A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Village Backdrop: Fulhurst Moors

Village Backdrop: Fulhurst Moors by Jacob Trier is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is a village close to some moors and bogs.

This is a ten page PDF that is available from RPGNow at the regular price of $2.45 but was purchased at the greatly reduced price of $0.21 as part of a special bundle. This village is one of the ones included in the compilation supplement GM’s Miscellany: Village Backdrops III. The PDF comes in two version, one optimised for print and high end devices, the other for screen and mobile.

Two pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers, with a third, similar page, one page is the front matter, Contents and Stat Blocks by CR and one page is the Open Game License.

Fulhurst Moors At a Glance is the standard overview of the village. The moor on which it is located was once a forest, but the clans who lived here cut down the trees and attracted will-o’-wisps, resulting in the creation of the moors and the exodus of the former residents. The current village exists to harvest peat but a necromancer moved into the area and made deals with the will-o’-wisps, causing a climate of fear.

This section also has the demographics, notable NPCs and locations, marketplace, lore and whispers & rumours as well as a map of the settlement, and is included in the free supplement GM’s Monthly Miscellany: October 2014.

Notable Locations covers the eight locations from the previous section in more detail, including the tavern and the wizard’s tower – the wizard having disguised his true intentions from the villagers and having the only stat block.

Finally, there is a single page on Life in Fulhurst Moors, covering trade & industry, law & order and a d6 table of random events.

Village Backdrop: Fulhurst Moors in Review

The PDF is well bookmarked with only a single sidebar not linked. The Contents are less thorough, only covering the main sections. Navigation is very good for a short supplement.

The text maintains a two column format and no errors were noticed. Apart from the map, there are a couple of pieces of black and white filler art. Presentation is therefore decent.

Moor/bog villages have some pretty standard tropes, some in all genres and some particular to fantasy. Degenerate and inbred cultists are common as are lizardfolk of one kind or another. This village has none of these, making it a bit different to the norm. The villagers themselves are hardworking people trying to eke out an existence but who have become strangled by fear due to the actions of the necromancer and his alliance with will-o’-wisps. There are a couple of potential adventure hooks, with the necromancer being the most notable. Village Backdrop: Fulhurst Moors is a nice, different village of its type and it can be checked out by clicking here.