With so many RPG items taken in this year (over 90 products) I am going to have to declare more than one winner. Since I am such a huge Traveller/Cepheus Engine player I am going to break products related to those game engines out separate from other supplements and core rule books.
Traveller / Cepheus Engine new to me in ’23
Traveller/Cepheus Engine products account for 43 of 92 roleplaying game products acquired this year (47%). Lots of Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition items are in the list because I took advantage of a Bundle of Holding offer this year.
Cepheus Engine System (7) – Alien Breeds (Zozer Games, 2018), Burst Transmissions Compendium (Michael Brown, 2022), Cepheus Engine Mission Generator (Michael Brown, 2020), Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition (Stellagama Publishing, 2023), Fighter Design and Combat Rules (Monachus Pres, 2023), Ho! Ho! Ho! (Old School Role Playing, 2022), Quick Ship File: Gwad Urm Class System Defence Destroyer (Moon Toad Publishing, 2023), Solo Space Opera with Cepheus (Parts Per Million, 2023).
Classic Traveller (1) – TRAVELLER: The Classic SF RPG Rules “White Cover Facsimile Edition” (Classic Traveller, Far Future Enterprises, 2021).
The Clement Sector (3) – 21 Vehicles 2nd Edition (Independence Games, 2022), Roosevelt-Class Intercept Destroyer (Independence Games, 2023), Wondrous Menagerie: Uplifts in Clement Sector (Independence Games, 2017).
Doomsday Soldier (3) – Doomsday Soldier (RPG Ramblings, 2023) includes Character Creation for a Doomsday Soldier, Personal Combat Rules for a Doomsday Soldier, and The Declassifed Files: Rules for Social Encounters.
HOSTILE (9) – Earth: Cyberpunk Earth under Corporate Control (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE Forms and Charts (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE SitRep #6 – Hunted (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE SitRep #7 – The Ark (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE SitRep #8 – Life Cycle (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE SitRep #9 – Extraction (Zozer Games, 2023), HOSTILE Timeline (Zozer Games, 2023), Marine Corps Handbook 2215 (Zozer Games, 2021), The Solomons (Zozer Games, 2023).
Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition (13) – Central Supply Catalogue 2023 Update (Mongoose, 2023), Drinaxian Companion (Mongoose, 2020), Field Catalogue (Mongoose, 2022), The Glorious Empire (Mongoose, 2021), Pirates of Drinax (Mongoose, 2017), Reach Adventure #1: Marooned on Marduk (Mongoose, 2021), Reach Adventure #2: Theories of Everything (Mongoose, 2016), Reach Adventure #3: The Calixcuel Incident (Mongoose, 2016), Reach Adventure #4: Last Flight of the Amuar (Mongoose, 2017), Shadows of Sindal (Mongoose, 2020), Stranded (Mongoose, 2022), Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 (Mongoose, 2022), Traveller: Explorer’s Edition (Mongoose, 2021).
Scoundrels of Brixton (2) – SCOUNDRELS OF BRIXTON – SD1: Under a Hard Sun (RPG Ramblings, 2023), SCOUNDRELS OF BRIXTON SD2: The Clean Hands (RPG Ramblings, 2023).
Traveller: The New Era (5) – Special Supplement M1: Virus Discussions in the New Era (Space Pubs, 2022), Special Supplement M8: Meshan Sector Tibushi in the New Era (Space Pubs, 2022), Special Supplement M9: Meshan Sector Ironside in the New Era (Space Pubs, 2022), Special Supplement M10: Meshan Sector Serkur in the New Era (Space Pubs, 2022), Special Supplement M11: Meshan Sector Anglir in the New Era (Space Pubs, 2022).
Traveller/Cepheus Engine Adventure of the Year – SCOUNDRELS OF BRIXTON – SD1: Under a Hard Sun (Cepheus Engine, RPG Ramblings, 2023). Funded via a Kickstarter campaign this simple product is a ready to drop-in setting for any Cepheus Engine-based campaign. Appeals to the Space Cowboy in me.
Traveller/Cepheus Engine Supplement of the Year – Solo Space Opera with Cepheus (Cepheus Engine, Parts Per Million, 2023). Solo engines have taken off in recent years and this one brings the latest state-of-the-art to your (solo) tabletop.
Traveller/Cepheus Engine Core Rule Book of the Year – TRAVELLER: The Classic SF RPG Rules “White Cover Facsimile Edition” (Classic Traveller, Far Future Enterprises, 2021). Even after 40 years there is still a simplicity in Classic Traveller that is unequalled by nearly anything on the market today.
