Anthologies are a great smorgasbord of being able to get a wide breadth of stories that you might not have normally been exposed to. In addition, there may be an author or two whose story grabs the reader in a way that they want to seek other writings from them. For me, I just like a good short story. Something that can be consumed entirely in one sitting. Something that can ask a question or look at an event in a different way than a novel ever could. With novels, you have time. The writer can spin four or five different storylines and double that many characters over the course of three hundred pages. Short stories aren’t allowed those luxuries. You have to really focus in and cut through the noise.
I’m honored that my short story, “Anonymous”, has found a home in the Tales from Vigilante City Short Fiction Collection (which you can find here).
Vigilante City is the main city of the “gritty, street-level, superhero game set in the near future”, Survive This!! Vigilante City from Bloat Games. If it wasn’t apparent by the name, this is more on your Batman style of crime-fighter and less of the Green Lantern types (although the game allows you to tailor it to whatever style you want).
For my short story, I knew I wanted to submit something, but I didn’t have anything in the hopper that really fit into this genre. Weird that as much as I love comics, I tend not to write them in a prose format. And I was stumped with what to write. Was there a hero doing… something? Could I maybe write about a speedster? I love the Flash, but even that didn’t go anywhere.
Sometimes, though, you just need to let your subconscious mind work things out for you.
I’m not exactly sure why I started thinking less about the hero and more about the villains… but I do remember that I effectively wrote the story in the twenty-minute commute I had, literally speaking it out to an empty car in the hopes that I wouldn’t forget my idea before I could write it down. I wrote the first draft that night and finished it up only a couple of days later.
This is what I came up with: what if I wrote about a henchman instead of the big bad villain. What if this henchman has been doing this gig for long enough that he’s finally got that “one big score”? How would his story end?
“In Vigilante City, there are opportunities to be found whether you are on the right side of the law or the wrong side. However, the glitz and glamour of being the villain captured on the evening news isn’t all it is cracked up to be. And for one anonymous henchman, he has a plan to get his last score.”
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In addition, I’m joined by some talented writers in the collection:
“BANG-BANG” by Egg Embry (hey, he writes for Tessera too!)
“The Icy Death of Dr. Furious” by Christopher Robin Negelein
“Marshwalk” by ‘Aerzyk’ Thomas Parent
“Midnight Ace and The Atomic Engine” by James M. Spahn
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I just want to thank the guys and gals over at Bloat Games again. It’s very cool to get to play a bit in this kind of world! And remember, you can purchase it here!
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John McGuire is writer of the sci-fi novel: The Echo Effect.
It’s Monday and several of my friends put out RPG Kickstarters today. I thought a quick roundup of some of the good that’s available for your gaming table was appropriate.
“Beast-tamers, gunfighters, tinkerers, savants, and more! These new classes expand your 5th Edition game in exciting new ways! Nine new player classes in A TOUCH MORE CLASS, a 100-page full color book! A TOUCH MORE CLASS: This new book contains the bloodweaver, fatebender, gemini, geomancer, gunfighter, lodestar, monster tamer, savant, and tinkerer.”
“Punch the criminals of Vigilante City in the teeth one adventure at a time! From the creators of SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons comes SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City, a gritty, street-level, superhero game set in the near future. Vigilante City is heavily inspired by Batman:The Animated Series. Along with the X-men, Spider-man and TMNT cartoons of the 1990s. Vigilante City utilizes the familiar ruleset of the world’s most popular fantasy RPG, mixing the old-school with modern mechanics for the best possible gaming experience. With its modular system design, you can easily play the exact style of super’s game you want!
SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City Book 3: Superhero Team up! Comes with the inclusion of many new classes, goes through the steps of team building while greatly adding to the equipment and vehicles. It shows how to build new superhero headquarters and stock it full of the valuable tech and tools every team needs to be successful. There will be new combat rules to include Team Moves and so much more!
SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City Book 4: Into The Sewers takes you underground to maze of tunnels that travel underthe Metropolitan of Victory City, into the world of subcultures, gangs, Mutants & Anthropomorphs. Into The Sewers will feel like a new setting and greatly expands upon the already robust Mutant and Anthropomorph classes and powers.”
NOTE: I have a bit of writing coming from Bloat Games (but not for this project).
“Revilo is a campaign setting for 5E DND that includes new player races, new sub-classes, new monsters, new magic items and more! In the past 30 years humans, elves, and dwarves have crashed onto the coast of Revilo, discovering a land the other side of the world had never seen. One human has built an army and hired the vile, marauding Greyskrulls to aid him on his conquests. Will the rest of Revilo be able to form an alliance before this army conquers them? The hardcover World of Revilo Campaign Setting book contains over 100 pages of setting, playable races, backgrounds, sub-classes, and story arcs unique to Revilo! The hardcover Revilo Bestiary book contains over 100 pages of monsters unique to Revilo!”
NOTE: I interviewed Brian Colin about his prior Kickstarter on the Open Gaming Network.
PREVIEW/SAMPLE: CHECK OUT PARTS OF REVILO THROUGH NORSE FOUNDRY!
“Bring your campaign to life with this companion supplement for Ghosts of Saltmarsh! Saltmarsh Encounters presents 60 short encounters for the town, coast, and sea. Over 150 variations are included, making the encounters highly replayable and allowing you to customise them to fit YOUR game. The supplement is great for Ghosts of Saltmarsh or any coastal or high seas campaign!
This is a DMs Guild Adepts product. The DMs Guild Adept Program was started and is managed by Wizards of the Coast. It brings together talented creators to produce quality content for the DMs Guild.”
This week five RPG Kickstarter creators (including two from the first article of this column) share what currently funding crowdfunding projects they’re excited about. I talk to the creators of:
“A.R.M.zine is a Fanzine dedicated to teaching kids (of all ages) how to play tabletop Role-Playing Games.”
Sean Hillman (Reign Dragon Press) recommends:
“One Child’s Heart. This seems like an amazing idea. I think this might be one of the KS RPGs we are talking about in two years as a game changer. I know that is a lot of pressure to put on the creator but I feel like it has the juice.
Sundown. Always love an RPG with a great concept behind it. And the way it embraces the characters as different is refreshing. It also does not pull many punches from what I can see. I hope it does well and can gets lots of support.
Coloring Trees. This is not an RPG product per se, but I feel like it is the kind of product I would by to inspire my gaming. It looks beautiful and I am already getting ideas of a game or setting that could feature the trees? I may pitch the idea to the creator at some point.”
