Flowers of Algorab - Thoughts about the delving mechanics in Coriolis: The Great Dark

A recent exchange on one of the Coriolis related internet groups set me thinking. In essence, it was suggested that Coriolis: The Great Dark was effectively a dungeon crawl, boring and its predecessor was a far superior game and setting. That, of course, is a subjective view and if I put my cards on the table, I love both settings but I slightly prefer the game engine in The Great Dark as it feels more simple in use.

If you skim-read the rules, you may think that the delving procedure is mechanistic and tedious. If you play the scenarios, you find it's very much something else. It becomes a narrative led resource-burning exploration into the unknown.

Let me give a quick overview of how it works.

The Explorers are entering into the unknown; this could be a Builder installation, ruins, part of a space station or (at the current point of our campaign, a deep gorge. Understanding the safe paths and routes is not a given; unless you actively scan the location successfully, you will only have a partial map and will be 'delving blind'. That's treated as more dangerous and you burn more supply when you do that.

Supply is the abstraction of air, filters, food, water, batteries, lights and ammunition; the consumables that limit your exploration. In Fria Ligan's Alien game, these are separated into different currencies, and you track consumption. The Great Dark abstracts them all together and has a simple slot based mechanic for encumbrance. Distance is measured in markers, and each marker travelled burns more supply. Larger parties burn more supply. Gun combat burns supply. Hazards faced can burn supply. Supply is finite and running out is not good; you will suffer despair, conditions and your suit will shut down at low levels of supply. If you are completely out of supply, then you will rapidly deteriorate and can die if you are broken by damage. And, just to be clear, being out of supply can cause damage.

Even when you know the routes, you don't know the risk from Blight. That's where the Bird comes in. You can send it ahead to search out Blight levels, but this takes time (and so burns supply). The Bird can fail to scan properly if you roll poorly, so you may face the quandary of waiting another stretch (15 minutes) or choosing to scan again.

The number of markers you progress in a stretch depends upon how well you roll; the distance travelled is the number of successes. If you don't reach a significant location, you'll face a hazard. In play, this can be partially hidden from the players by just narratively injecting the hazard that a particular delver faces. Hazards are rolled or picked from a set of tables in the core book or the scenario itself, and typically target a single explorer with a challenge or threat to overcome which could cause harm in some way or cost supply or equipment. The published scenarios also include events that the GM can inject at the right point to add another challenge, for example stumbling upon the nest of a dangerous creature. When you stop in a location, you will suffer a blight attack if it's present. 

This may seem pretty mechanistic, but it's very easy to present with a lot of narrative opportunities. To be frank, if you didn't, it would be pretty tedious. As it is, the design of the scenarios indicates that the narrative feel is a key part.

When you reach a key location, the system falls away; you're not making delving rolls any more, but you will still mark supply. You only encounter blight if the location shows it is present.

How does this all play out? Sitting in the GM's chair, you see players acting like they are explorers as they plan the best route and try to work out how much supply to take with them. You see tension building as they progress through the delve and supply and heart points dwindle from distance, encounters and blight. It's very obvious that the further the crew are into a delve, the more nervous they become about coming back out (that is usually handled abstractly, but it still costs supply). My experience is that the whole delve sequence builds a feel of threat, exploration and challenge, which is what the game is thematically about.

Coriolis: The Great Dark is about more than that though. The sessions that we played in Ship City, with the inter-factional challenges were great, and you could easily build a campaign around that. Indeed, Fria Ligan are, as they plan to release a new Ship City book in 2027. That could be really good fun to play with. It was all about interaction and rivalries. 

The feel is different to the Arabian Nights in space of The Third Horizon, but that is still there if you scratch the surface of the factions; the Coriolites and the Guilds very much feel that they are realistic successors to the past history. It feels like the old ways have drifted, driven by the world of hardship and challenge that the diaspora has faced, but the echoes are still there in a resource-limited, fragile world.

I'm really interested in how you've found The Great Dark if you've played it. How did you approach it? Did you find the delving mechanics fade away? Did they build tension and make you feel like you were an explorer in a dangerous world of unknowns?

6 November 2026

Flowers of Algorab - Episode 23 - Who are you?

Some technical challenges this session; Paul couldn't get Owlbear Rodeo to work initially but we eventually got there, and I had a bit of a problem with Tabletop Recorder again this session, sorted promptly by one of the Devs. However, once again I was in the Days Inn and the WiFi was fine.

Graham was away, and Hattie was a little pre-occupied as she had a work event the next day and she was getting regular messages, but we still got a good session in,. It was a session that reminded me just how dangerous the Year Zero Engine can be, as Paul's character took trauma and rolled a 64 for the result on a d66. A 65 or 66 would have taken Meristo out, which I'd rather not have happened, as it is, he's presently amnesiac. However, we may have made a mistake in doing this as he may have taken hope loss from an equipment dice, so I'm just checking that out with him.

They now find themselves deep in a builder ruin, and they were left on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Our Crew;

• Arda Qamar, a Guild Surveyor and Traveller who came from the Far Colonies from a Mining Combine operation. She’s the bird handler and Scout for the team. (Played by Hattie).
• Meristo Koulas, an Esoteric Coriolite Seer who grew up in the Fog of the Haze, and has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Paul).
• Lieto Miesma, a Scholar specialised in Builder Archeology who came from deep inside the Factory City of the Turbine Halls, with a background in the Machinist's Guild. (Played by Graham)
• Fassour Faradi, a roughneck deep miner who also came from somewhere the eternal fog of the Haze, and - like Merits - has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Simon)
• Rashid al-Masri, a scoundrel Hull Cutter who came from among the hulks and wrecks of Hull Town, and has connections to the Gardener's Guild. (Played by Andy).
• Corvus the Bird, a specter; cobalt blue, with a long beak, always observing. Usually handled by Arda.

Their hired staff;

• Gina Zee, a Black Toad aligned expert ruin delver going under a pseudonym. (Hired by Fassour).
• Dr Layla Jaspel, a medical doctor and botanist from the Gardener's Guild. (Hired by Rashid).
• Karmelia Merest, a Navigator's Guild Algebraist, fascinated by the Singularity Spheres and apparently also a lover of Zinti novels. Very much angling to be Arda's BFF. (Hired by Arda)

The New Seekers (Corvus, Arda, Meristo, Fassour, Rashid and Lieto)

The Session (Spoilers for The Flowers of Algorab).

The gorge...

