Honestly, I did not set out to do this! It was only this morning, as I made my last Pick for the week, that I realized I'd pretty much covered five classic genre categories, one each day of this week. Seriously, look at them - Steampunk; Horror (with Post-Apocalypse thrown in on that one); Fantasy; Science-Fiction; and Supers. This week is a testament to the extraordinary diversity of both speculative fiction and gaming, and it's thrilling to consider the sheer scope of what's possible and accessible through this amazing hobby of ours. But, seriously, this was completely by accident, and I am kind of wondering what my brain was up to...
Strider, a Steamscapes Adventure
Welcome to November! Back in the middle of October, I Picked the Steamscapes: Asia supplement for the eponymous Savage Worlds setting. Here you can grab an adventure crafted specifically for it – Strider – which was only available for Kickstarter backers until recently.
One of Japan’s oldest automatons must convince her maker to create a new automated weapon, and nearly everyone wants to stop her.
Strider is a multi-part adventure set in the Steamscapes world. It was originally provided to backers of the Steamscapes: Asia Kickstarter, but has now been reworked and reformatted to be made available to the general public. Although the history and additional rules are designed to align with Steamscapes: Asia, Strider is a complete stand-alone adventure with everything you need inside.
Strider requires only the Savage Worlds core rules to play.
Cthulhu Apocalypse
It’s funny – over Halloween weekend, I briefly participated in a chat about what kind of game would it be if Cthulhu woke up, started eating ships at sea, mass hysteria…
On November 2nd, 1936, the world died.
Finally, the stars had come right; and things that lurked under the seas for eons rose to claim their rightful place. Now, they rule the earth, stalking it like titans.
Millions of women and men died—yet you survived, doomed to wander the ruins, searching for answers. What went wrong? Are there others like you? How can you stay alive? And is there a way to put this right?
Cthulhu Apocalypse is a survival horror supplement for the Trail of Cthulhu roleplaying game that takes Investigators into a terrifying post-apocalyptic world.
Using the award-winning Apocalypse Machine, GMs can destroy the world any number of ways—including the death rays of alien tripods, a plague of white flowers, or the rising of Great Old Ones—and run adventures of investigation and survival in a land transformed beyond recognition.
Cthulhu Apocalypse includes:
Castle Gargantua
This one is for the Old School Gang. It’s – well, let’s know it for what it is.
It’s one big damn dungeon. And that’s a really kicking good thing for those who love big damn dungeons.
Ride the beanstalk and crawl into the sprawling halls of Castle Gargantua. There awaits the most legendary of giants and the fiercest creatures known to man. Delve further than ever for the great doors of Castle Gargantua have swung open once again, and what lies ahead isn’t for the faint-hearted.
The biggest dungeon ever published by the OSR. A campaign, a massive generator, and a grotesque setting all-in-one.
A bookmarked PDF & print edition compatible with everything Old School Renaissance
“It’s not about killing monsters, looting treasure, and gaining experience as you delve deeper into some mad archmage’s architectural folly. It’s about surviving in a loathsome, terrifying environment where nothing is quite as expected. It’s about atmosphere, gloom, and despair. It’s a thriller.”
Starvation Cheap
Every once in a while, a product “sneaks” its way to the top of the Hot List, and this is one. Stars Without Number is considered one of the best sci-fi interpretations of the D&D rules out there; there’s a Free Edition, and the expanded Core Edition. Starvation Cheap is a collection of military campaigns designed by someone who’s stated goal is “to make a GM’s life easier. Whether you intend to run a full-fledged mercenary campaign in a sci-fi universe or simply throw in a bit of open warfare into a campaign with a different focus, Starvation Cheap will give you all the tools you need for the job.”
Starvation Cheap is a military campaign supplement for the free Stars Without Number sci-fi tabletop role-playing game. It’s written to provide the reader with all the tools they need for building a sandbox-style military campaign focused on planetary armies and mercenary legions. Everything from the construction of wars and vital military objectives down to the gritty details of building a battlefield adventure is provided in this 110 page book.
While written for Stars Without Number, the great majority of the tools in this book are system-neutral, perfectly usable with the sci-fi game of your choice. Within these pages you’ll find tools like…
Cosmic Handbook
Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds remains the top-flight supers RPG of the current era, and this highly-anticipated supplement takes things to the Great Beyond in epic fashion.
