Another amazing TTRPG from Kids in the Attic!! You can tell how much care went into creating this.

The game oozes atmosphere, very well done and it captures the folk horror with stress mechanics. The adaptation of the Year Zero Engine is not perfect, in some places it is not clear if it was meant to use attributes or health for damage, resolve or stress for mental resistance, but nothing major (for example, the Starvation section refers both to health damage and attribute damage).

I highly reccomend this game.

J'ai été réellement déçu par cet achat, Je suis MJ et je pensais que cet ouvrage pourrait m'apporter des éléments dans une campagne mais apparement non Tout d'abord l'illustration de couverture (qui est magnifique) ne re représente en rien celle à l'intérieur, celles-ci sont au mieux moyenne, souvent de mauvaises qualités voir pixelisés... Les conseils et explications m'ont bien moins apporté que la simple page wikipedia de la fête de Yule, les tables aléatoire, événement et idées suggérés sont quasiment toute les mêmes (en aussi peu de page il est dommage de se répéter autant : il fait froid, il y a de la nourriture et une célebration avec de la lumière mais pas grand chose en plus) Que ce soit par ces textes, Images, Tables, et événement je n'ai rien retenu de ce livre Je voulais mettre 2 étoiles pour l'effort mais: en affichant une image de couverture donnant ce ton et cette qualité, cela s'apparente à une manœuvre malhonnête (désolé de cet avis dur mais je suis tombé de haut)

I love this whole setting and campaign. So well thought out and put together!!

A great little Horror Accessory, but even if you don't own the Horror Rules this is easy to plug into any Horror RPG you're playing as a location. With multiple, completely different genre scenarios to take advantage of this detailed, isolated "Cabin in the Woods", you're sure to have something to give your players just the right amount of nightmares.

Overall - I had to rate this at 2 stars out of five - not because the writing was bad, or that the author's point of view was objectionable or anything along those lines...

I gave it a low rating largely because the purpose for which I purchased this product was not met.

I'm currently running a campaign set in New Mexico 1867 and one of my player characters was offered a chance to become a territorial deputy. As such, the first words out of the player's mouth were "What are my duties, what laws do I enforce" and other similiar questions.

If you're looking to find answers to those questions - they are sadly lacking in this booklet. I will have to try and find some online resource that explains what laws a territorial marshal is supposed to enforce, where his jurisdiction lies, and what he's supposed to do from time to time. In all? This product may well be worth your while as a game system and what have you, but as a means of fleshing things out, I found it sub-optimal. When specific details matter, this PDF did not meet my needs.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This book clocks in at 114 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC/introduction, 1 page advertisement (for Outlaw Soaps! – It fits thematically in the book – really like it!), leaving us 110 pages of content, laid out in 6’’ by 9’’ (A5), so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreon supporters.

Okay, so first things first, this is a rules-lite game about the “Imagined Wild West” – not the historical one, necessarily, and with the subject matter being slightly less common than the Age of Sails tackled in the first Difference-engine-powered game, we begin with a pretty nifty array of links for further research, so if you want to embark on a more historical game, or are like me, not from the US and thus not as enmeshed in the history of the nation, this’ll be extremely helpful – particularly because we’re playing US Marshals and/or their deputies this time around, and not the classic lone stranger popularized by media. Interesting here would also be that the author obviously did his research – if you fear a depiction of just the Old West of classic Hollywood, you’ll be told about some ladies that were US Marshals. Similarly, while racism was obviously a thing, the book also contextualizes this, and provides examples for African American heroes serving as US Marshals. So yeah, you can obviously ignore these or include them in your game, choosing what aspects you wish to emphasize, but it was interesting for me to read and certainly not something I was that familiar with.

Interesting here: Even if you have no patience to do some research on the era, the game explains the role of the US Marshal (or deputy) rather well in a succinct and precise manner, and that out of the way, we move to the swift and pretty painless character creation.

The game requires 2 six-sided dice (d6s). You start by choosing a nickname, followed by selecting your attributes. There are three of those, the first being Mental, which denotes your wits, cleverness, will, etc.. Physical describes strength and endurance, agility, etc. and finally, Social, determines the character’s charm, persuasiveness, humor, etc. You assign the values +4, +3 and +2 to these.

After this, you choose two Talents and two Flaws (a difference to the first Difference-engine game); this change is smart, as it generates more roleplaying potential; Talents generally tend to provide a +2 bonus to one type of challenge, while Flaws either provide a -2 penalty to all challenges pertaining some broader aspect, or -3 to challenges pertaining a more limited component – enough of those are provided to get a sense of the intended balance and make the notion of designing more of them yourself simple. Cool here: There are plenty of special events that may happen when you roll doubles, snake eyes (two 1s) – you get the drift. If you e.g. have the cheapskate flaw, snake eyes represents an item malfunctioning, breaking, etc.

