The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Review - The Red Stag Inn

	review by ed - edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk
	"The Red Stag Inn"		Available as
	Written and Illustrated by Eric Hotz 39 pages Available from Hyperbooks http://www.hyperbooks.com		Downloadable PDF $8 Signed and Numbered $13 CD-Rom (PDF) $10 Mailed to Canada $2 Mailed to the USA $3 Mailed to anywhere else: $5 Slightly extra for mailing the CD-ROM

Introduction
First Section - Narrative
Second Section - History and features of the Inn
Third Section - Characters
Summary

The Inn is a staple place for any Fantasy Role-playing game, so much so that "you all meet in the Inn" is derided as a cliché of the genre as a lazy way to start a scenario.

What Mr. Hotz has set out to do here is to provide an inn that is a bit more than just a place to meet or to have a bar room brawl in.

Introduction
First Section - Narrative
Second Section - History and features of the Inn
Third Section - Characters
Summary

First of all he has divided the book in three. The first third narrates the setting and details in the writings of a medieval monk, Father Daniel, as he travels through the "generic Northern Kingdom of Wellex. As the good Father makes his journey he describes the weather conditions, travelling companions and details of the people and places he sees. As he has an eye for detail and a curious nature this makes him a useful narrator from our point of view.

This works rather well and rather subtly. Not only does a prospective GM get some ready made narrative to set the scene but the descriptions of the various sights help give an overall feel of how it might have been to live in such a time and place. The fantasy realm presented is definitely of the "realistic mud and bad teeth variety"

For Example: "During the recent heavy rains, the road to Shernova was worse than usual,
turning many of the spots along the way into mud holes where a wagon or
cart could become bogged and trapped."

In addition to providing useful descriptions of the scenery Father Daniel's reporting the concerns of villagers and his suspicions concerning people he meets also provides the GM with adventure seeds. There is also evidence in the narration to a deeper mystery, one that is detailed in the second third of the book.

This journey is illustrated in the Woodcut manner that I believe Mr. Hotz specialises in and is very effective. The "D" of during in the quote above is a large Drop Capital containing an Angel, a description of a local fish is accompanied by it picture and you get other drawings of saints, battles, people and animals.

The narrative is full of little touches that make the scene, from the wood used in constructing a kitchen extension (pinale, a form of pine) to the Inn to the descriptions of a local species of Falcon.

Introduction
First Section - Narrative
Second Section - History and features of the Inn
Third Section - Characters
Summary

The second third of the book gives details on the Inn of the title in the more familiar "historical" manner, with floorplans, an illustration of the outside of the Inn, a History of the Inn (GM only info). There is also a guide to prices in a non-system specific relative scale.

The book makes no pretence that the Red Stag Inn is in any way a normal sized establishment. The Inn sits on a trade route and two pilgrimage routes which would justify a slightly larger establishment of itself, but the Inn was not built AS an Inn but as a great meeting house for a community.

It has served other functions before becoming an Inn but has been one for 75 years. The estimate is that the Great Hall could serve 200 people at a time, though this would be under a great press and the normal usage would be smaller, especially as parts of the Grat Hall would also be used as a Store-room at need. I have been informed that the oldest pub in England, the "Trip to Jerusalem" could serve many more than the 200 claimed here, though it does have the advantage of being built into rock.

As to the economy of such a venture, the information makes plain that this has not always been a profitable venture. There is more to be learned.

The floorplans are well-executed with plenty of detail of the cellar, ground (first for Americans), first (second for Americans), attic and stables. There is a clear scale given, a compass orientation as well as a full key. There is also an "overview map" to help fix the ground plan of the area in one's mind.

The "historical" history gives the full details of a story hinted at in Father Daniel's narrative that could be the basis of a GM's scenario as well as other details of the politics of the region which could be expanded upon.

The exterior illustration of the Inn is very good, being a mainly stone building similar to some 12th/13th Century buildings of our time. I have some photos of a 12th Century Church near my parents, one of the doorways is very similar as are the windows.

Illustrations and descriptions of the various rooms are given and the more interesting features of the rooms, for example the "squint" that decorates one wall, this being a caricature of a face, or the stone figures that flank the main doorway.

Some of these features are given footnotes, which tie them in to "historical research" done by some future historian or archaeologist on the times. E.g. A coin pictured is given a footnote about the likely time of minting and about the minting policy in general.

These footnotes, along with other pieces of information, also make it possible for the Inn to be used not only for a Fantasy RPG game but also to be the source of a lot of material that might be discovered in the course of a Supernatural 1920s or modern type game.

The rooms are given descriptions based on function or, in the case of guest rooms, also upon who was occupying them at the time of Father Daniel's visit. Once again, touches of little details make this work a gem for a GM who wishes to convey a sense of what the world must have been like, for example details on where the Inn gets its water from and how.

Introduction
First Section - Narrative
Second Section - History and features of the Inn
Third Section - Characters
Summary

The third and final section deals with characters encountered. Each character is illustrated and a small narrative gives some backstory to the character, e.g. one of the merchants encountered is a Spice Merchant, who is in a hurry as he has taken out a loan to pay for his cargo and the longer the loan is out obviously the less profit there is for him. Given that in medieval times there could be interest rates in the 30s or 40s of percents, and that inflation was negligible this is a serious concern.

Statistics and skills are given and although it is not stated these seem to be in a systemless percentile relative scale for the GMs conversion. E.G. a STR 70 man in this scale might equate to a STR 14 man in C&S.

The Presentation of all this is very clear, being black text and illustrations on a white background (note to designers, I hate backprinted material, it may look great on the screen but rarely survives the printing process). It is in two column format with a crisp, easy to read font. The illustrations both "woodcut" and "technical" are first rate.

Introduction
First Section - Narrative
Second Section - History and features of the Inn
Third Section - Characters
Summary

SUMMARY

The most expensive price charged for this is 18 US Dollars, and that is for a pre-printed Signed and Numbered version posted anywhere outside the US or Canada. Given that the Author gives the purchaser a licence to print or copy up to eight copies of the book, including the original, for use within the purchaser's gaming group, this price does not seem expensive, particularly as the hardcopy editions are numbered limited editions (500 total).

Whilst I appreciate that 8 copies of the full text might not be useful to a group as a whole (the GM might object if his "secrets" were widely known, the ability to copy parts (no, the PDF copy is not itself editable) with a photocopier could be useful for player handouts. If, for example, the modern Day approach to running a game based on the Inn was taken, then Father Daniel's whole narrative might be discovered by careful searching of some old abbey's library, and that section could be printed off separately.

The strength of this product is not only in the mystery it presents, but in the wealth of detail that the GM can transplant to other incidents if not used in this one, waste not want not etc, and the fact that the Inn and the surrounding lands could also be used as a base of operations for an adventuring campaign should the GM so choose.

However if, as a busy GM, you wish a pre-planned adventure with pre-set encounters then this will not be for you. This is a setting with things to be found out, and it will take a little work by the GM to decide what s/he wants to use and how s/he wishes to use it, but it would be best employed over an extended campaign.

The PDF sample copy, whilst designed for US Letter, printed off just fine on an A4 printer and as no colour is involved the quality of output is just as good as the original. (machine used 32 MB Win NT machine with a HP 4Si printer).

Sample graphics and a sample of the product can be found at http://www.hyperbooks.com

Any questions about the game, mail me at edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)