Now Kickstarting: The Lost Citadel Post-Apocalyptic RPG

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Please back The Lost Citadel on Kickstarter

Now funding on Kickstarter, The Lost Citadel is a roleplaying game of post-apocalyptic fantasy, with rules adapted from the Fifth Edition of the World’s Most Popular Roleplaying Game. We would appreciate it if you’d check out the campaign and back it if you’re so inclined, and we’d love it if you were to share the above image, and a link to the campaign, on your social media pages.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504269797/the-lost-citadel-post-apocalyptic-fantasy-roleplay/

Critical Role Release Plan

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Critical Role fans, you have questions about the release of the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting book. So many questions! Rather than answer hundreds of tweets individually, I’m just going to lay out exactly what is going to happen with the book and when. Gather your party, because we are venturing forth!

The Basics: Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting is a 144-page hardback sourcebook. Matt Mercer wrote it himself, with assistance from James Haeck and development by Green Ronin’s own Joseph Carriker.  The book is full color throughout and features terrific art, as well as an awesome poster map by master cartographer Andy Law. The MSRP is $34.95 for the printed book.

Release Date: The book debuts on August 17 at GenCon. Note that it is NOT a GenCon exclusive! If you can’t make it to the show, you can still get the book from us, your local game retailer, and other sources. It should be in stores in the US and Canada by the end of August, and other countries in September.

Pre-Order and PDF: We will open up pre-orders in mid-July. We have a program called Pre-Order Plus that we use for most of our releases. Here’s how it works. If you order the physical book directly from us or from a participating brick and mortar retail store, you can get a PDF of the book immediately for only $5 more instead of its usual cost of $18.95. You’ll be able to buy the PDF separately at its regular price at this stage if you only want the electronic version.

If your local game store is not part of the Pre-Order Plus program, they can contract our sales team and sign up for the newsletter at this link: https://greenronin.com/retailer-support/.

Note that while we do sell into the book trade—so you can find our games on Amazon and other online vendors—the Pre-Order Plus program is only available through our online store and participating brick and mortar retail stores. (By brick and mortar, we mean stores that have a physical location, not online only sellers.)

GenCon Pickup: You will be able to pre-order the book, take advantage of the Pre-Order Plus program, and pick it up at GenCon. This will guarantee that a book will be waiting for you at our booth on August 17. There will be a special item in our online store for this when we open the pre-orders. Make sure you read the details at that time.

Shipping: We charge the actual costs of shipping. If you live overseas, this can, we know, be expensive. We do sell to international game distributors, so our best advice if shipping is too excessive for a direct order is to try to get your local game store to bring the book in. Stores in other countries can participate in the Pre-Order Plus program as well.

So that’s the skinny! To keep up on news about our Critical Role and other releases, bookmark this website or follow us on Twitter at @GreenRoninPub or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GreenRonin. Watch for the pre-order going live in mid-July!

Ronin Roundtable: Critical Role – Vestiges of Divergence

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As we’re closing in on the finish line for Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting, I’m putting the finishing touches on the chapter that deals with the heroes of the land. Part and parcel of that hero experience is, of course, magic items, and Tal’Dorei has some very cool things to offer, in the form of Vestiges of Divergence.

For those not in the know, the Vestiges are holdovers from a powerful magical era. When found, their power is subdued, after long years slumbering. But as the hero accomplishes more and greater tasks, the magic of the Vestiges stirs and begins to rise, allowing heroes to advance these items first to awakened status and finally to exalted status through the performance of great feats or personal development.

 

For today’s post, I’m going to share with you the Pyremaul, a massive hammer filled with potent elemental power.

Pyremaul

Weapon (maul), legendary (requires attunement)

Forged from deep red iron, this massive hammer houses an ever-burning gemstone of orange flame. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls made with this weapon. When you hit with an attack using this weapon, the target takes an additional 1d6 fire damage.

You can choose to have this weapon shed bright light in a 30 foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. If you kill a creature with an attack using this weapon, the corpse is immolated, turning to ash.

Awakened

When a character awakens Pyremaul, apply the following changes to the item’s traits:

  • Increase the bonus to attack rolls to a +2.
  • Increase the additional fire damage inflicted by a hit to 2d6.
  • When you score a critical hit with this weapon, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Exalted

When a character exalts Pyremaul, apply the following changes to the item’s traits:

  • Increase the bonus to attack rolls to a +3.
  • Increase the additional fire damage inflicted by a hit to 3d6.
  • When you score a critical hit with this weapon, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The target also suffers an additional 3d6 fire damage from the critical hit.

