Megan Robertson's page

All the advertising blurb, the cover text, even some of the opening remarks on the first couple of pages, suggest that this is an excerpt from a mythical galactic encyclopaedia which your Thousand Suns characters might find useful. Useful this book is, but not that way: it's a collection of articles aimed at players rather than characters, rules additions in the main.

Now, Thousand Suns is more of a toolkit for running an SF game (especially one in the space opera mode) than a full-blown game, and this book continues in the same vein with a collection of well-considered articles about various aspects that you might care to add to your ruleset. Beautifully presented and illustrated, it's well worth a look.

The first article, Moving Through the Ranks, looks at how to link military advancement to the character development inherent in gaining experience points during play - something useful if your game is based around the activities of a military unit. It includes ideas about how to incorporate rank into a role-playing game without getting bogged down in the kind of hierarchy that military organisations thrive on, and is well-explained and mechanically sound although some of the text sounds more as if it came from mechanical translation than a human being's pen!

Next comes The Ways of Scheming, which is an ingenious if mechanistic way to simulate in-character plots and the use of influence to accomplish them. Whilst most people are likely to be comfortable role-playing their acts of intimidation, threats and blackmail, it could prove useful for the GM to 'book-keep' more elaborate plots, or for the moderation of plots against, rather than by, the characters.

This is followed by the introduction of a new race, the mysterious Aurigan. Clearly intended to be NPCs rather that player-characters, there is plenty of scope for adventures involving them and a lot for the curious to discover. Next comes brief single-paragraph notes on The Planets of the Core, rather thin but useful enough for characters who come from or wish to visit these planets. The fifth article is an extensive one about weapons, designed to enable you to describe just about any death-dealing device you care to imagine in appropriate game terminology, and this is followed by a companion piece on Custom Protection... with all those weapons around you probably need some! Similar detail is then given to robots, with plenty of detail should you wish to incorporate them in your game - or even play one!

The final article, A Spacefarer's Introduction to Lingua Terra, is rather fun. Based on Esperanto, it's an attempt to lay out the basics of a possible intergalactic language, with sufficient material to allow for muttered asides, notices, etc., to be concocted to give an added air of the exotic to your setting... but no swear words!

It's an interesting collection, worth casting your eye over to see if any of these components would be useful in your game. A good editorial eye might improve it, not so much glaring errors but a certain clumsiness of expression makes some of the articles hard to follow and a bit clunky, but overall a useful addition to your toolkit.

In customary style, 0one Games present a fine bandit's lair complete with details of how the bandits live, conduct their banditry and defend their home. Whether your characters wish to attack the bandits, trade with them or even enlist in the band, these maps and notes should prove invaluable when they decide to call round.

There is a Referee's Map showing the entire layout and 25 tile-sized portions of it for you to lay in front of your players, as battle maps for miniature use or just to show them what their characters can see. The usual customisation is possible - choice of a square or a hex grid (or none at all), presence or absence of furniture and doors, and the like - and from the Referee's Map you can choose which tile you want to print if you do not want them all at once, or want to change the customisation between different areas.

There's a page of short room descriptions which give a good overview - although the English sounds like it was run through an online translator - of what is going on in each location, and in the bandit gang as a whole. Naturally, if this doesn't suit your needs, you can substitute your own story and descriptions. You will need to create suitable statistics for the whole gang, and you may wish to add to the half-dozen or so named personalities, or amend them to fit into any ongoing storyline or to suit your own ideas.

As a focus for a short adventure, or a chance encounter, or even as something that might feature quite large in your campaign, this is a neat and well-laid-out lair to raid (or even inhabit once the bandits have been evicted if the characters so choose).

The basic concept of this product is to provide a ready-to-use fantasy location, with a one-page referee map and a set of customisable maps breaking that location down into 8" x 10" sections suitable for use with miniatures. 0one's usual high technical standards aid you in presenting the map just the way you like - and there are even scenario ideas if the location hasn't already started to spawn ideas in your mind.

So, this location is the home of a rather dubious-sounding religious organisation, rumoured to kidnap the unsuspecting for unspeakable rituals. Or, of course, they might be really nice people and your adventurers have a completely different reason for visiting their home. Or, indeed, it could be a base for your characters...

