Kickstarter Unboxing : Dungeon Saga, The Dwarf Kings Quest

(Well, this looks somewhat familiar...)

So, a few weeks ago my copy of Dungeon Saga : The Dwarf Kings quest arrived, and since then I've taken the opportunity to look through the contents and formulate my thoughts on the boxes contents as well as the rules. Sadly I've not played too much of it, having played through only one of the adventures presented in the box, but I think I've got a decent handle on how the game works.

I've been looking forward to this since I Kickstarted it months ago, having cut my geek-teeth on games like Heroquest and Dungeon as well as playing a hell of a lot of Descent, Warhammer Quest and similar games over the years. The question is, I suppose, how does it stack up? Well, let's have a look shall we? We'll start with the box and its contents before moving onto the rules...

What's In The Box? :

I don't know what it says about me, but I really do love this box. It's big, it's hefty, and the fact that it's designed to look like an oversized tome just makes me happy. Additionally the box itself has magnets set into the lip of the lid to keep it closed instead of relying on being kept in the cardboard sleeve (which, I'd like to note, is made of nice thick cardboard) or some sort of locking mechanism. What can I say, I really like magnets in things as my Space Marine army can attest. It's a lovely little touch, one of those random geeky things that Mantic have a habit of doing that I enjoy.

The box contains four A4 softback books and a single A5 softback (all but the last of those being pictured above). Going from left to right we have the rulebook which, as you'd expect, contains the core rules of the game. We've then got the Adventurers Companion which includes the rules for campaigns, progression and creating your own characters as well as rules for a number of monsters and models produced by Mantic. Finally we've got a pair of quest books for two separate campaigns, with the A5 booklet being the Kickstarter Exclusive Dungeon Journal.

The Dungeon Journal contains the rules for the original Dwarf Kings Hold rewritten for this new edition as well as 25 additional adventures including the original Dead Rising and Green Menace expansions. It also includes the rules for Blaine, who as far as I'm aware is a mascot character of Mantic's though frankly I've no idea why he is or where he's supposed to have originated from, he just seems to crop up in all their games.

Next up are a series of quick reference sheets as well as an A4 Art Print, Hero and Boss Monster stat cards, and a set of blank character sheets in addition to the aforementioned Dungeon Journal. I personally would have preferred if the print was larger, perhaps A3 sized, but it's a minor complaint. I should point out that there should actually be more stat cards than this, due to an error the Hero cards for all but the core heroes and Valandor are missing, an issue I will go into more depth over later in this post.

Here we have the dice, cards and counters that ship with the game. I've not got a lot to say about these as the art on them all is pretty good and the materials used are of decent quality, especially the counters which are fairly sizable and chunky enough to survive plenty of use and abuse.

 

Now this takes me back to my Heroquest days. Here we have the 3D Dungeon Furniture, bookshelves, chests, weapon racks, doors, a well, and even a tiny book for the lectern. I really love this stuff, It's completely unnecessary with regards to gameplay but it's a really lovely addition to the set and makes me unreasonably happy. I can see Mantic selling a lot of these for people for use in terrain building, whether they play Dwarf Kings Hold or not.

Lastly with regards to the set's cardboard contents we have the dungeon tiles. Again they're pretty chunky and durable, similar to the tiles in the Descent boxed set, and should last indefinitely so long as you don't have too many drink-based accidents at the games table. The artwork is pretty good with each tile being double sided and the tiles themselves coming in a wide variety of shapes and sizes giving plenty of dungeon  building opportunities.

Now, let's move onto a slightly more contentious section of the box contents, the models...

Firstly the Undead. You see what I mean about the Heroquest comparisons? I mean look at those scythe wielding skeletons, I'm sure it's deliberate. In this little collection of ghouls and ghosties we've got...

• Three Armoured Zombies
• Three Dwarf Revenants
• Three Ghosts
• Three Ghouls
• Three Skeleton Archers
• Three Skeleton Warriors with Scythes
• Three Skeleton Warriors with Swords and Shields
• Three Undead Trolls
• Three Zombies

The bulk of these are fairly good models, with me being especially fond of the Armoured Zombies, Dwarf Revenants and Ghosts. Though not amazing by any means they're fairly crisp and detailed, more than sufficient for a board game. I'm very much a fan of the non-human undead, which are such a rarity amongst most miniature ranges and I'd love to see more in the future from Mantic and other companies. The only models in this particular group that I'm less than pleased with are the iconic skeletons, which are incredibly flimsy as well as lacking detail in comparison to the other models. They genuinely look like they're bootlegs copies of the rest of the range.

Next up are the Abyssals and Greenskins, the former being a collection of demonic entities, the latter a selection of goblins, ogres and orcs. All together we've got...

• One Efreet
• One Hellhound
• Three Lower Abyssals
• One Lower Abyssal Flamebearer
• One Moloch
• One Succubus
• One Tortured Souls
• One Goblin Archer
• Two Goblin Warriors
• One Mawbeast
• One Ogre
• One Orc Archer
• Two Orc Warriors
• One base of Orclings 

I'd just like to point out that I'm extrapolating names from the accompanying Adventurers Companion, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me and I'll make some alterations. These are of a similar quality to the undead, though unlike those said quality is at least consistent. The orcs I admit look a little odd, having long, almost reptilian faces similar to some of Reaper's older miniatures, but that may be as I'm used to GW's more brutal, neanderthal designs. Also I think the Mawbeast is absolutely adorable, I want to scruffle its little fang filled face and feed it kobolds.

Next up we've got the last of the plastic miniatures, the collection of heroes and villains included in the boxed set with the bulk of the heroes being in blue, the villains and three of the heroes in grey. All together we've got...

• Ally McSween the Halfling Thief
• Arianya the Naiad Demon Hunter
• Danor the Human Wizard
• Hrrath Flamespitter the Salamander Fighter
• Ibrahim the Human Paladin
• Kapoka the Gladewalker Druid 
• Logan the Gnome Fighter
• Madriga the Elf Ranger
• Orlaf the Human Barbarian
• Rordin the Dwarf Fighter
• Venetia Beriassor the Human Cleric
• Ba'el the Demon
• Elshara the Banshee
• Grund the Undead Dwarf King
• Hoggar the Zombie Troll Shaman
• Mortibris the Necromancer 
• Blaine
• Hordin the Dwarf Innkeeper and Gnasher the Dog
• Valandor

Now, here is where we come to the models that have...issues. The quality of these models is all over the place, with the assorted heroes (save for Logan) as well as Elshara, Grund, Hoggar, Mortibris, Blaine and Hordin being pretty good. They're of similar quality to the rest of the models in the box, not amazing, not terrible, and worth a bit of care and attention like most of Mantic's miniatures. A few particularly stand out, like Hrrath, Kapoka and Venetia, all of  whom I think are particularly well designed. The rest of them are, well terrible. Ba'el, Valandor and Logan are severely lacking in detail compared to the other models, with Ba'el being quite frankly an absolutely hideous model. He's badly designed, badly sculpted, and looks less like a horrific denizen of the abyss and more like a cheap B-Movie monster. Here's a comparison of the model quality using Grund and Valandor...

I mean come on. The model for Grund is pretty good, though I admit the flash on my phone camera does it no favours. Its well posed, its detailed, its characterful, and it's something that I'm looking forward to painting up and getting some use out of. Valandor on the other hand looks like his model came out of one of those cheap packs of toy soldiers you get for a few pounds at Poundland and Toys R Us. He's lacking in detail, his features are blurred and overly smooth, and I get the impression that they designed him as a smaller model and instead of resculpting him in a larger size they simply increased the size of the model without bothering to work on the overall miniature quality. Much like Ba'el he is a terrible, lazily crafted model even disregarding the bent spear (easily fixed with some warm water and a little patience), especially considering the two of them are the focal characters of the Return of Valandor expansion.

Let's move onto something positive shall we? In addition to the plastic miniatures above the set also came with a handful of resin models. We have...

• Keldan, the Elven Fighter
• Two Bat Swarms
• Three Giant Rats
• Three Giant Spiders

Unlike the models I've already spoken about, these are absolutely lovely. They're crisp, they're detailed, and they're just a joy to look at. Keldan in particular is an excellent model, the miniature giving an impression of grace and delicacy whilst simultaneously not appearing fragile like Mantic's plastic elves do. I think he may end up being turned into a Drow at some point. These models just go to show that when push comes to shove Mantic can make some really good resin miniatures, I just wish they did more of them.

Overall the models are schizophrenic. Some are good, some are awful, most are average. The plastic used for the bulk of them isn't great, but then neither is the plastic used by most board games. Perhaps I'm being harsh and judging them by the standard I'd use for RP or Wargaming miniatures but the point still stands that the quality of these models is all over the place. I don't know if this is an issue with the manufacturers or due to the small scale of Mantic compared to most companies but I hope it's something they're going to address when it comes to future releases.

If anyone at Mantic is reading this, here is a suggestion. Over the years your model and material quality has slowly been improving, which is good, but overall they're still sub par compared to many companies even disregarding "boutique" ranges such as Ax Faction and Kingdom Death. How about releasing a "Fanatic" or "Masterpiece" range? Take a selection of your most popular and sought after models, resculpt them in higher quality, and release them as either hard plastic sprues or in resin. I'm sure plenty of players would love to purchase such miniatures and would be willing to pay higher prices for them, I know I would!

Anyway, that's the box and its contents, lets move on to the game itself shall we?

The Rules :

The rules are, as you would expect, simple. Each game consists of 4 heroes (controlled by one or more players) entering a dungeon and trying to achieve an objective whilst the Overlord (who in most cases is another player, though there is an "Invisible Overlord" deck that I'll go into later) controls the monsters that oppose them. I'm not a fan of the requirement for 4 Heroes, but scaling can be an issue so I'll let that particular criticism slide.

Turn order consists of the Heroes, Overlord and End phases. In the Hero and Overlord phases models take their turns moving and/or making a single action chosen from Fight, Shoot, Cast Spell or Other (which may or may not be available depending on the adventure being played). In the Hero phase the players may choose what order they wish to act in, which can change from round to round giving some tactical importance to when each players wishes to activate their heroes. The Overlord turn is almost identical save that instead of activating every monster on the board they have a set number of Commands available, dictating how many monsters they may use in each turn and how many spells (only available in certain adventures) they may cast. Likewise the Overlord may use a single Overlord Command Card, which I will again address later.

Movement is done by square (there's no Run option though) with the Facing of each model being important as models can only make attacks and cast spells against opponents in their Front Arc (consisting of the five squares to the front and side of the model, extending away as appropriate) and if a Hero or Monster enters the front arc of an enemy model they must immediately halt with Free Attacks being made by models against opponents who move out of their front arcs.

Combat is resolved by the attacking model choosing a target in their front arc, melee attacks may only target adjacent models whilst ranged attacks make use of a measuring marker supplied with the game (split into Short and Long range). Once a valid target has been determined the attacking model rolls a number of D6's equal to their Combat value (with models having separate Melee and Ranged values) with certain modifiers adjusting how many are rolled, likewise the defending model also rolls a number of dice equal to their Combat value, again with their own set of modifiers. Any of the attackers dice that rolled equal to or less than the defenders Armour value (ranging from 1 to 5) are removed, with the rest being paired off from highest to lowest against the defenders dice. Those that are equalled or beaten by the defenders rolls are ignored, those that roll higher than the defenders deal damage which is dealt with differently depending on the nature of the target model. Heroes and Boss monsters only ever lose one wound no matter how much damage is dealt to them by a single attack, whilst minions react to damage differently, either being unharmed, removed from play, or replaced with a Pile of Bones that can later be reanimated by a Necromancer.

Spells are interesting, in each activation a magic using character may cast either 2 Minor spells or one Major spell, with the effects of each being detailed on specific cards. These are more than just reference pieces though, as instead of being able to cast spells at will or having to spend some sort of resource to do so spells instead come with a built in cool down time. This is represented by rotating the card either 90 (for Minor spells) or 180 degrees (for Major spells), with them rotating 90 degrees back towards upright in the end phase of each turn. Essentially minor spells can be cast once per turn, whilst major spells may only be cast every other turn. It's elegant and I like it.

Finally in the End phase of each turn the Overlord draws a Command Card from the draw pile and all spellcasters rotate their used cards 90 degrees back towards upright. Play then continues from the next Hero phase, nice and simple. The aforementioned Command deck is assembled at the start of the game, consisting of a set number of cards depending on the adventure, and with the Overlord drawing a hand of 3 cards when the game first starts. The deck consists of cards that allow the Overlord to activate additional models, transform piles of bones into undead, activate monsters during the heroes turn, and otherwise inconvenience the meddling do gooders. The command deck also determines the length of the game, once the draw pile has been exhausted the game is usually over, though that may not be the case depending on the adventure being played. I really don't like the imposed game length, that being one of my few gripes with the core rules.

With the basics out of the way I'll go into detail on a few other things, namely Character Creation, the Campaign System, and the Invisible Overlord and Uncharted Dungeon decks. Character creation is simple, consisting of choosing a race and class then applying some minor bonuses. I'd like more depth but it's serviceable, it also needs something in the way of clarification too seeing as Heroes apparently don't' get a feat until they've gained a level or so, despite the starting heroes in the book all starting play with a feat. Is this a typo, a misunderstanding on my behalf, or a balance issue? If anyone knows feel free to set me straight. The campaign rules are likewise simple, with the heroes gaining Gold and Glory after each adventure, the former being spent at randomly drawn Locations (in card form) while the latter is used to gain levels in the heroes chosen profession, each level granting the choice of three benefits depending on the heroes race and profession. As I said, it's simple, and I enjoy the fact that there is a side bar noting that there's nothing stopping the players from creating villains, as well as allowing for the Overlord player to level up their own Boss monsters to better match the heroes.

