State of the Press Feb 2015

OK, been a while since theres been an update on how things are and figured I might as well reveal the plans for this coming year.

Diceni

For the third year in a row Utherwald Press will be in attendance at Diceni at the Forum in Norwich on Sunday 3rd May.

There will be a few copies of the updated Alyeskan Tales book, printed copies of the Firewater & Ice adventure and possibly a few copies of the Savage Worlds Deluxe rulebook. I *might* have another Savage Worlds adventure to sell, though its too early to say.

UK Games Expo

Utherwald is looking to be back for a second year at the UK Games Expo in Birmingham, though pretty much the same deal as above.

Logistics still need to be figured out for it but the idea of running a Frozen Skies based adventure at UKGE has been considered, though it will probably have to take place outside of the trading hours due to the limited size of the Utherwald crew.

Projects

*Frozen Skies - Still being worked on, though the bulk of the writing is done. Artwork is proving to be a huge hurdle, rather paying for it all is. Currently paying for a piece at a time, but ideally I would like to be able to pay the artist a lump sum and get them all done. Still considering giving crowdfunding another shot.

*Wulver's Cry - The adventure in the story of the crew of the Grey Bonxie, though this time they're having to deliver urgent supplies to a remote outpost before a blizzard closes in on it. Oh and the outpost is located in the heart of the territory claimed by the savage Wulvers.

The previous Tale of the Grey Bonxie, The Alyeskan Job, can be found here.

*City of the Wulf - A citybook covering Fort Bainsbury, a fortified city located on the far western coastline of the Wulflands. It is effectively a city besieged, surrounded almost completely by Wulver territory.

New Adventures?

Recently written an adventure for Fabled Environments to go with their Airship map, more details when that gets released.

The next Frozen Skies related adventure thats in the works is 'The Lost Sodkan Mine' where the players get shanghaied by the Air Police to help investigate recent attacks against remote settlements by 'heavily armoured men'.

* * * * *

And thats all for now, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Glossary of Alyeskan Slang & Terminology

A/c: aircraft.

Bandit: enemy aircraft.

Deck: the ground.

Eggman: insult for an officer.

Fitter: aircraft mechanic.

Gen: information.

Gremlin: a mythical creature that lived on certain aircraft and caused it to go "u/s" at the most inconvenient times and then could not be located as the source of the problem.

Half-pint hero: a boaster.

Hawk: another term for an officer.

Hop the twig: to crash fatally.

Jink away: sharp maneuver, sudden evasive action of aircraft.

Juice: aviation fuel.

Kite: an aircraft.

Met: Meteorology Officer or weather report.

Pack up, to: to break down, as in "My port engine packed up as I came in to land".

Port: the left side of an aircraft as seen from pilots seat.

Prang: to crash an a/c.

Pukka: genuine, as in "pukka gen".

Shufti: to look.

Starboard: the right side of the aircraft as seen from pilot's seat.

Touch down: to land.

U/S: unserviceable - broken or not available.

Wind Waste: dead.

Speaking The Lingo

There are a great many languages and Darmonica is no different, below is a list of the various countries/realms and associated real world languages that GMs and players alike may find useful.

It is up to you how you use this, perhaps as player handouts if it helps add depth to your game.

Commonwealth:- With a great deal of British influence it isn't really that surprising that English works well for the Commonwealth,though Australian or Canadian English would probably work better.

Artian Confederation:- At first glance German would work for the Artians, but a mix of Eastern European languages would work equally well.

Tyland:- Was originally thinking French as a basis for the Tylander language, but Irish would be more interesting to use.

Iron Collective:- Despite some Russian/Soviet Union influence behind the Collective, was looking at using Romani as a basis for the Collective's language.

Coalition:- Doesn't really matter what language is used for the Coalition long as it includes a ton of bureaucratic and corporate terms.

Union of Sodkan Republics:- Like the Collective, Romani would be the main basis but a degree of Eastern European languages would also work.

Gear Up!

Each and every adventurer often need gear and equipment to help get them through, it is no different in the Frozen Skies setting. 

So finally a compiled list of Gear for Frozen Skies.

