All posts by Ed Jowett

The Next Big Thing – The Oracle

Have I told you how huge Era: The Empowered is going to be? Ed has been busy laying out the full story arc which he’s got down to just the final piece and it looks like we’re going to have around 180 short stories! That’s even more than we had in The Consortium.

We want this game to have that same feel of depth and epic storytelling as our flagship game. Many of the stories will be illustrated to help show off our expansive universe teeming with Empowered who are each different from the next. We’ll have some folks with powers that you’ve seen before and quite a few that you haven’t… turning water into glue, for instance!

Our heroes and villains will have unique stories and unique motivations. Some of the most unlikely characters are the ones who will turn out to be stronger than even they imagined and perhaps save the universe. We’re pulling out all the stops and giving this game our best work yet.

You won’t have to wait long to get yourself in on the story. The Empowered rulebook Primer Kickstarter is coming up soon. Set yourself a reminder for October 21st and be sure to get in on this first taste of power, intrigue, action, and manipulation!

Until next week!

-A

I’ve got some Good News and some Bad News

Which one do you want first?

 

Alright, bad news first. The artist that we’ve hired for Survival has moved countries and due to all the stress and upheaval has had to resign from the project. We’re really sad to see him go and wish him all the best in his new location.

So, on to the good news. Ed has been exhausting all his resources to find an artist who would be good enough to step in. Not only did he find someone but we think that working with this artist is going to provide an even higher quality product! I hope to show you some images very soon so keep your eyes peeled.

More good news… Ed has scheduled the first alpha playtest. They’ll be running through the new card system to find places where we can tighten up that feature and make sure it’s well balanced. The game is still built on our standard Era d10 rule set but we’ve decided to add cards for mechanics. The playtest should be happening in early November and I’ll be sure to get results out to you soon as I can.

Until then, keep your ears to the ground!

-A

Raise Your Hand if you want to make Games! – The Oracle

MCM Comicon is just around the corner! This is one of our biggest events of the year and along with having an unprecedented number of GM’s to help run games we will also be joined by two of our independent creators.

The designers behind Marked for Death and Ether will be joining us to help out behind the counter as well as give their thoughts on making games with Shades of Vengeance. Now is a great time to get started on that unique idea you’ve always wanted to turn into a fully playable RPG.

So, you’ve got the idea but you just don’t know how we can help? Let me show you.

 

We offer:

Professional writers to help make your stories and content zing. You want players to feel like they’re stepping into the world that you’ve imagined full of emotion and life-like characters. We have a collection of great writers ready to make your vision come alive.

High quality art that will take your game from just “Ok” to “Have you seen this yet?”. If there’s one thing people will point out about your game it’s going to be the art. We work with a group of dedicated artists who make creation easy with their flexible talents and vast skills.

We also coordinate development of Video trailers, Comics, Music, Apps for Android or iOS… and so much more!

Check out our services page to see more of what we do and I’ll see you next time.

Until next week!

-A

“Literally the Best Sci-Fi Roleplaying Game…” – The Oracle

Those are the words of Mark, role playing guru from the site RPG Knights. Mark was kind enough to take Era: The Consortium for a spin and write up a truly lovely review of his thoughts on the game. I don’t have the space to go over everything he mentioned but if I can be so bold as to break it all down into a few words… He loves it!

Mark’s review started off by asking why no one has already recommended this game to him. He has been on the lookout for a perfect Sci-Fi game and it looks to me as if The Consortium is going to be just the thing.

“Era The Consortium is a sci fi game that I could easily play for the rest of my role playing career and be very happy with.”

He mentions the depth of history that goes into the background of the game and how it helps to personalize everything. He talks about skills and specialties and he even goes into detail about how easy the Era D10 Rule Set is to manage. Honestly, there doesn’t seem to be anything he doesn’t like! Please check out his review for all the great details:
RPG Knights, Consortium Review!

“…absolute must have for any serious sci-fi role player that is in to cinematic style play.”

I’ll be back next week with more news!

-A

Empowered Kickstarter!

Hi everyone!

My primary focus for the last week or so has been on getting the Empowered Kickstarter into an “A+” state that will really impress you all! I’m working with your new graphic designer and marketing guy, Joshua, and we’re trying to make it look as good as it can be!

Apart from that, we’ve finished a new piece of Secret War artwork – keep an eye out for that, you’ll be able to see it soon now! Secret War is really coming together now – it needs just a few more pieces of artwork and then a proofread and it’s all done… I don’t expect it to be too much longer. I’m aiming to get that up onto Kickstarter for all you Consortium fans out there once we’ve fulfilled the Empowered Kickstarter (which I expect to be quick!).

Of course, work on Era: Survival artwork is ongoing, and we’ll have more images to show you pretty soon!

Well, that’s everything from me today, back to work!

– Ed

Carry your RPG wherever you go! – The Oracle

Never worry about another torn page or coffee stained rulebook again! Ed has been busy thinking up something fabulous for all you hardcore fans out there. For a limited time only, we will be offering custom engraved metal memory cards at  MCM Comicon in October!

They’re credit card sized – small enough to fit in a pocket or wallet – but big enough to hold everything you need to play either Era: Lyres Deluxe or Era: The Consortium Core Rulebook (and, at 2GB, they have plenty of space to store character sheets!). Now there’s no excuse not to carry around your favorite game wherever you go; to school, to the library, to the Great Wall of China. Make sure to get there and get your hands on one of these little beauties before they’re all gone!

I have one more bit of good news for you today. We now have a date set for our Era: The Empowered Kickstarter! We’re aiming to kick things off on October 21st, so be sure to pencil that into your calendar. There was a chance we could have released it sooner but we just ordered some fantastic graphics for the Kickstarter and our artist was getting pressed for time. Even though the Primer is a shortened version of the fabulous full game you’ll see later, we still want it to stand on its own as an amazing product.

That’s it for this week, I’ll see you next time with more news!

-A

First Look at the Finished Book – The Oracle

Are you hankering to see just what all the hubbub is about? Well, here it is!

Ed has received the first proof of our Era: The Empowered primer and it looks great. This book is going to give you a taste of all the action, power manipulation, and intrigue that you can expect to see in our full rulebook. We’re planning to take Era: The Empowered into the same depth of history and character background as we did with Era: The Consortium. Make no mistake, this is going to be big… very big!

Here are a few images to help you get a feel for what we’re working on.

Front Cover

Backstory

Instruction

Working Together

Unarmed Combat

Back Cover

I’ll see you next week with more news!

-A

Ground Zero – The Oracle

Last week was our inaugural Era: Survival news post and you got to read a bit about Base 9, just one of the richly detailed environments in this world. Ed has been putting in a great deal of time and thought in creating the background for our very first survival horror game and so far it’s looking fabulous.

At this point he has finished writing the first draft of factions and places that you’ll be interacting with. He’s also created a small number of stories to help you delve deeper into this universe.  There are more stories to come and of course we’re preparing plenty of images! The team is really excited to be working with this concept and we’re thrilled to watch it develop. I’ll be back next week with more news and hopefully some helpful tips on how to survive in our desperate situation. So, until then keep your crossbow handy and sleep with one eye open.

Hold on one more day!

-A

Books on Order! – The Oracle

It’s a busy place in Ed’s house right about now. The Marked for Death proof has arrived and orders have been made. Those will then be coming to Ed’s house and sent on from there to all our wonderful backers. We can’t thank you enough for supporting our independent creators. Here are a few photos to keep you going until yours arrives!

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One quick note before I let you go today. Ed is talking with a new game creator about the possibility of developing his idea into a playable game. Sometime in the next few weeks I hope to be able to announce more details but right now all I can tell you is that we’re considering the addition of another game to our growing list of great titles. Stay tuned!

Remember to pick up tickets for MCM Comicon in London October 23-25. The creator of Marked for Death will be on hand at some points of the convention to answer questions and run games, as will the creator of Ether (to answer questions, not run games yet, unfortunately!).

See you next week!

-A

Brass Tacks and All That – The Oracle

Things are wrapping up in the world of The Secret War expansion. We’ve got the cover image finished and the content is entirely sorted. We’re simply waiting on the last few pieces of artwork before we can call this project good and done. Are you ready to choose which side of this war you’re going to be on?

