I'm a little late with my report, but June 20, 2015, was
Free RPG Day. For previous reports, check out
2012 and
2014.
As with last year, places are limiting goods to one per customer, so I did most of my Free RPG Day business through
Noble Knight Games.
Nicole and I did make the actual pilgrimage to place in the area, however. Our go-to spot, Big Planet Comics, was out of the running, but we went to
Comics & Gaming and
2nd & Charles. Both of which had a fine showing; 2nd & Charles actually has an in-store event for the occasion, although we didn't have time to stick around. We'll need to do so next year.
This year's acquisitions:
- 13th Age/Night's Black Agents: Pelgrane is one of the regulars at Free RPG Day. This dual product has two adventures. For 13th Age, we have "At Land's Edge," featuring a suddenly-appearing island and the dungeon that spawned it (this apparently also acts as a prequel to the adventure, Eyes of the Stone Thief). Night's Black Agents features a quickstart and the adventure "The Harker Intrusion," designed as a prequel to Dracula Dossier, and featuring the PCs trying to rescue a journalist asset before the vampires take her out.
- Atlantis: The Second Age: A sword-and-sorcery RPG from Khepera, Atlantis takes its cues from the likes of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. Its similar to d20, in that actions require a d20 roll, and higher is better. The attached adventure, "Something Foul in Potos," has the PCs rescuing sailors from slavers and black magicians. Classic pulp fantasy stuff.
- Battletech/Shadowrun: Catalyst Game Labs makes a strong showing every year, typically putting out a Battletech/Shadowrun product as well as a Cosmic Patrol and a Valiant Universe offering. (They did all of those this year, although I didn't grab Cosmic Patrol or Valiant Universe.) Battletech has the MechWarrior PCs fighting mech-riding pirates; Shadowrun has a Mr. Johnson hiring the 'runners to kidnap a former employee.
- Dungeon Crawl Classics Judge's Screen: A tri-fold cardboard GM screen for Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics featuring kickin' rad artwork and several relevant charts.
- Hellas: Worlds of Sun & Stone: This science fantasy space opera RPG is also from Khepera and uses the same system as Atlantis. It's based on classical Greece (!), and the attached adventure tasks the PCs with finding a noble's son who has ended up on a lonely prison planet. They have to extract him without the guards or prisoners finding out.
- Into the Dragon's Maw: Also from Goodman Games, this is a module for D&D 5e. Like most of their modules, it can be set anywhere, but the names and places assume their house setting of Aereth. The adventure details a Xulmec village that was under the yoke of a green dragon until a century ago, when their shaman went to the beast's lair and confronted it. Neither shaman nor dragon was ever seen again. The PCs investigate the situation for whatever reasons adventuring types might investigate an abandoned dragon's lair.
- Through the Breach: This Fate Core game from Wyrd Miniatures is based off their popular Malifaux wargame. There's a quickstart and an adventure wherein the PCs face off against the Resurrectionists and their Iron Zombies.
- We Be Goblins Free!: The third module in Paizo's We Be Goblins! series for Pathfinder, this depicts the goblin adventurers from the previous two modules, having become goblin chieftains in the aftermath. They're bored, and task their goblin villagers with finding adventures for them to complete. Naturally, this ends poorly.
Of course, running to the FLGS gave an opportunity to acquire some neat artifacts; I picked up some
D&D miniatures from Comics & Gaming and a copy of
Pinnacle's 50 Fathoms for
Savage Worlds from 2nd and Charles.
The real gem, however, was the 2nd and Charles find
Suppressed Transmission from Ken Hite for Steve Jackson Games. I was totally unfamiliar with his column in
Pyramid, and so this was an incredibly pleasant surprise. Collecting several articles from his column in
Pyramid, Ken Hite's
Suppressed Transmission details alternate history, hidden occultism, and the Weird as pulled from history and delivered in bite-sized nuggets for gaming. It's so phenomenal I grabbed
the second volume within a week or two of buying it.