Finally we have the Invisible Overlord and Uncharted Dungeon decks. The Invisible Overlord deck consists of cards that determine how the actions of the Monsters during the Overlord turn. At the start of the Hero turn the top card of this deck is flipped, revealing on each card the Number of monsters that activate, what type of hero is regarded as the greatest Threat, what Order the overlord gives to their minions, and whether or not the card will Interrupt the hero turn or not. There are a number of steps that are then followed which come together to create a surprisingly deep (and at times unpredictable) system of responses to the heroes actions. I'm very pleased with this, it's something that Mantic have already attempted with the A.I deck from Deadzone : Contagion, and I'm glad to see they're continuing to refine such a ruleset.

The Uncharted Dungeon cards are actually split into two decks, the actual Uncharted Dungeon deck, and the Event deck. Each Uncharted Dungeon card details one section of the dungeon, in the form of tile layout and the locations of monsters, treasure chests and dungeon furniture. Each event card decides how many "levels-worth" of monsters are present in each dungeon section, they are also drawn to determine what treasures are present as well as hero victory conditions and other variables. Much like the Invisible Overlord rules they're simple and effective, being fully capable of being used in conjunction with one another for some Warhammer Quest style dungeon crawling. My only issue is that it doesn't seem to scale with regards to campaign play, something that I hope to be addressed either by Mantic or the fans.

Overall the rules are elegant and simple, as I've come to expect from Mantic, whilst simultaneously having enough depth to keep things interesting. That said I'm not a fan of the games reliance on cards for everything, and I'd much rather have a greater number of options in the form of tables and the like (though admittedly that might be the Gygaxian D&D player in me... more tables MORE!). Likewise I don't care for the hard limit for each games duration imposed by the Overlord deck, it's an issue that I had with Descent that ended up getting house-ruled away. It's a fun little system though, and it's really easy for new players to pick up, though I do have issues with the campaign rules and think that an "Advanced" version thereof would be an excellent addition to the Dungeon Saga range, or at the very least an interesting little fan project.

No, I'm not doing it, I've enough on my plate as it is.

My Thoughts :

So, what do I think of the new Dungeon Saga overall? Well... it's a solid product, with the Kickstarter including plenty of extras for the price I paid. I'll admit though that it's not what I was expecting, or what I was hoping for. That's an issue that's entirely my fault as I was essentially hoping for a new version of Warhammer Quest, when Dungeon Saga is far more in line with Descent, Hero Quest and the like, with its overly simplified campaign system and limited number of options. These are issues that I'm sure the fans will address in time, but still....I can't help but wish there had been more to the game.

Don't take away from my review that Dungeon Saga isn't worth purchasing, it very much is. As I said it's a solid game, the rules are competent, the miniatures are (mostly) of a decent quality, and it's something that I'm sure me and my friends will get plenty of play time out of over the years. The problem is that there are plenty of games out there that do the same thing, in many cases better, and it doesn't really do much to stand out from the crowd in any way apart from price. Even if you play Kings of War there isn't a huge amount to draw you in, the Dungeon Saga box containing almost nothing in the way of fluff with regards to their shared world, or anything to draw you into the larger setting. It's just...well... generic I suppose, and whilst I know that's part of the attraction of Mantic's fantasy products it's also starting to become a failing as they become a more established company with their own detailed settings.

I also have a few issues with the kickstarter itself. As I said earlier certain of the models are of especially poor quality, oddly enough models that were kickstarter stretch goals that one would assume Mantic would have taken more time with. Likewise the Adventurers Companion is missing its page references, the Dwarf Kings Quest adventure book lacks the level limitations mentioned in the Adventurers Companion, and a number of items that were meant to be in the box (such as the Hero Cards for all but the core heroes, certain of the dungeon tiles, etc.) are missing from the Kickstarter release. All of these are fairly minor issues, it's just taken together that they start to become a problem. Mantic responded to this by making free PDF versions of the above available to the backers which, frankly, I don't think is good enough. They've also offered free updated copies of the Adventurers Companion to those affected (though you still have to pay shipping) as well as further support for the game in the future. Does these offset the issues? No, though they do go some way towards doing so and I'm pleased that they've at least made these overtures.

I know Mantic are a small company, and that budget gaming is their raison d'être, but still for a Kickstarter project that's meant to encourage the support of their games and community, I just don't think it's good enough. How they've dealt with these issues genuinely makes me question whether or not I should support their Kickstarter projects in the future, and makes me somewhat anxious about my support of Deadzone : Infestation, but  we'll see how that goes. There have been complaints in the community about Mantic using Kickstarter as a pre-order system, something they've addressed themselves, and I've got to say I'm very much behind them. In backing a Kickstarter product you're getting a lot for less than you'd pay for at retail, and with the backers goods being the first wave mistakes are going to happen and errors are going to creep in. I accept that, I do, and yes I received a hell of a lot of stuff for a mere £60 or so, most of which I'm happy with, some I'm impressed by, it's just the few quality issues that have disappointed me.

