GateWar, a fantasy role-playing game published by Escape Ventures in 1994, is the retitled third edition of the role-playing game Element Masters .
GateWar, a fantasy role-playing game published by Escape Ventures in 1994, is the retitled third edition of the role-playing game Element Masters .
In the early 1980s, Kenneth D. Burridge designed a fantasy role-playing game called Element Masters that was published by Escape Ventures in 1983 as a 100-page book. [1] The following year, Escape Ventures released a revised and expanded 160-page second edition. [1]
Ten years later, in 1994, Kenneth Burridge and Robert Finkbeiner designed a greatly expanded 270-page third edition retitled GateWar, which was also published by Escape Ventures. [2]
The setting of GateWar is the world of Vinya, where magic and technology mix. [1] The player characters are all users of the forgotten discipline of Element Magic. [1] The flora and fauna are a mix of both indigenous lifeforms and invasive alien species, the latter having reached the planet through teleportation portals that were constructed in the ancient past by the native Vinyans. [3]
Character generation starts by choosing one of eight races:
Characters have a chance of additional powers by becoming a Potential Element Master, partial Drazzi (a race of powerful spellcasters), or a Partial Golden Hero (ancient warrior heroes). [3]
Once the race has been chosen, further details like birthplace and phobias are randomly determined from various tables. The player then rolls five 4-sided dice for each of the character's seven abilities (Strength, Size, Dexterity, Intelligence, Magic Points, Appearance and Luck); the abilities then determine the levels of the skills and professions chosen by the player. [3]
In combat, a player rolls percentile dice to determine if a hit is successful. If it is, the player rolls percentile dice to determine the location of the damage and rolls appropriate dice for the weapon used to determine how much damage; all damage is applied to the location previously determined, minus a deduction for the defender's armour (if any). [4]
Skill challenges are also resolved using percentile dice and comparing the result to the character's relevant skill rating. [4]
Magic uses a point-buy system — every character starts with a bank of Spell Points, and each spell costs a certain number of Spell Points to learn. [4]
In the February 1995 edition of Dragon (Issue #214), Rick Swan found the rules hearkened back to game systems of the early 1980s, calling them "fairly standard, old-fashioned even." He didn't think the setting of Vinya compared well to major competitors, but did admire its originality, saying, "Though Vinya, the game setting, won’t make anyone forget Glorantha or Krynn, it boasts an appealing cast of characters and an extraordinary menagerie of wacky creatures." But Swan found the spells unimaginative, the weapons standard, and "the game relies too much on stock fantasy conventions." However, Swan did think some players might be attracted to the game despite its out-of-date rules, saying, "the whimsical flourishes [...] make the GateWar RPG worth a look for fans of the offbeat." [2]
In a retrospective review in the May 2000 edition of Serendipity's Circle (Issue 19), Julie Hoverson thought the typesetting and layout "well done", and called the many sidebars "fantastic examples of the rules being described in the main text." She found the graphics and art "of average quality but very appropriate and well placed." She admired the number of alien races outlined, calling them "some of the most bizarre, horrifying, unbalancing and out of place creatures ever detailed." She also noted the amount of detail about Vinya that was provided, calling it "a very complete campaign world." However, Hoverson thought the rules system, essentially unchanged since 1984, showed its age, commenting, "This game is everything role-playing was, detail to the max and randomized at every opportunity." She concluded by giving it an average rating of 3 out of 5, saying, "GateWar is truly a master work of some dedicated players but it will always feel like someone else's world. If you want something different, action oriented and ready to play, this is it. You will find it hard to change things enough to make a campaign unique but there are plenty of gems to be pirated to existing game worlds." [3]
Marvel Super Heroes (MSHRPG) is a role playing game set in the Marvel Universe, first published by TSR as the boxed set Marvel Super Heroes: The Heroic Role-Playing Game under license from Marvel Comics in 1984. In 1986, TSR published the Marvel Superheroes Advanced Game, an expanded edition. Jeff Grubb designed both editions, and Steve Winter wrote both editions. Both use the same game system.
