As the weather pretty much goes insane here in Denver (Spring sprang, and today we're below freezing and covered in snow, but it promises to be over 70 Fahrenheit on Monday...), here's another week of Picks wrapped up. It's another "all over the map" kind of week, with a D&D Classic; an indie-style game that's sure to twist some noodles; a callback to a truly classic world, Savaged; a brand new game out of Europe already taking the beaches by storm; and a psionics-driven game that's got a very similar name to another popular game, but is in every way different. As always, just trying to make sure you see the wide tapestry that is our hobby, friends.
Cipher
I was recently challenged by a reader on ENWorld to look into a different game called Cipher (as, admittedly, I’ve mentioned the Cypher System quite a bit here). It’s definitely different, with some serious critical praise. Take note that there are three listed products, with three different covers, but the contents are the same for each product. Only the cover is different, and the one depicted here is on sale for a lower price than the other two.
VERY SOON NOW…
everyone will have heard the term ‘Cipher’ and know that people with mental powers exist. The future is screaming down on us like a freight train and every person on this planet is tied to the tracks.
Evolutionary accidents, human lab-rats, progeny of a cruel and trickster god; we have searched in vain for the reason for our existence. There is a vast, empty page where the words of our history should be, but regardless of our origins, we have walked among you for nearly a hundred years. We are your children.
We have the power to affect body, mind, and matter with a mere thought. We can see the past as clearly as the present, and what is to come holds few secrets from us. We can ignite fires with a glance, and we will set the world alight by our presence…
Whether we choose to or not.
The Cipher Core Rulebook contains everything you need to create and play a character with a wide range of mental abilities. From Telepathy to Clairvoyance, fromPsychokinesis to Biokinesis; almost any mental power imaginable is at your disposal.
Cipher uses Broken Meme’s ‘Vector System’ with special rules to accommodate the unique world of Cipher. Characters are hunted by a government agency known as DAEMON, and fighting desperately to avoid a prophesied Doomsday, as they attempt to make sense of their origins and destiny.
CIPHER: You can see tomorrow, but can you survive today?
QuestCore RPG
The European Invasion of the RPG market continues as this Kickstarter success takes the top spot on DriveThruRPG’s list. Seriously, I somehow missed its very existence, and there it is a number one, demanding my attention. Someone called it “One of the best DnD inspired games in the world of RPGs.” See for yourself.
About QuestCore
QuestCore is a role-playing game for your amazing stories. It is a new smart RPG system that is easy to learn and fast to play.
Made for players who like d20 based games, like Dungeons and Dragons, but want better and faster rules.
QuestCore offers all the rules you need to start playing. If you don’t want to create your own world and adventures you can buy ready-made background material and adventures (from Megaton Games or other gaming companies).
Why is QuestCore for you?
What are Attributes?
They are the basic statistics for a creature. A guard might be described as Strong (Strength +1) and Unintelligent (Intelligence -1). The other stats need not be stated (as they are all at 0). You simply add the bonus to the rolls involving that attribute.
What are Skills?
Skills are things you learn. A creature can ”train” a skill and get a bonus of +2 when using that skill. Very easy to learn and use. You can also choose to specialize in skills to get a small bonus – examples include ”Attack Blades” and ”Knowledge Nature”.
What are Abilities?
Abilities are all the special traits that a character or other creature in the world might have. Examples of abilities are Sweeping Attack, Improved Initiative, and Great Speed. Abilities might also be magical abilities such as a magic fireball spell and racial abilities such as natural armour.
Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden
Here’s one from the “In Case You Missed It” File, the unique steam-fantasy setting from Kyoudai Games, including the writing and design efforts of my good friend, Mark Swafford!
An Epic World of Steam and Darkness
In Aden, a thousand-year Golden Age of prosperity gave rise to an unprecedented development: the fusion of magic and technology into a unique discipline called mechamagic. Arcane power, steam power, and gunpowder changed the world almost overnight. The Golden Age ended, and the Age of Thunder began. It seemed that there would be no limit to the industry and ingenuity of man.
Until the Darkfall.
A supernatural cataclysm of unknown origin, the Darkfall plunged the world into darkness as the sun was blotted out for only a moment. In that moment, every nightmare and horror imagined by the people of Aden sprang into existence, and the world was thrown into chaos. Villages were wiped from the face of the world, entire cities burned, and tens of thousands perished in an instant. It seemed that the world would die in flames.
But Aden will not die so easily.
