Keep on the Edgelands

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This is a game of Beyond Dread Portals I’m bringing as a convention game to Grogmeet in November, and possibly as a short series of online games.  Its also highly likely to be offered as a stretch goal for the upcoming Kickstarter.

Here’s the pitch…

Come, oh Adventurer, to the Edge of the Empire of Ys!

The Lion Keep is a magnificent border fortress made of yellow brick. It was transported through a giant magic portal from the world of Samara. It now stands in the never-ending cave system that is the world of Erebus. It has some of the staff and traders from its days sitting in the sunlit grasslands of the Lion Empire. The Ysian Guilds also have representatives with offices within the walls.

Officially, the Imperial occupation of Erebus has ended. The colonists are either dead or gone home, and the Keep is the last Imperial outpost on Erebus. But there are regular expeditions into the nearby Caves of Mayhem, sponsored by patrons from the Guilds or the Five Noble Houses.

Good job you are all seasoned members of the League of Explorers. Treasure and glory will be yours. Perhaps you’ll even track down and kill the fabled giant three-headed monster known as the Grognard!

Revisit an old-school classic reimagined through the baroque fantasy lens of Beyond Dread Portals. Take part in the intrigue and power plays of the factions of the fort stuck between unimaginable riches and horrible damnation contained in the nearby Caves of Mayhem. Adventure as third-level characters, using the streamlined and sensible D20 fantasy system created by Paul Mitchener (Liminal, Out of Ashes, Age of Arthur).

New upcoming Kickstarters from the Brit-Pack

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It looks like September is a hot month* for Kickstarters from a bunch of creative friends of mine.

Opening later today is Paul Baldowski’s Sanction RPG. Taking the system from his wonderfully concise and focused Elizabethan game The Dee Sanction, Paul opens it up to any setting where a quick, no-nonsense challenge-based system is needed. It also has a sequel to the Dee Sanction, set in the reign of Henry VIII, where the characters explore the ruins of the Abbeys after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Next up is the next supplement for the mighty Beowulf RPG by Haniwork Games. This supplement brings a kingship phase to the game with all that entails.

Also, they’ve put together a four-page preview available now.

If you like a bit of Duck in your game, Gloranthan or otherwise, fellow Duck Fanatic Ian of Fenris Games is bringing a small, perfectly formed range of minis to the gaming table, and I believe some adventures for Dragonbane.

Finally I’d be remiss not to mention Beyond Dread Portals, which although its being published by myself, is by my good friend and colloaborator Paul Mitchener (Liminal, Age of Arthur). Opens in a couple weeks.

Notes * September at the moment is the hottest on record, as we swelter through a heatwave. Due to end next week, when normal rainy service resumes!

I Love My Brick!

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“I love my brick” – which is my copy of DCC and its pile of adventurers.

I have plans to run it at some point, a short adventure and a mini-campaign setting

One of those games that whenever I’m a bit down, I get it out and it cheers me up 🙂

Reassuringly and Robustly Old School for the Win 😀

Under Dark Spires, the Obsidian Pyramid

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I’m currently working on the last scenario of the Under Dark Spires adventure collection for Crypts and Things. It’s deliberately a crypt-based adventure (with things) that ties in several plot lines and themes into what should be an epic ending for the character’s adventures in the Dark Spires.

Here’s a peek from the Player’s Introduction.

The Obsidian Pyramid lies in the heart of the Bone Fields and can be seen for miles. Close up, the locals claim, it gives out an eerie hum that drives animals crazy. Treasure hunters periodically turn up in Fort Boneguard and declare their intent to make their fortune by robbing the crypt, which obviously holds the lost treasure of the Hu-Pi kings, who it is said built the pyramid. They party and drunkenly loaf about town. Bragging about how rich they are going to be. When they find out no one will give them a line of credit to extend their bar tab, they leave town in a sulk in the direction of the pyramid, never to be seen again.

All this gives the pyramid a fearsome reputation and a sense of unease that it’s only a half-day’s ride away from the Fort.

On a personal note its reignited my passion for writing the special blend of weird fantasy and horror that Crypts and Things brings out in me, which I don’t always find comfortable. The Obsidian Pyramid lives up to its name and is a dark place, filled with horrors unleashed by dark pacts in antiquity and maintained by insane cultists who worship the crypt’s blood-stained past. It’s a good place for even the most reluctant hero to make their stand against a madness that threatens to push the already dying world over the edge into screaming oblivion.

Under Dark Spires is Coming

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This is my much delayed, 90% written, mostly illustrated (by Dan Barker, no less), adventure/setting book for Crypts and Things. I’m in the “get this damn thing done” phase of things.

This update over on the Crypts and Things Remastered Kickstarter gives the overall state ot play.

This month, I’ve taken a bit of a step back to get a climactic adventure into the line-up.

These monthly updates will continue until the book, a collection of five adventures and setting information, is finished and out the door. I’ll also post more about the book’s content as I get close to release here. So if you are looking for a mini-campaign for C&T and other OSR games, this is your book!

Here’s Dan Barker’s cover.

Lost Fools of Atlantis

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Only me! On Kickstarter again with a fantastic little game called Lost Fools of Atlantis. It’s err like a Fantasy game (honest), in that it has fantastic elements and stars the player characters as survivors of the Fall of Atlantis navigating a world riddled with conspiracies of their own making in the modern day.  If you are familiar with Robert Anton Wilson’s and Robert Shea’s Illuminatus Trilogy, that’s one (of many) inspirations for the game. And that’s officially a Science-Fantasy book. Right?

“But my players only like D&D”. Don’t worry I’ve got you covered. This short article explains how you can get them to enjoy the silky narrative cool of Lost Fools in the cosy familiar environment of Dungeons with Dragons.

Also, the Early Bird period ends at midnight tonight. All backers who have backed in the first five days get a special gift of a supplement called … 5 Days!  So what are you waiting for, run not walk and go back Lost Fools of Atlantis.

 

Beyond Dread Portals, the End (for now)

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From the Beyond Dread Portals Kickstarter

It is with great regret that I’m cancelling the Beyond Dread Portals Kickstarter.

Since launch, its become clear to me that the campaign will not fund.

So I’m gracefully ending this current campaign at this point.

Your support has been overwhelming, as has the commitment of the production crew.

So I will regroup, replan and relaunch in the Autumn or early next year with a lower goal so the campaign funds quickly and attracts the attention that Dr Mitch’s game deserves.

When I relaunch the campaign, you’ll be notified via Kickstarter email, but also keep an eye out via my social media outlets (Facebook/Twitter and Discord channel, the link to which is on d101games.com).

Thank you for backing this campaign.

We shall be back.