Table of contents for Issue 64 in Tabletop Gaming

Welcome Welcome home ashen one. Or at least, to this very Dark Souls edition of Tabletop Gaming magazine. We’ve got the story on Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game from Steamforged. We not only delve into what this dark and dying world will offer us around the table, but also get your questions about the use of Fifth Edition as the core system answered. If you’d prefer to read about an ash-made-wand, then we suggest dropping by our ‘How to play a Harry Potter RPG without an official Harry Potter RPG’ feature. (I am reliably informed that Ron Weasley’s first wand was an ash wand, which is initially why he’s rubbish at magic, but later, once replaced, he’s mainly rubbish at magic because he’s a bit of an idiot). We’ve also…

The soloist COMPACT QUESTING We explore the world of solo gaming one move at a time. This month: solo pocket dungeon delvers Words by Debbie Brown Sometimes I think I must be crazy as I heft another 8kg box onto the table and set about organising things for a marathon dungeon crawling session – all those area tiles to order, enemy miniatures or standees to line up with their AI cards, instruction books, quick reference cards and quest books to be handily placed, not to mention arranging all the skills and equipment for each of the party members. I really enjoy Gloomhaven, Sword & Sorcery, Folklore, Middara, and Dungeon Universalis but it’s always a bit daunting to get these mammoths out, and definitely not worth contemplating unless I have the…

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SIX DARK SOULS ADVENTURE HOOKS Here are six quick adventure hooks of our own devising (or lifted from fan theories), that might get you started in planning your own adventure… 1 Catarina Crusade. The Onion Knights of Caterina have decided to wage a crusade against The Deep. You and your party have to shepherd them through the world on their way to confront Aldritch. Naturally, they’re very good natured, but easily tricked by other characters. A classic ‘herding cats’ adventure. 2 Orphanage Breakout. Set before the sludge-slugification of Aldritch, when he is having fresh people ferried to the Cathedral of the Deep. Players hear of the raiding of an Orphanage and attempt to break into the Cathedral before it was fallen, and stop the grotesque consumption – possibly saving Anri…

ENCAPSULATE 2003 2003 As we edge closer and closer to the Second Golden Age of Board Games, we remember those pioneers that made it possible. Words by Matthew Vernall We’re now a third of the way through our journey and it’s amazing to see how far tabletop gaming has come! Yes, there were even more CCGs clamouring for attention in 2003, but we also had major releases across various genres, showing the rapid increase in games being designed ensured that everyone would find something new and exciting to enjoy. MARK ROSEWATER BECOMES HEAD OF MAGIC It’s impossible to deny that outside of the game’s creator Richard Garfield, there’s no other person who’s done more for Magic: The Gathering than Mark Rosewater. After joining the company in 1996, designing cards and…

LIVING FOREST Battle forest fires with the dead-eyed stare of a porpoise Designer: Aske Christiansen | Publisher: Ludonaute For a lot of us, forests provide that perfect place to escape from the noise, stress, and claustrophobia of urban modernity. Ancient, mysterious, yet accessible to most, these spots of wildness are the salve to life’s more organised chaos – that is, unless, they’re on fire. Living Forest confidently thrusts us within this devastating pairing of fire and foliage, casting players as Spirits of Nature willing to repel the destructive flames of Onibi and save the forest. Yet, despite a common goal, only one spirit will succeed at becoming Grand Protector. There’s a fair bit of setup required here for what, at first, seems like a light, breezy game - particularly when…

PLAYED THE SEARCH FOR PLANET X …Is there a finder’s fee? Designer: Ben Rosset & Matthew O’Malley | Publisher: Renegade Game Studios One of the first things you see on opening a new copy of The Search for Planet X is a leaflet for the Planetary Society – a non-profit organisation aimed at “empowering the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration”. Whether or not you’re interested in visiting the website listed, one thing is very clear: this is a game that takes its theme seriously. That theme is of the real-world research into the hypothesised but as-yet undetected Planet X on the edge of our solar system, presented as a competitive race between players. You’ll be discovering this potential planet (which is guaranteed to exist in the game,…