Now, ten years later, the people of Aden struggle to survive in the face of unrelenting assault by horrors beyond imagining. It is a world of magic, a world of industry, a world of horror.
It is the World of Aden.
Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden is a setting and mechanics sourcebook compatibly with the Savage Worlds role-playing game. Within the pages of this book you will find the following:
The Skeletons
A Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to you all, from your Big Irish Friend. Today’s Pick is something special, once again displaying the extraordinary depth and potential of roleplaying. What if you were one of those nameless, (literally) faceless undead minions guarding a tomb or other place? Something of you remains, and you must contemplate what that means as you endure the endless.
THE SKELETONS is meditative structured freeform game for 1-6 players. You’ll need a few hours a private space.
Years fly by like dead leaves. Everything is darkness. Everything is silence. You stand vigilant before the sarcophagus without thought or breath-such is your compulsion. You do not remember your name and still you watch. The flesh has fallen off your bones and still you watch.
And then one day there is light and motion and you weigh your bearded axe and raise your shield, lusting for the fray, eager to measure your skill against these tomb-robbing children so full of blood. You’ll never be alive again, but in this moment-in the chaos between violation and destruction-you truly live, and you remember what you once were, and you taste the sun.
The Skeletons flips the script on the classic dungeon crawl— here you play not the intruders, but the guardians, cursed to spend all of eternity defending a tomb. As time passes, both the tomb and its guardians will change. Ferocious battles are fought and won, and the skeletons slowly remember who and what they once were. Melancholy, introspective and spanning epochs, The Skeletons is unlike anything you’ve ever played.
Just a reminder there’s this awesome place for all your D&D digital products, called the Dungeon Masters Guild. Not only is it a place to create, sell, and buy 5e material, it’s where all the editions of Dungeons & Dragons are supported. This particular gem is great for anyone interested in the Forgotten Realms, regardless of edition.
The heroes of the Forgotten Realms are as diverse and varied as the regions from which they hail. This collection of Faerûnian lore and arcana allows you to create and equip an endless array of characters braced for the challenges they’ll encounter. From races, feats, and spells to prestige classes, magic items, and more, Player’s Guide to Faerûnprovides a v.3.5 update to the Forgotten Realms setting, reintroduces some old favorites from 1st and 2nd Edition, and offers all-new character-building material.
Includes
To use this supplement, you also need the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Product History
Player’s Guide to Faerûn (2004), by Richard Baker, Travis Stout, and James Wyatt, is the core book for the 3.5e Forgotten Realms. It was released in March 2004.
Beginning the 3.5e Forgotten Realms (Again). Though the 3.5e Forgotten Realms product line had already begun with Underdark (2003), Player’s Guide to Faerûn was the book that really brought the line into the new edition.
Origins (I): The New Edition. The fundamental goal behind Player’s Guide to Faerûn was to update the Forgotten Realms setting from 3.0e to 3.5e. That didn’t mean just revamping the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), but also the other Realms source books that had been released in the previous three years.
However, the Player’s Guide goes beyond that: in a process that James Wyatt compares to Andy Collin’s revision of the 3.5e Player’s Handbook (2003), the development team also worked through the rules systems in the Campaign Setting, polishing and adjusting them to make improvements based on lessons learned from three years of play. The regional feat system would see the biggest changes, but spells also got adjusted and other mechanics got tweaked.
The end result was a crunchy book of updated mechanics for the Realms. The Player’s Guide doesn’t repeat the setting material of the Campaign Setting (though it offers some expansions), and thus it doesn’t try and replace the core 3.0e Realms book … just complement it.
[For more history, click the link.]
~~~~~
So that's another week of Picks wrapped up. Once again, a reminder that I am also doing a Kickstarter Pick every day during the weekdays, as well as a Pick for someone's Happiness, Peace and Dreams.
It's a very full four days of gaming for me, starting tonight with our Savage Star Wars game. Tomorrow, I am running another Savage Rifts House Party demo for local RPG notable Wendy Reischl and the SavageCast guys (who are also interviewing me about that very project). On Sunday, it's my ongoing Prowlers & Paragons campaign, Stormwardens: The Lighthouse. Then, on Monday, it's another Monday Night Savages gathering, with my now-ongoing Savage Rifts campaign.
Wow.
So what have you got planned? I hope it's awesome, because...
The Adventure Continues...
~SPF
Cipher
I was recently challenged by a reader on ENWorld to look into a different game called Cipher (as, admittedly, I’ve mentioned the Cypher System quite a bit here). It’s definitely different, with some serious critical praise. Take note that there are three listed products, with three different covers, but the contents are the same for each product. Only the cover is different, and the one depicted here is on sale for a lower price than the other two.
