Inexperienced Ronin has adopted a method of releasing smaller PDF merchandise to help the assorted traces they publish. I like this growth as a result of a few of Inexperienced Ronin’s properties have been extraordinarily attention-grabbing, however supporting every thing they launch with bodily releases appeared to bottleneck numerous help. Whereas a few of these merchandise prior to now have been smaller releases, like single villains or groups for Mutants and Masterminds, most of the AGE system releases have been about half the scale of what fashionable publishing would doubtless publish in hardcover format.
Immediately, I’m going to have a look at a complement for Fantasy AGE 2nd Version, Cthulhu Mythos: Cosmic Horror Swords & Sorcery. A few of these dietary supplements adapt materials developed for the Fashionable AGE-powered Cthulhu Awakens. Whereas the 2 programs are very comparable, they aren’t equivalent. However this isn’t simply an adaptation of Cthulhu Awakens materials; it additionally presents fantasy from an angle that resembles a few of the extra sinister, horror-adjacent Conan tales, and the introduction even mentions the connections between Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
Disclaimer
Whereas I’ve obtained evaluation copies from Inexperienced Ronin prior to now, I bought my copy of this product to evaluation. I’ve but to have the chance to play with or run video games with materials from this complement, however I’m accustomed to the AGE system.
Fantasy Age 2nd Version: Cthulhu Mythos
Writing and Design: Steve Kenson, Jack Norris, and Malcolm Sheppard
Journey Sport Engine (AGE) created by Chris Pramas
Growth: Steve Kenson and Malcolm Sheppard
Enhancing: Steve Kenson
Graphic Design: Hal Mangold
Artwork Route: Hal Mangold
Cowl Illustrations: Krasen Maximov & Cardin Yanis
Inside Artwork: Joewie Aderes, Michele Boceda, Carlos Diaz, Danil luzin, Krasen Maximov, Victor leza Moreno, Mirco Paganessi, Julie Sakai, Andrey Vasilchenko, and Cardin Yanis
Writer: Chris Pramas
The PDF for Cthulhu Mythos is 66 pages lengthy. It features a back and front cowl, a credit web page, and a desk of contents. Inexperienced Ronin’s merchandise have superb art work, which continues on this PDF. There are a lot of adventurers preventing mythos creatures, like deep ones and ghouls sporting wizard robes and carrying a workers.
Eldritch Verses
Like most AGE sport merchandise, the fabric within the product is modular, which means that the majority of it may be used with out utilizing different components of this complement. That stated, some ideas, just like the Dreamlands, require you to undertake a few of the guidelines in a single part to make use of different guidelines within the complement. The sections of the PDF embrace the next:
- Mythos Characters (participant character choices)
- Exploring the Mythos (new sport guidelines)
- Mythos Magic (commonplace Fantasy AGE spellcasting and rituals)
- Mythos Sport Mastering (tone, marketing campaign kinds, deities, monster qualities, new monsters)
As talked about above, the introduction mentions the connection between H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and mentions the weather launched into the mythos past Lovecraft’s tales. It additionally accommodates the usual “Lovecraft was Racist” part, which I’m all for.
Mythos Characters
This part accommodates a pair of recent ancestries: the Deepblooded and the Dreamghoul. The Deepblooded are folks with Deep One ancestry who’ve manifested a few of the traits of the Deep Ones. Dreamghouls are a species of ghoul that always develop their traits later in life and are linked to the metaphysical Dreamlands.
Like different ancestries within the sport, there are a handful of traits that every one members of that ancestry can have, like motion velocity, particular senses, and particular motion charges (like having a swimming velocity). Like different ancestries, there are charts of further traits that may be chosen or rolled randomly. Every character will get two of those, so if a personality needs to replicate a personality with dad and mom of various ancestries, one of many two advantages can come from that ancestry.
These have comparable advantages to the sport’s core ancestries. Each are logical additions to a fantasy marketing campaign that’s introducing mythos parts. Whereas the Deepblooded are introduced extra as “you have got parts of floor humanoids in addition to Deep One traits,” the Dreamghoul nonetheless performs with the Lovecraft trope of “you would possibly go for another ancestry till your true bloodline comes out.” Additionally they should eat clever creatures, so slightly further steering in all probability wouldn’t be unhealthy.
There are a number of new abilities, a few of that are good additions even in a non-mythos Fantasy AGE sport. Bookworm and Stalwart Model are good examples. I like Unusual Property, the place you inherit a bizarre location from your loved ones and achieve sure advantages from this weird inheritance. Some traits work together with the opposite guidelines within the merchandise, like getting access to Eldritch Rituals or having an enhanced capacity to work together with the Dreamlands.
