Uncommon Courage by Robert J. Schwalb is a role playing game supplement published by Schwalb Entertainment for use with Shadow of the Demon Lord. This supplement is part of the Victims of the Demon Lord series which give further details on ancestries; in this case, halflings.
This is a sixteen page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $2.99 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. About half of the first page is an illustration and a quarter the Credits.
The introductory paragraphs explain that the supplement expands on the information of halflings found in the Demon Lord’s Companion. Humanity’s Distant Cousins explains that halflings are related to humans and were one of the First People. Halflings largely avoided conflict and were willing to co-exist with faeries. When fighting reached the halflings’ lands, they travelled over the Shield Mountains to the Endless Steppe, where they peacefully coexisted with the centaurs there, until for some reason – both sides make their own claims – the peace broke down, the halflings returned back over the mountains and the centaurs refused to let anyone else settle on the steppe. Many halflings settled in Low Country, promising a tithe of food, and similar arrangements were made in other places. Halflings have steered clear of trouble, but may no longer be able to do so.
Halflings are similar to other humans, and display a wide range of colouration; the main difference is that they are smaller, which sometimes, to their annoyance, can result in them being treated like children. Halflings are fastidious and prefer a simple life with plenty of food, but this does not make them cowards, as they are anything but. Halflings are very courageous, as they feel that each life they live is one of many, so death does not hold the same degree of fear for them. Halflings are lucky and are pretty casual when it comes to religion.
Halflings on general get on with most other races. They consider changelings to be a bit worrying, as they represent the theft of children, but they will still accept changelings, although carefully watch them. Clockworks they pity more than anything, as their souls have been taken from the Underworld and trapped in machines, something that is anathema to halflings. Goblins are a race most disliked by halflings, as they are both filthy and tricksters. Orcs blame halflings, perhaps unjustly, as much for their suffering as they do humans.
Next are expanded tables on creating characters, with several dozen rather than a handful. These will create a halfling’s appearance, background, professions, personality, family, setbacks, windfalls and equipment.
Finally there is a new Expert path, the Jester, whose specialities are wit, especially of the biting kind.
Uncommon Courage in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and, although short, there are a lot of sections and tables so bookmarks would have been appreciated. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a two column full colour format and appeared to be free of errors. There are also a number of full colour illustrations, up to half a page in size. Presentation is very good.
This expands and collects together the background material on halflings, putting it all in one place. It also expands on the character creation process, allowing more detailed halflings to be created at the expense of taking more time to do so. As with all entries in the Victims of the Demon Lord series, whether increased character creation time is desired in a fairly lethal game is open to question. Uncommon Courage is a nice expansion for the halfling creation process and it can be found by clicking here.
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