A Role Playing Games Blog
News & Reviews
Warrior, Rogue & Mage en Español
1October 17, 2011
A while back a gentleman by the name of Jose Muñoz contacted me on behalf of a Spanish group of roleplayers called Arcano XIII that was interested in translating Warrior, Rogue & Mage into Spanish. Since I released WR&M under a Creative Commons license they of course didn’t need my permission, but I think it was a nice gesture and they even keep me up-to-date about the translation process.
A couple of days ago they sent me a layout example and I have to admit it looks very nice. Check it out:
The final PDF version is not done yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as it’s out. I feel honored that people actually find my little game interesting enough to do the hard work of translating it into another language. By the way, the Spanish version is not the only translation of WR&M currently in the works. As far as I know there are currently people working on a German and a Hebrew translation of WR&M. I can’t wait to see them released as well!
Lazy Friday Video post: “Game Geeks #178 RunePunk and Iron Dynasty”
0October 14, 2011
As a follow-up to yesterday’s interview with Sean Preston I want to present to you Kurt Wiegel’s video reviews of Reality Blurs’ games RunePunk and Iron Dynasty.
By the way, Sean, what did you do to Kurt that made him be afraid of you?
Interview: Sean Preston
3October 13, 2011
I first met Sean Preston at Gen Con 2010. I think I had exchanged a few emails with him before that, but it would be exaggerated if I said I knew him. I was actually waiting to speak with the guys from Crafty Games when I noticed that Reality Blurs occupied the neighboring booth. So I approached Sean, introduced myself and asked him to tell me about his latest product which was Iron Dynasty at the time. I don’t remember how long we actually talked but I quickly learned that Sean is not only a creative writer and game designer but also a great guy. He’s definitely among the people that impressed me the most back then. Until this day we keep contact, some of you might actually have been involved in our extensive Twitter conversations. The rest is – as they say – history. 
Sean’s latest project is “Agents of Oblivion”, a roleplaying game setting for use with Savage Worlds that combines the modern espionage genre with horror elements. But I think Sean can explain this better than I can, so I asked him to answer a couple of questions for us.Stargazer: Thanks again for taking your time to answer a couple of questions about Reality Blurs in general and Agents of Oblivion in particular. It’s an honor to have you. So, let’s start with AoO. What exactly is it about?
Sean: Agents of Oblivion is what we like to call “the perfect cocktail of horror and espionage”. Heck, we believe this so much we put it on the cover as the tagline. Now, before anyone thinks we’re being cocky or anything, we know everyone’s definition of the perfect cocktail may differ, so we cheated a bit by providing you with all the ingredients to mix your own, suitable to your own refined palate. For those who’ve followed us for a number of years, you know we are all about providing sandboxes and allowing you the freedom to customize the game and still have all the pieces work together without any hassle. At its core, Agents of Oblivion is a spy game with conspiracies and aliens and rival organizations and magic and things that go bump in the night. Well, that’s how I play it. We provide seven different campaign styles—cocktail recipes to extend the metaphor—you can tailor to your own sensibilities.
Agents of Oblivion is now available!
2October 10, 2011
Let me start with a quote from John Rogers, the creator and executive producer of Leverage:
“You have in your hands a rules set that lets you play anything from “Spellslinging Spy vs. Alien Brain Eater” to “Harry Palmer vs. That Unpleasant Fellow from Bulgaria.” They haven’t glossed over any of the little nuts and bolts you need to play a realistic spy game, if that’s your desire – they’ve just streamlined it to be Fast, Furious, and Fun. That I can use one setting to play both those extremes is impressive as hell.”
These are the words he wrote for the introduction of Sean Preston’s Agents of Oblivion, the latest Savage Worlds campaign from Reality Blurs. The 218-paged book contains everything you need to horror-fueled espionage action using the Savage World rules (you need a copy of the Savage Worlds rules). I am sure many of you have been waiting for this fine book to be released and if you haven’t you don’t know what you’re missing! Trust me, Sean outdid himself with AoO!
By the way, there are a couple of pretty cool bundles available at the Reality Blurs shop right now:
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The New Recruit (Agents of Oblivion PDF) for $10
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The Elite Agent (Agents of Oblivion Print + PDF) for $25
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The Sigil Operative (Agents of Oblivion PDF + Realms of Cthulhu PDF) for $20
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The Director (Agents of Oblivion Print + PDF and Realms of Cthulhu Print + PDF) for $50
If you don’t own a copy of Realms of Cthulhu yet, I recommend you consider the Sigil Operative or The Director Bundle. An espionage campaign with Mythos elements sounds just to awesome not to try! ^_^
Update: AoO is now available from RPGNow, too!
What about the Divine Favor series? A review…
1October 7, 2011
When I reviewed the Advanced Feats series from Open Design I wished they would give the Advanced Feats treatment to the core classes in the Pathfinder RPG. Well ask and you shall receive! (Does that mean I now have to worship at the Kobold altar? Never mind, back to the post…)
Wait, that’s not really true. The Kobolds have created a new series that covers some of the Pathfinder core classes, but they are much more than the Advanced Feats series. I understand why they did it. When the classes from the Advanced Players Guide came out there was a dearth of Feats specifically designed for the classes, a vacuum very aptly filled by the Advanced Feats books. For the core classes however, the situation is very different. There are lots of Feats for these classes, they needed to up the ante, and they did!
The Divine Favor series covers the divine classes, old and new, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Oracle and eventually the Inquisitor (it’s just not out yet!), providing an overview of the class, optional rules, abilities, feats and spells. These are some great resources that embrace the innovations in the system, such as sub-domains and archetypes, I must say I am really impressed by the four I reviewed.
Want to learn more? Read on…
Review: L5R Enemies of the Empire
0October 6, 2011
It’s been a while since my last review, but finally, I bring to you my take on Legends of the Five Rings: Enemies of the Empire for 4th Edition. This is the second book to come out for the L5R 4e. It kind of comes off as a Monster Manual of sorts; the book gives the GM a plethora of possible foes to ram up against the players, but the book isn’t just a bunch of stat blocks. It is so, so much more.
This book follows the example set by AEG with most of their books, especially the core rulebook for L5R 4e: it is extremely beautiful and makes it into my RPG Coffee table books category. I will point out that some of the art was carried over from the first book, not a lot, but I did find a few picture repeats. I kind of dislike it when companies do this with their books. It is likely something that can’t be avoided, but you see it a lot, especially with Wizards of the Coast and the many carry-overs from one edition to the next. The full color standard that L5R is setting right now with their stuff is setting the bar very, very high. This may of course seem very superficial, but when you are paying what they are asking for their books you want to make sure that you are getting your money’s worth.
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space Unboxing
2October 5, 2011
This is my unboxing video of the “Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space” roleplaying game by Cubicle 7.
I hope you enjoy it!
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