The Unusual Legacy trait reintroduces a few of the “you’re becoming your precursors” taste that you simply don’t get within the Deepblooded ancestry, the place you have got one in all many various traits, like gills that allow you to breathe water, unnaturally armored pores and skin, wings, or pure weapons. I like that this trait mentions that it may come from proximity to Eldritch sources of energy, however any “you had ancestors that have been totally different than what you anticipated” simply makes me need to be certain that everybody is aware of you don’t need to interact in Lovecraft’s “isn’t it scary that your bloodline may not be pure” tropes.
The next specializations are additionally included:
- Alienst (Envoy or Mage, you analyze the psyches of others)
- Antiquarian (Mage or Rogue, you focus on studying about hidden historic historical past)
- Cultist (Any, you have got traits based mostly on the practices you endured whereas within the cult)
- Eldritch Sorcerer (Mage, you achieve entry to the ritual guidelines)
- Unconquered (Warrior, you’re Conan, you’re simply Conan)
- Bizarre Explorer (Envoy of Rogue, you’re a fantasy model of Indiana Jones or Lara Croft)
As with the skills, a number of of those work positive for Fantasy AGE video games that don’t deal with the mythos, both. I additionally respect that this product presents an Alienst as somebody who assesses one other particular person’s psychological state. I’m taking a look at you, D&D 3e. what you probably did.
Exploring the Mythos
This part contains expanded guidelines for Worry Exams. Within the core guidelines, spells and creatures would possibly trigger the character to achieve the Frightened Situation, however this provides extra cases of the right way to embrace Worry Exams in different features of the marketing campaign. It contains examples of what would set off a concern check and what the Goal Quantity could be to withstand concern in that occasion.
There’s a part that expands on Relationships and Bonds. It’s meant to reframe these in mild of how they can be utilized for a sport the place cult entanglements or ties to organizations can have an effect on the character, however I’ll be trustworthy. For some motive, studying by means of these examples, I understood Relationships and Bonds higher than I did studying the core rulebooks.
Cthulhu Awakens introduces the idea of Alienation. As a substitute of framing the stress of studying the reality-warping truths of the mythos as inflicting psychological sickness, Alienation introduces the concept that the extra you’re uncovered to the mythos, the extra your thought course of tries to make sense of the foundations of the mythos, making it more durable to deal with the physics of day after day life.
Alienation is tracked by establishing a bond to the ingredient inflicting the adventurer’s psychological stress, making a bond to Terror and a bond to Enlightenment. Ultimately, a personality with sufficient Alienation good points a Distortion, a trait that your character adopts to course of mythos truths which will hinder your day-to-day life. A few of these resemble what different video games would current as sanity results. One key distinction is that these don’t contain diagnosing a personality with real-world psychological sicknesses or randomly assigning an precise psychological sickness to somebody based mostly on stimuli which will make no sense for the particular person’s historical past and the occasion witnessed.
There are two new Stunt tables, the Enlightenment Stunts Desk and the Terror Stunts Desk. After getting bonds to an Enlightenment that has occurred to you resulting from supernatural psychological stress, you’ll be able to spend your stunt factors for brand new stunts, like quickly being expert at one thing your character has not skilled in or gaining a clue about one thing happening. Terror Stunts are antagonistic modifications that the GM can spend stunt factors to set off, supplying you with a further problem, like second-guessing your actions and forcing you to reroll in future exams.
The Dreamlands
This chapter lays out guidelines for the Dreamlands, together with the right way to enter the Dreamlands and what statistics change if you find yourself within the Dreamlands. As a result of this complement references mythos tales, the Dreamlands have particular trappings, just like the Cavern of Flame and the White Ship. To get this out of the best way, in case you die within the dream, you simply react badly to the expertise till some therapeutic will be utilized to you.
Waking up earlier than your dream ends forces you to make an Alienation check, probably supplying you with a Melancholy bond (which makes it more durable for actuality to be extra enticing to the Dreamlands), or, in case you roll poorly, one thing makes its manner out of the Dreamlands while you get up.
Mythos Magic
This part introduces a number of new guidelines to Fantasy AGE 2e. The primary is the idea of Eldritch spells. Eldritch spells don’t use magic factors; they use a Value Take a look at, a examine that reveals what toll the spell takes in your character. This exists alongside the usual model of a spell, so you’ll be able to know an Eldritch model of any spell. If you understand the Eldritch and non-Eldritch variations, you’ll be able to forged the spell as an Eldritch spell, however you might find yourself paying the factors and making an Eldritch Value Take a look at for a similar casting. Each Eldritch model of a spell manifests disturbingly in comparison with its typical manifestation. Since each spell will be discovered as an Eldritch Spell, there isn’t a listing of those spells, and also you’re by yourself to make up your disturbing manifestations.
