Two More Good Causes (and How You Can Help)

So, the good news is that the bundle from Tuesday to raise money for Tammy Mansfield's funeral expenses has already been pulled, because the bundle actually hit the goal they needed to cover her expenses, and all thanks to the generosity of gamers (consumers and publishers alike).

Unfortunately, the gaming community has been rocked with more tribulations:

Persephonee Banks

Aaron Huss of Roleplayer's Chronicle and Mystical Throne Entertainment is trying to raise money to assist a very close friend who just suffered the absolutely crushing loss of his 5 1/2 month old daughter Persephonee. I read the story and it absolutely kills me. I have three children of my own and the thought of losing one of them is unfathomable to me.

Aaron has assembled an amazing RPG bundle (though that's not really the point), to help the Banks family through this most trying time. Accursed, Shadowrun 5th Edition, Necropolis 2350, Lowlife, even the War/World of the Dead series that I had the pleasure of working on. Fantastic products, $20, a kind gesture for a family that is facing the worst kind of Hell right now.

You can find the bundle here and read Persephonee's story here.

The d20 community is rallying around one of their own as well, Joe Flores. Joe has been diagnosed with a hereditary liver defect that has given him cirrhosis. He now needs a liver transplant, and the great people at d20pfsrd.com are hosting a big bundle, with the proceeds going to Joe's GoFundMe account. $10 for $110 worth of product.

If you can, help. If you can't, spread the word to people who can.

Please.

And I promise I'll try to get back to the business of reviewing RPGs next week, but I believe that this stuff is important, and if I can help get that word out, I should.

A Tragic Situation And A Call To Arms

The larger roleplaying game community tends to do a pretty good job of pulling together when it needs to, and word came out recently that an acquaintance of mine suffered a horrible, horrible tragedy.

On February 18th, Jonathan M. Thompson of Battlefield Press suddenly lost his girlfriend Tammy Mansfield. He is currently struggling to gather the funds to pay for her funeral expenses. Well, a number of wonderful gaming industry professionals pulled together and donated product to a charity bundle to raise money for the expenses:

One of our own suffered a Critical Hit recently, and this bundle is our way of trying to give him a hand up.

Jonathon Thompson, owner of Battlefield Press, lost his girlfirend a few days ago to an unexpected heart attack. Not only is this a devastating blow, but it is also an extremely expensive one. We're going to help soak up some of that damage.

Almost $400 dollars worth of fantastic gaming products for a mere $30! From Shaintar and Suzerain to the world of the Tarnished Souk, and Tunse'al there are realms and adventures and add ons guaranteed to kick your game up a notch. Just take a look at the companies that have come together in suport of Jonathn in his time of need:

Stygian Fox, Savage Mojo, Rite Publishing, Rogue Genius Games, Miskatonic River Press, DSL Ironworks, Arc Dream Publishing, Applied Vectors, Obatron Productions, and Evil Beagle Games!

The entirety of the royalties from this bundle will help defray the unexpected costs of Tammy's funeral.

So grab a bundle, step up your game, and help one of our community through a really rough patch. How can you lose?

You can find that bundle here: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/144869/In-memory-of-Tammy-Mansfield-BUNDLE

Additionally, Brandon Blackmoor has said that anyone who provides proof of purchasing this bundle can receive a free PDF of his superhero RPG, Bulletproof Blues.

Additionally, the Amarillo Design Bureau has released a special edition of their Prime Directive d20 Modern rulebook, whose proceeds are also going to assist Jonathan with his girlfriend's funeral expenses.

Some great deals on some great games for a great cause. Let's help a guy out.

The Most Unread Blog on the Internet. Ever. and GeektheNews Join Forces!

Just a real short announcement for today's post, as I'm running dangerously into a deadline as it is: Effective, well, yesterday, GeektheNews.com is carrying my articles as well! Read them here or there, I'm good either way...but they are also chock full of other geeky news.

I'll aim to get back on the ball next week, as I have a few books in the review queue that I'm actually kinda eager to get to, as well as a few other articles.

Have a good weekend, and game often!

Tommy's Take on Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion 2nd Edition

I love Necessary Evil. Like, a lot. It's my favorite campaign I have ever ran. I vastly prefer the Savage Worlds Super Powers system to the regular Powers system. That said, I have never had the desire to run a Savage Worlds Super Powers game since finishing Necessary Evil. Why? As fun as Necessary Evil was, I never thought the system was quite flexible enough for a standard supers game (I was willing to accept the limitations in Necessary Evil as a setting conceit).

Tommy's Take on ICONS: The Assembled Edition

So last year, after my review of ICONS, Ad Infinitum and Green Ronin Publishing joined forces to release ICONS: The Assembled Edition...not quite a second edition, more of a 1.5 Edition...something closer to what Pinnacle does with the Savage Worlds core books than what D&D does with its editions (that is, remaining 95% compatible from edition to edition with little work).

Random Acts of Kindness Week - Free Godsend Agenda and High Valor

Apparently, it is International Random Acts of Kindness Week, and a couple of awesome RPG industry folk have decided to honor it by giving away digital copies of their games.

Deadlands: "The Devil's Own" Post Mortem (Part 1)

I like doing actual plays, but I don't actually have the time to do them, so he's a long overdue post mortem recap of my Deadlands: The Devil's Own campaign, the one in which we playtested the Hexslinger and new Harrowed rules from Stone and a Hard Place.

Tommy's Take on R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars: Reformation

RA Salvatore, arguably most famous for the Drizzt Do'Urden novels, also has a series called DemonWars. He and his sons, Geno and Bryan, recently released the DemonWars: Reformation roleplaying game, and have a Kickstarter in progress for DemonWars: Allheart, the first supplement for Reformation. The thing is, I've dug around on the internet for information on this RPG and can't find much, and I've seen other people have the same problem...so I'm reviewing Reformation for your benefit and mine.