Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997. D&D’s publication is widely regarded as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry.
D&D departs from traditional wargaming and assigns each player a specific character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master serves as the game’s referee and storyteller, while also maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur. The characters form a party that interacts with the setting’s inhabitants (and each other). Together they solve dilemmas, engage in battles and gather treasure and knowledge. In the process the characters earn experience points to become increasingly powerful over a series of sessions.
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is an evolution of the 3.5 rules set of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game, designed using the feedback of tens of thousands of gamers just like you. Players need only the single 576-page Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook to play, while the Game Master who controls the action will also want the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, a massive tome containing more than 350 fantastic foes for your adventurers to face. The Pathfinder RPG is a fully supported roleplaying game, with regularly released adventure modules, sourcebooks on the fantastic world of Golarion, and complete campaigns in the form of Pathfinder Adventure Paths like Council of Thieves and Kingmaker.
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game has been designed with compatibility with previous editions in mind, so you’ll be able to use your existing library of 3.5 products with minimal effort. In fact, the Pathfinder RPG is designed to smooth over a number of the rough spots in the 3.5 rules set, making several existing books even easier to use. On the other hand, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game contains numerous additional options and exciting new takes on classic character classes and races, infusing the game with a level of excitement that will carry it years into the future.
Shadowrun is a tabletop role-playing game set in a late future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. By default, Shadowrun takes place in Seattle, Washington, six decades in the future (2050 when first published, currently 2073). In the backstory of the game, magic and mythological beings returned to the world in 2011. Additionally, some humans changed into orks, trolls, elves, dwarves and even more exotic creatures. A later RPG, Earthdawn, takes place in the prehistory of the setting in a considerably more primitive world.
In the Shadowrun setting megacorporations control the lives of not only their employees, but command entire armies (the 10 biggest corporations in the world have extraterritoriality, much like an embassy has now). Technology is highly advanced and cyberware and bioware (cybernetically enhanced body parts or augmented parts grown in a vat then implanted in place of natural organs) are common. The computer crash of 2029 and various conflicts and plagues have reshaped the political and financial landscape of the world. Now when conflicts arise the corporations, governments, even wealthy individuals, and organized crime subcontract their dirty work to specialists, those who then perform “shadowruns” or missions undertaken by deniable assets without identities or those that wish to remain unknown. The most skilled of these specialists, called shadowrunners, have earned a reputation for getting the job done. They have developed a knack for staying alive, and prospering, in the world of Shadowrun.
The stories told in the game are set in the World of Darkness. It’s a place very much like our world, sharing the same history, culture and geography. Superficially, most people in this fictional world live the same lives we do. They eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and waste time watching the same stupid TV shows. And yet, in the World of Darkness, shadows are deeper, nights are darker, fog is thicker. If, in our world, a neighborhood has a rundown house that gives people the creeps, in the World of Darkness, that house emits strange sighs on certain nights of the year, and seems to have a human face when seen from the corner of one’s eye. Or so some neighbors say. In our world, there are urban legends. In the World of Darkness, there are urban legends whispered into the ears of autistic children by invisible spiders.
The World of Darkness book presents rules for playing a type of roleplaying game called Storytelling. In this type of game, the traditional elements of a story — theme, mood, plot and character — are more important than the rules themselves. The rules serve to help you tell stories about your characters in an interactive experience. They help prevent arguments and provide a solid basis for handling elements of chance, but they don’t overshadow the story itself. The triumphs and tragedies of your characters as they try to survive and even thrive in the World of Darkness are the main focus, not dice rolls or lists of traits.
