RPG Print News – Rowan, Rook, and Decard; Cubicle 7, and More

This week a new setting and ancestry for Dungeons & Dragons as well as rules for Age of Sigmar: Soulbound and Lex Arcana for mythic Rome. Also a new model for miniatures is available along with RPGs about covert ops and PCs drawn from a tarot deck.

The Seas of Vodari World Map by Tribality

• RETAIL PRICE: $4.95
• PRODUCT TYPE: Printed and folded poster-size map that will fit in the book. Measures 27" x 18" unfolded.

The Seas of Vodari

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover adventure setting
• RETAIL PRICE: $39.95
• DESCRIPTION: The PCs go on seafaring adventures as the crew of a ship hunting sea monsters, exploring mysterious uncharted islands, experiencing bustling port cities, using maps to hunt for buried treasure, and fighting cutthroat pirates. Swashbuckling PCs can also visit large port cities and face dangerous rivals, notorious crime syndicates, feuding nobles, and scheming politicians. Includes sixteen gods and details on the world including dozens of islands. Stats are included for Cursed Soul, Sea Dwarf, Siren (Seasinger and Wavedancer), Minotaur, and Voda PCs. Also includes a new class, the gunslinger, with four subclasses: Arcane Gunmaster, Musketeer, Pistolero, and Sniper. There are also fourteen new subclasses for the core rules classes, backgrounds, substitute bonds, feats, swashbuckling and seafaring equipment, magic items, spells, monsters, 12 ship templates, and example ships with crew. Also includes a starter adventure, The Island with No Name, which involves a hunt for hidden treasure .

Awakened Skeleton by Solace Games

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: rule sourcebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $17.99
• DESCRIPTION: PCs can now play an Awakened Skeleton. Perhaps raised by ancient magic or the curse of a god, no one knows, but the dead rise again as player characters. Includes the Awakened Skeleton stats and sub-race stats for all the major races in the core rulebook. Class options include: College of the Grave for bards, Circle of the Crypt for druids, Death Archetype for fighters, The Oath of Silent Passing for paladins, and The Dead One Patron for warlocks. Rounded out with two adventure locations: The Temple Orcus and The Mael-Carin Crypt.

Big House Wood Laser Cut Model by TowerRex

• SYSTEM: TowerRex Store
• PRODUCT TYPE: wood laser cut model of a big house
• RETAIL PRICE: $39.99
• DESCRIPTION: This terrain provides a detailed location for miniatures for fantasy RPGs. The Big House can be combined with other TowerRex buildings to create a hamlet, town or even a dungeon. While the wood comes with etched details it is unpainted. The model can be painted with acrylic hobby paints if desired.

Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Collector's Edition by Cubicle 7

• RETAIL PRICE: $149.99

Age of Sigmar: Soulbound

• SYSTEM: d6 pool system
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover core rulebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $59.99
• DESCRIPTION: PCs play as Soulbound, heroes chosen by the gods to fight the horrors that plague the Mortal Realms and stop a new age of Chaos and death. PCs are forged from powerful heroes in the realms and face down marauding bands of cannibals, legions of undead, and hordes of daemons in a desperate battle for survival. The Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Collector’s Edition has a deep blue faux leather cover, featuring a Stormcast Eternal warhammer and the symbols of the Mortal Realms intricately detailed in gold foil. The 352 pages are finished with gold gilt edges. The book is presented in a high-quality box featuring a magnetically sealed lid. On the front of the box a Knight-Questor Vel Arturious and the Soulbound logo are picked out with spot UV which reflects the light. On the back of the box, the Undying King Nagash glares, his crackling green eyes also detailed in spot UV. The content of both the Standard Edition and the Collector’s Edition is the same.

Lex Arcana Screen by Quality Games

• RETAIL PRICE: $5

Lex Arcana Core Rulebook

• SYSTEM: unique
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover core rulebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $55
• DESCRIPTION: In this world, Rome never fell and myth and reality both exist. It is the end of the fifth century AD. The PCs are a Custos (warden) of the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana, sent by the Emperor to the four corners of the world to further the study of arcane lore, investigate forbidden cults, investigate terrifying threats like witches and demons, recover lost relics, unearth forgotten secrets and fight legendary supernatural creatures. Also includes twelve pre-generated Custodes, a bestiary, and two introductory adventures: The Long Winter Nights and The Mothers of Cenabum.

Ghost Ops--Modern Covert Operations by FeralGamersInc

• SYSTEM: unique/Fudge/Fate
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover core rulebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $24.99
• DESCRIPTION: PCs are members of an elite team of special operatives enlisted from the world’s best covert operations units. They work for a new private military force not funded by just one government but by all of them. Missions range from the streets of the USA and Western and Eastern Europe, the mountains of South America, to the Jungles of Africa and the deserts of the Middle East. PCs will fight drug cartels, organized crime families, private militia, corrupt governments, and terrorist cells. Set in the modern world but includes rules to set it in other time periods. PCs are drawn from thirteen different countries and over twenty different SpecOps units along with K9 Companions.