When everything is polished and set for production we’re going to send this game through Kickstarter. It will be your first chance to get a copy of the expansion and we’re doing our best to think of all the things you might want to see as a reward for supporting us. Along with several fabulous tiers of digital and physical copies we will also be offering a Consortium bundle. If you’ve been watching us and waiting for the chance to jump into the fun… this is it! We’ll have both the expansion and the original rulebook offered as rewards so you can see where it all began, and the comics that we’ve published to date!

I know you’re going to enjoy this and I can’t wait to show you more.

I’ll be back next week with more updates!

-A

Empowered, Consortium, Survival…

Hi everyone!

Things have been pretty crazy here for a while now. I’ve got no real plans to change anything, although certain individuals are trying to persuade me to take a day off at some point. I’m thinking end of 2016, maybe…?

So, what’s going on right now?

With Era: The Empowered’s Primer completed, off for printing and the Kickstarter very close to being ready to go, I’ve been working primarily on the overall story arc for the full rulebook – yep, there is a full rulebook planned. It’s pretty ambitious, to be honest – we’re trying to create a universe full of superheroes, approximate in size to what Marvel and DC have active at any one time. It’s going very well for now, though I’m trying to figure out the best way to get some of the scope in where it’s more difficult: I want to include a couple of alternate universes and also a future time bracket! I’ve certainly not given up on anything, but this book is going to take a while to complete. The game is fantastic and I definitely recommend checking out our Kickstarter when it begins (aiming at starting in about 2 weeks!)

Era: The Consortium‘s first expansion, The Secret War, is written and almost ready to go. I’ve found an excellent artist and we’re working through the images we’re going to be including in the book right now! I think you’ll like it, it really does look brilliant. It also adds a whole new level to gameplay with the potential for solo campaigns or even for a player party to go head to head with a Shade or Phantom! I’m aiming to run a Kickstarter for that once the Empowered Primer Kickstarter is cleared up (Kickstarter frowns on your running more than one project at a time!) – perhaps the end of this year or the beginning of 2017? Either way, believe me, it’s worth the wait!

Era: Survival is going great. Working with someone else to actually create a game is pretty new to me – until now, the creative process of designing the world has pretty much been my process alone. Freddie’s been brilliant to work with and I think we’ve got a stronger game thanks to his participation. Whether that means that I stop creating games myself… we’ll have to see! So, for the book, we’ve written the world information and are working on the stories that will bring the world to life for all of you. We’re also creating artwork as an ongoing process while we write and playtest the game – keep an eye out on the weekly Wednesday slot for more of those. We’re hoping to run the first playtest after MCM Comicon (we’re a little busy with prep until then!), and I’ll definitely let you know how it goes. This game is really different to anything I’ve ever made before, it’s really interesting to be writing a game which is focused on trying to survive in a difficult and dangerous world, rather than change the situation. Jennifer Martin, one of the writers from the Consortium team, is the perfect writer to be working on this book with me – just trust me on this one!

So, in summary, we’re doing well, we’re keeping going with designing games and we hope to keep bringing you games for a long time yet!

– Ed

Convention Wrap-Up – The Oracle

Did you come see us at DragonDaze? The mini comic con event was a great success and the team had a wonderful time playing games and chatting with everyone who stopped by. We even got some fabulous feedback from those that joined our sessions. Getting the chance to meet fans, inspire others to create new games and share the love we have for RPG’s is why we attend, so thank you for taking time out to have some fun with us!

If you missed us as DragonDaze and want to know the next time you can sit down and get in on some of these sessions, consider stopping by MCM Comicon in London, October 23-25. We’re going to have an unprecedented number of GM’s to run even more games. Bring your favorite dice or borrow one of ours!

I have one last announcement for the day. Those of you who are Era: Lyres fans in the US and Canada… and really that should be all of you, Ed has just shipped out all the physical copies for our backers! You can expect to see yours in the mailbox within 2 weeks. This game was rollicking good fun to make and we really hope you enjoy playing it. Please send us a message, shoot us a tweet or post a photo of your group doing their best to win the hearts and minds of the people of Yarnolth!

