Fun product, very well written. Players enjoyed it.

"Revelry in Torth" is a sandbox adventure by Venger Satanis. The action mostly takes place at Aryd's End, a city lost in a desert, in a post-apocalyptic world that lives in an eternal night. The setting is a blend of Sword & Sorcery, Lovecraftian mythos and sci-fi à la Frank Herbert. If we discard the art and other paraphernalia, we get approximately 12 pages of setting rules and description and 12 pages of adventure out of 44 pages.

As for the adventure, it consists of different encounters (or "vignettes") in Aryd's End (or a few days far from it), some of them relating to a general campaign arc where the players might (I do write "might") get involved into the murder of a noble, and will be summoned to the royal palace by the local Barbarian king. The whole contents of that book is really evocative of a decadent (rather oriental) S&S city, no doubt. But this is no full-fledged adventure : what if the players don't mess with the different encounters ? Alas, the very general background information as well as the paucity of information given in some encounters oblige the GM to add much more preparation before the gaming session.

Venger Satanis gives me, here, the impression of being a talentful cook with excellent ingredients but who can serve to his guests (because of a lack of time ???) nothing else than a succulent ketchup.

The reviewer in "Tenfootpole.org" wrote : "This module is everything I would like Xoth to be". To go on with a culinary comparison, then Xoth's "The Spider-God's Bride" would be a nourishing but tasteless dish of meat. Since "Revelry in Torth" is basically a succession of encounters, I think it could be best used as such, in any fantasy universe featuring a decadent city.

Therefore, I am puzzled in front of that product : clearly it is literarily speaking interesting, but technically a mess. I know that Venger Satanis can do better (cf: Isles of Purple-Haunted Putrescence), maybe he should have charged one more dollar and delivered a brilliant adventure standing on its own. So my rating may look severe : I just want to warn purchasers.

Buy it - really buy it - if you plan an adventure in a S&S decadent city and already have an other RPG background that you want to enhance with Venger Satanis' vivid scenes. Otherwise, you may feel disappointed.

Revelry in Torth is an OSR adventure/sandbox by the mad sorcerer Venger Satanis (who judging by artwork seems to be an immortal wizard).

The tome is a mini sandbox/city that gives DM's lots of new toys to play with.

Torth is set in the fifth age. What you need to know is magic and technology flourished in previous ages, humanoidkind's robotic servants sought to rise up, and to stop the revolt powerful wizards magically nuked the world.

As far as tools go, we are presented with two new classes. The Shadow Priest gains dark umbra powers from devotion to the less bright areas of the nebulous realms outside our own. The Wandering Minstrel is a cool, non spell-casting bard. Their abilities are pretty useful and have cool names, my favourite being Fingering the Spanish Guitar aka Spanish Fly which makes someone who would normally be attracted to the minstrel full of red hot passion. The book also gives us nine magic items (my favourite being the Devil's Tooth) and five spells (including the awesome Creeping Crimson).

We are presented with the scorched planet of Torth and various bits of info about it (including an outline of the ages). Venger also introduces us to the tribes and secret societies of the world and gives us insight into magic (and a nifty and dangerous magic drug).

The adventure/sandbox itself takes place in and around Aryd's End. We are presented with some backstory, stats for important npcs and their secret forces, and a classically awesome random rumor table. What follows is a rough plot and random characters to get your party's adrenaline pumping and blood spraying. There is enough here for multiple sessions and it's definitely not a railroad situation.

If you want a nice sandbox for some Heavy Metal or Conan inspired action, Revelry in Torth is just what you need.

This is a great adventure supplement/setting book for those who are interested in a swords and sorcery game. I don't see Revelry so much as an adventure module as it is a detailed location with all sorts of things characters can choose to get involved with and have many adventures from. Details include secret societies, rumor tables, encounter tables, and several people and events inside and outside the city that could pull characters in etc. It's O5R compatible so it will work with any d20 DnD based game with only minimal modifications. (It wouldn't take too much effort to adapt it to something else if you chose, since it's pretty light on the mechanics.) There are even a couple cool new character classes that are very evocative of this type of setting as well. I find it a most useful product since it is very similar to the type of game I like to run: non-linear non-quest based sessions where the players have the freedom to explore as they will and do as they want. It's only about 40 pages so there is plenty of room to add in your own ideas. A GM would have an easy time of pulling out content from here and using them in their own S&S campaign setting if they wished. It is worth the price of admission.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This module clocks in at 44 pages, 1 page front cover, 4 pages editorial, 1 page inside of back cover, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 37 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This book was moved forward in my review-queue due to me receiving a print copy in exchange for an unbiased and critical review.