Common Gear

Clothing

Boots
Dress, simple
Flight jacket
Gloves
Hat
Overcoat
Pants
Shirt
Shoes

Equipment


Battery
Binoculars
Camera
Crowbar
Doctor's Bag
Film roll, camera
Flashlight
Handcuffs
Lamp, oil
Lighter
Lockpicks
Radio, vacuum tube
Tire, truck
Tools, repair kit
Wristwatch

Hand Weapons

Billy Club/Baton
Brass Knuckles
Knife
Switchblade
Trench knife

Ranged Weapons

Rifle

The humble bolt-action rifle is widespread across Alyeska, found in the hands of hunters, prospectors and soldiers alike. The most common type found is the Commonwealth's Lloyds-Edwards No.5 Rifle, typically as war surplus.

Price: $40+

Range: 24/48/96; Damage: 2d8; RoF: 1; Weight: 9; Shots: 10; Min Str: d6; Notes: AP1, Snapfire

Self-Loading Rifle

The Self-Loading Rifle, or SLR for short, is a newly introduced semi-automatic rifle used by the Commonwealth military. It is rare to see this weapon outside of the Wulflands, though a few examples have found their way onto the black market and fetch a small fortune.

Price: $250

Range: 30/60/120; Damage: 2d8+1; RoF: 1; Weight: 10; Shots: 20; Min Str: d6; Notes: AP2, Semi-Auto

Revolver

The most common firearm across Alyeska due to its relatively small size compared to rifles. Typically the most common revolvers found is another Commonwealth design, the Edwards No.3 Revolver.

Price:  $25

Range: 12/24/48; Damage: 2d6; RoF: 1; Weight: 2; Shots: 6; Min Str: -; Notes: Revolver

Machine Pistol

A relatively new weapon to Alyeska, largely used by the Royal Alyeskan Air Police due to its higher rate of fire and larger magazine. Based off an Artian design captured during the War.

Price: $65

Range: 12/24/48; Damage: 2d6-1; RoF: 3; Weight: 8; Shots: 30; Min Str: -; Notes: AP1, Auto

Machine Gun

Another military weapon that does see its way onto the civilian market from time-to-time, though mostly of Great Darmonican War vintage Lloyds Machine Guns.

Price: $300

Range: 40/80/160; Damage: 2d8; RoF: 3; Weight: 28; Shots: 47; Min Str: d8; Notes: AP2, Auto, Snapfire

Submachine Gun

A design developed from the Machine Pistol, though largely restricted to military use at present.
Price: $200 

Range: 12/24/48; Damage: 2d6+1; RoF: 3; Weight: 11; Shots: 50; Min Str: -; Notes: AP1, Auto 

Vehicles

Aircraft

Cargo Plane

Dime a dozen, cargo planes are the backbone of air travel in Alyeska. Many isolated settlements rely on them for their very existence. Presented below are the stats for a typical cargo plane.

Price: $ 5000

Acc/Top Speed: 10/92; Engines: 2; Climb: 10; Toughness: 13 (1); Agility: -1; Range: 2,125 miles; Crew: 3 (Pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer), up to 24 passengers; Cargo: 3 tons.
Notes: -

Gyro-carrier

A gyro-carrier is a larger version of a gyrocopter built to carry passengers or cargo, whilst not able to carry as much as a true cargo plane it does have the advantage of being able to land almost anywhere.

Price: $3500

Acc/Top Speed: 15/40; Climb: -1; Toughness: 11 (2); Agility: 0; Range: 334 miles; Crew: 2 pilots, 8 passengers; Cargo: 1 ton.

Road Vehicles
 

‘Mule’ Tracked Cargo Hauler

Part-truck and part-tank, the Mule is a heavy and lumbering vehicle built to haul cargo over rough terrain.

It is not uncommon to see a convoy of a dozen or more Mules trudging their way across the great sand seas of the southern wastes or the ice fields of Alyeska. As a rugged and relatively simple vehicle it is well liked, certainly the lumber and mining companies of Alyeska have a few of them on hand and any serious prospector has at least one. Whilst nor particularly fast, the Mule's wide width and tracks mean it can handle a wide variety of terrain whilst carrying different loads.

Price: $2500

Acc/Top Speed: 5/8; Toughness: 19/17/17 (5/3/3); Crew: 1+15; Cargo: 10 tons
Notes: Heavy Armour, Tracked.

Motorcycle

Acc/Top Speed: 12/30; Toughness: 7 (1); Crew: 1+(1)

Truck

Alyeska is a land of few luxuries and forces people to take gear that’s more for being practical than anything else. This even extends to the motor vehicles present in these northern climes, for those who can’t afford a Mule Tracked Cargo Carrier then the humble truck is more than enough.

Price: $ 250

Acc/Top Speed: 6/26; Toughness: 8 (3); Crew: 1+1