STUFFER SHACK

Steal this Steampunk Villain: Doctor Michael Heathcote

shortymonster — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:00:06 +0000

To his patients, he is known as a generous soul. Offering medical care to the rookeries of the east end, and only charging what the patients can afford. This has earned him a stellar reputation, and even the criminals of that vice ridden den leave him alone, never knowing when they might need his help themselves. In the worst parts of London, stabbings are common, and blunt trauma even more so. All this good will comes at a price though, and when a patient dies on the slab, the body rarely goes to its final rest in piece., instead becoming a subject for Heathcote’s current project.

Heathcote has other plans for the flesh you see, and in his spare time he melds it with the latest in Neo-Victoriana technology. His goal: to create the perfect the worker. His years of working with the dregs of humanity has blighted his outlook on his fellow humans, and he now believes that the best course of action is to take those less fortunate and make them a part of the machinery of industry in a way that has never been attempted before. He replaces bone joints with hinges, internal organs with pneumatics, and anything else he can think of that will create a human being that will never need to shut down, as long as they keep taking on fuel. No more sleeping. Maybe even no more death at all.

It has been quite some time since he reached the limits of his experimentations with dead flesh. These days he is more than happy to pronounce dead the victim of a violent crime whose life is better ended before it perpetuates the cycle of violence that brought him before the Doctor’s knife. In his own way, maybe Heathcote thinks he is doing good works. One look into his cellar would probably convince even the most generous of souls that that is far from the case though. The body will still be alive, and used in the most depraved ways that science can muster.

His failures are thrown into plague pits or the dark waters of the midnight Thames. Those he considers a success work with him still, perfecting his craft to create more workers. Although he considers them a success, he has yet to create a being that survives for longer than a month. And even the most long lived of his creations begin to rot before they finally succumb to entropy. Even though he disposes of those that fail him in the end, the smell of corpse flesh still fills the well lit cellar. His man-machines decompose while still breathing, a side effect of the strange chemicals that they must have running through their systems to allow muscle and brass to work together in a mockery of harmony.

How then does this generous man of the people afford to work so industriously at his passion? The medicines that Heathcote hands out are far from cheap, so he needs other ways to supplement his income. When not being a beacon of charity for the down at luck residents of a few city blocks, he works the whore houses. Great at dealing with cases of the clap, and many other things besides, this pays very well indeed. And for the madam who can’t pay, well the good Doctor is happy to take his pay in trade. His work in the less reputable of brothels has brought him into contact with some of London’s finest. Although to maintain that status, they would prefer if their presence at such establishments remained out of the public eye.

By cultivating relationships with such individuals, Heathcote has acquired a small but formidable number of patrons, including some of London’s Fathers of Industry. Most of these gentlemen eagerly await a final product that they will be able to put to work in their many factories, and are already pushing their members of Parliament – in both houses – towards changing labour laws to allow for such vile treatment of their workforce.

Bringing Dr. Heathcote into a game.

Depending on the social level of the game, there are a few options to bring in the despicable Doctor.

He could be attempting to blackmail a friend of the players. A friend who seeks their help in blackening the name of Heathcote so that his word will be worthless should he choose to speak out.
If the PCs are of the criminal classes they could come into contact with the Doctor as he sews closed a wound or two. this could either lead to being hunted by Heathcote after they discover too much about his other activities, or being hired by him to bring in more specimens or even steal large quantities of mechanical supplies.
Local charities trying to achieve a betterment in the lifestyle of the working classes could across his patrons who are fighting to relax the already far from stringent labour laws, and thus discover his connection with industry, and quite what it means to the people whom he operates on.

Steal this Cyberpunk Villain: Blaze

shortymonster — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:00:29 +0000

After a long run of plot seeds, I’m going to be trying something a bit different for a while, and write up some character inspiration for you all. To start with I’m going to rock something from my current genre of choice, Cyberpunk. This one is written with CP2020 in mind, but there are plenty of other cracking settings out there that showcase the future shock just as well.

