Although the earlier Japanese releases included local versions of both AC2 and AC7 screens, for the second wave by Dengeki Game Bunko/Group SNE, they created an entirely new product.
It included the screen itself, an adventure book, and a book of fillable sheets for play, including character sheets and various blank grids.
Enough talk, let’s take a look at the screen itself.
The Screen
The front has a rather snazzy full colour illustration of the party of pre-rolled characters. These guys should be familiar from the other releases in the series. It’s also made from very strong cardboard, and comes off as being rather better made than the TSR products.
The tables themselves are just as you would expect them, and I’m not going to go into more detail on those.
The adventure booklet had, I think, two adventures, both original: The Lost Statue of Zirchev and The Black Plague of Biikufu Village. It included various encounter maps and such, as well as a full page map of Specularum on the back cover. Check it out:
Interestingly enough, this map includes a location for the missing number from GAZ1’s Specularum map: here the Great Church of Traladara is number 13. Here’s a translation of the full key (I’ve preserved some direct translations out of interest):
- 公爵の居城 — The Duke’s Stronghold
- ヒル区 — The Hill District
- ブリックトップ区 — Bricktop District
- サウスエンド区／ノースエンド区 — South End District / North End District
- オールドクォーター — Old Quarter
- グランドマーケット — The Grand Market
- マーチャント区 — Merchant District
- 小マーチャント区 — Lesser Merchant District
- ネスト区 — The Nest District
- ウェストロン・アレイ — Westron Alley
- 〈盗賊の王国〉本部 — Kingdom of Thieves Headquarters
- 魔法使いギルド本部 — Magicians’ Guild Hall
- トララダラ教会大聖堂 — Great Church of Traladara
- カラメイコス教会大聖堂 — Great Church of Karameikos
- 外人区 — Foreign Quarter
- 旧市壁 — Old City Walls
- 公爵市壁 — Duke’s Wall
- 〈冒険者の宴〉亭 — The Adventurer’s Banquet tavern
- ベローニャ商店 — Veronya’s Shop
The last two on the list are from The Lost Statue of Zirchev adventure. I may have the spelling of the name wrong — I’m not sure what exactly it’s supposed to be. The character’s full name is Veronasan Veronya, and the family is said to be one that was all but destroyed in the Marilenev Rebellion.
Other locations mentioned in the text:
- 〈一獲千金〉亭 — Strike It Rich inn
- アレリウスのアジト — Allerius’s Hideout
Finally, there’s Biikufu Village. I’m not at all sure about the spelling for this… Could it be meant to be Viokef, perhaps? It seems a bit too “Japanese generic fantasy”, but perhaps I’m overlooking an original Traladaran-sounding name. In any case, there is a map of the village, plus a map showing its location, along the Eastron Road from Specularum, past Krakatos.
I actually got my hands on this product a few years ago now, but I’ve only just managed to get my old scanner up and running again. In the meantime, D&D Daily on Instagram beat me to posting about it by a few months.
If there is enough interest, I will expand this article at some point in the future.