[Free RPG Day 2026] Tradition of Destruction

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, due to vagaries of International Customs, Free RPG Day in the UK did not take place until Saturday, 22nd August.

This review is possible due to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham.

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“Thou art forbidden to destroy another of thy kind. The right of destruction belongeth only  to thine Elder. Only the Eldest among thee shall call the Blood Hunt.” This is the ‘Tradition of Destruction’, the Fifth Tradition of the Camarilla, and the theme front and centre of the release from Renegade Game Studios for Free RPG Day 2026. As well as, of course, its name. Tradition of Destruction is a scenario for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition, that explores what happens when members of the Camarilla break this particular tradition. Intended to be played in a single session—so good for a one-off, demonstration, or convention game—in which the Player Characters are vampires seeking revenge at all costs. A decade ago, and more, the Player Characters had a domain in the city which included an alliance, even a friendship, with the Tyros, a trio of Duskborn, or Fourteenth Generation Vampires. Then they betrayed the Player Characters and left them for dead, all in the name of a better deal with a more powerful figure in the city.

Tradition of Destruction opens with the Player Characters dealing with an information broker attempting to find out where the Tyros are now. They may be able to persuade her to tell them, but a deal may be needed or another means used to get hold of the information that they need. All of these are explored in detail, but ideally, the Player Characters should learn the location of one or more of the Tyros. Each of the three can be encountered in their own scenes and each of these scenes is very different. One is found in a auto salvage yard/chop shop where one of the employees is hiding a secret; another at home where he wants a quiet life with his husband, who knows he is vampire, but not all of his secrets; and a third who has effectively defected to Project, the secret joint programme run by the United States CIA and NSA to track and hunt vampires. Each scene varies in its challenges and the Player Characters are free to approach each Tyro in whatever way they want, the scene descriptions covering several options and their consequences. These options do include violence, but usually as the last option, and if it occurs, the Player Characters will likely have given into their bestial natures and broken the ‘Tradition of Destruction’. Though violence is always the answer, it is not necessarily the best one, and instead of killing the Tyros, the Player Characters are free to take their revenge in whatever way that they like. That can include sending them into exile, getting them to betray their current master, and so on.

The last scene will be with the important figure in the city who persuaded the Tyros to betray the Player Characters. This can play out at their rival’s domain or it can take place at the Elysium in the front of the city’s prince. As a one-shot, Tradition of Destruction ends there, but the scenario could be used to kick off a Chronicle and so explore the consequences of the Player Characters’ actions in subsequent sessions. The scenario includes notes on how those might play out if the Storyteller wants to continue the story. In addition, there is advice too on the tone and horror content in the scenario.

The scenario includes a coterie of pre-generated Kindred. They come complete with background, concept, ambition, conviction, and touchstone as well as the stats, a clan bane, and event a secret or two. They consist of a refined investor Ventrue, Coterie Mastermind Lasombra, Dedicated Sorcerer Tremere, False Death God Malkavian, Impulsive Punk Brujah, and a Domineering Voyeur Nosferatu. All six come with a character sheet that also includes a full colour portrait. 

Physically, Tradition of Destruction is well presented. It is clean, bright, and tidy. The artwork is excellent.

Whether run as a one-shot or a Chronicle starter, Tradition of Destruction is a good scenario for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition. It has scope for both action and interaction, multiple means of handling the situations that the Player Characters face, and is easily run in the city of the Storyteller’s choice.

Friday Fear: Vengeance of Bathory

Has the greatest serial killer in history fled America for her homeland in present day Slovakia? Has she taken refuge in her ancestral home of Castle Čachtice, despite it having been destroyed in 1799 and her having died there in her sleep in 1614? Who is this monstrous murderer, this woman with the worst reputation in history? None other than Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed! Following the revelations about her viciously cruel and bloody campaign of torture amongst the fashion community and on the streets of Los Angeles, her whereabouts are unknown. But those in the know, those that know of her true nature and abilities, have reasons to suspect that they have not truly defeated and that she will return again. Perhaps though, can she be really destroyed and the threat she presents to the world stopped once and for all in her home? This is the set-up for Vengeance of Bathory, a modern day, vampire-hunting setting scenario set in central Europe. It is a sequel to The Blood Countess, the entertaining scenario about the efforts to uncover Báthory’s swathe of stalking and slaughter in Los Angeles that took in part some of its inspiration from the seventies television series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Published by Funny Shaped Dice Productions, Vengeance of Bathory is a short, one or two-session horror scenario, the seventh in the publisher’s ‘Frightshow Classics’ line. Ostensibly written for use with Chill or Cryptworld: Chilling Adventures into the Unexplained, the percentile mechanics of the scenario mean that it could easily be adapted to run with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and similar roleplaying games.

Vengeance of Bathory does work better as a sequel to The Blood Countess, but it is not the only set-up suggested in the scenario. Alternative suggestions include looking for a tourist, Lucinda Miles, who has gone whilst visiting Čachtice, the village below Castle Čachtice; working for an organisation that want to investigate Countess Elizabeth Báthory; and a vision is experienced of one her victims point towards the village. Of these options, only the first is developed in the scenario, leaving the others to be developed by the Fright Master. The scenario begins with the arrival of the Player Characters in the sleepy village and their first night at the Penzión Čachtice, the only guest house not to be fully fixated on the Báthory legend. The Player Characters have time to interact with a few locals at the guesthouse’s bar and the following day visit the Draškovičov kaštieľ – Múzeum Čachtice and Church of Methodius and gain some extra background about Báthory and the surrounding area.

However, there is an issue with the scenario in getting the Player Characters from this set-up and into the meat of the plot. There are hooks and pointers as to where the Player Characters might go in the village, but they are underwritten and not easy to bring into play by the Fright Master. It does not help that the village itself is not detailed in a way can be easily used and the only locations detailed are the Penzión Čachtice, Draškovičov kaštieľ – Múzeum Čachtice, Church of Methodius, and Castle Čachtice. The village also has a tourist industry dedicated to dedicated to Báthory and relatively little is made of that. As it turns out, the village is full of threats and dangers to the Player Characters, including cultists and the presence of Countess Elizabeth Báthory herself. The cultists’ presence could have been made more in and about the village, having them watch the Player Characters and making them a little paranoid. Some of the cult members include the staff of Penzión Čachtice and unless they are really pushed and confronted by the Player Characters, their involvement and the horrific nature of their activities may not be discovered. Which is an issue when discovering their involvement and their activities is one way in which the plot can move the Player Characters onto the main thrust of the plot.

