rppr-banner-7Sponsor: Upwind the fantasy RPG is now on Kickstarter! Back it today and help us reach a stretch goal so Ross can write a full campaign for Upwind.

News: Two new Base Raiders PDF supplements are out: Exemplar is a new villain and Glitched Reality adds new powers usable by any character.

Synopsis: Caleb and I discuss the lack of fantasy elements in many fantasy RPGs. It is very common for games like Dungeons and Dragons to gate truly fantastical elements like floating castles and alternate dimensions to higher level characters, as a kind of reward for playing the same character for so long. However, fantasy should not always be separated by player character power level. Why can’t relatively mundane characters meet ancient dragons or explore castles floating in the sky? We discuss why this happens and how it can be changed. Also, an anecdote from our Base Raiders campaign.

Shout Outs

  • Big Machine: A novel with a very Unknown Armies vibe. Explore the secret voices heard only by a conspiracy of occult researchers.
  • Killzone 2: A Hong Kong/Thai action film with Shakespearian coincidences and insane martial arts fighting. On Netflix!
  • Mutant Year Zero: A post-apocalyptic sci-fi RPG with good rules, art, and unique settlement building mechanics.
  • Cthulhu Wars: An excellent alternate history book about the US military fighting the Cthulhu mythos. Written by Ken Hite so you know it’s good!
  • Sword and Scale podcast: A true crime podcast that covers that is not for the weak of heart.
  • Last Days of the Incas: A history of the fall of the Inca Empire and the rediscovery of ancient Inca ruins in the early 20th century.
  • Chapo Trap House: a liberal political comedy podcast. Very NSFW.
  • Nightmare Stacks: The latest entry in the Laundry series of novels. Dark elves invade the UK and only a nerdy vampire sorcerer can stop them.

Songs: Chant of the Night Blades and the Price of Valour by Kai Engel

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The Hulk has arrived!

The Goblin Hulk has dropped anchor! Weighing in at over 17,000 words, this campaign sourcebook details the inner workings of the goblin hulk, a massive ship supporting an entire horde, bent on despoiling and looting everything of value in the new world.  Learn the secrets of the engineers and shamans who keep the ship running and the machinations of the merchants and chieftains who run the infamous bazaar on the hulk’s top deck. Everything is for sale on the hulk and its visitors include everyone from the vilest demons to the most ruthless mercenaries. This sourcebook also includes 3 adventure frameworks, 5 new monsters, 2 new templates and more! While this is statted for 4E adventures, the majority of its material is stat free and can easily be used for any fantasy adventure RPG.

Thanks to all the RPPR listeners who contributed to the ransom to make this possible and to the artists who added their work to this sourcebook!

Read

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a delightful story by L. Frank Baum with an intriguing mythos. Rankin-Bass produced a claymation adaptation, which is where Katie and Jonny first discovered it. There have been a few other incarnations as well, including a Japanese anime.

Jonny always thought it would serve pretty well as a fantasy RPG setting, so when Katie suggested a one-shot game based on it, he heartily agreed. There will be two “adventuring parties” if you will- the immortals of the forest of Burzee, and the children of the laughing valley of Hohaho. Katie will act as a storyteller for the children, and Jonny for the immortals. The two groups will have separate adventures leading up to a unified finale. We will have pre-generated characters. We’ll be using the Reign system, which is based on the One-Roll Engine.

(Note from Ross: I was a player in this game but I forgot the names of all of the players. If you were there, post in the comments and I’ll update it.)