by legopaidi

€20.00 for RPG Item: FAITH: A Garden in Hell - Starter Set
Condition: Like New
Location: Greece

by legopaidi

€20.00 for RPG Item: FAITH Core Book 2.0
Condition: Like New
Location: Greece

by Adil3tr

$10.00 for RPG Item: Alice is Missing: Silent Falls
Condition: New
Location: United States

A new episode has been added to the database: Mage Fiction: Such Pain

A new episode has been added to the database: 397 - Cloud Empress

A new episode has been added to the database: Barovia IV #36 The Monty Hall Problem

A new episode has been added to the database: Wild Wild West Con 14 Steampunk Photography Debate - Which Side Are You On? with Pete Mecozzi

A new episode has been added to the database: Folge 96 - Hellpits of Nightfang

A new episode has been added to the database: [DND3 Pg 204] Let Fire Be Fire [Week 34]

by M Charles

'Ello, M. Charles here!

Note: No longer using Roman numerals (I dislike the system for larger numbers).

PART 10: WE CURSED THROUGH THE SLUDGE OF HELL... METAPHORICALLY

In the last dev log, I spoke about the idea of combining DOOM (2016) with Red Delve. But in a sort of Tim Burton-like fashion -- recall his idea to take the Penguin in Batman Returns (1992) in a more literalist direction, where he is part-man, part-penguin -- I only just realised that the answer was staring me in the face the entire time. Some people dislike this sort of approach (and were very upset by Burton's Penguin, too). I love it.

If we suppose that the future-world gameplay, of our 15th-century Alchemist (noble-knight), is a post-apocalyptic vision, then we can easily transplant demonic enemies and real Anglo-European characters/fashion. That's exactly in keeping with his own frame of reference. No machines. No modern technology, save the iron labyrinth itself. In this way, we're getting closer to the roots of survival horror games and the likes of Alien (1979).

In essence, my idea is to more literally put Labyrinth (1986) in a future, DOOM-like, demonic setting. It was staring me in the face, in the form of Warhammer Chaos miniatures...



As you can see, Warhammer Daemons and Chaos are a wonderful option. They're not only literally hell-like but also fundamentally rooted in the Middle Ages (and a little later). The Blue Horrors (blue fellows in the image) are also quite Labyrinth-like (see the Fireys).

Another benefit to this direction, gameplay-wise, is that they have melee Weapons and magic, as opposed to guns/future Weapons. This makes much more narrative sense, but it also makes for fairly balanced gameplay. After all, it's difficult to justify defeating machines with future-metals with a sword. How does a sword cut through metal? Sure, it's 'just a vision', but it helps if things make archetypal and physics sense to players. Actually writing rules for that is a little silly. Players already have an idea, however, that supernaturally-imbued swords -- or even normal swords -- can cut through demon flesh.

Here is another small, but important detail: without technology, I can justify giving 15th-century loot in the sci-fi Crates placed around the environment. Because it's a vision, and there's no concept of the Crates containing sci-fi guns (as would ordinarily be the case). I have a few ideas about this, already. I'll talk more about it in the next log.

The 'vision' part is not only all the demonic Monsters but also the iron labyrinth Dungeon-like environment itself. He's not only trapped as in a maze, and that carries all its symbolism with it, but it's within a post-apocalyptic framework -- but the interesting twist is that it's not just rock and flame and ruins, but metal and intact, and far beyond the architecture of his own time. Of course, I personally don't mean for the metallic nature of the end-times environment to carry any symbolic weight. To quote Hemingway -- whatever else you find will be the measure of what you brought to the reading. (I included it because it creates a very interesting artistic direction and setting, and is more friendly than oddly shaped fantasy Dungeon tiles; with sci-fi, you only need the Necromunda tiles or some squared card. Very simple, since it's only a small square grid (4 tiles total), not a complex hex-based system (e.g. Gloomhaven or Shadows of Brimstone).)

Of course, I cannot promise that things don't change again. But I believe it's much more focused and iconic and streamlined, now. Normally, you wouldn't know about this stage at all. Or, I'd just give you the highlights of A and B; instead, you're getting A, B, C, D, E, etc. But I'll keep these shorter, intermezzo (in-between) type update logs to a minimum. See you next time. :)

by sdonohue

Tower of the Moon (TFT) is a 2022 release from Gaming Ballistic LLC and Steve Jackson Games for The Fantasy Trip. It was written by David L. Pulver and features art by Billy Blue, Thomas Denmark, and Forrest Imel.

Presentation
This is available in both PDF and softcover. The softcover is staple-bound with full color covers and 16 semi-gloss black & white pages inside. The layout of the book is the common two-column and there are ample illustrations.

