Realms of Resistance

As the Third Age draws to a close and the Shadow stretches out across Middle-earth, in the west, there remain three bastions of Light. The Elder Days when the Elves once sang and danced under the canopy of the forests that stretched the whole of Middle-earth are long gone, their numbers greatly reduced in the wars against Sauron and his predecessors and by the loss of hope that led others to take the secret paths and ways to the Grey Havens, and from there sail into the West and find peace in the Undying Lands. For those that remain, the Long Defeat yet looms over them, the triumph of Sauron and Shadow, even as they take refuge under the protection of four great Elf lords and ladies, protected by the greatest magic of all—the Three Rings! These are the Elven Rings of Power, forged in the Second Age by Celebrimbor in Eregion—Vilya, Narya, and Nenya—hidden away and untouched by Sauron. Worn respectively by Elrond, Círdan the Shipwright, and Galadriel, they have each used their Ring of Power to protect their realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—against unwanted change. They remain long into the Third Age and are the subject of Realms of the Three Rings.

Realms of the Three Rings is a setting supplement for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Published by Free League Publishing, it expands upon the setting material given in the core rulebook for The One Ring and Ruins of the Lost Realm, the regional guide to the lands of southern Eriador, and adds depth to the background of any Elven Player Character in a campaign for The One Ring. There is scope for the lords of these Realms to become Patrons to the Player Characters, for non-Elves to become Elf-friends, and potentially some of the secrets that these lords hold. Of course, the Realms are not safe and even as they feel inviolable, Sauron and the forces of Shadow plot to undermine them and Realms of the Three Rings details three of these plots. Nine landmarks are described, some of which are tied into the three plots, some of which are located within the Realms. Lastly, the supplement offers options for the player, but in the main, Realms of the Three Rings is primarily a book for the Loremaster.

Ruins of the Lost Realm begins with a history of the Eldar from the Elder Days to the Twilight of the Third Age and what is surprising about it is that it kept to just two pages. It could have been much, much longer given how lengthy and detailed the history of Elves is in Middle-earth lore, but to be fair that history is available elsewhere and much of it is unlikely to have a direct effect upon a Loremaster’s campaign. This does not mean that the Loremaster cannot instead do her own research and bring elements of that history into play, because effectively that is what the authors of Ruins of the Lost Realm are doing. Their focus is upon the Three Rings of Power, how they were created by Celbrimbor, and the rise of Sauron as he used his own ring to subvert the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. It may not be an extensive history, but is enough here at least.

The influence of Three Rings of Power can be seen in the strange experience of staying in one of the surviving Elf-lands. There are literally a timelessness and an introspectiveness to the Realms that means that visitors will often initially feel overwhelmed by its apparent idleness and lack of urgency. In time, they either learn to live in step with it or never quite shake of its dream-like feel. The timelessness also means that visitors are never quite aware of how much time passes whilst they are there, weeks passing by before they are ready to leave again. There benefits to staying in an Elf-realm though. When a Company visits one of the three realms, it automatically triggers a Fellowship Phase. One of the things that that Player-hero can do is the Heal Scars Undertaking and remove a Shadow Scar. However, this is in addition to whatever Undertaking the Player-hero wants to do. It costs Adventure Points to do so. Otherwise, Player-heroes who are not Elf-friends or native to one of the realms cannot spend their Yule Fellowship Phase there.

Each of the three realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—is richly detailed with information about its numerous locations, its Ring of Power, notable figures, and more. For example, the description of Lindon includes details of the Nine Houses of Mithlond, guild-like organisations that regulate labour and professions, organise festivals, sponsor festivals, and more. These are a ready source of NPCs and possible plots should the Loremaster decide to develop them. Of the three realms, Rivendell is the most well-known, having previously been detailed in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, but it makes sense have it described here with the other two Elf-lands. That said, Realms of the Three Rings does not simply reprint the previously presented information, but expands on it to detail the wider hidden valley of Imladris, so now the Player-heroes can spend time with Gandalf sharing stories and music under the Hoary Old Chestnut, and perhaps hear a rumour or whisper on the wind, or follow the sound of the Piper in the Woods. Of the three realms, Lothlórien is the most mysterious and the most closed off, understandable given its proximity to Moria. Indeed, given that proximity, the Loremaster may want to have Realms of the Three Realms close to hand if she is planning to run Moria – Through the Doors of Durin. Much like the Fellowship, Player-heroes here may receive the Gifts of Galadriel if they take the Meet Patron undertaking and one Player-hero and his Fellowship Focus can even ne allowed to look into the Mirror of Galadriel. Of course, there is a chance that the Player-hero will see a harrowing vision, scarring him as much as it does give him insight, but looking into the mirror is a momentous event and should be treated as being very special.

One nice touch is that although all three realms are described as unyielding and unchanging, each includes a table that adds a fitting random element. For Lindon, this is ‘Exploring the Markets’ giving a range of interesting traders and craftsmen to buy from and learn from; for Rivendell, it is ‘Many Meetings in Rivendell’, a table of NPC types that the Loremaster can develop; and in Lothlórien, there are ‘Elf-Minstrel Songs’ that the Player-heroes may be lucky to hear. These add a little variation and again, can be developed further by the Loremaster to add extra detail and flavour.

The encroaching nature of the Shadow comes to the fore in Realms of the Three Realms with a plot directed at the Elven realms, each intended by Sauron to bring ruin to the Elves. Each includes some background and explanation of the plot, stats for the NPCs involved all of them nasty and evil in their own way, and a timeline that stretches twenty years into the future from 2965 TA. These are set-ups more than anything else, but they are detailed set-ups whose suggested plots and events can be woven around other adventures. As expected, these are particularly strong storylines for Player-heroes who are Elves, exposing them to some of the vile fates that Sauron and his minions have inflicted upon their fellow Elves. In ‘Perils of the Last Road’, Sauron sends Morlhoss, the Dark Whisper, a vengeful, spurned Elven spirit, and Zagruk, the Voice From Beyond, a gifted Orc Sorcerer who bears The Mask of Spirits, an iron mask that enables him to become a host for Morlhoss, to prey upon those Elves who have decided to journey into the West, making travel difficult across the Misty Mountains in particular. The Dark Lord targets Rivendell in ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ as he sends Cauthlin, an ancient spirit known as the weasel-lady, to take her revenge on the Elves of the Last Homely House. Playing on his grief at the loss of his wife, Celebrián, and fears of the possible loss of his daughter, Arwen, Sauron hopes that Elrond can be drawn out of his refuge where he will be vulnerable. In ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’ sees Sauron drive a wedge between the Elves of Lindon and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountain when an Elf, recently escaped from captivity of the Orcs of Mount Gram, claims to have seen a great hoard of Dwarven arms, armour, and treasure in the Orc hold and that the Dwarves must be paying tribute to Mount Gram! This is an insult that cannot stand on either side as the lack of wisdom amongst the young Elves and their yearning for valour and glory pushes them into confrontation of the infamous stubbornness of the Dwarves.

All of the NPCs are nicely drawn here and it should be noted that not all of the villains are totally and utterly villainous. There is a path to redemption for some of them, though not all. Cauthlin, the weasel-lady, is genuinely evil and that is clear from the unsettling illustration of her that accompanies her description. If there is a downside to the three plots, it is that Lothlórien does not receive one, though given how closed off and inaccessible that realm is, it may be that Sauron has not yet devised a scheme which he thinks will make it vulnerable.

