Jamison Stone's Blog, page 17
July 22, 2020
Top 6 Best Games for Dog Lovers on Kickstarter
As you know, Kickstarter hosts many projects that are both creative and meaningful. Over the years, Apotheosis Studios has highlighted crowdfunding campaigns mostly within the RPG, videogame, graphic novel, Dungeon and Dragons, and roleplaying domains. However, we also are dog lovers, too! Because of this, we now are excited to host a guest post by Eva Greene of Doggytalent.com that showcases some wonderful crowdfunding projects which feature our faithful, four-legged, furry friends! So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the top 6 best Kickstarter campaigns and games for dog lovers!
#1. DOGGOHOME
Doggohome is a card game mainly and with this card game’s help you would learn how you can take care of your Dog properly. There will be 2 to 6 people who are in the same need as yours and you all will play this game and have fun while learning about serious matters. The creator of this project is named WoofWaggers. You can help this project by pledging money and you can give 2 $ or more. In my belief any dog lover would be delighted to get an opportunity like this.
#2. WHAT THE WOOF
Created by Shivani Sharma, this is a card game meant to be played by dog lovers to win the title of top dog. There are various different types of dog breeds from you can choose. The starting pledge money is CA $ 10. You can also play this game at home with your families and friends if you download the pdf and print it. With such little money you can learn proper dog responsibilities and also support a company that truly aims for well beings of dogs.
#3. PUPS
Pups is the cutest card game ever and almost over 600 backers have pledged for this game with 20 $. It is actually a trick taking card game in which you will be the leader of your dog pack and your responsibility will be to take your pack to victory. You can even bid and also play tricks to achieve the winning goal. You can pledge with 1 $ or more too because that is the starting money.
#4. DOGS BOARD GAME
This game is meant for your family because the very genre of this game is family friendly. You can pick up the stray dogs and pups in this game and then you can take care of them like any other dog in real life. This is created by Rob Masson and this game has crossed 50,000 dollars of the total pledge and crossed the goal that was set by the creator.
#5. TRACK DOGORY
This game is very fun because you have to match the dog's upper and bottom body portion or you can make strange and fun dog breeds by swapping the upper and lower body portions. Track Dogory is created by Marthe Viehmann and this game has been constantly updated to be up to date with current circumstances and new fixes. It is so close to its goal of 5,500 euros. It is a game that should be supported because it is very fun and really enjoyable.
#6. Pavlov’s DogsWe couldn’t help it and had to add a 6th game to our list! Pavlov’s Dogs by 9thLevel is a fast, engaging co-op game of memory & conditioning, for 2-8 players. Follow the rules & act like fools! You'll be drooling for more! Play as dogs taking tests from esteemed DOGTORS like Sigmund Fetch, Abby Maslow, and Collie Jung!
Truly hope you enjoyed this guest post, Top 6 Best Games for Dog Lovers on Kickstarter, by Eva Greene of Doggytalent.com. If you liked our doggy related crowdfunding content please leave a comment below and we will make more dog related Kickstarter posts for you! No go outside and take your dog or a walk, and if you don’t have a dog, go to your local animal shelter and walk a dog there, they need love and attention, too!
July 17, 2020
The Red Opera RPG Initiative Coffee Tasting
I have always been an avid coffee drinker (although now I try to stick to decaf) and I have so many wonderful memories of playing Dungeons and Dragons, Shadow Run, Vampire The Masquerade, Mage the Ascension, (and so many more White Wolf World of Darkness games) back in junior high and high school guzzling cup after cup of coffee while we gamed. Come to think of it, I think all my Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 game were also fueled by the glorious coffee bean, too.
Because of this, we at Apotheosis Studios wanted to feature a special coffee blend for our The Red Opera Kickstarter Campaign. Everyone on the team was so excited to share that glorious rush you feel while rolling your dice and roleplaying an epic game while sipping a wonderful cup of coffee with your friends. Nothing better to fuel those late night gaming sessions then some liquid epic! So, we reached out to the Initiative Coffee Company, a group of caffeinated gamer who have a passion for three things: coffee, games, and community. We could not ask for a more perfect fit!
Initiative Coffee Company strives hard to combine all the best things coffee and tabletop games have to offer. According to the owner, “Specifically, I am striving to build community. Community around games, community around coffee, community around...well the community. There are few better ways to get to know a person than to sit at a table, drink a cub of coffee, and roll some dice, take a turn, or otherwise enjoy a game.”
