Welcome back to our weekly look at tabletop roleplaying game, and accessories, crowdfunding roundup! This week we look at a dystopian 1980's America, the first in a series of 5th Edition monster books, a Call of Cthulhu scenario with a load of props, and a 5th Edition supplement that supplies us a bunch of ready made NPC bosses and their nefarious underlings! If you have anything you’d like us to cover, or questions about anything we talk about, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly.
SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists by Chad Walker
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 28th December 2017; 11:46 UTC)
Chad Walker’s SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists is a cyberpunk RPG set in a dystopian 1980’s America.
Players assume the role of Receivers, the superheroic vanguard of the Resistance, who possess incredible powers when in range of FM radio towers emitting a mysterious number sequence called "The Signal." When the Signal is up, Receivers lead the charge against battalions of Regime infantry and armor or serve as the People's Shield, protecting mass demonstrations from the brutality of a militarized police force and neo-Nazi hooligans. When the Signal is down, however, Receivers are mere mortals, desperately fleeing from a powerful state that senses their weakness.
It's called the Sigmata, a Signal-induced stigmata, because it is a both a blessing and a curse. At least when you're marked by the state, you can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.
The game takes place in a dystopian vision of America where fascists have taken control of the government. “The Regime fosters white supremacy, religious bigotry, and Cold War hysteria to turn America's fury against already marginalized populations, all while plundering America's coffers and thrusting the country into pointless proxy wars all over the globe. To punish internal threats to "Real America," the Regime rewrote the U.S. Constitution to establish the Freedom Fist, a complete merger of military and law enforcement, which dutifully executes the fascists' national program of mass incarceration and deportation.”
“The communities targeted by state violence have begun to fight back. The Resistance is bolstered by an unlikely alliance of radical leftists, libertarian militias, religious activists, and wealthy entrepreneurs, whose grievances with the Regime overpower the seething contempt they have for each other. As linchpins of the Resistance, the Receivers must take great pains to prevent the alliance from fracturing. If they allow ideology to trump strategy, the factions will fall back on their worst tendencies, handing the Regime the political victories it needs to maintain a stranglehold on the people.”
It’s 1986. Welcome to the Future.
As a foil to SIGMATA's dark political vision, the game delivers a satirical take on 1980s media, fashion, pop culture, and consumerism, complete with all the embarrassing chic, uncritical jingoism, and style-over-substance cool we've come to expect from 1980s period pieces. Expect playful nods to the 80s film that inspired this setting, including Robocop, Red Dawn, Terminator, War Games, Escape from New York, and Videodrome, among others.
Mechanically, SIGMATA is a hybrid of a traditional role-playing game and a narrativist story game. There is a game master (GM) involved, but players will be doing most of the storytelling. Players make decisions about what tactics and powers their Receivers employ during structured scenes of combat, stealth, and intrigue, but who gets to narrate the outcome of decisions depends on how well players do on their dice rolls. When a dice roll is required, a player rolls a combination of D10 and D6 dice, depending on her Receiver's four processors (i.e. Aggression, Guile, Judgement, and Valor), hoping to get a result of 6 or higher on each die. The more successes a player rolls, the more control she has over the outcome in the story space. Rolling a single success permits her to narrate a story of marginal success, complicated by an element of tension or stress that the GM contributes to the story. Rolling several success permits her to narrate a story of dramatic success, emphasizing how skilled, strong, or courageous her Receiver is, without input from the GM.
Players aren't just rolling dice for a chance to own the story; they are playing to win. Scenes of combat, intrigue, and stealth are structured in a way where each player needs to manage a resource called exposure. Exposure represents danger; the danger of getting caught during a stealth scene, the danger of getting injured during a combat scene, or the danger of being outed as a Resistance spy during an intrigue scene. Each turn, the GM makes moves to increase the Receivers' exposure. In response, each player selects a tactic, allowing her to either increase the enemy's exposure (cautiously or recklessly), reduce her own exposure, or reduce the exposure of one of her allies. The end result is exciting stories told with a narrativist approach, influenced by a tactical resource management mechanic that emphasizes risk/reward and teamwork.
Of course, this is a cyberpunk genre game as much as it is a period piece, so Receivers also rely on superheroic powers (subroutines), performance enhancing cybernetic modules (blade servers), iconic equipment (peripherals), and the evocation of fallen comrades (memory) to press through their most challenging ordeals against the Regime.
