[A Touch of Evil] Breaking The Gargoyle

This was an actual play report originally posted at Boardgamegeek.com for A Touch of Evil, some three years ago.

In the upper right corner: The Gargoyle

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Set-up: This was a solo play with a team of 4 vs The Gargoyle. In use were the base set, Something Wicked, The Madness and the Hero Pack. (Still don't have Allies or the SE Soundtrack).

Heroes and Villain determined randomly.

Breaking the Gargoyle

Eliza the Witchhunter

Adrianna the Foreign Traveler

Katarina the Outlaw

The Scarlet Shadow

Round 1:
Eliza ventured to the Ancestral Tomb in the Abandoned Keep, where she was confronted by Grotesques! They left her badly shaken before she killed them.

Adrianna began a slow trek to The Manor, stopping off at The Church first.

Katarina arrived at The Windmill, where The Beast in the Dark was lurking! It hit her once, but she struck quickly and deadly, finishing it fast.

The Scarlet Shadow entered The Olde Woods where he happened upon a Runic Amulet.

Grotesques that had appeared at the Forgotten Island took flight, hovering over The Monastery. However, The Scarlet Shadow was attacked by The Gargoyle! He failed to penetrate the stony hide of The Gargoyle, but he dodged its efforts as well.

Round 2:

As Adrianna continued onto The Manor, Militia were sent ahead for her and to the Monastery.

Katarina’s timing was either good or bad, as The Gargoyle struck at The Windmill while she was headed toward The Fields. The Gargoyle left behind Living Statues as a parting gift.

The Scarlet Shadow marshaled his resources and headed to The Crossroads, on his way to Echo Lake.

Eliza headed to The Doctor’s Office for some healing.

The Living Statues left The Windmill. The Gargoyle struck at The Abandoned Keep, leaving clues behind. The Living Statues arrived at the Blacksmith’s, while the Grotesques took flight toward The Inn.

Round 3:

Katarina had a very useful meeting with The Elders at The Manor. She also discovered that The Gargoyle wears a second face: Lord Hanbrook!

The Scarlet Shadow crept softly into Echo Lake.

Eliza returned to the Abandoned Keep to search for clues. The stairs gave way and she fell down below! Luckily for her, she found a Rosary when she landed!

Arriving at The Manor, Adrianna sensed something under the floor, but failed to locate it.

The Living Statues arrived at Town Hall. All four travelers found themselves at The Monastery, where The Gargoyle was waiting, sneering! Unfortunately for The Gargoyle, Adrianna armed herself with Holy Water, Katarina with a Crossbow, Scarlet Shadow with Robes, and Scarlet Shadow thrust his Runic Amulet into the hands of Eliza! Katarina struck a fierce blow with the Crossbow, but paid for it when the Gargoyle lashed out and smashed her into a wall. The Gargoyle clipped The Scarlet Shadow, but he struck back, finding the weakest point he could and forcing The Gargoyle to scream in pain! Eliza and the Militia attacked with little effect, and the poor Witch Hunter found herself slowly hardening! Adrianna smacked The Gargoyle, but he blasted her out of the fight. Katarina struggled to her feet and hit, but got taken out seconds later. Seeing his team fall and The Gargoyle charge, The Scarlet Shadow slipped out of his robes as The Gargoyle grasped for him, and slipped away to the North Docks. To top it off, the arrival of more Living Statues at Town Hall, plus appearances at The Crossroads and the South Dock made Shadowbrook very nervous.

Round 4:
The Scarlet Shadow ventured to the Forgotten Island, where he discovered a Weathered Skull.

The rest of his team recuperated at the Monastery.

The Living Statues continued their march. The women recovered, though Adrianna and Katarina lost their gifts from the Monastery. Though Scarlet Shadow beat back the oppressive darkness, The Gargoyle’s healing from its grievous wounds began in earnest, as a murky fog settled over the town.

Round 5:

Eliza sought clues at the North Dock, and “corrected” a rumor about the Lady Hanbrook also being involved with The Gargoyle.
Adrianna moved down the road to The Inn, actively seeking out the Grotesques. She struck quick and true, eliminating them before they could threaten her. She also discovered something else: The otherwise arrogant Sophie hiding from the Grotesques. With a disapproving shake of her head, Adrianna headed on to The Inn.

Katarina crossed Echo Lake to hunt down the Living Statues, but her first blow bounced harmlessly off of them! They struck back, taking a lot of the fight from her. She failed to harm them with her second attack, before being knocked unconscious until monks could save her.

The Scarlet Shadow arrived at the South Docks and sought clues. The Statues suddenly picked up their pace on their march to Town Hall.

Katarina and The Gargoyle healed further, but Grotesques attacked Katarina at the Monastery! She’s really having her doubts about that place now. They struck her, but by the time the Militia came running, she already had them dead. Meanwhile, Sophie spread all kinds of crazy rumors around town.

