Welcome back to the “Role Playing Game PDF Spotlights” column, where we look at some of the PDFs that have been released in the past week that have piqued my interest. There’s a bumper crop of titles that I wanted to feature so I’ve split the column in to two parts this week.

All of the below were released in PDF between 22nd-28th January 2022.

A.C.E. #6: Orcs & Oubliettes

Awfully Cheerful Engine Adventure

By EN Publishing

DUNGEONS MEET DRAGONS!

Don your armour, sharpen your sword and ready your lantern. The residents of the city of Heq Moreveg are in danger and only you have the mettle needed to save them!

This action-packed adventure will take you through dungeons, sewers, and city streets as you investigate kidnappings, clash with a nefarious cult, rescue some orcs, and even battle a might dragon! You can choose one of the four pregenerated characters made specifically for this adventure or summon up a character in no time using the ACE! rules and try out one of four new occupations, including the Captain of the Watch, Sprite, and Troll.

As members of the city’s Dusk Watch, you will have the chance to stroll its vibrant streets and meet its eclectic communities. You’ll also have the opportunity to rub shoulders with nobility and check your pockets after visiting the thieves’ guilds. It isn’t long before the city is placed in perilous danger, however, and you’ll need to call on every trick in the watch’s rulebook to survive the trials of orcs and oubliettes!

This fast, fun, tongue-in-cheek adventure for the ACE! roleplaying system includes all the material you need to run your own dungeon-delving and dragon-slaying caper.

Powered by The Awfully Cheerful Engine. To use this adventure, you will need a copy of A.C.E. #1: The Awfully Cheerful Engine!

Tavern Tales Vol.1: A Trip Away Inn

5E Dungeons & Dragons Supplement & Adventure Anthology

By Escape Plan Games

Tavern Tales is more than just an anthology of adventures. Tavern Tales provides game masters a living, breathing, functional tavern, that they can insert into their homebrew game world. A Trip Away Inn is a circus-themed tavern built by Flip, a former high flyer and tightrope walker. A Trip Away Inn is filled with unique characters, each with their own story to tell and tasks for your heroes to complete. Visit the tavern bathhouse, or play a game of Liar’s Dice with the two-timing twins, Tia and Mia, or taste the savory meals from Estabon, the dragonborn chef. A Trip Away Inn provides a home away from home, as well as a meeting place for schemes and plans. This book gives you all the tools you need to bring the whimsical atmosphere of A Trip Away Inn to life for your players. Whether you need a little breathing room to write that next great adventure, or need that next hook to build from, A Trip Away Inn is rife with inspiration.

Tavern Tales Includes 

• 14 – Adventures spanning from 1st – 13th level
• 12 – Merchants
• 4 – Player Backgrounds
• 2- Player Sub-Classes
• New Magic Items and Weapons
• Rules for player-run shops
• 22 – Tavern NPC’s

Where the Wheat Grows Tall

OSR Adventure

By 10d10 Toads

Where the Wheat Grows Tall is an old-school fantasy adventure for low level characters inspired by Slavic myth. Deeper than a dungeon crawl, this adventure is filled with personalities and relationships boiling beneath the surface. Cross the old stone wall and discover a different world that follows different rules in twenty keyed locations.

The adventure begins at the abandoned farm of the Polotnikov family. Spirits linger, and signs point to power beyond the wall. From here, players can choose from a variety of goals or entrances, weighing history for themselves.

The far side of the wall is governed by two ancient fey: The Noon Lady & The Midnight Maiden. Once wild spirits, then bound local gods, their idols now decay, forgotten behind forbidden fields. There they would quietly lay, but love and greed have upset the quiet balance and the Noon Lady reigns tall with scorching dominion.

The field beyond the wall is a mystery to explore, full of simple encounters and locations to draw the party deeper into the field, both literally and figuratively. Entreat with the ghosts of old wars, explore the rootbound tunnels of the Poleviks, or befriend Trull, the timid troll guarding the field’s solitary bridge.

Where The Wheat Grows Tall is 44 pages printed in a black & white digest format (5,5 x 8,5). It features over twenty black & white illustrations by Evlyn Moreau.  Stat blocks are written to be compatible with old school game systems. Purchase also includes a PDF artbook. 46 pages of full page illustrations to share with players at your table, including illustrations from the book, reworked art, and cut images.

Lady Spy Detective – Action Noir RPG

Core Rulebook

By Total Party Skills

Lady Spy Detective is a quick, simple and easy to use Tabletop Roleplaying Game for Game Masters looking to run a solo campaign for their spouse or partner, who will take on the role of a Lady Spy Detective in the Pulp Noir setting of the fictionalized 1950’s of film and television.

Included are complete game rules, character creation, a starting setting, international espionage agencies, and guidelines for creating a variety of NPCs and Villains for your Lady Spy Detective to go up against. Solve high profile mysteries in exotic locations around the world, while trying to not blow your cover, in this pulse-pounding action/mystery adventure game.

