GameStation Aquires Dice Maker GameScience

GameStation, the “largest online dice store,” has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Lou Zocchi’s pioneering GameScience dice manufacturing operation. In 1974 Colonel Lou Zocchi became the first American manufacturer of polyhedral dice. The company he founded, GameScience, produced the dice that were included with the original D&D games. Zocchi has been a tireless promoter of his dice and of adventure gaming in general at conventions, and starting at next month’s GAMA Trade show where he will appear at the GameStation booth (#1002), Zocchi will continue to do so in the future under the auspices of GameStation.

GameStation, which was founded in 2001 in Leitchfield, Kentucky, has gone from humble beginnings to the world’s largest online dice store. In the fall of 2008 GameStation became the exclusive purveyor of GameScience dice, and earlier this month GameStation took over sole ownership and operation of GameScience. GameStation is currently selling GameScience dice to direct retail accounts and through Alliance Game Distributors. GameStation plans to add other distributors in the future.

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Review: Savage Worlds RPG by Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition is a pen & paper roleplaying system developed by the guys over at Great White Games – Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

Savage Worlds, from the very first page, is designed to be easy to run, easy to play, and easy to enjoy. It takes most of the bookkeeping out of the mix and allows the game master and his or her group to be creative without bogging them down in too much detail. However, if detail is what you like in your game, it’s in there as well. It’s very scalable.

A brief overview of Savage Worlds’ game mechanics:
Character attributes are represented by a die type. For example, strength would be a d8, so that if you needed to perform a function using your strength, you roll a d8 and check the result. Skills are also represented by a die type and are linked to an attribute.

There are no hit points to speak of; characters have wound levels so that if you are hit and take damage, that number is checked against your vigor and any modifiers that apply to see if you receive a wound. This makes combat move extremely quick and there is little or no down time for waiting players during a battle.

Along with skills, players have edges and hindrances which are physical or mental traits which balance out the character and give it a beginning personality.

Character creation is easy, with enough choices to make it interesting but not too much to make it confusing. The emphasis is on playability, pure and simple.

The explorer’s edition gives rules and stats for running a game in just about any genre imaginable. After reading through the material once, I took my son through a practice scenario with him battling a few villains with guns and swords. Our short session went really well and I was running the combats without thumbing through the book during every encounter.

Initiative is done with a deck of standard playing cards with the Jokers left in as “Wild Cards”. Starting with the Ace down to the Deuce, action is resolved in order. The Jokers act as Wild Cards, allowing that player to go whenever they want during the round. Jokers also give some bonuses to rolls as well.

Also included in the mechanics of the game are something called “Bennies”. Bennies are handed out at the beginning of a game session and can be used to re-roll an attribute or skill test, and can also be used to soak up some damage in case a character takes a hard hit during combat. Bennies are also given out to the characters during a session for creative roleplaying, overcoming major obstacles, or even just entertaining the game group with a memorable moment during play.

There are many world settings for Savage Worlds that are already commercially available and more are being created all the time.

The Savage World Of Solomon Kane:
The Savage World of Solomon Kane is a roleplaying game based upon the incredible works of Robert E. Howard, author of Conan the Barbarian®, Kull the Conqueror®, and countless other great heroes and heroines.

Inside this lavishly-illustrated 352 page book are the complete and award-winning Savage Worlds rules customized for Kane’s world, as well as all-new setting and magic rules to capture the spirit of Howard’s dark tales.

Game Masters will also find terrible creatures and merciless foes drawn from Kane’s own travels—and beyond—as well as dozens of Savage Tales and a ready-to-run Plot Point™ Campaign.

Rippers:
Jack the Ripper has the Victorian world on its knees and it’s up to you to fight back. You are the Rippers, once Jack was your ally, now he is your mortal enemy. And he’s not alone!

Rippers is a complete setting for Savage Worlds featuring a full plot point campaign that pits the heroes against the fearsome creatures of the evil Cabal.

Inside this setting you will also find rules on creating Rippers, the brave monster hunters who face the growing evil, new Edges and Hindrances, a huge bestiary of hellish adversaries, and details of the Rippers’ most controversial weapon—Rippertech!

Necessary Evil:
When all the super heroes of the world are blown to kingdom come by an army of invading aliens who will save the day? Evil… The only forces left to take on the alien menace are the crafty and self serving super villains!

Necessary Evil is a supers game for Savage Worlds. Inside this twisted Plot Point setting you will find complete rules on making four-color super powered characters, a whole slew of adventures weaving in and out of a resistance story, new Edges and Hindrances, a bestiary of out of this world critters, and more!

This 144 page full color book has everything you need to start leaping buildings and zapping your foes right away!

