Dragon Trinity Crash – Secret of NIMH – Knights Of The Hidden Sun – Update

So it turns out that the ADX kickstarter was a resounding success!

Thank you internet!

Dragon Trinity Crash will be part of the anthology as will a TON of other settings. Go the kickstarter to check them out.

Given all this I’ll be super busy. Here’s what I’ll be working on:

1. My first priority is to get DTC to David. No updates until that happens.
2. After DTC is submitted I’m going to add a whole mess of sample spells, sample characters, sample monsters and flash fiction to this blog. Why? Cause I’m that passionate about it. 😀
3. After this I’m going to publish my Fate Secret of NIMH rules here. I promised a player at Phantasm this and I will deliver.
4. After that Knights of the Hidden Sun will get my full attention until it goes to the editors.

Outside of this plan is Space Pirate Alice Black: Blood Tribute. That’s because I don’t need to work on it. Xenotropos is on art and layout. Once that’s done Blood Tribute will be ready for market without me doing anything.

And that’s my plan.

Expect DTC updates soon.

ADX – Dragon Trinity Crash – More Flash Fiction

Princes Drive, Guardians of Steel and Vimanakatha are all unlocked.

Thank you internet. 😀

My setting is up next for the ADX Anthology. That AND David Hill’s Bubble Gum crisis inspired: Cyber Saber Ascension. If this puppy gets funded to $15’000  both will be added.

We have 4 days and roughly $1’300 to go. Let’s make DTC a reality. Here’s the link.

In the meantime here’s some further Dragon Trinity Crash flash fiction:

Note: I’ve altered Dejana’s dragon armor  and dragon armor chant slightly. This has to do with how the game’s evolving while I’m writing it.

+ + + + +

”MEGA SLING!” The double-doors buckled and crashed. Standing there, as the dust cleared, were Jadran the Badass Halfing, Iset the dark, mysterious elven swordswoman and Dejana Half-Elf sorceress merc.

The young woman chained before them was dressed in royal finery.  She looked terrified.

Jadran immediately slid her side and held her hand gently. “No need to fear lass, we’re here to rescue you.”

“SEA SLASH.” Iset summoned a blade of shimmering water and cut through the chains with a single swipe.

Dejana pulled an official looking scroll from her belt and unrolled to show it to the former captive. “Princess Obscura, we’ve been hired by your kingdom. Please come with us.”

The young woman glanced in confusion at the scroll and her saviors.

“I’m thankful for your help but I’m not Obscura.

Your princess is in another castle.”

“WHAT?” cried the three adventurers.

+ + + + +

“MEGA SLING!” “SEA SLASH!” “THUNDER LANCE!”

Boulder, sea sword and lightning blot crashed into the Minotaur with colossal force. The creature let out a horrendous groan and fell, the floor rumbled when he hit.

Iset stood on his corpse, her blade buried in it, catching her breath. Jadran sat and against the body and started chanting Bless Mend to ease his broken arm.

Dajana stepped past them, her armor dented and scuffed and stood before the former captive. She was a dark haired beauty dressed in royal finery.  She she nodded appreciatively at her savior.

Dajana pulled down her gag. The princes gasped “RUST CURSE.” and her chains dissolved. 

The merc smirked. “Princess Obscura I assume?”

The dark haired one frowned. “I’m sorry but no.

She’s in another castle.”

The three groaned.

+ + + + +

“You cannot defeat me! SKY HAMMER!” The warlock shrieked as a hammer of lighting crackled in his hand and he swung at Iset.

“SLATE SHIELD!” The swordwoman rolled to the side as Jadran leaped between them. The hammer BOOMED against his rocky shield, it held but the Halfing was crunched against the opposite wall.

“BLAST GUSH!” Iset summoned a powerful jet of salt water against the warlock and he was knocked flying. “Gaaaaaaah!”

“FREEZE FANG!” Dajana’s hex, mixed with Iset’s spell, solidified the bad guy in place.

The three stood over him, looking battered, bloody and none-too pleased.

“There!” Iset hissed pointing at the tower just outside the court yard.

“That.” Growled Jadran.

“Is where Princess Obscura is kept, yes?” Finished Dajana, in a bedraggled tone.

The warlock glanced up at the tower and then back at the three, a big, mocking grin on his face.

“Hah! Hah! Hah! You fools. I was merely the distraction.

Your princess is in another castle!” He added a maniacal cackle for extra malevolence.

