All of the "Oddities" offerings from Skirmisher are awesome. They give GM's great ideas for random strangeness, intrigue and adventure that can be injected into a game campaign/setting. With some tweaking the oddities could even be adapted to an array of RPG settings. Great for plot and adventure hooks as well. Highly recommended.

All of the "Oddities" offerings from Skirmisher are awesome. They give GM's great ideas for random strangeness, intrigue and adventure that can be injected into a game campaign/setting. With some tweaking the oddities could even be adapted to an array of RPG settings. Great for plot and adventure hooks as well. Highly recommended.

All of the "Oddities" offerings from Skirmisher are awesome. They give GM's great ideas for random strangeness, intrigue and adventure that can be injected into a game campaign/setting. With some tweaking the oddities could even be adapted to an array of RPG settings. Great for plot and adventure hooks as well. Highly recommended.

All of the "Oddities" offerings from Skirmisher are awesome. They give GM's great ideas for random strangenessa dn intrigue that can be injected into a game campaign. With some tweaking the oddities could even be adapted to an array of RPG settings. Highly recommended.

One of the things I like most about Skirmisher Publishing is the amount of detail they put into a product. In the Player's Guide to the Aegean we are presented with all manner of options for character creation. This product presents a myriad of ideas ranging from the various Human nationalities to their take on elves and dwarves. There are also 'monstrous' creatures like centaurs as character options.

I really enjoy this product. It is written with BASH in mind but it can be used as a resource for most any fantasy game. The versatility and detail lend themselves well to translating to other games.

Well worth the investment.

Following Men & Monsters of the Aegean, the folks at Skirmisher Game Development Group now give BASH gamers the Player’s Guide to the Aegean a guide to creating heroes for their Swords of Kos fantasy rpg set in the lands and isles around the ancient Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

As with the last BASH product, the book is a mix of modern and old artwork, some black and white and some in colour. We are given beautiful colour maps of the greater Mediterranean area and the Aegean in close-up. The Isle of Kos, the center of their setting is also mapped out in black and white and perfect for handing to every player in a cost effective manner.

The Player’s Guide provides a quick history of this world of ancient Greek legend as it would have progressed a few centuries, without the dominance/interference of Rome. In this alternate Grecian history there was a great cataclysm a century earlier that brought many monsters and races back to the world (including a few new ones).

This book provides players many options for the two most fundamental aspects of their characters: Where they come from (culture); and, what race they are. For cultures there is the Catalhoyuk (mountainous region that has forsaken metalwork and technology), Greater Peloponnese (warrior peoples of Sparta and environs), Attica & City State of Athens (lands of the traditional Hellenic culture), Republic of Rhodes (nation of seafarers), Kos & the Aegean Isles (a melting pot of the region, also strongly tied to the sea), Kingdom of Lydia (a nation run by the wealthy, for the wealthy), Tetrarchy of Anatolia (an aggressive land of humans and hobgoblins), Grand Duchy of Porphyris (an island that is home to many pirates), and Abbadonia (a tyrannical nation of islands rules by manticores).

Each of these nations/regions is given a quickly absorbed, summary description and lists of required or common skills, advantages, disadvantages, and powers that players must, or might buy as part of their background. The “required” items, if a region even has one at all, is just one skill, Stat level, or disadvantage that is intrinsic to the people of that land. The “common” listings are just great suggestions that fit the typical citizens with this background. BASH is a points-buy system and there are no free rides, so the player must pay for any of these traits from their starting character points. Each region section provides an example of a player using these trait offerings to build their unique and representative background (a great touch here).

The races section gives a good mix of traditional races from Greek myth as well as the usual DnD staple: Antaean (large 7’ tall peoples), Arachnaean (think DnD drider or spider-centaur), Centaur, Cynocephalian (a dog-headed people), Cyprean Bull Centaur (bovine centaurs), Dragonkin (humanoid dragon people), Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Merfolk (Princess Arial-like, fish-human hybrid), Myrmidon (ants, given humanlike form, with bodies covered in a natural, bronze-like chitin resembling plate armor), Orc, and Satyr (Pan-like, goat-human hybrids). Oh yes, and human, by far the most dominant species of the setting, is available but not given any special treatment.

Some of these races might be more, or less, common than other types, depending upon what areas of the Aegean you travel. As with regions, these races each have required and suggested traits and powers offered for the players. Each description illustrates how the race is integrated into the Swords of Kos setting. The race section provides unique powers (like Arachnean Prophecy, wherein an Arachnean character with the Domestic/Weaving skill, may take the Clairvoyance power with the limitation of must weave to use). Collectively, the races offered make a great and broad selection sure to meet most players’ tastes.

Overall, this is a good book for a setting that mixes traditional fantasy with Greek myth.