Round 6:

Adrianna arrived at The Inn, hearing the voice of Sebastian Skinner calling her to Room 216. Unfortunately, it was a trap and a swift assault left her unconscious in the hall until another mysterious monk hauled her onto his cart and took her back to the Monastery.

Katarina decided to move under the town, slipping through the tunnel from The Monastery to the Manor. Once there, Selena the Housemaid, frightened by the transformation of Lord Hanbrook, offered to join her!

The Scarlet Shadow was very much impeded by the fog, but his resolve only grew stronger.

Eliza sensed a shadow beneath the surface as she rowed to the Forgotten Island, but her resolve held.

More Statues arrived at Town Hall, sending the townsfolk into deeper panic. The Gargoyle grew stronger as its wounds disappeared. It celebrated its returning strength by killing some of the Shadow’s men at the Abandoned Keep and turning them into Living Statues. The crazed machinations of the Hanbrook persona of The Gargoyle moved the town ever closer to darkness.

Round 7:

Katarina slogged through the fog, trying to make it to town to prevent any further damage from the Living Statues.
The Scarlet Shadow returned to the South Dock, seeking more clues, as an ominous Full Moon appeared overhead.

Eliza, impeded by fog and her stony curse, found herself stranded on the Forgotten Island. As further proof that God hates Eliza, a Spiteful Totem infected her with a Werewolf Curse! Ominous full moon indeed.

Adrianna, quite furious after the ambush by Skinner, stomped down the path to the Inn. However, she found herself inside the Rose Room this time…where the echoes of Lost Souls whispered in her area cryptic clues about the location of The Gargoyle.

Eliza felt her animal side growing, while the Gargoyle neared 100% health. The Statues began to surround the town. The Gargoyle killed again, this time in the Olde Woods, leaving more Statues behind. Then, he did it again at the Doctor’s Office, though no Statues were produced this time.

Round 8:

The Scarlet Shadow arrived in the Olde Woods, where he attacked the Statues there. He struck true, but they are hardy and hit back. He pressed the attack and destroyed the stony servants at the cost of his own health, due to the effect of the moon on them. Some of his men scooped him up and carried him to the keep.

Eliza, without full recollection, appeared at The Inn with Adrianna. There, she found the Book of Death, which quite intrigued her. She also thought Adrianna looked scrumptious.
Adrianna moved to The Bog, picking clues along the way.
Katarina charged Town Hall, intent on stopping the Statues there. Her opening salvo left them wounded, and they retaliated in kind. As they struck back fiercely, Katarina callously sacrificed Selena to their assault. Like Shadow before her, she beat them at the cost of her own health.

The Gargoyle finally returned to full health as Katarina and Shadow recovered, and Eliza transformed into a werewolf, then stalked Adrianna in the Bog! Adrianna struck first, and the curse-weakened reflexes of the Eliza-wolf weren’t able to pin the blind traveler down. She ran away in the night, leaving

Adrianna confused and flustered. The terror of the Gargoyle continued to reign over the town. The Gargoyle was growing more brazen, placing a sense of urgency on the heroes.

Round 9:

Eliza crept slowly down the path to the Bog.

Adrianna, impeded by the fog, slipped closer to the Crossroads.
Katarina bravely moved to the Magistrate’s office, to trade blows with the Living Statues there. Again, she stopped their advance, but again, it was at the cost of her own health.

The Shadow, pinned in by the fog, stayed at the manor: where Statues attacked! His initial attack bounced right off of them, and he got hurt. They smacked him again, but he unloaded a furious attack that crushed the minions. The Shadow’s contacts also brought him news: The Gargoyle was holed up in the Blacksmith’s.

Eliza-wolf struck again, this time getting to Adrianna and weakening her. Katarina recovered, as the Gargoyle began openly attacking anyone and anything indiscriminately. He killed again, this time at the North Dock.

Round 10:

Arriving the Woods, Adrianna encountered hanging skulls, listening to the sounds echoing through them…sounds that told her Magistrate Kroft, one of their best hopes for stopping the Gargoyle, is in fact a pawn of the Gargoyle. The tide turned much worse, with the skulls telling Adrianna all Sophie could possibly tell her…but the Gargoyle sensed this and turned the Midwife into a crumbling stone statue. Some good news came at last…Reverend Harding (who was also into Witchcraft) went on the hunt, and happened to be in the vicinity of the Blacksmith’s. Doctor Manning joined Adrianna’s cause, seeking to atone for his hidden warcrimes.

Katarina moved to the Doctor’s Office, trying to hold the line against the statues. Again, they traded blows. Katarina quickly took the worst of the exchange. There was no double knockdown this time, as the statues smashed her and began their advance to Town Hall.

