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Terrible Beauty
Publisher: Schwalb Entertainment
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/31/2021 00:07:47

Without doubt the finest treatise on Fey for roleplaying games. More murderful than whimsical, bending to their own realities, this is not your father's Legolas: these fey are immortal, alien and aloof. Come for the severed head tied to a unicorn saddle, stay for page upon page of inspiration for upending everything you've ever thought about elves and change your campaigns forever. Five glowing stars.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Terrible Beauty
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BEOWULF: Age of Heroes
Publisher: Handiwork Games
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/24/2021 05:26:24

I've just finished running a 7-part stream of BEOWULF Age of Heroes, and the excitement I felt when first hearing about it, and first reading it absolutely transfers to the table. This feels like the way we always imagined RPG stories to be, when we first crossed into this wonderful world of storytelling. (What, you mean there is a way to be the hero in the fantasy stories I love? Sign me up!)

The duet play mechanic is inspired, at once catering to our modern life where it is feasible to arrange one player at least for a game, but also catering to the ancient stories which were about one Hero. The follower rules give the hero help while leaving them absolutely in the centre of things, and the battles are cinematic and epic - fights against Sea Raiders are scraps with warriors brawling all over the beach, and fights against monsters shake the earth. If you haven't learned about the creature, studied its story, then you are doomed to die at its claws.

The superb art draws you into the world, and the wonderful introduction by revisionary translator Maria Dahvana Headley really sets the scene that the story of Beowulf is at once timeless and modern. I'll be playing this game for years.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
BEOWULF: Age of Heroes
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Songs of Shadow [BUNDLE]
Publisher: Schwalb Entertainment
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/02/2020 18:17:09

THE DEMON LORD WILL HAVE HIS TUNES

I'll be honest, I bought this because the woodcut of Rob made me laugh, and I was intrigued, but damn this is a superb dark fantasy record.

The opening tune "Shadow of the Demon Lord" starts with disquieting violins and then kicks it up with chunky guitars and theramin style vocals, exactly capturing the gleefully Satanic B-movie vibe that is this exceptional RPG.

The remaining tracks are dark abmient threat and menace. I ran through the whole album twice during our game last night, and it always underscored the menace and doom of the action perfectly. We had an exceptional session. "This one's called 'The Last Days of Man'" I announced cheerfully, as the hateful dead scrambled up the walls of Martyr's Point. Each track layers on emotions of doomed heroism.

The last three tracks have vocals. "Scary" has a growling death metal feel, "Shadow Inside Me" is operatic metal, and "The One Who Whispers" blends the two styles. I can't see myself using those tracks as much ingame except maybe as session intro theme tune perhaps, but they are rockin' tunes completely at home in any metal collection. The composition, production quality and playing by Sonor Village are just fantastic, and I'm off to find more of their work.

I'll be listening to this record for years to come, when I play the game, read the game, or any time I want to get my dark fantasy brain ticking over. Schwalb has brought the same quality to his first music release as he has to all of the print and PDF material. Next time I'm facing the depths of hell, this will be the sound I hear.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Songs of Shadow [BUNDLE]
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The Blasphemies of Bor Bwalsch
Publisher: Schwalb Entertainment
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/15/2019 00:32:21

5 Freshly Shucked Skeletons out of 5

In the festering tradition of the 3rd edition BOOK OF VILE DARKNESS (and the evil it contained which was so unbound that it caused people to cancel their Dragon Magazine subscriptions) slouches THE BLASPHEMIES OF BOR BWALSCH, a slew of unmitigated dark magical unpleasantness from the fevered brow of the Demon Lord himself, Rob Schwalb.

These spells are perfectly balanced (Rob was on the 5e design team after all) but the ghastly flavour will have your players shrieking in alarm and you in vague need of a shower after unleashing this corruscating weirdness. Come for the promise of evil spells that will catch your players unawares, stay for the corpse bombs.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Blasphemies of Bor Bwalsch
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Shadow of the Demon Lord
Publisher: Schwalb Entertainment
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/18/2016 20:54:17

The cover says it all: if that's the kind of dark fantasy your soul hungers for, then this superb game delivers in gobbets. Combining a lean, clean system with player options which are always expanding without ever overwhelming, and a deep and doomed demon-haunted world, this one-stop book is everything you need to launch a hundred campaigns. Table play is fast and brutal with rules that just stay out of your way, and the story is always rampant with opportunities thanks to ingenious d20 table based prompts sprinkled throughout, from your character's prize possession to the madness that afflicts them.

For our group of old punk rockers and metal heads, this feels like the game we've waited thirty years to arrive. We're hooked.

The panopoly of PDFs expand the game at your discretion; the main book is all you need, but if like a first-time ghoul you hunger for more, then dip in to whatever intrigues you. It's all diabolically good.

[Disclaimer: as Campaign Coins, I liked this game so much we made black metal tokens for it, so I have the honour of being both a fan and a licensee.]



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Shadow of the Demon Lord
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Hell on Earth (1939-1945) World War II
Publisher: Bloodstone Press
by Mark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/07/2004 00:00:00

Well thought-out supplement that merges nicely with Modern D20 - just what I was looking for.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hell on Earth (1939-1945) World War II
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