The premise is simple. Somewhere in the background of a near-future/SF game, you want to have a sporting league going on. Then the characters start getting interested, and you need to come up with team names...

The inspiration is something like the NFL (major American Football league, if you didn't happen to know, and the pattern for American Football teams wherever they are). Teams have a two-part name consisting of the city where they are based and something a little more descriptive. I support the Crewe Railroaders, for example. So here we have one table of descriptors - which are universally violent, Invaders or Wreckers for example - and another which is US cities. If your setting is other than the United States, you will have to substitute other location names from your own setting.

Then there's a neat feature, another table to roll on to select each team's colours. This will be useful for descriptive purposes, either of the game itself caught on a screen somewhere or perhaps there are hordes of fans wearing their team's colours. This could be important: characters might encounter hostility if they have the wrong colour scarf!

In a CyberSpace game I had a Rollerball league (remember the movie?) going on in the background, something like this would have been ideal for making the teams sound realistic. For that matter, you may even want to make it more central to your campaign: maybe one or more of the characters plays in the league, or used to do so... the characters may even be the core of a team, beloved by their fans and hated by those of the other teams. Plenty of scope, ideas spawning... and all from one page!

This music does a great jo setting a mood for a space campaign

The first two minimalist minutes of this track didn’t bring a carnival (of either the county fair or Rio de Janeiro variety) to my mind. Instead, I pictured a tense scene with PCs trying to defuse a ticking time bomb. Later, the combination of what sounds like banjo- or guitar-picking in an almost bluegrass style with heavy doses of electronic “whining” gives the piece a kind of multiple personality disorder. Maybe composer Dave Woodrum meant for the “whines” to sound like trumpets, but they don’t; if they did, and if the banjos were louder, the piece might successfully evoke a bayou parade. If that’s what Woodrum wanted to achieve, the plan didn’t quite survive contact with his orchestration software. Better instrumentation, or better output results, would improve the track significantly.

This track kicks off very nicely with solid percussion and ethereal instrumentals, but soon slides into some tinny synth that sounds like it’s maybe supposed to be flute or clarinet, but it’s a little hard on the ears. This alternation continues throughout the piece, combining some great background music with some that’s just a little too piercing. The results, then, are quite mixed. (Also, filling the album field in the ID3 tags with “No alubm - Royalty Free Music,” complete with the misspelling of “album,” inconsistent capitalization, and missing hyphen between “royalty” and “free” annoys those of us who are fastidious about organizing our music libraries.) By the way, I wouldn’t have thought of rain at all if not for the title of the piece. I would have associated this piece with an investigative scene where the PCs aren’t necessarily in immediatedanger, but they could be if they make the wrong turn. I presume that the rather high price tag derives from the perpetual royalty-free license.

In almost every way, “Foxy” is one of Dave Woodrum’s best musical offerings to date (September 1, 2012). The composition, orchestration (heavy on strings, winds, and indistinct vocals), and (digital) performance combine very nicely here to evoke a sense of mystery and danger—perhaps not immediate danger, but it’s lurking out there somewhere. This track loops fairly well; if you’re into your game, you won’t even notice. Fishwife would have done better to put “Sonic Stock” in the album field of the ID3 tags rather than the (currently overloaded) title field, but other than that, there’s pretty much no negative to this piece except for the rather high price. I presume the $5 pricetag reflects the perpetual royalty-free license that accrues when you buy the track, since the track isn’t especially lengthy.

This track is creepy and aesthetically pleasing at the same time—an impressive combination. The melody line sounds just like it’s coming from an eerie music box, evoking all sorts of images of a haunted or otherwise corrupted nursery. This piece would make a great background score for a kids’ room in a haunted house, a creepy encounter in a toy store, or anything like that. The track loops well, though not quite seamlessly. The ID3 tags need to be cleaned up; I think this is one of Fishwife Games’s earlier releases, and they’re doing better with the ID3 tags in more recent pieces. Overall, I’d rate this as one of Woodrum’s stronger pieces.

The jazzy saxophone riff that dominates this track is enjoyable enough, and pretty catchy, although quite simple and repetitive, almost minimalist. The crowd noise sound effects at the beginning and end of the track make the piece loop seamlessly, a major “pro” for background music. The crowd noise suggests to me a busy bar or diner, perhaps with live music sponsored by the establishment, or perhaps with the music provided by an independent musician playing outside for tips. I couldn’t really pick out the money or the guns (although the cops-and-jazz combo is a recognizable cliché of modern detective fiction). You could probably use this piece in a period game (think Call of Cthulhu) as well as a more modern setting, or even in an alien cantina. The ID3 tags need to be cleaned up; I think this is one of Fishwife Games’s earlier releases, and they’re doing better with the ID3 tags in more recent pieces.

Tree Dweller has produced a background track for cyberpunk campaigns that's not as posh as it is subtly menacing, suggestive of crashing a high-toned party with malicious intent in mind. Its beat is primitive, its synthesizer signature carefully, almost casually decadent. Use this when the PCs meet the bad guy or his front, or the femme fatale who holds the key to the adventure. Or, you know, when your players are about to crash a party and burn the place down. It'll work for you.

OK, so waht do you get for $1.00

You get a simple shop.

You get a couple of plot hooks.

You get a nice set of stuff for your PC's to spend ill gotten loot upon.

You get a nice map that can be easily printed in a larger scale to make for a miniatures map.

All in all, an excellent set-piece for $1 that fits well with the other Snooper businesses.

Interesting electronic reggae-tinged piece with throbbing bass undertones alternating with energetic drums and cymbals. Could be used in conjunction with any modern themed gaming session or as a fodder for cruising the town. Shows an interesting facet of Tree Dweller's abilities as an artist.

Overall rating of 4 for cost, creativity, and utility. Definitely gets a 5 for cost. Nice basic layout of a potter's shop/dwelling along with an alphabetized list of basic items one might find in said shop. Adventure hooks are an added bonus. Great addition for on-the-fly or hurried gaming sessions. With a bit of creativity could definitely be the basis for something more especially of paired with similar items from Fishwife Games for the medieval/fantasy genre game.

Overall score of 4 for utility, creativity, and design. Score of 5 for cost--definite bargain for under a dollar. Great for on-the-fly game play or the GM with too many irons on the fire. Great basic addition for any fantasy/medieval game play.

Overall rating of 5 for utility, creativity, design and cost. Nice creative hook to assist in further game play development. Definitely fits in with the medieval/fantasy genre game.

Nicely done! Overall rating of 5 for utility, design, and cost. Would give it a 6 for creativity if it were possible to do so. Nice generic fit for any space-age genre game.

Overall rating of 5 for creativity, utility, graphics, design, and cost. Can easily fit in with a variety of games where one might find a leather shop.