The Guild Adventurer reaches new heights

The Guild Adventurer #1Hot on the heels of Emer III for Shadow World becoming an electrum pick product on RPGNow, The Guild Adventurer #1 has now joined it as a member of this very elite (under 500 products) group and is now also an electrum pick product on RPGNow.
 
For those of you who haven’t seen or heard of The Guild Adventurer #1, it is a is a compilation of original adventures and adventure-related material for Rolemaster, Shadow World, Spacemaster, and HARP. Our all-star cast of contributors have created a rich and diverse set of scenarios for Fantasy and Sci-Fi settings to help put the adventure back into your games and for only $8 it is not to be missed.
 
The Guild Adventurer #1 includes:
 

  • “The Temple of the Three”, a Shadow World adventure written by Terry Amthor himself, the creator of Kulthea, and dual-statted for Rolemaster 2 (RM 2) and Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing (RMFRP);
  • “Prisoners of Cherin Keep”, an adventure by Ivan Kline, Coleen Kelly, and J. Ricco McMillan, dual-statted for Rolemaster and HARP;
  • “The Paranoia Game”, a science fiction adventure for Spacemaster:Privateers by Robert Defendi, author and designer of the entire Spacemaster:Privateers product line and of the stunning Echoes of Heaven setting from Final Redoubt Press;
  • “The Vampire’s Barrow”, a HARP adventure by Nicholas HM Caldwell, author of Mentalism Companion, Construct Companion, College of Magics, and HARP SF;
  • “People, Places and Paraphernalia: The Flying Toadstool Inn”, an adventure location for HARP by Allen Maher, contributor to the HARP character compilation, Friends & Rivals;
  • “People, Places and Paraphernalia: The Red Hooded Traveler’s Inn”, an adventure location for HARP by Aaron Smalley, author of City of Archendurn;

If you have bought and used The Guild Adventurer #1 then our most sincere thanks in helping support this product and Iron Crown Enterprises.
 
Buy The Guild Adventurer #1 now >>
 

Emer III now an electrum pick

Emer III Rolemaster RPG SettingFewer than 650 products on RPGNow have ever reached the heights of ‘Electrum Pick’ status, that’s less than 1.5% of all the products that the online roleplaying game seller has available. That’s why we’re so thrilled that Emer III has now joined the likes of HARP Fantasy (which then went on to become a ‘Gold Pick’), HARP SF and the Shadow World Player Guide – The World in becoming an ‘electrum pick’ product!
 
A huge thanks to everyone who has bought and supported this product. We hope you have enjoyed reading it and playing it as much as we enjoyed producing it.
 
If you haven’t yet bought your copy of Emer III, you can buy it on RPGNow in both softcover and hardcover formats and as a pdf.
 
Buy Emer III now >>
 

Eidolon becomes a silver pick in under a month!

EidolonA huge thanks to everyone who has bought and supported Eidolon: City in the Sky and helped get it to ‘Silver Pick’ status on RPGNow within a month of its release!
 
While we love every product that we release equally, it is always nice to see something that we have produced be so well received. It shows that we’re on the right track and not only producing role playing products that appeal to our fans but reaching out to new players and bringing old players back into the fold.
 
With only 5.58% of products on RPGNow ever reaching ‘silver pick’ status, it is amazing that Eidolon: City in the Sky has achieved it in such a short time. If you have already purchased your copy please feel free to give it a review on RPGNow (or any other site for that matter). If you sign up to our Mailing List we’ll let you know as soon as the print versions become available.
 
If you haven’t yet got your copy, you only have a couple of days left (until the 5th November) to get your copy for just $10 by following the link below:
 
Buy Eidolon: City in the Sky for just $10 >>
 
Once again a huge thanks to everyone who has supported this and all other ICE products and of course to Terry K. Amthor for creating such brilliant setting material. Next stop Electrum pick!
 

Director’s Briefing – November 2015

Welcome to the fifty-fourth Briefing and the eleventh scheduled Briefing for 2015.
 
Dragonmeet
 
We will be at Dragonmeet 2015 (www.dragonmeet.co.uk, on the 5th December in London) running the “ICE” stand. Copies of HARP, HARP SF, and Shadow World books have been ordered from OneBookShelf, including Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn in softcover and hardback. Assuming all goes well with the Eidolon print masters, we will have printed editions of Eidolon available for purchase as well.
 
