Explore OTHER WORLDS

Other Worlds is a roleplaying game of heroic action and adventure for any genre. The game is driven by description: descriptions of characters, details of actions, and dramatic visualisations. Numbers and dice rolls are secondary to the action; in fact, you will find that in Other Worlds the rules serve to emphasise the story and increase the drama rather than getting in their way. This book contains the following material:

• A comprehensive worldbuilding procedure that the whole group gets to take part in
• Over 100 ready-to-use character templates, from assassins to xenoarchaeologists and everything else in between
• Detailed guidelines on creating your own cultural archetypes, professions, trademark powers, supporting characters, and adventure locations
• A simple, elegant conflict resolution procedure that can handle any situation
• Turn-based set piece rules to handle the more important conflicts of your story
• A wealth of practical advice on how to get the most out of play, based on real experience at the games table
• Quick-start genre packages for fantasy, horror, pirates, science fiction, superheroes, and the wild west

Available now from DriveThruRPG in any of three formats: PDF, softcover, or luxurious hardcover!

Other Worlds is a trademark of Mark Humphreys. Copyright Mark Humphreys 2011. All rights reserved.

Ruben

I was very sorry to learn that Ruben Smith-Zempel, who did the graphic design for Superluminary, has unfortunately passed away. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, a first rate designer, and a really nice guy. My deepest sympathies to his family. Rest in peace my friend.

Mark

Season’s Greetings!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Other Worlds Towers!

I hope that you are safe and warm and vaccinated, and that you managed to get some gaming in this year, even if through the computer.

I can report that I am working on a new book for Other Worlds, hopefully for release next year. I should have more to say about it in the next couple of months, including a preview of the contents, but for now suffice to say that this is an evolution of the Other Worlds Companion idea I’ve talked about before with support for a variety of different genres (including some VERY obscure ones!). More on that in 2022. 

In the meantime remember that if you’re looking for a last-minute stocking filler for your geeky friends and relatives, a PDF of an obscure indie RPG and its space opera sibling is practically guaranteed to bring happiness and joy – to me if not the recipient of the gift :-).

Best wishes,

Mark

Further Transmissions

Wow, so it really has been a long time huh?

With the lockdown eliminating all plausible remaining excuses I thought I would break radio silence and talk about where Other Worlds is and where it might be going.

The short answer is, it isn’t going anywhere. I am conscious that with no more products currently on the horizon and (to be fair) no recent updates from me, Other Worlds might appear to be dead. To my mind though, what it is is complete. The game works as written, and in my obviously biased opinion it works well. I remain immensely proud of what I (and Fred, Storn, Ruben, and Harriet) achieved and it’s still my go-to game for story-driven play.

At one point I had intended to publish a third book for Other Worlds, basically an omnibus of further genre and campaign snapshots called The Other Worlds Companion, but for various reasons this remains on hold for the moment. I do have a bunch of notes and draft materials leftover from that project, so if the interest is there let me know and it may be they could be polished up and released in some fashion. What further material would you like to see for the game? And come to that, what further materials have you made that you’d like to share with everyone?

Bye for now, and stay safe!

Mark

Discount codes sent out

Hi, I have now sent out $14.99 discount codes by email to everyone who bought the Superluminary PDF, so that you can update to a softcover or hardcover without having to re-buy the PDF. To get the discount you need to be logged in to your DTRPG account and THEN click on the link in the email. If you didn’t get an email, it’s either because it’s been filtered into your spam folder or it’s because you have told DTRPG not to email you at all. In either case just contact me and I will send the code to you directly. Please let me know if there are any problems. Thanks, Mark.

 

 

Realspace Version Released!

Superluminary is now available in carbon format as well as just electrons – head on over to DTRPG to get your copy! I have had the proofs back and both the hardback and the softcover look great. Discount vouchers for those who already have the PDF will follow over the next few days to allow you to upgrade without re-buying the PDF.

Superluminary

At long last… Superluminary is here!

Click link to buy

Superluminary is 144 pages of pure space opera awesomeness for the Other Worlds system, with art by Storn Cook and layout by Ruben Smith-Zempel. Contains over 200 character templates, random encounter tables, random trait tables, detailed worldbuilding advice, and more!

Available now in PDF for $14.99 at DriveThruRPG. Softcover and hardcover versions will follow early in the new year, at which point I’ll send a $14.99 discount voucher to everyone who has bought the PDF so you can upgrade your copy from electrons to carbon at no extra cost.

There’s also a free preview PDF of the book available here, so you can try before you buy: Link

And finally, to celebrate the release of this long-awaited book, the Other Worlds corebook PDF will be slashed down to $10 until the end of December. Buy two copies!

 

Red alert! Red alert!

Our sensors have picked up an immense energy spike from the Pericles Rift. Something is coming through. Whatever it is it’s big, it’s alien, and it’s on an attack vector coming straight for us. May the lord have mercy on our souls. Fire up the main batteries! All energy to the shields! Man the lifeboats!

 

This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.

 

S MINUS ONE DAY

Operative Training

Hi, am not dead, apologies for the radio silence! I have been thinking a lot about Other Worlds recently and when I re-watched The Bourne Identity I felt inspired to create a Treadstone-style trademark template. So here it is, an espionage/assassin type based around situational awareness rather than brute force.

 

Sanctioned Operative Training

 

General Abilities:       Identify Escape Route

Improvise Weapon

Infiltrate Compound

Lightning Reflexes

Parkour

Photographic Memory

Sense Opportunity

Target Weak Point

 

Personality Traits:     Compartmentalise Feelings

Hyper Focused

I Don’t Make Mistakes

Paranoid

 

Relationships             [to civilian helper]

[to contact]

[to handler]

[to target]

 

 

Flaw:                          No Memory of Previous Life

 

So what do you think? Has anyone tried to run an espionage/technothriller Other Worlds campaign yet?

Upgrade Your Copy!

Hey,

 

If anyone has the PDF and wants to upgrade to a hardcopy, let me know your OBS user ID and whether you want the hardcover or the softcover, and I will set you up with a $14.99 discount.

 

If anyone has a book but not a PDF, because you bought it in a shop or on ebay or whatever, let me know your details and where you bought it and I will send you the PDF free.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

STARFIGHTER is coming…

Hey so remember that vapourware space opera supplement I was working on once upon a time called Starfighter? Well, I just got the manuscript back from the editor. Kickstarter, art, and layout are next on the list. Start watching the skies!