Artifacts of Legend and Artifacts of Saga

 Gaming Ballistic, a third party publisher for DFRPG (Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game) by Steve Jackson Games has a new kickstarter.

Artifacts of Legend and Artifacts of Saga

YouTube interview

So after my last post Gaming Ballistic sent me preview copies of these two supplements. It was a courtesy to me so that I could evaluate whether or not I should reference these in my next supplement which I wouldn't be able to do if I didn't see it until I get my production copies.

First off, let me say that the production value is as awesome as I expected, The items are not just stock "extra damage" weapons or basic armor but interesting weapons, armor, and other things. Each item gives a description, art, history, abilities, and adventure seeds. None of that is a surprise as I have purchased most of Gaming Ballistics GURPS products so knew what to expect. They always deliver quality and detail.

What I was most interested about though was the bound spirit rules.  Its for DFRPG so I wasn't expecting much as thats a slimmed down version of GURPS with a lot of mechanics hidden under the hood. The rules are the same, so its all compatible but the Dungeon Fantasy RPG tends to bury the mechanics so its easier to play.

Would these new rules be just a paragraph and a random item generator?

Well it turns out they are several pages (in both books, different rules focusing on different things) and rather interesting. The rules were written by Douglas, who tweaked a few things from Thaumatology and expanded and added stuff  of his own. The published rules here are simple and easy to understand

Legendary Possessions

As the kickstarter preview tells us this is based off the Named Possession perk from GURPS Thaumatology, which I think was based off GURPS Fantasy, maybe even earlier material. However it expands and combines a few things and then provides several "powers" for items. Accuracy to help hit your foe, Adjustable so it works for different size people, etc. In fact I count 7 pages of these abilities :) Need something new and quick? Several pages for randomly generating items are also included.

I always liked those rulesd and am glad they got some fresh exposure and some updates.

Spirit Binding

This is in Artifacts of Saga and my preview copy is less far along, no bookmarks for example. So I wont give page counts. This section justifies a mention in my upcoming supplement.

It includes how to make and break these kinds of items, as well as good flavor rules for how they work.

Also some consequences for using for example demon bound items.

Douglas came up with a new GURPS Magic spell to help here.

Ley Line Motes

Making a magic item in a place of power is perhaps an uncommon trope but one I really like and there are some short rules for that here too.

Summary

If you have any interest in fantasy gaming you will get value out of these books, even if you do not play GURPS the items include enough detail that they can be readily ported into most fantasy games.

I look forward to getting my production copies!

As a RPG player and supporter I recommend buying quality new product to encourage the best producers to keep producing and giving us what we want. Their profit margins are slim and we see many fail or give up for more profitable careers. If we want quality we need to support those we like so they can survive and grow to keep giving us what we want.

You can wait and buy these things later, after they funded and from the store. But early purchases are what really drive publication.

And Gaming Ballistic does not disappoint on quality.

Insiders Peek: Nordland Bestiary

 Douglas Cole of Gaming Ballistic launched a kickstarter for a full color bestiary for the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (Powered by GURPS). I knew from prior experience this was going to be a very good book and went in as much as I could afford, even adding the VTT tokens for Foundry as an add-on though I don't have a license (I'll give my copy as a late Christmas present to someone who does). Also bought the hard copy as I know it will be excellent in quality and appearance, even if I am unlikely to be playing face to face instead of over the internet. His products are just that good and well worth supporting!

The author shared a preview copy with some people to get feedback and gave me permission to post this sneak peak.

Overall Impression

As expected the layout is very nice! I like that each entry gets a good picture and each picture includes a shadow of a Viking to help scale things. The descriptions, stat blocks, and summaries all are easy to read and pleasing to the eye. Also included is just enough humor to make reading it fun. The way an entry is laid out it will be very easy to just turn to a page and have the relavant information jump out at you. The addition of the creature reference cards, standup art, and Foundry tokens will also be very useful in helping the GM and players get a fast feel for each creature.

As should be no surprise to anyone who has bought material from Gaming Ballistic, were getting good value for our money here!

Introduction

Honestly? This was a pleasant surprise!  I expected the standard bit, but what I saw was so much more useful and fun. As this is for a specific setting the author was able to tailor some things. The "Not Norse Mythology" cosmology section was brief but gave a good feel for the Nine Worlds and had me thinking for a moment "I didn't realize the void was like that!"  The entry blends together the Lovecraftian Elder Things into the setting in a very fitting manner that suits the mythology. The origin and function of each of the Nine Worlds works well and is very evocative, while being fairly close to the source mythology as I recall it.

But you know what really stood out and made me take notice?