If you would see Blaze working away, you’d think he was just a bit of a douche. Sat in a high end coffee house, with a light blonde pony tail lank against his back, and thick rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. Under them a thin looking mustache and pitiful goatee. His fingers tapping away on a deck that looks deliberately vintage, for no good reason, while he sips his coffee. Looking closer though, and a few other things start to become obvious. He’s had surgery at some point, and both eyes have been replaced with cybernetic augmentations. Deep scars on his face have been corrected as well as possible, and the piece of crap deck is hooked into a fully functional cyberarm, with strands of living flesh stretched tight over chrome. His clothes seem heavier too, and that’s because they’re all as well armoured as money can buy.

There is definitely more to this Netrunner than meets the eye. Raised in a traveling family, he quickly made a name for himself as a “the computer dude”. And when he got the chance to ditch the wanderers and strike out on his own, he grabbed it. It didn’t take him long to realize that out in the world, there were two types of hackers. Successful and long lived ones, who usually never left their parent’s basement and weighed about the same as a mid size town car, and brave ones who joined a gang and terminally found out that skills with a deck were no match for someone with a gun. he wasn’t going to let that happen.

Instead of putting all of his money into the latest technology and firewalls, he bought biotech adrenal boosters and combat chips. Spent money made from hacking on armour and a hand cannon he couldn’t lift until he got his muscles laced with steel. It held him back in terms of becoming a kick ass Netrunner, but made him friends who were looking for more than a keyboard jockey. It also didn’t take him long to fall in with a bad crowd.

It all started with a job going south, ad the crew he ran with getting blackmailed to do some less than kosher jobs. Blaze saw that he could make a lot money from jobs if he shelved his morals, and just got the job done. This caused more than a hint of friction between himself and the crew, so he did something about it. With a well laid plan detailing how they would take out their blackmailers in place, the crew moved out. What they didn’t expect was that Blaze had tipped the authorities the wink, and with the villainous activities that the crew had performed sent the feds, everyone was taken down in one fell swoop. Blaze was a free agent, and looking forward to working for himself.

Since then he has masterminded more than a few jobs, but freelanced even more, working for the highest bidder and making contacts all over the place. His skill behind a deck or with a plasmatic revolver in hand make him valuable indeed, and he has been instrumental in human rights violations all over the globe, as well as ripping off corporations, governments and charities as well. True, he’s made some enemies, but a call to the right agency can often see them shipped to a penal colony somewhere warm and lacking in Wi-Fi access points.

Bringing Blaze into a game.

There are a few possibilities for this, the simplest being that any team that goes on a run will likely face another team sent against them. Blaze is a great jack of a few trades in this regard and he uses the fact that he doesn’t look like a combat character, or dress like a bad guy, play to his advantage. He will take his time and think about when best to attack, and has no qualms about bringing in others to do the dirty work for him.

There’s also the possibility that he is a mastermind of a job involving the players. Either hiring them on to do something that seems innocuous but casts long and dark shadows, or blackmailing them like he himself was to do something particularly unpleasant. Either way, he should be played like a reasonably charming easy going kind of chap, keeping the truth of his nature hidden for as long as possible. He knows that he can get better results if people think that they’re doing something for the right reasons even if their methods are deplorable.

Dazzler – Marvel Datafile

Brian Liberge — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:31 +0000

Dazzler was originally intended to be a multi-media tie in character. Marvel writes a comic, a studio makes a movie, everyone profits. The movie deal never made it into production and the character got cancelled and reworked five or six times before Marvel finally decided to just go with the character they had spent so much time working on.

I can see why. Dazzler is a surprisingly deep character for early comics. Her mother left when she was young, she was raised to be a lawyer like her Dad, she secretly yearned to be an entertainer even after accidentally blinding an auditorium full of students during a performance, and then she hid her powers from her family. A number of her early stories was about trying to make it as a performer despite the universe seemingly forcing her to be a hero by throwing complication after complication at her.

