Review: The Gardens of Ynn

The Gardens of Ynn is now available in print on demand and in PDF on rpgnow. The PDF is currently only three dollars and an exceptional value. Billing itself as “A delightful horticultural adventure for use in old-school roleplaying games” it consists of about 79 pages broken into five sections. I was pleased to discover upon reading that this is far more than just a single, linear adventure, but instead a very fully-fledged and versatile generator that can easily be used to populate several session worth of content. It is easily compatible with the traditional flavors of D&D and the assorted clones/rulesets with only the minimum of modification/conversation necessary, most of which could easily be done on the fly.

The setting presented here is very adaptable, as Ynn is defined as a “perpendicular world” and serves almost as a separate/discrete plane. This makes it very simple to drop into almost any campaign setting and the novel means of ingress and “hooks” provided within the introduction facilitate this use. Ynn’s history and nature is sufficiently fleshed out without becoming overbearingly precise/specific and it could very easily function as a less typical/more flavorful stand-in or whole-cloth replacement for a variety of some of the more traditional/prosaic extraplanar jaunts (it could just as easily be a unique spin on the mythical Otherworld, a darker and more dangerous Fairyland, or even a pseudo-Elemental plane of Florae) in addition to its specified origins. I tend to enjoy the versatility of the ideas a purchase like this can produce, more than static setting information, but the information here is intriguing and far from boring.

The Introduction sketches a light touch on these origins that is further expanded with additional tasty tidbits throughout the work. I enjoy adventures and settings like this that provide “just enough” to whet the appetite and trickle out more information as the reader continues through the content. Always a welcome change of pace from a massive upfront lore-dump that will either be impossible or tedious to adequately communicate to players anyhow. The meat of this section outlines the procedures for the use of the tables that follow, and it was at this point that it started to become clear to me that this wasn’t intended as just a single adventure, but more akin to a toolbox for spontaneously generating interesting locations, events, and encounters that could serve as the backdrop for a myriad of distinctly different forays and adventures within the Gardens.

These procedures function almost like a point-crawl or hex-crawl but dispense with the needs to define destinations in advance or rigidly map. They are simple, elegant, and most importantly easy to follow “on-the-fly.” They implement or generate more of a flow-chart approach than a rigidly bounded map. This is important because of the mutable nature and chaos inherent within Ynn, and pains are taken to stress that attempting to make definitive maps to meticulously navigate the Gardens is largely futile. The points and links generated through these procedures are somewhat ephemeral, only remaining consistent for a single visit, as no two trips to the Gardens need be, or should be identical.

For the verdant, shifting world of Ynn, attempts to define inflexible geography and distance are unnecessary in most instances and this kind of minutia can only seldom prove fun for players in most situations. This puts the emphasis on the act of exploration within the environment rather than cataloging it. When something is fully mapped and explored it becomes known and familiar. The Gardens of Ynn bristle and laugh at these attempts.

This procedure makes navigation less directional and more of a binary player choice of either “Go Deeper” and “Go Back,” relative to a starting point that is defined by a Location. Less choices to contend with = Faster Play, but one should not mistake this for railroading or agency removal. Destinations are points that are defined by Locations (flavored with Details) and a third dimension of “depth” designed to escalate dangers, treasure, and the out-of-the-ordinary. These are not rolled in advance, creating an opportunity to surprise not just the players, but also the Referee. As specific/notable locations are re-rolled/repeated the “map” can link together and doubles back on itself. Navigation uses the resource of time, taking a turn and the players can always opt to “Go Deeper” from a given Location to discover more Locations that branch from the current one.

This section also covers some additional and welcome information on navigating blindly (perhaps when fleeing The Jabberwock or The Questing Beast), when and how to trigger Events, Camping, and Time Passage and Weather within Ynn. Here you will also find some additional background in the form of the structure, some peculiarities with how certain Magics work in the world, and tantalizing sketches of the inhabitants and primary architects of Ynn before reaching the tables used in the navigation procedure.