I'll bring this review to a close. Dungeon Saga is not perfect, no game is, but for the price it's a fun game with plenty of miniatures that I'm sure most groups (especially those with a little Hero Quest nostalgia) will get plenty of play out of. If that's your cup of tea I'd advise getting your hands on it, and although my faith in Mantic has been a little shaken I'm still very much a supporter of that lovely little company. They've got heart, and unlike many they do genuinely listen to and support their community.

Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael

One Shots : The Dresden Files

(Oh Murph, you're such a badass)

So, it's time for me to write up another of our one shots. Now, this post is rather late, seeing as the game in question was played over a month ago back in September, and we've since played another one shot that I'll be writing up in the next week or so. Oops.

Before I cut to the chase I'd just like to make clear that unlike the other One Shots we've played so far this one was not a pre-written adventure from a published source. Instead this one was written by InfinityCircuit, who previously contributed his ideas for Tyranid transport creatures to this blog.

With that said, let's crack on shall we?

The Setting :

As you might expect the Dresden Files RPG is set in the universe of the Dresden Files series of novels by Jim Butcher. They're an urban fantasy series set primarily in and around Chicago with the main character being a private investigator and professional wizard by the name of Harry Dresden from who's point of view the stories are written, with a handful of exceptions. I and most of my immediate gaming group are fans of the series, mostly due to its mixture of drama, humour, and internally consistent world building along with Jim Butcher's talent for writing sympathetic and compelling characters.

A lot of the world and its contents could be considered fairly clichéd, with all the usual urban fantasy archetypes such as changelings, mages, vampires, werewolves (this is starting to sound rather familiar...) and the like being present. The various tropes and supernatural entities present however are subject to enough interesting little tweaks and alterations to make them feel unique, with a much closer eye to their folkloric sources than most literary representations.

I'd personally thoroughly recommend the books, whilst they're admittedly fairly light reading they are also very much entertaining reading, something that a lot of people seem to look down on these days. In any case before continuing to the meat of this write-up I'll give a brief overview of the main power groups in the Dresden Files setting, a vague understanding of which may give you a better understanding of the adventure itself.

• The White Council : The White Council are this settings ruling body of Wizards. Humans manifest many different types and power levels of magical ability, with Wizards being the most powerful and versatile of them all. Some "gifted" individuals may be able to control electricity, talk to ghosts, or perform divinations, but Wizards are at least capable of almost anything given enough time and experience. The White Council are an organisation that regulate the use of magic amongst humanity, ensuring that their "Laws of Magic" are enforced and that human magic users are protected from other supernatural powers.
• The Wardens : The Wardens are the White Council's enforcers, they make sure magic users follow the rules, and when they don't they either arrest them or use their ensorcelled swords to put them down. They also protect the members of the Council from supernatural threats and make sure that the other power groups don't overstep their bounds.
• The Vampire Courts : Vampires in the Dresden Files universe are split into several "Courts", each being composed of a different type of vampire, the main three being the Black, Red and White courts. The Black Court are the most corpselike and inhuman, also potentially the most deadly though they also have the most weaknesses including all of the classic vampiric vulnerabilities. The Red Court are blood drinkers and infiltrators, naturally hideous but capable of cloaking themselves in a seductive "Flesh Mask" and spreading their curse through their bites. The White Court feed on emotions and have the fewest vulnerabilities, though their most notable vulnerability is to true love. It's not as sappy as it sounds I promise.
• The Faerie Courts : These come in the classic Seelie and Unseelie variety, the courts of Summer and Winter each with their own Queen and Knight, the latter of which is a supernaturally empowered mortal chosen by the current queen of that court. One of the things I enjoy about this series is that it delves more heavily into classic faerie mythology with the Fae being fairly alien beings in terms of mindset, their morals and mores shaped by their own system of oaths, allegiances and contracts rather than human societal constructs.
• The Church : In the Dresden Files universe the church is active with regards to the supernatural, sponsoring their own organisations who protect their flock from supernatural predators whilst sponsoring smaller groups such as the Fellowship of St Giles and the Knights of the Cross.
• The Fellowship of St Giles : A church sponsored organisation, these folk take in those who've been bitten by the Red Court but who have not yet turned. An Infectee doesn't transform fully into a Red Court vampire until they feed and the Fellowship helps them to deal with their cravings whilst simultaneously training them to fight against the Red Court and those who serve it. This includes the inscription of magical tattoos on its members which help them control themselves whilst likewise changing colour from black to red the closer the infectee gets to losing control.

