Goodman Games Gen Con Annual XI

Since 2013, Goodman Games, the publisher of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic has released a book especially for Gen Con, the largest tabletop hobby gaming event in the world. That book is the Goodman Games Gen Con Program Book, a look back at the previous year, a preview of the year to come, staff biographies, community content, and a whole lot more, including adventures and lots of tidbits and silliness. The first was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book, but not being able to pick up a copy from Goodman Games when they first attended UK Games Expo in 2019, the first to be reviewed was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book. Fortunately, a little patience and a copy of the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book was located and reviewed, so since 2021, normal order has been resumed with the Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Guide, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, and Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston.

With both Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, the series had begun to chart a new direction. Each volume would contain a mix of support for the various RPGs published by Goodman Games and the content published by the Goodman Games community, but the major feature of each volume would be a tournament scenario, staged the previous year at Gen Con. Unfortunately, events caught up with the eighth entry in the series, Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named, as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to adjust, which of course, included Goodman Games. The result was that the traditional Gen Con Program Guide became a ‘Yearbook’ and this trend has continued since with the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook and the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook. However, it has shifted ever so slightly again with a name change the book in the line, Goodman Games Yearbook #11.

Goodman Games Yearbook #11 looks back at 2023 for the publisher and opens on a more reflective, even mournful note than is usual for the regular annual or Gen Con Program Guide. In turn, various members of the Goodman Games team look back at the year past, starting with Joseph Goodman, noting the year’s highlights, changes, and so on. Joseph Goodman examines how he has made the switch from running the publisher fulltime rather than as a ‘hobby’ job and made a concerted effort to look at the trends in the hobby, whilst Jen Brinkman discusses the shift to Goodman Games having its own dedicated warehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana, along with Harley Stroh. (This move has its own article later in the book, ‘News Flash: Goodman Games Moves To Our Own Warehouse!’, which also introduces the warehouse mascot, ‘Bricky’.) Michael Curtis and Chris Doyle look at the development and output of Goodman Games for Dungeon Crawl Classics and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, respectively, whilst Brendan Lasalle gives a short history of Xcrawl and the success of the Xcrawl Classics Kickstarter campaign as well as overview of the activities of Goodman Games Road Crew for the year. This is the cadre of Judges who run games for Goodman Games at game shops and conventions, and are in many ways the public face of the company, and it is further supported by both ‘Ten Years of Road Crew Art’ and ‘2023 Poster Design Contest’, both of which look back at Goodman Games’ art. Rick Maffei talks about the end of the Goodman Games YouTube series, Talking TSR, and the start of the new series, The 50 Greatest Classic Adventures of All Time. These look like great series, the one worth going back to and the other beginning of.

The reflections come to a close on a sad note, with Goodman Games Yearbook #11 remembering the deaths of three stalwarts of the hobby, noted for their contributions to the hobby and in one way or another, the Old School Renaissance. They are in turn, Russ Nicolson, who was previously interviewed in Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named; Jennel Jaquays, noted designer of The Dark Tower and The Caverns of Thracia, both originally published by Judges Guild and since republished by Goodman Games; and James M. Ward, best known for the creation of the first Science Fiction roleplaying game, Metamorphosis Alpha: Fantastic Role-Playing Game of Science Fiction Adventures on a Lost Starship.

The first gaming entry in Goodman Games Yearbook #11 with ‘DCC Gen Con Funnel Experience Adventure: The Forsaken Vault of the Crimson Oracle’. Written by Brendan LaSalle, this is a ‘Funnel Experience’, intended as a means to introduce new players to Dungeon Crawl Classics using Zero Level characters. For the Player Characters, it begins with the appearance of a giant colossus, bursting up through the earth, in West Mauldeen, a remote farming village, opening a maw into which tip the remains of the village and its inhabitants—both living and dead! Awoken and thrown from their beds, the ordinary survivors find themselves in a cavern filled with the dead and the buildings they once lived in, facing a demon! The scenario is short, direct, and deadly, but has some really entertaining encounters, such as with ‘Gallyjacks’, Dwarves and Humans being ridden by one-inch-tall humanoids called Prizetakers (who come from the City of the Prize-takers) as if they pirate ships and from which they can launch boarding parties on the Player Characters; a surprisingly helpful goat; and a dying ‘giant’ head, which might be helpful if a way can be found to save him. There are opportunities too, for quite a lot of treasure to be found. The scenario is a lot of fun and will work as a demonstration scenario as well.

