Mongoose’s first new IP is Alison Cybe’s Viking-cyberpunk Shield Maidens.
In the tabletop RPG, characters are warriors standing with their sisters against powerful enemies. The rules emphasise collaboration and teamwork, which are necessary when Ragnarok rages, and the gods will not help.
Announced in November 2021, the game offered a setting where humanity has been abandoned. Mongoose described the setting;
Elves and humans clash over Ymir’s blood, ripping Midgard to the core to uncover ever greater resources. Dwarves have ascended, no longer troubled by the concerns of mortality, and even the dragons and Jötunn stand aside, caring little for the troubles faced by those in Midgard as humanity wilts under the oppression of a fascistic government. The time of the Shield Maidens has come, but even the strife in Midgard is miniscule compared to their greater task, renewing the cycle of time and ushering a new spring in the aftermath of Ragnarök.
The tabletop publisher has been sharing information about the setting during development.
Shield Maidens takes ancient Norse mythology and weaves it into sci-fi cyberpunk technology. That means Viking warriors with plasma rifles with wolfen iconography are a common sight among the Fenrir Drengr while star-spanning empires search for Ymir’s blood, a substance used to fuel the engines of ships, Guardian Shields and the manufactured sun of Midgard; Dwarves mould and warp their realm from above, their material bodies no longer of use; and the Jötunn battle tirelessly against the forces of The Pure.
Shield Maidens is a 2D6 system, with the D8 Shield Dice used when summoning the unwieldy power you wield as Freya’s daughter. Shield Maidens have no class structure, and you are restricted not by the talents you choose but by who you truly are – the power of your Guardian Shield scales against your finest attributes, whether they are Observation, Understanding, Might, Speed, Resilience, or Expression.
The newly released range has an original soundtrack, and the initial star ratings on Mongoose’s e-commerce store are in the 5/5 range.
Shield Maidens range
- The core rules come in the Shield Maidens Training Guide, available in physical form from Mongoose and a 192-page PDF from DriveThruRPG.
- There’s the Shield Maidens Gamemasters Guide also from MongoosePublishing.com and DriveThruRPG.
- Even the soundtrack has a CD option available from Mongoose with a digital-only DTRPG.
- Exclusively from Mongoose’s site, there’s the Shield Maidens dice set and the Gamemasters Screen.
Mongoose has previously released the GM screen art.
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