Tell us about something good that you got recently

[AsenRG]

This.

Crossposting it in "What you read".

 

[AsenRG]

A gamebook this time, but a BIG one: "The Fifth Prince" (part 2, actually, but part 1 is much smaller - and amusingly, I haven't received it yet )!

It's BIG, did I mention it? Namely, it's 806 episodes, spread over 446 pages.

So much for this. I'll cross-post later when I get to reading it!

 

[Rich H]

Picked up these two books at Christmas...

Romance of the Perilous Land is a roleplaying game of magic and adventure set in the world of British folklore, from the stories of King Arthur to the wonderful regional tales told throughout this green and pleasant land. It is a world of romantic chivalry, but also of great danger, with ambitious kings, evil knights, and thieving brigands terrorising the land, while greedy giants, malevolent sorcerers, and water-dwelling knuckers lurk in the shadows. As valiant knights, mighty barbarians, subtle cunning folk, and more, the players are heroes, roaming the land to fight evil, right wrongs, and create their own legends.

Paleomythic is a roleplaying game of grim survival and mythical adventures in the land of Ancient Mu, a harsh prehistoric world full of mysterious ruins and temples to explore, huge and terrible creatures that roam and spread fear across the land, and nefarious mystics and sorcerers who plot dark schemes from the shadows. It is a world of biting cold winters, of people hunting and foraging to survive, and tribes that wage relentless war.
Taking on the roles of hunters, healers, warriors, soothsayers, and more, players will navigate a world of hostile tribes, otherworldly spirits, prehistoric beasts, and monstrous creatures lurking in the dark places of the world. Players have huge scope in sculpting the game experience that best suits them, whether it's a gritty survival story without a trace of the mystical or a tale of grand adventure and exploration in a mythic setting.

... ... ...

Not read them yet apart from their back cover blurbs and a brief scan through the books but I was intrigued by them and I'm a complete sucker for 'handbook sized' RPGs.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I picked up a used copy of Z-Land. It's a self-contained d100 zombie game, but what makes it different from most zombie rpgs are the following:

• A very detailed look at the infection and stages of zombies.
  • Newly infected but still alive are fast moving rage monsters (28 Days Later)
  • Dead shambling traditional zombies
  • Spore producing bloated zombies
  • the Unborn, mutant children of the newly infected (The Girl with All the Gifts)
• Three phases of the zombie apocalypse with detailed timelines of each, character creation for each, and what the survivors/zombies are up to.
  • The Fall which details "the longest night" when it all goes down to about 10 years out. Survivors are divided up into the wandering nomads, the dug in dwellers, and the predator ravagers.
  • Terra Mortis which covers 15 to 100 years of the apocalypse and the rise of the Unborn.
  • New Genesis which is 150 to 1000 years after the longest night. The Unborn are now actively hunting down and enslaving/killing the last of humanity.

I've enjoyed reading it!

 

[Necrozius]

Not an RPG, but close enough: Kingdom Death. Played it a few times with friends, had a blast, then, tired of waiting for them to come over again, played solo.

It is more fun with other players, but still entertaining. Making the miniatures has been quite the experience as well.

I still see potential in making a RPG inspired by the setting and aesthetics. Somehow.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

A gamebook this time, but a BIG one: "The Fifth Prince" (part 2, actually, but part 1 is much smaller - and amusingly, I haven't received it yet )!

It's BIG, did I mention it? Namely, it's 806 episodes, spread over 446 pages.

So much for this. I'll cross-post later when I get to reading it!

So how do you find Russian RPGs? I have tried searching on Yandex with no luck..

 

[TristramEvans]

Not an RPG, but close enough: Kingdom Death. Played it a few times with friends, had a blast, then, tired of waiting for them to come over again, played solo.

It is more fun with other players, but still entertaining. Making the miniatures has been quite the experience as well.

I still see potential in making a RPG inspired by the setting and aesthetics. Somehow.

Do you use the app when you're playing solo?

 

[CRKrueger]

Picked up these two books at Christmas...

Romance of the Perilous Land is a roleplaying game of magic and adventure set in the world of British folklore, from the stories of King Arthur to the wonderful regional tales told throughout this green and pleasant land. It is a world of romantic chivalry, but also of great danger, with ambitious kings, evil knights, and thieving brigands terrorising the land, while greedy giants, malevolent sorcerers, and water-dwelling knuckers lurk in the shadows. As valiant knights, mighty barbarians, subtle cunning folk, and more, the players are heroes, roaming the land to fight evil, right wrongs, and create their own legends.

