Friday Fantasy: Colossus, Arise!

The world stands on the brink of a turning point. The end of the Third Age of Man nears and the beginning of the Fourth Age of Man looms. In the First Age of Man, man was like unto the gods and ruled as titans upon the earth. Yet the titans were split between those sworn to Law and those sworn to Chaos, and when they clashed, their blood was spilled upon the ground the First Second of Man was brought to an end. From this spilled blood a new, lesser race sprang forth, lesser, yet still giants, given the gift of peerless intellect and ageless beauty, which went forth and erected many great temples in honour of the titans of the First Age of Man, even though they were but a shadow of their former divinity cast upon the wall of creation. Yet even the Ur-Lireans, as they were known, could not withstand the fall of the sands of time and as the waters of the Empyrean Ocean rose, city after city was inundated and washed away, the inhabitants drowned or forced to flee. In the Third Age of Man, the tribes of Ur-Lirea are all but forgotten, the divine spark of humanity that was the gift of the original titans, obscured by emotions, sullied by vice, and caked with the stinking flesh of the fallen. The Ages of Man are regarded by most as heresy, but many say that the temple-city of Stylos is a forgotten remnant of a bygone age, whilst some whisper that the city was home to the last Atlantean tribes of Ur-Lirea. If so, it has slumbered for untold eons, through the icy march back and forth of glaciers, the rise and fall of the seas, and the rise of man in the Third Age of Man.

If the Ages of Man are regarded as heresy and the legends of the temple-city of Stylos as no more than myth, what is in no doubt, lost Stylos has awakened from its deathless sleep and its hordes have arisen to sweep down on civilisation. A wizened crone babbles about the army of beautiful giants that swept through her village, she the only survivor; a gigantic statue stands at the city gate, white marble with its eyes aflame and announcing that the end of days have come and that the city will be razed on the new moon; and clerics and wizards cry out the terrible omens as lightning crashes down, on the spires of the city’s temple, strange stars appear in the sky and vanish again, sacrificial bulls are cut open only to discover pools of black bile in the place of entrails, and the seventh son of a seventh son is born with the mark of Cadixtat, the Champion of Chaos from the First Age of Man.

This is the set-up for Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise!, the ninth scenario to be published by Goodman Games for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Designed by Harley Stroh, this is a rare scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, one designed for a group of six Eighth Level Player Characters. Most scenarios for line published to date are for low- and mid-Level Player Characters, no more than Sixth Level. So having a scenario for Eighth Level is a rarity. The resulting dungeon is as detailed as you would expect a dungeon for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game to be, but it is also deadly. Not just in terms of the foes that they will face, but also in the traps and puzzles they will face. In places, think S1, Tomb of Horrors, but Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise! is no deathtrap dungeon. Yes, there are moments where ‘total-party-kill’ is a possibility, perhaps more so than in other scenarios for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but rather, it is a dungeon designed—in just thirteen locations—to very much challenge the players and their characters.

Inspired by the legend of Atlantis and the occultism of Doctor John Dee and Madame Blavatsky, Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise! begins big and gets epic, all in keeping with the high Level of the Player Characters. Very quickly, the Player Characters find themselves at the doors to the Temple of Cadixtat, having sneaked through the ruins of lost Stylos past an army of hundreds of the Sons of the Second Age, ten-foot tall humanoids bound in service to the Daughters of Cadixtat, camped out, ready to sweep away the civilisations of the Third Age. There are some good hooks to get the Player Characters involved and to that point, especially given that by Eighth level, they should have ties to the very civilisation that the Sons of the Second Age wants to destroy to help trigger the beginning of the Fourth Age of Man, and thus reasons to stop this threat. There is scope for the Player Characters to explore the ruins, neatly handled with a roll on an encounter table.

Inside the temple itself there are weird ceremonies, a room with a cage in which human sacrifices are burned to fuel the divinations of prophetess of the Daughters of Cadixtat—and she will even divine the Player Characters’ future once they find her on the lower level, and even a trap worthy of Grimtooth. The lower level takes the Player Characters to the edge of Chaos and potentially even beyond. In the upper level, the Daughters of Cadixtat are transforming men into the Sons of the Second Age, bolstering the army it will unleash on the Third Age of Man, but in the lower level, the cult is incubating the Worm-Men that will help scour away the Fourth Age of Men, and so usher in a new beginning. The lower level actually takes the Player Characters through the four Ages of Man and into some truly epic encounters. Not just the incubation chamber of the Worm-Men, but also a ‘Chapel of Elemental Chaos’ where the very walls are melting upwards into raw elemental chaos—there is, of course, a chance that a Player Character can be drawn into the walls and upwards—and Player Character Wizards will suffer for the Corruptions they have accrued; a very nasty trap that should teach the players and their characters to leave well alone; and an almost final battle to prevent the Daughters of Cadixtat from summoning something from the First Age of Man! Which is, of course, the massive brain from the front cover of the scenario. Along the way the Player Characters have the opportunity to gain a divination and also find some incredible magical items that echo those of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion. If the Player Characters succeed, they are very well rewarded, especially if they are Lawful. Chaotic Player Characters will also receive a reward, but only if they are very lucky...!

Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise! is very well presented. The scenario is decently written and the artwork is good, with several pieces that the Judge can show to her players. The Judge is given seven decent handouts that illustrate various locations above and below ground. The cartography is too tight in places and it is not as easy to read the map as it should be.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise! is a truly epic scenario that will test both the players and their characters the deeper they go into the depths of the Temple of Cadixtat. It calls for careful, considered play, and what that really means is that this scenario is better suited to play towards the end of a campaign, rather than being run as a one-shot. If played as a one-shot, the players are not going to care as much about their characters and so are going to take greater risks rather than if they had invested time and effort into the play of their characters. Dungeon Crawl Classics #76: Colossus, Arise! is a rarity, a scenario that effectively showcases what the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game can do at higher levels.

Friday Filler: GM Companion for ShadowDark

It is surprising that there is no companion to ShadowDark, the retroclone inspired by both the Old School Renaissance and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition from The Arcane Library. Or at least, an official companion. The GM Companion for ShadowDark is a third party supplement for the roleplaying game which is designed to expand on the content in the core rulebook. Although the book includes some content for player, it is primarily a book for the Game Master. Divided into four sections—‘The World Above’, ‘The World Below’, and ‘Treasure’, it includes a lot of tables, more than a few monsters not found in the core rulebook, and plenty of treasure, as well as some activities that the Player Characters can undertake away from the dungeon or wilderness.

The GM Companion for ShadowDark, published by Chubby Funster, first provides the Game Master with several sets of table for generating content both in and out of the dungeon. The ‘Hex Crawling’ section expands on the rules in the core rulebook by adding ‘Points of Interest’ for nine different terrain types, from artic and coast to river and swamp. Each table consists of two sets of entries, location and development, twenty options for each. For example, in the desert, there might be a ‘Castle Ruin’ that is ‘Frequented by desert caravans’ or has ‘Displayed banners of a defeated army’. To this are added tables for ‘Terrain Hazards’, again for the nine different terrain types, but with entries that can either hinder movement, inflict damage, or weaken or confuse. Some of the locations are marked as a ‘settlement result’, which means that the Game Master then rolls on the settlement tables. These begin with the type, from crossroads to capitals, before digging down into the detail with different districts, such as transient, craft, and spectacle, each of will have one or more points of interest. Further sections adds shops, broken up according to the income levels. There are some nice variations here, such as the predatory moneylender in the poor district, respectable moneylender in the standard district, and the exclusive moneylender in the wealthy district.

