You can now register for Buckets of Dice, The South Island (of New Zealand's) biggest board gaming and roleplaying convention, held on Queens Birthday Weekend 1-3 June at Canterbury University.
The con features lots of board gaming, tabletop roleplaying, LARP and a Grand Strategy game! I'll be there offering a range of EPOCH goodness including scenarios from Frontier of Fear, the core rules and the new scenario The Cold Shore as well as talking about publishing your roleplaying games. Hurry though - registration closes on May 25th.
Lowell Francis has posted his initial thoughts about EPOCH on his blog, Age of Ravens. Age of Ravens provides a comprehensive overview of horror roleplaying games, as well as reviews and other thoughts on roleplaying and actual-play recordings:
"
I always like to read new mechanics- if nothing else they spark new ideas about play. My gut reaction in horror gaming is to push the system out of the way, and in some ways EPOCH does that. It lacks any conventional resolution mechanics for the usual nitty-gritty of play. In effect it is pure narrative and diceless, until you get to the crunch points. And that’s where the rubber hits the road. I really need to run or see that in play to get a solid feel to it. I like many of the other elements- the concrete and rewarding nature of the Horror Track and the tactile experience of the other random cards. After several readings, I’m going to recommend this to GMs interesting new ways of approaching horror one-shots. I also think it is worth reading for those interested in new mechanical approaches...."[Read more]
Imaginary Empire releases The Cold Shore, a new one-shot survival horror scenario for the EPOCH roleplaying game. Get it free from DriveThruRPG.com or RPGNow.com.
It is December, 1870. The clipper Sea Witch, a week out of Melbourne and bound for England, is caught in a storm in the Southern Ocean. In the dead of night, she is driven by the tempest onto sheer cliffs. A handful of survivors drag themselves onto the beach. But while they may have survived the wreck, can they survive what lurks on the cold shore?
EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters.
Quick start rules and full-colour cards are included.
I've added a new post to my blog about the techniques I've observed players use to achieve character survival in EPOCH on my blog:
"Character survival is the aim of the game in EPOCH. The scenario will remorselessly eliminate
characters, so the pressure is on to make your character one of those that will
survive the horror right through until the end scenes. While is true that EPOCH is
guaranteed to eliminate characters, it is equally true that there are
guaranteed to be survivors so long as there is a basic level of engagement with
the scenario. So, how to make it through
to the end?" [Read more]
You can now also get a printed copy of EPOCH delivered to
your door! Featuring an attractive full-colour
cover this 138 page perfect bound 6x9 inch book is now available for just
$11.99.
Frontier of Fear is a collection of 4 new science-fiction survival horror scenarios for the EPOCH roleplaying game:
- Ascend Corporation mobile mining crawler 242 has gone silent
after reporting the largest deposit of gold ever found on the Mars.
Join an elite crisis team dispatched to investigate and confirm the find
in RED GOLD.
- In SPACE STATION ICARUS, join a scientific exploration team in close
orbit around the Sun. Your mission is drawing to a close and there are
only a few more days to go before your return to Earth, what could
possibly go wrong?
- Lock and load as a Corporation Marine sent to investigate the
scientific survey ship Turner, which has reappeared near the far side of
the moon, travelling at high speed and bound for earth after 100 years
missing in space in QUINTESSENCE.
- You’ve been convicted of a crime and now you’ve got to do some HARD
TIME aboard the state-of-the-art Albert J. Reiss prison facility,
currently in orbit around Martian moon Phobos.
Full-colour scenario specific card decks are included. Frontier
of Fear also introduces a new sci-fi themed complication card deck
which can be integrated with existing EPOCH complications.
In the final countdown to the launch to Frontier of Fear I thought I'd share a couple of the fantastic pieces of scenario-specific art delivered by the extremely talented Doug Royson:
I just recieved the proof copy of the EPOCH print-on-demand card book, and it looks pretty amazing. The binding and print quality are very high. There are still a few minor changes to make before it is listed for sale, but look for it soon on the EPOCH page at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.