Eventually, the Player Characters will find their way into the tunnels that run under Čachtice all the way to Castle Čachtice, and this is when the pace of the scenario picks up. As they make their way through the tunnels, the Player Characters will come across horror after horror. Torture chambers, ghoul nests, dark temples, sacrifice storage spaces, and moreVengeance of Bathoryand worse! The complex of tunnels and rooms are stalked and haunted by cultists, ghouls, and phantasms, and none of it is mapped. The Fright Master is expected to roll for locations found, encounter details, and events. The events are all attacks by the various threats, but all varying in terms of the odds that the Player Characters have of defeating them, effectively how many there are versus the Player Characters. The ‘Details’ table includes some entries that are easier to use than others. Hostile, injured, corpse, and squabbling encounters are likely easier to use than say the curious and friendly encounters. Here is another aspect Vengeance of Bathory that the Fright Master might to develop so that she has something interesting to place in the path of the Player Characters in what is otherwise a random dungeon!

Apart from a possible vision, the Player Characters will not have met Countess Elizabeth Báthory so far in the scenario. This changes in the finale, which takes place in the Tomb of Báthory. She will command a haunting of phantasms to flit back and forth battering at their psyches, whilst she flits in and out, punching and kicking, and shrieking in cruel laughter at their plight. She will especially take delight in taunting any Player Characters who had a part in defeating her in Los Angeles. It is a challenging fight and there is a chance that the Player Characters will be defeated, captured, and tortured… However, they can also defeat her and do so for good. The Player Characters may want to arm themselves in preparation and ideally, the Fright Master should help them do that, perhaps back at Penzión Čachtice. Another option is to involve the local police and an NPC is provided for that, and being a European police officer, he does have access to firearms.

The scenario includes eight pre-generated Player Characters. Two of them are locals, one the curator of the museum, the other the priest at the village church. If they are not used as Player Characters, then they can be used as NPCs instead. Only four of them have combat skills and only one has a psychic ability, but all come with backgrounds, weaknesses, and a thumbnail portrait. Four of them are also continuing their hunt of Countess Elizabeth Báthory after their encounter with her in The Blood Countess.

Physically, the cover to Vengeance of Bathory manages to be both distracting and horrific! The internal artwork is good and it does include a decent image of the village, though the Fright Master will need to work out what some of the buildings are. Otherwise, the production values are decent.

Unfortunately, Vengeance of Bathory is simply not as good as The Blood Countess. It does not flow as easily as it should and the Fright Master will need to develop elements of it to strengthen its plotting and so ease the Player Characters towards the finale with Countess Báthory. With the necessary development done, Vengeance of Bathory has the potential to deliver an session or two of bloody horror in the Grand Guignol style.

A Cyberpunk Conjuncture

The year is 2119. Following an environmental collapse precipitated by a limited nuclear exchange, humanity survives in eleven metropolises, great conglomerates encompassing whole cities and former countries, of which the largest is New Europe. Sitting in the centre of Europe, New Europe is a gigantic sprawl that takes in the former Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as parts of Poland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, its environment maintained by great atmospheric processors. New Europe is governed by Gaia, an Artificial Intelligence developed by Hansor Innovations, which dedicates itself to the safety, health, and well-being of new Europe’s citizens. This has been brought about by tighter control of food production, increased surveillance, and roboticised law enforced with limited artificial intelligence. Gaia has also accelerated technological innovation and this has led to the development of cyberware, miniaturised power sources, and the information network known as the Core. Despite the intentions of Gaia, New Europe is no utopia, but a battleground. Outside of the safe zone communes, everyone has access to firearms and the streets are a warzone, if not necessarily one of open warfare. Crime and violence are rife, whether between criminal gangs, criminal gangs and law enforcement, law enforcement and radical protest groups, radical protest groups and corporations, corporations and other corporations, and corporations and mercs. The latter are hired mercenaries—ex-military and ex-law enforcement turned Operators, Core Hackers, Bio Hackers able to tap into the Neural Frame of other users, Parameds, Cyberdocs, MilTechs, Tech Traders, Data Dealers, and so on—that take contracts that further the aims of one corporation over another. Mercs give the corporations deniable assets, enabling them to continue rivalries without the need for open warfare. Yet the strangest aspect of this dystopia is that humanity is not alone. It is only eight years since the Vampires revealed their existence in frenzy of bloodletting, but eventually some asked for acceptance and the development of an artificial blood substitute in return for an end to their preying on humanity. Whether the very human-like Vril or the monstrous Norl, most Vampires have accepted the new situation, but some have not, hunting and preying upon humanity at the fringes of New Europe. Also revealing themselves at the same time were the Ferals, often weaker and suffering from more genetic defects than humanity, but otherwise identical except for the ability to Meld with another animal, such as a dog, cat, or rat, though in more recent times, some have melded with rarer, recreated, and cloned species. Both Vampires and Ferals, as well as the roboticised law enforcement and cyberware proponents are often the targets of radical pro-human groups and protestors.

This is the set-up for The Gaia Complex – A Game of Flesh and Wires, a Cyberpunk roleplaying game of street violence, espionage, vampiric uprisings, and overzealous A.I. governance, published by Hansor Publishing. It feels like a very traditional Cyberpunk roleplaying game, though with an obvious European bias, and with the oddity of the addition of the supernatural in the form of Vampires and Ferals. Of course, this is not the first time that Vampires and Cyberpunk have been brought together. Night’s Edge, published by Dream Pod 9 and Ianus Publications in 1993, brought vampires to Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. from R. Talsorian Games Inc.. That though was an extra option, whereas here in The Gaia Complex, vampires are part of the setting and they add an element of the supernatural and horror to the fringes of that setting. In comparison, their inclusion is not as radical an addition to the Cyberpunk genre as fantasy is ShadowRun. Plus, they are not available as a Player Character options and should a vampire turn a Player Character, he becomes an NPC. It is possible to play a Feral though. They are not as physically strong as the average human, they have allied companion beasts, and their blood is actually poisonous to Vampires!

