Erathoniel's Musings

Ok, this is a week of quite a few things happening, and I'm just getting back into DDO, so I'm gonna be a little crazy and terse here.

First, we have Caves of Qud. I'm a roguelike guy, a fan of games like GearHead, ToME and ADOM (though I never got far in ADOM), so I love it. Basically picture Dwarf Fortress's adventure mode (only a little more polished since the game focuses exclusively on it), in a mix of Fallout and The Mutant Epoch (no, it's not exactly the same, but I'm actually kinda poorly read on my post-apocalypse, so that's the most well known similar example I have), with all sorts of crazy mutations and fun combat, with loads and loads of survival (for instance, finding food and water) tossed in there.

Second, Eclipse Phase apparently released their third printing, as well as updating their pdf's. As Eclipse Phase is incredibly awesome, I recommend checking it out.

Third, Section 8: Prejudice released for PC. It's awesome. The co-operative swarm mode is great, though I haven't gotten far in the campaign yet (courtesy of my insistence of playing it through on hard difficulty the first time). The only downside from its predecessor is the lack of locational damage for armor (at least as far as the HUD goes it's been removed, though I can't be quite sure without a fair deal more testing than I've had time to do), but it's still the same great game, now with reduced price.

Fourth is Stellar Wind, which I somehow missed reviewing when I first got an offer to. Given that it looks like it was sent to me during April, which was pretty busy, I'm not too surprised, though I do wish I had reviewed it, since it's pretty awesome. If you like sci-fi, and Eclipse Phase is too dark and harsh for you, Stellar Wind provides an Asimov style game that's got lots of good

Some people may have noticed that the site's been on hiatus, what with me being busy and having other stuff that I've been working on, namely reviewing for DriveThruRPG (on site there, rather than here).

From now on, I'll be updating on a weekly basis, and if I don't, write an angry letter to [email protected].

Anyway, I'll start off with a list of ten products I've reviewed during the hiatus that I'm sure will appeal to anyone's fancy (ok, maybe not all of them to everyone, but a lot of people will love them).

I'm not gonna link to each product. Just look to the right and go to DriveThruRPG via my Recommended SItes panel, and then type them in search. They're there.

Eclipse Phase: Absolutely awesome sci-fi horror, but you could really run it as just a relatively hard sci-fi game. Transhumanism is fun!

Outbreak Undead: Realistic zombie survival, lots of fun, I loved pretty much everything here. Plus, you can take a short test on the creator's website, and I'm not sure what to say, but check out the quick-start rules and look into getting the whole thing because it's awesome as all get out.

Chronicles of Arax: Free solo adventure game with additional content that you have to pay for, but even if it's not your thing you can get the core rules and an adventure free. It's at least worth a look, especially if you're into a quick fantasy game akin to Sryth or Avernum in tabletop form (albeit shorter, but that's the result of being meant for a quick play session rather than months of booting up your computer).

Spellbound Kingdoms: Wow. Just wow. It's a fantasy game that's pretty much one step short of Steampunk, but it's got a great system for both combat and non-combat that is one of the most unique and interesting I've ever seen.

Die Type System: It's video games in a tabletop game. Reminds me of all the JRPG's I've played (which is quite a few!), and makes me happy deep inside. It's pretty fun, the rules are simple, and you probably wanna skip to the fluff before reading the entirety of the rules, but it's worth it, since the fluff's pretty good.

Oathbound Seven: Best d20 game ever. I'll go that far. Yes, it even beats the Star Wars licensed game. I haven't seen anything as unique and well thought out with as much system background and more.

Legend of the Five Rings: Medieval Japan with a great system. If you haven't played this, you should. If you have played this, you'll know why. The art is magnificent, too. I love everything about this.

Stars Without Number: Free sci-fi RPG that earned its way into DriveThruRPG's print line, it's very simple and retro, but I love it for its depth nonetheless. Definitely a read through, since it's free.

Grey Ranks: This one makes me cry due to the depth and quality of characters and stories created while playing it. Seriously. It's that well written. WWII era storytelling game set in Poland. I'm not sure if I can say anything else about this, but it's moving and dramatic. Missing out on this is like missing out on a hundred lesser games.

Heavy Gear Arena: Yeah, it's Heavy Gear, which I've been a fan of even before my hiatus, but it's also awesome. How awesome? If I were to spread out my arms, I'd come nowhere near to describing how awesome it is. Basically it's got everything you would want in an arena fighting game, and more. More of a wargame than a tabletop RPG like I'm usually into, but it's still really, really good.