Hello, and welcome to the weekly.
Scroll podcast brought to you by the adventure.
Archive, my name is Ryan and I'm Hold on.
Who are you, buddy, Ron. I'm I am is euronymous Van Aken.
Do nice. Well, cool.
Good, good, good. Anya.
And we we are, we're podcast looks like Tip-Top Roble games.
Whoo tonight, we're going to be going over Laurie O'Connell's
Hieronymus. This this Beast of a book right
here. I think it's one of those times.
We both actually got the book. You know, we did.
We both did actually get the book.
Did you also, you, I mean, you got that.
You got the all of everything, right?
Yeah. With like the bookmarks and the
whole nine. Yeah, the players thing is their
character like the, like the player character bookmarks, man.
This is your District you do, so, don't be sick.
Yeah. Dropped you like a like a whole
fucking like stack of these suckers?
Yeah. So for those in podcast world
that aren't seeing what we're seeing.
This is a big wide weird book. It's kind of like if cyber
metals like shape but much bigger, I don't know.
What is this? What's, what is this?
A for something? Yeah, a santa baby.
It's it looks like almost like an eight and a half by 11.
But a little longer but it sideways.
It is sideways and it came with a kind of like GM screen.
That's also, like, just the explainer for the entire hex
map. Yeah, so like this game I we're
going to go through today is a hex, Crawl Through the work of
Hieronymus Bosch and I think there's work of another artist
as well. I think I think The Inferno by
somebody else but point being it's an incredibly Lisa, real
odd like Journey Through the sorry.
It's really fucking wait. I meant to this shit actually.
I got this. I backticks I was like oh this
looks weird as fuck. I'm in you know.
Two parts him. Yep.
Yeah I have I actually have the because this is like the second
version or the second printing. I think I have the first
printing somewhere. I'm not gonna hunt on it, but I
think it's over here in like the +1 exp section, but it's cool.
It's weird. I mean, I agree.
The same thing as soon as I saw it I was like harness postures
art is fucked up. This game is like a super simple
system. I mean, which is exactly what I
want and you know we love us to get extra on here.
So very excited boy, bro. I don't know what happened to me
in life. I used to be like no, I'm not
into Hex Girls now. Mike know every shit thing
should be a scroll. It's just me way easier.
Well, you know what? You know what?
You know, what's great about Hex Girls On Point crawls and stuff
is like, you know, so I occasionally talk about 5e,
right? I've never heard you say.
Anything about 5V at all, not not and the thing with five
years, A lot of it feels like you have to write a story or a
lot of people run it as because the game really kind of like
writes its rules to encourage you to run it as a story where
you are, the Storyteller you already have the ending dick.
Aided and you're really going from point A to point B in a
storyline, right? And what I love about hex crawls
and then point crawls with in HEX crawls is that you don't
have to prep everything. Yeah, but on a hex crawl, when
they go from hex to hex, you have enough prep that you can
run each section without having to do a huge thing.
And everyone's always like, oh, well, you can't just let them do
anything you want like, yeah, you can't on a scroll because
you have all the hexes already like they can literally just go
in any direction they want because you're yeah, have the
hexes all around it already. And realistically, even if you
don't want to prep too much, you can just hit, like, prep, the
hexes around, where they already are, and then they can go in any
direction they want because they're never going to cross
two, hexes and a day, or, you know, for the most part and
stuff like that. So it's just nice to have
something where players can feel like their choices matter and
pick the directions that they go.
Anyway, so I do have a couple of other physical Well, rewards
that I want to look at real quick before we get going.
We're to actually let me let me grab my just real quick so it's
over the years. Let's see yours first and I'll
do mine. Okay.
All right. Nope, that's not it.
That's not it, that's not it. Here's a window for me.
Okay, why does it? No, that's not it either.
If you're watching, I'm sorry for the Whiplash of transitions
that you just, you just went through.
So, um, well Hunter runs off and grabs his stuff I have I'm going
to go over the very first one. So for those, that haven't
listened to us before, we are huge, Max moon stands.
So, you should absolutely go check out 12 years, basically,
loosen Nations, everything that they ever touch it.
It is amazing, love their stuff. And not only that, not only do
they write great content and stuff but they often hand do
their own like hand screen. Print their ziens, they Hand by
and hardback books. They make super limited edition
stuff and not like Kickstarter limited edition.
But then like six months later, you can buy it on stores.
Anyway, like legitimately, they will hand make one off stuff
that gets into you. So this is one of those things.
This is from a recent Kickstarter this bottle is
absolutely gorgeous and stunning.
It's got it's just kind of like marbled red gold and black
pattern across the top. The lid is on a black box for
I'm gonna crack this supper sucker open.
You see this sent the same kind of design pattern on the cover
of this and bound the vehicle? It's so pretty stunning.
And then it's got this black Edge on the side.
I love books. Looks like this like trophy will
be going over trophy here. Soon does a similar thing where
they have like a clothbound, just like the first like inch
and a half around and around the binding and stuff, and then the
book itself is like regular, but this is absolutely stunning.
Like I said, red, black and gold.
This is a hand bound version of The Book of Lies unique copy.
There's only two of these that exists in the world.
There's a dark one and a light one.
I, of course, got the Dark One. I did I did.
That's me it is absolutely. Why are you terribly zooming
right now? Probably a light issue but it is
absolutely gorgeous. I'm also going to turn the
blower off for a second because it's really fucking up my put
everyone. Look at his background quick.
Everyone look he's not bored anymore, you can look at it read
all the books. It's just absolutely gorgeous.
I love the layout, the art that's used inside this this red
border around like all the pages it It's just an absolutely
beautiful. Stunning book copy, you know,
version of The Book of Lies actually you know, signed by Max
and everything hand-printed hand done hand bound.
It's just, it is absolutely stunning.
This is one of the coolest books that I'm ever going to own until
I get more maximum stuff and this will be replacing some of
the I know you guys don't right above me.
I have a bunch of Max's like super rare stuff on stands
actually. And this is one of those ones,
that's just absolutely amazing. Whenever, there's a maximum
kick-started I probably shouldn't say because I always
try to compete to get it. There's always one tier where
there's only one and or two of, you know, the rarest thing you
can get from the kickstarter and I think I've gotten all of them,
but maybe a bit of loose Nations one, right.
Yeah. I remember you being upset about
not getting at least being there was like a cursed, seal version
of a Bissell is stations one that I did.
It was a wax seal, right? Is that what it was?
There's very few things, I don't have for Max, but that are all
my bucket list, occur, Silver version of that.
The, the gold cover with, like the Lich art, there's only like
10 versions of the original 30 years that came in, like a laws
like a wizard of a wizard folder.
That's one of them. So, you know, a maximum amazing
Creator, amazing person. Someone I'm very, very glad to
call a friend but also, like all their shit is just absolutely,
Fire. So if you ever seen anything for
maximum, you should absolutely grab it.
And then I got maximum games.com, you know, there you
go. You should just go go do that.
Why don't you do one of yours arrange, some windows in here
for you and well, will do you hear?
I got one mine. My first one that I actually, I
have a couple but I'm going to just touch on him.
But first one is by another friend of ours, astral itch.
I received Timescape. Astral itches Terminator style,
inspired Zine for Cyborg and it is very pretty on the inside.
There's a lot of really cool uses a color that kind of step
outside of like the whole cyborg color scape.
Yeah. It's a like one pretty cool.
And that's really it's definitely definitely one of the
homies that's a it's a really, really awesome one.
Yeah. And yeah it's a I haven't got
all the way through. Yeah but look at space.
Look at this pink and blue I'll get dinner.
Would love pink are on the show God it's so pretty.
I was my was flipping through it.
My girlfriend said next minute she's like oh that page is
really nice and like I know it also stands out that different
color but yeah, I really still get that.
Another one is like, you know, I like astral, It's just tough
because it's like this weird inspired by some media and he
just kind of rip sit and like does something with it and I
really do enjoy it. Hmm.
Hmm, indeed, mmm. Yes, mmm.
Alright. Alright, I'll do a second.
So this one I got like yesterday and it brought me such intense
joy and it's like the game is cool, like the game is called,
but the Box. Let me tell you about this box.
Alright, so in this is called This is called one breath left.
Okay, I'm sorry and it, it is from stout.
Stoked. Press OK, beautiful box.
Right? Right.
So don't press. Yeah, yeah yeah amazing name
that really great am. So this is its put it on the
front of the box as printed on the side of the box and it's
printed on the edge of the box and I'll show you the Edge Edge
little bit later. So couple of things that I love
about this, I brought me so much joy where someone just went what
more can I do their? First of all, it's got this like
slidy thing here on the side which I absolutely love.
Oh, and this can this piece here we're talking.
Talks about this is a procedurally generated solar
journaling, sci-fi horror game, right?
It's a sticker on this, which I'm like, like something about.
Just another layer on it brings me joy and you can, you know,
that it's like an added cost to have a sticker on it, you know?
I mean like it just makes it nicer, right?
So one of the things immediately that I saw that, I saw that I
loved was you know, the boxes you know, printed black.
But this this slider on it is red.
Right. But when you slide the slider
off on the one that there's it's hiding an alien creature.
That's going to come up to the guy in the front of the cover.
I'm like, that's so dope. That this like color, is that?
So fucking cool. And then you look at the little
slider guy itself. It's one breath left on the
bottom, right. It's got this thing that says
its single-player, it takes about one or two sessions and
it's got infinite replayability, right?
You turn the thing over and it's got The kind of like what would
be the back of the book stuff, right?
Which is cool really, really nice, really cool, okay?
So this piece in and of itself to to have on the outside of the
box, super dope, like really love that.
And then so you look at the front of the Box, beautiful art,
you know, with now the monster revealed.
You look at the back of the box again, more beautiful art.
One thing I love about the box to is when you look at the edge
of the box it's designed like a book.
Design. You can actually remember you
mentioning this before, you know.
I don't know what. No, where'd this come from?
It was a Kickstarter back. That look at these, let me out
of the loop on this one man must have, I must have so.
So, anyway on the edge, it looks like a book.
It's printed with the Stout stop press and little dog, you log on
the side and one breath left is printed on the side.
So that if you put it as if they are the books behind me, it
literally would look kind of like a book spine on, on the on
on the shelf, right? That's pretty cool.
Okay. Fucking cool.
Is that. And then my next favorite part
of this, again like all of this is probably somebody showing
because I'm just like it could have just been a box but it's a
box with like a monster hidden behind.
It's got this like sleeve cover. You know, that covers up that
monster. The sleepover itself gives you
like basically front and back of the book information that you
would have. And then the book is designed
and then the box is designed to look like a book on the Shelf.
All that so much. Joy.
Yes. And also take right.
Well, this is very good, you know?
Yeah. Right.
But then also, okay, right? So if it's a spine for the book,
when you put the sleeve on edge of the sleeve doesn't cover up
the spine, it's got the same art in the same size that's on the
spine. So when you put it on the Shelf,
you can keep the sleeve on the box and still look at it, like
it's a book with like the same writing and same everything
does. It's just got this nice red
blotch on it now and the, the all of that is so simple, but
all together. Again, brought me so much, joy
to just be like, man be amount of like just thought that went
into this red sleeve and goes on this book.
It's it's oh my God. Like I was literally like
beaming just being Bland Stout still like this is how to do a
fucking box at for a game. It's gorgeous.
It's Stunning and then and then when you crack it open and
actually get to the game, you know, you get you get a stack of
cards. You get your little.
The game is cool as fuck. Don't get me wrong with the Box,
just like the dude, I'm telling you you get this little token
guy with it and then all of the though, the game books are
written like this is the operator.
Manual is literally written like a manual explorers handbook and
navigation guide. It's just so fucking cool but
the Box, bro. Like so good.
I just have to put that much care into the packaging and
like, like it's everywhere, you know?
I mean they do that much get that much care all the way
through it. So yeah and just how my God this
little red SLI, I just the huh. It just hmm, just so good.
I anyway so that is that's one more mine hunter you got another
One. I got one more and I'll be real
quick and everyone knows about this but I'm just excited
because this got sent to my mom's place because I was the
middle of move and I never got it until just now and that is
that is the old-school Essentials box sets.
I got both the classic fantasy and then this is the advanced
fantasy you know your fancy. It's Advanced it's like Such,
I've been going through these for a few days now.
I'm just enjoying, how quality, all the light reference books
are the ability to hold them in a single hand, have all your
necessary, role tables at the front and back of the book and
then be able to look through the book, find a single subject and
have that subject, whether it be character other on one spread.
So you can open, hold the book uses a reference book and use
the table and have all the information available that you
need. It is such a masterpiece of
like, listen, I know that I especially am ways on here like
I play bastard because there's no fucking rules and I really
appreciate that. But like if you're gonna have
rules in your game like having books that you can actively
reference easily and that are enjoyable to use as a reference
is fantastic. I'm so fucking stoked to play
some of us. See and yeah, I'm very excited
about this. Obviously I've been waiting for
my mom to send it forever. I finally got it.
It's super cool. It came as a t-shirt.
And a black light poster and the t-shirt and black levels are the
same in this because it's a teacher.
I picked the teachers, really cool fits really well and the
black light posters. So cool.
I'm going to move in a few months and I'm going to be in
the cooler place. I don't want to unwrap it yet so
it's waiting for that. But I mean such an awesome
project fulfill so well I'm All my expectations were met with
that one. It's like I love ose, you know,
obviously I have a whole stack of ose that people can see here
on the side and that is definitely a game that we want
to go over sooner than later here on the show.
That's one. That's one of the ones where
we're going to need to like actually prep for and like
decided part, we're going to go over because we're not going to
be able to like dig through all of that in the already, you
know, two plus hours. I would go through the show but
yeah, it's it's such a cool fun. A game and we should really run.
Some always see, like, you know, the more should older editions
of D&D. The more, I realize that we have
strayed from God, the more, the additions have gone and we
should go back. Yeah, 05 was at five was a
mistake for was called anything but D and D people to love the
fuck out of it. And so many people in 5th
edition are like look. 3.5 guys 33.5?
Yeah, it's probably the mistake. Listen.
All original real tea bags of 3.5.
Yeah, the original old school, D&D was so good and I really
love a lot of the BX stuff, where the gate the rules were
just simpler and made more sense for more.
They were more like rules to, you know what I mean?
Like a lot when there was less like story stuff in it and the
RP was up to you versus, I don't know.
Yeah. You know, one last thing that I
want to chew through a quick and then we'll get going these since
we're showing stuff off. I really want to show these bad
boys off. I got gangs of Titan City from
Seoul. I also have that.
I forgot. I got that.
It's a bookshelf. Yeah.
So this is gangs of Titan City. Okay.
From Soul Muppet beautiful. Absolutely stunning gorgeous
book. We should definitely go over
this at some point, right? So this is the original cover,
right? Remember how many covers are
available? Know how God how many girls were
available so there's that one then there's this alt cover.
Oh shit that's fucking cool. Yeah it's got this like so cool
while I get the regular this is the it says that all rolling
unt's. Um this is a got a light.
It's like pink and white and red and it's got like an orc with
with machine guns. Absolutely.
Fucking stunningly, beautiful. And and of course, if it's a
third cover, so what do you think I did?
I cannot lie. 02. Yeah, I got these super special
Kickstarter. Only clothbound red.
I'm so silver gilded on It. Come on.
Oh, that's disgusting good-looking.
I really enjoy genuinely enjoy that.
How gorgeous the so the front is all done in like dots but then
the dot still like silhouette out a gun on it and then it's
all just silver on clothbound. So I love clothbound books but
like As soon as you start touching them, your skin oils
and stuff like that certainly start doing it.
So these are ones that I needed to stick on the shelf and never
touch again but all three of these together are absolutely
stunning. So Muppet, does some amazing
amazing content. I love best left buried.
I love, I think most of the knocks that we had against mess
up area. Were not like the it was more
like the book you know the editing and things like that.
But the game itself is a game that I absolutely am obsessed
with. I love the concept that it It
really takes it back to like, you know, I read a lot of
articles, I read this article once about how original
low-level D&D was a horror game because you are honest.
And that's what really is chat. No, channeled and best.
I buried orbital Blues is amazing.
They actually have a Kickstarter out right now, and I think it's
called inevitable. I'm I highly, highly recommend
you check it out, it's like Arthurian, but like kind of
sci-fi ish. So you should definitely check
out them on Kickstarter for for their stuff, but anything that's
put out by so moped. You should you should definitely
check out against a Titan. City is one that we really
really want to go over at some point and I'd recommend you grab
all the rare stuff. One of the biggest mistakes I've
made on Kickstarter was not getting the tape and night
Edition like the the in in-game cassette tape and then the night
version of orbital blues and I eventually was able to find
those. So I fix that mistake and I'll
be fixing mistake of not getting the ose box sets in I have all
the oses individually here in probably just a minute.
So anyway, that's what the physical stuff.
We haven't done a lot of physical.
Let me go back to the, to the opening screen.
We haven't done a lot of physical looks at Kickstarter
stuff lately. We're both trying to back to
your kickstarter's, but sometimes you just get some
stuff that's absolutely fire. And wanted to, he's leaving
crazy the first year and a half of this show.
We went like way way too hard on Kickstarter.
I have I don't think too hard. Yeah, we went Really hard, not
too hard, but we did go full full shaft.
So, and then the whole shaft, all the way I will say, the very
last thing I got is something I've been wanting forever from.
Sofia tinny. I finally got the first version
of like that Regional kickshot.org version of
Kingdoms. Can't wait for her newest
project to hit. But now I have both versions of
Kingdoms. This, this is one of the ones
that was on my, you know, my Grail list for a long time.
And thank goodness. We started the podcast because a
lot of the Grail stuff that I've been trying to find since when
we meet the Creator's, I'm able to get so that's it.
Alright. Now we can actually review the
game that we're supposed to be reviewing.
Um, are we ready? Are we ready for the other of
you of the game that we're supposed to actually do not?
Yeah, absolutely. All right, so let's get
crack-a-lackin' on really cool. I was talking right before this
that I have did not get to Deep dive this one.
Yeah, I really went through it once but that's not a lot for me
as somebody with Advanced ADHD. So this would be fun.
I'm really excited for this. Super weird and cool.
Yeah, Mom. It is super weird and cool and
fucking lovely book, bro. Honestly.
Just dude, with the Hieronymus, like, Bosch artwork, obviously.
It's what seems about, but like it's so nice to look at, you
know, it looks so good. You look so good.
Thank you. But I trim my mustache.
Is that what it is? That's exactly what it is.
Pan! Boom, baby!
So as the other thing about like deep-diving this book
realistically is that the actual rules and the book are like 15
pages. Like it's really very minimal as
far as the ruleset goes. And I love that, you know, I
really enjoy the I feel like this is the the kind of game
that the rules get out of the way of how cool the game can be
and really puts the onus on the players.
Yeah, I'm to make it fucking awesome.
So you know that is that is what that is.
So Lori O'Connell Hieronymus as Hunter said it is the art of
Hieronymus Bosch words from Lori O'Connell edited by Pamela,
pune's along layout from Chris beset with thanks to Matt
Sanders. Someone who also does a lot of
really awesome stuff with so Muppet and has their own stuff
as well. I will say, I will say I have
the version 3 PDF here but I also have the version 2.1.
DF and what's interesting. And we talked about this before,
the show started is that the 2.1 PDF have hyperlinks, And the
version 3 PDF does not. I'm yeah, I wonder why you
wouldn't you ever wonder what happened?
You know, they probably I don't. Yeah, I don't because you would
think they would be using the same like document and then just
updating some parts and like resubmitting it.
So I'm curious what made the the PDF go away.
Like all of those links go away when you already had done all of
them. I mean, they're probably all
working off. Like they probably, there's
Version that they're all working off and maybe they somebody's
working off an older version, that was pretty that.
And then that older version is one that kept getting updated
moving forward. And so that's where you lost
that. I mean, it's my fight.
This, I feel like stuff like that happens.
Yeah. You know, and this and that's
curious when we do get to the the scoring because I read, I
honestly just got this version 3 PDF, I have been reading and
looking through and doing all the stuff with version 2.1.
And then I was like, you know what, it's been a while, since
you put on one literally right before Stream started I hopped
on the itch page where we were sent the link for the you know,
your the rewards and was like let me see if there's an updated
version. Oh there is, it's version 3.
So it was literally right before the stream started, when I
downloaded this and realize it in of hyperlinks.
So when we get to reviewing this, it's going to be
interesting. I don't know if I don't know
what we're going to do about. Like, I don't know, I can't
ability for not having the hyperlinks when a lot of the
earlier versions did. So I guess we'll see what
happens. But this is Rodimus exploring
Strange World, escapes broken down, pretty quickly.
I mean, the whole book is hard back as we showed you and in a
very weird, big format. I will say the only thing about
the format that is kind of a pain in the butt want like, I
love it so it's not really, it's not a real knock, it's amazing.
Right? But the shape and size of this
book is making it a massive fucking pain in the dick to put
on the bookshelf. Of like, it's right.
I have a really deep bookshelf so it's not, you know, I have my
shit goes real deep. Yeah, so the I guess I guess
mine's a little bit. I guess it depends.
My middle bookshelf is way bigger and deeper and the side
ones are smaller. Yeah, I said no issue.
I think it's about the say actually I think it might be the
exact same size as my body is a cage from paths.
So and that one, I literally have to like just stick on top
and doesn't fit without like going way past the books that
are on the Shelf. So that's not a knock.
I love that. It's a weird shape.
