This week we have 10 new PDFs, 4 WotC rereleases, 4 new adventures and 1 excellent Spotlight of the Week. Some are previews, some are new systems, some are supplements for a game you are likely already playing, but all are good PDFs that look of interest to a wide range of players.
EABA v2.0
This is a universal rpg system that pushes the envelope of PDF design. For the system itself, the book is 300 pages long. The first 100 pages explain the rules. The next 200 pages show how to customize those rules for any genre or setting; you can add spells, superpowers, technology, and anything you desire. This version of the rules was designed from the ground up to work as a PDF and meant to be sued with computers and other devices. Everything is integrated and includes pop-up navigation menus, is fully hyperlinked, has a built-in die roller, editable character sheets, on screen mapping, one-click character generation - all with the PDF itself. This product pushes PDFs into a new realm of use.
Also this week, they have released Aethos, a sci-fi setting for use with EABA. This setting book, which is 218 pages long, is set on a planet-ship that abducted millions of humans from Earth centuries ago. Player characters are the descendants of those people and now they face a new crisis as the planet-ship is finally slowly down in its travels and the “world” is about to change irrecoverably. As with the core PDF this one also has the same functionality design.
Wing Commander
This rpg is based off of the popular video game series. The game series spans 17 years of various games within the setting universe along with an animated show, a film and a collectible card game. This PDF brings the setting to the tabletop as an rpg. It provides everything a group would need to play from character generation, rules for everything the characters can engage in and guidelines for adventure generation. Also included is an in depth look at the setting. This is likely the largest PDF I’ve ever seen listed clocking in at 1118 pages. The best part is that it is free.
Heroine
This is a unique rpg which embraces the story of a young girl trying to find her way through the real world only to find herself dealing with a fantasy world with its own problems. The game is based on such stories as the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. One thing that makes it different is that one person plays the Heroine and the rest take narrative turns moving the story along while introducing interesting companion characters that the rest of the group plays. This rpg is the result of a successful Kickstarter and looks interesting.
Beasts of Legend: Coldwood Codex
More monsters are always a good thing to keep your players guessing. This PDF features 10 new monsters for the d20 system. It spans monsters from CR 2 to 18 and a variety of types. Included are detailed backgrounds on the creatures, full page printable pictures of them and even paper miniatures for each of them. Sounds like a good deal.
Triumphant!
I’m always a sucker for a new superhero game. This one provides a point based character generation system along with a randomly generated one, for those who like that sort of thing. It provides the usual super powers along with a way to add more. The game provides everything a group needs to start playing including a city location as the beginning of a campaign setting.
Open Gaming Monthly
This magazine features new d20 material. This month they have 96 pages of special content that covers new character options, adventures, new monsters, new locations, and articles to expand your d20 game play. Right now d20 is hot and this will give every group something extra to game with.
Shadowrun 5th Edition Preview #2
Catalyst Game Labs continues to showcase their upcoming 5th edition of the venerable Shadowrun game with this series of free previews. This is the second one and looks to show us some of the basic mechanics of the game; success tests, hits and other components. I know I’m curious to see what’s changed.
Midgard Adventures
This week we see two new Pathfinder adventures from Kobold Press Open Design. The first is Beyond the Ghostlight Reef (22 pages). It is designed for 6th level characters and features seaside adventure. The second is The Buried Palace (24 pages). This one is made for 7th level characters and revolves around the exploration of a buried palace and a lost magic item. As always, they are sure to be top-notch products.
Open Design has also released two new adventures for 4E as well this week, though these are not specifically for Midgard. The first is The Iron Secret (15 pages) wherein the characters must stop orcs from infiltrating a city. The second is Fury of the Lord of the Sea (12 pages), a level 16-20 adventure where the characters must stop cultists from raising a leviathan from the depths.
Fight! The Fighting Game RPG
Combat is often the focus of a night’s adventure and with good reason. This rpg makes combat the focus of the game and seeks to emulate the fighting video games. Each player creates a fighter, each with their own unique combat moves. In addition, a player can create new maneuvers from a list of over 130 combat elements. You then take your characters around the world fighting in tournaments of al kinds. If you’ve ever wanted to spend a night or two kicking butt in a pure combat game this might be the one for you.
Modern Basics: Tools of Terror and Blood
This supplement looks to add elements of horror to a d20 game. Horror can be a tricky thing to run and its handy to have a way for doing it. With d20 being as popular as it is, this is sure to come in handy for those who like d20 and horror. While it focuses mostly on the Modern rule set, many of the ideas can easily be transplanted into any d20 game where you want to add horror.
WotC Classic PDFs
WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1E)
HHQ4 Cleric’s Challenge (2E)
DMGR4 Monster Mythology (2E)
PHBR8 The Complete Books of Elves (2E)
Adventures
Battle for Ironhold – d20.
A Miraculous Time – Basic Pathfinder.
A Whale of a Problem – Pathfinder. Level 13.
Song of the Beast Gods – Legend.
Spotlight: Most Interesting PDF of the Week
Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition
One of the big bits of news last week was the release of the updated Werewolf: The Apocalypse game. Originally released in 1992 it has seen many supplements and revisions through the years. This PDF takes the original edition and updates it to the current ruleset, but keeps the original setting. The book not includes the rules but also many of the supplemental information, such as the various tribes and tribe variants, also updated. If you were a fan of the original Werewolf and are looking to play it again, this is the PDF to start anew with.
