Through Wednesday, April 9 we present the all-new Shield Maidens Bundle featuring Shield Maidens, the science-fantasy RPG of cosmic action in a high-tech Viking age from Mongoose Publishing. Though Ragnarök rages, and the Fenrir Empire bleeds life from the Nine Realms to fuel its growth, the Shield Maidens stand strong. Empowered by a ferocious spirit to stand against oppression, Shield Maidens fuse magic and technology to wield phenomenally powerful Guardian Shields, neon emblems of undying honor. Be wary, for the enemies of Midgard are many, and the gods will not help you. Only the mightiest women live forever in the tales and songs of the Shield Maidens.
Like When the Wolf Comes, a similar space-Viking game we presented in last November’s Vikingverse Bundle, Shield Maidens adapts Norse mythology to a space-opera future. The Shield Maidens background feels more post-cyberpunk: Midgard, the home of the Fenrir Empire and of all humans, is a megalopolis of 32 zones. Shrouded in an endless five-century winter, Midgard is lighted by a blue artificial sun and caged in a hard-light dome that protects against the mutated beasts of the wasteland. The Empire’s technomagical Godblind plague afflicts men, preventing them from sensing the divine. Only women can travel reliably among the Nine Realms via the Bifrost energy network.
The calamitous weather comes of the slow death of Yggdrasil, the connection among the Nine Realms. The gods of Asgard and of Vanaheimr wage a ruinous cold war, ushering in the twilight of their days. A new age awaits, once the wheel of eternity turns. But the peoples of the Realms provide little help: The Svajrvor (Elves) believe all the realms are theirs by divine right; the Jötunn would make powerful allies, but are absorbed with their own pointless distractions; dwarves have evolved into something utterly alien. In desperation the goddess Freya has tasked the Shield Maidens with the sacred duty to restore the broken cycle of fate and usher forth the new season. To this end she gifts them with Galdr (Guardian Shields), mystical devices of unfathomable potential reminiscent of a Green Lantern’s Power Ring. (Maybe a better analogy is Mjolnir.)
Designed by Alison Cybe (the Modiphius Fallout RPG and many credits for Starfinder, Scion, Star Trek Adventures, Blue Rose, and more), Shield Maidens is a game of dedicated warriors standing shoulder to shoulder against an Empire that crushes humanity. Quick, easy-to-learn rules emphasize collaboration and teamwork. Your Shield Maiden is characterized by Branch skills and sub-skills. In a success test, you roll 2D6 and add the appropriate Branch skill and sub-skill. If this passes the set Difficulty of the test (Mundane actions require 7+, Challenging actions 11+) then the test succeeds. Your unique, partly divine Guardian Shield confers abilities even Shield Maidens can barely harness. If you use your Shield in a test, you substitute a D8 Shield Die for one of the D6s in a success test. But if you roll an 8 on the Shield Die, your Shield flares with a blazing light that can be seen for miles, a reminder of the power of the gods.
This all-new Shield Maidens Bundle gives you almost the entire Mongoose line – everything you need to harness divine power in stories of heroic action and courageous sacrifice. Pay just US$19.95 to get all four titles in our Shield Maiden Collection (retail value $117) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete Shield Maidens Training Guide and Shield Maidens Gamemaster’s Guide, the Dataforge bestiary, and the scenario collection Tales of Yggdrasil.
The fate of nine worlds hangs in the balance! Get your own Guardian Shield in this Shield Maidens offer before it falls in toxic Muspelheim and descends to Hel Wednesday, April 9.
