The first section of the zine discusses building a monster hunting kit. We're presented with nine different herbs, minerals, etc. Each item has one to three uses mentioned after their description. These provide minor game benefits and will be very familiar to anyone that knows a lot of folklore. For example under the salt entry it mentions that some creatures are incapable of crossing over a line of salt. I want to start including more things like this in my games, and I feel its easier to do so in OSR games that things like 5e.
The second part of the zine presents six new monsters from Jewish lore with stats. Shape-shifting women, estrie are hemovore that prefer to feed on children. Not inherently good or evil, the Sheydim are halfborn; part human and part shadow. The charred dead are wicked corpses forced to gather wood to keep Hell's fires burning. Dybbuk's are evil souls that have escaped eternal punishment and hunted by angels. They can possess the living. Lantukh are trickster house spirits. Finally a seraph is a winged, burning-cobra empowered by the flames of the nephilim.
Finally there are three new class/variants. I will talk about but can't really compare the second and third variants to their originals because I don't have the Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules.
The first adventuring class is the Baal Shem. These variant clerics are wandering rabbi who've mastered Name Magic. They are mystics and wandering monster hunters. Like regular clerics, they can turn undead, however, they can't destroy undead this way and the only armor they can wear is leather. These divine casters can use magic from both cleric and magic-user spell lists. However, they must observe the Sabbath and follow the 613 mitzvot. This makes them quite power, but means they must live very strict lives. I really like the idea of this class, but it seems like one that would require a lot of outside knowledge and have some very strict roleplay rules.
The second class is the Babski Refues. This druid variant has a gender requirement, as only women can practice this form of rural folk magic and remedies. Their magic is tied to their journals and these act as spellbooks. They cast druid and illusionist spells and can turn undead. They have identify plants and animals, discern clean water, and are resistant to poisons. They eventually gain the ability to communicate with animals. Also there is no mention of druidic hierarchy so it seems they exist outside of normal druidic society (which makes sense given their background).
The third class is the Red Jew. I have never heard of the legend of the Red Jews but they are believed to be members of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The class is a barbarian variant. They are agile fighters, masters of ambush, hate magic (outside of that practiced by the Babski Refues). Additionally being nomadic mount dwellers they have several skills that help them survive mountainous wilds.
These classes are cool, but I doubt I add them to any of my games. While they could be adapted, unless I was playing a game set on Earth I probably wouldn't use them. Honestly even then, I'd probably restrict them to npcs because I don't want to be insensitive.
Ultimately I'm not in love with this zine, but I don't dislike it either. I appreciate it for what it is and will definitely use bits and pieces from it in my future games. If the zine sounds like something you'd be interested in, you can grab the pdf or print copy at Madness Heart Press. I ordered the print/pdf combo but have received my print copy yet. I may update this post and talk about the print quality when I get it.
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