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

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: July 2016 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is primarily aimed at the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and, as such, is covered by the Open Game License with some of it being considered Open Game Content. This is one in a series of supplements that consists of eleven regular issues followed by a twelfth compilation issue that is also available as a print on demand softcover.

This is a fifteen page bookmarked PDF. Two pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers, one page is an ad for their Patreon campaign, one page an ad for their website, one page is the Contents and front matter, one page 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.

20 Things to Decorate a Wizard’s Tower and 8 Strange Sounds are two articles from the publisher’s website. These articles are compiled with others in 20 Things #3: Wizard’s Tower.

Umelas At a Glance is from Village Backdrop: Umelas. This provides an overview of the village, which has made a deal with an evil fey in exchange for prosperity, and its demographics, marketplace, notable NPCs and locations, lore and whispers & rumours, as well as a map of the settlement.

The Mudded Manse At a Glance is an extract from Places of Power: The Mudded Manse. This is a place, close to the village of Thornhill, that has been transformed into healing hospice and spa using the beneficial properties of the mud found on the plateau it is built on. The Manse’s demographics, marketplace and notable NPCs and locations are listed, along with six events and whispers & rumours and a map of the building and surroundings.

A Uneventful Day’s Travel in a Swamp is taken from Campaign Backdrop: Marshes & Swamps. This is a d100 table with 50 results to describe travel in a swamp where nothing notable happens.

20 Minor Treasures to Find in a Smuggler’s Storeroom is an article from the publisher’s site that is now in 20 Things #4: Smuggler’s Lair (the article also appeared in the August 2015 issue).

The PDF is decently bookmarked for its length but unfortunately a number of them link to the wrong pages. The Contents is slightly less thorough than the bookmarks. Navigation is not as good as it should be. The text maintains a two column format with a few minor errors noticed. Apart from the settlement and building maps, the other illustrations would appear to be stock.

As with all issues in this series, this is intended to showcase Raging Swan products, but it also has use in and of itself. Umelas and the Mudded Manse could both be dropped into a campaign as-is, although there aren’t enough details on some of the plot threads to use those without further development. The table for non-events in a swamp can easily be used in any setting. GM’s Monthly Miscellany: July 2016 is perhaps not the most useful in this series, but it is still a decent collection, and it can be found for free by clicking here.