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For anyone who likes shiny things, or wants a few choice items to spice up a treasure hoard, a feast is in store within these pages. Or indeed you may wish to use it 'as is' for what we have here is a travelling salesman in magical items, complete with a very magical cart and some of his wares.
First we meet Celurian himself. Celurian Iz'zer, a rather dandified half-elf, who collects and trades in all manner of beautiful items, both magical ones and object d'art. He's fully-detailed and would make an interesting NPC, in fact I can think of a few adventures to involve him in already...
We read about his magical mode of transportation, a horseless carriage that is bigger on the inside than on the outside and rather appropriately is painted blue! And then there is a fabulous listing of just a few of the wonders to be found inside. Weapons, rods, rings... and a host of wondrous items. Perhaps you might care for a Rod of Breaking and Entering, which looks like a golden crowbar and adds considerably to efforts to, well, get into places! Or maybe a Beastcloak takes your fancy - of heavy grey fur lined with red velvet, it has a hood shaped like a wolf's head and enables the wearer to shapeshift... Or perhaps a pair of Directional Stones, which have a permanent attraction to each other. Plenty of creative uses for them.
Everything comes with complete game statistics, often a suggestion or two for their use and a charming full-colour sketch. Plenty of scope here, however you decide to use them.
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They say that chasing the green fairy drives you mad...
... then this awesome collection of nightmarish Cthulhu-inspired cocktails came along and nothing will ever be the same.
The really bad (or is that good?) thing is that you could actually make these cocktails, did you but dare. No, really. They won't explode in your face or poison you (well, not if sipped sensibly like any cocktail, like anything involving alcohol, please drink responsibly and don't even think about driving!).
Beautifully presented, bestrewn with apposite quotations and illustrations (which could have done with attribution and captions, but no matter, it's a feast for the eyes), this makes an interesting and unusual addition to your Mythos collection.
Sip them if you dare. You might just see He Who Must Not Be Named if you do.
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A neat resource for finding names for starships, especially when one turns up unexpectedly and the name is needed suddenly. Not that it won't be useful when characters are seeking to name their own ships, it is an area at which a lot of us struggle and I'm sure your characters, like mine, have served aboard some very strangely-named vessels. (I still remember the Hognose...)
There are several tables from which to choose. A couple of 'traditional' names for military starships, and another if you prefer 'epic' names. A couple more for commercial vessels and then its the turn of privately-owned ships, be they merchants (ethically challenged or otherwise) or wealthy travellers. Use d66 to get a random name or just read down the list and pick one which appeals.
A handy work to tuck away against the need for a name in a hurry.
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OK. What would YOU do if you found zombies in your back garden?
This well-written tale tells the story of one normal God-fearing farmer, busy doing his best by his family and how he dealt with a zombie problem... or at least, how he struggled with it and all the trauma that occurred once the rest of the world heard what was cavorting amongst his beans of an evening.
If you're a role-player, this will provide plenty of ideas for a zombie game, or a contemporary horror game in the 'early X-Files' or 'Supernatural' style, when there's an oddness to investigate and the rest of the world to keep relatively safe if not in the dark ('cos they'd panic, is the usual rationale).
It's a nicely-told tale that keeps you reading along. Recommended.
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What do cartoon characters do when they're not on screen?
Apparently much the same as they do whilst the show is running: yell, act mean or generous on a whim, rush around, do odd things and yell some more.
As for what they do when the show gets cancelled... well, pity the poor TV executive who did it as all the yelling and acting mean will be focussed in his direction.
An entertaining glimpse of the secret life of everyday cartoons, told in an engaging style that almost makes you care what happens to them. So, will they get back on air? Read on and find out...
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A common view of an apocalyptic future when all modern technology stops working and society has to adjust to life without it, with the slightly less common twist of the emergence of magical powers... Told through the eyes of an aging computer geek who needs in such a situation to find a new line of work, fortunately as a game developer he has at least some idea of what to do with the magical powers he finds he now has, you are sucked into the story as he recounts it vividly and compellingly.
My one complaint with what would otherwise be an enjoyable 'what if' read is the obsession with homosexuality. It is dragged in, a red herring strewn across the page again and again, jarring you out of the story. It doesn't matter if you're homophile or homophobe, it is rammed into your face when it really contributes nothing to the tale whatsoever. Shame, it would otherwise be an excellent story and worthy of recommendation. Tune it out, and enjoy the book.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Gee, Megan, perhaps I should have listed this in the LGBT section. Oh, wait, I did.
Yes, there is an "obsession" with homosexuality. And Daniel Keye's award-winning short story (and subsequent award-winning novel, published in 1960) Flowers for Algernon" had an obsession with developmentally disabled people.
As the author, I strongly suggest that if you believe that homosexuals should not openly display affection, talk about their relationships and families, or even appear in public as anything but frightened, timid creatures not unlike the Morlocks, please follow Megan's advice and skip this novel.
Because, unlike real life (according to Megan and Westboro Baptist Church), the gay characters in this novel are not going to apologize for being real human beings.
And Megan? You're not going to like the rest of the books in the series. And I am perfectly okay with that. |
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This is a rather fun little 'beer & pretzels' game of wizardry, drawing on both fictional and gaming stereotypes of what a wizard is: weedy, secretive, over-reliant on magic to the exclusion of all else...
Hone down the core of an RPG wizard - you know, the sort from old-school D&D with no hit points or skills to speak of but who might, if he survives against all the odds to reach high levels, one day be able to blow everyone else away with a raised eyebrow (even though he still has no hit points or skills to speak of) - and send him out to face the world, armed only with his spells and whatever lackeys he can hire to do the heavy lifting. For that's the gist of it. Everyone plays a wizard, and there is a horde of hirelings to help keep them alive. It's quite refreshing to have a wizards-only game that isn't solely about fighting arcane duels with each other!
To get you going, there are some pre-generated wizards (and their lackeys) and an introductory adventure. The whole thing is redolent of old-school D&D, the stuff I played as a student, and a lot of the way in which these wizards work is inspired by that ruleset. There is scope here to recapture the flavour of those early days, to see just how far magic alone will take you... and to have some fun along the way.
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Sweeping you straight in with pages seemingly ripped straight from undernet social media/discussion sites and a spot of fiction thrown in, this is a detailed explanation of what 'simsense' is all about in the Sixth World. If you think video games, particularly first person shooters, are addictive and sweep you in making you feel as if you actually are in whatever scene is being depicted, just imagine something about a thousand times more realistic, and that's simsense.
There are all manner of virtual experiences to be had, from mood-influencing through violence or sexual encounters, just about anything that you can imagine. Of course there are useful ones. Think of it like e-learning taken to an extreme, for you can use the technology to acquire instant mastery of a skill that you do not have, without the need to study or train. When you unslot the chip, these ersatz memories disappear, of course... but some poor souls think that they still have those skills, or worse ones from an immersive entertainment chip, and end up trying to do something they cannot do and coming to grief, often spectactularly, in the process. Thought you could climb down the outside of a building? Or could hold your own in a firefight? Or snipe from concealment and take down someone well-guarded?
It's scary, and the way in which it is presented makes it become real, possibly even beyond the confines of the Shadowrun ruleset. If this technology did exist, and it's easy to imagine, people would use it. Heck, most role-players would love it. And tragedies would ensue, and not just for the weak-minded. These are insiduous... An excellent read, thought-provoking source material. Be careful what you slot, chummer.
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There's a lot packed in to this, what with an introduction to the town of Summerfort (which is intended to be the home base for a whole series of adventures) along with some of the prominent citizens as well as the temple of an evil cult to investigate.
The town is a nice prosperous trading settlement, and there's an attractive if not very useful map - it's a bit small and nothing's labelled, but it looks nice. The organisation is well-described, though, and you get a real feel for the place in a few short pages.
The adventure part is straightforward but atmospheric, and establishes some background for further adventures as well as being quite gripping in its own right.
This should serve to get your Ingenium campaign off to a flying start.
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This is an excellent collection of stuff about goblins, whether you want to play one or, as a GM, wish to make your goblin hordes into a troop of 'real' people rather than mere cannon-fodder.
There are six feats, all requiring 'goblin' as a prerequisite so other races can keep their paws off of them! They all highlight popular conceptions of goblin behaviour, with two concerning fire and the rest other aspects of combat... all giving over that slightly comic air goblins have but yet being effective in a brawl. Combat Buffoonery and Foolhardy Fighting both, in their own ways, allow the goblin to be more successful in battle than he ought to be, judging by how he acts. Freak Out - which sounds awfully like a LARP goblin I once played! - involves the poor goblin existing in a state of panic and flailing so hard at his opponents that if an attack of opportunity misses, he's allowed another; and Inexplicable Survivor involves being able to drop prone just at the right moment to avoid an attack.
Then there are some goblin character traits, again appropriate to the popular stereotype of goblins. Attention Deficit (and yes, this makes ADD into an advantage!), Dumb Nose (poor sense of smell giving defence against any stench-based attacks, etc.), Just Say No (a stubborn streak that protects against enchantment spells) and Yes Sir! Right Away Sir! which, apart from possibly being the longest character trait title I've seen, gives the goblin a bonus in melee provided another goblin or other ally is giving him orders at the time. Really quite delightful.
These are followed by a couple of alternate racial traits: Manic Panic allows the goblin to respond to being shaken by being even more ferocious in melee (but keeping all other disadvantages of the state) and Sticks and Stones confers a facility with improvised weapons. Either can be taken in place of the skilled trait when generating the goblin character.
