View from the Pelgrane’s Nest – October 2013

GUMSHOE and 13th Age are set free! This month we release the GUMSHOE and Archmage Engine system reference documents for publishers and members of the community, joining the DramaSystem in our troika of systems. The Bestiary receives an update, ebook lovers, stop your finger-drumming as Eternal Lies, Hideous Creatures:Ghouls and Owl Hoot Trail are available in PDF form. We’ve had a flurry of new resources for GUMSHOE and 13th Age, too.

Open Licenses in General

We’ve now released system reference documents for 13th Age, DramaSystem and GUMSHOE. What we’ve yet to do is logo compatibility licenses. As in many things, we will follow the Paizo model – that is, if you want to use the compatibility logo, you’ll need to register and follow the license. We hope that people will take what we’ve created and do new and interesting things with them.

13th Age

Rob Heinsoo has delivered a new version of the 13th Age Bestiary, available for download from your order page. He asks that pre-orderers try the bulette, the warbanner, and the gelahedrons. In the mean time, take a look at the fearsome Dybbuk.

You can now download a system reference document, which includes all the open content for use by publishers and fans, so resources and supplements will be a lot easier to create. Do interesting things and let us know!

Gareth Hanrahan has been working this month on The Eyes of the Stone Thief, the project formerly known as Moby Dungeon – in which a living dungeon becomes the nemesis of the PCs. He writes about it here.

Cal Moore has submitted the first draft of the Shadows of Eldolan, an adventure and adventure location in the Dragon Empire. We’ll be asking for playtesters soon.

I saw Jonathan Tweet in Rob’s basement on Skype working away on 13 True Ways, which will be a truly epic book.

 

Ashen Stars

Gareth has started work on the Ashen Stars supplement, Accretion Disk, which will feature deckplans for each ship type by Ralf Schemmann. This image of a jaunty but bashed up Runner is a first draft, created in ProFantasy’s Cosmographer 3.

Robin Laws has suppiled an examplar Laser contract for Accretion Disk.
[spoiler title=”Palamon Extraction”]

BIDS CLOSING SOON on extraction mission.

SITE: Planet PALAMON in the CERBERUS outzone.

Colony founded by the Combine in 2432 as a prison planet for the incorrigibly criminal.

Prison personnel evacuated in 2453 after reports of Mohilar activity. For reasons unknown, inmates remained on planet. Last recorded contact 2454.

Geography consists of two large continental landmasses, one each in the extreme northern and southern hemispheres. Planet’s tropical oceans bereft of significant landmasses and therefore presumed uninhabited. Prison complexes were located on southern continent.

Köppen Climate zones: tundra and ice cap. Class-M planet, breathable atmosphere. Genetic re-immunization recommended before ground-pounding. Xenoecology supports extensive predatory megafauna (quasi-mammalian.)

OBJECTIVES: 1) determine whether the inmate Boro Cisco (b. 2409) has any living heir or heirs. 2) If so, extract this person or persons from their present situation to the planet Bartolus for receipt of a considerable inheritance, including ownership of Space Station Bethlehem.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS: Successful bidder will be provided with full genetic panel for Boro Cisco and documentation packet proving the nature of the inheritance.

CLIENT: Legal firm of Loren, Bloxham, Buswell & Krx-Xprk.

BROKER/CONTACT: Arcoro Effectuations.[/spoiler]

Esoterrorists

Esoterrorists 2.0 is selling very well – I think in part because it’s the latest iteration of GUMSHOE, and hence incorporates the most practical information on running GUMSHOE, as well as addressing the perceived pitfalls of running GUMSHOE. In support of Esoterrorists 2.0, we’ve been working on Esoterror Summoning. It discusses the wall between our reality and the Outer Dark, how it is measured, how it can be injured and repaired, and speculates about its nature and purpose.

Trail of Cthulhu

The final Mythos Expeditions are in, ready for playtesting, and Jerome has completed the cover.

Ken Hite has completed his pass on Dreamhounds of Paris.  A bit ofKen fairy dust goes a long way. Art direction on this project is a blast. Here is Bnazic Desert a piece by Tyler Clark.

Eternal Lies now has a FAQ, thanks to useful feedback from our Keepers. In addition, we have a Call of Cthulhu conversion, interactive world map and additional character sheets. The Eternal Lies CD is taking longer than expected – apologies for the delay.

We also have a rules summary download for Trail players.

Hillfolk

Dear me, this has been a tough one. We’ve sent out most of the US and Canadian backers. As you may remember, the books for the UK and Rest of the World backers were shipped on a much slower service than we were led to believe, and then they were stuck in customs. They were released today, but a trip to Essen has slowed things up with the very patient Leisure Games. The books will arrive with Leisure Games on Monday for packing, and shipping out on Tuesday. The pre-ordered versions will go shortly after.

Backers will have received some new electronic goodies on the latest update, the Hillfolk music by James Semple and the first Series Pitch of the Month.

Once again, I apologise for the delay.

Night’s Black Agents

James Semple and his team are putting the final touches on Dust and Mirrors, the sound track album for Night’s Black Agents, on time for release in November. You can hear the theme here. Ken is now working on the Dracula Dossier and Dracula Unredacted.

Stone Skin Press

Our fiction imprint, Stone Skin Press has two books, Schemers and The New Gothic out next month. In the mean time, why not consider the perfect Halloween read, Shotguns vs Cthulhu?