RPG Crowdfunding News 059: Iron Sky, Era: Balam, Wicked Pacts, City of Seven Seraphs, After the Cras

Welcome back to our weekly look at tabletop roleplaying game, and accessories, crowdfunding roundup! Hang on... it can't already be a week since my last column? I know right! You're getting a bonus column out of me because of the amount of the campaigns out there being crowdfunded at present! Yesterdays column looked at a bunch of Pathfinder and 5th Edition books available and today we're looking at some other campaigns... as well as a couple of Pathfinder/5E ones.

Welcome back to our weekly look at tabletop roleplaying game, and accessories, crowdfunding roundup! Hang on... it can't already be a week since my last column? I know right! You're getting a bonus column out of me because of the amount of the campaigns out there being crowdfunded at present! Yesterdays column looked at a bunch of Pathfinder and 5th Edition books available and today we're looking at some other campaigns... as well as a couple of Pathfinder/5E ones.


Iron Sky: The Roleplaying Game by Dirk Vandereyken
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 14th September 2017; 21:36 UTC)

Some of you may recognise the name Iron Sky and for good reason. It become a modern cult hit when this Finnish produced sci-fi movie was released on the unsuspecting world back in 2012. It inspired a boardgame, a video game and a sequel – due out in 2018. In fact the second movie is due to come out exactly the same time as the Iron Sky Roleplaying Game! Well, ok, the RPG release date might be influenced by the release date of Iron Sky: The Coming Race as opposed to the other way round… but still…

For those of you who may not have heard about the film, it’s a sci-fi action comedy about a group of Nazis who fled Germany in 1945 and have lived in a secret Moon base ever since plotting their return to Earth to conquer the planet with their space fleet.

The RPG has a number of very recognisable names attached to it, including Steve S. Long (HERO System; Last Unicorn Games Star Trek RPGs), Michael Surbrook (Dark Heresy; Rogue Trader), Darren Watts (HERO System), Jason Walters (IPR), and Eloy Lasanta (Third Eye Games).

Iron Sky: The Roleplaying Game will allow players to create characters for different time periods within the timeline. Either play just before the Moon Nazis reveal themselves, during the struggle, during the aftermath or 25 years later, when the existence of the Vril is discovered. We'll also provide you with suggestions on how the Moon base got established in the first place, allowing for adventure seeds that can transport the game into the sixties.

The Synthesis rules system provides for rules tweaks according to genre, so you can play Iron Sky as it is intended, as a pulpy satire/pastiche with rules that reflect that, as a more serious, gritty campaign, as en epic struggle against evil, as a space opera adventure, as a political intrigue story, or more.

Aside from the genre rules, the setting is also reflected in on of the five Base Traits a character has: Personality (which is divided in 5 Focuses if you're playing the Advanced version of the game, each of them representing one of the 5 major personality characteristics in psychological literature). A Character's Personality will be of tremendous help during the game if it has a positive value, while negative values may get your Character into trouble. Personality can also temporarily be used instead of one of the other Traits if that Trait is lower (or lowered because of injury or other reasons) and the action needs to be successful.

The game allows you to create your own Character, whilst also including writeups of all of the major (and some of the minor) characters in the film, pregenerated characters, creatures, vehicles and even the Götterdämmerung itself. Full space combat rules are also included and reflect personal combat in order to make the rules easy to digest.

With so much resource material to draw from, the game is sure to expand with supplements and adventures for years to come.



Jump into your Starfighter for Era: Balam – A Project of Earth by Shades of Vengeance
(Campaign Ends : Sunday 24th September 2017; 22:59 UTC)

On the 20th August 1977 Voyager 2 was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Sixteen days later, on 5th September, its twin, Voyager 1, followed. Their mission was to study the outer Solar System, primarily the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, with Voyager 2 also studying Uranus and Neptune. Both missions were a resounding success and the Voyager probes have since been tasked with exploring interstellar space as they continue to collect and relay useful scientific data back to Earth.

On August 25th 2012 Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space. When the probes power eventually gets so low that they’ll ceases transmissions back to Earth the probes will drift, endlessly, in space… going onward to the stars…

2017 is the 40th anniversary of their launch and to celebrate Kickstarter is running ‘A Project Of Earth’. A series of campaigns that are inspired by the Voyager probes.

Shades of Vengeance, a British based games publisher, is taking part in this Kickstarter initiative with a twist. Era: Balam takes a look at what might happen if a probe is discovered by, or arrives on, an alien world. What reaction would these aliens have to it? How would they respond to this thing appearing?

