Very, very linear. Unnecessary, clunky dialogue is included for NPCs.

I loved the story, and the richness of the world felt real. The side quests, the backstories, the main quest, were all great.

A simple scenario you can read in a couple of evenings so you have something ready to run overnight. It's a "sandbox" style adventure where events don't follow any particular order (except some of them), so players can go wherever they want to, and they can even skip some places without the scenario being really affected. I missed more background on the Wendigo's legend from the "Peuni's" POV, and some actual pics of the paintings in the mine (the adventure does include many pictures and a helpful town map though). I'd like that the ending and climax involved the players more in the final ritual. IMHO it'd have been better if Dakota's father doesn't perform it but the players, and if he doesn't just tell them all the story about the Wendigo, but the players had to unravel it (maybe digging into the town hall files, or reading some ancient book in the town library or in Dr Craven's possession).

What I like most: it's easy and fast to read, it starts with tension from the beginning, the antagonists (both nude people and animals) are appealing, the setting is very "30 Days of Night"-esque, and the players got very involved with the npcs. What I'd improve: a picture of the mine paintings, more depth into the Wendigo's legend, and more involvement from player characters in the mystery's unravel and the final resolution.

The adventure doesn't have the best of the layouts, but in the end it delivers. All in all, a good choice.

Absolutely one of the favorite systems my group and I picked up in 2022. It's clean, quick, and doesn't present a lot of edge cases, has a mechanic that allows players to alter their rolls, and a relatively open system. Pay ten bucks for it, 'cause it's worth it!

An absolute romp and one of my gaming group's favorite OSRPG Horror adventures to date! It absolutely requires taking a little extra time to work on relationship-building between the NPCs and PCs if you want the full dramatic effect, but stretching out the beginning and adding a little bit of extra 'social' time is pretty easy. The text could use a once-over pass on editing just to make sure there's no fragments from previous iterations of the storyline and that names are spelt correctly throughout, but that's not a big deal and doesn't detract any from the adventure itself. Like the other OSRPG Horror games, the author does a very, very good job of ensuring that they've got a diverse cast for the NPCs which is always welcome. A treat!

This adventure has an okay concept (abandoned theme park) but falls apart at virtually every level. Playing it through as laid out by the flow of the adventure events is virtually impossible unless PCs are given little to no agency, almost two pages of the book are taken up with a sidebar for what to do when players try to access an area they shouldn't be in rather than simply moving the means they have to access the area until later in the adventure, and overall, the module asks a lot of both PCs and the GM as far as potentially ignoring incongruities that, when added together, expose a lot of logical and narrative gaps that are hard to address or reconcile. It's not unplayable by any means, but compared to some of the other OSRPG Horror modules, it has to be one of my least favorite, if not the least.

One of the most solid of the OSRPG horror adventures to date, it has a lot of pros and only a few cons to the adventure as a whole, and my players had a blast playing it. Refraining from having or minimizing the 'set' dialogue from certain NPCs would make interactions feel more organic, one or two NPC adversaries feel like they just disappear from the story without explaination, and a key item serves a very important purpose in aiding an NPC but no prompts are given to help characters identify that in the situation. Still, the character hooks and set-pieces made it a standout amongst some of the other adventure offerings in the OSRPG horror line

This is my second encounter with OSRPG. The game is pretty much self-contained. There is a core rule book for modern horror available, but you don't really need it for this adventure as all important rules are explained. Story-wise the players are thrusted into the classic D-Day beach assault, if they survive they learn that they're actually on a secret mission. While killing nazis are a good thing, hunting down an ancient evil takes priority. The game features maps (handouts and GM), NPC stats and picture as well as images of important items that can be found. Also stats and images of WW2-specific equipment for players to choose from. If you run this - make sure to give your players something to cut barbed wires with. I had to hand-wave it in and it felt kind of weird to do.

My group got through this adventure in three sessions, including character creation. The game feels dangerous as modern weapons really hurts and a day at the beach can have very different meanings depending on the beach. I almost killed a player with the first landed shot, but the "Cheat death" mechanic stepped in and did it's job. Only issue there is that it is an extra roll, so in futurre I may only have players roll for it if it is a lethal injury and otherwise just subtract 10% and only roll the reduced dmg. This worked both ways though and my players could very effectively put people down once they got a hit. Very nice balance between feeling vulnerable and powerful.

There are compelling NPCs with their own motivations and interacting with them can impact the story. My group seemed to really like the NPC encountered about halfway through. Very nice tie-in to provide info and also drive the story forward. The scene in the forest felt weird when I read it, but acting it out made a really powerful statement in the game, so well done. The BBEG at the end was amazing. After picking up a few flammenwerfers my group felt confident that they could take on the Reichsritter. As it appeared, they were still cocky. It then made two attacks that would've insta-killed one of my three players and suddenly the tone changed into a frantic last stand against an enemy that hit hard and didn't seem bothered by pain or injury. For the sake of spoilers I'll just say that it was an epic showdown, but sadly it failed. Still, even that felt like an appropriate end to the story.

This game feels fun, focused and despite the simple story, very well thought out. While the story is linear there are places where the characters can make decisions that really impacts the game. The one thing I would change if I run it again, apart from what I'e written above would probably be to start off with a scene before the assault. They'd get some basic briefing about what to expect on the beach and would also be introduced to the priests and their actual mission. I highly recommend this adventure. As a GM I had fun, my players had fun. The system this all runs on is quick and easy to grasp for the most part. Perfect for those game days where someone can't come or need to stay away from your regular campaign for a few weeks. It might be a bit long for a one-session game, but if you streamline the beach assault a bit it's not impossible.

1. If this is your first rodeo with OSRPG - get the modern horror rules. They're easy to read and follow, but you'll need them as the rules are not explained in this adventure.
2. This adventure relies on the skill Investigation - which is not a base skill in the modern horror rules, make sure your players are aware of this.

This was my first OSRPG gig and I'm definitely coming back for more. I ran this with a small group of two players and we ended up having so much fun that we couldn't finish the game in one evening. The game features a small cast of NPCs that the PCs can interact with, they're pretty well varied so there should be something for everyone. As the story progresses there are several handouts that makes the game come alive, from the map of the mansion to strange items found within. There are scripted sequences that allows the GM to easily set up a scene and interractin between the NPC (that the PCs can partake in), or show of the different motivations. One of my favourite parts played out exactly like it's written in the book, even with my players faling silent for a solid minute after revealing the background of an NPC. Pure gold. Events are suggested throughout the game, giving the GM a good idea of what goes on where in the mansion. My players really enjoyed the big twist at the end, so thumbs up for this one. Another thing they very much enjoyed was the fact that the game is inspired by an old legend / poem. It gave some depth and realism to the game which was very welcome.

There are some speling errors in the adventure, even one annoyingly on one of the handouts. It happens. I'm not saying spelling and grammar needs to be perfect, but it's annoying when it's on one of the things you put before your players to look at. My biggest gripe is one of the available NPCs. A pretty important one. No spoilers, but essentially this NPC acts consistantly during the entire game - until the start of the endgame. Once the lawyer reads the will this NPC does a complete 180. I understand why this happems from a writer's point of view, but it doesn't fit the NPCs defining traits at all. In my game I changed the nature of the NPCs last appearence to a stubborn last stand. If I run it again I will make it into a real ally to the players, trying to give them info, but afraid to say anything since something is always watching.

For a full 5-pointer I would've liked this NPC to be a bit different, and have a short version of the game rules included so the game would be self-contained. Apart from these two points the game is well-written and very fun. I will run it again if I get the opportunity.

I first downloaded one of these One-Shot RPG booklets some time ago thinking it was a supplement for OpenQuest. Flipping through it a little bit I was intrigued by the concise ruleset and the sheer giddy enthusiasm of some of the supplements that went with it. I decided to show it to my group to see if they would be interested in trying it out for a session.

My pitch didn't go over so well. Although I understood the basic system well enough there was just something about having a base percentile skill and then adding a modifier based on difficulty my group just didn't go for. Really, I think the main issue was that these are a bunch of longtime RuneQuest/Call of Cthulhu/BRP players that simply like having one basic skill number they can look at on a character sheet and immediately know what to roll under, and they just weren't enthused about doing anything differently or newfangled when it came to D100 based game systems. Ah, well, so much for that- it was hardly the first time I was interested in trying something out that just didn't grab the others. And so I moved on.

...Except that I didn't. Days passed. Weeks passed. And somehow my thoughts just kept coming back to these small One Shot RPG booklets. Maybe there was something about those trimmed-down skill lists that made me question "do we REALLY need all those BRP style skills for a game that will probably only last a session or two?" Or maybe it was those outrageously fun adventure covers that made me feel like a kid looking through bargain bin VHS tape covers and finding gems such as Dagon or Beastmaster all over again. Somehow, I just couldn't let go of what I had seen in these OSRPGS games. There was something there that just... Really made me want to play them.

And then, randomly one day on the drive back from work, it hit me; I could "repackage" the way the mechanics are done without actually changing anything. See, by default let's say that you have a fighting skill of 20%. In this game system you would then add a 50% (for a total of 70%) if you were attempting a normal task, or you might add a 30% (for a total of 50%) for a challenging task, etc. For whatever reason it was the idea of adding variable bonuses that was throwing my group off... So what I did instead is just went ahead and pre-calculated the 50% to each skill so that they were all simply listed as what you would need to roll under for a normal task. That way if someone attempted a difficult task they just subtract 30% from what was on the character sheet instead of trying to add various bonuses to the base number.*

In short, I just made the character sheet look more like something more familiar to a longtime BRP player and that was it. Mathematically it was all the exact same thing.

I made a second pitch to the group and this time it went over much better, so now I have a game all lined up to finally try this system out! I'll be running The Covenant of Dagon in a week or so, so I'll post how things went there afterwards.

But you know, whether that game turns out well or not I would still recommend that anyone gives this game a chance. I've been gaming for nearly three decades so I've seen games come and go, and I can spot a work of gaming quality and love. I believe that the One-Shot RPG System has both going for it.

*In case I'm not explaining this well, under the "precalculated" system a new character has one skill at 80%, four at 70%, and eight a 60%. Now you just subtract from those numbers when rolls are more difficult. For whatever reason subtracting penalties (rather than adding bonuses) just felt more 'right' to a bunch of old school "roll under" grognards even though nothing is really mathematically different.

Recently, I soloed my way through OSRPG Fantasy: Rise of the Vampire (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 14 pages). It is an adventure for One-Shot RPG System Rules: Dread Quest Fantasy Rules (same place and price, 45 pages). For the solo engine, I used The FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit (same place, 613 pages). For my PCs, I used a knight, a warrior, three wizards, and one undead.

So, they picked up their quest at an inn and a few hours later they were on the road and up against four bandits wanting money. The undead PC frightened them off with her frightening presence. The next day they arrived at the old castle and talked to Lord Greystone. He sent them out back to the cemetery. It was there that they had to deal with monsters and traps. The ghost of a wizard did give them some good advice. The vampire fight was awesome. They did kill it and gave the castle lord the news. He confessed his crime and asked for death. Angela the knight killed him just after giving Drexa a look. At this point, the PCs are supposed to return the horses to the inn, report in to the quest giver, and go pay the guild fee. They are in no hurry to do this. They are going to hangout at the castle and “manage” it for a while. Give this fun RPG a try!

Actually you could call Drexa a necromancer. She thought it was a secret, but I guess not . . . .

Recently, I soloed my way through OSRPG Fantasy: Rise of the Vampire (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 14 pages). It is an adventure for One-Shot RPG System Rules: Dread Quest Fantasy Rules (same place and price, 45 pages). For the solo engine, I used The FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit (same place, 613 pages). For my PCs, I used a knight, a warrior, three wizards, and one undead.

So, they picked up their quest at an inn and a few hours later they were on the road and up against four bandits wanting money. The undead PC frightened them off with her frightening presence. The next day they arrived at the old castle and talked to Lord Greystone. He sent them out back to the cemetery. It was there that they had to deal with monsters and traps. The ghost of a wizard did give them some good advice. The vampire fight was awesome. They did kill it and gave the castle lord the news. He confessed his crime and asked for death. Angela the knight killed him just after giving Drexa a look. At this point, the PCs are supposed to return the horses to the inn, report in to the quest giver, and go pay the guild fee. They are in no hurry to do this. They are going to hangout at the castle and “manage” it for a while. Give this fun adventure a try! Actually you could call her a necromancer. She thought it was a secret, but I guess not . . . .

A very solid and entertaining slasher-style adventure. I'm a sucker for 'summer camp' styler horror so this was a great find. The plot is simple enough for beginning GM's/directors, the pregenerated characters are a breath of fresh air, away from the normal cliches and the killer is suitably creepy/twisted. Add to that some colouful graphics and its a winner. I myself will be using this with Slasher Flick for a bloody, disgusting evening. :)

There is Something Wrong With the Rats is a fun adventure for One-Shot RPG. It is an investigative adventure that takes place in Germany in the year 2009. The RPG system I used was Wicked Pacts a Modern-Day Game of Magic (DriveThruRPG/248 pages). I did use The Solo Investigator’s Handbook to solo this 43 page adventure. The adventure includes a map of the manor (28 rooms to explore), 8 NPCs (and a dog), and several items and clues to find. I used the six first level characters that are included in Wicked Pacts (warlock, demon hunter, grunt, shadow, seer, and scribe).

The adventure started with Simone discovering that she is a very distant relative of Otto Richter. She was entitled to an inheritance and invited to a reading of the will. She was warned in a dream by a talking dog. For this reason, she invited her other five team mates. Soon after they got there, there was a dinner. Her team mates ordered dinner from the same caterer and ate later. There was a lot exploring going on and Audrey was able to use her Unlock spell to open a locked secret door and a metal safe. When it was time for sleeping, several people had to share rooms. Jerome (PC) and Gwen (NPC) shared a room and they had their own nighttime adventure. For my playthrough there was only one major battle and it was of a spiritual/magical/psychic nature (the second day). For the battle, Rod conjured up his Fire Lash but was reluctant to use it. He was afraid he would hit one of his team members. So, when the Big Bad died, and the rats were still a problem, he used it on the walls. The manor did catch on fire and all six of the PCs were able to escape. The bad news = Simone did not receive her inheritance money. The good news = the dog survived. Give this a try!

Really nice! My party had a lot of fun with the ring of silence, using it to shut down the matriarch's spellcasting by chucking it into the middle of her chambers.

Are sahuagin considered intellectual property? Because the deep spawn are pretty clearly sahuagin, just reskinned to be transmuted humans rather than a distinct species. I just used standard sahuagin, the sahuagin priestess and the sahuagin baron for simplicity.

My only real complaint is something fairly consistent across a number of the mini quest line: Editing errors. There are punctuation and the occasional spelling error in a number of these books and I would recommend a proofreader. Heck I'd do it myself. Wouldn't be too hard since these are at most 6 pages long plus the obligatory SRD printing.

Overall excellent work, I look forward to seeing more!