Deadlands Reloaded:
Pinnacle’s flagship product is Deadlands, a horrific journey into the “Weird West”. Mysterious beings called the Reckoners have given life to monsters and magic, causing history to divert from July 4th, 1863 forward. The South has won its independence, California has shattered into a labyrinth of flooded sea-canyons, and a mysterious super-fuel called “ghost rock” has spawned as much war and strife as it has “steampunk” devices.

Players are steely-eyed gunfighters, card-slinging sorcerers called hucksters, mysterious shamans, savage braves, mad scientists, and more who battle against evil and attempt to prevent the “Reckoning”.

Sundered Skies:
A shattered world. A thousand floating islands. A constant glow of madness. Sundered Skies begins where every other world ends.

The people of the Skies survive, tested by an unimaginable apocalypse, struggling daily against ravenous beasts, sky pirates, and the effects of the inescapable voidglow! But the fate of the Skies is in danger! The magic of the glow is not the only taint in this unforgiving realm. Dark forces conspire to bring the Skies to the brink of an even greater catastrophe.

Can you survive long enough to discover the secrets of Sundered Skies? Sundered Skies is a dark fantasy Plot Point™ setting for the award-winning Savage Worlds RPG™

Daring Tales of Adventure by Triple Ace Games:
Daring Tales of Adventure are Triple Ace Games’ new line of pulp adventures. Set against a pre-World War II background of two-fisted, heroic action, each issue contains a complete adventure. To begin your pulp campaign you just need to buy an adventure, download the sheets, and start rolling dice! By the time the heroes reach the end of this line, you’ll have played through over 450 pages of pulp action!

Those are just a few of what’s available on the market for Savage Worlds. There is also a huge online community of popular conversions from other systems over to the Savage Worlds system and many of them can be found at the Savage Heroes website.

I have about 30 years of roleplaying experience having started during the summer of 1978. The Savage Worlds system is just about the best roleplaying system I’ve come across in all those years. It allows everyone at the table to concentrate on the gaming experience without worrying about which chart to look at or if they remembered to bring their calculator to role up a new character.

I highly recommend Savage Worlds to anybody that wants to experience roleplaying that not only plays well, but is full of “Fast, Furious, Fun!!”

Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition 2nd Printing
Soft Cover – 160 pages
9X7 format
$9.99 retail – as of this writing
2008 Edition – Great White Games, LLC

New Pulp Adventure For Savage Worlds From Triple Ace Games

From their site: Pulp is back here at Triple Ace Games as we continue are epic two-fisted adventures with Island of Terror. Written by, who else no other than Wiggy! This cool adventure for Savage Worlds takes your heroes to a lost world in which crazed savages and terrifying dinosaurs are out to get them!

Daring Tales of Adventure #09: Island of Terror

Crazed Savages & Terrifying Dinosaurs… Welcome to the Island of Terror!

When a scientific mission to a previously unexplored island off the South American coast goes missing, it is up to the brave and fearless heroes to come to the rescue! But all does not go well, for the rescuers soon become stranded on the mysterious, jungle-swathed island. Exploration brings the heroes into contact with degenerate tribesmen, ferocious beasts from a bygone age, deadly traps, and vile Nazis plague our heroes every step of the way.

Can the heroes discover what happened to the lost expedition? Will they end up as dinner for the local inhabitants? Are they capable of decoding ancient hieroglyphs in order to avoid a terrible fate? Can they thwart the Nazis’ dastardly plan?

Find out in this action-packed pulp adventure from Triple Ace Games!

This adventure is part one of a two part story. You will require Daring Tales of Adventure #10: Kingdom of the Blood Gods to run the complete adventure. Kingdom of the Blood Gods picks up the action exactly where this issue ends! Read more

Video Review – Ghosts of Albion RPG by Eden Studios

This is part four of our posts on Kurt Wiegel’s reviews of Eden Studios’ Cinematic Unisystem titles.  This time: Ghosts of Albion.

Set in London at the dawn of the Victorian age, players join in the fight to keep the ever-present forces of evil at bay. Whether fighting a demon prince or even a band of infant stealing faeries, the battle wages on. Characters can join the fight as normal humans, ghosts, mysterious faeries or even wield the magic of the Protectors themselves. All against a backdrop of Victorian England with a dark supernatural undercurrent.

Based on Amber Benson and Christopher Golden’s wildly popular BBCi drama “Ghosts of Albion” and includes new material from the creators themselves, featuring new fiction and a complete, ready to run adventure.

The “Ghosts of Albion RPG” features the Eden “Cinematic Unisystem” game system, designed by award winning game designer C.J. Carella, and written by Timothy S. Brannan (previous work includes the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG”).

“Ghosts’” Other features include:

• New rules designed to fit the grittier Victorian age, but still compatible with other Cinematic Unisystem games from Eden.

