All posts by Ed Jowett

The Next Era Comic Is Coming Up! – The Oracle

It’s time once again for another fabulous Era Comic! This time we get to experience the next super powered hero from Era: The Empowered.

Violete spends her time balancing school life, family matters and the occasional run-in with petty criminals. Her powers of flight and super strength make her a force to be reckoned with until she meets a villain with powers of his own. Now, Violete finds herself in a fight for her life that could push her into becoming more than just an average hero.

This is the third comic for Era: The Empowered and it is written by Ed Jowett and Jennifer Martin, before being edited and lettered by Johnathan Lewis. These three have worked together to bring us some amazing stories for Era: The Consortium, Era: Survival, and Era: The Empowered so you know you’re in excellent hands!

You’ve got plenty of time to check this comic’s Kickstarter out, but why wait? You can choose from pdf or physical versions of the story as well as some unique extras. Head on over and see just what Violete is all about in her first-ever comic book appearance.

That’s it for me today. I’ll see you Saturday with another Consortium Expansion Spotlight!
-A

Era: The Consortium Time Travel Campaign Part 2 now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

The second book in our Time Travel Campaign is now available on DriveThruRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218926/Era-The-Consortium–Time-Travel-Part-2

This is the second of the 3 parts I promised earlier – although a 4th and 5th are in the works!

In additional to all the things in the first session, the mystery about the Agents of Change and their mission heats up when the generation you played last are mysteriously assassinated!

Playing as their children, you will have to uncover the truth behind their death and get time back on track… the work the previous generations did is being undone by an unknown force.

Is time itself against you?

As in the previous book, each session features a short story and a mission briefing, plus 2 pages of GM info. Together, this covers everything you could possibly need to know for the sessions in this book!

If you missed Time Travel 1, you can still find it here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218924/Era-The-Consortium–Time-Travel-Part-1

And if you want the physical books, they are all available on our website: https://www.era-games.com/store

– Ed

Era: The Consortium Time Travel Campaign Part 1 now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

The first book in our Time Travel Campaign is now available on DriveThruRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218924/Era-The-Consortium–Time-Travel-Part-1

This is the first of 3 parts to be released in the immediate future and, if you don’t yet have it yet, you’re really missing out:

Time Travel

Reshaping history

Saving the Consortium

What more do you want from a campaign?!

Each session features a short story and a mission briefing, plus 2 pages of GM info which covers everything you could possibly need to know run the session!

Don’t miss out on your chance to grab Time Travel Part 1 and watch out for Parts 2 and 3 during the next month!

Consortium Expansion Spotlight: Creatures from the Outsystem – The Oracle

I love sci-fi games for two reasons: one, the technical gear is fascinating, and two, the creatures are literally out-of-this-world. You could find yourself feeding candy snacks to something that looks like E.T. one day and the next you’re running through the jungle from a Predator that thinks your head will look marvelous on its mantlepiece. Aliens are intriguing, mysterious, dangerous, and the subject of our next Consortium Expansion!

Ed and Matthew Knighton have worked together to create 30 encounters as well as their corresponding adventure seeds for the Creatures of the Outsystem expansion book. This book will bring you some fabulous interaction possibilities with aliens and you’ll be pleased to know that it is also compatible with any sci-fi RPG such as; Star Wars, Star Trek, Starfinder, Traveller, and of course Era: The Consortium. Add these creatures to your regular gaming sessions to spice things up!

These creatures are featured in encounters which are part of our ongoing Patreon campaign. For those of you who are not familiar with this platform this is the place where we introduce new sessions and have free giveaways each month! The Creatures of the Outsystem book will be a collection of the encounters that will be gradually released through Patreon. A few have shown up even now and more will be released over the next few years. If you’d like to check them out in the Patreon format head over to our page [ https://www.patreon.com/SoV ]

However, the entire collection will be released in printed format through the upcoming Era: The Consortium Expansion Kickstarter. Aliens aren’t all cute hats and three-fingered hands though so be prepared for some pretty intense interactions. These encounters will put you to the test. Do you have what it takes to brave the horrors found on the edges of known space?