Lastly, Realms of the Three Rings details nine Landmarks, adventure sites across Eriador. Some of these can be tied into the plots described in the previous section. For example, Ost Breniellin is a fortress that guards Lindon’s north and is home to the House of Exiles, who now make the accusations against the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains in ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’, whilst ‘The Valleys of the Dwarves’ is home to the accused. ‘The Singing Stones’ are Elven ruins on the edge of the Misty Mountains where songs can be heard in dreams, but not remembered, and is where an NPC tied to the plot of ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ could be encountered, whilst events later in that plot can play out at ‘The Wailinghole’, a worked cave network that has been turned into an outpost by the Elves of Rivendell and has secrets of its own. ‘The Winter-horn’ is both a sound and a place in the High Pass of the Misty Mountains, whose sound is said to be strong enough to keep giants at bay, and perhaps can be found as part of the ‘Perils of the Last Road’ plot, as can ‘Whitehorn Hay’, a farm where Men welcome Elven visitors.

The others include ‘The Palace of the Sea-birds’ is the ruined island home of an old Elf-lord, now the seat of King Arovall, a massive seagull who rules over all of the region’s seabirds; ‘The Vineyards of Glauria’ sit high on the side of the valley above Rivendell where the ancient winemaking practices of the Eldar are still continued to this day; and ‘The Falls of Nimrodel’ lie on the edge of Lothlórien, potentially a place of refuge from nearby Moria, whilst the nearby ‘The Ruins of Dwarferry’ details an ancient Dwarven crossing point across the Anduin. Where most of these Landmarks are given a location, both ‘The Hollow Wood’, a refuge for Elves on the road westwards, and ‘The Isle of the Sorceress’, a refuge of a more mystical nature, can be placed anywhere by the Loremaster.

Finally, the appendix adds options for the Player. These include two new Heroic Cultures. One is the High Elves of Rivendell, which previously appeared in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, whilst the other is the Elves of Lórien. The High Elves of Rivendell have the Cultural Blessings of ‘Elven-Wise’, able to spend Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll, but also ‘Beset by Woe’, meaning that their long memories cannot forget the mark left by the Shadow on their spirit, limiting when they can remove Shadow points. Their notable Virtues are ‘Artificer of Eregion’, enabling a Player-hero to craft Marvellous Artefacts like the Elven-smiths of old or identify qualities about a Marvellous Artefact or Wondrous Items, and ‘Might of the Firstborn’, which lets a Player-hero expend Hope to negate a point of Hate or Resolve spent by a foe to activate a Fell ability. The Elves of Lórien have a single Cultural Bless, that of ‘Tree-People’, which lets a Player-hero spend a point of Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll when in a forest, but more Virtues to choose from. These include ‘Lembas’, gaining access to the famous waybread after spending time in Lothlórien; ‘Deadly Archery’, granting the ‘Prepare Action’ with a bow whilst in the Rearward Stance as a secondary action; and ‘Favour of the Lady’, which grants the blessing of Galadriel to gain more Hope points during the Fellowship Phase, but at a cost of an extra Shadow point, which can be negated by returning home. There is a lot of flavour to both Heroic Cultures, enabling players to create interesting Player-heroes. The last item in the appendix is ‘Elf-Lords in Solo Play’, a guide to creating powerful Elves born in the First and Second Ages who have yet to make the journey West. These are specifically designed to work with the solo rules for The One Ring—called ‘Strider Mode’—and enable a player to roleplay a much more powerful figure who can more readily face greater foes. It is a welcome new option for the ‘Strider Mode’.

Physically, Realms of the Three Rings follows the look of The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings with an almost parchment look upon which the pen and ink art sits beautiful artwork, some of which, like the depiction of the weasel-lady is quite unnerving. The cartography is also very good.

If there is an Elven Player-hero in the Company, Realms of the Three Rings is a supplement that his player will want his Loremaster to purchase. It places the Elves in the spotlight in the Third Age of Middle-earth, a place that ironically, they would rather avoid. It not only details their realms as places to visit, but provides the Loremaster with the means to bring their reticence, their waning hope, and their elegance into play and develop her campaign around their included plots. Realms of the Three Rings adds depth and detail to Eriador, scope for Elven Player-heroes to shine, and other Player-heroes to explore their grandly elegant, but declining world.

Vaesen d’Italia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Wick’d World

Operating in the shadows, untouched by the police, and with the utmost of professionalism, there is a world of killers. Professional assassins and hitmen, trackers and bounty hunters. Killing not because they are evil or cruel. Killing because it is their duty, because it is their skill, because it is their style, because it is their job, because it is their honour. They may be employed by one of the great families. They may be freelancers hired from one job to the next. They may belong to secret society that has long used assassination as a tool. Their world is governed by the secret and ancient organisation known as the Stone. Beneath the Stone are six families, each representing one of the major criminal organisations—the Bratva, the Camorra, the Cartel, the Mafia, the Triads, and the Yakuza—which the killers may be allied with or work for as freelancers, and which control great swathes of territory and influence the direction of whole cities and nations. They also feud with each other and that is in part why the actions of the killers are so regulated by the Stone, lest such feuds get out of hand and come to the attention of the wider world. The killers, in return for their skill that they hone constantly, live lives of luxury. They also have access to the Belmont, not just a chain of businesses that serve the world of the professional killers, but also a hotel where they can stay, relax, arrange for new contracts, and order the latest tactical gear like it was fine wine. And best of all, the Belmont is neutral ground. Of course, if a professional killer is declared a renegade by the Stone, then it is game on, and the renegade is anybody’s to hunt and kill.

This is the setting for World of Killers, ‘A Supplement of Assassins, Hired Guns, and Secret Societies for Outgunned’. Published by Two Little Mice, Outgunned: Cinematic Action Roleplaying Game is the cinematic action roleplaying game inspired by the classic action films of the past sixty years—Die Hard, Goldfinger, Kingsman, Ocean’s Eleven, Hot Fuzz, Lethal Weapon, and John Wick. It expands the rules for Outgunned with five new roles and a special role, nine new tropes, rules for trained dogs and both hunts and getaways, new gear, and a cinematic campaign, ready to play with four pre-generated killers. All of this is inspired by John Wick, Kill Bill, Leon, Assassin’s Creed, and Hitman. Of these, the first is important because essentially, World of Killers is unashamedly the John Wick series of films with the serial numbers filed off, and short of an actual licence, that really is no bad thing. After all, the players get to play in a very similar world to the one they have seen on screen.

Arguably, because most players of World of Killers will have seen the John Wick films, or at least be aware of them, the supplement does not need a huge amount of detail to describe its setting. The background covers the Stone, its organisation and the important roles within it, all six families who get a page each, the Belmont and the services it provides, paying particular attention to the New York Belmont, and then the Rats. The Rats live on the fringes of society and on the fringes on the fringes of the world of killers, a mixture of criminals, dropouts, derelicts, and outcasts, led by a Rat Queen in New York, and providing similar services to the Belmont—protection, gear, information, and favours. This all costs of course, and nothing more than offering a sanctuary for renegades.

