Pilgrims to the Queen of the Gods aka All About Pilgrimages & Cartography by John Josten is a role playing game supplement published by Board Enterprises. This is a generic supplement that is part of the Small Bites series. This is the abbreviated “World Walker” version; the full version is nearly three times as long but is only available for Patreon supporters.
This is a 20 page PDF that is available for free from RPGNow. One page is the front cover and around half a page is an ad for the Patreon campaign and links to other supplements.
The Introduction explains why pilgrims are interesting in a FRPG and how the supplement is laid out, which is different to the others, and includes coloured boxes. These boxes represent Game Designer’s Notes, Clarification, Mission & Quests and Twists. However, with this being the abbreviated version, the layout is the standard one and only one of these boxes are used and only once.
Fletnern Wiki is articles taken from the wiki, all tagged Pilgrimage. These are sites, businesses, events, individuals, cities, cultures and basics. All of these are essentially connected to a specific pilgrimage by a specific person, one of the individuals mentioned.
The Sounding Board is a collection of articles from the blog.
Strip Maps explains what these are and what they are used for. Given that many people are travelling a specific route, they will not be interested in places away from it. So, a road map will only show places of interest on the road, and those businesses that contributed to the map maker will be given preference.
Maps explains how the original maps tended to be a list of directions rather than a map of the area.
The Myths of Washington condemns, from a patriot’s point of view, the fact that grade school history is propaganda. It then says that myth, such as those that sprung up around George Washington, can be used to craft the culture of a setting and often impart it indirectly to players.
Sacrifices considers just what a god might get from a sacrifice made to them.
Sacrifices 2 considers sacrifices again, largely as eggs, and why eggs are important sacrifices, although different gods may want different things.
Sacrifices Part 3 considers just what the person doing the sacrifice gets from it. There are also some examples as things that can be gained, but these are often not precisely what the individual wants. So a wizard sacrificing to the trickster god so that he can gain fireball gets a miniature dragon called Fireball.
Lifestyles of the Magical and Mundane considers religious relics and stealing them. Most relics are not guarded due to the faithful believing that if it’s a true relic the god will guard it. Different gods will have different things happen to the thief according to superstition, but these are often self-fulfilling. So the superstition regarding stealing from Manoto, the god of war, is that the thief will be hunted by warriors – and they are, the warrior-priests of the god. So the god doesn’t need to actively intervene to prove the superstition.
News of Fletnern starts with the Ruby Tear, a gem that was formed when an angel cut herself under her eye to represent crying and it formed into the gem. The Holy Pool is a pilgrimage site that is sacred to an elven goddess, and now a human goddess as well. Pilgrims from both faiths are now travelling to it and trouble will probably follow as they clash. Sacred Tombs considers mausoleums, a popular way to allow the faithful to be buried on sacred ground as it allows for many more burials per square yard.
The Good Life considers how strip maps are made and that villages may change their name to make them appear bigger and more important on the map. There are also comments on the price lists, which are not included in the abbreviated supplement. Slang & Superstition considers various terms for different religious personnel and what their jobs are.
What’s Missing is a list of the articles that are not included.
In Conclusion states that this edition might feel different, unless it’s the World Walker version.
Following the Path of Saint Khasmir Chouwaska has a list of places on the route with a day-by-day list of when these are visited and the distance, which in some cases is different depending on the way travelled. This is followed by a full page strip map of the route then five more strip maps on a day-by-day basis, as well as some more on creating strip maps.
The PDF is bookmarked but only the major sections are linked. There is a Table of Contents but this is only to a similar level of detail. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a two column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are some black and white illustrations, plus a colour one, that appear to be public domain, plus some custom strip maps which are stated by the author to not be that impressive in appearance.
As usual, this is a collection of articles on a generally related subject rather than a coherent whole. There is a decent amount of information on pilgrims and pilgrimages and how these could have an effect on the area. Increased travel means increased business to places on the route and some places can gain more business by ensuring they are included on pilgrims’ maps. A game world’s cultural background can be increased and then this background developed into potential adventure hooks. Pilgrims to the Queen of the Gods aka All About Pilgrimages & Cartography can be downloaded for free by clicking here.
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