Vaesen d’Italia

Italian Chronicles is a supplement for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, the Roleplaying Game of investigative folklore horror set in nineteenth century Scandinavia published by Free League Publishing. There has been a push to explore the set-up at the heart of Vasen, that of the clash between folklore and modernity in an age of industrialisation, shifting populations, changing attitudes, and forgetting the customs of past as a secret organisation attempts to catalogue those forgotten customs and prevent the clashes between folklore and modernity in countries beyond Scandinavia. However, most of them have remained north of the Alps, leaving the rich folklore and culture clashes of Southern Europe under much sunnier climes unexplored. Italian Chronicles introduces us to the world of the Vaesen and the Society in nineteenth century Mythic Italy. This includes a discussion of the conflicts which lie at the heart of Italian society in the late nineteenth century—the rich versus the poor, the nobility versus the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat; and the north-south divide between the industrialised and modernising north and the agricultural, poorer south. It provides basic introductions to the cities, many of whom are undergoing major transformations as they industrialise and peasants emigrate looking for work and a better life. There are descriptions of the leading Italian great and the good of the period, societies and groups active up and down the country; details of mysterious places; and a short history of the Society and its investigation of Vaesen in Italy. All of which is supported with three new archetypes and six new supernatural creatures.

Italian Chronicles is published as part of the Free League Workshop and starts with a description of Mythic Italy. This highlights the notable divides in the country during the period and its important cities. These include the northern industrial triangle of Turin, Milan, and Genoa, the medieval and Renaissance grandeur of Bologna and Florence, before moving south through the splendour of Rome as it rushes to be the city’s new capital, and down to Naples and Palermo, undergoing their own transformation with their loss of independence. Turin is the ‘magical city’, Italy esoteric and occultic capital which has its own zones of light and dark influencing magic in the city, whilst also standing in an alchemical triangle of ‘white magic’ along with Prague and Lyon, and an alchemical triangle of ‘black magic’ with London and San Francisco. How these zones affect magic in the city is not explored, but short descriptions of numerous arcane and occultic sites across the city, as well as legends up and down Italy, are included.

Numerous notables, including Cavour, Garibaldi, Verdi, and Puccini are given thumbnail portraits, alongside less well known figures such as Carmine Crocco, the so-called ‘Napoleon or the General of the Brigands’, the spiritualist Eusapia Palladino, and Cesere Lombroso, the father of modern criminology. The most notable of the societies and groups alongside the actual Society is the Inquisition, which is still operating in the nineteenth century and which the Society suspects of harbouring all manner of secrets, of already knowing about Vaesen, and of some of its members actually possessing the Sight that the Society’s members possess. The Inquisition has long suppressed occult practices and broken op occult organisations, most recently in the seventeenth century, the Accademia della Mandragora. One survivor of this suppression found refuge with the Society in Scandinavia and another, a herbalist, found refuge in southern Italy. The herbalist would later found the Order of Herbalists, based in Turin.

The three new archetypes are Teacher, Notable, and Migrant. Of these, the Teacher and the Migrant are obvious in what they are, whereas the Notable is not. It might be an administrator or a lawyer or a tax collector and some context would have been useful to make clear what it is. The Migrant does a new Talent, ‘Folk Wisdom’, which gives him a knowledge of folk traditions and customs as well as fairy tales, legends, and myths concerning supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, this has not been translated from the original Italian.

Numerous mysterious places and legends detailed as well as six new supernatural creatures. They include the Borda is a witch-like that haunts the swamps and marshes of the north looking to strangle the unwary with rope or ligature; Sprites are pranksters that differ in how they look across Italy, but the Monacello live in old houses in cities, has the appearance of a hooded monk, and can bring good luck, and the Salvanel, is wilder and dresses in leaves, and often makes travellers in the woods get lost; and the Marrabbecca is a shapeshifter that likes to live in the dark or shadows, preferably in old wells and water cisterns, from where it bewitches those who lean too close to the well such that they throw themselves in and are drowned. Besides their stats, all of the creature write-ups include secrets of the creatures that can be used against them and example conflicts that the Game Master can develop into fuller encounters.

Physically, Italian Chronicles is a basic affair. Unfortunately both artwork and writing are amateurish, but are at least in English. Not all of the supplement is.

One of the problems with Italian Chronicles and its version of Italy in the nineteenth century is that it attempts to present, “[A]n idealized, slightly timeless version, suitable as a backdrop for the activities of the Player Characters and the peninsula’s supernatural inhabitants.” Where that works in Vaesen is because its setting of Sweden is singular whole for whole of the nineteenth century, whereas Italy is not. In fact, Italy does not actually exist as a political entity until the Risorgimento—the unification of Italy—in 1861. Before that, the Italian peninsula consisted of a mix of kingdoms and duchies, some which were dominated by neighbouring France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, plus the Papal State. Arguably, Italy was not fully Italy as we recognise today until the capture of Rome in 1871. And before that, before the Napoleon Wars, the Italian peninsula was even more balkanised. Now it is this balkanisation that underpins many of the geographical, cultural, and linguistic divides in Italy and thus the conflicts in Italian Chronicles, whilst the others come from the drive to modernity and industrialisation that followed unification. The result is that even though it does not say so, Italian Chronicles really only focuses on the last forty years—and arguably—the last thirty years of the nineteenth century.

The authors do make the point that, “History should be a servant that gives the game a distinctive flavour rather than a master that stifles possibilities.” Which is a valid point, and if you are not aware of this history, then this perhaps less of an issue. If you are, then it feels as if that servant and those sixty years of history are being ignored and the whole of the century is being flattened into its last third.