PLAYED DOLLARS TO DONUTS Fresh Fun Designer: Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich | Publisher: Crafty Games There are fewer things in tabletop gaming more frustrating than when you draw a game tile that doesn’t match up. Be it digging through the tower of tiles in Carcassonne for that final city section or hoping for just one matching crown symbol in Kingdomino that will finally make use of your empty fields, it’s always maddening to be unable to match up perfectly. What if I told you about a tile laying game, where even if you mismatch, it can still lead to a bounty of points, as well as a game with one of the most charming themes I’ve seen in months? Dollars to Donuts is a tile-laying donut-making game for…

PLAYED CHRONICLES OF AVEL Inventory magnificent Designer: Przemek Wojtkowiak | Publisher: Rebel Studios Every tabletop fantasy world comes with a backstory to ignore, and this game is no exception. It is, however, a stunning introduction to the world of tower defence games. The Beast is coming, and you’ve got to prepare the realm and yourself for this onslaught. This of course means building defences, upgrading your own equipment, and making sure the monster that are already wandering the world are under control. Each player gets a lovingly designed player board, with a cut-out insert that goes on top. This is used to hold the piece of paper that displays the character’s name and portrait (which you’re encouraged to colour in) in place. This also creates the boundaries of your bag.…

SHINKANSEN: ZERO KEI Minding the gap is the first step… Designer: Isra C & Shei S | Publisher: Ludonova Last year’s smash hit The Red Cathedral from Isra C & Shei S was a perfect example of what happens when you restrict a Eurogame down to its most fun parts, and allow the machine you’ve created to run really hot. Shinkansen: Zero Kei does not achieve the heady heights of the design pair’s previous offering, but does contain something of the same core promise. The only issue is that getting to the core part of the game is like pushing through a busy train station where they’re having some maintenance done. The 1964 Japan Olympics are just around the corner, and you and your competitors are trying to get as…

PLAYED ROOT: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME If You go Down to the Woods Today… Designer: Brendan Conway & Mark Diaz Truman | Publisher: Magpie Games As with the boardgame that inspired it, Root: The RPG hides sharp teeth beneath its cutesy trappings. It uses a simple ruleset to weave sandbox-ey stories of woodland warfare that blend heroism and despair, where wandering vagabonds clash and cooperate with powerful factions. The starting premise of the RPG is identical to that of the strategy-focused boardgame. Both are set in the Woodland - a randomly rolled stretch of forest inhabited by humanoid animals. Think Disney’s Robin Hood mixed with the Redwall books. Or, possibly, a heavily armed branch of the Sylvanean Families. In any case, not all is well in the Woodland. Several factions, including…

MISTBORN: HOUSE WAR Corruption eruption Designer: Kevin Wilson | Publisher: Crafty Games The grip of the all-powerful Lord Ruler is becoming tenuous. Troubles are multiplying and threatening the delicate fabric of your dystopian society. It falls on the shoulders of you, the favoured heads of house, to overcome the obstacles, defeat the heroes and uphold the empire. Sharpen your talons, this is going to get nasty. Mwah ha ha! Mistborn: House War is set in the world of Brendan Saunderson’s Mistborn trilogy. Anyone can play the game, but fans of the books are the real audience. Players must attempt to solve a series of problems, each shown on a single card. Cards are placed in four columns on the board, with the left-most column containing the least concerning problems and…

RAINY DAY GAMES WEATHER We bring you a smorgasbord of roleplaying tools and ephemera, this month: weather Who Made This? Rainy Day Games are a collective of indie games designers comprising of Anna Blackwell (DELVE, Apothecaria), Chris Bissette (The Wretched, Treasures of the Troll King), Jack Harrison (Artefact, Orbital), and Matt Sanders (Sealed Library, Have You Heard About The Beast?) TWENTY KINDS OF WET From rain-slick streets to snow-thick peaks, every environment can be enriched with a little liquid meteorology. Just add water. 1. A cold, miserable drizzle that makes you yearn for home. 2. A life-affirming downpour that washes away bad memories. 3. A driving, horizontal rain that slows your progress to a crawl. 4. A gusty storm that steals your coat before drenching you. 5. A warm shower,…

