2022 Character Creation Challenge (2022/01 CCC)

Hello readers! My output in the latter portion of 2021 slowed down for all sorts of life reasons, so I’m looking forward to getting back into the groove and bringing you a pile of new reviews, along with a project I meant to get to, and some new features that expand the scope of the …

RPG Reviews – Pathfinder 2E: Secrets of Magic (Paizo)

I love magic. Despite that, I don't often play magic-users in RPGs unless I'm playing Ars Magica or Mage. Honestly, I think it's because I like swords/weapons and having them be an integral part of the character (my Ars character is basically a fighter-mage type.) Thankfully, Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic comes to my rescue with …

RPG Reviews – World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters (Onyx Path Publishing)

A friend once asked me what I thought the hardest game to play was. It only took the time required to type “Wraith: The Oblivion” to provide an answer. I didn’t mean that it’s unplayable - I’ve played it and loved it - I just meant that the core concept and setting, supported by the …

RPG Reviews – Symbaroum & Starter Set (Free League)

The forest of Davokar holds dreams and nightmares. Tread carefully, for you may find both. After the war with the Dark Lords, the nation of Alberetor was in ruins. Queen Korinthia decreed her people should travel north, across the mountain range of the Titans, to settle in the land beyond, on the borders of the …

RPG Reviews – Sigil & Shadow (Osprey Games)

I started reading Stephen King at 11, Charles de Lint at 12 or 13, and started playing White Wolf games at 14. The modern supernatural horror/fantasy genre has been a fascination of mine for almost 30 years and with good reason! It's a compelling concept, that of a shadow world alongside ours, populated by monsters, …

RPG Reviews – Jackals (Osprey Games)

You don’t frequently find the Bronze Age used as a source for game settings. Besides Runequest, some indie games, and the implicit default setting of Mythras, most fantasy settings are either Medieval, faux-Medieval, or fantastical. It’s a shame, because there’s such a richness of material to draw on from that era in world history and …

RPG Reviews – Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

In much the same fashion as the Vigil Watch series, Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad helps flesh out the continent of Ghelspad in the Scarred Lands. Where the Vigil Watch focuses more on setting, Yugman’s Guide is exclusively player character mechanics: Races, Class Archetypes, Backgrounds, Gear, and Spells. Each Part is between 18-21 pages including cover …

RPG Reviews – Warhammer: Age of Sigmar – Soulbound (Cubicle 7)

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound The world ended in a conflagration of Chaos. The God-King Sigmar was cast into the void and, once rescued, gathered the remaining gods of Order to form his pantheon. Together they brought civilization to the new worlds of the Mortal Realms. However, Chaos is insidious and corrupted the people, then …

RPG Reviews – Scarred Lands Creature Collection (Handiwork Games & Onyx Path Publishing)

Scarred Lands Creature Collection (Handiwork Games & Onyx Path Publishing) Bestiaries are fun! I have very fond memories of repeatedly perusing the Monster Manuals (and later Monstrous Manual) for AD&D 1st and 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual. The best part, of course, being when I found a foe I couldn’t wait to throw at my players …

RPG Reviews – Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition – Cults of the Blood Gods (Onyx Path Publishing)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Onyx Path Publishing) Someone really wants me to start playing Vampire: The Masquerade again. Reading Cults of the Blood Gods is like discovering the game all over again. There are familiar elements and revised pieces and wholly new inclusions and it gives me the feel I got when I first …