I am re-posting this entry with some news.
An NDA has been mostly lifted and I am finally, FINALLY able to share a dark secret! Since about the beginning of 2014, I have had the honor and privilege of being a playtester for the very first game from
Schwalb Entertainment, LLC, Shadow of the Demon Lord.
Here's the thing. I could talk about
Robert J Schwalb's
ridiculously long list of design credits (D&D 5th Edition, A Song
of Ice & Fire Roleplaying, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, everything
else). Or I could tell you all the ways Rob's twisted mind has spewed forth this game of apocalyptic dark fantasy. But you don't care. What you
care about is that this game is really, really, REALLY good. It's super
easy to learn, even for people who've never played a tabletop RPG
before. It's super easy to run and write adventures for. The narrative presented below is actually a session that I ran for my group of playtesters. Some parts of the NDA are still intact so I can't really go into details about story creation but let me tell you, this session was created completely on the fly, in the moment, and done with the greatest of ease!
Character's are built around a path system
that lets you build any kind of character you want, now matter how
out-there, and still be as effective and involved as any other player.
And most importantly, every single time I've sat down at the table to
play it, or run it, I've had a blast.
Now to the Narrative:
Some of you have read this before, if so I've changed some wording because... Well now I can say say some stuff! For the others, I hope you enjoy...
Renholder is a human "looking" traveling priest, spreading
the word of his heavenly father to all who will hear.
Bjorn and Gandr are both Jotun,
decendants of the great giants of the North. They are traveling together by sea. Gandr is a child whose parents
were recently killed and is now in the care of his uncle, Bjorn.
Andron, the
Orc, was on his way back from an outpost to find his village ravaged by plague.
With nowhere to call home he took to the road.
They
all descend upon a small Nordic-esque fishing village.
The two giant-kin arrive by trade ship from the north. Once docked, a
member of
the ship’s crew frantically yells something to captain in a foreign
tongue then points towards the village. The captain pulls out a
telescope and spies the area. He drops the telescope and begins barking
orders to his crew. The crew quickly ushers the passengers
off the ship, raises the gangplank and rushes the ship back out to sea.
The
other two players enter the town from different ends, one from the east
and the
other from the south.
