Playtesting War of Ashes RPG!

Edmund singed up for the beta playtest phase of the War of Ashes RPG for Evil Hat Productions. It’s curious and interesting to see someone else use the material without any input on my part (I’m staying hands-off.) he ran one via Skype last Monday and I listened in on part of the game; it sounded hilarious. Afterwards, he recapped it thus:

TONIGHT ON “THE GODS WHO LOVE TOO MUCH” the protagonists (Boegert  an Elvorix rasta priest and Liekenen, a Kuld scholar) – both members of the Society of Stone, meet with their contact (“the old one”) at the Bigg Inn – an establishment soon to be overrun by rampaging Kuld and filled with desperate refugees, escaping soldiers, and naer-do-wells.  The Old One gives them a task – to travel north to a long abandoned estate known as Grantham House, there to recover an ancient book called “How Things Work” before it can be devoured by the Kuldish horde.

Before they can embark on their assigned task, however, they are ambushed by strange Elvorix wearing dark cloaks to hide their glowing eyes.  Neither of the protagonists are skilled fighters, but manage to escape on stolen Guldul.  Likenein even manages to slay one of the attacking Elvorix, only to discover that the body is filled not with blood, but with ash. (also, it doesn’t taste very good).

Riding (very, very slowly) North the pair come to the lands of Grantham, where they discover that there is no life whatsoever, even in those things which appear alive.  Boegert summons the power of his healing herb and goes on a vision quest, in which he sees a huge volcano explode and cover an island with ash, burying entire cities, from which rise creatures with glowing red eyes.

Tune in next week for installment 2 of THE GODS WHO LOVE TOO MUCH!

I get to join in a tabletop test this afternoon with a different group and different characters. Again, I didn’t get involved with game planning but I did create a sheet of paper minis I’m pleased with. I need to check with ZombieSmith whether I can share it publicly, though.

It’s interesting to hear the preliminary feedback and to notice things differently now that I am re-reading the draft. I’ve already made notes for a number of inconsistencies to fix, generated by our last-minutes system changes. A number of rules I’d been trying when I ran the alpha playtest were replaced, so this will likely feel quite different today.

Credits:  Art © ZombieSmith 2013, used with permission.

War of Ashes RPG: OPEN PLAYTEST!

For anyone who has aked when we’d see the open playtest phase of the War of Ashes RPG for Evil Hat Productions: it’s here NOW! The application form is open on the Evil Hat site: http://www.evilhat.com/home/war-of-ashes-playtest-open-now/

As we’re moving very quickly on this, please spread the word.

Credits:  Photo © Edmund Metheny 2013 and art © ZombieSmith 2013, used with permission.

Fate Adventure Worksheet

In my previous post I talked about building an adventure for the War of Ashes RPG and I used a sample form I put together for the purpose. A number of people have asked me for a blank version they could use, so here is the 1-page_Adventure_template (PDF.) If you prefer a JPEG version, click on the thumbnail instead. I’ll probably be tinkering with it some more, but it’s good enough to use.

Suggestions for improvement are welcomed!

War of Ashes RPG: Adventures

I’m wrapping up details of the War of Ashes RPG for Evil Hat Productions.  The draft is being improved by editor Karen Twelves, and will need three main things after this: (1) playtesting, which will lead to edits; (2) a short section on converting to and from other games bas on the War of Ashes setting; and (3) the introduction and conclusion (I always write those last.)

In the mean time, I’m working on the appendices: sample characters, worksheets, cheat sheets, etc. The main item I still have work on is a short collection of one-page adventures and a step-by-step demonstration of how to create these. I’m using Ryan M. Danks’ Fractal Adventure method, with kind permission. I already have a chunk of writing on this in the draft and I suspect I won’t have the word space to expand much more, but I wanted to show every step and here is as good a place as any.

Brace yourselves for a long post. It’s also structured a little oddly because I’m skipping some context material; bear with me, it flows more smoothly in the book.

Example: Creating an Adventure

The Mask of Betrayal: Problem and Story Questions

Because Iva has the aspect Sponsored by the Stone-Seekers and Rustica has Owes Valius Nummus a Favor, it implies that their patrons have their own agendas. Therefore, Iva and Rustica both agreeing to find the same Ancient artifact, the Mask of Kuldarus, and bring it back to their respective sponsors would probably be a big problem for them.