GM’s Monthly Miscellany: October 2014 is a free role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press, primarily for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This is one in a regular monthly series of supplements which consists of eleven standard editions and a twelfth, compilation, edition which is also 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 fourteen page bookmarked PDF. Three pages are Raging Swan’s standard plain front and rear covers with 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 versions, one optimised for print and the other for screen.
GM Advice: 5 Ways to Improve Your GMing is an article from the Raging Swan site has five tips on getting better and getting new ideas.
Fulhurst Moors At a Glance is taken from Village Backdrop: Fulhurst Moors and covers a moor settlement that is currently losing people to will-o’-wisps. There is a history, demographics, important NPCs and locations, marketplace, village lore and rumours, as well as a map of the village.
Infested Sewers: An Alternate Dungeon is an extract from Alternate Dungeons: Infested Sewer. This article has details on how to design and run a sewer dungeon, as well as what loot could be found in it.
Brethren of the Crimson Altar is taken from the supplement of the same name (which is included in the compilation supplement Scions of Evil). This is an organisation of four master vampires, as well as their enslaved vampires and vampire spawn, who serve the titular altar. Using the Brethren in your campaign is discussed, as well as their tactics and lairs. This is a group which operates from the shadows.
GM Advice: How to Deal with GM Fatigue is another article from the Raging Swan site and gives a number of ways on how to handle a situation where the regular GM is suffering from burnout.
The supplement is unusually well bookmarked for one of this length, although not quite to the same extent as previous issues. Combined with some errors in the bookmarks, where they do not lead to the correct page, means that this supplement is not as easy to navigate as prior editions. However, it is still short enough that this isn’t a huge problem. The supplement maintains a two column text layout throughout, and the black and white illustrations included would appear to be stock, with the exception of the maps, although some of the others may have been taken from other supplements from the publisher.
Most supplements of this type are intended to promote other supplements from their publisher and indeed this does, but it has some utility as well. The description of Fulhurst Moors is thorough enough that it can be used as a settlement as is, with some adventure hooks. The two other major articles on the infested sewers and the Brethren do have some utility, but the latter especially requires a lot more fleshing out. This is therefore not as good by itself as some of the supplements in this series. Still, GM’s Monthly Miscellany: October 2014 is a decent collection of articles, and it’s free, so click here to get it.
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