Dying Earth
Original Dying Earth Press Release
The following press release for the Dying Earth RPG originally appeared on DyingEarth.com around 2004.
Stories of the Earth’s demise are premature.
Press Release
Pelgrane Press
LONDON, ENGLAND – Dying Earth RPG released.
After two years of development, design and playtesting, Pelgrane Press has released its role playing game based on novelist Jack Vance´s seminal Dying Earth series. Written by Robin D. Laws (Feng Shui, Hero Wars) John Snead (Nephilim, Star Trek) and genre writer Peter Freeman, the game features robust, fast-playing rules that encourage creativity and interaction.
Simon Rogers, Managing Director of Pelgrane Press said “The Dying Earth RPG has exceeded all our expectations. Jack Vance and Robin D Laws are a killer combination – great rules and a superb and atmospheric background. The artwork and layout are of the highest quality, and the book itself is glossy and attractive. We intend to support this game with new releases throughout the year and beyond.”
In the game you enter a world where the sun is in its dotage, where a flashing sword is less important than nimble wits, persuasive words, and a fine sense of fashion. Choose from three levels of play, a lowly rogue such as Cugel the Clever, surviving by wits and cunning, an ambitious and deadly mage searching for lost lore, like Turjan of Miir or finally a supreme magician to rank with Rhialto the Marvellous, commanding the omnipotent but quarrelsome Sandestins. The Dying Earth is available through good RPG stores and on line at Pelgrane Press.
INFORMATION
Jack Vance is the world’s greatest living Fantasy author. Jack Vance wrote the DYING EARTH series of books over many years; the original volume “The Dying Earth” was released before Lord of the Rings. Other volumes include “Eyes of the Overworld”, “Cugel’s Saga” and “Rhialto the Marvellous.” He is said to be “tolerant” of the idea of a roleplaying game based on his work.
Principal designer Robin D.Laws has inveigled such game publishers as Wizards of the Coast, Last Unicorn, Pinnacle, FASA, and Steve Jackson Games into compensating him for his efforts. His works include the roleplaying games Feng Shui (Atlas), Glorantha: Hero Wars (Issaries, Inc.), and Pantheon (Hogshead), and the novels Pierced Heart and The Rough and the Smooth (Atlas).
Magic rules designer John Snead has, to his astonishment, designed no fewer than six magic systems for roleplaying games. He has also written for the Trinity, Aberrant, and Star Trek: The Next Generation RPGs.
An established genre author, contributed the illustrative “Daybook of Geomalacus,” “Journal of Xolon the Hide Merchant,” and “Disavowal of Jhail” sidebar texts. He holds a degree in Ecological Genetics, which offers an interesting perspective on the creatures of the Dying Earth.
Pelgrane Press Ltd
18-20 Bromell’s Road
London
SW4 7SA
| Pelgrane Press acquire the rights to publish an RPG based on the Dying Earth Books By Jack Vance. |
LONDON, ENGLAND: Pelgrane Press Ltd, a UK-based company is pleased to announce that it has acquired the rights to produce games based on Jack Vance’s seminal Dying Earth novels.
Pelgrane Press is jointly owned by ProFantasy Software Ltd, which produces the renowned Campaign Cartographer map-making software, Simon Rogers, co-founder of ProFantasy Software and Sasha Bilton, a long-time Vance fan, role-player and top Java programmer.
“We are very excited by this property,” says Simon Rogers. “We intend to do justice to the license. In a world of genre fiction, vanilla fantasy, Vance’s voice is unique. We are brimming with idea to bring Vance’s world to life. In the game, your choice of menu will say more about your character than whether you know the business end of a Bohemian ear-spoon.”
Sasha Bilton said, “The Dying Earth has been such an inspiration to fantasy roleplaying games designers and now, finally, we’ll get to play at the source. The chance to work with the highly professional team who run ProFantasy Software Limited is the icing on the cake. ProFantasy has the distribution channels, industry knowledge and business savvy that will set Pelgrane Press apart from most game company start-ups. I can’t wait to get playtesting.”
Vance’s style is humorous and vivid, yet melancholic. His characters, petty or powerful, are well drawn and credible. They have weaknesses and vices combined with a redeeming humanity. Vance’s creations range from Cugel the Clever (an incorrigible rogue whose fortunes fluctuate with his pride) to Rhialto the Marvellous (a dashing, vain mage who commands elemental spirits called sandestins). In between are less talented wizards, doomed brigands, vat-grown beauties and wandering innocents. All overestimate their abilities and the stories delight in describing their misadventures.
Pelgrane Press will begin work on its roleplaying game in January. Submission guidelines will be available soon.
INFORMATION
Jack Vance is the world’s greatest living Fantasy author. He wrote the DYING EARTH series of books over many years; the original volume “The Dying Earth” was released before Lord of the Rings. Other volumes include “Eyes of the Overworld”, “Cugel’s Saga and Rhialto the Marvellous.” He is said to be “tolerant” of the idea of a roleplaying game based on his work.
PROFANTASY SOFTWARE LTD was formed in 1993 and publishes critically acclaimed PC software for gamers including Campaign Cartographer, Dungeon Designer and the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas for Wizards of the Coast.
SASHA BILTON is the Managing Director of Ends of Invention and is one of the few expert Java programmers in the UK.
The Dying Earth — and its rules-lighter version the Revivification Folio — take you into the world of master fantasist Jack Vance, where a flashing sword is less important than nimble wits, persuasive words,and a fine sense of fashion. Survive by your cunning, search for lost lore, or command the omnipotent but quarrelsome sandestins. Purchase The Dying Earth or the Revivification Folio in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.