S.C.A.R.E. – Secrets, Contacts, Allies, Rivals and Enemies.  They are part and parcel of the character generation process, and provide endless opportunities for adventure, intrigue and complication. The S.C.A.R.E. line gives you NPC’s designed to provide maximum flexibility as they can be used in several ways; either as a valuable Contact or Ally, or as a dangerous Rival or Enemy.  Secrets can be exploited for profit, patriotism or career advancement; and each could lead to danger, wealth or fantastic new discoveries. Multiple plot hooks and adventure ideas are also presented in each release, allowing easy integration into your game.

What do you get when you take a member of the Imperial family (in this case a grand-niece to the Emperor), add in the loyalty and training instilled by the Imperium’s finest organizations, the unlimited authority granted by Imperial Credentials, access to bleeding edge technology, the unlimited resources to create multiple, bulletproof cover identities, and the contacts, networks and intelligence gleaned from hundreds of Imperial and Corporate agencies ?  You have a Shadow Agent with the authority to arrest an Inquisitor, kill with impunity or start a war.  Only a select handful are trusted with such authority, but they are the most fearsome and effective weapon in the Imperial arsenal.  Viesca Melin Aella is one of these agents.

Look for it soon.

Why be human?

Why not choose the agility and feral grace of the wolf instead? The sensuality of the cat or the strength and ferocity of the warthog? The airborne agility of the hawk, or the impenetrable exoskeleton of the rhino beetle? Anthropomorphic heroes and villains are nothing new to gamers.

Dungeons & Dragons has included animal species from its inception: jackal-like gnolls, warthog faced orcs and ogres, a myraid of cat, spider and birdlike species, and shapeshifting druids that blend human and animal traits.

Whitewolf’s Werewolf the Apocalypse put a supernatural spin on eco-terrorism and furry/otherkin culture, pawning a whole generation of lycanthrope heroes and vigilantes. Sci-fi games from Wing Commander to
Robotech include a cat-like race in homage to the Kzin, one of the most recognizable species in science fiction.

Gamers of my generation grew up watching anthropomorphic great-cats battle evil on the Thundercats, watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles battle the Foot Clan every afternoon. From the camp of Biker Mice from Mars to the exactingly researched samurai epic, Usagi Yojimbo, gamers looking to play anthropomorphic heroes have a wide source of inspiration to draw from.

The Freeform Anthropomorphica system can quickly generate new alien species, demi-human or metahuman races for fantasy gaming, uplifted animals, genetically engineered mutants and animalistic superheroes, as well as magical beasts: magical crossbreeds, even unfortunates like Arachnae, who are cursed with animalistic form by the gods.or metahuman races for fantasy gaming, uplifted animals, genetically engineered mutants and animalistic superheroes, as well as magical beasts: magical crossbreeds, even unfortunates like Arachnae, who
are cursed with animalistic form by the gods.

No matter their origin, Freeform Anthropomorphica is designed to produce a fully customizable nthropomorphic character suitable for use as a PC in both fantasy and future campaigns.

Anthropomorphic characters are invariably bipedal, roughly human-scale and humanoid, and are intelligent enough to communicate with other characters and interact meaningfully with other players. The Freeform Anthropomorphica system produces characters without any Level Adjustment or ECL modifier, making them suitable for easy inclusion in most games. Build an animalistic humanoid superhuman inspired by reality’s unparalleled bio-diversity or inspired by your favorite anthropomorphic heroes and villains. Quickly cobble together new player races or alien species before tonight’s game.

With over 43,300,000 possible combinations of Orders, Racial Traits and Templates, you can build exactly the creature you’ve always wanted to play.

Creating an anthropomorphic character is simply an extended version of the character creation process already familiar to gamers. Rather than choosing a starting race, an anthropomorph’s player selects an Order, or generic category of animals. An Anthropomorph’s Order determines racial ability score modifiers, racial skill bonuses, and the creature’s favored class.

Once an Order is chosen, the Anthropomorph begins to take shape. The creature can be further customized by adding a variety of advantages and drawbacks. Some advantages are more common in some Orders than others, and this diversity is reflected in the “Favored Racial Traits” mechanic described within the product..

This volume is fully compatible with the Pathfinder Role Playing Game.

Add some non-human fun to your game!

For sale now at OBS and Paizo.

Skortched Urf’ Studios and Otherverse Games are pleased to announce our first release for the Pathfinder RPG!

The Thinking Races Series provides new
takes on the familiar races of fantasy gaming, and
over the course of the line, will introduce several
dozen new player races and sub-races to the game.
This volume focuses on heroes not made
from flesh and blood. The heroic races in this
volume are made from sterner, more noble matter:
gold, steel, titanium, chrome and iron. Some of the
new races in this sourcebook are elemental beings,
others are constructs. All are something more than
human, more even than Dwarf or Elf.

The races in this sourcebook are created by
the blending of arcana and technology, and the only
two races in this sourcebook actually made of
something like skin and bone- the Kobolds and
Earthborn Humans- are defined by their mastery of
technology and industriousness.

The Forgeblood Feats presented at the end
of this sourcebook were originally presented in
2005’s Megafeats: New Paths to Victory
(Skortched Urf Studios). The new version printed
here has been updated to conform to the changes
made to fantasy gaming by the release of the Pathfinder
Roleplaying Game. Relatively minor changes
were made, and if you have the original version of
these feats, they still work fine.

Steel yourself for battle.

For sale now at OBS and Paizo.

I’ll be headed for the airport at oh-dark-thirty in the am.  Can’t wait!

On the business side of things I want to get with the OBS guys about the new POD option, meet with the Mongoose folks about Traveller and Flaming Cobra, and pick some industry brains whereven I can.  I’d also like to actually meet some of the people I see on the web and forums.

On the persoanal side I am looking forward to the massive dealer room, Pathfinder and other new releases.  I may even end up working at a booth to spell a friend of mine for lunch breaks and what not.  We’ll see.  Maybe I’ll even play a game or three.

I hope to see some of you there!

We’re getting ready for Gen Con and could use some spending cash for the trip!  To that end we’ve marked all our back-list at 50% off the regular price for this week only.  (Does not include new releases, sorry.)  If you’ve been thinking of getting one of our titles, now is the time.  Adventurer Essentials, Dept. 7 Advanced Class Updates, Stock Art and more now half off!  If your going to be at Gen Con we hope to see you there, and if you can’t make it I know you’ll be there with us in spirit.

-Skortched Urf’ Studios