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View Full Version : Help Khan Waste Money on RPG Products! e-th Edition



The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 12:27 PM
Like always, I need your help to decide which new RPG books to buy.

A couple of things:

1) Nothing based on D&D or d20 Modern. And I do mean it. You may suggest other OGL-based systems, what with my favorite system being Mutants & Masterminds, but it has to be different enough to count.

2) Has to be cheaper than $26.99, the number being the cost of the Twilight: 2013 bundle on RPGNow.com right now.

3) Has to be legally available as a .pdf.

4) Has to be English. As much as I'd like to have deGenesis in my collection, I won't be able to make sense of it, so it doesn't count.

5) Should be (sort of) rules medium. Too many rules and I die a bit inside; too few rules and I don't feel as if I bought a new game. Still, if it is absolutely and positively awesome, I'll consider to break this rule.

5) I like things like dark fae, post-apoc settings, wuxia and pulp. Why Exalted doesn't make it on the top of my list I have absolutely no idea.

6) Things I already have: All Flesh Must be Eaten, d20 Modern, D&D 3.5, Exalted 2nd Edition, Mutants & Masterminds, True20, new World of Darkness, Changeling: the Lost, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying Game, BESM 3rd Edition, Faery's Tale Deluxe, Qin: the Warring States, Risus, Simply Roleplaying!, Spirit of the Century, Summerland and The Savage World of Solomon Kane.

Things I'm buying: Shadow of Cthulhu and Ghosts of Albion.

7) Since the aim is to waste money, free stuff should be added as an addendum, not as actual advice.

OK, thanks. Bye.

Person_Man
2009-09-16, 12:37 PM
Star Wars Saga Edition. It's basically the fixed version of 3.5 D&D, IN SPACE!

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 12:49 PM
Star Wars Saga Edition. It's basically the fixed version of 3.5 D&D, IN SPACE!

Ah, yes. It's one of the only things WotC got right, or so I hear. However, I don't think it is legally available as a .pdf, and as much as I dislike WotC, I can't bring myself to deny them their rightful gains on something they didn't screw up.

((Also, WotC .pdf's used to cost the same as the print versions, so it's probably gonna violate the 26.99 limit even if it was legally available.))

UserClone
2009-09-16, 12:58 PM
My vote goes to Donjon, by CRN games! Sweet!

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 12:59 PM
That said, I'd also appreciate a link to where I can buy the .pdf.

Meek
2009-09-16, 01:13 PM
Cthulhutech (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=211), has a decent rules system I have some personal troubles with (ugh for the love of God why does vehicle movement have acceleration codes and tracked acceleration and decceleration rules?) but an extremely intriguing setting and metaplot. Most of the system makes up for the bits that are annoying, too.

The more money you have to waste on Ctech the better it gets. Dark Passions expands the setting's occult aspects considerably, Vade Mecum adds a slew of player options and opens up new campaign avenues (psychic scenarios and underwater military combat against the Esoteric Order of Dagon), and Damnation View advances the metaplot 1 year and includes like 6-7 adventures to partake in all of which are tied to major events in the story that your players can participate in and survive (and some of which they are explicitly allowed to steer towards either the end of the world as we know it, basically, or saving the day!)

Maid: RPG (http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16737&cat=0&page=1) is a rules-light game but it's cheap and practically endless fun and mostly about rolling on random tables (for nearly everything you can think of) while pretending to be a maid (or the boss of a bunch of maids). You can run the game for as little as a half hour and still have a good time.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 01:22 PM
Thank you, Meek, for your properly contented contributions.

Here, have a cookie.

Yakk
2009-09-16, 01:29 PM
http://www.gregstolze.com/reign/
Hmm. That costs too much.

http://www.nemesis-system.com/delta-green/index.php
Delta-green via Nemesis. Same core ORE engine.

Sadly, I think the PDF is free. Hmm.

http://enworld.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=120
weapons of the gods -- I have heard good things about that. 26.99$.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 01:32 PM
Oh, I'm totally buying Maid: the RPG.

Of course, it still leaves me around 18.99 dollars to spend.

Tehnar
2009-09-16, 01:39 PM
Shadowrun 4th edition pdf (20th anniversary edition), 25$.
http://battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2240

Have yet to play it, but the fluff is great.

Blacky the Blackball
2009-09-16, 02:42 PM
So you like Mutants and Masterminds, eh?

Then how about Warriors And Warlocks (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=60990)...

It's the Mutants and Masterminds supplement for running sword and scorcery campaigns, and it comes in PDF or hardcopy.

As Conan himself would say - By Crom!

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-16, 04:10 PM
I already have it.

I'd like to mention that when I say "I have X", I probably mean "I have all books of X published by the company that published X".

Kurald Galain
2009-09-16, 04:34 PM
Do not buy Paranoia, as it is not available at your security clearance. It is rumored to be "fun", but your life is already "fun" by order of The Computer, and enforced through Happy Pills. Also, rumors are treason. Please report yourself for termination immediately.

Temet Nosce
2009-09-16, 04:47 PM
http://enworld.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=120
weapons of the gods -- I have heard good things about that. 26.99$.

I'm going to second this. I'd like to suggest Nobilis, but there's no way you're buying it without a lot more cash available. Weapons of the Gods however, is a rules medium but detail heavy book with great flavor and an enormous array of options for a single book (as a bonus, it's the best portayal of Wuxia I've ever read). It isn't quite as awe inspiring as Nobilis, but the book is still worth reading just to read it even if you can't find anyone to play it with.

Totally Guy
2009-09-16, 05:02 PM
Burning Wheel. (http://www.burningempires.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=32&osCsid=8ff7c9af81ba9ea6e1106885b16ec980)

It's a bit on the rules heavy side but it's very readable at the same time. It's written around Tolkien-like fantasy with rules to simulate an abstraction of the world and rules to encourage roleplay. A player can choose motivations and the system rewards acting in accordance or directly against one of these beliefs.

For something a bit lighter there's Mouseguard (http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Guard-Roleplaying-Game-Crane/dp/1932386882) which is pretty much a subset of the Burning Wheel with a little more game to it. Plus you're all mice.

UserClone
2009-09-16, 11:35 PM
Whoa, brother! Mouseguard is pretty freakin' sweet, I gotta say. I bought it the moment I saw it in the store, and only learned later that it was Burning Wheel after having read it. A lot to it, and it promises to be loads of fun.

Totally Guy
2009-09-17, 03:38 AM
only learned later that it was Burning Wheel after having read it.

Me too. But once I'd read through MG I had to pick up Burning Wheel. Burning Wheel puts flesh on the Mouseguard Conflict rules, you go from having the 4x4 resolution grid to a grid for each conflict type. Fighting is maybe 12x12 options, debating is 8x8.

Plus burning wheel has magic which mouse guard doesn't, unless you consider Weather Watcher to be magic...:smalltongue:. They always blame the weather watcher.

Vic_Sage
2009-09-17, 03:47 AM
Be a man, get Maid RPG. (http://www.maidrpg.com/)

http://www.maidrpg.com/index_pics/cover.jpg

BobVosh
2009-09-17, 05:37 AM
http://atomicarray.com/new-gods-of-mankind-aa006
Official site(which appears to be down currently): http://www.newgodsofmankind.com/

Fairly rules light but fun when I playtested it. The author came by and we got to test it prior to release.

Also maid costs 5 more than Khan's limit :P

Also I would go so far as to agree that Paranoia is fun. As fun is mandatory.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-17, 08:47 AM
Maid costs only 8 dollars. Hardly five more than my limit.

UserClone
2009-09-17, 10:25 AM
Yeah, he just wants PDFs, since it's hard to get things shipped cheaply to Turkey.

Totally Guy
2009-09-17, 10:42 AM
Yeah, he just wants PDFs, since it's hard to get things shipped cheaply to Turkey.

Oops. Didn't think "has to be available as PDF" meant "has to be PDF". Figured it a was some kind of publishing nerd thing.

He's only got Burning Empires in his PDF store and I don't know what that's like.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-17, 02:53 PM
No, Flowers Win Piglets has the gist of it. Not only is it expensive, but it is also inconvenient and may not arrive in due time. While some online stores do send the books again if they don't arrive (gods bless Green Ronin), others may not.

Totally Guy
2009-09-17, 04:43 PM
Wildcard suggestion: If the aim's to waste money on RPG stuff have you thought about downloading a scenery kit to build into terrain?