However, perhaps the biggest problem with Italian Chronicles is that the description of its equivalent of the ‘Society’ is underwritten with a very short history and description and an address. We are never told how different it is to those in other countries and consequently the starting point or base of operations for any investigations into the Vaesen in Italy lacks character.

There is a surprising amount of content in Italian Chronicles, but most of it varies between short and brief, meaning that if the Game Master wants to set her campaign in Italy or send his Player Characters to Italy, she is going to have to do a lot of research herself to develop its content. There is no official supplement for Italy for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying and until there is, Italian Chronicles will have to do, but what it does is provide is only the most basic of introductions.

Christianity & Cosmology

The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy is a campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but do not let that put you off. This is as different a campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition as you could imagine. It is a low fantasy campaign that is highly fantastical. It treads a fine line between the Possibility of magic and the Permeance of non-magic. It is historical. It will take the players and their characters to places rarely thought about and rarely visited in roleplaying. Its scope is grander than ever imagined, taking the Player Characters from High Renaissance Florence to the gates of Hell—and beyond. Down all nine circles of Hell and out of the bottom to climb the Mountain of Purgatory to reach Paradise, before returning to the mortal world and stopping a great evil. Inspired by Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, the three parts of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, the campaign will literally take the Player Characters through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, and thus across a Ptolemaic model of the universe. Dungeons & Dragons has visited Hell before. Most notably with 1980’s Inferno for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, from Judges Guild, which detailed the first four circles of Hell as detail by Dante, and which has been more recently completed in Inferno: Journey through Malebolge by Spellbook Games. A Paladin in Hell, published in 1998, allowed the players to visit Hell once again, complete with actual devils rather than ‘baatezu’, whilst the Guide to Hell, followed a year later. Both were for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition. Unlike those releases, The Straight Way Lost is not designed for traditional Dungeons & Dragons-style play.

The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy, published by Vortex Verlag following a Kickstarter campaign is both a sourcebook for fifteenth century Florence, a guide to the cosmology of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and a complete campaign for Player Characters of Third Level. Should they survive and complete the campaign, they will attain Eighth Level. However, there is relatively little scope for continued play beyond the campaign and anyway, the world portrayed in The Straight Way Lost is unlike Dungeons & Dragons. It is set in High Renaissance Italy where magic is known and studied in private, but deeply frowned upon by the church since it could lead to the study and practice of necromancy. Man is not the only intelligent species in this world, though the Elves, Half-Elves, Dwarves, Half-Dwarves, Tielfings, and Nephilim try not to bring too much attention themselves. There are no obviously non-Human species, but even the acceptable species ten to hide their non-Human traits. So, no Dragonborn, Halflings, or Half-Orcs. In terms of Dungeons & Dragons’ Classes, the Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, and Wizard are unproblematic, whereas the Barbarian, Druid, and Monk are unsuited to the setting. The Cleric and the Paladin require some consideration in terms of their faith, though it is likely to be Christian; the Sorcerer’s magical nature is likely to at odd with the rationality of the age; and the Warlock is provided with a list of alternative Patrons to select from, though there are no ‘Great Old Ones’ to choose from. These include Archfae, Infernal, and Titan Patrons.

Besides the new species, The Straight Way Lost also introduces two new Classes and a Sub-Class. Under the Polymath, the Philosopher, who understands and uses reason and logic to weave the powers of creation, whilst the Artist uses creativity and imagination. Mechanically, both expend Weave Points to fuel a mix of powers, some which they share in common. The Philosopher begins with the powers of ‘Language Master’, ‘Linguistic Recall’, ‘Peer Connections’, and ‘Caustic Remark’, whilst the Artist has ‘Likeness’, ‘The Artist’s Eye’, ‘The Artist’s Hand’, and ‘The Artist’s Favour’. The ‘Courtier’ is a Sub-Class for the Bard which focuses on social interaction rather than performance. In addition, The Straight Way Lost adds the new skills of Arts Liberales, Courtly Manners, Diplomacy, Fine Arts, and Law. What this offers is a range of character options that emphasises brains over brawn and manners over murder—and as the authors make clear, The Straight Way Lost is a campaign that emphasises roleplay versus rampage. Yes, some martial skills will be needed, but a Player Character entirely focused upon them will probably get less enjoyment out of the campaign.

Further, to encourage player and character involvement and roleplaying, The Straight Way Lost suggests possible character motivations, reasons for group cohesion, and motivational drives. The character motivations include Family Duty, Holy Duty, Heritage, Informant, and more, whilst the group cohesion suggestions include Family, Powerful Patron, Business, and so on. Both of these can be rolled or chosen, and if two or more Player Characters share one, the Game Master is encouraged to tie their backgrounds together. The motivational drives, such as Truth Seeker, Danger Seeker, God is Truth, and Fear Itself, are designed to encourage the player to get his character involved in the campaign’s plot and its ongoing storyline, and when roleplayed, will reward the player with Inspiration.

The Straight Way Lost notably eschews the standard Alignment system of Dungeons & Dragons. Instead, each Player Character will have a Dark Secret from a flaw or a committed sin; a Good Deed, committed because of a virtue; and a Happy Memory. All three will be tested and examined in the campaign, especially the Dark Secret and its associated sin in Hell. One of the advantages that the Player Characters will have in relation to the other souls in Hell is that they are mortal, should not be in Hell, and cannot be automatically confined to the Circle of Hell pertaining to their Dark Secret. The Straight Way Lost also adds a new mechanic in the form of Dismay, representing the effects of the trauma that the Player Characters can suffer as a result of traversing through Hell. Wisdom checks are made against a Difficulty Class which varies between eight and a shocking incident and fourteen and extreme terror. A Player Character’s Dismay can range in value between one and ten, and as it rises he will become increasingly apathetic and may fall into a ‘State of Dread’, a ‘State of Madness’, or ultimately, suffer a ‘Breakdown’. Both player and Game Master are encouraged to work together to portray the effects of Dismay in a manner that everyone is comfortable with.

