Happy New Year...let's go exploring!

I wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year and to say thank you for your support and for playing Heroes & Other Worlds!

To say thanks, and in case you are thinking of starting your own campaign in the new year, I uploaded a new free adventure! It is a Heroes & Other Worlds edition of the OGL intro adventure The Vile Worm.

For 2014, I have another two BIG projects on the table for Heroes & Other Worlds: The Tome of Terrors (the monster book for Heroes & Other Worlds) and Blades & Black Magic, an assortment of more game options, Wilderness/Hexploration stuff and some new spells. 

In addition there are two adventure books done already so my hope is to have a quarterly releases this year. In addition I want to get Cauldron #2 out and maybe #3 out as well.  Oh the ambition is there, but I am unsure if the time will be!

One other note, my Sci-Fi game, Rogue Space, is getting a refresh and should be availble this weekend for purchase on Lulu.  It is a completely different system than H&OW, but adheres to the simple to pick up and play philosophy I strive for in all my games.

Thanks again for a great 2013 and cheers to you and yours for a very happy 2014!

Discovered in Briarmoor

I hope you have a chance to get some gaming in over the holidays! In my own home game, Briarmoor,  the players ventured into the tombs below the ruins of Shadowhall.

Sealed and partially sunken in brackish black water was moss covered tomb.  When pried open a wight burst forth wielding a shimmering black and gold spiked mace.  Mad with blood lust the wight savaged the party before finally being set afire and decapitated.

Into the brackish water the mace sank and the players argued over who should get it. Eventually the rogue won the debate and is quite excited by his new prize, but as with so many things in Briarmoor, what may seem a blessing, might actually become a curse. 

I believe LULU is still running the 40% off promo code (LULUEMP2013) so there may still be time left to get Raedwald, Magi Carta, or the core Heroes & Other Worlds rulebook at a massive discount--don't delay!

Good gaming to you!

JOURNEY TO RAEDWALD!

Well on a cold Winter's Solstice...the shortest day of the year...RAEDWALD releases!  Lee has written a fantastic grim and gritty Saxon setting!  This is not your high fantasy skipping elves and all powerful wizards...this is mud, blood, backstabbing and brutal deeds by characters with nothing to lose.  The Heroes & Other Worlds system matches up nicely with Lee's work as combat is deadly and they system supports grim fantasy well. Remember, RAEDWALD requires the HEROES & OTHER WORLDS rulebook to play!

I want to than Lee for letting me publish RAEDWALD and appreciate all the time, effort, and inspiration he poured into RAEDWALD.  I'd like to thank Doug Anderson for the fantastic RAEDWALD cartography bringing Lee's land to life!  I'd also like to thank Luigi Castellani for his art contributions...and last but certainly not least, my lovely wife for her patience and support as I worked at times when she would rather I was doing something else.

You can purchase RAEDWALD now and if you use promo code LULUEMP2013 you can get 40% off!  I used the code a few minutes ago to order hard copies for Lee and I...so I know it works, but I do not know for how long nor can I guarantee it works in every country, sorry.

Now Christmas is here and the New Year too!  I am going to spend time with family and friends, and I hope you get to as well!  THANK YOU for all your support this year and for playing Heroes & Other Worlds.  From my wife and I, all the best to you and yours this holiday season!

Armour up!

I cannot believe...I got home...opened the mail...and the print test copies of Raedwall were here ALREADY!

Damn I am excited!

The cover is very dark so that needs tweaking to give it a little more pop!

Then there are some additional issues that will get fixed...but I think this will be ready to purchase on SUNDAY!

AND...just in time as Lulu is offering a 40% off sale!!

They have a current promo code LULUEMP2013 ...BUT YOU CAN ONLY USE THE CODE ONCE!  So I will work Saturday to get it already so you can order Sunday!

Thanks for your patience and support, Lee's Saxon scum gaming goodness is about to be unleashed!

Confirmation leads to waiting

The Saxon Thegn

Lulu confirmed the print tests are done and are now in the mail...the waiting continues...

