Review: What Lies Beneath

Disclaimer: I was provided a review copy of the game. Also, some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

Written by Chris Scaffidi and published in 2023 by Fervent Workshop, What Lies Beneath is described as "a solo dungeon-crawler of dice, decisions and death" that is "structured as a branching narrative". We all know what this really means: it's a gamebook!

In case it needs explanation, a gamebook is a form of interactive fiction delivered in book format. The text is arranged into numbered paragraphs (or sections) that you don't read linearly. Instead, at the end of each section you are given a number of choices that direct you to different paragraphs, leading to different outcomes in the story. Some gamebooks are literally just this (like the Choose Your Own Adventure series), while others also have detailed game mechanics.

While a lot of modern gamebooks strive to be epic in scale (often having a thousand or more sections), WLB is relatively short even compared to the classics (241 sections vs. the standard 400 of Fighting Fantasy). What it may lack in size, it makes up for in depth and mechanics.

Let's start at the beginning. There's no detailed backstory; you are thrown right into the game. You wake up in a dungeon with no memories or equipment and an apparently infected arm. Then the game describes how you are supposed to use the book, and you get to make your character (just a few stats, really).

The next few sections introduce the various game mechanics by example (e.g. you are taught how Hit tests work by having you encounter a giant rat). This sort of tutorial and teaching only what's relevant at a time reminded me of Metal Heroes and the Fate of Rock — and I loved it there as well.

I found it really interesting how WLB handles testing the three stats differently:

• Hit tests are the most straightforward. You roll as many dice as your Hit stat, and you need at least one of them to meet or beat the target number.
• Wit tests are about dice manipulation. You roll a number of dice equal to the difficulty then try to arrange them into a sequence (or run). For each point of Wit you have, you can either re-roll a die, flip it, or increase/decrease its value by one.
• Testing Dex involves physical dexterity. You place two dice on each other to form a tower. You need to flick a third die at the tower from a distance in inches equal to the difficulty so that it touches the tower without knocking it over. (There is an alternative system provided in an Appendix in case you don't have room for or don't want to flick dice around.)
  

On the one hand, these mechanics often got me out of immersion. It's hard to retain the gritty atmosphere built up by the text when you have to handle dice to such a degree. However, engaging the mechanics has never been this much fun for me with a gamebook (not even The Sword of the Bastard Elf with its simple but elegant resource management or DestinyQuest and its gazillion combat abilities). Or perhaps I just like dexterity games.

Let's talk about the atmosphere. This is gritty fantasy through and through. You wake up behind enemy lines, and your only concern (at least at the beginning) is survival. You must balance risk and reward, because the game doesn't pull its punches (but you're never thrown into more trouble than you really ask for either). Descriptive texts are brief and evocative. Illustrations are plenty, but they're fairly small.

Getting out of the dungeon also works as a checkpoint in the game. You get to save your current stats and also spend your XP to improve your character a bit. When you die, you don't have to start over from the beginning (although you might still want to). From then on, the game focusses on overland exploration — this is where the low number of sections is felt the most. Since you can go in any cardinal direction, you essentially have four different stories, and not all of them felt particularly satisfying.

For gamebooks, I like to use a different scoring method largely based on the Lindenbaum Prize judging criteria (it just makes more sense for these games). Note that I don't weigh all the categories equally, and I score on a 1 to 10 scale:

• Literary Ability (20%) Well-written and evocative with good grammar and spelling. The narrative is minimal (it's mostly concerned with survival and getting back your memories), but it's not an issue. A solid 7 out of 10.
  
• Game System (30%) The mechanics are simple but varied. Beyond the three main test types described above, there are a handful of unique situations with even more dice manipulation or different dexterity-based challenges. It's all reasonably difficult. There is an interesting connection between Wit and dice manipulation, and in turn Dex and flicking dice, even if the mechanics can disrupt immersion at times. Never boring, though. And it's all explained succinctly and unambiguously (apart from how the distance is measured for Dex tests). Equipment tags and story keywords are also competently used. I'm giving it 9 out of 10.
  
• Story (30%): The narrative you experience is overall satisfying, but it's mostly to do with overcoming challenges. WLB is very much limited in scope, for better or for worse. Getting your memories back can be interesting. There are many different endings, and the consequences of your choices are meaningful. 5 out of 10.
  
