RPGNow 01 04

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Happy New Year!
More Nuts & Bolts

Robert D. Taylor
Feature Review:
En Ferreus Veritas
A Interview with
Ben Redmond
10
Comic
Liz Walsh
15
Big Bang Excerpt

16
Beretta CX4
Alternate Realities Publications
Novice to Master Excerpt 18
Malkan Knight
Heathen Oracle
Cast of Thousands Excerpt 22
Azag Boneseer
Steampower Publishing
RPGNow Top10 Charts
24
We have plenty of preview material this month, so you can check out
some products before you buy them. Heathen Oracles Novice to Master
contains some wonderful artwork and material for d20, and SteamPower
Publishings Cast of Thousands is perfect when you need extras for your
Arrowflight (and d20 shortly) adventure. Additionally, Alternate Realties
Publications has graciously submitted another of its weapons which you
can use with d20, Fudge, Action! System, and more.
Our final Nuts and Bolts article looks at smaller or non-open systems
which can provide a good deal of fun. We had hoped to include
information on other products as well, but many were late in providing us
copies due to the holidays.
Absent again is the d20 article. If you are interested in contributing your
insights regarding the d20 universe, please email me at the address below.
We are missing review central as well, but not to worry, it will be back next
month.
2003 Minion Development

Corp. All rights reserved.
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Politically Incorrect Games

[www.pigames.net]
publishes affordable and
entertaining roleplaying games
and accessories including SRune
Stryders, Disposable Heroes
Paper Minis, Two-Fisted Tales,
and the free Active Exploits
Diceless Roleplaying system and
its 10-sided cousin, Impresa
Express.
Cover Image
by William McAusland
[www.artmotive.com/rpg-art.html]
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by V. Shane
[www.vshane.com]
CREDITS
Editor in Chief
Brett Bernstein
Design/Layout
Brett Bernstein
Editing
Anna Dobritt
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More Nuts & Bolts

Written by Robert D. Taylor
[www.celestius-ex.com/]
For the last several months, this article has examined systems which can be licensed. In this issue, the
article will examine universal systems that dont necessarily have a license agreement with the product.
A Fistful of Dice
by Azathot LLC
While there is very little supporting material
for this system, the game does not necessarily
need very much supporting material. The
game has the ability to fit almost any genre
and any setting. With its relatively fluid
mechanic and various talents, a player could make any kind of
character they could ever want.
The system is relatively simple. The dice mechanic uses d6s and
the talent number denotes how many dice the player will roll.
Once the dice are added up, the GM must determine if the dice
beat his or her target number. As for these talents, they are
relatively broad and applicable. Basically, the system combines
skills, attributes, abilities, magic, feats, talents, and all other
describers under the banner of talents. To aid the players
imagination, there is a very large list of talents for the players to

choose from. Once the talents are chosen, there are derived
statistics that aid the character in general situations such as
combat. While the stats are derived from talents, the character
does not have to have the specified talents for the stats. However,
the players should look closely at the whole book before jumping
into the talents, because the wrong talents could lead to
problems for the character later on. The next and last part is
equipment.
No character could start without all those wonderful toys, and
this game has got a huge selection. There are equipment lists for
each genre that include weapons, armor and items. While they
are not extensive, they do cover broad topics. Any GM should be
able to come up with stats for any item with this range. This
illustrates one of the better aspects of the game.
For the most part, the game does not add any extra
complexities. The combat system is fairly simple and
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straightforward. It discusses the idea of
moving the danger level up and down to
manage certain genres. With a simple dice
mechanic, it gives pretty broad strokes of
rules. This assumes that the players and
GM are smart enough to decide what
modifiers and changes are needed in each
circumstance. The game itself offers a lot
to players wanting something a little more
refined but remain broad enough for any
type of roleplaying fun.
SOAP: The Game

of Soap Opera
Mayhem
by Wingnut Games
They are words like callous, mean, loving,

sweet and so on. The Goal is what the
character wants to do. An example of this
is: I want to kill my only sibling for the
inheritance or To go to Europe and marry
an Aristocrat. Then, there are secrets.
They are a sentence that states a basic
secret. An example of this is: I have a
illegitimate child with my step-sister,
Elizabeth or Killed a man once to close a
business deal. Finally, the Home Set is
determined. This is basically a location like
a beautiful beach house on an obscure
tropical island or the study in his
mansion. While this may seem strange,
the system mechanics explain why they
exist this way.
This is a humorous
game that pokes fun
at TV Soap Operas.
This is not a very complex game, but it
does take advantage of the best aspects of
this medium. To better explain this, the
character system needs to be examined. To
define a character, there are Traits, Goal,
Secret, and Home Set. To create a
character, the player must write a couple
of descriptive paragraphs about the
character. From this, traits are determined.
The game mechanics are very different.

There are no numbers in this game unless
you consider counting tokens numbers. To
explain this, the game goes from person to
person allowing them to say a sentence. Of
course, sentence does allow multiple
sentences to be stated in that players turn.
Then, the next person makes a statement.
One of the unusual mechanics is that a
character can narrate the actions of
another PC. While this adds flair and fun,
this does add a little contention, which
brings up the tokens.

