RPGNow.com
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsLog in or create an account and you can choose to get email notices whenever your favorite publishers or topics get new items!

 What's New?
Noir Knights Characters
Noir Knights Characters
$0.00









Back
Other comments left by this customer:
Cogs, Cakes & Swordsticks - Steampunk RPG - Core Rulebook
Publisher: Modiphius
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/22/2013 12:05:11
This is a heady swirling mix of steampunk and pulp written with a delightful whimsey and apparently suitable for playing in a tearoom over a nice pot of tea and a few cakes...

It opens with a discourse (there's no other word for it, style matches content so well here) explaining what steampunk and pulp and, yes, role-playing are, ready to set the scene. It's set well indeed, and is recommended reading even if you know (or think you know) what they all are. This is followed by a section explaining the alternate history on which the game world is based, beginning with Charles Babbage having actually built (rather than just designed) his difference engine which is, of course, in the late 1830s powered by steam. As Great Britain's technology developed apace, America and Canada embarked on a race to put the first man on the moon!

The basic rules are then presented. Character attributes take their names from the title of the game: with Cogs being mental and technical abilities, Cakes being social skills and Swordsticks being physical capabilities. Each attribute has a descriptive name that outlines the area of expertise, painted broadly and atmospherically. It also has a number associated with it, being how good the character is at that sort of thing. When a task needs resolution, the GM sets a target and the player rolls a d6 adding the appropriate attribute to it - if the target number is equalled or exceeded, the action is successful. If there's a brawl, of course, rather than rolling against a target each participant rolls against the other, the higher roll winning.

To get things rolling the next section is a basic scenario which you can play through - far better than the 'example of play' than many rulebooks provide at this point. Three characters are provided ready-generated, and there's a full, if basic, adventure through which you can run them.

And this is all chapter 1! Next comes Chapter 2, in which the rules are presented in full detail, with character creation, healing, combat and everything else neatly bundled up. Oh, and an 'example of play' if you want one! Onwards to Creating Stories, which provides useful advice for the GM in creating appropriate adventures, providing reasons for characters to get involved and all manner of useful stuff.

Following hot on its heels is Chapter 3: The Empire of Steam which goes into copious details about the setting. Firstly the history of engineering and science is discussed, followed by the social and artistic refinements of the time and finally the unpleasantness of wars and politicial machinations are touched upon, but in the most delicate of manners. Each section has details a-plenty and timelines so that you can refer to 'historical' events or indeed choose at what point your game is set, although they are taken through to 1901.

The final chapter, Devices and Designs, is a full-blown adventure set in the British Museum in 1880, where they are holding a gala opening of a new exhibition of treasures from the Orient. Come to admire, and hobnob with the cream of intellectual society, but beware... things begin to go missing. It sweeps you up in the style of this game.

The product rounds off with a couple of Appendices: some ready-created characters if you are itching to get going (with the potential for using them as NPCs if your players prefer to generate their own characters using the rules provided earlier). The second presents sample attributes - use them as presented or as inspiration in coming up with your own.

Beautiful stuff for when you fancy a light yet serious game... and a pot of tea.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Cogs, Cakes & Swordsticks  - Steampunk RPG - Core Rulebook
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

C1: Alagoran's Gem
Publisher: Adventureaweek.com, LLP
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/22/2013 11:17:16
In a deliberate - and charming - attempt to recreate an early 'dungeon delve' style of adventure, this opens with a neat background for how the dungeon came to be, followed by several 'hooks' from which you can select the one most likely to entice the characters to go visit.

Now, I am not a great fan of the 'puzzle/trap' dungeon, but this one at least has an excellent reason for being there and the various traps within have been carefully thought through both in terms of challenge and as being plausible given the fantasy technology and magic available to the builders. It provides a good work-out for skills, wits and the sword-arm and - provided your players enjoy this style of dungeon - should prove for an entertaining evening or two around your game table. Most of the challenges are deadly: make sure you have healing magic a-plenty, and perhaps some characters in reserve. Likewise characters capable of discerning and disabling traps are essential.

