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#rpg review
open-hearth-rpg · 2 months
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Pressure: A Review
Late last year Osprey released Pressure: Industrial Science Roleplaying. In it you play heavily armed and well-trained contractors dealing with threats in space ala Aliens. It's a sequel to Those Dark Places, using the same setting and basic mechanics. I ran a couple of sessions of it and have put together my impressions. Plus there's links to a character keeper for it and actual play videos.
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ode-to-odes · 7 months
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RPG Review: Journey of 1000 Zips
Well... if it's listed on itch as an RPG, then that's what it is... right?? In any case, this was one of the evenings I've ever had. Truly spectacular.
To play this game, you open 1000 nested zip files. Every file is numbered, so you can see how far you have left to go, and occasionally Elliot (@morebluebs) has left a comment in a file name. It's a dialogue between two people slowly losing their minds, in a way.
I spent two hours of my life on this game, and to be completely honest, I wish I hadn't. I also think Elliot wishes he hadn't made it, so at least all's fair in love and zipped files. This "game" is only for those with immense hubris and a growing to-do list filled with tasks they don't want to complete. That said, I'd rate it a 10/10 if I were a rating type of woman, which I'm not.
In order to keep myself sane, I took notes on the thoughts going through my mind as I played this game. Read under the cut to witness my descent into madness. Perhaps that will be enough to deter you from playing it yourself.
File 999. Let's do it.
950. I appreciate the title. Hoping for more of these as we keep going
900. No, it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know why I’m not listening to music while I do this. Perhaps I intuitively understand that this needs to be done in as boring an environment as possible.
899. okay
819. AH!
801. wouldn’t open. I’ve been opening these within each other, so I assume 200 nested files is the limit on my laptop. I moved file 802 to be by itself in my downloads folder and tried again. 801 opened. Huzzah, and the journey continues.
I also can’t believe this took Elliot over a year to make this. I assume this was a boredom and procrastination project. Kudos for ever finishing it tbh
800. I know. I’m doing it anyway
750. doesn’t have a comment in the file name. I didn’t realize I’d started to look forward to the names ever fifty files. Disappointed, I carry on.
743. I see we’re being unpredictable. Does the creator know that by making the opening of each file a gamble, opening these becomes more fun? Belatedly I realize that the opening of file 750 marked a quarter of the journey. Am even more disappointed op didn’t say anything to commemorate this moment.
700. I lost the ability to quit when I opened the first file. I’m committing to the bit. Fuck you.
650. once again, no mid-hundred title. I’m taking this moment to comment that as I do this, my sister is sitting next to me watching a frankly terrible horror movie. I am, I think, ashamed to say I find this activity more enjoyable.
627. Divisible by three, but not by nine.
608. Huzzah! My sister has decided to skip ahead in her movie because it’s boring her. I cannot do the same for my chosen entertainment tonight.
607 is empty. I tried opening it again. 607 2 is also empty. Migration attempt incoming.
Second migration of the night worked. continuing on. While I can’t say I’m enjoying this anymore, I’m glad that this does in fact appear to be 1000 nested files. I would never forgive Elliot if it ended prematurely
600. Don’t ask me to explain my decisions.
564. Elliot, do you feed on the part of my soul that I’m losing while playing this?
525. What does carpal tunnel feel like?
499. I feel nothing.
492. My sister asked me what I was doing. I explained to her. She asked me why I was doing this. I told her I didn’t know. She said nothing and then left. About as much of a response as I could’ve hoped for
461. Hey now. I could have done any number of things to procrastinate. You’re not special, Elliot.
432. Also divisible by three. Obviously I’m not listing every number divisible by three. But it just occurred to me here. As long as I’m taking a break from clicking, I’m going to move from the kitchen to my bedroom now that my sister has finished her movie and gone to bed. My wrist won’t stop cracking.
40 minutes later and I’m back at it.
