Dirt & Danger

Dust & Blood: Two Scenarios of Gaslight London is a duology of scenarios for Cthulhu by Gaslight, the expansion for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition which explores the place of the Cthulhu Mythos in the last decades of the Victorian era. Its two scenarios take the Investigators into the grimier and grimmer side of Victorian life. The first, ‘Ashes to Ashes’, is a short, one session scenario, suited to both a new Keeper and new players, but with an intriguing set-up that veteran players and history lovers will still enjoy. Its running length also means that the scenario can be used as a demonstration or convention. Whilst ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is new, the second scenario, ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’ is not, having first appeared in Sacraments of Evil, the 1993 anthology for Cthulhu by Gaslight, Second Edition. It is a much longer, more open world sandbox affair best suited for the more experienced Keeper and her players. Of the two, ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’ is easier to add to an ongoing campaign and could be run as an indirect sequel to ‘Ashes to Ashes’. ‘Ashes to Ashes’ could also be used as a campaign starter. Both scenarios are supported by a plethora of maps and handouts, as well as ten pre-generated Investigators. Four of them are specifically designed to be used with ‘Ashes to Ashes’, but the introduction includes advice on how to use the ten of the pre-generated Investigators with the two scenarios.

‘Ashes to Ashes’, the first of the two scenarios in Dust & Blood has one of the more interesting set-ups for any Call of Cthulhu scenario, let alone for Cthulhu by Gaslight. A set-up that outside of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend is little known and a set-up that asks, “How did the Victorians get rid of their rubbish?” In Tudor times, the infamous gong farmers dug out and collected the ordure from privies and cesspits, but by the end of the Victorian era, extensive sewage systems had been built to prevent pollution and outbreaks of disease. That though, still left the household rubbish to be dealt with and that included tonnes of coal dust from each household. ‘Dustmen’ were employed by ‘dust yards’ to collect this dust and brought back to the dust-yard where it would be picked through by dust-sifters and fillers for anything valuable, including catskins, cinders, cork, oyster shells, and rags.

In ‘Ashes to Ashes’, the Investigators are employees at Lange’s Dust-Yard, either dustmen who collect the dust, totters who are rag-and-bone-men, dust-sifters, fillers, or workers on the destructor crew. All of these occupations are Lower Class roles, whilst the yard’s clerks are lower Middle Class roles. The scenario suggests minimum skill values for all of these Occupations and provides several NPCs who can be replaced by an Investigator if a player wants to take a particular role in the scenario. This gives the option for the players to create their own Investigators as well as choosing from the provided pre-generated Investigators. Also discussed are ways in which a Middle Class Investigator can be included, but at its core, ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is set in a working class environment which intentionally enforces the society of the time’s limits on where the Investigators can go, what they can do, and where they can be seen.

Given its length, it should be no surprise that ‘Ashes to Ashes’ starts with a bang. Or rather, with a bag. A bag that seems to be squirming. Has a pet been put out with the dust and the rubbish by mistake? It turns out not to be so, but something much stranger—a monstrous figure made of grey dust that that attacks the Investigators and other workers at the dust yard. This encounter begs the obvious question, “Where did the grey man and the bag he was in, come from?” The subsequent investigation quickly leads to a house at the posh end of the district that the dust yard works. Here the Investigators are confronted with a situation quite typical of Call of Cthulhu made all the more challenging by it being very much out of their Class and the location being very much not their place. It is a chance for them to see how the other half lives and the consequences of that. ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is a very likeable scenario, made all the more so by its genuinely different set-up and straightforward plot, made all the more difficult by the differences of Class.

The second scenario, ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’, is longer and more demanding for both the Keeper and the players. It takes place over the course of three weeks beginning in October, 1889, and takes the Investigators down the streets and up the alleys of a Whitechapel scarred by the Jack the Ripper murders of the year before. In fact, the scenario is modelled on the murders and the reaction to them, but tells a story of its own rather than exploiting them or associating them with the Mythos. The district is beset by a new series of murders, this time of men rather than women, but found in similar circumstances in the fog and their flesh carved with curious symbols. The Investigators are either hired by the East End Citizens Committee, get intrigued by the newspaper reports, or are called in by Scotland Yard for their expertise, and so begin to look into the deaths. The scenario has twin parallel tracks that the Investigators will need to follow, one attending the many days of the coroner’s inquests held for each of the murder victims, the other working the streets and trying to gather clues via legwork. Both the coroner’s inquests and the deaths give the scenario a tight timeline and structure. What it means is that the Keeper will need to switch back and forth between the two investigative strands, one static, one free roaming. Players and Investigators will have more freedom of choice in the latter rather than the former, but the former is not without its incident and scope to ask questions.

The freedom of the street investigation is complicated by the fact that the Investigators are not the only ones looking into the deaths and searching for the culprit. Some of the groups conducting their own investigations have their own agendas and will not take kindly to the Investigators’ involvement. ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’ has many more moving parts than ‘Ashes to Ashes’, is more detailed and involving, and has more NPCs for the Keeper to maintain a track of. The scenario also has two endings because it is not so much a matter of finding out who the murderer is, but a matter of finding out why. Investigating further will lead to some horrible revelations, although it is possible that the scenario will end in a bloody massacre should the players and their Investigators not continue their enquiries. This possibility and the complexity of the scenario are why it warrants more experienced Keeper and players.

The scenario update is not extensive, but it does include an option for use with Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos which links the perpetrator to the character of Sweeney Tood, first seen in the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls. This does feel like the overegging the scenario, given how judiciously it makes use of the Jack the Ripper legend, but otherwise the scenario benefits from some careful staging advice. If ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is grimy, then ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’ is grim, but richly detailed and a classic worth updating and reprinting given that it has been out of print for over three decades.

Physically, Dust & Blood: Two Scenarios of Gaslight London is as well presented as you would expect for a Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition supplement. The illustrations are also good, those for ‘Ashes to Ashes’ actually having a lighter feel then those for then ‘Signs Writ in Scarlet’.

One quibble with the writing is that in places it favours American terminology first rather than British terminology. For example, in ‘Ashes to Ashes’ , the description of the disposal of household waste opens with “Recycling of household garbage (or rubbish as it is known in England)…” rather than, “Recycling of household rubbish (or garbage as it is known in the USA)…” Obviously, Call of Cthulhu and Cthulhu by Gaslight are published by an American company and their largest audience is American, but what it feels like is that an explanation is being given to non-American readers about a setting that is not American. Whereas the explanation should be for the American reader because it is not an American setting. Similarly, for the storeys of a house, the scenario uses “First (Ground) Floor” and “Second Floor” rather than “Ground (First) Floor” and “First (Second) Floor”. Again, this is a quibble, but given that Cthulhu by Gaslight is set in Victorian Britain and both scenarios are set in London, this phrasing is inconsistent, reads oddly, and is just slightly jarring.

