FK Lore & Great Houses
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 09, 2019 at 03:08:33 PM

G'day all.

For today's update I want to take a little time to talk about the "Fragged Kingdom, Arcane Bay" book.

Fragged Kingdom Lore

While I am very happy with the core Kingdom setting guide book, I felt like it was only able to offer a brief introduction to world of Akharon and the land in, and around, the city of Stronghold. This new book plays the vital role of fleshing out the setting; not only in regards to land, but also the various key NPCs and factions that shape the setting.

The primary content of the book covers 4 areas;

• Pol's Rest (including Stronghold and Neph's Ruin)
• The druid/Nephilim infested Archdruid Woods (the southern portion).
• Arcane Point (ideal land for resettling).
• East Arcane Bay (which has lots of Southern Legion Tribes along its coast).

Great Houses

As an example of this vital lore content, this new book will have write ups on 19 Great Houses from the King's Alliance (along with 5 barbarian tribes and 13 religious factions).

Great Houses are families that once controlled a kingdom within the King's Alliance. Minor Houses are families that never owned a kingdom, and will be largely left up to PCs and GMs to create. Despite their lesser title, Minor Houses may have (or gain) more power than the Great Houses (especially if they are able to claim key land outside Stronghold).

One of my favorites houses is the Kaltoran house of Valdis. These Kaltorans are far from the dirty, scrappy lovable, sympathetic Kaltorans of Empire. Not only are they overly proud, they are also bullies - but not in the classical sense - they use their popularity, intelligence, skill and good luck as weapons to antagonize the brutish Legion house of Burdragon. Bullies are not always strong, stupid and emotionally damaged... they can also be intelligent and charming.

Family Head: Faucon Garnier Valdis, Count of Ferrisburg, Kaltoran.

House Valdis once controlled a large kingdom in central Catlan, and was responsible for bringing the eastern nations into the Alliance while the armies of House Catla and House Burdragon conquered the north. House Valdis prides itself on being a flexible house, able to use both political and martial fields to acquire peace and prosperity. But this was not always the case.

During the long history of the King’s Alliance, House Valdis had a near-constant string of conflicts with two of their neighbours; territorial disputes with House Burdragon to the south, and sea battles against House Daskraken across the eastern Sea of Fog. The warlike nature of these neighbours greatly shaped the priorities and principles of House Valdis, eventually turning them into another martially-focused kingdom.

The rivalry between the Black Knights of Burdragon and the Red Chevaliers of Valdis is known by all and has inspired many great songs and tales. Most of these ballads portray the Red Chevaliers as sympathetic heroes who defeat the Black Knights through cunning and skill. This public image is greatly fueled by the handsome Faucon Garnier Valdis, who exploits their ancient rivalry to gain popularity among the common people of Stronghold and Pol’s Rest.

While the thuggish nature of the Black Knights is well founded, the astute understand that Faucon Garnier is no less a bully. He is well aware that he is more intelligent, cunning and well-liked than the rash Lords of Burdragon and Daskraken. He constantly tricks them into making fools of themselves while simultaneously building up the reputation of his own house. This is a dangerous and short-sighted game that may one day lead to open conflict between the houses.

This new book also give us an opportunity to explore Kaltorans (and the other races) in new contexts. Here are some examples:

• Kaltorans in Kingdom tend to specialize in specific vocations, as their neat ancestry (unlike in Empire) tends to reinforce their genetic skills (this is also how pre-X'ion War Kaltorans functioned in Empire).
• It is a huge deal when a Kaltoran noble marries a rival, as the children of that union may grow up to know ancient family secrets.
• House Sigimund were thrown into chaos when a rival house secretly arranged for a Kaltoran princess tainted with Dark Tribe madness to marry into their family; corrupting their bloodline.

If Kingdoms continues to sell well, I hope to release a PDF supplement that will help people to play in a pre-Druid War Akharon where the continent was shaped by the political aspirations of great kingdoms.