THREE GREAT SOLO COMPACT QUESTING GAMES THE PATH OF THE ADVENTURERS Select 2-4 predefined characters (from seven) and place them on the village. Cards representing new locations such as a castle, forest or crypt are set out on all sides, and an enemy encounter is placed face down on each. There are four levels of enemy encounters and the party may retreat from danger. The locations also determine the battle formation – four abreast, two times two, or, in the case of a gorge, a single column. Initiative order is established and battle commences. If successful, the group obtains high level loot, cash and a new skill for each member. The second time a location is drawn, a tougher enemy is encountered, and finally the third occurrence brings the boss…

CREATING YOUR OWN HARRY POTTER RPG CHOOSE YOUR RPG HOUSE Use our roleplaying sorting hat to find the right RPG for you to begin your wizarding journey. BRAVE For the impulsive and courageous, if you want to hurtle head first into adventure with a bravery that overrides the “Let’s think about this first” voice, Dungeons & Dragons is perhaps the most readily available to delve into without further thought. Brave adventurers will create their characters around their house traits, but there’s no better moment to be had than being told to Roll for Initiative when you’re in the perfect combat position. LOYAL Those of loyalty and fairness would likely enjoy the tranquillity and considerations made in Inspirisles. A game in which your magic wielding can be linked to shapes –…

GOLEM BROUGHT TO LIFE We discover the magic words powering the Essen ’21 hit, Golem Words by Christopher John Eggett Photography by Henk Rolleman The golem is one of the most enduring creatures of myth and fantasy – with hundreds if not thousands of different interpretations, reimaginings, and stories about the mud monster spread throughout culture – it’s was only so long before a board game would take the theme and return to the source. While most uses of the golem in media and literature are only tangentially related – linking in to the core concepts of a collective, protective, earth-orstone robot, powered by some form of holy programming, but little else – today we’re heading back to the Golem of Prague as the spark point, for the big hit…

WISE GUYS Gin, guns, and glamour Designer: Phil Yates | Publisher: Gale Force Nine “I’ve never seen so much cash in my life.” Those were the words I depressingly uttered as my three year old son popped out the hundred dollar tokens from the punchboard. Indeed, my life is a far cry from the romanticised drama and excess of Chicago’s roaring twenties, but at least Gale Force Nine are giving me the opportunity to play out this era of guns, glamour, and gangsters on the tabletop. Wise Guys is an exciting new 2022 release for Gale Force Nine. Not only is it a reworking of the oft overlooked but nonetheless popular Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem, but it is also the publisher’s debut non-licensed game. Historically rooted in prohibition-era…

PLAYED THE DRAGON PRINCE: BATTLECHARGED Xadia’s epic battles beckon Designer: Johnny O’Neal | Publisher: Brotherwise Games The epic fantasy world of Netflix’s The Dragon Prince animated series tightly packs into a neat box for a miniature skirmish battle game, The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged. This is not a game that will remunerate on any plot points or lore of the series, but simply focus on some of the key characters coming together for a good fight. In a two-player game, each opponent will choose two characters to play. Whereas in larger games, some players will play as teams while controlling one or two characters. The combat is entirely card based (the dice included in the game are only used as markers), with each deck being uniquely specific to the character it…

CAESER’S EMPIRE Designer: Matthieu Podevin | Publisher: Holy Grail Games All roads must lead to Rome, and that’s our job here – we’re laying tarmac across Europe in the hope of appeasing Caeser’s desire to put be able to walk be-sandaled anywhere in his empire. Or something. This is a classic network builder where we take turns claiming new cities for their hidden point allocation, their treasure, and scoring the route back to Rome. It’s a light and quick game, even at three players it only just clocks in at 20 minutes for a learning game – which is to say that there’s not much to do on the surface. Connect a new city and count back the number of roads (amusing looking marching romans straight out of Asterix and…