“Monthy Subscription Service for DnD RPG Adventures and Accessories”
Matthew Charles (Brassman Foundry) recommends:
“There are three tabletop RPG Kickstarter campaigns that I’m currently following. Oldest to newest they are:
The Party Backstory Generator may be the most interesting conceptually. It’s always a little awkward to get a new party started. In past campaigns that I’ve run I’ve used a simple system where each player randomly draws the name of someone else’s character and chooses how they are related. That often leads to interesting role-play and factionalism within the party that can bring out a more interesting story than the text of an adventure describes. So I’m excited to see a fully-developed system where the players get some agency (and therefore emotional investment) in the world that they’ll probably have to save from… something.
For the Dungeon is a game that turns the tables on the traditional hero vs minion relationship. One of my favorite campaigns that I ran (back in the 90s) was one where the players rolled up several sets of stats, picked the worst one, and made a kobold. It was supposed to be a one-shot while I figured out what was going to happen in the main campaign. Tiamat have mercy, the adventurers are coming! Twenty years later, those sessions are more memorable than whatever the “real” campaign was about. This looks like a lot of fun and the perfect guide for other DMs to do the same.
Odyssey of the Dragonlords just launched this week, and fully funded overnight. This one looks like a great example of excellent production value. I’ll be getting the physical book to see where the bar has been set for our future projects.”
“A 5E adventure that promises chills and excitement!”
Jayson Gardner (Silver Bullette) recommends:
“The first RPG Kickstarter that I would like to highlight is The Grande Temple of Jing for 5E. I own the Pathfinder version, and am excited to see the new book. Megadungeons are my favorite play style, and Jing does everything in the genre well.
The next RPG I want to point out is Ultimate Bestiary: The Dread Accursed. Every game master loves monsters and this book looks to have a unique take on staple undead.
Finally, I would like to mention Old-School Essentials. This project looks to capture the nostalgia from the 1980’s boxed sets. I cut my teeth in RPGs during that era, and am excited to to see this project.
And one more, not quite RPG. Return to Ravingspire looks awesome! Cheesy 1980’s game commercial? Check. Able to play 1 player or 4 players? Check. Packaged in a box disguised as a book? Check. They even have an audible stretch goal! It looks like an RPG disguised as a board game to me.”
“A post-apocalyptic RPG of humans, monsters and humans becoming monsters.”
Juan Herrera (Gegenschein Games) recommends:
“I don’t go out of my way to look for campaigns these days, but I’m aware of two ongoing RPG kickstarters of which I’ve only heard good things:
The first is Fight! 2nd Edition. It’s a cinematic game with tactical combat about simulating the specific kind of experience of a fighting game as well as its type of storytelling. Fighting games are a very kinetic experience and it’s really hard to translate that into a tabletop format. That Fight!’s 1st edition had a positive reception and is now going for a 2nd edition says a lot to me about the creator’s design chops.
The other is Fellowship 2nd Edition. Fellowship is an adventuring-themed game without a traditional GM, instead there is a player who plays the role of the Overlord who the others must stop. As a result it gives every player a lot of control over not just the narrative but also the worldbuilding, making for an empowering and inclusive experience.”
“The Creator of Dark Places & Demogorgons & Vigilante City brings you a tabletop roleplaying with a bleak chance of survival!”
Eric Bloat (Bloat Games) recommends:
“Old-School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome Back when this series of books was called B/X Essentials, I picked all of them up and was blown away. This is not a house-ruled retro clone. This IS the original rules, redesigned for ease of use and re-written for clarity. And now with the Kickstarter, the Necrotic Gnome has once again refined the books and design and added the missing “basic” info, like “What is a roleplaying game?” to be more welcoming to new players. I can’t wait to get this one in my hands!
5×7 Dungeon Card Set by Dan Smith If I a Kickstarter says “by Dan Smith” I back it. Period. Dan is a fantastic artistic and always approaches each project with an artist’s vision in mind.
For The Dungeon by Jordan This one is pretty neat. It’s not your standard run of the mill Dungeon Crawler. In this game, you don’t play as the hero’s, you play as the minions that populate the dungeon. The example art is fantastic, and the tone is light and fun. Perfect for a night where, one of your players can make it but everyone else still wants to game.
From the Ashes by FGFantasy. A twisted OSR project where you start the game as a ghost of a dead character! And you remember your life, you remember how you died. You want revenge! But as you try to fulfill your mission, you might “die” again, and you’ll simply respawn. However, die too many times and it’s off to Hell with your miserable dead self.
Umerican Road Atlas and Unmerican Unnatural By Reid San Filippo Born out of the DCC RPG fanzine, Crawling Under A Broken Moon, Reid and his long list of contributors, continues his commitment to bring you a crazy, over the top, fully fleshed out Post-Apocalyptic setting built on the back of the rules to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, so you know this one is going to be gonzo and it’s going to rock!”
In November 2018, Kickstarter announced their upcoming [at the time] February initiative, Zine Quest. Since then, life has been about maintaining my schedule while preparing and running two RPG zines for the initiative, POWERED by the DREAMR and Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e (with John McGuire and Leland Beauchamp). While PbtD has funded, LLL continues until this Saturday. As a wrap up to my first two Kickstarters, I decided to reach out to some of my fellow Zine Questers to ask what RPG zines on Kickstarter that they’re interested in reading/playing? What follows are their responses.
NOTE One: I asked each contributor separately, so they didn’t know that they’d be together in the article. Thus, when they praise each other’s games, it’s genuine.
NOTE Two: I specifically asked each commenter to avoid “anything lame like false praise of my KS project. While I’d take a shout out, I want your honest recommendation(s).” I say this because some of these knuckleheads recommended my project and, while I’m flattered, I don’t want it to seem like it’s nepotism (it’s more like inept-ism… or maybe they genuinely like them).
D.I.R.G.Ezine by Sean Hillman, Amanda Makepeace, Andrea Fornero, Rachel Quinlan, Nadia Heller, Dawn Gilreath, Paige Leitman, Erica Frank, and Christos Floratos
Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 10:04 AM EST.
“An RPG-zine based on encouraging diverse ideas and diverse creators. The focus will be on world building, design, and art.”
Sean Hillman recommends:
“Okay, Love’s Labour’s Liberated, for reals. I think the approach is exactly the kind of mechanics that support rich RP campaigns.
synthesis. Just the premise seems incredible and a zine full of mini-rpgs is perfect for my own indie tastes.
And finally, Girl Underground. I mean, what?! The premise of this zine seems fantastic, something my little girl could play. I am also curious about how it will meet expectations after doing so darn well.” [NOTE: Girl Underground has over 1,100 backers and over $12,000 as of this writing with 4 days to go.]
