Free Role Playing Game Supplement Review: GM’s Monthly Miscellany: March 2017

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: March 2017 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is primarily aimed at the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and is covered by the Open Game License with some of it being considered Open Game Content as a result. This is one in a series that consists of eleven regular monthly supplements and a twelfth compilation supplement that is also available as a print on demand softcover.

GM's Monthly Miscellany: March 2017This is a thirteen page bookmarked PDF. Two pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers, two pages are taken up by ads for their website and Patreon campaign, one page is the Contents and front matter, one page the Open Game License and one page is the Foreword. The PDF comes in two formats, one optimised for print and the other for screen.

1,000 Abnormal Skeletons is an article from the publisher’s site intended to add diversity to skeletons. This is three d10 tables (10x10x10 = 1,000), one covering differences in appearance, one for different combat techniques and one for items of personal treasure. Really, there aren’t 1,000 different skeletons; there would be too much overlap that would make the descriptions repetitive.

Woodridge At a Glance is taken from Village Backdrop: Woodridge. This is a backwater settlement that has far more going on under the surface than might be thought. An overview is given of the village, as well as the marketplace, demographics. lore, whispers & rumours and notable NPCs and locations, as well as a map.

Visionary’s Perch At a Glance is from Places of Power: Visionary’s Perch. This is a lonely island in the ocean that is occupied by a cyclopean oracle and her elven guards/keepers. The demographics, marketplace, lore, notable NPCs and locations, whispers & rumours and a d6 table of random events are given, as well as a map of the location.

20 Things to See in a Siege is another article from the publisher’s site and is a d20 table of siege occurrences. These could be used as dressing or as a link to something more.

The PDF is well bookmarked for its length but, as has been seen for some time, some of the bookmarks lead to the wrong locations, decreasing their utility. The Contents is not quite as thorough. Navigation is as a result not as good as it should be. The text maintains a two column format and no errors were noticed. Apart from the two maps, there were only a couple of standard stock illustrations used.

Woodridge has enough details that the village can be used as-is. Although it is in the Duchy of Ashlar, part of the Gloamhold campaign setting, it can easily be dropped into other settings as well. Similarly, there is also enough detail on Visionary’s Perch to use that as well, and given its location far from land, dropping it in to a setting will not be a problem.

Although there is perhaps less in this supplement than there is in others in the series, what there is can still be used. GM’s Monthly Miscellany: March 2017 is perhaps not the best in the series, but it still contains useful articles, and it’s free, so click here to get it.

 

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