The third issue of the ShadowDark zine Cursed Scroll is called Midnight Sun, and is focused on a Medieval Scandinavian style setting.  Think vikings, long ships, ice-covered islands, visceral magic, trolls and gnomes.  Of the three settings, this one is the least different from its inspirational source.  Though not really historic, it feels like the Hollywood version of the “Viking World.”  Even the gods share real-world names.  

Like previous issues, it’s got new classes.  This time there are only two, the Viking-esque Sea Wolf and the creepy shaman-type, the Seer.  There are three new gods, called the Old Gods.  You’ll know them by name, Odin, Freya, and Loki.  And they’re pretty much what you’d expect.  There are some new rules for boats and for swearing oaths.  And there’s a fun little chart for coming up with random ways a replacement PC might show up.  Finally, there’s a keyed hex-map and an adventure, Hoard of the Sea Wolf King, along with another mini-dungeon/setting for you to place where you will.  I find it a little odd that a gauntlet style adventure doesn’t show up until issue 3, but I guess Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur is available free on the website.  

The adventure looks like it could be a lot of fun, and there’s certainly a lot of potential for players to attack it in different ways.  But I guess my problem with this issue is that the setting feels a little too familiar.  ShadowDark plays in the sandbox of Generic Fantasy that is common with many games, especially the elephant in the room, D&D.  Often they use Culture A or Inspiration B, and file the serial numbers off.  With this one, I can still make out the serial numbers.  It’s not real Medieval Scandinavia.  But it’s not that far off the pop culture vision of that time.  I’d have liked something to make it stand on its own a bit more.

I still think this is good, and if you’re into ShadowDark, I’d recommend it.  But it’s the first time I’ve finished reading one of these and felt sort of let down.  It just doesn’t pop like the first two issues.  Though the adventure is probably my favorite so far.  

You can see my unboxing of Cursed Scroll #3 here.

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