Friday Fantasy: Underworld

In the cool of the ‘Underworld’ lurk spiders, centipedes, lizards, beetles, and bats—and of course, things much, much worse. It is a rougher, quieter place than the surface world, colder too with no light to shine in its caverns or over the black waters of its deep lakes. Adventurers venture deep underground perhaps looking for resources, hunting for threats to the surface world and its inhabitants, or even searching for lost treasure. Yet stray too long in the dark of the Underworld and anyone venturing below may be overwhelmed by the constant blackness and lack of light, their imaginations formulating things that they can see the edge of their vision, even horrors that can even unreal can work at their minds and composure. This is what might lie below the world of Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying, the roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing, and is explored in the supplement, Underworld.

Underworld is a mini-supplement and anthology of scenarios for Dragonbane which can easily be added to the Game Master’s own campaign or used to expand the ‘Misty Vale’ campaign setting detailed in the Dragonbane Core Set—not outwards, but downwards. Besides its three adventures, it gives an overview of what the ‘Underworld’ is like and describes several features, some of which can work with the three adventures. These include the bronze bridges which regularly cross three particular rivers in the ‘Underworld’ and if walked over or under trigger a dream-like vision in the walker, something that denizens take advantage of to ambush the momentary dreamers, and the Black Swans found on the three rivers that supposedly bring death to any demon that touches them, but which are hated by Goblins. There are some nice little elements here, odd enough to stand out, but with room to add more alongside them if the Game Master wants to. In terms of the Misty Vale, Underground details four different entrances via which the Player Characters enter the ‘Underworld’ and begin to explore part of its depths.

Each of the three ‘Underworld Quests’ has its own reward and the more the Player Characters complete, the more they will be rewarded. Each of the three also involves a demon and each also has a link to the ‘Secret of the Dragon Emperor’, which lies at the heart of the ‘Misty Vale’ campaign. In ‘Lair of Kavor’, the Player Characters descend to a subterranean Dwarven fort, perhaps in search of herbs or looking for something that might have been preying on local farmstock. It is occupied by a band of goblins and contains several demonic shrines and there are several puzzles that the Player Characters can poke at for various odd effects, including triggering some roleplaying. The demon is a Kavor Demon, a scraggy, four-armed thing with a vertical, many toothed mouth and eyes on either side which revel in carnage, can be distracted by fresh meat and blood. As a former Dwarven fortress, there is a lovely sense of the former occupants’ boredom when posted there, but as an ‘Underworld’ location and adventure site, it is underwritten. There is no explanation why the demon shrines are there and what the relationship is between the Goblins and the demon. So, the Game Master is likely going to want to develop that, as well as deciding where the herbs are located.

The second scenario is ‘Lair of Rumej’. A wealthy noble hires the Player Characters to collect monster parts as trophies for his room or a ghost calls out to one of the Player Characters to whom it is related, for release. Either way, this leads the Player Characters into a series of caves at the end of which can be heard singing of the glory of demonic immortality. The Rumej demon is spherical in shape and has eight tentacles, each of which ends with a sucker which contains an eye in. It is also hovers in the air. The ‘Lair of Rumej’ is obviously more straightforward, but does not suffer from that simplicity. In fact, ‘Lair of Rumej’ is easier to use because it is simple and the Game Master does not have to develop any details herself.

The third scenario is ‘Lair of Vekar’. The Player Characters are hired to scout out an old mine to see whether it is safe and is still viable today or simply they fall into a sinkhole! What they find is a former Wolfkin-operated mine, though no real signs of anything worth salvaging or that the mine is viable. However, it is the lair of a Vekar-Demon, bony and humanoid shaped with the soul of a mortal burning in its chest and bat wings either side of its eyeless head. Again, it feels underdeveloped, but not quite as much as Lair of Kavor’.

Rounding out Underworld are three random maps that the Game Master can develop as is her wont, though suggestions are given. There is also a pair of ‘Magic Items & Treasure’ tables that the Game Master can use with the supplement or her campaign in general. They are all good magical items and the Game Master will likely want to flesh them out a bit to make them stand out.

Physically, Underworld is rough and does need an edit. The maps are blocky and not the easiest to use. There are versions for both player and Game Master, but those for the Game Master are not numbered which means that they are not as easy to use from the page as they should be. The artwork for the demons is decent though.

Underworld is a bit rough and ready and in places will require some development upon the part by the Game Master to really flesh the locations out. The demons are decently done and have an entertaining range of attacks—though more for the Game Master than her players—so will surprise both players and characters. Overall, Underworld is something to work with rather than being quite ready to play.

A Talagaad Tally

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game – Game Master’s Guide introduced the Old World, the prequel setting to the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. Based on the Warhammer: The Old World, the miniatures combat rules from Games Workshop, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game is published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment and focuses on a setting that is torn by internal strife, whether political, between the Elector Counts, or religious, between the Sigmarites and Ulricans and others, rather than on the assaults and attacks by the forces of Chaos and on the Chaos within, though this does not mean that Chaos is no less of a threat to the Empire. It is also very specific in its setting. This is the fortified, if ramshackle river port of Talagaad, perched between the Talabec River and the towering walls of the Taalbaston—the giant crater in which the nearby city of Talabheim sits, which stands on the Wizard’s Way, the road that crosses over the bridge known as the and up over the walls of the Taalbaston and is the only legal route into the crater. Control of Talagaad is important since it is a source of much wealth, whether from the taxes levied on the goods going to Talabheim and from lower prices paid for goods being smuggled into the city. Consequently, the town is rife with crime and corruption, petty and otherwise, whether committed by its ordinary citizenry, criminal underclass, or even its excise officers. This is the subject of Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game – Talagaad Adventures.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday Fantasy: The Lost & Found Forest

Villagers have been disappearing from Amber, one of the hamlets known as the Sisters Three that stand on the shore of Loch Maeglen, and nobody knows why. Only one has reappeared, the florist, Mirabel Gobel, and she is unable to recall where she went and what happened to her. Only now she can hear a mysterious woman’s voice calling to her to “Find me! Find me and longer taste sorrow,” and go to the nearby Lost & Found Forest and she fears for her life. What kind of danger is she in and where have the other villagers gone? Perhaps the Player Characters are hired to investigate by a previous employer, like Kelvin Belmont from the adventure The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure, or they are camping in the area when they come across Mirabel Gobel walking towards the woods in a trance, or they come across a tumbledown cottage on the edge of the woods from which can be heard muffled cries of a woman. However the Player Characters get involved, this is the mystery and set-up at the heart of The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure. This is a scenario for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying, the roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure is published by Gallow’s Tomes as part of Free League Publishing’s Free League Workshop community content programme. It is part of the same series as The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure and can be run as an indirect sequel since both are set in the same area. This setting is the Bailwick of Fenwick and the three hamlets—Amber, Burgundy, and Lapis—which stand on the shores of Loch Maeglen, which can be used as or adapted to fit the Game Master’s own setting, or it can be slotted into the Misty Vale setting as detailed in the Dragonbane Core Set. To that end, it is suggested that they be placed around the unnamed lake in the Misty Vale just south of the Temple of the Purple Flame and the Magna Woods. Alternatively, they can be placed on the other side of the Drakmar Pass from where the ‘Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign begins. Each of the three hamlets is associated with and named for a statue of a woman, collectively known as The Sisters. In the case of Lapis, the starting point for The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure, the statue is of lapis, whereas for Amber, the starting points for The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure, the statue is of amber. Amber is decidedly bohemian in nature, home to artists and craftsmen of all kinds, as well as the Honey Well Playhouse, the region’s only theatre. The Player Characters can speak to various villagers most of whom have an interest in the arts or crafts, picking up clues and rumours, some the latter actually being repeated from The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure to give the whole region a cohesive feel and to connect to other adventures.

Eventually, the Player Characters will decide to investigate the woods and this where The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure gets interesting. This is because there is no map of the forest, but rather a set of nine forest sites and one end site, called the Hovel Site. The nine forest sites are divided into three bands reflecting how far they are into the forest, but as the Player Characters try and move from one site to the next, they may find themselves returning to the site they just left or another site that they previously visited. There is guidance for the Game Master when to make the Hovel Site accessible narratively or there is ’Hovel Dice’ mechanic which she can roll to determine when the Player Characters discover the Strange Tracks that lead towards the Hovel Site and when they reach the Hovel Site itself. Either way, the aim here is make the search for the cause of the disappearances from Amber a cross between a search and chase, following a set of strange tracks. The encounters in the forest are often creepy and odd, and dangerously soporific.

The final confrontation with the witch behind the mystery is a tough, two-stage battle. First against the Hovel which she makes her home and is actually mobile and whose strange tracks the Player Characters have been following, then against the witch herself. This is the first encounter proper that they will have with one of the ‘Sisters Three’ of the series’ title and if there is an issue, it is that her motivation is underwritten. The Game Master may want to strengthen it and make it more obvious in the Player Characters’ interactions with her.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure can be run as a standalone adventure, but it can be a sequel to The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. There is advice to set up the adventure either way, but like the latter scenario, The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure still leaves numerous questions answered. Hopefully, future scenario releases will address them, especially when the Player Characters encounter the other of the titular ‘Sisters Three’.

Physically, The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure is well laid out in the style of Dragonbane. It does feel heavier in its use of colour and art style, even a little cartoonish. That said, the artwork works, whilst the maps are decent.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure does bring the hamlet of Amber to life and give a very different feel and tone to that given for Lapis in The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. The set-up is strong and it has a dark fairy tale atmosphere, backed up with some decent encounters and a big finale, but the motivation behind the adventure and the villainess’ actions are underwritten.

Mystery & Monsters?

One of the great things with the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box from Free League Publishing is that it comes with everything necessary to play. The means to create Player Characters, the rules, a solo adventure, pre-generated Player Characters, a setting in peril in the form of the Misty Vale, and a complete hexcrawl campaign set within the Misty Vale. A reimagining of Sweden’s first fantasy roleplaying game, Drakar och Demoner, originally published in 1982, Dragonbane combined modern rules and mechanics with an Old School Renaissance sensibility. Plus, with the ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign, it offers multiple sessions’ worth of play. However, beyond the box, the options for Dragonbane are a little more limited. There is the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Rulebook and a new campaign, Path of Glory, an update of the original campaign for Drakar och Demoner. One definite issue with Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box and the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Rulebook is the limited options in terms of monsters. Certainly, enough for the ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign, but not necessarily enough for long term play.

The Dragonbane Bestiary introduces some sixty-three new monsters for the roleplaying game. Not just monsters, but creatures and beasts and undead and dragons and demons, and more. Every entry includes a description, some stats, and an illustration just like a bestiary for any other roleplaying game, but the Dragonbane Bestiary does more than that. In addition, every entry includes a random encounter that the Game Master can run as and when as well as an adventure seed that the Game Master can develop into something longer than the simple random encounter. Yet that is not all, because unlike any other bestiary for any other roleplaying game, the Dragonbane Bestiary includes content that can be used by the players as well as the Game Master. Plus, it is superbly illustrated by David Brasgalla giving the creatures and beings it depicts a Scandinavian sensibility to all of the entries.

Although the world beyond the Misty Vale is not all that developed, there is some world building written into the Dragonbane Bestiary. This is because it is written as the journal entries of the Halfling adventurer and researcher, Theodora Sneezewort, who often has derisory opinions of her fellow scholars. She provides the commentary on each and every monster, often as the counterpoint to a more parochial point of view about the entries. The latter is given as a quote, whilst she provides the bulk of the entry description. This is followed by the monster stats and the options that add variety to combat in Dragonbane.

The sixty-three entries are catalogued into nine categories—Nightkin, Rare Kin, Insectoids, Trolls, Giants, Beasts, Undead, Dragons, and Demons—by Theodora Sneezewort and in each case, she explains why. For example, she notes that the Nightkin, those kin that are uncomfortable in the sun, are often regarded as being under the thrall of darkness and evil, and history is rife with stories of the battles between Elves and Orcs, Humans and Goblins. That they have a short temper and an often deserved reputation for burning and pillaging the lands of others, but she offers hints that Orcs can be scholarly, that Nightkin can want peace, and their heroes fought oppression, and wights and ghosts, all to better their future. Thus, what we get here is two sides to the argument about a broad category of so-called monsters, in this case dominated by negatives as much perceived wisdom, but hinting too that there might be more to the individual kin. Similarly, the Rarekin live on the margins and are often regarded as legends and if not legends, as fairies responsible for child abductions, but Theodora Sneezewort condemns such views, saying that they are far from the truth.