• Technical Ability (10%) The section links never lead to a dead end. Everything is hyperlinked in the PDF. There is no ambiguity when it comes to resolving the mechanics (although measuring from the middle point of dice is annoying), and all outcomes are accounted for in the text. 9 out of 10.
  
• Miscellaneous (10%) WLB weaves a lot interesting concepts together into a coherent whole: tags and keywords, checkpoints, varied dice mechanics, dexterity-based tests, etc. None of them are unique to WLB in the realm of gamebooks (except maybe for the dexterity stuff), but the way they all work together makes it great. The layout is clear and easy on the eyes, and the illustrations are charming. 8 out of 10.
  

This comes out to a respectable total of 73 (it would've been 76 if all categories weighed the same). Although a fairly short affair, WLB is a fun romp with lots of replayability packed into its small package.

What Lies Beneath is available on Amazon, itch, and DriveThruRPG. You can also check out a preview on itch or DriveThru. You can also check out the preview of an upcoming prequel, Dwarfdom (again, on itch or DriveThru) — it looks just as interesting mechanically without being a repeat of WLB.

Review: The Cluster of Echoes #1 Nightshift

Nightshift is a horror gamebook written by Victoria Hancox and was originally published in 2019. It is a self-contained product, but the most recent offering (2nd edition) ties it to the author's later gamebooks, forming a series called The Cluster of Echoes. I should note that the connection is fairly surface-level; I actually started with book #3, and it didn't impede my enjoyment or understanding one bit. Apart from the sixth and final book in the series (Game Over), you can play them in any order you like.

In case you're not familiar with the tern, a gamebook is a form of interactive fiction. The text is organised into numbered sections (or paragraphs). Most sections offer you multiple ways to progress, and depending on your choice you are directed to another section to continue, hopping from section to section in the book.

Writing and Art

The text is conversational but competent. Apart from a few typos and missing commas, it's all pretty clean. Because the game is structured very much like a puzzle, I didn't really experience a sense of dread, but there were definitely a couple of horrific scenes in there.

The game has 400 sections in total (reminiscent of old-school gamebooks) plus one that ties it to the series, with 42 "bad endings" and one victory paragraph. The interior images are all black-and-white. I liked some of the filler illustrations meant to break up the text. The art ranges from serviceable to off-putting; some of them are quite pixelated for some reason as well.

Mechanics and Structure

Nightshift is much closer to the Choose Your Own Adventure series than Fighting Fantasy in that no randomisers (cards or dice) are used. However, much like old-school gamebooks, it is about collecting items, gathering clues, and solving puzzles. There are a few cases where you can progress by sheer luck, but it's never because of a die roll.

Although I enjoy elaborate mechanics as much as the next nerd, I've come to like this approach just as much — as long as the puzzles are varied and challenging, and there are ample opportunities to gather information to help you make the right choices.

There a few riddles in there, and another puzzle or two test your knowledge of the real world, but most challenges require an item or a specific action for which you had hopefully found a clue earlier on. There are a couple of these that you can easily miss out on but absolutely cannot finish the game without. It can be a little frustrating unless you keep track of your runs.

There's one red herring in particular that I thought was both ingenious and cruel. Not everyone you can talk to is a friend (although most of the time you can tell who's on your side).

Story and Gameplay

You work in a hospital as a nurse. It's the night shift, and you're just waking up from a nap between two emergencies. You immediately realise something's wrong when you find your colleague murdered, and the murderer is still around... Can you survive the night shift?

As you explore the hospital, it becomes apparent that you're not in Kansas any more. Creeping along the dark hospital corridors, it all starts to feel like you're in a nightmare, with an appropriate cast of creepy characters and surreal environs. It's not just a terrifying hospital; it's weird and otherworldly too, which makes it feel much more like a game, but it also means there's always a chance of something crazy awaiting you in the next room, rewarding exploration with a clue, description of a gory scene, or an interesting way to die.

Navigating the environment is IMHO unnecessarily challenging. Although a lot of times various sections of the hospital are named explicitly ("if you want to enter the vascular ward, turn to XX"), there were still numerous "left or right" choices without any hint whatsoever. I'm told that the hardcover version actually contains a map of the hospital (but it's also available on the author's website).

