Blood & Bullets 2nd Ed. (B&B) is a 40-page retroclone set in the Old West. Its rules will be familiar to any fan of OSR, with minor modifications to include firearms, settlements, encounters, and typical Western obstacles. At the same time, the system avoids any supernatural elements, so it doesn't include rules for magic.

Its main design achievement is its four character classes, which avoid racial and gender stereotypes, opting for very general archetypes that allow for great adaptability to your players' preferences.

However, although it offers some ideas about Western conventions and basic ideas for adventures, there are no specific mechanics to introduce them into your game. It doesn't even include a selection of recommended readings or movies to better understand the genre.

In terms of images and layout, the edition is extremely simple, one might even say amateurish. Certainly, they don't help immerse you in the setting.

In conclusion, if you already have an OSR game, B&B will only offer you four character classes, a list of firearms, and six pages of tables and ideas for your games. However, its low price makes it interesting for those who are well-versed in the Old West and only need a few rules to play.

Mr. Hess provided a copy of this module when I responded to a contest on his social media account. This is a nicely produced adventure with a straightforward premise. The stats are built for White Star, but the content is easily adaptable to any science fiction TTRPG. By altering the need to arrive on the planet, the adventure would work in fantasy settings too. I look forward to the next release from WPGL.

Black Books really hits the sweet spot middle-ground of being a fun Lovecraftian game that is neither too crunchy with page/rules bloat nor so airy that it's barely a game. It's a terrific adaptation of the Cthulhu Mythos to a rock-solid, familiar d20 system.