First Impressions - Gallows Corner - A Peasants' Revolt RPG

Gallows Corner - A Peasants' Revolt RPG is produced by Three Sails Studios and is set in England in 1376 in a time of revolution. It's a 246-page full-colour soft-touch hardback book, beautifully illustrated with throughout with a stock silver on black cover showing a gallows silhouette either against the moon or the Sun. The layout is clean and easy to read, but personally I find the font size too big. I can easily imagine this as a slightly smaller book, perhaps B2 or digest especially as there are quite deep top and bottom margins.

Two waves of the bubonic plague have swept through the country and the Hundred Years War is well under way in France. Power is ruthlessly hoarded by the nobility and the peasantry is oppressed with little in the way of rights and freedoms. Indeed, in many cases those rights are being stolen away thanks to the greed of the ruling class who can act with impunity. The players take the part of members of the peasantry who are resisting this oppression.

The game brings its own unique dice pool system and a more extensive meta-game for Influence and Control that reminds me of Blades in the Dark. There's a huge amount to impress in the background and setting, and the game is ambitious in what it wants to achieve. The designers describe it as being narrative first and foremost, which would explain why there are some elements of the system design that I feel let the game down because they are underwritten and unclear. 

Characters are defined with three traits: physical, emotional, and intellectual. Each of these has a single die assigned to it, usually a D6 or a D8 at the start. They also have a trade which is a general area of expertise and a job related to that trade, both of which give additional dice.

Similar trades are presented together under heading the ties them all together. For example, "The Body" includes labourers, miners, pugilists, servants, sex workers, and soldiers. Each of these groups has six different trades within it, and each trade typically has three jobs underneath it; a Soldier could be a conscript, deserter or mercenary. Each of the group of trades has four skills defined, which provide a way to narratively impact the world without necessarily needing to take a test. For example, a soldier could be a survivor which means they are hard to kill. 

Usually skills don't have dice rolls associated with them, but if they do the Narrator is advised to take this into consideration. It's not describing the core book, but the publisher's Discord suggests raising the dice level in such cases.

This lack clarity, needing to fall back on the Discord as a reference, is quite common in the sections on mechanics.

Characters can unlock additional skills, and increase Dice levels with experience. Non-Player Characters are simply defined by the core three traits.

When making a test, players will roll one or more dice from the dice pool. As a minimum they will roll one of their experience dice – physical, intellectual, emotional – but they can roll additional dice if they can justify why their trade or job would come to play. To succeed, you only need to roll a 5 on any of the dice rolled. If another character offers help, this will increase the appropriate dice by a step if their assistance relates to their experience, or they get to roll their job or trade dice if the help relates to that expertise. 

In some circumstances, dice can be reduced down to a single D4. Obviously, you can't roll a success on a D4 if the target number is 5 and there are no adds. Mechanically, there is no point in making a dice roll. Initially, I thought that this was a typo in the text, and the target number should be a 4, not a 5. However, I sought clarity in the Kickstarter comments and the Discord and the designer said this was a deliberate choice. It's not a choice that sits well with me, because several of the NPC as presented have D4 ratings in their experience and this doesn't always align with the character description. Player characters can also have their dice reduced to this level if they suffer some kind of setback. It just doesn't sit well with me that you have a dice to roll that cannot really ever achieve a success unless the character is helped by someone or finds some other kind of advantage.

Characters develop by gaining expertise and training. Every time a test is done that involves a job dice, a player records a point of expertise for the character whether or not the roll succeeds. Once expertise points equal to the value of the next dice step are achieved, the character can undergo training to either raise the dice by a step or to unlock an additional skill. There is also a route to unlock a new job, but the character needs to have achieved at least journeyman level in their job, and there will be a temporary reduction in their skills in the existing job while they learn the new job. Learning two new jobs increase the trade dice by step.

The meta-engine that drives the game is all about influence and control. Influence represents the fame and notoriety of the character and the party, enabling them to acquire followers, known as retainers. They also gain a single benefit and detriment which will happen once per season. Influences measured both at an individual level, and at the party level. Once the party achieves a high enough collective influence, they can stage a showdown with the authorities to gain control of an individual hundred or even the county. Control reflects the size of county and the status the person who rules it.  Control can be challenged by taking part in an active liberation or directly engaging with the central antagonist. These actions can reduce the Control value or increase the parties influence.

This is another area where the game isn't clearly written. The benefits and detriments of influence are clearly defined but the typical amount of influence gained from acting is not. Likewise, examples aren't given of what levels of reduction should be applied to control values. When I sought advice from the designers on the Discord, I found that they said that this was deliberate to give the Narrator flexibility. Personally, I found this a bit of a cop out, because because understanding this is really important in understanding and running the game. I do think they should've included examples in the book and then just stated that they were open to the Narrator's discretion.

The book is also lacking in examples of the mechanics for tests and Control/influence in use. It feels under written. However, I'm pretty confident it will work in play and the clarifications on the Discord have addressed all the areas I wasn't sure about.

There are some useful rules and tables for managing retinues and retainers, and determining the outcome of missions that you may send them on. Retainers are the natural replacements for the player characters, should they die.

Combat uses a diamond to represent the status of a combatant. Combat is a simple exchange; both the Narrator and the player roll their dice (as a minimum the physical experience dice) and the highest roll wins. Success means that the loser;s condition can be reduced, or the winners condition can be improved. Assistance can also be rendered and down or retreating combatants can be captured. Retainers are included by adding their physical dice into the players dice pool. Tests can also be made appropriate points during combat to gain advantage. If you win a round a combat, you gave momentum which typically means that you get narrative control at the start of a scene in some form. Overall, mechanically this is a really simple system with a degree of ambiguity as it's written. It's nothing to set the world alight, but it should work okay.

The next part of the book focuses on the background and establishing the area of England that you'll be using for the group to play in. This is done by establishing the point crawl. England is broken into regions, and within each region there are Counties, and each county has several Hundreds. There's an interesting set of key principles for establishing the point crawl;

• England is a living place.
• The space of England is the structure of the game.
• Start local (you don't have to prepare it all at the start).
• Travel should be exciting and dangerous (even though it's abstracted in play).
• Use emergent storytelling – the place and people that the characters meet and react to should drive the story.
• The storytelling is intimate and grand at the same time, linked by the point crawl.
• Players are custodians and victims of England.
• Hope & hardship of the two sides of the same coin.
• Don't get bogged down in historical detail.

The game recommend you start by choosing the County that you want to commence the game in. Although each County has a page of description and some hooks, the material you need to use for the point crawl is not included in the book. You will need to download the county maps and sheets from the publisher's website. Once you have a County in mind, there is a four step process to prepare a point crawl, something that you do during a session zero.

1) Assign a verb to the county reflecting the Crown's actions or presence.

The players and the Narrator select the verb based on the kind of experience they want to have. Verbs include build, grow, organise, fight, destroy, and recruit. Once this is agreed, the Narrator needs to determine how the antagonist will be acting related to this verb.

2) Assign additional verbs to each point in the County.

The Narrator adds additional verbs to points on the map – typically in the Hundreds - to suggest the kind of scenes and events that the players will encounter should their characters visit those locations. It's recommended that a good mix of verbs are used to give a variety of flavours to experience.

3) Create an antagonist and establish the county clock.

The previous two steps establish what's going on, but an antagonist is required to be clear who or what is oppressing the populace. Who is supporting the system that oppresses the people? Narrators are recommended to use tools in a later section of the book to help select the right antagonist to oppose the players. It could be a Bishop, a Lord, a Sheriff, or someone else at county level, but they will have a representatives in each of the Hundreds to oppose the characters.

Once the antagonist is defined, a county clock is set. This is the traditional countdown clock used in Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games, and it represents the time before the antagonists oppressive plans come to fruition.

4) Complete the county sheet

The final stage preparing the point crawl is to establish the level of control of the antagonist. This control is bolstered by each Hundred that they control, until the characters gain enough influence to change the balance. The final decision is which season it is when the campaign starts.

As the players progress in the game, gaining influence and power, the scale of the game can be expanded to operate at regional level rather than at county level. The exact same mechanics are used, but the impact of change will be larger. This is very much something for the later part of a campaign.

The game is played out in scenes, which normally occur when characters visit a location. Each location will have something happening that they can engage with in shape, leading to an ultimate resolution that may tip the balance of power in the Hundred. Usually, scenes will have a related clock and once again there is a structured approach to preparing for play.

