Eidolon: City in the Sky softcover now available!

Shadow World: EidolonIt has been a long time coming and fraught with problems throughout, but Iron Crown Enterprises are truly thrilled to be able to announce that you can now buy Eidolon: City in the Sky in softcover format from RPGNow!
 
To celebrate its arrival we’re offering a discount on both the softcover and hardcover versions of Eidolon for the first two weeks of March.
 
Buy it Now >>
 
Shadow World: Eidolon: City in the Sky
 
The palace-city of Eidolon floats in the sky above the northern coast of the great continent of Emer, hovering arrogantly over the sprawling canal-city of Sel-kai below. Eidolon is a place of magic and wealth: a beautiful marble, crystal and glass metropolis which is the capital of the powerful economic city-state. It is also the haven and hub to legendary skyships: vessels which sail the winds.
 
Meanwhile, earthbound below, Sel-kai residents toil along the stinking canals, doing much of the work to support the elite residents of the sky-city.
 
But there are new dangers to Eidolon and her sister city of Sel-kai: nearby nations threaten war, and mysterious powers have arisen, coveting the wealth and power of Eidolon.
 
Eidolon Contains:
 

  • Detailed color city maps of Eidolon and Sel-kai.
  • Descriptions of more than 250 individual businesses in Sel-kai and Eidolon, many with layouts.
  • Price lists for items, services, lodging, and transport.

Second Edition Adds:
 

  • A complete layout revision with new material added throughout the book. 100 more pages in all!
  • A timeline advanced several years, including crucial new events.
  • Many new Adventures, set in Sel-kai & Eidolon.
  • New skyship and watercraft info, including ship plans.
  • New details about the inner workings of Eidolon and Sel-kai: society, celebrities, and scandals!
  • NPC stats for RM2/Classic and RMSS/RMFRP.

Get your copy of Eidolon: City in the Sky now >>
 

Rolemaster Fantasy Weapons – Now a Copper Pick product

Rolemaster Fantasy WeaponsA huge thanks to everyone who has bought and support Rolemaster Fantasy Weapons! We’re very proud to announce that this great little supplement has now reached the status of ‘Copper Pick Product’ on RPGNow.
 
Less than 10% of products on RPGNow are rated as ‘Copper Pick’ products and we’re excited to see another product reach this level, especially after the recent success of the Rolemaster Combat Minion – Rolemaster Classic Edition which has now progressed from ‘Copper Pick’ to ‘Silver Pick’.
 
If you haven’t done so already you can pick up Rolemaster Fantasy Weapons for just $3 from RPGNow. It contains information and attack tables for sixteen new weapons for RMSS/RMFRP.
 
 
New weapons include:
 

  • Baw
  • Chakram
  • Chegain
  • Cabis
  • Dag
  • Ge
  • Ikasha
  • Irgaak
  • Kalta
  • Kynac
  • Long Knife
  • Long Kynac
  • Saren
  • Shangkana
  • Typh
  • Yarkbalka

Buy it now at RPGNow >>
 

Roleplaying adventure hooks

Looking for inspiration for your next roleplaying adventure? Then look no further! We’ve put together these three adventure hooks to give you some ideas for your next gaming session. Enjoy!
 
 
A feast to forget
 
The winter festival is a time for fun and family. This year however a spate of sudden illnesses and deaths following the feast requires further investigation.
 
Synopsis
 
It is always hard to remain impartial in an investigation, but when the chief of the local constabulary is a suspect and half the town is ill or dying, outside help is required. The custom of each household bringing a different dish to the feast has never caused problems before. Now PC’s will need to find out who ate what and discover if it was just a poorly cooked dish or something more sinister.
 
 
The hunter becomes the hunted
 
Young hunters will always try to out-do each other in terms of the size and ferocity of their catches. What started as friendly rivalry has now grown out of control and one of the young hunters is missing.
 
Synopsis
 
Three young men are always trying to outshine each other in terms of hunting prowess. Their catches have become bigger and more dangerous as the weeks and months have gone past, but now one of them is missing and a distraught mother will accept any help available to find her son and bring him home. That is unless he has already tried to bite off more than he can chew.
 
