PREAMBLE: ART ALONE DOES NOT THE PRODUCT MAKE
Every so often, I prowl the streets of Kickstarter to look at all sorts of crowdfunded RPG products. Shadowdark RPG has experienced a true flood of them, and something they often share, is some incredibly gorgeous artwork, from cover to back. Black and White art, with some greyscale here and there for the most part, but sometimes I get to come into the enjoyment of colour. Many of their authors and designers try to, after all, capture the feeling of the original Shadowdark Book and have something of a unified appearance, allowing multiple 3rd-party products to homogonize with one another and the core rulebook on your shelf or in your hand.
This isn't anything too new. 5E's 3rd-party scene did something similar with the way their designers chose to layout their books and the way they handled the artwork: vibrant, colourful, often a faux-painter-esque artstyle that brings to mind the interiors of the first 5e-books. Hell, I can't think of all too many 3rd-party books that do not try to at least style themselves with homogeny with its 1st-party counterpart in mind.
But I found, on my walks, that the content of these gorgeously illustrated Shadowdark books was often, far too often, actually, lacking: I'm talking 10-room dungeons with only 2 rooms worth of interactive content between them, hexcrawls that had too much crawl and a little too little hex, litanies of classes and spells that were poorly or not at all balanced and were designed more with 5e in mind, rather than the actual SD-System, the list goes on. Yet, they were often highly successful in their backing and they succeeded, I think, in no small part because they pushed their gorgeous artwork. Art can communicate a vibe and atmosphere far more efficient than any paragraph of poetic, purple prose pontificates could hope for. Dark Sun and Planescape wouldn't have remained in our consciousness for so long if it weren't for their unique atmospheres conveyed by the artwork of Gerald Brom and Tony DiTerlizzi, respectively.
But art alone does not the product make. Tied to the wrong product, be that adventure, be that campaign book, be that a class and bestiary supplement or what have you, it only serves to briefly cover up the flimsy framework, the unsteady foundational mechanics, hole-riddled design choices and questionable, if not down-right bad writing. Scathingly hot take, I know.
Today we are looking at Mice of Legend: Perils of Portal Lake , a Setting Guide for the Mice of Legends Setting, originally designed for OSRIC and AD&D 1e, converted to Shadowdark RPG, written by Paul Hoeffer and published by Alchemy Press. It also calls itself a Campaign Guide at times, and promises to provide the foundation, setting, lore, factions and player options to support an entire campaign. It is a bit on the short end at around 50 pages, so that's a big promise to make.
It should also be noted, that there exists an entire campaign adventure path that spans the entire region that is being presented here.
I am a sucker for Redwall and Redwall adjacent-things. Must be something about being from Germany, we got a big thing for fables and anthropomorphized barn and forest animals doing adventurous stuff. Time to dive in.
I. INTRODUCTION: MOUSE-SIZED BITES
The art goes hard. In general, the booklet has some very beautiful illustrations that perfectly sit between the fantastical, the whimsical and adorable. It scratches the Redwall-itch in just the right way.
We do not start out with a map in this one, but dive straight into the introduction. Instead of a sweeping history or background on the setting itself, we get a swift synopsis of the setting's premise and main hook:
The adjective "myth-haunted" is a really nice descriptor and sets up some large expectations. The synopsis is short and to the point: a powerful relic was stolen from the realm of mortals and carried off into the mouse realm. The party is tasked to cross over, transformed into mouse-versions of themselves and retrieve this relic before it can cast both worlds into doom and destruction.
That's right, fella's, the name Portal Lake is not just an arbitrary name, you are stepping into a Portal Fantasy adventure the likes of Narnia, and you do so without the need of a magical closet or suspiciously murderous delivery truck. It is not said how your adventuring party crosses over exactly, but I'd say that can be decided by your GM or maybe it is explained later in the book.
It also features this little blurb right beneath it:
Alright, we'll have to assume then we're going to get more of a general overview of the setting in this booklet, with more in-depth stuff in individual adventure modules. Fair enough, I suppose, if you have only 50 pages to work with.
Following that, we get four pages of explaining the mindset a Shadowdark RPG player should have when playing a Mice of Legends session. Good start, except... they largely reinforce the already existing ethos of Shadowdark RPG: encounters are largely unbalanced, slaying monsters is not the main goal but surviving is, gear items are as, if not more important that your class talents, treasure and its extraction are the main gameplay loop of the game, etc. etc. I suppose it is more aimed at players of 5e who use Shadowdark RPG as a jump-off point toward other OSR games, but four pages is a bit much.
Reading this does make me pause a bit. Then flip back to book index. I find no index for any sort of new class. I see no spell section mentioned either. I open up a tab on my browser and pull up the store page for this setting guide.
Says here there are new classes and spells.
I feel a bit of dread building up inside of me. Maybe just a mistype. Can happen from time to time.
