Terminal State is Now!

The Terminal State by Chris Vermeren Kickstarter is going now. Terminal State is a cyberpunk rpg that Vermeren promises isn't stuck in the 80s, but updated to be "the future of now." It's a Year Zero Engine game (like Forbidden Lands and so many others) with some innovations.

I've been following the posts regarding the game on the VX2 discord and it looks really nice. 

There's a quickstart over on drivethru so you can check out the vibe then head over to KS to give it your support!

Far Away Land 2e Kickstarter

The Far Away Land has got a Kickstarter for a second edition just in time for it's 10th anniversary. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, is a gonzo fantasy setting with unique art and a vibe a lot like Adventure Time but a flair all its own. It's creator and artist, Dirk Stanley describes it with the elevator pitch: "Imagine Rifts, Dungeons & Dragons, and Adventure Time had a baby," which I think pretty much covers it. 

I always felt like Far Away Land shared a common spirit with my own Land of Azurth, and I've run some of Stanley's adventures to good effect in my home campaign. They are unfailingly imaginative.

The Kickstarter just started but has already funded. Whether you are already a fan or hearing about it for the first time, you might want to check it out. 

CowBoy Bebop the RPG

The pdfs for the core book and quickstart for the Cowboy Bebop RPG went out to Kickstarter backers today. I haven't had a chance to read it, but on a quick perusal, it's certainly a nice looking game. The rules are pretty simply and borrow a bit from Blades in the Dark (and apparently Monsterhearts, which I'm not familiar with). It uses a lot of thematically flavored names for attributes and mechanics, which I like in general, but at first blush seems a bit overdone here.

One interesting thing I saw along these lines is that ever character has a trait called Memory, which can come into play as a bonus, but also adds to "Bullets" which is a Stress track of sorts. When Bullets run out, the past comes back to haunt you, which is very in keeping with CB.

Anyway, I probably will give it a whirl at some point, though I confess Outgunned (the successor to Broken Compass) looks like a strong contender to be my go-to game of choice for something Cowboy Bebop-esque in the future.

Wednesday Comics: Dreadstar Returns

Hot on the hills of the Dreadstar Omnibus, there's a new Kickstarter for a continuation of Dreadstar by Starlin himself! Check it out.

Wednesday Comics: Heroes of the Golden Age Reference Guide #2

The pdf's for the Kickstarter of Heroes of the Golden Age Reference Guide #2 are out, which is a bit confusing because there wasn't a issue 1. It's actually a remaining of the series that started out as Heroes of the Public Domain, which I discussed previously.

Other than the man change, it is much the same as the first one. It has art by Chris Malgrain (who's name and work you may recognize from Armchair Planet Who's Who stuff) and entries on a number of Golden Age characters from Airmale (not a typo) to Tommy. This issue highlights just how many captains there were in Golden Age comics. There are seven in this issue alone.

If this sort of thing interests you, issue 3 will be not doubt Kickstartered as well, so be on the look out.

Wednesday Comics: Heroes of the Public Domain Reference Guide Issue #1

I backed the Kickstarter for the Heroes of the Public Doman Reference Guide #1 and the physical copy delivered just yesterday, though I've had the pdf for some time. The new art in the book is by Chris Malgrain, the French artist that I'm working with on the Armchair Planet Who's Who Project. It was also a Kickstarter fulfilled through the comic-specializing print on demand publisher Ka-Blam, which is something I'm interested in doing too.

But anyway: the comic. It's 32 public domain characters spanning the alphabet from Amazing Man to Yankee Girl. Some of these characters have modern appearances (sometimes multiple, competing modern appearances) but the guide just sticks to their "classic" Golden Age histories.

The print quality is good as is the original art. The text is brief, but some of these characters didn't have a lot of appearances. If POD characters interest you, it's worth picking up when its widely available, presumably on IndyPlanet.

No relation to the Wakandan Black Panther

Troika!

