News Regarding The Entropy Effect

The long-anticipated modern era, reality-bending SF/Horror RPG 'Entropy Effect' was originally scheduled for 2017 but was held put on Hiatus due to unforeseen health issues experienced by one of the authors and the family bereavement we suffered.

In late 2018 we took the decision to extensively re-write the combat system, a change that would speed combat up and minimise the need for players to do mental arithmetic.  Gone is the 'The amount you hit by effects your Stopping Power'. The result is, we believe, a much better, more streamlined combat system  Of course, as is the way with game design, this change had knock on effects and M R McGowan and I have had to rewrite most of the game.  Again the result is a vast improvement on what we already thought was a good game.  Now, it is even better!

While we were re-writing the game any way we decided to expand it a little too.  Adding rules for interrogation, new psychic abilities and new creatures to torment your players with.  What is more, we are adding one of the playtest scenario's to the rules system, along with a sample character, Frank Stafford, who you can see being designed in the examples of character creation across the section.

The playtests for this launch on Tuesday and, all being well, we hope to finally bring this fantastic, dark, evocative game to you in 2019.

In addition to the rules, we will be releasing a quickstart version of the game with sample scenrio.  This will include four pre-generated characters and just enough of the core mechnics o let you play the scenario 'Sharp Teeth PRetty Teeth'.  It will be released before the core rules which in turn will include the adventure 'Talbot's Syndrome' - the follow up to Sharp Teeth Pretty Teeth.

Further adventures for 'The Entropy Effect' will be released through the year.

You can read more about 'The Entropy Effect' here soon.

Have Ideas? We Would Love To Hear Them!

Customers of our GM's maps range will have noticed that recent maps have included some fan content in the 'Adventure Ideas' section.  We would like to thank all the fans who have submitted ideas for various maps and the adventures they could use them for.

Several people have asked how they could get their ideas published in one of our products so I thought I'd post a quick article about it here.

You can send your ideas to us at gethsemanegames@gmail.com

If there is a map you would like to see that isn't in our range yet, drop us a line and we will consider adding it to our 'To Do' list.

If you have adventure ideas for a map of one of our Grabban drop villages we may consider publishing it here in a blog article.

If you would like to see one of your adventure ideas in the 'Adventure Hooks' section of an upcoming map, let us know, if we like it we might use it and give you a writing credit.

Here is a list of some of the GM's maps we are planning, we would love to hear your adventure hooks for them.  Any genre, and as off the wallas you like.  Send them in and we will consider them.  If we don't use your idea it isn't that we didn't like it, we sometimes get more ideas than we can use in a single product.  We hope to publish some of these ideas as blog posts in the future.  So don't be disheartened if we don't use your idea right away, it may see the light of day on 'Whispers from the Other-Verse'.

Upcoming Maps

Sea Fort
Frontier Fought
Casino
Care Home
Wizards Tower 2
City Morgue
Pyramid

Here is an advanced look at part of the Sea fort that we are working on just now.

New Map

I spent Sunday of this week re-designing the map of the imperial hinterlands and frontier from Spelldancer.

This map was the first part of the Elizium setting I ever mapped, back when I was at 6th form college.  My then girlfriend would be the first person to ever play in Elzium with her Elf mage who would later lend her name to the game - Pandora Spelldancer.  That version was done by hand.

When I got my first copy of Campaign Cartographer by Profantasy Software I remade the map with that.  At the time it seemed great but technology - and expectations - have come a long way since then.  The version in the current edition of Spelldancer was remade using Campaign Cartographer 2 and again, how great it looked when I made it but once again the state of the art has moved on since then.

This version was made with CC3+ by Profantasy Software.  How far things have come since the pencil drawn then inked version on an artists pad!

Scenario Ideas and Colonial Rescue

Of late, this blog has begun to resemble a marketing stream as the number of 'New Product Out No1!"' posts have overtaken the other content. That was never my intent when I created Whispers from the Other Verse and I apologise for the shift in focus. In my defence as a one-person operation, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with everything that you want to write and create. Paid content (i.e. the product I create and sell like the RPGs, scenarios and GM's maps) has been taking up the overwhelming majority of my work time of late but I very much would like to shift the focus of this blog back to being something a bit more exciting. Some free content and opinion pieces for readers. That's what I set this blog up to be in the first place and that is very much what I would like it to be again.

With that in mind, I am going to start posting some adventure ideas on this blog - along with other content. I am not going to tie myself down to a specific schedule just yet but I will be releasing several posts over the next few months which are ideas for GMs.

