zondag 24 juni 2012

Collection update : Pathfinder (2)

To celebrate more than 1000 views on this blog, I present you with another collection update. The friendly local game store had a 50% off sale on all their rpg material so I couldn't pass up on that and picked up quite a lot of their Pathfinder shelf.

Bestiary



  • PZO1112 Bestiary is the first of three monster manuals published by Paizo so far. First published in September 2009, the Bestiary is a hefty tome of 327 pages detailing monsters from the Aasimar up to and including the Zombie. The monster entries are followed by 14 appendices detailing monster creation and advancement, animal companions, and encounter tables among others.
  • PZO1120 Bestiary 3 is the third installment of the monster manuals currently published for the Pathfinder RPG. It was first published in December 2011 and with 319 pages it's only slightly lighter than the original Bestiary. Bestiary 3 lists creatures from the Adaro to the Zuvembie and like its predecessor those entries are also followed by more than 10 appendices.

Nations



  • PZO9405 Taldor, Echoes of Glory describes the country of Taldor and its capital Oppara, in addition to the Lion blade prestige class, magic items, and more.
  • PZO9403 Osirion, Land of Pharaohs is a sourcebook for Egyptian-themed adventures. It presents information on the nation of Osirion, its capital Sothis, along with a prestige class, new feats and magic and more.
  • PZO9406 Qadira, Gateway to the East describes the country of Qadira and its capital Katheer. Like the other nation books, it adds a prestige class, spells and feats for characters headed from this region of Golarion.
  • PZO9409 Andoran, Spirit of Liberty details living in Andoran, its slavery battling Steel Falcons, history, cities and more.

Faith



  • PZO9418 Faiths of Balance presents an overview of the neutral aligned deities in the Golarian Universe, along with a number of minor deities, feats, spells, and magic items.
  • PZO9420 Faiths of Corruption presents an overview of the evil deities in Golarion. Like the other faith companions it also presents a number of minor deities (even great old ones like Cthulhu, Hastur, and Nyarlathotep can be worshipped), new spells, feats and magic items.

Companions




  • PZO9410 Adventurer's Armory is the go-to sourcebook if you're looking for gear. Weapons, armor, alchemical items, you name it. And most of it within the price range of 1st level characters. Did you know a slave costs a mere 75 gold pieces ?!
  • PZO9422 Pirates of the Inner Sea gives an in-depth overview of six major pirate organisations. It also includes new pirate weapons, archetypes, a prestige class and a look at Besmara the Pirate Queen.

Campaign Setting & Chronicles




  • PZO9228 Inner Sea Poster Map Folio are four maps which in their totality show the Inner Sea region of Golarion.
  • PZO9232 Rival Guide presents 10 fully detailed rival adventuring groups, including backgrounds, fully statted NPCs, and the usual addition of new feats, traits and spells.
  • PZO9211 Seekers of Secrets details in great depth the Pathfinder Society, how to join, its history, famous Pathfinders, three prestige classes and more.
  • PZO9205 Guide to Absalom includes the different neighbourhoods, Absalom's history, the movers and shakers of the City at the Center of the World and more.

Races




  • PZO9417 Humans of Golarion presents an overview of the major human ethnicities, a map of historical migration, information on Aroden and lost empires such as Azltant and Thassilon.
  • PZO9411 Gnomes of Golarion provides descriptions of Gnomish history, folklore, the major gnomish settlements, and more.
  • PZO9408 Dwarves of Golarion provides details of the dwarvish history in Golarion, information on the Five Kings Mountains, obscure magic of the Dwarven gods, and more.

1st level adventures




  • PZO9508 Hangman's Noose is an urban-based adventure wherein an unjustly executed man haunts the courthouse of Beldrin's Bluff in Absalom.
  • PZO9520 Crypt of the Everflame is a dungeon adventure set in Nirmathas. Kassen's youngsters are sent to a nearby crypt to retrieve the Everflame as a way of passage into adulthood. But these days, evil runs rampant in the crypt.

2nd level adventures




  • PZO9501 Crown of the Kobold King is a dungeon-based adventure in which five children have been dragged off into a cursed dwarven monastery.