All right, so, from the get-go, let me make one thing perfectly clear: This is not a module in the traditional sense...or rather, it actually is. What do I mean with this cryptic statement? Basically, this is a wide open sandbox, like some of the best Frog God Games, Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Raging Swan Press offerings - what we have here is basically a mini campaign setting, suffuses with encounters and adventure hooks to develop and pursue - and it is actually better off for it, but more on that later; first, let's discuss why this setting is unique.

The world of Torth is not a nice place - beyond Kort'thalis Publishing's emphasis on the mythos and its dark deity-like entities, the first thing a forlorn traveler will note as he arrives on the dunes of these wastelands is the absence of the sun, for, generations ago, the most powerful magic-practitioners of the world utilized the very sun to annihilate the android uprising that sought to end mankind; ever since, Torth's eternal night is illuminated by the 7 moons, which also feature in the way locals measure the time. With the catastrophic cataclysm, the dragons of old vanished and the world would have been doomed to suffer an eternal winter, but thankfully, the planet houses vast catacombs wherein arcano-technical supercomputers generate sufficient heat to stave off this dire fate...at least for now. With civilization in ruins, new settlements have arisen from the bleak sands and one of said cities would be Aryd's End, where the lion's share of this module takes place.

If that sounds awfully scifi for you, then probably because it is...or can be. The emphasis on the technological aspects is subdued enough and one can, should one choose to, alternatively run this as a straight homage of Robert E. Howard-esque Sword & Sorcery - indeed, the cover's rendition of the ruling trio of Aryd's End should drive home pretty well that, beyond the dark aspects in both theme and world-building, this very much could be a place you can find in a given novel by the old greats f the eminent genre. From a fluff-perspective, the general sense of immersion is significantly enhanced by the inclusion of well-structured information on what current Torthians know, which also includes the aforementioned means of tracking time and popular sayings that help depict the natives with sufficient local color.

Compared to other Kort'thalis Publishing-supplements, the supplemental rules provided do feel more streamlined and refined: Two character kits/archetypes are provided with the Shadow Priest and the Wandering Minstrel. Both have in common that they no longer focus exclusively on a narrative function and instead manage to provide abilities (like permanently turning a foe into a shadow, destroying him...until the intervention of another shadow priest...) that drive narratives in an intriguing manner, while also sporting more details: AoEs and a more precise rules-language show the growth of the author. Beyond that, it is my happy duty to state that, beyond OSR, 5th Edition aficionados will have an easy time converting and running this one: With Dis-/advantage and similar terminology strewn in, conversion work is rather simple and fast, particularly regarding the numerous storied magical items featured in this book, which coincidentally also constitute one of my personal highlights in this book: Take e.g. the trident sandstorm, once aligned with the seas, that can now control the very sands. The new spells provided herein suffer, comparatively, a bit from more ambiguity, but radical subjectivism's option to eliminate an item from the perception of those subject to the spell, to give you one example, is pretty awesome.

Now before I go into the spoilerific sections of this review, let me talk about one component: This module is billed as "mature content" and I understand why: Much like the traditional Sword and Sorcery genre, it is a brutal, dark world that is depicted here. At the same time, I never considered the offering excessive in either violence or sexual content - none of the artworks, for example, depict nudity. In fact, most music videos nowadays sport more. As a German, I do not share the experience of cultural sexual stigmatization, but still - I quite frankly have wracked my brain for quite a while and couldn't come up with anything within these pages that could be considered offensive. Sure, it's dark, but Game of Thrones is literally more violent and sexual. Perhaps I'm odd, but I've grown up with Conan-tales and comics and as such, am of the firm conviction that this module should not be considered problematic in any regard. So no, we have neither offensive, nor gratuitous sexuality or violence here - they are themes, of course, but the module handles the whole matter tastefully.

All right, that should cover the basics, onwards to the SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

...

..

.

All right, still here? Great! This sandbox assumes the PCs will enter Aryd's End via one way or another - and, in its dust-choked streets, it will be only a matter of time before the PCs are drawn into the Byzantine power-games that are played here: 4 tribes with customs etc., one more savage/problematic than the other, esoteric schools and 3 secret societies follow their agendas in the streets and behind silken curtains, as the masked revelers of the city follow they debaucheries and excesses. Within the alleys and roads of Aryd's End, mysterious stranger with golden masks may warn you of Shaitan's brotherhood; you may witness (or even participate) in the conspiracy-driven murder of a noble and be framed for it - and there is so much more to find. The rumor-table sport hooks galore and beyond the walls, giant oozing slug-brains that enslave minds, scorpion-squids and lethal tentacle-armed gorillas await foolish adventurers as just the perfect supplement to their diet.