RuneQuest is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. It was first published in 1978 by The Chaosium. Beginning in 1984, publication passed between a number of companies, including Avalon Hill, Mongoose Publishing, and The Design Mechanism, before finally returning to Chaosium in 2016. RuneQuest is notable for its system, designed around percentile dice and an early implementation of skill rules, which became the basis for numerous other games. There have been several editions of the game.
Rolemaster is a tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises since 1980.
DragonQuest is a fantasy role-playing game originally published by Simulations Publications (SPI) in 1980. Where first generation fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) restricted players to particular character classes, DragonQuest was one of the first games to utilize a system that emphasized skills, allowing more individual customization and a wider range of options.
Dragon Dice is a collectible dice game originally made by TSR, Inc., and is produced today by SFR, Inc. It is one of only a handful of collectible dice games produced in the early 1990s. The races and monsters in Dragon Dice were created by Lester Smith and include some creatures unique to a fantasy setting and others familiar to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Battlesystem is a tabletop miniature wargame designed as a supplement for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The original Battlesystem was printed as a boxed set in 1985 for use with the first edition AD&D rules. For the second edition of AD&D, a new version of Battesystem was printed as a softcover book in 1989.
Boot Hill is a western-themed role-playing game designed by Brian Blume, Gary Gygax, and Don Kaye, and first published in 1975. Boot Hill was TSR's third role-playing game, appearing not long after Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and Empire of the Petal Throne, and taking its name from "Boot Hill", the popular Wild West term for "cemetery". Boot Hill was marketed to take advantage of America's love of the western genre. The game did feature some new game mechanics, such as the use of percentile dice, but its focus on gunfighting rather than role-playing, as well as the lethal nature of its combat system, limited its appeal. Boot Hill was issued in three editions over 15 years, but it never reached the same level of popularity as D&D and other fantasy-themed role-playing games.
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics.
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic (thaumaturgy). Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative magics available to them. With divinely-granted abilities over life or death, they are also able to repel or control undead creatures. Clerics also have specific 'domains' which usually align with the character's alignment and the god that cleric serves. Whether the cleric repels or controls undead is dependent on the cleric's alignment. It is the only class to be included in every edition of Dungeons & Dragons without a name change.
Gangbusters was a historical roleplaying game designed by Rick Krebs with Mark Acres assisting in its development. The game was published by TSR, Inc. Two editions of the game were published. The first edition of the game was published in 1982.
Dice notation is a system to represent different combinations of dice in wargames and tabletop role-playing games using simple algebra-like notation such as d8+2.
The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set is a set of rulebooks for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holmes based on Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's original work. Later editions were edited by Tom Moldvay, Frank Mentzer, Troy Denning, and Doug Stewart.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that is imbued with magic powers. These items may act on their own or be the tools of the character possessing them. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the original edition in 1974 until the modern fifth edition. In addition to jewels and gold coins, they form part of the treasure that the players often seek in a dungeon. Magic items are generally found in treasure hoards, or recovered from fallen opponents; sometimes, a powerful or important magic item is the object of a quest.
The Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.
High Fantasy is a fantasy role-playing game system originally published by Fantasy Productions in 1978. A second edition in 1981 and several subsequent books were published by Reston Publishing that featured solo adventures using the High Fantasy system. The game received mixed reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, The Space Gamer, Different Worlds, Ares, and Dragon.
Gatecrasher is a light-hearted science fantasy role-playing game published by Grey Ghost Press in 1996.
Element Masters is a science-fantasy role-playing game published by Escape Ventures in 1983.
Aliens Adventure Game is a combat-oriented role-playing game published by Leading Edge Games in 1991.
Arms Law is a supplement published by Iron Crown Enterprises in 1980 for the fantasy role-playing game Rolemaster.
Infinite Domains is a generic role-playing game system published by Infinite Concepts in 1996.