Two new RPGs, one a modern horror RPG set in New England and the other for the OSR. D&D, Delta Green, and the Marvel Multiverse RPG all get adventures. Shadowrun gets a supplement, Finally, there are Spelljamming minis and spattered dice. After the article are my thoughts on the new RPG, Strange Tales of New England by Bedrock Games.
Note: RPG Print News covers recent RPG releases and some classics, reprints, and sales available from retailers. It does not cover products that are available directly to customers only as print on demand.
Strange Tales of New England by Bedrock Games
SYSTEM: same system as Strange Tales of Songling
PRODUCTTYPE: core rulebook
RETAIL PRICE: $49.99
DESCRIPTION: Brendan of Bedrock Games was kind enough to share a PDF of his newest game with me. My thoughts on it follow below* after this article. The PCs are invited to current day New England to face demons, vampires, satanic witches and other supernatural minions of the darkness. Some cast out demons using an exorcist’s prayer, others fight evil spirits with psychic powers, some take up arms, or use science and deception to win the day. All will discover that things are not what they seem in New Englad. Adventures focus on monster-of-the-week investigations into local anomalies with a blend of classic and surreal horror. PCs choose from five paths: Spirit Medium, Exorcist, Expert, Combatant, or Charlatan. Some paths allow PCs to use prayers and magic. The included Gazetteer of Strange New England includes 33 adventure sites, 10 Cults, and 10 Boogie Men. GMs also get two adventures and eight adventure seeds.
Artifact Zero by Arc Dream Publishing
SYSTEM: Delta Green RPG The Conspiracy
PRODUCT TYPE: softcover adventure
RETAIL PRICE: $19.99
DESCRIPTION: In October, 1999 researchers of Native artifacts at Montana site start vanishing, Delta Green sends the PC Agents to investigate. Before that in the spring of 1998, a mining company at the site didn’t find metals to extract but instead anomalous Native artifacts at depths that made the readings suspicious. In the summer of 1999, University researchers scanned the site and found objects misplaced in time. They dug up bolts, pieces of machinery, aviator sunglasses, a Rolex wristwatch, a skeleton with a steel surgical pin in its leg and fillings in its teeth…all buried for five million years. A few weeks later the researchers vanish and the PCs arrive to investigate. The Agents will likely find threats and terrors beyond time itself.
Mean Streets by Catalyst Game Labs
SYSTEM: Shadowrun Sixth Edition
PRODUCT TYPE: hardcover supplement
RETAIL PRICE: $49.99
DESCRIPTION: A PC runner resource book for knowing the mean streets. The streets are home to gangs, criminal enterprises, competing shadowrunners, and even a few do gooders. And the streets have rules which govern where entire lives start and end, fortunes are made and lost, and power s iearned or stripped violently away at the end of a blade, the flash of a spell, or the barrel of a gun.
Marvel Rivals – Timestream Adventure by Marvel Comics
SYSTEM: Marvel Multiverse RPG
PRODUCT TYPE: softcover supplement
RETAIL PRICE: $14.99
DESCRIPTION: PC superheroes get caught up within the Timestream Entanglement as the Marvel Multiverse RPG joins forces with the video game, Marvel Rivals. The PCs join Psylocke, Mantis, Jeff the Land Shark and many others as they escape from the Collector’s Museum. Features a 10-page comic and an adventure that serves as a prologue to the video game.
