All posts by Ed Jowett

A History in Profiles: Lancier Freed – The Oracle

In the Consortium, there are many stories of heroism but it’s not often that one is accomplished without firing a single shot.

Lancier Freed was a notable member of the Resistance’s infamous team, Claymore Unit. As part of his squad, Lancier had distinguished himself as a capable soldier and an essential part of the unit. However, it was his acts on Gateway that earned him a place in history.

When the force of Smertios Security’s attack trembled the ground and shook the walls of Gateway, causing panic and disorder, it was Lancier who pacified the crowd. With his calm confidence, Lancier took charge of the assembly and created order out of chaos. Using only the power of his words, this member of Claymore unit saved countless lives during the attack on Gateway and is remembered as a true hero.

Lancier was well known throughout the entire Resistance and loved by many. His charm won him the unofficial title of Resistance heart-throb. However, his success within Claymore unit made him a hated enemy of the Big Seven who named him a person of special interest and tagged him as “Wanted” by the authorities.

Though Lancier Freed is believed to have died with the rest of Claymore unit during the Orion incident, his memory lives on.

You can still hear of his and Claymore unit’s adventures through the Dice and Stuff podcasts where Lancier is a staple character. Stop by and see for yourself what this enigmatic hero can do at http://www.diceandstuff.com/category/era-the-consortium/
-A

Another Comic Is On The Way – The Oracle

The world of the Empowered has been brought to life through several full-color illustrated comics. So far, we’ve mainly followed the stories of Lacuna and Penumbra, two of our charismatic super powered figures, as they’ve grown in their abilities and taken on new adventures. Today I’m excited to introduce to you another.

Blue-shift will be getting her very own comic and it’s coming soon! This super fast hero has a unique story all her own and we can’t wait to see what you think of our speedster. Blue-shift appears regularly in the world-building stories of the Empowered core rulebook. She’s a great asset to the team and at times a much-needed voice of reason when the group starts to get a bit wild.

Here’s an image of Blue-shift: the comic’s cover. It’s looking fabulous already!

You can find more updates on this upcoming comic as well as additional images of Blue-shift and other Empowered news by joining the Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/2038903633009863/

It’s the best way to keep track of what’s happening and get involved!

That’s all the pressing news I have for you today. Come back on Saturday for a Consortium History in Profiles where I give out some in-depth details about one of the Consortium’s most notable personalities.

See you then!
-A

Consortium Expansion Updates – The Oracle

Work has been steadily moving along for these Expansion books and some of you have already seen a few finished products arrive to your inboxes.

Free Trader has now been sent in Digital Format to backers and has moved on to the printers for its Paperback edition! Predictive Genetic Algorithm has been sent for proofreading and will be ready for the same treatment very soon. The New Worlds book is taking a bit longer as the edits have been tougher to sort out but Ed has been hammering away and things are coming together now. Once New Worlds is finished it will move over to Keith where he will be making a brand new Solar System map. This new map promises to be an excellent addition to the Consortium!

Our other major Consortium project underway, Stiletto Unit miniatures, are in the works and going through their fascinating transformation from 3-D images to physical constructs. We’re aiming to have these little gems ready for MCM in May and UKGE so now you’ve got another reason to come by and see us!

That’s all I’ve got for Consortium news today but join me next week and I’ll have even more Miniature details to show you. Until next time!
-A

Era: The Empowered Core Rulebook is Coming Together – The Oracle

I’ve been talking quite a lot over the past weeks about Era: The Empowered. This captivating universe will be coming to you as an in-depth Core Rulebook very soon, complete with world-immersing character stories, rules of engagement, and everything you’ll need to either save the world or dominate it.

Ed is currently working to finish off this book and get it out to Kickstarter in the near future. And, for those of you awaiting your Tales of the Empowered, I’ll let you know that writing and editing for that book is happening in parallel and is expected to finish off soon as well. To get yourself ready for this exciting world of super powered action I recommend you check out one of these ways to get inside the universe of the Empowered.