Live Interview on Twitch in 30min
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 09, 2019 at 03:08:16 PM

G’day all, I just wanted to let you know that in 30ish minutes I will be doing a live interview with Mitch from Penny For a Tale on Twitch. Feel free to come by and say hi!

https://www.twitch.tv/pennyforatale

And just the other day Garm from Midgardia was kind enough to interview me. We had a great chat about Fragged Empire, Kingdom, Kickstarter and the creative process :D Garm is a super chill and friendly guy who is very easy to listen to.

Maps, Maps, Maps!
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 09, 2019 at 03:08:05 PM

The launch weekend (+ a couple of days) for the Kickstarter has gone very well :) Thanks SO MUCH to those who have pledged, every backer is greatly appreciated!

My emotions always go on a roller-coaster ride when I launch a new campaign, as putting my creativity and financial stability out there for everyone to ‘vote on’ is gut-wrenchingly scary… but also simultaneously exciting. It’s a unique mixture of dread, relief and hope.

We are currently sitting at 77% funded, which is a massive achievement as our $55k goal is higher than any previous Fragged goal. In fact, we are tracking at a slightly higher pledge rate than we have in previous campaigns – so I am hopefully that we will be fully funded by next week if we can continue to bring in more existing and new Fragged fans (fingers crossed!!!).

Maps

Back when I was working on the Fragged Expanded books (Kingdom, Aeternum and Seas) I developed a real taste for map making, and that seed of interest played a key role in my decision to make these new books.

We RPGers love maps. Not only do they make excellent game handouts that help players and GMs to put their world and stories into the context of the wider setting, they also help to move games forward. In my personal games I really enjoy it when my players huddle around a map to make plans and to piece together the games story. Maps allow them to tie things together without me (the GM) holding their hands.

Below is a small selection of the maps that will be included in each book. While many of these are finished, some are still works in progress.

FE: Mishpacha Maps

Drawing sci-fi maps can be rather difficult, as they inevitably end up looking very clean and technical. But I wanted to develop an look that added a more ‘well-travelled’ aesthetic that reflected the idea that Rachel was using these maps as she walked through the jungles of Mishpacha.

So I started out by drawing up brightly coloured, gridded maps… and then I drew all over them with little doodles, arrows and annotations. Rachel was drawing all over her maps, personalizing them :D

I am SUPER happy with these maps, as I think they are some of the best I have ever made.

FA: Greyburgh Market Maps

I REALLY liked the map that I drew for the core Aeternum setting guide book, so it was an obvious choice to maintain that ‘oppressive and busy’ aesthetic that so accurately reflected the nature of the Aeternum setting.

FK: Arcane Bay Maps

The Arcane Bay maps were tricky to work on. The aesthetic that I had developed in the core Fragged Kingdom setting book worked well for a large, zoomed-out, map… but it struggled to display the pin point accuracy that was needed for some areas.

But I had had a similar issue in the core Kingdom setting book when drawing the pre and post-war maps of the Catlan continent. To solve that issue I had used 2 different styles of map in the same book. So I continued that trend in this new book; developing an additional style that met the books need for precision.

End of Day 1, 63% funded, and a closer look at the 2 new Aeternum Natures!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 01:48:23 AM

G’day all.

We have had a fantastic first 24 hours, 63% funded of a $55k goal is a great achievement. I would like to especially thank everyone for pledging so early in the campaign and those who have shared this campaign with their communities :)

Now to share some content from one of the new books. The two new Natures for Aeternum: Overlord and Gadgeteer!

Overlord

“Come forward my little impish slaves. From the black abyss you rise to fight for one master against another. You are but pawns to be sacrificed, cattle to be slaughtered, and arrows to be broken.” - Vanstack Daos, the Blood Warlock, Chapter 5 v6b, ‘Let the Fiends Fight One Another’.

Overlords are ideal for characters who use others to fight their battles, or who are tacticians that like to fight as part of a larger team. 

Legend has it that the Tethered Order once had many Overlords when it was large and well-supplied. But in these times of diminished resources, they have become rare and most Tethered are accustomed to fighting as a small elite force.

Overlords are defined by the nature of their Minions. Most are created; such as undead warriors, clockwork soldiers, or enslaved minor Fiends. But the occasional ambitious Tethered will take on the task of training up new recruits, forming a special bond with their apprentices that gives them immortal life (while the bond remains) but not all of the Tethered powers (ie: they do not become a Spectre when they die).

