village
Among the Blood of Thine Enemies
Content: A general scenario and 12 NPCs to do with as you will
Writing: Lean but colorful and evocative
Art/design: Almost entirely typographical, but leverages layered text as a visual figure of how the PCs’ work will ultimately be overwritten
Usability: Requires some elaboration from the GM, but the bones are there
A Piece of Rotten Fish
Auld Clootie’s Bairn
Concept: “What has happened to suddenly change the behavior of little Angelica…and how can the Mercer family fit in to their new community?”
Content: A surreally mundane adventure with a troubled tot
Writing: Provides lots of detail and dialogue as well as suggestions for alternative plots and a metric ton of nasty insults
Art/design: Primarily designed around navigating events and conversations delivered via text
Usability: Ready to use out-of-the-box but can also be tinkered with and adapted to GM taste and need
A World Lit Only by Fire
Content: An accidental quest to save a town from a regime of vampires
Writing: Primarily descriptive and mechanical but with some appropriately bloody imagery
Art/design: Easily navigable map and clearly delineated tables and stat blocks
Usability: Even if the PCs succeed, they may still fail (horribly)
Blunderbuss
Content: A trigger-happy township with some heavy-duty arms
Writing: Provides some context for the encounter and mechanics for getting shot by a blunderbuss
Art/design: Good use of color and form to pick out significant information
Usability: Provides the basics and leaves lots of room for the GM to make it their own
Corpsewake Cove
Concept: “There is no nest of scurvy rats as foul or felonious as the pirates of Corpsewake Cove!”
Content: A self-contained, sandbox-style swashbuckling adventure from inciting incident to bloody climax
Writing: Text-heavy but clean, clear, and effective on all levels; includes lots of description as well as stat blocks, tables, and other mechanical components
Art/design: Balances out the verbal elements with lots of vivid, nautically themed designs
Usability: A fair amount of content and moving parts to manage, but nothing a seasoned and conscientious GM can’t handle
Flails at Chrimbo
Concept: “Your insane sister apparently sent the children Flails this Christmas. Flails!”
Content: A sandboxy, randomized crawl through streets beset by flail-wielding tykes. (Yes, it is as dark and hilarious as it sounds.)
Writing: Multiple tables for different types of encounters, suggested destinations, and a grim finale
Art/design: Primarily textual, but well-organized to do its work effectively
Usability: Facilitates linear flow through the document
For Whom the Deer Haunts
Content: Provides a hook, suspects (with a fun alibi system), and culprit
Writing: Conveys the necessary information concisely but effectively
Art/design: A gritty graphic character with strategic shocks of color
Usability: Allows GM to customize scenario to taste or need; includes a twisted twist on the reward
Grave Matters
Concept: “New uses for dry corpses”
Content: Undeath-themed classes, gear/weapons/scrolls, optional rules, monsters/NPCs, encounters, and an adventure site
Writing: Loads of creative concepts presented through expressive, inspiring, and witty prose
Art/design: Modified public domain images and original art support the theme along with layouts, typography, and colors that make this undeniably Borgy
Usability: References amongst entries create a sense of cohesion and interconnection; an excellent resource for a game or arc themed around skeletons, zombies, and corpses
Martolea, Tuesday’s Demon
Content: A bizarre, subversive, brutal beast and a simmering, horror-themed investigation spanning a few days in a seemingly quiet town
Writing: Includes a standard stat block as well as additional attributes and an overview of the monster’s MO; the adventure balances subtle tension and intrigue with moments of overt violence and gore
Art/design: Graphic design aids in navigating the adventure; illustrations add lots of creepy visual character
Usability: Includes a town map and an appendix of character sketches for quick reference
Of Grey Matters
Content: A scenario with stats for NPCs and, of course, mechanics for brainworms; optional content includes additional items and a monster as well as stats for Mausritter
Writing: Elevates sardonic cynicism to an artform
Art/design: Linear layout punctuated by shocks of color
Usability: Easy to digest with well-placed stat blocks
Soul Wrenched Shaman
Concept: “The streets of Schleswig are filled with empty husks … Fathmu IV has put a hefty bag of 200 silver to anyone who can put a stop to this.”
Content: Adventure hook and framework with a creative final boss
Writing: Sets the overall scenario and trajectory, and provides seeds for scenes along the journey
Art/design: Features a pretty bizarre illustration
Usability: Content is well-organized for linear use
Spore-spawn of the Rhizoworm
Content: An adventure in fungal infection
Writing: Presents rules and flavor for a skin-crawling ecology
Art/design: Diverse but unified; useful in navigating the document during play
Usability: Some ambiguity in the fungal infection rules but intent becomes clear
Stull
Content: A bitterly satirical scenario centered on a deal with the devil
Writing: Concise but descriptive and punctuated with sardonic wit
Art/design: Well organized with visually differentiated sections and expressive illustrations
Usability: Gives GMs latitude to work setting and situation into campaigns and adventures as they need or see fit