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There are your standard fantasy RPG settings and then you have settings like The Horrendous Heap of Sixteen Cities, which is anything but standard. There is no way my own words will do it justice, so I'll borrow Dylan's:
Extending above a haze of reeking steam rise sixteen peaks of garbage magically transported from sixteen different cities. It spreads, like an ever-growing fungus, across the landscape, encompassing and corrupting nearly fifty square miles. Hideous flies, crows, and vultures circle the piles, perpetually avoiding garbage falling from magical portals thousands of feet in the air. Giant rats, skunks, maggots, and other manner of repugnant beasts scuttle about the surface, surviving off the offal. Underneath, giant worms crawl through the debris. Periodic explosions reform the horizon. Some cultures call it “Sheoal”, others “Kol Katta”. All, however, use the common vernacular “The Heap”. And everywhere its name is synonymous with “Hell”.
As you can see, far from standard. Also, far from large. It is basically a micro-setting - an area to be placed within a larger setting. As such, and due to the fairly unique and special nature of the HHoSC!, this is something that you will probably need to plant seeds of knowledge fairly early in the campaign. PCs would have heard of something this unique, at least as a legend or rumor, so to spring it on your players out of the blue would be horribly unfair. Still, nothing will truly prepare them for experiencing the real thing.
The HHoSC! is very much a sandbox, even if its a small sandbox, and it provides the GM with a number of hooks to get the party to (and into) the HHoSC! It is appropriate for most levels, although low level characters will have to tread very carefully.
This isn't a plop and drop type of adventure, but if you prepare in advance, it should give your party a unique and fun experience.
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I must say that Pinnacle / Studio 2 certainly know how to put beautiful RPG books together. The art in the Deadland's Reloaded Player's Guide is nothing short of amazing - everything evokes the atmosphere of the setting. You are given express permission to print the PDF for personal use, but the ink cost would be insane. Still, its a nice gesture.
From a technical standpoint, the Deadland Reloaded Player's Guide PDF is aces. Not only is it bookmarked, but the Table of Contents is hyperlinked. Huzzah!
As for the contents of the book, we get the setting background from the player character's POV. It should be enough to get most players IN character. Character generation (including new hindrances and edges), gear and goodies, unique setting rules... it's all there. Some GMs may feel there is too much there for the players, but as this is an alternate history setting, and the PCs are living it, I think it's perfectly fine to bring the players (mostly) up to speed.
This coupled with the Gamemaster's Guide and the core Savage Worlds rules are all that are needed to run a Deadlands game (and from what I've heard, you probably want the Horror Companion too). I'm hoping to run a story arc or two using the Deadlands setting starting in the summer. Hopefully it's enough time to bring me up to speed ;)
But that's okay, as the Deadlands Player's Guide doesn't read so much like an RPG sourcebook but more like an actual guide to the "Weird West". Therein lies half the fun ;)
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I've been following the games produced by Splintered Realms Publishing for a while now. They generally have a few things in common: They're short, have a nice background story, simplified task resolution and a streamlined gaming system. Well, that and the author tends to pull his old products off for sale when he is revising them, so as not to sell old when new is around the corner.
The first title to be revamped is the superhero RPG, which now bears the title Resolute: Legacy. I'm loath to call it a "no frills" type of RPG, because the system is very complete. It is however, art light (which I am fine with, as I've seen superhero art all my life - I know what it looks like) with a single column layout (which reads fine on my iPad). Heck, your whole character sheet can fit on one side of a 3x5 index card. Did I mention everything gets resolved with a single D12? Now that's streamlined.
Want to check out the character generation steps?
1. Purchase Abilities. You start with 30 CPs to spend in building your super.
You may spend your points however you desire; however, you may never
put more than half of your total CPs in any one ability. (NOTE: Referees
may decide to begin games with more powerful supers; if this is the case,
the referee will tell you how many CPs you have to build your super).
2. Pick a Moniker. This is your super’s nickname or code name. For some
supers, this is also their true or only name. When Modi, son of Thor is your
given name, you don’t really need a moniker!
3. Decide on a Limitation. Some supers have a limitation. You may elect to
take one limitation, or roll randomly for one. You are not required to take a
limitation, if you’d prefer not to. A limitation gives you bonus character
points at character creation to improve other abilities. (see next page). You
should only take one limitation at character creation.
4. Develop a Purpose. You have a primary objective that drives your actions.
Write this as a sentence. Your purpose is quite important; whenever you
take a significant step towards accomplishing your purpose in a scene, you
earn an extra +1 XP for that scene.
As you can see even character generation is pretty streamlined.