Rules

• +1 Leadership and Insight.
• You have 4 Minions.
• These work a little like Henchmen.
• Their base Defence, Armour and Movement are equal to yours. They have 0 Endurance and are removed from combat if they would suffer 1 point of Attribute Damage.
• They may be automatically removed through the Rush Action.
• They may move once during your Turn.
• They are armed with the same Weapon as you. When you make an Attack, you may instead have one of your Minion make an attack using all of the modifiers that you would have gained (ie: Attribute Bonuses from that Action, Trait abilities, etc...). Each Minion may only be used in this way once per Turn.
• Minions have the same Skill Rolls as you, but may only gain up to a +1 bonus, and may not assist other characters.
• Corruption +2.

Overlord characters have the potential to be both strong defenders (as their Minions may absorb attacks) or aggressors (as their Minions may give them an ideal angle of attack), depending on how they use their Minions. This strong position may quickly disappear if their Minions are swiftly removed from Combat (ie: via the Rush Action, or Splash Attacks). Their choice of Weapon and Stance will also greatly affect their combat style, as their Minions are equipped in the same way.

Example Characters

• Clockwork Soldier Smith.
• Golem Crafter.
• Houndmaster.
• Necromancer.
• Commander with trainee Tethered.
• Warlock with Summoned Imps.

Gadgeteer

“I hate Fiends, and Fiends hate my Mk 3 Tri-Barrell Crystal Gun.” - Ella 'Silence Bane’ McDirth.

At their heart all Gadgeteers are creators, and often walk a thin line between science and technology. While some Gadgeteers will firmly pick one side over the other, most will blend the two. They make ideal characters for players who wish to enjoy an ever-changing range of accessories and options.

Gadgeteers tend to be self-taught, eccentric and view the world in a formulaic way, breaking problems down into equations. This procedural way of looking at life can be very helpful, but it often causes them considerable difficulty when they are faced with obstacles that defy the common laws of reality.

Very few Tethered have ever met a Gadgeteer, as technological advancement within Aeternum is not only an anomaly but is also treated with some suspicion. Those that do become a Gadgeteer were often once Shrewd Tethered who wished to take their use of tools to a new height. Tethered Gadgeteers will nearly always have a workshop built near their Great Lantern. These workshops are given a wide birth by other Tethered and are never built alongside libraries or other vital workspaces.

Rules

• +1 Commoners and Production.
• +1 to all Spare Time Rolls.
• Gadget: You may make 1 free non-Study, non-Commodities Spare Time Roll per session.
• All Gadgets gained in this way that do not have the ‘X Uses’ Keyword gain the ‘Two Uses’ Keyword (GM discretion should be given).
• Other Characters will find it difficult to use your Gadgets.
• Madness +1.
• -1 Nature.

Gadgeteers can make for odd but exciting characters. Their builds should revolve around the regular use of Poisons (use Weapons with the Poison Keyword), Arcane Consumables and Rituals. Having a high Production Skill will help with passing Spare Time Rolls, and having a few spare Slots for your Gadgets will also be very helpful.

Gadgeteers may make effective use of any Weapon and Stance, but they may also make regular use of the Think Action to use their Gadgets. So they should also have a reasonable Speed and Might.

Gadgeteers should work closely with their GM to maintain character balance, especially if they wish to create new Consumables and Rituals that are not listed in a book.

Example Characters

• Alchemist.
• Artificer
• Inventor.
• Rune Master.
• Techno-Magi.
• Trapper.

All 10 of the Aeternum Natures will be getting write ups like these in the new book, along with new Nature Traits :)

Awesome first few hours :)
almost 5 years ago – Thu, Jun 27, 2019 at 06:28:34 AM

We have had a great first hours (over 35% funded!) and I expect things to continue to go well as people in different timezone wake up :D

Content in this Update:

• Introduction short story to the Empire book; "Rachel Swagger's Guide to Mishpacha".
• Development progress for all 3 books.
• A call to arms!! Sharing this campaign with your local and online communities.
• Discord.