• Rules for playing everything from a street-side flower salesgirl to ancient ghosts, and inhuman faeries all united for the cause of Humanity and Albion.

• Expanded rules on playing Faerie, Ghost and Vampire characters.

• Full character write-ups for William and Tamara Swift, their ghostly cohorts and the various vampires, ferals, ethereals and demons that stalk the night.

• Expanded magical rules for magical combat and battles.

You can purchase the Ghosts of Albion RPG Corebook HERE Read more

Triple Ace Games’ Pulp Adventures For The Savage Worlds RPG

These adventures are set for the Savage Worlds gaming system found here.

Daring Tales of Adventure are Triple Ace Games’ new line of pulp adventures. Set against a pre-World War II background of two-fisted, heroic action, each issue contains a complete adventure.

You’ll find four pre-generated characters available for free here. Each hero has his or her advancements from Seasoned (20 XP) to Legendary (100 XP) already mapped out. Completing a Daring Tale of Adventure increases the Experience Points of the characters by 5 XPs, meaning you can run the adventures in the order they’re released with a guarantee of new abilities for the characters each time you start a new issue. All you need do is tick the appropriate advancement box at the start of a new Daring Tale!
The pre-gens are perfect for pick up games, demo games, and convention play as well.

To begin your pulp campaign you just need to buy an adventure, download the sheets, and start rolling dice! By the time the heroes reach the end of this line, you’ll have played through over 450 pages of pulp action!

Here are the current adventures available:

To End All Wars and Chaos on Crete (double issue)

Web of the Spider Cult

Treasure of the Templars

The Talons of Lo-Peng

Sky Pirates of the Caribbean

The Palladium Peril

The Twelfth Gate

Terror of the Z-Bomb

Here is A PDF preview of DTA #1: To End All Wars and Chaos on Crete

Visit Triple Ace Games to see their catalog of Pulp Adventures for the Savage Worlds System

Note: I am not affiliated with Triple Ace Games in any way.  I am trying to spread the word about their adventures for the Savage Worlds RPG game system and Savage Worlds itself.  I think that Savage Worlds is a far superior RPG system than most out there.

Video Review – Army Of Darkness RPG – Eden Studios

Part three of our posts on Eden Studios’ Cinematic Unisystem titles is here with Army Of Darkness. Kurt Wiegel’s reviews on role playing games leaves you with a really good idea about the game itself, the basic mechanics, fun factor, setting, and a host of other details.

Here is some information about the Army Of Darkness RPG:

• An introduction to roleplaying and the Army of Darkness story.
  A guide to character creation, including ready-to-play champions and companions, as well as specs on the Army of Darkness Cast, for your quick-play pleasure.
  The Army of Darkness Unisystem, streamlined for cinematic action and adventure.
  Guidelines for bringing the little people together, training them, and pitting them against the forces of evil.
  Blow-by-blow instructions for creating Army of Darkness roleplaying game sessions.
  A rundown on the Army of Darkness setting, places, people, events, including details on evil clones, demons, undead, and other critters.
  Fleshed-out new setting suggestions, taking your Army of Darkness game in freshly gruesome directions.
  A complete adventure to get the horror and hilarity under way right away.

Enjoy the review! Read more

Paizo Publishing & Monte Cook Release New 3.5 Hardcover

Press Release:

In cooperation with Malhavoc Press, Paizo Publishing will release Monte Cook’s Collected Book of Experimental Might, a compilation of alternative rules for the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. The 143-page hardcover book releases January 28, 2009, and retails for $29.99. Reports from retailers and distributors suggest that a strong, loyal audience remains for the 3.5 edition, and this new release brings together two of the most popular forces in 3.5 publishing.

“I couldn’t be happier working with Paizo on this,” said Monte Cook. “I think fans of 3rd edition, 3.5, and Pathfinder are going to find something in this book that will enhance or invigorate their campaign, and Paizo Publishing is just the company to get it out there and do it right.”

The new hardcover will include:

• A spell progression system redefining spell levels from 1 to 20
• New rules for fighting domains: areas of specialization like Two-Weapon Fighting, Mounted Combat, and Fighting Dirty, as well as techniques based on agility, speed, strength, and intellect—the 15 domains provide new abilities to fighter types willing to devote themselves to a focused path
• A retooling of the feat system, with three new concepts—double feats, oblation feats, and uberfeats—and dozens of new choices
• Special benefits for choosing a feat as a fighter bonus feat, reinstating the fighter class as the king of feats
• New rules for healing and curative magic
• Powerful magical disciplines that allow wizards, clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers to have magic always active
• The runeblade, a base class that combines magic and martial skill without the need for spells
• Additional skills, feats, and combat rules
• Dozens of spells and magic items

ABOUT MONTE COOK
Monte Cook has worked professionally in the game industry since 1988 for companies including Iron Crown Enterprises, TSR Inc., and Wizards of the Coast. He is a codesigner of Dungeons & Dragons® 3rd Edition and author of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. He has designed dozens of popular roleplaying books through his own company Malhavoc Press and also has authored miniatures games, novels, comic books, and short stories. Read more

Video Review – Angel RPG by Eden Studios

This is part two of our posts on Eden Studios‘ line of Cinematic Unisystem titles. This time around it’s all about Angel, the RPG, the Core Rulebook.

