Castle Quick Take

 Castle Quick Take for the Root RPG

https://youtube.com/shorts/q7lVB-8E8Vc?feature=share

Alice is Missing

 One of the most unique RPGs to have come out in the past few years is Alice is Missing. For those not familiar with the game, released by Renegade Press, it is a gamemasterless RPG, played silently by the participants, who only communicate through text messages. The Facilitator sets everything up and plays the role of Charlie Barnes, who returns to the town of Silent Falls inquiring about the whereabouts of their friend Alice Briarwood, from whom they have not heard in three days. Charlie reaches out to the other players, who take the roles of Alice’s other friends, who then work together to figure out what has happened to Alice. As all the communication in the game takes play via group and individual texts, every player must have a phone. The game itself only comes with a copy of the rules and the clue cards, which help determine what happened to Alice. A lot of the material, such as the timer, character sheets, soundtrack and props are provided online, meaning that players must have access to at least one computer during the game session. The game takes about 90 minutes to play, with the counter indicating when clue cards get flipped over to provide more information about what happened to Alice.

Given the topic, a missing teen age girl, Alice Is Missing spends a lot of time on player safety, telling players to determine Lines (subjects which should not be discussed in the game) and Veils (subjects which can be mentioned but not described in detail). There is also an X-card, which a player can play, or type X into the chat, to remove a topic from the game. Players are then given their characters and time to look them over and the timer is then started.  Over the course of the next 90 minutes, every 5 or 10 minutes the timer prompts the reveal of a clue card. At 30 minutes, the suspect cards are gathered, and one is revealed as the person responsible for Alice’s disappearance, at 20 minutes, a location card reveals where she is and at 10 minutes, another card reveals Alice’s condition. During the game, players are never at the same location at the same time, giving a game reason for texting. Likewise, players are encouraged to “Make Stuff Up” if it stays within the narrative of the game and moves it along consistently with the cards revealed. The game requires players to adopt the motives and relationships of their characters, meaning the more role playing each incorporates into the game, the more enjoyable it becomes.

The Hollywood Reporter announced Alice is Missing has been optioned for possible development as a movie. Unlike past movies based on games (Battleship and Dungeons and Dragons come to mind), I think Alice is Missing has a better chance for a successful movie than the preceding two.  Battleship just took the name of the game and applied it to a space combat movie. Some years ago, I got an opportunity to play Battleship:  Galaxies, which WotC released at the same time as the movie.  What had been a simple game developed into an unwieldy monstrosity that took hours to play and was not that much fun, which is why it got discontinued soon after. Similarly, the Dungeons and Dragons movies took the game name and affixed to a typical fantasy movie. The only thing I remember specifically D&D related from the first movie was a beholder floating in the background in one scene. D&D modules have stories to tell, D&D is a rules system for telling those stories. That is why I think Alice is Missing has a good chance of translating into a successful movie. It has a strong story, and the best movies tell good stories. 

Used RPG Materials

We do have a large stock of used RPG materials including items for 1st, 2nd 3rd, 5th and, as the photo shows, 4th edition D&D. We also have out of print materials for Vampire, Traveller, Champions and GURPS as well as many other systems.

 

Castle Shorts 2/28/28

Devon discussing Pirate Borg in this week's Castle Short

Indiana Jones RPG

 Longtime gamers may remember the Indiana Jones RPG from TSR, published in the mid 1980s. It only lasted a couple of years. The problem with the game is that Indy is the best designed character and all other characters, even PCs are not as good as he was so everyone wanted to play an Indy Jones type character.

Shadowrun

 Though the big two, Dungeons & Dragons and the Pathfinder RPS get all the attention, there are a number of second tier RPGs that quietly sell, day in and day out.  At our store, that’s Shadowrun.  Released back in 1989, we’ve carried it since before the store opened, when we used to do conventions and mail order only.  One of the few times I remember seeing a crowd of gamers running  was at GENCON in 1992, when the release of the 2nd edition of the Shadowrun rules was released. FASA announced only a limited number of copies available at the show. For some reason, I was in the exhibit hall when the doors opened and watched as a couple of hundred excited games ran through the aisles towards the FASA booth, hoping to score a copy of the 2nd edition rules.  The only other time I have seen that much excitement over a game release was when TSR finally released the Temple Of Elemental Evil  back in 1985.