What Happened at Wyvern Rock has a great premise. The aliens and 50’s era superstitions mixed with the medieval setting has so many possibilities. The best part about this zine to me, so far, is simply the execution and art style. The specific way they’re tackling this fusion wets my hunger like nothing else. And it’s going to be 64 PAGES! They’re mad, and I love it. Can’t wait.
POWERED By The DREAMR is being made by my friend, Egg! I have been able to participate in a handful of PbtA games, and I love the overall design. DREAMR is great because it fuels poetic collaboration in roleplaying, which is one of the major themes in my own game, The Epic of Dreams. Anything that is able to elicit those inspired moments in roleplay automatically gets my support. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the class abilities turn out! Dream sorcery for DAYS!
Other Magic hits me in those same places. I have come to abhor the understanding of what magic is inside of mainstream gaming- buttons of power, on demand and without cost. Much of The Epic of Dreams tackles bringing the spirit of mysticism back into tabletop gaming, and Other Magic’s approach makes me truly excited! I can’t wait to see what traditions and sources they use for their rituals, and how they translate those into the OSR!”
“A OSR-themed RPG zine with stats for centaurs, minotaurs and all of the beastmen you’ll ever want. Includes minis for play!”
Jacob DC Ross recommends:
“I actually really am looking forward to your zines, especially POWERED by the DREAMR. I adore hacks of Powered by the Apocalypse.
For POWERED by the DREAMR, it looks like the perfect system to portray a delve into the most mysterious parts of the psyche. I really can’t wait to see what stories I can tell with it.
The other zine I really want to play is Girl Underground: I have a unique fondness for Alice in Wonderland. Girl Underground looks to be the ideal intersection of Lewis Carroll and roleplaying.”
“An alcohol related zine for use with 5th edition fantasy”
Justin Ryan Isaac recommends:
“This was a rough one considering I’ve backed or am backing 18 Zine Quest participants… That being said, these are the two I’m most excited to run/read/play.
Dino Wranglers. I love that Dino Wranglers is an easily accessible and inclusive in design, but still looks really rad and epic. I want a game I can teach to the kids at my library.
Draugr & Draculas. Josh is putting the bite back in vampires and giving stats to both Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory. To top it off the book is going to discuss making deals with the Devil and includes undead vikings!”
“a #zinequest full of mini-rpgs about metatextuality, perspective, and creating new meanings.”
Riley Rethal recommends:
“I’m very excited for my friend Erika Shepherd’s zine, Exodus, a game about trans angels on a road trip that uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system. The campaign will have just ended by the time this article goes up, but you can still get the pdf at fadingroots.itch.io/exodus!
As for campaigns that are still going, I just backed Dino Wranglers, another token economy game written specifically with kids and neurodiversity in mind, which is perfect for me because I work as the ttrpg specialist at a summer camp where a lot of the campers are neurodivergent.”
“2 issue Setting for Untold Adventure and other White Box based OSR RPGs.”
Eric Bloat recommends:
“Casket Land: This occult/weird west zine is a full game packed into the pages of a zine. The game is engine is Powered by the Apocalypse, which I’m not a huge fan of, but the writing, layout and killer high-contrast black and white art were enough to get me to back it. Just check out the example pages on the it’s campaign page and you’ll see that this zine is just dripping with flavor and style.
Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is an alcohol related zine for use with any 5th edition fantasy, which I’ll convert it’s content to OSR for games, but I’m really looking forward to this one. There’s going to be rules for the condition: intoxicated, new weapons and equipment, magic spells and magic items, maybe just maybe I’ll get to make that Jackie Chan Drunken Master Monk I’ve always wanted to play!
A Pound of Flesh is a zine module for the Sci-Fi Horror OSR RPG Mothership, which itself was also a zine. Mothership was a modern marvel of modern layout and game design and so I was really excited to see what all A Pound of Flesh would bring to the table. Plus, it’s being written by Chance Phillips, a rising star in the ranks of the OSR, who’s done some really great stuff for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Love’s Labour’s Liberated – Cavaliers, Enchanters and Magic Items for 5e fills a void that is quite overlooked in roleplaying games, romance. A significant portion of fantasy fiction is dedicated to this genre but it’s definitely overlooked in the gaming materials.
Dead Halt is the perfect project for the Kickstarter Zine Quest initiative. You take a young, talented and energetic creative, a unique, wacky way-out-there concept, and mix with a retro-sci-fi setting/scenario and have the perfect kind of material to create an rpg related zine. I was onboard from very early in the campaign and I’m telling you the stuff this group is coming just continues to impress me more and more. Plus, I just love the word: ClunkPunk. ‘Nough Said.”
“Cavaliers, Enchanters, Magic Items, the ideals of Chivalry, the power of Enchantment, and the magic of love deserve a place in your 5th Edition fantasy campaign.”
“Dreamrs, we are such stuff as dreams are *Powered* on, and our little life is rounded *by the Apocalypse*. Complete PbtA RPG in a zine.”
Egg Embry recommends:
“My friends.
Eric Bloat is expanding his OSR horizons again. This time, you get to play Amazons. The art is perfect, the concept is the right amount of bringing classical stories forward, it’s OSR, something Eric (literally) wrote several books on, and it’s waiting for you – The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest.
Drew Cochran’s Harrowings From The Rime! is an arctic setting that will make every OSR a colder place to play in. I’m eager to play in the frozen lands where the enemies and elements compete to see which is deadlier!
Sean Hillman is bringing new voices into gaming through D.I.R.G.Ezine. This one is exciting because I game with Sean (he lives in metro Atlanta) and it includes work from Dawn Gilreath, another gamer in our group, and the Tessera Guild’s own award winning artist, Amanda Makepeace. It’s going to shine!
Justin Ryan Isaac is one of the newest, smartest creators starting in OSR. He’s doing a 5e zine about booze and, as his first project, it’s more than finding its audience! Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is humorous and useful (cause Drink & Dragons is real) so this zine will be what he’s known for until his “big” work arrives.
Riley Rethal and I have talked a bit since I found synthesis. We discussed her ambitions to do a long-form RPG using a favorite property, and the cliff note ideas she shares are the perfect tone for the project. The excitement around that work, the zine, and RPG in general, is infectious and I know it will make synthesis a win! For the zine, the concept, multiple succinct RPGs, speaks to me as it gives you a variety of options to play and, I feel, it will open up new avenues of design through sheer originality.
Jacob DC Ross is adding beastmen and miniatures to your OSR game, and, if you’re a publisher, stock art to your library. I love books/zines of monsters, so that’s a win. Adding the minis makes it even better. But, as an individual with two zines coming out, RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman is an excellent return on my investment as a publisher. Looking at the sample art, I’m excited about this!
