Saturday, August 29, 2009

Tainted Lands



Troll Lord Games has finally released Tainted Lands, written by rpg powerhouse James M. Ward. Tainted Lands is an "all-in-one Siege Engine Role Playing Game." What this means is this is a boxed set fantasy horror setting using the basic Castles & Crusades rules, but a complete game in itself.

The great thing about this is it's use of the Siege Engine, i.e. Castles & Crusades rules, which are basically a streamlined AD&D rules set while also somewhat based on the d20 system with all of the fat trimmed, i.e. no skill or feats. This makes this game more than easy to pick up and play.


The dark and twisted mists of the nightmare Tainted Lands is not a place where weak-willed pc's or their players will thrive, or survive for that matter. Check out the product description for more detail.


Contained within this boxed set:

  • Castles & Crusades Rules of Play
  • Horror Rules for the Abomination Lord
  • Supernatural Rule Book for the PH
  • Introductory Adventure
  • Six Playing Dice
As stated over at RPG Blog II:

"James Ward?

Boxed Set?

Fantasy Horror?

Castles & Crusades?

Why, don't mind if I do!"


I wholeheartedly agree. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Troll Lord Games is having a $10 sale to make room for their upcoming 4th Crusade printings. Get 'em while their cheap!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

WSP Facebook page



World Socialist Party (US) Facebook Page

"In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Engels arrived at the conclusion that the epoch of revolutions effected by conscious minorities heading unknowing masses had closed forever. From then on, he said, revolution would be prepared by long years of political propaganda, organization, education, and would be realized directly and consciously by the interested masses themselves." - Juilas Martov, Dictatorship of the Minority

Friday, August 14, 2009

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Ch-ch-ch-changes: Warhammer RPG

Over at Grognardia I saw that Fantasy Flight Games is going to be releasing a new (3rd Edition) of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game.

The main thing to note about this, is that this 3rd Edition is going to be packaged as a "Core Set" retailing at $99.95, which will include:

  • 4 comprehensive rule books provide all the knowledge you will need on the Old World
  • Over 30 Custom Dice give you unprecedented options for story-telling
  • Party sheets provide new skills and abilities to keep everyone engaged
  • 40 different careers and 4 different races offer a multitude of character options
  • More than 300 cards keep you in the game, no need to look up skills or abilities
  • Three character keepers designed to hold everything your hero will need each session
As expected, Mr. James over at the Grog blog is somewhat up-in-arms about this, because, well, he doesn't like change. Doesn't like anything that deviates from the original AD&D model. I have read it so many times in his blog. He asks the question if maybe he is just out of touch, and that maybe he's just letting his "grognardly D&D ways" cloud his judgement about the fact that he thinks $99.95 is "ridiculously expensive" for a roleplaying game. My answer to that: Yes on both accounts. Let us put it into perspective.

For $100 you are basically getting a boxed set of all the above listed items which will set you up pretty much ready to go to play the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game setting known as the Old World.

Let's say there's a group of 5 who are going to be playing - how much would it cost this same group to go to the movies just once? Well it's about $10 a person on average to see a movie, so that would be around $50 for this group to experience only 2 hours of entertainment. Think about this. For the same price this group of friends could only go to the movies twice. A hundred bucks for endless hours of entertainment. Factor this in with the rising cost of print media in general and a still horrendous economy and to me it looks like a company is trying offer up a dynamic product in a struggling market. If you add up all the core books that comprise Castles & Crusades' Fourth Crusade you get at least $80.

Alas, the true crime of Fantasy Flight Games to Mr. grognard and a few others is that this 3rd Edition of Warhammer offers up something new, something different. I like most D&D incarnations for what they are, from Castles & Crusades to Pathfinder to 4E. When change happens there's always going to be someone vocally against it. But...

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. Robert C. Gallagher

GOODMAN GAMES TO PUBLISH “ED GREENWOOD’S FANTASTIC WORLDS”

From the Goodman Games site:

Goodman Games is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Forgotten Realms® creator and legendary fantasy author Ed Greenwood to publish Ed Greenwood’s Fantastic Worlds, a line of rules-neutral role playing supplements slated for release starting in spring 2010. The first release will cover castles, keeps, and fortifications, with future books scheduled to cover world-building, city design, mythology, and other subjects.

Read more: Click here