Both Dungeon Crawl Classics and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition are catered for with ‘Two More Old School Traps’ by Chris Doyle and converted by Mihailo Tešić. Inspired by Original Adventures Reincarnated #8: Grimtooth’s Old School Traps, the two traps here are detailed and dirty, nasty affairs. The first of the two, ‘The HyStairical Trap’, is also inspired by DCC #106, Trials of the Trapmaster’s Tomb and is a set of stairs that is trapped not once but three times. First, by a pressure plate that releases oil to make the stairs slippery, second by a pressure plate that releases laughing gas, and third, a pit which is really hard to avoid given the effects of the first two! ‘Whole Lotta Pit Traps’ is quite simple, five pit traps on top of each other and each one deadlier than the one above…

The scenario for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in Goodman Games Yearbook #11 is William Fischer’s ‘Chains of the Conflagrator’. This is an expansion to Jennell Jaquay’s Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower, very much a classic, but highly thematic dungeon. It is designed for four to six Ninth Level Player Characters and intended to be played in a single session. They encounter Argun the Conflagrator, an ancient red dragon who terrorised the lands far to the south of Mitra’s Fist, the location for the ‘Dark Tower’. He has been long been imprisoned by cultists dedicated to Set and asks the Player Characters to free him. The main part of the scenario takes place in his lair where the Player Characters must survive the volcano environment and find a way to free him. It is a big and enjoyably bold encounter and adds a pleasing side quest to a classic game, but which could also be added another dungeon without any difficulty. It is supported with several new monsters devoted to Set.

Marc Bruner takes us back to ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’ in The Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book with ‘The Return Of Dinosaur Crawl Classics!’. This presents a new Character Class for the setting which is based on that of Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex. This is the Protoceratops, a highly intelligent ceratopsian, which is also curious, peaceful, and psionic. They record knowledge on stone using their highly dextrous beaks, are good translators and negotiators and so serve as diplomat, and have psionic powers such as Rustling Brush which camouflages the user and Strengthen Bonds of social connections, new abilities also given here. There is a quick guide to converting the psionics from Mutant Crawl Classics to ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’. This is a solid addition to the setting, but just like its original inclusion in The Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, it really makes the reader wish that it was a proper setting with a book of its own. It is followed by ‘From The Vault: New Mutations

For Your MCC Campaign’, in which Erica Barlow, Julian Bernick, James Pozenel, and Skeeter Green give yet more mutations for Mutant Crawl Classics, including Acid Generation, Bio Boost, Salvage Savant, and Warp Reality.

Throughout, as is the norm for all entries in the series, Goodman Games Yearbook #11 includes photographs from various conventions that the publisher and its representatives attended over the case of 2024. This, of course, includes Gen Con 2023, but also includes Gameholecon, Garycon, and many more. They are not as profusive as in more recent issues of the program guide and are threaded throughout the supplement rather than in blocks. This makes the events themselves and Goodman Games’ presence feel a little more peripheral than in past years, which is obviously not the actual case. ‘DCC Day’ is, of course, special for Goodman Games and so gets its own article with ‘DCC DAY 2023’ highlighting the great releases on the day. The publisher’s presence at Gen Con is dominated by the Goodman Games booth, which always has a physical presence. For Gen Con 2023, this was with a Wizard Tower Dice Tower Podium and its creation—as have the creation of other features have been charted in previous volumes of the Gen Con Program Guide/Yearbook—is enjoyably detailed by Wayne Snyder in ‘Building The Wizard Tower Dice Podium’. Lastly, the Goodman Games community and their contributions are highlighted in ‘The 2023 Goodie Awards: Our Annual Thank You To The Community!’. This brings the program guide to a close by bringing many names in the community to the reader’s attention and what they give. It brings the Goodman Games Yearbook #11 to a fitting close.

Physically, the Goodman Games Yearbook #11 is a slim affair, in keeping with the current reduced format of the series. It is well presented, a pleasing read, and full of very good artwork.

There are really two strands to the Goodman Games Yearbook #11—community and content to game with. Although it feels very much like there is more of the former than the latter, both are engaging and entertaining, capturing another year of Goodman Games and giving some fun gaming content too.

—oOo—

Goodman Games will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 30th to Sunday June 1st, 2025.

Goodman Games Gen Con Annual X

Since 2013, Goodman Games, the publisher of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic has released a book especially for Gen Con, the largest tabletop hobby gaming event in the world. That book is the Goodman Games Gen Con Program Book, a look back at the previous year, a preview of the year to come, staff biographies, community content, and a whole lot more, including adventures and lots of tidbits and silliness. The first was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book, but not being able to pick up a copy from Goodman Games when they first attended UK Games Expo in 2019, the first to be reviewed was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book. Fortunately, a little patience and a copy of the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book was located and reviewed, so since 2021, normal order has been resumed with the Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Guide, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, and Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston.

With both Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, the series had begun to chart a new direction. Each volume would contain a mix of support for the various RPGs published by Goodman Games and the content published by the Goodman Games community, but the major feature of each volume would be a tournament scenario, staged the previous year at Gen Con. Unfortunately, events caught up with the eighth entry in the series, Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named, as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to adjust, which of course, included Goodman Games. The result was that the traditional Gen Con Program Guide became a ‘Yearbook’ and this trend has continued since with the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook and the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook.

The Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook opens with a traditional look back at the previous year, which saw the continued return to Gen Con and the expansion and professionalisation of the company and also company owner, Joseph Goodman’s philosophy of Gen Con as “the full expression of the Goodman Games brand.” and the fun of playing games. This includes the creation of the Ziggurat and the Wizard Van, both of which have become features of the company’s presence at both the Gen Con and Origins gaming conventions. They also have their own features elsewhere in the book. In turn, Joseph Goodman, Michael Curtis, Chris Doyle, and Brendan Lasalle take a look back at the year, highlighting what the publisher put out in the last twelve months and the company’s return to the convention stage, marking what was a return to form with titles as Dungeon Crawl Classics #101: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen and Dungeon Crawl Classics #100: The Music of the Spheres is Chaos, funding Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower, and organising Dungeon Crawl Classics #104: Return to the Starless Sea as a tournament. ‘Returning To The Community Of Gen Con DCC’ by Harley Stroh follows this strand in celebrating the joy of returning to play at the event.

Art and how they look has always played a big part of the books that Goodman Games publish and highlighting this has always been part of the publisher’s Gen Con Program Guides and the Gen Con Year Books. The Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook is no exception, but there is an element sadness in the fact that it mirrors the artistic content in the previous volume in the series, the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook, as it both notes the death of an artist who contributed numerous covers to its books and interviews another artist. Thus it says, ‘Goodbye, Ken Kelly’ to the late Ken Kelly and conducts ‘An Interview With Sanjulián’, in both cases showcasing their art and their contribution to the Goodman Games look.

Goodman Games is also well known for the extra dice it uses in both the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, as well as the more recent Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game. The Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook embraces this as it takes a silly turn and suggests ways in which the eleven-sided die from Impact Miniatures can be used. Thus, in ‘Take It To 11!’ by Michael Curtis gives two new tables, one ‘The Quick And Dirty Foe Description Table’, the other, ‘The Weird Property Of That Thing You Just Found Table’, whilst separately, Chris Doyle offers two further tables in ‘d11 Fates for 5E’. These two include the bonuses to be gained from inserting coins into an altar dedicated to Myna, the Goddess of Luck, with better coins donated increasing the likelihood of a blessing rather than a curse, whilst ‘The Pool of Life’ has table of healing results for a fountain found in ancient ruins. To be fair, all four tables will work with both the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, though the entries in ‘d11 Fates for 5E’ require a little bit of set-up to use. Of course, four tables dedicated to an eleven-sided die does not seem sufficient. Surely, the number of tables should also have gone up to eleven?

‘When Tolls the Bell of Ruin’ is the first of two adventures in the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook. It is a scenario for a party of four to six First Level Player Characters for Dungeon Crawl Classics which begins with the Player Characters responding to the ominous tolling of a bell that has rung out across the land and instilled a sense of dread in all. It has been traced to an ancient monastery of muted monks and as the Player Characters investigate this isolated facility, they will potentially trigger the further tolling of the bell. The bell is actually the Bell of Ruin and whenever it rings, the monastery and the surrounding land are beset by a calamity. These begin with a constant chill and greyness enshrouding the land in a permanent twilight and escalate into everyone suffering rashes of boils, flames randomly striking the ground, and so on. The fun here is that the players will be rolling to see when the bell actually tolls. In between the peal of the bell, the adventure has a pleasingly quiet eeriness to it, the monastery silent and monks strangely missing. Inspired by the Conan the Adventurer cartoon, this is a solid adventure that is easy to add to almost any campaign.

The Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook details four monsters, not once but twice. First for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and then for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. They include the Humming-Wasp Swarm, a creature actually from the Terra A.D. setting of Mutant Crawl Classics whose drone stupefies and then enslaves victims into collecting harvests for the insects; the Shroud Ghoul which shoots gobs of caustic bile from its nose; the Shroud Phantom, undead that looks like burial shroud and suffocates it victims; and the Tri-Crystalline, a crystalline humanoid with three faces, each one of a different alignment that performs particular missions according to the alignment of the face that is awake. The Humming-Wasp Swarm is done as a fantasy version for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but even the Mutant Crawl Classics version can be used in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Otherwise these are very serviceable monsters.

The Goodman Games’ creative efforts at Gen Con in the past have shown us how the famous Ziggurat was created. Here, ‘A Wizard Van Is Summoned...’ shows how the infamous Goodman Games Wizard Van was modified, reupholstered, and fitted with furniture so as to be suitable to host games at the events where it appeared, whilst in ‘The Original Doom Beard’, Dieter Zimmerman not only provides stats for the Wizard Van (as ‘GG Joe Wizard Vandroid’), but also for its creator! This is followed by ‘Interview With The Mask Maker’ by Tim Wadzinski, who talks to professional mask maker Jordyn Boci, the creator of the masks worn at the convention by some of the Goodman Games staff. ‘The Original Doom Beard’ is, of course, another piece of silliness, but together these three pieces show some of the thought and processes that go into the creation of these items that at the show add to Goodman Games’ presence.

The second scenario in the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook is ‘Secret of the Slayer’s Sword’ by Alex Kurowski. This is designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and a party of four to six, Twelfth Level Player Characters, and it can be run as a sequel to Fifth Edition Fantasy #5 Into the Dragons Maw. However, it does have quite a complicated backstory that the Player Characters will need to be aware of, but what it boils down to is that Dracusa, a half-green Dragon Medusa, in her continued attempt to prove herself worthy of her draconic half, is hunting for a legendary sword, Vritrastrike, capable of delivering a mortal wound to any dragon. The adventure, set in a Mesoamerican style country, quickly gets the Player Characters to the shrine where the sword rests. The shrine consists of two big encounters, one quite a challenging puzzle, the other a big bruising battle with Dracusa. Success will reward the Player Characters with some fantastic treasure. ‘Secret of the Slayer’s Sword’ is a short, one session affair though nicely detailed. Given its detail and setting, it will require some adjustment to fit into a campaign, and although it states that it does not have to be run after Fifth Edition Fantasy #5 Into the Dragons Maw, to get the best out of the scenario, it really should be as it does feel like the second and concluding part.

Goodman Games has always been highly supportive of its community and showcases their activities in every issue of the ‘program guide’ or ‘yearbook’. The Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook is no exception and dotted throughout its pages are numerous photographs from the events at which there was a Goodman Games presence. These include Gary Con 2022, Kublacon 2022, Origins 2022, and others, as well as Gen Con 2022 itself. There is also the results of the ‘2022 Bumper Sticker Design Contest’, ‘Gen Con Signage’, and in ‘Inkburn!’, even shows how Hector Cruz, a fan of regular Goodman Games artist, Doug Kovacs, got him to draw a tattoo for him, and the ‘Twitch Shows Of 2022’, in which Alana Thompson encapsulates some of the best media streams dedicated to Dungeon Crawl Classics. Lastly, ‘The 2022 Goodie Awards’ spotlights the contributors to the Goodman Games community over the course of the previous year around the world. Lastly, the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook comes to a cozy close with the return of ‘Dear Archmage Abby’ and some gaming advice.

Physically, the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook is a slim affair, in keeping with the current reduced format of the series. It is well presented, a pleasing read, and full of very good artwork.

