Curse of Strahd - S2E12 - Charmed, I'm sure!

      

We rejoin our heroes as they walk back from the Vistani encampment to Vallaki, on the Old Svalich Road, flush with wine and the friendship of Lukash and Arrigal, having rescued young Arabelle from certain drowning by Bluto, the town drunk.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Alys de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon.

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good. 

Heading back to Vallaki

16th November (afternoon)

Slightly under the influence, the party started back down the hill and onto the Old Svalich Road, chatting and comparing notes about what they had learnt during their stay with the Vistani. Perhaps the most significant additional item that came to light was that Arabelle had the gift of the Sight and could read the Tarokka. Madame Eva discouraged her from doing it as she was so young, but the power was definitely with her, making her even more valuable and loved by her people.

The party kicked around what they needed to do next. Visit the Old Bonegrinder? Take the job to collect the wine from the Wizard of Wines? Travel to Krezk? Head to the Amber Temple to find a way to kill Count Strahd? Ser Adon advocated for the Mill, as with Gaddock's story it was possible that the old women - maybe hags - were taking children there and doing dire deeds. Ser Alys made a convincing argument for the Amber Temple. Undecided by the time they reached town, Gaddock headed out to an Apocathery at the edge of town run by Anya Trevali, a Vistani Remanio where he traded the two scrolls he had found in Graenseskov for one with a spell to identify magical items. He also spent much of the remaining funds that he had on the purchase of materials to allow him to transcribe the scroll.

The rest of the party went back to the Blue Water Inn, changed and headed to the Wachterhaus for afternoon tea with Lady Fiona. They committed a slight faux-pas by arriving about an hour early, which meant that the serving staff were in a quandary whether to serve hot tea or wine. In the end, they did both, accompanied by sandwiches with a thin slice of marrow garnished with wurst. In the background, the cook was heard to be complaining that there were no cucumbers in the market this morning... not even for ready money.

Ser Alys and Lady Fiona gently circled around each other, as the noblewoman tried to delicately sound out whether the party would aid her in resolving the governance of Vallaki. She seemed to be unhappy at the dissembling that the knight was doing when a carriage pulled up outside. Shortly after, the doorbell rang, and the butler welcomed in Lady Anastrasya Karelova, an old and dear fiend of Lady Wachter. She'd been her governess and tutor when she was younger. Beguilingly beautiful, and dressed in a delicate and distinctive red dress, Anastrasya just bubbled with charm. 

She soon had Kelwarin hanging off her every word, and telling her of his adventures so far. Shortly after, Ser Adon was doing similar, looking at her and behaving in a way completely improper for a man who had been married for only two days. Or at least he was, right until Ser Alys kicked him extremely hard under the table. Ser Alys felt the draw of Anastrasya's charms but was cold to them. Roscoe was certain that she was looking straight through his disguise and found her completely beguiling.

Once Kel and Fagon (Roscoe) had finished proudly talking about their achievements and backgrounds like a pair of teenagers in front of an experienced beauty, the conversation moved back to Lady Fiona, who rapidly closed it down when the party refused - politely - to take direct action and instead advocated a social occasion and the establishment of a committee to advise Baron Vargas. Ser Adon seemed confident that the Baron would listen to sound advice. Lady Fiona, looking disappointed, made a pointed comment that Anastasya needed time to freshen up, and that it was delightful that they had come to see her. Anastrasya wistfully said goodbye to the visitors and said they should invite her to visit sometime because it'd be fun to catch up.

Leaving, the party talked to the Vistani and Dusk Elf crew members of the visitor's coach. The Vistani was cheerful, happily saying he'd guided her carriage though the mists and that she was a good mistress. The Dusk Elf seemed lost of all will and joy and implied that he'd served Anastrasya for years, perhaps since his family died.

All they really gleaned about Lady Fiona's visitor was that she was probably older than she looked, wasn't a vampire (she didn't trigger Ser Adon's detection of undead), and almost certainly had a charming nature. Kel and Roscoe would be embarrassed the next morning, and Adon was already in the dog house with his new wife. She'd asked them for a lot of information about their background, which they'd gushed with. She definitely had a strong friendship with Lady Fiona, but it didn't seem to be sexual or involve charm magic.

