PRESS RELEASE: Battle Box Dice Roller: Reclaiming Time in Tabletop RPGs

Kickstarter coming soon for dice-rolling aid

Coming soon to Kickstarter is the Battle Box Dice Roller, the biggest improvement to dice-rolling at the table since the invention of the dice tower. Most tabletop RPGs require rolling multiple dice for attacks, modifiers, damage, and bonus damage sources. The Battle Box lets players roll them all at once for each attack, potentially saving 15 seconds or more per player per turn. It also provides a convenient place to note dice-roll modifiers, reducing the amount of time spent cross-referencing or double-checking character sheets. Over the course of a single combat-heavy game session, that can add up to nearly half an hour.

Designed by a D&D player for D&D and other tabletop RPG players, the Battle Box is a transparent plastic box with 5 compartments to roll dice in, and a slot on the lid where a ½” (~12.7 mm) high strip of paper with labels can be inserted. No special materials are needed. A strip cut off the edge of a standard sheet of paper and labeled by hand will work, making updates for use with multiple characters and changes over time a snap. The paper is held in a slot by a pair of tabs that go over it, plus small nubs at each end to keep it from sliding out of place easily.

A typical D&D player might label the box as such:

Attack d20+5 | Adv D20+Bless d4 | 1d6+4 piercing | 1d6 poison | 3d6 sneak attack

This rolls all dice for an attack at one time, separated by type and labeled by the player for easy accounting when dealing with enemies with resistances or vulnerabilities to specific damage types. The label also removes the need to cross-reference to a character sheet to determine what needs to be added to the to-hit or damage rolls.

Players in non-D&D systems can label this however they want for easy use when rolling 2d10 to as a d100, or whatever other dice combinations are needed. The individual compartments easily accommodate up to 4 dice each.

Designer Jonathan Hightower explains it like this:

“I have a lot of fun running my Dungeons & Dragons games, especially higher-level games where there’s a lot going on and a lot of attacks being thrown around. I typically have larger party of five to six players. I noticed that it would usually take time for people to pick out and roll the appropriate dice to attack, then cross-reference to their character sheet, then roll again for damage and cross-reference again to see what to add.

Even for someone who rolls all of their dice at once, separating out three or four different types of results, like attack versus regular damage versus damage from being a holy weapon versus the weapon also being on fire takes time. I tried to figure out how to make things more efficient, so we could spend more time playing and less time waiting on dice-rolling and math, and this was the result. It’s a simple concept, but I couldn’t find anything like it on the market.”

Design work for the Battle Box is complete, and a US-based manufacturer has been selected. The Kickstarter is expected to launch in June 2021. The pre-launch page can be followed at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/battlebox/battle-box-a-dice-rolling-aid

PRESS RELEASE: Symbaroum for 5E on Kickstarter April 13

Symbaroum for 5E Coming to Kickstarter April 13

Sign Up to be Notified!

The acclaimed world of Symbaroum has enticed and fascinated fans of tabletop roleplaying games since the launch in 2016.  Now this dark and mysterious world welcomes new adventurers, with an adaptation for 5E of the Symbaroum Player’s Guide, Game Master’s Guide and Bestiary.

The Kickstarter campaign will start April 13 at 3pm CET/9am US Eastern, and will offer a wide range of pledge levels, spanning from digital-only to an exclusive three-piece Collector’s Edition.

Of course, there will be numerous stretch goals to unlock, to grant extra value to the pledges of everyone supporting the project. Follow the link below to to register for news and notifications, and you will not miss the grand opening!

ABOUT SYMBAROUM
At the heart of Symbaroum lies the dark forest of Davokar that calls out to be explored, for the trees are covering the remnants of an empire which fell into ruin long ago. But the road into its depths lays far from open and the shadows beneath the foliage are fraught with danger.

Join the adventure in this brand-new 5E adaptation of the dark fantasy game Symbaroum. Explore the vast forests in the hunt for treasures, lost wisdoms, and fame. Seek out the barbarian clans to trade or plunder. Establish your base of power among princes, guilds, or rebellious refugees in the capital. And try and survive encounters with trolls, dark-minded beasts, and undead warlords.

But always remember the warnings spoken by the wardens of the forest. Tread carefully and do not disturb the ruins of old, for ancient evil stirs in its sleep.

The horrors of Davokar are about to awaken…

Ruins of Symbaroum 5E Teaser Trailer – Soon on Kickstarter!
What to Expect

Optional Rules: To emphasize the dark fantasy nature of the setting, new rules for traveling and rests, social challenges, magic, and Corruption are introduced. Alignments are (as a default) removed from play.

New Origins: Aside from familiar folks such as humans, elves, and dwarves, the Symbaroum game world lets you create PCs and NPCs who are changelings, ogres, goblins, trolls and even a particular form of undead.

New Classes: The Ruins of Symbaroum Player’s Guide presents the classes Captain, Hunter, Mystic, Scoundrel and Warrior – each with between four and seven approaches/sub-classes, and all of them with customized features up to lvl20.

Try It Now!
Since about six months back, there is a 109-page condensed Symbaroum 5E PDF available for free download from DriveThruRPG. It was designed as a proof of concept – meant to provoke a reaction from potential players, from within the established Symbaroum community as well as from the broader family of tabletop roleplaying gamers. And the response has been amazing!

With this free PDF, you can try out Ruins of Symbaroum:

  • Setting introduction, including a map of the game world
  • Customized rules for Shadow, Corruption and Rest
  • Two new origins (Goblin and Human) with traits and backgrounds
  • Three new classes (Mystic, Scoundrel, Warrior) with four new approaches
  • The tutorial adventure The Promised Land, introducing the setting & new rules
  • Four pre-made lvl 1 player characters
  • The bonus scenario Blight Night and updated lvl 2 PCs
Join our adventures on the Free League Youtube and Twitch!
Twitch www.twitch.tv/freeleaguepublishing
Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/FreeLeaguePublishing
This Weeks Streaming Schedule
Tuesday March 30 at 9pm CET/3pm EDT
Coriolis: Mercy of the Icons Actual Play
Brother Ramas gave K’Shar a secret communicator. What conspiracy will be revealed, or is it just a way for the Samaritans to track down our pesky crew?
https://www.twitch.tv/freeleaguepublishing 

Wednesday March 31 at 5pm CET/11 am EDT
FREE LEAGUE MONTHLY UPDATE!
Join Free League CEO & co-founder Tomas & Youtube-maestro Doug for the monthly update on all things Free League! The Q&A includes the latest about Symbaroum, ALIEN, The One Ring & more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euaRMKHoyLw

New Videos

Tabletop Gaming Spring Showcase 2021: Free League Publishing
Our very own Tomas talks about what’s coming up for Free League this year!
Find out more about Tales From The Loop – The Board Game, ALIEN, Twilight: 2000, The One Ring, Vaesen & Symbaroum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_46-nIoFk 

Symbaroum: Alberetor – The Haunted Waste Video Q&A
Brave adventurer, find out more about Alberetor – The Haunted Waste, the coming adventure in the Chronicle of The Throne of Thorns, for the praised dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Symbaroum. Co-creator and lead writer Mattias delves deep into the new adventure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=layopk9Ehog

Playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games Online
Want to go on adventures without having to leave the comfort & safety of your home?
Find out how to play tabletop roleplaying games with your friends online here.
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Copyright © 2021 Free League Publishing, All rights reserved.

PRESS RELEASE: Take to the clouds with Sky Islands

Aether Studios has set a new standard for STL publishers of tabletop gaming. SKY ISLANDS, the studios 3rd Kickstarter, takes fans above the clouds and into the steampunk metropolis of Aethertowne. To celebrate the launch, they are giving away a free 3d printable skyship, The Corsair, to all who check out the campaign on Kickstarter.

Studio co-founder Will Walker said of the project: “Our team has been working on this project for almost 3 years. Colin Christenson, our cofounder, started this project in 2018 shortly after we founded the studio. Along the way he helped his wife Liz bring their son Alex into the world. As our studio has grown, so has little Alex. All of us at Aether Studios are committed to making this project a success for him.”

SKY ISLANDS is filled with 3d printable terrain for cliff peaks that reach above the clouds, cities of steam, and skyships to pierce the heavens. The Kickstarter includes hundreds of models, including 30 miniatures in the core set. All of the models print without supports.

This is Aether Studios 3rd Kickstarter. Their two previous Kickstarter projects dealt with Swamp and Jungle settings from the World of Aach’yn series. Those two previous efforts raised a combined $40,000 for the studio and their design partners. Those numbers appear well on the way to being dwarfed by the current campaign, which generated over $10,000 on the first day.

The Kickstarter features several lines of miniatures, including a diverse human-birdfolk tribe, cosmopolitan miniatures for the city, and elemental creatures of sky, rock, and air. To cap off the miniatures in the core set, they also have a giant Cloud Dragon from Greek sculptor Nasos Maloudis

“This is the biggest project I’ve ever worked on” said Nasos Maloudis, the primary miniature sculptor for the Kickstarter. “The opportunity to bring so much of our best work to our fans and make them happy is why we do this.”

You can check out the Kickstarter and get the Corsair skyship free at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aetherstudios/sky-islands-3d-printable-terrain

PRESS RELEASE: Blacklist Games Announces Lasting Tales

“A cooperative tabletop miniatures game for 1-5 players by Mark Latham.”

Los Angeles, CA – Feb 3, 2021.

The world of Aetha was free of evil throughout its history. Since the Unthroning—when the gods were bound to the world through divine treachery—the power of Light was conceived, and in turn the Shadow was born, ushering in the malign force of evil to corrupt and inspire those mortal beings desperate enough to give in to its call. It is now the dawn of a new age, and the lands of Aetha are held under sway by the new struggle between good and evil, Light and Shadow. The call to adventure is ringing out louder than ever, and those brave enough to stand against the legions of Shadow will be the heroes of lasting tales for ages to come.

Blacklist Games is thrilled to announce Lasting Tales, a cooperative tabletop miniatures game for 1–5 players. Designed by acclaimed game designer Mark Latham (The Walking Dead: All Out War, The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms), Lasting Tales lets players create their own heroes and embark on an epic campaign, linking game sessions together to create a rich story set in a classic fantasy world.

Inspired by pen-and-paper roleplaying games and tabletop skirmish games, Lasting Tales is a fully cooperative experience in which every player is the hero in their own tale, battling the enemy on their own or with their friends, and crafting their legend through the variety of events they’ll stumble upon during their journeys.

The Lasting Tales book contains all the rules you need to play the game, including hero creation, adversary profiles, campaign rules, scenarios, as well as a full narrative campaign—or Tale—and pre-made heroes to get new players right into the action! A game of Lasting Tales will also require a handful of standard six-sided dice, a tape measure or ruler, and miniatures. Fortunately, Lasting Tales is a miniatures-agnostic game, meaning players can use any fantasy miniatures in their collection.

Alternatively, Blacklist Games offers official miniatures for Lasting Tales in the form of our Fantasy Series miniatures line. Additionally, official Lasting Tales terrain will be available through Black Site Studios.

Lasting Tales launches its Kickstarter campaign on March 30, 2021, at 12:00pm EST and will offer exclusive price points and stretch goals for backers worldwide, as well as an optional set of compatible miniatures in the form of Fantasy: Series 2, the next in Blacklist Miniatures’ line of popular miniatures sets.

Visit https://www.blacklistgamesllc.com/lastingtales for more information and previews as we lead up to launch day.

Media Release: New to Roll20 – Dead Light and Other Dark Turns

The Call of Cthulhu release Dead Light and Other Dark Turns is now available on Roll20!

Two unsettling encounters on the road…

Dead Light and Other Dark Turns contains two scenarios for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition dealing with the theme of roadside adventure, along with six story seeds for the Keeper to expand and develop.

$14.99

Dead Light – In the classic Dead Light scenario, now revised, a chance encounter with a distressed young woman leads the investigators into the hideous aftermath of a crime gone terribly wrong.

Saturnine Chalice – In the brand-new Saturnine Chalice scenario, seeking help from a nearby homeowner after their vehicle runs out of gas traps the investigators in a house where nothing is quite what it seems.

Roll20 enhancements include :

  • All maps, handouts, art, and character sheets fully integrated and ready for the virtual tabletop.
  • Maps with GM layer information and dynamic lighting support (requires plus / pro subscription).
  • Dead Light Module (2-5 investigators plus Keeper)
  • Saturnine Chalice Module (2-5 investigators plus Keeper)
  • Scenario Seeds Addon (6 scenario seeds to help create your own scenarios)

What the Critics say about Dead Light and Other Dark Turns

“A strong, lean collection that provides a lot of high-quality playtime… a definite recommendation for keepers and players across the spectrum of experience.”
— Never Read the Latin, Review – Dead Light and Other Dark Turns.
“STYLE 5, SUBSTANCE 5 – Saturnine Chalice… is one of the best adventures of this length ever written for Call of Cthulhu, and a new favourite to pull on unsuspecting players, especially new ones… The plot will make jaws drop. It is sinister, it is devious, it is complex, it is evil. Dead Light is better than the first time, the six adventure hooks offer interesting ideas, both formulaic and exotic, and… what more does an adventure collection need to do anyway?”
— Antonios S., RPGNet Review – Dead Light and Other Dark Turns.

Play Call of Cthulhu with Roll20!

Throughout 2021 we’ll be adding more Call of Cthulhu releases to Roll20 on a regular basis. Other current titles include:

For useful tips and advice about playing Call of Cthulhu and other Chaosium games online, see our helpful Getting Started with Online Gaming guide.

PRESS RELEASE: The 13th Fleet

Starting Feb 1st on KS, The 13th Fleet is a sci-fi RPG of dark humor and treachery.

Using a standalone version of the Forged in the Dark system, it’s the story of questionable starship Captains and their dwindling supply of Redshirts trying to stay alive behind enemy lines, despite a pursuing armada and their own backstabbing.

The comedic setting and structured rules facilitate an occasionally adversarial game, where the only way Captains can relieve dangerous Stress is to cause each other Entanglements.

It’s a mix of Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series, Blades in the Dark, Paranoia, Junta, and a Mirror Mirror FASA Star Trek setting.

While ZineQuest3 rules require a black and white saddle stitched booklet, additional pledge levels include digital assets of illustrated card decks to replace several charts in the game for playing on Roll20 (like we kind of all should be). ZineQuest also stipulates that the KS campaign can only run for two weeks, so the window to back this project is relatively narrow.

I’ve included samples of the KS header, order of play, and some samples of digital assets. While ZineQuest tends to run a little NSFW, I promise that Insult card is as adult as this game gets.

The campaign is at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/639598290/the-13th-fleet

PRESS RELEASE: Under the Seas of Vodari Kickstarter Launching February 3rd, 2021

Under the Seas of Vodari Kickstarter Launching February 3rd, 2021

Dive into a world full of action and adventure set beneath the waves of Vodari or your
own 5th Edition campaign world.

Under the Seas of Vodari is Tribality Publishing’s follow-up to the successful The Seas of Vodari Kickstarter. This full-color, 200+ page book will be available in both hardcover and PDF. Gamemasters will find support to run a single adventure or entire campaign in an underwater world full of interesting locations, NPCs, factions, adventure hooks, and monsters. Players will find tons of options for creating undersea characters or equipping their surface-dwelling adventurer for a single adventure.

The Undersea World of Vodari
Long ago, in the world of Vodari, 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 civilization on a ring of islands and in the seas beneath…
Under the Seas of Vodari shares the swashbuckling inspiration of the original The Seas of Vodari book, but moves the stories underwater. You’ll find all the iconic things you expect in a fantasy setting, but the familiar becomes surprising, alien, and even terrifying.

● Dungeons are found below the waves, in the form of caves, shipwrecks, and lost temples.
● You’ll find variety and wonders, ranging from sprawling trade cities stretching from the seafloor to above the waves to the unexplored Wild Seas full of strange creatures and other dangers.
● The underwater world is a challenging environment where danger can come from any direction,
especially in the crushing pressure, frigid water, and inky darkness of the Midnight Depths.
● The most dangerous monsters are found below the waves, adapting to this alien environment in ways that will surprise and terrify players.

The undersea world holds the coral-spired homes of the vodas, the deepsea trench mines of the dwarves, the kelp forest villages of the elves, the carved seabed homes of the merfolk, and the sprawling cosmopolitan cities of Avalsi. It also has war camps full of sahuagin reavers, the trophy-marked territory of the merrow, gargantuan sea monsters, and ancient dwellers of the deeps.
Vodari’s underwater world is deep and full of people and places to visit as you leave the coast and descend through the Sunlit Seas, Twilight Waters, and Midnight Depths. The world beneath the waves is full of factions, characters, locations, and adventures. Just like The Seas of Vodari, all undersea locations are modular by nature and the book is designed for you to use as a detailed setting or to pick and choose what you like for your own game world.

What’s In the Book
Under the Seas of Vodari will provide you with tons of material to run an entire undersea campaign or just a single adventure…

An Undersea World to Explore
● A gazetteer full of factions, NPCs, locations, and adventure hooks providing you with countless
people and places for your players to interact with.

Player Options
● 12 race/lineage options including cecaelias, sea dragonborn, sea dwarves, grindylows, merfolk,
selkies, sirens, tiburons, and vodas.
● 13 subclass options including the Path of the Wild Seas, College of the Deep Dreamer, College of The Sunlit Seas, Ocean Domain, Circle of the Sea, Way of the Dancing Current, Oath of the Waves, Leviathan Hunter (Ranger), Dreadmask (Rogue), Scavenger (Rogue), and the School of Bloodbinding.
● Undersea themed backgrounds and feats.

Undersea Equipment, Vehicles, & Mounts
● Armor (seaweave, sharkskin, chitin, and more) and weapons (spearguns, harpoons, and more).
● Undersea gear, tools, trade goods, and trinkets.
● A collection of undersea vehicles which include sleds, chariots, and submersibles.
● An expanded undersea mounts list including dolphins, giant seahorses, manta rays, killer whales,
and sharks.

Magic
● New spells geared towards underwater combat and exploration for both surface-dweller and
aquatic adventurers.
● Undersea themed magic items, including powerful ancient relics.

Allies & Adversaries
● NPCs for your players to befriend as allies or face as adversaries.
● Stat blocks for 17+ undersea beasts including fish, dolphins, jellyfish, otters, seals, stingrays, and
whales.
● Monsters to challenge, amuse, and terrify your players including brain coral, deep anglers, sea
serpents, and strangling seaweed.
● Ancient and gargantuan leviathans of legend with high challenge ratings.

Gamemaster Tools
● Random tables for exploring undersea settlements and the wild seas between.
● Rules and advice for underwater combat and chases.
● Underwater hazards such as frigid water, crushing pressure, poisonous waters, air pockets,
currents, volcanoes and vents, and more.

The Sunken City of Zuroth
● Our dersea adventure designed for heroes from above or below the waves.
● Designed for levels 3 to 5 with notes for scaling provided.
Under the Seas of Vodari is already 80% complete! Everyone who backs this book will receive a copy of our 168-page Under the Seas of Vodari Quickstart Guide and won’t have to wait until the final book is ready to get started.

Visit the Under the Seas of Vodari Kickstarter page and begin your undersea adventure.

PRESS RELEASE: City of Flesh RPG Zine

City of Flesh is a tarot-based femmecore roleplay zine set in the rotting womb of a dying colossus. Launching on Kickstarter for ZineQuest3 on Thursday February 4th!

Nagara, the City of Flesh, is old and dying, and you are the only one who can ward off its Doom.

City of Flesh is a tarot-based roleplay game where you play one of the Midwives, a person imbued with primordial energy, tasked with staving off the end of the world as you know it. With your group and a tarot deck, you create the city of Nagara and its unique locations. Each session the characters inch ever closer to a Doom they’re working tirelessly to prevent, but must inevitably face as the chronicle ends.

The game has the dark horror feeling of a dungeon crawl, while focusing on mechanics that drive in-game drama and push personal stories. You’ll get embroiled in the various wars raging between guilds in the city and try to secure a bit of personal peace, before all your efforts crumble around you.

Delve into a game that takes inspiration from grimdark fantasy combining it with feminine imagery to create an immersive gore-splattered roleplay experience where you delve into the dreams of a sleeping colossus and tear through fleshy reality to make your own fate.

City of Flesh was created by Steffie de Vaan and Elizabeth Chaipraditkul. They are looking for €1,500 to bring this project to life. The zine will be 50+ pages, A5 sized, with a full colour cover and black and white interior.

Steffie de Vaan is a Dutch author and developer of role playing games and short stories. She developed the Legendlore RPG and V5: Fall of London, and has written for many other settings including Vampire the Masquerade, Changeling the Lost, Exalted, and Harlem Unbound.

Elizabeth Chaipraditkul is the owner of Angry Hamster Publishing and her new game Afterlife: Wandering Souls won an Indie Groundbreaker Award for best setting in 2020. She was the lead developer of the Crescent Empire book for 7th Sea by John Wick Presents, and has written for companies such as Onyx Path Publishing, Chaosium, and Modiphius Entertainment.

Find City of Flesh on ZineQuest3

PRESS RELEASE: New RPG Set in World of Avatar: TLA & TLoK (Magpie Games)

Magpie Games Inks Deal with ViacomCBS Consumer Products for Roleplaying Game Based On Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

Albuquerque, NM–February 03, 2021–Magpie Games has secured a multi-year licensing agreement with ViacomCBS Consumer Products to produce a tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.

“The stories of Avatar are so moving for us because they are joyous and heartbreaking,” says Mark Diaz Truman, CEO of Magpie Games. “We’re incredibly excited to bring the tales of brave benders and loyal friendships to tabletop roleplaying games; we know so many fans of both series have been waiting years for this moment! We’re also thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Asian designers like James Mendez Hodes to bring the world of Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra to life in a way that’s true to the authentic, diverse spirit of both shows.”

“We believe Magpie Games is the ideal partner to develop a roleplaying game based on Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra” says Pam Kaufman, President, Global Consumer Products, ViacomCBS. “Their commitment to supporting diverse content from diverse creators along with their exceptional game product made them the right choice to bring the world of Avatar to tabletop roleplaying games.” For other fund games to try, here you will find the aloha christmas slot game.

This roleplaying gameis a unique opportunity for fans of the show to return to a beloved setting—this time as the heroes of the story! Rising to meet their destiny, players will make characters using playbooks—templates that help players build and play compelling protagonists in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. Together they might protect local merchants from the Triple Threat Triad in Republic City, travel through a spirit portal to rescue a child taken into the Spirit World, negotiate peace between feuding communities within the Earth Kingdom, or pursue mysteries (and villains) that arise throughout their adventures!