The first half of this year is looking set to be a superhero extravaganza. So, strap on your knee-high boots, drag out that spandex bodysuit from last year’s Halloween costume and come join us on one of our most action packed adventures yet!

On Saturday I’ll be giving you a roundup of the latest Consortium book’s development so stop back in for that and I’ll see you soon!
-A

Consortium Miniatures Are Coming! – The Oracle

Whether you use them to assist in visualizing complex battle scenarios, add a bit of flair to your session, or reference as inspiration; rpg miniatures can be a fantastic addition to your collection. I’m thrilled to announce that, for the very first time, Shades of Vengeance will have its own set of these miniature figures. And what better characters to model than the Consortium’s Stiletto Unit!

We are currently planning to have all of Stiletto Unit modelled and ready for sale during this year! Keep your eyes open for these little gems as we move through 2018 and I’ll keep you up to date with their production.

For now, I have an image which I can share with you of how the team’s explosives expert, Awuuzia, will appear. If you ask me, she looks fierce and ready for trouble. If the rest are anything like this, I can’t wait to start building my own collection!

That’s all the news I have for you this week. Drop us a message and let us know what you think of our planned set of miniatures. What other characters are you eager to see turned into models?

I’ll see you again next week for more news and updates!
-A

The Shades of Vengeance Patreon – The Oracle

I know of a place where you can receive new game sessions every month, sneak peeks of our latest work, and loads more awesome extras. If you’ve never checked it out before, now is a great time to join our super fans and experience the Shades of Vengeance games on a whole different level.

https://www.patreon.com/SoV

The program works on a pay-per-release schedule which means that there’s no cost to you until we have something to share. We’ve currently been making one release per month. So, what can you expect to find in your monthly subscription?

We have Consortium sessions and Survival sessions, wallpapers created from our stunning artwork, and Encounters on the Edge of Space. Encounters is a free resource describing random encounters which is available to anyone and compatible with any of a number of Sci-Fi settings. We’ve made these “setting neutral” so that you can enjoy them inside the Consortium, Star Trek, Star Wars, or whatever universe you choose. We’ve also been known to throw in a few extra freebies as well. In our December release, Patrons received a free Digital Copy of Era: Silence!

There are loads of reasons to join us on Patron so stop by and see for yourself what we have to offer. That’s all the news I have for you today. Come back on Saturday for some exciting Consortium news that you’ll definitely not want to miss!

Until next time!
-A

New Expansion Images Released – The Oracle

If you’re one of our supporters from Era: The Consortium – A Universe of Expansions 2 you may have recently received something from us. Ed has sent out over 20 packages containing books that have already been completed (such as the Core Rulebook, for those who pledged for it!) and we’re well on the way to finishing the new expansions. He is cracking on with New Worlds and aims at getting that edition completed soon!

Keith is currently dealing with the final layout parts of Predictive Genetic Algorithm and it’s looking amazing. I’ve got two images to show you today which will give you an idea of how this particular book is shaping up. Both of these creatures look to have some interesting adaptations and I’m really curious to see how they’re going to fit inside the Consortium universe.

That’s all the news I have for you today. Next week I will have some exciting Consortium news to share and I think you’re going to love it so be sure to stop back soon.

See you next time!
-A

The Empowered Kickstarter Is Coming To An End – The Oracle

This Sunday will be the end of our latest Kickstarter event. The Empowered is a collection of short stories created through the collaboration of our writing team and imaginative backers like you. It will only be available for a few more days so get in there and check it out before it’s gone!

We’ve had a great time running this event and have already unlocked 3 Stretch Goals, so there’s even more for everyone to enjoy. Those awesome extras include a unique cover that will be designed by our own Keith Draws, as well as a copy of the rulebook Primer edition for Era: The Empowered and a trial session. I know you’ve got some brilliant ideas for new super powered characters and we’d love to see them included this book, so don’t wait! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/join-us-add-your-superhuman-to-a-new-universe-make?ref=8nwfh5

We’re counting down now to the release of the full Era: The Empowered rulebook on Kickstarter. It won’t be long before you’ll get a chance to play some of these fantastic characters and use the powers you’ve been given to save or destroy the world. To follow along with every up-to-the-minute progress of this game, get behind the scenes information, and even see some of our early concept sketches you can join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2038903633009863/

On Saturday, I get to show off some new Consortium images so be sure to check back soon.

