Tell us about something good that you got recently

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Received this today from Drivethrurpg...

1662106053059.png

I can only think that some Brain Surgeon somewhere got this instead...

1662106214026.png


Maybe it'll tempt them into roleplaying; I know my surprise book is making me seriously think about a new hobby.
 
Last edited:
Yesterday evening my copy of Gran Meccanismo arrived from Amazon. Their deliveries seem to be getting later and later into the evenings lately.

Anyway, that's by the by, the book arrived. It looks nice, the layout's good, and overall I'm very happy with what I've got for £16. It's a new RPG from Osprey. It's an alt-history, clockpunk game set in 16th century Florence. The system is the latest iteration of Graham Spearing's Wordplay system; which has now been rebranded as Tripod (TRiple Pools Of D6). I can't say I'm keen on the name Tripod and I think I'll just keep referring to it as Wordplay thanks! This new version is certainly slimmed down from the system presented in the previous Wordplay core rulebook and I think I noticed a couple of rules changes too but nothing hugely significant.

I need to pick that up. The author, Mark Galeotti, did Mythic Russia for Heroquest back in the day, and I can remember him saying on the interwebs that he wanted to do a similar game for Renaissance Italy.

Some recent birthday gifts I received (just online pictures rather than real photos). None are actually RPGs:

King is Dead Cover.jpg

Necromancy Cover.jpg Penguin Book Dragons.jpg

Also, in mid-August University of Chicago Press usually has a 75% off e-book sale, so I picked the following two volumes up as an early 'happy birthday to me' gift. They came to under $11, all told:

Basilisks & Beowulf Cover.jpg Eaters of the Dead Cover.jpg
 
Last edited:
I saw Amazon had the Spelljammer set for $40 so I decided to go ahead and get it. It just arrived a few moments ago and I've ripped off the plastic wrap to start looking at it.

Wow. What a padded out piece of shit.

Over half the 64 page setting book is ships and deckplans produced in such a way as to pad out the absolute maximum amount of space for below minimal amount of content. This is the kind of padding that even Kevin Siembieda would see and go "maybe you need to put more effort in here."

The adventure book is a standard WotC adventure booklet. It's basically the kind of thing you'd see in a starter set, but bound as a hardcover. Then there's the monster book, which strikes me as the only thing in the set worth a damn.

Everything is illustrated pretty, but there is no content here. There is less here than you'd see in one of the boxed starter sets. I'm going to toss out there and opine that this was probably originally conceived as a box set like D&D Essentials, but was changed in the 11th hour because suckers like myself would pay boxed hardcover slipcase prices for this throwaway bullshit.

I am so glad I didn't get the limited. About my only potential regret would be the idea of selling the limited at an overinflated price to some sucker in the future, but that would only make me feel guilty.

If you can find the Spelljammer set for $15 or something, then go for it. But definitely don't pay anywhere near full price for it. I haven't seen anything this fucking lazy and money grabbing since Rifts Ultimate Edition, and even that piece of garbage doesn't sink to anywhere near the same level as this Spelljammer set.

Seriously, even if you haven't ever SEEN the original 2e Spelljammer set, your conversion notes to 5e scribbled on one side of a napkin are probably more meaty than this thing.
 
I saw Amazon had the Spelljammer set for $40 so I decided to go ahead and get it. It just arrived a few moments ago and I've ripped off the plastic wrap to start looking at it.

Wow. What a padded out piece of shit.

Over half the 64 page setting book is ships and deckplans produced in such a way as to pad out the absolute maximum amount of space for below minimal amount of content. This is the kind of padding that even Kevin Siembieda would see and go "maybe you need to put more effort in here."

The adventure book is a standard WotC adventure booklet. It's basically the kind of thing you'd see in a starter set, but bound as a hardcover. Then there's the monster book, which strikes me as the only thing in the set worth a damn.

Everything is illustrated pretty, but there is no content here. There is less here than you'd see in one of the boxed starter sets. I'm going to toss out there and opine that this was probably originally conceived as a box set like D&D Essentials, but was changed in the 11th hour because suckers like myself would pay boxed hardcover slipcase prices for this throwaway bullshit.