The Mechanics :

The Dresden Files RPG uses the Fudge system, the rules for which are very much freeform compared to most other systems, with an emphasis on roleplaying and player interaction with the story and in-game environment as opposed to hard rules or realism. The system utilises it's own special six sided dice each with a pair of + symbols, a pair of - symbols, and a pair of blank faces. For test resolution the player rolls four Fudge dice and adds together the total number of + symbols, subtracting any - symbols and potentially adding further bonuses or penalties depending on the character or antagonist's stats.

The primary numerical component of any characters stats are their Skills, each rate from 0 (Mediocre) to +5 (Superb), with that being the number added to the results of that players dice roll. Coincidentally this rating system also determines the results of any test, with the result's ladder being extended to range from -2 (Terrible) to +8 (Legendary). Players roll their dice, apply any modifiers, and then compare that to this range of results to determine how well they did. For example if a player rolled +, +, +, - on their dice with an appropriate skill rating of +1 they'd get a result of 4 (Great). Opposed tests, such as those required by combat or any other circumstance where two parties come into conflict, subtract the lowest rolling parties result from that of the highest rolling party to determine the level of disparity between them.

Damage takes the form of Stresses, split in a rather WoD fashion between Physical, Mental and Social stresses, with the number of boxes for each determined by the Endurance, Conviction and Presence skills. If a character finds all of their Stress boxes for a particular category filled they take a Consequence, such as Broken Arm, Battered and Bruised, or Wounded Ego. It's important to note that Stresses are not just caused by damage, but by any source of, well, stress. Characters taking part in an intense debate might for example accrue Social stresses as it wears on, with consequences like Flustered and Humiliated coming into play until somebody suffers sufficient Stress and Consequences to render them unable to continue. It's an interesting way of dealing with "damage", one that I'd like to have more of a play around with in the future.

Obviously the complete rules are a little more complex, but I personally find the core system to be very solid and easy to understand, making this an excellent system for new players or those with little experience with tabletop RPG's. More advanced players may find it a little lacking, but as I mentioned earlier this is a system that focuses on the story rather than the mechanics, so to complain about it doing exactly what it claims to do would be both pointless and churlish.

The Fudge dice aren't the only interesting part of this system though, there are also the concepts of Aspects, Fate Points and Tagging. Aspects are descriptive words and phrases that are for the most part applied to characters, but can also refer to situations and locations and can be either permanent or temporary. For example one of our players had the aspect Stubborn as a Mule on their character sheet, describing a facet of their nature. In the course of play the players and GM may "Tag" these aspects in order to further the story, though whether this is done in a beneficial or detrimental manner depends on who's doing the tagging.

Players can tag one of their own aspects to gain some sort of mechanical benefit, likewise they can tag the aspects of opponents or locations for the same reason. In the same vein the GM can tag a players aspects in a detrimental manner or tag those of NPC's in order to benefit them. Following on from my previous example the player could tag Stubborn as a Mule to gain a bonus against an opponent attempting to intimidate or seduce them, meanwhile the GM may tag the same aspect in order to force them to continue with a particular course of action even when the player (and indeed character) know they're on the wrong track. Likewise characters can add aspects to a scene, such as declaring that there is a car leaking petrol from its damaged engine on the road they're luring a vampire down.

Tagging and Declaring aspects requires players to expend Fate Points, which they have a small pool of that is refreshed at the start of each gaming session as well as during play. It's important to note that the GM cannot FORCE a player to act against their will. When the GM tags a players aspect they offer that player an extra fate point which that player can choose whether or not to accept, if they do so then they must act in a manner determined by their aspect. I like how this works, it encourages the players and GM to play around with their characters personalities as well as the world around them, it also rewards creative thinking on behalf of the players with regards to the clever tagging and declaration of Aspects. I'd like it if more RPG's had a similar system, perhaps we'll see more of that kind of thing in the future.

The last aspect of the rules that I'd like to talk about before moving on to the adventure proper is how character and city generation are handled. Yes, that's right, one of the most interesting parts of this game is that the players and GM cooperatively generate the city in which their stories will take place with all of the players working together to determine what power groups are active in the city, what mysteries and secrets there are, as well as the overall themes and conflicts that shape the site of their adventures. Likewise character creation is also done cooperatively, with part of the creation process incorporating the players working together to determine how their characters know each other and what adventures they've had together before the campaign begins. Together these help to get the players more invested in the setting as well as dealing with the age old issue of why this group of strangers are willing to work together, something that plagues a lot of game systems.

Well, at least it doesn't assume that the players were all offered a quest by a hooded old man in the local tavern. It's never worth it. I'm a big fan of these aspects of the game, they very much accentuate the RP aspects of the RPG and I for one cannot fault that despite the difficulties that can arise if one or more players is suffering from a case of creators block.

Again, as stated earlier there's a lot more to the rules than this brief overview and they're very much worth looking into if you've the time and inclination. Now, on to the adventure itself!