425. In anticipation of the next file failure, I migrate this one earlier. plus if there’s a comment on 420 I can enjoy it unimpeded by the 200 file limit
407. A number that feels like it should be prime but isn’t
351. This isn’t getting any easier. However, it isn’t getting harder, either. That forty minute break did wonders for the one wrist muscle I’m using to do this.
333. Roughly 2/3 of the way there, although obviously not exactly. I think it would be an interesting psychology study to see how different people react to having to do this.
321. favorite one so far, definitely made me smile
294. Some people could probably find it in them to quit now.
284. I believe it. Why would you make this. Just to prove you could? Was 1000 the maximum files you could nest, or could you have kept going? Maybe one day we’ll have a sequel and it’ll just be 2000 files. I’d probably play that too. I don’t know why. But I think I would.
260. Another migration. This was definitely less than 200 files, but whatever. Will migrate again at 100 for the auspiciousness.
250. 75% done. I started this an hour and forty minutes ago. 100 minutes ago. So probably half an hour left. It feels like it should be less.
219. If I told my mom about this, she’d probably tell me that downloading things like this off the internet is a one way trip to getting malware on your computer. While I trust itch.io strangers much more than she does, can you imagine explaining that to the person you hire to fix your computer? “Yeah, I downloaded a file off the internet. It contained 1000 zip files nested within each other. I opened every single one and then the last one had this gnarly virus.” Like,,,,, you’d really be bringing that upon yourself. My friend hopes the last file contains something; he predicts the game of thrones shame gif. While I’d appreciate a fun little image, I fully expect there to be nothing except the last file just being called something like “you did it. Congrats on the most pointless accomplishment ever” well. Back to it
198. Elliot, if you had to go through the pain of making this, some of us might as well go through the pain of playing it.
175. I realized I forgot to point out 197, which is the Pokédex number for umbreon, my favorite Pokemon. home stretch.
135. I’m obviously tired. I did the math all wrong. Forgot to subtract the forty minutes I spent not doing this. This began at roughly 8:40 PM. It’s 10:34. So 1 hour 54 minutes minus forty. 74 minutes to open 865 files. Those numbers aren’t nice enough for me to do mental math, but I think I’ll be done in like ten minutes. Lets go!!
117. marks the first time the zipped file had a comment. Before this you had to unzip the file to see the comment. Which begs the question, is this something Elliot changed partway through, or will this be the only time it happens? I guess we’ll see.
I also realized 111 will be the last time we have repeating digit in a 3 digit number. 999 was the first… how far we’ve come.
111!!!! I feel like Elliot a bit. Is anyone going to read this? Am I screaming to the void?? Par for the course, I suppose.
100. Zipped file also has the comment. Clearly Elliot didn’t know how to do it differently at first. Anyway. Time for the final migration!
85. Seeing 2-digit numbers is jarring after all this time.
69 nice.
40. You know what would be so fucking funny? If we got to file 1 and it was labeled 1000 and then there were 1000 more files. I know Elliot didn’t do this - he doesn’t have it in him. But it would be so fucked up. I think that would make me quit. 1000 is enough
19. My favorite number. I can’t believe this is almost over.
2. This is it.
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rpgsocialservices · 1 month
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RPG Review: Misao Definitive Edition
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Ah, Misao. A cornerstone of 2010s rpgmaker games. Horror, parody, a genuinely fun vibe that is so derivative yet so distinctive and memorable. A remastered edition was published on Steam in 2017, and I'm here to go over the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Note: I am reviewing the remastered edition, not the 2011 edition; however part of the review will be comparing the two.
The Good:
The graphics on this game were probably the biggest upgrade from the original. It is still recognizably Misao, but the quality is clearer, the characters are more detailed and look like video game characters instead of dolls, and the backgrounds are simultaneously less cluttered and more detailed where it counts. Beyond that, there are the items to collect. I am, admittedly, ambivalent on the change from body parts to personal items, but it does provide a greater cohesion with the story. There are other minor changes (such as Aki hiding in a bear suit instead of a corpse), but nothing that detracted from overall experience. In fact, the updated game is well worth it for the increased detail and streamlined concepts.