Dust & Blood: Two Scenarios of Gaslight London provides very solid support for Cthulhu by Gaslight with something new and something old. The new gives a new angle from which to explore the Mythos in the Victorian era, whilst the old examines the Victorian attitude to murder following a public panic. In all honesty, two scenarios feels just two slight and it is easier to add one to an existing campaign than the other, which limits its use. Nevertheless, both scenarios in Dust & Blood: Two Scenarios of Gaslight London are very welcome support for the Keeper of Cthulhu by Gaslight, one new and inventive, one old, but a classic.

Solitaire: Ion Heart – Pilot’s Handbook

It is fifteen hundred years since the Astral Union was formed and sixty-five years since the Emergence Catastrophe occurred. Nephilim Strand Fleets emerged from the Galactic East and for a decade the Emergence War was waged across the galaxy. Over five decades have passed since and signs of the conflict can be found only almost every planet and in the spaces between. Remnants of the original invasion force, as well as individual Nephilim, can still be found lurking at the furthest reaches of the spatial translation Snap Rifts that bind the planetary systems of the Astral Union together. Bandits and pirates are a threat still, as are corporations running rogue operations. One icon of the war that can still be seen today is the Mech. Before the war, it had been designed as an industrial machine for use in construction and mining, and later developed as a combat vehicle, but the Mech rose to prominence during the defence of the Astral Union. Ion Core technology harnessed the latent psionic ability of all sentient beings using advanced A.I. systems to create a Sync-Bond between a mech and its user, enhancing the precision and dexterity of the Mech and enabling the Mech itself to develop a personality of its own and operate independently, but still linked to its Pilot. Today, Mechs are seen far and wide across the Astral Union, the bond between Pilot and Mech celebrated as if they were a knight and the Mech his steed of old. Together, they adventure and explore, help and hinder, protect and perform, often helping where they can, like itinerant, if hyper-armed, ronin of old.

This is the set-up for Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook. It is a solo journalling game published by Parable Games, best known for the horror roleplaying game, Shiver – Role-playing Tales in the Strange & the Unknown. In the roleplaying game, the player will take the roles of both Pilot and Mech, who together explore a universe ravaged by war and now recovering, growing together and strengthening their bond. The roleplaying game provides prompts that will drive the story of their adventures that the player will record in short mission logs. These missions typically take the form of an ‘Exploration Loop’—arriving on a planet, discovering a settlement, encountering a Story Circuit, and engaging in combat and travel encounters, as necessary. A Story Circuit is a narrative arc consisting of six parts. The player needs to play through a minimum of three of these before his Pilot and Mech can play out the finale of the Story Circuit, and so complete its narrative before moving. The Story Circuit is pre-written, but the rest is created at the beginning of each loop. To play, Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG needs nothing more than some six-sided dice and a means to record a journal.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook includes some background to the setting really intended to provide flavour and detail, rather than mechanical support. This includes the history of the Astral Union, its organisations and what ordinary life is like, an explanation of the Emergent War and who the Nephilim are, and a timeline. Surprisingly, this also includes the various species which a player can chose from. These include Apollonians or humans from the Apollo-Theta system, the reptilian Varziss of the Varziss Triarchy, the bear-like Urvons of the League of Urvo, the winged and nocturnal bat-like Chiros of Chiros Coalition, the centaur-like Kirvae of the Kirvaen Prefecture, and the cat-like Mo’nau of the Mo’nau Republic. In addition to selecting one of these species during character creation, all of this material can be drawn upon when a player is recording in his journal.

The character creation is for both the Pilot and the Mech. The Pilot is defined by Pilot Body and Pilot Presence, whilst Mech is defined by Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex. Pilot Body is his physical capability and toughness, whilst Pilot Presence is his mental fortitude and reasoning skills. Mech Brawn is the Mech’s strength and toughness, whilst Mech Reflex is his speed and agility. All of these start at zero, but are first modified by the Pilot’s Temperament and the Mech’s Weight Class. The Pilot has an Origin—one of the species listed above, a Pilot Goal such as ‘Adventure Forth’, ‘Escape Past’, and ‘Fulfil Destiny’, and Pilot Temperament, which can be ‘Outgoing’, ‘Reflective’, ‘Analytical’, ‘Intuitive’, ‘Mercurial’, or ‘Rigid’. Each of these provide a benefit. For example, ‘Reflective’ means that the Pilot prefers to keep himself and thinks carefully before committing to anything, which grants ‘+3 Max. Mech Shielding’ and ‘+1 Pilot Body’, whilst ‘Intuitive’ means that the Pilot is empathetic, has a poet’s soul, and makes judgements based on what he feels to be right, and that allows his player can ‘Re-roll two failed Pilot Presence Checks per day.’

Creating or building a Mech is slightly—but only slightly—more complex. The Mech has a Class that can either be Light, Medium, or Heavy. This determines whether it favours speed, durability, and powerful weapons, or a balance between the two, and thus its starting values for Mech Shielding and Brawn and Reflex modifiers. Each Mech has a Ranged Weapons System, Melee Weapons System, and an Auxiliary System, which will also help in combat. Since the end of the war with the Nephilim, all Mechs have been reconfigured or designed to have a civilian Specialisation and thus the capacity to be useful out of combat. This can be ‘Shepherd’, ‘Harvester’, or ‘Bridgebuilder’, for example. All of this—for both Pilot and Mech—can rolled for or chosen by the player. Lastly, there is the Ion Core Sync Bond, which represents the connection between the Pilot and his Mech, and in play, determines how many Heroic Actions or Ion Core engagements that can be conducted per day.

