Saturday, 27 December 2014

Crafting paper minis with Silvervine Games Paper Mini Maker

The Review

For a free product this is very nice. Open up this PDF (works only in Adobe Acrobat Reader), click on SCG logos and choose pictures. It automatically turns the back side picture upside down and scales the picture.

Finding pictures is easy! Google is your friend, and for example with searchterms like "D&D ROGUE" you quite easily find what you need. Just remember how use of pictures is or is not restricted.

It comes with two template sizes, normal and big for bigger monsters.

It is free and easy to use, but also there are some flaws.

There's lots of stuff on the page what only consumes precious ink. And with better arrangement there could have been even more space for few extra minis to fit the printable area. This is basically only thing that annoys me, a lot. Also you cannot save your minis for later printing. I can see several reasons why, for example that people cannot share their print-ready-minis with pictures you aren't supposed to work.

Worth trying, I say: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/85950/Silvervine-Games-Paper-Mini-Maker

Crafting!


On the left there's one dwarf already cut. Also cutting 1"x1" bases for minis from ordinary leftover cardboard.
Mini folded and ready to be glued on the base. Folding is easy thanks for the lines. That is a dwarven warrior. Background intentionally yellow for easy recognition.
Glued on the base but I don't understand why the paper base is 1"x2". Easy to trim, though.
Dwarf warriors and adventurers ready! I think these are Citadel Warhammer miniatures.
Also a good selection or rogues, thieves and other sneaky characters and fighters.
For the Labyrinth Lord evening I needed some undead giants for the good guys to fight with. Almost cut. These are bigger compared to normal characters.
Undead giant folded and ready to be glued together.
Pretty cool! In the background you see three first I created without photoshuupin' backgrounds off.
Sizes from left to right: Undead giant, human rogue, dwarf warrior. I think the size difference really does matter.
Player character and NPCs. From left to right: Derek The Wizardslayer, Cleric; Shakespeare, homunculus turnip parasite Magic-User; Amaro Utharo, Elf; Lore, Rogue; Elvar, human Fighter; Margesh Blackblood. Fighter. These guys are for Labyrinth Lord.
Where Is Margesh Blackblood? is a great adventure by: +Tim Shorts. Review.
Necromantic cultists and their boss Gurah on the front right.
Whole bunch of minis for one night's game!
Comparing sizes with an ordinary D20.
Because the undead giants attacked behind a mountain we needed to craft a mountain also. That's a 24 can beer box I first cut in half and the other half I cut in half in two uneven sizes. Then I arranged them from largest piece to smallest to a tower. Some tape to hold it together.
White filling paper for packaging is just like snowy mountain surface - in a paper mini world!
Ready!

Thursday, 25 December 2014

[Rules] How player characters might find items they need?

Simple rule. If player characters own a castle, spaceship or a dungeon they conquered last month there's a big change that there are items left behind from previous settlers. But it is too time consuming to make an imaginary inventory of every nail and board and toothbrush! Here's a quick solution:

 Can We Find It?
When players ask can they find item X in their place, there's one-in-X chance there is one of these items. The X chance varies by how rare and powerful the item is. A simple tool might be 1-in-3-chance (result 1 with 1D3) when an ancient relic to open dimensional portal to Limbo might be 1-in-1000-change (result 1 with 1D1000). Naturally the probablity of the desired item being found depends on a setting, and location where it is been searched. A tome of magic necromantic in nature is easier to find in old crypt than in a bakery.
There is a big change that the item is worse compared to an item your player have bought. But hey, these are free items you happen to find behind that cupboard or in the dusty corner of the hangar. 
Now that the item is or is not found, there are some other things you might consider. For example...
Condition
I am not going to write long rules for the condition, but you might roll a D4 to determine what's the abstract condition of the item. Result "1" is 25% of original condition, "2" is 50%, 3 is 75% and 4 is 100%, mint. Also if you rolled 4, roll again. If you roll another 4, the condition is 125% of the original! If you want to go crazy and roll another 4, just add 25% to the previous (exploding dice).
The condition might affect item in many different ways. Here are some examples how:
  • Reduced damage every 25%. 75% condition is -1 to damage, 50% condition -2 and 25% decreases damage die one step (1D8 longsword now deals 1D6 damage). If item is in a better than original condition, the weapon deals one die step higher damage (1D8 longsword would do 1D10 damage).
  •  Reduced protection. -1 per 25% below 100%. Better than mint condition adds 1 to AC.
  •  Tools or other equipment you need to use to achieve something give penalties or bonuses to dice rolls. 1 bonus or penalty per 25% over or under 100%.

Solifidian Lilith - The Starship From Hell

I can review it quickly before go into the starship for Hulks & Horrors.


Get it here, it is very very good simple tool to make great spaceships and hulks your player characters might encounter in horror-ish science fiction adventures. There are no stats whatsoverer so this is extremely easy to use with any system you ever can imagine using it with. No art but who needs art when there are cool tables enough to make an interesting and possibly adventuring location. Now go, it is  PWYW. But this is very good and easy + fun to use I highly suggest you toss some coins for +Rafael Chandler. He does great stuff.

I am not going to review Hulks & Horrors now. I just say it is a good small game with strong OSR roots. PDF is free, print is inexpensive. HERE!

Done, let's start. All ship information randomly rolled using The Starship From Hell are modified to fit Hulks & Horrors. The map was made using H&H hulk random generator. Then all was mashed up together and this is the result:

DISTRESS SIGNAL

/>HULL_BREACH:THE_SHIP_IS_VENTING_ATMOSPHERE
/>ASPHYXIATE_CHANGE:54%_AND_RISING
/>SURVIVOR_CREW_MEMBERS:3
/>SURVIVOR_PASSENGERS:Unk-noWN
/>UNIDENTIFIED_LIFEFORMS:SEVERAL

PHENOMENA

Destruction of the stellar dreadnough Plaguebearer in wrapped time-space nearby created lethal and dangerous anomalia what surrounded Solifidian Lilith. The ship used to board Solifidian Lilith looses all its power for unknown reason. The power can be restored... somehow...

PLANET BELOW: CEL (TAU CETI C)


Third planet in Theta Hydrae system. Forest planet, botched terraforming, carnivorous and sentient plant beasts. No reports of colonies. Holy monolith of the ancients.

The civilian and civilized population of CEL has been infected with a biomechanical syndrome that results in heightened aggression and a diminished sense of shelf. Coupled with the integrated biological weaponry that the syndrome installs, the planet's civilians are now a veritable army in search of a commander. The ship's crew members are preparing to land on the planet so they can begin the work of testing new experimental medicine on this biomechanical disease.

