Solitaire: Ion Heart – Pilot’s Handbook

It is fifteen hundred years since the Astral Union was formed and sixty-five years since the Emergence Catastrophe occurred. Nephilim Strand Fleets emerged from the Galactic East and for a decade the Emergence War was waged across the galaxy. Over five decades have passed since and signs of the conflict can be found only almost every planet and in the spaces between. Remnants of the original invasion force, as well as individual Nephilim, can still be found lurking at the furthest reaches of the spatial translation Snap Rifts that bind the planetary systems of the Astral Union together. Bandits and pirates are a threat still, as are corporations running rogue operations. One icon of the war that can still be seen today is the Mech. Before the war, it had been designed as an industrial machine for use in construction and mining, and later developed as a combat vehicle, but the Mech rose to prominence during the defence of the Astral Union. Ion Core technology harnessed the latent psionic ability of all sentient beings using advanced A.I. systems to create a Sync-Bond between a mech and its user, enhancing the precision and dexterity of the Mech and enabling the Mech itself to develop a personality of its own and operate independently, but still linked to its Pilot. Today, Mechs are seen far and wide across the Astral Union, the bond between Pilot and Mech celebrated as if they were a knight and the Mech his steed of old. Together, they adventure and explore, help and hinder, protect and perform, often helping where they can, like itinerant, if hyper-armed, ronin of old.

This is the set-up for Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook. It is a solo journalling game published by Parable Games, best known for the horror roleplaying game, Shiver – Role-playing Tales in the Strange & the Unknown. In the roleplaying game, the player will take the roles of both Pilot and Mech, who together explore a universe ravaged by war and now recovering, growing together and strengthening their bond. The roleplaying game provides prompts that will drive the story of their adventures that the player will record in short mission logs. These missions typically take the form of an ‘Exploration Loop’—arriving on a planet, discovering a settlement, encountering a Story Circuit, and engaging in combat and travel encounters, as necessary. A Story Circuit is a narrative arc consisting of six parts. The player needs to play through a minimum of three of these before his Pilot and Mech can play out the finale of the Story Circuit, and so complete its narrative before moving. The Story Circuit is pre-written, but the rest is created at the beginning of each loop. To play, Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG needs nothing more than some six-sided dice and a means to record a journal.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook includes some background to the setting really intended to provide flavour and detail, rather than mechanical support. This includes the history of the Astral Union, its organisations and what ordinary life is like, an explanation of the Emergent War and who the Nephilim are, and a timeline. Surprisingly, this also includes the various species which a player can chose from. These include Apollonians or humans from the Apollo-Theta system, the reptilian Varziss of the Varziss Triarchy, the bear-like Urvons of the League of Urvo, the winged and nocturnal bat-like Chiros of Chiros Coalition, the centaur-like Kirvae of the Kirvaen Prefecture, and the cat-like Mo’nau of the Mo’nau Republic. In addition to selecting one of these species during character creation, all of this material can be drawn upon when a player is recording in his journal.

The character creation is for both the Pilot and the Mech. The Pilot is defined by Pilot Body and Pilot Presence, whilst Mech is defined by Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex. Pilot Body is his physical capability and toughness, whilst Pilot Presence is his mental fortitude and reasoning skills. Mech Brawn is the Mech’s strength and toughness, whilst Mech Reflex is his speed and agility. All of these start at zero, but are first modified by the Pilot’s Temperament and the Mech’s Weight Class. The Pilot has an Origin—one of the species listed above, a Pilot Goal such as ‘Adventure Forth’, ‘Escape Past’, and ‘Fulfil Destiny’, and Pilot Temperament, which can be ‘Outgoing’, ‘Reflective’, ‘Analytical’, ‘Intuitive’, ‘Mercurial’, or ‘Rigid’. Each of these provide a benefit. For example, ‘Reflective’ means that the Pilot prefers to keep himself and thinks carefully before committing to anything, which grants ‘+3 Max. Mech Shielding’ and ‘+1 Pilot Body’, whilst ‘Intuitive’ means that the Pilot is empathetic, has a poet’s soul, and makes judgements based on what he feels to be right, and that allows his player can ‘Re-roll two failed Pilot Presence Checks per day.’

Creating or building a Mech is slightly—but only slightly—more complex. The Mech has a Class that can either be Light, Medium, or Heavy. This determines whether it favours speed, durability, and powerful weapons, or a balance between the two, and thus its starting values for Mech Shielding and Brawn and Reflex modifiers. Each Mech has a Ranged Weapons System, Melee Weapons System, and an Auxiliary System, which will also help in combat. Since the end of the war with the Nephilim, all Mechs have been reconfigured or designed to have a civilian Specialisation and thus the capacity to be useful out of combat. This can be ‘Shepherd’, ‘Harvester’, or ‘Bridgebuilder’, for example. All of this—for both Pilot and Mech—can rolled for or chosen by the player. Lastly, there is the Ion Core Sync Bond, which represents the connection between the Pilot and his Mech, and in play, determines how many Heroic Actions or Ion Core engagements that can be conducted per day.

Pilot Name: Makwa

Pilot Origin: Urvon

Pilot Temperament: Analytical (+1 to hit in first Ranged Step of any combat)

Pilot Goal: Save Others

Pilot Presence 0 Pilot Body 0

Mech

Origin: Working Relationship

Weight: Heavy

Ion Core Sync Bond 2

Mech Shielding 46

Battle Scars: 0

Mech Brawn +1

Mech Reflex -1

Attacks: 3

Weapons: Scattergun (Damage: 4+D6) [Buckshot: For every hit with this weapon, make an extra free attack with it]; Forge Hammer (Damage: 6+D6) [Crushing Smite: The Meteorite Thunderstrike Ion Core does an additional +4 damage]

Auxiliary system: TN Field Projector

Mech Specialisation: Repair & Rescue

Mech Quirks: 0

Mechanically, Ion Heart is simple. When a player wants either his Pilot or his Mech to succeed, he rolls a single six-sided die and rolls of four or more means the attempt is successful. A roll of one is always a failure, whilst a roll of six is always a success. For the Pilot, bonuses can come from his Presence or Body as appropriate, but if he fails, the player can decide to have his Pilot undertake a Heroic Action. This automatically succeeds, but at the cost of a Sync Bond slot for that day. The Mech can operate by itself when the Pilot is not in the cockpit. In which case the bonuses for the Mech’s own Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex are used, and the roll required to succeed is still four or more. When a Mech has no instructions, it will revert to the Specialisation it has been programmed with.

Combat uses the same core mechanic, but on attacks, a roll of six is critical hit and inflicts more damage. Similarly, a roll of six to defend against an attack is a critical and deflects part of the damage back at the attacker. A round consists of three steps—Ranged, Melee, and Disengage. A Mech’s Level determines the number of attacks per round, but if the Pilot or Mech decides not to attack, they receive a bonus to the rolls to defend themselves. Damage reduces the Mech Shielding, and this is both when the Pilot is out of the Mech and in the Mech. If the Pilot is out of the Mech, it means that Pilot is not taking damage as such, but his ability to pilot the Mech is being affected.