“Oh really?” Jadran asked.

An evil gleam shined in the three’s eyes.

“Uh. Yes?” the warlock said, seeming suddenly timid.

“Ullith.”

“Freya. “

“Xalladale.”

Their rage was able to bypass the normal chants. In a flash of magic three two-story tall dragon armors surrounded the warlock; one of jade, one of ice and one of ivory and gold.

The warlock screamed like a school child as the three stomped him.

+ + + + +

“Do you know what would be nice?” Cried Jardan as he leaped and rolled down the hill. A massive rock spike slamming into the place where he was.

“For Princess Obscura not to be evil?” Commented Dejana dryly as she followed suit.

“No!” Yelled the Halfing over the din of the Titan chasing them.

“What would be nice-”

The five story tall quartz construct opened its eyes and fired lasers  at Iset. She barely jumped out of the way and ended up tumbling down the hill.

“would be dragon armor.” Jardan finished with an accusatory point at Dejanna.

“You stomped the Warlock too.” Dejanna snarled.

“Children.” Iset inserted herself between them. “We’ve got bigger problems.”

A shadow fell over the the three and they saw, at the top of the hill, the Titan. In a ‘necklace compartment’ was Obscura leering down at them.

“Prepare to die!”

The foot came up.

The three ran and just barely made it out of the booming stomp radius.

“We need to summon Artaxerxes.” suggested Iset.

“We can’t.” Dejanna huffed as the three fled. “We need the other armors to build to him.”

“We’ve called upon the others but not him directly. If we all cast together we can do it.”

“If we fail,” cried Jardan, “we’ll be devoured,” they dodged another epic stomp.

“If we don’t, we’ll die anyways.”

“I’m for it.” Dajanna said, sliding to a halt and glaring up at the titan with determination.

Iset too slid to a stop, her glare at the monster was cold as ice.

Jardan groaned but also slid to a halt. “Fine.”

Obscura smirked down at the three from her pendant throne.

“Finally decided to stop running eh? I’ll just finish you off quickly then!”

“You who dwell in the deepest, darkest earth unseen.

Your roar terrifies the souls unclean.

You who carry all the  world on your back.

Call forth your first son, let the earth quake and crack.

Great Dragon who seeks Strength heed my call!

Power of Ullith be mine!”

Out of the earth sprung forth an enormous dragon armor made of jade. Immediately its torso split and slid open, combining with it’s massive arms to make a giant throne.

“Mother of peace, mother of wrath.

I call upon you for a dreadful task.

You who swallow the sun in the west.

Bring forth you child, with whose dread power I will be blessed.

Great Dragon who seeks Perfection heed my call.

Power of Freya be mine!”

A vortex of water erupted from the earth and out of it an enormous dragon armor made of dark sapphire ice.  It sat on the throne and shifted, folding into itself, becoming the body to Ullath’s arms and legs.

“You who wings span the the inky sky and encompass the stars.

Whose gaze sees all no matter how afar.

Bring forth your thunder, whose din terrifies the evil hearts.

I call forth your daughter, so she may rip and tear this villain apart.

Great Dragon who seeks Justice heed my call.

Power of Xalladale be mine!”

Lighting streaked from the sky and with it arrived an enormous dragon armor made out of ivory and gold. It melded from behind to became one with Ullith and Freya, her head and great wings  added to the mix.

As one the three’s voices boomed ” ARTAXERXES PERFECT CRASH!”

The Juggernaut armor stood before the titan.

Held aloft by magical forces in the armor’s third heart Dejana opened her eyes. She was pale, as if drained. Illusions Jadran and Iset were illuminated on the walls of the heart, they too were weak but unharmed.

“We’re alive?”

“It appears our gambit as worked.” Iset sounded exhausted but pleased.

“Then let’s show Obscura what we can do.” chuckled Jarad.

“Right.” Dejana said with a grin. She touched the wall of the heart and golden electricity ripped through the wall. “You’re up first Iset.”

Suddenly the left hand on Artaxerxes twitched, out of nothing a massive blade of salt water, crackling with golden lighting appeared. The armor’s wings flapped and he rose in the air, both claws now clutching the sword’s hit.

It said “Goodbye.” with a frigid finality in Iset’s voice.

Obscuria shrieked as the great Dragon attacked.

ADX – Guardians of Steel – Dragon Trinity Crash

As it stands the ADX Kickstarter has raised over $9’000.

