Thanks to Kurt Wiegal and all the folks over at Game Geeks for the awesome review!
Memphis: Gateway to the Poisoned Lands is taking a little longer than we intended to get all put together, but that doesn’t mean that the taps have gone dry for The Day After Ragnarok. To tide you over until that next bigger release, we definitely have some great stuff lined up for Serpent Scales: Fragments from the World After the Serpentfall. Here are previews of the next two, coming your way soon!
Serpents Scales #3: Return to Monster Island
Wreathed in mist and veiled in mystery, Monster Island was bad enough during the War, when it held cannibal soldiers sworn to kill and die for Hirohito, and savage tribes who worshiped Golyeong, the “gorilla ghost.”
After the Serpentfall, who knows what horrors might be rising up in Monster Island’s jungles, awakened from the prehistoric past?
Serpent Scales #4 ¡Técnicos En Contra De La Serpiente!
Fascist Sinarquistas battle fanatical Kulkulkan cultists. Where can decent folk turn? Aztec mummies ravage the city as exiled Nazi doctors steal the organs of the poor for mad experiments. What can stop them? The Atomic Piledriver, the Anaconda Vise, the Frankenstein Death Swing. Can any man face them and live?
In Mexico after the Serpentfall, courage must wear a mask.
Coming in May 2010, Toren Atkinson’s…
More information coming soon!
Coming Soon…
We’re back from the GAMA Trade Show in lovely Las Vegas, NV, and we didn’t come away empty handed! The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, in conjunction with the Game Manufacturers of America, decided the nominations for the 2010 Origins Awards this past week, and we’re extremely proud that two of Atomic Overmind’s products made the cut!
The Day After Ragnarok was nominated for Best Roleplaying Game Supplement, and Cthulhu 101 garnered a nomination for Best Game-Related Book. The 2010 Origins Awards will be voted on and awarded at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH, June 23rd thru June 27th. We hope we’ll see all of you there!
Serpent Scales #2: (Happiness is a) Sten Gun is live!
It was the best of guns, it was the worst of guns. Okay, it was mostly the worst of guns. They called it the “Plumber’s Abortion” and the “Stench Gun.” Soldiers shot themselves and each other with it, or saw it jam up in combat instead; they feared it more than they feared their enemies’ weapons.
But the British paratroopers used it at Arnhem rather than pick up the “Schmeissers” that littered the ground around them.
And all across Europe it spelled power to the Resistance, and death to the Nazis.
And after the Serpentfall, it may be the only gun in town. Inside this 6 page PDF you’ll find:
- The history of the STEN gun, and how it fits into the world after the Serpentfall.
- Game statistics for the Sten, for either Savage Worlds or Hero 6th Edition.
- Options, both mechanical and mystical, to enhance your Sten.
- Adventure hooks involving this most democratic of weapons.
Serpent Scales #2: (Happiness is a) Sten Gun is now on sale for $1.95, in both the Atomic Overmind Press webstore, and at DrivethruRPG.com!
Greetings all. We’re a little time shifted from Daylight Saving’s Time, and time crunched by the GAMA Trade Show coming up in Las Vegas next week, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been beavering away on the second installment of Serpent Scales! Serpent Scales #2: (Happiness is a) Sten Gun goes on sale this Wednesday in both its Savage Worlds and Hero 6th Edition forms. Here’s a little preview from the intro.
“You wicked piece of vicious tin!
Call you a gun? Don’t make me grin.
You’re just a bloated piece of pipe.
You couldn’t hit a hunk of tripe.
But when you’re with me in the night,
I’ll tell you pal, you’re just alright!”
— Gunner S.N. Teed, “Ode to a Sten Gun”
It was the best of guns, it was the worst of guns. Okay, it was mostly the worst of guns. They called it the “Plumber’s Abortion” and the “Stench Gun.” Soldiers shot themselves and each other with it, or saw it jam up in combat instead; they feared it more than they feared their enemies’ weapons. It was the only weapon of the war that produced groans among soldiers when issued fresh from the factory—only after weeks or even months of patient cajolery and test-firing could it be made to work satisfactorily.
But the British paratroopers used it at Arnhem rather than pick up the “Schmeissers” that littered the ground around them.
And all across Europe it spelled power to the Resistance, and death to the Nazis.
And after the Serpentfall, it may be the only gun in town.
In Serpent Scales #2, The Day After Ragnarok creator Kenneth Hit covers how this erratic but extremely useful piece of hardware fits into the world after the Serpentfall, providing game stats, adventure hooks…basically everything you need to know to incorporate the Sten into your The Day After Ragnarok game. Watch for it Wednesday, March 17!
Well, the artist came through for us, so we’re proud to announce that Serpent Scales #1: The New Konfederacy is now one sale in the Atomic Overmind Press Webstore, in both its Savage Worlds and HERO 6th Edition flavors.
The PDF will also be available for sale at DrivethruRPG.com, Paizo.com, e23, IPR, and Studio 2 Publishing a little later this week. We hope you enjoy it! We’ve got a lot more in store this year for The Day After Ragnarok!