Summary

Overall, Nightshift is a great little puzzle if you're not squeamish about body horror (it takes place in a nightmarish hospital after all), and you don't mind the occasional "you hadn't picked up the right item so you die" sections. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a decent romp, especially from a first time designer.

Nightshift is available in softcover, hardcover, and Kindle formats on Amazon (com, uk, de, etc.).

Lindenbaum 2021/22: The Eldritch Key (by Tiago Filipe Costa)

This is part of a series where I briefly talk about the Lindenbaum Prize winners and runners-up. This is a friendly gamebook writing competition, organised yearly by Stuart Lloyd. The entry discussed below was submitted for the 2021/2022 competition and won a Commendation Award. You can find the details of the competition here, links to all entries here, and the announcement of the winners here. Needless to say, all of these are available for free in PDF.

In this gamebook you play a master thief who must steal a dangerous artefact known as the Eldritch Key. Although there are multiple routes to get there, the end game plays pretty much the same, and there's only one "good ending".

The game is set in the lawless city of Makivel, located on Anarlan, the Prison-Island. There's magic and weird creatures, and the game has explicit Cthulhu mythos influences.

The combat mechanics are fairly involved: 2d6 + Dexterity vs. 2d6 + Dexterity, greater wins. Then the loser rolls 2d6 + Avoidance vs. the winner's attack score. If the defender succeeds, they avoid damage. Otherwise, the weapon's damage is deducted from the defender's HP. The character's basic stats are fairly decent, but to reliably defeat the stronger foes (especially towards the end), a handful of items are needed to boost the character's stats. I very much enjoyed the item-hunting aspect, but the endless rolling without any decision-making definitely felt tiresome.

At the beginning, the player chooses three abilities from a list of six (things like lockpicking, dark vision, or clean kill). These abilities can be used when explicitly offered as an option, and they are largely responsible for facilitating multiple ways to get to the finish line.

The writing is all right. It's simple, apart from a few embellishments here and there, much like an adventure game; the emphasis is definitely on solving the game like a puzzle.

The game features 100 sections, and the whole document has about 13,300 words, including the rules and background info. Apart from the fights, there are only a handful of game-ending choices (they can be avoided by gathering info or having luckier dice).

Things to improve upon:

• the combat system involves too many rolls (this is especially true near the end)
• the inventory system is nice; if expanded upon, I definitely want more of this
• it's unclear whether damage from wielding multiple weapons stack (I assume the answer is yes)
• a few of the "save or die" paragraphs felt too punishing particularly the loose stone block, but to be fair, some of these can be ignored with the right abilities and/or items
  

Lindenbaum 2021/22: Archer (by Morten Gottschalck)

This is part of a series where I briefly talk about the Lindenbaum Prize winners and runners-up. This is a friendly gamebook-writing competition, organised yearly by Stuart Lloyd. The entry discussed below was submitted for the 2021/2022 competition and won a Commendation Award. You can find the details of the competition here, links to all entries here, and the announcement of the winners here. Needless to say, all of these are available for free in PDF.

In this one you play a young hunter. You need to gather the funds to enter an archery competition and be ranked among the best three to have enough money to support your family (and perhaps allow you to take some time off adventuring and travelling). In this sense, some outcomes are better than others, but you don't need to win the competition to get a "good ending".

Mechanically, it's very straightforward. You need to keep track of your money (you need ten crowns to enter the competition) and your single stat, Concentration. Tests are rolled on 2d6, and you succeed on an equal or lower result. Concentration begins at 8, but it may be modified depending on your actions. Difficult tasks are usually represented by adding a number to your roll, or sometimes having you roll twice or with a different number of dice.

The author writes in a competent manner, using fairly descriptive and evocative prose. Word choices are mostly fine, and the details mentioned indicate a clear vision in the author's mind. However, the text is full of typos and grammatical errors. It's not worse than what an average internet user may encounter in any international space, but it still felt distracting.