Her powers allow her to turn any sound except her own unamplified voice into focused light, which she can then manipulate. She uses this to create holograms, hypnotic lights, lasers, blindness and even projects herself through the air. Over the years she has used technology to help her store sonic energy but more current versions hasn’t needed such a device.

You can read his complete history on the Marvel Wiki. Download the Word File or PDF here.

The PDFs of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying are no longer available but you can get the book while supplies last!

Because Cyberpunk is the New Old Revolution…

Chris Stevens — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:11:13 +0000

I am very prejudiced when it comes to backing projects. This is my second Kickstarter investment.

Pilfer this Cyberpunk plot seed – Red Planet Revolution

shortymonster — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:00:25 +0000

I’ve been thinking about Mars quite a lot lately, and not just because of the recent Mars rover images that got mentioned on my podcast. And this is just one idea I’ve had for a game that can be played on the Red Planet.

Rumours of sedition coming from Mars haven’t sparked that much interest to those making their livings on the streets of earth. Even the politicians don’t seem that worried, as long as the mining operations continue as they are doing; true the prices will go up, but given the limited number of options at the moment, it’s better politics to be seen to support the workers and engage in a program of non-involvement when the Corporations come knocking. The Corporations have other plans though.

They understand that stamping down on a democratic process would mean suicide for their businesses, but even a small increase in cost and the bureaucracy involved in putting yet another government in their back pockets would hit their bottom line hard. And that’s where you come in. One of several teams of ‘Runners sent off world to root out the ring leaders of this seditious movement, and remove them. With extreme prejudice if needed.

Mars as it is for the adventure that follows is a world divided; the rich living in towering structures, so large that coming into orbit, with the curvature of Mars still evident, the shining spires of steel and glass that reflect the red dusted ground look like bloody nails driven through from inside the crimson surface of the planet. Huddled around them are the cities that house the miners and service workers, not quite slums, and totally enclosed to maintain a more human tolerable atmosphere. Compared to the lives they could be living on earth, they don’t seem to have it that bad, and it’s not until landing that the massive socioeconomic divide becomes obvious.

The landing port is at the base of the Yoshikuni Mining Corp. tower, and as the company that paid for this little venture, the players have been granted rooms on the lower levels as their base of operations. They have been given Carte Blanche to deal with this little revolution, as long as it does not impede the mining operations in any significant way.

This of course means that the players will have many avenues open to them about how they go about changing the fate of the Mars mining population. A lot of what happens after this set up depends on the type of characters they have created, and the mood of the game they’re wanting to play, but they will almost certainly meet a few key individuals, so we shall concentrate on them.

Carter Blayse The charismatic leader of the People’s Charter political party that looks to end what they consider unfair conditions for the menial workers on the Red Planet. A skilled orator and man of the people, he has risen to prominence recently at various rallies and town hall meetings, whipping the crowd into a barely controlled frenzy. It’s easy to assume that one word from his lips would have all the miners rise up, and bring the shining steel structures toppling down, the inhabitants forever trapped in a very expensive mausoleum.

This is not his goal though, instead he seeks higher political office, and the lifestyle that would afford him. Although an employee of Yoshikuni, he is also on the pay roll of Direct American, a rival mining corporation on a distant part of Mars. What they never expected when they had him start his rabble rousing, was that he would be so damned good at it. His fiery rhetoric soon spread from tower to tower, and the slums around them were infested with it, each working realising that there was a man whose voice spoke for all of them. Blayse has loved this, and while still taking money has been talking about throwing off the capitalist shackles of every mining concern that seeks to enslave the honest working men of yarda-yarda-yarda. With so many workers behind him, and a major election for a several key roles within the Mars Parliament just weeks away, he is ready to capitalise on his support, and when elected, leave the miners to their dust.

