Codex - Melancholy (Jul. 2019)

Codex is the monthly RPG magazine published by The Gauntlet gaming community! Each issue features a variety of articles organized around a theme, loads of original artwork, and a custom layout.

Inside Codex - Melancholy:

Cruel and Unusual An original game inspired by A Series of Unfortunate Events and other nasty business. From the text: “This is a game of tragic and villainous tales. It is deeply unpleasant, full of elaborately and doggedly overwrought grammar, and liable to have public servants and preachers alike mourning for the damaged souls and minds of those who dare to play it. I would advise you to find an altogether more light form of entertainment to while away your evening; perhaps your local Nickelodeon is playing the newest Michael Haneke?”

Last Words An innovative LAOG (Live Action Online Game) about death and grief. From the text: “The death of the Deceased came too early for the Living. There is something the Living and the Deceased had to talk about and now it’s too late. When visiting the grave, the Living talks to the Deceased about these unresolved issues, as if they could hear them. And in fact, the Deceased can hear them but cannot respond. Unresolved business in this world gives the Deceased pain and prevents them from finding rest in the afterlife. An Angel, existing near the grave, overhears the Deceased’s responses. The Angel can’t hear the Living, but the Angel decides they want to help the Deceased to find rest. When the Angel and the Deceased next talk about what happened (during what is called the Midnight phase), the Angel decides to enter the Living’s dreams to send what the Living needs to know through symbols and visions. Maybe these dreams have already changed the Living when they visit the grave of the Deceased next time.”

Every Heart has its Skeletons This is a set of rules and procedures for playing the beloved Jane Austen game Good Society in the world of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. From the text: “Good Society does a marvelous job of recreating the world of Jane Austen in game form; such a good job, in fact, that its mechanics lend themselves to being used for other nineteenth century writers. One writer in particular seems a perfect match for them: Leo Tolstoy… In some ways Tolstoy is an even better match for the distributed nature of the characters in Good Society; for while Austen generally only gives us the world as seen by her main character, Tolstoy constantly dips into the minds and viewpoints of his minor characters, creating a panoramic view of the world. This works so well with the Connection characters in Good Society that it seems to have been written with him in mind.”

The Forest of Blades This is an expansion for the dark fantasy game Trophy. It features Desperate Hunters in the Throes of Plunder, Thirty-Six Remnants of Hunters Past, and the new incursion, The Forest of Blades. From the text: It’s an old story but an enticing one. The day of shattered skies and broken steel, when warriors mighty in power and prestige proved their worth and a thousand blades clashed. Scholars and priests differ on who led what side or what the battle was even about. Hence, its many names: the Sunset War, the Battle of Kalhmadur, the Skies Asunder, and more. The one thing they agree on: the battle was on a scale beyond what any today could imagine… A forest now grows upon that ancient battlefield. The old stories say that within that forest lay powerful artifacts, weapons crafted to smite the ground and tear the sky apart—not to mention heirlooms of the past, the booty of soldiers still unclaimed. Any soul brave enough and clever enough to negotiate the forest would surely come out with a sizeable bounty. But the stories warn that the forest has been watered by the blood of the dead. And the dead prefer to be undisturbed.”

Three Dozen Things Lost (Perhaps Forever) A miscellany.

10 original illustrations

Custom layouts by Jake Householder and Jesse Ross