Some of these adventure outlines will be system agnostic - designed with no RPG rules systems in mind. Others will be set in the worlds of our games. Many of them are inspired by our GM's maps range but you don't need to use the corresponding product form that ranges if you would prefer to design the floor plan yourself. I will, however, put a link in each one to the product I based it on for those who would like to use it.

So, without further ado, here is the first of that adventure outlines, I hope you enjoy it.

Colonial Rescue

Genre: SF

Setting: A surface colony on an extraterrestrial body (A planet or moon).

Corresponding GM's Map Product: GM's Map #29 Modular Luna Station

You do not need to use our Modular Lunar station map if you prefer to use a map of your own devising or one that you already own by another designer. However, if you would like to use the map that inspired this idea you can find GM's Map #29 Modular Lunar Station for sale as a PDF and at a very reasonable price on RPGNow 

Suitable Rules: SF or Generic system

Outline

A civilian outpost on an extraterrestrial body has been hit by a disaster. The impact of a large meteorite or crashed space vessel has damaged the colony structure and may have caused local systemic or geological activity (Quakes or avalanches) which have further endangered the survivors. These survivors are now trapped in a badly damaged colony structure on a moon or a planet with a hostile atmosphere. They have been broadcasting a distress signal and need to be evacuated before their life support runs out of or the superstructure in the rest of the colony fails.

The PCs

Although the PCs could easily be any space-faring characters you wish, from traders to smugglers or a salvage operation who have picked up the distress signal and are responding to it in order to rescue the colonist, this scenario is particularly suited to PCs who are part of a dedicated rescue service. 

If you decide to go with the idea of the PCs belonging to a dedicated rescue service, they will be well equipped and skilled in dealing with the kind of threats that a rescue in space might throw at them, they are likely to be unskilled in combat of any form. This can either be used as a one-off, standalone session or it might form part of a long-term episodic campaign in which the party are members of an outer space rescue team.

Hazards

This scenario lends itself well to some interesting environmental hazards such as fire, collapsing structures, toxic atmospheres and live electrical wires that have been damaged and come detached at one end. Compartments might also be flooding as the base's water supplies (or worse still, sewage tanks!) have been damaged and are causing a back wash into compartments in the colony.

Obstacles

In addition to having to deal with hazards – which pose a direct threat to the PCs themselves, the rescuers will face obstacles to success.
These include things like having to give medical treatment to injured colonists who may need to be stabilized before they can be moved, gaining entrance to the structure if its airlocks and docking hatches have been damaged, restoring power and so on. Characters may have to find ways to reach survivors who have become trapped in modules that have become isolated from the main base due to connecting modules having been destroyed or damaged. Flooding may cause an obstacle as well as a hazard. The rescuers may have to cut their way into modules without de-pressurising them. Casualties may be trapped under rubble or collapsed machinery. The applicabilities are wide and varied and the GM is encouraged to have fun with it. Have doors buckled so they won't open, power outages may force the rescuers to find imaginative ways to get into or out of compartments or may have other interesting effects.

Unusual Aspects

This scenario is designed to have absolutely no combat in it what so ever. The tension and conflict arise from the environmental dangers and the obstacles. For added tension, add a time limit (In game time) so the PCs are aware they are up against the clock.

Atmosphere and feel

The GM should try and build tension during play. The rescue is a delicate operation that must be completed before more of the survivors die. The PCs will face danger to themselves but will also have to contend with obstacles that obstruct the rescue. They should have to come up with plans on how to rescue the various pockets of survivors and how to overcome those obstacles in their way. As time goes on more survivors will be lost, or at least the players should feel that is a real risk. They will face no tradition conflict but should feel their lives are in danger at several points in play.

The feel you are aiming for is that of a disaster movie where the players should feel that one mistake on their part could cost a life – ether that of one of their team or of some survivors they are here to rescue.

Update and News.

Two items of news for you all today.

The first is an update on Ekanath, my cat.  Thanks to everyone who bought products in the Ekanath benefit sale or donated money to his blog or GoFundMe page.  Ekanath is a lot better than he was but is still poorly.  He is an inpatient at the vets for the second week now (Moving into a 3rd on Monday) where they are draining his chest daily.  Although he has responded well to the antibiotics there is still fluid in his chest and until they can reduce that to almost zero they do not want to discharge him home again.  We are all terribly worried about him.

Secondly,
Customers who are on our DriveThruRPG, RPGNow or WargamesVault mailing lists usually receive an email update whenever we release a new product.  Currently, there is an issue with the OBS mailing system which handles these emails and no one is receiving them.  Similarly, we are not receiving sales notifications or any other notifications we would usually receive through these sites.

