Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is the first title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game . This supplement was awarded an ENnie Judges' Spotlight Award at Gen Con 2015. [1]
Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is the first title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game . This supplement was awarded an ENnie Judges' Spotlight Award at Gen Con 2015. [1]
Echoes of War collected four digital adventures for the Firefly RPG , (including the adventure "Wedding Planners" by The New York Times bestselling author Margaret Weis), and published them together under a single cover. Echoes of War also included a basic set of rules, statistics for all nine crew characters from the Firefly TV show, twelve new character archetypes, and basic ship rules. The adventures in this book all deal with themes of loss and renewal in the aftermath of the Unification War. Each adventure was illustrated with original artwork and presented in a five-to-six act structure. [2]
In its review of Echoes of War, the gaming site Reviews from R'lyeh noted that this title's inclusion of a basic set of rules for the Firefly RPG "means that Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is a standalone book that can be run using just the rules it contains, or it can be run with access to either version of the rulebook. [3] "
This is how Firefly Role-Playing Game brand manager Monica Valentinell described the original concept for this digital series of adventures in 2013, a year before their print publication:
The logistics of doing a full core book for Gen Con [2013] just wasn't possible, but what we are doing instead, is, we're going to have the Echoes of War line. It's a digital line of adventures, and each adventure ties back to, or has something to do with, the Unification War. ...Wedding Planners is by Margaret, and then Shooting Fish is by an writer named Andrew Peregrine... those two both have something to do with the Unification War, and you find out what as the adventures continues. But we're going to be releasing those [in digital format] on a regular basis leading up to [the release of] the core book, so that if people want to play a one-shot or a couple of sessions, just to have fun, there's plenty of game material in each one." [4]
The included adventures were written by Margaret Weis, Andrew Peregrine, Monica Valentinelli, and Nicole Wakelin. Featured artists included Ben Mund, Beth Sobel, Jennifer Rodgers, Kurt Komoda, and Melissa Gay.
Keith Baker is an American game designer and fantasy novel author. In addition to working with Wizards of the Coast on the creation of Eberron, he has also contributed material for Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Green Ronin Publishing. In 2014, Baker and Jennifer Ellis co-founded the indie tabletop game company Twogether Studios.
The Serenity Role Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie Serenity. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and its mechanics were the first iteration of the Cortex System. It won an Origins Award for best RPG in 2005 and Margaret Weis' license came to an end on January 31, 2011.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, divorced.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular culture.
EN World, also known as Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG News, is a British-owned tabletop role-playing game news and reviews website. The website is run and owned by Russ Morrissey ("Morrus"). It reports current news and provides insight into major product releases before they are officially unveiled. EN World was the original host of the ENNIE Awards.
The ENNIE Awards are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World in partnership with Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D Third Edition News. The ceremony has been hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis since 2002. Since 2018, EN World is no longer associated with the awards.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is the fourth role-playing game set in the Marvel Universe published by Margaret Weis Productions under license from Marvel Comics. It uses the Cortex Plus system. The first volume was published in early 2012. In early 2013, Margaret Weis Productions announced that they would not be renewing their license and publication ceased.
The Cortex Plus System is a toolkit RPG system that evolved from Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Cortex System. It has been used for four published games and one published preview to date, and the design principles are in the Cortex Plus Hacker's Guide, a book of advice in how to create new games using Cortex Plus, and list of new games produced via Kickstarter. According to the Hacker's Guide there are three basic 'flavors' of Cortex Plus; Action, Drama, and Heroic.
13th Age is a d20 fantasy role-playing game designed by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, and published by Pelgrane Press. 13th Age has been well supported with over 25 supplements published since its 2013 release, the most recent in 2022.
Cam Banks is a game designer known for his work on the Cortex System line of roleplaying games as lead designer for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, and the Big Damn Heroes Handbook supplement to the Serenity Role Playing Game, among other titles. He is the Cortex Creative Director for Fandom Tabletop, the publishers of Cortex Prime.
Jamie Chambers is an American game designer who works primarily on role-playing games, contributing in a variety of genres. He served as Vice President of the non-profit Game Manufacturers Association, a trade association for the hobby games industry, from 2007 until 2016, when he chose not to seek re-election. He succeeded Marcus King for the post. Chambers worked with Margaret Weis at Sovereign Press in 1988, then transitioned with her to Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) where he served as Vice President and Lead Designer. While there, he created the Cortex System, a role-playing game ruleset that has been used by MWP since that time.
This is a complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Margaret Weis.
The Firefly Role-Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2014, written by Monica Valentinelli and set in the universe of the Joss Whedon television show Firefly. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and uses the "Cortex Action" variant of Margaret Weis Production's proprietary Cortex Plus game system.
Smuggler's Guide to the Rim is a sourcebook published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd in 2015 as a supplement for the Firefly Role-Playing Game, which itself is based on the Firefly TV series.
Ghosts in the Black is the fifth title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game. Robin Laws described his concept for the adventures contained in this supplement as "a pastiche of a property which itself has a heavy element of pastiche in it, because it's a space opera which is actually a tribute to the classic westerns."
Monica Valentinelli is an Italian-American game designer, author, essayist, editor, and game developer. She studied at University of Wisconsin–Madison, and holds a B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis. She started working in the hobby games industry in 2005. She is the author of several roleplaying games and supplements, as well as short stories and essays, and is an anthologist as well. Since 2016 she has been an industry speaker and Guest of Honor at several game conventions.
The Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is a category of companion accessories across multiple editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In general, the Starter Set is a boxed set that includes a set of instructions for basic play, a low level adventure module, pre-generated characters, and other tools to help new players get started.
The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games. Its most recent iteration, Cortex Prime, was designed by Cam Banks and published by Fandom Tabletop. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margaret Weis Productions, where it was used as the house system. Cortex is an adaptable game system focusing on characterization and story development.
Scott Fitzgerald Gray is a Canadian writer, editor, story editor, and role-playing game designer known for his work on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game.
The following are the winners of the 15th annual ENnie Awards, held in 2015: