Under the Floorboards is a system-lite tabletop RPG published by Loot the Room that is inspired by stories, movies, and shows about little people living in a big people world, such as The Borrowers, The Littles, and The Secret World of Arrietty, to name a few.

Under the Floorboards uses a simple dice+stat system, combined with a basic three-phase story structure to set up a scenario that the players and gamemaster – or “Guiding Voice” – can collectively build a story from.

The game uses a simple 2d6 system. Characters are described in 8 abilities, and are built with point buying, or can be selected from a collection of premade Roles. Ability rolls are 2d6+Ability versus a target number. Success gives the player story control, while failure gives it to the Guided Voice. A Lucky ability allows players to roll to change the environment to their benefit, but it drops by a point every time it is successful.

The game has no system for combat or hit points, as it is expected that any sort of combat would be avoided by the little people. “Floorboard folk have no word for coward, because there is no shame in running away.”

This game would be a fantastic introduction to RPGs for kids, or for anyone who enjoys the genre. The system is simple and easy to grasp, and the story structure is an excellent method of giving new players some guidance when trying out an adventure game for the first time.

The writing is clear and well organized, and the majority of the PDF contains locations to explore, with lists of goals and complications related to each one – a wealth of options for potential scenarios, and something that really increases the replay ability.

I also really enjoyed the name table, for players having trouble coming up with a character name. It includes names like Stumble, Bucket, Percivie, and surnames like Underbed, Overmantle, and Chimney-Stack – this was an excellent addition that helps establish the feel and theme of the game.

Bonus point for gender inclusivity – there’s a space on the character sheet for gender pronouns. I’m always happy to see this, and happier to see it occurring more and more.

Overall a well-written and well organized product that captures the thematic elements very well, and would be an excellent choice for kids, a quick-prep one-shot, or a convention game.

Very spooky and atmospheric audio track that would be great background music for most any horror game. Inlcludes wind, bells, gongs, and some growling low strings, synths, and horns. It loops fairly well with only a brief pause. Black Goat always does great work that is well worth a listen.

A very well produced present day monster hunter setting for FATE. My group is having a lot of fun in our ongoing playtests. iHunt makes some clever additions to the system - an Edge mechanic makes enemies more lethal until the PCs wrest it away from them, for example, and characters are advanced with Selfies.

I found the layout a bit distracting, but I'm a grognard who grew up with much drier and less colorful/dynamic RPG books, so consider the source. There's also no Index at the end, which I always look for. The writing is conversational and occasionally fierce, and takes a hard look at our present day world through the filter of hunters struggling to survive the monster of capitalism. More conservative players won't appreciate it. I did.

Overall I think it's a fine example of art imitating life. I'm not exactly the target audience for it, but I feel I can appreciate what it sets out to accomplish, and recognize that it does so.

A nice-looking set of effect templates for tabletop RPGs. The templates print up nicely and are colorful, and a few paper size options are available. My only gripe is that some of the templates, like the 30' radius and 60' cone, are only available to print in the wide sized file, when both could have fit onto pages in the letter sized file. Overall a very good product for the price.

A solid set of spell scroll cards for D&D 5e with no frills and several printing options. They print up clear and easy to read. Each card is presented on a separate page, allowing you to print only the ones you need (using the multiple page feature on your printer). General rules for scrolls are presented on one side of each card, with the rules for the spell on the other. Overall a very solid and useful product.

A solid set of magic item cards for D&D 5e with no frills and several printing options. They print up clear and easy to read. Each card is presented on a separate page, allowing you to print only the ones you need (use the multiple page feature on your printer). Overall a very solid and useful product.

A solid set of monster cards for D&D 5e with no frills and several printing options. They print up clear and easy to read. Each card is presented on a separate page, allowing you to print only the ones you need. Overall a very solid and useful product.

A solid set of monster cards for D&D 5e with no frills and several printing options. They print up clear and easy to read. Each card is presented on a separate page, allowing you to print only the ones you need. Overall a very solid and useful product.

