Therapy & Terror

What if the monsters today sent young men and women off on pointless wars of aggression and pride? What if the monsters today sat at their keyboards and spread hate and lies—and were even paid to do it? What if the monsters today printed or broadcast hate and division in the name of patriotism? What if the monsters today refused life improving and even life-saving medical care because it was deemed too expensive and people suffered because of it? What if the monsters today took hostages for political gain? What if the monsters today poisoned wells and befouled the waters because it was profitable? What if the monsters today were in positions of power and influence, what would happen to the monsters of old? The monsters from under the bed. The monsters from folktales. The monsters from legends. The monsters from just at the edge of the shadows? The monsters reduced to entertainment on screens big and small, in books on the bestseller lists? Would they even be monstrous at all? And if they cannot be monsters as they once were, what will they do?

In Mansters, you roleplay one of these monsters. Classic, even universal monsters. The Vampire, the Witch, the Werewolf, the Mummy, the Not-Frankenstein, the Ghost, the Zombie. Monsters who have lost what they once were, that is, scary, yet they still have the same powers for which they were known. Monsters who in attempting to understand why the world has changed and why humans are no longer scared of them, have lost part of what made them monstrous. And have thus become depressed at their loss of status and loss of opportunity to embrace their true, monstrous natures. Since they are trying to understand humans, they do what every human would do and that is to seek therapy. Fortunately, Doctor Lector runs Depressives Anonymous at which every monster can unburden himself and come to terms with the world that he finds himself in. He also finds an outlet for his monstrousness, seeking the evil men and women of the world and striking fear into them, to prove himself what he once was.

Mansters: Fight Against the Real Monsters of the World is a storytelling game, a satire upon horror stories and the modern political and financial worlds. Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is from Black Lantern, the Greek publisher best known for the Soulmist, the post-apocalyptic setting of a world literally divided into two by darkness and light, written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. The aim of the Player Characters—or Monsters—in the game is restore balance in the world, both internally and externally. Externally, they want to return a sense of fear to the world, but keep themselves unknowable. There is a Veil between the ordinary world of humans and the world of Monsters, the Monsters living as ordinary humans on one side and unleashing, even revelling in, their monstrous nature on the other side. A Monster can draw upon his monstrous nature to achieve strange and arcane feats, but pierce that Veil too often and too readily, and a Doom may befall upon him. Internally, they want to understand humans better and restore their self-respect. So, they set out to stop those in power and control who spread fear, uncertainty, and hatred, and commit crimes that go unpunished, so that ultimately, humans will fear monsters.

A Monster in Mansters is first defined by his Abilities and Skills. There are three Abilities—Body, Mind, and Heart—and each Ability has four associated skills. Each Ability is represented by a circle, which is divided into four quarters, or Hacks, and each Hack into two Slices, so that an Ability has four Hacks and eight Slices. Similarly, each Skill can be divided into four Hacks and eight Slices. He will also have a Monster type—Ghost, Mummy, Not-Frankenstein, Vampire, Werewolf, Witch, or Zombie, a Charisma, and a Flaw, two more Banes, and a starting Monstrosity Level. The Charisma is the Monster’s positive quirk, ability, or power; the Flaw a negative, limiting trait; and Banes the aspects of the Monster which will impede him. Some Banes are mandatory, whilst the others a player can choose.

To create a Monster, a player selects a Monster type and then Charisma and a Flaw, two more Banes, and a starting Monstrosity Level. Each of his Abilities starts at two Hacks and he can then assign a further two Hacks. He then determines the number of Slices his Monster has in each Ability and assigns that number of Hacks to the four Skills associated with the Ability. The process is quick and simple.

Dirk Fordice
Type: The Ghost
Charisma: Mind Over Matter
Flaw: Incognito Window
Banes: It’s Cold Out There, Chatterbox

Body 2 (4) – Fight 1, Stealth 2, Shoot 0, Handle 1
Mind 3 (6) – Knowledge 1, Perception 2, Investigation 2, Politics 1
Heart 3 (6) – Manipulate 2, Insight 2, Intimidate 1, Streetwise 1

Mansters uses what it calls the Hack & Slice System. It makes clear that it is not a ‘hack & slash’ roleplaying game. To have his Monster undertake an action, a player will roll either a number of six-sided dice equal to the number of Hacks his Monster has in an Ability or the number of Hacks in an Ability and a Skill. The aim is to roll successes, that is, rolls of five or more. A Difficult task would require two successes for a Monster to succeed, whilst an ‘Are you insane?’ task would need four. To make a task easier, a player can spend Slices. A Slice spent from an Ability lowers the number of Successes required to succeed, whereas a Slice spent from a Skill a reroll of any dice that have not rolled Successes. A short rest will restore some, but not all Slices, whereas a long rest of several days under the care of Doctor Lector will restore them all.

Confrontations can be physical, mental, or social. They are opposed rolls, with the winner inflicting damage equal to number of Successes rolled more than the defender. Each point of damage inflicted removes one Slice, whether that is physical damage from Body, mental damage from Mind, and social damage from Heart. If a combatant rolls two Successes more than his opponent, he gains the Edge. This applies to both the Monster and the NPC, and gives limited narrative control to the combatant with the Edge. For the Monster, the plater decides what happens and for his opponent, the Doctor—as the Game Master is known—decides. If a roll is failed, it adds to the Monster’s ‘Skutendo’ clock.

