For the Game Master looking to escape the surly bonds of Earth, Kabuki Kaiser presents Fly Me to the Moon, a hefty setting and adventure module that transports tables to a lunar landscape steeped in 19th-century romance and whimsy.
Rather than the cold vacuum of modern science, this book offers the breathable, lavender-scented atmosphere of Cyrano de Bergerac and H.G. Wells. It is a strange, dense work that serves as both a toolbox and a distinct campaign setting.
Here is a summary of Fly Me to the Moon.
System
Kabuki Kaiser has opted not to tether this setting to a specific retro-clone. Instead, the book utilises a generic Old-School system (OSR), relying on the “lingua franca” of attributes, Descending Armour Class, and Saving Throws familiar to anyone who has played B/X or AD&D. The stat blocks are concise, offering Hit Dice, Movement, and Alignment without bogging down in system-specific feats or skills.
There are, however, specific mechanical adjustments for the lunar environment. Gravity is lighter, granting bonuses to climbing and jumping, though it makes keeping one’s footing more difficult. Magic operates under “Lunar Alterations”; fire and ice spells deal minimum damage due to the environment, while charm spells become permanent. Teleportation is risky, resulting in “drift,” and resurrection magic fails entirely, replaced by a specific lunar reincarnation mechanic.
Setting and Atmosphere
The setting is a “Spirit of the times Moon,” reflecting the imagination of the twilight of the nineteenth century. It is a world of vast basaltic plains, fungi forests like the Silva Sibilans, and seas of cloud known as the Mare Vaporum. The atmosphere is breathable, allowing for swashbuckling adventure without the need for spacesuits, though the black sky above remains star-studded even during the “day”.
The book is structured primarily as a hexcrawl. There is no single road to the Moon; characters might arrive by rocket, spell, or beanstalk. Once there, they navigate a hex map where each location serves as a threshold to a new encounter, dungeon, or city. The tone oscillates between the fairy-tale and the bizarre, populated by crumbling cities of crystal and weird flora.
Lineages and Lunatics
The denizens of this moon are a motley collection of “Lunatics.” The primary inhabitants are the Selenites (Moonfolk), melancholy humanoids who phase out of existence periodically. They are joined by the aristocratically evil Batfolk (Velkeseth), who perceive the world through echolocation, and the Moonkin (Ten’Xai), small winged folk living in a theocracy.
The book includes several other playable races, many of which players may find themselves becoming involuntarily via the setting’s reincarnation table. These include the Moon Beavers (Tenovri), who possess the mining skills of gnomes; the Sun Spiders (Zorachnids), intelligent arachnids who are naturally magic-users; and the Cloud Centaurs (Vanur), who are half-flesh, half-mist.
Classes and Magic
While standard OSR classes are supported, Fly Me to the Moon introduces unique options tailored to the setting. The “Lunar Shadow-Knight” is a chaotic neutral Paladin variant bound by strictures that require it to possess only silver money and to speak the truth.
Most distinct is the Mathematician, a Lawful Neutral spellcaster who derives power from geometry and logic. This class utilises “Logic Dice” to modify rolls and possesses a unique spell list focusing on probabilities and spatial geometry, such as ‘Detect Illogism’ or ‘Wall of Theorems’.
The book also includes a selection of “Moonspells,” quirky magic specific to the setting. These range from utility spells like ‘Patternweave’, which repairs items, to the bizarre ‘Imaginary Number’, which allows the caster to dictate the result of a random table roll.
The Moonwalk
The majority of the page count is dedicated to the “Moonwalk,” a detailed key of the hex map. This is not a linear adventure but a collection of high-concept locations and encounters. Game Masters will find everything from the Great City of Pallidion, a dizzying Escher-like capital where inhabitants walk on walls, to the ruins of Manrimo, where a headless colossus stands guard.
The encounters are often surreal. One might stumble upon Leonardo da Vinci imprisoned in a well, interact with a sentient blue balloon named Mister Bobblington, or board the Manrimo-Darwal Express, a train running through the lunar landscape. The density of ideas is high, providing ample material for a sandbox campaign. However, the eclectic nature of the encounters means a Game Master will need to do some work to weave them into a cohesive narrative.
Disclosure: My copy of Fly Me to the Moon was provided free to review.
