Out of the depths of our sanctums and the shadows of the nearby forests, Sub Rosa reemerges to bring you issue #20, chock full of "secrets & lies."
We take a moment to talk about events from Gencon before diving into articles on secret codes, spontaneous magic, and urban merchant companies, an adventure set in Palermo, and no less than three mystery cults to engage or oppose your magi with their magics and hidden plots. Forum regular Pelle Kofod brings you a Divine beast and its regio, and former line author Christian Andersen details the Cult of Shape-stealers. Other authors include returning contributors Gerald Wylie, Robin Bland, Berengar Drexel, and Benoît Léoutre. This is 94 pages of brand new material to craft conspiracies and shadowy machinations for months to come!
Jeff Menges graces our cover and internal art is brought to you by Jeff, Elizabeth Porter, Angela Taylor, Jason Tseng, Patrick Demo, and Troy Taylor-- Troy's map of Palermo is pretty fantastic and worth the price of entry alone, in my humble opinion. They all do outstanding art, though, and we can't thank them enough.
If you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com send and we'll explain the process. It's a fanzine, so we're cryptic like that.
Our new project is live on Kickstarter. If you're curious about RPG game design and want to check out the process this fall, come join us! Our plan is to take a 3rd Edition adventure and convert it to both 5E D&D and Pathfinder. We're going showcase that process with backers and you can participate!
We welcome novices, veterans (although I'd bet you already have your own process), and even the merely curious. This is going to be a three and a half month experience and you'll have a 5E or PFRPG adventure when we're done.
Why not join us and learn something about RPG design this winter?
Madman at the Bridge is level 4-- 4 tables with 6 seats open at each table. Play kobolds or bring your PFS character (not PFS sanctioned, we just accept them at the table).
Reality & Other Lies is level8-- 2 tables with 6 seats open at each table. Play Midgard iconics or bring your PFS character (not PFS sanctioned, we just accept them at the table).
Get a Gencon PFRPG game you & your friends are guaranteed to play together, written by either Wolfgang Baur or Jim Groves!
So for well over two years now, Clinton Boomer and Jason Sonia have been brainstorming and designing (in their free time) a dark, new modern campaign setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. They call it, Bloodlines & Black Magic. If you've been itching for some modern Pathfinder, you should really check out what they'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.
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 multiple 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). He led the project design for Streets of Zobeck (2012 Gold Ennie for Best Adventure) and contributed to Tales of Zobeck (2009 Gold Ennie for Best Adventure)
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.
terraleon Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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Do you miss the days of Open Design, or did you never get a chance to try it?
Want to learn about the RPG Freelancing Business?
Check out Design Camp! A new project from me -- Ben McFarland, as well as Jason Sonia, and Brian Suskind.
Design Camp is a hands-on look behind the curtain of the RPG design process. As a Patron, you will get a front-row, behind the scenes seat as the designers work. Along the way, you will be able to comment and suggest changes to the manuscript, and you can even pitch and write up your own ideas for inclusion in the final document.
The first project for Design Camp is The Celestial Host. Return to the wonder and majesty of Deities and Demigods with a pathfinder conversion of three real world mythologies chosen by the Backers!
With Wolfgang Baur’s blessing, we have launched Design Camp to follow in the footsteps of Open Design. An epic, patron-sponsored series of projects, Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design taught hundreds the “in’s and out’s” of the design world and launched the careers of many award-winning RPG writers. For those who would enjoy a return of the days of Open Design, we proudly present Design Camp.
You can find the kickstarter here. We've broken the 50% mark so we're steaming forward to greenlight. Come check us out, I have the feeling folks in this particular forum would be interested.
Design Camp is a hands-on look behind the curtain of the RPG design process. As a Patron, you will get a front-row, behind the scenes seat as the designers work. Along the way, you will be able to comment and suggest changes to the manuscript, and you can even pitch and write up your own ideas for inclusion in the final document.
The first project for Design Camp is the Celestial Host. Return to the wonder and majesty of Deities and Demigods with a pathfinder conversion of three real world mythologies chosen by the Backers!
With Wolfgang Baur’s blessing, we have launched Design Camp to follow in the footsteps of Open Design. An epic, patron-sponsored series of projects, Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design taught hundreds the “in’s and out’s” of the design world and launched the careers of many brilliant RPG writers. For those who would enjoy a return of the days of Open Design, we proudly present Design Camp.
Sub Rosa #18 emerges from the wilderness and comes bearing an issue full of beasts and monsters and things unknown! It took us a little bit, but then again, when you roam the realms where dragons lair, there's sure to be a delay or two.
This is your chance to pick up 129 pages packed with things that crawl, and swim, and fly, and deceive! Our awesome cover comes courtesy of the inestimable Jeff Menges, with additional internal artwork from amazingly gracious and generous group of regulars-- Jeff Menges, Angela Taylor, Elizabeth Porter, Jason Tseng, and Patrick Demo. You'll hear from Sub Rosa staff, and your regular bit of extra homework in the Mappa Mundi, but so much of this issue is packed with matters beastly and adventurous!
We have a look at the Intangible Assassin concept by Ars Magica authors Christian Anderson and Pelle Kofod, a dive into the Beast Masters of Hibernia by Jason Tondro, Mark Shirley presents an alternative take on mundane creatures, a selection of Ars Magica fiction by Mark Faulkner, and not least of all, twenty creatures from 11 authors including Timothy Ferguson, Pelle Kofod, and regular contributor Gerald Wylie, each containing descriptions, story seeds, as well as occasionally notes for playing one or for acquiring one as a service. Shape & Material bonuses occasionally included!
You're still sitting there? Do you want to be eaten by a shambling mound? Move! Get up and get your copy today!
***
Wait, wait, wait...
We have changed how you get Sub Rosa, if only a little.
If you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com send and we'll shoot you a link to download your copy.
Seven years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #19 the first three reviewers of issue #18 still stands-- if you've got #18 and want #19 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up. For the first time in a long time, we have three issues being sent to reviewers. You'll want to move fast if you want to buy Number 18 and potentially not buy again for as long as you're willing to let us know your opinions on the current issue.
Time to prepare for GenCon! Are you ready to run Pathfinder at the best four days of gaming? Kobold Press is looking for GMs and we want you!
Run 12 hours of games (that's 1 four-hour game for three of the days) and get your $90 badge reimbursed, plus a $10 store discount for every two slots you run! Running 4 or more 4-hour slots scores you the Kobold Wizard t-shirt!*
To sign up, email Ben McFarland (brickk@gmail.com) with the subject [Gencon] Kobold GM. We'll get you scheduled and squared away for some great gaming. Events must be submitted by the end of February, so don't delay!*
It's an early Christmas present! A 5-star, seal of approval, top-10 candidate review for the Martial Arts Guidebook by EZG! I'm totally thrilled to see he completely got the direction we were pursuing and it was well received.
I can't say how pleased I am with this. I hope you pick it up and share your thoughts.
We pause in our preparations for the coming winter to enjoy the glorious bounty of Sub Rosa #17! This issue is packed with the fruits of the Provencal Tribunal and has a lovely cover from Elizabeth Porter.
Internal artwork was generously provided by Patrick Demo, Jeff Menges, Elizabeth Porter, Angela Taylor, Jason Tseng and we happily welcome newcomer Adrienne Hodge into the fold! There are 96 pages of wonder in this issue, with seven articles of supplementary material expanding on the Tribunal's people and places by Ben McFarland (Beyond Sand & Sea, Faith & Flame, Antagonists) detailing places like Flambeau's Cave and offering a storyframe for Himinis' tower. NPCs like the infamous Tres and the ghost of Val Negra, Abaddon see treatments, and Marko Faulkner (Faith & Flame, Grogs, Tales of Power) gives us an expanded look at the lost heart of House Flambeau. We're chock full of new magic this issue, offering a look at the new art of Tempus, and Andrew Breese gives us 100 new detailed spells and the associated Metacreator files, polished from the Iron-bound Tome. Ray Cochener investigates the more common magics that might exist in Mythic Europe, while Gerald Wylie explores that ubiquitous game locale, the Inn, offering great details, story seeds and NPCs for any Tribunal!
Additionally, this is the last installment of one particular reoccuring Sub Rosa column, but I won't spoil the surprise. So delve deeper with this issue and give your Mythic Europe a bit more detail-- with the art of Tempus, I'm sure you'll find the time. For now, we've got to get back to the hunt, as Sub Rosa #18 is going to be all about the beasties!
***
Wait, wait, wait...
We have changed how you get Sub Rosa, if only a little.
If you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com send and we'll shoot you a link to download your copy.
Seven years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #18 the first three reviewers of issue #17 still stands-- if you've got #17 and want #18 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up. So far, we've left at least one issue, but usually two on the table for the last three issues; you could buy this one and potentially not buy one again for a long long time, if you're willing to let us know what you think everytime.
We've emerged from the Magic Realm and all that place's varied realities with a fist full of discoveries. Sure, it's taken longer than we meant, but then, this issue of the premiere Ars Magica fanzine is much longer than we wanted, too-- but you reap the benefits!
There's 128 pages of alternate reality goodness here, loaded with artwork from Jeff Menges, Angela Taylor, Elizabeth Porter, Jason Tseng, and Patrick Demo. We've got your usual words from Sub Rosa's organizers and Ars Magica's line editor. (That's half-again as big as issue #15!) Bob Karcher gives you an idea of his 16-18th century games run from the holy days of our people, Gencon, in faraway Indianapolis. We travel through time this issue, offering setting and adventure material for Ars Magica games in 550AD, 865AD, 1050AD, and 1470AD, with ideas from the pens of Mark Shirley, Timothy Ferguson, Tobias Wheeler, Berengar Drexel, Shane Appel, and forum regular Pelle Kofod.
Along with a series of leaps about the timeline, we've got a pile of Mythic Weapons from Vincent Garcia-Gomez, a third Bonisagus line from Mark Baker, and a breakdown of the Intangible Enchanter by Pelle Kofod. Sub Rosa staple, Vulcanis Argens, returns and there's darkness afoot in the walls of Donum Chanuti! There are maps, there are portraits, there is a pile of supplementary extra-setting homework for you in Mappa Mundi. All this, and you're guaranteed not to catch the Black Death, at least not from downloading an issue.
So don't wait, and take your saga into the past or into the fuuuuuuuture, but take it into the pages of Sub Rosa!
***
Wait, wait, wait...
We have changed how you get Sub Rosa, if only a little.
If you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com send and we'll shoot you a link to download your copy.
Six years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #17 the first three reviewers of issue #16 still stands-- if you've got #16 and want #17 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up. So far, we've left at least one issue, but usually two on the table for the last three issues; you could buy this one and potentially not buy one again for a long long time, if you're willing to let us know what you think everytime.
terraleon Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
Sweet baby savior of your choice, but the formatting on so many of these entries is just not there. At all.
I hate to say it, but unless the other item just stinks, it automatically gets the nod when paired up with an unformatted item. Maybe it's harsh, but dang, people-- they gave you the formatting for the entries.
Well, some darakhuls, which are the ghoul empire race from Midgard...
See, when I went to Gencon, I got some codes for free copies of Advanced Races: Darakhul from DrivethruRPG. It's not here, and I get that, but if you promise to write a review for Advanced Races: Darakhul here on Paizo, I'll send you a code. I've got three cards, so the first three people to post here will get a private message with a code.
Sometimes it takes a little longer for a breakthrough than you wanted, but the results are just more rewarding. This time around we've got an 80-page issue, jam-packed with scenario ideas, adventure, bloodlines, mechanics, and more. It's full of our artistic regulars like Angela Taylor, Barrie James, and Patrick Demo, as well as a healthy contribution from Elizabeth Porter.
We get you ready for issue 16's alternative settings with Jason Tondo's Rats Magica. Gerald Wylie returns to look at the ubiquitous cattle raid as a story event and we see some alternative covenant finance rules from Mark Shirley. There's a body in the bog for your dose of adventure, a second series of Bonisagus lineages by Mark Baker, and more mythic bloodlines-- this time based out of Stonehenge. A regular favorite, Vulcanis Argens provides a new installment, and new to this issue but a blast from the past for readers of Hermes Portal, we have a Heretic's Corner, where Xavier Requejo examines the idea of fixed art scores.
We're hoping you'll pick up this issue and take a look. For those keeping track, issue 16 should be relatively close on its heels and issue 17 not far behind that!
***
As always, if you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order (so we can both see you've made your order). We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option. We've been somewhat preoccupied with things we cannot talk about, but you're going to love. At this point, you really have no choice but to believe me.
Five years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #16 the first three reviewers of issue #15 still stands-- if you've got #15 and want #16 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up. So far, we've left one issue on the table for the last three issues; you could buy this one and potentially not buy one again for a long long time, if you're willing to let us know what you think everytime.
I feel like there is really a wealth of great books out right now for the reader looking for not-superhero-comics.
A few I'm enjoying are:
Black Science-- Reality Hopping Murder Mystery. This is looking good, and going on a brief pause until July. Rick Remender makes good characters. Time to catch up!
The Massive-- Post-environmental crash by Brian Wood in short, yet continuous arcs; need I say more?
Umbral-- A fantasy book of street urchins, cross-dimensional shadow invaders, pistols, and untrusted wizards. Good stuff.
Federal Bureau of Physics-- Reality has gone haywire, and these guys are trying to manage the aftermath in our modern world. Subspace bubbles, holes between worlds, gravity anomalies, and government bureaucracy.
The Manhattan Projects-- Weird Science meets the Cold War meets craziness as a secret cabal of famous scientists leads mankind into the future. It's Hickman, and it's awesome.
Plus, there's Walking Dead, Conan, BPRD, Fables, Fairest. These are all just knock-down, drag-out fun.