I really enjoyed the differences between male and female Aki. Female Aki is the 'true' game experience, but playing male Aki highlights how unhinged the female version is. Like seriously, if you play the female version first and then the male (which is the best order) you feel like you just woke up the day after the purge. Male Aki is so normal compared to female Aki and it really comes off well both as two distinctive versions and as a humorous comparison. I played male Aki after playing female Aki and felt like a 22 year old coming to grips with the homoerotic friendship I had in school that was detrimental to my mental health. I felt like I had finished reading a manga about toxic yuri. I felt like watching Jennifer's Body. Female Aki is psychotic.
The Bad:
After talking about how great the new graphic are comparatively, this is going to feel kind of nitpicky. I actually think the older graphic lend a certain atmosphere that the new graphics don't quite capture. Don't get me wrong, there are certain elements I much appreciate, such as the floor tiles not being so busy and the character sprites not looking so wooden or having doll proportions. The rooms (if not the halls) themselves just look better. It's just that, despite all the demons and blood and general 'spooky' nonsense, I don't feel like I'm in an underworld demon realm like I did with the old graphics. It was a charm reminiscent of crt tvs and atari games that is becoming increasingly rare in modern game graphics.
The Ugly:
I hate the extra endings. Not the bad and true endings, but the after-game ending where you go save everyone from hell and help them reincarnate. Some were good, some were ok, but the teacher's story put such a bad taste in my mouth. For one, I was genuinely uninterested in his story or what made him decide to be a predator on his students. For two, honestly, this is a game that largely rests on being the video game equivalent of a bad haunted house. The teacher's story is the one element that doesn't fit the vibe of the rest of the game well, and that makes it stick out like a sore thumb. Honestly, I get what they were going for, but its clunky at best. I liked the entire rest of the game until this part which made me almost not play the male run.
Summary:
This is a fun game! Its not perfect, and personal preference will decide which version of the game you like best, but it absolutely holds up as a remake and is just as silly to play through as the other versions. There's a ton of theorizing to be done between this game, the earlier versions, and Mad Father (another game by the same dev which is referenced a lot in Misao). If I ever feel like playing all of those games back to back I might make my own list, but its fun to find what you can and come up with your own theories! Personally, my favorite part was collecting all the different ways to die like I was filling out my pokemon index, haha
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tabletopbellhop · 1 year
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TTRPG #ShortReview
Central Supply Catalog for T4 (Traveller)
T4 was my first experience with pen and paper Traveller, and I loved it, my group loved it, but then we found out my book was missing a rather important section and never went back, except to make characters.
This was the only splat book I bought but I loved it and got a lot of use out of it while playing. It was especially useful in a trader-based campaign which is what I was running.
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blacjaq1 · 4 months
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legionofmyth · 1 year
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Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World - Faster-than-Light Space Travel
🚀 Explore Rifts at warp speed! ⚡ Let's take a look at Phase Drives, CG-Drives, R-Drives, and the Spacegate Jump system in Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World. #Rifts #PhaseWorld #FasterThanLight #SciFi #RP
Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World – [PDF]Warp into the future and explore the infinite possibilities of faster-than-light travel! Join us as we delve into the P-Drives, CG-Drives, R-Drives, and Spacegate Jump system in Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World. Don’t miss out on this cosmic adventure! Get ready for an epic adventure through the multiverse with Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase…
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zigmenthotep · 1 year
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Join me in laying the smackdown on one of, if not the strangest tabletop role-playing game sourcebooks, Zombie Smackdown. Which yes, is in fact about pro wrestling and zombies... for some reason.
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technicalgrimoire · 3 months
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We put SO MUCH work into the digital edition of Bones Deep. Glad to see that work paid off!
You can grab a copy for yourself here: https://www.technicalgrimoire.com/bones-deep
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arsene-inc · 7 months
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I want to share this mad idea a french ttrpg designer had.