Talents and flaws may also influence your Health – the default starting value is 9, and the game has another resource, namely Grit. This is clever, as it is easily the aspect of the game that makes it last – Grit is a mechanic that will have different applications, depending on your talents chosen, and it also acts as XPs of sorts – it can either influence roles, or you can spend 3 grit to buy a talent, 5 to get rid of a flaw, or 6 Grit to increase an attribute by +1. Health is always equal to the sum of all attributes, so an increase also makes you slightly tougher. The pace of the game’s progression is wholly in the GM’s hand – as noted, Health is the combination of all attributes; other than Health-increases, gaining talents or removing flaws are the suggested means to depict character growth.

After this, you choose your gear – gear doesn’t give you bonuses (at least usually; special gear may well grant bonuses!), but does allow you to perform certain tasks. All characters begin with proper clothes, a knife, a revolver and either a repeating rifle, Sharps rifle, or a shotgun, as well as a Marshal’s badge and a card signifying their office. Beyond that, you name items, and perform a simple challenge – if you win, you get the item; if not, then you don’t get it. You get to roll until you lose or have 5 items. What’s a simple challenge, you ask? It is a roll of 2d6– you roll against the opponent, and if you win, you win, if you lose, you lose. Ties are rerolled. This is the most simple resolution method herein, but not the only one – I will get to others later. But I digress: The system knows three types of weapon: Simple, improved, and advanced – their damage ranges from 1 – 3. Reloading a firearm takes a full turn, and ammo should be tracked, but this is handled in an abstract manner I enjoyed. You count shots, but are assumed to have enough ammunition on you to reload thrice. The game also specifies that one roll does not necessarily equate shots fired. Derringers and Holdouts, repeaters, carbines, etc. – all provided, and yes, the weapons do have differences in their details and rules by type. Range is a simple concept as well – from Point blank to Extreme Range, there are 7 different distance categories, which can impose massive penalties. At extreme ranges, only seasoned veterans will be able to hit at all, unless using a Sharps rifle, and these instead really suck at low ranges, you some tactics re gear are included. Rules for aiming, sights, bows and arrows or thrown weapons are also included. And yes, we get rules for cannons, explosives, etc. as well. All of these gear rules are not rules you need to know to play, mind you – they are introduced later in the book, and I moved the brief discussion of them to this section for the sake of readability.

Finally, you can add traits like age, weight, etc. and other non-.mechanical game data –and bingo. Character creation is very much possible in less than a minute – if you roll for items all at once and use colored dice, you can definitely resolve character creation in even less time. Room, board etc. is generally not necessarily something you need to track. Really cool: A suggested survival kit list of useful equipment is provided for your convenience, cutting down on the dreaded shopping spree eating up gaming time.

The Difference engine’s core resolution mechanic is to roll 2d6 + Bonus versus 2d6 + Bonus. Impossible tasks are not rolled, and easy tasks are resolved as automatic successes. Before dice are rolled, the GM and player agree on Stakes – what happens on a success, and one a failure.

The winner of the challenge is the one with the Higher Result; in case of a tie, Bonuses are compared; if the bonuses are the same as well, the highest rolled result on the dice acts as a tie-breaker – and should this still be tied, the player wins. In the case of challenges between players, neither fails – they can reattempt the check on the next turn.

But why is the engine called “Difference Engine”? Well, to determine your success in a challenge, you can have different successes – there are actually 7 degrees of success; by barely making a challenge with a tied roll of +0, you achieve minimal success, while a Difference of 11+ means an incredible success – fighting and jumping examples allow the GM to easily determine effects for a given result. It should be noted that the GM-section of this book also contains advice pertaining such components, assigning difficulties, etc. – the system is easy to grasp, intuitive and explained ina concise manner.

Teamwork is very potent – the player with the highest attribute rolls 2d6, and adds +1d6 per additional privateer involved. Only the highest two dice results are calculated, and only the Marshal who rolls the dice applies Talents and Flaws! Examples on how to interpret the rolls and how to make the eponymous Difference matter are provided, with several simple suggestions illustrating results. The system knows critical successes (double 6s) and failures (double 1s) as an optional rule, and the pdf even explains what happens on a double 6 opposed by a double 1, walking you through the entire process of using this. The game presents a detailed example of a challenges, and even if you’re new to roleplaying, that should explain the subject matter rather well.

There is one more factor to consider – Grit. Each character begins play with 1 point of Grit, and more points are gained whenever a Double is rolled ( i.e. two 2s. two 3s, etc.); this, however, may well be modified, depending on your Talents, Flaws and background story. If the players use Grit, the GM gains one point of Grit, mirroring a system I have used with some success for hero points and similar mechanics in more complex systems. (Yep, in my home-game, using a hero point will net the group a doom point I’ll use for complications and adversaries…) Using Grit BEFORE the roll lets you add +1d6 per Grit used, but only the highest two results are used to calculate results; OR, you can add +2 per Grit used. If used AFTER the roll, you get to add +1 per Grit used to the result OR you may reroll one die rolled, but must take the new result.