Content
This is an adventure for three - five characters with 32 - 35 points (beginners) or two more experienced characters with 36 - 39 points.

The dungeon is a five level tower with a map of the whole tower on the inside front cover and more detailed hex maps of each level on the inside back cover.

The tower was once home to a temple of a lunar goddess called Lukariel Sherikira, The Howling Huntress. Her portfolio included love, hunting, dance and wolves. A wizard-priestess of her faith named Artesia ruled the tower and surrounding lands with the aid of her dark servant Mordark (seriously), an alchemist. The two of them worked to create werewolves and so were unchallenged as leaders. Mordark decided he wanted to be co-ruler and to have the ladies hand in marriage. When she declined, there was a fight and most of the denizens of the tower died.

Enter the adventurers. They stop at a nearby town and learn that a lady of noble birth entered the tower with three friends and they haven't been heard from; her butler offers them 200 gold each if they can enter the tower and rescue her.

The adventure, like the setup is fairly simple. There are 5 levels to the dungeon, the players can enter through a staircase leading to a door, through 4 barred windows, or they can destroy a bricked up window to enter. Once inside there are 23 rooms in the dungeon. They will encounter some of Mordark's creations and pets, a few other monsters, and, with luck, the missing lady.

There are detailed descriptions of each room along with contents and use. In addition to monsters, they may find some survivors of the lady's group or other adventures who are holed up in the tower after being overwhelmed by the monsters. In the pinnacle of the tower, they can find the Lady and, unfortunately, Mordark, who is still a wizard but also a wraith lord who plans to force the lady to become his undead wife.

If the party returns her to her family, they will pay the reward. If they treat her well, there is a chance she will ask to join them; her family is poor and she believes adventuring could restore their wealth.

Evaluation
There's a lot of background here that is perhaps not necessary. The story of the tower's origin and the missing lady occupies most of two pages. Throughout the dungeon, it is much the same -- long stories of how creatures got where they are or what their origin is and much of it isn't strictly necessary.

That said, this is a pretty good adventure. GMs can ignore a lot of the overly long explanations in the dungeon and just present the monster. Players are unlikely to care how a cockatrice came to be in the tower while they're trying not to get turned to stone. The story is a familiar one, but it has enough twists, turns, and extra elements to make it a fun adventure.

by leroy43

Full disclosure number one - this is a repeat of my own blog here on BGG.
Full disclosure number two - I've read this RPG cover to cover but haven't actually run a session myself.

There was an RPG Geek question of the day recently that asked What genre of RPG have you never played and never expect to play in your whole life?

My own answer to that question was, in part, Scanning my shelf, I do see one RPG I don't think will ever hit the table, and that's The Troubleshooters. The system looks fun and the theme is definitely quirky, being set in a fictitious 1960s Europe inspired by the bandes dessinées of the era - Tintin, Spirou, Yoko Tsuno, et. al.

The rules and background are pretty careful about not locking either the players or locales into stereotypes, but at the same time, the entire thing is pretty 1960s Europe ethnocentric, and I don't think I'd have a good time playing or running it. One of the prettiest covers though, and I'll freely admit as a BD fan that's why I bought it."

Having bought it, of course I decided to read it, and there's a lot of good things to unpack about it.

Like me, the author of the game grew up with bandes dessinées. He took the extra step of wondering what it would be like to play a game with that kind of overarching backdrop - a fictitious 1960s Europe.

The book is about 240 pages all told, and the art throughout oozes that BD vibe, right from the table of contents onwards. Character creation can be custom built, but players are strongly encouraged to (and really ought to) use one of the many templates available, which hit pretty much every trope one might find in your BD of choice.

Each character comes with plot hooks, which are important because the game master is supposed to focus the current story on one of the players, with the others playing a supporting role. This is not to say that the players don't all have equal air time or opportunity to contribute.

Rather, the idea is that, if we take Tintin as a classic example of the genre, he'll be off investigating something, while Haddock, Tournesol, and the Dupondt characters follow other avenues to support that plot line. In other scenes, Haddock will be the focus, with the others supporting, etc. To quote the book, "If your character isn’t one of the Plot Hook characters, instead have your character be the sidekick to the Plot Hook characters and try to make them be the main characters of the adventure. Try not to steal the limelight. Instead, support the Plot Hook characters, help them stand out and just generally make them seem awesome!".

One thing the book does really well is provide a lot of examples via dialogue between the game master and a character.

The game uses mostly percentile dice for resolving actions, and six sided dice otherwise.

Characters have skills, and the templates give you a bundle of them that might look like this: Status 75, Charm 65, Contacts 65, Languages 65, Red Tape 65, Alertness 45, Credit 45, Investigation 45, Search 45, Subterfuge 45, Willpower 45. Set all other Skills to 15.