Back at the pub, they had some drinks and talked through options as evening fell. It was decided to go and scout out the Old Bonegrinder Mill to the east. It was an easy hike, and it would put Ser Adon's mind at rest.

17th November

The Martikovs made them a packed lunch and dinner, and the party set off the next morning around eight. About an hour into the journey, Ser Alys spotted a leather bag in a tree bole. She examined it and found a woman's clothing and some weapons. A discussion was had and they decided that it could be from a shapeshifter of some kind, so they left it in place. By the time they reached the turn in the road as it started to lift into the mountains, they realised that they were behind schedule, having taken perhaps twice as long at they expected to get here. They had a second breakfast, then headed up the edge of the incline. Ser Adon and Roscoe were struggling with pressure headaches, and Gaddock and Kelwarin had the edges of a similar feeling. Only Ser Alys was unaffected. They suspected that someone - or something - perhaps the land itself, was turning against them. But why now? The consensus was that they must be being seen as a threat.

Trudging up the track, Gaddock sent his owl ahead to look for Mountain Men (who'd attacked before) and also for any other dangers. The owl approached the old windmill but was mobbed by ravens, flying back to his master and safety. Reaching the rocky promontory, the party decided to scout the area out. The two knights hunkered down while Gaddock, Kel and Roscoe headed out to check out a stone circle of four ancient megaliths which they'd spied behind the mill. Moving quietly, they crossed around but Kel managed to turn his ankle in a rabbit hole. He stopped and became the link man while Gaddock and Roscoe checked out the stone circle. 

The ancient moss-covered megaliths had carvings dedicated to the Morninglord cut into them. However, in the centre of the circle was a pile of teeth, possibly human, both small and large. There was a feeling of evil, reminding Roscoe of the sensation he had as he crossed past Castle Ravenloft. This wasn't a good place.

Checking out the Mill, they thought that the saw movement at the top floor, but whoever it was didn't see them. They completed a stealthy circle around the mill, and as they started to work out what to do next an older woman came out of the mill, tipping flour and pastry out. She turned, looked out towards the party and...

GM Notes: Upgrades this week as I added in the excellent Curse of Strahd soundtrack by Travis Savoie. I'd also custom modified Anastrasya. I loved the way that the players were trying to work out how she fitted in and what her powers were. The Lady Fiona decision will have repercussions, but they'll be a while. The characters have become noticed. This is not necessarily a good thing! I now have a fortnight to prepare the Mill, and integrate with the material that I'm adding from Mandy's Strahd Mod from r/curseofstrahd. Once we complete the Old Bonegrinder, we'll probably skip one or two sessions while I prepare for the next major areas of the campaign. That'll be Season 3.

24 February 2021

Curse of Strahd will return on 10th March 2021

Revelation 2021 - After Action Report

This weekend saw the year coming full cycle, and the last face-to-face gaming convention that I attended, Revelation, returning as a virtual event. This is one of the three events (usually at the Garrison Hotel in Sheffield) that I am involved in organising with Graham and Elaine.

We continue to see the dynamics of the conventions changing, with the virtual approach resulting in people becoming more and more selective on what they play. The lack of a physical hub for the games, and the amount of time that people are spending in Zoom, Teams and more, has also led to people only attending a few slots. Our sign-ups were similar to normal, but we did see a sizeable proportion decide not to engage once game booking opened. We also saw a drop off in GM numbers; I suspect it may be driven by the change of format from real-to-virtual. I suspect that prospective GMs who've not gone virtual see a screenshot from Foundry or Roll20 and feel intimidated, when the truth is that you can just use Zoom or Meet, and physical dice.

I ran for two slots, and chose not to play the others because I spend a fair bit of time in Teams meetings all week, and it gave an opportunity for some work/life balance. My first slot was a return to the neon-noir powered hero genre of City of Mist.

Entering the City of Mist...

I had run City of Mist twice at last year's convention and loved it. The game has a similar vibe to Netflix Marvel, with a strong noir streak. The scenario I ran was one that I nearly took to the table last year, called 'Gambling with Death'. This had recently been released on Roll20, and I migrated all City of Mist Starter Set characters into the scenario using the transmogrifier tool. The character sheet integration is excellent and it handles status cards so well. I added in a couple of tracks from the soundtrack for background, which seemed to go down well when played quietly in the background.

I had a crew of four powered individuals played by Lynn, John, Elina and Phil. We started slowly as people adapted to the interface, but soon they all had a grip on it and we were underway. I chose to start the scenario as a missing person case, for the private detective agency that the characters were in and then bring in the murder plot to put Lynn's detective in a position of conflict between personal and professional lives. I was a bit too ambitious on what we'd cover, but we brought the game to a good ending with a sting in the tail, just after midnight. As Elina pointed out, it could have been a two-parter or mini-campaign. Everyone seemed to have fun, which is the main thing. I was reminded how much I love this game; it's begging to have a campaign run with it.

Welcome to Mire End...

The second game, Sunday afternoon, was a return to the a|state 2 playtest, "Nicely, Done". I ran this at North Star last year while it was under playtest and wanted to run it again as I'd committed to Graham to run it for him. Paul, Andrew and Dragongirl74 filled the rest of the crew. The main change from the previous run-through is that the scenario has been focussed to be even sharper. I ended up undoing that because I wanted a longer game like the one that I'd run before. I did this by opening up the 'gather information' phase at the start but trying to keep it focused before we engaged with the adventure site. 

The game was run using Google Meet, and Dragongirl74 introduced us to a great dice-rolling Chrome Extension, which worked well. I shared the gaming materials using presentation mode, and it worked fine. It just goes to prove you don't need the bells and whistles to have fun.

The new edition of a|state uses the Forged in the Dark engine, and cannot really be used without the SRD or a copy of Blades in the Dark as it's a taster for the final game. I enjoyed running it, but I did find the game mechanics quite slippery to hold onto as a GM, and they definitely required me to think on my feet. The end game saw a huge explosion and a successful escape with a large number of kidnapped and enslaved children. The game did veer towards the humourous for a moment, but then dug back in as the heroes tried to bring hope to a flooded borough. It was fascinating to see another group run through this scenario, with different takes on the same characters and different solutions. The session ended with a huge number of questions about how the game handled downtime and more, questions that I couldn't answer with the playtest material. 

On reflection, both City of Mist and a|state left me feeling that I wanted to play more with the same characters and players. Both sessions felt like openers to longer campaigns. It's something that the Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games are good at, in my experience. It's why I keep coming back to them.

Thanks again my players and fellow committee members for a fun time.

21 February 2021

Open vs. Closed Investigations in RPGs

I recently shared a post on the Actual Play forum on the Tavern detailing the various platform assumptions for the Curse of Strahd game that's in its second year of play at the moment. It was a bit of housekeeping and I was amused by the reply that Tom (aka The Guvnor), who plays Ser Alys de Rouge in the game gave.

The Tavern Thread

"We, the players, don't have a closed WhatsApp group where we plot against Strahd, i.e. Dom."

This is referencing the point that, a couple of sessions ago, we'd got into quite a detailed tactical discussion across Discord, WhatsApp and the Tavern about the ways the players could deal with the cliffhanger combat that I'd left them on at the end of the session. It was fascinating to watch as a GM, and also to prod and tease. It was also useful, because it let me have an idea of what they'd be doing. As a GM, I play the antagonists, but I try to be a fan of the characters. I want them to succeed, but they may pay a cost to do it. I probably get as nervous as them when we get into a dangerous combat; I don't want to kill them off, but I'm representing forces that would like nothing better.

Suddenly, midway through, the players remembered I was there and getting this insight into what was happening. After which the conversation dried up. I don't know, to this day, whether they really do have an alternative discussion group.

