Age of Arthur development thread

[dr_mitch]

This thread is for updates about Age of Arthur development. So where are we now? Well, things have been tested in a home game and a couple of one-shots. Further scenarios will be run at various cons, including ConQuest in less than two weeks.

The first draft of the book has been written and is undergoing further edits before being sent to external playtesters. Art and maps have been commissioned. Further updates as they occur.

[Kaiserjez]

Deffo gonna try and get in a game of this at ConQuest!

[dr_mitch]

Well, I'm running in the morning. It would be great to have you in the game!

[jonnygray]

It's something I wouldn't mind having a go at too!

[dr_mitch]

Cool- though it does raise the terrifying spectre of having both Gray brothers in a game...

[dpmcalister]

Cool- though it does raise the terrifying spectre of having both Gray brothers in a game...

Having GM'd them both in a Savage Worlds/Pirates of the Spanish Main game the night before Con-Quest last year I can confirm that it is, indeed, a terrifying spectre... you have my condolences...

[dr_mitch]

More on the development front...we've finished our first phase of editing and tinkering with the text. This means we're now moving forward to external playtesting. The real excitement begins!

[Mick Red]

Is there anychance we could have an example of play here with a combat narrative (and examples)

[dr_mitch]

I don't see why not. Here's an example of play from the book.

Example
Brutus the Foolish is fighting a hero duel before a battle with the Saxon beserker, Eldred. Brutus has a Melee Combat skill of 5 and is armed with a spatha, doing +4 damage. He has a specialism Stunt that gives him a +1 bonus to Melee Combat in such hero duels. Brutus also has leather armour and a shield, for an absorption score of 2. He has a Health score of 4.

Eldred, on the other hand has a Melee Combat skill of 4 and a Strength skill of 5, along with a Stunt that lets him use the Strength to defend himself in combat. He has no armour, but has a battleaxe, which does +4 damage. Due to a Stunt and high strength, Eldred has a Health score of 8.

Brutus has an Awareness skill of 2. Eldred has an Awareness skill of 3. Eldred acts first.

Turn 1
Acting first, Eldred attacks with Melee Combat. He pays a Fate Point to use his Beserker Rage Aspect for a +2 bonus and gains a result of 7. Brutus uses Melee Combat for defence and does not use any Fate Points, though the specialism grants a +1 bonus to the skill. He gains a result of 6.

Eldred's attack beats Brutus' defence with a level of success of 7-6=1. He has +4 damage from the axe, so he does 1+4=5 damage. The damage level is reduced to 5-2=3 by Brutus' armour and shield (Absorption 2). Brutus suffers 3 points of Health damage, reducing his Health score to 1. But he is still in the fight without taking any Consequences.

Brutus goes for the kill. He pays two Fate Points to use his Aspects More Brawn than Brains and The Glory of the Duel to get a +4 bonus to his Melee Skill of 5, boosted to 6 by the specialism Stunt. After rolling, he has a result of 10. Eldred relies on his toughness and strength and does not spend and Fate Points on defence. He gets a result of 4. Brutus' level of success is 10-4=6. Brutus' Spatha has +4 damage, which boosts the overall damage to Eldred to 10. Eldred has no armour.

With a Health of 8, Eldred has to take a Consequence to stay in the fight. He takes a Moderate Consequence of Gaping Wound, which mitigates 4 points of damage and leaves him with a Health score of 2.

Turn 2
Eldred knows he must finish his enemy off quickly to win. He spends two Fate Points, using the Aspects Huge and Lust for Bloody Battle, for a net +4 bonus. Brutus uses Eldred's Gaping Wound Consequence for a free +2 to his defence roll (he can do it once), but does not spend any Fate Points. Eldred gains an impressive result of 10. Brutus has a result of 8.

Eldred's level of success is 2. The axe still does +4 damage. Brutus' armour reduces damage by 2. The result is 4 points of Health damage to Brutus. Brutus has to take a Consequence to avoid being taken out. He takes a Moderate Consequence of Reeling from Blow to the Head to negate all 4 points of damage.

Now it is Brutus' turn to attack. He does not use any Aspects or Fate Points. Eldred, however, decides to use Brutus' Reeling from a Blow to the Head Consequence for a free +2 bonus to defence. Both attacker and defender gain a result of 6.