Combat is classified in turns, which correspond to no set amount of time, allowing you to categorize them anew per frame (so that naval combat might have longer turns); initiative is a simple challenge, which is a smart change to the system. Akin to how VsM-games work, difficult movement may require Mental or Physical tests. Attacking may be resolved by rolling Physical vs. Physical, Physical vs. Mental, Mental vs. Mental – it depends on the context. Damage is contingent on the weapon employed and the Difference. Obviously, social combats are also possible, and it should be noted, that Marshals reaching 0 Health take their negative Health as a penalty to all challenges If negative Health exceeds one of the PC’s attributes, they can’t use challenges in that attribute any more. At -6 Health, a character falls unconscious, at -10, the Marshal is dead. The game includes discussions of handling attacks versus objects, and indeed, actually has a dueling sub-engine, which is surprisingly exciting, involving potential wagering of Grit. Speaking of which: GMs may actually allow for Grit being used to temporarily recover Health. Let me state this right here: This is genius. There usually is a dissonance between players not wanting to spend such a resource (because they are hoarding it), and the reality depicted in classic Westerns and similar pieces of media. If the characters are so tough, why don’t they constantly operate at peak efficiency? The game makes the player not want to use Grit unless necessary, which also means that it’s sometimes smarter to NOT buckle up and use it to heal. This is very clever, and I really enjoy it. Optional rules for getting worse without proper treatment are fyi included as well.

Healing is handled easily: Roll a Mental challenge, and add Health value of target, whether positive or negative, to the result. On a success, the target regains half the Difference (rounded down) Health. On a failure, though, the Difference is taken as damage! So no, Health-scumming is not wise, and yes, it is very much intended that full heals are difficult. The engine has further improved in this game over its first iteration, in that the game presents actual rules for the means of getting around (trains, coaches, horseback – the latter differentiating between types of movement), but also has further rules regarding making camp: Campsite complexities, conditions and tasks are all covered.

The rules lite “GM has the reins”-angle is further emphasized by having positive and negative conditions and states of mind listed, which can have mechanical effects – and yes, we once more have the game spelling explicitly out that the like can’t be power-gamed. Love, faith, pride – all of these matter, and the game also walks you through downtime in detail – and where to draw the line between depicting everything and nothing. From being on the lookout to cooking and similar tasks, this engine presents quite a few cool components. Camp safety also is a factor – poisonous snakes in the vicinity, increase a threat level of a camp site by +1; the GM rolls a check with such factors cumulatively added to determine bonuses versus the characters’ rolls. It seems simple, and indeed, is an elegant solution.

The book acknowledges that it can’t be an extended GM’s guide, but provides several solid guiding principles and the like, and presents advice on choosing GM roll bonuses. The book also talks about why it abstracts the whole matter of money, how progress doesn’t necessarily need to be positive, and how to handle bonus-granting items – if you went overboard with handing out items, the book has trouble-solving means. The book also briefly touches upon weird west themes and presents stats for generic NPCs, as well as a handy little two-page character sheet.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting on a rules language level are excellent; on a formal level, I noticed a few near-homophone hiccups (à la “then/than”), but nothing serious. Layout adheres to a nice one-column full-color standard, using a blending of modified public domain art and stock pieces to surprisingly consistent effects – kudos for capturing the aesthetics well. I can’t comment on the virtues or lack thereof of the physical book, since I do not own it. A somewhat serious downside for the pdf is that it only has 7 bookmarks. For an over 100-page game, those are not enough and make navigation not as comfortable as it should be. If in doubt, I’d suggest print.

Lucus Palosaari has really learned from his first Difference game – here, we have a serious step ahead for the game, with pretty much all of my gripes taken care of. For one, the sequence of rules-presentation makes more sense to me; secondly, the game is simply more detailed: We have a lot of optional historic angles and explanations, and indeed, the book manages to be better at maintaining longer games: The use of Grit as a combination of hero points and XP is super smart and rewarding, and I can see the system allowing you to run prolonged campaigns. Presented in a concise and sensible manner, this is a fun, rules lite game, one that lets you choose the pace of the game and the degree of complexity of the game. As a whole, I consider this to be a success, and as such, my final verdict will clock in at 5 stars – if you’re looking for a rules-lite game that’s easy to grasp, one with a potent engine that you can customize easily, then you can’t go wrong here.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This is a one-page adventure for Vs. Ghosts and as such, it provides 1 page of content, 1 page of SRD.

The following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump ahead to the conclusion.

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All right, still here?

