Today, I’m talking about the Nihilists Source Book.
The Nihilists are a group which firmly believe that Humanity on Gaia only exists as fodder for Infection. They would rather Humanity died out than Infection lived on the suffering of Humanity.
As a result, they will sabotage towns, usually in attacks which threaten large groups of people. Often, they will use an overdose of Injection to poison as many people as possible in the community they are targeting.
While the Nihilists are an unpleasant group, they provide a new opportunity for players in Era: Survival. Many people enjoy having the possibility of a “traitor” within the group, which is trying to sabotage it. This is a theme that appears in a large number of Board Games, such as the Dead of Winter.
The Nihilists Source Book provides this opportunity within Era: Survival: players can secretly be part of the Nihilist movement and seeking to disrupt the party’s activities at every turn.
Of course, if they are discovered, the party is unlikely to treat them kindly…
A lot of people I know prefer pre-generated campaigns. The reasons for this are wide-ranging (though I’d say the most common one is not having enough time!), and can actually stop people playing if enough varied sessions don’t exist.
As we did with Era: The Consortium’s Time Travel Campaign, we’re creating a campaign which will be in blocks of 5 Sessions and extend onwards across multiple different threats and types of sessions. To a high degree, the “Foundation Campaign” can be jumped into at any point.
In the first Part of the campaign, the players will face the challenges of clearing an area of Infected to found their new community.
Gaia isn’t a place where just clearing away the Infected in the area is enough to ensure your safety, however. The second half of Part 1 will provide several scenarios where the party’s townsfolk are attacked by Raiders at every turn, culminating in an attack on the Foundation itself!
This campaign gives players the chance to change the lives of many citizens of Gaia and become successful leaders of one of the towns of Gaia…
It’s worth saying that, on the Kickstarter, you can get the Rulebook Primer for just £1!
Today, I’m going to talk about the Rulebook Primer, what it’s used for and why it exists!
The Rulebook Primer, which costs £5 in Digital and £10 in Paperback, actually has a few purposes.
The first, and the thing that the majority of people use it for, is as a “trial version” of the Core Rulebook. It provides the rules you need to play, along with a good starter selection of Equipment (anything a beginning character can ordinarily choose is included).
It doesn’t give much background for the world, however, providing only a one-page summary of what the world is like to get people started on Era: Survival. It has limited room for growth due to the limited equipment and character creation options when compared to the Core Rulebook.
The other thing that it’s used for is as a Player’s Guide. It provides everything that people need in order to create a starting character, guides through levelling up and includes the table for rolling if there aren’t cards. This allows the players to set up relatively independently with a significantly cheaper book at the start of the game, and check the rules at the same time!
The Rulebook Primer is available on both the Kickstarter and the Shades of Vengeance store, and is the cheapest and fastest way to get into an adventure on Gaia.
Today, I’m talking about the Wise Ones Source Book.
Gaia holds a lot of advanced technology. Unfortunately, the knowledge to use things like helicopters and some of the more complicated systems in the Vaults is all but lost.
The Wise Ones are not so much a faction as a small segment of the population who have been carefully chosen and trained by others to be able to use these types of technology. They are valued by every faction but are treated very differently.
Things don’t always go right, however – there’s a story about one individual who was working for the White Cross as part of the team attempting to rebuild the third helicopter. A moment’s carelessness caused the destruction of the rarest vehicle on Gaia and his exile.
The Wise Ones have a huge responsibility in whichever faction they join, and you can now become one of them with this Source Book! Featuring new Character Creation options, new Equipment, and new rules for fixing advanced technology, this is a must for anyone who wants to reclaim the forgotten mysteries of Gaia!
We’ve been coming to MCM London for 3 years, now, and we always try to run a panel about creativity, as well as talking with anyone who wants to get into writing, comics or games. We believe that working to help other people achieve their creative dreams is one of the greatest responsibilities of the companies in these industries.
