Gear & Teeth

To date, Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos, Chaosium, Inc’s supplement of Pulp action set during the nineteen thirties for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition has been supported by not one, but two campaigns. The better known of these is The Two-Headed Serpent: An Epic Action-Packed and Globe-Spanning Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu, a campaign in the traditional sense of Lovecraftian investigative horror. It presented a world-spanning conspiracy, which took the heroic investigators from Bolivia, New York, Borneo, and Oklahoma to the Belgian Congo, Iceland, and Brazil—and beyond! The other campaign is A Cold Fire Within: A Mind-Bending Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu, which although like The Two-Headed Serpent is based in New York and takes place in the nineteen thirties, is very different in tone and scope. Inspired by both ‘The Mound’, the horror/science fiction novella ghost-written by H. P. Lovecraft for Zealia Bishop, and Sinclair Lewis’ alternate history satire, It Can’t Happen Here, it combines fringe science or ‘Science!’ with the fringe politics of the period for a campaign that is as much Science Fiction as it is horror. Thus, it has been a while since there has been support for Pulp Cthulhu.

Tooth & Claw: Two Scenarios for Pulp Cthulhu presents two scenarios set in New England in the Desperate Decade—‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ and ‘Wolf Among the Flock’. Whilst both scenarios are written for use with Pulp Cthulhu and use classic elements of the Mythos, they vary in tone and application of the Mythos. ‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ is the more straightforward of the two, combining ‘Science!’ with traditional elements of both the Mythos and Jewish mythology in traditional Pulp detective narrative, whilst ‘Wolf Among the Flock’ gives the use of traditional Mythos creature a pleasing twist and sets the whole affair in an enclosed, sweaty, hothouse affair. Both scenarios can be played in two or three sessions and both scenarios are easy to add to a campaign. Neither scenario has any specific requirements, but ‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ will play better if an Investigator understands Yiddish and/or German and has a good working knowledge of ‘Science!’, whilst ‘Wolf Among the Flock’ will play well if the Investigators have points in the Science (Biology) and Science (Zoology) skills as well as, surprisingly, Other Language (American Sign Language). The ‘Animal Companion’ Talent may prove to be fun addition and a Big Game Hunter Investigator would work very well with ‘Wolf Among the Flock’.

‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ is set in Boston and opens in 1933  the Investigators being hired by the director of the city’s Museum of Fine Arts to investigate a break-in and theft. Several priceless artefacts have been stolen from the museum’s Judaica Exhibition, the exhibition arranged to show solidarity with the city’s Jewish community. The leads point to the nightwatchman, beaten up during the robbery, but who is yet to come into work again and the nature of the stolen Hebrew artefacts. Threads lead into the city’s Jewish and antiquarian communities and also into its criminal underworld, much reduced in influence and power in the wake of the lifting of Prohibition, before reaching the Boston Futurist Society, whose members are made up of freethinkers and radicals.

This is not a complex investigation and that is entirely in keeping with Pulp Cthulhu. As is the presence of the police, also investigating the break-in at the museum and who may be played as an ally or an enemy, and a squad of heavies led by a severe-looking woman wearing an eyepatch (she must be evil, she is wearing an eyepatch), again also ‘investigating’ the break-in at the museum. There is room for a punch-up or two or a chase with heavies, whilst working with those that can help the Investigators is a little harder.

Ultimately, ‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ will probably end with a break-in of the Investigators’ own devising, a confrontation with a misguided techno-millionaire, and a bruising attempt to prevent a nasty summoning. ‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ is a well written scenario which combines the Mythos and supreme ambition with its inspiration, The Golem: How He Came into the World, the 1920 German silent horror film. In fact, there is a chance in game that the Investigators will actually remember having seen the film. The result is a scenario that is a bit too familiar and more experienced players may work out what is going on early on and then need to play against their knowledge until it becomes obvious to their Investigators.