1. Choose the scene location (this could be a town within the Hundred or even another location).
2. Build a scene around the verb for that point (although there are some scene suggestions in the book if you are struggling for an idea).
3. Establish the clock for the scene (and it is possible that you could have more than one clock).
4. Plan for the scene's resolution (which means the Narrator needs to have a feel for what success, failure and a mixed result would bring).
5. Use the resolution of the scene to inspire future scenes

When you've worked through a number of scenes, seasons come to an end. Between each season there is an opportunity for downtime where the players can tell a story about an individual they have met, a group they've helped or replaced they visited. These will feedback into the future path of the point crawl.

The game only progresses clocks when something materially causes a reason for a Clock to advance. This is described as a four step process where progress = action = story = consequence. For progress, something needs to have happened, for example a challenge has been met or failed. This will then drive an action and then impact the story. Consequences may then follow. 

Scene clocks are more tangible and have a discreet statement that implies progress and consequence should they be completed. Typically, this is a statement that supports the objectives of the antagonists. There's no obvious guidance on how long the clock should be in the rules.

Once the characters have gained enough influence, a showdown will occur between them and the antagonist which will determine the fate of the County. There's some good guidance around how this should be built along with an example. Effectively, this should be a cinematic affair, challenging and feature the major antagonist. It should relate to theCounty verb, and plenty of opportunity should be given for the players to plan how their characters will respond to it.

The next section the book explores the different regions and counties over about seventy pages. I quite liked this as it gave a top level feel for each county, but it wasn't restrictive. However, I found the lack of maps frustrating. I would've preferred if they've been in the book and not a separate download.

This is followed by section entitled "The English", which provides backgroundon people of different classes; the commons, the clergy, the nobility, and the military. There are entries under each of the classes which describe the activities this group of people are involved with, which is backed up with a set of random tables to generate names, backgrounds, motivations and vices. There are example NPC's and then some ideas for stories involving such people. There are entries for artisans, criminals, farmers, performers, pilgrims, servants, traders, bishops, monks and nuns, priests, lords and ladies, knights, sheriffs, soldiers, sergeants, officers, nurseries, and bandits.

There's also a short two-page scenario; a scene to trigger a campaign from. This has some light guidance, and random choices, and is obviously designed to be tailored to a specific tables preferences.

The book concludes with a section covering eight different verbs, with four suggested scenes as ideas for each of them. This is useful as a source of inspiration.

The final page of the book gives the download link to supporting documentation such as the maps, character sheets, retinue sheets and county sheets.

Conclusion.

I really like the ideas and the themes within this book. It's been put together very nicely, with quality illustration and thoughtful layout (although I find the font too big). It reminds me of some of the more campaign framed Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games. Probably the closest I've come to this is Comrades (write up of my experience running this here), which is also framed as a revolutionary roleplaying game. I can imagine Gallows Corner giving a great experience at the table.

However, I'm going to sell my copy. The under writing in the system, and the associated lack of clarity means I don't really want to invest the time that the game demands to get the best out of it. I'd rather use something like Comrades instead, where everything hangs together, and the campaign mechanics are presented clearly. I know this is a storytelling game, but the lack of clarity and cohesiveness in how the game is presented really undermines any urge that I have to run the game. 

• Having skill levels that generate automatic failures is a red flag to me. There's no point in having the skill if you cannot succeed in it  and that's a design choice the authors have consciously taken.
• If the authors intend for the Narrator to be able to set how influence works, then they should give clear guidance on that. The reader shouldn't have to go and look on a Discord forum to find out how the game is meant to have played. 
• I also found the lack of maps within the book disappointing, especially in a game that is tied to geography. Yes, I know that they are available as downloads but I feel they should've been in the book itself.

This is very much a personal view, and I'm sure many people will really like what's presented here, but some of the gaps press some of my buttons about game design. To me, system matters. Maps matter. If you consciously put greyness and flexibility in the system, you should explain that in the text and give guidance how to use it. Overall, it's a miss for me. However, I'll probably steal the maps and descriptions from the PDFs to use for other games in the future.

26 July 2026

First Impressions - The Hooded Man - a roleplaying game of medieval outlaws

The Hooded Man - a roleplaying game of medieval outlaws - was a complete impulse purchase when I happened to be looking at the Osprey Games website. I've been fascinated by the Robin Hood legends since I was a kid, and ITV's Robin of Sherwood TV series only reinforced that. However, I've never found a roleplaying game that has made me want to play in the setting. It's no spoiler to say that this book may well have changed my view on that.

TL;DR: The Hooded Man is simple and light enough to have a lot of fun, and the author's love of the Robin Hood legend comes through in the text. The core mechanic is simple and effective, but has the potential to be brutal. The book is soft focus on the historical accuracy which makes sense from a playability perspective as this is myth and legend, not hard facts. However, there's enough detail presented to make it feel right. It makes me want to rewatch Robin of Sherwood. It's no coincidence that I was playing Clannad's Legend album when I was writing this review. I'll hopefully get this to table soon.

The book is the standard full colour hardback that Osprey Games use to such good effect - extremely portable and well-produced. It's 192-pages long and contains everything that you'd need to run a Robin Hood style campaign. It was written by Graham Rose (whose previous credits include Paleomythic, which I've never played or run, but have heard good reports about) and illustrated by Brainbug Design. I absolutely love the striking Hooded Man design used on the cover of this book.

You can get the book and PDF directly from Osprey Games, but as usual, you have to pay for both. That said, it will still probably cost you no more than a normal core book with PDF included from other publishers. As Osprey are part of Bloomsbury, you can get the book through normal bookshop distribution as well, and the PDF is also available via DriveThruRPG.

Core Game Mechanics

The game is deliberately vague about when it is set, except that it's England sometime in the 12th to 13th Century. By default it's set in Sherwood near Nottingham, and in the period when King Richard the Lionheart left Prince John in control of the realm while he was crusading.

The game uses six-sided dice in a pool for resolution, and also has a number of D66 tables. Characters are mechanically defined by the traits that they have. Starting characters will usually have three traits, which means that they will - by default - roll a pool of 3D6 in a test. When rolling dice in a test, the player is looking for a 6 to be rolled (much like in Fria Ligan's Year Zero Engine) to achieve a success. However, rolling multiple 6s doesn't change the level of success and there is no way to push or re-roll. The GM is discouraged from asking for rolls on things that the character should be good at.

The dice pool starts with the number of dice equal to the number of traits that a character has. If one of the traits is especially apt for the test, then an extra die is added into the pool, increasing the chance of success. Other characters can assist, each adding a further die to the pool, at the risk of being exposed to the consequences of failure. There is no limit to how many characters can assist, except what the GM feels is appropriate. Most characters will have a companion that can assist them.

Dice rolls in tests are player-facing. Players will roll to defend themselves rather than the GM rolling to attack with a foe.

Tests have different levels. Ordinary tests are looking for a single 6 to succeed. Troublesome tests need two rolls to be succeed. Threatening tests need three rolls to be successful. Formidable tests need four rolls to be successful. Fiendish tests need five rolls to be successful. Tests at a higher level than troublesome will be harder to achieve. Success on a roll may reduce the leave of the test subsequently, even if the foe isn't defeated. Context is also key; if the players can come up with the right ploys, a fiendish foe could be reduced to ordinary.

Starting characters will find things hard initially; a 3 dice pool has a 42% chance of a single 6, rising to 51% if they are assisted by their companion, and 59% if someone else helps etc. However, their prowess will increase quickly, as the default for the game is to add a new trait or talent after each adventure concludes up to a maximum of ten traits (83% base success). There is a recommendation that you may want to slow this progression if you're playing very regularly.

Combat, Battles, Actions & Hazards

Combat is run using the test system. The GM determines initiative and if there's any doubt then players can make an Aware test to see if they go before the enemy. Movement ranges are abstract. Fleeing combat can lead to enemies getting an opportunity attack. Chases are run as a Quick test.

Characters can try various ruses to gain advantage of some sort of (for example, a bonus die, a distraction causing an enemy to lose their turn or some kind of delay). Of course, foes can also try to do this back. Normally, a combat success will cause one wound, which is enough to take an opponent out. However, more challenging opponents need more wounds to be taken out.

If a player fails their defence roll, they take a wound and a trait is temporarily knocked out, reducing their dice pool and preventing them being able to gain an extra dice from it. If all traits are knocked out, the character is defeated and vulnerable. Armour will block damage in a fight twice (if plate) or once (if other armour or a shield). It will need a repair to regain effectiveness.

There's a decent example of combat to draw upon.

Recovery has several routes - bandaging, sleep, leeches and more will help heal wounds with an absolute maximum of eight in one day if all options are taken up. However, it's unlikely that they'll all be available at once.