(It should be noted that this item is currently in-development, and this draft may not reflect its final description.)

Talent Search Submissions are open!

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Well, folks, it’s the big day. Thank you all for understanding when we pushed the launch date for the Lost Citadel Talent Search by a day in order to let the Sentinels of Earth Prime Kickstarter have a little time to have its own launch all to itself.


Here’s where we get to the nuts and bolts of the submissions portion of our talent search! This is just one part of Green Ronin’s larger and ongoing diversity initiative. In this specific case, we’re interested in hearing from women-identified and non-binary individuals with a passion for dark fantasy. What we’d like to see are writing samples that illustrate a grasp of the elements typically involved in RPGs: rules design, world-building/setting write-ups, character profiles, and fiction vignettes, as well as writing that aims to hybridize these elements. Familiarity with the Lost Citadel property is not a requirement at this stage.

We will be accepting your submissions from today until May 15th and the winner will be announced to the public as part of our Lost Citadel Kickstarter on June 6th.

  • Submissions should be no longer than 3,000 total words.
  • Submissions should be sent with an introductory email that includes your name and contact information; during the evaluation stage we will be stripping the submissions of identifying information and assigning each a code number as part of a blind reading so they can be judged without regard to name, existing reputation (or lack thereof), or anything other than the quality of the work.
  • Submissions should be saved as a document file and sent as an email attachment to lostcitadelrpg@greenronin.com. Don’t worry about heavy formatting, tone-appropriate font choices, or other stylistic flourishes.

While the setting is dark fantasy and its core expression will be in 5E, you are NOT required to adhere to those specifics in your submissions. We welcome submissions featuring mechanics from any edition, or those for our in-house system (AGE), or even those featuring other popular systems you feel might be dark fantasy-appropriate.

Keep in mind that this is not a math test disguised as a talent search. While submitting a well constructed Pathfinder stat block may be acceptable, it doesn’t go very far toward showcasing one’s talent and/or ability as a writer, only one’s ability to do math. Remember, the idea is to make a strong impression with your writing.

By submitting your work for evaluation, you represent that you are the sole author of the material being submitted, agree that Green Ronin and its agents have the right to read your submissions for the purposes of this search, and acknowledge that Green Ronin is under no obligation to use, buy, license, or adapt your talent search submission for any other use.

Press Release: Green Ronin To Publish Lost Citadel Roleplaying Game

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

GREEN RONIN TO PUBLISH LOST CITADEL ROLEPLAYING GAME

COMPANY ACQUIRES EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS, WILL BEGIN WITH 5E ADAPTATION

 

SEATTLE, WA (01/24/17): Green Ronin Publishing announced today that it has signed a licensing agreement to release a tabletop roleplaying game sourcebook based on The Lost Citadel, a transmedia shared world. The dark fantasy RPG will draw players into the setting of Zileksa, a land ravaged by death and undeath, where all that’s left of civilization has gathered behind the walls of the last remaining city of the living. The announcement was made by Chris Pramas, president of Green Ronin, and C.A. Suleiman, editor of The Lost Citadel.

“We are eager to bring a new dark fantasy setting to roleplayers and to offer Fifth Edition gamers a world they haven’t seen before,” said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, “Lost Citadel is a perfect follow up to our work on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Dragon Age.”

“I came to know The Lost Citadel as a backer of the fiction anthology,” added Green Ronin General Manager Nicole Lindroos. “As soon as I saw it I recognized the potential inherent in the setting. I couldn’t be more pleased not only to bring Lost Citadel to roleplaying, but to have C.A. Suleiman himself on board as developer.”

“Since the Lost Citadel project went live, people have been asking about when it would come to gaming, and I’m excited to tell them that the moment has arrived,” said Suleiman. “As both a dark fantasy setting and a concept that’s expressly inclusive of women, I can’t think of a better fit for The Lost Citadel than Green Ronin, publisher of A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying and the Blue Rose roleplaying game. If their track record is any indicator, this could be the start of something big.”

Work is now underway on the first book, Lost Citadel Roleplaying, which introduces the setting and establishes its core rules and themes. It is scheduled for release in Winter 2018. All books in the series will use the Fifth Edition rules, but plans are in the works to offer fans of other popular RPG systems the means to play Lost Citadel games using those systems, too.

