Monday, September 1, 2014

And So It Begins - Play Testing On The Seventy Seven Worlds Old School Post Apocalyptic Rpg

Get In On The Action 
HERE

From what I've been able to gather over the last couple of days, James Ward of Metamorphis Alpha First Edition fame has been working with Fireside games on a whole range of rpg systems product.
Many of these will be covering the fantasy, science fantasy, and post post apocalyptic phases of their various campaign worlds and using a brand new character generation system that Fireside has developed.
Looking deeper into the ideas behind some of Fireside Games here we see a definite old school idea with some pretty interesting takes on PC generation using a card style system. And the familiar Wardian lunar location of a lunar city but it looks like this is a completely different Lunar setting then the one we were presented way back when in Gamma World from the pages of Dragon magazine.Very different folks, checkout this press release on the campaign setting material: 

77 Worlds is an Alien Apocalypse Campaign Setting and Science Fiction RPG 
Designed by James M Ward with Stephen A Lee

300 Years after the second apocalypse...

In the Egyptian Dome of the Lunar Resort....

You’ve just seen strange crystal ships in space battling silver ships your elders said were driven by the gods Ra and Ptah. You then look at the Earth and become sad once more. “How long as the Earth been like that.” 
“Clerics of Thoth say Earth Prime has been in ruins for over three hundred years. Those same crystal ships came, sent by the evil ones to destroy all of mankind. The gods didn’t let that happen.”

From the Egyptian Dome, on the moon, young warriors noted the terrible band of volcanoes circling the center of the Earth. They wondered at the huge forests at the south pole of the Earth. The mountains at the north pole looked unearthly. The characters couldn’t help wondering what secrets were to be found there.

The Basic Set of Apocalyptic Space presents a series of adventures where the characters learn about the game system and how to play. Nothing is what it seems as new characters actually believe they are living along the Nile and the gods of the Egyptians are very real and talk to their worshipers from the temples in the City of Thebes. 

Apocalyptic Space is designed for exploration by a group of characters who grow in experience and power as they accomplish quests. There are 77 different worlds to be explored and possibly saved as you must solve an age old mystery of why the aliens attacked and can they be stopped from attacking again. The Basic Set provides hours and hours of fun as the Game Master and the players learn what it’s like to explore apocalyptic space.

The initial basic rules are due to be released Fall 2014 at LGI Markets as well as the full basic set in print with maps, adventure module. Additional 77 Worlds products are slated for Fall 2014 thru 2015.

A look at Fireside's product line up shows a very strong old school/new school ideal within their product line up. Check this out: 

APOCALYPTIC SPACE - The 77 Lost Worlds
Design by James M Ward with Stephen Lee
Target Release Date is Fall 2014

  • Cross Worlds FRPG campaign settting
  • Apocalyptic Space (tm) SF RPG
  • Adventure Excursions for all FRPG's
  • Stellar Space: Wargame
  • 77 Worlds: Quantum Wars
  • 77 Worlds: Lost Empire Board Game
  • 77 Worlds: Empire of the Apocalypse by James M Ward and Stephen A Lee
  • Kingdoms ...of Divine Right FRPG
  • Ravin Rock FRPG campaign world
  • Age of Invention: 18th Century Sci-Fantasy RPG
    Colour me intrigued by there's one other system that caught my eye today on their website. Way back when in the pages of Dragon magazine there was an advertisement for the Mutazoids rpg . I had a copy of it one summer back in the late 80's or early 90's. I remember we played the hell out of it back then. Then my friend Rick disappeared along with my copy into the army and that was that. 
    And now its back. The first edition is available right over HERE

    Mutazoids is sort of the anti post apocalyptic rpg game in a way. The game has very strong echoes of the Xmen Days of Future Past Marvel comics them but with twists and turns all its own. 
     Here's the plot: 
    It is the year 2073, sixty years after the world was swept by the accidental release of the man-made Plague virus. Society's collapse was a brief one. Brief, because the survivors remembered the luxuries of the early Twenty-first century and wanted them back. 

    The world was different after the Plague. Many of the children were twisted and deformed. Mutants. Out of this situation, the paranoid and hateful rose to power by using force and lies to terrify the confused. As the years passed on, those mutants who did not die in their youth were growing to maturity. The Second Republic, the subtly cruel post-Plague government in what was once the United States of America, publicly divided the mutants into two groups: the Acceptables, those with only minor deformities; and the Mutazoids, creatures of barely human appearance. There is also a third group whose existence is officially denied by the Second Republic, sometimes called Supers, who resemble normal humans but have extraordinary powers.

    But apparently while all of the other Fireside projects have been humming in the background, an old friend of mine 
    Moses "Wolfy" Wildermuth has been working on a third edition of the venerable game all this time. 


    Its nice to see this edition in print and I know how hard this edition was worked on. I remember reading about this game on Wolfie's website. 
  • This game has its roots in the work of Ken Whitman, Christopher Clark and many others, originally released in the late 1980s and early 90s.

    The game in your hand is a concerted effort by 21st century post apocalyptic role-players to create the finest in 22nd century post apocalyptic gaming. In creating this new game, we kept the rich historical references and unique flavor of the original Mutazoids, while adding layers of complexity and depth by implementing and expanding upon Open Game Content.
    Editor's note: The World of Mutazoids3e is an alternate Earth in a parallel universe. They once shared the same landmasses, life-forms and general histories, but they are not identical in every way.
    So go take a look and check out Fireside games. Perhaps get in on the play testing action and give a look at some of their fine products. I don't have the time right at the moment to take on yet another game at the moment. But this stuff looks great. 

2 comments:

  1. I really don't need another game system, but the world design sounds fantastic (in the literal sense!).

    I love seeing how James Ward has been getting big in the industry again. And I've noticed an uptick in post-apocalyptic gaming. An interesting trend. I never did much of it back in the day, but I really want to do some these days. It's just finding time to get it to the table!

    Wow though, Needles, from the sound of the setting it's like he's designing worlds with you in mind! I will definitely be watching this one.

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  2. Here's the thing, Fireside is also going to be producing a number of generic adventures as well their own rpg system. Many of these systems will follow the industry trend towards 'system agnostic' which will probably fit most if not about 90% of the other systems on the market for adaptability. Creating your worlds is one of the cores of these styles of game. It also means a great part of the market share on Fireside's part while maintaining their own identity in this economy's crowded marketplace. Its a very savvy move actually.
    I can't really speak for Fireside nor do I claim to. But this would seem to me to be one of the directions that they're taking their products and its a welcome one to see from my perspective. Yet it means that they're tapping the post apocalyptic genre from another direction and some of that has the hallmarks of James Ward all over it. He's always been 'big' in the gaming industry sometimes in front of the cover and often behind the scenes as an editor or hands on with the gaming systems. Ever since I was a kid I've respected the gentleman and technically he's responsible for my science fiction and fantasy rpg habits.
    The settings are very exciting and I think that in part this is due to the OSR influence on the market place and Fireside Games unique take on it. I hear you about the time factor though. Its really about making the time and trying to get down time with friends.

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