When a Monster wants to use one of his Monster Superpowers, his player makes a Monstrosity roll. This is equal to the Monster’s Monstrosity Level. If the number of Successes rolled is equal to the Difficulty of the particular Monster Superpower, it is activated. However, this is not easy and it has consequences. A higher Monstrosity Level means that the roll is more likely to succeed, but a high Monstrosity Level will add even more to the Monster’s ‘Skutendo’ clock. A player can choose to lower the Difficulty by expending Ability Hacks, but this will lead to exhaustion if done too often. A player is thus forced to make a choice and as much as Monster strives for some kind of balance in game, there is no balance here. The consequence is to add to the Monster’s ‘Skutendo’ clock and also to the Doctor’s ‘D(oo)M’ Clock.

So what is Skutendo? It represents unlucky events that occur near the Monster, rolled randomly. For example, it could be ‘The Little Cousin’ in which the Monster’s aunt asks him to look after his cousin or a ‘Monster Movie Craze’ in which people start dressing up and acting as the monster, making it more difficult for him to intimidate anyone. It is triggered when the Monster’s ‘Skutendo’ clock is filled and then cleared again. When it is triggered it, it also adds to the ‘D(oo)M’ Clock. This tracks the likelihood of Hunters turning up to look for the Monsters, the Slices from the ‘D(oo)M’ Clock being spent by the Doctor to bring them into play.

They include the sibling monster hunters, the Losechester Sisters, Van Helsing, and Scrood-Be-U, a gang of monster hunters which travels in a van called the Misery Machine and whose members benefit from eating Scrood-be-Snacks. Antagonists in Mansters are talked about in terms of archetypes (as are the Player Characters). These consist of Mr. Moneybags, The Man in the High Chair, the Long Arm of the Law, the Underworld, and so on. These are supported by detailed examples, such as Elton Mask for the Mr. Moneybags. It is here in the naming references that Mansters best and most obviously shows its satire. There is some advice for the Doctor, but it is very light. There is, though, an introductory adventure in which the Monsters investigate a landlord who is evicting all of his tenants to turn a block of flats into short stays for Airbnb.

One issue with the scenario is that it does not fully showcase all of the roleplaying game’s mechanics since a Hunter is not intended to appear as the ‘D(oo)M’ Clock fills. This is disappointing, but it means that the Doctor can save Mansters’ Hunters for a scenario of her own. Oddly, it does introduce another mechanic, ‘Initiative Points’, which essentially tracks the effects of the Monsters’ actions and determines how well they have done at the conclusion. What this means is that it is not entirely the typical adventure the Doctor might expect as an introductory adventure for Mansters when it comes to showing the rules in action. This does not mean that the actual adventure itself is bad as it is otherwise enjoyable and nicely detailed. It also showcases how a typical adventure starts with the Monsters all attending Doctor Lector’s Depressives Anonymous sessions, which are as much social events as they are therapy sessions. Despite the name, the Doctor is not evil, but part of later therapy sessions will involve some reflection of the adventure or situation that just happened. These post-investigation/post-defeat the banality of evil session are also where the players expend Experience Points. This has the potential for some interesting roleplaying scenes if the Doctor and players want them.

Unfortunately, the rulebook does not list the experience point costs for improving the Monsters. Nor does it list the Monstrosity Levels for each type of Monsters. Nor does it really explore how a Monster’s Monstrosity Level goes up or down. In fact, only the Vampire has a Bane which can increase his Monstrosity Level. Instead, Experience Points are intended to be spent on permanently lowering the Difficulty of activating a Monster’s powers. Ultimately, it may be up to the Doctor to decide, depending upon a Monster’s actions, whether his Monstrosity Level goes up or down. Mansters should have explored this aspect of its design and developed mechanics for it.

Physically, Mansters is well presented. The artwork is fun, capturing the tedious normality of the Monsters’ lives versus their true nature. The writing could have been clearer in places and it is repetitive in others. The cover also suggests that monsters other than the ones given in the book can be played when that is not the case.

Mansters does come as a boxed set. In addition to the rulebook, the box also contains a set of dice, a deck of ‘Skutendo’ cards, Monster portfolios for each Monster type, and oddly, a set of Monster-themed coasters and a set of Monster-themed bookmarks! One advantage of the boxed set is that the Monster portfolios do give each Monster’s starting Monstrosity Level.

There can be no doubt that the intent of Mansters is good, a satire of classic monsters versus the banality of modern live and the banality of modern evil, and of old evil versus new evil. Unfortunately, Mansters does not quite achieve what aims for. Mansters can be played as is, but the lack of interplay with and of potential to shift the Mansters’ Monstrosity Levels means the roleplaying game’s intended imbalance between the Monsters’ everyday, humdrum human existence and their inhuman, monstrous nature cannot be explored as it really should.

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.

Jonstown Jottings #94: The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—

What is it?

The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is an anthology of two scenarios and the fourth and final part of the campaign set in Sun County in Prax following on from Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1, The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2, and Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

The quartet is based on material present in Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun.

It is a full colour, one-hundred-and-nine page, 28.95 MB PDF.

It is one-hundred-and-seven page, full colour hardback.

The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is well presented, decently written, and has excellent artwork and cartography. Both scenarios are very well supported with handouts, maps, and illustrations for all of their NPCs, creatures, and monsters.