I love That it's a weird size. It is all that coffee table
book, you know, it is, if it was like, 400 Pages bigger, that's
exactly where this would go. I will say it's a hardback book,
that's only 48 pages long. So I'm glad of that I think it's
an awesome thing to have on there or to be hard back even if
it's a short. But again not a knock, it's
interesting and I love it. Same thing with cyber metal.
One of the reasons I love Sacramento.
It's a very weird shaped book and it You spot it on your shelf
immediately because of that. And I think that's a really good
thing actually. So same thing with this, but
it's still relatively short book.
So it's broken down by setting how to play.
And that all of that goes, only to like 17 pages and then you
hit World escapes, and for appendices.
And that's 19 to 48, right? So more than half the book, like
10 pages more than half. The book is literally just Going
through the hex map, explaining the hexes, and the doing
appendices, so funny that when you get into the later ones,
like I think the hey Wayne or maybe The Inferno it's like it
doesn't explain the axes like, Hey by this point in time you
and your carrot player, characters are deep enough in
that. You should have figured out how
to, how to create the story yourself and I'm like, oh, cool,
okay, and I love that. You think It's interesting, it's
interesting. I feel like you and I don't know
if you're in the same spot I am but I feel like I'm in this
weird spot, not weird. Could I love it.
I'm in this spot in games and the games that I like, where I'm
really into, there's been some more tactical games and then
coming out lately that I really enjoy because I love when games
are games in writing like, so yeah, yeah, things like help
users and stuff like that where it's tactical combat games that
are still RPG. It's not a skirmish game, it's
just combat a little bit more. To go.
I've been really obsessed with those like slipgate choke point,
things like that are amazing. But then you look at the
opposite side, where you have something like this, like
Hieronymus, I feel like it hits more into that kind of, like,
Story game, but there are still rules and there's the style of
rules that I really like. So I feel like this is a really
good middle point for people that are very experienced.
I think and I think it's approachable for people that
aren't but for people that are I feel like this gives you a
framework. I'm work to make something
amazing and your own without giving you everything but just
giving you all of the necessary tools to make it as weird and
cool as you want it to. So I really like actually in
like looking at Lori O'Connell as a Creator I know him from.
What's the death on the iceberg? It's a bit.
It's a, it's a Lancer RPG. Supplement which is the most
tactical game you can play sleeping above a stolen clown,
crown and death of a glacier. Definitely sure is like a part
of sleeping above a stolen crown, but like that's like an
ultra tactical game. So it's even funny like within
this itself, it's like, that's really like they've worked on
really tactical teams in. This is totally the opposite end
of that will completely completely.
It's like we've gone through Lancer.
Yeah, this and then this yeah, that means And Lancer is like
400 pages and this is like 40, so yeah, so yeah, getting into
it. Um, there is the, the art, the
is amazing, but I mean obviously it's all Hieronymus Bosch.
I do enjoy the layout, a lot of how, you know, there's never
really, just Columns of stuff, you know, everything is broken
out and I enjoyed that. The readability is up there.
They use a lot of like, you know, in fell or I am fell,
which is like, you know, one of my favorite fonts that's her.
You're going to go to Florence. You know, and felon Cambrian?
I fucking calibri can eat a fat fucking dick like go fuck
yourself Windows. Why is that the default font
Ariel also sucks Times New Roman orator or nothing or game Rift.
Um, anyway, so this is the setting here.
There are some pieces here that go into some like cool quotes.
So this is one on the start. This is the art of a world in a
state of turbulence, torn by Victory Tendencies a world in
which the light of Reason has been extinguished.
And we're animal passions have gained the upper hand, a world
of Terror violence and plague, a living nightmare in short, a
world very like our own, it's Alan Woods talking about Bosh,
right? And if you look at the one of
the things that stuck out to me about the the cover art is as
dude in the top-right taking a shit.
Don't know why, but just like me for real.
Yeah, there's this and then there's this weird.
Like, tree thing where it's like the person in the behind the
glass, but it kind of looks like someone's butt.
And then there's the weird rabbit person with the dice on
their head, you know, there's like a can use them.
That is an definitely is someone's butt, but like also a
tree but like also like behind a Lookingglass.
Like, look at the knee. Yes, it's gonna be over, but
it's about this a I don't disagree with you and then what?
And then there's like a backgammon board and then In the
bottom, right? There's like it.
Maybe like a baby in a helmet but like it's not a baby.
It's a bird. Hieronymus Bosch was awesome
shit. It's all I'm saying.
He was on my good good. So the setting about Hieronymus
Bosch real quick rundown, if you don't know how wrong was
Bosch's, it's like a middle. They are a like a Middle Ages,
you know kind of surreal artist Hieronymus is that is based on
the work of medieval artists Hieronymus Bosch 1452 15 16.
So we're talking a little while ago again, long time ago.
Okay. Yeah you know, she's crazy.
Yeah, 500 easy and then it's still good.
You know, Josh is known for his His dark surreal paintings of
Hell, which speak, especially to Modern viewers.
He was the inventor of monsters and chimeras, quote-unquote, the
creative Dreamscapes and Nightmares in which reality
seems to have been turned upside down, most of Bosch's.
I'll work was commissioned by the church, bunch of weirdos one
interpretation is that his paintings were intended to
terrify The Peasants into obedience.
Definitely, the work of the church or to teach moral truths
about the punishment for sin, but Josh's work was also a
mockery of the powerful representative of World, that
was chaotic, uncertain corrupt, and for many outright
apocalyptic, a sign of the times he was living through.
So, really great little rundown about Bosh.
There's a rundown here about the Middle Ages as well.
I really enjoy this kind of like this part.
I was gonna fuck is this fox? I'm into this part so good.
Yeah, I think it's also gives you good.
You're saying too because like the themes of this game are
going to be like the the passing of feudalism onto like the the
new system And like yeah, the themes of Haram has artwork and
how those things interplay. So yeah, I love this section.
I was like yeah, cool. I like I enjoy history.
So I'm like, yeah, I'll breeds midget.
I mean this is a much better section than like, how to play a
role playing game. Told you.
None of which there is the most part, this maybe it's not help a
real funny, but I think it's helped play this game, which is
what, which is fine. But there's a big difference.
Yeah, yeah, so yeah. So yeah, so yeah, the the quote,
in the middle of this Age is the inventor of monsters and
chimeras. I mean, clearly he didn't invent
much of the cameras but shit's fucked like it's really, really
dark art. That's really, really cool.
So yeah, them to get to visions of Hell, The Divine Comedy.
Therefore, I think in judge it by the best, thou follow me.
And I will be thy guide and lead the hint through the Eternal
place where thou shalt hear the desperate Lamentations shalt,
see the ancient Spirits it is Consulate who cry out each for
one? For the second death, man.
I wish people talk like that stuff now.
We could nothing solid start doing it.
We understand pretentious douche bags.
So let's let's just, let's rock it.
I mean, it was going for me and like, yeah, history fucks, you
fucks. Yeah.
Therefore I think that that out, you know, despite your
limitations. Yeah.
So in Hieronymus or traveling. The visions of Hell depicted by
Bosh got me already. Like honestly, that one when I
was like, I don't care what this is.
I don't care how much it costs like, this is a Mumbai.
However, the fascination with hell was preeminent in medieval
art and literature, just over a century prior the poet.
Dante Alighieri wrote, The Divine Comedy where the poet,
Virgil guides a writer through hell.
And Purgatory Dante, divided Helen 29 concentric circles,
within a pit sealed, deep beneath the Earth, each
involving different forms of torment and Punishment boss His
paintings are less. Structured are flecks of the
chaotic time. He lived in the Bashan together
Bosch and Dante is perfect. Perfect, makes it like like
they're like yeah. So what is Hieronymus is the
section you're talking about? I'm fine with.
This is not like what is role-playing game?
Hieronymus is a RPG designated designed for 2 to 5 players.
We are create characters and use them to explore the world of
Bosch's paintings, boom, love it, his paintings are fucked.
Let's be inside them. One of you will be GM.
The rest will be in the world scape and you are refugees
fleeing an astral Terror, known only as the follower love.
Love yeah. Oh whatever you said it.
Bleep out. I said I whispered the fall I
went to follow her so good as it pursues you you rip your way
through reality into Strange World escapes.
And the followers, only a few steps behind what will happen if
it catches you. It says The Limited number of
rules in this book are designed to structure the game and add an
element of chance to actions that the characters make to
cross the road safely, you'll be able to read more about those
the next section. I again, I love that for this
style of game, I love that it. If Ali says that all we did was
give you just enough right to flee an astral Terror like
ripping through reality, in Hell of Hieronymus, Bosch's
paintings, and we gave you just enough rules to give you to give
you some some chance and some options.
I love that. Very cool.
So cool. Next we have another how to play
and this is more focused on what the agendas of the game master,
and the players are for the game master.
I'm show off the world, basically make use of the world
scape, the art show players the hex grid and point out the
obstacles there they're gonna see the paintings.
They're gonna they're gonna know their stuff there.
Embrace the weird. Yeah.
Hey these paintings are still real violent.
In lean into that, use that to tell weird Grim stories make bad
situations worse. Listening, if your game master
you should try desperately to make bad situations which
requires peace, more fun. There's always feel like they
pulled out all the stops to achieve their goals.
Don't be a good idea to afraid to give them hard choices and
hard consequences. Bring light into the darkness a
game that is just G is usually no fun.
Make space for moments of joy and light hardness reward
creativity and the kindness bringing the threat of the
follower bring facets of the follower into the world scape,
keep threat close. So they're always pushed
forward. Have the conversation.
If you aren't sure or something, ask your players for advice,
tell a story together and table safety.
Actually tells us. He's a pretty good one for this
one, because this is a game that is like, specifically around
really incredibly dark strange and slightly sexual thing.
So table safety player jinda, escaped by the skin of your
teeth. Your characters are desperate
people, and surreal situations, you're out of your depth.
Every move you make has high stakes.
Make them count, fight to survive, explore the world
escapes experience The Surreal. Try to make sense of the world
around. You use the strange to your
advantage, lean into your flaws, a great rule for any game
because it makes your character more interesting.
Your You represent deeply flawed institutions.
And people hypocrisy sin, and deceit are all on the order of
the day. But so is kindness and sincerity
fail forward, accept the consequences of failure, and
leverage them to find new ways to make things work and table
safety. Again really important theme for
this as we deeper in very, very cool and interesting game.
I think this is a really, this isn't easy.
To be like push the weird and odd but still have kind of that
light-hearted nature and I can't wait to talk about the character
classes because they're Bizarro and they were they'd be really
fun to walk through play as in practice.
Yeah, absolutely. I think that that's what I said
like I feel like this is a very important to a game because of
how simple the rules are for anybody.
Yeah. But I feel like people that are
really experienced in More narrative games, more and, and
also in that, like, you know, kind of the choice options,
right? So I feel like newer players and
games where you kind of have like, an infinite number of
options to play with. Can get that like Choice
paralysis voice. Brass is.
Yeah, totally. Yeah, absolutely.
So, so I feel like this game again, anyone can play it, but I
feel like, you know, if you have a lot of like, experience people
at your table that are down to get weird, this game could be
like so much fucking fun, but again, super approachable for
anybody and I feel like it gives you plenty of tools to play it
that way. So yeah, that way.
So character creation, there are six playbooks intended to
represent a different profession with the different starting
skills when creating a character, you may name them or
you may simply refer to them as you get the Artisan, the
scoundrel, The Alchemist, the priest, the king, and the poet.
So those are the various characters, you can be now real
quick, when you read this, which one did you?
I mean, I in my head, I know which one you went with Which
one did do a Spoke out to you a lot?
We could do you think I want with the Alchemist?
Oh no, the king. Oh, well, you fucking bitch.
But yeah, II would've thought Alchemist for you.
I mean, I just really like how much of the king is obviously
like a total piece of shit and like it's not veiled at all.
Yeah, but yeah. But yeah, you know, I mean,
they're all really good, you know?
So as soon, Hit worse a book. You anyone that knows anything
about games, you get kind of like a little bit of a sense of
where you're getting into because that just screams, you
know, pvta. So this is, this is a pee-pee
BTA a post, powered by the apocalypse game.
I'm still, I still need to find that article on Twitter, that
talks about like rules light post ppta is all the stuff I
need to keep searching and trying to find that I really not
articles, like tweak thread. Playbooks, don't just embody
individuals, but the different institutions classes and faces
of people society, which is one of the is I really love about
the classes that they picked is again like you can be a
character or you can really be an archetype of the various
things and really cool way to look at it.
So you choose a Playbook. You assign one additional skill
to a point and choose one Advanced points.
Represent the skills. Your character is best at the
advances are special Playbook specific moves, your character
can use. So there are skills and items
listed here plus the advances So each of the four skills on the
sheet, represent a different kind of activity.
When you make a roll the player chooses which skill they wish to
roll with Yeah, but don't be a weasel, choose a skill which is
most appropriate. Not the one you just have the
most points or whatever. So you get you get to analyze
Tinker convince her or move things and it convinced.
Oh yeah, I think it just like Blends and for to make it fit on
this screen. It's actually really small for
me over here, but analyzing is just reading a situation
studying a person or object or learning motivations Tinker is
to make something or transform, something fixme.
And all those kind of things convinces, to argue your case,
smooth over a situation intimidate persuade.
And then move is to move fast, unseen or unheard Dodge jump.
Climb sneak interesting set of skills.
Yeah, yeah. I think that'll Force
interesting problem solving in like with situations like work,
it's you think that they are a set of skills not a set of
attributes. That skills are based on.
Yeah. And I like that.
I really like that a lot because instead of having a supplemental
mess because of the middleman, but also instead of having this
like static thing, all of the skills are active in our
example, you are analyzing or tinkering, or moving or
convincing or like every every time you try to do something,
it's clear that you're being active about the thing that
you're trying to do, you know? And, and I really enjoy that a
lot characters. Not begin the game with the
Senate, with the set inventory. They do have a pack filled with
whatever items they could take with them when they ran players
shooting to begin with three of the following items.
There's 10 items here you get a small knife or a dagger which
those are different. I guess, a short length of rope
the tools of their Trade, A Tender Box, a handful of nuts
and fruits, a lantern, a small purse of coins.
A compass or a set of candles you get three of those 10 to
start with. I'm getting three lanterns.
Are you Goin with ya? Why I feel like, you know, it's
interesting that Tender Box and Lantern are separate, you know,
obviously they would be separate a small items but like if your
tech one you kind of need to take the other.
So, yeah. You could pick Tinderbox, line,
turning candles and to be the light guy, you know, a small
body dagger and, you know, whatever.
Ah, so it's interesting. And then advances every time you
cross a world scape, you may either add an additional point
to a Ill or advance and these advances, our Playbook specific.
Anyone may take a wild card Advanced, I enjoy that like you
can there's a set just for you and there's a set that everyone
can have which is a cool way to kind of match tough so Playbook
list. So why don't you go over the
Playbook list for King since that's one that you liked the
king starting school, you have a shot with a 22 and analyzed and
they won and convince the first Italy divine, right?
When you command your inferiors, you do not take difficulty on
your role, no matter how unreasonable, or rude the
demand. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, what a great ability to be a piece of shit Monarch, you
know, like actually I actually that's why I would play like a
rude. Stuffy uptight King, you got to
let them eat. Cake is the second one.
When you willfully ignore another's, Misfortune to their
detriment, you clear one stress, So he builds trust in this game
by doing things and then like by just ignoring people who are in
need, do you just clear stress just like a real king and
loyalty? Once per world's Cape, you can
ask any character to make a devil's bargain in your stead to
improve a role. If they refuse, they take to
stress. So if you're playing this
character, you're an asshole like this care.
Nothing built its. So I was like, I was like, oh,
it's so perfect. Like, I really, I really enjoyed
this one, what stood out to you. Um, which so there were two that
I thought of right away, which one you think that I went with?
Oh, probably scoundrel. It was Priester scoundrel.
Those are the two that hopped out to me.
I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with the priest.
Oh, you know, so let me, let me read through the.
So there's Alchemist Artisan, King priest, scoundrel poet, and
then there's some wild card stuff.
So the priest you start with two can to convince in one analyzed,
right? The first one you get is
Indulgence when you or any of your companions.
Indulge us into clear stress, you may re-roll ones.
Inquisition when you intimidate or threaten another person with
the might of the church take plus 1, d 2, any convinced role
and scripture when you study a strange World scape, Oar vision
of hell you under your understanding of liturgy and
religious torments, Grant you, plus 1 D.
So one dice to any analyze roll. So really digging into the
church. Just Bashan backyard.
So things like it is obviously like, the big thing I like to
talk about them in like the middle switch over, is the
switch over from like the feudal society, where it's like the
landed Nobles and the church being in charge to like having
more like to the having more Artisans and like you know how
it's an artist and so it's funny they're like they're like yeah
yeah. So the the land of Nobles at the
king and then like they know the priest the church but there's
there's a dicks hard core. Yeah.
I mean if You got a priest and a king in your party like you're
here, boy. And then there's some wild card
advances here at the bottom, there's skirmisher your time in
these worlds has taught you how to fight for your life.
Plus, 1 dice on move roles to fight or defend from physical
harm and then suspicious eyes, the follower, maybe around any
corner and you can always sense when somebody is affected or
tainted by. So cool cool things you can take
their yeah. So, there's a little example of
play here, which is interesting. I like that, we get to that
before we actually get to the rules, but it says Tim wants to
create a roguelike character. Those an example of how to play
with the playbooks, so she picks the scoundrel, Playbook, the
scoundrel starts with two points in move and one in Tinker Tam,
once their characters to have a little extra Charisma, so she
adds a point in Since she picks out the advanced sneak so that
she can be stealthier. Finally Tam has a think about
her character's backstory, just a bigger name for them yet but
she decides. She wants him to be quite the
sinner. Tim decides that her character
is a murderer who was about to be hanged.
When the follower arrived, the Rope is still around their neck.
Tim uses this to come up with some starting items.
She decides that her character should, obviously start with a
rope. She also chooses to have a small
knife and the tools of their trade which is a Lockpick Set
She communicates this all to the group and checks if they're all
okay, with her playing a murderer or table agrees, so,
creation is done. Yeah.
I will say, although I do love the layout, right?
And I love the emphasis on the art of Hieronymus Bosch.
Yeah, the fun one. This one is font size is so
small. A lot of the things that could
be much bigger. Like if you look at the
character creation page, that's like sighs like 10 or 11 font,
you know, in the very middle of a page where I like, again, the
focus on the art, but the whole like, right third of the page
here, like you could really And in to the right a little bit
more, the next page, the same way.
There's a lot of dead space on this page where the size of the
font could be much more legible, and especially on this example,
play one, I like this triple art set and the back.
Yeah, but again, like it could be because of the size of the
page. The font is very, very small.
Um, and you know, it's not bad if you have the book, but
reading this PDF, And over here on the side, you really have to
blow it up to read it. Till I will say like layout
wise. A lot of the font could be a
little bit bigger just for readability and I'm not I'm
never going to say that in fell is a super readable font.
It does have a little bit of a roughness to it.
That makes it a little more difficult to read than something
like a Times, New Roman or Cambria be a safety.
What hit them safety, tools safety?
Yeah. Bosch's paintings.
Deal with extreme and potentially sensitive content,
including things like torture, sex and War.
Remember the presence of a potentially.
Since the topic in a painting, doesn't mean you have to include
it or discuss it in detail. Always discuss with the group.
What? Everyone's okay with.
And respect for one's boundaries, Ultra scenes on the
fly or go back on previous decisions to make everyone more
comfortable, if necessary. It's a fucking game.
Listen. Do you make a decision?
Someone's, like am really not cool with that.
Should backtrack. Who cares?
So? Real stop to check in intense
moments and consider using any of any of the many teach geology
safety rules, which exists in the world to guide play?
If you haven't encountered these before, have a look at the ttrt,
safety tool kit, by Kennesaw, and Lauren, Ryan, monk.
As starting point. Yeah, that's I think especially
a good piece of advice for this religious themes.
Hieronymus features Christian religious themes, the world's
Cape of this game. Explores the Christian ideas
about hell and Purgatory sin. And Redemption Christ appears
explicitly. In some of them as does, the
devil members of the clergy Saints and other religious
figures are prevalent worn, your potential players about this
before introduced to the game. If any member of the group are
religious or indeed have Alice, trauma discuss it discuss.
If they have any boundaries in terms of topics that they that
can come up in play. You let me tell you.
This is a might be a hard game. Play with some of these devoutly
Christian or has religious trauma like you know, you'll
just from a bit interesting part to me, I mean, you know, I Yeah,
you know, I've never not. You know, I do, I'm not, I don't
think you are either and you know what religious religious oh
yeah. No, no.
Not my I really. I like I come from a devoutly
religious family but I'm the one branch of the family tree where
my grandfather's like, man. I don't really, I don't really
like all that and then, you know, and a lot of times, you
know, I'm it's one of those. You know, to each their own,
believe what you want to believe, stuff.
But considering the state of Crystal fascism and American
2023, you know, kind of not kind of song that we should rise up
against Christianity. Always.
Okay? Good.
Good, good. So, anyway, getting to the
actual rules of the game rules and skilled checks because
again, you're not attributed, you have skills.
So the rules one of you plays is the GM.
Leslie you travel through the world scape, escaping the
follower. You try to beat the follower
across the world scape leaving before it catches, you advance
when you enter a new world skate.
And then the year is a follower clock and when it is full you
decide what happens to your character in the world, I love
clocks so much. I have really grown to enjoy
them. I didn't at first good, I'm now
like cool, the cool tracking tool.
You know, it's such a cool tracking tool, you know.
Yeah. And then you get your skill
checks when one of the characters encounters a
challenge or Do something difficult.
You can consider rolling dice to determine the outcome rolling.
Dice is not always necessary. It depends on the decision of
the players in the game master. When you roll choose, the most
applicable scale on your sheet and roll a 6-sided die.
So 1 D6 for every point you have in that skill.
If you have no points role to D6 and take the lower result, the
outcome is the highest number you rolled.
So on A6, you succeed with double sixes, it's a critical
critical success on a A four or five, you succeed, but not
without consequences, the GMA give you an unintended
consequence or a worse. Outcome on a 1 2 or 3 you fail,
completely the GM imposes, a consequence of your failures.
So interesting system here, right?
So basically, it is a, you know, it reminds me a little bit of
lumen more than it reminds me of like part by the apocalypse,
right? So you get to build a dice pool
and then You get a number of successes with in that pool.
So you get 1 D6 of that pool, right?
So and then you have the kind of a mixed success system, but it's
more like on a 6. Plus you succeed 4.04 or 562
with consequence and then three or less you fail.
So it's like I said, it really does remind me a little bit or a
lot any kind of like dice pool High number success system which
is interesting. I really enjoyed that.
You know, I love mix esses and I I think if you're not going to
do to D6 with a a Melkor. Yeah, I got all curved I do.
Like, when you get this system of Mick success, with number of
successes, you know, exceeding, what you what you get.
It's an interesting way to do a D6 make success system that I do
enjoy. And that's that's the core of
the entire game right there, you know.
Yeah. Let me instead.
And that's it. That's it.
All right. Good talk.
You'll see you next time in the next episode.
Bye. I will say again.
Like this next page we here at page 13.
The readability on this page is not wonderful.
It is a skewer I'll look on I want to see physically because
yeah I agree even on the like my screen is bigger than yours I
think right now and I know what a hard time but if I go to page
13 in the book It's so readable in the book, you know, I feel
like it's a little bit more. I feel like the black on the
pages in the books. Has more pop yet pops way more.
That's exactly what it is. That's that's the difference.
I'm curious in the PDF if it had if it is like a like a truer
black or if it's just you know the screen light and all the
stuff that's kind of making it more difficult.
So like you said, I'm glad it's a little bit more readable in
the physical book. But for PDF layout and stuff
like that, you know, the spreads just do really have like a
really, really small font. Yeah, it looks so much bigger in
the book. I don't know why it looks so
small on on-screen at like, when you look at it in the book, you
know, I just think it pops off the page a little bit more.
And I think the font even looks can't be, it's literally the
exact same thing, so, you guess, you just gotta blow it up on the
On the PDF a little bit more but again readability in the book is
not an issue but on here maybe I'll just blow it up a little
bit and just move it on the page a little bit more.
Yes, just do. The effectiveness Effectiveness
is a mechanic used to their ego is used to determine how
impactful and action will be in general.
There are four levels of sorry for Act levels 0 reduced
standard in increased, trying to roll Tinker or move to set, fire
to somebody. Somebody dowsed in oil, might
have an increased effect because it doesn't boil, right?
They'll immediately go up in flame.
If you succeed my you setting fire to.
Satan might have Zero Effect, even if you succeed, Satan is
likely won't care in general. A move should be assumed to have
a standard Effectiveness unless otherwise stated.
Aided, the GM can use the mechanic to warm players before
they make a roll of the, if their action is going be more
effective, less effective. I feel like, that's like, that's
a great thing to put in writing, but also like, He should be like
hey man, I don't think it's going to do you any good like, I
don't think setting the water on fire is going to be any good in
the situation. Yeah, players can always ask
about the effect level of role and push themselves or use a
devil's bargain to increase. Effectiveness, stress is a bar
that represents the remaining physical and mental resilience
of your character. Your character reaches six
stress, they are impaired and have minus 1.
By penalty to all of their actions when they reach 12
stress, they're helpless, they have either died or somebody
will need to carry them out. When a character is harmed in
any way and I take one stress, it's a harmless serious to take
to in any skill. Check a character may spend one
stress to push themselves. To add one died to their role,
actually rolling pool. Sorry to improve the
effectiveness of their role in the any skill check.
You may also spend one stress to Just another player and add one
die to their pool and you can also spend stress to gain an
item. It's interesting.
So so stress really in this game and I love that concept is It's
like HP but also a pool of resources which is interesting
and I really liked that a lot. I also think an interesting
thing here is the impaired is not because you can make a pool
of dice. It's not like a, you can't
really do like the concept of like advantage and disadvantage.
We just like Ryan, take the lowest, or whatever.
Because you could theoretically, since you rolled a die for every
skill point you have and could potentially even push Yourself
to add another die. If you're impaired, you only
take one died out of the pool, which is an interesting way to
do it. Because if you're only rolling
two die, that's bad for you, you lose half your die, but if you
build up a pool of for, you know, it's not as bad.
And I really like the concept of a, the, the easier it is because
you have more options, the less bad it is for you.
So it's an interesting way to look at it.
Yeah, this fogs. Yes I'm I really do.
I really do like the the multi. You used to like resource
aspect, I really like resources like that in games every
character wishes this is regaining stress.
Sorry continued on page 13 for those listening and following
along at home. The character wish to remove
stress. They may do so by indulging in
their sins, just like real life, the players states, which send
the character will indulge and kill.
Do so if they can find an infection resource or Reason to
do so the player then rolls, 1 D6 and subtracts.
The result from their stress between 16.
You could six dress back by drinking gin at night by
yourself gross. However, the sin is indulged
giving giving into one sin, takes the follower clock up by
one segment, you sit there, and you indulge your sins.
The follower is going to get you, it's Jesus Gonna Get You So
other modifiers difficulty, if the situation throughout the
character makes a check Really difficult.
The GM May remove a dye from your rolling pool or limit the
effectiveness of your role. You may spend stress to push
yourself, to add an extra die or to improve the effect of the
roll and then what school, you know, and then Devil's bargain,
which is actually referred to several times.
Now you want to gain a Dye or increase the effectiveness of
Your Action, you can also ask the GM for a devil's bargain.
The GM will offer a Difficult Choice.
A hard consequence, or a sticky situation.
You must accept in order to improve your role.
You can choose whether or not to accept the bargain after it has
been offered. But before you know the outcome
of the Roll examples of Del Bargains are lose an item take
harm lose somebody else's trust or Goodwill.
I'm sure like a think about a thousand other monkey Paws
situations to go along with that but that's a good start good
starting list I like to refer back to the Kings ability which
Which is to for someone else to make a devil's bargain for you.
Uh-huh. If we ever play as I live if
some other runs this and I will play as the king for sure, we
should absolutely run this that we should absolutely run.
This man has all the Army won't be hard to find our assets for
it, so, There's a little batch of Jim advice here since what is
the difference between Effectiveness and difficulty?
Some difficulty is determined by the circumstances of the role.
And the characters are do something, which seems hard pull
off, but incredible if they succeed you can impose
difficulty. Effectiveness comes from the
impact, the action will have the characters could be attempting
something relatively easy such as setting a house on fire to
cause panic, but it will have limited Effectiveness.
If the rest of the village is already burning, you can use the
status of demons in appendix a To determine whether a role
should be more or less effective or difficult.
So I like the little breakdown and Effectiveness in difficulty.
I can see why it might be a sticky.
Absolutely. Yeah, but I, it's really cool.
So like, if something would be hard, you get difficulty, if
something would be ineffective or super effective, you get
Effectiveness and it's a nice that they broke it down that
way. So on the next page I'll shrink
it to you can see the whole layout here real quick again.
Font just feel small in the middle but cool piece.
Cesare around the side. This is talking about items
consequences and a clock. Some zoom in here so we can see
this again real quick. It's another one of those words
like it's so fine on the page like it really is totally.
It's incredibly readable on the page.
Yeah. So it's I think part of it is
because the book is so fucking big to.
Yeah, you know, so items. Items can be used to Grant a
dice bonus or increase Effectiveness on a roll.
If a player wants to use an item that is not the inventory.
They may ask the GM. If this is something they packed
the Determines a stress cost based on the situation usually
between 0 and 3. If the stress cost is paid the
item stays in the Character Pack indefinitely Or until it is lost
during play. I like that idea.
So basically your item is really everything is everything
revolves around building more of your dice pool?
I'm an item's. Just continue to add to that,
which is great consequences. The most likely outcome of a
roll-on Hieronymus is a four or five on a success or a success
with a consequence, right? Which is exactly Exactly what
you want from a mix success. System is because, you know that
always gives you the yes. But yes.
And, you know but then kind of situations which are the thing
that I love the most. It's a mechanical of the most in
games is a mix of success. Successful consequence, losing
success. No, so good.
When you succeed with the consequence of players do what
they're trying to do, but it comes at a cost, the Jim decides
to cost could be narrative. Could be harder, limiting
Effectiveness. It Be a lot of things.
The GM in some cases can choose to start or at a clock.
We talked about clocks for those that don't know about clocks,
it's really imagine a circle. Yeah, Legend a pizza pie, right?
And each segment is a part of a clock and you can make that
anything, you can make it time, you can make it a tracking the
number of consequences you had. It's literally just really
simple effective way to track anything you want.
So for some effects, the gym can start a clock.
Clock is generally made up of a circle divided into multiple
segments, so you could have just read it and it would explain it
better than I did. It is usually what fun is that
though. Yeah, exactly.
It is used to represent, progress towards a difficult
obstacle or approaching trouble. A complex lock, might be
represented by a clock with four segments, requiring, multiple
successes to open the lock while trying to cross the lake.
The GM might set a six segments clock when completed the being
under the like, This is you so I again you can use it for
literally anything. It's just a tracking tool that
makes things really interesting and also very visible to the
players if you want them to see it, there's nothing I enjoy the
most fun bit of a clock is completing.
It don't be afraid to set small clocks and fill in more than one
segment at a time. If they feel badly, you can
start a clock with multiple segments filled in already.
So there is an example of a dice roll here.
And I mean, we're literally almost through the the rules.
So let's just read through this example of play as well.
And again, love examples of play, you know, we do so Tam's
character. The scoundrel.
We talked about earlier is trying to sneak past a powerful
demon owner to rescue. Another member of the group The
Alchemist from a cell because the scoundrel has two points in
move, she already has two dice and uses her sneak Advanced to
add one more. However, the GM forms Tam that
because the demon Chi Is trying to sneak past has very powerful.
Her role will be difficult removing one.
Dime Tampa has already taken a lot of stress, so she cannot
afford to push herself. She asks about a devil's
bargain. And the GM's informs her, that
she can add gain an extra die. If she leaves obvious, traces of
her passage to the demon will be able to will be able to track
them later. If they get away, that's a good
mix. It's so good like really such a
good one Tam, accepts the bargain, but Alice the
character. Putting The Alchemist.
Once you up their chances even more.
So she spins one stress to assist tam-tam rolls for dice
and gets a 2 4, 6 & 6. So 2, sixes, a critical critical
success to reward, such a strong role that GM increases.
The effectiveness of the role. He tells him that not only does
the scoundrel sneak past completely unnoticed, but when
they arrived at the cell, they realize the door is not locked
from the outside. It's a simple matter of sliding.
The bolt open, set The Optimist free great.
Great. Great example play here because
you can get, you know, an explanation of how you get, all
of your dice pools, you get the difficulty, which removes dice
poles, and then you get Alice aiding The Alchemist.
Oh, to get your Ford, I write the scoundrel has two points and
move, that's to die. They use an advance, which gives
him an additional die. So that's up to three died.
She makes a devil's bargain. Which puts it up to four die.
But there's a difficulty that removes one and then Alice
assists. It's in back to 4.
So 4 die. 26 is good. Nice roll.
Boom. But the consequences of the
devil's, bargain are still there.
The door might be unlocked and easy to get The Alchemist out,
but there will still be traces for the demon attract later,
which is awesome. I think so.
I think that's such a, like so cool.
Such a great consequence. I really enjoyed that a lot.
Yeah, that's a great one. And then we got the follower.
The follower is such a A great. Tool character, like, but
whatever you want to call it in this game because you could just
have them, have the players just fucking around and all these
different worlds escapes, right? Yeah, I totally the the follower
creates this that forward momentum, the urgency to move,
you know. Like and like you know, if
you're listening to this and you play it, you've been a game
master or DM before, or if you are fairly new to it, you're
going to come across a situation where you're like, fuck man,
they're just fucking around. I can't get them to move forward
and Gunslinger has a very similar thing to write.
They have like the I don't know what, it's not called the
follower, but snow things like an astral evil entity that is
like tracking. You humming creates the
necessity to move forward, the sense of urgency.
Yeah, I think it's great. It's always probably.
Yeah, you know, it's fantastic and because so many so much and
mechanic is based around moving across a world scape.
Having something that forces your movement, you know, is a
great tool to have plus, you know, indulging in sin.
Makes it come even oh sir, which adds and a level of intensity
and drive as well. So, there's page here about the
follower, it says, the followers in astral Terror, which pursues
the characters across the world escapes, the follower represents
sheer destruction and collapse, a representation of the death
Agony of feudalism and the crisis of medieval life.
Every World scape, which the follower inter's is eventually
consumed by its own internal contradictions.
Like hell in the paintings of Bosch faces of the follower are
always present in the world's, but they may become more
apparent as the in progress. Is the characters are all
fleeing the follower for their own reason, and the follower
will eventually catch up to them.
So, so to inevitability, the follower will catch up some.
Yep, which is awesome. So then there is another page
here. This is the follower clock of
that. At the start of the game, the
gym sets a 7 segment clock called, the follower clock fill
in the segment. Every time the players
Indulgence, in, when the players move, between worlds escapes,
reduce the number of filled in segments by 1 D6.
So the game ends. When all seven segments on the
follower clock are filled, but the table determines, what the
followers, eventual Victory looks like after all what the
follower really represents is change.
So Oh it's interesting. So every time you indulge sin
which is how you reduce stress, right?
You fill in a number on the clock, right?
But every time you move between worlds escapes, you reduce that
number by 1 D6, so you could play for a long time or a short
time. Yeah.
And it's interesting because every time you indulge sin, you
know, you make it, come closer and closer.
So if you ever into a world where you belong of bad rolls, a
lot of yours. This is hitting high, you're
pushing yourself a lot. You're the follower is going to
come and come and come and come and come and you can really
reduce that if you roll a six. But man I imagine hitting a
bunch of them and then rolling like a one like you have a whole
world skip to go through and not be able to stretch yourself.
Yeah. Follower facets that you that
they could be collapse famine, scarcity, War, Death, deception
greed, rapaciousness excess, sin, fire and development,
interesting. So that's, that's really, really
cool. And development is an
interesting one. Yeah, it really is, it's an
interesting. How would you even like bring
that forth as your follower catching up to?
So it's a really really cool. And realistically that that's
that's the rules. That's it.
That's the core of the game. You know a full page piece of
art here of a scheming little one of the one of the ball game
situations. This weird kind of like Devil
Dog, situated situation here. It's just, you're never going to
not have a painting, that doesn't have some fucked-up
stuff in it which is cool. Even this one has some weird
stuff like this guy like this guy here, that's like, oh I'm
not doing nothing. Haha.
But he's like stealing the dudes.
Purse is like I don't know why it's funny to me.
So so perfect. Yeah.
Right. So breaking down into the world
escapes. I mean we can we can do a quick
run through this but that's pretty much the game and you
know that we don't go through the Teachers but the world
escapes section of the book provides levels for the
characters to navigate through their Journey.
Each painting is divided up into hexes and they need to travel
from the entry hex to the exit as a group moves from one hand
to another, the table should look at the painting to
determine what is going on in that area and then provide a
challenge for the group to solve that GM has a vinyl say but
everyone can be involved in interpreting the paintings,
which is so fucking cool. Yeah.
That's really pretty cool, man. You get played this group, you
can play this game with like, Different groups and have
completely different axes just based on that job.
There's like a group life, played a couple of games, what
games with an Austin and they're like this, incredibly like artsy
and like very literary group and not in a pretentious, way of
all, they're incredibly durable people.
But I bet that this is the type of thing that they would totally
go off on. Ya, do it?
I mean, there's another full page spread.
Here of more Bosch art, but it's just, it's great, you know.
And what I really like about, you know, I'm scrolling through
a lot of this stuff, but the the fact that the paintings
themselves, they basically just put a hex panel over top of it
and then each hex is a different chunk of the painting.
Not always the same part. So like I really love how
there's like an inch or text here and then you know, if you
go down a little bit Big chunk of the hexes is the same piece
of art here, but no I guess it is just one painting and then
you're moving across the landscape of it but you get the
panels and I really like moving forward.
This might be a cool idea for how to make interesting hex maps
in general is finding paintings like this.
Like you know, like this but finding paintings overlaying a
hex on them and being like, click collaboratively like we're
moving through this like what is this area look like Really cool.
I think I'd be awesome and not only that, like you could also
just instead of Like just making a map and then chopping up in
the hexes that way to like there somewhere.
It's like, here's a hex. Here's some stuff in it.
I do enjoy when it is, more of like a world map with a hex
thrown over it to ya, and you can discuss my maps.
So, right. As opposed to making eat
individual hex, which is also fun.
I feel like, if you decide to each individual one, you're
almost kind of doing more of, like a point crawl situation as
opposed to. Yeah.
There is a little break down here of how The Garden of
Earthly Delights and Each other section work.
So we'll go through that a little bit, but it says, The
Garden of Earthly Delights is a painting which confronts the
idea of the corrupting influence of sin.
So, I like how you can actually get a breakdown of each painting
to and give the players kind of a, the, the intent kind of
behind the painting. But that their interpretation of
each individual hex could be totally different.
They're in a beautiful garden with delight CIA and the rest of
the senses as explore. They discovered that the people
in the garden behave without inhibition and joy.
I'm stranger and more dangerous Pleasures the further they
travel eventually. Realizing what they're seeing is
not the Delights of Earth but the tortures of hell.
So there's a GM note that says this is far longer than the
others which is one of the reasons it's on like the GM
screen, where it's and it's broken down even panels of the
painting. So be wary of their stress
level, there's follower facets, which is greed, sin and access.
So you're encouraged to use those.
There's different challenges and dangers, broken down here.
So, When you agree to play a game in the garden, you must see
it through, no matter how strange, it becomes, those kind
of things. And then there's a silver
lining. So the tree man and D15 is a
wise and kindly creature, who will answer three questions
about the world without asking for anything in return.
If you need two characters asked for his name, which is Henry.
Oh, Hank here, he offers them one of his possessions, whatever
they ask for a reason as gratitude for their politeness.
So it's just a really fun interesting, way to To do all of
this and especially this giant weird painting the different
panels across it. I love that if you use this
idea, you cannot only let the players to determine some of the
concepts. But you could also pick some and
just make them a set piece if you really wanted to pretty
easily. So and not every there is a
whole section here where it breaks down, what is in the
hexes but not every single one. So either, I know, Britt hexes
that have stuff in them, but the rest is just like, yeah.
They're, oh, they're over a piece of art.
Like, what is this look like to you, you know, and I love that.
There's a mix of both. So, it's not every hexes
designed and it's not every hex head, screw completely up to
your own interpretation, which is really, really fantastic.
It does allow you for what I just had this set pieces if you
really need them. And then the the things that not
if not so and I love that. There's an entrance and an exit
that and you can go any way you want through straight across.
So you can be like actually, you know, this hex looks emptier,
this hex looks more interesting, I love the concept of that.
So we're just scrolling through here for those a podcast land of
the various hexes, with the, with the art laid out on them.
And again, they're broken down a lot into the, this whole section
is about. What is on the hexes that
actually do have things on each panel, and it looks like the
farther you go through the hexes, the less you get, as you
said, earlier, the less numbered hexes, you get and the more
Taste in the players are supposed to have, which again,
is a really cool mechanic. By the time you get to this last
one here, there's literally three.
There's three fucking hexes on it, and that's it.
So that are numbered for no, perhaps not.
Yeah, so it's, it's, I like this idea of going across a world
games and it's a really cool, interesting way.
And we've talked about this before about, like, the way in
which the game is written encourages the way in which it's
played. Wade, and I love the idea that
in the early early ones, you get more support in the later ones,
it allows you a lot more freedom.
It's just a really fun clever, interesting way to do that and
then we get to the appendices. Yeah, so the first appendix is
the creatures. So it's a good idea if you have
to kind of like a battle, something to know how the fuck
you're supposed to do that. So appendix a is creatures when
a demonic character, especially an odd-looking, one shows up in
a world scape, they are almost certain to grab the attention of
the players. They're likely become a major
participant in the scene and you may also have an idea what kind
of character the demon is, but you can use a tables to figure
that out. So a big table here on the side
talks about the status or difficulty, and the purpose are
gold. So a creature will or demons
status determines how high up. They are the echelons of hell
and this can help determine their difficulty at the GM's
discretion. So, Want you roll a D6 for me.
Let's make a little demon boy around your 0 to T. 60, Kaling
pull the dice roller. Said to D6.
Yeah. Okay, I got three and the five.
So you got a medium status demon, which is still very
dangerous likely, highly skilled.
And at least one thing such as a Meredith with just a seven armed
sword, demon, you may not want to fight it but you may use the
be able to sneak past one and then what was it?
Like when you get a five by? So the demons purpose is simply
to torment or harm the characters.
So that makes sense on a Meredith with with with, you
know, seven arms swinging swords that they this won't hurt you.
They won't hurt you. That's what they want to do.
Physically pretty cool. You know, not emotionally.
There's also a be emotionally, now, you know, could be.
There's also a follower facets that shine through in this
creature. So Roll, Another to T6 I rolled
a three and a two who so scarcity and rapaciousness.
Rapaciousness is a good word. Is it London that I'm going to
Google extreme gluttony? So extreme.
So this one might be a little thick or thick Meredith, you
know, couple of C's on there and then 11 last D6 for for your
weakness. A one who running water,
interesting? So do you have a medium level
demon with that wants to torment and harm?
The creatures. That is its Interesting,
scarcity and rapaciousness. So it makes sense because
they're in the scare sness, it might be scarce in this because
of the extreme greed. Yeah, absolutely.
And then and then the weakness is running water.
So that's a really cool. Interesting way to break down
the potential things that you're going to battle.
There's an example here that we already.
We already went over one though so you don't need to it's into
that. It's a lot of similar things.
What you can rules. Yeah, there's the Meredith
there. Is the man crab and crab.
Mmm, the past he's got examples of longer play are longer
examples of play, which is cool. If you need it, appendix e is
artworks used, which is very cool.
But I think appendix D is my favorite and that is further be
like that. Be I do.
I love a good D. You know, further Explorations
and it is other Artworks for your party to travel through
within the same, Mike kind of Realm and I fucking love that
and you can do it so easily because you can just pull this
art and throw a hex grid over and be like, here we go, you
know. Yeah.
Some cool names on here to go boil of.
I fucking love Goya, got some Picasso on here.
But yeah that and what's cool about that is like once you've
actually played the game you can just play it again with
different. Yeah.
So I like that. There is and look an even game
expansion. Basically already in any
expansion you want. You can just be like, cool art.
The other thing that I really love about this concept to, and
I know a lot of it is really, really based in the specific art
for this specific character and stuff like that.
Yeah. But but but you You could do
this with any artist you could. I mean for me personally, I
think like what I like about this is that you can like pick
an art piece and go read about the artists like own words or
like people's people's interpretations of the painting
or what's about and then you can incorporate that into the
adventure. You know everything like Christ
in limbo which is another Bosch one but it's a really good one.
It's about when Jesus. Goes down into hell or descends
into limbo to save the souls of the righteous.
You know when Jesus does that right?
But it's a really cool story that you can incorporate into
like you know, going through that.
It's also a horrifying meeting. So yeah, no.
I and realistically, you could even spin this into like if you
found like a bunch of space paintings and shit like that,
you can do a Sci-Fi version of this like really easy Where it
literally is like an astral body like coming after you as well as
you go through stuff. So really, really interesting,
great game. And then there's just
acknowledgement section here in the back, read that.
And and that's, that's, that's the game.
So you get to that, the back page here, the corrupt piece of
the Middle Ages. Has finally come to an end.
All the rottenness of the old Society bursts are ripping the
world. You all new apart at the seams,
the follower pursues, you bringing with it, a sea of fire
and Chaos as you flee. You travel through strange
worlds. What will Even when it catches
up to you, is there a way home? Boom.
That is. That's it.
That's Florida. Connell 12 Pines, 12 pins press,
that's it. That's the game.
It's a good game. Great.
I just want to want to play real bad, man.
This is a really, really cool one.
Yeah, for sure. I it's it's I want to single
page view it. Yeah, it's a really interesting
one, and I like that it specifically points out that,
you know, one of the things that, you know, we talked about
Specifically that we like about it is it is just enough
framework to give you some some fate and consequences for your
exploration of this weird shit, right?
I think it's just enough you know and at the rules get out of
the way which is something that we talk about a lot for games
that try to like kind of almost all over develop.
I feel like this one is a perfect example of the right
amount of rules for it. So let's go.
Let's hop into a review. So this is going to get It you
know, because it is a 48-page book.
It's got a lot going on this one.
Good, the full book treatment for scores.
So talking about we did tweak some of the some of the language
for this a little bit. So Hieronymus, we always give
when we review books up to 10, points across five, different
categories, or metrics, or whatever, art and style.
Is the amount. The quality and quantity of art
across the entire book and the Style of some of the, some of
the layout stuff, it is the style in which it's done, not
the tools in which the way it's done, right?
Like if it's used like in the art of the book and things like
that versus, you know, just columns and stuff like that.
So this the stylistic choices used in the book in the art,
layout is actual readability, functionality, navigability.
You know, the way in which it actually physically let out so
that you can read the book and understand it.
The rule set is the rule set, you know, it's How much we enjoy
the rules? We originally had crunch added
to this, but we never really ever talked about crunch.
So we got rid of that and then we have the originality, which
is just, you know, have we seen this game before?
Is it new interesting? As a rule set, new interesting
is the setting new and interesting.
It's a little bit of just overall, you know, stuff.
And then value is how not only how much the book cost, but what
you get with your money, bang, for your buck for that.
So, art and style. I mean, It's almost a, it is
almost a table of coffee table book, like you said, classical
art book. I mean it is, there's our done
every page. Like, even in the appendix D
that would just gone through the, the names of the artists
and all the words. If you look, it's actually like
art under it. Like it's an overlay like a
white overlay. That's got negative space over
piece of artwork for. Like there's a lot of just like
Actually, there's a lot of that in a lot of this book.
Yeah, I'm pretty good. I think this is, this is a
pretty high level art for me, which I think is kind of like a
given, because it's was botched. Yeah, I like, like, I'm the best
points. Yeah, the entire point of the
game is to dig into and show off the arm, you know, like you
can't really knock it. For literally doing that, he'll
like, the entire time, I can believe the Guth.
You, I don't know how you could make a game about an artist used
their art on every page. The artist is amazing and not
give it, you know, a relatively high score.
I think nine is a really solid score for this.
What would make it a 10? Um, oh God.
Have we given a 10 in art and style before did we ever do like
so I never gorg. Yeah, yeah.
Um, what would make this a 10 versus something like that?
I mean, gosh, I don't even know, like, I genuinely don't even
like, I don't know why I went with nine instead of 10 on this
but felt good about the other ones using that I don't.
Maybe it's the fact that it's all like 500-year art there's no
like, original art pieces. Like further creators of organs
also really old art. I mean, like I will say that one
thing. I think I think the distinction.
I'm just trying to figure out why I'm not giving this 110.
Yeah, but he also says that all like in Mark Morgan, cyborg the
rules. In the words are used it like
within the art as well. So this is the aisle.
Yeah. This style a style.
So the oh yeah yeah. So the art, the art hit, right?
But I do think like you just said, like I think it's a style
and way the, with the artists use It's really used as just
background for Pages a lot, but it's also hard to, I mean, you
would have to like, you know, Photoshop and indecision fucking
pain. It's also like very chaotic
artwork. So like yeah, figure out the
spacing on. That would be like a very uh
nightmare. But yeah, I'm good.
I'm good but I think I agree with you completely like, for a
second. I was like, yeah.
Like no, I never struck me as like, gonna get a 10 but then
you're right. As soon as you ask, why you
like, I don't know. And yeah, I think the style is
really what does it so lay out, what do Think about the Leo, I
have a mixed emotions about the layout.
I also think that's very cool and a lot to like about it and
it uses the art in the words. Well, and like the text boxes
are almost never just boxes and never, they're almost never
boring. But you know what, man, the PDS
kind of hard to read. Like, yeah, the physical book is
it and I think you take that in the count, right?
But like also, it's 2023, I think, And still and you're
gonna like you're going to use this game digitally like you are
like you are here going to reference a digitally.
I mean if it's not hard to read on the digital like that kind of
sucks but like, even even within the layout, I think one of the
things you said I kind of disagree with like I feel like
everything is just a box of text everywhere.
There's even Little Boxes, you know.
Yeah. Maybe maybe you are more right
with that then. Yeah.
And I don't I don't necessarily have an issue with it too.
But if you Look at something like the Playbook list on page,
nine? Right?
Like the most boring page in the book.
So if there's not even a piece of art behind it, right?
Which makes sense because a lot of the artists super chaotic and
it's difficult when you're looking at multiple colors and
lines and Stein. But like also like this could
be, it's just like six box. It's just six row, it's just
six. Text things thrown like a a
background as opposed to like even a box around.
Found it or anything. There's it's really a lot of the
pages. If you took the Bosch art off
are just words in a box. Yeah, that's right.
And you know and I'm not saying I want like a million font types
and I love him fell. Don't get me wrong, but I feel
like the legibility is really broken up by that, but if you
look at like page 17, it's already, what do you think?
I don't know. I mean, I think, I think some of
my favorite Parts about the layout are the art, which really
isn't the layout, and I think the best and the best laid out
Parts, honestly, realistically are all in the gosh.
Let's just, I'm gonna jump back to look at it, like some of the
best laid out parts are in these panel pieces, right?
So, like, this is one of my favorite pages in the entire
book and it's just got like a thing on it, but it has an
actually, Has like, you know, the hex texture on the side?
Yeah. Size font here.
It's more, it's more pop to it and even when you go through
this, you know, it's got multiple font types.
It's got pictures on the side. I love the panel part and even
when you get to something like, what was the page?
I was just on. Like, even this like this I
think is cool layout, right? So like this is like the L is
completely different. It's really interesting on this
Last Judgement page. I think this part is really laid
out. Well, I think this Like the hay,
Wain two fonts here, really pops really bright, but the entire
first half the book. I feel like a lot of it, I know
that a lot of it needs to just be words, but I feel like it is
much more weekly laid out than the panel second half the book
and again, the readability really suffers, I think through
those parts, I don't know. I'm thinking what?
I don't know. What are you thinking?
What's your, what's your starting for this thinking?
Somewhere, a six or a seven? That's exactly what I was gonna
say somewhere between 6 & 2. Seven, I didn't, it doesn't, I
think, well, I think we might, we might go a 6 because it
doesn't have a have hyperlinks. Well, that's the thing that bugs
me is version Viva 2.1 as all of that stuff, you know.
Eventually I'm reading this version right here, son, I don't
give a fuck about to paint One Lie.
I'd really like to know if version, 2.1 the original or the
one that I use for most of the time has like bookmarks and
everything else too. And I really want to know why
they got rid of. That lamp.
What would have? Let me download this real quick.
Let me at that download and then I can bring it up.
So if we go to version 2.1, right.
It has No bookmarks. But as far as like hyperlinks,
go, when I go here, boom all of this is hyperlinked which it's
just interesting that they got rid of them.
So I don't, I don't know, I don't know.
And by then I'm trying to look to see if there's anything
really else like strikingly different about it and it's
pretty much the same exact thing.
So, um, yeah. I mean version 3.
Don't know why they got rid of that.
I think it is a little bit of a knock.
I think I think six is a good score for layout on this.
I think that. Again, as we've said like
digitally, it's so much weaker. Offering than the physical
version. Yeah.
So I also think that, you know, you have to lay out for the book
that you're going to make but like if if the book was cyber
middle-sized, the font in it would be illegibly small.
Yeah. Totally you know.
So you know so yeah. So yeah.
So ruleset though, how do we feel about the rose up?
It's a really good rule set. It works incredibly well.