The Shadow slowly slipped toward a town that hated him nearly as much as it did the Gargoyle.

Eliza moved slowly through the Bog, finding a party invitation for her troubles.

Eliza-wolf got smacked by Adrianna, but slashed the traveler down and infected her now as well. Adrianna and Katarina both recovered at Town Hall to find Living Statues staring them down. Katarina killed them, but was left barely standing. The Gargoyle struck at the Inn, creating more minions and sending Shadowbrook into near hysteria. Then, just because, it struck again, this time in the Fields.

Round 11:

Katarina, in desperation, moved to the Blacksmith’s and called out the Gargoyle. Reverend Harding tossed Katarina a pistol, while The Scarlet Shadow loaded a musket as the two stalked the Gargoyle with Adrianna and Eliza in tow. Katarina’s opening shot winged the Gargoyle, while it smashed her to the ground. The Scarlet Shadow blasted it as well, and while it did smack him down, Dr. Manning moved quickly to aid the outlaw. Eliza gashed her hand open as she aimed the Runic Amulet at the Gargoyle, blasting it. Her sacrifice was repaid by being crushed against the wall. Adrianna attacked, staggering the Gargoyle, but it lashed back, wounding the traveler though she avoided his stony touch. Katarina blasted the Gargoyle and got knocked unconscious. Rev. Harding pulled her to safety. A well-placed shot ripped through the Gargoyle’s face, and Dr. Manning’s guiding voice kept the Shadow out of the reach of the Gargoyle! Adrianna was the next to fall, leaving the Shadow, the Doctor and the Gargoyle. The Shadow shot for the heart, but the stony beast roared and charged. Shadow took it hard that time, and Dr. Manning could do little for him. As the Gargoyle stalked Manning, The Shadow raised the musket once more, and a shot tore an ear from the Gargoyle. The Gargoyle missed the Doctor and went after the Shadow, but he again avoided the stony touch while the Doctor moved quickly to cover his wounds. When The Gargoyle finally did pin down the Doctor, The Shadow sacrificed the Weathered Skull to save him. The Doctor repaid that several times, tending to The Shadow and guiding him from the stony grasp. The Gargoyle, nearing its end, went for the Doctor once more, but the Shadow again reached the Skull and used it to save the Doctor. The Gargoyle lashed out in desperation, but Dr. Manning saved his charge and allowed the Shadow to unload with a shot at the cracked façade of the Gargoyle, shattering his face and ending his evil.
And, to boot, Dr. Manning helped The Shadow escape the town, all parties silently understanding that Katarina, Eliza and Adrianna should take the credit.

Thoughts: God hates Eliza...clearly. Nice, dramatic end for the Scarlet Shadow. The combo of The Shadow and Dr. Manning (and Hero of the People), plus a LOT of luck were the only things that pulled this out for the Heroes. First time using Shadow or Adrianna at all. Shadow's abilities were gimped due to the Weather, so he never got to "appear anywhere". Eliza got REALLY hampered with the Stone Curse AND Fog impeding her movement. The Stone Curse' penalty to fight dice probably kept Adrianna going longer as well.

If I had the time just to sit and do it, I would try to "dramatize" it into story form, but there ya go...solo session report.

Tommy's Take on A Touch of Evil

I *like* the photo art. Quite a bit, actually.

I like board games quite a bit, as I've alluded to in the past. Board games have become impressive creations these days, with miniatures, glossy game boards and so on. And A Touch of Evil is a game that nearly derailed my Savage Worlds group when we found it a few years ago.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Retailing for $49.99 (but you can find it cheaper on Amazon), A Touch of Evil is the second board game released by Flying Frog Productions (their first being the best zombie board game I have ever played, Last Night on Earth). It is also probably my favorite board game ever. Set in the 19th century, in the mysterious town of Shadowbrook, A Touch of Evil is a monster-hunting game filled with twists, turns and secrets.

The players all play as travelers who have arrived in town, taking up the call to arms against a supernatural horror threatening Shadowbrook. The extra twist is that the town's six Elders have secrets of their own...they may be dirty gossips, they may be monster hunters themselves, they may be in league with the villain, and they may BE the villain itself.

The game uses a static game board, with the town in the center (divided into the Town Hall, Church, Blacksmith, Magistrate's Office and Doctor's Office), and has four "corner" locations (The Manor, The Windmill, The Abandoned Keep and the Olde Woods), as well as Fields, a Marsh, a Covered Bridge and a Crossroads.

You can play Competitively, Cooperatively or even Solo, moving around the board, investigating locations, encountering minions, unraveling the secrets of the Elders and trying to pin down the location of the Villain's Lair so you can attempt to destroy it.