Chinatsu Hideyoshi The character’s point of contact on Mars. A well heeled business man with contacts everywhere, who sees this entire thing, and even his posting on this far flung colony to be a colossal waste of time. he will do as little as is humanly possible o help out the characters without angering his own boss, or risking the wrath of the edge runners who look to him for aid. This corner cutting will run to everything, from acquiring the cheapest equipment – the characters will simply not be permitted to bring weapons with them at all – to accommodation and basic meals.

Although he does as little as possible, he is on the character’s side – as long as that stays in the interest of the corporation – and if it looks like something’s about to go horribly wrong that could be blamed on his actions, he will move heaven and Mars to see his name cleared.

Jasper Pendleton An actual miner who really does want what’s best for his fellow workers. And what he thinks that is, is to quietly work well, and hopefully get the treatment they deserve. He has little support since he is at best awkward in social situations, and at worst, hostile and combative when he realises that he has failed to get a point across well or has been argued into a corner. What little support he has though, is powerful. Most of the current Parliamentarians see Blayse as a real challenge to the status quo, and Pendleton as just what is needed to keep things ticking along nicely. If the characters cultivate a relationship with him – in spite of his social defects – he could be a very powerful ally.

So there you have it, a whole planet with a political life of its own to explore. As with all things Cyberpunk though, nothing may be what it seams, so feel free to adapt everything written above to suit the game you want to play.

Pulp! from the Public Damage: Romeo and Juliet Part 2

Brian Liberge — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Act 1, Prologue and Encounter 1

Pulp! the RPG is a new RPG from Beer Star Games. It’s a flexible system, with quick mechanics, big ups and shifting complications. Read the core rules or see the current product line.

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Act 1 starts with a prologue. It’s not very long, so I recommend that the GM reads it to get people in the mood. It sets up both the beginning of the story and the ending, but there’s no reason that your version has to end in tragedy.

Encounter 1: Street Fight

The play starts the same way I like to start my campaigns, with a fight. Servants of the opposing households meet on the street, draw swords, antagonize each other with words and thumb biting, and then go at it.

Hooks: Benvolio is written right into the scene. He shows up and wants to stop the fight. Tybalt also arrives and antagonizes Benvolio to join the battle.

Any of the PCs could enter this scene and either join the battle or try to stop it, as they each have a stake in either the feud or the prince’s laws.

Juliet, however, doesn’t have free reign to explore the city as a female, noble youth. It’s your story however, maybe she’s been sneaking out, possibly disguised as a servant. Best to try to keep her and Romeo from encountering each other properly until later.

Assets and Features: Verona is a well populated italian city. Many scenes take place within its streets and may move as the action escalates. Some features to focus on when Complications or Outstanding Successes arise are Crowded Alleys, Cobblestones, Low Balconies, High Wall, Courtyards, Fountains, Gutters, Canals, Bridges, Carriages, Crowds, and Boats.

Other complications may be adding new characters to the scene, either in the fight or background. Watchmen and house servants are obvious choices. Other interesting characters may be children, Rosaline (coming in a future post), Montague, Capulet or their Ladies. Those last four will enter by the end even without complications, but an early appearance might really change the scene.

Action: Gregory and Sampson of House Capulet and Abraham and Balthasar of House Montague start the fight. They all use the Servant statblock. The participating PCs can then enter, followed by Tybalt who will try to antagonize any Capulet not fighting into entering the fray.

Feel free to break up contests of vigor with rounds of wit. Smarts and Charm are two very useful abilities in battles or words. You might try to get people to back down (target Grit), use ridicule (target Charm), or use their own words against them so they can’t retort (target Smarts).

