Gathox is one of my favorite settings, and this zine doesn't disappoint! From brain dungeons to downed mining vessels, this zine is packed full of new, fun ideas to enhance your experiences in Gathox (or elsewhere, for that matter).

Penned and illustrated by D.L. Johnson, who wrote and illustrated the original setting book, this zine serves as an extension of that setting book, and pairs well with the tournament-style adventure, Quake Alley Mayhem.

The book is well laid out, clean and easy to read. The artwork enhances the text, without being distracting.

My only complaint is there is no physical format at this time. Hopefully one is made available soon.

I suck at writing reviews. I keep trying to start and other than saying "This book is amazing" I struggle to put the words together to express my opinions. Usually because I don't think I'm critical enough of a product. There's no way, for example, that a book can be this good...no offense intended to Mike Evans, but nothing is perfect, there are always areas to improve...especially when you're talking about a monster tome the size of Hubris, and also a company's first product release? Come on. I'm sure there was tons that could have been done better with Santa is Dead, but I have the luxury of that product not getting scrutinized year round and being viewed through the lens of a christmas farce (although it's truly anything but, thanks to the amazing talents of Evey Lockhart and team).

But there is nothing bad I can say about Hubris, other than maybe I want more out of it, but I've no time to play it. That's not Mike's fault though, that's my own...so even that isn't a problem with the product in any way, shape, or form.

This is a hefty book that you need to physically have at the table. Not because you need to flip back and forth and reference it constantly, but because you'll want to. You'll want to turn to a random page and pull out a detail and use it. You'll want to throw your players into the middle of this world and set them loose upon a place that yearns to destroy them...no, to change them, to warp them until they are as twisted and infected by the cruelty that permeates this massive landscape.

There are terrible things here, wonderful in their awfulness, and this place begs to be explored in its entirety. Which may be an impossible task; but you'll find yourself coming back to it again and again, as I have, looking for inspiration.

I just wish I had something critical to say. Maybe when I've finally run it, and finished it, and can say "There wasn't enough in this book", but I honestly doubt that will happen.

Which is a shame, because if the bar is set this high by Mike Evans, what hope do I have of putting out something better?

Nine Rooms is a dungeon-building kit that strips away most of the fluff of larger RPG products and focuses on several key elements instead. Basically, you begin with 3 core elements:

What Player Characters are there for What the Dungeon was What the Dungeon is Now and Why

The remaining 11 pages flesh out the physical dungeon by defining several types of rooms, each grouped into categories like "Entrances and Exits", "Treasuries", "Hazards", and various others. Finally, the product contains a "dungeon layout sheet" with a small graph section, a space for a dungeon key, and an area to list quick descriptions of nine rooms. There are also two pages of dungeon geomorph templates (12 geomorphs total) that you can use to quickly generate a dungeon.

Overall, I really enjoyed this product. Its size, simplicity, and cost (Free!) made it a great find, and definitely something I could see myself using to prepare for an adventure. It actually reminded me a great deal of the Dungeon Design section from the Dungeon Master's Rulebook in the old Mentzer Edition Red Box Basic Set for Dungeons & Dragons...which, to be perfectly honest, I still reference today when designing a dungeon.

Some of the drawbacks I found with "Nine Rooms" were the lack of an introductory page summarizing what I could expect to get out of the product, as well as some editing/spelling/grammar issues.

With some work polishing up the writing, I could definitely see myself spending $5 on something like this. Of course, you don't have to spend a dime, because again, this item is available for free.