There is a simple battle system in place if a larger conflict needs to be resolved. The success will depend upon numbers, troop types and the leadership that the characters give to raise morale, & plan strategies. The system is very basic (so a side won't break from losses unless the GM or the players decide that it should) but will be effective in use.

There's a section exploring actions that could be taken outside combat - for example, hunting, harvesting, escaping, hiding and crafting. In all cases they use the core mechanic but there's some guidance on how to apply it (for example, how much meat would be gained by hunting).

There's a list of typical hazards; everything you'd expect is there. Cold, Darkness, Disease, Falling, Fatigue, Fire, and Hunger. You can also be misfortunate; the GM may require characters to make a Fortune test to avoid this. If they they fail, their woes build up. You can also be notorious; you may need a Virtuous test to avoid being recognised as an outlaw! This may be more challenging in places you're well known.

Building Characters

Characters start with a description that reminds me a little of the Cypher System. 

Name is an appearance, demeanour person seeking motivation, and accused of crime. Yes - every character is an outlaw, accused of a crime.

There's a selection of options for all these in the book (and extra bits in the appendix). You can choose or roll to find out what the character is like.

Name - there are some great, apt name tables in the book. There's an initial 3D table, trying this out I get Henry or Helen off the first roll, and Hayward or Mardale from the second. I'm not sure why this is a 3D6 table, as the bell curve will make the names at either end of the bell curve from more rare.

Henry Hayward or Helen of Mardale

Appearance & Demeanour - again rolled on a 3D table. Rolling twice I get:

Slight & Restless, and Pale & Modest.

Motivation - this is the character's objective or goal in life.

Glory (seeks renown or fame) and Justice (wants justice for themselves or the downtrodden).

Crime - this is what the character has done or is accused of, and what they are notorious for. It could lead to their recognition by the authorities.

Poaching and Debt

Putting these together we have:

• Henry Hayward, a slight and restless man seeking renown or fame, accused of poaching.
• Helen of Mardale, a pale and modest woman who is seeking justice and accused of the crime of debt.

Let's give them some traits - once again you can choose or roll.

Henry - randomly, I get one trait from Table A and two from Table B.

They are:  Brave, Quick and Cunning.

Helen - one from each of the tables.

They are: Aware, Dextrous, and Strong.

Every train has an associated test where it is a benefit.

Players can choose to have their character have a Hindrance - this is something that mechanically can make things awkward for them is certain situations. You can choose them or roll them. Bizarrely, it's a 2D table that runs 1-12. If you take a Hindrance, you get an extra trait.

Henry takes a Hindrance, which is that he's hunted - someone - a noble or a bishop - has someone out for him. He gains the extra trait of Wilful. 

Helen doesn't take a Hindrance.

Each character has a talent, representing their background.

Again, you can choose or roll.

Henry was a Reeve - he used to be a court official, but no longer. Perhaps that's why he is hunted. He gains a Quarterstaff from this background.

Helen was a Healer - she knows healing plants and can make medicines and use leeches. She also has a Quarterstaff.

Finishing off, we have 

• Henry Hayward, a slight and restless hunted former Reeve seeking renown or fame, accused of poaching. He is brave, cunning, quick and wilful and has a quarterstaff and clothes including a hood and a hat.
• Helen of Mardale, a pale and modest healer who is seeking justice and accused of the crime of debt. She is aware, dextrous and strong and has a wimple and hood.

Let's find out about their companions.

• Henry is accompanied by Roger Brewer, an aged, brooding person seeking allies and accused of overcharging for ale. He's creative, cunning and fortunate, and has a dagger and tinderbox.
• Helen is accompanied by Gunnora Kinwick, a striking, confident person seeking renown and accused of debt, being unable to pay the sheriff's taxes. She's aware, charismatic and guileful, and has a dagger and a sack.

Creating an Outlaw Company

The next stage of setting up to play is to establish an outlaw company, very much similar to Robin Hood's Merry Men. Once again, this is through the use of a random table that you can roll on or choose from. You pick a description and a name for the group. Again, it's a 2D table so there will be a bell-curve on the names. Rolling randomly, I get the company name The Valiant Hunters.

Although you can leave it at that, you're encouraged to create at least one village with which the company can interact with. There's a description of what a village would be like in the time period, but the game encourages you to blur the lines and not necessarily look to establish the game in a village that existed historically. Of course, you can do this is you prefer. 

There are random tables for the village name and why it was founded, both rolled on 3D (so with a bell curve on names and reasons), or you can choose. Another table gives a distinctive feature for the village - what it is widely known for - and another gives a speciality that it can provide if it is allied to the outlaw company. This will range from supplies to aid of some sort such as carrying messages, healing or concealing the company. There's another table that allows you to create several unique villagers.

Trying this out, I get Fernham, a village established because of a crossroads, known for its meadows and able to provide allied outlaws with food. 

Villages become allies when they are aided by the outlaw company, and then one member of the company makes a successful Virtuous test. If they fail, they can always try again when they render aid another time (and get a bonus on the test as they helped previously).

Background and Game Master's Section

The Game Master's Section opens with a short summary of where the Robin Hood tales come from, then a little on the history, with details of Kings, Nobles and Clergy. Castles are described, and then a section gives some example historical outlaws, before moving onto describing villages.

As well as villages, the Game Master's Guide section provides information on towns (which predominantly differ from villages by being bigger and having sever shops), and also Inns. Naturally, this includes a table for their names (4D). There's some guidance; for example, the landlord may well refuse you service or somewhere to stay if you look like a bunch of ne'er-do-well outlaws from the forest who can't pay their way. If the company don't look suspicious, there's a description of the food that will be available.

If they can't get into an Inn when travelling, then the company could try and persuade a local or see if a local monastery will put them up. Otherwise, they'll have to camp out.

There's a description of cities and how to handle them; they're effectively like larger towns and will have upwards of a thousand inhabitants (Nottingham had around 1,200 during the period). There's a D66 table of city encounters to spice up any time spent in one. Larger towns and Cities cannot be allies of a company.

Of course, the other place that our company of merry outlaws will be spending a lot of time is the forest. As usual, there are tables for naming locations (3D) and detailing rural features (2D). There are also Sites which may be of interest, located away from villages and towns. There are two tables for this; one gives the nature of the site (2D) and the other the condition (1D). This can range form ruins through to new builds. Most will be functioning, but perhaps not fulfilling their original purpose.

Journeys have a set of rules to make them more interesting. The game doesn't provide a map, but does give an example of one created using the rules for locations, villages and sites. It's recommended that this is gridded out with each square a day's travel. The Journey procedure breaks travel intro three day chunks, maximum. 

Each of these journey chunks requires five checks; a navigation test using Aware for the scout to find the right route (a failure could lead to a delay or a misfortune from the hazards section). There will then be an encounter roll (which runs the risk of fatiguing characters if it happens at night). This has a D66 table to draw upon. Each character then has the chance to carry out one activity; typically this will be foraging, gathering or hunting. Repairs can be carried out when camped, but unless the characters have adequate supplies then they will have to live off the land. Characters must have sustenance (food and water) and can suffer from hunger and thirst if they don't have the right supplies. They also need protection from the cold, which usually means a fire. 

There's an example map of a fictional area called the Oak Woods with four villages and a number of sites and locations to visit. It's a great starting map.

The Outlaws can establish a permanent camp if they prefer. It can be hidden and defended when they're absent, but it will take materials, time and a set of Creative tests to establish the camp. They always start with a hearth for a fire, but can have a whole variety of other options (lookout points, a brewery, a forge, a garden, camouflage, traps and more). The characters will have to acquire the right materials to develop their camp. They can call on allies, if they have any, or carry out raids to obtain supplies. 

There's also guidance on fencing items that they may have stolen or have been gifted as a toll from rich merchant's that they have waylaid. They can keep the money, or they can use it to help their fellow villagers, robbing from the rich to aid the poor. There's table with typical values of items and advice that some will need a bigger city to shift on. Dealing with a Fence is a dangerous thing in itself, needing cunning and charismatic tests.

Sherwood Forest and Nottingham both have some more details, with ideas on how they could feature in adventures. There's details on both the city and the castle there. Kirklees Priory is described,  along with St Mary's Abbey in York. The section continues to describe the various villages in the legends in terms of the rules and how they could be used in an adventure. These are great anchors to hang the villages and sites that you create around for your campaign.

Opponents & Allies

There's a section with Foes. These are typically beasts or people, but in cases they're described in the context of the challenge that they may present. For example, a dog is an ordinary foe in most cases, but can be troublesome or threatening if they are large or aggressive. Wolves are usually threatening, and the characters would not want to be hunted by a pack. People also have tables for the typical folks that can be encountered, and also rogues and guards who could cause trouble. There is also a table of quarry, potential targets whose purses could be liberated. In all cases, there's a name, a difficulty level and the weapon/equipment that they have. 

Finally, there are Villains. These will usually be at least Troublesome. They'll have villainous tactics available; for example, they could be accomplished (players don't gain a dice for having a weapon to use against them), Brutal (always do two wounds when they hit) or Cowardly (always grab a servant or guard to take the wound instead of them). The section on Villains has a seven examples which could easily be slipped into a game. These range from knights through to Forest Witches.

Infamous Villains are also described; The Sheriff of Nottingham, Guy of Gisborne, Prince John, the Prioress of Kirklees Abbey and the Bishop of Hereford.

As well as Villains, there's a section on famous outlaws. They could be rivals or allies. Naturally, this section covers Robin Hood (giving three different options on who he was), Little John, Maid Marion, Will Scarlett, Friar Tuck, Much the Milller's Son, Alan-a-Dale, and the Saracen (in a nod to Robin of Sherwood and the Costner/Rickman Robin Hood. There's a further selection of less well known outlaws and allies who have been mentioned in the legends.

Dark Magic

There is an optional section on sorcery. It's optional as the older Robin Hood tales do not have it, but characters and opponents can develop a range of talents from alchemy though augury, to the power to create illusions. These talents all have the necessary tests described. There are some examples of those that use these powers, including 'The Wild Man', a follower of the pagan gods dressed in deerskins with antlers growing from his head. The powers are mostly subtle and low key.

Guidance on a campaign

There's some solid advice on running a campaign - it's recommended that the initial adventures are pretty simple (rob a merchant to help a village, help someone, find things for the camp) but then explains that it's likely the drive for the campaign may start to come from the players themselves. 

A selection of goals are suggested; growing the company, building their camp, getting spies and agents in place, gaining allies and so on. There's a discussion on building in sub-plots, using recurring allies and villains, before a page of adventure seeds. There's a lovely introductory idea for Robin Hood to find them and send them on with an important message and their first adventure. This is expanded out to a one or two session adventure. There are another two adventures which are nicely thematic and expanded out (and there's at least one more on Osprey's website).

Solo

There's a section on playing the game solo, with some good guidance and a worked example to draw upon.

Appendices

These contain name lists, and 12 ready made characters. There's also a two page character sheet. These are all downloadable here.

In Conclusion

I really like this game. It seems simple and light enough to have a lot of fun, and the author's love of the Robin Hood legend comes through in the text. I was initially concerned by the test mechanic, but when I realised the speed that characters could improve that removed my concerns. However, a dice pool looking for rolls of six can be brutal. Perhaps the only mechanics criticism I could give is that I don't understand why some of the random tables have been done with bell-curve multi dice rolls rather than a flat and equal chance, but you can just pick off the tables anyway so it's not really a big thing.

The choice to be soft focus on the history makes sense from a playability perspective as this is myth and legend, not hard facts.  However, there's enough detail presented to make it feel right. The book makes me want to rewatch Robin of Sherwood. It's no coincidence that I was playing Clannad's Legend album when I was writing this review. I'll hopefully get this to table soon.

29 December 2025

First Impressions - Deck of Worlds - Worlds of Chrome and Starlight (SF)

I picked up the Deck of Worlds during the recent promos (you know, Black Friday, nearly Christmas etc.) as it's been something that intrigued me. Now, although I've put it away until later in the month, I decided to experiment with the SF expansion as that wasn't shrink wrapped and I was pretty curious.

Deck of Worlds is a GM/writing aide designed to get the creative juices going either by building a location randomly or by making choices having looked at the cards that you've drawn. It's a follow on from the Story Engine Deck(*) which did something similar for creating plots and stories.

(*) The Story Engine Deck always confuses me as the logo looks like the Story Engine RPG logo but it's completely unrelated)

 

There are six different types of card, each of which serves a different purpose. Using the example above, I'll talk through the differences.

1. Regions - these define the broad brush scope of the area you're looking at. In the case above, fallout is the region type, implying that there is some form of contamination in play.
2. Landmarks are found within regions. It's worth saying that I've nested these all together, but the example given in the box set is to generate a region, and then landmarks to go within it. Anyway, we have a colony with cisterns which is close to an anomaly. Three landmarks in a region of fallout.
3. Origins cards define significant events in the past. In this case the fallout region is the site of terraforming incident, and the colony was founded by a political splinter group.
4. Attribute cards add present day relevant features, in this case the anomaly is a source of precious fuel and a valuable industrial material.
5. Namesakes are ways of adding nicknames or more details. In this case, the colony is a place without privacy and the anomaly is fractal and self-sustaining.
6. Advent cards drive events that could change the area's future. In this case the colony has an important power source running out. Drawing a namesake card indicates that this is nuclear. A second advent card indicates that there has been a shocking data breach that exposed private secrets. In a colony without privacy, what could that be?!

I did a mix of random draws and selections to build the colony above, and I'm pleased with how it came out. I think I could build out a scenario or two from those inputs for Traveller or Star Trek Adventures. 

Let's try a second one.

This time, we have two adjacent regions - some craters with floes nearby. In my head, these are linked. The craters are the location that the first shot of the Great War was fired, an orbital strike. They're visible from space, and recent drilling at the location has broken into something shocking, and a silo of something dangerous is starting to leak fumes. There is a solar observatory at the craters, the hiding spot of world ending tech (perhaps linked to the orbital strike and silo?) and the landscape is irradiated and blasted. The observatory is infamous as the site of a terrible experiment involving plasma technology.

The floes have an unusual geothermal vent, and something about the floe region has resulted in a signal dead zone. However, a mysterious signal is now being received from the area - is it an energy pulse showing pre-war technologies reactivating, a message or a distress signal.

Again, I think that this would be really easy to extend into Traveller or Star Trek Adventures scenario.

So my first impression of these cards from the Deck of Worlds is that they will be really useful.

It's available here.

14 December 2025

(3rd attempt due to Blogger issues).

Traveller - First Impressions - Second Survey Atlas of the Imperium

As a kid, I loved to pour over map books and atlases. As an adult, I still get that frisson of excitement when I open up an Ordnance Survey map (the gold standard for me) of somewhere in the UK and start to understand it. I love the utility of satellite navigation but there's something about the artefact of a paper map that connects to me.

In gaming terms, I often struggle when a roleplaying game setting doesn't have a decent map. I even ended up sourcing an out-of-copyright London map from the period that Handiwork Games (then Contested Ground Studios) Hot War was set so they could have a decent map for the game. The vagueness in their Berlin map for Cold City made it hard for me to engage with the game. I find myself looking at the maps and building connections in my head.

Traveller has always done the same for me. I loved the dot maps that were produced of the Imperium back the early days, and the hex mapped sectors were wonders of discover for me. The original Atlas of the Imperium was a great artefact showing the scope of the empire; probably not very useable in play, but delightful in scope. It lacked UWP data, so it wasn't hugely useful.

Marc Miller's Traveller (T4) brought the First Survey and Milieu Zero books, created from data collapsed back from the MegaTraveller era to represent the state of play at the start of the Third Imperium. Sadly, that was a flawed product as there were base errors in the data when then UWPs were collapsed, and it didn't align fully with the Milieu Zero book. These books were reissued as a single hardcover volume with corrected data and some additional material, Milieu Zero Campaign. That remains one of my favourite Traveller books.

These days, we have travellermap.com, one of the most fantastic resources that I've used online for a roleplaying game. Traveller sector data that shows you the Imperium and beyond, to star system level and even linking to generate planetary maps and to address different eras. A fantastic tool that I've used to generate maps to use both online and at the table. I have absolutely no need for a printed Traveller atlas of the stars. And yet...

Some time ago, a band of brave Travellers set out on a mission to update and create the Second Survey, a corrected and updated version of the Atlas of the Imperium. Working with the travellermap.com data, a new, significantly expanded volume was created, with a talented group including Don McKinney (RIP - the book is dedicated to him) and Joshua Bell (travellermap.com) who edited the book. There's a splendid cover by Ian Stead showing a Donosev-Class Survey Scout.  

Available as a PDF or hardcover book on DriveThruRPG, the book is a lovely hardcover volume with 216 pages with colour print in the maps. I purchased the standard colour version and this is one of the few times I've wondered if I should have got the premium. It looks great, but the premium colours tend to pop a bit more and be a little sharper on the eye.

