showcasing the different Occupations and Cults. It would make the content in Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 easier to run and give the Player Characters motivations to be involved in the many plots and scenarios presented in the supplement. The number of encounters, mini-adventures, and adventures also make a campaign on and around Sironomandidi more challenging to run since the preparation requirements are higher and more demanding.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 continues the exploration of the Eastern Isles, but with almost a hundred encounters and adventure ideas. This gives the Player Characters the freedom to explore the islands like never before.

No—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign.

Maybe—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign, but its scenarios could be used to explore a clash of cultures.

Miskatonic Monday #444: Lost Library

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: Lost Library

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Wille Ruotsalainen

Setting: Somalia, 1920s

Product: Scenario

What You Get: Twenty-four page, 59.42 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: ‘King Solomon’s Library’

Plot Hook: The promise of adventure and discovery
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, six NPCs, two handouts, one map, one floorplan, one Mythos tome, and two beasts.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Atmospherically dusty journey into a hidden corner of Colonial East Africa

# Horror in the library is enjoyably not what you think

# Very light on the Mythos

# Decent introduction to Somali history and culture

# Bibliophobia

# Ammophobia

# Herpetophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit
# Very light on the Mythos

# Pre-generated Investigators could have been better designed around the scenario

Conclusion

# The horror of the Great War lingers in a cat and mouse hunt in a lost library

# Refreshingly different scenario in Colonial East Africa

Realms of Resistance

As the Third Age draws to a close and the Shadow stretches out across Middle-earth, in the west, there remain three bastions of Light. The Elder Days when the Elves once sang and danced under the canopy of the forests that stretched the whole of Middle-earth are long gone, their numbers greatly reduced in the wars against Sauron and his predecessors and by the loss of hope that led others to take the secret paths and ways to the Grey Havens, and from there sail into the West and find peace in the Undying Lands. For those that remain, the Long Defeat yet looms over them, the triumph of Sauron and Shadow, even as they take refuge under the protection of four great Elf lords and ladies, protected by the greatest magic of all—the Three Rings! These are the Elven Rings of Power, forged in the Second Age by Celebrimbor in Eregion—Vilya, Narya, and Nenya—hidden away and untouched by Sauron. Worn respectively by Elrond, Círdan the Shipwright, and Galadriel, they have each used their Ring of Power to protect their realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—against unwanted change. They remain long into the Third Age and are the subject of Realms of the Three Rings.

Realms of the Three Rings is a setting supplement for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Published by Free League Publishing, it expands upon the setting material given in the core rulebook for The One Ring and Ruins of the Lost Realm, the regional guide to the lands of southern Eriador, and adds depth to the background of any Elven Player Character in a campaign for The One Ring. There is scope for the lords of these Realms to become Patrons to the Player Characters, for non-Elves to become Elf-friends, and potentially some of the secrets that these lords hold. Of course, the Realms are not safe and even as they feel inviolable, Sauron and the forces of Shadow plot to undermine them and Realms of the Three Rings details three of these plots. Nine landmarks are described, some of which are tied into the three plots, some of which are located within the Realms. Lastly, the supplement offers options for the player, but in the main, Realms of the Three Rings is primarily a book for the Loremaster.

Ruins of the Lost Realm begins with a history of the Eldar from the Elder Days to the Twilight of the Third Age and what is surprising about it is that it kept to just two pages. It could have been much, much longer given how lengthy and detailed the history of Elves is in Middle-earth lore, but to be fair that history is available elsewhere and much of it is unlikely to have a direct effect upon a Loremaster’s campaign. This does not mean that the Loremaster cannot instead do her own research and bring elements of that history into play, because effectively that is what the authors of Ruins of the Lost Realm are doing. Their focus is upon the Three Rings of Power, how they were created by Celbrimbor, and the rise of Sauron as he used his own ring to subvert the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. It may not be an extensive history, but is enough here at least.

The influence of Three Rings of Power can be seen in the strange experience of staying in one of the surviving Elf-lands. There are literally a timelessness and an introspectiveness to the Realms that means that visitors will often initially feel overwhelmed by its apparent idleness and lack of urgency. In time, they either learn to live in step with it or never quite shake of its dream-like feel. The timelessness also means that visitors are never quite aware of how much time passes whilst they are there, weeks passing by before they are ready to leave again. There benefits to staying in an Elf-realm though. When a Company visits one of the three realms, it automatically triggers a Fellowship Phase. One of the things that that Player-hero can do is the Heal Scars Undertaking and remove a Shadow Scar. However, this is in addition to whatever Undertaking the Player-hero wants to do. It costs Adventure Points to do so. Otherwise, Player-heroes who are not Elf-friends or native to one of the realms cannot spend their Yule Fellowship Phase there.

Each of the three realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—is richly detailed with information about its numerous locations, its Ring of Power, notable figures, and more. For example, the description of Lindon includes details of the Nine Houses of Mithlond, guild-like organisations that regulate labour and professions, organise festivals, sponsor festivals, and more. These are a ready source of NPCs and possible plots should the Loremaster decide to develop them. Of the three realms, Rivendell is the most well-known, having previously been detailed in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, but it makes sense have it described here with the other two Elf-lands. That said, Realms of the Three Rings does not simply reprint the previously presented information, but expands on it to detail the wider hidden valley of Imladris, so now the Player-heroes can spend time with Gandalf sharing stories and music under the Hoary Old Chestnut, and perhaps hear a rumour or whisper on the wind, or follow the sound of the Piper in the Woods. Of the three realms, Lothlórien is the most mysterious and the most closed off, understandable given its proximity to Moria. Indeed, given that proximity, the Loremaster may want to have Realms of the Three Realms close to hand if she is planning to run Moria – Through the Doors of Durin. Much like the Fellowship, Player-heroes here may receive the Gifts of Galadriel if they take the Meet Patron undertaking and one Player-hero and his Fellowship Focus can even ne allowed to look into the Mirror of Galadriel. Of course, there is a chance that the Player-hero will see a harrowing vision, scarring him as much as it does give him insight, but looking into the mirror is a momentous event and should be treated as being very special.

One nice touch is that although all three realms are described as unyielding and unchanging, each includes a table that adds a fitting random element. For Lindon, this is ‘Exploring the Markets’ giving a range of interesting traders and craftsmen to buy from and learn from; for Rivendell, it is ‘Many Meetings in Rivendell’, a table of NPC types that the Loremaster can develop; and in Lothlórien, there are ‘Elf-Minstrel Songs’ that the Player-heroes may be lucky to hear. These add a little variation and again, can be developed further by the Loremaster to add extra detail and flavour.

The encroaching nature of the Shadow comes to the fore in Realms of the Three Realms with a plot directed at the Elven realms, each intended by Sauron to bring ruin to the Elves. Each includes some background and explanation of the plot, stats for the NPCs involved all of them nasty and evil in their own way, and a timeline that stretches twenty years into the future from 2965 TA. These are set-ups more than anything else, but they are detailed set-ups whose suggested plots and events can be woven around other adventures. As expected, these are particularly strong storylines for Player-heroes who are Elves, exposing them to some of the vile fates that Sauron and his minions have inflicted upon their fellow Elves. In ‘Perils of the Last Road’, Sauron sends Morlhoss, the Dark Whisper, a vengeful, spurned Elven spirit, and Zagruk, the Voice From Beyond, a gifted Orc Sorcerer who bears The Mask of Spirits, an iron mask that enables him to become a host for Morlhoss, to prey upon those Elves who have decided to journey into the West, making travel difficult across the Misty Mountains in particular. The Dark Lord targets Rivendell in ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ as he sends Cauthlin, an ancient spirit known as the weasel-lady, to take her revenge on the Elves of the Last Homely House. Playing on his grief at the loss of his wife, Celebrián, and fears of the possible loss of his daughter, Arwen, Sauron hopes that Elrond can be drawn out of his refuge where he will be vulnerable. In ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’ sees Sauron drive a wedge between the Elves of Lindon and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountain when an Elf, recently escaped from captivity of the Orcs of Mount Gram, claims to have seen a great hoard of Dwarven arms, armour, and treasure in the Orc hold and that the Dwarves must be paying tribute to Mount Gram! This is an insult that cannot stand on either side as the lack of wisdom amongst the young Elves and their yearning for valour and glory pushes them into confrontation of the infamous stubbornness of the Dwarves.

All of the NPCs are nicely drawn here and it should be noted that not all of the villains are totally and utterly villainous. There is a path to redemption for some of them, though not all. Cauthlin, the weasel-lady, is genuinely evil and that is clear from the unsettling illustration of her that accompanies her description. If there is a downside to the three plots, it is that Lothlórien does not receive one, though given how closed off and inaccessible that realm is, it may be that Sauron has not yet devised a scheme which he thinks will make it vulnerable.