Pilot Name: Makwa

Pilot Origin: Urvon

Pilot Temperament: Analytical (+1 to hit in first Ranged Step of any combat)

Pilot Goal: Save Others

Pilot Presence 0 Pilot Body 0

Mech

Origin: Working Relationship

Weight: Heavy

Ion Core Sync Bond 2

Mech Shielding 46

Battle Scars: 0

Mech Brawn +1

Mech Reflex -1

Attacks: 3

Weapons: Scattergun (Damage: 4+D6) [Buckshot: For every hit with this weapon, make an extra free attack with it]; Forge Hammer (Damage: 6+D6) [Crushing Smite: The Meteorite Thunderstrike Ion Core does an additional +4 damage]

Auxiliary system: TN Field Projector

Mech Specialisation: Repair & Rescue

Mech Quirks: 0

Mechanically, Ion Heart is simple. When a player wants either his Pilot or his Mech to succeed, he rolls a single six-sided die and rolls of four or more means the attempt is successful. A roll of one is always a failure, whilst a roll of six is always a success. For the Pilot, bonuses can come from his Presence or Body as appropriate, but if he fails, the player can decide to have his Pilot undertake a Heroic Action. This automatically succeeds, but at the cost of a Sync Bond slot for that day. The Mech can operate by itself when the Pilot is not in the cockpit. In which case the bonuses for the Mech’s own Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex are used, and the roll required to succeed is still four or more. When a Mech has no instructions, it will revert to the Specialisation it has been programmed with.

Combat uses the same core mechanic, but on attacks, a roll of six is critical hit and inflicts more damage. Similarly, a roll of six to defend against an attack is a critical and deflects part of the damage back at the attacker. A round consists of three steps—Ranged, Melee, and Disengage. A Mech’s Level determines the number of attacks per round, but if the Pilot or Mech decides not to attack, they receive a bonus to the rolls to defend themselves. Damage reduces the Mech Shielding, and this is both when the Pilot is out of the Mech and in the Mech. If the Pilot is out of the Mech, it means that Pilot is not taking damage as such, but his ability to pilot the Mech is being affected.

The Ion Core of a Mech and its A.I. means that it can learn over time as it synchronises with the Pilot and it can also overcharge the Mech’s systems. There is no truly safe way to do this, as even if the Pilot and Mech have enough Sync Bond points—which determines the number of times it can be done per day—engaging the Ion Core can still damage the Mech and will damage the Mech if the number of times it is used exceeds the Sync Bond points. When the Ion Core is engaged, it provides the player with a number of choices, such as the aforementioned ‘Heroic Push’, which allows a failed Mech Brawn or Mech Reflex check to succeed; ‘Shields! Full Power!’, which partially restores Mech Shielding; and ‘Meteoric Thunderstrike!’ which enables a single attack that round and has it automatically succeed with extra damage inflicted. In the long term, through play and combat, the latter if the Mech Shielding is reduced to zero and the Mech is disabled, the Mech can acquire Mech Quirks such as ‘Gallant Protector’, which grants a bonus to Defence rolls if Mech Shielding is seriously reduced, and ‘Ocular Misalignment’, damaging its targeting optics! If there is an issue with the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG, it is that it is hard for the Pilot to improve in comparison to the Mech and the Mech is always more interesting than the Pilot as he has no special abilities or skills.

The play of Ion Heart—the ‘Exploration Loop’—begins with the creation the next destination for the Pilot and his Mech. This includes world building, which drills down from system creation through world creation to settlement design. Examples are provided to choose from, but there are tables which a player can use to create his own. The tables are used to create systems, planets, biomes, and settlements as well as encounters that can be friendly, mysterious, or hostile. The latter are backed up with a range of threats that includes other Mechs and Nephilim enemies. What this provides is a broadly drawn environment that a Pilot and Mech can explore and adventure across. It is also the environment upon which the player will map and tell the tale of one or more Story Circuits.

Eighteen of these are detailed in Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook, taking up half of the book. There are six each of Peaceful, Protective, and Dangerous Story Circuits, and each one is broken down into five scenes, plus a finale. The player has to play through three of the scenes before playing the finale. The Peaceful Story Circuits include ‘The Remembrance Festival’ and ‘Mech’s Birthday’; the Protective Story Circuits include ‘An Ecologist’s Dilemma’ and ‘Volcanic Chaos’; and Dangerous Story Circuits include ‘Our Fight is Not Over’ and ‘Contested Territory’. This is a great mix of story ideas and gives the game a greater longevity than the average solo journaling game.

In addition, Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook includes guidance on playing it as a two-player game. Instead of each player controlling his own Pilot and Mech, one player roleplays the Pilot and the other player the Mech, and it suggests the players divide responsibilities between journalling and rules referencing, as well as working together to decide on the actions of their shared Pilot and Mech.

Physically, the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook is a nicely done roleplaying game. It is fetchingly presented in swathes of soft colours and easy to read and understand.

Initially, Ion Heart is a challenging given that until a Pilot and Mech survive a Story Circuit and can go up a Level, there is not much in the way of modifiers to affect the dice rolls needed for many actions. This is why the Sync Bond and engaging the Ion Core is so important as it can get the Pilot and Mech out of a tight scrape, but it is more important early on in the game when there are fewer modifiers to skill rolls and fewer chances to engage the Ion Core with any degree of safety. However, careful play and some luck will get the Pilot and the Mech through most situations, and it may help if the player goes through a Peaceful Story Circuit first so that his Pilot can gain a Level.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook explores the relationship between Pilot and Mech, much like a knight and his horse. They are both bonded, literally in the case of the Pilot and Mech with the Sync Bond mechanic. What is so attractive about Ion Heart is that although there is danger to be found and threats to be confronted across the Astral Union, the universe it depicts is not a dark one, but one of hope and restoration, as the Pilot and Mech wander from place to place, in peripatetic fashion, ronin-style. Then unlike other solo journalling games, Ion Heart not only comes with eighteen Story Circuits to tell, but leaves the world open. There is no set ending that the player is striving for and when he has completed the eighteen Story Circuits, he is free to create his own and continue the story of his Pilot and Mech, or wait for expansions from the publisher. In other words, it is up to the player to decide when the story of his Pilot and Mech ends.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook is a rather charming journalling roleplaying game, enjoyably optimistic in tone, and with richness of stories to tell.

Friday Fantasy: The Grotesques’ Grotto

Up in the hills there is a grotto out of which a babbling spring rises where it is said that ghostly echoes of lurid ritual mania from millennia ago can be heard. Folklore says that the grotto hides a temple to Iakos, the ancient wild god who blessed the site and his followers with the power of delirium-inducing prophetic visions. The temple was sealed long ago after his worship was outlawed, but its hidden entrance was revealed two weeks ago when an earthquake hit the area. Drawn by the spreading news of the seal to the temple having been broken, four royal witch hunters—Aida, Crawe, Ric, and Oswin—arrived in a nearby town and set out to investigate. They have since entered the temple in an effort to suppress its heathen influence, but are yet to return. In response to this situation, perhaps the Player Characters are hired to go after them and rescue them; perhaps they are hired by a decadent noble to help bring about a prophecy associated with the temple and its destruction that would bring about a new world; or having learned of the temple having been unsealed and the witch hunters gone inside, the Player Characters simply want to follow them in and loot the place of its treasure and relics. This is the set-up and hooks for Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto.

Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto is an adventure for Old School Essentials from Necrotic Gnome and is designed to be played with six Player Characters of Second Level to Fourth Level. The scenario is the second in the publisher’s ‘Quick Delve’ series, following on from Quick Delve #1: Milk. Each is designed for one or two sessions’ worth of play and is intended to be perfect for side quests, one-shots, and conventions, as well as easily into any campaign. The scenario begins with the Player Characters outside the grotto. Inside is a temple that has long fallen into misuse, but more recently, extensively damaged by the earthquake. This also limited the Player Characters movement through the temple, effectively limiting them to edges before they can make their way into the middle. It has a strange, woozy atmosphere primarily because of three ‘Grotesques’ of the title, the servants of Iakos who have been trapped in the temple since it was sealed and desperately, monstrously welcome the arrival of interlopers after centuries. The creepy trio include Mu, Grotesque of Keeping, starved for new secrets to hoard; Thee, Grotesque of Disclosure, starved for new secrets to reveal; and Los, Grotesque of Revelation. The first of these has a hole where its face should be, the second has mouth framed by numerous empty eye sockets, and they both hate each other; whilst the third’s eyeless face sloughs off and regrows every five minutes (he is also the only one not to be illustrated). Their desires and rivalries will drive much of the Player Characters’ exploration of the temple and provide much of the scenario’s potential roleplaying.

Unfortunately, this leaves the rest of NPCs in the scenario—the surviving royal witch hunters and an NPC or two—markedly underserved in terms of roleplaying potential. They are sadly underwritten, leaving little for the Game Master to work from in terms of their portrayal, but possibly leaving lots of room to develop from that might fit her campaign. Another issue with the writing is the descriptions given of the various locations. The writing is sparse and punchy, but the boxes of descriptive text often veer into details that should not be initially apparent to the Player Characters. For example, the boxed text for the Crypt reads, “A large Martyr sits cross-legged atop an imposing stone sarcophagus. The east and south walls are lined with niches. Most are empty but 4 contain inanimate Martyrs. The archway north (to Area 12) is draped in strands of glowing moss, a humid, noisome atmosphere wafting through it.” It seems odd for this text to mention the presence of Martyrs when that instead should be information for the players and their characters to discover. What it also means is that what should be in other scenarios, boxes of descriptive text there for the Game Master to read out, fail to serve that function in Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto. As a consequence, Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto requires just a bit more effort to prepare than it really should—all of which could have been addressed during the development and editing process for the scenario.

Physically, Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto is generally well presented. Barring the issue with the boxed text, it is decently written. The cartography is good, but the artwork is better. In fact, the artwork is excellent and really capture the feel and atmosphere of the individual encounters in the dungeon. The depiction of two of the three Grotesques is appropriately disturbing, but the most unsettling illustration is of the near-cadaverous Nymph, Pity, as she preys on a victim ready to drown him.

Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto feels inspired by the Oracle of Delphi at the Temple of Apollo on Mount Parnassus, its trio of Grotesques echoing also the three Fates, but the scenario otherwise avoids being inspired by Ancient Greece. Its primary storytelling impetus for the Player Characters will be how they react to the drives of the three Grotesques. If they ignore them, the scenario is likely to be an underwhelming experience for the Player Characters. Engage in them and there are definite consequences, ones that are entertaining, but will not affect a campaign in a drastic way which would unpin it and send it in another direction. Quick Delve #2: The Grotesques’ Grotto is underdeveloped in places, but not fatally so, in what is otherwise a solid scenario easily dropped into a campaign.

Cyber-Dungeon Classics I: Arcolgies

Zapped by a hi-res laser. Take the red pill. Plug in. Within seconds and the Player Characters are no longer in their world, but another. Somewhere in between, a liminal space of data and information, infinite realities and variations, where corporations hold and protect their data in fortresses and millions work, and even more flock to explore worlds that previously they could only imagine. They no longer are Player Characters, but ‘Users’, shifted out of ‘Reality’ and into ‘Cyberspace’ as ‘Avatars’. Inside this virtual world, this WorldNet, they face not I.C.E. or Intrusion Counter Electronics per se, but Intrusion Counter Entities. Their new world is not so much a virtual world as a cyberdungeon. ICE are not the only dangers the Avatars will face. There is a chance of being detected and worse being noticed by the deities that are the A.I.s. This is the setting for Netcrawl, the cyberspace setting and supplement for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, both published by Goodman Games. Published by Horse Shark Games, it works with other third-party settings such as Cyber Sprawl Classics, Crawljammer, Umerica, Terror of the Stratosfiend, and Star Crawl Classics. Plus, of course, it can simply be a roleplaying setting all of its own. Once zapped into this virtual world, what exactly does it look like?

Netcrawl: Arcologies is a supplement that attempts to address the infinite number of possibilities when it comes to what the virtual reality environments of Netcrawl and the WorldNet look like, what might be found there, and what threats that the Avatars might encounter. It is in effect a dungeon generator for a cyberpunk and virtual world setting that the Judge can use as prompts to develop the space into which the Avatars are cast and bring it to (virtual) reality. The first part of Netcrawl: Arcologies looks at its namesake with a set of tables for defining what a particular arcology is like. The generator determines an arcology’s tone and theme, functionality, appearance, and style, plus the primary form of travel to and within the arcology. So its tone might be disorientating or entertaining, its theme lines and vertices or grimy, functionality a beta release or fortified, and its appearance a polygon or shaped like a vehicle, and so on. In style it could be gridded or circuitry and if a polyhedral shape, a cylinder, cone, or rhomboid prism.

Thematically, one area that the supplement does not do is provide a means of determining who built the arcology and who runs it now. In the introduction, it acknowledges that an arcology can be run by numerous organisations, where that is corporate, governmental, or some other body, and that further this will suggest branding, function, and appearance. The inclusion of such details would have added further depth and detail to any arcology and help the Admin in the creation process.