The core of the format is that shown in the image above - a full sector hex-map with the location referenced to the Core Sector. After that, there are several pages of extensive data which includes full UWP, PBG (Population, Belts, Gas Giants) and Base and Trade codes. The star types are given (if I recall correctly, Don told me that these were reworked to reflect a more modern distribution, but I may be wrong on that). There are also extensions that cover Importance, Economics and Culture. I think that these may have been born from T4's Pocket Empires, but my copy isn't to hand for that to check.

The only issue I can see with the data is that in a few places, there's just two much in a system and it overruns into the next column. You can see an example about a third down the first column on the right above. The text is also rather small; however, with a decent light it's fine and there's the PDF and travellermap.com to fall back on.

You can see details of all these here on the travellermap.com site. It's a really useful reference.

There's a short section describing mapping the Imperium, another giving a break out of the code references (a summarised version of the link above) and a section which lists where the sectors came from in Traveller's extensive history.

The in-game conceit is that the book is the 1105 Imperial dated update of the Second Survey which was started in 990 and finally released to the public in 1065.

In conclusion, I'm really happy I bought this. It has no real need in the modern day, but there's just something about having a definitive map set like this. Lovely.

18 November 2025

Traveller - First Impressions - Dice and Cards from FFE

Running Traveller at TravCon reminded me how much I liked the 18mm dice that Marc Miller created for the Traveller5 line, so I decided to check if they were still available. I was delighted that they were (you can find them on the FarFuture Enterprises Website) so I ordered a set, and also some of the T-Cards that have been created as sparks for ideas.

They arrived quickly, taking less than ten days to travel between the USA and the UK (so a quick trip to 100 diameters, then a jump and vectoring back in), and I'm really pleased with them. They've nice heft to them, look good and feel good in use. The dice have the Imperial sunburst embossed on them. 

The T-Cards are two sets of standard 52-card decks which contain images to spark ideas for the Referee. The box that they came in included an advert for Marc Miller's "Agent of the Imperium" novel, plus six assorted characters with Traveller5 statistics (but they could easily be used for other editions with little modifications) and another patent of nobility, this time for the Barony of Overnale in the Spinward Marches.

There's quite a selection in the cards, ranging from planetary maps and images, to sector maps, secret, weapons, ships awards and cultural items. Several of them gave me little sparks of ideas for scenarios which I may follow up, which is the whole point. The equipment has Traveller5 stats, but could easily be used with other editions. I'm not certain how much use I will get from them, but they're certainly nice artefacts.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the dice and cards here; I'll definitely get more use from the dice, but both sets of items are lovely.

15 November 2025

First Impressions - Dolmenwood, an initial view

After quite some waiting, Dolmenwood has arrived. This epic fairy forest of adventure has long fascinated me from the times that it was a humble zine (Wormskin). I've written this very much as a first impression; I think there's a good month or so of reading needed to digest this properly, and at the moment, I'm focused on convention preparation for TravCon and Furnace.

Along the way, it has morphed from a supplement for Old-School Essentials to a standalone derivation of that OSR classic. So if you know how Basic D&D plays in its B/X variant, you'll know how this plays. Of course, it's tailored and unique.

The package that arrived was huge, spread across two boxes; the heart of it was the core player's book with the rules, a book of monsters, a large campaign book and an accompanying book of maps as a quick reference.

And that's just the beginning! The second box incuded two cloth maps, dice, a dice bag, miniatures and a GM Screen. Oh, and a patch*. There are also four adventures in small hardcovers, reminding me of Ladybird books in some ways.

The books are beautifully illustrated, and very clearly laid out. This is a sandbox setting par-excellence, with factions, plots, fascinating and evocative locations and space for a campaign to grow into something truly unique. It's the kind of book that you dip into and really want to run a game from the ideas that it gives you as you read it.

In truth, I have far too many large campaigns, especially in the OSR space. However, this is definitely a keeper. I've just got to decide what's going to go to make enough space on the shelves. 

On what I've seen, I recommend this wholeheartedly. I certainly don't regret backing it, despite the delays. It's a classy production.

27 September 2025

(*) What is the current obsession with stickers and badges to go alongside games? I really don't get it. Perhaps I'm too old. 

First Impressions - Keychron K10 Max

I've been intrigued by mechanical keyboards for a while, mainly driven by memories of the original keyboards that I used when I first started computing. Specifically the keyboard on the Video Genie TRS-80 clone, my old PowerBook 190cs and a variety of IBM keyboards from early PCs.

My daily driver keyboard is a Logitech MX S, wireless, suitable for Windows or Mac (or ChromeOS). It feels light and comfortable to use, and it's very quiet. I can use it for work happily and heavily for a day without any issues. That's important, as I managed to damage a tendon many years ago when I was writing a lot of specifications and doing a lot of CAD drawings. The culprit wasn't actually the keyboard, but rather the very strange lumpy mouse that they produced in the 1990s which meant my hand (and tendon) were twisted when using it. 

I do believe in not skimping of the quality of keyboard that you use. If you're a screen worker, this is the primary element that you will be engaging with so it needs to be comfortable and well built to make sure that you minimise the risk of harm to yourself and get the maximum user pleasure from typing on it. The MX S is a solid quality build. My first lasted four years until I wore out two of the higher use keys enough that they were erratic in use.

However, I miss the tactile feedback and sound of the keys clacking that I remember of old. I remembered something satisfying in typing on a keyboard like that. Was it just nostalgia?

I ended up looking at quite a few keyboard reviews over the last two years, and was hankering after trying one of Keychron's models based on some comments by folks whose opinions that I have time for. So I ended up selecting a Keychron K10 Max. It's a full size keyboard with a numeric keypad. It's reasonably plain, and I went with a dark colour as I have memories of the way that some keyboards build up residues which show if they're lighter colours. 

I selected Brown Switches because they are a halfway house - tactile but quieter than the Blue switches but not a linear response like the Red gaming switches. It took a while to understand exactly how this worked and I found this article really useful.

It took just over a week to get to me from China, and I immediately noticed the heft of the keyboard when I opened the box. I'd happily carry the Logitech MX S with me somewhere, but I think that this is definitely one that is going to stay on my desk. 

The keyboard came configured UK-ISO set up for a Mac. The keyboard can be switched between Mac and Windows but if you want Windows symbols you will need to swap out the Mac specific keys for Windows ones. These are provided, along with the necessary tools and instructions. The keyboard can be used with Bluetooth or directly wired. It will support up to three different devices at once over Bluetooth, which seems to be the norm for the technology. The Mac set up means I will resist the urge to pair it with my work laptop.

The keyboard itself has a white backlight and   you can select how it behaves. Apparently you can connect into it and edit the settings quite heavily, but I've had no need to do this at all. Battery charging is via USB-C, and it either has a smaller battery or consumes much more energy than my MX S as I've had to charge it twice in the last week of use.

So what's my verdict? 

I really like the keyboard. There's a lovely tactile feel from it and the keyclicks are very reassuring and make me feel like I'm making progress as I am writing. The keyboard is more upright than the MX S which means that I will need to watch that I do not twist the tendon in my right hand and maintain proper posture, but it does feel delightful to use. Perhaps the only thing that irks me is the battery usage, but I'll see how that plays out. It's not really a hardship as there's a USB hub immediately behind the keyboard on the desk so I can easily top it up.

I'm happy I've got this, there's no regrets. There may have been some nostalgia in the purchase but using the keyboard shows me that it was more than justified.

Recommended.

19 July 2025

First Impressions - Solemn Vale (Folk Horror RPG)

Solemn Vale is a gorgeously presented 352-page full-colour roleplaying game that presents a folk horror roleplaying game firmly set in 1970s Britain. A reference would be 'The Wicker Man' and other of its ilk. It is beautifully (and sometimes disturbingly) illustrated, with a simple clean layout. The game uses its own engine, which aims to give light narrative resolution either at a scene level or close to it. That means it's not designed to go 'blow by blow', but usually resolve a conflict with a single roll. It uses six-sided dice. It is published by Dirty Vortex. It is likely that characters will suffer terrible fates as they become entangled in the influence of Solemn Vale, so the game focuses on the journey to those consequences.

It is worth saying that this book is dark; nasty things are explored and will happen, just like the genre it is focused on. This would be an 18-rated film if it was a movie. 

TL;DR: I'm impressed with Solemn Vale. It has a light and effective game engine linked to a layered and complex sandbox that perfectly evokes that 1970s British Folk Horror vibe. The setting lends itself well to exploring stories within that space, across a number of different themes, and the example scenarios are good examples of how to hit those different notes. 

