A Role Playing Games Blog
Archive for April, 2009
Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies now available over RPGNow
0April 22, 2009
If you are interested in swashbuckling fantasy RPGs you probably have heard of Chad Underkoffler’s latest work “Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies“. The hardcover version has been available for some time now at IPR, but since yesterday or so, the PDF version is available at RPGNow, too. And you get the 323-page PDF for just $15 which is a steal, if you ask me.
Skyships ply the 7 Skies, soaring from Cloud-Island to Cloud-Island for conquest, espionage, trade, and piracy. Kingdoms clash, cultures collide, and secrets abound. Heroes and villains roam Above the Blue, seeking action, intrigue, adventure, and style. Will you be one of them?
On the offical S7S site you’ll find additional information about the game including a free version of the PDQ rules used in the game and a 10-page PDF with background information on the campaign world.
Roleplaying in the world of “On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness”
2April 21, 2009
“On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness” is an episodic adventure RPG for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 set into a pseudo-victorian world where lovecraftian horror, pulp adventures and the twisted humor of Penny Arcade mix.
In the video game the player joins Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabriel from Startling Developments Detective Agency, fight everything from robotic fruitfuckers to a cult of mimes (I always knew that mines are evil!) that want to summon the evil god Yog Sethis.
In my opinion the world of “On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness” makes a perfect background for a tongue-in-cheek steampunk-horror-comedy roleplaying game using some rules-light system like Risus or PDQ. In order to give you a feel for the world I have recreated the protagonists from the game using Risus: The Anything RPG (created by S. John Ross) and even included my alter ego from the game. Enjoy! Please note that I’ve taken Tycho’s and Gabe’s character bios from the game itself.
Johnathan “Gabe” Gabriel
Bio: Believing that “all famous people start out as as orphans”, Jonathan Gabriel left home at an early age. learning to fight on the mean streets of New Arcadia, this path would ultimately take him to the top of the prizefight circuit. Everything was going great – that is, until he fought the devil. Since then, he has punched over threethousand supernatural creatures. He has even punched several ghosts, which is very hard to do.
Clichés: Pugilist (4), Self-Proclaimed Orphan (2), Ghostbuster (3), Expert in Making Things Up (1)
Tycho Erasmus Brahe
Bio: Upon graduating from New Arcadia’s Old Academy with a Doctorate in Apocalyptics, Tycho Erasmus Brahe founded the Startling Developments Detective Agency. With its charter to “Tread, without fear, in the whispering dark”, he and partner Jonathan Gabriel take on those cases too startling for theri contemporaries. His recent encounter with the God of Silence Yog Sethis has made him anxious. Perhaps we should say more anxious.
Clichés: Doctor of Apocalyptic Studies (3), Man With A Tommy Gun (3), Supernatural Investigator (2), Living Thesaurus (2)
Michael “Stargazer” Wolf
Bio: Before a 30-feet fruitfucker destroyed his house, Michael Wolf was the writer for a hobbyist magazine and an avid gardener with a keen interest in Astronomy. He then joined the Startling Developments Detective Agency in order to find out who was responsible for the destruction of his home. He’s also looking for a place to stay…
And it’s remarkable that a simple Joe Schmo like he was hasn’t been driven totally mad by the events that have transpired while he was trying to find the destroyer of his home.
Clichés: Journalist (3), Avid Gardener (4), Amateur Astronomist (2), Temporary Homeless (1)
The city of New Arcadia is a strange and dangerous place, especially when you meddle in the affairs of old and evil gods, especially when they have such a weird and twisted humor like Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins!
Note: This post is my contribution to this month’s blog carnival hosted by ”A Butterfly Dreaming“. It also is my answer on Vulcan Stev’s proposed internet meme where all RPG bloggers create superhero version of themselves. And the character above is based on me (although I don’t do any gardening in real life) and he’s a superhero alright. Who else could take on a god and live to tell the tale?
As always I am interested in your comments! Have you played the Penny Arcade adventure RPGs and would you like to play a roleplaying campaign in New Arcadia, too?
Two Worlds RPG for free
3April 20, 2009
Two Worlds is an action RPG for PC and Xbox 360. In 2007 RPGObjects created a pen&paper roleplaying game based on that game that was included in the Collector’s Edition of the game. They are now releasing this game for free at their site. You have to register an account there to download your copy of the 74-page PDF.
The PDF itself is looking pretty nice and obviously uses artwork from the game but the layout is really not my cup of tea: a one-column layout and a font size that even my grandma could read with her glasses off. And the font used (reminds me of the font used in Blizzard’s Diablo) probably causes eye cancer. Aside from that, the Two Worlds RPG could be an interesting entry into the pen & paper roleplaying hobby for fans of the video game.
The game uses Fantasy20, a variant of the d20 System which was probably the most logical choice for such a project.
Please note: There is also a version of that book optimized for print but I couldn’t download it. It is possible that this version uses a more readable font and better layout (but I doubt it). If you have more luck downloading the print version, please let me know.
Penny Arcade: “For the Vin”
1April 20, 2009
Vin Diesel is one of the few celebreties who has openly talked about his love for D&D. Our fellow RPG bloggers have already posted about this and today Penny Arcade has a new D&D-themed comic featuring Vin Diesel!
That reminds me, wasn’t there some talk about a new Riddick movie?
MyBrute
April 20, 2009
Recently the German RPG blog “Sven’s Wortschmiede” has posted a tutorial of the game MyBrute. I have to admit that I was totally oblivious to the existence of this browser “game” before that but I just had to try it out.
In MyBrute you first create your character. The character creation (as the rest of the game) is more or less random. The character has three stats: Strength, Agility and Speed. And by fighting against other “brutes” your character earns experience. When he has earned enough experience he raises in level and gets additional equipment, special abilities or perhaps even a pet.
The combat in the arena is completly automated, so the only thing you can do is sit back, pray and hope for the best. Aside from choosing which opponet you want to fight, you don’t have that much choices, but the combat animations are nice to look at.
MyBrute is neither a really deep or complicated browser game, but it’s a nice past time, if you are wasting too much time in front of the PC.
By the way, if you want to face my “brute” Sanastar just click here. Your character will then become my pupil and as his mentor I will get a fraction of the XP he earns.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s fight it out!
Ask The Readers: Magic in PDQ?
3April 20, 2009
Initially I planned to use FUDGE for the solo game with my girlfriend but in the end we decided to use Chad Underkoffler’s PDQ system (the core rules are freely available on the Atomic Sock Monkey website). The PDQ system is rules light, uses descriptive qualities instead of standard attributes, skills, etc. and is exactly what we need for the game we had in mind.
But the free rules available on the site lack rules for supernatural effects like magic or psionics. But both should play a role in the campaign I’ve planned, so do you guys have any idea how a simple magic system in PDQ could work? Magic should mainly be spell/ritual based much like in the “Call of Cthulhu” game. And psionics should mostly be ESP. The easiest way would be to make magic and psionics just another qualities and just improvise. But I think especially ritual magic would need a bit more background.
So my question to you is: how would you make magic work in PDQ?
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