Fourthcore is an unusual genre of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS that departs from some aspects of the game’s design philosophy. While Fourthcore doesn’t require different materials or use different rules, it does embrace a set of assumptions that may not be obvious at first glance. It’s important that these assumptions are made clear to everyone playing, as Fourthcore can be very jarring and unpleasant for those who aren’t prepared for or don’t understand it.
And with that opening I welcome you to The Slaughterhouse. Remember that stack of D&D 4e books sitting over in the corner? Well, go dig’em out…cause it’s about to get all medieval up in here!
Now, understand, I’m no fan of 4e but a lot of innocent trees died to produce a massive amount of rule books so why not take advantage of them. Plus the concept itself just sounds damn good. If 4e ever had a destiny and purpose I think they may have found it with Fourthcore.
Save Versus Deathis a blog that specializes in Fourthcore: exceedingly lethal dungeon challenges for D&D 4th Edition. Like they say, it's no fun 'til you're at 1.
ELDER SIGN - GET YOUR LOVECRAFT ON WITH THE LATEST FROM FFG
(from the website)
Elder Sign
Elder Sign is a fast-paced, cooperative dice game of supernatural intrigue for one to eight players by Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson, the designers of Arkham Horror. Players take the roles of investigators racing against time to stave off the imminent return of the Ancient One. Armed with tools, allies, and occult knowledge, investigators must put their sanity and stamina to the test as they adventure to locate Elder Signs, the eldritch symbols used to seal away the Ancient Ones and win the game.
This was the super wow moment of commercial gaming for me this year. I have read over many fine products this year, but this thing is gaming crack. From the day it arrived until just yesterday there has been an on going Solo game set up at all times.(I only packed it down due to some moving of room elements and I didn’t want anything getting damaged or lost).
Upon first inspection this fairly simple card game, compared to its big brother ARKHAM HORROR, seems almost too limited. But once in play this has turned into a great strategy horror game and I didn’t think that was possible.
It also convinced me to blind buy ARKHAM HORROR and all 8 expansions last week. The product has been scaled down in some cases, in some way helping with the foot print issue of AH and another nice thing for those who already own AH the 16 investigators included are the same as for AH. You can use the full size stand up markers rather than the smaller chits that come with ELDER SIGN (which helped me a lot, but I had already figured out a way to make the small guys more visible when in play).
Already growing with variants and of course people importing elements from AH I would have to say this game is great for AH owners/lovers as well as folks new to the concept. The unique dice add a new twist and the ever changing ‘game board’ comprised of Adventure cards keeps things moving and fresh with each replay. Add the clock mechanic to ratchet up tension and this becomes 10lbs of fun in a 5lb bag.
For AH owners who wonder if this would just be redundant in their collection I would have to say no. For the cost and the ease that new people can be introduced to the world of Lovecraft with this game it is more than worth its salt. With a fast set up time and easier learning curve it also will weed out those who just aren’t up for the challenge of AH.
I can’t say enough good things about this game. I am having a blast playing it solo and can see the possibilities of a multi-player attack upon a Great Old One.
Here at the holidays this makes a great quick game when there isn’t time to set up and play a full AH and it has an eye drawing factor that just may land a new investigator in a seat at your next full scale AH get together.
So without benefit of a proper nights sleep I will put this one up early.
What's going on:
Digital Orc: A Call to Action!
The OSR/DIY RPG blogosphere is buzzing about self-publication right now, largely because of Zak’s recent post. This growing movement is exciting and could lead to a great increase in the number of good products. Just as important, it could lead to an increase in the interconnectivity of our community as people offer their unique services to others working towards self-publication.
I thought it would be a grand idea to have a Wiki to link to all the wonderful and varied adventures, encounters, locations and even campaign settings that are out there in the OSR community.
Thanks to The Alexandrian for this one. A little out of the usual but I can't think of a better way to have fun and help out at the same time.
(from the website) The Humble Introversion Bundle Epic, award-winning games. Darwinia, Aquaria, and Crayon Physics Deluxe are year-on-year, Seumas McNally Grand Prize winners at the Independent Games Festival, representing the very best in distinctive, engaging gameplay.
Pay what you want. If you bought these games separately it would cost around $100 but we are letting you set the price.
The games work great on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
You can support charity. Choose exactly how your purchase is divided: Between the Introversion developers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, or the Child's Play Charity. Also, if you like this deal, a tip to Humble Bundle would be much appreciated!
Ok, what was supposed to be the lead article (but saving folks money right now is almost a holy thing these days) is now here:
UTOPIA ENGINE - UNIQUE IMMERSIVE SOLO GAMING
(From the website)
Utopia Engine
by Nick Hayes
Utopia Engine is a free print-and-play dice game for one player. You play an old artificer named Isodoros who is attempting to reconstruct the Utopia Engine, a fabled device from the distant past and possibly the only hope for averting the fast approaching Doomsday. You must recover the machine's six parts from six dangerous regions and assemble the Utopia Engine before the world ends. The game uses simple dice mechanics to simulate searching the wilderness, activating and assembling powerful artifacts, and combat with artifact weapons. Requires a printed play sheet, two six-sided dice, and a pencil with eraser.
Wow…that is the first reaction I had when I checked this out. I have never quite seen anything like it and for the price it is more than worth checking out for anyone into solo play the video (which can also be found at http://vimeo.com/29448392 ) demonstrates the depth of this simple series of mechanics and provides an experience that other far more expensive games can be envious of. Even the art and layout is unique. Huge props to Nick Hayes for what should be Free Game of the Year. It already is in my book.
So I'm plowing through the premiere issue of CRoA and realizing that until I get some help I can't meet my desired expectation of a min 32 page count. Now since the blog and the zine share the same name I figure since I can only assemble a bare bones version of the zine at best and it looks like a blog post why not just do a blog post for each item and get caught up.
The massive mental block I have right now on FORSAKEN SOULS has got to be broken down with a sledge and between all the irons in the fire and the onset of an early winter (I'm it when it comes to most handy man projects around the house) I have decided to just publish as it comes.
So unlike other blogs I post to look at this one more like a 'breaking news' kinda thing. Not every post will be about something from 15 minutes ago but I hope it will be new to someone else as it often as it is to me (I love to go Paleo-Blogging).
I have increased the front page capacity to 14 posts in hopes of making scrolling through easier without having to click every few posts just to see if there is something that interests you.
Sorry about the zine, but I have to get this juggernaut back on course or I will find myself stranded at sea without an anchor.
Depending on the impending snow we are expecting I will begin posting asap. Hope you like the stuff I run across out here. I have been digging the hell out of some of these finds for weeks now.
Just a bit to confirm everything is alive and well here at CRoA.
I have been doing some cleanup on the Eternal Keep and the other news aggregators I run and getting some much needed game time in playing Elder Sign (I'm hooked-ordered the entire Arkham Horror setup - FFG rocks just ever so slightly :)
The CRoA ezine has been changing. James is getting back in the swing of things over at Underdark Gazette so rather than end up with double coverage I'm pushing out a little more to the boundaries and adding some new categories of coverage. I hope everyone finds something they like in every issue. There will be announcements and such but I really want to expose things that have just really impressed me lately.
Forsaken Souls is being re-built to take advantage of new material and a new approach to its debut. More on that soon.
Now that my Arkham Horror collection is complete (a whole other story to that mess-me and Amazon are going to have to have a chat about some things) and I am finally getting over whatever bug I've had things are picking back up.