Be that as it may, the place is disguised as an orc camp - who knows, your adventurers might have chanced on it and fancied a night of orc-bashing... and are in for a bit more than they bargained for! For those who delight in adventure locations that can actually be the dwellings of whatever or whoever you put there, essentials such as a latrine, kitchen and sleeping quarters are incuded. (I once ran a game in which the players spent quite some time exploring the ablutions on the grounds that they must have some significance because they were there on the map! Even monsters need relief, you know.)

It's a nice compact complex which, with suitable introduction and population, should provide a good evening's play. The customisation allows you to display (or not) the grid, furniture, etc.; while labels only appear on the referee map. You can also turn off the black fill completely on such as walls, or switch it to grey, depending on how you like your maps to look or if you wish to conserve ink.

Overall, a nicely-presented lair suitable for use the next time your players have a run-in with an evil cult or the like. All you need to do is decide who's in there for them to fight. A useful resource to keep to hand.

This short but beautifully-presented piece introduces the fell knight, a fallen paladin. Well... one who has turned from the light, from service to the forces of good, at any rate. He may not be strictly speaking evil, but he's no longer the shining knight he once was.

Suitable deities for a fell knight are those who have dominion over war or death, or a fell knight may have merely slipped from the high standards required of paladin-hood without actually having thrown in his lot with a fully evil god.

Many paladin powers can still be used by a fell knight, but elegant suggestions are made as to how to subtly twist them to suit his fallen state. A collection of appropriate prayers and other powers especially created for the fell knight are also available.

Characters dealt with, there is also a fell knight template which can be applied to any suitable humanoid of 11th level or above. Suggestions are made for the modification of monsters or NPCs to use this template. A fine example is also given, using an azer as the base monster. This comes complete with notes on lore and encounter groups and even a good name - he's a 'Blackfire Champion' whose dedication is to spreading darkness.

A neat and elegant adaptation of the paladin to show the potential for service to something other than good... perhaps suitable opponent for the good paladin in your party!

The Introduction sets the scene: a fairly common occurrence in Victorian society, Reginald Cantwell, an ethusiast for all things Ancient Egyptian, has returned from a trip to Egypt and is holding an evening party to show off the treasures that he collected there. Chief of these is a mummy, which he proposes to unwrap as part of the proceedings. Pity some villains have other ideas... there is a brief outline to explain who is after Dr Cantwell's artefacts and why, and (nice touch) mentioning how some of the characters involved may already be known to our heroes is they have played certain other adventures before this one.

Act 1: A Mysterious Invitation gets the characters involved in a very direct manner - irrespective of who they are or if they number Reginald Cantwell amongst their acquaintances, they are invited to the aforementioned evening event. Just in case curiousity is not enough there is a £10 note (at least a couple of week's wages for even a professional man!) and a cryptic comment scrawled on the back of the invitation. Various avenues of research are offered for those who'd like to nose around a bit before actually turning up at Cantwell's house. In the event that any of your characters are wholly unsuited to being even unlikely dinner guests, they can be hired as security or wait staff instead.

Once the characters have made any inquiries they wish, move on to Act 2: Cantwell's Soiree. The description of the house is atmospheric and it should prove easy to paint the scene for your players. There are some delightful and well-described guests there for them to mingle with, as well as the display of artefacts to examine. As an added touch, many of the guests have adventure seeds supplied should you wish to weave them into your characters lives at a later date.

But this gentle socialising is not to last, as Act 3: The Fire, The Thieves and the Marylebone Mummy suggests. The villains are uncouth enough to begin their raid in the middle of dinner too! There is scope for some spectacular confusion and chaos as the characters attempt to come to grips with what is going on, and this leads into Act 4: The Chase is On!, which gives them the opportunity to deal with the thieves and the unanticipated results of their actions. There's a fine set-piece brawl, and a final confrontation with the mummy himself to wind up the festivities... but there is ample opportunity for loose ends to return to haunt the characters at a later date.

That's the great delight of this adventure, not just that it is finely-crafted in its own right but that scattered throughout are snippets to make it part of a greater whole, the ongoing saga of your heroes in Victoriana London.

As a LARP script, this product shares many features with any game scenario (and indeed it would not take much effort to convert it to the table-top if you like the concept), but also includes the physical direction to enable you to create - or at least, simulate - the scene in real life. Remember always that LARP means real people, and their safety (not their characters' safety) is paramount. Also, locations need to be carefully chosen to avoid alarm to bystanders.