The streets of Aryd's End are no less dangerous, though - suffused in the tradition of Lovecratiana, the influence of the mythos, from the Yellow King's court to Carcosa, can be felt within the post-apocalyptic streets - but only if you know, where to look. Depending on your tastes, the very world may be o a timer, as a mad sculptor seeks to complete a statue that will usher in the rise of the dread Old Ones and end the world of Torth...and trying to stop him may see you killed in a horrible way...or not. Taking a note from how magic is handled in traditional Sword & Sorcery, there is also the intriguing local drug market to contemplate - where vastly improved arcane power is just one highly addictive drug away...certainly, said drugs have catastrophic repercussions sooner or later, but judging from the former adventurer-junkies, not everyone with magical talent sports common sense.

Speaking of the tropes of classic Sword & Sorcery - it is only a matter of time before capable adventurers like the PCs have to come before barbarian king Dran, his beautiful partner, the seductive Yara (who doesn't wish to ruin her figure - hence her hand-maiden is pregnant...with what may or may not be Dran's child) and the mysterious shadow priest Viraj - let's hope the PCs heed the local custom and attend the audience appropriately blood-spattered and they may actually survive the powerplay going on between the powerful figures at the top of Aryd's End's food-chain...heck, they may even survive a dark elf assassination attempt, if they're capable and lucky! And sometime in the future, who's not to say that they may sit upon that throne themselves, much like a certain Cimmerian?

Perhaps the PCs will also have their chance to stop a berserking head of a summoned elder deity, sent as a magical assassin for some creatures...and in the desert, they may either test their mettle and wits or even begin a relationship with none other than the beautiful Idryssa the Worm Soceress. Of course, more heroically-inclined adventurers may test their mettle against the kidnapping plan of one of the aforementioned secret societies out in the desert...or they may inadvertently awaken the echo of one of the legendary 7 casters of old, upsetting the power-dynamic of the whole region - but all of that, and more, is ultimately up to the players and GM: The seeds are here; the details will happen.

3 well-drawn maps of mini-dungeons partially used in the hooks of this sandbox are btw. also provided in this book.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, both on a formal and rules-language level, they are more precise than what I've read before by Kort'thalis Publishing - kudos! Layout adheres to a printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard and the book sports copious absolutely stunning b/w-images strewn through the book. The pdf version f this book has no bookmarks, which is a significant comfort-detriment - I strongly encourage you to get the softcover instead: Beyond the glossy covers, it is a nice book to have in print...and more comfortable to use that way. As mentioned, the cartography provided for the mini-dungeons is nice.

The previous offerings I've read by author Venger As'Nas Satanis are suffused and informed by a thoroughly old-school adherence to heavy-metal aesthetics, spiked with copious amounts of Lovecraftiana, Sword & Sorcery and gonzo weirdness. The latter component is less pronounced in this one: Basically, "Revelry in Torth" is a pretty serious setting/module that could have featured in just about any of the classic tales: The writing is superb, the local color sufficiently raw and the vast plethora of things to do, of threads to explore, renders this book significantly more useful than what you'd expect from a book of its size, with the eye-winking here mostly pertaining nods towards the mythos and other classic tales - like in the original stories.

The blending of subdued sci-fantasy aesthetics, mythos, Conan-esque imagery and post-apocalyptic set-ups is sufficiently unique to lend this its own identity, without restricting its adaptability regarding e.g. the Conan-setting, the World of Xoth or even more mundane fantasy worlds, though, in the latter case, I'd still advise for a plane/world/time-jump: Much of the awesomeness of this book derives from the excellent ideas and local color provided for Aryd's End.

So no complaints apart from the pdf's missing bookmarks? Unfortunately, no - there is one thing I truly would have wished for: A map of Aryd's End. As depicted, and this may be intentional, the city and its revelries feel opaque, hazy, dream-like, almost - a bit like an opium-fueled nightmare between wonder and horror, ecstasy and terror. While a proper map would have somewhat lessened this component, it would have also helped GMs envision the sandbox as a whole, helped kicking off the sandboxy aspects by giving the map to the players and asking: Where do you go from here? Now the good thing is that this is intended as the first trip to Torth, with at least two more waiting somewhere down the line - so we may yet see that.

Still, do not let this deter you from checking this out - even as a scavenging ground of fluff, this is worth the fair asking price: The visuals conjured forth are intriguing and unique and any fan of dark fantasy and sword and sorcery in particular can look forward to this book being a great read. My final verdict hence will clock in at 5 stars, omitting my seal of approval only due to the lack of a city's map. For the electronic version, please detract a star due to the lack of bookmarks...I really recommend the print over the electronic version for this one.This module clocks in at 44 pages, 1 page front cover, 4 pages editorial, 1 page inside of back cover, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 37 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This book was moved forward in my review-queue due to me receiving a print copy in exchange for an unbiased and critical review.