The ‘System Raid’ tables set up a target and thus the basis of an adventure for Netcrawl. It sets the target as a random system building that is then layered into grids of nodes that are populated with agents or random I.C.E. These include connections, firewalls, agents, security portals, systems, and servers. This provides the target environment to be explored and worked through, but the look and feel of this space should be dictated by the previous Arcology Generator tables. Of course, the target can be determined wholly randomly by simply rolling on the tables, but the advice is to combine it with design choices. The process is not easy in part because although it is creating the equivalent of a virtual dungeon, it does not have the structure of a dungeon traditional to Dungeons & Dragons. So, it is harder to visualise.

The Admin can also personalise the A.I.s in charge of the arcology—or parts of it—with plans and personalities, and even give them hobbies to perhaps give them a weakness that can be exploited. Arcologies can further be populated by rolling the I.C.E. Generator that determines type, general appearance, colour, and form, and even allows for the possibility it could manifest in the outside world, from as ordinary a defence as a swarm of nanobots to a synthetic android.

The supplement takes the Admin to the seamier side of the virtual world with the Undernet, the equivalent of the Dark Web, but here treated like the back streets and alleys with a handful of encounters. Further, it is a bestiary of sorts, if the monsters and other threats are digital. There is Malware, virulent code that compromises a victim’s defences and can alter an Avatar’s appearance temporarily and even permanently reduce his stats, depending upon how badly the player fails his Avatar’s saving throw versus. Some of these are quite complex. For example, once installed, the reactive defensive code attack ‘Heartstopper’ automatically activates under certain circumstances and forces constant heart attacks on the victim, whilst ‘JOBE’ or ‘Joyous Omnipotent Brain Evolution’, grants a bonus to program activation checks and Wits check or Wits-based skill checks. However, if an Avatar succeeds by these bonuses only, it reduces his Hack stat and if reduced to zero, the sufferer is turned into a megalomaniac! In many cases, Malware can be removed with reversion control or quarantine.

The ‘Code’ rules get under the structure under AI, arcology, and Avatar, whilst ‘Exploits’ are malicious code that can be injected into an Avatar. Again, like the Malware, there are basic and more detailed versions. For example, ‘Couch Pirate 3000 (CP3K) – The Slacker Hacker’ is whispered about in encrypted chatrooms or foreshadowed by icons of a worn-out couch appearing on dead servers, and asks the question, “Why burn the system when you can break

it lying down?” Sufferers are forced to lie down on the couch and lose all speed (moving 0#) and suffer a -4 penalty to their Hack. That said, the couch can be moved, so making the Avatar’s allies do yet more hard work! The ‘Zap Generator’ creates Zaps, virtual drug-like experiences that provide temporary boosts, but which can be addictive. They fit the setting, but they do feel like way to get drugs into the WorldNet, whereas ‘Abends’ enforce the weird nature of the setting, all being code written to crash in unusual ways, ending in critical errors and other unexpected ways. For example, ‘nessuna.tmp’ causes intense drowsiness and an hour-long dream state that renders an Avatar vulnerable. Effectively, ‘cybersleep’, it has transcendent effects that make many ciphomorph shamans actually infect themselves and gain prophetic abilities and access to ‘spirit’ realms. Mechanically, after waking up from this state, users are slowed to a zen-like state that means they go last in combat and are slowed to a single action, but do gain access to insight that grants a bonus to an action die, saving throw, or Armour class, which can be changed from round to round. There are only three of these Abends, but these add depth and feel to some of the software to be found in the WorldNet.

Rounding out Netcrawl: Arcologies is a ‘Guide to the WorldNet’ that further develops ideas for its many, many virtual reality environments. This gives tables of rumours, events, and news items to use across various ‘neighbourhoods’ of the WorldNet. They include locations such as ‘The Spine’, the main highway of the WorldNet; the hedonistic, yet upscale VR playgrounds known as ‘Les Loisirs’; and the ‘Nightzone’ is the always-on, always-dark, nightlife district. There are nine such locations, not so much detailed, as brought to reality through the rumours and news in their associated tables. These are full of lots of detail that will help the Admin bring them to life using the tables earlier in the supplement to give structure to her WorldNet.

Physically, Netcrawl: Arcologies is a vibrantly, neon affair. It is not illustrated, but the colours more than make up for it.

Netcrawl: Arcologies starts by selling itself as the equivalent of the dungeon generator for Netcrawl, but it is not as an expansive as traditional dungeon generators are for fantasy roleplaying. It is more focused on limited structures, though these can still be quite large. However, the supplement does not limit itself wholly to that, but adds general details and elements that can be brought easily into play and expand the setting. Ultimately, Netcrawl: Arcologies is more of a companion to NetCrawl providing general support rather just location-building, but that does not mean that it is bad support.

Miskatonic Monday #448: The Horror

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: The Horror

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Poul Erik Holmelund

Setting: Denmark, 1980s

Product: Scenario

What You Get: Forty-two page, 41.15 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Kidstigators do right by the Knights Templar
Plot Hook: ‘Troll’ terror at a Summer Camp gone Cthulhu

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Kidstigators and sixteen Kidstigator portraits, one NPC, five maps and floor plans, one Mythos spell, and four Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Excellent

Pros

# First scenario to use the ‘Kidstigator’ rules from The Dare

# Good one-shot or convention scenario

# Solid, food-based investigation

# Genuinely jolly policeman

# ‘Murdertoys’ are exactly what you think they are

# iä iä Krôll´Bôll

# Possible resolutions fully explored

# Nice cover

# Now with added Citronmåne (you’re welcome and where’s my slice?)

# Pediophobia

# Teraphobia

# Ornithophobia

Cons

# Needs a light edit

# There really should be a phobia of seagulls

Conclusion

# Linear, but entertaining scenario that nicely balances the joy of childhood versus the terror of ‘trolls’!

# Pleasingly captures the wonder of childhood summer before the horror

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Snæland Sagas #05: Family Sagas

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

—oOo—

What is the Nature of the Saga?

Family Sagas is a supplement for use with Age of Vikings.

It is a full colour, twelve page, 14.42 MB PDF.

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

Where is the Saga set?

Family Sagas really begins at home, but ultimately it will take the Player Characters anywhere as they travel and undertake quests together.

Who should be the subject of this Saga?

Any type of Player Character can take part in this saga. It is intended for use with all types of Player Character because it is designed to bring them together and designed to be used with Player Characters.

What does the Saga require?

Family Sagas only requires the Age of Vikings core rulebook.

Where will the Vikings go in this Saga?