There are five key tables that reference the following sections of the book and provide handy page numbers for their entries. The first two are used to generate the points/places mentioned above (Location + Detail). Upon entry, and after exploring “deeper” into the Gardens, one rolls on the Location and Details table in order to generates a new point. These rolls are later modified upward based on “depth” to produce more and more chaotic and unusual results the “deeper” players explore. Although I didn’t see it expressly spelled out, it does seem that each “Location + Detail” generates a defined and singular place, and the same Location with a different Detail rolled later could serve as either a distinct/different point, or as a previously visited location that has undergone changes. Not including the possible influence a few “special/notable” locations that can only be found once per expedition, the combinations of rolls on these tables could probably produce over a thousand distinct “places.” Combining these with rolls on the third, Events table, helps to ensure that even doubling back to revisit a known location can still be interesting.

Rolls on the Events table are triggered by exploration turns (time as a resource that needs to be managed), I particularly enjoy how the die used to roll on this table changes based on how thoroughly the players are interacting with a location, with Events that call to Encounter tables more weighted with more frequency to the lower end of the table. To uncover/spark the interesting entries the high end of the table, exploration (and the larger die roll) are necessary. This is a wonderful way to handle these triggers.

The remaining two tables are Encounters, and I appreciate the decision to divide these into separate Daytime and Nighttime tables.  Encounters with some of the inhabitants outlined in the Bestiary are more logically or vastly more exciting to run nocturnally, and the use of the separate Encounter tables almost seems to give the diurnal Gardens a different “feel” than their night-time counterparts. The Garden by Night seems to have an almost-more supernaturally sinister and stygian impression from being surrounded not just by lush, overgrown vegetation but also the claustrophobic indefinites of darkness. During the day one may have to contend with the unnerving ministrations and keening of the Rose-Maidens, but when the night falls, the meme-prone Myconid clean-up crews roam the Gardens in search of valuable compost. Other decidedly nocturnal encounters like the Hopping Lantern and Candle Golem find their rightful place on the appropriate table, allowing the night to provide a separate setting that creates chance meetings that seem very fun and more appropriate to narrate.

The next three sections (Locations, Details, Bestiary) serve as keys for the preceding tables. The Locations and Details get more elaborate treatment, including evocative descriptions and often additional sub-tables or specialized mechanics to further flesh the location out with more specificity. Detail explanations stir the imagination and leave plenty of room for the Referee to either define or leave mysterious the “why” in most cases. Beneath the bushes, more snippets of lore and background for the Gardens and their inhabitants lurks here. My only minor complaint is that it can be somewhat difficult to find a specific Location or Detail without the use of the handy page numbers provided on the referencing tables, as they are intentionally out of alphabetical order. Perhaps including the table number and the table reference here would assist in findability on a flick through?

The Bestiary is wonderful, and I had high hopes with a description of “Moa-sized Peacocks” piquing my interest earlier in the book. I love Moas and I love Peacocks. Combining the two into some sort of resplendently plumed Jurassic Park Velociraptor is inspired, and there’s more where that came from. Each Bestiary entry provides some description and a simple, compact and eminently compatible stat-block for ease of reference. Even some more-familiar monsters show up, but each is given a slightly Ynnian spin by virtue of appearance or even mechanics. The treatment of mechanics for petrification with The Basilisk is particularly nice, and The Idea of Thorns is magnificent.

The final section is chock full of useful tables that can greatly assist the Referee with set dressing (Unusual Flora, Horticultural Styles, Foraged Food), treasure tables (including the ever-helpful “I Search the Body” and its Garden-specific adjunct “I Search the Flowerbed”), as well as a great Rumor table that can help facilitate non-combat encounters and conversations with some of the less-hostile inhabitants (always convenient to have on hand for those favorable Reaction Rolls!).  I found myself greatly enjoying how the “Dreams and Portents in Ynn” table interrelates and calls-back to the rest of the book’s contents, making it incredibly promising for foreshadowing some of Ynn’s mysteries and lethal dangers to the players. These miscellaneous tables are followed by a new Character Class that helps address character death given the capsular nature of adventures in the Gardens and seems like it would be enjoyable to play in its own right without trickling out too many secrets.

The Gardens of Ynn is rounded out with some brief advice on how one particularly aspect of the Garden (the aforementioned Idea of Thorns) might impact a Referee’s larger campaign setting/world. The author has placed this information online here if you would like to get a taste.