Nearly there

I had spent all day yesterday working away on layout and editing, 90% done.  Stopped for dinner, comeback, and somehow the file corrupted when the computer went to sleep.  The saved copy also corrupted.  So I spent a late night working to redo bloody everything I had already done.

I am happy to say despite some colorful language here and there last night, the work is "done" and a print test is ordered for a final review.  Now its off to work I go...good lord do I need some sleep...

Kismet? Mini Campaign

I stumbled across a series of recent posts at Aeons & Augauries regarding mini-campaigns.  This process works up and populates 60 hexes. 

This is an interesting primer and should give you an idea of what the Pack Full of Peril project could generate and turn into.

Keep your ideas, concerns and suggestions coming!

A Pack Full of Peril

A few years ago I did a series of mini adventures using great geomporphs published on the web by A.J. at Stonewerks blog and Dyson Logos.

The idea was they were mini adventures with simple set-up for each room and it could all be put on an index card...creating a Pocket full of Peril!

This is the way I still do a lot of my adventures...but rather then just stumbling on a hole in the ground, these sorts of adventures need a place to be and stuff that happens before you get there.  Thus Hexploration or sandbox environments are a perfect way to create a setting for your adventure! May times, the journey can actually become the adventure!

I love the hexcrawl concept and game play style, but my time is limited and populating 300+ hexes feels more like a chore than a joy.  Populating a handful of hexes though with a neat idea or concept though when the idea strikes is a a lot of fun! 

So with your help, here is my concept for a crowd sourced Pack Full of Peril!

I'll put together an overview setting theme/idea for the setting.

 Then each participant uses a 7 hex template and an open source hex map iconography to "draw their map".

Next you populate 7 hexes, and there should be only one major encounter (adventure locale, city, village, town, ruin, or unique hook) in your 7 hexes. Every hex should have a description of terrain and any points of interest, challenges, or other strangeness that might be encountered. 

Then any referee could cobble the 7 hex treasures into their own larger, unique and very detailed sandbox setting map! This would be a creative commons effort and made availble freely after completion.

This is just a basic idea outline, and I will need to work on better detail of the project and better directions, but this would be a unique resource for your Heroes & Other Worlds game!

Interested?

Choose your own adventurer...

http://www.deviantart.com/art/my-adventure-party-75071665

I have some extra time off coming up this weekend so I am on track to finish Raedwald layout/editing and then a print test!

So a recent post on Jeffro's blog regarding H&OW lamented that his son found it difficult to make a new character because of all the choices (skills/spells).  Part of what is going into Blades & Black magic are Archetypes for each class (adventurer/wizard).  There are going to be quite a few but the idea is to give Players a hook for their character, and for the referee to use the same info to build NPC's if they'd like to.  Below is a rough idea of how it works:

For Adventurers
Archetype  (this is something like Ranger, Town Cryer, Mason, Sailor, etc.)

Skills-this will list 6 skills common to this archetype, (a player can pick or randomly roll 1d6)

Starting Equipment-this will list the starting/common gear for this archetype.

For Wizards
Archetype (Summoner, Pyromancer, Witch Hunter, etc.)

Skills (list of 6 player should choose 1 or roll for 1)

Spells (list of 6 player should roll or choose)

The one issue for wizards is they should probably all come from the core rules spells list, but obviously ownership of the Magi Carta vastly expands the potential/specialization.

In addition I am consider an optional "background" chart. This can be used to determine if your character comes from a village, town, or city and only certain archetypes come from each location.

Anyway, its a work in progress, I just wanted you to know the work is ongoing and there is more stuff to come!

Did you know?

Hey right now through DEC 15, Lulu is running a 30% off sale! Use promo code: DECKTHESHELF

Now your next question might be, will Radewald be available before the sale ends?? Sadly no.

I had zero time this past weekend, and am hoping to find some this weekend. Between Christmas shopping, lovely wife's birthday, holiday parties and such its a serious time crunch struggle.

That being said I am doing my best to find time, and in a case or two make time to get this done.  I have no doubt other sales will crop up on lulu before the year is out and I am striving to get Lee's awesome outlaw Saxon scum setting into your gaming paws as quickly as I can!

