In August 2022 we presented the Warbirds Quick Deal featuring Warbirds, the Outrider Studios dieselpunk air-combat RPG of fighter pilots chasing fame. In bygone days pilots were lauded as heroes of the sky. They braved new frontiers, fought wars on unproven battlefields, and returned home as legends. Warbirds recaptures the adventure, the romance, and the celebrity of that era. As an elite group of fighter pilots, your party will fly and fight for the freedoms of Azure – the only world you have left – while enjoying, or enduring, the fame, fortune and adulation of its citizens. Warbirds is a game about sacrifice and stardom. Why do you fly?
Warbirds is set in an alternate history – a really alternate history – where, get this, in 1805 a bunch of Caribbean islands get mysteriously transported to the dimension of Azure where they float on a sea of clouds called the Murk and a permanent hurricane called the Eye makes radio and radar tricky and there’s pirates and zeppelins and bird-monsters. Now it’s 2039, and the elite pilots in the Esteemed Guild of Combat Aviators fly stubby but maneuverable Warbirds, specialized fighter planes powered by ethanol refined from sugarcane. The leading air power, Jamaica, and the sovereign floating islands of Florida, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Reformed Catholic Church in Cuba, the Mayans of Yucatan, and others all need pilots to fly courier missions, battle criminal masterminds and mad scientists, and explore thousands of distant “errant islands.” The tone emphasizes cinematic pulp action and Porco Rosso-style personal rivalries.
Warbirds really shines in its dogfighting rules. Despite the name, its “Rapidfire system” isn’t notably quick in play – sometimes pilots have to track lots of modifiers – but it’s simple, dramatic, suspenseful, and strong on flavor. You need more than flight skill and a good plane; your all-important Situational Awareness helps you attack, defend, and execute stunts like Stall Turn, High (or Low) Yo-Yo, Thatch Weave, and The Scissors. There are rules, and sometimes harsh risks, for strafing (” the art of getting close to large, dangerous things without dying”), stalling, and ambushes. Though optimized for one-on-one duels, the system can handle battles with multiple planes. Your long-term goal is ten kills and the coveted Ace status.
In contrast to the air-to-air game, ground combat can be brutal – more Noir than Pulp – and you’re better off avoiding a fight. On land, work on your Fame rating, which enhances your social skills and helps you upgrade your plane. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Warbirds is its tight focus on commercial sponsorships, endorsement deals, contractual obligations, Fame Points, and the mixed blessing of celebrity. As the Azure equivalent of film stars, popular pilots are hounded by paparazzi, creepy stalkers, and envious rivals. And Guild help you if you embarrass your sponsor with a Scandal, for your Fame rating turns negative overnight.
Forum discussions of Warbirds sometimes call the default setting “the Crimson Skies RPG I always wanted.” Outrider Studios later followed with sourcebooks that adapt the Rapidfire dogfight rules to real-world historical eras, as well as a couple of Azure expansions that push the timeline forward for space-opera starfighter battles.
This Warbirds Quick Deal presented the entire RPG line: the complete Warbirds core rulebook (plus the Mission Cards); three campaign sourcebooks that adapt the dogfighting rules to other eras – World War II, Jet Age, and Space Age; and the mad-science sourcebook You Must Be Mad!
(Note: The Warbirds core rulebook, Space Age Sourcebook, and You Must Be Mad previously appeared in our May 2016 Pulp Adventure Bundle. The three titles new to this offer had a total retail value of $9.)
