GenCon has come and gone once again in Indianapolis, leaving attendees with a bit less sleep, a bit more crowded game rooms, and a bit lighter in the wallet. However, most can claim to be satiated for the moment. GenCon is four days of concentrated gaming in one of the oldest and largest game-focused conventions in the US. I was able to attend for two days and spent most of my time roaming the large dealer floor, checking out the upcoming games. Started as an offshoot of TSR (the original Dungeons and Dragons company), GenCon has a strong role-playing presence in addition to the large number of boardgame and slightly fewer electronic gaming companies. For today, I’ll focus on the role playing game news that I found most interesting. In future articles, I’ll cover the electronic and the boardgame news from the show.

GameScience
One of the most unique items I saw at the convention was the D-Total die by GameScience. GameScience is a company dedicated to make a “better” die for gaming. Traditional methods have dice ground down to fill in the colors, GameScience dice have a very sharp edge and are supposed to be correct dimensions down to a hundredth of an inch. (Dice you buy from them usually have unpainted numbers and even have the “flashing” from the die mold – users have to file off the flashing and mark the numbers themselves…) Despite the precision dice, what caught my eye was their D-Total die. It is claimed to be eighteen dice in one. It is a 24-sided die with multiple markings on each face. A cheat sheet tells you how to interpret each roll. There are markings on each face to indicate a d3 (3-sided), d4, d6, d8, d12, and d20. For other sided dice (d5, d7, d10, d20, and dice higher than d24), rerolling is sometimes necessary if an appropriate number isn’t present. Not really something I’d use extensively, but for anyone looking to “show off” at the next gaming session, this is a die worth checking out. The MSRP of $27 seems a bit steep, but it is a large, solid die.

Paizo Publishing
Getting back to role playing systems, one of the big releases of the convention is Paizo’s Pathfinder RPG core rulebook. Paizo was a big supporter of the old 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons (really 3.5 edition). When the transition to 4th edition occurred, Paizo was somewhat left out in the cold. They soon became a rallying point for the avid fans of the “old” 3.5 edition of D&D. Using the open source license (OGL), Paizo has built a game system that will keep fans of 3.5 going for some time. The setting is entitled Pathfinder, and the core rulebook contains 575 pages of everything needed to play and run a game. While I haven’t been able to check it all out, it looks very interesting and since it has incorporated feedback from tens of thousands of fans, I’m sure it will continue to be the go-to rule set for 3.5E diehards.

Fantasy Flight Games
I normally associate Fantasy Flight Games with plastic figurine rich games, but they also produce several lines of role playing games. Their big RPG announcement at GenCon was of the upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This is a gritty, dangerous setting where characters can expect to struggle just to live to see their next level. Priced near $100, the game comes as a box set full of books (4), custom dice (36), and player aides (such as power cards of various types, character sheets, etc…). While this may seem expensive, a single box is everything a GM and three other players need to play a game. Compare this to other RPGs where you need a player’s book, a GM book, and possibly a setting or monster book and the prices add up as well. Not too much information has been given out about the specifics, but I appreciate the effort FFG has put into trying to make everything easier for the GM (and the rest of the group) to focus in on the story. For example, tactical maps aren’t used (unless you really want to use them, I guess) and the game uses a stance system instead. Players can fight in a reckless or more conservative mode, etc… Presumably, the custom dice will follow in the footsteps of other FFG games to try to make combat easy with any attack resolved with a single roll of dice, etc… The buzzwords around FFG are that the game is attempting to be an improvement on the user interface for RPGs in order for players to focus on creating a better story. Hopefully, FFG will be able to do so.

Green Ronin Publishing
I’ve seen some of Green Ronin Publishing’s books before, but I’m a sucker for superhero role playing games, so when I saw the book for Mutants & Masterminds I had to stop and check it out. This RPG is based around a d20 resolution system (roll a d20 to try to accomplish things, just like in D&D), a point-buy system of character creation (you purchase skills and powers, rather than roll for them) and has a bit of a four color comics feel. I’m a huge fan of the Champions or Hero RPG system (Champions Online is based off the ruleset) but it is a VERY math intensive game system, and not one well suited for the general public. Mutants & Masterminds seems to be a much friendlier system for playing superheroes with easier character creation and a skill and combat system somewhat familiar to many role players. There are a number of settings and supplements available, but if you’re looking for a fun superhero RPG fix, this system is worth checking out.

