Book picks similar to
Microscope by Ben Robbins


rpg
rpgs
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role-playing-games

Amber Diceless Role-Playing: Diceless Role-Playing System


Erick Wujcik - 1991
    * A Complete new role-playing system! * Three complete adventures, including "Throne War," "Battleground on Shadow Earth" and "Into the Abyss!" * Attribute Auction system where players bid against each other, creating a unique family of immortals! * Enter a universe where Pattern lets you "walk" to any world you can imagine, where Logrus tendrils can reach across infinite dimensions, and where Shape Shifting lets characters sprout wings! * A mature, demanding, and time-consuming system that puts character development above all else! * Over 100 pages of tips on role-playing style and technique with dozens of crystal-clear examples!

Ars Magica, Third Edition, First Printing


Ken Cliffe - 1992
    

Mouse Guard: Roleplaying Game


David Petersen - 2008
    Designed by Origins Award-winning game designer Luke Crane for beginners and veterans alike, the game comes complete with three sample patrols and three sample missions, so you and your friends can get started playing right away. Includes art and extensive background material on the Mouse Territories specially prepared by Mouse Guard creator David Petersen, as well as character sheets and maps.

Blades in the Dark


John Harper - 2016
    There are heists, chases, occult mysteries, dangerous bargains, bloody skirmishes, and, above all, riches to be had — if you’re bold enough to seize them.You and your fledgling crew must thrive amidst the threats of rival gangs, powerful noble families, vengeful ghosts, the Bluecoats of the city watch, and the siren song of your scoundrel’s own vices. Will you rise to power in the criminal underworld? What are you willing to do to get to the top?In this stand-alone game, you’ll find:* Rules to create your scoundrel using the following character archetypes: the Cutter, the Hound, the Leech, the Lurk, the Slide, the Spider, or the Whisper.* Rules to create your crew, built from types like Assassins, Bravos, a Cult, Hawkers, Shadows, or Smugglers.* A robust core mechanic which puts the fiction first—the strength of a character’s position (desperate, risky, or controlled) matters just as much as the character’s ability scores.* A lightning-fast mechanic for planning criminal operations to cut through the usual slog of planning at the game table.Rules for alchemical experiments, gadget tinkering, and weird occult powers—including rules for playing Ghosts and other strange beings.* A setting guide to the haunted city of Doskvol, with all the maps, factions, NPCs, schemes, and opportunities you need to run an exciting sandbox game.

Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep


Phil Vecchione - 2012
    To our knowledge, this is the first book entirely devoted to the process of prepping for tabletop RPGs.Never Unprepared breaks game prep down into its component phases—Brainstorming, Selection, Conceptualization, Documentation, and Review—and provides the tools you need to make the most of each phase. If you hate prep, you’ll find ways to make it more enjoyable. If you already have a great system for doing your prep, you’ll learn how to make it even better. Ten years in the making, Never Unprepared is award-winning author Phil Vecchione’s epic rock ballad to game prep.

Dungeon Master's Guide


David Zeb Cook - 1989
    Whether you're running a single adventure or masterminding a complete fantasy campaign, the Dungeon Master's Guide is an absolute necessity. The 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide puts all the information you need right at your fingertips - in a fresh, new format, fully indexed for your convenience. Here you'll learn all there is to know about magical spells and items, as well as monsters, combat, travel, NPCs, treasure, encounters, awarding experience, and more!

Veins of the Earth


Patrick Stuart - 2017
    Included in this essential work:- A detailed survey of over fifty new monsters and a half dozen cultures that lurk in the Veins.- Procedures for Referees to generate both small and large-scale maps and locations within.- Expanded rules for players navigating a realm that has never seen the sun.- Full descriptions of the different types of light and the different types of dark.- The worst kinds of fear, madness, and nightmare.

GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns


Steve Jackson - 2004
    . . or literally anything else! GURPS has been the premiere universal roleplaying game for almost two decades. The new Fourth Edition makes it even better!GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium II�plus our new core setting, with infinite possibilities for timeline-hopping adventure! (You don't have to play in the core setting�there isn't some game-altering metaplot�but it's there if you want it.)

Don't Rest Your Head


Fred Hicks - 2006
    days? Or is it weeks now? It's hard to remember. You've been so busy with... well, whatever it is that's been keeping you awake. Then one night you're walking down the block toward your apartment, when you realize there's a new building on your street. A new building, somehow... in between two buildings that used to be side by side... that's impossible, isn't it? You pause to take a closer look. It's a bar. The sign says "Serious Moonlight", and a bright white moon blinks through the phases from new to full and back again, waxing and waning with the buzz of neon. It's been a stressful week. Or is it month now? It's hard to remember. But you could sure use a drink. So you cross the street and step inside.The citizens of The City welcome you with open arms. After all, you're one of them now. With all the gifts and curses that come with being Awake in a world of sleepers.Just be careful. The Nightmares you've been dodging haven't forgotten about you. They're waiting, just around the corner; waiting for you to nod off- and then they'll have you.They won't wait much longer.Whatever you do... don't rest your head.