I highly recommend the Gardens of Ynn if you’re looking to expand your campaign toolbox to include a useful resource for some potentially perilous and imaginative “planar” jaunts with a decidedly naturalistic bent. One could easily use it as a convenient stand-in or re-skin for the plane that Druid’s visit on their spiritual sojourns, as “what happens when you die from Nymph voyeurism”, or even something akin to Dwarf-Hell or simply exploit the helpful hooks and plop it in “as-is” if you find yourself at the start of a session with little prepared. The choices made concerning the illustrations and art are fitting, of good frequency, and evocative. The heavy hitters of Rackham, Clarke and Beardsley help to convey and inspire the fanciful/fairy-tale qualities, with some of the beautiful Art Nouveau selections hinting at the more subtly sinister other-worldliness of the Gardens throughout.

It’s discrete and versatile enough to drop into any campaign and could easily serve up an evening (or several) of exciting session.  Gardens of Ynn contains a surprising amount of delightful brainfood and inspiration for the current low PDF price of three dollars.

One interesting thing to consider is its use as an alternate route between far-flung locations within your campaign world. In this fashion it could easily become a distinct campaign feature, frequently visited by the players. Just be careful: What happens in Ynn might not stay in Ynn.

Review: Kidnap The Archpriest

Skerples has released an adventure entitled Kidnap The Archpriest. It is available for purchase on rpgnow here. Billed as a “Heist” module, it’s 54 pages and surprisingly setting/system neutral. The module features a thankfully ink-friendly layout (black, white, and grays mostly) for printing, and although it is pleasing to read on the screen, some parts are almost essential for physical reference. The layout is clear and crisp even within the denser pages and the illustrations and cartography are very well done.

This module attempts to address an aspect of play that is often overlooked or simply “tacked on” to a larger path by most adventure publishers. It eschews the standard dungeon, sprinkled with antagonists, treasures and wandering boxed text for something more focused on honing the player skills associated with Non-Player Character engagement, planning, and less “directly fictionally material” resource management. It’s billed as a method of gradually teaching players the essential elements of this style of adventure, but it certainly doesn’t neglect the GM.

The module emphasizes the need for player engagement, and this is refreshing. I wish more modules reminded GM’s about this occasionally. What one reads on the page or within the sometimes-ponderous short flavor-fiction of an adventure, will not necessarily translate well to an entertaining adventure if it is missing this essential ingredient in the admixture of role-playing. There is thankfully no lengthy prose-dump or heaped backstory to report here: this is a functionally utilitarian adventure.

It may not necessarily serve as fodder for a successful evening foray if your players have no interest in running a heist or have other pressing goals in mind. Thankfully, the over-arching concept is straightforward enough that this module could slot into a sandbox relatively easy, as the setting is very neutral (but the key conceits, such as Locations and NPCs are not flavorless to the point of being bland…more on that in a bit). There’s even advice for making minor modifications to whittle the module down to slot into other genres.

I’ve always been interested in options for play that do not involve the conventional D&D graph-paper flow-chart experience, but this module seemed a bit ambitious. Could a tutorial be produced that provides the necessary tools to run a successful, entertaining, and exciting adventure without the typical focus on combat encounters and character sheet-bound challenges?

After pawing over KtA a few times, I’m pleased to say it does an admirable job at providing these tools. Here’s the relatively spoiler-free skinny: The player’s characters are offered the task of kidnapping someone (the titular Archpriest). The someone is well-defended and a figure of renown. Most of the first portion of the adventure revolves around the players skills with managing a trinity of resources (Time, Money, and Information) to be sufficiently forearmed to come up an actual, bona-fide plan.

Tension is incredibly important to pull the necessary levers for an exciting and engrossing heist. KtA uses Time for this. People and places have schedules, and things are wont to happen according to strict timetables barring any interference from the players. Limited time ratchets tension and should hopefully help discourage the decision paralysis some players encounter when asked to think creatively. Even a flawed plan is better than no plan if it’s all you have when time’s almost up. The included timetables, schedules and advice for handling this are all extremely useful and helpful.

Money appears to be the lever that can be pulled in lieu or in addition to role-playing/social encounters in order to obtain Information that’s not immediately apparent. While this could vary greatly depending on the finances of the group of characters involved in the adventure, I enjoy that almost everyone and everything not only has a price, but falls under auspices of the incredibly effective admonishment of “No heist should fail because the PC’s can’t find equipment.” The module also features valuable advice for how to obtain things faster (requiring less Time) by spending more Money.

