I rarely start out with a theme in mind when I start doing Picks for the week, but there are times when one seems to evolve. The nature of the more recent releases sometimes informs that, but there's also a basic intuition at work. This week, it feels pretty Old School, even though some of what's on the list isn't exactly part of what others consider that particular "movement" in game design. There's a direct 5e adventure, but there's something for Numenera on the list as well; the link, of course, is the focus on the d20 resolution paradigm. The Viking theme of another just calls back to the influences of gaming, even with its new game design. Maybe I'm looking for patterns that aren't there, but it makes for some amusing rumination, at any rate.
Fate of the Norns
Herein lies the third – and best – edition of a game that truly scratches the itch for anyone who digs Viking-style fantasy.
“Forget Skyrim, play Fate of the Norns: Fafnir’s Treasure to roleplay as a Viking hero!” – Penny Arcade
Deep in the throes of Fimbulwinter, Viking heroes rise to the challenge to stem the dark tide that has engulfed Midgard. The sun and the moon have been devoured and the worlds on the cosmic tree Yggdrasil have been cloaked in a penumbral shroud. The gods are reinforcing Asgard for the coming fury of the giants. The war cry has echoed throughout every corner of the world: will you heed the call? Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok Core Rulebook is an all-inclusive game that will allow you to create customized characters who will embark on an epic saga. You will partake in a visceral and tactical combat system that rewards team-play and good strategy. Using the innovative Runic Game System, you will spin the tale of heroes and epic feats in a hostile world.
What you’ll find in Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok:
The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady
Last year, Dread Unicorn Games released the first Sun Below adventure for the Numenera setting, City on the Edge. Fans are clearly excited to see the next one out at last, Sleeping Lady.
A banished power fights to return to the Ninth World.
A fallen moon of The Sun Below begins to stir.
The Knocker at the Door begins to awake.
A Numenera adventure for all tiers.
49 page adventure for all tiers, 16 page bestiary, new numenera, dozens of GM Intrusions, and player handouts.
Who is the Sleeping Lady? What’s in the numenera mines? What is knock, knock, knocking at the door? Hang onto your minds and bodies, because secrets of Orb Mountain are about to be revealed!
Confrontation at Candlekeep
Own – and run – a piece of D&D Next history.
Candlekeep is under siege, and it needs adventurers to help protect it! Heed the call to defend the legendary monastery and stand against the tide of evil.
Product History
“Confrontation at Candlekeep” (2013), by Teos Abadia, Greg Bilsland, and Shawn Merwin, is an RPGA Dungeon Delve that was used as a playtest for D&D 5e (2014). It was released to RPGA Dungeon Masters in August 2013, but only made available to the general public in October 2015.
Introducing D&D Next. D&D 5e had a long, public history as D&D Next before its official publication. Playtest packets were released beginning in May 2012, then D&D Encounters started offering 5e options with “Against the Cult of Chaos” (2013) in February 2013. However, the 5e playtest really hit the mainstream during the summer of 2013: on June 15 the 5e adventure “Vault of the Dracolich” was run at D&D Game Day (2013). An even bigger preview of 5e followed at Gen Con Indy 2013 with the release of the adventure “Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle” (2013) exactly a month later, on August 15.
Because “Dragonspear Castle” was a big public release that included playtest rules, it got the most attention. However, two other 5e playtest adventures also appeared at that Gen Con. The second was the fifteenth Encounters adventure, “Murder in Baldur’s Gate” (2013), which went on sale on August 20th following its August 17th launch weekend. The third is now the least-known. That’s because it was only released to Dungeon Masters at the time and has been mostly unavailable since.
That isn’t to say that “Confrontation at Candlekeep” wasn’t a big deal. It was the other half of Wizards of the Coast’s Gen Con 2013 plan, intended to draw players into D&D 5e without the benefit of a traditional booth. On the one hand Gale Force Nine was selling “Dragonspear Castle” to long lines of fan. On the other hand, Wizards reserved much of Hall D at the Indiana Convention Center so that the RPGA could run “Confrontation at Candlekeep”.
And, run they did! The two-hour adventure was scheduled for 28 separate sessions, the first running from 8am to 10am on Thursday, August 15th and the last running from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday, August 18th. Each session could seat up to 176 players, which meant that Wizards had the capability to run almost 5,000 players through the D&D 5e adventure — enough to generate a great seed of interest when those players brought word of the new edition home to their own gaming groups.