All right, so, from the get-go, let me make one thing perfectly clear: This is not a module in the traditional sense...or rather, it actually is. What do I mean with this cryptic statement? Basically, this is a wide open sandbox, like some of the best Frog God Games, Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Raging Swan Press offerings - what we have here is basically a mini campaign setting, suffuses with encounters and adventure hooks to develop and pursue - and it is actually better off for it, but more on that later; first, let's discuss why this setting is unique.

The world of Torth is not a nice place - beyond Kort'thalis Publishing's emphasis on the mythos and its dark deity-like entities, the first thing a forlorn traveler will note as he arrives on the dunes of these wastelands is the absence of the sun, for, generations ago, the most powerful magic-practitioners of the world utilized the very sun to annihilate the android uprising that sought to end mankind; ever since, Torth's eternal night is illuminated by the 7 moons, which also feature in the way locals measure the time. With the catastrophic cataclysm, the dragons of old vanished and the world would have been doomed to suffer an eternal winter, but thankfully, the planet houses vast catacombs wherein arcano-technical supercomputers generate sufficient heat to stave off this dire fate...at least for now. With civilization in ruins, new settlements have arisen from the bleak sands and one of said cities would be Aryd's End, where the lion's share of this module takes place.

If that sounds awfully scifi for you, then probably because it is...or can be. The emphasis on the technological aspects is subdued enough and one can, should one choose to, alternatively run this as a straight homage of Robert E. Howard-esque Sword & Sorcery - indeed, the cover's rendition of the ruling trio of Aryd's End should drive home pretty well that, beyond the dark aspects in both theme and world-building, this very much could be a place you can find in a given novel by the old greats f the eminent genre. From a fluff-perspective, the general sense of immersion is significantly enhanced by the inclusion of well-structured information on what current Torthians know, which also includes the aforementioned means of tracking time and popular sayings that help depict the natives with sufficient local color.

Compared to other Kort'thalis Publishing-supplements, the supplemental rules provided do feel more streamlined and refined: Two character kits/archetypes are provided with the Shadow Priest and the Wandering Minstrel. Both have in common that they no longer focus exclusively on a narrative function and instead manage to provide abilities (like permanently turning a foe into a shadow, destroying him...until the intervention of another shadow priest...) that drive narratives in an intriguing manner, while also sporting more details: AoEs and a more precise rules-language show the growth of the author. Beyond that, it is my happy duty to state that, beyond OSR, 5th Edition aficionados will have an easy time converting and running this one: With Dis-/advantage and similar terminology strewn in, conversion work is rather simple and fast, particularly regarding the numerous storied magical items featured in this book, which coincidentally also constitute one of my personal highlights in this book: Take e.g. the trident sandstorm, once aligned with the seas, that can now control the very sands. The new spells provided herein suffer, comparatively, a bit from more ambiguity, but radical subjectivism's option to eliminate an item from the perception of those subject to the spell, to give you one example, is pretty awesome.

Now before I go into the spoilerific sections of this review, let me talk about one component: This module is billed as "mature content" and I understand why: Much like the traditional Sword and Sorcery genre, it is a brutal, dark world that is depicted here. At the same time, I never considered the offering excessive in either violence or sexual content - none of the artworks, for example, depict nudity. In fact, most music videos nowadays sport more. As a German, I do not share the experience of cultural sexual stigmatization, but still - I quite frankly have wracked my brain for quite a while and couldn't come up with anything within these pages that could be considered offensive. Sure, it's dark, but Game of Thrones is literally more violent and sexual. Perhaps I'm odd, but I've grown up with Conan-tales and comics and as such, am of the firm conviction that this module should not be considered problematic in any regard. So no, we have neither offensive, nor gratuitous sexuality or violence here - they are themes, of course, but the module handles the whole matter tastefully.

All right, that should cover the basics, onwards to the SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

...

..

.

All right, still here? Great! This sandbox assumes the PCs will enter Aryd's End via one way or another - and, in its dust-choked streets, it will be only a matter of time before the PCs are drawn into the Byzantine power-games that are played here: 4 tribes with customs etc., one more savage/problematic than the other, esoteric schools and 3 secret societies follow their agendas in the streets and behind silken curtains, as the masked revelers of the city follow they debaucheries and excesses. Within the alleys and roads of Aryd's End, mysterious stranger with golden masks may warn you of Shaitan's brotherhood; you may witness (or even participate) in the conspiracy-driven murder of a noble and be framed for it - and there is so much more to find. The rumor-table sport hooks galore and beyond the walls, giant oozing slug-brains that enslave minds, scorpion-squids and lethal tentacle-armed gorillas await foolish adventurers as just the perfect supplement to their diet.