Until next time, keep on rolling!

-A

Finished Primer; on to Printing! – The Oracle

The very first print run of this game has gone out to the printers! We’ve only ordered a small number of copies but this is still an exciting moment. Once we get the books on hand we will be taking them with us to MCM Comicon.

You’ll definitely want to stop by our table at the event to check out this game as well as all our other Era titles. We should also have a Kickstarter running at that time for you to join us in the production of our newest game. The rewards are even bigger and better than our last one.

While you’re picking out tickets for MCM Comicon drop by our Era: The Empowered website. We’ve undergone a bit of a makeover and you’ll notice a slight change in our logo.

See you next week with more news!

-A

How long can you Survive?

Grab your shotgun and come with me if you want to live!

base 9_blur - Websafe

This is Base 9. Inside these sturdy, patchwork doors you’ll be safe from the constant onslaught of attack from Infected and Raiders. Though the automatic guns no longer fire, this safe hold has never been breached. Our success is due, in part to the many brave souls who work to repair damages outside while flamethrowers drive the enemy back.

It is no mystery why Base 9 is the location most heavily under siege. Three generations ago, a Red Cross representative purchased the base from a Vault Hunter. When she arrived, she found it was a fully-stocked genetics lab utilizing a nuclear generator which would give out enough power for a hundred lifetimes. Thus began her recruitment of scientists and technicians who would seal themselves off from the rest of humanity and work to end the Infection.

Today, the descendants of those first scientists are still hard at work. Deep inside Base 9 the research is ongoing. It remains the most technologically advanced settlement on all of Gaia.

The scientists and warriors who live inside this base survive with a surplus of freeze-dried food. Of course there are times when small teams of exploration crews are required to search the outside lands for additional resources and even personnel to continue their necessary work. Life in Base 9 is as comfortable as you could expect under the circumstances, at least the crime rate has dropped to near 0%. With hordes of attackers trying to get into the compound no one has time to quibble over petty complaints.

Perhaps some day they will find a way to destroy the Infection. I know, it sounds impossible and by the time they find a cure there might not be any of us left to save.

Hold on one more day!

-A

From A Creator’s Perspective – The Oracle

You’ve heard me go on again and again about how much fun it is to make RPGs. It’s a creative dream come true to build your very own world; complete with harrowing plot details and characters that make you laugh, cry or scream in frustration. Well, you don’t have to just take my word for it. You can ask one of our creators.

Lewis, the man behind our in-progress game, Ether, will be joining us at MCM Comicon. He will attend all three days where we’ll keep him busy running sessions of Era games. Bring your questions because he’ll also be available to give you answers on everything you wanted to know about working with Shades of Vengeance and the process of getting a game into production. We’re really happy that he could join us for this event.

In other game news, Ed and the creator of Frontier are hashing out some of the game’s Hacking Mechanics, also Marked for Death is at the printers and getting ready to be shipped out. We’re closing in on the final steps with this successful Kickstarter campaign and we’d like to thank everyone who helped to make this possible.

I’ll be along next week with more news!

-A

Cover Art Sneak Peak! – The Oracle

After only a small change in direction, I’m pleased to say that the cover art for The Secret War is finalized and ready to go! This life and death struggle is just a tiny taste of the adventure that Ed’s got brewing in this game. There’s more intrigue, more conflict and we’ve got loads more fabulous artwork to help bring this expansion to life.

Secret War Cover - Websafe

If you’re not there already, get down to Dragondaze today for a taste of all things Consortium! The expansion is coming along fast and I’ll be back next week with more news.

 

Stay tuned!

-A

Website!

Hi everyone!

I am currently working on the website! You have probably noticed that we’re “Back in Black” as you might say…

We’re doing a major overhaul in preparation for our upcoming Kickstarter and MCM. I’m hoping that we can get everything looking great!

I’ve also got 3 book orders coming in over the next few weeks: Empowered Primers, Lyres Kickstarter Rewards and Marked For Death Kickstarter Rewards…

Looks like October’s going to be a busy month for me!