The Ion Core of a Mech and its A.I. means that it can learn over time as it synchronises with the Pilot and it can also overcharge the Mech’s systems. There is no truly safe way to do this, as even if the Pilot and Mech have enough Sync Bond points—which determines the number of times it can be done per day—engaging the Ion Core can still damage the Mech and will damage the Mech if the number of times it is used exceeds the Sync Bond points. When the Ion Core is engaged, it provides the player with a number of choices, such as the aforementioned ‘Heroic Push’, which allows a failed Mech Brawn or Mech Reflex check to succeed; ‘Shields! Full Power!’, which partially restores Mech Shielding; and ‘Meteoric Thunderstrike!’ which enables a single attack that round and has it automatically succeed with extra damage inflicted. In the long term, through play and combat, the latter if the Mech Shielding is reduced to zero and the Mech is disabled, the Mech can acquire Mech Quirks such as ‘Gallant Protector’, which grants a bonus to Defence rolls if Mech Shielding is seriously reduced, and ‘Ocular Misalignment’, damaging its targeting optics! If there is an issue with the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG, it is that it is hard for the Pilot to improve in comparison to the Mech and the Mech is always more interesting than the Pilot as he has no special abilities or skills.

The play of Ion Heart—the ‘Exploration Loop’—begins with the creation the next destination for the Pilot and his Mech. This includes world building, which drills down from system creation through world creation to settlement design. Examples are provided to choose from, but there are tables which a player can use to create his own. The tables are used to create systems, planets, biomes, and settlements as well as encounters that can be friendly, mysterious, or hostile. The latter are backed up with a range of threats that includes other Mechs and Nephilim enemies. What this provides is a broadly drawn environment that a Pilot and Mech can explore and adventure across. It is also the environment upon which the player will map and tell the tale of one or more Story Circuits.

Eighteen of these are detailed in Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook, taking up half of the book. There are six each of Peaceful, Protective, and Dangerous Story Circuits, and each one is broken down into five scenes, plus a finale. The player has to play through three of the scenes before playing the finale. The Peaceful Story Circuits include ‘The Remembrance Festival’ and ‘Mech’s Birthday’; the Protective Story Circuits include ‘An Ecologist’s Dilemma’ and ‘Volcanic Chaos’; and Dangerous Story Circuits include ‘Our Fight is Not Over’ and ‘Contested Territory’. This is a great mix of story ideas and gives the game a greater longevity than the average solo journaling game.

In addition, Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook includes guidance on playing it as a two-player game. Instead of each player controlling his own Pilot and Mech, one player roleplays the Pilot and the other player the Mech, and it suggests the players divide responsibilities between journalling and rules referencing, as well as working together to decide on the actions of their shared Pilot and Mech.

Physically, the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook is a nicely done roleplaying game. It is fetchingly presented in swathes of soft colours and easy to read and understand.

Initially, Ion Heart is a challenging given that until a Pilot and Mech survive a Story Circuit and can go up a Level, there is not much in the way of modifiers to affect the dice rolls needed for many actions. This is why the Sync Bond and engaging the Ion Core is so important as it can get the Pilot and Mech out of a tight scrape, but it is more important early on in the game when there are fewer modifiers to skill rolls and fewer chances to engage the Ion Core with any degree of safety. However, careful play and some luck will get the Pilot and the Mech through most situations, and it may help if the player goes through a Peaceful Story Circuit first so that his Pilot can gain a Level.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook explores the relationship between Pilot and Mech, much like a knight and his horse. They are both bonded, literally in the case of the Pilot and Mech with the Sync Bond mechanic. What is so attractive about Ion Heart is that although there is danger to be found and threats to be confronted across the Astral Union, the universe it depicts is not a dark one, but one of hope and restoration, as the Pilot and Mech wander from place to place, in peripatetic fashion, ronin-style. Then unlike other solo journalling games, Ion Heart not only comes with eighteen Story Circuits to tell, but leaves the world open. There is no set ending that the player is striving for and when he has completed the eighteen Story Circuits, he is free to create his own and continue the story of his Pilot and Mech, or wait for expansions from the publisher. In other words, it is up to the player to decide when the story of his Pilot and Mech ends.

Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG – Pilot’s Handbook is a rather charming journalling roleplaying game, enjoyably optimistic in tone, and with richness of stories to tell.

Solitaire: Bloody and Alone in Appalachia

Maybe it went wrong when you drove off the highway and into that small town? Needed some gas or a place to stay for the night or simply a rest room. Took a wrong turn on the trail and found yourself outside a house in the woods? For whatever reason, you have found yourself in the small town of Bludworth Hollow in the Appalachian Hills of Eastern Kentucky. And them Appalachians take against strangers and to them there is no one stranger than city folk. And you are definitely city folk. The store owner took one look at you and with a curl of his lip, he knew you were not from around here. And then that was when everything went black… When you woke up, there was a bruise on the back of your head, you were in a barn, your wallet gone, and you had no idea where you were. There was a radio nearby that you might be able to call for help and if all else fails, you have been left with a video recorder on which you might have time to record what happens to you. Or maybe that is what they want, to record your last hours. To record your terror as the situation closes around you. As you scramble to switch the recorder on and point at it your face, your hands trembling, you think you hear movement. Is someone coming? Are they coming to help? Are they coming to hound you…?

This is the set-up for Bloody and Alone in Appalachia, published by Beyond Cataclysm Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign and based on SURVIVE THIS!! Bloody Appalachia, the Old School Renaissance roleplaying game published by Bloat Games. Where SURVIVE THIS!! Bloody Appalachia is a typical roleplaying game, Bloody and Alone in Appalachia is a solo journalling game, and is thus best played when all but the last Player Character has been hunted down and butchered! Further, instead of using rules derived from Dungeons & Dragons, for its mechanics Bloody and Alone in Appalachia uses the rules and format of The Wretched, the Science Fiction journalling game published by Loot the Room. Thus, the game requires two ordinary decks of playing cards without the Jokers, a six-sided die, a Jenga or similar tower block game, and a set of tokens. In addition, the player will require a means of recording the results of the game. It is suggested that audio or video logs work best, but a traditional journal will also work too. The roleplaying game is inspired by films such as The Blair Witch Project, Cabin in the Woods, Deliverance, and just about any backwoods horror film you care to name. Lastly, one major difference between Bloody and Alone in Appalachia and The Wretched is the number of antagonists that it offers. Typically, a solo journalling game like The Wretched presents a difficult situation and one threat. In Bloody and Alone in Appalachia there are not one threat, but thirteen! The Butcher. Bigfoot. Children of the Corn. Dirty Hoof. Fairies. Iris Lynch. Jack the Scarecrow. Piggy Lee. Reggie ‘The Mad Miner’. The Sheriff. Las Bandisas. The Ruby Mind Cooperative. The Wild Wrestler. The player will only face one of these at a time, and what that means is the player can return to play Bloody and Alone in Appalachia over and over in an attempt to escape and defeat a different foe each time. This gives it a replayability factor that is rare amongst solo journalling games.

Set-up is simple. The Jenga tower is set up with a random number of blocks pulled to represent the battering the player has already suffered and the stress he is currently suffering. Every time the player is instructed to pull a block, it represents another wound suffered, and if the Jenga tower collapses, it means that the player has died, whether from this one last wound or stress as his heart gives out. Each deck of playing cards is shuffled. One becomes the Event deck, the other the wound deck. Each day of the player’s travails is divided into two phases. Phase One is ‘The Tasks’, whilst Phase Two is ‘The Log’. There are four steps in Phase One and two in Phase Two. In ‘The Tasks’, the player draws a random number of cards from the Event Deck and works through them one by one, consulting ‘The Tourist Guide’ for each one. ‘The Tourist Guide’ is broken into four card types corresponding to the four suits in an ordinary deck of playing cards.