The Characters :

The player characters for this adventure were as follows, each of them having been written up by Infinity Circuit save for the aforementioned sections of character creation where the characters determine their prior adventures together, which we went through together. For each character I've given a basic overview as well as noting down their High Concept, the initial and usually most important part of character creation.

Gareth Hawthorne : A Focussed Practitioner (a magic user who's abilities are tightly focused upon one particular ability or subset thereof, in this particular case the manipulation and generation of electricity) determined to make his own way in the world. He suffers from chronic hero syndrome, something that has brought him to the attention and into the occasional service of the Fellowship of St Giles alongside the other party members.

High Concept : Electromancer Mechanic.

Jul Omer : A Palestinian scholar and a gentleman with a love of learning in all its forms. Something of a black sheep with regards to his family it was whilst being educated in England that his fae parentage came to light along with the reasons for his families apparent disregard for him. He prefers to find non-violent solutions to his problems, as well as those that do not require the embrace of his supernatural aspects, but also enjoys the thrill of seeking out forgotten knowledge and hidden lore.

High Concept : Fae Born Academic.

David Bancroft : A charismatic werewolf (in this setting, anyone who has learned to magically shape shift into the form of a wolf, as opposed to Loup Garou who are the cursed, silver hating type) with a list of bad habits as long as his tail. A good natured chap who is unfortunately easily distracted by a pretty face or an intriguing puzzle, both of which have led him into trouble on many an occasion. Played by yours truly.

High Concept : Werewolf About Town.

Jamie Maxwell : A Red Court Infected and full member of the Fellowship of St Giles, having been tattooed with the mystical marks that allow him to better control his vampiric nature. A good man at heart he nevertheless has rage issues, only exacerbated by his fervent faith and hatred of those that he sees as abominations in the sight of the lord.

High Concept : Post Modern Inquisitor.

The Adventure :

Note : For those who have actually read the books, I should make it clear that this game took place during late September and early October 2002, around the time of a certain dramatic event and subsequent conflict...

The adventure began with David, Jamie and Jul on their way to the village of  Horton in Berkshire. The party were travelling in Jul's car having been asked by the Fellowship of St Giles to investigate the disappearance of Aaron Slater and several other members of the fellowship, who had been sent to the village to establish a safe house and base of operations in the area. After arriving and a short planning session the party went their separate ways to try to gather information about the missing cell of Fellowship agents.

Playing to their respective strengths Jul made his way to the village hall whilst Jamie headed for the local church and David for the pub (what can I say, my DnD instincts kicked in). After searching through the records Jul discovered that Aaron and his band had been looking into the purchase of some property in the area, making use of the law firm Garret and Davies to acquire a field on the edge of the village. Jamie failed to learn anything of import, though he did manage to give an old lady a heart attack due to the surprise of turning around to find a 6ft something heavily tattooed and menacing young man stood directly behind her, after which he called for an ambulance and followed it to the hospital to ensure her safety. A good start in my opinion. David also failed to discover anything about the missing agents, but he did learn that there had been some disappearances in the area, specifically a pair of local boys who had gone missing just over a week ago.

After gathering for lunch the party booked into a local camping site and took the chance to rest, the next day continuing with their investigations and visiting the property that Aaron had been looking to purchase before deciding to stay at a B&B due to the worsening weather. Jamie again made his way to the hospital to check in on the elderly woman he'd hospitalised, finding to his relief that she was awake and would with a little luck make a full recovery. Whilst visiting the field in question they met its owner, a local farmer who told them that Aaron had visited repeatedly to view the area before simply informing him that he'd changed his mind and wouldn't be going through with the purchase, with no other reason being given.

The next day the party set off to Windsor, the nearest town, to visit the offices of Garret and Davies as well as continuing their investigation. Sadly the receptionist was unwilling to provide us access to confidential information, though she readily agreed to accompany David to a local restaurant for dinner and drinks later that evening. Whilst he kept the young woman in question entertained Jamie and Jul decided the best way to continue gathering information would be to break into the building and go through their files. Although Jul was spotted by the police and escorted away Jamie managed to get inside and raid their files, learning that Aaron had purchased a lot at the King Edward shopping centre here in Windsor.

After rendezvousing with a pleased looking David the next day, they set off to the shopping centre. David persuading the manager that they were looking into the purchase or rental of one or more lots and gaining access to a set of keys that would allow them to look around the building without hindrance or escort (a small bribe ensuring their privacy). Making their way to the lot that Aaron had purchased David noted the smell of blood in the air, causing the party to regret that they weren't carrying any weapons save for Jamie's fists and David's wolf form. Nevertheless they pressed on, deciding that if someone was in danger they didn't have time to retrieve their gear from the car, entering a shuttered and closed down store where they found a badly beaten but still living man hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. Naked save for his injuries and an incredibly tacky tie.