Royal Blood by Rowan, Rook, and Decard

• SYSTEM: rules light using tarot cards and coins
• PRODUCT TYPE: core rulebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $22
• DESCRIPTION: PCs are a Royal – half-magic, half-human. Each one is drawn from the court cards from the tarot deck – the impetuous Princess of Wands, the calculating Knight of Pentacles, the empire-building Queen of Wands, and so on. PCs use magic like a brick thrown through the window of the world. Their enemies are the Arcane – Death, The Hanged Man, The Devil, The Lovers, The Star. Reality-bending monsters, they wear human skin like a suit. In a heist never before seen in the world, the PCs plan to corner one of them and take their power for their own. The city will burn in a heist the likes of which the worlds have never seen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have it and it is great. Love the content. If I had one nitpick it would be the art is a little too cartoonish.

Yeah, it's not my style, either, but I figure it was for the youths.

 

[digitalhobbit]

I have it and it is great. Love the content. If I had one nitpick it would be the art is a little too cartoonish.

I agree with that sentiment. While the art is well done, it is indeed very cartoonish, and I would have preferred a grittier style. Having said that, I don't find that this rubs off on the actual setting. It doesn't feel targeted at kids, and you can make it as gritty as you like.

 

[Argyle King]

I agree with that sentiment. While the art is well done, it is indeed very cartoonish, and I would have preferred a grittier style. Having said that, I don't find that this rubs off on the actual setting. It doesn't feel targeted at kids, and you can make it as gritty as you like.

How is ship combat handled? Vehicle combat is an area where I often find D&D a little wonky.

 

[digitalhobbit]

How is ship combat handled? Vehicle combat is an area where I often find D&D a little wonky.

Ships have their own character sheet, and the book lists a bunch of examples of different sizes and styles. They get a certain number of actions, which can be split between movement, firing weapons, etc. Each ship consists of multiple critical components with their own AC and HP that need to be targeted separately. For example, destroying the hull (but this has a ton of HP) will sink the ship, while destroying the helm, sails, or cannons will limit the ship's ability to turn, move, or attack. Sea chases are also mentioned, but mostly refer to the existing Chase rules in the DMG, along with a table of sea chase complications to spice things up.
The actual ship combat rules aren't described in great detail, to be honest. They're mostly implied based on the (very detailed) descriptions of the ships themselves. But that might be a feature: No need to introduce a completely different system. The existing 5e combat rules should cover this just fine, treating ships as their own characters.
By the way, all of this looks 100% consistent (and therefore compatible) with the ship stats and rules from "Ghosts of Saltmarsh".

 

[Argyle King]

Ships have their own character sheet, and the book lists a bunch of examples of different sizes and styles. They get a certain number of actions, which can be split between movement, firing weapons, etc. Each ship consists of multiple critical components with their own AC and HP that need to be targeted separately. For example, destroying the hull (but this has a ton of HP) will sink the ship, while destroying the helm, sails, or cannons will limit the ship's ability to turn, move, or attack. Sea chases are also mentioned, but mostly refer to the existing Chase rules in the DMG, along with a table of sea chase complications to spice things up.
The actual ship combat rules aren't described in great detail, to be honest. They're mostly implied based on the (very detailed) descriptions of the ships themselves. But that might be a feature: No need to introduce a completely different system. The existing 5e combat rules should cover this just fine, treating ships as their own characters.
By the way, all of this looks 100% consistent (and therefore compatible) with the ship stats and rules from "Ghosts of Saltmarsh".

Thanks for the info.

 

[shawnellsworth]

I thought I'd drop a note about Vodari here too... a follow-up is coming out called Under the Seas of Vodari in 2021.

 

[shawnellsworth]

Ships have their own character sheet, and the book lists a bunch of examples of different sizes and styles. They get a certain number of actions, which can be split between movement, firing weapons, etc. Each ship consists of multiple critical components with their own AC and HP that need to be targeted separately. For example, destroying the hull (but this has a ton of HP) will sink the ship, while destroying the helm, sails, or cannons will limit the ship's ability to turn, move, or attack. Sea chases are also mentioned, but mostly refer to the existing Chase rules in the DMG, along with a table of sea chase complications to spice things up.
The actual ship combat rules aren't described in great detail, to be honest. They're mostly implied based on the (very detailed) descriptions of the ships themselves. But that might be a feature: No need to introduce a completely different system. The existing 5e combat rules should cover this just fine, treating ships as their own characters.
By the way, all of this looks 100% consistent (and therefore compatible) with the ship stats and rules from "Ghosts of Saltmarsh".

Developer of the Vodari ship chapter here...
Your guess is correct. While we were writing the Vodari book only the DMG ship content was out... then Saltmarsh was announced. We had a full ship combat guide for 5e already published on DriveThru. We decided to keep much of that content out of the Vodari book and rely on Saltmarsh for ships & sea mechanics, which we decided to consider an extension of the core rules. All ships in Vodari are designed using the same stat blocks as Saltmarsh.

 

[digitalhobbit]

Developer of the Vodari ship chapter here...
Your guess is correct. While we were writing the Vodari book only the DMG ship content was out... then Saltmarsh was announced. We had a full ship combat guide for 5e already published on DriveThru. We decided to keep much of that content out of the Vodari book and rely on Saltmarsh for ships & sea mechanics, which we decided to consider an extension of the core rules. All ships in Vodari are designed using the same stat blocks as Saltmarsh.

Good to know, thanks for chiming in here. And great work with Vodari. I've been very impressed with the level of polish. The character options are great, and the setting itself is inspiring, with just the right level of detail. Well done!