About Green Ronin Publishing

Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle-based company dedicated to the art of great games. Since the year 2000 Green Ronin has established a reputation for quality and innovation that is second to none, publishing such roleplaying game hits as Dragon Age, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, and Mutants & Masterminds, and winning over 40 awards for excellence. For an unprecedented three years running, Green Ronin won the prestigious GenCon & ENWorld Award for Best Publisher.

About The Lost Citadel

The Lost Citadel™ is a transmedia experiment that harnesses the talents of writers, artists, musicians, and more, in a bid to explore the themes and aesthetics of a shared world. Founded in 2012 by C.A. Suleiman, Ari Marmell, and Jaym Gates, the project launched online and came to Kickstarter soon after, successfully funding the creation of an anthology of short fiction called Tales of the Lost Citadel, which featured the talents of a cast of veteran dark fantasy authors.

Contact Green Ronin Publishing

Nicole Lindroos
General Manager
nicole@greenronin.com
https://greenronin.com/

 

# # # # #

Download a PDF of this press release

Tales of the Lost Citadel cover image:

Ronin Roundtable: New Year’s Message 2017

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New Year’s Message 2017

Welcome to the new year, my friends and fellow gamers! Here at Green Ronin we have been rousing ourselves from our holiday torpor and getting ramped up for 2017. As long time fans know, I traditionally write a message in January to discuss what we have coming up in the new year. And that is true but I’m going to do it a little differently this year. Today I will talk about what we have coming your way through the Spring, then in June I will do a second one of these that covers the rest of the year. So let’s get to it!

New Faces

In December Crystal Frasier came onboard as our new Mutants & Masterminds developer. She introduced herself in a previous Ronin Round Table, which you can read here if you’d like to learn more about her. We are confident that Mutants & Masterminds is in great hands with Crystal.

Today I’d like to welcome another new Ronin to the ranks: Malcolm Sheppard. He is a 17 year veteran of the game industry who has done a boatload of work for White Wolf and Onyx Path, amongst others. Malcolm will be doing design and development work for us on a variety of lines. You can think of him as a sort of developer-at-large. He’ll be working on Adventure Game Engine (AGE) games for sure, as well as some other projects you’ll hear more about later. Please help me welcome Malcolm to Team Ronin!

Atlas of Earth-Prime: Now Pre-OrderingMutants & Masterminds

We are kicking off the year with a major release for Mutants & Masterminds: the Atlas of Earth-Prime. You’ve seen parts of this setting before in Emerald City, the Cosmic Handbook, Hero High, and many other Mutants & Masterminds books, but now Earth-Prime is getting full campaign setting treatment. The Atlas of Earth-Prime releases in just two weeks. You can still get in on the pre-order now if you are quick about it.

In the Spring we’ll be following that up with Freedom City. This was the original campaign setting for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG going back to 2003. The new book brings Freedom City fully into Third Edition, and creates a triumvirate of super power with Emerald City and the Atlas of Earth-Prime!

AGE Games

Blue Rose the AGE RPG of Romantic FantasyThe big Adventure Game Engine excitement for the first half of the year is the release of Blue Rose, our RPG of Romantic Fantasy, in February. Blue Rose was our most successful Kickstarter to date, and we’re delighted to get this book out to backers and then released to the general public. The BackerKit went live over the weekend. While we typically do pre-orders through our online store, with Blue Rose we’re trying out BackerKit for that. If you didn’t back the Kickstarter, you can pre-order now at this link . You’ll note some follow up releases on the BackerKit page. We’re making Blue Rose dice with Q Workshop, Blue Rose conviction Tokens with Campaign Coins, and then an adventure anthology called Six of Swords. Those should all come out in the Spring.

For Fantasy AGE itself we’ve got Titansgrave: The World of Valkana coming in the Spring. This is a full campaign setting book that greatly expands the information in Titansgrave: Ashes of Valkana. A lot of stuff that was only hinted at in the show will be revealed in Titansgrave: The World of Valkana!

In other Fantasy AGE news, we’ll be creating a community content program for the game in conjunction with OneBookShelf (the parent company of RPGNow and DriveThruRPG). People have been asking us if they can publish Fantasy AGE content since the game came out and soon that will be possible. OneBookShelf already runs several of these programs, for games like D&D and the Cypher System. Ours will be similar to these but not identical. For starters the products you can do will be limited to settings and adventures because that is the support Fantasy AGE needs most right now. There will be more info about the program and how it all works when we launch it. That should happen in a couple of months.