‘Wolf Among the Flock’ begins with the Investigators receiving notices of and invitations to the memorial service for Michael and Rachael Durney, famed explorers and collectors who travelled the world and built a private zoo at their family home between Boston and Arkham, and recently killed by a bear in their menagerie. This requires some set-up, perhaps in previous scenario (there is a connection given to the Boston Futurist Society, though the Durneys were members, not cultists), to really make its story be more tragic. In the wake of their deaths, the Durneys’ daughter, Naomi, has become a recluse, taken to her room, and decided to dissolve the zoo and sell off its animals.

As the first guests at the estate, the Investigators are given a grand tour and quickly realise that the house, the grounds, and the zoo are beginning to go to seed as the dissolution proceeds. There are fewer staff, fewer animals, and the animals that remain are nervous and disquieted. The Investigators are free to roam the grounds as they like, but there are couple of set pieces—nasty set pieces at that—and later, they will also be communicate, in limited fashion, with another victim of an animal attack on the  zoo grounds. Whilst the story is explicitly light on the Mythos, it is suffused with paranoia right through to the very end when the Mythos breaks out and runs rampant!

In terms of plotting, ‘Wolf Among the Flock’ is not as direct as ‘Of Clockwork & Clay’ and so the Investigators have more freedom as where to they go and what they do. This can work against the scenario—its only weakness—if the Investigators decide to follow certain clues to their conclusions. The Keeper is advised to forestall this from happening, which begs the question, why allow it at all? Otherwise, ‘Wolf Among the Flock’ is the better of the two scenarios in Clockwork & Claws. This is because it takes a familiar Mythos entity and does something different with it, shifting the weirdness and the horror into, “Though Nature, red in tooth and claw” as well as an unexpected direction in terms of rebirth and transcendance. Which gives what is a scenario for Pulp Cthulhu a subtler feel through most of its play than the Keeper and her players might otherwise expect.

Physically, Clockwork & Claws is well appointed. The maps and handouts are all decently done, and even if the artwork varies a little in quality, the art direction is very good. Time is taken to illustrate numerous scenes and artefacts which the Keeper can then show to her players. The cartography feels a little tight in places, but is otherwise very good. There is also content in the book which can be used beyond its pages, such as that on Boston, perhaps point to the usefulness of a Boston sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu.

Tooth & Claw: Two Scenarios for Pulp Cthulhu is not without its issues—the familiarity of Mythos and its application and that there only two scenarios here, rather than three or four, the latter disappointing because there is not really very much support for Pulp Cthulhu. Nevertheless, the two scenarios in Tooth & Claw: Two Scenarios for Pulp Cthulhu support the setting with two scenarios that are entertaining and playable, one of which is creepy and freaky in its final revelations.

Companion Chronicles #25: Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies

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

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What is the Nature of the Quest?

Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies is an extended mini-campaign for use with Pendragon, Sixth Edition.

It is a full colour, twenty-four page, 2.01 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, though it does need a slight edit.

Where is the Quest Set?

Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies is a scenario for Pendragon, Sixth Edition. It does not have a specific year or geographical location, but should ideally be placed near the lands of the Player-knights’ liege lord where there could be two feuding lords whose lands border each other’s.

Who should go on this Quest?

Any type of Player-knight can go on this quest.

The Player-knights should have sufficient standing represent their liege lord. The Trusting and Suspicious Personality Traits will play a big role in the campaign.

What does the Quest require?

Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies requires the Pendragon, Sixth Edition Core Rulebook and the Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook.

Where will the Quest take the Knights?

The events of Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies take place over the course of four years and concern the allegiance signed between the Player-Knights’ liege lord and Sir Cynwall of Brickwall Manor, who lives relatively close to the liege lord’s lands. The Game Master will need to decide upon the reason why the Player-Knights’ liege lord wants the alliance, but Sir Cynwall seeks the support of the Player-Knights’ liege lord because he has a feud with his neighbour, Sir Ulprus, over land use rights. Unfortunately, this feud will be the source of growing friction between and Sir Cynwall and Sir Ulprus that will be the cause of an actual war between the two knights. However, the situation in Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies is not as simple or as straightforward as it may seem. The Player-Knights may realise this early on if they succeed in a roll against their Suspicious Trait, whilst if they instead succeed in a roll against their Trusting Trait, it will be much later on in the campaign that their doubts will be raised.