Where is it set?
As with previous volumes in the series, The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four takes place in Sun County, the small, isolated province of Yelmalio-worshipping farmers and soldiers located in the fertile River of Cradles valley of Eastern Prax, south of the city of Pavis, where it is beset by hostile nomads and surrounded by dry desert and scrubland. Where Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 is specifically it is set in and around the remote hamlet of Sandheart, where the inhabitants are used to dealing and even trading with the nomads who come to worship at the ruins inside Sandheart’s walls, The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2 is set in and around Cliffheath, on the eastern edge of the county, and Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three focuses on  a cave known as Dark Watch on the edge of the county, The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four takes the Player Characters onto a bigger stage both in and beyond the borders of Sun County.

The events of The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four take place in ST 1621.

Who do you play?
The player characters are members of the Sun County militia based in Sandheart. Used to dealing with nomads and outsiders and oddities and agitators, the local militia serves as the dumping ground for any militia member who proves too difficult to deal with by the often xenophobic, misogynistic, repressive, and strict culture of both Sun County and the Sun County militia. It also accepts nomads and outsiders, foreigners and non-Yemalions, not necessarily as regular militia-men, but as ‘specials’, better capable of dealing with said foreigners and non-Yemalions.

What do you need?
The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Both RuneQuest – Glorantha Bestiary and Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun might be useful. 

What do you get?
The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is a collection of two scenarios, ‘The God Skin Incident’ and ‘Mad Prax: Beyond Sun Dome’. The first will involve the Player Characters in a murder mystery and then a quest and several moral quandaries they are unexpectedly required to complete, whilst the second brings the Player Characters to the attention of Solanthos Ironpike, Honoured Count of Sun County, and involves them in events that are a precursor to the Hero Wars.

The Sandheart Militia is called into apprehend a band of murders and thieves at the beginning of ‘The God Skin Incident’. The culprits are already known, a group of Elves, actually allies of Sun County and tolerated visitors, that has murdered the head of a hamlet and stolen an artefact important to the hamlet’s economic future. In the first part of the scenario, the Player Characters chase them down into the scrublands on the edge of Sun County, where they face their first moral quandary. Do they aid the Elves, aid another group chasing them, or do nothing? Either way, as a result of this confrontation, the Player Characters find themselves under a geas to fulfil the same quest that the leader of the Elves had sworn to complete. This is possible because he and his cohorts worshipped a different aspect of Yelmalio known as Halamalao.

The second part takes the Sandheart Militia back into Sun County and out again into Prax, this time on a journey to Biggle Stone to complete against an ancient enemy known as ‘The Betrayers’.  The journey borders on the picaresque with numerous engaging encounters along the way in the company of an interesting, often demanding protector of the stolen artefact. Where the scenario feels weakest is that it does not make very much of the settlements of Horngate and Agape, both stops along the route. The climax of the scenario is dark and sour, dank and sodden, unlike anything that the Sandheart Militia are likely to have encountered before, making it all the more challenging. Its grungy, earthy feel and tone make it the more interesting of the two scenarios in the collection.

The epilogue to the scenario again presents the Player Character with a moral dilemma. Unfortunately, the options are presented in black and white, leaving no room for nuance or other choices.

Originally run at Necronomicon III in Sydney, New South Wales in 1991, ‘Mad Prax: Beyond Sun Dome’ has here been updated to bring the Sandheart Militia quartet to a close. When the Sandheart Militia come to the aid of Yelanda Goldenlocks, a would be Yelmalian hero held back by the conservative and misogynist attitudes of her fellow Sun Domers, they come to the attention of Sun County’s ruler, Count Solanthos Ironpike. Despite his disdain for her, he instructs Yelanda Goldenlocks to undertake an important mission, to deliver a package to the Sun Dome military forces which have been despatched elsewhere, and because of his disdain for her, he assigns the Player Characters to accompany her as well as Melo Yelo, a Baboon who is annoyingly keen to become a Yelmalio cultist. Which, of course, is completely anathema to the Sun Domers.

The scenario is again another travelogue, one that takes them to the River of Cradles, the journey interrupted by increasingly odd occurrences and encounters, including the very entertaining one of the title with a berserk Praxian which is made all the more challenging because it triggers all of Yelenda’s geases, riddles with an Orlanthi, and desperately running Trolls. There is a real sense of this part of Sun County being in disarray, though the Sandheart Militia will not discover why until the climax of the scenario. This occurs in Harpoon overlooking the River of Cradles and sees them participate in an assault on a Giant’s Cradle, something which has not been seen on the river for centuries. Ultimately, the Player Characters, posted to the Sandheart Militia due to their non-conformity, have the opportunity to prove themselves heroes in front of the whole of the Sun County military. It brings the  whole campaign to a big rousing climax, literally on a big stage!

Both scenarios are linear in nature and do not provide much in the alternative when it comes to dealing with the situations that the Player Characters find themselves in. To be fair, both are military missions and the Player Characters are under orders, so that they do have their orders. The Game Master will have fun portraying both Yelanda Goldenlocks and Yelo Melo, but there is also the option for them to be roleplayed by a player. This works better if the scenario is being run as a one-off.

Is it worth your time?
Yes—The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four brings the series to a rousing climax and provides an opportunity for the Player Characters to prove themselves worthy of Sun County.