A system of rules to speedrun campaigns and scenarios.
Warning : the table MUST have played it normally before. These rules are for giving a second life to these campaign books catching dust in your library
These rules are an add-on to the system you used for the campaign. Now you can Bunny hop, glitch, clip, go out of bonds in your game. Bugs can appear. Suddenly the game is in another language, good luck to the players who don't speak it.
You can add little challenges, the same as video game speedrun. Like an all boss run, a no hit run, a non lethal run, etc.
Honestly I found the idea bonkers. I want to try it, seems like a good idea for a crazy game night.
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nebmia · 2 months
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Reviewing every rpg book on my shelf: 1, Dungeon Crawl Classics
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Everything about this game is absolutely dripping with bonkers maximalist bombast that makes me excited to play. To start with book itself is nearly 2 inches thick. Is that practical? No! does it feel like you've got an ancient tome full of roleplaying possibilities? Absolutely.
In a world tending towards minimalism and 'polished' production its so good to have somthing thats just big and fun and unapologetic about not being what it is.
DCC's dice are a microcosm of everything great about it. Not only do they come in shapes they never taught you about in maths class but they also all come with a fun little bonus. One of my sets comes with a stat block for a monster, while the other has a ridiculous table of reality warping effects on which you roll ALL the dice in the set, and inevitably send your campaign careening off into madness. (and it has a frame story about a stoner wizard in a magic van).
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And then there's the actual contents of the book, which is probably about 80% spells and ridiculous tables. And the spells are just so good. Each one takes up a a least a full page on average and gives a range of results according to how well you roll, from 'it missfires and things go horribly wrong' at the bottom, through 'it does about what you would expect' in the middle result ranges, to 'actually, this is almost too much' if you manage to get a roll in the 30s.
Alongside being sick as hell, this also has a satisfying effect of keeping low level spells relevent and interesting as their effects scale with the strength of the caster on a variety of axis.
related to spells is the 'spell duel' procedure. I have no idea how well it runs at the table, but the idea that when two (or more) wizards fight their spells can interact and you can use any appropriate spell to try and counter another spell is so increadibly compelling.
Ok, enough gushing about vibes. what about actually playing? So far what I have run is the 'level-0 funnel', which is probably what you have heard about if you have heard anything about DCC. The premise is simple: randomly generate 2-4 level-0 peasants for each player, send them into a dungeon, and then take whoever survives and level them up to become your characters for a campaign.
Not only does these lead to much hilarity as a mob of townsfolk bungle their way through danger but also really fun problem solving as the players work out how best to navigate problems with a shoehorn, a bundle of wood and a live chicken.
Specifically, what I have run is Sailors on the Starless Sea, which is correctly recognised as THE introductory module to use. Its a nice sequence of somewhat open investigation followed by a excellend sequence of bombastic set pieces, all the while giving the players lots of scope to come at things ininteresting ways. It can get a bit unwiedly trying to manage such large number of characters when they do run into combat but if you plan ahead a bit and use various tricks (it would be useful is more of that advice was in the book rather than coming from forums) it is manageable.
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And to return to vibes one last time: the art in these books is just so good. We could not be further from the slightly stiff generic highly rendered fantasy art of wotc era d&d. Its all fantastically old school fantasy, so full of character, and just the right amount of rough around the edges. My only slight complaint is that this does include a little too much of old school fantasy art's treatment of women than I would like...There are still prenty of sensibly dressed women and i'm not about to decree that no sexy fantasy women are allowed but the dial is a little further in a direction of objectification that I would like.
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open-hearth-rpg · 2 months
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Tomorrow City: A Review
Osprey recently released Tomorrow City: Dieselpunk Roleplaying by Nathan Russell. It uses the same basic system as Russell's Neon City Overdrive and Hard City (the latter also from Osprey). I ran a couple of sessions of it and have put together my impressions. Plus links to a character keeper for it and actual play videos.