Lastly, Realms of the Three Rings details nine Landmarks, adventure sites across Eriador. Some of these can be tied into the plots described in the previous section. For example, Ost Breniellin is a fortress that guards Lindon’s north and is home to the House of Exiles, who now make the accusations against the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains in ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’, whilst ‘The Valleys of the Dwarves’ is home to the accused. ‘The Singing Stones’ are Elven ruins on the edge of the Misty Mountains where songs can be heard in dreams, but not remembered, and is where an NPC tied to the plot of ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ could be encountered, whilst events later in that plot can play out at ‘The Wailinghole’, a worked cave network that has been turned into an outpost by the Elves of Rivendell and has secrets of its own. ‘The Winter-horn’ is both a sound and a place in the High Pass of the Misty Mountains, whose sound is said to be strong enough to keep giants at bay, and perhaps can be found as part of the ‘Perils of the Last Road’ plot, as can ‘Whitehorn Hay’, a farm where Men welcome Elven visitors.

The others include ‘The Palace of the Sea-birds’ is the ruined island home of an old Elf-lord, now the seat of King Arovall, a massive seagull who rules over all of the region’s seabirds; ‘The Vineyards of Glauria’ sit high on the side of the valley above Rivendell where the ancient winemaking practices of the Eldar are still continued to this day; and ‘The Falls of Nimrodel’ lie on the edge of Lothlórien, potentially a place of refuge from nearby Moria, whilst the nearby ‘The Ruins of Dwarferry’ details an ancient Dwarven crossing point across the Anduin. Where most of these Landmarks are given a location, both ‘The Hollow Wood’, a refuge for Elves on the road westwards, and ‘The Isle of the Sorceress’, a refuge of a more mystical nature, can be placed anywhere by the Loremaster.

Finally, the appendix adds options for the Player. These include two new Heroic Cultures. One is the High Elves of Rivendell, which previously appeared in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, whilst the other is the Elves of Lórien. The High Elves of Rivendell have the Cultural Blessings of ‘Elven-Wise’, able to spend Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll, but also ‘Beset by Woe’, meaning that their long memories cannot forget the mark left by the Shadow on their spirit, limiting when they can remove Shadow points. Their notable Virtues are ‘Artificer of Eregion’, enabling a Player-hero to craft Marvellous Artefacts like the Elven-smiths of old or identify qualities about a Marvellous Artefact or Wondrous Items, and ‘Might of the Firstborn’, which lets a Player-hero expend Hope to negate a point of Hate or Resolve spent by a foe to activate a Fell ability. The Elves of Lórien have a single Cultural Bless, that of ‘Tree-People’, which lets a Player-hero spend a point of Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll when in a forest, but more Virtues to choose from. These include ‘Lembas’, gaining access to the famous waybread after spending time in Lothlórien; ‘Deadly Archery’, granting the ‘Prepare Action’ with a bow whilst in the Rearward Stance as a secondary action; and ‘Favour of the Lady’, which grants the blessing of Galadriel to gain more Hope points during the Fellowship Phase, but at a cost of an extra Shadow point, which can be negated by returning home. There is a lot of flavour to both Heroic Cultures, enabling players to create interesting Player-heroes. The last item in the appendix is ‘Elf-Lords in Solo Play’, a guide to creating powerful Elves born in the First and Second Ages who have yet to make the journey West. These are specifically designed to work with the solo rules for The One Ring—called ‘Strider Mode’—and enable a player to roleplay a much more powerful figure who can more readily face greater foes. It is a welcome new option for the ‘Strider Mode’.

Physically, Realms of the Three Rings 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 beautiful artwork, some of which, like the depiction of the weasel-lady is quite unnerving. The cartography is also very good.

If there is an Elven Player-hero in the Company, Realms of the Three Rings is a supplement that his player will want his Loremaster to purchase. It places the Elves in the spotlight in the Third Age of Middle-earth, a place that ironically, they would rather avoid. It not only details their realms as places to visit, but provides the Loremaster with the means to bring their reticence, their waning hope, and their elegance into play and develop her campaign around their included plots. Realms of the Three Rings adds depth and detail to Eriador, scope for Elven Player-heroes to shine, and other Player-heroes to explore their grandly elegant, but declining world.