Month: March 2019

RPG NEWS – Gamers in the WA State Senate

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From Gen Con’s March 29th, 2019 newsletter (Gen Con at Indianapolis August 1-4, 2019):

 

Gamers in the WA State Senate

This week, Gen Con President David Hoppe joined a select group of industry professionals invited to present at the Washington State Senate’s first-ever work session focused on the tabletop gaming industry.

The work session was designed to inform Senate members about tabletop gaming’s impact on the Washington state economy and included representatives from Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Loan Shark Games, and Green Ronin Publishing. The committee, which included Washington Senators Mark Mullet and Steve Hobbs, heard about each company’s experience in starting and developing their business during a series of panels Tuesday morning on the Capitol’s campus.

The information and experience shared were invaluable in educating the state legislature on the tabletop gaming industry and community in Washington.

Gen Con at Indianapolis August 1-4, 2019

What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Mysthea, Veil of the Void, Humblewood, and STEAM Hack

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What I enjoy about this series is seeing what projects creators recommend over and over again. Through this article, Swordsfall has five recommendations while Critical Core has three. This week, The Seas of Vodari (read their press release here) joins the list of multiple recommendations. I’ve found that those projects with multiple referrals are among the best offered. This week, I asked the creators of these RPG Kickstarters what projects are they most interested in:

 

Mysthea: Legends From the Borderlands by UFO Press

Ends:Thu, April 11 2019 1:00 PM EDT.

“Rebuild a war-torn city and win fame for your guild in this geomantic fantasy tabletop RPG.”

Jay Iles (UFO Press) recommends:

“One Kickstarter I’m particularly interested in is Dangerous Times. It’s a game of investigative reporters dealing with magic and corruption in 1920s New York, and is a complete package in 48 pages of zine.

Swordsfall is extremely exciting, and I love that we have the diversity of systems these days that a system-less setting book like this can do well.

Finally, I’ve been interested in The Veil for a while thanks to Friends at the Table’s campaign of it, and Inheritance looks like it’ll be great at hitting that far-future space opera feel.”

Veil of the Void: A Sci-Fantasy TTRPG by SDG Interactive Publishers 

Ends: Thu, April 4 2019 12:00 PM EDT.

“A custom built D6 system designed with a focus on narrative play, storytelling, and home-brew!”

Trever Archuleta (SDG Interactive Publishers) recommends:

“I’m currently backing two at the moment:

I love supporting new creators, those that I believe will do something with the money I give them. Being an Indie creator myself I know how hard it can be and that we all need to support each other if we believe in their project or their creator. I am personally a huge fan of the idea of a fully pirate themed 5e game as I love pirates, so I will definitely be playing that one. I also find the idea of a new afropunk game to be quite original and something I think definitely deserves attention and as much funding as they have received.”

 

Humblewood Campaign Setting for 5e DND by Hit Point Press

Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 10:00 AM EDT.

“Humblewood is a campaign setting for 5e DND that includes new birdfolk player races, new monsters, compelling adventure and more!”

Jordan Richer (Hit Point Press) recommends:

“The Seas of Vodari. Ask any RPG group and you’ll find most of them are pretty pumped to get on a ship and sail the 7 seas, but when it comes to 5e, there is not a lot of support for these kinds of adventures. Seas of Vodari seems to be the kind of sandbox that will help pad out our seafaring stories. We are particularly interested in the social combat so we can engage in some battles of wits!

Witch+Craft. Another area of 5e that has really needed a closer look is rules for crafting items, food and more – and Witch+Craft nails it in a super wholesome way. Your characters get to choose a “Trade Class” that levels up your characters crafting skills as your adventuring skills improve and makes making items, foods, etc a collaborative thing, encouraging a negotiation between players and DM about what materials would be needed, what kind of equipment might be required and so on. It pulls crafting out of the background and puts it right into your character and the story. Can’t wait for the full book to come out!

Additionally both creators, like us, are Canadian, so it’s great to see all this amazing content coming from up here!”

 

STEAM Hack: RPG Zines for STEM Education by STEAM Hack RPGs

Ends: Sat, April 27 2019 5:00 PM EDT.

“A zine with role-playing games (RPGs) to teach engineering and science using actual engineering scenarios.”

Allen White (STEAM Hack RPGs) recommends:

“As a gamer who is trying to use the power of RPGs in education, I have been looking forward to Critical Core by Game to Grow and I’m excited to see it doing well! Roleplaying has been used to help those on the autism spectrum and this looks like a great way to help more parents and educators. The art is engaging and the design looks like it will make the fiddly bits of roleplaying more accessible to a wider audience, which is great for our hobby. I am looking forward to using my copy in classes.

Speaking of engaging art, I am intrigued by The Ultraviolet Grasslands by Exalted Funeral – how can you not love an RPG inspired by “psychedelic heavy metal, the Dying Earth genre, and classic Oregon Trail games.” Luka Rejec’s art is powerful and it looks like his game design for UVG will bring his art to life for the players. I enjoyed the setting and (especially) the premise of Witchburner and I think UVG will show us his imagination on fire.”

PRESS RELEASE – Forbidden Library

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Forbidden Library Kickstarter brings in all-star collaborators for new adventure series

Legendary and professional game designers, writers and artists fill a forbidden library with magic and wonder.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 21, 2019 – Alligator Alley Entertainment teams up with Gregory A. Wilson to kickstart Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library, which will feature game designers such as Ed Greenwood, Ken Hite, Will Hindmarch, Shawn Merwin, and many others along with great contributing fiction authors like Cat Rambo to make an evocative adventure series and sourcebook filled with poems, art and danger!

Tales and Tomes is a 5E compatible adventure designed to lead heroes up to level 3 into the Eastern Wing of Hearthglow Academy’s Library, a forbidden place to students and teachers alike. Prominent SFF authors and tabletop gaming professionals bring the library alive with spell grimoires, weaponry manuals, atlases and bestiaries. Among the clues, the heroes will find scraps of lore, stories, paintings – and everything in between. 

Even better, as the Kickstarter grows, additional collaborators will be brought in to create even more of the library’s fantastical catalogue. Still early in the first week of the Kickstarter, the project is almost halfway funded with stretch goals already planned.

Brian Dalrymple, co-founder of Alligator Alley Entertainment, says, “We are thrilled to be working with Gregory and all of the great talent that are ready to fill Hearthglow Academy’s Library with great content a GM can use in both the adventure and their own home campaigns. We want players to be both excited and a little nervous when they see their own GM pull out the Tales and Tomes.”

“I’ve been running this adventure as a live audience event for a couple of years now at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium and my players love it,” says Gregory A Wilson, genre writer and author of theForbidden Library adventure. “This year, we’ll finish the trilogy, and our Kickstarter supporters will be able to follow along and even run the adventure at home. After running Alligator Alley’s Esper Genesis content on my Twitch stream, I can’t wait to see what they come up with to supplement this volume.”

You can find the Kickstarter here and you can contact our media rep., Robert Adducci, here.

Gregory A Wilson:

Premier game master, Twitch TV channel host (ArvanEleron), speculative fiction author, podcaster, and college professor, Wilson has been bringing the world’s favorite RPG to over 5,000 people week after week on Twitch. He also runs popular live RPG events at GenCon’s Writer’s Symposium, all of which serve as the inspiration for the world of Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library. In the world of fantasy fiction, Greg’s first fantasy novel, The Third Sign, came out in 2009, followed by the graphic novel, Icarus, in 2016; his third novel, Grayshade (Book One of The Gray Assassin Trilogy), also arrived in 2016 from The Ed Greenwood Group.

 

About Alligator Alley Entertainment (AAE):

Founded by hobby industry veterans Rich Lescouflair, Eric Wiener and Brian Dalrymple, AAE brings a world of imagination to go along with their RPG products. The team’s skill set covers years of game design, retail expertise and print production.  The ENnie-nominated company has created  hits like Esper Genesis: Heroic Sci-Fi Role-playingTM with  5E rules, Witch Hunter: The Invisible World of swashbuckling adventure and horror, and The Demonbane Chronicles, a 5E adventure series set on the shattered continent of Sereth.

Kickstart the Comic – 5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown

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What superpower would you want?

What superpower would be the most useful and which would be as much a curse as an asset?

I’ve done those thought exercises. I’ve had the dreams where I could fly or teleport or read people’s minds. Sometimes it was the best of times and sometimes it was like something out of the Twilight Zone. That’s the thing with powers, you never know what the side effects may be.

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5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown

Writer/Creator – Stephen Kok

Illustrator – P.R. Dedelis

Colorist – Peyton Freeman

 

This Kickstarter Campaign ends on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 6:00 A.M. EDT.

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The Pitch:

What would you do if you could see five seconds into the future?

 

The Story:

5 Seconds is the continuing story of Jake as he discovers what happens 5 seconds in the future. With his best friend Ellie, the two of them decide to test out exactly what Jake can do! Unfortunately, others also find out about Jake’s power and they seek to exploit his unique time-bending skill set!

 

John’s Thoughts:

This is the third volume of the ongoing story about Jake and his dealing with his own gift/curse. As the story has progressed, a Villain has arisen to test our hero.

I like that this is presented as the final piece of the story, but that each of the volumes have been written as stand alones. That is something that may not always be the easiest thing to pull off. Of course, I would think that if you liked one of the volumes it wouldn’t be a stretch to check out the others!

The Rewards:

Here’s the thing, if you only wanted the pdfs of the 3 volumes, you can easily get those at the U.S. $7 level, which feels like a steal. At $60 you can get the print copies of all three volumes. They’ve also provided a “Get Drawn In” to the comic at the $99 level, which is always one of those cool things to have the opportunity to go after. At even higher levels you have a chance to meet the creator or get some original artwork ($212 U.S. for both).

 

The Verdict:

If you are looking for some young adult comic stylings with a splash of action, adventure, romance and a sprinkling of time, you should definitely give 5 Seconds a shot.

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To find out more about 5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown, check out the Kickstarter Page here.

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John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?

Click here to join John’s mailing list.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

 

The 10 Best Heavy (As in REALLY HEAVY) Metal Albums of All Time

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Go ahead.

Talk about your Slipknots and Five-Fingered Death Punches.

Enjoy your Metallicas, Black Sabbaths, and Mercyful Fates.

Nope.

Here are the top ten heavy, heavy metal albums of all time.

…in no particular order.

Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss

Five seconds in, one becomes aware Seasons in the Abyss is no ordinary collection of songs. Beginning with the insanely fast ‘War Ensemble’, Slayer’s (somehow most mainstream) album sets a tone both vicious and unholy…which is, after all, their signature achievement. From thumping ‘Skeletons of Society’ to Ed Gein horror tribute ‘Dead Skin Mask’, lyrically Seasons knows no boundaries. Why should it? This is Slayer we’re talking about, unrivaled in the metal realm. And of course, perhaps no metal album ends on so dark a note as the title track, song number ten, ‘Seasons in the Abyss.’ Go ahead, read the lyrics to your children when you tuck them into bed at night.

