This will be a fairly large expansion. Possibly it should have been a stand-alone game but we can live that for an updated and expanded version down the road.
This will add fantasy elements to Knyghte Pyke and Sworde.
The content list will look something like this:
* Fantasy peoples (from orcs and elves to tribal barbarians and rat people) - 10.
Each of these have two simple rules that apply to them to set them apart.
For example Dwarves are slow but can fight on even if they are wounded.
* A monster list with a bit over 25 creatures on it. Anything from harpies to trolls and manticores.
These can be used in army list play but are of course well suited to scenarios as well.
This also expands the rules to cover large monsters.
* Special units: 6 unique units inspired by mythology and fantasy literature.
* Fantastic mounts: 4 new types of riding mount to supplement the trusty horse.
* New Individual types to get that fantasy flair, from Thieves to Sorcerers.
* A beefy section with Heroes of Renown. This will have "definitely inspired by" heroes from literature as well as champions from mythology (or even history).
If you ever wanted Jeanne D'Arc and Will Scarlet to take on "That guy looks a lot like Conan" this is your chance.
* Finally a section of magic weapons and items to outfit characters with.
The goal here is a big, lovely grab bag of fantasy goodies allowing a ton of fun adventure-filled gaming.
As with the core game, the aim is on relatively simple rules, meaning each new creature or element typically gets a single special rule.
Friday, 3 July 2020
Friday, 26 June 2020
Dark Woods 1.01 available
Make sure to download your file again: 3 bugs were fixed thanks to a keen-eyed reader.
The rules for fear-causing monsters incorrectly asked you to roll 2D8. This should of course be 2D6.
The Buried Blade had a reference to Fighting Styles which is now removed. In addition, its now clear that the blade is magical (and follows normal magic item rules).
The Goblin encounter did not mention exactly what happens when the goblins are near a plant. It is now clarified that they heal their Wounds if rolling a 1-2.
Happy hunting.
Tuesday, 23 June 2020
A bit of general news
First, there may be more swashbucklery action coming from NWG in the near future. Keep your eyes tuned. I have a colleague working on something that I think those of you with a knack for rapiers, wheel locks and dashing heroes may find very cool.
* * *
Secondly, I have the raw version of an updated version of The Goblin Hills, the second major campaign expansion for Five Leagues that needs updating.
As with Dark Woods, the new version has new content, updates and even includes an option to run a goblin campaign.
It will likely be another week or so before it becomes available.
* * *
Third, a fan is producing a Five Men at Kursk campaign booklet for the Norwegian campaign.
Playable as French, British, Poles, Norwegians or Germans, this lets you fight your way through the Norwegian campaign of WW2.
It is built on the same structure as Warsaw is Burning, allowing you to carry over squads to future expansions.
I know people have wanted to see more campaigns for a long time, so I hope you are stoked about this one.
I have the file in my hands basically playable, though it still needs touching up and lay out. I imagine we're a week or two away from this one.
* * *
The planned Five Leagues magic item pack is delayed a bit, since I realized I wanted to take the chance and flesh out the magic items a bit more in general. I hope you understand.
* * *
The last Patreon pack for the month will be for Five Parsecs. I am working on that content now, but it won't be available until the very end of the month, giving me more time to tinker with it.
* * *
Secondly, I have the raw version of an updated version of The Goblin Hills, the second major campaign expansion for Five Leagues that needs updating.
As with Dark Woods, the new version has new content, updates and even includes an option to run a goblin campaign.
It will likely be another week or so before it becomes available.
* * *
Third, a fan is producing a Five Men at Kursk campaign booklet for the Norwegian campaign.
Playable as French, British, Poles, Norwegians or Germans, this lets you fight your way through the Norwegian campaign of WW2.
It is built on the same structure as Warsaw is Burning, allowing you to carry over squads to future expansions.
I know people have wanted to see more campaigns for a long time, so I hope you are stoked about this one.
I have the file in my hands basically playable, though it still needs touching up and lay out. I imagine we're a week or two away from this one.