I've bought some from here and it's good quality stuff.World Works Games (http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/)

Of course you have to spend some time making it yourself but I've found it very rewarding.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-17, 04:46 PM
Of course, it would be better if I could use them. Seeing how 99.(9)& of my games are online, that wouldn't be very useful.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-09-17, 05:34 PM
Bliss Stage: I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Also: $10 (http://www.tao-games.com/index.php?page_id=244)

A new entry: Mountain Witch (http://www.realms.org.uk/cms/articles/themountainwitch)
In this game, everyone's a ronin with 3 Special Powers sent to kill O-Yanma, the semi-divine witch of Mount Fuji. In addition, each player is secretly dealt a Dark Fate before play begins which grants them narrative control and places them in conflict with the other members of the party.

An exciting narrativist game that may be a bit rules-light for you, but it deserves an honorable mention as a fun one-shot for $18 (http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16224)

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-18, 02:42 PM
A new entry: Mountain Witch (http://www.realms.org.uk/cms/articles/themountainwitch)

That's quite... niche, isn't it? I don't deal well with niche things, especially if it deals something un-mechanics like "trust".

Though I will keep considering Bliss Stage.

wadledo
2009-09-18, 02:51 PM
TRD, do you have wild cards (http://www.greenronin.com/store/product/grr2522e.html) yet?
Because if so, I am totally going to run a game.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-18, 03:11 PM
Wild Cards is the only Green Ronin M&M 2nd Edition book I don't have actually, and the only one I'm not going to buy, since it does not hold any of my interest.

What would it have that I absolutely need anyway?

Oracle_Hunter
2009-09-18, 03:33 PM
That's quite... niche, isn't it? I don't deal well with niche things, especially if it deals something un-mechanics like "trust"
Actually, Trust is a mechanic - you give Trust Points to other players to help you out during the next Act. The fun part is that those Trust Points can also be used to screw you over something fierce if the other character decides to act against you.

The niche part is true (this is the most limited RPG I've player :smallbiggrin:) but the sort of stories you get out of it can be quite varied.

In my first game I played a young ronin whose sensei had been killed and his body ransomed by a tribe of barbarian-thieves. Having drawn the Old Alliances Dark Fate I brought in the tribe and revealed that the leader was a childhood friend of mine - and he had married our mutual sweetheart! In the end he slew his former friend after he became possessed by the Mountain Witch, and escaped with his sweetheart to recover his master's body.

In the second game I played a man cursed with unbelievable good luck - he had been stripped of his title at the urging of a noble that had lost a good deal of money in a bet, and had slowly lost the rest of his goods as he got driven out by every town for "cheating." In the end I killed a fellow ronin (for I had drawn the Vengeance Dark Fate) because he was the reincarnated form of the sorcerer who had placed this curse on my bloodline. After the adventure, his ghost haunted me and we went on to do righteous things to redeem my past sins (such as killing the ronin).

And that was just me. In the second game alone 3 of the PCs ended up being related to each other - one was killed by the stepmother he thought he had killed in his past, the second fled his evil father and sought to live his own life, and the third... I think he drowned when the everflowing jug of sake exploded :smalltongue:

Basically, if you like a good samurai movie, Mountain Witch is Good Times :smallcool:

Zherog
2009-09-18, 04:47 PM
If you're looking at Shadows of Cthulu (written by a friend of mine, so please buy it! :) ), then I'll also recommend two other products from Reality Deviant.

A) Reign of Discordia (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=2212&products_id=56479&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2212) -- It's a space opera game using the True20 ruleset. Good stuff, great flavor with interesting crunch to back it up.

B) Interface Zero, which comes in two flavors: True20 (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=57230&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2212) and Modern20 (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=63862&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2212). I0 is a cyberpunk game, set in the year 2088. Good stuff, with interesting world development.

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-18, 04:55 PM
Interface Zero is awesome.

Well, the upgrade rules are a bit lacking, but the rest is great.

((I had already bought Shadows of Cthulhu and Ghosts of Albion by the time the second post was posted, by the way.))

Zherog
2009-09-18, 05:11 PM
Hope you enjoy SoC. I know Russ worked very hard on it. I'm also glad to hear you like Interface Zero, since I know a couple of the designers on that project as well.

If you like the Space Opera genre, be sure to give RoD a look.

tarbrush
2009-09-18, 05:24 PM
What you are lacking in your life is Eclipse Phase (http://www.eclipsephase.com/)

By the people that do Shadowrun, and influenced by Shadowrun, but streamlined ("magic" and "hacking" are much much smaller parts of the world and system and folded into the main rules, items cost 1 of 5 values, there are no longer 15 different nearly identical guns by different manufacturers, and a bunch of other ). If you liked Shadowrun, you'll find it familiar, but better. it also ditches the whole "the 80's in the future" thing.

You can play an octopus wearing the body of a giant crab that lives on a space station made entirely of bacon.

And, most crucially of all, it's free.

UserClone
2009-09-18, 11:35 PM
What you are lacking in your life is Eclipse Phase (http://www.eclipsephase.com/)
And, most crucially of all, it's free.

If by "free," you mean "15 bucks, unless you buy the fifty dollar hardback, in which case they''ll knock five bucks off the PDF instead of, say, giving it to you for free, as a thank you for paying fifty buck for a game from a company you've never heard of before," then yeah, it's plenty free.

tarbrush
2009-09-19, 06:38 PM
It's on a creative commons license, so you can download the pdf from a torrent site or whatever guilt-free.

Such as here (http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/127612741/eclipse+phase?tab=comments)

The Rose Dragon
2009-09-20, 03:57 AM
It's on a creative commons license, so you can download the pdf from a torrent site or whatever guilt-free.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Unless the company itself decides to make the book freely available, I don't feel comfortable not paying for a book.

tarbrush
2009-09-20, 04:41 AM
Why not? They're on record on their website as encouraging people to download it, and the torrent was posted by Catalyst.

Tyndmyr
2009-09-20, 01:48 PM
Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Unless the company itself decides to make the book freely available, I don't feel comfortable not paying for a book.

They set the license, so them selecting a Creative Commons license is them explicitly making it free to all.

Which is pretty cool, btw, I wish more places would do that...or at least offer free downloads of pdf's when you purchase the books.

The Rose Dragon
2009-10-08, 08:13 AM
Bump, bump, bump, bump the not-so dead thread (it's less than a month old, after all)!

OK, new month, new opportunity to buy RPG books. As .pdf's.

Currently, I'm thinking of trying either CthulhuTech or those Pandemonium books (Dread, Spite and other stuff). I can also buy Jadeclaw, GURPS (which will be very, very expensive, so I am really not sold on that) or I can cave in and buy a hardcopy book, assuming the company is good at re-shipping the books if they get lost or something. Hardcopy books I can buy include any of the creature type books from new World of Darkness, Exalted or Star Wars: Saga Edition.

Jayabalard
2009-10-08, 08:21 AM
Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Unless the company itself decides to make the book freely available, I don't feel comfortable not paying for a book.that's kind of what a creative commons license means...

You can get most of the stuff from Steve Jackson Games (GURPS plus some other games) in PDF form at e23 (http://e23.sjgames.com/) - in particular, while I've never played it, I've heard nothing but glowing reviews about Transhuman Space (http://www.sjgames.com/transhuman/), which has at it's core a special version of gurps lite, so you would only need the transhuman space book(s) in order to play.

edit... huh... it looks like transhuman space itself isn't on e23 as a PDF, just the suppliments.

If you want to try before you buy with GURPS, they distribute a pared down set of rules called GURPS Lite (http://www.warehouse23.com/item.html?id=SJG01-0004) for free on e23

The Rose Dragon
2009-10-08, 08:46 AM
I already have GURPS Lite. The reason I'm afraid to buy GURPS is because it costs somewhere around 60 dollars, which is way higher than my upper limit (except for my birthday).

jiriku
2009-10-08, 05:21 PM
+1 to Burning Wheel. Also Burning Empires, which is Burning Wheel in space. That game is hardcore, man. One of the best indie RPGs of all time. It has completely changed my approach to running RPGs, in every system I play.

Fluffles
2009-10-08, 05:48 PM
Was that you who had this same thread on Myth-Weavers about a month ago?

The Rose Dragon
2009-10-08, 06:00 PM
Was that you who had this same thread on Myth-Weavers about a month ago?

Yes, it was me. Same title, same first post. Should have been painfully obvious, really.

tcrudisi
2009-10-08, 11:11 PM
For approximately 1 Lira, you can print off 8-Bit Dungeon! http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=220267

If you decide you want to run a game of 8-Bit Dungeon, please feel free to invite me. I've yet to play it, but a quick 5 minute scan of the rules (okay, 5 minutes to read all the rules) makes me very curious as to how it will play out.