The campaign begins in Year One with the Player-Knights at the signing of the treaty as their liege lord’s representatives. At the following banquets, they witness a miracle performed by a travelling pilgrim and establish a relationship with one of Sir Cynwall’s friends, Fray Senach. The scenario foreshadows the campaign as a whole, relying upon the Player-Knights’ Trusting and Suspicious Personality Traits to determine its flow and their reactions. Ideally, Year One will end with the Player-Knights having gained Sir Cynwall’s trust. They return to his castle in Year Two to follow up on the signing of the alliance and assess his defences. To everyone’s surprise, Sir Cynwall announces that he and his son, Sir Effin, will go on pilgrimage, but before they can, Fray Senach is found dead. The evidence points towards one of Sir Cynwall’s household as being responsible. This greatly upsets Sir Cynwall and in Year Three, he seeks to end his feud with Sir Ulprus. Tragically, as an agreement is about to be announced at a banquet, Sir Cynwall drops dead! He has been poisoned and surely, Sir Ulprus was responsible. Anger leads to war and Sir Effin lays siege to Sir Ulprus’ castle. By now, the Player-Knights may have their own suspicions as to who might be actually behind this, but may not have proof or their suspicions confirmed. Whether they do or not, in Year Four, they will gain confirmation—or revelation depending upon the players’ rolls—and hunt the villain down.

Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies is a scenario that demands that the players respect the rolls made against their Knights’ Personality Traits. Experienced players will probably quickly ascertain who the villain is, if not the motive of that villain, and need to roleplay against this knowledge. This is the scenario’s primary weakness, but good roleplayers should be able to cope.

Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies is best run mixed with other scenarios so that the players and their knights can focus on other events and adventures rather than solely on the events of this scenario. This allows its story to shift into the background as the Player-Knights get on with other duties, and then pop out again the next year. This grants the Game Master some flexibility in what she runs parallel to it whether that is single scenarios or parts of an ongoing campaign of her own.

Should the Knights ride out on this Quest?

In places, Friends to Friends, Enemies to Enemies could have been more clearly written. For example, the explanation of the scenario could have been more clearly written for the benefit of the Game Master. However, this does not mean that it is necessarily harder to run, rather that it requires more preparation than it otherwise should. It demands good roleplaying from the players and that they cab keep their knowledge separate to what their Knights know. This can be challenging, but rewards careful play and the pay-off at the end when the villain behind it all is truly unmasked will be all the more delicious.

Quick-Start Saturday: Time Without Tide

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

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

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

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

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

How long will it take to play?

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

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

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

How is a Player Character defined?

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

How do the mechanics work?

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

How does combat work?

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

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

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

How does travel work?

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

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

What do you play?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snæland Sagas #06: The Mystery of Raider Monks

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

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What is the Nature of the Saga?

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

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

It contains a secret message the author’s cat.

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

Where is the Saga set?

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

Who should be the subject of this Saga?

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

What does the Saga require?

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

Where will the Vikings go in this Saga?

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

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

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

What will the Skalds sing of this Saga?

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

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.

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.

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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. 

Xanthophobia

Call of Cthulhu is big in Japan. Bigger than Dungeons & Dragons and the Japanese devotees of Call of Cthulhu have their official campaign from Chaosium, Inc., that enables them and devotees around the world to explore a significant period in recent Japanese history. In doing so, they find a country at the height of its economic dominance at the end of the electronic era, unknowingly threatened by insidious memetic virus that finds vectors in prayer books and manga and dreams, mapping on its pattern onto the psyches of its victims who then will seek to spread it wider. It wraps itself around faith and culture and hope, but is utterly alien. That threat is the King in Yellow, drawn from the short story collection by R.C. Chambers, The King in Yellow, and re-interpreted for the ‘Bubble Economy’ period in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising as the Prince of Pale Leaves. This is not the first time that Call of Cthulhu and Chaosium, Inc. have visited Japan, the supplement, Secrets of Japan being published in 2005. In more recent years, the Miskatonic Repository has become an outlet for titles written by Japanese authors, such as Japonism 2024. Similarly, it is two decades since Chaosium, Inc. explored Hastur and the mythos of the King in Yellow with the campaign, Tatters of the King, published in 2006.

