First Impressions - Into the Odd Remastered

Into the Odd Remastered - Orange and Blue, will I love you?

Some time ago, back in the depths of the first lockdown, I wrote a review of "Electric Bastionland" Where I referenced its predecessor "Into the Odd". At the time, I only had a PDF copy on my computer; it was a very lightweight system that distilled the setting and feel into the character generation and a few short references. There was a huge amount of space for imagination and development of the setting for both the GM and the players.

Recently, Chris McDowall teamed up with Fria Ligan to kickstart and produce a remastered edition of Into the Odd, with production values much more like "Electric Bastionland", combined with lots of lovely artwork. Looking at the book in front of me, they've definitely succeeded at that goal.

The book is a digest sized 144-page hardcover, strikingly orange and blue in tone, with a surreal picture of some explorers heading down into lush organic depths underground. The book is packed full of gorgeous artwork and beautifully laid out. I didn't see any typos, so it's fair to say that the remastered version is a quality artefact. It's set off with a ribbon bookmark, keyed to the pink organic elements on the cover.

The game engine is very similar to that in Electric Bastionland. Characters have three abilities - Strength, Dexterity and Willpower- rolled on 3D6 in order. They start with D6 hit protection. Equipment is determined by cross referencing your hit protection with your highest ability score. You'll likely have an item of Arcana; a weird/forgotten science or magic device.

The main game mechanic is the save - a D20 roll equal to or under an ability score to succeed. A '1' is always a success and a '20' is always a failure. There are no "to hit" rolls. Each turn of combat you simply roll damage. If your hit protection drops to zero, you take damage directly off your strength. You'll also need to make a save to avoid critical damage which would put you out of combat and at risk of death. If any ability score hits zero, your character is dead. A short rest restores all hit protection, and a full rest (a week) restores all ability scores.

There's a section giving example Arcana, ranging from the more mundane to dangerous legendary powers. There are some fascinating ideas included which could definitely add curve balls to any game session.

The example of play is good; it showcases the weirdness of the Underground and explains the mechanics well.

Levelling is handled on a milestone basis- you both need to survive adventures and start to develop apprentices. Each level adds a further D6 hit protection and gives a chance to improve ability scores. There's also guidance on establishing military detachments (your own military force) or enterprises (businesses). It's fair to say that enterprises are very risky, with a risk of collapse if debts accrue (very much a theme of Electric Bastionland where every group starts with a debt) wiping out the entire investment.

The GM's section is light, but pretty comprehensive, especially when you consider that it's not the kind of game that's likely to be someone's first RPG. Of particular note are the three short pages that give a taste of the Odd World, from the City of Bastion, to the Underground, and then into the Deep Country and beyond. These short paragraphs give a hint to the imagination, a flavor of the world but nothing more.

Welcome to the Iron Coral

There's a decent introductory mini-campaign called "The Iron Coral". A strange formation has risen from the waves, and the brave - or perhaps foolhardy - explorers have travelled from Bastion to examine it. There are three levels of weirdness to explore, each with 20 locations. Inland, from the beach, is the Fallen Marsh, 25 hexes of encounters, with rumours, and four more mini locations. Finally, there are a further five pages of details of the nearby pot of Hopesend, one of the northernmost places before the Polar Ocean. Two of those pages detail ships that have arrived from Bastion, each with quirks or potential scenario hooks.

The final section is the Oddpendium which is a collection of random tables for inspiration. For example, council decisions and the citizen's reactions to them. Names, streets, astral cults, weird monsters, arcanum, and more. Useful nuggets to give a GM a seed to grow and develop. There's also some alternative starting packages for mutants from the Underground, simple folk from the Deep Country and even Unhumans from the lost city of Starfall. There's an alternative set of standard starting packages too. The book ends with a short index.

Into the Odd Remastered is a quality product. Despite the art punk sensibilities, it contains a very playable game packed with inspiration and ideas. The new mini-campaign is interesting and easy to pick up, and it's a game and engine that I'd recommend. Finally, it's presented in a manner to be compared with games like Mausritter and Silent Titans which have built on its legacy. Most definitely recommended.

26 June 2022