Book picks similar to
Burning Empires (Burning Wheel) by Luke Crane
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Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future
Mike Pondsmith - 1988
On the street, Boostergangs roam a shattered urban wilderness, killing and looting. The rest of the world is a perpetual party as fashion-model beautiful techies rub biosculpt jobs with battle armored road warriors in the hottest clubs, sleaziest bars and meanest streets this side of the Postholocaust. The future never looked so bad. But you can change it. You’ve got interface plugs in your wrists, weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes, bio-chip programs screaming in your brain. You’re wired in, cyberenhanced and solid state as you take it to the fatal Edge where only the toughest and the coolest can go. Cyberpunk: the original roleplaying game of the dark future; a world of corporate assassins, heavy-metal heroes and brain burning cyberhackers, packed with cutting edge technology and intense urban action. Within this box, [sic] you’ll find everything you need to tackle the mean streets of the 2000’s = in a game system that combines the best in realistic action and playability. Compatible with Cyberpunk 1.0
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
Realm of Terror: Ravenloft Campaign Accessory: (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition)
Bruce Nesmith - 1991
Footsteps echo behind him, in pace with his beating heart. Is it Death who follows? The man turns, and so turns the phantom. A flash of fang, a bloodcurdling howl, red eyes fueled by a passion from beyond the grave. The traveler discovers what others have learned before him: all roads lead to Ravenloft.Ravenloft is a new realm of terror for AD&D adventures, rooted in the Gothic tradition. It is a demiplane of dread and desire, a world whose misty fingers can reach into any other campaign setting and draw unsuspecting heroes into its midst. Once it holds them in its icy embrace, it may never let them go...What lurks beneath the covers of this box?A 144-page book detailing a complete, terrifying new campaign world, which was inspired by the classic TSR adenture "Ravenloft." You'll find new twists on magic and the AD&D rules, tips for adding fear to your games, plus a portrait of over 30 new lands and the powerful lords who rule them - from vampires, ghosts, and werewolves to men who are even more monstrous.4 big, full-color maps, detailing deadly domains and shadowy settlements.24 full-color cardstock sheets, featuring haunted castles, horrid houses, and fiendish folk.1 transparent map overlay, for measuring distances in the realm of doom.
Agent of the Imperium: A Story of the Traveller Universe
Marc W. Miller - 2015
In the service of the Empire, he has killed more people than anyone in the history of Humanity, to save a hundred times as many. He died centuries ago, but they re-activate his recorded personality whenever a new threat appears. When the crisis is over, they expect he will meekly return to oblivion. He has other ideas. The chronicle of Bland reveals secrets of the history of the star-spanning Third Imperium and spans 400 years from early Imperium (about year 300) through the mid-post Civil War period (about year 700) touching known and unknown events you may have encountered in your own reading of the Imperium: everyday events, political intrigue, deadly dangers, Arbellatra, Capital, Encyclopediopolis, the Karand's Palace, and a Tigress-class Dreadnought. If you know the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game, then some of this is already familiar; if not, no matter; this story introduces the vast human-dominated interstellar empire of the far future in ways only the designer and chronicler of this particular universe can.
Castle Amber (Château d' Amberville)
Tom Moldvay - 1981
you find yourselves cut off from the world you know. The castle is fraught with peril. Members of the strange Amber family, some insane, some merely deadly, lurk around every corner. Somewhere in the castle is the key to your escape, but can you survive long enough to find it?
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex
Jason BulmahnJason Nelson - 2012
You spend hours setting up the perfect encounter, your players are out for blood, the swords are drawn—and then you realize that you've forgotten to build statistics for the enemy characters. Or perhaps your players go left when you expect them to go right, leaving you without any encounters prepared.Such problems are a thing of the past with the NPC Codex. Inside this tome, you'll find hundreds of ready-made stat blocks for nonplayer characters of every level, from a lowly forest poacher to the most majestic knight or ancient spellcaster. Whether you're planning out future adventures or throwing together encounters right at the table, this book does the work so you can focus on playing the game.Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. This imaginative tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and open playtests 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 320-page Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex includes:- Statistics for more than 300 characters, including at least one for every level of every class in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.- Tactical suggestions for every character, ensuring that you get the most out of each individual's gear and abilities in a fight.- Tons of flavorful names and backgrounds to give characters personality, plus ideas for using them in both combat and roleplaying situations.- Statistics for characters with lower-powered NPC classes to help populate your world with ordinary people, as well as characters with specialized prestige classes.- Animal companion statistics for druids and rangers, from level 1 through level 20.- Multiple versions of each Pathfinder iconic character, perfect for pregenerated player characters.- Encounter groups for conveniently crafting battles on the fly.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
Eclipse Phase: The Roleplaying Game of Transhuman Conspiracy and Horror
Rob BoyleTobias Wolter - 2009
Humanity is enhanced and improved, but also battered and bitterly divided. Technology allows the re-shaping of bodies and minds, but also creates opportunities for oppression and puts the capability for mass destruction in the hands of everyone. And other threats lurk in the devastated habitats of the Fall, dangers both familiar and alien. In this harsh setting, the players participate in a cross-faction conspiracy called Firewall that seeks to protect transhumanity from threats both internal and external. Along the way, they may find themselves hunting for prized technology in a gutted habitat falling from orbit, risking the hellish landscapes of a ruined earth, or following the trail of a terrorist through militarized stations and isolationist habitats. Players may even find themselves stepping through a Pandora Gate, a wormhole to distant stars and the alien secrets beyond.
