Welcome to the thirty-fourth Briefing and the fourth scheduled Briefing for 2014.
Encroachment in its last throes
The real-world battle has continued. The enemy sent in reinforcements -forty mock exam scripts, ten dissertation literature reviews, and eleven software project reports (where unlimited wordcount meant one of them was 100 pages long -definitely Super Large report). I am, however, still standing. The remaining lecture count is four still to write, with two already in outline form. So it’s now a matter of pressing home my advantage and finishing them – very like a role-playing battle where the final foes of an attacking horde need to be slain and everyone (GM included) wants it done and dusted so that player-characters can get their loot, get in their healing and the GM can get the plot moving again.
(Obviously there will be some future skirmishes when the marking for the summer turns up, but that should be manageable as I won’t be preparing lectures and teaching at the same time.)
Shadow World
Terry has been working on Emer 2 and on an adventure module – I have an initial draft of the latter to download for my first review. I have had an opportunity to do my own editorial review of the new “Shade” module draft from Brian Hanson – it is looking like it will become a great addition to the Shadow World line in due course – and this is now with Terry for his review.
Rolemaster
The RMSS/FRP dataset for the Rolemaster Combat Minion is now live. As some of the tables for RMSS/FRP are in books where we don’t have good build files, the initial set is essentially RMSS/FRP Arms Law but tables from the Armory, Martial Arts Companion, Fire & Ice, etc., will be added to this dataset. Keep an eye on the forums for progress and latest news.
The next software offering for Rolemaster will be the ERA package from Maximiliano Tabacman. This is a character creation, management and inventory program, among other features. It will be going into a public beta test around mid-April, so again watch the forums for the latest news and check out the links to video demos.
The unified RM team are currently shuttling the Arms Law & Character Law and Spell Law drafts around at a very rapid pace so that they can feed in comments and capture knock-on impacts of changes. Very heartening to see.
HARP and HARP SF (and spacemaster)
On HARP, some combat data regarding the new missile and thrown weapons has been discovered to be missing from the enhanced Martial Law. It transpires that this data was never in the original version either, so analysing the weapons to generate the data is now on my todo list.
Some people have already started OCRing old Spacemaster products in advance of me being ready to organise the process (in a way that will avoid duplication of effort yet ensure that we get them all). As soon as I can, I will be getting on top of this. (My commute is great for reviewing work (as long as the apps are happy with the document formatting), writing Briefings and actual rpg material, but not so great for responding to forum posts or emails -there are stretches of the journey where there just is no signal.)
Until next time
Back to the real-world as my train heads in to Ipswich station. The next scheduled Briefing will be in May.
Best wishes,
Nicholas
Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
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Rolemaster Combat Minion (RMSS/FRP) – Out Now!
Rolemaster Combat Minion is the most recent addition to the Rolemaster family and you can now get the RMSS/RMFRP data sets for this brilliant e-support package from RPGNow for just $20. Rolemaster Combat Minion offers a simple & fast way to manage combat encounters.
Buy it now
“Minion” is a free web app to help GMs process and track combat encounters and stats/health/wounds. 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.
This license unlocks the entire set of weapon and critical tables for the RMSS/RMFRP Rolemaster rules for use with the Rolemaster Combat Minion a free web app. You can evaluate the application for free by visiting the site before purchasing the tables from RPGNow.
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 & restore your database of PCs/NPCs/monsters
- create and install custom attack and critical tables
- compatible with all current versions of rolemaster
- Free web app includes 6 combat tables: Broadsword, Short Bow, Shock Bolt attack tables, and Slash, Puncture, Electricity crit tables
Get your copy from RPGNow! To keep updated on new releases and upcoming releases, join our MAILING LIST
Iron Crown Enterprises and Coscon XXVI
Recently ICE supported Coscon XXVI, a three day convention and expo in Butler, PA. By all accounts it was a complete success and the convention managed to raise over $3,000 for charity. A huge thanks to everyone who attended and to the tireless efforts those who put on the con.
Coscon donates to local charities throughout the year with the chosen charities for this event being the Butler Meals on Wheels and the Grace Lutheran Church (the church does community outreach) and there was also a bake sale for the No Kid Hungry charity. Over the years, with this Coscon included, COS has donated over $45,000 to charity in total and Iron Crown Enterprises are proud to help support it.
Message from the organiser: “Coscon went well all three days, with Saturday being the busiest day with games & the auction drawing. Our game conventions feature primarily RPG’s and miniature games, but also hosts a longstanding Vampire LARP. If anyone is in the area but missed the convention, we also hold a fall convention Sibcon (info below) that features the same kinds of events.”
SIBCON XIX 2014
September 19-21, 2014
Days Inn, Butler PA 16001
Iron Crown Enterprises’ Newsletter – March 2014
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With the exception of a terrible day where I broke my glasses and ended up accidentally super gluing them to my face, March has been a good month. There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes both in terms of preparing products for publication and improving our website and social media channels.