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Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power

What happens when you pair guitar god Dimebag Darrell with the guttural roars of Phil Anselmo, mix everything in a big bowl of rage, and punch the planet in the face? Vulgar Display of Power, that’s what. Have you ever listened to ‘F**cking Hostile’ on repeat for an hour? Have you ever chanted, “Re-spect! Walk! What did you say?” Then you understand this album’s power. It takes no breaks until the very end, at which point Pantera shows their dynamic range with the heartbreaking song ‘Hollow.’ If you’re about to get into a fistfight, this is your album.

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Carcass – Heartwork

There are some who say Carcass’s best album is too melodic, too modern, and a betrayal of the band’s grindcore roots. F**k that. There’s melodic, and then’s there’s guitarist Bill Steer, who gallops and solos with the best in the business. Consider the thudding, heart-rattling song ‘Embodiment’ and lightning-fast title track ‘Heartwork.’ Oh sure, there’s lovely guitar work in ‘No Love Lost’ (and in every other song on the album) but the heavy never lets up. One of the last great metal albums to feature (not just include) truly transcendent solos, Heartwork easily ranks up there with the best of the heavy, heavy best.

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Entombed – Clandestine

Well…at least no one will confuse this album with melodic. What Swedish death medal gods Entombed lacked in subtlety, they more than made up for with raw power, chuggy guitars, and a crunchy, deadly sound like no other. No Entombed album demonstrates this better than Clandestine. From ridiculously thumpy ‘Sinners Bleed’ to double bass drum-fest ‘Crawl,’ the fury never lets up. Few metal albums in the history of music have zero ‘meh’ tracks, but this is one. ‘Living Dead’ all the way to ‘Through the Colonnades’ = death metal perfection.

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Type O Negative – October Rust

Ok fine. You want to slow it down a little? I give you October Rust. Sometimes sarcastic, often self-deprecating, and always melancholic Type O Negative delivers their most classic tracklist ever. It never seems to matter that Type O’s songs are far longer in duration than other black/death metal bands. Peter Steele’s vocals and the band’s deep, dark guitars weave in and out of sadness and madness for every one of October Rust’s 14 (well…13 really) songs. Consider anthemic ‘Wolf Moon’ and misery-fest ‘I Love You to Death.’ It’s pretty much an entire album of ‘just got rejected by your lover’ songs.

And it’s f**king perfect.

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Danzig – How the Gods Kill

There are many, many good Danzig albums. But none quite as thunderously good as How the Gods Kill. Dark Elvis magician Glenn Danzig puts on his most forceful vocal performance ever (Heart of the Devil, anyone?) while perfecting ten songs to frighten your neighbors, scare your children, and sing along to (Anything, Dirty Black Summer, Do you Wear the Mark, anyone??) This is Danzig with their best lineup (Christ, Von, Biscuits) and at their most cohesive. Every riff just clicks, resulting in one of the best dark metal albums ever made.

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Morbid Angel – Covenant

Tampa metal gods have changed lineups many times. But in the meantime they released some truly epic albums (Altars of Madness, Gateways to Annihilation.) Among these, one stands out as the cream of the dark crop. Covenant, with its blasphemous, occult-loving lyrics and shreddy guitar work, sits among the pantheon of great metal albums. Even if you can’t understand David Vincent’s vocal work (just google ‘Vengeance is Mine‘ for a sample) or duplicate Trey Azagthoth’s otherworldly ‘Eddie Van Halen of death metal‘ riff work, it matters none. And talk about ending with a bang. ‘God of Emptiness’ goes places and hits beats no other band has achieved.

Bow to me faithfully, indeed…

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Sepultura – Beneath the Remains

Old school death metal.

Fast. Unrelenting.

Easily Sepultura’s best and most brutal offering.

Here, just listen to THIS. 

And go here for a tracklist.

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Deicide – When Satan Lives

Is it cheating to include a compilation album on this list? Maybe.

Is naming a live album really fair? Probably not.

Who cares?

Say what you will about Glen Benton, Deicide’s lead-singer and all-around weird guy, the band on stage has power, presence, speed, and a lust for long, brutal shows. Plenty of compilation albums (and arguably most live albums) miss the mark in one way or another. Not so, ‘When Satan Lives.’ It’s seventeen songs, all terrifyingly fast, sharp, and well-recorded. Standout tracks ‘Children of the Underworld’ and ‘Dead by Dawn’ stand tall, but really every single f**king song is better than good.

This is how you do death metal. And how you do live albums. Listen up, modern bands. Do it like this.

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Slayer – Reign in Blood

Speaking of unfair, it’s probably blasphemous to include not one, but two Slayer albums on this list. Especially when there are so many other crushingly good heavy metal albums out there.

Even so…

I’m just going to link these three songs right here.

And let them prove my point for me.

Angel of Death

Postmortem

Raining in Blood

Short, powerful, and relentless, Reign in Blood can’t not be on this list.

Honorable mentions

I want YOU to fill out this section for me:

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_______________________

 

_______________________

 

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Thanks for stopping by.

J Edward Neill

Author, artist, and metalhead

PRESS RELEASE – Premiere for Free League’s Symbaroum – Mother of Darkness is live on Kickstarter

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Free League Publishing

Premiere for Free League’s Symbaroum – Mother of Darkness is live on Kickstarter

Free League Publishing – Mar 22, 2019 15:07 GMT

The forests grow darker, as does the streams and the soil. Neither the Queen’s subjects, nor the clanfolk has ever taken the warnings seriously. The desire to pillage the treasures of the forest has always been stronger than the fear and caution, and no desire has ever flamed hotter than the longing to find the place which is called the Mother of all Darkness. Now the time has come to go on the hunt for Symbar, the blackened heart of the empire of Symbaroum.

Explorers, treasure-hunters, adventurers and loyal subjects, listen up – trustworthy directions to the legendary city of Symbar has been uncovered! Pack your bags immediately, sharpen your swords and resupply your stock of healing herbs, for the expedition leaves as soon as the warmth of spring breaths life into the forest of Davokar!

Following the merger of award-winning roleplaying game publishers Free League Publishing (Tales from the Loop, Mutant Year Zero, Forbidden Lands) and Järnringen, it is time for the first major joint venture: Symbar – Mother of Darkness, the next episode in the epic Throne of Thorns campaign for Järnringen’s acclaimed dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum, was launced on Kickstarter today.

About Free League Publishing

Free League Publishing is a Swedish publisher dedicated to speculative fiction. We have published several award-winning tabletop role-playing games and critically acclaimed art books set in strange and wondrous worlds.

What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Swordsfall, CAPERS Noir, Justice Velocity, and Snowhaven

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After so many nice things were said about Welcome to Tikor last week, I reached out to Brandon Dixon to find out what RPG Kickstarters he’s looking forward to. As well as his reviews, there are a number of nice things said about a personal favorite of mine, Critical Core, plus we hear about a convention. Let’s see what RPG Kickstarters these creators are looking forward to:

 

Snowhaven for Fifth Edition by High Level Games

Ends: Sun, March 31 2019 11:56 AM EDT.

“Snowhaven is a Snowpunk Fantasy setting for the 5th Edition of the world’s oldest and most popular roleplaying game system.”

High Level Games recommends:

“Swordsfall is amazing, it’s a project creating an afro-futurist world and the depth of the worldbuilding on display is staggering, in a good way. The project has gone through the roof and I’d love to see this go even higher. The more diverse and deep projects we have out there the better.

Which brings me to my second suggestion, which is Critical Core by Game to Grow. This project presents a game system for autistic youth. As I’m a huge fan of working with kids interested in gaming and helping use games as therapeutic devices this just checks all the boxes for me.”

 

Welcome to Tikor | The Swordsfall RPG Setting and Art Book by Brandon Dixon

Ends: Wed, April 10 2019 11:01 AM EDT.

“An Afropunk Sci-Fantasy world brimming with ancient magic and future tech.”

Brandon Dixon recommends:

“Critical Core looks fantastic. I’m a big fan of products that seek to involve marginalized groups and make them apart of the experience. It has a such a cool story behind it as well. It was created by a father who wanted to help his autistic son get into gaming.

Veil of the Void is doing great work with their game. I have nothing but love for a sci-fi project by another person of color. I really want to see them get funded, they’re a bit over 50% with two weeks to go. I really want to see them win. The art is great and the book direction is amazing.”

 

Justice Velocity: An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG by Polyhedra Games

Ends: Thu, April 4 2019 12:24 PM EDT.

“A D6-based tabletop roleplaying game inspired by the action movie universe”

Clipper Arnold of Polyhedra Games recommends:

“Manifest RPG‘s space western setting looks really unique and interesting. The style of the cover art, especially, looks great. There are major Firefly vibes for sure–and rolling a fist of D20s sounds like a lot of fun.

Prowlers and Paragons Ultimate Edition also looks really great. The art looks really top notch, and I’m a fan of D6 systems. I’ve never played P&P or Champions, but have had a lot of fun with stuff like Mutants & Masterminds. I have high hopes from the team working on this as they all appear to be game design veterans.”

 

CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games

Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 9:00 PM EDT.

“An RPG of Criminals, Cops, Mystery, and Monsters…with Super-Powers!”

Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games recommends:

“I’ve been a guest at AcadeCon the past two years and will be again this year.

AcadeCon is my favorite convention. It’s small and intimate, maybe 500-600 attendees. It’s RPG heavy. It has bunches of great guests from both the RPG design world and the podcast world. The RPG Academy has built a great community around their podcasts and that community shows up for AcadeCon. It’s inviting, friendly, inclusive, and fun. I have never regretted going.”

NOTE: I featured CAPERS Noir before (here) but I added it again after Craig and I talked about AcadeCon and their Kickstarter, and he gave it a glowing recommendation.

 

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The project selections and opinions expressed by the contributors are solely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Egg Embry or the Tessera Guild.

Kickstart the Comic – The Legend of Everett Forge: Issue #3

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Man vs. machine.

Normally that would mean that the machine is on its way to replacing the worker. The more efficient machine outlasting the fragile human.

How about a story where the human isn’t going to give up his dreams, his goals, or anything else for a damn machine…

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The Legend of Everett Forge: Issue #3

Writer/Creator – Scott Wilker

Artist/Letterer – Clickart Studios

Publisher – About Time Comics

 

This Kickstarter Campaign ends on Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 6:30 PM EDT

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The Pitch:

The Legend of Everett Forge is a Steampunk/Weird West tale set in an alternate 1889 where Machines control the American West. The story follows infamous outlaw, Everett Forge, as he ventures deep into the Machine Territory in search of vengeance!

 

The Story:

SINS OF THE FATHER picks up right after the events of Issue #2. After a brutal showdown with the Angel of Death, Everett Forge finds himself aboard a mysterious airship. Meanwhile, in the heart of the Machine Territory, Omega is hard at work bringing his evil plans to fruition.

 

John’s Thoughts:

Here’s the deal – Steampunk to me is all about that Wild West (Weird West) meets steam tech. It is about man versus machine. It is about revenge and vengeance and old grudges and new problems. Bounty Hunters and gunfights with weapons a bit more powerful than you might find in a regular western.