Servant ([House])
Charm 1; Grit 2; Smarts 1; Vigor 1
Tagline: Quick to Offense
Bond: Honorable Servant of [House]
Assets: Servant’s Clothes, Sword, Bag of Goods/Errands/Tools

Tybalt (Capulet)
Charm 0; Grit 3; Smarts 1; Vigor 3; Luck 2
Edge: Expert Duelist
Tagline: Proud Hot-Head
Bond: Capulet’s First
Assets: Fashionable Noble Attire, Sword, Dagger

Ending the Encounter: It’s important to end the scene before someone important is bleeding out beyond repair. This scene should set the stage for how dangerous the situation really is, and establish the Prince’s authority as a balance to that. The lord and lady of each house enters at the end, with the lady’s reminding their husbands that it is not wise for them to join the fray. Then the Prince enters and puts an end to thing with a word. You know your players, add some Watchmen to the scene to enforce his authority if needed.

Old Capulet (Capulet)
Charm 1; Grit 2; Smarts 1; Vigor 1; Luck 2
Edge: Patriarch
Tagline: Quick Tempered Egotist
Bond: Capulets First
Assets: Noble’s Clothes

Lady Capulet (Capulet)
Charm 1; Grit 3; Smarts 1; Vigor 0
Edge: Vengeful
Tagline: Cool and Controlled
Bond: Dutiful Lady
Assets: Noble Clothes
Old Montague (Montague)
Charm 1; Grit 3; Smarts 1; Vigor 1; Luck 2
Edge: Patriarch
Tagline: Worrisome Leader
Bond: Montagues First
Assets: Noble’s Clothes

Lady Montague (Montague)
Charm 2; Grit 1; Smarts 1; Vigor 0
Tagline: Lover of Peace
Bond: Concerned Matriarch
Assets: Noble’s Clothing

Prince Escalus
Charm 3; Grit 3; Smarts 1; Vigor 2; Luck 4
Edge: My Word is Law
Tagline: A Moment Late and a Copper Short
Bond: Prince of Verona
Assets: Princely Attire, Sword, Royal Signet

Watchman
Charm 0; Grit 2; Smarts 0; Vigor 3
Tagline: Peace Through Force
Bond: The Prince is Law
Assets: Uniform, Breastplate, Longsword

Encounter 1.5: Romeo Whines

The Prince disperses the crowd and tells everyone to go home, and knock it off. Before the scene is over though there’s a little dialogue about Romeo’s situation. Here’s where Encounter differ template than one of Shakespeare’s scenes. We’re going to tack this onto the next scene, and cover it with a later post.

Pilfer this Lovecraftian plot seed: Murder Incorporated.

shortymonster — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:00:37 +0000

Unlike previous posts, that are either stand alone adventures or encounters that can easily be slotted into an existing game, this is the first adventure of a complete campaign. What the rest of the campaign could turn into is up to the GM, but for me I can’t help but add a healthy amount of the occult to this historical plot.

The Summer of ’34 was hot in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn. Jobs were scarce, but money was there or those who were willing to reach out and grab it. After family troubles, closed businesses, and bad luck at the track, you find yourself in a room – one of half a dozen Jewish kids with nothing else to loose – talking to the socially intimidating “Bugsy” Siegel. He’s all smiles and charm, laying it on thick, telling you all everything you want to hear. The work’s easy, and risk free. The cops are in his back pocket, and even the mayor’s office is in on the take.

“Bugsy” Siegel

You can tell he’s a man that’s used to being control of every room he’s ever walked in, and as he starts to detail your involvement, you realise that no one in the room but Bugsy has spoken since he entered. He goes over who you’ll be dealing with, what package they’re expecting, and what package they’re getting. He talks about your cut, and even split six ways, it’s more than a months wage each. Then he opens a leather case, puts on the table in front of him and turns round to face the rest of you. Inside are six short barreled revolvers. “These are for, lets call it, a ‘just in case’ kinda scenario. And if it all goes according to plan, we’ll talk again soon about bringing you into the family”.

And thus begins a group of impressionable young men and women’s journey into the world of organised crime, specifically that of the group known as Murder Incorporated. It starts with a simple drop off that goes wrong. Bugsy knows that’s going to go wrong, and is more than happy with either of two outcomes; his new recruits take down the swindling son of a bitch that’s been skimming from the organisation for months, or his men deal with the new kids giving Bugsy all the reason he needs to publicly take “Lucky” Lobeck out.