Daniel Sell's rules lite, 80s Advanced Fighting Fantasy inspired rpg, Troika!, is getting Kickstartered to a new addition with so very fine artists doing illustrations. It's very easy system, usable for most anything, and Daniel's default setting is flavorful, too.

Here are some Troika! backgrounds I did for it in my Baroque Space setting by way of example of its ease of use: part 1 and part 2.

Kickstarters Fulfilled

I've had several Kickstarters I backed drop their products in the last few weeks, and though some of them had longer than expected waits, I've been pretty pleased. Here's a brief rundown:

Talislanta: The Savage Land is a "prequel" to Talislanta as we traditionally have known it, written (at least in part) by Talislanta's creator Steven Michael Sechi. It's more barbaric setting loses so of the Vancian nature of the original and the various cultures are often familiar but different which will take so getting used to, but it has the creativity I expect from a Talislanta book and probably the highest production values yet.

Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne adapts Pendragon's rules to Charlemagne's court as depicted in the Song of Roland and related Romances. I haven't dug much into this one yet, but Pendragon has a good ruleset, and this is a setting that has always interested me.

Aquelarre is the English translation of a well-regarded Spanish rpg. It bills itself as "A Medieval Demonic Roleplaying Game" which says it all really. Just browsing it, I'm really digging the wealthy of detail on the setting, broken down in easy to digest, pretty playable pieces. There are a host of classes like Muccadim (Jewish militia in ghettos) and Goliardo (licentious, worldly young monks) (the whole chargen system reminds me a bit of WFRP at first blush) and a number of monsters from Basque and Spanish folklore.

The Final Countdown

The Operation Unfathomable Kickstarter has a little over two days to go, but Hydra isn't taking our collective foot off the gas. This weekend, we had 3 new stretch goals to sweeten the deal:

$16,000: Jason's original smash blog compilation The Dungeon Dozen
$19,000: Operation Unfathomable Players Guide a mini-comic
$18,000: Dungeon Dozen II Sneak Preview

If you haven't backed, now's the time.

Rapping With Thrantrix

Anybody who has watched the Operation Unfathomable Kickstarter video is familiar with that chaos godling and bon vivant (well, maybe just the former) Thrantrix the Ineffable. Now, as you know, Chaos Godlings say the darnedest things, and that Thrantrix is quotable beyond all others. Hydra has a little contest going: Give us your best Thrantrix quotations and we'll collect them into one tome. Also, the very best will go into the adventure as "sample dialogue" the godling might drop on the PCs, so that's the sort of quotation we're looking for: cutting adventurer put-downs, Underworld gossip, incomprehensible cosmic musings, weird worship requirements, gripes about other Godlings, etc.

The top submission will receive the actual model of Thrantrix that appeared in our Kickstarter video, once the campaign ends and a winner has been chosen!

Würm: First Look

The Kickstarter for the English translation of the French prehistoric rpg Würm dropped yesterday. I haven't had time for more than brief flip-through but it seems pretty cool. Here are not observations:

• The art is at times a bit on the cartoony side (it reminds me a bit of some Franco-Belgian comic art), but is "realistic" in what it depicts, not pulpy. No Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. lookalikes. Neanderthals get a lot of depiction and as protagonists, not brutish adversaries.
• The mechanics related to hunting, tracking, and killing are as robust as combat is in most rpgs. There is a "Butchering" roll and a "Skinning" roll, apparently--and cool features like this: "If eaten raw in the moments following the death of the animal, the liver of a killed mammal grants the one eating it the Strength connected to this kind of animal until next dawn. Note that this power only applies to mammals."
• "Magical" abilities of various sorts are discussed including Shamanism and "Sorcery" (the making of potions and ointments). There are also rules for handling relationships with spirits and curses.
• The monster section contains the usual prehistoric beasts (no dinosaurs), but also, somewhat surprisingly, some fantasy staples like dragons, a couple of types of giants, and spirits of the elements.

All and all, it looks interesting, and I'm glad I backed the Kickstarter.