We’ve got a huge amount of experience across our team: from writing novels to creating comics, from game design to sound and artwork. We use these skills to create our own games and to help others create the game or comic they had always dreamed of!
We’ll be at MCM with a huge number of things, and we’ll be more than happy to share any or all of them with you!
You can find all of this and much more at Stand 722:
Champion of Earth – Our latest card game
In Champion of Earth, the players work together to defeat an alien invasion! It gets worse, though: the aliens have raised the dead and called forth creatures from the shadows to boost their forces. You play as one of 6 Champions of Earth in this light-hearted and fast-playing card game!
We hope you’ll join us in defending the Earth at MCM!
Era: The Consortium – A Sci-Fi game with 500 years of playable history
In Era: The Consortium, you can explore a massive universe and play at any time during the 500-year history. This allows you to play any sub-genre of Sci-Fi you want: colonisation of the first planet, exploration of new solar systems, first contact with aliens, all-out war with forces determined to destroy the Consortium or as part of a Resistance movement trying to overthrow an evil government!
The critically acclaimed Era: The Consortium “Last Stand of Stiletto Unit” session is going to be running as a demo throughout the weekend, so come along if you love Sci-Fi! Have a chance to save 14 billion lives inset at the climax of the game’s 500 year history!
We’ve been running this game for a long time, and loads of people have had a great time playing!
We’ve recently run a successful Kickstarter which enabled us to add 8 new books to the Era: The Consortium universe and we’ll be bringing them with us. Gain Psionic powers, play as a secret agent, enter the virtual worlds within computer systems and play as a brand new alien race – the choice is yours!
Era: Survival – Survive a world where Infected zombies are everywhere!
The fan favourite Era: Survival puts players into Gaia, a world where Humanity is dying out – in 100 years, there may not be anything left. No-one knows what caused the cataclysm and, honestly, no-one really cares any more. All that matters now is staying alive: faced with the Infected Mutants and Shamblers as well as the 14 factions of humanity convinced that they have the best way of surviving this post-apocalyptic world.
Will you survive? Find out in our Era: Survival Session “In Her Name”, which we’ll be running throughout the weekend!
Era: Hitman places you in control of an assassin with superhuman abilities. Avoid guards to reach your target in this game, inspired by Assassin’s Creed and Hitman!
We’ll be running demos of this for the first time at this convention, so don’t miss out this chance to try our latest game!
Era: Lyres – Adventuring? That sounds dangerous…
In Era: Lyres, you enter a fantasy world… but not as adventurers! Adventuring is dangerous, dirty, and doesn’t even usually reward you all that well! Instead, you are going to tell stories to the good folk of Yarnolth and convince them you have been on amazing adventures and have saved them! In return, they will reward you with gold and adoration!
Find out whether you have what it takes to be an adventurer in Era: Lyres, and don’t forget to bring your friends! We’ll be running sessions of it for anyone who wants throughout the weekend!
Era: The Empowered – Be a superhero!
Who hasn’t wanted to be a superhero at some point? In Era: The Empowered, you can create and play with your own powers to fight the evil villains who plague your city. Or… perhaps you’ll join them?
We’ll be running demo sessions of Era: The Empowered for anyone who wishes to play! Just come to the stand and ask to play!
Era: Silence
Visit the Isle of Silence in this game, where you must work as a team despite being unable to speak to each other. If you fail to overcome the Challenges placed around the Isle, you will never earn your name as a warrior and return.
Can you overcome the Challenges of the Isle? Find out with us – we’ll be running demo sessions of Era: Silence throughout the weekend!
If you’re interested in knowing more about what people thought of our games, check out our video log from October 2017:
Shades of Vengeance also creates comics, and we are bringing several of them to MCM! With two Science Fiction comics (in the Era: The Consortium universe) and two superhero comics (in the Era: The Empowered universe), we’re starting to move onward with our comic production!
We hope that you’ll visit our stand and check out what we have to offer!
