Where I read Aquelarre

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Finally there are some appendices.

Appendix 1 - the equipment list with price and description. This is useful given the Spanish terminology - eg Mangual: Metal Ball and Chain - very rare in the peninsula. This is a pretty complete list of stuff including the mundane as well as the martial, so pretty useful.

It also includes a section on the monetary system and weights and measures for each Kingdom, again providing very useful "flavour".

Appendix 2 - male and female names for each kingdom/culture. Also very useful, and includes common nicknames.

Appendix 3 - is tiled Impact Locations. This is hit locations for various types of creatures - eg birds, quadrupeds, snakes etc.

Appendix 4 - Battles, is a simple system for determine the outcomes fo massed combat, and PC encounters during the same.


Then there is a "Last Words" about the history of the game lasting about 2/3rds of a page.....


I am going to go back and read the fiction that prefaces each section and comment on this, but first some thoughts on the game as a whole.

I like it a lot. There is an earthiness to it - because it is so grounded in real legends, beliefs etc that I find refreshing. I guess Ars Magic is similar in some respects, but this game has a broader focus - PCs don't all revolve around magic and sorcerers. There is a lot of scope for adventuring with very little (or no) supernatural element ranging through a medieval "x-files" type set-up, right through to a full-on supernatural theme with powerful (and dreadful) magics.

I think it could have used a full read-through by someone with a more thorough grasp of colloquial English (and roleplaying games) as the translation is sometimes a bit leaden or awkward, and terminology slightly "odd" (impact location instead of hit location for example). Given the size and completeness of the work, I can forgive that though.

The one glaring thing for me was the second scenario - I would replace it altogether, or even omit it.
 
The Fiction

It starts with Miguel, now Don Miguel, Lord of Navarette, meeting an old colleague, the soldier Ignotus in an inn. The two have a history going back many years. Miguel has risen in the world, Ignotus has not, apparently refusing reward after the death of Zarah, which lead him to take to the road.

Don Miguel asks Ignotus to watch over his son Lope, who has determined to travel to Leon to make his way at court, accompanied only by “a jewish devil who directs him like a servant”.


Lope and his friend Micael - the “jewish devil” are the examples in the character generation section.

From this we know that Lope is a thin, wiry, and talkative sort, son of an old knight of the king, who has decided to make his way at court by means of his speech and social graces.

Micael Bonisha is a Jewish alchemist born into a flourishing Burgher family dedicated to commerce, who has spent many years of his life unraveling the mysteries of alchemy and magic, which has turned him into a delicate and reserved sort.


In the next piece of fiction, Ignotus has travelled to Leon and has installed himself at court. He keeps an eye on Lope - most of his activities seem fairly innocuous (and maybe a little naive). Ignotus is pleased that Lope seems to be prepared to befriend and learn from the “lower” classes (including a blacksmith).

However, Ignotus is concerned about Lope's friend, Micael Bonisha, who has visited a cemetery (for what?) and has disguised his nature in order to visit a monastery library. Ignotus has done nothing about this but continues to watch carefully.

Ignotus observes Lope fall for a pretty face, who promptly lifts his purse and escapes. Keen to see how Lope will react, Ignotus searches for the thief, and having traced her, passes this information to Lope by way of a beggar. Following Lope and Micael, who end up struggling with the thief in an alleyway.

Suddenly, a creature emerges from the shadows of the alley. Micael shows he is not actually much experienced with the supernatural, by promptly shitting his hose! The thief hurls a badly aimed dagger and flees. Lope grabs Micael’s arm advising that they should take to their heels.

Ignotus however, blocks the creature’s path as it flows its claws and spreads its wings. He unsheathes only a foot or so of the second sword he wears on his back, but this is enough - a ray of light shines from the sword, burning the creature’s eyes, causing it to fly away. Subsequently Ignotus is please that Lope contacts him and (having heard of his deeds at court and away from it) asks to learn from him.


In the section on game mechanics there are a number of examples featuring Lope, and matching Ignotus’ early observations of him - Lope overhears a conversation about the court moving to Burgos, engages in a wager to eat a whole piglet, haggles with a merchant over the price of a new doublet, spends a night outside when there is no room at the inn, helps out a blacksmith etc

We also find out a little more about Micael’s visit to the Jewish cemetery of Burgos (along with Lope), looking for some strange components that Micael needs, which includes them discovering a nasty corpse-eating creature. We aren’t told for sure, but it looks as though the creature evades them with its paralysing howl.