Closer now...

Lee finished his last pass edits and review of the text! I will go through it again for any more edits as well as adding Rune fonts into the rune magic section and then layout and a print test.

This is a busy weekend so my hope is by getting up crazy early this weekend I can devote a few hours a day to get this done prior to all of my other obligations taking over.

Why? (off the trail)

While I have endeavored to keep this blog game specific, it's a blog so sorry, I am going to do a bit of personal yapping here, you were warned...and feel free to ignore! :)

Over the holiday I got asked by a family member why I do this "game stuff"? I trotted out some answer that seemed okay, but the question stuck with me and I have wrestled with it since.

1) It's not the money.
My real job pays me well, demands a lot, and is one of the best jobs a cat could ask for. Sure like any job there are ups and downs, but if you work hard good things happen. So spending a LOT of my own free time and funds doing game stuff is not a get rich quick scheme.

2) It's not a "look at me" endeavor.
I am not doing this to become noted or recognized.  My wife loves me, as does my family and I have some good friends too. What a blessing that is and how could I ask for more?

Yet, because of the games I get to enjoy (and very much appreciate) the folks who stop by to comment, commiserate and critique the game!  I'd love if more people did, but only in that we few, we happy few, can all get excited and build upon each others ideas around the game!  I love seeing other ideas, creative new bits and twists generated by people playing the games and talking about the games...but it does not really have anything to do with me in those conversations except as another eager participant just like anyone else.

3)It's not an "I'm right, they are wrong"effort.
A gazillion people dig a ton of different systems and my scribbling efforts scattered into the gaming maelstrom aren't going to change a single mind about the game system they want to enjoy. Cool, because that's not why I am doing it.  I am not making games because I think I hold the grail of gaming gnosis and am trying to convert all comers! 

So if its not money, not fame, and not a sense of converting others to my game system(s) then why?

Joy

Is it really that simple? Hell yes it is, but we are going to did that a bit deeper.

1) I do it for the joy of creation!
Anyone who plays these games knows about the joy of creation. From the joy of creating a character, creating a creature, a magic weapon, a spell, an adventure or an entire world!  Man this whole damn hobby is about creation! Take a pencil, paper, maybe some dice and you can start making something that will be an interactive shared mind blowing mental trip!

2) I do it for the joy action!
Social media (yup blogging is in there too) is kind of a misnomer.  It is "social", but not in the same way as face to face, in the same room smelling Bob's stinky feet, interaction. These games are a good reason to get together for a few hours with family or friends, or hell even strangers who will become friends maybe, and share some adventuring joy.  Every gamer has stories of this character's heroic action, or that character's death, or this adventure where a plan went wrong, or mysterious plot that unfolded or best a friend who got a d6 stuck in his nose at the table.  This style of game provides a joy that no other entertainment I have experienced truly does. Sure we can all talk about the movie or TV show we watched, book we read or sport event we attended, but we were all just passive consumers together.  Adventure games are different. From the Referee's activity in creating an adventure or acting as the arch villain, to the Player's character creation, to the adventure experience shared by all at the table, all of it is a shared, chaotic, interactive and everyone is an active participant.

3) I do it for the joy of sharing.
Let's just roll it out there, if not for doing these games, I'd never get the chance to interact with you!  Some other peeps who share some of the same interests, the joy of playing these games, exchanging ideas, and making other worlds to explore together.  I have met great people who have inspired me with their thoughts, creativity, critiques and creations. I don't find this sort of imaginative inspiration or interest anywhere else in my day to day life except here with you.


So there you have it.  Joy is why I do what I do. Thank you very for spending your valuable time (and even your hard earned money) to inspire me and I hope sometimes you too get inspired, get together with others, get gaming, and maybe even get a little joy in your life from time to time by playing.

Nearly there

We are getting closer now as the 3rd edit of Raedwald just went back to Lee for editing and review.

If all goes well with Lee's edit, and then a 5th one by me after that, I hope to do layout this weekend and maybe even get a print test ordered!

Stay tuned and thanks for your patience and support!