Ever dream of becoming a writer or game creator?
Ed and Johnathan are running two panels about how to be creative and how to keep that creativity going through the hard parts of projects.
With over 20 years of experience in freelance writing and creating, we think we can give you a few tips! Join us in Lower Platinum on Friday!
We’re pleased and proud to be visiting MCM Comicon once again! We hope you’ll join us!
Shades of Vengeance will be exhibiting at Stand 722, near the S5 entrance, for all 3 days!
Don’t forget that if you’re visiting us at MCM Comicon, we’ll happily talk in detail about any or all of the rewards from the Era: Survival Kickstarter!
Today, I’m talking about the Defenders Source Book!
The Defenders are a group of warriors who work to defend all of Humanity, no matter who they are, against the Infected and the Raiders who prey on others.
In the simplest possible way, they fight to defend Humanity from the threats Gaia poses.
Although most Defenders are assigned to a specific location, which may include several small towns and villages, or a single larger one such as Crossroads, some roam Gaia, seeking only to protect people in need.
With this Source Book, you can step into the role of a Defender, or group of Defenders and fight the Infected wherever you encounter them, for the good of Humanity. It features new Specialities, Backgrounds and Equipment, specially for Defenders!
Being a Defender is extremely dangerous, however – your entire existence revolves around running towards things that are trying to kill you…
The time has finally come to warm up those dice rolling fingers, put on that Eulutian Cosplay suit, and join us at MCM Comicon and UKGE in London! The team only steps out to a few conventions each year and these are two of the biggest. You have two opportunities to come see the team:
We will be bringing as many games as we can possibly carry or load onto the backs of our enthusiastic GM’s. You’ll get a chance to see some of our latest titles and get a first hand look at a few things that up to now only our Kickstarter backers have seen. Bring your questions and bring your game face because we plan to be running games straight on through the entire event!
During the conventions you can keep tabs on us through our Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/shadesofvengeance/] for photos and on-the-ground updates by Ed. However, my weekly posts are going to disappear until the team returns from UKGE. I’ll be back with more news and updates, as well as a few words about how both conventions went, when I come back on June 15th.
So, enjoy the break and we hope to see absolutely everyone out at MCM and UKGE!
-A
Today, I’m talking about the Cult of Progression Source Book. One of the most sinister factions of Gaia, the Cult believe that Infection is a way to ascend to a higher state of being. They capture and brainwash people into believing that Infection will set them free from the curse of Humanity.
While they initially made little progress, they began to target more desperate areas of Gaia, such as the Hi-Rise Slums and they gained traction.
Now, a visit from a Cult of Progression representative is a dreaded state for many small communities, where anywhere up to half of the population may be swayed by the words of a clever individual.
This Source Book explores the history of the Cult, their practices and, in particular their relationship with Potestates, a faction which believe controlling the Infection could bring great power!
The Cult of Progression believe the only way to survive Gaia is to become Infected. Do you agree?
The Definitive Edition Rulebook of Era: Survival is the book which I had originally envisioned when I created Era: Survival. Unfortunately, I had to make a number of cuts due to page counts and, as a result, some of the great material that I’d had planned was cut from the Rulebook.
The Definitive Edition Rulebook features A huge amount of new material:
Part 1 not only has new images and new stories, but new locations to explore!
Part 2 features new character creation options (including additional Specialities)!
Part 3 offers additional crafting options, a wider range of options for Infected biomorphs than the 20 offered in the Core Rulebook, along with brand new Infected types!
Part 5 includes several extra pages of Campaigns which were cut from the Core Rulebook!
…and much more!
The Definitive Edition is a real event in Era games’ development, representing that they have reached a level where we want to give you more content for your favourite games.
Today, I’m talking about the Organisation of Friends, who run the one place which we might call “civilisation” on Gaia – a place known simply as “City”.
Most would call it corrupt, both morally and financially. However, it’s one of the safest places around: even The Swarm don’t dare to get too close to the huge mounted weapons of City.
The leaders of the Brotherhood live in opulence and luxury, the likes of which most of the Humans of Gaia will never see.
They also face the never-ending struggle to keep what is theirs as others try to steal from them, discredit and replace them or attempt assassinations to move up the ranks of the Organisation.
This Source Book will allow you to play as an up-and-coming member of the Organisation. Prove yourself willing to do whatever is necessary and perhaps you too can retire into luxury as one of the City Elite…
Today, I’m talking to you about the Sisterhood of Pyrus, one of the most powerful Factions in Era: Survival. The Sisterhood operates by taking over and renovating Vaults beneath the surface of Gaia.
Their culture is based around enforced religion, one many people accept to be allowed inside. Despite the name, there are also men in the Sisterhood; they simply are unable to reach the highest caste within society.
The Sisterhood of Pyrus boasts some of the best technicians on Gaia, many of which are Wise Ones, capable of controlling the advanced ancient technology.
Today, I’m talking about “Diaries of a Madman: A Guide to Fallout”, one of the expansions which can be unlocked through Stretch Goals on this Campaign.
In the centre of Gaia lies the area called Fallout. It’s full of Infected, irradiated and no-one really dares venture inside if they ever wish to leave again.
Many things are rumoured about what exists within this zone.
Some say that there’s an Infected Queen in the centre, spewing Infection into the air and expanding the zone constantly.
Others say that there’s some sort of machine inside, which could be used to cure Infection for ever if only the right people could reach it.
A very few claim that beyond the initial barrier of Infection, it’s a Clean Zone, kept that way by radiation. They say that if you could survive the radiation, you’d be able to live there totally free of Infection and Infected for ever!
But what’s really inside Fallout? Find out with Diaries of a Madman: A Guide to Fallout!
It’s been a fun and fantastic process working with the team to develop and deliver these Consortium Expansion books. Now that the Definitive Edition has been delivered to all backers and will be available on our Store page soon, we are down to just one book remaining.
Revival is currently with the proofreaders and Ed expects that it should be wrapping up soon as well. We’re very excited to bring you these in-depth looks at the Consortium universe. Thank you once more to every one of our supporters. It’s because of you that this game has gotten the chance to really grow. Now we can move on to expanding it even further!
Is there a question that you’d like to ask us but just can’t bring yourself to write an email? Why not come and see us in person! If you’d like to visit with Ed and ask him your burning questions, give us some advice on where you’d like the Consortium to be heading next, or sit down and play the game with us, you’ve got two opportunities coming up very soon. Don’t miss this chance to meet us!
Feel free to send us a shout when you’ve received your Definitive Edition book, we love to know what our fans are thinking. That’s all for me today, I’ll see you again next week!
-A
We hope you’ll consider joining us in trying to avoid Infection and survive the perils of Gaia!
The Citizens of Aqua, one of the most mysterious factions on Gaia, avoids Infection almost entirely. Their city is located in the oceans to the west of the majority of civilisation.
Even though they are remote, Infected follow Humans wherever they go on Gaia. Aqua faces several types of Infected that aren’t seen anywhere else.
In order to survive, they have limited contact with the mainland using ships which they construct at sea. These journeys are dangerous, not only when arriving on land but on the way, where they pass close to the Sea of No Return.
Ships will often face Infected on the crossing, from whales large enough to crush their ships to Mermaids who attack on a more one-to-one basis.
You can explore Gaia with the Citizens of Aqua using the Aqua Source Book:
Featuring special equipment, rules for naval combat and a new set of Infected, Aqua is a fantastic addition to the Era: Survival Universe!
Today, I’m talking about the third book which goes to every backer over £1 when we reach the Funded Goal – “Tales of the Outlands – Legends about the Edge of the Known World”.
I know, the title is a bit of a mouthful – we’re working on it!
This book explores the possibilities of Gaia and talks about what exists beyond the point which Human civilisation dares to roam.