EABA v2.0
This is a universal rpg system that pushes the envelope of PDF design. For the system itself, the book is 300 pages long. The first 100 pages explain the rules. The next 200 pages show how to customize those rules for any genre or setting; you can add spells, superpowers, technology, and anything you desire. This version of the rules was designed from the ground up to work as a PDF and meant to be sued with computers and other devices. Everything is integrated and includes pop-up navigation menus, is fully hyperlinked, has a built-in die roller, editable character sheets, on screen mapping, one-click character generation - all with the PDF itself. This product pushes PDFs into a new realm of use.
Also this week, they have released Aethos, a sci-fi setting for use with EABA. This setting book, which is 218 pages long, is set on a planet-ship that abducted millions of humans from Earth centuries ago. Player characters are the descendants of those people and now they face a new crisis as the planet-ship is finally slowly down in its travels and the “world” is about to change irrecoverably. As with the core PDF this one also has the same functionality design.
Wing Commander
This rpg is based off of the popular video game series. The game series spans 17 years of various games within the setting universe along with an animated show, a film and a collectible card game. This PDF brings the setting to the tabletop as an rpg. It provides everything a group would need to play from character generation, rules for everything the characters can engage in and guidelines for adventure generation. Also included is an in depth look at the setting. This is likely the largest PDF I’ve ever seen listed clocking in at 1118 pages. The best part is that it is free.
Heroine
This is a unique rpg which embraces the story of a young girl trying to find her way through the real world only to find herself dealing with a fantasy world with its own problems. The game is based on such stories as the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. One thing that makes it different is that one person plays the Heroine and the rest take narrative turns moving the story along while introducing interesting companion characters that the rest of the group plays. This rpg is the result of a successful Kickstarter and looks interesting.
Beasts of Legend: Coldwood Codex
More monsters are always a good thing to keep your players guessing. This PDF features 10 new monsters for the d20 system. It spans monsters from CR 2 to 18 and a variety of types. Included are detailed backgrounds on the creatures, full page printable pictures of them and even paper miniatures for each of them. Sounds like a good deal.
Triumphant!
I’m always a sucker for a new superhero game. This one provides a point based character generation system along with a randomly generated one, for those who like that sort of thing. It provides the usual super powers along with a way to add more. The game provides everything a group needs to start playing including a city location as the beginning of a campaign setting.
Open Gaming Monthly
This magazine features new d20 material. This month they have 96 pages of special content that covers new character options, adventures, new monsters, new locations, and articles to expand your d20 game play. Right now d20 is hot and this will give every group something extra to game with.
Shadowrun 5th Edition Preview #2
Catalyst Game Labs continues to showcase their upcoming 5th edition of the venerable Shadowrun game with this series of free previews. This is the second one and looks to show us some of the basic mechanics of the game; success tests, hits and other components. I know I’m curious to see what’s changed.
Midgard Adventures
This week we see two new Pathfinder adventures from Kobold Press Open Design. The first is Beyond the Ghostlight Reef (22 pages). It is designed for 6th level characters and features seaside adventure. The second is The Buried Palace (24 pages). This one is made for 7th level characters and revolves around the exploration of a buried palace and a lost magic item. As always, they are sure to be top-notch products.
Open Design has also released two new adventures for 4E as well this week, though these are not specifically for Midgard. The first is The Iron Secret (15 pages) wherein the characters must stop orcs from infiltrating a city. The second is Fury of the Lord of the Sea (12 pages), a level 16-20 adventure where the characters must stop cultists from raising a leviathan from the depths.
Fight! The Fighting Game RPG
Combat is often the focus of a night’s adventure and with good reason. This rpg makes combat the focus of the game and seeks to emulate the fighting video games. Each player creates a fighter, each with their own unique combat moves. In addition, a player can create new maneuvers from a list of over 130 combat elements. You then take your characters around the world fighting in tournaments of al kinds. If you’ve ever wanted to spend a night or two kicking butt in a pure combat game this might be the one for you.
Modern Basics: Tools of Terror and Blood
This supplement looks to add elements of horror to a d20 game. Horror can be a tricky thing to run and its handy to have a way for doing it. With d20 being as popular as it is, this is sure to come in handy for those who like d20 and horror. While it focuses mostly on the Modern rule set, many of the ideas can easily be transplanted into any d20 game where you want to add horror.
WotC Classic PDFs
WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1E)
HHQ4 Cleric’s Challenge (2E)
DMGR4 Monster Mythology (2E)
PHBR8 The Complete Books of Elves (2E)
Adventures
Battle for Ironhold – d20.
A Miraculous Time – Basic Pathfinder.
A Whale of a Problem – Pathfinder. Level 13.
Song of the Beast Gods – Legend.
Spotlight: Most Interesting PDF of the Week
Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition
One of the big bits of news last week was the release of the updated Werewolf: The Apocalypse game. Originally released in 1992 it has seen many supplements and revisions through the years. This PDF takes the original edition and updates it to the current ruleset, but keeps the original setting. The book not includes the rules but also many of the supplemental information, such as the various tribes and tribe variants, also updated. If you were a fan of the original Werewolf and are looking to play it again, this is the PDF to start anew with.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – 20th Anniversary Edition brings the entire World of Darkness experience full circle and will serve as the perfect anniversary milestone to celebrate two decades of gaming the epic sagas of the Garou.
What’s in it?
• All thirteen original tribes, tribe variants and Lost Tribes, with their signature Gifts and Rites updated from the Werewolf: The Apocalypse Revised tabletop rules.
• Rules for character creation and advancement.
• Gifts from level one through six, including expanded lists.
• Updated setting to the modern nights.
