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