From OSR to 5e to eclectic to diverse, these are some of the zines I’m eager to dive into!”
On January 15th, 2019 Bloat Games will launch their 5th RPG Kickstarter for SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons: The Cryptid Manual. This will be the 3rd Kickstarter from the SURVIVE THIS!! line, created by Bloat Games founder, Eric Bloat, in 2015 and the 2nd in the Dark Places & Demogorgons series (Created by Eric Bloat and Josh Palmer). All of Bloat Games previous Kickstarters have funded, including their most recent Kickstarter, SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City, which funded at nearly $13,000.
Bloat Games will be using Drivethrurpg for both digital and physical fulfillment.
The Cryptid Manual is Bloat Games first exclusively Bestiary/Monster Manual type of product. However, instead of using the same monsters that find their ways into most Bestiaries, for the Cryptid Manual, Bloat Games focused on highlighting the creatures of Cryptozoology from all around the world. If you’ve ever wanted to run your players against a Big Foot, a Lake Monster, The Mothman or Jersey Devil, then this supplement will be a must have. While the Cryptid Manual was created for Dark Places & Demogorgon it can easily be used with any OSR game, with very little conversion needed by the DM.
Bloat Games is excited to announce Tales From Vigilante City!
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an updated press release (see the original here). The updated items include:
Reduced minimum word count.
Submissions deadline announced.
Tales From Vigilante City Vol. II announced.
Some details about the post-submissions process.
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Tales From Vigilante City is an all new street level super hero short fiction anthology which is to be a companion piece to Bloat Games recent successful Kickstarter SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City which is an RPG heavily influenced by the 90s cartoons Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Spider-man and TMNT.
Tales From Vigilante City will be compiled and edited by Eric Bloat (from Bloat Games, Creator of the SURVIVE THIS!! Game Series &Vigilante City) and by ENnie and Origin Award winning author James M. Spahn (from Barrel Rider Games, Creator of The Hero’s Journey & White Star RPGs).
Bloat Games is currently accepting super hero short fiction in the genres of Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Horror, Sci-Fi & Young Adult. We are chiefly interested in stories that feature “normal” human vigilantes but also are accepting stories about Anthropomorphs (think TMNT), Mutants (think X-Men), or low power level metahumans, mystics, psions, etc.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
• Accepting 1K-16K word count.
• Pay is $0.01 per word
• Payment made via Paypal only.
• Payment grants Bloat Games Non-exclusive rights to publish the story. Writer retains all other rights and Intellectual IP and can resell the story to other publishers.
• All submissions and inquiries should be sent via email to ericbloat@yahoo.com with the subject line: TFVC Submissions.
• Submission cutoff date is Nov 1st, 2018. Any submissions received after that date may be held and considered for Tales From Vigilante City Vol. II.
• Bloat Games will begin reviewing submissions then and you will be contacted if your submission was selected to be included or not.
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Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links.
Bloat Games has added their latest game, SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies! 2nd Edition – Core Rule Book, to DriveThruRPG. I played it at Origins Game Fair and did a review of it in Knights of the Dinner Table 257. If you like OSRs and zombies, this is an excellent game that’s fast and fun. When Eric Bloat of Bloat Games reached out about the game being available on DriveThruRPG, I thought the best way to convince anyone it is a good game is to show them how much it has been shared on blogs and Facebook in a single day (these are just what was sent to me or I found). Keep in mind, Bloat Games is not Wizards of the Coast, this is genuine word-of-mouth from fans and friends saying, “Give zombies a chance!” 😉
Bloat Games is excited to announce Tales From Vigilante City!
Tales From Vigilante City is an all new street level super hero short fiction anthology which is to be a companion piece to Bloat Games recent successful Kickstarter SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City which is an RPG heavily influenced by the 90s cartoons Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Spider-man and TMNT.
Tales From Vigilante City will be compiled and edited by Eric Bloat (from Bloat Games, Creator of the SURVIVE THIS!! Game Series & Vigilante City) and by ENnie and Origin Award winning author James M. Spahn (from Barrel Rider Games, Creator of The Hero’s Journey & White Star RPGs).
Bloat Games is currently accepting super hero short fiction in the genres of Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Horror, Sci-Fi & Young Adult. We are chiefly interested in stories that feature “normal” human vigilantes but also are accepting stories about Anthropomorphs (think TMNT), Mutants (think X-Men), or low power level metahumans, mystics, psions, etc.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
· Accepting 2.5K-16K word count.
· Pay is $0.01 per word
· Payment made via Paypal only.
· Payment grants Bloat Games Non-exclusive rights to publish the story. Writer retains all other rights and Intellectual IP and can resell the story to other publishers.
· All submissions and inquiries should be sent via email to ericbloat@yahoo.com with the subject line: TFVC Submissions.
· Deadline will be announced later, based on response.
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Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links.
OSRs [Old School Revival/Renaissance], they’re fun and, sometimes, controversial. Playing SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies! at Origins, and my last OSR article, put me in a mood to visit some new OSR Kickstarters. What follows is old school madness.
“An immersive dungeon sandbox designed for the Adventurer Conqueror King System and other D20 OSR RPGs.
For three thousand years, the secrets of the Nethercity have been hidden. Now the delving of man has breached the ruins, and the lore and treasures of the ancients wait in the darkness below for those bold enough to seize them. But an inhuman evil slumbers in that darkness, and the time of the Awakening is at hand….
We’re excited to announce Autarch’s eighth Kickstarter project: The Secrets of the Nethercity™, an immersive dungeon for the Adventurer Conqueror King System™ and other D20 fantasy role-playing games.
With Secrets of the Nethercity you get:
An epic “kilodungeon” with 240 location entries spread across 20 different dungeon sub-regions that can be explored in a nonlinear fashion over the course of your campaign
12 new monsters, including the chryselephantine statue, faewyrd, hydropian, and terror of death
30 new magic items, including the bag of faerie seeds, the funerary barge of the cults, horn of the eagles, scepter of sacred power, and shadowcowl robe
4 new character classes, including the elven cultist, hierophant, and warlord
A special appendix providing step-by-step worksheets to adapt the Nethercity to your favorite campaign setting
A home base (the city of Cyfaraun) for use by your adventurers in between dungeon delves. The city is presented in summary format in the adventure itself, and the city and the sewers below it are presented in more detail in a supplement called Capital of the Borderlands (available at $20 and above pledge level). With every bonus goal, we’ll expand the city and sewer levels!