Win win for Bugsy.

When other forces get involved though, it’s up to Bugsy – and the players – to make the most of a dangerous situation. Lucky wasn’t just working for the Brooklyn mob, he was also taking payment for getting his hands on all manner of esoteric texts for one his mysterious clients. At least that was the plan. When he repeatedly fails to deliver, the client quickly loses patience and sends in his own ‘boys’ to deal with Lucky once and for all. The group are witness to the shoot-out, but actual involvement should depend on the style of play the group expects or have created characters for. When they see the supernatural nature of the attacks used against Lucky though, they easily figure out that something more than a numbers man skimming off the top is going down.

From here it’s up the players how they choose to proceed, so lets take a look at what’s actually going on, and just what on earth they’re now involved in. It might be worth reminding people at this point, that although Murder Inc. was a real organisation, I am taking an awful lot of historical liberties with what follows.

Bugsy is one of several who helped found Murder Inc., but he is the only one these founders who has any idea of the real world that exists, that most people are blind to. He is part of a society that has for countless centuries done everything they can to stymie the followers of the elder gods who seek to bring about their return to the world of man. That doesn’t mean he is a nice guy. He mixed in with the organised crime scene very easily indeed, and although his end goals are noble indeed, his method is that of a career criminal. He cares very little for lives that will be lost along the way, and makes sure his own pockets are lined as he goes.

He knew all along about Lucky, but needed an excuse to bring him to the attention of the syndicate. Lucky has powerful friends, and ordering a hit over a couple of thousand dollars on someone that connected would have made Bugsy’s life… complicated.

If the players don’t return directly to him with the news, he will seek them out, and do his best to convince them to join him in his crusade. Now that they’ve seen what the cultists are capable of, he will take advantage of their knowledge, and even their naivety. He will tailor his pitch to just what they want to hear. Not only can he can promise them money by the suitcase full if they work with him, but also fame as he has growing connections in California. If they’re true blue heroes he will appeal to that, and the fact that his mission is to safeguard the future of humanity and the world. He is not above subtle threats either, but will keep these as his last shot, threatening first their reputation by mentioning to people the crazy stories they’ve come to him with. If that doesn’t work, their families, and maybe even their lives.

Once they’re in, he’ll make it clear there’s no leaving. And to test their loyalty, the first job is a hit. On whom though?

Future plot threads.

From here, the game can be played like most investigator role playing games using the Cthulhu Mythos, but the organised crime element should add a level of complexity. The group will be carrying out criminal activities including assassinations of mob enemies (both those involved in the world of organised crime, and those who aren’t), and they should be always questioning if what they’re doing is the right thing, or even if they’re using the right methods. Not only will they be facing enemies from within the ranks of the elder gods’ followers, but the police and rival mobsters will be taking an interest in what they get up to.

The 2013 RPG Site of the Year Winner is…

Chris Stevens — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:00:20 +0000

Gnome Stew is the 2013 RPG Site of the Year Winner!
___________________________________________________________________________

Gnome Stew is a powerhouse of a gaming blog, and their win is well-deserved. Congratulations! You win the prizes (below), the SOTY Shield, and the title of 2013 RPG Site of the Year!

Some words on the finalists, in no particular order…

On Gnome Stew: “Gnome Stew has a good layout that’s easy to view and use. It has interesting articles right off the bat, you don’t have to hunt around for anything, and and it’s all relevant to running a game. It simply feels like a useful gaming site should.“ -C. R. Nelson (plus, I really like the name!)

On G*M*S Magazine: “I don’t always agree with the reviews on this site, but they always show that the reviewer read, understood and thought about the product before reviewing. It should be the norm in the world of reviews. Consistency and ease of navigation makes this a diamond among other exceptionally shiny gems.” -Brian Liberge

On Age of Ravens: “A varied and well-written site with lengthy and insightful content. The author devotes a lot of effort to craft well-researched and interesting posts. Providing you like the topic of a particular post, this blog will deliver the goods. If you don’t like a given post, just wait a few days and another post will appear. Given the wide range of content, you’re unlikely to wait long before something of interest is available.” -Adam Bragg

On Kobold Press: “The first thing I see when I click on Kobold Press is a clean and appealing layout. After that, a steady stream of interesting articles just keeps flowing, the kind that grab and hold my attention. Reading what the mighty kobolds put out is like going on internet vacation – it’s just where I like to go to read good content.” -Chris Stevens

On Nearly Enough Dice: “I’m never sure how to rate a podcast. Luckily, Nearly Enough Dice does a lot more than just podcasts. The episodes I saw were good, but I also enjoyed the coverage (and the breadth of the hobby) that they gave with their updates.” -Anthony Laffan

___________________________________________________________________________

The RPG Site of the Year contest was created with three goals in mind:

To bring to light some interesting blogs that readers may not have seen before,
To provide a fun event that readers and bloggers can take part in,
And to award that one gaming blog for a job very well done.

I think we have hit all three marks again, and I have to say that it’s been a blast.

Please take a moment to visit the fantastic sponsors of this year’s SOTY contest, and then check out the prizes below. Gnome Stew wins the lot, but all of the finalists receive PDFs of Strands of Fate and Strands of Power!

___________________________________________________________________________

From VOIDSTAR, a hardcover and PDF of NOVA PRAXIS, and PDFs of STRANDS OF FATE and STRANDS OF POWER. Also, all of the finalists will receive PDFs of both Strands books!

DriveThruRPG has provided a $50 Gift Certificate.

STUFFER SHACK is providing our Deluxe Adventurer’s Bundle.

: Mini Counters 1-20

: 10 Bloodied Markers

: All 12 Horse Minis

Dice Tower from Roving Band of Misfits

Gamma World Deck of Many Things from Roving Band of Misfits

Beer Star Games is providing Pulp! Fantasy: Estia the Isle of Giants

Beer Star Games is also providing the new Estia Card Deck

And several awesome goodies from Alea Tools.

Please take a few moments to look over the blogs that have participated this year. They may not have won the title, but they each have special topics and RPG content readily available… and you may just find YOUR favorite RPG blog among them…

Introduction / FAQ
Prizes
Submissions
Schedule
Rules
Judges

The 2012 SOTY Award
The 2011 SOTY Award

Pulp! from the Public Domain – Romeo and Juliet, Part 1

Brian Liberge — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:17 +0000

Pulp! the RPG is a new RPG from Beer Star Games. It’s a flexible system, with quick mechanics, big ups and shifting complications. Read the core rules or see the current product line.

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous plays in the history of mankind. I’m not going to take your time to explain the story, as chances are you’re at least vaguely familiar with it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about here’s the wikipedia page.

The point is that it’s a great story with intrigue, combat and even romance. Plus, it’s public domain. Let’s steal it for your next Pulp! one-shot. Let’s pull a few character’s for decent Player Characters.

[Editor's note: I had a hard time getting into Romeo and Juliet in high school. However, by the end of this post, I most certainly would love the challenge of playing though a game of it.]

Romeo (Montague)
Charm 2; Grit 3; Smarts 2; Vigor 2; Luck 2
Edge: Tongue of a Poet
Tagline: Reckless with Emotion
Bond: Son of Montague
Assets: Sword, Dagger, Coinpurse, Noble’s Outfit

Notes: Romeo is actually a pretty well-rounded character ability-wise. He’s a smooth talker, he’s brave, he knows how to fight and he’s even got a bit of luck. Smarts might seem like a tough choice but remember that he’s well-read and very witty. Any decisions judged as poor by the audience are probably tied to his deep and fluctuating emotions.