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Every time a sentence shows one of his

traits (mean: I slam the phone down and
throw the cat out the window.), the
character gets a token. They get extra
tokens by revealing aspects of their secrets
and goals. With these tokens, the players
bet each other, similar to poker, until one
gives up or runs out of tokens. The one
that doesnt give up wins and his or her
statement goes. Once a characters secret
is discovered, the character dies or
disappears permanently from the game.
Otherwise, a character that is maimed,
killed or blown up comes back someway.
This is pretty much all there is to the game.
For the most part, it is simple and easy to
play. Also, it offers a fair amount of fun for
the overdramatic. However, the players
that can think on their feet better (there
are no rolls to rely on) will do much better.
Although, good role-players and friends
can definitely help theyre slower
companions during the game. To end the
game, the last character must state a
sentence as a cliffhanger to be picked up
the next time. With the next time and a
little more experience, things will change
but get better nonetheless.
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CORPS
by BTRC
CORPS is a large and
very crunchy system.
With rules that cover
almost any genre, it
has an extensive point
system that creates very balanced
characters. There are a large amount of
skills and rules to govern every possible use
of skills. To aid the player in during
character creation, there are character
templates to map out certain decisions the
player will face during character creation.
Also,
there
are
advantages
and
disadvantages to help flush out the
characters. While character creation is very
diverse with a diverse point system, there
are rules that cover every situation.
The system is fairly basic, but it details
rules for many different situations. For
starters, the system uses a 1d10 when the
character attempts a difficult task.
However, the character does not have to
make a test if the skill rating matches the
difficulty or is higher. Then, there are rules
for contested actions as well as several
other actions. Combat is just as extensive.
The most notable difference is the damage

system. Damage is determined by a hit
location system. Each location has a
number of slots that are marked off as the
character takes damage. Then, each
location has different penalties the
character will suffer when they make tests.
Of course, there are rules for many kinds of
damage. With such a foundation, the
game continues to build itself with rules
and ideas for various game types.
The final sections provide rules and
advice for game mastering, equipment and
paranormal powers. These sections are
what make CORPS even more useful for all
game genres. The GM gets a lot of advice
for doing any kind of game. Next, the
paranormal section provides ideas and
powers that would fit magic or superhero
settings. Finally, the weapons and armor
section gives a large overview of most
common weapons in most game genres. In
the end, this game fits anyone who is
looking for a broad, crunchy, balanced
system.

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Here are some other CORPS products:

Apocalypse: The Time of
Reckoning is at Hand
This game takes place in alternate
timeline. With the aid of the Dark Angel,
the Japanese are successful in World War 2
even though the Atom Bomb was
dropped. From then on, the world
continues to get worse as the more of the
supernatural come into the world. With
armies of undead fighting all and the Dark
Angel raging his war against the Almighty,
the world is upside down with most of it
destroyed.
While the game uses CORPS, it does
modify it for the setting. It adds several
Advantages/Disadvantages, skills and other
changes. One of the real additions is the
different races of the setting. A player can
make
Empyreals
(angels),
Diaboli
(demons), Alferi (supernatural humans),
Half-Alferi, Rotted Ones (disease sufferers),
Monsters (mutants and fantastical
creatures), Living Dead, and the Fallen
(supernatural beings). Then, there are the
supernatural powers and cool equipment.
Finally, the GM gets some help in the
setting. There are two adventures included
in this setting to aid the GM in getting a
game going. Plus, there are large sections
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on the possible campaigns and the mover
and shakers of the setting. All in all, this
serves CORPS as a great end-of-the-world
setting.
Timelords
Timelords is about time traveling. The
background is that an ancient alien
civilization discovered a way to manipulate
time with devices known as Matrices.
These matrices rely on the discontinuities
in time-space continuum. For those players
that want a much more detail explanation
with physics, there is an entire chapter
dedicated to it with some plausible ideas.
As for the rest of the story, the aliens give
part of this technology to a human named
Lucifer. During this time, the aliens also
make a new life form. However, their
Frankenstein turned on them and
destroyed their civilization. It calls itself
the Great Destroyer. This creature destroys
Lucifers family and he seeks revenge on
the creature. They partially succeed, but
they now face each other. Most of the
time, the players accidentally end up with
a matrix by accident then, they must run
from other Timelords who are hunting
them.

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The biggest contribution this book has is

the mechanics of time travel. The setting
details them well with plenty of
information. Also, the gamemaster is given
quite a bit of advice on managing time
travel games. This includes types of games
the gamemaster could use. While this is
not a long overview, the game has plenty
of information and meat for anyone
wanting to play through time. This kind of
game uses CORPS flexibility very well.
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Guns!, Guns!, Guns!

Guns have been apart of human history
for many centuries. This book not only
covers gun, but it also gives rules for
constructing guns. Using the Fuzion
system, it has a complex mathematic
system that allows the user to build a
rather realistic conventional gun. With
these principals and build system in place,
the book goes beyond conventional
weapons. There are rules for musclepowered weapons, railguns, particle
beams, lasers and other kind of weapons.
Also, there is a large table for damage
value conversions for most RPG games.
This makes it a universal tool for any game
or GM. With there conventional rules, any
personal firearm can be made with a
realistic-level of detail.
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Feature Review:
En Ferreus Veritas
by Heyoka Studios
A Review by GameWyrd
Heyoka Studios rejects all claims of liability
associated with acts performed after you read
this book. We have no liability for acts
performed with, but not limited to, this book,
knives, bats, home made PVC claymores, those
shuriken you buy from Army/Navy stores, beer
bottles, tequila, freaky German porn, bowling
shoes, Apple Quadras, the Accursed Temple of
Cazic Thule, flying monkeys, coconut Zingers,
the truth about the grassy knoll, duct tape, or
hamsters.
This seems like such an important disclaimer
that I just had to begin the review with it too!
En Ferreus Veritas is about rapiers. If you need
to be told that thats a type of sword then it
might not be the best PDF for you. Mind you, I
cant think of a better introduction to
roleplaying friendly rapiers than En Ferreus
Veritas either, so lets say that the PDF is suitable
for every level of experience; its just up to you
have the interest.
SCORE: 7
Its misleading (and wrong) to write off En