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.
Starfinder: Core Rulebook
James L. SutterJason Keeley - 2017
Will you delve for lost artifacts in the ruins of alien temples? Strap on rune-enhanced armor and a laser rifle to battle undead empires in fleets of bone ships, or defend colonists from a swarm of ravenous monsters? Maybe you'll hack into the mainframe of a god-run corporation, or search the stars for clues to the secret history of the universe or brand new planets to explore. Whether you're making first contact with new cultures on uncharted worlds or fighting to survive in the neon-lit back alleys of Absalom Station, you and your team will need all your wits, combat skill, and magic to make it through. But most of all, you'll need each other.This massive 528-page hardcover rulebook is the essential centerpiece of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, with rules for character creation, magic, gear, and more—everything you need to play Starfinder as either a player or Game Master! The next great adventure in science-fantasy roleplaying takes off here, and the Starfinder Core Rulebook is your ticket to a lifetime of adventure amid the stars!Inside this book, you'll find:- All of the rules you need to play or run a game of Starfinder.- Seven character classes, from the elite soldier and stealthy operative to the physics-hacking technomancer and mind-bending mystic.- Character races both new and classic, from androids, insectile shirrens, ratlike ysoki, and reptilian vesk to the dwarves and elves of the distant future.- An in-depth exploration of the Starfinder setting, including its planets, gods, factions, and threats.- Hundreds of weapons, spells, technological gadgets, magic items, and other options to outfit any character.- Complete rules for starships, including customization and starship combat.- Rules and tips on using Pathfinder RPG content with Starfinder.Cover art by Remko Troost
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen
James Wallis - 2008
It's a role-playing story-telling game of outrageous originality and swashbuckling exaggeration, stretching the bounds of truth until they twang. How is this possible? If Baron Munchausen is involved, anything is possible. The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen contains full rules, more than two hundred adventures ready to be played, mechanics that replace dice and pencils with money and fine wine, and many insults against the inhabitants of various nations, but principally the French. This expanded edition is a facsimile of a suppressed volume originally published in 1808. It contains additional rules for playing in an Arabian style and a complete supplementary game, 'My Uncle the Baron', designed for children, the inbred and those who are very drunk. "The original edition of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen was unique and marvellous. This new edition is even better. If you are a clever person with clever friends, you will enjoy reading and playing it. Let's not consider the alternative." -Steve Jackson, creator of Munchkin "Utter brilliance in RPG form!" -John Kovalic, creator of Dork Tower Nominated for Best New RPG in the 1999 Origins Awards Nominated for Best Family/Party Game in the 2009 Origins Awards Nominated for Best Writing in the 2009 ENnie Awards
Hunter: The Vigil
Russell Bailey - 2008
A fire is lit: is it a lamp perched over the inscription upon an ancient blade? Or a roaring conflagration consuming the house in which the howling fiends wait? Things will never be the same after this. You've set forth on a damning path. Carry the Vigil. Fight back the shadows.Rulebook for Hunter: The Vigil This book includes: * A rulebook for playing hunters, those humans who have seen the truth of the World of Darkness and are spurred to action. * A many-faced Vigil for many types of hunter: characters might choose a path of violence, of investigation, or even of rehabilitation. Decipher mysteries and confront the horrors. * Provides new player types and antagonists for crossover- intensive chronicles as well as those chronicles focused only on hunters.
Player's Option: Spells and Magic (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Printing, Rulebook/2163)
Richard Baker - 1995
Within these pages you will find new spells and proficiencies for wizards and priests, plus further rules on spell research and magical item creation, new options for designing spellcasters, an alternate system of gaining and using spells, and much more. Use this book to bring out the full power and potential of any spellcasting character!
Clanbook: Ravnos Revised
Deird're Brooks - 2001
A young, vibrant clan, the Ravnos adapt, making the most of a hostile world and turning it to their advantage as best they can. To that end, was their near-total annihilation a Biblical punishment or a rebirth from the ashes of the impending Gehenna?Blasphemies and DebasementAs the next entry in the revised lineup of clanbooks, Ravnos takes one of the classic Vampire sourcebooks and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies revised material, inviting you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each with 32 more pages than the first-edition books) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.
Vornheim
Zak S. - 2011
Give somebody a floorplan and theyll GM for a day show them how to make 30 floorplans in 30 seconds and theyll GM forever. Need to know how to get from here to there even if neither here nor there are listed on a map? Even if there is no map? Need a random encounter? Need instant stats for that random encounter? Need to know why there was a random encounter? This book was designed to help you make a city happen now. In addition to details on Vornheim, adventure locations, and player commentary from the I Hit It With My Axe girls, every single surface below this jacket including the back of the jacket, the book covers underneath, and the inside covers has been crammed full of tools to help you build and run a city no matter what edition game you play.