The Straight Way Lost does include a sourcebook for the city of Florence in the year 1492. This is not an extensive look at the city, but rather a good overview and that is sufficient to run the campaign. The campaign proper begins in March, 1492, with the Player Characters invited to attend a feast hosted by the Capponi family, allies of the Medici family, to celebrate the achievements of a noted philosopher. They will have the opportunity to interact with their fellow guests and even attend an audience with Lorenzo de’ Medici, already in clearly poor health. Unfortunately, the event is thrown into disarray with the discovery of a dead woman, clearly murdered, lying in an arcane circle in the cellar. As the news of the murder spreads through Florence, it threatens to discredit Lorenzo de’ Medici and his family for simply being there, so he hands the investigation into the death to his fiercest critic, Girolamo Savonarola, a prior of the Dominican convent of San Marco. This includes Father Savonarola who will interview the Player Characters and ask them to help. This is not to investigate the murder directly—though the campaign does allow for that if the players decide that their characters want to—but rather to consult with Ofelia, a holy hermit who lives three days outside of the city and ask if she can pray to determine who has let his evil into the city of Florence…

Ofelia will direct the Player Characters on the campaign’s great quest. They will be accompanied by a guide who can advise them and help them, if necessary, but the Game Master will need to be careful in her portrayal so that it does not appear that she is not leading them by the nose. The path through the campaign is obvious, that is, down and eventually up. First descending down through the funnel formed on the other side of the world, at each Circle confronting its keeper, encountering the souls whose sins have cast them into Hell and exploring the consequences of their sins, confronting any Player Character whose Dark Secret corresponds to the Circle, and then finding a way to progress to the next lower Circle. The encounters also include famous persons from history, some of whom are pertinent to the campaign and the city of Florence, but all of whom have, according to Dante’s Divine Comedy, have been cast into Hell. The confrontation with the personal Dark Secret will automatically increase that character’s Dismay, but it throws the spotlight on the character and player, giving the latter an opportunity to examine and roleplay his character’s darker side and its consequences. It requires careful handling by both player and Game Master, whilst altogether, the group might want to spread the choice of Dark Secrets their characters’ possess. This would avoid the possibility of replication and spread such scenes out over the course of the Player Characters’ descent, rather than having them all at once. How the Player Characters get past the keeper of each Circle varies, combat invariably not being the best option. The path down is intentionally gruelling and by the time the Player Characters have descended to the lowest Circle of Hell, their Dismay levels will be quite high and they will be drawn and traumatised by what they have seen and experienced.

Fortunately, whilst the climb up the Mountain of Purgatory is more challenging, it is the path to redemption. Where the Player Characters were condemned for their Dark Secret and its associated sin on their descent into Hell, here they have them purged as they climb to the Earthly Paradise and by the time they have ascended to the top, they will hopefully be cleansed. Their time there will come as a relief after the literal hell and the Player Characters will also be able to get the answers they are looking for as well as a means to heal Lorenzo de’ Medici. With this in hand, they can return to the mortal realm, a path that will take them through Paradice, an awe-inspiring view of the Ptolemaic cosmos. Ultimately, they will descend to Earth and make their way back to Florence where they have a chance to heal Lorenzo de’ Medici, but not before a confrontation with the villain behind it all. Success is not guaranteed and failure will mean that Lorenzo de’ Medici dies and history plays out as it did in our own timeline.

Beyond the expected stats and descriptions for all of the NPCs and monsters in the campaign, The Straight Way Lost includes notes on what could happen next and potentially allow play beyond the end of the campaign. These are only suggestions though and, in each case, the Game Master will need to develop herself. An appendix suggests music for the campaign, provides a list of Italian Renaissance names, and a bibliography. There is an index for the NPCs in the campaign and a general index as well as a de’ Medici family tree.

Physically, The Straight Way Lost is an incredibly fantastic looking book. Notably, its pages are colour-coded. A light, earthy brown for Florence and its surrounds, deep black for Hell, a smoky blue-grey for Purgatory, and rich gold for Paradise, the effect enhancing the tone and feel of each of the associated acts in the campaign. In addition, the illustrations by Jana Heidersdorf, Mark Smylie, and Gwenevere Singly are excellent and should definitely be used by the Game Master to show to her players. On the downside, the book does need an edit in places and it is a little untidy in places. That said, the writing is clear and the advice for the Game Master never less than direct, even pointed at times.

The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy is a campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but not really a campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. At least not in the traditional or the mechanical sense. Mechanically, its stats, Races, Classes, and monsters are written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Yet beyond that, the mechanical complexities within the campaign are so light that it does not feel like Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Adapting it to a system that the Game Master and her players prefer would take some effort, but not necessarily as much effort as a more traditional campaign would demand.

In the traditional sense of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, The Straight Way Lost is unlike any campaign for the roleplaying game—or indeed any roleplaying game. Its themes of sin and redemption are mature subject matters and given its nature, it should be no surprise that there are scenes of terror and torture. Yet there are also scenes of hope and succour. Structurally, The Straight Way Lost is a journey and does want to tell a story, so it is linear, with no real options other than forward. Thus, the player agency comes in the individual scenes and small decisions that the characters are faced with. It is not a long campaign by any means, but requires no little commitment because of its themes and nature, as well as the roleplaying required in exploring the sins and Dark Secrets of the Player Characters.

The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy is not so much a fantasy campaign as a campaign of classical fantasy. It takes the players and their characters to places unseen and of wonder and of awe, and it challenges their roleplaying too. The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy is proof that sometimes the system matters not—not when you have a campaign as unique and literately inspired as this.