A Player Character in The Gaia Complex is Merc. He is either a Human or a Feral, and will have a Character Role. The ten Character Roles are Operator, Core Hacker, Bio Hacker, Paramed, Cyberdoc, MilTech, Mech, Tech Trader, Data Dealer, and Handler. Each Character Role sets a Player Character’s Favoured Stats, Core Skills, Starting Items, and a Trait, the latter, a special ability which kicks in under certain circumstances. For example, the Operator has the Favoured Stats of Brawn, Guts, and Reflexes; Core Skills of Firearms, Melee Weapons, Strategy, and Tracking; a Starting Item of a firearm or melee weapon; and the Trait of ‘Combat Readiness’, which grants an Operator a bonus to initiative, able to identity threats and respond to them faster. The Handler has the Favoured Stats of Allure and Perception; Core Skills of Animal Handling, Awareness, Meld, and Tracking; a Starting Item of an animal companion; and the Trait of ‘Feral Mind’, which represents the Feral’s honed mind and senses with a modifier to Awareness skill tests and the capacity to spend Grit to automatically pass a Meild skill test. The Player Character has seven stats—Brawn, Reflexes, Guts, Brains, Allure, and Perception—each rated between one and ten and each having six associated skills. Skills do not have a rating; a Player Character either has the skill or not. The seventh stat is Grit, which is a pool of points that can be spent to ensure success during play. A Player Character also a Disconnect score, which measures his biological functions versus the amount of cyberware he has installed.

Creating a Player Character is a matter of selecting a Character Role and applying its bonuses, dividing twenty-five points between the stats, and picking twelve skills in addition to those granted by the Character Role. This gives him a total of sixteen skills and two of them must be Specialisations. Lastly, the Player Character receives some clothing, somewhere to live, enough food to last a week, and a budget to spend on starting equipment and cybernetics. The process is quite straightforward; the most complicated part being making the choices in terms of equipment and cybernetics.

Name: Ottilie Harsholm
Character Role: Core Hacker
Trait: Digital Life

STATS
Brawn 3 (Unarmed Combat)

Reflexes 6 (Firearms, Pilot Drone, Stealth)
Guts 5 (Gambling, Streetwise)
Brains 8 (Electronics, Hacking, Mechanical, Programming)
Allure 4 (Barter, Deceive, Persuasion)
Perception 5 (Awareness, Lock Pick, Surveillance)
Grit 4

HIT POINTS
Endurance 9 Pressure 24
Morale 10 Disconnect 78
CYBERWARE
NVI ProKL Neural Frame, NVI Flashline Neural Rig, THD Drone Remote, DrillBit Mk.2, Transplant

Mechanically, The Gaia Complex uses what it calls the 12.3 System. To have a Player Character undertake an action, the appropriate Stat is first compared against the difficulty, ranging from one for very easy to almost impossible for eleven. If the appropriate Stat is equal to, or less than, the difficulty, the Player Character automatically succeeds and no roll is required. If a roll is required, the player rolls two twelve-sided dice and compares the result against the Stat. A success is generated if the result is equal to, or less than, the Stat.

If the Player Character has the appropriate skill, only one Success is required, but if the Player Character does not have the skill, a Success is required on both dice. If the task is still difficult, the Game Master can also apply a Complexity Modifier to the roll. If the skill is marked as a specialisation, a player can reroll any single die that did not roll a twelve. Grit can be spent to reduce the result rolled, each point spent, reducing the result on both die by one for each point spent—though not if a twelve was rolled. If the test is failed and either die rolled a twelve, the result is a critical failure. This can result in the loss of Endurance or Morale, inability to undertake the task again, gaining the wrong information, equipment failing, and so on.

Combat uses the same mechanics. Initiative is a simple roll of one die plus Reflexes or Perception and during each three second Combat Round, a combatant can perform one action—either Movement, Supporting, Close Combat Attack, or Ranged Attack. Any attack action requires a successful roll, again against the appropriate Stat. However, there is a greater range of Complexity Modifiers which can apply to the actual roll. For example, in close combat, charging adds a +1 Complexity Modifier and a +2 Complexity Modifier is added if the target is actively dodging, whereas in ranged combat, an aimed shot grants a -1 Complexity Modifier, a snapshot adds a +1 Complexity Modifier, and cover adds a variable Complexity Modifier depending upon how heavy it is. Burst allows a single damage die for the gun to be rerolled, any result of an eleven becomes a twelve, whilst suppressive fire applies a -1 Complexity Modifier, all damage dice to be rerolled, and any result of ten or eleven becomes a twelve. Each weapon has its own profile in terms of damage and effect, as well as background. A Player does need to keep track of how much ammunition has been used.

In terms of Hit Points, a Player Character has both Endurance and Pressure. Endurance represents his physical health and Pressure his mental health. Weapons inflict Endurance damage, typically 3d3+1 for a handgun, whilst attacks from programs in the Core or some

vampire abilities reduce Pressure. There are serious side effects if either Endurance or Pressure are reduced to five or less and if Endurance is reduced to zero, the Player Character is dead, and if Pressure reduced to zero, the Player Character is either brain dead or insane. There are also EMP weapons that can affect electronics and cybernetics. Armour will Endurance damage by a random amount, in some cases can be stacked, and optionally, can be damaged when it stops incoming blows. Other optional rules allow for knockdowns, hit locations, bleeding, and morale. Overall, the combat system is brutal.

As a Cyberpunk roleplaying game, The Gaia Complex includes a wide range of cyberware. Cyberarms and legs with storage comparts, magnetic plates, pop-up weapons, toolmate and TASER fingers; cybereyes with X-ray scanners, UV options, and targeting systems; cyberears with improved hearing range; cyberjaws with lockjaws and sharpened canines; titanium ribs and spinal replacement; neural frames and rigs for accessing the Core, storing data safely, and operating drones remotely; and more. Bioware options add improved hearts and lungs, whilst other implants include nasal filters, chip ports, and cable jacks, and exo-skeletons have their options. Many of the items of cyberware are available from legitimate CyberDocs where the newly installed devices will be legally recorded and also from backstreet CyberDocs who install ‘Hackjob’ versions of the devices, as functional, but often clunkier and more obvious, though without it being reported to the authorities. Either way, installing any device reduces the Player Character’s Disconnect. This starts out typically at about ninety, but is reduced for each item or upgrade. When Disconnect drops below fifty, the Player Character begins to suffer deleterious effects. ‘Hackjob’ versions tend to incur a greater Disconnect loss than legitimate versions.