The crew was eight markers deep into the Ashen Gorge, preparing to push towards the builder ruin they had located. They had already cleared the area around their forward cache of blight and killed an Ash Crawler. The only trace found of the missing Nadir expedition was a glove, leaving the team to suspect—without proof—that its owner had been taken by the creature. They had also seen another party descend into the gorge, whom they believed might belong to the Mining Combine.

The team had 142 units of supply stashed at their cache and had brought a substantial load with them. They expected the journey to the objective and back to consume at least 24 units, before accounting for any exploration. Their heavy packs would be a liability in a fight or retreat, but they chose to take enough supplies to press on. A broken message from the Akhander warned that a severe storm was forming. Ash and wind were worsening, and the gorge’s exposed slopes made visibility and movement hazardous, with ash fall and lightning worsening. The Grasshopper and rover had been secured against the weather, before they entered the gorge, so they could only hope that they would still be there and operable when they emerged.

Meristo led the team along the safer path, with Gina Zee’s help. His climbing kit had been damaged earlier in the delve, so Lieto attempted to repair it with Rashid’s support when they arrived at the cache. The repair succeeded, though the journey remained punishing. The team repeatedly had to resist against blight, their health deteriorating as they travelled. Meristo and Fassour were especially badly affected; Meristo used decontamination doses to recover, and offered one to Fassour as well. Arda’s innate resistance helped her to avoid some of the harm. This was hard trekking, along the sides of a kilometre deep gorge covered in scree and ash, perilous and challenging. Fortunately, they were still following the safer path.

Meristo’s attempts to guide the team deeper ate into his hope and further wore down his equipment. Gina’s assistance helped him make progress, carrying the group into territory they had not properly surveyed. They sent Arda’s bird Corvus ahead and used the deep scanner. Its readings revealed a strong contact in location D9: some kind of ruin or artefact, surrounded by heavy blight. Arda tried to use the bird to suppress the blight, but the attempt failed. The team considered retreating to recover, but decided to continue, partly because the other expedition might be ahead of them.

The builder installation...

With Gina’s help, Meristo led the group to the site. As they approached, Lieto became absorbed by ornamental glyphs cut into a smooth section of cliff wall. The glyphs were encrusted with blight crystals. Lieto pushed past his caution to examine them and was contaminated in the process.

The team found a broad artificial platform projecting from the gorge wall, with a hexagonal entrance set into its façade. A metallic door stood partly open. Scorch marks around it suggested that someone had recently tried to cut or heat it open. The platform also had fittings resembling permanent anchor points, where the team could secure their packs.

Arda used the team’s glyph books to study the markings around the door, with Fassour’s help. They identified two glyphs: Ishra, associated with life, and Hadra, associated with power. Gina borrowed Fassour’s pickaxe and easily shifted the door on its runner, revealing that it had been jammed rather than sealed. The team left their shaped charge unused, with Fassour not needing to blow the door open.

While putting his equipment away, Fassour noticed a small powered device fixed to the rock beside the platform. It appeared to be a homing beacon, bearing a Ship-City mark but none of the serial markings the team recognised from the Mining Combine. That suggested another expedition had been there. Fassour switched it off and pocketed it.

The storm was intensifying outside, with ash and static swirling in the gorge, but the installation offered shelter. Arda used the deep scanner to reveal more of the complex. The readings and the life-and-power glyphs led her to wonder whether the technology might create or restore life, though the team had no evidence to confirm that.

The passage opened into a torus-shaped chamber. A thin layer of ash covered the floor, and tall crystalline structures rose from the centre towards the ceiling. Intricate glyphs covered the curved walls; faintly glowing patterns of linked circles and ellipses showed through the ash beneath their feet. The place appeared free of blight and had the feel of a long-sealed facility. Searching it took time and supply, but the team had enough provisions to continue exploring. Arda had to be discouraged from rushing in to explore, full of excitement and enthusiasm.

They found booted tracks that did not belong to them. The prints circled the chamber and ended at a smooth cylindrical shaft, about twenty metres deep. There were signs of disturbance around the rim, but no obvious rope or other means of descent. The tracks did not lead back out. There were four shafts in total around the chamber.

Lieto and Meristo studied the chamber’s glyphs and architecture. They concluded that it had been a monitoring or control station for a larger project. The crystalline structures seemed to form part of the control system, and the faint signs of energy suggested that it might still be active. The team also found six small shards lying in the ash and divided them among themselves.

Meristo’s fall...

Meristo volunteered to descend the shaft using the climbing kit. Rashid and Gina offered assistance, but the worn equipment failed during the attempt. Its cables unravelled, and Maristo fell, with the kit tumbling down after him. He survived with little physical injury, landing in ash and debris, but the impact left him suffering severe mental trauma and complete amnesia.

When Rasheed called down to him, Meristo asked who he was. He tentatively suggested that Rashid might call him “Rooster”, but could not remember his own identity or the people around him. Rashed assured him that they were friends and explained what had happened. Meristo accepted his account, though he could not recall their friendship, mainly as there was something charming and empathetic about the man talking to him. He still understood what his medical equipment was and recognised that the bird was familiar, even if he could not remember why.

Arda successfully directed the bird to help retrieve equipment from above. Fasosur then rigged a way down using the remaining rope and damaged climbing gear, bracing himself as he lowered Rashid to Meristo. Rasheed inspected Meristo’s cracked helmet and carefully patched it. His calm reassurance helped Meristo regain some hope, but did not restore his memories. The amnesia would remain for the time being.

Arda, Gina and Fassour remained above the shaft. Lieto considered whether the descent might use builder technology, reasoning that it could involve gravity or anti-gravity, perhaps activated by glyph panels or a carried device. He could find no obvious controls or way to operate it.

As the team considered what to do next, a flicker of yellow light appeared around a corner on the level below. They glimpsed a figure—or perhaps something surrounded by crackling energy—before it vanished. They could not tell whether it was friend or enemy. The session ended with Rashid and the amnesiac Meristo below, the rest of the team above, and an unknown presence somewhere in the installation.

Source - initially Tabletoprecorder.com, heavily edited for names, clarity and brevity with some parts injected to explain or catch elements missed in the summarising. 

First Impressions - Keychron K5 Max

I’ve been using two keyboards regularly for the last year; for work, and for times when I want a quiet keyboard, I use a Logitech MX S which is nicely built and feels good. However, about a year ago, I purchased a Keychron K10 v2 because I wanted to try and feel what a mechanical keyboard was like for the first time in a long time. Now, I’d been giving that keyboard some serious side-eye for a while and the price drop as part of a summer offer was enough to tempt me. 

