Saga

First a friendly reminder that the anniversary sale for Heroes & Other Worlds will end tomorrow without warning, so there is no time like the present if you wanted a copy or wanted to let friends know to get it!  Raedwald is still looking good for December so having the core rules will be imperative!

Hey kids, do you like Vikings? Cool, me too. I wanted to recommend an excellent manga, Vinland Saga written and illustrated by the imminently talented by Makato Yukimura. In essence Makato-san takes some well known sagas, and combines them into a new and very interesting saga.  It has all the stuff you expect from a viking saga, with a unique manga style.  The publisher, Kodansha Comics, has created a brilliant format for the work.  The first books is HARDBACK, 460+ pages and is a nice 8 x 5.5 size letting you really enjoy and soak up Makato-san's art!  I had meant to read it in sections so as to drag it out until volume 2 in January...but it was too good!  I read it in two days and look forward to enjoying it again over the holidays! MSRP is $19.99 for the book, but some hunting on ebay can turn it up for $13. You can also get a digital version, but I am still a Luddite and prefer (recommend) the physical book. Either way, it's worth your time!

Anniversary #1...

of Heroes & Other Worlds!  I can't thank you enough: the good folks at Dark City Games, the players, the supporters, the commentators, the critics and the lurkers for giving this knucklehead's game some of your time and attention! THANK YOU!

As a thank you, for this weekend only, the core rules are on sale!  Get the PDF for $9.99 or the print book for $15! If you are new to Heroes & Other Worlds, now is your chance to give it a go! This special pricing will end by Monday so get after it!

Holy crap, it's been a busy, and productive year for Heroes & Other Worlds and I am happy to say year two looks to be another good year of releases kicking off with Lee Reynoldson's Raedwald in December!  Blades & Black Magic, which will have lots of player options and some alternative stuff, will be out in 2014 and there are two larger adventure modules coming out next year as well! Undoubtedly, another Cauldron or two will also roll out next year too!

So from me to you, thanks and, God willing, I hope we get to share many more of these!   I am cracking a beer, rolling some d6's and sharing an adventue with some friends this weekend to celebrate.

Good gaming to you!

Some Raedwald info

So let's talk a bit about how Raedwald is different from your regular game of Heroes & Other Worlds.

Levels
Yup 3 levels total for characters to advance in. Your XP still is used for improving skills but Gielp (Glory) measures your advancement in level. Gielp is gained by successfully completing missions and being rewarded by your lord.  The Glory (Gielp) you get from gifts/ rewards is the value that applies to raising your level!

Magic
Like HOW, you roll 3 dice and compare to your IQ+level, trying to roll under it.  Unlike HOW, the spells and magic work a little differently. Not all spells cost EN, and none of the spells from HOW or Magic Carta work. Only Wizards can learn spells and then only from their specific class! 

Also note, Magic does NOT level up like skills with XP, instead your Level is the bonus applied as a bonus to your casting attempts.  So level 1 adds +1, Level 2 adds +2 and level 3 adds +3. 

That's just a very high level look at what's to come!

Update

Image Source

Busy week, two days in and this week feels like I have had a month of trouble...yech.

..but I have VERY GOOD news on the Raedwald front! Lee Reynoldson has finished the initial edit of the HOW version of Raedwald and is writing again! 

Lee is adding some additional bits which are going to really make Raedwald a complete setting!  In addition he has some ideas for possible articles in future issues of the Cauldron to build on to Raedwald after it launches.  So the work continues and is coming along quite nicely, thank you for asking!  Still looking positive for a December release! 

Friendly reminder the Heroes & Other Worlds rules will be on sale for this 1 year anniversary weekend (16-18), let your kith and kin know!

Time flies

Just dawned on me the 1 year anniversary of Heroes & Other Worlds is coming up! Wow time flies, and I can't thank you enough for supporting the game!

11/18/12 is when Heroes & Other Worlds launched and over the anniversary weekend (11/16-11/18) I think I'll do some special pricing on the core rules to celebrate!

If you missed the 40% off sale Lulu had, this will be another chance to grab the core rules at a special price!

  It would be a great time to do it as you will want them to use with Heroes & Other Worlds version of Lee Reynoldson's Raedwald when it releases (hopefully in December!)

Thanks for a great year, and there is much more to come!

And now...

it's the calm before the storm! The working document of the Heroes & Other Worlds conversion of Lee Reynoldson's Raedwald is now in his inbox!  I have asked Lee to go throught it, let me know where things need tweaking, and once his edits comeback, then the final push to layout and get 'er done is on!!

Note, the Heroes & Other Worlds version of Raedwald requires the H&OW rules book to play it!

I am also considering running a contest of some kind to give away some hard copies of the completed Raedwald...not sure what the contest might be yet, but it's in the mental hopper. 

CONVERT!!

In my college days I liked that enchanting card game that people flocked around.  Lots of creativity in the monsters with a lot of original ideas and interesting creature flavor.

I am sure I am not the only Referee who thought this was a fertile wellspring for creating  new terrors to spring on my players and it wasn't unusual to keep a small stack on hand for inspiration during a session.

What's proved a challenge for me is how to read a card into a more friendly format.  Well having toyed with it bit I think I may have found a pretty reasonable conversion!  This will give you 2 base attributes (ST/DX), MV, AR and damage for monsters. Then you pick the IQ and if there are any special effects, you will have to figure that one out for yourself.  No ancient items, or spells or anything else can be converted using the spread sheet, just beasties.  Give it a spin and I hope you dig it!

no worries, not dead

http://davemahanart.blogspot.com/2011/11/nosferatu-print.html

I had a couple private emails asking me "hey what's up? No posts lately? Iis the game dead or what?"

The answer is a resounding "No!"  Heroes & Other Worlds is very much alive, and despite my real job's best efforts to bury me this year, I remain fighting fit although quite weary.

 It's been a whirlwind of activity in the real world on the job in terms of travel and time commitment, and on the family front a number of bad news illnesses and surprises this year that have taken most of my personal time outside of work.  All in all,  it's really taken its toll this year.  Even so, all's well that ends well, and health concerns on the family front are blessedly on the mend and the majority of heavy lifting this year on the job front is complete, now its time to see if all the hard work pays off as we hope.

Yada, yada, yada...everyone's got problems Jack, so what about the game? Well glad you asked.

The HOW version of Lee Reynoldson's Raedwald  is still on track to be done and out this year. This is my one true goal to finish out lucky year 2013.  Beyond that, I do have two other projects already done and in the hopper for next year.  So more releases are coming for sure, no worries and thanks for your support!

I will have to ask for your further patience though, I do have ideas and a plan for 2014--but need to focus on completing Raedwald and getting that to you first, before saying more.  Stay tuned heroes...there is most assuredly more to come!

  

Alfred the Great, me not so much

I think I mentioned it before but two of my favorite reads are Ancient Warfare magazine and Medieval warfare magazine.

I subscribed to both and get PDF issues, then loot them for all sorts of great ideas.  So tonight they emailed and I downloaded the latest Medieval Warfare magazine.  This issue is perfect for those of you who dig a gritty and more Dark Ages style game.
Check it out for yourself here.

Now for the not so great part of the post.  I have more ideas than time in my life right now to do everything I want to get done.  Between work, travel, and other obligations, I am burning myself down.  So I had to make a hard choice, but I think its the right one...Cauldron #2 will have to wait as I focus my limited availble time on finishing the conversion of Lee Reynoldson's Raedwald.

Cauldron #2 will still come out, I just can't guarantee when, and Lee's Raedwald is so great, it's the one I would want to have first as a player too.

Thanks for your support and patience!