The roleplaying game’s Core Book is slated for a February 2022 release with two supplements to follow in August 2022 and February 2023 titled Republic City and The Spirit World respectively.

Click here to learn more.

PRESS RELEASE: Backwater: Southern Gothic Horror Tabletop Roleplaying (TTRPG)

Backwater is a southern-gothic horror tabletop roleplaying game in the style of survival horror. Its Kickstarter campaign launches on January 25th, 2021 at 8:00 PM CST. In Backwater, you play as a warden—a roaming peacekeeper—in the post-apocalyptic South. You’re tasked with keeping order at civilization’s southern reach: Backwater ward, a post-apocalyptic region that spans the Old World’s Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern Arkansas. Your job is to wander among the bogs, quell conflicts between towns and families, and keep monsters at bay.

A warden encountering a swampfiend at dusk. Art by Natalie de Corsair

The game’s southern gothic genre places characters in a southern U.S. setting, where the decaying structures and deteriorating aristocratic families reflect society’s superficial values and moral degradation. Outside civilization, monstrosities—abnormally large and aggressive beasts—roam, and mysterious monsters haunt Backwater, including conventional creatures of gothic horror as well as original creatures, like Gores, skinless humanoids who hunt unsuspecting travelers at night, and Hollow Men, slow-moving humanoids covered in in fungal growths who travel in hordes.

A hungry Hollow (left) and a wounded Gore (right). Art by LA Draws.

The game system is original, and it was designed for streamlined D20 rolls, flexible yet thorough character creation, and an abundance of skills that they can use. Characters are not nearly so invincible as they are in fantasy games, and they’re not so limited as in cosmic horror. Players can choose between four types of wardens: Savants (the brains and the faces), Seekers (the explorers and thieves), Seers (the psychics and magic users), and Slayers (the ranged and melee fighters). Their wardens quickly become more proficient in skills every time they level, and they gain new abilities every four levels. Characters can also advance by completing “achievements,” minor bonuses that they gain by accomplishing specific tasks during gameplay.

Left to Right: A Seeker and her wolfhound companion, a Seer and his whisper lantern, a Savant with a book and a bonesaw, and a Slayer with a bayonet. Art by Natalie de Corsair

Pledges are rewarded with the core rulebook (interactive, hosted eBook) and early access to the Systems Reference Document (SRD). Backers can also purchase add-ons, which include the hardcover core rulebook and the Backwater Adventures modules, among other enticing items.

Links:

 

-=-=-=-

The following paragraphs are taken from the campaign page:

 

A Statement on Race and Racism

We plan to use Kickstarter funding to commission sensitivity readers to edit for racist and ableist content. Much southern gothic fiction has confronted the South’s ugly history of racism. It has sought to undermine idealized, antebellum values relating to slavery, reflecting society’s moral decay in crumbling buildings and conflict-filled families. It’s a pointed focus of more recent works within the genre, as some early literature reinforced racism in the process of confronting it. Racism is not a theme in BackwaterBackwater seeks a careful balance: to establish a setting in which everyone can comfortably roleplay, without erasing or ignoring centuries of oppression.

The American Lands emerged from the apocalypse just as racially and ethnically diverse, by modern day’s standards, especially in New Orleans where many residents descend from African American and/or Haitian, German, French, or Spanish, Vietnamese, and Native American ancestry. Many stereotypes and inequities built around skin color and regional ancestry faded after The Old World ended in Backwater—they are not built into the game. Of course, figurative ghosts of slavery and racial oppression haunt the American south as a setting, including its structures, monuments, and cemeteries. We cannot forget this history or pretend that it did not happen, and we strongly encourage game masters to carefully consider the implications of custom settings before running a game. If a game master is uncertain, we suggest they converse with their players first and use a technique like John Stavropoulos’s X-Card system to edit out uncomfortable or triggering content.

 

A Statement on Disability

Backwater departs from southern gothic fiction in its treatment of characters with deformity, disfiguration, and disabilities. Although characters with short or tall stature, missing limbs, and affected cognition are commonly represented in southern gothic literature, some fiction including southern gothic, sci-fi, and fantasy depicts deformity and disability in the style of the “grotesque,” which invites audiences to gaze with fear, pity, or disgust. A common theme in southern gothic dictates that bodily disability is an external manifestation of an inner or regional corruption of morals. More recent literature seeks to disrupt these ableist notions. We hope Backwater can do the same while representing a diversity of people with disabilities.

As in reality, the people of Backwater have disabilities; many of these disabilities are invisible; and they make people unique without necessarily defining them. Physical, cognitive, and psychological disabilities are even more ubiquitous as a result of The End and the American Lands’ harsh environment. Backwater represents a world where disability does not necessarily equate to suffering and people with disabilities are consciously represented—not only as victims and villains but also as heroes and everyday characters. We recognize that our efforts do not explicitly confront ableist notions or perform advocacy, but we do hope the game represents disability respectfully. We encourage game masters to carefully consider how/whether they incorporate these themes in Backwater, perhaps beginning a discussion with the players and ensuring that they do not accidentally represent disability or deformity as the “grotesque” of bygone art and literature. Again, a game master and participants may wish to use a method like John Stavropoulos’s X-Card system to edit out uncomfortable content.

Press Release: Grab your free preview of Crystalpunk, a magic-fueled future for D&D 5e

Grab your free preview of Crystalpunk, a magic-fueled future for D&D 5e

Plus Three Press recently announced the launch date of their upcoming Kickstarter project – Crystalpunk, a futuristic D&D campaign setting where spells, souls, demons, and infused crystals fuel brutal, unique technology. There are two free previews of Crystalpunk that you can get right now for free: a new class perfect for creating cyborgs and mutants called the Evolutionist, and a short story set within the world: the Soul Thief.

The campaign setting launches on Kickstarter February 3rd and aims to answer the question – “What would a fantasy setting look like in a dark future?” It will include a unique neo-noir world with corporate cults and magic-powered megacities, new character options including races, subclasses, spells and equipment, and everything else you’ll need to run campaigns in a magic-fuelled future. You can learn more about Crystalpunk at Plus Three Press’s website.

Media Release: New Gamemaster Month 2021 has commenced, and RuneQuest is one of the featured games

MEDIA RELEASE – for immediate release

This month is New Gamemaster Month, and we’ve joined our friends at Monte Cook Games, Evil Hat, Pelgrane Press, Arc Dream, and Atlas Games in providing a step-by-step hands-on process that guides prospective GMs up to and through their first game, with plenty of inspiration and advice along the way.

RuneQuest is Chaosium’s featured game for New Gamemaster Month. Download the RuneQuest Quickstart Rules and Adventure for free, or order a Print or POD copy with a 25% discount this month (you also get the PDF free).

Chaosium vice president Michael O’Brien told EN World:

“We’ve enjoyed taking part in New Gamemaster Month for several years now. For this time round we’re featuring our fantasy roleplaying game RuneQuest. In addition, we appreciate that now more than ever, it can be difficult for people to get together in the same place to play.

So in our New Gamemaster Month materials we’ve included some helpful information for first-time GMs who are going to do this online (on Zoom, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, etc.) We want to make a new GM’s first online experience running a game as easy and as fun as it would be at regular tabletop gaming, around a table!”

The New Gamemaster Month pitch to prospective first-time GMs is:

“Have you thought about GMing—maybe always wanted to give it a shot—but haven’t quite taken the plunge? What if we told you that by the first week in February, you could be an honest-to-goodness GM—and it’ll be easy!”New Gamemaster Month has officially kicked off:

So take a New Year’s resolution to join us, and finally make that leap into GMing! 

Contact information:

Press Release: PATHFINDER® FOR SAVAGE WORLDS COMING TO KICKSTARTER JANUARY 2021

MEDIA ALERT: MODIPHIUS ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES DECEMBER 2020 PRE-ORDER DATE FOR DUNE: ADVENTURES IN THE IMPERIUM ROLEPLAYING GAME

MODIPHIUS ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES DECEMBER 2020 PRE-ORDER DATE FOR DUNE: ADVENTURES IN THE IMPERIUM ROLEPLAYING GAME
Cover reveal heralds December pre-order and advance preview
London. 24h November. With a pre-order launching the second week of December 2020, the Dune: Adventures in the Imperium roleplaying game challenges you to take control of Arrakis and the power of the spice Melange.
Be the first to set foot on Arrakis. The Dune: Adventures in the Imperium roleplaying game takes you into a far future beyond anything you have imagined, where fear is the mind-killer so be sure to keep your wits about you. The Imperium is a place of deadly duels, feudal politics, and mysterious abilities. Noble houses constantly politic for power, influence, and vengeance in a universe where a blade can change the fortunes of millions. Build your house, carve your place in the universe, and fight for the Imperial throne. Take your characters on a journey through the worlds of the seminal Dune sci-fi book series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, inhabiting elite agents working for noble houses where mentats, swordmasters, spies, Bene Gesserit sisters, devious advisors, or even desert Fremen join together to follow your banner.
Whoever you choose to be, remember that those that control the spice control the universe.
Those who sign up to the Dune tabletop roleplaying game pre-order will be able to claim a PDF preview of the core rulebook before the Spring launch and the pre-order will be available through local retailers as well as the Modiphius webstore.
Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme (Kult, Magic: the Gathering) illustrated the stunning art cover and fans will also have the opportunity to show their allegiance to House Atreides, House Harkonnen, or the Imperial House Corrino with three special collector’s edition covers. To supplement these, you can expect a gamesmaster screen, journal, and dice set accessories with more releases for 2021 to be announced.
As we approach the pre-order, sign up to get exclusive previews of more incredible art and insight into the game at:
Join the conversation at:

Media Release: Alone Against the Tide – Chaosium releases new solo adventure for Call of Cthulhu

Here’s something new to play if you’re staying in over Thanksgiving – our latest Solo Call of Cthulhu release, Alone Against the Tide.

Buy the Alone Against the Tide PDF from Chaosium.com now, get the full price of the PDF off the physical product when it’s out in the new year (March).

SOLITAIRE ADVENTURE BY THE LAKESHORE

What has Professor Harris’ research got to do with the strange green fog enveloping the town? Who are the menacing, dark-suited men that arrived on the ferry with your investigator? And, why is a Buddhist monk visiting Esbury, a town more used to entertaining New England’s wealthy elite?

Take on the role of an investigator traveling to a remote lakeside town where strange things are happening. Decide your path through the story, and the fate of the citizens of Esbury!

Alone Against The Tide is a solo scenario. All you need is this book, and your copy of the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set or Keeper Rulebook, some dice and pencils, and you’re ready to begin your horrific trip to the lakeside town in Massachusetts!

Solo Call of Cthulhu scenarios are also perfect for playing with a friend or partner – read the story aloud, make choices, roll dice, and explore the story together!

Alone Against the Tide

Publisher: Chaosium
Ruleset: 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu
Year Released: 2020
Format: Full Color PDF
Page Count: 86
ISBN: 978-1-56882-351-5
Author: Nicholas Johnson
Cover Artist: M. Wayne Miller
Interior Artists: Doruk Golcu, Andrey Fetisov
Layout: Nicholas Nacario

PDF: $6.99
MSRP for Softcover: $14.99 (Mar 2021)

Contact information:

CHAOSIUM INC.
Michael O’Brien
mob@chaosium.com
chaosium.com

###

Our award-winning roleplaying games, boardgames, and fiction have been acclaimed as some of the most engaging and innovative of all time. For more than forty years, Chaosium Inc. has captivated gamers, readers, and mythic adventurers worldwide.The Chaosium was founded by visionary game designer Greg Stafford in 1975.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChaosiumInc
Our forums: http://basicroleplaying.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chaosium_Inc
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/chaosium
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaosium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChaosiumInc
Twitch TV: https://www.twitch.tv/chaosiuminc

Media Release: The ALIEN RPG Launched on Virtual Tabletop Platforms – Stay Alive If You Can

Free League Publishing

Free League Publishing logotype

 

​The ALIEN RPG Launched on Virtual Tabletop Platforms – Stay Alive If You Can

Free League Publishing – Oct 27, 2020 14:00 GMT

 

“I can’t lie to you about your chances, but … you have my sympathies.”

Space is vast, dark, and not your friend. Now you and your crew can explore the ALIEN universe through virtual tabletop gaming. The award-winning official ALIEN RPG was launched today on two VTT platforms: Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.

At Roll20, you can find a virtual tabletop version of the ALIEN RPG Starter Set, including all the rules you need to play and the full-length cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods, written by scifi author Andrew E.C. Gaska. On the platform you can also find the scenario Destroyer of Worlds, a sequel to Chariot of the Gods also written by Gaska and requiring only the Starter Set to play.

On Fantasy Grounds, you can find the ALIEN RPG core rulebook, a full conversion of the hardcover book of a massive 392 pages, as well as the Chariot of the Gods and Destroyer of Worlds scenarios.

All modules are fully integrated with the VTT platforms, with online maps and diagrams, player handouts ready to share, online character sheets, customized virtual dice roller, and more.

The core rulebook for the official ALIEN roleplaying game was released in December 2019 in partnership with 20th Century Studios. The game immediately sold out its first print run and swiftly entered the Top-5 list of best-selling tabletop RPGs in the fall of 2019. It won the ENNIE Award for Best Game 2020 and the People’s Choice Award for Best RPG at the UK Game Expo. The game is currently being translated into seven languages.

The award-winning Tales From the Loop RPG was the first Free League title to launch on Roll20, and the Symbaroum dark fantasy RPG is available on Fantasy Grounds. More games from the game portfolio will be launched on virtual tabletop platforms in a near future.

[For review copies or interview requests, please email to pr@frialigan.se]

GEN CON HALLOWEEN STREAM: ALIEN

Join  the Gen Con Halloween Gaming Weekend, Oct 30-31!
Watch a live play of ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game, get spooky at the Gen Con watch party, and play the Alien RPG on the Gen Con Discord. https://www.twitch.tv/gencont

Alien RPG – Review quotes:

“Move over, Dungeons & Dragons, Swedish publisher Free League has released Alien: The Roleplaying Game, and it is as great as it is terrifying.”
–TheGamer

“The real horror of Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi flick Alien has always been the creeping, slithering fear of the unknown. It’s impressive, then, that Free League has been able to craft a tabletop roleplaying game that can conjure up that same pitch-dark dread from the safety of your kitchen table.”
–Dicebreaker

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

Our game portfolio include the official ALIEN The Roleplaying Game (Gold ENNIE for Best Game 2020), the Nordic horror roleplaying game Vaesen, the pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG Mörk Borg, the alternate ’90s Things from the Flood, the alternate ’80s Tales from the Loop (winner of five ENNIE Awards 2017, including Best Game), the sandbox retro fantasy Forbidden Lands (winner of four ENNIE Awards 2019), the postapocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero (Silver ENNIE for Best Rules 2015), the space opera Coriolis – The Third Horizon (Judge’s Spotlight Award 2017) and the dark fantasy game Symbaroum.

We have also published the art books Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood and The Electric State by internationally acclaimed visual artist Simon Stålenhag, as well as the illustrated edition of the Lovecraft classic The Call of Cthulhu by the praised French artist François Baranger.

Website: www.freeleaguepublishing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FriaLigan
Instagram: http://instagram.com/frialigan/
Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/FrialiganSe
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FriaLigan
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/freeleaguepublishing

 

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Media Release: Community Ambassadors appointed for Chaosium’s Miskatonic Repository and Jonstown Compendium

Chaosium has appointed Community Ambassadors for its Miskatonic Repository and Jonstown Compendium community content programs on DriveThruRPG.

The Miskatonic Repository is Chaosium’s platform on DriveThruRPG for independent creators of gaming material for the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game. It was launched in December 2018. The Jonstown Compendium, established in December 2019, fulfils the same function for RuneQuest and Greg Stafford’s world of Glorantha.

The success of these fan-driven programs is evident by their thriving communities of creators and the rapidly growing number of titles available, with more added every week.

Allan Carey (below left) is the Miskatonic Repository Community Ambassador and Nick Brooke (below right) is the Jonstown Compendium Community Ambassador.

On Chaosium’s behalf, they will act as a first point-of-call and helpful sound board for prospective Miskatonic Repository and Jonstown Compendium content creators.

They can provide advice with the various aspects of creating and publishing a community content work, including ideas generation, IP issues, writing, editing, art direction, layout, publication, and preparing a title for print-on-demand. They can also direct queries to the appropriate person at Chaosium or DriveThruRPG if need be.

Chaosium vice president Michael O’Brien said:

“Nick was recently awarded the Greg Stafford Memorial Award for Gloranthan Fandom for 2020 for his passionate advocacy of the Jonstown Compendium. We’re happy to formalise that advocacy with this appointment.

And Allen is a highly experienced and award-winning content creator with a deep and dedicated love of the Call of Cthulhu RPG.

We are pleased to have both on board to work directly with our growing band of independent writers and artists at DriveThruRPG.”

What is the Miskatonic Repository?

Under The Miskatonic Repository community content license, Call of Cthulhu fans can make their own work for use with the game line available to the public, using guidelines, templates, and art provided by Chaosium.

What is the Jonstown Compendium?

Under the Jonstown Compendium community content license, fans of Greg Stafford’s world of Glorantha can sell and share their own material on DriveThruRPG.

Check out the Jonstown Compendium Guidelines and start creating!

Contact information:

CHAOSIUM INC.
Michael O’Brien
mob@chaosium.com
chaosium.com

###

Our award-winning roleplaying games, boardgames, and fiction have been acclaimed as some of the most engaging and innovative of all time. For more than forty years, Chaosium Inc. has captivated gamers, readers, and mythic adventurers worldwide.The Chaosium was founded by visionary game designer Greg Stafford in 1975.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChaosiumInc
Our forums: http://basicroleplaying.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chaosium_Inc
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/chaosium
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaosium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChaosiumInc
Twitch TV: https://www.twitch.tv/chaosiuminc

PRESS RELEASE: Happy Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Happy Black Speculative Fiction Month!

October is Black Speculative Fiction Month and we’re proud to celebrate because Black Speculative Fiction is our lifeblood. Started by a Black woman on a mission to amplify marginalized voices in speculative fiction, Mocha Memoirs Press was founded with the purpose of publishing those mainstream presses often ignore. From groundbreaking Afrocentric horror anthologies to Afro-Futurism and Afro-Fantasy, we are honored to offer a a wide variety of Afrocentric literary delights as rich and varied as the African Diaspora itself.

As part of our Black Speculative Fiction Month celebration, we’ll be sharing blog posts, stories, editorials, and content celebrating the works of Black authors. We have two new titles coming out this month: Alice and SLAY.

As part of our Black Speculative Fiction Month celebration, we’ve marked down all of our Black Speculative Fiction titles to $2.99 for eBooks and 20% off paperbacks with code BLACK20.
Finding ways to take our presence into the virtual realm has been another focus for us here at Mocha Memoirs Press. From virtual interviews and convention panels to YouTube channels, MMP Authors have been boldly stepping forward to embrace new ways of connecting with our fans.
🔊 The Old Man Wade Show featuring several authors and stories from SLAY.
🔊  Retro Ridoctopus features six SLAY authors and excerpts from their stories.
🔊  Amalga-Cast Podcast: Episode 10: Vampire Stories that SLAY!
ICYMI: Catch up on all of the SLAY Authors Slaying 11 Questions with Milton Davis.
SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire gets a shout-out from HWA’s New York chapter.

Author Spotlight: Alledria Hurt

1. What is your favorite coffee shop beverage?
Coffee with room for cream. I don’t use sugar.

2. What does Black Speculative Fiction mean to you? What advice would you give to other Black writers struggling to break into the genre? 
Black Speculative Fiction means black people as heroes and villains in their own stories instead of just add-ons to someone else’s. My advice to new writers is keep writing. You don’t fail unless you give up.

3. What is your favorite type of zombie and why?
28 Days Later rage zombies. They had an interesting premise and a defined life span.

4. If you could have dinner with one person (living or dead), who would you invite?
Stephen King. I just want to meet the man once before he is here no longer.

5. What do you love most about horror; what inspires you to write it?
The visceral gut reaction.

6. What is your favorite horror movie or tv show?
Saw.

7. What are you working on now?

Currently writing a cyberpunk novel called “Dreamless.”
🔊  There’s Stories Everywhere Podcast, Episode 2.15 Alledria Hurt’s “Ujima”
Excerpt:

FROM THIRTEEN STREET TO CENTRAL TOOK
about a half hour. Ethan tried, as usual, not to think too hard about the slime on the walls. At least he had gone mostly nose-numb to the smell.

They lived in these tunnels now, sharing living space with rats and the occasional sewer gator. Yes, there were actual sewer gators. The myth was real. Kinda like the zombies. The group members walked the path automatically. They didn’t have to look for the painted landmarks or the changed
names. It was instinctual, like homing, allowing them to get back home even after grueling hours waiting and baking as they manned a selected kill zone and encountered a murder
on what had become its turf. Dale, in one of her better moods, made jokes about how humans were actually becoming the Mole people from Mars. No matter how accurate the joke was, Ethan still could not find it in himself to laugh.

Ethan looked back, checking Alice’s location. She walked, still at a somewhat slow pace, occasionally looking around. Every so often a bit of light caught her eyes and he could
have sworn the colors switched sides. The green was on the left now and the hazel on the right. Shaking his head, he told himself he had gotten the sides wrong to start with.

“Don’t stare,” she said.

Ethan started. Alice stared straight through him, her expression a little warmer than belligerent.

“I wasn’t staring.” He didn’t remember staring, only looking. There was a difference. When he brought up his hands, he brought up his pistol. Training dictated his reaction to a threat.

“Never point that unless you intend to shoot someone.” Alice’s cold tone implied she meant it. She stopped moving as if to give him a clearer shot. James hid his head behind hers because Ethan couldn’t see his face at all.

Ethan lowered his gun, his motions measured.

“What the hell are y’all doing pissing around back there?” Dale’s voice came from somewhere ahead in the gloom.

Ethan suppressed the guilty look of fear which threatened. “Nothing. Just a… misunderstanding.” Ethan hesitated.

Alice didn’t respond.

Dale said, “Stop trying to get into the weird chick’s pants and hurry up.”

With a sigh, Ethan holstered his gun before looking at Alice again. She smiled a not nice smile. Ethan moved to a space alone between Dale and Roger and Alice and James. It seemed safer that way.

Central was once an old subway switching station. Now, it was reinforced against intrusion and required guard access. You had to prove you weren’t infected and crazy before you were allowed in. One of the reasons for the long tunnels: even if you managed to get into them after being bitten and
could navigate close enough to come across a gate, by the time you made it the guard would shoot you because you’d turned. No muss, no fuss, no danger to anyone else. Once the coast was clear, someone would come out and drag the body away to be burned. No need to leave a plague body so
close to the front door.

One of the leaders said they had to be ruthlessly efficient in these times. Ethan could see that in how they handled the dead.

A converted subway car served as the nearest gate to Thirteenth Street. The refugees had parked the car on the tracks where they wanted it and then carted rubble and concrete until it stood an impassable wall ten feet thick with the emergency exit door of the subway car as the only way
through. The windows had been reinforced with steel so that slits remained to see through and little doors so you could point a pistol.

“Hello to the returning.” The PA system rigged into the car greeted them. “Names please?”

Roger was up first. “Roger Mackie. Thirteenth Street building 2.” He took off his helmet and held it under one arm.

Dale did the same. “Dale Barnard. Thirteenth Street building 4.”

Ethan didn’t wear a helmet. “Ethan Post. Thirteenth Street spotter.”

There was some shuffling the group could hear over the PA before the person asked, “Registering one other movement signature, but no corresponding heat signature. Can you confirm?”

“Yes, we can confirm. Located a live one top side. No signs of infection.” Roger spoke up. “Central has authorized entry.”

“Hold position for Central confirm.” The request for authorization went back to Central Command. No one was going to let someone in just because they said Central okayed it. That would just be stupid. Of course, it didn’t take a whole heck of a lot of sense to do guard duty in the first
place. Ethan shifted from foot to foot as the time stretched on.

“Central has confirmed, but they stated there were two. Where is the second?”

“He’s here. She’s carrying him.” Ethan saw the eye-roll as Roger answered the question.

“Understood. Proceed through.”

The door swung open, allowing one person at a time to enter and walk through. Another safety precaution: bottlenecking entrants into a kill zone in case they should make it through all the other safety precautions. It did manage to keep the body count down. They made it through. Ethan couldn’t get used to the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, by people with
guns, as they hopped out the other end of the car and officially made it into Central territory.
Once they were out, Alice swung James around to the front so that he could use his arms. He was pointing at something, though not saying anything. Occasionally she would nod as if they were having what amounted to a wordless conversation.

“What’s he pointing at?” Dale asked.

Alice shook her head. Apparently, whatever was going on was for her only to understand. James stopped pointing, keeping his thoughts to himself.

Order Now
October’s free read is:

Warriors of the Four Worlds

by Ronald T Jones!

The Vingin are a peaceful species. They are genetically incapable of committing violence. Humans and Zirans have long been their protectors. While Humans have shown an appetite for violence, they have never reveled in it the way their Ziran counterparts have. Zirans are a brutal species with a powerful lust for bloodshed. Human and Ziran muscle managed to defeat a horde of genocidal aggressors. But the aftermath of that struggle bears no promise of lasting peace. Storm clouds of treachery are brewing, and the shaky bonds that held this tripartite alliance together are unraveling. The tempest of a new war is brewing. Lev Gorlin, a hard-bitten veteran of the last war, must once again stand firm in the face of a new threat…
Download your copy here.

Do you love to read? Do you want more FREE eBooks? Mocha Memoirs Press is actively seeking readers for our Read and Review Program. If you’d like to read more free eBooks, please fill out this form.
Are you an audio book lover? We have a treat for you! The Cybil Lewis Mysteries are being narrated! Books one and two have been completed and are available here!
Did you know that Mocha Memoirs Press has over fifteen titles available for free on Kindle Unlimited?
Mocha Memoirs Press is actively seeking submissions. If you are a creator of bold, fearless fiction, we want to publish you!
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PRESS RELEASE: Acheron on Kickstarter

Acheron

“They say whoever controls the flow of history, can write the future. For centuries, The Council has curated the past. But now they are silent, the Reclamation Act ratified, and history once again open to study. The future has yet to be written and the pen is in your hands.”

Kickstarter Link – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acheronrpg/acheron-a-grimpunk-tabletop-rpg

What is Acheron?

  • At its core Acheron is about sacrificing your humanity, both temporarily and permanently, to fight against the horrors that inhabit the world. Whether they be cultists, madmen, beasts, or the strange Outsiders.
  • Mystery, monsters, and magic collide in this 1930s era setting where The Government controls the path of History, Factions war for resources, and The Wall looms forever upon the horizon.

Mechanics

  • We think tabletop role-playing should be just as focused on Roleplay as it is on combat.
    • To that end we have implemented a free-form progression system that allows players to build nearly any character they can imagine, from a blind telekinetic to a Demon infested pacifist.
    • Merits and Flaws allow players to spend or receive experience to gain major, character defining bonuses or detriments.
    • A realistic Sanity system allows characters to experience three major categories of trauma: Moral, Violent, and Supernatural. It also allows them to regain sanity through different means such as comradery with friends and psychological treatment.
      • Our Sanity system reflects the fact that this is a mature game with mature themes. It’s important that Players and Game Masters have the opportunity to explore these themes but should also be aware of their potentially triggering nature.
    • There is a huge range of the types of characters that can be created and how they may progress and evolve throughout a campaign will always be different.

 

  • Simplified Realism informs all parts of Acheron. This has led to the implementation of deadly, gritty combat and creation of a believable world and cultures.
    • On average a player starts with 6 health, and a 9mm pistol deals 1d10 damage.
    • Cover and armor play a large roll in combat. Without taking them into account one will surely parish.
    • Many weapons can penetrate armor and cover can be destroyed.
    • A large variety of statuses, both physical and mental, can change the flow of combat and a game session.
    • No one enjoys their character dying due to an unlucky roll, however. So, we’ve implemented a Die Hard system where players can choose to take permanent flaws to keep their character alive.
    • Magic and Mancies (Mancies are akin to sorcery in other settings), are an integrated part of the world and can be used for both Roleplay and combat.

Inspirations

  • Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft, and Cosmic Horror
    • Bloodborne is an amazing game with an amazing atmosphere. It inspired a major faction in the world (The Hunters Guild) and many of the more classical monsters in our world.
    • Call of Cthulhu has had many iterations but it’s use of Sanity as a primary concern for players inspired us to iterate and bring it to the forefront of Acheron.
    • Lovecraft and other Cosmic Horror was the basis for the Wall, planes of Magic, and Outsider enemies within the world. Giving our setting a strangeness that cannot be understood or fathomed by normal people without suffering madness.
  • Strong foundation from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5
    • 3.5 D&D set the standard for d20 based tabletop roleplaying games. It influenced our core stats and the way skills function and progress in the game.
  • World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness
    • World of Darkness was the foundation of our free-form progression system and using experience points to create and advance your character.
  • Dishonored and the SCP foundation
    • Dishonored has an atmosphere we wanted to give to our world, where even the city streets can be oppressive yet there is still a wealth of culture, history, and sense of discovery.
    • The organizations and large body of work the SCP foundation has produced inspired a lot of the secretive aspects of our Government and other factions.
    • Both Dishonored and SCPs were huge influences on our Outsider enemies which can at times be stranger than the Eldritch horrors which roam the world.
  • The Witcher 3
    • The monsters in the Witcher all have a weakness you can exploit if prepared, we wanted to emulate this fact to give the enemies you fight more depth.
  • Numenera
    • Value of simplicity in gaming and putting the focus on Roleplay.
    • Numenera also influenced the way characters level up in Acheron. Instead of getting experience from every monster killed or objective performed you gain it for completing milestones along a quest.
  • Science and History
    • Our core team is composed of a Biologist, Engineer, and Anthropologist. For these reasons we have focused on crafting systems and lore that are realistic and believable. Many historical events, such as the Civil Rights movement, suffrage movement, and Anarchism movement of the early 20th century as well as the governmental reaction to those movements were huge influences on the world of Acheron. As were the industrial revolution and tycoons of the time.

The World

  • Acheron is set in a 1930’s era world dominated by a singular Government and many powerful factions.
  • The totality of the world is surrounded by a massive Wall, thought impenetrable until the Breach which erased centuries of progress and loosed countless horrors into the world.
  • The world is broken up into Districts, all ruled by the Government. However, each has its own Governor, laws, culture, and systems of governance.
  • At the center of the world, in the Central Districts, most do not believe in magic or monsters while those on the fringes of society know the truth about magic, or at least a part of it.
  • History has been covered up and curated since the Breach. Now is the first time it is legal to study the past. This has led to a new age of adventure and societal renaissance. The Reclamation Act, our inciting incident, is the driving force for this shift in culture.
  • Magic has grown stronger in the world after the Breach. All domains of which have their own flavor.
    • Arcane – Anti-magic, direct damage, and buffs for allies. Uses the Arcane energy found in Ley Lines which crisscross the world.
    • Fay – Situational and sly. Controls the lines of fate and allows for trickery and rerolling failed checks.
    • Spirit – As varied as nature. Spirit magic allows for many play styles and has three modifiers for every spell based on the leaves, trunk, and roots of the world tree.
    • Demonic – Fast and dirty. Demonic magic is about hurting the enemy more than you hurt yourself.
    • Eldritch – Terrifying for both the caster and enemy. Sap Sanity and tear at the mind of your enemy ignoring the mundane defenses people surround themselves with.
  • Mancies are inhuman abilities that allow seemingly normal men and women set fire to buildings, persuade even the most stubborn enemy, and move objects with their minds.

“Though the majority of citizens don’t even believe in magic, magical ability is possessed by many in the world of Acheron. Many different organizations and peoples have differing ideals concerning the use of magic. Some say it’s not real but are still cautious and hateful of anything they can’t understand while others believe in its existence but believe it is a corrupting force used for evil.”

The Races

Three “Races” inhabit the world of Acheron: Humans, Darkleechers, and Soulmenders. Each with their own pedigrees.

Humans:

  • Diverse of heredity and place of birth but largely uniform in overarching culture since the Governments rise to power.

  • Creative and curious humans have an eye constantly towards the future. 

  • Humans have many outliers and no singular direction of action unlike other pedigrees such as the Ellsons.

War Born:

  • An ancient, tribal people who manage to retain slivers of their unity even under the boot of the Government. 

  • War Born honor and express their heritage though they know little of it.

  • War is ingrained into every facet of their society from dance and storytelling to education and play. 

Grey Blood:

  • The most diverse of all great families, the Greys believe in passion. Marrying, generation after generation, to the most brilliant and ingenious minds of the age.

  • Estranged and odd compared to their counterparts, the Greys are generally seen as outsiders by the masses despite their diversity.

  • A great stain blemishes the Grey bloodline, the opening of the Breach by one of it’s once most enlightened ancestors.

Ellson House: 

  • Older than the Breach and Government, the Ellson house has stood the test of time.

  • Closed off and suspiciously similar of feature, this family has kept itself in power by controlling the majority of banking across nearly all districts in Acheron.

  • Aristocrats often thought to be stuck in a bygone age, the Ellsons play for future reward, never allowing themselves to be bogged down by today’s issues.

Gripes of the Church:

  • Gripes are children born to those in the Twin God’s clergy.

  • Raised as servants of the Church they may become priests to spread the holy word or Pariahs to protect the faithful.

  • Those among the Gripes with gender neutral features are prized and hermaphrodites honored as the highest human form of Nyx, goddess of chaos, and Darium, god of order.

Exalted:

  • Exalted were once outcasts, lepers, plague victims, outlaws, and banished. Their exile under the shadow of the Wall has twisted and mutated them for generations. Now they are barely recognizable as human in origin.

  • Often Exalted will form conclaves and extensive “families” that perform the dirty work in civilized society others shy away from. Primarily this takes the form of great executioner lineages.