Miskatonic Monday #410: The Vanishing

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

—oOo—

Name: The Vanishing

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Raul Longoria

Setting: East Texas, 1997

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Sixteen-page, 1.01 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A missing persons case casts a different colour on East Texas

Plot Hook: Investigate the town where missing students conducted a biology field trip

Plot Support: Staging advice, no pre-generated Investigators, some NPCs and wildlife, nine handouts, one map, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Scenario for one or two Investigators

# Pleasing sense of mouldering decline and distrust

# Seplophobia

# Chromophobia

# Nosophobia

Cons

# Pre-generated Investigators for Calamity in Drywater Canyon

# Set-up as to who is employing the Investigators muddled

# The presence and details of the missing students should play a bigger role
# Obvious threat

Conclusion

# Recognisable threat developed into an eerie ecological horror
# Set-up needs clarification and development, but otherwise a decent treatment of a classic Mythos monster
# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Miskatonic Monday #409: Attenzione, Shub-niggurato!

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

—oOo—

Name: Attenzione, Shub-niggurato!

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Wille Ruotsalainen

Setting: French-Italian border, 1945

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Twenty six-page, 2.03 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Episodic horror on the forgotten front

Plot Hook: Can the soldiers survive more than the horrors of war?

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, three NPCs, four maps, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Isolated, icy horror in the French alps

# Straightforward plotting

# Kinemortophobia

# Germanophobia

# Frigophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Reads more like a narrative than a scenario

# Keeper will need to better develop the end of the scenario

# Does suggest that the Investigators might have to commit war crimes, but consequences left unexplored

Conclusion

# Heavily plotted survival horror that could have done with more investigation
# Too much focus on the monster not the monstrous

Miskatonic Monday #407: Gelateria

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

—oOo—

Name: Gelateria

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Hayley P

Setting: Rome, 1954

Product: Ninety-minute one-shot
What You Get: Seventeen page, 14.35 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “The box was a universe, a poem, frozen on the boundaries of human experience.” – William Gibson

Plot Hook: Frozen in time at the gelato shop

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, three handouts, one floor plan, three NPCs, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Ninety-minute one-shot for the new Keeper

# Pleasingly parochial setting

# Easy to prepare with most options and outcomes covered
# Aliens could be replaced by the Mi-Go

# Athazagoraphobia

# Pagotophobia

# Frigophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Not a Mythos scenario

Conclusion

# Claustrophobic Italian ice horror meets a ‘Man in Black’
# Easy to run scenario, but advice for the new Keeper could have been stronger

Miskatonic Monday #380: Abyssus Aquae

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

—oOo—

Name: Abyssus Aquae: Dark Secrets of Naples Undergroundio for Call of Cthulhu

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ruggero Cortini

Setting: Naples, 2023

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-five page, 27.37 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Crime, corruption, and corruption of the soul in Naples!

Plot Hook: A hunt for a missing friend leads to a descent into a pit of horror.
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated investigators, six NPCs, three handouts, two maps, one Mythos spell, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Nicely detailed investigation

# Takes the Investigators through the highs and lows of Neapolitan society

# Gephyrophobia

# Scelerophobia

# Scoleciphobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit
# Odd hyperlinks

# No map of the summoning location

# Climax not as fully developed as it could be

# Aftermath not as fully explored as it should be

# But what if the Investigators do descend into the tunnels?

Conclusion

# Solid detailed investigation undone by slightly underdeveloped climax and aftermath

# Engaging atmosphere of pervading small-time corruption

Solitaire: Aces Over the Adriatic

There is something utterly romantic and beguiling as you soar through the skies above the azure waters of the Adriatic, the sun glinting off your wingtips, the wind rushing past your head, and the roar of the engine in your ears. Higher, faster, the dreams of your nation embodied in the sleek frame of the machine in your hands, for a moment you are free. Free of the demands of national pride and prestige, free of expectations, and maybe even free of the memories that you can never truly escape, no matter how fast or how high you fly… And then you turn over and dive. Dive back down to the exaltation of the crowds, to the popping glare of the press, to be amongst the men and women placed on a pedestal who are your peers and like you, know the freedom of flight, and to return to the horrors of your past and the creeping horror of Fascism along the shores of the Adriatic.

In Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG, you are that pilot. Perhaps a veteran of the Great War, mourning the loss of comrades, your skill and experience has put you at the controls of a seaplane, an entry into the ongoing Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, a biennial race for seaplanes and flying boats. You race for your country, but you also race for the memory of your friends lost in combat and you race for the love and glory of flying. Yet the speed and manoeuvrability of your machine may also see you undertaking missions facing pirates that are a threat the skies over the Adriatic, delivering urgent mail to Milan, or carrying contraband in sealed cases. Published by Critical Kit, Ltd, a publisher best known for Be Like a Crow: A Solo RPG, this is actually a French roleplaying game written in conjunction with the Musée de l’Hydraviation in Biscarrosse, France. It is semi-historical in that in addition to being inspired by the technical innovation and the romance brought about by the Schneider Trophy in the interwar years, it is also inspired by the Studio Ghibli film, Porco Rosso.

A Pilot in Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG is defined by his Nationality, Age, some Personality features, a personal distinctive feature, a distinctive feature for his aircraft, and a Perk. Nationality will also determine the Pilot’s name and possibly the type of aircraft he is flying, whilst age will determine whether or not he served in the Great War. The Perk can apply to the aircraft, such as ‘Military-grade weapons’ or ‘Speed’, or it can apply to the Pilot like ‘Calm’ or ‘Daredevil’. He also has values for Gauge, Glory, and Nostalgia. Gauge represents the amount of damage that both Pilot and aircraft can withstand; Glory is the Pilot’s fame and ambition, as it rises, the Pilot will gain Perks, a nickname, and honorary titles; and Nostalgia is the Pilot’s link to his past and if it grows too high, the Pilot may suffer from melancholy and if it reaches ten, will forces them to hang up his flying helmet and goggles.

