Crown Guard, Heroes of WWII for ICONS

On the eve of the Battle of Britain, it was time for Churchill to pay the price for his defiance of Hitler. For the glory of the Thousand Year Reich, Hitler had decreed that his enemy, the British "warmonger" must die at the hands of his "children of the Aesir". Once this was done, and fire rained from the skies courtesy of the German Luftwaffe, Hitler would order Britain to surrender or the brigade would assassinate His Majesty.

But unlike Czechozlovakia, Poland and even France, the Eugenics Brigade failed. A small group of British heroes had stopped the unstoppable. And as Hitler's sky fire was met with equal fury by the Royal Air Force, more heroes flocked to the side of freedom's last defense, from Canada, from France and from Poland.

The tide had turned. Their finest hour arrived.

This character folio details the following characters:

Big Ben, Excalibur, Esprit, Grizzly, Illustrious, Ironclad, Repulse, Swordfish and Zbrojmistrz. They are His Majesty's Defenders. They are the Crown Guard.

You can purchase Crown Guard here.

Zero Hour

GHKSSJKLAHKCKKDS (Civ 5 head explosion edition)

So yeah, Civ 5 goes live in 19 hours.

Is anyone else rolling their head on their keyboard while they drool in excitement?

That's normal right?

Eugenics Brigade (ICONS) released

New for Steve Kenson's ICONS superhero roleplaying game.

In 1938, Germany had the world's first team of meta-humans at their disposal, aiding the fascist regime in its rapid climb to dominance over Western Europe. Capable of teleporting anywhere in the world, they could assassinate the head of foreign governments who failed to capitulate to Nazi demands and often killed enemy generals on the eve of blitzkrieg attacks.

Charismatisch "Charismatic", Doktor Eugenik, Donnerschlag "Thunderclap", Feuerfest "Fireproof", Götterdämmerung "Ring Bearer", Krieghund "War Hound", Schlagring "Brass Knuckles", Streitaxt "Battleaxe", Traumfrau "Dream Girl" and Überkrieger "Super Soldier".

They are the Chrildren of the Aesir, the Kampfgruppe Eugenik, the Eugenics Brigade.

You can pick this up here.

For some reason this is exactly how I picture a day at the office for Stan Lee

Geek and Gamer Girls Song

EMBED-Geek and Gamer Girls Song - Watch more free videos

I love this.

I mean, it's a video with hot dames talking about questing in Hyrule and when they said "Where Rand al'Thor still reigns supreme" I thought I was going to choke on my coffee.

Brainstorming next OSRIC book

I am working on my next Old School _____ book.

In that exciting phase where things are being thrown against the wall, and I get to watch what sticks.

Still too early for me to really talk about it, though like all the Old School books it will be meaty.

Time to move.

I got bad guys to send to commie heaven.

BTW- do not watch this at work. Or around people easily offended. Or with a mouth full of coffee.

Confession: I hate writing adventures and I'm not super good at it either

Hm, maybe one of those goes with the other.

Most of us in life would prefer to play to our strengths wouldn't we? I mean, it feels a whole hell of a lot better to WIN a basketball game than to lose it, right?

I've certainly done it. I even think I've done it well, but it's always an EXHAUSTING process for me. It's a fight. And these days, I know before going in to write an adventure that I'm heading for Viet Nam.

Huh, maybe that's another reason why I hate it. That's probably not the best attitude to have.

And here's the thing, I know exactly why I struggle when writing adventures, and after years of thinking about the problem, working on it, and growing as a writer (in my humble opinion anyway), I still struggle just as much.

Knowing what the problem and not being able to fix it, that sucks. Cue up another Vietnam analogy I think.

Here's the thing: I *love* writing adventures for my group. I have a group of friends coming over, and I am going to craft something to entertain THEM. It's like cooking, something I also enjoy doing for friends.

Having a group of friends over and providing them with happiness, and using that happiness to set the stage for a night of just enjoying their company, that is the most awesome thing in the world.

But when I write the adventure, I have THEM in mind. I know my players. I know every inch of their character sheets. Every quirk they have as a player. Everything they love and everything that will make them grit their teeth in rage for an entire game session.

I push their buttons. Play to their strengths. Play to their weaknesses. Craft the adventure to give each of them one moment of pure gaming enjoyment.

The minute you take me out of that space. Out of writing an adventure for a specific group of players, the entire process is banjaxed beyond belief.

I sit and stare at my blank page, no faces in my head, trying to figure out what the average adventuring party is into.

Dungeons, I guess...

...

...

And so it begins...

Vigilance Force Heroes of WWII (ICONS)

In 1939, Germany's Eugenics Brigade appears unstoppable. President Franklin Roosevelt declares a national emergency and sends Deuce, the masked still-buster who had risen to prominence during Prohibition, on a national search for metahumans to face this new German threat

The team was one no one thought had a prayer of stopping the German or Japanese super-teams: Old Glory, the living flamethrower; Captain Miracle, the smartest boy alive; Freight Train, the irresistable force; Talon, the boy raised by wolves; Minuteman, the time-travelling patriot;Agent Liberator, the super-powered Leatherneck;Hornet, the mutant queen of insects; Marauder, nearly inhuman berserker; Sea Bee, the Aquatic All-American.