The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising: Encountering the King in Yellow in 1980s Japan is a published by Chaosium, Inc. for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and notable for a number of factors. One is that it is a modular campaign, that can be expanded with The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Carcosa Manifest, simply ran as is, or run as sperate, standalone scenarios. The second is that the supplement is co-written by residents of Japan, including the Sons of Singularity—responsible for The Sassoon Files: A Sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu and GUMSHOE Role Playing Games and Journal d’Indochine—and Chaosium, Inc. Which gives it an authenticity and a strong sense of place. Third, almost like a meme itself, the scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising can be played over and over again, as the players and their (new?) Investigators search for an alternate ending. Of course, the Prince of Pale Leaves can twist and change and learn, so that what might have worked in a previous playthrough (alternate timeline?) is not guaranteed to work in the current one.

What The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not, is a sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu in Japan in the late eighties. It does contain a glossary of terms in the appendix and it does contain source material and useful they are too. The source material covers Japan and its work-orientated culture during the period, examines the life of the working adult and the student, the divide between the generations and its consequences, organised crime, transportation, and more. That more focuses on the technology available, noting that personal computers and pagers are widely available, the Internet has yet to appear, mobile phones are rare, and weapons even rarer! So, no firearms, and despite what some might think, no swords—and definitely no Ninja! The downside to The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising not being a sourcebook book for Call of Cthulhu in Japan in the late eighties is that there is little in the way of advice for creating Investigators for the period. Even then, it only extends as far as telling the Keeper that Investigator should be able to speak Japanese and players to avoid the discriminatory cultural biases endemic to the period, though that was beginning to change. This leaves the Keeper and her players to be inventive should they want to create their own Investigators or have to create replacements in the event of Investigator death. That said, several pre-generated Investigators are provided and they represent a good mix of Japanese and non-Japanese characters.

There are two notable additions in terms of the mechanics specific to the campaign. The first is Exposure Points gained through exposure to the Sutra of Pale Leaves, whether through glancing at it, reading it, hearing it being read, and so on. As they are gained—whether by an Investigator or NPC—those exposed begin to fixate on Sutra of Pale Leaves, suffer dreams and altered perception, gain creative inspiration, and even begin to see the Prince of Pale Leaves. These are the very least of the effects of continued exposure, whilst The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising suggests that Sanity loss and severe orders suffered are ‘side effects’. Surprisingly, being exposed can have its rewards such as unexplained luck and being immune to Sanity loss, though these come at the cost of more Exposure Points. All this reflects the effects of the memetic virus rewriting the code in the sufferer’s brain. Exposure Points are kept secret from the players and count up in contrast to Sanity points counting down. The second addition is more distinctly defined and numbered ‘Endings’. Running from ‘0: Party Wipe (Failure)’ and up, these categorise player success in a scenario and are a common feature of scenarios in Japan where they enable players to simply communicate how well they did in a scenario. Strangely, this number gives a scenario what are effectively ‘winning conditions’, which is at odds with almost any description of how roleplaying works. However, they explicitly support the replay value of the scenarios and campaign since having achieved an Ending and a value in one playthrough, the players can playthrough the scenario with the aim of achieving a different Ending and ideally a higher value.

