Castles & Canards
We take a look at Free League's 'Mirth & Mayhem' RPG & have 3 copies of the core set & Bestiary to give away
Right, we return from a not particularly relaxing few days off to bring you this week’s newsletter. Usual reminder before we get to the good stuff that issue 6 is up for pre-order, print copies of 3, 4 & 5 are available in a discounted bundle, PDFs of issues 1-5 are available for a steal at both Itch & DriveThruRPG and we have some incredible t-shirts on sale, including our brand new Łukasz Kowalczuk collab and a handful of the ones we did with MÖRK BORG’s Johan Nohr.
Ok, ineffective capitalism done, let’s swiftly move on. We had some interesting emails from readers after last week’s newsletter, particularly those who like myself had fond memories of the adverts in old (i’d say what something like pre issue 90 or so White Dwarf). Obviously I’m hideously biased but for me it was just another, small but somewhat bitter, reminder of why the diminishment of print media has been such a blow.
Whether gig listings and rare records in the music press, or obscure games and people to play them with in gaming mags, print adverts done right served a purpose. Sad as we are about Dicebreaker’s defenestration, I can’t imagine anyone fondly thinking back to every time half a dozen obnoxious adverts for mobile games, supermarket deals or cheap clothes from Temu made reading the site next to impossible. Now I think about it I can’t actually remember ever seeing an advert on Dicebreaker for a tabletop game at all, which is certainly an indictment of something or someone.
Anyway, as ever we must resist the lure of cheap nostalgia as popular as it may be it rarely leads anywhere fun and the good news is that outside of the glossies, magazines at least are having a bit of a renaissance. In the last month or so alone I’ve picked up beautifully designed titles full of passion for everything from films and print making to cycling, food and even dogs. Giving myself an hour or two away from the screen and burying myself in a good magazine remains one of the best things I know for my ever frayed mental health.
Talking of avoiding nostalgia this week we’ve got something special for you in the shape of Free League’s Dragonbane, a game that as much as it revels in classic fantasy tropes still manages to feel fresh, fun and forward looking. In fact we liked it so much we badgered the good folks at Free League to give us some copies to give away, so read on for more on that.
Right, on that note, we will leave you to it and see you next week.
John x
DRAGONBANE
Chris Lowry takes a look at Dragonbane, Free League Publishing's latest fantasy role-playing game set in a world of mirth, mayhem and... mallards.
The latest title from Free League Publishing, Dragonbane, describes itself as a “mirth and mayhem” roleplaying system. Set in a magical fantasy world, you play humans, dwarves and other mythical beings, banding together to travel on adventurous escapades.
Now, this probably all sounds a little bit familiar, right? You see, Dragonbane has a surprising amount of historical baggage. It’s a new release for 2023, but is the direct descendent of the 1980s Swedish RPG Drakar och Demoner (literally Dragons & Demons), a game originally created as a response to the rising interest in Dungeons & Dragons, but which used RuneQuest as a base for its system.
So, where does this leave us with the newly released version of Dragonbane? As it happens rather than just an exercise in nostalgia it’s a very interesting release in its own right, managing to coherently pull together a wide range of influences whilst clearly having a strong style of its own…
[READ THE FULL REVIEW IN OUR HIT POINTS SECTION]
WIN: DRAGONBANE CORE SET + BESTIARY
If Chris’s review whetted your appetite for a spot of “mirth & mayhem” roleplaying - and it should have - then now’s a great time to take the plunge with Dragonbane as there’s a new campaign book, Path to Glory, up for pre-order now.
To help kickstart your adventures Free League have generously given us 3 copies of the Dragonbane Core Set to giveaway. As you’d expect it’s a lavish box set containing everything from the game’s rules and a complete 11 scenario campaign to solo rules, maps, dice, all manner of player aids, some really lovely card standees and more. All in all it’s a great way to get started with what has, over the last year or so, become our classic fantasy RPG of choice.
Not only that we also have 3 copies of the recently released Dragonbane Bestiary to give away as well. Filled with gorgeous art by Johan Egerkrans, the bestiary catalogues everything from cat people to chimeras, fairies to frog people, hippogriffs to hydras, and is just the thing to expand your game beyond the inhabitants of the Core Set’s Misty Vale.
To be in with a chance of winning a copy of both the Dragonbane Core Set and Bestiary, simply answer the question below and email your answer to wyrdsciencezine@gmail.com before midday GMT on Wednesday 24 July.
Dragonbane was first released in Sweden back in 1982, but under what name?
DEFINITELY NOT DAMSELS 2
If last week’s misty eyed reverie about looking beyond Citadel for your miniatures piqued your interest then let us direct you towards a new Kickstarter from Bad Squiddo Games. Well known on the wargames scene for their ‘Believable Female Miniatures’ that range from Viking Shieldmaidens to, well, to the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II (complete with corgis), their models are a much needed alternative when you look at the state of most other Kickstarters for female models out there.
Definitely Not Damsels 2 then is a short flash campaign to introduce several new sculpts that you can choose from like a kind of very much non-edible pick’n’mix selection. Featuring everything from Brawling Barmaids to Wise Crones, there’s something for all occasions and well worth checking out if you want to add some more warrior women (& snivelling squires) to your wargames.
Finally a collection of things, both interesting and inspiring, gaming related and not, found down the back of the internet’s sofa…
If you’re of a certain age then this astonishing library of WinAmp skins will either bring back a flood of warm happy memories or make you feel this chill wind of death upon your neck.
What else do you need today? Well, sometimes it’s what you least expect, for example a cover of Barbie’s ‘I’m Just Ken’ by GWAR.
We’re big fans of the Affinity suite of graphic design tools. They’re what we put the magazine together with and considering I’m a self-taught idiot that says something good about them (assuming you don’t think Wyrd Science looks like total shit, I guess).
Anyway they’ve not only a 50% sale on right now BUT you can also download and trial the entire range for 6 months. Well worth giving a go, even if just to up your meme game.Yes I know we’re always linking to Explorers Design, but i’m not going to punish Clayton for being consistently interesting, so here’s his recent piece on the challenge of the 1HP dragon, that gave us a fair bit of food for thought.
Scientists are going to attempt to discover alien life by tracking their exploding warp drives, no really.
Exalted Funeral are having their annual summer sale, so expect big discounts across the store, but loads of strange, special stuff created just for the event, many of which you can get for free whilst stock lasts. As someone with, at the last count, around 6 bootleg Garfield t-shirts my need for this OSR pamphlet is off the scale.
Talking of Exalted Funeral, one game that we’ve heard a lot about during its development is Josh McCrowell’s His Majesty the Worm, which they’ve finally published this week. If you’re interested in whether this ‘new school game with old school sensibilities’ delivers, and we are, then you can start by checking out Idle' Cartulary’s read through.
Have to say I’ve become mildly obsessed with the videos on the Instagram account of artist, Brittani Locke, who makes fashion accessories, endpapers and more with this strangely hypnotic marbling process.
We very much enjoyed James Wallis’s book on the history of Germany’s prestigious Spiel Des Jahres, basically the Oscars of the board game world, so worth checking out his tips for this coming weekend’s awards.
Talking of awards, a reminder that voting for the Ennies, the
OscarsSmash Hits Poll Winner’s Party of the TTRPG world, closes in a couple of days.Finally, what if there were only 100 magic items in the whole of your fantasy setting?
I remember all of those adverts from the 80s. It’s a shame we don’t have that sort of access to random groups or attempts to discuss stuff that might be unusual to most people!
It’s a shame white dwarf went so games workshop and ignored all the other games that made it so popular in the first place.