Eight heroes are included in the base game, each with stats of Spirit, Cunning, Combat and Honor, each with a different number of Wounds depending on the character, and each with their own special abilities:

Karl, The Soldier - The simplest option to play as, having the highest Combat among the characters, three Wounds and the ability to ignore the first Wound in play. Note that not all encounters can be thwarted in physical Combat, though.

Heinrich Cartwright, The Drifter - Gets to draw extra cards (and choose the one he keeps), but isn't trusted by the Elders or other travelers (which can have an effect in gameplay).

Victor Danforth, The Playwright - He can take back any card that's been played whose title is a quotation, has high Spirit and Cunning and can draw Event cards more frequently than others (Event cards being good things, generally).

Thomas, The Courier - A stranger with a dead eye, Thomas moves more swiftly than the rest of the travelers, and can begin play knowing an Elder's secret.

Inspector Cooke - High Cunning and he can generally pick up more Investigation per action than anyone else.

Isabella Von Took, Noble Woman - Generally regarded as the most broken of the initial characters, in that if she's given the time and opportunity to hoard Investigation points, she can steamroll through most anything given her ability to spend Investigation to prevent Wounds.

Anne Marie, The School Teacher - Can't use anything bigger than a Pistol, but her Combat goes up for every Book she owns.

Katarina, The Outlaw - High Honor (Honor among thieves and such), hits more frequently than others, and is tied with Cartwright for the highest number of Wounds in the base set.

Each hero includes a mini figure and a character card, as well as a short bio in the rule book.

The four Villains in the main set cover the iconic choices for a horror setting like this, each having a token, a villain card (with rules for the Basic game and Advanced game) and a two-sided Minion Chart (Basic and Advanced). They are:

The Spectral Horseman - He likes to appear in a location and ride to Town Hall, attacking everything in his path before disappearing. He gets stronger with every kill, and summons hounds and ghost soldiers to do his bidding.

The Scarecrow - As the fear level in Shadowbrook grows, he gets stronger and stronger. He summons locusts and crows, and can turn the very environment against the heroes, though he does have a vulnerability to fire...if you can find him.

The Vampire - Looking like a classic Nosferatu, turning into mist, unleashing bats, wolves, succubi and walking dead, and he's even able to turn Elders into vampiric minions to do his bidding.

The Werewolf - He attacks before you, he hits more frequently than you, he can turn you into a werewolf...pretty much the only advantage you have is that he's easier to find than the rest because he doesn't cover his tracks very well. His minions include werewolves and rats.

Each of the Six Elders have Spirit, Cunning and Honor scores, which can be used in place of your characters if you have them along with you, and each has a special ability, with some elders being more useful against certain types of enemies than the other. If they go evil, you flip their card over to get a red-tinged, evil version of their portrait, with a new tagline for them.

Various events can force the Shadow Track down as the game goes on, and if it ever reaches the bottom, the town has collapsed into fear and chaos and you have lost. Throughout the game you can get Event Cards, either by landing on certain spaces or rolling low for movement (as compensation), which include things like ability bonuses (represented by tokens placed on your character card), "I Think Not" (which can stop the Shadow Track from moving, or cancel cards being played), Reassuring Speech (which can push back the Shadow Track if you play it in town) and Militia, which allows you to put Militia tokens in play on spaces, allowing anyone in that space to join the Militia in fighting any adversaries there.

These are countered with Mystery Cards, which prompt additional villain attacks, spawn new minions, turn the Elders against the heroes (for instance, forcing Magistrate Kroft to confiscate Guns in play, taking those weapons away as options for the heroes), and Weather Cards like Fog that reduce movement.

Exploring a location is a matter of card draws as well, with each "Corner Space" having its own deck.

The Manor has allies you can recruit like Lucy Hanbrook, as well as events like Nightmare (which lets you witness one of the Elders doing unspeakable things, allowing you to draw a Secrets card, look at it and add it to an Elder), Secret Passage (which, if found, lets you travel anywhere on the board) and items like the Sabre (which boosts you Honor and your Combat).

The Abandoned Keep includes cards like Collapse (which causes the floor to give way, making you take Wounds and lose cards AND draw a new card at the Keep), Old Prison (which can give you clues if you roll well enough with your Cunning), weapons like Rogue's Rapier (bonuses to Combat, Honor and Cunning) and enemies like the Spectre (which has to be fought with Spirit and not Combat).

The Olde Woods include cards like The Witch of the Woods (which can either give you a bunch of Investigation or can cost you clues and dump you off at Town Hall), Timber Wolves (who are more ferocious the more allies you have), Franklin the Old Hound (a useful ally) and Crossroads (an eerie encounter with an owl that can give you clues if you roll well enough on a Spirit test).

