Fantasy Flight Games announced the upcoming Star Wars Age/Edge/F&D supplement Allies and Adversaries, The Essential Collection of Heroes and Villains. So, plenty of NPCs and stat blocks for Star Wars RPG campaigns. Use them as the characters they are, or modify for your own games. I worked on it. It’s scheduled for release in the second quarter this year.
announcements
Guest at Midwest GameFest This Weekend
I’ll be one of the special guests at Midwest GameFest this weekend November 1st thru the 4th in Independence, MO (Kansas City metro area). I’ll be running Star Wars RPGs, as well as a little Savage Worlds Flash Gordon, Numenera, and the latest version of Paranoia. I’m also hosting seminars on writing RPGs and cartography. Preregistration event sign up has passed, but there are still plenty of space available to sign up on site. Click here for events and schedules.
Android - Shadow of the Beanstalk Announced
Fantasy Flight Games announced Android Shadow of the Beanstalk, bringing full support of the Genesys RPG to the cyberpunk near future Android universe. The 256 page book features Android specific elements for Genesys character creation and source material complete with game stats. It covers New Angeles, the space elevator known as the Beanstalk, the moon, and beyond. Shadow of the Beanstalk works with the existing Worlds of Android guide book (which is basically a sourcebook sans stats).
I worked on Shadow of the Beanstalk.
Recruits Convention This Weekend
I’m one of the Special Guests at Recruits Convention 23rd show this weekend, September 28-30, 2018 at Lee's Summit High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri. I'll be hosting seminars and running some games. The game schedule is available (no pre-registration for games, sign up on site). I’ll be running a shorter version of my Kessel Breakout con adventure. The seminar schedule isn’t up yet, but I’ll be hosting three. Since the con is at a high school, the first two will have more of a how-to/educational approach.
Friday 6pm-7pm - Creating Maps & Deckplans for Games
Saturday 1pm-2pm - Writing for RPGs
Sunday 11am-12pm - Star Wars RPG Q&A
There will be a lot of games, particularly war games, along with some RPGs hosted by RPGKC. It is an inexpensive event to check out.
Star Wars Rise of the Separatists Announced
Fantasy Flight Games announced the latest Era sourcebook for the Star Wars RPGs: Rise of the Separatists. It brings the Clone Wars and specifically The Clone Wars animated series to the RPG, and can be used with any or all of the existing core rulebooks. I worked on the product. It features, for the first time, the Jedi career, as well as clone specific careers. As usual, it also features four new species, and other era specific resources.
Recruits Convention Special Guest
Recruits Convention announced I'll be a Special Guest at this fall's event. Recruits' 23rd show will be September 28-30, 2018 at Lee's Summit High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri. I'll be holding a couple of seminars and running some games. More on that when the seminar schedule is available.
New Podcast Interview - Board at Work by Pawn and Pint
I was invited to appear on the new Pawn and Pint podcast series Board at Work. Pawn and Pint is a game pub in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. They have a gigantic wall of board games and many RPG events.
Board at Work by Pawn and Pint: EP 003 Talking Star Wars with writer and game designer Sterling Hershey - Donald the DM and I discuss the span of my career as a writer and game designer for the Star Wars role-playing games. And some other bits.
DMs Day Sale at DMs Guild & DriveThruRPG
The rather inaccurately named DMs Day Sale at Dungeon Masters Guild and Drive Thru RPG is on, and runs thru March 11th (so, DMs Week). Most of my offerings are available at a discount. If you use the links below or on my Storefront page to purchase items, I get also a small affiliate credit. Thanks.
- DM Combat Tabs - Silver Best Seller
- Uncommoners (10 Backgrounds) - Copper Best Seller
- Drums in the Marsh DDEX1-7 Adventurers League Adventure - Platinum Best Seller
- Drums in the Marsh Map Pack
- Genesys RPG Core Rulebook - Platinum Best Seller
- The Last Parsec Pranac Pursuit adventure for Savage Worlds - Silver Best Seller
- Many of the D&D 4e products I worked on are also on sale. See my Storefront page for direct links.
