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Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2021/11/review-chromatic-dungeons-part-3-gnoll.html
The Gnoll Sage
For this review, I am considering the PDFs from DriveThruRPG as well as the printed, digest-sized, soft-covers I received via Kickstarter.
Each book is 24 or so pages with Issue #5 coming in at 42 pages. Color covers and black and white interiors. Each one is released under the OGL so a couple of pages go to the license statement.
On the surface, there is a strong influence from Dragon magazine, but not in the way say Gygax magazine tried to do. The influence here is easily one of someone that had read and grown up on Dragon and wanted to recreate the feeling rather than the actual layout. It serves The Gnoll Sage (TGS) well.
The unifying thread through all these issues is the involvement of "Fleabag" the eponymous Gnoll Sage. Not Phoebe Waller-Bridge (but that would be hilarious) but an intelligent, erudite, be-spectacled, and maybe a bit of a pacifist, Gnoll who presents topics from the issue/zine from their point of view. I personally rather like it. It fits well into the idea that no humanoid race in Chromatic Dungeons has a default alignment. The funny part, for me at any rate, is I have often agreed with this idea on my blog EXCEPT for Gnolls. Maybe I'll give Fleabag a try anyway.
Each zine has a main feature, usually depicted on the cover, and other details like some magic items, equipment, spells, and so on. There is a comic section reminiscent of "Dragon Mirth" as well. There is an editorial in each issue talking about the issue and what might be coming next.
The material presented in each issue is overtly for the Chromatic Dungeons game, but it is all written in such a way, with extra notes when needed, that it can be used with just about any 80s or 90s versions of D&D or any clone that emulates them. In particular, I felt they would be very handy to use with B/X D&D or Old-School Essentials.
The Gnoll Sage #5
This issue is the last of the Kickstarter issues and also the largest so far at 42 pages. This issue covers the Ecology of the Orc and sets out to challenge our notions, or at least stereotypes of orcs. This is introduced in the starting fiction with Fleabag challenging the party to think about what sorts of orcs they might be dealing with. What follows is a very long Ecology Of and details of seven very different Orc clans.
In the Ecology Of we learn the basic structure of an orc clan including numbers, leadership, and organization. What follows are descriptions of seven example clans. They are, briefly: Small Clans are the various orc clans represented in pretty much all other RPGs. The Iron Shield Clan, a group of orcs more interested in making weapons, and selling them, than using them. Yellow Fang, a group of plains orcs that wear the skins of their enemies as clothing. Chaka Plains orcs are not pacifists per see, but understand the value of life and death and respect it. Meet them peacefully and you will be respected, meet them with violence and they will happily escort you to your next life. There are the sea-faring orc pirates and privateers of the Red Sails, but they only attack the wealthiest of ships. There are the imperialistic and arrogant orcs of the Baildan Daguulalt (Empire) that combine the best, and worst, characteristics of Imperialisy Britain and the Roman Empire. They are brilliant and utterly convinced of their own superiority, in fact they made the cover. Finally the orcs of the Silver Glacier might be the most dangerous of all these clans.
That is a lot! There are still a couple of magic items, some comics, new spells, and some hints about the next issue and a new class The Commander.
Each issue runs for $5.00 for the PDF and $6.00 for the print or print/PDF combination.
Their digest size makes me think they will fit in well with the newest versions of Old-School Essentials or Swords & Wizardry. So even if you don't play the Chromatic Dungeons game, these are still great resources.
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