Last week, I started to play in the Eternal Lies campaign for Trail of Cthulhu, run by Richard Lock. I'm really quite excited about this; it's at least as epic in scale as Masks of Nyarlathotep and it's something that I've wanted to run - or play - since it came out. This is perhaps the third or fourth major GUMSHOE campaign that Rich has run for me, and I absolutely trust him.

The Miro Board.

That's part of the reason why I'm sharing our investigation notes so he can see them. I used to post them up, exported from Scapple, but this time I'm using Miro, as it is a great collaborative tool when you need to bring data together. I'm sharing these for a number of reasons;

1. If I (or Dr Mitch who's also playing) makes an error on the facts about the clue, Richard will correct it.
2. It's really easy to lose track of a large investigation's moving parts, so this a public record we can all see and reference.
3. If Richard can see what we think we know, and where we think we need to follow up, it makes it much easier for him to prepare and also make gentle course corrections if they're needed.

However, the direction of the investigation and the resulting risk is all down to Dr Mitch and myself.

I'm sitting in the same place as Richard in the Curse of Strahd. I'm actually comfortable with both an open or a closed approach. I do enjoy the challenge of rolling with whatever route the players want to go. I'm also happy with having an idea upfront so I can plan to make it the best experience possible.

Which way do you prefer, open or closed?

14 February 2021

Curse of Strahd - S2E11 - Dumb, Desperate & Dangerous [Spoilers]

         

We rejoin our heroes as they ponder what the next steps they should take are over breakfast at the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Alys de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon.

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good. 

 

Roll20 running with Video (Audio via Discord)

16th November

Over a leisurely breakfast, our heroes contemplated what to do next. The priorities they settled upon were to attend Lady Fiona Wachter's afternoon drinks to try and determine whether they should help her ensure that Vallaki had a more stable leadership, and also to visit the Baron to give him a stern talking to about the way that he was operating. Gaddock was desperate to find magical materials and perhaps a library so that he could carry out some arcane works, but there seemed to be nothing to hand in Vallaki. Roscoe (or Fagon Balogan, as he was pretending to be) was interested in what was going on at Old Berez and the place that his amulet was pulling him towards.

While the halflings were waiting for second breakfast (all this talk about not being able to make an omelette without breaking eggs had made them hungry), a young Vistani in his late teens came into the Inn and entered into an urgent conversation with Urwin Martikov, the Innkeeper. Shortly after, Urwin called out to the house and said that if anyone had seen a young (nine or ten-year-old) Vistani girl called Arabelle that they should let him or 'young Alexei here' know as she had been missing from their camp since the morning. There was a reward.

The reward was a secondary matter to the brave knights, who immediately got up and started off after Alexei to offer to help. Fagon went along too, but Gaddock happily stayed behind to tidy away both second breakfasts. The rest of the party headed out to the road to the east, figuring that as there isn't much traffic in Barovia that they may be able to pick up the track. Kel and Ser Alys stumbled upon the trail outside town in the mud at the edge of the road, despite Ser Adon's best accidental attempts to erase them as he checked out a hole at the side of the road in case she was hiding there. They followed the tracks back into town, stopping to talk to people as they headed in. Ser Adon was recognised by one of the parishioners from St Andrall's. He didn't recognise her but had clearly made a good impression. When he asked about Arabelle, she recalled a young girl of that description heading into town early morning with a basket 'like she was going to buy things at the market'. 

Meanwhile, Gaddock had eaten his fill, stretched and went outside to help with the search. Settling back against a wooden upright, he communed with his owl familiar who started to spiral search the town in circles further and further out. It didn't see the girl, but it did see a fisherman coming out from the old Spa at the edge of Lake Zarovich who was carrying a large burlap sack that was moving and struggling like something was inside. Gaddock sighed, ordered the owl to go and get the rest of the party and started to jog towards to lakeshore, quickly passing through the gates and probably cursing that he'd had two helpings of second breakfast and now wasn't being allowed to take first nap.

