Exit pursued by Owlbear from @erfjordan et al

This is a truly astounding and varied collection of adventures worn worth their salt on their own merit, but as adventures inspired of the works of Shakespeare, they are truly magnificent reimaginings, explorations and reworkings!

I have to be honest about not being the biggest fan. I didn’t have great teachers and was taught things very soberly, lacking the nuance of the ridiculous parody, melodrama and message within the Bard’s plays. I truly recognise him as an incredible dramatist and his effect on literature and language is undeniable, but I think there can be a bit of a fetishism of Shakespeare at the expense of other and newer creators. So, the way this project is set up ticks all my boxes, acknowledging the Bard, while making room for new creators.

The five adventures are as varied as they are spectacular, each offering very different experiences either side of the screen with quality writing and approaches to the text. Each adventure comes with at least a couple of hooks which greatly affect the way the adventures play out and key NPCs’ characterisation. There’s truly something special about being able to be a part of these well-known stories and have the opportunity to affect their outcome.

From pirate hijinks on the high seas to be given a taste of your own psychological medicine, a bizarre, fun dreamland diversion, the world being a stage to entertain friendly hags on a strange journey and aquatic political intrigue, there is a many varied wealth of entertaining adventures.

I would love to see this project and those like to expand into other literary areas with works alongside Shakespeare such as The Duchess of Malfi, which seems ripe for a deconstruction featuring a wolfwere. It’s certainly refreshing that, while traditional media so often recycle works with little creativity, the TTRPG community engage with subject matter and inspiration that truly creates something new and spectacular.

Much (ado) like Uncaged, Unbreakable and The Princess Project before it EPBO reclaims and empowers marginalised characters such as Ophelia having “political acumen far beyond her description in Shakespeare’s Hamlet” and Katherine’s revenge on her abusive husband in the aptly named, ‘A Shrew’s Vengeance’.

Credits

Production and Layout by E. R. F. Jordan (@erfjordan) Written by Ashton Duncan (@ashtonnduncan), Noah Grand (@NoahGrand), Jessica Marcrum (@Miss_Jess03), Tessa Simpson (@MiscKlaire), and R. Morgan Slade (@rmorganslade) Edited by Adam Hancock (@AdamDMsGuild) and Lauren Campbell (@GrammarForHire) Art by E. R. F. Jordan Template by Nathanaël Roux (@freeners)