– Ed

Welcome to Patreon – The Oracle

Have you heard of Patreon? We recently started a brand new campaign on this fabulous supportive platform and we’re looking for people just like you to come check it out. You get to follow along with game sessions created specifically for Patreon every month and as the number of subscribers grows so do your rewards. We’ve even got a welcome pack for those of you joining us which includes some unique items because we want you to have more than just what you could get in the regular rulebooks.

If you’re looking for a way to get fresh game content on a regular basis this is the best way to get it. Not to mention it costs less than a burger and fries to get set up! The more patrons who join our cause the bigger the rewards get so help us spread the news and tell folks where they can find Era Games monthly sessions, wallpapers, game music and more. Go ahead, I dare you to give it a try.

If you’re still wondering whether the Patreon campaign is a good deal you should consider visiting with Ed at Dragondaze in Wales this coming Saturday, September 19th. He can answer all your pressing questions and concerns as well as run you through one of our sessions. This charity event is all for a great cause and we’d love to see you come down.

After this convention we’re only a few short weeks away from MCM Comicon in London and the start of our Era: The Empowered Kickstarter event! This will be your chance to get a copy of our 3rd Era game and then it will be up to you to decide… were you born to be a hero or a villain?

Until next week!

-A

Rolling Dice and Playing Games! – The Oracle

This past weekend I had the opportunity to join Ed for a session of Era: The Empowered. Between you and me, it’s been way too long since I sat down for a game. I was expecting to have fun but I wasn’t expecting to pick up the rules and mechanics so quickly! I’ve never played a game that didn’t involve an hour’s worth of study before I could get to enjoy it. Do yourself a favour and meet up with Ed at Dragondaze for a quick session. Oh yeah, and if you figure out a way to get through a locked door that doesn’t involve injuring three people and falling from the top of a building, let me know!

Our Kickstarter is gearing up for release in mid-October and the Primer is just going through the last bit of polish on layout design. We’re going to feature Ed in the Kickstarter video letting you know all the details of what’s happening as well as an in-character voice over to give you some insight into the story of the game. We’re pooling together all our best ideas from the Kickstarters we’ve done to make this one the best yet.

You can expect to see some really unique rewards and a few that have been requested by our backers in the past. There will be an Era bundle for those of you who just found us now and would like to enjoy our complete set. You will also get a chance to have Ed create a custom character for you. He will build it to your exact specifications and you’ll get five levels of character to play, so that you don’t lose track as soon as you level up! Along with creating your own character, you have an opportunity to get a piece of art created by the game’s artist, Keith! He will create a full color image of your personalized character. You’ll have to wait for the Kickstarter to see all the rest of the rewards.

Stop by and check out what we have so far on this and all our other games at Dragondaze September 19th. We hope to see you there.

I’ll be back next week with more news!

-A

It’s the Last Lyres Post! – The Oracle

You heard right. The checkered flag has waved and this is our final lap.

All the digital rewards have now been delivered, including “Professor Rupert Wilton-Smythe’s Traveller’s Guide to Yarnolth” Add-on. The UK edition rulebooks are on their way to Ed’s house for repacking and the US edition proof will be sent out shortly. This means our work here is done but we’re not leaving forever.

Era: Lyres will continue to travel with us when we attend conventions as well as be available on our website and in stores. At some point in the future we might even make the Traveller’s Guide available to the general public but for now it remains a Kickstarter backer reward only. Thank you again to everyone who believed in the project, loved the game and supported us. It’s always a thrill to watch a game develop from idea to physical completion and we couldn’t have done it without you. It’s been a fun ride creating this game and we really hope you enjoy playing it.

Any further news about Lyres will show up in our General News posts on Thursday each week.

Until further notice, keep rolling!

-A

Handing Out the Prizes!

Contributing to an indie game is about helping the RPG community, it’s about increasing the number of great stories we all get to play and giving a hand to someone who’s got a vision. That’s why we keep making games with our partner creators. We love making dreams come true and we love adding to the wealth of amazing games out there.