Ferreus Veritas as a PDF just about rapiers too.
Theres a wider scope to the supplement than
that. Rapiers are the inspiration for the product
but the supplement opens up to include fantasy
cities, whole realms, melee styles, spells and
psionics too. If youre a psionics fan and find
yourself muttering that all too often the d20
supplements forget entirely about you then
youll be pleased to see stats for psionic rapiers
here.
En Ferreus Veritas starts as it means to go on.
We get an accurate and researched introduction
to the history of rapiers but it is a succinct
account and one written for roleplayers wanting
to know only what they need to know for their
game. As the download quickly tours the
Spanish, Italian and French styles we learn which
one was concerned with dodging and which
one favored parrying. Importantly, we learn why
the styles evolved this way. Since roleplaying
worlds typically dont mimic Earth history very
Contributed by GameWyrd
[www.gamewyrd.com]
Gamewyrd is a roleplaying site
with reviews, interactive fiction,
forums, and much more. The
site is a fantastic resource for
adventure gamers.
Scores range from 1 to 10, 1

being the worst and 10 the
best.
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wellwhat with monsters and magicEn
Ferreus Veritas rather sagely introduces the
made up Annwvyn and Moldovian styles.
Annwvyan is based on a fairy-real British
Isle style, where the canons of the Royal
Navy didnt make fencing obsolete. The
Moldovian style puts you in good stead
against vampires and werewolves. Fancy
having a cross build into the hilt of your
rapier or a silver tip? Learn the Moldovian
style. Later on in the supplement were
actually given world information about
Moldovia and Annwvyn.
Can you tell your forte from your fuller?
No? It might be rather embarrassing the
next time youre playing a fighter and an
NPC cautions that your fuller is choked. My
what? Theres a very brief but effective
summary of the parts of a rapier and I
really wish Id read it before my noble
fencing game came to a close. Damn.
Once you know all that you need to
know about the different parts of the
sword you can come look at custom
swords, magic and psionic rapiers with
fresh eyes. If the rapier is made up of so
many different bits and each bit has a
separate function and use then that opens
up a whole new world of possibilities.
Thats just what happens here. Its no
longer just important to have an especially

pointed tip or a slyly sharpened edge;
youll want your basket guard and
annellets to be better than your
opponents too. Magic weapons are
thankfully much more entertaining than
just +2 damage with +1 random
elemental effect. Weve the likes of the
Queens Defenders, the magical rapiers
given to the fairy queen of Annwyns
personal guard (and lovers) and skittish
blades that extend an aura of nervousness!
En Ferreus Veritas goes on to look at the
drop-in-and-play cities of Castille and
Ventia. We get the nations of Gascon,
Annwvyn and Moldovia. Some gamers
might not like the fact that theyre subtly
modified real-Earth namesbut I do.
There are just a few pages for each setting,
enough to give a flavor to the place,
suggest some suitable plot hooks (which
typically involve fencing and rapiers) and,
of course, supply some fencing style
information about each. It doesnt take
much to rile me with massive sidesteps like
this; Ill claim filler at the drop of the hat.
But not here, although these locations
arent 100% on topic Im entirely mollified
by the foreshadowing and I feel that they
do enhance and improve the PDF. And

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prestige classes. Theyre always popular. En

Ferreus Veritas squeezes in some short
prestige class for each location. Were
there is a fencing style there are people
who have mastered it.
Fear not. If you couldnt care less about
pre-made settings, especially just to
benefit from made-up fighting styles then
perhaps the cut and thrust of d20 feats are
more to your taste. Whereas I do like to
poke fun at the system and point out that
it seems almost illegal to carry the d20
logo without introducing some new feats I
will admit that they fit En Ferreus Veritas
rather well. The Half Circular Parry feat
might seem rather redundant without a
special rapier focus in your game but its
ideal for this PDF. If you pull it off youve
earned yourself another riposte. I think
feats like this bring back tactics and
strategy to one-on-one fights and I thats
just what I want for a duel.
There are even new spells and psionics
here. It is only a 53-paged PDF. As youll
have come to expect these new additions
are built around a fencing focus. Spells like
Dramatic Dodge actually lower the
combatants own BAB but allows her to
channel the points into damage reduction.
A lunge rips a hole in the short or cuts off
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a lock of hairthats the thing, a dramatic
dodge. Just combine this paragraph with
the one above; a half circular parry earns a
riposte, which forces a Dramatic Dodge
(and a splash of magic). Ooo. Well be
fighting on tables or swinging from
chandlers next.
Heyoka Studios isnt quite the household
name (gamer household that is) that some
PDF publishers have managed to become.
Give them time. Quirky but practical
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products like En Ferreus Veritas will catch

peoples eye and hold their attention. It is
a niche product but in many ways it seems
bigger than the niche. Its one of those
rare gaming accessories that youll buy for
one thing (rapiers, in this case) and find
yourself using rather more than you
expected.
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An Interview with
Ben R edmond
by GameWyrd
The company name Malladins

Gate comes from the DarkLore
campaign setting, right? How did
that come about? Is Malladin your
favourite feature of the game?
Actually the name Malladins Gate is very
much derived from a combination of
influences. What is now the DarkLore
campaign setting was in full swing as our
own D&D game long before Malladins
Gate started up. Malladin himself was
based on a combination of two historical
figures, Charlemagne and Saladin. The
name is quite sneakily stolen from Saladin,
just changing the first letter. There is a kind
of unwritten rule that villains have names
beginning with Mal, so it worked well to
subliminally suggest in the game that he
was perhaps a darker figure than the
official game history dictates. The
company name came about over a
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telephone conversation between me and

