The first feature introduces three "merchants." These aren't your typical purveyors of goods. The first is a man in a bell jar that will sell you memories you haven't had yet. The second is a a girl in a forest pit, who's just not quite right. Finally there is an insectile Chief Medical Officer that can eat your wounds. Odd, really doesn't describe these encounters.
The second article discusses plague eaters. It provides what they do and how they do it. This is described in artistic prose and mechanically.
Halflings get new life in the third article. These halflings are created when magical spores infiltrate and take over the corpses of children. This is an interesting idea and could also be a great way to introduce cordyceps zombies.
Do you like random charts? If you're an OSR gamer, I'm going to assume that's a yes. The fourth article is for your. It's four pages of random charts for designing and customizing wizard familiars. This goes into the summoning/creation ritual of gaining a familiar. It does a wonderful job of bringing the familiar to life (pun intended).
Lib-Tombs of the Mad Lords is next. This is a mad lib dungeon creator. It's silly, but it might be fun to actually use.
Sit Not, Vicious Dog follows this. This is a canine mask that can be cut out. The back of the mask has some great prose. There are also directions on how to use it.
There is a print-only extra article in the issue. It's includes rules for curse as class. Essentially once you gain a curse you stop leveling up and the curse grows in power and you gain experience.
Finally the back inside of the cover has a diceless spinner you can use if you don't have dice handy. I wouldn't want to deface my zine (plus I have tons of dice), but it's still a neat addition to the issue.
Once again, Penicillin is an odd zine. It's not a classic release and is just as much a piece of contemporary art as it is piece of gaming content. Personally, I'm a fan. If this sounds interesting to you, you can pick up a pdf copy here.
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