Tag Archive | "indie rpgs"

Pre-Order Cold City, Version 1.1

Posted on July 28, 2008 by

Contested Ground Studios is delighted to announce the release of an upgraded version of their hit Cold City RPG.

Cold City v1.1 takes all the information from the original book and combines it with the Cold City Companion to create one comprehensive source for Cold City games. In addition to all of that, there’s a new, revised system chapter that offers smoother gameplay and more guidances for participants.

There’s internal artwork by Stuart Beel (SLA Industries, Changeling, Werewolf and many other RPGs and CCGs ) and Paul Bourne (3:16, a|state, Hot War, Piledrivers & Powerbombs), offering a great visual experience.

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InSpectres RPG Review

Posted on July 28, 2008 by

“InSpectres” is a role-playing game of horror and comedy written by Jared Sorenson and published by Memento-Mori Theatrics. Players take on the roles of supernatural investigators who are part of a franchise, ala “Ghostbusters.” The players control not only their characters, but also the business itself, allow it to grow financially, physically and in terms of contacts and clientele. A game master sets up the story and calls for different die rolls at different times, controlling all of the non-player characters in the game.

Review by Michael Erb

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Donar’s Hammer (Godlike) RPG Review

Posted on July 22, 2008 by

“Donar’s Hammer” is the first of the smaller supplements for “Godlike” RPG, and provides an introductory scenarios as well as optional rules for your “Godlike” game.

Set in Sicily in 1943, players take on the role of a group of Allied Talents that come face to face with a group of Axis Overmen protecting a talent called Mjollnir, the name of the norse god Thor’s mythic hammer. What begins as a simple seek-and-destroy mission instead becomes a fight for survival and the soul of a small town.

Review by Michale Erb

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Zorcerer of Zo RPG Review

Posted on July 18, 2008 by

“The Zantabulous Zorceror of Zo,” by Chad Underkoffler and Atomic Sock Monkey Press, is a game of adventure and wonder set in a world of fairy tales. But the land of Zo is more than just pixies and knights. The game includes classic story elements from almost every childhood fantasy, from “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland” to “Peter Pan” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

The game uses Underkoffler’s Prose Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) system, which is also used in the super-hero RPG “Truth & Justice” and the manic “Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot: the Roleplaying Game.” In PDQ, characters use Qualities to represent their abilities. Qualities can be anything from skills to beliefs to personality quirks.

Review by Michael Erb

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Hot War RPG Now Available!

Posted on July 17, 2008 by

London. Winter. 1963.

It is a year since the Cold War went hot.

And this was not just a nuclear war. Far more sinister, darker weapons were deployed from the shadows.

Survival and re-building are all that matter now. But human nature and tragic circumstances mean that everyone has their own ambitions.

…a Government desperate to hold on to what remains of the country.

…military forces who wish to expand their power and influence.

…frightened and brutalised refugees who simply want a place to call home.

Into this maelstrom steps the Special Situations Group, a motley band of men and women tasked with the jobs too dirty or dangerous for anyone else.

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Exquisite Replicas Preview: Mental Imbalance

Posted on July 17, 2008 by

Eric Lofgren’s Cover Art gave us a quick teaser of the new RPG coming from Abstract Nova this summer. Next we learned about The Anonymous and the Shadow Crews. Some of the “good” and “bad” guys of the setting.

After learning a bit about this new, twisted world of Exquisite Replicas folks had a few questions on just how you play the game. So, Abstract Nova gave us a teaser into the Paranoia elements of the mechanics and today they bring us just a bit of Mental Imbalance

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3:16 – Carnage Amongst The Stars

Posted on July 15, 2008 by

3:16 designed by Gregor Hutton (Best Friends) is a winner of a High Ronny Award for Games Design.

Featuring a stunning cover by Paul Bourne (a|state, Cold City, Hot War) and haunting interiors by Gregor Hutton 3:16 is a visual treat.

This high-octane Science-Fiction role-playing game for 2 or more players has your Space Troopers killing bugs all across the Cosmos. You’ll advance in rank, improve your weapons, slay civilization after civilization and find out who you are through an innovative “Flashback” mechanic.

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New Cards by Jennifer Rodgers!

Posted on July 12, 2008 by

Jennifer Rodgers is adding a new “Thank You” card to her Greeting Card Shop, an elegant gothic design, featuring skulls, flowers and Latin. The cards will be in stock and available for sale by the 16th. Pre-Orders available now!

You can find all of Jennifer’s cards at her Etsy shop:jenniferrodgersart.etsy.com.

The current designs include birthday, valentine and holiday cards, all available as singles or in packs of five. When the “Thank You” card is made available, it will also be part of a variety pack, featuring one card of each of the current five designs.

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Hot War RPG Available for Pre-Order!

Posted on July 11, 2008 by

London. Winter. 1963.

It is a year since the Cold War went hot.

And this was not just a nuclear war. Far more sinister, darker weapons were deployed from the shadows.

Hot War, the new game from Contested Ground Studios, is now available for pre-order through Indie Press Revolution! Pre-order the book now and you’ll receive the PDF version absolutely free!

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Cursed Empire RPG Review

Posted on July 11, 2008 by

This is a review of the second edition of the game with the name altered from Crimson Empire, which the earlier edition was titled, due to a dispute with Lucasarts. Cursed Empire is a small, independent press game written by Chris Loizou and presented enthusiastically and comprehensively at many UK conventions. This is a weighty book and obviously a labour of love for the creator whose enthusiasm for the game is obvious and infectious. This makes me feel bad about criticizing the game given that it’s such an obvious and singular labour of love, but there are significant problems with it.

Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough

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Exquisite Replicas Preview: Paranoia

Posted on July 10, 2008 by

Earlier Exquisite Replicas previews have shown us the Cover Art and introduced to the basics of the game. Next we learned about The Anonymous and the Shadow Crews.

Now, we see the terrible price that members of The Anonymous pay in their ongoing battle against the Othersiders. Abstract Nova have sent us a sneak peek at some of the new mechanics introduced in Exquisite Replicas.

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Don’t Rest Your Head RPG Review

Posted on July 10, 2008 by

In this strange land between waking and sleep, you can wield strange and wondrous powers, but your talents make you a target. Push too hard and you’ll fall asleep. That’s when the Nightmares come to feed. Stray too far from reality and you go insane, eventually becoming one of Nightmares that hunt you. Fight for what you believe and remember who you are, but whatever you do, don’t rest your head.

“Don’t Rest Your Head,” is a roleplaying game of insomnia, madness and super powers written by Fred Hicks and published by Evil Hat Productions.

Review by Michael Erb

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The Shab-al-Hiri Roach RPG Review

Posted on July 8, 2008 by

“The Shab-al-Hiri Roach” by Jason Morningstar and Bully Pulpit Games is a storytelling game about academic life, the pursuit of tenure and the lengths people will go to for success, even if that means swallowing an ancient Sumerian bug and burning down the campus. Billed as a Lovecraftian dark comedy of manners, players take on the roles of assistant- or full-proffesors at the ficticious Pemberton University in the fall of 1919.

Players choose an Expertise for their character, an area of learning such as History or Geology, and two Enthusiams, areas in which they excel and delight, such as Creativity, Manipulation or Debauchery.

Review by Michael Erb

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Exquisite Replicas RPG: Shadow Crews

Posted on July 2, 2008 by

The first Exquisite Replicas RPG preview introduced the game and gave us a look at the Cover Art by Eric Lofgren, then we had a sneak peek at The Anonymous, the tragic heroes of the this dark game.

In that preview we learned of the fight against the Othersiders. The alien beings who have been stealing parts of our world and replacing them with “fake” versions. Today we are going to take a look at some of those Othersiders

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Godlike RPG Review

Posted on June 30, 2008 by

“Godlike” is a role-playing game about super heroes during World War II. But “Godlike” isn’t your normal super-powered game. The heroes, called Talents, are normal people with extraordinary powers, but who ultimately are still very human.

The Talents in “Godlike” don’t dress in spandex and capes while soaring into war. That’s like wearing a giant target on your back. Instead Talents tend to work in small groups, just like a regular military unit, and conceal their extraordinary abilities when possible. The Talents have great power, but ultimately are tools in the war, and a player character’s ability to affect the course of the war is limited and dependant more upon the success of missions rather than just on personal actions.

Review by Michael Erb

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Don’t Lose Your Mind Preview “A”

Posted on June 27, 2008 by

A pair of government agents stalk a runaway girl armed only with a teddy bear. They are never heard from again. A psychopathic hero wields every blade that ever murdered, carving off pieces of his personality in an effort to beat back the Nightmares. A temptress lures the cruel and vile to assault her—only to trap them in a prison built from her own ribcage. Trailing ash and burning footprints with every step, a man cursed with Orpheus’ gift delves deeper into Hell each day on a quest to find the last missing puzzle-piece needed to rebuild his late girlfriend from the wreck she has become…

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Hot War RPG Preview: Your ID Papers & You

Posted on June 23, 2008 by

The Hot War Intro told us that this is a game of horror and survival that takes place in the city of London, England in the freezing winter of 1963. In addition to the basic introduction we featured two dark images from the new book. The second preview featured information on the Special Situations Group. The SSG is tasked with hunting down monsters, madmen and other enemies. The third preview gave us a glimpse at three types of Monsters that members of the SSG could be faced with in the streets of London.

Today we’ve got two new pieces of interior art to show off. Much of the background information in the game is give through the medium of posters, memos, letters and other “in-character” bits.

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Hot War RPG Preview: Monsters

Posted on June 15, 2008 by

The Hot War Intro told us that this is a game of horror and survival that takes place in the city of London, England in the freezing winter of 1963. In addition to the basic introduction we featured two dark images from the new book.

The second preview featured information on the Special Situations Group. The SSG is tasked with hunting down monsters, madmen and other enemies.

What sort of monsters might the SSG encounter? Today’s Hot War preview will give you a sneak peek at three types of monsters twisted by some strange blend of science and occult…

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Blood! RPG Review

Posted on June 12, 2008 by

This second edition of Blood! updates an original game from 1990, although quite why the author wishes to do this rather than create a completely new game which just rips off (adapts) some of the original concepts is not clear. As author Desborough points out, this makes the game a little unusual in the current environment in that games now tend to be rules-light and high-concept, while Blood! is a comparatively rules-heavy game. There are, for example, something like 400 weapons which can be used, including a fishing rod and a knitting needle. There are also extensive critical hit tables describing what might happen to the human body when it is variously bitten, stabbed, crashed into by a moving vehicle, shot, electrocuted and so forth. These are generally quite graphic in nature and this underlines the principal approach to the game, which is that of the gorefest.

Review by John Walsh

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Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium Review

Posted on June 11, 2008 by

In normal Dread play, this is where henchmen and cultists would begin to interfere: the mook-battering is designed to wear down the PC’s Fury so that the final conflict is tough (and usually deadly, to one or more PCs). But being a one-shot con game, Raphael paced the scenario faster and got us on the trail of the first, possessor demon fairly quickly. A few chats with a scatter-brained crackhead, a store clerk, and other contacts, and we realize we’re on the tail of the mayor, possessed by a demon that loves to destroy the lives of its victim before finally destroying the possessed itself and moving on to new hunting grounds.

Review by David Artman

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