Nigel (my business and writing/designing
partner). We started off with our own
game system, a modern horror game
called ShadowFlux, and was going to call
ourselves Black Orifice Games, but after
analysing the market place we decided to
go with D20 instead (this was at the peak
of D20 popularity when people were
wondering if there would ever be a
successful independent system). Hence we
needed a different name, so were trying to
come up with something more Fantasy
oriented. At the time I was playing Baldurs
Gate a lot and happened to have the CD
case sitting on my desk as we discussed
the issue. I said we need something like
Baldurs Gate, and Nigel said what about
someone elses gate. It wasnt much
longer before Malladins name came up.
What is it about British RPG

companies and darker than
normal settings? Or is that
misnomer?
Its interesting you should say that. I
think theres a general trend not only in
the RPGs, but also in fantasy/SciFi literature
and other media. Tolkiens on the dark side
and I love the modern British writers such
as KJ Parker and Peter F Hamilton that keep
their stories dark. A lot of American writers
can be seen to have a more colourful and
chirpy outlook on the fantasy writing,
emphasising the adventure. Dont get me
wrong, Im a fan of this stuff tooDavid
Eddings and Raymond E Feist are some of
my favourites, too. That said, theres also a
good strong theme of comedy in British
scifi, such as Pratchett, Red Dwarf and
Douglas Adams. I think even these
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comedies have a dark edge, though. I think
the reason for this is the media through
which most SciFi is delivered in the
respective countries. America has a lot of
big budget TV shows, which have a
requirement due to censorship laws to
tone down any real horror elements whilst
most SciFi and fantasy for the British fan
comes on paper. Thats not to say that
Americans are incapable of being dark.
Robin Hobb is very dark at times and
Midnight is so good we almost considered
not bothering with DarkLore.
Is Malladins Gate a small
company? Do you see yourselves
as a company or as gamers with a
for sale product?
Technically were not a company, were a
co-operative. In size, were tiny. Weve got
three of us working on the writing side
and spend most of what we make on just
keeping things ticking over, getting art for
the books and perhaps a little bit of extra
pocket money for RPG books every month.
I definitely think were more on the lines of
gamers with a product to sell than a true
company. We started off with big
ambitions and targeted our products
accordingly, looking for holes in the
market place that we could fill with our

own products. Hence the Forgotten Heroes
line and the Academy Handbooks, a line
with the goal of producing a book for each
type of specialist wizard. In more recent
months weve been concentrating on
things we like. DarkLore is a labour of love,
as will be Etherscope when we get time to
write it. Now that were concentrating on
these products were finding writing a lot
more fun, and weve decided that at the
end of the day, that should be our goal.
There appears to be no big publishers
picking off the best of the PDF market any
more, so I think well have to make
ourselves content with putting out
products that we love and having maybe
100 others buy them.
Has it been difficult getting
noticed? Whats been the most
challenging obstacle to
commercial success so far?
Has it been difficult getting noticed? Yes
and no. At first I was surprised how quickly
we took off. I think Forgotten Heroes:
Paladin hit the marketplace at exactly the
right time. There had been nothing on
Paladins since Defenders of the Faith and
that was very strongly skewed towards

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11
Clerics. Hence our book took off well and a

number of good reviews very early on
helped sales. We didnt really have to do
anything. Our next book, St Johns College
of Abjuration, didnt sell well at all at first,
and we couldnt figure out why. There
were no reviews appearing as they did for
Paladin and we were baffled. So I asked
around on industry message boards (EN
World, RPG Net) and got a lot of helpful
advice about marketing and getting review
copies to official reviewers. Since then
things have gone okay but not
spectacularly. It can get quite frustrating at
times. We seem to have hit a brick wall in
sales and are struggling to get over 100
copies shifted, and not improving from
product to product. When we started there
were 4 or 5 companies that had deals with
print houses, and we thought if we
produced top quality products we might
get noticed. Unfortunately that no longer
seems to be happening in the industry at
the moment and we seem to struggle to
get the recognition we believe the quality
of our products deserves. Some people
may attribute our failures to things like a
below average art content or editing, but
these are all issues that we have taken
steps to improve and have been getting
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gradually better in more recent releases.
Its annoying that the expense in fixing
these issues is not carried over into sales.
Hence were scaling down a bit and will be
concentrating on writing what we want to
write rather than what we think will get us
noticed. We constantly get good reviews.
DarkLores our best yet and always seems
to be winning new fans, so maybe theres
some commercial, or at least critical,
advantage to choosing to develop our
favoured ideas.
If you could have gone straight to
paper and not dabbled in the PDF
industry first, would you have
had?
Yes, definitelyif wed had the money
Im sure we would have done. But Im not
sure that would be the best way to go. The
impression I get is that it is very difficult to
get distributed without any sort of
pedigree, which in turn you cant get
without already being in print. The PDF
platform allows us to at least get some
critical acclaim for our works and then we
can know whether were barking up the
wrong tree or not. The worst review weve
had was Average, so we cant be doing too
badly, can we? But the PDF and POD sales
are low compared to print, and if we want

to be successful we have to get in print.
But thats not looking likely for another
couple of years at least, so were going to
have to keep ourselves content with PDFs
and good reviews.
Are gamers who buy PDF products
the same sort of gamers who stick
to traditional paper products? Or
is there something fundamentally
different about gamers whore
happy to explore PDF games?
Im sure the market places are very
different. Im not sure if its anything
specific to the types of people who buy as
opposed to the types of things that are
worth having in PDF rather than print. I
think Phil Reeds (Ronin Arts) got the best
idea. They produce cheap 20-40 page
supplements that are very open to use in
lots of different games. Thats the key if
you want to be successful in PDF alone.
Keep it short and sweet and make sure
anyone can use it. I think thats the current
trend in all the recent successful products.
If youre going to buy a book thats going
to be printed out on loose sheets of paper
you need it to be small. The market place is
too small to support products that get too
specific. Weve been trying to take this

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12
approach with our own work of late.

