Hey all, Thanks for having us out. Like I said on Facebook, this was easily one of the best cons I've been to in a while. As a GM, I'd definitely go back. All my tables were fantastic.
So for well over two years now, Clinton Boomer and I have been brainstorming and designing (in our free time) a dark, new modern campaign setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. We call it, Bloodlines & Black Magic. If you've been itching for some modern Pathfinder, you should really check out what we're building! What is Bloodlines & Black Magic?:
Bloodlines & Black Magic is a campaign setting based on our modern world that pits rich political elites, desperate cultists, supernatural horrors, celestial powers, secret magical orders, and ancient bloodlines in a clandestine war against one another over a reality which nearly all of humanity can neither see, nor comprehend. Hidden from the mundane world, only a rare few individuals ever gain a glimpse of this dimension of horrors, this realm of human tragedy and desperation, learning secrets that – if spoken in public – would mark most of them as insane (or worse). Aligned with secret organizations or working as individual agents, Bloodlines & Black Magic gives these modern heroes a dark universe to explore, painting the canvas of the modern world an even dimmer, decaying grey than it already is. Bloodlines & Black Magic draws liberally from the lore of our modern world, weaving historical facts, modern myths, and secret conspiracies into a supernatural world that could be, if only we had the eyes and patience to pierce the neon-stained billboards which hides it from our view. Steeped in esoteric lore, popular culture, current events, and a connected, global culture, Bloodlines & Black Magic pushes the boundaries of what we think we know, delving through the mirror and into the deeper parts of the human abyss. Want to learn more? Check out the Bloodlines & Black Magic KS page!
Meet the Team!: Bloodlines & Black Magic has an excellent team that includes: Matt Banach has been a freelance writer and game designer ever since he entered the fray by making the Top 16 in Paizo's RPG Superstar 2009. Over the years Matt has also contributed to Darkness Without Form: Secrets of the Mimic, Kobold Ecologies, Adventure Quarterly, multiple short works of fiction, and some soon-to-be-released stuff for Rogue Genius Games. Clinton Boomer is a playwright, screenwriter, short-story author, novelist and ENnie-award-winning game-designer who began writing professionally after placing in the Top 4 of Paizo Publishing’s inaugural RPG Superstar competition in 2008. He's worked on the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, Horror Adventures, Ultimate Intrigue, Splintered Godhood (from Legendary Games), and his the author of his own novel, The Hole Behind Midnight. Stephen M. DiPesa has been working on RPGs and game-related fiction for close to 20 years, now, having written (and periodically developed and play tested) for such lines as Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The Awakening, Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Mummy: The Curse, Dark Ages, Aberrant, Curse the Darkness, as well as several others that he’s not allowed to talk about, just yet. Erik Frankhouse has been a freelance game designer since 2003. He started in the video game industry with THQ and later became lead designer and art director at Forever Interactive. He went on to start his own video game company, Sunder Studios. In 2011 his heart brought him back to tabletop as a designer and cartographer. You can find his work within the pages of TPK games, five time ENnie nominated and silver awarded Razor Coast, and now here with Bloodlines & Black Magic. Ben McFarland is a multi ENnie award winning designer. Ben cut his teeth on Open Design and has since gone on to design material for Paizo Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, Kobold Press, Rite Publishing, Atlas Games, Storm Bunny Studios, and many others. Ben has worked on three Kickstarter projects for Kobold Press -- Deep Magic (2014 Judge's Choice Ennie), Midgard Tales, and Southlands (2016 Silver Ennie for Best Setting). Jaye Sonia is the owner of Storm Bunny Studios, the creator of Rhune: Dawn of Twilight, and the co-creator of Bloodlines & Black Magic (with lots of help from his friend, Clinton Boomer). While Jaye focuses primarily on his own campaign settings, he has worked on numerous other products since he started designing RPG material well over a decade ago. Brian Suskind A professional screenwriter in his day job, Brian Suskind is the ENnie award winning designer of numerous RPG projects. His work has appeared under the banners of Kobold Press, Zombie Sky Press, Storm Bunny Studios and Legendary Games.
I was a Kickstarter backer for this; we're actually starting a Rhune campaign next Saturday, and I hope to have a review up shortly thereafter. So excited that this is finally complete! Ssalarn! That's soooo awesome to hear. Please feel free to share any of your campaign notes or updates!
What is the setting, and, put in spoilers if necessary, is there a gist of what the actual adventure is "about" (or at least what it seems to be about)?You can find out more about Rhune here and you can download the free Rhune Stormpunk Character Primer here on the site. Adam and Liz, that may actually be the only place that The Rhune: Dawn of Twilight Primer is still available. Honestly, I should probably take it down since everything in that original primer is very dated! For those who do not know what Rhune: Dawn of Twilight is, I'd recommend checking out my website: www.stormbunnystudios.com
Storm Bunny Studios
Storm Bunny Studios is in the final stages of a big Kickstarter project and is currently taking quotes from cartographers for several maps we need to finish up. We have three open quotes out with industry professionals, but we're also open to working with new talent. Likewise, we're always open to working with new writers, especially those interested in steampunk-style material, either for shorter (1200-2000 words) to mid-range (2500-5000 word) PDFs. Writers need to adhere to our style and must meet deadlines. We pay upon delivery (not publication). Our rates vary according to experience, which I will gladly discuss with prospective writers. We always pay upon delivery, generally within 12-24 hours of accepting completed submissions. If you're interested in pitching an idea or sharing your cartography portfolio, please e-mail me at jaye@stormbunnystudios.com
Hey guys, I just wanted to let everyone know that last week, we launched our Kickstarter for the expanded and updated Stormpunk Character Primer and Beyond the Glittering Fane adventure arc. We're nearly at 200% funding and, since launch, have met many of our stretch goals! If any of you are interested in checking out what we've got in store, you can follow the link here. Thanks way in advance for all of your interest and support! Cheers,
First, this: Book Two!! Next, which direction are you guys heading? East or west along the southern border of the lake?