Since taverns can be found anywhere, they have their own set of table. Together, these generate a name, what the tavern is known for, and what food and drink it serves. For example, ‘The Moist Wagon’ is known for its ‘Divisive political arguments’ and is a poor tavern that serves ‘Pigeon Jelly Tart’ and ‘Salted Fish Strips’ with ‘Juggler’s Gold’, a honey-flavoured beer and ‘Bacon Broth Beer’, which makes drinkers ravenously hungry.

For Player Characters, the GM Companion for ShadowDark gives rules for Farkle, a dice game that will complement the Thieves & Wizards card given in the core rulebook. It gives something else for them to do when they are carousing, but the supplement also gives alternative activities for the Player Characters other than carousing and learning. ‘Acts of Devotion’ gives devotional events that devout Player Characters can invest in and potentially gain a benefit. For example, ‘You violate local laws in an act of piety and are arrested. Your allies must pay 10 gp to release you.’ which earns two Experience Points or ‘Your celebration is attended by devotees from far away temples. They become convinced that you are the next great religious leader of your sect.’ which grants six Experience Points and up to thirty-two devoted acolytes! ‘Combat Training’ does a similar thing for martial Player Characters who practise their weapon skills and for Wizards conducting ‘Magic Study’, there is a table for the results of their research, and all in a similar level of detail.

For the ‘The World Below’, the second section, builds on the dice-drop method detailed in ShadowDark with more tables. These start by determining the danger level of the dungeon, its entrance, size, and type, followed by room type, encounters with NPCs and rival crawlers, and even how the room changes over time, such as ‘Filled with fragile objects that repair themselves when PCs leave.’ and ‘Slowly fills with water, slime, mud, sand, or similar material.’ Other tables add scenes of a combat’s aftermath, dead zones, unique objects to be found, and monsters, whether single, mobs, or bosses. Similar to ‘Terrain Hazards’ for the ‘Hex Crawling’ section, the ‘Dungeon Hazards’ adds dangers for caves, deep tunnels, ruins, and tombs. Further tables expand upon NPCs which can be used for encounters outside of the dungeons as well as in, but as can the tables for creating Rival Crawlers. This includes ancestry, alignment, Class and/or monster, party name, preferred tactics, and even party secrets.

What can be found in a dungeon starts with simple ‘Dungeon Dressing’, worth only a few coppers at most, rising in level to match the rough Level of the dungeon or encounter. So, Dungeon Dressing might be ‘Five inches of leather lacing from a corset’ worth a copper piece or ‘Three large cheese wheels, mouldy and decaying’ worth nothing, but later Levels might contain a ‘Set of carved ivory cutlery covered in halfling runes’ worth twelve gold pieces or ‘Playing cards featuring drawings of Elvish maidens’ worth twenty-eight. The higher the Level, the more likely there is to be treasure to be found and yes, there are tables for this. They include potion descriptions and effects, magic armour to which can be added features—appearance, scent, and quirks, as well as a possible bonus and benefits (and even curses). There are similar tables for weapons and utility items too. In addition, there are table for Boons to be earned from creatures, monsters, NPCs, and organisations, and secrets to be found and blessings to receive.

Further, beyond the tables that the Game Master can roll on, the GM Companion for ShadowDark describes over seventy magic items. For example, the Imposter’s Wand can be pointed at a spellcaster to spell a First Level from him and until the next sunrise, the user can cast the spell, and further, it can be used by non-spellcasters! The Potion of the Unicorn hardens the imbiber’s skin like a rhinoceros, improving his Armour Class, and also makes him grow a horn from his head which he can use as a magical dagger. The Promise Bow is an intricate ironwood longbow with Elvish runes and silver accents, which is a +2 longbow, and grants the benefit to the wielder of attacking at an advantage if fired after declaring his intention to kill a particular enemy, but until that enemy is killed, the promised enemy is slain, all other attacks are made with disadvantage. The bow has a personality and is convinced that there is a pattern to the wielder’s choice of targets and will speculate on it.

Lastly, the GM Companion for ShadowDark gives the stats for monsters and creatures ranging from First Level to Ninth Level. There are thirty-nine in total, from Aarakocra, Ant (Giant), and Assassin Vine to Troglodyte, Vegepygmy, and Werebear. Most fill in the missing entries in the ShadowDark core rulebook, but there are new ones too like Frost Maggots and Armitage.

Physically, even if it is not the official companion to ShadowDark, the GM Companion for ShadowDark looks like it should be. The layout is clean and tidy, the artwork is decent, and the book is well written.

To be fair, much of the GM Companion for ShadowDark does consist of tables, ones that compliment those in the core rulebook. They are though, tables filled with evocative content that are essentially prompts. They can be rolled on ahead of time as part of the Game Master’s preparation, to help her set up her world, but they are also simple and direct enough that the Game Master can use them in play to drive emergent world generation if that is her wont. If the table are pushing the Game Master to be inventive, then the rest of the book is already so, with a wide selection of new and interesting magical items and three great additions to downtime activities for the Player Characters that give both them and their players more options without overwhelming post-adventure activities. The GM Companion for ShadowDark is a solid set of tools for the Game Master to enhance her campaign and her game play.

Friday Fantasy: DCC Day #6 DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2025’, which took place today on Saturday, July 19th, 2025,* the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #108: The Seventh Thrall of Sekrekan. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ and ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock. Both DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock and ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst the other, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena sport and monetises it!

* The late international delivery of titles for DCC Day #6 means that these reviews are also late. Apologies.

As in past years, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack contains two adventures. The first and longest of the two is ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. It is designed for a party of four to six Player Characters of First Level and begins with them in an enchanted forest, come to a grove where a rose bush whose petals are known to have healing properties is known to grow. When they attempt to pick them, a ghost of a knight appears and begs for their aid. Introducing himself as Al-Razi, he was once a great knight, but in an accident, he fell from his horse, but then a fairy queen caught him and stole him from death. He asks that the Player Characters free him from his torment. The opportunity for this will come at fairy parade through the village of Taribat, which takes place only once every seven years. Al-Razi will ride at the head of the parade and if the Player Characters can catch him when he falls from horse, he will be freed. Unfortunately, in order to be able to see past the veil of the fairy, the Player Characters need water from an enchanted pool to wash their eyes in. Fortunately, Al-Razi knows there is such a pool—beyond the Twilight Cave.

The thrust of the scenario is for the Player Characters to enter the Twilight Cave and search for the pool. This is a race against time to the pool and back again to the village of Taribat. There are fun encounters here, such as the giant kittens playing with a giant mouse, a chance to make some purchases from a ‘Ye Olde magic Shoppe’ in what is actually a scenario befitting cliché, and some not entirely unhelpful witches. The second part of the scenario is the parade itself, which will lead from one stone outside the village to another on the opposite side. The whole of the village will turn out to watch and celebrate with costumes, drinks, and music, completely unaware as to the true nature of the parade. Only the Player Characters will have any idea as what the parade is and will only be able to see who really is in the parade by wiping their eyes with the enchanted water. This is a rolling combat as the parade will constantly be on the move and the members of the parade will take action if they realise what the Player Characters are trying to do. The Queen will respond with an array of deadly illusions, backed up with her paper handmaidens, and the Fey Riders encircle Al-Razi.

The scenario requires a bit of staging upon the part of the Judge in order for the Player Characters to get past the Fey Riders and be with Al-Razi at the right time to catch him as he falls. One thing to be avoided is fighting the fairy queen, as she is a very tough opponent for First Level Player Characters. It is also possible to fail—though the consequences are quite minor, as well as do very well. Otherwise, this is a raucous climax to an entertaining scenario.