Honorable mention has to go to East of West, Hickman's future-impending apocalyptic love story of Death and his lost son, to Trillium and it's mindbending future/past love story, to transgenic noir Elephantmen, and to hints-of-babylon-5 The Fuse.
I'm on the fence about Rocketgirl (but I love the concept), and Deadly Class, about a high school for assassins.
These have all been nice and consistent in publication, too, giving me a crazy pile of reading.
Sub Rosa #14 has arrived it's got us thinking about legacy as we press into 2014. There are 76 delicious pages of material in this issue; Gerald Wylie returns to consider the process of crafting stories for Ars Magica in the Storyguide's Handbook, Mark Lawford gives us an alternative of Verditius Longevity Devices, and Mark Shirley takes a hard look at the demographics of the Order of Hermes. Vulcanis Argens enters into the breach for another installment and Jérôme Darmont brings us a one-shot adventure that's all about love. Ben McFarland considers options for the Mythic Blood Virtue and David Agnew presents three potential Companions for the new Hibernian Tribunal book, The Contested Isle. Finally, newcomer Mark Baker offers up lineages for House Bonisagus, and Mappa Mundi is chock full of resources for your saga's next trip to the Emerald Isle.
The art comes to us by Sub Rosa veterans Angela Taylor, Patrick Demo, Jason Tseng, and Elizabeth Porter, and they'll knock your socks off. Combine that eyecandy with the gorgeous supplemental character sheet for Verditius devices and a bundle of single-page characters for Jérôme Darmont's adventure and you'll find Sub Rosa a downright steal.
Don't wait for an aging crisis, pick up your copy today!
***
As always, if you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order. We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option. We've been somewhat preoccupied with things we cannot talk about, but you're going to love. We promise. Swear it, even. On our familiars' lives. Trust us on this.
Five years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #15 the first three reviewers of issue #14 still stands-- if you've got #14 and want #15 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up. So far, we've left at least one issue on the table for the last three issues; you could buy this one and potentially not buy one again for a long long time, if you're willing to let us know what you think everytime.
I haven't gotten my copy yet, and I can't speak to modifications which may have shaken out in development, but I'm more than happy to discuss anything I can about the adventure here.
BPRD (and variants), Conan, Elephantmen (possibly on the way out), Fables, Fairest, KotD (although I read it in 4 issue blocks), The Massive, Manhattan Project, Mouse Guard, Saga, The Walking Dead.
I've picked up East of West, Federal Bureau of Physics, God is Dead, and Trillium, to see if I like them. I haven't gotten to them yet, but they're staring at me.
I recently read Prophet, and it's a Numenera campaign waiting to happen.
For me, these are (with the exception of KotD) about the story of the characters in the world around them, and don't get into the superhero schtick as much. Additionally, I positively love the writing of Brian Wood (since Channel Zero!), Jonathan Hickman (For Transhuman and Pax Romana, mainly), Warren Ellis (going back to Transmet), and Bill Willingham. I even dipped my toes into Secret Avengers because of Ellis. Alan Moore's stuff is usually pretty good, too. So having one of those writers tends to get me to take a chance on a book.
What about you? What are you getting in your pull file?
Some secrets take longer to unravel than others, but you're certain to find these worth the wait...
Sub Rosa #13 emerges from the laboratory, flush with discovered wisdom and eager to share.
Inspired by our auspicious thirteenth issue, and the (relatively) recent Kickstarter suggestion, we present the Diedne issue! We've spared no expense, bringing you 108(!) pages of tantalizing material bound to fire your imagination, inspiring both unlikely allies and hidden antagonists. That's almost twice our usual pagecount!
Our gorgeous cover is courtesy of the incomparable Jeff Menges, and our internal artists are the talented collection of Angela Taylor, Anoeska Buijze, Barrie James, Elizabeth Porter, Jason Tseng, and Patrick Demo.
We have exciting overview material from Mark Lawford and Gerald Wylie. Six fully playable takes on House Diedne from veteran contributors Ben McFarland and James Parks, Christian Anderson, C.J. Romer, Erik Dahl, and Matt Ryan and Tobias Wheeler-- as well as one from newcomer Mark Baker-- give this issue a real punch. Diedne creator, Naomi Rivkis expounds on the shadowy origins of the lost House, providing us tantalizing details.
But there's more to issue #13 than the followers of Diedne. Vulcanis Argens returns for another installment, and we have Redcap Training packages by Lachlan Hayes. Timothy Ferguson offers up the Divisible Men, a gruesome tradition out of the Slavic regions. Finally, Chad Bowser shows us the Lost City of Kitezh, a site of Mythic proportions from the steppes of the Novgorod Tribunal.
And there you have it! No initiation required, no oath demanded. Purchase your copy today!