I played this and it has to be the most imaginative and well written adventure I've played in a long time. There was a perfect balance of roleplaying with action and fighting. Then enemies were imaginative and it left you feeling immersed in the world. The group I played with had some bad luck (hilarious critical fails) in the beginning, but we prevailed. If you are loking for a fun immersive adventure, this is for you.

Skirmisher always produce high quality products and this is no exception. I'm delighted that they have embraced 5e Dungeons and Dragons as one of the systems they produce for.

Into the Mines of Moira is a light-hearted, high-action adventure in an unusual but familiar dungeon-style setting. The first thing that strikes you is the quality of the art; the illustrations, both colour and black and white, are exceptional and the map is clear and easily understood. There's even the potential to develop the area further if one so wished, due to its open ended nature. The story itself has some great comedic moments and yet also provides a serious challenge to players. Set in the iconic Swords of Kos Campaign Seeing, the adventure can very easily be slipped into anywhere with minimal change. To say more would be to give too much away but there is plenty of material here for any GM to make use of, the pregens inthe appendix are a particular highlight.

I like this relatively low powered monster, as an interesting creature that could be used in anumber of ways. Its not-necessarily hostile nature also means it could be more of a role-playing encounter than a lot of monsters, and its firey nature means it could become valuable or sought after.

I am seriously enjoying the "100 Oddities" series from Skirmisher. Random little things that add flair and a sense of presence to the locale in question, the Oddities are as much fun to read through as they are to put into action. Snatch up the pages and in seconds you'll be outfitting your local cemetery with things that your players can fixate on - whether they are of true import to the goals at hand or not. These can each be fleshed out into plot seeds, hooks, or red herrings at your leisure.

As long as Skirmisher keeps putting these out, I'm going to keep buying them. They serve so many purposes when designing a setting, and beyond that, you could simply take a random item from within these pages and craft a scenario around it with ease.

Don't miss out! Grab some creepy graveyard artifacts!

As always, Skirmisher hits a homer with this one. Another in their "Oddities" series, this supplement details strange items that might be found by a party, whether adventuring, casualy visiting, or looting. It can also be used for the establishment of hooks, for a general feel of the place, or as that memoable little bit of flair that leaves your party reminiscing about the trip for years to come.

Each of the Oddities has just enough description to give a feel for it, but little enough that the GM/Referee/DM/whatever can give it its own personality.

For less than a penny apiece, you can't go wrong with the flashes of insight assembled here.

This is a fun little write-up that actually takes D&D cosmology into account. I think that makes this version of Krampus even easier to use. Do yourself a favor. Pick up this pdf and through some silver (or maybe even gold) to Skirmisher.

The oddities section is a great playing aid, providing mundane to minimal powered items that add character and intrrigue to a rooms. The rooms and entrance/exit sections I did not find as useful. If my players are in a wizard's tower, I generally have designed that tower and am not looking for a random mix of elements.

Night of the Krampus! is a Xmas-themed adventure for the Basic Action Super Heroes role-playing game. As the title suggests, the players must face Krampus, Santa Claus' opposite number. Not so obvious is that you must play superhero children. This does not mean that the game is intended for kids, though it certainly can be played with them. The game also allows it be played with the original characters, even adult ones, though those might have a harder time because Krampus has the power to corrupt adults.

All of this might sound cheesy, and it is- but Xmas stories like this are an old tradition for superheroes in comics and cartoons. Also, despite a few silly moments (like fighting a giant christmas turkey) the story is surprisingly dark: all of the children, for example, are orphans; even the super-villain kids who work for Krampus make you feel bad for them because of their origins. Also, adults get turned into monsters, children are endangered and put in chains, and Krampus' plan goes beyond punishing naugthy children- something very bad will happen if the heroes don't stop it!

The story is short and simple, yet enjoyable. If played right you get to be a kid who gains superpowers during Xmas (from Santa Claus) and must then save the world! Ironically, the Jolly Old Elf himself is missing from the story. He shows up to deliver the powers and is never seen again. There isn't even a character sheet for him. Now I understand he was only a plot device, but you know many players would have wanted to interact with him, especially children. Not to mention that the question of "So why does Santa let a bunch of novice kids handle something so serious?" is left hanging.

The art is cartoony, which helps the impression that this a goofy adventure. On the other hand it diminishes the scare factor as well. I feel it did a good job describing the characters, although for some reason there are no illustrations of Krampus' super-children to go with their character sheets.

Rules-wise, I was a bit puzzled by certain details in the character sheets. For example, I don't feel Red Shift really needs the Instant Change Advantage for her shape-shifting powers, while Terryn does. And many characters did not have matching sets of Advantages vs Disadvantages. But this is nit-picking; the game is perfectly playable as it is.