When adequate Time and Money are furnished, the result is completing the triumvirate with Information. This is the necessary element that replaces a hare-brained scheme or plan with something that stands a chance of succeeding. My only recommendation would be for the necessity of this process to be more directly telegraphed to the players: while it can be understood or conveyed through actual play somewhat easily by and to an experienced audience, something in the form of a more direct, if kayfabe breaking, coaching statement to this regard might work a little better for players unaccustomed to less traditional adventures. I’ve gamed with players that see their character abilities and sheets as the hammer for every nail, regardless of the nature of the problem.

The interlocking of these elements is beautiful when taken in concert with other aspects of the module, particularly the development of the NPCs which largely serve as the dispensers of Information that isn’t readily obtainable through devoting precious Time to basic observation (i.e.: a plan built only on a lengthy intelligence-gathering stakeout phase only reveals so much and is almost sure to be discouraging).  NPC descriptions are delightfully brief (and true the system-neutral claims) and contain only the most actionable information needed at hand for a GM to successfully portray the character: The GM is provided with the Name, Appearance, Voice (important and often neglected for bringing a character to life and differentiating them from each other!), Wants, Morality, and Intelligence (expressed in relative, descriptive terms instead of an Ability Score). Stats are conveyed using a simple shorthand, such as “As a Noble” which is expounded upon later in the module in terms of the type of challenge the NPC would present to the PCs should it come to fisticuffs or handily, bluffing them.

Several key NPCs are outlined in this manner and all are distinctive and interesting enough to provide plenty of fodder for the Information gathering phase, but one of the real standouts of this prescribed process is the incredible Rumor table this adventure provides. The table, like some of the NPC descriptions is peppered with the seeds of exciting schemes. I find it very difficult to imagine a situation where the players could make it through the Information gathering phase without a usable germ of an idea on how to proceed with the heist. Some are naturally more feasible than others, but the important thing here is that they open additional options and notions to the players that may have gone unconsidered initially. The complexity of the potentially revealed inter-relationships is truly appealing and arms the GM with some surprises down the road. Central NPCs are also given the aforementioned time-tables and schedules which become indispensably important to help determine their given location when the actual heist is underway.

Locations receive a similarly succinct but still very functional treatment, with enough information to provide quick descriptions (advice within the module hammers this home: this is a Kidnapping, not a room-to-room tour with time to search every nook and cranny), obvious/visible Loot and Plunder, and the additional advantage of some in-line scheduling notes for the times during which NPCs would normally be present. This addition alone makes for a much more dynamic and functional method of describing locations than I’ve typically seen, especially when coupled with the NPC time-tables to understand what they are doing here.

The maps, as previously mentioned are very well done and useful. The inclusion of walk/run times (for Escaping with the quarry is part of the heist after all!) between locations that will be central to most heists is far more useful than a simple distance key for the city. In a very welcome departure from typical presentation, areas of larger maps are reproduced, enlarged, on the same page as their keyed descriptions which is very handy indeed. This makes for much easier reference by the GM for pesky, critical, and inevitable tidbits such as “Where’s the nearest Exit!”

Flavorful encounter tables are also provided to further furnish the GM with some interesting complications and situations. I really can’t see this module going the same way twice, which can seldom be said for more traditional site-based crawls.

The module closes with some additional advice for designing your own heists using the blueprint followed in KtA. It breaks down the constituents of a good heist-based adventure and almost serves as useful design notes/insight when taken into consideration with the rest of the module. There’s some real wisdom, beneficial tips, and warnings of common pratfalls tucked away here that would be useful to anyone attempting to design this style of adventure.

I’ll end with a quick table that will likely only make sense if you purchase the product, which I definitely encourage you to do if you are interested in running any kind of Heist-style adventure:

You saw a Black Endoguard do what?
1	“The blighter was at least two pike-lengths away from us, and we was whispering. When we talked about pilfering the silver though, he perked right up and started moving towards us. We ran we did.”
2	“He strode into the library, to the section where they chain the big books down with fetters as wide around as my arm. Ripped it free and walked to the Fortress with it, he did.”
3	“Saw one tangle with a sorcerer once, I swear on me mum that he flat out just caught a Magic Missile in his gauntlet, crushed it, and only red dust remained.”
4	“An out of control cart was a-barreling down the cobbles toward him. One swing of his Flamberge and both horses were decapitated. Cart crashed into him a right mess of splinters…didn’t even wince.”
5	“Waked right into the sea, sure as the sunshine. No bubbles or nothing. Was down there for what seemed like ages, came back with an anchor that had a skeleton in robes tied to it.”
6	“Oh, they don’t never stop moving…during last years’ archery contest in Market Square one of ‘em waltzed right into the line of fire like it was nothing. Should’ve been hit by any one of the hundred arrows flying his way…”

Review of Veins Of The Earth

Patrick Stuart's Veins of the Earth is now available, after years of bated breath you can purchase the PDF here or, if like myself you prefer physical items, from the LotFP store.

