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Casus Belli 42 |
| 2023-01-04 |
Casus Belli 42
The 2022 winter issue of Casus Belli is numbered 42. Casus Belli is the main French TTRPG magazine, it is the fourth iteration of this publication since the 1980s.
Once I receive my paper copy, I do a small recapitulation of its content here. It is one window into the French-speaking slice of the role-playing hobby. I previously looked, unsurprinsingly, at Casus Belli 41.
If I am not mistaken, the cover of the magazine depicts the characters of the Rôle'n Play actual play promoted by Black Book Editions, the company currently supporting Casus Belli.
There are 28 reviews of TTRPG products, 11 reviews of products adjacent to the role-playing hobby, 3 scenarii, and 8 game helps. A regular Casus issue has usually six scenarios, but this time only three, because it holds a full minigame "Montgascon", more on it later. There are also 11 articles (interviews, editorials, ...)
Among the TTRPG reviews, the game that caught my attention is Les Risque-Tout, the French version of The Troubleshooters. Nostalgia. The French version of Historia looks awesome as well.
Eight of the twenty-eight TTRPG reviews are about French products (I had to double check for most of them, to make sure they're not translations, Casus just says "VF" for "French Version").
The non-TTRPG reviews start with a non-review titled "Playing in the Berserk Universe". It's short and dark, it gives clues on how to acquaint oneself with that setting and then lists systems that might be used as vehicles into it. It also points at the Official Guidebook, looks like a must.
The three scenarii are:
- "Disparitions" for The Expanse
- "Wars and Successions" part 1 for Pathfinder 2
- "Ted" for Shadowrun 6
There are four "psycho-scribe" articles about the Crusades (XIth and XIIth centuries slice) and the latin states in the Levant. There is a small insert about Florine de Bourgogne, interesting character, she died fighting alongside her husband, she was hit by seven arrows but still holding her weapon.
36 pages of the magazine are dedicated to "Montgascon", it's a "Carved from Brindlewood" game, complete and ready to play. It's set in fourteenth century abbey in the Dauphiné. A game of cozy murder and darkness in a medieval abbey? The nun of the rose? Yes!
