Friday, April 24, 2015

Review of Ivanhoe Unbound's Black Books - Tome Four : Doglocks and Draughts For Your Old School Campaigns

  So recently I received a copy of Black Box Book's latest offering Tome Four Doglocks and Draughts, I was thinking not another black powder rules set for OD&D. Well fortunately its far more then simply that. Doglocks and Draughts is a set of black powder rules of OD&D and Swords and Wizardry retroclone style systems but its more. What this is an expansion of several already readily available black powder rpg systems. This takes the material up to another level by expanding upon the black powder weaponry and then adding in the bonus of weird mundane medicine with some very interesting and potentially weird side effects. The whole bit of OSR weirdness clocks in at about nine pages and remains perfect adaptable to any number of old school style rpg systems. Much of the material reminds me again of stuff that would be available as optional systems to add to OD&D. 

Grab It Right 

  The material here is concise and easily dropped into any OD&D campaign or pulp style retro clone system. The author does a good job with a no nonsense  approach to the material here that gives the DM all kinds of room to adapt and fold the book into their existing campaigns. Because of the way this is done there is little chance of this material upsetting the balance of existing campaigns. The material here can be used for existing fire arms as the next phase of gun powder weaponry or dropped right into a perfectly timed existing campaign setting.
   In point of fact this material could easily be adapted into a game of Labryth Lord or as a potential expansion of gun powder systems for a game such as the Lamentations of The Flame Princess rpg system. The potential here is to move the time line of the LoFP world to get the most out of Doglocks and Draughts while giving the PC's even more options at the table. But with a game such as LoFP this might make little difference because of the very nature of the 'survival horror' nature of some of the game's adventures. Do I think that this is another worthy down load? Yes I do because it does what its supposed to and without breaking up to much of the DM's time to read or to fit this pdf into their own existing head space and campaigns. Grab this one now and get working within the frame work of your own games and campaigns as well. 

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