Gazetteer of the Shenbyrg Vale: Strass Hill

Strass Hill
Land of the Norse, Strass Hill is a rough-and-tumble place. Bordered by fascistic Mauriatown to the southwest, Helltowne further east, and the dangerous amazons of Stephania to the north, it has been forced to remain strong despite its internal disputes between Jarls. A new group is about to change all that: Minas-Ninonans led by the skald Luce and a Hel-blessed nursemaid.

Rulers: Warring bands, led by various Jarls. until Luce and the Minas-Ninonas take over
Symbol: Purple w/ Ram imagery, though Skulls and Black will partially replace that
Faiths: Thor and Sif, though Hel will soon rise to prominence
Notable Locales:
The Caverns Crystal: adventuring locale, quite haunted and noted for its quartz energy
The Signaling Nob: excellent vantage point, looking over the majestic Shenbyrg River
The Strass Hotel: a very fancy establishment, still keeping some of its Ancient flavor
Various Taverns: definitely un-fancy establishments, frequented by the many Vikings in town
Waxing Moon Cove: magical depilatory lake- make sure to not anger any swimming locals!

Final Draft Cover for Divinities and Cults II

It's still in the final draft stage, but we thought we'd treat you to a preview of the new cover for Divinities and Cults: Volume II. It features a beautiful color illustration by Luigi Castellani, harkening back to the days of classic gaming....

Let us know what you think! Divinities and Cults: Volume II should be available for purchase in a few weeks!

The Manannan Effect (Divinities & Cults II preview)

Work on Divinities and Cults, Volume II, is nearing the home stretch. In celebration of it, here is a sample of the final draft of Manannan Mac Lir, Lord of the Seas and the Ways Between. 

He may not settle the debate as to whether the correct spelling really is 'Berenstein Bears' or 'Berenstain Bears', but the Otherworldly flavor of he and his clerics will certainly help.

Free Copies of Divinities and Cults Available (for Gaming Stores)

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be sending free copies of Divinities and Cults (Swords & Wizardry Edition) out to Friendly Local Gaming Stores. 

If you own or know of a gaming store that would like to participate, let us know.

Night Skies Over Valhallow: a Bestseller

The marketing campaign went well. NSOV got to rank #15 in Metaphysical and Visionary Fantasy, among a number of other things.

Remember, if you like an author's work, make sure you leave a review on the website where it's sold. It helps to promote the book to other readers and authors (yours truly included) really like that.

Updated Cover for Night Skies Over Valhallow

In preparation for a new marketing campaign, I got Rachel Bostwick to update the cover for Night Skies Over Valhallow. It looks good.

Otherwise, I have been working nearly non-stop on finishing writing the third novel in the series, as well as getting the art done for Divinities and Cults II. Both should be ready by the early fall.

This Dangeous Book

Yes, role-playing game books have been accused of being dangerous. And yes, Divinities and Cults can be quite dangerous in particular. How, might you ask? Because it just might slay any boring ideas you might have about your RPG cleric!

Tired of having your cleric heal, heal, heal all the time? Find out what else your cleric can do with Divinities and Cults. No, you won't give up your soul by reading this book (probably), but you will certainly immerse your characters in a more believable, interesting, and mythologically holistic magical paradigm.

Even though role-playing game books aren't supposed to be dangerous anymore, it doesn't mean they don't have to be. Right?

We've Got You Covered

Here's the revamped cover for Divinities and Cults, Labyrinth Lord version. Curtis Lyon did the redesign, though cover art is still by Luigi Castellani, of course. I commissioned it to help better tell it apart from the DCC RPG version. I think you'll like it.

I'll be uploading the revised pdf soon to DriveThru RPG too. Enjoy.

Shamans in Div Cul II

Divinities and Cults II carries on the tradition of including some class variants and options to pick from. One such choice will be the Shaman. If you'd like to use these primitive spiritualists as a distinct class variant of a cleric, then:

* Replace some of the spells from their Divinity’s spell list with more spiritual spells, such as Protection from Evil (1st), Augury (2nd), Speak with Dead (3rd), Exorcise (4th), Plane Shift (5th), Summon Aerial Servant (6th), and Astral Projection (7th)

* Eliminate their ability to wear metal armor

* Replace the cleric ability to Turn with the shamanic ability to become ethereal for up to 1 round per day per level squared (1 round at 1st level, 4 rounds at 2nd level, etc.)