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We are thrilled to announce that the 5D Pop Culture Website is now working with the fine people at Magpie Games, a company that likes to do gaming just a little differently……let me let them tell you (as it were) so that you’ll see what I mean…..
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We are lifelong gamers who have come together to create things we’ve never seen. Whether they’re stories of Mexican drug cartels, mortals and monsters wanting control of a modern-day city, or playing teenage superheroes trying to forge their own path, we strive to give our fans experiences they won’t find anywhere else.
https://magpiegames.com
Since our inception, we’ve financed almost all of our projects through crowdfunding. It lets us engage directly with our fans and get critical input so we can make games we know they’ll love. The majority of our projects are tabletop roleplaying games that give players a chance to inhabit meaningful roles and get lost in unique and intricate worlds. But with the support of our community, we’ve been able to branch out to other formats, including card games and card-based RPGs.
Mark Truman and Marissa Kelly started Magpie Games in early 2011 to bring new stories and experiences to the gaming industry that has brought so much joy to their lives. Since then, we’ve built a dedicated team of like-minded individuals to grow our community and continue to produce unparalleled gaming experiences.
Thank you for your continued support, and for helping us give life to new worlds, characters, and stories.
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After a period of intense and protracted negotiations (aka pestering from me) Magpie Games kindly offered to send me two of their highest profile RPG Core Rule books – Root: The Roleplaying Game & Masks: A New Generation. Of course, my thoughts and opinions on the two products will be completely unbiased and honest as always. Cross my heart, hope to die and forever throw nothing but critical rolls etc etc.
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Root: The Roleplaying Game
Root: the Roleplaying Game is a game of woodland creatures fighting for money, justice, and freedom from powers far greater than them. You play vagabonds, outcasts from the normal society of the woodlands who have come to live in the spaces between, whether that’s in the forests themselves or on the fringes of society.
………..War has returned to the Woodland!……..The Marquise de Cat led her armies to victory over many of the clearings, but the Eyrie Dynasties rise again to oppose her. Meanwhile, the mice, rabbits, and foxes of the Woodland do not sit idly by – the Woodland Alliance, a homegrown rebellion, has emerged, promising to free the Woodland from any oppressors.
In the midst of this war, you and your friends – vagabonds all – travel between the clearings, taking on jobs no one else can or will do. You choose whom you serve, if anyone… but everyone knows you may tip the balance of the War.
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Based on the Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right board game and officially licensed by Leder Games, Root: The RPG brings the tales of the Woodland to your RPG table!
| 3-5 players | 2-4 hour run time | Rated Everyone | PbtA
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The real genius of animation and cartoons often lies in the ability to hide beneath a veneer of cuteness and jollyness a level of darkness and genuine peril that is the true heart of the story. Whether it’s Hans Christian Anderson, The Brothers Grimm, Disney or Pixar; the ability to cloak often harrowing tales under the glossy surface can often be gloriously affective. I for one still have shivers when I think of the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or the nightmare consequences for the boys on Pleasure Island in Pinocchio.
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This brings me nicely to the surprise of ROOT, because when I first saw this (having being unfamiliar with the board game In which this RPG is based upon) I really wasn’t ready for the depth and complexity of the narrative that lies beneath the quite lovely cartoonish artwork. You can easily enrich yourself in the world of the woodland without any previous knowledge or experience of its previous alliteration as a board game. Instead, the core rule book allows you to quickly complete intricate narratives for your selected vagabonds to experience. This clever and at times gritty struggle of exploration cunningly belies the stunning, but simple art.
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So let’s talk a moment more about the artwork from Kyle Ferrin as it sets the atmosphere and tone. Yes there is a simple cartoonish element to the animation, yet it remains restrained and beautiful in equal measure as the hues and colours employed do their work effectively on the visual senses. And as previously mentioned, this cheery visual overtone not only looks lovely, but it cleverly lulls the player into a false sense of cuteness.
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In many ways this is the perfect RPG to serve as an introduction for less (or even non) experienced role players, due in main to the uncomplicated game mechanics that allow for straightforward setting up of characters and a rich exploration of interaction, planning and authentic role playing. The Apocalypse game system by it’s light-on-rules engine is intended to focus strongly on story narrative and drive forward the proceedings with a fair degree of adaptation required new events. In other words, the game cleverly feeds the players need to find out what happens next in the adventure.
This is not to say that there is little combat or potential for action, it is certainly there in abundance – but not to the detriment of the adventure.