The treatment of Hacking in The Gaia Complex is kept surprisingly short, just four pages long. Physically, it requires a Hacking Rig, Neural Frame, or Jack sockets and leads, and access can be found all across the city. Mechanically, it uses the Hacking skill and asks the player to define the objectives and the Game Master the number of layers of security that a hacker must penetrate or bypass to find the data he wants, access the permissions he wants, or plant the data he wants. The Game Master places countermeasures, such as a Data Wall, Cortex Trap, or Watch Dog, in these layers as challenges and threats that the Hacker has to overcome. All of this is played out in abstract fashion rather than mapping it necessarily, primarily relying on roleplaying to handle the narrative. The confrontations and encounters in the Core take roughly two to three seconds each, so that a Hacking attempt can be run alongside combat, although the Hacker can only focus on the attempt and finds it difficult to communicate.

Bio Hacking is treated in a similar fashion and length. Where Hacking involves electronically breaking into data systems and servers, Bio Hacking involves breaking into someone else’s mind, whether through the Core and into his Neural Frame or by directly jacking into the target’s systems via a port. Once inside, instead of experiencing the consensual network of neon and structure of the Core, the Bio Hacker finds himself in a void dotted with colourful nodes representing the target’s memories and the functions of his Neural Frame. It is extremely disorientating as the Bio Hacker constantly feels as if he is falling in a loop over and over, and it takes some getting used to. However, whilst in the target’s mind, the Bio Hacker can do a number of things. One is to steal desires, knowledge, memories, and secrets from the target, another is to plant thoughts, and even completely dominate the target to place them in forced servitude. As with Hacking, Bio Hacking is to be run in an abstract fashion, emphasising roleplaying with the Game Master setting up Bio Hacking Countermeasures for the Player Character to overcome.

As you would expect, The Gaia Complex includes an extensive list of arms, accessories, armour, clothing, hacking gear and accessories and programs, drones, accommodation and property, and more. Of course, it adds a range of animals for the Ferals’ Meld ability.

The non-Cyberpunk aspects of the setting of New Europe get their own sections, detailing in turn the world and cultures of the Ferals and the Vampires. Ferals have spent much of history as loners, drifters, and outsiders, and for the most part, still do in 2119. They simple lives, tend to avoid the use of cyberware, and when they do become Mercs, often follow their affinity for and love of animals to act against Sephron Corp, wanting to free the animals it clones. Feral culture continues to be street-based, the most notable organisation being the Circadian Network which operates throughout New Europe, managing a hidden surveillance and data trafficking network. Vampires, being non-human, receive more mechanical detail. What happens if someone is turned and becomes a Vampire, the special abilities that they can gain such as Deathtouch, Exsanguinate, Regeneration, Telekinesis, and Telepathy, and the rules of their survival, as well as their leading figures and corporations, like the Un-Set Corp; the vampire-operated investment firm, and Belvoit Media, a human/vampire co-run media firm specialising in urban advertisements.

There are details too, of the various corporations operating in New Europe, and in the wider world, New Europe and the other metropolises. Here there are descriptions of each of the districts of New Europe, all of the city or country sized, giving a bit of flavour and background so that the Game Master has reason to get her Player Characters there and feel enough to describe it to her players. Less useful are the descriptions of the other ten metropolises around the world since environmental effects have limited contact and travel between them for decades. Although the metropolises do feel reminiscent of the world of Judge Dredd from the pages of 2000 AD, their inclusion does give the Game Master a greater feel for the world. More useful perhaps is the information on the major corporations operating in New Europe as they provide at least a set of potential employers and targets.

There is decent, if brief, advice for the Game Master along with three data seeds—extended plot outlines—and good advice on inclusivity and safety. However, the last fifteen pages of The Gaia Complex is devoted to ‘The Truth Behind The Screen’. This gives the real history of the future of New Europe, shifting the setting in a radically unexpected direction and potentially changing what the roleplaying game setting purports to be. It includes an actual timeline that encompasses everything, which is slightly annoying because there is no timeline without those changes earlier in the book for the players’ benefit. As welcome as this new and expanded background and timeline are, it is of limited use. The problem is that there is no accompanying advice on how to use this extra timeline and background details, on how to bring it to the attention of the Player Characters, and how they might learn of it, and what they might do if they learn of it. So, at best, the Game Master can run the setting as is, as a more or less straight cyberpunk roleplaying game, but with supernatural elements, and perhaps begin work in the esoteric elements of the deeper background if she wants to and is confident enough to do so. Either that or wait for a supplement that brings it into play, because otherwise, the secret background is interesting, but just not yet relevant on the strength of the core rulebook alone.

Physically, The Gaia Complex is well presented. The artwork is excellent, but the cartography is serviceable at best and the book is slightly overwritten in parts. Every chapter is prefaced with a piece of colour fiction that helps to bring the setting to life.

The Gaia Complex – A Game of Flesh and Wires is a surprisingly light roleplaying game for the Cyberpunk genre, at least mechanically. In terms of setting, it feels very much like a standard Cyberpunk dystopia, complete with widespread violence, gangs, feuding corporations, and overbearing A.I. directed governance, though one with a European emphasis and one with a view of weirdness and horror with the inclusion of the Ferals and Vampires. The European emphasis gives it a certain freshness of a long history upended and a less traditional setting for the genre, whilst the horror and the weirdness give it an unexpected, if slight bite.

Meddling Mysteries

It could be the seventies. It could be the eighties. It could be nineties. It could be now. Whatever the decade, the world is in danger and refuses to believe it. Creatures of the night stalk the darkness and only you have the knowledge and bravery to face their danger head on. So ready your UV torch, sharpen your stakes, bless your holy water, and load up the mystery wagon, because tonight you are going monster hunting! Are you ready to save the world and have nobody notice? Then that makes you a vampire hunter—fearless or otherwise! This is the simple set-up to Bite Me!, a scenario and mini-supplement for ACE!—or the Awfully Cheerful Engine!—the roleplaying game of fast, cinematic, action comedy, published by EN Publishing, best known for the W.O.I.N. or What’s Old is New roleplaying System, as used in Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition. Some of the entries in the series have been expansive, such as Orcs & Oubliettes and Strange Science, providing a detailed setting and an scenario, whilst others in the series have tended to be one-shot, film night specials. Bite Me! falls into the latter category.