Chris Seal will be donning the GM’s mantle and running a RMU adventure. More details to follow.
 
We hope to see many of the UK-based fans at Dragonmeet.
 
Shadow World
 
Shadow World: EidolonSpeaking of Eidolon, the special introductory offer price of 10 USD ends on 5th November, so to take advantage of the deal, please hurry up and use the link below:
 
Buy Eidolon for $10
 
Terry has already corrected various errata and updated the interior maps to higher resolution. The cover has also been enhanced. I sent an update message via OneBookShelf but I know a significant proportion of customers switch notifications off, so if you purchased Eidolon before 25th October and you have not downloaded the updated file, please do so whenever convenient.
 
The print masters were submitted to OneBookShelf on 24th October, so I am hoping to be able to order the proof copies in the next few days.
 
Also as you may have noticed, we released two Shadow World datasets for use with ERA. One dataset is for RM Classic; the other for RMSS/FRP.
 
In other news, I have been in negotiations with Tim Taylor, who among many other fine contributions to Rolemaster, was and is the author of Alchemy Companion, The Orgillion Horror, Journey to the Magic Isle, and Cyclops Vale. We have agreed in principle that Alchemy Companion and Orgillion Horror will return as scanned pdfs, while Journey to the Magic Isle and Cyclops Vale (as befitting their Shadow World canonical status) will be reconstructed into new editions for release in pdf and print.
 
RMU
 
I wrote last month about the two new playtesting boards for RMU and how I am on the alert for dealbreaker issues that would cause significant numbers of existing RMClassic and RMSS/FRP fans to balk at buying into and playing/GMing RMU.
 
The biggest dealbreaker for many has been the Size mechanics. This has now been addressed by restoring creatures to absolute concussion hits and by replacing the mechanics of multiplying and dividing damage according to size category differential with simply adjusting the critical degree delivered. For those who want bigger creatures to pack more oomph, there will be an optional concussion hit addition, precalculated in the tables. There will also be more unique weapons tables. The development team are currently working on implementing these changes.
 
Several other issues have also been addressed and solutions proposed, such as available development points and initiative/action points.
 
Additional areas of (substantial) concern are: viability of random stat generation, profession differentiation and related matters of skill categories and costs, culture differentiation, more varied core races, spell casting penalties for material carried, too many stun types, Adrenal Defense as skill or talent, making item creation in Treasure Law simpler, and random item tables. None of these are full-blown dealbreakers but they do need resolution.
 
Creature Law as it currently stands is a publishing deal-breaker as it is just too big to be printed. It also has usability issues which require resolution so that it is easier for GMs to use the creatures within it.
 
HARP and HARP SF
 
On HARP Bestiary, I have been wrestling with the Elementals. Although Elementals were described and statted in the original Something Wicked manuscript for the four elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water, with explicit stat tables from 1st to 20th level, the stat blocks were too tightly constrained by attempting to be consistent with material that is no longer deemed HARP canon. So I have been trying to liberate the Elementals from this straitjacket.
 
At the time of writing this Briefing, my intention is to create a Type I Elemental Servitor being, a Type II Elemental Steed (this went to Type II by accrual of additional abilities), and then have Elemental Warriors, Elemental Hunters, and Elemental Savants. Warriors, Hunters and Savants will come in Types I through V; each will have somewhat different abilities. Warriors will pursue Fighter and Warrior Mage professional orientations, Hunters will pursue the Hunter and Ranger professions, while Savants will pursue Elementalist and variant mage professions. What I am currently wrestling with (and writing this editorial) while figuring out a solution to how best to present the Warriors, Hunters and Savants. Is a Fire Elemental Warrior more similar to Water Elemental Warrior or a Fire Elemental Hunter? Does it make more sense to split by Element or category? Still thinking.
 
John Duffield has also handed in a much more fulsome Dragon and Dragon Kin chapter. He is currently statting up his wyverns, dracos, and fey dragons.
 
