Monstrum Prodigium

by Philip Reed, Kirian (illustrator)

Parabola. Known throughout the universe as “the city of a thousand-thousand rusted veins,” this world of ancient metal pipes and a near-endless number of twisted towers is a strange pocket dimension that exists alongside the infinite number of other spheres in the universe. Parabola is a world of nothing but city streets, alleys, and sewers, a place where bizarre, terrifying creatures are commonplace and the heroic adventurers who journey from sphere to sphere are looked at as the outsiders.

The inhabitants of Parabola are considered enemies by many of the citizens of the cosmos. Where possible, the rulers of other places have done their best to block passage between their home world and the city of Parabola. Portals have at times been destroyed. Guards at cosmic ports of call have been instructed to turn away all visitors from Parabola. Some of the larger worlds of the universe have even gone so far as to use tons of earth to bury those portals that could not be destroyed.

Still, despite the best efforts of the other spheres of the cosmos, the citizens of the city of Parabola find their way through the many obstacles and visit the other lands as they wish. Some of them take a perverse joy in terrorizing the citizens of the other worlds, traveling across time and space for the chance to murder a random stranger. It is likely no surprise that most sentient beings in the universe consider the people of Parabola to be nothing more than wicked, vile monsters that must be stopped.

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To use this book you will need a copy of Troika! This work exists solely thanks to the generosity of the Melsonian Arts Council and their willingness to allow others to play in their sandbox. In an attempt to meet their wishes, please note the following official statement:

Monstrum Prodigium is an independent production by Philip Reed and is not affiliated with the Melsonian Arts Council.

This book was created thanks to the support of 318 backers who joined in the Kickstarter campaign for Monstrum Prodigium. Thank you to all of the supporters for making that campaign a success!

27 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2020

About the author

Philip Reed is a novelist, playwright and journalist who has been nominated for the top mystery award for his first book Bird Dog, which is currently under an option from Hollywood to be a feature film. He has also written three sports performance books including the popular golf memoir In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing. His other sports books are Free Throw, 7 Steps to Success at the Free Throw Line and Wild Cards, about learning to become a blackjack card counter. Philip has also worked in the automotive industry and went undercover as a car salesman to write the expose “Confessions of a Car Salesman.” Philip’s novels are Bird Dog and the sequel, Low Rider; The Marquis de Fraud, Off and Running and the young adult novel Ponga Boy. Working with the TV icon, he wrote Candidly, Allen Funt. He currently lives in Long Beach, California and enjoys playing tennis and golfing nearly anywhere. Born in the midwest and raised in New England, Philip also spent a year going to school in Oxford, England, where he played on the rugby and cricket teams. He was a poor student but his soccer playing ability got him into the University of North Carolina. Philip started his career as a police reporter in Chicago and Denver and then moved to California and became a playwright. His plays were staged in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. He wrote one of the first episodes of "Miami Vice." His insider knowledge about car buying, and automotive information, has earned him many national radio and television appearances.

Reviews

[Dom Mooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monstrum Prodigium describes sixty-six creatures to encounter in the City of Parabola, the City of a Thousand-Thousand Rusted Veins, a world of ancient metal pipes and twisted towers in a pocket dimension. The book presents the setting in the style developed by Into the Odd, Troika, and Electric Bastionland. The setting is discovered through the descriptions of the creatures you may encounter. The creatures range from the potentially useful, such as the 'Peddler of Destructive Instruments' through to the terrifying (the 'Unapologetic Trapper, a skeletal creature that magically entraps victims with rusting iron spikes) to the mysterious (like the City Architects, the creators of Parabola).

They're all presented in the standard Troika format, and evocatively interesting. The book rounds out with a d66 table of rumours which can generate encounters, missions or trouble. Overall, I found the book very satisfying. It would be easily usable with some of the lighter OSR games like The Black Hack.