The Legend of Everett Forge hits those sweet spots in this ongoing battle between “good” and “evil”. But much like any good western, those words don’t always mean that the good guy is anywhere near squeaky clean!

The Rewards:

As this is the third issue of the series, the lower levels allow you to get this newest one to add to your collection ($5 Digital/$10 Print). At the $25 level you can completely catch up on the print comics. At the higher end ($100), you can not only get the comics and posters and stickers but also get a poker chip as well as digital copies of the Godsend comic book (to complete your collection).

 

The Verdict:

Do you like Weird Westerns? Do you like Steampunk? Are you hoping for some potential shootouts between Everett and all sorts of Machine Enemies?

Yeah, maybe this book is for you…

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To find out more about The Legend of Everett Forge, check out the Kickstarter Page here.

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John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?

Click here to join John’s mailing list.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

 

 

My Everyday War with Social Media

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Let’s just go ahead and get this out there.

I hate social media.

There. I said it.

I hate it with a deep and abiding passion.

And yet…

It‘s a lot more complicated.

I mean, a LOT.

As of right this moment, I would consider myself extremely active on social media. Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Business, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest…the list goes on. I’m active on each and every one, and I’m on them almost every single day. Yes, I know what you’re thinking — I literally just said I hate social media.

So why then, all the sites? Why do it if it’s so antithetical to happiness?

Well…

It turns out I’m an author. And an artist. Virtually all my wares appear online in one form or another. And to be honest, I’m not famous enough for these things to sell themselves. Without daily, active, highly-engaged social media marketing, I’d most likely have to give up the dream and go back to working a 9–5 office job. Which, to be fair, is just as terrifying as toiling away on social media. I figure at least when I’m clicking, posting, and responding online, I’m doing so in a tank top and shorts, in my bed, far from the horrors of corporate office life.

So what’s the trouble with social media, aside from the vast time-suck?

For starters, let’s list a few:

  • You don’t know most of the people to whom you’re talking. They could be anyone, and they could be anywhere. What’s in a profile pic these days? Not much. Unless you’ve actually met the flesh and blood human on the other end of your latest tweet, you don’t know them. At all. More importantly, you don’t know what they want. And in many cases, you don’t even know whether or not they’re real. The person who just followed you might not be a person at all. Think about it…
  • The endless cycle of reciprocation. While not as much of a problem on Facebook, when one uses Twitter and Instagram to pitch art and books, one must be prepared to give far more than one receives. These days, I spend as much time retweeting and liking fellow artists’ posts as I do creating my own, whether or not I like approve of what these people are saying. If I didn’t do this, the reciprocation cycle would end and my audience would shrink. This is how it works. It’s a shark tank out there, and if you don’t feed the sharks, they’ll turn right around and eat you
  • Creepers, stalkers, and people who think every social media site is for dating. Yes, I’m a guy. And yes, I’m fully aware I don’t suffer nearly the amount of harassment as the ladies. Even so…every day, every week, every month, I deal with followers who aren’t at all interested in my paintings or my books. These ladies are after validation, compliments, idle flirting, and romance. An innocuous like on one of my posts becomes a “Hey, nice painting” in my inbox. And then the “Hey, nice painting” becomes something entirely unsettling. And then it becomes a dance between me not wanting to be rude to a fellow human and me having to say “Please go away and look for love from someone else.”
  • The personal toll. This one is the hardest. In building a social media empire, one must be very, very careful to keep internet life and real life separate. So far, I’ve done well, but likely not well enough. Even though in my heart I know my goals on social media are highly specific and definitely have an endgame, it’s not always an easy sell to the people I care about in real life. “Why are you online so often?” “Who was that woman you were friendly with on Twitter?” “Are you suuuure you’re only there to market?” — these are some pretty typical questions I’ve been asked. And no matter my answers, I have many times seen the doubt in the eyes of those close to me. It’s at times like these I wonder, “Is this really worth it? Am I selling out? Am I really shrugging off compliments, flirty women, and questionable content…and staying humble?”

Well? Am I?

At the end of each day, is being on social media purely as an artist, author, and purveyor of the occasional off-color meme worthwhile? Yes. Mostly. For every weirdo, creeper, latch-on lady, or inappropriate person, there are hundreds of legitimately cool people out there. Fantastic artists lie around every corner of Instagram. On Twitter exists a thriving culture of authors, philosophers, poets, and curators of excellent content. And on Facebook, well…there’s always cat videos.

But the dark side is real.

It’s expensive, not in terms of money, but in terms of personal welfare and the welfare of those closest to me.

And every day I wage a small war in my heart against it.

In a six-year career on social media, I’ve experienced some truly great things. Great personalities. Hilarious jokes. Wonderful ideas to expand and open the mind.

And of course, epic-level books sales (the whole point of it all.)

But I’ve also dealt with…

  • Writers who claim to be best-selling authors, but who become furious when it’s pointed out they’ve published one brief book with no sales (and which contains giant grammatical chasms.) In other words, liars
  • Social justice warriors invading my benevolent feed to loudly state the half-boob in one of my paintings makes me nothing more than a ‘sexist, chauvinist pig.) Does it? Asking for a friend…
  • Woman posing as art collectors who buy no art, but who gradually increase the flirt level until I’m forced to block or ignore them
  • Prostitutes
  • Bots
  • Exes posing as other people
  • People who think everything is a platform for their politics
  • And the one author who tried to get me to support his book (which spoke of the ‘many virtues of pedophilia.’) Gross, dude. Get help

And so the battle inside me rages on. It’s sometimes small, sometimes massive, and yet I take some heart knowing I’m not the only one. I’m betting there are silent legions of fellow humans out there who feel the same, who struggle with wanting to look their friends in the eyes (as opposed to through a monitor) and who feel the pressure and desire to escape social media and never, ever come back.

I know you’re out there.

We’re not meant to be these distant creatures who create mere avatars for our real lives, and who so often toil alone behind our screens.

The image we present online — it’s false. We must never forget this. Even if we’re utterly honest while posting, we are not collections of memes, profile pictures, and likes. We’re still human behind it all.

At least, I hope we are.

More importantly, I hope you’re human, too…and not another latch-on creeper.

As I close out this collection of thoughts, one last bit of irony hits me. As soon as this is published, I’ll share it across every single one of my social media accounts.

Funny, right?

…or maybe not.

J Edward Neill

Come see me here.

PRESS RELEASE: Run to the Sun in the New Starfinder Dawn of Flame Adventure Path from Paizo

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RUN TO THE SUN IN THE NEW STARFINDER
DAWN OF FLAME ADVENTURE PATH FROM PAIZO

An alien starship, a psychic disturbance, and a bubble-city in the sun’s atmosphere await heroic players in the first volume, Fire Starters.

REDMOND, WASHINGTON (March 15, 2019): Paizo Inc. has released Fire Starters, the first volume in the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path for the smash hit Starfinder Roleplaying Game. The 64-page volume, written by James L. Sutter, is the first of six adventures in a science fantasy campaign set in the Pact World’s sun. It is available for purchase at paizo.com and retailers worldwide at an MSRP of $22.99 for softcover.

“Dawn of Flame sees the heroes peeling back the layers of a story about a mysterious force operating within the Pact Worlds’ sun while diving through the layers of the star itself. The narrative starts outside the sun, moves into events in a city in the star’s upper atmosphere, and leads to the heroes traveling into the sun’s depths. If flying a starship deep into stellar plasma to explore places few mortals have seen isn’t science fantasy, I don’t know what is,” said Chris Sims, lead developer for the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path.

Sutter shared his thoughts on the adventure: “I also think the adventure has some really fun roleplaying opportunities! My philosophy about writing adventures is that even in the tensest, most serious game, you still need moments of humor to throw the grimmer elements into contrast and get that emotional punch. So, things like dealing with an eccentric chaos-snake, a self-appointed skittermander cop, and an insectile con artist—or even just making the two key NPCs each other’s ex-wives—those character moments are every bit as important as the monsters and combat!”

Fire Starters contains a Starfinder adventure for 1st-level characters. Additional material includes an alien enclave within the star, a look at the sun goddess and her worshippers, an archive of extraplanar threats, deck plans and statistics for a vessel that patrols near the sun, and a look at a beautiful resort planet with ties to the Plane of Water.

The adventures continue with a new volume every month for six months. Soldiers of Brass (Dawn of Flame 2 of 6) will be released in late March. Explore the Starfinder Roleplaying Game at paizo.com/starfinder.

About Paizo

Paizo Inc. is one of the world’s leading hobby game publishers. Since 2002, millions of players have joined the goblin army by playing the Pathfinder® and Starfinder® Roleplaying Games in homes, at conventions, at their favorite local game stores, and digitally on virtual tabletops. Paizo.com is an online retail hobby destination for millions of gamers that carries the latest products from top hobby game publishers. Players can also find the newest releases, as well as accessories like dice and maps, miniatures, T-shirts, and goblin plush toys, to quickly replenish their adventuring supplies for the next dungeon run.

PRESS RELEASE – Justice Velocity: An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG Launches Kickstarter

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Justice Velocity: The Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG is now Live on Kickstarter

March 6th, 2019– Justice Velocity, the action movie inspired tabletop roleplaying game is officially live on Kickstarter. Inspired by pulpy action films like the Fast & Furious franchise, Bad Boys, and more, Justice Velocity puts you in the driver’s seat.

The campaign launched on Tuesday, March 5th, and generated 32% of its $1500 funding goal in its first day. With a goofy and over-the-top promotional video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAzwkwVZsQ , Justice Velocity promises to deliver on all the action movie tropes–espionage, heists, hijinks, and fast cars are all essential to the blood-pumping action.

The title is independent game designer Clipper Arnold and Polyhedra Games’ first official title, though they have the help of Nathon Paoletta (of World Wide Wrestling and more) doing the final layout design, and punchy visuals from Swedish artist Anders Karlsson.

The game boasts quick character creation, making it ideal for one-shots and short campaigns, octane chips for kicking it into high gear for climactic action sequences, and dynamic vehicle rules for different styles of races and car combat.

In their launch day update, Polyhedra Games announced an upcoming liveplay video from The Grizzled Geek, (as well as the possibility of some stretch goals on the horizon. You can view the campaign here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polyhedragames/justice-velocity-an-action-movie-inspired-tabletop?ref=557316&token=b3808dec

  • Website – polyhedragames.com
  • Facebook – facebook.com/polyhedragames
  • Instagram – instagram.com/polyhedragames
  • Twitter – twitter.com/polyhedragames
  • Email – polyhedragames@gmail.com

Introducing Justice Velocity

An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop Roleplaying Game

What is the velocity of justice? Many say it’s difficult to quantify– that it even evades common metrics of measurement or full understanding by the rule of law. One thing’s for sure, however: you should be able to gauge it as it comes hurtling towards you. Hands grip steering wheels as rubber grips concrete. Seedy underbellies trade bullets with the law and set moral shades of gray ablaze. Napalm and nitrous are as indispensable as your ability to hack or maneuver cold machinery.