The cosmos is a vast realm of primal powers, alien empires, and wonders and dangers beyond imagining. Now it is yours to explore with The Cosmic Handbook for the Mutants & Masterminds Superhero Roleplaying Game. This sourcebook looks at the universe beyond Earth, from the history of the cosmic in the comics to the conventions of cosmic stories and characters. In the pages of The Cosmic Handbook you will find advice and rules for creating characters and adventures in the depths of space. GMs get ready-to-use villains, from space tyrants and aliens to nigh-omnipotent cosmic beings, and an expanded look at the universe of Freedom City and Emerald City beyond the bounds of Earth.
Get ready, heroes. Infinity awaits!
~~~~~
Not sure when the stars will align in such a way as to have this "perfect" array of genres and games in a single week again, so enjoy this accidental symmetry as you will, friends!
(Then again, knowing the gaming social media world as well as I do, I can just feel the oncoming wave of arguments like a tsunami headed for shore after an underwater 7.8 shaker...)
Tonight, my friend Chris Parks runs a bunch of us in my Shaintar* setting. Tomorrow, sadly, it's a funeral for a dear friend's mother. Tomorrow night may see the Interested Parties** visiting an alternate wrestling promotion in town. Come Sunday, it's Ross Watson's monthly 5e Birthright campaign, which we always enjoy greatly.
(*) - Speaking of Shaintar, you're going to see a much steadier stream of books coming out over the next few weeks. Dwarves are already out there, as is the new Mercenaries book. Elves, Dregordians, Shaya'Nor, and the Camden (Snakes Den) City Book are all in the release pipeline already.
(**) - In case you missed it, I am one-half of a set of characters that appear at a local pro wrestling promotion.
The Adventure Continues!
~SPF
Strider, a Steamscapes Adventure
Welcome to November! Back in the middle of October, I Picked the Steamscapes: Asia supplement for the eponymous Savage Worlds setting. Here you can grab an adventure crafted specifically for it – Strider – which was only available for Kickstarter backers until recently.
One of Japan’s oldest automatons must convince her maker to create a new automated weapon, and nearly everyone wants to stop her.
Strider is a multi-part adventure set in the Steamscapes world. It was originally provided to backers of the Steamscapes: Asia Kickstarter, but has now been reworked and reformatted to be made available to the general public. Although the history and additional rules are designed to align with Steamscapes: Asia, Strider is a complete stand-alone adventure with everything you need inside.
Strider requires only the Savage Worlds core rules to play.
Cthulhu Apocalypse
It’s funny – over Halloween weekend, I briefly participated in a chat about what kind of game would it be if Cthulhu woke up, started eating ships at sea, mass hysteria…
On November 2nd, 1936, the world died.
Finally, the stars had come right; and things that lurked under the seas for eons rose to claim their rightful place. Now, they rule the earth, stalking it like titans.
Millions of women and men died—yet you survived, doomed to wander the ruins, searching for answers. What went wrong? Are there others like you? How can you stay alive? And is there a way to put this right?
Cthulhu Apocalypse is a survival horror supplement for the Trail of Cthulhu roleplaying game that takes Investigators into a terrifying post-apocalyptic world.
Using the award-winning Apocalypse Machine, GMs can destroy the world any number of ways—including the death rays of alien tripods, a plague of white flowers, or the rising of Great Old Ones—and run adventures of investigation and survival in a land transformed beyond recognition.
Cthulhu Apocalypse includes:
- The Apocalypse Machine, an award-winning GUMSHOE sandbox setting that gives you the tools to create your own global catastrophe—from the first strange rumblings to the final, cataclysmic event—along with Drives, Occupations, and more for adventures among the ruins.
- Five adventures in the aftermath of disaster, taking Investigators through Britain, across the sea to America, and beyond the veils of reality as they struggle to survive. (Previously published as The Dead White World.)
- Three adventures set years later, as the few survivors find their humanity cracking and moulting in the process of becoming something new. (Previously published as Slaves of the Mother.)
- Eight all-new scenarios that give your players the choice as to whether—and how—humanity survives in this strange new world.
Castle Gargantua
This one is for the Old School Gang. It’s – well, let’s know it for what it is.
It’s one big damn dungeon. And that’s a really kicking good thing for those who love big damn dungeons.
Ride the beanstalk and crawl into the sprawling halls of Castle Gargantua. There awaits the most legendary of giants and the fiercest creatures known to man. Delve further than ever for the great doors of Castle Gargantua have swung open once again, and what lies ahead isn’t for the faint-hearted.
The biggest dungeon ever published by the OSR. A campaign, a massive generator, and a grotesque setting all-in-one.
