[Review] Wicked Pacts

Introduction

The name’s Davenport. I review games.

So the other day I’m sitting at my desk, just mindin’ my own business, when this fella in a black duster carrying a flaming sword steps outta this black cloud that smells like rotten eggs.

“You could at least say ‘excuse me’,” I says.

“Cute,” he says. “You Davenport?”

“That’s me.”

“Got a review job for you. A game of modern-day magic.”

He points at my desk, and a rulebook called Wicked Pacts appears. Out of a cloud of black smoke that smells like rotten eggs. 

“Well,” I says, “I can already tell you that the game stinks.”

“Real funny,” he says. “Less comedy, more reviewing.”

[Q&A] Stephen John Grodzicki (Low Fantasy Gaming)

<+SteveGrodzicki> Hi everyone, I’m Steve Grodzicki, author and designer of Low Fantasy Gaming RPG, which is currently in the middle of a Kickstarter for LFG Deluxe Edition.

<+SteveGrodzicki> Low Fantasy Gaming is a d20 based tabletop RPG, built for gritty adventures in low or moderate magic settings. It has simple rules, dangerous combat, flexible PC customisation, and mysterious, unpredictable magic. Designed for short, episodic adventures in sandbox worlds, LFG provides the mechanics and tables needed for easy GM improvisation.

[Q&A] Ken Spencer (Imperial Jupiter)

<+KenSpencer> Hi! I am Ken Spencer, the creator of Rocket Age and co-owner of Why Not Games. A few months ago we launched a kickstarter campaign to fund the next planetary sourcebook for Rocket Age, Imperial Jupiter. The campaign was a success and the pdf has gone out to backers.

<+KenSpencer> The print copies should be leaving the warehouse today, so we are happy to release the pdf, and soon the print, to the general public! Imperial Jupiter covers Jupiter and its most interesting or significant moons in the 1938 that never was and the Solar System that should have been! <done>

[Q&A] Alan Bahr (Fallen Justice)

<+GKG_Alan> I’m Alan Bahr of Gallant Knight Games, and today I’m here to talk to you about Fallen Justice, our vigilante RPG featuring heroes with no powers, and bloody knuckles

<+GKG_Alan> You can find it on DriveThruRPG in both PDF and POD now!

<+GKG_Alan> (Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258462/Fallen-Justice)https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258462/Fallen-Justice

<+GKG_Alan> I’m here to answer all your questions about Fallen Justice, Utah, my puppies, my whisky habits, or anything else!

<+GKG_Alan> Fire away

[Q&A] Deanna Gilbert, Darrell Hayhurst, and Brian Reeves (Torg Eternity: The Nile Empire)

<+Torg_Darrell> Hi, I’m Darrell Hayhurst, I like to call myself the steward of Torg Eternity, driving this bus and trying to keep it from crashing off a cliff.

<+Torg_Deanna> I’m Deanna Gilbert, Darrell’s “canary”, the Torg Eternity Forum gal, and the author of the Nile Empire Sourcebook.

<+Torg_Brian> Okay, I’m Brian Reeves – I co-authored the huge Fires of Ra adventure along with Darrell

<+Torg_Darrell> The product is The Nile Empire sourcebook, it’s related adventure Fires of Ra, and all the tons of crazy stuff that goes with it. On Kickstarter right now. 😀

[Q&A] Zach Erdmann & Rohit Ravikumar (Demigod)

<+ZachErdmann> Hi, my name is Zach, I’m one of the writers at Schwa Games and one of the lead developers of Demigod! Demigod is a roleplaying game based on the world of classical global mythology, in which players take on the roles of heroes granted great powers by the gods in order to shape the world of myth.

<+ZachErdmann> Demigod features gods and myths from around the world, each with their own unique set of powers that players can use to engage with the world at a mythic level. In Demigod, you’re given free reign to make the kind of character that you want to play, and given power far above that of mortals, in order to meet and make your own epic destiny.

<+ZachErdmann> As of the time of this writing we have out a fully playable demo with the basic rules, as well as a wide selection of gods available, with more coming once the game is completed. The final game will have thirteen pantheons, each with a plethora of gods and related powers. The demo is available now on our website for anyone to download and look at

<+ZachErdmann> (Link: http://schwa.games/)http://schwa.games/

[Q&A] Derek Chung (Emberwind)

<+[NOM]Derek> Greetings, everyone! My name is Derek, and I’m the lead developer for the new tabletop RPG, Emberwind!

<+[NOM]Derek> Emberwind is a new breed of modular tabletop RPG that’s been built to be fast, fun, and endlessly customizable. The Core rules are intuitive enough to learn in minutes, but offer untold depths of strategy through co-op tactics and modular plugins. They’re also available for free on our website.

<+[NOM]Derek> With that as Emberwind’s foundation, we’ve created a game that will scale to your skill level as a player, evolving and adapting to your needs as you become more experienced in tabletop RPGs. At its simplest, it can be run without a GM, has one page of rules, and will only take 5 minutes to learn.

<+[NOM]Derek> At its most advanced, it’ll do the things veteran players have grown accustomed to from traditional tabletop RPGs like D&D/Pathfinder, but offer you streamlined methods of accomplishing those tasks as well as supportive tools to make gameplay easier.

<+[NOM]Derek> One example is the optional A.I. system we utilize for creatures that offloads the need for a GM to have to think about what every single enemy does during every single turn of combat.

<+[NOM]Derek> This scaling can be applied by individual player and still allow for players to enjoy a game of Emberwind together without compromise. We’ve modularized it to the point where you can even play Emberwind as a single-player game too.

<+[NOM]Derek> There’s a great deal of other cool stuff, but that’s probably a good start to introducing Emberwind to everyone!

[Q&A] Roy Vieira (Weird Wild Wuxia West)

<+RLVieira> Hi, I’m Roy and today I’m here to talk about Weird Wild Wuxia West

<+RLVieira> this is a minimalist game (all rules on one sheet of paper) a hack of Ray Otus’s Sorcerers and Sellswords

<+RLVieira> (which is a hack of John Harper’s Lasers and Feelings)

<+RLVieira> It combines the tropes of the Old West, Kung Fu (the TV series), Wuxia/Wire-Fu film (like Crouching Tiger), and Dinosaurs

[Q&A] Tom Oden Ahlqvist (Vindeon)

<+Tom> I am Tom Ahlqvist, Swedish writer of fantasy novels and rpg:s. We have released our first rpg in fact, some weeks ago on kickstarter! It’s name is Vindeon, and have actually hit the funding goal so that’s very nice for us!

<+Tom> The game is set in a high-fantasy setting and rules are designed to be fast and easy to both use and learn, and we have focused heavily on immersive roleplaying.

<+Tom> There is deep lore and many unique choices a player makes in the character creation progress, which connects to the game world of the same name: Vindeon.

[Q&A] David Somerville (Never Tell Me the Odds)

<+Smrvl> Hi, I’m David Somerville! I’m the creator of Vast: The Crystal Caverns, and I’m currently running a Kickstarter campaign for my new game—Never Tell Me the Odds: A space-scoundrel RPG about risking it all.