The town of Pendergrass is an abandoned logging camp, situated at the edge of a mountainous state park, though local legends claim that this was front, and that instead, it was a gold mining camp. As such, the PCs explore a briefly-sketched gold town (nice: The cross in the church may work as a mystical relic), all while haunted by the ghost of Jonas Pendergrass, a miserly, a paranoid and potent Division VII ghost. The mad ghost, still attempting to secure his gold, can assume control over PCs and, against the backdrop, is rather cool. His wife’s grave contains the access to his hidden vault, wherein his mortal remains lie. Okay…how did he end up there? How was the grave finished, the vault closed? I like that there is no gold here, that the ghost is deranged, but that seemed weird. The vault, RAW, is also open, which struck me as strange. Having a key hidden somewhere would have been nice, particularly since another (not statted) ghost that is helpful hints at the depths of Jonah’s madness. Having the poison Jonah ostensibly used would have added an interesting element of danger here. As a gold-mining town, I was also puzzled by the adventure not mentioning a mine, which will probably be one of the first things the PCs will look for.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no issues there. Layout adheres to a three-column full-color standard and is nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none.

Rich Hershey provides a cool set-up here, one that a capable GM can develop into a compelling adventure. That being said, the third column does have a paragraph of free space, which could have been used to implement any or all of the aforementioned suggestions to make this a bit more immediately usable than it is. This is not bad, mind you, but it also doesn’t reach the heights of originality that some of these one-page Vs. Ghosts adventures manage to attain. This is, in short, a solid adventure-sketch, but not much more. As such, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded down for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This mini-adventure for Vs. Ghosts clocks in at 2 pages, 1 page content, 1 page editorial/SRD/Etc., so let’s take a look!

This being a mini-module, I do not expect epic storylines or intricate plots – I’ll review this for what it is, namely a short sidetrek. As such, the module doesn’t offer in-depth details and should be considered to be more of a sketch to be fleshed out further.

This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, only Ghostmasters around? Great!

The J-pop band CHI48 are on tour in the US, but rumors abound that the band’s been cursed – multiple concert-goers have been struck blind after attending their shows. The band has been extremely popular (reskin to current pop phenomena for kids) and thus the PCs are assumed to be in the crowd. The concert seems to proceed rather well – but just as the latest smash hit “Night Sparrow” kicks off, people start collapsing in pain, clutching their eyes. Emergency responders act immediately, but smart characters may be able to glean additional pieces of information – like the illusion of black birds coming from the stage and the belief that they heard a strange bird call.

Investigating these folk, the band’s manager Goro Watanabe sports and hires the PCs, who then get to interview the manager, the band, Lighting and FX and the soundboard…and as the investigate the latter, they’ll see a horde of black sparrows manifesting. Special equipment may show the PCs that the computer equipment seems to sport some sort of possession – Yosuzume, a division IV yokai, has become entangled in the equipment, painfully so, and lacking means of communication, the spirit lashes out. Full stats are provided and the pdf provides a fun idea – having the exorcism spill out into the performance – after all, the show must go on!

The pdf ends on a nice high note, with meet and greet etc. and some nice further employment angles for the GM.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no serious hiccups. Layout adheres to a pretty busy three-column full-color standard. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t need any at this length. The pdf does not sport any artworks.

Ben Dowell’s mini-adventure is surprisingly creative: The visuals are amazing, the hook is creative. The module makes great use of its limited space and manages to provide a fun mystery for kids and adults alike. In short: This is a great little adventure, well worth 5 stars. Kudos!

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This adventure for Vs. Ghosts clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 8 pages of content. It should be noted that the pages are formatted for A5/digest-size, which means you can fit up to 4 pages on a given sheet of paper, if you want to conserve ink/toner.

This being an adventure-review, the following obviously contains SPOILERS galore. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, only ghostmasters around? Great! The town of New Hope has seen a series of strange deaths: Each night, one member of the community is found drowned – in their homes and sometimes even in their beds. The police is baffled, as there seem to be connections between the mysterious deaths. So far, the town has managed to keep the deaths of locals hidden from tourists, but in the long run, the town is looking at a full-blown PR catastrophe, not to speak of the actual deaths of citizens! We thus begin with a summary of New Hope and its environments, which allows the ghostmaster to get a decent idea of the surrounding area, including the Branton National Forest, near idyllic lake Pawik Kachina.

Now, it’s pretty easy to involve the PCs in this adventure: The classic holiday-angle, locals seeking help, the police – the possibilities should not provide an issue for ghostmasters. Suggested additional encounters with ghost orbs and ectoplasmic mists are touched upon. The first night the characters spend in town will see the murder of Agatha Lashank at precisely 12: 12 AM – how do the PCs find that out? All clocks stopped at this time! Randy, Agatha’s son, witnessed her floating in the air, struggling for breath, and when he tried to help, a woman materialized and flung him across the room.

Nice: After this incident, the module becomes relatively free-form for such a brief adventure: The local newspaper, police files, library – the respective investigations note crunchy bits, target-values etc. – nice! Sooner or later, the PCs should manage to unearth the case of an old serial killer, one Millicent Billington, who killed 13 people, including occult symbolism and all – the bed and breakfast where she killed her victims still stands. Here, thorough PCs can find her diary – while steeped in occult topics, it lacks clear motivation for her crimes…and states the wish of being burned and then to have her ashes spread.