***
As always, if you'd like to pick up an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order. We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option. We've been somewhat preoccupied with things we cannot talk about, but you're going to love. We promise. Swear it, even. On our familiars' lives. Trust us on this.
Five years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
The latest in the Kobold Press line of Advanced Races Guides is out for the Darakhul Ghouls. You can find it here. (Now with 5-star rating by Megan Robertson!)
And you should now avoid the dark places...moreso than you did before...
I'm not a multi-star GM. I'll put that out there. I write stuff, a lot of stuff for a couple different shops, and that tends to keep me busy, but I try to get out and run at least a slot of PFS for the local chapterhouse when I can.
I like PFS, I think organized play deserves its own category at the Ennies, because organized play adventures are a different animal than other adventures.
So Gencon has a special value for me. It's a chance to sit down with folks I really only see once a year, and have a good time. This year, the way schedules worked, that time was going to be a session of PFS, Hellknight's Feast.
This year, that most certainly didn't happen. I don't want to get into the specifics of who, because it could have been anyone, but I think it's important to discuss what can be done in the kind of situation I experienced.
What happened? Let me 'splain.
We played Hellknight's Feast, which had a great combination of social, investigative, and combat opportunities. We saw a mere shadow of these opportunities, though. When interacting with NPCs, we each got to describe what we said or did once and then the rest of the encounter was reduced to rolls and checks with a bare minimum of description. I thought, "well, maybe he doesn't like social aspects," and let it go, since my voice was shot and the room's background noise didn't help.
When the investigation began, it was glossed very quickly (I went to the restroom when it began, and when I returned, we had already discovered a combat). That could have been luck, (we just chose the right place to go) but things seemed to have moved fast.
Then, as we went up to report our findings, the GM mutters, "Oh, I forgot to run the optional encounter. Oh, well."
Then we get into the final encounter after a bit of brief interaction with NPCs. A fight ensues which is really on par with doing my taxes. A lot of "You hit for 25 points of damage. Next." I asked another player to describe two attacks in the whole session which were not his. We could do one.
I can't tell you how the NPCs were dressed. I can't tell you where precisely we were. When the last battle concluded, the GM just looked down and began filling out chronicles. Nothing for closure, or description, or anything. We did dayjob rolls, he asked about fast versus slow progression, and that was it. We had two hours left in the slot. We made the best of it, and went to grab a beer and food, but if that had been a gameday session or a venue where I'd shown up for PFS alone? I'd have been ]REDACTED[. Talking to my friends, who play a lot more PFS, they said it can be a not-uncommon experience. I simply blinked in disbelief.
So, what do you do when your PFS GM phones it in? Should you ride it out, or should you push the GM for more?
It's been a day of Power Word: OBLITERATING every stretch goal so far. Not even 24 hours and we're on our way to the fourth goal of extra art-- after picking up Tim Connors, Jason Bulmahn, and Ed Greenwood.
Yeah, that Ed Greenwood.
Note*:
facepainting not included.
I'm really looking forward to what we'll see in the next four weeks. I think it'll be a casting of empowered delayed blast awesome.
-Ben
--
(Yes, yes I probably could have shoved more spell references in there, but admit it, you've been doing it, too.) :D
The Master of Demon Mountain is notorious for his strange customs—and his vast wealth and power, concentrated in a fabled keep perched on a mountain overlooking the Rothenian plain. The problem? The wine merchant Korsav's finest bottle of wine was stolen by his bitter rival: the son of the Master of the Demon Mountain. Korsav convinces the PCs to help him embarrass his rival, by spoiling wine that will be served at a dance the Master is throwing for his daughter. He will pay handsomely for their trouble, and tiny bit of discretion.
The PCs will have their first brush with danger in the caravan as they approach.... And then the mayhem begins!
Mayhem Beneath Demon Mountain is a fantasy adventure by Chris Lozaga suitable for four 3rd level PCs near any mountain (and especially a lonely mountain on the plains). It includes a little stealth, roleplaying, and horrific dungeon elements.
Oh, sure, you might have suspected something terrible happened, and maybe there was an experiment gone wrong in the laboratory. But we rode out the event just fine, and bring you the wisdom of our collective experience in this issue of Sub Rosa!
What does that include? I'm glad you asked!
Once more, Sub Rosa brings you sixty pages (60!) of Ars Magica love. We've got adventures new and reenvisioned from veteran authors Jérôme Darmont and CJ Romer. We have more of Gerald Wylie's Storyguide's Handbook (now with tables!) and a look at the Kievan Rus by newcomer Elliot Smorodinsky. Ben McFarland brings you a Redcap companion you'll never want to leave home and ways to make your magi live longer. Mark Lawford's saga of Vulcanis Argens continues and Mappa Mundi looks at the books of other systems for inspiration with a pair of reviews that will have you making for your FLGS. We've packed this issue with all new and swoon-inducing artwork from the talented and generous Angela Taylor, Barrie James, Jason Tseng, and Patrick Demo. Under the Rose and David Chart round out the issue with News from the Line.
And to top it all off, we've got a super secret surprise waiting for you on the back cover. Trust me, you're going to want to know the shape of things to come.
So why are you waiting?
***
As always, if you'd like to pick up an issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order. We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option. We've been somewhat preoccupied with things we cannot talk about, but you're going to love. We promise. Swear it, even. By our talismans. Trust us on this.
Four years into this, and you still need convincing? We've put together a short preview here!
Our policy of providing a free copy of issue #13 the first three reviewers of issue #12 still stands-- if you've got #12 and want #13 for free, let us know what you thought of this issue. Post your review and send us an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com. We'll hook you up this summer. I expect these are going to go quick. ;)
Anyone looked at this? I picked up Infinite Futures, and it was rough. I've got reservations about this because of it, but the source area intrigues me. I'll have to think on it a bit, unless there's someone out there who's read it.
I do not have the details available yet, because I have to submit events for this convention, but to do that, I need a pool of GMs.
I have no idea what's available yet for support-- but you'll certainly be seeing some adventures and pregens. We will get that sorted out and taken care of as it shapes up, but for now...
If you're going to Paizocon and want to run a some Midgard events, please email me:
brickk@gmail.com
Subject: Midgard Convention Support
And I'll get you in the pool and then good to go as we get closer.
We will, of course, work with you and your convention schedule so that everyone's playing and helping in the most optimal way.
Because my wife claims I am a grinch (I'm not, I just think it should wait until December), and Steve Russell has so generously put them on sale, I will buy a pdf copy of 101 Boons for the first three repliers to this post who indicate they want it.
I'm excited to see this one up! I think the added islands, the pirate lords and other NPCs, plus the ship templates and aboleth glyphs really make this a sleeper hit. It's packed with a lot of fun stuff, and the thalassic template means you can create terrible minions of the sea who represent even deeper, darker powers-- which is what I like in my minions.
Sure, they're not the reason for the rolling, but grogs help make Ars Magica games go, and they're the focus of issue #11! We've got a full harvest of rough warriors often tasked with keeping your magi safe and decidedly fletching-free, lovingly crafted by Ennie-award winning author Ben McFarland, with Mark Lawford (Grogs, Tales of Mythic Europe,Magi of Hermes), Matt Ryan (Tales of Mythic Europe, Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults,Rival Magic,Art&Academe and David Staveley. Gerald Wylie returns to tackle the difficult existence of outlaws and what it means for the Storyguide running your saga.
But don't think magi are ignored this issue! Mark Shirley (author on more than 20 Ars Magica books!) provides an excellent look at training packages for magi-- riffing from the system presented in Grogs, while Mark Lawford gives you the in-depth look at creating a Hermetic Architect from apprenticeship to maturity.
Offering their generous and lovely talents, you'll find the pages of this issue graced with the artwork of Angela Taylor, Barrie James, Jason Tseng, Kyle Cabral, and Patrick Demo.
We've got the Journal of Vulcanis Argens, supplemental rules on conception, and a sordid adventure of revenge and lost love by newcomer Edward Kendrick! Round things out with David Chart's news from the line, a Mappa Mundi column actually focused on maps, more metacreator files and handouts than you can swing a flail at, and this is an issue you won't want to pass up.
So join the turb and pick up Sub Rosa #11 today!
-Ben.
***
I'll note, with a hint of pride, that this issue matches our run with that of Mythic Perspectives!
As always, if you'd like to pick up a back issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order. We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option.
Give the little guys some love-- when voting opens up on Friday, July 20 and runs to Sunday, July 29, get in there and help us bring the Pathfinder banner to the podium! :)
A mild winter has left us busy but issue #10 is now here, full of stormy skies and unfamiliar magic, with a dash of mystery and a ship to sail it by. Accented with lavish art, you'll find pieces from Ars Magica veterans like Jeff Menges and Angela Taylor alongside Sub Rosa regulars like Vincent Belmont, Alexandra Dopp, Barrie James and Jason Tseng. Weighing in at 60 pages, the Storyguide's handbook considers the Dramatic Journey, Mark Lawford gives you the blueprints for a Hermetic Shipwright, and there are mystery cults and twilight scars to go around. Vulcanis Argens returns and there's a thundering scenario sure to keep your saga engaged, no matter what Tribunal your troupe calls home.
Don't let this issue set sail without you! Pick up your issue today!
As always, if you'd like to pick up a back issue of Sub Rosa, send $4.50(US) for single issues, $13(US) for a troupe issue via paypal to marklawford@gmail.com send and an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com once you've completed your order. We're working to change this arrangement, and we'll post as soon as we have a better option.
Thanks to Albert, Galdric, and the Iron Bound Tome for their reviews, and as a reminder, we're offering a free copy of Sub Rosa #11 to the first three reviews of Sub Rosa #10!
Email your submissions or queries to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com and we'll get back to you quickly!
Help make Kobold Quarterly the site of the year and go vote for us here? Do you want the gnomes to win? Those underpants stealing, big-nosed, stew-cooking gnomes...watching you from your garden, biding their time. Kobolds are honest-- with them, you know it's a trap, and not just a clever ploy.
As a heads up to everyone, I will be traveling to GenCon next Wednesday, and will not be back until the following Tuesday. I don't expect to be posting much, if at all, during that time.
Checking in on everyone else. I know Arion is out for a bit, but I haven't heard from several of you in a while. Moving along with Dale? Checking out other rooms? Taking a nap on the comfy pillows in the first room?
I understand sometimes it feels like you don't "have anything worth posting" but even a quick "I follow the group" periodically let's me know that people are still involved and haven't dropped from the game.
If this were not Play-by-Post you would not know the DCs to be able to pick which ones you would succeed by taking 10, or which ones you would need to roll for. I am posting the DCs to help with flow, and allow you to post with your character's knowledge as soon as they gain it. Please do not metagame with the DCs (please either take 10 for everything, or roll for everything) or I will not post the DCs in the future and the game will slow way down.
I just want a fun and fair game for all, and I want to be able to trust you all with the DCs. Thank you for your cooperation.
"Wonderful!" Tanbaru says as he flies down and rest on Baphos' face. Tanbaru smiles apparently pleased with the trust (or because he no longer needs to fly the whole way himself).
Baphos: you now have a +2 Insight Bonus on your Perception checks.
Old Pak speaks up: "Well! I guess that settles it! You'd best get going! ... unless you had something more to do?" he gives you a playfully inquisitive look.
Daji's grappling hook catches at the lip of the cliff!
Valon kicks over the scattered remains of the Cave Fisher. He can see that the string of filament that was still in the creature's mouth at its time of death terminates in a bulbous glad just behind the pincers.
You had said the rope was attached to a grappling hook, correct? No check then. Just wrap it around and hook it, as your standard action. Length should work.
Normally a 16 Initiative? Ah, see that in your tag line. On the first slide it's listed as +19. The +4 added after that is for your Heightened Awareness (also used Petrok's HA). Either way, you're still first.
Bruca, check was not high enough to make any progress. Still on the ground. Would like those stats uploaded during this combat. Please.
Roni makes his way to the top of the plateau and secures his rope to one of the iron sculptures. My bad for not placing the duergar earlier.
After he does this the largest iron scuplture groans as its metallic limbs come to life. The sculpture moves toward Roni and attempts to slam him.
I just read the chronicle sheet. Question: Does the Playing/GMing "An Entire Adventure Path Volume" mean all 6 parts of an AP, or just 1 part?
And if we're GMing either a scenario or the AP in 'Campaign Mode' does the GM sign it, or do we need to find a VO or something to sign on top of that (for the GM)? The line about the Event Coordinator is the part that's confusing. I think GM's can be their own Event Coordinators, but I'm not sure.
If GM's are allowed to sign their own boxes (for scenarios/APs they run), should they note the chronicle sheets that apply on this chronicle sheet?
Volume would be each book of an AP, not the entire AP. I believe it would need to be something "played for credit." So the person checking off the box on the chronicle here, would be the same one signing your chronicle for the AP. (Shouldn't matter if it is "campaign mode" as long as it is played "for credit" with the applicable rules for campaign mode)
As a player I've enjoyed countless puns and bad jokes of my own.
My favorite probably being an older scenario, run by Tom at YMB. While we explored we found some confounded laborers (kidnapped slaves or the like) and I informed them that we had cleared the way out, and they were free to head home.
"You want us to walk a thousand miles home?!"
"Yes, and when you get halfway home, I want you to loudly proclaim the story of your travels. You can call yourselves the Proclaimers!" (It took long enough for most people to get it that it almost wasn't funny by the time it was understood. But I grinned like a fool!)
Or the time Keith was GMing an interesting scenario. Final battle we are getting stomped. Cleric of Nethys Planeshifts the Big Bad to the Maelstrom.
.....
"It has the thing we're trying to recover? Didn't it?"
"Umm..." *We search the whole place* No thing.
So! Some scrolls of Teleport, some prep of Planeshifts, and we all go to the Maelstrom, scry, teleport, finish the fight and return to Golarion in time for supper!