Everything is well laid out, with all the information that you need to hand in each room's description. Both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder RPG stats are provided, with the 'monster' information hyperlinked in an appendix (better if you are running using a laptop than if you have printed the adventure out...). The descriptions themselves are excellent - indeed, this is a dungeon you could pretty much pick up and run even though, like any game, it would benefit if you at least have time to read through it before play.

The attempt to recreate the classic crawl of old has resulted in the creation of a modern classic of this style of dungeon. Enjoy...

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
C1: Alagoran's Gem
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

A21: Snow White part 2
Publisher: Adventureaweek.com, LLP
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/20/2013 12:58:03
This adventure follows on directly from Snow White Part 1, and realistically could not be run in any other way. I suppose you could say that the characters have been called in as trouble-shooters owing to the adventurers previously hired as security having made such a mess of things, but it seems a little forced. In any case, if you like this reskinning of a classic fairy tale concept, you really, really want to run Part 1, so go do that then come back!

It opens with a lot of detail on the Haunted Forest, into which the characters must venture. This is quite sandboxy, they can roam quite freely and there are several 'encounter locations' that they will come across. It's a chilly place, and there is some good advice about using the weather as an adversary, as well as some fine 'Achemist's Journal' notes about the flora and fauna of the place - unfortunately the wizard/alchemist who wrote them was assiduous about keeping the forest and its resources a secret so even if you do have naturalist characters they are unlikely to have read the journal. There are some fascinating plants there: for example the pomum which looks just like an apple to all but the most knowledgeable eye but causes a deep sleep in any mammal that consumes one! There are comprehensive 'wandering monster' tables as well, so you can present a mix of new encounters along with more typical ones.

Each of the locations is a delight too, with a whimsical air and plenty for the characters to do in each one. Often, the most successful outcomes do not involve fighting, but there's ample opportunities for anyone looking for a good brawl to find one. Eventually, the characters ought to discover the location of the missing princess (who is, of course, asleep) but in some ways the fun has only just begun, as they now have to return her safely to Castle Morsain and sort everything out there!

Quite a lot of effort has gone into ensuring that you have resources to deal with whatever approach the characters come up with for dealing with irate royalty and scheming nobles, giving ample opportunity for combat and particularly intrigue as they attempt to set things to rights. There is also the delightfully embarassing possibility of the princess having fallen madly in love with one of the characters along the way...

Overall, the Snow White adventure is a true joy and delight and well worth a look if you like to mix a little whimsey and a touch of classic fairy stories into standard fantasy adventuring. Beautifully presented and well resourced with hyperlinked stat blocks, maps and more, the two parts of this adventure are worthy of consideration.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
A21: Snow White part 2
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

A12: When the Ship Goes Down
Publisher: Adventureaweek.com, LLP
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/19/2013 10:55:18
This adventure presents some interesting quirks, and is best run for a group of characters who have already become well-known in the area through particpation on earlier adventures.

It begins with some unseasonal bad weather, storms so severe that waterborne traffic has ceased. Although it doesn't suggest this, if you are running this as part of a campaign set in and around Rybalka, you might want to have the bad weather start during the previous adventure rather than suddenly announce that it's stormy. When an experienced sea captain shows up dead, his battered corpse tied to a shipping crate and floating into the harbour, the characters are asked to investigate...

The adventure starts rather slowly although there is an interesting scene involving a potentially-hostile mob - and which occasions the presentation of ways in which you can handle a mob scene. One suggestion is to handle them as a swarm, dispersing when they reach a notional 'zero hit points' (although no damage is actually taken, unless someone starts a brawl).

Eventually, things get moving and the characters are in for some rough times at sea... and it is not plain sailing once they reach their destination, either. There are a few dangers and opportunities to gain information and items that may help along the way, and characters need to be wary: attacking first and asking questions later may leave them in the dark about what is going on.

Once they reach the end of their quest, the characters are faced with a number of potentially deadly traps and encounters. Finding their way to their ultimate goal will not be easy... but there are some delights along the way. The outcome is not clear, although there are quite a few suggestions about what could follow.