Part of the creation process in Age of Vikings is to create a family and family history for the character, and in the process, set up relations and relationships, tensions, and potential story and roleplaying possibilities. What though if the ties are not between each Player Character and a group of NPCs, but between the Player Characters? In other words, what if the Player Characters are all directly related and from the same family? This is the idea behind Family Sagas, a supplement for Age of Vikings which expands the character creation process for the roleplaying, but more tightly focuses its subject matter.  It does this by adding several new steps in the character creation process.

Unlike the standard process, Family Sagas begins with ‘Step 0: Talk About Your Family’ in which the Game Master and her players discuss who and what they want to play, how they want their Player Characters to be related, and also what family-related scenes, stories, and reactions do they want to see in the saga? Of course, this is going to be challenging, since family relationships can be difficult, there are going to be tensions, and what Family Sagas does is bring those tensions closer and make them more intimate than found in a standard Player Character and family set-up in Age of Vikings. Essentially, it is introducing a definite ‘Session Zero’ for Age of Vikings as part of the preparation and the supplement suggests several themes and topics that the players might want to explore (or avoid).

As part of the set-up it also suggests possible configurations based on the number of family members and cleverly, it allows players to still create separate family histories for their characters. This is because each player can still choose his character’s favourite grandparent and parent and these can be different or same, depending upon if they are related by blood or by marriage. Either way, it means that whilst family histories are rolled for separately, ideally, they should be created together to make connections and interactions, and ultimately what the process is does is, collectively, add depth and detail to the Player Characters’ shared family, even if—and especially when—it clashes.

Alternatively, Family Sagas suggests a simpler set-up if a Player Character is the child of another. Here the player of the parents suggests three Passions to represent things he wants to teach the child. The player of the child is free to accept these or not, but if not, that sets up tensions between their characters. The supplement also addresses the issue of age with regard to playing parents, suggests possible commonalities between family members—such as similar characteristic values and skills in common, similar spirit animals, and even distinctive features. 

What will the Skalds sing of this Saga?

Family Sagas explores an alternative campaign set-up which will make the players think more about the relationships and potential interactions between their characters ahead of play. The resulting suggestions are obvious when you think about it, but they are here in one place and the result has roleplaying potential aplenty. 

Fuzzy Felt Fantasy

It is the Dungeon Era. A period of untrammelled capitalism and capitalists—tycoons and robber barons—who have in the past few years brought about a time of competing corporations racing to out expand each other, outgrow each other, and out exploit each other. In the Mucklands, this brought about a semblance of order, replacing a long period where the land was dominated by monsters, fiends, warlords, and wizards that was brought about by the mysterious Gloom King. He caused the great civilisations and nations of the past to fracture and break, initiating a sense of decay that continues to this day. And although the peoples of the Mucklands no longer have the monsters, fiends, warlords, and wizards to worry about, they now have to worry about being on time for their shifts in the mines, factories, and dungeons where they labour daily. Yet there are some who believe in the old stories and the old ways, who want to go adventuring and be heroic and perhaps even help the good folk of the Mucklands in the oppressive Dungeon Era. For such heroes, there are opportunities to delve into dungeons and strike it rich, even find Magnificent magical items of yesteryore and become filthy rich. Alternatively, being heroes, the Player Characters could keep such items safe from those that would exploit them, or indeed, put them to good use and help the people of the Mucklands from being oppressed by the tycoons and perhaps save them if the rumours are true about the return of the Gloom King.

This is the setting for Land of Eem, the roleplaying game that won the 2026 Origins Award for Roleplaying Game of the Year. Published by Exalted Funeral, the roleplaying game is based on the graphic novel series Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo, and the book series Dungeoneer Adventures, and probably has the best elevator pitch of any roleplaying game of the last five years—‘The Lord of the Rings meets The Muppets’. To be fair, Land of Eem is not that. Well, not that exactly, primarily for licensing reasons. What it really means is that Land of Eem is a roleplaying game of epic whimsical fantasy. There is scope for great adventure, but it is shot through with silliness and absurdity, as well as a grimness from the setting also being a Post-Apocalyptic one too. Plus, the use of sputtertech and sparkwork technologies, primarily employed by the tycoons in machinery to faster mine the land and chop down the trees. This is not the only contrast in Land of Eem. Its play is intended to be about the exploration and discovery of Eem’s ancient past, driven by the players and their characters in a hexcrawl using the Land of Eem: The Mucklands SandboxCampaign Setting. This gives it an Old School Renaissance feel, as does the fact that it is a Class and Level roleplaying game, but Land of Eem is not an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game. Instead, it encourages player input into the world; Experience Points are earned for roleplaying, exploration, and engaging with the story rather than slaying monsters; and whilst combat is an aspect of game play, Land of Eem is a talk first and not even a fight second roleplaying game, and to reflect that, every monster can be talked to. This combination of contrasts, together with a light and easy rules system and Player Character options means that Land of Eem is family friendly too. However, it is not an introductory roleplaying game in terms of learning to play, whereas as a game to teach to roleplay, its light rules and scope for player input make it a good choice. For the experienced roleplayer, Land of Eem—at least in the form of the core rulebook—is very easy to read through and gain a good grasp of how the roleplaying game is played.

The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is the starting point. It provides the means to create Player Characters, gives the rules for adventuring—including travelling, exploration, conflict, and combat, the means to craft items mundane and magnificent, a short bestiary, lots and lots of random tables, and a starting adventure.

A Player Character in Land of Eem is defined by Attributes, Skills, his Folk, a Class, and Homeland. The four Attributes are Vim, Vigour, Knack, and Knowhow. Of these Vigour and Knowhow are obvious in meaning. Vim covers a Player Character’s charisma and intuition; Knack is his dexterity and agility. (This terminology is problematic since Vim and Vigour actually mean the same thing and ideally the authors should have used another word instead.) An Attribute ranges in value from ‘-3’ to ‘+3’ and has four associated Skills. Land of Eem offers an impressive sixteen choices in terms of Folk, the equivalent of Race or Species in other roleplaying games.