PLAYED MERCHANT'S COVE A trading game that goes a bit overboard Designer: Carl Van Ostrand, Jonny Pac, Drake Villareal | Publisher: Final Frontier Games Sometimes a game can just be a bit too much. So much that even the most enthusiastic tabletop hobbyist would take one look at it and start to feel tired. For all its ambition to capture asymmetric variety in a single box, and for all its impressive production value (featuring numerous 3D elements and some fantastic artwork from The Mico), Merchant’s Cove is one of those games. A table-hogger. A shelfcreaker. A rules monster. Where to begin? Well, in all honesty, it is not essentially that complex a game. We are not talking Vital Lacerda levels of mind-tenderising crunch. The hub of the action is a…

MICKEY AND FRIENDS: FOOD FIGHT Clean plate club Designer: Kami Mandell | Publisher: The Op It’s not often you can call a game fully family friendly, and in such a way it might appeal to the niche side of board gaming, but Mickey and Friends: Food Fight does it rather nicely. It’s a game that benefits significantly from its theme – a mixture of nostalgia for Mickey Mouse, and the associated professional art style that comes with it – that elevates it into a surprisingly fun game. Simply, you select a tray based on your character, where you hold food. You’ll then roll dice, which will allow you to fling (or place, depending on how adult you’re feeling), the relevant food pieces in the quantity and direction confirmed on the…

PLAYED CAPER: EUROPE A perfect heist? Designer: Unai Rubio | Publisher: Keymaster Games Unsurprisingly, Caper: Europe is a beautiful game in all of its aspects – the card art, the pieces, the green felt effect GameTrayz – all of it. This is the team that brought us the incredible looking Parks after all. This time however, we’re hoping to Ocean’s 11 our way into the most desirable locations in Europe and nab us some sweet loot. (Although it’s more like Ocean’s 9, as there’s only so many slots for thieves on the board.) Caper: Europe mixes card drafting, set collection, and area control to interesting effect. Three locations are drawn from the deck and added to shared board, each of these can be fought over using the caper track next…

SHELFIE STACKER Designer: Shem Phillips | Publisher: Arkus When he isn’t creating neat, epic historical board games, Kiwi designer Shem Phillips likes to make smaller games that involve lots of dice that you never roll. In 2019, he created Noctiluca, a gorgeous, more-ish abstract dice-collection title, in which each die represents a bioluminescent micro-organism. Now, with Shelfie Stacker, each cube represents a pile of board-games that must be loaded up on Kallax-style shelves in the most pleasing manner possible. It’s a neat, meta twist that is engineered to appeal to anyone serious about the hobby (but not too serious about themselves), and thanks to publisher Arkus, it’s also a game that comes with top-quality components (those dice are fantastic) and an engaging art style. However, what isn’t so engaging is…

PLAYED CURATORS: COLLECTION CONUNDRUM An all-new museum piece Designer: Jacob Westerlund | Publisher: Worldshapers One of the joys of tile-laying games is the act of creation they often involve, whether that’s building a medieval French landscape (Carcassonne), a Northwestern American wilderness (Cascadia), or a mad king’s castle (The Castles of Mad King Ludwig). Curators, from first-time designer Jacob Westerlund, tasks its players with erecting their own museum, filling it with exhibits, attracting visitors and, as you’d expect from a typical Euro title, fulfilling secret contracts to score extra points. It is a solid game with a lot of likeable touches, but truth be told its tile-laying component feels a little lacklustre. Each tile is a boxy wing, containing plain, square rooms of up to three different colours, on which fiddly…