Freeport Bestiary for the Pathfinder RPGFreeport and Pathfinder

Our big Pathfinder release this Spring is the Freeport Bestiary. The City of Adventure hasn’t had a monster book since Creatures of Freeport in 2004. The Freeport Bestiary brings together the setting’s many monsters and a bunch of new ones in a beautiful full color hardback. Meanwhile, the Return to Freeport adventure series continues. We’ve released three of these PDFs so far. The remaining three will follow over the next few months and then we’ll collect them all together for a printed book in June.

D&D 5E

You may recall that we worked with Wizards of the Coast to create two D&D books: Out of the Abyss and the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. Now we’re following those up with D&D books of our own. The first is Book of the Righteous, which presents a fully detailed mythology and pantheon you can use in your campaigns. The original edition of Book of the Righteous was our most critically-acclaimed book in the d20 era. We did a Kickstarter for a new 5E version last year and it should be out in May. As with Blue Rose, Book of the Righteous will have a general release after books ship to Kickstarter backers.

I’m going to make an exception and discuss one Summer release because I know I’d get pilloried if I didn’t mention it. Of course I’m talking about Critical Role! We had originally intended to release this in the Spring but we’ve scheduled it for Gen Con instead. This is Gen Con’s 50th anniversary (and my 28th Gen Con!). We wanted a big marquee release for the show and the Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting book is a perfect fit. We want to make this a real event and hope to have the cast out to Gen Con again.

Love 2 Hate

Towards the end of last year we released Love 2 Hate: Politics, the first expansion for the game. We are following that up in April with Love 2 Hate: Comics. Both expansions have 108 cards. You can mix them in with the core game, or play with them on their own for a more themed experience.

Dragon Age and SIFRP

We have Dragon Age and A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying books in development but licensed game lines require approvals and how long those take can vary quite a bit. It could be one week or three months depending. So don’t worry, books are coming. We’ve just decided to wait until everything is approved before we make formal announcements about their release.

PDF Support

We have a variety of PDF releases planned to support our various lines. We have more Fantasy AGE Encounters and short Titansgrave adventures coming for Fantasy AGE, as well as the Short Cuts series for Pathfinder. We’ll also be continuing our series of Chronicle System PDFs, which provide non-canon rules support for A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying. In the past year we’ve released rules for magic (Chronicle of Sorcery) and gunpowder/firearms (Spark to Powder), for example.

Chronicle System: Spark to Powder (PDF)

Chronicle of Sorcery (PDF)

Conventions

As a company Gen Con is, of course, our biggest show. Last year we had a room dedicated to Green Ronin games for the whole convention and that was great. We’re doing it again this year, so if you’d like to run games for us please contact Donna. If you run enough games, we’ll cover your badge and even subsidize your hotel room.

Donna and Barry also run OrcaCon in Everett, WA (just north of Seattle). OrcaCon is happening this coming weekend, so come on out if you’re in the area. It’s the unofficial Green Ronin convention and most of our staff will be there. We’ve got folks running games and giving seminars, though personally I just want to play some games this year!

Green Ronin is once again a sponsor of the JoCo Cruise and Nicole and I will be on onboard. Haven’t heard of the JoCo Cruise? Well, imagine a convention on a ship and you’ve got a pretty good idea, except it also includes music, comedy, and more. If it’s nerdy, it’s probably happening on the ship! There are still cabins available (the cruise is in March) and this year we have the entire ship to ourselves. Should be a great time.

We’ll also be attending various trade shows, like GTS, the Alliance Open House, and the ACD Gamesday. If you are a game retailer, come see us!

More to Come!

So that’s what we have coming the first half of the year. We also have some exciting news to share in the coming months. We’ll be announcing soon a new card game we’re bringing to Kickstarter in April and a new campaign setting for D&D 5E. We’ve licensed a comic book for RPG treatment. We’ve also got another AGE game in development, as well as Ork, Second Edition. Following us on Twitter (we’re @GreenRoninPub) is probably the best way to keep up with our announcements or just bookmark our website.

This is Green Ronin’s 17th year in business. Thank you for your continued support over the years. I started the company as a side project and it’s become so much more than that thanks to you. Come back in June when I reveal our Summer and Winter plans. Until then, game on!