I am so glad I didn't get the limited. About my only potential regret would be the idea of selling the limited at an overinflated price to some sucker in the future, but that would only make me feel guilty.

If you can find the Spelljammer set for $15 or something, then go for it. But definitely don't pay anywhere near full price for it. I haven't seen anything this fucking lazy and money grabbing since Rifts Ultimate Edition, and even that piece of garbage doesn't sink to anywhere near the same level as this Spelljammer set.

Seriously, even if you haven't ever SEEN the original 2e Spelljammer set, your conversion notes to 5e scribbled on one side of a napkin are probably more meaty than this thing.

I disagree, I did a comparison of the 2e SJ set ships and the 5e set in another thread and they are actually remarkably close to each other in terms of content and info except the 2e set gives you deckplans for 11 ships and the 5e gives you deckplans for 16 ships. Wordcount, stats, etc. they are not substanially different. The 2e set's setting material is more volumnious but not actually that detailed considering the wordcount.

I really like 2e SJ but most of the really gameable material is in supplements like The Rock of Bral and Astromundi Cluster.

People can dislike the 5e SJ but after all the previous complaints I've seen about WotC's adventures being 'overwritten' it is kinda ironic to see that when they come out with a concise 64 page setting book the complaints now are about too few pages, etc. What happened to the OSR preference for a setting with enough blank spaces for the GM to make it their own?

I think some are viewing the original 2e material through rose-coloured glasses. I love Spelljammer 2e for its ideas but like a lot of 2e material it has a lot of content that isn't particularly helpful at the table (the convoluted airpocket and gravity on ships section is a perfect example of getting lost in the weeds).
 
Voros Voros

Valid points, but we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

Personally, I don't think I've bitched about the recent WotC books having too much content. I think I complained the opposite about the last WotC D&D book I got which was the Fizban dragon book, and said that I much preferred the meatiness of previous Dragonomicons. Even still, I knew from learning of the format of three 64 page booklets that this Spelljammer set wasn't going to meet even my minimum expectations and that is why I cancelled my original pre-order. So I really have no one other than myself to blame for my disappointment.

To me, when comparing directly to the 2e box set it's like they included the ship inserts, the map of the rock of Bral, the Monstrous Compendium pages (actually mostly different monster mix), and then whipped up an adventure, and that was it. It's like they only adapted the old inserts and left all the content behind.
 
I need to pick that up. The author, Mark Galeotti, did Mythic Russia for Heroquest back in the day, and I can remember him saying on the interwebs that he wanted to do a similar game for Renaissance Italy.

Some recent birthday gifts I received (just online pictures rather than real photos). None are actually RPGs:

View attachment 49327

View attachment 49328 View attachment 49329

Also, in mid-August University of Chicago Press usually has a 75% off e-book sale, so I picked the following two volumes up as an early 'happy birthday to me' gift. They came to under $11, all told:

View attachment 49330 View attachment 49331


That eaters of the dead book looks particularly interesting.
 
I disagree, I did a comparison of the 2e SJ set ships and the 5e set in another thread and they are actually remarkably close to each other in terms of content and info except the 2e set gives you deckplans for 11 ships and the 5e gives you deckplans for 16 ships. Wordcount, stats, etc. they are not substanially different. The 2e set's setting material is more volumnious but not actually that detailed considering the wordcount.

I really like 2e SJ but most of the really gameable material is in supplements like The Rock of Bral and Astromundi Cluster.

People can dislike the 5e SJ but after all the previous complaints I've seen about WotC's adventures being 'overwritten' it is kinda ironic to see that when they come out with a concise 64 page setting book the complaints now are about too few pages, etc. What happened to the OSR preference for a setting with enough blank spaces for the GM to make it their own?

I think some are viewing the original 2e material through rose-coloured glasses. I love Spelljammer 2e for its ideas but like a lot of 2e material it has a lot of content that isn't particularly helpful at the table (the convoluted airpocket and gravity on ships section is a perfect example of getting lost in the weeds)
I didn't own 2e Spelljammer after 4e came out so nostalgia isn't something the new SJ is competing with for me. From what I've read and used so far I have small complaints. The races are a hit with my group. The ships are described well enough. How spelljamming works is spelled out. The Rock of Bral gives a nice example city for what you might find spelljamming. 9
The monster book is ok. I haven't really gone through it but it strikes me as a Friend Flip style book. A third of the monsters are cool, a third are just sort of wtf and a third are functional. That's just my hot take and not a detailed analysis.
Haven't looked at the adventure at all yet.
 