The Nethercity, the city, and the sewer level in between are all beautifully mapped by the incredible cartography of Dyson Logos and Simon Forster. You get maps of the city, sewers, and Nethercity, as well as zoomed-in sectional maps of each major area. With every bonus goal we hit, we’ll add more maps.
We’ve tapped artist Michael Syrigos to create rich, gorgeous full-color art for the adventure. Not every image will be full color at the base level, but all of the backer-supported art will be.
The entrance to the nethercity lies hidden in the sewers of Cyfaraun
Full color, you ask? Yes! This will also be our first product developed for and printed in full-color. We’re working with layout artist Todd Crapper to update our house style for full-color presentation. Below is a sample full-color layout he prepared as a demo for Heroic Fantasy Handbook. (The final layout for Nethercity is, of course, still being developed – partly through this Kickstarter!)
A Sample Layout of a Full-Color Page
What do you mean by kilodungeon?
The Nethercity is bigger than an ordinary dungeon (like Sinister Stone of Sakkara) but not as big as a megadungeon (like Dwimmmermount). Get it? Kilo instead of mega… Let’s just read on.
What levels is the adventure for?
Secrets of the Nethercity is designed for a party of experienced mid-level adventurers and is stocked with sufficient monsters and treasure to advance them by four to six levels. As such it serves as a mid-level environment in which the adventurers can acquire the wealth and power they need to advance into high-level play.
Where is the adventure set?
The adventure takes place in the Auran Empire campaign setting, the default setting for ACKS. The eponymous Nethercity lies below the city of Cyfaraun, just fifty miles northwest of Türos Tem, making it a perfect sequel to our introductory adventure The Sinister Stone of Sakkara. But if you don’t play in the Auran Empire, don’t worry – a special appendix in the book offers advice on how to adapt the adventure for use with our Kanahu setting or with your own favorite campaign world. The Nethercity can be placed under any long-inhabited urban settlement that’s changed hands between law and chaos over the centuries.
How much detail is offered on the city of Cyfaraun?
In the tradition of classic TSR adventure scenarios such as The Keep on the Borderlands and The Village of Hommlet, Secrets of the Nethercity gives you the information you need to use Cyfaraun as a home base for adventurers in your campaign. The level of detail in the city itself will be similar to that provided for the city of Harat in our Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu supplement. But as we unlock Bonus Goals, Cyfaraun will get even more detailed, with the sewer level below the city transformed into a whole additional play area.
Cyfaraun: The Capital of the Borderlands
What are the Bonus Goals?
If we raise more than our target, we’ll expand the amount of information we provide on the city of Cyfaraun and flesh out the extensive sewers and ruins directly beneath it.
The Cyfaraun Sewer Level
Egg’s Thoughts:
Are regular dungeons too small? Are megadungeons too big? Is your party looking for a size that’s just right? Well, Goldi, welcome to the kilodungeon of Nethercity! The map of the sewer level above, that’s a nice map, and its detail makes me want to try these old school challenges!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPGhere.
“The legendary locations of Grimtooth’s Traps revealed! A DCC supplement that lets you confront Grimtooth himself in his own lair!
Listen up, puny humans! Grimtooth the Troll here. You sorry souls have been dying from my traps for decades. And in all that time, not one of you miniscule mortals has attacked me in my lair! Well, I’ve decided to take pity on you. For the first time ever, I’m going to show you my realm. You’ll finally get to see – Trapsylvania!
Updated June 24: We just cleared our first stretch goal! Trapsylvania will include fancy custom-printed endsheets!
This Kickstarter supports the publication of Grimtooth’s Trapsylvania, a 144-page campaign setting and sourcebook! It will be available in print (softcover or hardcover) and electronic (PDF) format. It is fully illustrated, with color cover and B/W interior art. The publisher is Goodman Games, under license from Flying Buffalo. The book is written in a systems-neutral style like all Grimtooth books, with DCC RPG stats compiled in an appendix at the back.
Grimtooth’s Lair
This Kickstarter also offers a rare collectible treasure: the “lost 8th Grimtooth book.” Flying Buffalo published a total of 7 Grimtooth books. At the Origins Game Convention in 1983, an independent publisher released their own unauthorized bootleg adventure called Grimtooth’s Lair. Today, only a single copy of this adventure is known to exist. Thanks to collector Bill Meinhardt, we have been able to scan the adventure for publication. It is being offered as an add-on for this Kickstarter (see below).
The only known copy of Grimtooth’s Lair – now available as a reprint exclusively through this Kickstarter!
At last – the legendary locations of Grimtooth’s Traps revealed!
For over 30 years, Grimtooth’s numerous Traps books have horrified players and inspired game masters with hundreds of dangerous devices, deadly deathtraps and hilarious hijinx! Now Grimtooth (with a little help from kid sister Grimtina) will take you on a personally guided tour of his realm and the central hub of his vast Traps empire.
Run your own Grimtooth campaign, or pick and choose locations you can use in your own adventures. Explore Grimtooth’s caverns, visit his Inner Sanctum, escape the Deathmaze Testing Center, attend Warthog’s School for Trolls, take a ride on Grimtooth’s Airship, tour Grimtina’s Petting Zoo or get lost in many more gigantic places of doom, like the Infinite Corridor of Hallways. Each of these infamous locations includes maps, descriptions, non-player character details, scenarios, and lots of art. Plus there are more traps (of course) and plenty of things with which to endanger your characters.
Like all Grimtooth books, Grimtooth’s Trapsylvania is written in a systems-neutral format, and published in a way that it is fully compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game (DCC RPG). A series of appendices at the back provide quick and easy stats for DCC RPG games, covering all the creatures, characters and items described in the book. It’s very easy to fill a graveyard with the corpses of your DCC player characters! (Because once you enter Trapsylvania – you won’t leave! Suckers.)
Trapsylvania is written and illustrated by S. S. Crompton, the legendary “voice of Grimtooth” who has been working on Grimtooth products for Flying Buffalo for more than 30 years. We’ve rounded up the entire roster of historical Grimtooth contributors to illustrate the book, so you’ll find art not just by S. S. Crompton, but also by Liz Danforth, Micheal Von Glahn, Scott Jackson Phil Longmeier, and Jeff Dee – all the artists who have contributed to Grimtooth products over the years! The new traps are written by Grimtooth alumni S. S. Crompton, Ken St. Andre, Bear Peters, Rick Loomis, Paul O’Connor and Debora Kerr. The DCC stats are provided by Terry Olson, with editing by Jen Brinkman.
Trapsylvania is chock full of useful gaming material! How much is there? Well, here’s the exact count!
1 whole country! (Grimtooth’s, that is!)
