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The game is available from DriveThruRPG.
The Product
The game is sold as an electronic download, consisting of a 2-page front and back cover, and a 44-page scenario book. The latter consists of a short GM's section, 16 pages of character sheets, 15 pages on prop construction, and 5 pages of prop documents. The GM's section has a cast-list, some background, and a brief plot overview. The character sheets - typically a page each - have the usual stat block and background information. The prop information is an illustrated step-by-step guide on how to construct a vital prop for the game: a "moon-clock". Apart from the photos here, there is no internal artwork.
The entire scenario uses an irritating crumpled-paper background, which will make the pages difficult to print. Unlike previous Skirmisher larps, no printable version is included.
The Problems
This larp suffers from the usual problems of Skirmisher's larps: it is underplotted and there are not enough parts for women. The GM's summary lists only four plots for 13 characters. This is an understatement - in fact there are five - but its still not enough to keep people busy. Only three of the parts are for women, and while another two are referred to on the cast-list as being able to be cast as female, this still leaves a gender ratio of 60:40, well out of step with both the human race as a whole, and my local larp community. To add insult to injury, those two "switchable" parts aren't; the character sheets are written as explicitly male. Its not hard to write a gender-neutral character (there's even a helpful list of androgynous names), and its not too much to expect that parts labelled as switchable actually are.
Unlike previous Skirmisher offerings, the staging information is thin to nonexistent. There's no specific section on "how to run this larp", and instead vital information is scattered around the book. There is no guidance on how to begin the game or bring the two groups of characters together. There is no list of required spaces or props, and instead this information must be dug out of the character sheets. There is no information on appropriate costume (yes, we can look it up on Wikipedia, but a few sentences helps). There is a fantastic step-by-step guide to making one detailed prop - but no information on where to put it in the game-space, or how to use it.
It gets worse. There is no "players background" briefing, and the character sheets do not always make it explicit which group the character is in or why they are there. Which means the GM must create these documents themselves, or give a (possibly misunderstood) verbal briefing at the start of the game. While that's perfectly doable, you shouldn't have to for an off-the-shelf larp product like this.
There are characters whose presence makes no real sense. There are McGuffins where it is not clear who has them, or even if they are in the game-space at all. There are plotlines which, given the setup, should naturally have resolved before the game begins.
And finally, there's the editing - or rather, the lack of it. Spell-checker errors. Inconsistent character names. Missing stats on most of the character sheets. Plus the bane of pre-written larps, plot inconsistencies! The problems are so blatant that it looks as if no-one has bothered to give this even a cursory read-through before hitting the publish button.
Overall
This a lightweight larp, poorly plotted, and poorly produced. There's a good game in here screaming to get out, but it requires a complete rewrite to be even remotely runnable. Its one thing when you see these problems in a free larp you've downloaded over the web. Its quite another seeing them in a supposedly professional product someone is asking money for. The former is understandable. The latter is lazy, unprofessional, and just plain insulting.