We’ve got the main book and also Apotheosis of the Rose, Princess Drive.

Thank you internet for my Utena Evangelion. 😀

If it reaches $10’000 we get Stew Wilson’s Guardians of Steel.

Guardians of Steel

Stew Wilson can deliver. He’s written for White Wolf,  Werewolf the Apocalypse and Werewolf the Forsaken, and is the Author of one of my favorite games Aeternal Legends. Given this I’m looking forward to his Guardians of Steel.

It’s a game where every day people are gifted with guardian frames, special mech suits that are specifically suited for the individual.  If you’re a courier then your frame will move swiftly and with precision.  If you’re a wilderness buff it’ll have stealth. If you’re a a teacher your mech will have access to a vast database of information.

Since my day job is a software tester I imagine my frame would have the ability to spot the terrible, stupid, flaws in my enemies. Muhahahahahaaaaa!

The bad guys in this setting are bad ass. They originate from a nano-plague that takes over machines, makes them technobeasts and drives them to combine to make bigger, tougher, smarter technobeasts. These in turn worship an Elder God.

Play it as a cheesy 80’s cartoon or as a dark adventure of survival.

I’ll probably play both.

Dragon Trinity Crash

We’re still a ways off on this. We need $15’000 to hit the coveted DTC mark buuut it’s only day 12 out of 30, still plenty of time.

To whet your appetite I’m presenting some Dragon Trinity Crash Flash Fiction.

If you haven’t already please investigate the Kickstarter and back.

*****

The hooded stranger sat in the darkest corner of the common room. His glinting eyes watched the patrons as he puffed on his long pipe, seeking those who, out of the milling patrons, could complete his quest.

A young waitress, a doe of a girl really, advanced towards him. He nodded at her kindly, as mysterious as he was she had nothing to fear. . .

She walked past him and immediately opened the shudders. Sunlight streamed through, he screamed “Aaah! My eyes!” and fell out of his chair. The stranger stumbled out the front door and promptly fell off the porch.

“What’s his beef?” asked a Half-Elven woman dressed in blue and gold armor.

“Don’t mind him Dejana. He’s some old kook whose been bothering the guests about the Hunt.” Said Sasha, with a scolding glare aimed squarely at crumpled geezer.

*****

“. . . In short, Baron Von Warner must suffer.” concluded the squeaky voice.

Before Dejana were a dozen intense looking Gnomes. The chief held in his upright palm a sizable purse filled with rubies.

The sorceress eyed the prize with restrained greed. “Just like that? You’re not going to haggle?”

The Gnome replied with an even shake of his head. “No Lass. All the other adventures are going after the Hunt. You’re our last, best shot.”

The Half-Elf rolled her eyes. “That again. I’m no idiot, the leading cause of sorcerer death is taking jobs from random hobos.”

“To be honest we’re random Gnomes.”

“True, but the Inn vouches for you and,” she snatched the purse. “You’re no hobos. When do we start?”

*****

“THUNDER LANCE!”

Dejana released her power with a flash and boom. Baron Von Warner flew back, smoke curling from the seams in his armor.

She stood over him, glaring fiercely.

“Y-yes?” asked the Baron with a trembling, weak, voice.

She put an insulated boot on his chest, leaned in close, and said “You will give these Gnomes back their copyrights to be Dwarves.”

“That’s absolutely right!” chimed the angry crowd behind her.

“We’re tired of red hats!” “I held that wheelbarrow in one place for eight days!“ Do you know how many fish you can catch in an old woman’s backyard? NONE! That’s how many!”

“Fine, fine.” coughed the Baron. You can all be Dwarves again.”

The Gnomes cheered, throwing the aforementioned hated hats in the air.

“But mark my words.” The Baron’s voice suddenly became deep and reverberant and his eyes glowed from within in his helmet.

“My contacts with the Hunt will punish you severely.”

Dejana rolled her eyes. It was like some unseen malevolent force was trying to control her life, railroad her down a specific path as it were.

“Volt Sting!” She began slapping Warner’s helmet with an electrically charged hand. “I’m sick! And tired! Of hearing about! The HUNT!”

*****

Black smoke curled up into the gray sky. The walls of the inn, and most of the buildings of Dejana’s town, were charred and broken. Sasha lay face first in the dirt, her back slashed with a terrible wound. Roaring flame and crises of anguish filled the air.