See you next time!
-A

Consortium Expansions Are Developing – The Oracle

The great thing about our Consortium Expansions is that there are so many new things to work on. That means we’re going to be heads down and knees deep into writing, artwork, layout, and all those other elements of development that bring these books to life.

Right now, I can tell you that Free Trader is currently undergoing layout prior to its proofreading and that New Worlds is undergoing a few edits. Ed has decided to commission some additional artwork for the Predictive Genetic Algorithm book which is great news because I think we can all agree that these fabulous pieces of art really help to make these books an immersive experience.

I don’t have any additional news for you today but I am able to share with you an image created for Predictive Genetic Algorithm. It’s not every day that you get to see a Eulutian experimenting on biomass that’s being grown in a vat.

I’ll see you all next week for more news and updates!

-A

A New Empowered Book Is On Kickstarter – The Oracle

If I asked you what superpower you would choose if given the opportunity 100% of you would shout it out without a moment’s hesitation, right? We already know the answer to that question because we’ve all thought about it at one time or another, it’s one of the most common icebreaker conversations. Would you soar into the sky with superpowered flight, or sneak into forbidden areas with your power of invisibility? Well, I can’t exactly help you to shoot laser beams from your eyes but I can offer you a chance to have a hero or villain of your own creation included in our next Empowered book!

The Empowered, is a book of short stories set inside the Empowered universe and it will tell the adventures of over 100 superpowered characters. The best part is that we want YOU to help fill out the roster!

Our writing team has built an impressive number of heroes and villains, some of which were written for the rulebook but were cut due to limited page count. However, we are going to need everyone’s help if we plan to reach 100 superpowered characters. This is where the Kickstarter comes in. By lending this project support you have the opportunity to share your idea for a hero, a villain, or just that guy who can walk through walls but doesn’t want to get involved. Your character will get its own story written by a member of the Shades of Vengeance writing team and you will be able to see it come to life! Almost as good as those laser beam eyes, right?

Check out our Kickstarter page and start planning your own character today!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/join-us-add-your-superhuman-to-a-new-universe-make?ref=1qrb6z

For those of you in the area, you’ll get a chance to try out Empowered or any of our other games this next week at Con-Tingency, a unique gaming convention set in a wooded environment. http://www.con-tingency.uk/

That’s it for me today, I’ll see you back here on Saturday!
-A

New Year, New Project – Add your superhuman to the Empowered universe!

Hi everyone!

I’ve just launched a brand new project on Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/join-us-add-your-superhuman-to-a-new-universe-make?ref=1qrb6z

As a preliminary to the Era: The Empowered game itself, we’re creating an anthology of short stories about the Empowered universe.

And that’s what this Kickstarter is all about!

However, there’s a little more you can get out of this: you can add your own superhuman character to the Empowered universe. This Kickstarter will allow you to give us a brief and, from that, we will create a short story about your character!

There are only 100 slots available (it’s part of Kickstarter’s Make100 initiative!), so don’t miss out on your chance to have your idea brought to life.

There are some other awesome rewards as well, such as getting your character painted by Keith Draws, the artist behind the Era: The Empowered Tabletop RPG!

– Ed

Ed’s 2017 Retrospective

Hi everyone, Ed here to round out the year!

For me, this is the time of year I get pensive and by the time New Year rolls around, I’m more thinking about what I’m going to do next year. So I thought I’d spend a few minutes with you to talk about what we’ve accomplished this year with your help.

I think this is the first time ever that I’ve had to research this retrospective. I can’t tell you, off the top of my head, everything we’ve accomplished this year: it’s been so much that it feels like we’ve packed two years into the one.