* * *
The planned Five Leagues magic item pack is delayed a bit, since I realized I wanted to take the chance and flesh out the magic items a bit more in general. I hope you understand.
* * *
The last Patreon pack for the month will be for Five Parsecs. I am working on that content now, but it won't be available until the very end of the month, giving me more time to tinker with it.
Sunday, 21 June 2020
Dark Woods of Winter 2
Excited to say that the 2nd edition of Dark Woods of Winter is here.
If you are not familiar, it is an add-on campaign for Five Leagues, taking place in a faerie forest full of strange things.
As you adventure here, you will have strange encounters, fight terrible monsters and maybe even pick up a few new skills and items.
The campaign is pitched as definitely being tougher than the standard campaign, particularly in its 2nd edition version, so it's well suited for people who have finished a campaign already or after playing Hopes of Glory.
If you have the original, the 2nd edition version is updated to be fully compatible, has references and clarifications for various items across the 2E game line.
Additional encounters has been added, as well as a ton of new combat encounters courtesy of fan Harry Kruger.
A lot of you have asked for more chances to fight big monsters and Dark Woods certainly delivers on that with everything from Banshees to Giant Stags to twisted faerie giants.
You can pick up the new expansion at the Vault as usual.
As this is a fairly substantial expansion of the content, it is not a free upgrade. You will have to buy the new version.
That being said, if you bought the original within the last 30 days, email me with what you paid and I'll figure out a discount for you so you just pay the difference. I figure that's a fair compromise ?
1e players should note that the new version is not compatible with 1e as it relies on mechanics only available in 2. If you are a 1e die-hard and need/want a copy contact me and we're figure something out.
If you are not familiar, it is an add-on campaign for Five Leagues, taking place in a faerie forest full of strange things.
As you adventure here, you will have strange encounters, fight terrible monsters and maybe even pick up a few new skills and items.
The campaign is pitched as definitely being tougher than the standard campaign, particularly in its 2nd edition version, so it's well suited for people who have finished a campaign already or after playing Hopes of Glory.
If you have the original, the 2nd edition version is updated to be fully compatible, has references and clarifications for various items across the 2E game line.
Additional encounters has been added, as well as a ton of new combat encounters courtesy of fan Harry Kruger.
A lot of you have asked for more chances to fight big monsters and Dark Woods certainly delivers on that with everything from Banshees to Giant Stags to twisted faerie giants.
You can pick up the new expansion at the Vault as usual.
As this is a fairly substantial expansion of the content, it is not a free upgrade. You will have to buy the new version.
That being said, if you bought the original within the last 30 days, email me with what you paid and I'll figure out a discount for you so you just pay the difference. I figure that's a fair compromise ?
1e players should note that the new version is not compatible with 1e as it relies on mechanics only available in 2. If you are a 1e die-hard and need/want a copy contact me and we're figure something out.
Saturday, 6 June 2020
Writing projects updates
At the moment, I think every writing project I have posted about has been spoken for, so I won't need any more submissions.
I should clarify that this of course does not mean they will all end up becoming products:
People have things come up, accidents happen or the writer realizes it wasn't quite the right project for their interests. These things happen naturally.
However, it IS a good sign as NWG slowly moves into the next stage of world domination.
I am still interested in things that meet the following requirements:
* Games that meet many/most of the following criteria:
Ideally on the lighter side.
Fits a niche NWG does not currently cover.
Feels at home among the general style of our game mechanics.
I am not interested in "micro-games" but shorter games are fine.
* Tools, subjects or ideas that would be of value to the average wargamer, such as a cool solo game engine, a set of WW2 company level scenarios, a scenario generator for Napoleonic warfare etc.
These are ideally things that could be released generically and usable by any gamer.
* I am also specifically looking for someone with an interest in "matrix style" gaming who might take a stab at updating War Story. Experience with solo gaming would be a plus.
I should clarify that this of course does not mean they will all end up becoming products:
People have things come up, accidents happen or the writer realizes it wasn't quite the right project for their interests. These things happen naturally.
However, it IS a good sign as NWG slowly moves into the next stage of world domination.
