Before going into The Book of Rituals review, I want to thanks Board & Dice for sending us a physical copy of this product for us to tell you about.
The Book of Rituals is part of the Escape Tales series of games and is presented as a book full of puzzles on whose pages important characters presented in other games have studied or worked; for example Samuel of The Awakening or the heroes ofChildren of Wyrmwoods. There are footnotes, digressions, corrections and improvements as if someone else had physically put their hand to the book before us.
You can find it directly at the publisher’s store for around 14 euros if you want to buy it.
I want to specify that it is not necessary to know the series or have played one of the other books to approach The Book of Rituals. The prerequisite for approaching this gamebook is to imagine yourself as an alchemy scholar. The goal is to learn the secrets of alchemical elements and ingredients to be able to perform powerful rituals.
A Look at the Whole The Book of Rituals
The Book of Rituals is a volume of about 120 pages essentially divided into three chapters, each specific to a specific topic. Each of them contains several specific puzzles that must be solved in order, even if the sequence of resolutions is not always linear. Overall, 45 puzzles are presented, each different from the others; many are based primarily on logic.
Solving the puzzles of the ingredients is necessary to deal with the 13 rituals found in the last pages of the book.
Each puzzle has its own level of difficulty linked to the illustration proposed. In my opinion, it is interesting to analyze the structure of the pages of this first section because it helps to understand the subsequent ones.
Each puzzle takes up two pages. In the upper left corner, there is the symbol of the element whose alchemical name and value you need to find out. In the upper right-hand corner, with a lighter stroke, are signed which elements must be addressed before to solve the puzzle. For example, to solve the riddle of the element gold you must have already solved the riddles of the elements: water, mercury, lead, ether and philosopher’s stone.
The central part of the two pages consists of the actual enigma. It is always an illustration accompanied by indications and suggestions. The puzzles are meant to be solved right on the book, so I suggest using a pencil and eraser; this also and above all because many of the puzzles are not immediate and require some reflection.
Three Chapters Divided by Topics
The first chapter is dedicated to the basic elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Soul. In the second chapter, you find puzzles related to the ingredients themselves, like gold or mushrooms. The third chapter involves all the solutions from the previous chapters in thirteen rituals that must be solved to complete the gamebook.
As I said at the beginning of this review, The Book of Rituals features puzzles of varying difficulty. To give a more precise idea, I can say that about a third I solved them with a certain immediacy; some instead required a more prolonged effort and for others I was forced to make use of the suggestions.
A Puzzle Solving App
To solve the puzzles, The Book of Rituals uses a completely free application that can be accessed through a QR code on the introduction page. The solutions must be inserted into it in order to be able to progress; at the same time, it also provides a space with hints to help players. The hints are numerous and in any case, it is possible to get the answer to the riddle directly from the app. This way you don’t risk getting stuck when a puzzle gets frustrating, which, as I said, can happen.
The hints are offered in sequence and there are at least 4 hints for each puzzle before the answer is directly selectable. Using the hints does not penalize the game experience in any way; in fact, there is no scoring system, it is a challenge with oneself. However, I advise against immediately resorting to the suggestions offered by the application, after all the aim is to play.
A Challenging Game?
The Book of Rituals is a gamebook that requires effort. In general, it takes about twenty hours to complete it; the help of the suggestions may be necessary even if not fundamental if you want to rack your brain a bit. Certainly these are excellent puzzles, proposed in a particularly interesting way, which certainly offer a good dose of fun to those who love challenges.
The Book of Rituals, as can be seen from this review, is a game that once solved cannot be replayed. However, I believe that some of the puzzles can easily be exported to be used in other contexts or that they can be taken as a starting point to insert puzzles into any RPG campaign.
Review of the Aesthetics of The Book of Rituals
The Book of Rituals is presented as a hardcover book with a rough feel to the touch. The title is slightly raised and the chosen font recalls the ancient tomes. All the pages are made of thick, rough paper and, consistent with the context of the game, are not numbered in any way.
The quality of the drawings is undoubted: there are thematic images which are all particularly significant within the puzzles. Magdalena Klepacz’s ability to transform an image into an enigma is equally commendable.
Perhaps the only aesthetic flaw of the project is the visibility of some of the “comments” of previous users which, at times, are not very recognizable.
Final Thoughts of The Book of Rituals Review
To conclude, I can say that The Book of Rituals is an interesting and aesthetically very beautiful book; guarantees a good number of hours of entertainment without ever being banal or boring. The absolutely affordable price also makes it an original gift and a good complement if you want to add a touch of mystery to a more traditional RPG campaign.
If you love solving riddles and puzzles and are familiar with the Escape Tales series of games, then The Book of Rituals can’t escape you!
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Before talking about Dragondale in this review, I want to thank Genitori di Ruolo for providing us with a physical copy of their game. The project stems from the desire to give a role-playing game that is within everyone’s reach: children and adolescents, game neophytes and first-time masters.
If after this chat you would like to buy it, you can find it on the author’s website for 39.90 euros. I also point out that it is possible to get a more precise idea of the game by trying it thanks to the quickstart available directly on the authors’ website. The pre-generated characters are also downloadable on the same page.
An Ambitious Project Dedicated to Role-Playing Families
The Dragondale project was born under another name: Lacrime di Stelle. With this name was opened Kickstarter which achieved a good result in 2022; this is the campaign played, studied, tested and written with the support of many children and young people who participated in the projects and events organized by Genitori di Roolo.
With a decidedly robust hardcover, the manual consists of 345 pages and is in A5 format, one of the favourites of recent years, definitely handy and transportable. Inside the volume, you can find everything you need to start playing. The manual is divided into chapters, each characterized by a dominant colour and introduced by an illustration.
Dragondale, as we will see in this review, therefore serves not only as a master manual but also as a player manual, setting and monster manual.
Start Playing with Everything Available
As I said, Dragondale contains everything you need to start playing. No expansion, no added compendium to consult: in its 345 pages we have it all. However, let’s look a little closer, following the precise and well-kept index at the beginning of the volume, what we find in this game.
We start with a chapter dedicated to the rules. About twenty pages contain the basics for playing, from the character’s characteristics to the rules for combat.
The second chapter is dedicated to the characters. In this section, we find references to all available Origins, Classes and Pasts. As in many other role-playing games, these represent the type of character we are going to play, what she can do and what formed her. At the end of this chapter, we find an important element to underline the collaborative intent of the game; each character has a specific Role in the group.
The third chapter is entirely dedicated to equipment and spells; practical and exhaustive summary tables allow you to have everything under control.
Be a Storyteller in Dragondale
Introduced by a beautiful image that in my opinion perfectly represents the Narrator’s task, this chapter accompanies anyone who wants to take this path step by step; it is suitable both for adults who have never done it, and for children who decide to have a first experience on the other side of the screen.
This part of the manual is full of hints and tips ranging from how to describe a scene to how to organize a Session Zero. Every possible doubt, every plausible difficulty you may run into when you are a beginner, is dealt with exhaustively; the manual offers a series of useful suggestions not only for approaching already written plots but also for trying to create your game world to offer to the players.
Knowing well how complicated it can seem to be a Storyteller the first few times, I believe that Dragondale can provide good support for everyone in this, even for those who have been playing for a long time.
Dragondale Game System Review
The game system of Dragondale is a simplified version of the 5e of the best-known RPG in the world. The basics of the game, all explained in a dedicated chapter, are meant to be simple and complete; they certainly manage to be so for those who have at least some experience in role-playing games.
The reference system receives a series of practical expedients, especially about combat. First, the distances have been simplified; instead of thinking in meters, it is sufficient to establish whether the opponent is in the melee, near or far. Movement allows you to shorten by one distance, so from close to melee and vice versa, or from close to far and vice versa. Even the part dedicated to skill rolls has been made more immediate; once the proficiency bonus has been eliminated, only the d20 is rolled, with an advantage if the character knows that specific skill.
However, not all the rules have been simplified; the math, while basic, will still be used for circumstances such as saving throws and attack rolls. Even the part dedicated to magic, which can generally prove to be a bit tricky, is treated and resolved with a remarkably streamlined approach. The spells are described more simply, there is no trace of the components and the concentration is also gone.
In linea di massima quindi Dragondale, come si evince da questa recensione, ha un regolamento immediato soprattutto per chi proviene da D&D5e. Troveremo infatti tutte quelle meccaniche che piacciono tanto e potremo trasmetterle, senza troppa difficoltà, alla prossima generazione di giocatori.
Lacrime di Stelle: Dragondale Campaign Review
A pre-made introductory adventure could not be missing in such a complete manual; Lacrime di Stelle is the plot proposed by Genitori di Ruolo. The adventure is designed for characters from 1st to 6th level and will involve the heroes in saving the Cusius Valley from a terrible evil that is awakening. The story is meant to be played by a group of 4 or 5 players.
Without wanting to make any spoilers, as usual, I can say that it is well thought out and doses the narrative parts to the more action-packed ones in a balanced way. Also aiding the narrator is an extensive chapter with a setting detailing in detail the places and all the people the characters will encounter. If you then try to find the real references behind the names chosen by the authors, then the fun will be doubled.
A Respectable Artistic Department
Dragondale is particularly interesting in terms of graphics. Each chapter is preceded by a beautiful double-page illustration, always thematic and evocative. Sabrina Normani paints the cover. The internal illustrations are by Alessandro Savino, Anna Schilirò, Jacopo Tagliasacchi, Luca Maiorani, Moreno Paissan, and Paolo Naretto Rosso. Although the manual does not present a real aesthetic uniformity, in my opinion, it embodies the spirit of the game very well, Each artist has been able to capture the atmosphere that the game wants to convey.
Choosing a large font and a dominant colour for each chapter undoubtedly helps reading. On many pages, there are also valuable suggestions for the narrator as if they were annotated slips added later.
The text does not have a uniform subdivision; within the volume, we find single-column pages, two-column pages and mixed pages. Overall, it’s not an unpleasant choice, but in some cases, the lack of uniformity could be annoying.
Dragondale Review Conclusions
Dragondale is a manual that, in its simplicity, brings together years of experience and passion, not just at the gaming table. Leafing through the glossy pages, observing the chosen fonts and colours, and looking at the maps and illustrations, one realizes how much passion and how many people have contributed to its creation. A job that required time and dedication demonstrates, once again, that even in Italy there are excellent authors and artists in this sector that is still too niche.
Dragondale is certainly an interesting game, specially designed for children and teenagers; it is not a game which, however, can be easily managed independently by the little ones and requires the presence of an adult to start the sessions. The product is still of an excellent standard, made to last and to pass from hand to hand and from generation to generation. If you have children and adolescents in your family who may want to try role-playing, Dragondale is the right product to bring them closer to this passion!
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At the beginning of this review, I would like to thank 1985 Games for sending us two sets of the line VHS Dice to try them and give you our opinion. 1985 Games is based in Oregon and was founded by a group of gamers looking for a better way to play in real-time, without interrupting the action to draw every tree on the map. Their huge catalogue includes some beautiful maps for the fights, which you can find the review here.
If after reading this article you want to grab one of the many sets in the line, you can find them in the official store for $70 for each set. Do not forget that if you use the code NoDiceUnrolled15 at checkout, you will receive a 15% discount on your order!
The line currently includes five different sets: Plasmic Punch, Starstorm, Ruby Red, Surge and Crystal Ball.
Bright Colors and Sharp Edges
I received two sets of dice from this line and with some trepidation I opened the packages. Inside them, I had the great pleasure of finding the sets Plasmic Punch and Ruby Red.
First of all, I must say that the case reproduces very faithfully that of the old VHS. Naturally, the dimensions are adequate to contain a set of dice; the package, therefore, fits comfortably in one hand.
The dice are held in a static position inside the package by a high-density plastazote plate with pre-drilled slots; in this way, every single dice has its own housing, without the risk of getting lost.
Once removed from the packaging, the dice are very colourful, bright and with sharp edges. They are handmade in resin, light, and have very particular reflections that know how to fascinate and capture attention. Each set of VHS Dice consists of 7 polyhedral dice; we find the classic d4, d6, d8, two d10 (one with units and one with tens, for percentages), d12 and d20.
VHS Dice Technical Review
The dice in this collectable line maintain the standard 16 mm format. They are particularly easy to handle, shiny and with iridescent reflections so much so that, once hit by the light, they seem to reflect it and almost change colour. The resin is of excellent quality and the tactile sensation is almost that of having a gem in your hands, rather than a polyhedral dice.
These dice sets are particularly easy to handle, each piece has the right weight and an excellent balance to allow adequate rolling and leave the inevitable suspense on the outcome of the shots. The chosen font is decidedly large and legible, even at a certain distance. I particularly appreciated this aspect and the fact that they still manage to stay themed (albeit in chromatic contrast) with the aesthetics of dice.
Experience, Imagination and Passion
1985 Games is a company made up of gamers dedicated to providing other gamers with products to enhance their gaming experience. The passion of this company shines through in the craftsmanship of these dice. In the same set, precisely due to the craftsmanship, there are small differences between one dice and another, which makes every single piece unique.
Undoubtedly the chromatic choices and the so original packaging transform every single set into a collector’s item.
VHS Dice Review Conclusion
In conclusion of this review, I must say that I really liked the VHS Dice: practical to use and easy to keep thanks to the special retro case.
Considering the variety of products in this category on the market, the price may seem high, but I guarantee you that they are very durable and that the quality can be seen in every single detail. They really might be the last set of dice you ever buy!
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First of all, I would like to thank Free League for sending us a copy of Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery so we could write this review of the latest addendum to the Swedish publisher’s Nordic horror roleplaying game.
If, after reading our review, you want to buy it, you can find it in the physical versionon the official store of the publishing house for about 37 euros. Also keep in mind that the entire editorial line of the game, including this adventure manual, is available as a module for Foundry VTT for about 9 euros.
Like Vaesen: A Wicked Secret and Other Mysteries, of which you find our review here, Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery is a collection of four adventures, therefore it cannot be useful without the basic manual that contains the game rules. If you still don’t know the game, you can find our review here.
The volume consists of about 100 pages printed on thick and porous paper and accompanied by the marvelous images of Johan Egerkrans, some taken from the basic manual, others absolutely original.
The Structure of Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery
Never change a winning team. The format with which Free League has chosen to set up the manuals of this game with a fantastic and mysterious flavor is particularly successful. Just like the previous collection of adventures, Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery also contains four adventures introduced by a short preface.
This type of setting allows you to immediately immerse yourself in the proposed plots which are presented in a clear and precise manner. Above all, each adventure has everything needed to play as long as you have the basic manual for the game rules.
The structure of the plots is the one already seen in the core manual and in the first collection of adventures. These 25-pages adventures follow a structure based on clues, like any good detective game. One or more maps by Christian Granath accompany each one; he is the co-founder of the publisher and graphic designer of this and other Free League games.
The choice of two-column layout is decidedly successful; reading flows easily, thanks also to the clear and legible font. In-depth panels on NPCs and the characteristics of places or their culture maintain uniformity and pleasantly punctuate the pages.
The style is always the same, elegant and never intrusive; in short, that’s the one that characterizes the game and which we have come to appreciate.
The Quality of Materials
Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery, as can be seen from this review, does not betray the splendid quality of the game’s editorial line. Each storyline is compelling and intriguing; the NPCs are well characterized and the in-depth details of places and folklore stimulate the imagination to the point of pushing for any further insights.
The plots are designed as single episodes but nothing prevents you from connecting them to create a broader and more continuous gaming experience. Let’s not forget that Vaesen‘s premise is that the protagonists can still see and understand the creatures of Nordic folklore. Thanks to this ability they are called to solve various cases in which these entities interact with mankind and create critical situations. In this sense, it is therefore logical that these are adventures conceived as episodes as if they were a TV series.
I want to clarify that we are talking about a horror game and that, as now in almost all games of this type, even Free League lists the issues addressed, underlining any critical aspects.
The Adventures of Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery
In Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery we find three of the four authors of the previous volume of adventures. Again, never change a winning team, with the addition of Tomas Härenstam’s pen.
In order not to take away the pleasure of playing these well-thought-out adventures, I’ll just give you an idea of what the proposed themes are. However, I would like to point out that, although they are all designed for the Scandinavian peninsula, for each plot there is a box that allows the adventure to be placed also in British territory, described in the first setting expansion of the game.
A Dance with Death (by Gabrielle de Bourg) – The characters are invited to the scenic province of Dalarna in spring, with its green forests, brown huts, and blue waters of Lake Siljan. Here they will get to know Swedish folk music and grasp the darkness behind the joy of music. The story will test the deductive skills of the characters, their social skills, and also their combat abilities.
Fireheart(by Tomas Härenstam) – The woods of Smolandia are devastated by fires and heat waves which are increasing the poverty of the population, prompting them to emigrate to America. Will the characters be able to discover the cause of the fires and save the region from ruin?
The Devil on the Moor (by Andreas Marklund) – On the west coast of Jutland, a wild place far from the cities, a group of ambitious engineers have awakened dark forces in an attempt to tame and modernize nature.
A Winter’s Tale (by Kiku Pukk Härenstam) – Traveling through a snowstorm in the dense forests of Ingria, the characters suffer an accident. Forced to find shelter, they reach the Tammsalu inn, far from any inhabited center.
Conclusions of the Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery Review
If you liked Vaesen, Seasons of Mystery will completely charm you. Also in this collection, the atmosphere captures and captivates. The stories are all extraordinarily coherent and can easily be played in two, maximum three sessions. I personally advise against playing them as one-shots. Even if it is not impossible, the operation forces to cut, due to the necessity of time, elements that are fundamental to convey the spirit of this type of atmosphere.
Once again the main theme of the plots is the conflict between human beings and vaesen, between modernity and tradition. Once again this subtle balance is treated with wisdom and a touch of magic.
In short, if you already have the other books of this editorial line, I absolutely recommend you also buy Vaesen: Seasons of Mystery!
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Before dedicating ourselves to the analysis and review of Journal d’Indochine, we would like to thank Sons of the Singularity for sending us a physical copy of their latest effort, so that we could tell you about it. For those unfamiliar with this publishing house, we point out that it produced and designs independent role-playing games and was founded by Jesse Covner and Jason Sheets in 2018.
If you would like to buy this product after reading this review, you can find it in a physical version directly on the publisher’s website at the cost of 50$. If you prefer the digital version, you can find it on DriveThruRPG for $20.
Journal d’Indochine is a collection of scenarios forCall of Cthulhu. To immerse yourself in these scenarios, it is, therefore, necessary to know the rules of the game they are based on.
Journal d’Indochine is set in a region and period that has rarely been explored in the world of RPGs; the manual is designed to help the Keeper and players quickly immerse themselves in the story, deal with the themes and learn about the factions of French Indochina.
The authors have spent many years in Asia and know the places described first-hand. It is important to know that they turned to Vietnamese consultants, to try to maintain cultural and historical authenticity.
Journal d’Indochine: the Project
The first thing I want to point out is that Journal d’Indochine is made up of two volumes; each, as we will discover in this review, has a life of its own but for the full experience I suggest you read both. The former includes four scenarios, each featuring different playstyles. The second volume contains the French Foreign Legion manual and four additional scenarios.
Each volume consists of about 200 pages and is full of historical events and fascinating contexts; in addition to this, we also find precious maps to be able to immerse in this fascinating setting. All scenarios are set between 1925 and 1954 and can be played in traditional or pulp mode.
The Setting of Journal d’Indochine
The manual opens with an interesting and comprehensive picture of the history of the region now known as Vietnam; starting from its first colonizations until approximately the 60s. In about ten pages, the authors manage to frame, with concise precision, the fundamental stages in the history of this region. Attention is particularly focused on the power vacuum following the Second World War and French colonialism in that area.
The first half of the 20th century was a time of chaos and political turmoil in French Indochina. As foreign imperialists struggled to maintain their precarious grip on the region, the townspeople scrambled to overthrow their tormentors.
Radical religious movements like Cao Dai arose to spread the blessings of a strange and unfathomable God. While Hòa Hảo’s Buddhist militias held up the prophecy of a king’s return, Binh Xuyen’s gangsters schemed to gain territory for their criminal enterprises. Meanwhile, revolutionary students preached new secular philosophies that promised utopia for oppressed workers.
It is not possible to summarize in a few lines the work done by the authors to make the history of this region palpable and vivid. The contents, as they admit, are not exhaustive; however, it is possible to integrate, if one wishes, by adding details and events. I recommend treating with due respect, the same used by the authors, the historical facts and atrocities that have been committed in this part of the world over the centuries.
However, it is good to always remember that these are plots designed for a horror game; the issues addressed will therefore be strong and potentially disturbing. The authors, as expected, have reserved the right spaces for the content warnings necessary when approaching games of this type.
References to the Rules
As we said at the beginning of this review, Journal d’Indochine relies on the Call of Cthulhu regulation. It, therefore, does not have a game system; for each scenario, it provides a story background, information about pre-generated characters, and details of the game world.
The Keeper, the name by which the narrator is called in this game, can use these cards as a tool to present the conflict between the various factions in the game or between the players, in case you want to opt for this narrative solution. It is assumed that at the beginning of a scenario, each player has a sheet with all the notions needed to start playing.
The Keeper can always create one of these cards on his initiative but he must ensure that the content is not inconsistent with the setting of the proposed campaign. In any case, the information cards must be delivered privately to each player to maintain a certain level of tension; this is the personal and confidential information of the characters and sharing it could cause even unpleasant consequences.
Four Nightmare Scenarios
As we said at the beginning of this Journal d’Indochine review, the first volume contains four scenarios. Adventures can be played individually, or in sequence to create a campaign. As always, we will try not to make spoilers when introducing the proposed plots.
It is important to know that for each scenario, in addition to information on the places and mysteries to be solved, a precise timeline of events, the summary diagram, any opponents and NPCs and the appropriate maps are provided. To complete the package there are also the necessary handouts and 6 pre-generated characters.
But let’s find out what are, in principle, the events in which the investigators will find themselves embroiled.
The Fertile Red Lands of Cochinchina puts the detectives in the service of the French-Indochinese Rubber Company. They will have to reach a plantation in a recovery and peacemaking mission. Several events took place on the plantation, culminating in a disturbing distress call sent to the Saigon police.
In Black Sea Rising the investigators are members of the OSS and the Việt Minh tasked with disrupting Operation Moon God Ascending. It is a covert mission conducted by Japanese naval intelligence and Gen’yōsha.
Expédition Lemont: The Lost City of Yian-Ho leads investigators to follow in the footsteps of the expedition of Augustin Lemont, a French Catholic priest who had travelled throughout southern Indochina in the late 19th century (1886-1899). He was known for his anthropological research on Indochinese ethnic minorities and remote tribes.
Operation Desperado assumes all investigators are part of GCMA 3rd Platoon, led by Captain Vanberge. These are men from different military units recruited to perform a specific mission. Each character has precise orders which should not be shared with others.
Review of The Manual of the French Foreign Legion of Journal d’Indochine
Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is possible to expand the game context with another volume: The Manual of the French Foreign Legion.
The second volume of Journal d’Indochine is therefore all about the military corps that has earned a reputation as an elite unit made up of romantic fools, misfits and diehards. It is a real campaign, made up of 4 scenarios.
As with the first volume, The Manual of the French Foreign Legion also offers a decidedly interesting historical overview; it is punctual and exhaustive, without being verbose or excessive. Since the Foreign Legion’s primary role was to expand and protect the French Colonial Empire throughout the world, the investigators taking on this campaign will be Legionnaires battling human threats and facing Mythos.
I liked the table with the ranks within the Legion, their equivalent in the US Army and the representation of the insignia. I think it’s a detail that helps players immerse themselves in a context that is often not too well known.
Also in this volume, the places where the investigators will have to move are well-detailed; in the same way, the historical characters and a specific narrative hook for each branch of the Legion are presented in a precise and functional way, leaving the choice of the body to which they belong to the players.
A Campaign Full of Mystery and Horror
Inside The Manual of the French Foreign Legion, as I pointed out at the beginning of the Journal d’Indochine review, four scenarios are included.
The Roulette expects the investigators to be members of the Foreign Legion’s 3rd Infantry Regiment in Cao Bằng. This scenario opens with the Christmas dinner celebrations at Fort Cao Bằng. The characters attend an Epicurean feast and, after gorging themselves on food and wine, are forced to escort a caravan leaving the following morning.
The Fate of the Cá Ông has the detectives board a modest but sturdy boat, the Cả Ông, as a crew of Vietnamese fishermen. What could go wrong during a fishing excursion that is the primary source of income for the families of the protagonists?
In Parchments of Tam a local mandarin is horrified and baffled by the excavation work at Minh Mang’s tomb; he, therefore, contacts Mr Long (head of a local intelligence cell) for both the Vietnamese and French resistance movements.
Operation Grass Cutter is meant to be played as a campaign and has zero sessions; also contains several links to Black Sea Rising. In this scenario the investigators are called to join a special multi-national detachment; the mission is to discover and stop the Japanese empire’s secret program to build new weapons.
Review of the Aesthetics of Journal d’Indochine
Although each scenario is written by a different author, the final product is still homogeneous; this is also possible thanks to an aesthetic choice that uniforms text and images. The whole is therefore extremely understandable and flowing.
Both volumes have a careful and careful layout. Choosing a perfectly legible font and two-column layout helps a lot in finding what is needed to play. Each paragraph is easily traceable in the text also thanks to a functional index.
All the images that punctuate both volumes mix period illustrations and photos. The choice, albeit peculiar, is certainly impactful and transfers the right level of realism, perfect for scenarios like these.
Conclusions of the Review of Journal d’Indochine
Journal d’Indochin has an affordable price and the care and attention given to the context and historical verisimilitude make these two volumes particularly interesting. This clean and never redundant aesthetics and the choice of a decidedly legible font that recalls that of a typewriter of the period are the extra touches that will captivate the purists. The captivating and exotic plots will also enthral the sceptics with the excuse to delve into a little-known area of the world.
In short, if you are a fan of the horror genre and want to approach a little-known setting full of mystery and charm, Journal d’Indochine is definitely for you!
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Before starting this The Cthulhu Hack review, I want to thank MS Edizioni for sending us a physical copy so we can browse through it together.
The game (developed by Paul Baldowsky) is available on Drivethrurpg website at 18$ (about 18 euros) in the softcover edition plus the digital copy, or, if you want only the PDF, at the price of 8$, about 8 euros.
The Cthulhu Hack is an investigative game that makes characters, normal people, face monsters and gods created by the mind of H.P. Lovecraft, using The Black Hack‘s “old school” rules system.
Let’s start from the obvious premise that there are plenty of games based on cosmogony and Lovecraft’s stories. Why then choose The Cthulhu Hack instead of any other game with the same setting? Mainly, as we will see in this review, because the system is very immediate, the creation of characters is rapid and the sessions have an average duration of three hours.
The Cthulhu Hack mainly focuses on the narration of the story and the mystery, to be more precise. It is a about embarking on a journey that will most likely end in defeat or, in any case, with a large and heavy bill to settle.
The Horror under the Skin
As with any game based on the Cthulhu Mythos and the works of Lovecraft, the setting in The Cthulhu Hack should be the starting point. Similarly, it should be clear to those playing the game that the threat is well beyond human reach.
However, the part of the manual dedicated to setting is, in fact, the one that introduces the creatures of myth and the spells, taking for granted that whoever approaches the game already has experienced, if not of themed role-playing games, at least some elements of the Lovecraft’s short stories.
This section, which falls into the macro-category of game rules, introduces thirteen different creatures and twenty-four spells, presented as a concise list of a few lines describing the use and cost of each one.
The characters will often have to deal with frightening creatures far beyond their abilities and possibilities. They will therefore have to opt for strategies other than direct confrontation with the risk of seeing their expectations frustrated, at best. Much of the game then becomes the analysis and understanding of the motivations of the characters and their human and psychological development.
A Game System that Guides You Step by Step
The Cthulhu Hack, as we said at the beginning of this review, is based on The Black Hack game system. It actually has two types of rolls: Saving Throws and Resource Throws.
Saving Throws are made by rolling a d20 for one of six characteristics, the ine related to the test (such as jumping out a window without harming yourself or shooting an opponent). If the result is equal to or less than the characteristic value, the check is successful; otherwise, the master will define the type of consequence that will affect the character. In this sense, The Cthulhu Hack is therefore a rollunder system.
The Resource Throws, on the other hand, follow a completely different system, more modern and in line with the new productions of role-playing games. To each resource is assigned a 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12-sided die.
When a resource is used, the corresponding die is rolled and, if the result is a 1 or 2, the resource’s die size will decrease to the next smaller one. If, once you get to d4, a 1 or 2 rolls, that resource will be exhausted and you can no longer use it.
In my very personal opinion, this system risks creating a series of problems at the table by excessively linking the possibility of using or not using resources within the adventure to the randomness of the dice.
However, we must keep in mind that The Cthulhu Hack has a ruleset that can be learned in less than half an hour and which allows you to start playing actively in a short time,
Archetypes and Antagonists in The Cthulhu Hack
For the creation of characters, The Cthulhu Hack offers the possibility to start with the choice of an Archetype. The process is immediate and reduces preparation time, compared to other roleplaying-games. Each character has six stats to rely on: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. For each characteristic, roll 3d6 and write the result. This value represents the saving throw associated with that characteristic.
In addition to the characteristics, the characters have resources to count on: hit points, money, voice, torches, and damage. The resources are determined, according to one’s taste and pleasure, by distributing 14 points.
The last element to be determined is the Special Ability, which can be selected from those in the manual.
As in all games based on the works of Lovecraft, even in The Cthulhu Hack Sanity is of considerable importance. In this case its management is relatively simple: every time the characters are faced with something horrible and inexplicable that could undermine their beliefs about reality, the players will have to roll the relative die. Each result equal to or less than 2 will cause the dice size to decrease and will produce effects of temporary madness, until the complete loss of sanity.
Saving Innsmouth
In the last part of The Cthulhu Hack manual you find an adventure: Saving Innsmouth. The plot was conceived by Baldowski as the incipit of a wider campaign. However, it has some of the fundamental elements of Lovecraft’s works and can serve as the first taste for those who want to deepen and continue with slightly more substantial topics.
The structure is designed to be played in a single session but, with a few tweaks, it can be extended up to a maximum of two or three evenings. It is certainly a good starting point, especially for newcomers to the Lovecraftian world.
Review of The Cthulhu Hack Materials
The physical volume is bound with a hardcover and consists of 88 single-column formatted A5 pages. The brownish paper chosen for printing is particular and immediately conveys a taste of coherence with what will be played. All the illustrations enhance the text, which is proposed in an easily legible font even in the digital version; the art perfectly accompanies the paragraphs, leaving the impression of a notebook written by an adventurer struggling with an investigation.
Ilaria Gabaldo‘s art adapts well to the text and perfectly conveys the idea that one might have of a 1920s context; they also present a decidedly appropriate tone of mystery and esotericism.
The Cthulhu Hack Review Conclusion
The Cthulhu Hack, as can be seen from this review, is perhaps not the most complete of the games dedicated to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Resource management linked to the randomness of the dice can be frustrating; the absence of a chapter totally dedicated to the setting makes it suitable for an alternative evening, especially if you don’t want to deal with the mechanical complexity of other games that use the same themes and the same world of reference.
It can however be a game to keep in one’s collection for various reasons, in addition to the immediacy; the monster table is useful for improvising new creatures when needed, for example. It is also advisable to introduce absolute beginners to an investigative and narrative game and make them experience the Lovecraftian atmosphere in a simpler way.
If you enjoyed this review of The Cthulhu Hack, keep following us for more RPGs!
With great joy, I hold the copy of Blade Runner RPG, published by Free League Publishing, which I thank infinitely for sending us their new product so that we can tell you about it in this review.
If you want to buy the core book after reading this article, it is available in the publisher’s store at the price of 46.40 euros. However, Free League is used to spoil us; in the same editorial line, there are in fact not only the master’s screen and the starter set, as already seen for Alien RPG, but also a luscious bundle that includes: the core book, the starter set and master’s screen at the price of 98.35 euros. Each product includes both physical and digital copies and the module for Foundry VTT is also available, as usual.
The Weight of an Important Name
If a project on the Kickstarter platform is financed in less than three minutes, as in the case of Blade Runner RPG, there can be two reasons: a strong fan base linked to the film (or story) or deep trust in the quality of the work of the publisher. Anyone who has ever purchased one of the games produced by Free League Publishing knows that quality is always one of the strong points of their work. The fear that something could go wrong, however, remains, like a thin and insinuating voice, when you go to touch sacred monsters like Blade Runner.
I’ll explain. The perfect game doesn’t exist: there are games that we like for the setting but that perhaps have somewhat tricky rules; there are games with streamlined and performing systems with poorly maintained settings; there are games based on products that we love madly and so we make almost every imperfection go well. Then there’s Blade Runner RPG.
However, let’s see in more detail, analyzing them in this review, what are the strengths and the few, very few, weaknesses of Blade Runner RPG.
Usual Year Zero Engine, but even better
Free League has accustomed us, with very few exceptions, to games that take advantage of the Year Zero Engine game rules. One might expect a game system that is so many years old (and has so many uses) to start creaking at some point. I am very happy to be able to say that the YZE holds up perfectly over the years and games. Furthermore, once again, Tomas Härenstam has succeeded in adapting one of the most immediate and effective systems on the market to the mood and tension of the setting, starting from the version of the system developed for Twilight: 2000.
Instead of rolling a pool of six-sided dice (representing the sum of attribute and skill values) to get as many sixes as possible, players roll just two dice, which can also be d8, d10, or d12; the better they are at something, the more faces the die will have. In addition, rolling a 10 on a single die grants the character two successes.
In the core book, there is a table to identify the successes for each possible combination of results on the dice. If a 1 comes out it is considered a failure but it is always possible to risk by tempting luck and re-roll all the dice that do not have a 1 as a result. Thus, it is possible to transform a failure into a success; however, if a 1 is rolled again, one suffers physical damage or increases stress depending on whether one is facing a physical or mental test.
Differences with the Other Year Zero Engines
Unlike other games of the Swedish publisher (such as Alien RPG), here are not defined a large number of examples to detail the failures. On the other hand, however, there is a list of Specialties for the character, which depends on how many years he is in the police force dedicated to the withdrawal of the Replicants. Specialties are minor tricks, moves, and abilities that grant the character a small advantage.
Unlike Alien RPG, here we will have all the ammunition we need, and the combat, even if thought out in zones, can be easily managed with the theater of the mind. As we’ll see in this review, Blade Runner RPG doesn’t put the focus on combat.
The Blade Runner RPG Timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2049lade Runner RPG, the role-playing game protagonist of this review, is based on the timeline of the films Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. It is an essential distinction to make because in the game there is no reference (not even in the credits) to Philip K. Dick, author of the short story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? from which Ridley Scott took the cue for the 1982 film. Without going into too much detail, I can say that Scott’s film and Dick’s story have important differences, starting with the setting. While the writer’s work recounts 1992 in San Francisco in an almost desolate bay, the film (which also lacks the figure of the protagonist’s wife, important for the narration of the story) moves instead into a chaotic and decadent LA 2019.
So if you haven’t read the story don’t worry, but I highly recommend watching both films to get an idea of the mood and technology presented in the game. We must also consider that the timeline of the game is placed between the events told in Blade Runner and those told in Blade Runner 2049 and, to be precise, we are in 2037.
To assist players and the Game Runner, the game master’s name in the game, there is a handy summary of events from 1980 to 2037. I’ll quickly summarize the timeline as it relates to the various generations of Nexus Replicants. This is how I’ll take stock of the situation, before going into some important elements in detail in this Blade Runner RPG review.
A Chilling Setting
The world as we know it began to collapse in the 1980s but it was in 2019 that the ecosystem suffered a large-scale meltdown. Corporations began to dominate ever-larger cities. Technology has made such leaps forward that human-like robot, called Replicants, have been employed to do much of the manual labor. During the same period, the upper echelons of society moved to the off-world colonies. But do not think that you can leave the Earth; the characters are firmly anchored in Los Angeles and its grimy dynamics.
Mankind has perfected robotic beings by creating the Nexus line which, one generation after another, has come closer and closer to human being. A striking example is the Nexus-6 generation, which requested to be retired due to behavioral flaws. A special police squad called Blade Runners was created for this purpose. But the technology didn’t stop and so a generation of Nexus-7 and then a Nexus-8 was created. Both models were not adequate to the needs while making clear improvements over the previous generation. The turning point came in 2036 thanks to the mega-corporation Wallace, who created the Nexus-9 generation. These Replicants are the safest and absolutely indistinguishable from humans; moreover, they have internal protocols that make them loyal and perfect for handling dangerous situations on Earth and in off-world colonies.