What the Dragonbane Bestiary does for the player is offer further choice in terms of Kin beyond those—Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf, Mallard, and Wolfkin—detailed in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box. The new Kin are Orc, Ogre, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Frog People, Karkion, Cat People, Lizard People, and Satyr. They are treated in two ways in the supplement. First, they are listed as ‘Non-Monsters’ meaning that they are treated as NPCs and handled as Player Characters rather than as traditional monsters. Second, they can be selected as the Kin for Player Characters if everyone at the table agrees. Each has their own Ability. For example, the Goblin has ‘Resilient’ which gives them a Boon to resist poison and disease and enables them to make camp without a Bushcraft skill roll; Ogres have a ‘Slam’ attack rolled with a Boon that inflicts damage, cannot be parried, and normal size targets are knocked prone; and Cat People have ‘Nine Lives’ which grants a Boon on Death rolls and can reduce falling damage. Perhaps the one that players will pick is the Catkin as their ability is both fitting and given how lethal Dragonbane can be, but all of the abilities are kept simple and add flavour to each Kin.

That said, there is some replication between Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box and the Dragonbane Bestiary. The Adult Dragon, Ghost, Giant Spider, Goblin, Griffon, Harpy, Manticore, Minotaur, Orc, Skeleton, and Wight are repeated from the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box, but in keeping with the rest of the Dragonbane Bestiary, their entries are expanded with the descriptions by Theodora Sneezewort, the random encounters, and the adventure seed. Further, the Goblin and Orc are presented as Kin rather than just threats.

Elsewhere, the Dragonbane Bestiary draws on myth for creatures such as Mermaids, Naiads, Minotaurs, Basilisks, and Chimera. There are tweaks though, such as the Medusa being able to fly and able to pummel foes with her fists as well as the snakes that are her hair that bite and her terrifying gaze which is capable of turning anyone to stone within meters. A few are more clearly drawn from Scandinavian folklore, such as the Brook Horse and the Lindworm. There are also different types of similar monster. So, under Trolls there is the Cave Troll, the Forest Troll, and the Mountain Troll; the Dragon is categorised as the Hatching Dragon, Young Dragon, Adult Dragon, and Ancient Dragon; and the Demon category includes write-ups of the Blood Demon, Chaos Demon, Guardian Demon, and Shadow Demon. The oddest entries in the Dragonbane Bestiary are the Karkion and the Insectoids, with even Theodora Sneezewort noting how odd and alien the latter are. The Karkion is a ‘Non-Monster’ Kin, almost cat-like, but with wings like a bat. They are scholars and mages that hunt for lore about demons, but there is little more to them than that. The Insectoids include the Ant People, Beetle Kin, and Spider Kin. Of these, Ant People will communicate with outsiders and even Beetle Kin can be found employed as bodyguards by the wealthy. The Spider Kin are definitely the most mysterious, spinning strange webs that capture magic rather than prey.

Physically, the Dragonbane Bestiary is superbly presented. The writing is engaging and the artwork is a delight, evoking senses of wonder and fright in equal measure. The Giant Spider bearing down upon the Elf in its web is scary, whilst the Skeleton slamming open a door makes you want to jump.

The Dragonbane Bestiary and Theodora Sneezewort get to the point of these creatures quickly, meaning that they simple to use in play. The random encounters are easier to use than the adventure seeds and that is not just because the Game Master has to develop them. There is not a great deal of information in the write-ups of these creatures and monsters for the Game Master to work with and what there is, tends to be more flavour than definitive fact. On the one hand, this leaves plenty of room for the Game Master to develop more her own details about the creature, on the other, it leaves the Game Master with more to develop than just the adventure seed. Certainly, in comparison to other bestiaries far less attention is paid to the ecologies and life cycles of these creatures. In places this leaves the player adrift, such as with the Karkion, which are different enough that more information is needed.

The Dragonbane Bestiary is a book that the player is going to want for more character options and the Game Master is going to want to develop her Dragonbane campaign beyond the pages of ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box with new threats and new Kin. As much as the content is useful to that end, it does lean into the mystery of both monster and Kin a little too much, leaving details to be developed by the Game Master. What that means is that whilst the Dragonbane Bestiary is useful and easy in bringing encounters with its entries into play, it is harder to use beyond that in campaign development than it ideally should be. The Dragonbane Bestiary is a very lovely book, but not quite as useful as it should have been.

Revenants in the Renaissance

The year is 1348 and mankind is subject to a divine punishment for its sins. For the last two years, all of Europe has suffered the devastating Black Plague which seems to spread fire and kills almost everyone it touches. The symptoms are easy to spot, black spots on the skin and swollen lymph nodes called buboes. Yet there is a second symptom, one that remains secret, one that the Papacy fights in a hidden war, and one it is desperate to eradicate—the Revenant Plague. Victims of the Black Plague are known to rise and not only spread its symptoms, but also feed upon the flesh of the living. The Papacy instituted the Ordo Mortis, a military order dedicated to not only fighting the secret war against the Revenant Plague, but also to keeping knowledge of the war against the Revenant Plague a secret. Word of it cannot spread, for it would weaken faith in the Catholic Church. It means that not only do all of the symptoms of the Revenant Plague have to be eradicated, but do any signs of infection and all knowledge of it. The members of the Ordo Mortis will face holy challenges in cutting down the risen revenants and unholy challenges in keeping its duties a secret. This is the set-up for Píaga 1348, a storytelling game from NEED! Games, the Italian publisher best known for the Fabula Ultima TTJRPG.