15 large locations, all described and mapped
48 scenario ideas
60 traps or trapped items
86 creatures (with DCC stats in the Appendix)
26 NPCs (with DCC stats in the Appendix)
23 items (with DCC stats in the Appendix)
And loads of laughs!
What is Grimtooth’s Traps?
Originally published by Flying Buffalo, Grimtooth’s Traps is one of the most popular RPG accessories ever produced, with more than 250,000 copies in print since 1981. Flying Buffalo published seven Grimtooth’s books, all of them usable with any RPG. In 2015, Goodman Games compiled all of these into a massive hardcover compilation, and also published two additional DCC-compatible Grimtooth adventures. Grimtooth remains an eternally relevant character and his popularity has only grown since then.
The hallmarks of Grimtooth-style traps are wacky humor combined with deadly danger, plus, of course, extremely useful material that can be integrated into any dungeon-crawling RPG!”
Egg’s Thoughts:
I interviewed the trapmeister himself, Grimtooth, over at the Open Gaming Network. It was one of the most fun interviews I’ve ever done. Don’t waste your time here, go read it here!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPGhere or at the OpenGamingStorehere.
“SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City is an RPG heavily influenced by the 90s cartoons Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Spider-man and TMNT!
Editor’s note: These guys are far more talented than they let on in their Bios. Their talent greatly exceeds my own and I’m very lucky to have them as part of my creative team! – Eric B.
Egg’s Thoughts:
At Origins Game Fair 2018, I played SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies! with Eric Bloat. After the game, Eric shared a preview of this Kickstarter and talked about what he hopes to accomplish with it – a street level superhero game using a system that you already know. He has plans to cover every type of grim and gritty comic book superhero archetype and I can’t wait to try it out. Add to that, one of the contributors is Alan Bahr of Tiny d6 fame (among others) who I got to interview some time back, and this is a lock!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPGhere.
“City of Brass: A Legendary Adventure for 5e and Swords and Wizardry! Based on the 2006 Necromancer Games classic!
From his gleaming palace, the Sultan of Efreet turns his cruel gaze upon the Lost Lands …
The Sultan bids you welcome…
Good folk have vanished. Those who were once disparaged and forgotten now wield power unlike anything seen before. Rulers and sages turn a blind eye to the disturbing events unfolding around them. In every corner of the Lost Lands, the Cult of the Veiled One spreads unchecked.
Prophesizing a cleansing jihad of flames and the coming of the Burning One, the cult has erected its brazen spires in every land. What follows depends on the wit and courage of mighty heroes who must rise to the occasion and take the fight to the enemy in its very stronghold. Will they succeed, or will they succumb to the temptations of the Veiled One’s court and join in the conquest of their home world? A fabled city of wishes on the edge of an eternal flame. The City of Brass is a rich combination of sand-box style role playing adventure, planar exploration, and twisted dungeons designed to test even the most seasoned adventurers.
Beginning with low-level challenges in the familiar confines of the Lost Lands, the adventure leads characters on a thrilling journey through multiple planes of existence culminating in the exploration of the City of Brass itself. The gleaming towers and floating platforms of the city hold terrors and wonders such as the Great Repository and the Minaret of Screams. Characters may choose to take a turn in the Circus of Pain, raid the floating Pyramid of Set, or join the resistance to the Sultan’s oppressive rule and lead an assault on the palace itself! A phoenix rises fully formed from the ashes of the past. The City of Brass is re-imagined for the new renaissance of fantasy role playing games, brought to you in the epic style of old school fantasy campaigns of yesteryear.
From the design team that brought you Bard’s Gate and Sword of Air, the City of Brass is an adventure unlike any other. With full color art and maps, new content and new organization, the City of Brass returns bigger and better than ever! An Adventure Sourcebook for characters level 1-20. New versions for Swords & Wizardry and the Fifth Edition of the world’s most popular role-playing game.
Example of one of the over 100 maps in the City of Brass.
City of Brass 2018
One of the original books from the City of Brass by Necromancer Games
So what’s new in this release compared to the original Necromancer Games Boxed Set?
This new release of The City of Brass includes all new color maps by Alyssa Faden and Robert Altbauer. Plus amazing new color art by Colin Chan, Adrian Landeros, Terry Pavlet, Michael Syrigos, C. J. Allan Marsh, and Artem Shukaev.
The original City of Brass was divided into 3 books and has been revised and reorganized throughout with 150,000 new words of adventures and material.
Section1: Cult of the Burning One – Now includes the following adventures:
Lornedain the Secret Flame: An introductory adventure for characters Levels 1-3.
Freegate: the Brazen Spire (For Levels 4-6), giving new details to the Lost Lands city of Freegate as the characters investigate the arrival of a new cult and its magical tower.
The Sea of Baal: (For levels 5-8). Adventures in the Titian Isles, the Elemental Plane of Air and Beyond as they travel across the Sea of Baal to the continent of Lybinos!
Numeda a Caliphate in Flames: (For levels 6-9). Arriving in Lybinos the characters discover that the city of Cirtius in the Caliphate of Numeda is over-run by the forces of the Sultan of Efreet. Help free the survivors or join the Sultan in his conquest of the Lost Lands!
The Path of the Prophet: (For Levels 8-10). Rewritten from the original with new content.
Section 2: The City of Brass is now newly organized with details on factions, new locations in the Plane of Molten Skies.
Section 3: Tales of Brass
New Adventure Locations including:
Ard’s Sanctuary: An adventure location for 11-14th level characters.
Freeman’s Tower: An ultra-dimensional apartment complex and home base located in the lower city. Conquer the tower and live rent free under the Sultan’s nose! For 11th-14th level characters.
The Apartment of Ra Po Jejh!: An old enemy makes a surprise return. Find his phylactery and finish him off once and for all! For 16th-18th level characters!
Cathedral of the Lightbringer: The cathedral of the Lord of Infurnace’s minions serving as his consulate in the City of Brass. Steal the Sword of the Lightbringer if you Dare!”
That said, let’s look at the game. The book itself will be of a spin-busting size (hence it’ll be put together using “library binding“) with tons of amazing art and interesting ideas. The fact that you can get it for 5e or FGG’s OSR, Swords and Wizardry, makes this a versatile project that offers some options for your gaming table. The book will be nice without a doubt.
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPGhere or the Open Gaming Storehere.
Wanna-lancer™ Checklist T-shirt available at Cafepress
Interested in being a wanna-lancer? Start with the official Wanna-lancer Checklist t-shirt or wall clock or ice tea glass!