Paleomythic is a roleplaying game of grim survival and mythical adventures in the land of Ancient Mu, a harsh prehistoric world full of mysterious ruins and temples to explore, huge and terrible creatures that roam and spread fear across the land, and nefarious mystics and sorcerers who plot dark schemes from the shadows. It is a world of biting cold winters, of people hunting and foraging to survive, and tribes that wage relentless war.
Taking on the roles of hunters, healers, warriors, soothsayers, and more, players will navigate a world of hostile tribes, otherworldly spirits, prehistoric beasts, and monstrous creatures lurking in the dark places of the world. Players have huge scope in sculpting the game experience that best suits them, whether it's a gritty survival story without a trace of the mystical or a tale of grand adventure and exploration in a mythic setting.

... ... ...

Not read them yet apart from their back cover blurbs and a brief scan through the books but I was intrigued by them and I'm a complete sucker for 'handbook sized' RPGs.

Looks like the same company, do you know if they use the same system and if you’d read that far, what system it is?

EDIT: Oh, it’s Osprey, I didn’t recognize the imprint mark. It still trips me out that they’re making games, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about their war games and cardgames, so if their RPGs are the same level of quality, they should be good.

 

[Nobby-W]

We brought back a whole lot of wedangs (teas of one sort or another) plus various other goodies from Indonesia, mainly central Java. Wedang Uwuh is my favourite, although the packages usually include way too much sugar.

 

[Gabriel]

I got the new Robotech RPG from Strange Machine Games.

I can't say much about it yet. I like the quality of the hardcover. The cover seems a bit sturdier than most other hardcover books with nice thick board. The pages are hefty stock which is really nice after flipping through the tissue the D&D 5e hardcovers are printed with. The stock is just slightly glossy, which is much easier on the eyes. It's full color throughout, and it uses the modern, faux anime Robotech art which has been gracing several products lately. I think this art is pretty good. Even though it has been repeated (and pieces are repeated in this book), the art hasn't managed to get truly old yet. But hopefully some new art is being commissioned, because we're already reaching some Palladium levels of recycling. The book looks very nice. I think it's very attractive. Also, since the same artist did all the art, it has a very unified look.

I think one thing which definitely creates a different tone in this book is the abundance of character art in addition to depictions of mecha. I definitely think there are more images of the franchise characters than of the mecha. I think this is generally a good thing. It subliminally indicates to the reader the importance of characters over mecha. This new RPG at least feels like it's trying to create a Robotech Saga experience about characters engaged in the events rather than portraying highly detailed mecha military operations. Does it really carry through on that? I dunno yet.

When I looked at the Savage Worlds Robotech book, my first impression was that product was adapting Palladium Robotech to the Savage Worlds system. I don't get that first impression with this SMG version. My first impression is that this is something markedly different.

If I can get myself motivated to start reading in depth, I'll let everyone know if Max can kill a Battle Pod or not with these rules.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

When I looked at the Savage Worlds Robotech book, my first impression was that product was adapting Palladium Robotech to the Savage Worlds system. I don't get that first impression with this SMG version. My first impression is that this is something markedly different.

If I can get myself motivated to start reading in depth, I'll let everyone know if Max can kill a Battle Pod or not with these rules.

I'm looking forward to your review. Please keep us posted!

 

[Skywalker]

Looks like the same company, do you know if they use the same system and if you’d read that far, what system it is?

EDIT: Oh, it’s Osprey, I didn’t recognize the imprint mark. It still trips me out that they’re making games, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about their war games and cardgames, so if their RPGs are the same level of quality, they should be good.

Both of the RPGs look good and are based on existing RPGs that are available PWYW from DTRPG. RotPL is a Black Hack (D&D) derived system and Paleomythic uses its own d6 system. There are a bunch of other standalone RPGs coming from Osprey Games this year.

 

[CRKrueger]

Black Hack, for fuck’s sake. Oh well.

 

[Moonglum]

What's the beef with Black Hack? I don't spend a lot of time on OSR systems (because I'm happy to play the originals), but is there something messed up about this one?