Catch up on what you’ve missed with this month’s Director’s Briefing.
ROLEMASTER
The RMSS data set for the brand new Rolemaster Combat Minion is now dangerously close to completion and will be available imminently.
If you haven’t got it already, the Rolemaster Classic data set is already available on RPGNow for just $20.
Rolemaster Combat Minion is a web application used by the GM to help track combat encounters. It speeds game-play considerably by performing all necessary dice rolls and table look-ups. It also handles all end-of-round upkeep, keeps track of all PC and NPC/creature wounds, and performs perception, move & maneuver and attunement rolls.
Still not convinced? Try out the application for free before buying.
HARP
Work on the HARP line continues. The results we got from last month’s questions about HARP SF and Spacemaster were very positive and Nicholas (Director of Guild Companion Publications) will be contacting people about taking part in this project as soon as his schedule allows.
SETTINGS
The new Shadow World setting book – Shadow World: Emer III has been doing amazingly well. A huge thanks to everyone who has bought and reviewed it. It is now a silver pick product, STILL in the RPGNow top twenty (nearly two months after its launch), and has had some GREAT reviews.
You can now get Emer III in hardcover and softcover versions via RPGNow’s print-on-demand service. You can even get a discount for buying a pdf and a print version at the same time.
If you have already got your copy of Emer III, please feel free to leave your review/feedback either on RPGNow or on the official ICE forums.
PARTNERS
We are always on the lookout for new ways of making ICE products available to everyone across the globe. Though it is early days at the moment, we are currently investigating an exciting opportunity to release products in Spain.
Watch this space.
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Wearing two armors – A discussion
While playtesting the beta version of the Unified Rolemaster, one of our forum members has brought up the question “how would wearing two armors work?”
He goes on to give the example of a troll, AT6, wearing plate, AT10. Despite the original question being focussed on the beta test, a number of forum members have given their two cents about how they deal with situations such as these in their games whatever version they use.
What would your ruling be? How would you deal with this in your game?
Have your say on the ICE forum.
Shadow World Emer III available now in print
Shadow World Emer III is available now in hardcover and softcover formats from RPGNow. You can even get a print copy and a pdf copy together for a reduced price.
Now you can see this all-new region module for the continent of Emer in all its printed glory.
Southeast Emer as You’ve Never Known it Before!
BUY IT NOW
Director’s Briefing – March 2014
Welcome to the thirty-third Briefing and the third scheduled Briefing for 2014.
Encroachment fully underway
My real-world battle with the lectures and assignments continues. There’s been some Dirty Fighting tactics from my opponent – having the students infect me with some unpleasant throat malady and cough caused some unexpected activity penalties. Despite this, I’ve moved from a presemester starting position of 36 lectures and 6 assignments/exams to create to 14 lectures and 2 assignments/exams with 6 of the lectures in outline form. My expectation is that with marking thrown into the mix, the melee will continue some ways into April, but I can see a finishing line.
Shadow World
Emer 3 has been available as a pdf and at a discounted price. Some errata in the pdf were found – they have been corrected, so if you were an early purchaser, just visit your OneBookShelf account and redownload the file. Terry has created the print masters, which were duly approved by OneBookShelf and LightningSource, and Terry and I have received and checked the proof copies from the US and UK printing facilities respectively. We are happy with both softcover and hardcover versions, and you will find them available for purchase from OneBookShelf.
The introductory price offer for Emer 3 in pdf thus comes to an end. However as an experiment, we are offering a modest discount on pdf+print bundles of Emer 3, so there is a saving still to be made if you buy the pdf and a print version at the same time.
Many thanks to everyone who has bought Emer 3 so far – it has already become a Silver seller on RPGNow.
Terry has been doing his own time-slicing, shuttling between Eidolon and Emer 2 for the enhanced editions, and adding new Shadow World adventures as a third distinct strand of activity. And he has another editorial pass on the next iteration of a third-party sourcebook to do.
Rolemaster
There were some glitches in the RMSS/FRP dataset for the Rolemaster Combat Minion, so we are awaiting on their resolution before making it live.
Progress is being made on Unified Rolemaster and I will be using some of my time-slices to produce a “Heisenberg uncertainty” countdown for the forums.
HARP and HARP SF (and spacemaster)
I am pleased to report that interest has been expressed in OCR / text extraction of old Spacemaster Imperium setting products, and in HARP SF setting sourcebook(s). I will be contacting people as soon as I can to get this organised and running.
I am also happy to see further commentary on future expansions for HARP SF and Tintamar, and again this will be followed up as soon as I get the opportunity.