Finally, there's a racial archetype, the Firebug. Guess what he likes doing? Yep, he has a fascination with fire and has various advantages that turn the common goblin penchant for arson into something quite devastating.
A lot to enjoy here, my greenskinned squeaky friends!
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Oh no, not MORE goblins!
Well, maybe, but these are hand-crafted original goblins not the run-of-the-mill straight out of the Bestiary ones, a whole forty-two different ones ranging from an infinetesimal CR (look, he's only a child!) up to CR 5, all ready for the busy GM to fish out and put in front of the characters.
After a bit of goblin ecology - including the fact that they are scared of horses, something I didn't know before - we're straight into the tables, organised by CR. Each one has a full stat block with a short description and all manner of other notes to personalise him (or her), taking them out of the cannon-fodder category and providing you with instant goblin NPCs.
"You see a male goblin covered in mud and with many twigs stuck to its leather armour, this small skinny humanoid looks vaguely ridiculous..." OK, stop laughing at the poor fellow, this is a goblin scout, he may only be worth 135 XP, but you'll remember the encounter with him, won't you?
Each has his own class and skills, and personalised possessions as well as the wonderful descriptions.
You and your players may be a bit jaded with goblins, revitalise your enounters with this little lot!
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A dragon is, well, a dragon, right?
Now it doesn't have to be. It's easy enough to come up with the stats - age, colour, size, weapons, etc. - but how do you tell one dragon from another?
Here are some 30 descriptions that go well beyond game mechanics. You can use them as is, the juvenile gold Cloghgyrtu the Coward quite appeals, for example, or you can mix and match if you decide that his velociraptor head with double brow horns and stiff neck that he has trouble bending looks better on a different dragon.
They're all like that, those little features that enhance descriptions far beyond just saying "It's a large red dragon" and embue each one with character. One might have silver eyes, another a whip-light tail, a third tends to cough a lot.... scales might have a range of colours - and not even the official colour that the dragon in question is from a rules mechanical standpoint! That could prove entertaining as the gold-scaled beast advancing on you suddenly spits acid or electricity...
A neat idea to help personalise your dragons and make them come alive to your players.
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Originally designed for cost-conscious (underfunded?) planetary militias especially on the less-explored worlds with lots of rough terrain, this is a useful military troop carrier with all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering. It carries eight troops as well as two crew, the troops having a rear door exit similar to several equivalent present-day military carriers.
As such, it's really about TL7 (today's tech level) but could be enhanced with more extensive sensor suites or weaponry. It comes from the factory with a couple of smoke dischargers (to provide a smokescreen to get away, but also good against lasers) as standard, but there is a ring mount for the purchaser to add a weapon of his choice. It's designed for use in atmosphere, having only limited life support capacity, and has a nice camouflage paint job.
There is a nice full-page illustration of the exterior, and full Traveller vehicle statistics as well as some background notes. An interior view and/or floorplan would have been nice, but there is sufficient to get the idea of what is coming down the road towards you.
A handy piece of mundane military kit for planetside work.
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This is rather a fun little scenario that plays better than it tells: suffice to say it involves an outrageous pop-star who loves to shock her audiences, a song from Ancient Egypt that supposedly carries a pretty heavy curse, a bunch of zombies and a few other oddments... even a mummy might show up. Maybe the legends of the curse were right!
So will Lady Goo-Goo, never mind the audience, survive her Pyramid-backed performance of the ancient Song of Ho-Baq? Will a handful of cultists and their tame mummies stop her before the entire audience is turned to zombies?
Run one of the four scenes herein, and you'll find out... if the mummies, zombies or Egyptian curses don't get you first.
A merry romp across the music business...
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This is an excellent eclectic collection of musical instruments to keep any bard character entertained as he decides what to play in his next concert... and there are some really unusual ones that are maybe better suited to a far future campaign - after all, there will still be a need for musical entertainment.
It can be amusing in game too... I once put a #35: Laser Harp in the corner of an abandoned alien spaceship some of my Traveller characters were investigating and had quite a lot of entertainment as they tried to figure out what it was from the description. (If you don't know, watch a Jean Michel Jarre concert, it's the laser beam array that he 'plays' by breaking the beam with well-gloved hands!)
Some are more or less different names for the same thing. A Moog is just a kind of synthesizer, for example. And someone needs to pay attention to odd characters, as the A-sharp (or is it A-flat?) clarinet has come out as A? clarinet which leaves me little the wiser (possibly like the seagull which has just perched on top of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel roof - I'm writing this as the Papal election is in progress with a webcam window open to check for smoke!).
Pass me my Balalaika and I'll play you a tune!
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![Celurian's Magical Miscellany [PFRPG]](images/3367/112441-thumb100.jpg)