On the GM side of things: I always enjoy prepping a scenario that brings entertainment to others, and being dumbfounded at a group's solution to a problem that I was never expecting. (The chronicles are nice too, sometimes)
The most recent being running a group of 'misfits' through the Destiny of the Sands trilogy. Now, I say misfits because they insisted on playing up in each of the three parts, but their strongest martial characters were a level 3 cleric with 8 strength, and a level 1 druid's animal companion (part 3 the druid was a bloodrager pregen, so that worked out).
Combats were slow, arduous, with a lot of... ***creative*** tactics. But the group really got into the story, embellished the roleplaying, and discovered some interesting things about Osirion. (Also, I may have been a little giddy running this as an Osirion/Scarab Sage enthusiast)
6 player table of Sewer Dragons of Absalom with 3 players using kobold pregens from True Dragons of Absalom. Our GM (Jolene) was amazed at how fast things went off the rails, particularly when I thanked Drandle Dreng during the briefing for providing Pathfinder assistance to enslave my tribe (I was the sorceror pregen). The rest of the players (by and large) embraced the madness that ensued and it was a blast. Jolene ran the scenario like an absolute champ that night.
Also, my "prepared speech" (wherein I pulled out what I described as an obviously magical scroll) for the chieftain went over very well. "You are stupid. FIREBALL."
So, happy happy for: GM, players, and the right combination of goofy scenario boon and old scenario.
And my trap-master kobold making use of 'reptile' synonyms/puns. And reminding everyone that those wonderful traps we kept falling into were his own doing.
We really broke that timeline.
Best use I've ever made of a boon!
Gah, where to start! YMB is where I played my first PFS game (run by ^^^Ryan, no less). I was on the waitlist until maybe two hours before the game, and that's when I realized how far YMB was from me. It may have been one of the the furthest stores from me, but it was the best, and the one I would always prioritize.
Early on I learned how much the YMB staff and owners really cared about the gamers and the games. I remember asking one of them after a particularly long running scenario, what time they closed. The answer was, "meh, when everyone's done playing I'll close things up."
They really did put our gaming first, making sure everyone had a good time. I remember overhearing a MtG player that lost his deck in a draft tournament, and they offered to give him the materials necessary to draft a new deck, no charge. They just wanted him to have fun.
And getting to run a table at a multi-table special NOT at a convention?! They gave us the whole store! It wasn't some ballroom or banquet hall, it was Your Mom's Basement! (And I always loved catching people by surprise with the name, even if I was just thinking of it like the proper noun)
And who can forget derailing games (all in good fun) with the wonderful PFS community we have there! Particularly a table of Kobolds on a mission to negotiate with a tribe of Kobolds... that they all happen to be a part of.
... and the reptile puns. (Thanks for playing along, Jolene!)
I loved talking to Derek, Corey, Dan, Rachel and all the others that worked there. And the times they would check in about things I didn't even remember telling them about, it really added to the welcoming vibe of the store.
Hell, it was more than a store, it was a home. And it was always filled with family and friends, and good food!
I Nomrok, "The Otyugh," "The Lord of Rodly Might," "The Charmer of Pants," "The Great Orator," have finally returned to Absalom to regale you all with the tales of my incredible feats leading to my seeker-ship!
I'll admit, that this did happen roughly four months ago. Yet it is a long trip back from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. Even longer when I stopped at every wayside tavern to fascinate everyone with my tales. Cailean-ites and Calistrians aplenty were captivated by my grandeur. And as my stories broadened their horizons, I did my best to horizontalize their broads!
AND! with the exception of my quick visit to my alchemist friend about ... a thing You are the first I have come to tell my tale to!
You see, while flowers were returning, and beautiful sights abounded, I was sent to an uncivilized land where even Mammoths Dare Not Tread. With barely another attractive person in sight, I set off to befriend the savages! Yet when an unsuspecting saurian decided I looked tasty enough to eat (and who can blame him?!) things got interesting. As I, heroically (and quite dashingly) fought the beast on my own to save my allies (I think they were fighting bugs or something... not important). I traded claw for claw, bite for bite, getting swallowed for bursting back out only to continue the bestial fight. I am told that my decision to give our cleric a Breath of Life Scroll was a clever one, as I awoke to find that I, and I alone, had slain the beast! Though that axe wound on his haunches was a little odd.
And from there I went on to befriend the savages and save Golarion from untold destruction!
Not Reported to the Decemvirate:
And if you heard something about me being turned into a squirrel by a bug that had udders: Well! You are utterly delirious! There is no such thing, and it certainly wasn't in our report to be published in the Chronicles! Couldn't have happened! Bluff:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34
