Cursed Scroll Zine, Vol. 3: Midnight Sun

by Kelsey Dionne

Fierce sea wolves sail their dragon-prowed longboats over the dark waves, and the midnight sun rises above the frozen northern isles!

The third issue of Cursed Scroll Zine adds the stark isles of the north to your TTRPG game world! Inside its 68 pages, you'll find:

Hoard of the Sea Wolf King, a 0-level gauntlet adventure that t akes fledgling crawlers in search of a lost treasure trove of a long-dead king!
The Isles of Andrik, mountainous islands ruled by drakes, warrior clans, and the enigmatic Old Gods.
Two new classes for Shadowdark RPG: seer and sea wolf
Rules for new spells, boats, swearing oaths, arctic sea encounters, and a raid into the unsuspecting Wortwick Monastery!
12 new monsters, including the mythical Valkyrie, an angelic warrior who leads fallen heroes to the afterlife!
Classic, hand-drawn maps and player-safe JPEGs for virtual table tops
Cursed Scroll uses Shadowdark RPG rules, but it's easily compatible with any old-school fantasy roleplaying system.

68 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, this is my jam! All of the Cursed Scroll issues are great, but I think issue 3 may be the best so far. Vikings and blood and thunder in the far north? You got me. Like the other Cursed Scroll issues this one is chock full of great content: a new hex map for a Nordic-style island chain, additional rules for seafaring and making oaths, two new classes, spells, monsters, and not one, but two adventure sites.

Both new classes are great: the Seawolf (basically a viking warrior/pirate with ties to the Norse gods) and the Seer (a magic-using class which I particularly liked and that makes use of the Luck game mechanic in neat ways) give players a chance to get their viking on. The Norse gods Odin, Freya, and Loki are introduced as possible patrons of PCs that can grant both boons and banes and this, along with the new seafaring mechanics, heroic oaths as a game mechanic, and the intriguing seasonal cycle of the midnight sun make the issue drip with Norse mythology vibes.

I’m looking forward to running some, if not all, of this content with my players…hopefully soon!

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of what you'll expect from these zines. Only two new classes this time around, the Sea Wolf (Viking raider, essentially) and the Seer. There are some new monsters, a keyed hex-crawl, and an adventure to plug into it. There's also a monastery location/mini-dungeon mapped out for you to use as you will. There are some rules for boats, and a fun little chart for figuring out how a replacement character shows up if you lose someone.
It is odd that it took until Volume 3 to get a 0-level "gauntlet" scenario. But then, I think there might be a free one on the website, too.
The tone of this feels a little more traditional European folk-lore-ish than a lot of the more generic (not a bad thing, necessarily) vibes of the previous two zines. The little red-capped gnomes, especially, seem a little tonally out of step. But not if your game is going to lean a little heavier into a Grimm's fairy tales or Wagnerian aesthetic.
If I have a complaint on this one, it's that it hews a little too close to the inspiration. Nowhere is that more the case than in the choice of the "Old Gods," Odin, Freya, and Loki. I know it wouldn't take much effort to alter the names to be slightly more...not Earth. But it just struck me as weird.

[Babis Papadimitriou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the new classes especially the Seer. The level 0 adventure is also brutal. It has everything: treasure, a sense of mystery and danger and of course family drama.

Definitely recommend all the cursed scroll zines. They are awesome!