DarkLore was conceived as a 40 page
Campaign Primer and 20-30 page
expansion supplements. The Primer grew
to 80 pages and our supplements are likely
to be bigger than 30 pages. We just have
too much stuff to put in. Even at twice the
expected size, theres still a whole heap of
other stuff I would have liked to have put
in the DarkLore Campaign Primer. Id like
to think we can keep the page count down
with Etherscope, but were probably going
to fail at that:).
How does going to the trouble of
preparing a professional RPG
product affect your own view of
the hobby? Do you even have time
to roleplay any more?
Ive not roleplayed for a while now, but
thats not strictly concerned with the
writing. Ive not actually done much
writing either since September. My wife
and I were blessed by the arrival of our
second son last march. Whilst off work on
paternity leave (taking advantage of the
new statutory 2 week leave we now get in
the UK) I had time to think about where I
was going with my life. I had been
unhappy in my job (as an analyst
programmer) for a good few years. I
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seriously looked at what it would take to
become a full time writer, either as a
freelancer or taking Malladins Gate
forward with an investment and going into
print. As soon as I did some sums and
realised it was never going to provide me a
living wage, I decided to think about other
avenues. Hence I am now studying to
become a teacher. Ive got two years of an
intensive course to complete before I
qualify, so my writing and gaming in slow
down as a result. Im hoping to get to play
some time in the New Year, provided I can
get my assignments finished . The
biggest difference becoming a writer has
made to my view of the hobby has been
more felt at the gaming store. I now buy
more (I put aside my Malladins Gate
money for RPG books only) but want less. I
find myself put off by much of what is
available in print because I dont agree
with the approach someone has made.
One thing that I think we do well at
Malladins Gate is having a kind of artistry
about the actual game mechanics
themselves. Far too often I see a mechanic
that I think is messy or doesnt capture the
flavour of its intended outcome, despite it
being well balanced and perfectly
functional. Maybe Im just too anal about
it, but I now find messy mechanics painful

to read. I think it must be something
specific to me, because I never hear any
comments in reviews about such things.
What advice would you give to
anyone thinking of setting out and
producing professional PDF
gaming products of their own?
Go for it. You loose nothing. You can get
started for next to nothing if you already
have a computer, and provided you are
confident about the quality of your
material, go for it and enjoy the praise
youll get in the reviews. You might find it
difficult to get noticed at first, so take note
of all the advice on marketing you can get.
I also think theres a lot of mileage in
teaming up with others. Id personally like
to develop a more productive relationship
with other PDF publishers, but most of us
have competing products, or at least
product lines, so it makes it very tricky. The
most important thing for a prospective
new publisher to bear in mind, though, is
that this is not the first step to being a
fulltime print publisher. Write what you
want, dont aim for commercial success or
youll be disappointed (as we were).

www.RPGNow.com
13
If theres anything you could

change in the PDF industry what
would it be?
More customers! I just dont think we
get enough people taking an interest in
PDFs to make the market place properly
commercially viable. Id also like some print
companies to support the PDF industry by
picking the best of the field and getting
them into the shops, but in that I feel I am
dreaming .
What has been your roleplaying
industry highlight of 2003?
Was D20 Modern 2003? I think that has
the potential to make a massive change to
the D20 System over all. D20 Modern
moves away from the cookie-cutter
approach to classes and tries to use very
generic classes, combined with lots of
multiclassing, to allow you to create
whatever character concept you want.
Weve already used this approach with
DarkLore and will be doing the same with
Etherscope. I just hope that more
companies take the same approach. If that
was 2002, though, my next highlight
would be Midnight. I really like Dark
Fantasy and Midnight is very well done. It
almost made us drop DarkLore, as we
RPGNow
Downloader|Monthly
thought wed have too much overlap, but I
think DarkLore has too much going for it
to have forgotten about. Our approach to
the classes and systems I think is, so far,
fairly unique and the world itself has a lot
going for it, and is very different to
midnight.
How influential do you think PDF
RPGs and supplements will be in
2004? Will PDF products be more
significant than theyve been in
2003, less than or about the
same?
Thats a difficult question. Id like to
think that some of us who regularly turn
out quality products will get noticed and
the PDF marketplace will prosper as a
result. However, I get the impression that
this will not happen and I think that
anyone other than Malhavoc Press will trot
along at the same respectable rate.
Malhavoc have had a great year with
Arcana Unearthed and look like only
improving their lot in the New Year.
What might we expect from
Malladins Gate in 2004?
Weve two products that are a few
months off release: Epoch, a D20 system
board game of civilisations and Martial
Avengers, a D20 Modern class book for

Strong and Fast Heroes. Epoch will have a
name change, though as theres already
someone out there with the name, but
weve not decided on what yet. Were very
hopeful for Martial Avengers. D20 Modern
supplements have done very well on
RPGNow of late and theres not a classspecific supplement out for it yet. Weve
been very much hooked onto D20 Modern
and really want to produce something that
can become a classic of the line. Whether
we will succeed, only time will tell. Other
than that, were looking to get Etherscope
started off and DarkLore expanded. Weve
looked into possibilities of producing
Etherscope in print, for the sheer reason
that we want it done properly. Even if noone buys it, Id like to have a full-colour
hardback copy of it on my shelf.
Etherscope is even more a labour of love
than DarkLore was, and its a question of
making sure we get it right. Weve also got
a freelance writer working on Forgotten
Heroes: Barbarian, so that may appear at
some point during next year. Weve also
got a lot of other projects on the boil but I
dont think well manage to get to any of
them next year. Were thinking about
releasing our original ShadowFlux system

www.RPGNow.com
14
as an OGL system, with two supporting

settings; the ShadowFlux modern horror it
was designed for and a fantasy setting
with east African influences. Ive also got
an idea for a SciFi setting thats a mixture
of Supers, Cthulhu horror and low-tech,
dark and gritty scifi. Ive got a whole new
crystal technology system created for that
one, which is awaiting the release of D20
Future. Well probably want to expand on
the Modern Heroes line if Martial Avengers
does well. On top of that, Ive been
developing a new D20 Modern game to
play with my gaming group, and if that is
well received Ill probably think about
publishing it. Its a strange mixture of
white-wolf style Goth-punk and low-level
super powers but without the traditional
gothic horror creatures. Nigel calls it
Supers-Punk. Well just have to see what
we think is best as we go forward.
What are you looking forward to
most from the RPG sector in
2004?
Personally Im looking forward to D20
Future. Not only do I have a campaign
setting already lined up for it, but I also
really like SciFi gaming and theres not
been much going for it in the D20 system.
RPGNow
Downloader|Monthly
But perhaps my biggest anticipation is over
the Aeon timeline products that Swords
and Sorcery is developing. I was a very big
fan of Trinity and played it a lot, so I cant
wait to see how they handle that in D20.
My only nagging doubt is that Ill not like
how they converted it to D20 and be put
off.
Comic by Liz Walsh