I devoured the PDF version yesterday, unable to patiently wait for hardcover. Here are some of my initial impressions of the content. I may end up appending a review of the physical copy to this once it arrives from Finland.

This work is huge (300+ pages) and ambitious. It was worth the wait, and here are some of my thoughts:

After a brief introduction, the book jumps straight into a bestiary containing fifty-one underworld adversaries. Any reader familiar with Patrick/Scrap Princess’ previous work Fire On The Velvet Horizon (my lulu-replacing hardcover just arrived and it’s quite fetching) will know that monsters written/illustrated by this team are not your usual spear-fodder. They are though-provoking, captivating, and occasionally campaign inspiring. The largest difference here is probably the presentation. Unlike FotVH, Stat Blocks have been provided (largely linqua franca, and I do enjoy the AC notation of “Plate” or “Chain and Shield” rather than attempting to accommodate both the descending/ascending crowd). Another interesting item is a line for each creature noting it’s methods of seeing, which is very handy to have on hand given the light-based innovations to initiative presented later in the book. An additional welcome inclusion is sensory descriptions of most monsters beyond the visual. Sounds and Smells are frequently described in evocative detail, vitally important for situations where the visible spectrum may be limited or unavailable, but also great for incorporating organic traces and warnings for random encounters in the deep and establishing a more sensuous/less-visual descriptive corpus.

There are some very intriguing entries here, and the choice to begin the book with a bestiary is sound. This section very quickly imparts the reader with a sense that the world that contains these creatures is vastly different than the surface. Motivations, methods of predation/ecology, and physiology are all impacted by the deep and this stays in the forefront throughout VEINS. These creatures really help establish the alien expectations of the setting much more swiftly than attempting to telegraph the otherness of the underworld via several paragraphs of information. As for some examples: We have comic-relief Cambrimen, humanoid Olm, and the tragically noble Trilobite Knights. As we’ve seen previously in FotVH, there are some incredible campaign-centerpiece foes:  challenging ones that an intrepid Vein Master would have no difficulty basing an entire campaign around. I’m looking at you AntiPheonix and Civilopede, but I also adore the due-diligence geo-political ramification brainfood the Castillian Caddis Larvae description includes.

An artist gave Caddis Larva gold and precious gems to construct their cases:

This one is the size of a bus and uses gold and the steel of magic weapons.



Following the bestiary, there is another setting-sending chapter on some civilizations/cultures one could encounter in the VEINS. There are thankfully no drow and therefore no dreary Drizzt surrogates to clog your VEINS. Gone is the unfortunate evil matriarchy and arachnid worship. More than a stand-in, the Ælf-Adal could still be used by the lazy and uncreative to fulfill the role, but their motivations and origins are far more interesting. There’s an awesome flowchart to help illustrate the mindset of the Dvargir (deeper dwarfs), and the dErO receive a positively pitch-perfect, Shaver-riffic treatment in their schizophrenic section.

Again, the initial chapters work well to help engross the reader in some of the stark differences that adventures in the VEINS will entail. This is a world where cannibalism is a matter of course, light is money, and money is time.

Speaking of Light, the next chapter addresses its importance (both mechanically and flavorfully) in detail. We are given some advice on how to handle the different modes of vision in traditional fantasy games (spoiler alert: light still generally wins), a sound new way of handling initiative underground based on light source, some achingly prepossessing sample lanterns and the first appearance of an exciting new mechanical procedure that sees significant use in VEINS. For lack of a better name, I’m dubbing it the All Ability Score Check.

This first appears in the section “When Lost In The Dark” (love the implication, not if, but when). The basic gist is a PC is chosen as an actor or guide and a d20 is rolled and compared to each of their Ability Scores/Statistics in sequence, with the specific consequences tied to the failure of a specific stat. This has some pretty interesting and broad applications as a mechanic, and I like it much better than a standard Skill-Check, because it incorporates interesting degrees of failure. Here’s an example of how this works (not from the book, just something I whipped up for illustrative purposes).



Table: Swimming a Sump with a Light Source (VEINS p. 226)

Stat	Fail
Constitution	All further fails cumulative
Strength	Dropped Gear. Lose Half Equipment
Dexterity	A limb is caught, will take margin of failure rounds to free.
Intelligence	Unanticipated current. Pushed further and faster than expected (d6 x margin of failure feet)
Wisdom	Disoriented in an Air Pocket. Lost, don’t know how to get back.
Charisma	Group Separated. Even upstream, Odd downstream. Hope both groups have light.

Typically, the first failure on the list (except for the cumulative Constitution failure) interrupts the sequence of resolution.

This procedure is wonderful, and is used throughout for things like exploration and climbing that have a degree of danger and physicality instead of just a single skill check. They are dangerous, and enforce difficult choices and player’s carefully planning and thinking very hard about their strengths and weaknesses before deciding on a course of action or the actor/guide who will lead them through a challenge. This is the first I’ve seen it used (please let me know if this shows up elsewhere), but it’s really quite lovely.

In the next section is a custom VEINS Character Sheet that places some of the key perils of subterranean peregrination where it should be: front and center. Encumbrance is always an easily hand-waved subsystem, but here we find another add-on to the already easy to adjudicate LotFP standard system. On the VEINS sheet, each Stat (save Charisma) can grant a bonus item or so that you can carry comfortably. The sheet itself will likely soon be available on the LotFP website, so I’m refraining from reproducing it here, but suffice to say it really puts the appropriate attention on how Encumbrance interacts with the different movement modes and allows for very quick “eye-ball checks” of what a character would have on them NOW. UPDATE: VEINS Character Sheet. Climbing rules also receive prominent placement (prognosticating the frequency at which they will likely be invoked) and the addition of the Lamp section enforces the importance of Light. The autopsy of the character sheet segues nicely into the sections on Exploration and Climbing/Falling.

Some real procedural meat follows in the section on Generating the VEINS. Cavern and cave-mapping in traditional games has always been lacking the crucial three-dimensional aspect of cave exploration and the mapping methods outlined here attempt to address this in a novel, abstract way. I’ve yet to actually kick the tires, but it seems simple and sound enough with a bit of practice. A great boon is the Example provided in the Appendix of the book, which takes the reader step-by-step through the procedures and was very helpful for wrapping my brain around some of the more extreme cartographic paradigm shifts (like quadrants representing above/below). The map notation methods used seems serviceable, but the tables included here are incredible. There is a d50 “mix and match/read-across” table of Cave Shape/Kinds of Stone, a fantastic Smells & Sounds table (I still need to get around to posting about my Yoon-Suin smells procedures) and a d100 Encounter table full of session saving inspiration.

But the best is really saved for last here, with 100 individual cave descriptions, all replete with Patrick’s evocative style. They sometime assault the mind’s eye and hurt the brain but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I found myself re-reading several and concentrating on dredging up whispy memories of a wonder-filled and simultaneously terrifying visit to Carlsbad Caverns when I was very young. I vividly recall a point in the tour when they turned out all the lights and left us silent in the utter dark for a few moments (the Appendix section on the different kinds of Darkness resurrected this memory, and there are some interesting 4^th wall breaking ideas here).

The next chapter contains interesting items, treasures and new “Speleo Spells” tailored for a subterranean campaign. I envy Patick’s ability to write about artwork in a stimulating way within the “One Hundred Treasures of The Civilopede” section.

The final proper chapter deals with the gnawing, persistent Hunger and looming madness that await explorers of the VEINS. The procedures outlined for dealing with Rations are a welcome departure from the meticulous tick-mark record keeping and long shopping-sprees that come from tracking consumables to the meal. Marching a provision-laden mule through the intensely anti-navigable VEINS is foolhardy, and would probably just serve as a supper invitation for Spotlight Dogs. Instead we’re presented with a simple three-stage minimal system that oozes gravity. You will be hungry, cannibalization becomes mechanically attractive (informing play), and starvation is a very real danger. It once more stresses that the act of exploring the VEINS necessitates travelling light and is dangerous to the body (in more ways than one). The remainder of the chapter (save a small section on Hypothermia) deals with the gifts the VEINS can bestow upon said body (in the form of mutations/adaptations) and damage to mental state. The treatment of cave madness within VEINS is excellently chilling.