Supers is not on the top of my RPG genre list, which is kind of strange as I was a huge superhero comic book reader in my teen and early (and even later) adult years. That being said, if I was going to run a supers game, Resolute: Legacy is the rules engine I would use. It's about as complicated as I'd want it, and seems to handle what it sets out to handle well. Besides, at less than 2 bucks, it's hard to go wrong. ;)
Still, I'll be waiting for Michael to come out with some fantasy and sci-fi conversions of the rules. I'll be jumping on those in a heart beat.
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The Forgotten Outpost is a 16 page adventure from the fine folks at Occult Moon. If you don't know who they are, they are the ones that bring us a weekly dose of Toys For the Sandbox.
This is, to the best of my knowledge, their first full length adventure, as the Toys For the Sandbox series is more encounters, locations and / or plot hooks.
So, how did they do with The Forgotten Outpost? Pretty damn well.
First off is the maps from Matt Jackson. If you don't follow Matt's blog, you really should, as he is a master of the hand drawn maps. These maps are no exception. They are, as always, a work of art.
Next, the adventure itself. As Occult Moon is known to do, they give you multiple plot hooks so you can fit the adventure to your party's needs. It this case, your party should be around levels 3 to 5 (Toys For the Sandbox are level-less).
Oh, and a list of rumors. Can't forget that.
Parts that are to be read to the party are in italics. This doesn't happen all to often, so expect to be putting what the party sees into your own words, which to my mind is usually better than reading from a script anyway.
The outpost, while not huge, should supply your party with a full session (if not a bit more) of game play. The ending has the potential to be a bit open ended, so if you have a sandbox you want to place this in, it should fit fine.
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I've been a fan of Creative Mountain Games ever since Mark put out the 3.5E SRD. This has turned into my SRD bible, if you will.
Creative Mountain Game's latest is 30 Things Can Happen! It's an assortment of random tables to add flavor to your adventures as they are happening. They add the little things that bring life and spontaneity to the world your party is adventuring in.
You get 30 tables broken down by category: While in a City, While in the Country and While Underground. Each table is further broken down by thirds. So, depending on how you look at it, you have 30 tables with 30 entries each, or you have 90 subtables with 10 entires each. Priced at $4.50, you are effectively paying 15 cents a table (or 5 cents a subtable). A fair price in my humble opinion.
This will be one of my go-to resources in my upcoming sandbox style campaign.
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(originally published at tenkarstavern.com)
The Astral Star is the 11th installment in the Toys For the Sandbox series of... not quite adventures, but more like stories hooks and adventure seeds. I believe as I write this, Occult Moon is up to 13 in the series, plus a free "Issue Zero" and a bonus that those that grabbed the freebie in the first 24 hours were eligible to receive. Yep, its a pretty lively series.
The Astral Star takes the series to new heights and new dimensions. This is one that would benefit if you could place some rumors and seeds a few sessions (or longer) in advance, as it would really make for a larger impact on the PCs if it could be successfully pulled off.
The hooks (and twists) are really, really good this time around. With a little work, some could be used to decent effect as seeds to encounters or adventures of your own design. That is the one shame of this series. Six hooks, each with 3 twists gives you 18 possible ways to get your party involved. Since you will only use one, you have 17 that laying there, wishing they were used. I'm already thinking of ways to use a handful of the ones I won't be using in different set ups.
The Astral Star deals with the Astral Plane (not a big surprise there), but I don't want to spoil the major twist here. I really do like it. It's very innovative and can certainly lead to a whole chain of events for your party, either immediately or in the party's future.
Best of the lot so far IMHO. I've liked them all, loved a bunch, but The Astral Star beats them all.
Oh, and I label this "Generic OSR", as it is most certainly drawn from and OSR mindset and gaming history even if there are no stats includ
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I first found Deadlands when it was it's own stand alone system. For all intent and purposes, it was the precursor to the Savage Worlds system.
Now I find myself looking at it through a new lens - Deadlands Reloaded: Marshall's Handbook (Explorer's Edition) for Savage Worlds. In a way, we've come full circle.
I still love the divergent history that is the setting of Deadlands. American Western movies are pretty much our version of Avalon, King Arthur and the rest of the English / Celtic legends. Deadlands starts with that Western assumption, throws in undead and magic, changes some major historical events and gives us a huge amount of awesomeness - if your players like Westerns.
Some folks don't like sci-fi, some don't like fantasy, some don't like westerns and others don't like horror. Deadlands is a fantastical western horror setting (with some steampunkish elements), so it will either hit a lot of buttons for your group or miss a lot. It hits all of the sweet spots for me.
The Marshal's Handbook gives us background and history, the major players, critters, new rules for the setting - pretty much everything you need to get the game moving from the GM's side of the table.
The PDF itself is well bookmarked and hyperlinked. For a PDF coming in over 175 pages, these are pretty much necessities. Heck, they even give permission to print the document for personal use. You can even use layer controls to efficiently print the pages, which is nice.
