GM’s Monthly Miscellany: July 2014 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press, primarily intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This is one in a regular monthly series that consists of eleven normal issues followed by a twelfth that is a compilation and which is available as a print on demand softcover. The supplement is covered by the Open Game License and therefore some of it is considered to be Open Game Content.
This is a sixteen page bookmarked PDF. Three pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers, as well as a third, similar page. One page is the front matter and Contents, one page is the Open Game License and one page is the Foreword. The supplement comes in two formats, one optimised for screen and one for print.
Player Advice: Why We Adventure Together is an article from the Raging Swan website. This is a collection of reasons why the characters in a party would be adventuring together.
Hjalward At a Glance is an extract from Village Backdrop: Hjalward. Hjalward is a frontier settlement built near part of a huge, and now ruined, wall built by frost giants. There is an overview of the town’s demographics, notable NPCs and locations, local lore and rumours, as well as a map of the village.
The Twilight Demesne At a Glance is taken from Demiplanes: The Twilight Demesne. As can be seen from the title of the full supplement, the Twilight Demesne is a demiplane. How to get to the demiplane, its physical traits, notable inhabitants, notable locations, lore and a map are given, as well as a d20 table for dressing the demiplane.
Tribes: Pazuzu’s Fury is from Pazuzu’s Fury and covers a tribe of harpies. This has a potential history of the tribe, lore, details on their ecology, society, lairs, religion, combat and tactics, although it doesn’t have any details on notable NPCs. The full supplement is intended to compatible with the, free, setting, The Lonely Coast.
From My Campaign: Warband is a group of stat blocks for an orc warband, although one which has a minotaur mercenary and a half-elf thief accompanying them.
GM Advice: 8 Module Prepping Techniques is another article from the Raging Swan site, and has tips on using commercial modules.
The PDF is unusually well bookmarked for one of this length, with every major and minor section being included. The text maintains a two column format, with no errors noticed. There are a handful of black and white illustrations; apart from the maps these are either stock or from other Raging Swan products.
This may be promoting other supplements, but it still has utility. Hjalward has enough information to use the town, although it’s probable that some changes may need to be made, as the frost giant wall is a bit constricting. The Twilight Demesne similarly has enough details to use as is, and being a demiplane, it can easily be utilised anywhere. Pazuzu’s Fury is less useful; there are too many references to parts of the full supplement for this to stand alone, and stats will need creating as well. The lack of them does, however, make this article more system-agnostic. Finally, the Warband is a useful collection of Pathfinder stats that can provide an instant adversary.
GM’s Monthly Miscellany: July 2014 is a decent collection of articles, some more useful than others, and it’s free, so click here to get it.
Leave a Reply