A man in black chainmail stepped over Dejana’s prone, possibly dead, friend. The bronze clasp of his red cloak was a carved symbol of a dragon’s head over-top a drawn bow. A red bladed sword, whose edges licked with flame, was drawn in his hand. He smiled in welcome. “I’ve heard about you. The one adventurer who refused to ‘see’ us. Too bad the other fools in this town did not share your wisdom.

You may live so as to tell others about what happens when you cross the Hunt.”

This snapped Dejana out of her remorseful, wretched, shock. Still pale, voice trembling she addressed the crimson cloaked man. “Normally. I’d start off with a simple spell to test your strength. Blast Gush perhaps? Then I’d go for something fitting and more powerful, Thunder Lance for instance, and finish the fight with strength to spare. But you,” her expression suddenly grew wrathful. “I’ll turn you to dust right now!”

The knight swung his blade but it was suddenly knocked aside from the shockwave of Dejana’s invocation.

“Sky Father Bahamut hear me.

Sea Mother Tiamat hear me.

I call upon your love and hate between which crashes wave an thunder.

To weave forces that make even Giants tremble in fearful wonder.

Golden lightning, blue sea combine.

Power of Xalladale be mine!”

Lances of lightning crashed around the Haf-Elf as a torrential salt water rain poured down. The sorceress rose on the currents of power and suddenly electricity and water swirled around her in a great vortex. This in turn exploded outward causing currents of sea and lighting to dance along the grass and cobble stones. Standing where Dejana stood was a two story dragon construct of sapphire and gold.

“Now die!” Dejana’s voice howled like a demon as one mighty claw swooped down.

The Hunt Knight’s last words were “Oh crap.”

ADX – Apotheosis of the Rose: Princess Drive And Dragon Trinity Crash: How The World Was Made

So, the ADX Kickstater is funded, yay! So no matter what I, and other backers, get the main book.

Also, currently the kickstarter’s less than $1000 away from its first stretch goal:  Apotheosis of the Rose: Princess Drive.

Lemme tell you about it:

Apotheosis of the Rose: Princess Drive

In a World of Magic and Mechs young women must harness the Seven Virtues (Love, Wisdom, Justice, Courage, Kindness, Trust, and Fate) and channel them through mystic drivers to fight evil. It’s an adventure of high romance and hope.

Yes, my setting also has mechs in a fantasy setting but Princess Drive is a far different beast. While I’m focused on powerful sorcery and poking fun at tabletop tropes, Topher’s setting explores duty and desire in a seriously cool fashion.

Both our settings will feature epic magimech conflict.

I’m really excited about Princess Drive. It reminds me of Utena, whose mystique I love. It also has a really interesting bond mechanic. Bonds are potent relationships Princesses harness as weapons for their drivers. One’s ambition against a rival could become a silver blade, one’s unrequited love could become a stealth cloak. A driver’s powers will wax, wane and change given the relations its princess keeps with those she loves and hates. Drama will have a direct relation to mech battles; which is awesome. Exploring relationships and then stomping things is one of my favorite a pass times in RPGs.

As for Dragon Trinity Crash

As it stands there’s still a way to go for my stuff to become part of the Anthology  That being said we’re only 6 days out of 30, plenty of time yet. So, in order to drive you to back here’s an in game appetizer for my setting:

The beginning was a vast, empty, void. The first light came as a flash of three cosmic,  holy forces converging. Sea, land and sky swirled out of nothing as a vortex of creation. A mammoth fire ignited and became the sun, mass gathered into spheres and danced around it. Life germinated in the seas and rolled out like a great blanket across our entire world. This primal chaos roared, the Emperor of Hurricanes, for billions of years.

When it had finally slowed, when our ancestors stared up at the sky with the longing question that sparked the first sentient thought, the Holy Trinity appeared: Typhon, his jade shoulders larger than mountains. Tiamat, her shimmering, azure scales like a wall that kept in the sea. Bahamut, his golden wings hanging like clouds across the horizon. The Three stood over their creation, and they knew it was good.

Sadly, this shining moment was not to last.

Typhon stepped on Bahamut’s tail. Bahamaut yelped and electro-zotted Tiamat. Tiamat snaked around and delivered a big old backhand to Typhon’s head.

The three have been bickering ever since.

Again, hope this wets your appetite.

More to come.

Apotheosis Drive X – Dragon Trinity Crash

So,

I recently joined Google+ and there met David Hill of Machine Age Productions.