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"The gorgeous book and art catches your eye, but what makes Wildsea unique in its worldbuilding vision is that there’s follow-through. The concept is outlandish: The world has been overrun by a veritable forest of massive trees, and your characters ‘sail’ across it on a ship that’s essentially a giant chainsaw. From this base concept comes many of the underlying setting assumptions, and they help the world feel cohesive even though it, at a high level, works very differently from our world. In an ocean of wood fire is catastrophic, so there is taboo against open flame. That affects how things are cooked, which in turn affects culture around food. The ‘spits’, settlements above the treetops, are threatened by the constantly growing and shifting flora, so impermanence is, once again, reflected through the whole culture. The game sticks the landing on creating something new by thinking through the core concept they present." - @levelonewonk
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rpgsocialservices · 1 month
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RPG Review: The Forest of Drizzling Rain (2022)
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The Forest of Drizzling Rain is a largely exploration based horror game, in which newly orphaned college student Shiori goes to her parents' childhood village in an attempt to reconnect to a past she has no recollection of. The original version came out in 2013, and then a remastered edition was launched on Steam in 2022. I have not played the first edition, so this review will focus entirely on the remastered edition. There will be spoilers, but not in detail.
Plot: The game begins right after Shiori buries her parents. It is established that she has no recollection of her early life, and she decided to visit the village her parents grew up in (and where she spent her early years) in an attempt to piece together her history. I won't go into detail, but essentially a long time ago a man was driven crazy when he angered a forest spirit, and killed a woman's husband and unborn child when he imprisoned her unjustly. She turned into a vengeful spirit upon her death, and would tempt the village children into the forest and kill them so their spirits would be her children. Shiori's family were guardians who could ward off the spirit, and she and Koutarou (the other main character) have both been hunted by the spirit since they were children, and have to (essentially) break the curse so the spirit can pass on.
The first half of the game has a lot of build-up, but the tone carried throughout the events, characters, and character interactions all work together very well to convey a deep and disquieting sense of mystery and unrest. There's not a sense of urgency until the second half, but in the first half you know that that urgency is coming, and you're simply waiting to trigger the event that sets it off without knowing when or what it will be. For that reason, an unspoiled first run is ideal for this game; the air of mystery and impending doom is heightened drastically when you don't know who you can trust.
While the spirit's history ultimately fell flat for me personally, and I think the game would've been tighter and more cohesive if it had been done differently (though I do understand why people would like it), the second half of the game where you try to get rid of the spirit makes up for it. The shrine and the cave maps especially manage to capture the same uneasy feeling that the museum does in the beginning of the game.
Gameplay: There's no fighting, but there are chase sequences and occasional puzzles. The puzzles largely come into play in the second half of the game with a couple small ones in the beginning. This game is very dialogue and flashback heavy, in a good chunk of it comes across more like a visual novel than anything else. Unfortunately I do think that is to this games detriment, as the strongest sections are the exploration and puzzle ones. This game suffers a bit from telling instead of showing, which is ironic considering Koutarou doesn't talk, but if you get past that (or if you like it even) the other elements of the game make up for it. There is a fishing minigame, but the game play for it isn't the best and I found it nearly impossible to get the achievement for it.
Characters: The characters are by far the strongest element of this game. They have tangible personalities and traits which help or hinder them depending on the situation. They react in ways that realistically fit their characters. Character interactions are organic and unforced, even when the interaction is with a background character (who are memorable in their own right). Each character has clear motivations that drive them, which makes it easy to like them.
Extra: The largest element of this game that didn't work for me is the disjointed vibes. I really wish I could put it into words better, but essentially the spirit's storyline and the way its told comes across as a completely different story from the main one. Even though it is, there should be a greater sense of narrative cohesiveness between the two. It might have worked better if they had told the spirit's backstory some other way, like if the only bits the player got was what Shiori is able to find out.