Name: Otillie Gottschalk
Nationality: German
Age: 31
Nickname: None
Honorary Title: None
Personality: Clever, Chatty, Clumsy
Distinctive Features: Pet Dachshund, ‘Rudy’
Aircraft’s Distinctive Features: Dark Blue
Perks: Intuition
Gauge: 4
Glory: 0
Nostalgia: 0

Actions and Questions are handled in a straightforward manner. An answer to a question can be determined by a simple roll of a six-sided die, but there is a table of more nuanced answer options included. For actions, A Pilot in Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG employs the ‘Push System’. When the player wants his Pilot to undertake an action, he rolls a six-sided die. This is the ‘Initial Die’. It is impossible to fail on the roll of the ‘Initial Die’. A result of four or less is a ‘Weak Success’, or a success with consequences, whilst a result of five or six is a ‘Strong Success’. It is as simple as that, but what if the player rolls a ‘Weak Success’, but wants a ‘Strong Success’? he can then roll a which can lead to a failure. The results of the ‘Push Die’ are added to the results of the ‘Initial Die’. If the total is still less than four, it is still a ‘Weak Success’ and the player can roll another ‘Push Die’; if it is five or six, it is a ‘Strong Success’; and if it is seven or more, it is a failure. Effectively, the Pilot is constantly pushing the envelope and there is a chance that it can be pushed too far.

The play of the games flows back and forth between Missions and Memories. A mission might be to ferry a wealthy passenger to Venice or help cover the story of another famous pilot for the Pilot’s national press. A Memory can come from any activity, such as visiting a city or whilst a Pilot repairs his aircraft, and might be about the war, friends, past loves, and so on. Both require a roll to succeed. Each Mission has four Challenge Points and the player rolls to reduce these, a ‘Strong Success’ reducing two, ‘Weak Success’, and a failure, none. The faster a player can reduce the Challenge Points, the more Glory his Pilot will be rewarded. Glory can be spent to gain more Perks and as the total Glory accrued rises, the Pilot will gain a Nickname and an Honorary Title. However, results of a Failure and a ‘Weak Success’ both reduce ‘Gauge’ the joint measure of damage that a Pilot and his aircraft can suffer. Pilot and aeroplane can keep flying as long as their Gauge is one or more, but if it is reduced to zero, they will crash.

A Memory takes place between Missions. If successful, it can restore Gauge and refresh Perks used. However, in the process of reliving a Memory, a Pilot gains Nostalgia and if that ever rises to ten, the Pilot will retire. In addition, it is possible to have a Flashback during a Mission, which works similar to a Memory and also increases Nostalgia. So there is a balance here between keeping flying and succeeding and getting lost in reminiscence. And of course, throughout, the player is writing a journal—or is that keeping a logbook?—of the story of his Pilot and his aeroplane over the skies of Europe. It is here Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG that comes into its own in supporting the Player.

Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG is rich in background detail. There are descriptions of Europe in the interwar period, Fascist Italy, seaplanes and flying boats, the Schneider Trophy, and more. These descriptions are more overview than detail, but they are enough for the player to start with. Besides the table of Missions, there is ‘The Control Tower’ which provides tables for weather conditions, iconic places, NPCs including historical pilots and sponsors, generating pirate group names, and more. All of which the player can use to generate details and elements of his Pilot’s life in and out of the cockpit and as it is logged. There is advice too on how to play Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG, the author suggesting, for example, that the player control and tell the stories of multiple Pilots at once as if writing a drama, and on how to make the play harder or easier.

Unlike many journalling games, Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG has the scope to be more than just a solo game. The rules are simple and straightforward and the content in terms of setting and support is potentially more than enough for a Game Master—Air Marshal?—to run Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG as a storytelling game for a small group of players, whose Pilots could simply be rivals, members of a squadron, or even an aerial circus.

Physically, Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG is a beautiful little book. There are plenty of period photographs and the book is well written. The character sheet is a little busy, but it has everything on there that a player needs to know, including the basics of the rules.

Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG does over romanticise its setting a little, content to let the spectre of Fascism hang in the background rather than engage with it and so leaving the darker elements of play to the Memories of the Pilot and thus in the past rather than in the now. Thus, despite being based on the history of the Interwar Period, it leans more towards the fantasy of its other inspiration, the Studio Ghibli film, Porco Rosso, in its play. To be fair though, bringing that into play would have been challenging and since the player is telling the story of his Pilot, he is free to bring those elements into play if he wants to. Nevertheless, Aces Over the Adriatic: A Solo RPG is an utterly charming roleplaying game and an utter delight for fans of history, especially aviation history.

