In Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire there are two little pieces I tthink will be very useful for Ars Magica. The first is this: some ancient Romans apparently had cloaks made of the beards of shellfish. Ars has always lacked an Aquam founder, although one pre-Hermetic maga who was a water specialist was…
Read MoreEscape to the Tin Islands shudders forward
I need this done for Auscon, since I’ll be running it twice, and so I’ve made many additions to Escape to the Tin Islands. Stats for grogs, and outlines for scenes two and three have been added. The sessions are four hours long, so I think I may need an additional scene. As it lies now the…
Read MoreArs Magica is looking for new authors
Over at Atlas Games’s site, there’s an open call for a book of story hooks. I’d encourage fans of the game to throw their ideas into the pot, because it makes the game world richer for everyone. Once you have an approved submission, ask around, because many of the authors, myself included, are very happy…
Read MoreTheodeoric’s signature: One of those minor things which I’ll use later for Ars Magica
Theodoric, Lord of the Ostrogoths and virtual Emperor of Rome, was illiterate, so he had a rude mark that passed for a signature. To enable him to write it, he had a plate of gold made, with his signature punched in it, and to sign he merely drew his pen within the spaces.
Read MoreOutline for Escape to the Tin Islands, scene two
So, a brief outline for scene two. It’s predictable, given that the players are on board ships, but I think it shows the difference between, say, Dungeons and Dragons and Ars Magica quite well. In Ars, non-combat magi can defeat a hundred warriors, provided they have a little cleverness, a pile of vis and a spare few minutes.
Read MoreNew details on Soqotran Metaphysics, for Rival Magic
Normal service has been resumed, which is to say I plan to post four times a month, at minimum, from now on, until I once again run into a tight deadline. I’m up to date on my paid work, have finished all of the LibriVoxing I’m signed up for, other than my solo and a…
Read MoreA quick note
Sorry that there’s been no new material for a while. I’m up against a deadline for a paid book contract, and so my free writing on the web needs to pause for a little while to allow me to get that finished. In other news, I’ve just finished a small role in Librivox’s Henry V,…
Read MoreRough draft of first scene for the Tin Islands project ready for comments
I’ve laid out the first scene, in rough form. I’m going to be taking some time off this project for a while, because I have a paid project due in late January and it needs a lot of work. I do hope to still have this finished, into a playtestable form, by the end of January,…
Read MoreFirst two companions are up for the Tin Islands project
Isabella, a gentlewoman, and Rodrigo, a merchant captain, are now written up. The third I want to write up is a thief, but the thief in the core book is pretty close to what I want, so I’ll skip her for now and instead work on the scenes of the story.
Read MoreThe cover of my next book is up!
Just a quick note to say that the cover of my next book is up on the Atlas site. Legends of Hermes was a fun project to work on. I’d like to thank the other authors for bouncing ideas with me.
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Games From Folktales 