I wrote about my first impressions of that keyboard here, and it has been used regularly at weekends and less regularly through the week. The only challenge I had was that prolonged use could make my right hand tendon hurt, reminding me of damage I did years ago when I was going through an intensive period of writing huge numbers of specifications and dealing with the fallout of a Microsoft Ergonomic Mouse (the kind that had lump on the side and caused me permanent tendon damage as it messed up my posture). It sounds lovely and is delightful to use, but over an extended period I find it quite tiring. 

I started to wonder if the issue was that the keyboard was too upright, so I idly started browsing for alternatives. I eventually found a slimline 100% keyboard that Keychron make, the K5 Max. This is full size with a keypad, but the keys are much slimmer as they are on low profile switches. Once again, I found myself regularly eyeing up a keyboard, and when the Black Friday promotion had it included, I ordered one. 

I went for the brown switches again, as I quite liked how they felt. The keyboard itself has an RGB backlight rather than a white one, and once again can be used with a 2.4 GHz dongle, a USB-C cable or Bluetooth. I was a bit surprised at the delivery time for the keyboard; I ordered it on Friday and it arrived on Tuesday, so obviously it was in stock in the UK. My previous order had taken about a week to ship from China to the UK. I’ve been away with work for three days, so had some nice anticipation about using it when I returned. 

Getting it out of the box, it looked great. It comes configured for a Mac, but with replacement keys for a Windows machine along with the tool and instructions on how to change them. The keyboard is very modular and interchangeable. 

Overall the initial feel is very nice and I am liking the slightly shorter travel for the keys than the K10, which felt more like a classic old-school keyboard. This feels lighter and more modern, and I can immediately feel that my hands are not quite as raised as they were previously. Now I just need to really put it to the test by banging out some words. 

So am I satisfied with what I have purchased? At the moment, I think so, but I guess that only time will really tell. It will be interesting to see just how long the battery actually lasts. In truth, I’m chasing a memory, which was the responsiveness of my first PowerBook keyboard. I suspect that I will never actually find that again but this feels very light and responsive.

5 November 2026

Books in October 2026

I read twelve books in October (99 in total this year) for another 2,747 pages (25,784 so far). These included two non-fiction, four role-playing and six novels or novellas.

The first non-fiction book was Middleland by Rory Stewart. As a semi-regular The Rest is Politics listener, I'd heard about this book on the podcast and decided not to get it. Then my kids bought it for me as a present. It's sat there looking at me since Christmas, so I ended up selecting it as one of my Audible listens. The book is a collection of Stewart's columns written when he was an MP in Penrith, cleaned up with narratives connecting them. You can see how his thinking develops. I enjoyed this; it wasn't quite what I expected, but that's a good thing, isn't it? It certainly gives a flavour of living in a rural constituency, and seeing how decisions from afar in Westminster change can change your lives and livelihoods without much thought on their consequences, especially the connection to the land and community that farming brings.

The second non-fiction book was an impulse purchase called Running the Risk: Understanding life's biggest risks and how we build a safer future by David Barrett Reid. I picked it up as risk management is what I do every day as a safety professional. The book collects and discusses various disasters, risks and consequences, exploring how likely they are and what can be done about them. This was interesting, but overall I didn't really think it covered the future part of the subtitle well and I was underwhelmed. At least it's 11 hours of CPD.

On to roleplaying. I reread The Hooded Man before running it at Furnace (reviewed previously here). I followed this up with Graham Walmsley's Play Unsafe, which I'd picked up the 20th Anniversary Edition of at Furnace; this was really interesting and I wish that I'd read it earlier. Bizarrely, one of the topics effectively came into play at work the week after I read this and helped me to frame a discussion about how we addressed the behaviour. I will return to this. Finally, I read the Twilight Sword Core Book and Lands of Radia, which I gave some first impressions of here on the blog. I enjoyed these and hope to run them at some point.

Time to dive into the fiction. I started with The Drain by Caitlin T. Vale, part of the 1993 collection from The Eden Book Society, a fake historical fiction group used as a reason to publish a selection of short stories and novellas by Dead Ink Books. I actually bought this by mistake; I thought I'd ordered the eBook but it turns out I ordered both versions! It's a really nice modern take on a vampire story, completely unglamorous and somewhat nasty. The physical version comes in a lovely small format (if you recall the small classics that Penguin used to publish then that's exactly the format). Enjoyed this.

Next up was William Boyd's Cold Sunset, the third in his Gabriel Dax trilogy. In this one Dax ends up in Russia, and other complications arise. Definitely very readable, and I'm not certain if this actually a series or a trilogy. I'd recommend reading the first two books before this though as it does reference back to them.

After that, I read Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler, her last novel. Again, it’s a modern day vampire novel, and really well done. There are uncomfortable aspects to it, which I think is exactly right given the nature of theme. There is an energy to this and the society that comes to light in it is fascinating. Unfortunately, the author passed away, so there are no further books. I read this as part of Elle Cordova's book club; it's the first one in a few months that I haven't previously read, and I enjoyed discovering this. I have some of Butler's earlier books, which I will visit at some point.

I then dove into two Emily St. John Mandel books, back to back. I started with The Singer's Gun and then read The Lola Quartet. The former tells the story of a former criminal trying to go straight, but ending up doing one last job for his cousin. The second tells the tale of a quartet of musicians and how their life develops after they leave school and go their separate ways. The protagonist's girlfriend, disappears at their final performance, possibly with another member of the quartet. I loved the writing on both of these, but preferred the first book. I love the author's style of writing, it draws me on and is very enjoyable.

Finally, I read The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry. This is a science-fiction story, with characters hoping across the multiverse trying to prevent the murder of Madison May, a sometimes actress who is being killed repeatedly by the same man, another multiversal traveller. Part detective, part thriller, the story is quite compelling and comes together well.

Looking back, I'd be torn between Cold Sunset and The Singer's Gun for my favourite novels this month.

1 November 2026

Flowers of Algorab - Episode 22 - Crack Shot

Slightly delayed write-up as we had some issues with both the main gaming tools that we use for the campaign this week. Our VTT, Role, seemed to lose data in some of Lieto's character sheet fields (Graham and I are going on a bug hunt with the Dev at the moment), and Tabletop Recorder just refused to process the session, so no transcript or summaries were available for the session until this morning when the Dev on that platform found and resolved the issue. I also had an issue - in game - with fog of war in Owlbear Rodeo, but that was 100% a user issue on my part.