The gentleman in question identified himself as Gareth Hawthorne, one of Aaron's cell, becoming somewhat more communicative once Jamie had been sent to collect the parties equipment from the car as well as to purchase for him some clothes from one of the open stores. According to Gareth he and the rest of his cell had decided to assist the boys in their escape after coming across them whilst investigating potential purchases of property. They'd decided to abandon Horton and establish a safe house in Windsor during which he'd become separated from the rest of his band and accosted by two gentlemen who'd proceeded to beat him senseless whilst trying to ascertain the children's location. Gareth had previously sent them to hide in the abandoned sections of the shopping centre, something he had refused to reveal to his captors who had presumable intended to return and finish the job later. He'd been unable to identify his attackers, though he had noticed that they'd seemed.... strange.

It was at this point that the Hot Fuzz quotes began in earnest.

Accompanied by Gareth the party collected the boys and piled into the car, returning them to London and handing them over to the care of the Fellowship before returning to Horton with the intent to confront the parish council. According to the boys (who had been very cooperative once safely ensconced within a Fellowship safe house and provided with hot food and drinks) they'd decided to scarper after overhearing their parents talking about them being handed over to someone as a tithe in exchange for "protection". Incredulous but not wanting to take any chances they'd made a run for it before encountering Gareth and then the rest of the party.

The party arrived back in Horton in the early evening, with Jamie and David heading for the Vicarage whilst Gareth and Jul made their way to the church, both groups intending to find out anything they could before gathering to decide on their next course of action. This plan was scuppered when, enraged by the actions of the council on what he viewed as holy ground Jamie stormed into the Vicarage, kicked the front door in, marched into the meeting room and flipped a solid oak table over onto several of the council, injuring them badly as David followed him inside in wolf form. Jamie proceeded to berate the council members, full of righteous fury as he was, whilst David kept any of them from leaving or calling for help having to at one point resort to menacing the vicar when he tried to reach the phone. Realising that claiming ignorance was pointless the council members (including one of the childrens mothers) told the party that this had  been going on for generations, and was necessary to keep the village, and indeed the world, safe from something imprisoned below the church.

Meanwhile Gareth and Jul had reached the church and made their way inside, finding the undercroft open and the other members of Aaron's cell (though not the man himself) tied to chairs in the subterranean chamber with a pair of villagers standing guard with shotguns as well as a cat eyed gentleman of obviously fae origin.

Though Jul attempted to defuse the situation (despite his anger at the gentleman's mention that they'd taken Aaron home with them, as well as the apparent compact they'd established with the villagers) things rapidly deteriorated when Jamie arrived, dragging the parent of one of the children along with him, a rather annoyed looking wolf dogging his heels (yep, there were puns, many, many puns). The fae's smug, condescending manner didn't help matters nor did his demands for the children and insistence on insulting and belittling the party. Eventually David completely lost his temper and attacked, hurling himself bodily at the Fae who fled chuckling into the Never Never, leaving the party facing a pair of terrified villagers wielding shotguns.

A few rounds of buckshot, punching, biting and parishioners being thrown at each other by an angry Red Court Infectee later both villagers were restrained and the captured cell members freed, though one had taken a shell full of buckshot to the chest. Fortunately the injury was not lethal and he was stabilised whilst the rest of the party investigated the room, specifically the rune inscribed stone slab dominating the centre of the floor. Knowing full well they were out of their depth the party decided to kick the problem upstairs and made a call back to the Fellowship, who in turn followed channels of their own...

Later that night, after the parishioners had fled to their homes and the party had treated their injuries they were joined by an intimidating looking woman in a grey coat carrying a sheathed longsword. After a brief conversation with the party she thanked them for their work and dismissed them, informing them that this was no longer their problem.

With that done the party set off back to London, the missing cell members (except for Aaron) having been rescued along with the pair of runaways, the issue of whatever was lurking below the church now being a problem for those better qualified to deal with it, namely the Wardens of the White Council. All in all, a successful mission that nevertheless left the party with more questions than they'd started with, as all good adventures do...

In Conclusion :

This adventure was a lot of fun, I enjoyed the GM's ability to manipulate the players via the medium of Fate Points as well as the simple and effective rules system. I'd love to have a bit more of a play around with this system from a players perspective, though it's unlikely that I will ever GM it due to my own issues with running modern fantasy games (something that came to light when I was running Scion a few years ago). I'd certainly recommend giving it a go, if nothing else its a good system to use to take a break between heavier games.

On a related note it's looking likely that one of our upcoming campaigns will be for the Dresden Files, once we're done with the Tyranny of Dragons, again with Infinity Circuit at the helm. I will of course make sure to chronicle said adventures on this blog as well as the Character and City creation steps of the campaign which I'm sure will prove interesting.

Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael