Tag Archive for: bestiary

Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition Coming in February

/in /by

Fantasy AGE 2nd edition Core Rulebook

If you are looking for a new fantasy roleplaying game, your timing couldn’t be better because the Fantasy AGE Core Rulebook is almost here! It will be available as a PDF and go up for print pre-order next month. With our Pre-Order Plus Program, you can add the PDF for only $5 more when you pre-order the printed book, so you can start reading the game as soon as your order is in.

 

 

 

 

What does Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition have to offer? Glad you asked!

  • Fantasy AGE is easy to learn and fun to play. You can make a character in less than 30 minutes, and you only need three 6-sided dice to play.
  • Fantasy AGE is a class and level game so it’s easy to transition to from similar RPGs. The core classes are Envoy, Mage, Rogue, and Warrior (social, magic, sneaky, fighty). You can customize your character with specializations starting at level 1. Choose from duelist, diplomat, elementalist, mystic navigator, pirate, skald, sword mage, and many more.
  • The heart of the game is the stunt system, which brings dynamism and drama to the table. Roll doubles on 3d6 to pull off heroic maneuvers in combat, cast mightier spells, perform amazing feats of physical and mental prowess, or even cut a rival down to size with a few clever words.
  • Fantasy AGE is a toolkit you can use with the setting of your choice. Game Masters have many options to customize the rules for their campaigns. For example, the mage class represents all spellcasters and the game has no de facto stance on the nature of magic. In one campaign, all magic might come from ancestral spirits. In another, there might be a strict difference between arcane and divine magic with rules to reflect it.
  • Fantasy AGE features optional rules systems for Peril, which ramps up the challenges heroes face, and Daring, which allows those same heroes to pull off even more impressive feats.
  • The Fantasy AGE Core Rulebook is a complete game, with player and Game Master info and advice, an array of magical arcana and enchanted items, a selection of monsters and other adversaries, and an adventure so you can start right away.
  • The game is built with the Adventure Game Engine (AGE), which powers many other Green Ronin RPGs: Blue Rose, The Expanse, Modern AGE, and this year brings Cthulhu Awakens and The Fifth Season as well. Each game has some bespoke mechanics to reflect genre and setting (Blue Rose has psychic powers, Modern AGE has modes of play and forgoes classes, and The Expanse has rules for advanced weaponry and spaceship combat, for example) but they all share a common core of rules. If you play any AGE RPG, you already know the basics of the others.

If you are new to Fantasy AGE, you can see the game in just a few weeks. If you’d like to get a sense of the Adventure Game Engine in the meantime, check out the free Quickstart for our Blue Rose RPG.

 

Fantasy AGE: Origins

I designed the Adventure Game Engine in 2008 for our licensed Dragon Age RPG that came out the following year. This was a big hit for us, and it didn’t take long for fans to let us know that they loved the rules but wanted to see a more general version not tied to the world of Thedas. To coincide with Wil Wheaton’s RPG web series Titansgrave, which used the rules, we released the Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook in 2015 to great acclaim. From there the Adventure Game Engine became our house system, with Blue Rose, Modern AGE, and The Expanse following. One reason we began work on the Fantasy AGE Core Rulebook was to take some of the cool mechanical innovations of those games and implement them in the game’s next iteration. Like the churn in The Expanse? It forms the basis of the Peril system in Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition, for example.

 

What Does 2nd Edition Mean?

Current Fantasy AGE fans know we’ve been working on the Fantasy AGE Core Rulebook for several years. We have not previously called it 2nd Edition because one of the original design goals was to make it 99% compatible with the existing Fantasy AGE line. Two things happened along the way. First, it proved difficult to communicate that this was going to be a brand-new rulebook with some changes but mostly compatible with the Basic Rulebook. Second, during development and playtesting, we found more things that we wanted to update or expand, so now it’s more like 90% compatible. For these reasons, we decided that just calling it 2nd Edition would be best. Still, most of the 1st Edition line works just fine with 2nd Edition. You can use stat blocks from the Bestiary and adventures with little tweaking required. While much material from the Fantasy AGE Companion has been updated and incorporated into the new Core Rulebook, Lairs and the Campaign Builders Guide remain quite useful for the Game Master.