Despite the less than stellar mechanics for it, the existence of a fishing minigame is always a plus for me. The maps are visually interesting and don't take long to walk through, and mostly add to the atmosphere. The multiple endings are, aside from the characters, my favorite part of the game. I found each one interesting and realistic in its own right and thought they each added to the story and to the character arcs.
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anim-ttrpgs · 3 months
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The Review Copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy
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Guess what is coming soon at the time of writing this? The review copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!
This represents the first official pre-release release of a version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy that doesn’t look like an unformatted mess!
Don’t get me wrong, the version of Eureka you get for just $5 on our patreon is plenty readable, but in its current unformatted state the page count is hugely bloated, there’s a lot of blank space, and the flavor text is all just shoved under the body text with notes denoting it as such. Plus, it’s all just black text on a white background without much in the way of aesthetic besides the occasional snoop to break things up.
Well not anymore! The copy we are going to be sending to reviewers and rpg news outlets is going to be a test-run of our actual intended aesthetic for the finalized rulebook, that of a bunch of conspiracy and investigation notes pinned to a corkboard with red string connecting them!
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(The text within the images you’re seeing here is slightly outdated because these are just mock-ups, the text in the actual review copy will be much cleaner thanks to some excellent copy-editing help we have been getting.)
Due to time constraints and being behind on deadlines, plus not having the Kickstarter money to pay for additional art yet, this version will not showcase the full scope of the intended aesthetic, but it will at least give you a pretty good idea of what we’re going for.
The final version is going to have a wider variety in the paper scraps so as to more efficiently use the space available, plus a bunch of different “styles” for the side text, which will help denote whether it is a rules clarification, an example, a bit of flavor text, etc—plus a whole Kickstarter campaign worth of art from theblackwarden, qsy, and chaospyromancy! The Kickstarter campaign is launching April 10th, 2024, and we are going to need about $3,000 to meet our base goal and $33,000 to meet all of our many stretch goals, so if you want a more stylish and artistic rulebook, please give what you can to our Kickstarter campaign in April!
We are gonna be sending this version of the rulebook to tons and tons of TTRPG personalities and news outlets within the next couple of weeks in hopes of an honest review or two that will help get Eureka on people's radar beyond the modest following we have here on Tumblr. If you are one such personality or news outlet, and you want to recieve access to the free review copy to read and write about, please do not hesitate to contact us, even if you only have a very small following! You can find our contact info on out website or just contact us right here on tumblr!
Check out our Kickstarter page for the best accumulation of info on what Eureka: investigative Urban Fantasy even is! The Kickstarter campaign launches April 10th 2024!
Check out our Patreon to get the whole prerelease rulebook + multiple adventure modules and pieces of short fiction for a subscription of only $5!
If you wanna try before you buy, check out our website for more information on Eureka as well as a download link to the free demo version!
Interested in actually playing this game, and many others, with the developers? Check out A.N.I.M.'s TTRPG Book Club, a club of nearly 100 members at the time of writing this where we regularly nominate, vote on, and then play indie TTRPGs! At the time of writing this, we are playing Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, and sign-ups are closed for actually playing it, but you can still join in to pick up a PDF club copy of the rulebook to read and follow along with discussion, and sit in on and observe sessions! There is no schedule obligation for joining this club, as we keep things very flexible by assigning multiple GMs with different timeslots each round, to try and accomodate everyone! This round, we had over thirty people sign up, and were able to fit in all but one! Here is the invite link! See you there!
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blacjaq1 · 5 months
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legionofmyth · 1 year
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Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World - Governments
🎲 Get ready to explore the political landscape of the multiverse! Join us as we delve into the fascinating Transgalactic Empire and United Worlds of Warlock governments of Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World! #RiftsRPG #PhaseWorld #TabletopGaming
Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World – [PDF]The Transgalactic Empire and the United Worlds of Warlock are two of the major interstellar factions featured in Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World. Get ready for an epic adventure through the multiverse with Rifts Dimension Book #02: Phase World! This must-have supplement for the popular Rifts tabletop roleplaying game takes you to new dimensions,…
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