Time And Time Again

Tis time to talk about, ugh, time.

Or more accurately Darmonica's calender.

The Calender (for the current lack of a more unique name) came into being following the Fall of the Ancient Terrans, with the Fall being used as the start of the current epoch. Before Fall and After Fall are therefore used to denote dates from either the Ancient Terran era or the current era, typically as an abbreviation placed after the year typically as BF and AF respectively. With this in mind Darmonica's current year is listed as 1836 AF.

A typical Darmonican year is split up into 13 months, each of which are comprised of 29 days. There are then weeks that are made up of eight days each, giving just over three and a half weeks in each month and 377 days in a Darmonican year. There are then 47 weeks in a year with one spare day, which means that for example the first day of each month is always on a different weekday to that of the last much like with our own calender.

The weekdays and months still have to be named, something that will be posted on this blog in the near future. Least with the former I have a couple of ideas like Kingsday and Queensday, which still leaves another six days to name. Months are a little trickier since I'm kicking about the idea of naming some of them after the deities of Darmonica, though as of yet only deity has been named and that is Taran the Goddess of the Sky. So maybe something like Tarblawan for a month famed for being very windy?

Prints, Prints And More Prints!

Some of the Frozen Skies artwork is now up on DeviantART, the artist has given their full permission for the art pieces to be sold as prints. Money from each print sold will go towards funding Frozen Skies and getting the book completed.

http://stormwell.deviantart.com/gallery/51849361/Utherwald-Press

The Ancient Terrans

Since the earliest drafts of what has evolved into Frozen Skies I've always been rather keen on having a fallen ancient civilization, partially because old ruins and artefacts always help provide a plot hook for adventures. The Ancient Terrans seemed a natural fit as a name for this lost civilization, if anything it helps muddy the waters as as history is concerned in the world of Darmonica.

The inspiration for the Ancient Terrans seems from the old PC game Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura, there was a ruined city called Vendigroth that had been the heart of a highly technological culture and had been destroyed. Certainly the part about its high technology being destroyed along with the city greatly appealed to me, especially the aspect of the world's technology level gradually recovering over time but still a far cry from what had existed. Also the fall of the Ancient Terrans would help with regards to working a calender and a timeline, a reference point for dates and stuff if you will.

In Frozen Skies there is the Monolith that stands as the most visual remnant of the Ancient Terrans, its ruined spire sitting forlornly in the heart of the impossibly flat and circular Chillwynd Marches. In addition there are various old ruins scattered throughout the continent of Alyeska and beyond, some of which have been adapted as the foundations for modern settlements or became snow-bound piles of rubble. I had envisioned Ancient Terran artefacts sparking a 'relic rush' when the well-monied started taking an interest in them to grace the display cabinets of their billiard rooms and later on curious inventors sought to unlock the mechanisms of some of the devices that the ice gave up. But not all of these artefacts are harmless.

Course I'm going with something that caused the downfall of what could be described as Darmonica's technological equivalent of our own world's Roman Empire, though for now I intend to keep that something vague and let players and their GMs determine what happened to the Anicent Terrans in their game.

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.