RPG Print News – SoulMuppet, Exalted Funeral, and More

Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition squeezes in this week with a screen, dice, and artbook. Ultraviolet Grasslands is back in a second edition and I ordered the six foot map. SoulMuppet Publishing has support for both Best Left Buried and Orbital Blues as well as a new RPG. Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition gets a supplement, there is an adventure for Mörk Borg and a new fantasy RPG as well. Finally, Free RPG Day 2023 RPGs are still available from Noble Knight while supplies last (some basic rules apply to getting copies).

Note: RPG Print News covers new 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.

Ultraviolet Grasslands (UVG) and the Black City (2nd Edition) | UVG - Grand Map 2 | UVG - Referee Screen by Exalted Funeral

• SYSTEM: unique
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover core rulebook and setting/map/screen
• RETAIL PRICE: $50/$12/$25
• DESCRIPTION: In the Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City, the PCs journey on a strange trip through mythic steppes in search of lost time and broken space. Basically a psychedelic heavy metal quest. The second edition is bigger with streamlined character rules and an expanded array of caravan options, vehicles, and equipment. A brand-new bestiary section offers a menagerie of friends and foes, and revamped spells offer more magical tactics for PCs. There is also a table of 50 pets. Finally, there’s an expanded map featuring the whole Circle Sea region although I went ahead and bought the Grand Map 2 of the whole setting which is six feet long! The Referee Screen is also available for GMs who have something to hide.

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In Calamity's Wake | The Lost and the Jammed | All That Glitters by SoulMuppet Publishing

• SYSTEM: Best Left Buried/ unique/Orbital Blues
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplements
• RETAIL PRICE: $20/$25/$18
• OTHER RPG NEWS: Best Left Buried: An Interview with Zach Cox
• DESCRIPTION: In Calamity's Wake, the PCs (Cryptdiggers) arrive in Ybalon just after an unexplained 'Calamity' consisting of a series of storms and volcanic eruptions. Forests were flattened, mountain ranges shattered, and a mysterious, perfectly conical volcano arose. The PCs explore the newly formed landscapes, take on terrifying monsters, venture into strange dungeons, and eventually face off against the mythic heroes of Ybalon's history. Inspired by the Epic of Ibálong and other tales of Filipino mythology. The Lost and the Jammed is a three stat, high lethality dungeon-crawling game filled with strange and esoteric firearms, wandering gunslinger-mystics and high-caliber monsters threatening to overwhelm the last strongholds of civilization. Players step into the waterlogged boots of the Flotsam, mercenaries and adventurers drawn to the Blighted Lands by the promise of plunder. After the cataclysm that broke the world, the Blighted Lands are all that remain, the last bastion of humanity clinging to survival in the skeletal remains of the Old Kingdom. PCs explore abandoned gun foundries, dilapidated war machines, and isolated settlements, encountering infernal demons, grotesque aberrations, and chanting cultists. In All That Glitters, the PC outlaws enter the Hagstrom System where a corporate cold war is about to turn hot, revolutionary workers are amassing arms to throw off their oppressive masters, and an ambitious pirate queen is looking to pull off an audacious bullion heist. A sandbox experience with a variety of Factions, NPCs, and jobs for crews to engage with.

Player's Guide - Vampire the Masquerade by Renegade Game Studios

• SYSTEM: Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
• PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover adventure for mature readers
• RETAIL PRICE: $50
• DESCRIPTION: PCs get new character-building options, powers, guides for playing together and alone and virtually, and new ways to use the old rules. Has some rules previously published. Features: seven clans of with their iconic Discipline powers, Discipline Powers, Blood Sorcery Rituals, and Thin-Blood Alchemy Formulae, new systems and advantages for coteries, guidelines and advice for non-traditional chronicles including play without a Storyteller.

Nightfell - Night Master Screen | Nightfell Lunar Dice and Pouch Set | Nightfell - Artbook by Mana Project Studio

• SYSTEM: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Nightfell - A Horror Fantasy Setting
• PRODUCT TYPE: GM screen/dice and pouch/artbook
• RETAIL PRICE: $19.99/$15/$19.99
• DESCRIPTION: The Night Master Screen includes the following mechanics: Grim Weapons, Spirit Points, Possession and The Moon. The Nightfell Lunar Dice and Pouch Set contains seven Lunar Dice (d8 with moon phases engraved on each face) and two d20s with Nightfell's glyph on the 20 face along with a cotton pouch. I must admit that moon dice are pretty cool even if you don’t play in this setting. The Art of Nightfell includes the character design and the illustrations from the Nightfell Corebook, Bestiary, and Adventures Book.