Now a word about the art. This book is absolutely brimming with illustrations and paintings by Scrap Princess. The style will be familiar to any readers who are familiar with the Deep Carbon Observatory, or FotVH. It is fluid, frenetic, and frequent, with some extremely lovely colored frontspiece paintings sprinkled between chapters. Every. Monster. Is. Illustrated. Some more than once, and even though your sensibilities may veer more toward the traditional when it comes to more typically prolix RPG artwork, this style marries quite well with the text in my option. Things in the VEINS are rarely static, and rarely seen with any detail, the impressions conveyed by the illustrations and paintings work well to convey the sometimes-unsettling desperation that pervades this extensive ecosystem. I cannot wait to see some of these pieces within their proper context within a physical book, because artwork of this frequency has another very underrated and added benefit: It is bookmarks.

I can often navigate an RPG book to locate a specific table or rule/procedure by its proximity/placement to artwork. Physical bookmarks quickly become redundant or fall out and dogearing makes me sad. Instead, I can zip directly to the information I need with a simple scan and the thumb/forefinger rapid page-flip, stopping when I see art that I know to be near the object of my intent. I really believe that the sheer amount of distinctive artwork within VEINS will really facilitate the location of information for reference.

I’ll admit that the style itself may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it’s a welcome change from the recycled Sidney Sime/Public Domain chestnuts or artists who only seem to ape Elmore or clumsily imitate Franzetta. I do tend to prefer art that springboards the imagination, to art that seems shoved in for the sake of breaking up text or contaminates the mind’s eye with a specific gloss or vocabulary. Scraps’ art evokes more than dictates, it forces the reader to fill in blanks, which is what a good Vein Master should probably be practicing at every opportunity.

It’s a very good read, even on screen (which is something I seldom have any desire to do).  The layout is lovely.  The PDF proved to be well-crafted, bookmarked, and has a robust index. If you are interested in running games that extend below the surface, I’d put this on a must-have list for the sheer amount of inspiration and research it condenses alone. Your player’s will not crawl out the same way the marched in.

Review of Perdition

I received my copy of Perdition from Lulu a few days ago, and wanted to share a few thoughts. I don’t normally review things, so bear with me.

I like it. It smells good. I liked the PDF enough to whip up a character sheet:

Ink/Toner-bane | Sans background

I tend to do this for new systems/games frequently, since the Character Sheet is an important component of how the Player ends up experiencing the game. Even if a talented Game Master/Agonarch can reliably hijack the interceding nerve receptors for imaginary eyes/ears/tongues/noses during play, Character Sheets are still the silver cord that ties the player to the plane of play.

The catechistic act of creating a Character Sheet is also often the easiest way for me to develop a deeper understanding of the mechanics and system. This is especially useful for something that diverges quite a bit from traditional D&D ruleset like Perdition. Not too far mind you, just far enough that falling back to previous system experience could result in the reader failing to implement important and interesting bits.

Here are a few thoughts:

Setting as Mechanics is an ambitious goal, and this is one of the first attempts I’ve seen and more importantly enjoyed. I’ve personally grown quite weary of books bogged down with setting information that never seems to be truly player accessible. The alternative (“just rules”) is usually completely devoid of setting, and this genericism can leave one uninspired. Perdition isn’t strictly an attempt to compromise between these methods, nor is it a hybridization of both approaches, it’s a novel and artful mutation from standard presuppositions of what a role-playing game book should do.

In Perdition the pitch is short, to the point, and although the premise may not appeal to every table, it is expertly telegraphed through the choices players make as they generate their characters, the equipment list, and codified within how the rules are invoked.

The discovery of Perdition's setting is one that takes place incrementally throughout, for as one encounters new rules and mechanics these in turn perform a double duty by dovetailing directly into the world. A game that treats “Wickedness” as an Ability Score or features rules for adjudicating Infernal Contracts immediately intimates some stark setting implications.