Hearts represents an encounter of a ‘Personal’ nature. For example, the nine of hearts entry reads, “A rusty hook bounces off the chain-link fence as someone—or something—tries to entangle you. You vault the fence in a single burst of adrenaline, but the razor blades at the top cause you to stumble. Pull from the tower.” Diamonds are the ‘Physical’ world about the player, representing places in and around Bludworth Hollow. For example, the seven of Diamonds entry reads, “The Bokenheel Bridge tricked you—it’s desperately dangerous and can’t leave the town here. How did you learn that miserable lesson? Pull from the tower.” The clubs are ‘People’, individuals that the player can meet in and about Bludworth Hollow.  For example, the eight of club reads, “When Mayor Hooper asked you to follow him, you hoped it would be the first favour in a chain that would lead you to freedom. What you saw at the Town Hall instead taught you that hope comes to Bludworth Hollow to die. What did you see?” Lastly, spades represent the monster stalking the player in and around Bludworth Hollow. Each one of the thirteen monsters has its own set of entries. This enhances the replay value of Bloody and Alone in Appalachia simply in terms of variety, but with thirteen entries per monster, the player could actually replay Bloody and Alone in Appalachia with the same monster and it still be different. Further, each monster not only has thirteen entries, it also has some background, but also two locations which can visited if the right diamonds card are drawn.

In Phase Two, or ‘The Log’, the player takes the time to consider what has happened to him that day. What he learned about the town and its inhabitants? Did he encounter the monster? How is he feeling? He then records his diary for the day.

The Wound deck simply gives fifty-two options for injuries the player might suffer. They are simply described, leaving it up to the player describe them as graphically as wants. The player is further supported with advice and a decent example of play—a nice addition for a solo journalling game—plus tables for NPC motivations and things to be found in and about the town. There is also a map of Bludworth Hollow which the player can use or create his own during play.

Like all of journalling games based on The Wretched, the subject matters of Bloody and Alone in Appalachia are dark and distressing. The player is going to be chased and cut, stalked and stabbed, pursued and punched, and more. In other words, the horror is not going to let up. However, it does lean into the clichés of rural, back woods, redneck horror, but ultimately, it is up to the player to decide how he handles these elements of his playthrough.

Physically, Bloody and Alone in Appalachia is cleanly and tidily presented. There is no art bar that on the front and back cover. There is more artwork than is typical for a solo journalling game based on The Wretched, primarily illustrating the thirteen monsters in Bloody and Alone in Appalachia.

Bloody and Alone in Appalachia is easy to play, but challenging to win. And win not once, but thirteen times! It all depends upon the draw of the cards, but every card is potentially interesting prompting the player to be creative in telling his own story. This is in line with The Wretched format, but Bloody and Alone in Appalachia goes bigger and bloodier than most solo journalling games. With thirteen monsters, Bloody and Alone in Appalachia dishes up more hillbilly horror than you ever imagine you wanted and will bring the player back to the back woods again and again to see if he can survive another monster.

Solitaire: Lost in the Deep

You came to the Kingdom Under the Mother Mountain with hope in your heart. The great mountain realm was founded long ago by your ancestors, a wonder of the age, its great halls, high galleries, towering columns, and deeply delved mines, the subject of saga and song, and then of legend as a great evil wormed its way up and brought an everlasting darkness and killed out before it. The few Survivors fed with a great fear in their heart. Then you returned as one member of a host of Dwarven warriors who came to the lost halls of the ancestors, to retake it and drive out the blight that has beset for generations, and rebuild it in the name of your ancestors. To restore it to its former glory and give your fellow dwarves a home once again. Yet you failed. In mapping out the endless ruins, your band reached as far as your ancestors and committed the same folly. You unwittingly set free an ancient evil that lay asleep for generations, and one-by-one, it has butchered your companions in the most terrifying ways possible. You are the last Survivor.

This is the set-up for Lost in the Deep. Published by Old Skull Publishing. It is a solo journaling game based on the mechanics and structure of The Wretched, published by Loot the Room, but is a standalone title. The game requires an ordinary deck of playing cards without the Jokers, a six-sided die, a Jenga or similar tower block game, and a set of tokens. In addition, the player will require a means of recording the results of his playthrough. A journal, especially one finely bound, along with an ink pen, seems appropriate. As with other games that adhere to The Wretched template, there is little to no background in Lost in the Deep. This is because as with The Wretched, the inspiration for Lost in the Deep is obvious. For The Wretched, it was the film Alien, whereas for Lost in the Deep it is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, specifically, Moria. Even more specifically, the attempt by Balin and his cohorts to retake Khazad-dûm. The inspiration is obvious from the blurb on the back cover and the author makes it clear in his introduction.

Each day, the Survivor will count his last few remaining torches and meals, wandering through the halls and galleries and mines of the Kingdom Under the Mother Mountain, hopefully working his way towards the exit, but always with the feeling that the Evil under the Shadows is breathing down his neck. All whilst recording the day’s events in his journal. Can the Survivor discover the exit to the Kingdom Under the Mother Mountain before the Evil under the Shadows or its minions catches up with him? Will a rescue party reach him before it is too late? Will his torches and food last long enough before it is too late?

The game is set up with the Jenga tower and the deck of playing cards—sans Jokers—shuffled. Each turn, or day, the player consults the Dwarven Runes or cards. To do this, he rolls the die and draws that number of cards and resolves them, following their instructions, including removing pieces from the Jenga tower as directed. Each card represents an event, a vision, or encounter. The Dwarven Runes corresponds to the four suits of the ordinary deck of playing cards. Thus, Hearts are ‘The Mines’ and represent events that occur as the Survivor explores the Kingdom Under the Mother Mountain; Diamonds are the Survivor’s ‘Strength & Resources’ and when drawn represent him running out of food, water, or torches and so becoming exhausted; Clubs are ‘Memories and Hope’ that the Survivor has of his fallen comrades, and perhaps can draw inspiration from them; and Spades are ‘The Evil in the Shadows’, signs that that either it or its minions have been here already, are drawing near, or worse, have found you and you must face them. A Spade card is not entirely without hope, for there are relics which can help the Survivor drive off the forces and influence of The Evil in the Shadows, if only temporarily.

The thirteen entries for each of the four suits all serve as prompts for the Survivor’s journal. They are roughly divided between two types. Some like the three of Diamond for ‘Strength & Resources’, which prompts the player with, “You have lost some blood in a battle against a couple of undead dwarves and feel very dizzy. What did you feel when you fought the remains of your ancestors? PULL A BLOCK FROM THE TOWER”. Others like the ten of Clubs, gives just a prompt like, “You remember a friend who warned you before you came on this expedition. They talked about a nightmare they had of a demon hidden in darkness. Why did you all forget about it?” A few are more positive, but not many… The King of each suit provides a simple prompt, but unlike other cards, they are not discarded and the prompt is ignored until the fourth King card is drawn. Only this last prompt is counted as it marks the end of the Survivor’s journey and failed escape attempt from the Kingdom Under the Mother Mountain. The nature of his death is determined by the suit of the King card.

