Completely over priced for the contents.

Maps are ok if you like Iso format, but repetative and pretty small area. For a company with such emphasis on great graphics and art, its more than disappionting. Burning a limited page count with padding like a full reprint of Protectron stats from core rule book is not helping. Location notes might save an inexperienced GM a little prep time but that's about it.

Would suggest spending money on a rpg mapping platform (not recommending one) instead.

I want to love this book.

It blends a lot of Fantasy Age 1st Edition and Companion rules together, coming in at twice the page count of 1st Edition. Adding a fourth character class (socially skilled Envoy), 3 player ancestries and brings in things that were common house rules (a Specailsiation at 1st level) and a range of optional rules. Class specific stunts lend depth to class choice, whilst still allowing enough cross over for flexibility.

The mechanics remain simple and elegant. Character creation adds to 1st Edition having a random element from Ancestry features - two random options can now be switched for one fixed if a specific character concept is in mind. Adding a Secrets Talent tree for each ancestry allows characters who want to lean onto the classic/sterotype is a great idea. Which is topped by having a whole set of Specailisation for exotic ancestries (divine/fey/demonic) as a bolt on, that could even be discovered later in play. Personal challenge mechanics to allow depth of roleplaying to have xp rewards are interesting, but will need

One especailly nice touch is Defeat Conditions, taking the next logical step on standard conditions brought in here, where 0 Health puts target out of fight. So PCs don't have to leave a trail of corpses across town, and a party wipe can become a "captured for later" situation without obvious fudging. Which is good for forging lasting nemesis relations, as well as being forgiving on new players.

... but there are a few issues.

Art work, whilst generally good, ranges from brilliantly evocative to cartoonishly bad. Layout can be challenging, particularly in the Adversaries chapter (which is substantially larger than 1st Edition).

The biggest let down was the campaign setting chapter. After Highfalls Swale in 1st Edition (a self contained mountain region for apprentice characters, that could be plug and play into any game world) I had very high hopes for the nautical themed Breakwater Bay in here, especially with the book's hints about it being part of a larger setting of Stranger Shores which sounds intriguing. Its okay but very bland with little of way of conflict (the book is so inclusive it includes pronouns for NPCs, which as a GM I'd rather select myself, if not plot critical) set up for potential GMs to use as a springboard. The geography and cartography of Kassa Island is painfully bad (like, multiple branching out flows from every lake to the sea, bad).

The inculded adventure (always welcome) is solid if linear, and possibly a little quick to reveal a major challenge to a Stranger Shores background.

In all; a good game, and ideal for beginner players, inexperienced GMs would have a hard time expanding from what is in the book to an ongoing campaign.

My advice to Green Ronin would be: re-release Highfalls Swale, including a couple more adventures in addition to Choosing Night, as a stand alone product. Then tie it in (property inheritence trope?) to Breakwater Bay for travel and exploration; after hiring any high school geography teacher for a day's consultancy to correct the basics and split Kassa into a three island archepeligo with at least two potential home sites. Seed with a half dozen adventure sites or fractions. And you have a solid campaign foundation.

And if smugglers are going to be a be a thing ... you need what? between where? and why? answered even if only vaguely.

Best of luck, this game deserves a good run.

Many fans of the Old World will love this book.

Not just for the monsters, though it does have a good selection, mostly at the beefier end to challenge more experienced partys. Some are updates of material from other sources like the Drakwald Mancatcher spider (from Cluster Eye Tribe) and Stirpike/Amoeba (from Death on Reik Companion) but most are new to 4th Edition. A couple are even revisits to creatures from the core rulebook in more detail such as Griffon and Wyvern.

These come with some new Traits to help the creatures hold their own - such as some being harder to outnumber, and introducing Grim - a mechanic to at least cap Advantage (finally for all those fellow GMs). And several entries come with standard version, and a "named monster" version with enhanced abilties and lore; such as Ol´Gribbleback an outsided version of the Razorgor (giant boar).

Plus there is an appendix section supporting the valuable trade in monster parts, and some of the Alchemical uses there of; plus mundane and magical items (adding to Achives of the Empire II). And if the map is not available in poster size to do it justice it should be (my purchase was pdf).

On top of the mechanics elements are the narrative and lore - the book is framed as a series of accounts of various expeditions from an adventuring party (a half dozen experienced pre-gens are included for use as quick starts or NPC introductions); which could fairly easily be reverse engineered into what sounds like a fun campaign. In addition to being full of flavour about the creatures themselves, this book is a chance to stretch out beyond the Reikland/Imperial comfort zone and peek over the borders to the possiblilties beyond.

To me at least well worth a look.

The return of a classic is always good.

The return of a classic in a new and improved form is even better.

A beautiful looking book (as you´d expect from the Tales from the Loop team) that gives the chance to play through the brutal aftermath of the WWIII that never was. Fully detailed background for the beloved Poland setting; maps, orders of battle, weapons and vechiles etc.

Plus the same level of detail and disconerting plausibility to running Twilight across the shattered remains of southern Sweden. Both are so full of possibility for GMs it would be a coin toss to pick which to start with. The four included scenario sites (fleshed out location and situation brieffings, more than an expanded account but less than a prewritten module) are fully reskinned for Polish/Swedish NPCs where needed ... slight inconsisstency in name reskinning is the biggest issue I have encountered with the whole product so far. Also included of course travel and battlemaps.

Oh yeah ... there is also a 5 page Appendix worth of Solo play rules, that look like they will be taking up a lot of my time in 2022. There is choice of template characters to start play tonight, or more detailed term based career path for those who want either a tailored or random character.

Core mechanics like Free League´s Alien, simple fast and playable, with clear solid mechanics for combat, travel and survival. Exactly what you want for the Twilight setting ... and if you have not thought of at least one movie cross over already please hand in your screen.

Heartily recommeded and hungrily waiting for more suppliments - not because this doesn´t contain everything you want and more for years of gaming - there is such a rich world to explore.

And a timely reminder that many of us grew up in the shadow of an even worse possibility than the last few years. Thanks to all involved in making this happen.

Very mixed feelings about this book. Given securing IP rights to the beloved Fallout background could have given Mordiphius a shot at being the go to post-apocalypse TTRPG it feels like a missed opportunity.

Every part of it is beautifully done: art work (of course its Modiphius); beastiary; character and weapon creation rules in Fallout flavour; detail of the Commonwealth setting. The "read the room" section in How to GM section is the first I´ve ever seen to advise on specific body language tells for if players are not enjoying the darker themes of the game ... masterful.

However given what´s missing these beautiful parts don´t mesh well together. As if the original concept wasn´t defined between an introduction to the Fallout universe for experienced TTRPGers, or an introduction to TTRPGing for existing fans of Fallout.

For the former group there is a good gazeteer of the Commonwealth setting from Fallout 4 and world background (lack of maps is galling, especailly given they are available on company website, but plenty available at online forums as is much else of background detail). But little meat on the bones of rules for anything besides combat and modding weapons for combat. For example even the armour mod "Pocketed" isn´t defined beyond being on the list.

For the latter group there´s a robust straightforward rule system, and the chance to play characters of different origins. But nothing is added to a world they are already intimately familiar with all the secrets of, or much of an idea how to set up characters for weaving their own plausible stories - "a Ghoul, a Super Mutant, a Brotherhood Initiate and a Mister Handy walk into a bar..." Even fleshed out examples of classic NPCs like Preston and Piper are missing.

As it stands this book is best suited to an experienced GM willing to put in the legwork of filling in gaps; ideally with a group of players who don´t know the background world particularly well.

What this game needs to reach its huge potential is support material to plug those gaps. Details of Commonwealth fraction members and their plans beyond re-enacting Fallout 4 game, or different locations/time peroids of Fallout universe. Community building and defence including construction. Trade and travel around the area and beyond it. How to give your own hometown area "the Fallout treatment". New creatures and other challenges. A couple of Vaults not discussed in the video game might be a good place to start...

The ball is in Modiphius´s court whether this game fully exploites its brand recognition to becomes a genre staple or is relegated to a few one shots of blowing up the odd Deathclaw plus a few die-hard homebrew campaigns. Fingers crossed.

A compilation of five "multiple event driven" scenarios - beinging with the classic Rough Night at the Three Feathers first published in White Dwarf and adding four more follow on situations with broadly the same cast of repeating characters. They can be used as a mini-campaign or played as free standing adventures - though that requires a bit more GM prep and means characters may miss on some in jokes.

Without including any spoilers the adventures are each set in a different fixed location (a castle, an inn, a court house, an opera house, and a town house) and the party get to react (or not to) multiple different plot threads going on around them. This is great for an experienced GM with an engaged party, as it can involve keeping a lot of plates in the air as you track the actions of multiple NPCs and the results of PCs actions on developments - hopefully resulting in free wheeling chaotic goings on and dramatic interactions. Preparation as always helps, especailly when you are trying to organise chaos, similarly detailing in a couple of "faceless crowd" NPCs like guards or lady´s in waiting easily makes its look like everything in the game world is ploted out.

A group determined to be grim and dark at all times might not appreciate some of the lighter elements that need to be played for laughs. Also a GM who needs a more controlled setting to avoid getting flustered, or players who want clear objectives set up for every situation might not enjoy this format so much. Trying the similar single adventure "Its Your Funeral" might be a good way to try out this style of adventure.

The Two Appendixes introduce Gnomes to the Warhammer world - an interesting diversion, and way to shake up Warhammer veterans who think they know everything coming; but not supported elsewhere so GM will have to do almost all the integration themselves. And also rule s for Pub games to gamble away time as a game within the game - useful for background flavour and if a GM needs to pad out a session where they´ve had limited preparation (TIP - use as padding nearer to start than end of session).