Despite the odds, this band must stand alone against professional super-soldiers, immortal demi-gods and ruthless assasins.

They are the eyes watching the horizon in the dark. They are the Vigilance Force.

You can see a preview and purchase this book here.

Best Knight in the World update

If you are one of the few, the proud, who has already purchased Jason Tondro's awesome intro adventure for Arthur Lives! the Best Knight in the World, I'd like to humbly recommend you download it again for a better experience.

I accidentally uploaded a PDF that hadn't been optimized correctly, resulting in a 15MB download.

The new file is less than 3 MB and has Bookmarks as well.

Sorry for any inconvenience the original file created.

Chuck

Edited to add: If you haven't gotten the adventure yet, no worries, you will get the updated, optimized file.

The Best Knight in the World, an Arthur Lives! adventure available now

The Best Knight in the World is an introductory adventure for Arthur Lives! mixing investigation, psychological horror, and cinematic action.

It is designed to bring together a group of 1st level True20 characters who, though they are Incarnations of Arthurian legend, have not yet recognized themselves.

That will change for at least some of the heroes by the end of this story, as they unite to face a common foe -- an enigmatic serial killer who is willing to reveal himself, but only for a hero of the proper caliber!

You can buy Best Knight in the World here, as well as see a flash preview of the book.

I love this pic

I don't commission art often. Not just for budgetary reasons, though that's partly it.

But I love the work of Italian penciller Marco Morte (who also has a name that lets you know he will FUCK YOU UP if you cross him), and I just had to get him to draw a special piece for Fractured Realms.

This is Axe Onetusk, King of the Basin Tribes.

For decades he led the oricsh nation, unifying the seven tribes, building schools, roads and great cities, and a mighty army to destroy anyone who entered his realm unasked, at one point destroying a large army of ogres and giants through his tactical brilliance.

Now he is dying of old age and his son, a conqueror of the first order, seems determined to use the mighty army his father has built to return the orcs to the old ways and their eternal war against the elves and humans.

I love Axe, and if you detect a lot of my historical geekiness in him, you would be 100% correct. He's loosely based on Phillip of Macedon.

Which means his son would be Alexander the Great, which is very, very, very bad news for the humans and elves of the Fractured Realms.

From Vigilance Press: World of Arkara: Fractured Realms

Welcome to what was the Kingdom of Damask; what is a fractured realm. Once the greatest empire the world had seen in a thousand years, a home to commerce and diplomacy, favored by the King of the Gods, Atos and home to the Eternal City of Atosia.

In the length of time it took an assassin's blade to puncture his heart, a great man died and his kingdom, his dream, would soon follow him into hell. Quick to destroy, the realms will be far harder to reassemble. Can heroes turn the tide?

* Avenge the elven genocide at the hands of orcs, humans and red dragons in the Slaughterwood
* Find a lost prince and restore him to his usurped throne
* Rebuild a shining kingdom plunged into chaos and despair
* Discover the secrets of the Mithril Dragon

In addition to campaign materials, a map of the region, important NPCs and plot hooks the Fractured Realms contains several organizations PCs can join or fight against, along with rules for benefits and responsibilities of membership in a sword and sorcery organization.

Organizations include:

* The Aerie, the largest thieves guild in the known world
* The Crucible, a foreign legion of humans, dwarves and halflings serving the elves in a genocidal war against an invading orc army
* The Firebrand, a chaotic evil gang of orcs and humans under the control of a brood of red dragons that have they have already eradicated the elves of an entire forest
* Freelancers, a group of knights who are either bandits or freedom fighters... or both
* The Owlguard, a mysterious order of Paladins devoted to the god of truth and knowledge
* The Red Dragon Mercenaries, the meanest, toughest mercs in the world have made a home in the Fractured Realms because chaos means lots and lots of mercenary contracts
* The Basin Tribes, once a shining beacon of a truly civilized and peace-loving orc civilization, their king is old and weak and his son seems determined to return the tribes to the old ways and spark a genocidal war to the death between orcs and elves

You can purchase Fractured Realms here

Coming Soon from Vigilance Press

In addition to Fractured Realms, which will be going into layout soon, I am working on layout for the introductory adventure for Arthur Lives! called The Best Knight in the World.

This is a great adventure from series creator Jason Tondro and I think everyone is going to love it.

We also have some big news in the works for Arthur Lives! but it's a little too early for details.

When I have something solid and definite to pass along, I will.

Finally, I've begun preparing for my next OSRIC book, which will be character focused like Old School Psionics and Old School Magic.

However, this book will have a very different focus. It's still way to early to discuss in detail but when I'm done with the current irons in the fire, and turn my attention to this fully, you'll see a lot more than this tease here in these pages.

Chuck

Fractured Realms: 17 and counting

So Fractured Realms is up to 17 pages, meaning it's probably going to end being a little longer than Canterbury Isles.