SOLIFIDIAN LILITH

TYPE: Class V (Medical Cruiser)
ARMOR: IV - AC/AP 6/80 - Mass 200 (Medium shields)
MAIN ENGINES: II - Subspace multiplier x3 - Sun-light speed 2 AU/hr. - Mass 100 (Low speed)
WEAPONS: Mk 2 Beam weapons x2 - Mk 1 Mass drivers x1 - Mk 1 Missile weapons x1 (Medium)
THRUSTERS: +/-0 Medium manouverability)
SENSORS: Low

MISSION: Carrying supplies to the third planet of Theta Hydrae, a system around a black hole. Supplies are experimental medicines to revert biomechanical syndrome from the victims. The medicine is lethal, but that's not known yet...

SYSTEMS




  1. Cockpit. Technological wonder. Forest in a can (H&H p. 103)
  2. Trajectory targeter. Tracking system for weapons to follow targets. Wrist computer.
  3. Teleport bay. Force field. Upon entry, the room seals with force fields. WIS to find panel, INT to disable panel. Air runs out in 10 minutes.
  4. Teleport bay
  5. Sick bay/laboratory. Equipment and space for four patients. Nine Walking dead (H&H p. 134)
  6. Microbar. Artifact, religious icon, worth 500 cr.
  7. Crew quarters - 10 rooms.
  8. Life support. Sentient, aggressive crew.
  9. Sensor arrays. Blade launchers. Razor sharp blades fly from the wall at any motion. DEX save to avoid, 1D8 damage.
  10. Shuttle bay. Includes equipment for repairing, fuel etc. In a locker there are strong alien pharmaceutical medicines/drugs.
  11. Escape pods. Four pods. Skeletals (H&H p. 128)
  12. Cloaking device. Anthropophagi (H&H p. 111)
  13. Cargo bay and engines. A collection on furry stuffed alien monsters has been neatly arranged along the walls.  Sentient, aggressive crew.
CREW MEMBER & PASSENGERS:

CHIEF OF SECURITY NEREA CORDOBA is pinned in engine rooms. She is holed in avoiding sentient crew.
- Irritable, inpatient
- Expertise in history
- Posssessions: 10 liters of nectar drug. If things don't sort out soon, she'll going to have a helluva trip

SCIENCE OFFICER VIVATIA FARIDA is in the cockpit sending distress signal.
- Vain, passive-aggressive
- Expertise in medical science
- Possessions: Experimental personal force field generator. Protects from damage in range of 3-5 points, stops working if 1 or 6 for damage is rolled.

ANALYST TRI BALTIJO is in teleport bay (3) trying to get them to work to get out of the ship!
- Humble, kind
- Expertise in xenobiology
- Member of Leilani Conglomerate. They worship harmony but insist that order requires chaos
- Control codes for military rank sense-net. Possessing this is an act of treason.

By: http://taurus-chaoslord.deviantart.com/
RELIGIOUS PILGRIMS traveling to below planet CEL (Tau Ceti C) to claim back their religious monument an cult has claimed as their own. Bloodbath and massmurder is unevitable.
- There is a 1 in 3 change that a religious pilgrim can be encoutered when entered an area. 1-2 aggressive, 3-5 neutral, 6 friendly.

Hit Dice: 1D8 (6)
To-Hit: +3
TAAC0: 8
AC: 5
Initiative: 14
Save: 16
Attacks: Pulse rifle 3D6H2 (R), Vibro-sword 1D10 (M)
# Appearing: 1D3
Behavior: special




Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Creating a character for Hulks & Horrors

Hulks & Horrors is read and game is ready to begin! This neat scifi game has so much great, and one of the coolest races (as class like in B/X) is Hovering Squid. There are stat requirements but I'll keep my fingers crossed to be able to create one of these guys!

This awesome picture by: http://gaucelm.deviantart.com/
Hovering squids are like hovering octopuses with beak and everything. They have tentacles and can multi-task easily. Let's start!

3D6 In Order

Everyone know this already! To get a squidstats I need minimum DEX of 7 and maximum STR of 16. My stats and modifiers are as following:

STR: 10 (melee to hit and damage 0)
DEX: 11 (AC and ranged to hit 0)
CON: 17 (HP +2)
INT: 14 (Charge 2)
WIS: 14 (Psi 2)
CHA: 10 (Languages 2, Sl'ettexik-sa (squid-people-talk) and Tradespeak)

Choose Your Class

I already did when I read the book! My class is a hovering squid! I can multi-task, I got directional awareness, I can entangle with my tentacles, and I can sense inorganic life.

Hit Points

My HD is D8, and I get +2 from high Con. My hit points score is 6.

To-hit Scores

Either I use Thac0 as a solid number or refer to a chart. My choice. My Thac0 is 5. I need to roll below my that score + enemy AC. Wonky, but I'll get used to it and it works as good as any D&D-clone to-hit.

Saving Throws

Saves are same as my Dex, Con and Wis (more like 3E instead of B/X/1E) and I get +1 bonus to Dex.

Choose Programs And Powers

I ain't scientist nor psionic, so nothing here for me. Programs and Psi-powers basically replace wizard and cleric spells of fantasy settings.

Buy Equipment
See, Mass Effect is doing it right!


3D6 x 100 credits. I got 1500.

I can use pistols and daggers (there are weapon restrictions for classes) so those are what I buy first. My tentacles make it easier to wield two guns for me so I am going to buy two guns! A Particle Beamer is most powerful pistol! One of those thank you, also some ammo (100 shots). And a laser pistol is a solid gun (damage is 2D6, keep highest). 60 shots. A simple shiv (1D3 dmg) can be my tool and backup defense.

960 credits spent! 540 left.

I can use light armor. Fiberweave and my AC is 7 instead of unarmored 9. Costs 100.

I've got 440 credits for other equipment, like protective filter masks, batteries, general equipment, computerized devices and so on. One think I am going to buy from this list (this is the boring part in my opinion anyways) is Wrist computer for 200 cr. It has all functions of modern mobile phone from network access to puzzle games and a camera. Also includes old Allman Brothers albums from 20th century (I am not making this up).

Finishing Touches

Name is hard to come by when my hovering squid race don't use consonants B, F, M, P etc. Hoodtsssax is his name...