As with other supplements for ACE!, both the genre and inspiration for Bite Me! are obvious. However, there is a twist. The genre involves vampires and vampire-hunting, so the obvious inspiration is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is not though, the only inspiration for Bite Me! and the other adds very tongue (or is that fang?)-in-cheek tone to the whole affair. That inspiration is the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, Scooby-Doo. So, this injects an extra dose of cheesiness into the play of the Awfully Cheerful Engine!. The bulk of Bite Me! is dedicated to a single adventure, ‘Darkness, BITES!’ and to that end, it provides four pre-generated Player Characters. However, it also gives the means for the players to create their own characters. These include suggested Roles such as talking Animals, Clerics, Druids, Slayers, Vampires, and Werewolves. To these are added the new Roles of Fortune Teller and Paranormal Investigator. The Fortune Teller gains the Power stat and can cast magic, but to begin with, does not know any spells. The Role also grants a bonus when using a tarot deck and knows if spirits are harmful. The Paranormal Investigator begins play never having encountered the supernatural, but has unveiled a lot of hoaxes. The Role gains a bonus when looking for clues and interacting with the authorities, and starts play with the Mystery Wagon, a mid-sized van.

In addition, various items of equipment are listed as being of use. These include garlic, holy symbol, tarot deck, EMF meter, pure salt, and more. In addition, there are stats for various things that the Player Characters might encounter, such as devil, mummy, poltergeist, and wolfman. The most amusing of these are the Crooked Property Developer (all together now, “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!”) and the Pirate Ghost.

The four pre-generated Player Characters consist of Fluffy Winters, reluctant vampire slayer; Lilo Thornberg, witty fortune teller; Rooby Roo, faithful dog; and Ted Bones, cheery paranormal investigator. All of whom are very knowingly tongue-in-cheek in being drawn from their sources.

The adventure, ‘Darkness, BITES!’ begins with news reports of strange occurrences at a rundown amusement park. It could be ghosts or it could be something else! In fact, it is both, because the adventure really leans into both of its inspirations. So, if the players are expecting there to be a Crooked Property Developer, they will not be disappointed, and if they are expecting ghosts, they will not be disappointed either. That though, is not the end of the scenario. The Crooked Property Developer is hiding something and that tips the Player Characters into a much darker storyline, which will see them race around town to find signs of occult and even vampiric activity—helped by a local psychic and chased by another classic monster—before finally tracking the evil down and confronting it in its lair. Not so much Transylvania, as Transylvania USA! The scenario is nicely detailed and plotted out and easy to run. It is not set in a specific city, so can be set anywhere the Game Master decides. It just needs to be big enough to have an abandoned amusement park. The play of it should take two sessions or so to play through.

Physically, Bite Me! is well presented with reasonable artwork. It needs a slight edit in places.

Bite Me! is very light in terms of its treatment of its inspirations—but then it has to be. The aim is to make those inspirations easy to grasp by Game Master and player alike and enable the players to engage with them as little or as much as they would like. Which is all part of making the main focus of Bite Me!, the adventure ‘Darkness, BITES!’, just as easy and as quick to prepare. Bite Me! should provide the Game Master and her players with a session or two’s worth fang-tastic and snacka-licious fun. All they have to is provide the snacks.

—oOo—

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

Friday Fear: The Blood Countess

A monster stalks the streets of Los Angeles as a series of bodies of young men and women are found in bodies of water—although the authorities do not yet truly know it. Are these deaths due to the ‘Shoreline Slasher’ or something worse, something out of history, one of the most prolific murderers of the early modern period? Of course, it is the latter. This is the set-up for The Blood Countess, a scenario that is pretty much upfront about who or what is responsible for the deaths, who or what the Player Characters will be investigating, and who or what they will have to defeat. Anyone who knows their history, certainly their bloodier history, and their macabre history, will know who the Blood Countess is. This is Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed, who was accused of the torture and murder of hundreds of peasant girls and sentenced to immurement. Over the centuries her reputation as a monster has not only grown, but also become associated with vampiric lore. If Dracula is the preeminent vampire, then the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory is his female counterpart. Published by Yeti Spaghetti and Friends, The Blood Countess is a short, one-night horror scenario, part of and second in the publisher’s ‘Frightshow Classics’ line. Ostensibly written for use with Chill or Cryptworld: Chilling Adventures into the Unexplained, the percentile mechanics of the scenario mean that it could easily be adapted to run with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and similar roleplaying games.

The Blood Countess initially focuses on the most recent death, that of Michael Ventnor, his body found with many puncture wounds, and the disappearance of a student, Veronica Brookes. A nicely detailed and laid out investigation, involving a good mix of persuasion and sidestepping the authorities, as well as sneaking into back offices to look at security footage, plus a trip to the city museum to look at some ghoulish torture implements from the European Middle Ages, will ultimately point to a modelling agency, recently founded in the city, and an address in a neighbourhood full of ‘McMansions’. The name of the agency is the De Ecsed Agency and research into the name of the owner, Bethany De Ecsed, will give the players and their character some intimations as to who might be responsible and what they might be up against. Although not subtle, it should add a little shiver to the scenario for the players. The scenario will culminate in the Player Characters breaking into the home of Bethany De Ecsed, making some unsurprisingly bloody discoveries, and hopefully getting away following a nasty confrontation with the murderess.

The scenario is supported with maps of the McMansion, a handout giving a detailed description of the life and legend of Countess Elizabeth Báthory, and an autopsy report for Michael Ventnor. It also comes with eight pre-generated Player Characters, two of which have Paranormal abilities. None are members of law enforcement, though one is an ex-police detective, and some have interests in the occult or weird crimes. The biggest challenge in the scenario is really getting these Player Characters together in order to co-operate on the investigation. Although there are some suggestions, this is where the scenario is at its weakest. Although set in Los Angeles, the scenario is easily relocated to any big city with a body of water where the bodies can be dumped.

Physically, behind its suitably bloody cover, The Blood Countess is decently presented. The artwork is reasonable, the floorplans of the McMansion are clear and easy to use, and the scenario is well written.

The Blood Countess is not a subtle affair, but it is fun, combining a solid, often sympathetic investigation with the lurking threat of a monstrous murderess that the players are going to be aware of almost right from the start of the scenario, adding a little frisson of anticipation as to how ghastly and how dangerous she is actually going to be when the confrontation comes. The investigation itself feels reminiscent of an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker—and there is an episode of that series involving a vampire in Los Angeles—and playing the scenario in the style of that series could work quite well. Overall, The Blood Countess is a very solid addition to the ‘Frightshow Classics’ line, offering a good session of American pulp horror that pitches the Player Characters up against a tough version of a classic monster.