He was looking for alternate settings to offer as a kickstarter incentive for his Apotheosis Drive X. I submitted an idea and he deigned it worthy to add as a possible reward.

Needless to say I hope the kickstarter goes very well.

Apotheosis Drive X

Is a Fate based, mecha table top RPG along the lines of Gundam and Evangelion. It’s a multi-generational, interplanetary romp where the stakes and the mechs, aptly named Myths and Titans, get grander as the campaign goes on. It encourages players to make a cavalcade of characters to crew their Mechs and ride their adventures till they become an epic saga.

I’ll be backing it. I want this book, even if my own contribution is not included.

Granted, the kickstarter’s generated over $2’400 in its first few hours, so things are looking good.

ADX’s setting also has something known as the ‘Stratos Commonwealth’, go ahead, say it out loud, the name’s pure awesome.

Dragon Trinity Crash

For the past month I’ve been working on an Anime style magic system for Fate. Given David was looking for ideas I thought I’d roll this into a mech game, hence Dragon Trinity Crash.

The setting’s based on three great Dragons; Typhon, Dragon of the Earth, Bahamaut, Dragon of the Sky and Tiamat, Dragon of the Sea. Together they created the world. They’re also, braty little siblings who constantly fight. Often these celestial battles rupture the fabric of reality and summon monsters into the world.

Some of these are freaking HUGE.

Fortunately, there live sorcerers who can call upon the power of the Dragons to slay said beasts. A few can even summon aspects of the big three to create humongous dragon armors. Also, in a last ditch effort, multiple armors can combine to create a single Mega Armor.

Unfortunately, sorcerers tend to be a selfish, destructive lot and often blow up as many villages as they do beasties.

Oh well.

Think of this setting as a mesh between Magic Knight Rayearth and Slayers.

Features of Dragon Trinity Crash

• An anime battle magic system for Fate. Low level’ spells can send a knight in full plate flying. High level spells can dispatch ogres with one casting. Legendary spells reshape the the landscape; you finally can carve out that bay you’ve always wanted.
• Simple rules for crafting your very own dragon armor and similar rules for combining it with your party’s armors.
• A tongue in cheek high fantasy setting with darker themes lurking just underneath.

Aaand, that’s my pitch.

I hope this entices you to become a backer.

Knights of The Hidden Sun January 2013 Update – Reverence To The Lady In Black

Given Christmas/New Years I didn’t get too much done on KoTHS. That being said there was some progress.

Giving Reverence Where Reverence Is Due

In my November 2012 update I stated I needed to ‘tweak the Knights chapter. The current one is a little disjointed so a cleaning up and clarifying is in order. This will take a moderate amount of work.’ This is no longer the case.

The lion’s share of KoTHS background is written in IC. The first four chapters are nothing but history, news, personal experiences and advertisements from the game world. I found this cut down on dryness and made KoTHS hella fun to write.

The Knights Chapter was written as senior Knights handing down history and tradition to new recruits. I wrote it in a casual tone.

When Malcolm developed it, he changed the tone. The Knights became less casual and more reverent to their cause and Goddess. This irked me on first reading so I made a note to fix it. I reread the chapter again over the holidays and decided to leave it as is, here’s why;

My first rpg character was a 2nd Edition AD&D Cleric named Thohammer Folly. I chose a cleric because I wanted to A) kick ass and B) cast spells. I actually rolled a non-cheating 18 for one of his stats and I put that into Strength rather than Wisdom, because ass-kicking was Thohammer’s top priority, spells taking second place. As for exploring what it meant to be a disciple of Tamora, such a thing wasn’t even on my radar.

In my experience that’s how Clerics are played. They’re ass-kicker, healers and spell-slingers who give lip service to a deity.  The closest to displaying reverence these worshipers get is calling out the name of their God before smiting an Orc or sanctifying an area so pesky undead don’t rise. Some players don’t even pick a deity, they worship Lord Generic of the Coin and Hammer.

You know what? That’s is absolutely fine. My friends and I have had much fun running clerics in this fashion.

That being said, over time I found that I wanted to explore aspects of faith in my rpgs.

• Why did my character choose his religion?
• What’s her stance on her church’s dogma?
• How does this faith manifest?
• Is his Deity infallible?

So I wrote up  doctrine for each Cleric and occasionally  got into theological arguments with other PCs. Still, despite this, my Clerics never met their deities or even walked into one of their temples. There were no holy quests, no one seeking guidance, no machinations within the faith. The focus of these games were always killing monsters and treasure hunting.

Still fun but I wanted more.

I’d like to clarify this isn’t the material’s fault. I primarily played Forgotten Realms which has a TON of information on in game religions and cultures. I don’t think it was the fault of my DMs either; while I tried to throw in a rich, theological tapestries, I only did so IC and did not run any of these ideas past the people running the games.

Back to Hidden Sun. In Hidden Sun you play a Knight who serves a Goddess; the Lady In Black. The pact you’ve made involves trust as opposed to dogma, you can use her gifts for anything you want but your soul goes to her when you die. Both sides trust each other to do the right thing.

While this relationship is casual the major conflict in Hidden Sun stems from this Goddess acting against her brother, the God of War. Also, I specifically mention that meeting the Goddess is a BIG event that changes a character forever AND the Goddess, this ancient being of wisdom and power, regularly visits her followers throughout their lives.

So OF COURSE the Knights would speak about their faith and cause with reverence. Having contact with one who existed at the creation of the universe is something to be reverent about. Malcolm simply picked up on this and changed the Knights chapter to match.

This doesn’t mean all PCs in Hidden Sun are zealots. The Goddess demands nothing, not even worship, one can even have grown hate her and she’ll still lend her strength. What it does mean is that the GM is encouraged to make her important; to throw at the feet of the PCs Gnostic quests, audiences with higher powers and crises of faith. All the things I had hoped for long ago.

Hence I’m not changing a thing with the Knights Chapter.

That being said if your group just wants to run Hidden Sun as ass-kickers with divine powers, please feel free to do so; it can be most fun.

The Headaches of Star Travel

From an OOC prospective getting from planet A to planet B in Hidden Sun is easy: The GM says ‘It takes x amount of time, now onward to more interesting stuff.’ There’s no botching a navigation roll and having your ship collide with a rogue star. Granted, such things would happen in any Sci Fi/Fantasy universe but, at least as a player, I find such things annoying so didn’t include the possibility in my game.

That being said I needed to describe, in IC, how interstellar travel works. In Hidden Sun space travel is chaotic and hard to describe therefore Malcolm left it as a hurdle to tackle later. I’ve ended up tackling it.

Long story short I added a page and a half on Jump Gate theory and travel time to Chapter Three. I’ve tried to keep it short and descriptive so folks know how gate travel works, what it looks, sounds and feels like and how long it will take to get to the major worlds. I don’t think it drags on but the proof will be in the pudding when you lovely folks buy the book. 🙂

What’s Next?

I’m going to meld my character creation tweeks and further playtesting discoveries in the rules and GM chapters. After this it’s just some minor double-checks, one more read through, and it’s off to the editor.

Wish me luck.

Knights of the Hidden Sun December 2012 Update: Adventures In Character Creation

As per my last update here’s what I have to look at:

1. Fix up 1 section in my Magic/Tech chapter.
2. Go over the Knights Chapter with a fine-tooth comb.
3. Tweak the Character Creation chapter.
4. Tweak the Rules chapter.
5. Make sure the GM chapter reflects the changes above.

It would have made sense to start with 1 but I chose 3 instead because I’m a rules monkey.

Here’s the gist of what I did:

Lower The Dice Pools

In the first draft of KoTHS a starting character could end with a 12D dice pool in his primary skill. This was a little much so I scaled back to afford smaller pools, around 4 dice smaller to be precise.

The lower dice pools, when used in conjunction with simple dice saving mechanics, has kept the dice hoard to a minimum. This in turn has lead to a much smoother game.

Everything In Its Place

Previously in KoTHS you’d list all your character’s Edges and Flaws, even ones that affected Attributes, in one place; a place that happened to be no where near Attributes. I found this lead to confusion; often players would simply forget such bonuses and penalties in their rolls thus making them meaningless.

The solution?

List Attribute Edges and Flaws under their prospective Attributes; easy peasy.

Edges and Flaws Are Meaningful

My original list of Edges had some minor advantages such as Desert Adaptation and Claws and minor Flaws such as Arrogant or Eccentric. In play-testing I found these never came up.

Desert Adaptation was no good because very few adventures ever required a desert survival roll, as for Claws, Hidden Sun weapons blow them out of the water. Also, most PCs are arrogant to start with and eccentric was often funny but rarely flaw-worthy.

So I decided to remove such  from my Edges and Flaws list and only keep meaningful ones such as Immunity to Fire and Bane: Silver.

