Halloween Sale - Horror on the Orient Express (CoC)

A Halloween Sale is going on at DTRPG. One of my favorite picks is the Horror on the Orient Express for Call of Cthulhu. I own this in print, as I backed the Kickstarter, and Oh My God, I want to run this as a GM! Sadly, I don't have a gaming group that would do an extended Call of Cthulhu campaign, let alone a single session or two. Horror on the Orient Express is literally "that good."

Horror on the Orient Express is normally 39.99 in PDF (already a bargain), but for the rest of October, Horrow on the Orient Express is on sale for 23.99 - 40% off!

A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. All were dispatched in a similar manner stabbed through the heart.

Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. An odd summons, a surreptitious meeting, and a thousand-mile journey begins on the legendary rail service carrying the investigators to Constantinople, the Gateway of the Orient.

HORROR ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS contains a massive and legendary campaign, of up to nineteen adventures and more than 1100 pages, for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Beginning in 1920s London, the investigators journey to Paris and thence to the ancient city of Constantinople. With luck, they also return home.

Optional episodes are set in ancient times or special places (Roman-era, Dark Ages, Gaslight-era, the Dreamlands), so that the players can experience the founding, creation, and discovery of crucial elements of this campaign. Also included is a modern-day coda to the storyline, an alternate ending for those wishing a shorter campaign, and a built-in survival guide to aid beleaguered investigators.

There are seven books and more: the Campaign Book, Through the Alps, Italy & Beyond, Constantinople & Consequences, Strangers on the Train, and The Traveler's Companion. In addition, there is a book of handouts for the investigators, a European Route Map, three era-inspired luggage stickers, two era-inspired postcards, a matchbox, the Scroll of the Head, four U.S. passports, a bumper sticker, six pages of train plans that can be laid end-to-end, the Mims Sahis ceremonial knife, and fragments of the Sedefkar Simulacrum collected along the journey.

What the Critics Say

"Truly fantastic"—Diehard Gamefan

"The biggest and most grandiose campaign ever composed for any game… a must-own campaign. It is not just the grandeur, the scope, the high-quality writing or the fact that it epitomizes many of the values of Call of Cthulhu and the horror genre overall. It is the sheer immersion, the entertainment value it provides when played to the level it deserves…"—Antonios S. review, RPGNet.

"The most ambitious Call of Cthulhu adventure ever created… a high water mark for CoC."—Blackgate.

2015 ENnie Awards - Best Adventure (Gold)

2015 ENnie Awards - Best Production Values (Silver)

1992 Origins Awards - Best Roleplaying Adventure (1st ed)

1992 Origins Awards - Best Graphic Presentation of an RPG (1st ed)

With this purchase you receive these downloads (in these formats):

• Campaign Book, 72 pages (pdf, epub, mobi, prc)
• Through the Alps, 264 pages (pdf, epub, mobi, prc)
• Italy & Beyond, 272 pages (pdf, epub, mobi, prc)
• Constantinople & Consequences, 192 pages (pdf, epub, mobi, prc)
• Strangers on the Train, 96 pages (pdf)
• The Traveler’s Companion, 48 pages (pdf)
• 1923 Calendar (pdf)
• Handouts for the Investigators, 192 pages (pdf)
• European Route Map, color (pdf)
• Air Routes in 1923, color map (pdf)
• Player Maps in color, 13 pages (pdf)
• Keeper Maps in color, 18 pages (pdf)
• Three era-inspired luggage stickers (pdf)
• Two era-inspired postcards (pdf)
• Matchbox (pdf)
• Scroll of the Head (pdf)
• U.S. passports (pdf)
• Bumper Sticker (pdf)
• Six pages of Train Plans (pdf)
• Mims Sahis ceremonial knife (pdf)
• Sedefkar Simulacrum (pdf)

 

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Kickstarter - The Broken Empires RPG™: Sim-Lite d100 Skills-Based TTRPG

Dramatic fantasy setting and Success Level System built for speed, detail, and immersion! Live (or die) with your choices.