Pelgrane Press
Most of the rulebooks at the Pelgrane Press booth looked to be a bit too dark for my tastes (lots of vampires, werewolves, and other gritty horror-type genres) but one book did catch my eye, Mutant City Blues. Mutant City Blues is also a superhero book (and thus my interest) but it comes in at a slightly more gritty and systematic setting. Think CSI or gumshoe detective story set in a superhero universe. Players have detective type skills as well as access to superpowers, but superpowers have detectible trends. For example, if someone has a strength ability, they are more likely to also have enhanced toughness, or the like. Thus, if a superpower is used at a crime scene, the player characters have a good chance to detect the type and begin to tag the person who has that power. Typically set in a player’s own city, to reduce the number of unknowns, games of Mutant City Blues focus in on detective work (almost like a murder mystery game). Players nearly always succeed at using any information gathering skills (thus, they can find any needed clues) but must then use the information they gain to try to nab the culprits. All in all, I found the setting to be very intriguing, forcing players to balance playing cops (and obeying all the requisite limits on using superpowers, etc…) and also trying to nab superpowered criminals. You just can’t go around mind-reading just anyone, you need to be sure to get the correct warrant first!

Wizards of the Coast
I’ll end with the big player at GenCon, Wizards of the Coast. As producers of the very popular Dungeons and Dragons RPG, they also have some of the deepest pockets in the industry. The newest edition, 4th Edition, seems to be doing just fine, having been out for well over a year. Upcoming announced products include the Dungeon Master Guide 2 next month which gives some more advanced advice on running a fun, creative game. It has sections on making good skill challenges, encounter building, and some advice specific for paragon (mid-level) games. There is even a 45 page section on the city of Sigil – a crazy city that is sort of a clearinghouse for entry into many other places and dimensions. Also coming out soon is the Revenge of the Giants adventure. This is the first “superadventure” put out for 4th edition rules. It is hardbound and 160 pages long, spanning 12th to 18th level. Players can go through the entire adventure in order, or just use parts of it. It is broken down into five semi-independent sections to make adding or subtracting bits easier on the DM. There is also a large, double-sided poster map that can be used in several climactic battles during the adventure. Also coming soon is the Dragon Annual 2009, which is just a selection of some of the articles that appeared online in the past year. It doesn’t contain everything, but is a nice hardbound reference for folks who like the feel of paper or aren’t subscribing to the online D&D service. (What, you’re not? You should, if just for the nifty Character Builder or the recently released Monster Builder…)
Looking further ahead, there is Primal Power – a sourcebook expanding on many of the classes that appeared in last spring’s Player’s Handbook 2. Next year, we’ll see a round of book 3’s – Player’s Handbook 3 (with an emphasis on psionics), Monster Manual 3, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide 3 (with some attention spent on playing at the epic/endgame level).
The biggest Wizards of the Coast announcement of the show was the new campaign setting to be released next year, Dark Sun. A few might remember it from the old online RPG played through America Online. It hasn’t been around in awhile, but is a great choice. The Dark Sun world is a world on the edge of destruction due to overtaxing the environment (ring a bell?) through the use of hazardous magic and other effects. Most magic in this world tends to drain the environment around it, creating huge desert wastelands. Thus, wizards are a bit of a rarity, but psionics are fairly common. This also makes a great tie-in with the psionic emphasis seen in next year’s player’s handbook 3. The wilderness/fallen empire Dark Sun setting will be a nice compliment to the high-magic/intrigue setting of Eberron and the swashbucking fantasy of the core D&D setting as well.

I was only able to have the briefest chats (if any) with a couple booths. However, fans of the Dr. Who franchise may want to check out Cubicle Seven. They are releasing their Dr. Who role playing game in October. Margaret Weis Productions puts out a nifty Serenity RPG that uses some simple rules to make the game play quick and easy. Abilities and skills are all assigned a die “size” (d4, d6, d8, etc…) and whenever a character needs to try to attempt something, those dice are rolled with the highest value giving the result. West End Games was showing off their first really new RPG in quite awhile, Septimus. Sort of a hard sci-fi setting on a Dyson Sphere (a world built out of the interior surface of a giant hollow sphere with a star in the middle). It has elements of space opera vs an encroaching evil civilization or of a more exploration-oriented game, depending on where on the vast world the players want to explore. Finally, I was disappointed that I didn’t find Archaia Studios Press to check in with them about their Mouse Guard RPG based off of the popular series of graphic novels where mice live adventures as if they were knights. It looks to be a good RPG for playing with the moderately younger set.

That’s all the time I had for role playing games this time around, I didn’t even get to sit in and play in one. However, I look forward to reading through in more detail some of the rules sets I was able to acquire in the coming weeks, and will pass my verdict on the best of them on to you at a later time.

Tags: Misc, Unplugged