The rest of the party had reached the market, where Ser Adon's questioning soon determined that that the girl had bought some supplies for cooking and some ribbons and then been talking at the fishmonger's stall when one of the fishermen who works on the lake started a conversation with her and they headed up the Lake Road to the north. The party quickly headed in pursuit, meeting Gaddock's owl as they left the market. It beckoned them onwards. The gate guards confirmed that the young girl had left town with the fisherman, and he was talking about having smoked fish at the Spa.

Gaddock got in sight of the lakeshore, and saw that the fisherman had forced the sack into a rowing boat and was heading out with his rods. He headed towards the other rowboats as the boat pulled away; as it reached the 100m mark, the others arrived. Ser Adon started to yell to the fisherman to stop, and Roscoe recognised him as being the drunk who was in the cell next to him when he was imprisoned by the Baron. Not hesitating, Ser Alys stripped off and dived unto the water, ploughing towards the boat with a strong butterfly. The fisherman hesitated, obviously startled by Ser Adon's shouting and Ser Alys' swift arrival. She boarded the rowboat, intimidated the fisherman (one Bluto Krogarov, a drunkard and unsuccessful fisherman and now unsuccessful child murderer) and freed the young girl from the sack. Bound tightly with hemp rope, she has alabaster pale and raven-haired. 

Krogarov soon admitted he had planned to sacrifice Arabelle in the black mirror cold waters of Lake Zarovich, hoping that this would bring good fortune. He said that no one would be bothered if she was missing, as she was a Vistani. Bristling, the heroes determined to hand him over Baron for justice as a way of assessing how fit he was to lead. Escorted by the guard, they headed to the Burgomaster's house and presented their case. Surprisingly, although the Baron clearly detested them, and Ser Adon used this as a chance to give him a lecture, they agreed that Krogarov deserved the strictest of penalties. Izek Strasni, the Baron's bestial enforcer and leader of the guard was summoned, appearing somewhat distracted, but soon settled and took Krogarov to the stocks while a gallows was made ready. Satisfied that justice was to be done, the party found Alexei and headed with him and Arabelle to the Vistani encampment out of town.

This was located on a low hill, surrounded by strange houses which Kel recognised as looking elven in design. They were taken to a large tent in the centre of a wagon circle where they met Luvash (Arabelle's father, a brute of a warrior) and Arrigal, his brother (the clever one). They were treated as house guests and given wine and food. The brothers offered a reward, but the party declined, asking instead for information. They learned much:

• The Vistani would not act against Strahd due to ancient pacts after their ancestors saved Strahd when he was wounded after a battle. He gave them the freedom of Barovia, which is why they can pass through the mists.
• Strahd died centuries ago around the time his brother Sergei was about to marry a woman, Tatyana, who he had set his heart on himself. The Vistani think she died when Strahd killed everyone in the castle.
• The castle, Ravenloft, is named after his mother Queen Ravenovia. You don't go there without an invitation unless you never want to be seen again.
• The old windmill on the road between Vallaki and Barovia is dangerous. It has several old women living there. They sell pasties which taste nice but are addictive. Ser Adon made a link from this mill to the Charlatan card in the Tarokka.
• It is wise to stay on the road; the Svalich Woods are full of wolf packs, werewolves, wild druids and ghosts.
• The Old Svalich Road passes through three settlements in Barovia, Krezk to the west, Vallaki and the village of Barovia to the east. Strahd has spies in all of them.
• Some Vistani sell fake potions to travellers so 'they can pass through the mists'. These don't work.
• The Vistani work for those that pay. A job's a job and times are hard. That said, they obviously would prefer honest work. They have delivered shipments from outside Barovia to Castle Ravenloft.
• Barovia is named after Strahd's father, King Barov. Strahd conquered the land for him.
• Strahd uses bats, wolves and other creatures to spy on all of the realm.
• Some Barovians have old souls, some don't. The soulless ones are easy to spot as they just have fire, no fire or hope, no charm, no spark and they never cry or show emotions.
• The Vistani have souls and are happy and joyful because they can pass through the mists.
• Old Berez is dangerous. There is a hut there, and a hag with a flying chariot made from a giant's skull.
• The Vistani aren't bothered if Baron Vargas is in charge of Vallaki or not. The towns need them for supplies more than the Vistani need the towns.
• It is very difficult to enter Krezk; the Abbot is powerful and doesn't trust strangers.

