Book picks similar to
Vampire: The Requiem by Ari Marmell
rpg
gaming
rpgs
horror
To Sift Through Bitter Ashes
David Niall Wilson - 1997
Dark forces are pitted against him, and each ally must be watched in turn, as treachery leads to deceit and back again in a race against time, the Church, and the mysterious Kli Kodesh, who is more ancient, even, than Montrovant's sire.Only persistence, luck and the power of his own will can see him through to his goal, and any mistake could mean his destruction.The Dark Ages Engulf UsThis novel is the first book of The Grails Covenant, a trilogy of novels set in the world of Vampire: The Dark Ages, which in itself is set in a larger series World of Darkness. While complete unto itself, the trilogy involves characters and plots that continue into The Trilogy of the Blood Curse, a trilogy for Vampire: The Masquerade that begins with The Devil's Advocate.
All Flesh Must Be Eaten
Al Bruno - 2003
In it, you will find: Eleven different Deadworld settings allowing customization of the storyline. A comprehensive zombie creation system to surprise and alarm players. A list of equipment crucial to surviving a world of shambling horrors. Detailed character creation rules for Norms, Survivors, and the Inspired. A full exposition of the Unisystem game rules, suitable for any game in any time period. Open Game License conversion text for porting AFMBE to any modern-day campaign featuring a twenty-sided dice game mechanic.
Dungeon World
Sage LaTorra - 2012
You and your friends will explore a land of magic and danger in the roles of adventurers searching for fame, gold, and glory.Dungeon World rules are easy to learn and always drive the story forward in unexpected ways. A missed roll is never a dead end--failure introduces new complexities and complications. Life as an adventurer is hard and dangerous but its never boring!Designed to be ready for you to hack, remix, and build new content, Dungeon World includes systems for changing everything to suit your group including creating new races, classes, and monsters.To play, you'll need this rulebook, 3-5 players, some polyhedral dice, and 1-4 hours.Explore fantasy adventure roleplaying in a whole new way with Dungeon World!
H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands
Chris Williams - 1986
Lovecraft's Dreamlands provides everything needed for Call of Cthulhu investigators to travel down the seven hundred steps, through the Gates of Deeper Slumber, and into the realm of dreams. Includes a travelogue of the dreamlands, a huge gazetteer, dreamlands character creation rules, over thirty prominent NPC's, over 60 monsters who dwell within the dreamlands, descriptions of the dreamlands gods and their cults, six adventures to help jump start a dreamlands campaign, and a new fold-out map of the Dreamlands by Andy Hopp.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 2
Wolfgang BaurJames Jacobs - 2010
Within this collection of creatures you'll find undead dragons and mischievous gremlins, shrieking banshees and unstoppable titans, the infamous jabberwock, and so much more! Yet not all these monsters need to be foes, as new breeds of otherworldly guardians, living shadows, and vampires all might take up adventure's call. In addition, new rules for customizing and advancing monsters and an expanded glossary of creature abilities ensure that you'll be prepared to challenge your heroes wherever adventure takes them!The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 is the second indispensable volume of monsters for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and serves as a companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. 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 320-page Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 includes:- More than 300 different monsters.- Creatures both new and familiar, drawing upon the best-known beasts of legend, literature, and Pathfinder RPG adventures.- Challenges for any adventure and every level of play.- Hosts of new templates and variants, including simple templates for on-the-fly creature customization.- Numerous lists of monsters to aid in navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat.- New rules for creating and running high-level menaces.- Expanded universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities.- New familiars, animal companions, and other allies.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
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.
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.
RuneQuest
Steve Perrin - 1978
These early chapters show the secret workings of the 'world machine.'• Combat Skills - contains information on use, cost, training, and problems with weaponry. It provides a unique combat system free of ambiguities.• Battle Magic - everyday spells available to all characters. You can enhance weapons or armor, detect items, or combat spirits• Other Skills - available in a wide variety are such useful personal skills as Riding, Tracking, and Picking Pockets.• Rune Magic - provides spells which deliver the power of the the gods to their devoted followers; also discusses the cults which channel such powers and the deadly tribal shamans.• Monsters — from Aldryami to zombies, this extensive chapter gives stat' guidelines for a menagerie of beast (dumb and smart) which can menace players and make life difficult.• Treasure - there are complete guidelines for compiling treasure which is commensurate with the comparative 'toughness' of the monsters to be dealt with.• Referee Notes - useful guidelines for the novice or professional referee, including optional rules.• Charts and Tables - included are play-aids for running a campaign in the Dragon Pass area; among others are encounter, reaction, and experience tables.• Convenient Pull-outs - the center sheets of the book make up a digest of the most important charts, tables, rules, and procedures, which can be lifted from the book for easy access.
Dungeon Master's Guide
Skip Williams - 2000
Run game, non-player characters, magic items (including intelligent and cursed items, and artifacts), dictionary of special abilities, item pricing, and more.
Complete Ninja's Handbook
Aaron Allston - 1995
This 128-page accessory gives you all the information you need to role-play exotic ninja, lone wolf operatives, and other character types - new character kits, special rules, and descriptions of the ninja's unique weapons and equipment. The Complete Ninja's Handbook brings life to these shadowy figures of myth and legend.
7th Sea Core Rulebook
John WickShen Fei - 2016
Players take the roles of heroes thrown into global conspiracies and sinister plots, exploring ancient ruins of a race long vanished and protecting the rightful kings and queens of Theah from murderous villains.Save the Queen of Avalon from treacherous blackmail!Thwart a dastardly assassination attempt on the Cardinal of Castille!Raid the villainous fleets of Vodacce Merchant Princes!Free the Prince of the Sarmatian Commonwealth from a mysterious curse!Make decisions that alter the very course of Thean history!In 7th Sea, you are a Hero, an icon of Theah ready to live and die for causes that matter. You bravely take on a dozen thugs with swords, knives and guns all on your own. You are the trusted knight, a loyal bodyguard or even an adventuring queen herself.In other words—you are d’Artagnan, Milady de Winter, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Jack Sparrow, Julie d’Aubigney, and the Scarlet Pimpernel all rolled up in one!This is a game of high adventure, mystery and action. This is a game of intrigue and romance.This is 7th Sea.
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.
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.
Delta Green
Dennis Detwiller - 1997
Do you know who is pulling the strings? Delta Green knows. Things from beyond time and space that lurk and titter in the shadows, the slow rot at the core of humanity, the dark stars that whirl madly above- these are the true masters of the world. Delta Green has been fighting them since the 1928 Raid on Innsmouth, and the fight still rages on. This book is your weapon and your guide. The largest Call of Cthulhu sourcebook ever. Inside you will find the secret history of the 20th century, and the movers and shakers who are players in the game: Delta Green, the outlaw conspiracy working inside the U.S. government to fight the darkness; Majestic-12, the clandestine agency that cuts deals with aliens and reports to no one; Saucerwatch, a UFO study group closer to the truth than they know; the Karotechia, immortal Nazis who serve a risen Hitler; and The Fate, an occult criminal syndicate that knows where the bodies are buried. Plus: new skills, new spells, new weapons, new Mythos tomes, profiles of thirty-six real-world intelligence and law enforcement agencies, with character templates for each.A look at Mi-go biology, philosophy and operations, analysis of the Cthulhu Mythos in the modern day, a factual history of the U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement community, dozens of useful NPCs, campaign construction guidelines, two scenarios, a short campaign and more.