As a supernatural horror roleplaying game, Píaga 1348—meaning ‘Plague 1348—requires some choices to be made in terms of its set-up. To that end it includes a discussion of safety tools, though surprisingly without a reference to the X-Card. It suggests three options in terms of tone—‘Dramatic’, ‘Sinister’, and ‘Grotesque’—pairing them with the film, The Name of the Rose, the computer game Bloodthorne, and the films, Army of Darkness and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, thus effectively doubling as a bibliography. The tone is going to affect both the game’s style of play and its atmosphere, going from Greek tragedy to splatter punk with streak of black humour with creepy and mysterious in between. Further choices need to be made as to the nature of the world. This includes the size of the Revenant outbreak, the character and name of the Pontifex, the size and motto of the Ordo Mortis, and the nature and size of the missions that its soldiers—the Player Characters—are to be sent on. Lastly, the player who will take the role of the Ludi Magister—as the Game Master is known in Píaga 1348—is decided. This is important as the players will take in turn to undertake this role from one mission to the next. The process for this set-up is shared between the players.

A soldier in the Ordo Mortis will likely look like and be equipped any other knight, though he need not be. A Soldier is simply defined by several traits. These are the ‘Motto of the Ordo’; ‘Name’, including both full name and nickname, if any; ‘Description’; ‘Weapon’, which can either be physical or metaphorical (metaphorical is the better of the options here as it tends to be more flexible); and ‘Armour’, which should ideally be figurate rather than physical. These are the five core traits, but he also has entries for ‘What I Want’, ‘What I Don’t Want’, and ‘Traumas’, the latter physical, psychological, and social wounds suffered when a conflict is lost. A player simply has to define these traits in order to create his Soldier, either creating them or picking them from the suggestions included in the rulebook.

Name: Gunther of Cologne

Motto of the Ordo: Holy is our mission, unholy is their end

Description: An arrogant ex-tax collector with an eye for opportunity

Weapon: Everyone has a weakness and I will exploit every last one

Armour: Faith will only get you so far, money will get you further

What I Want: The favour of his Holiness, a penny in his pocket

What I Don’t Want: To die penniless

Once a mission has been decided upon, the player to the left of the Ludi Magister becomes the ‘Soldier on Duty’ and the Ludi Magister asks him what he perceives and based on those answers, frames the scene for her players, primarily the ‘Soldier on Duty’ as he will be leading the action for the scene and his player the conversation with the Ludi Magister. The advice for the Ludi Magister is to twist the interpretation of the senses that the ‘Soldier on Duty’ to make it dramatic and set the tension high from the start to reflect a world in crisis—physically and spiritually. The scene proceeds as normal until the point where something occurs that the ‘Soldier on Duty’ does not want to happen, in which a conflict ensues. When a conflict ensues, the player of the ‘Soldier on Duty’ decides what his Soldier wants to do and builds a dice pool based on his five core traits. For each of them that the player can persuade the Ludi Magister to include, a six-sided die is added to the pool. Every result of five or six counts as a Success and only one Success is required for Soldier to achieve the objective outlined by the player. The Ludi Magister will narrate the outcome of the dice roll, though if a failure because no Successes are rolled, the Soldier on Duty will suffer a Trauma.

Any excess Success go into the Morale Pool, which on subsequent turns, the ‘Soldier on Duty’ can draw from to increase the size of dice pool. Additional dice can come from the two sources. One is the other Soldiers, who can contribute dice based on their traits. The second is from a ‘Gamble’, in which the player adds a die of another colour to his dice pool. On a result of one, two, or three, nothing happens, but on a four, five, or six, the Soldier is ‘Exposed’. What this means that is a Soldier on Duty can still succeed—that is, roll a five or six—and still be ‘Exposed’. When ‘Exposed’, a roll is made on the ‘Gamble’s Outcome’ table. The result might be that a Soldier cannot use any further ‘Gamble’ attempts in the mission or that the Soldier is wounded and infected by a Revenant! Another way to gain more dice is for the Soldier to sacrifice himself, but will also result in his death. Whatever the result, the outcome is narrated by the player.

What is important here is there is an economy to a player’s use of his Soldier’s five core traits. If they can be used all in one go whilst a Soldier is the ‘Soldier on Duty’, then they can be refreshed to be used on subsequent turns. Whilst a Soldier can use them to help another Soldier who is the current ‘Soldier on Duty’, it will mean that he will have fewer to use when it is his turn to be ‘Soldier on Duty’. Running out of traits and having none to confront a situation when a ‘Soldier on Duty’ on Duty means that he will automatically fail. This forces a player to husband the use of those traits from scene to scene.

When a Soldier suffers a Trauma, it can be physical, psychological, or social, the nature of which is decided by the Ludi Magister. In general, the effect of a Trauma is more narrative in nature than mechanical, except under two circumstances. One is if a Soldier is either bitten, scratched, or wounded by a Revenant as a first or second Trauma, in which case the Soldier becomes a carrier of Revenant Plague. He can hide this, but if he dies, he will rise as a Revenant. The other is the effect of the third Trauma which will cause the Solder to exit the mission. How depends on the type of Trauma. A physical Trauma means he has died, a psychological Trauma pushes him into madness, and social Trauma makes him flee the Ordo Mortis all together. At this point, the Soldier can become a Tutelary, a dead soul watching and protecting the other Soldiers, or a Spectator, able to tell scenes from his former life that might give hints as to the current situation when it his turn to be the ‘Soldier on Duty’.

Play like this continues from round to round, with the Ludi Magister narrating another scene between them until the mission is over. At the end of a mission, the surviving Soldiers have a chance to reflect upon their actions and their successes—if any. At this point, the players have the opportunity to change various traits and even add another ‘What I Want’ or ‘What I Don’t Want’. After that, another mission, typically in another session, can be run by another player serving as the Ludi Magister.

Píaga 1348 provides a lot of support for the Ludi Magister. This includes several good examples of play, hints in terms of framing scenes and the narrative, motifs of the Ordo Mortis, and suggestions as the nature of Revenants and the world. There are several scenarios too. These are not scenarios in the traditional roleplaying sense, but more a themed set of prompts and rumours that the Ludi Magister—whose ever turn it is—can use to set up a mission. Píaga 1348 comes to a close with a quick-start and some designer notes, but also includes an excellent appendix of ‘Historical Essays’ which are these for everyone to read. Covering such subjects as the power of the pope—Boniface VIII, warfare in the period, famine, pestilence, and the nature of death, these are short pieces, but useful and informative.

Physically, Píaga 1348 is fantastically presented. The woodcut style artwork and the use of a Gothic fount very gives it a singular look and conveys a lot of atmosphere to the Ludi Magister.