Catch me next week for more Consortium updates and news!
-A

Champion of Earth Robots and Cyborgs is complete! – The Oracle

Thank you to everyone who supported the Champion of Earth expansion Kickstarter. All of the Robots and Cyborgs rewards have now been sent off and are being received by our fabulous backers. These good folks are now entirely set to defend the Earth and we wish them the best of luck!

Those of you who would like to help defend the earth from this crazy alien, robot, cyborg invasion still have another opportunity. Ed has a few decks left from the Kickstarter Expansion. It’s a very limited number so you’ll have to act quick and contact Ed through Facebook, Kickstarter or Patreon if you’re interested in joining these brave heroes of the Earth!

The only other way you’re going to get to play the Champion of Earth- Robots and Cyborgs expansion is if you join us for the upcoming MCM event in London. Then again, nothing says you can’t do both!

Now that the Champion of Earth Expansion is complete I can tell you about Ed’s latest sci-fi game, Era: Balam. This special release game is doing amazing through Kickstarter and there is still plenty of time left for you to check it out.

You will be exploring space in a one-man ship where you defend humanity from attack and team up with other pilots to form squadrons. With rules for space combat, salvage, exploration, and upgrades to your fighter there are plenty of options to keep you playing for a long time.

In the upcoming week you can expect to see some interviews of this game and what it’s all about but until then you can hop in your “Paladin” starfighter and cruise on over to Kickstarter for more details about this brand new solar system.

[ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/jump-in-your-starfighter-for-era-balam-a-project-o ]

That’s it for me today, I’ll see you Saturday for another Consortium Expansion Spotlight!
-A

Era: Lyres Pocket Rulebook now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

Era: Lyres, our storytelling game with a difference, is available on DriveThruRPG!
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220229/Era-Lyres–Pocket-Edition

In this game, you play as a group of “adventurers” who consider adventuring insane (quite rightly so, in my opinion!). Instead, you tell stories of the exploits you “totally had” in order to hoodwink the people of Yarnolth into giving you the gold and glory you feel you deserve!

Join us for the Pocket Edition with new, faster character creation rules for more craziness and storytelling!

– Ed

Era Aethercon Sessions are available for sign-up!

Hi everyone!

I’m pleased to announce that three Era games for Aethercon, the virtual convention in November, are now available for sign up.

You’ll get to play with either me or Lukasz, one of the co-creators who works on the games with me!

It’s remote, so you can join us for any or all of them! You can play:

Era: Lyres, run by me! (Friday, 7pm GMT / 2pm EST) – http://aethercon.com/ACEventMan/Tickets/viewevent.asp?EventID=137

Era: The Empowered, run by Lukasz (Saturday, 2pm GMT / 9am EST) – http://aethercon.com/ACEventMan/Tickets/viewevent.asp?EventID=136

Era: The Consortium, run by me! (Sunday, 2pm GMT / 9am EST) – http://aethercon.com/ACEventMan/Tickets/viewevent.asp?EventID=85

The games are run by Google Hangout or Roll20 and can be joined by anyone.

I’m looking forward to the possibility of playing sessions from our signature games with brand new people, hopefully some long-time fans who I’ve never had the chance to play with due to geography! 😀

There are also loads of other games you can try from the comfort of your living room, available here.

– Ed

Era: Survival Core Rulebook now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

Today, we’re releasing Era: Survival on DriveThruRPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220236/Era-Survival–Core-Rulebook

Era: Survival is based on a planet called Gaia, where Humanity is a dying species. They are being wiped out by the Infection, an airborne parasite which takes over all warm-blooded creatures.

Humanity is backed into a corner, and has split into factions, each of which have a very different idea about how to survive the post-apocalypse.

I could tell you a lot more about this game, but I think our Kickstarter video probably says it best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77K-H1TnQpk

If you liked Revival, I think you’ll love this – it runs on some very similar rules, but is a Core Rulebook with its own setting and unique Karma system!

We’re proud to put our second full-scale Core Rulebook on DriveThruRPG for the first time!

– Ed

Consortium Expansion Spotlight: Home Base – The Oracle

We are in full production mode here at Shades of Vengeance with so many expansions being worked I can hardly keep track of them all! Each of our previous Spotlights have shown you a new Consortium Expansion book in our upcoming collection. Have you decided on a favorite yet? Maybe today’s book will be the one.

