Alyeskan Tales Print

The updated print version of Alyeskan Tales, the fiction companion for the Frozen Skies setting, is now ready. You can find it along with the PDF version at; http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/124408/Alyeskan-Tales

Mail and Cross-Promotions

Was waiting to post this but Royal Mail doesn't seem to be playing ball.

The overhauled PDF of Alyeskan Tales is now up, with layout and cover done by the very talented Ian Liddle. Just waiting for the proof of the print version to arrive before that goes live.

Now for a bit of cross-promotion; A friend of mine has recently stepped into the world of self-publishing with her own pantomime version of Sleeping Beauty, it is quite funny and so feel free to share and/or purchase.

http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto?manufacturers_id=7428

October Update!

After an improv holiday it's time to state whats happening with the Press.

*Alyeskan Tales is currently in the process of being redone. This includes some minor edits, improved layout and a new cover. Both the PDF and Print-on-Demand versions will be updated with the new files in the next few weeks.

*City of the Wulf is a new project thats currently pending, it is intended to be a source book that covers the city of Point Fenris located in the Wulflands. It is a city under siege with the Wulvers at its gates and even more sinister forces lurking within.

Wulvers

Either since they were unintentionally free from their rocky prison, the Wulvers have spread across Western Alyeska at an alarming rate. They hold sway over much of what is now dubbed the Wulflands, having either driven out or slain those who'd settled there. They are savage and feral creatures that can rip a man limb from limb, though it is their bite that is feared more. The Wulver's bite carries a curse, it is a infection that transforms noble men into one of the beasts and turns them against former comrades. Once bitten the unfortunate soul is doomed to become one of the Wulvers, there is no return and no cure.

Once you become a Wulver it is what you stay as.

Wulver

Roaming across the Wulflands in large packs, Wulvers are a dangerous threat to anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their path.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d12+2, Vigor d10
Skills: Climbing d8, Fighting d12+2, Intimidation d10, Notice d12, Swimming d10, Stealth d10, Tracking d10
Pace: 8; Parry: 9, Toughness: 7
Special Abilities
* Bite: Str+d6
* Claws: Str+d8
* Infection: Anyone bitten by a wulver has a 50% chance of becoming a wulver themselves. The character involuntarily transforms within 1d6 hours, after which he permanently becomes a wulver.
* Infravision: Wulvers can see heat and halve penatlies for bad lighting when attacking living targets.

Variants

Wulver Alpha: Increase Smarts and Spirit to d8 respectively, then run as a Wild Card.

Wulver Stalker: Reduce Strength to d10 and Vigor to d8, increase Stealth to d12 and add Fleet-Footed: Wulver Stalkers roll a d8 when running instead of a d6.

Frozen Skies Setting Rules v2.1

Chocs Away!

Version 2.1 of the Frozen Skies Setting Rules takes to the wild blue yonder with revised air combat rules and the addition of aircraft creation.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hVqFuzUuy3Ag8gdFBJVM8-F7vMjdxkroA05RCLixHI4/edit?usp=sharing

Questions, Questions, Questions

Just a question this time; What else or more of the Frozen Skies that you'd like to be covered next?

Like theres something you're curious about that I haven't covered yet or you want me to expand upon something I have already posted.

Savage Skies

Bit of a gap in posting, partially due to the day job and partially due to working away on the rules for the Frozen Skies setting. Been taking a crack at air combat rules, mainly adapted from the Crimson Skies based Savage Worlds rules produced by Clint Black (who's kindly given me permission to use them). Since the rules were written for the older version of Savage Worlds I'm going through updating them where they need updating, but I have come up with a few additions to the rules;

*Evasion:- This is a new stat for aircraft combat, works just like Parry does but for aircraft instead. Evasion is two plus half of the character's Piloting skill plus the aircraft's Agility (explained below). So for a character with d8 in their Piloting skill and flying an aircraft with an Agility of 1, their Evasion stat would be 7 (2+4+1) and therefore the TN for anyone trying to attack him. A less skilled pilot flying a lumbering behemoth of an aircraft would be easier to hit than an Ace pilot in an aircraft that turns on a penny.

*Agility:- Agility is how agile the aircraft is, which factors into a Pilot's Evasion stat as explained above. It is also an addition to the attributes that an aircraft has during aircraft creation in Clint's original rules, as a result the points you use to 'improve' the aircraft has been increased to 5. The ranks for Agility are as follows;

Poor -1; Average 0; Good 1; Excellent 2

There will be Glitches/Upgrades that effect an aircraft's Agility attributes.