The five new roles in and for the World of Killers are the Samurai, Hired Gun, Aristocrat, Dog Trainer, and Derelict. As in the core rulebook, these are templates that give options in terms of Work, Catchphrase, Flaw, and Characteristics, including attribute and skill points feats, and gear, that a player customises. They include a list of inspirations from a variety of action films as well, starting off, of course, with the John Wick franchise. If the Samurai and Hired Gun are obvious, the others less so. The Aristocrat relies on breeding, manners, and charisma; the Dog Trainer operate with a trained canine companion, which can be a tracker dog or an attack dog; and the Derelict lives on the streets and very likely has a past with the world of killers. In addition, the World of Killers gives a sixth, special role, one that combines a standard Player Character’s Role, Trope, and Job in one, and that is the Assassin. The Assassin does get more skill points to assign and three Feats instead of two. Although there is no inspirational list of films to accompany it, the illustration makes it obvious that the role is inspired by the Assassin’s Creed series of computer games. Its inclusion opens up the possibility of setting Outgunned stories in the past.

Besides new Tropes such as ‘Battle Butler’, ‘Gone Rogue’, ‘Magnificent Bastard’, and ‘Professional’, and new Feats like ‘Deflect Bullets’, ‘Elegance’, ‘Endure Pain’, ‘Gun Fu’, and ‘Sword Fighter’, World of Killers adds two new Plan B options. ‘Blade’ grants an immediate success or amazing advantage with a slash of the sword, whilst ‘Belmont’ brings the intervention of the organisation, whether its personnel or its services. Gold, particular coins, is introduced as an exclusive currency to gain access to Belmont services, equipment, and favours and services, and is earned communally for completing tasks and contracts for the Stone, the Belmont, and the families.

Although the Trained Dog is specifically for the Dog Trainer Role, it is possible for a Player Character to gain one later. The Trained Dog itself is treated as character in its own right, complete with a flaw, attributes, and Grit. Stats are given for a hunting falcon and a monkey as well as a dog. The other major addition to Outgunned are the rules for ‘Hunts’. This handles how assassinations and kills play out by tracking two numbers, ‘Need’ and ‘Kill’. ‘Need’ measures how close the Player Characters are to the target and how exposed the target is, whilst ‘Kill’ tracks the Player Characters’ position and advantage over the target. From turn to turn, the players roll and narrate how they get closer to the target, increasing their ‘Kill’ until their characters are in the position to carry out the shot. A Hunt can then turn into a chase, whether the Player Characters fail and have to go after their target, or fail or succeed and are then pursued by the target’s forces. Supported by an example, the ‘Hunt’ rules set up great set pieces full of tension and pent up violence.

Half of World of Killers is dedicated to a cinematic scenario, ‘Family Business’. It incudes four pre-generated Player Characters, a Hired Gun, an Aristocrat, a Dog Trainer, and a Samurai. They are asked for help by the manager of New York’s Belmont, an old friend or someone whom they are indebted to, who has let two renegades slip out of his grasp. The Stone has given him twenty-four hours to make up for his error. The hunt for the two renegades—who turn out be star-crossed lovers and killers—takes the Player Characters to a showdown on a cruise and back to New York where they discover that the Stone has already taken away their own friend to be judged at a Tribunal. This is not how things are normally conducted, so the Player Characters’ suspicions should have been aroused and they will want to investigate. As they do so, they run the risk of being declared renegade, must face the Stone’s own forces and those of some of the families, travel around the world from New York to Rome to Tokyo, and unmask a conspiracy that could upset the balance between the six families. It is a highly entertaining scenario that takes the Player Characters from the highs to the lows of the world of killers and back again. There are some great set scenes and the players get to try out the ‘Hunt’ rules more than once. The five-shot scenario will probably take several sessions to play through and very nicely showcases the setting.

The scenario is supported by several handouts, actually portraits of all of the Player Characters and NPCs, not handouts in the traditional sense, since Outgunned is not an investigative roleplaying game. The scenario is expertly presented though with scenes detailed on the lefthand page and advice for the Game Master on the right. This format makes the scenario easy to run from the page. There are some sequel suggestions too in addition to some scenario ideas given earlier in the book.

Physically, World of Killers is, like Outgunned, a good looking book. The artwork is excellent and the layout clean and tidy, and easy to read.

If you are a fan of Outgunned, then you are going to want World of Killers, and if you are a fan of the John Wick films, you are going to want World of Killers. As an action film roleplaying game, Outgunned is great for one-shots, but World of Killers gives it a setting, a structure, and a franchise that the players can return to again and again.

The One Ring II Starter II

It is the year 2965 of the Third Age. Over two decades ago, the Free Peoples of Middle-earth come together to defeat a great host of Orcs and other creatures, as well as the dread dragon, Smaug, at the Battle of the Five Armies. It seemed that a peace had settled on lands long threatened by the Shadow, but now that tide is turning. There are tales of strange folk and strange doings beyond the borders of the civilised lands, there are tales told round the fireside of monsters and other evils long thought banished, but which are now feared to have returned. Yet in such times, as before, there have been the stalwart warriors, curious scholars, and the stealthy scouts who know that there is a truth to many of the tales, that the sinister threats of old have not been truly vanquished, merely driven back, bruised and bleeding, into the shadows where they can nurse their wounds, bide their time, and grow in numbers and take council from their dark masters to strike once again. Knowing this, they will journey into the lone lands, rough woods, craggy mountains, and dark barrows to determine the nature and numbers of the threats to the Free Peoples that remain. Thus does a fellowship, a company of stalwarts, finds itself travelling out of Bree and into the North Downs to investigate a report of a shadow falling upon an ancient stone circle.

This is the set-up for The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill. Published by Free League Publishing, this is actually the second starter set for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Which begs the question, what is second edition of The One Ring roleplaying game doing with a starter set when it already has one? And when that starter set was actually a lot of fun? Well, the truth is that as good as it was and as fun as it was to play, The One Ring Starter Set was not without its problems, most of which were conceptual and chronological. The One Ring Starter Set did four things. First it introduced the rules; second, it provided a complete mini-campaign to play through; third, it served as a sourcebook for the Shire; and fourth, it let you play as Hobbits. In particular, as Drogo Baggins, Esmeralda Took, Lobelia Bracegirdle, Paladin Took II, Primula Brandybuck, and Rorimac Brandybuck which together represent the generation between that of Bilbo, and that of Frodo Baggins, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck. Which was great if you liked Hobbits and wanted to explore the Shire. However, this limited player choice, since they could not roleplay other members of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth; it underplayed the peril of the setting of the wider Middle-earth, reducing it to mild; and there was no scope beyond its box to really continue playing the same characters. This was because the publisher was not supporting this feature of The One Ring Starter Set, plus, its events take place before the starting year of The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Fortunately, The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill does most of these things, but with fewer Hobbits and less of a restriction chronologically (or geographically).

