Building Better Worlds is jam-packed with goodies for both players and Game Mothers with the same top-notch production values you've come to expect from Free League. The player's info only slightly expands the character options, however, the sandbox exploration campaign is excellent, and it's a welcome alternative for those GMs looking for scenarios that focus more on the exploration of new worlds. My detailed review discussing each chapter can be found here: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/19/19191.phtml

Here there be monsters within these pages - a Mephisto review

As befits a good fantasy role-playing game, the obligatory bestiary has now also been published for Dragonbane, which presents a whole arsenal of new monsters on 150 pages, but also summarizes the creatures from the basic box once again in these pages. The book is written from the in-game perspective of Theodora Sneezewort, who has compiled this manual of monsters and contributed her own perspective and interpretations.

The book is divided into nine sections. The nightkin, i.e. the goblinoids, are introduced, followed by the rare kin, insectoids, trolls, giants, beasts, undead and, of course, dragons and demons. A special feature here is that some of these new kin are also playable, provided the gaming group agrees on this, so that in addition to the familiar six kin, there is a good arsenal of other playable options with orcs, ogres, goblins, hobgoblins, frog people, karkions, cat people, lizard people and satyrs.

The structure of the monster descriptions always follows the same pattern. There is a short introductory quote, interspersed with a little black humor, then a short descriptive text by the fictional author, who always discusses personal experiences and special aspects in her descriptions and does not provide a simple schematic summary. There is, of course, a stat block, and for humanoid creatures, these stats are usually presented for two or three different classes. If it is a playable variant, there is, of course, also the corresponding special ability available to a character. The central elements, however, are the random encounter and the adventure seeds, whereby the random encounter describes a spontaneous meeting with the creature, while the adventure seeds can provide approaches for complete adventures.

Each of the monsters has also been excellently illustrated by Johann Egerkranz and David Brassegala. The selection of monsters largely comprises the usual stereotypes. There are lizardmen, minotaurs, mermaids, fairies, centaurs, different variants of giants and trolls, griffins, hydras, medusae, pegasi, ghosts, skeletons, vampires — or, in other words, all the usual suspects for such a book There are also some more special and unusual entries. For example, the insectoids, the ant people, the beetle people and the spider people are certainly more uncommon creatures. But the Swan Maiden, elven were-swans so to speak, are also rather unusual representatives.

In the case of dragons, the different variants, from newly hatched baby dragons to ancient dragons, are classified as separate entries, and various types of demons are presented in the demons section.

The Dragonbane Bestiary is very well presented. Both the structure and the graphic design and illustrations are excellent. The entries are also written in an entertaining way, making this bestiary easy to read. There are lots of little anecdotes, but also random encounters and adventure ideas that you can use to get started right away in the game.

The fact that Dragonbane does not use lots of complicated characteristics and special attacks, with monsters having adW6 table for different attacks, means that this part is sometimes a bit repetitive, so that monsters are sometimes similar in terms of pure game statistics. In my opinion, however, this is completely outweighed by the description because the way the creatures are presented here is very vivid.

Whether you want to allow the additional kin for players depends on the individual group. Of course, this expands the possibilities vastly. On the other hand, the question of whether you actually wish to play goblins, for example, if they do take damage from sunlight as nightkin, is somewhat questionable. Nevertheless, the options have increased significantly here, and there are probably also players who have only been waiting for such unusual opportunities as being able to play cat creatures.

The Dragonbane Bestiary thus remains true to the approach of simple rule mechanics and traditional fantasy in a well-written and beautifully presented design. This means that anyone who enjoys Dragonbane will get a fitting and excellent monster manual. The only downside of the PDF version is that, unlike the PDF version of the basic box, the cardboard stand-up figures of the printed book are not included as print-out templates, so you have to do without them. Apart from that, this book is a recommendation for Dragonbane fans.

(Björn Lippold)

Fiery Angels

Fiery Angels is the second case file for the Blade Runner RPG, which fits perfectly with the case file from the Starter Set, but can also be played independently. This new investigation starts directly into the plot with an interrogation. There has been an incident at the headquarters of the Wallace Corporation in which a service technician for the company has been arrested. It is now up to one of the Blade Runners to find out whether the service technician is in fact a replicant.

However, this interrogation is just the start of a larger case, which not only develops in surprising direction and surprisingly quickly, but in which the player characters also meet Blade Runner legend Ray McCoy, who is to work with them on this case. It is up to the players to shed light on the life of the service technician and pursue the investigation through several locations. In doing so, the player characters become involved in a larger case that not only continues the events from the first case file, but also confronts the player characters with a larger conspiracy, illustrious characters, and exciting situations. And, as with Blade Runner mechanics, the clock is ticking — the players have to take focused action if they want to stop the conspiracy's plot. Fiery Angels, once again, manages to incorporate some of the more profound themes of the setting regarding the nature of replicants into the plot.

Fiery Angels is a well-made case file that should ideally be played as a continuation of the case from the starter set — also because decisions from the first case may have consequences here, as they influence the behavior of recurring characters. The case is mainly defined by investigative work but also requires the players to make decisions and draw unusual conclusions, as the plot probably features some surprises for the players and their characters. At the same time, the story continues the background of the game world surrounding the new replicants of the Wallace Corporation. The level of difficulty for the characters can become particularly high towards the final scenes.

