The Shrouded Days

As we enter the Winter Holidays, figured its a good a time as any to delve into Alyeska's equivalent known the Shrouded Days. The Shrouded Days are tied to the Midwinters Festival celebrated across the rest of Darmonica, in some respects they are considered to be the local Alyeskan observation of Midwinters.

Also, a reminder that there will be no post next week (28th Dec).

Whatever you celebrate this time of year, Happy Holidays!

The Shrouded Days

The name 'Shrouded Days' is given to what is effectively a polar night in Alyeska, though only northern areas get 'dark' whilst more southern regions tend to get at least a little bit of daylight. They can last anywhere between a few days to a month or more depending on how far north you are.

The beginning of the Shrouded Days is marked by the Exodus, a number of people will leave the north to winter with relatives who live further south. Those that stay typically move into the biggest building in their settlement where heating fuel and rations had been stockpiled in the weeks leading up to the Shrouded Days. Midwinters is marked as the halfway point during this period of darkness, typically involving present giving and a big meal to pick up spirits. The first sunrise is known as Dawnfest, a celebration is held to herald the end of the Shrouded Days and to welcome the new year.

However the Shrouded Days isn't without its dangers, particularly for more northern settlements. Outlaws can take advantage of the near-deserted ghost towns, either as a place to hideout the winter or to pull of a heist when theres very few people around. To this end the Royal Alyeskan Air Police usually deploys an officer or two to help keep settlements safe in addition to the townsfolk organising a militia of a sorts to regularly check each building in the settlement. That said its not unheard of for some settlements to be found abandoned come Dawnfest...

December 2016 Update

2016 is drawing to a close and soon we'll be in a brand new year, looking back I feel that I've made a bit of progress in getting Frozen Skies closer to release. This week's post is mainly about plans going forward and what to expect next year, and also a quick PSA that there won't be a post on the 28th December as I wish to take a break over the Festive period.

Frozen Skies

Hopeful to have a proper release for Frozen Skies by next summer, it'll be even better if I can get it done before the start of my convention season but for now I'm aiming for summer. Different parts of the book are going be done in a mixed order, the Setting Rules are effectively complete and uploaded for feedback. The other sections I plan to initially upload as Patrons Only content over on the Patreon page for feedback, but theres no guarantee that they'll appear on the blog. Though what I've been doing for the artwork will remain the same format, though being in a better place cash wise should mean artwork being shown off more regularly.

Also going to be doing something a bit different with the blog, I've had a few people nagging me about doing a Frozen Skies campaign and I've realized doing Actual Plays will help build interest. So once my present Savage Worlds campaign (based on Fallout New Vegas for those interested) I will do a Frozen Skies one and post up session reports every other week (which is when the game sessions usually run), this will give me a bit of breathing room to do the other posts which are likely to be monthly updates and other content such as locations, etc.

In addition I'll hopefully be on a podcast soon to talk about Frozen Skies, more details when I have them.

Events

My situation has improved a fair bit over the past year, so hoping to do more conventions and events next year. So listed below are the shows or conventions that you can expect to see Utherwald Press at;

Diceni - Norwich
UK Games Expo - NEC Birmingham
NOR-CON - Royal Norfolk Showground
Exilicon - Cambridge (TBC)

Dragonmeet in London is on the wishlist, as is Dragondaze in Cardiff but keeping my ear to the ground for other conventions in the East of England.

Alyeskan Gazetteer: Fort Cathmore

In last week's post I mentioned about trading posts that are scattered across the length and breath of Alyeska. About how they're located along established routes and offer safe-havens, offering lodgings, warm meals and supplies to wary travellers. We're also a little overdue a Gazetteer post, so naturally the two seem to go together quite well.

Fort Cathmore Trading Post

Fort Cathmore is one of a number of trading posts still operated by the New Gwentia Trading Company, though the Company may eventually give up ownership in the near future. It is located at a crossroad where a gravel road cross the partially-paved MacGuire Highway that runs from Gravenburgh at its southern end to Tay River on the shores of Wicked Antler Lake at its northern end.

The trading post predates the Highway, having originally been founded by the Great Northern Trading Company to trade with the native tribes that inhabited the area. Overtime the trading post became a small settlement known as Fort Cathmore, acquiring a tavern, a blacksmith and a couple of homesteads. With the coming of motor vehicles and the Highway the blacksmith became a repair garage and the trading post gained a couple of fuel pumps for motorcars. The trading post itself now serves more as a general store and part-time post office, it is also connected to the telegraph line that runs to Tay River.

Today the trading post is managed by a Gilbert Bradshaw who has a indifferent relationship with Miss Holland the owner of the tavern and a less than friendly one with the Mason Brothers who run the garage. Miss Holland is content to run her tavern without inference and has always paid her rent on time. The Mason Brothers, Rowland and Antony, run their own motorbus along the Highway that completes with the NGT operated mailbus and Bradshaw is certain they siphon fuel from the trading post's fuel pumps but he lacks proof. Antony and Rowland have made their ambitions clear that they wish to takeover the trading post, though Bradshaw is worried just how far they'll go to achieve that goal.

But, as of late, Bradshaw has bigger concerns in the form of outlaws who have been attacking the NGT mailbus recently. Again he suspects the Mason Brothers but lacks anything concrete and the Royal Alyeskan Air Police haven't been able to get any leads despite routing a regular patrol through the area. Bradshaw is willing to pay handsomely if anyone could bring the outlaws to justice, he'll also pay a bonus if it can be proven that the Masons have a few dirty dealings.

Trail of Commerce

Though the main focus of Frozen Skies is obviously aviation, there are other aspects of Alyeska that may appeal to players and some have been mentioned previously. Though aviators and their aircraft are considered vital, there are those who consider themselves equally important if not more so at keeping the lifeblood of trade in Alyeska going. Theirs is a less glamorous life trekking across the frozen wastes, fending off beasts and raiders alike to help keep the flow of commerce open. These are men, and women, known as Free Traders.

New Gwentia Trading Co.

For a long time Alyeska was dominated by the Great Northern Trading Company, originally a fur trading business that gained a monopoly on all trade in Alyeska. Though the Great Northern ran into difficulties and had its assets seized by the Commonwealth, thus ending its long time monopoly and allowing independent traders to fill the void as the company ceased to exist. The Commonwealth formed a replacement called the New Gwentia Trading Co. (NGT for short), though it had limited power and influence compared to the old Great Northern.

The NGT's main function is to maintain some of the Great Northern's old trading posts, effectively small settlements in their own rights, and run general stores in various settlements across the Alyeskan Interior. The trading posts are located along established routes and offer safe-havens, offering lodgings, warm meals and supplies to wary travellers. Some of these trading posts are also service stations for motor vehicles, though this tends to be closer to the bigger settlements.

Another role of the NGT is contracting free traders, offering routes up for bidding and providing guards for hire. Contracts usually require yearly fees, but in return contracted traders can bypass Board of Trade fees and can claim compensation if they suffer losses. However there has been growing competition from startup truck companies who prefer to broker their own contracts with prospective clients.

Free Traders still hold sway over much of the Interior, their routes run from the few existing railheads to far-flung settlements. Admittedly slower than aircraft, a Free Trader convoy is able to transport items in bulk and is likely to remain a common sight for some years to come.

Adventure Ideas

A NGT/Free Trader based campaign is likely to take place on firm earth and feature long treks through the Alyeskan wilderness. Typically it'll be based around a two or three vehicle convoy, most likely Mule Tracked Carriers, defending said convoy against beasts and outlaws. Players could serve as guards or simply be passengers in addition to the possibility of running the convoy themselves.

Aviation could still feature, either aircraft coming to the aid of a convoy or being scouts for a free trader seeking a new route.

More Lurker Thoughts

The Ancient Terrans are a key part of Frozen Skies' background, primarily for the setting's history and as a source of adventure hooks. There is also the chance for players to actually meet some Ancient Terrans, known as 'Lurkers', though admittedly probably not in a friendly manner. Since the last post about them, I've had a few more thoughts regarding them.

Old Masters of Technology

One of the biggest things that the Ancient Terrans had going for them was their technology, some of it has been retrieved by modern Darmonicans like the Skyships have others are still far in advance of anything currently seen. Its plausible that the Lurkers would still use some of this old technology, least the devices that they can keep working since making new ones would be a tad...difficult.

