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Krampusnacht
1December 19, 2011
Some of you may have heard about Krampus, that mythical creature that somewhat resembles the devil that accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season. While Santa Claus hands out gifts to children who have been nice, Krampus’ job is to stuff nasty children into his sack and carry them away to devour them. Yum! 
In Austria, southern Bavaria and South Tyrol young men dress up as Krampus in the first week of December to participate in so-called Krampus Runs (Krampuslauf) where they roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells. Usually these runs are in the night of December 6th (Krampusnacht).
During the Inquisition attempts were made to stamp the tradition out. Dressing up like a devil-like creature was actually punishable by death back then. And even in the early 20th century the practice was discouraged by the Austrian government.
But what if there’s a deeper reason why people try to stop these Krampus Runs? What if the costumes and the runs are actually part of a cannibalistic ritual from the dawn of time? Thinking about this for a while gave me a few ideas for a Call of Cthulhu scenario.
Freebies: Renaissance
2December 6, 2011
Yay! I have been waiting for this since I first read about it: Renaissance is a free roleplaying system designed for historical and fantasy games in, as the authors put it, “age of blackpowder weapons”. It was created by Peter Cakebread and Ken Walton who are known for Clockwork & Chivalry 1st Edition and Abney’ Park’s Airship Pirates. Renaissance is based on D101 Games’ OpenQuest which itself is based on Mongoose Publishing’s Runequest SRD.
The 139-paged PDF contains all the rules needed to play, two magic systems and a bestiary. Kudos to Cubicle 7 and Cakebread & Walton for releasing the rules for free. The PDF doesn’t contain any artwork, but that’s negligible especially since the PDF is mainly meant as a System Reference Document. The rules of the game can be used under the OGL.
If you are a fan of Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying and Runquest, you actually have the choice between quite a few different rule variants now. There’s Renaissance, Mongoose Publishing’s Legend, D101 Games’ OpenQuest, Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying and Goblinoid Games’ GORE. All those games are more or less compatible, so you can use material designed for one game in the other with ease.
Renaissance looks pretty interesting because it was created with the Renaissance era in mind. The magic system also looks pretty unique. If you’re looking for a skill-based RPG with a percentile dice mechanic, you should definitely check Renaissance out!
Unfinished business
0December 2, 2011
I think as a whole we human beings are completists. We want to complete what we began; we want the whole story. We crave to know the conclusion, and when we don’t get closure we often resent it. From famous court cases to cancelled TV series, we just don’t like it when we don’t know the end of the story.
No wonder hardcore fan-folk (and I use the term meaning no disrespect) often take this to the next level when it comes to the things they are passionate about. Be it the TV series they were really invested in and the networked axed, or the endless novel series whose author passed away before completing it. There can be righteous indignation in such occasions.
Ask The Stargazer: “What is the one RPG that you have never run, but have always wanted to?”
17December 1, 2011
Today’s question has been asked by a reader who calls himself Lon. And while it’s a perfect question, I am not sure how I should answer that. Let me start by saying that the list of RPGs that I have never run, but always wanted to is probably longer than my arm. Who am I kidding? The list is way longer than both of my arms. 
For many years I have been collecting roleplaying game rulebooks. If I said I had dozens of RPG books this would probably be an understatement. And the number of books I bought on RPGNow over the years is quite impressive. Of course I have not yet read all of those and I will probably never use all of them, but there are a few I really would love to run one day.
Let me list a few of those:
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Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG
I got a copy of this fine game as a review copy from Cubicle 7 a while ago. I haven’t had the time to write a proper review yet, but from what I’ve seen so far it’s an awesome game. The mechanics are pretty nice and the designers managed to grab the essence of the series and put it into their game. Marvelous!
I am a big fan of the new series and I even managed to get my girlfriend fall in love with it, too. Now I need to find a few more players and the time to run that game. -
Shadow, Sword & Spell
For quite some time I wanted to run a Sword & Sorcery game. And if I should ever find the time to run one, I will probably use Rogue Games’ SS&S to run it. The game uses Rogue Games 12° System which I like a lot. That reminds me I should write a review of SS&S at some point in the future. I have to admit I was unsure whether it was ok for me to write one, since my name appears in the credits of several Rogue Games products since I have done some proofreading for them. -
Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein
Dark Harvest is one of the most impressive games I’ve ever read. The setting is extremely awesome and if you are looking for a unique horror game, you should check out this game. Alas the unique setting makes it complicated to find players interested in playing the game. But I totally love it and I am looking forward to all the new stuff coming out in the future. -
Atomic Highway
Since playing Interplay’s Fallout back in the day I love the post-apocalypse genre. And Atomic Highway is one of my favorite pen & paper roleplaying games of said genre. My plans to run a Fallout-inspired game using the AH rules utterly failed but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to run Atomic Highway anymore. But perhaps next time I will use a setting more fitting to the rules. As the name of the game implies vehicles play a significant role. If your vision of a post-apocalyptic world looks much like the Mad Max movies, AH is the perfect game for you. In the Fallout world modern vehicles are almost non-existent, which caused a few issues. But I digress. -
Gamma World
Yes, you read that correctly. Even though I am not too fond of D&D 4th Edition I am quite excited about that game. I have to admit I haven’t picked it up yet, but from what I’ve heard it’s awesome. For some reason I am in the mood for some wacky post-apocalyptic game with anthropomorphic animals and weird mutants with improbable powers. And it seems Gamma World is the perfect remedy for that itch.