The Broken Empires RPG Kickstarter will likely surpass half a million dollars in funding (it is currently around $370k with 12 days to go). It's an intriguing Kickstarter, but I will likely back only at the digital level (39 bucks, which is a bargain) instead of physical books. I figure if I go beyond simply reading the rules to actually running the game, I can snag a physical copy later.

It ships with solo rules, mass combat rules, and an intriguing d100 system that avoids levels and classes. Yeah, it sounds a bit like Chaosium's Basic Fantasy system.

The Roleplaying Game Where Decisions Are Forged in the Crucible of Conflict!

Designed by Trevor Devall, professional GM and creator of the popular YouTube TTRPG channel “Me, Myself & Die!”, The Broken Empires RPG™ frees you to pursue any character goal you can imagine using an innovative, Sim-Lite, d100 core system inspired by over 125 classic and modern roleplaying games. 

A Vast Open World Brimming With Possibility

Developed over 4 seasons on “Me, Myself and Die!”, The Broken Empires is an expansive mid-fantasy world, alive with adventure. From the high mountains and dark forests of the Westlands, to the disappearing banished lands north of the Iron Veil, to the emerging imperial sea-faring empire of Tical Dondala — the setting of The Broken Empires is now yours to explore and expand.

The character sheet of an RPG tells you much about the flavor and depth of the game, and characters in The Broken Empires RPG™ are as rich in detail and nuance as they come! Everything on the character sheet has been thoughtfully designed and arranged to deeply connect you to your character and to facilitate in-game decision-making. 

• No stats, classes, or levels. Everything is skills-based.
• Develop your character with Personality Traits, Expertise, Talents and Life Events.
• Easily track Resolve and Fatigue.
• Assess Wounds by checking specific Hit Locations.
• Detailed blocks for Armor, Weapons, Combat Maneuvers and Shield stats.
• At-a-glance tracking of all Skills: Combat, Adventuring, Social, Lore and Magic.
• Improve your character by pursuing meaningful goals.

 

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Bundle of Holding - Fate of Cthulhu

I'm not a massive fan of the Fate System (I had high hopes when I backed the Kickstarter for the core rules many years ago). Still, there are some significant fans of the Fate System, and the Fate of Cthulhu Bundle is probably a perfect fit for them during the month of October.

Hero! This Fate of Cthulhu Bundle presents Fate of Cthulhu, the tabletop action-horror roleplaying game from Evil Hat Productions. In this standalone "Cthulhu Mythos meets The Terminator" RPG based on the flexible and fast-playing Fate Core system, you're a soldier from the future who travels to our time to stop the arrival of the Great Old Ones. Horrible things will still happen, and you may give in to corruption (to gain powerful "corruption stunts"), but you'll use your foreknowledge to punch the apocalypse in the face – or die trying.

For just US$14.95 you get all ten titles in our Fateful Collection (retail value $62) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete standalone 256-page Fate of Cthulhu corebook (previously in our July 2021 Fate Worlds and Toolkits offer) and nine terrifying Timelines: The Ascellan Conspiracy, Rise of Azathoth, Rise of the Basilisk, Rise of Hastur, Rise of the Quiet, Rise of Tsathoggua, Rise of Yig, Rise of Yog-Sothoth, and Zombie Apocalypse.

 

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Bundle of Holding - Weird Frontiers

Weird Frontiers is, by far, my favorite iteration of the DCC RPG rules. I've played Weird Frontiers at gaming conventions, and it is a blast!

For as low as 5.95, you can grab the Weird Frontiers core book, the Trail Map, and the Judge's Screen in digital format.

Trailhand! We've resurrected our October 2022 Weird Frontiers Bundle featuring Weird Frontiers from Stiff Whiskers Press, a standalone Lovecraftian horror-Western tabletop roleplaying game based on the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games. In an alternate 1865, cultists of Nyarlathotep brought on the Seven Days of Night to awaken long-dormant Elder Gods. Now, heroes with extraordinary abilities stand against an ever-growing evil in a wounded country still recovering from the bloodiest war in American history. You can turn tail or take the fight to the night, and you ain't about to be called yeller! Saddle your horses and clean those irons, 'cause there's something slithering across the dark frontier, and it's dead set on making vittles out of you and your ragtag posse.