The second scenario is ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, which is designed for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game and again for party of four to six Player Characters of First Level. In the Player Characters are invited to participate in the annual Division III Balticrawl Blitz. As this title suggests, this event takes place in the rundown and corrupt city of Baltimore. The Player Characters get a taste of the latter when someone knocks on the door of their hotel room and are offered a bribe to throw the Xcrawl in a particular room! The event itself is very much themed around the city of Baltimore and its history. This starts with the DJ, or ‘Dungeon Judge’, ‘DJ Nevermore’, a thin sallow moustachioed man in Victorian dress with a raven on his shoulder, who has designed the event and will be running it. So, quite literally inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, this scenario has Gothic streak as wide as a white one running through a Goth’s hair. The other inspiration for the adventure is the city’s love of crabs, but this is mainly because the event’s main sponsor is the Elder Bay Spices Company, whose blend of spices is popular with seafood all along the east coast.

At just five locations, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is a small scenario. It is playable in a single session if paced right and some of the encounters are tough for Player Characters of First Level. A Player Character Messenger will be needed to provide healing. Another issue is that it is a very American scenario and not everyone is going to be fully aware of Baltimore’s history, and having to explain some of the references will break the immersion. Otherwise, a solid scenario for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game that is easy to slip into a campaign.

Physically, DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places—which actually suits the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game—and the cartography is definitely better for the Dungeon Crawl Classics scenario than the Xcrawl Classics scenario. Similarly, the cover is very cartoony, but it still works.

DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack delivers two good scenarios for two different games, but of the two, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is the more inventive and interesting. Both are easy to add to a campaign though and both could be run as Character Funnels, though ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is probably the better of the two for that as well.

Pocket Sized Perils #6

For every Ptolus: City by the Spire or Zweihander: Grim & Perilous Roleplaying or World’s Largest Dungeon or Invisible Sun—the desire to make the biggest or most compressive roleplaying game, campaign, or adventure, there is the opposite desire—to make the smallest roleplaying game or adventure. Reindeer Games’ TWERPS (The World's Easiest Role-Playing System) is perhaps one of the earliest examples of this, but more recent examples might include the Micro Chapbook series or the Tiny D6 series. Yet even these are not small enough and there is the drive to make roleplaying games smaller, often in order to answer the question, “Can I fit a roleplaying game on a postcard?” or “Can I fit a roleplaying game on a business card?” And just as with roleplaying games, this ever-shrinking format has been used for scenarios as well, to see just how much adventure can be packed into as little space as possible. Recent examples of these include The Isle of Glaslyn, The God With No Name, and Bastard King of Thraxford Castle, all published by Leyline Press.

The Pocket Sized Perils series uses the same A4 sheet folded down to A6 as the titles from Leyline Press, or rather the titles from Leyline Press use the same A4 sheet folded down to A6 sheet as Pocket Sized Perils series. Funded via a Kickstarter campaign as part of the inaugural ZineQuest—although it debatable whether the one sheet of paper folded down counts as an actual fanzine—this is a series of six mini-scenarios designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but actually rules light enough to be used with any retroclone, whether that is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game or Old School Essentials. Just because it says ‘5e’ on the cover, do not let that dissuade you from taking a look at this series and see whether individual entries can be added to your game. The mechanics are kept to a minimum, the emphasis is on the Player Characters and their decisions, and the actual adventures are fully drawn and sketched out rather than being all text and maps.

Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is the sixth and final entry in the Pocket Sized Perils series following on from An Ambush in Avenwood, The Beast of Bleakmarsh, Call of the Catacombs, and Death in Dinglebrook, and Echoes of Ebonthul. Designed for Sixth Level Player Characters, this is essentially a fantasy version of Ocean's Eleven, a heist at a big party—rather than a casino—and up front, it is a lot of fun with all of the clichés of the genre left in and it has quite possibly the most Australian of titles! Further, the fact that it contains all of the clichés means that it is easy to run and it is easy to adapt, whether that is to another fantasy genre or roleplaying game or to another genre or roleplaying game all together.

The scenario opens on the night of a masquerade ball hosted by Ortolan, the Governor of Faratusa in honour of Sir Aroldo Tuft, who recently defeated the infamous Fire Chain Pirates and returned with the Salt-Ember Crown. Its set-up quickly throws the Player Characters into the action, with the Game Master being expected to ask their players some questions that somehow link them to Governor Ortolan, establish rumours about the Salt-Ember Crown, and explain how they got into the party, and then giving the players fifteen minutes to devise a plan to get into the vault where the Salt-Ember Crown is being held, get hold of it, and then get out of the governor’s mansion. After that, the scenario begins with the party in full swing, the masked guests enjoying themselves, and the governor’s newly installed Brass Servant automata providing both security and silver (brass) service.

After that, Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is all about whatever the Player Character want to do and how they want to go about the heist in what is a very player driven encounter. Stats and details are provided for Governor Ortolan, Sir Aroldo Tuft, and the governor’s Brass Servants, including in the case of the latter, what they do in the vent that they encounter an anomaly, such as the Player Characters being in the wrong place. There are tables two for random guests, things that the Player Characters might find in the process of searching the governor’s mansion, and for tracking increased security by the Brass Servants. Space constraints mean that the tables for both the guests and the items found are short, so the Game Master might want to expand these to add more colour and detail to the building and the party itself.

So far, so good, but the expanding and unfolding nature of design to the Pocket Sized Perils series is used to very good effect in Flaming Fandango in Faratusa. Flip through the first few pages and everything looks fine, but the first unfold opens up to reveal a fantastic map of all three floors to the governor’s mansion. Done in three dimensions, it has enough detail for the Game Master to describe each room or location in broad details, but leaves her to interpret the specifics. Overall, the look of the governor’s mansion is slightly Italianate and since it sits on the docks, it feels as if it should be in a Pirates of the Caribbean film (the scenario would be a great addition to a Pirate Borg game). Yet, Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is not done for there is one last reveal as the whole of the scenario pulls open for one last reveal. This is what is actually in the vault and the secret plans of some of the guests at the party upstairs! The revelations are anything other than astounding, but they fit the style of the scenario and its set-up to a tee.

Physically, Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is very nicely presented, being more drawn than actually written. It has a nice sense of scale and the combination of having been drawn and the cartoonish artwork with the high quality of the paper stock also gives Flaming Fandango in Faratusa a physical feel which feels genuinely good in the hand. Its small size means that it is very easy to transport.

As written, Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is a serviceable scenario, but not a standout one, since the set-up and plot are familiar. That does mean though, that it is easy to run and easy to adapt to other genres and roleplaying games. Yet Flaming Fandango in Faratusa is elevated by its format which quickly presents the Game Master with its set-up and various details before allowing the Game Master to pull it apart to reveal first the locations for the scenario and then second, the plot complications. There is a lovely sense of a story being told also in these reveals, but of course, the Player Characters are going to tell everyone ultimately, how their heist plays out. It is sad that just as the author seemed to master the format of the Pocket Size Perils, Flaming Fandango in Faratusa marked the end of the series. It is a good design with which to end the series though.