We know Fantasy AGE fans have been waiting for the Core Rulebook for a long time, but now the hour is nigh! Thanks for all your support over the years. Your patience will soon be rewarded.

 

The Cthulhu Awakens Menagerie

/in /by

Cthulhu Awakens Monsters
Cthulhu Awakens is a game of fear and weirdness, and that includes the people you meet, from mortal conspirators to otherworldly monsters. I thought folks might like to see all the listings with full game statistics provided in Chapter 9 of the book.

Mundane Creatures: Entries that might exist even in a world without the Mythos

  • Assassin
  • Burglar
  • Clever Crook
  • Enforcer
  • Guard Dog
  • Hooligan
  • Police Detective
  • Police Officer (Uniformed)
  • Security Guard
  • Socialite
  • Soldier
  • Veteran Private Eye

Touched by the Mythos: Individuals who’ve been radically affected by the Cthulhu Mythos, as resisters, victims, or pawns.

  • Angry Civilian
  • Cult Adept
  • Cult High Priest
  • Eldritch Scholar
  • Minion
  • Witch
  • Yithian Operative

Mythos Entities: The monsters and aliens of Cthulhu Awakens. These have expanded entries including extended descriptions and story hooks.

  • Blended
  • Deep One
  • Deep One Hybrid
  • Dimensional Shambler
  • Ghoul
  • Ghast
  • Gnoph-Keh
  • Godspawn, Major
  • Godspawn, Minor
  • Gregarian
  • Gug
  • Mi-Go
  • Night-Gaunt
  • Primordial
  • Shoggoth
  • Skotomorph
  • Tendril From Beyond

In addition, you can use creatures from Modern AGE, especially the Enemies & Allies book, in Cthulhu Awakens with minimal adjustments. Use Gritty Health in default games or convert Cinematic Health to Fortune if you’re using Fortune. Assign combat stunts using the packages in Cthulhu Awakens—something new to how AGE describes creatures we introduced in this game.

Cthulhu Awakens With Modern AGE

/in /by
Cthulhu Awakens in Modern AGE

Art by Natalie Bernard

As part of the AGE System family of games, Cthulhu Awakens is substantially compatible with Modern AGE, our multi-genre modern era RPG. In fact, Cthulhu Awakens was originally designed as a Modern AGE supplement, but eventually merited being broken out into a dedicated game. Nevertheless, the two games are similar enough that we’ve offered Modern AGE books as part of the campaign, because it’s relatively easy to use them together. Here are some notes about doing just that.

Mode: Modern AGE includes special rules for three modes. “Realistic” Gritty Mode, the low-key enhanced reality of Pulpy Mode, and the larger than life Cinematic Mode. Cthulhu Awakens notes that in Modern AGE terms, it is pre-set to Gritty Health (it doesn’t improve with level) but Pulpy Toughness (your character can absorb blows from things like edged weapons as well as fists, but not bullets).

Enemies & Allies: The core Modern AGE book and its supplement Enemies & Allies provide a whole bunch of pre-generated NPCs and strange beings for your use beside Cthulhu Awakens Mythos-based counterparts. Use the Cinematic Mode stats if you use Fortune in Cthulhu Awakens (and covert their Health to Fortune) and Gritty stats otherwise (but Cthulhu Awakens’ rules for Toughness) and the entries are usable as-is. Enemies & Allies in particular includes game statistics for criminals, government agents, renegade scientists, strange psychics, and various mythic and weird creatures.

Powers: Magical Arcana from Modern AGE provide a more traditional version of magic compared to the dangerous eldritch workings of Cthulhu Awakens, while eldritch workings can be used in Modern AGE with no special rules. Modern AGE psychic powers convert to Cthulhu Awakens counterparts easily. The extraordinary items and other options for powers in Modern AGE supplements allow you to add superhumans, cyberpunk augmentations, and other genre variations to Cthulhu Awakens.

Stunts: Cthulhu Awakens and Modern AGE take different approaches to stunts. Cthulhu Awakens uses a small, tightly curated list of streamlined stunts, while Modern AGE takes an expansive approach. You can swap approaches or mix and match for the stunt options you prefer.

