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A Role Playing Games Blog
Freebies: The Microlite20 RPG Collection 2012
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Microlite20 is a rules-light version of the d20 System, that is quite popular among the authors of this blog. Recently someone pointed out the Microlite20 RPG Collection 2012 to me. It’s a compilation of almost every Microlite20-based game out there and contains over 1300 pages in two PDF documents with over 600 pages each!
The RetroRoleplaying blog has complied a list of all the included material, that I am posting here for your convenience:
Microlite20 House Rules, MicroFantasy, Alter Microlite20, Ultramicrolite20 Revised, Ultramicrolite20 Revised II, Nanolite20, Microlite20 Modern, M20 Modern: Expert, Microlite20 Modern-Day, M20 Hard Core Rules, Swords against Sorcery, M20 Heroic, Iron Heartbreakers, Microlite11, WildWalker’s M20 4e, Microlite20 Variant 4e, Microlite 4E, Micro Action Fantasy, MULRAH, Lite20, Mini20, Realms of Renown, Microlite74: Basic, Microlite74: Standard, Microlite74: Extended, Microlite74: Companion I, Microlite77, Microlite20 OSS, Advanced Microlite20 OSS, Argo, M20 Hyborian Age, Microlite Conan, Prehistoric Microlite20, Microlite20 Bronze Age, Microlite Dark Sun, Omerian Tales, Beacon, WarEngine RPG, Yamato M20, Challenges & Champions, Microlite20 Elf Lords, Microlite20 Resident Evil, Microlite20 Cthulthu, Microlite20 Vampires, Microlite20 2012, SpyLite, Giant Bug Invasion, Cyberpunk, SuperLite, Microlite20 Costumes, Tumbleweed, Gunsmoke & Goblins, Owl Hoot Trail, Microlite Storytelling, TileHack, Dragoons, ZombiePocalypse, Relics & Ruins, OmegaLite20, RABID, Microlite20 Vermin, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Galactic Methuselah, FrontierLite, M20 Star Wars, Microlite20 Star Wars, Scions of a Primordial Planet, Micro MechWarrior, Stargate 1895, Blaster D20 Microlite, Pendragon D20 Microlite, Diabolical D20 Microlite, PathfinderLite20, Microlite20 Golden Edition, DungeonFinder Player’s Guide, DungeonFinder GM’s Guide, DungeonFinder Book of Monsters, and Grimm Lite.
If you are into Microlite20 you should definitely download the collection. The download is of course free, but if you feel like it, RetroRoleplaying is asking for a donation to the RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund.
You can download the Microlite20 RPG Collection here:
You can never have too many maps! An interesting Kickstarter…
0February 28, 2012
The emergence of patron backed publishing projects certainly caught me by surprise. By now I am familiar with Kickstarter and other similar endeavors and while I have promoted several I considered worthy and backed a select few, if you asked me about this possibility a few years ago I would say it would never work. Ten years ago I was not ready to embrace the new business reality brought about by the Internet, the shift from the importance of owning a physical object to having access to the content, the idea of people putting forth the money to finance a project they believe in before there is a physical object to purchase. I remain convinced that when future generations look back upon our age they will think of this time as we do of the industrial revolution. A time when the paradigm of business changed right in front of us, and some people didn’t realize it!
Now that I’ve rambled on and gotten this out of the way, let me share with you Kickstarter I just found about and is about to close. The Mass Transit IV Maps and More project is raising money for the production of the fourth Mass Transit map by Christopher West. I love using maps in my games, and be it Star Wars Sage Edition, Savage Worlds, or any other sci-fi game out there West’s maps are a beauty to see. Just click your way to his Maps of Mystery page and take a gander. I’ll wait…
See? I owe one of his maps. It is top notch, very detailed, and while it does not come laminated it is easy enough to get it laminated at an office shop and voila! The Nova Eclipse looks gorgeous in the video and I would sure love for him to reach his goals for the extra rewards. There is not much time left, so if you love maps and play sci-fi, here is a nice project to back. I already pledged!
Review: Ruined Empires
2February 27, 2012
Ruined Empires is an 43-paged adventure for Abney Park’s Airship Pirates (read my review here) written by the games’ authors Peter Cakebread and Ken Walton. And as in the rulebook Abney Park’s Robert Brown was responsible for the Cover Design and overall layout.
The adventure was designed for a party of three to six players and serves in my opinion as a perfect introduction into the post-apocalyptic world of the game. I don’t want to give too much away about the plot of the adventure, but rest assured there’s something for almost everyone in the adventure. The story begins in Isla Aether, where they players are given the task by a powerful patron to find a treasure for him. But when they return victoriously things in Isla Aether have changed… and not for the better, when the players are concerned.
The adventure is split into three parts and at the beginning of the book the GM gets an overview of what is supposed to happen in each of the parts. After that each part is described in detail. NPCs are listed close to where they are mentioned in the text, so you don’t need to flip through the book to find their stats.
What I also like a lot is that there are quite a few maps included. They are not overly fancy or anything, but they do their job well. In too many adventures you have to guess how the places the story is set look like, but Ruined Empires’ maps do a great job giving you some hints on what the locations look like.
A big plus in my book is the fact that the adventure is full of interesting and often flamboyant characters. That’s exactly how I expected characters in Airship Pirates adventure to be and Ruined Empires doesn’t disappoint here. There are a lot of opportunities for the players to roleplay their characters, but there’s also a lot of action, especially in part two.
Even though the adventure is a railroading the story a bit, it still leaves a lot of opportunities for veteran GMs to do things their way. I haven’t had the chance to run the adventure myself, but I am sure it should be enjoyable for both players and GM alike.
You can get Ruined Empires as a print+PDF bundle from Cubicle 7 for $14.99 or as a PDF from RPGNow for mere $7.99. Ruined Empires is a solid Airship Pirates and if you are planning to run a campaign, it definitely is a perfect way to introduce your players to the world.
Lazy Friday Video Post: “Age of Oppression” Skyrim cover
1I think I mentioned before that the soundtrack to the highly successful computer and video game “The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim” works perfectly as background music for your roleplaying game session. I haven’t? Then I now said it! 
YouTube user malufenix has created a couple of cover versions of the songs played by the bards throughout the game. I totally love those songs and that’s why I wanted to share her latest song with you:
Enjoy!
Vaeringar Borderlands
1February 24, 2012
Yesterday I continued to work on my SS&S campaign. I got some tips from Ralf Schemmann (thanks again Ralf!) on how to properly create a map in CC3 and following his advice I used a simpler b&w style instead of the one I used before. The map below shows the borderlands between the Imperium and the Barbarian Lands. 
The map still has a couple of issues, but I think it should be good enough to be used in play this Saturday. During the last session we already talked about the player character’s future goals, but for the time being they decided to stay in the area to gain some fame and fortune before they venture forth deeper into the Imperium.
Ask the readers: Tools of the trade, RPG book transportation!
18February 23, 2012
I’m on the last leg of my current Mutants & Masterminds Dawn of a New Age campaign. It’s gone on longer than I planned and we are having a blast, I am really pleased with the campaign and once we finish I plan on doing a retrospective for the blog. But the campaign has a few months to go, so this is not the post mortem.
However, I am planning to return to my Pathfinder Swashbuckling campaign and unlike Mutants & Masterminds where combats are abstract and narrative and I get along with just two books and dice. For Pathfinder I bring along a few more books, and I use maps and miniatures, and I have all the cool goodies I got at Gen Con, Paizo GameMastery cards… Well you get the picture, I need a cart. So as I begin to plan for the eventual return to my campaign I need to do some planning.
We used to play at my house so I had all my books and minis at hand. That setup was ideal, but we can’t play here right now. We have a sweet place at a friend’s house/office, that we call “The Lair”. My Colossal Red Dragon is already there, so I’m pretty sure I could leave some of my minis there. Other groups play there during the week so there are markers and erasable boards, and I think I’ll leave some of the goodies I have there, within reason, the place IS used for something else than gaming!
I’ll be bringing my laptop along, these days I don’t GM without it. It has its own case and I do ALL my note taking there, so that’s covered. What I need to do is find a tool to transport my books!
I’ve tried all sorts of options. Lugging around two backpacks, leaving books where we play, a trunk with all my D&D 3rd edition books that I pulled in a cart (I kid you not!). So what are my options? I’ve thought about a book bag with wheels, a wheeled computer case, the Bag of Holding Messenger Case (with a great review here!). Ideally it will hold my big core Pathfinder books, some mini cases, my dice, maps…
What do you use? How do you transport your books? Looking forward to your suggestions…
The Known Lands of Vaneria
0February 22, 2012
For the longest time fans of the Warrior, Rogue & Mage RPG have been wondering how the lands of Vaneria look like. This question is now answered!
Matt Jackson, blogger and cartographer extraordinaire, has created a map for the Fallen Empire of Vaneria. Here is is:
Click on the map to see it in full size (2400 x 1800 pixels)
When I wrote WR&M I only had a faint idea of what the known world looked like but Matt managed to turn my words into an awesome map. I especially like the city icons. Adorable!
There was also the question of scale that had to be tackled. In the end we settled for a size comparable to Greece.
I hope you like the map as much as I do. And while you’re at it, why don’t you visit Matt’s blog and check out his other works? It’s worth it!
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