This particular script is designed for a small group - three to six players, a couple of NPCs and the Keeper - and is suitable for use as an introduction to Cthulhu Live or even to LARPing. Given that the script calls for the players to simulate blindness by being blindfolded during the game, it's advised that - even though it might ruin the surprise of losing one's sight - the players should be informed of this in advanced so that they can make an informed decision as to whether or not to participate - after all, in a good LARP it is easy to get so absorbed in the action that you might panic even when you can see what's going on! The use of a 'safe word' to call a time-out is also recommended.

The actual adventure itself is simple... yet effective and with the potential to be genuinely scary for the players. As they will not be able to see, some excellent suggestions are made for tactile, auditory and even olfactory props to sustain the horror. Hopefully no PLAYER will go insane, but it is a real possibility for the CHARACTERS! It's not recommended as part of an ongoing campaign, play this with a one-off character. Yet despite this warning, it is possible to defeat the monsters and survive.

Overall, an excellent adventure which takes advantage of the possibilities inherent in LARP to create something that will be remembered for a long time...

It's strange, but normal city amenities like public parks are often omitted from fantasy maps. Here's an attempt to rectify the lack, with a well-detailed open space in the middle of the Great City (or indeed, within any largish township where it might suit you to locate it).

The product consists of an 'overview' map of the complete park and surrounding buildings and streets, and four larger maps that you can print out and stick together. As usual, all are available in either blue and white or black and white; and there is a 'Rule the Dungeon' button which allows some element of choice as to what is displayed - a hex or grid, text, buildings, and so on.

It appears to be a properly-maintained public gardens, complete with a park-keeper who has a residence on site and works full time at keeping the place looking good. The park is quite popular with local lovers, with a nice shady pond for them to wander hand-in-hand beside, and there is a wall where the infamous Broadsheets - the Great City's answer to the daily newspaper - are posted. There's a small kiosk, and if you require more substatial refreshment there is a wine shop nearby. If it is your soul that needs refreshing, there is a temple to a nature deity - quite appropriate for the sort of nature-lover who goes to parks!

If you are using the Road to Revolution campaign, this is where it all begins. But even if you are not, any city worthy of the name ought to have a park for locals and visitors alike to enjoy.

The Introduction jumps straight in by discussing how Glorantha's troubled past means that it is spectacularly rich in all manner of ruins... and that due to magic and warring gods some, at least, are fantastical and bizarre places just crying out for brave adventurers to explore them if they dare. It also explains that there are two main ways in which you can design your ruins - either around one particular concept, or by drawing on the history of Glorantha and the specific place you want to have your ruin, so that it fits in organically with its surroundings. And, of course, there are some samples to play with.

For those who like a random approach, or just to help organise your thoughts, a series of tables follows. A convenient 'hook' to build your ruin around can be to link it to an element or other major force, and this may suggest anything from structure to likely inhabitants. Location is also important, and there's a table for that... even amazing backdrops are covered - think cinematically, visualise how the place will look. For each item on each table, there's a paragraph (or more) of development suggesting how you include that component once you've selected it. The sheer wealth of ideas is amazing and there's bound to be something that sets you off, up and running with a concept for your ruin...

For those wanting an even richer experience, there's a second set of more detailed tables tied in to Gloranthan history and traditions. It is a more comprehensive process, and will take a bit more time to work through, but the result is something that is uniquely Gloranthan, rather than any old exotic and interesting ruin that just happens to be in Glorantha! You start off with how old the original structure was, what it was intended for and who built it, and then track its eventual decline into the ruins that you will put in front of your players, complete with a detailed history for them to discover if they are so minded. Even likely magical effects and guardians are included.

Chapter 2: Regions and Ruins is an exploration of the various regions of Glorantha concentrating on the sort of ruins typical of each. You might want to use this to further refine your ruin design to suit the location in which your adventure will occur. There are also several example ruins to be found in each region, not quite 'ready to run' as is, but a good starting point from which to design the actual structure and decide what's there.

Next come several fully-detailed ruins which ARE about ready to run. Use them as presented, or as examples of what - aided by the ideas earlier in this book - you can develop yourself. One intriguing one is not in Glorantha at all - it's floating in the air above it, moving seemingly at random (hence you can have it turn up wherever your adventurers might be). Another seems to exist in two times at once, the palace in the daytime is quite different from that at night. Places rich and strange, crying out for the intrepid to visit... although, unless you supply your own, the only motivation for going to any of them seems to be curiousity or loot.