SIGMATA also features a strategic meta-game that charts the Resistance's progress in toppling the Regime, based on real counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine. The Resistance's efforts against the Regime's military forces mean nothing if they are not also winning over the local population and the international community. The strategic strength of the Resistance not only tracks campaign progress, but influences the strength of the Signal, which the Receivers rely upon to fuel their most dramatic abilities.
Tome of Horrors: Reborn for Fifth Edition by Frog God Games
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 27th December 2017; 05:00 UTC)
Frog God’s Tome of Horrors is getting an upgrade to 5th Edition in their latest Kickstarter campaign. Previously published for 3.0/3.5, Pathfinder and Swords & Wizardry the first edition was launched back in 2001 by Necromancer Games. This Reborn edition will include a selection of creatures from earlier volumes to launch a brand new series of 5th Edition books.
This first, full color hardcover, volume will include over 100 illustrated monsters ranging from Abyssal Harvesters to various Zombies.
The Idol of Cthulhu, a scenario & props for Call of Cthulhu by Delphes Desvoirvres
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 27th December 2017; 19:21 UTC)
The Idol of Cthulhu is a scenario by distinguished Mythos writer Matthew Sanderson. Alongside being a brand new Call of Cthulhu scenario the campaign also offers a selection of props designed to go alongside it to further enhance your gaming experience.
The props include your old Idol of Cthulhu, a Bas-Relief, sound files created by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and loads of paper based props (newspaper clippings, business cards, handwritten letters, etc).
The scenario is written as a sequel to The Call of Cthulhu short story and runs to around 40 pages.
Your players won't need to read "the Call of Cthulhu" short story beforehand but it's not really a problem if they have. The scenario can be played as a one shot, were you play members of a detective agency, but options will be proposed to integrate characters from a preexisting campaign.
Autumn 1928. A firm of private investigators in Rhode Island is hired to find the whereabouts of two missing men. Both have been named as beneficiaries in the will of a recently deceased academic but they have both gone into hiding. But what are two apparently unconnected men, from very different walks of life, possibly hiding from?
Masters and Minions: A 5th Edition Supplement by Jetpack 7
(Campaign Ends : Saturday 30th December 2017; 04:00 UTC)
Masters and Minions is a 5th Edition supplement that aims to help GMs cut down on their prep time. The book is full of developed Bosses and their followers suitable for characters of any level for 1st to 20th.
The book contains lore and descriptions on each of the Masters and how they use their minions; complete with story hooks, tricks, puzzles and strategies. A minimum of ten Masters will be featured, with further entries being unlocked through stretch goals.
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
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, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists by Chad Walker
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 28th December 2017; 11:46 UTC)
Chad Walker’s SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists is a cyberpunk RPG set in a dystopian 1980’s America.
Players assume the role of Receivers, the superheroic vanguard of the Resistance, who possess incredible powers when in range of FM radio towers emitting a mysterious number sequence called "The Signal." When the Signal is up, Receivers lead the charge against battalions of Regime infantry and armor or serve as the People's Shield, protecting mass demonstrations from the brutality of a militarized police force and neo-Nazi hooligans. When the Signal is down, however, Receivers are mere mortals, desperately fleeing from a powerful state that senses their weakness.
It's called the Sigmata, a Signal-induced stigmata, because it is a both a blessing and a curse. At least when you're marked by the state, you can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.
The game takes place in a dystopian vision of America where fascists have taken control of the government. “The Regime fosters white supremacy, religious bigotry, and Cold War hysteria to turn America's fury against already marginalized populations, all while plundering America's coffers and thrusting the country into pointless proxy wars all over the globe. To punish internal threats to "Real America," the Regime rewrote the U.S. Constitution to establish the Freedom Fist, a complete merger of military and law enforcement, which dutifully executes the fascists' national program of mass incarceration and deportation.”
“The communities targeted by state violence have begun to fight back. The Resistance is bolstered by an unlikely alliance of radical leftists, libertarian militias, religious activists, and wealthy entrepreneurs, whose grievances with the Regime overpower the seething contempt they have for each other. As linchpins of the Resistance, the Receivers must take great pains to prevent the alliance from fracturing. If they allow ideology to trump strategy, the factions will fall back on their worst tendencies, handing the Regime the political victories it needs to maintain a stranglehold on the people.”
It’s 1986. Welcome to the Future.
As a foil to SIGMATA's dark political vision, the game delivers a satirical take on 1980s media, fashion, pop culture, and consumerism, complete with all the embarrassing chic, uncritical jingoism, and style-over-substance cool we've come to expect from 1980s period pieces. Expect playful nods to the 80s film that inspired this setting, including Robocop, Red Dawn, Terminator, War Games, Escape from New York, and Videodrome, among others.
