We Are All Mad Here by Shanna Germain is a role playing game supplement published by Monte Cook Games for use with Cypher System. This is a setting book and, although it does contain game mechanics, the Cypher System Rulebook is also needed to play.
The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $18.99. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed. The PDF has three different PDFs. The first PDF is the main book and has 226 pages, with one being the front cover, three the front matter and one the Table of Contents. The second PDF is a two-page PDF with the colour end sheets from the printed book. The third PDF is again two pages, one being a map of the Heartwood and the other the cover of the supplement.
The Woods Are Real and Dark and Full of Wolves is the introduction and it talks about fairy tales, what is in the book, what’s needed to use it, the definition of fairy tales as being a much larger set of story types than the traditional (which might be guessed from the book’s title), up to and including urban legends and modern shows, and that the third section looks at exploring fairy tales from the perspective of mental health and illness.
Part 1: Once Upon a Time starts with Chapter 1: Upon Fairy Tales. This looks at what sort of fairy tales might be used and has a brief six-step plan for preparing for a fairy tale game. The last part of this chapter again explains that fairy tales, as referred to in this book, covers more than the traditional definition, covering the different types of stories referenced and how they are used.
Chapter 2: Building Fairy Tale Settings starts by looking at some basic factors before starting; the mood, level of magic, time and place and creatures and characters. It looks at whether an existing setting is going to be used, and how familiar both the GM and players are with that setting. If playing in an existing setting, it considers how to manage expectations of that setting, giving Alice in Wonderland as an example, as there are different interpretations, and whether or not to play the story or your own interpretation of it.
The chapter then looks at creating your own setting, with a sidebar on what public domain and copyright mean; a public domain setting you can do pretty much anything with, including sell supplements, but one that is under copyright you’ll have to limit it to your own game. This then looks at what things you’ll need to decide when creating a setting, such as travel and magic. Another sidebar explains this game is designed for adult players, as there are other fairy tale games, such as Amazing Tales, designed for younger players.
Genre is another factor, and whether a setting is going to be one genre or mixed. Descriptions of different fairy tale genres follow, each with an overview, the elements and motifs, risks when playing that genre, magic and wonder and sources of inspiration. General cliches, themes and motifs for fairy tales are looked at and the key elements of different stories. Following this are some random tables for generating fairy tale inspiration. Finally, the chapter looks at fairy tale magic and how it tends to work.
Chapter 3: Building Fairy Tale Campaigns starts by looking at how to turn a fairy tale into an adventure. It looks at different types of adventure, sometimes with examples from tales. and the different steps in an adventure of this type. Next is a series of fairy tale story seeds that can be used to develop an adventure, followed by a look at how to get both players and PCs invested in the adventure, with different ways of doing so. It then looks at problematic elements from fairy tales that wouldn’t be considered appropriate today.
Chapter 4: Running Fairy Tale Games starts by explaining that in a fairy tale game, you can say yes to almost everything. The amount of magic, and often illogical nature of the realms, mean that pretty much anything can happen. It’s advised to turn magic down or off sometimes, so it doesn’t lose its, well, magic, embrace weirdness in the game, ground the players, use props and make bad guys bad. It then takes a look at death, which in fairy tales is often not the thing it is in other stories. It then takes a look at curses, intrusions that curses can cause and examples of curses and how to remove them. This is followed by blessings, which just have intrusions, then a look at wishes. GM intrusions then looks at different intrusions for different situations. Finally, the chapter looks at consent and boundaries.
Chapter 5: Playing in Fairy Tale Games is a short chapter with some tips for those intending to play. The chapter says to be sure of what you are expecting from a game, and talk about it if needed. Should a fictional setting you know well be used, don’t try to ensure everyone remains canon for the setting. Be creative, believe the impossible and remember the magic.
Chapter 6: Creating Your Character is on character creation. This is similar to the way Cypher System characters are normally created, though in fairy tale games, form does not have as much effect on function as in others. Rather than build passive characters, who fairy tales happen to, build active ones. There are some examples of iconic fairy tale characters and, like the Cypher System in general, there is no formal list of skills, but there are some suggested ones. It then looks at type, the core of a character, with some suggested types for a fairy tale game. Descriptors are the adjective of the character, and this lists those suitable from the Cypher System Rulebook as well as referencing the new ones in Chapter 16. Focus is the verb of the character description, and again suitable ones from the core rulebook, as well as Chapter 16, are listed. There are several foci that have been adjusted for a fairy tale setting here. Finally, there are some examples of fairy tale character arcs.
Chapter 7: Equipment looks at fairy tale equipment, described as being a mix of magic and mundane. It looks at currency, which is vague and item cost falls into different categories, inexpensive, moderate and expensive. Signature items are things associated with a specific character. Pocket items are things that characters might have on them. Items that are more likely to cost are then looked at, from basic equipment to weapons and armour and forms of transportation.
Chapter 8: Cyphers and Artefacts has new ones of these, with places to find cyphers, places to find them, the form cyphers take and 99 new cyphers; ones from the Cypher System Rulebook can also be used. Artefacts are then described, and fairy tale artefacts can have quirks.