Friday Fantasy: The Jovian Visitor

A year ago, the astronomer Giovanni Conti died and his student, Vincenzo Costa, set out to fulfil his last oath to his master. That is to protect his master’s work, which the Roman Inquisition and the church has good reason to be heretical. Thus, he took several tomes and notebooks from Giovanni Conti’s Florence villa and hid them around the city. Since then, Costa’s work has enabled him to revisit these locations and check that the books are still there. However, now they are missing. In desperation, he hires the Player Characters. They will need to check on the former locations and follow up on the clues that Costa will give them. This will lead them to a cult which has stolen the books for their astronomical knowledge and is using to bring about the culmination of its aims—the summoning of a second God. So far, the activities of the cult, the Cult of Secundus Deus, have not attracted the attention of either the city authorities or the Roman Inquisition, so both activities and beliefs are heretical. Of course, there is the possibility of the Player Characters’ investigation attracting the attention of the city authorities and ending up before the magistrates…

This is the set-up for The Jovian Visitor, a scenario for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Designed to be played by three to five Player Characters of First to Third Level, it is written by Glynn Seal, best known as the creator of the Midderlands Old School Renaissance setting, this is, thankfully, a much simpler, shorter, and above all, cleaner affair than his previously, quite literally, excrescent Faecal Lands. Set in Florence in 1642, The Jovian Visitor can also work as a sequel to Galileo 2: Judgment Day. That scenario involved the persecution of the famed astronomer Galileo Galilei by Pope Urban VIII using a Automaton or ‘L’Assassino Meccanico’, and the attempt by the astronomer to escape his house arrest and the mechanical man who has been tormenting him. Now neither Galileo Galilei, or his assistant, Vincenzo Viviani, actually appear in The Jovian Visitor, Giovanni Conti and his student, Vincenzo Costa, are modelled on them. Replacing them with their real world counterparts is easy to do, and it makes the scenario more interesting if the Player Characters encountered him when playing through the events of Galileo 2: Judgment Day.

The investigation itself is relatively straightforward. Vincenzo Costa will be able to furnish the Player Characters with some initial leads, including the locations where he hid the four books and the identity of a previous assistant. Following these will lead them down a number of blind alleys and possibly into punch-ups with the citizens of Florence if they irk them too much or getting arrested by the city watch of they cannot explain their interest in the four locations across the city. It is encounter with the latter that the scenario is at its weakest, not quite explaining what the outcome is if the Player Characters are brought before the city magistrates. If, however, the Player Characters can avoid entanglements with the authorities, they will also learn that they are being watched by a mysterious lady in red. It turns out that she is an important figure in the Cult of Secundus Deus, and will go out of her way to persuade the Player Characters to curb their interest in the books.

Coloured a little by a random encounter or two, persistent Player Characters should soon learn that something is going on in the woods on the hills to the north of the city, where flashes of light have been seen in the sky. Clues found there point to the imminent fruition of the plans of the Cult of Secundus Deus. Can the Player Characters act in time to prevent the summoning of the Second God? And if he is not a god, just what is he? That though, is not something that the Player Characters, or indeed, the whole world really wants to find out.

Physically, The Jovian Visitor is well presented. The artwork is decent, and of course, the cartography is excellent. The map of Florence, in particular, is very nice.

The Jovian Visitor is a short affair, easily played through in a single session, two at most. It has the feel of Lovecraftian investigative horror scenario, though of course, without the Mythos, and that is no bad thing. That it can work as a sequel to Galileo 2: Judgment Day is a bonus, but even on its own, it is a serviceable, if short little mystery that can easily be added to a campaign or adapted to fit elsewhere. That is a whole lot cleaner than the last book from the author for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying is a double bonus!

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DISCLAIMER: The author of this review is an editor who has both edited titles for Lamentations of the Flame Princess on a freelance basis and edited titles for the author of this book 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 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Friday Fantasy: Galileo 2: Judgment Day

Galileo Galileo is famous as the astronomer who attracted the ire of Pope Urban VIII and the Catholic church and the Roman Inquisition by championing Copernican heliocentrism, the concept of the Earth rotating daily and revolving around the Sun, rather than the Aristotelian geocentric view that universe revolving around the Earth. Tried for heresy, in 1633, he was condemned and sentenced to house arrest, remaining in his villa outside Florence until his death in 1642. What though, if Pope Urban VIII, deeply irked at an insult Galileo had insinuated at him in his work of 1632, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, believed that house arrest was too good for the heretical natural philosopher? How far would the Holy Father go in order to have his revenge? Would he commission a clockwork automaton that would tramp the halls of Galileo’s villa, tormenting him verbally and playing tricks on him, day after day? Well, to be fair, very probably not, but since this is the set-up for a scenario for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, it is safe to assume that this did happen and the Player Characters got caught up in it, because otherwise, there is no scenario. The scenario in question is Galileo 2: Judgment Day, which if you are thinking the title of which sounds an awful lot like Terminator 2: Judgement Day, you definitely have some idea what this scenario is about, because it does involve Galileo and it does involve a big, near unstoppable, clomping robot. Just not from the future.

Galileo 2: Judgment Day takes place roughly in 1640. Galileo Galilei has been under house arrest for several years and the Inquisition maintains a steady watch on his villa, the Villa Il Gioiello, hiring spies to do so from a neighbouring house. The Player Characters are the latest to be hired to fulfil this role, discovering the pay to be a pittance and the house where they stationed, a mould- and rat-infested tumble down ruin. The job is also boring. Nothing happens. Except on this summer’s night when strange noises are heard in the villa and then a figure runs out through the games. Followed, not long after, by a mountain of a man, heavy-footed, but determined. With the change in circumstances, do the Player Characters have the chance to take advantage of the situation and come out of it richer either than they were before or they would have been if nothing had happened? Their choices are simple? Do they ransack the Villa Il Gioiello, said to be home to untold riches? Do they race after the fleeing man, and then after determining who he is—most likely Galileo—work out what to do with him then? Hand him into the Inquisition and collect the reward or let him go free because they believe him to have been unjustly imprisoned? And if they do let him go free, do they follow him, or do they take advantage of an empty house, to go back and ransack the Villa Il Gioiello and make off with any money and valuables that Galileo has left behind? Then what of the great bear of man, huffing and puffing after Galileo, taunting him all the way? Can he be stopped, bribed, or does he simply need to be bribed and done with it?