VERY SOON NOW…
everyone will have heard the term ‘Cipher’ and know that people with mental powers exist. The future is screaming down on us like a freight train and every person on this planet is tied to the tracks.
Evolutionary accidents, human lab-rats, progeny of a cruel and trickster god; we have searched in vain for the reason for our existence. There is a vast, empty page where the words of our history should be, but regardless of our origins, we have walked among you for nearly a hundred years. We are your children.
We have the power to affect body, mind, and matter with a mere thought. We can see the past as clearly as the present, and what is to come holds few secrets from us. We can ignite fires with a glance, and we will set the world alight by our presence…
Whether we choose to or not.
The Cipher Core Rulebook contains everything you need to create and play a character with a wide range of mental abilities. From Telepathy to Clairvoyance, fromPsychokinesis to Biokinesis; almost any mental power imaginable is at your disposal.
Cipher uses Broken Meme’s ‘Vector System’ with special rules to accommodate the unique world of Cipher. Characters are hunted by a government agency known as DAEMON, and fighting desperately to avoid a prophesied Doomsday, as they attempt to make sense of their origins and destiny.
CIPHER: You can see tomorrow, but can you survive today?
QuestCore RPG
The European Invasion of the RPG market continues as this Kickstarter success takes the top spot on DriveThruRPG’s list. Seriously, I somehow missed its very existence, and there it is a number one, demanding my attention. Someone called it “One of the best DnD inspired games in the world of RPGs.” See for yourself.
About QuestCore
QuestCore is a role-playing game for your amazing stories. It is a new smart RPG system that is easy to learn and fast to play.
Made for players who like d20 based games, like Dungeons and Dragons, but want better and faster rules.
QuestCore offers all the rules you need to start playing. If you don’t want to create your own world and adventures you can buy ready-made background material and adventures (from Megaton Games or other gaming companies).
Why is QuestCore for you?
- Quickly create every creature for your fantasy, sci-fi or horror game – even on the fly!
- The gamemaster and the players uses the same simple system to build everything from wizards and dragons to stormtroopers and jedi knights.
- Creatures are built with three basic parts: Attributes, Skills and Abilities (see below).
- Inspired by d20 and Dungeons and Dragons to name a few – new ideas but easy to use other source books and adventures.
- Quick and tactical conflict system without turning into boring ”ping-pong”.
- All conflicts (even magic and social attacks) uses the same basic skill system – no need for complicated sub-systems.
- Easily expandable by adding new abilities.
- Uses only a 12-sided die throughout the game. No more huge dice pools or many different dice for different situations.
- the basics of QuestCore
What are Attributes?
They are the basic statistics for a creature. A guard might be described as Strong (Strength +1) and Unintelligent (Intelligence -1). The other stats need not be stated (as they are all at 0). You simply add the bonus to the rolls involving that attribute.
What are Skills?
Skills are things you learn. A creature can ”train” a skill and get a bonus of +2 when using that skill. Very easy to learn and use. You can also choose to specialize in skills to get a small bonus – examples include ”Attack Blades” and ”Knowledge Nature”.
What are Abilities?
Abilities are all the special traits that a character or other creature in the world might have. Examples of abilities are Sweeping Attack, Improved Initiative, and Great Speed. Abilities might also be magical abilities such as a magic fireball spell and racial abilities such as natural armour.
Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden
Here’s one from the “In Case You Missed It” File, the unique steam-fantasy setting from Kyoudai Games, including the writing and design efforts of my good friend, Mark Swafford!
An Epic World of Steam and Darkness
In Aden, a thousand-year Golden Age of prosperity gave rise to an unprecedented development: the fusion of magic and technology into a unique discipline called mechamagic. Arcane power, steam power, and gunpowder changed the world almost overnight. The Golden Age ended, and the Age of Thunder began. It seemed that there would be no limit to the industry and ingenuity of man.
Until the Darkfall.
A supernatural cataclysm of unknown origin, the Darkfall plunged the world into darkness as the sun was blotted out for only a moment. In that moment, every nightmare and horror imagined by the people of Aden sprang into existence, and the world was thrown into chaos. Villages were wiped from the face of the world, entire cities burned, and tens of thousands perished in an instant. It seemed that the world would die in flames.
But Aden will not die so easily.
Now, ten years later, the people of Aden struggle to survive in the face of unrelenting assault by horrors beyond imagining. It is a world of magic, a world of industry, a world of horror.
