Category Archives: Beyond Dread Portals

In my intray the Empire of Ys!

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Its official Dr Mitch (aka Paul Mitchener)   is an RPG Writing Machine.

In between top sekret work of for other publishers (and another seminal piece for D101 that I’m keeping the lid on for the moment) he’s submitted, the Empire of Ys

This is his tribute to D&D, which is inspired by a love of Planescape and a style of play that revolves around exploration for the Empire of the title and the machinations of the movers and shakers of the setting rather than simple dungeon crawling.  Its a self contained game of 12 chapters, 201 pages,including a starter adventure (but bear in mind you start at 3rd Level). Overall its got enough character of its own for me (and you) to give it time amongst all the D&D love letters out there.

Date of release, certainly not until the behemoth that is Crypts & Things is out, so cautiously early next year.

There will be a playtest, I will do a call in a couple of months once I’ve done my editorial pass 😉

Empires of Ys

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Crypts and Things is not the only OSR game D101 is working on/releasing this year.

Ladies and Gentlemen may I introduce you to The Empires of Ys.

Empire of Ys is a roleplaying game of worlds-spanning fantasy. The rules are built up from an Old School core based on loosely on the world’s first fantasy roleplaying game, but heavily tailored to fit the setting.

At the centre is the city of Ys, a corrupt and baroque fantasy city occupying a folded dimension of its own. Magical gateways created by the Guild of the Arcane link Ys to other worlds. On some these worlds the city has set up permanent colonies. Ysian raiders, traders and explorers reach further afield. The heart of Ys is rotten. Its overlord, the Autarch, is literally a monster. His immediate underlings, his Agents, sow discord in the city, and can hunt and feed on the city’s less prominent citizens with no fear of punishment. He leaves the apparatus of government and the rule of law to crumble and divides the power structures in the city among conflicted guilds, ensuring that no-one can depose him.

Yet to the adventurous and unscrupulous, Ys presents opportunities as well as dangers. Perhaps a few heroes can even make a difference to the city and its empire as a whole. Welcome to Ys!

By Paul Mitchener, co-Author of the Crucible of the Dragons, Age of Arthur and author of the Drowned Lands. Visit his Imaginarium.