Píaga 1348 can be seen as the answer to the question, “What would a zombie uprising look like in the Middle Ages?” Which is as terrifying, if not more so, than it would today since it follows awful deaths by the Black Plague and it would be regarded as the vindication of the danse macabre and the triumph of death over life. It also places the Soldiers of the Ordo Mortis on a mission from God himself to wipe out not only death itself, but all signs and knowledge of this triumph of death. That means they have to kill the living too, including the innocent. What this means is that Píaga 1348 is a simple and oppressively atmospheric storytelling game with a brutal edge.

Friday Fantasy: The Alchemist’s Fire

The alchemist, Kelvin Belmont, is distraught and distracted, and in need of help. He has received a letter from his brother, Solomon, begging for his help in dealing with a dangerous threat which seems to be hounding him. This is strange, for the brothers had a falling out and neither has spoken to the other in almost a decade. The question is, what is the nature of the threat such that one pair of estranged siblings would seek out the aid of the other? Fortunately, Kelvin does want to help his brother, but he is old and weary, ill-suited to such tasks. So, he decides to hire some doughty adventurers to check on his brother and to deliver the package that he requested. This is the core hook—though several other hooks are included to get the Player Characters to meet Kelvin—for the scenario, The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. This is a scenario for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying, the roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing.

The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is published by Gallow’s Tomes as part of Free League Publishing’s Free League Workshop community content programme. The setting is the Bailwick of Fenwick and the three hamlets—Amber, Burgundy, and Lapis—which stand on the shores of Loch Maeglen. This can be used as or adapted to fit the Game Master’s own setting, or it can be slotted into the Misty Vale setting as detailed in the Dragonbane Core Set. To that end, it is suggested that they be placed around the unnamed lake in the Misty Vale just south of the Temple of the Purple Flame and the Magna Woods. Alternatively, they can be placed on the other side of the Drakmar Pass from where the ‘Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign begins. Each of the three hamlets is associated with and named for a statue of a woman, collectively known as The Sisters. In the case of Lapis, the starting point for The Alchemist's Fire, the statue is of lapis. The hamlet is described in broad detail, noting its most important business and their colourful proprietors and patrons, including the inn with a Dwarven innkeeper with an ear for ‘Dad jokes’, a grumpy Mallard sailor wanting to return to the sea, an overly curious Halfling cartographer, and a baker with a line in hot buttered muffins. Besides talking to the inhabitants, which may earn the Player Characters some rumours, divided between those pertinent to the scenario and those left for the Game Master to develop or ignore as is her wont, can of course, do a bit of shopping.

Eventually, the Player Characters will make their way to Ravenhook Tower, the home of Kelvin Belmont. Once they get past his cagey manner, he will employ them to deliver a cart, which he will provide, full of flasks of a blue liquid that ignites upon impact when thrown—Fire Flasks. The alchemist’s brother has asked him to deliver to his tower, Coralholm, which lies to the east. The journey is not without its dangers as the Blue Root Mountains are full of Worgs and Goblins—and worse. Plus, the Player Characters are essentially driving a bomb on wheels, and if anything goes wrong, there is the chance of a massive explosion. In fact, a really, really big explosion which is going to leave them at a disadvantage later in the scenario.

However, by the time the Player Characters reach Solomon Belmont’s tower of Coralholm, it is too late. Someone has already broken in and when the Player Characters find him, they also find an army of frogs harassing him. This is after a nasty encounter with a Giant Slime that can shoot ooze-coated skulls out of its gelatinous depths and make weapons protrude from its body. Of course, this fight can be eased with the application of a Fire Flask or two. Once the fight is over, Solomon is pleased to see the Player Characters—in complete contrast to his brother—but he fears that the frog men will be back and asks the Player Characters to mount what is effectively, a ‘tower defence’. The players and their characters have time to set up defences and they are encouraged to lay traps and build defensive points as well as prepare the ballista on the roof. The fight comes with its own maps and feels like a cross between the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the destruction of Isengard in The Two Towers of The Lord of the Rings, but with the Player Characters and Solomon Belmont as the defenders in both cases. Of course, this is on a very much smaller scale in either case. It does include a ‘Squad Dice’ mechanic for handling when more squads of Frog Men appear on the battlefield.

The scenario does end with some unanswered questions. This includes the cause of the estrangement between the brothers and the identity and aims of an antagonist—hopefully to be detailed in another scenario. That said, if the Player Characters never find out, it is no great loss. Rounding out The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is another table of encounters should the Player Characters venture into the woods near the hamlet of Lapis and some full page pieces of artwork. These are actually quite good, especially that of the Briar Mawr, the malign walking tree carrying a platform of Frog Men in its branches (which the Player Characters can attempt to topple).

Two points arise from the setting. One is that the author cannot decide whether the setting for The Alchemist’s Fire—Lapis—is a hamlet or a town. The other is the name, ‘Bailwick of Fenwick’. Putting aside the rhyming, it does sound very much like the Duchy of Grand Fenwick from the Peter Sellers’ film, The Mouse That Roared.

Physically, The Alchemist’s Fire is well laid out in the style of Dragonbane. It does feel heavier in its use of colour and art style, even a little cartoonish. That said, the artwork works, whilst the maps are decent.

If the plot to The Alchemist’s Fire is straightforward, its details are colourful and detailed, and all together, the whole affair is easy to run and easy to slot into a campaign. Offering a good mix of roleplaying with some surprisingly nasty and challenging encounters, The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is an impressively sturdy little adventure that should play through in two or so sessions.

Millenarian Mayhem

In the beginning the Immortal made the world and all that was in it. Then made strife by bringing the Amortines, the first beings into the world. They hated their father and two of their number strangled him, and so brought another god into the world, Destruction. Yet the Amortines danced and procreated in their victory, and so begat the Lamentides, the dreadful sons, and the Allurimorns, the sublime daughters, and they in turn begat their own children, the Dreads and the Sublimes. When their passions grew too wild, Life and Death, the eldest of the Allurimorns and Lamentides, invited them all to a great banquet in Heall where they captured them and sealed them in Life’s urns. It is said that when the Amortines’ prodigy escape their prisons and are once again abroad in the world, then the Last Day will begin in earnest. In Painyme, it is both said and feared that this day draws close, for Death has already closed the First Gate to Heall and turned the dead away, leaving the unquiet dead to wander… Five of the twelve border kingdoms surrounding have been consumed by the Weald surrounding the Petty Baronies before the great city of Assartum, home to the Ecclesiarch, His Excellency Boniface Pontfex IV. A crusade has been declared against the Traitor Gods and the Templars have already killed their first Traitor God. Day by day, more and more heretics give themselves up to or are thrown on the Pyre, but even those who have been given a chance for absolution for their heresies upon joining a guild by the Church of the Divine Corpse are being tempted once again by the gifts that Traitor Gods promise. Just as those who seek absolution join guilds for the safety in numbers they offer, so too do those who accept such gifts join cults for the protection they offer.