 
All creatures great and small
 
Something weird is going on with the animals and an evil presence is looming in the woods
 
Synopsis
 
A small village has quickly become established as a local trading post and is growing fast, wood from the forest is needed for buildings but something is wrong. Animals of all shapes and sizes have been disappearing, running away from owners and attacking anyone who tries to stop them. There are many who say that the spirit of the forest is angry. Others say that a shaman that lives in the woods is angry… and is gathering an army.
 
 
If you think you could turn one of these adventure hooks (or one of your own creation) into a full blown adventure module for publication, we’d love to hear from you – Get in touch >>
 

Rolemaster Combat Minion – Now a silver pick product

Rolemaster Combat Minion SoftwareIron Crown Enterprises are thrilled to announce that the brilliant e-support product Rolemaster Combat Minion – Rolemaster Classic Edition has now reached the status of ‘Silver Pick Product’ on RPGNow.
 
Under 6% of products on RPGNow receive this accolade and we’re really proud to have another product achieve this level of success. A huge thanks to everyone who has purchased and supported the Rolemaster Combat Minion and all Iron Crown Enterprises products.
 
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Combat Minion, you can try the app for free at www.web.com.au/rolemaster/minion. The free web app includes six combat tables: Broadsword, Short Bow, Shock Bolt attack tables, and the Slash, Puncture, Electricity critical tables
 
Rolemaster Combat Minion offers a quick and easy way to manage combat encounters. It streamlines the entire combat process, including initiative, combat calculations, attack and critical tables. It can be used on any desktop PC or tablet with a normal web browser.
 
The Rolemaster Combat Minion – Rolemaster Classic Edition license unlocks the entire Rolemaster Classic set of attack and critical tables.
 
Features include:

  • Your own database of PCs, NPCs and monsters (create/edit/clone)
  • Initiative sequence fully automated
  • Attack results calculated by the software with full table lookups
  • All wounds applied, tracked and saved by the software
  • Encounter log showing the entire sequence of combat actions
  • Save and restore your database of PCs/NPCs/monsters
  • Create and install custom attack and critical tables

 

Director’s Briefing – February 2016

Welcome
 
To the fifty-seventh Briefing and the second scheduled Briefing of 2016.
 
We persist and we persevere.
 
RMU
 
Dan Henry has stepped down from the RMU development team for personal reasons. Joining the RMU development team are Graham Bottley (who is the author of Rolemaster Rome among other rpg works) and Jonathan Dale (whose character creation spreadsheets many of us have come to rely on). Graham is already labouring on the todo list for Spell Law, whilst Jonathan is supporting Matt with Arms & Character Law and Joeri with Creature Law, including migrating a number of races from Creature Law into Arms & Character Law to enrich the core set of player-character races.
 
Shadow World
 
Somehow the master softcover print files for Eidolon got lost at the Lightning Source end of the process again. As Lightning Source have now changed their cover specs very slightly, we’ve adjusted the cover and reuploaded it. Hopefully this will be third-time lucky.
 
Contracts to arrange for the return of The Orgillion Horror and Alchemy Companion are with Tim Taylor.
 
Brian Hanson has been in touch to indicate he’s closing in on the next full draft of Priest-King of Shade.
 
Software
 
There have been a series of updates to the ERA software package and its datasets, notably in terms of the inclusion of additional Shadow World material such as Loremaster and Navigator spell lists.
 
There have also been further updates to the AutoHARP suite, and I have supplied David with the relevant material from HARP Folkways so that a Folkways dataset can be ready for simultaneous release with the pdf.
 
HARP and HARP SF
 
In HARP Bestiary, I have completed the text of the Elemental chapter, so the only part of that left to do is the actual stats. As soon as I can get a couple of evenings, I will get the stats resolved. I have donated the creatures which were originally intended to be Elemental planar creatures to other chapters. I have already seen John’s reconstruction of the Flamedarter and I am very happy that I made the right decision to delegate these. John, by the way, has completed his Dragons chapter; once he reconstructs the other extra monsters, he will be onward to Lycanthropes.
 
Jon Cassie added some culture tables to HARP Folkways for the GM whose inspiration is flagging on how to differentiate cultures in his or her setting.
 
For HARP SF, I have a substantially complete draft of The Poseidon Gambit to review.
 
Until next time
 
Back to more persistence and perseverance. The next scheduled Briefing will be in March 2016.
 
