“I Shall tell you the truth of the one who is hated.
As much a bastard as he was cunning, he became a myth and roamed the known world after having destroyed the sacred stronghold of Troy.
Along with his crew, he plundered countless cities; greedily and without mercy he ruined their inhabitants and their souls too.
Meanwhile, his people rejoiced his absence and prayed for Hades to guide him into the realm of shadows.”
“I Shall tell you the truth of the one who is hated.
As much a bastard as he was cunning, he became a myth and roamed the known world after having destroyed the sacred stronghold of Troy.
Along with his crew, he plundered countless cities; greedily and without mercy he ruined their inhabitants and their souls too.
Meanwhile, his people rejoiced his absence and prayed for Hades to guide him into the realm of shadows.”
– Aura, Oracle on board
Odyssey – Black Tales is a rules-light tabletop RPG for 1, 2 or more players compatible with 5e, Old School Essentials and Mork Borg. You will be part of Ulysses’ crew, the greatest liar in history, and rank in his small army of marauders.
Will you partake in the pillaging of the Mediterranean or will you risk your life in an attempt to protect the peoples of the Great Sea? The choice is yours alone…
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ULYSSES LIED
The sole survivor of his troop of soldiers, with the world believing him dead or lost after years withou sightings, Ulysses washes up on the island of Scheria and meets Nausicaa, daughter of the Phaeacian king Alcinous. Moved to pity, the young woman leads him to the palace, where he receives a hero’s welcome by the king and the promise of a ship to return home.
The castaway reveals to Alcinous that after a long series of trials, at the very last hurdle, his crew mates killed several of Zeus’ sacred cattle, and for that grave offence the God of the sky obliterated them all with lightning. Ulysses alone was spared.
Ulysses and his crew sacked and pillaged their way across the Great Sea, stealing treasures and oppressing its peaceful people. His ship bore no flags and the raiders’ faces were concealed so as to avoid being recognised.
But the lost song of the Sirens tells of a small band of true heroes which acted, unbeknownst to their captain, to foil him and save as many people as possible from his bloodthirst. Their plan was to overthrow the tyrant Ulysses and end his streak of violence, but the legends do not say whether they succeeded.
Now, you are tasked with telling the true tale of the Odyssey.
Odyssey – Black Tales is a roleplaying game that asks you to tell the true tale of Ulysses’ crew, following his journey through the Mediterranean. You’ll face a voyage into the unknown, shoulder to shoulder with pirates led by a man as cunning as he is skilled with the sword.
You can choose to play as Raiders, taking part in the pillaging and attempting to survive until the spoils of war are shared (fools!), or as Saviours, scrambling to save the peoples of the sea without being caught, and finally to gather allies and weapons to overthrow Ulysses when the time is right.
TO PLAY SOLO: The manual will include rules to play Odyssey as a journaling game, with various prompts to select on every dice roll which will guide you in filling the ship’s log. You’ll be keeping track of resources and allies while the choices you make will determine both your fate and that of the people of the Great Sea.
FOR 2+ PLAYERS: A duet journaling game in which one player is always part of Ulysses’ raiding party while the other changes roles to represent the various peoples being attacked by the ancient hero. Each scene is divided into three phases:
- The Encounter: in which the Raider meets the people of the Sea, which could reveal themselves to be friendly or hostile. The reaction of these peoples will be decided by a roll of the die on the Reaction Table, but the player representing them will have agency on their judgement.
- The Pact: The Raider will attempt to forge a secret alliance, risking Ulysses’ fury should the man find out. The Raider can deceive the people they meet to make pillaging easier, or stay true to their word as a Saviour in order to gain potential allies. In the latter case, a roll of the dice will determine whether Ulysses discovers the secret pact or promotes the Raider for their misdeeds.
- The Pillaging: Where the Raider’s true intentions are revealed, and betrayal or bonding follow suit, according to what was said in the Pact. A roll of the dice determines the result of the eventual raid.
FOR 3+ PLAYERS: Players will traverse the seas as Raiders or, as above, interpret the peoples who are being attacked and oppressed by Ulysses’ pirates. The manual includes an original Old School ruleset developed by Andrea Rossi accompanied by maps, classes, magic items, equipment and monsters inspired by the Homeric poem.
Odyssey – Black Tales is a game about deceit, danger and betrayal. Ulysses is the king of liars and he will soon discover the help given to the people of the Great Sea. Raiders will have to, on occasion, lie to them in order to avoid being discovered, condemning them to a grim fate.
The game’s manual will have you face Ulysses’ crew’s darkest moments, from the battle with the Cicones to the mortal straits of Scylla and Charybdis in 7 breathtaking adventures:
- The sacking of Ismara
- The forbidden delights of the lotus eaters
- The battle of the Cyclops
- Aeolous’ deceit
- Circe’s revenge
- Selling souls in Hades
- The Sirens’ trap
The manual will also include rules for solo and duet games modes and the Basic Old School System developed by Andrea Rossi (curator of Old School Essentials), a quick and simple system applicable to any setting with only three stats used for roll-under tests, with the number of dice rolled determined by the test itself. Each adventure will have a compendium for each of the three game modes, containing basic elements like monsters and encounters. This allows for a quick and easy read-through of each adventure which can be easily narrated and tuned to fit the system currently being played.
The handbooks also include:
- 4 classes with increasing abilities each time they level up
- A bestiary with 28 creatures
- A table to randomly generate loot
- A hefty list of weapons, armour and equipment
- The Oracle’s Grimoire, which includes in-game spells
Finally, the conversion kit is a small reference document that allows you to switch out the stats used by the native system for those in use by other Zinequest-famous RPGs: OSE, MÖRK BORG and 5e
CREDITS
Officina Meningi is an independent label of gamebooks and RPGs, awarded with several important prizes such as the Lucca Comics & Games award in 2020 and the NDU AWARDS for the best gamebook in 2021 and 2022.
The authors involved in our projects are established professionals and for Odyssey – Black Tales, we have created a spectacular team involving Valentino Sergi, author of the award-winning The Necronomicon Gamebook, The Horror Gamebook and many successful RPGs such as Blood Sword 5e, Brancalonia (4 ENnies Awards) and Last Sabbath (with Atropo Kelevra, revisor of Odyssey – Black Tales); Andrea Rossi, curator of the italian edition of Old-School Essentials; Jorge Coelho, comic artist for Marvel, BOOM! Studios and Image; Moreno Paissan, cartographer for Free League, Acheron, Horrible Guilds and dozens of other publishing houses; Marco Sada, cartoonist and bookgame illustrator; Fabio Babich, comics artist; Mimir, iconic illustrator of Epigons; Valentina Tretola, comic book author; Veronica Wu, twitcher and Old-School cartographer; Alberto Furlan, native translator and author of numerous RPGs for Zinequest; Gabriele Sergi, video maker; and Umberto Spaticchia, graphic designer.