In addition to being different in how it spreads its influence, the ‘Mythos’ threat and its associated cult are also different in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising. The cult—the Association of Pale Leaves—is mad and dangerous, but it is not murderous. In other words, no sacrifices before altars at the dead of night at propitious times of the year. It can resort to violence when protecting its interests and its assets, but in the main, what it wants to do is proselytise. To that end, the Sutra of Pale Leaves and its different versions play a bigger role in the campaign than the cult itself, and although the cult is detailed, the focus of the scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not on the cult itself, but rather on the twistings of the memetic transmission of its master’s message. This also means that there is no real beginning, no real ending to The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising—and that feels wholly appropriate, even though some players may be disappointed.

Similarly, the Prince of Pale Leaves is surprisingly human in its form and face even if it is alien. It is also calm, calculating, and confident, never angry, never Machiavellian, but it is manipulative and several of the scenarios revolve around the Prince of Pale Leaves’ manipulation of the Investigators. In other words, it has none of the sardonic and manipulative qualities of Nyarlathotep, and so perhaps requires much more subtle roleplaying upon the part of the Keeper.

Narratively, the campaign adds ‘Confidants’. These are inspired by Jackson Elias of Masks of Nyarlathotep fame and are designed to serve as hooks, facilitating the involvement of the Investigators in the plots. Several are given, both general and scenario-specific, but the main one is a special agent of the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the equivalent of Japan’s FBI, but the others include a Buddhist monk and abbot, and heiress-turned anti-occult crusader. Their use is not mandatory, but they will flavour and influence how the Investigators are introduced to each scenario and potentially grant them access to various resources. For the players, the campaign includes Lore Sheets which provide them with information about Japan and its culture that their Investigators would ordinarily know.

The trilogy of scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising opens with ‘Dream Eater’. The Investigators are asked to look into an outbreak of insomnia in the historic town of Ikaruga. Sufferers also report having been tormented by a six-legged, purple tapir-like beast in their dreams when they do sleep. The incidences seem have started in a particular district of the town, significant only for a recent road accident in which an old man accidentally knocked down and killed a young girl. The old man is a master of traditional Japanese calligraphy. Interviewing him reveals that he is still remorseful, but is not affected by the sleeplessness affecting the rest of the town because a monk gave him a book of scripture to recite from. This is, of course, the Sutra of Pale Leaves, and will be the Investigators’ first exposure to it… What is interesting here is that the Investigators are inadvertently investigating two things at once, both cause and solution, and likewise working for two opposing masters without realising it. This is a scenario where the Investigators are going to be presented with a lot of information fairly quickly and the challenge is what to do with information rather than finding it out. There are hints and intimations throughout that not all is as straightforward as the situation at first might seem and both players and their Investigators need to be on their toes to realise this.

The second scenario, ‘Fanfic!’ explores the world of amateur manga artists and creators as the Investigators are asked to look into a new horror title that has become a much in demand underground hit amongst its ardently devoted teenage fans—and could be propaganda for a cult! Helped by a reserved young manga creator, the Investigators attend a Manga Market to try and find the creator of the subversive comic book. Again, there is the element of misdirection in dealing with a threat that is very much a danger, but not the whole threat. The danger here is that the misdirection actually works and the Investigators fail to realise quite what the other threat is. More than the other two scenarios in the book, ‘Fanfic!’ deserves repeat play to get beyond that misdirection, identify the other threat, and confront it atop a Tokyo landmark. This is an interesting exploration of a Japanese subculture that plays on the nature of viruses and gives it a sharp twist in applying it to the concept of memes.

The third and final scenario is the shortest. ‘The Pallid Masks of Tokyo’ begins with the discovery in an alley of a corpse with no face, or rather no facial features. The body, almost marked with deep and regular scars, is that of a Yakuza foot soldier and his boss will tell the investigators is that the dead man had been associating with a lieutenant called ‘Crazy Kazu’, who had gone rogue after spending time in the Secure Unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Psychiatric Hospital. The latter is the focus of the latter half of the scenario and is a fittingly creepy location made all the more so by the influence of the Prince of Pale Leaves. Any investigation of Crazy Kazu will lead there and the Investigators might even receive an invitation to visit at night. Here they will find ‘Chateau Carcosa’, the Prince of Pale Leaves’ strongest manifestation on Earth. It brings a weird scenario to surprisingly direct conclusion, but not to the ongoing threat of the Prince of Pale Leaves and Sutra of Pale Leaves.