Regardless of what you put in your stats or what you elect to play, consider how Diplomacy works when people are trying to "make friends". Let's take a peak: Check: You can change the initial attitudes of nonplayer characters with a successful check. The DC of this check depends on the creature's starting attitude toward you, adjusted by its Charisma modifier. If you succeed, the character's attitude toward you is improved by one step. For every 5 by which your check result exceeds the DC, the character's attitude toward you increases by one additional step. A creature's attitude cannot be shifted more than two steps up in this way, although the GM can override this rule in some situations. If you fail the check by 4 or less, the character's attitude toward you is unchanged. If you fail by 5 or more, the character's attitude toward you is decreased by one step. The GM determines this starting attitude. So, in most cases, the NPC any PC is trying to influence is probably indifferent to their presence, regardless of whether they're an ugly cuss or a stuttering idiot (hey, you play your low Cha how you want). In fact, I think (and hope) most GMs would ask, especially in the case of really, really low stats (like a Cha of 6 or 7) how those frailties manifest. Are you slow to respond? Do you stutter? Do you have a hairlip? Effectively, a player could play a character with an exceptionally low Cha and still be social, but that penalty (which is already incorporated into the game) should just be addressed... in game. When the socially awkward fighter, with his Cha of 7, walks up and tries to smooth talk a guard (who's probably starting at "unfriendly" to begin with), that -2 will manifest. The GM simply doesn't need to make further adjustments. GMs, of course, could adopt a completely random approach to starting attitudes. They might simply roll a dice and determine it. Or, they could determine the NPCs starting attitude based on their job or profession. Sales people, for instance, would generally start out as friendly (they want to sell you something, after all) whereas guards would be suspicious (it's their job, after all), putting them into an unfriendly category (and suggesting regular Sense Motive rolls). The tired commoner, on his way home from work, is probably tired and indifferent. He doesn't want to stop and chat - he wants to go see his wife and kids (and eat dinner)! The haughty noble is probably, to the average adventurers, going to be unfriendly and, to those coming unannounced, possibly even hostile (which doesn't mean he'll jump directly into combat, only that he'll regard you with absolutely no favor at all). So, should a GM add additional penalties to characters with low scores? Not at all. He shouldn't have to since the mechanics more than account for them. All he needs to do is adjust the starting attitude of any NPCs based on their person prejudices. Maybe, as soon as Chelexian warrior opens his mouth, the NPC notices his accent, rolls his eyes, and responds, "slaver" as he walks off. Or whatever. Of course, how your GM deals with starting attitude is completely up to them. Generally speaking, I determine the NPCs starting attitude at the beginning of an encounter, then let folks act as they see fit. If the face steps up and works his magic, great. If the "dumb fighter" speaks up, I call for a diplomacy check from them, instead. Then, things proceed as normal. Most groups figure out who their face is pretty quick after that. Alternately, a GM could simply ask the group who speaks for them, prompting the players to choose a face and respond in kind. Finally, knowing how a particular city, country, or religion does business helps, too. So, don't forget to have PCs make the appropriate Knowledge skill checks before they plan out big, important social encounters. For instance, if they're going to announce themselves to a new duke in a strange land, Knowledge (nobility) or even Knowledge (local) skill checks might be in order. Once they learn the proper way to announce themselves (perhaps some dukes require a simple herald where some want elephants and marching bands), they can hope for (at least) a starting attitude of indifferent. At the end of the day, I think the frustration GMs experience most (especially when it comes to this topic) is that they perceive particular players as trying to "game" the system by optimizing the mechanics to build characters with no major faults. While that can be frustrating (and goodness knows we've all had one of those players at our table), not every instance of an optimized character is because of this. Maybe someone really wants to have a cool Tengu Ninja Fire Walker who lost his eye in the battle of Darkskull Manor, leaving him horribly scarred and resented as one of the "Cursed." And maybe some folks are just being cheesy. At the end of the day, ask yourself, "Is it even worth worrying about? Is it disrupting play? Is it annoying the other players? Does it spoil the atmosphere?" If the answer is yes to most (or any) of these questions, then you probably have one of those players and you can just address the issue directly. Congratulate them on finding all those cool loopholes and politely ask them to stop. And if you have a player who is genuinely exploring a concept, congratulate them and run with it! Running games should never be a player vs. GM scenario. Ever. Role-playing games should always be a cooperative player-storyteller experience. That's part of what makes them fun. That's definitely what sets them apart from MMOs or console games. At least that's my opinion. Your mileage may vary. Cheers,
Bijannar smiles at his party and says, "Well, at least Thomi is going to look fabulous as he murders these fools."
Just call me Elmers....
Toranindracar
Completed unrelated to the campaign, but still very, very cool. I'm still super excited know my company's logo is now a limited-edition line of plushes.
Bijannar replies In Mtol Dærask: In Mtol Dærask:
"I have little idea what it says. I can't read some of it. I know it says "{AJGKJH} 'are looking in the wrong' {ALJHLIHLI}" The last word is written in Kalak Doman. I just don't know what it says. I know the rest of it, the part I can read, is written in Dærask. I don't know what the first word is written, though." Then, Bijannar slowly descends the stairs and stops at the bottom, looking back up at the group, waiting patiently.
Toranindracar:
I wonder how he even managed to enter the cathedral since there's no bridge. Did he just do the most epic drunken leap in all of existence, or did he wear magical boots? I'm willing to bet he cued up at the summoning stone as normal, got tired of waiting on his friends, yelled "Leeeeeeeeroy" and just charged in.
Well said. |