The Windmill gives you chances of things like Pitchfork (which boosts your combat but can break), Wicked Altar (which can give you Investigation, but also exposes you to attack), Whistling Wind (which can give you a Lair card for free if you roll Cunning well enough) and Murky Water (dipping your hand in can net you Investigation, an Item card or merely a Wound).

In Town, you can spend Investigation to buy Items that can help you, like some weapons, Torches (which fend off Weather cards), and even neat items like Tools of Science that allow characters to use their Cunning in place of their Combat, which can be a huge game changer for some characters.

When you gain a Lair card, usually by purchasing them with Investigation (they get cheaper as the Shadow Track goes down and the Villain gets stronger), you can initiate a Showdown with the Villain by going to the Location on the card and spending the amount of Investigation listed to "find" the Villain. Not all Lair cards are created equal, however. One Manor Lair card, for instance, lets you immediately recruit Town Elder Lord Hanbrook to your side, while another Manor card makes you immediately roll an Honor Test and, if you fail, an Elder is killed.

Combat is handled by rolling a number of dice equal to your relevant trait (usually Combat) and every 5 or 6 counting as a hit (unless you or the Villain has a trait that says otherwise). There is no player playing as a Villain, you just take turns rolling for them depending on who is fighting the Villain (or their minions).

If you defeat the Monster in a Showdown, you win. If the Shadow Track bottoms out, the Monster wins. If you are playing Solo or Co-Op and the Villain KOs all heroes in play at once, you lose.

Multiple expansions have been released, free, premium and even fan-made, and I plan on covering the official ones at a later date.

With the exception of the map, which was drawn by Matthew Morgaine (who also portrays Heinrich Cartwright), virtually every piece of art in the game is a combination of photography and special effects. Some folks have scoffed at how some of the characters (especially villains like the Vampire) look, but I've always thought it added a certain charm to the game.

The game also includes a soundtrack CD, which I've actually kept in fairly regular rotation in my CD player. Yeah, I'm a fan.

Lastly, there are optional rules, like Team Play and the Showdown Chart, which can add extra chaos to the Showdown with the Villain, but can also dramatically extend gameplay.

Showing off the Werewolf, Lucy Hanbrook, some of minis and more.

WHAT WORKS: Theme, theme, theme. The whole game oozes it. When I had a regular roleplaying group, there were many times that our planned adventures got derailed for playing this instead...and that was BEFORE I got the expansions. The different combinations of cards, characters and villains have provided a flexibility to the game that I didn't even expect, and aside from a time or two when the Noble Woman overtook the game, I haven't experienced nearly as many balance issues with this game as I have with others.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The more you add, the bigger the set-up time is, unless you keep things VERY organized. There's technically no solo rules in the base set, but you can push the Coop rules there with little effort. I have had one person play it with me who could not wrap their heads around Investigationt tokens as an abstract for all currency in the game, from buying items to powering abilities to finding the Villain's Lair.

CONCLUSION: Look, I don't have a lot of bad to say about this, because the proof is in the fun, and after my first time stumbling through a game, I haven't had a bad time playing this, whether solo, with my kid, or with a whole group of buddies. The villains all feel distinct, the characters all feel distinct. Yeah, you can have bad runs where the dice or cards fall against you, and there are certain combinations of Hero vs Villain that are easier or harder, but there's not a villain that we haven't both beaten or lost to. I've heard the game called Arkham Horror-lite, and I've heard it called a rip-off of Arkham Horror. I've recently played Arkham Horror for the first time, and so far I prefer A Touch of Evil (though they both have their merits). I like the feel of it all so much that I've even been tempted to turn it into a Savage Setting a time or two. I firmly believe it doesn't get enough love at all.

Tommy's Take on Servants of Gaius

On two previous occasions, Bedrock Games has produced a concept that would be a hard-sell to me, but did really, really well (talking about Crime Network and Terror Network...I was good with Horror Show from the start). Well, they have another "hard sell" for me: Servants of Gaius, an alternate history RPG set during Caligula's rule in Rome. (If it's not set in the old west, I tend to have trouble with alternate history games).

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Currently available in PDF from Bedrock Games through Avalon Games, Servants of Gaius is a lean 117 page book. The basic pitch is that the PCs are agents of Caligula, waging a covert war against the armies of the Roman God Neptune. That actually sounds pretty cool, I'm just more of an "Ancient Greek" kinda guy and not an "Ancient Rome" kinda guy. Powered by the Network System, the core engine behind Crime Network, Terror Network and Horror Show, Servants of Gaius places its own unique tweaks on the system.

Character creation involves selecting a Social Class, which has three classifications for free Romans (from Senator to Plebian), as well as Peregrinus (non-Romans) and Slaves. Each have their own unique effects on character creation, including penalties (Senators tend to make a lot of enemies, for instance). Ancestry also matters, as do Titles. PCs also have a stat called Auctoritas, which measures their power and influence. 