No—The God Skin & Mad Prax: Sandheart Volume Four is not worth your time if you are running a campaign or scenarios set elsewhere, especially in Sartar.
Maybe—Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three might be useful for a campaign involving Yelmalions and the worship of Yelm from places other than Sun County, but its framework structure may be more challenging to use if the Game Master has already run the previous scenarios in the campaign.

Friday Fantasy: A Folklore Bestiary

In the time that they have been with the hobby—that is, right from the start—monsters have kept us busy. We faced them as obstacles to be overcome and guardians of treasure to be plundered, and then when we grew all too familiar them, our player knowledge gave us insights into how they could be killed or defeated, but mostly killed. In which case, the Dungeon Master would first surprise, then confound us with a new monster, one of her own creation or variation upon an existing monster or drawn from the pages of some supplement or magazine. Monsters scared us—and we even became the monsters to scare others—and they could be interesting and different enough to help enforce the feel of a whole new world. They became a means a create stories too, and again and again, new bestiaries of monsters have appeared to do one, two, or more of these things. In the case of A Folklore Bestiary, it will do all these things and more. The not quite forty monsters in this volume can serve as obstacles to be overcome and guardians of treasure to be plundered, but is the least of their usefulness. they are definitely going to surprise player, Player Character, and Game Master alike, let alone confound both player and Player Character. They will scare them too, but most of all, they will create stories, because these creatures and things come with locations, lairs, treasures, scenarios, and most all, legends. This is because they are all drawn from folklore.

A Folklore Bestiary is bestiary for use with Necrotic Gnome’s Old School Essentials. It is published by The Merry Mushmen—best known for the Old School Renaissance magazine Knock and the scenario, Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow—following a successful Kickstarter campaign. From the start though, it does not look like a bestiary, because inside the front cover and the back, are the stats for six Player Characters and it asks, “Want to play now?” In that case, the Game Master hands out the Player Characters, turns to page eighty-eight, and have them start playing the dungeon she finds detailed there. There is no denying that this is a little disconcerting, but turn the page and it is obvious that A Folklore Bestiary is a bestiary. And what a bestiary it is! All thirty-eight entries are drawn from local folklore from around the world. There are entries for creatures and monsters from the Basque Country, Serbia, Belgium, the Channel Islands, Ukraine, France, England, Brazil, California, Germany, Estonia, China, and Ireland. There are some entries which will be familiar, but there are a great many that are not. The entries range in Hit Dice from ½ to sixty, with the majority being under ten Hit Dice and a fifth being of five Hit Dice.

The collection opens with the Basajaun from the Basque Country, rustic giants known as Wild Lords, who sometimes like a joke and a play with intruders into their domains, but also fiercely, wildly protective of them. Their hair can be woven into strong ropes and bowstrings, though if they discover that the hair has not been freely given, they become enraged, and they have a love of games and riddles. The Kabouter is a gnome from Flanders with a love of good abbey beer or liquor that they will happily take in return for helping someone, whilst the Perelesnyk from Ukraine, a fiery serpent with a human face who takes the form of someone whom the viewer has loved and wronged, feeding on regrets and broken dreams. The Lou Carcohl is a snail as big as a house with eight tentacles secretly kept prisoner under the village of Hastingues in Gascony, France, lest it escape and slither rampant at snail’s pace! The Tartaro is another creature from the Basque Country, a one-eyed ogre shepherd named after a number (no-one knows why), ever hungry (especially for human flesh), that lures in victims with gold coins and somewhere to rest, whilst the Cucu is from Brazil, an old crone or crocodile woman, whose restorative potions require the purchaser to murder children for the ingredients required.

In every case, the creatures are accompanied by the legends and lore related to it, as well as the stats, hooks, and more. For example, the Basajaun includes details of names, suggested use of their hair, and a new character Class, the Hachkos, the offspring of the Basajaun and a human woman, known for their skill with a quarterstaff and surviving in the wilderness. The Lou Carcohl is not just a snail as big as a house, but a dungeon that the Player Characters can explore. The Scucca, also known as Old Shuck, is a supernatural hound from reputed to straight from hell, but in Cambridgeshire, it haunts the county’s fens, its description including a mini-hexcrawl. The write-up of the Cuca includes tables of both what she wants and what concoctions she can mix, as well as a map of her lair. For the Lou Pétassou, a raggedy spirit which embodies shame and hatred, there is even a complete adventure, ‘Hard Times in Homburg’, set in a village whose inhabitants have fallen into fierce squabbling to the point the adventure actually includes the ‘Cattlesystem™, Peasant-Level Mass Combat Rules’! An old woman believes that if a Lou Pétassou can be found, it will save the village. Not every entry goes to such lengths to support the folkloric monster it describes, but a great many do. There is so much in this book beyond the mere description and stats.

Physically, A Folklore Bestiary is very well presented. It needs a slight edit in places, but the book is well written, the cartography is good, but the artwork is excellent.

A Folklore Bestiary is a bestiary unlike any other. Other bestiaries have drawn on folkore, but not like this. A Folklore Bestiary takes its source material and not only includes that, but develops it to present some incredibly playable content, making the supplement far more than just a simple monster book. A Folklore Bestiary is full of weird and wonderful monsters and a whole lot more. This really is a fun book and a good read to boot.

