We thank Robert Turk and Wicked Clever Books & Games for providing us with a digital copy of Goblonia for the purpose of writing a review.
The subtitle reads “A game of mad plans and reckless rebellion.” In Goblonia, players will play rebellious goblins, members of the secret society G.I.T.S. (so secret that no one knows the meaning of the acronym), who from within the pseudo-modern city of Goblonia awkwardly fight against the “Fatriarchy”, the ruling class made of the most powerful among the feys.
The game system is original, requiring a deck of French cards for each person at the table and relies on the drawing of pairs and trios. Beware, however, figures never lead to anything good! You will find more details about the rules later in this review of Goblonia.
The manual can be found in English on the website of publisher Wicked Clever Books & Games. You will find the digital version for $20 and the physical version for $50. (just under €20 and €50, respectively). Both versions come with useful additions, such as a printable city map.
Review of Goblonia‘s Aesthetics and Structure
The product chooses an aesthetic style in line with the tone of the game. Playing on the contrast between black, white, and shades of parchment color, the illustrations seem evidently inspired by Quentin Blake’s work for the Roald Dahl novels, contributing to the light tone of the entire manual.
Featuring hyperlinks, the table of contents divides the manual into 8 chapters. The first is an introduction, the second, third, and fourth address the rules, the fifth the setting, and the last the player who will assume the role of Narrator. A role that from now on in this review will be called as it appears in the Goblonia handbook: Weaver.
Each of the chapters is divided into paragraphs of appropriate length, clearly illustrating the topic they address. In general, the structure of the information is well laid out, making it easy to return to review less clear points when needed.
The Big City
Your sessions will take place in the chaotic city of Goblonia, located somewhere in the world of the fairy folk. The city is inhabited primarily by goblins, who over time have built building upon building, all about to fall at any moment. It is known that goblins are not the most reliable craftsmen on the market. Among the buildings we can find bizarre machinery and experimental technologies. These are unreliable to the point that for most things we prefer to use the old methods; a trained rat to deliver a message, for example. It is better not to depend too much on anything that has come out of the mind and hands of a goblin.
The government of the city is in the hands of Titania, queen of the fairies, who controls the inhabitants through the special fairy police, the Ratha, and her mind-control magic, extended to all corners of the city.
In addition to goblins, on the streets we can find humans enslaved by fairies, pixies, human orphans escaped from Titania’s clutches, a few Trolls, pets of various kinds and a some other fairy creatures.
Goblonia is geographically divided into three layers, one stacked on top of the other like a kind of layered cake half-collapsed on itself. There is the lowest layer, in which most goblins scramble as best as they can between disasters, a middle layer, in which we find most of the town’s entertainment and locales, and finally there is the top layer, in which the wealthiest goblins and those closer to the Fatriarchy live.
It is said that in the past, in the center of the city there was the tower of a great wizard. But this, of course, can only be an old legend without foundation.
Being a Goblin
Despite the fact that the city is full of collapsed buildings, explosions, damages and disasters, this does not worry the average inhabitant of Goblonia. Goblins, in fact, are essentially immortal. They can only be killed if beheaded directly by a fairy. Overpopulation is not a problem either. No one knows exactly how goblins are born. Almost all the inhabitants of Goblonia have been there as long as they can remember.
Goblins are for all intents and purposes members of the fairy people, so they have supernatural abilities. Even though they are not the greatest sorcerers you may encounter and their magic pales in comparison to the one of the Fairies, but they can occasionally show off some useful magical abilities.
The manual provides several hints about the setting, but does not specify details. In fact the task of determining precisely what is there and where it is is left to the players, who are urged to invent places and NPCs by recording them on the map.
Classes are constructed through the playbook choice, a particular kind of character sheet. The choice of the playbook depends on the character’s “calling.” A playbook contains from the start all possible class advancements, which will be unlocked as the adventures progress. Each playbook also contains the magical abilities a goblin can unleash, often having to spend a “squib,” a game currency. Based on the player’s call and choice, certain points are invested in the paths, the six “basic characteristics” of Goblonia‘s characters. In addition, a profession is chosen, which can give you a bonus in trials where consistently applied.
Review of the Goblonia Game System
Paths should be interpreted as the approaches to problem solving that a goblin can apply. Virtually any situation can be approached by each of the paths, it is up to the players and the Weaver to determine the most appropriate path based on the narrative or to find the most effective narrative for the approach you would like to play.
Tests in the game are solved by a system called the “Gobnob”, which is unique to all game situations. Gobnob requires one deck of French cards per player. At the time of the trial, the Weaver will draw a number of cards from his deck in proportion to the difficulty and play the best three; the player will do the same, drawing as many cards as the value of his character’s most appropriate skill. The player is always given the chance to fail before drawing, after seeing the narrator’s cards. If they does so, they will get a “squib.” Cards with figures bring complications to the table and do not contribute to pairs or trises.
There are two types of tests: players’ attempts to get something and resistance tests. In the latter case, the Weaver forces a test from the players to see if they can resist actions taken against them or other disasters that might afflict them.
Although goblins are nearly immortal, this does not mean that they are invulnerable. You may experience damage and even end up offstage.
Review of the Goblonia Playstyle
From the very first paragraph, it is clear the slant and style of play that the manual proposes. The game proposes a lighthearted, humorous, and at times absurd tone. Despite this, Goblonia does not shy away from bringing sensitive and sensitive issues to the table. The game deals with topics such as the oppression and rebellion of a population forced into subjugation, but it aims to do so by putting the enjoyment of all participants at its center. These issues, though present, are not the focus of the product.
Players will come into contact with these thorny issues through the surreal and rambling filter of incompetent and nearly indestructible characters. It is stated that characters are bound to fail a lot and get into trouble often, but the death of your Goblins is a fairly rare occurrence. The game is designed to make you fail a lot and make failure a fun time, causing further trouble and situations in which to scrape your way out of as little as possible.
The Preparation of Missions
Among the instructions addressed to the Weaver, an entire chapter is devoted to the construction of “missions”, the pivotal narrative unit of the game. Each mission is divided into four phases: the Hook, the Scheming, the Undertaking, and the Epilogue. Each mission possesses these four sections, each of which must be approached according to its particular structure.
The hook is the beginning of each mission. It is that moment when the characters come into contact with their call to action. The hook could come from the G.I.T.S., from some well off goblins, or eventually from the Fatriarchy itself!
As the group begins to move around the situation and prepare for what will happen, the Scheming phase begins. In this section each of the players can decide to do something to prepare: e.g. gathering information, scouting, calling old contacts, retrieving something that may be useful later; a single action that must be resolved with a single card draw. If the group wants additional planning rotations, they can do so by timing 5 minutes of discussion out of the game and adding a king to the disaster pile. The more time spent preparing, the more things could go wrong.
Getting to Business!
When the actual action begins you enter the Undertaking. This is the main course of the quest; characters will attempt to achieve their goals, opposing those who try to stop them and resolving any disputes through extractions.
Eventually, whether our goblins have accomplished their intent or not, comes the moment of the Conclusion. It should be a moment when the Weaver shows the table the consequences of the characters’ misadventures from the city’s point of view. Their effects and echoes. A tip for Weavers: conclusions are a great time to introduce possible hooks for the next mission.
Between missions, characters have opportunities to act, either individually or on their hideout, by investing advancements gained by the end of a mission. It is not advides to play any particular “downtime” scenes. The layout of the game revolves around quests and is designed to tell that specific part of goblin life.
The Canary and the Pig: Handbook Adventures
In the rulebook there are two ready-to-play adventures, ideally in one-shot form, designed to show two aspects of the game.
The first, titled The Canary in the Coal Fire, is a mission illustrating a task the G.I.T.S. may require of the group: retrieve an informant taken prisoner. Corra Porcus, the second adventure, on the other hand, describes a situation tending toward the absurd: a hunt for a golden pig worth a lot of money. Obviously everyone is trying to catch it, amidst the myriad normal pigs released for a traditional holiday.
Both missions are written by separating the four phases, giving some cues and direction to the Weaver, but leaving a lot of room for improvisation for everyone at the table. Both Corra Porcus and A Canary in the Fire can be placed within longer campaigns.
Conclusion of this Goblonia Review
As you can understand reading this review, Goblonia is inspired by games such as Blades in the Dark and Spire, retaining some of the setting ideas and themes, but deeply flipping the tone of the narrative. The light-hearted mechanics allow you to be guided by the game situations, fostering a nimble and dynamic narrative made up of exanges between players and the Weaver.
One thing should be noted: this is not a game that will appeal to RPG newbies and those unfamiliar with the narrative style. There are no paragraphs devoted to explaining how the author understands roleplaying games, nor explanations of what kind of game Goblonia is. This is certainly not a problem for those who have explored different systems and are thus accustomed to a certain type of game. If, on the other hand, Goblonia is your first approach to games with light mechanics and strong improvisational components, the manual will not guide you in the general aspects of this type of game style.