Characters are defined by their skills (divided into six categories, one made Primary by your Occupation, and thus gaining more points). Skills are ranked from 0 to 3 and determine your d10 die pool. For a more extensive discussion as to how the system works, see the previous Network System game reviews.

Allies are present here as in other Network games, though tweaked: Every relationship is Client-Patron, and your benefits from your Ally are determined by your specific role in the relationship. Vices, from Crime Network, make a very fitting appearance here as well. Servants of Gaius also has Combat Techniques, like Wrestling (Outside), giving you a bonus for moving (but not charging) while attacking, Medium Melee (Momentum) which gives you a bonus if you wounded your opponent on the last attack and Heavy Melee (Set Up) which gives you an attack bonus if you lost initiative. Very simple but well executed.

The Gear chapter introduces the Roman currencies (with the common metal names if you choose), as well as an income list for the occupations. In addition to weapons and armor, this chapter also includes Hazards and Poisons, as well as things such as ships. A good chapter covering all its bases.

The combat chapter makes it a point to also include abstracted mass combat rules (which is fine, since the focus is meant to be on intrigue, but it is still a very smart addition), as well as simplified rules for chariot racing and gladiator combat for when PCs are just watching on (or gambling) and not actually participating. A similar subsystem (complete with bribery rules) is provided for senatorial debates.

The GM chapter offers advice on history and choosing varying levels of faithfulness to it, from hewing exactly to events to letting the players change everything. A big list of stock Roman archetypes is included (The Arrogant Patrician, The Cunning Matron, The Lusty Daughter, The Unworthy Heir and so on), as well as a big reference list of books, TV shows and movies you should watch to get the feel.

The Servants organization gets a chapter to itself, breaking down its basic structure as well as its common missions (from assassination to exploration). An NPC chapter follows, starting with Caligula and working through other important figures of the time.

The Minions of Neptune are the primary adversaries, and the most interesting aspect is that it is never explicitly spelled out as to whether Neptune is even real. The GM is handed the cult, with a variety of explanations for their activity (Neptune IS behind it, a really powerful mortal is behind it, Something Else Entirely is behind it, Caligula is insane and it has infected the PCs or, even, the PCs are the Minions!). I love the ambiguity in the presentation, and the fact that it is all left in the GM's hands no matter what.

A bestiary follows which includes not only stock NPC stats, but a number of appropriate Greco-Roman mythological beasts like cyclopes, centaurs, and the chimera. The rest of the pantheon follows, with not only a paragraph describing them, but an ability that they are likely to use if they intervene in human affairs (like Jupiter's lightning bolt or Mars instilling fear) with a note that the Gods can and should have more abilities at their disposal.

A timeline/overview/history lesson for Caligula's Rome is provided...and the author has said that there was even more stuff that was cut out. Bedrock Games tends to do their research on this sort of thing and it shows.

A character sheet rounds out the book.

WHAT WORKS: The way the Minions of Neptune are presented sells the book. You are given the Minions, their tactics and relevant stat blocks...and then a list of options for who and what they actually are and what they are doing, even including options like "They are time travelers come back to interfere in events". They could have been presented as a straight adversary serving Neptune, but the author blew the whole thing wide open instead.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The biggest gripe I have is some of the interior art, especially the NPC portraits, just did not feel up to par for a commercial RPG release. I'm also a bigger fan of Greeks over Romans, but what are you gonna do?

CONCLUSION: The Network System is about the only heavily skill based system that I like, so that's a plus, and like Terror Network and Crime Network before it (as opposed to Horror Show), it hits on a game type that ISN'T being heavily served right now. Combined with all the crazy options built into the game by dialing the supernatural up and down, as well as whatever route you choose to go with for The Minions of Neptune and you are left with an impressive piece of work. If only Caligula had been Greek instead, I would have been thrilled. 

Tommy's Take on All For One: Regime Diabolique

And now for a non-Savage Worlds review, and my first meeting with the Ubiquity system: All-For-One: Regime Diabolique by (you guessed it) Triple Ace Games and written by (you guessed it) Paul "Wiggy" Wade-Williams...which I ordered from Beautiful Brains Books & Games. See, there was a theme to this week. Now show up for the chat tonight and talk to Wiggy, as well as Clint and Jodi Black.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: All-For-One is an alternate history/supernatural action game set in 1636 France and revolving around crazy musketeer fun. So, when the new Three Musketeers movie comes out in a few months and people are going "but how do I PLAY that?", this might be the place to look. While there is a TON of support for it, the corebook is standalone, with all the rules needed to play already present. Retail price is $34.99, with the PDF selling for $24.99.