Adventures and Settings: Cthulhu Awakens could be just one world in the Modern AGE Threefold setting, and various adventures for Modern AGE would be suitable for Cthulhu Awakens with minimal conversion.

AGE games intended to be hacked and customized! Do what you like, using the common framework of AGE to find your way, and you’ll find immediate support for Cthulhu Awakens through Modern AGE.

Weirdness Overflowing: Cults of the Mythos

/in /by
Strange Cults exist in the Mythos

Art by John Anthony Di Giovanni

 

As mentioned in our last update on the subject, Weirdness Overflowing is a PDF supplement that grows with the campaign, adding new chapters as we go. The first chapter, which qualified backers will be receiving, since we have unlocked the first Weirdness Overflowing stretch goal, is Cults of the Mythos. This is exactly the kind of thing suited for an expansion because the core books mention the following cults and other groups:

· Carter-West Agency

· Children of R’lyeh

· Church of Starry Wisdom

· Court of the Dead

· Enfants du Prêtre

· Face of the Sphinx

· Esoteric Order of Dagon—and its later manifestation, Thalassology

· Illuminated Fraternity of Azathoth

· Implicit Cartography Group

· LOCK

· Mass Cult

· Pickman’s Shelter

· Red Mask

· Society For a Brighter Tomorrow

· Society of the Silver Key

· Society of the Yellow Sign

· Sons of Arkham

· Temple of the Faceless and Unnamed

· Three-Lobed Burning Eye

· Unnamed Conspiracy of the Reanimated

· Unnumbered Directorate

While each group gets varying degrees of coverage in the core book, Cults of the Mythos will describe these groups, and possibly others (we had to cut some from the core, and this would be a decent time to bring them back!) using a common format for reference. Furthermore, we’ll add systems for running cults and other organizations so you can chronicle how cults and conspiracies rise, prosper, fight, and fall.

And now that we have  funded this? Keep going, because next up is the Demimondes Gazetteer, a guide to alternate universes reachable through the mysterious Corridor. We’ll have more to say when it approaches closer!

The Gregarian – Cthulhu Awakens Entity Preview

/in /by
The Gregarian!

Check out the Cthulhu Awakens Kickstarter for more details!

When insects and worms feast on the remains of certain psychics, sorcerers, and certain strong-willed individuals, they sometimes copy the residue of that individual’s personality, and a Gregarian is born. These flesh-eaters develop a collective will, and even acquire some of the deceased’s knowledge. Here are the Cthulhu Awakens statistics for these entities.

Gregarian

Abilities (Focuses)

Accuracy 1, Communication 3 (Deception, Disguise), Constitution 4 (Tolerance), Dexterity 0 (Forgery, Stealth), Fighting 1, Intelligence 5 (Occultism, Research, Theology), Perception 2, Strength 1 (Climbing, Intimidation), Willpower 3 (Self-Discipline)

SpeedFortuneHealthDefenseArmor RatingTough-ness
10424210015
WeaponAttack RollDamage
Ritual Blade+01d6 + 2 IW

 

Qualities

Combat Stunts: Trickster

Alienating: When it reveals its true nature to an individual or establishes a hive contact (see below), the Gregarian provokes a TN 11 Entities Alienation Test. It usually hides its true nature with a mask, and although this might be discomforting, a masked Gregarian doesn’t provoke Alienation.

Absorbed Occultism: A Gregarian knows one eldritch working, but no praxes, after absorbing this information from whoever it devoured, or from whatever eldritch lore it instinctively hoards.

Hive Contact: By concentrating on an individual within 20 yards, the Gregarian can use the Activate action to contact that person’s mind. The target can resist contact with a TN 15 Willpower (Self-Discipline) test. If they succeed, they shut out contact for the rest of the encounter. If the Gregarian makes contact, they can communicate with the target through projected images and other sensory perceptions, though not words. This exposes the Gregarian’s true nature to the target, activating its alienating quality if the target hasn’t already witnessed its undisguised form.

Living on the Fringe: Gregarians are practiced at covering their tracks. Other characters suffer a penalty of -2 to any tests to find information about Gregarians or their activities.

