As I promised (threatened?) in my Free RPG Day After Action Report, here are some of the goodies I picked up. They cover five genres–Supers, Sword & Sorcery, Pulp, Science Fiction, and High Fantasy–from four publishers. In no particular order, here we go.
Atlantis: The Second Age by Khepera Publishing. A Sword & Sorcery fantasy RPG, inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard (Conan), Clark Ashton Smith, Michael Moorcock (Elric), and Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser), among others. In this genre, the men often wear little clothing and the women always wear next to nothing (Red Sonja in the iconic chainmail bikini). Oh, and everyone seems to have a pretty impressive blade, regardless of gender. The Free RPG Day booklet is a black & white print version of the free Quick-Start rules PDF. It even includes B&W versions of the PDF’s color artwork, both of them good quality.
Most of the 24 page booklet is the rules. Notable to me is the Renown mechanic, which the writers swear in their introduction is the LOOT! equivalent in this game. PCs get varying amounts of Renown points for assorted acts. These range from Fighting “naked,” explicitly defined as “without armor” to attempting given levels of checks to slaying monsters to “Falling in love and winning a paramour’s affection.” A module and several pregens are included as well. Since this is a full quick start ruleset, there is enough information to run your own games in your own worlds. Little or no setting details are included beyond listing the source fiction–but anyone interested in Atlantis is likely already familiar with those. The core book is “Coming soon!” per the website and will be US$49.99 hardcover or $19.99 PDF.
Castles & Crusades/Amazing Adventures, published by Troll Lord Games. This offering is unusual in that there are two “Open & Play” game modules included for 2 different genres (high fantasy and pulp heroic), set in the same “dungeon.” In the C&C (fantasy) module, PCs agree to journey to a temple on behalf of a relative too infirm for the task. In the Amazing Adventures (pulp) module, a group of early 20th century adventurers are hired to bring something out of the same temple. Since these are Open & Play, quick-start rules and pregens for both C&C and Amazing Adventures are in the booklet. Your own PCs are usable if they are at the levels suggested in the respective module’s introduction.
I have played C&C before (My review here) and find it a standard but entertaining fantasy RPG with mechanics very similar to AD&D, D&D 3.x, or Pathfinder.
FAITH: Escape from Alfadabin, published by Burning Games, is described on the cover as an “adventure seed and quickstart rules.” This intro is a unique presentation, a mini-comic of several members of the game’s races playing the game. Races, societies, and so forth are covered at the bottom of each page below the panels. The panels themselves not only have dialog balloons, but game notes, such as, “When you have less advantages than your opponent, you suffer inferiority and see the cards you can play reduced by one.” The comic serves as both example of play and the adventure seed.
The quickstart rules are printed on the back cover. Although the cover subtitle is “The Sci-fi RPG,” between the booklet and the website, it is a mix of RPG and a board game with cards. Drawn cards substitute for dice in this game. It wasn’t clear to me what kind of cards are used. The quickstart says, “played with a poker deck,” but the website shows and talks about custom (non-collectible) cards that appear to be included in the set. Either way, since the booklet doesn’t have pregens or character build rules, you cannot run the adventure seed without having the game.
The setting seems fairly detailed, including at least five races that have varied relations with each other. Unlike a lot of SF/space opera games, five Gods appear to play a large role. They expect PCs to follow them, a lot like D&D. They can also grant abilities to PCs. I am not sure if this game would be for me, but I would probably not turn down a chance to play it. Suggested retail price is US$69.
Valiant Universe published by Catalyst Game Labs is the supers RPG. It is based on Valiant Entertainment’s comic book universe. This 24 page quick start ruleset, like the Troll Lord and Khepera booklets, has everything you need for a test run–rules, pregens, and a module, “Fog of War.” There are also plenty of sidebars in the rules section with play examples. “Fog of War” includes short news articles and threads in an online forum. Touches like that add a lot, and can be useful. I have never read Valiant Comics, but the pregens are from the line, including their premier hero, X-O Manowar, and Faith/Zephyr, who is a bit like me. The Gizmodo review of the line describes her as “a plus-sized woman who happens to be a fangirl of all things superhero and science fiction, while also living the life of an actual superhero,” which is not too far off. (Well, maybe that last clause is bit farfetched for me…or is it…)
This looks like an interesting setting and the mechanics don’t seem too difficult. Plus, you could adapt the “Fog of War” plot to any supers system. The core book lists for US$39.99 on Amazon. There are also several supplements available, some of which allow you to play the events of comics like Harbinger.
I don’t know if I will play any of these, but I enjoyed going through all the booklets and seeing what was out there.
Linda Whitson
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