But of course this list is far from being exhaustive. I could go on for pages listing all the cool games that I would love to run. My collection is full of exciting games and there are even more out there I haven’t picked up yet. If you ask me, it’s a great time to be a gamer. There are more games out there than ever and the community is more active and vibrant than ever before. Don’t let them tell you everything was better back in the day. I highly doubt it was the case. The only thing that was better was that when we were young, we had a much more free times on our hands we could use for playing RPGs. But I digress.
Now that I have answered Lon’s question let me ask my readers: What is the one RPG that you have never run, but have always wanted to? As always every feedback is appreciated!
By the way, if you have a question you want to ask the Stargazer, send an email to askthestargazer@stargazersworld.com!
News from Promethea
5November 29, 2011
Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein is undoubtedly one of the most impressive games I reviewed this year. It stands out from a lot of other games because of its unique alternate history setting that combines elements from the classic novel “Frankenstein – The Modern Prometheus” with real history. For more information on this awesome game, please check out my review and the interview with author Iain Lowson.
And I am quite glad that there will be more support for this great game in the future. The beginning will be made by “Resistance”, which should be out by May 2012. There’s already a small sample of this first LoF supplement available at the official site, so check it out. And it seems Colin Chapman, who is known for his post-apocalyptic roleplaying game Atomic Highway (which he’s now giving away for free!) and who has written the first supplement for my own Warrior, Rogue & Mage, will be involved in that project. Colin does great stuff, so I am sure “Resistance” will be great as well.
The other news is that there will be a LoF card game. How cool is that. Iain Lowson hasn’t shared any details yet, but it will not be a CCG, which is great in my book. According to the announcement on the official LoF site, it will be more light-hearted than the rest of the LoF material. I am not sure if it will be family-friendly though. Actually I doubt it.
Last but not least there will be a LoF short story anthology! Yay! That’s great news. The short stories in the original Dark Harvest book were awesome and I am definitely looking forward to this anthology. Hopefully there will be a Kindle edition as well. 
If there are any questions regarding these future releases, feel free to post them in the comments below. I will convey all your questions to Iain Lowson in hopes he’ll share a few more details with us.
Legend – Help raising money for Child’s Play and get a cool RPG in exchange
0November 28, 2011
Rule of Cool Gaming’s Legend RPG has probably the most generic name a fantasy RPG could have, but it’s actually a pretty interesting product. The rules may look quite familiar at first glance because it’s based on the d20 System SRD. But it’s not just another d20 variant, but a “new and novel system dedicated to cinematic combat and a smoother gameplay experience”.
I have to admit I haven’t had the time to give the rules a closer look, but the rulebook looks really nice. It features a very cool and clear layout with some excellent pieces of art. Creative lead Jacob Kurzer has provided us with a review copy of the game, so expect a full review in the near future, but my initial impression is quite positive.
The game features eight classes like Barbarian, Monk, Paladin and Shaman that can be further customized by the players through choosing different “tracks” along which the characters develop. Each class comes with a number of tracks but there are extra tracks that can be used either to create monstrous characters or to customize your character even further.
But what definitely sets Legend apart from a lot of other games is the fact that all proceeds from the core product will be donated to Child’s Play. And until December 9th Legend is available on a pay-what-you-want basis. Until now the game has raised about $866 to improve the lives of children in hospitals around the world.
The Legend RPG is about 179 pages long and doesn’t come with a fledged-out setting. It definitely worth a look and with your purchase you’re actually helping children in need.
A dearth of ideas…
0November 25, 2011
As I sit here pondering about role-playing games, in my turkey fuelled semi-conscious state of mind, the mind wanders to all those unused campaign ideas that pile up through the years. If you are a Game Master you know what I mean, all those snippets and ideas that show the promise of becoming a game, or maybe, just maybe, a full fledged campaign. I have dozens, if not more of those. But for myriad reasons, time, player interest, whatever it may be, many of these ideas remain just that, a good idea,
I’ve been lucky to use many of those ideas; my last few campaigns over the last 4 years have been the realization of finally using those ideas. That’s why I keep notes, play with the ideas every so often and write them down. I’ve found that helps.
But this post is NOT about this, it’s about something else…
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