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.
Tao of Chall 