Either at the B&B or at her rediscovered gravesite, the PCs will sooner or later happen upon the eponymous witch-ghost: Millicent is an old lady in black, division IV, and a potent threat – she is angry and will keep on killing until her ashes have been spread as per her last wishes. Doing so will end the threat, but leave the players with a couple of question marks you can use for further adventures.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no serious glitches. Layout adheres to the neat one-column full-color standard and the pdf sports a nice piece of stock art. The pdf does not sport bookmarks, but doesn’t necessarily need them at this length – they would still have been nice to have.

Rick Hershey’s “The Witch of New Hope” is a nice, short investigation – it is not a complex or world-shattering adventure, but it is a solid little adventure for vs. Ghosts. While the plot won’t win any awards for being original, the module is an inexpensive offering and provides sufficient enjoyment for the low price to be considered fair. Now, if you’re playing vs. Ghosts with kids, you should be a bit careful regarding the body count herein and the drowning – making the victims comatose instead may help here, particularly when dealing with young children or particularly sensitive kids that want their happy end. It’s not hard to make the witch just a misunderstood spirit, either.

Anyway, all in all, this is a solid entry – hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up due to the low price and in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This mini-adventure for Vs. Ghosts clocks in at 2 pages, 1 page content, 1 page editorial/SRD/Etc., so let’s take a look!

This being a mini-module, I do not expect epic storylines or intricate plots – I’ll review this for what it is, namely a short sidetrek. As such, the module doesn’t offer in-depth details and should be considered to be more of a sketch to be fleshed out further – this is particularly true in this one. You should consider this to be a pretty basic set-up.

This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, only Ghostmasters around? Great! So, selling property can be a pretty tricky business – and a family in the neighborhood has had trouble there. The family believes it’s because rumors are spreading that the house in question is haunted. Enter the PCs! The house, just fyi, doesn’t look haunted – it’s just old…but strange things soon will happen. As the PCs investigate, they are almost hit by a hammer thrown their way – turns out it flew right from under the face of a young man named Jack Todd, who offers to help the PCs.

As the characters spend the night, ghostly phenomena start happening – they range from Division I to II. The upper floor, we’ll see division IV haunts – remnants of the grisly things that happened. While the pdf doesn’t go into the grisly details, domestic violence and suicide are mentioned – something to bear in mind/tone down, should you run this for kids. As the night progresses, the rooms of the house start shifting between eras – for, in the attic, a confluence of activated leylines has taken hold of a mirror, which now acts as a gateway to the netherworld. In the attic, the boss of the module, Abigail Todd, is a POWERFUL ghost – division IV, the former daughter of the architect can drive PCs insane: Madness 4 vs. Mental – on a success, the PC becomes mad and is removed from play. Yeah, that’s pretty nasty and not too fun. While she has a health value, she can’t be destroyed while the mirror exists. Somewhat puzzling: The pdf doesn’t specify how the mirror can be destroyed. Would that be the 8 Health noted in Abigail’s stats? Automatic? Not sure.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no serious hiccups. Layout adheres to a pretty busy three-column full-color standard. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t need any at this length. We get a rather cute artwork of a ghost girl.

Rich Hershey’s “The Ghost Next Door” is a per se cool set-up: Particularly the idea of rooms moving through epochs and the hinted at dark things that happened in earlier ages makes for a cool set-up. That being said, the module suffers from its sketch-like presentation: Such classic ghost stories live and breathe via the details…details this cannot present due to its format. The story can’t really employ its full potential – neither the family angle with Jack and Abigail, nor the other aspects. The lack of a map and different descriptions for different areas (the house is not described) – all of it points towards the adventure simply requiring more room to shine. I like the writing and ideas here, but as provided, this falls short of what the product-line usually offers. Even when taking the limitations into account, I can’t really recommend this pdf as anything else but as a basic starting point. My final verdict will clock in at 2 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This mini-adventure for Vs. Ghosts clocks in at 2 pages, 1 page content, 1 page editorial/SRD/Etc., so let’s take a look!

This being a mini-module, I do not expect epic storylines or intricate plots – I’ll review this for what it is, namely a short sidetrek. As such, the module doesn’t offer in-depth details and should be considered to be more of a sketch to be fleshed out further.

This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, only Ghostmasters around? Great!

Recently, an unprecedented amount of CEOs, Wall Street bankers and similar folks known for their charity (/sarcasm off) has donated their fortunes to charitable organizations…particularly those clashing with their erstwhile enterprises. The PCs are contacted by Mr. Fezziwig, clearly an alias of the intermediary, who works for E.S. – the CEO of a major bank. E.S.’s CFO has suddenly resigned, selling all personal stock in the company. After being pressured by Fezziwig, the CFO has admitted to having been visited by 3 ghosts who showed him the error of his ways.

