Monster of the Week


Michael Sands - 2012
    There are monsters out thereAnd you are mean enough, smart enough, crazy enough, or hurt enough, to fight them.Maybe you'll defend your hometown from evil.Maybe you'll take to the road and hunt them down.Maybe you have magic powers to fight with.Maybe your name appears in an ancient prophecy.One thing's for sure.You aren't going back to your old, safe life.Monster of the Week is an action-horror roleplaying game for 3-5 people.

GURPS Ultra-Tech


David L. Pulver - 2007
    It's a valuable companion to GURPS Space, GURPS Bio-Tech, and GURPS Infinite Worlds, and an exceptional resource for any character or campaign that needs technology from tomorrow . . . and beyond. GURPS Ultra-Tech is full of personal equipment for heroes and superheroes from TL9 to TL12, including: Weapons - from caseless assault carbines and monomolecular swords to antimatter warheads and disassembler nano. Protection - How do you stop a nanomorph assassin with a field-jacketed X-ray laser rifle? Try a dreadnought battlesuit and a personal force screen . . . . Medicine - Superscience can heal, rebuild, and improve on nature. Death itself can become a temporary inconvenience. With cybernetics and neural interfaces, ultra-tech medical equipment and mind uploading, "medical miracles" become everyday occurrences. Transport - Air cars, hovertanks, tilt rotors, grav belts, supercavitating minisubs, matter-transport booths - lots of ways to get where the action is, for the adventurer on the go! As technology advances, the line between man and machine may become increasingly blurred. GURPS Ultra-Tech provides rules for establishing the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence, as well as templates for robotic or total cyborg bodies, from handy technical 'bots to shapeshifting nanomorphs.

Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons


Jon Peterson - 2021
    In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies.Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the Satanic Panic accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D.With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

Warhammer 40,000


Games Workshop - 2017
    No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.The Dark Millenium takes a horrific toll upon Mankind's realm, for the galaxy is beset by the flames of war. In this nightmare future, Humanity faces utter damnation. The galaxy has split along its length, torn by apocalyptic acts of violence to disgorge the horrors of the warp. Every one of the Imperium's million worlds is beset by Chaos incarnate. Scenting blood, warmongering alien races descend to conquer even as the enemy within rises up, utter disaster stayed only by the daily sacrifice of untold billions. Only the armies of the Immortal Emperor stand between Humanity and midnight-black oblivion. Foremost amongst them are the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, dauntless champions forged anew as the ultimate protectors of Mankind.You can enter this universe of horrors, today, if you dare. But remember this is a a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars...The Games Workshop hobby allows you to collect, build, paint and play within worlds of boundless creativity and imagination. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop game for two or more players, where you control an army of Citadel Miniatures representing the Imperium of Man or one of its many enemies. As well as telling the story of the Dark Millenium, this books provides all the rules you need to fight a variety of battles in this dystopian setting, and has essential information about collecting, painting and gaming with Citadel Miniatures.(publisher's description)

Legend of the Five Rings RPG


Shawn Carman - 2010
    Bushido’s staunch and unyielding code of conduct binds samurai to duty, strengthening their character and defining their choices. While some samurai serve the greater good, others use the strictures of Bushido to manipulate the lower ranks and advance their own power.Eight Great Clans form the heart of Rokugan’s culture. Each is defined by its own principles, values, and agendas. Each sees the Code of Bushido in its own way. Each seeks to serve the Emperor with its own unique talents. Take up the soul of your ancestors — the samurai’s daisho — and fight for the glory and honor of your family and Clan. Now is the time for heroes, in a world where Honor is a force more powerful than Steel.The Fourth Edition of L5R is the ultimate edition of the award-winning role-playing game. Inside this tome, you will find:• A game unlike any you’ve played elsewhere. Honor and service are valued more than magic swords taken from wandering ogres. Prepare for the glorious life of the samurai!• A unique Character Sheet. Legend of the Five Rings rules have never been more easy to learn and to play. No more need to flip through pages of rules while fighting your enemies!• A toolbox approach to role-playing in Rokugan. Fourth Edition encourages gamemasters of Legend of the Five Rings to customize their game, adding or removing from their campaigns as they see fit, customizing the game to fit their story lines and players.• A broad history of the Emerald Empire and the beliefs of all the Great Clans, with play options not only the major clans but also for outlying groups such as Imperials, Minor Clans, and the infamous Spider Clan.Draw your blade and join the fight for Rokugan.

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Arcane, Divine, and Martial Heroes


Rob Heinsoo - 2008
    In the 'D & D' game, players create characters that band together to explore dungeons, slay monsters, and find treasure. The 4th Edition 'D & D' rules offer the best possible play experience by presenting exciting character options, an elegant and robust rules system, and handy storytelling tools for the Dungeon Master.The 'Player's Handbook' presents the official 'Dungeons & Dragons' Roleplaying Game' rules as well as everything a player needs to create 'D & D' characters worthy of song and legend: new character races, base classes, paragon paths, epic destinies, powers, more magic items, weapons, armor, and much more.

Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns (Kobold Guides Book 6)


Margaret WeisRobert J. Schwalb - 2016
     Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns shows how to begin a new campaign, use published adventures or loot them for the best ideas, build toward cliffhangers, and design a game that can enthrall your players for month or even years. Want to run an evil campaign, or hurl the characters into unusual otherworldly settings? Want to ensure that you're creating memorable and effective NPCs and villains? We've got you covered. Complete with discussions on plotting, tone, branching storytelling, pacing, and crafting action scenes, you'll find all the tips and advice you need to take on the best role in roleplaying--and become an expert gamemaster, too! Featuring essays by Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, David "Zeb" Cook, Margaret Weis, Robert J. Schwalb, Steve Winter, and other game professionals.

Fiasco


Jason Morningstar - 2009
    Maybe you and your girlfriend figured you could scare your wife into a divorce, but things went pear-shaped and now a gang of cranked-up Mexicans with latex gloves and a pit bull are looking for you.It seemed like such a good idea at the time.Fiasco is inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong - inspired by films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan. You'll play ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. There will be big dreams and flawed execution. It won't go well for them, to put it mildly, and in the end it will probably all go south in a glorious heap of jealousy, murder, and recrimination. Lives and reputations will be lost, painful wisdom will be gained, and if you are really lucky, your guy just might end up back where he started.Fiasco is a GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation. During a game you will engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It's like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it'd take to watch one.

Ars Magica, Third Edition, First Printing


Ken Cliffe - 1992
    

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.

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition


James JacobsMichael Kortes - 2012
    An attack by crazed goblins reveals the shadows of a forgotten past returning to threaten the town—and perhaps all of Varisia. The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins with this goblin raid and takes players on an epic journey through the land of Varisia as they track a cult of serial killers, fight backwoods ogres, stop an advancing army of stone giants, delve into ancient dungeons, and finally face off against a wizard-king in his ancient mountaintop city. This hardcover compilation updates the fan-favorite campaign to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules with revised and new content in more than 400 pages packed with mayhem, excitement, and adventure!Celebrating both the fifth anniversary of the Pathfinder Adventure Path and the tenth anniversary of Paizo Publishing, this new edition expands the original campaign with new options and refined encounters throughout, incorporating 5 years of community feedback.The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition contains:- All six chapters of the original Adventure Path, expanded and updated for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.- Articles on the major locations of Rise of the Runelords: sleepy Sandpoint, the ancient Thassilonian city of Xin-Shalast, and others.- Revelations on the sinister magic of Thassilon, with updated spells, magic items, and details on tracking sin points throughout the campaign.- A bestiary featuring eight monsters updated from the original Adventure Path, plus an all-new terror.- Dozens of new illustrations, never-before-seen characters, location maps, and more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

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.

Shadowrun Fifth Edition


Catalyst Game Labs - 2013
    With rules for characters creation , magic combat, Matrix hacking, rigging and more. You have everything you need to face the challenges of the Sixth World

Pathfinder: Core Rulebook


Logan BonnerGiorgio Baroni - 2019
    Advance Your GameThis comprehensive 640-page guide to the Pathfinder roleplaying game provides everything you need to set out into a world of limitless fantasy adventure! Choose from ancestries like elf, human, and goblin and classes like alchemist, fighter, and sorcerer to create a hero of your own design, destined to become a legend! The new Pathfinder rules are easier to learn and faster to play, and they offer deeper customization than ever before!This indispensable volume contains the core rules for players and Game Masters, and is your first step on a heroic new journey!The Pathfinder Core Rulebook includes:- More than 600 pages of game rules, advice, character options, treasure, and more for players and Game Masters!- Six heroic player character ancestries, including elf, dwarf, gnome, goblin, halfling, and human, with variant heritages for half-elf and half-orc!- More than 30 backgrounds like bartender, soldier, or apprentice to further immerse yourself in your hero's backstory!- Twelve character classes, including the alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard!- Hundreds and hundreds of spells, class feats, and other exciting abilities to help you customize your character to become the hero YOU envision her to be!- Streamlined and revised rules to help ease new players into the game while providing the depth of character options and tactical interest that have defined Pathfinder from the beginning!

Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook


Monte Cook - 2003
    IntroductionChapter 1 - AbilitiesChapter 2 - RacesChapter 3 - ClassesChapter 4 - SkillsChapter 5 - Feats and TalentsChapter 6 - EquipmentChapter 7 - Playing the GameChapter 8 - MagicChapter 9 - SpellsAppendix (Index)Intended as a full (drop-in) replacement for D&D 3.x PHB; published under the Open Game License.