Presentation on the whole is at adventureaweek.com's usual high standard, although (particularly in the latter stages) there are long blocks of text with the crucial mechanical bits not very well highlighted; GMs will find that prior study is necessary tp run this adventure effectively. A comprehensive Encounter Index is provided, hyperlinked from the main adventure text and providing stats for both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder rulesets.

Overall, this is a curious adventure. It has the potential to establish the characters as potent adventurers, advancing their reputation and renown far beyond what earlier adventures in this series might have gained them, yet it feels a bit nebulous and less satisfying and does not reach quite the heights of most of adventureaweek.com's work: guess I've been spoiled by their excellence in other works. The underlying concept is good, it falls down somewhat in the execution. Still, it could prove an interesting and quite different mission for an adaptable party - provided that they don't get too seasick in all the storms!

Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
A12: When the Ship Goes Down
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Beasts of Legend: Coldwood Codex
Publisher: Legendary Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/18/2013 12:16:05
Even if it were not written with the Kingmaker AP in mind (pretty obvious, seeing as I'm GMing it right now!), this is a glorious and beautiful collection of ten well-concieved and thoroughly developed critters suitable for throwing at any adventurer bold enough to venture into a temperate forest.

Each critter comes with a full-colour illustration and a description suitable for reading out to your players when they first catch sight of it. Full stats are given with hyperlinks to the PFSRD should you need reminding of precisely what each obscure ability lets it do, as well as explanations of special abilities laid out clearly. Ecology, combat tactics and more are covered in the copious notes provided here for you to read through, as well as what local lore and other sources may say about the creature in question.

GMs who prefer printed notes will be pleased to find that each monster fills two or three pages, so there are no awkward split pages to contend with. The full-colour illustration is provided on a page by itself, so you can hold them up with a 'this is what you see' - it's nice to be able to avoid giving the creature name (which isn't on that page) on first introduction, or even when it appears again.

As if all this wasn't enough, there are 2-sided 'flat' paper miniatures for each monster provided at the end.

Good innovative monsters, well presented with thoughtful backgrounds - it doesn't matter if you are running Kingmaker or not, if your adventures ever wander through forests this is worth a look.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Beasts of Legend: Coldwood Codex
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Character Workbook: Wizard for PFRPG
Publisher: Asparagus Jumpsuit
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/18/2013 11:53:10
I have a secret: I hate the 'number-crunching' aspects of character generation, especially in systems which have pre-conceived ideas of particular groupings into which you have to shoehorn that delightful concept that sprang into your mind when someone proposed the game that's being planned... even more so if it's an unfamiliar ruleset so I don't know how to do half the things that I want my new guy to have or be able to do.

Here's a product which can help. It takes you by the hand and leads you through the process of creating a Wizard character for the Pathfinder RPG, explaining each stage and the ramifications of your choices. The really neat thing is, it doesn't just let you set up your starting character, it takes you through levelling up, level by level right up to level 20. Now, you will probably have figured out how Wizard characters work by then, even so it is very useful in ensuring that you do not miss anything out. No forgetting which levels you gain feats or special abilities, it's all there.

There are also handy worksheets for skills, feats and your familiar, along with a spell list and experience point log - good if you want to track it in detail (although the assumption seems to be that you only ever get experience for killing monsters...). Now I once had a GM who'd only give you experience if you gave him an itemised list of what you reckoned you'd earned it for - this would have been perfect!

One thing I'm not sure about: do I use this online or print it out? It's replete with hyperlinks to the PFSRD where every term is explained, which suggests reading this on my computer, so I can refer to anything that puzzles me or on which I want more information before I make a choice. Yet it has generous spaces in which to make notes... but it's not set up with form fields to type into, so if I want to scribble on it, I'll need to hit the printer. Now, as a confirmed non-writer (longhand is beyond me since a stroke) I do know a sneaky way to make Acrobat let me type on most PDFs anyway - use the 'Comment' button and select Add Text Comment - but you need to be quite precise in positioning your cursor before you begin to type.