Since then , Shadowrun has sold steadily for us, to the point we try to keep 2 to 4 copies of the core rulebook on the shelf at any one time. The only other RPGS in the store that get stocked to that depth  are Dungeons & Dragons and the Pathfinder RPG.  In fact, because of sales, Shadowrun and Pathfinder are the only two RPGs that we stock all of their hardback sourcebooks 2 to 3 deep at all times.  Even Dungeons & Dragons (4th edition anyhow) doesn’t get stocked that deeply (mainly because there are a lot more hardbacks for D&D than for either Pathfinder or Shadowrun).  Looking at the shelf at the moment, we have nine Shadowrun hardbacks in stock  and another 9 or 10 paperbound books.  They sell.  Week in and week out, they sell for us and justify the shelf space and inventory.  We average sales of 3 to 5 of each new sourcebook when they hit the shelves (campaign settings and adventures not nearly so well) and have to restock two to three assorted hardbacks weekly, so this is a line that really gets hurt in our store when a book goes out of print, as happens way too often with the line.  Looking at our records, we have sold 6 copies of the rulebook since the beginning of the year and this is of an edition that cam out almost three years ago.

Memorial Day

 We will be open regular hours Memorial Day. If you attend the Carbondale Memorial Day Celebration at Woodlawn Cemetary, bring in your program afterward for a free bottle of water or can of soda. Also with your program, purchase $25 of Magic, Yu Gi Oh or Pokemon and get a promo card for the game. Purchase $50 of RPG materials and get a free set of dice.

How to Publish Your RPG

 If you ever plan to publish a print copy of an RPG, Indie Press Revolution has some tips for you.

Bits n' Mortar

 

1)      .  Bits ‘n Mortar doesn’t get nearly enough publicity as it ought but this consortium of small RPG publishers still has their program in place, allowing registered brick and mortar retailers to give a PDF of their products to customers when said customer purchases a hard copy of the RPG.  We have customers who purchase Crucible 7 and Arc Dream RPG products specifically from us on a regular basis specifically because we participate in this program.If you Purchase a small press RPG from us, ask if it falls under the Bits n' Martar program as you could get a free PDF of the book if it does.

One Successful Game

 Every notice how most designers have one really successful game in them? Although known as the creator of Magic, Richard Garfield has created a number of other games, none of which have attained the popularity of Magic. Gary Gygax co-created Dungeons and Dragons, along with Dave Arneson, which created the RPG industry. Both men went on to create other games but none every acheived the popularity of D&D. Brotherwise games has released several other games besides Boss Monster, but any Boos Monster supplememnt will outsde any of their new games. Even the creator of Wingspan, Elisabeth Hargraves,  failed to achieve major success with her second and third game releases.

Marvel RPG

 Marvel has announced the Marvel Multiverse RPG for release in 2022 . Not suprisingly, there will be three differnt covers. I am just suprised there are  not 7 or more and that one is a 1:25 variant copy.

By my count this is at least the third Marvel RPG that has released.  TSR did one back in the 1980s. Wizard Publications put one out about 10 years ago and  Margaret Weiss Productions released one about 5 or so years ago. There may have been one or two others  but if there are, I do not remember them.

The MCU and super heroes in general, have always been hard to replicate in RPG form On one hand, you have characters with power off the charts like Superman and Thanos and on the other hand you have "street level" heroes like Elektra and Robin. How do you make a balanced system that allows players to create both types of characters?  I still think Champions was one of the best RPG systems for accomplihing this and even it would not easly let you make a Hulk-type character.

