A few weeks ago I took a look at "Tales of the City", and thanks to a very attractive price at Bookdepository.co.uk (link here for as long as copies are left - free shipping worldwide!) I now have my copy of "Myths and Monsters" and here are my first impressions:
The book is split into two parts, one focused on Myths, and the other on... Monsters!
The Myth section really fills out some of the Talisman world, particularly with detail of the principal Big Bosses of the Realm. The boardgame has provided the RPG with a rich selection here. I said in relation to "Tales of the City" that I am not particularly enamoured of the setting as translated to TARPG, but with this volume I am finding myself seriously rethinking that - especially from the perspective of how any of this will actually work in a game (rather than whether it stands up to Jack Vance or Fritz Leiber as a reading experience).
I like what we have here. Much comes directly from myth and folklore (Oberon and Titania, Baba Yaga, the Norns), via various expansions of the boardgame - particularly the Woodlands, whose designer Sam Bailey arguably deserves a credit here and elsewhere in TARPG. Most entries are presented with a couple Story Seeds that could be enough to kickstart GMs in creating an adventure or campaign.
We also have another element of the boardgame introduced: Events! Spooky and mystical happenings that can randomly affect the game - or again become the start of an adventure or campaign idea. This is a rich resource for GMs, and of value whether you want to embrace randomness and the need for sudden invention, or ideas that you can take and carefully work into your game.
The second half (or rather: the other three-quarters) of the book gives us our Monsters. Following the pattern of the Core Rulebook, there are some fun and varied powers. Again, the boardgame has given the writers a rich vein to mine here, and the opportunity to expand on some that were little more than a name and a picture such as the Blightwood Terror and Ashfield Looters.
I count about 170 creatures listed here - against just 70 in the Core. There is maybe some dilution of quality.We have an entry for the three Draconic Lords of the boardgame's Dragon expansion: Varthrax, Cadorus and Grilipus. They each have identical stats and powers, just a different list of learned spells. I find learned spells a bit cumbersome as a GM - I need to spend some time before hand making sure I have an understanding of what each does, and figuring which the enemy would be most likely to use. It would have been better if each Draconic Lord had at least one different special ability. These maybe stand out more because you find them in the very last pages of the book where the Index would otherwise be, and it is hard not to think there could have been one entry for Draconic Lord, with a box describing the character of each. But we do get the lore and different Cultists for each, so the duplication of stats and abilities isn't the whole picture.
There's another value of Myths & Monsters which the Draconic Lords are a positive example of - a source of challenge for higher-level heroes. My play of Talisman Adventures has all been at the low levels, because I run one shots, and have not yet managed to get my teeth stuck into a campaign. There are a wide range of Threat Values for enemies here, and I think that'll prove useful for GMs to find fitting foes for their players to face. There are some tough looking critters here.
The one thing I think the book needs (happily in place of an Index) is some encounter tables categorized by levels of play - ie for 1st - 3rd, 3rd - 5th, 5th - 7th, 7th - 10th level heroes. I would imagine this would run to quite a few pages if it was to cover location type etc, so wouldn't be surprised if it was considered and dropped. It would make a fitting addition to the Free Downloads section of the digital store for the game though...
Having a variety of monsters to pick from is a fundamental building block for the GM of a fantasy RPG. This should prove a welcome addition for anyone who likes what they found in the Core Rulebook but wanted more. This might be my favourite of the three sourcebooks. None are essential, because the Core Rulebook is complete and self-contained, but I think this one packs in the most - and running to 160 pages helps there. The book is indeed packed with content: Grilipus ate the Index, and is coming for you next!
Image: Zombies, dragon, orcs, skeleton, Troll, dungeons in the style of English landscape painting (Open AI)
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