review: alleys of zobeck by open design

DISCLAIMER: Review based on PDF copy provided by Open Design.
Metric: Rats on a stick.  Lah-verly rats onna stick!! Proven seller down Cartways.  A little bird tells me that @KoboldQuarterly called them 'a *great* metric for excellence'.  S'future mate, progress innit...
Overall: Five (count 'em!) rats on a stick (seconds!)
If you're looking for urban crunch, you've hit paydirt and for this price, you'd be silly not to.  Even if you don't have Streets of Zobeck, there's good content here including feats, locations, monsters, magic, random pickpocket loot and engaging NPCs.  And if you do, Alleys is an essential companion with hooks and links between adventures and additional stuff.  Maybe the only time urban overspill is a good thing.

Contents: Five (count 'em!) rats on a stick.
Nothing To Declare gives you a bridge between adventures in Streets of Zobeck and gives you an example of how city folk will take advantage of new arrivals.  Next is relevant additions for adventure in Streets of Zobeck, from clockwork abominations spawned from The First Lab to a pair of barghests lurking in Scaler's Alley.  NPCs follow, ranging from Goldscale (a small but fierce kobold paladin) to Sam Nesclem, ship's captain with a clockwork hand and formidable reputation. Now, the crunch - and how!  Feats and traits offer some more versatility, dirty fighting feats will make low-fantasy fans smile while the traits can easily be added to any Midgard game (including an Old Margreve crossover) or adapted elsewhere. Items, magical and mundane await the reader.  The appearance of a clockwork hand magic item is a great bonus.  Minor treasure charts for opportunist looting follows.  Then locations, the Rampant Roach and Ulmar's Rare Books offers two new places for characters to intrigue in.  Finally Blackeye's Carriage offers a unique taxi service for the streets of Zobeck.

Layout: Four and a half (no refunds!) rats on a stick.
I said in my review of Streets that colour would make the difference.  Alleys shows how with illustrations of Jaroslav (Nothing to Declare) and Goldscale.  Very minor layout slips and no cover (not critical for a PDF) shows focus on content, content and more content.  Dyson Logos on cartography providing some classic old school styling which is easy to read and use in-game. 

Web supplements are usually simple affairs, a few extra NPCs and a couple of bits of crunch and fluff to round them out.  Some material has been showcased on the Kobold Quarterly blog.  In amount and quality the content is beyond the typical web supplement and overflow product.  At the price this is a steal and it's redolent of Zobeck's steampunk stylings.  Get this before they change their minds about the price!

ogre, fangtooth

No. Enc.: 1d4 (2d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 5d8 + 2
Attacks: 2 (club and bite)
Damage: 1d10/1d8+1
Save: F5
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: XX

These lumbering brutes are named for their fishlike faces filled with dozens of inch-long razor fangs capable of biting through a man.  Like normal ogres they are about 9' to 10' tall and have humanoid bodies.  Their skins are a translucent yellow and they wear a minimum of primitive clothing.  They dwell in lightless canyons and hate strong light, seeking to extinguish it where possible.  In daylight they are -1 to hit, AC and damage.  They have infravision up to 120' and prefer to hunt in dark places or at night-time.  They have a primitive form of religion, worshipping sinister eidolons that resemble a cross between a toad and a bat.

for a fistful of d6

On July 4th, the 6d6 RPG hits general circulation.  After 18 months of development, rigorous playtesting and experiments in publishing and production, it's finally here!  I got chance to have a couple of beers with Chris Tregenza and discuss the concepts that led to 6d6 RPG.  The ideas behind this are innovative in combination:

1. Creative Commons: 6d6 RPG is CC-BY-SA.  You can publish (and sell) your own version of 6d6 as long as you acknowledge the original and don't use 6d6 logos.  No standard reference documents or terms of fan use to restrict third-party publishers.  Remixing content, hacks and mashups are welcomed.
2. Fan-driven rules mechanics: Development of mechanics has expanded during playtest and is now hosted on a wiki (DocuWiki for the technically curious).  It's telling playtesters are becoming 6d6 RPG mechanics and setting writers.  Both Breakout! and 6d6 Bots are playtester-developed.
   
3. Living Document:  Buy a 6d6 PDF and you'll always have the latest edition.  New versions can be provided from the site. Compiling errata and annotating against static hardbacks isn't an issue since you can just re-download the PDF. As long as there's a 6d6 RPG, you'll have the latest version.
4. The Writer's Share.  Writers of 6d6 RPG branded-products get a share of the profits (33%) rather than being paid a flat-rate per word.  If you have a vision for a game setting, the 6d6 RPG mechanics provide a distinctive mechanical framework.
5. Subscription-based online tools.  The 6d6 Tools offers full, ongoing access to all 6d6 products and the wiki.  Initially being launched with lifetime memberships, the plan is to offer regular updates to products (see the Living Document item above) and other materials.

Print copies of 6d6 RPG are ring-bound.  This gives them a distinctive look and certain benefits (no spine to break, handouts can be removed without harming a book) compared to other RPG products. Products make a splash when they break the mold (e.g. LOTFP's Vornheim).  The hard covers are durable plastic-bound art board.  The manufacturing process is outlined here with associated costs. Chris is candid why this approach was taken.