Best wishes,
Nicholas
 
Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
 
 
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
 

NPC – “Father Time”

Father Time NPC
No-one knows his name or where he came from but his incredible speed and mastery of magic and time has earned him the name “Father Time”. He wanders alone through the world and does not want for anything. Using his speed and magical abilities he takes what food and water he needs from anyone he passes but money and belongings means nothing to him. He simply enjoys the world around him.
 
He has earned many enemies because of his penchant for thievery but none are able to catch him. He believes that his superior knowledge and skill entitles him to anything he can take from the ‘lesser beings’ that surround him and that he is merciful that he doesn’t take more.
 
He is not angry or aggressive, he simply considers himself better than others. He does not enjoy large cities but believes that even they have a sort of beauty to them. If attacked or cornered, he will use his great understanding and mastery of time to evade his aggressors and perhaps teach them a lesson with his quarterstaff as he goes.
 
“Father Time” RMU Character profile >>
“Father Time” HARP Character profile >>
 
Appearance
He appears to be in his late fifties. Looks however can be deceiving. He has shoulder-length grey hair and a neatly kept grey beard. His eyes are a piercing shade of blue that feels as if they can see deep into your soul. Despite walking with a stick, he is sprightly and graceful in his movements albeit thin and wiry in his frame. He wears nothing but a grey tunic and sandals and carries very little with him.
 
Adventure Suggestions
An evil tyrant has desecrated a shrine and stolen a great, magical treasure which she is using to enslave the local people. The treasure must be recovered and replaced in the shrine but it is heavily guarded by foul creatures from the abyss. Your adventurers can act as a diversion but you will need someone quick and stealthy to steal it away from under their noses. “Father Time” Seems an ideal candidate but he will need convincing.
 
“Father Time” has been living in a wood for some time and taking food and drink from a poor local farmer when the need arose. The farmer and his family, believing him to be a demi-god made provision for him and ensured he had everything he needed. Now the family’s youngest daughter has been stolen away by a local crime lord and the famer has asked their god for his help. It is this story “Father Time” recounts when he meets you in the woods and asks you to assist him in saving the daughter.
 
As the adventurers continue through the woods on their adventure “Father Time” sets upon them and takes some of their provisions and equipment and gives them a smack with his quarterstaff as he goes. As he disappears into the woods the adventurers have a choice: Should they follow this speedy thief or simply continue on their journey.
 
A small town has had a large portion of its food and provisions stolen by an unknown assailant who lives in the woods. It has gone on too long and they are fed up and looking for some adventurers to set a trap for the thief and hold him accountable for what he has taken.
 

Dún Crú now available on Fantasy Grounds

Dun CruYou can now get the amazing Rolemaster Classic adventure ‘Dún Crú’ on Fantasy Grounds for just $7. This add on gives you everything you need to run this brilliant adventure on Fantasy Grounds’ virtual tabletop system.
 
Buy it Now >>
 
Dún Crú
 
Deep within the Dark Woods of the kingdom of Archendurn is a ruined fortress, Dún Crú. Rumors say that it has become the lair of bandits or evil goblins. Legends say that it is haunted by the spirits of its garrison. Are you brave enough to seek answers to the mysteries of Dún Crú?
 
Dún Crú is a complete adventure module for Rolemaster (both RMSS/FRP and RM Classic) and HARP. Designed for parties of 4th to 6th-level characters, encounters can be scaled upwards or downwards to suit the GM’s needs. Dún Crú is a sequel to the City of Archendurn setting module, but may be used in almost any fantasy setting.
 
Check out the original Dún Crú adventure module available in pdf from RPGNow >>
 
Fantasy Grounds
 
Fantasy Grounds is a virtual tabletop (an application acting as a virtual online gaming table) designed to perform many of the tasks you would do while playing at a conventional gaming table. These include character creation, handing out sheets, maps and notes, combat resolution, rolling dice and keeping track of all game information. Whether you are running games as GM or take part as a player, Fantasy Grounds provides all the necessary tools to communicate, manage information and perform tasks.
 
To use the Dún Crú adventure add on you require a full or ultimate license of Fantasy Grounds and the Rolemaster Classic ruleset (version 1.51 or higher).
 
Visit Fantasy Grounds to find out more and purchase the Dun Cru add on >>
 

Director’s Briefing – January 2016

Welcome to 2016
 
Happy New Year to everyone.
 