3rd level adventures




  • PZO9522 Masks of the Living God is a adventure taking place in Nirmathas and can be used as a sequel to Crypt of the Everflame. Is there a link between the cult of Razmir and the culprits that raided Kassen's crypt?
  • PZO9533 Feast of Ravenmoor takes the player character to Ravenmoor in Varisia to look for a tax collector that has gone missing.

4th level adventures




  • PZO9510 River into darkness is a wilderness-based adventure that takes the adventurers to an outpost in the jungles of the Mwangi Expanse.
  • PZO9512 Flight of the Red Raven takes the party to the Fog Peak Mountains in Galt in pursuit of the notorious Red Raven.

5th level adventures




  • PZO9506 Carnival of Tears is an event-based adventure that brings a carnival to Falcon's Hollow for the party to enjoy. Then suddenly the nymph queen wants a word with them.
  • PZO9521 Carrion Hill takes place in the city of Carrion Hill in Ustalav where the original inhabitants of the place where cultists worshipping the Old Gods. Or how H.P. Lovecraft makes an appearance in Golarion.
  • PZO9524 City of Golden Death is the final chapter in the Price of Immortality trilogy, in which the adventurers follow the cultists of Razmir to the Isle of Terror

6th level adventures




  • PZO9505 Entombed with the Pharaohs pits the adventurers in a race to be the first to plunder the Veinstone Pyramid in Osirion.
  • PZO9525 From Shore to Sea sends the adventurers to the coastal village of Blackcove in Cheliax where horrors from beneath the waves hunt down innocent villagers.

7th level adventures




  • PZO9503 Seven Swords of Sin lets the player characters hunt down a sorceress that has stolen seven swords and ran off to Kaer Maga, the city of criminals.
  • PZO9514 Treasure of Chimera Cove sends the adventurers on a quest to brave the underground tunnels of a secret pirate complex in search of a weapon terrorizing the local shipping lanes.

8th level adventures




  • PZO9509 Crucible of Chaos sends the adventuring party to the Mwangi Expanse in search of a crashed sky-city.
  • PZO9516 The Pact Stone Pyramid is an adventure in which the adventurers have to stop an Osirian noblewoman from bringing back the ancient pharaohs and ruling beside them.
  • PZO9529 Cult of the Ebon Destroyer is an adventure written by the RPG Superstar 2010 winner Matt Goodall in which the adventurers have to stop a feared cult from assassinating Jalmeray's ruler.

9th level adventures




  • PZO9519 Beyond the Vault of Souls sends the player characters across the planes in search a magical soul gems stolen from the goddess of death.
  • PZO9532 The Harrowing sends the characters into the Harrowed Realm, a demiplane within a harrow deck in which certain creatures are looking for power and an escape into the real world.

10th level adventures




  • PZO9517 Clash of the Kingslayers was written by RPG Superstar 2008 winner Leandra Christine Schneider from Germany. The adventure takes place in the dwarven city Glimmerhold that is under attack from supernatural forces.
  • PZO9526 Curse of the Riven Sky is set in the Land of the Linnorm Kings where the players are looking for a cloud giant's arcane knowledge and need to stop the Storm Queen to get it.

11th level adventures




  • PZO9507 Guardians of Dragonfall has the characters travel to Dragonfall, the fabled graveyard of dragons, where its guardians are out of control.
  • PZO9511 The Demon Within presents the players with the problem of a bloodthirsty demonic horde that has overrun its guardians.

13th level adventures




  • PZO9531 Academy of Secrets is an adventure in which Korvosa's magical academy invites the party to try and infiltrate its own Hall of Wards.

14th level adventures




  • PZO9530 Tomb of the Iron Medusa sends the adventurers to a mysterious necropolis to clear the name of one of its builders.

15th level adventures




  • PZO9518 Blood of Dragonscar is an adventure in which the party travels to Dalaston in Taldor, where a wedding festival is ruined by a rampaging dragon and children rise from the dead.

17th level adventure




  • PZO9527 The Witchwar Legacy has the party discover a tomb in which the Mother of Witches Baba Yaga entombed one of her wayward daughters.


- Previous collection updates -

donderdag 21 juni 2012

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea



This is the introduction found on the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Kickstarter.

The project was already funded in January but I figured I could mention it here anyway. The author is Jeffrey Talanian, known from a number of Castle Zagyg products which he worked on under the guidance of Gary Gygax himself.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea will come out in a boxed set with two manuals, dice, a map, and charactersheets.