Los Angeles in 2037, the year in which Blade Runner RPG is set, is a city with more than 30 million inhabitants. Millions of Nexus-9s are among them, though only Wallace knows exactly how many. In nature, there are no more plants or animals and the latter, in their pet version, are robotic.
Humans or Replicants?
I think a large part of the sense of the game can be traced back to the meaning of the word Blade Runner; the definition given at the beginning of the manual comes to help us. This is the colloquial nickname given to the specially trained human and Replicant members of the police unit established to uphold and enforce UN regulations regarding the domestic use and abuse of Replicants and other monitored entities and technologies deemed as public safety threats within Earth borders. It is therefore clear that in the game we will be able to choose to be human or Replicants, specifically Nexus 9 Replicants, completely indistinguishable on a physical and mental level. Nexus-9s have memories and emotions, and most are unaware that they are Replicants.
Here is the turning point of the game, in the game. The player can choose whether his Blade Runner character is a human or a Replicant and, in the latter case, whether he is aware of it or not. This dynamic allows the Game Runner to set a certain level of tension and to throw on the table, at the right moment, the revelation with all that it entails. It is therefore evident that this places the accent on the dynamics between characters and on the relationship they have with society. Blade Runner RPG, therefore, paves the way for an introspective analysis of the characters and their condition in a society that sees them as hunters and prey at the same time. The whole game revolves essentially around the tension between humans and Replicants.
The choice is important and must be the first step in filling out the character sheet. A simple and functional sheet, typical of the Year Zero Engine, but which also reserves pleasant surprises.
Blade Runner RPG Characters
Character creation has been simplified compared to the original rules; in any case, it is still based on the choice of one of the archetypes proposed in the manual. In Blade Runner RPG there are seven in total, with some minor limitations. If you decide to play a human character, there are only six archetypes available and only five if the character is a replicant. This is because some are specific; For example, Doxie is reserved for replicants, while Skimmer and Cityspeaker are only for humans.
Archetypes work a bit like in Vaesen: they identify an attribute and key skills. However, here we are not dealing with real obligations, but rather with suggestions for building character. One of the choices to make is how many years the character has been working in the LAPD unit. More years of experience grant fewer points to spend on attributes (Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Empathy), but, on the other hand, grant more experience and a higher number of specialties, Promotion Points, and Chinyen Points. Replicant characters start with one Promotion Point (representing the character’s career) short, which means they can start with zero Promotion Points. After all, the Nexus-9 has only one year of life; despite being implanted with human memories, they therefore cannot have entered the LAPD for over a year.
Chinyen Points represent money owned by the character. Blade Runner RPG, as we’ll see in this review, doesn’t push for timely money management. In principle, the characters will have enough Chinyen, the currency used in Los Angeles, to manage their daily expenses. For any large expense, you need to spend Chinyen Points and roll for the Connection skill
Review of Management of Skills and Levels in Blade Runner RPG
As we will see in this review, Blade Runner RPG has a slightly different character sheet than other games that use the Year Zero Engine. The distribution of points in the attributes is classified according to the degree of proficiency in an alphabetical scale from A to D. This subdivision transcodes the size of the die to be applied in the roll. A proficiency level D in a certain skill means that a d6 will be rolled, and a proficiency level A means that a d12 will be rolled. The die size of the characteristics also serves to define the character’s Health Points and Resolve Points.
There are 13 skills in all, twelve of which are tied three by three to each attribute, plus Driving. Each skill starts from a level of proficiency D, therefore with a d6 as a basis to which the points defined by the archetype must then be added. In this way, you can improve the level of proficiency of the character in the skills that are considered most important.
Ties to the Game World
Key Memory and Key Relationship are two important elements to fill in the character sheet; these are two extremely functional sections for the development of the game. Key Memory is a memory of the character, it is composed by shooting on 4 tables in order to build the details. In terms of game rules, it indicates a focal point of the character’s personality and can be used once per session to increase the chances of success in a skill roll, after explaining to the Game Runner how memory helps the character.
Key Relationship instead represents the bond with an NPC who, for whatever reason, plays an important role in the character’s life. The Game Runner will use this report to create events within the game. Interacting with that particular NPC will earn Humanity Points for the character. Humanity Points can be spent to improve character abilities. It, therefore, becomes evident how the game works on two fronts for the growth of the character: his climb in the LAPD, represented by the Promotion Points, and his personal growth, represented by the Humanity Points.
The character sheet must then be completed in the last details, no less important for the development of the game. In addition to the description of the character and the choice of his name, it is necessary to define his home. LAPD grants housing to the Blade Runners but whether it is an apartment in Sector 5, given for use by the department, or a different house is up to the player. The last details are given by the character’s equipment.
Running the Chase
We have seen how, in Blade Runner RPG, the characters are agents in search of Replicants to retire them. The chase, therefore, becomes a very important element in the development of the plot. In order to better manage this dynamic, “maneuvers” have been defined which must be chosen in secret by the players and then displayed at the table to define the sequence of events.
The Game Runner has the task of introducing the obstacles, divided according to the situations into: obstacles on the ground, obstacles for vehicles and aerial obstacles. In fact, we must not forget that the Blade Runners are equipped with spinners (flying cars).
Solving Cases is not the Focus
Although the structure of the game involves solving cases and the chase for Replicants (identifying it as a detective game), Blade Runner RPG is, from my point of view, more than that. The game focuses on the same fundamental questions as the film. What does it mean to be human? If we are able to create a perfect copy of a human being, to what extent is that copy human? If we can add, delete, and change memories, what are memories then, and what do they mean?
This choice, fundamental in terms of setting if you know the movies, makes Blade Runner RPG an extremely specific game. The mood and the mechanics serve to frame that type of storytelling and introspection. Such a precise area probably helped to make the game mechanics more punctual but, perhaps, risks making it a niche game. Obviously, each group approaches the sessions of this role-playing game as best suits its members, but putting this aspect into the background risks weakening an important aspect of the gaming experience.
Blade Runner RPG Aesthetics review
Free League Publishing once again gives us a very high-level manual. Blade Runner RPG is beautiful just to look at. The glossy paper pages capture the color and bring out the incredible illustrations by Martin Grip, which we have already had the opportunity to appreciate in Alien RPG and in Symbaroum.
Text divided into two columns is mainly boxed. The choice greatly helps in reading and to identify topics as you scroll through the pages. Overall it is a decidedly beautiful volume to read and particularly valid in terms of aesthetics.
If I have to find a fault with Blade Runner RPG, it’s the font size, a bit small for effective reading in any light condition. The difficulty is resolved in any way with the digital version.
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Thanks to Phoenix Grey (also known as Sky Corgan) for sending us a physical review copy of Lewd Dungeon Adventures.
Sometimes we discover revolutionary games; it also happens that unexpected projects emerge from the crowd of publications, reaching amazing goals on crowdfunding platforms. This is the case of Lewd Dungeon Adventures, that managed to collect more than $250,000 (much more than the $5,000 goal) on Kickstarter.
Let’s start by saying that Lewd Dungeon Adventuresis a fantasy-inspired tabletop RPG for couples, combining streamlined classic roleplaying mechanics with adult-oriented activities.
If at the end of this review you are curious and want to try it, keep in mind that you can purchase the manual at the cost of $ 4,99 in Kindle version on the store of Amazon.
A Game Outside the Box
Lewd Dungeon Adventures was designed to change the way couples can approach roleplaying in the bedroom. If someone just wants to enjoy the game without all the intimacy, it is good to know that Lewd Dungeon Adventures can be converted entirely into a drinking game thanks to the changes explained in the rules. There is also the possibility of using the manual to integrate it into a traditional campaign; even if, honestly, it would mean changing the concept with which the game was designed.
In any case the disclaimer related to the minimum age to play the game is evident right from the cover. It is very clear that this is a game reserved for 18+ players.
I want to clarify that the playful intent, although taken in a slightly different context from the usual one of the gaming table, is never vulgar or trivial. Of this, we must credit the author who knows how to deal with intimate and potentially delicate topics with the right care.
Although the intimate descriptions suggested in the game are written for straight couples, many of the options can easily be converted for couples of different types; another detail to consider when thinking about the game’s inclusiveness.
The Rules of the Game
This TTRPG is primarily based on a d6 system meant for newbies to tabletop RPGs and for those who enjoy more casual gameplay. Lewd Dungeon Adventures is designed primarily for two players and, as we will see in this review, considers two essential roles within the game mechanics.
In Lewd Dungeon Adventuresone person plays the Deity and the other the Hero. The Deity assumes the role of Dungeon Master and guides the Hero through the adventure.
This game system, that is explained in less than two pages within the volume, essentially consists of three phases.
The Deity describes the context of the game and the scene, then introduces any non-player characters present.
Then the Hero describes his approach to the situation presented, evaluating what is preferable to resolve the situation.
The Deity describes the results of the Hero’s actions. In this phase, it is the Deity’s job to describe whether the Hero’s actions were successful or not. For the simplest, a description is sufficient, in other cases it will be necessary to rely on the dice, as in any other traditional role-playing game.
Each proposed adventure is strongly focused on fantasy and the goal is above all to enjoy the mature challenges that the game presents. There is no real characters creation, just choose the race of the character without any limitation to the imagination. Characters do not level up. They are customized, instead, through the spells and skills they acquire in each campaign. Many of these advancements are unique and tailored to that specific campaign.
The Character Sheet
As this review makes clear, Lewd Dungeon Adventures is not a traditional game; at least not in its fundamental presentation. For this same reason, the character sheet is not a traditional sheet. Simple and essential in its aesthetics, it is made up of a series of boxes in which to write the descriptions necessary for its completion.
The most important thing the Hero has to keep track of is their Health. Unlike many tabletop RPGs, Lewd Dungeon Adventures introduces a new dynamic to handle the Hero’s death. When a Hero dies in the game, they must engage in an intimate encounter with the Deity to come back to life. These are actions to be performed in the real world, taking the roleplaying experience to a different and decidedly intimate level. In the alcoholic alternative, the Hero can take an elixir of life: three glasses of an alcoholic drink of his choice.
Lewd Dungeon Adventures: Three Approaches to the Game
The key moments of the game can be presented with three different approaches. As we’ll see in this review, this allows Lewd Dungeon Adventures to be approached with some versatility and also makes it suitable for players who don’t have a partner and just want to enjoy the game with their friends.
Each approach is presented in the manual with the three indications and the consequent descriptions: XXX, Drink and Base. Without going into detail, the three indications specify the description respectively for an intimate approach, an alcoholic one or a decidedly more traditional one. The latter is what allows you to enjoy this RPG with a group of friends and with more classic sessions.
The Rescue of Lady Jai: The First Adventure
Inside the basic manual there is the introductory adventure The Rescue of Lady Jai, designed to last up to 4 hours of play depending on the choices made by the Hero and the Deity.
The synopsis is fairly traditional:the Hero, passing through the castle-town of Grimeshire, is recruited to find Lady Jai; she is the eighteen-year-old rebel and stubborn daughter of Lord Morgof Vitsk, lord of the castle. The girl has left the castle walls to venture into the forest, despite her father’s repeated remonstrances. What’s worse is that the girl has not returned.
Lord Vitsk fears that the gobblins (yes, intentionally spelt that way), who has always lived in the forest but have recently increased in number, may have captured his daughter. His intel suggests that she is being held captive in an old abandoned fort and promises the Hero a generous reward if they can bring back Lady Jai unharmed.
The Mage’s Stolen Goods: the First Campaign for Lewd Dungeon Adventures
Along with the basic manual, I received a second book, also about 30 pages long. The prolific pen of Phoenix Gray has already created the first campaign dedicated to Lewd Dungeon Adventures: The Mage’s Stolen Goods.
Also in this case the synopsis does not depart from the classic canons. It must be understood that the concept of the game is not necessarily to offer a complicated story at the gaming table.
Without giving too many spoilers, I can tell you that Grandmaster Famuhlel Pehe, a very well-known magician, was having his possessions transported from the Copper Cove School of Magic to Kegel Palace when the caravan was attacked by bandits. Five chests of incredibly rare and powerful magical items were stolen in the raid, and the Grand Wizard fears they could fall into the wrong hands if not recovered quickly. Fortunately, Famuhlel had the foresight to place a tracking spell on the crates before they were stolen. The Grand Wizard, therefore, knows the position of each one, but not the dangers that could await the Hero in charge of recovering them.
In summary, The Mage’s Stolen Goods is a campaign that can be roughly divided into 5 sessions. Each session can last from 30 minutes to 4 hours of play, depending on the choices made by the Hero and the Deity. The volume includes 3 color maps and a good number of themed illustrations.
Lewd Dungeon Adventures Aesthetic Review
The aesthetics of the game are extremely intriguing. The illustrations, especially the landscapes, are truly evocative. Wenart Gunadi’s artistic skills are undoubted and it is clear that the overall quality in editorial terms is worth the cost. It should not be forgotten that the funds for the project have far exceeded expectations; in any case, leafing through the thick, high-quality paper pages, you can immediately realize that great passion and care have been put into the two volumes.
The two-column layout is well thought out and the font integrates perfectly with the classic graphics of more traditional tabletop RPGs. The text is dotted with medieval-style drop caps and the illustrations harmonize with the context without ever being vulgar but more explicitly evocative.
Conclusions of the Lewd Dungeon Adventures Review
Lewd Dungeon Adventures is certainly not a classic RPG for everyone, but if you want to experience intimate situations within your sessions, it’s perfect. With the right maturity, it allows you to take love scenes to a whole new level.
If you want one or more alternative evenings or to convince your other half to roleplay, Lewd Dungeon Adventures could be for you!
If you enjoyed this Lewd Dungeon Adventures review, stay tuned for more RPGs!
Before starting this review, I want to thank Free League for sending us a digital copy of Alien RPG.
Some quotations remain in history, which pass from one generation to another, even when the person who pronounces them is not clear where they come from. Among the many that perfectly convey the idea of anxiety and having no chance of escape, some of the most famous come from a film released in 1979: Alien.
They’re coming outta the goddamn walls
In space no one can hear you scream
Years after the first film, Free League Publishing, which never misses a beat when it comes to RPGs, offers Alien RPG. The game takes the expanded universe created by Ridley Scott to bring it, in all its restlessness, to our tables. With its almost 400 pages, it carries the claustrophobic and fantastic atmospheres on masterfully illustrated pages.
If after reading this review you would like to buy it, know that you can find it on the publisher’s website at the cost of 47 euros. As for all Free League Publishing games, the Foundry VTT module is also available for Alien RPG at around 22 euros.
I would also like to point out that Wyrd Edizioni has localized the game in Italian; if you don’t want to deal with English you can find it in their store for 60 euros
Known Atmospheres and New Adventures
Alien RPG is set about three years after the events narrated in Aliens and those narrated in Alien³, in 2183. This information is precisely detailed at the beginning of the manual. This section is used to contextualize your sessions within the timeline of the franchise that we all know. To further assist the temporal location, a reasonably detailed summary of the main events is proposed. The synthesis is found at the beginning of the manual even if, in several parts within the volume, there are more details and insights.
A well-maintained timeline, however, is not enough to immerse players in the disturbing and claustrophobic atmosphere that has made this saga one of the winning elements. In Alien RPG this aspect is not spared. The manual is full of content, sometimes perhaps too much to manage by a novice narrator.
Humankind has now populated the stars and colonized numerous systems thanks to the economic effort of Corporations. These large enterprises have deprived the previous subdivision into states of meaning. The new geopolitical order provides for new and large agglomerations and new governments born among the colonies. Corporations, federal governments, and emerging realities control portions of known space by defining a true political map of the galaxy.
The galaxy is therefore the true protagonist of the setting. But living in space is no cakewalk; all the anxiety of a context in which water, food, or shelter can become more than fundamental for survival, even before having to face a dangerous alien, makes itself felt in the game experience.
The Weight of Expectations
When you approach a game that is based on a sacred monster of science fiction, you tend to be a little wary. The doubt that the experience at the table could not render the tension that the films have given us winds its way.
Well, I’m happy to say that instead, as we will see in this review, Alien RPG escapes them all. It manages perfectly to leave you with that growing anxiety, that desire to rush actions to find an escape route. Dense with climaxes and jumpscares, it can make any session memorable.
Choose Game Mode: Cinematic Play or Campaign Play?
To do this, the game offers two distinct game modes: Campaign Play and Cinematic Play; both the same setting and system of rules are used, but the approach to the game itself changes considerably.
As it’s easy enough to guess from the name, the Campaign Play has a medium-long game time. It is therefore structured in such a way as to offer several sessions for the same characters. In this way, it is possible to fully appreciate the vastness and complexity of the setting. The narrator here called the Game Mother (with an obvious reference to the artificial intelligence present in the spaceships of the films), has the task of structuring a continuous story. It will then be possible to explore the galaxy and the universe with the same characters; they will thus be able to evolve within society by tackling problems not necessarily related to the presence of Xenomorphs.
However, not everyone has the opportunity and time to face a long campaign. To meet those who want to enjoy Alien RPG in the evening has been designed the Cinematographic Play. Instead, this type of game is based on previously published adventures designed to emulate the narrative arcs of the films. We will therefore find a fast pace of play and high mortality.. each Cinematic Play scenario is split into three Acts, just like a movie. In each of them, the protagonists will have a goal that, if completed, will guarantee them advantages in the next act.
The Characters of Alien RPG
In a game like Alien RPG, choosing which character to play can be fundamental. Moreover, given the high mortality, a new one may then be created, especially if one is facing a campaign. So I want to underline how the creation of the characters is, in reality, a simple and quick process.
First, you need to choose a career from the nine available. There is a spoiled choice: from the doctor to the pilot, but not even the roughneck or the kid is missing. The career is a sketch of the character’s personality and goals, which then needs to be characterized in a handful of steps. First of all, 14 points must be distributed between the four attributes (Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy), bearing in mind that each career has a primary attribute.
Each Attribute has three related skills; there are therefore twelve in all, in which 10 points are to be distributed. At this point, one talent is chosen among those presented within the selected career. To improve interactions between characters, you establish which of the other characters is your Buddy and which is your Rival.
Each character has a set of personal goals, referred to as a Personal Agenda. Completing them will earn a number of additional experience points; they can be spent between one session and another to improve the values of one’s skills or to acquire new talents.
Filling out the character sheet ends with the choice of equipment and an object to which the character is particularly attached. This is extremely helpful in reducing the level of stress which will undoubtedly rise during the games. In my opinion, the possibility of impersonating, in addition to human beings, also the synthetics is very interesting; their sheets vary little in the maximum scores that can be used.
Year Zero Engine: don’t change a winning team
The rules system of Alien RPG, as we will discover in the review, is based on the Year Zero Engine; we have already seen it in other games and, as always, it is based on the pool of six-sided dice. On this occasion, however, small changes have been made to make the tension that this game wants to convey even better. For Alien RPG there are two sets of dedicated dice: a black one for normal dice and a yellow one for stress dice.
To overcome the proposed situations or any difficulties, players must roll a number of dice equal to the sum of the skill involved and the related attribute. Then must be added any modifiers given by the objects in his possession. If at least 6 rolls the action is successful, otherwise it is unsuccessful. In this case, it is always possible to force the die roll in search of a positive result, but doing so will increase the stress indicator. When making a subsequent roll on the same skill, it will therefore be necessary to roll a number of stress dice equal to the character’s accumulated stress value.
On the one hand, stress can be a good narrative engine (the number of additional dice to roll increases the probability of coming out of sixes); on the other, it introduces the real risk that the character falls into panic. Every time 1 comes up on the stress dice, you must make a panic roll and find out what will happen to the character.
This mechanic, simple to apply and very quick to learn, allows you to better manage the tension and dynamics of combat. This new version makes the Year Zero Engine once again perfect for running a game with a high emotional impact, with great narrative possibilities.
Combat, Weapons, and Spaceships
In Alien RPG the combat is fluid, fast, essential, and lethal. It maintains the structure of the YZE system but, despite suggesting the management of spaces with the use of zones, I can guarantee that it is possible to orchestrate a clash even with only the theater of the mind.
The management of the resources available to the characters is immediate, especially when dealing with firearms. All it takes is a one on the stress dice to run out of ammo. Combat is highly risky mainly because characters have low health value. In the Alien RPG manual, one chapter is entirely dedicated to equipment; an aesthetically very interesting and decidedly functional part when it comes to sci-fi settings.
In the core book, there is also an entire chapter dedicated to space travel. In addition to the available models of spaceships, there is the possibility to create your own or to customize already existing ones. However, the functionality of spaceships is not only aesthetic or narrative; it is possible to start space battles following a series of phases with precision, for which precise roles must be assigned to the crew. To help manage deep space engagements, there’s also a handy map.
Alien RPG Aesthetics review
Alien RPG is a very valid editorial product; after all, Free League Publishing has accustomed us to aesthetically well-finished manuals and impeccable graphics. The glossy paper is of excellent quality and the full print on black backgrounds gives those atmospheres that are perfect for immersing storytellers and players in the mood of the game; hardcover makes it a precious collector’s item.
The green boxes designed to contain the text immediately recall the aesthetics of the spaceship terminals and the depth of the unknown space. The two-column layout is constantly boxed as if we were reading directly from a terminal. Exceptions are the setting notes which instead have a specific font more similar to that of early 80s monitors. In any case, the work that mixes practicality and aesthetics is truly impactful and easy to read.
The illustrations have a very interesting trait in my opinion. The representations of the Xenomorphs alone justify the tension that transpires from the pages even just to leaf through them; in general, all the images delivered to the reader a particularly immersive precise narration. Nothing in this volume is out of place to the point of not even finding typos.
Hope’s Last Day
Inside the Alien RPG core book there is also an introductory adventure, Hope’s Last Day. Without making any kind of spoiler about the plot I can say that the 16 pages of this short scenario are perfect to introduce the narrator and the players to the mood of the game.
Hadley’s Hope is a “shake and bake” colony located on the moon LV-426. Established in 2157, the colony is a terraforming, research, and mining facility, The giant processors are changing the atmosphere: now breathable, but still choked by dense clouds and wracked by electrical storms. Hope’s Last Day tells the story of the last hours of the colony through the eyes of five colonists. It offers a taste of Cinematic Play and throws players right into the action. The pre-gen characters all have hopes, friends, agendas, and rivals. Above all, however, they have a desperate goal: to escape alive from LV-426.
As always, the presence of a ready-to-play adventure greatly facilitates the understanding of the right approach to an RPG; the presence of pre-gen characters further speeds up the use. In case you’re looking for more ready-made adventures, they’re currently available Chariot of the Gods, Heart of Darkness e Destroyer of Worlds.
Alien RPG Review Conclusions
As can be seen from this review, Alien RPGis suitable for all those who are fans of the film saga but not only. For all intents and purposes, it is an excellent editorial product that can give highly enjoyable evenings to any group of players who love the tension and oppressive scenarios. The game system can then be learned in a matter of minutes and leaves much room for interpretation, further enriching the gaming experience.
Considering all these aspects, I can only advise you to jump into deep space with Alien RPG!
If you enjoyed this Alien RPG review, keep following us to stay updated on other RPGs from Free League Publishing
Before starting this Goblingrief review, I would like to thank Menagerie Press for sending us a copy of this adventure module for D&D5e.
Goblins are wretched beasts. They serve no better purpose than as fertilizer for my roses. —Brendat Aradu, Lord of Leirros
You can find Goblingrief on Drivethrurpg in different formats; with a soft cover at the cost of 15 dollars (about 15 euros), with the addition of the digital format for 27 dollars (about 27 euros), or just 12 dollars (therefore 12 euros) if you just need the PDF version.
Let’s start by saying that it is a 23-page adventure, designed to take the characters from the first to the third level; you can add it to a long campaign or play it as a single adventure, with some tweaks.
A not Particularly Solid Narrative Hook
A magic sword and a kidnapped bride-to-be are the starting point of Goblingrief, the adventure written by Karrin Jackson. In fact, it certainly cannot be said that the narrative hook is among the most original.
The characters are hired by Lord Brendat Aradu to save his fiancée, kidnapped by a gang of goblins; to free her, the latter demands a ransom: Goblingrief, an enchanted sword they want to destroy.
If money were not enough to convince them, the characters can, once the woman is freed and the goblins vanquished, keep the enchanted sword.
The weapon, however, is not in the possession of the Lord but was lost in the catacombs below the city. Legends tell of this sentient sword that hates goblins and is particularly effective in defeating them. Unfortunately, no one seems to have a detailed map of the catacombs; Vertasha Dirsk, a veteran who is used to getting drunk at the Old Seagull Inn, claims she ventured deep beneath the city.
It is quite evident that if the characters decide to refuse the quest, it is up to the DM to give them a good reason to participate to the events. To do this, a couple of tricks are suggested; however, they don’t make the narrative hook convincing.
Goblingrief Narrative Structure Review
Like many of the adventures for D&D5e, Goblingrief also follows an almost linear narrative structure. Once the quest has been accepted, whether it be for money or a desire for revenge on the goblins, the characters can decide to go down into the catacombs in search of the sword or head directly to the place where Lord Aradu’s betrothed is held captive.
The structure of Goblingrief, as we will see in this review, is essentially divided into four large sections. In the first section, there is in fact the introduction where the characters come in contact with Lord Aradu and find out the reason for the call and the reward. The second section details any exploration of the catacombs. All the third part is about crossing the forest surrounding Leirros. The fourth defines the clash with the goblins in their lair and the release of Ilun Richfeather, Lord Aradu’s girlfriend. Each section is closely intertwined with the others, although it is possible to reverse the exploration of the catacombs by saving Ilun.
If the structure itself is nothing particularly avant-garde or innovative, I must highlight that the narrative support provided to the DM is instead very interesting.
The Exploration of the Dungeon
Like any good dungeon, even the one in Goblingrief, presents a series of challenges and encounters of different types, as can be seen from this review.
The map of the catacombs, that you can find in the appendices of the manual, is developed on two levels. Each section is marked with a letter of the alphabet. The same letter is found in the descriptive section and details all the essential elements to be easily managed by any DM, even a novice.
The path inside the catacombs is not forced and entire areas with the consequent dangers (and rewards) can be completely avoided.
Sounds, smells, and sensations are well indicated in a special box; there is also many information necessary for managing encounters with creatures.
Falforte Woodland
Falforte Woodland is a coniferous forest located between Leirros and Wormmock, the lair of the goblins. A road leads through the woods, guaranteeing travelers a moderate safety (but not exempt from some wandering monsters).
The section dedicated to the forest provides a series of information that can be extremely useful to the DM to describe the environment that surrounds the characters in an engaging way. Insights are provided for different senses: smells, sounds, lighting, and visual details.
Exploration is not free from dangers or encounters so as not to leave those groups that have decided to skip the catacombs without combats. In order not to make too many spoilers, I can tell you that in this section there is a sidequest and a well-balanced battle for a group of at least 4 characters between the first and third levels. If the DM wants to extend the experience, there is a practical table for casual encounters.
Romance, yes Please
So far, as this review suggests, Goblingrief is essentially an exploratory adventure. However, I would like to underline that, throughout the drafting of the narrative, there are several elements that allow the DM to tell a story that is based both on feelings and the dungeon crawling. After all, the engine of the narrative hook is the kidnapping of Lord Aradu’s betrothed.
In fact, Karrin Jackson does more in writing this short adventure; she delves into the motivations and feelings of all parties involved. Goblins have more than one reason to want Goblingrief and the sword itself hides its secrets. Veteran Vertasha, who can be found at the inn, also lives with the regret of having lost her beloved in the catacombs..
Review of the Goblingrief Appendices
The adventure is not so long. It is in fact playable in two or at most three three-hour sessions unless the DM adds encounters while exploring the forest. Goblingrief, however, has a large and detailed section dedicated to the appendices that certainly generate added value.
In this part of the manual, there is a very well made, detailed and ready-to-use the map of the catacombs.
Next is the precise description of the sword called Goblingrief. This appendix specifies not only its characteristics and powers but also its story, which is not surprisingly a love story.
The last appendix concerns Leirros, the town where the characters take their first steps in this adventure. Also in this case I can say that the description of the main places is very well done. A series of NPCs that characterize the context, making it alive and lively, is also introduced.
Conclusions of the Goblingrief Review
I particularly appreciated the attention to the motives of the creatures featured in this short adventure. Not only do goblins have understandable reasons for doing what they do, but even the rats in the catacombs have an interesting role.
In conclusion, Goblingrief is a simple and enjoyable adventure to play. It is also be a great example of how to use sensory descriptions to immerse players in the desired atmosphere.
If you enjoyed this Goblingrief review, stay tuned for more D&D5e adventures!
Before we dive into the So, You Walk Into A Tavern review, I’d like to thank Sign of the Dragon (Marco Bertini and Marco Fossati) for sending us a digital copy of this work for D&D5e; thanks to it we will be able to have fun imagining various and original inns and taverns.
You can find this small compendium on theDungeon Master Guildstore at the cost of $ 3.95, about 4 euros, only in digital version.
Many adventures for D&D, since its first edition, begin in a tavern. These are perfect places where you can make the characters meet and get to know, and make them experience the first, fundamental, social and environmental situations in the game world.
However, designing a tavern is not so easy, especially when you do not want to create a trivial one. To our rescue comes So, You Walk Into A Tavern with 23 pages full of options to make each tavern or inn truly unique.
Taverns or Inns?
Presenting a similar place for the characters, no matter if you are playing a one-shot or if you are in the middle of a ten-year campaign, may not be immediate; even the most experienced DM may find it difficult to improvise an environment that is stimulating and not just a filler.
The terms “tavern” and “inn” have, over time, begun to overlap. Yet these are, in fact, two places with differences not to be forgotten when it comes to providing a description to the players. For simplicity we can say that a tavern is a place where it is possible to drink and eat; an inn, on the other hand, also offers rooms for overnight stays.
After we decided this category, we can begin to decide its size.So, You Walk Into A Tavern, provides a handy chart according to the lifestyle options presented in Chapter 5 of the D&D5ePlayer’s Handbook.
Having defined the first characteristics of the structure, we can begin to delineate it with more precision. Will it have one floor or several? Will it be elegant or shabby? And will it have a stable or a warehouse available for the patrons? Each of these options can be defined according to your tasteor, to add some spice to the narrative, by rolling the dice.
A Versatile Tool
So, You Walk Into A Tavern, as evidenced by this review, is a toolbox; that provides the master, even the laziest and most unimaginative, quick and easy to use tools. This brief supplement, in fact, allows you to define down to the smallest detail the tavern in which the players will enter.
The index, alas not without some typos, allows you to navigate well in the text allowing you to quickly find what you are looking for.
Tables, Tables, Tables
In short, it doesn’t matter whether it’s food, drinks, music, customers or staff members; So, You Walk Into A Tavern, with its 23 pages pleasantly illustrated, allows you to define every detail of the game environment with a simple roll of the dice.
Whether it’s an NPC ready to offer them a quest, a sudden brawl caused by a drunk patron or a creature suddenly breaking in, mealtime is usually the most exciting time.
Also for these infinite possibilities, So, You Walk Into A Tavern proposes practical tables that will appeal to those who want to hypothesize the most varied possibilities.
So, You Walk Into A Tavern Aesthetic
As you can see from the images accompanying this review, So, You Walk Into A Tavern, fits in well with the style of the most famous role-playing game in the world. The illustrations are fanciful enough to guarantee useful suggestions in describing the scenes to the players.
The text has a classic and legible font and is divided into two columns; we can also find frequent tables and precise references to the other manuals used for the statistics of any NPC or creature.
Conclusions of the So, You Walk Into A Tavern Review
So, You Walk Into A Tavern is not an essential module for playing D&D5e, as this review suggests. However, it is a well-thought-out work to help Dungeon Masters make those moments of the game that risk becoming a boring filler more compelling.
So grab your dice, paper, and pen, and get ready to design your ideal tavern!
If you enjoyed this review of So, You Walk Into A Tavern, keep following us for more supplements for D&D5e!
First of all, I would like to thank Yog’du Games for sending us a review copy of Tomb of Immolation. It is a short but intense dungeon crawl with a multitude of puzzles, traps and role-playing challenges to engage and entertain players; it is designed for both D&D5e and OSR game systems.
This 96-page adventure includes pre-generated characters, the stats for monsters and the mechanics for overcoming various obstacles in the dungeon for both game systems. It offers two or three sessions of tension and action. The exploration of dungeons is the basis of many classic adventures, the most interesting ones are those that can be adapted to more systems; in this way they can be integrated into longer campaigns, but they are still playable as a single episode.
You can find it in three different editions on Drivethrurpg. The edition for the TinyD6 and Tiny Dungeon 2e systemcosts 12 dollars (about 12 euros) in the softcover version and 20 dollars (about 20 euros) with the digital copy addition. If, on the other hand, the PDF version is enough for you, it costs 8 dollars (about 8 euros). The price is the same for the 5e and OSR versions, which we will analyze in this review.
Since it is an adventure we will try not to make excessive spoilers in analyzing it.
A Modular Premise
The background is perfect for this type of adventure. A thousand years ago the region was a wild frontier patrolled by a brutal order of warriors led by a charismatic and deranged man, Teluthel. Over the years, the order has protected the people of that region while asking for a high price of gold and food in exchange for guaranteed security.
Saba Nocri was a well-known necromancer shaman, who settled in the region before the Knights of Teluthiel. The woman, while living in isolation, helped the inhabitants of the region with potions and magical healings. The knights disliked competition and Teluthel’s deranged mind devised a twisted plan to punish her forever.
So he built a tomb-prison to lock up her and her followers and buried them inside, making the entrance disappear under rocks and earth.
As we said at the beginning of this review, Tomb of Immolation is meant to be played both as a single adventure and to be included in a larger campaign. For this reason, the area outside the tomb is only vaguely described to allow it to be added to any ongoing campaign.
The authors go further and help the DM in a sensitive and evident way, including three narrative hooks to introduce the characters.
Tomb of Immolation‘s Narrative Structure
Unlike other adventures that feature a dungeon to explore, Tomb of Immolation is a one-way ascent through corridors and rooms within a totally dark environment.
Each zone has its own numbering (easily identifiable on the general map), encounters, puzzles, and treasures.
In order not to have to scroll from the general map to the reference section, each area of Tomb of Immolation has an enlarged reproduction of that portion of the dungeon.
The general description of the area is highlighted with an immediately recognizable box. All the text is written in bold type as well as any other description of the environment. The challenges related to the area are graphically highlighted and divided according to the game system used.
From this point of view, Tomb of Immolation is an adventure with simple and immediate management.
In this way the DM, even if not an expert, can have under control every narrative section with suggestive images and ideas for the tests.
To accompany the manual there are five pre-made character sheets in the double version, 5e and OSR.
The Dungeon
Tomb of Immolation‘s tones are decidedly dark and gothic. The adventure, as can be seen from this review, has a strong Sword & Sorcery mood, rather than high-fantasy.
The dungeon has a large selection of obstacles, including many environmental ones, designed for characters of at least fifth level. This structure is not suitable for a sandbox exploration and in fact the path between the various sections is almost linear; however, this isn’t definitely a boring dungeon.
Don’t worry, the whole adventure is a real challenge for the players!
The Aesthetics of Tomb of Immolation
Tomb of Immolation is illustrated by Michael Harmon, an extremely well-known artist who transmits the dark tones of an ancient tomb full of mysteries and dangers with vibrant ability.
The art alternate in color and black and white and embellishesthe volume with sparse yet well-chosen illustrations. The DM can easily take a cue from the sharp and skillful traits of the images to complete the descriptions provided in the text.
In some ways, the style of this module can easily be compared to the one of Mörk Borg, of which you can find our review here. The Harmon trait has, in fact, that dark and metal aura of the game proposed by Free League.
Conclusions of Tomb of Immolation Review
As this review shows, Tomb of Immolation is a great adventure module if you want to add a gothic touch to your campaign. It is a solid dungeon, not too large but filled with well-thought-out traps and challenges, new monsters, and various magical items.
I also recommend this adventure to groups looking for a dip in dungeon crawling lasting a few sessions.
If you enjoyed this Tomb of Immolation review, stay tuned for more adventures designed for various RPGs!
Two years after our review of Vaesen, now we can talk about Mythic Britain & Ireland, its expansion written by Graeme Davis and beautifully illustrated by Johan Egerkrans.
