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by jodokast

This is a short review, I own this in both Swords & Wizardry (OSR) and in Pathfinder. I even reviewed the Pathfinder version, back in 2018, and it was only when I saw an image had been uploaded and clicked on it I realised this product had no reviews. I thought I had reviewed this shortly afterwards.

Pathfinder is crunchy (yes, I have pearls of wisdom) OSR is not cruchy (you stay for my analysis, I tell you). So what Frog God Games did is this, they took out the Pathfinder Stat Block, put in a much smaller OSR stat block (becuase let's be fair, that's like only a few lines). And then they (and this is guesswork) commissioned an amazing RPG writer to write some amazing adventure hooks for each monster, carefully trimmed these so there was one page per monster and wanted to publish them in a lovely bound book with crisp clear artwork.
However clearly what happened is there were deadlines, the writer didn't turn anything in, there was an all night bender to try and write about 280 plot hooks, and everyone was still hung over when talking with the publisher as the printing is on heavy paper and everything looks too dark, and there is heaps of white space left around each monster.

Honestly if you are playing S&W just grab the PF book and write your own stat block. The CR will give you a good guide to HD. Because this book keeps the flavour text of each monster (which universally isn't its best feature) and add a subpar plot hook.
For example this randomly selected Frost Giant Algidarch

Algidarchs are an offshoot of giants that stand around 9 feet tall and weigh roughly 1,000 pounds. Skin color among algidarchs is always pale with a slight hint of blue. Their hair is worn long and though color can vary slightly, it is usually some shade of white. Most males have long beards they wear braided or tied. Females are slightly smaller in stature than males, but no less effective in combat. Algidarchs can live to be 225 years old. An algidarch announces its presence by ooding the area with freezing winds and a sudden avalanche. Once per day, an algidarch can cause a deluge of snow and ice to rain down in a 60-ft. radius area within 100 feet. Creatures in the radius of effect suffer 3d6 points of damage and are knocked to the ground (save for half). Once per day, algidarchs can create a freezing wind the deals 3d6 points of damage. The wind is 60 feet long and 30 feet high, and buffets back normal missile weapons, gases and breath weapons. It lasts for 1 minute. Algidarchs are a sel sh, malevolent race that takes great pride in both of those facts. They frequently waylay travelers on nearby roads, stealing goods, treasure, women, and whatever else they desire at the time. Captured humanoids are kept as slaves or sold to other giant races as slaves. Algidarchs rarely eat humanoids they capture. In tough times when food is scarce they might, but the meat portion of their diet is generally deer, elk, moose, and even mastodon.

An icy metal castle is surrounded by a forest of black pines and a boulder-strewn eld. An icy moat surrounds the castle, a moat guarded by some unknown horror that presents itself as several icy arms that emerge from the ice to attack intruders ( HD 4; AC 15; Attack 1 grab [1d4, save or held]).The castle belongs to a clan of 15 algidarch . Their castle holds a great hall like a meat locker, with animals and humanoids hanging from chains suspended from the ceiling. The algidarch eat raw meat below the corpses on long pine tables and benches. Trenchers of frosty meat and wooden tankards of cinnamon- flavored wine set atop the tables. Stairs in the great hall lead up to an armory and living chambers, and down to frosty dungeons and a sluggish stream of slush that leads into the underworld. The castle is ruled by a chieftain called Gyphos , who has three daughters, two homely ( Gortha and Marukh ) and one beauteous, Ulfa . Gyphos’ wife, Thrudra , is suspicious of his fidelity and seeks his death and throne. She may be convinced to work with adventurers locked in the dungeon to achieve her ends

Got that, they are frost giants, have 2 genders, eat flesh, drink lots, and the plot hook is a castle where the chieftain's wife suspects him of being unfaithful.
Pathfinder this sort of thing works (better) because this is a Frost Giant who can control snowy terrain which is not a normal feature and has mechanics for this which should fit into some rules. S&W this is more trash.

Do not recommend.

by Rachel

Errands and house-y things were necessary. Grrr.

Still, the TTS for Monk's Cat has been updated to V4, including substituting in the alternate art Cat Awake cards.

I think I've figured out the fonts and card layouts for Liberty, Death, or Taxes. Playtesting for Liberty, Death, or Taxes identified some problems. The game's expanding a tiny bit from 48 to 54 cards to solve balance issues at higher player counts. A few rulebook changes made the game more "playful" as well. More playtesting tomorrow and graphics finalization.

I think I have 3 (of 18) cards done for Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice, but I want to see if I can get the Experience Icons a bit bigger... They had to be shrunk due to the poker card template layout, but I think I shrank them a bit too much... Definitely my big job for tomorrow.

Also, I can't find my sheet of papyrus... I've looked all the places I stash cards, office supplies, stationary, my old scrapbooking stuff... nada... If I can find it, I think it'll work for updating the artwork for both Abydos and Elements...

I'm getting there. At least I know that I'll get to play Friday tomorrow :geek_grin:.

Game Over On borrowed time...

Happy Wednesday and happy playing!
-Rachel

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A new episode has been added to the database: Special Episode: Monster Roulette 13: Return to the Realm of Chaos

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by sdonohue

Hexagram (Issue #2 - Aug 2019) is a 2019 magazine from Steve Jackson Games in support of The Fantasy Trip. It features a variety of SJ Games stalwarts as writers and artists.

Presentation
This is available in both PDF and print versions. The print version is 36 pages in a 5.5" x 5.5" landscape format. The covers are heavy stock and the whole is in black & white. The book is saddle-stapled and the pages are primarily in two-column layout.

Content
This issue has 17 articles including an editorial and a letters section. It starts up with Four Esoteric Healing Items by Stefan Jones, then Vox Unpopuli, an unusual adventure with no clear combat solution. Steps in Melee Combat by Steve Jackson seems like it might be flow chart, but it's actually rules for steps and moving around them. Take Adventure to a New Level by Phil Reed provides some advice for using Hirst Arts molds to create 3-d terrain and then follows up with three sample maps using those molds. The Little Merlad by Howard Kistler finds a mermaid looking for help to get her son back from a human wizard who turned him into a human and holds him prisoner. Octogram by Steve Jackson, provides the history and culture of one of TFT's favorite villains: the Octopus; it ends with rules for making an Octopus PC. TFT Competitions by Steve Jackson provides advice for creating competitions for clubs or conventions. No More Orphan Murder Hobos! by Jow Zakszewski provides some tips for getting players to help play fuller characters and contribute the campaign. Horoscopy and Cosmic Alignment by Stefan Jones provides comprehensive rules for using astrology in games from typical jobs to aligning the stars for spells. It's Hip to be Square by Mike Nagel describes rules and options for using a square grid map instead of hexes. Shadow Sharks by Chris Warden details some new 2-dimensional sharks who can dive through shadows; it includes adventure ideas, variants, some rumors one might hear about the sharks, and even new shadow shark-related magic items. The last article, Strange Brews: New Potions for TFT by David Pulver offers 6 non-magical and 4 magical potions.

Evaluation
This is another great issue with a lot of ideas and resources you can use immediately. Three articles provide suggestions to the map or the map on the table. There's also a good adventure and a ton of information one can use to expand or understand the world of Cidri. Probably the biggest improvement to the magazines content is there being fewer previews of TFT products; in fact, the only advertisements are on the front and back inside covers. This is a good issue, probably even better than the first one.

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