The streets of Aryd's End are no less dangerous, though - suffused in the tradition of Lovecratiana, the influence of the mythos, from the Yellow King's court to Carcosa, can be felt within the post-apocalyptic streets - but only if you know, where to look. Depending on your tastes, the very world may be o a timer, as a mad sculptor seeks to complete a statue that will usher in the rise of the dread Old Ones and end the world of Torth...and trying to stop him may see you killed in a horrible way...or not. Taking a note from how magic is handled in traditional Sword & Sorcery, there is also the intriguing local drug market to contemplate - where vastly improved arcane power is just one highly addictive drug away...certainly, said drugs have catastrophic repercussions sooner or later, but judging from the former adventurer-junkies, not everyone with magical talent sports common sense.

Speaking of the tropes of classic Sword & Sorcery - it is only a matter of time before capable adventurers like the PCs have to come before barbarian king Dran, his beautiful partner, the seductive Yara (who doesn't wish to ruin her figure - hence her hand-maiden is pregnant...with what may or may not be Dran's child) and the mysterious shadow priest Viraj - let's hope the PCs heed the local custom and attend the audience appropriately blood-spattered and they may actually survive the powerplay going on between the powerful figures at the top of Aryd's End's food-chain...heck, they may even survive a dark elf assassination attempt, if they're capable and lucky! And sometime in the future, who's not to say that they may sit upon that throne themselves, much like a certain Cimmerian?

Perhaps the PCs will also have their chance to stop a berserking head of a summoned elder deity, sent as a magical assassin for some creatures...and in the desert, they may either test their mettle and wits or even begin a relationship with none other than the beautiful Idryssa the Worm Soceress. Of course, more heroically-inclined adventurers may test their mettle against the kidnapping plan of one of the aforementioned secret societies out in the desert...or they may inadvertently awaken the echo of one of the legendary 7 casters of old, upsetting the power-dynamic of the whole region - but all of that, and more, is ultimately up to the players and GM: The seeds are here; the details will happen.

3 well-drawn maps of mini-dungeons partially used in the hooks of this sandbox are btw. also provided in this book.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, both on a formal and rules-language level, they are more precise than what I've read before by Kort'thalis Publishing - kudos! Layout adheres to a printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard and the book sports copious absolutely stunning b/w-images strewn through the book. The pdf version f this book has no bookmarks, which is a significant comfort-detriment - I strongly encourage you to get the softcover instead: Beyond the glossy covers, it is a nice book to have in print...and more comfortable to use that way. As mentioned, the cartography provided for the mini-dungeons is nice.

The previous offerings I've read by author Venger As'Nas Satanis are suffused and informed by a thoroughly old-school adherence to heavy-metal aesthetics, spiked with copious amounts of Lovecraftiana, Sword & Sorcery and gonzo weirdness. The latter component is less pronounced in this one: Basically, "Revelry in Torth" is a pretty serious setting/module that could have featured in just about any of the classic tales: The writing is superb, the local color sufficiently raw and the vast plethora of things to do, of threads to explore, renders this book significantly more useful than what you'd expect from a book of its size, with the eye-winking here mostly pertaining nods towards the mythos and other classic tales - like in the original stories.

The blending of subdued sci-fantasy aesthetics, mythos, Conan-esque imagery and post-apocalyptic set-ups is sufficiently unique to lend this its own identity, without restricting its adaptability regarding e.g. the Conan-setting, the World of Xoth or even more mundane fantasy worlds, though, in the latter case, I'd still advise for a plane/world/time-jump: Much of the awesomeness of this book derives from the excellent ideas and local color provided for Aryd's End.

So no complaints apart from the pdf's missing bookmarks? Unfortunately, no - there is one thing I truly would have wished for: A map of Aryd's End. As depicted, and this may be intentional, the city and its revelries feel opaque, hazy, dream-like, almost - a bit like an opium-fueled nightmare between wonder and horror, ecstasy and terror. While a proper map would have somewhat lessened this component, it would have also helped GMs envision the sandbox as a whole, helped kicking off the sandboxy aspects by giving the map to the players and asking: Where do you go from here? Now the good thing is that this is intended as the first trip to Torth, with at least two more waiting somewhere down the line - so we may yet see that.

Still, do not let this deter you from checking this out - even as a scavenging ground of fluff, this is worth the fair asking price: The visuals conjured forth are intriguing and unique and any fan of dark fantasy and sword and sorcery in particular can look forward to this book being a great read. My final verdict hence will clock in at 5 stars, omitting my seal of approval only due to the lack of a city's map. For the electronic version, please detract a star due to the lack of bookmarks...I really recommend the print over the electronic version for this one.