Juliet (Capulet)
Charm 2; Grit 4; Smarts 3; Vigor 0; Luck 2
Edge: Critical Mind
Tagline: Spirited Youth
Bond: Dutiful Daughter
Assets: Noble’s Outfit, Hankerchief, Handmirror, Knife

Notes: Juliet may start the show a little naive of the outside world, at least in certain areas, but that doesn’t mean she’s dumb. She’s able to think carefully and separate reason from her emotions in ways her elders often cannot. Her strongest asset is her will though, and if you don’t think that girl has at least a 4 in Grit then we’re not friends anymore.

Friar Lawrence
Charm 3; Grit 2; Smarts 4; Vigor 1; Luck 1
Edge: Herbalist
Tagline: Wise Schemer
Bond: Community Cleric
Assets: Basket, Knife, Herbs, Friar Robes, Spade, Lantern

Notes: Friar Lawrence doesn’t appear until later in the play, compared to other characters, but that doesn’t have to be the case. He’s one of the few (if not the sole) religious figures in town with established relationships with most of the characters, so it would make sense for him to be called on for advice or have an official reason to be around.

Mercutio
Charm 4; Grit 2; Smarts 3; Vigor 1; Luck 1
Edge: Humor’s Knife
Tagline: Honorable Cynic
Bond: Kinsman to the Prince
Assets: Noble’s Outfit (out of fashion), Flask, Scarf, Sword

Notes: Mercutio is very clever, in fact he’s probably the most gifted word crafter in the whole show. However, he is also a bit more bitter and certainly isn’t romantic, so that wit is rarely put to use making life better for people. He’s a devoted friend to Romeo but kinsman to the prince, so he doesn’t get called on as a proper confidant in Shakespeare’s version. Your version may see a different choice.

The Nurse (Capulet)
Charm 2; Grit 2; Smarts 2; Vigor 0; Luck 5
Edge: Earthy Realism
Tagline: Vulgar Messenger
Bond: Juliet’s Dutiful Confidant
Assets: Simple Clothes, Fan

Notes: The Nurse is the world’s worst spy. She serves the dual role of Juliet’s affectionate mother and the young girl’s link to the outside world. She’s loud, bawdy, old and long-winded, and so of course serves as the go-between for the lover’s clandestine plans. She loves Juliet but in the end is a creature of society, and doesn’t understand why one would sacrifice themselves for love.

Benvolio (Montague)
Charm 2; Grit 2; Smarts 1; Vigor 2; Luck 4
Edge: Private Temper
Tagline: Thoughtful Peacemaker
Bond: Romeo’s Loyal Cousin
Assets: Sword, Noble’s Outfit

Notes: Benvolio is probably the toughest character to make a PC, because we don’t learn too much about who he is by the play’s end compared to the others. This is an excellent opportunity to make the character your own in play. As a Montague who is both loyal to Romeo and desires peace, he’s a natural addition to their little conspiracy.

Next time we’ll dive into the action with Act 1, and introduce some key NPCs.

Announcing the Finalists for the 2013 RPG SOTY…

Chris Stevens — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:13:12 +0000

The RPG Site of the Year contest and award was thought up and implemented with three goals in mind:

To provide a fun event that readers and bloggers can take part in,
To bring to light some interesting blogs that readers may not have seen before,
And to award that one gaming blog for a job very well done.

Well, I think we’ve accomplished the first two goals, so all that remains is for the 2013 RPG SOTY judges to look over the finalists to determine the winner!

This year we have fewer entries, so we had only four heats. In three of the four heats we had clear winners, but in one of them we had a tie. So, we still five finalists!

Listed in order of their competition days, the five finalists for the 2013 RPG SOTY are:

Age of Ravens
GMS Magazine
Kobold Press
Nearly Enough Dice
Gnome Stew

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest! The finalists will be judged over the course of the next week, and the winner will be posted on Monday, April 29th. Until then, please take a moment to visit the contest’s sponsors!

Pizes…