Eldritch spells grow to be progressively extra harmful, including to the issue of Value Exams. You may relaxation to decrease the risk that’s build up, and while you endure Alienation, you cut back the issue that’s been build up since you’re seeing the truth the place these Eldritch spells make extra sense. Failing a Value Take a look at has many potential risks, from an ongoing penalty to spellcasting, fatigue, harm, or uncontrolled spells.
Eldritch Spells have their very own Stunt Desk, which lets you change what talents the goal makes use of to withstand the spell, frighten everybody witnessing your spell, or allow you to manifest the Elder Signal along with the spell you forged.
This part additionally introduces the Astral, Draining, Radiant, and Spacial Arcana, with eight new spells for every Arcana. Whereas these are grouped below the heading of Eldritch Arcana, these spells aren’t routinely Eldritch spells, however all of them will be discovered as Eldritch spells. That is in all probability the most effective examples of fabric that may be helpful exterior a mythos-themed marketing campaign. Essentially the most overt mythos ingredient is the Radiant spell Coloration out of Area.
Rituals are long-form magical workings that embrace the next steps:
- Outline the Ritual
- Collect Members
- Select Topics
- Carry out the Ritual
- Apply Potential
- Spellcasting Take a look at
- Pay the Price
Some instance rituals present you what spells are wanted for them, the overall rating it’s good to accumulate out of your stunt cube, what a few of the commonplace parts are (which can have an effect on the issue in the event that they aren’t current), and what functions are used. Along with the instance rituals, spells will be boosted by including functions to the spell, letting you have an effect on further targets, forged the spell at vary, and different modified results. Every one of many functions provides factors to the Potential of the spell, which is the overall of the stunt cube wanted to activate the ritual.
This part wraps up with Eldritch Gadgets, on this case defining the traits of Eldritch Grimoires. These often enable somebody to be taught the Eldritch model of spells included within the ebook, in addition to detailing some rituals, granting bonuses to somebody utilizing the ebook to repeat the ritual. Examples of grimoires embrace The Guide of Useless Names and The Rule of Yith.
Mythos Gamemastering
For a shorter complement, there’s some strong recommendation on operating mythos or fantasy campaigns that includes unknowable supernatural parts. I like simply digestible recommendation, and I respect that after a couple of paragraphs on every matter being addressed, there are a handful of bullet-pointed examples.
The part on operating campaigns contains three alternative ways to incorporate mythos parts:
Every part explains the distinction between utilizing the mythos sparingly, as one in all many recurring themes, or as the first theme of the marketing campaign and supplies an instance of what that appears like in a marketing campaign.
The monster part contains a few of the monstrous qualities from the core guidelines which might be particularly suited to mythos-themed video games and discusses how these qualities could seem in a mythos setting. There are eleven brand-new qualities within the PDF, in addition to the next templates:
- Deep-Dweller
- Otherworldly Stalker
- Eldritch
- Starspawned
The next new stat blocks seem within the complement:
- Amorphite
- Cultist
- Deep One
- Knight of Yith
- Minion
- Thanatosaur
A sidebar additionally talks about what monsters from the core guidelines work as mythos-adjacent marketing campaign parts.
Elder Signal
It is a packed complement for normal Fantasy AGE 2e and mythos-themed campaigns. The abilities, specializations, and arcana are accessible introductions right into a marketing campaign that doesn’t require an excessive amount of modification to the usual Fantasy AGE 2e assumptions. There’s very efficient recommendation on gamemaster recommendation for mythos-themed campaigns.
Unspeakable Data
The core Fantasy Age 2e ebook does job of explaining the significance of not overgeneralizing typical members of an ancestry, however I believe we may have used a extra targeted dialogue on a few of Lovecraft’s “tainted bloodline” themes. I like Alienation and Rituals, however each are very concerned units of guidelines which will complicate the usual degree of complexity in Fantasy Age 2e.
Certified Advice–A product with numerous optimistic features, however patrons could need to perceive the context of the product and what it accommodates earlier than shifting it forward of different purchases.
I proceed to take pleasure in these Inexperienced Ronin dietary supplements for numerous video games, particularly for the AGE system. It is a excellent complement, however to get most worth from it, you and your desk could have to be keen to embrace guidelines which might be slightly extra concerned. Some nice inclusions work with simply the core sport, but it surely helps to need mythos materials that brings in its personal further guidelines for max impact.
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