"Merlin? He Was A Punk." -- Help Support MAJUS, Pacesetter's New Magic-Noir RPG!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Mutant Future chicanery for a little bit of Goblinoid Games/Pacesetter cross-promotion:

As regular readers of this blog are no doubt aware, I'm a huge, long-time fan of the Pacesetter Action Table system. I ran many games of  Timemaster and Chill at length back in the day. I own many if not most of the original materials for both games. I currently run games of both at conventions and on forums. So it is with no small degree of interest that I'm watching the Kickstarter for the new Pacestter RPG "MAJUS" written by Mike Curtis and being produced by Dan Proctor. With only two weeks left and another $1,400 to go for funding, I thought I'd use this time to talk up the system, the setting, and the game itself.

First up, the setting: MAJUS is described as a "magic noir" game where powerful modern-age sorcerers wield arcane magicks for their own purposes. Since the dawn of time, various factions have been vying for power in a battle known as the Mehen, and each has its own goals and drives: immortality, ultimate knowledge, power over reality, domination over mankind. It is into this global conflict that the players are thrust. Those who have played WW's Mage, read the exploits of Harry Dresden, or can imagine magic playing a role in a classic film noir have a good idea of the "feel" of MAJUS. Mike Curtis has several good explanatory posts of the setting and system over at his blog here, here, and here.

Secondly, the system: MAJUS is a Pacesetter Action Table system, meaning that everything is based off of and run using a single table. The system itself is incredibly simple to use and quite intuitive once you get the hang of it. For basic checks, using d%, roll under your skill, ability, or target number to succeed. For specific checks, using d%, roll under your skill, ability, or target modifier,  then take the difference between the two to determine HOW WELL you succeeded. The larger the difference, the better you did. take that difference,  cross-reference on the Action Table with the defense number to determine your success level. That's all there is to it, and all checks (skills, abilities, combat, saves, etc.) are determined the exact same way.

Since MAJUS is a Pacesetter game, it is completely cross-compatible with all other Pacesetter games as they all use the same table-based system. So...

• CHILL - Imagine a team of well-trained sorcerers up against the Unknown, or picture the SAVE Envoys tying to defeat a powerful wizard with necromatic magicks!
• TIMEMASTER - Time Corps cadets could be sent to a parallel Earth where magic is commonplace and everyone can cast spells. What if the Damoreans learned to harness magic-casting abilities? Or maybe "Merlin" encountered in medieval Europe really *IS* a wizard!
• STAR ACE - There could be a planet where the dominant race can tap into the forces of nature itself, or perhaps the Empire and Alliance are each working on expanding their own abilities to alter the forces of physics using their minds. (The Force, anyone?)
• ROTWORLD - In this newest Pacesetter game, what if the zombie uprising was caused by a powerful necromancer? What if zombies were only affected by otherworldly magics, so only a powerful team of wizards have any chance of stopping them?

As you can see, MAJUS is not just a fascinating setting all  its own, it can be blended with any number of other Pacesetter games to create a setting all your own.

I think I've blathered on enough about MAJUS. As far as the Kickstarter is concerned, get this: THE GAME IS ALREADY WRITTEN. Yup, unlike other Kickstarters I could name, MAJUS is finished and the funds raised will be going for the art and publication of the game. In fact, any backer who pledges $7 or more gets a link to the working draft RPG document so they can review it and begin playing immediately! I find this "pledge-and-play" offer to be an insanely great idea as everyone can be assured that they won't be left wondering about the status of the game. It's done now, folks. And by pledging any amount, you get to download the game right now. Awesome-sauce.

As mentioned, MAJUS is at two weeks left in the fundraising, and there is about $1,400 left to go. If you want to play a trenchcoat-wearing wizard trying to fit into The Big Picture, or if you'd like to introduce The Art into one of your other preferred Pacesetter games, I suggest you hop on over to the MAJUS Kickstarter and make a pledge.