FIRST TURN GILL HOVA The creator of High Rise and The Network on his difficult 2010 debut, Prolix Interview by Dan Jolin BACKGROUND “I was a sound editor in film – my big claim to fame was the first two Pokémon movies – but I’d always wanted to design video games. So I started trying to learn how to program. At some point I realised I should learn how to make a game and thought, ‘Why don’t I learn to make a board game first?’ As a kid I’d played some pretty interesting games – Can’t Stop, Car Wars, BattleTech, OGRE – and I started back up with Munchkin (I didn’t really like it) and Settlers, but Puerto Rico was the first one that made me go: ‘Oh, wait a…

my favourite game JACK CAESAR The writer for River Horse’s The Dark Crystal Adventure Game, offers us a mechanical tune-up on Android: Netrunner My favourite games – the games that really stick with me – are those that manage to tell a story through their mechanics, that’s why I play an unhealthy amount of RPGs. My favourite game isn’t an RPG, though – it’s a card game. For me there is no game that marries theme and mechanics better than Android: Netrunner. Netrunner was an ambitious sell in both the boardroom and to the end customer – a completely asymmetric living card game that requires players to learn two sets of cards, rules, and tactics in order to play. In a world where simplicity is key, Netrunner had a compelling…

DARK SOULS: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME THE JAPANESE DARK SOULS RPG There has already been one Dark Souls roleplaying game released, but in Japanese only. While there’s no intention of creating an official translation of the game, there have been a few fan translations and reports which occasionally pop up online. There’s little discussion of the lore implementations here, suggesting instead that the game uses a very generic dungeon delving system. Instead, these discussions in English are around the mechanics of the game. Similar to the Steamforged Fifth Edition adaptation with Position, there is a dice pool mechanic that allows players to spend their rolled dice to perform different actions. For example swinging a sword might cost you five on one or more dice, and additional dice can be added from…

ACTUAL PLAY PODCASTS While there’s plenty of scope to hear groups of hobbyists talking about their favourite games, sometimes it’s best just to hear people play. Here’s a few stand-out actual play roleplaying game podcasts. HOW WE ROLL After many years of playing Call of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons, we’ve grown to consider the international cast of the show’s character’s good friends. The most recent set of Call of Cthulhu scenarios from the Flotsam & Jetsam are the perfect mix of chaos and laughs that How We Roll are best at delivering (including a standout Canadian Grandma performance from Camille Brouad). GM’d in good humour by Scott Dorwood and with running jokes including the protagonists asking people if they’ve heard of their magazine (who knows why I identify with…

TRICK OR TREAT PARADE Some of the upcoming titles from the new horror-movie-themed studio BLOOD ORDERS Two to four players battle it out in a bluffing-meets-action programming game (with a bit of light deck building). Take control of locations, turn new victims and collect influence and – unsurprisingly – blood to build your empire. With stunning vampire art across the game this is a great place to start. TROLL FEST What if you did School of Rock, but everyone was a fantasy monster? Well, nearly everyone. Some are fantasy people too. Manage your rock band, hold concers and arrange light shows in this Bruno Faidutti game. Players will be collecting cards so their performance is in perfect shape for the festival at the end of the game. CREATURE FEATURE Richard…

PLAYED GHOSTBUSTERS X MEN IN BLACK: ECTO-TERRESTRIAL INVASTION Crossing of Streams Designer: Jonathan Phillips-Bradford | Publisher: IDW Game When alien pirates crashland in New York City and steal psychokinetic energy to transform people into deadly ecto-terrestrials… who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! And Men in Black! In a team-up crossover we didn’t know we needed, with the added cuteness of being in a chibi-from, Men in Black Agents and Ghostbusters are here to save the city. It is a semi-cooperative game, where each player selects one member from each team to fight E.T.s in either a campaign or skirmish mode. All players will need to work together to succeed in the scenario, and similarly they will lose together if they fail, but each individual team also scores points based on how…

BLOOD ORDERS Invite this one in Designer: Nick Badagliacca | Publisher: Trick or Treat Studios Blood Orders has no right to be as enjoyable as it is. The first release from a studio only just entering the hobby (p52 for more about that), with a background only tangentially related to ‘geek stuff’ doesn’t always go well. You’d expect a cash in, but what we have here is the first steps towards something that might end up being great. You and your fellow vampires are disgraced, forced out of the ancient fang club you once belonged to, and are now starting anew in a fresh city. You’ll be attempting to take control of locations, scoop up victory points and improve your coterie with new meat. The board is a grid representing…