While the fully-developed ruins make me want to round up a handful of players and give them a go, the main strength of this book is the tools it provides to aid in the creation of your own unique and fantastical ruins, fully in accord with Glorantha and yet also your own.

The adventure involves the characters investigating a mysterious hole in the ground in a remote corner of the New England woods. This work begins with detailed notes on both the geology of the area (including the sort of explanation a geologist might come up with to explain away the hole) and a timeline of events, running over several thousand years, explaining what is really going on. While this background ties in with the intended location, some notes are provided should you prefer to set the adventure elsewhere. Likewise, while written with the 1920s in mind, it will adapt readily to the 1890s or the present day.

It is left up to you to find a way to get the investigators to the mouth of this mysterious chasm, the only hint being - if you have run the adventure Murder of Crows - in the journal of the lunatic at the centre of the events therein. The adventure as written begins with the investigators arriving at the chasm for the first time, however you decide to get them there. Should this be whilst exploring the area or similar, their first task will probably be to go and get some climbing gear... assuming you find a way to make them want to climb down there! Some of the suggestions for getting characters involved will ensure that they come equipped, however.

The adventure itself falls into three parts. The first involves the descent into the hole, and as they get deeper, things get weirder. When they reach the bottom, the second part begins, which involves exploring the cavern there... and the third part is when they find something quite extraordinary and follow that up.

Even the descent can prove quite scary, and a lot of resources and hints are provided for the Keeper to make this initial part of the adventure quite terrifying. And it only gets more weird as the cavern at the bottom of the hole is investigated. The detail available to the Keeper is excellent, even a novice should find it easy to create the right atmosphere. It is also far more copious that necessary for the actual adventure, partly so that the Keeper can run the main adversary appropriately and partly in case he wishes to take the adventure further than written - while investigators are intended to escape with some unbelievable tales, some might wish to explore further or come back later with greater resources. The tools are to hand should they wish to do so, including notes on a range of possible outcomes for the adventure.

This is a well-constructed and atmospheric adventure in the classic style, which should prove entertaining for Keepers and investigators alike. It has a high degree of open-endedness and flexibility whilst providing outstanding support for the Keeper, whichever path he chooses.

This is a set of assorted customisable tiles for use with miniatures, counters, or just to display your dungeon layout in a clear and graphic manner. It is suggested that once you have decided on what you want and printed them out, that foam board or other backing should be used - whether or not you feel that's necessary depends on how often you think a particular rendition of a given tile might be used in your game.

The tiles are an altar room, a big room corner, big room side, big room centre (with vertiginous spiral staircase going down), some catwalks (over immeasurable drops, of course!), a 'chess room' (checkerboard floor), a second 'chess room' where the alternate squares are holes, another big room centre with a lake and earth and even growing stuff, a lava room, a selection of passages replete with pits and other traps, a pit room, other assorted rooms, a rounded hall... masses of different places, which start spawning ideas for what might be going on when you just look at them. Or of course, you may already have your dungeon planned out but need some of these features to round it out nicely.

Everything is clear and crisp, generally appearing to be stone unless another substance is appropriate; but the real gem is in the use of the layer capability of Acrobat (the program you use to read the PDF). For each room, there is a list of effects you can add or remove until the room is just as you want it: added chests, skeletons, staircases, walls... and if that's not enough, there are several pages of such incidental items you can cut out and distribute around if the preset locations do not suit your needs. Another useful thing is the various rooms printed smaller, so you can cut them out to make a GM map for use as reference when setting up the display mid-game, or for the normal purpose of recording where you've decided the Bad Guys, treasures, etc., will be.

Both versatile and good-looking, anyone who is running a dungeon delve and wants a good-looking display should have a look at this.

Presented with Talisman's customary style and panache, this is a neat single room encounter with the potential to develop into much more.

As usual, there's a lot packed into this product. An encounter, with the opportunity for both social interaction and at least one if not two brawls. A new magic item, a spell, a monster and a new (and novel) sentient race. A nice tile if you want to lay it in front of your players, and a Deal-A-Dungeon card if you prefer that approach.

Even if Suzerain isn't your game, the premise behind the encounter is so good that anyone who enjoys running dungeon crawls, particularly those that go beyond 'kill monster, steal loot, repeat,' will want to use the concept in whatever system you do use.

A fine specimen of the 'Suzerain Scrying' series, well worth a look.