Chris Pramas

Ronin Roundtable: GenCon GMing for Green Ronin

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GR-Gameroom1If you are a publisher, you of course want people to have the opportunity to play your games at GenCon. You can run demos at your booth but the exhibit hall is no place for long form RPG adventures (it’s super loud and booth space is limited). Those are better handled as scheduled events. Finding good and reliable game masters for your RPGs can be challenging though. In past years we’ve had mixed success with our GenCon events. What I really wanted was a dedicated area filled with Green Ronin games. To get that, you have to have a certain number of events. Coordinating that is a job in itself.

Enter Donna Prior, Green Ronin’s events manager. I told her what I wanted and wow, did she deliver. We had over 90 scheduled events this year and GenCon gave us a dedicated room for them on the second floor of the convention center. Going into that room and seeing tables full of gamers playing Fantasy AGE, Dragon Age, Mutants & Masterminds, and A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying was amazing. Read more →

Press Release: Geek & Sundry and Green Ronin to Create Critical Role RPG Books

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GEEK & SUNDRY PARTNERS WITH GREEN RONIN TO CREATE RPG BOOKS BASED ON ITS GROUNDBREAKING SHOW – CRITICAL ROLE

New Line of Sourcebooks To Be Written By The Show’s Creator and Star Matthew Mercer

August 8, 2016—SEATTLE, WA: Green Ronin Publishing announced today that it has signed a licensing agreement with Geek & Sundry to release roleplaying game sourcebooks based on Critical Role, the weekly web series in which eight renowned voice actors come together for an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons game. The books, which will be written by Critical Role creator and Game Master Matthew Mercer, will bring readers into his world of Exandria. The announcement was made by Chris Pramas, president of Green Ronin and Ryan Copple, General Manager of Geek & Sundry.

Critical Role has excited many new fans about the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Each week, the show attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers, who watch it both live and recorded. Overall, Critical Role has garnered over 50 million views since its launch in March 2015. The cast includes Mercer, Travis Willingham, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson (Blindspot), Sam Riegel, Liam O’Brien, and Laura Bailey. Additionally, the show has attracted quite a few celebrities who have joined the cast as special guests including Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, and Phil Lamarr, to name a few.

“Watch even one episode of Critical Role and you can see that Matthew has developed a rich setting for his campaign,” said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas. “We are delighted to be able to bring the world of Exandria to RPG fans and doubly so that he will be writing the books himself.”

“The request I get most often is if I’d be interested in releasing my world to everyone, allowing them to set their own home games in a detailed Exandria,” said Mercer. “I am so happy to be able to finally say yes! I’ve put so much of myself into Exandra and Tal’Dorei these past years, and am so excited and proud to be working with Green Ronin to bring Exandria to our community and the gaming community at large!”

Work has already begun on the first book, Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting, which explores the main featured continent of the world of Exandria. It is scheduled for release in Spring of 2017. All books in the series will use the Fifth Edition rules.

“Green Ronin Publishing has been an incredible collaborator with Geek & Sundry,” said Felicia Day, actress, writer, producer, and founder of Geek & Sundry. “Last year, we worked together to bring Wil and Ryan Wheaton’s world to life in both the series and adventure book of Titansgrave. With the growing demand for fans to explore the world of Critical Role we knew they were the perfect partner. With only one question left in our minds, to borrow from the Critter community, ‘Is it Spring Yet?’”

More information and previews for the Critical Role RPG sourcebooks will appear on www.greenronin.com in the coming months.

About Green Ronin Publishing

Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle based company dedicated to the art of great games. Since the year 2000 Green Ronin has established a reputation for quality and innovation that is second to none, publishing such roleplaying game hits as Dragon Age, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, and Mutants & Masterminds, and winning over 40 awards for excellence. For an unprecedented three years running Green Ronin won the prestigious GenCon & EnWorld Award for Best Publisher.

About Geek & Sundry

Geek & Sundry is a digital entertainment company recognized for providing the best in award-winning Internet television content featuring leading voices in geek culture and lifestyle. Founded in 2012 by Felicia Day, the company offers a diverse content lineup of video games and tabletop gaming, such as Wil Wheaton’s TableTop, and explores the verticals of comics, music, literature, comedy and beyond. The network has also recently launched GnSLive on Twitch that provides of 30 hours of live content every week. Geek & Sundry is owned by Legendary Entertainment and is part of the Legendary Digital Networks which also includes Nerdist and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls.

Funded!

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The Book of the Righteous - Now on Kickstarter

Our current Kickstarter campaign, The Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition, is now funded! Next up, stretch goals—just three days to go!

Stretch Goals

Our stretch goals for this project are about making the final book bigger and better. Basically, the more money the campaign raises, the more value you get in the finished book.