This means the attack succeeds minimally. Brutus has a degree of success of 0, but still does +4 damage from the spatha due to Eldred's lack of armour. Eldred, with Health reduced to 2, must take a Severe Consequence, or be taken out. The combat, if not already over, will almost certainly be over in the next round.

[dr_mitch]

Just to keep people informed, we have now completed our first "post-external playtest" version of Age of Arthur. Things have been tightened up, added and changed in response to playtest comments, and I'm now feeling very happy with the game we have.

And to get people excited, here's some text from the introduction...

Britannia and its People
Age of Arthur is set in Dark Ages Britain (or Britannia as it was known to the Romans) towards the end of the fifth century AD. This is not the land of the medieval vision of Arthur, filled with feudal lords, knights and squires, tempting ladies in towers, jousting and high chivalry. This is the Britain that a historical Arthur might have lived and fought in. Battles are won and lost between a trained warrior elite, soldiers in shield walls with spear and sword, other remnants of the discipline of Rome and some rare British cavalry.

Roman rule, and with it much of Roman law, order and protection has left Britain. The country is no longer united, being divided into many quarrelling kingdoms carving territory round the boundaries of the lands of the pre-Roman tribes and Roman civic districts. Whilst many hold onto the ways of the Romans, the bonds of blood and tribe still run deep. You may fight for your city and for the memory of empire, but you might just as likely fight for your family, your tribe, your kin.

The rulers of these kingdoms may have held positions of authority under Rome, or belong to the local nobility with strands that run deeper even than the many centuries of Roman rule. Some are usurpers and opportunists that can hold their lands through the warriors they command and the order they bring at a time of chaos.

These kingdoms are all under threat. The main threat comes from Saxon invaders, who are largely illiterate barbarians with a culture of taking whatever they can seize, be that people or property. They have a belief that might makes right.

There are other threats. The Gaels raid the west coast of Britain, settling in some parts of the country. Christianity and the old Celtic Druidic faith battle for hearts and souls. This conflict sometimes spills over from the spiritual realm into the physical. Magic is a real force in the world, albeit mostly subtle. The druids know the ancient magic of the gods of Britain, Saxon wizards scream their curses and hurl their runes and some say that the mumbled prayers of the Christians have a certain power.

The most magically powerful beings of all are the Fae, the Fair Folk, who still dwell in parts of Britannia largely untouched and unexplored by mankind. Some Fae are beautiful, while others hideous, but none see humanity with any more significance than intriguing play things. The Fae are not, at present, directly involved in the conflicts across the land, but there is always that danger. Due to their power and vainglorious nature it would only take some fool to attempt to get them involved in their own cause and everything could change. The Fae themselves may see an opportunity that is important to them and then take a more active interest in the affairs of men.

So, these are lands in strife being torn apart by the loss of Rome, fractious fighting between still fermenting tribal rivalries and the incursions of the new invaders. This is a land that needs heroes to unite the people under one banner and set the land back to peace and prosperity. A banner that will make people fight not just for their kin, their tribe but for Britain. Perhaps you characters will be those heroes?

[dr_mitch]

On another note (sorry for the multiple postings), I've listed those who played in the ConQuest game as playtesters, as I did make a couple of tweaks and clarifications after that game. I'm working on the assumption you don't object to your name being mentioned- if you do, please PM me.

[First Age]

Just a quick update on development...

The text is complete and now fully edited. It's with me for one last sweep after Dr Mitch's work on the edits. The text will go into layout in a couple of weeks.

The artwork is also coming in from Jason Behnke. We'll release some thumbnails as we head towards publishing. The paintings are gorgeous and have started to make me think about doing a full colour interior to do the chapter heading pages justice.

In my head we're talking a Christmas release.

[Tim Gray]

Ooh, liking Jason's gallery. Hadn't heard of him before.

Look forward to seeing the finished product!

You've spurred me to look at Lightning Source's colour printing prices, and they're surprisingly reasonable. Might be tempted sometime.

[Mick Red]

Is this going to be an Indiegogo project?

[dr_mitch]

I don't think so at the moment- art and maps have been paid for, and print on demand keeps down other overheads.