This has had quite an impact on us as a small indie company.  90% of our sales come from previous customers responding to these emails.  We will continue to update customers about new releases here, but if you usually rely on getting an email via one of the above-mentioned sites (or any other One Book Shelf operated site) then please keep an eye on this blog for updates until this issue is resolved.

If you send us a question via any of our product pages on any of those sites we will not be informed about it via email and hence will probably not know.  Please email any questions directly to us at gethsemanegames@gmail.com

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Up The Junction!

The latest release in our system agostic village line is out now!

Have you ever been halfway through a campaign and had to take an enforced break as your players decided to take a detour into a village that's just a name on a map in your adventure?

Well, no more trying to think up and map an entire village – we have designed Graban Drop Villages with exactly this situation in mind!

Simply grab one of our range of villages, drag it over, and drop it into your campaign notes! A ready-made village, with buildings, NPCs and even scenario ideas, all ready to be used. Just bolt on your gaming system, stat anyone you think might need it, and you're ready to go.

The Graban Drop Villages range is system neutral, designed to be used with whatever rules system you use.

Junction is the third in our Graban Drop series and depicts a small town that has grown up around a key junction of two major roads.  The town began as an inn but over the years other businesses that serve the many travellers on the road grew up around it, followed by a small community that is mostly self-sufficient.

Sometimes considered godless by the more devout communities of the region, Junction has no dedicated place of worship of its own but they certainly know how to throw a party!  With live music, dancing and storytelling at the Crown and Cross Swords most nights.  Still, it is far from the haven of debauchery some would have you believe, rather it is a surprising source of culture from a world-class cheese to a renowned regional poet and sporting one of the more highly trained volunteer militias.  Junction has its own customs and traditions as well as being a great place to learn about the potential for adventure for miles around.

Mysterious hatches in farmers' fields, strange stone carvings that no one has deciphered and one or two dark secrets of its own, whether you are a merchant or an adventurer sooner or later you will find yourself up the Junction.

This product includes a coloured map of the village, an extensive Key, dozens of colourful characters, rumours, news, adventure ideas and a wealth of information on life in and around the village.  Just download it, read the text and drop it into your campaign.  The systemless supplement can be used with any RPG.

You can find this product   HERE  This product is being offered at the introductory price of £1.80 for a limited time.

Ekanath Benefit Sale. 50% off all PDFs

As many of you already know my cat, Ekanath, was rushed to the veterinary hospital last week, suffering from severe chest infection from an abscessed wound.  He has been in the hospital for a week and was only allowed home today, as an outpatient, he will be visiting the vets several more times before he is well and has another chest x-ray scheduled for Friday.

Dashing backwards and forwards from home to the veterinary hospital to see him has eaten into my work time and the next Grabban Drop village that I had wanted to release on Friday gone isn't finished yet, but it will be along shortly!


If you would like to know more about how Ekanath is getting on, I am updating his website and blog (HERE)

In the meantime, for 1 week only I am having a massive sale on all my PDF products!  50% or more off everything over at my RPGNow shop HERE

So, pop over and grab yourself a bargain!  All our PDFs are included, the popular GM's Maps and Grabban Drop village range as well as our various RPGs and Tabletop Skirmish Rules.

Spelldancer - Our Fantasy RPG set in a world where humans and other beastmen have ascended to dominance.

Haunts and Horrors - Our Gothic Horror RPG which can be set in any historical period you like!  this is the game that prompted Eric Fabiaschi of 'Swords and Stitchery' blog to say ;
"They've always been at the cutting edge of horror rpging."

Swords and Stitchery Blog

Pandora's Wake - Our Post Apocalyptic RPG.  Pandora's wake is an exciting Post Apocalyptic setting in which survivors struggle to live day to day in a world overrun by the hellish creatures of a nightmare world.  Bandits and rival groups add to the danger, and the radioactive wastes of man's attempt to drive back the Other-Verse with nuclear weapons dot the landscape.

Pandora's Fury! - Post Apocalyptic tabletop skirmish rules.

In the harsh, post apoclayptic future after the "Pandora Event" survivors battle creatures of the Other Verse and each other for resources and dominance of what is left of Earth in this tabletop miniature wargame set in the same world as our "Pandora's Wake" RPG.

With conversion notes that let you convert your Pandora's Wake characters to Pandora's Fury and back again, this tabletop miniatures wargame uses our "Fury" rules set, suitable for small skirmishes or large battles and using any scale miniatures you choose from 6mm to 38mm. (Personally, I prefer 15mm, but use the scale you like the best)

Pandora's Fury is a scale-neutral tabletop miniatures game set in a post-apocalyptic world.

All 50% or better off!  

The sale will help with the costs of getting Ekanath back to full health so you can pick up a bargain and help with a good cause at the same time!