Era: The Consortium – Home Base will allow players to build their own base of operations. You’ve got plenty of options but each come with their own benefits and limitations. Depending on whether you’re making your base on a planet, space station, or starship it will have a different size and come with different requirements. There will also be a wide range of facilities that you can build within your base to boost your team’s effectiveness!

Now that you’ve got your home base built you’ll need to defend it. All new sessions will pit your base against attacks from pirates, the Consortium forces, or the Resistance! You’ll get a chance to try out all the new features you’ve installed and see how well they come together.

If you’re a fan of strategy games and tower defense style of play then I think you’ll really enjoy this expansion. Your chance to get this expansion and all the others that I’ve been introducing you to over the past several weeks will be coming out in October so mark your calendars and join us back here for the big event!

I’ll catch you next week with more news and updates!
-A

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Thirty-One

Hi everyone!

It’s the final day of #RPGaDay! I’d like to thank everyone who’s followed these posts. I hope they have been informative and a little bit of fun!

I’d like to thank the folks over at the Casting Shadows Blog for their alternate questions as well as for the list in the first place.

#RPGaDay 31: What do you anticipate most for gaming in 2018?

Wow. I don’t even know where to start on this! I have a lot of new releases planned…

Era: The Consortium is going to have a Kickstarter towards the end of this year, where we’ll be aiming to unlock some additional expansions beyond the 8 we already created. I’m very much looking forward to that and I think it’s reasonable to assume that at least some of the books will land during the first part of next year!

Era: The Empowered, the superhero game which I started some time ago now, is finally getting its Core Rulebook, with the story about 50% written and a Kickstarter planned for next year. It’s going to offer numerous different types of setting, such as the “discovering your powers” sessions, the “villain of the week” setup, the “Avengers/Justice League team-up” variety and the “Earth is under attack from a massive interstellar force”. Combined with some Atlantis action and much more, this unique-but-familiar superhero universe is going to offer some fantastic new opportunities for gameplay.

Right now, Empowered is fighting for position based on artwork and writing with Era: The Chosen, our horror setting. I’ve mentioned it a few times during this month, and I couldn’t exaggerate how excited I am for it to land! It’s been an amazing project to work on with Darren Pearce, Jennifer Martin, J A Cummings and Mikhail Greuli and the Era: The Chosen Core Rulebook is actually not too far off ready!

Our first license, the “Battlecruiser Alamo” game will be also be available on Kickstarter in April. Working with Richard Tongue has been brilliant, and we’re aiming to have the game ready for UKGE 2018! We’ve been talking a lot recently about how to correctly capture the feel of the universe and I’m working on the stats while he writes the story content for the game himself – what more could you want than the creator of a universe writing all about it?

I have a lot more planned, but these are the immediate highlights! I’d like to thank everyone for joining us on this journey as we continue. We couldn’t do what we do without your support!

– Ed

Introducing Era: Legends – The Oracle

Last week I hinted that I would be discussing a new game today, did you guess that I’d be talking about Era: Legends? Congratulations to those of you that did. Your superfan status has been confirmed.

As I mentioned last time, this game is being created by Ed Jowett and Freddie Rawlins (contributor to Era: Survival’s creation). It will be a full Core Rulebook with all the rules and tools you’ll need to explore this new world where Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches rule over Humans in their own designated territories.

Humans have started to realize the truth of what’s happening and this is where things are going to start to get interesting. The humans have started an Inquisition which seeks to wipe out all the supernatural races. There is also a new religion, Haven, which is working to eliminate the Witches. This sets the world of the game into motion as all factions work to survive.

The setting of the game will include abandoned cities and underground caverns that you can explore. You’ll have to get into some tight spaces if you want to complete your assigned quests and get paid!

You can play as any one of the races, each of which will come with their own unique Talents. Ed and Freddie have developed a brand new Talent Tree system which is going to help you on your way to growing those important skills. You’ll need more than individual talent of course and the game will allow you to team up with other races in order to face massive threats!

There’s so much more to this game and in the coming weeks I hope to have more details and perhaps even a piece of art or two as it gets closer to production.

Head back here on Saturday for another Era: The Consortium Expansion Spotlight!
-A

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Thirty

Hi everyone!

This is a tough question for me, because most of the things I want to see, I’m working on!

#RPGaDay 30: What is an RPG genre mash-up you would most like to see?