Whichever, this is a beautiful and thorough tool to aid particularly new players or those for whom the number-crunching parts of character generation and development are a bit of a chore.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Character Workbook: Wizard for PFRPG
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Contamination
Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing, Inc
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/18/2013 11:16:00
Waking up to a full-blown riot of brawling hoodlums in what used to be a quiet suburban street, this is a gripping almost stream-of-consciousness story (albeit told in the third party) that sweeps you into the quest to discover just what the heck has happened and why the whole world seems to have gone mad.

Slipping forwards and back between the 'present' and the protagonist's past, the story builds up layer upon layer. The writing is a fast casual style, breathless in places, that gives the feeling of a peep into an individual's life, warts (and bottles of Jim Beam) and all; showing how even someone you might write off as a drunken bum can rise - albeit slowly and at risk of losing his boxers - to the occasion when circumstances demand, a very human and rounded character that you soon find yourself caring about, wanting to survive if not actually make a difference to the mess his world has become.

Role-players seeking a contemporary apocalypse could do worse than draw inspiration from this story - whilst a little fantastical to the scientific mind there's an underlying plausibility that would make it work as a concept upon which to build your plot.

Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Contamination
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Fantasy icons vol.2
Publisher: The Forge Studios
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/18/2013 10:32:40
This is a neat collection of sketches that can be used to denote different sections of your notes, or just to fill in blank space, to give your material a professional look - these days with computer technology at your finger tips, even if you do not intend to publish you can give a professional spin to handouts and other game materials... and who knows, maybe your best adventures and other resources may end up on here - and in my review pile!

The icons are presented in uniform style as roundels, in grey scale, looking like ink over pencil sketches. There are thirteen of them and they are fairly generic - you decide their significance, if any, as suits your needs.

A nice little collection at reasonable cost which will enhance any fantasy materials that you are putting together for your own use or for publication.

Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy icons vol.2
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Act Ten Core Rules
Publisher: Act Ten Role Playing Network
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/18/2013 10:20:11
The Introduction contains the usual 'what is role playing?' section, but takes an unusual approach - one I've often used as it happens, comparing role-playing to improvisational drama. Of course role-playing has one significant difference from improv: rules! Even here the approach is civilised, so good it's worth repeating:-

"The rules are only here to litigate scenes in the Episode. Rules do not dictate plot and they never take over the actors."

The roles of Director (GM) and Actors (the players and their characters) are explained, along with the way that the Act Ten Role Playing Network has been constructed as an integral resource for participants in the game. Neat! The terminology for talking about the game draws on the early improv analogy, trending to movie-speak rather than to the stage, and it is used well and consistently throughout.

Straight on to Traits, which begins the character creation process. Traits are used to define the character in terms of the way they act, and to build backstory. Some are positive and cost points, others are negative and give you some instead. Most have in-game mechanical advantages as well as guidelines on how that trait might affect the way the character behaves. In line with the underlying philosophy of this game, there's a reminder that these rules, like all the rest, are guidelines to be used or amended as appropriate: the core thing is to create precisely the character YOU want to play! On the downside, there's a tendency to use terminology and refer to game mechanics that haven't been introduced yet which makes things a bit confusing on the first read-through.

Next comes Stats, again important in defining your character as well as in determining how well he accomplishes tasks. They are divided into physical and mental stats, with a few 'sub-stats' - that is, ones which are derived from other stats. These can be chosen using a point-buy system, or if you prefer you can get the dice out.

We then move on to Skills. Again these go towards defining the character: what they are naturally good at, what they have picked up and what they have learned through formal study or training. There are some core skills that everyone can do to a greater or lesser extent, as well as others that you need to have found out at least something about (i.e. put points into!) before you have a chance of using them. Almost all of the skills are quite generic and so can be shaded depending on the setting you wish to use, although a contemporary/near-future setting is assumed.