The book includes stories of god-like creatures, colonies where Infected aren’t controlled by the parasites, a cure for Infection and even legends of a utopian civilisation where Infection is not an issue.
How true they are is up to you and your group… but many venture out in search of such legends and are never seen again…
If you’re crazy enough to head into the Outlands, the first piece of equipment most people will offer you is a coffin.
This book provides a few alternative possibilities, however, in the form of survival equipment not found in the Core Rulebook.
This book is designed to help you expand the horizons of your Era: Survival game, extending it beyond the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Human-controlled Gaia and out into whatever is beyond.
Welcome to the first-ever expansion Kickstarter for Era: Survival. In just 24 hours we’ve already reached over 66% support, that’s a fantastic start! I know that Ed’s introduced you to a bit of what you can expect with this Kickstarter but today I want to throw a few extra details at you.
Much like our Era: The Consortium Expansions, the initial reward for this Kickstarter comes with 3 expansion books and each Stretch Goal will offer an extra. The first three books will include;
The Swarm; giving you the ability to join this group, command a squad, and take part as one of the most feared groups on Gaia.
Infected Manual; where you will meet brand-new Infected with various specialized mutations, further developing your encounters.
Tales of the Outlands; introducing you to what’s happening outside the civilized areas of Gaia, it’s unexpected rewards and increased dangers.
Once we reach fully funded status we’ll be looking at the addition of other books such as; Foundation Campaign Part 1, Aqua, Foundation Campaign Part 2, and Diaries of a Madman: A guide to Fallout. Ed has so much planned for these books and we’re really trying to push to get you as many as possible.
So, you’ve decided that you want in. That’s great! Depending on what your interests are, Ed has developed a level of reward to suit just about everyone which includes:
The Rulebook Primer at only £1
All digital expansions (the first three as well as any additionally earned through Stretch Goals) at just £10
The Definitive Edition, which will include more backgrounds, more character options and even more Infected!
A variety of digital, paperback, and hardcover options for everyone from casual player to hardcore collector.
As we’ve done in the past, Ed is making available as an Add-On all of the other Era games. If you enjoy Survival and the Era d10 system, then this is a great opportunity to try out The Consortium, Lyres, The Empowered, or Silence. We have a fantastic collection of great games.
Remember that you’ll have a chance to play Survival if you come visit us at MCM Comicon in London as well as at UKGE. We’d love a chance to show you around this terrifying game!
That’s it for me. You go check out Survival’s Kickstarter and we’ll meet back here on Saturday!
-A
Today, I’m talking about one of the three books unlocked by the initial Stretch Goal, the Infected Manual.
This book brings a huge number of new options for Infected which can be encountered on Gaia.
Along with supporting the existing biomorphs which are present in the Core Rulebook, it offers 80 more, bringing the total to 100 possibilities!
Creatures can now be gargantuan, or super-strong, or have armour. They can also have saliva that acts like superglue, spit acid, leave blood trails to lure players into a trap and much, much more.
We’ve set this up to allow for easy and fast random generation using a roll from a d100 (or two d10 dice). With this expansion, not only will the players truly never have any idea what they might face around the corner, but the GM won’t have to worry about generating a horde of Infected at short notice!
The new biomorphs are available for both Mutants and Shamblers: the abilities are sometimes varied depending on which category the monster the party faces falls into, giving even more variety!
One thing is for sure: exploring Gaia will never be the same again!
Today, I’m talking about the first of the three Funded Goal rewards, The Swarm Source Book!
The Swarm is a Faction Source Book about the mysterious civilisation in the northern-most reaches of inhabited Gaia. Instead of allowing themselves to be Infected and fight it with Injection,like the rest of Humanity, they choose to burn everything for 100 miles around the region they call home.
They don’t stay restricted to their own region, however: they are expanding across Gaia at an ever-increasing rate.