When I spread my last seed, I was capable to produce, into the collective birth pool I was no use as a member of our society anymore. Well, maybe I could have been useful, but I decided that I wouldn't be to make my leave much easier. I've always been curious about space and stars. Distant worlds. So, now I try to get myself hired in a space ship to start my journey and adventure.
_______________________________________________________________

Hulks & Horrors character creation is fast and fun. And it doesn't end there. As a GM you have so many things to create. Space ships, solar systems and sectors, space stations, hulks, ruins, cities...

Sunday, 21 December 2014

[Review] Where Is Margesh Blackblood?

Also available as tiny booklet.
Margesh and his bandits have been terrorising the countryside. There's a price for his head. But where is Margesh?

In 10 (total 12 pages plus covers) pages of adventure text and maps there's lots of fun. The maps are good and locations vary from each other for an interesting location based hide and seek.

There is replay value even for GMs because in the beginning of the adventure Margesh's location is randomly determined from the four hideouts.

I had fun running this, and my player had fun playing this.

I can highly recommend this for one nights fun or a filler.

In My Game

Margesh was a female. I don't know why, but from the beginning before I started to read this I got that idea from the title. Really Margesh is a guy in this adventure. But isn't female brigandine more... appealing?

For the rest of the campaign (I used Labyrinth Lord), Margesh was NPC ally of the character who decided to save her life.
________________________
This adventure is designed for Swords & Wizardry rules but is easily all-OSR-compatible.

GM Games is one of my favorite publishers. Available at DriveThru, pay-what-you-want.

Friday, 19 December 2014

[Review] Fetishistic Arcana by Violent Media


Fetishistic Arcana by +Edward Lockhart is a 25 pages supplement introducing magical fetishes for OSR rulesets.

Fetish is like a magical item but instead of being powerful alone it enchants or power-ups spells cast using or through the fetish. These trinkets are a nice addition for normal "plus this and that" or "get a spell or power wearing it" magic items. There are 14 of them.

All are very nice and there's plenty of variety between the fetishes. Almost every fetish has description how to create one. The creation is more like witchcraft than clean laboratory or library work. Items needed to create a fetish vary from jawbones to a crystal what needs real determination to complete.

Effects vary. Many boost or alter spells but some have different effects, even compared to a cursed item. Also many items have a flaw might make their use a little unpredictable (if you roll badly for example) or even risky.

Also after I read this the concept and template of fetishes was very inspiring. It is easy to create your own (other thing is are those good, heh).

Boring Stuff

I liked content a lot! But what about the PDF file? Decent easy to read layout, no big mistakes jumping out, was a joy to read on my mobile phone (really, no text re-flow or anything needed).

Illustration is simple, style original and colorful. Quite nice.

But everything is not perfect! There is one annoying thing I must mention. It doesn't affect the content, it just bugs me.

Page numbering. What is great is that Table of contents/Fetish chart entries are all clickable links what throw you right away to the right page. That is damn sweet (worked on my mobile phone too, extra points for that). The page numbering just is whacky. I don't know was it supposed to be in sync with chart results or not. D10 roll 1 content is on page 1. D10 roll 2 content is on page 2 etc. Until there's a full page picture what screws everything up. D10 roll 4 content is on page 5... The page number where this Table of contents/Fetish chart is on page A what indicates that ToC should be in sync with actual page numbers...

But then there are results 1-3, 4-6 etc. for Ancient fetishes and there page numbering doesn't even try to follow (MY) logic.

Anyways this is only a bug in MY mind and doesn't affect the product anyways.

Edward's answer:
"The deal with the fetish chart is this: if you roll a ten on it, roll another d10 to figure out which ancient fetish you got. The numbers are for the d10 results and don't really have anything to do with page numbers."

So...?

Very good little PDF "booklet" that introduces interesting "minor magic items" with real character. If you like interesting "minor magic items" with real character, check this out. If you are not interested in these fetishes consider twice, this is cheap you know!

I am most definitely going to check out more products from Violent Media in the future. THAT looks very interesting... oh and mutations! Hell yes for mutations. Random charts, I love random charts...
________________________________________

Get it from DriveThruRPG. Current price, $2.

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

[Review] No Salvation For Witches

Blue bookmark ribbon for those who beat crowdfunding average.

You might already know what a premise for +Lamentations of the Flame Princess products is. If you don't, this product has gore and full frontal nudity illustrated. This truly is not safe for work.

Written by +Rafael Chandler, the metal dude of OSR and RPGs.

Physical Quality

Hardback, 64 sturdy pages, full color illustration. Great layout. Inside covers with maps. If you think that hardcover Rules & Magic LotFP rules book is a 10, this book is 11 in my opinion. One of the best physical product qualities in LotFP line (cannot make comments of A Red & Pleasant Land because don't own it).

The Premise

Witches are performing a ritual. If the ritual is a success it will have huge impact on the world. If it doesn't it still might have a big impact on characters' lifes.

The Setting

What now is LotFP standard also this adventure takes place in 17th century Europe, England in this case. The area has five encounter areas. Three pieces that can also work alone to access the finale. Whole area is a trick. Once you enter, you cannot get out that easily anymore.

The area is affected by a ritual what makes it hostile, horrific and weird.

This Is What It Is Like

The encounter areas are easy to run and each have something weird or horrible going on. I also like how some things, especially nearing the finale, might start to interact more or less.

You might make allies or enemies. You can fight monsters, or might never find them. There are some treasures magical in nature. Of course these also have drawbacks. No +3 sword of flames here.

There is a time limit and after it things happen in one way or another (two endings). It is up to players and a Referee to drive the characters. There are no suggestion why or how the characters should start exploring and starting to figure out what is going on and how to deal with it. Witty Referee can imagine motives for the characters but it would have been great if the author gave some rough ideas. It's always interesting to read how the author has thought the adventure could work out.

If you already are familiar with LotFP core rules summon spell you get something similar here. A gory manuscript what details human sacrifices to perform a ritual to summon a monster. What is great about this it also can be a monster generator for weird, horrific, and unique monsters for any of your LotFP adventures!

Witches are great NPCs!

Problems

There could be some ideas for motives why and how characters get into this area and some guidelines how they might start to figure out the puzzle pieces. Simple exploring here and there is a little pointless with strict time limit.

Some of the parts of this adventure are a little bland. Horrific and weird and gory for sure, but a little out of place. They feel like they're just there for additional bloody effects. I don't say it is bad if you think it in B-horror style with random gore (talking about woods encounter here).

Even if the page number clocks at 64 pages the adventure itself is not that big. As I already stated only five encounter areas. But it can be interesting, if you play NPCs right and there could be some very nice interaction. Up to players and how they roll.

Did I Like It And Should You Get It?

Of course I liked this! My perception is fogged by my fanboy-ism! This is good shorter location based adventure with lots of "yuck" in it. And it looks good and was fun to read. Also "monster generator" is great addition because it gives longevity for the book even after you've run it for your group.

Also if you like gore and shocking content this is top quality.

Avoid if you don't like full frontal nudity, gore, and not safe for work content.
_______________________________________________________________

Print + PDF available at LotFP store HERE.
PDF available at LotFP store HERE.
PDF also available at RPGNow HERE.

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Mead & Mayhem is published


Mead & Mayhem is an OSR supplement compatible with most old-school fantasy rules. It includes rulings for tavern fights and a D30 table with 40 entries. The longer the pub brawl lasts more likely things can escalate to catastrophe and mayhem!

Written by me (Daniel "Thaumiel Nerub" Neffling) and +Jonas Mustonen

Pay what you want at RPGNow. Get it HERE!
______________________________________

+Rob Monroe kindly pointed out some grammatical and wording problems in this supplement. Those will be edited and fixed at some point. Thank you Rob!

Sunday, 14 December 2014

[Review] The Mini Manor by GM Games



Swords & Sorcery (Appreciation Day) compatible tiny dungeon crawl adventure with weird and gore.

"You're naked.
Cut up.
Shackled to a dead guy.
On the other side of the room is a guy cutting the face off a corpse.
Your foot bumps a severed arm.
Go!"

Sounds fun, doesn't it? This gruesome little adventure is designed for one third level character. A nice map with eight room descriptions and a random encounter table should be good for one shorter evening. The adventure might go quite well (I mean not dying) or it can be pretty tough. Some encounters are tougher than others but if there's space for roleplaying and not only rolling dice I think a clever player can get out - alive.

This reminds me a little of Saw movies and Planescape: Torment computer game beginning. I think this could be very neat start for a solo campaign in weird fantasy world, maybe Carcosa even. Or some other pretty dark place.

What I like is that there's this situation presented, go explore and try to survive it. No explanations why, or what next. Usually I'd like to read some thoughts from the author about the background of the adventure and possible future premises after the adventure (my choice should I use those, but its fun to read other's thoughts) but The Mini Manor is so damn inspiring for me in its little form that I didn't long for additional explanations or inspiration. Some of the encounters in this adventure seemed a little random, but I accept it as part of the "weird".

In 21 pages there's a neat little dungeon survival adventure, encounter table, new race, new spell and a spread of new magic items. The new race is pretty cool! Would be neat one-player campaign start to begin exploring weird and horrible world after this dungeon, as a Faceless race.

You should check this out because:
  • GM Games and +Tim Shorts do good stuff
  • It is free
  • Quick, small, new cool race
Avoid, if:
  • You don't like horror and gore or get offended by this kind of material

__________________________________________________________________

The Mini Manor by GM Games' +Tim Shorts is a small booklet format adventure available for free at RPGNow.

Sunday, 7 December 2014

Cleric Blessed Holy Symbol

By: http://tsabo6.deviantart.com/
Cleric Blessed Symbol

The wielder of this holy symbol can turn undead, as a Cleric who blessed it with prayers -3 levels, (minimum 1 maximum 5). Every time non-cleric turns undead with this item there's 50% change it won't work anymore. The god's favor wears off.


If a 0-level cleric or religious figure/person blesses a holy item it will only work once at turning undead.

The Cleric must save or he looses 1d3 permanent CON. It is not an easy task to bless items. Otherwise there would be blessed turn undead items everywhere, right!


"A good thing for priests to have lying around the church to make them useful without making them all classed Clerics." +James Young 

Quick magic item for my Labyrinth Lord game I am running right now. The player's character goes solo after evil necromancer Gurah so I needed a quick "buff" item for her.

Saturday, 6 December 2014

[LL] Gurah, the evil wizard, dark sorcerer, necromancer

Gurah is the main bad guy in my Labyrinth Lord Longland campaign, The Forgotten Legend Lives.


CLASS: Necromancer

LEVEL: 12th

ALIGNMENT: Evil

AC: 2

HP: 28

ABILITIES:
STR: 5 (-2) Weak and wretched
DEX 9
CON 7 (-1) Brittle and sickly
INT 17 (+2)
WIS 16 (+2)
CHA 17 (-1)

SAVING THROWS:
Breath Attacks: 12
Poison or Death: 9
Petrify or Paralyze: 9
Wands: 9
Spells or Spell-like Devices: 8

SPELLS:
4 1st, 4 2nd, 3 third, 3 fourth, 3 fifth, 2 sixth

NECROMANCER'S SPELLBOOK(1):
1st Lvl Spells: Command dead, Command undead, Locate remains, Pass undead, Ray of puking pain* Read magic,
2nd Lvl Spells: Choke, Flesh to salt**, Ghoul touch, Ray of pain,
3rd Lvl Spells: Animate dead (MU), Summon undead I, Unhallow,
4th Lvl Spells: Inter,Summon undead II
5th Lvl Spells: Summon undead III, Wall of gloom
6th Lvl Spells: Curse of undeath, Lich touch, Summon undead IV

*Ray of puking pain: D4 damage. Projectile vomiting of blood, black tar, and glowing blue slime. Combat becomes problematic. Successful save = half damage and keep your insides in. (Thanks +Nick Peterson )
**Flesh to salt: Make a save or be turned to salt. (Thanks +Chris Tierney )

OLD MAGIC-USER'S SPELLBOOK (2):
Gurah generally doesn't use spells from his old Magic-User times.
1st Lvl Spells: Detect magic, Floating disc, Magic missile, Sleep
2nd Lvl Spells: Arcane lock, Detect invisible, Knock, Web
3rd Lvl Spells: Dispel magic, Protection from normal missiles

EQUIPMENT:
Naturally Gurah has many other items both magical and mundane, but these are the things he carries and equips normally.
The Shield. This belt buckle is a powerful defensive item. If the damage result is between 2-5 the damage is ignored.
Robe Of A Necromancer. Any spell from the necromancer's spell list(1) has a 1 in 4 change to stay in a caster's memory when cast.
The Ring Of Resurrection. Once, if Gurah dies, this ring resurrects him back to full HP. The ring is then destroyed blowing up his left hand.

CIRCLE OF SUMMONING UNDEAD:
When ten cultists of Gurah join their minds and powers Gurah has almost unlimited power over dead. He, for example, has sent ten undead stone giants into a fight. With the Circle of Summoning Undead in work he can control up to 100 HD worth of undead walkers of skeletons and zombies from different races. The Circle doesn't work on otherwordly or spiritual beings.
Those cultists who maintain the circle can keep it powered for 10 hours at a time. After that period they need to rest for 1d4 days before they can continue. With magic their stamina of keeping The Circle up can be extended.
_____________________________________________
(1) All these spells are found in Theorems & Thaumaturgy document except those which aren't (mentioned).
(2) All these spells can be found in core Labyrinth Lord rules book.

Necromancer character class (from Theomers & Thaumaturgy, get it HERE) for Labyrinth Lord by +Gavin Norman

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Mythoard, subscribe for your monthly RPG packet!

Mythoard is a monthly subscription box service dedicated solely to Tabletop Roleplaying Games.  From modules, minis and maps to rules supplements, accessories and dice, you'll be sure to have great RPG treasure in every single box!   Sign up now for your own hoard!


That's what they say in their site: http://www.mythoard.com/

You subscribe, get a monthly box of roleplaying stuff. That's it. But it is damn cool concept! Some special arrangements were made and I was able to order the December beta box here to Finland. Payment was smooth and cool and now I just have to wait! Not much has been revealed about the first box... What we know, some companies providing products for the first box are: Awful Good Games, Metal Weave Games, Chessex, GM Games, and Red Kobold Games. Not bad selection at all (links to their sites can easily be found at mythoard site.

I had to ask some questions about this concept and +Jarrod Shaw was super awesome to answer. (I'm in italic bold, Jarrod normal).

1. This is an interesting concept. Reminds me of those subscriptions for book-, CD-, and movie clubs where you pay monthly to get some items each month, selected by the deliver. So this concept is not new. But for me (at least) this concept for roleplaying games products is new. And damn awesome. How did this idea developed?

Thanks! We think it's a cool idea too. It came about during a conversation between Ashley and I, about make-up of all things. She get's a subscription box each month for beauty supplies, and I was struck by how awesome the model was, so when she suggested we do one for Tabletop RPGs, I jumped on trying to figure out how to do it. And here we are, a few months later, and our Beta run is looking to reach our self imposed member cap.

2. Was this hard to make-happen?

Way harder than I first imagined. Like a dumbass, I jumped a little too headlong into the thing, amd made several crummy mistakes. For instance the first few emails I sent out to companies were along the lines of "Hey, I'm this guy, and I have a great idea! Can you please send me comps or cheap stuff?" What an asshat. I build houses, not businesses, so it's all a little new and I apologize if bumps occur along the way. I'm learning to steam roll them as we go through, so hopefully it'll be a smooth ride from all. It's coming along well now actually, but it is, at the end of the day, a ton of work. On top of a full time job to boot. But it's RPGs so, I will bust ass until my eyes bleed if I have to.

3. How do you choose the items to include in the package?

Our beta box was built mostly with folks that I had a previous rapport with, or one's that I just really dug their stuff. Our January box is getting close to built already as well, and it's been nice because we have had several companies come to us asking how to be in a Mythoard box. Which is really humbling and awesome.

Why should anyone order this? Pitch time!

Mythoard boxes are filled with random Tabletop RPG stuff! Delivered. To your house. By your mailman. Once a month. That's about all I got. Soon the boxes can speak for themselves.

Thank you and the special arrangements you were willing to do, I can get one of these in Finland to review too (and I admit, I really, really WANT IT). But officially this is currenlty U.S. only. Is it too early to discuss/reveal international plans?

Just a hair early. We are looking into international sales hard though, trying to find a feasible way to do it. We may just have to go with different paypal buttons with varying prices for other countries. It may not be in time for the January box, but it won't be too long. We promise!! And you are very welcome.

Good luck! This is very extremely damn cool. Like "bundleofhodling" but you actually get sweet stuff as in items! Makes kid and collector in me jump and dance!

Thanks so much man. The Bundle is damn cool btw! I am glad we make parts of people jump and dance. That's actually our real goal here anyway. Sort of. It was great talking with you, and keep an eye out mid December for your Mythoard Box! Cheers.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Creating a character for D&D Basic (Finnish translation)


I've already created a character for Labyrinth Lord, so this should not be very different experience. I grabbed the character sheet from Vankityrmiä & Louhikäärmeitä (thanks +Jonas Mustonen ) blog so didn't have to scan it from the book.

As the title says I am using Finnish translation of the Mentzer Basic Dungeons & Dragons. This is going to be fun(ky)!

Step 1: Roll Kykypisteet (Abilities)

3d6 in order for Voimakkuus (Strength), Älykkyys (Intelligence), Viisaus (Wisdom), Ketteryys (Dexterity), Rakenne (Constitution), and Karisma (Charisma). The results are:

6, 13, 9, 10, 7, 7
-1, +1, -, -, -1, -1

Uh-oh, my dicehand is weak today! I can only see a Magic-User as an option for this weakling! I am a man and don't whine about weak character and re-rolls. (Funny thing is that my Labyrinth Lord character creation experiment also resulted a M-U!)

Step 2: Choose a Luokka (Class)

Easy and already done. Magiankäyttäjä (Magic-User).

Step 3: Swich Kykypisteitä (Ability scores)

Basically I cannot do this, because my dude is too weak. No Ability score can be lowered under 9. If it already is 10 you cannot lower it. So after Intelligence my next highest is 10! Next...

Step 4: Roll osumaheitot (Hit Points)

No maximum hit points at first level! I've got 2 with 1d4 from my class. But my weak Constitution modifier of -1 leaves me with 1 hit points.

Step 5: Roll money

3d6 x 10 kp (kultapala, gold pieces) makes me 150 gp rich!

Step 6: Buy equipment

I wish I was a warrior so I could spend my money on good armor and stuff like that. No armors allowed for me.

Hopeinen tikari, Silver dagger (only weapon Magic-User is allowed to use)
Lyhty, Lantern
Öljypullo, Oil, two bottles
Teräksinen peili, Steel mirror
Kolmen metrin seiväs, Ten feet pole
Rautaisannos viikoksi, Ration, for one week
Tulukset, Tinderbox
Viinileili, Wineflask (price is 1 gp but I'll make it 3. I want it to be filled with cheap wine)
Ukonhattu, Wolfsbane

Lots of stuff and I've got 49 gp left!