Friday Fantasy: The Magonium Mine Murders

‘Trouble down mine’ is the least of the problems facing the Player Characters in The Magonium Mine Murders, a scenario which details the many plots and mysteries that have beset the settlements of the Halbeck Valley. The kingdom in which the Halbeck Valley sits is moderately wealthy with an awareness of magic that sees it put to war in the long running conflict with the neighbouring barbarian tribes. The government is notoriously corrupt, its nobles and politicians accepting bribes and when not corrupt, likely incompetent. The war is unpopular, more so since conscript was instituted. Those workers dubbed essential are not subject to the draft and wear a magical token to indicate their exemption. This includes the workers at the mine in the Halbeck Valley where magonium ore, a rare mineral with magical properties important to the war, is dug out of the ground. Prisoners captured from the barbarian tribes are also made to work in the mines. There are reports of deaths in the mines, but the money that the actual miners are making from the extra demand for magonium has made them relatively wealthy and they are spending it in the taverns and brothel that have sprung to cater for them in a nearby village, turning it into a ‘new’ town, much to the annoyance of the villagers. There are rumours too, of bandits attacking travellers in the valley, and there is very much likely to be more than this going on, but now, there is news that Reith Alba, boss of the mine, has been found dead with a crossbow bolt in her back!

The Magonium Mine Murders is a scenario published by Gonzo History Project, better known as James Holloway, the host of the Monster Man podcast. It written for use with Old School Essentials, Necrotic Gnome’s interpretation and redesign of the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Stephen M. Marsh. Designed to be played by a party of Second to Third Level Player Characters—up to Fourth Level—it is what the author calls a ‘Cluebox’. What this really means is that it combines elements of a murder mystery with a sandbox, so a “sandbox-style murder-mystery scenario” according to the author. The scenario requires some set-up in terms of the setting, primarily the two warring kingdoms and the importance of a magical ore and its associated industrialisation. Beyond that, the plots—of which the scenario has a total of seven—are easily adaptable. For example, The Magonium Mine Murders could be run in a Science Fiction or a Wild West setting with some retheming and some renaming, or the scenario could just simply be adapted to the fantasy roleplaying game of the Game Master’s choice.

Part of that is due to the easy presentation of the content. Two pages labelled ‘What’s Going on’ sum up the scenario’s many, varied, and highly interconnected plots, followed by pages that provide detailed summaries of the Halbeck Valley, the two towns—the old and the new, the mining camp, the mine itself, and more. The information is really very well organised and accessible for the Game Master. The starting point for the scenario is the page actually called ‘Getting Started’, which offers several hooks to pull the Player Characters into its plots. These include investigating Magonium poisoning in the river, infiltrating a gambling ring, delving into the mine to determine the cause of a recent spate of accidents, and even do some debt collection! Any one of these can be used as the initial hook and then the others introduced as necessary when the Player Characters interact with the associated NPCs. Alternatively, the hooks could be tailored to specific character types. For example, a Druid Player Character could be asked to investigate the Magonium polluting the river, a Thief Player Character instructed to collect the debt, a Dwarf Fighter hired to investigate the mine, and so on. This would provide the players and their characters with more individual hooks and motivations. Of course, the main hook for the scenario is the murder of the head of the mine.

The murder site is the office of the head of the mine and is one of the few detailed locations in the scenario. The others include the ruined temple where the bandits stash their loot and some caverns under the under the mine, though the former is not as pertinent to the scenario’s plots as the latter is. The investigation is supported by a series of events that occur over the course of the investigation and by details of some fifteen NPCs. Their descriptions are thumbnail in nature and include details of what they know and any activities or reasons that the Player Characters might become suspicious of them. Each is also accompanied by a portrait. These vary in quality and style, but in general suggest that the scenario is set during the Industrial Revolution. This is followed by rules for Magonium poisoning, handling the prize fights being run in the New Town, a bestiary with full stats for the NPCs, and the various items, magical and otherwise, to be found in the scenario. The rules for handling prize fights do not add anything mechanical, even though Old School Essentials and similar retroclones are poor at handling unarmed combat. (As an option, the Game Master might want to look at Brancalonia – SpaghettiFantasy Setting Book for its non-lethal combat rules.) Rather, they add narrative detail and track the course of the prize fights—which are, of course, rigged.

Rounding out The Magonium Mine Murders is advice on running the scenario, necessary, as the author points out, since the scenario is not a natural fit to Dungeons & Dragons-style adventures with its heavy emphasis on investigation. The advice primarily consists of letting the players drive the investigation, relying upon their descriptions of what their characters are doing rather than on dice rolls and being generous with the clues to keep the story and their investigation going. This even extends to possible solutions to the various situations in the Halbeck Valley. Although there is a solution as to who committed the murder of the mine chief, how the other plotlines in the scenario are concluded is really up to the Player Characters and that is even if they engage with a particular plotline. With so many, the Player Characters may not encounter all of them and even if they do, not always follow up on them.

Overall, what The Magonium Mine Murders presents is a set of plots, places, and NPCs that the Game Master can present to her players and their characters and have them pull and push on them as they like. In places though, the Game Master is likely going to wish that there were more detail. The towns in particular are underwritten and feel as if they are in need of colour, especially New Town, which has the rough and tumble feel of a frontier town that has struck it rich. The Game Master is going to want to add some incidental NPCs and events to add colour and flavour and so enforce a sense of place. This is less of an issue in the Old Town. Similarly, the NPC descriptions are a bit tight and with so many of them, the Game Master, will need to work hard to make them stand out from each other. What this means is that the Game Master will need to do development work in addition to the usual preparation effort.

Physically, The Magonium Mine Murders is decently presented and organised. Both artwork and cartography are serviceable, and the writing is decent, if terse in places. The format of the adventure is fanzine style, but is not fanzine in the traditional sense.

The Magonium Mine Murders is an interesting attempt to combine a sandbox with a murder mystery—and it is an attempt that does work. The Game Master is certainly given enough information to run it and its numerous plots from the page, but the scenario is underwritten and lacks colour in places. What this means is that the Game Master is probably going to want to develop and flesh out some aspects of the scenario to enhance its roleplaying aspects and make it come alive, at the very least. Despite possessing a tendency toward succinctness, The Magonium Mine Murders packs a lot of play into its pages and is likely to be a decent, player-driven investigation.

Friday Fantasy: DCC Day #6 The Key to Castle Whiterock

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2025’, which took place today on Saturday, July 19th, 2025,* the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #108: The Seventh Thrall of Sekrekan. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ and ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock. Both DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock and ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst the other, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena sport and monetises it!

* The late international delivery of titles for DCC Day #6 means that these reviews are also late. Apologies.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock does come with a bit of backstory. It is a preview and adventure for Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told published by Goodman Games, which is the subject of a forthcoming crowdfunding campaign. This crowdfunding campaign brings back and updates Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock, originally published in 2007. It received its own preview for Free RPG Day, in 2007, in the form of Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock, and Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told has already been given a preview in the form of The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock, published for Free RPG Day 2025. Both Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock and Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock were written for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, but both Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock and Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told are written for use with two separate roleplaying games. These are the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock differs in that it is solely written for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is designed for a party of First Level Player Characters and designed to introduce Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told. If completed, the adventure will provide the Player Characters with a map of part of Castle Whiterock, details of one of its secrets, and some treasure, as well as some surprising allies. In doing so, they will go all the way back to Castle Whiterock’s origins as Clynnoise, a monastery that was home to the Order of the Dawning Sun, over a thousand years ago. Since that time, it has been sacked multiple times and been occupied by Orcs, cultists, a Red Dragon, and more recently, a band of slavers. In doing so, they will go all the way back to Castle Whiterock’s origins as Clynnoise, a monastery that was home to the Order of the Dawning Sun, over a thousand years ago. Since that time, it has been sacked multiple times and been occupied by Orcs, cultists, a Red Dragon, and more recently, a band of slavers. The Player Characters have set out to explore the dungeon of Castle Whiterock, but due to good fortune have come into possession of another map. This shows the location of a lone tomb in the Ul Dominor Mountains near Castle Whiterock. Deciphering the text on the map reveals that the tomb is the burial place of Reglee Callim, famed architect of the Clynnoise, and that she was buried with “[H]er wisdom, plans, and keys”. It suggests that she might have gone to her grave with notes about the building and layout of Clynnoise as well as the means to access the ancient ruins.