The whole game consists of only 83 sections (numbered from 1 to 93, with a handful of missing numbers, and one unreachable paragraph), in circa 20k words. There are 20 bad endings and 5 good endings. It seems pretty rough, and luck obviously plays an important role, but overall I'd say it's pretty fair. Maybe a few of the bad endings could have had a few more steps, but I'm much more tolerant of harsh consequences in a short gamebook. Plus, if you could wander about too much, it would lose focus and stop being a short gamebook in the first place.

Things to improve upon:

• spelling and grammar (the prose would otherwise be pretty good)
• making sure all sections are reachable
• a few times the wording on modifiers was ambiguous (although the intent is trivial to work out)
• the game didn't really need both silver and gold coins; one of them should have sufficed
• I missed one particular outcome winning 1st prize in the competition but it's also sorta humbling not having it in the game
• the deal with the pouch of dust felt disconnected; maybe because of the length constraints? I thought it was a little random, to be frank

Review: Four Against Darkness

Disclaimer: Note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

In 2023, we are truly spoiled when it comes to dungeon crawling. A plethora of games focus on or have a robust system dedicated to delving the deeps, from computer games to board games and RPGs. There have been many solo options, but the pandemic really helped developers new and old to find a market starved for the strange alchemy of killing monsters, avoiding traps, and finding treasure — like the subject of today's review, Four Against Darkness.

Review: The Drifter

Disclaimer: Note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

Last year I only played a handful of RPG sessions overall (about 10, according to my notes). However, in addition to picking up solo wargames and painting miniatures as a new hobby, I also played a fair amount of solitaire board games. Some of these were rules-light thematic games (mostly of the roll-and-write variety), while others were of the more involved, almost RPG-lite kind. I slowly intend to write about a few of these games, starting with The Drifter, an interesting paragraph-based hexcrawling game in the vein of Barbarian Prince.

Review: Maelstrom

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Maelstrom is a British old-school game written by Alexander Scott and published in 1984. The subject of this review is based on the current edition published by Arion Games.

Review: Ballad of the Longbow

For future reference: the following review is based on the 1.01 version of the book.

I first became aware of Ivan Sorensen and his imprint Nordic Weasel Games through MeWe, where his posts I found quite entertaining and inspiring. I think I first checked out Five Leagues from the Borderlands (whose glorious third edition will soon be released through Modiphius, much like its sci-fi counterpart, Five Parsecs from Home). Upon joining his Discord server, I quickly learnt that a rules-light RPG was in the works. This review is about that game.

Ballad of the Longbow is a medieval fantasy role-playing game inspired by Robin Hood, Wilhelm Tell, Arthurian mythology, and various adventure novels. It's a game about outlaws and heroes fighting a central villain (the main cause of injustice around); it's fairly down-to-earth but never really grim or gritty.

The game first provides a basic outline of its assumptions: d20 roll under or equal skill, explicitly no fail forward or fail with consequence mechanic (as a very traditional GM, I heartily approve of this choice), medieval setting (although it's fairly easy to adapt the system for other adventurous settings), and no magic system of any kind.

Player characters each belong to a character type (Knight, Outlaw, Noble, Yeoman, Clergy, Veteran, Retainer, Scholar, Forester, Entertainer, or Beggar), and each type provides a list of starting equipment and a choice between three Abilities (although more may be gained during play).

Abilities can be used once per session each. They usually work without rolling (although a few of them turn specific failed rolls into successes). Examples include the Knight's Challenge (issue a challenge to another knight or noble; backing down is certain humiliation), the Yeoman's Common fighting (turn a failed attack/defence roll into a success with a quarterstaff), or the Clergy's Long-winded speech (hold up a person for 15 minutes by expounding theological doctrine).

Skills are rated from 2 to 18. There are fifteen of them in total (ranging from Agility and Deception to Religion and Stealth). Their starting values are determined by arranging 15 given scores in any order (keeping in mind character type and background).

Aside from success/failure, the game recognises Finesse and Perfection (rolling a success with a 10+ or 15+ die roll, respectively). Fumbles are explicitly missing.

Applying modifiers, helping each other, and opposed rolls are described succintly. A really neat idea is the handling of "weak link tests" where everyone has to succeed in order to avoid failure (like group sneak attempts) — in these cases the GM randomly determines which character has to make the test (with regular modifiers if applicable). I like it because it invisibly factors in each and every participant's score without having to compute an average skill value (whereas using only a "best" or "worst" value would disregard every other participant).

