Fourth Preview Up!
The fourth preview is up! A day late, sorry about that.
Go check it out on the Game and Setting pages. The Game page has some info on the mass combat, and the Setting page looks at night-haunted Dynn.
Enjoy!
Preview Schedule
Folks over on rpg.net have been asking a lot of questions in the SK thread. That's great! But I thought that I should start putting some of that info here, so that visitors to the official site can see it too. Also, some folks were starting to ask repeat questions. I'm hoping that a set preview schedule will be the most efficient way of getting you all the best info about the game.
So here it is! I'll be providing a preview every Wednesday. Here's what we have for the weeks leading up to GenCon and the game's release.
Wednesday May 27: The previews open with a bang louder than a broadside cannon blast. We'll take a look at one race and one class along with skills, histories, and reputations.
Wednesday June 3: One Kingdom is revealed. We'll also sneak a peek at the rules for magic.
Wednesday June 10: One class, one race, and social encounters get the preview treatment today.
Wednesday June 17: Another Kingdom debuts. On the rules side, we see some of the mass combat mechanics and units.
Wednesday July 1: I'll be on vacation, so no update. Come back in two weeks!
Wednesday July 8: Still on vacation. One more week to go.
Wednesday July 15: Another class and race get us back in the preview habit.
Wednesday July 22: Today we look at the chase mechanics.
Wednesday July 29: Our last preview Kingdom comes up, along with rules for running it.
Wednesday August 5: Last update! Fittingly, we talk about one feature of Spellbound Kingdoms that allows the fun to go on and on and on: the research, advancement, and economy rules.
If you don't see what you want, post about it in the forum. I tried to include the topics people had been asking about the most, but I can play around with the schedule a bit to suit our needs. Just let me know!
GenCon games sold out!
The GenCon games are all sold out! I hope you got your tickets in time.
I can't wait. The adventure is fine-tuned for first-time players. We'll learn the rules, but we'll also have a rollicking good time. Those two hours are going to be packed with combat, intrigue, and, of course, hordes of undead. There will be pregen characters, and we'll jump off with a bang. Be on time!
If you didn't get your tickets, I hope you still want to say hi. I'll post my schedule here later in the summer. Find some time and we can meet, chat about the game, RPGs, how great the Ram is, who knows!
Combat Primer is here!
The Combat Primer is here! Go check it out in the downloads section or on the links to the right.
Once you've downloaded and read through the Primer, try it out. There are several recommended mini-scenarios included, sample monsters, and sample PCs. Hold a tournament, storm a castle, slay beasts!
Remember to post your feedback in the forums! Although you can have a lot of fun with the Primer, it's not the end product. Far from it. A big reason for this release (besides advertising and showing off my not-so-l33t layout skills) is to get feedback for the final version of the game. There have already been some changes to Arrowheart, for example, based on a Primer playtest. So let everyone know how your games are going!
One thing that is important to keep in mind is that not every fighting style is balanced individually against every other style. There are some style match-ups that heavily favor one style or the other. That's intentional. Part of the tactics of fighting is figuring out what style is best to use against your opponent's style. The game as a whole is balanced, rather than each fighting style versus every other fighting style. On the other hand, every fighting style does have at least a fighting chance (pun intended!) against every other style. No style gimps your character, even if for some reason it is the only style that your character practices.
Of course, Spellbound Kingdoms is about far more than combat. As the Primer says, you can expect to find zeppelins, courtesans, feral children, alchemy, sorcery, engineering, politics, dragons, and slavering undead in the Kingdoms. For now, however, we're just releasing the combat system (or part of it, anyway).
Big thanks to Mark Quire of Quire Graphics for the new site design. Over the next day, I should be getting the rest of the pages back online with the new design.
Enjoy the Combat Primer. I hope you have as much fun with it as we have!