The only sound in the galley was the low hum of the geist machine, along with Rachel drumming her fingers on her knees.

Theo sat with his feet up on the table, eyes scanning her datapad. He’d deliberately hidden his face by taking very long swigs from his mug, rendering his expression unreadable. Finally, he swung his legs down and slid the datapad back across to Rachel.

“Pointless,” was his opening remark. Rachel set down her fork, fixing him with a glare.

“So glad I got you to take a glance,” she said, “But that’s not exactly the type of constructive criticism I was after.”

“Your introduction is fine,” Theo continued, with the barest hint of a smile. He leaned back in his chair, hands crossed like he was giving fatherly advice. “But a travel guide to Mishpacha isn’t going to sell. And if it’s popular, then everyone will just pirate a copy off the Digital Stream, so you’ll have wasted your time.”

“This may be an alarming thought…” Rachel began, snatching up the datapad, “But have you ever considered that not everything thinks the same way you do?”

“Of course they don’t. That’s what gives me the edge.”

“I mean that I’m not in this for the money. What I write might actually help people. And what you write, if you were interested.”

“If it means that much to you, then write away,” Theo replied. He’d already pulled his scroll out of his pocket and was projecting the Alabaster stock news onto the table’s surface. “But we’re heading to Mishpacha on business. Don’t be dragging us into tourist traps on account of your little side project.”

“Heaven forbid we have any fun.”

Rachel rose from her chair and crossed to the geist machine, placing her mug underneath and watching it fill with the steaming, life-giving liquid. The travel guide idea had suddenly hit her the night before, resulting in her excitedly poring over maps and files of Mishpacha and jotting down notes until the early hours. Her hair was even more of a mess than usual, and she hadn’t given the ship’s engine any thought for hours, but none of it could dampen her enthusiasm.

Mishpacha… the most populated Kaltoran world before the war. Liberally coated in ruins, memories, history, danger, adventure; she’d finally made it, and the anticipation coursed through Rachel in equal measure to the geist that she was sculling like a dying person at a desert oasis, because she was still very tired.

“You know…” she said, turning and dabbing at the sides of her mouth with one sleeve, “If this thing makes a few Credits, then we can finally fix those loose couplings in the power room.”

Theo took a moment to swallow his mouthful of toast, eyes still fixed on the financial news.

“Employees using personal funds to fix company assets,” he mused. “I could get behind that.”

“Ha ha, but seriously,” Rachel said, sitting back down on her chair. “I don’t think you get how important this place is to Kaltorans. Everyone wants to come here, most won’t, and no one has written anything like this, not yet. How does a potential audience of millions sound to your Credit-obsessed ears?”

“Alright,” Theo conceded, rolling his eyes. He closed the display on his scroll with a flick of his wrist, then used the metallic cylinder to point at Rachel. “Your nagging does not fall upon deaf Credit-obsessed ears; this could raise my industry expert profile anyway. But if the book takes off, I want a cut.”

“According to you it definitely won’t, so thanks for the free labour.”

“Don’t sass me, Swagger.”

Rachel met his smirk with a sickly-sweet smile of her own. She scooped up her breakfast tray and turned to slide it into the cleaning slot, but found herself face-to-face with Hraks. Apparently, the Nephilim scientist had slunk into the room while they’d been talking.

“Top of the morning to you,” the Kaltoran girl said, leaning back as far as she could with the chair jutting into her. “Is there a reason you’re invading my personal space?”

“Babies,” Hraks said, matter-of-fact. She took a long draught from her geist mug, as if she’d already fully-expressed her point. Rachel glanced at Theo, who looked as nonplussed as she felt.

“They are a gift from above,” Rachel said, sliding around Hraks to the tray slot. “Unless you’re saying you need a fresh supply for the lab, in which case we’ve already told you that we frown upon those sorts of… experiments.”

Hraks turned with an irritated look. “I’m in support of your idea. Documenting our knowledge is essential for the future.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Rachel said, satisfied. “I was just telling the boss…”

“Which is why you must have babies,” Hraks interrupted. “As soon as possible, so that your genetic memories will live on through them.”