This is the set-up for Doomsong, an eschatological, pre-apocalyptic roleplaying game of heretical temptation and divine punishment and survival horror. Published by Cæsar Ink., it is described as a ‘Roleplay Macabre’, which places it in the ‘grim dark’ genre. The players roleplay characters who have either committed heresy by accepting a gift from one of the Traitor Gods or have committed various crimes, and sort absolution by joining a guild, or joined a guild to serve. The guilds can be gravediggers’ guilds, philosophers’ guilds, signmakers’ guilds, ratcatchers’ guilds, woodcutters’ guilds, and Wyccefinders’ guilds. Understandably, gravediggers’ guilds have become common since the First Gate to Heall was closed. Members of the Wyccefinders’ Guilds are allowed to truck with the Dread or the Sublime in return for the Occult abilities they grant, but this does not mean they will be absolved. Over the course of the game, the Player Characters will work to achieve their aims, serve their guild, avoid being accused of heresy, and if they do give into the temptation of the Traitor Gods’ gifts, keeping them hidden.

Prior to character generation, the players decide upon the nature of their characters’ guild and what it does. The guild is the focus of the campaign and provides a ready source of NPCs in the form of guild officers (positions which the Player Characters can also fill), equipment as well as a base of operations, and when the Player Characters begin recruiting, replacement Player Characters. In addition, the players, their characters, and their guild will have access to a calendar which can be used to track days, particularly the holy days and holidays, as well as the progress of any wounds that have to heal, activities that the Player Characters might want to do day-by-day, including cooking, crafting, foraging, keeping watch, engaging in a hobby, recruiting, working on a project, and more. It also includes Advancement, the spending of Experience Points followed by a Player Character training, the result of which is primarily random.

A Player Character in Doomsong is defined by his Origins and his Traits, and the path by which he came to be a member of the Guild. In combat, he also has Toughness and Footing. Toughness represents how difficult it is to harm the Player Character, whilst Footing is expended to defend against attacks. In addition, he will have Protection if he wears armour, which adds to his Toughness. If a Player Character is very lightly defined, the creation process does a lot of heavy lifting in adding depth to him. It uses a lifepath system which first gives him an Origin and then takes him through his youth to adulthood and perhaps beyond, pushing him towards the decision to join the Guild. At the end he will likely be presented with a choice between giving himself up to the Pyre or joining the Guild. The former means being burnt as a heretic, whilst the latter gives him protection from the ecclesiastical authorities and a possible path to redemption.

There are six Origins—‘Wild Thing’, ‘Guttersnipe’, ‘Farming Family’, ‘Middle Class’, ‘Wealthy Elite’, and ‘Star-Crossed Babe’ and multiple options in the Lifepath. Each step in the Lifepath process gives a player a choice of traits to pick from, a table of events with entries that will give him another trait or an exit to another step. Some entries determine a particular aspect about the Player Character, most represent jobs of some kind, others might give the gift of a relic, whilst others will tempt a Player Character into acts of heresy that will lead either to the Pyre or the Guild. The process is relatively quick and definitely easy—and it has to be. Player Characters are fragile. Life in Doomsong is short, brutal, and bloody. In other words, they die fast and they are fast replaced. What is interesting here is how it feels, which is like a cross between the complete career path for a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Player Character and Player Character creation for Traveller, but done at a gallop!

Name: Maub
Toughness 4 Footing 4 Protection 0
TRAITS
Wealdean, Tracker, Swift-footed, Avowed, Ruthless
ABILITIES
Canine Familiar
ORIGIN – Welcome, stranger. The Guild takes anyone seeking sanctuary within its walls. We have high-born and low, the scum of the earth and those who would turn their backs on the dull existence of daily life. Whatever has brought you here will not surprise us.
WEALD – Growing up beyond the border castles brought as much peculiar freedom as it did danger. Concepts like law and ownership were foreign to you.
THIEF TAKER – You were tasked with hunting criminals to the Petty Baronies and beyond.
JUSTICE – A stony voice commanded you use the blood of a foe to daub your hate on unworked stone.
DO YOUR DUTY – Those who join the Guild for selfless reasons are its greatest and most ill-spent asset.
JOIN THE GUILD – You stood at the threshold of the Guild, throwing the rest of your life away to the vagaries of fate. Whether you felt relief or fear when they accepted you, we do not know.

Mechanically, Doomsong is relatively simple. To have his character succeed at a Standard Check, a player rolls a single six-sided die and attempts to roll five or more. A Player Character’s traits, equipment, conditions, and allies can add modifiers, ranging from ‘-1’ and Hindering to ‘+3’ and Defining and Perfect, though the latter is rare. If the task is Focused, then the player rolls two six-sided dice and keeps the highest, but if Hasty, the player rolls two six-sided dice and keeps the lowest. If the result is under the target number, the Player Character has failed with cost; if equal to the Target Number, it is success with a cost; and if over the Target Number, it is a straightforward success.

In addition, a player can choose to flip the Doomcoin (an ordinary coin will do, but the roleplaying game does have its own coin as an accessory). If the result of the flip of the Doomcoin is a Skull, the result of the Standard Check is one step worse, but one step better if result of the flip of the Doomcoin is a Crest. Either way, this is the only means by which a Player Character can achieve a critical success or a critical failure. Further, once flipped, the player keeps the Doomcoin in front of him. His character is now doomed and the Game Master can force the player to flip it on any test, but can only do this once. It then passes back to the Game Master and can be picked up by another player. Whatever the result, failure is permanent and the task cannot be reattempted; the cost of failure is permanent; critical results are spectacular; and a Player Character with a particular skill or trait does not fail because of a lack of knowledge or expertise, but because of the uncertainty of the situation.