Step 7: Figure out:


  • Haarniskaluokka (AC). That's unarmored, 9.
  • Osumaheittotaulukko (To-hit table). That's already printed there, because all starting characters have same to-hit requirements. I do get -1 to-hit rolls though...
  • Pelastusheitot (Saving rolls).
Kuolemansäde tai myrkky (Death ray or poison): 13
Maagiset sauvat (Magic wand): 14
Halvaantuminen tai kivettyminen (Paralyzis or turn to stone): 13
Lohikäärmeen henkäys (Dragon breath): 16
Kepit, sauvat ja loitsut (Magic staff and spells) 15

(In Labyrinth Lord saves for M-U are slightly better...).

Step 8: Write down Kykypisteiden tarkistukset (Ability modifiers)

Basically already did this when rolled these.

Step 9: Name your character and choose his ryhmittyminen (Alignment)

There are only three. Laki (Lawful), Neutraalius (Neutrality), and Kaaoottinen (Chaotic). I want to be chaotic. My character is miserable and bitter. He does anything to find power (read: treasures and magic items) to compensate his weak abilities. Anything.

His name is Brut Paha (the Bad).

Step 10: Get ready to play

Wait a sec! I don't have spells yet! I take Lue magiaa (Read magic) and Uni (Sleep). Now I am ready to play!


Saturday, 8 November 2014

Is this the holy trinity of OSR?


Swords & Wizardry is for original D&D, the three little booklets. Additional material from supplements depends on the version of S&W. There are White box, Core and Complete.

OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) is the ultimate clone of 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Originally meant to be a tool for publishers to publish 1e compatible material. OSRIC webpage has tons of stuff.

Labyrinth Lord emulates basic and expert editions of Dungeons & Dragons in one book. Goblinoid Games has done a great job with LL. And with Original Edition Characters and Advanced Edition Companion supplements you can turn Labyrinth Lord into older-old-school version of D&D and in lite 1e version of D&D.
___________________

Best thing is, you can get all three of these for free. And all of these are in print!

___________________

Do you think these three old-school-rules are the holy trinity of D&D emulation of 70's and early 80's? Or do you have a better combination in mind?

Friday, 7 November 2014

[Review] Forgive Us

Forgive Us is a small adventure written and illustrated by +Kelvin Green  for Lamentations of the Flame Princess weird fantasy rpg. What you get is not only one completed adventure with awesome nicely detailed maps but additional two smaller adventures.

The illustration is more cartoonish than you are used to in LotFP products. Some don't like it and think it doesn't fit LotFP-verse, but I think the art is cool. The cover alone shows you already that things are bad in this adventure, doesn't it? Also the maps are awesome with small details, and there are plenty of those.


1625 was a plague year in Norwich. History tells us that it was an outbreak of the Black Death. History is wrong.

An adventure for a party of the 4th level, for use with...

The adventure is simple. There's always something you need. And where you need it the adventure begins. In Forgive Us it means horror. The adventure is well written and interesting and the tension builds very well. The monsters are not thrown in ya face all the time, but there's still some minor action. It is the end when you realize, that things are really bad. I think the adventure goes very well. There's lots of hints of bad things going on but life-threatening situations are scarce, at the beginning. The details are also cool. Normal houses, normal life, some gore here and there. Nothing supernatural WTF in my opinion what makes this more scary investigation.

Also you'll get nice set of random loot!

RUN!!!


I hoped that the city of Norwich had a little more meat around it. I do understand that the adventure is the point and focus here and more pages means more cost but a little more detailed mini-setting would have been nice addition. Well, you can't have everything! There's little detail on the city you can work with to create your own Norwich with the help of internet (for example, or use library like a pro!).

Pleasure to the eye.
Two other adventures are nice addition to make sure that after you have ran Forgive Us the book doesn't just go to your LotFP archives. In Heaven Everything Is Fine is weird adventure. Ghost story with trapped tower (you need to detail yourself) and alien. Not bad, but you need to work a bit yourself with details to run this. Death and Taxes is very short adventure. Old dead friend, a little mystery, a hidden treasure.

Overall Forgive Us is very good adventure.

GET IT if you like suspense, movies like The Thing (Kelvin's inspiration) or suspense of the first Alien (my idea). Also if you like some exploration and ending that jumps on your face and wants to eat it.

Print and PDF available at LotFP store.
PDF also available at RPGNow.

Friday, 24 October 2014

[Review] No Country For Weak Men

The cover alone is extremely cool. I printed this PDF to booklet format using watercolor paper for colors for nice texture and "feel". In real life it looks awesome! You have to believe me in this.
No Country For Weak Men is an adventure written for Swords & Wizardry rules (very OSR compatible) using some house-rules provided with links within the PDF.

I get strong Death Frost Doom and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (as setting, not as video game) influences and themes here, which is cool. Cool as northern wind and snow. The adventure is written by +Anders Hedenbjörk Lager

The look is top notch. Layout is great and illustration is... great. Easy and enjoyable to read. For a free product (yes, this is free) the appearance is grade 10.

The dungeon where the adventure happens is 15 areas long. The dungeon map is great and well thought. There are some puzzles what remind a little of video game puzzles but I think they play well in roleplaying game too. The area descriptions are inspiring and there is enough variety in dungeon rooms to keep the adventure rolling and interesting.

I like how the dungeon is not "you're-screwed-after-you-play-this" (like LotFP and DFD what I get some vibes from) but it can be very tricky, and could end into a death trap... unless you are clever. And if you survive the dungeon, you still might be in trouble because of the setting location (C-O-L-D).

I like this because of DFD and Skyrim like feel and because this dungeon is not just delving to get some loot. This is a location, what you need to explore to find its secrets. I also like the cold wintery theme. You don't see that every day in adventures, do you!

Also the future premise is promising. You get an area map with different locations not covered in this adventure. Those are future premises, that the adventure in cold and harsh environment doesn't end here... it just begun (I hope Anders Hedenbjörk Lager doesn't stop here but finishes what his plans are with the area map!).

You should get this because:

  1. It is free. And not only because it is free but because it is commercial quality. I would pay for this, that's how good free product this is!
  2. You like Death Frost Doom* by Lamentations Of The Flame Princess and the setting of Skyrim.
  3. You like dungeons that are not just rooms to host treasure for players to find to get richer and more powerful.

And now, seriously, go get it!

_______________________________

* I only got the original DFD. This link goes to new fancy DFD. At this moment writing the blog there's PDF available (LINK), but soon there will be prints available also... Follow LotFP and +James Raggi to keep up to date with new DFD!

Thursday, 16 October 2014

[Review] The Overrun Mines

The local mine has been overrun by foul creatures, stopping all mining operations! The Lord has dispatched a call for brave heroes to clear out the mine, but what lurks below the surface?