Bright eyes, beautiful people, and broken promises fill the fabulous parties and elegant conference rooms. Loneliness, despair, and hunger haunt the city streets and tenement apartments. In Los Angeles, the facade makes the heartache all the more bitter.

Worse still, the shadows hide more than human misery. Vampires stalk alleys and boardrooms; demons linger over murders and plan conquest; evil lawyers cover tracks, set up schemes, and bring expensive brainpower to the diabolical. Over it all, the end of existence looms.

Inside this gorgeous tome, we’ll show you how. Here, you will find:

• An introduction to roleplaying and the Angelverse
• A guide to character creation, including pre-constructed Heroes and White Hats, as well as the entire Angel Investigations Cast, for your quick-play pleasure
• The Angel Unisystem, streamlined for cinematic action and adventure
• A primer on not-so-normal abilities, from magic and psychic arts to demon and supernatural powers
• Rules for creating special organizations-anything from law firms to detective agencies to hunter societies
• A guide to the people and places of the City of Angels
• A rundown on the wicked, including vampires, demons, zombie cops, and other critters
• Blow-by-blow instructions for creating Angel roleplaying Episodes, Seasons and Series
• A complete Episode to hit the streets and start investigating right away

Here’s Kurt Wiegel again to talk about the Angel RPG Core Rulebook: Read more

Video Review: A Game Of Thrones – The Roleplaying Game

Since the announcement that there is going to be a pilot episode filmed based on ‘A Game Of Thrones’ by George R. R. Martin, there has been a lot of interest in the project.

In accordance with the excitement and anticipation generated by the announcement, here is a video review of ‘A Game Of Thrones Roleplaying Game’ by Kurt Wiegel of Game Geeks.

George R. R. Martin’s Bestseller Comes Alive

Countless readers have followed “A Song of Ice and Fire,” George R. R. Martin’s masterful epic fantasy series. Now, the knights and nobles, politics and poisons, creatures of darkness and powers of blood of Westeros and beyond are yours to discover—and make your own.

An OGL Roleplaying Game and Reference Guide for A Game of Thrones

• This complete OGL rule book explores the setting of the best-selling fantasy series as never before, from the factious continent of Westeros to the exotic Free Cities to the expansive plains of the Dothraki Sea.
• Includes dozens of customized character classes and prestige classes that capture the spirit of the setting, enhanced by the new social maneuvering rules of Influence and Reputation.
• Provides a comprehensive encyclopedia of characters, places, houses, and alliances, with detailed insight on integrating the setting into your campaign.
• Details the first novel in the series, A Game of Thrones, presenting a wealth of material about the dynamic and mysterious lands of the Seven Kingdoms.
• Includes a pull out poster-sized map of Westeros.
• Every fan of George R. R. Martin will want this comprehensive encyclopedia of his beloved series — even if they aren’t gamers. Read more

Video Review: Basic Roleplaying by Chaosium, Inc.

Years ago I started playing The Call Of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game by Chaosium and really enjoyed it. The mechanics behind the game is the Basic Roleplaying system by Chaosium. The Basic Roleplaying System by Chaosium is the culmination of 25+ years of development and playtesting.

From the Chaosium website:
This book comprises a roleplaying game system, a framework of rules aimed at allowing players to enact a sort of improvisational radio theater—only without microphones—and with dice determining whe­ther the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do. In roleplaying games, one player takes on the role of the gamemaster (GM), while the other player(s) assume the roles of player characters (PCs) in the game. The gamemaster also acts out the roles of characters who aren’t being guided by players: these are called non-player characters (NPCs).

From its origin, Basic Roleplaying was designed to be intuitive and easy to play. Character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, and the other Basic Roleplaying mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice. This means that there’s less fiddling with dice of different types, and the concept of a percentile chance of success is extremely easy for beginners and experienced players to grasp. There aren’t many easier ways to say a character has a 70% chance of succeeding at an activity.

Following is a video review by Kurt Wiegel and, as always, he does an excellent job of giving you a clear picture of what to expect with the product. Enjoy the review! Read more

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