 

[under_score]

Worst armor rules I've ever read. Abstract inventory.
Those two are enough to put me off it.

 

[Moonglum]

Is this the thing where your armor absorbs a certain amount of damage per encounter, or something like that? I can imagine that is no better or worse than most other D&D based systems, just in an abstract 'game-ist' sense, but it certainly strains the bounds of what most people expect when it comes to versimilitude.

 

[under_score]

I can imagine that is no better or worse than most other D&D based systems, just in an abstract 'game-ist' sense

Nice try, but I'm not falling for That Old Argument again.

 

[CRKrueger]

Here's the armor rules:
ARMOR POINTS Armor provides protection by reducing all incoming damage. Each type will reduce damage by a limited amount. Armor Points are regained after a character rests. Once the player or monster has used armor to absorb its maximum amount, they are too tired or wounded to make effective use of it again - they then begin taking full damage.

Other beefs are the encumbrance, the abstract range bands, the "PCs rolls everything". It basically did the last thing D&D needed, added in a bunch of N00Skool hooey.

 

[Baulderstone]

Worst armor rules I've ever read. Abstract inventory.
Those two are enough to put me off it.

The usage die is a case of a good mechanic that the designer overused. I think it works great for things like a magic wand, giving the player some sense of the energy left in it, but without them knowing exactly how many charges it has. It makes a lot less sense for an archer to not know how many arrows he has has.

My other issue with it is that isn't actually faster than just marking ammo with hash marks. Adding an additional die roll to combat, plus to occasionally having to change and record the new level of the usage die actually takes more table time and mental energy.

The best solution to not wanting to track ammo is to simply not track ammo if you don't want to.

 

[OHT]

Here's the armor rules:
ARMOR POINTS Armor provides protection by reducing all incoming damage. Each type will reduce damage by a limited amount. Armor Points are regained after a character rests. Once the player or monster has used armor to absorb its maximum amount, they are too tired or wounded to make effective use of it again - they then begin taking full damage.

The sad thing about that is I can come up with a decent rationalisation for that the moment I saw the mechanic. When you rest, you can make running repairs to your armour, repairing dents, closing rents etc. Armour ablation rather than some weird 'too tired to stick your armour in the way of blows'.

 

[OHT]

In other news, I ran down a new unblemished copy of Nomads of the Nine Nations for Rolemaster for the princely sum of £8.

 

[Edgewise]

The usage die is a case of a good mechanic that the designer overused.

No pun intended, eh?

I think this is a really good way of putting it. The usage die is great for uncertain expiration, but you can actually count rations and arrows, so wtf.

Also, not only are the armor rules crap, but they are worse in the second edition. There's a dead simple solution: a damage reduction die. Hell, it could even be a usage die if the GM likes to simulate armor deterioration!

 

[Rich H]

Looks like the same company, do you know if they use the same system and if you’d read that far, what system it is?

Looking at the character sheets they appear to be different systems. Unfortunately I've had bugger all time to look at them at all what with starting a new role at work!

 

[Séadna]

I will say the usage die works well* in Stay Frosty. Dumarest has a kill count in the triple figures at this point and still on his first tank of flamethrower fluid. Really fits the Rambo "endless bullets" feel of the thing.

*Just to be clear I know nobody was criticising it in this usage.

 

[Voros]

I like the Black Hack but yeah the armor rules are strangely convoluted but easy enough to hack.

 

[Atelerix]

Like the look of Palaeomythic, would be tempted to run it.

Looks like I may have a new group - bunch of friends of a friend who don't hang round the local FLGS, looking for a GM. Just starting to discuss rules, genre and style!

 

[Dumarest]

I will say the usage die works well* in Stay Frosty. Dumarest has a kill count in the triple figures at this point and still on his first tank of flamethrower fluid. Really fits the Rambo "endless bullets" feel of the thing.

*Just to be clear I know nobody was criticising it in this usage.

That's because Rodríguez fuels it with pure machismo and distrust.

​

I like the Black Hack but yeah the armor rules are strangely convoluted but easy enough to hack.

So...the Black Hack Hack?

 

[dbm]

These arrived from a Kickstarter just before Christmas:



They are really cool if you like using minis and battle maps. i’ve had the ‘Giant Book’ for some time and it’s super easy to use at the table.

To give you an idea of how they can be used, here are the above plus the Giant book all laid out for a large underground cavern:



They’re from Loke Battlemaps

 

[Chris Brady]

I got to see this thread. Wow! This is all cool stuff!

 

[OHT]

Not content with my last RM find, i'm 2 in 2 days! Got this from the Amazon global store for £3.63 after the remainder of my xmas voucher was used up.

 

[tenbones]

N00Skool hooey.

My new favorite term.

 

[AsenRG]

So how do you find Russian RPGs? I have tried searching on Yandex with no luck..

Not sure what you mean here...
Did you mistake that book for a Russian RPG? Well, you're close, but not quite there!
A couple differences: That book isn't Russian, but Bulgarian (and in Bulgarian, so the average Russian might have issues reading it).
And it's not an RPG, it's a game book. Like Bloodsword, The way of the Tiger and Fighting Fantasy game books (also known as "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, but I dislike the term for personal reasons).

Now, why did I say you were close?
Because it's actually got a nicely detailed combat system that makes combat depend about equally on dice, your statistics and the choices you make! And no, by "choices" I don't mean "do the same thing over and over". That would actually be suicidal.
And that is actually a goal many RPGs have missed!

...Now to come to what you actually asked:
Russian RPG pages are actually easy to find, but there are just a few "Made in Russia" RPGs. Most players there seem to be using a translated (or untranslated) game.
The only Russian titles I remember are "The Aquarius Age" (Era Vodoleya) and "The Twilight Crossroads" ("Perekrestki sumerek"). Not sure whether any of them has an English variant (probably not).

 

[Simon Hogwood]

So how do you find Russian RPGs? I have tried searching on Yandex with no luck..

I would suggest the Dark Web, but you might find that your purchase has a bit more bang than you expected.

 

[urbwar]

I got an SP Armor 2TB portable hard drive this past weekend. Since I had some points on one of my credit cards, and I got $25 in gift cards from doing surveys on a site called Swagbucks, I paid less than $25 for it, and got same day delivery. Given all the gaming pdfs I own (not to mention I own a lot of free ebooks from different sites that authors give away stuff), I needed to clear out my laptop HD a bit. It works great, so I'm very happy with it.

 

[3rik]

I have a portable HD, but it broke...

 

[urbwar]

I have a portable HD, but it broke...

That sucks. I have 2 other external drives, plus two flash drives. This new one is the first portable HD I've gotten. Plus its case is protective of the drive in case you drop it. That's what attracted me to it in the first place. I'm likely going to get another one sometime this year, as one of my externals is getting up there in years

 

[K_Peterson]

Not content with my last RM find, i'm 2 in 2 days! Got this from the Amazon global store for £3.63 after the remainder of my xmas voucher was used up.

I owned the Shadow World atlas/boxed set - 30 years ago? - though I never owned or played Rolemaster. I remember gorgeous maps and great cover art.

Is the actual writing and setting any good?

 

[OHT]

I owned the Shadow World atlas/boxed set - 30 years ago? - though I never owned or played Rolemaster. I remember gorgeous maps and great cover art.

Is the actual writing and setting any good?

To be honest with you, it can be a bit dry, and a lot of names of places, people, and features are hard to pronounce. If you can persevere though, it weaves a very detailed back history going back thousands of years with threads of many long lost civilisations having descendants with new names - a bit like actual history where ancient peoples who shared a common heritage morphed into new tribes etc.

The setting is very much top down with most info on the major powers, fortresses and dungeons, leaving the DM 90% of the setting to fill in with his own stuff until they want to take on those major people. None of my players ever have and we've been using the setting for about 25 years, but it's quite cool to drop the name Lorgalis or Sultan Ni'Shang into a rumour every now and then and watch the players realise they are in the shit.

Drivethru offers Terry Amthors updating of the Shadow World setting as pdfs or POD. Once I've got the old stuff (not much to go tbh) i'm going to start getting that too on POD.

 

[3rik]

Today Beyond the World's Edge arrived, a supplement that expands the default setting of Shadow of the Demon Lord beyond the world's edge...

 

[Gabriel]

Today Beyond the World's Edge arrived, a supplement that expands the default setting of Shadow of the Demon Lord beyond the world's edge...

I hate misleading titles.