Inspired by action movies like the Fast & Furious franchise, Rush Hour, or Bad Boys, and anime like Initial D– Justice Velocity puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s an exercise in collaborative storytelling that puts the stakes of a race or the fate of deadly computer viruses up to your players’ skills, abilities, and the roll of the dice.

There’s something exhilarating about sending Hot Wheels™ down a track into their doom. There’s something thrilling about unnecessary explosions. There’s something amazing about seeing whether or not a car can jump over the opening of a live volcano. Justice Velocity is an unapologetic, adrenaline-fueled romp which delves into the nature of exergy and machine fetishism. It pushes physics, bodies, and systems to their limits. When justice calls, sometimes it’s the gruff, meat-headed, cargo-pants-donning voice of utilitarianism that picks up the phone. This is a foray into that universe… one in which steel, muscle, and ingenuity can prevail and save the world from certain peril.

Justice Velocity is made by Polyhedra Games. It comes to Kickstarter Tuesday, March 5th. You can pre-screen the promo video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAzwkwVZsQ , and see a preview of the Kickstarter campaign here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polyhedragames/justice-velocity-an-action-movie-inspired-tabletop?ref=557316&token=b3808dec . Interviews, beta rules, and other materials are available upon request.

 

 

 

What Kickstarters Excite Creators? CAPERS Noir, Dino Wrangers, Manifest, and Absconding

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I backed into this column in which I ask RPG Kickstarter creators what games they’re excited about on Kickstarter/Indiegogo, but I’ve grown to really enjoy getting other creator’s feedback. It lets creators share what they are looking at and helps shine the spotlight on quality games. Some of the RPGs listed below are collecting multiple recommendations, all genuine votes for their quality. This week there are recommendations from:

CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games

Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 9:00 PM EDT.

“An RPG of Criminals, Cops, Mystery, and Monsters…with Super-Powers!”

Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games recommends:

“I’m digging Hair Metal Horror: Glam Metal Horror RPG Zines. Being a child of the 80s and a huge horror movie fan, this one really speaks to me. Plenty of 80s horror movies had rocking soundtracks, and the mash up of glam metal and horror is just too good to pass up. Mash ups like these just go to prove, if you can think of an RPG idea, there’s a game for it. The description makes it look incredibly fun with plenty of horrific elements, but dotted through with glam rock and humor.

Also on my radar is Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest. A family RPG, it’s about wrangling dinosaurs but with a thoughtfulness that can be missing from some games. Specifically, the characters are “tending to the safety and wellbeing of the creatures in their charge.” The game uses a token system that younger players will easily grasp. It’s designed by a parent who found they were having a hard time enjoying playing RPGs with their kids. So they made a game that would do what those other games didn’t. And that’s very much in the spirit of indie game design.”

Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest by Rachelle Dube

Ends: Thu, March 28 2019 11:08 AM EDT.

“A pick-up-and-play narrative RPG for families about overcoming obstacles as a dinosaur wrangler.”

Rachelle Dube recommends:

“With Kickstarter’s Zine Quest and several game designer friends putting out bigger projects, 2019 has been absolutely brutal. My wallet only goes so far! I’ll limit myself to three I pulled out of a virtual hat.

First: Escape from Dino Island by the Sams—Sam Roberts and Sam Tung. We’re all about dinosaurs in our house! The fact that it is designed for one- or two-shots makes it perfect for those random nights friends pop by or plague hits our usual gaming groups. If Sam Tung wasn’t doing, you know, his own Kickstarter, I would have loved to have his art in Dino Wranglers! This game checks a lot of boxes for me, and I can’t wait to get it!

Second: Mythsea: Legends of the Borderlands by Jay Iles. She describes it as emulating, “Final Fantasy 12 crossed with Steven Universe. You’re crystal-powered heroes sent to a conquered territory to make it useful for your masters, but as you play (and grow invested in the territory) you’ll develop new loyalties and see your homeland in a whole new light.” I’m probably one of two people that haven’t ever played any Final Fantasy games, but it’s beautiful and engaging, so I’m interested anyway!

Third: Swordsfall: An Afropunk Sci Fantasy Setting by Brandon Dixon, AKA Tikal. I’ve been following him for a while on Twitter, and I’ve been following this project for a while now. I love everything about the setting and art, I can’t wait to get it on my table. Full disclosure, Tikal will write a scenario for my game, Dino Wranglers, if it hits the $2100 stretch goal.“

NOTES:

Manifest the RPG by Waypoint Game Designs

Ends: Mon, April 1 2019 3:00 PM EDT.

“An exciting and immersive Sci-Fi Western tabletop roleplaying game”

Waypoint Game Designs recommends:

“Here at Waypoint Game Designs we’re really intrigued by Grey Cells. We’re big fans of the crime genre. And the exclusion of an charisma stat is an interesting way to equalize the player’s opportunity to “break the case.”

The other live Kickstarter we’re fans of is Justice Velocity by Polyhedra Games. Their fast and loose, adrenaline filled RP experience seems like it will be a lot of fun to play at any table.

We are totally in love with Swordsfall: An Afropunk Sci Fantasy Setting. We missed it on our first pass because it looks like a setting guide, not a complete game. But on closer inspection it looks like there’s so much to love, we’ve already backed it and the people who make it are kind of amazing. And we can’t wait to get our hands on it!!”

NOTES:

Absconding: Indie RPG zine for 5E by Joshua Rivera

Ends: Thu, March 28 2019 8:45 AM EDT.

“Absconding is one part literary/fantasy/sci-fi journal, one part ephemeral art magazine, and one part fifth edition game material.”

Joshua Rivera recommends:

“I backed these projects, and I want to give them a highlight.

CHTHONIC CORNBELT by Lee Barber is a weird little zine that’s pulpy and resembles advertising print design from the 1980s. It’s implied world reminds me of what an 80s baby would dream up in their notebook margins between boring math lectures and a substitute teacher day. The little pieces of ephemera on display will surely be a springboard for some fantastic ideas.

Be Witching is an RPG from Anna Anthropy, whose work in indie games I’ve followed for over a decade now. This is an adorably designed, inclusive game where players are even encouraged to draw their characters, which should be a very nice twist the first time I’ll run this. Also, this ostensibly being a game simulating prom night interviews, this is likely to get very passionate.

Yugika appears to be a zine full of RPG miscellany from Joesph Reid and friends. Each copy will also be painstakingly hand-bound with string, which is just fascinating to me. Yugika seems to be having trouble making it’s goal, so I really hope people decide to check this out and help bring it to fruition.“

PRESS RELEASE – Emerge as a Warrior of Legend in Dragon and Warrior RPG

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Emerge as a Warrior of Legend in Dragon and Warrior – A Tabletop Roleplaying Game

Game Launch Now Underway as a Part of Kickstarter’s RPG-Inspired Zine Quest

March 13, 2019 – Olympia, WA—The Warrior stands before the king who tells them that they are the next in a long line of warriors of legend tasked with fighting off an evil tyrant. That is how every game begins, but from then on the players shape the setting, scenery, and the story itself through gameplay.

Four roles craft the narrative: the Warrior, the Villain, the Ally, and Treasure. The Warrior controls the actions of the story’s protagonist. The Villain invents conflicts, monsters, and characters who stand in the Warrior’s way. The Ally steers the townsfolk, shopkeepers, and the Warrior’s friends—all whom aid the Warrior’s journey and send them on quests. Lastly, Treasure describes the world itself, breathing life into setting and scenery, as well as whatever items the Warrior finds on their journey. Players are encouraged to ask provocative questions about the parts of the story the other players’ roles control, allowing everyone to push the story towards what piques their curiosity.  Players frequently switch roles during the game, giving everyone a chance to say what the Warrior does next. Questions serve a double purpose of useful prompts to jumpstart one another’s imaginations.

Drawing is a meaningful part of the gameplay as well. Depending on their role, players might draw maps of towns and dungeons they explore, or sketch the monsters and challenges that lie in wait for the Warrior. When the players switch roles, so do the drawings they were working on, allowing other players to fill in details, or introduce characters and settings based on someone else’s art.

There are just enough stats and strategy to give Dragon and Warrior the feel of a turn-based RPG video game battle without having so many rules that they hinder player creativity. Conflict is quick and exciting—a back and forth card game of attacking, blocking, and maneuvering for the right opening. Characters can be built to focus on powerful strikes, quick agility, or magic spells, and they will slowly grow in power throughout the campaign—as will their enemies.

Dragon and Warrior is available for purchase through Kickstarter in two formats (a $5 PDF file or an $8 zine in single-color ink). The hand-drawn art and beautiful layout were designed by Michael Wight in the style of Akira Toriyama of Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball fame. The Kickstarter ends on Sat, March 30th.

Created by game designer Orion Canning, Dragon and Warrior is based on old school JRPG video games, combining strategic turn-based battles with the play-to-find-out style of indie RPGs. Though Dragon and Warrior is Canning’s first game release, his work can be enjoyed in Fall of Magic, Legend of the Elements, and Monsterhearts Second Skins. Fully funded within nine days of its release, Dragon and Warrior looks to be Canning’s first successful launch.

Number of Players: 2-6

Time Required: 2-4 hours for a single session, many sessions for a full campaign

Kickstarter Page:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/890157708/dragon-and-warrior

 

Tyrants of the Dead – Three Epic Novels in One Monstrous Ebook

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In a far and ancient land, Emperor Chakran dreams of conquest. His desire to resurrect the evil, world-ending Ur casts a dark shadow across an unsuspecting world.

But as his army butchers its way across the realm, leaving only a vast, storm-riddled graveyard in its wake, a small band of warriors rises up to oppose him…

Tyrants of the Dead

The Complete Collection

 

The Atlanta Science Fiction and Fantasy Expo – A Review

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As I wrote last week, I had a table at the 5th annual ASFE this past weekend.

Most conventions have some kind of fee to gain access to the creators and products within. I remember many years ago discovering that these smaller conventions even existed (this is pre-internet, where it felt like to find anything out about anything took rumour and innuendo and all sorts of luck). And while that one wasn’t all that big and could be walked through in less than an hour, it was cool to be able to interact a little bit with the creators.

I’ve always thought that the ASFE was a little like that except it was completely free.

Obviously, given its location in a mall in the northeast Atlanta metro area, the hope is that people who are going to see the latest Marvel movie decide to swing by the Expo and see what all the commotion is about. What this really means is that you get an interesting cross-section of people who wander through the area. There are obviously the people who know about the Expo and have come to check it out or they know one of the independent creators are going to be there with their wares. You have some people who like to support the local artists. Then you have the people who are completely unaware an event might be going on, but then are almost forced to walk through the area and hopefully, something catches their eye.

Having been there for the first one and pretty much all the other ones in between, it’s been an interesting process to watch. While there certainly has been table growth since the early days, it is more about the other stuff surrounding it where I see the greatest growth. The number of panels over the two days has increased probably ten-fold.

One of the products decorating my table space.

As to the actual interactions with the public, obviously, I am there to get my products in people’s hands. I came with copies of The Gilded Age Graphic Novel, The Gilded Age COloring Book, The Dark That Follows and Hollow Empire novels. And like any convention, you have an uphill battle in trying to convince them to purchase your wares. Of course, with some people, those who want to support the local artists, it really becomes a matter of making sure they don’t walk away empty handed.