The boxes have already arrived at North Wind Adventures as can be seen below. The latest kickstarter update I received end of May stated that the dice were in as well. Character sheets were ready for print, covers for the Referee's Manual and the Players' Manual were at the printer, and the manuals were in layout. On The Acaeum Jeffrey confirmed recently however that layout was pretty much done and a final review was up next, followed by printing and shipping.




maandag 18 juni 2012

North Texas RPG Con 2012



Well, if there's one convention I would love to go to, it's this one. The North Texas RPG convention is old school gaming heaven. With an allstar cast the likes of Frank Mentzer, James Ward, Erol Otus, Sandy Petersen, Jeff Dee, Jennell Jacquays, Steve Winter, Dennis Sustare, Diesel LaForce, Jason Braun, Tim Kask, and the complete crew of Frog God Games attending, running and playing in games, this is a must-attend for all with some love for the TSR days.

Besides gaming the con also awards the Three Castles award which was won by Kevin Crawford's Stars without numbers, has a number of seminars (Origins of Call of Cthulhu w/ Sandy Petersen & Steve Marsh, Origins of 2E AD&D with Zeb Cook & Steve Winter, Art Seminar with Erol Otus, Dave LaForce, Jeff Dee, Jennell Jaquays & Jason Braun), holds a raffle in which you can win a lot of nice items (Dragon Magazine # 1, Dungeon Magazine #1, Castle Zagyg - Upper Works, DCC #51 Castle Whiterock boxed set (in shrink), and even a free trip to NTRPGCon 2013), and an auction where the super rare Greyhawk goldenrod sheets were auctioned off for $1350.

Games played amongst many others were Call of Cthulhu by Sandy Petersen, OD&D by Frank Mentzer and Dennis Sustare, Paranoia by Ben Burns, Metamorphosis Alpha by Jim Ward, Castle Greyhawk by Allan Grohe, Runequest by Jennell Jacquays, Swords & Wizardry by Bill Webb and Matt Finch, Cavemaster by Jeff Dee, a Chainmail scenario "The Battle of Lonely Mountain", Circus Maximus and much much more.

One of the nice features was an allstar game in which attendees could win a spot through the auction and raffle. The players included James M Ward, Steve Winter, Jennell Jaquays, Tim Kask, Sandy Petersen, and Frank Mentzer. Below you can find their adventures.











Below a question and answer session on the origins of Call of Cthulhu with Sandy Petersen and Steve Marsh, followed by The good old days with Jim Ward, Frank Mentzer, and Tim Kask. Then there's a seminar about the origins of AD&D with Steve Winter and Zeb Cook, and Gonzo Gaming with Michael Curtis and Tim Kask.











vrijdag 8 juni 2012

FROG GOD GAMES ACQUIRES NECROMANCER GAMES




Dallas, TX, (June 7th 2012) – FROG GOD GAMES, the makers of roleplaying games and books, today announced that they are acquiring Necromancer Games, the award-winning publishing house known for Necropolis, Rappan Athuk, City of Brass, Tomb of Abysthor, Crucible of Freya, Tome of Horrors, and many other famous titles.

The purchase of Necromancer Games considerably increases Frog God Games’ influence in the tabletop gaming industry. “The merging of the companies made sense,” said Bill Webb, CEO of Frog God Games. “As primary developer of the Necromancer line of products, I created Frog God Games with the same aesthetics and design principles in mind. We are all about capturing that hard-edged Retro feel in both our Pathfinder Roleplaying Games and our Swords & Wizardry product lines.” The acquisition will provide Frog God Games with the use of Necromancer Games extensive intellectual property, allowing re-imagination and expansion of existing work, as well as new products under both labels. Frog God Games will maintain a separate product line of Necromancer Games products, which so far has included the Tome of Horrors Complete and will soon include Rappan Athuk.

Frog God Games will re-animate several of Necromancer Games’ products in the future to provide its customers with revised and expanded products for a variety of tabletop editions. “The integration of both companies will take place over the next few months. Our customers will continue to receive the same high quality books which they have come to expect” stated Webb.

Necromancer Games, which will continue to operate under that name, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Frog God Games. The company has not published new material since 2007, although it produced nearly 100 titles from 1999-2007. The Company’s other founder, Clark Peterson will remain involved in an advisory capacity, and will continue to contribute to the company’s success.