$30,000: We will add 16 pages to the book. New page count: 272.

$35,000: We will commission new cover art.

$40,000: We will add a poster with family tree of the gods to the book.

$45,000: We will add 16 pages to the book. New page count: 288.

$50,000: We will put a map of a cathedral of the Great Church on the other side of the poster.

$55,000: We will add 16 pages to the book. New page count: 304.

$60,000: We will create Hero Lab files for the book. Justiciars, Holy Warriors, and Unholy Warriors get them for free. Other tiers can purchase them as an add-on.

$65,000: We will add 16 pages to the book. New page count: 320.

 The Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition

Book of the Righteous Interview: Aaron Loeb

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On Monday I interviewed Robert J. Schwalb (you can read that here, or here, if you missed it). Today I’ve got an interview with the man himself, The Book of the Righteous author Aaron Loeb! He is in China on a business trip but still found time to answer my questions. Thanks, Aaron!
Aaron Loeb

Aaron Loeb

Q: About six months ago you texted me one day and asked, “Why isn’t there a 5E version of The Book of the Righteous yet?” What made you feel like the time was ripe for a new edition of the book?

A: When 3E came out, there was a lot of excitement about it. It was like the D&D we grew up loving was having a re-birth. I got that same feeling from 5E. And it’s been over a decade since we released the original, so I thought now might be the right time to bring it back as new players are coming into the game — or others are returning — due to 5E.

Q: When you were writing The Book of the Righteous, was there a particular type of gamer you had in mind? Or did you try put in something for everyone?

A: Yeah, it was definitely for the hard core roleplayer. There was a lot of “crunch” in it — a lot — a whole new class, prestige classes, tons of spells and artifacts and monsters. But at its heart, the book is for people who want to have their character’s or their campaign’s mythology have depth to it. It’s so rewarding when you’re playing a character whose powers come from a religion to have a deep mythology to draw on.

Q: You’ve run several campaigns using The Book of the Righteous cosmology. Any tips you want to pass on to GMs planning to do the same?

A: Once you have a meaningful religion in your campaign, it opens up whole new plotlines and conflicts — and not just for the characters with religious powers. Every character in the campaign can, if their players are interested, have a meaningful relationship with their god and it can lead to compelling storylines for them as well. Sometimes it leads to conflicts within the party. It opens up a whole new area of mentors and trainers for all the characters, and new justifications for quests.

In campaigns most of my life (I’m not sure about others), the religious characters have some basic idea of what their religion is. Sometimes they even developed pretty deep background on their churches. But the other players didn’t necessarily have any connections to their religion or church. They didn’t have any reason to develop what their character thinks about the other character’s religion. And of course, there were those campaigns where one player worships Thor and another one worships Zeus or something, and it always felt like the less said about religion the better — because the very topic would break the bubble of the fantasy.

Q: Before he moved into the game industry and went to work at Wizards of the Coast, Jeremy Crawford was in your game group. Was there one of the gods he particularly favored? 

A: Yes, indeed! We had a great long campaign where he played a scholar of Tinel, a 60 year old wizard. It was a great example of religion playing an important role for a character without religious powers as he was a scholar in a Tinelite lyceum. I still remember his character’s regular cries of “Outrageous!”

Q: Your day job is in video games. Can you tell folks what you do, and how it relates to your roots as a tabletop gamer?

A: Sure! I’m the President of Worldwide Studios & Live Services at Kabam. We make mobile games, with a focus on games that are massively multiplayer — meaning games with deeply-embedded competitive and cooperative gameplay. Our games include Marvel: Contest of Champions, which is one of the most popular mobile games in the world.

Core tabletop roleplaying systems are at the core of nearly all of our work, because our games are services that last for years. Tabletop roleplaying games pioneered the game design concepts around continued character development over years and years. When you look at RPG design, you can think of good design as a series of connected gears — some large, some small. Just as you advance one gear, it advances another, but now creates a new challenge or set of choices to advance a different gear. For instance, every time you play, you gain experience points, constantly advancing one gear that eventually triggers a level. Every time you turn the level gear, you advance other gears — powers, spells, etc. And each of those has embedded within them their own systems that involve interesting choices and challenges.

This all comes from D&D and other tabletop games and it is at the heart of nearly all game system design for massively multiplayer games in the modern era.

Thank you, Aaron! We are closing in on $14,000. Hopefully, we will have The Book of the Righteous funded by the time you get back from China.