Later on, Kel was called out of the tent by Alexei, who took him down the hill to the houses, where he was introduced to Kasimir Velikov, a Dusk Elf maimed by Strahd several hundred years ago. He was scarred and his ears cut off. All the Dusk Elf women and children had been murdered by Strahd after they had stoned Kasimir's sister Patrina to death for consorting with him. They are a dying race.

• Patrina had been a sorceress who was attracted to Strahd. She was to become one of his brides and turn to darkness, so Kasimir and his people executed her to stop this happening.
• Patrina speaks to him in dreams; she was entombed in the crypt of Castle Ravenloft.
• She has told Kasimir of a Temple of Amber in the mountains to the south, a place where Strahd gained his powers, a place where his pact could be broken and Barovia freed from darkness.
• She has repented of her sins over the many years her restless soul has been entrapped and wants Kasimir to either put her to rest or restore her to life. Kasimir believes her and is certain the knowledge to do this is within the temple.
• Kasimir has found the temple and is willing to guide Kel and his friends there if they will then help him overthrow Strahd and save his sister, bringing her back to life.
• He and his people took the name of Velikov (and Velikovna) when they were taken in by a Vistani of the same name when the darkness fell.

Mid-afternoon, the party departed back to town, discussing what they'd learned on the way. They were shocked when Gaddock let slip that he had understood about the pasties and the fact that the old women from the mill were probably hags and probably taking the children as payment. His air of innocence didn't fool them.

They identified several potential future destinations; the Old Bonegrinder, the Amber Temple, the Abbey of St Markovia in Krezk and its library, or Old Berez to follow up the story of a statue to one of Strahd's lost loves. Before that, they still had an appointment for afternoon tea, even if they had been drinking at lunchtime.

GM Notes: We experimented today by using Roll20's video and Discord for audio. It was really nice to see each other while playing. We'll carry on with this. I'd thrown in two side quests and planned for the dinner, and we ended up diverting on the side quest to find Arabelle more fully than I anticipated, so I had to think on my feet. This was good as it unlocked quite a lot of information and actually put the characters in a good footing with the Barovian Vistani as well as those in Graenseskov. This should prove helpful although it may be problematic with other NPCs who could support them who don't like the Vistani. The players are also starting to try and pull some clear routes through this and trying to gauge where they can go that probably won't kill them. This episode's title comes from the description that the players gave Bluto Krogarov.

10 February 2021

First Impressions - A Trio of Troika 'Zines

A Trio of Troika 'Zines.

TL;DR: These are three zines by Philip Reed, all for the Trokia roleplaying game. All in all, these three zines pack a lot into each of their twenty-seven pages. I think they've all got potential to add fun elements to your game. My favourite is 'Monstrous Prodigium' because it is very unique and flavourful city-setting, but 'Odd Occurrences' is wonderfully whimsical and will make your city feel alive and distinct. 'Superfluous Spells' does exactly what the title is; you don't need them, but they're fun. Overall, I'm very happy with this trio for Troika! You could mine them for ideas for other roleplaying games.

A long time ago, a backed a Kickstarter by Phil Reed (of Steve Jackson Games) for some cyberpunk flash fiction, which was both excellent and delivered promptly. I still get notifications for his projects, and 'Monstrum Prodigium' caught my eye, mainly because of the striking artwork. Digging in further, I discovered that it was a short (ultimately 27-page) 'zine project for the 'Troika roleplaying game. It cost me an extortionate (not) $3 US to back and provided an at-cost print code for the finished book (along with the PDF) and some cards for spell miscasts (the 'Alternative OOPS! Decks 1 & 2'). Along with way, the project spawned another two 'zines for Troika; 'Superfluous Spells' and 'Odd Occurrences' which I also picked up. All of these were equally cheap; I suspect I ended up paying more in postage.