I have enabled the transcript feature in Audio Hijack as a fallback, but I hope I won't have to do anything with that output. It's just a backup, much like asking the players to give me a form-filled version of their character sheet is.

I was away from home with work again but this time I decided to run the game tethering to my iPhone as I had a very fast 5G connection compared to the WiFi. It mostly worked fine; some break up towards the end of the session but okay otherwise.

Anyway, enough tech. We were two players down - Hattie was travelling and Simon was still feeling unwell, and there was a risk that the session wouldn't happen but Graham came through, playing despite  being full of lurgy.

It was interesting; this was - in effect - our fourth delve, and the third using the full delve rules, and it seemed to run much faster than on previous sessions. The players were also much more into the whole theme. There was more planning before they started and - from the GM's perspective - it felt very much like they were professional explorers trying to work their way through a challenging mission. This is one of my frustrations with some of the criticisms of the game you see out there, especially from people who have just read the book rather than played or run it. Delves are important, but the whole mechanical section drops to the background and generates tension. It gives a feeling of peril, of resources being consumed, and of a need to consider your next moves carefully. I've explored ruins in Traveller before, and the air storage of Vac Suits means that the environment doesn't feel that hostile. The mechanics of Coriolis: The Great Dark evoke the feel of exploring a dangerous environment. 

They handled a very dangerous combat situation really well and are now using the crew manoeuvres to great effect. However, it did hinge on two key dice rolls; they managed to beat the 8 dice perception pool for the Ash Crawler, and then Graham took a decision to push one of Lieto's rolls with his fusilard pistol which achieved a critical and a single shot kill on the poor creature. They managed to completely finish it off before it had a chance to properly respond. Clever and lucky, that's what we like.

There were also some choices with the Bird - burning extra energy to ensure that they had an 'oasis' from the blight that lasted longer when they created their supply stash. Finally, Meristo finally got a really successful delving roll which moved them much more quickly.

Overall, a fun session.

Our Crew;

• Arda Qamar, a Guild Surveyor and Traveller who came from the Far Colonies from a Mining Combine operation. She’s the bird handler and Scout for the team. (Played by Hattie).
• Meristo Koulas, an Esoteric Coriolite Seer who grew up in the Fog of the Haze, and has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Paul).
• Lieto Miesma, a Scholar specialised in Builder Archeology who came from deep inside the Factory City of the Turbine Halls, with a background in the Machinist's Guild. (Played by Graham)
• Fassour Faradi, a roughneck deep miner who also came from somewhere the eternal fog of the Haze, and - like Merits - has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Simon)
• Rashid al-Masri, a scoundrel Hull Cutter who came from among the hulks and wrecks of Hull Town, and has connections to the Gardener's Guild. (Played by Andy).
• Corvus the Bird, a specter; cobalt blue, with a long beak, always observing. Usually handled by Arda.

Their hired staff;

• Gina Zee, a Black Toad aligned expert ruin delver going under a pseudonym. (Hired by Fassour).
• Dr Layla Jaspel, a medical doctor and botanist from the Gardener's Guild. (Hired by Rashid).
• Karmelia Merest, a Navigator's Guild Algebraist, fascinated by the Singularity Spheres and apparently also a lover of Zinti novels. Very much angling to be Arda's BFF. (Hired by Arda)

The New Seekers (Corvus, Arda, Meristo, Fassour, Rashid and Lieto)

The Session (Spoilers for The Flowers of Algorab).

The team gathered at the edge of the Ashen Gorge with a clear objective: reach the signal they believed lay deeper in the ravine, while avoiding as much blight as possible. Rashid Al Masri, Meristo Koulas and Lieto Miesma were joined by Arda Qamar, Fassour Farradi and Gina Zee, the experienced Delver they had hired for the mission. They planned to establish a supply cache at location F7, where several routes could lead back towards their rover if their chosen path became blocked. The group had brought extra supplies, accepting that carrying so much would hinder their movement, and made sure much of the load could be dropped quickly if they needed to move fast. Gina’s presence also meant the team would burn more supplies as they travelled, but they felt her experience would pay off

The gorge was dark beneath heavy cloud, with ash whipping through the wind and lightning flashing both down from the clouds and up from the ravine. Lieto used his natural affinity for cartography alongside the portable deep scanner to study the terrain. His mapping revealed a slower route along a ridge that would halve the number of hazard checks, at the cost of increased supply use. The team chose the safer path.

Meristo led the descent. The first stretch was uneventful, but a violent lightning strike close enough to shake and disorient the team on the next section cost them additional supplies. Lieto and Arda were left distracted by the spectacle; Fassour had to push himself to stay focused. The team pressed on, while Arda sent the bird ahead to scan the route. Its readings revealed blight in the areas further down the gorge.

The blight took its toll as they advanced. Their suits protected most of the party, but Rashid, Arda and Gina each lost heart at different points. Lieto was caught in a cloud of luminous spores, which threatened to leave him shaken and blighted, but his suit held and he brushed them away. The team also found a cave opening in the cliff, with ash grit and fragments of bone inside. Though Lieto was eager to investigate, they decided to mark it and continue towards F7.

From their position, Arda used the bird to survey further ahead, while Lieto and Rashid worked with the deep scanner to clarify the map. The scan cost time and supplies, but revealed more of the route and the high-blight areas ahead. Meristo then pushed through several sections at pace, hoping to reduce the exposure of the team. The quicker advance brought them to the planned staging point with fewer hazards, though the blight still forced the group to make further protection checks.

At F7, the team decided to return to the rover rather than immediately push deeper. They placed 71 supply in a cache, keeping only enough for the return journey, and used the bird to clear blight from their current area for a limited time. The party withdrew through the gorge and rested in the rover. Their rest helped clear the lingering distraction and restored some heart and hope. Before setting out again, they used the bird and scanner to survey the route ahead, confirming that particularly dangerous concentrations of blight lay further down.

During the rest period, Rashid spotted a shuttle descending rapidly into the gorge. The Akhander - at the end of a poor comms connection - confirmed that it had observed a mining combine vessel passing over the area, similar in size to the shuttle, and that it had refused attempts to hail it. The vessel claimed to be on Combine business, but had offered little explanation. The Akhander warned that relations between the Mining Combine and the Sharzad Collective were poor, and to be careful. The team suspected they had competition in the gorge, though they did not yet know who had landed or what they wanted.