Character creation covered, next comes Task Resolution, a detailed look at the mechanics underlying what your character can attempt to do during play. Fundamentally, there are two types of task resolution termed active and inactive. Active task resolution happens when there is an opposed roll - someone is actively hindering you, fighting you or otherwise contesting your attempt to do something. In inactive task resolution your roll is made against an assigned target number, and it is used when you are just doing something that may or may not succeed: baking a cake or climbing a wall. In both cases, the player does the same thing: add the appropriate stat and skill, roll 1d10 and apply any modifiers. In active task resolution, whoever is contesting what the player is doing makes his own roll. Occasionally a percentage roll will be called for instead, this is usually a straight roll without modifiers and is used for a simple succeed/fail - with the more complex task resolutions, an overflow/underflow mechanism is used to determine how well you succeeded (a really tasty cake!) or how badly you failed (you didn't only burn the cake, you set the kitchen alight!). Like many task resolution systems it sounds complex but becomes quite straitforward once you get the dice out and try it - and this one is more intuitive than most.

The rest of this chapter looks at details such as the flow of time in the game, how to determine target numbers and modifiers, and the use of mana and anima - derived stats that can be used to augment your regular capabilities in times of need. This is followed by a chapter on the all-important subject of Combat. This is well-laid out and explains things in detail and clearly with comments to aid Directors in running combat as well as information for players as to what they need to do. Again, complexities in reading become clearer once you try a few sample combats. Whilst basic combat is straightforward, loads of options can be added in to make it more detailed and to permit characters to do, well, just about anything that they want to do. Then the final 'rules' chapter deals with Experience, both the awarding thereof and what you can do with it. Rather neatly, acquiring new skills is done in one of two ways: by figuring it out for yourself or learning it from a teacher. If a character wishes to teach another, there is a teaching skill and associated mechanics to determine how good a job he does, which affects the roll the character learning must make to see if he actually has learned anything - it's not just a case of spending experience points and writing a new skill on the character sheet!

Next comes Creating a Character. You may think that this has already been covered in the preceding 'rules' chapters, but this is a detailed walk-through of the process, very useful when beginning to play the game or when introducing new players to an established group. It also demonstrates something called a 'tuning build' - a system for customising and improving the character throughout the course of the game. This is a fine example of teaching, complete with annotated advice on what to write on the character sheet.

The next chapter is Directing A Series, and is jam-packed with helpful advice for intending Directors (and, for that matter, experienced Game Masters!). This is where the 'improv performance' theme comes into its own, advising Directors to view their game as a TV show and to lift concepts of timing, pace, and flow of events from that medium. An example session of play is used to highlight the points made earlier in the chapter. This section winds up with a collection of useful tables and tips.

Finally there is a sneak-peek into the world of Division, the forthcoming first setting for Act Ten. It is a near-future where technology is all-pervasive and corporations have seemingly replaced democratic government across the world. Psychic powers are on the rise along with augmented reality and other such meldings of humanity and technology. Many are content, but there are always the rebels... The pervading look and feel of this new world is presented in comic-book style, very effectively. There's a time-line from 2008 to the future of 2025, details of life in this brave new world... and also of those who stand against the omipresent corporations and demand the right to be free as well as of the corporations themselves and the major players within them. This rounds out with a look at the world itself and the people you'll find there, including relevant game mechanics to enable you to play them. Then there are details of the devices and equipment available, legally and otherwise. Although this is merely a preview, there's plenty to enable the inventive Director to make a start...

For that is what this is, a start. Good, comprehensive core rules, but generic. You could run pretty any sort of game you like, but are left to get on with devising it for yourself. An excellent beginning and a thoroughly well-considered ruleset - and that's a wrap, for now.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Act Ten Core Rules
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Heavy Weapons
Publisher: Green Ronin
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/16/2013 10:39:24
OK, heavy weapons are not the first things that spring to mind when you think of superheroes (most of them are more lethal than that with their powers!), however when the likes of Godzilla or a supervillain is on the rampage local law enforcement or the military are liable to reach for anything from machine guns to missiles and beyond to nuclear weapons and even planet busting bombs..

We start off with rules for targeting and effect before looking at some more specific weapons: machine guns, artillery, missiles, nuclear weapons and a wonderful catch-all, super-science weapons. For each weapon type there is a fair bit of specific detail to enable you to adjudicate and describe their effects when used.