[tog.litazia.com]
Liz Walsh is a geek of
all trades, living in the
wilds of Canada. Her
comic, The Tao of
Geek, has been
running since June
2002.

www.RPGNow.com
15
Y2WV2K.2W,-
Currently, Beretta is best known for its many
Weapon
CX4 Storm Carbine
well-regarded semi-automatic pistols. While the company
Manufacturer
Beretta
Year
2003does manufacture a number of rifles, these weapons are
Nation
Italy
relatively unknown outside military circles. In an effort to
9 x 19mm Parabellum,
change the companys dismal performance in the rifle
Caliber
Mags
10, 12, 15, 20
.40 S&W, .45 ACP, 9 x
market, Beretta has introduced a new pistol caliber carbine
21mm IMI
targeted at the law enforcement market. This new weapon
Accuracy
Group
22 cm @ 50 m
MOA
was introduced to the firearms market during the third
Kill
Pen
quarter of 2003, with a number of demonstrations and
Velocity
Energy
prototype displays at various trade shows since February
Weight
Empty
2.57 kg
ROF
SS
45
2003.
Loaded
MB
This new carbine, the CX4 Storm, is an
Length
755 mm
Burst
impressive looking weapon to say the least. Beretta
Range
Effective
100 m
Auto
teamed with the internationally renowned Giugiaro Design
Max.
Cyclic
to do an extensive ergonomic study on the weapon,
producing a rather futuristic design that is comfortable to
9 x 19mm Parabellum and 9 x 21mm IMI ammunition do
carry and fire. The form is rounded in every way possible,
Notes
not require a parts interchange to be fired through the
drastically reducing weapon snag. The weapon is
same weapon.
contained in a high-tech polymer shell, which is just the
of your choice, with the compatibility extending to the 92, 96, 8000,
most visible use of polymers which were used extensively throughout
8040, and 8045 pistol series. The rifle is also caliber interchangeable
the weapon to reduce weight, increase corrosion resistance, reduce
with access to the appropriate parts.
manufacturing costs, and eliminate the problems associated with the
The polymer shell is fitted with multiple sling mounting
breakdown of metal finishes.
points, as well as a retractable forward accessory rail that extends
Inside the rifle is equally impressive, providing a fixed
out from the fore-end, allowing the quick mounting of commercial
barrel design with a long sight radius for inherent accuracy and the
tactical accessories, like tactical lights or laser designators. The shell
reliable semi-automatic blowback action design for rugged reliability.
is also molded with hard mounting points which can handle various
Topping it all off is the ability tool-free field strip the carbine, along
accessories, including top, side, and bottom Picatinny rails. The
with internally adjustable components that allow the weapons crosscarbine comes prefitted with a side rail. The shell also incorporates
bolt safety, magazine latch, bolt handle, and ejection port to be
reliable basic iron sights. The front post sight can be adjusted for
swapped for left or right handed use in the field. These controls are
windage and elevation, while the rear ghost ring has both long and
laid out in a fashion similar to the Beretta M92FS pistols, providing
short range aperatures. Both sights are protected by rugged ears
operational familiarity for hundreds of thousands of gun users around
molded into the shell and the sights can be folded down when other
the world. This familiarity extends further with the carbine being
optics are placed on the carbine.
available with compatibility with the magazines of the Beretta pistol
Y2WV2K.2W,-

Weapon
CX4 Storm 9mm Carbine
CX4 Storm .40 S&W Carbine
CX4 Storm .45 ACP Carbine
Special Rules
Type
ACC
Con
Av
Caliber
DM
Ammo Rate of Fire
RIF
+3
T
C
9mm P
0
10,15,20
2 [SS]
RIF
+3
T
C
.40 S&W
0
10, 15
2 [SS]
RIF
+3
T
C
.45 ACP
0
10, 12
2 [SS]
9mm version can fire both 9 x 19mm Parabellum and 9 x 21mm IMI caliber cartridges.
Rel
RE
RE
RE
Effect.
Range
(meters)
100
100
100
Weight
Empty
(kg)
2.57
2.57
2.57
Weight
Loaded
(kg)
2.75
2.75
2.75
Cost
$687
$687
$687
!"#$# %&'(*)+%",-
Weapon
Special Rules
Damage
Range
Type
Increment Rate of Fire
Damage Critical
Mag
Size
2d6
20
Ballistic
35
SA
10, 15, 20
Sm
2d6
20
Ballistic
35
SA
10, 15
Sm
2d6
20
Ballistic
35
SA
10, 12
Sm
FUDGE
Weapon
Special Rules
Shots
Rate of Fire
Range
Accy
Dmg
10, 15, 20
SA
Good
Great
3
10, 15
SA
Good
Great
4
10, 12
SA
Good
Great
3
Weight
6 lb
6 lb
6 lb
Cost
$687
$687
$687
Purchase
DC
17
17
17
Restriction
Lic (+1)
Lic (+1)
Lic (+1)
Notes
Action!
Weapon
Special Rules:
STR Max
RoF
Amm
Wt
Min
Rng
3d6+2
P/L
+1
0
2
100
2
10,15,20
2.75
4d6
P/L
+1
0
2
100
2
10, 15
2.75
3d6+2
P/L
+1
0
2
100
2
10, 12
2.75
Dmg
OGL Section 15 Copyright Notice