Initiative Coffee has been in the gaming, comic con, and fandom convention scene for a long time. They, rightfully so, have become a pillar of the community and after geeking out on our fist call, we knew it was a match made in RPG heaven! They sent us a few samples of a few of their favorite blends and we whipped out our Chemex pour over and got to tasting!
We had three flavors to choose from:
The Dark Sumatra Ratu Ketiara Gayo which was carefully roasted by Anodyne Coffee Roasters. This Semi-Washed (Wet-Hulled) coffee was grown in the Aceh region of Sumatra between 1200 and 1600 meters above sea level. Although it was great, it was unequivocally a Sumatra, which people usually either love or hate. Even though this is for a Table top RPG, we didn’t want to roll the dice on something so important!
Next was Milwaukee Rockstar. South American and dark roasted coffee come together to form this sultry blend. A full, well-rounded body with a light acidity and smokey spice create the perfect coffee for those about to rock. Now, this was a fantastic light coffee and the rock theme worked well with our partners DiAmorte who inspired The Red Opera with their epic rock opera of the same name (they also are providing a custom Classical version of their album for our 5E Campaign Module, too!) BUT a light coffee for such a dark and brooding story about warlocks and the end of the world did not seem fitting…
Which leads us to our last coffee, The Extra Dark Special Blend. This coffee was full bodied, aromatic, and packed with flavor! The beans were beautiful and rich, and the brew itself packed a punch without being overpowering. We had asked Initiative Coffee to give us something special for our final tasting, and hot damn, did they deliver! Suffice to say, we were hands down all in love with The Extra Dark Special Blend and it won our tasting contest, grinding to the competition to dust! (I cant help myself with these coffee puns, I am sorry.)
Extra Dark Special Blend Coffee is the winner!
And so it is decided. The Red Opera RPG will officially have its own epic, limited edition run of Extra Dark Special Blend coffee. You will be able to buy it by the pound in whole bean on our Kickstarter campaign page on September 1st. It will have custom art and we will time the roasting and shipping so that there is no downtime at all. The beans will be roasted, shipped to Apotheosis Studios and then directly to you so you can enjoy this epic brew during your first The Red Opera gaming session.
Again, a huge shout out to Initiative Coffee for not only being awesome, but sharing their love of gaming and community with us and you. We are so excited to sit back, roll some dice, and sip this wonderful blend and make a treasure trove of new memories while we play The Red Opera RPG with our friends, new and old. Thank you and enjoy!
If you want to learn more about Initiative Coffee you can check out their Website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Patreon!
July 16, 2020
Nightfell - Kickstarter Spotlight
I think we all can agree that “preventing a world-shattering cataclysm” is the most commonly used arc in fantasy role-playing games. Be a hero! Save the world! We see it time and time again. And for good reason, it’s fun to be the world-saving hero. The stakes are obvious and formidable. But what if our plucky band of heroes didn’t save the world? What if they failed, and the villain’s evil schemes came to fruition? What happens after the world is quote-unquote destroyed?
Nightfell is the latest offering from Angelo Peluso and Mana Project Studio. It is a new Horror/Fantasy setting for 5E. And while they don’t explicitly say this setting is the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, it certainly feels that way.
Nightfell takes place in a land called Iurmen during what is known as the Lunar Age. In the team’s own words: The World you are going to face is cold and desolate. There are few inhabited settlements, and most races are now extinct. Nights are gloomy, but days show no sun nor Moon and are even more terrifying. Life in these lands persists only thanks to the faint breath of life left to the Primes, deities who are intrinsic to nature and still stand uncorrupted by the dark beings who have breached the Material Plane.
This whole things sounds utterly fascinating to me. I would love to explore this world Angelo and his team have built. Search the remnants of lost civilizations while fighting off scores of undead monstrosities. I think what I really like about the idea of playing through this dark, hopeless, and bleak world is that those few moments of triumph that you will inevitably stumble into are going to carry much more weight for both your character and you as a player. If everything you do is glorious, nothing is glorious. But if you spend most of your time barely surviving, those precious instances of hope and joy become invaluable. I, for one, am very excited for this treasure trove to come out.