The Ace card of each suit provides a benefit of some kind, but only one, the Ace of Hearts, presents the Survivor with a chance of freedom. Even then it is fraught with one last peril, one last pull of a block from the Jenga tower.

Physically, Lost in the Deep is cleanly and tidily presented. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is excellent.

Lost in the Deep is the story of an escape attempt and very rarely an actual escape attempt. This does not stop it from being from a hopeful game, but that hope is wrapped in darkness and claustrophobia, of a fear that the Survivor and player know is lurking in the darkness coming ever closer. Lost in the Deep is a journaling game about facing fear and overcoming horrors in the dark, about how the Survivor of a doomed expedition copes alone, knowing that almost everything is lost, and perhaps having his hope born out… It is about the journey of the Survivor’s emotions, not the end of the journey.

Solitaire: To Honour And Obey

It is the traditional role of the woman to stay at home, to maintain the household, and raise the family whilst their husband is away at work, at war, and at other duties. The stories of such women have long been explored and examined in fiction, but rarely in roleplaying. To Honour And Obey is a roleplaying game in which the tale of one such woman can be told. In particular, it is the tale of a woman who has married well to a man of status who has land and a title. He is also a man with duties who owes fealty to the King and when the call comes, must ride away to serve him, that is simply serving as part of a garrison, going on campaign, or undertaking a quest. Thus, she is left alone, barely married for four months and pregnant with their first child and potentially, his heir. The castle is cold and drafty, the household staff equally as cold and unwelcoming, and threats lurk on the edge of her husband’s fiefdom. Raised to be a good wife and a suitable match for any knight, the lady must prove herself of undertaking all of the tasks that her husband would see as his duty were he at home. Manage the household, see to the land, protect it from dangers, and ensure the safety of the peasantry. This is the task faced by the player in To Honour And Obey, ‘A solo game about an Arthurian lady protecting her own.’

To Honour And Obey is published by Twelve Pins Press. It is both a solo journaling and an epistolary roleplaying game told in five acts in which a lady must survive the winter faced by travails that her mother failed to warn her about. It uses Blinking Birch Games’ Anamnesis system and thus to play, it requires a Tarot deck, a notebook and pen, and some tokens, as well as a coin. To set up, the player separates the Tarot Deck into five individual decks consisting of the Major Arcana, Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. The player then draws two cards from the Major Arcana. The first is the Lady’s Strength, which can be a talent, a quality, a skill, or a secret. Whenever the Lady uses her Strength to deal with a problem, a token is placed on the card. The second is reversed and is her Enemy. When the Lady is confronted with a problem that she is unable to deal with at all or simply badly, or acts out of desperation, a token is placed on the card. The player always decides, except when a card is drawn reversed, in which case a token is placed on her Enemy. To Honour And Obey does suggest three sample Strengths and Enemies, but more would have been both nice and further supported its replay value.

To Honour And Obey is played in five acts. The first three acts switch between the action and epistolary, from surveying her situation to writing to her mother, from facing her enemies acting against her to writing to her husband, and so on. Her player draws three cards from the Pentacle. This generates three questions. For example, “You have a friend who you can never spend enough time with when you are attending your wifely duties. Who is she, and how quickly have you made plans to see her?”, “As you stand by the gate a man watches you from a window. What about his gaze makes your skin crawl?”, and “As he rides away, you think about the one person you wish was here to offer you support and wisdom. Why are they not with you right now? Do you cave in, and in a moment of weakness, ask them to come?” The player answers these questions and moves onto epistolary action. As the Lady, the player writes to her mother, telling her about the keep, her duties, insecurities and fears, love and resentment of her husband, and fears for the future, before asking for advice. She has a chance to act on it and gain a token for her Strength card, before the player moves onto the second act.

As the story progresses through the subsequent acts, the Lady deals with issues in her husband’s fiefdom and then writes to her husband, never knowing when he will write in reply and even if he is still alive; tries to find out more about her enemies and writes to the Queen—perhaps even for help; finally ultimately face her foes, in turn direct attack, treachery, scandal, and illness. In the final, the Lady will face Ending, its nature determined by a Major Arcana card, her fate determined by which card has the most tokens. More tokens on her Strength indicates victory, whereas more on her Enemy indicates defeat. It is easier to accrue tokens on her Enemy than it is on her Strength, meaning that the Lady’s ending is often one of tragedy.

The story at the heart of To Honour And Obey is structurally the same and each time the Lady is going to answering the same broad questions and facing the same sort of difficulties. Where the variation comes is in the exact nature of those difficulties as prompted by the drawing of the cards. When it comes to replaying To Honour And Obey, the challenge is creating answers to the broader prompts about the Lady and her relationships rather than the external threats that she faces.

Physically, To Honour And Obey does need a slight edit, but is otherwise well presented. It is also illustrated by a range of fitting Pre-Raphaelite artwork.

The role of the woman and how much she supports and makes sacrifices for her husband even when he is not there  in Arthurian legend is often overlooked and often tragic. To Honour And Obey is an opportunity to bring her tale to light and hear it her told from her perspective.

Solitaire: Jude’s World

From the outset, Jude’s World faces a challenge in terms of the audience it will not appeal to. Not because it is a bad game, but rather because of its subject matter. It is a solo storytelling and journalling game, and over the two decades that the hobby has had storytelling games, they have generally dealt with generally non-commercial subject matters in a fairly direct manner. These have included love, betrayal, survival, community, mysteries, loyalty, magic, and many more. Jude’s World though, deals with divorce. And for a sizeable percentage of the gaming community—as in society, in general—that may be too sensitive a subject matter, especially one to turn into a game. And that is whether they were a child whose parents separated and divorced or an adult who has a child and goes through a divorce with a partner. For others though, Jude’s World may be as fantastical a concept as going down a dungeon and fighting monsters. More interestingly though, Jude’s World has also been written in response to the Walt Disney film, The Parent Trap, both the original 1961 version and the 1998 remake, which the author describes as being a very conservative view of marriage and relationships. This in addition to the quite bonkers nature of the films’ plot (and the German book it is based upon, Lisa and Lottie, by Erich Kästner).

Jude’s World is published by Button Kin Games, best known for its collaboration with the excellent Odd Jobs: RPG Micro Settings Vol. I and it requires nothing more than a means to record the player’s progress, two six-sided dice, and a deck of Tarot cards. In Jude’s World, the player takes the role of twelve-year-old Jude, writing a diary about the breakdown of the marriage of their parents, Mika and Jamie, and then their effort to get them back together again. Essentially, just like The Parent Trap, but without a twin. Of course, a player need not roleplay Jude and need not set their efforts in the default period of the here and now for Jude’s World. The player is free to assign whatever names he wants and set his playthrough where and whenever he wants.

Jude and their parents are very lightly defined. In fact, it comes down to the single sentence, ‘Jude is XXX, who XXX’, where the ‘XXX’s are defined by the player’s initials and those of his favourite teenage icons. So, for example, mine would be ‘Jude is a philosopher, who loves movie nights’, whilst those for Jude’s parents would be ‘Mika is social butterfly, who speaks multiple languages’ and ‘Jamis is a goody two shoes, who wants to go to space’. Besides this, Jude has a stat called ‘Teen’ which measures their progress from pre-teen to teen and rated from zero to five, beginning at zero. Their parents have ‘Hearts’ and ‘Hurts’. ‘Hearts’ runs from one to five and starts at one, and represents the love that Mika and Jamie had for each other. ‘Hurts’ runs between one and three, starts at two, and represents the pain they have caused each other. If it rises to three, Mika and Jamie have a fight and lose two Hearts! Ultimately, the aim of Jude’s World is for Jude to get her parents back together, indicated by increasing their parents’ ‘Hearts’ to five, whilst increasing their ‘Teen’ value represents their increasing maturity.