Combat

Aerial combat in the Frozen Skies setting works the normal way it does for Vehicular Combat for aircraft as in the SWD, though with the addition of Evasion. This basically means to hit another aircraft a pilot has to make a Shooting roll against that aircraft's Evasion score, but damage works in the normal way.This is intended to be an alternative ruleset to use for aerial combat than the Chase rules in the SWD or the Dogfight rules in Weird Wars. Depending upon interest I may produce these rules as a standalone supplement.

The Highlands

Couple of days later than planned, though bills have to be paid and so the dayjob has to come first.

This week we see the last of the Alyeskan Regional Guide entries in the form of the Alyeskan Highlands, a mountainous and largely unchartered region that forms the central and northern parts of the Continent.

The Highlands

The Highlands is a barren region, almost completely consisting of towering mountains and rocky crags. Few venture pass the outer mountain ranges commonly called the Bastion Peak, even fewer have any real reason to do so since it is very difficult to traverse the mountains either on foot or by air.

Aside from vast, untouched deposits of Glimmer Rock the Highlands is said to house an outlaw haven called Broken Spires. The settlement is rumoured to be located at the heart of the Highlands and requires one to cautiously pick their way through the canyons that surround it, though the canyons are said to be littered with the remains of those who weren't as careful as they should've been.

Though a curious note about the region is the existence of wooden walkways that run along the canyons and across the peaks, effectively creating a network of rackety paths. Problem is that they suffer from years of neglect and nobody is really sure who originally built them, regardless they do provide a relative safe way of getting about.

Frozen Skies Setting Rules V1.2

Version 1.2 of the Frozen Skies Setting Rules has been uploaded, now includes starting cash and some weapons. For general gear it's suggested you use either Deadlands Noir (if you have it) or what would be appropriate for a 1930s era setting.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwiYZKQvknnWYkJ3SmpMT2F3NUk/edit?usp=sharing

Much Ado About Lumenpetrium

Lumenpetrium is a corruption of Lumen Petra, which (if Google Translate is anything to go by) is Latin for 'glimmer rock'.

This is important because?

I have long envisioned there being a special mineral in the Frozen Skies setting that could be used for possible plot ideas (i.e. the 'spikes' mentioned in Alyeskan Tales) and to provide some justification for the Weird Science Arcane Background. Effectively think of it being Alyeska's counterpart of either Ghost Rock or Warpstones.

Now Lumenpetrium (or Glimmer Rock as it's commonly called due to how it sorta shines in the light) has some residual energy until 'charged' via an alchemical process. This process typically uses electricity to effectively create a battery to power Weird Science devices. The Sodkans (when they still had their great empire) discovered a large deposit of Glimmer Rock, which they kept a fiercely guarded secret, and an alternative of 'powering' the rocks; Souls.

The so-called 'Sodkan Method' (least to those who know of it) was discovered literally by accident when a lab experiment went disastrously wrong. A team of Sodkan scientists were trying to increase the power load of Glimmer Rock when an equipment malfunction resulted in a power overload and an explosion that killed most of the team and severely injured many others. Curiously the sample piece of Glimmer Rock was still intact and hadn't suffered any damage, though it now emitted a sickly green glow and faces of those who'd been killed in the accident could be seen in the rock. Many tests were run, using criminals who'd been sentenced to death, until the Sodkan Method of using souls was proven and then refined to be more efficient. Not long after this, the Sodkans greatly expanded their mining colony in Alyeska.

The onset of the Great Darmonican War greatly hampered the Sodkan Glimmer Rock Project, the condemned criminals it'd been using were instead being sent to the front lines to fight in penal battalions. In addition the Project had great demands placed upon it by the Sodkan Empress herself to produce weapons for the war effort, forcing the Project scientists to take drastic measures to keep up production of the 'Sodkan Refined Rocks'. Late in the war the Project did start to bear some fruit by producing the so-called 'Tin Men', mechanical automatons that were used to replace the Project's diminished work force of miners. Militarized versions were starting to reach the prototype stage a large explosion destroyed the Sodkans' main research base and devastated the surrounding area during a visit by the Sodkan Empress, the double blow effectively ended the Holy Empire's chances of winning the war and ultimately ended the War itself. In the aftermath the Holy Empire shattered, giving rise to the Union of Sodkan Republics and the Iron Collective. 

The Blast had other far-reaching effects; The area devastated by the explosion remains a dead zone that effectively separates the Iron Collective from the Union of Sodkan Republics. There are also the Spikes, where streams of Glimmer Rock have started building up energy on their won accord before discharging it in a burst of electricity. These discharges of energy have yet to inflict anything more than some minor damage, though they have been growing in regularity.

There are rumours that the Iron Collective may have restarted the old Sodkan Project, though this can only bring bad tidings for Darmonica's future.