View from the Pelgrane’s Nest – December 2015

Introduction

This month’s bumper issue of Page XX sees two new releases, a retrospective on the year, and a look at the new store and bookshelf, plus a sneak peek at the forthcoming new website. On pre-order is the of the keenly anticpated story games anthology Seven Wonders featuring all new games from mainly new writers. Also, out now for the Dracula Dossier, The Hawkins Papers PDF, maps, reports, private correspondence, newspaper columns, business cards, and period photographs. Finally if you are reading this before 30th December,  the 13th Age Bundle of Holding is available – almost everything for 13th Age for less than $36.

Retrospective

The solstice has passed, the year draws to a close, and I am looking back at the year through a haze of mince pies and bonhomie. Our annual Pelgrane get-together at Dragonmeet kicked off with a game run by Robin D Laws in which I had to play Time, Inc agent Kenneth Hite in disguise while simulataneously preparing ox cheek and sticky toffee pudding.

Dragonmeet was our most succesful to date, and I was heartened to see that our pre-release version of the Seven Wonders anthology sold out. I’ve been involved in the playtesting of almost all of the games, but this has been Cat’s project, and she’s really brought the best out of all the game designers featured. I’ve used these games to introduce non-roleplayers to roleplaying, as well as enjoying them with my game group.

You can hear Ken and Robin’s Dragonmeet live broadcast here, and the Pelgrane Press seminar here.

2015 has been a year of consolidation, untangling historical quirks I’ve embedded in the company, and improving our processes. This is the first year with Cat Tobin at the helm of Pelgrane Press, and with Gareth and Ken she has delivered most of the Dracula Dossier, a complete new anthology of games, and improved our customer support no end. We’ve not had the mad flurry of new releases we had last year, but sales are about the same as 2014, which is impressive. Cat is now as much the company as I am, and Pelgrane certainly more than the sum of its parts.

Website and Store

We’ve undertaken a soft launch of our new webstore, and all but the most recent of our customers might not have yet encountered the new bookshelf, where you can download all your purchases, track shipments and see your subscriptions to date. Register here and you can import your existing orders.

The next major task is to entirely redo the website in a style developed by Christian Knutsson, who designed the look of Hillfolk. We are moving it from our own server to a hosted solution, and the new site will tie into the webstore much better and showcase our products in a more approachable fashion.

 

TimeWatch

The TimeWatch Core Rules manuscript is now with Christopher Smith Adair for copy editing. It will be our biggest core rule book yet. Kevin Kulp has been finishing his remaining adventures for Behind Enemy Times, and is moving on next to his part of The Book of Changing Years. Backers already have their playable version of the TimeWatch manuscript. I can only apologise for the delay in this project which was never intended to be quite so large when we first announced the Kickstarter. It will be very late, but of high quality.

13th Age

The GMs Screen and Resource Book is off the presses and will be shipped out at the end of January. Get the pre-order and download the resource book now.

The first Battle Scenes book High Magic and Low Cunning is ready for layout now, and the next book is underway. It will be on pre-order in January or February 2016.

Gareth Hanrahan has delivered the first draft of the Book of Demons, and I’ve playtested the Demonologist –  a character which makes pacts with demons and gives them offerings. Each pact is either disfavoured, neutral or favoured at any one time, and it’s important to the demonologist to give offerings to prevent the creatures breaking free and wreaking havoc.

Here is an example of a spell from the Pact of Cruelty:

Tormenting Chains

Ranged Spell

Once per battle

Targets: 1 nearby enemy

Attack: Intelligence + Level vs PD

Hit: 2d8 + Intelligence damage

Special: You may maintain this spell by expending a quick action every round. As long as you maintain the spell, the target takes 1d8+Intelligence damage whenever it makes an attack or move action. The target may break free of the spell by making a hard save (16+). This damage counts as ongoing damage.

Miss: 3d8 + Intelligence damage

3^rd level spell: 4d8 damage (2d8 damage if the target struggles)

5^th level spell: 6d8 damage (3d8 damage if the target struggles)

7^th level spell: 8d10 damage (5d8 damage if the target struggles)

9^th level spell: 10d10 damage (7d8 damage if the target struggles)

GUMSHOE One-2-One

Chris Spivey and Ruth Tillman are creating characters for Cthulhu Confidential to be included as a core part of the first release, so you’ll have a choice of three characters, including Dex Raymond, LA Noire detective, Vivian Sinclair, a New York socialite amateur sleuth and Langston Wright, an African American codebreaker and war veteran in post-war Washington DC.

It’s in playtesting now and we’ve had the highest take up we’ve had since we offered the 13th Age core rules.