The adventure itself begins at the entrance as marked on the map, high up a circuitous path overlooking a valley. Beyond the entrance lies the Callim family tomb complex, a simple, two-level complex of tombs, chapels, and more, marked by sarcophagi, burial niches, and the like. There are undead and there are ghosts, just as you would expect in a tomb complex. There is also some treasure to loot, but not a great amount and barely a handful magical items. All in keeping with the low treasure rates to be expected of a Dungeon Crawl Classics scenario. However, the scenario is not just a tomb to be looted and there are a couple of good story strands to what is quite a simple dungeon. The first is that the dungeon is not infested with evil monsters, rather that the resting dead tends towards Law rather than Chaos. The second is that despite being dead for over a thousand years, the Player Characters can talk to Reglee Callim and gain some clues as to what to expect on the second level. However, whilst the third and final strand of the scenario is to be found on the second level, it is wholly unexpected. This is that the Player Characters are not the only invaders to the tomb. As the Player Characters have entered from above, a band of Goblins, lead by a would be Hobgoblin warlord, has entered from below and as the Player Characters discover, are looting from below.

The scenario offers two options in terms of how the Player Characters might react to the goblinoid presence. In classic style, they could slaughter the lot, though the band is quite large for a group of First Level Player Characters to defeat. Alternatively, the Player Characters could negotiate and even enter an alliance with the Hobgoblin warlord. For a share of the treasure, the warlord even provides several Goblins to fight alongside the Player Characters as well as to make sure their Hobgoblin boss gets her share. It brings a degree of co-operation to play that is not normally present in this style of roleplaying and often not at First Level as well as an unexpected element of roleplaying. The Hobgoblin warlord and her Goblin cohorts are nicely detailed, helping the Judge to portray them as they interact with the Player Characters.

Physically, DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places, whilst the cartography is not as interesting as that usually found in Dungeon Crawl Classics scenarios. The cover is very nicely done, showing the moment the final confrontation in the dungeon.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock has a lighter, though a not humorous, feel than most adventures for Dungeon Crawl Classics. If the Dungeon Master was willing, it is easily adapted to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition as per the guidelines given in Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock. If the scenario is lacking, it is perhaps a good hook to keep the players and their characters interested to want to explore Castle Whiterock, but as a prequel to the campaign and if a playing group has set out to play Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told, then DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is a solid addition to the campaign and sets the Player Characters with an advantage or two in readiness.

Friday Fantasy: Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord

In the heavens there is a war between the Stars, between the stars of light and darkness, and of life and consumption. The black hole stars called ‘Photovores’ seek to consume all other Stars, and where they cannot, they cajole others to steal and enslave the other Stars. They are opposed by all other Stars, led by the wise White Dwarf Stars. When a Photovore dies, its death echoes across the heavens and echoes on worlds as lightning. On the world of Zós, the death of the most evil of Photovores, Pséphtes, struck a boy and in time, the ghost of Pséphtes corrupted him and helped him become Photiós, the King known as ‘The Pantokrator’. His most loyal and fouled servants, the Corrupted Men, spread and controlled time through their Timekeepers, interfaces between space and time, from which hatched The Pantokrator’s other minions, the Spider Lords. The Pantokrator raised armies and took to the skies, murdering Stars and enslaving Planets, even personally stabbing in the heart, Ánthraka, the much beloved Moon of Zós. In response to the rise of The Pantokrator’s empire, the Stars attacked its many colonies and even Zós itself. Their mightiest weapon was Átmos, the Stellar Wind, which brought an austere nuclear winter to every world it touched. A hatred for the Stars grew in the heart of Pséphtes and his puppet, The Pantokrator, and even as they were driven back to the world of Zós, they plotted to restore their empire. Yet as they do so, the Star whose light bathes Zós is dying and there are those who plot in spite of The Pantokrator, seeking to replace the Star with something manmade, a Sun whose light and warmth can be taxed and thus fund The Pantokrator’s desire for empire again. Even then there are those who would take advantage of this plot to instigate a seemingly never ending solar eclipse and elevate themselves to sit alongside Pséphtes!

This is the background for Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord, one of the strangest of adventures for Dungeons & Dragons—for any edition, let along Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Published by Hit Point Press, it is based upon Astromythos: Book One – World Art Book, an epic mythology presented in heroic verse created by artist and author, Jon Sideriadis. Thankfully, Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord is not in heroic verse, but it is epic in scale and requirements. It is designed for a party of Tenth Level Player Characters, who by the end of the campaign, will reach Fifteenth Level. The scenario combines cosmic horror and—very—high fantasy in a universe that is biological on an astronomical scale and will see the Player Characters crossing the dead bones of a dying world and plunging quite literally into the heart and bowels of a mountain before ascending to the heavens to confront a mistress Spider Lord at the heart of her lair, from which she woven a web around the Sun and planet of Zós. All of which is depicted in stunning artwork which captures the cosmic mythology of the setting. And the Game Master is definitely going to want to show the artwork in Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord to her players, so that they can grasp the alien grandeur of the Astromythos through which their characters are journeying. (There is, though, a deck of spell and item cards, which do show off the author’s artwork, but this is a campaign or scenario that really warrants a book of artwork to show the players, a la S1 Tomb of Horrors.)

There is, though, the matter of getting the Player Characters to the start of the scenario. The suggested hooks all boil down to the Player Characters beginning the scenario in the dungeons of King Photiós’ meteor castle on Zós and their being summoned to his court to be sent on a mission. They might be natives to Zós, but there is no suggestion as to what a native of Zós might look like in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition given in Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord. The extremely otherworldly nature of Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord lends itself to it being run as if it were a shared dream, but the reality of Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord also suggests that it could be run in conjunction with any setting involving alternate planes or travel between the stars, most obviously the Planescape Campaign Setting or Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, or their more modern iterations.

At the beginning of the scenario, the Player Characters are directed by King Photiós to fetch Dulos, a man whom the rather unpleasant monarch tells them is key to the restoration of his kingdom. This requires a journey, first on a train pulled by a biomechanical heart—the Artery Railway—and then on foot through the Flayed Wood to Nanókora, a poisoned village of bone. There are few if any survivors, but Dulos is one of them, and whilst he will thank the Player Characters for rescuing him, he will also plead for their aid. He will tell them of the truth of King Photiós’ evil and that only by allowing the trees to grow once again can the world of Zós be saved from his poison. Dulos will join the Player Characters if they decide to help him—King Photiós will attempt to kill them as thanks for their help even if they decide otherwise, and Dulos will guide them through much of the rest of the scenario. Travelling under what is now a perpetual solar eclipse, Dulos directs the Player Characters up the nearby mountains to find someone who can help recultivate the trees, but when their way back down is blocked, they are forced to make a detour into the mountain itself. The caves themselves have a very organic feel and layout, though it may not necessarily be obvious to players and their characters unless they map it out.

Once they are free of the mountain, having been captured by a two-headed ogre of cratered rock and been thrown into his pot along the way in classic fantasy style, the Player Characters enter the Skeletal Wood and search for the Zenith Door, a magical door in the sky which should open at noon daily and allow travellers to be transported into orbit and beyond. However, the perpetual solar eclipse means that it remains permanently closed, so another route is needed. This is aboard a garbage barge, for which its captain which charge a fortune, but it will get the Player Characters to the heavens to first confront one Spider Lord, Lord Skurigelos, in his dead asteroid lair and then another, Lady Klevastis, his mistress in her Horned Moon Keep on the lunar surface, after having penetrated the moonflesh mines. As befitting their Spider Lords, both asteroid lair and castle are overrun by spiders and festooned with webs, although they are not the only threat that the Player Characters will face. There is the possibility of their being captured in the asteroid lair and having to escape a torture chamber, but the exploration in both locations will culminate in a confrontation with a Spider Lord. The final fight in the scenario is incredibly tough, and unless they spot and take advantage of Lady Klevastis’ weakness, there is the possibility of a total party kill. (If that happens, it is almost worth playing through this part of the scenario again, as it might emphasise the dream-like nature of Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord.)

There are some suggestions as to how to continue the scenario, which will require no little development by the Game Master, but in this and the scenario itself, the Game Master is decently supported in Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord, something that is really useful given how different the nature of the scenario really is. This includes a good overview of the background to the setting and the scenario itself, as well as a list and descriptions of the scenario’s named NPCs. The first of the scenario’s three appendices describes new magic items, the second its bestiary, and the third, its new spells. The new magic items include some fearsome weapons, like Bone Divider, a Moonflesh great axe that requires a Strength of twenty to wield, is enchanted by Tidal Force so that it knocks opponents back thirty feet with a blow, and on a natural twenty cleaves an opponent in two in a shower of sparks and stardust! The bestiary describes some twenty-seven new creatures, including ‘Clock Mites, Mites of Many Colours and Neon Corruptors of Time’, ‘Spider Ghouls, Half-Man/Half-Spider Failed Experiments of Lord Skurigelos’, and ‘Star-Slayers, Dreaded Warriors of the Pantokrator King and Superhuman Slayers of Stars’, some of which should find their way into other cosmic or planar settings for Dungeons & Dragons.

Physically, Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord is incredibly well presented with fantastic artwork that will amaze the reader. Depictions of things such as ‘Opticos, Asteroid Abomination, Lord of the Opticons and the Spies of Photovóros’, all blue-grey and beautiful eyes looking in different directions, is genuinely creepy, even Gilliam-esque, whilst elsewhere, there is a dark religiosity to the artwork.

Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord is a linear scenario, one that is not difficult to run, but given the fearsome nature of many of the foes, difficult to overcome by the players and their characters. It is also difficult, or at least awkward, to add to a campaign easily, given the cosmic nature of its fantasy. Running it as a dream is likely the easiest way, since it requires the least explanation and will have the least effect upon an ongoing campaign, and it can be run alongside an existing campaign. In whatever way a Game Master decides to run it, Astromythos: Lair of the Spider Lord is a genuinely fantastical scenario played out on an astronomical-biomechanical scale with some amazing imagery.

[Free RPG Day 2025] A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. 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. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

—oOo—

A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a scenario for Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting published by 1985 Games. Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass is designed to be played using Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and describes itself as ‘leisure fantasy’, in which the Player Characters do go on adventures, but take the time to ‘stop and smell the roses’, to regard the world around them and its wonders, and interact with the fairytale creatures that might live next door or up a mountain. It is a ‘lo-fi’ setting that takes as its primary influence as the anime films of Studio Ghibli, in particular, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and sets in a version of eighties Japan. The result combines the modernism of the rise of the Electronic Age with Japanese folklore and fantasy in a rural island setting. A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is designed for two to four Player Characters of Third Level.

A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure opens with the Player Characters completing a hike to the base of Mount Arbora and the village of Dorrin. Mount Arbora is also home to Jumaga, the Sky Salamander, one of the three great beasts of Obojima. Islanders from all across Obojima to Mount Arbora to make the difficult ascent and leave something of value on the Ledge of Offering, in the hope of appeasing Jumaga. Most of Dorrin’s income comes from the Rockwinders, guides who take people up the mountain, although recently, Dorrin Plate, a common stone that can be broken into sheets and used as roofing tiles, crockery, and building materials, has been discovered to be also good for enhancing the magic properties of potions. Not every Rockwinder, or indeed, visitor to Dorrin, is entirely honest or scrupulous, and some do visit the Ledge of Offering to steal and sell the most valuable items left there.

The Player Characters are approached by a clearly distressed brother and sister. She will explain that they have been robbed by a gaggle of Harpy thugs who stole their money and the family heirloom they were planning to place on the Ledge of Offering following the death of their father. The Player Characters can ask around about the Harpies and their boss, and will quickly learn the location of their hideout, a rusty old pickup on a nearby cliff. In other settings, the Harpies would be portrayed as thoroughly evil creatures, but whilst they are Neutral Evil in Alignment, in A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure, they are depicted as teenagers, wearing shorts and tee-shirts, more bullies than true villains. This sets the tone for the adventure, not without confrontation, but certainly less combative.

The second part of the adventure focuses on the climb up to the Ledge of Offering, first in hiring a Rockwinder and then in making the climb. Two Rockwinders are given, one of whom is less scrupulous than the other, so the Player Characters had better make the right choice! The Player Characters will confront the Harpies’ boss, but before that they will have a few encounters up the mountain. Some of these are quite fun, even a little silly, such as being swarmed by a flock of chicken spirits or being joined by Buttercup, a goat spirit, who is not only very chatty, but also has no break between her inner and outer voices—so she should be fun for the Game Master to portray. Others are more dangerous and so the Game Master should mix and match. Ultimately, the Player Characters will get to place the brother and sister’s family heirloom on the Ledge of Offering and survey what has been left before. The adventure does explore the possibility that one or more Player Characters might actually want to steal from the Ledge of Offering, and certainly several of the items are actually worth sealing, but such a course of action is not without its consequences. The adventure ends with the confrontation with Big Bonnie, the Harpies’ boss.

Physically, A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a very good looking scenario. The artwork is excellent, whether in line drawing and full colour, imparting a delightful sense of place and wonder. The scenario is well written and comes to a close with a short explanation of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.

A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a thoroughly charming and engaging scenario. There is a lovely sense of whimsy to it from start to finish, and it does a good job of showcasing both setting and tone of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.

Friday Fantasy: Dread Shores & Black Horizons

The world stands on the precipice of doom and those dedicated to the forces of darkness that lie beyond the veil, long ripping at the walls that separate them from the mortal realms, claw at the boundaries that have kept them imprisoned for time immemorial tear at them with renewed vigour. The news refreshes anew the ambitions of their servants, members of cults dedicated to the ‘Dark One’, as they congregate to sing and sacrifice to their master… As the omens gather and signal his return, the Archivist Order rush to investigate. Perhaps to gather the knowledge to prevent his return, perhaps to gather the knowledge necessary to welcome his return. The order launched an expeditionary fleet to set sail form the southern peninsula of the Wracked Coast away to the Arcana of the Temples in the East, on the sixth day of its voyage, the second ship of the expeditionary fleet was caught in raging storm in the ice waters of the Maelstrom. Neither the skill of her sailors nor the sturdiness of her hull was enough for the ship to avoid being dashed ashore at the base of a rocky island on the archipelago that was not marked on any map. Thrown into the sea or picked up by the one boat that rowed free of the wreckage, the few survivors find themselves at an ancient carved landing from which narrow, steep steps cut their way through the rock to the top of the island.

This is the beginning of Dread Shores & Black Horizons, a scenario published by Archon Games. Originally funded via a Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #4, its production values have been elevated beyond that of a simple fanzine. And even then, it is very much a scenario and not a fanzine in the traditional sense. It is a systems-agnostic grim, dark fantasy that could be run in a very minimalist fashion with the included Player Characters and the Game Master improvising, it could be adapted to the fantasy roleplaying game of the Game Master’s choice. There is almost not a single fantasy roleplaying game which Dread Shores & Black Horizons could be adapted to, from Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy and ShadowDark to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition and the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. The provided Player Characters, each accompanied by an illustration, includes an eager relic hunter, a seasoned and patient guide and tracker, a loyal guard, an out of their element scribe, a steadfast boatman, and an astronomer with a dark secret.