Miskatonic Monday #283: The Last Dance of Lola Montez

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: The Last Dance of Lola Montez: A Call of Cthulhu Modern Adventure

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author David Waldron

Setting: Ballarat, Modern day

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Forty-three page, 11.64 MB PDF

Elevator Pitch: Who suffers for their art? The artist or the aesthete?

Plot Hook: Grief isn’t something to be exploited. Until it is.
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, eight handouts, and three NPCs.

Production Values: Reasonable.

Pros

# Engaging historically based scenario

# Opens with great roleplaying scenes

# Great historical handouts

# Decent period handouts

# Sanguivoriphobia

# Hemophobia

# Thanatophobia

Cons

# Designed for experienced Investigators

# Emotionally wrought scenario

# Overwhelms the Keeper with documents
# No maps or floorplans

# More Hammer Horror than Mythos scenario

Conclusion

# An emotionally charged wicked web of a scenario

# Narcissism and vampirism intersect in a tale of a Spanish dancer’s revenge

Solo Stakes

You wake. You are in a hospital bed. There is an IV in your arm and you are pretty sure you have been shot from the injury in your side. From the voices and the view from the window, you think you are in Hungary. You have no idea how you got here… Do you have amnesia? You can recall the sharp taste of blood, running through some woods, something swooping down at you and shrieking… Did you bite your tongue? Were you chased? And if so, by what, a bird? This is the set-up for ‘Never say Dead’, the first of three scenarios, which together form the basis of a mini-campaign for Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. Published by Pelgrane Press, this a campaign framework for Night’s Black Agents: the Vampire Spy Thriller RPG, the roleplaying game in which the Player Characters are ex-secret agents who have learned that their former employers are controlled by vampires and decide to take down the vampiric conspiracy before the vampires take them. Night’s Black Agents offers a range of tools which the Game Master, or Director, can design the vampire conspiracy and the vampire threat, from psychic alien leeches to the traditional children of Transylvania, and set the tone and style of the espionage, from the high octane of the James Bond franchise to the dry and mundane grittiness of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. What Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops does is combine Night’s Black Agents with the GUMSHOE One-2-One System first seen in Cthulhu Confidential. This enables the Director to run and the player to experience the intensity and intrigue of an action-horror film.

Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops is more than just the set-up for a trilogy of scenarios. It provides the rules for the GUMSHOE One-2-One System—adjusted to fit the setting of Night’s Black Agents—and the means for the Director to create her own. Just like Night’s Black Agents and the GUMSHOE System, an Agent in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops and the GUMSHOE One-2-One System has two types of Abilities—Investigative Abilities and General Abilities. Investigative Abilities, such as Cryptography and Negotiation, are used to gain information. If the Investigator has the Investigative Ability, he receives the information or the clue. General Abilities, like Driving and Sense Trouble, are more traditional in that their use requires dice to be rolled and a test passed to determine success or failure. Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops then deviates from this in order to account for the fact that there is only the one Investigator rather than many as in Night’s Black Agents. With multiple players, all of the Investigative Abilities would be accounted across the Investigators. Not so in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. So, when an Agent lacks an Investigative Ability, he can instead turn to an NPC or source for help as a Contact. A Contact can be written into a scenario, but an Agent can convert an NPC into a Contact or a player can create one during play. In Night’s Black Agents, Investigative Abilities have pools of points which can be spent to gain extra clues about a situation, but in Night’s Black Agents, the Agent has Pushes, which the player can spend to gain the extra information or a benefit. This applies to any Investigative Ability and could be used to gain the Agent extra information using the Interrogation Investigative Ability, gain greater insight into a suspect using the Detect Bullshit Investigative Ability, and so on. An Agent begins a scenario with three Pushes and can earn more through play.

In Night’s Black Agents, General Abilities also have pools of points, which are then expended to modify dice rolls for tests. In Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, General Abilities have two six-sided dice, which are also rolled on Tests. Tests are rolled when there is the possibility of failure in a situation, such as getting past a doorman to break into a suspect’s office or fleeing from the inhuman monster found in said suspect’s office, and are divided into two types. In either case, the player rolls the dice one at a time and totals their values. This is important because some Tests can be overcome with the roll of the one die rather than two dice. The Challenge is the more complex and more interesting of the two.

A Challenge gives three results—‘Advance’, ‘Hold’, and ‘Setback’. The ‘Advance’ is the equivalent of ‘Yes, and…’ and indicates a successful attempt with an extra benefit. This benefit is called an Edge and can prove useful later in the investigation. In addition, if the Challenge was overcome with the roll of a single die, then the Investigator is rewarded with an additional Push. The ‘Setback’ is the equivalent of ‘No, and…’ and indicates a failed attempt with an added Problem that will hamper the investigation. The ‘Hold’ lies somewhere in between with the Investigator no better or worse off, and also without an Edge or a Problem. It is also possible for the Investigator to suffer an Extra Problem in order to gain an additional die to roll in the hope of gaining an ‘Advance’. A player can gain extra dice for a Challenge by accepting an Extra Problem or having his Agent perform a Stunt, which uses dice from another General Ability. This requires a little explanation of how it works and it depletes the use of that General Ability until the Agent effectively rests. Effectively, what a Challenge does is codify a set of narrative outcomes that can help or hinder an Agent, whilst still pushing the narrative of the scenario forward.

In comparison, a Quick Test requires a simple roll to gain an ‘Advance’ result. The structure of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops and its scenarios presents Challenges in clear test boxes, and both Edges and Problems as essentially cards that are given to the player to add to his Agent. Fights, chases, infiltrating a base, and so on, are all handled as Challenges. Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops is action-orientated, so there is the possibility of an Agent getting killed. The consequences differ greatly between Night’s Black Agents and Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. In Night’s Black Agents, the death of an Agent can easily be replaced whereas in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, the death means the end of the investigation and the scenario, so whilst fights are dangerous, they are not lethal—and that applies to the NPCs or vampires as much as the Agent. The Agent can suffer debilitating injury or loss, but can recover through the ‘Take Time to Recover’ action. Similarly, the antagonist, whether mundane or monstrous, is not killed, but suffers a loss that will benefit the Agent in some way, represented by an Edge. However, this only applies in the early scenes of a scenario, and as a scenario progresses, fights and confrontations become increasingly deadly.