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It has to be said that Root: The Roleplaying Game core rule book is a beautifully crafted collection which includes absolutely everything that ordinary people (the players) and DM’s (the important people in charge, like me) need in order to get things started. The book is clearly and lovingly laid out in a fashion that is both informative and entertaining combing the fabulous artwork and written detail.
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The Root: The Roleplaying Game core rulebook features:
- 6″ x 9″ Hardcover Book + Silk Bookmark
- Full Color Interior With Artwork By Kyle Ferrin
- 6 Playbooks + Map Creation System + GM Materials
- Free PDF via DriveThruRPG
- Nine unique playbooks, each built to help you create a vagabond whose exploits will echo in the Woodland for generations to come.
- Easy-to-follow rules for all manner of fantasy adventure, including roguish feats, reputation and travel mechanics, and more.
- Innovative mechanics for managing equipment, weapons, and combat that make your choices matter both tactically and narratively.
- Detailed instructions for running Root: The RPG – crafting combats, managing factions, and more – alongside a full clearing, Gelilah’s Grove.
Root: The RPG is a fantasy adventure for three to six players of woodland creatures fighting for money, justice, and freedom from powers far greater than them. Fame and glory await!
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Masks: A New Generation
Masks: A New Generation is an ENnie-award winning superhero roleplaying game in which a team of young heroes fights villains, saves lives, and tries to figure out who they are—noble paragons? Dark avengers? Or regular kids? All against the backdrop of Halcyon City, the greatest city in the world.
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Halcyon City has had more than its fair share of superheroes, superteams, supervillains, and everything in between.
Your team of young supers must forge your own path amidst the pressures of a world full of people telling you what to do and who to be, and kick some butt along the way!
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Masks: A New Generation is a superhero tabletop roleplaying game full of action, youthful angst, and dazzling bravery. Take on the roles of members of the latest generation of superheroes, young adults trying to figure out who they are and what kind of heroes they want to be.
| 3-5 players | 2-4 hour run time | Rated Adults Only | PbtA |
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Masks is an RPG about superheroes. However these are not experienced adults of the world filled with angst, instead, it’s a game about teenage heroes filled with, er, angst. If you think along the likes of Teen Titans or Young Avengers then you’ll know pretty much what I’m talking about.
And this works very well. In all honesty I was slight dubious about this game from this teen perspective as I must admit to a little teenage burnout from my recent Locke & Key,, Umbrella Academy, Teen Titans et al streaming tv obsessions
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However my fears were not to be realised. The fact is that whether they be Daredevil, Batman, Submariner or Captain Marvel, these stories at their core are about human growth, human dram. By focusing on the teenage perspective Masks can deal with many of the challenges that many of us faced growing up ……. not to mention those of us who refuse to grow up because we’re still going through those issues 🥴.
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It also helps that Masks makes use of the same rules-light engine Root: The roleplaying game to generate adventures about young superheroes. The rules system is the Powered by the Apocalypse engine & employs its mechanics by merging aspects of familiar personal teenage growth issues with the challenges of living the heroic lifestyle of a bone fide superhero. As with Root, the mechanics very much help in matters of character creation.
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I know that many RPG aficionado’s enjoy creating and crafting their own characters – believe me I’m no exception. In fact I have been known to simply do no more some weeks than just sit with a pile of blank D&D character sheets and while away the hours designing character after a character (often a variation on a Drow. I like Drows, ok?. It’s an obsession) complete with an elaborately detailed back story. In the case of the core rule book here, character sheet is called a “play book” and its all you need as a player, acting as a nice way of an immediate and uncomplicated taste of this new experience, something particularly helpful for newbies to the game or genre.
So if you want your RPG & superhero experience to be rules and character preparation lite then Masks is for you.
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Once again we have an example of beautiful artwork with the work deliciously produced by Michael Lunsford and perfectly works with the clear and written detail from Brendan Conway.
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This Masks core rulebook features:
- 6″x9″ Book
- Full Color Interior
- Softcover or Hardcover
- 10 Core Playbooks + GM Materials
- Free PDF via DriveThruRPG
- Ten playbooks for young superheroes, so you can create your own characters
- Rules for superheroic action, interpersonal drama, and changing identity
- Detailed instructions for running the game, building villains, and playing to find out what happens
- Tools for creating your own custom material for Masks
So what’re you waiting for, hero? Time to get to work.
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You can find out much more about the RPG’s in this article and the wider range of products available from Magpie Games at their website RIGHT HERE.
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