It also gives examples using Micael’s visit to the monastery library, and the theft of Lope’s purse, and the struggle in the alley is covered in more detail, revealing the creature to be an afriet.

We also have an example of Lope improving his court etiquette under Ignotus’s tutelage - here we also discover that Lope doesn’t seem aware of Ignotus’s intervention in the alley, so presumably Lope and Micael had fled by then…. In a further example, Micael improves his Astrology skill by studying an Arabic version of the Almagest of Ptolemy the astronomer, which he finds in the monastery library.

Lope also becomes friends with Sister Recareda Ibarréñez, a Cistercian nun of the convent of Las Huelgas, who has a reputation for saintliness and piety.


In the next section of fiction, Ignotus is observing Lope doing weapon training with a soldier, using wooden swords. Suddeny, the soldier roars “like a beast”. Most observers think Lope must have scored a painful hid, but Ignotus thinks it stinks of magic…

The soldier continues roaring, staggers, and draws his steel sword. Lope manages to draw his own weapon on defend himself, and the the crowd intervene to halt the suddenly deadly fight…

Lope wants to consult with Micael, but Micael has contracted some kind of illness and has been sealed up in the Jewish ghetto, and the guards will not let Lope through. By the time Micael has recovered, Lope has more or less forgotten the incident.

Later Lope’s horse becomes startled during a hunt (almost as if it has seen something invisible to the eyes of others). Lope is nearly thrown into a ravine, but is saved (though still badly injured) by Micael’s quick reactions - this has the added bonus of making Ignotus rethink his views of Lope’s Jewish friend.

While Lope is recovering under the auspices of Sister Recareda. It transpires that the Sister has history with Ignotus and Manuel (Lope’s father). Sister Recareda and Ignotus agree that dark forces seem to be in play around Lope, who remains in danger. She advises Ignotus to search for protection among heretics.


As before, the incidents above are used as examples of the game mechanics - we find out that Lope suffered a minor wound at the hands of the soldier, and that Micael contracted pneumonia whilst out one night gathering hellebore flowers.


Next we have a piece of fiction where Ignotus is giving Lope some combat training in the woods. On their way back they encounter some bandits, and manage to overcome them. Ignotus surprises Lope by finishing off the wounded: “Do you prefer to leave them here, for the crows to eat their eyes while they yet live? Would you wish to take them back to justice, to be tossed into a cell and die there, in the agony of their wounds, and if somehow one survives, he is hanged and dies slowly, kicking until he pisses himself and dies? If you are so noble and pious, give a quick death to those who would not have given one to us. And gather up their weapons! However rusty they may be, any farmer who finds them might take them and fall to the temptation of becoming another beast of the road. Perhaps that way you can save someone’s life.”

A we have now come to expect, the fight is used to give detailed examples of combat on the subsequent section.

The story also continues, as our pair are unexpectedly attacked by a mounted man and his unmounted squire, as the head back to Burgos. In the subsequent fight, Ignotus gravely wounds the squire with a single thrust to the abdomen, causing him to collapse unconscious. Lope and Ignotus subsequently badly wound the mounted man, who escapes on horseback. We are told that the squire is about to reveal a name…


The next piece of fiction really takes the story in a new direction. Ignotus intercepts girl bringing a drink to Lope. The drink is doctored to allow a woman to dominate a man. We find out that the girl is Maria - the thief who stole Lope’s purse. She has inveigled herself into the palace, and has been drugging Lope to keep his wits dull, and prevent him noticing that she has transferred a “precious object” that she stole from a witch named Carmela Rodrigo. This meant that the sorcerous misfortunes intended for Maria were focused on Lope!

Searching Lope’s possessions they find the object - a strange length of twine, too short to be of any real use, and apparently woven of human hair. Ignotus describes it as an “object of power” and asks Lope his intentions. Lope wants to find out more about Carmel Rodrigo, and Ignotus sends him to see the sage, Mijail Al-Aceytun, who lives in Burgos.