Couple of issues to mention: first, whilst the action outlines are great for understanding details of what going on and how fits the differnt plots they are quite in depth. A GMs cheat sheet of bullet piont actions or a flow chart might help keep track of what happens when - easily done yourself though. Second, whilst the maps are good and worth reusing (and like rest of Cubicle 7´s internal art, beautiful) not sure they embrace the free wheeling lunacy these adventures might rapidly become - a little prep time adding details around the locations if villans are chased out into streets etc would pay off. For example - remember to tell your players the opera house has central aisle as it matters to at least one sub-plot; and whilst you´re at it at least one grand chandlier must be added...

Following up on all the potential plot threads and implications of these scenarios´ events can fill a lot of playtime. Just don´t expect it to be predictable - the wheels started to come of one subplot early in the first game when one of my PCs with Attractive talent "accidentally" seduced one of the supposed badass threat NPCs...

The key to getting the most out of these adventures is "Yes, and ..." its an improve exercise and don´t be afraid to keep tossing in complications at your players until things match the cover art. Or drop excess plot lines if things in danger of getting confused. Enjoy.

The Grand Grimoire is exactly the right name.

A Keeper may not literally need this book to run CoC magic well, but it makes it so much more likely, easy and fun. For Investigators its more of a list of even more things to worry about...

A compilation of 550+ spells from a 40 year back catalogue of CoC games; this really is as close to a real grimoire as you are likely to get. The spells are presented with variants, alternatives and twists already baked in - making it easy to individualise each one, just the way Cthulhu magic should be - unique, mysterious, individual, unknowable. This is not your grandfather´s spell list.

And horrific? Some of the spell features gave me actual shudders reading them, which is exactly what you want in this game. Not "oh this is an evil spell that needs a sacrafice" but "oh... that ... is a gruesome and nasty concept". Don´t give to anyone with trouble distingushing gaming fantasy from reality.

Word of warning - this is an encyclopedic volume of information, you will not absorb it all in one sitting. Far better to dip in from time to time and browse or look for something specific.

One thing that makes that a lot easier is the use of Spell categories - these list out all the spells with effects in a given field like "Making Monsters" so pick roughly what you want you villan to be interested in for example and then read through how they could accomplish it ... I defy anybody to do so without having a some ideas how they could use something from what follows in their campaign. The "Extending Life" list for example has given me long lived villans with vulnerabilities, perils of disloyal henchmen, complex preparations to interfer with, locked-room murder mysteries, vampiric red herrings, mulityear memory loss victims... in short plenty to investigate.

If pressed to find a flaw - its only that there isn´t a category for Gathering, Storing and Manipulating Magical Power ... those are included in Other Spells category. Might just not be enough spells written for that yet. And a Keeper doesn´t really need a "mechanically canon" explanation for high cost plot critical magic being cast anyway.

One thing on the wish list ... as the glyph/rune font pastes out to text ... could it be made available? Or even as a text "translation" website.

Anything else? Three very different but plausible NPC magicians to tailor into your game; a smattering of magical minions with statistics like Spectral Hunters and Hybrid Tindalosians; the normal high quality art work expected from 7e; and mystic diagram line art that would be frankly wasteful not to copy out for use in your own handouts.

In short, a wothwhile addition to any CoC bookshelf.

A timely suppliment which delivers a lot of what WFRP 4th ed needs; the templates to modify base creatures from core rulebook into different specailisms encourage a new GM to expand their range, and save old hands a lot of administration time. And those are generic change templates that could apply to any warband creature type - beastmen, orcs, etc.

There is a introduction and map to a regional situation around the Drakwald to bring in the spider riding forest goblins, that could be easily retooled to any desired forest in the Empire. Its great that the bad guys get a non-lethal option finally giving Warhammer players the option of capture and escape experience. The four NPCs and tactical plans make it easy to avoid that "just another gobin random encounter" feel. And finally printing out the rules for individual creature traits and talents in long form rather than a list to save GM´s desperately thumbing back for reference or improvising in mid-combat; which is tough enough in systems with seperate rule and creature books.

Not perfect of course but criticisms are minor - the goblin NPC art whislt good gives an impression of padding space but that is only a couple of pages; having all the trait details on a reference sheet at the back rather than with the actual stat blocks makes the innovation good rather than great. Biggest gripe is very little information on the spiders that are supposedly central to forest goblins specific culture - and none I could see for the little dangerous variety trailed in the opening favour text.

All in all an encouraging start to a new product line. Well done Cubicle 7.

Event driven adventure in mould of classic Rough Night at Three Feathers. Several inter-related plots that run on timetable together - meaning players get to focus on what they are finding interesting, and other items that are left can develop further on their own. Would be best for a GM comfortable improvising or wanting to practice - as adding PCs into this cycle of events is bound to send original plan spinning... Following up all the plot threads and contacts generated from this adventure could extend into several extra sessions of play for an engaged party.