Kyle Reimergarten’s Fairyland (2022) combines all the things I expect from a Max Moon Games production: slick aesthetic, esoterica and metallic ink. So pleasing to the hand and eye.

What we have is a toolkit for creating Fairyland on the fly, using a matrix of evocative random tables. How do you get there? What sort of treasure is there? What do the fairies look like? What ARE they doing? A few traditional prose sections lay out facts that are less mercurial than the topics dealt with in the tables — the effects of cold iron, for example — but for the most part, randomness rules. I feel like this is an excellent way to portray a realm and inhabitants well-known for being fickle and changeable!

There is a short adventure site detailed as well, though many of those details are also keyed to tables — should players return to the House of Sunken Stars it will be both familiar and entirely new. That sensation, as well, seems very evocative of traditional fairylore.

Speaking of tradition, with the exception of the maps, I believe all the art is from historical sources, proving that people have had bizarre imaginations long, long before DCC cornered the market on “gonzo” fantasy.

Oh, the best table: roll a d12 to see what happens when you die in Fairyland! My favorite: a tiny, hideous fairy crawls gorily out of your heart!