The case offers many connections to the first Blade Runner film and the 1997 computer game (Ray McCoy was the protagonist of that computer game). For my taste, these links go almost too far, giving the impression that much of the story revolves around the same places and people. For my taste, the adventure should detach itself somewhat from the setting established by the movie and go its own way.

Apart from that, Fiery Angels offers an exciting adventure that is particularly coherent with the Blade Runner background, which can keep a game group enthralled for a few game nights and is a fitting second story of the larger story arc. Also, as with Electric Dreams, this case file offers great handouts like maps, mugshot, crime scene footage and ingame documents.

(Björn Lippold)

Zone Compendium 3: Die, Meat eaters, die!

The third Zone Compendium presents five additional special zone sectors. This time, the focus is on a cross-over with the Genlab Alpha setting, meaning that mutated animals play a central role here, although in various forms and roles.

The first of the five locations is the rabbit kingdom of Deeproot, which introduces a new faction to the zone, as militaristic mutant rabbits have built a burrow to protect them from the carnivores like a fortification. This location offers a potential threat to the player characters and their base, which can be dealt with in a number of ways.

Blackhand's Bar is a place where the player characters can meet with other factions in a neutral atmosphere. In addition to the bar as a meeting place, this setting offers another group, the so-called Zone Riders, which can become an interesting addition to the game setting.

The Garbage Masters is another location where an animal mutant tribe, this time of toads, has settled, searching for relics of bygone times in an old garbage dump. Of course, this potential treasure trove also attracts other parties, so this setting can develop in different directions depending on the player character's involvement.

The Island of Dr. Life also introduces a team that has escaped from Genlab Alpha and offers special services on its island, which may also be targeted by enemies.

Finally, the fifth scenario, the Squirrel Wars, revolves around a forest area in which mutated dogs and mutated squirrels engage in a long conflict that can potentially be broken up by skillful player characters.

As with the other Zone Compendiums, the five locations offer interesting starting points and a variety of possibilities between social interactions and battles: whether and what role these locations play in the player characters' campaign is largely determined by their decisions. In the case of Squirrel Wars, there is a loosely defined goal that the player characters can use to resolve the situation — provided they devote themselves to this zone accordingly.

Although knowledge of Genlab Alpha is recommended in the book's introduction, the information in this Zone Compendium is sufficient to at least understand the basics of how the animal mutants got into the zone and about their background. As with all Zone Compendiums, the key question here is whether the game master needs further suggestions for special zone sectors. If this is the case, and if you want to confront the player characters with the animal mutants from Genlab Alpha, then Die, Meat eater, die! is the appropriate supplement to enrich the setting of the game with further exciting as well as bizarre facets of the zone.

(Björn Lippold)

Чудова пригода! Зайняла близько 6 годин, гравці лишились задоволеними) Чекатиму наступних публікацій у Міфічній Україні!

I really enjoyed this adventure, it kept us on the edge of our seats. We loved the agendas which really led to a final dramatic confrontation. Definitely recommend this adventure.

Absolutely loved playing this with my game group. Really well written and easy to play.

Awesome. Inventive and balanced. Fits the tome of FL very well.

Awesome. Inventive and balanced enough. The whole "nasty insect mage" thing fits FL setting quite well.

This is great, exactly what I needed and felt missing from my games. I'll eagerly await "New Professions II"

Dragonbane is a great game from everything I've read thus far. It ticks a lot of boxes for me in terms of a game where the players aren't super heroic and the game can be a challenge that rewards creative thinking and problem solving. The ONLY reason I'm giving this 4 stars is that the core pdf has no tables for creating treasure or improvised weapons. In the physical set these are done with cards. While the PDF of the cards is included they are one card per page. Unless you know to set your print job to multiple pages per page it's a lot of wasted paper and I was unable to find a way to align the fronts and backs properly while doing so. Fortunately I have card sleeves and playing cards to hide that. Other than my gripe about the cards being required and not set up like any other card PDF I've every purchased Dragonbane looks like it's sure to bring tons of fun to my gaming table.

While this does have all the core things to make a character there are a few GLARING shortcomings that make it nearly unusable (even with the Core set PDF of the rules or the bundle).

1) There are no tables in the pdf for treasures, improvised weapons, and initiative. These are all done by cards included in the physical core set. The Roll20 package does NOT include any cards decks. This means there is no way to do improvised weapons or treasure without a lot of legwork on the purchasers part.

2) The Physical core set include a Solo adventure with tables to randomly detail rooms, traps, content, and in short a complete dungeon. These are NOT included in the Roll20 VTT package. It is also missing the 2 Heroic Abilities designed for solo play in that same book, not that they are hard to put in more pointing out the absence.

I purchased this in a bundle with the Core Set PDF and I have the skills and materials to produce all my own cards and such to use them to actually play Dragonbane with. If I did not have the ability to do that or i did not have the core PDF set this Roll20 module is unusable.

Over all a useful looking adventure. The town is usable right out of the book, but my question why no map of the town.

Nothing in there that I would expect from a Lifepaths system i.e. Tables to roll on wit a ton of different options to flash out characters. Here you basically just get lists of half-premade characters with two lines of very basic and superficial background story. Disappointing and useless. Even at its low price a waste of money.

DoD is back with a vengance!!! Lätt bästa edition av Drakar och Demoner. Man har lagt till modern speldesign och sparat det som var bra med gamla utgåvor för att släppa en produkt som känns fräsch men som ändå tar vara på sina rötter och ger oss en bild av sagans värld.