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

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: November 2017 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press, primarily intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is one in a regular series of supplements that consists of eleven regular monthly issues and a twelfth, compilation, supplement that is also available as a print on demand softcover.

This is a thirteen 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 the Foreword and one page is the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one optimised for desktop and print and the other for low end devices and mobile.

10 Men-at-Arms with Personality is taken from 20 Things #20: Fort on the Borderland and gives a paragraph on ten different men (and women) at arms. Each has their name, alignment, race, class and level given, but no other stats as well as a paragraph on their personality and motivations.

Echo Harbour At a Glance is an extract from Village Backdrop: Echo Harbour. Echo Harbour is a port that was originally founded by a dragon turtle and a loyal orc tribe who allied with merfolk for mutual protection which helped make the place safe from the pirates that had troubled the area. This provides details on the village’s demographics, marketplace, lore, whispers & rumours and notable locations, as well as a map of the place.

Dead Man’s Run At a Glance is from Places of Power: Dead Man’s Run. Dead Man’s Run is a borderland ferry that is all that remains of two villages, a bridge and a fort that were all destroyed in a night of natural turmoil a decade ago. Provided are details on the place’s marketplace, demographics, lore, whispers & rumours, notable locations and a map.

10 Borderland For Whispers & Rumours is also taken from 20 Things #20: Fort on the Borderland and provides ten detailed rumours to hear in such a location.

The PDF is decently bookmarked for its length but, as has been the case for some time, some of the bookmarks are not linked to the proper pages, although all the main material is properly linked. The Contents is less thorough. Navigation is on the whole pretty good for a short supplement.

The text maintains a two column format and no errors were noticed. Apart from the maps, there are a few black and white images that would appear to be stock.

These PDFs are intended to promote Raging Swan’s products but, as always, they have use in and of themselves (and the publisher is continuing discontinuing them, so if you like these, make your voice heard). Both of the tables for the borderland fort can easily be used in any fantasy setting, or system, although stats for the NPCs will need generating. Similarly, the port village and the ferry can easily be dropped into appropriate places in campaign settings, perhaps with a bit of tweaking, as is suggested, of the history of Dead Man’s Ferry.

GM’s Monthly Miscellany: November 2017 is once again another decent entry in this series and it can be downloaded for free by clicking here.