Did you ever think about the economic horror an outbreak of a dangerous disease would bring if it resulted in lockdowns and quarantine zones?
I mean, did you think of that before last year?
Hebanon Games did and the resulting tabletop RPG Red Markets has gone on to become a Platinum best-seller at DriveThruRPG.
The 496-page PDF costs $20 and, after nearly 100 ratings, carries the impressive 4.5/5 star review tally. The RPG was a “Best Game” ENnie Award nominee back in 2018.
Red Markets is a tabletop RPG about economic horror.
In Red Markets, characters risk their lives trading between the massive quarantine zones containing a zombie outbreak and the remains of civilization. They are Takers: mercenary entrepreneurs unwilling to accept their abandonment. Bound together into competing crews, each seeks to profit from mankind’s near-extinction before it claims them. They must hustle, scheme, and scam as hard as they fight if they hope to survive the competing factions and undead hordes the GM throws at them.
Takers that are quick, clever, or brutal enough might live to see retirement in a safe zone, but many discover too late that the cycle of poverty proves harder to escape than the hordes of undead. Red Markets uses the traditional zombie genre to tell a story about surviving on the wrong end of the economy. It’s cut-throat capitalism with its knife on your neck.
If you prefer to shop around, or even investigate an RPG before splashing more than a few bucks, then there’s good news.
Hebanon Games has an Itch.io store, and the Red Markets: Quickstart Guide is available there as a Name Your Own Price.
At Itch, the suggested price is one dollar.
It’s actually possible to download the quickstart from DriveThruRPG too, also to pay what you want there, but the suggested price is two dollars. The difference is likely due to the cuts the marketplaces take. DriveThruRPG helps you sell more but takes more.
It’s not yet possible to get a paper copy of Red Markets core rules, but interestingly you can get the Quickstart as a Print and PDF bundle. Only from DTRPG, of course, as Itch hasn’t got a print-on-demand solution.
Quick Links
- Red Markets Quickstart on Itch.io and DriveThruRPG.
- Red Markets full cores on DriveThruRPG.
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