Arms and Equipment Guide


Anne Brown - 1991
    This is the essential volume for the well-equipped Dungeons and Dragons character.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary


Jason BulmahnSean K. Reynolds - 2009
    Within this tome you'll find fire-breathing dragons and blood-drinking vampires, vile demons and shapechanging werewolves, sadistic goblins and lumbering giants, and so much more! Yet not all the creatures in this book are enemies, for some can serve lucky heroes as allies or advisors, be they summoned angels or capricious nymphs. And it doesn't stop there—with full rules for advancing monsters, adapting monsters to different roles, and designing your own unique creations, you'll never be without a band of hideous minions again!The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is the must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary includes:- More than 350 different monsters.- Dozens of monstrous variants to modify creatures and keep players on their toesNumerous lists of monsters to aid in navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat.- Extensive rules for creating effective and balanced monsters.- Rules for advancing monsters by hit dice, template, or class level.- Universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities like breath weapons, damage reduction, and regeneration.- More than a dozen feats tailored especially for monsters.- Suggestions for monstrous cohorts.- Two dozen additional animal companions.- More than a dozen different wandering monster encounter tables.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

Shadowrun


FASA Corporation - 1991
    It includes all the rules necessary to play the game, and is a good improvement over the first edition rules, including as it does most of the improvements and rules expansions published between 1989 and 1992.

Legend of the Five Rings RPG


Rich Wulf - 2005
    For one thousand years, the Empire of Rokugan has stood as a bastion of nobility, honor, and virtue. These lands are ruled by the samurai, powerful heroes who carry the katana and wakizashi as their badge of rank. Eight Great Clans vie with one another for supremacy over these lands, all under the eye of the mighty Emperor. And to the south, the Shadowlands, the eternal enemy of Rokugan, waits for the next opportunity to disrupt all that these foolish mortals have built. It is a land of intrigue, wonder, and adventure. Welcome to the third iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings Role-Playing Game. This player's guide will provide players and GM's with all of the setting, culture, and rules needed to create characters in the Legend of the Five Rings world and stage ongoing campaigns in Rokugan. While this book contains an updated version of the familiar rules, conversion rules will be included so that none of the many previous volumes set in this world will ever be obsolete. The best Asian style fantasy setting roleplaying game of this generation returns to its roots with its release this summer. Legend of the Five Rings 3rd Edition returns focus to the Roll and Keep(R&K) system originally released in 1996. Conveying a deeper sense of realism, the R&K system best simulates the tension, reality, and lethality of Samurai drama. Look for it more information in the coming weeks here at L5R.com. * Thrilling fantasy setting based on the myths and culture of Japan, China, and other Asian nations * A new generation of the beloved Legend of the Five Rings roll and keep system.* Streamlines existing rules without making previous products obsolete.* Excellent sourcebook for Rokugani culture and history

Rogue Trader: Core Rulebook


Owen Barnes - 2009
    Your ship will take you to new worlds and uncharted reaches of the void, where you will encounter rivals, pirates, aliens, and possibly even creatures of the warp. You will acquire and spend great wealth and riches, and fame or infamy will follow. You will discover ancient and forgotten mysteries and search out the unknown to find lost human worlds or never-before-seen celestial phenomena. You must survive the dangers of space, for beyond the threat of vacuum and deadly radiation lurk things Man was never meant to find... To be part of a Rogue Trader's crew is to stand on the threshold of nearly unlimited opportunity. Vast profits await for you and your fellow Explorers to find and claim. Fame and fortune reward the bold, but the unwary find only an anonymous death. Begin your players' path to wealth and glory with a complete starting adventure that puts the Explorers right into the middle of the action. The Rogue Trader core rulebook contains everything you need to start your adventure in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Strongholds & Followers


Matthew Colville - 2018
    Raise armies! Research spells! Spy on your enemies! More than just a set of rules and charts, this book also describes a style of play that assumes your character becomes more interested in influencing the world around them. You’ll still adventure and fight monsters, but this supplement gives you tons of fun things to do during your downtime. It only takes one character building a stronghold to radically change the nature of a campaign and introduce new narrative opportunities for GM and players alike! Huge new story opportunities arise! This book includes tons of examples for GMs to inspire them.