At the end of this review of Goblonia, I would recommend the game to those who want exhilarating, light-hearted experiences playing on failures and misadventures.
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Thanks to Max Moon for sending us a review copy of Fairyland. It is a system-neutral old school psychedelic micro-setting; thanks to it, author Kyle Reimergartin introduces us to the world of fairies, such as pixie and goblins.
If this manual arouses your interest, know that it is available on the official store at the price of $20 (about €19 at the moment) in its physical version; the digital format is included in the purchase.
The world of fairy creatures can be wonderful or unforgiving, a sweet dream or a terrible nightmare; pay attention: we are going to the fairy kingdom!
The Charm of the Fairy Kingdom
An essential aspect of this manual is the charm. Just like the creatures featured on its almost fifty pages, a first glance is enough to fall in love with it.
The soft cover has a black base and the illustration comes in several variants to choose from at the time of purchase; they are all iridescent colors, which create hypnotic light tricks.
The internal illustrations are instead all in black and white, with a bizarre and delightfully archaic style. Sometimes grotesque, sometimes graceful and sometimes disturbing figures and scenes alternate. Some images take up almost a full page, while others are as small as a fairy.
Max Moon’s artistic and design choices work perfectly with the proposed themes, giving a further touch of magic to the contents; the layout on a single column and the clear (but refined) font, however, also allow an excellent legibility. The combination of eccentric and classic makes this work unique.
However, the charm cannot be limited to aesthetics and for this reason now, in this review, we will get lost in the contents of Fairyland. In this regard, I really appreciated the list of works that inspired the author, placed at the end of the manual. This allows us to understand what influences he has had and to explore them ourselves in case we are enchanted by them. Among them we find, for example, Dictionary of Fairies by Katharine Briggs and Pan’s Labyrinth (by Guillermo del Toro).
Fairyland Locations Review
This setting is system-neutral, although any old school RPG is fine, especially those with eccentricities. I like this choice because the introduction explains that entering these lands is never trivial and can generate truly unexpected events. Here we see what is normally invisible to the eye.
Those who visit these places will never be the same again; sometimes the characters may encounter creatures that have trodden the fairy ground and may have memories of them, whether true or false. Here a key element of the manual comes into play: the tables; with a die roll (made by the master or by the players, depending on the circumstances) an aspect of the narration is randomly determined.
First of all, however, a question arises: how do you enter? The possible answers are many; through a door in a rock, the trunk of a tree, a field of flowers… Crossing the threshold will not always be a choice!
The Secrets of This Realm
And when you start walking these lands beware: the little folk tend to take great joy and amusement in setting weird traps! They are often not mechanical, but they tend to use the magic that permeates this realm to confuse the senses and deceive the unfortunate.
Sometimes fey use these means to conceal their most precious treasures. Here too random tables help us and allow us to generate many original ideas. Each object belonging to a treasure can be characterized by various peculiarities; visible effects, hidden qualities, enchantments, curses and engravings. Some combinations are truly bizarre; imagine the face of an adventurer wearing a crystal and beautiful helmet, only to discover that it cannot be removed and that it gets heavier every day! There are also a few examples of ready-made items, but honestly the thrill of randomness seemed more appealing to me.
I also really enjoyed the random fairy tomes generator. I can’t wait for one of my players to browse the Catalogue of Magic Worms and Forgotten Dreams!
After all, however, adventurers often have more courage (or silliness) than prudence and could still decide to steal these goods. Be careful, sometimes the inhabitants may not like it, while in other cases the objects themselves will react.
The Inhabitants of Fairyland
The protagonists of Fairyland (and of this review) are its inhabitants, the little creatures belonging to the folklore of many cultures. They are known by many names: goblins, elves, pixies, imps, and more. Their nature totally reflects that of the place where they live; they are fickle, deceitful and fond of disturbing jokes.
The same chaos is also evident in their appearance. I loved the random tables that allow you to give unique and bizarre appearances to the fairies, choosing each body part individually. I did a test, just to satisfy my curiosity; now I absolutely have to play my little being with a catlike head, a feathered body and insect legs in some adventure! One thing is certain: I’ll have to be careful with the iron; the manual clearly explains the nefarious effects of this material on the fey.
The Fairyland manual also includes interesting notions about their uses and customs, which I will now summarize in this review. Another table allows us to generate very different ways of saying; obviously, given the randomness, they risk not having a precise meaning. But you know, the wisdom of the small people must be interpreted! Another section of this work offers us an insight into the whimsical fairy magic; its effects are much more useful in discouraging curious visitors and amusing the fairies, rather than becoming truly useful resources for adventurers. In fact there is also a section dedicated to magical maladies; it will be fun to tell a player that their character can only speak in rhyme now on!