Lope and Micael go to see the sage together. The Moor tells them that Carmela Rodrigo’s name “carries the stench of death. Many believe her to be a witch, but she is actually a very daughter of the Devil. The fruit of an unnatural union, she has one foot on Earth and one in Hell. And by this she can be recognised, for her left foot is not actually a foot, but instead a cloven hoof, like a goat’s.”

He starts to tell them about the object of power, and describes it as a “nudo malefico”. Before he can say any more, shadows in the corner of the room take shape, and a thing of blackness starts tearing at the old Moor. Lope goes to attack it but Micael stops him, telling him he has read of such a creature - a sombra, that only magic can hurt. Reluctantly they retreat, leaving the creature crouching over the remains of the sage.

As the sombra prepares to leave, Ignotus enters, and drawing the strange sword on his back, cuts the thing in half…


More next time
 
Last edited:
Curses. Just noted that spell checking changed all references about Burgos to Bruges! I've gone through the section above to try to amend it - please forgive any errors...
 
Lope and Micael are able to trace one of the witch’s old hideouts - a cave. They make their way there, but without Ignotus, as Lope is unable to trace his whereabouts…

In the cave they are confronted by a guardian creature - short, crusty, and dressed in rags that mixed with its lumpy natural pelt and stony flakes that seemed to sprout from it like leprous spots all over its body (a gnomo). There is a short battle, with Micael delivering the death blow from behind. Later, Micael performs magic to try to trace the witch (a Vision of the Future spell), who has clearly not been here for some time. The spell shows she is in Burgos, but cannot pinpoint her location. Lope supposes he will need to await further developments…

Within the week. Lope turns up at Micael’s, with evidence of another fierce fight - this time form his description it appears to have been a lobisome, which fortunately Lope slew before it could bite him. Micael suggests throwing away the “object of power” and leaving someone else to deal with the consequences, but Lope refuses.

Later, Micael is accosted by Ignotus in a dark alley. Ignotus informs him that Burgos is no longer safe for him, as the merchant form whom he has been buying products for use in his “magics” has reported his activities to “those who dedicate themselves to hunting such as you.”

Ignotus urges Micael to flee to Eliossana, a town on the Moorish border, and entering by the North road, to the first house on the left, where he should knock three times and ask for Hardeck (giving the appropriate code/response). He also advises him to stop flirting with black magic, and that he (Ignotus) will look after Lope.


Further worked examples follow, including Micael learning a new spell (Tongue of Babel) from the book he is studying in the library of the monastery of Silos, and manufacturing some does of Healing Balm (which he uses on Lope after his fight with the lobisome). It also deals with Micael’s attempts to get the components for his new spell, and the suspicion of sorcery tests that ultimately result in Ignotus’s warnings to him (above).

In the nest part, Lope asks for Sister Recareda’s help - which she eventually grants after he ends up begging her. As they leave the monastery, they are attacked by lamia, that Lope manages to kill, receiving only a few minor wounds in exchange. Sister Recareda subsequently purifies Lope with prayers, ready for the struggle ahead.

Sister Recareda believes the witch is hiding out with “her kind” (by which she means harlots) and suggests they pray for the protection of San Cipriano. When Lope suggest he goes alone to such a house of ill-repute, she also reveals that she was not always a nun, and has been in brothels and met harlots before…

The worked examples follow in the body of the chapter as usual. It is clear that Sister Recareda has used the ritual “Clean in the Eyes of God” and also the “Ritual of Revelation” to find the witch’s lair.

San Cipriano hears her prayers, but the GM does not reveal the benefits this will grant.


In the next section, Lope and Sister Recareda forcibly enter the brothel. Sister Recareda spots the witch despite her magics, and calls her out, which results in her disguise dissolving - “She was no longer young and beautiful, but an old disgusting woman, hunched over by a crooked hump and leaning heavily on a ancient, gnarled staff. She limped toward them, disguising her rage at being so easily discovered behind a toothless smile. Monstrous creatures began to bubble up from the shadows, the air filled with the metallic smell of magic…”

The witch challenges the Nun and Lope and whether they have brought back her missing “item”. Ignotus appears on the threshold, apparently holding up the item (even though Lope knows he has it himself).