As a side note, I just realized that The Game Mechanics pdfs are no longer available.
Roaming Chult Released on DMs Guild
in announcements, D&D
I'm happy to announce the release of Roaming Chult, my latest DM's Guild product for Dungeons and Dragons (5e).
Roaming Chult is a collection of new items and resources for players and Dungeon Masters playing in Chult for Tomb of Annihilation campaigns or other jungle adventures.
Player features:
- 100 New trinkets, inspiried by Chult, its people, and its adventursome visitors.
- 5 New backgrounds for PCs from Chult (great options for mid-campaign replacement characters).
- Chult Castaway
- Chult Dinosaur Racer
- Chult Merchant
- Chult Miner
- Chult Righteous Defender
DM features:
- 9 New magic items of the trickster gods, with powers and hinderances reflecting each of their personailties and motives.
- 20 New magic items of the denizens of Chult.
- Expedition Log for tracking exploration progress and basic supplies through the jungles (or any campaign). Print and fill out at the table during the game. Also PDF form fillable. For DM or player use.
- Expedition Journal Pages for DM handouts or player journals and notes. One is ruled, the other features a grid for maps and sketches. Print and use at the table. Both are also PDF form fillable.
The PDF file has printer friendly pages, except for the Log and Journal Pages, which are full page color.
Genesys RPG Now Available!
Genesys, The Roleplaying Game for All Settings is now available! This game takes the narrative dice system used in Star Wars Edge of the Empire/Age of Rebellion/Force and Destiny and builds on it to provide a system adaptable to any genre and setting. Magic, superheroes, high tech, sci-fi, horror and more are all possible using just the core rulebook. A few example settings featuring some of Fantasy Flight Games' universes are included as examples and for use for those who want to dive right in - such as Android and Runebound.
I worked on the Build an Adventure section and most of the Tones section (but not those used in this preview). Build an Adventure is pretty straightforward advice on constructing adventures. Tones are layered on to settings. Android is a hard sci-fi setting, but it supports a variety of tones, such as mystery, drama, or horror. Other settings might match up with certain tones very well - such as space opera with a pulp tone. Tones also feature special rules to play up their importance and style of play. The Cliffhanger rule I worked up for the Pulp section is my favorite.
The core rulebook is now available, along with the Genesys Roleplaying Dice and the Genesys Dice android and ios apps. Note that the Genesys dice names and symbol names remain the same as the Star Wars dice, but the Genesys dice use different symbols (though they look similar to the Star Wars dice symbols).
You can download the PDF character sheet here, and the Gen Con 50 preview adventure here.
Update: Now available in PDF at DriveThruRPG.
GamerNation Con 5: Order of the Gamers Guest of Honor
That was quick. d20 Radio and the Order 66 podcast announced their Kickstarter for GNcon 5: Order of the Gamers today, and I'm the Guest of Honor. The Kickstarter has already funded.
GNCon runs April 5-8, 2018 at Dallas Games Marathon in Plano, Texas.
GNCon is a small game convention, but draws attendees from d20 Radio's fans around the world. I'll be doing a panel and running some games. Space is limited at the con, so backing the Kickstarter is a must for attendees. More information is on the kickstarter site.
Ghosts of Dathomir Released!
The wait is over. The boat has arrived. Star Wars Force and Destiny Ghosts of Dathomir officially released today! Find it at your local game stores, major retailers, and online.
It's been a longer than anticipated wait, but hopefully everyone will find it to be worth it. Explore unusual and dangerous locations against a variety of foes and a top notch villain. There is a lot of room for GM/party background connections and customization, as desired.
Discovery. Danger. Drama. Dathomir.
Star Wars RPG Dawn of Rebellion Announced
Today, Fantasy Flight Games announced a new type of product for the Star Wars RPGs line. Star Wars Dawn of Rebellion is an Era sourcebook, the first RPG book for use with any of the three Star Wars RPG game lines - Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and/or Force and Destiny. It features the Rebels TV show and Rouge One. I'm one of the writers. It's a fourth quarter 2017 release.