That's the premise written on cover of The Overrun Mines (that's a Drivethru link, it currently costs only 0,39€) by 3 Toadstool Publishing+Shane Ward.

Looks

Illustration is from https://openclipart.org and it does look like it's taken from a source where you can get pictures for your stuff. It is not necessarily a bad thing and the pics chosen for this adventure are ok. Only the cover picture is lame. But hey, look at the price tag of this adventure and don't judge!

Layout is normal, two columns, easy to read. Nothing fancy. Everything doesn't have to be fancy as long as it is easy to read and to check things up.

In my review copy there were some mistakes (I pointed these out early, don't have updated version if there is any). Really minor and easy to work around. AC and HD mistakes and dungeons section number 13 twice replacing number 12. Nothing too bad and definitely no game crippling.

The Dungeon

Map is hand-drawn, no special effects here. But it is clear. The dungeon is interesting in my opinion though a little railroading. By this I mean that soon after entering the dungeon you go left, right or straight. Basically all of these end in dead ends (except one what leads to part two of the dungeons). So exploring is an u-turn at some point.
I have two thoughts here:

  • It's okay because this place is a mine, not a labyrinth complex. So it makes perfect sense. Also this is a small dungeon you can throw in your campaign so characters are not going to spend damn long there (this is a problem I'll deal with later)
  • It's a little dull and either all places get explored, or player rushes through (my player!).
The sections (14 in first and 8 in second part) are good though. Nothing super special, but I enjoyed running and reading it. Not everything must be flashy and gory and what-the-funkery all the time and  more traditional approach (for me) is something I welcome. There are great things what I enjoyed a lot (wounded worm was awesome in play) and something what made me a little confused (undead goblins waiting for you). There are also some NPCs you could rescue, what was fun!

The second part is better, because behind an ordinary dungeons experience there's something else. You can do a lot with this part, if you want to. I did! It fit my campaign very well, actually inspiring it. I did not run the second part fully by-the-book but it was very good resource and idea to push my campaign to this new direction... That was great in this adventure, to inspire.

I am not sure how many force the adventures to work as written, and I am not sure if the review is not as good if you didn't run it b-t-b (heck, I don't even run or use everything I review!) but that's the fun of roleplaying. You take something someone else created, and make it your own. The product cannot be bad if it inspired you. It is bad if you don't even want to use it! In this, The Overrun Mines worked fine.

Extra

Okay, the dungeon is ran, what next? I like products what give something extra you can use. Small rules, new monsters, something. When you have used the adventure or the dungeon there's still some value left. And here is.

First, you get pregens (four human race-as-classes, they look like Labyrinth Lord and B/X stats) with equipment ready.

Then you get rumors. I love rumors! In my opinion the rumors tell a small story about the game world the writer wrote the adventure for. Even though it is generic the rumors are the people of the adventure, what make the background even if there is no setting background involved. These are good rumors and good adventure catches.

Also you get two optional rules. The first is Resurrection rules. Simple. When you get resurrected, roll D12 and see the table for results. You might loose 1 from stats, or level, or HP. Mundane, but nice addition (not always resurrection table results should be gore-gruesome-weird).
The second rules is Underground Day Rules. Basically the more you stay underground in the dungeons without daylight, the more symptoms you get. Like saving throws worsen but there are also good things that can happen. I have to say, there is not much logic why some day you might feel weak and next day you can memorize more spells or get bonus to combat. Maybe the dark claustrophobic surroundings can make you feel bad, or make you perform better. I don't know.

Conclusion

Nice, short adventure to run. Nothing earth shattering. It is cheap and easy to throw in your campaign and for me the second part of dungeon worked as campaign altering inspiration.

I don't know how I could have liked it more. If undead goblin enemies made more sense (why those are there, why miners didn't just throw the corpses away) and Underground Day Rules idea was better explained. But still this was good enough for me to enjoy it!

Cheap dungeons to throw in the middle of your campaign, go get it!

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Creating a character for Labyrinth Lord

In my old blog Cradle of Rabies I created some characters, labeled 1000 and 1 characters. I begin it in here, now. I remember when I was younger player I enjoyed to create characters. Character creation was like solo-gaming, or a mini-game of the roleplaying game. Also creating characters taught me how characters work and what are disadvantages and advantages of different stats. Basically how game worked in player's point of view. I think it is also good practice to create a character or two for a game you are about to run to make character creation run smooth. At least there is one person at the table who knows what's going on!

Anyways, here's the first character for this series of posts called Character for every game. Obviously I cannot create a character for every single roleplaying game out there so I have to start with games in my collection. Starting with my dead woods, and if I run out of those I still got plenty of PDFs to cover!

The first game I chose is Labyrinth Lord for the reason that it's the game I am currently running. Let's start!

1. Character Abilities

3d6 in order, then write down the modifiers from tables. For every ability there's own table of modifiers.

My abilities are:

Strength: 10 (modifier to hit, damage, and forcing doors: 0)
Dexterity: 10 (modifier to AC, missile attacks, and initiative: 0)
Constitution: 9 (modifier to hit points: 0)
Intelligence: 12 (additional languages: 0, able to read and write)
Wisdom: 11 (saving throw modifier: 0)
Charisma: 13 (reaction -1, retainers 5, retainer morale 8)

I see a Magic-User here!

2. Choosing A Class

It's Magic-User because of high Intelligence. My intelligence is not high enough for experience bonus though.
I need 2,501 experience points to reach second level.

3. Hit Points

Magic-User's hit die is very low, 1d4! It doesn't matter that much do I roll 1 or 4, I better stay in the middle anyways and try not to get stabbed at all. Rolled 3, I might survive a blow... or two if I am lucky.

4. Spells

I can memorize one spell per day, but I decide I have two first level and two second level spells in my magic book. I determine these starting spells randomly. My spells are:

  • Sleep (1st lvl): This is extremely handy spell for crowd control.
  • Read magic (1st lvl): This should be class ability rather than a spell in my opinion, because it is essential for Magic-Users to learn new spells from other spell books. Glad I got it!
  • Detect Invisible (2nd lvl)
  • Mirror Image (2nd lvl): My "extra lives" in combat. For every mirrored image I get a free hit I can take.
5. Saves

We are close to where saves are in the book, so let's write those down. Saves are the same for every M-U of levels 1-5 unless you get a bonus from high Wisdom for magic effects. My saves are:

Breath Attacks: 16
Poison or Death: 13
Petrify or Paralyze: 13
Wands: 13
Spells or Spell-like Devices: 14

6. Alignment

I choose my alignment to be neutral. No need to be Lawful nor Chaotic. I just walk my own path.

