Stargrave: The Powers

The official release of Stargrave is now just two weeks away, and the Stargrave Nickstarter pre-order program is surging onwards, with lots of cool new miniatures.

Today, Osprey Games released the Power Card Sheets from the rulebook as a free download. These cards contain the rules for all of the powers that Captains and First mates can choose from, all 52 of them.

Creating these powers was probably the most enjoyable part of the design process. It was my chance to develop fun and clever ways to bend or break my own rules, to give players the chance to manipulate the game environment, and to allow the main characters to do some really cool, cinematic stuff.

Also, it presented a nice challenge. In Frostgrave, everyone is controlling a wizard, so it was easy to justify anything cool they could do, just by saying ‘its magic’! In Stargrave though, the characters come from all kinds of different backgrounds. While a few, such as the Mystic and the Psionic can do things that look a bit like magic, most of the others; however, can not. Soldiers, Rogues, Cyborgs, etc. should have abilities based more on skills, or technology, or luck. In fact, that’s why I called these things ‘Powers’, as I couldn’t think of a better, all inclusive term, for the different abilities that captains and first mates can possess.

Now, in truth, I haven’t worried too much about the logical justification of why a particular captain has a particular power – that’s up to the player when creating the captain’s background – but I did want to create powers that could match as many different sci-fi tropes as possible. So, if you want a captain who survives by his combat training and wits alone, you can. You can also have a mystic that can suck the lifeforce out of others and blast things with weird energy. The key for me, was making both characters fun, balanced, and desirable.

So, have a look through all the powers and, hopefully, it will get your own creativity stirring, giving you ideas for cool characters to start their adventures in the Ravage Galaxy!

Stargrave Nickstarter!

The Stargrave 'Nickstarer' has begun! What's a Nickstarter, you ask? It's a pre-order program with bonuses.

Essentially, if you order one of the basic Stargrave packages (the simplest is a copy of the book and a box of plastic minis), then you will also received all of the 'freebies' that are unlocked during the campaign. As we are already on day three, and the campaign exploded out of the gate, that already includes 5 metal miniatures, 3 loot tokens, a sprue of plastic gnolls, and a d20! And, it is very close to picking up yet another metal miniature. Considering the campaign has almost three weeks left, there is a good chance that more freebies will be unlocked.

What a Nickstarter isn't is crowd funding. Everything in the campaign is being produced and paid for independent of this campaign. Most of it is already produced and the last pieces are being pulled together now. So, you won't be waiting a year or more to get your stuff, it'll hopefully be shipping as soon as the campaign ends.  

So, come join the fun!

You can order direct from North Star.

In the US you can order from Badger Games or Brigade Games.

In Germany you can order from Minituricum. 

You can also potentially order it through your local game store if they work with North Star.

Stargrave: Dead or Alive (A Free Mini-Supplement Coming Soon…)

Stargrave was designed as a competitive game between two or more players, but I always knew that I would tinker with some solo mechanics for it. I just didn’t think I would do it quite so soon!

But, with lockdowns lingering, and an uncertain future for competitive gaming, I wanted to give people the opportunity to play some Stargrave as soon as they got the book. I mean, most players will already have miniatures and terrain they can use. They might just lack the opponent!

So, over the last couple of months, I developed a special mini-expansion for Stargrave that is going to be released for FREE at the same time as the rulebook. It’s called Stargrave: Dead or Alive. This mini-expansion allows you roll up solo, bounty hunting scenarios. Essentially, you roll for the unique outlaw you are after and their gang. You roll for a setting and any potential complications. Then, using the simple rules modifications, you go after your mark!

It’s not a full set of solo rules, but it is enough to give everyone a chance to play and get a taste for the game. And, for those that desire, it should be pretty easy to expand upon the ideas to construct longer bounty-hunting campaigns.

So, that’s coming free on the Osprey site when Stargrave launches!

(Now, try to think about the title Stargrave: Dead or Alive without singing it like the similarly titled Bon Jovi song...)

Great Obelisk of C'thulhu

 

The latest miniature off my painting table is the Great Obelisk of C'thulhu from Reaper Bones. Here it is, guarded by my recently painted snakemen.

I didn't do a huge amount of work on this figure. It's basically just layered grey with a couple of green washes, and some shiny green eyes. I mounted the whole thing on a MDF base to give it some extra stability.

It's a great little piece, and considering my scenario writing, it'll likely make it onto the table quite a bit!

In fact, such a thing is downright necessary for the solo Ghost Archipelago scenario that is included in the forthcoming Blaster, Volume 3.

Rangers of Shadow Deep: Creature Deck!

I have just heard that Modiphius has just received stock of the Rangers of Shadow Deep creature cards! These have been in the works for awhile, but suffered some Covid delays.

The deck features 59 creatures cards - this includes all of the creatures from the main book and all of the supplements that have been published up to this point. There are also 17 'blank cards', to either make up your own monsters or for new monsters that may come in the future.

Each card features artwork by Barrett Stanley, some of which has never been seen before, plus all of the stats for that creature. So now you can pull out the cards for the creatures you know you are going to need during a game and keep them handy.

I'll admit, I haven't actually gotten my hands on a deck yet, but I'm sure excited about them!

Modiphius has them available now. North Star should have them soon. Shipments are still on their way to the USA and other destinations.

Wargames Illustrated, Issue 400

Wargames Illustrated magazine hits a pretty incredible milestone this month with its 400th issue! That's a seriously long run for any magazine, but especially one devoted to such a small hobby! Congratulations to Dan Falconbridge, the current owner, and all who have worked on the magazine over the years.

I have been honoured to appear in those pages on many occasions, and I have another piece in this historic issue.

I was asked by the editors to do a 'Top 10 List', and after giving it some though, I went for my 'Top 10 Wargames Mechanics'.  I figured, if nothing else, it will at least prove controversial! 

Anyway, it's a fun packed issue, with lots of looks at the past, a long article from Rick Priestly on major wargame releases of the past thirty years (Frostgrave even gets a mention!), an interview with the Perry twins, a look at Nick Eyrie's Union infantry, and more. In fact, the mag even comes with a free set of rules - Death in the Dark Continent, Lite - as a separate booklet in the bag.

Might be worth checking out! You can order it direct from Wargames Illustrated or from North Star.

Snake-men!

 

Like most fantasy gamers, I occasionally find myself asking, 'do I need more snake-men in my life?'. The answer is invariably yes. In fact, I pretty much knew as soon as Reaper released these guys in bones plastic, I was going to pick some up. I got 8, in 6 different poses, and have just finished painting the first two.

As they are bones, the detail on them is a bit soft in places, but by using a limited palette, I was able to let the contrast between colours do a lot of the work. They actually stand a bit taller than most 28mm, which I like. It makes them look a bit tougher.

Once I have all 8 done, I'll have to get them on the table and see what they can do against my Ghost Archipelago warband!