Here we have another of the fabled zines of the OSR, Through Ultans Door describes the dream-city of Immortal Zyan. I talked about issues #1 and #2 shortly before I backed the kickstarter for issue #3.
photo of newly arrived issue #3, showing cover art by Huargo
In issue #3 - part 1 we open with the Opium Dreamer - effectively a class to be used, someone who is appearing in the dream city of Zyan while they are in the clutches of drug dreams. Their abilities are randomly rolled to reflect the variation in what substance has carried them to the Dreamlands this time. Next we have rules for transit along the sewer river which is the main part of this issue - a block of random encounters that captures the full flower of strangeness that dwell in the undercity of Zyan. Next we have secret locations, some tied to entities you may have encountered in your journey along the way such as the Sewer Wyrm, who is also the cover creature for this issue. Lastly we close with wonderous items - which again tie back to the encounterable denizens of the sewer river and their lairs.
In addition to the zine itself comes a card encounter table. The inside of the cover is printed with a map of the sewer river which give an overall view of the 'region' - we can see the Inquisitors Theater from Issue #1. the Catacomb of the Fleischguild from Issue #2. I liked having this map a lot, now I feel I have at least a fingers-grip on the geography of the undercity. Lastly comes an add-in that was a stretch goal from the Kickstarter - the Knowing Bee Sweet Forge - another location presented as a keyed map on one side, with an intro, random encounter table, mini-bestiary, history and hooks covering the other side. An intriguing place to poke about - the Knowing Bee also provides a treasure as yet not found before - a path to Zyan Above!
In issue #3 - part 2 we open with Maladies and Afflictions of Zyan which builds on the thought 'you can tell a lot about a place by the illnesses that afflict its residents'. We then move along to the main body - the Sanitarium of the Benefactors - less a dungeon than a settlement of the unlucky ill trapped in this place to be subjected to the 'care' of The Benefactors for their own purposes. Different to other locations encountered so far along the Sewer River, the Sanitarium could act as a base of operations for a party if they so chose. After this we get a smaller section detailing another site, the Dam of the Lurid Toads, which is effectively toll bandits that will hold up a party that attempts to pass. To close we have an 'other points of interest' - covering all the other locations illustrated on the map inside Issue #3 part 1 - in particular introducing the deadly Churning Gate and the potentially helpful Harbor and its occupants.
The additions for part 2 include the traditional card encounter table with the reverse side occupied with a precis of the factions within the Sanitarium. The inside of the cover is a map of the Sanitarium and the stretch-goal addition this time is a booklet of Maladies and Afflictions - additional diseases with which to immiserate your players lives with a beautiful cover illustration by Daria Khlebnikova. For the most part the diseases in the main zine and the additional booklet are not kidding around - your players may be able to live with the initial stage but better get it fixed before things advance or a gruesome and sometimes literally sticky end awaits.
Beneath the Moss Courts is "an adventure on the sewer river" delivered in the same format as the 'zines so far - a map inside the cover, an encounter table on a seperate card, the main 'zine and a neat 'note on running siege adventures'. Opening with a brief on Zyanese justice and then introducing the villains of the piece, we then get a pair of lairs, one of which is the plunderable Wreck of the Verant Purveyor, and close with wonderous items that may be found there.
In Legerdemain in the Moss Courts we get our first location actually in Zyan Above, the offices of our nefarious masked Fee Inquisitor. The other main location is the Red Channel below the Moss Court Bore and then the Wreck of the Verdant Purveyor within that. These both strike more as the settings for a heist-style approach than a traditional dungeon crawl as the other locations about the sewers - there are more people present and they are more active. As noted in the 'note on sieges' for lower level characters, the foes are too tough to go head to head with, some other approach will be needed here.
A point throughout the experience with Through Ultans Door is the fabulous craftwork and the sheer amount of stuff packed in. Laying out all the zines and their extras gives a good sense of the explosion of art-work and content that comes with them. I think this series of zines is the highest production quality of zines I have come across - a real tactile treat along with the content and artwork. One minor detail, the plastic pockets they come in have very sticky adhesive, so if you peel it open, cover the adhesive (I used tape) so it does not catch the zines as you take them out.
Photo of issues all Through Ultans Door issues, showing cover art by Huargo
As before the content is great - strange, lurid, evocative stuff that may not be to everyones taste but is distinctive and original which is always welcome in my eyes. Where the first zines were broadly about coming to the Dreamlands, with this set we get a block more context to help situate all these places and it begins to feel like we have at least a sketched-out sense of the whole of Zyan. There are numerous points through the zines where promises of 'this will be covered in a future zine' are made - I greatly look forward to reading more and will be getting those when they arrive.
Hapless Henchman has another review here or Questing Beast just did a video review.
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