The Casket of Fays is an amazing new little fan zine from a dedicated group of fans of Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson's cult classic RPG from the mid-80s. Named for an iconic magical artefact in the game, the Casket perfectly captures the eerie and deeply immersive feel of the world of Legend a place like an echo of our own world but filled with both grim dark perils and faerie whimsy.
Like most zines it is a relative light-weight coming in at just 20 A5 pages. I for one wish it was a super heavyweight. Its 8 articles span a diverse range from new spells, magical items and monsters to a new spellcasting class, adventure setting, a noteable NPC write up and some tantalising tasters for the exotic Thousand Islands setting including new cultral weapons of the region, complete with illustrations.
A real treat for someone who grew up loving black and white line art in RPGs and gamebooks is the inclusion of work by the very talented Brockprint. His barbarian reminds me of the work by the extraordinary Angus McBride.
Like choosing your favourite child I found it hard to pick a favourite article or articles. But I particulalry enjoyed the Mere Troll/Hag, Scarred Pearl and the Barony of Severac. So much goodness packed into 20 pages.
I can't wait for next issue.
And best of all, it's free!
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