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Casus Belli 36 |
| 2021-06-17 |
Casus Belli 36
I just received my physical copy of Casus Belli #36. It's actually the second physical copy of it that was fired towards me. The first copy didn't seem to be arriving so I sent an email to Casus services and Eric there was very friendly and sent me a second copy, "Yes, such things happen, especially since you live outside of France. We'll send you another copy".
The second copy arrived today and it looks great. When I was a teenager, I bought Casus Belli (in its original iteration) at the comics and game shop of my little city. The magazine was a portal to a world of wonders. I think that at that period in the late eighties, I could count on two hands the games advertised that I hadn't tried with friends. Now it's impossible to track.
An easy way to summarize such a magazine might be to list what adventures it offers and what games it reviews. Starting with scenarii:
- an investigation scenario for D&D 5e level 2
- a mixed scenario for Star Wars, level 4 to 5
- a mini action scenario for D&D 5e level 1
- an investigation scenario for Runequest, any level
The D&D scenario are actually for "Héros et Dragons", an OGL adaptation of Dungeons and Dragons that WOTC shut down recently (right after the release of this Casus Belli). They are easily adaptable to other medieval fantasy settings and games.
I will not list all the reviews, they are too numerous, but here are the ones I noticed:
- Pax Elfica a medieval fantasy campaign where the Elfs liberated the Valseptente from the Necromancer. They turned from liberators to occupiers. The player characters are part of the Résistance...
- The french edition of Call of Cthulhu, version 7
- Laelith, the city-setting available in a new edition. The first iteration of this city appeared in Casus Belli in 1986. It's a massive city layered in very heterogeneous terraces
- Exploirateurs de Bruines an OSR inspired ruin crawling game (a bruine is a drizzle, while a ruine is a ruin, kids explore ruins in a setting where rain seems to be pouring for ever). The author, Vivien Féasson, is a contributor to the excellent podcast La Cellule.
(I have the impression that the Appel de Cthulhu was the only product in the reviews that wasn't crowdfunded).
The "Archéo-Rôlisme" column is about WOTC's 1995 game Everway. They point at the upcoming Silver Anniversay Edition (whose Kickstarter succeeded in April this year).
Another major difference from the eighties to the twenties are the PDFs, as a subscriber, I received the PDF of the #36 well before the physical copy. Of course, I couldn't resist, I read the PDF. But sitting on the sofa with the magazine and a coffee...
Thanks Eric for resending that copy!