Rolling against a skill isn't a binary pass/fail, but rather meant to be used by the game master (Director) to narrate the action. If you're in a car chase scene, a failure might mean a complication like a fender bender or narrowly avoiding running over a pedestrian while the lead car gets a lead on you or turns down an alley to escape pursuit. What happens next will then depend on what the characters choose to do next.

Speaking of which complications are a way that players and the director alike and generate story points for characters. A complication must be role played to be earned for the most part. There's an extensive list of them that can yield various amounts of points. Those story points are then spent later by the players to help with specific outcomes.

For example, you can spend story points to do a handful of things, including to add "something major". It in effect hands some narrative control to the players. One example of adding something major is "the old lover will help the characters escape". For some game masters, handing that much control to the players might feel anathema, but I like the idea because in the shared storytelling that this RPG represents, it gives the players some agency - and of course they need to spend those accumulated story points!

Behind all of the ideas and inspirations that the game provides for the players, the Director is provided with some specific "eyes only" information about a world wide organization known as The Octopus.

If you've read Tintin, there's Rastapopulos as a villain who appears regularly in a number of the books. Blake & Mortimer have Olrik backed by the other side. James Bond had SPECTRE and other super villain organizations. This is all part of the overall trope.

A lot of the information about The Octopus is how to build plots around them and provide that cloak and dagger feel to the whole enterprise.

Overall, The Troubleshooters is really well written, the examples clear, the art gorgeous, and just well done.

However, the flip side is that I have little interest in running a game myself. There are a few reasons for this.

Running a game like this, which draws so much inspiration from mid-century European bandes dessinées comes with a set of challenges, especially when viewed through a contemporary lens. While its tone is light-hearted, adventurous, and steeped in nostalgia, personally I feel that the world it evokes is one shaped by a very particular worldview - one where Europe sits firmly at the centre of civilization, and the rest of the world is either exotic, dangerous, or in need of rescuing.

This kind of baked in ethnocentrism isn’t overt in the book or the game's rules, but it lingers in the genre's bones. Western Europe, and especially its institutions, are usually portrayed as the natural arbiters of order and rationality. The protagonists - implicitly or explicitly - are often white, urbane, and European, solving mysteries or fighting secret organizations in locales that are rendered mysterious, threatening, or quaint by comparison. When other regions appear - Africa, Asia, the Middle East - they're usually set dressing for Western heroics. I myself would perforce guilty of this as a game master, and not out of malice, but personal ignorance. Thus the people from these places are rarely full characters. Rather, they're stereotypes, background figures, or villains. Caricatures!

Layered on top of this is the genre’s uncomfortable relationship with the legacy of the "Yellow Peril" trope. Pulp stories and spy thrillers from the early to mid 20th century often leaned heavily on imagery of inscrutable Asian masterminds. Figures like Fu Manchu - who posed a sinister, alien threat to the West.

Even when the imagery isn’t used directly, the structure of those stories - the exoticization of Asian cultures, the emphasis on secretive Eastern cabals, the language of danger and mystery - remains deeply ingrained in the genre’s DNA. It’s all too easy, even unintentionally, to fall into the rhythms of stories where a "foreign" culture becomes the problem, and the European agents are the solution.

Sometimes this is defended as satire or homage. A loving recreation of the genre’s tropes, warts and all. But satire, especially when it's lighthearted or nostalgic, is a tricky thing. Without clear signals that you're critiquing the source material rather than celebrating it, it becomes difficult to tell whether a piece is holding up a mirror or just repeating old ideas uncritically. A game like The Troubleshooters, which delights in its setting and tone, doesn’t always give players the tools to interrogate those legacies - or to know when they’re veering into territory that can make people uncomfortable or feel excluded.

This can become especially fraught at the table, where the people involved bring their own identities, experiences, and comfort levels. A player might be asked to navigate a scenario that leans heavily on Orientalist imagery, or to play a character in a setting that treats their real world culture as a backdrop or stereotype. Even if no harm is intended, harm can still be felt and for many players, the thrill of espionage or globetrotting adventure can be overshadowed by a sense of not belonging, or worse, being reduced to a trope.

That doesn’t mean you can’t play The Troubleshooters, or enjoy its playful take on a classic genre. It just means it’s worth taking the time to reflect on what you’re bringing to the table. Talking with your group, being aware of where these tropes come from, and thinking about how to actively reframe or subvert them can go a long way. You might decide to portray exotic locales as lived in, complex places with heroes and villains of their own. You might flip the script on who the protagonists are, or avoid villain archetypes that draw on racist or colonial imagery. Most importantly, you can make sure everyone around the table feels safe, seen, and excited to explore a world that respects the real one we all live in.