Galileo 2: Judgment Day takes places in the default setting for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying of the Early Modern period, the first half of the seventeenth century. What it promises is a pair of one-shot adventures, but that is really not what it provides, because what Galileo 2: Judgment Day really sets up is a situation with a handful of options and another handful of endings. In one option, the Player Characters might see Galileo run out of Villa Il Gioiello and decide to burglarise the building and make a run for it themselves, being hounded by the Inquisition once the authorities realise what they have done and they attempt to fence their loot. In another option, they chase Galileo to nearby Florence, help his escape, and he rewards them with details about the Villa Il Gioiello and the many traps he has laid, letting them grab the loot. Alternatively, they capture Galileo, hand him over to the Inquisition and take the reward for doing so, and head for the nearest bar and get stinking drunk? These are the main options, but there are others too, including one where the Player Characters end up in the hands of the Inquisition themselves and face the possibility of torture and death—the table for which is just ever so slightly unpleasant—and another where the neighbours of Galileo decide the rob the Villa Il Gioiello before anyone else does. And that still leaves the unstoppable killing machine which has been tormenting Galileo and will stop at nothing to prevent his escape to Florence and beyond...

However, it is possible for the Game Master to run Galileo 2: Judgment Day as two separate things. For example, whilst the Player Characters chase after Galileo on the road to Florence, his neighbours could be attempting to loot the Villa Il Gioiello. To that end, several nosy neighbours are provided, who either turn up whilst the Player Characters are still there or could be played as would be looters with a little bit of development. They include a widow wanting to prove the capability of old people, a castrato who takes the opportunity to perform, an Ottoman mercenary, a gossipy chandler and his wife, and so on. These are simply drawn, but could developed into playable characters.

And then there is the Automaton or ‘L’Assassino Meccanico’. All six feet of it, a half-tonne of steel, and dressed in the best boots, wig, and cloak that money can buy. Designed to impersonate a man to the best of its abilities and then placed to taunt the poor Galileo for as long as he shall live. The thing is described in some detail, and comes with a table of twelve wrestling moves for the Game Master to roll on and randomly determine if it engages in combat. Galileo Galileo is similarly detailed, though as an NPC rather than a monster.

Galileo 2: Judgment Day includes the detailed background for Galileo’s situation, his means of escape, and the resulting chase from the Villa Il Gioiello to Florence, plus a set of encounters along the road in the dark. Possible events in Florence are also covered, including a chase through its streets and encounters with the Inquisition. The Villa Il Gioiello itself is described in detail should the Player Characters decide they want to take advantage of the absence of its occupants. The description includes some really nasty traps, though of course, the Player Characters may avoid them should they help Galileo and he reward them with their particulars.

Physically, Galileo 2: Judgment Day is a short, clean and tidy affair. It is well laid out, and easy to read. The cartography is decent and the artwork is excellent. The illustration of the Automaton is particularly good and in combination with its portrayal by the Game Master with its booming voice, it should enforce its imposing nature.

Galileo 2: Judgment Day demands a greater suspension of disbelief than might be required in other scenarios. If that is achieved though, then all bets are off, and that includes quite where the events of the scenario and the Player Characters will end up. This is a very player-driven scenario, with their decisions deciding which its parts will come into play. Go in one direction and only Villa Il Gioiello does, go in another and only Florence comes into play, although there is the possibility of the scenario coming back round from Villa Il Gioiello to Florence and then back to Villa Il Gioiello. Yet if it does not, there is possibility of using Villa Il Gioiello all by itself as a target of the Player Characters’ larceny. So there is the possibility that the Game Master could use the parts of the scenario rather than as a whole. The nature of the scenario also means that it is difficult to work into a campaign, but an inventive Game Master should be able to come up with something suitable.

Galileo 2: Judgment Day—inspired as the author admits by Terminator 2: Judgement Day—takes the concept of the unstoppable robot killing machine and drops it into the last situation you would think of. It has the potential to be a classic slasher horror with a really weird premise that could be run as a one-shot and thus a convention scenario, or it swirl out of control and end up in another of the scenario’s various endings, which would probably take another session to play. Galileo 2: Judgment Day is a ridiculous, but still entertaining scenario, whose set-up is pleasingly detailed as are it various different endings.

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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 thus the author has no bearing on the resulting review.

By Ferry and by Bullet

Since 2007, the 2004 Spiel des Jahres award-winning board game Ticket to Ride from Days of Wonder, has been supported with new maps, beginning with Ticket to Ride: Switzerland. That new map would be collected in the Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 2 – India & Switzerland, the second entry in the Map Collection series begun in Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 – Team Asia & Legendary Asia. Both of these have proved to be worthy additions to the Ticket to Ride line, whereas Ticket to Ride Map Collection vol. 3: The Heart of Africa and Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 4 – Nederland have proved to add more challenging game play, but at a cost in terms of engaging game play. Further given that they included just the one map in the third and fourth volumes rather than the two in each of the first two, neither felt as if they provided as much value either. Fortunately, Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 5: United Kingdom + Pennsylvania came with two maps and explored elements more commonly found in traditional train games—stocks and shares in railroad companies and the advance of railway technology. This was followed by Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 6: France + Old West, which provided two maps exploring a common theme—telegraphing each player’s intended placement of their trains, then by Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 6½: Poland, which focused on borders and connecting them.

The next entry in the Ticket to Ride Map Collection is Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy. This introduces another pair of maps, two sets of different mechanics, two different ways to score points, and of course, two gorgeous maps. Both can be distinguished by their long sweeping routes and consequently they are played out on what is a very large board for Ticket to Ride. On the Japan map, the players will take advantage of the bullet train network, which everyone can use once built to connect their routes, whilst also building into, out of, and across subnetworks of routes that represent the city of Tokyo’s subway system and the island of Kyushu. On the Italy map, the players will not only connect cities up and down the peninsula, but also regions, whilst also making use of the new Ferry cards to travel by sea to Sicily and Sardinia, and up and down the coast. Like other entries in the Ticket to Ride Map Collection series, it only requires a set of Train cards, train pieces, and scoring markers from a base Ticket to Ride set to play.