EXODUS Designer: Jack Ford Morgan | Publisher: Monster Games Ambition is an admirable thing in any creative project but it can just as often see a good idea reach too far and end up falling flat as is the case in Exodus. To its credit, Exodus tries to provide a choose-your-own-adventure style game that spans several planets in the midst of a war between two alien factions and while the back of the box presents the idea that you and your friends will be playing for an hour, truth is you will more than definitely run into an end in just a few minutes. See, the issue with a branching CYOA narrative is that you can’t let the player run in any direction for too long before you’d need a…

PLAYED CONQUEST OF PLANET EARTH: THE SPACE ALIEN GAME Compact discs and flying saucers Designer: Jason C Hill | Publisher: Flying Frog Productions Now, I’m not saying that I feel short-changed for missing out on the era of Cold War paranoia, but the TV I grew up with wasn’t particularly populated with 50s B-Movie reruns. In fact, I mostly engaged with my extraterrestrial fascination through books – grainy, monochrome snaps of saucers above Nevada, mysterious excerpts on Area 51, and unimaginative sketches of oval-eyed humanoids. Today though, this fascination can play out across the tabletop, with Flying Frog Productions’ Conquest of Planet Earth: The Space Alien Game. First released way back in 2010, Conquest is an area influence game where players take on the role of invading 50s sci-fiera aliens.…

NEOVILLE The Captain Planet School of City Design Designer: Phi Walker-Harding | Publisher: Blue Orange Phil Walker-Harding games have their very own feeling about them. A light, enjoyable engagement, a cute concept, a tiny bit of friction, a warm and satisfying feeling. Like freshly baked bread, or a new duvet cover. Recent outings had left us a little cold however, with Llama Land being perfectly fine, but lacking in focus. So with Neoville, a town building, tile laying game, we weren’t ready for what turns out to be one of our favourite little puzzles of the year. Players get a starting tile, set up a market of tiles and then a few draw piles. Two of the modular ‘utility’ types are chosen, randomly chucked next to the board with the…

PLAYED RUINATION The world ending never looked so good Designer: Travis R. Chance | Publisher: Kolossal Games Right off the bat, Ruination faces steep competition. In the realm of ‘dudes-on-the-map games’, it has to contend with the godly presence of Ankh: God of Egypt and Mezo, not to mention the everlasting rule of Risk. The post-apocalyptic theme has been usurped by Mad Max associations, while games like Posthuman Saga or Zona: The Secret of Chernobyl vividly paint the picture of the world after the end in all drab but bloody colours. But Ruination will not be a game that is lost in the wasteland. In part, this is due to incredible artwork by Roland’s Revenge. It is colourful, energetic, and captivating but also distinctly end of the world-ly. It consistently…

WITCHSTONE A mixed cauldron Designer:Martino Chiacchiera & Reiner Knizia | Publisher: Huch! A puzzle-y monstrosity (I say with some level of affection), Witchstone is a game that uses its pretty colours to disarm the concerns of your strategic brain into thinking this will be a straightforward affair, before offering choice after choice of options and point scoring opportunities. In fact, you could argue that the game is a collection of mini games, with small links to each other, and precariously held together with the magical theme. That sounds rather like a disparagement of the game, where instead it’s quite impressive to have done so lightly. To rewind a moment for context, Witchstone is a Reiner Knizia game, designed with Martino Chiaccheiera – but if his name wasn’t on the front,…

PLAYED NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES Dastardly Dealings in the Dark Designer: Adam A. Watts | Publisher: Carpe Omnis Games Sometimes, it’s fun to be the bad guy. Some games let you revel in villainy, with the biggest consequence being someone walking off in a huff. This game let’s you be so bad, your table is in danger of being flipped. No Honor Among Thieves is a card tableau heist game for 3-6 players. Each player is aiming to be the wealthiest criminal gang in the kingdom, as players gather up thugs, pickpockets and gadabouts in order to steal the riches of the upper crust. Players have up to three actions on a turn, which can be used to recruit or rest characters, draw or play scheme cards and most importantly,…