E.S. and Fezziwig are certain that the man believes this – and has hired the PCs to debunk the story or stop the ghosts, should they really exist. Some in-depth investigation provides some puzzling insights: There are no Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future – nor have there ever been. However, three heads of struggling charities has recently died – on Thanksgiving, of all days. These 3 spirits (division IV) now seek to do right, punishing scrupulous corporations….like the one that hired the PCs.

And yes, if the PCs aren’t smart about it, the corporation will try to cheat them out of their well-deserved salary. Each of the 3 ghosts has a fitting signature ability…which are nice, though they could be a bit more precise regarding in-game effects, like relieving your worst moments. Ultimately, the module poses an interesting moral conundrum for young players and adults alike: Do the ghost hunters destroy the ghosts in favor of a pay-check, or do they ignore the money offered in favor of having the spirits dispense social justice?

More intriguing for adult groups: What kind of impact would the series of CEOs retiring have? Will the well-meaning ghosts destroy more than do good? Surprisingly interesting conundrum!

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no serious hiccups. Layout adheres to a pretty busy three-column full-color standard. The pdf has no bookmarks or artworks, but doesn’t need any at this length.

Lucus Palosaari’s riff on the classic Christmas Carol theme, Vs. Ghosts-style, is surprisingly good for a 1-page adventure: The contemporary riff on the theme has been done to death, yes, but the moral conundrum posed can render this more interesting than what you’d expect from such a small pdf. Equally fun for adults and kids, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, though I can’t round up for it.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This mini-adventure for Vs. Ghosts clocks in at 2 pages, 1 page content, 1 page editorial/SRD/Etc., so let’s take a look!

This being a mini-module, I do not expect epic storylines or intricate plots – I’ll review this for what it is, namely a short sidetrek. As such, the module doesn’t offer in-depth details and should be considered to be more of a sketch to be fleshed out further.

This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, only Ghostmasters around? Great!

First things first – this becomes much cooler with a prop: Get an Ouija board – the module assumes that a character has gotten one and focuses on trying it out. The board in question was in the possession of one Hason Schmidt, a little-known Pittsburghian spiritualist. At first, the communication via the board will deal with Hason…then, the responses become rushed, as the dark spirit Zozo (full stats provided) starts taking over….and sooner or later, Hason will spell “HELP” as the lights go out.

While they turn back on, temperature has dropped and Zozo has taken over. Screwing with the investigators, unleashing ghost orbs, angry shadows (with modified abilities)…and at one point, Zozo will attempt to dominate a character. While the specific means of destroying the evil spirit are presented, the pdf is silent on how the PCs are supposed to deduce the steps, which serves as a minor hiccup in the set-up.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no serious hiccups. Layout adheres to a pretty busy three-column full-color standard. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t need any at this length. The pdf does not sport any artworks.

Jason Owen Black’s Vs. Ghosts-adventure is pretty fun – and if you have a Ouija board and use it, you can make it really horrific. The premise is simplistic and not too grand, but a prop makes it really shine. You can run this for kids and adults alike by emphasizing certain aspects, though as written, it probably is the creepiest Vs. Ghost module – squeamish kids may be a bit frightened here. The tweaks on foes are interesting and, as a whole, this can be a rather nice adventure, particularly if you have a Ouija board. My final verdict for this one is 3.5 stars – though ghostmasters who believe themselves to be capable of doing a Oujia-séance and integrate it in the module should add a star – as noted, that adds a whole level of atmosphere to the game, particularly if you can rig the light to go out… And yes, rounded up due to in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This adventure for the fun vs. Ghosts game clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 8 pages of content. The pages are laid out for digest-size (6’’ by 9’’/A5), which means you can fit up to 4 of them on a given sheet of paper if you’re conserving ink.

Now, first things first: The adventure takes place around mysterious circumstances in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore – my US-readers will probably be aware of this beautiful area at Lake Superior, but for an ole’ German like yours truly, checking them out via google etc. was rather inspiring and really made me wish I could visit them. This also grounds the module in a believable sense of reality.

In my review of the rules-book, I mentioned that the engine can be easily used to run games for both adults and kids. Well, this module retains this aspect. As a whole, I consider this to be a child-friendly module. As an aside: If I had the option, I’d probably run this on site! Running this around the campfire while staying on the islands would add another, special touch to the proceedings. Now, I strongly suggest reading the module in its entirety – this is not necessarily a go-play module and its brevity may warrant further research if employed at the table rather than while on a trip, but that as an aside.

This being an adventure-module, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.

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All righty, only Ghostmasters around? The residents of Duluth are worried. In the few weeks, a couple of boats have stranded on Sand Island, ostensibly following lights. While none of the big lakers have stranded so far, it is only a matter of time. The module does provide some guidance regarding the general area and also points towards further articles on the net for research, should additional details be required. Since the area is known for being rather touristy, it should be no problem to get the PCs involved.