II. CAMPAIGN AND ADVENTURES
So, we get to the campaign hooks and adventure... synopses. We get the main quest - focusing on the loss and retrieval of the Stellar Keystone in a bit of a repeat from the intro page - and the summary of the adventure modules.
We are told that a proper campaign of Mice of Legends unfolds counterclockwise around the lake, going from one location to the next, all in the hunt for the Stellar Keystone. Alright, sounds more like a description for the Adventure Path, specifically, but I think that's ok to have. A bit of an overview never hurt. Unfortunately, we are not given much more.
Side quests are also brought up and encouraged to be placed between major adventure points. I stumble upon something odd here:
So, I tried to find the side quests below. There was a nice little piece of artwork, but there were no side quests. I looked at the next page, and was only given a row of synopses of the author's other adventure modules. None of which are attached to this setting guide.
Either this was cut from this book entirely, or it was forgotten. Not a good look.
III. THE WORLD OF PORTAL LAKE
We start out with some information on scale, time and distances:
A bit confusedly worded, but I get the gist. You are walking in a greater world scaled to human size, but within structures and towns built by the paws of mice. However, your new size does not mechanically impact your overland travel - you still move at 6 mile-hexes for 8 hours a day, with walking allowing you to cross 2, being mounted lets you cross 4, etc. No changes from SD core rules, it is simply flavoured as "feeling" longer. Bit of a letdown, but alright. Fluff doesn't always need to superfluously change the core mechanics.
More regarding scale, human-sized relics are still a rarity around Portal Lake - and your standard equipment is scaled to mouse-size. No, that does not mean your mouse wields a sewing needle as a spear or similar - just a mouse-sized spear or a mouse-sized sword. Hm. Again, Redwall did this, and, in fact, many other games featuring anthropomorphic animals do this - but I think I would've liked a bit more whimsy, a bit more scavenger punk. But I can understand the want for a specific aesthetic, and a mouse in full plate still goes hard.
What I can't understand, however, are the next few pages we get concerning the entire region of Portal Lake:
Congratulations, you have read the entirety of the setting guide's details concerning any of its physical locations. On the next page, you get a single table listing the name of the setting's gods and their domains, in keywords.
Yeah. That's... that's not much. I expect a setting guide of any sort that I paid actual money for to at least give me some basic gist about at least one, if not all of its towns and major locations. Getting just a table with some cultural influences is nothing that will actually hook me, as the GM, into a setting or an adventure, nor is it actually useful beyond the absolute surface notions for running a potential game in someone else's designed setting. This becomes even more egregious when taken together with this little blurb under aforementioned Gods-Table:
There is not a lot for me to riff off of. How does the worship of Muribelle, Deity of Fate, Storytelling and Kinship differ between Braeford and Tree Town? Are they even worshiped in both towns? What secret factions? They are not mentioned anywhere here. Am I to come up with all of that myself if I chose not to buy any of the other adventures?
Afterwards, we get to the ancestry options and how to convert your humanoid PCs to mice.
It
boils down to: nothing changes about yourself, you are just a mouse
now. No new talents, no unique mouse ancestry, that is simply it. Your
STR is noted to be "Strong for a Mouse", so, no, you cannot wrestle cats
and eagles down with your bare paws. On the mention on how new PCs are
introduced after an old one died, one option is to suggest a Rector
Patrick in the human world can take care of that.
No, I dot not know who he is. I assume he is in one of the other products. I have a feeling I'll be saying this a lot from here on out.
Goblins receive slightly special treatment, by being equaled to rats instead of mice. When playing a goblin, you are instead given the option of being turned into a... gnome?
Gnome mice. What are gnomish features here, exactly? Just small and diminutive? In place of Keen Senses, they get the ability to speak with all manners of burrowing animals. On that note, there is no other Mouse-Calls, Rat-Tongue or Serpent-Sssspeech mentioned in the guide so far, instead you have still the standard Common, Elvish, Dwarvish, and so on. We also get the Vole, who however do know the languages Shrew and Vole (also known as Dwarvish?) So are Voles stand-ins for Dwarves as well? The book said before that dwarves get turned into mice. Voles get ADV vs. being knocked down or shoved. Not too shabby, reinforces their sturdiness.
But that is, once again, it. Two whole new animal ancestries. A pity, I would've liked more in my setting guide which is meant to provide you, the GM and Player, with the fundamentals of the setting you are meant to use.