Mythic Britain & Ireland is the first setting expansion for this gothic horror RPG set in northern Europe. I want to thank Free League for sending us the volume so that we can tell you about the new material for this game, which is incredibly charming. This manual can be purchased at the publisher’s store at the price of …
The Setting
The strong point of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland is the same as the core manual: the atmosphere. In fact the premises do not change from the game that we already know. The characters are people who have the Sight, that is the ability to perceive the Vaesen, the invisible and magical creatures on which folklore bases its roots. However, we are no longer in the Scandinavian peninsula but in the United Kingdom; we are talking about the group of states that, during the reign of Queen Victoria, constituted the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The game is thus set in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Just keep in mind that Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland does not aim to be a historical game. In fact, more than reliability, it seeks historical verisimilitude; it highlights those elements that help to create a credible game context and adventures with dark and mystical tones. Just like the Scandinavian peninsula, each state has its own traditions, customs, and, of course, its own Vaesen.
New Kingdoms, Similar Atmospheres
Depending on the taste of the game group, the events can therefore be set in smoky London, but also in green Ireland or gray Edinburgh. The manual provides, in a dedicated chapter, a brief description of the main cities of the United Kingdom. For each, he adds narrative ideas linked to the known legends of those places. We thus discover that on a hill south of Dublin there is a house in which particular noises can be heard, as if an animal was trapped behind the walls or that, just outside Cardiff, there is a thermal spring infested by the spirit of a woman who drowned in it.
Great attention is given to the city of London. Among the materials, there is a wonderful map by Francesca Baerald and Christian Granath and details about places and legends.
This makes the context in which the characters move extremely vivid and real. And if that wasn’t enough, some personalities who, through history or literature, inhabited the UK in the nineteenth century are also detailed.
For each of these NPCs, a brief biography is provided as well as the date of birth and death, guaranteeing a substrate on which to build meetings and encounters. In this way, it will be possible to insert, for example, W.B. Yeats (a well-known Irish poet) but also Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Vasesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland, as can be seen from this review, does not only address the human world but, with the same care, describes the parallel worlds that are around it. Among the thick and porous pages, it is possible to find the description of Tìr Na Nòg and Annwvyn. There are also descriptions of fairy places such as stone circles or fairy rings.
The Apollonian Society
Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland provides a chapter dedicated to the history of the Apollonian Society through the centuries, starting with John Dee, scientist and astrologer at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
Among the pages that mix myth and history, we discover that John Dee, Sir Walter Raleigh (known adventurer and courtier), and Sir Francis Walsingham (head of the Queen’s secret service), together with Cambridge academic Edmund Spenser, appear to be the founders of the London Society, called the Apollonian Society.
Over the centuries, the London Society changed its appearance and members, binding itself to the Order of Artemis (presented in the basic manual) thanks to Christer Bonde, who was Swedish ambassador from 1656 to 1657.
Members of the Order of Artemis from Scandinavia (but not only) know that they can find a safe place in the Apollonian Society. Some people regard the two organizations as one while maintaining different names.
Rose House, the London Headquarters of the Society
Just as the Order of Artemis has its headquarters in Castel Gillencreutz, so the Apollonian Society has its headquarters in Rose House. It is a three-storey stone building in Aldermanbury, once owned by Sir Francis Walsingham.
The building provides everything necessary to the members of the Society; it contains in fact a well-stocked library, an infirmary, and even a small armory.
There is more though; Rose House has a butler: Hawkins, a peculiar figure who, unlike the butler of Castel Gillencreutz, does not seem to age and has been running the house seemingly effortlessly and alone, for longer than any of the Society can remember.
Who or what Hawkins is is left to the discretion of the master, although Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland does provide a good number of hints.
Review of the New Archetypes and New Vaesen of Mythic Britain & Ireland
As you can see in this review of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland, the volume presents three new archetypes for the construction of player characters: Athlete, Entertainer, and Socialite. Just like in the basic manual, the archetype allows you to create the character in a few simple steps. The dynamics of creation, in fact, do not present any differences and the new archetypes can be easily integrated even in an adventure in the Scandinavian peninsula.
Likewise, in this splendid expansion, several new Vaesen are presented, linked to the myth and tradition of the United Kingdom. Among these, we find the Leprechaun, the Dullahan, the Boggart and the Glaistig.
However, let’s not forget that the Vaesen have different declinations depending on the place where they live. The manual, therefore, provides a practical and very clear “conversion” of the fairy creatures already encountered in the core manual, adapting them to the stories and folklore of Victorian England.
Three New Stories
The last part of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland contains three new playable stories (The Old Meg, The Llantywyll Incident, and The Hampstead Group) and in this review I will try to tell you about them without spoilers.
Each of the three stories maintains the structure already seen in the basic manual, outlining the plot, the conflicts, the scenes, the places and the NPCs with skillful care and attention. Just like The Dance of Dreams,these three adventures have an average length of between twenty and thirty pages and follow the narrative structure already seen.
All the scenarios use as a narrative hook a written invitation addressed to the Society of which the characters are members. Although humans are always closely involved in Vaesen‘s stories, the main antagonists are the fairy creatures. However, the adventures do not have a single possible resolution to look for; in fact, the adventures are open to different approaches which can also lead to non-violent conclusions.
Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland Materials Review
Free League never disappoints me. The quality of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland materials is superb. Its cover maintains the same pleasant roughness of the basic manual and the solidity of the product is undoubted; the paper is thick and porous and the illustrations stand out making everything vibrant and vivid. There isn’t a page that doesn’t deserve to be shown; all the illustration would deserve a frame and a place of honor on the walls of my home.
The maps are wonderful and perfectly contextualized with respect to the historical period in which the game is played. They are of a slightly inferior quality to those present in the core manual, but undoubtedly beautiful to present at the game table.
Moreover the handouts of the three stories included in the manual are printed on the same rough and porous paper as the main volume.
Conclusions of the Review of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland
As you can see from my review, Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland is a higher-quality manual. It is elegant and perfect for transporting players into that gothic horror mood already seen in the basic manual.
Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Irelandis a perfect expansion manual for this game world. Not containing the rules of character creation or game mechanics, it requires the core rulebook; however, if you already have the first volume, you will certainly appreciate this magnificent expansion.
If you liked this review of Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland, keep following us to discover similar products!
Thanks to Free League Publishing, we had access to the remastered version of Into the Oddin order to write this review; the original tabletop RPG was released by Chris McDowall in 2014.
This new edition preserves the original text and fixes minor management problems; the main real change is the addition of new content. The original text has therefore been corrected only where necessary; instead, the new contents instead enrich the work. The additions are an expansion of the Arcana, a demo adventure, new material for the Oddpendium and a brilliant graphic revision by Johan Nohr (one of the authors of Mörk Borg).
This volume has more than 140 pages and the graphics are striking and captivating; the cover itself has bright colors and dreamlike aesthetics.
The game can be purchased directly from the official Free League store at a price of about 37 dollars.
Into The Odd Remastered Setting Review
Into the Odd Remastered keeps the original setting; an industrial world where all sorts of cosmic entities and dangerously powerful artifacts can be found. The characters are explorers looking for wealth and power, but above all for the Arcana: magical elements that range from the smallest jewel to large sculptures with an unknown origin. Many scientific theories and different religions have questioned the purpose of their existence. When dealing with these amazing oddities, players must try to avoid being overwhelmed by them and getting lost forever.
Citizens throng the streets of Bastion, a vast city whose industries supply even the most remote places with weapons, chemicals, and newspapers. Below, the Underground extends over an equally vast territory; sewers and winding tunnels hide ancient caves that many have forgotten about.
The game world is divided into several areas ranging from the city of Bastion to the unexplored Golden Lands. The GM’s task, here referred to as the Referee, is to guide the players to discover these mysterious places.
Character Building
In Into The Odd Remastered, as you can see in this review, character building is extremely simple and intuitive. There are only 3 Skills: Strength, Dexterity and Willpower. The player must roll 3 6-sided dice to establish the score for each of the Skills. Each character then starts off with a d6 of Hit Protection (HP), the measure of their possibilities to avoid dangerous health damage.
To determine the character’s starting equipment and other important information, you can consult a simple table. The score of the highest Skill and the HP must be considered.
For example, a character with 3 HP and a Skill with a score of 13 will be equipped with a pistol, a smoke bomb, a shovel and a mutt.
Each item has a cost and a function, just as each weapon has a die size to determine damage. Everything is excellently summarized by another practical table.
Game Mechanics
Also in this case, Into The Odd Remastered summarizes the rules very well, listing them by points in just four pages; the focus is mainly on combat and the uses of the Arcana. Let’s not forget that, in fact, this is an OSR game. So a 20-sided die is used and saving throws are aimed at avoiding dangerous situations. If the result of the roll made is equal to or less than the score of the Skill involved, success is achieved. As in all OSR games, 1 is always a success, while 20 means failure.
A few minutes of rest and a sip of water allow you to recover all the HP lost, but resting can attract danger or waste time, while a complete rest requires a week and a comfortable place. Someone deprived of a basic need, such as food, water or a warm place, cannot benefit from rest.
In her turn of combat, the character can make a move and perform an action; characters act before enemies. If they are in danger of being taken by surprise, they must make a Dexterity saving throw which, if failed, does not allow them to go first. Once it is determined whether the characters or the opponents are starting, the players can act in the order they prefer on their turn.
An attacking player rolls the die indicated by his weapon and subtracts the opponent’s armor score; the result obtained is the damage caused. Attacks that take a tactical disadvantage, such as trying to hit someone in cover, require a d4 to be rolled regardless of the dice indicated by the weapon. Likewise, attempting to hit someone helpless raises the weapon’s die size to a d12.
The Arcana and the Oddpendium
Arcana are the most precious items in the setting of Into The Odd Remastered. They are classified into Arcana (powers that cannot be understood), Greater Arcana (powers that barely can be controlled) and Legendary Arcana (powers that you shouldn’t try to control). For each category there is a wide selection, so as to give the Referee many options; from the Palmate Hands (which allow you to climb walls) to the Space Cube (which allows you to teleport to a place you’ve already visited), the possibilities abound.
To help the Referee to make the game world always varied and fascinating, the manual provides the Oddpendium; it is a toolbox of random events, reactions, names, relationships, descriptions, and paths. In short, here you can find everything needed to create action; it is enough to roll a die!
Art and Graphics
As you may have guessed by scrolling through this review, Into The Odd Remastered is a feast for the eyes. The layout is clean and essential, the rules are simple and dynamic; it amazes and bewitches with the wonderful color illustrations that invade the pages and transform them into true works of art.
Through its pages you will certainly find ideas or suggestions; Johan Nohr’s work is incredible, and valuable even when he just illustrates the introductory adventure maps included in the manual; The Iron Coral has in fact been expanded since the first edition. This adventure (much more than introductory) has four mini-dungeons to enrich it; the core of the exploration extends over three levels.
Conclusions of the Into The Odd Remastered Review
As can be seen from this review, Into The Odd Remastered deserves a place of honor in the library even if you’re not a fan of OSR games.
Not only beautiful to see, it also proves to be versatile and never monotonous; it offers the Referee all the tools necessary to build both a simple one-shot and a long campaign.
If you enjoyed this review of the remastered version of Into The Odd Remastered, stay tuned for more RPGs!
Every now and then it happens to find it difficult to talk about a game, not because I don’t like it but because the topics covered remain under my skin and take my breath. This happened with First They Came, the Chaos League chamber larp that I’m going to review today.
However, first of all I want to thank MS Edizioni who provided us with a copy of First They Came; the manual is available for purchase on the Chaos League website at the price of 20 euros for the physical version or 10 euros for the digital one.
“First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me”
The words of Pastor Martin Niemöller‘s sermon on the inactivity of German intellectuals following the rise to power of the Nazis is the premise for this deeply immersive role-playing game that is played blindfolded with the aid of a dedicated soundtrack. It is a game designed for one-shots lasting 2-3 hours for 3 to 5 players. First They Camedoes not need a game master or particular preparation. This is a game to be faced with awareness, the same with which it is presented by the authors.
The Historical Premise
First They Came is set in a very particular moment in our history and in a specific place. The characters live in Berlin in 1942. It is the period in which the Nazi regime had already deported (or killed) most of the unwanted people if they didn’t manage to take refuge abroad. That was the period in which the few left on German soil, terrified, hid their true identity behind a facade of “normality”. Yet an out-of-the-ordinary behavior is enough for a work colleague, friend, acquaintance, or passerby to warn the Gestapo that investigates the victim. The rest is done by the interrogations of the political police.
It is evident that this game is not competitive, but aims to give players a common experience.
At this point it is necessary to specify what is also underlined by the authors of First They Came: the characters will have to make difficult and dramatic choices, but imagining the choices and sufferings of someone is never the same as living them.
The players takes the role of the unwanted people. Each character has a secret and, in order to escape the Gestapo who is climbing the stairs to look for her, takes refuge in the dark attic, discovering she is not alone. At this moment, the game begins.
The Characters of First They Came
First They Came offers six character sheets. Each character can be played by choosing the gender you prefer. In fact, a male and a female name are proposed on each card. This type of attention denotes care and sensitivity and those who play this game are required to have the same attitude.
Each character has its own sheet and a series of associated documents. Everyone has something to hide or has done something that they should be ashamed of. Everyone has made painful choices that have affected not only their own lives but also those of others. It is important to know that the characters of First They Cameare based on people who really existed; the suggestion is to go and discover something more of them, once you have finished playing.
Each proposed character has an archetype, a job, and two themes to represent him. Along with this information, there are three documents to be given to the players when distributing the characters. The choice must be aware, none of the proposed themes are easy to manage, and, once again, it is suggested not to put on the table something that could excessively upset the participants. Once you have chosen your character and obtained the documents concerning her, it is time to proceed with the actual creation.
The Past, the Problem, and the Solution
As we said, each player is given three documents.
The first concerns the past of the character. It contains some fundamental information to get to know her better. Inside you can read about a choice that somehow led her to the situation she is in now.
The second document is related to something the character has done and, whether she likes it or not, is hateful and unforgivable to everyone else.
Finally, the third document contains something that could redeem her in the eyes of those present, of the world, and of herself. Whether it’s a plan, a project, or something else that will help make the world better.
Each character is assigned an apartment within the building they are in. This is their home inside it there are secrets and objects that can condemn them to imprisonment, deportation, or death.
Safety at the Table
There is no doubt that a game like this, which deals with strong and complex themes, which can lead to disturbing moments and situations in which emotion can overflow, absolutely needs security systems.
As we will see in this First They Came review, Chaos League, which has years of experience in this sector, dedicates a specific chapter to this issue. This section is crucial and too often overlooked or underestimated in other games.
When choosing characters, players must read the proposed themes and evaluate them. If there is something that makes one or more people uncomfortable, it can be removed. Similarly, if a character creates discomfort by her own nature, this can be removed for choosing another one.
First They Came has also two specific phrases to suspend the game or even exit it without completely interrupting the experience of the other players. The purpose of the game, remember it, is to make the participant live emotions, not to make them uncomfortable. Chaos League proves to have particular attention and competence, not only in proposing these kinds of issues but also in knowing how to manage them during the game.
How to Play First They Came
The game begins by narrating flashbacks, creating 5-minute scenes. The authors wanted to support the story with useful traces to evoke the place where the narration takes place. In each scene, revolving around each character, the other players will play the extras. Each Flashback focuses on an important choice from her past that will further detail the character.
It is therefore time to stay in the dark, wearing a blindfold. Now the protagonists are in the attic, without knowing each other. The characters are there because the arrival of the Gestapo made them flee in search of refuge in the hope of not being discovered. They have time, during the search of the agents in the various apartments, to get to know each other. Meanwhile, each search will reveal a compromising clue, something that both in the eyes of the Gestapo and those of others hiding in the attic, makes the character expendable for the safety of all others.
The only way for any of the protagonists to survive is to designate a scapegoat from among the players. They know that Gestapo will then arrest her, the search will end and the other characters will be safe. The scapegoat, however, will have a tragic end.
Each player can cast only one vote during the Attic Scene. It is essential to underline that it is not the characters who vote but the players. This distinction is important because voting is a game mechanic and as such serves to evolve the story.
It is important to point out that in First They Came there are no dice rolls, skills, combat, or other elements that are present in most RPGs. It is about being in the dark, together, to tell a mature, touching, and dramatic story.
Review of First They Came Audio Tracks
As you understood from this review, First They Came is a highly immersive game. For this reason, the dedicated soundtrack, downloadable with a handy QR code in the volume, is essential to make the experience complete. Not all tracks are actually music: there are also ambient noises contextualized to each character’s flashbacks. What is very significant, at least in my opinion, is that each track has a precise tempo, so as to make each phase of the game punctual in its realization, preventing the pace or tension from dropping.
I have listened to all the tracks and I can say without any doubt that the research work and the attention to detail are really worth it.
First They Came Materials Review
The game is made of the manual and all the documents of the characters.
From an aesthetic point of view, the whole manual is impactful. Each page could be extrapolated and constitute a game itself. Different fonts and bright colors emphasize topics and passages of the game. The choice in the long run, however, makes reading a little difficult (at least in the paper version). The black text on a dark green background, I admit, was not the best choice, although I didn’t encounter any problems reading the digital version.
Conclusions of the First They Came Review
First They Came, as can be seen from this review, is not a game for everyone and offers the possibility of a single and poignant experience.
It is undoubtedly a particular game and not at all easy to play, especially from an emotional point of view; yet it is a game that I recommend because sometimes it is necessary to remove the blindfold and embrace suffering to better understand some aspects of humanity.
If you enjoyed this First They Came review, keep following us for more RPGs!
After some time, we talk again about The Elephant and Macaw Banner RPG, this time with a review of the manual; it was written by Christopher Kastensmidt and Tom McGrenery who were kind enough to send us a physical copy.
Porcupine Publishing publishes the game;it can be purchased on the official store at a price of 40 dollars, about 40 euros, for the physical plus the digital version. If you prefer the digital version only, you can find it for 27 dollars, about 26 euros.
Before any analysis of the mechanics or the setting, I can say that I am pleasantly surprised by the presence, on the back of the cover, of a content advisory; this is the indication of the minimum age of the players who can approach the game according to the proposed themes. Know that if you want to play The Elephant And Macaw Banner then you must be 12 years old or older.
An Important Premise
The Elephant And Macaw Banner starts from a fundamental premise, explained directly by the author in the introduction: with dedication and effort, you can learn anything in life. This game therefore differs from most of the other products on the market because it totally excludes the concept of natural abilities.
For this reason, the game does not provide, for the characters building, attributes to define the physical or mental characteristics. As in life, if you want to be stronger you need to exercise. To know more, you have to study.
Likewise, don’t expect to find a list of classes in the pages of The Elephant And Macaw Banner. Instead, there are plenty of skills to choose from to define your character.
Each skill has three possible mastery levels: Apprentice, Practitioner, and Master. For each test, you have to roll 3d6 and add the skill bonus. These are defined by the level of mastery possessed and any modifiers linked to the game situation at the discretion of the narrator.
At the beginning of this review, I pointed out the minimum age required for participants. It is not a casual indication because the whole volume has, in its structure and conception, an evident didactic intent. After all, the author is also a teacher.
An Intuitive and Light Game System
Basically, the system uses the skills to determine the success or failure of the character’s actions. When a character wants to overcome a risky situation whose outcome is not certain, he faces a challenge.
The Elephant And Macaw Banner defines four different challenge levels: Easy, Intermediate, Hard, and Legendary; each has its own degree of difficulty to overcome at the time of the test. Since each skill grants a bonus to the die roll based on the skill level (+3, +6 or +9), it will be enough to match or exceed the difficulty level of the challenge to overcome it.
This means that, at the time of character creation, important choices must be made; however, keep in mind that the creation process is very simple.
The Realistic Characters of The Elephant And Macaw Banner
As I said, in The Elephant And Macaw Banner the character is extremely realistic compared to real life. The character sheet is simple, immediate and divided into boxes to be filled in at the creation; it includes characteristics, history, abilities, physical condition, defense, energy, money, equipment, and weapons. The realism, however, does not stop at the compilation of the character sheet; some mechanics also show that this game is didactic. A character can in fact increase her energy by increasing to level 3 some skills. On the other hand, once she is left with little energy, she will not be able to fully exploit his abilities.
All the indications on how to fill in the character sheet are detailed in chapters 1 and 2; but if you want to start playing right away, 8 pre-generated characters are available at the end of the manual.
The steps for creating the characters are carefully detailed. Each one is explained in a simple and clear way, accompanying the player in each phase.
An Intriguing and Complete Manual
The volume of The Elephant And Macaw Banner, as evidenced by this review, is quick to read and easy to consult. Each section is structured in a clear and practical way; it leads the players and the Mediator (the name chosen for the narrator) to understand the rules and to know the intriguing setting. Chapters 1 and 2 are also available as a separate volume: the Player’s Guide; this can be found on the Drivethrurpg website at a cost of 7 dollars, about 7 euros.
The Mediator’s chapter contains all the information that she needs to know in order to conduct the sessions; it is about eighty pages but the reader should not fear their number. The chapter contains a myriad of tips and information to read and refer to when needed.
In a game like this, a large bestiary is a must. Included in the Mediator section, The Elephant And Macaw Banner has a bestiary that details the fantastic creatures of the game world. The section opens with a clear explanation of how the bestiary entries are organized and outlines any specific rules about the abilities and the attacks of the creatures. Moreover you can find 72 creatures, from Brazilian-inspired mythology to giant versions of normal jungle creatures.
The Setting of The Elephant And Macaw Banner
The setting of The Elephant and Macaw Banner is strongly linked to the history of the Brazilian territory and draws heavily on it. In fact, it founds its bases on the historical and cultural situation of Brazil in the sixteenth century.
While taking its cue from the colonial context of those territories, the setting does not focus on the negative aspects of colonization. The focus, on the other hand, enhances the strengths of people and cultures, placing them in a slightly modified Brazil, in order to be more fantastic than strictly historical.
Once again, among the pages full of ideas and details, the desire to transmit knowledge and awareness of the territory emerges. Kastensmidt chose to put the native tribes of Brazil at the center of the setting; this however did not prevent him from including all the populations who inhabited that territory. In fact, both the European colonizers and the deported African tribes are present; the result is therefore a high-level overview of who they were, how they got to Brazil, and what influences contributed to its cultural development.
For those wishing to deepen that historical period, the appendices contain a precious chronology from 1500 to 1650. The information is concentrated on the Brazilian events, without forgetting the world context; in this way, you have further ideas to make your sessions credible and rich.
An Exciting Introductory Adventure
The Fires of Bertioga is the pre-made adventure included in The Elephant And Macaw Banner. This is an introductory scenario designed for 2 to 8 players, although I recommend a maximum of 6; it can be played and finished in one or two sessions.
The events are set in 1576, in the village of Bertioga; this is located on the island of Santo Amaro, on the coast of the Captaincy of Santo Amaro (now part of the state of San Paolo). It is an investigative and mysterious adventure in which the characters must find out what happened to their missing mentor.
The adventure is made up of multiple elements, including travel by land, strange encounters, and, of course, conflicts that could result in combat. It is obviously designed for beginner players and Mediators to explain the rules as they play, without creating confusion. You can choose one of the pre-generated characters that are varied enough to grant very different backgrounds and provide useful plot resolution skills.
The Elephant And Macaw Banner‘s Materials and Design
The choice of the layout of this volume is quite classic. All the text flows in two columns with a good margin and a font size that allows a quick and fluid reading.
The artistic component is very interesting and certainly adequate to the glossy and thick paper used. The illustrations are not bulky but accompany the text well, emphasizing, rather than overpowering, the rules or the narrative.
Usual information boxes are present to recall the rules but, also in this case, they are easy to read and well integrated into the layout; in short, they do not give an unpleasant filling sensation.
I admit that I don’t particularly like glossy pages, with bad lighting they can make reading difficult. All the product is of high quality and, despite the soft cover, it is certainly made to last for countless sessions and to pass in several hands.
Conclusions of The Elephant And Macaw Banner Review
I was pleasantly surprised by this manual that I had heard very little about.
The whole work shows the author’s passion for the territory and history; the deep desire to bring new players is evident, even and above all in school age. Also in this sense, The Elephant And Macaw Banner can be an excellent manual to approach the role-playing game, both for the players and for the Mediators.
If you enjoyed this review of The Elephant And Macaw Banner, stay tuned for more RPGs!
Before starting my review of Be Like a Crow, I’d like to ask you a question; have you ever dreamed of being a crow? To be able to fly as a creature that has always been linked to the spiritual world and magic? Well, Be Like A Crow, the solo game written by Tim Roberts and published by Critical Kit, offers this opportunity to anyone who wants to build a personalized and potentially infinite story in the role of a very particular bird.
Before going into the exploration of this journaling game, I would like to thank first of all the author who sent us not only the manual, but also the deck of themed cards. He was so kind and added a personal dedication to the package; you can see it in the images included in this review and this is a preview of the care for this product.
In case you are interested, the volume costs £ 12.99 (about € 15) in its physical copy and £ 6 (about € 7) in the digital version and can be purchased on the English website of the publisher. It is also possible to download the character sheet for free as well as the maps of all the scenarios available. In addition, the diary to keep track of your adventures and the deck of themed cards are available for £ 10 (about € 12).
The Be Like A Crow Game Concept
Be Like A Crow is a single player TTRPG that lets you fly like a corvid. You hover across various landscapes (of different genres) to achieve your personal goals, explore, learn and grow older.
The concept of this journaling game is certainly unusual and intelligent enough to place the player in a peculiar context, very different from any other roleplaying game; it lets you live events in a very original way, letting you experience the game from a bird’s perspective.
Four Characters
But keep in mind that Be Like a Crow is not a role-playing game about anthropomorphic birds. The player explores the game world and live the experiences of a real bird. So the story starts from youth and continues until old age. The manual presents five birds of the corvid species: the Rook, the Carrion Crow, the Magpie, the Raven, and the Jackdaw.
Each corvid is defined by its size and its life habits: nesting, diet, physical characteristics, and the habitat in which it lives. For the mechanics of the game, each type of corvid starts with a certain specializations in different skills. Skills are divided into four macro categories: Travel and Exploration, Social Interaction, Tools and Rituals, and Combat. Each macro category is made up of four specific skills; each corvid starts with a different skill points as perfectly indicated in the Characters and Settings section.
Six Settings
The versatility of Be Lile A Crow, however, is not limited to the choice of the type of character that you can play. In fact, six different settings are included in this beautiful manual of only 90 pages. You can find classic fantasy, gothic and steampunk, ranging in different genres and potentially infinitely vast worlds. Otherwise, you can choose to face the most difficult role for these birds: to be the raven, the symbol of the British monarchy in the Tower of London.
You can then choose to explore a high fantasy world flitting between gods and monsters or to delve into a gothic landscape full of castles and cemeteries and befriend vampires and other supernatural inhabitants instead of humans. If such a context weren’t intriguing, Clockwork Corvid takes the game to a steampunk setting where humans have gained the ability to fly thanks to metal machines. Cyber-crow offers players the chance to increase their own natural skills with technology, serving as surveillance and weapon for humans.
But the ones that I liked the most are the two locations unlocked by the Kickstarter campaign: the Tower of London and the modern environment of Urban Crow.
The Maps of the Settings
Each proposed setting is accompanied by a specific map. Tim relied on well-known artist and software: Dyson Logos and Inkarnate. The result is perfectly integrated into the context and enriches the volume and the scenarios presented with beautiful colors. If the actual playability of this type of map worries you, visit the Critical Kit store. The maps as well as the character sheet of our favorite corvid can be downloaded for free.
How to Approach the Crow’s Life
Starting from the assumption that it is a journaling game (therefore a game designed to build a travel diary of your character), I also want to analyze the game mechanics.
The Be Like a Crow, as we see in this review, requires a deck of rummy cards. Players draw cards to generate random events in the chosen setting, comparing the result with the related practical table.
Players try to complete random objectives by exploring the world and collecting items, communicating with other birds, developing a relationship with humans and engaging in beak and claw fights when needed.
Be Like A Crow Game System Review
Be Like a Crow‘s mechanics are pretty simple. It uses a standard deck of playing cards and when a player wants her corvid to take an action, she draws a card from the deck. The value obtained defines the type of difficulty of the activity. To see if the character succeeds, she draws another card and adds the value of the appropriate ability to the value of the card drawn. If the result is equal to or greater than the value of difficulties, the character is successful.
Each card has, for each setting, a convenient summary table by suit and value with its own conversion into game elements, divided by NPCs, locations, objectives, and items.
If a joker is drawn, it can be used immediately or kept for a later time. In the latter case, it can be used to automatically pass a combat or skill check, for healing wounds, or to discard a card and draw again.
In the event of a fight, you need to draw a card for each opponent, add the value of the appropriate skill and compare the total of the cards and skills. The highest total wins the round and inflicts a wound. Eventually, when the deck is exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new deck for use.
Be Like a Crow Materials
As I happen to verify more and more often, small does not mean poor quality. Be Like a Crow is a perfect example of practicality and extreme care. The manual is in A5 format and consists of about 90 pages, not exactly pocket-sized but certainly easily transportable. The paper is glossy and the print quality is absolutely remarkable. Everything in this product denotes care and love: from the choice of the layout to the graphics. The only flaw is maybe the binding. The product is so beautiful that you want to browse it again and again and not just to check the results of the game options given by the cards; however, the impression one gets in handling it is that it can be ruined by careless use.
The deck of cards with dedicated illustrations is undoubtedly the perfect accessory to this solo game. The illustrations created by Khius, who gave the corvids feathers and soul, are wonderful. Also in this case, the quality is undoubted, the cards are thick and at the same time manageable. The glossy paper slips well between the fingers and does not leave the impression of a not very durable product.
Be Like a Crow Review Conclusions
As can be seen from this review, Be Like A Crow is much more than a pleasant surprise. The author himself declares that he wanted to make this game for himself and I understand perfectly why. It is a transversal product and not just playful. The structure makes it perfect as a starting point for the drafting of a story if not a comic and has the potential to allow an almost unlimited narrative duration. Practical and easy to handle, it has almost limitless potential as well as an aesthetic that makes it a beautiful manual to own.
So, ready to take flight?
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Enchanted by the elegant and mysterious pages of Vaesen Mythic Britain & Ireland, we had the wonderful opportunity to exchange a few words and bring you this interview with Graeme Davis, the author of this magnificent expansion and a well-known British game designer.
Graeme is a renowned author who has written numerous role-playing games, including the iconic The Enemy Within campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. He has also contributed to Colonial Gothic, Vampire: The Masquerade, and video games like the Total War series.
In this interview, however, let’s find out what Graeme Davis had to say to us about Vaesen Mythic Britain & Ireland!
Your career began with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay; you took part in creating games that belong to the cultural background of most RPG players in the world. You recently produced, along with other great authors, The Well of Bones, a new setting for “all fantasy RPGs”. What was the approach to Vaesen Mythic Britain & Ireland? And what of your previous works was most useful to you in writing Mythic Britain & Ireland?
Well, I took something I’ve been obsessed with for years and wrote a roleplaying supplement about it. Is that an approach? I’m not sure. I’d done the same with my historical sourcebooks (AD&D HR3 Celts Campaign Sourcebook, GURPS Vikings, GURPS Middle Ages 1, d20 Mythic Vistas: Eternal Rome), but the closest in subject matter would be GURPS Faerie. Honestly, though, my folklore reference library did more of the heavy lifting than any previous roleplaying work. I included a short bibliography in Mythic Britain & Ireland.
Where did the idea of expanding Vaesen‘s world to these new territories come from? Was it the Free League that contacted you with this idea or did you propose it to them?
It was my idea. As soon as I saw Vaesen, I recognized it as something I’ve been trying to do, in various forms, for most of my career. The published work that came closest was probably GURPS Faerie, but Vaesen was such a perfect fit that Iabsolutely had to do a Britain and Ireland sourcebook. That’s what I told Free League, anyway, and I’m very glad that they believed me!
The bibliography at the end of the manual is really well supplied; what are the texts and / or games and / or other works that inspired you the most?
Medieval bestiaries are always fun, but I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from films over the years. It started with the Hammer horror films of the 1960s and 70s, most of which were set in the 19th century, but in recent years I’ve noticed a wave of folklore and folk horror building in the zeitgeist, from the Nicholas Cage remake of The Wicker Man to Troll Hunter (itself not a million miles from The Blair Witch Project), to TV shows like Grimm and Sleepy Hollow that have included elements of folklore, and so on.
What is the main news in the manual? Is there something particularly “revolutionary” or something that is particularly important to you?
I’m the wrong person to ask, because the idea for the book has been in my mind for decades-it just wasn’t for Vaesen until recently-so which ideas are new and revolutionary I’m not quite sure. Certainly my main goal was to give decent coverage of material from Britain and Ireland rather than to innovate. Vaesen gets it right, I think, and there’s no reason to mess with success!
The manual mentions the presence of Sherlock Holmes and other characters belonging to English literature, not included in the core rulebook; why have you decided to introduce these nineteenth-century literature characters in addition to those of English folklore? Can these characters be used as NPCs? If so, what advice would you give to a narrator who wants to exploit them?
There is so much that is iconic about a setting in 19th-century Britain and Ireland – and especially Victorian London – that it would have been a crime not to mention Holmes and the others. And because I have a particular love of interweaving fantasy with history, I had to drop names like Walsingham and John Dee into the deeper background. To a GM looking to use them, I’d say to trust your own judgment. If you feel that a particular character will work well as an NPC in a particular adventure, use them. Beware, though, of forcing a guest appearance simply for its own sake. Make sure everything serves the needs of the adventure. These NPCs are not going anywhere, and with a little patience you’ll find the right time and place to use them.
How was choosing which creatures to use and which ones to discard? Did you want to avoid repetitions with the core rulebook in terms of monster design?
Repetition was definitely a concern, so creatures that were close to those in the core rulebook – and there were many, because the Anglo-Saxons came from Scandinavia originally and the Vikings colonized large areas of England, Scotland, and Ireland – were covered in a summary format that focused on the distinctive differences. Johan Egerkrans and I had a long discussion about which creatures should receive a full treatment, based on which ones would make the best images as well as offering the most to the GM.
Reading the manual we noticed that a very careful job has been done in linking fantastic elements to real history; was the help of an external historical consultant asked?
I’m a history geek and an archaeology graduate, so I served as my own historical consultant. We got some very good feedback from playtesters, though, especially in Ireland, where the history is not always clear-cut (especially to someone like me who learned it in English schools!) and deserves to be treated with care and respect.
The differences between the two Societies are interesting, especially because of the different geopolitical context. Do you think a long campaign where the characters move between continents is possible?
I see no reason why it shouldn’t be. Having lived in the United States for the last 30-odd years, I’d love to see (or even write) a Mythic North America sourcebook. The 19th century was, in many ways, the time when intercontinental travel first became feasible.
Are there any other collaborations with Free League in your future? Are you already working on something else?
Not at the moment, although I have been publishing a few creatures on DriveThruRPG through the Free League Workshop and I have a few proposals in to Free League awaiting their consideration.
We want to thank Graeme Davis once more for taking part in this interview, but keep in mind that this is not his only current project. In fact, he has his own independent publishing company, Rookery Publication, through which he has collaborated with Andy Law, Mark Gibbons, Andy Leask, and Lindsay Law to publish adventures and supplements for any system. As of right now, they are working on a large, multi-part campaign and city setting that can be incorporated into just about any fantasy world and be played using any rule set.
This is our review The Haunting of Eliuska Manor, an adventure written by Michael Bielaczyc and Dane Clark Collins, whom we thank for sending us a physical copy of the manual. The adventure is designed to be inserted in a campaign set in the world of Dark Return. This scenario is suitable for 4-6 players from the fourth to the sixth level. The game system is SagaBorn (which we have already talked about in our previous review), created as a simplified system of the famous D20 System; designed to be lean and efficient, it aims to encourage storytelling rather than getting lost in the rule books.
This volume, just over 40 hardcover pages, is available onDriveThruRPG in both digital and physical hardcover versions. The price varies according to the edition and ranges from 10 dollars (about 9 euros) for the digital version to 35 dollars (about 33 euros) for the version with the hardcover.
The Dark Return is a gothic fantasy setting whose events take place in the lands of Atheles; it mixes characters from popular fantasy scenarios (like Forgotten Realms and Middle-earth) with dark fairy tales, horror stories, and Lovecraftian creatures.
Review of the Structure of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor
The haunted house is a classic theme with an investigative flavor and this adventure does not stray too far from the canon it refers to. It is a classic dungeon in which exploration proceeds step by step, allowing you to visit the entire Eliuska manor.