Anyway, The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill. Inside the box can be found a full set of The One Ring dice, a bag of plastic stands, a ‘Getting Started’ sheet, the twenty-four-page ‘The One Ring – Rules’ booklet, the sixteen-page ‘The One Ring – Over Hill and Under Hill’ booklet, five pre-generated Player-heroes, handout for the adventure, a map of Eriador with a combat diagram on the reverse, and a set of twenty-three cardboard stand-up figures. The dice consist of two twelve-sided Feat Dice and six six-sided Success Dice, whilst the ‘Getting Started’ sheet introduces the starter set, tells the reader how to get started, and suggests further supplements that are available for The One Ring. ‘The One Ring – Rules’ booklet condenses the core rules of play, whilst ‘The One Ring – Over Hill and Under Hill’ booklet details the scenario that the Loremaster will be running and her players roleplaying. The five pre-generated Player-heroes are detailed on double-sided sheets with an illustration and some background on the front and the full game stats on the back. They consist of a Barding Captain, a Dwarf of Durin’s Folk who is a Champion, an Elf of Lindon who is a scholar, a Hobbit Treasure-Hunter, and a Warden who is a Ranger. The cardboard stand-up figures depict both the members of the company and the foes they will face during the adventure.

‘The One Ring – Rules’ booklet introduces the rules and more. It explains the basic setting, that of the year 2965 of the Third Age, and also the roles of the Player-heroes and the Loremaster—as the Game Master is known in The One Ring. It gives an example of play and a break down of what a Player-hero looks like and the various elements that a player will find on a Player-hero sheet. The rules cover basic resolution, how Endurance and Hope work, and then how Player-hero can withstand the effects of the Shadow or suffer them if not... The longest section is devoted to combat and it supported by good example of in action using the Player-heroes in the starter set. Also covered are the rules for Council, essentially negotiating and entreating with NPCs, and making Journeys. This has always been a big feature of The One Ring, very much inspired by journeys made in both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hobbit, and the roleplaying game was originally one of the first to really make travel a big feature of its play.

Mechanically, The One Ring uses dice pools formed of six-sided dice and the twelve-sided Feat die. The six-sided Success dice are marked with an Elven Rune for ‘1’ on the six face, whilst the Feat dice is marked one through ten, and one face with the ‘Eye of Sauron’ Icon and one face with the ‘Gandalf’ Rune. When rolled, these can all together give various results. A simple numerical total that beats a Target Number is a standard success, but if the roll beats a Target Number and one or more Elven Runes are rolled, they indicate a Great or even an Extraordinary success. If the ‘Eye of Sauron’ Icon is rolled, this is the worst result and does not contribute anything towards the roll. Conversely, if the ‘Gandalf’ Rune is rolled, the action automatically succeeds, even if the total does not beat the target number.

The Target Number itself is determined by a Player-hero’s Attributes, either Strength, Heart, or Wits, depending upon if the player is rolling for a skill, combat proficiency, Wisdom, or Valour. In addition, if a skill is Favoured or Ill-favoured, a player rolls two Feat dice, counting the higher result if Favoured, the lower if Ill-favoured. Extra Success dice can be purchased and rolled through the expenditure of Hope.

Combat uses the same mechanics, but uses a Player-hero’s Combat Proficiencies—either Axes, Bows, Swords, or Spears, which are rolled against the Target Number derived from his Strength. This is modified by the enemy’s Parry rating. Damage inflicted is deducted from a Player-hero’s Endurance, which can result in him being Weary if his Endurance is knocked below his Load (essentially what he is carrying), and knocked out if it is reduced to zero. However, adversaries cannot become Weary, but are knocked out or eliminated when their Endurance is reduced to zero. If one or more Elven ‘1’ Runes are rolled on the Success dice, they can spent to inflict Heavy Blows and more Endurance damage, Fend Off the next attack against you, Pierce armour and potentially do a Piercing Blow, which is definitely inflicted if a ten or a ‘Gandalf’ Rune is rolled. If a Piercing Blow is struck, the defendant’s player rolls to see if his Player-hero’s armour protects him. Wounded Player-heroes recover Endurance slowly and are knocked out if a second Wound is suffered. Adversaries are typically killed by Wounds.

Each of the different aspects of the rules—journeys, Shadow, councils (this in a most unexpected fashion), and combat—are clearly organised and compartmentalised in the scenario in ‘The One Ring – Over Hill and Under Hill’ booklet. This does not mean that the narrative is compartmentalised though, as the scenes and the application of the different aspects of the rules does flow logically. The adventure itself begins The Prancing Pony in Bree where the company is to meet a hunter who had a strange and terrifying encounter at a stone circle in the North Downs. At the behest of their patron, the Lady Gilraen (mother of Aragorn), the members of the company are to listen to what the hunter has to say, glean what useful information he has, and set out to investigate. The scenario provides opportunities for undertaking a journey, exposure to the Shadow and the potential to suffer its effects, decent roleplaying in the Council, and combat against an evil that has returned to blight the North Downs and the lands of Rhudaur to the east. The scenario will end with the Player-heroes descending into a cave system in sight of Mount Cram. They will need to proceed with great care and with luck and good judgement, should at least be able to rescue some prisoners, but may also be able to defeat an ancient evil out of Angmar too.

‘Over Hill and Under Hill’ is a good adventure. It showcases the rules for The One Ring, presents an dark and dangerous situation for the Player-heroes, and gives them a chance to be heroic. It is playable in two sessions and there are option scenes that the Loremaster can use to extend the scenario to three. The scenario also sets the players up with heroes ready to continue playing, most likely in Ruins of the Lost Realm with Tales from the Lone-Lands. After all, they are a company and they do have a Patron.

Physically, The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill is a good looking package. The artwork is excellent, much of it drawn from The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings core rulebook. The map of Eriador and the combat diagram on its reverse are also good. The cardboard stand-up figures are nice too. The only bad thing to say about the contents of this starter set is that the dice are not as nice as those in the original starter set.

It should be noted that much of The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill will be of use even after a group has played through the adventures. The ‘The One Ring – Rules’ booklet will serve as a light rules reference at the table, the map and combat diagram will be in constant use—as will the dice. The Player-heroes provided can continue to be played after the adventure has been played through, but if they are to learn from their experiences, the core rulebook will be needed.

The One Ring™ Starter Set – Over Hill and Under Hill is the starter set that The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings needed. It both showcases the key aspects of the rules and how a typical game of The One Ring is played, and in doing so, it sets up the Loremaster and her players for continued play in Middle-earth.

—oOo—

Free League Publishing will be at UK Games Expo which takes place from Friday, 29th to Sunday 31st of May.

Vows & Vaesen

Vaesen: City of my Nightmares is a campaign for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, the Roleplaying Game of investigative folklore horror set in nineteenth century Scandinavia published by Free League Publishing. It differs from campaigns and scenarios for the roleplaying game in that they are primarily set along that boundary between the rural and the raw countryside where modernity and progress clashes with tradition and folklore as the knowledge of the customs that enabled Vaesen and man to live alongside each other is being lost. Instead, Vaesen: City of my Nightmares takes in or near the ‘Venice of the North’, the city of Stockholm. Here, in the Swedish capital, the Player Characters will still be confronted with the clash between the old and the new. Between science and savagery, monarchism and unionism, new institutions replacing the old, and quite literally the past and the future, but all driven by all too human fear, ambition, and revenge. This is a city-based campaign that will involve the Player Characters in the doings of the nouveau rich, the avantgarde, and the poor and the oppressed, and more importantly in terms of the roleplaying game and its background, will involve them in both the history of the Society they belong to and the history of its founder. As a consequence of all of this, Vaesen: City of my Nightmares is better suited to be run with experienced Player Characters, ones who have conducted several investigations, thus enabling their players to appreciate the campaign’s contrast in terms of setting and the revelations that will be uncovered as part of their investigations. The campaign is ideally run after the events of Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery and whilst it will be helpful have copies of Johan Egerkrans’ The Undead and Vaesen to hand, they are not absolutely necessary. In the case of the latter, the ‘Codex Occultum’ from the Vaesen – Starter Set is an easy substitute. Lastly, although Vaesen: City of my Nightmares is set in and around the city of Stockholm, it can be shifted to other European cities if the Game Master prefers. Of course, the Game Master will need to change the setting details to fit the new location.