It's very lightweight. I wasn't maybe necessarily Blown
Away by it but works really well and I like all the like all the
facets of it. Yeah.
Yeah I think I think this is one of those games where Um, almost
like crunch almost does fit for this.
I feel like it doesn't need anything else.
No, it doesn't really need anything else.
It's almost honestly, not even about the rules.
It's about the whole point. That is the whole point in.
I love that again, we talked about this already that there's
a section that specifically says, we just give you just
enough rules to explore a fucked up world without chasing you
that's it. And I think that's, I think
that's really good. I think that's a super big
positive for rule set. I think so as well.
And it is a game that the rule set does not get in the way at
all, like, literally you get for skills, you get so, and you
build a dice pool, and then you need a roll, some, some, you
know, for 4 to 6 and then suffer the consequences of those
actions. And then I really do enjoy that.
Stress is pretty much is your HP at your resource for everything.
I mean him, bows did a similar thing with there with heart and
stuff like that. So I mean I think it is simple.
But I think it is extremely clean and I think it is
extremely effective. This is one of those things
where like simple is not bad simple.
As this is a really good example again.
Yeah, this is this and there's a level of Elegance to it.
That I really, really enjoy. I'm Josh, I'm honestly, at least
an eight for this. Like, at least me.
I'm pretty comfortably adding eight, you know?
Yeah, I think there's nothing. I don't think there is anything.
NG like crazy unique about it. I don't think there's any
mechanic where I'm like, oh yeah, I don't think there's
really anything in here that hasn't been done before, but I
think the way in which it is done specifically for this is
perfect. Like, even even as far as like
the the way you get rid of stress, gets a follower closer,
though, the concept of the follow-up, forcing you across
the game. And as we said how the hex is
like, get fewer and fewer and fewer to encourage you to create
your own. I mean, I think, you know I
think as far That goes, I think 1/8 is a minimum and it's
borderline 9 for me. It's just the because of the
Elegance. But, but again, nothing, really?
There's nothing. I went like, oh fuck.
I've never seen that before. Like that.
Super crazy. I just think it's perfectly
simple. Elegant framework to play this
specific game really, really well.
Good agree, more. But originality though.
So it's, I mean, it's genuinely, I'm like, a tan.
I think this is my chain personally, I think this.
Like like no contest. This is my tenth or originally.
However, given that n / originally, I think.
Yeah, I think we have, I think the ones that we have are like
neck or Nautilus and let me sign.
This is this isn't good company with that.
This is an incredibly original concept.
It's really well-executed like, I think this is so cool.
God, so cool. It's a weird.
Fucking cool experience. Yeah.
Yeah, it looks like neck or Nautilus got a 10.
It looks like we have a couple of nines.
Did we give tennis did we give cyber metal that tend to we
might have Oh yeah, we did give supplemental attend what?
And that was because it's cyberpunk kind of, but it's more
about being a Utopia. Not a dystopian, which I thought
was really interesting. Yeah.
That was really interesting and me and Kirby actually gave
slipgate attend and I don't regret that at all.
I think that's a perfect surface liftgate.
I really, really loved the way that that game was done and it
was really fantastic. So we've only given out like
three tens and this will be number four.
And like you said, I don't think there was ever a question my
mind as soon as I picked this book up, a started flipping
through it. That this would be a tent.
Yeah, and then let's look at Value.
So right now it is on itch for the PDF, 15 on drive-thru RPG
for the PDF 13 Where is it? The physical copy, though?
Can I get a physical copy? I think it's on +1 exp actually.
Oh, I was not looking there. Let me tell you.
Oh, here we go. I found it on 12 pins press.com,
which makes sense because this is directly from the website.
Yeah, and that is, that's a really is that real?
Hold on. Oh, here we go, $23.
But that's a soft cover. Okay.
But that's soft cover with extra so it gets all the peripherals
that we got like the screen and the player character.
Sheets, I'm sorry. Help words are hard.
Bookmarks. There we go.
I did it. Is this, is it?
I need a read blades in the dark because this says, it's a forged
and the dark game, and I guess I really at Sea.
It's so funny because that is such a like decently well, known
game and neither of us have read it.
A lot of things are based on. Ford's are fortunate, we have a
rent it at all. So our list to do blades in the
dark is, is on our list, very soon.
We're just like eats Lake as we just We're diving deep into
like, you know sometimes I pick up a Zine that.
I know. Like, Ugh.
Maybe 100, people also read like my give it.
I fucking ever fucking blades and dark me, please.
So, no. Trust me.
It's on our list in the next. I think it's on would like, the
next, like, three or four be decided I think.
So, as long as we discussed previously, but yeah, very
funny. So, anyway, so soft cover.
Gets you all of that. I assume that hardcover, I'll
have to come out at some point. I mean, I don't know why we
can't find it. Yeah, mean soccer is nice,
though. Also a for is the size.
I definitely said I said before, so, um, he said with a question
mark at the end. IMA deny reason, I'm raising the
question mark, Gila you put period in that sense?
I did hard question, mark. It's $15 for the for the PDF, I
think. I mean that's that's, that's
average. And honestly, you know, I a lot
of people have been talking lately about people should in
the Indie scene. Should raise our prices.
I don't disagree. I think 15 for this PDF is
totally fine. I think that's an Then if we
look at the actual campaign for what we got 35 pound 35 Euros,
no pounds, 35 pounds. We'll call that 35 bucks because
you know, they're the shipping is only thing.
Those are we got the hardcover book.
The PDF it says for character. See bookmarks I got.
I think I got more than that. I feel like I got.
Um and then the accordion print screen was all 35 pounds.
I think that's a great fucking deal for this, that's crazy.
I mean, you're not going to? Yeah, that's crazy.
So yeah. 35 pounds for the GM screen.
The bookmarks and the hardback book is fantastic. 25 for the
soft back, I think, is a solid deal and so things are you eyes?
I think it's I mean, it's average or a little bit above
you get on to take into consideration is that like my
favorite appendix in this? Is that it that.
Hey, now, you know, how this game works, you can take an art
piece from another artist and you can just continue to play
this game, you know, I really, I really do enjoy that.
I think, you know, there's always this conversation about
like, you know, licenses and all the rest of that stuff.
But I can't imagine that this game doesn't, you know?
I mean, if it's already a hack, That you could just hack it into
something else and they'd have a problem with it.
But I do really, I really think that it's a solid value.
I mean, 35 bucks. Like I said, for what we got I
think is great. So I'm wearing, what do you have
for this? I'm between like, I don't know,
like the six and a seven ish kind of.
Yeah, I'm out of six years. I'm a seven because I know that
I can pull apart from other places and keep playing this.
Yeah let's go Sara like that. I think that salad.
Yeah. It basically creates expanded
content without Actually creating expanded content which
is totally fine. So that's it.
That's Hieronymus. I really, I really, really
really enjoyed this one. A lot.
This is one of those lines really did.
This is a very good one, you know.
Yeah. I mean and a very playable one,
you know. I don't think that there's who
did it really. Yeah.
I mean they got its got a tenant and I and it literally got a
six, a seven and eight and nine and ten like very funny every
every yeah. So I just want to make sure
Sure, it's a 9 plus 6, plus 8 plus 10 plus 7.
I don't know why I felt like I was gonna be lower than this but
it's a 40 and I that's a solid that's a solid like upper tier
and layout but everything else was so high, especially like art
and originality, you know. Yeah.
You know I think if the PDF was laid out a little bit more
readable I think if the size of the stuff is a little bit more
readable. I think if the layout in general
we're doing is you're saying yeah That the haven't.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know why they disappeared between V2 and
V3, but that would have bumped it up.
I mean, I think, I think, you know, even if it would have got
stuck in a dish with hyperlinks and little bit more legibility,
you'd be looking on like a 42, which is one of the war.
Honestly, one of the high, I think, the high score we've ever
given out is what a 43 or 44, I think so yeah.
So 40 is upper echelon and a lot of games that we really enjoy
end up falling right in a 38 points.
So this is this is a solid one. I really between art and
originality, it, real. We really, really shines.
The rule set itself a solid so that is Hieronymus from Lori
O'Connell with layout from Christmas set and special.
Thanks to Matt Sanders of the do a lot of stuff with so Muppet.
But also have, oh, my God. Why is the C library?
So, this is definitely want to check out, you know, 15 bucks to
the PDF, totally worth it. 25 bucks for the soft cover and all
the, all the other stuff totally worth it.
I would definitely go snatch this up wherever you want it.
It is available in 12. Of pins like like Connor said,
the soft cover is also available on plus one exp.
So definitely go check those out and yeah, that is Hieronymus.
You know, I don't know what we're doing next.
We make plans for next week. We have a list but I can't
remember what's on it because Oh, is trophy dark next, we re
gonna Jovi, hold on, do it, hold on.
What's we have? I swear to God, we have a list.
You know what? It's trophy, dark.
All right, we're doing trophy. Don't do drugs.
Make sure yeah yeah this one does make us want to do blades
in the dark and the next couple of weeks.
So expect that we have some other physical stuff coming in
that might just her schedule a little bit but you know, coming
up, we have some interesting stuff.
And maybe we will reach out and have, we've been doing a lot
less interviews if people have noticed that's just because with
time and stuff like that. They're they're kind of a bit of
a stress to get all of our time zones often put together.
But we have a fun interesting game that we want to look at
soon and and want to reach out to potentially talk to that
Creator. So we'll see.
So trophy dark next week. I also have I think next week
we're I'm doing a special episode with Jonathan Davis of 7
sanctum. Oh yeah.
Yeah, so on Saturday, we will actually be going over now.
Hyperion the sun hyperborean. We're going to be going through
Saturday. It's the 29th, right?
Is it the 20th through the 22nd? Probably the 29th, if it's,
those is the weekend. I'm not here.
I think it's not the weekend that you're not here because
they didn't have the weekend off.
I don't think John Hannah. So I think this coming week will
get will get a double episode situation, Saturday Sunday,
right between hyperborea and trophy dark.
That's gonna be a fun fucking weekend and I get a lot of
reading to do. Sorry.
That worry is not, so it is not fun at all but we're gonna meet
me and Jonathan It down and discuss how we're going to break
it up. Make it a little bit more
digestible so we'll figure that out.
So that's what's coming up this week.
Thank you all for checking us out.
Definitely go follow us on the doll weekly that scroll on
Instagram weekly underscore scroll on Twitter, that's where
you'll find, you know, all of the, you know, things coming up
and our bullshit. And then you definitely want to
go hit the adventure archived on YouTube and hit that subscribe
button. That'll really help us out a lot
and honestly seriously more more.
These interviews on the podcast on Apple and Spotify and stuff
would be really great. So that's good.
If you listen to that would be really cool to check that out.
But thank you all, for being here and Hunter.
You have fun tonight as we both go into work after this episode.
Now, I'm gonna go in tomorrow morning instead, it's too late
now are asleep. All right by everyone, that's
it. Bye.