Joel Lovell is continuing to quietly slip additional material for The Poseidon Gambit adventure module into the corporate DropBox folder
 
Until next time
 
The next Briefing will be in December.
 
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.
 

HARP SF now an electrum pick!

HARP SF RPGToday we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has bought, played and promoted HARP SF since it’s release. This is because today we’re overjoyed to announce that HARP SF has become an electrum pick on RPGNow!
 
For those of you not aware of RPGNow and it’s ranking system, becoming an electrum pick is a big deal. Metal icons are a rough indication of a products popularity with each level being progressively harder to reach. Over 83% of products on RPGNow never achieve a metal icon. Only 9.45% ever become a ‘copper pick’ which is the lowest level of metal with 5.59% achieving Silver. Electrum (which is the third highest metal) is an accolade reserved for the privileged few with only 1.18% of products on RPGNow reaching the level that HARP SF has now reached.
 
In case you haven’t yet bought HARP SF, here’s a brief look at what makes the game so great:
 
HARP SF
 
– the roleplaying game of the future has arrived
 
Whether your game focuses on events on a single inhabited world in the near future or is a galaxy-spanning epic set millennia hence in the far future, HARP SF is the right choice for you.
 
HARP SF retains all the simplicity and flexibility of the original HARP Fantasy game but expands its reach to a whole new universe of infinite possibilities.
 
HARP SF includes:
 

  • Character creation rules for human and alien characters
  • 11 professions
  • 6 alien species
  • 9 cultures
  • 80+ skills
  • 100+ talents
  • Futuristic equipment and technology
  • Rules for sf adventuring on alien worlds and outer space
  • Rules for personal combat
  • 23 critical tables
  • Psionics
  • Gamemastering guidance
  • An introduction to the new Tintamar setting


If you haven’t yet got a copy you can buy it in pdf, softcover and hardcover at RPGNow HERE.
 
If you have already got your copy. A huge thanks from all the team here at ICE. We hope you have enjoyed it and continue to enjoy it in the future.
 

New Release – ERA for Shadow World

ERA Shadow World RMCHot on the heels of the release of the second edition of Eidolon: City in the Sky, Iron Crown Enterprise are pleased to announce the release of yet another brilliant new product! Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, we give you ERA for Shadow World (RMC) and ERA for Shadow World (RMSS/RMFRP)!
 
These products are additional modules for the FREE Electronic Roleplaying Assistant (ERA) e-support package.
 
This feature package is the ultimate Shadow World addition for ERA.
 
It provides 68 races, as presented in Shadow World Master Atlas 4th Edition. Each race impacts stat and resistance bonus, body and power point progression, initial languages, number of talent points, everyman and restricted ERA for Shadow Worldskills, and includes the complete detail of description and special characteristics.
 
It also provides 14 cultures, to match with the races as suggested in the Shadow World Master Atlas 4th Edition. For campaigns which require it, any combination can be picked. So why not try creating a Kuluku raised in the underground, or even in the city!
 
Also, any future Shadow World content developed for ERA will be included in these packages.
 
Buy ERA for Shadow World (RMC) >>
 
Buy ERA for Shadow World (RMSS/RMFRP) >>
 
 

80 fantasy plants for your next role playing adventure

As I was mooching around the internet I came across the great graphic on Geek Native. Made by the good folks from AvasFlowers it depicts 80 great fantasy plants with a short explanation of each. Great for giving you inspiration if you’re looking to introduce some more interesting plants into your next roleplaying adventure.
 
Fantasy Plants
 

Eidolon: City in the Sky out now!

EidolonIron Crown Enterprises are thrilled to announce the publication in pdf of the enhanced version of Eidolon for 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. This city is a place of magic and wealth: a beautiful marble, crystal and glass metropolis which is the capital of the powerful economic city-state of Sel-kai. It is also the haven and hub to legendary skyships: vessels which sail the winds.
 
But there are new dangers to Eidolon and her sister city of Sel-kai below: nearby nations threaten war, and mysterious powers have arisen, coveting the wealth and power of Eidolon.
 
 
This second edition sourcebook retains all the great features of the first (which saw it receive a 4-star glowing review in Dragon back in the day) and adds a hundred pages of new fantastic material including:
 

  • 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.