Well, as Final Fantasy is a mash-up of genres in itself, I’m going to cop out and say that the thing I’d most like to see is a game in the Final Fantasy VII universe – a healthy dose of Sci-Fi, lots of fantasy magic, primarily grounded on a single planet or in orbit, with a bit of a cyberpunk feel thrown in.

I find those kinds of genre mash-ups a lot of fun…

Which, yeah, is sort of why I’m working on something a little bit like that… watch this space!

– Ed

Era: The Consortium – Revival Expansion now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

Era: The Consortium offers all genres of Sci-Fi and none of the material we’ve created for it show that better than Revival!

Revival is now out on DriveThruRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218923/Era-The-Consortium–Revival

This 150-page expansion is a labour of love by myself and Johnathan Lewis. In the vein of games such as Alien and Dead Space, Revival brings the team aboard an adrift ship, which turns out to be full of creatures.

Fight your way through the Sadoko’s interior, shown by maps in this full-colour expansion, play with Survival Horror rules which limit your ammunition and force you to create makeshift weapons as you go, and discover the true secret behind the Sadoko.

Will you survive?

Find out with Era: The Consortium – Revival: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218923/Era-The-Consortium–Revival

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Nine

Hi everyone!

#RPGaDay 29: What has been the best-run RPG Kickstarter you have backed?

I was impressed and happy for James and his team for the recent Ghost-Ops RPG [ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/458299077/ghost-ops-an-rpg-of-modern-day-covert-operations ]. They did a fantastic job of putting the concept across and deserved all of the success that they got!

It’s great to see someone like James doing so well – he and I have spoken several times in the past about game design and I hope to see him continue to have success in the future!

We also share several writers, including J A Cummings and Darren Pearce (both of them worked on Era: The Chosen, among other things…), who are going to create some great stuff for that game, I’m certain.

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Eight

Hi everyone!

#RPGaDay 28: What film/series is the biggest source of quotes in your group?

Well… uh…

We’re a pretty varied source of quotes, actually. The one that sticks in my mind is Firefly/Serenity… sort of. “It gets you right here” comes up relatively often, as does the phrase “Big Damn Heroes”.

That said, we get loads of different quotes and it depends a lot on what game we’re playing at the time. A lot of them are rather classic, but not from any film or series… the one that comes to mind is:

The party were standing outside wooden walls in an early playtest of Era: High Fantasy. The walls were manned with guards, so they called up to them to be let in.

The guards were clearly worried and asked “Are you them walking skeleton things?”

And one of the players replied “Yes!”

A hail of arrows followed, which injured several of them. One of the players responded with the quote I’m referring to: “We’re sorry! We won’t be skeletons any more!”

– Ed

Era: Balam Available now on Kickstarter!

Hi everyone!

Our latest Tabletop RPG, Era: Balam, is now available on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/jump-in-your-starfighter-for-era-balam-a-project-o

In this space pilot RPG, you take control of a one-man fighter and head out to explore a solar system defend Humanity from an alien assault fleet! The rules of this game are compatible with Era: The Consortium, meaning you could integrate them with your character from that game for an enhanced dog fighting experience!

We’ve got some amazing Stretch Goals with some great writers who are going to be making Campaigns (and also some from me!).

Join us now for Era: Balam!

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Seven

Hi everyone!

I usually travel pretty light when gaming – a pile of D10s and character sheets. However, I do have one further thought…

#RPGaDay 27: What are your essential tools for good gaming?

I think there’s only one thing you always need: a character concept which is thought-out and understood in your own mind. Dice are replaceable with software now, character sheets can be roughed out on blank paper if need be (I’ve done that a lot with Era: Lyres!).

If you have a character idea, you know how this individual would act in a situation, and where they would and would not be willing to push their boundaries, what their hopes and dreams are… you’re well-equipped for any roleplaying experience, in my opinion!

And, even if that character is an unpleasant individual (which I’ve never played, but I know people who have), other players will respect that you’re acting in character and are probably not that much of a git in real life!

In short, I think planning is important, whichever side of the table you’re on, and I think that sometimes people forget that and turn up unprepared to sessions as players…

What about you, what do you think is essential for good gaming?

– Ed

Patreon Release – August 2017 – Out Now!

Hi everyone!

The Patreon release for August 2017 is now available!

That means that everyone can get hold of the second “Encounters on the Edge of Space” entry (by Matthew Knighton and myself), which provides an encounter and adventures seeds for Science Fiction games of all kinds! This month, the deadly and unique Tridamos Plague makes an appearance.

Grab it here for free: https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-2017-on-2-12069328

All Patreons will be getting a special extra reward this month – Era: Lyres Pocket will be available to all those who contribute to the campaign at no extra cost! But there’s more… you can also get hold of the special extra Traveller’s Guide to Yarnolth, which gives the full background of the region (along with some pretty funny jokes, if we say so ourselves!).

Grab all that here if you’re a Patron for even $1! https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-2017-era-12069365

August 2017 has, of course, brought a brand new set of wallpapers! All $1 and up Patrons will be able to grab some images from Era: Hitman and Era: Survival this month, celebrating the release of two of our latest games/expansions!

Grab those right here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-2017-12070702

Finally, for those who pledge $5, we have not one but two awesome sessions for you this month! The Era: The Consortium Time Travel Campaign has reached the end of its 8th sub-campaign and you’re finally going to understand why so much information has been concealed from this generation. Era: Survival’s Foundation Campaign has reached Session 2 and there’s trouble in the Redlaw Ruins.

Grab both of these awesome sessions by Graeme Penman and edited by me here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-2017-era-12070904

https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-2017-era-13161518

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Six

Hi everyone!

Today, I’m talking non-rulebook resources for my games, and there’s a clear stand-out here!

#RPGaDay 26: Which RPG provides the most useful resources?

The resource I’m most proud of at the moment is the work that I’ve been doing with Matthew Knighton on our Patreon.

I should say right now – this stuff is FREE, just go onto the Patreon and download it! The first one is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/july-2017-paid-1-11257787

Together, we decided that it was about time aliens and space creatures existed for encounters the way that Fantasy Creatures do. We’ve not included stats, and we’ve made everything as setting-neutral as humanly possible: you could find these encounters in Star Wars, Star Trek, Eclipse Phase or any other Sci-Fi game (as well as Era: The Consortium, of course!).

I’d highly recommend checking it out, the latest one was released today!

– Ed

Expansions Are Available at DriveThruRPG – The Oracle

Have you noticed that we’ve been releasing our Era: The Consortium expansions on DriveThruRPG? With all our recent spotlights on the upcoming expansion games I thought I might take a few minutes here and talk a bit about where you can find the first collection of expansions.

So far at DriveThruRPG, you can find the Era: The Consortium Core Rulebook, Definitive Edition Rulebook, Time Travel Campaign Part 1, The Secret War and The Fifth Race! This is a great place to start if you’d like to see what all the fuss has been about these last few months. I really think you’re going to love all the added content and expanded gameplay that these expansions offer!

There is no time like the present to stock up on all things Shades of Vengeance so come over and check out what we have. [ http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8156/Shades-of-Vengeance ] Don’t forget that you can follow our account to get the latest titles and, of course, these games are still available at our own web store. Just grab a book and get playing!

Next week I’ll have another Consortium Expansion spotlight for you and on Thursday I’ll share some details about a brand new game; Ed introduced this title during his #RPGaDay challenge. Bonus “super fan” points goes to anyone who can remember the title of this game, which is being created by Ed and Freddie Rawlins (contributor to Era Survival’s creation). Come back on Thursday to find out if you guessed correctly!

Until then, keep rolling!
-A

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Five

Hi everyone!

As a perpetual GM, today’s question is not necessarily the easiest one for me… however, I have a few suggestions…

#RPGaDay 25: What is the best way to thank your GM?

Well, it depends a little on the type of game!

Personally, when I’m running a campaign and it gets to the end (see earlier entries – I usually plan things of roughly set lengths), there’s no greater reward for me than for someone else to stand up and say “I’ll GM the next one so you can play, Ed!”.

It’s happening at the moment, actually – I just finished an Era: The Chosen Campaign, and now I’m actually playing Era: The Empowered for the second time ever! The first session was last weekend and was fantastic!

If it’s a one-off, like a game at a convention, I’d always say that the best way is to bring something snackable with you to the game – everyone can share it and enjoy it, including the GM.

What do you do to thank your GMs?