IV. HENCHMICE & HIRELINGS
Henchmen and Hirelings are bit contentious subject in Shadowdark RPG. The game was not designed with them in mind - Kelsey Dionne said she had no plans of including any official hireling rules in the game - but enough people have made their own rules and rulings, and personally, I rather like having them around, albeit in a limited fashion. You don't want to unbalance the whole gameplay loop by having, in theory, an infinite amount of gear slots running after you, and in a game where PCs only get one action per round, you don't want to bog the rather smooth loop of crawling and combat encounters down too much either. We get a small assortment of Hirelings to choose from the below table:
We do not, however, get much more of an inclination as to what they do beyond their names. Hirelings do not always need that big of a mechanical reason, true enough: we all know what a tailor, a mason or carpenter can do, but I assume these are mainly for some sort of domain play or social play. A tailor could be useful to make you a garment for specific high-class events or disguise you to mingle with other cultures or cities, a mason can help construct walls or draw a collapsed bridge back up over its gap. But the book made specific mention of hirelings and henchmen being all but necessary for your adventures - so I would've liked some clarifications as to why. Henchmice, however, fare even worse:
Sounds pretty damn important, don't it? Unfortunately, there is no further information on stats, actions, or anything to further define a henchmouse. There are no statblocks, there are no suggestions such as: build a henchmouse as a LV 1 PC, or anything of the sort. I can't help but feel a bit annoyed - it seems more and more, that what I am reading is not exactly a setting book, not even a guide, more an extended preview of stuff to find in entirely separate products. But if that were the case - why did I pay almost eight bucks for it?
V. THE MACGUFFIN: THE STELLAR KEYSTONE
Next comes a decent amount of information about what the central MacGuffin of the setting is. The Stellar Keystone is a quintessential artifact of doom that, in the wrong hands, could spell the doom of the entire world. How exactly is not specified, but it mentions that the barriers between the mortal world and the mouse world could be rent apart. Which has to be the most adorable apocalypse of all time. Imagine the whole world being turned suddenly into a bunch of anthropomorphic mice (and rats), I suppose. We are given some rumours about it, a brief idea of its function, which is would be to create stable gateways between the planes, and that it was stolen by the Master of the Watchtower, who plans to use it as a way of summoning and transporting his armies around the region of Portal Lake almost instantly.
Its a decent set-up, and the plan by the Big Bad Evil Dude is a simple, but solid one.
Its just a shame we don't get anything else about him. Or the Watchtower, mentioned only in the small location table a couple of pages back.
VI. FACTIONS
I'm sorry, what? We only get two? In your setting guide? I have to buy not just the modules, but an entirely separate supplement for the rest?
The two factions we receive are more one-and-a-half factions, at best. The Grey Mist serve as your standard adventuring guild, divided into agents, associates and executives, who all operate in relative secrecy and may communicate with one another through special signs and symbols. We are not told or shown what these are. I suppose it is a form of Thieves' Cant. Their core goal is the retrieval of the Stellar Keystone, with most of their heroic actions in the region being more of a happy byproduct. Good enough. This kind of faction brings the Harpers from Forgotten Realms to mind can serve as a backing to any PC in their quest. A bit odd to have associates rank higher than agents, but very well.
The next faction is, as said, not exactly a faction. Its an NPC, called only the Druid Mouse, who may appear in dire times to aid around Portal Lake and, if killed, is replaced by the next, senior-most druid mouse to become The Druid mouse. I feel like a more unique title for this esteemed position is warranted. But yeah, this is also it. Except for a small footnote at the bottom of this page, as the Druid NPC actually has access to some unique items and spells and, as it seems, a specific class.
What do you mean the class is only available in another adventure module. The setting guide would have been the perfect place to put it. You mentioned in your product description there would be extra classes available in this book. At best, this is a severe miscommunication from creator to consumer. At worst, it is a straight up lie.
VII. ANIMAL TO MONSTER CONVERSIONS
We come to the actual core matter of the booklet: converting your standard monsters from Shadowdark into the various animals you may encounter around Portal Lake. Nice humanoids become mice, monstrous ones default to rats. What the hell is a lizardmouse, actually? Is it a mouse with scales? A lizard with fur? Either variation sounds terrifying, but I am disappointed there is not more variation here. Why not give the PC-ancestries a bit more variation amongst their mouse types?
We are further given guidelines for herd animals and mounts and which animals should stand in for them. We also have a section for avians and giant animals. Overall, it is fine, but I'm a bit disappointed that we're not just getting bespoke, unique statblocks here. It wouldn't need to be much, but it could've given the author and designer an opportunity to let loose a little and come up with some wacky creatures.
VIII. RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
We get three d12 tables, detailing encounters for Roads, Woodland and Marshland. They run the gamut of wild animals, raiding rats and atmospheric events, along with some villagers and fellow travelers in need of aid. They are serviceable, but I'd have gone for d20s or d100 tables, instead. I will also note, there are no actual DC thresholds given when it comes to hazards:
A proper number would be appropriate here, a DC 12 at minimum.