A few activities are specifically called out and described in detail (on account of being likely events in a game): picking locks, social interactions, doing physical things, building things, knowing things, searches, and languages.

Nordic Weasel Games is a miniatures wargame publisher first and foremost, so it's no surprise that the combat system is very miniature friendly.

A combat round represents 5-10 seconds of activity. A round consists of five phases: (1) Quick Action Phase, (2) Enemy Action Phase, (3) Slow Action Phase, (4) Ally Action Phase, and (5) Morale Test Phase.

Player characters must make a skill check (Agility if within 10 metres of an enemy, Alertness otherwise) — on a success they decide whether to act in the Quick or the Slow Action Phase; those who fail automatically act in the Slow Action Phase. Enemies and allied non-player characters simply act in the Enemy and Ally Action Phases, respectively.

Succeeding at the initiative roll with Finesse or a Perfect roll grants an immediate half-speed movement bonus (even if engaged in melee!) — a pretty neat reward in an otherwise simple initiative system.

Characters may move and take an action on their turn; the order can vary, but movement cannot be split (i.e. you cannot move-act-move). Characters can also attempt to defend themselves against attacks any number of times — up until they succeed once.

Attacking is a simple Fighting or Archery skill roll. Defending against an attack is either an Agility (evasion) or Fighting (parry) check — the defender must get at least an equal level of success as the attacker. A successful evasion must be represented by 1 metre of movement; a successful parry may be followed by backing down 1 metre. I like this kind of detail a lot; it creates a naturally flowing melee without relying on GM fiat.

Successful attacks are followed by a damage roll — a skill check using the regular attack skill modified by weapon and armour (although non-villain NPCs use a reduced skill value for dealing damage vs. player characters). On a success the attack inflicts a Wound. Grunts are out of action after 1 Wound; Expert characters can take 2 Wounds; player characters and villains may take up to 3.

Non-combat damage is handled very similarly, but instead of the enemy combatant's skill, a Hazard Factor is determined (e.g. 6 for falling from a horse); sometimes even more than one so multiple Wounds may be sustained (e.g. 14/10 for falling off a roof). A successful Agility or Alertness skill check is usually allowed to avoid risking damage in the first place, though.

The rules cover a lot of other action types — from interacting with the environment to giving first aid — but the one I most like is the Bravado action, which covers all sorts of swashbuckling and other dramatic activities (a neat little list of possible effects are provided).

Morale, of course, plays an important role in combat. Unless led by a villain, NPCs must roll against their Morale if they are ambushed and outnumbered, their leader falls, or a quarter of their forces are lost in a single round of combat.

Inventory management doesn't play a big role in the game, and the equipment section is mostly concerned with weaponry and simple goods and services. It's largely okay, and as the text says, suitable price lists are easy to find in other games, like GURPS Low Tech. I personally would've preferred a little more detail here.

Advancement is fairly simple. After each game session, increase a single skill by 1 point (up to 18). After 3 Good Deeds, gain a new Ability (this may be off-type if it makes sense, but only twice). Good Deeds are basically the goals of scenarios: rescuing folks from unjust imprisonment, saving the villagers from bandits, and in general foiling the villain's plans. The game assumes a medium-length campaign, suggesting that a few sessions after acquiring the third Ability is a pretty good time to wrap things up.

Stats (Attack, Defence, Skill, Morale) are provided for a number of NPCs and animals, including a few villain and ally abilities as well. Then guidelines ("The commandments") are laid out in the spirit of the game (e.g. surrenders are always accepted, villager NPCs are rarely traitorous, avoid gotchas, and never assume a fixed solution).

There's some minimal GM advice regarding impersonating NPCs (including a nifty reaction system), handling travel, adjudicating ally actions, considering loyalty, and setting up satisfying combat encounter (with regards to numbers and such). A few pages of optional rules and the obligatory design notes (the coolest recurring feature of NWG publications) end the book.

Overall, Ballad of the Longbow is a neat little game of dashing heroics. The combat system — while simple — shows just enough depth to remain interesting for the duration of a campaign, and the character Abilities help reinforce the genre in a satisfying way. At this stage the book has a bunch of typos, and it lacks a compelling starting setting/adventure. With a robust scenario generator and/or a reasonably detailed mini-setting and its bespoke villains that would facilitate quickly getting it to the table (much like how the character types accomplish the same from the players' side), it could be really good. As it stands, it's just good.