To do this, they need their own army, of course. That’s where the Abcediaries (mind control experts who change ordinary people into Drones), Artificers (technology experts who create advanced and terrifying weapons) and Ashen (commanders who direct troops with ruthless efficiency) come in.
These Specials each have their own area of focus and unique Backgrounds, all of which are found in The Swarm Source Book.
The Swarm also offers new rules: experience Squad-based Combat!
In this Kickstarter, we’re offering 3 expansions when it’s Funded and then an additional (FREE) expansion with each unlocked Stretch Goal!
You may remember this approach from our Era: The Consortium Kickstarter in October last year. That was a great success and we’re very proud to be able to offer you something new for Era: Survival!
I’ve created the bare bones of almost 30 expansions and we’re ready to build as many of them as you want us to. I’ll be speaking about each of them in turn as we progress through this Kickstarter, giving you some more insight into what we have planned and how we hope to expand Era: Survival!
We hope you’ll join us as we roam the currently-unknown parts of Gaia…
Our latest Kickstarter has just launched, now that we’ve delivered Champion of Earth and are just finishing Revival (the unexpected unlock from Era: The Consortium!).
The same team that has worked on the Core Rulebook and most of Era: The Consortium have come back to offer you expansions to Era: Survival’s post-apocalyptic universe. Initially we’re bringing 3, but there’s a huge scope – we’re offering an additional free expansion for each Stretch Goal!
The Definitive Edition Rulebook for Era: Survival is also up for grabs here, so don’t miss out on the expanded and improved guide to Gaia!
We’ll also be offering daily updates right here about the various expansions involved in the Kickstarter and our other ideas!
I don’t have a great deal of news for you today, just a couple quick notes regarding where we’re at with our last two Expansion books.
I spoke to Ed today and he was hard at work on Revival. He told me that this book is now undergoing its final edit and I can’t wait to see all the extra content that the writers have pulled together to double this book in size. It’s going to be fantastic! The Definitive Edition is pretty much finished going through its indexing and final proofread and Ed expects to be able to get this book out to everyone very shortly.
So, this means that things are winding down and coming to an end for our latest Consortium event. However, if you’ve been following our news then you’ll know that this isn’t the end of what we have planned for the Consortium this year. Our flagship game has a special place in all our hearts and it just doesn’t feel right if we’re not out there working to expand this complex universe. Plans are already being made for the second round of expansions and we’re excited to begin work on the next installment of content for this game. Keep checking back every Saturday where I can give you more details about our next adventure!
There is so much happening right now at Shades of Vengeance that I have trouble keeping track of it all. Thankfully, Ed always keeps me up to speed on everything going on. This week he has loads of news for us and I’m going to start with the upcoming Era: Survival expansion Kickstarter!
By this time next week we expect the “Era: Survival- Expansions into the Unknown” Kickstarter to be entirely up and running! You only have one more week to prepare yourself for this in-depth gaming experience. We plan to dig deep and bring forth just as much world building and universe expanding information as possible.
Ed will be running daily posts during the event where he will talk about each of the 26 books we have planned. You heard me. Twenty six books! In order to achieve some of these goals we’re going to need your help in passing along this event to everyone you know who might be interested. I would love to see Survival explode with a whole crate full of new content!
Ed has Alex working hard on the Kickstarter graphic design and it’s looking fantastic. He’s done a great job at pulling together all the best elements of Survival for this design. I’ve been given a piece of artwork to share with you today from something that Alex has done. I think you’ll agree, it looks great.
Ed has also worked up some fabulous rewards and among the other amazing things we’re going to offer, you’ll find:
a £1 Rulebook Primer tier
£10 for all of the expansions
A Definitive Edition of the Rulebook
It’s going to be a great event and I hope you’ll enjoy everything we’ve put together. If you want to find out more about Era: Survival’s factions and game settings you can check out our backstory page: [ https://www.era-games.com/era-survival/backstory/ ] Take some time to get familiar with the game universe, it’s filled with some pretty intense characters and elements.
In other news, the Champion of Earth packs are now printed and on their way to Ed for distribution. He’ll be sending them out just as fast as he possibly can so you should be getting them very soon. Thank you to all our backers! Please send us a message and let us know what you like once you’ve had a chance to play it. We had a ton of fun creating this quirky card game.
Do you have your travel plans ready to come see us at MCM Comicon and UKGE? These are two of our biggest events this year. We will be at #722 at MCM and #F16 at UKGE. This will be your first chance to give our Era: Hitman and Champion of Earth games a test drive so be sure to drop by and check us out. We love talking to fans!
That’s it for me. I’ll see you Saturday for Consortium news. Have a fantastic weekend and let’s meet back here next week for the opening of the Era: Survival Kickstarter!
-A
Work is moving forward on the next instalment of expansion books for the Consortium. We’re really excited to bring you more gear, more background stories and even more opportunities to explore this fantastic universe. Quite a few things are coming in already and Ed’s even given me an image to show you today! You know I love it when I get to show off our amazing artists.
The Free Trader expansion covers everything you need to know if you want to get in the business of trading or piracy. In this book, you’re going to find helpful information that will guide you on how best to board a ship and steal its cargo. You’ll also get to know what kinds of cargo can be carried on what kinds of ships and the going rate for the cargo you want to sell. The image I have for you today is integral for any trader.
This is an image of a specialized crate available through the Free Trader expansion book. It is designed to act as a cargo container, which can also act as a handy closet! The team is really excited about these expansions and we think you’re going to have a great time with them.
That about wraps it up for me this week. The Definitive Edition final proofread is going well. We expect it to be done quite soon as we’re well over halfway through. Once that finishes up we can look at getting Revival in there. Our proofreading team is amazing but they can only work on one book at a time.
With Revival nearing completion we’re looking for that to head to the first round of proofreading soon. Things are coming along nicely and it won’t be long before I get to announce these books ready for printing! It’s been a great Kickstarter event, thanks again to all of our fans and supporters.
That’s all I’ve got for today, see you next week!
-A
There are so many fabulous things coming your way in just a short amount of time that I’m going to get right into it today.
If you’re a new fan you might not realize that for the last couple years Ed and some of the team have been appearing at the MCM and UKGE conventions. These are two of the biggest opportunities for you to sit down and play some games with us. We take along just as many different games, comics, and add-ons as we can so that you can get an up-close look at everything we have to offer. It’s really an amazing chance to meet the team, get your questions answered, and play a new game.
First up will be MCM Comicon in London at the end of May [ http://www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/ ]. Every year we attend this comicon and every year we meet more fantastic people. This time, Ed is bringing in some new faces to help run the show. This weekend he’s running a training session to get our newest game masters up to speed on the 7 games we’re bringing with us!
There won’t be much time to rest because just after MCM, Ed and the team will be attending UKGE [ https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/ ]. We will be on the direct line between the main entrance and the toilets which means you will have no trouble at all finding us.
While at UKGE, you’ll get a chance to play some great games and get to see some of our latest content. You can also help wish us good luck as Era Lyres- Pocket Edition has been nominated for the UKGE Awards “Best Roleplaying Game 2017”, what an amazing honor!
Aside from convention news; the order for Champion of Earth has just been placed. For all you Kickstarter backers, it won’t be long now before this sweet card game is in your hands. Ed is hoping to have all the rewards delivered by early June. That’s coming up soon so keep an eye out for your copy!
Last but not least, let’s not forget the Survival Kickstarter begins soon. I’ve got a quick image of the Kickstarter that I’m going to share with you. It’s really coming along fantastic. In only a couple of weeks you’ll have a chance to bulk up on more content with some brand new expansions. Ed has written the first 3 already and they’re just waiting for that initial goal to be funded. Once that’s through, there’s so much more we have planned! We’re looking forward to seeing how far this project can go!
