Scott Lynch
First Post
January 10, 2003– Cryptosnark Games announces the imminent release of *The Book of Distinctions & Drawbacks,* a character embellishment sourcebook in PDF format for the d20 system.
"This is the first project in our new *Broadswords & Bullet Holes* line of game accessories," said Scott Lynch, the only person who actually works at Cryptosnark Games, pretending he was talking to an interviewer rather than to his keyboard. "The line will consist of non-setting-specific toys and goodies for both fantasy d20 and d20 modern. We'd like to do about one a month, time permitting. As per usual, they'll be chock full of data and light on the pocketbook. Chances are, if you liked our attention to detail on *Deeds Not Words,* you'll appreciate how much we've sweated over *The Book of Drawbacks and Distinctions.*"
Give your fantasy d20 character a heroic handicap or elevate him above his peers with more than 150 flaws and advantages, all delicately balanced for maximum ease of use and minimum fuss. There's no one right way to integrate flaws and advantages into the d20 system, so an entire spectrum of approaches and systems is presented, ranging from the clear and conservative to the loose and subjective.
Choose from general flaws (physical, mental, and emotional complications), racial flaws, class-specific flaws, rare and extremely debilitating flaws like total blindness, minor quirks, magical or divine curses, and the delightfully gruesome new Taints. Taints are genetic legacies, curses or dark inclinations passed down in the blood from generation to generation. Taints are applied in a fashion similar to templates– as your character gains levels, each Taint will sink its hooks deeper and deeper into him, granting some special abilities while leading your character toward an unspeakable fate. The Aquatic Horror Taint, for example, gives your character the peculiar fishy traits of certain reclusive coastal folk never discussed except in whispers. The Cursed Item Taint binds your character to the influence of a powerful artifact that seeks to corrupt him just as it corrupted his ancestors.
Even if you're not in the mood to mess with your character's life, you can send him a windfall instead by granting him one or more background advantages. *The Book of Distinctions and Drawbacks* offers a variety of ways to grant a character lands, titles, wealth, clerical investments, military rank, material goods, and other significant benefits without throwing game balance entirely out of whack.
*The Book of Distinctions & Drawbacks* clocks in at 40 pages in PDF format, and will be released on Monday, January 13. Available through the Cryptosnark Games website, the book will retail for $5.00 via PayPal or snail mail.
Cheers and best,
Scott Lynch
Chief Space Monkey
Cryptosnark Games
cryptosnark @yahoo.com
scott@allforart.com
"Tomorrow's inspired lunacy at yesterday's prices."
http://www.allforart.com/cryptosnarkgames
"This is the first project in our new *Broadswords & Bullet Holes* line of game accessories," said Scott Lynch, the only person who actually works at Cryptosnark Games, pretending he was talking to an interviewer rather than to his keyboard. "The line will consist of non-setting-specific toys and goodies for both fantasy d20 and d20 modern. We'd like to do about one a month, time permitting. As per usual, they'll be chock full of data and light on the pocketbook. Chances are, if you liked our attention to detail on *Deeds Not Words,* you'll appreciate how much we've sweated over *The Book of Drawbacks and Distinctions.*"
Give your fantasy d20 character a heroic handicap or elevate him above his peers with more than 150 flaws and advantages, all delicately balanced for maximum ease of use and minimum fuss. There's no one right way to integrate flaws and advantages into the d20 system, so an entire spectrum of approaches and systems is presented, ranging from the clear and conservative to the loose and subjective.
Choose from general flaws (physical, mental, and emotional complications), racial flaws, class-specific flaws, rare and extremely debilitating flaws like total blindness, minor quirks, magical or divine curses, and the delightfully gruesome new Taints. Taints are genetic legacies, curses or dark inclinations passed down in the blood from generation to generation. Taints are applied in a fashion similar to templates– as your character gains levels, each Taint will sink its hooks deeper and deeper into him, granting some special abilities while leading your character toward an unspeakable fate. The Aquatic Horror Taint, for example, gives your character the peculiar fishy traits of certain reclusive coastal folk never discussed except in whispers. The Cursed Item Taint binds your character to the influence of a powerful artifact that seeks to corrupt him just as it corrupted his ancestors.
Even if you're not in the mood to mess with your character's life, you can send him a windfall instead by granting him one or more background advantages. *The Book of Distinctions and Drawbacks* offers a variety of ways to grant a character lands, titles, wealth, clerical investments, military rank, material goods, and other significant benefits without throwing game balance entirely out of whack.
*The Book of Distinctions & Drawbacks* clocks in at 40 pages in PDF format, and will be released on Monday, January 13. Available through the Cryptosnark Games website, the book will retail for $5.00 via PayPal or snail mail.
Cheers and best,
Scott Lynch
Chief Space Monkey
Cryptosnark Games
cryptosnark @yahoo.com
scott@allforart.com
"Tomorrow's inspired lunacy at yesterday's prices."
http://www.allforart.com/cryptosnarkgames