Ignotus reveals the item to be an “Evil Knot” - if you tie it a belonging of someone you want to curse and pronounce the correct words, the curse will take effect. The witch steps towards Ignotus, crying: “Something you carry blinds me! But I feel the power here, very close! Give it to me, and your death will be swift!”

At a nudge from Sister Recareda, Lope swiftly ties the true item to the witch’s staff and someone recites the correct words…. Paralysed, the witch is vulnerable and Lope decapitates her with a single blow. Her head rolls at his feet, her eyes look at him and the lips pronounce one last word: “Agaliaretph...”


Continuing the tale, the witch’s pronouncement at the moment of her death has summoned her demonic father, along with other…. Things.

A fight (clearly) breaks out, and Ignotus finally draws his “special sword”. This turns out to be stolen from the malachi habbalah, who have sentenced him to death for the theft. Having drawn it one last time, this is to be Ignotus’s last fight.

The battle rages, but the Anatema arrive to assist, and at the last Ignotus calls on Samael, Venom of God…


Subsequently, Burgos burns for three days and nights - there are even rumours of angels and demons fighting. Lope turns up at the smouldering ruins and has a vision of Ignotus’s body in the arms of three women, one old, one of courting age and one a girl.

They tell him that Ignotus, together with the paladin Pol de Gorriaitz will stand guard at the gates of Hell to stop the evil Sarcoy from crossing them. They advise Lope to go to Eliosanna, to join Micael and the Cofrades. Afterwards he should look for two siblings, a boy and a girl. They are more or less Lope’s age. Ignotus saved them, many years ago, by invoking the power of Samael and they are the closest thing to children he ever had, and they will be pleased to hear of their protector’s last battle.”
 
Well, some of those creatures are kinda borrowed, but usually from closer sources, like Basque. So maybe there is an "upiro" in Spain? I don't know, though I've never heard about it, either:thumbsup:.
I mean, it could still be a borrowed creature/name, but it might have been borrowed centuries earlier:shade:.

There isn't. To my knowledge, there is very little to none vampiric folklore native to Spain , and what exist are relatively recent associations (frex, there stories about blood-drinking witches in the Canary Islands, but as far as I understand, the 'blood drinking' part is a recent addition, probably in the last 100 years or so).

My (entirely unconfirmed) suspicion is that the 'upiro' got added to the Aquelarre corpus sometime in the nineties, possibly around the publication of the 'Dracs' campaign, which features a vampiric 'Count Estruch' (a character from a 90' Spanish vampire novel which was coyly promoted as based on actual legends).


I think it could have used a full read-through by someone with a more thorough grasp of colloquial English (and roleplaying games) as the translation is sometimes a bit leaden or awkward, and terminology slightly "odd" (impact location instead of hit location for example). Given the size and completeness of the work, I can forgive that though.

The one glaring thing for me was the second scenario - I would replace it altogether, or even omit it.

The second scenario is largely a self-indulgent wink and joke to veteran Aquelarre players (hence the "old, old soldiers"), and I find odd that it was finally included in the English translation (as far as I know that wasn't the original plan), not just because it isn't very good (it really isn't) but also because it must come across as utterly nonsensical to anyone who lacks any previous familiarity with Aquelarre or even the Spanish gaming scene.

In case it's not clear, the "old book" described the scenario is the first edition of Aquelarre (a slim blue hardcover). The "new book" is the current one. Also, a number of NPCs are named after Spanish gamers and Aquelarre writers and freelancers.

Basically, picture a D&D scenario where the PCs go searching for "the three fabled tomes that describe the secrets workings of the universe", and then they meet Elminster and Aleena and Asmodeus along with a bunch of NPCs named Arneson, Tweet or DiTerlizzi, and you'll get the idea.

(And as you say, the actual scenario isn't very good - the author of that particular scenario has a... very indulgent and weirdly old school approach to scenario writing, and while there's is some stuff by him I liked, often I find him hit-or-miss)
 
There isn't. To my knowledge, there is very little to none vampiric folklore native to Spain , and what exist are relatively recent associations (frex, there stories about blood-drinking witches in the Canary Islands, but as far as I understand, the 'blood drinking' part is a recent addition, probably in the last 100 years or so).

