OSR Review - Victorious Hunter & Hunter Catalogue By Mike Stewart

Gadgets are something that any Steampunk or Victoriana rpg can use. Over the weekend I had an opportunity to grab the Victorious rpg  By Troll Lord Games bundle that is currently on sale on Drivethrurpg One of the books that I've had my eye for quite sometime is Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart 

Its basically an adventurers catalog of interesting & insane gadgets & devices for the Victorious Rpg. The Victorious rpg is a bit different then say Amazing Adventures! rpg in the author's approaches to devices & gadgets. But Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart  has a lot to recommend it from 19th century armor to all kinds of goodies such as the umbrella shield for the discriminating gentleman or lady adventurer;
"Umbrella-shield
Coverage: 65%
Weight: 4 pounds
 Armor class: +1
Other: -2 penalty to attack roll if user attacks while also using deployed umbrella-shield.
Cost: £3. / $15.00
Availability: 25%
Perhaps the most discrete of all Hunter & Hunter, Ltd. defensive products, the umbrella-shield provides maximum protection at a reasonable cost. When opened, the umbrella-shield covers the majority of a human form from the slings and arrows (and bullets) of outrageous fortune. Its patented cloth, made from Duralite™, will insure the safety of its wielder while they make a hasty retreat from attackers! For an extra 1s. / $0.25, a small whistle can be placed inside the handle so that constables can be called at need. Protect yourself from wind, rain, and enemies with the umbrella-shield!"

Even though this is for a different gaming system Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart  is a very useful book for Amazing Adventures! Rpg because it provides the PC's with even more options to deploy at the table top level. Clocking in 44 pages there are enough devices,weapons, & gadgets to fill any cave or lair of a Victorian hero or phantom with some really cool items. Well is this actually a good book? Well in a word? Yes! If your looking for a book that can give your devices  the flavor of the cult classic TV show The Wild Wild West.  And still be used to challenge the monsters of D&D & AD&D first edition then this is the book for you!

With a bit of imagination this book could be used to populate your vile villain's lair & provide your adventurers with vital clues towards his or her next caper or adventure. I can already hear the D&D & OSR crowds now. Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart  will unbalance a campaign! Actually it won't there are pluses & minuses to each device & a clever DM will make full use of the availability factor for each device & weapon. That isn't counting on the costs of such devices & weapons especially fire arms for example;
 "Burgess folding shotgun
Length: 3 feet (1 1/2 feet folded)
Weight: 5 pounds
 Wield: Two handed damage: 2D6 (5 shots)
Inflict: Temporal 
Other: Can be concealed under a small coat at the waist or in a shoulder holster.
 cost: £12. / $60.00
Availability: 20%
Even among gunsmiths and their admirers, the name of the American gun maker Andrew Burgess is little known. That deplorable situation will soon change thanks to Mister Burgess’s latest invention, the folding shotgun. Unlike other firearms that are designed to be ‘taken down’ for ease of storage and reassembled later, this shotgun is folded merely for insertion in a holster and can, with a flick of the wrist, be levered into full length for firing in a snap of the fingers. This amazing shotgun uses a sliding sleeve on the wrist of the stock as the pump handle to not only fold but to eject spent shells in a similar manner to the Winchester pump shotgun. Yet the venerable Winchester is awkward and bulky compared to the Burgess folding shotgun! When ease of carry and immediate deployment is vital for emergencies, there’s only one folding shotgun that fits the bill, the Burgess!
Comes with tooled leather holster designed to fit the folded shotgun in a snug pouch to the wearer’s side. Please specify whether the holder should be positioned on the left or right when ordering."

As you can see the shotgun while it seems to be primarily the sort of weapon that one might see in the backwaters of Pulp or Steampunk adventure the fact is that these weapons are only going to be available under the right circumstances. Given the fact that the dungeon master is responsible for laying out encounters, stocking the dungeon, using monster encounters to relieve the the PC's of hard one treasure then it stands to reason that 19th century fire arms are not going impact game balance all of that much. The devices, gadgets, weapons here are colorful, clever, & actually useful in the field of adventure. Device stats are given including any bonuses it provides or damage it does (or can take) and the equally important availability (%) and price in British Pounds and American Dollars. This means that the DM can & should not indulge his PC's. The player's PC's are & should be prepared to pay through the noses for these items. All in all I think that Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart   strikes a nice balance between patented weirdness of the Victorious rpg & the actual bigger universe that the PC's are a part of. 

The Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart  is a solid part of one the most underrated games that Troll Lord has put out. I think that Victorious: Hunter & Hunter Catalog By Mike Stewart  is a solid five out of five with all of its material striking a nice balance between mixing all of its weapons & devices that the book comes out with a fine mix of items & its own solid weirdness.