A short but effective encounter, perfect for when your PCs inevitably need to get to a church for healing or curse removal.

A Single Small Cut is not so much an adventure as it is an extremely detailed description of a particularly sinister magical item and the shambling monstrosity that it summons. Simple and to the point, this will likely take an entire game session to resolve, but would require minimal prep by the Referee.

Icing Oetiz contains two pages dedicated to a prehistoric scenario and two pages of rules clarification and options.

This supplement clarifies some of the more vague rules of ROLF and also provides some insight into how the game should be played. I think that after reading Icing Oetzi, I finally have a good grasp on how to play ROLF as it is intended. Essentially, ROLF is a dice-rolling game inspired by RPGs. Although ROLF is sold on a RPG store and looks very much like an RPG, its heritage is closer to dice games like Button Men.

There is a scenario included in which players recreate three possible deaths of Oetzi, an actual human being whose mummified remains suggests some serious violence in prehistoric Italy. I really like the idea of playing out three possible deaths of the character, like a big, dumb version of the Clue movie.

If NEULOW Games were to release a revised or deluxe edition of ROLF, the rules and scenario in this supplement should definitely be included as they provide the best guidance on how to have fun with ROLF.

This is a short adventure for two-players (one of which is the gamemaster) based on the adventures of Sailor Steve Costigan, one of Robert E. Howard's lesser known creations. Costigan is an unruly and uncultured sailor who solves all problems with his fists and the help of his little white bulldog Mike. Drawing closely on the source material, this adventure is filled with the pulpiest tropes possible and a sprinkling of old-school orientalist racism.

Having just reviewed the ROLF rule book and being left with uncertainties on the system, I'm glad that this adventure provides some insight on how to run a ROLF adventure. Although it is not clear in the rule book, this adventure makes it clear that ROLF should be played with a gamemaster who takes the role of the antagonists and describes the world to the player who controls the hero.

Unfortunately, this adventure includes Traits and Combat Maneuvers not found in the ROLF core rule book with little indication as to where to find the new rules. The adventure is supposed to be compatible with a game called The Violent Worlds of Robert E. Howard, which may be bundled with other ROLF products but does not have a listing of its own. I understand that ROLF is a very loose system that is spread out across dozens of cheap supplements, but it would be nice to have some idea what products are required to run an adventure.

Likewise, on at least two occasions the notes state that the protagonist is not supposed to attack during a fight. I'm not sure how that is supposed to work, especially since he is expected to win at least one of the fights. Perhaps I am missing some obscure rule or this is a poor way of saying he should be on the defensive, but I don't see how the encounter is supposed to go down with the punch-happy boxer keeping his hands in his pockets.

Assuming that the players have the all the rules required to run this adventure, it should prove to be pretty fun. The plot is very well informed by the pulp fiction conventions and has its tongue locked firmly in its cheek. There is plenty of old-fashioned racist phrases and Yellow Peril is a major theme of this adventure. If you have a hard time telling sincerity from satire, you may want to pass on this one.

Oh, and a tip on getting the most out of this adventure: Don't talk to the cops.

Yep, it's a "rollplaying game." I've heard an awful lot about rollplaying and how terrible of a thing it is, so I was surprised to come across a game that is all about the ill-aligned practice.

ROLF is a beer and pretzel's game about sexy muscle bound idiots who either want to kill each other or fuck each other. It's a game best played with a lot of beer and pretzels. This is the kind of game you bring to the table when you've lost the cognitive faculties for a more nuanced game. A dumb, frisky warrior is very easy to roleplay when you've had a few too many.

The game is based on a simple roll-low system based three attributes and there are no rules related to anything outside of combat. At only 10 pages, you don't get much more rules-light than this. There are some rules for Traits, for players who want more fleshed out characters, but the book makes it perfectly clear that your priority should be killing things, not telling an interesting story.

The one problem that ROLF may have is its initiative system. Each character makes two moves each round, but in a forward and back order. For instance, if there are three characters in a fight the order of moves would be ABCCBA. This seems like it would add some interesting strategy, but I can also see it getting a bit messy since Character C's first turn may be a reaction to Character A's move, but first they have to wait through Character B's turn to resolve if Character A's move is successful. This can get very dicey if more than three characters are in a combat, which puts a hard limit on how many people can play ROLF and what a gamemaster can throw at the players.

As I wrote that last sentence, I realized that there is no discussion of a gamemaster anywhere in this book. I assumed that there would be a gamemaster, but it's possible that ROLF is intended to be a GMless free-for-all game. There is mention of using ROLF for a campaign, but that seems impossible if this is the case.

ROLF is an incomplete game. The foundation is strong, simple and goofy fun, but you can't help but think that there is a lot missing from this game. It's important for a beer and pretzel's game to be as complete as possible since drunk players are not going to want to figure out a way for fair rulings on the fly. However, ROLF is very well supported by the publisher, so some of the holes in the system may be addressed in other releases.