Chapter 9: Beasts and Beings is the bestiary. There are some tips on how to use the listings, which follow the general Cypher System format but have some additional elements. Listings are organised by archetypes and individual creatures, the locations the beings inhabit, as many fairy tale creatures are defined by locations, and listings have symbols indicating these, including one for those suitable for the Heartwood. There is a list of additional suitable creatures from the Cypher System Rulebook. This is followed by a series of archetype tables, with individual beings and the page number they are found on in each table. The creatures themselves follow. There is an overview of the archetype, where applicable, with some minor examples and suggested additional creatures found elsewhere in the book, again where applicable, followed by some standard listings, then finally some NPCs. The listings aren’t that much different from those for normal Cypher System creatures, but they do have some differences.
Part 2: Adventures Three has some starting adventures, not set in the Heartwood campaign setting.
Chapter 10: Cypher Short: The Apple-Pip Witch is the first adventure. Cypher shorts are adventures with abbreviated character creation and this adventure sees the characters rescuing their father, the king, from a witch.
Chapter 11: Cypher Short: I’ll Gnaw Your Bones has the characters be talking animals captured by trolls who are going to eat them.
Chapter 12: Full Adventure: Between Worlds is a proper adventure, not a short, in which the characters have to travel to different fairy realms to complete two tasks for the Fairy Queen, to whom they are indebted. This is designed for lower-tier characters but more can be added to make it suitable for higher tiers.
Part 3: Lost in the Heartwood covers the sample campaign setting.
Chapter 13: Welcome to the Heartwood briefly gives an overview of the setting’s premise and the contents of the chapters.
Chapter 14: Mental Health in Games looks at mental health, using fairy tales for it, issues to consider for games with a focus on mental health and tips for talking about mental health in games.
Chapter 15: Running Games in the Heartwood explains that the Heartwood is the sample campaign setting and is called that to emulate a tree’s heartwood. It has tips for running the Heartwood for GMs, and despite the setting’s focus on mental health, not to try to teach lessons about mental illness or act like a therapist. It finishes off with what the characters know about the Heartwood, which is dependent on whether the characters, not the players, have been there before.
Chapter 16: Creating Heartwood Characters explains how to create characters for the setting; the one thing they have in common is being touched by mental health issues. There is a four-step process for creating a character, and this is done the same as in Cypher System games in general; a sidebar has some sample character ideas. There are some new descriptors specific to the Heartwood, but those from the Cypher System Rulebook can be used. Heartwood descriptors come with inabilities, which can be overcome in different ways. Similarly, there are some new foci for the Heartwood, and again ones from the Cypher System Rulebook can be used. Finally, there are some character arcs for the Heartwood, including examples.
Chapter 17: Heartwood Atlas covers the setting itself, a variable realm in the shape of a tree. Distances and relative positions can change and maps are not totally useful. There are details on how to enter and leave the Heartwood, and how to travel in it, along with descriptions of various locations, some NPCs and various adventure hooks.
Chapter 18: What the Moon Dreamt is the first of two adventures set in the Heartwood. In it, the characters have to find the Moon and get her back into the sky.
Chapter 19: The Prince Who Would Seek Death is the second adventure and the characters are asked to find the death of an immortal prince who has now decided to die, only to find that those who love him have stolen it.
Back Matter: Happily Ever After starts with Inspirations and Resources which has some general fairy tale resources, followed by resources by medium and genre.
Story Index is an index divided into different fairy tales, divided into traditional, modern, nursery rhymes and mythologies, with the various different stories listed and the various elements found in the supplement.
The Index is a single page index.
The Fairy Tale Game Consent Checklist is a consent form.
We Are All Mad Here in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked, with major and minor sections linked, though there are minor errors in the bookmarks. The Table of Contents is not as thorough, but is hyperlinked, as is the Index and the Story Index. There are also internal hyperlinks in the sidebars. Navigation is very good. The text follows the standard two column with sidebar format, with the sidebar containing material such as internal cross-references, external references to the core book, stats and GM Intrusions. There are a variety of custom full colour illustrations, up to the two-page spreads of the inside covers. Presentation is very good.
Fairy tales, as is made clear in the book, cover a wide range of things, and this book doesn’t just look at the traditional material; modern films, computer programs and television series are also sources of inspiration. There are a whole host of different styles of fairy tale game that the book can be used for, too.
The Heartwood setting isn’t covered in as much detail as the integral settings are in some of the Cypher System setting books; this may be because the material supports a wider range of things than the comparatively narrow focus of the Heartwood setting, and the book is therefore not as closely tied to the setting as, say, Gods of the Fall or Predation. Perhaps as a result, there is more content dealing with using the material in other settings, in a kind of vaguely specific way; it specifically covers fairy tales but the category is broad enough that a degree of vagueness is added. There is perhaps more generalised setting creation detail than is usual; not even all the monsters are suitable for the Heartwood. We Are All Mad Here is an interesting take on the fairy tale game and it can be found by clicking here.
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