The bad news for us is it looks like they invade in Shades of Vengeance’s Era: Balam. The good news is that Shades of Vengeance are not only releasing Era: Balam in their signature Era d10 system but also for FATE and Savage Worlds.

Shades of Vengeance recently became an officially approved Savage Worlds developer and are working with veteran writer Dave Blewer (Achtung! Cthulhu, Sundered Skies) on the Savage Worlds edition of the game whilst Era designer, and company owner, Ed Jowett is writing both the Era d10 and FATE versions of the book.

I felt this idea was an amazing opportunity to create a game I've wanted to create ever since my first - a game where the player lives in space, seldom landing on planets and explores. Of course, the addition of angry aliens who took the probe's arrival as an attack was an interesting twist on the idea, and resulted in this game being really rather unique.” - Ed Jowett (Designer)

Era: Balam is a tabletop roleplaying game set in a far-off solar system. When our space probe arrived on an alien world, it crash-landed on one of their power stations and the resulting disaster rendered their world uninhabitable. Seeking revenge, and a new world to live on, the aliens escaped from their world on a massive ship and set a course along the path of the probe...

They encountered Humanity at a remote outpost many years later, in a system known as HX-7371. More recently, it's come to be known as the "Killing Fields", as the war between the aliens' superior forces and the fighters the Humans have been able to cobble together has now lasted two years.

The main colony in the system, Balam, is well-hidden, but if the aliens were ever to find it, they would be able to find their way to Earth... and that might mean extinction.

You'll have the chance to explore various planets and the space around them: Fly over icy plains to track down an important salvage opportunity, brave the depths of space for scouting missions and land on the moons of a spectacular Gas Giant as you explore and attempt to stop the aliens from completing their mission...



Wicked Pacts by The Polyhedral Knights
(Campaign Ends : Friday 1st September 2017; 02:14 UTC)

Wicked Pacts is a modern day RPG of urban fantasy and gritty crime. The characters are magic users from various bloodlines and a variety of different schools of magic. The two main Orders in the game are The Hermetic Order and The Onyx Syndicate.

The Hermetic Order are elected individuals chosen to govern and enforces the established laws regarding magic. These Senators represent their respective counties from across the globe. Triumvirate is the official Senate Leader of the Order. Also within the Order, they have established key positions, such as, the Praetorian (Guard), Arbiter (Judge), and Praecursator (Spy).

To help keep the peace, the Praetorian Guard conscripts other magic users to help aid in their cause. Compliance is highly relied upon as your community duty. No one is exempt from their civic duty, not even a Senator. Being uncooperative is thought to be troublesome.

It is a great honor to be selected for Mage training, because of the rigorous evaluations and vetting requirements. The Order established these training facilities to ensure the proper training of fledgling mages. Some unstable individuals with the gift have been passed over for mage training due to their volatility.

The Onyx Syndicate is a counter organization to the Hermetic Order. They are made up of the misfits and other spell casters deemed unfit, unworthy, and/or dangerous by the Order. At the start, the outcasts stuck together out of necessity, but as time passed some powerful leaders within the group became Power Hungry and Shady.

The Syndicate is ruled by a Count and his Council. In order to become the leader, one must issue a challenge for the seat then battle to claim victory for the title- Count. Needless to say, if you are the Count you have to be a very powerful mage. The Council members manage the Count's territories and day to day business.

Due to the nature of the Syndicate's membership, it is necessary to have Soldiers and Recruiters working for the organization. To keep the unruliness of the Syndicate members in check, they require Soldiers to have some semblance of control. Also, Soldiers are perfect for the the grunt work and dirty deeds to get done, so the Council can keep their hands clean. The Recruiters are always on the lookout for fresh talent to bring them into the fold.

There is an obvious polarizing affect between the Hermetic Order and the Onyx Syndicate, so turf wars have erupted between them. Their battles are not a daily occurrence, because one of the Order's directives is to keep Magic from spilling out in full view of the ungifted's world.



City of Seven Seraphs – A Planar Campaign Capstone for PFRPG by Lost Spheres Publishing
(Campaign Ends : Sunday 10th September 2017; 05:59 UTC)

Lost Spheres Publishing’s City of Seven Seraphs is a fully-realized Planar Metropolis for the Pathfinder RPG in full-colour. The book has been inspired by the epic adventures in the Planes that took place in many old 2nd Edition AD&D campaigns and they’ve backed up this aim with some incredibly good artwork to set the mood.