Personally, I think I have a decent enough pitch for my stuff, but I’m sure, like everything else, it could use some refinement as well!

And, no convention would be a good one without the ability to see old friends. So many people over the last decade-plus that I’ve gotten to know through the old Terminus meetings or at these smaller conventions or those friends who always come out to support me. It is appreciated beyond what you know!

So that closes out another year of the Expo. See you next time!

***

John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?

Click here to join John’s mailing list.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

Press Release: John Carter of Mars Mega Miniature and Book Release

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Modiphius announces array of new John Carter of Mars book and miniature releases
Greetings {First Name}!
Today we’re pleased to announce the release of a raft of new John Carter products including the core book in print, first campaign book Phantoms of Mars in print and PDF, the Narrator’s Screen, Prince of Helium Notebook plus individual resin miniatures like John Carter and Dejah Thoris in alt poses to power your adventures of heroism and romance on the dying red planet!
These join the recent John Carter Collector’s Slipcase set, miniature sets featuring the Heroes of Barsoom, Helium and Zodanga Fighting Crews and Thark Warband, plus Helium, Thark and Zodangan dice sets, which are all available as part of the John Carter of Mars Collection on Modiphius.net. You can also buy all the PDFs as part of the John Carter Collection on DriveThruRPG.com.
John Carter Core Book
“My attention was quickly riveted by a large red star close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination—it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting man, it had always held the power of irresistible enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void, to lure me to it…”
Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter of Mars: Adventures on the Dying World of Barsoom transports you to the Red Planet of Barsoom, an arid, dying land of ancient civilizations and fearsome creatures. Begin your adventures of romance and heroism using a pulp-action inspired variant of the 2d20 System. Take on the role of heroes as you travel, battle, and romance your way across the wondrous and dangerous world of Barsoom. Play as John Carter, Princess Dejah Thoris, the fearsome Thark warrior Tars Tarkas – or create your own heroes from an exciting variety of options.
An overview of Barsoom and its peoples, perfect to introduce new players to the wondrous world of John Carter of Mars.
Detailed chapters on Barsoomian technology, creatures and cultures.
A new talent focused, narrative variation of the 2d20 System including a step-by-step character generation system designed to create heroes from a variety of backgrounds and concepts.
Create a wide variety of characters such as a Dashing Red Martian Duelist, a Brilliant First Born Scientist, a Savage Beastmaster, a Courageous Airship Officer, even Earthborn characters, so players can follow in the bounding footsteps of John Carter himself!
A detailed narrator’s section filled with information on how to run genre-and-setting appropriate campaigns, including information about the great and terrible secrets of Barsoom.
Three eras of play based on the adventures of John Carter himself. Adventure during the Dotar Sojat era, or adventure during the time where Carter became a Prince of Helium and in the years after when he was believed dead, or fight alongside Carter and his allies during the later Jeddak of Jeddaks era.
An introductory adventure, the Mind Merchants of Mars, to get players and narrators started on their adventures and immersed in the world of Barsoom.
Phantoms of Mars
Uncover the nefarious conspiracy of the mysterious organisation known as the Eidolon as you adventure your way across Barsoom to save the people of the dying planet. Phantoms of Mars will take your heroes on a journey full of pulp-action, intrigue and heroism as they race to uncover the Eidolon conspiracy and see just how far it has spread.
  • A 128 page, full colour, landscape hardback book with a complete campaign arc for the John Carter of Mars role-playing game.
  • Detailed narrator’s section with information on key characters, plots and advice on how to run and insert the campaign into existing games.
  • Also includes the Swords of Mars 2d20 Skirmish rules for use with the John Carter of Mars miniature collection.
Narrator’s Screen
Modiphius Entertainment presents the John Carter of Mars Narrator’s Toolkit. The Toolkit includes the official John Carter of Mars narrator screen. The exterior features amazing rendered artwork from the cover of the core rule-book, while the interior features useful rules, tables and charts for narrators. Also included is a booklet with new advice on running campaigns as well as new rules.
  • Full colour, 4-panel narrator screen with artwork on the exterior and reference tables and charts on the interior.
  • 36 page, full colour booklet with advice on running and creating campaigns as well as new additional rules for travel and large-scale combat.
Prince of Helium Notebook
Modiphius Entertainment presents the John Carter of Mars Prince of Helium Notebook. The exterior features amazing rendered artwork from the cover of the core rulebook, while the interior features blank, lined and gridded paper to detail your journey across Barsoom as well as character sheets to keep your heroes’ information all in one place.
  • Fully illustrated cover with elastic closure.
  • 160 page notebook featuring blank, lined and gridded paper.
  • Character sheets built into the notebook for ease of use in play.
We also have a selection of individual miniatures including John Carter and Dejah Thoris in alternative poses, Sola, Ras Tharvas and Gor Hajus, plus monsters of Mars like the White Ape, Apt and Banth, as well as Plant Men and Synthetic Men.
We hope you enjoy this round of John Carter books, minis and accessories and look out for more great releases coming soon,
Best wishes,
Modiphius Entertainment
About Modiphius Entertainment
Modiphius Entertainment is a London, England-based entertainment publisher of tabletop games and related hobby merchandise. The company launched its first game, the Achtung! Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, in 2013, followed by the Mutant Chronicles RPG, DUST Adventures RPG based on Paolo Parente’s DUST universe, Infinity The Roleplaying Game based on the best-selling miniatures game, Conan, Adventures in Age Undreamed of, the official roleplaying game of Robert E Howard’s barbaric universe, Matt Leacock’s Thunderbirds, a cooperative board game based on the classic 60’s show and the official Kung Fu Panda Boardgame.
Modiphius Entertainment seeks to inspire with its tales of heroism, adventure and courage. Modiphius also works to combat global child trafficking through raising awareness of and funds for Vision Rescue. For more information, please visit www.modiphius.com.
GAMES • SHOP • FORUM • CONTACT • ABOUT

PRESS RELEASE – NerdBurger Games Presents CAPERS Noir!

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NerdBurger Games Presents CAPERS Noir!

It’s the 1940s in the United States. World War 2 has wrought such destruction that the veil between this world and the world of the dead has thinned. Monsters have crept in. You are a criminal or a cop in a noir landscape of crime, corruption, red eyes in the shadows, and bumps in the night…and you have super-powers!

Kickstarter

PRESS RELEASE – The Seas of Vodari – Swashbuckling & Sorcery for 5E

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The Seas of Vodari – Swashbuckling & Sorcery for 5E

The Seas of Vodari Kickstarter campaign will be launching on Wednesday, March 13th, 2019 at 2pm EDT and will run for 30 days.

The Seas of Vodari is a full color book that we are offering in hardcover and PDF. This book provides 200+ pages of material for gamemasters to run exciting seafaring campaigns for 5th Edition. Your players will get tons of options for creating characters and you’ll get support to run a world full of swashbuckling action and magical adventure.

The World of Vodari

Long ago, a vast continent was annihilated and all but the outer edge of the continent sank to the bottom of the sea. The devastation left only a scattered few to start rebuilding their civilization on a ring of islands…

The Seas of Vodari campaign setting contains all of the iconic things you’d expect in a fantasy setting, but in a world with more water than land, much of the familiar becomes surprising and new.

  • Dungeons can be found deep below the surface of the sea in the form of shipwrecks and lost cities.
  • The most dangerous monsters are found below the waves, such as sea dragons, megalodons and krakens.
  • Nature becomes as deadly as the most powerful monsters with furious hurricanes, catastrophic tsunamis, and fiery volcanoes.

Islands are modular by nature and the book was designed for you to use as a detailed setting or to pick and choose what you like for your own game world.

The Seas of Vodari campaign setting was created to support seafaring adventures that focus on the crew of a ship hunting sea monsters, exploring mysterious uncharted islands, visiting bustling port cities, following maps to find buried treasure, and battling cutthroat pirates. The setting is also well suited to running campaigns in its large port cities, with swashbuckling heroes getting mixed up with fierce rivals, notorious crime syndicates, feuding nobles, and scheming politicians.

What’s In the Book?

The Seas of Vodari will provide you with tons of material to run an entire seafaring campaign or just a single adventure…

Player Options
New races and subraces, classes and subclasses, backgrounds, and feats for your players to create seafaring adventurers.

  • Gunslinger class with three subclasses (Arcane Gunmaster, Pistolero, and Musketeer)
  • Swashbuckling and sorcery inspired options for all 12 classes to fit a seafaring world
  • A full pantheon for clerics and paladins

Weapons, Armor & Equipment
New weapon, armor and equipment options to offer your players. You’ll find flintlock pistols and rifles, cutlasses and sabres, compasses, spyglasses, and more.

Magical Relics & Spells
New spells, magic items, and powerful ancient relics with a focus on sailing, naval combat, and underwater exploration.

A World of Islands to Explore
Explore countless islands, with details for over thirty islands, a dozen cities, wilderness encounters, ruins, and more.

Rules for Swashbuckling Adventures
Run swashbuckling adventures with advice and rules for duels, social combat, naval chases, plunder tables, and the code of the sea.

Adventures to Run
‘Island with No Name’ starter adventure for levels 1 to 3. Quick run scenarios including a haunted ship, sunken shipwreck, treasure hunt, and more.

Ships to Sail
Sloops, brigatines, galleons, gnomish submersibles, dwarven ironsides, elven swan ships, ships of the damned, and more. Plus, we didn’t forget to add lots of cannons.

Allies & Adversaries
NPCs for your players to befriend or face as adversaries. Stats, motivations, illustrations, and more will be provided for each.

Monsters to Fight
Monsters to challenge, amuse, and terrify your players including sea dragons, windsurfing goblins, sirens, technofish, megalodons, and sea titans.

The learn more about The Seas of Vodari or to back this Kickstarter visit http://www.seasofvodari.com.

About Tribality

Tribality Publishing already has numerous best-selling PDFs under its belt. We self-funded those PDFs, but we wanted go big with for Seas of Vodari. We have secured a solid team of professionals on both the writing and production side. We are now moving into the final development stage of filling out the world with more player options, locations, magic, and monsters.

https://www.tribality.com

101 Questions for Humanity – Goodreads Giveaway!!

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

101 Questions for Humanity by J. Edward Neill

101 Questions for Humanity

by J. Edward Neill

Giveaway ends March 19, 2019.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

What Kickstarters Excite Creators? The Veil: Inheritance, Comrades, Tavern Encounters, and The Fan Favorite

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I am always curious what Kickstarters inspire other tabletop RPG designers. Last week, I asked several friends what they were backing and enjoyed seeing the answers, the overlaps, and the interest they have in games. This week, I reached out to another set of RPG Kickstarter creators to find out what they’re excited to see in Kickstarter. What projects excite the creators of:

The Fan Favorite: A Masks RPG Zine by Linda H. Codega

Ends: Thu, March 14 2019 10:51 AM EDT.

“An old-school fan-made, DIY collaborative RPG Zine is a fandom supplement anthology for Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. We are paying all our contributors a fair and competitive rate, and are including a plurality of voices, all supported by an amazing system of fans and networks. As the editor and organizer of this zine, I’m immensely proud of this community of designers and writers who have dedicated their time and expertise to this zine.”

Linda H. Codega recommends:

“Zine Quest is winding down, but there are still a few RPG Zines I’m psyched about. If you’re looking for a last minute zine to support I recommend:

The Tomb of Black Sand: A more traditional OSR supplement full of fantastic and incredible art that is system neutral and an easy in for GMs. These creators make beautiful work, and sometimes it’s nice to do a traditional swords and sorcery gambit with a lot of leeway on the world you can create and system you can use.

Comrades: Fight the power, support anarchist ideals, fund indie artists, and bring down the corrupt government with your friends. This PbtA [Powered by the Apocalypse] game looks like it’s going to be fantastic, has multiple settings in the book, and includes playbooks that speak to traditional agitator roles and can also be used for both futuristic and ancient story narratives.”

Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG by W.M. Akers

Ends: Fri, March 15 2019 10:32 AM EDT.

“A tabletop roleplaying game about life in the revolutionary underground, where a roll of the dice can change the world.”

W.M. Akers recommends:

“I am extremely excited about Rosenstrasse, an “elegiac RPG” about romance across the boundary of religion in Berlin, 1933. I recommended it to the backers of Comrades because I felt like history-minded players who hate fascism—which is exactly the sort of person who likes my game—would enjoy this beautiful-looking RPG.

I’m also really intrigued by Grey Cells, a mystery RPG inspired by Agatha Christie’s Poirot. I write mystery novels—I’ve got one coming out in May—and I’m interested to see how they approach the difficulty of providing a satisfying mystery in a format that necessarily requires so much improvisation.”

The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk tabletop roleplaying game by Samjoko Publishing (Fraser Simons)

Ends: Sun, March 31 2019 8:00 PM EDT.

“Bioengineered bounty hunters take on challenges in newly colonized space. Part Cowboy Bebop, part Blade Runner.”

Fraser Simons recommends:

“Obachan Panic! has a unique premise and stretch goals for hacking the concept into various OSR settings. Neurotic aunties who save the world. I’m down!

Manifest RPG is a sci-fi western game. While I’m not usually into westerns, the concept and explicit direction toward inclusion makes me hope that it’ll take all the interesting parts and discard the problematic things that tend to dog the genre.”

Tavern Encounters: The Heroes’ Feast by Storm Bunny Studios (Jaye Sonia) 

Ends: Sun, April 7 2019 10:00 PM EDT.

“Tavern Encounters: The Heroes’ Feast is a gaming book designed to enhance your favorite tabletop roleplaying game experience!” 

Jaye Sonia recommends:  

“I’ve backed over sixty Kickstarters, so the things I look for in a KS may vary wildly. I tend to back a lot of my friends’ Kickstarters, especially when those friends worked on something. I’m not sure when they’re launching, but I have several friends working on the Starfinder Kickstarter for Grimmerspace; I’m excited to see it, especially since my friends Ben McFarland, Lou Agresta, and Erik Frankhouse are working on it. 

Mind you, two of the Kickstarters (outside of stuff I’m directly working on) right now aren’t live any long, but look incredibly cool nonetheless. I backed Into the Wyrd and Wild (which raised nearly 60k) because it looked breath-taking. A system-neutral bestiary, this book gave backers over 100 locations designed to keep your games weird and different. I can’t wait to get it.

I’m also gingerly flipping through my digital copy of The Expanse (which has some beautiful maps in it) and I can’t be happier with what I’ve seen so far. My hat goes off to Chris Pramas and the game design team over at Green Ronin.” 

Longing for Rain

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Rain

 

 

 

 There’s a place I want to be.

Let me try that again. There’s a place I intend to go.

As I gaze from my office window on this cold, grey winter morning, I am compelled by what I feel. My door is shut. A melancholic soundtrack thrums against my walls. The sky is the color of slate, the clouds are seamless, the skeletal trees swaying, and the branches shivering in the wind. I am almost alone. If such a thing as genetic memory exists, this is the kind of day my ancestors must have walked beneath. My blood lived on the smallest island off the northeastern coast of Ireland, and I have to imagine this is what the sky looked like so much more often than here in north Georgia.

If I close my eyes, I can almost go there. Not northern Ireland. Out there. Beyond my window. Beneath the clouds.

I long for the rain. However strange it might sound, the clouds, the trees, the wind, and the rain shape my most powerful memories. Not only the memories of childhood, but all the way to this very morning. I remember an early spring day during the second grade. I walked home through a cornfield having forgotten my little blue umbrella. The sky looked the same as it does today, only gloomier. The rain made a mess of me, and I loved it. I remember my first season in Georgia. In the dead of summer, for what felt like a fortnight, the clouds never departed. Storms roamed the sky at all hours, and the rain tore the earth ragged. Back then, I lived virtually alone in my house. After breakfast each morn, I wandered into the forest beyond the backyard and didn’t return until the rain had soaked me to my bones. The streams in the forest were swollen. The trees wept. The world had no colors beyond green and brown and grey. I was utterly alone, and I loved it.

A large part of me never returned from the woods, the cornfield, or the myriad grey skies I walked beneath. When I dream, and especially when I’m awake, most of me is still out there, still shadowed by the trees, still alone, and still happy.

This is the place I long for. I’d give up almost everything to return to it. I’d forsake football, tv, video games, movies, computers, and cell phones for it. I’d trade in my truck for a dinghy. I’d turn over my neatly-trimmed lawn to the wilderness. I’d set aside dinners at fancy restaurants, slugs of ancient scotch, and long stretches of hot, sunny, beautiful Georgia weather. It’s not a specific location I desire, nor a vague, fantastical, unrealistic dream. The rain is a state of mind I need. I need it. I need the clouds. I need the thunder. SAD (seasonal affective disorder) isn’t something I suffer from. Give me long stretches of sunless sky, and you’ll see a happier J Edward than ever you knew. Actually, you probably won’t see me at all, but you can rest assured what my state of mind will be.

I know I’m not alone in this. Perhaps my waking dream is somewhat more all-consuming than yours, but no matter. Close your eyes and dwell in silence for a short while, and maybe you’ll see the forest, the house, the sandy shore, the mountains, or the people you wish you could return to. Where your desire lives is not nearly as important as how you intend to get back to it. It’s a feeling more than a place, an emotion more than a fixed point in time.

There’s a place I intend to go. Perhaps not today or tomorrow. I’ve a child to raise and bills to pay. I’ve resources to gather, plans to perfect, books to finish, and research to do. But no matter how long it takes, I’ll get there. It’s a bucket list of one. It’s more sacred to me than writing or possessions. Honestly, if I get where I want to be, I won’t need half of what I have now, and my writing will likely improve tenfold. Who needs entertainment when one has imagination? All I want to do is look out my window across a vast, grey, rainswept woodland, and then walk out my door.

Maybe next week we’ll get back to skulls, medieval warfare, and world-burning warlocks. For now I think I’ll kick back and look out the window for a while. Out there lies inspiration. Out there is the rain. It’s near. I can smell it.

J Edward Neill

 

PRESS RELEASE – PATHFINDER SECOND EDITION UNVEILED!

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PATHFINDER SECOND EDITION UNVEILED! 

Preorder the trove of new releases at your favorite local game store or PathfinderSecondEdition.com.

 

REDMOND, WASHINGTON (March 6, 2019): After years of development and feedback from more than 125,000 players, Paizo Inc. has announced the August 1 launch of the second edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!

PathfinderSecondEdition.com showcases the full slate of launch titles, including the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, Lost Omens World Guide, the standalone adventure The Fall of Plaguestone, and the first of the new-six volume Age of Ashes Pathfinder Adventure Path: Hellknight Hill. It also presents the all-new Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Fall of Plaguestone, Character Sheet Pack, GM Screen, Combat Pad, and Condition Card Deck Pathfinder accessories.

Paizo Publisher Erik Mona said, “The launch slate provides everything you need to set out on a world of limitless fantasy adventure. With more than 20 years of active development and playtest feedback from more than 125,000 gamers, the new Pathfinder rules are easy to learn and exciting to master. We can’t wait to see the diverse and deeply customized characters the RPG community will create!”

 

Product Details:

Pathfinder Core Rulebook

By Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Mark Seifter

Hardcover: $59.99

Deluxe Hardcover: $79.99

 

Pathfinder Bestiary

By Paizo Staff

Hardcover: $49.99

Deluxe Hardcover: $69.99

 

Pathfinder Lost Omens World Guide

By Tanya DePass, James Jacobs, Lyz Liddell, Ron Lundeen, Liane Merciel, Erik Mona, Mark Seifter, and James L. Sutter

Hardcover: $36.99

 

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Hellknight Hill (Age of Ashes 1 of 6)

By Amanda Hamon

Softcover: $24.99

 

Pathfinder Adventure: The Fall of Plaguestone

By Jason Bulmahn

Softcover: $22.99

 

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Fall of Plaguestone

By Jason A. Engle and Jason Bulmahn

$14.99

Pathfinder: Character Sheet Pack

By Sarah Robinson and Logan Bonner

$14.99

 

Pathfinder: GM Screen

By Ekaterina Burmak and Paizo Staff

Widescreen Edition: $19.99

By Wayne Reynolds and Paizo Staff

Portrait Edition: $19.99 (paizo.com exclusive)

 

Pathfinder: Combat Pad

By Paizo Staff

$24.99

 

Pathfinder: Condition Card Deck

By Paizo Staff

$22.99

 

A full description of all Pathfinder Second Edition launch products can be found at PathfinderSecondEdition.com. Paizo will reveal the September lineup in a few weeks, so make sure to bookmark the site. Follow their live Twitch streams at twitch.tv/officialpaizo.com for the latest news.

 

About Paizo

Paizo Inc. is one of the world’s leading hobby game publishers. Since 2002, millions of players have joined the goblin army by playing the Pathfinder® and Starfinder® roleplaying games across tabletops, at conventions, at their favorite local game stores, and digitally on virtual tabletops. Paizo.com is an online retail hobby destination for millions of gamers that carries the latest products from top hobby game publishers. Players can also find the newest releases, as well as accessories like dice and maps, miniatures, T-shirts, and goblin plush toys, to quickly replenish their adventuring supplies for the next dungeon run.

PRESS RELEASE – Fallout® tabletop RPG by Modiphius!

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MODIPHIUS ENTERTAINMENT TO DEVELOP OFFICIAL
FALLOUT® TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING GAMES
Under License by Bethesda Softworks
Wastelanders, we have some incredible news!
Modiphius Entertainment announced today we are developing two unique tabletop roleplaying game products based on the Fallout® videogame franchise.
Modiphius will develop and publish two tabletop RPG titles: the first expanding on the narrative wargame experience of Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, their licensed tabletop miniatures game, while a second more traditional tabletop RPG will follow using the company’s 2d20 System.
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare game designer James Sheahan is developing a roleplaying game expansion for the miniatures game which will include new rules for character creation, creating adventures in the wasteland, and more.
Long-time fan, and head of roleplaying game development at Modiphius Entertainment, Sam Webb (Star Trek Adventures) will lead development of the 2d20 System version for a more in-depth tabletop roleplaying game experience.
The Fallout: Wasteland Warfare roleplaying game will be available Summer 2019, with the 2d20 System version following in 2020.
For more information read below or head over to:www.modiphius.com/fallout-roleplaying
MORE INFORMATION ON THE FIRST RELEASE:
FALLOUT: WASTELAND WARFARE –
TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING IN THE WASTELAND!
Designed for 1 Gamemaster and up to 6 players, aged 14 and up.
Build your crew from a wide range of factions, allies and iconic characters from the Fallout series, or even create your own, and play in apocalyptic roleplaying adventures across the wasteland.
The Roleplaying Game Expansion will let players take the popular narrative experience of the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare miniatures game even further, by expanding their collection. Alternatively, it can be played as a standalone product using free downloadable cards and a set of theFallout: Wasteland Warfare dice available from all good gaming stores.
Players explore the desolate wasteland of the Fallout universe, fight terrifying mutated creatures and encounter the denizens who make the wasteland their home. Delve into abandoned Vaults, ruined cities, strange facilities, and antiquated military bases.
Encounter Super Mutants, Raiders, Survivors, Vault Dwellers, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Institute and the Enclave, and many more! Will you roam wide and far, or build up and protect your settlement? For those who want to create their own unique characters, use the faction based Archetype cards to start your own hero and see them grow from adventure to adventure.
Includes:
  • Complete rules for tabletop roleplaying in the wasteland, based on the popularFallout: Wasteland Warfare miniatures game.
  • Full rules for character creation, archetypes and original player ideas alongside existing characters from the Fallout universe.
  • Packed with lots of full colour photographic scenes of the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare range to inspire your adventures!
  • Interact with familiar characters and creatures drawn from the world of Fallout.
  • Background on the locations and factions that players can encounter.
  • Three free adventures in a linked campaign or for use as one-shot missions to support Gamemasters.
  • Guidance for players to build their settlement as a base of operations.
  • Advice and tools to help gamemasters create and run exciting new adventures in the Fallout universe.
Watch out for the blue and gold Vault Tec Collector’s Edition or the standard Sole Survivor Edition!
Every copy of the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare Roleplaying Game will come with a code to get you a set of free downloadable files:
  • PDF copy of the rulebook
  • Character cards from Fallout: Wasteland Warfare
  • Weapon cards from Fallout: Wasteland Warfare
  • Character Archetype cards
  • Character Playmat
This is designed as an expansion for the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare Two Player Starter Box however a complete stand-alone boxed set will be available for Christmas including cards, dice, and rulebook for those who prefer everything in one package!
For more information and to sign up for more news, visit:
Best wishes,
Modiphius Entertainment
About Modiphius Entertainment
Modiphius Entertainment is a London, England-based entertainment publisher of tabletop games and related hobby merchandise. The company launched its first game, the Achtung! Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, in 2013, followed by the Mutant Chronicles RPG, DUST Adventures RPG based on Paolo Parente’s DUST universe, Infinity The Roleplaying Game based on the best-selling miniatures game, Conan, Adventures in Age Undreamed of, the official roleplaying game of Robert E Howard’s barbaric universe, Matt Leacock’s Thunderbirds, a cooperative board game based on the classic 60’s show and the official Kung Fu Panda Boardgame.
Modiphius Entertainment seeks to inspire with its tales of heroism, adventure and courage. Modiphius also works to combat global child trafficking through raising awareness of and funds for Vision Rescue. For more information, please visit www.modiphius.com.
About ZeniMax Media Inc.
ZeniMax Media is a privately owned media organization headquartered outside Washington DC with international publishing offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Moscow. Through its subsidiaries, ZeniMax Media creates and publishes original interactive entertainment content for consoles, PCs, and handheld/wireless devices. ZeniMax Media divisions include Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, Tango Gameworks, MachineGames, ZeniMax Online Studios, ZeniMax Europe Ltd., ZeniMax Asia K.K., ZeniMax Asia Pacific Limited, and ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd. For more information on ZeniMax Media, visit www.zenimax.com.
About Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks, part of the ZeniMax Media Inc. family of companies, is a worldwide publisher of interactive entertainment software. Titles featured under the Bethesda label include such blockbuster franchises as The Elder Scrolls®, Fallout®, DOOM®, QUAKE®, Wolfenstein®, Dishonored®, The Evil Within™, Prey® and RAGE®. For more information on Bethesda Softworks’ products, visit www.bethsoft.com.
About Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Game Studios is the award-winning development team known around the world for its ground-breaking work on The Elder Scrolls series and the Fallout series. Creators of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, the 2006 ‘Game of the Year’; Fallout® 3, the 2008 ‘Game of the Year’; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim®, the 2011 ‘Game of the Year’; Fallout® 4, the winner of more than 200 “Best Of” awards including the 2016 BAFTA and 2016 D.I.C.E. Game of the Year; and Fallout Shelter™, the award-winning mobile game with more than 100 million users. Bethesda Game Studios has earned its reputation as one of the industry’s most respected and accomplished game development studios. For more information on Bethesda Game Studios, visit www.bethesdagamestudios.com.

March 9-10 – The Atlanta Science Fiction and Fantasy Expo

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This weekend I will be manning a table at the annual Atlanta Science Fiction and Fantasy Expo.

Here’s the thing that makes this event so cool – it’s FREE to attend. Located inside North Dekalb Mall, you can wander in, walk through the tables and check out the various wares people are selling. Tons of creative types from artists to writers to cosplayers to comic creators and a bunch of other things I’m certainly forgetting about.

I’ll have copies of the Gilded Age Graphic Novel (something that hadn’t come back from the printers in time for last year’s Expo) as well as copies of my novels.

I’m also doing a panel with Robert Jeffrey II on the tv show Sliders at 4 PM on Saturday. So if you were a fan of the show come check us out.

Check out the website to see what other activities they have going on!

***

John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?

Click here to join John’s mailing list.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

What Happened to the Days?

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When I was a kid, life wasn’t like it is now.

Everything was different. So very, very different.

It all started on Saturday morning. Or was it Sunday? Hell if I know.

Back then, I lived at my grandparents’ house. Joliet, Illinois. Corn capital of the world. I didn’t have any bills. I didn’t care about mortgages, cars, money, or girls. I didn’t care about anything, really. Well, I mean…other than my grandparents.

I was seven-years old. Life was good.

No, not just good. Life was f**king idyllic.

Back then, unlike now, I was happy as a clam to wake up at 5AM. Before sunrise? Yeah, I was up. Before everyone else in the entire city? Yep. You bet. It’s not like I had to commute to work. Or commute to anywhere. I had absolutely no plans for my life.

None. Zero. Zip.

F**king idyllic.

What about school? Well, what about it? I didn’t dread school back then. I mean, we had hour-and-a-half recesses back then! And long lunches. And small classrooms. And kickball, lots of kickball.

And you know what?

The world felt right. Life was easy. My deepest worries were which brand of cereal I would eat, what kind of candy my grandma kept hidden in the dresser, and whether or not we had lemonade in the fridge. In hindsight, I think I could’ve lived ten centuries in that life and never questioned it.

It wasn’t just that I was having fun. Or that I had the truest form of freedom. Or that my grandma made pancakes every morning for breakfast.

No. It was something else.

It was in the air. In the water. In the clouds, the trees, and the giant stalks of corn blowing in the field behind our house.

It was in the snow. It was hidden in our spooky garage. It lived in the cracks in the sidewalks which ran between our house and playground at the street’s end.

It was pure f**king joy.

Sometimes, when I’m lying in my bed just after waking in the morning…

Or when I’m out walking in the woods with no one else near…

Or when I’m driving at night, no music playing, nothing but me, the lines on the highway, and the stars wheeling…

I can still remember.

I can remember being in elementary school. Sometimes, just sometimes, my grandfather or my dad would show up in the middle of class. To the other kids and to the teachers, it must’ve seemed bizarre. But my grandpa or my dad would say something like, ‘Jeremy’s leaving school for the day.’ The teacher would protest, but moments later, much to everyone’s shock, I’d be sitting in the car, windows down, the world rushing past. Why’d I get to leave early? Sometimes it was to drive up to Chicago to see a Cubs’ game. Other times we’d ride out to the countryside, out in the spaces between cities (back when such things existed) and we’d just drive. Just ride toward freedom.

No goals.

No needs.

Just us and the wind.

And I swear, every once in a while, I can close my eyes and feel that same wind on my face. It doesn’t feel like adult wind. It’s kid-wind. It’s otherworldly. It’s f**king sorcery. Know what I mean?

But it wasn’t just the wind. See, back then I played baseball. Not the super-competitive, worried-about-my-fastball-velocity stuff I worried about when playing semi-pro ball as an adult. No, not at all. On Saturday mornings (usually cloudy, misty, and cool in the Midwestern springs) my grandma would drive me out to the ballpark. I’d meet a few coaches and plenty of kids, and we’d play ball under the racing clouds. Sometimes it would rain. Sometimes it’d even storm. But most of the time we’d run around out there on those green, green fields for what felt like days. How long did it really last? I don’t know…maybe a few hours every Saturday. But it felt like forever to us kids.

Forever.

And if I close my eyes, I can still smell the grass. I can still see those clouds. I’m almost there. God, how free we were. How I miss being so free of worldly care.

In remembering it, in traveling backward through my modern adult mind, these things are just not the same. Not quite. The grass back then was kid-grass. The clouds were magic. I try to go back there in my heart, but I can’t. It’s too far away. Those days lie across an ocean of time. And if I think about it too long, it feels tragic. I could almost curl into a ball and weep with my full-grown eyes until they’re empty.

How many of these moments can I remember?

Almost all of them.

The whir of my grandparents air-conditioning (one of those in-window metal boxes which blasted frigid air into our kitchen.)

The roar of my grandfather’s lawnmower, a beastly thing which terrified me.

My grandmother’s voice lulling me to sleep.

The sound of wiffle balls flying off my plastic bat and landing in the cornfield.

The mournful, but achingly soulful winter wind buffeting our tiny house.

The time I was sick for seven days on the couch.

The way Halloween seemed to last hours and hours…and hours.

The thousand times I woke up early, treated myself to two bowls of Captain Crunch, and watched cartoons while nestled on the floor in front of the TV…all before the sun had even dared to think of rising.

It never ends, this spiral of memories. I’m betting it’s the same for most of you.

When I think back to these moments, they are far, far away. Not thirty years, but thirty centuries in my weary adult heart. And that’s the tough part. It doesn’t matter how hard I ache for them, they escape me. They existed in a world before bills, before jobs, before assignments, grades, and homework. They were king long before late fees, back taxes, damaged friendships, and shattered hearts.

These things were pure.

No, not just pure. Sacred.

And how many things are sacred? Really and truly? So, so few.

