RPG Print News – Arc Dream Publishing, Chaosium, Spicy Tuna, and More

D&D gets plenty of ocean faring and underwater support and there are supplements for Lovecraftian horror this week. Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition gets a new solo adventure set in the 90s. Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Pirate Borg get a variety of support for waterborne adventures: a bestiary, naval rules, settings, adventures, and other new rules. D&D also gets a forest supplement and the OSR gets a swords supplement from Dyson. There are also adventures for the Stone Age RPG Primal Quest Essentials and the military horror RPG Delta Green.

Note: RPG Print News covers recent RPG releases and some classics, reprints, and sales available from retailers. It does not cover products that are only available directly to customers only through Kickstarter or as print on demand.

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Alone Against the Static by Chaosium

• SYSTEM: Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover solo adventure
• RETAIL PRICE: $29.99
• DESCRIPTION: Alex and Charlie believe that a secluded weekend getaway in the Black Hills of South Dakota is just what they need to reinvigorate their marriage—but older and darker things than broken hearts exist in the forgotten places of the world. This modern-era scenario set in the Dakota Black Hills in the1990s is designed for solo play. PC options include either Alex or Charlie, each of which have their own strengths, weaknesses, and choices to make. Introduces The Log Sheet to track choices made, secrets discovered, and items found. Also includes a new Mythos entity.

Pirate Borg - Bestiary (D&D) | Limithron's Guide to Naval Combat by Limithron

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplements
• RETAIL PRICE: $15.99/$19.99
• DESCRIPTION: The Pirate Borg - Bestiary (D&D) is a bestiary of over 75 grimdark pirate-themed creatures converted from Pirate Borg RPG. Includes: skeletons, zombies, ghosts, sea monsters, sirens, archetype captains & crew, birds, beasts, plants, fish, sharks, whales, and a generator for creating random pirate NPCs including pirates. Limithron's Guide to Naval Combat provides rules for naval combat. PCs can sail a nimble sloop and tack into the wind or load a Man of War with enough cannons to wage all-out war with the largest fleet to ever set sail. They can even capture a magical ship with legendary abilities.

Dungeons & Lairs #1 - Forest of Peril | Dungeons & Lairs #2 - Shores of Silver by DMDave

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplement
• RETAIL PRICE: $21
• DESCRIPTION: Each Dungeon & Lairs includes five adventures, three settlements, new monsters, a regional map, and weather and travel rules. Shores of Silver is a coastal campaign setting that includes seaside locations, aquatic villains, pirates’ treasures, and more. PCs can battle deadly dragon turtles, blood-thirsty sea hags, enchanting harpies, and other monsters. Includes ship-to-ship combat and random encounter tables. Forest of Peril is a complete campaign setting. The PCs explore a land of ancient trees, hidden groves, unique settlements, and magical creatures. They search for the forest’s secrets, battle terrifying monsters, and uncover the mysteries of the land’s past.

Oceanic Depths by Bite-Sized Gaming

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplement
• RETAIL PRICE: $14.99
• DESCRIPTION: Oceanic Depths includes aquatic themed playable races, subclasses, backgrounds, spells, creatures, NPCs, and magic items. In addition, 13 new villains are detailed with abilities, motivations, lairs, minions, and other pertinent details.

Buried in the Bahamas | The Battle of Dead Man's Cove | The Sinking of C'Thagn by Limithron

• SYSTEM: Pirate Borg
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover adventure/softcover pamphlet/eight panel A2 sized map
• RETAIL PRICE: $15.99/$5.99/$9.99
• DESCRIPTION: Buried in the Bahamas is an introductory adventure set in The Dark Caribbean campaign setting. It starts with a predetermined introduction then transitions to a sandbox-style adventure. PCs can explore three islands, cross swords with undead skeletons, and search for treasure in the Cave of Seven Skulls. This adventure is a perfect start to a career on the high seas. Also has: a double-sided pull-out treasure/battle map, 30 Things One Might Find Buried in the Bahamas, Re-Crew-Tor for instantly generating an NPC crew, and a gamemaster resource list. The Battle of Dead Man's Cove is a pamphlet adventure covering small-fleet naval combat using the naval combat rules found in Pirate Borg. Inside are complete stats for a fleet of ships and their adversaries, two battle map layouts, and Captain Red Wolf and his crew. The Sinking of C'Thagn is a damned and blasphemous city regurgitated from the depths of the ocean, long since tired of its noisome aura, and risen to the frothing waves. The contemptible citadel was not constructed by human hands, as is evident in its abhorrent architecture, yet it is the PCs wo now who walk down its fetid streets. The map is on the front and all the adventure panels are on the back.

