A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Gregorius21778: Ill-Starred 13

Gregorius21778: Ill-Starred 13 is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 for use with Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. As such it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. The supplement is adapted from the original Dreaded 13.

The supplement is available as a four page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover, half a page is the front matter and one the Open Game License.

The opening paragraphs explain that this supplement will inflict misery and failure on the characters, who have offended something they probably shouldn’t have.

It explains that the events start when the first natural 13 is rolled on a d20. This triggers the first, set event, which is followed by more events until either the end of the current adventure or thirteen 13s have been rolled. The first event is just a bell sounding; after this, every natural 13 is an automatic failure that triggers a misfortune.

The Eleven Misfortunes In-Between follow. These are described and range from jinxed technology to malfunctions to fumbles and bad reactions.

The 13th and Final Misfortune affects the character whose player rolled the thirteenth 13. They are afflicted by a heart attack that may kill them.

Gregorius21778: Ill-Starred 13 in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and with only one true page of content doesn’t need them. Navigation is fine. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of error. There are no illustrations. Presentation is okay.

As with the other versions of this supplement, things go wrong for the characters. They can go very badly wrong, if they are even more unlucky. This is the sort of thing that shouldn’t be overused, and should definitely be linked to something the characters did that offended someone or something powerful; a Galactic Overlord, a Star God or something else appropriate for the setting. In general format it is similar to the other releases, but adapted for the system and setting of SB&CS. Gregorius21778: Ill-Starred 13 is a nasty little experience for characters and it can be found by clicking here.