I have a more thorough review of this on my blog. However, aside from being very visually appealing, this deck makes some of the at times overlooked uses for XP in Cypher System games more inviting to players and overall adds some spice to the process of spending XP.

Love the Ideas. Writing needs a lot of work. In its current state, I find it is overpriced as it seems like it lacks basic care in that area. But the Ideas are honestly gold. Please work on the presentation of the writing.

I reviewed this in more detail on my blog. However, in brief this is an excellent short adventure if you want a solid crawl through a haunted "house", like horrific twists, or if you just want to play around with how madness works in the Cypher System.

This piece of short fiction is very evocative of the Numenera setting. It was a quick and enjoyable read that whetted my appetite for the game system.

If you don’t want to sit through an entire review, I’ll summarize right now: This supplement is a must have for all Cypher players who not only wish to convert their D&D friends, but any Cypher player who adores fantasy in general. This supplement absolutely rocks and is jam packed with inspiring tidbits for any fantasy game. It won’t spell everything out for you, but it will give you all of the tools you need to run effective magic in your games.

Brought to us by the de facto Cypher System master, the Alpha Dean, the Vade Mecum provides not only a glimpse into how to convert a classic fantasy wizard into the Cypher System, but gives us a way of doing so that reminds us of the core flexibility that the system provides.

The supplement starts off with some worldbuilding flavor. It outlines some key concepts for magic levels ranging from the gritty to the fantastic, and the types of spellcasters that can exist in your world. It’s not comprehensive, but it gives just enough for a cunning GM to twist and mutate into something that fits the exact type of game that they want to run. The worldbuilding is followed with a few new spellcasting rules, most notably the Primal (Primordial) Pool, and an extensive spell list and some advice on reskinning them for your game.
The Primal, or Primordial, Pool is easily the most significant addition to the core ruleset. At its core, it’s an entire fourth pool that exists to augment your existing spells and abilities, along with some spell counter measures. It comes with its own rules for advancement, “mastery”, and “backlash”, a system that succinctly represents the chaos that comes with manipulating pure energy. The spell list is chock full of spells that represent many fantasy tropes, along with advice on reskinning them to fit your specific characters or world. Many of the spells invoke classic fantasy TTRPGs, while still fitting within the realm of the Cypher System. They are all solidly written and clearly worded, to minimize conflict at the game table. The book ends with some rules on Enchanting, and the table for Backlash effects. While not the focus of the book, I find this execution of enchantment to be one of the cleaner ones out there for Cypher System. There’s no written limit on what Enchanting can do, or even how much it costs – but that’s the beauty of it. As the GM, you’re allowed to play with it and see what works for your table, and what’s fun for your players.

And that really is the core of this book – comprehensive and clear, but flexible enough to be worked into any game table. There’s no prescribed method of play here, it’s all meant to be turned and twisted in whichever way you want. And in that aspect, I’d say the author pulled off what he wanted – a magical system that invokes the flexibility of the system it’s supplementing.

If you held me at gunpoint and forced me to give a criticism, I’d say that perhaps some more commentary or lore about the main “character” of this book, Mal’Vandal, would have been appreciated. Perhaps even a way to implement the man himself into a game.

Overall, I’d definitely say that this is an essential for anyone looking to replicate or relive the feeling of Vancian spellcasting in Cypher System.

Angel's Citadel just did a review on this product. You can check it out HERE.

I have a substantial Monte Cooke collection. Specifically Numenera and Cypher System. I want to make some quick but, I feel, important comments regarding Godforsaken.. As always, Monte Cooke RPG products are well written and beautiful. And there is plenty of very useful information here. But this is a TOOL KIT not a game world primarily. A sub title for this work should have been included like “The Cypher System Fantasy World Builders Toolkit”. If you like building your own campaign world and having a framework campaign world included in the book to build on and/or inspire then this is for you. However, this is not 200+ pages of a fleshed out detailed fantasy world. This is a kit. I’ll close by saying if you’re a fan of MC and CSystem, I predict that you will not be disappointed in the work

Angel's Citadel just reviewed Monte Cook Games' newest release, Godforsaken. It's the latest (and last) toolbox book from the Your Best Game Ever Kickstarter. You can see it here:

https://angelscitadel.com/2020/12/11/review-godforsaken/

This game was my younger kids' intro to tabletop RPGs when they were 5 and 7, and they loved it. Great game for kids, beautifully presented. If you're planning to run it, consider getting the physical box with the cards and dice and fiddly bits, which add to the overall experience. My kids still game with me today. We've moved on to more complex games, but there are elements of this game I still borrow, including PC pets and some of the GM advice.

Let me just level with you. If you believe that "its the players responsibility" to say no to something in front of everyone or to opt out of a campaign where you go out of your way to provoke a response - then youre not a good GM, you're an edgelord. This is a useful tool for ANY GM. Its not about "saying no" to offensive themes, its about clearing the air about certain things and giving the group a common line to go along in terms of content. I run a Cyberpunk campaign WITH this product as a backbone for narrative structures and its every bit as dark and "edgy" as everybody elses games, even with the caveat that some topics are out of the question.

I actively promote the use of consent guidelines. The game is more fun if we all agree and this product is a way to ensure that everybody understands where and to what extent the line is. Dont fool yourself about being able to "read" your players, youre not that good - and if you are, then you've probably played with the same people for years and years. In these days of ever changing groups and random "hook ups" - its very useful to have a quick way to agree on thematic do's and dont's.

Its not PC. Its common sense.

Although the game is sold as roleplaying game, in my opinion, there is not too much of roleplay involved. Currently, I only read through the rules once and did not play it (so far the disclaimer). As a print-and-play "board" game, it seems to have some good ideas and the authors proof that they have a good sense for game design. However, I did not see too much decision making involved in the very basic variant of the game (except for not accepting a game result by using a luck point). Still, there are advanced rules with strategies etc., that probably counter this point. When buying the rules, I hoped for some roleplay rules and oracles. And although the game has a lot of "narrative" oracles for the football scenes, there is not so much going on around the game (drama with the players, the staff, the club leading board). The rule book mentiones the Facebook group for additional content. However, the group is in portuguese and.... well you need to be registered in Facebook (which I am not). Since the rules for the football game in this game are really good, additional content that is framing out the not-football part would be sooooo cool! I thought of an "Inazuma's Eleven" scenario or something like that. This is why I would say this is a (good) board game, but barely a roleplaying game.

Angel's Citadel just did a review of this supplement. The short version? Two thumbs way up. For the long version, have a look HERE.

It's an incredibly useful tool for any session zero, and a must if your campaign frequently touches on topics that could be potentially painful or damaging for players.

Absolutely perfect. These are nice and clean, easy to read, and not at all hard on my poor printer. Thank you so much for making these!

EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS. this is an essential document for literally anyone playing RPGs ever. fundamentally RPGs are bsed in social contracts, which in turn rely on consent. Thus everyone should understand what that really means and what's involved in it. Even if no one will ever use it, simply having safety tools makes every table better. The concepts here are explained comprehensively and understandably. I love it. As the book explains, and as some reviewers don't get, it doesn't matter how close you are with someone, establishing clear boundaries is key to any relationship, and it doesn't matter how close you are with someone, if you cross a line that's never good. No one has "no limits." You don't have to change any of the content in your game! this is literally just saying that you should get your fellow players consent (that includes GMs too) before including something! We play games to have fun. And thus we should only be doing things we want.