Rip and Tear RPGing - Stay Frosty and Slipgate Chokepoint Review

Slipgate Chokepoint, written by Andrew Walter and Paul Cronin, is...

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"The artwork is just blowing my mind every time I flip through it- it’s crude, rangy, and lurid. None of that slick corporate RPG illustration junk here, it all looks enthusiastically grim and seedy as it should. It reminds me quite a lot of vintage Warhammer illustrations circa 1986, which is indeed high praise. With that said, this is all executed with a more punk rock, DIY style – apart from those computer graphic maps, which are just an awesome touch. "

This is what drew me into this one initially but reading it has confirmed that it's gonna be a good time above and beyond that. The group I intend to run this with are probably a little too young to remember the heady days of 486 powered Doom and Build engine action but i'm sure they'll be rocket jumping into oblivion before too long at the table.

I picked them up on both of your recommendations. The group I've been playing with are all older (although one guys teenage son has been joining us occasionally) so I think everyone will get it. Really looking forward to playing.

I found Stay Frosty in paperback form on lulu ( www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/casey-garske/sta...roduct-16y56dne.html ) but how do I get a physical copy of Slipgate Chokepoint?

They used Melsonian Arts Council for the Kickstarter fulfillment but I don't know if they have other plans.

Brewmiester wrote: They used Melsonian Arts Council for the Kickstarter fulfillment but I don't know if they have other plans.

If it hits retail it'll be for sale from ExaltedFuneral.com in the USA.

Stay Frosty is only POD or PDF and you can get it at Itch.Io or DTRPG. It’s production values are super crude, but charming.

Slipgate Chokepoint just fulfilled from KS- I was like Becker #2 or something on it I think. Iy is from Melsonian, and yes, Exalted Funeral will stock it if they print more or make more available. Beware though- hot stuff goes out of stock at EF quickly and it can take a while for them to re-up.

Hi Michael,

Andrew, 1/2 writer and 1/2 illustrator of Slipgate Chokepoint here.

Thanks for the awesome review. Our first published RPG book and first KS, very encouraging to read this from someone who gets it, nice one!

A couple of clarifications for readers:

- Author of Stay Frosty is called Casey Garske, not Chris!

- Physical books of SGCP were 200 copies to cover the KS plus a few "extra" copies in case of emergencies. Once we're comfortable all backer orders have been fulfilled, there might be a very small handful of these extra SGCP physical copies going to Melsonia and Exalted Funeral, but no guarantees.

- No immediate plans for another printing right now but who knows. It will always be up for sale in PDF form on DrivethruRPG and if the demand is there maybe we'll look into PoD.

Thanks!

Out of curiosity, how does POD work? Can I just order a hardback from a publisher and send them a PDF or does it require a fair amount of tweaking so a print run is the only way? I know Artscow can basically replicate any kind of professional cards (maybe not very economically, but it can be done), is the same thing possible for books at this point?

This RPG sounds really cool. I've always been curious why there isn't a sci-fi RPG with anywhere near the popularity of DnD. Does WH40K suck up all the demand? Is there something about high tech and aliens that just doesn't lend itself to the theater of the mind? Are they too generic or too bound to a specific IP?

AndrewSFTSN wrote: - No immediate plans for another printing right now but who knows. It will always be up for sale in PDF form on DrivethruRPG and if the demand is there maybe we'll look into PoD.

Thanks!

Your game looks really cool! I played the hell out of Quake 1. I'm definitely up for obtaining a physical copy so please update us if they become available. Thanks!

jason10mm wrote: Out of curiosity, how does POD work? Can I just order a hardback from a publisher and send them a PDF or does it require a fair amount of tweaking so a print run is the only way? I know Artscow can basically replicate any kind of professional cards (maybe not very economically, but it can be done), is the same thing possible for books at this point?

POD is when the company, usually drivethrurpg or lulu, already has the files for printing the book that were provided by the owner. You just order it from their site and they print and ship. They're solidly made hardcovers or softcovers but the paper quality is typically the same paper you use in your home printer unless some premium option was chosen.

POD has come a long way in the last decade. It used to be one step above a bound newspaper; now it's often very high quality and almost indistinguishable from lower-quality traditional print runs.

It's often possible, although shady, to get a free printed book by uploading a properly-formatted PDF to lulu and ordering a sample copy for "inspection."

So i nabbed "Stay Frosty" off DRPG for a whole $5. Neat little system, though having LOW attributes be better is a cognitive dissonance I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

It does make me want to make a similar "shoot 'em up RPG" type game that has EVERYTHING baked into the dice rolls, so it can be played absolutely shit faced drunk and with almost no DM at all, just throw space marines into a room with monsters and GO GO GO.

Something with increasing dice (low intel is a d4, smart characters have a d12, damn what system used that???) but you roll everything, the hit dice plus damage dice plus ammo dice (I really like their implementation of that mechanic) all at once. Maybe even have a pool of dice to roll, and you lose them as you die so the character sheet is virtually irrelevant once you get your dice pool. Hmmmmm.

Anyway, SF looks to be pretty fun, might see if I can teach it to my kid. Now I gotta score some sci-fi space marine minis....

I ordered the Stay Frosty print version from lulu. I'm hoping to get something going with it online.

jason10mm wrote: It does make me want to make a similar "shoot 'em up RPG" type game that has EVERYTHING baked into the dice rolls, so it can be played absolutely shit faced drunk and with almost no DM at all, just throw space marines into a room with monsters and GO GO GO.

I am the target audience, would play while shit faced drunk.