So: what have we done in 2017?

Era: The Consortium has grown…

Our Sci-Fi epic has exploded this year, in a really good way. The 8 expansions funded at the end of 2016, which were delivered this year, and the 5 additional ones in 2017, plus hundreds of new players at conventions all through the year, have meant that this has been the biggest year ever for Era: The Consortium.

My future plans have always involved this game and that has not changed: we’ll be continuing to work to bring our flagship game out to new people.

Era: Survival has “Expanded”!

Era: Survival now has 3 brand new expansions, thanks to the Kickstarter we ran in the middle of this year. Our Survival Horror game has proved very popular among roleplayers looking for a realistic, gritty, post-apocalyptic game and also among complete newbies to roleplaying.

We’ll be continuing to support Era: Survival with the Shades of Vengeance Patreon, where a monthly session is put out for some time yet, and I intend these expansions to be the first of many: there’s a lot more of Gaia’s story to tell.

Era Pocket Collection

When we started the Era Pocket games with Era: Lyres Pocket Edition, we never expected them to become some of our most popular offerings.

We’ve doubled the number of pocket games we’re offering this year to include Era: Balam and Era: Hitman, both of which had a slightly unusual but very successful release from our perspective!

With Era: Hitman offering a different take on superpowers from Era: The Empowered and Era: Balam offering something which wasn’t offered in the same way in Era: The Consortium (the duality of Pilot and Fighter bringing strength to both!), I definitely feel that these two games offer something new and different.

Card Games

Champion of Earth has been a great success this year – so much so that we’ve actually had a Kickstarter for an expansion already! This game, where you fight to defend the Earth against alien invasion has proved extremely popular at conventions and we hope to continue to see it grow.

Evil Overlord is finally ready for its release, which I expect to happen in 2018. Picking up the pieces after an alien invasion is never easy, but it does provide loads of an opportunity for an Evil Mastermind hoping to take over the world and declare themselves Overlord. We’ve been offering demos through the second half of this year at conventions and it’s been a great success!

Era: The Empowered

Development for our third roleplaying game Era: The Empowered has finally hit its stride, with Artwork being produced and the writing being tackled in an organised way.

This is going to be the second game we create which offers something on the scale of Era: The Consortium – multiple playable eras which give you a different types of game depending where you jump into the timeline. I’m very excited about Era: The Empowered finally emerging and I hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it in the new year.

Era: The Chosen

I’ve been developing Era: The Chosen for almost a year now.

With the aim of “Doctor Who meets Turok”, this game has inspired me in a way that few others have in recent years. Working with Darren and Jennifer on this has been a really great experience, and Mikhail has once again done a fine job on the artwork.

Again, I expect this to emerge in 2018.

Licenses

I will remember 2017 as the year we really embraced the idea of getting licenses as a company. We’ve been hunting for a few really important (to us!) licenses for IPs that we think will fit the Era d10 Rule Set very well.

I’ve announced one already – we’ll be making the Battlecruiser Alamo RPG for Richard Tongue’s amazing series of novels in the Triplanetary Confederation universe. I’ve worked with Richard directly on this – he’s written a good amount of the book personally, which I could not be happier about!

We’re in pursuit of a few more which are near and dear to my own heart and I hope to be able to give you some good news on those before too long.

SoV Comics

2017 was also the year we decided that SoV Comics should be run a little more separately from the game creation arm of Shades of Vengeance.

Johnathan Lewis has been doing a fantastic job, and we’re produced a number of comics this year, including more work for Penumbra and the Bug War, as well as Violete.

We’re actually producing more comics as we speak and we intend SoV Comics to have its own location at the MCM Comicon in May 2018! With any luck, we’ll be able to continue to pull in great reviews like we have for Penumbra and continue to make more of these awesome comics!

Audio Work

We’ve been working really hard on a few different audio projects which Amy has recently announced. We’re going to be showing them to you in the new year, but it’s worth calling out both Leo and Amy’s work on this stuff – the three of us have been working really hard on making Radio Free Taranis something that you won’t want to miss!