The group returned down the route, again carrying extra supplies. Near the cave they had passed earlier, Meristo used his night-vision goggles and spotted movement inside. The creature appeared to be a huge, armoured centipede, more than ten metres long, its carapace anybody  glowing with blight. The team judged that leaving it behind them was too risky, and chose to attack rather than try to sneak past.

Rashid coordinated concentrated fire against the creature and moved to flank it. Meristo's opening shot tore away some of its legs. Rashid’s incendiary attack set it alight and inflicted serious damage, while Gina struck it with her Zapti Long Gun. Lieto initially missed, but, taking advantage of the team’s coordinated attack, identified a vulnerable point beneath its head. He fired into the weak spot, and the creature’s legs buckled as it died. Its final thrashing caught Gina, who took a minor injury despite her armour; the others managed to avoid the worst of it. Meristo's rousing words helped restore the team’s morale.

The cave proved to be a blight-free pocket. Once the fires had died down, Gina searched the remains and found a pale, dusty exosuit glove. Rashid and Lieto recognised it as identical to the glove recovered from the body at the Well of Souls. Its markings suggested that it might have belonged to someone from the Nadir. The cave held no other useful finds, and the creature’s young had been caught in the fire.

The team ended the session with a substantial supply cache established at F7, a clearer picture of the blight ahead, and evidence that another party had entered the gorge. The old glove was the most promising clue yet that they were close to a place connected with the Nadir and their objective.

Source - initially Tabletoprecorder.com, heavily edited for names, clarity and brevity with some parts injected to explain or catch elements missed in the summarising. 

First Impressions - Twilight Sword RPG, some quick thoughts

https://youtu.be/H6mmGjGmhu0?si=g5wupYDt2CkXxWyn

I'm not planning to write a detailed review on Twilight Sword. That's not because I don't like it, but rather because it would take a chunk of time and much of what I would write has already been covered by Patchwork Paladin's blog post. I encourage you to read that.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ncqUjeZFH6I?si=6T_HQJCq2SUVUivW

I've finished reading through the Twilight Sword Core Rules, the Lands of Radia campaign book and the mini-campaign in the starter set. I didn't read the starter rules (a shortened version of the core book but on a quick flick through, they looked good.

Things I like:

• It's a medium crunch system using D12 roll-under mechanics.
• It's beautifully clean and well written, which makes the crunch feel simple.
• The format and illustrations are top notch.
• The physical quality is superb and begs to be run at the table.
• There are elements of the design that are clearly intended to evoke video game sources (eg Zelda) and are quite cute - expect foes to dissolve away when slain, boss monsters and patterns of attack you can learn.
• The Lands of Radia campaign book is a well constructed sandbox adventure that leads towards a good climax.
• The starter set is superb, and has a nice prequel mini-campaign.

Things that could better:

• Neither the Core Book or Lands of Radia has a short starter encounter or adventure detailed out to use immediately. You need the starter set for that. I'm with Patchwork Paladin that there should have been at least one example and perhaps Lands of Radia should have had some more guidance on fleshing out locations or have had maps of them.
• I think that the Card Chest would have benefited from the addition of some dividers to sort the cards out.

Overall, this is one I want to run. Starter set mini campaign, anyone? Or maybe next Furnace?

29 October 2026

Losing the Rosetta framework

I recently updated to macOS 27 Golden Gate having deliberately ignored macOS 26 Tahoe because I really didn't like the aesthetics. As it is, I have Liquid Glass dialled right back.

I'm getting a gentle nagging dialog box now, warning me that several of my applications won't work when macOS 28 comes out in a year or two because the Rosetta translation system between Intel and Apple Silicon code will be removed. Now, ideally, I'd have loved it to have been available still as an optional download, but we are a long way into the Apple Silicon transition so I get why Apple are dropping it.

I've been gradually either deleting apps (if I don't use them often) or looking for updates, and where it's possible posting on the support forums as a nudge.

Wonderdraft relies on an Intel framework, but Dungeondraft doesn't, so queried if there was a plan. I do hope this migrates.

I'll miss Copied (which uses iCloud to sync my clipboards across my macOS and iOS/iPadOS devices) but hopefully there are alternatives out there.

My biggest concerns at the moment are the scanner drivers:

• Canon's driver was last updated in 2021 (although some of their wrap around stuff is later).
• ScanSnap - part of the tools installed by my ScanSnap (ABBYY Fine Reader) are showing as Intel based. The main ScanSnap driver is Apple Silicon only so I'm hoping that it will continue to work just fine. It is regularly updated. 
• CZUR's driver was updated in the last ten days and works fine (and faster). 

I have three scanners for a variety of reasons; each is a very different tool (A4 flatbed, document scanner, larger format scanner).

This is bringing back memories of past OS updates which obsoleted decent bits of hardware because the manufacturer didn't update the driver so you buy a new version. Hopefully, the situation will improve over the year. 

I guess the ongoing nagging means I'll keep checking this so I'm ready, if possible.

25 October 2026

Flowers of Algorab - Episode 21 - The Ashen Gorge

We skipped two weeks, partly due to availability; I couldn't make the second week as I was away with work and had an evening event. This week we were just quorate, with Simon still unwell, and Dr Mitch having to do some last minute work through the evening, leaving Graham, Andy and Hattie available to play. I was in the Days Inn again, and the internet connection was mostly decent. I had a bit of a faff getting the AV right, but got there in the end before we started. Of course, the middle of the fortnight break was Furnace, so in some ways I was glad that work commitments stopped me from running the second Tuesday, as I was pretty tired after the convention. 

We had a good catch up before we started, and much excitement was heard about the recent low key announcements from Fria Ligan on the new books for Coriolis: The Great Dark and more. One of them - Into the Abyss - looks like it may well be the sequel to Flowers of Algorab. We were joking that we could be facing a second season for the campaign!

The session was shorter than normal; we covered the journey through the Gahand cloud, and the arrival on the surface of the cloud-enshrouded planet Anshubur. The crew got as far as a deep scan, and proceeded to plan their next steps. It seemed to be a good reason to call time then as there was every chance that we'd have more players next session. It felt like a real expedition; they were facing into how much supply they needed, and whether increasing the team number to six was worth it with the doubling of supply consumption that it would bring when compared to the flexibility and expertise that they gained. The team concluded it would, but then deliberately over encumbered themselves with the plan to create supply caches on the way in.

I made one mistake; I forgot to cover the blight scores when I created the VTT map. I need to resolve that before the next session.

