Free Role Playing Game Supplement Review: GM’s Monthly Miscellany: August 2016

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: August 2016 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is primarily aimed at the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game; as such, it is covered by the Open Game License and parts of it are considered to be Open Game Content. This is one in a regular monthly series which consists of eleven normal issues and a twelfth compilation issue that is also available as a print on demand softcover every year.

This is a fifteen page bookmarked PDF, of which two pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers, two pages are ads for their Patreon campaign and website, one page is the Contents and front matter, one page is the Open Game License and one page is the Foreword. The supplement comes in two formats, one optimised for print and the other for screen.

Why Your Campaign Needs Rumours is an article from the publisher’s website. This considers how rumours used to be a common part in published adventures and the fact that they are now less common. The reasons for using them, types of rumours and where to get them are considered.

Macrimei At a Glance is from Village Backdrop: Macrimei. This gives an overview of the village, which is a barbarian village built on the site of a former city. Its demographics, marketplace, notable NPCs and locations, lore and whispers & rumours are given, as well as a map of the settlement.

The Mistfall Refuge At a Glance is taken from Places of Power: The Mistfall Refuge. This unusual place is protected from scrying and divination and is used as a last refuge from pursuers. Its demographics, marketplace, lore, notable NPCs and locations are given, with a map of the location. The refuge is built onto cliffs, so the map is viewed from the side, not top down.

Whispers & Rumours: Local Legends is an extract from Whispers & Rumours: Borderland Town. This is a d20 table of twenty local legends that players could uncover.

20 Things to Find in a Mine is another article from the publisher’s site and has twenty items of dressing to find in a mine.

The PDF is well bookmarked for its length but, once again, there are errors which decrease their utility. The Contents is slightly less thorough than the bookmarks. Navigation is as a result okay but not as good as it should have been. The text maintains a two column format and no errors were noticed. Apart from the settlement maps, there are a few pieces of stock art.

As always, this supplement is intended to showcase other products from the publisher but, as always, it has utility in itself. Macrimei could be used in its present state, although there are hints towards something more interesting in the area – perhaps former technology, or a combination of magic and technology – that aren’t made clear and which would perhaps need the full supplement. The Mistfall Refuge could certainly be used in its present state and dropped into a remote location; the players might wish to hide there or seek out someone who has fled to it for instance. Finally, the 20 local legends are pretty detailed and could be used as a source of adventure hooks.

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: August 2016 is a good entry in the series with some useful resources and it can be found for free by clicking here.