Arbiter of Worlds: A Primer for Gamemasters


Alexander Macris - 2019
    This primer will teach you how to build living, breathing worlds for your players to explore; how to host game and manage game sessions; and how to create powerful experiences of adventure that your players will talk about for years to come. Learn the secret to becoming a judge, an adversary, a worldbuilder, and a storyteller and become an arbiter of worlds! “Every Macris campaign starts with a rich, open world; the edge of a massive map; and the ability to find adventure in any direction. After playing in a dozen of his campaigns, I can assure you that Macris is the best prepared, most thorough GM on the prime material plane. He balances “deadly adversary” and “the party’s greatest supporter” perfectly. I’ve been lucky to contribute to some renowned video game worlds, and to discus world design with some of the most accomplished writers alive. And I’m honestly not sure there’s been someone more thorough at and passionate for world building than Macris since ... maybe Tolkien? (Okay, maybe G.R.R. Martin, but he’s not as organized or efficient.) It takes organization, creativity, and careful technique to build a massive world efficiently and deliver it effectively, and Macris can show you how he does it.” - Dr. Michael Capps, award-winning videogame executive, writer, designer (*Gears of War*, *Fortnite*, *Unreal Tournament, Unreal Championship*) “Armed with decades of experience as both a player and a designer, Macris cuts to the marrow with razor sharp insights in an unapologetic and often painfully insightful analysis of every imaginable facet of being a Game Master. From implication of play inherent in a game’s design, to world building, to the often delicate nature of unspoken social contracts inherent in the hobby, the guidance found in Arbiter of Worlds is a much-needed breath of fresh air to veterans of the hobby and a forged-in-the-fire bootcamp for those taking their first steps behind the screen.” - James M. Spahn, Ennie and Origins Award Winning RPG designer “A superb read. He makes his points the way you would expect a Harvard-trained lawyer to do. If you read this book, you are going to come out knowing real things you did not know before that will help you run games at the table…” - Courtney Campbell, Hack & Slash

DC Adventures Hero's Handbook: Super-Hero Roleplaying in the DC Universe


Steve Kenson - 2010
    This handbook provides everything you need for hours of adventure in the DC Universe, including all the rules of the game, an overview of the original comic-book setting, and details on major heroes and villains, complete with game information.

Rifts Conversion Book 2: Pantheons of the Megaverse


C.J. Carella - 1994
    You may think you know all about Zeus, Odin, and Gilgamesh and the other gods of myth and legend, but you'd be wrong! Mythological gods done Rifts style! Dimension spanning beings of inhuman nature and power, impostors, cyborgs, bio-wizards, the Atlas robot, the Gilgamesh clones, The Olympian Club, alien intelligences, interdimensional mercenaries, vampires, devouring monsters, gods of light, gods of darkness, demigods and supernatural fiends - all with a distinctly Rifts flavor.

GURPS Magic


Steve Jackson - 2004
    Includes 300 new spells. There is information for the GM to create their own magic system. This book is a flexible magic system for playing the world of a favorite author or any type of wizard you can imagine.

GURPS Powers


Sean Punch - 2005
    . . or Destroy It!GURPS Powers is the ultimate book for the ultimate characters in the new Fourth Edition of GURPS! Here's everything you need to create every kind of amazing, off-the-chart superhero you can imagine . . . as well as amazing wizards, wuxia fighters, shamans who command spirits . . . even gods!Written by GURPS Line Editor and Fourth Edition co-author Sean Punch, GURPS Powers introduces some new rules, but it is mostly about using the rules that are already in the GURPS Basic Set to cover superpowered characters, megawizards, and earth-shattering psionics. GURPS Powers also include guidelines for "special effects" and several different ways to vary a power on the fly—two crucial concepts for comic-book superheroics.GURPS Powers is a Fourth Edition GURPS book that completely replaces the Third Edition books GURPS Supers and GURPS Psionics. Like our other Fourth Edition supplements, it's a gorgeous 240-page, full-color hardcover. If you've got a high-powered campaign—or high-powered players—you want GURPS Powers!

The Burning Wheel: Character Burner


Luke Crane - 2004
    The Burning Wheel is an award winning fantasy roleplaying game in which player take on the roles of vibrant, dynamic characters whose very beliefs propel the story forward.

Heroes Unlimited


Alex Marciniszyn - 1994
    Trade Paperback. Book Condition: Good. The cover does show some normal wear. Fraying on lamenation along edges of front and back cover.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition Rulebook


Dominic McDowallTS Luikart - 2018
    You’ve seen them. The twisted ones, the arrogant ones, the lost ones. Oh, you’d like to walk away and life be all cake and daisies, but you know you’re going here instead. You’ll try to convince yourself it’s because you’re greedy for the loot, or can’t resist a fight, but we all know the truth. So ready your sword, clean your pistol, and watch out for that dog – he might be small but he’s unreasonably vicious.Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay takes you back to the Old World. Get the gang together, create your (anti)heroes, and set off to make your way through the vile corruption, scheming plotters and terrifying creatures intent on destruction.The Fourth Edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Rulebook contains everything you need for grim and perilous roleplaying adventures in the Old World.