Once the Player Characters reach the top, they discover a sparse garden and a beacon tower… The door to the tower is locked and the single inhabitant, later to be revealed to be a bruised, battered, and crotchety old man, refuses to let them in. The question is, if this is a beacon tower, why was it not lit when the ship the Player Characters were aboard sailed past? Once the Player Characters get to talk to the beacon keeper, he will explain that its wick will not stay alight and the oil has run out. He will suggest that they descend the steps at the rear of the island to the storerooms there to get more. The way down is blocked by barnacles, but once past these, the storerooms prove strangely to be empty of the needed supplies. Perhaps they could have been taken through the grate in the floor that the beacon keeper kindly provided the key to? Unlocking the grate and descending deeper into the island reveals that it is not a beacon station to warn ships during storms, but a prison for Siren, a Fiend of the Dark One, one that will taunt the Player Characters even as they scramble to gather supplies and escape the thralls that protect the fiend. Fortunately, the Player Characters can escape their clutches and get back to the beacon tower. They need to persuade the beacon keeper to let them in and actually repair the beacon, but it can be kept burning throughout the night, even as the thralls clamour at the door to the beacon tower. Whilst they cannot get in, there is nothing to stop the cultists who arrive in the morning in answer to the call of the fiend below the island. At which point, the Player Characters have a choice. Swear fealty to the Dark One and live or refuse and die…

And that really is it as far as Dread Shores & Black Horizons goes. It is so straightforward as to be described as linear and there really is very little that the Player Characters can do to affect the outcome. There is a hint of something unsettling to the bleakness of the setting, but the scenario never really develops that, never puts the Player Characters in peril over the course of the night, never has the thralls climbing the walls to capture them or the Siren taunt them from below. Perhaps it could be run as a character piece, focusing on the interaction between the pre-generated Player Characters, but their backgrounds do not include details of their knowledge of each other, let alone their relationships, and only one of them has a secret.

Physically, Dread Shores & Black Horizons is very well presented. The scenario itself is short, but packed with decent artwork and maps, all in black and white. It comes in a boxed set that includes a large cloth map giving a cross section of the island that is not in the book and a sheaf of seventeen cards that give the character details and illustrations as in the book, maps—unmarked for the player and marked for the Game Master, and a cross section of the island from the cloth map. Yet whilst it is clearly written, it is overwritten in terms of its directions and advice for the Game Master, yet often underwritten in terms of its explanation.

With its high production values, Dread Shores & Black Horizons promises a lot. It is certainly an eye-catching boxed scenario. However, the intriguing promise of its stark black and white look and hints of horror, remained disappointingly unfulfilled with its underwhelming plotting and character design. There is potential here for a session’s worth of cramped and uneasy tension against a growing sense of dread as a horror slithers up from inside the island where it was imprisoned, to taunt and terrorise the shipwrecked survivors. Yet not as written and not as developed. The high production values of Dread Shores & Black Horizons means that it deserves—or needs—a re-write or more development to really live up to them, but until that happens or a Game Master does the work herself, it remains a bafflingly missed opportunity.

Friday Fantasy: Temple of the Forgotten Depths

Dreams of a beautiful dark-skinned woman asking to be returned to the ocean and a temple hidden within its depths. A local coastline being beset by deadly storms and attacks by monsters and spirits which rise from the deep. A scholar wanting to visit an ancient subaquatic site as part of his research and asking the adventurers to help him locate it. A strange bleaching is spreading along the coast, destroying ships, marking fish stocks, and spreading panic, and merchants want to hire some to determine the cause and put an end to it. An ancient, underwater temple is said to be home to a great jewel called the Ocean Jewel, said to grant great powers to the user when at sea or under the water. One, more, or all of these are reasons to visit the ‘Temple of the Forgotten Depths’, an ancient temple said to have collapsed into the sea decades ago and become a beacon for drowned souls and those who would turn upon any and all seafarers! They are also the hooks for Temple of Forgotten Depths.

Temple of the Forgotten Depths is an adventure written for use with ‘5E+’, so Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and Dungeons & Dragons 2024. It is a playtest adventure, the first, in an anthology of scenarios published by No Short Rests! called One Room One Shots. Each entry in the collection is a short adventure themed around a single room or structure and intended to be slotted readily into a campaign or more readily, played in a single session with either no preparation or preparation required beforehand. This might be because some of a group’s players are unable to attend; because they want to play, but not want to commit to a longer scenario or campaign; or because a group wants to introduce new players to the roleplaying game. Temple of the Forgotten Depths is written for a group of Player Characters of Fifth Level. The scenario has no other requirements beyond this and its setting, but knowledge of the Aquan language will be useful or any ability to speak other languages.

However they are drawn to the ‘Temple of the Forgotten Depths’, the Player Characters begin the encounter after having swum down from the surface, having imbibed a Potion of Water Breathing. However, once inside the temple, apart from certain locations, they will not need this as there is air. The temple is a giant dome constructed of stone and coral that is no longer as magnificent as it once was. This is due to the coral having been bleached through exposure to corruption and this bleaching has not only affected some of the inhabitants of the temple, it can also affect the Player Characters like a cosmetic curse. The location of the temple’s treasure, the Ocean Jewel is easy to discern, but getting to it is less obvious. Although they will receive some hints from an intriguing variant of the mermaid drawn from African mythology, the Player Character’ progress will be hampered by the temple itself corrupted as it is from dark influences and that dark influence’s attempts to stop them. Throughout the scenario there are some encounters with some nicely thematic monsters like the Drowned Ones, the spirits of those who died at sea, and the malign influence behind the temple’s corruption. In this, any Warlock should beware. Contact with this malign influence may result in the Warlock’s pact suddenly shifting, though this is not explored in the scenario.

Penultimately, the Player Characters will get within sight of the Ocean Jewel, but to get to it with any ease, they will need to solve three highly thematic and decent puzzles. This will enable access to the Ocean Jewel, but not before the threat at the heart of the scenario and the threat to the temple reveals itself. The climax of the scenario is a big boss fight against the Hydra of the Deep, a huge monstrosity with multiple Hit Points per head, its own Mythos Actions, which escalate into Legendary Actions if it loses two many heads! It is an appropriately challenging fight for both the environment and the scenario. Once the creature is defeated, the Player Characters can decide what to do with the Ocean Jewel. Several options are given for this and they are discussed in detail. Temple of the Forgotten Depths comes to a close with full stats and descriptions for all of its monsters and creatures and details of the magical items that can be found in the adventure.

However, one option not discussed in Temple of the Forgotten Depths in detail is what happens if a Warlock Player Character is forced into a Pact of the Deep through prolonged contact or another Player Character is affected by a Pact of the Deep. It is suggested that there is the possibility of such a pact turning that Player Character—Warlock or not—against the other Player Characters. These are only suggestions though and it would have been useful to have been given advice and mechanics on what has the potential to be an exciting turn of events.

Physically, Temple of the Forgotten Depths is well presented. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is excellent, and the maps of the temple are clear and easy to use. If there is an issue with Temple of the Forgotten Depths, it is that the text is small, making it a challenge to read!

Temple of the Forgotten Depths delivers a solid, enjoyably thematic scenario for a good session’s worth of play. It is presented as a playtest adventure, but in truth, Temple of the Forgotten Depths is ready to play, whether that is as a one-shot for an evening or an encounter for a campaign, and ready to play with a minimum of effort.