Review: Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate

"Welcome to Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, a game of gravity defying Martial Heroes. Characters start as lowly members of the martial world and roam the land perfecting their Kung Fu. Some uphold justice in the lawless shadow of a corrupt empire, while others seek only to further their own glory. Whatever path they take, to improve their martial arts they must learn from and defeat more powerful masters. Only then will their Kung Fu grow profound." - Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, p23

Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is a wuxia game (although heavily featuring xianxia elements as well) set in a fictional world (Qi Xien) inspired by ancient Chinese history, mythology, and literature. The system it uses (called the Network System) is fairly simple, and most of the crunchy bits come from the dozens of techniques and rituals characters can master. It also falls more on the trad/simulationist end of the spectrum (no metacurrencies or shared authorship) and promotes an open-ended approach (with the characters acting as wandering free agents collecting rare manuals and learning secret techniques, for example).

Review: Warlock!

Disclaimer: Note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

Warlock! is a rules-light traditional fantasy game, conceptually sitting firmly within the British old-school tradition (the revival of which is sometimes charmingly called the B-OSR). The terms Stamina and Luck and the way combat works conjure images of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, but the sort of freeform career system with Agitators, Footpads, and Rat Catchers make it look like a WFRP-light game played with a d20.

Review: Dragon Warriors

Dragon Warriors labels itself as "The Classic British Fantasy Roleplaying Game", and with good reason. It is the quintessential "British D&D", systemically and in scope very close to B/X D&D. Although its popularity has waned, it is experiencing a sort of rediscovery (see this thread on the RPGPub, for example).

Review: Skaldic Sagas

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James M. Spahn's Whitebox Viking game was a-coming well before the demise of Google+ - and now it's here! Powered by the same engine as The Hero's Journey 2nd edition, Skaldic Sagas is a tight little fantasy game focussing on community and kinship and viking shenanigans.

Review - The Hero's Journey 2nd edition

Disclaimer: Note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

When it comes to Whitebox-based materials, James M. Spahn is definitely the first name that comes to mind. After all, he's penned White Star, White Box Compendium, White Box Omnibus, and Untold Adventures - among other things.

The Hero's Journey is a game unsurprisingly also based on Swords & Wizardry Whitebox - but note that even though the base is clearly recognisable, the end result isn't readily compatible with it (as such, it's in similar shoes to Helvéczia and Exemplars & Eidelons).

Note that this review is concerned about the 2nd edition of the game (although I have written a shorter piece about the original (released in 2016) on EN World).

Review - Best Left Buried

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Best Left Buried is a fantasy horror game, where the protagonists are poor schmucks exploring dungeons or dungeon-like environments (called Crypts). It advertises itself as an OSR game (according to the system category on OneBookShelf), but it should be noted that the game isn't strictly D&D-esque.

Review - Esoteric Enterprises

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Esoteric Enterprises is a modern occult horror dungeon crawling sandbox RPG. It is a synthesis of the premise of World of Darkness and the structured gameplay of old-school D&D, where outcasts and/or adventurous souls venture below the city and become involved in all sorts of illegal things, rub shoulders with the underbelly of society, ally themselves with vampires, and get in the crossfire of various gangs, cults, and supernatural big baddies.

The author, in an interview, describes the game as follows:

This is a world basically like our own, except magic is real, and dangerous, and wildly illegal. Of course, plenty of things are dangerous and illegal – such as drugs and organ-legging and bank robberies – so the worlds of organised crime and the supernatural have become inexorably linked. Things are only like our familiar world on the surface; beneath every city there is a literal underworld, where strange things hide from scrutiny, and the reckless or desperate traffic in things humans really shouldn’t be meddling with.

The mechanics are chiefly based on Lamentations of the Flame Princess with a few twists here and there. The game also comes with a robust system to generate various underground factions and undercity locations to facilitate the sort of free-spirited dungeon crawling and conspiracy the game is built for.

Mini-Review: Mazes & Minotaurs

This one is, I believe, the last mini-review I originally wrote for EN World but never got around to publish, slightly edited.

