Era d10 – A d10 Dice Pool System!

You can ready up on the core mechanics in full through the free Era d10 Fundamentals booklet.

Can I play every Era game with just The Era d10 Fundamentals Booklet?

Era d10 Fundamentals was a crowdfunded project which aimed to give people an easy introduction to the Rule Set. As a result, it was able to include examples, including various Skills for different genres, a basic character creation set, Equipment as it might appear, etc.

However, each Era game has its own unique rules that shape the gameplay to fit the world.

As a result, things like character creation are not standardised – you have a different number of points, and different equipment across games. Some titles, like Era: Lost Legend, even have an entirely different approach to character building.

As a result, if you want to make a character for a specific game, you will need to have the Rulebook Primer or Player’s Guide for that game at minimum, most of which around $5 in Digital format on the Era Games store).

A guide to Era D10 Rulebook Products

Here at Era Games, we produce multiple options for rulebooks depending on our vision for the product, demand from our audience, and general convenience. We want to be as clear as possible about what you’ll be getting when you buy one of our games, so we’ll break down the terminology of our offerings for this exciting d10 system below.

What is an Era D10 Core Rulebook?

A Core Rulebook is a full length, highly detailed rulebook, describing detailed lore for an Era universe, full rules and character creation for this flavour of the system, and GM advice & resources. At 230-300 pages, these made for are our “large” games, where a huge array of stories spanning multiple stages of the setting take place. This central offering began with the Era: The Consortium Core Rulebook, and expanded into a number of other major properties.

What is an Era D10 Definitive Edition Rulebook?

A Definitive Edition is an expanded version of a Core Rulebook. They contain everything found in the standard edition, but with extra content, lore, abilities, equipment, character creation options, and often some expansion content included. 

Unlike many RPG books within the hobby, this is not a second edition, but rather, the ultimate way to experience the original game rules. A recent offering in this category was the Era: The Empowered Definitive Edition Rulebook, which was created to celebrate five years since the game’s publication.

What is an Era D10 Era Pocket Edition Rulebook?

Era Pocket Editions are full, complete rulebooks for a ‘small’ game. These rulebooks are shorter than a core rulebook, and are completely stand-alone, without any expansions. These games are designed to be ‘pick up and play’, ready on-the-go, and designed to be easily understood in terms of both setting and gameplay. 

While some Era Pocket games also have an expanded Core Rulebook edition, most do not, and no additional rules are ever required to enjoy them in their Pocket form. Pocket Editions usually have a more specific focus in terms of theme and setting, such as our monster mayhem themed Pocket Edition: Era Kaiju.

What is an Era D10 Player’s Guide?

This is what we’re most excited to talk about, as this name could mean a lot of different things to different people. For Era Games, a Player’s Guide is an abridged version of a Core Rulebook. It contains the complete rules for the game, character creation, and equipment section, as well as a one-page overview of the game’s setting. It also doesn’t contain a GM section (as it’s designed for players!). 

These products are built for players who don’t intend on GMing a game of their own, but want a quick, well-presented option to refer to the rules of the game during play, without having to pass a single copy of the core rulebook around the table constantly. Serving as a fantastic reference resource, the Player’s Guide is an ideal option for someone whose friends are already playing Era, and makes a great gift for your tablemates if you’re a GM.

Generally, a game with a Core Rulebook will also have an associated Player’s Guide. Why not check out a guide for your favourite Era Game, such as the Era: Lost Legend Player’s Guide?

What is an Era D10 Rulebook Primer?

A Rulebook Primer  is a preliminary version of a game. This is distinct from a Pocket Edition, which is a stand alone, finished product. A Rulebook Primer, while fully playable, is usually an early, shorter version of a core rulebook that’s still in the works, and helps to introduce players to the world and gameplay mechanics of the title. 

It contains all the rules intended for the game and most of the expected character creation options, equipment and so on. It may be slightly shorter on GM advice than a Core Rulebook, but contains all of the rules you’ll need to play.

In some cases, such as with the Era: Survival Rules Primer, this serves in place of a Player’s Guide, though this usually isn’t the case.

What is an Era D10 Prototype?

This is one for the hardcores and homebrewers! It’s a true work in progress, and they are usually distributed through our magazine The Era Zone. This is more of an ‘Early Beta’ type experience, and requires the Era Fundamentals booklet to play. While perhaps not the most simple of games to get right into, this is where the truly new ideas are trialled, making it perfect for mechanics enthusiasts  or someone seeking a brand new, early access experience.

A Roleplaying Game is a tabletop game that gives players the opportunity to take on the roles of characters. They are available in a vast variety of possible genres. The Shades of Vengeance Roleplaying Games that are already available focus on genres including sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, horror, movies, and more, with endless possibilities for the future. Roleplaying Games can be based on anything, from your favourite novels, computer games, films, or period in history – to games with a wholly story and world.

Roleplaying Games are usually run with 1 Game Master and 2 to 6 Players, but it’s possible to have a game session with just one Player, or to have more than 6 Players join the game. These often use a selection of different sided dice, but sometimes you’ll have a system that only uses one, such as a d20 or d10 system.

The Game Master usually also has a storyline in mind. This can be totally made up and improvised, written down in a pre-planned adventure, or assembled from interlinking scenarios called campaigns. Published scenarios can often be useful for GMs of all experience levels, as they include background information, maps, statistics for characters the players might encounter, etc.

The Game Master also acts as the Player characters’ senses. They tell the Players what their characters see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. They describes the scene like a writer would in a novel, and voices all of the characters, monsters and other things the Player Characters meet during the session. Most Game Masters act their Characters out, perhaps by talking in a different way, exhibiting certain quirks or mannerisms, etc.

The Players react by saying what their Characters will do. They also act for their Characters, which might have a very different personality than their own. When a Player’s Character or a Non-Player Character (controlled by the Game Master) attempts an action that might possibly fail and that is important to the game or the storyline, usually dice are rolled, although some games might use cards or other ways to determine outcomes. Some RPGs just use six-sided dice, others use four-, eight-, ten-, twelve- or even twenty-sided dice. These polyhedral dice can be easily purchased from many online retailers, or a local hobby store.

The Game Master interprets the results of the rolls, and tells the Players what happens. This ntroduces an element of suspense and randomness, while still promoting clever thinking, tactics, and using the abilities noted down on the character sheets.

Even when you’re not interested in actually playing, chances are you’ll love to read the books, get captivated by the storytelling or come up with your own worlds or ideas. It promotes creativity and helps to develop your imagination, while many roleplaying games sharpen your interactive and reading skills or knowledge of history, science, politics, and many other areas…

Our games are intended to be easy for beginners to learn, so be sure to check out our games in the store!