One thought along this line is having the Lurkers' Life Drain ability actually be some sort of device, a sort of personal life replenisher that works by stealing another person's life essence. This can extend to other devices such as one that cloaks a Lurker in shadows and thus allow them to sneak up on somebody unaware, perhaps even some sort of holographic device to help unnerve and dis-ordinate potential...erm...'food'.

Lots of possible ideas to run with, plus it ties into the Weird Science Arcane Background that is already in the setting. Still running with the idea of 'futuristic' weapons such as raygun style laser weapons.

The Wild Blue Yonder

Mentioned that cargo planes are quite common in the skies of Alyeska, plus its envisioned that alot of Frozen Skies groups will be based around a cargo plane of some description. Originally I was looking at using the stats for a C-47 Dakota from Weird Wars, though with the aircraft creation rules its probably a better idea doing one or two from scratch.

Crown Aircraft Co. 'Beagle'

The Beagle is a twin-engined, all-metal cargo plane that saw service in large numbers in the latter years of the Great Darmonican War. A few remain in military service a decade after the conflict, many more can be seen flying in civilian hands.

Acc/TS: 20/120; Toughness: 12 (2); Crew: 2-4; Climb: 0; Handling: -1; Notes: Heavy Chassis, Extra Fuel Tanks, Cargo Space x8

Crown Aircraft Co. 'Wolfhound'

A larger counterpart of the Beagle is the four-engined Wolfhound, which has tricycle landing gear that also helps to set it apart from the taildragging Beagle.

Acc/TS: 10/110; Toughness: 14 (2); Crew: 4; Climb: 0; Handling: -2; Notes: Bomber Chassis, Increased Torque, Wing Adjustments, Cargo Space x10

November 2016 Update

Been a couple of months since the last update and people have been asking how things are going.

So heres a round-up of things, thats also a day early!

Frozen Skies

Happy with the Setting Rules as they currently stand, hopefully playtesting won't throw up any problems. Don't see any more changes being made at this stage, but we'll see.

The rest of the work involved is sorting out Edges and Hindrances, as well as editing all the text to make it into a proper book format rather than a jumbled collection of notes and blog posts. I've made some progress here but there is still a fair amount of work to be done with the writing, but hopeful we'll see the final book some point in the New Year. A change of dayjobs and other factors means in theory that I have more time to devout to getting Frozen Skies finished.

Though I am pleased to announce that the artwork side of things have started moving again, the artist recently finished this piece of a Skyship.

Going Gyro

Conventional aircraft have been covered along with airships of various descriptions, yet there is a type that has only been mentioned but never given much detail. In Darmonica these aircraft are known collectively as 'gyros' but they are effectively helicopters. They aren't that common in Alyeska and the few examples that do exist are in military service, primarily for the use of the Wulfbane Commandos.

Going Gyro

Here are some examples of Gyros that can be encountered in Darmonica.

Gyro-Courier

The Gyro-Courier is a fast and nimble aircraft, usually in its element in mountainous or urban environments. Primarily a civilian aircraft used to move small cargoes or passengers, but armed versions do exist and are used by corporate security forces.

Acc/TS: 20/50; Toughness: 11 (2); Crew: 1+3; Climb: -1; Handling: +1

Gyro-Scout

An older type, originally used by the military during the early days of the Great Darmonican War for recce sorties but gradually replaced by faster aircraft. Does have a much longer range than the Courier model, a selling point for many a mining and logging company.

Acc/TS: 20/60; Toughness: 10 (1); Crew: 1; Climb: -1; Handling: +2

Gyro-Carrier

Exclusively used by the military, these aircraft are capable of carrying an entire squad of soldiers and are typically seen transporting squads of Wulfbane Commandos.

Acc/TS: 15/48; Toughness: 14 (2); Crew: 2+10; Climb: 0; Handling:-1

The Cloud Runner

Back in the mists of time I put together a book of short stories called Alyeskan Tales, a sort of fiction companion for Frozen Skies if you will. One of the stories was called 'The Alyeskan Job' and concerned the crew of a cargo plane called the Grey Bonxie and was intended to be the beginnings of a series that would be called 'Tales of the Grey Bonxie'. Well time moves on and ideas change, prompting a retcon of the original Grey Bonxie idea.

So this week we're meeting the crew of the...

Cloud Runner

First off, tis an airship.