* * * * * *
Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. His purchases have been published by a variety of companies:
That’s the line that started it all. Sure, there were other zombies in movies and literature prior to the delivery of that iconic quote but George A. Romero’s Night of The Living Dead kicked off the modern zombie craze for sure. From Day of the Dead to Return of the Living Dead to Dawn of the Dead to Shaun of the Dead to The Walking Dead, people can’t get enough of The Dead! Zombies can be found in abundance in film, TV, comic books, literature, video games, board games, card games, dice games and yes, of course, roleplaying games. That is where we come in.
SURVIVE THIS!! – Zombies! is the first in the line of SURVIVE THIS!! Roleplaying Games to be released by indy publisher, Bloat Games. SURVIVE THIS!! is a retroclone of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Mixing the familiar rules of the Old School Renaissance and a near future zombie apocalypse, SURVIVE THIS!! – Zombies! aims to please giving any zombie lover a fast, fun and wild ride, that’s easy to pick up but hard to put down.
In SURVIVE THIS!! – Zombies! players take on the roles of survivors in a zombie apocalypse. This Collected Edition is the complete game and contains all 4 booklets (Introduction, Survivor’s Handbook, Zombie Master’s Guide & Zombie Manual). Don’t miss out! Pick up all four books today and try to SURVIVE THIS!!”
Wanna-lancer™ Checklist T-shirt available at Cafepress
Interested in being a wanna-lancer? Start with the official Wanna-lancer Checklist t-shirt or wall clock or ice tea glass!
* * * * * *
Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. His purchases have been published by a variety of companies:
There are a number of exceptional RPG Kickstarters out there. This week I’m reviewing five of them – Tiny Dungeon, Fever Swamp, Survive This!, The Folio, and Robert Asprin’s The Cold Cash War. Let’s count’em down!
“A role playing game setting, for the Savage Worlds and Cepheus System, based on Robert Asprin’s The Cold Cash War.
Image courtesy of Wayne Barlow
THE CORPORATE WARS ARE ON!
International conglomerates plot a complete domination of the free world, facing off against world governments, who want only freedom, in a calculated and vicious battle of wits and blood. Come see multi-national corporations have launched a lethal campaign against the world.
For the first time ever, a role playing game setting based on the original works of Robert Asprin and Bill Fawcett. This setting book incorporates the novel Cold Cash War and the Combat Command book Cold Cash Warrior.
Image courtesy of Bill Fawcett
Have you ever wondered how corporations fight each other? The answer is simple, they employ mercenaries in remote locations to wipe out each other. This is no easy task, but luckily the wars are conducted with advanced electronics known as killsuits. These suits simulate the damage taken by a soldier from nonoperational limbs to death, without actually hurting or killing the individual soldier. You can be a member of any of the corporations, such as Oil, Energy, Communications or Aerospace. You can be part of the Japanese Conglomerate. Battling for supremacy in the market without actually hurting your rivals employees. However, what happens when someone takes this one step further and starts employing mercenaries to take out your rivals, permanently? In this setting you play a a government agent, mercenary hired by a corporation, an information broker or a corporate executive. Get involved in corporate espionage, assassination or even stomping the enemy. If you do not want to be a corporate drone, then side up with one of the world governments. Its your choice, and the world depends on what you do. Try to stay alive and find out who wants you dead. You can find this out in this 250-page book for the Savage Worlds and Cepheus Engine (2d6 OGL Sci Fi gaming) game systems. Written by Stephen J. Miller and Jonathan M. Thompson (the team that brought you Gaslight Victorian Fantasy) and illustrated by the talented Eric Lofgren.”
I’ve spoken to Jonathan at length about the Cold Cash War, attended a Q&A, and completed an interview with him. He’s a nice guy whose passionate about his products are infectious. When he’s done, I know that the Cold Cash War is going to feel exactly like Robert Asprin’s setting in both Savage Worlds and the Cepheus Engine.
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“Return to the minimalist fantasy tabletop RPG Tiny Dungeon in this revised rules, now with micro-settings, additional content, & more!
Tiny Dungeon returns in a newly revised and revamped edition!
The TinyD6 ruleset returns to fantasy in this revised ruleset, now with micro-settings and more!
Cover Art by Michael Leavenworth
Using the rules in this book, you’ll be able to play heroic adventurers, daring treasure hunters, imperious magic-users, and more! Explore numerous worlds and discover legends, adventure and fantastical beasts.
Character creation is simple, fast, and exciting. You pick your character type based on the exciting stories your Game Master is going to tell, you pick a few Traits that each grant a single benefit, and you’re done!
Sometimes as the GM, you don’t have time to plot lengthy, detailed worlds, but you want that experience. Well, we’ve got your back, and that support comes in the form of micro-settings! Micro-settings are short settings filled with adventure hooks, and designed to put your adventures and campaigns into high action-adventure.
Our goal is to fund a softcover edition, a limited number of hardcover collector’s editions, and the Tiny Dungeon 2e dice. We’ve planned several stretch goals which will increase page count, add more art, add more special rules but all of our goals will provide you with more fun and engaging fantasy content!
Tiny Dungeon uses a simple, fast, and dynamic ruleset to handle actions. The game uses up to three six-sided dice as part of action resolution.
If you roll a “5” or “6” on a die, your check succeeds. Most checks are made with two dice. However, if you are deemed to have “advantage” on a roll, you gain a third die to roll. If you have disadvantage, you lose a dice (rolling only a single die).
Characters are made quickly and easily. You will select a fantasy race (such as dwarf, salimar, goblin, human or more), three traits, and write down some basic information and you are ready to play!”
Look for my interview with Alan Bahr about Tiny Dungeon this Thursday on the Tessera Guild.
Egg’s Thoughts:
Disclosure: I game with Alan Bahr (Dan Davenport is our GM) so I’m biased.
Based on the volume of backers, there’s a lot of confidence this is a game being done right. Tiny Dungeons is a game designed for adults but is minimalist enough to make it ideal for all-ages. The game is focused on the rules and mini-settings instead of a massive world and overarching story. The fact that it’s a fantasy RPG for everyone makes this a game I’m ready to play! To sweeten the pot for RPG freelancers, they’ve already decided to offer this:
This will be open to the wide world, and we’ll release one PDF each month in a subscription service via DriveThruRPG. At the end of the year, we will collate them into a year omnibus we will offer in print and PDF!
This will be paid work (we pay $0.10 per word to our writers), and you’ll work alongside Alan Bahr to prep these products for release (we’ll pay for art, layout, graphic design, editing, and more)!”
Play the game and submit to create content for it. I dig it!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“We plan to enter the Fever Swamp, plunder its treasures, unearth its secrets, and escape with more than an obscure disease.