The night the PCs arrive on location, the Benjamin Lark runs ashore on the east side of Sand Island – working with Coast Guard and/or rangers (who include a fair share of “believers” in vs. Ghost’s world), the PCs get a chance to interview the captain, who speaks of malfunctioning navigational instruments and lighthouse-like light – which seasoned ghosthunters may tie to Ghost orbs – but much larger! The Benjamin Lark could have almost hit the Sevona – a wreck popular with wreck divers.

Cool: The pdf does note that investigation may actually take the form of real life online research – the Sevona is a real wreck! 7 men died in the wreckage of this ancient ship, with two bodies found on the beach. Talking to rangers and collating further information from previous incidents will help: The PCs may even question the grandson of a survivor from the Sevnoa’s wreck. Mysteriously, the lighthouse sports no malfunction – though diligent research will unearth that a cottage of Camp Estella has been built from a part of the Sevona and is currently undergoing repair.

Which also would be the poodle’s core: The damage to the cottage has disturbed the rest of the per se noble D.S. MacDonald, captain of the Sevona – and when visibility is poor, he haunts the shores. Ghosthunters can find him in the fog – and he thinks he is warning the ships away from the shoal that wrecked his ship. A benevolent, if misguided division IV ghost, he does have stats for combat, if desired, but he may similarly just be convinced that he isn’t helping, allowing for a happy ending for the module and the option to solve it sans violence. Destroying the whole cottage may be another way to stop the haunting, but ultimately how the finale pans out s left up to the discretion of the GM.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any serious glitches. Layout adheres to the colorful, nice 1-column full-color standard of vs. Ghosts and the pdf doesn’t sport bookmarks. At the brief length, that’s okay and only represents a minor comfort-detriment. The hyperlinks to real world homepages help enhance the illusion of plausibility, as does the stock photography used as artwork. The pdf has no maps, but neither system, not set-up require them and the real-world backdrop means that there’s plenty of cartography to go around.

Jennifer R. Povey’s module is what I’d call a “Feel-good ghost story” – it lacks any malevolence, is a bit educational and provides a simple, brief mystery to unearth for the players. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t have to. As per the writing of this review, this module is ridiculously cheap and for its very fair price-point, it is a truly entertaining little set-up. This is not a module that will challenge seasoned investigators, but as a sidetrek or, as a first investigation for kids, it makes for a great offering that may actually expand the player’s horizon. Kids in particular will enjoy the module – for this audience, I’d rate this 5 stars. Adults may be less impressed by the simplicity of the proceedings and plot; such audiences should probably deduct a star. My official verdict will reflect the use for kids and thus, the 5-star rating.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This game clocks in at 64 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, 1 page advertisement, leaving us with 58 pages of content. It should be noted that the pages are laid out for the digest-size (A5/6’’ by 9’’), which means that, if your sight’s good enough, you can fit up to 4 of the pages on a single sheet.

So, what is vs. Ghosts? To put it simply, it’s a game hat lets you play in a Ghostbusters/Supernatural-esque scenario; whether you prefer grim realism or a fun, kid-friendly Scoobie-Doo-esque playstyle depends on your personal taste, though the often really FUNNY text herein and the comic-style artwork does emphasize the less serious takes on the tropes.

The GM (Ghostmaster) is…the GM. To play, you eed one deck of playing cards, sans Joker. Character creation is simple: A character has 5 Attributes:

Offense and Defense are used to attack/defend in physical combat. Mental is the attribute for knowledge, willpower, etc. Physical is the Attribute used for feats of strength, endurance, etc. Investigation is used for noticing clues, research, etc. You assign the following values to these attributes: 6, 4, 4, 3, 3.

You also get to choose Gimmicks: There are Good and Bad Gimmicks and you can have up to 4 good gimmicks. For each Good Gimmick, you have to take a Bad Gimmick, and when you take more than 2, you have to lower one Attribute by 1 for each additional Gimmick – I assume this refers to Good Gimmicks – otherwise, each Gimmick beyond 2 would cost 2 Attribute points, one for the Good and one for the Bad Gimmick. These include Attribute modifications and other tricks and include classics like allergies etc. on the Bad Gimmick side.

A character begins play with 10 Health, which represents how much damage you can take.

The core mechanic of the game is as follows: when performing an action, you draw a number of cards equal to your appropriate Attribute score. The highest card’s value is compared to the target value of the difficulty of the task – if you equal or exceed the target value, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. As cards are drawn and used, they’re put into the discard pile. When no more cards can be drawn, that pile is shuffled back into the draw pile. Jacks are equal to 11, Queens 12s, Kings 13s and Aces as 14. However, low cards are better when dealing damage, so aces count as 1 there. A dice-based alternative is provided, but personally, I’d suggest sticking to cards here.

When multiple characters use teamwork to best a challenge, the highest score is used and +1 card is drawn per assisting character. Opposed actions are resolved by drawing and comparing the highest value.