A die roll also reveals where they are and what they are doing when encountered. In case you want something a little more structured, there are also some ready-made circumstances. They are very simple, but also interesting and original.
Experience the Magical Realm
In case this isn’t enough and the strangeness of this world intimidates you, fear not: the author has thought of you too. At the end of the manual there is a system-neutral a premade adventure: The House of the Sunken Stars. The characters, following unsuspecting circumstances, arrive at a house built inside a huge oak stump (represented by Andy Webber’s magnificent map); inside they find many magical beings, who invite them to stay on the occasion of a planetary conjunction. In exchange for treasures and information, however, a request is made to them; the inhabitants ask for help in removing Blobby Things from the cellar. The plot is simple, the characters you meet are bizarre and described exhaustively, just like the rooms of the house and the possible endings. A very interesting adventure!
Inside there are various dangers and with them the probability that a character will die is high. The manual, however, also in this case helps us. In fact, a table shows us the effects of the fairy world on the deceased; how scenic can it be, for example, the appearance of a fairy from the heart of the corpse?
A final die roll reveals what happens if the characters manage to return to their world. There are many options, but the situation will not go back to how it was before. Among popular superstition, lack of memories and permanent influences from the fairy world, narrative cues abound.
Fairyland Review Conclusions
Finally, there are two summary diagrams; one is dedicated to the contents of the adventure, the other to all the setting material present in this work. A soundtrack is also available and you can find it here; after listening to it while reading the manual, I can say that all the songs are perfectly themed and further enhance the immersion.
After carefully reading Fairyland in order to write this review, I can state that the tabletop RPGs that can best support this setting are Mörk Borg, Troika!, Old School Essentials and Dungeon Crawl Classics. In general, an immediate and old school system is needed, one capable of leaving a lot of room for the possibilities of the chaos of the fairy world.
I recommend this manual to anyone who wants to have a classic roleplaying experience, but with strong, bizarre features; I consider it very suitable in particular for all fans of small creatures belonging to the folklore of many populations!
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I had the pleasure of reading in preview an excerpt from Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid, a science-fantasy adventure for D&D5e created by Alchemy RPG. Now that I am writing this article, the manual is still in the fundraising phase, but has already far exceeded the minimum target. For this reason you still have time to join the Kickstarter campaign and get your copy.
The adventure represents the first chapter of a more extensive work. For this reason it accompanies the characters from level 1 to level 3, introducing them to this fantastic world. The material proposed in this preview concerns only the first level.
The Cinematographic Aspect of the Work
Already from this preview it is clear the type of adventure that Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid wants to be: a cinematic work. The subdivision does not take place through the classic chapters, but through scenes comparable to those of a movie. This choice also stems from the fact that among the authors there is a screenwriter who has decided to give a very personal imprint to this aspect of the adventure.
Apart from the subdivision into scenes, there is also the presence of multimedia material designed to enhance the sessions. I was able to get a preview of some musical and visual contents of Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid and I must say that I was satisfied: they are exactly what I expected. The music is powerful, but it doesn’t obscure the sessions distracting the players; its spirit is often close to the fantasy and the epic, and then varies on other tones. In addition to this there are animated illustrations to give a visual impact to the various scenes; an avenue with the animation of the rain, a city on which birds fly and more. These are contents that know how to act as a precious frame, without diverting the attention of the players.
Preview of the Contents of Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid
I read the 40 pages of the manual and first of all I appreciated their rationality. It starts with the index, a quick reference to find the contents within the work.
We then move on to a quick introduction that presents Aetherra, a world in which science and fantasy mix, especially thanks to the ether; this element is a kind of lymph of the world and can be used to feed entire cities.
The next section schematically presents the scenes; name, type of scene and short summary. With a single page it is possible to understand the entire synopsis of the work. Wonderful! Scenes not featured in the Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid preview are also mentioned. Masters will thank the authors for this.
Then the first three scenes are proposed in detail. In the first one (intro) players are introduced to the world of Aetherra, without actually having to do anything but listen to the master’s tale. The second one (encounter) works as a hook for the characters; receiving a request for help, they get to know the ruined city of Fano. The third scene (quest giver) takes place in a book shop and introduces a character proposing a quest of critical importance that will start the main storyline.
Finally, there are six appendices, easy to consult to always have every detail useful for the narration at hand. They, in order, present the creatures, locations, items and lore of the world that transversely characterize the various scenes.