An Agent also has Mastery Edges which are attached to specific General Abilities. These reflect both the Agent’s intensive training and experience, but also how capable the Agent is in terms of the cinematic genre of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. They typically provide a one-time effect which ignores the rules in a particular situation or grant a bonus to the dice rolls on a Challenge. For example, ‘The Nick of Time’ is a Preparedness Edge that enables an Agent to have done something retroactively that helps him in his current situation, such as planting a bomb, bribing a custom official, reconnoitring an avenue of escape, and so forth, whereas ‘Intuition’ for the Sense Trouble General Ability grants an extra die on a Challenge. An Agent begins play with three Edges and discards them after use.

As in action films, there are consequences to an Agent’s activities. These are tracked by three cumulative factors. Heat is gained for public fights or explosions, people getting hurt, and committing criminal acts, and as it rises, it can trigger Problems that affect an Agent’s progress or actual Challenges. Injury represents physical impairment, whilst Shadow determines how aware the supernatural threat is of the Agent. It is gained by encountering supernatural entities, attracting their attention, thwarting their conspiracies, and recalling previous encounters with vampires. The latter is important for the Agent for the three scenarios in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, since she begins play suffering from amnesia. Shadow will also Problems to an Agent’s progress, but can be lost by killing vampires or fleeing to another city, or suppressed by using garlic or crossing running water. Both Heat and Shadow can also trigger another effect, and that is Blowback. This can be a repercussion, retaliation, or unintended consequences of an Agent’s actions and is typically framed as a Blowback scene that the Director inserts into the narrative.

In Night’s Black Agents, an Agent has the Stability General Ability, which is used to measure an Agent’s ability to withstand the supernatural abilities of the vampires he will face, as well as those of the other monsters that he might encounter—demons, ghosts, and ghouls, as well as Renfields. In Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, the Agent instead has the Cool General Ability. This is used to overcome stressful situations and resist the compulsions that a vampire might place upon an Agent. Mechanically, it will use Challenges in most situations and poor results will trigger problems for the Agent. Many of the powers and effects that a vampire can have on an Agent are modelled through Problems.

For the player, Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops presents a good explanation of how an Agent is presented, how the rules work, and on how to play. This includes details on tradecraft and notably, the ‘Bucharest Rules’. These are akin to the ‘Moscow Rules’ that guided Cold War operations in Eastern European and they are similar, but given a suitably vampiric twist for Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. They emphasise that although the situation is dangerous and that the Agent can die, he can win, that he needs to be proactive, he should follow the money and use HUMINT, build networks of contacts and allies, and always know where the exit is. This is supported by several factors. First, that the play is more about interpreting the clues found rather than the finding of them (and that if unsure of where to go next, looking for more clues is always a good choice), and second, that the Player Character, the Agent, is the hero of the story. This is contrasted by the fact that Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops literally pulls the safety net out from under the player. No longer can he rely upon his fellow players and their Agents for advice or help. Barring contacts and allies within the game, the player and his Agent is on his own. That is a scary situation for the player—in addition to his Agent facing vampires—and the player is being asked to be proactive from the start of a scenario to the end. In other words, he is always in the spotlight.

For the Director, Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops explains how the rules work and gives advice on how to run the game. This applies not just to the three scenarios in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, but also in general as the advice includes a guide to creating and designing vampires, conspiracies, scenes, Challenges, Problems, and more for her own scenarios. This includes a full range of sample Challenges. Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops still employs the ‘Conspyramid’, the pyramid structure used to map out the vampire conspiracy, with the vampire leaders of the conspiracy sitting atop both the structure and the organisation and the base containing the outer edges of the conspiracy. However, here it is much narrower, reflecting the tighter focus upon the single Agent and his investigation in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops. The advice throughout the section for the Director is fulsome.

Half of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops is dedicated to its three scenarios. The protagonist for these is Leyla Khan, an ex-MI6 officer who has been a thrall of the vampires of the vampires for several years at the start of the first scenario. Not only will she have to confront her former masters, but she will also have to deal with the consequences of her own half-remembered past and its own monstrous activities. The antagonists are vampires, Linea Dracula, descended from Vlad Tepes and surprisingly ‘vanilla’ in terms of their design and abilities. This, though, works for an action-horror like that of the three scenarios in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops because it does not complicate the story or the antagonists. Plus, there is plenty of scope for the Director to modify them if she so chooses. That said, the Director could easily ignore the vampire aspect of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops and create scenarios focusing on more traditional espionage stories and they could be as tense and as exciting, though not necessarily as horrifying.

The mini campaign opens in classic The Bourne Identity style in ‘Never Say Dead’. Leyla Khan is in hospital with no memory of how she got there and very quickly she receives a message that someone is coming for her. ‘Never Say Dead’ is about escape, discovering the first hints of the vampiric conspiracy that Leyla has been enthralled in for the past few years and a conspiracy within the vampiric conspiracy, and perhaps arm herself to take the conspiracies down. Having escaped Hungary in ‘Never Say Dead’, Leyla Khan begins to do what she is trained to do and that is follow the money. In ‘No Grave For Traitors’ this leads her to Spain where she gets caught up in a drug war and from there follows a courier to London and an auction for a number of odd antiquities, and ultimately to their strange origins in Transylvania. Although there is plenty of action, there is more of an emphasis on investigation in this second scenario. The third scenario, ‘The Deniable Woman’, Leyla is given a mission by her former employer, MI6, to look for a missing agent in Moscow who has his own preoccupations. The investigation leads in another direction away from the central conspiracy, though it is tangentially connected. All three scenarios are very good, being tense, fraught affairs with a mix of exciting action scenes and tight interactions. Some of the scenarios are truly memorable and consequently, definitely not worth spoiling. All three are part of the same conspiracy involving Leyla Khan, but together, they do not form a beginning, a middle, and an end. They are definitely a beginning, perhaps with a middle, but leaving the end for the Director to create.

All three scenarios in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops are well organised. They include a backstory and an overview of the objectives that Leyla will be aiming to attain—even though she may not be aware of them at the beginning of a scenario, entry vectors for Leyla, a flowchart of the scenes, its cast, and then the various scenes with their associated Challenges and Problems and Edges to be gained through play. Each scenario’s range of Problems and Edges is given after the end of the scenario. Each scenario ends with a discussion of its aftermath and possible Blowback scenes and consequences. ‘No Grave For Traitors’ and ‘The Deniable Woman’ also add starting problems which the player can choose from as a consequence of her ongoing story and confrontation with her past.

One aspect of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops—and also of Cthulhu Confidential—is that the GUMSHOE One-2-One System and having a single player and a single Game Master, is that it can be played online just as easily as it can face-to-face. Playing online means losing a certain degree of interaction between the players and the Game Master, both because of the technology and the loss of visual cues that act as a buffer, but Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops and GUMSHOE One-2-One System ameliorates that because its focus is always on the one player and the one Game Master and their focus is on each other.

