If you’ve read my review of Colostle, you’ll know how great a game it is. It is, at its core, a journalling RPG, so what better to compliment it than a journal.
There are many ways to document your journey in Colostle, but if you are going for the classic pen and paper approach, this journal has everything you need. It has two sections for notes, one for your adventure journaling, and one for your character information. That combined with some nice artwork gives you a great journal.
Journal section
The majority of the book from the start is made up of journal entry pages. These are what you use for each exploration phase of the game.
The left page starts with a place to note down your drawn prompts, useful to refer back to. Then a combat phase section for if you run into a Rook or other opponent. This is useful to note down the stats of the opponent you create and potential rewards. Finally there is a map area, which you can use however it works best for you. I favour a simple top down map view, but others might like to add their own artwork here, something in between, or nothing at all.
The right page is solely dedicated to your journal entry. There is plenty of room and if you are someone who tends to go into a lot of detail, especially if you have more prompts to work though, you can always continue on the next page and ignore the left page there.
There are 80 pages of journal entries, so that’s 40 exploration phases. I feel like this is enough for a casual player, although if you really get into it and play multiple adventures, you may find yourself running out of space.
Character section
The character section, as you might expect, is all about creating your character. It also includes sections you’ll likely update as you go along, so a pencil is required for those parts.
The left page in this section has several fields:
Name – Character name
Class – Character class
Look – For you to fill in as much or as little as you like with your characters visual identity
Calling – Why they are on this adventure. What they are trying to do/discover/find etc
Nature – What kind of temperament do they have?
Then there are several fields which will likely change as you go along.
Exploration, Combat and Spirit Score – This is where you note down how skilled you are at each thing. Your starting class originally dictates this, but it will change as the game goes on, especially if you engage in combat. A pencil and rubber is recommended here.
Inventory/Treasures – For keeping track of equipment, treasures and general things you pick up as the game goes on. Again these things will go in and out your inventory so pencil and rubber is required.
Adventure Notes – Whatever notes you want to make
The right hand page is open to whatever you want to do. The header says notes and artwork, but it’s whatever you want. If you don’t want to use a pencil and rubber on the other page, you could track those sections on this page and simply cross them out as they change. You have plenty of space.
There are 16 pages in this section, so 8 character sheets. This is more than enough for the amount of different adventurers you’ll fit in this journal.
Artwork
The artwork isn’t over the top. It’s understated and often woven into the borders of the pages. But it is very evocative of the setting and fits really nicely. I think while there could have been more, it would have increased costs and would have been superfluous to what this book is for, your journals. If you are the artistic type, why not add some of your own based on your adventures.
Personally I would switch the sections around, putting the character section first as it’s shorter. But that’s personal preference, and you’ll end up with the same result as you get further in the journal section.
Conclusion
This is an excellent journal for playing Colostle and gives you everything you need. Given Colostle can be played in numerous ways, this won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you like a traditional journal approach, this gives you plenty of space plus a layout directly designed for the game.
I wish you all the best on your adventures!