The Cook at the Crossroads | Brave Zenith - Adventure After All by Exalted Funeral

• SYSTEM: Mörk Borg/unique
• PRODUCT TYPE: softcover adventure/softcover core rulebook
• RETAIL PRICE: $10/$25
• DESCRIPTION: In The Cook at the Crossroads, the PCs find themselves at a quaint and idyllic inn, but something is horribly wrong. Depending on playstyle this adventure should last anywhere from 2-3 hours. The PCs have a mystery to solve and a fate worse than death to consider. In Brave Zenith PCs explore the ruined world of past and present, meet colorful and deadly creatures, see the sights of the Second City, partake in delicious Monkey Oil, and become an adventurer: ambitious, indebted, and BRAVE. A post-fantasy tabletop RPG, set in a world inspired by Brazilian culture and long summer nights playing JRPGs on a pirated PS1. With a set of simple interpretative rules, that focus on player creativity and imagination. Origins include Humans ( depressed and responsible for ending the world), Catfolk, and Jellies who are wobbly and goofy, unburdened by tradition, possibly delicious. Six vocations: Freelancer (hit stuff, be strong, wear a cool jacket), Mixologist (make grog, get drunk, make friends), Thief, Magic User, Dancer (turn body into a weapon, and Hunter (get a cool pet). Unique creatures include the Capymera (half capybara, half jabberwocky) and Mermaids (kids turned into four armed sea creatures, ready to steal stuff).

Free RPG Day 2023 RPGs available on Noble Knight

• SYSTEM: varies
• PRODUCT TYPE: adventures to dice and more
• RETAIL PRICE: $0.01 and another purchase
• DESCRIPTION: For each RPG you buy you can add a free RPG day product for $0.01. Remaining stock from 2023 now available.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Oh - that UVG map sounds pretty epic

Ultraviolet GL has been on my white whale list of games to run. I'd probably run in Into the Odd or maybe Troika...

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

Oh - that UVG map sounds pretty epic

Ultraviolet GL has been on my white whale list of games to run. I'd probably run in Into the Odd or maybe Troika...

I like the idea of running it with Troika although it seems to have a serviceable system.

I put the pen next to the map for scale:

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I like the idea of running it with Troika although it seems to have a serviceable system.

I put the pen next to the map for scale:
View attachment 290547

Is there some sort of physical boundary (in game) that makes this narrow map? Walls or mountains or something?

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

Is there some sort of physical boundary (in game) that makes this narrow map? Walls or mountains or something?

Good questions. The default journey is from the cities at the top to the Black City at the bottom. The map depicts various roads that head that way. The areas outside the map are extremely dangerous. If the PCs go there I'd likely pull out some Gamma World creatures and ruins.

The default system, however, gives XP for carousing, exploring, and completing quests. PCs who wander off randomly will likely lose two XP revenue streams. So having a set goal and going to settlements is encouraged while still exploring what is on the map. A really good design.

And really, if the players don't want to go on a journey then this setting and rule set aren't designed for them. I see tight design like this as a virtue not a flaw.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

Here is a closer view of the map (and each panel is a page in the book so you don't have to get the map separately but not sure why you wouldn't want it). If the PCs start out in Violet City they have everything north to draw on to create characters. After any urban shenanigans they engage in, they can then they head south toward the Black City. It will take two weeks to get to Steppe of the Nomads and one week to get to The Low Road and the High. The PCs can gather intel and hear rumors to help determine their route. All roads south end up at the Black City eventually, but the PCs have so many options on which way to go that is less a railroad and more a multi-branching waterslide.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Here is a closer view of the map (and each panel is a page in the book so you don't have to get the map separately but not sure why you wouldn't want it). If the PCs start out in Violet City they have everything north to draw on to create characters. After any urban shenanigans they engage in, they can then they head south toward the Black City. It will take two weeks to get to Steppe of the Nomads and one week to get to The Low Road and the High. The PCs can gather intel and hear rumors to help determine their route. All roads south end up at the Black City eventually, but the PCs have so many options on which way to go that is less a railroad and more a multi-branching waterslide.

View attachment 290597

There's an intriguing note on the right hand side, as well as some tear drops with what are apparently times of day. What is the player facing explanation for the "purple haze"?

(Dang, maybe I just need to pull the trigger on this thing...)

 

[Eyes of Nine]

(Bad news for you @Charles Dunwoody, the affiliate links go to products that are currently out of stock at Noble Knight. Good news for me, it appears that my FLGS may be able to order some of these items from their distributor so I may order from them)

 

[Malmuria]

There's an intriguing note on the right hand side, as well as some tear drops with what are apparently times of day. What is the player facing explanation for the "purple haze"?

(Dang, maybe I just need to pull the trigger on this thing...)

There are a lot of things like that that are unexplained in the book. The mist I think is just part of the weather. It is a fantastic book and I would love to run it one day. It’s really more of a setting with details to be filled in by GM or players. The included system is much better than the system in 1e, to the point where it makes sense to use it.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

(Bad news for you @Charles Dunwoody, the affiliate links go to products that are currently out of stock at Noble Knight. Good news for me, it appears that my FLGS may be able to order some of these items from their distributor so I may order from them)

That happens. If you can support a FLGS I like that better actually. Noble Knight is simply my Favorite Online Game Store. Noble Knight has a physical store too, but few of us would find it Local.