Of course, there is another great reason for supporting indie games… being the very first to get a copy. Now that our Marked for Death Kickstarter is finished and funds have been released I’m pleased to let you know that all digital rewards have been sent out to backers who chose those rewards. Be sure to check your email and spam folders to find yours. Thanks to everyone for making this game a success!

Back next week with more news

-A

Everyone loves the Consortium! – The Oracle

A few days ago I announced that Ed has been hard at work finding shops to carry the Era titles. One thing I didn’t tell you was how much they love Era: The Consortium. Every shop we approach has been blown away by the story, the depth of history, artwork, and unique rule system. It’s a great feeling to know this game is getting the attention it deserves. Stores all over the UK are beginning to stock the Consortium and Lyres rulebooks so be sure to stop in to your local game shop and ask for us. If they don’t already carry Era shoot us an email and let us know!

The cover image for The Secret War is nearly finished and things are coming along great with our first game expansion. I’ll keep you posted as I get more details. Until then, keep checking back here and I’ll let you know all the places where you can find The Consortium.

See you next week!

-A

Keeping Busy!

Hi everyone!

I am keeping pretty busy right now, primarily focusing on Era: The Empowered’s upcoming print run and Kickstarter, world-building for Era: Survivial and on getting Era: The Consortium and Era: Lyres into shops.

Era: The Empowered’s Primer is looking great, it’s gone off for a final proofreading pass to make sure everything is awesome before exporting the print version and sending it to the printer. Keith has been fantastic, as always, and we’re really close now!

Era: Survival’s world is taking shape a little more each day. We’ve got our first image for it, which will be going up on the website before long, and we’re pushing onward with describing the factions and locations that you’ll encounter during play.

Era: The Consortium and Era: Lyres are proving quite popular with various shops around the UK that I’ve contacted – quite a lot have sent me orders already! I’m also talking with a shop out in Australia and a few in the US. I’m hopeful that we can have this book on shelves all over the world before too much longer!

That’s about it from me today, have a good one!

– Ed

P.S. Apologies for the lateness of this post, we had some website issues earlier!

World domination, one shop at a time! – The Oracle

It started with Wayland games in Essex, moved on to Orcs Nest in London and now I am thrilled to let you know that Ed has made agreements with at least four more shops!

We want everyone and their Great Aunt Suzie to be able to get these games so Ed is working like a machine to make them available. He’s been making calls, sending out informational packets and doing all the wheeling and dealing he can fit in between new game development

In a few weeks I’ll give you a list of the shops where you can find the Era games. Until then, if you’ve got a local comic or game shop that you’d like to see carrying our books please give Ed a shout and we’ll put them on our call list.

I’ve got just one last bit of news for you today. Starting next week we will be following along with the production of our newest Era title with its own weekly post. This survival horror game is just getting into production but it’s already got its own webpage and will be taking the place of our Monday updates on Lyres. So keep your survival notebook handy and I’ll be passing along everything you need to know to make it through another day.

See you next week!

-A

Creating some Great Campaigns! – The Oracle

After days of hard work, long hours, take out food, and sore fingers… all the artwork is now complete! Congratulations to the art team for reaching a huge milestone in the creation of this game. Rules, history, and stories are the backbone of any game but the art really gives it a soul.

Now that the images are finished, work is being done on the layout of the book as well as the development of campaigns. Ed just completed writing a three session campaign last week and is currently working on the basics of the next four. Things are just starting to heat up with this game so keep watching here for more news. Or, you can stop by and see us in person September 19th at Dragondaze in Wales. You can play a game with us, ask any kind of question you like and get to know the team.

Until next week!

-A

Printing and Sending Rulebooks!

It’s official, the Lyres rulebooks are being printed and will be shipped just as soon as they’re ready. I don’t recommend camping out beside your post box just yet but it won’t be long. Thank you to all of our fans and backers. Without your support the Lyres universe would be a lonely place.

Most of the other rewards have been completed or are somewhere in the pipeline of completion. We’re approaching the end of the Traveller’s Guide and will get that to you as soon as we can. It’s hard to imagine that after weeks and weeks of writing, art, and development we’re coming to the close of another great Era game.

Back next week with more news!

-A