Monday, April 22, 2019

The Shape of Things to Come

The first review of The Liberation of Wormwood is in and, frankly, it's too flattering not to share. From DriveThru:

'If you're looking for the next leap forward in RPG scenario construction, **this is it.** Great situation-driven systems for building out a one-shot adventure or an epic campaign, 5-10 high-quality plot seeds / creativity prompts per page . . . and a surprising number of pages.

But where this really gets exciting is the way Shear seems to be *building* toward something. Recent books from Dolorous Exhumation have integrated mechanics with setting and genre guidelines to comment (always with fine subtlety) on bigger themes: here it's oppression, tyranny, bullying, liberation. Are these "relevant" adventures? If that's what you're looking for, you\'ll find amazing things here. And if you couldn't care less, you won't even notice. It's just pulse-pounding thrills.


Bottom line: Story, "old school" or both at once, this is the shape of things to come. Get on the bus now or you'll need to wait for the next one.


Minus 1/4 star because the display font is a little too clever, plus 1/2 star for that amazing cover art.' 
- Scott M.

Hear that? I'm building toward something! The shape of things to come!

(Just be thankful I didn't go with the papyrus font, as was my first impulse.)

If you haven't got The Liberation of Wormwood yet, you can get it here in print and pdf.


And if that wasn't enough ego-stroke for one week, Umberwell: Blackened Be Thy Name also got a killer review a couple days later:

'Chock full of wonderful and flavourful ideas, characters, factions, places and events. It compares well the the best of the current generation of rpg products that combine elements of setting book, campaign and monster manual, with a style that hints at a deep and rich world rather than attempting - and so often failing - to describe every detail (take note WOTC!). For my money Umberwell is up there with best of OSR - Silent Titans, Mask of the Blue Medusa, Veins of the Earth, Yoon-Suin, Into The Odd and Troika!' - Matthew P.

Call me, WotC, I've got ideas to spare.

If you haven't got Umberwell yet, you can get it here in print and pdf.


And if you want to peruse the entire Dolorous Exhumations catalog, you can do so here.

In closing, if you like to support small-press rpg endeavors like the above, of course you have the option of buying our new products as they come out. BUT, also consider dropping a review on DriveThru or on your blog to help get the word out

And I don't mean just on my stuff. Do you love the latest Hill Cantons book? Talk it up and leave a review over on DriveThru. Are you having a great time with an indie supplement for Blades in the Dark? Let the people know! 

It's the only way this whole thing works.