Dyson's Book of Swords by Exalted Funeral

• SYSTEM: OSR
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover and three mini-bookmarks
• RETAIL PRICE: $15
• DESCRIPTION: A compilation of the #Swordtember and #Choptober entries posted on the DysonLogos.com in September and October 2021. Features a full page illustration of each sword along with a rules light description of the sword's magical properties on the facing page. The three mini-bookmarks each feature one of the swords from the book.

A Butterfly Dies by Spicy Tuna

• SYSTEM: Primal Quest Essentials
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover adventure
• RETAIL PRICE: $15
• DESCRIPTION: The PCs are nomads traveling through the Oyamel Forest. They could ally with the Smolder Cult and fulfill the Burning Butterfly Miracle or perhaps help those who want to break the tradition and allow the Great Husk-Winged Monarch to survive. Inspired by Mexican myth and the artwork takes heavy inspiration from the Mexican Muralist Movement.

Presence by Arc Dream Publishing

• SYSTEM: Delta Green
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover adventure
• RETAIL PRICE: $19.99
• DESCRIPTION: When a haunted young woman in Alabama turns up in the Vermont hills in an instant, Delta Green sends the PCs to learn how and why. Learning that her vanishing was the work of some strange and fearful gift is only the PCs’ first step on a journey of revelations and terrible awakenings. To save her and others, the PCs must follow a trail of horror into night-black woods and vertiginous hills where silence drowns all hope.

Charlie Dunwoody participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and the Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Noble Knight Games respectively.

 

[Egg Embry]

Great list.
Every time I see a book by DMDave, I think it's a new D&D comic because the trade dress is so good.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You were this close to a 100% pirate themed post!

I have both Buried in the Bahamas and Sinking of C'thagn. I've run BitB twice now.

Buried in the Bahamas is sensational. A truly great introductory adventure that includes every aspect of Pirate Borg play but naval combat. It starts with a battle at sea, moves on to a shipwreck sequence, players then have to battle a randomly determined supernatural monster at sea, either go to a hive of scum and villainy for recruits or head straight to a haunted cave system in search of buried treasure. It runs in about three hours or less, and that was with newbies to the game who were motivated to get that treasure, rather than going to meet pirate NPCs they'd have to split the booty with.

Sinking of C'thagn is neat -- there's a Great Old One generator that I can see a lot of referees using for in a number of games for years to come, along with other generators for running an adventure in a briefly surfaced Mythos city before it sinks back beneath the waters of the Caribbean. The map's form factor is kind of awkward, though, as the referee will need to be flipping a giant document back and forth at the table during play. The PDF uses the same form factor, consisting of two gigantic pages that you will need to scroll around in multiple dimensions to find what you're looking for, so having a digital version on hand doesn't make it much easier. Hopefully Limithron will put up an updated PDF at some point in the future.

I haven't figured out how I want to run marine combat online yet, so I haven't picked up Dead Man's Cove.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

If the seas were filled with more than zero of the creatures on the Oceanic Depths book cover, I'd never get in a boat, much less cross the ocean

 

[Scottius]

I kickstarted Dyson's Book of Swords when it was crowdfunding and it's a great resource for my OSR games. Would love to see more books like it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I kickstarted Dyson's Book of Swords when it was crowdfunding and it's a great resource for my OSR games. Would love to see more books like it.

I really like his art generally. I would love a bestiary or an NPC collection or something.