Picked up some nice little game aids this week...

SAM_8207.JPG

Glittering Hoards provide a little subsystem to create and populate treasure hoards in your game.

Have you heard about the Beast? focuses on creating a unique create though a set of questions that are asked of the players (or it can just be one person). You can come up with your own ideas but the pamphlet comes with 10 examples for each of the 11 questions. Its a lot of fun but can definitely see how cool it'd be as a standalone bit of fun and how it could supplement ideas within a game.

Bucket of Bolts and Artefact are both systems to create a history for spaceships and their former captains and, a system for creating artefacts, respectively. These are pretty cool. I've not used either yet but they both would provide some great value to SF and fantasy games; especially the spaceship one - I really think old ships with a history, plot hooks, etc is something often overlooked in games with regard to providing a system to easily create such things.

We Sail Beyond is a little world maker where after going through a process you'll have a map/hexes of some far-off land. Great for exploration and pirate style games or just a fantasy game set on the high seas. Again, load of stimulating ideas, etc. My main pamplet also came with a fold out reference card containing a summary of the process and useful tables, etc.

Overall, some cool stuff!
 
Last edited:
20220906_145733-25%.jpg

I... really don't know what to say about this.

From the Kickstarter in the latest update:

What is the Cortex Codex?

The Cortex Codex is a companion document to the Cortex Prime Game Handbook for creating and running your own Cortex Prime games. You’ll be able to find all current rules and mods, but it does not contain examples, option lists, or artwork. It’s not a ‘standalone’ document for the game.

Each mod and rule either has its own entry in the Codex, or is included in a parent rule or mod. There’s a table of contents that lists everything out to make it easy to know what is included and has its own entry (marked in bold) and what is listed under another designated entry.

The rules in the Cortex Codex include all of those that appear in the Cortex Prime Game Handbook, many that appear in Tales of Xadia: The Dragon Prince Roleplaying Game, and one that is in fact brand new! (You’ll look under the ‘Hitch’ entry for that one)

As we release new content, such as the upcoming Spotlight Volume I set for September release, we’ll also update the Codex with any new rules or mods. Each entry is presented on its own pages, so it’ll be easy even if you are receiving a print edition from us or choose to print it on your own to slip a new entry in.

I don't know what I expected. I guess since they had updated the description to say document and slip a new entry in, I should have expected it.

But really, it's just loose leaf paper with the printed information. I sort of expected it to be at least bound? Many people are similarly disappointed, and apparently they mentioned it in an update- but that update doesn't say anything about it being loose leaf.

I guess count me among the disappointed.
 
I need to pick that up. The author, Mark Galeotti, did Mythic Russia for Heroquest back in the day, and I can remember him saying on the interwebs that he wanted to do a similar game for Renaissance Italy.

I didn't realise he was the person behind Mythic Russia. If he's a Heroquest/QuestWorlds veteran then it makes a lot of sense that he would go with the Wordplay/TRiPOD system for Gran Meccanismo then.

On a slightly different note, I just bought Intriguing Options 2 for Honor & Intrigue. This edition of Intriguing Options is about Space Opera. So lots of new careers, traits, gear, vehicles, and rules for running Star Wars or John Carter games. It's got a lot of good stuff packed into 50 or so pages. If you like Honor & Intrigue/BoL/Everywhen then this is really worth a look!
 
I didn't realise he was the person behind Mythic Russia. If he's a Heroquest/QuestWorlds veteran then it makes a lot of sense that he would go with the Wordplay/TRiPOD system for Gran Meccanismo then.

On a slightly different note, I just bought Intriguing Options 2 for Honor & Intrigue. This edition of Intriguing Options is about Space Opera. So lots of new careers, traits, gear, vehicles, and rules for running Star Wars or John Carter games. It's got a lot of good stuff packed into 50 or so pages. If you like Honor & Intrigue/BoL/Everywhen then this is really worth a look!
I saw that, I have been a fan of H+I since it came out and will be picking it up as well.
 