IX. NEW GEAR & MAGIC ITEMS
For the most part, I have no complaints here. We get additional armours that all fall under the category of "heavy", as they all grant disadvantage on swimming and stealth and, with one exception, require 2 or more gear slots. I'm largely ambivalent on this. It adds some variety, but I see no great reason to choose a brigandine or banded armour over a suit of plate mail, even if you may add your DEX to the former. When you're the kinda dude that struts around in plate mail, you are more likely to focus on STR and CON with your character. It is not, however, mentioned which classes have access to which kind of armour, which is a bit of an oversight.
The new weapons are nothing too crazy. Rapiers, Helbards, Slings. The Sling has some novelty by having different damage die based on ammunition used, d6 for lead, d4 for stone.
We also receive the option of Holy and Unholy Water as unique throwing weapons vs. undead and unholy/angelic and holy beings, respectively. They can also be used to cleanse/corrupt shrines and bodies of water. Neat!
On the magic item side, some have a bit of a weird formatting thing going on: each Bonus and Benefit is listed as an individual point:
This could have used some editing and bunching together, honestly.
I very much enjoy the magic mushroom table. They're a fun little twist on potions and are much more appropriate to the mouse fantasy. Plus, if you eat more than two at the same time, you can overdose and die of toxic shock on a Natural 1 on a DC 15 CON check:
X. NEW MONSTERS
We actually do receive some bespoke monster stats, rather than just conversion tables. And you know what? They are largely fine. You have stats for various sorts of rats, you have voles, you have stats for larger beasts such as badgers and stoats.
There is some fuddly OSRIC stuff that slipped through the cracks when giving cats, our dragons in Mice of Legends, a 20% chance to receive a number of random Tier 1-3 spells and such, instead of simply deciding on two to three specific, monster-unique spells to cast, but that's minor. I love the artwork used here. Look at this ferret.
He looks so bloody smug and conceited. Excellent.
But this largely illustrates another issue: you didn't need to rely largely on substituting and reflavouring monsters from core SD to populate your bestiary. You could have made entirely new stat blocks. That was an option and that wasn't taken - at least, not for this setting guide or, rather, this primer, for that is what this booklet ultimately is, despite the title.
XI. CONCLUSION
I am a bit frustrated with this one.
As a standalone setting book, it misses the mark by a long shot. There is little if anything actual usable material here, only brief, surface glimpses. More often that not, things it claims to include are straight up missing within the book.
As an introduction to a potential adventure path, it provides a basic overview, but ultimately, doesn't really do much to grab my interest enough to actually invest in the first adventure module by itself.
As a conversion tool to play Shadowdark RPG as mice adventurers against other forest critters, I don't think it does enough to warrant your need to buy it, considering that most of the actual, bespoke character options presented here either amount to "just reflavour the following monsters as these and these animals" or requires you to buy a wholly separate adventure module or pantheon supplement.
The art is great and carries the intended vibe just fine, but its, all in all, lacking, and doesn't justify a price of 7 and a half bucks on its own.
You could probably run mice-adventurers in SD using this as a conversion guide. But you might as well play Mausritter then, in that case. Or just play normal Shadowdark, and tell your players to that they're all playing forest critters now.
I don't know. I feel more disappointed than angry or annoyed. If this was a free-to-download preview or quickstart guide of the whole setting, I think I'd like it just fine and cautiously check out the rest Mice of Legend has to offer. But as it is, it reads and looks more like the actual preview pages to a much larger book I have yet to open that I still paid nearly 8 bucks for just to get a glimpse of. I'd need more to warrant the price.
Suggestions for Improvement
- More Setting for your Setting Guide. If you want to leave the detailed sections of your world and its conflicts to the individual adventure modules, fine. But do not just put in a single table with your town names and some vague culture vibes, a table full of gods with nothing but names and one and a half factions. I expect any booklet that names itself a setting guide to provide at least half a page or one paragraph, at minimum, to detail its geographical regions, its unique locations and some of the NPCs and other factions that the PCs could meet and mingle with. Do not hide all of it behind dozens of separate products.
- Other Adventure Hooks. You have a whole page dedicated to reminding a GM to implement "Side Quests" outside the main quest - i.e., your adventure path that you are selling separately. Kindly put some of those Side Quest ideas for a GM to to riff off of, specifically written for the Portal Lake area and tie them to the locations or factions.
But I think most importantly would be that you are much more clear on what this book actually functions as and what it contains.
I went into this expecting at least a general overview of the region, activities and potential conflicts surrounding Portal Lake, with just enough for me, as a GM, to run a game without having to rely on a whole separate set of adventure modules.
Instead, I received a three page primer of moderately useful information, at best, with conversion tables and two pages of magic items.
With footnotes, telling me the unique character options, setting factions and other things are not available in this book.
That is not something you put out for 7 and a half bucks.
https://rpg-trader.com/products/4958/mice-of-legend-campaign-guide-shadowdark
No comments:
Post a Comment