Vaesen: City of my Nightmares was funded as part of the joint Kickststarter for Vaesen: Mythic Carpathia. It takes place in late nineteenth century Sweden and involves numerous historical figures that have been adjusted slightly to fit the setting, its events playing out over the course of a year and consisting of four parts with several months in between. This enables the Game Master to run a scenario or two between the events of Vaesen: City of my Nightmares, which is also the best way in which to run it. There is a plot that runs through the whole campaign, but it is not a strong one. Certainly not strong enough to drive the Player Characters to continue their investigation from one part to the next directly and this is reflected by the months long gaps between scenarios and the instigating factor for each scenario. This is the cork magnet, August T. Lysander, a self-made wealthy capitalist, who has taken an interest in the activities of the Society and made several donations to keep its current incarnation operating. In turn, he will ask the Player Characters for their help and reward them for giving it. Of course, these adventures can be run their own, but that would negate the plot to the campaign. All four scenarios are organised in the same fashion. They start with the background and breakdown the Countdown of events that will occur as time goes on, ultimately leading to a Catastrophe if the mystery remains unsolved and the situation unresolved. This is followed by a list of the clues that become available after each step of the Countdown, pleasingly with the core, key clues clearly marked, and then the scenario’s pertinent locations. Each scenario ends with a breakdown of the climax and its aftermath. The organisation is consistent and accessible throughout, and in addition the scenarios are supported with a good overview of Stockholm in the late nineteenth century accompanied by excellent period maps. Notably, the period map of the city is included on a poster map in the book, but further, the back of this poster map is presented as the front cover for a copy of the City Gazette, Stockholm’s conservative newspaper. It is full of clues and hints for the four scenarios in Vaesen: City of my Nightmares, but especially the first scenario. Each of the scenarios should take roughly two to three sessions’ worth of play to complete.

The first part of the campaign is ‘Scent of a Killer’, which takes . Businessman August T. Lysander makes a request of the Society. Of late, the Town Between Two Bridges district of Stockholm has beset by a series of killings, common criminals found ripped apart. Now a noted tenor at the Royal Swedish Opera has been found dead too, and so the newly founded Police Department is being pushed to investigate this death at the very least. However, the nature of the killings means that the police cannot make head nor tail of them, let alone any progress. The case is a matter of medical malpractice—of a sort, as is another situation in the city. Experienced players will likely work out what the problem is very quickly, but knowing what the problem is and both identifying the culprit and dealing with is another matter. This is a good start to the campaign, setting the tone for the urban mysteries that are to come.

The Player Characters get some respite the following year in ‘Song to the Moon’, when August T. Lysander invites them to stay with him and his family at his summer retreat on Goose Island in the Stockholm archipelago. This is not only to say thanks for their efforts helping the city Police Department the previous autumn, but also to consult with them about the nature of Vaesen. The beguiling idyll is broken by series of strange drownings that trap everyone on the island. The deaths are not the only strangeness pervading Goose Island, though the Player Characters may not uncover all of it. This scenario combines horror with a classic country house murder and hints that not all is well in the Lysander family.

August T. Lysander’s interest in Vaesen comes to the fore a matter of six months later in the autumn in ‘The Haunted Library’. He makes another request of the Society and the Player Characters, this time to help him to find the lost notes of Carl Linnaeus, the founder of the Society himself. He believes that they are hidden in a secret library beneath the National Archives on Knights Island in Stockholm. So far, he has been unable to penetrate far into the labyrinthine catacombs under the National Archives and thinks that those with the Sight—in other words, the Player Characters—will have better luck. The Player Characters will be faced with a maze, and despite being haunted by a number of ghosts, but will eventually be able to find their way to a ‘Chamber of Riddles’. Doing so reveals the strangest of encounters in the campaign—windows into the very past of Carl Linnaeus! These are essentially mini-mysteries that reveal the biologist and physician’s past and some of his secrets, many of which are pertinent to the mystery at the heart of the campaign.

‘The Haunted Library’ climaxes with the intervention of the Rosenbergers, the rival organisation which split from the Society. Their appearance in the campaign is an oddity since they have rarely appeared in previous scenarios for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying and whilst they appear in the next and final scenario in campaign, the eponymous, ‘City of My Nightmares’, it is a pity that there is not greater scope to explore this aspect of the setting. It is perhaps a missed opportunity, perhaps one that the Game Master could follow up herself.

In ‘City of My Nightmares’, the Player Characters are once again recalled to Stockholm, but this time not by August T. Lysander. Instead, the letter is from a renowned spiritualist and artist who received a portentous message from a spirit during a séance. They find a city tense with worker unrest and filled with an uncertainty that quickly tips over into dance and destruction. Against this backdrop of increasing civil agitation, the Player Characters must work out who is being warned about in the message and find a way to stop the threat. This is a much more challenging scenario than the previous three, but it ultimately reveals the real threats that the Player Characters and the Society face, one of them a returning from previous scenarios. The ‘City of My Nightmares’ brings the campaign to a satisfying climax. After which, the Player Characters are likely going to be relieved to return to the countryside for a more traditional investigation!

If there is an issue with Vaesen: City of my Nightmares, it is one that is found in many scenarios and campaigns—the introduction of an NPC that the players and their characters have to trust. This is as much a problem with stories and players themselves and their not always trusting nature when it comes to such NPCs. It may well be a good idea to introduce the major NPC in this campaign and portray him as helpful and useful long before the campaign starts.

Physically, Vaesen: City of my Nightmares is very well presented. It is well written and easy to understand, whilst the cartography—old and new—has a pleasingly period feel. The artwork, including the handouts, is, of course, excellent.

Vaesen: City of my Nightmares is an engaging campaign, best played intermittently as written, that veteran players will enjoy, whilst wholly new players may find a bit more challenging. Vaesen: City of my Nightmares presents a contrasting backdrop, a chance to explore the history of the Society, and brings urban fantasy and horror to Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, if only for a little while.

Friday Fantasy: The Lost & Found Forest

Villagers have been disappearing from Amber, one of the hamlets known as the Sisters Three that stand on the shore of Loch Maeglen, and nobody knows why. Only one has reappeared, the florist, Mirabel Gobel, and she is unable to recall where she went and what happened to her. Only now she can hear a mysterious woman’s voice calling to her to “Find me! Find me and longer taste sorrow,” and go to the nearby Lost & Found Forest and she fears for her life. What kind of danger is she in and where have the other villagers gone? Perhaps the Player Characters are hired to investigate by a previous employer, like Kelvin Belmont from the adventure The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure, or they are camping in the area when they come across Mirabel Gobel walking towards the woods in a trance, or they come across a tumbledown cottage on the edge of the woods from which can be heard muffled cries of a woman. However the Player Characters get involved, this is the mystery and set-up at the heart of The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure. This is a scenario for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying, the roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure is published by Gallow’s Tomes as part of Free League Publishing’s Free League Workshop community content programme. It is part of the same series as The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure and can be run as an indirect sequel since both are set in the same area. This setting is the Bailwick of Fenwick and the three hamlets—Amber, Burgundy, and Lapis—which stand on the shores of Loch Maeglen, which can be used as or adapted to fit the Game Master’s own setting, or it can be slotted into the Misty Vale setting as detailed in the Dragonbane Core Set. To that end, it is suggested that they be placed around the unnamed lake in the Misty Vale just south of the Temple of the Purple Flame and the Magna Woods. Alternatively, they can be placed on the other side of the Drakmar Pass from where the ‘Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign begins. Each of the three hamlets is associated with and named for a statue of a woman, collectively known as The Sisters. In the case of Lapis, the starting point for The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure, the statue is of lapis, whereas for Amber, the starting points for The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure, the statue is of amber. Amber is decidedly bohemian in nature, home to artists and craftsmen of all kinds, as well as the Honey Well Playhouse, the region’s only theatre. The Player Characters can speak to various villagers most of whom have an interest in the arts or crafts, picking up clues and rumours, some the latter actually being repeated from The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure to give the whole region a cohesive feel and to connect to other adventures.

Eventually, the Player Characters will decide to investigate the woods and this where The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure gets interesting. This is because there is no map of the forest, but rather a set of nine forest sites and one end site, called the Hovel Site. The nine forest sites are divided into three bands reflecting how far they are into the forest, but as the Player Characters try and move from one site to the next, they may find themselves returning to the site they just left or another site that they previously visited. There is guidance for the Game Master when to make the Hovel Site accessible narratively or there is ’Hovel Dice’ mechanic which she can roll to determine when the Player Characters discover the Strange Tracks that lead towards the Hovel Site and when they reach the Hovel Site itself. Either way, the aim here is make the search for the cause of the disappearances from Amber a cross between a search and chase, following a set of strange tracks. The encounters in the forest are often creepy and odd, and dangerously soporific.

The final confrontation with the witch behind the mystery is a tough, two-stage battle. First against the Hovel which she makes her home and is actually mobile and whose strange tracks the Player Characters have been following, then against the witch herself. This is the first encounter proper that they will have with one of the ‘Sisters Three’ of the series’ title and if there is an issue, it is that her motivation is underwritten. The Game Master may want to strengthen it and make it more obvious in the Player Characters’ interactions with her.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure can be run as a standalone adventure, but it can be a sequel to The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. There is advice to set up the adventure either way, but like the latter scenario, The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure still leaves numerous questions answered. Hopefully, future scenario releases will address them, especially when the Player Characters encounter the other of the titular ‘Sisters Three’.

Physically, The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure is well laid out in the style of Dragonbane. It does feel heavier in its use of colour and art style, even a little cartoonish. That said, the artwork works, whilst the maps are decent.

The Lost & Found Forest: A Sisters Three Adventure does bring the hamlet of Amber to life and give a very different feel and tone to that given for Lapis in The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. The set-up is strong and it has a dark fairy tale atmosphere, backed up with some decent encounters and a big finale, but the motivation behind the adventure and the villainess’ actions are underwritten.

Mystery & Monsters?

One of the great things with the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box from Free League Publishing is that it comes with everything necessary to play. The means to create Player Characters, the rules, a solo adventure, pre-generated Player Characters, a setting in peril in the form of the Misty Vale, and a complete hexcrawl campaign set within the Misty Vale. A reimagining of Sweden’s first fantasy roleplaying game, Drakar och Demoner, originally published in 1982, Dragonbane combined modern rules and mechanics with an Old School Renaissance sensibility. Plus, with the ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign, it offers multiple sessions’ worth of play. However, beyond the box, the options for Dragonbane are a little more limited. There is the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Rulebook and a new campaign, Path of Glory, an update of the original campaign for Drakar och Demoner. One definite issue with Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box and the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Rulebook is the limited options in terms of monsters. Certainly, enough for the ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign, but not necessarily enough for long term play.

The Dragonbane Bestiary introduces some sixty-three new monsters for the roleplaying game. Not just monsters, but creatures and beasts and undead and dragons and demons, and more. Every entry includes a description, some stats, and an illustration just like a bestiary for any other roleplaying game, but the Dragonbane Bestiary does more than that. In addition, every entry includes a random encounter that the Game Master can run as and when as well as an adventure seed that the Game Master can develop into something longer than the simple random encounter. Yet that is not all, because unlike any other bestiary for any other roleplaying game, the Dragonbane Bestiary includes content that can be used by the players as well as the Game Master. Plus, it is superbly illustrated by David Brasgalla giving the creatures and beings it depicts a Scandinavian sensibility to all of the entries.

Although the world beyond the Misty Vale is not all that developed, there is some world building written into the Dragonbane Bestiary. This is because it is written as the journal entries of the Halfling adventurer and researcher, Theodora Sneezewort, who often has derisory opinions of her fellow scholars. She provides the commentary on each and every monster, often as the counterpoint to a more parochial point of view about the entries. The latter is given as a quote, whilst she provides the bulk of the entry description. This is followed by the monster stats and the options that add variety to combat in Dragonbane.

The sixty-three entries are catalogued into nine categories—Nightkin, Rare Kin, Insectoids, Trolls, Giants, Beasts, Undead, Dragons, and Demons—by Theodora Sneezewort and in each case, she explains why. For example, she notes that the Nightkin, those kin that are uncomfortable in the sun, are often regarded as being under the thrall of darkness and evil, and history is rife with stories of the battles between Elves and Orcs, Humans and Goblins. That they have a short temper and an often deserved reputation for burning and pillaging the lands of others, but she offers hints that Orcs can be scholarly, that Nightkin can want peace, and their heroes fought oppression, and wights and ghosts, all to better their future. Thus, what we get here is two sides to the argument about a broad category of so-called monsters, in this case dominated by negatives as much perceived wisdom, but hinting too that there might be more to the individual kin. Similarly, the Rarekin live on the margins and are often regarded as legends and if not legends, as fairies responsible for child abductions, but Theodora Sneezewort condemns such views, saying that they are far from the truth.

What the Dragonbane Bestiary does for the player is offer further choice in terms of Kin beyond those—Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf, Mallard, and Wolfkin—detailed in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box. The new Kin are Orc, Ogre, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Frog People, Karkion, Cat People, Lizard People, and Satyr. They are treated in two ways in the supplement. First, they are listed as ‘Non-Monsters’ meaning that they are treated as NPCs and handled as Player Characters rather than as traditional monsters. Second, they can be selected as the Kin for Player Characters if everyone at the table agrees. Each has their own Ability. For example, the Goblin has ‘Resilient’ which gives them a Boon to resist poison and disease and enables them to make camp without a Bushcraft skill roll; Ogres have a ‘Slam’ attack rolled with a Boon that inflicts damage, cannot be parried, and normal size targets are knocked prone; and Cat People have ‘Nine Lives’ which grants a Boon on Death rolls and can reduce falling damage. Perhaps the one that players will pick is the Catkin as their ability is both fitting and given how lethal Dragonbane can be, but all of the abilities are kept simple and add flavour to each Kin.

That said, there is some replication between Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box and the Dragonbane Bestiary. The Adult Dragon, Ghost, Giant Spider, Goblin, Griffon, Harpy, Manticore, Minotaur, Orc, Skeleton, and Wight are repeated from the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box, but in keeping with the rest of the Dragonbane Bestiary, their entries are expanded with the descriptions by Theodora Sneezewort, the random encounters, and the adventure seed. Further, the Goblin and Orc are presented as Kin rather than just threats.

Elsewhere, the Dragonbane Bestiary draws on myth for creatures such as Mermaids, Naiads, Minotaurs, Basilisks, and Chimera. There are tweaks though, such as the Medusa being able to fly and able to pummel foes with her fists as well as the snakes that are her hair that bite and her terrifying gaze which is capable of turning anyone to stone within meters. A few are more clearly drawn from Scandinavian folklore, such as the Brook Horse and the Lindworm. There are also different types of similar monster. So, under Trolls there is the Cave Troll, the Forest Troll, and the Mountain Troll; the Dragon is categorised as the Hatching Dragon, Young Dragon, Adult Dragon, and Ancient Dragon; and the Demon category includes write-ups of the Blood Demon, Chaos Demon, Guardian Demon, and Shadow Demon. The oddest entries in the Dragonbane Bestiary are the Karkion and the Insectoids, with even Theodora Sneezewort noting how odd and alien the latter are. The Karkion is a ‘Non-Monster’ Kin, almost cat-like, but with wings like a bat. They are scholars and mages that hunt for lore about demons, but there is little more to them than that. The Insectoids include the Ant People, Beetle Kin, and Spider Kin. Of these, Ant People will communicate with outsiders and even Beetle Kin can be found employed as bodyguards by the wealthy. The Spider Kin are definitely the most mysterious, spinning strange webs that capture magic rather than prey.

Physically, the Dragonbane Bestiary is superbly presented. The writing is engaging and the artwork is a delight, evoking senses of wonder and fright in equal measure. The Giant Spider bearing down upon the Elf in its web is scary, whilst the Skeleton slamming open a door makes you want to jump.

The Dragonbane Bestiary and Theodora Sneezewort get to the point of these creatures quickly, meaning that they simple to use in play. The random encounters are easier to use than the adventure seeds and that is not just because the Game Master has to develop them. There is not a great deal of information in the write-ups of these creatures and monsters for the Game Master to work with and what there is, tends to be more flavour than definitive fact. On the one hand, this leaves plenty of room for the Game Master to develop more her own details about the creature, on the other, it leaves the Game Master with more to develop than just the adventure seed. Certainly, in comparison to other bestiaries far less attention is paid to the ecologies and life cycles of these creatures. In places this leaves the player adrift, such as with the Karkion, which are different enough that more information is needed.

The Dragonbane Bestiary is a book that the player is going to want for more character options and the Game Master is going to want to develop her Dragonbane campaign beyond the pages of ‘The Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign in the Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying – Core Box with new threats and new Kin. As much as the content is useful to that end, it does lean into the mystery of both monster and Kin a little too much, leaving details to be developed by the Game Master. What that means is that whilst the Dragonbane Bestiary is useful and easy in bringing encounters with its entries into play, it is harder to use beyond that in campaign development than it ideally should be. The Dragonbane Bestiary is a very lovely book, but not quite as useful as it should have been.

Friday Fantasy: The Alchemist’s Fire

The alchemist, Kelvin Belmont, is distraught and distracted, and in need of help. He has received a letter from his brother, Solomon, begging for his help in dealing with a dangerous threat which seems to be hounding him. This is strange, for the brothers had a falling out and neither has spoken to the other in almost a decade. The question is, what is the nature of the threat such that one pair of estranged siblings would seek out the aid of the other? Fortunately, Kelvin does want to help his brother, but he is old and weary, ill-suited to such tasks. So, he decides to hire some doughty adventurers to check on his brother and to deliver the package that he requested. This is the core hook—though several other hooks are included to get the Player Characters to meet Kelvin—for the scenario, The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure. This is a scenario for Dragonbane: Mirth & Mayhem Roleplaying, the roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing.

The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is published by Gallow’s Tomes as part of Free League Publishing’s Free League Workshop community content programme. The setting is the Bailwick of Fenwick and the three hamlets—Amber, Burgundy, and Lapis—which stand on the shores of Loch Maeglen. This can be used as or adapted to fit the Game Master’s own setting, or it can be slotted into the Misty Vale setting as detailed in the Dragonbane Core Set. To that end, it is suggested that they be placed around the unnamed lake in the Misty Vale just south of the Temple of the Purple Flame and the Magna Woods. Alternatively, they can be placed on the other side of the Drakmar Pass from where the ‘Secret of the Dragon Emperor’ campaign begins. Each of the three hamlets is associated with and named for a statue of a woman, collectively known as The Sisters. In the case of Lapis, the starting point for The Alchemist's Fire, the statue is of lapis. The hamlet is described in broad detail, noting its most important business and their colourful proprietors and patrons, including the inn with a Dwarven innkeeper with an ear for ‘Dad jokes’, a grumpy Mallard sailor wanting to return to the sea, an overly curious Halfling cartographer, and a baker with a line in hot buttered muffins. Besides talking to the inhabitants, which may earn the Player Characters some rumours, divided between those pertinent to the scenario and those left for the Game Master to develop or ignore as is her wont, can of course, do a bit of shopping.

Eventually, the Player Characters will make their way to Ravenhook Tower, the home of Kelvin Belmont. Once they get past his cagey manner, he will employ them to deliver a cart, which he will provide, full of flasks of a blue liquid that ignites upon impact when thrown—Fire Flasks. The alchemist’s brother has asked him to deliver to his tower, Coralholm, which lies to the east. The journey is not without its dangers as the Blue Root Mountains are full of Worgs and Goblins—and worse. Plus, the Player Characters are essentially driving a bomb on wheels, and if anything goes wrong, there is the chance of a massive explosion. In fact, a really, really big explosion which is going to leave them at a disadvantage later in the scenario.

However, by the time the Player Characters reach Solomon Belmont’s tower of Coralholm, it is too late. Someone has already broken in and when the Player Characters find him, they also find an army of frogs harassing him. This is after a nasty encounter with a Giant Slime that can shoot ooze-coated skulls out of its gelatinous depths and make weapons protrude from its body. Of course, this fight can be eased with the application of a Fire Flask or two. Once the fight is over, Solomon is pleased to see the Player Characters—in complete contrast to his brother—but he fears that the frog men will be back and asks the Player Characters to mount what is effectively, a ‘tower defence’. The players and their characters have time to set up defences and they are encouraged to lay traps and build defensive points as well as prepare the ballista on the roof. The fight comes with its own maps and feels like a cross between the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the destruction of Isengard in The Two Towers of The Lord of the Rings, but with the Player Characters and Solomon Belmont as the defenders in both cases. Of course, this is on a very much smaller scale in either case. It does include a ‘Squad Dice’ mechanic for handling when more squads of Frog Men appear on the battlefield.