Monstrum Prodigium describes sixty-six creatures to encounter in the City of Parabola, the City of a Thousand-Thousand Rusted Veins, a world of ancient metal pipes and twisted towers in a pocket dimension. The book presents the setting in the style developed by Into the Odd, Troika, and Electric Bastionland. The setting is discovered through the descriptions of the creatures you may encounter. The creatures range from the potentially useful, such as the 'Peddler of Destructive Instruments' through to the terrifying (the 'Unapologetic Trapper, a skeletal creature that magically entraps victims with rusting iron spikes) to the mysterious (like the City Architects, the creators of Parabola). They're all presented in the standard Troika format, and evocatively interesting. The book rounds out with a d66 table of rumours which can generate encounters, missions or trouble. Overall, I found the book very satisfying. It would be easily usable with some of the lighter OSR games like The Black Hack.

Superfluous Spells is a book of spells for Troika. The title is honest; you don't need this, but there are some fun spells included that you may want the players to find or perhaps be used by an antagonist against them. Some of them - such as the Shroud of Resurrection - are quite powerful, whilst others are more fun. 'All Night Long' forces targets to dance until sunrise. Anyone coming into contact with them can gain the same curse. If the Wizard joins in, they can recover stamina. Others are positively dangerous; 'package' blister-packs victims in an air-tight transparent bubble on a cardboard backing with barcodes, marketing text and stock numbers, perfect for collecting victims. A nice addition to a GM (or Wizard)'s collection of spells.

Odd Occurrences is the final zine of the three. It is a collection of sixty-six random encounters to add the bizarre to a cityscape. Some of these are more fantastical and whimsical than others, but all add something a little bit different. They range from small missions to friends and antagonists to encounter. Some encounters are very simple (unsticking a window, calming a baby, stopping troll children accidentally hurting themselves and others) and others may be more complex, involving a scavenger hunt across the city or a social encounter. These may be too weird or whimsical for a more traditional campaign, but I think they'll fit right in with the kind of settings described in Troika.

All in all, these three zines pack a lot into each of their twenty-seven pages. I think they've all got potential to add fun elements to your game. My favourite is 'Monstrous Prodigium' because it is very unique and flavourful city-setting, but 'Odd Occurrences' is wonderfully whimsical and will make your city feel alive and distinct. 'Superfluous Spells' does exactly what the title is; you don't need them, but they're fun. Overall, I'm very happy with this trio for Troika!

Note: As I write this, DriveThruRPG is about to phase out the staple-bound format as Lightning Source have decided that it isn't profitable for them. You may not be able to get these in print longer term.

7 February 2021

 

Books in January 2021

New Year, new challenge.

So, 2021 is upon us and I've set myself the same reading challenge as last year; a book a week, be it a novel, non-fiction or roleplaying. So far, I'm ahead, but it was hard going at first.

The sixth and final part of the series.

I've only read one novel this month, "Winterkill" by Ragnar Jonasson. This is a satisfying return to the 'Dark Iceland' Icelandic detective series. The story is set over an Easter weekend when Ari Thór, now the Police Inspector in charge of Siglufjörður, is planning to spend time with his estranged partner and their son when then come back from Denmark for the weekend. As the weekend approaches, a young girl is found dead, apparently having killed herself after jumping off a second storey balcony. Ari starts to investigate but some aspects of the death don't make sense. We have the juxtaposition of an incoming storm, a deepening investigation and the complications of his domestic situation, all over a long weekend. The plot comes to a satisfying conclusion. Don't expect hard edged Scandi-Noir with this; this is a more subtle, darker tale of people's secrets in a small town. It would be possible for the author to continue the series after this, but he has no intention of doing so. 

I spent most of the rest of the month working through Marina J Lossetter's 'Noumenon Ultra', also the final part of a series, but you'll have to wait until next month to find out what I thought of that.

7 February 2021