As good as it is very much all about Leyla Khan and it does leave her story hanging, unfinished. There are rules for a player to create his own Agent, but that really, is the focus of missions created by the Director rather than those in the book. It is possible for the three missions to be played using a player-created Agent, but this will require some adjustment upon the part of the Director. The three scenarios in Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops are really the start of a campaign, rather than a complete one. Essentially, it is up to the Director to create the next parts of the campaign. She is given all of the tools and advice to do that, but at the same time, it is disappointing not to be able to pick up where ‘The Deniable Woman’ left off and quickly find out what happens next. There is another scenario for Leyla Khan, ‘The Best of Intentions’, but that is all so far. There can be no doubt that a sequel to Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, bringing her story to a close would be more than welcome.

Physically, Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops is very well presented and written, and the artwork is decent. The book itself is a pleasure to read.

In comparison to the earlier Cthulhu Confidential, Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops is a much tighter, more focused affair. This is due to it being focused on the one protagonist and the one antagonist, essentially, the single Agent and vampires. This also has the consequence of making Leyla Khan’s story more personal for the player and more involving. The result is that Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops provides a great playing experience, tense and exciting, telling the player to, “Buckle up, you’re in the spotlight now and your fate truly is in your hands” all in readiness to make his Agent the star of their own action-horror film.

[Free RPG Day 2023] A Taste of the Moon

Now in its sixteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2023 took place on Saturday, June 24th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. Thanks to the generosity of David Salisbury of Fan Boy 3, Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, and others, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day, both in the USA and elsewhere.

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A Taste of the Moon is a story for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition suitable for a coterie of four to six neonate Anarchs. It is the second title to be released for Free RPG Day by Renegade Game Studios after Cobra/Con Fusion for use with its G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game and its Transformers Roleplaying Game. It can be played through in a single session as a one-shot or worked into the Storyteller’s own chronicle. It is set in a city large enough to have had a meat-packing district, nominally an American one—but could easily be adjusted to the city of the Storyteller’s choice, whether that is in the USA or elsewhere. The scenario requires some set-up in determining the Sires of the particular Player Characters, but beyond that, nothing extra is required other normal preparation upon the part of the Storyteller. The core rules for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition are required to play A Taste of the Moon.

A Taste of the Moon opens en media res. The Player Characters are together, waking to find themselves in a night club, the Velveteen Bunny, felling slightly strung out, the body of a ghoul in the same room with them. Did one of them kill the ghoul? Well yes, and which of their vampires exactly it was, is for the players to decide between themselves. Worse, the ghoul belonged to the sire of one of the Player Characters, so they have to go before the sire and seek absolution. The sire will forgive them in return undertaking a task for him, and that is finding samples of Cherry Moon, a new type of blood that does not spoil and gives the imbiber a fantastic rush. Blood spoils a few hours after being drawn from the source, so having a type which does not is huge advantage. The investigation will lead the Player Characters back to the scene of their crime, the Velveteen Bunny. The problem is that finding a source is difficult, but finding the actual source is a whole lot more difficult.

A Taste of the Moon is primarily set-up. There is good advice on how to set the scenario up and how to use it in play, and there is not one opening scene, but several. There are four alternate opening scenes which could be used instead of the given one, plus there are hooks which the Storyteller can develop if she wants to use the scenario as part of her Chronicle. These are followed by numerable complications, ranging from the various Player Characters’ sire wanting a sample of Cherry Moon, and as word spreads of the Player Characters’ interest, more and more local Kindred come out of the woodwork wanting some too. With the addition of a complication or three and a handful of further adventures, along with the stats for the antagonists, and what A Taste of the Moon actually is, is a toolkit to run the adventure. The plot kept short and simple, a couple of locations are described, and the bulk of the text is dedicated to NPCs that the Player Characters will run into and have to deal with as their investigation proceeds.

Rounding out A Taste of the Moon is the coterie of pre-generated Player Characters. There are six, a mix of thirteenth and twelfth generation vampires, consisting of two Brujah, a Caitiff, a Malkavian, a Gangrel, and a Toreador. Unfortunately, this is where A Taste of the Moon is disappointing. There are points where the dots in a Player Character’s skills does not match his description. For example, Melika Red is described as charming and brutally honest, but has no Persuasion skill and does have the Subterfuge skill. Then she has a single level in Presence, but it is attached to ‘Lingering Kiss’, a power not available at just the single level. Cassandra Barrantes has the roleplay hook of “Use Obfuscate to leave an awkward situation you don’t want to be part of.” but no dots in Obfuscate. The problem is that the mechanical design of the characters has been rushed and so they are full of inaccuracies. Now, this is not difficult for the Storyteller to fix—indeed, Renegade Games Studies has done exactly that with the PDF version of the scenario—but she should not have to. 

Physically, A Taste of the Moon is well presented. It is clean, bright, and tidy. The artwork is excellent. Barring the issues with the pre-generated Player Characters, A Taste of the Moon is a good set-up for a scenario—in fact, several good set-ups for a scenario—which are followed through with the plot. Once past the set-up, the plot itself is quite straightforward. Overall, A Taste of the Moon is solid support for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition.

Miskatonic Monday #236: A Red Red Rose

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: A Red Red Rose

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Keith DEdinburgh

Setting: Modern Day Edinburgh

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-eight page, 4.40 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Romeo & Juliet, Vampires & Ghouls & Ghosthunters! Oooh MY!

Plot Hook: Taking the tram leads to terror (it probably would have been nicer for everyone if you had all driven)
Plot Support: Staging advice, eleven handouts, three maps, five NPCs, one Mythos artefact, and twelve Mythos creatures.

Production Values: Excellent

Pros

# Modern day monster on monster action (and love)

# Falls under ‘Your Monsters May Vary’

# One-shot maggot mystery (or campaign starter)

# Excellent handouts, maps, and portraits

# Detailed discussion of possible outcomes 

# Includes an optional ghosthunt with nice link to The Pharaoh’s Sacrifice (Jumpity, Jumpity, Jumpity)

# Scoleciphobia

# Sanguivoriphobia

# Hevimetaruphobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Non-Mythos scenario

# No pre-generated Investigators

Conclusion

# Well done, monstrous treatment of a classic set-up

# Detailed and very well supported scenario