New Favorites

New Editions
It's Fun to have something new to explore, even when that something new contains something familiar, but now comes in a new format. I recently received a trio of gaming products which have been on my "can't wait" list for some time.

North Wind Adventures recently shipped the Players' Manual for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2e. the players' manual is the result of a successful Kickstarter I backed. I do not have a lot of experience with Kickstarter, but North Wind Adventures ran an excellent one from my perspective delivering a great product in a timely manner while keeping everyone informed along the way via email postings. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is an excellent pulpy rake on the Advanced Game genre and the Players' Manual is handsomely illustrated. AS&SH is one of my favorite game systems which I don't play nearly enough.

While I am on the subject of nicely illustrated game books I will mention the new Runequest Roleplaying in Glorantha published by Chaosium. It is hard to find a better looking volume than this newest edition of a beloved classic game. This book is coffee table gorgeous! Parking it on the coffee table just to show off one's good taste would be an injustice however because inside the stunning cover is a whale of a good game. Built using the basics of the classic Runequest 2nd Edition, which experienced a recent reprint due to a major Kickstarter, Runequest Roleplaying in Glorantha is compatable with all the older RQ 2e material which has been recently republished by Chaosium. The new Runequest (which is sometimes referred to as RQ 4e) does an excellent job of introducing the reader/player to the d100 Basic Role Playing system and to the default setting called Glorantha - one of the oldest and richest fantasy settings on the market. Glorantha and Runequest are an epic combination and the word "epic" is a good descriptor of the play-style one finds in RQ Glorantha. RQ has long been what I refer to as my "second love" in roleplaying and the new addition is definitely a favorite.

The Black Hack 2e is the product of another successful Kickstarter. The Black Hack takes its name from designer David Black and is among the best of a growing crop of rules lite old school style roleplaying games. Using modern mechanics (roll a d20 under your attribute score) to create a game that relies on referee rulings for areas not specifically covered in the brief (approximately 45 pages) rule section and lots of random tables, The Black Hack has an old school vibe with a fresh, new scent. A game like this really inspires my creative side and I can easily get excited about The Black Hack. Yes, its a new favorite of mine, and judging by the number of "hacks" using the engine from The Black Hack that are currently available, its a favorite of a lot of other folks as well.