Welcome to the fifty-sixth Briefing and the first scheduled Briefing of 2016. This holiday season, my reading began with the Midkemia collaborations Murder in LaMut and Jimmy the Hand, which I had saved from my grand journey through the Riftwar fantasy epics. I had finished Magician’s End many months ago but did not want it to be the end of my sojourns in Midkemia. I followed this with Jack McDevitt’s Coming Home, the most recent volume in his Alex Benedict series. One of the strands in its future history was a dark age where much of humanity’s cultural treasury had been lost triggered by the deliberate collapse of the Internet – the future historians knew from fragmentary references some of what had been lost. It gives pause for thought as to how much of our global culture and history could be at risk. For those interested, my other reading has been the Clarke-Baxter Time Odyssey trilogy and the Clarke-Pohl The Light of Other Days collaboration, and I am currently embarked on Michael Scott Rohan’s Winter of the World series.
 
Obviously the must-see cinema event was Episode VII. The Force Awakens was a great movie, back to the calibre of the original trilogy. Reflecting on the storyline, some of it did not tally with my memories of the backcover blurbs of some of the spinoff novels. Some checking revealed that the entire Star Wars expanded universe had been decanonicalised. I can understand that the multiple post-Jedi novels would overly constrain the maneuvering room for the films, but I am quietly glad that I didn’t get into the spinoffs.
 
A retrospective on 2015
 
As with 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, let us begin with a look back on what was achieved in 2015. We might call 2015 a year of stubborn progress where real-world issues sought to delay us, whether unwanted crises in my workplace, Terry’s big house move, and so forth.
 
But stubborn progress was made.
 
Terry successfully completed two Shadow World products, the adventure module Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn and the enhanced Eidolon sourcebook. Both are available in pdf and print, although we are still waiting on the Eidolon softcover being approved.
 
In software support, we released the RMSS/FRP datasets and Shadow World datasets for RMClassic and RMSS/FRP for use with ERA. We also released AutoHARP Architect to allow AutoHARP users to customise their datasets, and just before year’s end, David Klecker supplied version 2.0 updates for all the AutoHARP files.
 
In HARP, Jon Cassie’s HARP Folkways completed its editing passes reaching a final manuscript version. Terry has nearly completed its art list. Stubborn progress has been made on HARP Bestiary in terms of Undead, Elementals and Dragons.
 
In HARP SF, Joel Lovell’s Tintamar-based adventure module, The Poseidon Gambit, is heading towards a complete first draft.
 
2015 saw the release of the second beta for RMU, including the combined Arms & Character Law, Spell Law, Treasure Law, and Creature Law, and a thorough round of playtesting and discussion ensued. We identified a set of dealbreaker and substantive issues as a result and solutions have been or are being implemented for all of them, which will bring Arms & Character Law to a final draft, and lead in due course to the others stabilising into final draft.
 
In December, ICE/GCP attended Dragonmeet for the second time as traders with Chris Seal running a RMU demo game and supporting myself and my wife on the stand. Drawing upon our lessons from 2014, we had a very successful second convention, even generating a modest profit.
 
GCP continued to be a frequent entrant on the top 15 publisher listing on RPGNow. We continued in the top 2-3% of publishers over the year across all OneBookShelf sites, routinely in the top 20 for printed products and in the top 3 for software products across OneBookShelf.
 
2016
 
If 2015 was the year of stubborn progress, then 2016 will be the year of unrelenting perseverance and successful outcomes emerging.
 
For RMU, it will see solutions to dealbreakers and other issues demonstrated and checked, followed by manuscripts heading towards final form.
 
For HARP, the artwork will be commisioned for HARP Folkways and it will reach publication in due course. I hope to complete the revision of the remaining subsections of the Elementals chapter for HARP Bestiary in the next couple of weeks, and will then take a short aside to bring TGA#4 to a conclusion, before returning to Bestiary. I will be commissioning new HARP products as well that don’t depend on Bestiary. For HARP SF, The Poseidon Gambit should complete and reach publication; again I intend to commission additional HARP SF products. Expect to see calls for proposals on the ICE forums.
 
In Shadow World, I expect to see new sourcebooks and enhanced editions from Terry. Exactly which modules is hard to say, but Wuliris and Emer IV are the obvious contenders. I hope that Lethys, Priest-King of Shade and Norek will make progress on their journeys to (re)publication, and that they will be joined by Journey to the Magic Isle, Cyclops Vale and scanned pdfs of The Orgillion Horror and Alchemy Companion.
 