The Ubiquity system is very interesting because it uses whatever dice you have available...and rolling a smaller die isn't any better or worse than rolling a larger die. Essentially, evens on the dice you roll are successes, odds are failures. Odds are the same if you're rolling d4s or d12s, since you're rolling dice pools. There are Ubiquity Device availible for purchase, but I don't know much about them other than they are available for purchase.

The premise is that it is 1636 and France is being horribly corrupted, by demons, witches and sometimes just very crappy people. The PCs are all Musketeers, fighting to save France from the darkness that threatens to envelope it, from the top down.

Character generation is a point buy, beginning with selecting an archetype. It is worth noting that the game does NOT put forth "musketeer" as a limited character type, providing a number of archetypes to choose from, like occultists, doctors or even criminals. Then you have to select a motivation (like Duty, Justice, Greed or Revenge), which allow you to use Style Points when in pursuit of said motivation.

Attributes are rated from 0 to 5, with extreme examples going above that, with dice pools derived from Primary attributes, by doubling the Primary. For instance, Body doubles into your Resistance pool, Dexterity into Balance, Strength into Feats of Strength, Charisma into Influence, Intelligence into Reason and Willpower into Courage.

Secondary attributes are rated from 1 to 10, and include Size, Move, Perception, Initiative, Defense, Stun and Health.

Skills also typically rate from 0 to 10, and include everything from Archery to Con to Fencing to Gunnery to Magick to Warfare. Each skill is linked to an attribute and has specializations (like Streetwise specializing into Haggling).

Talents are not unlike Edges in Savage Worlds parlance, covering a wide range of combat and non-combat aspects, such as Attractive, Calculated Attack (allowing you to use Intelligence as your base attribute for a certain type of attack), Danger Sense, Jack of All Trades (removing unskilled penalties for any general skill), Ricochet Shot and more.

Characters also gain Resources, rated from 0 to 5, and include allies, followers, a refuge and even a membership in a fencing school.

You can also take a single Flaw in order to gain an extra Style point, as well as another point whenever your Flaw comes up in play. They include Physical Flaws (Blind, Glass Jaw), Mental Flaws (Addiction, Overconfident), Social Flaws (Pacifist, Vain) and Miscellaneous Flaws (Danger Magnet, Primitive).

Finally, every character gets a Lackey, which can be most any non-Musketeer, though some samples are provided (as well as a slew of sample characters, like the Aspiring Noble, Man of Faith, Hero in Training and Spy.

Interestingly, the game advocates "taking the average" whenever a task comes up...comparing the difficulty with the average number of successes you are likely to roll (half the dice in the pool) and, if that is enough to succeed, you are assumed to have done so with the "normal" amount of effort. You can use Style Points to gain bonus dice, reduce damage and boost talents, and Style Points are lost at the end of the adventure, so you are expected to use them, not hoard them...and you gain them by doing cool stuff in addition to whenever your Flaws come into play.

The list of combat tactics is remarkably like Savage Worlds, and very fitting for swashbuckler like play, covering such gems as Trips and Disarms, as well as Tricks (like hurling your beer in the opponent's face).

In combat, your Defense rating is a mixture of Size, Body, Dexterity and Armor, and makes up the dice pool that you roll when attacked. Every success that the attack gets over the defense equals a point of damage and can stun you, knock you down or even kill you outright (though that last one is pretty rare).

In addition to the combat rules, there are also Social Dueling rules, which are basically insult contests in which the combatants put their reputations at stake.

Magick (requiring the Magickal Aptitude Talent) is divided into Traditions (Ceremonial, Natural and Theurgy) and Arts (which run the range from Aeromancy to Necromancy to Hydromancy to Pyromancy...fourteen of them in all). Oh, and Alchemy, which is both a Tradition and an Art. If you know more than one Art, you can combine the effects. Magick doesn't have a set spell list...rather, it has a list of modifiers that you use to make your spells, like Range, Duration, Area of Effect and Effects. Eight sample spells are provided so you don't go into spell creation blind. Reminds me of the Cinematic Unisystem magic system, which I was a huge fan of, but somehow looser than that was, if that's possible.

The GM section focuses heavily on both the life of a Musketeer as well as tackling Swashbuckling in general. There is advice for scaling the Action Level up and down, from Gritty Realism (No Style Points), Low Adventure (Style Points are there, just harder to gain and more expensive to use), Swashbuckling Adventure (default), High Adventure (honestly, I couldn't see what was actually supposed to differentiate this from Swashbuckling Adventure) and Legendary (Style Points are way more valuable). You can also alter the Supernatural level, and it does not have to be in relation to the Action Level. This ranges from None to Low (default) to High (which the book notes puts it closer to Buffy territory).