Most Popular D&D Class

 Showing just how popular D&D has become, the career website Zippia jsut posted a column on the states that play the most and least D&D as well as the most popular character classes. The state tha tplays the most D&D per capita is Utah, the least is New York. Given their relative population sizes that makes sense. 

Based on internet searchs, the most popular characer class is monk, followed by ranger and druid in a dead heat. Given that the rankings are based on internet seraches, it might just be that those are the classes most people have questions about and, ergo, they launched a search for info about them.

Three Cheers for Shadowrun

 

Though , Dungeons & Dragons and to a lesser extent today, the Pathfinder RPG get all the attention, there are a number of second tier RPGs that quietly sell, day in and day out.  At our store, that’s Shadowrun.  Released back in 1989, we’ve carried it since before the store opened, when we used to do conventions and mail order only.  One of the few times I remember seeing a crowd of gamers running  was at GENCON in 1992, when the release of the 2^nd edition of the Shadowrun rules was released. FASA announced only a limited number of copies available at the show. For some reason, I was in the exhibit hall when the doors opened and watched as a couple of hundred excited games ran through the aisles towards the FASA booth, hoping to score a copy of the 2^nd edition rules.  The only other time I have seen that much excitement over a game release was when TSR finally released the Temple Of Elemental Evil  back in 1985.

Since then , Shadowrun has sold steadily for us, to the point we try to keep 2 to 4 copies of the core rulebook on the shelf at any one time. The only other RPGS in the store that get stocked to that depth  are Dungeons & Dragons and the Pathfinder RPG.  In fact, because of sales, Shadowrun and Pathfinder are the only two RPGs that we stock all of their hardback sourcebooks 2 to 3 deep at all times.  Even Dungeons & Dragons (4^th edition anyhow) doesn’t get stocked that deeply (mainly because there are a lot more hardbacks for D&D than for either Pathfinder or Shadowrun).  Looking at the shelf at the moment, we have nine Shadowrun hardbacks in stock  and another 9 or 10 paperbound books.  They sell.  Week in and week out, they sell for us and justify the shelf space and inventory.  We average sales of 3 to 5 of each new sourcebook when they hit the shelves (campaign settings and adventures not nearly so well) and have to restock two to three assorted hardbacks weekly, so this is a line that really gets hurt in our store when a book goes out of print, as happens way too often with the line.  Looking at our records, we have sold 6 copies of the rulebook since the beginning of the year and this is of an edition that cam out almost three years ago.

Patches

 We still have some patches left from DCC Day so come in tomorrow and for every $50 you spend on RPG books, dice or miniatures, you can select one patch.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness

 Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from your youth? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness RPG released in 1985, two years before the cartoon and toys swept the nation. Palladium Books was the first company to recognize the potential impact of the Turtles and was the first company to ever license the rights to them

Eilodon City In the Sky

 In the 1990s, buoyed by the success of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, every publisher that designed a fantasy RPG decided it also needed a setting for the players to adventure in. Ergo, ICE decided to release Shadow World as a campaign setting for its Rolemaster (or as it was known back 25 years ago, Rulesmaster or Chartmaster) RPG. Eilodon City in the Sky was a city setting for Shadow World. Moderately well received and reviewed, Shadow World never gained much traction , even among Rolemaster players, who prefered to use the rules in their own games. Rather surprised to see this second edition of Eilodon come in  with books in an RPG collection we purchased as we had never heard of it and it seemed to slip under the radar.

Tenra Bansho Zero

 Lest you forget, there are a number of RPGs beyond D&D and many of the most popular are not published in English.  Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay dominated the RPG scene in Great Britain for a number of years and The Dark Eye, from what I understand, is still the most played RPG in Europe.

In Japan, the breakout RPG was Tenra Bansho Zero. Based on an original world of technology and magic, the game includes concepts drawn from Kabuki theater and manga. You can read more about it here.

Hercules and Xena RPG

 Back in the 1990s, West End Games came out with a line of games based on various media properties including Necroscope, Indiana Jones (once they got the license from TSR) and Xena and Hercules. Surprisingly, the company did not use the d6 system it had developed for use with the Star Wars RPG (another license) but developed another system based on custom dice included with the game.