It is the World of Aden.
Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden is a setting and mechanics sourcebook compatibly with the Savage Worlds role-playing game. Within the pages of this book you will find the following:
- Details on the different races of Aden, seven of which are new to this work!
- New Edges of all types, including new Arcane Backgrounds!
- New spells, new technology, and new equipment!
- A sample bestiary of creatures from Aden!
- And much, much more!
The Skeletons
A Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to you all, from your Big Irish Friend. Today’s Pick is something special, once again displaying the extraordinary depth and potential of roleplaying. What if you were one of those nameless, (literally) faceless undead minions guarding a tomb or other place? Something of you remains, and you must contemplate what that means as you endure the endless.
THE SKELETONS is meditative structured freeform game for 1-6 players. You’ll need a few hours a private space.
Years fly by like dead leaves. Everything is darkness. Everything is silence. You stand vigilant before the sarcophagus without thought or breath-such is your compulsion. You do not remember your name and still you watch. The flesh has fallen off your bones and still you watch.
And then one day there is light and motion and you weigh your bearded axe and raise your shield, lusting for the fray, eager to measure your skill against these tomb-robbing children so full of blood. You’ll never be alive again, but in this moment-in the chaos between violation and destruction-you truly live, and you remember what you once were, and you taste the sun.
The Skeletons flips the script on the classic dungeon crawl— here you play not the intruders, but the guardians, cursed to spend all of eternity defending a tomb. As time passes, both the tomb and its guardians will change. Ferocious battles are fought and won, and the skeletons slowly remember who and what they once were. Melancholy, introspective and spanning epochs, The Skeletons is unlike anything you’ve ever played.
Just a reminder there’s this awesome place for all your D&D digital products, called the Dungeon Masters Guild. Not only is it a place to create, sell, and buy 5e material, it’s where all the editions of Dungeons & Dragons are supported. This particular gem is great for anyone interested in the Forgotten Realms, regardless of edition.
The heroes of the Forgotten Realms are as diverse and varied as the regions from which they hail. This collection of Faerûnian lore and arcana allows you to create and equip an endless array of characters braced for the challenges they’ll encounter. From races, feats, and spells to prestige classes, magic items, and more, Player’s Guide to Faerûnprovides a v.3.5 update to the Forgotten Realms setting, reintroduces some old favorites from 1st and 2nd Edition, and offers all-new character-building material.
Includes
- Over 60 feats
- Over 30 prestige classes
- Over 90 spells
To use this supplement, you also need the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Product History
Player’s Guide to Faerûn (2004), by Richard Baker, Travis Stout, and James Wyatt, is the core book for the 3.5e Forgotten Realms. It was released in March 2004.
Beginning the 3.5e Forgotten Realms (Again). Though the 3.5e Forgotten Realms product line had already begun with Underdark (2003), Player’s Guide to Faerûn was the book that really brought the line into the new edition.
Origins (I): The New Edition. The fundamental goal behind Player’s Guide to Faerûn was to update the Forgotten Realms setting from 3.0e to 3.5e. That didn’t mean just revamping the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), but also the other Realms source books that had been released in the previous three years.
However, the Player’s Guide goes beyond that: in a process that James Wyatt compares to Andy Collin’s revision of the 3.5e Player’s Handbook (2003), the development team also worked through the rules systems in the Campaign Setting, polishing and adjusting them to make improvements based on lessons learned from three years of play. The regional feat system would see the biggest changes, but spells also got adjusted and other mechanics got tweaked.
The end result was a crunchy book of updated mechanics for the Realms. The Player’s Guide doesn’t repeat the setting material of the Campaign Setting (though it offers some expansions), and thus it doesn’t try and replace the core 3.0e Realms book … just complement it.
[For more history, click the link.]
~~~~~
So that's another week of Picks wrapped up. Once again, a reminder that I am also doing a Kickstarter Pick every day during the weekdays, as well as a Pick for someone's Happiness, Peace and Dreams.
It's a very full four days of gaming for me, starting tonight with our Savage Star Wars game. Tomorrow, I am running another Savage Rifts House Party demo for local RPG notable Wendy Reischl and the SavageCast guys (who are also interviewing me about that very project). On Sunday, it's my ongoing Prowlers & Paragons campaign, Stormwardens: The Lighthouse. Then, on Monday, it's another Monday Night Savages gathering, with my now-ongoing Savage Rifts campaign.
Wow.
So what have you got planned? I hope it's awesome, because...
The Adventure Continues...
~SPF