A deathly chill fell over the galley. Theo seemed to detect imminent danger and left his chair with a grunt, not even stopping to refill his mug on his way out the door.

“I…” Rachel began, the words dying in her throat. “I have to… what the actual Gehenna did you just say?”

“Passing on memories is an even greater pursuit than writing a book.”

“You. You, Hraks. Suggesting I, Rachel, have babies.”

“I’m deeply invested in the concept of procreation.”

“Oh, you’re deeply invested in the concept of…”

Rachel interrupted herself by raising both hands, in a ‘stop’ motion or a defensive posture; she wasn’t sure which.

“So, this conversation is over,” she said, through the gritted teeth of a false smile. “In fact, it never actually happened. What were we talking about again?”

“Babi…”

“NOT A REAL QUESTION!” Rachel yelled, clapping her hands over her ears and sprint-walking out of the galley, leaving a confused Hraks in her wake. A safe distance down the corridor she unclamped her hands, just in time for the sound of the destination alert. She muttered to herself as the door to the bridge slid open.

The sight that greeted her swept away all other thoughts from her mind. She managed a nod to Max, who stood at the railing of the bridge, and walked past Theo sitting in the nav chair, communicating with ground control.

Mishpacha hung in space before them, its verdant vastness of green dwarfing any planet Rachel had ever seen. Ravaged by war, teeming with life, ready and waiting for new people, and new memories.

Hraks slid into the room, and the four of them took a moment to simply gaze at the planet.

“We’re clear,” Theo said after a few moments, breaking the silence. “Commencing descent.”

The engines fired, the planet drew closer, and the Galatea began its descent to the surface with Rachel already mulling over some quirky chapter titles for her future bestseller.

Development State

Development for all 3 books is going well, but especially for the Aeternum 'Greyburgh Market' book where the creative juices have flowed non-stop since we started. Kingdom's 'Arcane Bay' has taken a lot more work as the world has required a lot more fleshing out (ie: we had fleshed out 19 Great Houses, 13 religious factions and 5 barbarian legion tribes). The Empire book is going well in the art department, but the lore writing is going quite slow as I'm using a new writing style where almost everything is told from the perspective of a person, as if it was a written down journal.

My hope is to have all 3 book out in PDF early access by the end of the year, and then printed up early next year. But the quicker I can get things done the better, as this will give us more time for polish (playtesting, editing, gathering community feedback, etc...). Polish is what will turn these from good books into great books.

FE Art: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯] 80%
FE Lore: [▮▮▮▯▯▯▯▯▯▯] 30%
FE Rules: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮] 100%
FE Layout: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯] 90%
FE: Editing:  [▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯] 0%

FA Art: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮] 100%
FA Lore: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯] 90%
FA Rules: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮] 100%
FA Layout: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮] 100%
FA: Editing:  [▮▮▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯] 20%

FK Art: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯] 70%
FK Lore: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯] 70%
FK Rules: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮] 100%
FK Layout: [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▯] 90%
FK: Editing:  [▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯] 0%

A Call to Arms!

Ok team, most of you are vets and you know that the #1 way for a Kickstarter campaign to go super well is for it to be shared around by the community... aka, shared around by you :) Posts on online sources from a community member is so much more impactful than if it comes from me (but don't worry, I will be working SUPER hard over the next month to promote Fragged!!!!).

If you feel comfortable sharing this page with your local and online communities I would be VERY thankful! The faster we can reach our target goal; the more stretch goals we can reach, and the better the final products.

Some ideas:

• Online forums.
• Social media pages (ie: Facebook groups, Twitter, Reddit, etc...).
• Local gaming groups.
• Discord channels.
• Your favorite bloggers and podcasters.
• Etc...

Discord

I also want to take this opportunity to plug our Fragged Discord channel as it has been getting a lot of traction over this past year. If you're looking for a place to talk Fragged lore/rules, RPGs in general, or for a place to run online games, then the Discord channel would be a good place to visit.

I hang out there every day :)

Link: https://discord.gg/ZnPSAq7