I saw that, I have been a fan of H+I since it came out and will be picking it up as well.

Let us know what you think of it. I think it's really great. I need to read it more thoroughly to properly process it but so far it's got me pretty excited about H&I again.
 
I didn't realise he was the person behind Mythic Russia. If he's a Heroquest/QuestWorlds veteran then it makes a lot of sense that he would go with the Wordplay/TRiPOD system for Gran Meccanismo then.

On a slightly different note, I just bought Intriguing Options 2 for Honor & Intrigue. This edition of Intriguing Options is about Space Opera. So lots of new careers, traits, gear, vehicles, and rules for running Star Wars or John Carter games. It's got a lot of good stuff packed into 50 or so pages. If you like Honor & Intrigue/BoL/Everywhen then this is really worth a look!
I didn't know that Chris Rutkowski is continuing the development of H+I. I guess I should get Intriguing Options 1&2 and the Duellist Guide...

At this rate the next question really should be "where can I get this in print":shade:.
 
I didn't know that Chris Rutkowski is continuing the development of H+I. I guess I should get Intriguing Options 1&2 and the Duellist Guide...

At this rate the next question really should be "where can I get this in print":shade:.

H+I seems to go through long periods of quiet followed by flurries of intense activity. I guess that's part and parcel of independent publishing though.

I'm hoping there's going to be a PoD compendium when the Intriguing Options line is complete.
 
I love period settings and gothic supernatural tales, so I have taken the plunge on DrivethruRPG today and ordered this:

1662688353022.png

The hardcover books arrive in a few weeks, but from what I am reading in the pdfs it looks like it captures the decadent gothic vibe quite well, and in terms of game mechanics it feels like a very clean OSR-adjacent system.

Ghastly Affair
So far so good :shade:
 
Last edited:
This was mentioned in my OSR thread, but as not everybody may read that thread


On a suggestion I picked up Ghastly Affair, a gothic game of romantic horror. System is level / class using OD&D or B/X as a foundation. The artwork has an appropriate Edward Gorey-esque feel to it, and the writing is much more than just D&D with the serial numbers filed off. The author goes into a lot of depth for how to run a game in the style of gothic horror / romance fiction, lots of do and don't suggestions. Much of the setting advice would be useful to an author wanting to write in the style.

I've been reading through the rules and am impressed enough that I will be ordering hard copies as well. Looks like a fun change of pace, hunting (or being hunted by) vampyres, wolfmen, and disgraced nobles through dark foggy streets and moors.

Not going to be everybody's thing but a well done adaption of D&D to an unusual genre.

View attachment 49276


Quoting myself since this ties in. I backed the Into the Wyrd and Wild kickstarter and received it recently.

A really neat system agnostic book for making the woods in a game very dark and foreboding. The writing and ideas it contains are really well done, but it makes getting lost in the woods almost a game in itself.

As cool as it was, I struggled to find a use for it. I have now found a use, it will be a great supplement for Ghastly Affair.

1662653164414.png
 
Last edited:
I love period settings and gothic supernatural tales, so I have taken the plunge on DrivethruRPG today and ordered Ghastly Affair.

The hardcover books arrive in a few weeks, but from what I am reading in the pdfs it looks like it captures the decadent gothic vibe quite well, and in terms of game mechanics it feels like a very clean OSR-adjacent system.

So far so good :shade:

I wasn't really even a huge fan of the genre beyond Frankenstein, Dracula and a host of older horror movies. The writing in the game won me over. It is just so different from anything I've played before.

Just posted this above but once it arrives if it has a similar impact on you, Into the Wyrd and Wild will make a great wilderness source book for it. It does a great job of making the wilderness a dark and hostile place. Very fitting to the woods found in Grimms Fairytales and similar.
 
Back again after a 3 weeks no-internet hiatus and more time to read rpgs

Frontier Scum: a bit pricey for a 64 pages game, basically it's Mörk Borg meets the Wild West ). It comes with its own setting and it's pretty low key, which I like. It's not a Wal-Mart version of Deadlands. It has an Unforgiven/Revenant vibe. Easy to run and set-up so I'll give it a go a least once with my group.