Ghosts: The Incorporeal Undead
James Mishler has a storied history with the adventure games business, having worked in just about every capacity and with some of the biggest and best companies there are. He’s doing his own thing now, creating material compatible with Labyrinth Lord (which also makes it compatible with Old School, first edition D&D related games). His approach is minimalist graphics, extra-high focus on content, content, and more content. Just check out how much material you’re getting with this product, on sale for $6.66 through Halloween.
Ghosts – The Incorporeal Undead includes everything needed to develop and use ghosts in your Labyrinth Lord campaign.
Deadly Details on Fear Attacks and Life Draining Touch!
Eerie Information on the Incorporeal powers of ghosts and other Undead Special Abilities!
Full disclosure on the Sinister Sixth Sense, Scary Sensitives, and Mysterious Mediums!
Ten different base ghostly types, covering each hit die from 1 to 10 hit dice, with countless thousands of combinations of 75 different ghostly special abilities!
Secrets of the uses and dangers of Uncanny Ectoplasm!
An expose of Eerie Enchanted Items!
Scads of rulings on Spooky Spells, new and old!
And a (relatively complete) Creepy Appendix N!
What more can you ask for?
How about protection from the Terrifying Table of Contents of…
GHOSTS – THE INCORPOREAL UNDEAD!
Fear Attack
Fear Effects Table
Spawn Ghost
Incorporeal
Bodiless
Ectoplasm
Flight
Powerless in Sunlight
Weapon Immunity
Life Draining Touch
Spawn Ghost
Undead Special Abilities Package
Infravision
Mindless
Poison Immunity
Silent as the Grave
Susceptible to Turning
Other Special Abilities
Special Ability Notation
Incorporeal Undead Summary Table
GHOSTS – LESSER AND GREATER
Presence (1 HD Lesser Ghost)
Apparition (2 HD Lesser Ghost)
Lost Soul (3 HD Lesser Ghost)
Wraith (4 HD Greater Ghost)
Haunt (5 HD Greater Ghost)
Spectre (6 HD Greater Ghost)
Spirit (7 HD Greater Ghost)
Wyrd (8 HD Greater Ghost)
Phantom (9 HD Greater Ghost)
Geist (10 HD Greater Ghost)
APPENDICES
Ghostly Special Abilities
Uncanny Ectoplasm
Eerie Enchanted Items
Spooky Spells
Creepy Appendix N
The Perilous Wilds
Been kind of an “Old School” week, between the themes of some games and the d20 aspect of others, so let’s close it out with one that takes the Apocalypse World Engine (aka Dungeon World) and calls back to the Classic Three books that launched all of this in the beginning. The Perilous Wilds gets down and funky with random tables that help your group build worlds to explore.
The Perilous Wilds combines Dungeon World‘s approach to collaborative world-building with the old-school RPG reliance on random tables to generate content on the fly, woven together by modifications to the original Dungeon World travel moves. The main differences between the use of tables in The Perilous Wilds and their use in older RPGs is an emphasis on exploration and discovery over combat encounters, and the baked-in methodology of using randomized results as prompts rather than facts, to be interpreted during play.
The book is 72 pages, digest-size book divided into the following sections:
The collaborative map-making guidelines and all of the tables are system-neutral (usable with any RPG rules). Although the tables are structured to tie directly into the rewritten travel moves, they can be used in any game in which a fantastical landscape is explored.
The new follower rules are written by Jeremy Strandberg, and are intended to give NPC hirelings more substance without a significant increase in bookkeeping.
~~~~~
Another interesting thing about this week's Picks is how many of them represent the design and production choice to forego an elaborate cover (and, in some cases, interior art) for a minimalist approach that focuses on content. The folks doing this are banking (in some cases, literally - saving significant money) on your willingness to ignore the lack of serious art assets in favor of significant rules and narrative content.
Are they right to do so?
I've been in a major writing groove, knocking out some serious word count on the second of the three core books planned for Savage Rifts. This weekend, amid a local pro-wrestling appearance* (as "The Big Irish," alongside my partner, "The Big Don"), wedding celebrations and Ross Watson's wonderful ongoing 5e-driven Birthright campaign, I'll be tackling some mechanics-related content for a number of Shaintar manuscripts.
(*) - No, not as a wrestler; I am in no shape for that, but we play recurring side characters for NRW.
One way or another... The Adventure Continues!
~SPF
Fate of the Norns
Herein lies the third – and best – edition of a game that truly scratches the itch for anyone who digs Viking-style fantasy.
