Originally published at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2015/05/13/tabletop-review-forever-folio-issue-1/

Forever Folio is the new house engine magazine from UK RPG publisher Forever People. Now I’ve never played Wyrd nor EVP, which are the two games they produce, but you DO get a free version of the Wyrd Game Systems and Settings with this Magazine, so that’s a nice bonus. I love gaming magazine and since this is a “Pay What You Want” release, it means that anyone (or everyone) can get it for free if they are hard up for cash or skeptical about the contents and quality. Of course, if you like what you see, you can always go back and give Forever People a few bucks or, better yet, purchase some of their games.

Because this magazine is a house engine, you should expect Forever Folio to focus on Forever People’s games, not some other companies. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be articles about non FP products though. In this very issue, there is a piece on a film called “The Dwarves of Demrel that is trying to raise 40K via crowdfunding on Kickstarter. I was backer #64 and honestly, it was this piece that drew me to trying out the magazine (besides my love of RPG mags) and also got me to download an adventure for EVP, which I’ll review later this month as well. There’s only a week left to help crowdfund “The Dwarves of Demrel” and it’s three-fourths of the way home so, consider backing it.

Anyway, let’s talk magazine contents. First up, there is a transcribed interview with Wyrd author David Sharrock. This original was posted online at RPG.net, but Forever Folio has cleaned it up, given the piece a nice layout and some pretty artwork and made it easier on the eyes all-around. There are still some errors though, like “rill” instead of “roll,” but the piece gives newcomers a good idea about what they can expect from Wyrd in terms of both setting and mechanics.

After that comes “The Unsung Weave,” which is the start a free short serialized campaign for Wyrd. Of course to run “The Unsung Weave,” you will three different books, so while the adventure is free, the experience is not. This adventure does feel like it can be ported over to other systems with a little work and it’s designed for new players/character so it’s a great way to get a feel for whether Wyrd is for you or not. Further issues of Forever Folio will continue the campaign so if you like what you see, keep getting the magazine.

The third article is the piece about “The Dwarves of Demrel.” Then you get a look at Forever People’s newest RPG, EVP. This interests me far more than Wyrd, and although this article is only a page long, it does a fine job of selling people on the concept of EVP. As I said, I do have an adventure for EVP that I’ll be reviewing and for now I’ll just say it comes with a LOT of .wav files.

The rest of the magazine consists of two articles on Mazes, Maps & Monsters which is designed to be a fantasy RPG for young children. The first article is a breakdown of the rules, along with an accompanying character sheet. The second is an adventure for the game entitled, “The Ruins of Peril,” complete with pictures of the ruins made in Legos. Adorable. Dung, the Philosophical Giant is the best NPC I’ve encountered all year.

All, in all, this is a fun first house engine magazine from Forever People. It did what it needed to and got me curious about the various products the company offers and as I said, I did download The Salem House Haunting for EVP, so that right there shows the magazine did its job. Forever Folio does feel like a bit of a soft sell from beginning to end, and it’s certainly geared towards people who are completely new to Wyrd and EVP, but it’s the first issue of a magazine – it SHOULD be an introductory piece. Anyway, Forever Folio was a fun read and I’d definitely recommend picking it up to see if any of the three games covered in this magazine are worth your time and money.