Free League Publishing / Free League Workshop new to me in ’23
Thanks to Regimental Commander Brant adding me to the Free League Publishing press group, I acquired a fairly complete back library of Free League titles this year. While I will always be a fan of the Classic Traveller/Cepheus Engine System, Free League Publishing’s Free League Tabletop License (FTL) built using the Dice Pool and Step Dice modes of the Year Zero Engine is quickly becoming a beloved alternative. The 38 Free League Publishing associated items acquired account for 41% of my new acquisitions this year.
Core Rule Books (16) – Coriolis: The Third Horizon (Free League Publishing, 2016), CY-BORG (Free League Publishing, 2022), Death in Space (Free League Publishing, 2022), Dragonbane: Mirth and Mayhem Roleplaying (Free League Publishing, 2023), Forbidden Lands (Free League Publishing, 2018), Into the Odd (Free League Publishing, 2022), Mork Borg (Free League Publishing, 2019), Mutant Year Zero (Free League Publishing, 2014), The One Ring (Free League Publishing, 2023), Pirate Borg (Free League Publishing, 2023), Symbaroum (Free League Publishing, 2015), Tales From the Loop (Free League Publishing, 2017), Things From the Flood (Free League Publishing, 2019), Vaesen (Free League Publishing, 2023), The Walking Dead Universe (Free League Publishing, 2023), War Stories (Firelock Games, 2022).
Expansions/Supplements (18) – ALIEN Starter Set (Free League Publishing, 2020), Blade Runner Starter Set (Free League Publishing, 2022), Building Better Worlds (ALIEN: The RPG, Free League Publishing, 2023), CANUKISTAN (T2K, Free League Publishing, 2022), Civilian Career Paths (T2K, Free League Workshop, 2022), Extended Solo (Twilight: 2000 4th Ed, Free League Workshop, 2022), Heavy Metal (T2K, Free League Workshop, 2022), The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium (Free League Publishing, 2023), The One Ring Starter Set (Free League Publishing, 2023), Ruins of the Lost Realm (The One Ring, Free League Publishing, 2023), Strider Mode (The One Ring, Free League Publishing, 2023), Twilight: 2000 Fanzine – Good Luck You’re On Your Own Now (GDW, 2013), Twilight: 2000 Fanzine – You’re On Your Own Vol. 4 (GDW, 2022), Urban Operations (T2K, Free League Publishing, 2023), Vaesen – Solo Rules (Free League Publishing, 2023), Vehicle Handbook (T2K, Free League Workshop, 2022), The Walking Dead Universe Starter (Free League Publishing, 2023), War Stories Quickstart (Firelock Games, 2022).
Accessories (4) – Dice sets including ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game base and stress dice as well as Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game base dice and Twilight: 2000 base dice.
RMN’s Free League Expansion/Supplement of the Year – [TIE] Urban Operations: A Supplement for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition (Free League Publishing, 2023) and Building Better Worlds: A Supplement for ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game (Free League Publishing, 2023). It’s hard for me to rank one of these over the other. Both Urban Operations and Building Better Worlds support worldbuilding for campaign settings. I really can’t imagine playing either game with only the core rule book anymore.
RMN’s Free League(ish) Core Rule Book of the Year for 2023 – War Stories (Firelock Games, 2022). It would be easy to say that War Stories is simply the Twilight: 2000 4th Edition rules reskinned for World War II. While there is some merit to that argument, in my mind War Stories employs the Free League Tabletop License in a noticeably different way than T2K. War Stories leans into a setting and rules for adventures during a major world conflict, not after. That simple difference in setting and approach makes War Stories a game of its own.
The others
New to Me in ’23 (10) – Code Warriors (Nerdburger Games, 2023), Cortex Prime Spotlights: Camp Bewilderment (Cortex Prime, Dire Wolf, 2023), Cortex Prime Spotlights: Necromancer (Cortex Prime, Dire Wolf, 2023), Cosa Nostra – A Cortex Primes Spotlight (CORTEX Prime, Dire Wolf, 2023), Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game (Mana Project Studio, 2023), Deep Space (Farsight Games, 2023), Genesys Expanded Player’s Guide (Genesys, Fantasy Flight Games, 2019), Lancer (Massif Press, 2019), Those Dark Places (Osprey Games, 2020).
RockyMountainNavy RPG of the Year for 2023
The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of the Lord of the Rings (Free League Publishing). While I am admittedly not a fan of fantasy roleplaying games, the core game mechanisms behind The One Ring bring the setting to life in a manner that I can use as either a game master or player. The Strider Mode supplement—rules for solitaire play—enabled me to explore the setting and rules and shown me the endless potential for adventure. When you have a near-complete set (mix of physical and digital) of a game it makes immersing yourself into it so much easier. The overall presentation by Free League Publishing makes learning—and playing—The One Ring easy and enjoyable.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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