The scenario does end with some unanswered questions. This includes the cause of the estrangement between the brothers and the identity and aims of an antagonist—hopefully to be detailed in another scenario. That said, if the Player Characters never find out, it is no great loss. Rounding out The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is another table of encounters should the Player Characters venture into the woods near the hamlet of Lapis and some full page pieces of artwork. These are actually quite good, especially that of the Briar Mawr, the malign walking tree carrying a platform of Frog Men in its branches (which the Player Characters can attempt to topple).

Two points arise from the setting. One is that the author cannot decide whether the setting for The Alchemist’s Fire—Lapis—is a hamlet or a town. The other is the name, ‘Bailwick of Fenwick’. Putting aside the rhyming, it does sound very much like the Duchy of Grand Fenwick from the Peter Sellers’ film, The Mouse That Roared.

Physically, The Alchemist’s Fire is well laid out in the style of Dragonbane. It does feel heavier in its use of colour and art style, even a little cartoonish. That said, the artwork works, whilst the maps are decent.

If the plot to The Alchemist’s Fire is straightforward, its details are colourful and detailed, and all together, the whole affair is easy to run and easy to slot into a campaign. Offering a good mix of roleplaying with some surprisingly nasty and challenging encounters, The Alchemist’s Fire: A Sisters Three Adventure is an impressively sturdy little adventure that should play through in two or so sessions.

The Full Zero to Hero

Like any good action film, Mission Dossier: Project Medusa starts with a bang! Not with the bang of a gunshot, but with the sound a door being kicked open and the bruised and bloody contact that the Heroes have been waiting for, being thrown to the floor of the diner where they have been waiting for him. After the requisite brawl with the thugs that beat him and came after the Heroes, the chase is on the MacGuffin of the title—a speedy drive to the airfield followed by a race to board a departing aeroplane, which before it reaches it destination, will explode, deliberately, of course, leaving the heroes in mid air and short of parachutes… This then is the opening part of Mission Dossier: Project Medusa, a scenario, or ‘mini-campaign’ for Outgunned, the cinematic action roleplaying game inspired by the classic action films of the past sixty years—Die Hard, Goldfinger, Kingsman, Ocean’s Eleven, Hot Fuzz, Lethal Weapon, and John Wick.

Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is ‘A 3-Shot Introductory Campaign for Outgunned’ and if it seems familiar, there is a good reasons for this. This is because its first part, or shot, ‘Race Against Time’ is used in both the core rulebook as the introductory scenario and in Outgunned– Zero to Hero, the quick-start for Outgunned. So, by the time the Director and her players get to Mission Dossier: Project Medusa, they may already have played through the first part. That said, it is nice to have the whole scenario in one place, and further, all of Mission Dossier: Project Medusa can be run using the Outgunned – Zero to Hero rather than the full rules in Outgunned. Both Outgunned and Mission Dossier: Project Medusa were funded via a Kickstarter campaign and published by the Italian publisher, Two Little Mice, via Free League Publishing. Mission Dossier: Project Medusa comes with four ready-to-play Heroes—a maverick undercover police officer, a hotshot driver and pilot, an ever cheerful bounty hunter, and a charming martial artist—and can be played through in two or three sessions. Some elements of these Heroes are written into the story, so if the players want to create their own Heroes, the Director will need to link them to the plot. If the players do want to create their own Heroes, it is recommended that one of them be a hotshot driver.

Mission Dossier: Project Medusa quickly summarises the plot and its three shots, introduces the four Heroes (character sheets for each of them is included at the back), and both explains who the villain is and what his dastardly plan is. This is the charming Greek philanthropist, Konstantin Stamos, who has a very dark past and a suitcase to take delivery of. The suitcase is the MacGuffin of the scenario and contains a deadly virus, which if unleashed, would kill millions. ‘Race Against Time’ is not clear as to where it is set beyond an unspecified sea-side city, but the action definitely switches to Greece for the second and parts of the scenario, ‘Unwanted Guests’ and ‘Into the Heart of Medusa’. In ‘Unwanted Guests’, the Heroes land in Greece and discover who is behind the beating up of the Heroes’ contact in the previous act, one Konstantin Stamos, and that he is holding a big party very shortly. Which gives an opportunity for the Heroes to infiltrate the event, trying to avoid the attention of the security at Stamos’ villa, and learning more of the villain’s secrets. Since this is the second act, it will end with another fight, of course, a big fight, and will end with the Heroes being captured and imprisoned. ‘Into the Heart of Medusa’, they discover the truly monstrous nature of both Stamos’ plans and its origins, fight their way out of a collapsing secret laboratory, and engage in a helicopter chase, before a final showdown between Stamos and one Hero atop a cliff.

Make no mistake, Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is linear and straightforward, and whilst there is opportunity for the players to embellish parts of the scenario, there is no deviation from its plot. This should be okay though, since the players are here for an action film, not a melodrama, and for their heroes to land punches and shoot the villains and look very, very cool whilst doing it.

What is particularly noticeable about Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is its format. The details of the scenario are always placed on the left, whilst the advice—or ‘Pro-Tips’—for the Director, is always placed on the right in a big, bold, red block with the text in white and different typefaces used on each page. The ‘Pro-Tips’ varies in size, or rather width, throughout the scenario. On some two-page spreads, it is a simple sidebar, on others, it takes up a whole page. The latter includes every scene and situation in the adventure, the advice and suggestions keyed to particular scenes. The advice suggests moments when the Heroes have an opportunity to rest and remove a Condition they might have suffered in a previous scene, the best way to handle a scene, ideas as to how a scene might be expanded or embellished typically to enable the players to develop their Heroes, and to expand on the villains’ actions. The advice is very good and there is so much of it that Mission Dossier: Project Medusa might actually be considered to be half-adventure, half-advice for the Director. Certainly, there is a lot here that the Director can learn and apply to subsequent Outgunned campaigns.

Lastly, Mission Dossier: Project Medusa includes not one, but six ideas which the Director can develop into full scenarios, all connected to the events of Mission Dossier: Project Medusa. These are divided into three sequels and three prequels, so that with the latter, the Director could run some flashback scenarios before the sequels which link to the mysterious organisation that Stamos was connected to. What this organisation is and what it wants is very much up to the Director to decide and develop (unless, of course, the publisher develops a further campaign in the meantime).

Physically, beyond the depictions of the Heroes and major NPCs, Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is not illustrated. Nor are there any maps. The latter should not be too much of an issue, since many of the locations in the scenario will be familiar from all manner of action films. That said, there is nothing to stop the Director from finding her own maps and floorplans. Otherwise, the layout is clean and tidy and effective as outlined earlier. It does need an edit in places though.

Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is exactly what you want in a scenario for an action movie. It is fast paced, there are secrets and betrayals to discover, a mystery to be solved, the world to be saved, and lots and lots of opportunities for the Heroes to be heroic. Of course, this means that there are more than a few clichés of the genre along the way, but they are to be expected and the players should be buying into them as much as they are the cinematic action and chance for their Heroes to look cool. Supported by excellent advice for Director, Mission Dossier: Project Medusa is an entertaining introduction to running and playing Outgunned – Cinematic Action Role Playing Game.