Set-up begins by having Jude ‘Build a Life’. This is done by creating a nine-card Tarot spread, roughly shaped like a house, that indicate what Jude and Mika care about apart from Jude, how they met and what drew them together, obstacles they overcame and what they sacrificed to have Jude, a personality trait for Jude, what Jude’s happiest memory of their family is, and what they know about their parents’ break up. This represents the past for Jude, whilst her future is defined by having her ‘Rebuild a Life’ using the same nine-card Tarot spread.

As he draws the Tarot cards, the player will interpret and use them to tell the story of Jude’s efforts to get their parents back together. The Minor Arcana consist of Pentacles representing wealth and work; Cups emotions, health, family, and friends; Swords are intellect and school; and Wands are creativity and hobbies. The Major Arcana, such as Death, The Sun, and Justice represent major milestones. ‘The Fool’, ‘The Magician’, and ‘The High Priestess’ form the Twists stack, whilst three Minor Arcana form Jude’s Keepsakes stack. It is not a matter of drawing a single card each time, since that would produce a build which could be interpreted as a story, but which was wholly random. Instead, the player draws three cards on a turn. One he keeps, the others he returns randomly to the deck. The drawn cards represent different aspects of Jude’s life and that of their parents. Numbered Minor Arcana are Keepsakes, such as ‘A picture of an old house’ or ‘A teddy bear holding a stuffed heart’, that their parents once held dear and which Jude uses to strengthen the emotional effect of the Traps they will lay for them. Face Minor Arcana are a foil or an accomplice, part of Jude’s life, such as a popular and ambitious older teen for ‘Knight of Cups’ or an authoritative, determined adult for the ‘King of Swords’. An accomplice will help Jude get their parents back together, whilst a foil will not. Major Arcana are Twists, big events in Jude’s life, such as standing up to a bully for ‘The Chariot’ or running away for the night for ‘The Fool’. Effectively, these are all prompts and all handily listed in Jude’s World, which the player is using to tell and then record Jude’s efforts.

There are twin drives to Jude’s World and the key them are the Twists, which can either be picked or used to ‘Spring a Trap’. Picking a Twist, a big event in Jude’s life, increases their Teen score and their maturity, whereas a Twist is used along with three Keepsakes to ‘Spring a Trap’. The player uses a Twist and three Keepsakes to trigger a Trap and then rolls for the results on the table. An Accomplice or a Foil add a bonus or penalty to the roll if present. Results vary widely. A ‘Failure’ increases Hurt by one. A ‘Partial Success’ gives three options—adding a Heart and changing an Accomplice to a Foil; increase Heart and Hurt by one each; or reduce Hurt by one. A ‘Full Success’ increases Heart by one. An ‘Outstanding Success’ also increases Heart by one and adds further options of turning a Foil into an Accomplice, Reducing Hurt to zero, or increasing Heart by one again. The three Keepsakes are discarded, as is the Major Arcana used for the Twist if the result was a failure. On any degree of success—Partial, Full, or Outstanding— the Major Arcana is added to the ‘Rebuild a Life’ spread.

Mechanically, the flow and aim of the game is to build up enough Minor Arcana as Keepsakes and one or more Major Arcana as Twists to set a Trap for Jude’s parents to make them remember what was good about their relationship and why they got together in the first place, and to try get them back together again. The player will do this multiple times, working to fill in the nine-card ‘Rebuild-a-Life’ spread. Thematically, the player is recording the story of how this happens and what the outcome is, as well as making discoveries about Jude’s parents using the cards of the Tarot deck together with the prompts listed in the book.

Also thematically, the player is exploring his past. Primarily, his memories of being both a pre-teen and a teenager, but also the breakup of his parents’ relationship and his reaction to that—if that happened. There is a degree of intimacy to both, meaning that the play of Jude’s World is potentially more personal and even more painful than other roleplaying games, even storytelling ones. Plus, that intimacy can be exacerbated because Jude’s World is played alone and the player is not just drawing upon personal thoughts and recollections, but considering them and writing them down. Of course, a player need not draw on his past so heavily or even at all, perhaps playing Jude’s World inspired more directly by the tone of The Parent Trap than is Jude’s World itself. That said, the potential remains. Of course, as the author points out, Jude’s World is not intended and should not be used as therapy.

Physically, Jude’s World is a decently presented book. The cover is striking, but whilst decent enough, the internal artwork is more functional. The layout of the book as a notebook with coloured tabs down the side is appropriately effective.

Jude’s World is a well designed and thought out game that showcases the types of stories that possible within the storytelling genre. This is a coming-of-age story, one of the trauma of family break-up, but also an attempt to repair that trauma and put the family back together. It also offers flexibility in how a player approaches its play and replayability in the use of the Tarot deck and the prompts in the book. However, its degree of intimacy and the feelings and memories it can engender make it less of a comedy, coming-of-age drama for some players than the author intended.

Solitaire: Escape the Domain of the Night Hag

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Solitaire: Midnight Melodies

You are not dead, but you could be. You hover somewhere between life and death, unable to take the bony grasp of the Grim Reaper and take the next step to the beyond. Perturbed at this state of affairs, it is possible that this has happened before for instead of leaving you, Death gives you a job. A job as well as your night job. A job you will do after your night job. Every night you perform on the stage, playing cool, cool tunes in set after set at the jazz club, and then, when the last of the audience has gone and the lights are up, you find a scrap of paper at the bottom of the tips jar. On it is a name. The name of someone who died at the wrong time and without permission. A name and a death that you have until sunrise to investigate to determine the cause and what happened. You are an agent of the Department of Unauthorized Deaths and in the dark of the night you become a sleuth for the supernatural, using Death-given spectral abilities to slip into the darkest of shadows, seeking the souls of the wrongly departed and bring harmony to them. To aid you in your investigations, the Department of Unauthorized Deaths grants certain supernatural gifts, each of which calls upon different notes in your repertoire, including being able to talk to with the spirits, passing through walls, and even glimpse echoes of the past or the future. Yet rely too much upon such Blue Notes and you may be pulled too close to death…

This is the set-up for Midnight Melodies, a solo roleplaying and journaling game in which you play a jazz pianist recruited by the Grim Reaper. It is inspired by Pixar’s Soul and DC Comic’s John Constantine, but this is a roleplaying game which could be inspired by series such as Tru Calling, Dead Like Me, and Johnny Staccato. It is published by Critical Kit Ltd, best known for Be Like A Crow – A Solo RPG and to play the game, a player requires a six-sided die, a twelve-sided die, a journal or notebook, a cool jazz playlist (the book suggests Ambient Soundscapes – Private Eye Moods: Smooth Film Noir Jazz Mix), and a piano. The latter can be an online piano and Midnight Melodies does not require the player to be able to play said piano.

A Player Character in Midnight Melodies has a name, a set of six Actions, unique Talents, and a Blue Note reserve. There are five Actions—Talk, Move, Force, Handle, and Discern—two of which Dominant, meaning that the Player Character is good at them, and one Diminished, which means he struggles with it. Creating a character is fast simple, rolling for a name and deciding which Actions are Dominant and which one is Diminished.