Combat is slightly more complex. Each Player Character has two actions in a round represented by two six-sided dice, or Action Dice, whilst NPCs have one action and thus one six-sided die. At the start of the round, each player sets his character’s Action Dice according to the actions that he wants him to take. He will set an Action Die at one if he wants his character to ‘Aid’ another or ‘Draw’ gear; at three if he wants his character to carry out a ‘Light Strike’ or hasty attack with a non-heavy weapon or ‘Recover’ and regain Footing; or to five if he wants his character to perform a ‘Heavy Strike’, a focused attack with a non-light weapon or ‘Set Up’ a ‘Standard Action’ or ‘Standard Strike’ whose trigger the player can also establish. There are two Actions per die face and a player is free to choose from them as he wishes, even performing the same action twice, though the same weapon cannot be used for more than a single attack in a round. The Game Master counts up from lowest numbered to the highest, from one to six, completing all of the actions for one face of the die before moving onto the next. Ideally, this is set up with each player placing his two dice on the two choices he has made in the Action Block on his character sheet.

The actual attack roll in Doomsong is not treated as a Standard Check, but a Special Check. The difficulty number varies, being based on the defender’s Toughness, which can be modified by his player or the Game Master spending Footing to have his character or NPC dodge or block the attack. As with Standard Checks, the results be under, equal to, or over the difficulty number. If under, the attacker is off-balance and will lose Footing; if equal, the attacker delivers a graze and will also lose Footing, whilst the defender will lose Toughness; and if over, the attacker will inflict more damage, reducing the defender’s Tougher even more, as well as inflicting other effects, depending upon the weapon type used in the attack. For example, a bludgeoning attack might leave the defender staggered, battered, or with a smashed face, whilst a slashing attack might leave the defender grazed, scarred, or with a sliced face. Flips of the Doomcoin can also increase the result of an attack roll and potentially inflict even greater damage.

In terms of background, Doomsong provides details of the ecclesiastical calendar of Painmye, along with overviews of its geography and social hierarchy, and also the hierarchy of the Church of the Divine Corpse. The most attention is paid to its pantheon of The Immortal and The Immortal’s misbegotten progeny, detailing each of his children and his children’s children and so on, including their prayers and the cults devoted to each of them. Twelve of the Traitor Gods—Chance, Feast, Frenzy, Honour, Hope, Justice, Oblivion, Panic, Perception, Rot, Toil, and Vorcacity—grant occult gifts to their followers and so give the opportunity for the tempted to become a Wycce, an agent of one of the Traitor Gods. Familiars—canine, laceworker, or rat—are the most recognisable of the occult abilities granted by the Traitor Gods. For example, the Sublime called Feast gives his patronage to those that give generously to others, especially of their scraps of food, his familiars being vultures, boars and gowenflies, and his vow being to feed the hungry. In return for feeding the starving, his Wycces learn abilities such as ‘Attuned Forager’, enabling them to sense food stores, ‘Nature’s Bounty’ which cures food of any rot, or ‘Amphora of desire’, by which they can enchant a jug or bottle of alcohol that is so enticing, anyone who drinks it is likely to fall unconscious should he try to stop. All of the abilities have three and many actually have positive effects despite how the Church of the Divine Corpse might regard them.

In addition includes an extensive bestiary of NPCs and monsters. All have their own Action Blocks. Some of the NPCs are simple recruits to the Player Characters’ guild, but others include militia, assassins, duellists, templars, and more. There are stats for normal animals as well as familiars, and also the favoured children of the various Traitor Gods. For example, Laceworkers are favoured by Chance, preternaturally lucky (which means that when the Player Characters are confronted by them, the Game Master can force players to flip the Doomcoin, even their characters are not Doomed, and flip it a second time if it does not favour the Laceworkers) spiders that lay their eggs in partially consumed corpses that can later rise as a Husk of Chance. The Opri are associated with the Sublime Frenzy, birthed by her hatred of the Church of the Divine Corpse after the Ecclesiarch ordered the murder of sister, the Sublime Joy. The Opri hunt the pious and hunger for the bones of the holy, often desecrating churches and villages in the process, whilst their bite turns men into Opri-Falsere, servants that grow to look like the feline Opri with the passing of each full moon whilst dedicating their lives to them in secret. Given that the First Gate of Heall has been closed, it is no surprise that the Unquiet Dead are also detailed. The journey of both body and soul are described in detail, whilst there are descriptions of numerous types of the undead, all pleasingly different to that found in most other roleplaying games. Rounding out Doomsong is a selection of flora and fungi.

Physically, Doomsong is a stunning looking book. Black and white, but with grim and grimy artwork reminiscent of both Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, First Edition and the Fighting Fantasy series. This should be no surprise that its artist also drew the illustrations for Themborne Games’ Escape the Dark Castle: The Game of Atmospheric Adventure and Escape the Dark Sector: The Game of Deep Space. The layout has an early modern look to it in terms of style and feel, whilst the book has pleasing physicality in that its jacket actually doubles as a Game Master reference, whilst the inside back cover actually has a pocket for the Doomcoin! Another interesting design choice is the use of colour, used in conjunction with the Traitor Gods as if they are offering something bright and enticing in comparison to the sackcloth and ashes that is the everyday existence of Painyme.

There can be no doubt that Doomsong is a fantastic looking book, one that reeks of desperation and fear in the face of an encroaching biblical Armageddon. Yet this is both a help and hindrance. A help because it imparts so much of the roleplaying game’s atmosphere and apocalyptic alarm, but a hindrance because it makes Doomsong look like a more complex and more daunting roleplaying game than it really is. It also hides some issues with Doomsong. One is that there is no advice for the Game Master on how to run the roleplaying game, whilst the other is that there is no discussion of what a Doomsong scenario or campaign looks like. There is the sperate campaign, Lord Have Mercy Upon Us, in which the Player Characters are members of a gravediggers’ guild helping to bury the multitudinous Unquiet Dead, and Doomsong leans that way in terms of a set-up, but that requires further purchase followed by long term play and commitment rather than enabling the Game Master and her group to play just from the core rulebook. Yet despite its mechanical simplicity, Doomsong is not suitable for inexperienced Game Masters given its lack of advice as to how the game runs, what a scenario looks like, and what a campaign looks like. Even an experienced Game Master will be challenged to set something up from scratch and whatever that is, it may not be what the designers intended to best showcase their design.

