RPGnet Newsletter #185

[RPGnet Forums]( RPGnet Newsletter #185 September 23, 2019 {NAME}, here is this week's RPGnet Newsletter! New Columns Christopher Cecil of Fuzzy Thinking has two more lists of ten things to tickle your fancy: the [Top Ten Thief Complaints]( and the [Top Ten Least Desirable Magic Items.]( Fred Furtado of Superseeds starts a new series on superheroes who have returned from the dead in [The Lazarim, Part One.]( Jonathan Hicks noted that [What Happens In-character, Stays In-character]( in the latest Observations from a Gamer's Chair. Kirk Johnson-Weider, the Imperfect GM, made everyone uncomfortable by discussing [Self Critique.]( New Reviews ShyberKryst reviewed [Cha'Alt,]( an OSR campaign supplement featuring sci-fi/fantasy, clever pop culture references, and a desert-themed campaign world. Antonios S reviewed two RPG supplements from Free League Publishing. The Symbaroum sourcebook [Yndaros - The Darkest Star]( is disorganized and unfocused, but does provide a great deal of information for the hardcore fan. [Coriolis - The Emissary Bundle]( is a Year Zero adventure bundle wherein the adventures all need some additional work to reach their potential. Antonios also explored the [Symbol Set 5: Cities of Schley,]( a Campaign Cartographer 3 expansion that is easy to use and offers innovation without painfully biting one's gaming budget. Antonios also reviewed a bushel basket full of non-RPG tabletop games: - [Rising Sun]( is a a 3 to 5 player asymmetrical, dudes-on-the-board, area control game that requires players to analyse fast, decide even faster, and make alliances as soon as they can break them. - [Pelopennisan War]( is a simulationist wargame that features an inimitable solitaire experience with a history lesson. - [Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea]( is a simple, abstracted, asymmetrical, confrontational civilization-building game that is definitely not for the beer-and-pretzels night. - [Masks of Nyarlathotep]( (no, not that one) is the final expansion for Eldritch Horror and is expensive for what it offers. - The [Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition expansions: TIE/fo Fighter, TIE Advanced x1, Delta-7 Aethersprite, T-65 X-Wing]( expansions for the X-Wing miniatures game match the quality of the line's earlier products. - [Star Trek: Frontiers - The Return of Khan]( is a worthy addition for the players of the game who hunger for more solo scenarios. - [Captain Sonar: Upgrade One]( offers asymmetrial upgrades and new maps but for a price. - [Captain Sonar: Operation Dragon]( is a campaign module that will appeal to veteran Captain Sonar players who want to try something bigger and more immersive than one-off scenarios. - The [Star Wars: Legion Fleet Troopers Unit Expansion]( provides a unit that is decisive in its role. - And, [Choose Your Own Adventure: War with the Evil Power Master]( goes once again for campiness and nostalgia as opposed to a design that makes sense or gives agency to its player(s). And, we can't miss Endzeitgeist's pile of OSR and OSR-adjacent reviews: - [The Transient Bazaar]( is a visual bazaar-generator supplemented by impressive, but oh-so-scarce prose. - [Azurth Adventure Digest #1]( is an OSR-tinged 5e 'zine that offers excellent flavor but inconsistent rules-implementation. - [The Undercroft #4]( is surprisingly mechanics-heavy but not quite up to the caliber of the first three issues of the OSR 'zine. - [The Dragon Horde Volume II, Issue 1: Wherein Evil Lies]( is a pretty rules-focused 'zine for B/X at a PWYW price. - The [Saving Throw Fanzine]( offers excellent adventures from some of the best OSR designers. - [Who Would Just Leave This Stuff?]( is a well-done, system-neutral random generator for mundane and magical furnishings. - [The Chest]( presents a module that is super easy to integrate into any campaign; it is clever, features a unique reward, is VERY inexpensive considering the quality provided, and it's not boring. Threads You Might Have Missed If you're of an age (and maybe if you aren't), you've probably asked this question: [Playing in 70's, 80's US Action TV shows -what system?]( [Is steampunk a commercially viable film genre?]( In addition to being a worthwhile question in and of itself, this thread features some interesting meditations on exactly what steampunk is. And, let's just have some fun: [Where we invent new words.]( Sign Off Have a good week, everyone. - Iustum Newsletter Editor [Unsubscribe from mailing list]( [Visit RPGnet Forums](