Skylar ‘Mist’ Monroe
Talk+ Move Force– Handle Discern+
Blue Notes 6

Mechanically, Midnight Melodies is simple. The player selects the appropriate Action, rolls a six-sided die, and adds one if the Action is Dominant and deducts one if it is Diminished. The result varies from one and ‘No, and…’ to six and ‘Yes, and…’, with ‘No, but…’ and ‘Yes, but…’ in between. These are clear simple prompts for the player intended to help him interpret and then write about the results of his character’s actions. Each of the Talents in Midnight Melodies is tied to a particular Action and their use involves a standard roll. One element not explored is what happens if the Player Character employs too many of his Blue Notes, which does undermine the threat at the heart of every investigation.

The actual play of Midnight Melodies is about conducting investigations. The Player Characters has an extra gift that will help him when it comes to investigating deaths. Each death leaves a series of Tones that the Player Character can hear and will help him find out what has happened. Each death consists of nine Tones divided into three Chords. Collect all nine Tones and give the Reaper the three Chords before sunrise and the night’s investigation is done. The victim is initially known by his or her name and occupation, but will also later be revealed to have had a secret too. The Tones set a pattern for an investigation and in turn reveal the victim’s identity, the death scene, the first clue, an unexpected twist, signs of the supernatural, hints of something stranger, the discovery of the entity responsible, what their motive was, and an insight into the death.

Midnight Melodies suggests three styles of play for any investigation—‘Freeform’, ‘Challenges’, or ‘Story Beats’. Freeform requires the random selection of six motifs for Drive, Descriptor, Role, Action, Mood, and Theme—for example, ‘Embrace’, ‘Rustic’, ‘Spectator’, ‘Risk’, ‘Melancholic’, and ‘Trust’—which then the player is encouraged to riff from to tell the story of the investigation. ‘Challenges’ makes use of the Action mechanics supported by a set of tables, one each for the five Actions, whilst ‘Story Beats’ is tied to the three Chords and the nine Tones, which actually follow the structure of a detective story, whether on television or not. Ultimately, the Player Character will confront a supernatural entity, such as ‘Vlokkriat’, “A patchwork of various materials—stone, cloth, metal, all moving in a sinuous manner.”, with the Trait of “Can drown victims in its embrace; reflects distorted versions of reality.” and Motivation of “Seeks to balance its own ancient debt, where each death offsets a life it once inadvertently saved.” Midnight Melodies is then a roleplaying game of monster hunting and saving the world against the supernatural.

Once how the victim was killed has been discovered and who or what committed the murder is determined and confronted, the Player Character can communicate the information to the Grim Reaper. This can be simple matter of the player writing down in the journal that his character has done it, but Midnight Melodies includes the pass this on through the motif of the Chords and Tones. The player does this by randomly rolling for the investigation’s nine Tones and playing them on a piano (on or offline). It brings each investigation to a discordant, mournful close as the sun seeps over the horizon and perhaps, gives the Player Character some respite in the normality of daylight… Before another jazz set and another name at the bottom of the tip jar.

Physically, Midnight Melodies is decently presented. It is well written, and the artwork is good too, combining a sense of music and noir in its stark tones.

Midnight Melodies is great for the player who wants to write tell stories of investigation and supernatural horror and it provides some great prompts to do that as its Tones sound and Chords play out. However, it really is only set up for single investigations. The continuation of story elements from one investigation to another is very much left to the player to do and there are tables to create story elements except the investigation itself. There is also no resolution to Midnight Melodies beyond the individual investigations, so now way to know if the Player Character will ever be free of his obligation to Department of Unauthorized Deaths? The only way in which Midnight Melodies ends is when the Player Character has dealt with all twelve Entities and that is not satisfying.

Midnight Melodies is a thematic delight, exploring a classic story and roleplaying game set-up in stylish fashion and giving the player scope to tell good stories. Yet the lack of long-term resolution means that Midnight Melodies feels like a cancelled television series.

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.

Solitaire: Ion Heart

In the far future, the Astral Union was invaded by the Strand Fleets of the Nephilim Colossi. It was totally unexpected and the enemy, having come from another galaxy, unfathomable. Despite initial setbacks, the Astral Union drove the invaders out and the war was won. That was decades ago, and even today, remnants of the original invasion force, as well as individual Nephilim, can still be found lurking at the furthest reaches of the spatial translation Snap Rifts that bind the planetary systems of the Astral Union together. Perhaps the most significant technological development of the war was the mech. Before the war, it had been designed as an industrial machine for use in construction and mining, and later developed as a combat vehicle, but it rose to prominence during the defence of the Astral Union. Ion Core technology harnessed the latent psionic ability of all sentient beings using advanced A.I. systems to create a Sync-Bond between a mech and its user, enhancing the precision and dexterity of the Mech and enabling the Mech itself to develop a personality of its own and operate independently, but still linked to its Pilot. Today, Mechs are seen far and wide across the Astral Union, the bond between Pilot and Mech celebrated as if they were a knight and his steed of old. Together, they adventure and explore, often helping where they can, like itinerant, if armed, ronin of old.

This is the future of Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG. It is a solo journalling game published by Parable Games, best known for the horror roleplaying game, Shiver – Role-playing Tales in the Strange & the Unknown. In the roleplaying game, the player will take the roles of both Pilot and Mech, who together explore a universe ravaged by war and now recovering, growing together and strengthening their bond. The roleplaying game provides prompts that will drive the story of their adventures that the player will record in short mission logs. These missions typically take the form of an ‘Exploration Loop’—arriving on a planet, discovering a settlement, encountering a Story Circuit, and engaging in combat and travel encounters, as necessary. A Story Circuit is a narrative arc consisting of six parts. The player needs to play through a minimum of three of these before his Pilot and Mech can play out the finale of the Story Circuit, and so complete its narrative before moving on. The Story Circuit is pre-written, but the rest is created at the beginning of each loop. To play, Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG needs nothing more than some six-sided dice and a means to record a journal.

Between them, the Pilot and the Mech are defined by Pilot Body and Pilot Presence, and Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex. Pilot Body is his physical capability and toughness, whilst Pilot Presence is his mental fortitude and reasoning skills. All of these start at zero, but are first modified by the Pilot’s Temperament and the Mech’s Weight Class. The Pilot is further defined by his Origin, either Apollonian, Varziss, Urvon, Chiros, Kirvae, and Mo’nau. The Apollonians are humans, whilst the rest are anthropomorphic species, roughly reptilian, ursine, bat-like—including being able to fly, centaur-like, and feline, respectively. The Pilot also has a Goal, either ‘Adventure forth’, ‘Return home’, or ‘Escape past’, and a Temperament, either ‘Outgoing’, ‘Reflective’, or ‘Mercurial’.

The Mech has a Class that can either be Light, Medium, or Heavy. This determines whether it favours speed, durability and powerful weapons, or a balance between the two, and thus its starting values for Mech Shielding and Brawn and Reflex modifiers. Each Mech has a Ranged Weapons System, Melee Weapons System, and an Auxiliary System, which will also help in combat. Since the end of the war with the Nephilim, all Mechs have been reconfigured or designed to have a civilian Specialisation and thus the capacity to be useful out of combat. This can be ‘Shepherd’, ‘Harvester’, or ‘Bridgebuilder’. All of this—for both Pilot and Mech—can rolled for or chosen by the player. Lastly, there is the Ion Core Sync Bond, which represents the connection between the Pilot and his Mech, and in play, determines how many Heroic actions or Ion Core engagements that can be conducted per day.

Pilot Name: Aeron
Pilot Origin: Kirvae
Pilot Temperament: Reflective
Pilot Goal: Escape Report
Pilot Presence 0 Pilot Body 0

Level 1
Ion Core Sync Bond 2
Mech Shielding 43

Mech Name:
Mech Weight Class: Medium
Attacks: 3
Mech Brawn 0
Mech Reflex 0
Weapons: Concussion Maul (Damage: 4+D6) [If you hit an enemy with this weapon add +1 to your defence rolls against them]; Auto Blaster (Damage: 3+D6) [You may make a free attack with this weapon when in ranged step of combat.]
Auxiliary system: Liquid-metal armaments
Battle Scars: 0
Mech Specialisation: Harvester
Mech Quirks: 0

At its core, Ion Heart is simple. When a player wants either his Pilot or his Mech to succeed, he rolls a single six-sided die and rolls of four or more means the attempt is successful. A roll of one is always a failure, whilst a roll of six is always a success. For the Pilot, bonuses can come from his Presence or Body as appropriate, but if he fails, the player can decide to have his Pilot undertake a Heroic Action. This automatically succeeds, but at the cost of a Sync Bond slot for that day. The Mech can operate by itself when the Pilot is not in the cockpit. In which case the bonuses for the Mech’s own Mech Brawn and Mech Reflex are used, and the roll required to succeed is still four or more. When a Mech has no instructions, it will revert to the Specialisation it has been programmed with.

Combat uses the same core mechanic, but on attacks, a roll of six is critical hit and inflicts more damage. Similarly, a roll of six to defend against an attack is a critical and deflects part of the damage back at the attacker. A round consists of three steps—Ranged, Melee, and Disengage. A Mech’s Level determines the number of attacks per round, but if the Pilot or Mech decides not to attack, they receive a bonus to the rolls to defend themselves. Damage reduces the Mech Shielding, and this is both when the Pilot is out of the Mech and in the Mech. If the Pilot is out of the Mech, it means that Pilot is not taking damage as such, but his ability to pilot the Mech is being affected.

The Ion Core of a Mech and it’s A.I. means that it can learn over time as it synchronises with the Pilot and it can also overcharge the Mech’s systems. There is no truly safe way to do this, as even if the Pilot and Mech have enough Sync Bond points—which determines the number of times it can be done per day—engaging the Ion Core can still damage the Mech and will damage the Mech if the number of times it is done exceeds the Sync Bond points. When the Ion Core is engaged, it provides the player with a number of choices, such as the aforementioned ‘Heroic Push’, which allows a failed Mech Brawn or Mech Reflex check to succeed; ‘Shields! Full Power!’, which partially restores Mech Shielding; and ‘Meteoric Thunderstrike!’ which enables a single attack that round and has it automatically succeed with extra damage inflicted. In the long term, through play and combat, the latter if the Mech Shielding is reduced to zero and the Mech is disabled, the Mech can acquire Mech Quirks such as ‘Gallant Protector’, which grants a bonus to Defence rolls if Mech Shielding is seriously reduced, and ‘Ocular Misalignment’, damaging its targeting optics! If there is an issue with the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG, it is that it is hard for the Pilot to improve in comparison to the Mech and the Mech is always more interesting than the Pilot as he has no special abilities or skills.

In terms of play and the ‘Exploration Loop’, Ion Heart provides the player with tables to generate its various parts. This includes its biome, a settlement and its amenities, which the Pilot can visit two of per day, Travelling Encounters-which can be friendly, neutral, or hostile, and a selection of enemies, from improved industrial units to one of the most feared mechs in the Astral Union, the Heriot Shieldbreaker. Together these establish a broad environment where the Pilot and Mech will adventure and explore, but what forms the basis the storytelling and the adventures are the Story Circuits. Two of these are provided in Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG, ‘The Mech Circus’ and ‘Protecting the Herd’. In the first, the Pilot and Mech encounters Marsha’s Mecha Circus and get to enjoy a night at the circus, but with a Mech! In the second, the Pilot and the Mech find a rural town whose farmers are concerned something or someone has been interfering with their herds of Malhoons, so the Pilot and the Mech have to find the robo-rustlers! Both of these Story Circuits are short and can be played through in single long session of no more than two hours or several, very short sessions in which a single event is played out and recorded.

Physically, the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG is a nicely done roleplaying game. It is fetchingly presented in swathes of primary colours and easy to read and understand.

This version of Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG is only the quick-start and the full version of the roleplaying game will include expended content and more Story Circuits. The Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG is a tough little game given that until a Pilot and Mech survives a Story Circuit and can go up a Level, there is not much in the way of modifiers to affect the dice rolls needed for many actions. This is why the Sync Bond and engaging the Ion Core is so important as it can get the Pilot and Mech out of a tight scrape, but it is more important early on in the game when there are fewer modifiers to skill rolls and fewer chances to engage the Ion Core with any degree of safety. However, careful play and some luck will get the Pilot and the Mech through some situations. In the process, the player will discover a rather charming little journalling roleplaying game, one that is engagingly optimistic in its tone and the stories presented in its Story Circuits, which makes the Ion Heart: Solo Mech Exploration RPG a very welcome change in comparison to many other journalling games.

Words Between the War

Between the quotas and the quanta, there is time for questions. Between the propaganda and proselytism there is time for pondering. Between the machinations and murders there is time for messages. Between the intrigues and insurgencies there is time for infatuation. Between the assassinations and alterations there is time for assignations. Between these moments, there is time for love. These are not moments that matter to great empires that believe that the only way to survive is to make the past, present, and future theirs, to adjust every version of themselves so that it survives and every version of their rival so that it does not. To wage wars violent in word and deed, but also subtle and imperceptible. There is a war up and down the timeline and sideways across the multiverse fought by armies and agents and two of those agents—one on either side—are beginning to question if the war will ever end? If either side will win? If there is more than the futility of fighting and thwarting each other’s efforts? If the other feels like they do? And if they do, can they shape reality so they are no longer foils for and reflections of each other, but together? After all, as elite agents in the war for time and reality, only they know what the other has experienced.

This is the set-up for The Words We Leave Behind, an epistolary roleplaying game for two players inspired by the multi-award-winning Science Fiction LGBT novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War. It is published by Lunar Shadow Designs and uses the same mechanics and format as the publisher’s interstellar epistolary roleplaying game of increasingly challenging communication and saying goodbye, Signal to Noise. In Signal to Noise, the players, as friends, relatives, or lovers, beamed letters to each other back and forth across vast distances of space, between the Earth and a gigantic colony ship. In The Words We Leave Behind, the players take the roles of Proxies on opposite sides of a massive time war, one that has the capacity to spread to other worlds and dimensions. Each is their Faction’s ultimate warrior and agent because they perfectly embody the emotional profile which their Faction views as the ultimate driver behind the rise and fall of civilisations. In The Words We Leave Behind, each player will take the role of a Proxy, each guided by three emotions, which can be opposed to, or in direct competition with, the other Proxy. Over the course of play, the players will not exchange letters as in other epistolary roleplaying games, but draw cards to create points in the future and the past of a Timeline, each an Incursion which their Proxy will enter and alter details. As they play, they may visit previously visited Incursions, adding and changing other details, even to Incursions created by their rival Proxy. These changes can cascade down the Timeline to alter further points in the future. This is all played out on a shared document, meaning that The Words We Leave Behind is intended to be played online.

