GM’s Miscellany: Mini-Eventures II (P1) by Creighton Broadhurst is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and as such is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. The supplement is also available in versions for OSR, Pathfinder 2 and Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $6.45, as a softcover print on demand book for $10.45 or as both PDF and softcover for $12.44. The PDF is the version reviewed although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. The PDF has 36 pages with two being the front and rear covers, two being ads, two the front matter, one the Contents and Using a Mini-Eventure and one the Open Game License.
Using a Mini-Eventure explains that unlike normal adventures, eventures don’t have much combat and instead rely on social skills and roleplay. It explains that this supplement can be used to add details to the exploration of Languard, a city in the Duchy of Ashlar setting.
Languard at a Glance has the city’s stats and a brief description. There is lore the characters can uncover, an overview of the city in general and the various districts in particular. The appearance, dress and nomenclature used by the inhabitants is given, along with daily life, trade and industry, law and order and the Watch, including their commander, size and presence and festivals and traditions. Notable locations in the city are given by the districts they are in, then by their category, then mini-eventures by district and then by type; the latter being buying and selling, dining, drinking, learning, services and worship. These reference eventures that are in different supplements. Finally, there is a map of the city.
Following this are the various eventures, covering different individual locations and areas in Languard. Each follows a similar pattern, with some differences based on the location type. Each has a description, details of one or more major NPCs then d6 tables of lesser NPCs, what’s going on, possible adventure hooks and whispers and rumours.
A Trip Down Water Lane covers a dirty, avoided, wharf side area. A sidebar explains this is a district characters are unlikely to be passing through and there is a d10 table of items related to one of the hooks.
Fishshambles by Day is a waterfront area with an additional daytime description. Fishshambles by Night covers the same area with a night description and different tables and NPCs.
The Low City by Day and The Low City by Night follow the same format and cover the area that comprises the majority of Languard; The Low City by Night also has a sidebar on expanding the eventure using A Day Out at the Executions, Four Nights at the Orc’s Head and Five Nights at the Scythe, which are referenced in some of the rumours.
High City by Day and High City by Night again follow the same format, covering the wealthier section, as do The Shambles by Day and The Shambles by Night, covering a poorer section, and The Wrecks by Day and The Wrecks by Night, covering another poor area by the river.
Visiting Urmas the Sage is the only eventure in this collection to cover a single location. It gives a description of the place by floor, as well as handing the standard details. A sidebar has some specific advice on running this eventure, and there is also a d4 table of items that can be bought.
GM’s Miscellany: Mini-Eventures II (P1) in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with everything but sidebars linked. The Contents is less thorough and is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a variety of black and white stock illustrations, as well as the city map. Presentation is good.
Eventures are better described as being ways of fleshing out a location, whether this be part of a city or a single place, rather than being any kind of adventure. They do provide details that can be used to make an urban area into more of a living thing, and there are a variety of people to meet and places to visit, as well as potential adventures to find, albeit without maps for any of them. The single locations, such as Urmas the Sage, are easier to drop into other settings, but the city districts could be used with a bit more trouble. In both cases, references to things specific to the Duchy of Ashlar will need removing. Although this supplement is written for Pathfinder, it would be easy enough to use it with other systems, without getting the supplements designed for those systems. GM’s Miscellany: Mini-Eventures II (P1) is a decent way of adding details to an urban setting and it can be found by clicking here.
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