The first of the new maps in Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy is Japan. Its board is beautifully illustrated and introduces a new type of route—the ‘Bullet Train’. These represent Japan’s high-speed train network which run the length of the country. They are grey routes, but unlike on other maps for Ticket to Ride, when they are claimed using standard Train cards, they do not use a player’s train pieces. Instead, they use the Bullet Train pieces, of which there are sixteen. When a player builds the ‘Bullet Train’ route, he places a single Bullet Train piece on the route, and once the route is built, not only can that player use the route, but so can everyone else! This introduces an element of forced co-operation into Ticket to Ride, each player knowing that he will have to build ‘Bullet Train’ routes to connect his destinations and complete Destination Tickets at the same time as knowing he will probably share them.

A player is subtly encouraged to build ‘Bullet Train’ routes throughout the game. First, the more ‘Bullet Train’ routes a player builds, the more points he will score at the end of the game as a bonus. Second, he will receive a hefty penalty to his score at the end of the game if he does not build any ‘Bullet Train’ routes at all. Third, each player begins play with only twenty train pieces, which limits the number of coloured, non-‘Bullet Train’ routes he can claim. In effect, the ‘Bullet Train’ routes create a core network of routes that run the length of Japan, off of which the players will build.

The other feature of the Japan map is a pair of zoomed in submaps, one for Kyushu Island and one for Tokyo subway. These have Destination Tickets for destinations within their submaps, but there are also Destination Tickets which connect a destination on the submaps to a destination elsewhere in Japan. To complete one of these Destination Tickets, a player will have to build or use the various routes and ‘Bullet Train’ routes from the destination in Japan to the city of Tokyo or Kyushu Island on the main map and then into the submap itself.

The network of routes on the Japan map feels highly organised and ordered, and that is reflected in another, not so obvious feature, of this expansion. This is extra Destination Ticket-drawing, the aim being to draw Destination Tickets that a player has already completed as part of play, or nearly completed, as part of play. The shared network feature of the ‘Bullet Train’ routes encourages this, but the result is fairly underplayed in comparison to the Switzerland map of Ticket to Ride: Switzerland.

The Japan map for Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy is engaging and fun. The Bullet Trains are a great feature that both encourage a different play style and enforce the Japanese feel of the map as well as pushing the players to work together—just a little bit.  

The Italy map takes in all of the Italian peninsula, as well as the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. It also connects to the neighbouring countries of Monaco, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. The various cities across Italy are divided up amongst its various regions and a player will score more points for connecting more regions. The busy feel of the Italian north with this its many, compact two-train routes gives way to long sweeping routes that lead south, which are often paralleled by the long ferry routes which run from the mainland to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, and across the Adriatic to Slovenia and Croatia. Several of these Ferry Routes are as many as seven spaces long, which even given the fact that each player begins with forty-five train pieces, means that a player will quickly be using up his train pieces.

The Ferry Routes on the Italy map do not work like the traditional Ferry Routes of Ticket to Ride. Since Ticket to Ride: Europe, a Ferry Route has required a single Locomotive or wild card as well as the indicated Train cards of the same colour to complete. On the Italy map, Ferry Routes make use of Ferry Cards. Both the Ferry Routes and the Ferry Cards are marked with ‘Wave Symbols’. The Ferry Cards have two Wave Symbols on them and instead of drawing Train Cards as normal or Destination Tickets, a player can instead draw a single Ferry Card, up to a maximum of two. The Ferry Routes have one, two, three, or four Wave Symbols on them. To claim a Ferry Route, a player must play Ferry Cards with same number of Wave Symbols on them combined, plus a number of Train cards of the same colour equal to the other spaces on the route. A Locomotive card can substitute instead of a single Wave Symbol. For example, if the player wants to claim the four-space Ferry Route between Roma and Olbia, he needs to play two cards of one colour and one Ferry Card as this will have the same number of Wave Symbols as marked on the Ferry Route. The maximum number of Ferry Cards a player can have is two. Where taking Train cards of a particular colour can indicate the routes that a player might be wanting to claim, here taking a Ferry Card definitely signals the intent to claim a Ferry Route. 

Although they feature in the Italy map, the Destination Tickets which connect to Italy neighbouring countries do not play as big a role as they do for Ticket to Ride: Switzerland or Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 6½: Poland. Where they differ is that some connect from one of Italy’s regions to a country rather than from a city. The regions also figure in the scoring at the end of the game as players score more for connecting more regions together with their train networks.

The Italy map in Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy is playable, entertaining, and challenging in its own right, but it is not feel as exciting as the Japan map. It is stately and much closer to the original Ticket to Ride than the Japan map, which has an energy and excitement of building new routes and in the main competing, but also working together just a tiny little bit in the construction of the ‘Bullet Train’ routes.

Physically, Ticket to Ride Map Collection is Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy is as well produced as you would expect for a Ticket to Ride expansion. Everything is high quality and the rules are easy to understand. If there is an issue, it is that the otherwise beautiful maps, are big, and consequently, unwieldy to unfold for play and fold up to put away.

What Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy shows is that you can mix and match the old with the new in Ticket to Ride. The Japan map is modern, sweeping, with a sense of speed and energy, offering a different style of play. The Italy map provides a variation upon the standard game, but still feels very traditional. Together, Ticket to Ride Map Collection is Ticket to Ride Map Collection Vol. 7: Japan + Italy offers something old and new, and is a solid addition to the Ticket to Ride family.