RPG Print News – Goodman Games, Modiphius, Monte Cook Games, and More

The Temple of Elemental Evil is back in a blast from the past while Brancalonia is a brand new low fantasy modified D&D setting. Ptolus doesn’t use character sheets, it uses Character Portfolios in two RPG flavor options. Dune gets a GM toolkit and player journal and Torg and Dungeon Fantasy get new material. And Zombicide is not just for board games anymore; the RPG has released along with a screen and adventures.

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

The Temple of Elemental Evil by Goodman Games

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: two hardcover volumes in a slipcase
• RETAIL PRICE: $99.99
• DESCRIPTION: Includes AD&D 1E version and D&D 5E update with new material. The Village of Hommlet is a quaint village that once nearly fell prey to a great, neighboring evil some years ago. The nearby Temple of Elemental Evil is a grand edifice of wickedness is thought to be defeated. But bandits have started to ride the roads again, and there are other ominous signs afoot. It is whispered that the demonic evil at the heart of the Temple was not truly conquered but merely imprisoned, and even now agents of evil are conspiring to return the Temple to power and enslave the surrounding lands. My halfling thief once slew the giant frog that lived in the moat, and I can say that this adventure is well worth playing

Character Portfolio (D&D 5E) - Ptolus RPG | Character Portfolio (Cypher System) - Ptolus RPG by Monte Cook Games

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition/Cypher System
• PRODUCT TYPE: each one is softcover with heavy matte paper
• RETAIL PRICE: $19.99 each
• DESCRIPTION: Not a character sheet but a Character Portfolio. 24 pages to record a PC’s abilities, skills, spells, belongings, and other details. Plus pages to record notes, sketches, and details. Can be used as a campaign journal, to make maps and sketches of places a PC has been, and more. Printed in full color on heavy matte paper that takes pencil and eraser easily including the cover.

Brancalonia Setting Book | Brancalonia Macaronicon | Brancalonia Condottieros Screen by AcheronBrancalonia Condottieros Screen - RPG from Acheron

• SYSTEM: modified lower powerDungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover supplement
• RETAIL PRICE: $49/$49/$19
• DESCRIPTION: The Brancalonia Setting Book, an Italian inspired RPG and Spaghetti Fantasy Setting (Acheron’s words not mine), describes the Kingdom, a land full of pitfalls and earning opportunities. PCs are a clique of scoundrels who might join a gang and give a few stab wounds to those in charge. Low fantasy, play goes up to level six with unique rules for advancement past that. Includes five playable races, 12 archetypes from the bravo to the errant knight to the tramp, backgrounds, magical items, setting rules, places of interest, rumors, and 24 monsters. Also includes Looking for Money, a collection of six adventures. The Macaronicon has the Puppeteer class, 10 subclasses, three races, two subraces for the Marionette, and many Background options. Also has detailed maps, equipment, spells, invocations to the Saints, monsters such as the Relic and the Hob, and coverage of many Brancalonian topics such as the nature of Marionettes. The Screen has three panels that shows rules and summary tables.

Dune RPG Gamemaster's Toolkit | Dune RPG Player's Journal by Modiphius EntertainmentDune RPG Player's Journal - Dune RPG from Modiphius Entertainment

• SYSTEM: Dune - Adventures in the Imperium
• PRODUCT TYPE: GM screen/hardcover journal
• RETAIL PRICE: $34.99/$19.99
• DESCRIPTION: The Gamemaster’s Toolkit is a multi-panel portrait format screen. Also includes a 32-page booklet with gamemaster support. The Player’s Journal includes five 32-page sections consisting of a character sheet, House Sheet, and themed blank, lined and squared pages with intricate patterns to record accounts of epic adventures in the Dune roleplaying game.

Zombicide Chronicles RPG Core Book | Zombicide Chronicles RPG Gamemaster Starter Kit | Zombicide Chronicles RPG Stories from the Outbreak by CoolMiniOrNot (CMON)

• SYSTEM: unique
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover core rulebook/GM starter kit/softcover adventures
• RETAIL PRICE: $39.99/$19.99/$9.99
• DESCRIPTION: In Zombicide: Chronicles – The Roleplaying Game PCs are survivors of the zombie apocalypse. They must learn to work together, trust one-another, and form strategies to fight the zombies if they want to stay alive. Some survivors choose to hide away in bunkers or caves, but not the PCs. The PCs attack the zombies head on. You’re going to commit Zombicide. The Gamemaster Starter Kit includes a GM screen. There are also 13 Survivor ID sheets. Finally, there are Stress dials so players can keep track of just how intense things are getting. Stories from the Outbreak gives GMs 10 additional missions that they can use in their games. They can be added to a pre-existing campaign, or used whenever the GM needs them.