“Forget Skyrim, play Fate of the Norns: Fafnir’s Treasure to roleplay as a Viking hero!” – Penny Arcade
Deep in the throes of Fimbulwinter, Viking heroes rise to the challenge to stem the dark tide that has engulfed Midgard. The sun and the moon have been devoured and the worlds on the cosmic tree Yggdrasil have been cloaked in a penumbral shroud. The gods are reinforcing Asgard for the coming fury of the giants. The war cry has echoed throughout every corner of the world: will you heed the call? Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok Core Rulebook is an all-inclusive game that will allow you to create customized characters who will embark on an epic saga. You will partake in a visceral and tactical combat system that rewards team-play and good strategy. Using the innovative Runic Game System, you will spin the tale of heroes and epic feats in a hostile world.
What you’ll find in Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok:
- A role-playing game based on Viking sagas and folklore
- A deep and engaging world with limitless possibilities for adventure
- All rules needed to play the game, designed for 2-8 players
- Mystical runes (included as printout and also available in semi-precious stone sets) for a game driven by the Runic Game System – no need for dice!
- A choice of 15 different archetypes specializations for your character
- A host of fearsome adversaries
- A myriad of powers, spells, and skills that bring the characters and denizens to life
The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady
Last year, Dread Unicorn Games released the first Sun Below adventure for the Numenera setting, City on the Edge. Fans are clearly excited to see the next one out at last, Sleeping Lady.
A banished power fights to return to the Ninth World.
A fallen moon of The Sun Below begins to stir.
The Knocker at the Door begins to awake.
A Numenera adventure for all tiers.
49 page adventure for all tiers, 16 page bestiary, new numenera, dozens of GM Intrusions, and player handouts.
Who is the Sleeping Lady? What’s in the numenera mines? What is knock, knock, knocking at the door? Hang onto your minds and bodies, because secrets of Orb Mountain are about to be revealed!
Confrontation at Candlekeep
Own – and run – a piece of D&D Next history.
Candlekeep is under siege, and it needs adventurers to help protect it! Heed the call to defend the legendary monastery and stand against the tide of evil.
Product History
“Confrontation at Candlekeep” (2013), by Teos Abadia, Greg Bilsland, and Shawn Merwin, is an RPGA Dungeon Delve that was used as a playtest for D&D 5e (2014). It was released to RPGA Dungeon Masters in August 2013, but only made available to the general public in October 2015.
Introducing D&D Next. D&D 5e had a long, public history as D&D Next before its official publication. Playtest packets were released beginning in May 2012, then D&D Encounters started offering 5e options with “Against the Cult of Chaos” (2013) in February 2013. However, the 5e playtest really hit the mainstream during the summer of 2013: on June 15 the 5e adventure “Vault of the Dracolich” was run at D&D Game Day (2013). An even bigger preview of 5e followed at Gen Con Indy 2013 with the release of the adventure “Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle” (2013) exactly a month later, on August 15.
Because “Dragonspear Castle” was a big public release that included playtest rules, it got the most attention. However, two other 5e playtest adventures also appeared at that Gen Con. The second was the fifteenth Encounters adventure, “Murder in Baldur’s Gate” (2013), which went on sale on August 20th following its August 17th launch weekend. The third is now the least-known. That’s because it was only released to Dungeon Masters at the time and has been mostly unavailable since.
That isn’t to say that “Confrontation at Candlekeep” wasn’t a big deal. It was the other half of Wizards of the Coast’s Gen Con 2013 plan, intended to draw players into D&D 5e without the benefit of a traditional booth. On the one hand Gale Force Nine was selling “Dragonspear Castle” to long lines of fan. On the other hand, Wizards reserved much of Hall D at the Indiana Convention Center so that the RPGA could run “Confrontation at Candlekeep”.
And, run they did! The two-hour adventure was scheduled for 28 separate sessions, the first running from 8am to 10am on Thursday, August 15th and the last running from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday, August 18th. Each session could seat up to 176 players, which meant that Wizards had the capability to run almost 5,000 players through the D&D 5e adventure — enough to generate a great seed of interest when those players brought word of the new edition home to their own gaming groups.
Ghosts: The Incorporeal Undead
James Mishler has a storied history with the adventure games business, having worked in just about every capacity and with some of the biggest and best companies there are. He’s doing his own thing now, creating material compatible with Labyrinth Lord (which also makes it compatible with Old School, first edition D&D related games). His approach is minimalist graphics, extra-high focus on content, content, and more content. Just check out how much material you’re getting with this product, on sale for $6.66 through Halloween.
