Let’s face it when Zine Quest 2 was running on Kickstarter, this cover sold me. While Phylactery No 1 isn’t available to the general public yet, Kickstarter backers have gotten the PDF. And boy am I glad I backed this one. Phylactery is an old-school zine with a fun grind house vibe. It’s weird. It’s quirky. And just enough grind house to be interesting and weird without going for an edgy ick factor.
So what’s in it? Since it’s a zine it’s set up to use whatever old-school rules you happen to favor with little or no conversion. I’m attempting to do without any spoilers. Let’s see off the top there’s a the Chaos Throne which is sort of like a Deck of Many Things but you get to sit down while things go crazy. There’s a whole host of magic items. Everything form holy relics to potions. Each with a neat little twist. Plus there’s NPC’s to help or hinder (some really nice bad guys in there) the player characters. And there’s a little dungeon and a small hex crawl. Plus more little bits and bobs to make things interesting in your campaign.
Here’s what I think is best about it. Everything has just enough description that a GM can easily fit the stuff in their own campaigns. And like I said before the stuff is weird and just off the norm enough to be really interesting. This really zine really fits my tastes and style. Pulpy, weird, and just enough out of the box that it’s different and interesting and still be familiar. So yes. Most definitely highly recommended.
I’m not sure when it will be available to the public so keep an eye out for Phylactery No 1 from Planet X Games. And oh yeah, planning is underway for Issue 2 already.
Remember folks. Roll Dice. Kill Monsters. Take Their Stuff. And Have Fun.