Nightfell actually offers both a setting Corebook and a new Beastiary with almost 100 new, original creatures. Not only that, but you will be getting several new playable races, new archetypes, new backgrounds for your characters, and three new original classes! One of these new classes really caught my eye:
- Tefillin: Characters who wish to have a closer connection to the Dark World can choose to let themselves be possessed voluntarily by a ghost, becoming Tefillin. Learn how to use your ghost's powers to increase your abilities.
Who among us doesn’t want to try playing a character possessed by a ghost?! I know I do!
So stop wasting time and hurry over to the Nightfell Kickstarter campaign and secure your copy today! You can follow Nightfell on Facebook by clicking here, and on Instagram by clicking here. Enjoy!
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images:Angelo Peluso
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
July 7, 2020
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters Gets Our 5E Games Back To Godhood.
Perhaps you remember an old D&D book called Deities and Demigods. This book was a mainstay for storytellers and players who loved to dream big. After all, with enough time and experience (and a storyteller crazy enough to let it happen) you could become a god. That is what appealed to most players.
For most storytellers, it was the actual expanded religion section and various myths dropped in stat form. Not only were they fun to see; they gave storytellers the tools needed for running them in their campaign. Fast forward to 2020, and some of the same people behind Deities and Demigods have returned with Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters. A 5E tomb of information containing Cryptids, Myths, Folklores, and more. Let’s take a look!
I’m not going to lie and say I’m not a fan favorite of Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD. So when I found out about the same team members working on this project, I…may have already been opening the wallet. I also tend to run games heavily based off legends and myths; and often my entire party ends up meeting gods at one point or another. Hell, Lucifer actually took over the earth at the end of one of my last games (players doing player things, that’s a story for another time).
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters functions by incorporating and inventing new classes like the Gunslinger and Tinkerer for gods and legends that don’t fit into the standard classes. While these classes are technically fully listed in the Masterclass Codex, En Publishing lets you have all the rules you need to run those classes for the gods in question. This gives the gods and legends a unique flavor to them, to be honest, makes me feel as they would be good mentors (or patrons) to characters.
The gravy is in the special stat blocks though. I was really glad to see that not every god was rocking challenge ratings of 18+, and the myths and legends were across the entire spectrum. All of them, have unique special abilities. Like Antaeus, whom as long as he’s in contact with the earth, his Strength is increased by 4 and he has advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. Lift him off the ground like Hercules did, and he loses his enhanced strength. Antaeus is only challenge rating 4, and is something that a budding hero setting out on their journey could encounter.
WHICH IS FRIGGIN AWESOME!
Most books dealing with gods and myths stat the things so bloody far, there is no sense of scale. Everything becomes a meaningless bag of hitpoints. So, for that reason, is why I’m excited to work with the material. Don’t worry… for those curious, Lucifer is a CR of 35, and is the King of Darkness, but Saladin just has a damn cool feat about knowing the time.
Pick up your copy and help back their Kickstarter Here!
Would you ever incorporate cryptids and legends in your world? Let us know your favorite myths below!
Featured Image: Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters
Rick Heinz is the author of The Seventh Age novel series , and a storyteller with a focus on D&D for Kids, The Red Opera , and an overdose of LARPs. You can follow the game or urban fantasy related thingies on Twitter or reach out for writing at RickHeinzWrites@gmail.com
July 3, 2020
Your Friend is Sad - A "Last Chance" Kickstarter Spotlight
I think it’s safe to say that pretty much all of us have experienced some rough patches these past few months. Whether it’s the loneliness of solo quarantining… or the anti-loneliness of quarantining with too many people… the stress of worrying about health and/or finances… and the general civil unrest, it’s a good bet you’ve had some bouts where the sadness monsters tried to set up shop in your brain space. Totally normal and understandable.
Your Friend is Sad is the latest offering from the talented and prolific game-maker, Jason Anarchy. The game is a whimsical & fun endeavor that tackles this issue head on.
The game mechanics are described as such: This is a game about trying to cheer up a Sad Friend. Players take their friend on various activities in the hopes of cheering them up. It's random whether it works or not as your friend's brain is a mess of conflicting Feelings and Brain Goops.