Really, a lot of the setting information in the book is found in the discussion of various organizations, such as the King's Musketeers, the Daughters of Medea (an organization of female assassins) and the Rosicrucians (who have popped up in a few RPGs, most notable to me being Witchcraft). Important NPCs in each group are given stat blocks, as well as generic members. In addition, each has an appropriate Resource listing for your PCs to use (like a Musketeer being a rank 1 Ally or the Vicomte Charolles of the True Knights of Saint Michael is a Patron 3.

A good selection of monsters are provided, such as animated corpses, evil spirits, Incubi and Succubi, vampires and witches. The section even includes a sidebar on using things like crosses and holy water to fend off evil. More mundane stat blocks are provided as well, for thugs, soldiers, peasants and animals. None of the stat blocks are hard to read, and it seems pretty simple to use the ones provided in order to construct your own.

WHAT WORKS: I dig the magick system, as I already have a fondness for that type of "construct your spell" system, and a very good amount of game information is provided. I had no prior experience with Ubiquity, but it feels familiar enough to systems I have had experience with that it doesn't seem like it would be hard to pick up at all. As with Hellfrost, Triple Ace Games has a TON of support for the setting in the form of adventures and microsupplements. The concept is just cool...I like fighting monsters in more than just a "kill 'em all and take their stuff" capacity, and the whole "Everyone's a Musketeer" thing helps you bypass that "why are your characters on the same side, again?" thing that comes up in some games.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: Given the setting, as I'm not even a remedial student of French history, a closer look at the setting would have been great. I mean, there's enough there to run with, but it's kinda spread around from the beginning of the book to the end. Also, you can never go wrong with including an adventure generator...just saying.

CONCLUSION: I'm way more enthusiastic about Savage Worlds stuff, so if I had to pick a Triple Ace franchise and run with it, it would certainly be Hellfrost. That said, Ubiquity seems like a really easy system to pick up, which is always a plus. I actually like the Magick system better than I do Savage Worlds powers. It wouldn't take much encouragement to get me digging into the microsupplements, especially stuff like Guide to Expanded Characters and Creatures of Sin. If you don't mind learning a new system and the idea of Three Musketeers vs Demons, Vampires and Witches appeals to you, then I heartily give this a strong recommendation.

Tommy's Take on The Price One Shot

Doing something a bit different here, reviewing "The Price", a one-shot comic by Glenn Arseneau and Allen Byrnes, published by 215ink.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The cover price is $3.99, but I picked it up on Graphicly for $1.99. It is a self-contained one shot, although the resolution could be used as a springboard pilot for a supernatural series pretty easily, in my opinion.

The basic premise is a very familiar one, with a young woman driving down a dark road at night, lost, stumbles on a secluded diner with some creepy inhabitants, etc. Like I said, familiar stuff. The resolution is what separates this from other "haunted road" type stories, and it does a pretty nice job in that regard.

My only major quarrel with the writing is that the resolution feels a tad rushed. I generally appreciate a story that doesn't feel the need to hold my hand to the resolution, but I didn't feel that QUITE enough information was given to make all the pieces fit.

Initially, the art didn't impress me, but while the style is more simplistic than I prefer, the visual storytelling is very much present, as each character looks unique enough that scene shifts are not hard to follow at all. In fact, some of the background features really add to the creepiness, and the final panel of page 22 (I believe, page numbers don't seem to appear in the Graphic.ly reader) is a very effective shift that especially works in the Graphic.ly panel by panel reader.

The lettering is generally well done, though I did pick up the odd typo and balloon placement that interrupted the flow of dialogue, but that only happened once or twice, and the script was clear enough for me to quickly correct my reading.

The use of color is brilliant and adds a great deal to the story. One of the most effective coloring jobs I've seen in recent memory, in an indy book or a major league title.

the book is marked for Mature readers, but all of the foul language is censored and the violence is pretty restrained and effective when used. I wouldn't give this to my seven year old, but I didn't see anything I would keep from a 14 year old, for instance.

WHAT WORKS: This is a great example of a two-man job in which both creators are on the same page with what they are trying to accomplish, and had the tools and skills necessary to accomplish it, with the extra touches that the lettering and coloring add to the final production. The cover is a brilliantly evocative piece of work as well, though not necessarily indicative of the interior art style.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: There is no credited editor, and an editor is usually a good thing to have. The resolution feels rushed (and almost like a Deus Ex Machina, but it *was* foreshadowed, so I won't hold that against them).

CONCLUSION: With a few more pages or a tighter reworking, this could have been a GREAT comic, but instead I'd call it Really Good. I would have preferred not having to read between the lines *quite* so much as to the true nature of a couple of the characters, and the POV character doesn't really seem to DO much in the story, though that can be quite effective at times (and it is here for probably 85% of the story).

While an editor always helps, Glenn Arseneau and Allen Byrnes pretty clearly know what they are doing, and I will be shocked if we don't at least see regular indy work from the both of them in the future. The Price is a very nice twist on a familiar tale.