For just US$5.95 you get all three titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $23) as DRM-free ebooks, including the massive 908-page Weird Frontiers RPG corebook, the Trail Map, and the Weird Frontiers Judge's Screen.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $17.99, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with five full-length Weird Frontiers modules worth an additional $50, including Dig Three Graves, The Malevolent Seven, Nest of Snakes, Never Swallow the Worm!, and Not So Fast, Billy Ray!

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News - Greyhawk Now an Approved Official Setting at DMs Guild

As per the DM's Guild Content Guidelines, Greyhawk is now an Approved Official Setting:

Approved Official Settings for Dungeon Masters Guild Products

DMsGuild creators are allowed to use the following official Dungeons & Dragons settings:

• Forgotten Realms
• Ravenloft
• Eberron
• Spelljammer
• Planescape
• Dragonlance
• Radiant Citadel
• The Magic: The Gathering settings of:
• Ravnica, Theros, Arcavios/Strixhaven

• Greyhawk

Other official settings cannot be used in DMsGuild products at this time. This list includes but is not limited to Dark Sun, Mystara, etc.

If an NPC, location, monster, or item from an unapproved setting appears in an approved setting it may be used in your DMsGuild product as long as it is set in an approved setting.

Click here for the Greyhawk Section at the DM's Guild.

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Humble Bundle - Call of Cthulhu

It's October, so it's the perfect month for a Call of Cthulhu Bundle at Humble Bundle. I bought this exact bundle earlier in the year (check to see if you already have it). Note that there are several Solo Adventures, and at the $25 Level Bundle, there are three solo adventures.  

Bring a taste of terror to your game nights with this bundle from Chaosium, complete with everything you need to run the dreaded (yet beloved) Call of Cthulhu RPG system! On top of the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, you’ll get the Investigator Handbook, replete with expanded rules for creating player characters, as well as the Keeper Rulebook, brimming with all the information you need to keep things orderly as your table descends into madness. You’ll also get tons of adventures, including some aimed at first-time game masters, as well as entire campaigns! Pay what you want for over 25 books and game aids for this seminal RPG and help support the World Wildlife Fund with your purchase!

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Free OSR - Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules 4th Ed

Basic Fantasy RPG is an oft-forgotten pillar of the OSR. An excellent presentation of the "classic D&D ruleset," BFRPG is now available in a 4th edition under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA licensing.

You can grab the Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules 4th Ed at DTRPG for free along with a fantastic collection of source material (suitable for use with the OSR ruleset of your choice).

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Kickstarter - Bloody and Alone in Appalachia - Solo Rural Horror RPG

It IS October, after all ;)

The Bloody and Alone in Appalachia - Solo Rural Horror RPG Kickstarter is 19 bucks in PDF (and 39 for the HC Print plus PDF. ) 

Bloody and Alone in Appalachia is a solo tabletop RPG about rural horror, set in the Appalachian Hills of Eastern Kentucky.

In Bloody and Alone in Appalachia, you will play a lost city dweller who has foolishly ventured off the highway into a backwoods, small Appalachian town, holler, and county where nothing is as it seems. Like flies into the mouth of a Venus flytrap, this town and its inhabitants are ready to gobble you up.

This game is an adaptation of Bloody Appalachia, a multi-person horror game also available from Bloat Games. That game is excellent, but it suffers from one key problem: the players have each other to rely on.  Bloody Appalachia is available as an add-on with this campaign.

We all know the best moments in any horror movie: it's the moment where everyone else is gone. There's just one remaining hero, and they know their goose is hopelessly cooked. Your heart pounds as you watch them, flailing around desperately; you hold your breath as you wait for them to stumble, wide-eyed, towards their inexorable, horrific demise. Any. Second. Now...

In Bloody and Alone in Appalachia, that's the entire game. You are alone, help isn't coming, and death is waiting around the next corner. Listen... ! Is that a chainsaw, out there in the woods?