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Four

Hi everyone!

Although neither of the main games I’m about to link to you actually answer this question. However, when I first encountered them, they absolutely did!

#RPGaDay 24: Share a PWYW Publisher who should be charging more.

When I first met Sanchit Sharma and John Serembe, they both had some great ideas for games and were allowing everyone to have their drafts at PWYW.

I spent the time with them to get their games up to production standard and I’m pleased to say that now both Order of the Link and Marked For Death are available on DriveThruRPG for more than PWYW. They were definitely worth more, and I’d highly recommend both:

Order of the Link: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/208490/The-Order-of-The-Link-Rule-Book

Marked For Death: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/155856/Marked-For-Death

I am proud to have been closely involved in both of these projects as editor, co-designer and writer!

– Ed

Era: The Chosen Announcement! – The Oracle

Today I get to delve a little more into a game that we’ve introduced but which still remains a bit of a mystery. Era: The Chosen is our first game which really pulls back the layers of the horror genre and sinks its teeth into a dark universe. The book is being written by four fantastic writers; Ed Jowett, Darren Pearce (Dr Who RPG and lead writer of Judge Dredd), J A Cummings (Ghost Ops) and Jennifer Martin (Era: The Consortium and Era: Survival). These talented folks are going to pull out all the stops and make you check twice under your bed before you fall asleep.

Era: The Chosen is going to join our elite list of full Core Rulebook games; making this the first title in quite a while to achieve this robust kind of treatment. You will have everything you need for extended campaigns and hours of exploration. So, what will it include?

This game will cover three distinct periods of history. There will be; a renaissance era, a victorian era, and a modern era! You’re going to have loads of materials to work with and can choose between any of these time periods which best suit you and your players. The variety of settings will each offer some unique opportunities so be sure to check them all. No matter which history you choose to start your game, you’ll be battling some truly terrifying creatures. The Anonassi come from another dimension to invade ours. They’re immense, they’re deadly, and they’re not going to stop.

As you might expect, a game like this will come with some unique rules and tools. Brand new Terror mechanics have been developed for Era: The Chosen and will assist characters in reacting to the setting. There will also be a Trophies rule, which allows the player to gain bonus abilities based on their achievements within the game.

Era: The Chosen is really coming together well and in the next several weeks I hope to have more details to share with you. Until then, just don’t look too closely in those dark corners!

See you on Saturday for Era: The Consortium news!
-A

Era: The Consortium – A New Dawn Expansion now available on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

I’m pleased to announce that A New Dawn is now available on DriveThruRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218922/Era-The-Consortium–A-New-Dawn

With A New Dawn, any player can become a Psionic, gaining amazing powers… but risking insanity if they use them too much.

Gain mind control, telepathy, remote vision and more with A New Dawn!

And, as always, if you want the Paperback or Hardback version, you can grab them on our store: https://www.era-games.com/store

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Three

Hi everyone!

Just a reminder that I’m primarily talking my RPGs in this #RPGaDay, so if you have any questions about anything I mention, shout, I’d be more than happy to answer!

#RPGaDay 23: Which RPG has the most jaw-dropping layout?

I have always loved the amazing work of Keith Draws, right from his first submission of suggestions for Era: The Consortium’s Core Rulebook.

I think the single book I’m happiest with, though, is the Era: The Consortium expansion, Revival.

We combined the elements of Survival Horror, which we carefully chose for Era: Survival, with the Era: The Consortium Rulebook layout which we are really proud of to make something that suited the theme perfectly.

Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with Era: The Consortium – Revival’s layout (and the story content is also fantastic, written by our Head of Comics and veteran writer Johnathan Lewis! I wrote the campaign, so I’ll let you decide on that for yourselves, rather than calling it brilliant…).

If you want to get hold of Revival, there’s only one place to do it right now, on our Store: https://www.era-games.com/product/era-consortium-revival-digital/

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-Two

Hi everyone!

The subject of my #RPGaDay today is a game I’m hoping to run at AetherCon!

If you don’t know about AetherCon, it’s an online convention which runs at the beginning of November. I hope you’ll think about joining us there, we’ll have some great deals on our Era games!

#RPGaDay 22: Which RPGs are the easiest for you to run?

It’s probably not a massive surprise that anything on the Era d10 system is easier for me than pretty much anything else!