The options are Boggarts, Boggles, Bogrils, Bugbears, Gelatinous Goos, Gnomes, Goblins, Humans, Imps, Mushrums, Quortles, Shryms, Skeletons, Welkins, Whalens, and Wugs. Boggarts are the most populous Folk in the Mucklands and are related to Goblins, but do not have the same pointy teeth and noses; Boggles are smaller relatives of Goblins with pointy noses and ears who love mischief; Bogrils are frog people with a love travel and wandering; and Bugbears are bear-like in outlook and size, and like the simple things in life, but have an equally big temper. Gelatinous Goos are sentient jelly-like creatures from Eem’s core who understand Folk Tongue, but cannot speak it, instead speaking Gelatinous Gooese; Gnomes are magical beings who protect nature from harm and are very happy in their outlook, and often travel in the company of a small animal like a squirrel; Goblins are the primary architects of the Dungeon Era, highly industrious and enterprising, valuing education and a good job; and Humans are reputed to have been amongst the greatest heroes of the past, but are rare in the Dungeon Era. The red, winged Imps have been summoned and hatched by magic, but escaped from the sorcerers and witches who summoned them, so value freedom and excitement; Mushrums are fungal folk who can communicate with other fungal folk via telepathy, but are very literal when dealing with others; the turtle-like Quortles have an affinity for alchemy and herbalism and after many years of war, value politeness and hospitality; and Shryms are furry and shrew-like and fascinated with technology, having invented sputtertech and sparkworks. Skeletons are rare sentient, talking skeletons who have retained their souls, but lost the memories of their past lives, and have their own wants and dreams; Welkins are bird-folk who can fly for short distances if not holding anything; Whalens are humanoid whales, usually ocean-faring, and known for their rousing singing and hardiness; and Wugs are bigger, brawnier Boggarts with large hands and feet, with a reputation for being simple, but are surprisingly perceptive.

Every Folk suggests some names and gives a Size, Skill adjustments, suggested Homelands, and possible Perks and Quirks. Of the sixteen, two are notable, but for different reasons. Gnomes can only be Gnomes, that is, they cannot take any other Class then Gnome and are thus the only Folk in Land of Eem that can cast magic. Humans are rare and unlike other fantasy roleplaying games, not the default Folk in the Land of Eem. Think of them then, a bit like guests stars in The Muppet Show, especially if they choose the Bard Class, since means that they can sing, dance, and otherwise perform!

In comparison with the lengthy selection of Folk, Land of Eem offers just six Classes. The Bard supports the other Player Characters with song to inspire, invigorate, and more; the Dungeoneer is the treasure hunter and adventurer who comes with his and crew to help him explore as well as lots of gear; and the Gnome, who can cast magic and are the particular bane of certain creatures or beings, which differs from Gnome to Gnome. The Knight-Errant is a travelling knight, heroic and loyal; the Loyal Chum is the classic ally and travelling companion, providing lots of support and help in and out of the dungeon; and the Rascal is a rogue, thief, ruffian, and so forth. Each Class grants some base Perks, some giving multiple options for a player to choose from, and then two abilities at each Level. What is interesting here is that once a Player Character gains a new Level, his player has to select one of the abilities at the previous Level to keep and one to give up. It gives the player some decisions to make in terms of his character’s progression.

To create a character, a player selects a Class and its Perks, assigns modifiers to Attributes and tweaks Skills, determines derived stats, and then a Folk and associated Perks—adding more in return for a Quirk, and selects a Homeland that adds Proficiencies and equipment. Lastly, the player develops his character’s backstory, including ideal, flaw, relationships, personal quests, and more. The process is not difficult, but it does mean working through a fair number of choices.

Name: Gravy
Folk: Skeleton
Class: Knight-Errant Level: 1
Size: Medium
Homeland: The Underlands

ATTRIBUTES/SKILLS
Vim +1/Charm -1, Inspire +1, Mettle +0, Perception -1
Vigour +2/Athletics -1, Intimidate +1, Might +0, Vitality +0
Knack +0/Nimbleness +1, Search +0, Sneak +0, Trickery +0Knowhow -1/Lore +0, Realms +0, Tinker +0, Wilderness +0

ABILITIES
Wayfarer
Inspiring Orders

PERKS
Unfinished Business
Bag of Bones

QUIRKS
Feared

PROFICIENCIES
Underlands Lore, Seeing in the Dark
Attack +2
Defence +0
Courage: 16
Dread: 8
Quest Points: 2
Inventory Slots: 20

EQUIPMENT
Mucklands Pony
Magnificent weapon (True +1 Dread)
Canteen, Crowbar, Hard Hat, Normal Rations, Rappelling Harness, 50’ Rope, Pickaxe

BACKSTORY
“I defended the town from bandits, and took up the sword to protect others.”
Ideal: Rescue someone from danger
Flaw: Refuse to rest even when it’s prudent
Personal Quest: Restore the Mucklands to its former glory; Avenge Sir Oomarine and prove their sacrifice was not in vain.

Mechanically, Land of Eem uses a twelve-sided die in a system in a system that is not unlike Powered by the Apocalypse in its resolution results. It is very much not Powered by the Apocalypse, but the similarities are there. When a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls a twelve-sided die and adds a value for the appropriate skill, plus any other modifiers. The total modifier cannot exceed ‘+3’ or ‘-3’, due to skill or circumstances. Results of two or less are a ‘Complete Failure’ and indicate that something else has gone wrong; three to five and the attempt is a ‘Failure with a Plus’, meaning that there is an unexpected silver lining; six to eight means a ‘Success with a Twist’ which adds a complication; nine to eleven is a ‘Success’ and the Player Character does what he set out to do; and twelve or more is a ‘Complete Success’, the Player Character not only succeeding, but gaining an extra benefit into the bargain. The Game Master will narrate the outcome, but is encouraged to welcome player input too. The ‘Failure with a Plus’ and ‘Success with a Twist’ results are going to feed into the narrative driven aspects—as light as they are—of Land of Eem. Advantage and Disadvantage work as in other roleplaying games, and Player Characters have Quest Points that can be spent to add a ‘+1’ bonus after a roll (useful to improve a skill check up a category), as well as being used to activate certain Abilities and Perks.

Combat in Land of Eem uses the same rules, but with a tweak or two. However, first, the Player Characters have to get there, because combat is the last act action that takes place in any Conflict. A Conflict is divided into four phases. These are ‘Parley’, ‘Improvise’, ‘Run’ and ‘Combat’. One of the things that Land of Eem emphasises is that most monsters are people too and if the Player Characters can find the right approach, then the monsters will listen to them, and a fight will not ensue. However, their patient is not infinite, mechanically measured by each monster’s Parley rating. If the Player Characters’ fail too many Parley attempts, they will have to resort to other methods to resolve the encounter. In the ‘Improvise’ Phase, the Player Characters can find another way to resolve the situation and if that fails, they can simply choose to leg it in the ‘Run’ phase. Lastly, there is the ‘Combat’ phase.

