GM’s Monthly Miscellany: May 2016 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is primarily intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some of it is considered to be Open Game Content. This is one in a regular monthly series that consists of eleven regular supplements and 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 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 print and the other for screen.
The Fallacy of the Adventurer’s Backpack is an article from the publisher’s site. It considers just how difficult it would be in real life for an adventurer to carry the sort of things around with them that they generally do.
Revenge At a Glance is an extract from Village Backdrop: Revenge. This is an overview of a settlement founded by a former pirate which is now under threat by the undead form of a deceased enemy. The village’s demographics, marketplace, notable NPCs and locations, lore and whispers & rumours are listed, along with a map of the village.
Penitent’s Rest At a Glance is from Places of Power: Penitent’s Rest. This is a shrine inspired by a penitent former paladin. Again, the settlement’s demographics, marketplace, notable NPCs and locations, lore and whispers & rumours are listed, along with a d6 table of events and a map of the location.
Looting the Bag of Holding: Adventuring Gear is taken from I Loot the Bag of Holding and is a d100 table of various adventuring supplies, which may be valuable or useful to other adventures, that could be found in a bag of holding.
20 Bulky Treasures Difficult to Get Out of a Dungeon is another article from the publisher’s site, this one a d20 table of items that have worth but which are big, heavy, or require special care if players wish to loot them.
The PDF is well bookmarked for its length but, as now seems to always be the case, there are errors in the bookmarks with some pointing to the wrong locations, which decreases their utility. The Contents is not quite as thorough as the bookmarks. Navigation is okay but it could be better. The text maintains a two column format with a couple of errors noticed. Bar the maps, there are a couple of black and white stock illustrations.
The primary purpose of these supplements is to showcase other supplements, but it still has use in and of itself. The village of Revenge – which is close to the pirate town of Deksport, whose overview can be found in the November 2014 issue – is enough to use it as-is. Similarly, Penitent’s Rest could also be dropped into a campaign. Bags of holding are quite popular, and it makes sense that they would be used to transport items other than treasure, so this is a list that can be used in any appropriate setting.
GM’s Monthly Miscellany: May 2016 is a good entry in the series and one of the better ones at that, and it can be got for free by clicking here.
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