Solid! I really enjoy reading and learning about this era of history, especially since it all comes crashing down at the end in a terrible cataclysm in 1914. The history is well-researched and well-presented, the setting is described in great detail. I really like some of the "Stories from History" as I read through the different Arrondissements of Paris. Lots of great colourful stories and little niches that the text brings out, so that we really get a sense of how much fun we could be having running games in this setting.

The historical information on police procedures, consulting detectives, occultism, secret societies, mad scientists... all great. I didn't know that fingerprinting was invented in Paris, and I really liked the details there.

I think the book understates just how polarizing and damaging the Dreyfus Affair was to France at the time... I can think of a certain recent US President who might be a similar polarizing figure today... Loss of trust in institutions, antisemitism becoming normal in public discourse... We even see the ramifications of the breakdown between the civilian politicians who ran France, and the conservatives in the military as late as 1940... we may even see echoes of it in modern France's laws about la laicitee... but anyways...

The mechanics are good. The book does not mess with the OSR B/X D&D stuff at all, skill checks are important in a modern-era game (modern to historians, at least), and I really like how the authors make rituals slow. There's no combat casting, which is exactly as it should be for this sort of game and setting. I'm a little confused with how Occultists and Shamans have different spell progressions, or are they the same, and I'm just dense?

On the subject of rituals, I would recommend changing the names of the spells, if only to make them more evocative of the setting. I would include the standard D&D-style names you've given in parentheses, just for clarity. But I would rather "Cleansing Rite" rather than Remove Curse (yawn). There's so much effort put into the colour and setting of the game that this lack of detail here jumps out at me.

Minor Critiques: the layout is a little cramped at times, and there are some minor wording hiccups here and there. I would have also liked to have seen fewer period-specific ads and more impressionist paintings.

I would have preferred not to see the Shaman class in this book, because it is really the only mention of non-Crowley/European styles of magic in a book that is almost exclusively about ultra-urban Paris. The Belle Epoch is the height of European Imperialism, as well-documented by all the art and advertisements included in the book--which is effective, because it's quite shockingly immersive (that full page tea ad at the back just...wow). However, there's very little about the rest of of the world in any great detail. Which is fine, because why would you leave Paris anyways? So why include the Shaman?

Maybe in an expansion? I'd like to see a treatment of the French Empire, and North Africa, which was part of Metropolitan France by then, no? Moving on.

Also: no mention of absinthe? Tsk tsk.

I discovered Wretched Epoque last week and am thrilled with my purchase. It's a superb game of weird action and uncanny horror powered by solid, well-written OSR rules and chock full of evoctative illustrations and layout. The presentation and writing are top notch. There are Lovecraftian creatures in the bestiary section, as well as sections on madness and magic. The game is set in the sinisterly genteel era between around 1880 to 1914, but you could easily extend that a few decades in either direction.

Since it's OSR, it follows the classic class-and-level, six standard ability scores, roll d20 etc system...which is a strength of this game, since it's well-written and presented with panache. Since it's OSR, you can also dip into your existing OSR collection of monsters and adventures and pop them into Wretched Epoque without any conversion headaches. Folks, I'm just a regular gamer, and I know what I like when I see it. This one's a winner. But don't take my word for it! The publishers - Red Room - have posted a YouTube overview of Wretched Epoque. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqtoDSP3VOc&t=1432s

I am very glad that I took the chance on Wretched Epoque and purchased it. If H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and H.P. Lovecraft teamed up on an RPG, this might well be it. It's terrific!

Wretched Époque takes place in the period known as the Belle Époque. This is the time and the fictional place where Umberto Eco's Simone Simonini crosses paths with Jacques Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec, Edgar Allan Poe's Chevalier Auguste Dupin and Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin, amidst anarchist bombings, the echoes of the Dreyfus affair, the catastrophic side effects of secret societies conspiring in the shadows and the mysterious results of experiences conducted by mad geniuses. Not yet pulp, not quite historical, it is neither the right time nor the right mood for Steampunk or Dieselpunk. Welcome to the wretched times of Nouveaupunk!"

"Wretched Époque includes:

• OSR rules for playing fin-de-siécle anti-heroes (expanded Wretched rules for sanity and mesmerism)
• Information about fictional and real-world secret societies, cults and conspiracies
• Plenty of villains, among them criminal masterminds, mad scientists, mythical beasts and Lovecraftian abominations
• The Apache Underworld and Parisian law enforcement of the late 19th century, as foes or allies to the characters
• The Beyond, origin of all supernatural menaces in the Wretched universe
• Timeline and guide to the Arrondissements of Paris in the Belle Époque""

Wretched Époque rpg By Miguel Ribeiro, Sílvia Clemente, Joe Coombs from The Red Room. Covers a very specific period of French almost but not quite Pulp literature pre WWI according to its own introduction;"Wretched Époque takes place in the period known as the Belle Époque, which is dated between 1871 and 1914, ending when World War I started." Wretched Époque rpg covers both PC heroes & anti hero of these French pieces of literature that takes the Wretched Bastards rpg system & then mates it to a modern OSR undercarriage. The Wretched Époque rpg is fun & very well thought out in two hundred seventeen pages. Wretched Époque rpg plays up it's criminal elements of gangs, the underworld, the political climate, and more with a twist of mad science.

There's a good balance within the Wretched Époque rpg from the Pulp elements into the fast paced weirdness & violence of the Wretched rpg system. Your PC's could be the villains finding themselves among them criminal masterminds, mad scientists, mythical beasts and Lovecraftian abominations. And its this combination of a party of players finding themselves at the throats of Pulp criminal masterminds one day, fighting the French underworld, and then moving toward the Lovecraftian horrors at the center of Paris. The layout of the Wretched Époque rpg is well done, the equipment list is extremely well done, details on the world of the Wretched Époque rpg is really solid. Gotta say that I've been really surprised reading through the Wretched Époque rpg and how good the quality of it really is. At $10.50 for two hundred and fifteen pages the Wretched Époque rpg is actually really well done. And given the fact that the Wretched Époque rpg is OSR compatible means that this rpg system could theoritcally be used with a DM's other OSR systems.

The overall feel of the Wretched Époque rpg is a step beyond the rest of the Wretched catalog that the Red Room has done. The Pulp elements of the Wretched Époque rpg capture its literature, source material, & feel of the time period where the blend of heroes & anti heroes blurs unto themselves. While the line between good & evil is here, it's one that get's moved completely around as the Wretched Époque rpg sees fit. And that's one of the strengths of the Wretched Époque rpg in spades taking a point of the French literature and films unto itself. This captures the wild abandoned, absolute Hell, and yet civilized order that this time period evokes within the game's history. The Wretched Époque rpg does take its subject matter seriously and yet it game play seems to be very well done indeed! Thanks for reading our review Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Blog Want More OSR action? Please subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/