In combat, the players and Game Master are not rolling on the standard results table, but on one each for melee combat and ranged combat. The latter allows for ‘Miss with a Plus’ and ‘Grazing Shot’ result, but more interestingly, former allows for a ‘Hit with a Counterattack’ as well as a ‘Miss with a Plus’ result. The ‘Hit with a Counterattack’ means that the defender can immediately attack back at his attacker and if the result is also ‘Hit with a Counterattack’, the original attacker can strike back. This sets up a potential exchange or flurry of blows like a duel and can be get deadly quite quickly.

Damage is called Dread and can take many forms. It can be poison, fear, exhaustion, and other factors, but it reduces a Player Character’s Courage. Physical Dread, especially that suffered in combat, is the only form of Dread that can be blocked by armour and shields. The die rolled by a player for his character to determine how much Dread he inflicts in combat is determined by his Class. Dread reduces a Player Character’s Courage and if it is reduced to zero, he is knocked out temporarily and his player must make a Vitality Check to Resist Wounds or suffer the Wounded Condition. This imposes a penalty on all of the Player Character’s subsequent rolls. It is possible to recover, but if it happens again, the player has to make a Vitality Check to Defy Death. If failed, the Player Character can make one last heroic act before dying.

Equipment carried and encumbrance are handled by an Inventory Slot system which both measures how much a Player Character can carry and how bulky an item is. Money, rations, arrows, and other consumables are tracked by rolling a Usage Die for each. When they are used, the player rolls the Usage Die and if the result is a one or two, then the Usage Die has to step down to the next smaller die size. Both rules are imported from modern derivations of Old School Renaissance roleplaying games and just push Land of Eem a little towards an Old School style of play. Land of Eem includes an extensive list of equipment, and along with tables for finding and creating Treasure Hoards and Magnificent items, the latter providing a variety of different effects.

Almost extending out of the equipment rules, Land of Eem provides a pleasingly set of rules for crafting. Any attempt requires a crafter to have the correct tools and a roll on the appropriate table and there is one each for crafting mundane items, magnificent items, alchemical items, cooking, and magical items. This feels not dissimilar to a video game or MMORPG and it is backed up with a guide to finding components, tables of component locations, and tables of hundreds of component descriptions and recipes. There is a wealth of detail here that the Game Master can mine for flavour and verisimilitude in her campaign and for any Player Character who wants to focus on crafting, there is plenty of scope here. Most crafting attempts will take place when a Player Character is not actually adventuring and this is expanded upon with tables for other activities during Downtime, including gambling, gathering information, partying, performing, researching, and even working!

As written, Land of Eem is intended to be played as a hexcrawl across the Land of Eem: The Mucklands Sandbox Campaign Setting. Travel across the Land of Eem is kept simple and is played out over six-mile-wide hexes. Each day is divided into four six-hour turns and the Player Characters will typically spend the day turns travelling—one or two hexes per turn—or exploring a single hex. Each turn spent travelling requires a Travel Check, which can result in a perilous or dangerous encounter, a bump in the road (a minor setback), an uneventful journey, or a discovery, and there are tables for all of that. Similarly, a roll can be made to see if something dangerous or interesting happens if the Player Characters decide to explore a hex. During the Night turns, the Player Characters are encouraged to ‘Make Camp’ and rest, but they can also heal and they can also engage in ‘Story Time’. This encourages some roleplaying between the Player Characters and is one way for them to earn Experience Points.

If there is an aspect of the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is the relative shortness of the bestiary or ‘Adversaries’ chapter. From Bandits, Blinking Cave-Inchers, and Cairn Stingers to Snagbunnies, Weorgs, and Witches, there are only twenty-six entries. To be fair, it is enough in the short term and there is also the Land of Eem: Bestiary Vol. 1, which also details a whole lot more. On the plus side, every entry is illustrated and there is room to breathe for all of its details which include its stats, abilities, how social it is, how it acts in combat, and its behaviour in both victory and defeat, both of which are a really nice extra and extra useful detail. Many also indicate what could be crafted from them. Adversaries are categorised by Type and Class. Types are either Creatures, which are sentient and can talk; Critters, animals and beasts which may be able to speak a little; and Creepers that are pests, bugs, and vermin more environmental threats. The Classes are Goons, Bruisers, and Champions. There is a guide to making adversaries on the fly, but it is basic.

The advice for the Game Master on running Land of Eem is solid and useful and includes a guide to vehicle and mass combat and tables for creating random dungeons and mazes. They are brief and could have done with much greater development. That said, they are followed by an extensive set of tables for just everything else, including NPCs, location aspects, encounters perilous and dangerous, discoveries, random dungeon elements, magic items, relics, books, boons, curses, and spells. There is so much information in these tables that the Game Master can use to add detail and flavour to her game with the content of these tables. This is a great set of tables and certainly one of the best sets of resources in the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook.

The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is rounded out with an adventure, ‘Wally’s Waffles and Rats!’. It is a short, one or two session affair in which Wally Dunkwhiffle has lost the property deed to his waffle house and hires the Player Characters look for it in the basement. Unfortunately, the rats that Wally was husbanding as a source of meat escaped, ate an entire Bogril Glowing Cheese wheel, gained intelligence, dug into the dungeon next door to the basement of Wally’s Waffles and Weorgs, taking the property deed with them, and declared their own kingdom. It is a suitably silly dungeon affair, but plenty of scope for roleplaying. Especially at the start when interacting with the patrons of Wally’s Waffles and Weorgs, which feels like an odder and more fantastical version of Cheers! It provides a great mix of roleplaying and dungeoneering and just enjoyable whimsy.

Physically, Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is a genuinely great looking book. The artwork is a delight and captures the quirkiness of the setting, cartoonish on the one hand, deadly and dangerous on the other. The book is also very well written and accessible.

What is so impressive about the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is that for all of the information in its pages, the rules are very easy to pick up and understand, and further they are easy to teach. Which includes younger players who will appreciate the whimsical tone of the setting and gameplay. These rules also nicely balance an Old School sensibility with the hexcrawl play and potentially dangerous combat with the storytelling possibilities of the resolution mechanic. There is more complexity in the roleplaying game when it comes to the wealth of detail in the setting support in the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook, but that detail is really designed for long term play rather than overwhelming any players right now.

The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is brilliantly accessible and entertaining, a great introduction to the land of Eem and Land of Eem. Not only is a joy to read, but successfully imparts the joy, drollery, and danger of the setting.