View from the Pelgrane’s Nest – May 2018

Here in London, it appears that an enthusiastic eight-year-old has taken over the weather control panel and is twiddling all the dials.

I often forget the weather when running games. When I do remember to highlight it, it really draws the players in, even if there is no mechanical effect. Picture a meeting between spy and handler with collars turned up in driving sleet, a high-speed pursuit through the streets of Lyon in the torrential rain, or a battle with a white dragon set in deep drifts with fat flakes of snow ambling down. You can mirror or exaggerate the real weather, or go for something very different. Huddled up in your basement in a cold snap, making the in-game weather balmy sun helps your group escape. Some settings feature the weather such as the threat of Fimbulwinter in the Albion’s Ransom campaign for The Esoterrorists.

This brings me like a mall security guard segue to the Book of Demons, this month’s new release in print.  It features six hellholes, which have ripped or crept through the gaps in reality to puncture the Dragon Empire. And there, unlike the London weather, it’s not subtle or restrained.

For example:

  • Flocks of flying teeth and burning fog face travellers on the High Heath of Unending Woe.
  • On Claw Peak, the raindrops are as sharp as spears—storms create a bloody mess of the unprepared.
  • Hellgout is afflicted with rains of fire, rocks tumbling from other realms and spontaneous magical storms.

The 13th Age Book of Demons is available now in print from the store.

The 13th Age Dice Tray

Envy of the dice tray produced by our excellent Korean licensees Dayspring Games was the inspiration for our own 13th Age Dice Tray. As well as its handy dice-constraining properties, it can also be used as a convenient protection against the rain, a mouse mat, and a fruit bowl. I look forward to your 101 uses for a 13th Age Dice Tray.

We’ve produced limited quantities, which are available from the store.

The Fall of DELTA GREEN

The Fall of DELTA GREEN is on the presses. Ken and Robin feature it in two episodes of their podcast; We Are Mutants reviews The Fall of DELTA GREEN and interviews FoDG designer Kenneth Kite, in-depth. It’s a great read. Ken will be outlining the adventure collection, and Gar will write it. They’ve collaborated on the The Zalozhniy Quartet and The Dracula Dossier, so it will be a sweet, sweet collection. Get The Fall of DELTA GREEN pre-order from the store.

GUMSHOE One-2-One – Cthulhu Confidential and Night’s Black Agents

With the launch of the Han Solo movie, we’ve given up on the excellent title SOLO for our Night’s Black Agents One-2-One game, but the manuscript is almost ready for playtesting.

The Cthulhu Confidential adventure collection Even Death Must Die is coming together with one adventure left to be written.

 

And the Rest

  • The manuscript for Emily Dresner and Kevin Kulp’s game of Swords of the Serpentine is halfway through the pre-playtest draft.
  • Fearful Symmetries is being rewritten to improve its structure. It features a group of magicians facing a terrible threat to England, rooted in folklore and the mythos. Writer Steve’s own campaign has run for more than 60 sessions.
  • The Poison Tree is an enormous history-spanning project, and requires many moving pieces working together. Currently, Scott, Paul, and Matthew are collaborating in Google Docs to produce the first of the adventures for internal Pelgrane playtesting.

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