Mechanically, SIGMATA is a hybrid of a traditional role-playing game and a narrativist story game. There is a game master (GM) involved, but players will be doing most of the storytelling. Players make decisions about what tactics and powers their Receivers employ during structured scenes of combat, stealth, and intrigue, but who gets to narrate the outcome of decisions depends on how well players do on their dice rolls. When a dice roll is required, a player rolls a combination of D10 and D6 dice, depending on her Receiver's four processors (i.e. Aggression, Guile, Judgement, and Valor), hoping to get a result of 6 or higher on each die. The more successes a player rolls, the more control she has over the outcome in the story space. Rolling a single success permits her to narrate a story of marginal success, complicated by an element of tension or stress that the GM contributes to the story. Rolling several success permits her to narrate a story of dramatic success, emphasizing how skilled, strong, or courageous her Receiver is, without input from the GM.
Players aren't just rolling dice for a chance to own the story; they are playing to win. Scenes of combat, intrigue, and stealth are structured in a way where each player needs to manage a resource called exposure. Exposure represents danger; the danger of getting caught during a stealth scene, the danger of getting injured during a combat scene, or the danger of being outed as a Resistance spy during an intrigue scene. Each turn, the GM makes moves to increase the Receivers' exposure. In response, each player selects a tactic, allowing her to either increase the enemy's exposure (cautiously or recklessly), reduce her own exposure, or reduce the exposure of one of her allies. The end result is exciting stories told with a narrativist approach, influenced by a tactical resource management mechanic that emphasizes risk/reward and teamwork.
Of course, this is a cyberpunk genre game as much as it is a period piece, so Receivers also rely on superheroic powers (subroutines), performance enhancing cybernetic modules (blade servers), iconic equipment (peripherals), and the evocation of fallen comrades (memory) to press through their most challenging ordeals against the Regime.
SIGMATA also features a strategic meta-game that charts the Resistance's progress in toppling the Regime, based on real counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine. The Resistance's efforts against the Regime's military forces mean nothing if they are not also winning over the local population and the international community. The strategic strength of the Resistance not only tracks campaign progress, but influences the strength of the Signal, which the Receivers rely upon to fuel their most dramatic abilities.
Tome of Horrors: Reborn for Fifth Edition by Frog God Games
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 27th December 2017; 05:00 UTC)
Frog God’s Tome of Horrors is getting an upgrade to 5th Edition in their latest Kickstarter campaign. Previously published for 3.0/3.5, Pathfinder and Swords & Wizardry the first edition was launched back in 2001 by Necromancer Games. This Reborn edition will include a selection of creatures from earlier volumes to launch a brand new series of 5th Edition books.
This first, full color hardcover, volume will include over 100 illustrated monsters ranging from Abyssal Harvesters to various Zombies.
The Idol of Cthulhu, a scenario & props for Call of Cthulhu by Delphes Desvoirvres
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 27th December 2017; 19:21 UTC)
The Idol of Cthulhu is a scenario by distinguished Mythos writer Matthew Sanderson. Alongside being a brand new Call of Cthulhu scenario the campaign also offers a selection of props designed to go alongside it to further enhance your gaming experience.
The props include your old Idol of Cthulhu, a Bas-Relief, sound files created by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and loads of paper based props (newspaper clippings, business cards, handwritten letters, etc).
The scenario is written as a sequel to The Call of Cthulhu short story and runs to around 40 pages.
Your players won't need to read "the Call of Cthulhu" short story beforehand but it's not really a problem if they have. The scenario can be played as a one shot, were you play members of a detective agency, but options will be proposed to integrate characters from a preexisting campaign.
Autumn 1928. A firm of private investigators in Rhode Island is hired to find the whereabouts of two missing men. Both have been named as beneficiaries in the will of a recently deceased academic but they have both gone into hiding. But what are two apparently unconnected men, from very different walks of life, possibly hiding from?
Masters and Minions: A 5th Edition Supplement by Jetpack 7
(Campaign Ends : Saturday 30th December 2017; 04:00 UTC)
Masters and Minions is a 5th Edition supplement that aims to help GMs cut down on their prep time. The book is full of developed Bosses and their followers suitable for characters of any level for 1st to 20th.
The book contains lore and descriptions on each of the Masters and how they use their minions; complete with story hooks, tricks, puzzles and strategies. A minimum of ten Masters will be featured, with further entries being unlocked through stretch goals.
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
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, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