I am still interested in things that meet the following requirements:
* Games that meet many/most of the following criteria:
Ideally on the lighter side.
Fits a niche NWG does not currently cover.
Feels at home among the general style of our game mechanics.
I am not interested in "micro-games" but shorter games are fine.
* Tools, subjects or ideas that would be of value to the average wargamer, such as a cool solo game engine, a set of WW2 company level scenarios, a scenario generator for Napoleonic warfare etc.
These are ideally things that could be released generically and usable by any gamer.
* I am also specifically looking for someone with an interest in "matrix style" gaming who might take a stab at updating War Story. Experience with solo gaming would be a plus.
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
A few words
The US is on fire.
There's a pandemic that has killed over 100.000 people. City streets are thick with gas. Elected officials want ever-increasing surveillance and control of the internet. We are seeing daily video that looks like it was taken in East Germany in 1989.
People are worried. People are scared. People are upset. People are hurt.
Around the RPG sphere of the internet, I've seen a lot of people say that choosing to not address politics or "to keep politics out of gaming" is a sign of luxury and privilege. That a lot of people don't have that luxury because politics isn't an abstract hobby to engage in at their leisure.
And they are 100% right. I agree with them.
A lot of people are responding that for them gaming is a moment of respite from the grind of the world, to escape all the things that haunt us.
And they are 100% right. I agree with them.
I'm not sure what I even could say at this point that others haven't said better. And I don't think at this time anyone should especially care what I have to say in any event.
For now, I am continuing what I have been doing:
Trying to provide a few snippets in one corner of the internet where we can have a moment of respite from the world.
I support the voice of companies and designers that are opting to do the same.
I support the voice of companies and designers that are speaking out or donating or advocating.
I hope everyone stays safe.
Thursday, 28 May 2020
Marmoset is here! And other updates
I've received several emails with pitches for the writing gigs.
I will go over them this weekend so please arm yourselves with patience :)
If you would still like to be considered, hit me up over the weekend.
Likewise, if you have an idea for something that would set the indie wargaming world on fire (or maybe the RPG world?) and which doesn't have an example in the NWG line up, why not hit me up?
Now on to the big news:
Five Leagues 1.00, codenamed Marmoset will be live shortly!
What is that ? 1.00? Were we playing a beta version all along?
Not really. When I released the game I had anticipated that there'd be the usual post-launch fixes and improvements so I'd assigned it a version number of 0.9.
With this big update, its finally time to just call it 1.0 and stop looking silly :)
Is this a whole new mess then?
No, there's relatively few rules changes. Rather the focus this time was to add a slew of little new things to increase the fun and variety of the game.
A change-log is in the back of the rules.
Some of these are an indication of general changes in tones (more combat options, more enemy variety) that will come but instead of throwing a bunch of things in there at once, I am doing it gradually so we can adjust things as they happen.
Mechanical changes:
Characters can now hit the dirt to take cover from missile fire as a Non Combat action.
You now also have an option to fight defensively in melee, useful for when you are trying to hold off some beastie while your friends can get there!
Campaign changes:
Instead of requiring a travelers pack to move regions, you now have to pay 4 gold marks in traveling expenses instead.
If no enemy leader is present, a personality will be present on a 4+.
When you finish a campaign and start over, your members will now leave on a 1-2.
The Unusual Finds table can now grant you a new recruit
When setting up a battle, you only roll one die for Oddities. An Oddity is present on a 3+.
The Oddities table has had 2 new results added and one missing result now has text (oops)
The main encounter table has been adjusted a bit. There's less chance of having "no encounter" now.
You can also find monster tracks which you may opt to follow at our peril.
The Monster chapter now has notes for generic set up when you track down a beastie.
Character changes:
A Crafting skill has been added to aid weapon crafting.
The Gambling skill has been changed. It now offers a re-roll unless the initial score was a 6.
Item changes:
If saving a character from death using a healing herb, an additional 1D3 turns of recovery is required.
The Travelers Pack is now a Pony and negates travel expenses when leaving for a new region.
The Luck potion is now a Potion of Fortune.