Our Crew

• Arda Qamar, a Guild Surveyor and Traveller who came from the Far Colonies from a Mining Combine operation. She’s the bird handler and Scout for the team. (Played by Hattie).
• Meristo Koulas, an Esoteric Coriolite Seer who grew up in the Fog of the Haze, and has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Paul).
• Lieto Miesma, a Scholar specialised in Builder Archeology who came from deep inside the Factory City of the Turbine Halls, with a background in the Machinist's Guild. (Played by Graham)
• Fassour Faradi, a roughneck deep miner who also came from somewhere the eternal fog of the Haze, and - like Merits - has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Simon)
• Rashid al-Masri, a scoundrel Hull Cutter who came from among the hulks and wrecks of Hull Town, and has connections to the Gardener's Guild. (Played by Andy).
• Corvus the Bird, a specter; cobalt blue, with a long beak, always observing. Usually handled by Arda.

The New Seekers (Corvus, Arda, Meristo, Fassour, Rashid and Lieto)

The Session (Spoilers for The Flowers of Algorab).

Our intrepid adventurers find themselves steering the slipstream cruiser Akhander through the tumultuous stretches of the Gahand Cloud towards Anshubur. The Akhander is towing the ore hauler, Shimzabla’s Golden Smile, toward Habanatum, a curious destination as the system is dominated by a neutron star. Additionally, a bard-like prophet-poet named Charcout has joined the journey, promising to enhance the crew’s morale.

As the Akhander ventures into the upper decks of the Gahant Cloud, a vast dust and gas cloud stretching nearly fifteen astronomical distances, navigational challenges mount. Rashid and Lieto leverage their skills and ship’s technology to discern an oddity in their path—an echo in the cloud that suggests another presence. This echo, peculiar in its nature, seemingly sways with an organic rhythm, hinting at the mysterious Umbravores known to inhabit these nebulous regions. It remains at the thermocline between the upper and lower cloud decks, pacing the ship.

Real-time strategy discussions ensue amongst the crew, navigating through the technical details of spacecraft operations and the cloud’s environmental data. Arda, suggests using the starship’s deep scanners further, supported by Lieto referencing background radiation readings to differentiate the echo from cosmic interference. This reveals not only the massive size of this entity but also its potential as a formidable Umbravore that trails the Akhander feeding off its particulate wake.

Tension escalates as the slipstream cruiser halts to refine the scan, discerning the massive shape of the Umbravore hovering near. Quick decisions are required to prevent a collision—opt for misdirection or initiate evasive manoeuvres? Despite adventurous suggestions, the crew opts for the latter, managing to cautiously accelerate and steer clear of the imminent threat. This decision stirs up an ether storm, enveloping the Umbravore in a spectacle of plasma that mesmerises and terrifies in equal measure. 

As the ship left the Gahand Cloud, the whole crew reflecting on their close encounter, inspired by Charcout’s poetic ode to the majestic creature they narrowly eluded. The journey, filled with both danger and beauty, continues to promise more as the Akhander finally emerges from the roiling mists of the Gahand Cloud, the crew sets their sights on the enigmatic planet Anshubur. The air is filled with a mix of relief and anticipation; the crew is grateful for the lack of confrontations with the Leviathan, yet they remain cautious, aware of the mysterious and possibly treacherous nature of their next destination.

Lieto Miesma, delves into the legends surrounding Anshubur, somewhat distracted by the stories of the the mythic lost planet  in the Cloud called Umbra Major—rumoured to be a treasure trove of ancient builders' ruins and possibly holding the secret to eternal life, guarded by a mystical priestess. The crew muses over these tales, which add both allure and ominous undertones to their expedition.

Approaching Anshubur, its surroundings grow increasingly foreboding as nightmarish details become apparent; it is shrouded in dark clouds, with storms of acid rain and fierce winds whipping across its surface. This hostile atmosphere prompts concerns about the crew's safety and the capabilities of their equipment. Their destination appears less like a haven and more like a hellish vista ripped from a twisted dream.

They quickly locate the area that the potential Singularity Sphere transmission is coming from and face a crucial decision about navigating the peril surrounding Anshubur's atmosphere in their shuttle. Rashid uses this tense moment to assert his leadership, pondering whether to brave the tempest to reach their target directly or to find a safer, albeit possibly longer, path to their destination.

The crew opts for caution, deciding to land the Grasshopper away from the worst of the storms and make their way towards the source of an intriguing signal by foot and rover, leaving the Akhander safely in orbit above. Their discussion is tactical, measured, and underscored by the awareness that every choice in this alien terrain could mean the difference between discovery and disaster.

They prepare for their descent. Eager yet unsure of what awaits them, they equip themselves with their delve suits designed to withstand the harsh environmental conditions, and their ship bristles with the tension of explorers on the brink of a possibly monumental discovery. Everyone is on edge, poised for whatever mysteries are veiled in the stormy, uninviting embrace of the hellscape in front of them.

Lieto Miesma, expressed concerns about making a quick exit, leading Arda Qamar to suggest using their seldom-employed rover for expedited movement. Rashid Al Masri queried about driving responsibilities, with Alda agreeing to taking the lead.

The group discussed logistical concerns about leaving certain team members with the rover or the shuttle, weighing up the usefulness of each crew member in their upcoming expedition deep into Anshubur's treacherous landscapes. Insights into each character's capabilities emerged, emphasising a collective reliance on each other's strengths and expertise. They decided to leave Kamalia and the doctor on the Akhander, but take the extremely experienced Gina Zee with them.

Rashid flies the Grasshopper shuttle into the storm, cooly controlling the craft through lightning, ash, particulates and plasma flares, landing about a kilometre from the target site. The crew brave the weather outside to anchor the Grasshopper down lest it is blown away, and then prepare to offload their Rhino class Rover, a huge wheeled and armoured ATV.

A daring plan materialised as the team prepared to embark in the rover, facing the precarious weather and turbulent landscape of Anshubur. The sky was choked with a roiling black cloud, contributing to a suffocating sense of claustrophobia among the crew. Tremors in the ground added to their unease, signalling potential seismic activities beneath the surface. As the rover journeyed through this hostile terrain, Arda skilfully brought the rover forward towards the maze-like gorge they could see ahead. Rashid had taken preventive measures to inspect and maintain the rover, ensuring its functionality against the harrowing conditions.

