Pocket Dark Sun: Dune Reaper & Gaj

Dune Reaper: "The reaper prowls the sandy wastes in wild packs, leaping from dunes to ambush and impale its prey on its scythe like limbs."

Combat 1, Physical 2, Stealth 1, 2 Protection, 1 Wound. Heavy attack. No. Appearing 1d4+2.

Gaj: "This large reptile resembling a beetle is a psionic horror that is covered in a scaly, rust-orange shell with six legs that end in sharp claws."

Combat 2, Knowledge 1, Physical 2, 3 Protection, 2 Wounds. No. Appearing 1. 

If the Gaj succeeds with a Full Success in melee combat the target is held in its mandibles which grants the monster Advantage on further physical attacks against its prey. It may make telepathic attacks against living creatures using Knowledge.

Pocket Dark Sun: Defiling

In Pocket Barbarian all actions are resolved in the same way: Roll 2d6 add the relevant Skill and if the total is a 6 or less you Fail, on a 7 to 9 you gain a Partial Success, and on a 10 or higher you gain a Full Success. 

When casting spells you may choose to Defile by using the energy of all living beings within 10' of you, whether animals or plants, to ensure a successful casting. You choose to Defile before casting a spell and it is treated as a Full Success, however you gain a Wound and all living beings within 10' are Stunned.

Pocket Dark Sun using Pocket Barbarian & Pocket Mutant

A few years ago, I discovered Stellagama Publishing's Quantum Engine and I fell pretty hard for it. This eventually led me to the full Cepheus Engine/Traveller system and I've really been enjoying it at least as much. A few weeks ago, Stellagam released Pocket Barbarian, which is a further streamlining of the Quantum Engine for Sword and Sorcery. Last week, they released Pocket Mutant and I found out today the first Pocket game was Solar Winds. All three games remind me of a clever fusing of QE, Shadowdark, and Savage Worlds. They take the best parts of those games and make them sing.

On top of enjoying these Pocket games I've been contemplating Dark Sun and Pocket Barbarian and Pocket Mutant has given me some ideas for running it.

Pocket Barbarian's skills will be the baseline but instead of giving each PC psionic gifts I'm going to have them roll mutations as "Wild Talents".

The first character I rolled up is a Hunter named Gundar Spann

Archetype: Hunter

Combat 2; Knowledge 1; Physical 1; Social 0; Sorcery 0; Stealth 1; 

Wounds: 3

Wild Talent: You can take over a creature with your mind for 1d6 rounds.

Weapons: Long Bow; Axe; Dagger (attack roll has Disadvantage)

I might get a chance to run it Friday. We will see.

Spotlight on Pocket Barbarian

I didn't get into Traveller or the Cepheus Engine until a few years ago. Looking into it I discovered Stellagama's Cepheus Faster Than Light and then their Cepheus Quantum/Quantum Engine and it really captured me. Quantum uses 6-7 Skills, things like Combat, Lore, Sorcery, etc. There are not "Attributes" in the game but it does have Traits that work like Feats in d20 games. I really dig how Omer Golan-Joel, the owner of Stellagama, and his collaborators have expanded the Quantum Engine into horror, superheroes, sword and sorcery, and the post-apocalyptic genres.

I'm a big fan of what they publish and recently picked up Pocket Barbarian a 4 page sword and sorcery RPG. PB uses 2d6 plus Skill with the following results: 6 or less is a Failure, 7-9 is a Partial Success, and 10 or higher is a Full Succes. Skills function more like Attributes in other games and they are Combat, Lore, Physical, Social, Sorcery, and Stealth and you allocate 5 points among them with no more than 3 points in any of them. You then pick an Archetype, which has similar design space to Traits, that grants you Advantage on your die rolls if they apply. Unlike Quantum PB uses a wound system instead of Life Blood and Endurance.

The game also includes Monsters and Spells. Spellcasting is a roll using Sorcery and you lose access to the spell for the rest of the day on a failed roll which reminds me of Shadowdark.

This whole package is $1 and I cannot recommend it enough. I have enjoyed everything Stellagama has published over the years and always look forward to new releases.