The book itself includes a load of things, as you’d expect in 300+ pages…


· Rich NPCs and Organizations: 14 Planar Organizations, the Parities, which focus on the core Dualities of the Multiverse. Each Parity will have its own story themes and mechanical support such as Archetypes, Prestige Classes, feats and more.
· 8 Distinct City Districts: Each section of the City of Seven Seraphs will be fully expanded with its own section in the book with plots, locations and mechanical elements to create a vivid tapestry of planar possibility.
· Planar Mechanics: Dozens of Feats, Spells, and Archetypes to support the Parities and allow your characters to take on the powers of the planes both in the City and in the worlds Beyond.

· Bestiary & NPC Codex: Dozens of foes and allies statistics for easy use in your planar games. Varied CRs from 1-20+.
· Expanded Compatibility: Full Support for both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Occult Adventures system AND the Ultimate Psionics system from Dreamscarred Press. Optional support for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Mythic Adventures and Ultimate series expanded rules (including vehicles, social combat and intrigue).
· New Base Classes: The book contains new base classes, the Nexus, a veilweaving class which gains the ability to take on the mantles of various outsiders to allow PCs to gain the powers of the Planes, and the Shadewalker a traveler of the dark roads between. Could there be more? We seem awfully fond of 7s.

· New Races and fresh takes OGL Classic Races: New races like the judow, and inevitable-spawn people influenced by kyton or the a fresh-look at the ceptu (from Epidemic Books Oathbound: Seven) a races of telekinetic invertibrates!
· Campaign Toolkit: Rules for planar adventure, intrigue and advice on how the City connects to your existing campaigns and links them to each other!



After the Crash: A 5E Post-Apocalyptic Science-Fantasy RPG by David Dolph
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 31st August 2017; 17:42 UTC)

After the Crash is a gonzo post-apocalyptic roleplaying setting, using the 5th Edition ruleset, featuring a host of bizarre characters. There are four core types of races, each further split into more specific niches. Humans (True, Darwin, Cayce, Ender), Animals (Companion, Spliced, Feral), Symbionts (Synth/Plant, Gee/Fungus) and K’Oh (Humanoid mollusks that include Deepers, Evols and Land-Walkers). There are nine classes on offer – six completely reworked familiar classes for the post-apoc setting along with three brand new ones (Biosculpter, Preserver and Splice-Master).

The 250+ page book all gives you the setting and a started adventure called Adventures in Shepherding and also includes over 160 Mutations, 40+ new monsters, 60+ artifacts, and a whole load more.


RPG Wilderness Maps – 5e, Pathfinder, Cthulhu, Savage etc by Roakana Games
(Campaign Ends : Monday 4th September 2017; 20:00 UTC)

Roakana Games’ RPG Wilderness Maps is currently offering up to 120 maps to its backers! All the rewards are digital but are great for VTT’s such as Fantasy Grounds or Roll20, as well as suitable for home printing.

The RPG Wilderness Map Packs provide high quality maps a game master often lacks. A desperate fight across a river, a cat and mouse game in a forest, or a bracing crossing over frozen tundra, all are possible with these new maps. Our goal is to provide variety for the GM that can imagine world spanning adventures. Improvise with confidence having the Wilderness RPG Maps at your fingertips.

The Wilderness Packs are a spectrum of environments, essential for a one shot mission or a multi-year Westmarch epic. These maps will inspire your custom homebrew campaign or enrich any pre-written adventure path.

The Wilderness Packs are game agnostic. Focusing on natural settings or simple structures, the regions are great for Fantasy, Western, Modern, Horror even Sci-Fi experiences.


Each region pack contains ten maps and the region packs available include the Rugged Coast, Boreal Forests, Wildwood Hills, Chaparral Mountains, High Peaks, Bushwood Desert, Rural Farmlands, Desolate Dunes, Tropical Shores, Rivers & Lakes, Accursed Badlands and Winter Woods. More packs are being released as stretch goals are unlocked.


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If you have a forthcoming Kickstarter, or see one that excites you, please feel free to drop me an email on angus.abranson@gmail.com You can follow me on Twitter @ Angus_A or on Facebook where I often post about gaming.

Until next week (probably...), have fun and happy gaming!

Angus Abranson
 

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Shasarak

Banned
Banned
The City of Seven Seraphs looks fantastic. I always loved Planescape so this one looks like an auto-back for me.

It is 80% there with eight days still to go so hoping it will get over the line.
 

malcolm_n

Adventurer
The City of Seven Seraphs looks fantastic. I always loved Planescape so this one looks like an auto-back for me.

It is 80% there with eight days still to go so hoping it will get over the line.
As one of the backers of this project, I have been watching it take off and get better as the Kickstarter has progressed. I'd hate to see it die off at the last minute. If anybody has been holding out for this one, please look it over again and consider backing. I really think you'll be happy you did :)

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...hs-a-planar-campaign-capstone-f?ref=user_menu
 

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