This week in tabletop RPG news: Mork Borg Omen Sacrifice Deck, Solo Game Master’s Guide, Walking Dead TTRPG, Star Trek Adventures, Call of Cthulhu, and a new game from Tim Hutchings.
Mörk Borg Omen Sacrifice Deck
Exalted Funeral announced an interesting new expansion for Mörk Borg this week. Portents of the Degloved Hand is an “omen sacrifice deck” that comes with coffin shaped cards, custom sleeves, a coffin shaped box, and custom d4 4-sided dice. The kickstarter for this product launches in April.
From the publisher: We have partnered with Raven Portents to bring you Portents of the Degloved Hand, an Omen Sacrifice Deck compatible with MÖRK BORG. This deck allows players to give up a character’s omen at the beginning of a playing session and exchange it for a “reading” that gives the character a portent. Exchanging an omen for a portent is a simple and quick two-step process that involves rolling a 4-sided die and drawing a random card from a deck determined by the die roll. What You Will Get: Coffin shaped cards, custom sleeves with ribbons to separate each of the four suits, coffin shaped deck box, custom D4 to choose your suit …and more!
A Collection of Improving Exercises
We’re always excited to see what Tim Hutchings is up to and his latest release looks pretty interesting. A Collection of Improving Exercises is a journaling solo RPG that teaches you how to create perspective drawings through a series of prompts. The book is disguised as a drawing manual from 1924. Hutchings considers this release to be “a logical step after Thousand Year Old Vampire.”
From the publisher: Also titled “A Continued Introduction to Perspective Drawing Techniques Suitable for Intertidal Scapes and Still Lives; the Workbook, Volume II in a Series” by Tim Hutchings, dated 1924. The interior is printed in black and red ink. The handsome end pages are a red pattern with white dots. The book has ostentatious gilt page edges. The blue cloth hardcover has handsome designs in silver and gold foil on front, back, and spine.
Read more at Tim Hutchings’ website
Walking Dead Tabletop RPG
Free League Publishing has announced the launch of a Walking Dead tabletop role playing game. The game’s Kickstarter page is now live and has surpassed funding for this popular IP. This looks like a fun (and horrific) adventure to jump into.
From the publisher: In The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game, you will play as people struggling to survive in a hostile world. Exceptional challenges can appear from anywhere – from the lack of essential supplies, from conflicts brewing within the group, from hidden construction flaws in your safe haven, or from approaching walkers hungering for your flesh. Pushing the boundaries of the survival genre, every group can tailor the gaming experience to suit their own interests and play style.
In the game, the player characters must not only hone their physical skills, but deeply explore who they truly are – what drives them to go on, what they consider worth fighting for, and what they’re capable of doing, in the best and worst of times. There are two ways to play the game – Campaign Mode and Survival Mode. In Campaign Mode, it is your goals and choices, and the result of your group efforts, that create the storyline. In Survival Mode, you are faced with a dangerous situation that needs to be handled immediately. Survival Mode scenarios often feature locations and characters from the TV series.
Read more on the game’s Kickstarter page
Solo Game Master’s Guide
We love solo gaming and especially solo RPG games. Which means we love to find new tools and techniques for driving independent narrative play. The new Solo Game Master’s Guide from Geek Gamers YouTube channel and Modiphius looks like a wonderful tool for campaigns when you feel like a night in with a good adventure.
From the publisher: Create immersive solo RPG experiences with this dedicated guide from the acclaimed host of the Geek Gamers YouTube channel. This long-awaited solo GM guide is a crash course in solo storytelling: a toolkit to help your solo sessions shine as brightly as hers do. Inside this 180-page full-colour royal-sized (15.6cm x 23.4cm) softcover book, you’ll discover:
- System-neutral tricks for wondering “what happens next?”