Monsterhearts


Avery Alder - 2012
    When you play, you explore the terror and confusion that comes both with growing up and feeling like a monster.Based on the Apocalypse World engine, this is a game with emergent story, messy relationships, a structured MC role, and a focus on hard choices.It’s designed to evoke stories like True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ginger Snaps or The Twilight Saga. If you like supernatural romances, or stories of monstrosity and personal horror, or if you just like watching sexy people ruin their lives, then you’ll love this game.

Ten Candles


Stephen Dewey - 2015
    It is played by the light of ten tea light candles which provide atmosphere, act as a countdown timer for the game, and allow you to literally burn your character sheet away as you play. Ten Candles is described as a "tragic horror" game rather than survival horror for one main reason: in Ten Candles there are no survivors. In the final scene of the game, when only one candle remains, all of the characters will die. In this, Ten Candles is not a game about "winning" or beating the monsters. Instead, it is a game about what happens in the dark, and about those who try to survive within it. It is a game about being pushed to the brink of madness and despair, searching for hope in a hopeless world, and trying to do something meaningful with your final few hours left. Ten Candles may be played with any number of players and one gamemaster. It takes between 2-4 hours for an average session. While there are some components that need to be gathered to run a game (such as ten tea light candles), the game requires no addition preparation by the gamemaster. The setting of Ten Candles will change game to game as the gamemaster selects different "modules" to run for an ever-changing lineup of doomed characters and scenarios for them to play within. The antagonists of the game also change, leaving you to fight nightmares in one session only to fight sentient shadows, bloodthirsty clowns, or the gods themselves in the next. Every session of Ten Candles is unique and will present an entirely new tragic story for you to tell.The standard setting of Ten Candles is this: Ten days ago the world went dark. The sky betrayed you. The sun vanished. The fall into chaos was sudden and predictable. The world was filled with riots and fear. You were told that the sun was not gone, and that it was still out there beyond that black sky. Order returned. Five days ago, They came. Now the lights flicker low and the dark is where They hunt. Now you can hear the screams. Now They're coming for you. Keep moving. Don't lose hope. And stay in the light.

Dragon Age RPG Set 1


Chris Pramas - 2010
    Based on the smash hit Dragon Age: Origins computer game, the Dragon Age RPG brings the excitement of BioWare's rich fantasy world to the tabletop. Make your own heroes and control your own destiny in the lands of Ferelden and beyond. Designed by award-winning author Chris Pramas (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Freeport), Dragon Age features an all-new game system that's both easy to learn and exciting to play, the perfect portal to tabletop roleplaying. This classic style boxed set includes a Player's Guide, Game Master's Guide, poster map, and dice: everything you need to get started, from character creation and rules of play to GM advice and an introductory adventure. So gather your friends, grab some dice, and get ready to enter a world of heroes and villains, of knights and darkspawn, of gods and demons...the world of Dragon Age

Age of Rebellion Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook


Jay Little - 2014
    Wage guerilla warfare across the Star Wars galaxy as a solider, or provide crucial intelligence to the Rebels as a cunning spy. Face down legions of stormtroopers, steal secret plans and restricted codes, and stay on target in the fight against the ultimate power in the universe. No matter what role in the Rebellion you take, the fate of the galaxy rests in your hands.The 464-page Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ Core Rulebook provides everything players and GMs need to begin their adventures in the Star Wars universe, including:Concise rules for character generation and advancementClear descriptions of the game’s skills and talentsConvenient charts of weapons, gear, devices, starships, and vehiclesRules for conflict, combat, and Force Sensitive Emergents in an Age of Rebellion campaignExtensive background information on the Star Wars universe, including a history of the Rebel Alliance and its tactics, as well as pertinent information on the powerful EmpireA wealth of advice for GMs on how to create and run an Age of Rebellion campaignA complete, introductory adventure to launch players into action!

GURPS Fantasy


William H. Stoddard - 2004
    It discusses the genre in depth - with all its subgenres and inspirations (myth, novels, movies, etc.) - letting you design just the kind of fantasy setting that you want.GURPS Fantasy gives detailed, concrete advice - from the basics of the landscape itself, through its inhabitants and cultures, to the details of believable histories and politics. It also examines the nature of supernatural forces, and discusses the impact of wizards, monsters, and gods. And, of course, it looks at the many different ways that magic and users of magic can work in a fantasy world. And, perhaps most importantly, it advises GMs and players alike on the kinds of characters appropriate to fantasy - including ordinary folks, people with fantastic powers, and nonhumans.Whether your model is Tolkien, Jordan, or Leiber, this book will let create a town, a country, or an entire world. Like all Fourth Edition books

Wormwood


Kevin Siembieda - 1993
    A decadent, violent and deadly world ruled by demonic creatures and evil clergy who control powerful kingdoms of monsters and enslave humans. Inhuman destroyers who command the crawling towers and life force cauldrons to do their bidding. One of countless alien worlds linked to Rifts Earth by the many dimensional gateways of the ley lines.

Dungeon Master's Screen: A 4th Edition D&D Accessory


Wizards of the Coast - 2008
    Easy-to-reference rules and tables appear on the inside panels of the screen; these are designed for the Dungeon Master's eyes only and comply with the rules in the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks.