Just reading through the pwyw non-art pdf. It looks very very interesting. Easy to play and quick to get started I should think. Not necessarily a Cthulhu clone but could played as such or as a horror or uncanny type game (X-files in the 20s). The Twenties is where it's aimed at but there are notes for playing the game in other time periods. Straightforward mechanics and no fluff. But the really cool section is the advice on building adventures (Investigations) and the general advice on play. All very focussed and succinct. There's an excellent flow chart linked to the model character sheet to help create characters. Some nice little touches such as the fact that if you go and write an article or short story based on your horrific experience, you get some sanity points back! There's also a small conversion table so that you can import a pc from The Other Game of cosmic horror. One tiny quibble, some very minor use of the s word which might offend some folk (no, I don't mean socialist)! I'd love to see if there will be a third party license: I've already got a scenario in my head

This is part three of Gavin Norman's B/X Essentials project. This is a 're-telling' as he calls it rather than a clone or re-working. He has taken B/X to pieces and has done a fantastic job of editing it for clarity nto a series of booklets. Each book posseses the really important things you need to play, designed on single or double page spreads so the flipping back and forth to find stuff is kept to a minimum. He's got some great artists onboard too. So far there are three books: the core rules and procedures, classes and equipment and this, the latest one: cleric and magic user spells. The monsters book is next. The idea is that these books will work alongside other B/X based systems as well as forming a coherent rules set on their own. In my opinion, Gavin has set a new standard for clarity. But more inspiring than that, is the community he has built up, to support the project and the way he really listens to, and takes on board, suggestions and positive criticism. One day, all rpgs will be written this way! Check it out.

Necrotic Gnome do it right... again. This second book in the B/X Essentials series is every bit as good as the first and a must have resource for Classic D&Ders. Gavin Norman has done a superb job with the layout and organisation, enough to make you wish all rulebooks were done so well. The book is also very well illustrated and not with recycled free material but using talented game illustrators and well known figures from the Old School Renaissance scene. His decisions on the clarification of minor ambiguities are sound and where he has had to make a choice of path, he lets us know. This book will grace your table, help gameplay run smoothly and even if you don't play this particular system, you should take a look to see how a rule book really ought to be done. Buy now folks. Jon Salway