There is a piquant sense of epoch-ending trepidation and existential anxiety to Doomsong. It casts the Player Characters as heretics seeking absolution, but tempted time and time gain with occult gifts that in some cases might actually do some good, more than the simple, extremely fragile mortals that they are, are actually capable of, knowing that to give in to that temptation so is heresy once again. This is the core dilemma at the heart of the roleplaying, one that reeks of dread and despair that might yet be forestalled, but ultimately in Doomsong, leaves it to another book to really show the Game Master how that will play out in the short term, let alone the long term.

The Old World Anew (Part II)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Solitaire: Escape the Domain of the Night Hag

A monster lurks somewhere… Perhaps in the fetid, green mist-enshrouded Miasmarsh or on the stoney shoreline of the Shore of Lost Souls where tormented souls linger. A Hag, who may have captured a friend or whose domain needs to be mapped out for someone else. These might be the only reasons that the unwary, or the foolish, descend into the Domain of the Night Hag, search for her and face her minions before being unlucky enough to confront her or her sisters and face certain death. Perhaps it is better to flee, knowing that you are as wise as you are cowardly, but alive, or attempt to defeat her, foolishly and bravely. This is the story of the protagonist, the would-be hero, who delves deep in desperation into the realm of the Night Hag in Escape the Domain of the Night Hag.

Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is published by Uknite the Realm, best known for Samurai Goths of the Apocalypse. It is a solo roleplaying game, but it can also be played by up to three players without the need of a Game Master. It is a dark, grim roleplaying game of monster hunting and survival horror that uses what it calls the ‘Decksplorer System’ which requires a standard deck of playing cards, a token to represent the location of the characters, two six-sided dice, and as the roleplaying game puts it, “Misplaced hope that your efforts shall not be in vain…” Only the Spades suit and all of the Jacks and Kings from the other three suits are required to play. The numbered cards will represent the regions within the Hag’s Domain, the Ace card the start and exit point for the Player Character, whilst the Court cards will form the Encounter Deck, consisting of the Jacks and Kings, her Basic and Elite Minions respectively, and the Queen of Spades, the Hag herself.

A Player Character in Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is simply defined. He will have some Hit Points, a weapon, and an ability. The Ability can be either Evasion (better at escaping combat), Veteran (better at inflicting damage), and Blessed (better at withstanding damage inflicted by the Hag). He may also be wearing some armour and carrying some equipment. To create a character, a player rolls for all of these, but could also roll on the ‘Quickstart Characters’ table which gives more detailed—but not too detailed options.

Jerome
Hit Points: 6
Weapon: Hand Axe
Ability: Evasion
Armour: Mail (3)
Equipment: Torch

Mechanically, the dice are rolled when a player wants his character to undertake an action and then to generate an Encounter entering a new Region, and to search for Loot. Two six-sided dice are rolled, and each dice is counted. Rolls of three or less are Failures and rolls of four or more are Successes. Rolling two Failures will have bad consequences, which can be taking full damage in fight; failing to flee and taking half damage when fleeing to a neighbouring region; and drawing two Encounter cards when entering a Region. Rolling a Mixed Outcome—one Success and one Failure, would mean suffering and inflicting half damage in a fight; successfully fleeing, but having to roll on the Consequences table; and drawing one Encounter card. Two Successes means dealing full damage; fleeing without taking any damage; and drawing no Encounter cards, but rolling on the Loot table instead.

In addition, in a fight, armour does not protect absolutely. There is a chance that it will stop every point of damage, but there is also a chance that it will not or that it will not, plus the armour is also damaged itself to the point where it is useless. This is rolled for on a point-for-point basis. Typical attacks inflict either one-two, or three points of damage, so the rolling for armour protection is not too cumbersome.

The set-up for the play of Escape the Domain of the Night Hag involves shuffling the Region deck and laying out its cards in any connected fashion that the players want and then the Encounter Deck from which the players will draw the monsters that their characters will face. The players should also decide or roll for an objective. Four such objectives are suggested, meaning that the replay value of this admittedly small roleplaying game is limited.

In play, the Player Character (or Player Characters) starts on the Ace card and moves from one card to the next. The new Region card is turned over and its location noted (though it does not affect game play) and then a check is made to determine how many Domain cards are drawn from the Encounter deck. If the Player Character defeats the minions of the Hag or enters a Region without any of her minions, he can search for Loot. Most of the items found will be useful—weapons, healing elixirs, armour, and a Holy Symbol or a Clock that will grant the Player Character an ability like Blessed or Evasion.

The ultimate aim, of course, is to locate the Hag and defeat her. The effort to do so is gruelling, the mechanics rarely letting up or offering any respite, the player hoping that he is going to get lucky on the dice rolls, whether that is to defeat the minions, have his character’s armour withstand the blows, and perhaps find something useful when looking for loot.

Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is not about entering her domain as such, but about when to decide to run away, whether that is because the Player Character has been successful, or more likely, he is so hurt that he cannot continue. Unfortunately, it is all a bit mechanical and lacking. The nine Regions of the Hag’s Domain are named and described, but never come alive and have no effect on game play, so just remain spaces in which the Hag’s minions lurk, waiting for the arrival of the Player Character. There are no encounters with anything other than Hag or her minions, and so there is no variation in play except what type of minion the Player Character will be fighting. If a player was keeping a journal of his play through of Escape the Domain of the Night Hag, he would likely have to work a little harder to give it that bit more of a story. If played as a group, then the players might want to take it in turns to add some narration to give their play through some substance. That said, Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is not designed for extended play or multiple plays. It can be played through in an hour or so, and thus quickly set up again if the previous attempt failed.

Physically, Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is white and green text on a dark, almost black background in which things lurk and writhe in green. It is concisely written, so the player will need to read through it with a little care.

Escape the Domain of the Night Hag is more serviceable than engaging. Mechanically, it plays well, presenting a daunting challenge, but the world of the Night Hag is underwritten, and a player will need to work hard to bring it to life and imagine a story.