Planets of Peril / Temple of the Fool God / Faith&Demons Quick Start Guide

Raaarrgh!! BOOM!! Yaaargh!
http://bit.ly/PoPeril

I'm tempted to blame John Carter of Mars for this, but browsing through this game, one can tell that this has been a few years in the making, by someone of lot better read than I am.  Keith Vaugn's Planets of Peril appears to be a complete game in a refreshing campaign setting way brute force, mental will, alien technologies, survivalism, explorer skills and even sexuality, pave the way to riches and power.   Edgar Rice Burroughs's Martian and Venus stories are listed in the comprehensive list of books of inspiration, along with many authors who were smashing up and mashing genre long before "post-modernity" became the catch-all for the confused.  If you like "sci-fantasy" then Planets of Peril may just be your thing.

You've got to love any game which has a section called "Book 4 - Zardoon: Moon of Mysteries" followed by map entitled "The Island-Continent of Hoshovareka (The Refuge of Mankind)."

I'm especially fond of all-the-rules-you-need sets, in the cynical age of collector-range marketing.  The oil art has a charm of it's own.   In fact the whole publication feels very much like a much older game, perhaps from the 1970s.  The premise and setting does remind me a little of Empire of the Petal Throne, i.e. tribes of mankind displaced on an alien world, but the similarities end with the basic idea.  Planets of Peril owes a lot more to pulp fantasy, fringed with table-powered exotic social-political events and themes.  If you're looking for something different, if you're fond of older games and pulp sci-fantasy then it's definitely worth a look.

Planets of Peril $9.99 PDF on DriveThru  
http://bit.ly/PoPeril

(DriveThruRPG)

Temple of the Fool God
T&T Solo
http://bit.ly/FoolGod
(They're all a bit odd)

I want to give a very quick mention to a solo game that's making me giggling a bit this week.  Generally I have mixed feelings about the idea that Tunnels & Trolls games should often be light and humorous, but Stuart Lloyd provides a feasible background for such japes.  By taking on the patron god of fools (who's name in short form takes up most of a silly paragraph) you are forced to put part of your sensibilities aside.  Chaos truly reigns.  Like with many T&T solos, some sections are sub-games in their own right, where the player can choose to raise the stakes for higher gains - random treasure tables also provide a bet like dice rolling flutter.  Sections can be revisited and considerable ground can be covered and replayed - giving Temple of the Fool God a lasting game life.  The Monty Python-esque humour might be a little much for some, but for others it's a jolly evening in.  'Fool God is written for the T&T 7.5 edition, which is good, because dedicated solos for that edition are still thin on the ground, compared to mighty back catalogue of published and amateur adventures written for 5/5.5.  Fool God is about a dollar more than I would expect to pay for a PDF T&T solo (but I'm getting really spoilt these days, and $4.73 is a pittance really after OBS take their share etc.EDIT: Now reduced -see comments below the post- ), but it's still a packed read with 190 sections. All of the sections are properly hotlinked which means you get straight the right section when using an on-screen reader or a touch-tablet.  It is ideal for both new players and veterans (for 1st level characters - with equipment provided in the text).  Judging by his blogs and video reviews, Mr Lloyd is a state of the art expert when in comes to the studying and playing of gamebooks, so this is a real pleasure to see this knowledge come through in his writing. (Check out: Virtual Fantasies / Lloyd of Gamebooks and Lone Tiger Gamebook Reviews)
Challenging nonsense! ;)

Temple of the Fool God
http://bit.ly/FoolGod
(DriveThruRPG)

Appetite whetting time ...

http://bit.ly/FDquickstart

Mr. A.T. Huss of Mystical Throne Entertainment tells me that the launch of their new Savage Worlds, Dark Ages Fantasy Horror setting, Faith & Demons: The Rising, is immanent.  

For now all we have to chew gingerly on is this free primer quick-start download.  Yummy, yummy, crunchy post-Roman-decadence-chaotic-Dark-Ages-Cults-n-Swords-neoapocalyptic juiciness...


Faith & Demons: The Rising - Quick Start Guide (Free!)
http://bit.ly/FDquickstart
 (DriveThruRPG)




Enough for now.  Must sleep.  Have day-job which must be kept ...


Thanks for scrolling this far! :)