Disclaimer: The article includes affiliate links.

Back in 2002, Pault Elliot wrote an article about how different D&D (and the whole TTRPG scene) could have been if its inspirations were different; say, Jason and the Argonauts and the Odyssey instead of Conan and the Lord of the Rings. Olivier Legrand became fascinated with the concept and soon began working on such a game that could have existed back in the 70s, first on his own, and then collaborating with Paul himself. Eventually, the fruit of their collaboration was the design of Mazes & Minotaurs.

Mazes & Minotaurs was not just a design experiment, however. It was minimalistic, amateurish, and even parodistic, but it was a game to be played, nonetheless. Soon the original version received numerous supplements, and then a major revision, bringing us the advanced versioní of the game, which is now available on DriveThruRPG.

A shtick of M&M is that every product is written as if it were a re-release of something from the 70s or 80s, and a whole fake history of role-playing games is constantly referenced (like MAZECON and the Griffin magazine), which makes it a hilarious read on its own. As noted above, however, M&M is not merely a parody; it is a fully functional game with a simple but powerful core.

M&M has a slightly tweaked list of Attributes (Might, Skill, Wits, Luck, Will, Grace), whose modifiers are used extensively to calculate various secondary statistics (such as melee and missile attack bonuses, and saving rolls like Danger Sense and Mystic Fortitude). There is no standard resolution mechanic per se, even though every test is made using the familiar mechanic of "d20 + modifiers vs. target number". There is no skill system either (just like in the early editions of D&D), but there are various Background Talents detailed in the Companion.

The Players Manual describes twelve classes (such as Centaur, Lyrist, Spearman, and Thief). They differ in their starting Hits (the equivalent of hit points), primary attributes, and special abilities (everyone gets two or three of these, except for casters who only have their spells). Combat is very straightforward, but the supplements detail a fair amount of special maneuvers. Magic uses spell points (called Power Points), and every caster class has access to six unique spells.

The Maze Masters Guide provides information regarding the setting (called Mythika), whose bare-bones descriptions are further detailed in a series of articles (cf. Atlas of Mythika). It also has a handful of random generators (adventure plots, city states, temples, mysterious islands), and an easy-to-use monster creation system (the actual monsters are presented in the Creature Compendium; circa 200 opponents of various types and power levels).

Mazes & Minotaurs is an amazing work of love. It retains the simplicity and familiarity of old-school D&D, while improving upon it at the same time. There are a lot of supplements covering a wild range of topics (new monsters, mythic items, classes, and adventures), yet the game remains simple and elegant. And the best part is that the entire product line is completely free.

Review: Kuf

Disclaimer: I was provided a review copy of the game free of charge.

Kuf is an occult investigative game with a system based on Knave. The player characters are aware that something is fundamentally wrong with "reality", and thus they are drawn into a frantic search for knowledge and power. In the postscript it is explained that the author intended to match seemingly opposite styles of gaming: modern day gnostic horror (like Kult) and old-school D&D (even if some would argue that Knave isn't exactly that, I guess it's close enough).

Review: Vigilante City (Chargen Examples)

I did everything in the order the book explained: (1) rolled and assigned attributes, (2) determined hit points and saving throws, (3) rolled twice on the background table, (4) chose a class, (5) determined starting possessions, (6) wrote down combat stats (here I made a single deviation: by the book, attack bonuses are noted before equipment is finalised).

Review: Vigilante City (Core Rules)

This review is part of a series on thematic OSR games (as defined here). Also note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you).

Vigilante City is a superhero game inspired by the many animated series of the 90s. It uses the same basic system as Dark Places & Demogorgons, the publisher's previous game. This is going to be a rare 3-part review. First, I'm taking a look at the Core Rules; in the second part I'll create a few sample characters to showcase the versatility of the system; finally, I'll review the Villain's Guide, the game's GM's book.

Review: Crypts & Things Remastered

This review is part of a series on thematic OSR games (as defined here). Also note that some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you).

Crypts & Things Remastered is a sword & sorcery role-playing game built on the Swords & Wizardry Core rules and Akrasia's house rules. I do have the original edition from 2011, but I haven't read it in quite some time, so I will not be comparing the two.