Leo is also working on recording an audio book version of the Era: The Consortium rulebook. I’ve heard several of the stories and he’s doing a fantastic job. I, for one, can’t wait to listen to the whole thing!

In Summary…

We’ve achieved a lot this year. We’ve published 17 new books and card decks, we’ve put in a lot of the work to things you will see in the new year…

I think 2017 can be marked a success for Shades of Vengeance and we’re looking forward to seeing what 2018 will bring!

– Ed

Playing Consortium Online – The Oracle

A few days ago I mentioned that 2018 would see a few unique projects coming from the team. Well, I’m pleased to announce one of the first. Starting in the new year, Ed will be running a Consortium game online!

It’s going to be a great way for you to see some actual gameplay without having to trek all the way to a convention. Initially, the sessions will be run online and presented as a videocast. These games will be considered a sequel to the Era: The Consortium session that Ed and the team ran during AetherCon. If you didn’t get a chance to watch before, check out this link for a full 4 hours of Consortium enjoyment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFzHj43V4nc

That’s all the news I have for you today and this will wrap up 2017. Thank you for following along with our adventures and remember to join me back here in January to get the inside scoop on everything that’s happening inside Shades of Vengeance!

See you next year!
-A

The Final Week of News for 2017 – The Oracle

This is my final week of news posts this year. We’ve had a fantastic time bringing you brand new games, comics, and expansions. Ed and the convention team have met loads of new fans and we’re excited to show everyone where we’re heading in the future.

Thank you to everyone who’s helped support our projects this year and to everyone who’s followed along as we grew into new universes and expanded on those we already knew. This year we’ve added a comics division and we’re excited to start going full steam on more stories for the next year. We have some unique projects coming up and I hope you’ll all come back in 2018 to see where we’ll go next!

I’ll be back for one last announcement on Saturday but from myself and the rest of the team here at Shades of Vengeance we wish you a fantastic holiday season and an amazing New Year.

See you next time!
-A

Join our Era: The Empowered Facebook Group for sneak peeks…

Hi everyone!

With Era: The Empowered’s release just around the corner (in the New Year), we’ve started a group that will give you the chance to find out all about it ahead of time!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2038903633009863/

In this group, you can see sneak peeks of the artwork, read some of the stories we’ve written over the last 3 years, ask myself and the rest of the creative team questions, and much more!

I hope you’ll join us there… where we just posted about the first group who call themselves Empowered!

– Ed

Era: The Consortium – The Bug War #2 is available now!

Hi everyone!

You may remember our previous comic, Declaration: The Bug War #1.

While that story explained the events surrounding the start of the war, the Consortium’s acceptance of the conflict and the journey which Hai-Xang Hayden had to face, it was far from the end of the story.

Bug War 2 Cover

Infiltration: The Bug War 2 follows the next stage of the story, where Hai-Xang must rally her forces and find out about this mysterious enemy.

If she can’t discover how to defeat them, the war she’s insisted on could end in the Consortium being destroyed…

Join us for the Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sovcomics/the-bug-war-2?ref=4cbivm

– Ed

Work Is Continuing For Consortium Expansions – The Oracle

Hello to all you amazing Consortium fans. With our last Kickstarter for the year and the final convention behind us you might think we’re winding down production for 2017. Well, you’d be mistaken.

All our Universe of Expansions 2 books are currently being developed and I even have an image to share with you today. We’re certainly not slowing down and Ed will be hard at work on all these books between now and the New Year. He hopes to have quite a bit finished by that time and I have no doubt he’s going to make that happen.

Today I get to share with you an image from the last book which was unlocked during the Kickstarter, Home Base. This should give you a small taste of what’s to come and as you can see, the artwork just keeps getting better.

See you next week for more news!
-A

Join the Era: The Empowered Facebook group!

Hi everyone!