Endzeitgeist out.

There are places of sword and sorcery violence where heroes are needed and this is such a place of high adventure and sorcery. Welcome to Revelry In Torth By Kort'thalis Publishing.This adventure contains mature content and adult themes.Its not for the kids and should be run with a mature group of players!

Revelry In Torth is listed as rather mature product which it is but it shares the ironic and pulptastic roots of Venger's other adventures but this time we've got an Orientalist twist on the adventure and setting. It clocks in at only a mere thirty nine pages and if you think oh DM that its a mere thin volume of wasted space nothing could be further from the truth. Revelry in Torth is packed wall to wall sandbox desert sword and sorcery 80's inspired pulp adventure with a good dollop of Lovecraft thrown on top. But it continues Venger's ethos of part sand box and part kitchen sink source book. You've got two brand new classes in this one, The Shadow Priest and The Wandering Minstrel. Each class is a stand alone character class that can be used outside of Revelry. But really they've been made to tie into the backdrop and history of Torth. But that's really where the product shines in the world of Torth itself. Venger has done a bunch of clever background table magic and fluff to bring the tribes and history to life with the introduction of the world. The Shadow Priest is a character class that could easily be overladen on to your existing favorite cleric PC within your retroclone system. The Shadow Priests have some very ominous and twisted shadow based abilities. The Wandering Minstrel is a nice twist on the Bard but leans far more in the direction of a sword and sorcery take on the class pointing directly at the thief and rogue respectively. Then we get into the heart of this dusty desert driven world of tribal sword and sorcery with tribal history, backdrop information, and some twisted sorcery takes on the familiar tropes of a world of violence and historical horror thrown into the mix. This is a world where the use of magic is forbidden and taboo but you've got Lovecraftian horror and cults right around the corner. Each tribe values magic but the secret societies plot in the shadows. If your thinking this is Dark Sun, forget it. This is more alike the California desert seen in every cheesy sword and sorcery movie from the 80's with better casting. The whole thing feels like a homage to Frank Herbert Dune with its tribes favoring magick and sorcery but with a 'don't look and touch' as the forces from beyond bend societies from the shadows. There's even a magick enhancing drug throw into the mix and plenty of tribal details from colour schemes to backgrounds. Very helpful stuff. Now there's something else about Torth that he's done, its open source for anyone to use and he wants us to add to it. I didn't know that until I started looking through the original Kickstarter for Revelry. And that takes us right into Aryd's End. This is the prime adventure location and gets a whole section of its own. The flavor here is a cross section of a sword and sorcery urban setting right out of Venger's imagination. We get sayings, local culture, some weird bits on the city and local locations. Then we jump into the rulers, NPC's and scumbags. These are the kinds of folks who might rule wonderfully aren't the kind of folks you really want to leave alone with each other someone could be murdered and probably will. PC's should watch out around these folks.

The adventure itself takes place within and around the city of Aryd's End. There are a series of rather sinister encounters which rope the PC's into the darkness surrounding the city. There is a ton of dungeon crawling action with some downright nasty monsters! Get your Lovecraft on with some of these nasties in spades. This is an adventure with all of the high marks of being perfect for an OSR retroclone system adventure that can easily be thrown into a wide variety of high end adventure systems to challenge PC's. You can run this with OD&D,AD&D first edition,OSRIC, hell even the Lamentations of the Flame Princess setting with some modification to the background as the PC's are the ugly foreign mercenaries. But the truth is that this is a perfect bolt on adventure for the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea or Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. The adventure has a vast array of material to mine from and use in those systems. The PC classes in Revelry are perfect for both games, the world is solidly done and easily incorporated, and there's plenty of room to add more to it. All in all Revelry packs a lot into its thirty nine pages of old school solidly done sword and sorcery adventure.

Excellent product. I enjoyed reading all of it except for one scene. Very thought provoking and I now have plans for my group to take a trip to Thoth.

Revelry in Torth (by Venger Satanis) is a location-based sandbox adventure inspired by pulp Sword and Sorcery and Lovecraft. It is 39 page book with a color cover and grayscale interior artwork. This is a review of the PDF version. Sadly I have not had an opportunity to playtest it yet.

Background and Setting Information

The book begins with a couple of pages of fiction: two moody short tales and a bit of background info about the setting. All of this content sets the tone: good stuff so far. Everything is easy to read (except for a few exotic alien or demonic names) and contains many familiar tropes found in the author’s works (for example, those accursed snake-men are always up to no good).

