A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Gregorius21778: The Staff of 13 Woes

Gregorius21778: The Staff of 13 Woes is a role playing game supplement published by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

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

The opening paragraphs explain that this is the third in a series, the other two being The Day of Manifest Misfortune and Dreaded 13, of supplements released on and for Friday 13th.

The staff is first described and it’s explained how it can be identified. It holds 13 different spells that can each be cast at the 6th level by tapping the ground with the staff’s copper cap three times and willing the spell to manifest. Storytellers may know of the staff and how it recharges.

The thirteen spells of the staff are then described. It’s not explicitly stated, but going by the following section, each spell can only be cast once before needing recharging. All but one of the spell effects has a detrimental side effect that happens unless avoided with a Save vs. Device check. The user may not immediately realise that they are suffering the side effect, as many of them do not take immediate effect.

Why is it the Staff of Woes? explains how the staff can be recharged. Each spell requires a different method, none of which are easy, some of which are distasteful and one of which would be abhorrent to all but evil characters.

Gregorius21778: The Staff of 13 Woes in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, at this length, doesn’t need them. Navigation is fine. The text maintains a two-column colour format and a few minor errors were noticed. There is a single, black and white illustration, of the staff.

The detrimental part of this supplement is primarily the potential negative effects from using the staff; these can, depending on the conditions when they take place, range from annoying to potentially fatal. It is unlikely that most characters would be able to, or would want to, recharge the staff’s powers after it’s used. It is possible that the supplement could be used with other systems, but this would be harder than usual, although other OSR systems will be the easiest. Gregorius21778: The Staff of 13 Woes has a not entirely nice, but comparatively low power, magic item that can be given to characters and it can be found by clicking here.