A lot of this is quite over-the-top, verging on weapons of mass destruction, and may have no place in your game. In a way, it's not really what superheroes are all about. However, it is easy to imagine how panicked governments - particularly if they are unaware of the capabilities of any superheroes contemplating coming to their rescue - might reach for their arsenal of heavy weapons when under threat. Indeed, I can imagine a scenario in which the superheroes are as much engaged in pleading with local authorities not to use them as they are in dealing with the threat that caused their deployment. Certain superpowers also may be employed to nullify or curtail the effects of weapons used by terrified authorities too... hmm. There's more scope here than I thought when I first opened the product, always a good sign.

Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Heavy Weapons
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

The Sinking: The Tribunal Edicts
Publisher: 0one Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/15/2013 05:27:12
In a delightful romp through political intrigue, this adventure proves that politics, Great City style, are not in the least bit boring! An ancient but lapsed custom of calling an open meeting called a tribunal to solve major issues facing the City has been revived to discuss the Sink - as 'experts' the characters (assuming that they have played through at least some of the earlier adventures in the series) are called as witnesses.

Of course, there's much more to it than that, and a heady mix of celebration, assassination and a good chase will keep the characters occupied in ways more fitting to an adventurer that participating in a political talking shop... yet for those who relish a good intrigue or debate, there is plenty of that too, clearly set out with the appropriate mechanics to abstract the process yet enable the characters to have an influence on the outcome if they so wish.

Old acquaintences and new are woven deftly into events, which will increase the feeling of being at the centre of affairs and beginning to wield some real influence over the course of events. Everything is laid out clearly for the GM, with information, maps, stat blocks and other game mechanics provided just where they are needed. It's quite amazing how much is packed into a few pages, and yet the adventure can - and indeed for best effect should - be played out in a single session. A fine addition to the saga of the Great City, and an excellent demonstration of how to weave politics into your plot whilst keeping it exciting.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Sinking: The Tribunal Edicts
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Deep Blues: Nautilus
Publisher: 0one Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/14/2013 10:56:21
In this 'Blueprint' 0one Games's interpretation of the Nautilus, first described by Jules Verne and immortalised in several movies, is presented. Suitable for any steampunk or industrial fantasy game, it's a fine vessel with two main decks and a 'cockpit' deck and a delightful shape - as shown in the side elevation - that is subtly fish-like but complete with a nautilus shell of steel plates clapped on the side!

The cockpit is roomy, with a control room and cabins for senior officers. The main deck is where most of the crew live and work, the captain's quarters and guest rooms are here as well as workshops, a chart room and the like. The lower deck is where the engines and fuel stores are to be found. The Chief Engineer lives here too, there's also a dining room and the torpedoes... There is plenty of scope for some underwater adventure here, whether you choose to give the submarine to the party or to the bad guys they are trying to defeat.

The normal technological artistry is shown, 0one's command of PDF technology allowing various options to be accessed via the 'Control the Dungeon' button... although one might question the need for a compass direction in a vessel that moves around underwater!

As a bonus, you also get a poster map of the Nautilus which you can print out on several A4 sheets and stick together or take the single-page version to a printshop to have a proper poster made. This comes on a parchment-style background, like an old nautical chart, but you can turn that off to have the poster printed in brown/sepia on white instead. You also can choose if you want text displayed or have it plain.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Deep Blues: Nautilus
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Deep Blues: Airship
Publisher: 0one Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/14/2013 09:44:42
If you have ever thought that an airship would be a neat place to stage part of an adventure, now's your chance.

This product contains a selection of plans based around a 800ft monster airship, the sort that boded fair to become the transportation of the future in the 1920s... then the Hindenburg burned to a cinder and people switched to aircraft instead. This one, however, can fly on in your imagination and your games.

