Recently, I soloed my way through The Cradle of Madness. It is an interesting D & D adventure for characters of levels 3 to 8. I turned it into a level one adventure. It can be found in Dungeon Magazine issue # 87 (archived on the internet). The two systems I used to play it were #1 Deathtrap Light Preview (24 pages and free). It is not a complete game (for example, there are no rules for combat). So, I combined it with #2 Ordure Fantasy a six-sided die system (19 pages). The solo engine that I used was Loner (12 pages and free). The three documents (not the magazine) are available at DriveThruRPG.

My five characters picked up the quest on the first day. Owen wanted his daughter to be rescued from the Nightmare Syndicate. A ransom needed to be paid. Owen and the characters went to the designated spot on the second day and the fight was on. The characters let one fighter live and gave the ransom money back to Owen. They then followed the wounded fighter through the wilderness. After a giant beetle encounter they arrived at the ruined keep. They had some problems getting in there. So, they decided to “lay siege” and force them out when they needed supplies. On the sixth day three fighters came out using a “new” bridge. The PCs killed them, entered the keep, and then went down the stairs. They had to get past three traps, four guard dogs, and more bad guys (cultists). After some looting, they ran into the daughter Lyza who was obviously pregnant and in love with some cleric guy. Well, my characters were not going to interfere with that. So, they headed back to town (a quiet trip) and gave Owen the bad news. Will this play out differently when you give it a try?

Ordure Fantasy is a simple, easy toto learn, yet suprisingly robust RPG. Best suited for pick up games, but capable of supporting a short campaign. The mechanics revolve around rolling low on a d6. Combat is quick and simple, with PCs rolling all the dice. However, for my money, what I really like are the several pages of random charts, helping to inspire adventures, monster creation, and world design. There are no rules for running nonhuman characters, but that isn't really what this game is about. There is no bestiary, but there are rules for creating monsters.

The book itself, is 19 pages, simply laid out with beautiful minimalist artwork.

I bought this on the strength of Star Dogs and it is a genuinely pleasant surprise with a profoundly different tone. The d6 system is very simple but entirely original, with some variation in effect and target numbers. The classes are traditional in concept but somewhat re-imagined in their capabilities. Many random tables are built into the game, providing rich atmosphere and direct purpose, as well as generating encounters and opponents. It strikes an ideal balance for me between old school gameplay and freeform storytelling.

The overall vibe, particularly with the provided monsters and the content of the tables is fairly serious, rather surreal and definitely weird fantasy. Though there aren't any horror mechanics per se, the game is lethal and the tone disturbing, though not overly dark. Despite the easy system, it feels capable of handling far deeper, far stranger and far larger storied campaigns. I'm thinking more Lord Dunsany or Clark Ashton Smith than Tolkien.

The artwork is perfect and I believe Matthew Adams, scattered simple conceptual pieces to evoke and inspire. I especially like the character illustrations, each a single item to represent the class, a talwar, a tome, an arbalest and a censer.

I expected to find a light-hearted "beer and pretzels" dungeon romp (though it can do that) but instead I found a deeper and more thoughtful game under 20 pages, a simple but solid system to wrap a world around or to spend one very wicked night with my weirdest friends. I absolutely love it and I hope the publisher offers a POD option.