The Graphic Design
All the pages of the manual are of a pleasant light parchment color, laid out in a classical way on two columns. The style resumes that of the official D&D5e manuals, but stands out with details that focus more on elegance. Also the font is very classic, with decorated drop caps at the beginning of each scene. The chromatic choice of titles and tables focuses on various shades of brownish; I really appreciated the choice as it enhances the elegance and makes the manual very pleasant to read. With the same technique, geometric and stylized designs were also made; they are really beautiful and enhance the pages on which they are present.
The actual illustrationsare all original and this ensures that they can be appreciated for their stylistic coherence. The colors vary, the formats vary, but, for the sensations they convey, it is clear that they all belong to the same project. So the lines are very beautiful and colors are always adequate. To tell the truth, I noticed little about “science” and much about “fantasy”, but we must also take into account the fact that they are illustrations referring only to the first part of the work.
Final Thoughts on Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid Preview
At the moment, thanks to this preview material, I only had a first contact with Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid, but I must admit it intrigued me. The style is not too much light-hearted, the desire to propose a mature adventure with an engaging plot is clear, but obviously this approach creates some limits; don’t expect a sandbox, but let yourself be guided by the authors and their experience in storytelling. With advice for the master, ready-to-use descriptive parts and references to other sections of the manual, they provide an easy-to-manage product.
Of course, the juiciest part of the adventure remains to be evaluated (not to mention the next modules), but at the moment the project seems very well underway and deserves attention.
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The Dream Prison makes the second adventure produced by Menagerie Press I have receivedto review (the first was Adul, City of Gold). Again this is an adventure for D&D5e for character of levels 6-8. You can buy The Dream Prison on DrivethruRPG in PDF for 11,99€ or softcover for 14,99€.
The value is in the little things
We are talking about a 41-pages adventure with a very classical structure. In some ways, I would call it trivial. But, as I often point out, it is very difficult to write a truly original, surprising, and well-articulated adventure. Most of the stories that are told at the table of an RPG have characteristics attributable to a few archetypes. The strength is in providing details that make the setting and situations fresh and engaging. Dream Prison excels at this.
The initial situation is well framed and there are many details that accompany the Game Master in completely painting the picture as he gradually reveals it to the players. It is an imaginative and dreamlike adventure, in which the descriptions and the environment reflect the creativity and talent of the author, William Murakami-Brundage. There are quality NPCs whose characterizations are relevant, not just an end in themselves.
The facets described open up the game to player choices, and grant the opportunity to embellish the story. I was very pleased to read an original and ingenious use of riddles, here. In general there is a lot of inventiveness and colorful characterization. Not only are there creatures created or revisited for the adventure, but other details are also provided, such as a list of game world idioms, which really make a difference in generating a unique atmosphere.
Spoiler-free plot review of The Dream Prison
The structure of the adventure is quite simple. In fact the main goal is a rescue. The PCs are engaged and pointed in the right direction, then journey, information gathering, dungeon, and ending. We are talking about a rather clear railroad that leaves little room for variation. Most of the adventure is experienced outside the Material Plane, in very special places. The imagination and the wealth of details allow a pleasant journey and the status quo that is created by the end of the adventure can be a good excuse to continue to explore the possible consequences in play.
In my opinion, the only significant flaw is the lack of any real climax in the finale. As a player, I like to get a shock from time to time, whether it’s a twist or the expectation created by an event or a clash that gradually approaches. Reading The Dream Prison I had the impression that I would have enjoyed playing it a lot, but at the end I would have missed a quid before the conclusion.
Art and layout
The layout is standard, both in the two-column format and in the management of fonts and text boxes. But the illustrations are not a strong point. The full page images are cute, with their light and color palette they help to effectively invoke the world for the storyteller. As for the rest, they are fillers more or less related to the text without shame or praise. On the other hand, this is an adventure to be played, not a manual to leaf through.
Maps are provided along with the adventure, in double jpg and tiff format (to have the drawing on a transparent background). There are also digital tokens, a detail always appreciated, especially under these circumstances, when online role-playing is almost a necessity.
Final considerations about Dream Prison
Dream Prison is certainly a good product. A simple texture has been greatly enriched with many original details. There are well-balanced explanations – without being boring or pedantic – that can help you understand situations. It allows you to experience an adventure with a context and environment different from the usual ones. It provides the Game Master with notions and tools to create beautiful backgrounds in broad brushstrokes and, interesting ideas with little effort. Compared to the excellent price of the physical version, I find that of the PDF alone a bit high. Even at this price, however, the overall quality justifies the expense.
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