The plans start with an overview of the entire airship: side view, section, front and rear views. There are struts to enable access to the main body of the airship, primarily intended for inspections of the giant gasbags that provide the airship's lift. These can be seen in the side section view. Passengers never see these in the normal course of events but they can make for exciting chases and combats where it is vital to avoid even a single spark! Then there is more detail on the gondola, where passengers and crew travel. Equipped for 20 people - presumably both crew and passengers as I cannot see any crew quarters separate from the main sleeping chambers and common lounge area - there are limited bathroom facilities and space for pilot and navigator and a kitchen as well as the lounge already mentioned. There are side elevations, and logitudinal and transverse sections of the gondola as well as the more familiar plan view. Particularly wealthy adventurers might even own the airship, others may travel as passengers.

The options available include 'blueprint' or black and white line art, along with gids (hex or square, in feet or metric scale), whether or not you want to see the furniture, a settable north pointer (not much use, airships move!) and so on, controlled via 0one's standard 'Rule the Dungeon' feature. Everything is drawn in vector graphics so can be scaled up or down without image degradation.

An airship may be quite a specialised thing to have a plan for, but when your game calls for one - well, this is a nice one... although budding Indiana Joneses will have to supply their own aircraft, there isn't one here!

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Deep Blues: Airship
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

[PFRPG] Treasure Hoards - Volume 1 - Aberrations
Publisher: Ennead Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/14/2013 03:21:18
This product is a magnificent resource for any GM who has struggled when devising the lists of loot available to characters, all the more because it is so well organised and focussed on just the soon-to-be-robbed property of Aberrations. Further types of monster are promised for further releases in this series.

Organised by average party level - a good way to ensure that the characters neither get too powerful too fast nor fail to be adequately rewarded for their efforts - suggestions are made for the different amounts of treasure available: incidental (less than standard), standard, double or triple. For each category you can then roll a d6 (or choose from the list) to find out precisely what is in that particular treasure: coins, gems and other items of value. Naturally, if you have a particular item you want to introduce to your game, you can either add it to what's there, or use it to replace an equivalent item in that cache if balance is particularly important for you.

It should be a real boon to anyone who is pressed for time or short on ideas for loot, and this promises to be a series worth collecting by any GM who enjoys creating their own adventures and encounters.

I just have one quibble. Treasure comes in HOARDS not HORDES! Get that right and I shall be tempted to make this a 5-star product, rather than a 4-star one.... and within 24 hours a corrected version was uploaded! Well done, & I am good to my word... have your 5 stars :)

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
[PFRPG] Treasure Hoards - Volume 1 - Aberrations
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

The Iron Secret for 4th Edition D&D
Publisher: Open Design
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/14/2013 03:10:28
This is an interesting adventure for low-level characters, managing to involve them in political intrigue that's probably well above their pay grade whilst providing opportunities for a modicum of investigation and an appropriate level of combat. It's set within the Kobold Press campaign world, but could be relocated if you have a suitable town that has developed quite a high level of technology within its fantasy setting.

The introduction to events sweeps the characters into the action pretty much without the option, but ample reasons are provided for them to want to follow up rather than retire to the nearest tavern for a well-earned ale! From there investigation leads them further into the affair...

An interesting aspect of this adventure is the focus on the different races and their diverse attitudes, approaches and interests. At times this can get quite polarised, and more thoughtful characters will be challenged to see beyond stereotypes to view individuals as more than merely 'a kobold' or 'a dwarf' but as people with their own unique views and place within the world.

Various options are provided to aid you in bringing the adventure to a conclusion... and there are several options as to how what the characters do here can be built into further activities within your campaign. You may even wish to use this to start off a whole campaign with beginning characters, or slot it in quite early as you tie them into wider activities within the locale. Neat, and well presented with some delightful illustrations.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Iron Secret for 4th Edition D&D
Click to show product description

Add to RPGNow.com Order

Displaying 1 to 15 (of 1092 reviews) Result Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 ...  [Next >>] 
Back
You must be logged in to rate this
 Cart
0 items
 Publisher Info
Troll in the Corner
Troll in the Corner
Publisher Average Rating

See All Reviews
Publisher Homepage
Other products (68)
 Gift Certificates
Get Your Favorite Gamers What They REALLY Want...
$10 Gift Certificate
Powered by DrivethruRPG