This is a worthy successor to earlier versions of Twilight, keeping the gritty realism and suvival necessities while providing a well-considered ruleset that caters for a variety of play styles, and will accommodate those who are not set upon playing combat veterans as well as those who are!

Read the full review at http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/index.php?article=4826&visual=4 - far too long to post here, but the book's 350 pages of solid information!

The Introduction starts off with a statement about how much of a nusiance drakes can be to a wilderness community... but that some of them can pose an even greater threat, particularly to small parties of adventurers in untamed lands. Without further ado, the product launches into descriptions of a wide range of drakes - herd-drakes, lizardrake swarms, shell drakes, stonemuchers and vermin drakes. Each comes with all you'll need to have them infest your campaign world as monsters - stat blocks, descriptions and sketches, combat tactics and the sort of lore a well-informed character might have about them.

Herd-drakes are quite interesting, as they can be domesticated provided they are caught young enough. Despite the ferocious appearance and vicious bite, they are herbivore (NOT vegetarian as stated here!) and as can be imagined from the name are herd beasts. In combat they typically act to protect their young, with the largest 'bull' animal leading the defence.

Lizardrakes are small flying beasties and come in a vast variety of types. They congregate - or 'swarm' - for mutual protection, with a basic tactic of attacking whatever is closest to their nest site. The shell drake, on the other hand, is a four-legged creature more like a large armadillo with a solid carapace, and they can be trained to act as guard-beasts. Stonemuchers are less intelligent, but can literally eat their way through rock (hence the name).

Vermin drakes are possibly the most dangerous, they are predators in their own right whereas the others generally only fight if attacked or to protect territory or herd members. Again, they come in a fair few sub-types, but all run on two legs or fly and have breath weapons as well as teeth and claws.

The work rounds out with a few drake-related magic items, either made out of drakes or designed to be effective against them. It's a neat niche collection, although falls into the same trap as did the 4e Monster Manual treating drakes as combat opposition rather than living, breathing parts of the ecosystem of your campaign world. Still, they make good low-level pests to annoy adventurers!

Whether you think the 'flip book' concept is an amusing conceit or a bit fiddly in 'dead tree' product, in PDF it plain doesn't work. What is the point of half a book being upside down on my screen? Especially when the ability to edit has been disabled so it cannot be split into the 2 components and the pages resequenced to be viewed normally.... Grrr.

Rant over, let's have a look at the adventures. First up is The Tower of the Black Pearl a first-level adventure involving the exploration of a tower only revealed at extremely low tide - something that happens once a decade, so grab your chance while you may. Good background material is provided for the DM along with several hooks to get the characters involved. Once in, it's a neat adventure, challenging without being overwhelming, and nicely time-limited... after all, you go there at extreme low tide!

And now to t'other adventure (once the entire PDF is rotated and you start paging backwards!). The Golden Auroch is again a 1st-level adventure concerning the exploration of a tomb in a lost city in a desert. There's a relic to be retrieved... but a neat and compact underground complex to be negotiated if you want it. Another good low-level adventure with some interesting opposition to challenge the characters.

Overall, two excellent 1st-level adventures, either suitable as a campaign-starter, marred only by the construction of the PDF, you'd have to print it to render it usable. I'd have given 4 stars for the adventures...

What you get is a zip file with eight high-resolution full-page images, and the full terms of the licence - which despite the usual poor quality of legal writing is reasonably clear and extremely generous: for your purchase you may use any image or part thereof in any publication (including PDF, print or website), commercial or not, provided you credit the source and have copyrighted your work. (In UK law the act of creation automatically copyrights it, but if you favour the belt and braces approach, add a quick © and date to make sure!).

The eight bits of artwork are basically the same - see the cover picture for this product - a top and bottom border of something vaguely flesh-like. The squeamish can be glad it's not too realistic! It comes in 'flesh' colour, green, black and an odd khaki-shade which from the filename is possibly intended as rotting flesh. For each, there is a plain and a blood-splattered version; depending on just how nauseous you want it.

While the product may be called 'Quick Covers' these images might be better as internal top and bottom page borders, perhaps a bit narrower (remember you don't have to use the whole image but may select a part if that suits your needs better). Whatever you decide, if you have a need of a slightly creepy edge or cover, this is worth consideration... I'll certainly haul it out if I fancy writing some necromancy material!

The Introduction states the purposes of this book: to introduce the concept of cataclysmic change in a game world and to present 4e versions of the barbarian, bard, druid and monk... which are linked to the apocalypic theme by being either manifestations of the new and changed world, or lingering remnants of an old order; although it is not of course necessary to have a world-shaking event just so that they may appear, you can just make the classes available if you prefer. Note that since this book was published, Wizards of the Coast produced the Player's Handbook 2 in which their versions of the barbarian, bard and druid appear. So, for those classes you have a choice of two variants... and I certainly prefer this bard to the 'official' one!

At the time of writing this review, no 'official' monk character class has been published. Monks are strikers, masters of melee especially without weapons, and can base their combat moves on either 'kick-boxing' or 'grappling' - striking or wrestling with opponents as preferred. Within this each monk also will have a particular fighting style which further characterises the way in which he fights.

Overall this is a quite interesting work, although some may find it has been rendered redundant while others will mine it for additional powers and abilities for their characters. The discussion of the role of apocalypse is interesting and well worth a read, although it would probably be worth developing into a whole book of its own.

The first part of this work is in effect the Player's Guide for Second Darkness, and contains what you'd expect. The campaign starts in Riddleport (of which more later) and so we discover which races are most prevalent therein, as residents or visitors, and what people of the various classes might be doing - all to help you create a character suitable for the campaign. It also brings to the fore traits, which enable characters to have advantages and edges specific to the campaign without needing to know what they face - if it's here as a campaign trait, it will be useful somewhere along the line. They also help in building background and fleshing out the character, and so as well as campaign-specific traits there are more general ones to choose from as well.

The next part of the book serves as an introduction to the city of Riddleport. Third largest in Varisia, it's a den of thieves and tricksters and organised crime is rife. Starting as a pirate haven, it is now a true frontier town with all the opportunities and lawlessness that usually entails. There's an overview of the way the city is governed, and of its appearance and layout, the sort of thing that an observant person could pick up in a few days and which would, of course, be well-known to a native. This rounds off with some common slang and a couple of unusual poisons.

The remainder of the book has a few useful things like the Liberator prestige class, whose role is to free the wrongfully imprisoned. As they consider slavery to be wrong, there's the potential of conflict with practitioners of that trade, as well as kidnappers and other such lowlifes. Those of a religious bent might be interested in Cayden Cailean, a deity who is patron of both bravery and beer! Mages will be interested in the 'cyphermages' which flourish in Riddleport, and can learn a few new spells, while there are some usful items magical and mundane for those who like delving underground in caves. Finally there's an NPC called Lavender Lil.

Overall an intriguing and useful collection, especially if you'll be visiting Riddleport!

Four cracking adventures, utilising the Gumshoe system to the full as well as exploring the Cthulhu Mythos with a sure touch If you want a varied set of adventures which mix Pulp tropes with Mythos horror, this is well worth getting.

The Introduction dives straight in to the basic premise, that ancient and insane deities exist and are still trying to invade Earth and that someone has to stop them, whatever the cost to life and sanity. It then moves on to the burning question: there's already a Call of Cthulhu RPG dealing with just that, so why a new game? The answer lies in the Gumshoe ruleset, developed by Pelgrane Press for the purpose of running games based around investigation and discovery, and built so that any adventure depending on certain clues being found will have those clues found! It's designed for people - Keepers and players alike - who want to concentrate on figuring out what the clues mean, rather than having to wonder if they actually have all the clues. This game also aims to enable two styles of play - the Purist style of intellectual analysis which enjoys watching the horror unfold knowing that it will end in madness; and the Pulp style which allows for a more physical approach, value the actual struggle against evil... and pays a bit more regard to character survival. The best games mix a bit of both - certainly Lovecraft's writing did! - but as parts of the rules favour one or the other style, they are marked so players can choose the bias they prefer, if any.

And the whole thing hangs together so well, the Gumshoe system is ideal for presenting an investigative horror game, and the ideas for how to both play and run it are in places inspired.

At first glance it is an impressive first issue, it is clear that enthusiasm is there in abundance.

3 fairly good adventures (all for Dungeons & Dragons despite frequent protests that it's a multi-system mag!), a couple of interesting articles...

Overall, a good first attempt with some good writing struggling at times to get past poor editing and amateur layout. Persevere, and maybe find a good proofreader.

Sit down at the game table, set your imagination loose... and bang down to earth with a mundane set of common or garden playing cards for task resolution?

For those who want their game aids to reflect the richness and allure of the rest of the game, this deck could prove to be the answer. Exotic, almost cryptic numbers for one side, and a decorative back proclaiming 'Relic' should suit all.

True, it's going to use up a lot of printer ink and your craft skills will come into play matching fronts and backs up, preferably with a card base sandwiched between the two for durability - and even to enable a decent shuffle! - but if you like beautiful things on your game table, it's worth it!

Herewith presented without further ado are a collection of large bugs designed with but one purpose in mind - to scare and challenge any party of adventurers. Even if you don't mind small creepie-crawlies, these ones are guaranteed to make you think about running away!

The critters involved are ants, beetles, centipedes, crustaceans, mantis, slugs, and wasps. Each is given a thorough write-up with plenty of description as well as necessary rules material, clearly arranged to facilitate planning or reference during play. Detailed line-art drawings, some with human figures to indicate just how big the bugs involved are, illustrate each entry. Variants are included, so for example there are soldier, worker and queen ants; along with likely battle tactics and a note on the lore a knowlegeable character might be able to remember about the creature in question. There's also a list by level and monster role for those planning encounters.

It's a neatly-presented and useful product, and if you intend to incorporate any of the named creatures into your adventures well worth getting. It might even give you ideas for combat encounters you hadn't considered...

Continuing 0one's development of quality play-aids, in this product they supply a DM map of a location, nine customisable tiles depicting that location suitable for miniatures use... and suggestions as to what might be going on in that location. The location is an underground lair used by a medusa located near a city. In the notes, you'll find out about the medusa and how she operates, sufficient background to enable you to put together suitable rumours and other hooks to get the characters involved.

The map and associated tiles detail the medusa's entire lair, while the notes give a brief description of each room and what might be happening there. As usual with an 0one product, you can exert quite a lot of control over the maps; turning the grid on or off, choosing whether or not it is furnished and so on. As the series name suggests, the maps are black & white line art, all neatly done.

For a quick adventure, you'll only need to check the monster and NPC stats, add some treasure and you are ready for the characters to arrive. A proofread by an English speaker would improve the notes, otherwise there is nothing to fault!

Written for Gen Con 2008 and presented in the traditional 'three rounds' format of a competion scenario, this is based on some of the D&D 3e releases in the Dungeon Crawl Classics product line, but sufficiently original that it's just about playable by those who have encountered them. Presentation is very traditional as well, as anyone familiar with AD&D scenarios will agree.

The first part is called Idylls of the Rat King, and is largely based on the D&D 3e adventure of the same name, with details changed to accommodate the AD&D ruleset. The main thrust of the adventure is the exploration of four levels of an abandoned (at least by its original owners) silver mine, and you are given several ways to entice the characters to go there. There's plenty of support for the DM, including detailed background and well-organised encounters; while all those encountered in the mine have reason to be there and lives to lead... if only they weren't being interrupted by pesky adventurers! It's a good solid dungeon crawl in the classic mould.

The second part is an original adventure called The Scourge of Silverton, and draws characters back to the site of the previous events - perhaps quite swiftly, as the first part is designed for 1st to 3rd-level characters (those starting as 1st-level will reach 3rd during it) and this bit is for 3rd to 4th-level ones! The mining town of Silverton has begun to recover quite nicely after that abandoned mine was cleaned out, but news of their growing prosperity has brought more unwelcome attention to the area. There's the added twist that if you are using this as a follow-on to the earlier adventure, this newcomer has a reason to seek revenge on those who cleaned out the first abandoned mine... and he has, of course, taken up residence in a different disused mine! Here he plays a game of cat-and-mouse with the characters, testing their strength and resolve: and they thought they were there just to rescue some hostages. The end of this

If you relish quality handouts and props for your games, this one is for you! Herein is a selection of beautiful period items typical of the 1920s - a popular era for both pulp and horror adventures. Some are customisable, such as a press card or a federal agent ID; just add a photo and a few pertinent details.

There are eight business cards, which can either be used 'as is' if appropriate or can give ideas for making your own as necessary for your game. Clues, handed out by someone the characters will need to be able to find later... they have many uses. There's a blank telegram form (in fact two, one coloured and one in black & white), tickets for the theatre, for a lecture and for an exhibition, the ID cards mentioned above as well as train and boat tickets on which you can fill out the destination and dates. There are also some blank coloured cards - some business card sized, one larger and a third with a bloody handprint on it - which can be customised to suit your requirements

Overall a nice set of props, very effective and showing just what can be done to enhance your game.