Combat is divided into Turns, which are not precisely codified – they could last an hour or a few seconds, depending on your needs. Typically,a character may move and attack during his turn. Other actions, like drawing weapons etc. can freely be taken. Initiative is determined by drawing cards. Ties of the card-values are resolved via the Physical attribute, and if that still ties characters, we go clockwise. Surprise is represented as a free attack. A character can move a number of units equal to his Physical attribute. Ranged combat determines its difficulty by range. Melee attacks are resolved as a contest between Offense and Defense.

A character takes a penalty to all attributes at 50% Health and 1 Health and 0 Health equals death, unless playing with an alternate rules for death at -1 or below. If you succeed in hitting your foe, you take a look at your Offense cards: Each card that managed to surpass the target’s Defense lets you draw one new card. The value of each of these new cards is then compared to the damage cap of the target: Each card that has a value BELOW the damage cap then inflicts 1 Health damage. Character recover 1 Health for every 10 hours of uninterrupted rest. If a physician attends the character, he may also draw a card – if it’s a heart, he gains an additional Health. Situations may instill bonuses or penalties to attributes.

Equipment is gained at the start of each session: In initiative order, the players name one equipment and then draw a card: If the card drawn is equal to or exceeds the equipment’s value, the character gains the equipment; otherwise, it’s a failure. After a maximum of 4 successes (or one failure), the next player may draw. 4 successes do net a bonus card, though. Old equipment is kept. This also includes living space, transportation, etc. – just fyi. And yes, you can get less reliable vehicles, for example. Weapons come with values and damage caps, range modifiers etc. and the section also includes ghosthunting equipment like lucky totems, aura analyzers, etc….and yes, these include e.g. spirit containers.

At the end of each session, a player may remove a Bad Gimmick, improve an Attribute, add a Good Gimmick or take a bonus card from a separate deck – this card can then be substituted for one the player draws at a later time. If it’s a 2, the player can use it to add +2 to the value of a card instead.

The pdf provides simple rules for window-dressing NPCs (bystanders) and Nemesis rivals as well as simple rules for hordes of foes. Extras are NPCs that make a difference, and as such, the pdf provides some sample stats and unique Bad and Good Gimmicks. Ghosts can similarly easily be created. Fear is resolved by drawing Mental attribute number of cards and comparing them to Offense + Defense of the target (OUCH!) or the value determined by the GM. Failure imposes a -2 penalty to all Attributes for a length of time determined by the GM.

This is where we begin with the GM-section: “Dr. Corontze’s Spirit Guide” – which comes in a COMPLETELY different layout, looking like an old, weathered document – kudos for going the extra mile, aesthetics-wise. It also looks sufficiently different to keep e.g. kids from diving head-first in, looking less playful. In this section, GMs learn about the divisions of ghosts, special abilities…and there are some sample ghosts, with sketch-like drawings/stock-art/photos that actually can be a bit creepy – nice array. The pdf concludes with a selection of sample hooks to create adventures.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good – apart from the aforementioned one hiccup, I noticed no glitches on a formal or rules-based level. The language employed is furthermore didactically sensible and makes grasping the system EASY. That’s a big plus. Layout adheres to a nice, full-color two-column standard with kid-friendly, comic-style artwork…apart from the GM-section, which becomes more creepy, though not to the point where it should become problematic for all but the most sensitive of younger readers. Pretty cool! The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Okay, let me come clean first: I didn’t want to review this book. Vs. Ghosts didn’t interest me. At all. I like Ghostbusters etc. well enough, but I’m not enamored with the franchise. Furthermore, it was explained to me as pretty much a nostalgia-trip. Well, I don’t do nostalgia well. Perhaps I’m too analytical or cynical for it, perhaps my excellent memory is responsible – but those nostalgic goggles…they just don’t work for me.

Well, I got the first coupon. Deleted it. The I got another. Ignored it. This went on for a while. Then I finally caved and figured I’d give it a fair shake.

Guess what? My congratulations to Rick Hershey and Lucus Palosaari – this game is actually MUCH better than I anticipated it’d be. Vs. Ghosts is no complexity monster, but it doesn’t try to be – it’s a perfect game for a longer trip, for a relatively quick session – it plays fast and rather well, can easily be modified and while it can carry real horror stories, its RAW focus on the goofier aspects makes it a real good candidate to teach folks how to play. The tactile notion of drawing cards can be fund for kids and the easy teamwork rules similarly can make the game particularly rewarding for younger audiences.

In short: This is a well-made game using cards as randomizer; it’s easy to learn and explain, the presentation is concise and makes grasping the rules super simple. The stereotypes and tropes employed don’t necessarily hit home with me, but that may be because I am probably as far away from the target audience as I can possibly be. In spite of that, I do consider this to be a neat, inexpensive and fun, relatively rules-lite game, well worth owning. My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.