Or combine Lady Spy Detective with Ghosts of the Shadow Zone to introduce elements of occult conspiracy and supernatural horror into your Campaign!

Whether you are looking for classic sci-fi spy adventures or serialized detective mysteries, Lady Spy Detective gives you the tools to craft epic and memorable adventures to run with your loved one, for years to come.

Slasher Zine

A Zine for Mork Borg

By Michael Mars

A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films  involving a killer murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed  tools. Although the term “slasher” may occasionally be used informally  as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts  cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart  from other horror subgenres, such as splatter films and psychological  horror films.

Slasher Jam was a jam that was run over the course of October 2021 that got 20 entries. These entries have been compiled into 2 volumes. Volume 1 contains classes, items, and monsters. Volume 2 contains the adventures of Slasher Jam. This product contains both volumes.

Volume 1 is 60 pages and contains all the submitted classes, items, and monsters.

Volume 1 of the Slasher Zine contains the following submissions, sorted by order of appearance:

• Slasher Victims by Michael Mars Gaming
• Slasher’s Blade by RaptorShadow
• Slaughtered Victims by Ashley Kronebusch
• Thrice Cursed by LupusAmicus
• Splatterborg by Richard Kelly
• Born of a Bloody Film by Jordan Boschman
• Voorhees Slasher by newyear Studios
• A Morkdrom on Borg Street by Ceph
• Mind-Jester of Oak Road by DogNutBoy
• HAIL THE RAT GOD by The Eldritch Tomb
• Cultist Zombies by Jegs

Volume 2 is 80 pages and contains the adventures of Slasher Jam.

Volume 2 of the Slasher Zine contains the following submissions, sorted by order of appearance:

• The Black Stallion Manor Massacre by Paskål Jansson
• Dead By Dawn by Sebastian Vazquez
• Court of The Grand Excruciator by  Luis “Gaffy” Lopez
• Gregor’s Folly by David Harvison
• Mehr Licht! by AstroLich
• SlasHER by Bracken MacLeod
• The Hills are Watching You by Nell Azathoth Tull
• Ultraviolent Floating Halls by Gizmo The Bugbear

Church of Steel

Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory Supplement

By Cubicle 7 Entertainment

Vehicular Mayhem in the 41^st Millennium

Unveil the mysteries of the Machine Spirit and unleash the massive power of machines of war with Church of Steel, a comprehensive guide to vehicles in Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory. Church of Steel contains rules for more than 80 vehicles from the diverse Factions of the 41st Millennium, and narrative-focused rules for running them in your games.

Take to the Mechanicus workshop to customise your engines of destruction with a panoply of weapons and upgrades, including examinations of Machine Spirits that reside within vehicles of the Imperium. Build a unique history for your venerable vehicle and travel the harsh wastes of the Gilead System with story building travel rules. 

Church of Steel includes:

• A detailed exploration of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Machine Cult in the Gilead System, as well as the reverence other factions have for their vehicles.
• Rules for customising a vehicle’s appearance and quirks, as well as building a rich history of its exploits.
• Information on the nature of Machine Spirits in Imperial vehicles as well as how xenos species view their own vehicles..
• Guidance for incorporating travel into your games, from treks across planetary wasteland to journeys through massive hive cities.
• Rules for vehicle actions, interactions, and complications in and out of combat
• Customisation options for upgrading vehicle performance, adding new wargear, and installing new weapons.
• Stats for over a hundred vehicles from tanks, to troop carriers, to personal flyers, including a section on Necron vehicles and the mysterious living metal necrodermis.
• Rules for vehicular weaponry and wargear, including massive battle cannons, deadly melee weapons, and powerful means of protection. 

Sky Full of WeaveNet Stars (Deep Space Plot Book 1)

Broken Shield 2.0 Supplement

By Gunnar Roxen

In this full-colour Deep Space Rescue Plot book for the Broken Shield Roleplaying Game the Deep Space Rescue crew’s lives get made waaaay more complicated when the cast and crew of hit show Deep Space ResQ!!! join their ship for ten days. Can they rescue ships in trouble, while they keep egotistical, unstable actors alive, and also prevent a saboteur from causing mischief?

Inside this book:

• Rough Guide To Plots! Broken Shield Plot are designed to be flexible, fun mission settings that give you the support you need to have fun adventures that make the most of Boosts and Complications without railroading your players.
• Playing Rescue Characters: As you are not expected to be an expert on space we thought it’d be helpful to list some of the situations various skills can be used.
• Rescue Base: Kraken: A suggested base of operations for the team in the Kratos system.
• Everything you need to run Sky Full of WeaveNet Stars:
  • Learn all about egotistical and fragile actor Zaiden Hornick who plays Star-Captain Dash! Aspiring, dedicated actor Sothy Soun who plays Lieutenant Chantrea, and their production team of producer, script writer, SFX guru and camera drone operator.
  • Background on the assignment, possible Boosts and Complications to make life interesting, stats on key stats and handouts to help you build your own crew.
  • Four plot seeds to further your adventures.