More french translations of DCC modules (translation and overall quality is great). 20 modules translated so far, more to go,

Dishonored, I like the video games a lot, I have no love for the 2d20 system but this one looks like the better entry point. It's clearly written, short, compact and gives me everything I need to run a game. I grabed mine second-hand so you don't have to sell a kidney to get a copy.

Five Leagues from the Borderlands: cramming so much gameable stuff in such a compact book puts most of us rpg writers to shame IMHO. I won't be able to give it a spin anytime soon but it's a great read anyway if you're into RPG/game design. If you're sitting on a bunch of miniatures and have no one to play with, this is a no-brainer.

I got back two games I sold a long time ago: Legend of the Five Rings 1st edition and Earthdawn 1st edition. I won't play either anytime soon but it was great re-reading them . So many great ideas in Earthdawn. Quite easy to adapt to your system of choice IMHO.

Also read Ironsworn (Ironsworn Delve is still on the reading pile), curse you Trevor Devall! :smile: Great read as well, plan to run myself a game this winter (perfect time of the year to run this).

Still on a solo gaming kick I picked up Four against Mars and The Coming of fhe Dark Templars for Alone against Fear. Good stuff all around.

More to come and read in the next few days, I'll keep you posted!
 
Last edited:
I'm too lay too look up what I last posted I got but my most recent ones are:

Gregor's Guide to Gates: Phil Reed did this system neutral book as a mini-hardcover. This KS had all kinds of bad luck that ended up costing Phil more money out of pocket to correct. I did get two copies of the book (one was an updated version, as he ran a second KS to gain some more funds by doing a pdf that added to it).

Cortex Codex Like chuckdee chuckdee, I was let down by this. I had forgotten that it being loose leaf had been mentioned before, because it's been so long. I did get the PDF of the main book too. Just not happy with this KS overall, and glad I didn't back for the main book in print, as my interest in the system faded years ago.

Hunter the Vigil 2E. My hardcover is waiting for me to go pick up from the lockbox outside. Onyx Path, even if they take awhile to fulfill, never disappoint with the finished goods. Constant updates and quality releases. I think the only KS run better are any by Kevin Crawford.

Lastly, artist Storn Cook did a kick ass painting of Elric & Arioch. Judd Karlman helped him set up a Threadless shop to sell shirts and such, so I bought one. First one was supposedly delivered but wasn't in my mailbox but the second arrived just fine. I need to run it through a dryer to get the wrinkles out before wearing it. Here's an image of the painting though, so you can see why I had to get this as a shirt. Elric is one of my all time favorite fantasy characters, so yeah.

294951238_399715105474389_3008725459408286798_n.jpg
 
Five Leagues from the Borderlands: cramming so much gameable stuff in such a compact book puts most of us rpg writers to shame IMHO. I won't be able to give it a spin anytime soon but it's a great read anyway if you're into RPG/game design. If you're sitting on a bunch of miniatures and have no one to play with, this is a no-brainer.

A friend and I are about to start a campaign of Five Parsecs from Home in a week or two.
 
Cortex Codex Like @
chuckdee
chuckdee, I was let down by this. I had forgotten that it being loose leaf had been mentioned before, because it's been so long. I did get the PD(Big F of the main book too. Just not happy with this KS overall, and glad I didn't back for the main book in print, as my interest in the system faded years ago.

I forget that was still out there as a goal. I like this. It prevents me from doing this to a rules book. I found this kind of arrangement was best, especially for games with multiple modules.

My old Champions/ Hero 4th (Big Blue Book) finally die. I had them cut off the binding (saved the illustrated cover parts). I had them drill in standard 3 punch holes. I installed the book in a D Ring Binder, which is the best for manuals. I marked certain sections (and pages) with normal binder tab dividers - this made leafing through it easier. Note: I used tape along the binding line to reinforce certain pages. I also did this with certain other books, so my Big Blue Book has additional sections.

Any game I am going to play/ chronicle in has either a binderized sacrificed copy or a binderized printed copy. I will also have a good sized tablet with the copy of the game system on it (digital rule book). I like having an extra copy or two at the table (because players seldom invest the money in it or seem to not bring it all the time.
 
Quoting myself since this ties in. I backed the Into the Wyrd and Wild kickstarter and received it recently.

A really neat system agnostic book for making the woods in a game very dark and foreboding. The writing and ideas it contains are really well done, but it makes getting lost in the woods almost a game in itself.

As cool as it was, I struggled to find a use for it. I have now found a use, it will be a great supplement for Ghastly Affair.

View attachment 49517
Into the Wyrd and Wild looks like it will work well alongside another title I have called Wickerpunk.
It's going on my radar :shade: :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
I got the first printing of Into the Wyrd and Wild through Kickstarter. It's a great resource and unfortunately I never went for the hardcover, but I still decided that also backing the Kickstarter for the second printing/edition would be a bit much.
 
Last edited:
H+I seems to go through long periods of quiet followed by flurries of intense activity. I guess that's part and parcel of independent publishing though.

I'm hoping there's going to be a PoD compendium when the Intriguing Options line is complete.
Given he was also still working on Awesome Powers for BASH UE, that's probably why he hasn't done much with H&I. Finishing AP is kind of a priority, given it was a kickstarter Chris needs to finish, while the H&I supplements he did outside of crowdfunding.
 
Into the Wyrd & Wild now has me intrigued, as it looks like it could be useful for Ghastly Affair (for which I own the complete run), Ravenloft, and Perceforest.
 
I got the first printing of Into the Wyrd and Wild through Kickstarter. It's a great resource and unfortunately I never went for the hardcover, but I still decided that also backing the Kickstarter for the second printing/edition would be a bit much.

I did the same, and my experience with the author there was less than stellar, so there was no chance I was backing 2nd edition. It's a great product, but it's made by someone thoroughly unprofessional.
 
Given he was also still working on Awesome Powers for BASH UE, that's probably why he hasn't done much with H&I. Finishing AP is kind of a priority, given it was a kickstarter Chris needs to finish, while the H&I supplements he did outside of crowdfunding.

I knew he did BASH (and a number of spin offs from that) as well as H+I. I don't follow what's happening with the BASH line though, so didn't know about the AP kickstarter, but I know he's a small independent publisher supporting multiple lines. That's a difficult thing to do. So, yeah, I don't expect a regular output for H+I but that also means I'm more excited when something new appears!
 
I knew he did BASH (and a number of spin offs from that) as well as H+I. I don't follow what's happening with the BASH line though, so didn't know about the AP kickstarter, but I know he's a small independent publisher supporting multiple lines. That's a difficult thing to do. So, yeah, I don't expect a regular output for H+I but that also means I'm more excited when something new appears!
I think the fact that Everywhen has been seeing multiple discussions of late that H+I has been getting new attention (as it gets mentioned in these conversations, along with BoL). The new publisher for Everywhen has put out some really good stuff for the game since he took over. The original publisher was good, but I think Garnet Elliot has done wonders for the game. This in turn, has helped the games that preceded it. Chris had mentioned some things in the works for H+I in a couple of those threads, but had also mentioned he needed to get AP finished. He's at the point now where he is putting together the omnibus for that (as all the individual ones came out), so he's finally had the time to do more H+I material.
 
I did the same, and my experience with the author there was less than stellar, so there was no chance I was backing 2nd edition. It's a great product, but it's made by someone thoroughly unprofessional.

Author or publisher? Wet Ink did Into the Wyrd & Wild, but the author is Charles Ferguson-Avery. I ask because there are other products independent of this collaboration.

I guess I backed the 2nd printing kick starter (2021), and only ran across the usual delays and troubles common to most kick starters and post 2020 everything.
 
Author or publisher? Wet Ink did Into the Wyrd & Wild, but the author is Charles Ferguson-Avery. I ask because there are other products independent of this collaboration.

I guess I backed the 2nd printing kick starter (2021), and only ran across the usual delays and troubles common to most kick starters and post 2020 everything.

The author, Charles Ferguson-Avery. He ran the first KS himself. Just check out the comments for the sort of issues I and many others had. The lateness I just expect from a KS anymore. It was the utter lack of communication or transparency that really turned me off him.

 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top