Ghosts – The Incorporeal Undead includes everything needed to develop and use ghosts in your Labyrinth Lord campaign.
Deadly Details on Fear Attacks and Life Draining Touch!
Eerie Information on the Incorporeal powers of ghosts and other Undead Special Abilities!
Full disclosure on the Sinister Sixth Sense, Scary Sensitives, and Mysterious Mediums!
Ten different base ghostly types, covering each hit die from 1 to 10 hit dice, with countless thousands of combinations of 75 different ghostly special abilities!
Secrets of the uses and dangers of Uncanny Ectoplasm!
An expose of Eerie Enchanted Items!
Scads of rulings on Spooky Spells, new and old!
And a (relatively complete) Creepy Appendix N!
What more can you ask for?
How about protection from the Terrifying Table of Contents of…
GHOSTS – THE INCORPOREAL UNDEAD!
Fear Attack
Fear Effects Table
Spawn Ghost
Incorporeal
Bodiless
Ectoplasm
Flight
Powerless in Sunlight
Weapon Immunity
Life Draining Touch
Spawn Ghost
Undead Special Abilities Package
Infravision
Mindless
Poison Immunity
Silent as the Grave
Susceptible to Turning
Other Special Abilities
Special Ability Notation
Incorporeal Undead Summary Table
GHOSTS – LESSER AND GREATER
Presence (1 HD Lesser Ghost)
Apparition (2 HD Lesser Ghost)
Lost Soul (3 HD Lesser Ghost)
Wraith (4 HD Greater Ghost)
Haunt (5 HD Greater Ghost)
Spectre (6 HD Greater Ghost)
Spirit (7 HD Greater Ghost)
Wyrd (8 HD Greater Ghost)
Phantom (9 HD Greater Ghost)
Geist (10 HD Greater Ghost)
APPENDICES
Ghostly Special Abilities
Uncanny Ectoplasm
Eerie Enchanted Items
Spooky Spells
Creepy Appendix N
The Perilous Wilds
Been kind of an “Old School” week, between the themes of some games and the d20 aspect of others, so let’s close it out with one that takes the Apocalypse World Engine (aka Dungeon World) and calls back to the Classic Three books that launched all of this in the beginning. The Perilous Wilds gets down and funky with random tables that help your group build worlds to explore.
The Perilous Wilds combines Dungeon World‘s approach to collaborative world-building with the old-school RPG reliance on random tables to generate content on the fly, woven together by modifications to the original Dungeon World travel moves. The main differences between the use of tables in The Perilous Wilds and their use in older RPGs is an emphasis on exploration and discovery over combat encounters, and the baked-in methodology of using randomized results as prompts rather than facts, to be interpreted during play.
The book is 72 pages, digest-size book divided into the following sections:
- Learn the Language: a glossary of terms
- Draw the Map: guidelines for collaborative cartography
- Lead the Way: alternative rules for followers, by Jeremy Strandberg
- See the World: new moves and guidelines for undertaking perilous journeys
- Weather the Storm: suggestions and moves for handling weather
- Ask the Fates: a host of tables for generating wilderness adventure
- Plumb the Depths: rules for creating dungeons on the fly
- Live to Tell the Tale: five new compendium classes
- Trust Your Gut: advice for improvising overland adventure
- Name Every Person: sample name lists for people, places, and mounts
The collaborative map-making guidelines and all of the tables are system-neutral (usable with any RPG rules). Although the tables are structured to tie directly into the rewritten travel moves, they can be used in any game in which a fantastical landscape is explored.
The new follower rules are written by Jeremy Strandberg, and are intended to give NPC hirelings more substance without a significant increase in bookkeeping.
~~~~~
Another interesting thing about this week's Picks is how many of them represent the design and production choice to forego an elaborate cover (and, in some cases, interior art) for a minimalist approach that focuses on content. The folks doing this are banking (in some cases, literally - saving significant money) on your willingness to ignore the lack of serious art assets in favor of significant rules and narrative content.
Are they right to do so?
I've been in a major writing groove, knocking out some serious word count on the second of the three core books planned for Savage Rifts. This weekend, amid a local pro-wrestling appearance* (as "The Big Irish," alongside my partner, "The Big Don"), wedding celebrations and Ross Watson's wonderful ongoing 5e-driven Birthright campaign, I'll be tackling some mechanics-related content for a number of Shaintar manuscripts.
(*) - No, not as a wrestler; I am in no shape for that, but we play recurring side characters for NRW.
One way or another... The Adventure Continues!
~SPF