7. Languages

I can speak and write common and alignment. If I had higher Intelligence, I could know some extra languages.

8. Starting Wealth And Equipment

3d6 for starting gold gives me 150 gp. Time to buy stuff! I get:
  • Silver dagger (only weapon I can use and no armors for me! It's silver though so it can harm some supernatural beings. More expensive though...)
  • Five scroll cases
  • Backpack to carry all my mage's stuff around
  • Garlic, three gloves (makes rations taste good and for supernatural monsters to sniff)
  • Ink, quill pen (to write scrolls and spells)
  • Lantern and oil (to be able to read and write in dark)
  • 10 sheets of parchment
  • Rations for 5 days, preserved
  • Large sack for loot of magical in nature
  • Wolfsbane, fistful
  • Guard dog (my loyal friend and security)
51 gp and 1 sp in pockets after shopping.

And my AC is 9, unarmored.

9. Finishing Touches

All done! Now my Magic-User needs a name. He shall be called Dom Wiz. It is not his birth name, but the name he was given in mage's college. He was just a peasant with normal name what didn't fit the guild's reputation.

The guild's teacher of herbology found Dom when he was only four years old, alone in the woods. His parents were eaten by a werewolf and Dom was saved to be a desert. Luckily herbalogist Magic-User found Dom before this and saved him.

Dom started as servant but his adopt father teached him little things every now and then. Seeing potential in him he suggested that Dom should become a student in mage's guild. That didn't happen but Dom's adopt father got a permission to teach Dom as long as it didn't affect his duties.

That's how Dom learned arts of magic and herbology.

His adopt father now dead he has no real place in guild. He packed his belongings and took his favorite dog and left to find his own path...

Now in this tavern he stopped by, there looks to be adventurers in the corner reading a treasure map...




Friday, 26 September 2014

Fixing Mutant Future low melee damage

Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord (well, basic era games in general) have similar melee weapon damages but there's a big difference; the HP.
In Labyrinth Lord you roll one die per level so your first level adventurer has enough hit points to survive a blow or three. In Mutant Future you roll dice equal to your Constitution score (16 dice for CON 16 dude) making him around ten timed -or more- resilient than his poor fantasy cousins.
Firearms and lasers do more damage, but aren't melee weapons lethal too instead of just being annoying? And in default Mutant Future setting(s) modern and future weapons are scarce... Mutant powers deal good amount of damage though...
But as there are good damage dealers in the game (modern arms, mutations) why make most common available weapons damn ineffective and boring? Baseball bat with nails and good-ol-machete re cool in hands of mutant - but not in this game.
Mutant Future Low Melee Damage Fix
Weapons have base damage as listed.
When base damage is rolled, multiply it with STR bonus, if positive.
In some situations (finesse weapons, skill matters more than brutal strength) DEX modifier can be used.
Example: Dex the lizardman gets into a barfight! He opens his butterfly knife and maked it dance between his fingers. He might not be the quickest pistolero in the wasted, but he sure is damn nimble.
Quick attack and his opponent is bleeding - badly.
Dex rolls 1d6+2 damage (his butterfly knife is goo'od) and scores 7. He is nimble with DEX modifier of +3, what is now damage multiplier so his total damage dealt is 21! Not bad!
(I don't have MF rulebook in my hand so I had to pull knife damage and DEX modifier from my hat).

Monday, 22 September 2014

[Review] The Undercroft zine #2

Hear me out. If you like weird fantasy, horror and/or Lamentations of the Flame Princess you should not waste your time here reading this review. The time you spend reading this review you could spend reading The Undercroft issue 2. You'll get it from HERE in print and PDF. Now go.

You are still here? Alright. Either I was not convincing or you really want to hear what I have to say.

For first, look at the cover to the left. It is fucking sweet! +Cédric Plante is a guy I found in G+ and have been following him. He is a brilliant artist. Look at that picture and see how brilliant the cover is. It is damn sweet! You should also follow Cédric if you are in G+. He does draw some crazy sweet stuff!

The main guy behind The Undercroft is one individual called +Daniel Sell. This is already second zine, but unfortunately I haven't read the first one so I cannot say where the zine is going. This I can say; this second issue is very, very good!


As I already said, this is perfect for those who like weird, horror and LotFP. In my humble opinion there can never be enough material like this. Something what is imaginative, weird, horrific and terrific. Something you enjoy reading and what gives you creeps. And as you read it you imagine how you could screw your players with the material in hand. This is like it. Lots of great ideas, and creepy stuff.

Here I want to mention other artist (of four), Matthew Adams. His style is very creepy and somewhat familiar. Good stuff.

But what you, we, get? 24 actual pages of content (if you add the one page comic). Monsters, potions, a small dungeon and a short story.

The monsters are good. Except the waste disposal hog the monsters are also creepy. These are not just your average "one new thing for player characters to kill for exp, lulz and fun" but creatures what can live up for a small adventure! Nice touch is that two of these monsters are statless, there is only fiction of them. Not a bad call because everyone knows that (LotFP) OSR statting is super simple. Basically you get the information what the monster is like, what it does etc. and can stat it up to match your own game. But does everything need stats afterall? Stats mean it can be killed... should everything be killable?
Awesome is a monster called That Which Slips Between. For me it was very, very creepy creature! And it is tied to the small dungeon, what makes the dungeon extremely creepy! The dungeon is not creepy but the creature, damn. It's like Stephen King decided that Mythos needed some creepiness and Ray Bradbury gave a blessing for it!

Also the potions are very good! I think they fit the weird fantasy and Raggi's style of magic items very well. These potions are to screw you in a way or other. Well, at least characters might learn not everything they find in a weird fantasy adventure should be chucked in!

Also bonus points for The Visitor. I liked it a lot. Very creepy in X-Files way... with some Mythos style writing. One of those monsters you can make adventure around. Liked it very much.

So as you see I really, really liked this zine! Lots of good stuff, and fortunately everything (except the short story and comic) you can actually easily use in your games!

See, was it worth to read my ramblings? You could have spent this time reading The Undercroft issue 2 instead! Now, go and download it and let me know did you like it also!
____________________________________________________

Daniel's blog: http://whatwouldconando.blogspot.co.uk
The Melsonian Arts Council store: http://melsonia.storenvy.com

Biography of Daniel Sell:
"I am quite boring as far as RPG writers go. I don't moonlight as an astronaut or a sex worker, I write fiction and RPGs and barely survive off the proceeds. Living the dream."