Have you tried Patreon? This system of continuing rewards and support helps creators to more consistently produce content, reach out to their fans and encourages communication between the developers and the players. We’ve been having a great time introducing our newest Patrons to everything we have to offer. If you wish, you can join us here: http://www.patreon.com/SoV
This weekend is another Patreon release and Ed has decided to include a bonus for all Patreon backers; the Time Travel Campaign parts 2 and 3! Both of these campaigns will be available in Digital Format. We really want to show our appreciation for this support so Ed has plans to boost our Patreon collection. Backers can look forward to more bonuses over the next months as Ed increases our offerings on this platform. Thank you to everyone who supports our games; whether it’s through Patreon, Kickstarter, or any other venue. We quite literally couldn’t do all this without you!
In Consortium expansion news, the first draft of Revival is finished! The book is now in queue behind Definitive Edition which is undergoing its final proofreading pass and indexing. After Definitive Edition is through, Revival will start to receive its own editing and proofreading, we’re not long now! It’s been a long road and we’re happy that you’ve stuck with us through a longer-than-anticipated development cycle with this book. As most of you may have heard, Revival went from 60 pages to 150 pages in order for the writers to do the story true justice. We think you’ll enjoy this expanded material even more after all the hard work that’s gone into it.
Now that we’re approaching an end to this round of expansion games we’ll be speaking more about what’s next for the Consortium. You’ve already told us that the games you’re looking forward to most are Free Trader and New Worlds. Ed has heard you and plans to put those two at the front of the list for our second Consortium Expansions Kickstarter release. This is what happens when you tell us what you want, so keep that feedback coming, we love to hear from you!
I’m out for today but I’ll meet you back here next week to give you more Shades of Vengeance news!
-A
We’ve been throwing a lot at you lately so today Ed’s given me a quick briefing to share with you on where we’re at with several of our projects. This year has been moving right along and we’re seeing a ton of great games in several levels of production. It can be hard to keep them all straight! So, let’s get down to it.
The card prototypes for Champion of Earth have just arrived with Ed. He has in his possession both the cards for the main deck as well as the Kickstarter extras and he’s been giving them a thorough look over. Ed tells me that they came in looking great and ready to play! We think you’ll really be pleased with how they turned out.
For those of you who didn’t have a chance to get in on the Champion of Earth Kickstarter event, you’ll be able to pick up a deck from our online store once all the rewards have been fulfilled and sent to the original backers of the Kickstarter. You can also find the decks by joining us at the upcoming MCM and UKGE events this year. We will be running demos at both conventions so you’ll get a chance to see how these games run in a live environment. Don’t miss out!
While I’m in the neighbourhood, I also want to let you know that Era: Hitman will be with us at MCM and UKGE. Our unique, super-powered assassin game is going to be available as a paperback for anyone who wants to grab a copy. This will mark the official release of this game so be sure to take a look at it while you’re there.
That just leaves one more thing to go over… coming up next on our Kickstarter playlist is Era: Survival! I’ve posted a few images from these upcoming expansion titles to help get you in the mood for our survival horror game. Are you getting excited yet? Right now, the Kickstarter is being prepared and the video editing has begun. Ed promises that he’ll get us a video intro to one of the expansions just as soon as one is available.
So that’s it for today. We’ve got so much happening it really can be hard to keep track of it all but if you stick with me I’ll do my best to keep you informed of everything that’s going on! I’ll leave you today with a map from our Era: Hitman game: the map you’ll be playing if you join us at a convention!
Maps, cards, and comics are just a few of the tools we use to build an immersive gaming world. Which one is your favourite?
I’d like to, once again, thank everyone who backed our Champion of Earth Kickstarter, making it a success.
It’s been an amazing experience, creating our first card game, as well as great fun meeting all kinds of new playtesters that we wouldn’t usually interact with in our RPG circles.
We’ll be delivering it to backers as soon as possible, of course, and hope to also bring it with us to several conventions this year!