Dual-statted for Rolemaster Classic and RMSS/FRP, Eidolon: City in the Sky has everything you need for you next adventure in Shadow World.
 
Until the end of October the pdf of Eidolon will be available at the special introductory offer price of $10. To take advantage of this discount, please use the following link:
 
Buy Eidolon: City in the Sky for just $10 >>
 
We are now working towards making Eidolon available in softcover and hardcover editions in November and will have copies available for sale at the Dragonmeet convention in December.
 

Director’s Briefing – October 2015

Welcome to the fifty-third Briefing and the tenth scheduled Briefing for 2015. The less said about the real-world deluge of academic, research and admin tasks that swept away my September the better. So onward to gaming matters.
 
Guild Companion Bicentennial Issue
 
Congratulations to the Guild Companion magazine on reaching two hundred issues. That is a landmark that I did not foresee occurring when we established the webzine back in 1998 as a reaction to the folding of the Portals print fanzine.
 
My successor as General Editor, Peter Mork, continues to ensure that the Guild Companion remains an independent voice and source of gaming material for all the family of ICE games. My thanks to him and all the volunteer staff, writers and artists, present and past, who have made the Guild Companion such a great success over the years.
 
As of this bicentennial issue, GCP will be submitting previews and excerpts from upcoming products to TGC. This month, it is an article covering the Ghost Overlay from the upcoming HARP Bestiary.
 
Shadow World
 
We are very pleased to announce the publication in pdf of the enhanced version of Eidolon. Covering the floating city of Eidolon and the sprawling Sel-kai metropolis, this sourcebook retains all the great features of the first edition (which saw it receive a 4-star glowing review in Dragon back in the day) and adds a hundred pages of new fantastic material. You will find new adventures, new skyship and watercraft information (including deck plans), more insider gossip on celebrities and scandals to enrich your campaigns, and dual-statting for Rolemaster Classic and RMSS/FRP.
 
For one month only, the pdf of Eidolon will be available at the special introductory offer price of 10 USD. If you want to take advantage of this discount, use the following link:
 
Buy Eidolon now >>
 
All being well, Eidolon will be available in printed glorious softcover and hardcover editions in November and we will have copies available for sale at the Dragonmeet convention.
 
RMU
 
There’s been some discussion on the ICE forums regarding the target audience for RMU – is it aimed at the existing player and GM base, or new customers, or both? And there have been various interesting comments spurred by the topic.
 
Perhaps the first comment is “We don’t need RMU”. By that, I mean there are GMs and players who have invested time and money in a particular edition of Rolemaster and customised it with options and house rules to be perfect for them. Obviously adopting RMU may pose issues for those fans and customers as they will inevitably have to make compromises or houserules to achieve an RMU that is perfect for them. The follow-on comment is “ICE needs RMU”.
 
As we all know, Rolemaster is divided into two editions. In the case of RM2, while the core is available through Rolemaster Classic, most of the Companion material is still locked in copyright limbo. In the case of RMSS/FRP, we have most of the material but only in pdf as the archives are not in a fit state to create new print books without huge effort. And then comes the even bigger issue of what can be published for a divided system. Essentially we can publish adventures, settings, and certain types of sourcebooks, but we cannot sensibly produce rules-heavy products that work for both systems. Trying to maintain both versions as completely supported systems will not be feasible. But the evidence suggests that the active Rolemaster fan and customer base is split down the middle, so picking one over the other essentially halves the target audience.
 
The only solution as we have stated before is a new version of Rolemaster that provides a fresh start for Rolemaster fans. So the target audience for RMU is initially RM2 and RMSS fans because they are the easiest for us to reach. It is not only existing fans, but it is also new fans that we are interested in attracting to the game. Of course, Rolemaster is and always will be a game with options, detail, and the verisimilitude of realism, so those new fans will be people who match that profile. Gamers who like very rules-lite systems or cannot abide detail are unlikely to play any edition of Rolemaster.
 
Balancing the competing interests of RM2, RMSS/FRP and new players is a difficult task. My key responsibility at this stage of RMU is to be alert to any issue that could be classed as a dealbreaker for too many people, i.e. a rule or rules subsystem that would prevent you from buying into RMU. If there is an issue that you feel is a dealbreaker, then email me at director@guildcompanion dot com, and I will consider it. It may already on be on my list. Anything that I deem a dealbreaker will be fixed before RMU is finalised.
 