My (entirely unconfirmed) suspicion is that the 'upiro' got added to the Aquelarre corpus sometime in the nineties, possibly around the publication of the 'Dracs' campaign, which features a vampiric 'Count Estruch' (a character from a 90' Spanish vampire novel which was coyly promoted as based on actual legends).




The second scenario is largely a self-indulgent wink and joke to veteran Aquelarre players (hence the "old, old soldiers"), and I find odd that it was finally included in the English translation (as far as I know that wasn't the original plan), not just because it isn't very good (it really isn't) but also because it must come across as utterly nonsensical to anyone who lacks any previous familiarity with Aquelarre or even the Spanish gaming scene.

In case it's not clear, the "old book" described the scenario is the first edition of Aquelarre (a slim blue hardcover). The "new book" is the current one. Also, a number of NPCs are named after Spanish gamers and Aquelarre writers and freelancers.

Basically, picture a D&D scenario where the PCs go searching for "the three fabled tomes that describe the secrets workings of the universe", and then they meet Elminster and Aleena and Asmodeus along with a bunch of NPCs named Arneson, Tweet or DiTerlizzi, and you'll get the idea.

(And as you say, the actual scenario isn't very good - the author of that particular scenario has a... very indulgent and weirdly old school approach to scenario writing, and while there's is some stuff by him I liked, often I find him hit-or-miss)
Ah, thank you for that explanation!
 
There isn't. To my knowledge, there is very little to none vampiric folklore native to Spain , and what exist are relatively recent associations (frex, there stories about blood-drinking witches in the Canary Islands, but as far as I understand, the 'blood drinking' part is a recent addition, probably in the last 100 years or so).

My (entirely unconfirmed) suspicion is that the 'upiro' got added to the Aquelarre corpus sometime in the nineties, possibly around the publication of the 'Dracs' campaign, which features a vampiric 'Count Estruch' (a character from a 90' Spanish vampire novel which was coyly promoted as based on actual legends).
Thank you, I had come to suspect as much:smile:! (I never managed to locate anything about upiros in searching the Spanish-language part of the Net:wink:).
Ah well, they make it seem convincing enough, at least. But I'm not such a huge fan of blood-drinkers* to begin with, so I'd probably skip those if/when I get to running Aquelarre...:grin:

Also, welcome to the Pub:thumbsup:!

*"They suck, and not in the good way:devil:!"
 
Three Years Later….

Lope de Navarette and his entourage arrive at the gates of Pontevedre at dusk.

He is accompanied by a Jew, a man at arms carrying a crossbow, and a youth so beautiful he looks like a woman. Lope himself carries an Arabic Saif (as once recommended by Ignotus).

The guards hesitate before letting them in - after all the crossbow is cursed by God, and a woman dressed as a man (if such it was) would be a great offence in the eyes of God.

The older, wiser guard lets them through, and tells his colleague: “About ten years ago a similar group passed through these very gates. That same night they entered the Jewry and went to the cemetery, the Campa dos Xueus. They were not seen again. It was said they sought the Seal of Solomon for Fabrique, one of Pedro the Cruel’s brothers. They were cut from the same cloth that these... Take it from me. Don’t get in their way or it’ll be your funeral.”


And we hear no more of Lope, Micael and their two companions.



Comments: I quite enjoyed the fiction, and the way it was expanded on in the examples. There were a few loose ends of course - or maybe plot hooks might be a better term.

I did find the ending escalated rather rapidly, and I couldn’t see players in our group coming through things quite as unscathed as Lope and co, but of course that makes for a better story with a continuity of character.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this, and I would love to play this game, regardless of any slight niggles I have highlighted. I'm very glad to see the English translation.

I think I will try to sell this to my group in the New Year, though I’m not over-optimistic, as we are moving towards lighter games systems.


So what to read next?
 
Hmmmm. Excellent point of course.

My current "to read" list includes:

  • Achtung! Cthulhu 2D20
  • Coriolis
  • Dune 2D20
  • Cepheus Deluxe
 
Hmmmm. Excellent point of course.

My current "to read" list includes:

  • Achtung! Cthulhu 2D20
  • Coriolis
  • Dune 2D20
  • Cepheus Deluxe
You know I'd be up for Cepheus Deluxe, right:grin:?
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top