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Down the Shadowvein is the follow up to AA#1: The Podmaster of the Sinister Shroom, and can be used to follow that adventure or on it's own. All the GM needs to supply is an underground river they can canoe down and a map leading to treasure down river. Its for character levels 3 to 5.
I really wish I could find my copy of PotSS, but it's packed in a box somewhere in storage. Ah well, onward to Down the Shadowvein.
The GM's map (and the Player's map too) is a hex map, inducing the river and adventure locations and passages. It's weird but cool that the underground map is similar to an above ground map, even though the party is going to be thinking "dungeon".
If it reminds me of any classic adventure, it's D1-2, when the party travelled through the underdark. There is much of that feel here, as the random encounters the party may interact with include merchant trains. Merchant trains underground, ya gotta love it. :)
The main encounter areas are mapped out like dungeons, so your players (and you) will be in comfortable surroundings at times. In truth, this plays out (almost) like a sandbox campaign underground, as the players have choices in the directions they will take.
Still, it is not the usual sort of adventure, and it may be awkward for some GMs to run it. It is underground, and most travel will probably be via river, but there are also numerous passages for the party to stumble through.
Depending on how thoroughly the party explores their sandbox, this could take two to the 4 hour sessions to complete. There really is a lot to explore in the two dozen pages in this adventure.
You also get 2 new magic items and 4 new monsters.
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Usually when you find a Quick Start Guide, its to introduce you to a new system. In the case of Faith & Demons, it's to introduce you to a new setting for the Savage Worlds Rules.
So, what kind of setting is Faith & Demons? Well, it's our world, around the years 1000 AD (the authors don't use C.E. dating, and I applaud them for it). The Dark ages might be owing to an end, but creatures from the dark have made it into our world. It's a world of magic (many types of magic). It's a world in trouble, and it's up to your players to help stem the tide of the undead and other evil that walks the world.
It's historical in it's foundation, but obviously strays far and wide in this setting, which is fine. It's a fantasy setting will roots players can relate to.
The quick start includes a short introduction to the setting, a short adventure and 6 pregens. The one small complaint I have is that the pregens are caster heavy - 4 of the 6 characters are casters. Maybe it's my roots in D&D, but I feel that the numbers should be reversed. Well, that and the only part of Savage Worlds I have difficulty grokking is the casting. Go figure ;)
Still, not bad for free and looks like an interesting setting for Savage Worlds.
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Dormant Volcano (which is how it is titled at RPGNow) also goes by the name The Nodelith Caldera (which is the actual title of the PDF - confusing, aint it?). In this case the name of the dormant volcano is Mount Nodelith, which should clear some things up. The Nodelith Caldera is the floor of the volcano. Simple, eh?
Well, this caldera has a galleon (a ship) embedded in it's rock wall.
As usual with the Toys for the Sandbox series we get a map, 6 hooks with 3 twists each (giving the GM 18 different possibilities to play with. The nice thing about this entry in the series is that the hooks aren't exclusive... you can run with more that one, which gives this a lot of gaming potential. We also get 4 NPCs, an encounter table and a rumor table.
Location is a bit out of the way and may be hard to integrate depending on the campaign, but there's a lot you can steal from it in any case.
It's hard to go wrong ;)
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As usual, we get a map, 6 possible hooks (each with 3 possible twists), 4 NPCs, a rumor table and random table for special items available on the market. The usual good stuff from the Toys For the Sandbox series.
What's really nice about The Coachman's Inn is that the plot hooks could work at pretty much any inn or tavern, they aren't limited to the scenario / setting presented.
If I have one complaint, and it's minor, is that the default location calls for The Coachman's Inn to lie at a sort of neutral ground where the borders of four kingdoms meet. While it sounds kinda neat in theory, it's also damn rare, especially when boundaries would usually follow terrain features. Easy enough to hand wave away, but when you are trying to make something easy to drop into a campaign, less detailed... details... would have worked better.
Still, love the hooks and the twists. Overall, another excellent effort (with the one minor quibble).
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The World of Torn: Hand Drawn Maps Volume 1 is actually 5 dungeon / cavern maps in one package. The are hand drawn by Alyssa Faden. I never heard of her before, but she draws a quality map. They are keyed with traps and flooded areas, but the DM has to stock them and figure out the history behind them.
My first issue was a difficulty matching up the connections between the levels (assuming you want to use them as one complex and not individual location). It took some studying to figure them out, and I'm still not 100% sure. I probably need to print them out and let them on top of another. For the next volume, these connections should be cleanly marked to cut down on the minor frustration factor.
The maps come both in a PDF booklet and individual jpegs, which should allow for easy integration into a VTT of your choice. Well, except for the fact that the traps are marked. This is my second issue. Maybe traps should be left out of the next volume, as the GM is more than able to add his own. Including them kinda defeats the whole VTT angle.
Overall its a nice collection of hand drawn maps.
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In a nutshell, Microscope allows players to role play events in the history of the shared world, history that they are making up as they go along. Well, that might be a bit too simple of a description, so I'll try and see if I can do better.
Here's a bit from the book itself:
Microscope works differently than some other role-playing games you might have played, so let’s abandon some preconceptions:
You won’t have your own character.
You won’t play the game in chronological order. You may know all about the future, but be surprised by the past.
You’ll build the story from the outside in. You’ll decide the big picture, the grand scheme of history, and then burrow down and carve out the details.
It’s fractal gaming.
So think big: you have a massive chunk of history to play around in.
Well, that probably still doesn't explain it too well either, but it's closer.
Let's see, the is no GM. You need two to five players. You also need a hell of a lot of imagination.
After deciding on the beginning and an end, you start working on the middle - the history that takes you from start to finish. In a way, it really is that simple.
This is collaborative history building, with the twist that each player has a huge impact on the collaborative history that is defined throughout gameplay.
Heck, the overview of play takes up just a page. The concept is simple, but the result is a complex history that makes a world seem alive - or at least, one hopes you end with that result.
To paraphrase a fellow GM: "If during the world building, the players decide that The God King was slain with the Sword of the Sun and later, during the playing of the actual campaign set in the collaborative world players come across hints about the existence of the Sword of the Sun - they know it's history, they know the events surrounding it. It's a real piece of history".
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If you are like me, you've heard of M.A.R. Barker's Empire of the Petal Throne but have never actually come across it. As far as I can tell, this was the first setting / house rule publication based of the grand daddy of all RPG - The Original Boxed Set of Dungeons & Dragons.
This is a copy (included is both a scan of the original pages and a newly produced and cleaned up via computer pages) of the original 1974 manuscript, of which only 50 copies are known to have been produced. TSR's version was published in 1975. To tell the truth, I always thought the TSR edition was the first edition, so this is very interesting news to me (and a nice piece of history.)
Both the scan of the original pages, and the cleaned up computer versions are shown side by side. They have even included a sweet option to only print out the cleaned up pages if you were to print this out.
This PDF is nicely bookmarked, and a breeze to navigate.
As I poke through this, I see that there are Original Skills tables. I wonder if this is where AD&D got the idea for secondary professions. Stats aren't 3d6 but d100. Wow.
Lots for me to dig through. It's like being given a piece of gaming history. Doubt I'd ever run this, but I'm pretty impressed at the depth of a game written and produced in 1974.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Just to be clear - the TSR version was the first PUBLISHED edition. This version was not intended for publication, but was rather a set of "playtest" rules that were intended to be kept confidential. As you say, "It's like being given a piece of gaming history" - that is exactly what we intended. Thank you! |
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Beasts & Barbarians is a Swords & Sorcery sourcebook / setting for Savage Worlds. It's kinda cool to be reading so soon after Crypts & Things, as it gives a different POV (as well as ruleset) for the Swords & Sorcery genre.
So, what do we get in Beasts & Barbarians which we aren't getting elsewhere? Well, for one thing we don't get into any of the rules / numbers until around page 60. Yep, those first pages, almost a third of the book, is all setting information. Pretty snazzy, and it does a great job of drawing you in before hitting you with actual game info.
Next up is the Characters section. It doesn't only deal with character generation but also new and changed skills and edges. Surprisingly, it also covers some asian tropes, such as fighting monks and the like. I truthfully didn't expect to find them here, but I'm glad they are, as they seem to fit well.
Arcane backgrounds are modified in this setting. I don't have a full grasp of them in the standard Savage Worlds rules, so I'm going to need to spend some time on these before I can fully comment. It should be noted that the party is limited to one member with the arcane background.
Gear is gear. When it comes up, you look it up.
Around page 110 we get to the GM section of the book. It does a great job of showing the GM how to set the tone. It's a gritty, evil world full of larger than life nasties. Sounds like fun.
Chapter 7 is the Adventurer Generator. It uses a deck of cards help determine potential plots for your story lines / adventures. It looks to be a handy tool. I may just print out this one section for handy use whenever I'm in need of something to prod me when I need a quick adventure regardless of system.
Next up is the obligatory monster section. Nice nice selection of demons and devil, along with a recognizable selection of less supernatural (yet still lethal) adversaries. When you included the templates for NPCs, this is a pretty complete (and long) section.
Vengeance of the Branded Devils is the introductory adventure included with Beasts & Barbarians. It has a pretty strong introduction and it reads well. As for lethality - one will only know for sure when it is run ;)
Beast & Barbarians is a very complete setting / sourcebook for Savage Worlds. The artwork, from the flu color cover to the black and white drawings inside are excellent. My one complaint is that for a PDF of 210 pages in length, there are no bookmarks, which makes navigation more difficult than it should be.
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