Friday Faction: The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain

There are plenty of good guides to the weird and wonderful past of Great Britain. The country is rich in folklore, the occult, magic and mysteries, horrors and hauntings, and much, much more, and so has been subject to numerous books and guides. The Readers Digest Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain and The Lore of The Land, backed up with Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, will give anyone with an interest in the myths and legends of the United Kingdom a good grounding in the subject, but both are hefty books. So they are not easily carried on the go, and in the case of both The Readers Digest Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain, several decades old. The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain does a similar job and covers much of the same material, but differs in two important ways. First, it is a more recent treatment of the subject and second, it is smaller and thus infinitely portable. In fact, The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is actually designed to be portable for it actually includes the post codes for each of the numerous locations and sites described in its pages—though it is unlikely that all of these sites actually receive anything via Royal Mail (other delivery services may deliver). What this means is that the sites of the various standing stones, ghost sightings, occult personages, and more, are all easy to find. The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain may not be pocket-sized, but digest-sized, it is easy to carry around.

The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is published by Hellebore, which collates various essays and pieces devoted to British folk horror—including folklore, myth, history, archaeology, psychogeography, witches, and the occult—into a series of fanzines. It covers the United Kingdom, region by region and country by country, so Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, as well as England—with London as a separate location. It starts in the southwest in Cornwall, and moves steadily east and north. The maps are marked with clear icons, including ‘Witches and Cunning Folk’, ‘The Old Gods’, ‘Magic, Rituals, and the Occult’, ‘Ancient Megaliths’, ‘Ports to the Otherworld’, and more. So in Dorset, Bradbury Rings and Cerne Abbas are the site of ‘The Old Gods’; Avebury and Stonehenge sites of ‘Ancient Megaliths’ in Wiltshire; ‘Witches and Cunning Folk’ of Pendle in Lancashire; and the ‘Curses and Portents’ of Cleopatra’s Needle and the ‘Magic, Rituals, and the Occult’ at both the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert, all in London. This barely touches upon the hundreds and hundreds of entries in The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain.

The various regions across The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain are colour coded, each region’s entries combining a mixture of short descriptions with slightly longer pieces. For example, Worcestershire has short entries on the Fleece Inn with its three white circles inn front of its fireplace to prevent the entry of witches via the chimney and Penda’s Fen, the children’s television series from the seventies, but longer entries on Bredon Hill and Wychbury Hill, the latter the site of an iron age hillfort, several follies, and the mystery of Bella in the Wych Elm. London is an exception to this with numerous entries under several different banners, such as Bloomsbury with the British Museum, Freemason’s Hall, and amusingly, both Treadwell’s Bookshop and The Atlantic Bookshop, and Hawksmoor’s London and Doctor John Dee’s London (Dee will also have entries for Manchester and Oxford).

Where The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain differs from other books of legend and folklore is its inclusion of sites particular to film, television, and literature. As with the other categories used in the book, these are clearly marked on the maps. For example, Aldeburgh in Suffolk is listed under ‘Film and Television Locations’ for the Martello Tower there, as it was the basis for M.R. James’ ‘A Warning to the Curious’, whilst several locations across southwest Scotland are listed as locations for the classic British folkloric horror film, The Wicker Man. There are not too many of the film, television, and literature locations throughout the volume, but in the case of the film and television entries, they add visual cues in particular for the imagination.

Physically, The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is cleanly, if tightly laid out, primarily in black and white with the occasional use of spot colour. If there is an issue with the book it is that the liberal illustrations are not as crisply produced as they could be. The book does include an index and a list of references as well.

For roleplaying purposes, The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is a useful book to have to hand. It is a veritable fount of ideas and hooks that the Game Master could turn into roleplaying encounters, scenarios, or mysteries for her gaming group. No more than that though, for the entries are thumbnail-sized and should be considered to be pointers or starters for the Game Master who will then need to conduct a little more research to flesh out the scenario or mystery. Nevertheless, much of the content would work in a wide range of horror roleplaying games, including They came from Beyond the Grave! from Onyx Path Publishing or Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition from Chaosium, Inc., as well as specifically United Kingdom-based roleplaying games, like Liminal from Wordplay Games, The Dee Sanction: Adventures in Covert Enochian Intelligence from Just Crunch Games, Vaesen – Mythic Britain & Ireland for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying from Free League Publishing, or Fearful Symmetries for Trail of Cthulhu from Pelgrane Press.

The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is an indispensable travel guide to the legends and folklore of Britain. It is not so much a definite reference guide, but more a reference starter, a point from where the reader (or gamer) can have her interest piqued and from there conduct her own further reading and investigations. Compact, but full of interesting content, The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain is an excellent little tome to take off the shelf and flip through or even have handy in the bag when you want to find something really interesting to visit nearby.

Friday Filler: Beasts & Behemoths

There is no denying the continued and growing popularity of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, with it having appeared on the television series Stranger Things and it no longer being seen as a hobby solely the preserve of typically male, nerdy teenagers and young adults. Yet as acceptable a hobby as roleplaying and in particular, playing Dungeons & Dragons has become, getting into the hobby is still a daunting prospect. Imagine if you will, being faced with making your first character for your first game of Dungeons & Dragons? Then what monsters will face? What adventures will you have? For nearly all of us, answering these questions are not all that far from being a challenge, for all started somewhere and we all had to make that first step—making our first character, entering our first dungeon, and encountering our first monster. As well written as both Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set and the Player’s Handbook are, both still present the prospective reader and player with a lot of choices, but without really answering these questions in an easy to read and reference fashion.

Step forward the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’ published by Ten Speed Press. This is a series of introductory guides to Dungeons & Dragons, designed as primers to various aspects of the world’s leading roleplaying game. Each in the series is profusely illustrated, no page consisting entirely of text. The artwork is all drawn from and matches the style of Dungeon & Dragons, Fifth Edition, so as much as it provides an introduction to the different aspects of the roleplaying game covered in each book in the series, it provides an introduction to the look of the roleplaying game, so providing continuity between the other books in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’ and the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set and the core rulebooks. This use of art and the digest size of the book means that from the start, every entry in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’ is an attractive little package.

The first in the series, Warriors & Weapons provided an introduction to the various Races of Dungeons & Dragons, the martial character Classes, and the equipment they use. Subsequent entries in the series have examined Monsters & Creatures and Dungeons & Tombs, culminating in the surprisingly late and seemingly out of sequence, Wizards & Spells. And there it would seem that the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’ had covered just about everything that the reader and potential play of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition need to know before progressing onto the roleplaying game itself. So the publication of Beasts & Behemoths, the fifth entry in the series, comes as something of a surprise, the unexpected equivalent in the series of the Monster Manual II to the Monster Manual. Of course, another book about monsters makes sense, since not only are books about monsters fun, but there are an awful lot of monsters and creatures in Dungeons & Dragons, and the earlier Monsters & Creatures cannot have been expected to cover all of them!

Where Monsters & Creatures categorised its entries by terrain, so Caverns & Dark Places, Forests, Mountains & Other Terrain, Oceans, Lakes, & Waterways, and more, Beasts & Behemoths breaks them down by size—Tiny & Small, Medium, Large & Huge, and Gargantuan. Its forty or so entries include Cranium Rats, Demilich, and Pseudodragon under Tiny & Small; Drow, Gnoll, and Sahuagin are listed as Medium creatures; Corpse Flower, Minotaur, and Umber Hulk for Large & Huge; and Purple Worm, Roc, and the dread Tarrasque for Gargantuan. The mix includes the familiar, such as the Hobgoblin, Orc, and Minotaur alongside the little known, like the Yuan-Ti and the Oni, but all are classic Dungeons & Dragons monsters and creatures. In addition, Beasts & Behemoths includes two subcategories, Lycanthropes and Metallic Dragons—or Good-aligned Dragons. So the former category has descriptions of the Wereboar, Wererat, and Weretiger as well as the Werewolf, whilst the latter ranges from the Brass Dragon to the Gold Dragon. This compliments the writeups of the Dragons of various colours in Monsters & Creatures. Every entry is given a double page spread, the left hand page showing an illustration of the creature or monster, a listing of its special powers, a description of its size, and an indication of its Danger Level, from ‘0’ or harmless to ‘5’ for really nasty. On the right-hand page there is a description of the monster or creature and its lair, accompanied by a list of things to do or not do when dealing with it.

Thus for the Medusa, the given Danger Level is ‘1’ and her Special Powers are, of course, her Petrifying Gaze. Her size is listed as being typically Human-sized—except that is, for her hair, which might be a whole bigger (and writhing, of course). Her write-up includes a description of how she comes upon the transformation into a Medusa and the price paid, plus the types of lair she prefers. The entry advises that when encountering a Medusa, an adventurer should carry a mirror with which to catch her reflection, as well as a powerful healing potion which undo the effects of her Petrifying Gaze. It also advises that an adventurer not catch her gaze nor seek out immortality.

Like Monsters & Creatures before it, Beasts & Behemoths adds legendary entries and encounters to complement its ordinary encounters. The description of the Death Knight is accompanied by a  legendary entry for Lord Soth, the fallen Knight of Solamnia from the world of Krynn who would later be plucked from Krynn by the mysterious mists of Ravenloft. It covers his history, his lair, and the fearsome skeleton army he has at his command. Again, this is a nice accompaniment to the legendary entry for Vampires, the feared Count Strahd von Zarovich, to be found in Monsters & Creatures. These legendary creatures are foes that the adventurers are unlikely to face for a very long time, but they are ones to be whispered about in hushed tones—even the ones who are not evil or chaotic. Each of encounters consists of a short piece of fiction which sets up a situation that ultimately ends the reader being asked how he might react or what he might do next. To accompany the description of Pseudodragon, the encounter describes how Florizan Blank, the bard known as the ‘Dandy Duellist’ who combines dance moves and swordsmanship, comes upon such a creature in woods whilst he is tracking down a Hobgoblin tribe which attacked a nearby village. Will he attempt to tame the creature and take it as a companion—and if so, how? Will continue on his way, hurrying after his quarry lest they launch a raid on another village? These encounters nicely illustrate the play of Dungeons & Dragons and the type of encounters and questions that players will be dealing with from session to session. In addition, the inclusion of Florizan Blank is a nice call back to the fourth book in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’, Wizards & Spells.

Just as in Monsters & Creatures, the last words in Beasts & Behemoths are about using beasts to create stories and build a hero, taking the reader on his first steps to composing his adventurer’s story. It opens up a little to ask the player to wonder about the other heroes his character will adventure alongside, what and where his adventures take place, and of course, why? It explains a bit more about the play of Dungeons & Dragons, so serving as a light primer before the player gets to the table.

There are just two issues with Beasts & Behemoths. First, for a book filled with great Dungeons & Dragons artwork, it does not list or credit one single artist. This is really disappointing, not so say inexcusable, and both the publisher and Wizards of the Coast should know better. Second, Beasts & Behemoths commits the same error as Monsters & Creatures in using anachronisms when it comes to describing the size of the monsters and creatures in the book. For example, the Cranium Rat is described as being the size of a sneaker or Hobgoblin as being the size of a professional (American) football player in all of his gear. Again, the inclusion of such modernisms breaks the verisimilitude of the book, making very much a reference work out of the game when it could have been a reference work both out of the game and in the game.

Physically, Beasts & Behemoths is an attractive little hardback. It is bright, it is breezy, and it shows a prospective player what his character might face, both in the art and the writing. Further, the art shows lots of adventuring scenes which can only spur the prospective player’s imagination.

Now obviously, Beasts & Behemoths is designed to showcase Dungeons & Dragons and introduce the prospective player to what his character might encounter—especially in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. However, much of its content would work just as well as introduction to some of the monsters of Dungeons & Dragons-style retroclones, though in its look, it is brighter and breezier than the style and tone of the typical fantasy roleplaying game from the Old School Renaissance.

Monsters & Creatures introduced the prospective player to just a tiny, but often iconic, few of the monsters and creatures in Dungeons & Dragons. Beasts & Behemoths adds to that, but also stands alone in that a player could read it rather than Monsters & Creatures to get an idea of some of the foes his character might face or encounter in the game. Similarly, Beasts & Behemoths is more of a general reference work, something suitable to have at the table during play, since its contents can serve as the legends and the folklore that a player character in a fantasy world might have learned about said monsters and creatures as he was growing up. That said, doing so adds another book to the table, and that may add unnecessary clutter during play. When it comes to clutter, are two books devoted to monsters in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’ enough—or will there be a slew of them, cluttering up the series?

Beasts & Behemoths is another bright and engaging entry in the series, providing another light introduction to the monsters of Dungeons & Dragons, and the game itself. It again nicely works as a gift as much as it does a useful reference work, but as an entry in the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series’, it feels very much like an extra in the series rather than part of the essential quartet of titles.

Jonstown Jottings #28: Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—

What is it?
Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is both the third part of the campaign set in Sun County in Prax following on Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2, and a campaign framework for all three parts, for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is an eighty-nine-page, full colour, 29.15 MB PDF.

It is an eighty-nine page, full colour hardback.

Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is well presented and decently written, with artwork that is full of character—the image of a VW Camper Rhino disgorging sixties-style hippies on the India hippie trail is worth the price of admission alone.

Where is it set?
As with Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2 before it, Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three takes place in Sun County, the small, isolated province of Yelmalio-worshipping farmers and soldiers located in the fertile River of Cradles valley of Eastern Prax, south of the city of Pavis, where it is beset by hostile nomads and surrounded by dry desert. Where Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 is specifically it is set in and around the remote hamlet of Sandheart, where the inhabitants are used to dealing and even trading with the nomads who come to worship at the ruins inside Sandheart’s walls and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2 is set in and around Cliffheath, on the eastern edge of the county, Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is set in and around a cave known as Dark Watch on the far western edge of the county.

Who do you play?
The player characters are members of the Sun County militia based in Sandheart. Used to dealing with nomads and outsiders and oddities and agitators, the local militia serves as the dumping ground for any militia member who proves too difficult to deal with by the often xenophobic, misogynistic, repressive, and strict culture of both Sun County and the Sun County militia. It also accepts nomads and outsiders, foreigners and non-Yemalions, not necessarily as regular militia-men, but as ‘specials’, better capable of dealing with said foreigners and non-Yemalions.

What do you need?
Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. RuneQuest – Glorantha Bestiary might be useful. 

What do you get?
Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is not really a scenario, but more a campaign framework around which the earlier scenarios, Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2 can take place, as well as other scenarios of the Game Master’s choice or devising. This is because it concerns events at one location, a location that by tradition—and if the Yelmalions do anything, it is by tradition—the militia must visit year after year, and perform the same ceremony each time. And each time, the ceremony is completed as instructed by the cult, and nothing happens. In fact, nobody in the militia knows why the task is carried out one year after the next, because nothing ever happens and why it was done the first place has been long forgotten. Only this time—no, only next time, and the time after that, it will be different, and perhaps the members of militia assigned the duty just might find out why the cult has been performing this ceremony for hundreds of years… 

What this means is that if the scenario is played as is, it will not have the impact that playing it episodically will do. Essentially, being asked to return again and again to perform the ceremony at the Dark Watch Cave—without the benefit of a break in the narrative, signals to the Player Characters that their being at the cave is significant rather than the ordinary task it is initially intended to be. So, Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is best played before, between, and after the events depicted in Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2. The downside of this is that if you have already run either of those, then Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three takes more effort to implement. Another issue is one of what else to run between the parts of Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three. The setting and tone of the ‘Sandheart’ series is quite particular—and it is not one that is easily supported by the other scenarios available on the Jonstown Compendium. Advice to that purpose would have been useful. (Potential scenarios which would work include Jorthan’s Rescue Redux,* Rock’s Fall, and Blue Moon, White Moon.)

* Please note that for the purposes of transparency, I co-authored Jorthan’s Rescue Redux.

The Player Characters’ initial forays into the Dark Watch Cave will somewhat mundane, a simple task of lighting several braziers within its walls and then maintaining a vigil overnight. Here is a chance for them to explore the fullest extent of the cave and so educate themselves about its layout for when they return the next and subsequent years. However, the Dark Watch Cave has a deep, dark secret. It is home to a demon of darkness and deceit, one which is trying to escape its prison. Over the course of four tests—as the first four parts of Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three are known, the vigilance of the Player Characters will be tested again and again, as attempts to enter the cave and break their watch grow in their intensity and obviousness. In the early tests, they are actually quite amusing—and there is opportunity for some light-hearted roleplaying, but as the Player Characters return, they become vicious and ultimately spread to the wider area. In these later stages, the tests emphasises action and combat rather than roleplaying, but that reflects the threat which grows and grows over the course of Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three.

Ultimately, the likelihood is the Player Characters will fail and in order to defeat the darkness, the Player Characters will need to undertake a Hero Quest. Compared to the first part of the campaign framework, this is a radical change in pace, structure, and play style. It is very rigidly structured and both players and their characters—as well as the Game Master—need to be quite regimented in how they play through this. It presents some fantastic scenes, especially for Yelmalions as they fight against Darkness, and should they prevail, brings Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three—and if used in conjunction with Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 and The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2—the ‘Sandheart’ campaign to a rousing climax.

In addition to a full description of Dark Watch Cave, Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three comes with three handouts, full stats for the NPCs and monsters, and multiple maps of the Dark Watch Cave. Some of the handouts are slightly lengthy and as the campaign framework progresses, it does grow in complexity and the need for increased preparation upon the part of the Game Master.

Is it worth your time?
Yes—Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is an excellent campaign framework around which to structure the ‘Sandheart’ campaign and bring it to a rousing climax.

No—Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three is not worth your time if you are running a campaign or scenarios set elsewhere, especially in Sartar.
Maybe—Tradition: Sandheart Volume Three might be useful for a campaign involving Yelmalions and the worship of Yelm from places other than Sun County, but its framework structure may be more challenging to use if the Game Master has already run Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1 or The Corn Dolls: Sandheart Volume 2—if not both.

Jonstown Jottings #27: Storm Rams

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—

What is it?
Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams presents a noble spirit venerated by the Air pantheon which brings the seasonal rains to Glorantha for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a nineteen-page, full colour, 1.52 MB PDF.

Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams is well presented and decently written.

Where is it set?
Storm Rams, the subject of Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams, can be encountered anywhere in Dragon Pass, most notably in Startar, Tarsh, Esrolia, and Prax, but especially in the lands of the Balmyr Tribe in the high valleys of the Quivin Mountains, where they are known to come down out of the sky and graze.

Who do you play?
Anyone can encounter a Storm Ram, but Orlanth and Heler initiates may be able to summon them as can members of some weather-worshiping spirit societies of Prax. Herders and Weavers of Balmyr Tribe will seek out the fur left behind when the Cloud Rams come to earth.

What do you need?
Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but RuneQuest – Glorantha Bestiary might be useful. 

What do you get?
Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams describes Storm Rams, the most well-known ‘weather-sheep’ or Urothing spirits of the air, who drive their herds through the air, bringing fertile rains and destructive storms alike. They are defenders of the rain, migrating across Glorantha in regular patterns throughout the year, typically driven back to the Spirit World by the heat of the Fire Tribe. They are known to descend to the earth and graze. In the lands of the Balmyr Tribe, the fur they leave behind is collected and woven into Mistwool, a textile constantly cool in the highest of temperature.

Full stats and descriptions are provided not just for the Storm Ram, but for other ‘weather-sheep’ too. These include the Greater Storm Ram, the Lightning Ram, and the Cloud Sheep, with suggestions how to individualise them and for them to become allied spirits. All three are given their own Summoning Rune spells for the Orlanth Thunderous and Heler cults, but the caster should at least be Rune Masters of either cult, and the caster needs to persuade the Storm Ram to come as well as casting the spell. In addition, Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams gives a description of where Mistwool comes from, what it is woven into, and its importance to the Balmyr Tribe.

Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams could have simply presented the ‘weather-sheep’ as a set of spirits tied to the Air pantheon and Orlanth worshippers, but it widens the scope of the supplement by having Storm Rams honoured by Heler and certain Praxian Spirit Societies, including detailing a Storm Ram Spirit Cult. In all three cases, it explains the reasons why through differing, often contradictory, mythologies. These are decent little pieces which will help underpin their appearance in game. Lastly, the supplement gives sample stats for all four types of ‘weather-sheep’, including the Greater Storm Ram, Urothtrai the Lover, who passes through the Red Cow clan’s lands in Sea Season every year, where Orlanth Adventurous worshipers compete to help him woo his beloved ewe, Helurtha, and so gain the blessings of bountiful rain in Fire Season.

However, beyond becoming a possible allied spirit or a source of Mistwool, where Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams is underwritten is in terms of application. Of course, a Game Master will be able to dig into the supplement’s contents to develop ideas for her own campaign, but a scenario seed or three would have been useful additions to help her bring the Urothing into play.

Is it worth your time?
Yes—Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams presents an interesting embodiment of the storms and the rain, pleasingly from differing points of view, which the Game Master can work into her campaign.
No—Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams is yet more spirits, and as much as it falls under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’, one word might make you wonder how varied it will be when you add ‘weather-sheep’. 
Maybe—Monster of the Month #8: Storm Rams is an interesting supplement and it does a nice job of bringing a type of sprint into play through differing points for view, but the lack of immediate use or scenario suggestions may not make it as useful as it could be.