The section on faerie and how it blended with Irish and European folklore as well as common tropes into what feels like a cohesive cosmology.  Also the trait descriptions for various advantages and disadvantages really works for me. It made me want to play in the setting.

The Creatures

The bulk of the bestiary is of course the creatures, and I have only seen up to the letter E in the sneak peak. 

• Aesir: What would a Norse bestiary be without some Aesir? So far only the Dark Pack are here but boy do they stand out as fearsome and fun foes! Not just wolves, but undead wolves that keep coming back!
• Alfur and Faerie: We get some standards from folklore but also some new, or at least relatively unknown critters as well. Further the examples fit together in a way that gives is chaos and diversity, yet flows well enough that new creatures are easily inspired. Frankly, they just make better sense as a whole than I have often seen.
• Animals: Each animal entry covers several known species, typically with a collage of pictures. Animals are often overlooked but they provide not only low level foes but also useful companions and background. We have the staples here, and a few odd ducks that you wont always see.  Also of course there are dire and giant versions.
• Demons and Elder Things: They have a set place in the cosmology and we get to see some interesting and scary varieties.
• Dragons: A nice variety here too, with more to come; These are typically creatures of Jotunheim and come in a good variety of scariness.
• Elementals: They hail mostly from Nifleheim which I found an interesting choice and contrast with the typical elemental and para-elemental planes we see in That Other Game.

I wont go into detail on the specific creatures, we have so many good ones and some nice creatures to bring a gleam to any DMs evil or appeal to the avarice of most delvers.

Summary or Buy This Now!

This project promised a great deal, and no surprise its delivering on that promise. I am confident that not only is it going to be well worth my money, it will help generate even more goodness for GURPS, The Fantasy Trip, and Dragon Heresay in the future.

Review of Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2

As Preorders close on June 23 I thought now would be a good time to review this book. Before I do so here is another review to give you a second look. Dungeon Fantastic another review by Blind Mapmaker

This book has 24 monsters, each with a picture and 2 pages of text.  Some are old classics like Giants, Stirges, Chimera, and the Naga.  Others are new monsters. The book is based on stock art so some will look like classic monsters from various games but are given unique and often exciting life here.
Each monster has stats,and many have a special attack that is well described in the text. The text also includes adventure seeds (I think all have 2) which helps the GM quickly drop them into a campaign.

Most of these are rather tough, if not boss level, and the variety is enough that something here will be good for any DF type campaign. Some are pretty creepy and most have enough flavor to amuse me and add to a campaign.
For an idea of the contents here are the monster by type:
Construct 2, Demon 3, Dire Animal 3, Divine Servitor 2, Elder Thing 2, Elemental 2, Faerie 2, Hybrid, Mundane 3, Plant 2, Slime, Undead 3

As a kickstarter backer I received my PDF copy a few weeks ago, and I am looking forward to my printed copy later this year. I really liked the book and hope you get yours as well.

Review of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 20: Slayers

This latest volume in the Dungeon Fantasy series comes in at 23 pages for $6.
Some of the material was already published in Pyramid magazine but its a lot of new stuff as well, also nice to have it in one place. Rascally its a splat book for those delvers who are specialized at defeating Demons, Mages, or the Undead.
Each slayer type gets its own chapter with a template and a nice set of abilities to do take out their foes.

Demon-Slayers

4 pages of demon slaying, most of the ideas are what a person familiar with GURPS would come up with but there are a few odd birds they are unlikely too.

Heroic Reserve has an unusual boost, several spell like abilities, and some of the other boosts are nice. 

Mage-Slayers

A lot of the same ideas in chapter 1 but with a different twist, and Magic Resistance gets a nice new modifier. As some of this material appeared elsewhere this offered little new to me, but not everyone has the magazines and other DF books these appeared in.  Also there is new material here, and I like the format.

Undead-Slayers

Also at 4 pages like the previous chapters this covers slaying undead and adds some new material.

Slayer Gear

The final chapter has some gear to support not just dedicated slayers but those going after the above type of foes. My highlight topic of the chapter was Talismans, but there is a nice set of items and ideas here.

Summary

A nice quick easy read that can add some interesting options to your DF campaign.

Blessed, Energy Reserve, and Magic Resistance all got a short but potentially very useful twist that can be used in a variety of settings, not just Dungeon Fantasy.

Definitely worth the $6 :)

Other Reviews on this Book

Blind Mapmaker

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game unboxing

My first video.
I picked the unboxing and it went a bit long at 49 minutes but includes a good amount of information for those knew to GURPS.

After the video I saw the GM screen which I had set aside during my first attempt at the video.  I will do a shorter video on that this weekend.