Swarm: As they comprise of a swarm of insects, worms, and other small vermin, a Gregarian is impervious to bullets taking no damage, and takes half damage, after applying Toughness, from all other forms of damage except for fire, electricity, and attacks or hazards that target an area, such as grenades or sudden flooding. Area-effect hazards and damage sources inflict double damage after applying Toughness.

Equipment: Dagger, Fragments of Occult Lore, Tattered Robes, Wax Tablet and Stylus. Notepad and Pen, or Smartphone.

Threat: Moderate

Chronicle System PDF: Desert Threats

/in , , /by

Desert ThreatsToday we present Desert Threats, all-new bestiary content for the Chronicle System that powers our A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying game.

The desert feasts on the bones of those who venture into those forbidding wastes. Baking heat and scouring winds are only the most obvious of those threats; the wise know other, more bloodthirsty dangers await hidden from view. From the voracious djinn-hound to the whispered legends of the golden kraken, explore what lurks in these treacherous lands!

 

Free Spooky Preview: The Chindi From Freeport Bestiary

/in , , /by

Freeport Bestiary for the Pathfinder RPGNeed something spooky to scare your players for Halloween gaming? Green Ronin’s Freeport Bestiary is full of things that go boom in the night! As a free preview we’re offering a single creepy critter, the chindi–an undead created to terrorize its victims as it pursues a mission of vengeance!

Freeport Bestiary PDF Preview

(Psst! If you don’t have the Freeport Bestiary yet, you might want to also check out the Deadwood Tree, for additional free, creepy, Halloweeny preview goodness.)

Fantasy AGE Bestiary: Pre-Order, PDF, and Preview

/in , , , , /by

Fantasy AGE Bestiary

We are pleased to open up pre-ordering for the Fantasy AGE Bestiary. As with all our Green Ronin Pre-Order Plus products, when you pre-order the print book through our Green Ronin Online Store or through a participating Pre-Order Plus retailer, you’ll be able to get the PDF for just $5.

Fantasy AGE Bestiary:

What does every fantasy RPG campaign need? Monsters! Monsters! Monsters! The Fantasy AGE Bestiary gives Game Masters a plethora of new foes to challenge their players, from classics like the basilisk and minotaur to new monsters like the eldritch crown and shard lord. Each creature is fully detailed, with background information, adventure hooks, game stats, and variants. This beautiful, full-color hardback is the first sourcebook for the Fantasy AGE RPG and an indispensable resource for Game Masters.

PDF Preview: Gatorkin

Like to try before you buy? Check out this free PDF preview of the Gatorkin.

Pre-Order the Fantasy AGE Bestiary today!

(Or buy the PDF for $16.95, if you prefer pixels to paper.)

Mountain Terrors: Thunderbird (Chronicle System PDF)

/in , , /by
Mountain Terrors: Thunderbird

Mountain Terrors: Thunderbird (Chronicle System PDF)

Sudden mountain storms may rise up out of nowhere, bringing the possibility of flash floods, mud slides, lightning strikes and similar dangers. Those who know the mountain peaks know to fear these storm, and not simply for the threat they bring: some mountain tempests have at their heart a mighty thunderbird on the hunt, and anything that moves is fair game.

Mountain Terrors: Thunderbird is a bestiary PDF for the Chronicle System, the rules engine that powers our popular A Song of Ice & Fire Roleplaying game.

Mountain Terrors: Stonehorn (Chronicle System PDF)

/in , , /by
Mountain Terrors: Stonehorn (Chronicle System PDF)

Mountain Terrors: Stonehorn (Chronicle System PDF)

Leaping from impossible perch to seemingly sheer cliff is the stonehorn, a mighty beast that is to goats what dire wolves are to normal wolves. These four-horned, pony-sized animals reach the highest of peaks and consume the salt and other minerals they crave imbedded in the stone of the mountains. Though they are not predatory, they do not hesitate to defend their territory and their young with vicious stone horns completely infused with the minerals they consume.

Mountain Terrors: Stonehorn is a bestiary PDF for the Chronicle System, the rules engine that powers our popular A Song of Ice & Fire Roleplaying game.