- How to avoid the dreaded ‘yes/no’ dead end (and making oracles work for you)
- The biggest mistake most new GMs make… and what to do instead
- The 10 mindsets of a successful solo GM
- 70+ pages of essential random tables
Read more about the Solo Game Master’s Guide at Modiphius
Star Trek Adventures – Eight Layers Deep
New Star Trek Adventures modules are being released all the time. PDF versions of these campaigns are affordable and easier to collect and view. One such adventure is Eight Layers Deep, which is now available at Modiphius.
From the publisher: A routine inspection of a Starfleet research project leads to ethical dilemmas for the ship’s crew. In order to save lives, difficult decisions need to be made, and your crew may need to test the limits of the Prime Directive. Starfleet has given your crew instructions to resupply the U.S.S. Colotario and to prepare a progress report on the Colotario’s ongoing research. The discovery of troubling anomalies leads to closer scrutiny of the research project and its scientists.
The situation is further complicated by first contact with a new species and their desperate plea for help. The crew must identify if (and how) they can help, and use their own scientific knowledge and, perhaps, the technology of the U.S.S. Colotario’s research project to travel where no Starfleet officer has gone before! This 20-page PDF adventure for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game is written by Michael Dismuke, and is set in the Enterprise era with the player characters being the crew of a Starfleet vessel. This adventure also contains advice on adaptation for use in campaigns based in other Star Trek eras.
Star Trek Miniatures STL Files
While you are preparing your next game of Eight Layers Deep, you can print some new STL files of the Away Team Set featuring Andorian, Denobulan, Human, Tellarite, and Vulcan figures.
From the publisher: This 3D print product lets you print 10 highly detailed, 32mm scale multipart miniatures of Starfleet officers of The Next Generation era. This set includes one male officer and one female officer of the Andorian, Denobulan, Tellarite, and Vulcan species, as well as two Human (or humanoid) miniatures. Each of which are also available separately. Files have been pre-hollowed where possible, and all files include supported versions for easier printing. Miniatures are multipart, some assembly is required.
Grab the Star Trek Adventures STL files at Modiphius
Call of Cthulhu – Nameless Horrors on Roll20
The latest Chaosium adventure for 7e, Nameless Horrors, is now available on Roll20. This collection features six adventures that you can buy together or separately. Cahosium says “The denizens of Nameless Horrors are unlike anything you’ve encountered before. Each is truly of the Cthulhu Mythos, but they come from realms unknown, and will keep even the most seasoned investigators on their toes.” Campaigns include:
- An Amaranthine Desire: Investigate a Dunwich mystery in Suffolk, England, 1895.
- A Message of Art – Uncover the secrets of a artistic cabal in Paris, 1892
- And Some Fell on Stony Ground – Survive the horror strange experiments in small-town America, 1920s
- Bleak Prospect – Survive the machinations of faceless men in Crawley, MA, 1932
- The Moonchild – Face down the diabolic Moonchild in Milton Keynes, UK, modern-day
- The Space Between – Find a missing leading lady for the Church of Sunyata’s newest film in Los Angeles, USA, now
Call of Cthulhu is one of our favorite TTRPGs which you can read about in Creative Game Life’s recent game profile.
Nameless Horrors is available at Roll20 and Chaosium
Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine
This week Chaosium announced the release of Basic Roleplaying: The Universal Game Engine as a PDF in April. Hardcover version will follow later this year. This is an update to the system which brings Basic Roleplaying into an Open RPG Creative License which allows creators to develop their own game using Basic Roleplaying. This game system is the basis of most Chaosium games, including Call of Cthulhu.
“Chaosium was one of the first game companies to sign on to the Open RPG Creative License initiative being spearheaded by our friends at Paizo,” said Chaosium COO Neil Robinson. “We’re pleased to have our core rules system released under the ORC as an example of an open RPG license that anyone can use.”
Pathfinder Play Weekends
Paizo and StartPlaying have joined forces to created a monthly event where players can join pro game masters to play Pathfinder games. Pathfinder Play Weekends kick off on March 23rd. “The StartPlaying professional Game Masters are ready to get you started and keep you playing every month at Pathfinder Play Weekends,” says Aaron Shanks, director of marketing at Paizo. Read more about this event at Paizo.
