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The Manor, Issue #5 $2.50
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The Manor, Issue #5
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The Manor, Issue #5
Publisher: GM Games
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/16/2018 04:41:11

An Endzeitgeist.com review

The fifth installment of the Manor zine clocks in at 28 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page introduction, 1 page advertisement, leaving us with 24 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

The first chapter of this installment provides 4 different villains, illustrated with great b/w-artworks by Jay Penn: Here, we can find Morton Millwater, formerly an elf, who had to learn via near-death experience that he is, indeed, a half-troll, awakening to cannibalistic impulses. A truly vile dwarven cleric sworn to Eternal Darkness has become the sworn foe to his people. A true professional kills to hone his craft and leaves compensation for bereaved victims, but is probably the most disturbing of the villains here, courtesy of his disregard for the value of life. Finally, there is a potent warlord who does not quell the unrest in his area, as it allows him to retain control and indeed, get his share of bloodshed and authority. These NPCs are cool and fun, even though their presentations don’t sport perfect formatting.

Chris Coski provides cursed concoctions – here, you can find the decanter of dehydration, the god-awfully-smelling eau de trog, a representation of the temporary zombie-draught, a drink that causes constant babbling and one that nets a Babylonian language-confusion. Plumber’s poison turns metal to lead and we also get a philter of pheromones. Really cool article!

Sean Robson provides a 1-page tavern name generator with 20 entries for adjectives and 20 entries for nouns, though some entries sport more than once choice. Solid.

The next article is the crown-jewel of the pdf, at least as far as I’m concerned: It provides 4 thoroughly-discussed and intriguing types of special doors - from the sturdy Oxfords to the necromancer-suitable Magaross, the orcish Marchuz or the Delarogue, sold be capable thieves, this section details pros and cons of each door and is absolutely inspiring. LOVE it! Seriously worth the asking price of the pdf on its own.

The final article of the ‘zine contains 20 random city encounters, which first present the situation and then what has truly happened/developments in shaded boxed text. The encounters are nice and have tie-ins with e.g. #2’s Hugo’s as well as one of the villains herein. These include a sadistic psychopath kid, drunk folks, undead…all in all, a solid section.

The pdf concludes with a map of a complex, usable at your convenience and sans key.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are generally rather tight and solid in both formal and rules-language criteria. Layout adheres to a 1-column b/w-standard and the b/w-artworks are really amazing. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience and the map is neat.

Tim Shorts, Sean Robson and Chris Cosky present my favorite Manor –issue so far. The articles on doors and weird liquids are amazing and warrant the low and great asking price. The articles are concise and fun. What more to ask? This is definitely worth checking out. My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Manor, Issue #5
Publisher: GM Games
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 11/10/2014 13:39:35

One of the cool things about the early days of this hobby was finding great little zines of new content. Sometimes it was an alternate rule, or new monster or class. Some of these were good, many were mediocre but all of them were a lot of fun. Back then I didn't care how good or bad it was, I was just glad to have something new and exciting to try out.

The Manor reminds me of the best parts of that time.

The Manor #5 is a bit shorter than #4, but at 28 pages it is still a great deal. First up is the "Vineyard of Villain. Four Evil NPCs to use in your game and illustrated by Jay Penn. "Cursed Concoctions" by Chris Coski is a collection of 7 new poisons/potions for evil GMs. There is a random table of tavern names if you need a dive in a hurry. The "Sullen Hagfish" has good food I am sure. There is a lengthy article on doors. With a nice font for the header. Made this feel like a cool 70s Zine, The article itself is a good one and a good read for GMs. There is another longish article on random city encounters. Like before, we end it with an ad (of sorts).

I am not as overtly enthusiastic about #5 as I was for #4; but there is a lot great stuff here all the same. Taken as a body of work it is still fun and still gives me that same thrill that I got when discovering Zines in the 80s.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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