With the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook gone is the uncertainty of the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook that chronicled Goodman Games’ adjusting to life after the Covid-19 Pandemic and returning to gaming and a convention presence as was before the events of 2019 and 2020. In fact, with the arrival of the Wizard Van, it is as if Goodman Games are screaming, “We’re back and we’re doing bigger and better things!!” Yet in comparison to the grandeur of the earlier Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, that does not really apply to the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook, which feels restrained and not quite as adventurous in the slimmer format. Fans of Goodman Games will undoubtedly enjoy the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook, but perhaps regret that there is not quite as much to enjoy as there once was.

Goodman Games Gen Con Annual IX

Since 2013, Goodman Games, the publisher of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic has released a book especially for Gen Con, the largest tabletop hobby gaming event in the world. That book is the Goodman Games Gen Con Program Book, a look back at the previous year, a preview of the year to come, staff biographies, community content, and a whole lot more, including adventures and lots tidbits and silliness. The first was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book, but not being able to pick up a copy from Goodman Games when they first attended UK Games Expo in 2019, the first to be reviewed was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book. Fortunately, a little patience and a copy of the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book was located and reviewed, so since 2021, normal order has been resumed with the Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Guide, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, and Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston.

With both Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, the series had begun to chart a new direction. Each volume would contain a mix of support for the various RPGs published by Goodman Games and the content recognising the Goodman Games community, but the major feature of each volume would be a tournament scenario, staged the previous year at Gen Con. Unfortunately, events caught up with the eighth entry in the series, intending to highlight the presence of Goodman Games at Gen Gen in 2020, which would cancel Gen Con and every other event as well as face-to-face gaming. It meant that Goodman games had to adapt and adapts its by now traditional Gen Con Program Guide. The result was Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named, a slimmer affair that would alter the direction of the series as whole and also see the traditional Gen Con Program Guide becoming a ‘Yearbook’ instead.

The Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook also marked the twentieth anniversary of Goodman Games, celebrating it with a cover that referenced numerous releases and events from the publisher’s history. The issue proper opens with a moment or two for reflection upon the part of Michael Curtis and Harley Stroh, looking back at how Goodman Games was forced to change as a result of the pandemic and how through online contact and play, the community came together like never before and kept gaming, all before diving into the gaming content of the yearbook. This is a pattern repeated later in the book by Brendan LaSalle and Chris Doyle. Where the previous three talk about Dungeon Crawl Classics, the latter focuses on the development of Dungeon Denizens, Goodman Games’ bestiary for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, as well titles in the ‘Original Adventures Reincarnated’ series, such as The Temple of Elemental Evil and Dark Tower.

As with the previous Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, what the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook also offers is a tournament scenario, though to be fair, it is more tournament than scenario. ‘Pits of Lost Agharta’ by Harley Stroh is a winner takes all series of arena ‘battle royale’-style battles that take place on a ziggurat deep underground to the amusement of foul Aghartan slave lords. Everyone roleplays a Warrior, First Level at the beginning, but who will acquire more Levels as he survives more rounds, but always begins a round armed only with a club. His aim is to survive. To do this, he can search corpse mounds for better equipment, gain strange boons from touching the Malachite Crystals which contain an aged and withered sage or wizard, take control of the ballistae mounted on the ziggurat, and so on. Once their characters have all acted in a round, the players get to decide what action the Slave Lords take, which might be to “Release the man-bats!” or command “Forward, feasters of flesh!”. The latter is important because the Player Characters have been held captive for quite some time and been fed on a diet of vile gruel, which consists of either mushrooms or mushrooms and the flesh of their dead comrades. Those Player Characters who turned cannibal get more Hit Points, but are in danger of falling under the influence of the slave lords during the battle.

‘Pits of Lost Agharta’ details and illustrates in full colour the various parts of the tournament and suggests how it might be used in campaign play. One way would be to tie it into the setting of Lost Agharta, as detailed in Dungeon Crawl Classics #91: Journey to the Centre of Áereth and then Dungeon Crawl Classics #91.1: The Lost City of Barako and Dungeon Crawl Classics #91.2: Lairs of Lost Agharta. There are also notes on how the tournament was run and who the winners were. There is a certain tongue in cheek battling charm to this, a way to run a tournament online which can then can also be run face-to-face.

