Space Pirate Alice Black, Journey 1: Blood Tribute

While waiting on development for Knights of the Hidden Sun I found there was very little on my plate. For two years I ‘d been writing my game and now I had nothing to do. On a lark I looked up the old Fighting Fantasy Novels I used to read as a kid and discovered they are still being produced and going strong, check it out here.

Furthermore, Fighting Fantasy (aka Wizard Books) was doing something cool with its licence. They had kindly provided templates for fans to make their own Fighting Fantasy  fan books, they were even holding contests to see who could write the best FF fan book based on various themes.

I had to try and so wrote The Blackthorne Ogre  for their Valentine’s Day contest. I didn’t win but I had hella fun participating.

Being the vain sort I regularly Google myself and the things I write. As such I was lucky enough to stumble upon this, a glowing review, by Stelio on RPG Geek. This made me feel all kinds of awesome. So much so that I wanted to write another Book.

This time the book’s my own, a non-Fighting Fantasy space opera featuring my favorite open source rules set.

I plan to publish it very soon.

What It’s About

In Blood Tribute you play the part of space pirate captain who, out of desperation,  chooses a prize whose theft will result in the death of trillions. Over the course of the the game you decide how best to find, secure and flee with your plunder. Along the way you can choose to be dastardly or redeem yourself.

The story takes place in a galaxy where hominid Wolves rule as warrior lords over other Canines, Trolls and Hares. Your character is a feline captain who leads a crew of freed slaves to fight against the tyranny of the Wolf Houses.

Okay I admit, this was inspired from watching hours of  Talespin as a kid and I’m a rather shameless fan of Disney’s Treasure Planet. This book though has absolutely nothing to do with either of these properties.

While the setting can be seen as cartoonish the story’s rather dark. Your character is a villain as are the Wolves you prey upon. I found the real trick to writing this to be making the main character act like a plausible pirate while at the same time leaving room for plausible heroics. I believe  I’ve done an excellent job but ultimately it’ll be up to the reader to decide.

I’d rate this a mature for violence and alcohol; there is no pornography involved.

To add randomness  and gaming goodness I’m using a very simple version of Evil Hat’s Fate System. For those familiar expect the Skill Ladder and Aspects to feature prominently.

As for the book itself its 50 Sections/88 written pages. There are four different endings aside from the ones involved in losing a critical test or fight. I just finished the book’s second draft and am now sending it to an editor. Once that’s done it’ll be sent out for art and layout. After that I’ll look into where to publish it.

I hope this wets your appetite and thanks for checking in.

Simple Superheroes: Moon Angel

As you can probably tell I LOVE the Superhero genre.

At Phantasm I was able to play Simple Superheroes, it’s fun. I heartily recommend checking it out.

To whet your appetite I introduce:

Moon Angel

Talents  Moon Arc Bow (O): 4 Invisibility (F): 4 Slow Flight (F): 3 Dodge (D): 3 Street Smart (F): 2 Moderate Party Girl (F): 2 Bargain (F): 2 Finesse Angel Touched: 3, Street Wise: 2 Relations Check in on Mom: 2 Chat with Friends: 2 Crouch Dramatically on a Rooftop and Brood: 1 Origin   Asha Ivers grew up in the worst part of the city. Her father left her mother, Rebecca was crippled during a robbery. Asha dropped out of high-school as a teenager to look after her mom, she worked a number of jobs and even conspired in some minor drug deals to keep body and soul together. One day she witnessed an old man drop his wallet before getting on the bus. She took the wallet, nothing was in it aside from a WWII medal. According to a local fence she could get a cool 10’000 for it. This would set her and her mom up for a while. On her way to the fence she spotted the old man again, he looked despondent. Despite her and her mom’s best interest Asha sat beside him and offered the medal back. The old man was suddenly cloaked in brilliance, it turned out he was an Angel and Asha just passed his test. Thus the Heroine Moon Angel was born. Personality and Methods   Asha watches her neighborhood like a guardian Angel. She only intervenes in serious crimes such as murder or robbery. She doesn’t waste her time with drug dealers unless they’re selling some of the harder stuff. Moon Angel will kill bad guys but she takes no joy in it and only does so with the worst offenders. Her hero self is more of an urban legend, she hasn’t come out in public yet. Her neighborhood has grown safer over her watch. Powers   Asha can summon a bow of silvery moon light. It fires energy blasts that can stun or kill. At will she can vanish from sight, though perceptive folk may be able to pick her out since her bow and arrow attacks aren’t invisible. She can fly at about the speed she can run. Apperance Asha is a latino woman in her 20s. She’s pretty but her street wise demeanor shows she’s no fool. Long black hair, usually in a pony tail. Serious brown eyes. Her costume is a white hooded cloak combined with a black body suit that has a crescent moon with wing emblem on her chest. Behind her hood she wears a white opera half-mask that leaves the all but her chin covered.