I wanted to learn how to make and sell an RPG, which included physically making one.  People have written about the risks, about how role-playing games are a tough market - any market is tough, look at how many businesses fail!  Game store owners have told me 6d6 RPG will stand out on shelves.  This is about doing things a little differently, with unexpected benefits - like not damaging the book to provide player handouts.

Chris discloses his costs, following the example of Fred Hicks.  Costs, especially printing and distribution for the print copies were higher than expected.  In addition, the perception of professionalism matters, especially when it comes to art.  This intrigued me as many publishers use print on demand (POD) to cover those costs.  Why not use print-on-demand services like Lulu?

 Many Lulu-based products look and feel like traditional RPG product which means they're bound within the same constraints.  Also Lulu doesn't do cards, a core part of 6d6 RPG.     

When it comes to PDF products, buyers are spoilt for choice and product quality varies. With Online Tools and Living Document, writers and fans can refine work without bogging down in the concept of errata.  Chris admits he will provide some quality control, particularly over the Core Rules.  Good open source is hard and ultimately the intent is for self-moderating peer review to drive development. 

6d6 RPG products (Ultra-Lite and Mince Pies and Murder) have had good reviews, the Core Rules and Outbreak! are released on the 4th of July after extensive playtesting at UK conventions alongside a western (Shootouts) and fantasy-based system (Magic) as well as adventures.  Chris speaks highly of this process and of conventions in general - his only wish is that more people visited them!  We got to talking about the casual gamer and what role Facebook and social media could have in bringing more people into RPGs.  I asked if there are plans to develop 6d6 RPG apps: 

Not in the short term but if you've got technical skills and are interested, I'd love to hear from you - you may have to be paid in 6d6 products at first!  Some core 6d6 RPG concepts like cards, static and dynamic pools would work well in a web or app-based model.

It was a pleasure talking to Chris and I hope 6d6 RPG goes well.  A lot of ideas he's expressed are things I think will benefit tabletop RPG development and the market.  The cards make resource-pool mechanics tangible and easy to grasp.  Combined with guaranteed minimum competence and situational modifiers it combines utility with the ability to model multiple settings.  A versatile set of easy-to-grasp mechanics with good product support and wide-open development environment. What more could you want?

inns & taverns: the field of stones

The Field of Stones is a pastoral roadside tavern.  Next to it, a bit of local colour, a field filled with granite standing stones the size of an average dwarf.  While that field enjoys druidic protection, the tavern is frequented by less enigmatic people.  Local travellers extol the Field of Stones for it's generous measures and cheery warmth, even during midwinter.  Visiting merchants mock this generosity yet the Field of Stones is always busy and never desperate.

The sign is a simple slateboard with the words The Field of Stones picked out in gold and white paint.  The exterior is a two-storey barn structure of whitewashed cement.  A shuttered porch leads to a spacious lounge bar with numerous elevated nooks fitted with table and chairs.  These afford concealment privacy while creating an eavesdropper's paradise.  It is almost impossible to find a single table that allows full visibility of the tavern.  Stairs leading upwards are visible from the porch while a single corner bar and roasting spit serve the lounge.  Serving maidens flit from table to bar with brisk courtesy.  The walls are hung with preserved corn dollies and small wreaths of meadow flowers.

A golden sweet ale (Lord's Fair), eminently quaffable is sold in quantity here.  An oak-coloured heavy ale (Dark Lady) is sold to both the stout of heart and stout of waist.  Jugs of rough red and white wine are sold alongside brown clay jugs of harsh barleybree.  This last is diluted with a jug of water by bar staff to taste.  Drinking barleybree neat is a desperate move for professional drunks and most locals who take a measure do so with the water.  The spit is oft-occupied by pig or boar roasted with herbs and accompanied by roasted potato or turnip.

The landlady, Karela is a petite blonde of indeterminate age in smart working clothes.  Her grey eyes could stare down a zombie and her no-nonsense manner cuts to the chase on discussions.  Her talent at managing The Field of Stones has made her locally famous.  She has no husband and claims no need for one.  The staff at the Field are polite and youthful, all immaculately turned out.  They follow Karela's lead confident in her experience.  It's whispered Karela was an adventurer once, certainly she seems willing enough to cut deals with strangers if it benefits The Field first and herself second.

The stairs upstairs lead into a corridor and doors leading left, right and ahead.  Left takes you to a common room suitable for nine, which can hold twelve at a pinch.  Right creates a corridor leading to six private room suited to single occupancy.  There is a faint smell of brackish water at the windows but this fades when the shutters are opened and air circulates within the room.  Karela will insist that shutters are kept closed at night.  This prevents local creatures taking advantage, she claims.  It's usually explained away as midges but at least one traveller has seen a figure prowling amid the stones at night.

The stones near The Field are anointed with hot blood at seasonal festivals by itinerant druids.  These rites are attended by many locals including Karela.  It's held the prowler among the stones is one of the druids yet Karela will disagree.  When pressed she changes the subject.  Yet the stones occasionally move, seemingly by themselves.  On those nights, the prowler reappears.  Nobody has yet confronted the figure though Karela may hire some advenuturers if the figure begins to become a nuisance.