With a list price of only $1.50, ROLF may be worth a look for your gaming arsenal. The concept of stupid, sexy fighters is certainly something that would appeal to gamers who need something simple and lighthearted. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it can match the quality of similar games like Old School Hack and Kobolds Ate My Baby.

As the first module for Basic D&D, Search of the Unknown has a history that makes it very appealing to a DM. If you're looking for a very old-school dungeon, this is it.

As an artifact of its time, B1 is an excellent read for any DM looking to become more literate on "how things used to be." The front matter contains helpful advice on running old-school games they way they were intended to be played.

As a dungeon, there are many cool and interesting locations in B1. However, there is also an awful lot of empty space and boring rooms with the simple purpose of housing a random monster. Why the monsters would be in these empty rooms is beyond me.

When I ran B1, I had to do it after some heavy modification. Essentially, I removed any location that didn't have something interesting or fun. While this resulted in a dungeon about half the size, it did provide an adventure that was packed with great high-fantasy magic and fun.

The latest printing of the LotFP rules has the publisher breaking from their tradition of compact box sets with a beautifully designed hardcover. Largely this is the same rules that appears in the Grindhouse Edition, with the exception of an overhaul to the layout and the addition of rules for early modern firearms and armor.

At this point I feel that there are enough reviews of LotFP as a game that I don't need to go into much detail in that regard. However, I do want to reiterate that this is an excellent game. I would go so far as saying that it is the best retroclone on the market. The changes that it makes to Basic Dungeons and Dragons are all excellent and greatly improve the game experience. When I run a game of "D&D," even with elves and dragons and magic wands everywhere, I use LotFP. It's just a good game.

Also, LotFP has the best character sheet I've ever seen. Everything a player would need to know is displayed clearly with no mental math and no rules memorization. Other game publishers can learn a lot from these character sheets.

If you want to see why this is such a great set of rules, even for high fantasy games which it is not intended for, check out the free no-art version.

So is the art worth paying $5? Definitely.

LotFP gets a lot of attention because of the art in its products, especially the core books. The art alone is the reason for the 18+ warning on the cover and has caused quite a bit of controversy. I have some mixed feelings about the art because I feel it draws too much attention away from the rules and presents the game as specifically a horror game. I know that's how James Raggi, the creator of LotFP, runs his game, but the rules do not demand any specific setting or tone. That aside, the artwork in this book is amazing. Many of the pieces from the early editions return and other less evocative works are replaced with art that better captures the weird fantasy vibe.

The way that the artwork is integrated into the layout is also spectacular. When reading the no-art version, keep in mind that every large block of white space is filled with something awesome in the full version.

The major addition to the rules is the appendix for early modern firearms and armor. These rules clearly are the product of diligent research and playtesting. The price of the book is worth it for these rules along, as they go so much further than reskinned crossbows. The artwork is also essential for this appendix as if gives you a crash course in early firearms, complete with detailed illustrations of these awesome but wholly unfamiliar weapons.

With this edition I really think LotFP has established its place as a leader in the OSR movement. It's a testiment to the quality one can expect from the publisher and a beautiful packaging of my favorite old-school ruleset.

With a name like that, how could I stay away?

Fuck for Satan is the a short adventure written by James Raggi, which means it is deadly and ridiculous is all of the right ways. What makes Fuck for Satan stand out is the way that its ridiculousness is no longer aimed at the players. Now the referee is the target.

I'm going to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, because I can fore see this being a very popular module in the LotFP crowd and I'd hate to ruin the fun for anyone. Referees who have run Death Frost Doom will especially want to run this adventure, as it makes for a very fitting sequel. It also ties in nicely into Better Than Any Man with its Swiss location.

While Fuck for Satan takes place in the developing LotFP setting of early modern Europe, it can easily be translated to any fantasy setting. Just replace "Geneva" with your favorite major fantasy city and "Satan" with Orcus, Slaanesh, or any other evil fantasy god. That said, I don't know if players will get the same sense of sleazy occult fun with an entity other than Satan himself.

There is a dungeon in this adventure and it live up to Raggi's reputation for meat-grinding, trap-filled death holes. The traps are everywhere, almost unavoidable and very, very regrettable. Luckily, the dungeon is relatively small when compared to Death Frost Doom and the Grinding Gear, which puts much less pressure on the referee to memorize the many mechanics of Raggi's complex traps.

And yes, there is fucking in this adventure, and yes, the fucking is for Satan. That said, you don't need to worry about any uncomfortable psycho-sexual horror on par with Death Love Doom. This is the fun kind of fucking. Well, maybe "fun" is a strong word...

At five bucks, Fuck for Satan is a no-brainer. If you like killer dungeons with gonzo monsters and reality-warping magic, buy this book and run it.

I purchased Vornheim after hearing about how great it is at helping GMs create a sprawling metropolis for their fantasy game. Little did I know that it would become the basis of my next campaign.

Zak S. has put together some of the most imaginative and interesting adventure hooks and tables I've ever seen. Everything in this book will cause a GM's mind to race with possibilities. I based four adventures on Vornheim and barely scratched the surface.

I highly recommend Vornheim as an essential sourcebook for any OSR gamemaster.