We’ve just opened the Era: The Empowered Facebook group in preparation for the game’s Kickstarter next year.

You can join us there to chat with the creative team behind this awesome super-powered game, to see some early peaks at artwork and to find out all the latest news about our next game!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2038903633009863/

We hope to see you there!

– Ed

Two Successful Endeavours – The Oracle

Dragonmeet was our last convention of the year and it was a smash. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and had a chat or played a game. If you didn’t manage to come see us this time around you don’t have to worry because even though this convention season has run to an end Ed will be carefully planning our schedule for 2018. Be sure to make a note on your calendar and come see us next year!

In comics news; congratulations to the Penumbra team for the successful funding of their second comic! The support we receive from our fans is incredible and we absolutely could not keep creating without all of your help. Thank you for keeping these great projects going. I know that the comic is well on its way to being finished and those who backed the Kickstarter shouldn’t have long to wait before their rewards start pouring in.

Now that we’ve officially created a comics division, you can find all of our released comic books listed on our website store. We have all of the Consortium comics available as well as the Lacuna and Penumbra books. We’ll be adding to that as we go along so keep checking back!  https://www.era-games.com/store/#SoVComics

That’s all I’ve got for you today, come on back Saturday for an update on Consortium news!
-A

Radio Free Taranis – The Oracle

Back in July I told you a few things about our upcoming audio drama based on the Consortium universe; Radio Free Taranis. I’m pleased to confirm that this project is well under way!

We have just received the first round of feedback from our beta listeners and so far everyone has loved it! We’ve heard positive comments on both the overall production quality as well as the quality of voice acting. Our resident sound designer, Leo Cosh, is the voice of Midnight Terry and he is hands down fantastic. We’re excited to have his talent and skills add to this project.

Beta listeners have also noted that the pilot episode adds humor and a deeper insight into the life of the Consortium’s citizens. For those of you who may not have caught my first post back in July, Radio Free Taranis will bring you life on Taranis from within the perspective of one man who is doing his best to wake the city from its dangerous ignorance. Reporting on what he’s seen and experienced, Midnight Terry shares the news stories that the Big Eight don’t want you to hear.

This ambitious project will be coming your way next year so keep checking back here for more news and updates.

See you next week!
-A

The Last Convention in 2017! – The Oracle

The year is officially coming to an end and that means we only have one more convention appearance for 2017. It’s been an amazing year and we’re thrilled to have met so many great fans at each of the events we’ve attended. If you haven’t been able to make one of these conventions I highly recommend that you try to get over to Dragonmeet for your last chance to play a few games and ask our team some questions.

The Gaming Hall opens at 8:30am Saturday December 2nd and Ed will have plenty of card games and RPGs available to demo. There really is nothing quite like playing one of our games as it’s being run by the game creator. We hope to see you there!

https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/

In other news, the latest Consortium Kickstarter has come to a very successful end. Thank you to everyone who helped bring Era: The Consortium: A Universe of Expansions 2 to life. With your support we were able to unlock 2 Stretch Goals, giving everyone who backed the event a total of 5 expansion books! Ed is hard at work writing these books and we will keep you updated as they move through the process of development.

That’s all I have for you today. Be sure to come back here on Saturday and I’ll give you a quick tour of an exciting new project that Ed, Leo, and myself have been working on.

See you next time!
-A

Consortium Expansion Spotlight: Vilithii Sourcebook – The Oracle

We’re getting down to the end of our Consortium Expansion Kickstarter event with only days left! There’s still time to join us and take advantage of all the amazing books we’re releasing such as; Time Travel Campaign book 4, Free Trader, New Worlds, and Predictive Genetic Algorithm. We’re even so close to another Stretch Goal that we may just have unlocked Home Base by the time you read this! Either way, we’ve got a lot of rewards to choose from and quite a few books to keep you busy in the new year.

http://kck.st/2xS5HtK

Today’s Expansion Spotlight is on the Vilithii, a mysterious race whose appearance in the Consortium came with more questions than answers.

During the Orion’s mission to explore uncharted space three strange biological pods were obtained from Albiorix. No one seemed to have paid them much attention until these samples unexpectedly left their containment. For many years it was thought that one or more scientists may have stolen away with the pods… no one considered that the pods themselves may have up and escaped on their own.

This sourcebook will delve into the period of time after the pods escaped and address how exactly they were able to achieve sentience and become the Vilithii we know today. Of course, only one of the pods became the Vilithii. What happened to the other two samples?

Not only will this book fill in some important gaps in the history of this race, it will also pull back the mystery of Vilithii society and show you what it was really like to live as these amazing beings. This book will feature new equipment and Specialties for the Vilthii, allowing you to expand your characters and your gameplay!

There are so many reasons to love these Expansion books that I can’t pick just one. It’s been a great event and we’re thrilled to have so many folks help support these expansions. If you’re still considering whether or not to get in on these books, time is definitely running out so I suggest you stop by today and check out all the great titles we have to offer!

I’ll be back next week with more news!
-A

More Comics are coming our way! – The Oracle

We’ve already produced several successful comics for both our Era: The Consortium and Era: Empowered universes and we just can’t seem to stop! The comics division of Shades of Vengeance is working double time to increase production and throughout this upcoming year, Ed plans to significantly ramp up the number of comics we’re creating. He has loads planned and we really hope that you’ll join us along our journey!

Right now, Penumbra #2 Fear the Bunny Lord is still available on Kickstarter. If you haven’t dropped over to take a look I can tell you that there are some pretty cool rewards including; original artwork sketches, postcards with character art, and even a personal short story written by the author! You’ve got a few days left to check it out but don’t wait too long or you’ll miss your shot at collecting the next adventure in Penumbra’s ever-expanding series.

http://kck.st/2AyOouy

Before I leave I’m going to take a look back to some of the things we talked about and that you can expect to see in the upcoming year. I can’t believe it’s already time to start saying goodbye to 2017. I feel like we just got here!

Coming to you next year…

Era: The Chosen- A truly terrifying adventure which is going to let us stretch our ghoulish muscles a bit and really make you afraid of the dark.

https://www.era-games.com/era-chosen-announcement-oracle/

Era: Atlantis- A tale as old as time but with our own Shades of Vengeance twists. We’re going to give this familiar myth a few new surprises that will add some magic and mystery into your life.

https://www.era-games.com/glimpse-era-atlantis-oracle/

Era- The Empowered- This advanced superhero game has more depth and intrigue than a spy novel and more fast-paced action than a Tom Cruise movie. The heroes of the Empowered are just waiting to save the world… or at least that’s what they tell me.

https://www.era-games.com/era-empowered-special-news-edition-oracle/

That’s all I have for you today. Come back on Saturday for another sourcebook where I get to talk about my favorite Consortium race, the Vilithii!

See you next time!
-A

Consortium Expansion Spotlight: Ximian Sourcebook – The Oracle

It’s time once again for another Spotlight on a great Consortium Expansion book. Today I get to tell you a bit about what you’ll find inside the Sourcebook for Ximians, one of the Consortium’s most polarizing races.

Before their tragic first meeting with humanity, the Ximians had travelled for tens of thousands of years on an asteroid. This sourcebook will detail that impressive journey and let you in on all the hardships the Ximians faced. I can tell you for a fact that it was anything but boring. The challenges they had to overcome in order to land in orbit of a gas giant light years away has always been a mystery but with this book we’ll explain how they were able to achieve such an amazing feat!

For anyone who just can’t get enough of this intriguing race, this book is a must. The sourcebook will bring you the complete story of the Ximians and include some fantastic new abilities and technologies for Ximian characters. You may even get an answer as to why the Ximians are so scared of teeth!