Star Wars Age of Rebellion Cyphers and Masks Announced
Fantasy Flight Games announced Star Wars Age of Rebellion Cyphers and Masks late last week. Since I ignored twitter most of the weekend, I didn't catch it until now thanks to today's announcement (see next post). Cyphers and Masks is the spy sourcebook, and I'm one of the writers. It is due to be released fourth quarter of this year.
Pablo Hidalgo Joins the 30 Years of Star Wars RPGs Gen Con panel
I'm very pleased to announce that Pablo Hidalgo of the Star Wars story group will be joining Bill Slavicsek, Sam Stewart, and myself for the 30 Years of Star Wars RPGs panel at Gen Con 50 this August. Pablo has become well known to Star Wars fans thanks to his many years at Lucasfilm working and interacting on the Star Wars website, the story group, books, and for taking listener questions on The Star Wars Show. Before all of that, Pablo was a freelancer for West End Games' The Star Wars RPG and Adventure Journal.
Also, Gen Con has made another 200 tickets available for this event, so if you couldn't get a ticket earlier, try again. No change in time or location.
Genesys RPG Announced!
Today, Fantasy Flight Games announced the new Genesys The Roleplaying Game for All Settings, bringing the narrative dice system from the Star Wars Edge/Age/Force RPGs to any RPG setting. I was one of the writers on the Core Rulebook.
Genesys is based on the Star Wars system, but it has elements all its own as well. The dice have new symbols, but they're not too different. Basically stars are good, Xs are bad. The colors, dice names, and symbol names remain the same as their Star Wars versions. The book comes ready with five different RPG settings covering multiple genres.
Genesys is due for release in 4th Quarter this year.
30 Years of Star Wars Roleplaying Games at Gen Con
With Gen Con 50's advance event schedule going live and wish lists available, I'm happy to announce the "30 Years of Star Wars Roleplaying Games" event, with myself, Sam Stewart of Fantasy Flight Games, and Bill Slavicsek formerly of West End Games and Wizards of the Coast.
Fantasy Flight Games is generously sponsoring the event. It is part retrospective, part panel discussion about 30 years worth of roleplaying in a galaxy far, far away across multiple companies and game systems, featuring some of the designers involved.
Join us at GenCon on Saturday 8/19/17 in Westin Capitol III at 5:00pm (Gen Con Game ID SEM17112485).
Things are still developing, so click here for the latest updates.
Special Modifications Nominated for 2017 Origins Award
in announcements, awards
Star Wars Edge of the Empire Special Modifications, a sourcebook for Technicians, is nominated for a 2017 Origins Award in the RPG category. I was one of the writers. It's an honor to be considered in what is a highly competitive category with a lot of great RPG products. The Star Wars The Force Awakens RPG Beginner Game is also nominated in the same category.
Pawn and Pint Signing 4/25/17
I've been invited to do a signing at the Pawn and Pint board game cafe, 7pm Tuesday April 25, 2017. More details are available on their facebook page. There will be the typical nominal cover charge for non-members, but you get to play anything in their large board game library. I believe they're still working on the cafe portion of the place. It is also X-Wing league night, for those interested.
The Last Parsec: Pranac Pursuit Now Available on Fantasy Grounds
I'm pleased to announce that Pranac Pursuit, my adventure for The Last Parsec setting for the Savage Worlds roleplaying game is now available on Fantasy Grounds (The Virtual Tabletop for Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games). Pranac Pursuit joins four other Last Parsec titles already available on Fantasy Grounds. The adventure requires the Savage Worlds core rules and the Science Fiction Companion Setting rules (but not The Last Parsec core setting rules).
I converted the adventure to Fantasy Grounds myself. It includes all of the text, art, and maps originally provided in the PDF version, plus new tokens for the NPCs. Encounters are linked to the text, and the maps have pins linked to each encounter or other elements on the map. There are screenshots in the Fantasy Grounds catalog listing.
This is my second Fantasy Grounds conversion, the first being my D&D 5e Adventurers League adventure, Drums in the Marsh (Tyranny of Dragons story line). It is available on DMs Guild, where it recently achieved Platinum Best Seller status.