Gen Con SoCal 2004 special release!
In honor of GenCon SoCal (which I hope to be visiting on Saturday), the second adventure for Gods & Monsters is now available for download. This first draft is not yet available for purchase as a paper copy. I expect the final draft to be available both here and as a printed version in January 2005.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where the philosophers of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Illustrious Castle is an adventure for Gods & Monsters characters of second to third level. It is a natural sequel to Lost Castle of the Astronomers, especially if the characters in Astronomers found the references to the Illustrators.
The Knights of the Order of Illustration once guarded the “Walled Library,” the remote town of Biblyon in the foothills of the High Divide. Today, Illustrious Castle is deserted, fallen into decay, and long-since looted of anything valuable. Legend has it that the castle is haunted by the ghost of its final ruler.
Biblyon and its library remains, an important resource for scholars throughout the known world. But recent tales tell of demonic eyes in the darkness about Biblyon, hideous creatures feeding on deer and livestock, and night trolls raiding travelers, scholars, and farmers.
Hundreds of years ago, the Illustrator’s original purpose was to safeguard knowledge, after the bookburnings of the Cataclysm, until the world was ready again for literature, learning, and study. To this end in 291 their abbot Vince Kellius led them across the mountains into the remote hills on the west side of the High Divide. They stockpiled books and all forms of learning, and waited. In 615 they built the Library at Biblyon when the a learned few once again looked to learning and what the world had lost.
But the Goblin Wars of 896 to 891 destroyed the Order; few of the Order returned, and those who did turned in on themselves. A decade later the few remaining knights and their servants were found dead, a mass suicide that shocked no one.
But the Library lives on, and Biblyon is now a thriving community of scholars.
Illustrious Castle includes maps and keys for both the castle and the town, as well as several player props and notes on doctoring them up for the players.
If you have any comments on this draft, please, hit the comment link and send them.
Forge at GenCon
If you make it to GenCon, be sure to hit the Forge booth, booth 431. Sponsored by Anvilwerks, Twisted Confessions, and Wicked Dead Brewing Company, they’ll be introducing at least one new game (“The Shadow of Yesterday”). They’ll also have several other independent games to show, as they are running it as a semi-cooperative.
If I don’t make it to GenCon, you can blame the Forge. I know that if I go, I’ll be spending all of my Christmas gift budget at their booth. And I don’t think my mom wants a copy of “Donjon” or anything named “Psychobilly”.
- Illustrious Castle
- The Order of Illustration once guarded remote Biblyon. Today, Illustrious Castle is deserted, long-since looted of anything valuable. For second to third level characters.
- The Forge: Ron Edwards
-
“This site is dedicated to the promotion, creation, and review of independent role-playing games. What is an independent role-playing game? Our main criterion is that the game is owned by its author, or creator-owned.” Don’t miss the article links arrayed across the top of the forums.
- A Canticle for Leibowitz
- “Canticle” is unquestionably the best story of mankind’s demise since revelation itself. Miller traverses a thousand years beyond the apocalypse, the “Flame Deluge”, as seen through the eyes of a small order of monks in the southwest desert of the United States.
- Anvilwerks
- “Anvilwerks is the role-playing game imprint of Clinton R. Nixon. In addition, Anvilwerks supports other independent game publishers by providing online services, including building web applications and providing hosting.”
- Twisted Confessions
- Twisted Confessions is the solo publishing venture of Alexander Cherry. It publishes the free RPG Snowball, among others, and the commercial RPG Fastlane.
- Wicked Dead Brewing Company
- “The Wicked Dead Brewing Company specializes in micro brewed roleplaying games, tailored for specific tastes. While most game companies churn out more of the same RPGs we’ve been tasting for years, we at the Brewery take pride in our hand-crafted, homemade style of games.”
- Lost Castle of the Astronomers
- This dungeon crawl is suitable for three to six characters of first to third level. This is the basic adventure that Charlotte, Gralen, Sam, and Will went through in The Order of the Astronomers.
Oh, and if I’m at the con on Saturday I’ll be wearing a Gods & Monsters/Illustrious Castle t-shirt. I’ll be bringing one extra Illustrious t-shirt in medium. If you want it, just tell me. If you see someone wearing an Illustrious Castle shirt, it’ll either be me or the person who beat you to it.