Each room is represented by a specific number (which can be found on the maps), encounters, and treasures. From this point of view, The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is an adventure with a soft and smart approach; the DM is not forced to go back and forth between the pages to look for what he needs to present the challenges. Even the plot hooks and the background of the adventure are explicit and detailed; this is a great help if you want to focus the adventure on the mysterious tone and gothic atmosphere.
The Game System
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is based on the SagaBorn game system; this is a simplified version of the more famous D&D and offers 8 levels, 7 Races, 8 playable Classes and 9 Skills.
The available Classes are strictly functional to the setting. Among the martial ones, in addition to the Warrior and the Barbarian, you can choose the Archeon, or the guardian of the magicians. The magical ones include the Bard, the Wylder (a kind of wild magician), and the Luminar (the academic magician); the last ones are Scout and the Rogue.
Among the Races, in addition to the most well-known and classic Humans, Dwarves and Elves, there are also Half-dwarves, Satyrs, and Elflings; of course, they are all races from Atheles, the continent of the Dark Return setting.
The Adventure
In order to complete the adventure, it is not necessary to face the whole manor; however, for a complete experience and to be able to obtain all the treasures, I suggest to proceed calmly and, as in most of dungeons, pay particular attention to where you put your feet. The rooms are presented in numerical order; for each, there is a piece of text to paraphrase to the players, a piece of context explanation for the DM, monsters and treasures; this approach is very classic, almost dated if we think about latest games.
Even though it is well structured also in terms of layout, one gets the impression that the choice of the two columns on which to develop the text is, in fact, counterproductive in the long run.
The adventure takes up about a third of the entire volume.
Monsters and Creatures
The bestiary of the manual The Haunting of Eliuska Manor occupies 12 pages, introducing 5 NPCs and 12 monstrous creatures; it’s basically a menagerie!
It must be said that with such a high number of possible encounters, you can take inspiration for other adventures to be set in Dark Return.
Graphics and Artwork
The graphic style of the creatures is suited to the context of the adventure. However, the aesthetic rendering and the printing quality is not proper for the authors’ work.
Thee maps of the physical manual are far too small to be playable; they are also extremely dark, to the point of making the details almost undistinguishable, even if they are very important in an exploratory adventure. This problem can be solved by purchasing the maps in digital format separately.
Conclusions of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor Review
The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is a well-thought-out adventure that lacks in its physical version. In my opinion, an excessive number of blank pages, designed for the notes of the DM and the poor print quality do not justify the price of the hard copy.
Since otherwise, the product is pleasant and functional (although classic), my advice is to buy the digital maps as well; alternatively, you can opt for a digital copy and, obviously, for purchasing the maps separately too.
If you enjoyed this review of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor, stay tuned for more SagaBorn products!
This is our review of Partners, a role-playing game for two players (but nothing prevents us from expanding the group up to 6 participants) inspired by the crime series of the 80s. Published by Tin Star Games, it comes from the prolific pen of Steve Dee, who was so kind to send us a copy.
The manual can be purchased here in digital version at the price of 20 Australian dollars (about 15 euros) or in the physical copy on the website of the publisher at the price of 50 Australian dollars (about 35 euros).
The author describes the game as a love letter to the crime TV series of those years when the case to be solved was almost a justification for exploring the dynamics between the characters. Just like in a crime-related TV series, in fact, each Partners session focuses on a mystery to be faced in order to keep one’s job and obtain the trust of the boss.
Reading the manual, series like Moonlighting or Warehouse 13 came to my mind. However, nothing prevents you from imagining science fiction scenarios like those presented in Killjoys or modern re-editions of great classics such as the well-known Sherlock.
Partners Setting Review
Partners, as we’ll see in this review, doesn’t have its own setting. However, the game makes a very clear reference to a certain television and film genre: that of the crime investigation. The game setting can therefore be a modern city, Victorian England, a lunar colony, a city with a gateway to hell; practically anything you want to play within the specific genre of crime investigation.
Dynamics of the Couple
In Partners, players are encouraged to create characters that clash with each other. The protagonists’ approaches to work or to human relationships are so mismatched that they inevitably argue.
This approach may perhaps scare you at first; we guarantee you, however, that it takes just a little time to find the perfect affinity between the characters and embark on long and very interesting sessions to solve, side by side, one case after another.
The Game System
Partners‘ ruleset is dynamic; the two players talk to each other, bouncing their ideas on the case, draw cards and use random name generators, reworking the information to solve the riddle they face.
So it is a game that, in its original form, does not involve the presence of a narrator. The players draw a series of random cards that gradually generate the session case. Each new card drawn can reveal potential suspected people or clues for characters to consider. By following the hints provided by the deck of cards, players can visit the key locations of the investigation and the police station to find the next clue and follow a new lead.
You also need a deck of cards to play. Many times during the sessions you will discover clues and new leads by drawing from the deck and comparing the card with practical tables. If the cards weren’t enough, you can also use a random word generator to add absolutely random clues.
Every time the story proceeds, one or more cards will be drawn to provide clues and possible suspected people. This does not exclude that, instead, scenes related to the private life of the two detectives can be added, so as to create secondary plots. For example, a scene might be centered around a dialogue between a subordinate and his superior without either of the protagonists being on stage. If instead you decide to create a stronger secondary storyline, each secondary scene could be linked to reveal how one of the two investigators deals with a problem in her personal life.
Review of the Partners Handbook and Its Aesthetics
Those accustomed to huge manuals full of glossy illustrations will find themselves stunned by the Partners manual. The volume has just over 130 pages in paperback format and seems much smaller than a roleplaying manual. This shape, as we will see in this review, has the undoubted advantage of being easily transportable.
Its dimensions, however, should not be misleading. Everything in this manual is precise and perfectly consistent. Particularly noteworthy is the “old-style” cover; the binding is solid and allows you to consult it without the risk of ruining it.
The illustrations by Kristopher Neal McClanahan are very themed and give the text the right retro style; this effect is made even more evident by the fake coffee stains spread throughout the volume.
Characters Creation in Partners
Partners is designed not only to be played by two players but also to simulate certain couple dynamics typical of a crime TV series. The two protagonists in fact have a specific and sometimes stereotyped denomination. If you’ve seen the Lethal Weapon movie series, the similarities will be immediately recognizable. Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover, is the understanding policeman, the law-abiding and empathic one, in the game called Straight Shooter. Martin Riggs, played by Mel Gibson, is instead the reckless, slightly crazy character, the one always over the top, in the game called Wild Card.
A TV series or a crime movie, however, has a good number of supporting actors, therefore the two players generate a total of six characters. They begin by deciding who will play the Straight Shooter and who will play the Wild Card. Once the character has been chosen, the dedicated sheet must be filled out by answering the questions concerning her. Only afterward you will compare these notes to mix everything in a consistent way. This is followed by the generation of four supporting actors to be distributed among the two players or among any guests.
These supporting actors can help or hinder the characters in solving cases. Typical examples of supporting actors are the district chief, the ballistics expert, and the forensics technician. Once the cast and crew are ready, it is time to start the case.
Building a Case
The construction of the case is completely random; the players extract cards from the deck, an operation that must be repeated every time the story unfolds. In this way they create, by drawing one card at a time, a victim and the list of possible suspected people. In this sense, the manual provides a series of very useful tables for deciding randomly how the events unfolded. So most of the focus stays on the detectives.
Each case unfolds through different scenes that serve to reveal information and details about the various suspected people. So many elements are discovered: in what relationship they were with the victim, any secrets among them, if there were any diatribes and the possible causes of conflict. As the case progresses, more cards are drawn to determine, based on the reference on the table, what suspected person is at the center of the scene and what clues are revealed. For each episode (making a comparison, a game session can be attributed to one episode of a TV series) up to a dozen investigative scenes are provided.
Conclusions of Partners Review
As we’ve seen in this review, Partners was designed to satisfy everyone: experienced RPG players, mystery writers and beginners who love the detective genre. Partners is the perfect game for anyone who is never tired of solving mysteries and bickering along the way as only a movie couple can do.
It is an excellent product, with undoubted advantages linked to the small size of the manual; it is great for one-shots or even toface entire investigative seasons, just like our favorite crime series.
If you liked this Partners review, stay tuned for more RPGs!
Before starting this review of the new edition of City of Mist, I would like to thank Isola Illyon who provided us with a copy of this wonderful product and its exclusive accessories that you can find in their store. The Player’s Guide has a price absolutely in line with the market, it is in fact available at a price of 40 euros while the Master Ceremony screen costs 25 euros.
City of Mist isa game based on the PbtA system (Powered by the Apocalypse). This game system, created by Vincent Baker in 2010, gives more importance to the interaction and storytelling of the players by relegating the dice rolls to a secondary role. This allows the game to fully exploit the noir and mystical setting, the strong point of this product. So this game system leaves a lot of room for the undoubtedly most charming aspect of this title: the setting.
Sources and Inspirations
CIty of Myst takes something from both noir genres and graphic novels like Sin City and floods them with color. In fact, within the Player’s Guide each section is visually presented with several illustrations that tell the story of Detective Farrah Enkidu, the character who accompanies the reader in understanding the setting of this admirable work.
City of Mist doesn’t stop there, however, as we’ll find out in this review. In fact, we are talking about a game that is difficult to ascribe to a particular genre; even the term noir in fact does not quite fit this RPG that takes inspiration from urban fantasy, investigative and superheroes.
The specific mood is entirely defined by the Master of Ceremonies, the term used to refer to the master, and to the game group that can modulate it according to their preferences.
City of Mist Setting
As we will see in this review, the setting of City of Mist starts from the assumption that the protagonists are ordinary people who carry the spirit of a Legend called Mythos within themselves. The “Mist” of the title, however, envelops everything and keeps people in a state of sleep compared to the reality in which they live. It is not an atmospheric phenomenon, but a real metaphysical veil that hides the true and extraordinary phenomena from the eyes of the Sleepers.
The Mist, therefore, alters perception and transforms weird phenomena into rational explanations; above all, it pushes people to forget any event out of the ordinary that they have witnessed. When a traumatic event breaks through the Mist, a person can, for a single moment, see reality as it is or, as in the case of the PCs, Awaken.
The veil of the Mist, therefore, hides things behind a familiar aspect and makes everyone forget what wonders and horrors lie beyond the appearance of the usual City. The only ones who can see beyond the Mist are the Rifts, people touched during their lifetime by a mystical force, which awakens the Mythos. It does not matter if this entity is Odin or Don Quixote, the spirit of Excalibur, or that of the Philosopher’s Stone.
All the other inhabitants of the city, unaware of what lies beyond the Mist, are called Sleepers; those who discover supernatural powers within themselves upon awakening are referred to as theRifts. These extraordinary gifts, these exceptional powers are granted to the characters by entities, or Mythos, ideas or characters and objects that are legendary or so popular that they have become part of the common culture.
Themes, Attributes, and Conflicts
The characters, therefore, are in constant conflict; their common life, called Logos, could not get along with the mythical and supernatural powers. This relationship between the “common” themes, such as the character’s profession or his family, and the Mythos, which is everything that directly concerns the Legend that the character hosts, represents the center of the narrative and dynamics of the game.
If the characters neglect their Mythos for too long, devoting themselves to their daily life, this will gradually lose its power until the character returns to be a Sleeper. On the other hand, if they let themselves be carried too much by the mythical component, neglecting their Logos, they will detach themselves more and more from being human to become the Avatar of the Mythos that they represent.
The Player’s Guide
In this new edition, the City of Mist Player’s Guide looks amazing: 304 full-color pages and solid hardcover. Embellished with notable illustrations, it reveals particular attention to readers thanks to boxes, side paragraphs, and text excerpts highlighted in different colors. These subdivisions, with specific functions, serve to capture the attention and facilitate reading all the paragraphs.
The volume is written and structured in such a way that the consultation is really simple. All the parts dedicated to the rules are summarized in the yellow-colored pages. Player’s Guide is divided into four parts: the first dedicated to the City and the Mist; the second reserved for character and group creation; the third to the rules of the game and the fourth for character growth.
If we really wanted to make a note, a bookmark would have been appreciated so that we could keep the mark when looking for references or notes.
The PbtA Game System
City of Mist uses the well-known Powered by the Apocalypse game system, extremely linked to the narration and the description of the actions performed by the characters. The shared narrative, therefore, becomes fundamental while the roll of the dice is limited to the minimum necessary. For those unfamiliar with this system, note that it uses themes rather than races or classes, for example.
When the player needs to make a check, he rolls two six-sided dice. The Power that the character intends to use must be added to the result of the die; the character’s Weakness instead has to be subtracted. If the final result is between 7 and 9, a partial success will be obtained; if the result is 10 or more, the success will be complete; any value obtained below 7 is instead a failure. To complete the mechanics of the tests, the Core Moves chosen by the players and the Statuses eventually assigned by the Master of Ceremony must be considered.
Character Creation
The creation of the characters, which requires a dedicated session 0, takes place through the choice of 16 attributes and 4 questions or affirmations. In City of Mist, as we will see in this review, there isn’t a classical character sheet; in its place,there is a series of cards to be filled in, both on the front and on the back; one for the character and one for each of the 4 themes.
First of all, the Mythos and the Logos of the character must be chosen: the first determine what is the concept that lies within the character and what powers obtain; the second describes instead the job that the character does in his everyday life. By answering a series of questions, four themes must then be identified, two related to Mythos and two related to the Logos. These Themes describe the legendary powers or everyday life of a Rift. Each theme has a dedicated card to be filled in; for each of them, it is necessary to indicate a weakness or limitation and a strong point, a Mystery, or an Identity that motivates the character to act.
However, the character in City of Mistis not a crystallized and immutable entity. In fact, during the game, a Rift could lose a Logos Theme and replace it with a Mythos. This happens when she feels a greater commitment to her mythical side. On the contrary, it may also happen that she loses a Mythos Theme to replace it with a new Logos theme. This possibility indicates a momentary greater attachment to one’s daily life.
Team Creation in City of Mist
The creation of the Team is one of the fundamental components of the story in City of Mist. This is a stage to be completed when all the characters have been completed and the Theme Cards have been filled in. The Team Theme represents the shared elements, such as the team values and its weaknesses. Just like the other Themes, this is made up of three Attributes of strength, an Attribute of weaknesses, and a Mystery or Identity. Moreover also for the creation of the group, there is a questionnaire that serves to detail the characteristics and dynamics of the characters.
Again, just as with the characters, the Player’s Guide provides a series of quick themes. Thus, it allows to speed up the creation phase which risks becoming very long and discouraging for all those who are not used to this type of dynamic.
Additional materials
Along with the Player’s Guide, Illyon Island sent us some very important additional material. These are essential accessories if you want to fully enjoy the game experience.
With this edition of City of Mist, a beautiful Master of Ceremonies’s screen was released. This colorful master screen is divided into three sides of extremely sturdy cardboard and offers a perfect synthesis of the rules and moves available to the characters.
There are also two exclusive12-sided dice, with double numbering from 1 to 6; a “Mysterious Amethyst” Mythos die and a “Daily Blood” Logos die. Playing with dedicated dice is always special!
Review of Two New Districts of City of Mist
To expand and embellish the setting of City of Mist, two new districts have been added: La Colonia de Sombras and The Undertrash. Both modules consist of about ten richly illustrated pages with suggestions for introducing the districts in the cases faced by the group. They are complete with detailed descriptions of the locations and also include NPCs that can be encountered during the investigation.
La Colonia is a lively district of immigrants of Latin origins. The Underground, on the other hand, is a violent, cold, dark, and often merciless place. Two different districts, two specific moods for those who intend to expand the narrative possibilities of the city or even just to guarantee new ideas for their adventures.
Conclusions of the City of Mist Review
As can be noticed from this review, City of Myst is an undoubted high-quality product. The editorial line, always coherent in terms of aesthetics and contents, satisfies the eye and teases the imagination.
The game is particularly suitable for those who are not afraid of engaging in a narrative thread that takes up more than one evening. In any case, it can give, with the right group, unforgettable stories that range from noir to urban fantasy. The setting is certainly fascinating even if such a narrative dynamic (and the need for at least one preparation session) might discourage the less accustomed. Undoubtedly, this new edition of City of Mist is a valuable piece that you absolutely must have if you want to approach the PbtA system.
If you enjoyed this City of Mist review, stay tuned for more RPGs!
A few months after our preview, we now deal with the full review of Shiver: the RPG written by Charlie Menzies and Barney Menzies, illustrated by Ben Alexander, and published by Parable Games. Hold on tight, we’re about to get a full thrill.
The game is currently available for purchase in PDF format on DriveThruRPG at a cost of $19.69. On the same website, you can find the quickstart and a collection of short adventures. The material available has that eye-catching, slightly cartoonish, and slightly graffitied graphics already seen at launch, an essential and absolutely engaging style.
But let’s see together, after a promising crowdfunding campaign, what has come to the actual production. This review of Shiver was born not only because after reading and trying it I was fascinated; but also because the project did not stop at this first success but landed again on Kickstarter with the first full-fledged gothic-themed setting.
Collecting another undoubted success, a sign that the horror genre is far from being dead and buried.
la copertina di Shiver
Review of the Corebook of Shiver
As we will see in this review, Shiver is essentially a game system that allows you to build horror stories, inspired by movies or TV series, starting from the characters that the group decides to play. With this manual, it is possible to create infinite stories in as many different settings.
It consists of 224 color pages, densely illustrated with a captivating and recognizable style. Colors, among which black stands out, are mainly cold and each segment of the volume is characterized by dominant color, in order to guide the reader in the rapid and practical construction of the characters and the adventure.
The core book is divided into four sections:Welcome to Shiver, Building a Character, the Director, and an adventure-ready to play: Corporate Risers.
Shiver doesn’t have a real setting so it is extremely malleable and can adapt to any weird and mysterious storyline you want to build.
As we’ll see in this review, character creation in Shiver is intuitive. Like many other modern games, this phase is smooth thanks to the use of Archetypes that act as a skeleton for the construction of the heroes.
Skills, Talents but above all Dice
Shiver‘s game system is based on the management of six fundamental Skills: Grit, Wit, Smarts, Heart, Luck, and Strange. The highest Skill indicates which archetype the character belongs to. Basic Skills are closely related to the actions that can be taken by the characters and their approach to the story.
abilities and symbols
Each Skill is also linked to a specific symbol represented on the six-sided die that is used to roll the tests.