Turquoise Valley

Western Setting (Systemless)

By Fishwife Games

Turquoise Valley is a fictional frontier town that is usable for a variety of old west territories. Focus should be on a prairie location with surrounding copper and turquoise mining interests. This is a town that is not yet connected to the railroad but close enough to rail expansion to make the concept of a potential station feasible. This community has its share of conflicts and potential for violence and corruption, just like the real world settlements in the old west.

This product is designed in a manner to be compatible with most old west tabletop role playing games. Game specific rules are left out as well as specific prices on things. There are references to real world localities, which the GM is free to change or remove as needed. Though intended for realistic western settings this location could also be used for weird west, fantasy fusion, western horror, and other larger than life setting variants. The product consists of a brief background, two maps (one numbered and one note), and descriptions of each numbered map entry. Sprinkled throughout the entries are various notes that provide the GM potential for conflict, adventure hooks, and/or interesting encounters.

Background
Built just outside of copper mining territory, Turquoise Valley enjoyed enough early success to allow the community to grow into a thriving little prairie town. Though still prosperous, there are signs that the economy is starting to slow down. Mayor McCarty has dreams of using his connection to the railroad company to establish a new train station in town. Being linked up to western railroad expansion is what the mayor believes will allow the community to survive and grow into a small city.
Not everyone shares the mayor’s vision. Business entrepreneur Jacob Hound seeks to gain majority control over Turquoise Valley’s economic interests and these plans would further limit his influence. Mr. Hound’s business investments are doing just fine without such growth and the entrepreneur would love run Mr. McCarty out of town and assume the role of mayor. Unfortunately for Mayor McCarty his rival Mr. Hound has a few supporters in Turquoise Valley who are not afraid to dish out a few dirty deeds…

St. Cecilia’s Gargoyle

A Threat for The Between

By Jason Burns

A deacon has been brutally murdered at St. Cecelia’s Cathedral, and a very concerned priest has come to Hargrave House to help get some answers. Explore Fidalgo street and the haunting corridors of Death Alley as you piece together how a stony abomination made its way into this holy sanctuary. Be careful though, because trouble is never more than a stone’s throw away.

This publication is not affiliated with Gauntlet Publishing or Jason Cordova, though it is created with their permission.

The Between is a mystery RPG made by Jason Cordova and published by The Gauntlet. It is a Carved from Brindlewood game relying on mechanics derived from Brindlewood Bay, another Cordova original.

Super Powered Legends: Villains of Russia

Mutants & Masterminds Supplement

By Rogue Genius Games

The Red Menace!

With the fall of the Soviet Union, the Motherland has seen many of its superhuman creations turn to greed and crime. The Russian Mafia has a number of superhuman leaders and enforcers within its ranks.

• Alkonost (PL 8) – a winged bird-woman with sound-based kinetics
• Gatecrasher (PL 7) – teleporting thief
• Koschei the Deathless (PL 10) – immortal feared to be a demon
• Leviathan (PL 10) – density controller
• Mister Gaunt (PL 9) – body stretcher

Super Powered Legends. Because sometimes you a need a character everyone recognizes, even when meeting them for the first time.

Killer Fish: The Roleplaying Game

Core Rulebook

By James “The Geek”

The Role-Playing game of Mutated Fish Out For Revenge

You’ve never seen anything like Killer Fish before. 

It’s a tabletop role-playing game where the players take on the role of mutant fish, ready for revenge against their corporate overlords. Play with 2 or more friends, one acting as the Game Host. Can your School of Fishy Freedom Fighters defeat Evil Corp?

This box includes everything you need to start playing (except for a few friends)  You get:

• A complete setting introduction book
• 2 Tabletop Maps:
  • White Blank Map
  • Shores of Lake Eerie
• An introduction adventure
• New rules for creating species and mutants
• Custom tokens for print and play or virtual
• Front and back box covers if you want to print and play
• Based on a simple-to-learn rule system*

The Velvet Fists

5E Dungeons & Dragons Adventure

By Luke Hart

Within a harmless guild for servants and the like sit monsters upon high thrones. An intricate web of criminal activities is being conducted right under the city’s nose — and feet — and no one is any the wiser. The party has been dumped head first into the complex system of lies and victims weaved together by the Velvet Fists, and only one thing is clear: many lives will be lost today… but whose?

The Velvet Fists is a fifth-edition compatible adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game designed for a party of four to six level-ten characters. It features read-a-loud text for ease of use and maps designed for use on virtual tabletops, such as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.

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