Until next time
 
Back to persistence and perseverance, and some essential company-related admin. The next scheduled Briefing will be in February 2016.
 
Best wishes,
Nicholas
 
Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
 
 
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
 

Director’s Briefing – December 2015

Welcome to the fifty-fifth Briefing and the twelfth scheduled Briefing for 2015.
 
Dragonmeet
 
A final reminder that we will be at Dragonmeet 2015 (on the 5th December in London) running the “ICE” stand. Boxes of shiny softcover and hardcover HARP, HARP SF, and Shadow World are ready to be placed in a suitcase for transportation down to London. These include six hardcover copies of Eidolon.
 
When not joining myself behind the ICE stand, Chris Seal will be GMing his RMU adventure, Lair of the Ice Lord.
 
“He Who Parts the Mists of Time, chief shaman of the Seal tribe, awoke with a start of terror. Though the vision was cloudy, the spirits had chosen to alert him to the danger his people were sailing towards. A few days later, at a gathering of the Great Fleet of the Seal people, He Who Parts the Mists of Time told his tale. Thus it was that you and your companions, protectors of the tribe and blessed by the spirits, found yourself travelling ahead of the fleet, navigating the hazards of the ice floes and making landfall on the sea ice. Several hard days of travel across the Whitelands have brought you to your destination. Ahead of you, thrust up into the sky like a fist of ice, is the source of the danger that instilled He Who Parts the Mists of Time with such fear, but you still have time. Now, while the evil within is still rising, growing like a cancer on the lands, now is the time for you to act.’
 
If you are in the UK on the 5th, we hope to see you at Dragonmeet.
 
Shadow World
 
Shadow World: EidolonThe print masters for Eidolon were uploaded onto 24th October, and the hardcover was approved in short order, and proof copies arrived very quickly for both myself and Terry. The softcover made it to Lightning Source and then disappeared. OneBookShelf presented it to LightningSource but it has not yet been approved. I suspect it has gone missing again.
 
As soon as this hiccup is resolved, Eidolon will be available for purchase in softcover.
 
However, I am very pleased to report thanks to the assistance of Meredith at OneBookShelf that the hardcover edition of Eidolon is now available for purchase through OneBookShelf, and indeed we are doing a bundle offer of a 5 USD discount for anyone buying pdf and hardcover.
 
RMU
 
The development team are working very hard on solutions for the various dealbreakers and other issues of significant concerns. I am meanwhile in rare moments of tranquility to discern how best to make Creature Law into a publishable book – where or more correctly how best to split it.
 
HARP and HARP SF
 
On HARP Bestiary, I have been persevering with the Elementals. I decided that the best way of presenting the five Elemental being/creatures (Servitors, Steeds, Hunters, Savants and Warriors) was for each type to give an individual description and abilities/combat per Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, and then shared text for Lifestyle, Background and Adventure Notes. I have twenty sets of descriptions and abilities/combat written up fully, and have the Lifestyle, Background and Adventure Notes in note form for Servitors and Steeds. So still to be done are writing up those notes for Servitors and Steeds, completing the writeups of Hunters, Savants and Warrior, and then bring the Elemental Heritage and Creatures sections into alignment with all the other revisions. Elemental Heritage covers such matters as Lesser and Greater Elemental Blood talents; Elemental Creatures covers converting normal monsters into elementally transformed creatures.
 
Safely relocated and (mostly) settled in his new home, Terry has been working on generating an art list for HARP Folkways. I am expecting to receive that soon and then we will be able to commission the artwork.
 
Material continues to appear in the corporate DropBox folder for The Poseidon Gambit, and Joel also poses interesting rules queries on the HARP SF forums.
 
Until next time
 
The next scheduled Briefing will be in January 2016, so all that remains for me to do is to wish you all a Merry Christmas (or other holiday of your choosing) and a Happy New Year.
 
Best wishes,
Nicholas
 
Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
 
 
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
 

Star Wars droids and their real life counterparts

With the release of Star Wars Episode VII fast approaching, I was reading through all the various trailer reviews and fan theories when I stumbled upon this wonderful little graphic detailing the Star Wars droids (so far) and their real life counterparts. Created by Matthew Brown on Behance.net, it really is brilliant and well worth a look for any Star Wars fan.
 
Star Wars Droids