Arcana Journal #4 by Robert Hemminger is a role playing game supplement published by the Avalon Game Company. This is one of a series of supplements that detail the system-neutral fantasy setting of Arcana.
This is a 54 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $2.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $1 during a sale. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Contents and one page is an ad for other products.
The first page of content is a hex map of the Arcana setting, with Hex 4 highlighted.
Hex 4 The West Coast and the Forest of Len has a hand coloured map of the hex with several points of interest marked and a general description of the hex, although most of it is water.
Rumours has a list of rumours. Despite saying that there are effectively none, this is a d10 table with nine rumours (the tenth result is a rumour from a nearby hex). Each rumour has various levels of difficulty, with different details found at each level. Each also has the truth of the matter detailed, and just because a rumour is hard to find doesn’t mean it is correct; every single rumour level can be untrue. In this section are some brief details on an adventure site, which is described later.
Hidden Lore is information that can be discovered about the hex. As with rumours, each piece of lore has multiple components to find, and these may or may not be true. Another adventure site – which is actually a site that could be found in different locations – is given a brief overview.
Locations and Sites of Note has four sites and starts with an overview of some enemies that can be found at the first site, which is detailed in the next section. The other three sites are all pirate lairs; the area is notorious for pirates.
Two full page maps follow. The first is wilderness, showing the location of the Caves of Corbon, and the next is a map of the caves. The caves are then described.
People of Interest describes various NPCs, three pirates, their ships and crew.
A list of what might be found using various divination spells is then followed by some potential adventure seeds.
Gix is a section giving a history of this notorious necromancer, who has had a significant impact on the setting, due to his association with the banished demon Gozer.
Magi and The Flow explains how magic was divided into ten different schools, and how each type of magic picks a Magi to represent that school. The Magus can override this if desired. There is a sidebar suggesting what powers a Magi might gain.
Ashmar starts with a map of this realm, which is in the south, and therefore not in this hex. A history of the realm is followed by details on the various lords and houses of the country. The heraldry (including an illustration), income, resources and costs of each house are covered. This is followed by listings of ships and troops and the names of some other NPCs.
General Gaming Rules is essentially on converting the system-neutral supplement to a game system. Adventure Difficulty Level explains how this works and there is information on magic and character stats.
The final pages of content are maps. There are colour and black and white maps of the hex, the wilderness around the Caves of Corbon and the caves, all unlabelled and presumably player maps, followed by a map of Ashmar. These lack backgrounds, which will make them easier to print.
Arcana Journal #4 in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and these would have been useful. The Contents only lists some of the sections. Navigation is quite poor. The text is generally in a single column format, except some lists, and as is unfortunately common, there are many errors. Perhaps not as many as in some supplements from the publisher, but enough to be a noticeable problem. There are a number of colour and black and white illustrations, some stock and some colour, as well as the colour backgrounds and borders. Presentation is okay.
This provides a combination of information on the specific hex, together with general setting information and details on a realm, Ashmar, not in this hex. For the latter, it would have been helpful to state what hex Ashmar is actually in. It can probably be guessed from the maps, but it shouldn’t be necessary to do so.
This is another interesting entry in many ways. The Arcana setting has clearly had a lot of thought put into it, and this supplement helps flesh it out some more. It really cannot be used by itself, though – but it probably isn’t intended to be. Unfortunately, the effort put into the setting is seriously harmed by the fact that the supplement really, really needed a competent editor or proof-reader. There are far too many errors. Despite this, it will be interesting to see more of the setting. Arcana Journal #4 can be found by clicking here.
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