A tension-filled descent towards an ominous gorge required precise handling from Arda, who handled the rover with agility — albeit with palpable anxiety. The gorge revealed a labyrinthine maze, prompting a strategic review using their deep scanner to map out a feasible path forward through the maze-like terrain.

They progressed with practical discussions, from allocating and managing resources like supplies to implementing tactical maneuvers through the gorge. Calculations concerning supply usage were meticulously made, discussing the carrying capacities and potential to cache supplies en route to manage their heavy burdens.

Intrigue around their destination mounted as they approached the signal's source, implicating further complexities due to the gorge’s dangerous layout and apparent blight presence. The group strategised paths, contemplating less blighted routes while preparing for unexpected challenges, embodying a blend of caution and adventurous spirit. The discussion was a tapestry of critical decision-making, resource management, and cooperative strategy, setting the scene for a high-stakes exploration into the heart of Anshubur. The crew deliberated over potential drop-off points for their equipment to avoid encumbrance as they approach their target. The conversation, driven by earnest collaboration and tactical forethought, centres on various locales, with E9 and F9 serving as prospective cache sites due to their geographical features, such as caves which Lieto and Rashid consider with strategic intent. 

The session concludes with Dom guiding the group to a graceful pause, agreeing to continue their meticulous planning in the next chapter of their journey. The crew's camaraderie and shared resolve shine through, leaving listeners in eager anticipation of what lies ahead in the depths of Anshubur's foreboding landscapes and the Ashen Gorge.

Source - initially Tabletoprecorder.com, heavily edited for names, clarity and brevity with some parts injected to explain or catch elements missed in the summarising. 

Furnace XXI (2026) After Action Report

This last weekend was the twenty-first Furnace roleplaying convention, held as usual at the Garrison Hotel in Sheffield. It was our biggest yet, topping out at just over a hundred registrations and in the low/mid nineties for attendees. That's usual, because you tend to see 5-10% drop out rates thanks to real life (illness, things that come up, changes of plans and the folks that register but never respond to any emails or posts on the various channels we have for the convention). We saw more new folks, some attending for their first convention, and some old friends returning. As usual, All Rolled Up and Patriot Games were our splendid traders for the weekend. We had a very informal bring and buy stand too.

Once again, it was our triumvirate of Graham, Elaine and myself who were organising it, and once again it pretty much ran on rails. We did have some bumps along the way (changes of events coordinator at the Garrison for example) but nothing insurmountable.

I usually take the Friday off before the convention to leisurely complete preparation, but I ended up travelling for three days with work and then having a meeting I couldn't get out of moved to Friday morning. As a result, I had a pretty hectic Friday, arriving at the convention just after 22:30 but before last orders. I managed to park in the dedicated car park for the first time ever, which was a shock. There was Karaoke on as an event, but I managed to arrive too late to avoid the attempts from the ladies at the event to drag folks in to dance with them. I had a quick catch up with folks but went to my room before midnight. Of course, I then managed not to get to sleep until 2am!

Breakfast was early - the hotel had brought it half an hour earlier because we were using the restaurant again - but service was quick and friendly as ever. I found the food was better than the previous year and it was lovely to see the staff who come to know over the years.

I had time to quickly read through my scenario before heading up to the rooms to do final set up. This was mainly getting the badges out, making sure the extra Taylor's Coffee Bags were out to compliment the instant coffee, and getting the table signs in place. We've also been adding a box of tissues and - this year - some antibacterial wipes (as the little hand sanitizer's are harder to find) on each table at the convention in an attempt to minimise cases of 'con crud' afterwards. Graham tried to cleverly avoid me recording the opening speech by sending me upstairs but I managed to get back in time.

The Opening Speech

This year, I'd decided to simplify what I was doing and run the same game multiple times, albeit with different scenarios. These meant all the pressure to forget one game engine and adopt another was gone. I'd chosen The Hooded Man RPG (which I reviewed previously) and decided to run the three example scenarios in the book back-to-back with the same characters as if it was the Robin of Sherwood TV series. By making it episodic, it meant that people who signed up for three games got a mini-campaign, but other folks could sign up for a single episode. I had two players who played all three episodes, and three that played two of the episodes, the balance being folks who played a single session.

In preparing for the convention, I went down a bit of an expensive rabbit hole. I decided I wanted some maps on the table to make it feel more grounded, and ended up picking up several of the Tom Cartos 'Into the Wild' battle map books for the game. I'd previously purchased some modern day sets from him via a Kickstarter (TC Modern) and had a variety of Cyberpunk and SF battle map books from Loke, but nothing suitable for a fantasy game. I planned to use these with tokens, but I really struggled to find some nice ones that were either sensibly priced or looked right. I asked The Hooded Man Discord forum on Osprey Games' server, and some folks suggested some miniatures ranges that may work. Now, I rarely use miniatures for gaming; my games are usually over a VTT, but I have painted miniatures for games before (most notably for a Savage Worlds Hack of 2300AD's Mission Arcturus at a very early Furnace). 

The forum folks pointed me at North Star Figures and Wargames Atlantic, and ended up picking up a set of Oathmark British Light Infantry for the Outlaws (from North Star) and some Baron's War Foot Serjeants for the Sheriff's men. I also picked up a box of Villagers, mainly to raid for female heads and bodies. Finally, I ordered some STL printed Men at Arms to use for the Norman leaders from OttsWorkshop on Etsy.  I was wincing at this point as I had spent far more than I intended on the game bling. That was the point that I found out that my paints had all mainly dried up, so I needed to get some quickly. I found a set of NicPro Modeling Acrylic Paints for a decent price with 30 colours, and picked up some matt varnish. 

I spent several hours assembling the models (14 Normans and 12 Outlaws) wondering when the STL characters would arrive (I'd ordered about 5 weeks before the convention from a UK printer, and chased after three weeks but they hadn't arrived), and then a chunk of a Saturday painting them. Overall I was pleased with the outcome and, so long as you didn't look too closely, they looked great. I'd made sure that the outlaw characters had the right gender and equipment, which worked well.  

There's a really simple random character generation system in The Hooded Man, so I produced six characters and their companions. I'd offered spaces for five players in my game, but ended up running two of the sessions for six, which wasn't a problem. If I ran the same again, I'll probably loose the companions because it does make the game quite busy; then again, it does give the feel of an outlaw company.

One worry I did have was that the scenarios as written did have less in than I would normally have done if I wrote them myself, and I'd prepared some injects/beats to add if it seemed like they're run very short. However, as two of the slots were shorter than the ones that I usually pick (I often pick the four hour slots) this probably worked in may favour. Two of the sessions finished a bit early, but the players cleverly steered their characters to resolve the issues very effectively.