This process of setting exploration as one reads through the rules was pleasurable to me. Perusing Perdition for setting acquaintanceship is akin to eating an artichoke. You start on the outside, pulling off petals and scraping the small pulpy portion between your teeth for a trifling taste of the heart here and there. With each ensuing bract, you’re getting more to ruminate.

This is not to say the setting is spoon-fed or parsimoniously trickled out, it’s simply persistently present within the very tools you will be using to play the game, as opposed to padding the page-count with prose. Setting investiture for players needs these sorts of short cuts. Handouts or homework seldom work for the majority of gaming groups. Perdition's lack of roadside attraction fluff-prose may be a bit jarring at first, but the sly marriage of mechanics and setting consecrated here is a very elegant way to arrive at the destination.

To reiterate: This isn't an "implied setting" in any sense, it percolates throughout, emulsified within the rules you use to explore the very world portrayed. It's nifty that way.

I also appreciate the candor of voice, and any reader of Courtney’s blog probably has at least a passing familiarity with his writing style. Perdition’s text is refreshingly frank and uncompromising, especially in terms of the tidbits of advice for the Agonarch incorporated throughout. There's even a bit of humor here and there.

It’s the primary tone of the text that could cause some to ruffle quills at a perceived didacticism creeping in intermittently, but I think it’s important to read on, and see that the motives behind the occasional sweeping intransigent statement are frequently succinctly provided. This is quite nice. Rather than simply admonishing the reader to “Do this” there are frequent explanations as to the “why it’s important.” I don’t find it condescending – it’s an improvement over the normal homebrew heartbreaker, which can sometimes err on the side of almost too chummy elbow-rib-jabbing. This in turn can result in something that may be easy to read, but is either honeycombed with lacuna or largely consists of prosaic and repetitive advice for its own sake.

I’d be remiss to fail to mention that there are also some contributions from the exceptional Arnold K. I could be mistaken, but his fingerprints seem to be all over the especially evocative Fiendish Patrons. The accompanying illustrations had a cockle-warming familiarity to them at first glance, and imagine my surprise to discover they were by none other than the marvelous Russ Nicholson. It's one of many examples of a lovely interblending of the new and old here.

I tend to find insight into the design process to be useful and fascinating, and would like to see more of it. Anyone familiar with some of the great things to come out of game development over the last several years with the Old School Renaissance will  see some things that hearken to it. I particularly liked the “Sombreros May Be Splintered” permutation. 

Even if the recommendations and rules are not all new and groundbreaking, they are still a bit like the joy of discovering a new pocket in an old overcoat. Perdition provides a splendid blend between the old, comfortable familiarity of this style of play alongside multiple neoteric and thought-provoking morsels.

I’m still digesting, but so far my gripes are surprisingly few and mostly on the side of nit-picky. I enjoy the implementation of Physical and Mental Hit Die, and Struggles may finally be the grappling/psionic rule solution I loot first.

The near-symmetry of some things system-wise may prove a minor bother though, as some may be spoiled by more unified mechanics. This came to light in the character sheet design, as I noticed that some components of the system clicked in ingeniously similar ways, but others still stood out, seemingly disconnected at first glance.

I understand why there are no Social Hit Dice, or a true Social Armor Class to compliment the Physical and Mental counterparts, but this may seem to some a little like a missed opportunity to streamline the ruleset a little further. Still, I do feel that the persistence of the 2D6 bell curve and Courtney’s excellent previous work mechanizing Social Interaction with the Reaction Roll and Social Encounters in On the Non-Player Character are important, and this lack of unification doesn’t come across as a tall poppy or proud nail. Most fans of the older games are not averse to the inclusion of subsystems, and like the wonderful dice-pool Magic System, it helps set these “attack types” apart. In a good way.

Could it be raided for new rules/ideas? Absolutely. Grab the PDF if you are curious and I think there are some Free Basic Rules in the works. There are several very interesting and different approaches within this book (I’m still wrapping my head around the way Initiative Dice are handled) and most will fit in fine with D&D of all flavors, streamlining where necessary and elsewhere plugging directly into the chassis where additional subsystems are wanted. Is it possible to reskin or extract all the underlying rules and run this game using a different setting? I don’t really think so. The truly intriguing thing about Perdition is how intrinsically symbiotic most of the the mechanics seem to be to the setting, and I fear that the painstaking process of extracting one from the other wouldn’t result in anything with near as much flavor and function.