Shiver actually uses two types of unique dice. The d6 with the symbols of Skills and the d8 for Talents. The Talent die, however, only has two symbols imprinted. One symbol represents the Talents, a five-pointed star, and the other the Strange.
When rolled, the star counts as the symbol of the required Skill (other than Strange); it contributes, with one or more successes, to any other effect exactly as if it were a symbol of the Skill put into play. The Strange symbols on the Talent die, however, count as successes in a Strange check.
The dice for playing Shiver can still be purchased on Gamefound; however, there is a handy conversion on the core book that explains how to use the classic dice; alternatively, you can use an online dice roller created by Parable Game.
The Doom Clock
Failing a test in Shiver, as we have seen in this review, can have terrible consequences. If a player does not obtain the sufficient number of symbols required to pass the test, he will not be able to complete the action taken.
In case of a failed check, count the number of Strange symbols on the dice; for each of them, the Doom Clock is advanced by one minute, effectively increasing the tension within the game.
The consequences are therefore visually represented on the Doom Clock so that they are available to the whole table. It is a sort ofanalog clock divided into four quadrants; they fill up following the failure of certain tests or certain actions in play.
In each story, the narrator (here referred to as the Director) defines four Destiny Eventsthat will be unleashed as each segment of the Clock is filled. These four cornerstones serve to make the tension within the story constant and growing.
doom clock
Character Creation
The eye-catching graphics and use of symbols make the character sheet particularly intuitive. Its filling follows a series of guided steps that take just a few minutes.
The first step is choosing the Archetype of the character. A canvas that is perfectly adaptable to any setting and any historical period. The core book offers a total of 7: the Warrior, the Maverick, the Scholar, the Socialite, the Fool, the Weird, and the Survivor.
Each archetype, with the exception of the Survivor, has a preponderant linked Skill where you can assign the highest value, which is 5.
This number is the amount of dice to roll when testing that specific Skill. The other Skills must all have a value of 3 except for the one that is considered the weak point of the character; it will be assigned a value of 2.
To complete the form correctly, just add the equipment, the description of the chosen Abilities, and the character’s Flaws.
The Archetype Trees
The level indicates the progression of the character and how many Ability Points she can spend in the Ability Tree of her Archetype. Each character therefore progresses in a unique way, allowing for an almost infinite variety of builds to play.
The maximum Character Level a character can reach in Shiver is 15.
The Lifeline, present immediately below the Skills, represents the physical and mental conditions of the character. Each wound or trauma received lowers the character’s health level, until the character dies. In order to protect themselves, however, each protagonist can wear armors.
If your character is wearing a piece of armorand is hit by an attack, roll s single Skill die for each armor slot it occupies. On a Luck symbol, the damage taken from the attack is reduced by 1 and the armor remains undamaged. If it’s a Strange symbol, damage taken from the attack is reduced by 1 but the armor gains one wound. On any other symbol, there is no effect, and damage is dealt to you as normal.
Shiver: Review of the Tools for the Director
As we have already seen in this review, Shiver offers the opportunity to play in any setting or historical period, without limitations of any kind. With this nearly limitless number of possible game worlds, the Director has an unlimited arsenal of possible equipment to assign to characters.
Each setting has its own limitations in terms of consistency and the core book provides handy tables for adapting objects and weapons with fitting and timely examples. To help the Director there are numerous weapon tabs, so you can cross space and time and get the best of each story.
Even the Enemies have their own creation process and Shiver offers a practical and functional sequence to guarantee the right villain for each adventure. Lazy Directors also have a list of archetypes for their enemies.
The Atmosphere ofShiver
Shiver proves to be an interesting and extremely versatile game. The atmosphere is undoubtedly one of the main elements in this type of game and the core book itself provides a number of tools to help the Director.
There are no winners or losers in Shiver, in fact only the story and how it proceeds according to the choices of the characters matters. The aim is to create and play a scary and emotional story.
Just like in a horror movie, in fact, the characters will have to group together to be able to survive adverse events whether it is dark forces at work, terrifying monsters or disturbing mysteries to be solved.
Sometimes the characters will be able to survive and defeat the evil that is afflicting the city, at other times they can all die and the story will end in a more gloomy way.
You may not always get the ending you want, but if everyone is enjoying the adventure and having a memorable experience then it will be worth it.
Conclusions of the Review of Shiver
After reading the manual and having tested Shiver, I can conclude this review by confirming that it is a very versatile game. The quality of the final product is outstanding and the success of the new project confirms our general impression.
There are, however, a couple of details I want to focus on.
Although the themes proposed by the game are evident from the title, Shiver could have had a paragraph dedicated to explaining how to manage it at the game table. In my opinion, this is an important detail, especially for less experienced masters and it is a real pity that there is not even a reference in this regard.
I would also have preferred to find at the end of the manual an adventure different from the one in the quickstart, so as to have another story ready to play.
If you enjoyed this review of Shiver, keep following us for more thrilling RPGs!
If you like Celtic mythology and you’re mad for the Arthurian myth, stay with me, you won’t regret it. In this review, we will have a close look at Legends of Avallen the Celtic-Roman-inspired tabletop RPG about humble townsfolk who rise up to become legends.
The game, conceived by Deren Ozturk, landed on the Kickstarter platform in September 2021 and has largely achieved the goal of the press thanks to its 581 supporters. Backers will then be able to enjoy the wonderful game manual, the artbook, and the deck of cards needed to play.
Legends of Avallen, the protagonist of this review, is available in physical version (with PDF included) in English on the Modiphius website on the Modiphius websiteat a price o 42,95 €.
The manual has more than 200 well-structured pages and has a very attractive graphic component. The incipit is, as in the more traditional ones, given by a particularly evocative story, which perfectly introduces the atmosphere of the setting.
Legends of Avallen – copertina
Legends of Avallen the Setting
As you will see in this review, the setting of Legends of Avallen is the beginning and the end of this game. Avallen is an island, the homeland of the Vallic, a population of the Iron Age, perpetually in conflict.
Vallic are divided into clans and they inhabit the different biomes of Avallen and worship the gods that permeate Nature. These gods, called Ever Ones, inhabit the Otherworld, a legendary place that exists parallel to Avallen. It serves as the final resting place for the spirits of the dead, but also as the birthplace of creatures of myth such as the dreaded Ffieidd-Dra (Feithe-Dra) and the tricksy Fae.
The island is crossed by magic as if it were a river in flood, powerful and fickle. An ordinary person would do well to avoid it but the Vallic have a particular affinity for spiritual magic that channels the natural forces of the Otherworld.
However, nature and mysticism are not the only elements in Avallen. The Raxian Empire landed on the island a generation ago with its buildings, taxes, and cultural oddities. Some Vallic clans welcomed the Empire while others united, putting aside internal rivalries, to oppose the invaders.
Raxians are very different from Vallic in their approach to magic as well. The Empire prefers logical and matter-related spells although some approach the Ever Ones with the desire to be able to attain the power of the Otherworld.
Core Rulebook
Legends of Avallen is structured organically and is particularly pleasant to scroll through. The colors chosen are actually relaxing even in the digital version; the illustrations are perfectly linked to the context, giving a mystical and magical aspect to the volume.
Scrolling through the text, one is immediately captivated by the quality of the product and the attention to the likelihood, starting with the linguistic note on the Welsh pronunciation. Strongly inspired by Celtic mythology, in particular by Welsh history and mythology, in the first pages you have the opportunity to try your hand at the perfect diction of the name of the island; Avallen is an old spelling of the legendary magical island of Avalon whose name is derived from the Welsh Ynys Afallon, meaning Isle of Apples.
The core rulebook is clearly divided into three parts, also in terms of color: the player’s codex, the rules codex, and the gamemaster’s codex; an absolutely functional division that guides the reader from the creation of the character to the development of the mechanics.
This part guarantees the possibility of building the plots and creatures with relative clashes thanks to practical tools and conceptual tables.
Game Tools
Like many other RPGs, Legends of Avallen also needs, in addition to the Rulebook, some additional tools. In addition to the character cards, a pencil, and an eraser, you need a deck of cards.
Each suit of the deck represents an important attribute of your character that can be tested when making a check. Red suits are physical attributes while black suits are mental attributes.
attributes
In Legends of Avallen your character begins with very little: the basic skill of your Profession and a pouch of coppers to your name. But as you venture across Avallen and have a hand in solving local problems, you will gain Levels of experience and new talents with them. After your profession, you will go on to select a base Class, and your skills will be opened to the arcane arts and martial styles.
Legends of Avallen – Character creation
Creating your character is split into four parts.
Choose your Profession School, giving you a starting ability and describing how you have made your way in Avallen so far.
Choose your ranks in the four Attributes, describing your initial strengths and weaknesses.
Describe your Personal Aspects, including your personality and what you value.
Decide your Origin, Name, and Appearance.
Your attributes begin at rank 0, which is average for a regular townsperson. You get to increase an attribute rank of your choice to 1, then decrease another rank of your choice to -1
Over the course of the adventures, with the growth of the character, it will be possible to reach +5 but never go below -1.
Personal Aspects
The Personal aspects describe what your character is like, how they behave, and what they value. Personal aspects consist of Motivation, Virtue, and Flaw. The choice can be made from a practical table following a single rule: you cannot choose a defect that is linked to the chosen Virtue. One cannot be Wise and Fool at the same time, for example.
For the choice of the origin of the character, the core provides an extended description of each clan on the island with physical characteristics, habits, predispositions, and a list of names to choose from. And yes, you can also choose to play one of the Raxian invaders.
character sheetcharacter sheet
Game Design
Going back to what was said at the beginning of this Legends of Avallen review, to play it you need to have a deck of cards, essential for solving the tests.
As many other games, the GM determines the difficulty of the test and the characteristics that must be used to overcome the obstacle. The character is tasked with describing how his equipment, characteristics, and other characters who may participate in the action grant him an Advantage. The possible opponent and the GM himself help define the Disadvantage.
When you make a check, you reveal the top card of the deck to determine the outcome of your action. Advantages and disadvantages cancel each other out one for one and it is necessary to draw a card for each advantage or disadvantage remaining. If the character has an advantage, he keeps the highest card, if he has a disadvantage, he keeps the lowest card.
Each card has its own value and the figures have a special score whose color determines whether their value is added or subtracted from that of the Attributes used.
Success and Failure
If the value of the card plus the attribute exceeds the difficulty rating, the action will be successful. Otherwise, it will fail. But be careful, if you get success with a face or with a card of the opposite color to that of the attribute used, success will be critical. If you fail using a figure, failure will be critical.
When you fail or critically succeed at a check, you earn an Edge. An Edge is a shift of momentum in your favor represented by a face-down card you take from the top of the deck and keep but do not look at. You can only keep one Edge at a time but can give extras you earn to allies without one.
Write an adventure in Legends of Avallen
With a world that is so interesting, magical, and historical at the same time, it can seem difficult to write an adventure that does not betray the poetic soul of Legends of Avallen.
Nothing could be more wrong, trust me. The Gamemaster’s Codex provides many tools starting with practical tables to be able to find the right ideas and the best dynamics for the characters to face.
one of the GM table
These pages are a real toolbox suitable for any kind of master, also with a large section of creatures that inhabit Avallen and Otherworld.
For the lazy ones or for those who paw at the idea of trying this wonderful game at the end of the manual, there is also a pre-made adventure, all to be played.
At the end of this review, we can say that Legends of Avallen is one of those games that cannot be missing not only in the libraries of fans of the myths of the British world between the second half of the IV and the first half of the III centuries BC. but also in those of all game lovers with a strong narrative component, a lean gameplay system, and buildable adventures.
If you enjoyed this Legends of Avallen review, we recommend that you continue to follow us to discover new RPGs!
Today we want to show you our review of Arcana Familia, the exoteric cyberpunk rpg with an intimistic soul. It must not be easy, with so many projects on the crowfounding’s websites, to reach the goal of editing, especially when there isn’t a high-sounding names behind. I was therefore happy to see that Arcana Familia, by a Game of Nerds, will reach the gamers community in a new revised and correct guise, with Walter Brocca‘s great artworks.
The game written and developed by Aurora Torchia and Marco Calesella, is available on the official website at a cost of € 14.00 in digital format and € 49.00 in the physical version.
The goal, therefore, with this campaign that ended successfully, was to create a new edition also in a printed version. In order to reach a wider audience. However let’s analyze this product, which will be soon in the hands of the backers. Arcana Familia is a game that blows you away, in a good way. Not only for the system, but also (and mostly) for the setting. Let’s see what this revised and corrected version contains.
Review of the Arcana Familia Setting
Arcana Familia‘s calendar has replaced our AD with the acronym AA, which stands for After Advent or the advent of The One Who Has Many Names which represents the year 0 AA.
It’s the 153 AA: a version of our future not so difficult to imagine. Everything is already decided. Men live their lives in vertical cities of glass and steel, lulled by alchemical technology inapparent order. Many tensions have led the world as we know it to progressively annihilate the smaller nations, crushed by economic speculation rather than a real war. Now, after more than a century from these unfortunate events, there is the Earth Union which, despite the name, includes only the old Europe and the whole North America.
An Enlightened King?
Under the leadership of Basileo, absolute and apparently immortal monarch, the confederation of states has only one religion, that of The One Who Has Many Names; this is the god who descended on Earth to offer humanity peace and tranquillity in exchange for the possibility to determining their own destiny.
The Order of Royal Art is its organized religion and its ministers, called Alchemists, are the perfect marriage between priests and scientists. These are men and women who control the lives of the rest of the population, guaranteeing their well-being and peace thanks to science mixed with theology.
The rest of the world outside the Earth Union is divided. The City, a region that includes the territories that were once Japan and Korea, lives in a neverending night because one day all lights went out and never came back on. Libra covers the entire African continent and it’s a holy land, consecrated to the Many Names. Violence and financial speculation are banished here. The Sentient, sentient machines called the First Sons by the Order, make sure that the laws are respected. India is the land of wonders where everybody is rich and spends his life hanging out with friends and having fun.
Strange Pacts and Dangerous Ties
Who are the Lost Children and who are the Aos? What is the Exchange that binds them? A Lost Child is a human being who, marginalized and rebellious, has seen the falsity of the world; he, therefore, decided to look beyond the calm and order offered by Basileo and the Earth Union. Lost Children are the ones who bargained an Exchange with an Aos, the contract with a creature that comes from a non-place, Wonderland, the sentient computer network.
Wonderland is a kingdom inaccessible to human beings unless they are in contact with the Nameless, the artificial intelligence that moves this bizarre and imaginative kingdom, divinity of Aos and Lost Children. .
This place grants power to bend reality and realize the fantasies it contains starting with its inhabitants; in fact these ones, the Aos, have no other way to get in touch with our world than through a Lost Child.
In this future, distant and very close at the same time, players can choose to play two different types of characters: Lost Children or Aos, closely interconnected by a pact that makes the first guests and the second symbiontes or, in another way of thinking, parasites.
The Exchange
This pact is the Exchange, an agreement between an Aos and a Lost Child that grants the latter immortality and a series of undeniable advantages like strength and speed out of the ordinary, as well as a fragment of Aos power so that the human can perform actions that go beyond natural limits.
In return, the Lost Child pays a price in blood; in fact, every time he activates a power granted by the Aos, a part of his blood is absorbed by Wonderland.
Each Aos is a creature in its own right and it is almost impossible to understand if they have common motives or goals as a whole or if eachvone works only for its own interests.
What we know is they are divided into extended “families” called Dynasties, all engaged in a mystical and political war that even the Lost Children struggle to understand; the only feature that all of them seem to have in common is an incompatibility with human technology.
Above this Exchange is the Arcana Familia, a secret organization that is part, at least nominally, of the army under the direct command of Basileo. A sort of paramilitary group that deals with bringing together, creating, and keeping under control all the Lost Children and their respective Aos.
The main seat of the Arcana Familia is London inside the Cathedral of St. Paul, but there are other smaller headquarters scattered for the whole Earth Union. It is interesting to note that there are no Lost Children registered outside the Earth Union, thus concentrating, on the one hand, much of the game in this region.
Arcana Familia and Duality
This relationship between Lost Child and Aos is somewhat reminiscent of the human/monster duality of Vampires. The manual proposes several approaches to manage this dynamic. In my opinion, the most interesting one is playing the Aos and its connected Lost Child by two different players. Arcana Familia thus allows to create interesting dynamics within the group, guaranteeing versatility and an interchange that is difficult to find in other games.
The development of the relationship given by the Exchange is one of the games main features. The interests of Aos and Lost Children can diverge significantly, but compromises must be reached in order to continue the plots.
Finally, the Aos, although nominally have complete control over the capacities and development of the Lost Children, still depend on them to interact with the material world.
As can be seen from this review, even in Arcana Familia, like in other games with similar theme, a certain level of depth is assumed in the plots and interactions at the table.
Characters in Arcana Familia
Therefore in Arcana Familia it’s possible to play two types of characters: the Lost Children and the Aos. Both types have a dedicated sheet that has as a preponderant part of the chosen role. Both sheets are graphically and conceptually very simple as well as being mirrored.
The player who plays a Lost Child will also have the management of another player’s AOS thus making the relationship dual. Charachter sheets are aesthetically very essential, also in this case conveying how refinement and depth are to be sought beyond mere scores.
le schede dei personaggi di Acana Familia
The System
Proceeding in the review, the Arcana Familia system is based on Blackjack; the players use a deck of poker cards called the Destiny Deck in place of dice.
A test whether it be a skill check or a fight is divided into several phases:
The Affirmation: The player declares the action and the GM indicates which Attributes and Skills should be considered for the test as well as the difficulty.
Shuffle and Initial Draw: the deck is shuffled and the top two cards are drawn randomly.
Next draw: one at a time as many cards are drawn as determined by the Attributes until the sum equals or exceeds the degree of difficulty without exceeding 21.
The choice to abandon the dice certainly gives the game dynamics a particular flavor. However, I had the impression that this choice is not an advantage for the immediacy of the results of the tests.
Conclusions of the Rewiev of Arcana Familia
As can be seen from this review, Arcana Familia is an interesting game. I hope it will not go unnoticed in the ever-growing multitudes of the most well-known productions.
Even if, in my opinion, the game system is a bit slow, I recommend that you download the quickstart and give a chance to a setting that can offer intense moments and interesting twists.
If you enjoyed this Arcana Familia review, stay tuned for more RPG!
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