Friday Fantasy: Terror in the Streets

Terror in the Streets is perhaps one of the most mundane scenarios written for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay in recent times. In fact, there is nothing outré, weird, or even profane in the scenario, that is, unless the Game Master decides that is what she wants it to include. In which case, the scenario provides options to add aplenty. Otherwise, the Game Master could run it simply as a straight historical scenario and her players would be none the wiser that it is written for a fantasy roleplaying game with a certain reputation. Similarly, the author of Terror in the Streets breaks his track record of doing bad things with typically big things inspired by his childhood toys to English villages in the 1630s. Instead, he shifts the action to Paris and sets it against the background of the city’s political and religious turmoil as the Player Characters are hired to investigate the disappearances of a number of children from across the city. Yet despite that mundanity, Terror in the Streets is a terrific scenario, rich in historical detail background—decent enough to serve as the backdrop for further adventures in the city during the seventeenth century—and rife with real and interesting historical figures for the Player Characters to interact with, including the greatest and most powerful political figure of his age. However, Terror in the Streets suffers from a truly terrible problem of its own, one that can be almost, but not quite completely, be blamed upon the author. It cannot, though, be forgiven.

Terror in the Streets is published by Lamentations ofthe Flame Princess and fulfils a brief that was given to the author as, “Jack the Ripper, but 250 years early.” It is a murder mystery—inspired by historical events of thirty years before, the ‘Werewolf of Châlons’—involving the disappearances and then deaths of initially, four children from the streets of Paris. It is quickly followed by more as the rate of disappearances and deaths accelerates, driving the Player Characters to investigate ever deeper in an attempt to stop further murders and whatever it is that the murderer is planning. Clearly, Paris has a serial killer stalking its streets and alleyways, one who like Jack the Ripper did in London two-hundred-and-fifty-years later, taunts the authorities with a series of letters that hint at his motivations. Ostensibly, the Player Characters are hired by a Deputy Provost, one of several city officials reporting to the Provost of Paris, the king’s representative and governor of the city, though other set-ups are possible. The adventure opens on November 7th, 1630, and will be over by November 18th. The Player Characters have the freedom of the city to investigate as they like, first the deaths and then the letters. Similarly, the players are free to approach the investigation how they want and the scenario facilitates that with a very clean layout that makes everything easy to find by the Game Master and by not having the players roll for their characters to find clues. Instead, the focus is on interpreting them and using them to further the investigation and the story.

However, there is one issue that will hamper the Player Characters’ investigation—Paris. Getting around Paris is difficult, a city just two square miles, but threaded through with narrow streets and alleyways that makes getting anywhere slow and occasionally difficult, and this despite the fact that there are numerous taxi services that run throughout the city. Then there are the Parisians, who will grow increasingly fractious and give themselves over to mob rule, which will ultimately lead to city offices closing, Paris being shut down, and martial law being declared. This tension is measured through an ‘Unrest Die’, a large—ideally, the largest that the Game Master has—six-sided die which sits in the middle of the table where the players can see it. As the tension rises, the Game Master will adjust the die to the new face indicating the increase in tension. Thus, the players will be aware of the tension in both narrative terms, as portrayed by the Game Master, and in mechanical terms. It is, as the author acknowledges, very similar to the ‘Escalation Die’ used to track the degree of action in Pelgrane Press’ 13th Age.

The investigation is neatly organised into tautly detailed little scenes that are clearly presented on the page making each and every easy for the Game Master to run and expound upon as necessary. The smaller scenes are typically with the families of the missing children and thus pertinent to the exploration, whilst the longer, more detailed scenes and locations tend to be red herrings—a potential werewolf attack and the search of a townhouse belonging to the wizard, Alain de la Mare.* Much like the rest of the scenario, these scenes can be played mundane or magical. Thus, for the encounter with the werewolf if magic factors into the campaign, this yes, it is werewolf, but if the campaign is mundane, then the werewolf is a fake. The Author does give advice on the Player Character use of spells to gain information, in case they decide to go down that route. Ultimately, the efforts of the Player Characters’ investigation will reveal that Armand Jean du Plessis, First Duke of Richelieu, also known as Cardinal Richelieu, is connected to the murders, but how? There is potential at the end of the scenario for the Player Characters to actually gain a degree of influence over the most powerful man in France, for good or ill. They could actually change history here if the ‘Day of the Dupes’ does not end in the way it did in our history! That said, apart from these scant few hours when the Player Characters can leverage their knowledge into a proper favour, Cardinal Richelieu is described as constantly playing fourth dimensional Chess and will always be a step or three in front of whatever they have cooked up.

* Yes, this really is who you think it is meant to be. Just not living in Northampton.

The scenario is very well appointed and the Game Master ably supported. Besides the description and map of Paris, there are full stats and details of Cardinal Richelieu, details of the various taxi companies operating in the city, and a full discussion of the possible outcomes to the scenario.

There are also the various letters sent by the perpetrators as handouts, rare in a fantasy roleplaying game, and a table of encounters. For the most part, there are no stats provided for these, so the Game Master will need to provide these herself.

Lastly, Terror in the Streets closes with a quintet of appendices. The first, ‘La Perfide Angleterre’ provides an optional event involving an English spymaster who wants the Player Characters to smuggle a ring out from a prisoner currently being held in the Grand Châlet, which is also the headquarters of the Provost of Paris. The English spymaster simply calls himself ‘W’, so could be Sir Francis Walsingham as the appendix suggests. Which is odd, because Walsingham has been dead for forty years when the scenario starts. The second appendix gives a full description of the Grand Châlet, whilst the third is potentially the most fun. ‘Musketeers’ gives stats and details of the main characters from Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay and thus other retroclones. It opens up the possibility of Terror in the Streets being as a one-shot as an investigation in the style of The Three Musketeers using the given characters, but it also suggests that Terror in the Streets could be run using other roleplaying games set in the swashbuckling period, such as Musketeers vs. Cthulhu: A Simple Nightfall RPGBook, AllFor One: Régime Diabolique, Swordpoint: A Swashbuckling Roleplaying Zine, and Miseries & Misfortunes – Book 1: Roleplaying in 1648 France, though the scenario will require some historical adjustment as it is set in 1648 rather than 1630. The fourth appendix, ‘Comment t’appelles-tu?’ provides a list of ready names for NPCs in the scenario, whilst the firth appendix, ‘Maison Richelieu’, which describes the home of Cardinal Richelieu, should the Player Characters ever need to visit (or break in).

Physically, Terror in the Streets is very well presented. The artwork has a slightly scratchy, cartoonish quality to it, but is still decent, and the cartography is good.

So, what of its utterly awful problem? Terror in the Streets—beginning with the acronym for its title—contains a profusion of puns and bad humour that in places does not so much veer as leer into slightly poor taste. To be clear, this is no Asterion or Beware the Mindfuck, so not utterly tasteless, but the schoolboy humour and dad jokes of Terror in the Streets gets wearisome very quickly. That said, in comparison to both Asterion and Beware the Mindfuck, let there be no doubt that Terror in the Streets is a work of profound genius and skill.

Humour aside—and there is a lot to put aside—Terror in the Streets is a very good scenario, an engaging murder mystery with lots of historical flavour and detail and options to run with or without magic, depending on how fantastical the Game Master’s campaign actually is. The scenario is well written, well presented, and well, one of the best scenarios for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay.

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DISCLAIMER: The author of this review is an editor who has edited titles for Lamentations of the Flame Princess on a freelance basis. He was not involved in the production of this book and his connection to both publisher and author has no bearing on the resulting review.

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Lamentations of the Flame Princess will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 30th to Sunday June 1st, 2025.