However, the easiest of those, by far, is Era: Lyres.

In Era: Lyres, the players work together to tell the GM a story. As the GM, all you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the absurd, occasionally questioning their veracity!

It’s great for when you need a rest!

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty-One

Hi everyone!

As we enter the last days of the #RPGaDay Challenge, I’m going to mention another different game today!

#RPGaDay 21: Which RPG does the most with the least words?

There’s only one answer to that for me: Era: Silence.

In Era: Silence, you’re not permitted to speak, meaning very few words indeed, as you pursue your dangerous quest to earn your name as a warrior!

Enter the Isle of Silence, a strange and mysterious plane where challenges are dotted around… and work together to overcome them, despite being unable to speak.

Are you worthy as a warrior? There’s only one way to find out! Get hold of Era: Silence on our store: https://www.era-games.com/store

– Ed

P.S. It occurred to me after I’d written this that this might not have been what the question meant… *shrug*.

P.P.S. Book Photo by the amazing Immaculate Jowett!

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Twenty (Alternate)

Hi everyone!

I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as much help as most people would probably like on what the best source for out-of-print RPGs is, so I’m taking an alternate question today!

#RPGaDay 20 (A): What do you want out of an RPG experience?

For me, it’s very simple. I want to create a great story with my friends!

I guess, at heart, I’m a writer. Whether I’m in the GM chair or playing the game, I love a story with twists and turns that the players follow and try to figure out. I’ve spoken previously this month about how I generally construct campaigns of about 5 sessions for exactly this purpose.

It’s the mystery, the reason to walk around the next corner (in character), the fun of trying to figure out in advance and finding out whether I am right or wrong in my beliefs at the end that I love about playing!

How about you?

– Ed

Era: The Consortium “Rapier” Expansion released on DriveThruRPG!

Hi everyone!

From right now, you can get hold of Era: The Consortium – Rapier in Digital Format on DriveThruRPG: [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218921/Era-The-Consortium–Rapier ]

Rapier enhances the Cyberpunk aspects of Era: The Consortium, allowing players to enter the virtual environments inside computer systems and hack them from within! From miniature star systems and flying around inside fighters to gladiatorial competitions, nothing is impossible in the virtual world!

And it gets better… skilled hackers are stronger inside than outside, thanks to the fact that it’s the Computer Skill of the character which counts for combat in these virtual worlds.

Hack any system in the Consortium in style with Era: The Consortium’s Rapier Expansion!

(Digital and Physical Version also available on our store: https://www.era-games.com/product/era-consortium-rapier-paperback/

– Ed

#RPGaDay Challenge – Day Nineteen

Hi everyone!

Today, I’m once again going to avoid the obvious answer (still answering within the set of Era Games) of Era: The Consortium, which has some amazing writers, and instead focus on another game…

#RPGaDay 19: Which RPG features the best writing?

I’m going to talk about Era: Survival today, which was written by the amazing Jennifer Martin (and also by me, but I’m talking about her writing here).

Jennifer (who was also part of the Era: The Consortium team and is working on Era: The Empowered’s Core Rulebook, the Era: The Chosen project and more!) has a particular talent for bringing that type of world to life: it’s bleak and Humans are barely surviving. I remember when I read the first story she submitted for that game and I sat for a minute, totally blown away by the way she had captured perfectly exactly what I wanted the feel to be.

Era: Survival has gone on to do rather well – it’s got 2 expansions completed, a Definitive Edition Rulebook in production and a third expansion on the way, along with a successful Kickstarter which funded them! I credit a lot of that success to Jennifer and to Mikhail (the artist on the project) who, between the two of them, captured the feel of the world excellently!

You can get hold of Era: Survival on our store [ https://www.era-games.com/store ], if you’re interested, and the DriveThruRPG Digitals will be released in the coming weeks as part of our current release events!

Explore Gaia with us in Era: Survival if you want to experience some amazing writing!

I’d also like to give an honourable mention to Amy Allworden (who you might also know as “The Oracle”), Darren Pearce and Graeme Penman, who are all doing some amazing writing for various books in the Era games series. With Empowered and Chosen on the Horizon, featuring work from all of these people, I’m certainly looking forward to next year! But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s Day 31!

– Ed