Due to a small communication issue with an artist (our fault, not his) Serpents Scales #1 (Both Savage Worlds and HERO versions) will be on sale tomorrow at noon EST. Honest.
Here’s a little snippet of what’s to come:
Night-Rider
This is a local Klansman, possibly not connected with Birmingham or any larger Klan group. He rides out on Klan business, and his familiarity with the ground and with hunting weapons make him a surprisingly formidable irregular.
Savage Worlds Statistics
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d4, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Riding d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d6, Survival d8, Taunt d6, Tracking d8
Charisma: 0 Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 5
Edges: Woodsman (in local area only)
Hindrances: Callous
Gear: Hunting rifle or shotgun; cavalry saber or hunting knife
Notes
- Big Stupid Hood: If the GM wants to give the heroes an edge against a pursuing squad of Klansmen, note that wearing white robes at night gives a -2 to a night-rider’s Stealth, pretty much wiping out the advantage of darkness. The hood also restricts peripheral vision; -1 to visual Notice checks.
- Big Scary Hood: The reason night-riders wear the robes and hood, of course, is that they don’t intend to hide. The uniform exists to frighten (supposedly) superstitious blacks into thinking that the Klan are ghosts or specters. Whether that works or not, it does add +2 to the Klansman’s Intimidation and Taunt tests against locals if the Klan has already committed an un-answered outrage (cross-burning, lynching, etc.) in the area and gotten away with it.
- Occasional Armor: Every so often, a night-rider puts on a chain mail vest (+2 Armor) under his robes. Klansmen are often wannabe medieval screwheads to begin with, and an increasing number of scrapes come down to steel instead of shot in the rural South. Depending on how primitive the GM feels like making the local community, 1 in 4 or 1 in 6 night-riders wear chain mail. (1 in 10 in the Grand Kounty itself.)
HERO 6th Edition Statistics
STR: 10 DEX: 10 CON: 11 INT: 8 EGO: 8 PRE: 10
OCV: 4 DCV: 4 OMCV: 3 DMCV: 3 Spd: 2
PD: 3 ED: 2 REC: 4 END: 20 BOD: 10 Stun: 20
Advantages: AK: Local Area 11-, Interrogation 11-, Riding 11-, Stealth 11-, Survival (Subtropical) 11-, Tracking 12-, TF: Horses, WF: Blades, Small Arms.
Complications: Psychological (Callous), Psychological (Klan Believer)
Gear: Hunting rifle or shotgun; cavalry saber or hunting knife
Notes
- Big Stupid Hood: If the GM wants to give the heroes an edge against a pursuing squad of Klansmen, note that wearing white robes at night gives a -2 to a night-rider’s Stealth, pretty much wiping out the advantage of darkness. The hood also restricts peripheral vision; -1 to sight PER checks.
- Big Scary Hood: The reason night-riders wear the robes and hood, of course, is that they don’t intend to hide. The uniform exists to frighten (supposedly) superstitious blacks into thinking that the Klan are ghosts or specters. Whether that works or not, it does add +2d6 to the Klansman’s PRE Attacks against locals if the Klan has already committed an un-answered outrage (cross-burning, lynching, etc.) in the area and gotten away with it.
- Occasional Armor: Every so often, a night-rider puts on a chain mail vest (4 PD/4 ED, Required Roll 12-) under his robes. Klansmen are often wannabe medieval screwheads to begin with, and an increasing number of scrapes come down to steel instead of shot in the rural South. Depending on how primitive the GM feels like making the local community, 1 in 4 or 1 in 6 night-riders wear chain mail. (1 in 10 in the Grand Kounty itself.)
Wait, it’s the 16th of February, right? Serpent Scales #1 should be out, and all of you should be enjoying it by n…oh wait. Yeah. Snow. LOTS of snow. *sigh*
As anyone on the East Coast of the US knows, we’ve had something approaching Fimbulvetr here, and it has put us a little bit behind. Nevertheless, Serpent Scales #1 IS coming, and both Savage Worlds and Hero 6th Edition versions will be ready to go on February 22. Promise.
In case you missed our last post on the matter, Serpent Scales is going to cover a wide variety of topics in the world of The Day After Ragnarok, things that aren’t quite big enough for a full release. The sizes and prices will vary, for now, and we’re shooting for one a month to start with. Just to whet your appetite, here’s a little snippet from the first one, now in layout:
Serpent Scales #1: The New Konfederacy
Rebuilding the nation from the wreckage.
Rebuilding it in strength and unity.
Rebuilding it free of taint and corrupt blood.
Rebuilding it into a beacon of faith and protection.
Surely everyone can agree with that plan. But the devil is in the details: the nation they rebuild is the Confederacy, or worse. The strength and unity they seek are tyranny and conformity. The blood they would purge is that of their fellow Americans. Their beacon is a flaming cross.
They are the Night Riders, the Army of the New Konfederacy, the Invisible Empire. They are the resurgent Ku Klux Klan.
So, watch for it this coming Monday!