Check out Era: The Consortium’s- A Universe of Expansions 2 Kickstarter for more details on this and all our other Spotlight books. The event is live, fully funded and all you need to do is start picking out your rewards!

http://kck.st/2xS5HtK

That’s it for me, I’ll be back again next week with more news!
-A

One more Convention this Year, plus another Comic coming soon! – The Oracle

Thank you to everyone who turned out for AetherCon! It was a great event and our team had loads of fun running games and speaking on panels. The great thing about an online convention is that it can be easily recorded and shared with those of us who didn’t get a chance to attend. Ed is currently editing a five hour video of actual Era: The Consortium campaign play with six players. This will be finished shortly but some videos of the event are already up on our YouTube Channel!

One of the videos you’ll find is Ed’s panel regarding the importance of and how to create ambience, that special atmosphere which allows your players to feel grounded in the game world. Ed was joined by both Jason Carl, producer of Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition, as well as John McNabb of McNabb games.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kWw0nWmRC8

We also have a one hour thirty minute Q&A Session where Ed, John, Leo and Keith talk about the current projects that Shades of Vengeance is working on. Get the inside scoop right from the creators themselves!   https://youtu.be/vyX-OenE4cc

For those of you in the London area, or willing to take a trip there, we will have one more convention for 2017. Dragonmeet in Hammersmith is coming up on Saturday December 2nd. This will be your last chance to see us this year so we hope you’ll stop on by! https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/

I want to take a moment, before I leave you today, and remind you that we’ve got two amazing Kickstarters running right now!

Era: The Consortium- A Universe of Expansions 2 has just surpassed its next Stretch Goal, giving all supporters access to the Time Travel Campaign Part 4 book! There’s still plenty of time to push this event to the next level, Home Base, so pop on over and check it out if you haven’t already. http://kck.st/2xS5HtK

Penumbra #2: Fear the Bunny Lord is also available on Kickstarter. Everyone’s favorite mistress of shadows is back in her next installment of intrigue and this time her foe is something a little out of the ordinary. We join Penumbra on her latest heist as she attempts to confiscate an item that’s said to increase the power of anyone who holds it… which sounds just like the kind of thing Penumbra would covet. However, she comes face to face with an enemy able to counter all of her abilities. Is this going to be a match for the ages, or will Penumbra find a way to come out on top? Stop by our Kickstarter to find out more! http://kck.st/2AyOouy

That’s it for me, come back on Saturday for a look at our next Consortium sourcebook, the Ximians!
-A

Missed us at AetherCon? Join us at Dragonmeet!

Hi everyone!

AetherCon was fantastic and we all had a great time. I hope all of you who joined us did, too!

We were pleased and proud to have so many people looking at and playing our games! It’s always an inspiring thing to see.

We’re almost done for our convention season this year, now, but you can catch us one more time before 2018, at Dragonmeet on 2nd December – http://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/!

If you’ve missed us previously, we hope to see you there!

– Ed

Consortium Expansion Spotlight: Eulutian Sourcebook – The Oracle

By the time Humans had arrived in Damara the Eulutians were already there; having crashed some time before. Everything you know about this species starts at this point in history, but there are so many questions left unanswered for this advanced race!

The Eulutian sourcebook will take you back in time before the crash on Lugus. You will get to uncover exactly where these Eulutians have come from and glimpse their never-before-seen homeworld. This expansion will cover specific moments throughout Eulutian history as well as delve into their unique abilities. What does the most advanced spacefaring race in the Consortium have in its vault of secrets?

This sourcebook will give you brand new Eulutian Specialties and technology which is not available to the rest of the Consortium! You’ll also get to experience new rules for swimming as you explore the Eulutians’ true advantage in their home environment.

The Eulutians are an incredible race with more than a few surprises to show you. This book and all our other Expansions are available through Kickstarter so go have a look and tell us what you think! http://kck.st/2xS5HtK

That’s all I have today, I’ll see you back here next week for more news and updates!
-A

AetherCon has begun!

Hi everyone!

AetherCon is now live, so come and visit us there for prizes, deals on our games and much more!

http://www.aethercon.com/

Just a reminder of what we’re doing during this weekend:

See you there!

– Ed