Blood on the Blasted Lands | Blood on the Blasted Lands Soundtrack By Ulisses SpieleBlood on the Blasted Lands Soundtrack - Torg Eternity from Ulisses Spiele

• SYSTEM: Torg Eternity
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover adventure path/compact disc
• RETAIL PRICE: $34.99/$19.99
• DESCRIPTION: Blood on the Blasted Lands is a massive Seven Act adventure that crosses the different regions of Tharkold such as the nightmarish nodes of Kur and the irradiated ruins of Chernobyl that can support months of game play. A desperate rescue mission reveals a gathering threat in the Blasted Lands, an army of juiced-up warriors who, if left unchecked, could upend the balance of power in the realm forever. Blood on the Blasted Lands Soundtrack is a compact disc album with 16 tracks for Tharkold and the Blood on the Blasted Lands adventure. Some tracks are great for thrilling combat encounters, and others are slower paced and good for looping in the background and setting mood.

Hand of Asgard | The Crypt of Krysuvik By Gaming Ballistic Crypt of Krysuvik, The - Dungeon Fantasy (Gaming Ballistic) from Gaming Ballistic

• SYSTEM: Dungeon Fantasy
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplements
• RETAIL PRICE: $12.99/$19.95
• DESCRIPTION: Hand of Asgard is a guide to the Gods of Norðlond. They walk the land, their disciples - priests of the Allfather, the Lady of Life, the Trickster, the Lord of Warding, and all the Aesir - guard and guide their brothers and sisters. They are the sword and shield of the gods, the Hand of Asgard. Includes customized cleric templates for each of the Aesir, suggestions for modifying the holy warrior traits for each god, more than 20 new. Holy Might powers, and a guide to the major festivals for each of the Lords of Asgard. The Crypt of Krysuvik is an adventure supporting Delvers to Grow, designed for 4-6 characters of 125-150 points. The PCs try to discover the location of the Crypt of Krysuvik and survive to loot it. Many others have tried and failed.

 

[sevenbastard]

I didn't even know zombiecide had an RPG coming out. Makes sense as the game was definitely character driven.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

Brancalonia sounds interesting. Maybe I'll get the setting book just for inspiration and reading.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I didn't even know zombiecide had an RPG coming out. Makes sense as the game was definitely character driven.

The RPG books were part of the 2nd Edition board game Kickstarter. Backers got their copies a few months ago.

 

[Tsuga C]

It's good to see MODULES being revived. Not everyone wants to shell out $50 for an actual book that will be used to run one to three adventures and then sit there collecting dust on a shelf. Sure, the books have additional content (spells, monsters, etc.) in the back, but so did modules back in the day.

Edit: evidently this is a boxed set. So much for the junior high kids being able to save money on modules.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

It's good to see MODULES being revived. Not everyone wants to shell out $50 for an actual book that will be used to run one to three adventures and then sit there collecting dust on a shelf. Sure, the books have additional content (spells, monsters, etc.) in the back, but so did modules back in the day.

Edit: evidently this is a boxed set. So much for the junior high kids being able to save money on modules.

Goodman Games sells D&D modules for 10 bucks not just the big hardcovers. I also like Arc Dream Publishing Swords & Sorceries D&D modules for 15.

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

It's odd because Goodman Games labels OAR6 as a fifth edition conversion. It says it right on the cover. But it's not actually converted at all. All of the encounters, including awarded treasure, are "faithfully reproduced" from the original adventure. In fact, the book goes so far as to say the average encounter will be too difficult for a 5th-edition-sized party (the original adventure was written for 6-10 PCs) and the treasure awarded will be too high. The DM is encouraged to adjust the encounters to 5e standards.

But...isn't that just encouraging the DM to convert the adventure to 5e? That was supposed to have been done for me. That's why I paid $100 for the product.