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Thanks to Free League Publishing, we had access to the remastered version of Into the Odd in order to write this review; the original tabletop RPG was released by Chris McDowall in 2014.

This new edition preserves the original text and fixes minor management problems; the main real change is the addition of new content. The original text has therefore been corrected only where necessary; instead, the new contents instead enrich the work. The additions are an expansion of the Arcana, a demo adventure, new material for the Oddpendium and a brilliant graphic revision by Johan Nohr (one of the authors of Mörk Borg).

This volume has more than 140 pages and the graphics are striking and captivating; the cover itself has bright colors and dreamlike aesthetics.

The game can be purchased directly from the official Free League store at a price of about 37 dollars.

Into The Odd Remastered Setting Review

Into the Odd Remastered keeps the original setting; an industrial world where all sorts of cosmic entities and dangerously powerful artifacts can be found. The characters are explorers looking for wealth and power, but above all for the Arcana: magical elements that range from the smallest jewel to large sculptures with an unknown origin. Many scientific theories and different religions have questioned the purpose of their existence. When dealing with these amazing oddities, players must try to avoid being overwhelmed by them and getting lost forever.

Citizens throng the streets of Bastion, a vast city whose industries supply even the most remote places with weapons, chemicals, and newspapers. Below, the Underground extends over an equally vast territory; sewers and winding tunnels hide ancient caves that many have forgotten about.

The game world is divided into several areas ranging from the city of Bastion to the unexplored Golden Lands. The GM’s task, here referred to as the Referee, is to guide the players to discover these mysterious places.

Character Building

In Into The Odd Remastered, as you can see in this review, character building is extremely simple and intuitive. There are only 3 Skills: Strength, Dexterity and Willpower. The player must roll 3 6-sided dice to establish the score for each of the Skills. Each character then starts off with a d6 of Hit Protection (HP), the measure of their possibilities to avoid dangerous health damage.

To determine the character’s starting equipment and other important information, you can consult a simple table. The score of the highest Skill and the HP must be considered.

For example, a character with 3 HP and a Skill with a score of 13 will be equipped with a pistol, a smoke bomb, a shovel and a mutt.

Each item has a cost and a function, just as each weapon has a die size to determine damage. Everything is excellently summarized by another practical table.

Game Mechanics

Also in this case, Into The Odd Remastered summarizes the rules very well, listing them by points in just four pages; the focus is mainly on combat and the uses of the Arcana. Let’s not forget that, in fact, this is an OSR game. So a 20-sided die is used and saving throws are aimed at avoiding dangerous situations. If the result of the roll made is equal to or less than the score of the Skill involved, success is achieved. As in all OSR games, 1 is always a success, while 20 means failure.

A few minutes of rest and a sip of water allow you to recover all the HP lost, but resting can attract danger or waste time, while a complete rest requires a week and a comfortable place. Someone deprived of a basic need, such as food, water or a warm place, cannot benefit from rest.

In her turn of combat, the character can make a move and perform an action; characters act before enemies. If they are in danger of being taken by surprise, they must make a Dexterity saving throw which, if failed, does not allow them to go first. Once it is determined whether the characters or the opponents are starting, the players can act in the order they prefer on their turn.

An attacking player rolls the die indicated by his weapon and subtracts the opponent’s armor score; the result obtained is the damage caused. Attacks that take a tactical disadvantage, such as trying to hit someone in cover, require a d4 to be rolled regardless of the dice indicated by the weapon. Likewise, attempting to hit someone helpless raises the weapon’s die size to a d12.

The Arcana and the Oddpendium

Arcana are the most precious items in the setting of Into The Odd Remastered. They are classified into Arcana (powers that cannot be understood), Greater Arcana (powers that barely can be controlled) and Legendary Arcana (powers that you shouldn’t try to control). For each category there is a wide selection, so as to give the Referee many options; from the Palmate Hands (which allow you to climb walls) to the Space Cube (which allows you to teleport to a place you’ve already visited), the possibilities abound.

To help the Referee to make the game world always varied and fascinating, the manual provides the Oddpendium; it is a toolbox of random events, reactions, names, relationships, descriptions, and paths. In short, here you can find everything needed to create action; it is enough to roll a die!

Art and Graphics

As you may have guessed by scrolling through this review, Into The Odd Remastered is a feast for the eyes. The layout is clean and essential, the rules are simple and dynamic; it amazes and bewitches with the wonderful color illustrations that invade the pages and transform them into true works of art.

Through its pages you will certainly find ideas or suggestions; Johan Nohr’s work is incredible, and valuable even when he just illustrates the introductory adventure maps included in the manual; The Iron Coral has in fact been expanded since the first edition. This adventure (much more than introductory) has four mini-dungeons to enrich it; the core of the exploration extends over three levels.

Conclusions of the Into The Odd Remastered Review

As can be seen from this review, Into The Odd Remastered deserves a place of honor in the library even if you’re not a fan of OSR games.

Not only beautiful to see, it also proves to be versatile and never monotonous; it offers the Referee all the tools necessary to build both a simple one-shot and a long campaign.

If you enjoyed this review of the remastered version of Into The Odd Remastered, stay tuned for more RPGs!

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