It feels like so often, the gaming world is always trying to out-epic itself. Ever increasing the intensity of game play. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love going on legendary adventures. But sometimes you just want a nice helping of gaming comfort food. And that’s what Your Friend is Sad is: Gaming Comfort Food.
And to top it all off, it is a living embodiment of a community coming together. Mr. Anarchy has managed to assemble 32 phenomenal guest artists who’ve all contributed their unique cartooning stylings:
There are only a few days left in the Kickstarter campaign. So, quit wasting time and click the link below to secure yourself a copy of this charming, sweet, and utterly heartwarming game.
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: Jason Anarchy
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
June 23, 2020
IT Startup - The Card Game: Kickstarter Spotlight
June 22, 2020
The End is Nigh! Gaming, Metal, and Murder Hornets - Interview with Rick Heinz on thatmetalstation.com
Learn the origins of how The Red Opera RPG began, get a behind-the-scenes inside overview on what to expect during your play session, and hear the personal perspectives from campaign author, Rick Heinz on metal, gaming, and more!
It was so great listening to tabletop RPG game master, novelist, dad, storyteller, and game designer Rick Heinz call into Walter's Wall of Woe to discuss his latest endeavor of turning DiAmorte's "The Red Opera" concept album into a full-fledged Role Playing Game. Once you are done you can listen to other great gaming and metal interviews on thatmetalstation.com and jump in their chat room and bang your head with fellow enthusiasts!
In the interview, Rick also discusses his “Story Forge” (Dungeons and Dragons for Kids) project, and how being a Game Master for his son’s RPG games have inspired him to create kid-friendly RPG campaign modules. They explore how heavy metal and Tabletop games, Dungeons and Dragons, Whitewolf’s World of Darkness, and others were historically viewed in a negative light, but now research is showing the importance of gaming, and how role-playing is having a profoundly positive impact on the lives of kids and young adults.
It’s always wonderful to listen to the passion and creativity of fellow writers and storytellers geek out over how gaming has made such a positive impact on their lives. We are so proud to have Rick on our team, and have his writing expertise on such a powerful project as The Red Opera RPG.
The Red Opera RPG is a 5E Campaign, featuring, for the first time ever, a blood-soaked journey through a Warlock ruled city, which explores the occult nature of Patrons, sending players on a twisting saga through a dark and dangerous realm teeming with intrigue, magic, death, & betrayal. Join our mailing list and be alerted when the Kickstarter is live! www.theredopera.com | www.diamorte.com | www.apotheosisstudios.com
June 18, 2020
Budapest Scoring Orchestra for The Red Opera Theme, and Ahsoka Cornered Theme from Star Wars: The Clone Wars!
DIAMORTE JOINS WITH FULL ORCHESTRA!
Budapest Scoring Orchestra for our upcoming 5th Edition Role Playing Game The Red Opera Campaign Theme Song “When the Light Grows Cold”!
DiAmorte, professional partners with Apotheosis Studios for The Red Opera RPG, have taken the next step in music production with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra for our upcoming 5E Red Opera Campaign Theme Song “When the Light Grows Cold”! Furthermore, intent for live instrumentation will be brought into all future DiAmorte music! This track will feature the all-new cast and a very special guest musician.
Nestled in Central Europe, The Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra combines centuries of musical heritage with modern state-of-the-art analog and digital recording equipment. In the 1980s, film studios began looking for locations outside of the US and UK to record the highest quality film music within their shrinking budgets and turned to Budapest. Becoming the first and one of the best-loved destinations for film scoring sessions, Budapest has hosted Jerry Goldsmith, Michel Legrand, Alan Menken, Ennio Morricone and others who flew to Hungary to record music for movies such as RAMBO, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, LIONHEART, EXTREME PREJUDICE, and RENT A COP.
Most recently, Budapest Scoring was featured on Star Wars: The Clone Wars / Ahsoka Cornered (From "Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Final Season (Episodes 9-12)" Score) with Kevin Kiner.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars / Ahsoka CorneredWe are HUGE fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In fact, its one of my daughter and my favorite shows to watch together. It also should be no surprise that my daughters favorite character is Ahsoka (we need more strong heroins!) For those who are not familiar with Ahsoka Tano, she is a Togruta female, the fan favorite Padawan learner to Anakin Skywalker, and a hero of the Clone Wars. Alongside Anakin, she grew from headstrong student into a mature leader. But her destiny laid along a different path than the Jedi.
When we listen to Ahsoka Cornered from the Final Season of The Clone Wars, we can hear little hints of Qui-Gon's theme and leitmotifs from Revenge of the Sith, too! We loved the final season, and it is such an honor to have DiAmorte and The Red Opera working with such talented musicians for our classical rendition of our upcoming 5th Edition RPG The Red Opera Campaign Theme Song “When the Light Grows Cold”! Being part of this epic Fantasy and Sci-fi cross over is so amazing and we can only dream of the wonderful things in store for Apotheosis Studios and DiAmorte in the future!
You can listen to many of The Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra former tracks on Spotify or on their YouTube Channel. Enjoy!
June 17, 2020
Wretches & Rewards - Kickstarter Spotlight Bonus Post
If you asked ten different people what their favorite thing about Tabletop RPG games is, you could easily find yourself with ten different answers. The TTRPG world is just so beautifully multi-faceted. Some folks are pure combat lovers. All they want to do is slay monsters. And others prefer the improv shenanigans that come with the role play. I love it all, which is a total cop out, I know…
One aspect of RPGs I particulary enjoy is what I like to call the '“trinkets”… Swords of Infinite Sharpness… Rings of Psionic Power… a staff that turns everything it touches into rice pudding… I love it all. As the late poet Notorious B.I.G. once said, “Gimme the loot”
Well, all you Loot Lovers out there are in for a real treat. Wretches & Rewards by Anthony Woods and Co. is the big box of trinkets you’ve been waiting for.
Wretches offers a set of pre-fabbed mini-adventures that can be slotted easily into almost any campaign. But the twist is, each adventure is centered around one or more new, original magic items. The loot isn’t incidental. It’s the focus.
Wretches & Rewards contains:
6 new mini-adventures
16 unique magic items
16 new monster variants
6 double-sided maps
And if your the sort that loves your campaigns with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor, just know that these adventures have titles like Liches Get Stitches and A Royal Pain in the Assassin
If you are at all at interested in Wretches & Rewards, you better hurry the hell up!!! By the time you’re reading this article, there will be less than 24 hours left in the Kickstarter Campaign:
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: Anthony Woods
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
June 16, 2020
Alice is Missing - Kickstarter Spotlight
The number one question I ask myself when considering a Kickstarter campaign for a spotlight article is What’s unique about this? I’ve browsed over plenty of games and source books that look quite fun and well-made, but didn’t seem to offer anything we all haven’t seen before. The absolute opposite end of that spectrum is Alice is Missing by Hunters Books. This campaign punches you right in the face with a fistful of inventive and original ideas.
Right out the gate, you can tell Alice is Missing is something special and unique. It’s a role playing game centered around the disappearance of a local teen from a small northern California town. So, put down your sword and wizard staff, folks. You won’t be storming any citadels or battling any necromancers here.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of originality that is this game. The most defining feature of Alice is Missing is that it is a game played in silence. There is no speaking involved. All in-game communication must be conducted via text message. How wild is that? I could never explain how that works better than the creators themselves, so in their own words, here’s how it works:
”Alice Is Missing runs over a single session of 2-3 hours, with 3-5 players. In the first 45 minutes, players create their characters, their relationships to Alice, and their ties with each other. The next 90 minutes are spent uncovering secrets and unearthing clues in an attempt to discover where Alice is, and who is behind her disappearance.”
To reiterate, all of this is done via game cards and text messaging. And to help move things along and get you fully immersed within the experience, they’ve created a 90 minute soundtrack to guide you through the story. I’ve listened to a few snippets of the music, and it is gorgeous. I think it would be impossible to play this game and not get totally emotionally invested in it by the end.
And to top it all off, this is a creative team that seems to really work hard for their players. Looking for a little assistance on how to properly set up and play? No need to scour YouTube for a third party tutorial video. They’ve created one for you.
If you’re reading this and thinking “This game sounds great, Pat, but you know there’s a pandemic happening right? And I have no idea how long it’s going to be before I can get 4-5 of my friends together in one place,” don’t sweat it. The Hunters Books crew has got your covered. Alice is Missing can be integrated into Roll20 for online play.
With less than two weeks left in the campaign, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be clicking the link below right now and snagging yourself a copy of:
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take Care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: Hunters Books
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