That being said you can still get the minor Edges, they just cost a pittance  Being a clawed desert dweller is more a fun description than an appreciable advantage in KoTHS. As for the minor Flaws, I’m regulating those to ‘you’ll get rewarded with Character Points or Will Points for throwing your character into tough situations’.

The Results

I ran these by my play-test group and I’m pleased to say they were able to draw up comprehensive, interesting characters in a mere 1/2 hour. If they had to do it again I imagine it’d take them 15 minutes tops, even the ones who aren’t rules monkeys like me.

This makes me happy.

What’s Up Next?

I’m going over Character Creation once more. This is just to check for typos or grammatical silliness.  Unless play-testing reveals a major oversight I won’t change anything further.

I’ll move on, get’er done.

After that I’m going to tackle the minor addition to the Magic/Tech chapter. Not a big change and nothing to do with rules. Completing it will simply make Hidden Sun one step closer to realization.

Expect another update soon.

Knights of the Hidden Sun – November 2012 Update

As per my last update I was perusing the developed draft of Hidden Sun. I have finished this perusing.

First of all Malcolm’s and Geoff’s work is amazing. As I read through the draft I was extremely pleased and honored with their contributions. I’ve been generously authorized to use these but I won’t go through the details of the contract.

I can say that I’m allowed to keep my Ready2Run hack for Hidden Sun. Which is good because it fits with the setting, I enjoy the system and keeping it in Hidden Sun will enable me to get this game to market sooner than drawing on up a new set of rules.

I am toying with a Hidden Sun Fate hack but if that happens it will be after the main book is released.

All this being said there’s still some work to do:

• I need to make an ever so slight addition to the ‘How Magic Makes A Space Fairing Society’ chapter. This won’t take long .
• I need to tweak the Knight chapter. The current one a little disjointed so a cleaning up and clarifying is in order. This will take a moderate amount of work.
• I need to tweak, not drastically change, some of the rules. While development was moving along I ran a ton of games and the results of these extensive play-tests have shown me I need to:
  • Ensure all character creation choices are meaningful. Character perks or flaws that no one uses will be broadened or removed.
  • Simplify the ancillary rules. In a game of high action one shouldn’t perform algebra (even simple algebra) to determine how much a character can lift or how far he can jump. This isn’t Malcolm’s Ready2Run’s fault, I added these complications so I’ll replace them with something simpler.
  • I need to reduce dice pools. I have a plan, it will work.
  • This may seem huge but I suspect these tweaks will only take a moderate amount of work. I’m not rewriting, I’m reducing and simplifying.

All in all I’m hoping to have KoTHS ready for editing by the end of February. This is a rough overestimate, if I get my work done sooner there won’t be any complaints, least of all from me :).

I’m restarting my monthly updates so you’ll be kept informed..

Once the Chall fine tuning stage is done KoTHS will be off to an editor to check for spelling and grammar, then will be art and layout, then publish, then profit!

If anyone has comments, questions or concerns please feel free to comment below.

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.

Knights of the Hidden Sun: Changes and Progress

This week Malcolm Sheppard stepped away as Developer/Marketer of Knights of the Hidden Sun. As mentioned in his blog there was no drama, far from it. He simply must commit to his own projects.

Let me say here and now that I appreciate everything Malcolm’s done for me over these past few years; from giving me the confidence to write KotHS to working with Geoff Grabowski to develop it. We’re still friends and I’ll keep him informed on the progress of this game.

As for what happens next:

• First I’m going to take in the Developed draft of KoTHS to take stock of what I have. Once that’s done Xenotropos and I will determine what’s needed  to edit, play test, type set and  finally publish the full work. At that time we’ll decide if we need a Kickstarter to offset the costs. I hope to have the final decisions on this figured out by the end of the month.
• After this I’ll set up a KoTHS Blog as a source site for all your Hidden Sun news and extra content. It’s high time this game had a web presence.
• I’m not giving up. I’ve spent too many years working on Hidden Sun and I won’t let them go to waste.

Now that I’m in sole control of the project I’m in a far better position bring it to fruition. While it pains me to see Malcolm step away I’m also excited to have Hidden Sun back in my court.

As a side note, while waiting I’ve nearly completed another project, a FATE adventure book called Space Pirate Alice Black. It’s a small journey into the stars, where the fate of trillions hangs in the balance.

Expect more to come.