In March 2022 we presented the Equinox Bundle featuring Equinox, a fantasy setting from Vagrant Workshop of magic and mysticism in a war-ravaged dark future.
Equinox is about action, intrigue, and mystical powers in the far future. Equinox conjures a Sol System thousands of years from now, long after humanity “managed to tame the Mayan-predicted mystic cycles that brought magic to their homeworld and colonies.” In the Great Netherwar, demons from beyond the Veil attacked and destroyed Earth. Now, a century later, humanity has constructed the great Gateway Station, a giant ring structure that tames the shattered remains of Earth. The Earth Belt is a portal to astral space and the far-flung worlds of the Consortium.
Beyond the Belt, Sol is a lawless place, a hive of misfits, lowlifes, refugees, pirates, and mystics. You are one of these restless outcast “Vagrants” who seek freedom in the void. Hiding in magically maintained bases on asteroids and space stations, scraping by on the fringes of society, you rebel against the corrupt and oppressive Consortium. Ride hybrid ships through astral space — wield awesome mystic powers, nethertech relics, and cutting-edge technology — fight the nightmare monsters that invaded the universe — oppose the fascist Consortium — and explore space beyond the Veil.
Equinox debuted as a system-free 216-page setting guide (2012) that works with any universal rules set of your choice. Vagrant Workshop followed with not one but two separate rulebooks for the setting — both included in this offer. The full-featured 282-page Equinox Match System Guide (2014) supports detailed games of larger-than-life characters with high-tech equipment and extremely powerful mystical abilities. Your character’s six Attribute ratings determine the number of six-sided dice you roll in Tests; the roll is Attribute + Skill versus an opponent or a fixed target number. Matches (three or more dice showing the same result) and Mishaps (three or more dice showing a 1) influence outcomes; skills increase Match effects. You can take a Risk to increase all Match and Mishaps sizes by one, or use Caution to decrease sizes. Face-Offs let you condense longer encounters into a single roll by making bets and calls as in poker.
The rules-light Storygame Guide (2015) gives Equinox players a simple story-oriented rules set — a lightweight alternative to the Match System. Based on FU: The Free, Universal RPG, a stupefyingly simple game engine by Nathan Russell, the Storygame Guide lets you create, with minimal prep, exciting stories about powerful mystics in a war-ravaged dark future. The system is suitable for conventions, short campaigns, and quick pick-up games.
This all-new offer presented the Equinox Setting, Match System, and Storygame Guides plus all their sourcebooks and adventures — everything you need for high-tech spacefaring fantasy at an unbeatable bargain price. There were three titles in our Core Collection (retail value $50), including the complete system-independent Equinox Setting Guide (plus the free Quickstart Set), the full-scale Match System Guide rulebook, and the rules-light Storygame Guide.
Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Bonus Collection with six more titles worth an additional $60, including the Elite Paths rules expansion, the Gateway and the Protectorate and Pirate’s Guide location sourcebooks, and the adventures Fellos Shard and Patient Zero, as well as the aptly named Bits & Pieces supplement.
Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to this Equinox offer’s pandemic-related charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and to regional response agencies across the world.