This section is included specifically in
reference to this two-page entry for Big
Bang: The Mostly Illustrated RPG Guide to
Modern Weapons. The remainder of the
OGL can be found elsewhere in the master
publication.
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of
the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document
Copyright 2000,
Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Authors Jonathan Tweet,
Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original
materials by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
'd20 System and the 'd20 System logo' are
trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are
used according to the terms of the d20 System
License version 1.0. A copy of this license can be
found at www.wizards.com.
'Action! System' and the Action! System logo are
trademarks of Gold Rush Games and are used with
permission.
Original Fudge materials Copyright 1992-1995 by
Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
The FUDGE System logo is a trademark of Steffan
OSullivan and used under license.
Big Bang: The Mostly Illustrated RPG Guide the
Modern Weapons , CyberThriller and 2003 Dana
Jorgensen. All Rights Reserved.
Type
Acc
Rmod
All weapon images taken from for-distribution press,

review and promotional materials published by
weapons manufacturers. Images are copyright their
respective manufacturers. All Rights Reserved.
Ultramodern Firearms D20 2002, Charles McManus
Ryan
Designation of Open Content:
The game statistics specific to use in the D20 System

are designated as open content. The statistics appear
in the small table above, second from the top,
designated by the table heading of D20 Modern
Roleplaying Game.
The game statistics specific to use in the Action!
System are also designated as open content. These
statistics appear in last of the four small tables above,
designated by the table heading of Action!
This ends the designation of Open Content.
FUDGE Notices
ABOUT FUDGE
Fudge is a role-playing game written by Steffan
O'Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet
community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of
Fudge are available on the internet at
http://www.fudgerpg.com and in book form from Grey
Cost
Notes
$687
$687
$687
Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368.

They may be used with any gaming genre. While an
individual work derived from Fudge may specify
certain attributes and skills, many more are possible
with Fudge. Every Game Master using Fudge is
encouraged to add or ignore any character traits.
Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free
may do so; merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice
and disclaimer (complete with Fudge copyright
notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material,
other than as an article in a magazine or other
periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license
from the author of Fudge, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box
465, Plymouth, NH 03264.
DISCLAIMER
The following materials based on Fudge, entitled Big
Bang: the Mostly Illustrated RPG Guide to Modern
Weapons, are created by, made available by, and
Copyright 2003 by Alternate Realities Publications,
and are not necessarily endorsed in any way by
Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other Fudge
materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan nor any publisher
of other Fudge materials is in any way responsible for
the content of these materials unless specifically
credited. Original Fudge materials Copyright 19921995 by Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
0$/.$1.1,*+7
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Azag Boneseer
agent of chaos
2003 SteamPower Publishing. A Cast of Thousands PDF is available from RPGNow now, containing over 30 Arrowflight NPCs, new
occupation templates, spells, combat styles and dozens of useful GM resources. A d20 edition will be released soon.
Chapter One
10
orn to a small and insignificant tribe of goblins far to the

north of Corvel, Azag was viewed as slow and weak by
his kind. Constantly attacked by his own people, Azag
grew up even more bitter and twisted than most goblins, his heart
held nothing but hatred for all those around him. It was during
these early years that he was noticed by the tribes shaman,
a cunning goblin mage known
asGorgath. It seemed that the young
Azag had a predilection for knowing
people, their souls, their futures,
and he was often frighteningly
right. The old shaman took Azag
under his wing, quickly realising
that his young apprentice had a
natural aptitude for all things
magical, especially divinations,
something in which Gorgath had
no real experience as he was far
more interested in the necromantic
arts. Seeing an opportunity to gain
power, he began training Azag as
a potential successor, and Azag
learnt swiftly.
his magic and found the spells were much more powerful and far
simpler to cast. Azag knew then that his time would come.
With a new found confidence Azag quickly began to seek more

roads to swift and easy power. It was not long before he stumbled
upon the ways of Chaos, magic inspired by the great god
Marg and powered by the Web of
Life. This newfound knowledge
filled Azag with confidence and he
confronted his teacher and slew
Gorgath with a ball of fire so huge it
lit up the night sky for miles. Azags
dragon bone runes glowed fiercely
in the conflict and his command of
Chaos drained the life force of the
world for miles. From that day forth
Azag became not only the tribal
shaman, but also the tribal patriarch,
guiding and leading those who had
once scorned him. He never forgot
their treatment of him and his
hatred never diminished, but now
Azag had tools to wreak greater
destruction than he had thought
Azags training occurred over the
possible. Since then, Azag has
course of several years and it was in
been building his power, biding his
this stretch of time that he made what
time. He has since become known as
was to be his greatest discovery.
Boneseer because of his prophetic
Azag had a liking for poisons and
visions, knowledge of far off events
certain narcotics that gave him
and the eerie, chilling clatter of his
visions. While out gathering herbs
dragonbone runes as they fall and
one morning, he stumbled upon a
seal the fates of his enemies. Soon,
bone protruding from the ground. He
though, it will be time to strike, soon
had not seen it before and supposed it had been unearthed in
Azag will command an army of murderous
a recent storm. The bone was large, bigger than anything Azag
goblins ready to lay waste to the hated humans, elves,
had seen before, and he became curious. The young goblin cut dwarves and others in the lands to the south.
himself a sliver to examine later and buried the rest, placing a
small marker so that he could find the spot again. Many days later Appearance
his wildest hopes and dreams were confirmed, it was the bone
of some great dragon, perhaps a mountain dragon, at least five For a race as agile and dextrous as goblin-kind, Azag is slow
hundred years old when it perished. That night Azag went and and clumsy, weak and scrawny and dresses in oversized, hooded
retrieved the bone, hiding it from his master while spending the robes of red and black that cover a full suit of ringmail, for Azag
next several months carefully carving it into a set of ten runes, always fears the possibility of a knife in the back. His skin is
to be used as a focus for his magic. Azag did not speak of this to a sickly-grey mottled hue, with spots of white. His fingers are
anyone and it was not long before he had worked the runes into slender, yet shake almost constantly; the only time that they stop
is when he is casting a spell, which he does often. Azag keeps

poisons and narcotics in the pockets of his robe along with a
crude set of runes carved from the bones of an unfortunate elf
victim. His dragonbone runes are kept in a pouch tied around his
neck. At his belt he wears a small crescent dagger, and he carries
a tall, wooden staff with him wherever he goes. Azags face is the
most striking part about him; his eyes burn with hatred, a cold
fire that rages with glee when maliciousness and evil come to the
fore. His mouth is set in a cruel and callous sneer and he walks
with a conscious swagger, brandishing his power and confidence
for all to see.
Personality
AGL
Athletics
Stealth
PER
Awareness
Bargain
Wilderness Skills
DEX
Craft: Bone Carving
INT
Education
Language: Ancient
Lore
Natural Sciences
Theoretical Sciences
3
1
2
5
4
1
2
3
3
5
2
2
3
2
2
STR
Climb
Endurance
WIL
Resist
SPIRIT
MANA
Theory: Divination
Theory: Elementalist
INITIATIVE
SAVE
ACTIONS
2
2
4
4
3
1
7
5
4
4/4
5/5
2
Note: Speaks Goblin as native tongue.

Weapons:
Crescent Dagger WA0, WR1, DB+1
Wooden Staff (WA+1, WR2, DB0)
Armour:
Heavy Robes (AV1 Head)
Ringmail (AV5 everywhere else)
Possessions:
Carved Elf Bone Rune Set, Woodsong (10 doses), Blood Mold (10
doses), Pressed Duchess Root (4 doses), 10 Carved Dragonbone
Runes
Spells:
Plot Hooks
The number of goblin raids has increased in Troilanos recently.
Rumours abound of a new goblin chieftain, a mage of considerable
skill. Lord Jakob Troilanos has sent out an open request for aid,
which reaches the PCs.
Azag, in a fit of rage, has moved his tribe down to the lands of
Corvel, gaining followers from among other tribes along the way.
He now has a sizeable army and is poised to attack. Mercenaries
and anyone else willing to help are drafted in the hopes that Azag
can be stopped and peace maintained.
Rumours of a powerful and deadly Chaos mage stalking the night
in northern Corvel reach the characters. Azag has come to test
the lands of men and elves and is revelling in the terror and pain
he is causing to his chosen enemies. If he is not stopped soon
there is no telling the damage he might cause.
Earthcall
DIFF 1; Wall [Earth] (C); Duration 1 minute;

Range 20yds; 20ft long wall; Requirements:
dragonbone rune focus, hand motion,
single word
Farsight
DIFF 1; Scrying (N); Duration 1 minute

1 action; Range 40 miles; Requirements:
dragonbone rune focus, circle, 2 Handed Motion
Firecall
DIFF 1; Projection [Fire] (C); Range 40yds;

WR2; Requirements: dragonbone rune focus,
hand motion, single word
Foresight
DIFF 1; Precognition (N); Range touch;

allows the caster to see one year and one month
into the future; requirements: circle, dragonbone
rune focus, 2 actions to cast
Know Person
DIFF 1; Read Soul (N); Range 40yds;

Requirements: elfbone rune focus, single hand
motion, single word
Chapter One
Azag is, at his core, bitter. Having spent so many years as the
target of cruelty he now revels in seeing it dealt out to others. He
is filled with hatred for all living things and rejoices in death and
pain; he gains great pleasure from using the forces of Chaos to
suck the Web of Life dry and slaying and torturing his enemies.
This hatred, this core of savage resentment, has stained Azags
soul dark with evil, malicious intentions. His only desire is to
wreak havoc and destruction on as many living things as he can
before he perishes. To this end he has focused his spite on the
nations of elves and men to the south, and he is now consumed
with plotting their downfall. To do this Azag knows that he must
create an army of goblins to do his bidding. Azag now expends
all of his considerable will to achieve that end.
Azag Boneseer
Goblin chaos mage
11
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abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or
supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any
other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity
by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the
Open Game Content; (f) Trademark means the logos, names, mark, sign,
motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products
or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the
Contributor (g) Use, Used or Using means to use, Distribute, copy, edit,
format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open
Game Content. (h) You or Your means the licensee in terms of this
agreement.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly

indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game
Content.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains
a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and
in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game
Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this
License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions
may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your
acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License,
the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game
Content.
5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original
material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are
Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights
conveyed by this License.
6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE
portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE
of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and
You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holders name to
the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you
Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity,
including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in
another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that
Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish

updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this
License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally
distributed under any version of this License.
10 Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with
every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open
Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written
permission from the Contributor to do so.
12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the
terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content
due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not
Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to
comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of
becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of
this License.
14 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable,
such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it
enforceable.
15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
System Rules Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors
Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson

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Happy New Year!

More Nuts & Bolts

Big Bang Excerpt

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products like En Ferreus Veritas will catch

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telephone conversation between me and

What is it about British RPG

market place that we could fill with our

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are low compared to print, and if we want

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approach with our own work of late.

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as an OGL system, with two supporting

Comic by Liz Walsh

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OGL Section 15 Copyright Notice

All weapon images taken from for-distribution press,

Designation of Open Content:

The game statistics specific to use in the D20 System

Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368.

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