Warriors of the Red Planet Review

 The RPG Pundit has reviewed Warriors of the Red Planet. Overall a positive review, but he does really go off on the Scientist class and their gadgets. Which is one of my favorite things about the game book! One man's junk is another's treasure, and all.

To justify gadgets getting better as the Scientist levels up imagine that he improves its functionality as his understanding of science increases. Anyways, I don't think the weird science gadgets are out of place mechanically or thematically in this game at all.

If the RPG Pundit doesn't like the Scientist, he's going to really hate what I did with the Engineer class in Gunslinger where I doubled down on the gadgets concept. And I think it came out pretty good. You can be the judge once it's released.

If you love the Sword & Planet genre you might also like World of the Last Sun, while not exactly a S&P RPG it is written and designed in the same spirit.

Wizard Tower - Watchtower of Arom the Shadowy Count

 Arom, the shadowy Count of the province of Gasharakim, in western Baulephor, was known for dabbling in spells of surveillance and far seeing. He was particularly interested in the outer realms beyond the sphere of the world where alien worlds revolved in a peculiar dance around the sun. He became paranoid and was convinced a fleet of invaders would descend on Tarniss in skyships of battle and wage war on the domains. His most powerful scrying device, an enormous whirling sphere of mirrors and glass globes is said to still be intact in his great watchtower.

Arom passed away long ago, his warnings of interplanetary invaders never coming to fruition, but some of his cult still believe the Count was correct and it is only a matter of time until the invasion begins.

Inspired by Adventure Bot: Adventure Module GG1 Furious Watchtower of Arom the Shadowy Count 

Gunslinger Update #10

Breaking radio silence here for an update on Gunslinger. The silence wasn't intentional, it is just that I had my head down working hard on the book and lost track of time. At this point we are about 2 weeks past the date I wanted to send the files to the printer.

After reviewing the latest physical proof I felt there were still a few things that needed more work. There were 3 main areas I wanted to improve.

Layout

The book looked good on screen, but it didn't look as good printed out on physical copies. One bit of a surprise is that the font size was too large. I wanted the book to be easy to read and reference, especially during play, but the font size seemed a little too much like padding. So it was reduced by 1 point. This affected the layout on all the pages, and so that all had to be reworked. The gaps it left were filled with more art.

Art

Still the largest hold up is completing all the art. This is developing into a well illustrated book full of high quality art. It is a truism that Quantity + Quality takes time. I could have rushed it to meet a deadline, but I wanted to do a better job with the art and also draw more creatures.

Creatures

The writing is nearing completion. I keep thinking it is essentially done, but the Creatures section seemed a bit too thin. The original idea was to make Gunslinger very realistic and it didn't include many fantastic creatures. This left the encounters chapter lacking in excitement, so this section was revisited and greatly expanded. If a Referee wants to run a gritty realistic campaign they can use just the normal animals, if they want to spice things up with a little more of the fantastic that is now included as well.

I should also mention that there are some other little details, such as drawing more maps, fleshing out the random tables, and adding more adventure hooks. But these aren't as major or time consuming as the 3 main things mentioned above. I'm aiming to have this ready early next week, and of course everyone will be getting their updated PDF as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience pardner, adios for now.

WotRP Companion Update - Psychic Warrior

A while back it was teased here that Al Krombach, the highly learned scholar of all things Sword & Planet, was assembling some strange new alien concoctions in his laboratory to unleash on the gaming world. While I've only heard whispers and rumors of what these marvelous assemblies of the written word might be, the little I have seen has filled my imagination with a sense of wonder and excitement, filling my mind with a yearning to visit a distant Red Planet inhabited by giant four-armed green aliens, battling dastardly pirates careening through the thin atmosphere in skyships, and encountering captivating princesses as dangerous as they are beautiful.

Then a note, sent via a mysterious Gridly Wave Transmitter, arrived in my studio with a fragmented message. I managed to piece together some of what it said. It was the description of a new character class known only as the Psychic-Warrior. My understanding is that it is reminiscent of the original Elf -which was a sort of Fighter/Magic-User hybrid in the First Fantasy Roleplaying Game.

PSYCHIC WARRIOR

Some Fighting Men and Women with heightened telepathic and extra-sensory abilities will seek out training to allow them to combine these abilities into something greater. A Psychic Warrior uses their innate abilities to enhance both their martial and defensive abilities, and gains a limited but potent selection of Mentalist powers as well. Charisma is an important ability for Psychic Warriors, and those with a score of 13 or higher gain +5% to experience earned. Psychic Warriors may use any weapon and armor, and use the same Saving Throw table as Fighting Men (see Warriors of the Red Planet).

 

Psychic Warriors roll d8 for each Hit Die (to a maximum of 10HD).

Psychic Warriors have the following special abilities:

 

Psychic Enhancement (PsyEnh): The Psychic warrior focuses his or her extra-sensory abilities to enhance their combat abilities. They may apply a bonus (as per the chart above) to one of the following each round, selected and stated at the beginning of each round: Attack Roll, Damage Roll, or Armor Class. For example, a 5th level Seer-Hero may elect to apply his or her +3 Psychic Enhancement bonus to attack rolls one round, and to Armor Class the next.

 

Mentalist Powers: The Psychic Warrior learns Mentalist powers of their choice per the chart above, selected from the powers available both from this tome and Warriors of the Red Planet. Each power may be used once per day, and the Psychic Warrior requires a minimum of six hours of uninterrupted rest or meditation to regain the use of those powers. Most Mentalist powers in general allow a saving throw to prevent its effects, and Psychic Warriors with a Charisma score of 13 or higher may add their Basic Ability Modifier to powers that involve a to-hit or damage roll. For more on Mentalist Powers see Warriors of the Red Planet.

Warduke Wednesday

 Say hello to my little friend the Morning Star.