A bookmarked PDF & print edition compatible with everything Old School Renaissance
“It’s not about killing monsters, looting treasure, and gaining experience as you delve deeper into some mad archmage’s architectural folly. It’s about surviving in a loathsome, terrifying environment where nothing is quite as expected. It’s about atmosphere, gloom, and despair. It’s a thriller.”
Starvation Cheap
Every once in a while, a product “sneaks” its way to the top of the Hot List, and this is one. Stars Without Number is considered one of the best sci-fi interpretations of the D&D rules out there; there’s a Free Edition, and the expanded Core Edition. Starvation Cheap is a collection of military campaigns designed by someone who’s stated goal is “to make a GM’s life easier. Whether you intend to run a full-fledged mercenary campaign in a sci-fi universe or simply throw in a bit of open warfare into a campaign with a different focus, Starvation Cheap will give you all the tools you need for the job.”
Starvation Cheap is a military campaign supplement for the free Stars Without Number sci-fi tabletop role-playing game. It’s written to provide the reader with all the tools they need for building a sandbox-style military campaign focused on planetary armies and mercenary legions. Everything from the construction of wars and vital military objectives down to the gritty details of building a battlefield adventure is provided in this 110 page book.
While written for Stars Without Number, the great majority of the tools in this book are system-neutral, perfectly usable with the sci-fi game of your choice. Within these pages you’ll find tools like…
- Details on the typical structure of a modern ground army. Ranks and roles are described, along with the pertinent details of military justice, the chain of command, and the various types of modern military units. GMs unfamiliar with military culture and flavor can use these pages to tighten up their game.
- Guides for creating planetary conflicts through War Tags, rolling up reasons for savage conflicts and assigning critical Vital Points that must be captured or overcome if a side is to be victorious.
- Building ground armies, dividing them into units, and dealing with the potential complications of sending modern laser rifles and gravtanks against spears and lostworlder jezails. Creating a mercenary legion? Everything you need is in here, too.
- Strategic mass combat rules for resolving these planetary wars with the armies and mercenary legions you’ve made. The rules are quick and streamlined, meant to give a fast outcome and focus on player involvement in offensive priorities and desperate defenses.
- GM tools for building battlefield missions and adventures, with the PCs thrown onto the field to achieve some grave task or die trying. These rules interface with the mass combat tools, making PC success in their objectives the crucial factor that tips a bitter defeat into a hard-won victory.
- Hardware, of course. Lots of merciless hardware, from self-propelled artillery guns to radioactive weaponry and semi-sentient landmines. The far future battlefield is a dangerous place to be.
Cosmic Handbook
Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds remains the top-flight supers RPG of the current era, and this highly-anticipated supplement takes things to the Great Beyond in epic fashion.
The cosmos is a vast realm of primal powers, alien empires, and wonders and dangers beyond imagining. Now it is yours to explore with The Cosmic Handbook for the Mutants & Masterminds Superhero Roleplaying Game. This sourcebook looks at the universe beyond Earth, from the history of the cosmic in the comics to the conventions of cosmic stories and characters. In the pages of The Cosmic Handbook you will find advice and rules for creating characters and adventures in the depths of space. GMs get ready-to-use villains, from space tyrants and aliens to nigh-omnipotent cosmic beings, and an expanded look at the universe of Freedom City and Emerald City beyond the bounds of Earth.
Get ready, heroes. Infinity awaits!
~~~~~
Not sure when the stars will align in such a way as to have this "perfect" array of genres and games in a single week again, so enjoy this accidental symmetry as you will, friends!
(Then again, knowing the gaming social media world as well as I do, I can just feel the oncoming wave of arguments like a tsunami headed for shore after an underwater 7.8 shaker...)
Tonight, my friend Chris Parks runs a bunch of us in my Shaintar* setting. Tomorrow, sadly, it's a funeral for a dear friend's mother. Tomorrow night may see the Interested Parties** visiting an alternate wrestling promotion in town. Come Sunday, it's Ross Watson's monthly 5e Birthright campaign, which we always enjoy greatly.
(*) - Speaking of Shaintar, you're going to see a much steadier stream of books coming out over the next few weeks. Dwarves are already out there, as is the new Mercenaries book. Elves, Dregordians, Shaya'Nor, and the Camden (Snakes Den) City Book are all in the release pipeline already.
(**) - In case you missed it, I am one-half of a set of characters that appear at a local pro wrestling promotion.
The Adventure Continues!
~SPF