The Necromancer’s Game box set by Necromancer Games
The Necromancer’s Game – Expansion 1
The Necromancer’s Game Deck of Dirty Player Tricks
Demon-Seed of the Plant God (The Necromancer’s Game)
Demon-Seed of the Plant God (D&D 5.5)
SYSTEM: OSR (Dungeons & Dragons 5.5)
PRODUCT TYPE: collection box set/softcover supplement/deck of cards/softcover adventure
RETAIL PRICE: $110/$30/$18/$25 each
DESCRIPTION: The Necromancer’s Game box set includes: Player’s Handbook, Player Character Sheets, Game Master’s Guide, Tome of Monsters, an encounter poster, and the adventure Of Maps and Ruined Temples (introductory). PCs play the classic classes like Dwarves, Elves, Fighters, and Magic-Users and go on adventures that include combat, parlay, digging for lore, and exploration. Inspired by OD&D. Includes rules for parley and negotiating, lore checks, wilderness travel, and morale. Exploration includes information on how to camp, what routes to take, and how to survive the wilderness. Has standardized XP tables, saving throws, and attack rolls. The Necromancer’s Game – Expansion 1 includes new class such as the Barbarian and Goblin, spells for Illusionists and Necromancers, and an adventure, Shadow of the Blood Moon. The Necromancer’s Game Deck of Dirty Player Tricks provide changes in the narration and grant minor boons and bonuses for PCs. Can be handed out at the GM’s discretion (as a reward for great play, for example). Each card also has a flavor test of a pop culture reference, meme, pun, or worse. Demon-Seed of the Plant God is an adventure for two to six PCs of levels four to six. The PCs follow a trail beyond the village leads into fog and vine, where travelers vanish. Every hill, every cave, every fallen log may hold hidden danger. But the road leads the PCs forward, through wet woods and broken idols, to where the earth drinks blood and something far older than gods begins to wake. The wilderness watches. The Seed is awakening.
Neogi & Space Eel by WizKids
Umber Hulk
Gray Render
SYSTEM: Spelljammer: Adventures in Space (AD&D 2E)
PRODUCT TYPE: two unpainted miniatures and some assembly may be required/one unpainted mini/one unpainted mini
RETAIL PRICE: $5.99/$8.99/$8.99
DESCRIPTION: The mysterious and dangerous Neogi are slavers and pirates preying on others; they are the scourge of Wildspace. Space Eels, however, rely on others, using their speed and endurance to feed off barnacles from spelljamming ships. Umber hulks serve the Neogi, working as muscle and even carrying their masters. Gray renders are often found with the Neogi and may be their creation.
Bloody Sunshard dice by Die Hard Dice
SYSTEM: RPGs that use the RPG range of seven dice
PRODUCT TYPE: seven dice
RETAIL PRICE: $18.95
DESCRIPTION: These gold dice look like blood splattered mythril metal, but are light as a sunbeam dancing on leaves. The black ink provides a sharp, distinct contrast, making them particularly readable. Seven acrylic polymer dice each gold with black ink and a vibrant red like a blood splatter.
*Thoughts on Strange Tales:
I’m a fan of Strange Tales of Songling. My campaign was bloody and exciting. When Brendan of Bedrock Games told me he was working on and eventually sent me the PDF of Strange Tales of New England I was really interested.
PCs investigate a monster of the week in modern day New England. Not our New England but more King or Lovecraft’s New England with the vampires and lurking horrors and whatnot.
There is a secret in the setting. No spoilers here and players should not go looking for the reveal. It isn’t hidden or hard to find for GMs, however, and options are included to make the secret unique to a GM’s own setting. In addition to the big secret there are many, many options for GMs to tweak their own campaign. A good amount of advice on running a horror campaign is also included for GMs.
Second, the setting is deep and complex with religious themes to go with the horror and action. Like Strange Tales of Songling, Strange Tales of New England is visceral and dangerous, and the choices PCs make have real impact.
Rules are based on a die 10 dice pool using skills, and each PC following one of five paths that are level based. In addition to taking Wounds, PCs can suffer Spiritual Corruption. The path of exorcist has access to prayers and anyone can learn magic either Malignant or Non-Malignant.
Many campaign options are covered. I’m truly intrigued by a 33 adventure campaign, which covers an adventure at each of the 33 included campaign locations. What an epic campaign that would be to run. Like Songling, this setting is inspired by a literary work, in this case Purgatorio of The Divine Comedy, the middle part between Inferno and Paradiso.
Strange Tales of New England is packed with locations, NPCs, maps, and monsters. It uses a tested system and couples it with generous GM support for both running the game and making and running adventures. Highly recommended.
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