Besides the shared online document and a means to send each other messages, each player in The Words We Leave Behind requires a standard deck of playing cards. These have their jokers removed, separated into their four suites and shuffled in four decks. A card is drawn from each suit to form the starting hand and there is always a card from each suit in the suit. (An extra Hearts card can be added to simulate the themes of This Is How You Lose the Time War.)

A Proxy is first defined by the three emotions that also define the Faction they serve. The player is free to develop their Proxy’s Faction as much or as little as they want, including its objectives, and will also ask the other player what their Proxy’s Faction thinks of theirs and what their Proxy’s Faction calls their Proxy whom it regards as the enemy. A Proxy also has a preferred form, worn between missions, and three anchors or possessions, which helps maintain the association with their roots, one of which is a trinket, an actual physical object that the player owns. Lastly, each Proxy decides how they perceive themselves and their rival.

Verdigris
I am CALCULATING and you are RECKLESS
Prime Emotion: Hope
Secondary Emotions: Shame, Anger
Anchors: The skull of bird whose species was made extinct by dangerous technology (it reminds me of what we lost); a blade grass from my home farm (it is what we work to preserve and I leave behind on every mission to show what we are working to save); trinket: a single-sided die (from the game we played as children)

Play consists of several turns, typically four to five, in which each player will take control of the narrative and send a message as their Proxy to the other player and their Proxy. In subsequent turns after the first, a player will have their Proxy read the message from their rival, be assigned by their Faction to make an Incursion—roughly between five and thirty sentences long—and manipulate events there, before leaving a message behind for their rival to find. The Incursions are recorded on the Timestream document as are their effects on downstream Incursions. If a Proxy returns to an existing Incursion, their player can edit it by adding text at the beginning or end of the current Incursion, effectively changing the lead into the Incursion or the outcome. These changes can cascade down the Timestream, the current player examining subsequent Incursions and if necessary, adding, deleting, or altering a single sentence in the Incursion description. (Whilst the changes are made directly to the Timestream document, the prior state is tracked via the messages between the players. One of the potential issues with the play of The Words We Leave Behind is losing track of earlier incarnations of the Timestream.)

Cards are played randomly from the hand and provide two important details. First, the number determines the Incursion, whilst the suit advances the emotion which it matches. Once played, the cards represent a Proxy’s emotional state, the more cards a Proxy has in a suite, up to a maximum of three, the more intense the state. Roughly, Hearts equate to the emotion of love, Clubs to anger, Spades to uncertainty, and Diamonds to understanding. The emotional state will influence how the player describes their Proxy’s actions in an Incursion and their Proxy’s reactions to their rival’s actions.

A player can spend his Proxy’s Anchors for various effects. The first two anchors can be used to either let the player choose a card to play, alter three sentences in an Incursion when the changes cascade down the Timestream, or even to reverse the cascade, so back up the Timestream and into the past rather down into the future. The third anchor, a trinket, can be used to revert an Incursion to its original state, place an Incursion under a Temporal Lock so it is immune to the cascading effect, or to take a second turn.

The interaction between the proxies and thus the play of The Words We Leave Behind comes to climax when a player plays the third card from a suit and so acts on the emotional prompt it triggers. As in This Is How You Lose the Time War, this is the point when the Proxies decide to meet, and as in the novel, in The Words We Leave Behind it is not via the messages going back and forth between the Proxies, but in person, face to face (or alternatively, via a video call). Based on the current state of the Timestream, the messages exchanged, and their respective emotional states, the Proxies have a simple choice to make. Will they place their trust in each other or attempt to take advantage of the other. If they both place their trust in each other, their feelings transcend the conflict and they leave both it and their Factions behind together. If they attempt to take advantage of the other, the war continues to a calamitous end. Lastly, if one Proxy attempts to take advantage of the other and one Proxy places their trust in the other, the Proxy who attempted to take advantage prevails and their Faction gains greater control of reality. In all three cases, the outcome is then narrated.

Love and trust are not common themes in roleplaying games, with trust being a more common theme than love because it is easier to deal with via humour or politics or espionage rather than feelings. This is not to say that love cannot play a part in a roleplaying game, but in general, love is not a core theme of most roleplaying games. When it is, it has tended to come out of the storytelling and narrative style of design, such as Emily Care Boss’ The Romance Trilogy, consisting of Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon, and Under the Skin. Nor does this mean that more mainstream publishers have not ignored the subject, such as Thirsty Sword Lesbians from Evil Hat Productions and Blue Rose: The AGE RPG of Romantic Fantasy from Green Ronin Publishing. This, though, does not escape the fact that ‘love’ as a theme in roleplaying games is challenging to handle for the players because it requires trust between the participants and it requires them to roleplay feelings that are normally kept private. Lastly, The Words We Leave Behind has the possibility of the most devastating response to both love and trust—betrayal. As with those other roleplaying games, The Words We Leave Behind is best played by mature players.

The Words We Leave Behind can be played from start to finish in a matter of a few hours, but its epistolary format means that it can be played at a more leisurely pace over the course of a few days or weeks. It can also be played on an Earthly, Galactic, or Dimensional scale, but really this only adds to flavour and scope of the setting rather than the themes. Those themes are explored in the messages between the Proxies and in the changes made to the timestream, pushed and prodded by the suits of the cards played and then escalated. Each player and their Proxy is aware of how the other feels as the card details are exchanged in the messages and whilst for the most part the cards themselves are played randomly from their hands, each player has the choice to change how their Proxy feels by playing an anchor and being able to select a card instead of drawing it randomly.

Apart from the aforementioned issue with keeping track of the timestream, The Words We Leave Behind is more challenging to play if the participants have not read This Is How You Lose the Time War to understand the themes and structure of the roleplaying game. The roleplaying game is also part of the publisher’s Dyson Eclipse future setting, the same as Rock Hoppers, Signal to Noise, and The Kandhara Contraband: A System Agnostic Sci-Fi Adventure, but it is not clear how. Lastly, as an epistolary roleplaying game, The Words We Leave Behind feels that it should have more emotional prompts for longer play rather than the three for each suit which befit a game played in one go.

Physically, The Words We Leave Behind is neat and tidy and includes a lot of helpful advice and prompts on handling its themes, which undeniably are all needed give the nature of those themes.

Fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War will doubtless be intrigued by The Words We Leave Behind, but will find it a daunting prospect if they have not played a roleplaying game before or their roleplaying experience is with more mainstream roleplaying games. The Words We Leave Behind is a personally demanding game, asking us to explore themes and feelings that not every roleplaying game does, but the epistolary format means that this exploration does not have to be immediate and it can be more considered, which ameliorates some of the challenge to The Words We Leave Behind. Nevertheless, for mature players willing to do so, The Words We Leave Behind presents the demanding means to explore the growth of love and trust—and potentially betrayal—in considered fashion in an age of a time war.

—oOo—

This review is of the ‘Ashcan’ edition of The Words We Leave Behind. The full version is currently being funded via Kickstarter.