We live under great burden these days, don’t we? Isn’t that what life is? Heavy. Hard. Expensive. Go ahead. Count the cost of all your pain, all your loneliness, and all your struggles. You’ve survived, obviously, since you’re reading this, but you’re far, far removed from your freedom as a child. Aren’t you?

The price of our great technological advancement? The cost of convenience? It’s greater than we know. I can see it in my son. He’s seven now (God, how quickly they grow up!) but his childhood is nothing like mine. He carries weight…already. He knows things of which I was ignorant at his age. So many things.

He knows about bills. About politics. And divorce. About broken hearts.

And for as much as I’d like to shield him, my effort would be useless. I can no more stifle his knowledge than I can stop the sun from rising tomorrow.

The loss of innocence is a quick thing. Quick…and silent…and irreversible. And perhaps even tragic.

And so I hope, hope beyond hope, actually, that when you close your eyes and dream of your faraway days, the green grasses of your childhood, and of your grandma’s pancakes (hopefully she made them) your memories are sharp. I hope, if only for a moment, you can go there. That you can forget what it’s like being an adult.

And that for one moment in your mind, every so often, you can be a kid again, and your heart is whole…

…and unbreakable.

*

J Edward Neill writes fiction and philosophy books, and he usually makes them tragic.

 

Kickstarter’s Zine Quest and Some Great Zines!

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In November 2018, Kickstarter announced their upcoming [at the time] February initiative, Zine Quest. Since then, life has been about maintaining my schedule while preparing and running two RPG zines for the initiative, POWERED by the DREAMR and Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e (with John McGuire and Leland Beauchamp). While PbtD has funded, LLL continues until this Saturday. As a wrap up to my first two Kickstarters, I decided to reach out to some of my fellow Zine Questers to ask what RPG zines on Kickstarter that they’re interested in reading/playing? What follows are their responses.

NOTE One: I asked each contributor separately, so they didn’t know that they’d be together in the article. Thus, when they praise each other’s games, it’s genuine.

NOTE Two: I specifically asked each commenter to avoid “anything lame like false praise of my KS project. While I’d take a shout out, I want your honest recommendation(s).” I say this because some of these knuckleheads recommended my project and, while I’m flattered, I don’t want it to seem like it’s nepotism (it’s more like inept-ism… or maybe they genuinely like them).

D.I.R.G.Ezine by Sean Hillman, Amanda Makepeace, Andrea Fornero, Rachel Quinlan, Nadia Heller, Dawn Gilreath, Paige Leitman, Erica Frank, and Christos Floratos

Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 10:04 AM EST.

“An RPG-zine based on encouraging diverse ideas and diverse creators. The focus will be on world building, design, and art.”

Sean Hillman recommends:

“Okay, Love’s Labour’s Liberated, for reals. I think the approach is exactly the kind of mechanics that support rich RP campaigns.

synthesis. Just the premise seems incredible and a zine full of mini-rpgs is perfect for my own indie tastes.

And finally, Girl Underground. I mean, what?! The premise of this zine seems fantastic, something my little girl could play. I am also curious about how it will meet expectations after doing so darn well.” [NOTE: Girl Underground has over 1,100 backers and over $12,000 as of this writing with 4 days to go.]

Harrowings From The Rime! by Drew Cochran

Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 2:19 PM EST.

“An RPG Zine to steal your soul!”

Drew Cochran recommends:

“Hey! I am the creator of The Epic of Dreams RPG, and the ringleader for the Harrowings From the Rime OSR Zine. There are so many legit projects happening in this movement, it’s a lot to take in. Three zines I’m really hyped about are What Happened at Wyvern Rock?, POWERED by the DREAMR, and Other Magic.

What Happened at Wyvern Rock has a great premise. The aliens and 50’s era superstitions mixed with the medieval setting has so many possibilities. The best part about this zine to me, so far, is simply the execution and art style. The specific way they’re tackling this fusion wets my hunger like nothing else. And it’s going to be 64 PAGES! They’re mad, and I love it. Can’t wait.

POWERED By The DREAMR is being made by my friend, Egg! I have been able to participate in a handful of PbtA games, and I love the overall design. DREAMR is great because it fuels poetic collaboration in roleplaying, which is one of the major themes in my own game, The Epic of Dreams. Anything that is able to elicit those inspired moments in roleplay automatically gets my support. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the class abilities turn out! Dream sorcery for DAYS!

Other Magic hits me in those same places. I have come to abhor the understanding of what magic is inside of mainstream gaming- buttons of power, on demand and without cost. Much of The Epic of Dreams tackles bringing the spirit of mysticism back into tabletop gaming, and Other Magic’s approach makes me truly excited! I can’t wait to see what traditions and sources they use for their rituals, and how they translate those into the OSR!”

RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman by Jacob DC Ross / Thunderegg Productions

Ends: Wed, March 6 2019 3:26 PM EST.

“A OSR-themed RPG zine with stats for centaurs, minotaurs and all of the beastmen you’ll ever want. Includes minis for play!”

Jacob DC Ross recommends:

“I actually really am looking forward to your zines, especially POWERED by the DREAMR. I adore hacks of Powered by the Apocalypse.

For POWERED by the DREAMR, it looks like the perfect system to portray a delve into the most mysterious parts of the psyche. I really can’t wait to see what stories I can tell with it.

The other zine I really want to play is Girl Underground: I have a unique fondness for Alice in Wonderland. Girl Underground looks to be the ideal intersection of Lewis Carroll and roleplaying.”

Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze by Justin Ryan Isaac

Ends: Fri, March 8 2019 3:28 PM EST.

“An alcohol related zine for use with 5th edition fantasy”

Justin Ryan Isaac recommends:

“This was a rough one considering I’ve backed or am backing 18 Zine Quest participants… That being said, these are the two I’m most excited to run/read/play.

Dino Wranglers. I love that Dino Wranglers is an easily accessible and inclusive in design, but still looks really rad and epic. I want a game I can teach to the kids at my library.

Draugr & Draculas. Josh is putting the bite back in vampires and giving stats to both Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory. To top it off the book is going to discuss making deals with the Devil and includes undead vikings!”

synthesis. by Riley Rethal

Ends: Wed, March 13 2019 2:34 PM EST.

“a #zinequest full of mini-rpgs about metatextuality, perspective, and creating new meanings.”

Riley Rethal recommends:

“I’m very excited for my friend Erika Shepherd’s zine, Exodus, a game about trans angels on a road trip that uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system. The campaign will have just ended by the time this article goes up, but you can still get the pdf at fadingroots.itch.io/exodus!

As for campaigns that are still going, I just backed Dino Wranglers, another token economy game written specifically with kids and neurodiversity in mind, which is perfect for me because I work as the ttrpg specialist at a summer camp where a lot of the campers are neurodivergent.”

  • Exodus ended by the time this article went live.
  • Dino Wranglers ends Thu, March 28 2019 11:08 AM EST.

The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest by Eric Bloat / Bloat Games

Ends: Thu, March 21 2019 8:00 PM EST.

“2 issue Setting for Untold Adventure and other White Box based OSR RPGs.”

Eric Bloat recommends:

“Casket Land: This occult/weird west zine is a full game packed into the pages of a zine. The game is engine is Powered by the Apocalypse, which I’m not a huge fan of, but the writing, layout and killer high-contrast black and white art were enough to get me to back it. Just check out the example pages on the it’s campaign page and you’ll see that this zine is just dripping with flavor and style.

Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is an alcohol related zine for use with any 5th edition fantasy, which I’ll convert it’s content to OSR for games, but I’m really looking forward to this one. There’s going to be rules for the condition: intoxicated, new weapons and equipment, magic spells and magic items, maybe just maybe I’ll get to make that Jackie Chan Drunken Master Monk I’ve always wanted to play!

A Pound of Flesh is a zine module for the Sci-Fi Horror OSR RPG Mothership, which itself was also a zine. Mothership was a modern marvel of modern layout and game design and so I was really excited to see what all A Pound of Flesh would bring to the table. Plus, it’s being written by Chance Phillips, a rising star in the ranks of the OSR, who’s done some really great stuff for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Love’s Labour’s Liberated – Cavaliers, Enchanters and Magic Items for 5e fills a void that is quite overlooked in roleplaying games, romance. A significant portion of fantasy fiction is dedicated to this genre but it’s definitely overlooked in the gaming materials.

Dead Halt is the perfect project for the Kickstarter Zine Quest initiative. You take a young, talented and energetic creative, a unique, wacky way-out-there concept, and mix with a retro-sci-fi setting/scenario and have the perfect kind of material to create an rpg related zine. I was onboard from very early in the campaign and I’m telling you the stuff this group is coming just continues to impress me more and more. Plus, I just love the word: ClunkPunk. ‘Nough Said.”

Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e by John McGuire, Leland Beauchamp, and Egg Embry

Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST

“Cavaliers, Enchanters, Magic Items, the ideals of Chivalry, the power of Enchantment, and the magic of love deserve a place in your 5th Edition fantasy campaign.”

POWERED by the DREAMR, a PbtA RPG #ZineQuest by Egg Embry

NOTE: POWERED by the DREAMR (a Powered by the Apocalypse zine) by Egg Embry is available through the Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e Kickstarter campaign.

“Dreamrs, we are such stuff as dreams are *Powered* on, and our little life is rounded *by the Apocalypse*. Complete PbtA RPG in a zine.”

Egg Embry recommends:

“My friends.

Eric Bloat is expanding his OSR horizons again. This time, you get to play Amazons. The art is perfect, the concept is the right amount of bringing classical stories forward, it’s OSR, something Eric (literally) wrote several books on, and it’s waiting for you – The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest.

Drew Cochran’s Harrowings From The Rime! is an arctic setting that will make every OSR a colder place to play in. I’m eager to play in the frozen lands where the enemies and elements compete to see which is deadlier!

Sean Hillman is bringing new voices into gaming through D.I.R.G.Ezine. This one is exciting because I game with Sean (he lives in metro Atlanta) and it includes work from Dawn Gilreath, another gamer in our group, and the Tessera Guild’s own award winning artist, Amanda Makepeace. It’s going to shine!

Justin Ryan Isaac is one of the newest, smartest creators starting in OSR. He’s doing a 5e zine about booze and, as his first project, it’s more than finding its audience! Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is humorous and useful (cause Drink & Dragons is real) so this zine will be what he’s known for until his “big” work arrives.

Riley Rethal and I have talked a bit since I found synthesis. We discussed her ambitions to do a long-form RPG using a favorite property, and the cliff note ideas she shares are the perfect tone for the project. The excitement around that work, the zine, and RPG in general, is infectious and I know it will make synthesis a win! For the zine, the concept, multiple succinct RPGs, speaks to me as it gives you a variety of options to play and, I feel, it will open up new avenues of design through sheer originality.

Jacob DC Ross is adding beastmen and miniatures to your OSR game, and, if you’re a publisher, stock art to your library. I love books/zines of monsters, so that’s a win. Adding the minis makes it even better. But, as an individual with two zines coming out, RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman is an excellent return on my investment as a publisher. Looking at the sample art, I’m excited about this!

From OSR to 5e to eclectic to diverse, these are some of the zines I’m eager to dive into!”