A Solo With MEAT

Way back in May 2015 ("Before you were born! Remember, kids?) I posted a really short review of Jerry Teleha's Darkshade Chronicles: a Day in Baru-Kesh.  Here's what that little review looked like:

"One of the more entertaining solo adventures I've played, which then turns around and (in the second part of the book) presents the same adventure as a gamesmaster module! You AND your players will be able to enjoy this new city, and you'll find and create portions and adventures that Jerry hadn't imagined!

"You'll love the illustrations too, and they're handy for the GM who runs this for his gamers!

"One of the best bargains to be found on Amazon!"

That was then. This is now. How does DC:DB-K look now that Deluxe Tunnels and Trolls has come out?

Better than ever, and isn't that cool? 

COOL that it's completely compatible with Deluxe Tunnels and Trolls (Hereafter and forever referred to as "dTnT.") and at least 95% compatible with even the oldest edition of Tunnels and Trolls. (Forever and hereafter referred to as "TnT.")

COOL is that the solo offers opportunity to practice any skill, trait, etc that you might think of. Most likely that you'll fail if you think the world revolves around your character ("I immediately jump forward and lop off the head of Odin with my penknife.") but you can certainly attempt anything - and there's almost always a reaction or consequence programmed right into the adventure.

COOL is that the solo also allows and encourages (and this is a HUGE strength) you to make gamesmaster calls and choices as well as character choices. 

and VERY COOL is that it works even better as a regular GM sourcebook/city for your players. I've run this nicely, and I can tell you that once you have Other People running characters, your options and scope is multiplied by a factor of (some algebraic symbol which references the combination of all players' imagination and paranoia) - the adventure will run several sessions, becoming a campaign city if you but let it.

This is a ridiculously low price and a deceptively small page count for what is weeks and weeks of game play.

Asgard & Vikings & Castles & Crusades

Codex Nordica is one of the more meticulously researched books on the Scandinavian lands and legends, not just game-related. There's so much rich material here. Here is the ore from which Kirby and Lee mined and alloyed so successfully and has been put on the screen. No, this isn't the Marvel version of the legends - this is the stuff from which they made their own version, their own adventures.

Now, players and gamesmasters have even more data than Lee & Kirby had, with which to build their/our own adventures, our own cosmic odysseys. We'd have given our eyeteeth for this book in 1978!

How could the book be improved? Color. More pages. Maybe hardback printing. In other words, more of what it already is.

And it's just plain fun to read. Kudos to everyone involved!

*jeep! and God Bless! (Thank you, Red!)
----Grandpa Tzhett

Codex Nordica is available in either PDF or softbound hard copy from Troll Lord Games, publishers of Castles & Crusades, at their site http://trolllord.com/
Of course, the PDF is also available from https://www.drivethrustuff.com as well. But you knew that.