Beyond the subject, the thing that really hooked me into this game when it went into crowdfunding was the cover of the standard edition softback and the use of an Ordnance Survey style map for one of the add-ons. It's kind of ironic that I ended up opting for the hardcover (which has a different image) and I'm still waiting for the map (after a shipping issue meant that they went missing and subsequent illness from the creator) but I'm really happy with the material that I have received.

The book opens with some fiction where a young lad and his father are driving to Solemn Vale, moving into the old home of a relative who has died. They encounter a young girl in trauma by the roadside, and as they meet the police you get the feeling that something is very off about the place. 

The game engine (Wyrd Abacus) is very simple. Characters are defined by a concept three abilities - Body, Mind and Soul. They will have a minimum value of 3, with a maximum of 9. Each ability has two facets associated with it that help build a picture of how the character is and should be played. Each facet has pros and cons listed. There is an extensive list of facets in the book, but you aren't limited to these. 

There are a set of online tools for the game, so you can easily see how characters feel by using the random generator on the website. There are also other random generators for the GM there.

Abilities are used to overcome challenges. Challenges are rated between 2 and 10 typically and will focus on a specific ability area. Each ability covers three different types of challenge; the different types have no real mechanical effect and are there to provide clarity on which ability is in play. 

Body has Obstruction, Pursuit and Threat challenges.

Mind has Logic, Pressure and Wits challenges.

Soul has Foreboding, Invocation and Taint challenges. 

You resolve a challenge by describing what you are going to do and rolling a D6 to try and equal or exceed the challenge rating. For higher ratings, you will want to spend ability points, which one-for-one increase the dice roll. Spending points removes them from the pool associated with that ability, so there is a degree of resource management to think about, similar to Gumshoe. If you run out of points in an ability, it drops to zero, meaning you cannot influence a challenge outcome beyond the whims of fate from the dice roll. In most challenges, a single character will take a lead and make the roll, with any others involved being able to spend points to boost the result. 

Failed challenge rolls often cause additional damage to abilities, reducing them further. If they would be reduced to zero or less, they are 'scratched out'. The next time that ability would be reduced your character will be defeated and taken out of action (killed, driven insane or some other appropriate narrative ending). There are rules for keeping a player involved should this happen and there isn't an appropriate way to introduce a new character. 

Instead of damage, a character could suffer a narrative consequence (for example turning a faction against them). Alternatively, the 'stage rules' related to the challenge could require a character to  immediately scratch out an ability or suffer some other kind of effect. Consequences to groups are spread between them at the discretion of the players involved.

You can recover ability points. If you have faced a challenge in a scene, you can recover a single point in an ability of your choice between scenes. There is an optional rule that allows you to recover an additional point between scenes if you have strongly role-played a facet. Finally, if you rest and recover in an appropriate way, you can make an influence roll (see later) and restore a number of points. However, you can only recover points in a scratched out ability with an appropriate narrative means (such as visiting a hospital, having a witch's blessing, having therapy). 

In the event that you don't have enough points in an ability to boost a roll to pass a challenge, you can draw a Wyrd point from the Wyrd Pool to use a different ability to spend from, so long as it makes narrative sense. If your character isn't present in a scene, they can draw a Wyrd point to allow them to have done something that helps those present (usually addressed with a flashback) and add points to a roll. If you've failed a challenge, you can also opt to draw Wyrd points, one-for-one, to increase the roll you made so it is successful. All these points go into your own personal Wyrd pool. 

Each scene has a Wyrd Pool, the level set by the number of characters involved. This represents the entanglement of the character's fate with what is happening in Solemn Vale.  Players draw from it, and the points go into their personal pool. As well as using the points to use alternative abilities or boost the end result of a challenge roll, Wyrd points can be sent to introduce an allied or friendly denizen of the Vale into a scene, or to affect the outcome of a Wyrd roll. The Wyrd Pool regenerates at the end of a scene, but the character's personal pools remain.

Influence rolls are used to resolve minor contests or to see who is affected by a twist in the tale (for example, who is targeted as a victim). You get a number of dice equal to your ability pool maximum, and roll them, and take the highest value scored as your result. If the ability is scratched out or at zero, your result is set to a '1'. Bad things will usually happen to the character with the lowest score. Some influence rolls will look for a roll of '6' or '1' to trigger something, for example a countdown clock.

Wyrd rolls work in a similar way, but the number of dice is based upon a character's Personal Wyrd Pool. However, as this represents the entanglement of the character in the influence of Solemn Vale, a high roll may not be a good thing, as it means the focus is upon the character. 

Magic is real in Solemn Vale, and usually handled abstractly through a Soul (Invocation) challenge. However, there are some more detailed rules for creating wards, charms, casting spells or making a conjuration to summon something. The text is clear that these are only there for special circumstances.

Overall, the rules are quite light (and are expressed in two pages in sister game Summer of Strange). Immediately after they're presented, a scenario is presented, where a BBC TV crew arrive to do a surprised visit with a child who has written in to them and find the house abandoned with bloody footprints and a compelling reason to follow up. The scenario - "Footprints" - showcases the Vale and the way that scenarios are constructed. They begin with an overview of the scenes, then the denizens involved, then specific 'stage rules'. Stage rules are elements that tailor the scenario from the baseline, and may escalate or drop away depending on where and when the characters are in on their story. Finally, each scene has example challenges and consequences listed, followed by suggestions for handling the outcome of the final scene and any epilogue. Overall, this is a great introductory scenario and serves to demonstrate the rules well.

This is followed by an essay on the decay of 1970s Britain and how it will change as the 1980s arrive. It's a good overview, but some reading around could easily supplement it if you didn't live through parts of it! The book then moves into describing the heart of Solemn Vale.

Solemn Vale is a remote town set on a valley near the coast in Cornwall. It is surrounded by hills and forest. The town itself is surrounded by smaller hamlets and farms, and it seems stuck in the past. The first area described is the heart of the town, beginning with the Green and the Bowler's Arms and including such places as the local nightclub. Each location has the background, secrets, agenda, appearance, allies and enemies described, followed by potential challenges, stage rules and key denizens at that location. Denizens, for example, the pub landlord, are described in a similar manner. These are all evocatively illustrated, and the writing starts to trigger ideas and thoughts for how you could run a game. Although any given scenario will have a plot behind it, the setting is very much a sandbox with lots of levers to pull. 

After the town, the book moves onto 'The Manors', the powerful families that hold land and control the Vale. These include Lord Lowen Wellman's Guiding Star Commune, the Moore-Hollow family (whose wealth comes from mining) and the Blythes (established farmers). These families have been here a long time and have a number of simmering feuds. A number of locations where these may play out are described for the Gm to draw upon. 

After 'The Manors' come 'The Estates'; the council housing and civic centre built to the north of the town. This is where you'll find the Library, Pharmacy, and Sports & Community Centre. There's the ice cream van, which does a roaring trade with specials. These are the places where you'll meet the Browns, Brownes and Brownlees, an intertwined and interrelated set of families who have lived in the Vale for a long time. If you have time, you could join the Bridge Club, or the Paranormal Investigation Club, meet local artist Mark Robinson and his 'Tea Party', the Masoods, Arkwrights or the Taylors. In much the same way as the early chapters, some key locations are described.

The book then moves to the second scenario, 'The Crisis of Father Aloysius'. Whereas 'Footprints' is focused around nature spirits, this scenario shows a different aspect, exploring a tortured Christian priest facing threat from pagan beliefs, and having a crisis of faith that could go very darkly. Again, a very effective exposition of the themes within the game.

The next chapter, 'The Meat of the Earth' starts a deep dive into the true nature and dangers of Solemn Vale, along with the farms, mines and families who could make life very uncomfortable for the characters. We get to meet Old Blood like the Holloways (traditional farmers with a tendency to violence and intimidation, linked to the Omega Cult), the Havers (again traditional, but with strong pagan beliefs), the Sykes (scrap merchants, petty thieves & criminals and sometime agents of the Holloways) and the Fenmoors (fiercely independent and self-sufficient). We also get to meet New Blood like the Walcotts (who returned from London in the 1800s), the Leightons (the latest tenants in a farm with a dark reputation) and the Crowes (hated once the collapse of the local Quarry was attributed to run-off from their farm). There are also independent families like the Rhodes (whose heritage goes back to Norman times) and the Gardeners (a family with roots from Nigeria who came to Britain with the Empire Windrush in 1948). The chapters rounds out describing locations like the local quarry, the defunct Moore Tin Mine, the abandoned Vale Copper Mine, and the local abattoir.

The next chapter explores the boundaries of the Vale, the woodlands, cliffs and caves and fields, along with key locations like the Stack (an old, abandoned brick chimney), the lonely Ere Rock, the Old Train Station, St Roch's Lighthouse, the Atlas Tin Mine, the old Courthouse, the perilous but beautiful river by the Ryswell Straight, the Witch's House, the old Bunker and tourist locations like the Shrike Hotel and Happy Acres Lumber Mills. There's also places of potential occult significance like the Druid's Circle, Skal's Folly and the Menehary Campgrounds where a brutal crime occurred in the past. 

A short chapter describes the Omega Cult and how to use it in play. I won't describe more because of the potential spoilers, but it is a very different kind of horror.

This is followed by the final scenario; 'The Hounds Unleashed". This puts the characters in a situation where one of their party has gone to get supplies but not returned, and they are stuck in a caravan in the middle of bleak cold and frozen moorland. The plot riffs on a traditional folklore threat in such locations and again leaves plenty of opportunities for roleplaying and peril. It draws on several threads established in the chapters after the previous scenario. Overall, I liked this, but I think that it could be messy. 

The book rounds out with some fiction from the perspective of a young Police Constable who has been assigned to Solemn Vale. This, like the opening piece, does a good job of giving the oppressive feel that the place gives off if you're a stranger. 

The book has several appendices with lists of facets and example stage rules for challenges, denizens, locations and encounters. The latter four lists are also available as decks of cards. I have them, and they're nicely done on good quality card.

Overall, I'm impressed with Solemn Vale. It has a light and effective game engine linked to a layered and complex sandbox that perfectly evokes that 1970s British Folk Horror vibe. The setting lends itself well to exploring stories within that space, across a number of different themes, and the example scenarios are good examples of how to hit those different notes. 

Recommended

25 May 2025

Edit: Video of a flick through of the book:

First Impressions - Rim Expeditions (Traveller)

Rim Expeditions is a 160-page full colour hardcover for the Traveller RPG from Mongoose Publishing. The hardcover also includes a poster-sized star sector map of Kruse sector. I was attracted to it because of the exploration theme and also because it explores something that has fascinated me since I first read about it in Digest Group Publications' Solomani and Aslan supplement for MegaTraveller, the Solomani Rim Expeditions.

TL;DR: Rim Expeditions is great; it's a very flexible framework to run a variety of campaigns set against the background of sparsely explored space. You can have diplomacy, conflict and pure exploration. However, very much like Deepnight Revelation, the referee will have to put in some hard work here, especially as there are less of the systemising tools that support that campaign. Overall, this has been done well, and could provide the foundation of an ongoing campaign or some fun one-shots based off the various wonders and anomalies mentioned.

The Solomani are the branch of humanity (humaniti)  that stayed on Earth (Terra) while others were transplanted by the Ancients across Charted Space. What would become the Terran Confederation encountered the Vilani Imperium (Ziru Sirka) on their first long distance interstellar journey. Ignored at first as lower technology barbarians, eventually war broke out. A series of interstellar wars were fought, and the Terrans eventually overtook the Vilani in technology, hastening the collapse of their empire. The Rule of Man (also known as the Ramshackle Empire or Second Imperium) was founded, but the inertia of the collapsing Ziru Sirka meant that the Rule of Man did not endure and humaniti was plunged into the Long Night. 

Eventually, the Sylean Federation formed the Third Imperium and started to expand again, eventually recontacting the Old Earth Union which had endured. Humans from Earth had by then become known as the Solomani, and the two powers merged. However, there was ongoing friction as the influence of the Solomani began to reign. An autonomous region was formed, which then declared independence. The brutal Solomani Rim War was fought, and although the Imperium 'won', conquering Terra, it did not defeat the whole of the Solomani Confederation, so an uneasy peace persists with both sides knowing the cost of war.

Throughout this history, the Solomani sent expeditions Rimward towards the edge of the Spiral Galaxy Arm in which they lived. This was in the opposite direction to the Vilani and later the Third Imperium. Waves of exploration and long range missions, some with Slower-Than-Light technology departed. The Rimward Corridor was developed and an ongoing way of colonisation and exploration continues, waxing and waning dependent upon the level of threat that the Confederation faces.

I loved the idea of this, and once worked with a friend to develop a scenario based on this with a lost colony being encountered that had originally departed before the Long Night in an STL ship. This was used to demo GURPS Traveller when that was released and was a lot of fun. So I really like the idea of exploration, wide open spaces and something that hasn't really been explored in detail before. What I saw when I skimmed the Bundle of Holding PDFs meant I wanted a copy of this book and I wanted it to be one of the first that I read.

This isn't a campaign as such; it's a toolkit to build a campaign. Two areas of space are detailed - the whole of Kruse Sector, some six full sectors rimward of the Confederation, and the slightly closer Lubbock Enclave, a subsector only three sectors rimward which serves as a refuge and manufacturing centre to support missions travelling further out.

Unlike the Classic Traveller supplements, there's a fair bit of material that supports the development of a campaign through the book.

The book opens with a discussion of the urge to explore, and an author's note about the Solomani. The latter discusses how to avoid using a cliched "Space Nazis" approach to the culture, which I think is a useful guide and an approach that I agree with. It then follows up with a history of exploration from the Solomani perspective, starting with the exploration of Terra, and then moving into the exploration of interstellar space, initially via sub-light expeditions, and later via jump-drive. Contact with the Vilani led to exploration of the Ziru Sirka, initially via traders and later - as the Imperium started to collapse -  by the Terran Confederation Navy. During the Long Night period, many expeditions departed to establish new colonies, but most were unsanctioned by the government and little was known about their success or failure. The Old Earth Union maintained reconnaissance forces used around its borders, but sanctioned exploration rimward only started again once the Union joined the Imperium. Much of this was done with private concerns, as the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service was focused on the space occupied by the former Ziru Sirka, and later into the spinward region 'behind the claw'. Data was shared as a matter of course, until the split between the Solomani and the Third Imperium. Since it achieved its independence, the Solomani Confederation has pursued a policy of rimward exploration, going so far as to launch expeditions to the Perseus Arm, crossing the gap to the next spiral arm. 

Rimward of the Solomani Confederation (only as far as the Lubbock Enclave)
(Image ©2023 Mongoose Publishing)

Confederation exploration policy is described in some detail. The navy retains responsibility for exploration and astrogation records, and requires any private expeditions to share their data. Much exploration is carried out by warships that have been withdrawn from front-line service, in some cases converted to support long duration operations. However, the ships remain part of the Navy, with the full duties of any other Confederation warship. SolSec - Solomani Security - is also an active part of such missions. Their political officers are responsible for supporting loyalty and morale, providing intelligence analysis and advice in contact situations. Corporations and universities are often represented on military and non-military expeditions. 

The Confederation maintains active surveillance operations up to 20 parsecs beyond its borders (although this is done covertly in hostile states such as the Third Imperium), and does look for expansion opportunities. Medium range exploration is focused on setting up chains that link valuable hubs / clusters. The Confederation focuses on the value it will get from a world rather than claiming every system that it charts. Some operations into Gateway and Crucis Margin sectors near the Imperium near the K'Kree, Hivers and Third Imperium as much about showing the flag and supporting friendly powers as they are about exploration and survey.  

The general process for exploration is described, as the level of effort used will vary depending upon the speed of advance wanted and the level of science and exploration required. Rapid advance effectively means minimal science, typically being used in known space. Exploratory advance is significantly slower and will involve searching systems in detail, exploring the system and perhaps making contact with the natives. There's a discussion about the implications of long duration operations on starships, but this is not at the level of detail that Deepnight Revelation has.

A variant method is presented for the generation of star systems, minimising the need for the referee to produce significant amounts of detail unless it is needed and definitely meeting the map only as necessary principle. This starts with the presence of stellar bodies (but there's no method for determining which kind are present), then gas giants, then a main world, before other bodies. The World Builder's Handbook would be a good companion to go with this section. The different types of planetary environments are described, outline the kinds of challenges that they present Travellers, hopefully giving the referee ideas and situations that can be used during the game.

This is followed by a section describing 'finds and points of interest'. This starts with a random table that a referee can use for inspiration, with details of the various results following. They range from stellar anomalies (such as jumpspace reefs) through to encounters or echoes of other beings, along with interesting aspects of star systems. I'd probably use this as a reference and pick one rather than roll an encounter. After this, there's a discussion on how to deal with aliens and populations encountered, including consideration on whether they have FTL capability and how they obtained it if that is the case.

The Universal Research Mechanic is described, a method of conduction scientific and investigative research. Progress is tracked using a 'Breakthrough Index', which measures how much is known about a subject. Tasks such as remote reconnaissance, theoretical research and planetary surveys can be carried out to raise the level of the index, typically linked in some way to the effect of the roll made. A Breakthrough Index (BI) of 0 means that nothing is known, with full knowledge needing a BI of 10. A table gives an example of the kind of detail that each level gives in terms of Interstellar Exploration and Survey or Scientific Investigations. Frustratingly, you've got to dig into the text to find the effect of each kind of activity on the BI; it would have been good to have had a short summary block for each kind of activity on the same or adjacent page to the master table. However, this seems to be a very effective mechanic for handling scientific investigations.

After these sections, the book starts to detail the regions rimward of the Solomani Confederation. The information about these areas forms the bulk of the book.

The area closest to the Confederation (the Close Rimward Region, the space within 200 parsecs of the Confederation border) is described quite lightly at sector level (see the map above for an example). Details are given on which areas are on travellermap.com and what can be considered canon. There are close trading links with the systems up to about ten parsecs from the border, and much information is known about that area of space. Beyond that, details are much more sketchy. The Confederation maintains the Rimward Corridor, a route from which exploration is staged. This can be as much as six-parsecs wide, and traffic is steady in this area, but typically much more heavily armed. The Confederation doesn't operate a policy of annexation, and has not sought to bring the nearby star systems under its control. However, around a hundred parsecs out from the border, it has established the Lubbock Enclave, a secure and settled base for operations established in the 750s before the Confederation split from the Third Imperium.

The Enclave acts to deter the territorial ambitions of the Aslan, and comprises twelve star systems. Military assets are based here, typically second line vessels and those of former Imperial design. The Enclave can support Tech Level 13 vessels but has limited capacity, so Tech Level 12 designs such as former Imperial Scout Ships are often used. The key subsector where the Lubbock Enclave is located (Horden/Lubbock) is detailed, including short write-ups of Avebury (the capital of the Enclave) and Hallstat (a system that was settled in the Rule of Man, but has subsequently collapsed and regressed to the equivalent of the Iron Age). There's a short section giving some ideas of what kinds of missions could be carried out in the Lubbock Enclave.

The Rimward Corridor has been scouted out for a further two hundred parsecs, but information beyond the corridor is limited. The next significant Solomani Confederation presence is in the Kruse sector, where a dedicated Forward Base as been established to support the exploration of the anomalies in the Ruthless Veil, Darkly Veiled and Strange sectors. The base has limited capacity and is a long way from home, so will be careful around local powers.

Kruse was originally settled in the Long Night, around -1750 Imperial, and the remnants of those missions now comprise two pocket empires; the Interstellar Republic and the Sovereignty. There's also a smaller polity - "The Rule of Man", established by a slower-than-light colony ship which departed in the early Second Imperium and only arrived after the Solomani started to agitate for independence from the Third Imperium. Presently at Tech Level 9, the colonies are on a slow path of technological development; they do feel entitled to the technology that the Confederation has (as they see it as a successor state to themselves) but it is reluctant to transfer advanced technology to them. 

There is an alien race, the Rammak, who can be found trailing and spinward in the sector. Humanoid egg layers, it is unknown whether they have expanded beyond Kruse. They have been star travellers for at least a thousand years, most likely on the back of technology recovered from a Rule of Man vessel.

Finally, Solomani commercial interests have established a de facto independent polity known as the Eberhardt Corporate Republic. The Confederation has condemned the state of affairs but any action against it has been deferred thanks to large donations of resources and declarations of loyalty to the Confederation.

All subsectors in Kruse are described in detail with the usual points of light approach to a few key worlds. There's good detail here to run a campaign from.

Next up is the Midrim area of interest, the destination for missions from the Lubbock Enclave. Ruthless Veil ad Darkly Veiled sectors contain Hoydell's Veil, a nebula and the infamous Hoydell Chaos, an area of space where jump drives are unreliable, misjumping in some form be it by distance or extended-duration. Both astrographic features are named after the commander of the first expeditions in this area who was posted overdue in 1002. Cautious exploration continues, trying to understand the phenomenon and its extents. 

RimReach and OutReach are being explored to understand potential threats. RimReach is considered potentially seriously dangerous with all ships entering and leaving meant to go through a quarantine and science base in OutReach sector. The reason for this caution is the presence of a polity that seems to comprise humans (and potentially other species) infested by some sort of parasite that both controls and kills its host. 

The Strange region comprises two sectors, partly dominated by the Flous Nebula. There are many protostars with some at the T-Tauri stage without planetary bodies. Experiments are ongoing with interstellar ramjets to harvest hydrogen for fuel. The region beyond the nebula is known for its astrographic anomalies, unique ecosystems and the ruins of what appears to have been a slower-than-light star-faring civilisation.

The Rimward Corridor continues onward, currently terminating some 400 parsecs beyond the Confederation in the Xuanzang sector. At typical travel speeds, it will take a ship around four years to reach the end of the corridor. The Forward Base in Xuanzang is building up its industrial capability to remove the need for full rim runs from the Confederation to supply key parts and equipment. The government is encouraging emigration to both the Lubbock Enclave and Xuanzang, with some key systems between on the Rimward Corridor also gaining colonies. Xuanzang was first settled in 907, part of the Rimward 3 project. However, the project lost some momentum during the Rim War, and there is the beginnings of an independence movement if things don't improve. 

The sector has a crablike sentient species, the Vdknwbo, who have a past history of slower-than-light travel and are found in two systems. They're presently around Tech Level 6, but have enthusiastically embraced working with the Xuanzang Enclave. There's a map and details of the Moksadeva subsection where the Enclave is located.

The book then moves on to the history of Solomani Rimward Extremely Long Range Expeditions which began before the Third Imperium as the Old Earth Union pushed out into the Rim, partly because of the Aslan Border Wars. The next big push came before the Old Earth Union joined the Imperium, and focused on updating the charts for the Close Rimward Expedition. The First Frontier War and the subsequent Imperial Civil War resulted in resources being pulled into the Imperium rather than outward into the Rim. 

The establishment of the Solomani Autonomous Region led to a resurgence of interest in the frontier, with the Lubbock Enclave being established, with further work going on the establishment of a Forward Base in Kruse. Once these facilities were established, a new push began to create 'Lubbock 2' in Xuanzang. Part of the focus was to enable the exploration of an area of low stellar density known as the Spinner. 

The Rim War stopped exploration, and when it restarted there was a focus on getting a return post war, and also a quiet war against the Aslan to spinward of Lubbock. A project ('The Great Backfill') exists to bring charts up to date and visit systems that have not yet been properly charted. Project Perseus is mentioned, an ambitious project to cross to the next spiral arm, but remains the subject of speculation as it is highly classified. There have also been significant missions both to spinward and trailing, with one heading towards the mouth of the Great Rift towards the gravitational anomaly  QX-07012. There are rumours that the Imperial Deepnight Corporation is preparing a similar mission, and the Confederation wants to gain the knowledge first. There's also a well-funded private expedition with significant investment aimed at 'Object Venturi', but much of the details aren't in the public domain. 

The book then discusses some of the wonders and mysteries of the Rim. Some are astrographic, some are about aliens and others ruins of past civilisations. I won't describe these for risk of spoilers, except to mention Point Cetus, 200 parsecs spinward-rimward of Xuanzang Enclave, on the edge of the spiral arm. There is a Solomani base here, perhaps the launch point for Project Perseus. They're all good ideas to frame a campaign around. It's apt that this section rounds out with a discussion on how to run a campaign using this setting. 

The book then wraps up with a High Guard section, detailing unique Solomani technology for the design sequence followed by a selection of small craft and starships. These include a support ship and a light exploration vessel built off the same hull and the Tenzing class exploration vessel, a 2000-ton explorer. There's also a 20,000 ton explorer converted from a light carrier, the Michigan class. Finally, there's a selection of all-terrain vehicles and an index.

I think this book is great; it's a very flexible framework to run a variety of campaigns set against the background of sparsely explored space. You can have diplomacy, conflict and pure exploration. However, very much like Deepnight Revelation, the referee will have to put in some hard work here, especially as there are less of the systemising tools that support that campaign. Overall, this has been done well, and could provide the foundation of an ongoing campaign or some fun one-shots based off the various wonders and anomalies mentioned.

Recommended

12 April 2025