There are two new classes: the Shadow Priest and the Wandering Minstrel. Both gain a new spell-like ability at each level, each of which are usable once per day.

The Shadow Priest doesn’t specify any level progression or saving throws, but since it lists some prerequisites I’m assuming that it is a template that is added top of another class (similar to the Compendium Classes in Dungeon World). All of the abilities relate to shadowy effects. There is one power at level 5 that is a save or “die” (which is reversible under specific circumstances). This seems a bit overpowered to me but I’m not familiar with many OSR specialty classes with which to compare: I’m only familiar with the core classes presented in Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

The Wandering Minstrel is a slightly different take on the Bard, and it uses the level progression of a Thief or Rogue class. Each of its abilities consistently relate to music or social charms that manipulate the emotions and minds of others. As an aside, when I first read the name of this class I was expecting a take on the “Wandering Jew” figure: a character who is cursed with endlessly wandering the land until something very important and earth-shattering happens. I might use that idea some day.

As a quick aside, this entire book is inspirational that way. Either because it taps into familiar media (such as Frank Herbert’s Dune or even the Bible) or simply due to the author’s creativity. I frequently stared off into space thinking of evocative desert landscapes with eerie constellations forming in the sky, foretelling doom and terror.

Next is some information about the setting, grouped under a few different headers: what a native PC of Torth would know (including what they’d know of history and of some grim portents), an overview of the five historical “ages”, and a rundown of the four most prominent tribal groups, which are kind of like this setting’s races (but without that sort of mechanical distinction). Each of these tribes have their own core beliefs, favored factions or cults, typical behaviors or philosophies and even colour schemes (a nice little way to help the players recognize each one during encounters). Most of them seem to favour occult study: a nice surprise, as I was expecting warrior-centric tribes.

After there’s information on three secret societies or cults: each of them are appropriately ominous and worship sinister figures. A GM could mix and match these tribes and cults to create a great variety of NPC allies or antagonists. It would be cool to give each of them some defining physical characteristics in order to further differentiate them, such as vibrant color skin tones as on Barsoom or animal traits from those of frogs, insects or, very fittingly, serpents.

Magic Use in Torth has its own unique twists as well. The biggest irony of the setting is that magic and sorcery are taboo and distrusted. Which is interesting considering that three out of the four most prominent tribes appear to value study of the occult, demonology and sorcery. This may be one of the reasons for so much inter-tribal strife, for each tribe, and faction, has their own ideas on how magic works and who’s most worthy to use it. I like this idea very much.

There’s mention of a magic-enhancing drug that feels like an homage to the Spice in Frank Herbert’s Dune. I felt that this was appropriate, considering that both Dune and Torth seem to draw some inspiration from middle-eastern folklore and terminology. Sadly I could not find any descriptions of these drugs other than very brief, yey interesting, flavor text. There is, however, a specified mechanic for nasty side-effects for them. I admit that I was a little confused by this, but then again, most OSR games are gleefully cruel this way.

The Main Location: Aryd’s End

The main location for this adventure, Aryd’s End, gets its own section. There’s some history, which has nods to Lovecraft, and what I think is another nod to Dune: a secret twist about the city’s established defences. I may have read this last part incorrectly, but my interpretation of it sure felt exciting. I began to hope that this great story hook gets used in the adventure itself (sadly, it doesn’t, but it might in the sequel).

There are descriptions of a quirky cultural habit, as well as some sayings: most of which are ominous, of course, but one or two made me chuckle. I rather enjoyed the small section on cuisine: there are some neat things in there, as well as a possible adventure hook (hint: the town’s precious honey comes from bees… giant bees who live in a mountain!).

There’s a quick rundown of a few interesting locations within town. It is implied that these buildings will all be featured in the adventure later on.

Lastly we get introduced to some important NPCs. These include the rulers of Aryd’s End and their closest associates. There are some neat possibilities here, in terms of motivations, but I wonder how these characters will ever be used in the adventure itself, or how any of their secrets will come to light (regardless, it was entertaining to read this part). These characters are all kind of scummy and would fit in well in the lecherous and “backstabby” courts of Westeros.

The last page before the adventure is a table of Rumors. Each player character will know one of these, determined randomly, and it is recommended that the GM decides on their accuracy or whether to use them as supplementary encounters or hooks. These rumors are mixed in terms of practicality : some are about vague and high-level background material, others could be used directly in social or combat encounters. In addition to this table is a sidebar that presents an Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic. This can be used to simplify circumstantial dice modifiers. Those familiar with the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons will know what this means, although the actual rule is handled a bit differently.