Cyradon
The final draft of “M for Murder” still requires my attention, but some of the HARP Bestiary team have been seconded to bringing the monsters given in Cyradon into compliance with the new monster creation rules, so this will assist in progressing the entire Cyradon line.
Until next time
Back to battles and time-slicing. The next scheduled Briefing will be in April.
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.
ICE Forums on Tapatalk
The ICE forums are now compatible with Tapatalk, the mobile app that makes keeping track of your favourite forums quick and easy.
You can subscribe to receive notifications, check for unread posts, private message, everything you can do on the forum on a simple to use mobile app.
You can find out more about Tapatalk by visiting their website or simply download the app an search for “Iron Crown Enterprises”.
of course there is nothing to stop you enjoying the forums in the good old fashioned way, but now it’s even easier to keep up with what’s happening on the go.
Iron Crown Enterprises’ Newsletter – February 2014
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I must admit that ordinarily February isn’t my favourite month. It is the Monday of the months. The memory of Christmas and New Year has faded, the hope and promise of a new year have dwindled to be replaced by the creeping sensation that it is in fact exactly the same as the new year and the summer is still a long way off. However, this year has been different…
February has seen new releases, information about upcoming releases, exciting news and updates and I for one am unreasonably excited about the coming months and what they will bring…
Catch up on what you’ve missed with this month’s Director’s Briefing.
ROLEMASTER
This month saw the release of the long awaited Rolemaster Combat Minion.
Rolemaster Combat Minion is a web application used by the GM to help track combat encounters. It speeds game-play considerably by performing all necessary dice rolls and table look-ups. It also handles all end-of-round upkeep, keeps track of all PC and NPC/creature wounds, and performs perception, move & maneuver and attunement rolls.
While the software itself is available for free, the data tables for Rolemaster Classic is now available through the OneBookShelf Network.
HARP
In this month’s Director’s Briefing Guild Companion Publications’ Director, Nicholas Caldwell posed the following questions which we would like your opinion on:
1) would you be interested in a HARP SF Imperium setting sourcebook and possible followups?
2) irrespective of the answer, do we have any fans with time and software on their hands to do the OCR / text extraction over the next few months so that we can more easily restore the Imperium (as a HARP SF setting perhaps and a definite future unified Spacemaster setting)?
3) Would you be interested in “thematic” sourcebooks for HARP SF and the Tintamar universe that focus on a style of play such as military, exploration, trader, covert ops, etc.
Visit OUR FORUM and have your say.
SETTINGS
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you can’t have missed the release of the brand new Emer III setting material for Shadow World. A huge thanks to everyone who has bought and reviewed it and played a part in helping it attain ‘Silver Pick’ status and keeping it in the RPGNow top 10 for over a month.
If you haven’t yet got your copy you can buy it now from RPGNow for just $18.
In addition, I am pleased to announce that the master files for Emer III have been accepted by OneBookShelf/Lightning Source and we are expecting the proofs to be delivered in the very near future. Barring any problems with the proofs, we are hoping to have the hardcover and softcover copies of Emer III available VERY soon.
PARTNERS
Here at Iron Crown Enterprises, we want to provide all our fans with everything they need to get the most out of their gaming. That is why we support a suite of e-support packages. You can read all about them on our brand new e-support page on our website.
One great piece of news which we received this month was that the brilliant XP Tracker for Rolemaster will soon be updated to work with iOS7.
XP Tracker is an easy to use app that removes the need for scratch paper in gaming. Normally you have your Character sheet, core books and tons of scratch paper that you use for notes and calculations. XPT was created to help speed up gaming while allowing you to track everything on the fly.
To receive this monthly newsletter direct to your inbox, sign up to our MAILING LIST now.
Emer III discount ending soon!
Get your copy of Emer III for the discounted price of $16 from RPGNow before the 22nd February. The normal price is $18 and time is running out!
Emer III reveals the mysterious rainforests of Khûm-kaan and the plains of Onar in the Shadow World, the official setting for Rolemaster. It brings the southeast of the continent of Emer to life with intricate details and a collection of stunning maps and imagery.
Get your copy now
Emer III contains:
- Two Jerak Ahrenreth Citadels: the Tower of Vour and the Ahrenæk, home of the Artificer A’kesh.
- The Lost City of Zæn, including ancient Jinteni magic/technology: weapons, portals and more.
- Maps and descriptions of the two ‘Isles of Glass,’ homes to the Green Dragon and the Seer.
- The secret hives of the Krylites.
- New maps of the region with dozens of new locations and cultures. New details on the Isle of Jade.
- The timeline, updated and advanced several years with new intrigues and wars.
- 25 pages of adventures and adventure ideas.
- Encounter charts for hostile rainforest creatures—and plants! New herbs and creatures.
- Stats for both Rolemaster Classic/RM2 and RMSS/RMFRP systems. Also a new Fantasy Weapons Chart.
- 210 pages total, including an extensive index.