Unfortunately, as with most licensed properties, once the series lost steam, so did the rpg.

Hammer's Slammers RPG

 

Hammer’s Slammers RPG Campaign Setting published by Mongoose Publishing

Mongroose Publishing got its start in 2001 as a publisher of OGL (Open Gaming License) supplements for  the Third edition, and later 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game starting with the Quintessential Series (Fighter, Rogue, Druid, etc.) along with a series of OGL books focused on general themes (Horror, Steampunk, Wild West ,etc), all of which did pretty well during the prolific release of OGL material for the D&D system. Shortly after WTOC released D&D 3.0, players demanded massive amounts of material for the game,  which publishers like Mongoose  sprung up to supply. As a glut of OGL material started to swamp the market, OGL publishers either closed up shop or pivoted into publishing other material that the companies felt players would demand. Mongoose decided to take a three pronged approach, releasing miniature rules and miniatures (Victory at Sea, Mighty Armies, Noble Armada), taking previously released RPGs and producing them in an upgraded and revised format (Macho Women with Guns, Traveller and Paranoia) and licensing media properties (Babylon 5, Conan, Slaine) for campaign sourcebooks, either under the  OGL or for one of the  other rules systems  for which it had the rights to produce materials. Hammer Slammer’s falls into the third category.

Hammer’s Slammers is a 208 page campaign setting based on the novels and short stories written by David Drake and  using Mongoose Publications updated Traveller rules system. In Drake’s fiction, humanity has spread throughout the stars and colonized hundreds of worlds. However, the bonds that once united that same humanity  have grown weak and the galaxy has plunged into trade war, civil war and anarchy. Warfare is dominated by regiments of  iridium armored tanks, powered by fusion engines and armed with powerguns . However, these tanks are so expensive to run and so complicated to maintain that few worlds can afford them, giving rise to dozens of mercenary tank units, fighting for whichever planet pays them the most, often taking fees of a quarter of the planet’s GDP. Players take on the roles of tank crews and specialists, doing battle as part of the best known and most capable tank unit in the galaxy:  Hammer’s Slammers.

As mentioned earlier, Hammer’s Slammers, released in 2009, uses the Traveller rules system for character creation and game play so gamemasters and players need to have a working familiarity with that system. The sourcebook starts with a brief (really brief) look at the setting that covers the galaxy in less than six pages. Similarly the business of being a mercenary gets covered in another 6 pages.  Character creation allows the player’s character to go through multiple terms in the Army or a Mercenary career , adding skills and benefits as they go. There is also a detailed look at the history of the Slammers and write ups on notable characters from the series. Almost a third of the book details equipment, vehicles and vehicle combat  Hammer’s Slammers finishes with several pages of scenario ideas, the outline of a campaign and a short combat oriented scenario.

For players that like Traveller and want a heavily military oriented SF setting. Hammer’s Slammers makes a good choice. Unfortunately, it appears Mongoose overestimated the demand for such a setting as one seller on eBay has sold dozens of copies at $5 each, indicating a liquidation of the print run at some time in the past.

Dune RPG

 The original Dune Role Playing Game was the last RPG from Last Unicorn Games, a comparatively small publisher back in the late 1990s best known for its take on the Star Trek Universe in a series of RPGs as well as its Dune and Heresy TCG. Bought in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, the company is probably best remembered for the Dune RPG. As part of the agreement under which WOTC purchased Last Unicorn, WOTC agreed to publish LUG's remaining games of which the most notable one was Dune. Despite demand, only 3000 copies were every released, primarily at GenCon 33. WOTC negotiated with the Herbert estate for a second printing but the two organizations could not agree upon terms.

When originally released, The Dune RPG sold for $34.95 but due to scarcity and demand, the available books soon sold regularly for $100-$200 and copies have proven extremely hard to find in the 20 years since the original release as collectors tend to hold onto them.