  • Now, with the Reclamation Act passed, Exalted may walk city streets freely for the first time in memory and become a greater part of the society they’ve been shunned from for so long. 

Fae Darkleecher:

  • Colorful of skin and personality, Fae Darkleechers are often outgoing and boisterous which their subculture reflects.

  • Known as the most exotic Darkleechers the Fae often integrate freely into human society where invited or live among Darkleechers as artists, philosophers, and intellectuals.

  • Their natural connection with Fae magic and Line of Fate make them quite crafty and drawn to mysticism such as horoscopes and fortune tellers.

Spirit Darkleecher:

  • Spirit Darkleechers are as diverse both in looks and culture as nature itself.

  • Often these Darkleechers are known for their wisdom but are also known as feral and dangerous among many closed-minded human groups.

  • A deep connection with the natural world and spirit realm give them a great amount of empathy for all living things but can also lead to a stoic cold heartedness for humankind.

Demonic Darkleecher:

  • The most human, both in looks and culture, Demonic Darkleechers are often seen mixing freely between both Human and Darkleecher society.

  • Generally they work as businessmen, lawyers, accountants, and managers. But they are also known for propping up the Freeman family with their hard, back breaking work in factories and fields.

  • Connection with the Demonic plane has given these Darkleechers a strong constitution and that constitution has allowed them to garner a strong sense of community.

Eldritch Darkleecher:

  • The most alien of all Darkleechers, the Eldritch cousins are often positioned deep within Darkleecher society or at the fringes of Human society. Although this is often not by choice.

  • Sly and suspicious due to their connection with the Eldritch plane they also have great insight into people, places, and all things unseen by other eyes.

  • These Darkleechers see themselves as doing the dirty work others do not in many cases, acting as fixers, assassins, and smugglers. However, this is just as often not the case.

Soulmender:

  • Soulmenders are not truly a race of their own and instead are born by capturing a soul within a Soulmetal phylactery. This soul can belong to a Human or Darkleecher.

  • Once the soul is captured however, the being loses all memory of who they were and what they have done. Some skills remain but the mind is blank of all connections.

  • This blankness leads many to call Soulmenders monsters while others welcome those saved from death as dear family and friends.

“Darkleechers appeared shortly after The Breach; hundreds of thousands washed up upon the shores without any memory of where they had come from or who they were. The Human population was split on the issue of what to do with them in many places, while others chose to treat them as a pest to be eradicated. Most people thought that Darkleechers were a dark omen, marking great misfortune to come. There were riots in the streets, mass lynchings, inhumane experiments by science cults, and a wave of mass hysteria. Eventually, the Government intervened, resulting in the First Race War. This treatment molded Darklenchers to distrust, to hate, and to become more cunning than the humans who terrorized them.

Factions

The Government: The Government is run in name by the National Republic House, which consists of five representatives from each District (Anarchist or otherwise). In reality it is ruled by the Council of Thirteen, never seen but always felt. The Council influences everything though Cerberus, the heads of the Agents, National Police, and Paranormal Research division. On the whole people trust the Government in the Central Districts, however Anarchy brews everywhere, and allegiances to the Government are weak in Districts dominated by other factions. The Government would never admit openly that many place their loyalty elsewhere and does what they can to curb dissenters at every level. The Government fights against disorder, watches the Mages, chains the Mancers, and makes sure the nightmares of the world remain at its fringes.

Church of the Twin Gods: When the Martyrs gave their lives for Unity no one thought the Church of the Twin Gods would be the result. However, hundreds of years later the followers of Nyx, Goddess of Chaos, and Darium, God of Order, find themselves sharing the same roofs and working side by side to spread the teachings of the Twin Gods. These teachings are canonized in the Central Districts but more fringe Darium and Nyxian cults can be found in many townships and cities preaching radical beliefs. On the whole the Church values balance of person, where both God and Goddess have equal influence. Therefore, many within The Church try to make themselves more androgynous and hermaphrodites are praised and groomed with care by clergy.

Greys: A lineage born out of pragmatism, the Greys are a family who have become the leaders in industry, science, medicine, philosophy, art, and more. It is through marriages to the most brilliant and dedicated people, generation after generation, that this dominance has occurred. Grey’s attempt to breed with whoever is a protege in their field, no matter what that field is. For this reason, the Grey family is highly mixed in race and social origin. Even Darkleechers and Exalted have made their way into the Grey family. Pragmatic, brilliant, odd, eccentric, dedicated. All these words can be used to describe the Greys. Brutal, absentminded, and unethical are also words that describe many in the family.

Ellsons: An old family, so ancient in origin their history has been lost even to themselves. Ellsons own the majority of banks in all Districts. This gives them the finances to stay in power, even in places where they are unwanted. Generationally minded, they’ve invested in mining precious stones and metals, acquiring art and artifacts, and most recently historical research. Many branches spread out from the Ellson tree, but they all share the same trait of cold calculation that has kept them on top for centuries. They enact their power through their banks, schools of Mathematics, and Tax Collectors – persons trained since childhood to calculate risk and reward on a deadly level and see that debts are paid in gold or blood.

Freemen: The Freemen fought long and hard for their place in the world. Darkleechers who unified after several bloody wars with humanity, the Freemen hold the major crop producing Districts in Acheron. With permission from the Government of course. They value their space, preferring to live a more rural lifestyle. Art, history, and a varied culture are important to the Freemen who feel they have been suppressed for generations. Segregationists mostly, the Freemen live their lives outside the Central Districts farming, fishing, shipping, and more. This, and their innate connection to the magical planes, makes them more likely to partake in magical rituals, spirit healing, and other customs many Humans generally don’t believe in.

Historians of Galilee: An ancient cult of Historians and Researchers. They are perhaps the only group as Dogmatic about studying ancient artifacts and technology as the Greys. While the study of history was banned for generations the Historians of Galilee disobeyed, researched, discovered, and were executed for it. Now that the Reclamation Act has passed and History is open to study once more, many have joined the ranks of the Historians. Universities of all types employ their ranks as professors and researchers, many of which had never been a part of the group, at least officially, until recent years. Their dogmatism is feared by many who think history should be laid to rest, and the Church of the Twin Gods see them as a religious cult. On an individual level however, the Historians seem to want one thing above all else, truth.

Hunters Guild: Many in the world think monsters are just bedtime stories, things that people made up because of too many nights spent in the dark. But Hunters know beasts roam the world and do everything they can to fight against them. Those from all walks of life become Hunters. Many Greys, Ellsons, Servants, and Farmers have walked the same halls, hunted the same game, all without care for their previous station. Hunters keep the world safe in a way the Government attempts to, but too often fails at. Many powerful people fund the Guild or are a part of it. They operate within the law, mostly, but don’t let anyone stand in their way if a Beast needs to be slain.

Wexler Investigation Agency: A relatively new faction on the playing field. The Wexler Investigation Agency gives smaller factions the strong-arm big players have always enjoyed, for a price of course. Their ranks are ex-cops, private investigators, magicians, Mancers, and even Exalted. The pay is good and morals loose. While they would never admit it, the Wexlers deal in death just as much as security and investigation. However, many of their rank still have clean hands and those who don’t get lost in the crowd, buried in bureaucratic anonymity and red tape only Government Agents can cut through with ease.

Game Size and Content

  • Acheron’s Core Rulebook aims to be an all-encompassing package.
    • This includes what would normally be found in a “Players Handbook”
    • What would normally be found in a “Game Masters Guide”
    • And what would normally be found in a “Bestiary”
    • A dozen pre-generated characters
    • And at least one Module and game hooks to get players started.
    • We would like to include more extensive expansions in the future but are focused on making a complete package out of our core rule book.
  • We also aim to deliver gorgeous character art, environmental art, and maps.
  • In addition to all the above content we have a list of extensive, optional rule which can increase and decrease the difficulty of different aspects of the game according to what Game Masters and Players prefer.
  • In the same vein, we have done our best to make sure different mechanics, such as Magic and Mancies, could be cut away completely while still allowing Players and Game Masters a complete experience. We did this because we know many like to play games in their own worlds and while the setting is ingrained with our systems, we also wanted to make our systems portable.

Types of Games Acheron is Suited For

  • Acheron, as mentioned above, is a mature game. This is due to the themes that are in the world. However, we also focus on fun and think a lot of different game types can be enjoyed by players in our world.
  • Adventure: History is open to rediscovery! This opens a lot of doors for daring, Indiana Jones like adventures where you’re trying to beat other groups, or even whole factions, to the punch.
  • Mystery: Magic, Mancies, and even typical abilities lead to many options for mysteries. We have ghosts, artifacts, monsters, murders, organized crime! If it can be investigated, we have it covered.
    • On this note our abilities, monsters, magics, etc. can all be mistaken for others by design. This makes it necessary for players to investigate even if it’s a quest as simple as “a monster is terrorizing this village.”
  • Horror: There are a lot of different settings and creatures in the world. Many cults and madmen. Horror of almost any type can be played in Acheron and the Sanity system, we believe, does a good job of allowing whole campaigns to be Horror based with little to no combat.
  • Thriller/Spy: With the many factions, abilities, and roleplay options in Acheron we think that thriller and spy games are a great fit! While PvP is not necessarily promoted in our system we do keep it in mind while balancing so double or triple crosses can happen while playing games where factions are at war, even if the war is cold.

Kickstarter Link – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acheronrpg/acheron-a-grimpunk-tabletop-rpg

About Dark World Studios

Dark World Studios is an independent game developer with a small core team of three individuals. We are a Biologist, Engineer, and Anthropologist. Our backgrounds inform the worlds and systems we create. We also have a support network that includes several artists/play testers with their own informative backgrounds such as ex-military and geology. While Acheron is our first major project, we’ve had experience designing other, forever unknown worlds and systems, both independently and together. It is our hope to deliver an intriguing and fresh experience to both new players and veterans alike.

PRESS RELEASE: Get Spooky this Halloween, back the Gruesome Ghoulies™ RPG Kickstarter

Concord, CA — October 1, 2020 – Randy Angle launches the Gruesome Ghoulies™ RPG Kickstart campaign, visit www.gruesomeghoulies.com. Gruesome Ghoulies™ is the spooky tabletop role-playing game of cartoon hijinks. Be a ghoul. Solve mysteries. Drive a hot rod. Play in a rock & roll band. Inspired by the cartoons and kid’s sitcoms popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

Originally a one-page RPG submission for a gamejam on Itch.io, this 64+ page version will have more gameplay, adventures, and spooky artwork and only possible with the support of Kickstarter backers. You can play the FREE one-page RPG version this Halloween – link on the Kickstarter page

This funny, non-violent game of slapstick cartoon hijinks uses a fast resolution system called, VERSES ROLL. It is easy to generate a new ghoulie character and be playing in a schtick (a cartoony adventure) in minutes. This makes Gruesome Ghoulies™ RPG the perfect holiday one-shot game, pick-up game when a party member is missing, or for convention fun.

About Randy Angle

Randy Angle, the Grand Poobah of Hoppsbusch, is a game designer and imagineer on over 100 video games, toys, and tabletop role-playing games. In a career spanning more than 40-years and working on brands like: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Top Gun, LEGO, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Nicktoons, CLUE, SpongeBob, Scooby Doo, Zorro, Deal or No Deal, 1 vs 100 and many original titles. Hoppsbusch was founded 37-years ago and is Randy’s self-publishing business where he makes tabletop RPGs that are SMAFF: Smaller, Faster, and Funnier. For more information please visit www.hoppsbusch.com.

PRESS RELEASE: Andrews McMeel Publishing Launches Flames of Freedom Kickstarter Campaign

Kansas City, MO (October 5, 2020) – Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP) announces the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for Flames of Freedom:  Grim & Perilous RPGeffective October 5 – November 4, 2020. Backers of the campaign will have the opportunity to gain early access to game material, play in their own quickstart scenario, and contribute to Flames of Freedom custom incentives.  An American Gothic horror role-playing game, Flames of Freedom is powered by ZWEIHÄNDER RPG.

“We are excited to be a part of this collaborative venture, with Daniel D. Fox leading an exceptional, diverse team of developers to bring Flames of Freedom to life,” said Kirsty Melville, president and publisher of AMP.  “The Kickstarter campaign will enable us to enhance the immersive experience, generate engagement and excitement with players, and augment the experience beyond the publication of the book, slated for release in August 2021.”

Flames of Freedom is set at the dawn of the American Revolutionary War of 1776, as a tangled web of conspiracy spans North America. In the war for survival, creed, color, culture or gender do not matter – all stand together – as the Rebels take up arms against the British Empire. But even as the Revolution has begun, something far more mysterious is brewing in this treacherous world.

Agents of the occult entreat both the Continental Army and Loyalist Red Coats. Freemasons conspire in the City of Brotherly Love. Maryland is in the throes of a witch hunt by the Knights Templar. Amid the chaos, other grim fairy tales have emerged populated by witches, devils, ghouls, and an ancient enemy seeking to consume all.  In this land, players’ grim & perilous tale hangs in the balance – to conquer – or be conquered.

Thoroughly researched by Richard Iorio and enhanced by an exemplary development team led by Fox, Flames of Freedom explores a range of cultures beyond traditional European influences of early America. With considerable attention and diligence, the game was designed, developed and produced by a multicultural team of diverse identities, beliefs and orientation, with Black cultural consultants, Indigenous writers of the nations represented in the work, and RPG safety and trauma experts contributing to its creation.

About Andrews McMeel Publishing
Andrews McMeel Publishing is a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, a global, independent and integrated media partner to creators of inspirational content, comics, and illustrated humor. It distributes creator content through global syndication; book, calendar and greeting card publishing; digital consumer experiences; and entertainment licensing.  For more information, please visit andrewsmcmeel.com.

PRESS RELEASE: ELISA TEAGUE JOINS RENEGADE GAME STUDIOS AS SENIOR PRODUCER

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSIONAL TO LEAD COMPANY’S ROLEPLAYING GAME LINE-UP!

SAN DIEGO, CA. – October 5, 2020 – Renegade Game Studios is thrilled to announce Elisa Teague has joined the company full time as Senior Producer for the company’s growing stable of roleplaying games.

With over 20 years in the tabletop games industry, Teague has worked on over 100 titles including the Geek Out! party trivia game line, Betrayal at House on the Hill: Widow’s Walk, the Apocrypha Adventure Card Game, and Talisman: Kingdom Hearts Edition. She is also a recurring special guest DM and game designer at conventions around the world, including Gen Con, Origins, Gary Con, and D&D in a Castle.

A distinguished tabletop game industry veteran, who has previously designed the Wardlings Campaign Guide published by Renegade Game Studios in partnership with Wizkids, and was a contributing designer on upcoming Dungeons & Dragons supplement Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything published by Wizards of the Coast, Teague will be leading initiatives to design, develop, and grow the company’s stable of roleplaying games.

“Elisa is a remarkable talent in the tabletop game industry and we’re thrilled she’s joined our team,” said Scott Gaeta, President and Publisher at Renegade Game Studios. “With her expertise in roleplaying games, game design, and working with much-beloved licenses, we can’t wait to bring fans into the universes they love with exciting roleplaying experiences.”

“I love the Renegade team, and my experience working with them on Wardlings was fantastic. When Scott Gaeta approached me with the position of Senior Producer of Roleplaying Games, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse,” said Elisa Teague. “We already have a lot of exciting games planned that are going to knock everyone’s socks off, and I have already begun to plan cool brand extensions and products that will bring Renegade’s presence into the RPG marketplace to a whole new level.”

As previously announced, the publisher recently acquired the rights to publish roleplaying games for several well-known franchises including, Power Rangers, My Little Pony, GI Joe, and Transformers

Elisa Teague

Elisa Teague, Senior Producer for Renegade Game Studios

PRESS RELEASE: Introducing ‘SHIVER’ by Parable Games

PARABLE GAMES MEDIA ALERT

Introducing ‘SHIVER’ by Parable Games

WHO: Parable Games, a newly established publisher established by brothers Charlie and Barney Menzies.

PRICE:

Shiver: Core Rulebook – $40 / €35 / £30

Shiver: Tales of the Shiververse – $25 / €22.5 / £20

Shiver: Dice Pack – $20 / €17.5 / £15

Shiver: Art Book – $20 / €17.5 / £15

Shiver: Directors Screen – $20 / €17.5 / £15

WHAT:

SHIVER is launching on Kickstarter October 27th.

SHIVER takes inspiration from Horror and Pulp movies and TV shows to lets players bring their very own cult classic to the tabletop. Put together your cast of characters and delve into your favourite worlds and settings. SHIVER is the perfect sandbox where you can play stories in any time, any place, and as anyone.

SHIVER uses a unique symbolic dice system and stripped back rule set alongside familiar stories and settings to make it the perfect tabletop RPG for new players to get to grips with role playing games without losing any of the depth to give experienced players something to really sink their teeth into, and was created by a great company that work with the best pay stubs abbreviations to manage employees and more.

Shiver Core Book Overview

The SHIVER Core Book is a beautiful hardback tome containing 192 full colour pages jam packed with gorgeous art and rules for characters, enemies, items and everything you could need to tell strange stories in the Shiververse. It is a comprehensive guide for both players and Directors (Game Masters).

The Cursed Library Overview:

The Cursed Library is a gorgeous A4 hardcover volume with even more stunning illustrations to set player’s imaginations going. This book contains pre-generated stories for players to delve into as well as more monsters, items and details about the worlds of Shiver. This book also houses all the unlocked content from Kickstarter in one simple place with it’s own unique cover.

Shiver: Dice Pack Overview:

Shiver uses a unique symbolic dice system which removes all that tedious number crunching to keep players immersed in the game. The Shiver Dice pack contains:

– 10 Skill Dice – Black D6 with coloured faces for each core skill in SHIVER

– 4 Talent Dice – Cream D8s with Talent and Strange symbols

Shiver: Art Book:

A look into the art behind the worlds of SHIVER including comments by the artist on the development of some of the pieces in the book as well as some pieces that are exclusively in the art book.

Shiver Director Screen:

A imposing 3 panel screen with a full art cover on the player facing side and all of the information and quick references you could want on the side of the Director to make running games even easier.

Quickstart Overview:

“Cornwell Consolidated, tech giant, world leader in scientific research, has the resources and wealth to make dreams come true. Medicine, technology, weapons, robotics, they dominate in all fields. Getting to be the best though is a tricky business and the company is rife with secrecy. Their base of operations echoing this, a source of their success, the well spring of ideas. The Hollow.

Deep underground, the Hollow is hidden from prying eyes, its location a well guarded subterranean secret where the bulk of the company’s research takes place. Scientists, engineers, chemists and many other great minds are buried deep in their work, toiling towards a better future. Mostly. Some secrets are more secret than others and the company hierarchy fiercely enforces this.

Which brings us to you, the players. Some employees are high fliers, some are getting by, you however are at the bottom of the barrel. The Rock Bottoms, aptly named as your base of operations in the lowest depths of the Hollow. From dead end experiments to sanitation, this is where careers go to die. Some have accepted their fate and continue to work away whilst others still try to climb the corporate ladder to the higher levels.

The lower levels receive the least funding and care which is what has led to the current situation. Something terrible has gone wrong on the upper floors, an experiment gone awry, something the company doesn’t want getting out. The Rock Bottomers, however, have no idea this has happened, as the alarm system is out of order and not been fixed in some time. The upper floors are evacuated, something has been unleashed, and it’s time for the Rock Bottomers to climb that corporate ladder to survive.”

Author Details

Written and designed by Charlie Menzies and Barney Menzies Art by Ben Alexander

WHEN: Launching October 27, 2020 on Kickstarter

MORE INFO:

Our Website – https://shiverrpg.com/

Our Kickstarter pre launch page – https://pxlme.me/1XuNUOSa

Our Quickstart Guide download – https://pxlme.me/Q80KX3Cb

Our Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ShiverRPG

Instagram – @shiverrpg

Twitter – @GamesParable

PRESS RELEASE: WYVERN GAMING TO LAUNCH KICKSTARTER FOR STARGATE ROLEPLAYING GAME INSPIRED BY HIT TELEVISION SERIES, SG-1 TM

WYVERN GAMING TO LAUNCH KICKSTARTER FOR STARGATE ROLEPLAYING GAME

INSPIRED BY HIT TELEVISION SERIES, SG-1TM

Kickstarter to Launch, with Product Release to Follow at Wonder Con 2021

“Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will in fact calm up.” – Teal’c

September 15, 2020 —

With a Kickstarter campaign launching soon, things will certainly “calm up” for the new Stargate Roleplaying Game in development from Wyvern Gaming and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM).

MGM, a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content including major franchises such as Rocky, James Bond, Fargo, Vikings, The Handmaid’s Tale and Pink Panther, and game design company Wyvern Gaming are collaborating on a new tabletop roleplaying game based on the popular Stargate SG-1™ TV series.

Fans will have the opportunity to become early backers of the project and provide direct feedback to its development with the launch of the Kickstarter campaign on October 6, 2020 at 2:00 PM UTC. The game has been in public playtest since February and will remain so through the Kickstarter campaign, allowing fans to help polish the game mechanics and story along the way. The finished product will launch and be available to the public in April at Wonder Con 2021.

Brad Ellis, CEO at Wyvern Gaming, said, “As fans of the Stargate franchise, we want to make the best Stargate Roleplaying game possible. That is why it is important for us to include the fans in the development process with Kickstarter as the feedback engine. It is a game for the fans, so it is critical that we get their input in its development.”

In the new Stargate Roleplaying Game, players will explore the galaxy and aid in the fight against the Goa’uld System Lords. The core rulebook will contain all the information needed to create a character and join the Stargate Command (SGC). Players will choose from a set of playable races and classes as they learn the skills, feats, equipment, and technologies needed to make their character thrive as an SG team member as they complete Stargate Missions. The book also covers being a Gatemaster (GM). With the players, GMs steer the story and the non-player characters that interact with the player characters. Players may be asked to capture a point of interest, explore new worlds, retrieve important artifacts, rescue important VIPs, or capture high-value targets.

In addition to the Stargate RPG Core Rulebook, Wyvern Gaming has launched the “Stargate: Phoenix – A Living RPG Series,” a living campaign with additional “Episodes” to expand play with the Stargate RPG Core Rulebook. In these Episodes, your character will live inside a Stargate canon universe series called “Stargate: Phoenix.” Your success and failures will shape the story that plays out over a course of a “Season” of Episodes released over a year, culminating at Gen Con 2021!

For updates on the Stargate Roleplaying Game, sign up at https://stargatetherpg.com/

MGM’s licensing agency, Brandgenuity, is managing the development and roll out of the Stargate licensing program and brokered the agreement between Wyvern Gaming and MGM.