The Adventure

The Adventure takes place within and around the city of Aryd’s End. The author recommends that the party begins about a day’s journey away. There is a table of random encounters (usually monsters); there are some interesting beasties here (the Giant Oozing Slug Brain with Spider Legs stands out) but I don’t find much use for random monster tables in general. After that, there are a few encounters and a mini-dungeon, all of which, I feel, were included to set the mood, if nothing else.

Once the party reaches Aryd’s End they are beset by a variety of encounters, most of which seem to to involve one or more NPCs approaching them and pulling them deeper into the meta-plot or into the general mood of crazed revelry. There are a handful of encounters that, if ignored, can cause huge catastrophes or otherwise greatly affect the setting.

There is one crucial event at the very start which affects the players regardless of how they deal with it or not. What I like about this is that it isn’t railroading – per se. The players don’t have to do anything specific or aren’t expected to react in a scripted way. Nevertheless, this one encounter triggers the main “plot”, if you will, and sets things in motion. I like these kinds of encounters because they give a goal to an otherwise aimless sandbox. Along these lines are one or two encounters that reveal a timeline, of sorts, which will come to pass. This also, theoretically, focuses the players into doing something proactive.

There are a handful of locations for the players to explore with some NPCs to interact with, including a curiosity shop and a bordello. Sadly, neither location has much detail other than basic descriptions and a key NPC or two for the players to socialize with.

There is one encounter which does feel railroad-y: the party is summoned to audience with the King, which cannot be refused. If the party isn’t interested, they will be forced into doing so; if they fight, they will be hunted and killed. I’m not crazy about such encounters, and would rather handle this sort of thing differently (example: I’d have one of the king’s aides personally invite them as guests for a big party, which would feel more subtle and yet allow for more frenzied decadence).

The rest of the encounters follow the same formulae: an NPC approaches the party and gives them an ominous bit of advice or warning; an event occurs which moves the story forward, whether or not the party decide to get involved; an NPC encounter which may or may not be hostile (depending on the party’s reputation, current condition or behavior) or a micro-dungeon to explore and loot.

While all of this felt a bit simplistic and straightforward, it all felt very atmospheric and ripe with chances for interesting roleplaying. Despite one or two encounters that kind of forcefully involve the characters, this adventure is rather open-ended. Because of this, I would have liked a few more locations to explore or things to encounter if the party goes off randomly. If I ever run this, I’ll bring out Vornheim to fill in the gaps, for sure.

The last two pages cover some magic items and spells. A few of the magic items have cool background stories and at least one nifty power that goes beyond the “mundane” +1 bonus. They’re all suitably thematic. The spells are interesting, if not disturbing.

The Afterword illustrates the author’s design goals and plans. He mentions that this is the first part in a trilogy and so I’m eager for more. I admit that after The Islands of Purple-Hearted Putrescence, I’m a bit spoiled: I was expecting a few more random tables of unique encounters and setting-building material.

Summary

Cons:

• a lack of a table of contents; the content felt a bit disorganized
• the headings were sometimes unclear about what each block of content was about
• the runic glyph watermark on every page was a bit distracting (note that this is a pet-peeve of mine: many RPG publishers do this)
• I would have liked a few more locations or random tables of encounters (not strictly combat ones)
• as with other works by the same author, some features contain subject matter unsuitable to all tastes

Pros:

• lots of rich flavour, colour and mood: it would be easy to create your own material or to hand-pick suitable stuff from other works to add to the setting -very memorable encounters: this book can be mined for ideas and inspiration
• really nice artwork and maps
• easy to read text and layout: friendly conversational tone

Overall I liked this work, although not as much as the Islands of Purple-Heated Putrescence. The setting, while open-ended, felt a bit “smaller” than I expected. I’d like to see more information about the key location, Aryd’s End. Regardless, I found a lot of the material very inspirational: whether I end up running this or not, I can mine this for ideas. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Kort'Thalis is bottled lightning! Venger's approach to gaming combines the gravitas of Lovecraft with the cheesy self-aware camp of a Troma film.

Torth is a wide open apocalyptic land of Eternal Night populated with deadly scorpion squids and plotting Shadow Cultists. The NPCs are lovingly crafted. Where the first book, Liberation of the Demon Slayer was an exploration into the dungeon crawl, and the second Isle of Purple Haunted Putrescence was a large hexcrawl, this one is a book of atmosphere. Scenes, plot twists, follow up suggestions.

When writing an adventure for an RPG, the author must dance a fine line between locking you into a coherent narrative and dumping a pile of legos in your lap and encouraging you to make something yourself. This book is balanced in that way.

It has the same quality and spooky character of art we have come to expect. I look forward to its sequels.

As always great dark fantasy work. It fits the proper mood of a somber world.