Mysteries of Montreal

I was recently gifted by my very generous gaming group, a couple of books. The first and second editions of MERP. I was overcome by this, very generous present, and have been flicking through these two essentially new copies of my most cherished game. It has certainly been bringing back memories to go through these volumes, and look at the art again.  One thing that is very notable in the 2nd edition book, is the move away from the use of stock art and clip art, towards the delightful and beautiful black and white line art of Liz Danforth. With the huge number of pieces Danforth provided for the 2nd edition of MERP, there was no need for the very basic and not-quite-Middle-Earthy clip art of 1st edition. Wonderful. Well, except for one piece. One piece of clip art made the jump from 1st ed to 2nd. And it isn't really one that has all that great a tie to Middle Earth. The Larch. The Larch is just that. A wood cut or black line art piece, clearly modified to add what I always though ...

 RPG a Day 2024, day 13: Evocative Environments The One ring, either 1st edition, with the hugely evocative art of Jon Hodgson et al, or 2nd edition with the reliance of adventure sites as hubs for scenarios, there is so much going on in this game to make the environment a part of the game at the table, which is so very in keeping with the source material.  Journeys are part of the adventure cycle, and as such, players interact with the environment for both good and ill on a regular basis, and it really helps with the immersion into Middle Earth.

 RPG a Day, day 4: RPG with great art ? So we've gone straight from the objective to the subjective. From countable stats on games played to best art.  I am no artist, nor a great critic of art. As with most folks, I know what I like, and that's the sole criteria I'll be judging on here. If we want to go to the foundational works, it terms of foundational RPGs that helped me form my tastes, then there can be no other answer than MERP. With covers painted by the great Angus McBride, and interior works by Liz Danforth, these books cannot be beat. Not to mention those maps. These days, art has come so far from where it was in the beginning, to the point where we have whole RPGs that were based on artwork, like Tales from the Loop . It is in this vein that I choose Vaesen. Based on the artwork of  Johan Egerkrans , this is a world that I eagerly await diving into.

Of course, I could not attend NecronomiCon PVD 2019 without passing through the dealers hall. I did show much restraint, as there were a great many wonderful things on offer, but I did have a bit of a shopping list in mind, especially when it came to the Chaosium stall. It may have been a few weeks ago now but better late than never! From the Chaosium stall, I picked up the 2nd edition of  Terror Australis . I will be running Masks soon(ish) so this was a must. Berlin: The Wicked City  was there in all its Hardcover glory, before general release. This book looks so pretty, I couldn't not. I don't know when I plan to run games in based in Berlin, but having flicked through it, it certainly could be used as a template for a modern city sourcebook. So, Montreal: The City of Sin anyone? The scenario especially written for the Con was also a must. I didn't manage to get a seat at the table for any of the slots where Jon Hook was running The Shadow Over Providence , but I as...