Its an old Rover-class scout airship that saw service during the Great Darmonican War, sold off after the armistice as the Commonwealth's military started winding down after the conflict. Despite being old, its a solid military design that features individually wired gas cells of Lift Gas for built-in redundancy and damage control. It also sports hooks to mount a pair of fighter-reconnaissance aircraft to extend its patrol radius and for self-defence. Propulsion is provided by four engines mounted in nacelles on the sides of the airship, the nacelles also feature 50-cal machine guns to provide extra defence capabilities.

Some point after the War's end the airship was acquired by a certain Artemis Stormwell, who named it the Cloud Runner, was used in a semi-successful career flying cargo all over Alyeska. With small profit margins the Cloud Runner these days features a far smaller crew than she did when she was in military service, likewise she only has a single escort aircraft that doubles up as a small transport plane.

The Crew

Artemis Stormwell - Effectively the Cloud Runner's captain, joined the Commonwealth Air Force during the War and had only just completed flight training when the conflicted ended. He was reduced to a Short Service enlistment as post-war cutbacks began and assigned to the Commonwealth colony of Orduesh where he transport planes over the sands of the Southern Wastes for three years before being demobbed. In an attempt to keep flying he went to Alyeska and signed on with the Aerial Corps, acquiring the Cloud Runner a short time afterwards.

James Midnightte - Served with the Royal Aero-Marines for a fair number of years and saw action during the War, though he is a quiet and reserved man who doesn't speak much of his time with the Rams (though he has stated that he was a sergeant). He has best been described as "an honourable man who's found himself stuck in a hive of thieves and cut-throats", though he remains loyal to Stormwell after rescuing him from a bar brawl (though is unaware said bar brawl was started by the latter cheating at a game of cards). Onboard the Cloud Runner he serves as a de facto First Mate and as an air gunner.

Gervase - The Cloud Runner's other air gunner and another former military man, believed to have served in the army as either a quartermaster or driver but little else is known beyond that. Has proven to be a good getaway driver, but is less than trustworthy and has bit of a drinking problem.

Kaya - The sole female member of the crew and the airship's mechanic, a very highly skilled mechanic capable of fixing almost anything with a few choice words and a whack or two with a spanner. She hasn't revealed her surname, though its believed that she had bit of a sheltered upbringing and is a bit naive about the ways of the world. Both Stormwell and Midnightte keep a close eye on her whenever she comes out drinking with the crew, especially after Gervase has a few drinks inside of him.

Nate Rawlons - Nate Rawlons is the best fighter ace in all of Darmonica, least that what he tells everyone he meets. Stormwell considers him a 'deranged, hot shot kid' whom the Aerial Corps forced upon him and wants shot of the young pilot. One thing for certain is that he is full of energy, but his state of mind is questionable at best as he seems slightly of phase with everyone else. Nate is suppose to fly the Cloud Runner's escort, a Drake heavy fighter converted to be a small armed transport, though Stormwell usually flies this aircraft and makes Nate man the rear turret.

More Aircraft Thoughts

Work on Frozen Skies has admittedly slowed down a bit over the summer due to various factors, least with the blog I've still been able to produce content and ideas. The recent Fool's Errand adventure series is a prime example of this and I'm looking to do a few more adventures of varying lengths to give people more options to play with. Though this week's topic is prompted by a recent question over on the Savage Worlds Google+ group.

More Aircraft Thoughts

Been thinking about expanding on the aircraft rules a bit, namely with more modifications and manoeuvres.

Cargo Space

Looking to handle in a similar fashion to 50 Fathoms, as in the aircraft can carry as many 'units' of cargo that it has space for. What I have down at the moment for a Cargo Space modification is that it costs £25 and takes up one aircraft space, though technically there is no limit. Obviously it means that bigger aircraft can carry more cargo than smaller aircraft, so I foresee Heavy Fighters and Bombers generally being used as cargo planes. That said a Light Fighter could be modified as a fast and armed courier, flying small but valuable cargoes.

Manoeuvres

Another thing that I like to add to the aircraft combat rules is more manoeuvres to help flesh it out a bit more. I will probably go through the existing manoeuvres and see if any of them need modifiers to the Piloting rolls for them.

Immelmann - An Immelmann is effectively a 180 degree turn achieved by the aircraft climbing up and then looping over. In order to pull this off in game terms, make a Piloting roll with a -2 penalty. Success means you've pulled this manoeuvre off, failure means the aircraft goes Out of Control.