Wormskin is a print-on-demand fanzine for use with B/X, Labyrinth Lord and other old school type FRPGs. It is the work of Gavin Norman and Greg Gorgonmilk and friends and describes various aspects of the author's Dolmenwood campaign setting. Pictured above is issue 3 in which the surface ruins of the Abbey of St. Clewd are featured. I think of Dolmenwood much as I do my own Dreadmoor, as a place, a campaign and an idea. Dolmenwood has a map (issue 1), so it's a place. It is a unique creation of inspired imagination, a campaign playground for exploring various aspects of old school, fantasy role play and the setting of many tales yet to be told. Dolmenwood uses a variant to an existing ruleset with it's own unique races, classes, flora and fauna and traditions of magic to bring to life the vision of it's creators.
One of my pleasures in this hobby is to read about the wondrous worlds created by imaginative authors as settings for their game stories. Some settings are best suited to develop certain kinds of stories during gameplay, suggesting by their peculiar qualities certain themes and possibilities. I enjoy the imaginings such a setting description suggests to me and that it inspires my day-dreaming mind to elaborate upon.
Dolmen wood is small enough to be dropped into any existing campaign as an enchanted forest location. It is large enough for it to be it's own small setting as well. The map has a numbered hex overlay system and can be used for hex crawling or other types of exploration. Issues 2 and 3 detail small areas of Dolmenwood in more detail, including detailed maps on the back cover of each issue. The art throughout is quite good and gives the reader a definite feel for the Dolmenwood.
Born of fairy and steeped in occult mysteries, myth and superstition, the Dolmenwood is home to the undead gloam, mogglewomps, intelligent scryke and a scrabey (all new monsters described in this issue). Alternate race-class options for PCs in Dolmenwood include the Moss Dwarf and Grimalkin (described in issue 1). Each issue gives more detail about the Dolmenwood, it's inhabitants and places of mystery, it's flora and fauna. A magical lake, the witching ring, and a ruined abbey (part 1) are all revealed in issue 3. Issue 2 contains information on Lankshorn and the evil goatmen. Other articles describe fungi found in Dolmenwood, psychedelic compounds, common tavern fare, languages and a brief history of the wood. A novel approach to the spooky wood containing some very real threats, the Dolmenwood as revealed in the pages of Wormskin is among my favorite places of mystery.
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