About Frog God Games
Founded in April 2010, Frog God Games publishes resources for the tabletop roleplaying games Pathfinder Roleplaying Games and Swords & Wizardry. Its products are known for their grand adventure settings and high quality production values. “If our hardcovers won’t last you a lifetime of use, we have not made a high enough quality product”, said Webb. Frog God Games currently serves over 2500 customers in USA, Canada, Brazil, Europe, South America, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and has produced over 70 books for Pathfinder Roleplaying Games and Swords & Wizardry in the past two years. The writers of Frog God Games have won numerous ENnie Awards. For more information about Frog God Games visit its website at talesofthefroggod.com

donderdag 7 juni 2012

Appendix N Adventure Toolkits for DCC RPG Kickstarter



John Adams of Brave Halfling Publishing has obtained a license to produce content for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. The first adventure is called 'The Ruins of Ramat' and true to the Dungeon Crawl Classics style it starts at 0th level.




I must say John has put together a very nice deal with this one. A mere $20 gets you the 'Ruins of Ramat' adventure, a limited edition adventure 'The Witch of Wydfield' which will not be available in pdf or retail version afterwards, and a print and pdf copy of any of the bonus goal products. So in it's current state this would mean another two adventures called 'The Crumbling Tower' and 'Danger in the Sulyndri Forrest'.

If the kickstarter reaches $6000, another adventure called 'The Revenge of Abudakar' will be added. $10000 will bring a limited Appendix N Adventures Game Box to the table and in a recent update, John revealed that reaching $15.000 means the release of 'The Old Isle Campaign Setting', material that he was working on with none other than Gary Gygax before his passing.

zondag 3 juni 2012

RPG Goodies April

I'm running waaaaay behind on this stuff and now of course it's more complicated to figure out which interesting items were released back in April.

Wizards of the Coast



  • Halls of Undermountain presents a ready-to use dungeon detailing over eighty locations. The adventure for characters of 1st to 5th level offers a way for Dungeon Masters participating in the recent D&D Encounters season, The Elder Elemental Eye, to extend the adventure. In addition, this book provides all the ingredients to run a classic dungeon delve, including enticing treasures, deadly traps, a wide assortment of monsters, and two double-sided full-color poster maps.


Paizo Publishing



  • PZO9055 Adventure Path Skull & Shackles book 1 - The Wormwood Mutiny launches when the adventurers wake to find themselves press-ganged into the crew of the pirate ship Wormwood, the vessel of the nefarious Captain Barnabus Harrigan. They’ll have to learn how to survive as pirates if they’re to have any hope of weathering rough waves, brutal crew members, enemy pirates, ravenous beasts, and worse. But when fortune turns to their favor, it’s up to the new crew to decide whether they’ll remain the pirate’s swabs or seize control and set sail for adventures all their own.


  • PZO9535 The Midnight Mirror is a horror and investigation adventure for 4th level characters written by the 2011's RPG Superstar Sam Zeitlin. The outbreak of a virulent and fatal disease and a number of mysterious disappearances have left the people of Karpad paranoid and fearful. Even Baron Stepan has been acting strangely, and now the tenuous balance of racial tensions between Karpad's human and fetchling populations stands on the verge of collapsing into total anarchy. Can the PCs uncover the root of Karpad's problems and put an end to the deadly virus, the terrifying disappearances, and the miasma of fear and distrust that threatens to overwhelm the region?


  • PZO9244 Isles of the Shackles details the vast and untamed island chain known as the Shackles. Throughout these isles, undead cyclopes guard eons-old treasure vaults, lycanthropic pirates maraud the waterways, and cannibalistic natives sacrifice trespassers to their otherworldly god-queen. On the treacherous seas surrounding the Shackles, a bold sailor may even rise to become one of the realm’s infamous Free Captains, second only to the bloodthirsty Hurricane King himself—though the rapacious pirates who raid the archipelago’s ports ensure that only the cunning and swift survive for long.


  • PZO9423 Blood of Fiends presents a look at tieflings, tainted individuals thrust into a world that has learned to both fear and despise them. Whether they openly display their freakish ancestry in settlements known for their tiefling populations or hide such shameful attributes through either mundane or magical methods, all tieflings know that they are different.