In addition, we are creating two new boards for the playtest as we push RMU towards the completion. The first Playtesting Feedback is to be used by playtesters to post specific issues or ask specific questions of the developers. The only people who can respond to a thread on this board will be the original poster or developers. It is intended for highly focused issue and response – and the response may be simply “Comment noted” – not wide-ranging debate. The existing boards already cover that. The second new board, Solutions Support, is for developers to ask playtesters for comments and feedback on a specific proposed rules change. Only developers can open threads on this board.
 
HARP Bestiary
 
Thanks to the afore-mentioned deluge, I did not get the Elementals finished, much to my great annoyance.
 
However, Joel Lovell has been quietly filling one of my corporate DropBox folders with text, plans and illustrations for The Poseidon Gambit, a HARP SF adventure module. I have firm instructions from Joel that this is not the complete draft, so will await the word from him before looking at it with my editing hat on.
 
Until next time
 
The next Briefing will be in November.
 
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.
 

ERA for Rolemaster updated

ERA for RolemasterWe are thrilled to announce that we have updated and improved all ERA for Rolemaster products with a range of bug fixes and new features.
 
ERA (Electronic Roleplaying Assistant) is the ultimate companion for Rolemaster campaigns. Just by running this free application players can create their characters using a step by step wizard, then level them up and configure all details in stats, skills and special abilities, even overriding the automatic calculations. Afterwards, they can be added to a running campaign in the adventuring module. From there, the game master can control all aspects of the game: resolve maneuvers, resistances, resting, and of course, spell casting and combat.
 
The ERA e-support package is now even better thanks to a number an update which has now been released.
 
The changes are as follows:
 

  • Races now include the number of background options (RMC) and talent points (RMFRP). This improves the usability of the background purchasing step during character creation.
  • Combat skills fumbles can now be specified on a per skill basis, instead of relying on the attack table fumble. The default fumble value will be offered during character creation, but it can be changed during the combat skills step, also adjusted in the character sheet, or while adventuring.
  • Fixed the hobby rank cost restriction. It is now 40 DP as indicated in RMFRP Character Law.
  • Fixed RMC minimum temporary roll validation. Rolls of 20 are now allowed.
  • Improved support for new skills categories and groups. The cost is fixed at 0 for all professions if not specified, and can be later adjusted per character.
  • When resolving maneuvers, the table related to the skill will be offered, but it can now be changed to a movement/percentage resolution when required.
  • RMFRP Body and power point progression are now stored in the character sheet. This means that they can be edited (although it requires manually opening the character XML).
  • Character size category and combat skills size adjustment are presented. These won’t mean much to RMC and RMFRP users, but they are an important step in preparing ERA to support RMU.

In addition to these fixes and improvements, there are a number of brand new features including:
 

  • Exhaustion Points. They are computed according to the corresponding Character Law, and presented during adventures in the character profile. Both total and remaining points can be manually adjusted. No additional computation is provided (this means they are not spent when fighting/casting spells, and they are not recovered when resting).
  • Rules Customization. Some house ruling and ruleset mixing can now be accomplished using options that are opened from the About dialog.
    • Stat bonus computation: RM2 smooth stat bonus from Companion I are included!
    • Development point computation: including some fixed DP options.Advanced configuration allows even more flexibility.
    • Power computation: RMC automatic or by skill development.
    • Exhaustion points: RMC, RMFRP, or nothing (removes it from the adventuring screen).
    • Skill development: this is dangerous, use with care!
    • Printed character sheet skills: choose what to show when printing the character.
    • Hours per day: important for Shadow World users who use the Travel Module.
    • Secondary skill development points in RMC: fixed number and percentage.

If you haven’t already, you can test ERA for Rolemaster by downloading the free web app from RPGNow. In addition you can buy all the database files for RMC Arms Law, RMC Spell Law and RMC Character Law as well as RMFRP Core and Character Law, RMFRP Spell Law and RMFRP Arms Law.
 
If you already have ERA, you can update your version by re-downloading the files from RPGNow.