Overall, Krampusnacht is both a nice superhero and Xmas adventure; good Narrators might even make it better by goading their players into helping their "evil" counterparts overcome their loyalty to Krampus rather than just beat them up.

Krampus is coming this Christmas to the children of the St. Nicholas Orphanage, and these forgotten kids will not be dreaming of sugar plums and opening presents in the morning: they will be busy trying to save the world from a hellish fate.

Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus! is a nightmarish, holiday adventure featuring 5 protagonist heroes, aged 10-16, given super power gifts from a being that may have been Santa Claus (but not necessarily so, if you find that too silly) and must use their newfound abilities to fight an unholy, supernatural creature and its helpers.

If you’ve seen the movie Krampus (and why wouldn’t you?), you’d know how creepy this demonic entity can be? Sure the artwork for this product looks a little campy and cartoonish, but don’t let that detract from what is otherwise a quite crafty adventure.

The adventure takes place over three acts. Act 1, “Have You been Good Little Boys & Girls?”, sets the stage for the story with a visit from St. Nick and gifts for the children. This is the fun bit where players get to do a lot of roleplaying amongst themselves, the other children and the various adults (including the jolly gift-bearer, himself). It is also the point where the weirdness begins to unfold and their young characters ultimately find that they must use their Christmas ‘gifts’ to save the other children.

I won’t go into too many details as I don’t want to spoil the fun but Act 2, “It’s Krampusnacht, Tonight!”, dials up the badness level when the players encounter and confront the Kinder (Krampus’ little helpers, children like themselves with their own unique gifts) in their neighbourhood and first meet the Krampus itself.

Act 3, “Krampusnachtocalypse!”, is the final showdown between the heroes and Krampus. If they succeed, then all is well for another year: but if they fail…

The Bad:

• The art for this adventure is cartoonish and might unfortunately turn off a few buyers.
• It’s a Christmas-themed adventure which will probably dissuade some from purchasing what usually turns out to be half-inspired scenarios meant to fill the holiday season with related tropes.
• If you haven’t seen the Krampus movie then you are probably like me and rolled eyes at the idea of a Christmas ‘demon’. Seriously, a demonic nemesis to good old St. Nick? Please…
• Super children. You play super-powered children fighting a lame Christmas demon… Okay, I’ll stop there. You probably catch the drift.

The Good:

• The art. Yes, it is cartoonish, but its actually quite nice. If this were an adventure for Monsters and Other Childish Things (a very serious horror game, aimed at adults playing child heroes) then it would fit very nicely. Sure Storn Cook, Jon Gibbons, or some other artist could have turned out some seriously cool, superhero-worthy artwork for Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus!, but that would have been expensive and Skirmisher Game Development Group would never have made even half of their investment back. As it is, William T. Thrasher made some character images that are quite interesting. He shows us each of the five heroes both in, and out of, costumed identities (among other things in the adventure).
• Ages. The heroes are allowed to define the age range of their heroes across a 4-5 year span (10-16 years). They can be the older children at the orphanage, dealing with teen issues, or young kids struggling with the awkward tween, transition stage of life, where they are not quite children and not yet the cool teenagers they’d like to be.
• A campaign starting point. Whether or not you want to include an actual Santa Claus in your game, this adventure provides an interesting origin story, campaign launching framework for young heroes within a supernatural theme. There is a lot of potential for superhero adventures set outside of the usual mutants and four-color genres. You have a flame-based character that can transform into an insubstantial, smoke form; a four-legged, centaur warrior; a rock-bodied, earth controller; a tough, regenerator with the ability to radiate a damage field; and, a shape changer with a red-coloured, give-away tag. All characters are built around the 25-point, Street-Level campaign scale (some a couple of points over, others a couple under).
• The Kinder (! Spoiler alert !). These young villains make interesting, possibly recurring, opponents for the heroes for an ongoing campaign. Darklord, Gargoyle, Grim and Tween Wolf are villains characters on par with the hero’s super abilities. They are presented with both motivations and a “Greatest Fear” that adds some interesting colour to their character.
• Ritual magic (! Spoiler alert !). Krampas is not just a big bad boss character for the heroes to beat; he is a supernatural creature that intends to use some heavy magic that could dramatically change things on Earth, forever (depending on how well the heroes succeed). The ritual spell being used is a great example of an Extended Check in action. It puts the heroes under the gun when trying to end this villain’s diabolical plan and makes a great, exciting climax for the adventure.

Overall, Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus! is a worthy super hero adventure, that just happens to use Christmas-themed elements. There are plenty of advice offerings to use this adventure differently (as part of an existing campaign, or to even dissect and re-skin for use in new ways).

Do yourself a favour and pick it up!