A new magic item has been added to the tables (Eyes of the Rat).
Slings are now on the weapon list.
Torches can now be bought and used to light the dark.
Enemy changes:
When rolling for enemy variations, it's no longer random. Instead you automatically get one strength and one weakness.
The Infernal Personality enemy has been reduced to Toughness 6.
A new beastman type Personality has been added to the table.
The magic ability of the Sorcerer Personality has been adjusted.
The Knight Personality now negates bonuses for outnumbering him.
A new Monster ability (Knock Back) has been added to the rules and granted to Giants and Golems.
Werewolves have the Cruel Wounds ability now.
A new type of Troll has been added to the Monster table.
Each of the 3 main Enemy tables has an additional entry (enemy type) and one of the existing types has had a special rule or ability added.
General changes:
A bunch of touching up to make things easier to read at a glance, as well as a bit of clip art.
I hope you enjoy Marmoset and have many happy hours gaming.
I will go over them this weekend so please arm yourselves with patience :)
If you would still like to be considered, hit me up over the weekend.
Likewise, if you have an idea for something that would set the indie wargaming world on fire (or maybe the RPG world?) and which doesn't have an example in the NWG line up, why not hit me up?
Now on to the big news:
Five Leagues 1.00, codenamed Marmoset will be live shortly!
What is that ? 1.00? Were we playing a beta version all along?
Not really. When I released the game I had anticipated that there'd be the usual post-launch fixes and improvements so I'd assigned it a version number of 0.9.
With this big update, its finally time to just call it 1.0 and stop looking silly :)
Is this a whole new mess then?
No, there's relatively few rules changes. Rather the focus this time was to add a slew of little new things to increase the fun and variety of the game.
A change-log is in the back of the rules.
Some of these are an indication of general changes in tones (more combat options, more enemy variety) that will come but instead of throwing a bunch of things in there at once, I am doing it gradually so we can adjust things as they happen.
Mechanical changes:
Characters can now hit the dirt to take cover from missile fire as a Non Combat action.
You now also have an option to fight defensively in melee, useful for when you are trying to hold off some beastie while your friends can get there!
Campaign changes:
Instead of requiring a travelers pack to move regions, you now have to pay 4 gold marks in traveling expenses instead.
If no enemy leader is present, a personality will be present on a 4+.
When you finish a campaign and start over, your members will now leave on a 1-2.
The Unusual Finds table can now grant you a new recruit
When setting up a battle, you only roll one die for Oddities. An Oddity is present on a 3+.
The Oddities table has had 2 new results added and one missing result now has text (oops)
The main encounter table has been adjusted a bit. There's less chance of having "no encounter" now.
You can also find monster tracks which you may opt to follow at our peril.
The Monster chapter now has notes for generic set up when you track down a beastie.
Character changes:
A Crafting skill has been added to aid weapon crafting.
The Gambling skill has been changed. It now offers a re-roll unless the initial score was a 6.
Item changes:
If saving a character from death using a healing herb, an additional 1D3 turns of recovery is required.
The Travelers Pack is now a Pony and negates travel expenses when leaving for a new region.
The Luck potion is now a Potion of Fortune.
A new magic item has been added to the tables (Eyes of the Rat).
Slings are now on the weapon list.
Torches can now be bought and used to light the dark.
Enemy changes:
When rolling for enemy variations, it's no longer random. Instead you automatically get one strength and one weakness.
The Infernal Personality enemy has been reduced to Toughness 6.
A new beastman type Personality has been added to the table.
The magic ability of the Sorcerer Personality has been adjusted.
The Knight Personality now negates bonuses for outnumbering him.
A new Monster ability (Knock Back) has been added to the rules and granted to Giants and Golems.
Werewolves have the Cruel Wounds ability now.
A new type of Troll has been added to the Monster table.
Each of the 3 main Enemy tables has an additional entry (enemy type) and one of the existing types has had a special rule or ability added.
General changes:
A bunch of touching up to make things easier to read at a glance, as well as a bit of clip art.
I hope you enjoy Marmoset and have many happy hours gaming.
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