By Christopher Pye at
2009-06-10 – 0:55:17
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I just saw this over at Purple Pawn and had to relay to you, the Emperor’s servants, the good news. Friendly local game stores participating in Free RPG Day (that’s June 20, 2009) will receive Forsaken Bounty, a free adventure from the successor to Dark Heresy. The official scoop from Fantasy Flight Games is as follows:
Forsaken Bounty is a full-colour, 24-page booklet that includes a selection of pre-generated Rogue Trader characters, a simplified quick-start rules set, and an adventure that sends your characters on a dangerous journey into the Koronus Expanse!
Sorry for making such a relatively thin post, but all you Warhammer and Dark Heresy fans should be well informed about this one. I’ll see you there!
By Christopher Pye at
2009-06-10 – 0:39:23
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So I was walking through a bookstore last week and saw the Monster Manual 2. I knew there wasn’t a whole lot to see (it’s a monster manual, and therefore remarkably similar to the first one), but I still wanted to get a look at the new player races, if any could be found at all. I was a little disappointed to find only three, but one of the three pleased me greatly. Can you guess which one?
- Duergar. HELL YEAH. The dark dwarves are back, and they all seem to have inherited the old Durzagon ability to fire venomous quills from their beards. Simply awesome.
- Kenku. This popular old-school munchkin race is back with bonuses to DEX and CHA. Your munchkins are delighted, I’m sure.
- Bullywug. What’s a Bullywug? Oh! It’s a tough frog-person. D&D now has an option for players looking to fulfil some sort of Battletoads fantasy.
I looked through some of the earlier bits of the book and ran across Dagon. Can’t recall if I noticed anything about including Deep Ones in an encounter, but I’m certain that DMs who desire to do so will have no problem working it in themselves. Most delightful is his teleport move speed and his ability to pull players closer for savage nastiness.
I’ll close this quickie with a few links to others that have written more extensively about the Monster Manual 2:
– Monster Mash 2 @ The Spirits of Eden
– Harsh words about the new incarnation of the Rust Monster @ Geek Related
— this comment by Apotheon on that topic… it’s so spot-on it hurts.
– A considerably more positive look at the new Rust Monster @ Points of Light
- A little humor from Geek’s Dream Girl
By Christopher Pye at
2009-06-9 – 15:44:30
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So, there’s this “netbook” craze that’s been picking up steam for the past two years or so. Initially, the only offerings ran Linux, as it required less powerful hardware and cost the OEM absolutely nothing. It didn’t take long for more powerful hardware to start creeping in to these little machines, and Microsoft responded by selling Windows XP to the OEMs for $15 a license (cost to me and you: roughly $40 – more than reasonable, in my opinion). With their foot securely within the door of the netbook sector, you’d think they’d be content to leave it at that and “compete” honestly, right? Guess again!
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Posted in ARM, Linux, NVIDIA, Tegra, Windows, X86
Tagged ARM, Laptops, Linux, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Technology, Tegra, Windows, X86
By Christopher Pye at
2009-06-5 – 17:47:41
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The Inquisitor’s Handbook was the first splatbook released for Dark Heresy. It was also the last book published by Black Industries before they closed up shop. The resulting book is one that is full of welcome additions to Dark Heresy, as well as many things that the game would probably be better off without. I’ll be taking the errata into consideration for this review.
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By Christopher Pye at
2009-05-20 – 22:37:04
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Ronin is a new d20 OGL game published by Highmoon Media Productions. The product description at RPGnow looks something like this:
Ronin brings you to Japan during the Edo Period, characterized by the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868). This is the height of samurai culture, when feudal lords commanded fearsome warriors and ruled vast lands, when the mysticism of the past clashed blades with the coming of the modern age. Will you be a samurai beholden to a master or a free-ranging ronin? Will you follow the way of the sword or call upon the arcane spirits? Will you explore high society or delve into the commoner’s world? A world on the edge of turmoil awaits you.
Ronin gives players and Game Masters will find invaluable information to bring the rich historical era of the Edo Period to their games, including:
- An introduction to Tokugawa Japan, covering topics such as geography, culture, daily life, nobility, commoners, outsiders and outcasts, magic and mysticism.
- A primer on samurai culture.
- New Rules systems, such as the all-important Honor, as well as Flaws.
- New Basic Classes, such as the courtier, shudoshi (Zen seekers), and vagabond.
- New Prestige Classes, such as the blade saint, blind swordman, hedge witch, medium, merchant, and shinobi.
- New Feats, 16 in total.
- New Magic, including 12 new spells.
- A Bestiary of menaces from the natural, magical and ghostly realms.
My review copy is a watermarked PDF that weighs in at around 10MB and 139 pages. The cover image is simple, but I like it. I opted to review this product because of a mailing list post that billed the game as “Roleplaying in Tokugawa Japan.” Now my friends will testify of my distaste for Japanophilia, but I’ll give an honest look at any RPG that aims for a low/no-magic historical feel. You might want to grab a snack and a drink and before reading on, this review is a long one.
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