Beyond the Stargate Roleplaying Game, MGM and Brandgenuity continue to grow the Stargate SG-1 licensing program, including an upcoming fan convention from Creation Entertainment and collectible figures from Chronicle Collectibles.

Stargate SG-1 the television series, produced by MGM Television, picks up where the blockbuster film left off. Colonel Jack O’Neill (RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON) and his SG-1 team; Daniel Jackson (MICHAEL SHANKS), Teal’c (CHRISTOPHER JUDGE), and Capt. Samantha Carter (AMANDA TAPPING), set out to explore the mysteries of the Stargate. Each mission through the gate takes the SG-1 team to new worlds in a seemingly boundless universe.


About Wyvern Gaming

Wyvern Gaming is a game design company whose mission is to create “Approachable Games For Everyone.” The company has been producing games since 2015 and have a track record of producing easy to learn card and board games for the hobby game industry. We have the drive to build games that people can enjoy. We love gaming of all types, everything from tabletop role-playing games to 3D virtual reality shooters. Our hopes are to turn our passion into a few gaming classics. For more information, visit wyverngaming.com

RPG Geek: https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/279302/stargate-roleplaying-game
Wyvern Gaming website: http://wyverngaming.com/
Stargate Roleplaying Game website: https://stargatetherpg.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WyvernGaming.TableTop/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WyvrenGaming

About Metro Goldwyn Mayer

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content across all platforms. The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television content as well as the premium pay television network EPIX, which is available throughout the U.S. via cable, satellite, telco and digital distributors.  In addition, MGM has investments in numerous other television channels, digital platforms and interactive ventures and is producing premium short-form content for distribution. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About Brandgenuity

Brandgenuity is a leading global independent brand licensing agency headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Munich and Hong Kong and ranked amongst the top 15 licensing agencies worldwide. The agency’s clients include BMW, Church & Dwight (ARM & HAMMER), White Castle, Edgewell (Edge, Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Playtex), Carmen Sandiego, MGM Studios (The Addams Family, Rocky, Pink Panther, Stargate), ABI (Budweiser, Corona), NFLPA, and others. For more information, contact info@brandgenuity.com.

New Cinematic Scenario and Starter Set for the ALIEN RPG Officially Launched

Destroyer of Worlds is Here

New Cinematic Scenario and Starter Set for the ALIEN RPG

 

We have officially released the Destroyer of Worlds cinematic adventure module and a new Starter Set for the ALIEN RPG. Having just won a Gold ENNIE Award for Best Game and a People’s Choice Award for Best RPG at the UK Games Expo, the official ALIEN RPG today got its first two expansions to the line. Both modules are as of now available in the our ​webshop, in digital format at ​DrivethruRPG, and soon in hobby stores everywhere.

Pre-Order? All pre-orders of the modules in our webshop are being packed as we speak and will shortly be shipped from our warehouses in the US and the UK. Just hang in there!

Destroyer of Worlds is a complete Cinematic scenario, written by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska just like the previous Chariot of the Gods. In Destroyer of Worlds, you take the roles of Colonial Marines as seen in ALIENS (1986). The scenario is designed for 3–5 players plus the Game Mother, and it’s a gauntlet of one hell after another. Expect it to take three sessions to complete. This boxed set contains:
*The main Destroyer of Worlds scenario book
*A huge double-sided map (format 864x558mm) of the Ariaricus moon colony on one side and the Fort Nebraska space elevator ground base on the other
*Seven pre-generated characters to play
*Custom cards for weapons, vehicles, and personal agendas
*Player maps and handouts
The boxed Starter Set is designed to be the perfect entry point into the game and the ALIEN universe. It contains everything needed to start playing:
*A 104-page condensed rulebook
*The 48-page complete Cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods by Andrew E.C. Gaska
*Five pre-generated characters to play
*A huge full-color, double-sided map (format 864x558mm), with one side depicting chartered space in the year 2183 and the other floor plans for the Chariot of the Gods scenario
*84 game markers for keeping track of characters, motion tracker pings, and more
*56 high quality custom cards for weapons, personal agendas, and initiative in combat
*A set each of ten engraved Base Dice and ten Stress Dice, designed specifically for the ALIEN roleplaying game

The 392-page core rulebook for the official ALIEN roleplaying game was released in December 2019. The game immediately sold out its first print run and swiftly entered the Top-5 list of best-selling tabletop RPGs in the fall of 2019. The game is currently being translated into seven languages.

REVIEW QUOTES:

“Move over, Dungeons & Dragons, Swedish publisher Free League has released Alien: The Roleplaying Game, and it is as great as it is terrifying.”
–The Gamer

“Free League Publishing has knocked it out of the orbit. It’s an interstellar masterpiece that honors the Alien legacy and builds on the stories that made the series great. It’s a sci-fi adventure that roleplaying fans will surely love, and it’s an accessible system for anyone interested in a good story and a rollicking good time.”
–GameTyrant

“The real horror of Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi flick Alien has always been the creeping, slithering fear of the unknown. It’s impressive, then, that Free League has been able to craft a tabletop roleplaying game that can conjure up that same pitch-dark dread from the safety of your kitchen table.”
–Dicebreaker

 

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (5e) from Andrew Kolb and Andrews McMeel Publishing

 


TEXT REPRINT:

Explore the Isle of Mischief & Mystery

Many have heard of the island of Neverland. Stories of pirates, mermaids, and Peter Pan are told by parents around the world to send their children off to a happy, dreaming sleep. But it’s been a long time since the Darlings first flew to Neverland, and a new story is about to be told. Your own.
Journey into the world of Peter Pan and its mysterious inhabitants in Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting ($24.99, October 2020). Created by award-winning designer Andrew Kolb, lost boys and girls alike will find endless adventure, lovingly adapted from the tales of Peter Pan and tailored for an older audience. Each hex is self-contained, brimming with lore from Peter Pan and the Darlings’ escapades.
It’s time to craft your own Neverland fantasy, filled with pirates, mermaids, and children who can fly.

About the Author

Andrew Kolb is an illustrator, artist, and designer. His first picture book, Edmund Unravels, was a Canadian Children’s Book Centre Best Book for Kids. Kolb has received strong praise in publications such as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal.

Post-Apocalyptic Setting The After Released for Savage Worlds

The After is a setting of savage frontier action (think The Revenant or Jeremiah Johnson) in a sci-fi post-apocalyptic world (think Annihilation or The Quiet Place). It uses the newly retooled Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

The After was successfully Kickstarted last year and is now available to buy at DriveThruRPG.

The After is set in the wild reaches of the broken North American continent. You play survivors of the shattered human race trying to rebuild their world after nearly a century of alien predation and war. In The After, the powerful aliens that overwhelmed humanity have moved on. The war is over. Now it’s a gritty battle to reclaim the Earth. The damage is severe and only in the most sparsely populated areas have people survived at all.

The After is a full-color, 244 page book with detailed, provocative artwork by Jon Gibbons and written by Sean Nokes. The book features new playable races, new Arcane Backgrounds, new Edges and Hindrances as well as additional rules to evoke the unique feeling of the setting – including scavenging, item decay and deterioration, a Bestiary of foes and an extensive Gazetteer of the Wind River region of Wyoming, where the action takes place. In addition, The After has its own sort of unearthly items – Remnants – left behind by the alien races who used Earth as a battleground. These unique and powerful items are sought out by survivors to give both themselves and their communities a fighting chance to make a better life.

The After is a collaboration between Jade Monkey Studios and Fainting Goat Games.

Press Release: Kickstarter for Twilight: 2000 by Free League Funded in Seven Minutes

Free League Publishing

Free League Publishing logotype

 

Kickstarter for Twilight: 2000 by Free League Funded in Seven Minutes

Free League Publishing – Aug 12, 2020 14:19 BST

 

The Kickstarter for the edition of the classic roleplaying game Twilight: 2000 was launched today by Free League Publishing. The new retro-apocalyptic edition goes back to the roots of the franchise with a boxed set for sandbox roleplaying in the devastation of the World War III That Never Was. The Kickstarter reached its base funding goal in just seven minutes.

A classic roleplaying game returns. The new edition of Twilight: 2000, published in partnership with Game Designers’ Workshop (GDW) and Amargosa Press, will be the fourth in the series, the first being released by GDW in 1984. Just like the original version, the new edition is set in a year 2000 devastated by war – now in an alternate timeline where the Moscow Coup of 1991 succeeded and the Soviet Union never collapsed.

In the game, players take roles of survivors in the aftermath of World War III – soldiers or civilians. Their goal, beyond surviving for another day, can be to find a way back home, to carve out their own fiefdom where they are, to find out more about the mysterious Operation Reset, and maybe, just maybe, make the world a little bit better again.

The core gameplay uses a “hexcrawling” system established in the post-apocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero and survival fantasy Forbidden Lands RPGs (both Silver ENNIE winners for Best Rules, in 2015 and 2019), developing it further to fit the gritty world of Twilight: 2000. The core rules are built on the Year Zero Engine used in those games (as well as in the ALIEN RPG, winner of the Gold ENNIE for Best Game 2020), but heavily adapted to fit Twilight: 2000 and its focus on gear and gritty realism.

[Link to the Kickstarter.]

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

Our game range include the alternate ’80s Tales from the Loop (winner of five ENNIE Awards 2017, including Best Game), sandbox retro fantasy Forbidden Lands (winner of four ENNIE Awards 2019), postapocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero (Silver ENNIE for Best Rules 2015), space opera Coriolis – The Third Horizon (Judge’s Spotlight Award 2017), dark fantasy Symbaroum, and the official ALIEN RPG (winner of the Gold ENNIE for Best Game 2020).

We have also published the art books Tales from the Loop and Things from the Flood  by visual artist Simon Stålenhag, as well as the illustrated edition of the Lovecraft classic The Call of Cthulhu by French artist François Baranger.

Website: www.freeleaguepublishing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FriaLigan
Instagram: http://instagram.com/frialigan/
Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/FrialiganSe
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FriaLigan

PRESS RELEASE: POWERED by the DREAMR RPG Zine Available Via DriveThruRPG and Itch.io

POWERED by the DREAMR, a Powered by the Apocalypse tabletop roleplaying game in a zine, is available now through DriveThruRPG and Itch.io.
In POWERED by the DREAMR, you are a Dreamr who possesses limitless powers within other’s dreams. Until you wake, you travel between the subconscious of sleepers, living out their dreams, searching out their secrets, or battling nightmares. Set in a dream state you and your friends collaborate on, this game maximizes the narrative rules to give each dream a surreal quality. As you navigate an ever-evolving universe of dream logic, your Moves will lead to success, reveal hidden truths, result in laughter, or unleash your character’s nightmares.
Created as part of Kickstarter’s initiative, Zine Quest, this project is the solo debut tabletop roleplaying game by RPG journalist, Egg Embry (Knights of the Dinner Table, EN World, Open Gaming Network, Tessera Guild). Using a variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse phenomenon (originally seen in Apocalypse World as well as Monsterhearts 2, Dungeon World, and more), this game keeps dreams vibrant and varied via random questions that alter the fantasy or reveal a character’s personal demons. You decide the dream objectives you must complete before the sleepr wakes. Will you combat a supernatural killer? Steal secrets? Defend the sleepr from dream thieves? Inspire a life-altering dream epiphany? Live out your fantasy life? Or something wholly original? The options are yours, Dreamr.
Available at:

#WhatsYourDream #PbtA #RPG #Zine