Mike Bolam adds to the tournament with ‘Pits of Lost Agharta Variant Rules’ which suggests a way in which it could run as a board game and without a Judge, as well as setting it in an arena as in Dungeon Crawl Classics #84C: Escape from the Purple Planet from Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril on the Purple Planet. It is an intriguing idea, though it would probably take almost as much time to set up as would running the proper tournament version.

There is a delightful sense of fun in the ever so bonkers ‘The ’Stashe Stash II: ’Stashe of the Titans!’ by Brendan LaSalle. This is a sequel to ‘The ‘Stache Stash: Magic Moustaches for DCC RPG’ from the DCC Annual Vol. 1 and presents yet more magical facial hair. These include ‘The Walrus or ‘The Ubermensch’, ‘The Handlebar’ or ‘The Rollie Fingers’, and even more hilariously, ‘The Hairy Mole’. They have odd magical powers like that of ‘The Antenna’ or ‘The Dali’ to cause any non-magical object to melt without any heat, to stop time whilst the bearer floats away, or catch an opponent in a time loop and so force him to repeat the action from the previous round. Amusingly, the modifier to the Saving Throw to shrug off this effect involves at least one cat. It is clear that both the author and the illustrator, Brad McDevitt, have had a lot of fun with this article.

‘Black Mountain Lights’ is a scenario for Second Level Player Characters for Dungeon Crawl Classics by Michael Curtis. It takes place in the Shudder Mountains, an Appalachian-style fantasy setting with elements of horror originally published as Dungeon Crawl Classics #83: The Chained Coffin. The Player Characters are staying as guests overnight at a remote farm during their travels when strange luminous figures creep out of the night, snatch up the farmer’s infant son, and carry him up the mountain. The Player Characters are implored to rescue the kidnapped boy, an attempt which takes them up the mountain where a witch is said to lurk. There is a dark threat to found up and, in the mountain, but it is not what the Player Characters may think. The scenario is a Shudder Mountains twist upon the classic Dungeons & Dragons-style set-up of goblins threatening the locals and can be played in a single session, so will work as a convention scenario. It is also easy to add to a Shudder Mountains-set campaign.

Although Goodman Games is best known for its content for its Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, but it publishes content for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition as well. The support for it in the pages of The Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook includes entries from Dungeon Denizens, the bestiary that the publisher is just now funding on Kickstarter, a scenario, and a look at a Twitch channel, all by Chris Doyle. The scenario is ‘The Monastery of the Dawning Sun’, written for Fifteenth Level Player Characters for use with the version of Crypt of the Devil Lich for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition (there is also a version for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics). The scenario is designed to be played as a tournament and as a campaign play scenario, but the introduction to the scenario favours the former rather than the latter. ‘The Monastery of the Dawning Sun’ is designed to offer an alternative opening suited to campaign play. It provides a creepy location, containing ancient defences and signs of bloody violence and destruction, despoiled by evil and marked by hints as what lurks beyond in the ‘Crypt of the Devil Lich’, all ready for the Player Characters to discover its horrors.

‘What is Talking TSR?’ is show livestreamed on the Goodman Games Official Twitch channel. It introduces the backgrounds of the presenters Chris Doyle and Rick Maffei, who together get to highlight their favourite episodes and also provide an episode guide. The article highlights the move that Goodman Games has made into supporting its releases online as does the addition to the usual series of photographs taken at various conventions. Not just Gen Con 2021, the Goodman Games Road Crew, and other in-person events, but also on-line events such as Spawn of Cyclops Con and Empire of the Cyclops Con for lots of screenshots of Judges with their players. Further support for the Goodman Games community takes the form of ‘The Goodies’, the awards given for supporting and contributing to the community, plus there is a list of the winners of the ‘Pits of Lost Agharta’ tournament. Lastly, there is a gallery of the ‘Road Crew Stickers’ from the previous year.

Physically, the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook is well presented and easy to read. It does need an edit in places, but the artwork and the cartography are as good as you would expect for a Goodman Games release.

There is a certain sense of adjustment having been made with Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook after the Pandemic and its effect on the Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named. The inclusion of online content alongside in-person content is more assured, even if that content is restrained and not as ambitious as that of Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, what the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook. The result is that the content is both easier to use as well as enjoyable as it tracks the move to a more normal existence than the year before.