(This review is for a print-on-demand copy of the book)

CONTENT - A solid set of four battle scenarios for four 4th level D&D 3.5 characters, set in the Underdark, and usable with both the RPG and the D&D Miniatures game. There's a small amount of background information and lore provided for each of the scenarios, and adventure hooks and further adventure suggestions for each of them as well. The NPCs are fleshed out well (Amandrucul is particularly nasty), and color text is well written. While it is short (17 pages), this product could open up a lot of opportunities for further adventures in the Underdark.

PRINT - The print-on-demand product is very good looking - the color cover is vibrant and not grainy, and the printing and artwork on the interior pages is clear even with the gray background graphics. The only issue with the print edition is the color maps, which look great, but do not come out to the proper scale for miniature use, and the binding prevents making color copies to scale up to the correct size. I'd recommend getting the PDF/print bundle and printing the map pages at a bigger scale in order to use them.

A great little M&M supplement for any GMs who want inspiration for a holiday themed game on the campy side. The character illustration and backstory are very good. I can already imagine this fellow kidnapping the mayor and holding him hostage (tied up in garland, no doubt) until someone can promise that there will be snow on Christmas Eve...

(Originally posted to the Contemporary Quixotist: http://quixotist.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/1d12-days-of-christmas-day-3-holiday-heroes-horrors/ )

The next goody under the angry treant stuck in the little pot in our living room is Holiday Heroes & Horrors, a holiday and arctic themed supplement for the Pathfinder RPG from the wonderfully named Octopus Apocalypse. Packed in the 18 pages are details of a new arctic region called “White Hell,” rules for snow blindness, a new item, item quality, and item material, two new magic items, three new spells, two new races, and a bunch of new monsters to top it all off.

As with many holiday themed products, the material and illustrations are a bit whimsical, but if you’re looking to bring some lighter fun to your Pathfinder games, then this would be three bucks well spent.

A wonderful Halloween-themed adventure for the excelled FirstFable RPG. This has the main elements of a well-written adventure for young people - options to help instead of fight, a non-linear story path, and opportunities for the players to shape the story in their own way. Pre-generated monster characters (ghost, vampire, werewolf, and zombie) are included, as well as rules for customizing each of these to make your own. The adventure itself is short (4 page sides) and an easy read, perfect for an impulse game when some young adventurers ask for something to do on the spot, and the end of the adventure includes a fill-in-the-blanks story to encourage players to recap their adventure with words and pictures.

A meaty, system-agnostic collection of methods and tips for worldbuilding, drawn from blog posts and feedback. I'm a sucker for any RPG product that helps improve the quality of play, and this one really delivers. In its 200 pages there are few illustrations and no gimmicks, just a whole lot of advice, ideas, and inspiration. This one is well worth the admission fee.

An impressive collection of inventive ideas for random generation, presented with an old-school look and charm. Just flipping through the book filled me with ideas for my next campaign ("Cult generator? Hmmm, maybe I should add a cult for them to encounter..."). and the adventure generators are fantastic for impromptu games. The premise may seem gimmicky but the execution isn't, and the author's true passion for OSR gaming really shows. I don't often give five stars for a product, but this one has definitely earned them.

The Ambient Environments soundscapes are quality recordings that combine sound and music into an audio atmosphere for your storytelling games. Each track is ten minutes long, with no fade in/out at the start or end, making them perfect for continuous looping. While reviewing this series, I played each track in the background and often didn't notice when it had started over. The sound levels are compressed very well, which means that there will be very few distracting volume changes when you play these during a session. And at $1.99, the price is very reasonable.

The At the Mountains of Madness soundscape includes arctic wind, along with some spooky ambient music (some of it kind of backwards sounding, for greater effect). A very good mix of sound effects and evocative music. All of their soundscapes are very good, but this one actually made me start thinking about running something that I could use it in.