Physically, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is very well presented and written. The artwork ranges from the ukiyo-e style of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries to modern manga and much in between.

What The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not, is a campaign in the traditional sense for Call of Cthulhu. It is instead a framework that sets up a different interpretation of the King in Yellow mythos and showcases how that interpretation can be presented in three different scenarios and three different aspects of Japanese culture. And then further expanded with the companion volume, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Carcosa Manifest. Unreal and uncanny, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising: Encountering the King in Yellow in 1980s Japan is superb introduction to an unearthly devious threat whose full range of manifestations and vectors yet remain to be fully revealed and explored.

Friday Fantasy: The Cursed Farm

It is midsummer, and Hrafn Reginsson, the local goði, asks the Player Characters for help. He asks them to visit the farm of a distant neighbour, Björg Finnsdóttir, who unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, has requested his help. He fears that the situation must be fraught if she is asking for his help. When the Player Characters arrive, it appears that the goði’s fears are well placed. Björg Finnsdóttir’s farm has clearly fallen into a state of disrepair and disarray. The kale patch has overgrown and seems to rustle strangely; the barley field has been trampled and its soil churned up by several cows that aggressively rove its extent; and then there is Björg Finnsdóttir’s pride and joy, a grove of red currant berry shrubs that made the farm famous for miles around, now reduced to burned and shattered stumps. Björg Finnsdóttir herself—and her family, which includes two farmhands, are tired and drawn, clearly deeply concerned at their plight and that of the farm. This is the situation that the Player Characters find in The Cursed Farm.

The Cursed Farm is a scenario 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. Subtitled ‘An Introductory Scenario for the Age of Vikings Roleplaying Game’, it is designed as a first scenario be played for the roleplaying game and in many cases it has been. That said, it is not designed as a quick-start. In other words, it does not come with the rules necessary to play it, although links are provided so that the Game Master has a set of ready-to-play Player Characters. Instead, The Cursed Farm works as a demonstration scenario. It not only tells a tale of how dark Viking magic can come to affect the innocent, of past lives, and misplaced ambitions, but involves a classic Norse monster too! Further, it can be run in a single session. This means that is very easy add to a campaign, to be run as a showcase for the Game Master’s own group, or run as a demonstration scenario at a convention. In the case of the latter two options, this includes teaching the rules to the players. The rules themselves are not difficult to learn and anyone with experience of Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine will pick them up with ease.

The family will quickly reveal what they know and the Player Characters are free to examine the farm and its current state, and will very likely discover that as the title of the scenario states, that it is cursed. The Second Sight skill is important here and a mixture of interaction and perception skills will play a major part in determining what is happening at the farm. The likelihood is that the Player Characters will quickly track down the source of the curse and deal directly with it. This can result in combat, and in particular, there is a chance for a warrior and his honour to shine, and even ultimately benefit. Combat is not the only solution though, and the source is willing to communicate and wait. That said, the Game Master is given an optional combat encounter if the Player Characters have avoided combat so far or if she wants to add another combat encounter. Ultimately, resolving the situation in The Cursed Farm relies upon interaction and perception. To that end though, the NPCs are simply drawn and the Game Master will need to strengthen their individual characters in her portrayal of them. This is due more to the limited page rather than any other reason.

Physically, The Cursed Farm is solidly presented. It is well written, easy to understand, and quick to prepare, and the artwork is good. The cartography, done in colour and black and white, with versions for both the players and the Game Masters, is clear and easy to read.

The Cursed Farm is good little scenario for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game. It is straightforward and easy to prepare, whether to add to a campaign or run as a demonstration, and gives a good flavour of Icelandic horror and mystery.

[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, due to vagaries of International Customs, Free RPG Day in the UK did not take place until Saturday, 22nd August.

This review is possible due to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham.

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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.

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.