Your life has been turned upside down since the Sheriff of Nottingham declared you outlaws. Hunted, you fled into Sherwood Forest, hiding amongst the ancient, verdant and shady trees from the Sheriff’s men. You have fallen in with others who have suffered the same fate, a small community of lost souls, but life is hard and lean, and every day a struggle. You have heard rumours of the Hooded Man, an outlaw who protects the poor and weak, but is it just a myth?

The first scenario had Neil, Jon, John, Tamar and Dr Mitch playing, and instantly got the vibe of the setting. Fortunately most of them had seen Robin of Sherwood, so understood the influences that the game carried on its sleeve. I used the sting from the main title music a couple of times to emphasise this, but it was sparing as we were in a room full of other games being played. They met Robin and his band, and undertook a mission to deal with Norman tax collectors. What I loved is that having ambushed the advance scouting party, they grabbed their outfits and carried out a ruse where they managed to head off with all the taxation and two prisoners ('witches'), while misdirecting the heavily armed guards into a wild goose chase for Robin Hood. It was Tamar's first convention game and she gelled with the group really well so we had a lot of fun.

Over lunch I went to Morrisons and caught up with some folks.

At the village of Oston, your allies, news comes of a young woman from nearby Wellbury who has been seized by the Sheriff’s men after she rebuffed their advances. They accuse her of witchcraft, a crime which will likely lead to her torture and death. Her father pleads that you save her…

The second scenario sees the outlaws called to rescue a young woman, Jenny, who has been kidnapped by the Sheriff's men. They soon found out that she didn't really need saving, and at least one of the characters became enamoured with her. They used the tabards stolen in the first episode once more. This session saw Neil, John, Jon and Dr Mitch returning, joined by Simon and Tom. This was also the session when Neil realised that his character was the only one that hadn't really committed a crime, and that his character's traits pushed him to be a leader for the group. All of a sudden we had an Outlaw Band forming from a group of individuals. We also learned that Dr Mitch's character was a genius for cunning plans. Simon really brought his character's hunting dog into the fore, which was fun. Towards the end of the session, Tom's character suddenly realised that she'd never be a potter again, and the anger that brought out led to a very nasty end for the Norman leader. Following that, she ended up seeing a vision and meeting what could be Herne the Hunter (I described a very mist laden, back lit situation) with Jenny, and realising that even if Jenny wasn't a witch then she was well on the way to becoming one. They recruited her to their band along with her father to avoid reprisals on the village of Wellbury.

Dinner was at KFC, as is now traditional. The Garricon Bookclub continues, with a widening group joining each convention. We sit around and talk books, films and other media while enjoying fried chicken.

It’s All Hallows Eve, and Nottingham is bustling from the people who have come to celebrate Hallowmas and All Souls Day at the Church of St Mary the Virgin. Your company have taken the risk of visiting an Inn in Nottingham to meet an informant who has passed word that they have news from a prisoner of the Sheriff. Can you evade recognition and find out more?

The final scenario sees the characters entering Nottingham. As presented, this was totally underwritten, as the author had mentioned the possibility of rescuing the prisoner of the Sheriff, but there was absolutely no information on how to do this. Naturally, this became a big thing during the game session.  This session saw Jon and Dr Mitch reprising their roles as the cutpurse and slightly menacing but cunning bowyer along with Simon returning as the huntress with her loyal dog. Dr Bob, Jenny and Elina joined us. Elina took over Thomas from Neil, and the change in approach led to jokes that the character's hair had changed colour (like the change in actor for Robin Hood in the TV series). The character became known as Modest Tom. They met an informant in an Inn, then spent All Souls Day recovering a talisman taken by a veteran forester in a foreign war, and ambushing a band of the Sheriff's men who had tortured the forester to get details of the treasure. This led to a spectacular fight when they ambushed the soldiers as they crossed a bridge. It caused a mild bought of panic when they realised that the leader of the soldiers was far stronger than any opponent that they'd faced with armour and a villain trait that made them very dangerous. The outlaws prevailed, but not without some injuries.

That was the point when the scenario went completely off the track in the book and they staged a very apt Robin Hood style rescue of the forester before he was hanged. This included impersonating a priest and using the tabards again! A crowd was gathered for the hangings; they ended up rescuing five people  but leaving a nasty murderer to die. It was very dramatic, and they just escaped Nottingham. My only regret (in hindsight) was that I didn't offer some kind of archery contest for them to become involved with, but we had fun and escaped.

I had a quick drink in the bar with some of the folks, then headed to bed.

Sunday brought an early breakfast, and then a very relaxed day.

Slot 4 saw me playing Coriolis: The Third Horizon run by Hattie (who plays Arda in my Coriolis: The Great Dark Campaign). The scenario, Eye of the Beast, had vibes of Avatar, and we had great fun with the factional interplay; if anything, too much fun as we became pressed for time to follow all the threads in the three hour session. That's always the challenge for a GM, if the players are really getting into the roleplaying, then it's hard to move them along. Hattie did brilliantly, and helped us to come to a satisfying conclusion. This reminded me why I love playing in the Third Horizon; I was grateful for the opportunity to return.

Lunch was Morrisons again.

Before the final session, we had the raffle which was done by friend of the convention and Most Worshipful Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Andy Sanger. Andy's been a Garricon regular from the start and his year as the leading citizen of Sheffield means he can't join us properly. He gave a short speech, and then we were off for our final session.

This time I was playing in Graham's game of Aegean, The Curse of the Golden Bull. This was a game that was new to me, where you can play mortals and demi-gods in Ancient Greece. Being honest, I was fading a bit at this point as I'd not slept brilliantly on Saturday night, but the story was compelling and interesting. The route we chose through favoured our brave warriors (and I was a talky character) but it was great fun. The conclusion was appropriately epic, with potential future repercussions for our Polis as we may have offended at least on of the gods. I really liked the system, which was a d10 dice pool based, and I ended up ordering a copy from Patriot Games.

And then it was all over; Graham and Elaine headed off and I finished off tidying up. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. 

As ever, we'd welcome feedback from attendees and always love seeing after-action reports of how it was for you. We always want to make Furnace better; that's why we brought the new space into play last year and have changed things like the slot lengths. 

Hoping to see some of you at Furnace XXII next year, or at North Star, Revelation or LongCon before that.

It's a wrap.

17 October 2026