Fever Swamp
The Melsonian Arts Council is a micro press publishing house which specialises in short works that startle and entertain us. Its output is by turns erudite, lucid and beautiful, or dumb, obtuse and ugly. We have previously and are still releasing peculiar zines, games and adventures.
Master Gearing is a local boy with dreams of big lights and tall cities. His works have appeared in Britain’s favourite RPG periodical, The Undercroft, and as stand alone moments of inspiration in the form of his collaborative Broken System #000.
Andrew Walter is an illustrator whose work has been featured in The Undercroft, Wormskin, and various other OSR products, as well as on underground metal and punk releases. He likes schlock horror and loud noises.
The result of this fundraising effort will be an A5, saddle stitched, 30-something page book containing a geographically linked series of vignettes that explore the particular palette chosen by the author. Flavours of nihilism, questions of inherent evil, and the abject failure of civilisation. And dampness, so damp.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Artistically, this has the most modern Adult Swim art style I can think of. It’s LotFP compatible so that decides some individual’s level of interest. Between the art and the setting, I’m curious how the full product will look from end to end.
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons RPG Core Rulebook is an OSR roleplaying game set in the 1980s from Bloat Games.
“In the 1980s strange things happened everywhere!”
Bloat Games proudly presents our latest tabletop roleplaying game: SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons. Dark Places & Demogorgons is an OSR RPG set in the 1980s where you play as teenagers from a small town where strange occurrences began popping up all around. The adults seem lost as what to do, the police are as clueless as ever and aren’t helping. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out what’s going on and stop it from happening again!
Dark Places & Demogorgons (Blue Cover) Art by Tommy Stamper
Taking advantage of the Open Gaming License, Dark Places & Demogorgons use the familiar ruleset of 1970s Original Fantasy Roleplaying Game with some added modern mechanics and concepts to make a uniquely fun and entertaining game experience.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Excited about the arrival of Stranger Things season two on Netflix? Need a game to get you into the headspace of the first season’s D&D? Bloat Games is offering the RPG you’re looking for, Survive This! The game looks like the best parts of retro fun! Much like Swamp Fever above, I’m curious how the final product will be presented. Will it have a uniquely awesome old school feel? (I’m betting the answer is yes!)
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“1E & 5E Gaming Supplement for DMs and Players in the tradition of the old orange spine Arcana
So you are probably asking, what exactly is The Storyteller’s Arcana? Well, when I was 14 I managed to get my hands on a newly printed copy of TSR‘s Unearthed Arcana and AD&D was forever changed for me. That book introduced me to so many great wrinkles in the system, and over the past thirty-five years I’ve tried to translate my own gaming knowledge into a series of notes and rules that I think can resonate with all gamers, be they OSR die-hards or newly minted 5E campaigners. By compiling and expanding on everything I’ve addressed during my time around a table, it is my hope that this new ‘Arcana’ will hold a special place on the shelves of gamers just as those old Orange Spine hardcovers do.
Is that a Larry Elmore cover? YES! Now I know that all the previous Orange Spine covers were done by Jeff Easley (as were the 2 Folio orange spines), but knowing how much Elmore has meant to the OSR community I thought it was high time to get him onto a classic hardcover.
Build on your Orange Spine Collection with a Larry Elmore classic cover!
What exactly comes in this book? Well, obviously I can’t lay out all the details here, but I’ve broken this 128 page book down into three distinct parts and below you’ll be able to get a glimpse of some of the topics I’ll be covering.”
Wanna-lancer* Rewards:
“Pledge $750 or more
Ultimate Folio Fan
Backer receives all PDF and physical copies of the three hardcovers (signed), and an original piece of art from the project, and can help design a Trope NPC class that will go into the book (with writing credit). LIMIT 5”
*Wanna-lancer™ – A gamer that’s pursuing freelance RPG work. Some back RPG Kickstarters that offer rewards to create NPCs, spells, items, adventures, etc. in order to build up their resume, make contact with publishers, and learn what’s expected on assignments.
Egg’s Thoughts:
If I could, I’d post every cover for The Folio. Jeff Easley, Brom, Larry Elmore, and more… the cover art for this series is comprised of new work from my favorite childhood artists and they all show that they still have it! This art is everything I want in a 1e and 5e D&D-compatible RPG. Add to that, you can design a Trope NPC class for the book… there’s not a lot of instances where your work can appear under a cover by Larry Elmore, so this is a rare chance!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“The third in anthology series of stories loved by Hugo voters, stories by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal, Cat Rambo, and others
Every year the Hugo Award administrators release a longer list of stories that received the most nominations by the fans who vote for the Hugo Awards. The purpose of the Long List Anthology is to get more of the works loved by Hugo Award voters to readers in one convenient package. This is the third annual volume of the anthology. There are some familiar author names in the book, as well as some authors who are new to the series.
Volume One and Volume Two were both funded on Kickstarters–including works by writers including Eugie Foster, Elizabeth Bear, Amal El-Mohtar, Aliette de Bodard, Scott Lynch, Rachel Swirsky, Kai Ashante Wilson, Ken Liu, David D. Levine, Alyssa Wong, Ann Leckie, and Catherynne M. Valente–and they both succeeded and have gone on to sell steadily on ebook vendors after the Kickstarter as well, selling more than 10,000 copies.
The base goal of the campaign will include only the short stories. There will be stretch goals to add novelettes and novellas. The goals listed here include only stories that I’ve heard agreement back from the authors–some queries to authors are still pending, there may be another story or two added as an additional stretch goal. If these stretch goals are reached, I may add on other goals as well.
This project is not endorsed by nor affiliated with the Hugo awards, WSFS, WorldCon, or any associated entities. The Hugo name is used with permission. Please note that the anthology is NOT called “The Hugo Long List Anthology”. It is called “The Long List Anthology”, or the full wordy title: “The Long List Anthology: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List”. (I’m noting this because it’s pretty commonly referred to by the wrong name)
The cover art is “The Alchemist” by Amanda Makepeace. You can find more information about her work on her website.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Tessera Guild co-founder, Amanda Makepeace, has a beautiful piece of art gracing the cover of this book. Just as I gushed about the artwork for The Folio above, this is a chance to own a book with an amazing cover. Just as they recommend on the Kickstarter, check out Amanda’s website for more.
You can check out the first anthology on Amazon here.
Wanna-lancer™ Checklist T-shirt available at Cafepress
Interested in being a wanna-lancer? Start with the official Wanna-lancer Checklist t-shirt or wall clock or ice tea glass!
* * * * * *
Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. His purchases have been published by:
Tales From Vigilante City is an all new street level super hero short fiction anthology which is to be a companion piece to 
