The Redacted Files Talks All Things Overworld
Listen in as Aser Tolentino and Megan Tolentino of The Redacted Files interview Ash Law and me about The Overworld and Beyond and our passion for 13th Age.
And be sure to check out the other episodes of gaming goodness on the Redacted Files. We're big fans of their actual plays and everything Aser and Megan
Overworld Funded!
Lots more to come. Read about the first stretch goal, the Realm-Walker class, here.
Overworld Interview on the Iconic Podcast
Take a listen as Ash Law and I are interviewed by the Iconic Podcast crew about The Overworld and Beyond.
https://iconicpodcast.com/2018/05/07/s2-e03-the-overworld-and-beyond/
And be sure to check out the other Iconic episodes for amazing deep dives into all things 13th Age.
And checkout the Kickstarter here: http://bit.ly/Overworld13
Adventure Tier: The Carrow Hills
See The Overworld and Beyond Kickstarter: http://bit.ly/Overworld13
While talking to Ash Law the other day about The Overworld and Beyond I realized that while I’ve talked a lot about our champion-tier and epic-tier adventures, I haven’t spoken enough about its adventurer-tier support.
The Carrow Hills, our little backwater you can stick anywhere in your campaign world that has a coast, is a perfect sandbox for adventurer-tier games. There are random events tables for the countryside and the three towns. These events provide clues as to what is going on behind the scenes and lead the PCs into adventures and foreshadow champion-tier threats to come.
The wilderness contains bandits, druids, ruined farms, an abandoned watchtower, Witch’s Hill, a hat-carrying raven, and more. A great place for adventurer-tier parties to explore.
Shank, the small town surrounded by a wooden palisade, has inns, troubled farmers, a talking goat, a chapel of the Bright Gods, and all sorts of people needing the kind of help low-level PCs can give. A wonderful base for first- and second-level characters.
Shriveport is a Lovecraftian port where odd and disturbing NPCs and monsters seem to be always just out of sight. Until they aren’t. Rumors of unsettling amphibious people seen at night, a nearby shipwreck, pirate treasure, and so much more. Don’t forget to visit the cats at the Esoteric Temple of Balamet. A perfect setting for spooky adventures for third- and fourth-level characters.
Harrowbridge is the big town of the Carrow Hills. Nobles, wizards, and merchants make this the most cosmopolitan town of the three. The Tower of Wizardry is full of wizards drawn to the Carrow Hills by the proximity of other planes, and they often need the kind of help only parties of adventurers can provide. A perfect base for third- and fourth-level PCs.
Fogfen, the setting for the first-level adventure The Tower in the Mist (published by Dread Unicorn Games), is just south of the Carrow Hills. A party only has to follow the trade route north from Fogfen to find themselves in Shank.
The Carrow Hills, a perfect place for an adventurer-tier party to find adventure.
The Overworld and Beyond Kickstarting News
We're on a Roll!
83% and climbing at this moment. http://bit.ly/Overworld13
Kickstarting Now!
Ash and I are going to be on two podcasts: The Iconic Podcast (already recorded) and The Redacted Files.
Check out our wonderful backing thus far.
This is my third Kickstarter, and this is typical. You always open big, then the growth slows a bit, but you keep on growing.
Help Spread the Word
Our short link is http://bit.ly/Overworld13, use it to tell your friends and post on social media. After every Kickstarter, I hear from gamers who say "Oh darn, I never heard about it."
There's nothing like word of mouth and recommendations from a friend.
Got a Podcast or Blog?
Let us know. We'd love to talk about The Overworld and Beyond.
Kickstarting Now: The Overworld and Beyond
It's ALIVE! http://bit.ly/Overworld13
Go to Kickstarter.com and search for "The Overworld and Beyond" or just follow this handy link: http://bit.ly/Overworld13
1 Day till Kickstarter!
And Giant Koblin-Spider Preview! (below)
Preview: Giant koblin-spider
A horrific hybrid creature, revered by other koblins.
Huge 7th level spoiler [beast]
Initiative: +8
Scissoring mandibles +12 vs. AC (two attacks)—40 damage
Natural even hit: The target is stuck (save ends).
Natural odd hit: The target is hampered (save ends).
C: Caustic webbing +12 vs. PD (one nearby or far-away enemy, plus one enemy engaged with the koblin-spider)—5 ongoing acid damage and the target is stuck (save ends both)
Limited use: 1/round, as a quick action.
Climber: The spider can move on just about any surface that can support its weight.
Nastier Specials
Dripping with poison: Stuck or hampered enemies engaged with the koblin-spider take 10 poison damage at the start of their turns.
AC 24
PD 21 HP 333
MD 15
(Giant koblin-spiders and everything else subject to change before final release.)
Two Days till Kickstarter!
Preview: The Widow Amalthea
The Widow Amalthea—Now an elderly woman, Amalthea was young when she first came to Shriveport with her husband. They planned to turn the town into a major trade hub—building warehouses, inns, docks, everything that would be needed to turn an obscure bay into a place where ships would stop regularly and in large number. They only got as far as building the piers that now exist before her husband drowned in mysterious circumstances. In her grief, the Widow Amalthea took the money that they were going to invest in the town and instead built a mansion on the dark cliffs overlooking Shriveport.
Adventure hooks:
- The adventurers receive an invitation to the Widow’s large and luxurious home to take supper with her. While there their host hints that her husband was murdered by Zadok Marsh (the town priest).
- The Widow Amalthea’s maid, Gladys Seaglass, is in town buying supplies. The maid says that her employer is ill and that is why she hasn’t been seen in town for a month—but something about the way the maid’s eyes dart about when asked about the widow alerts the adventurers to the fact that something else is going on.
- The adventurers are approached by Bill Codwater, the Widow’s handyman and gardener. When the moon is high and the mist rises, something strange climbs the cliffs and lurks around the rambling mansion—apparently trying to get inside the mansion. Everybody who lives in the house is terrified, but the townsfolk just laugh at their tales. Will the adventurers take Bill’s invitation stay the night, and perhaps discover what is haunting the mansion?
(Everything subject to change before the final release.)
Three Days till Kickstarter!
Meet the Team
- Ash Law, writer, illustrator
- Ash has written for many exciting RPG products, including the 13th Age Bestiary, the Midgard Bestiary (13th Age), Nocturne, The Donjon (for the D&D Adventurer's League), and the upcoming 13thAge Bestiary 2.
- All the fine maps you'll see on the Kickstarter page are done by Ash as well.
- John WS Marvin, publisher, layout
- John has published numerous RPG titles, and this will be his third Kickstarter. The other two are Gods and Icons (13th Age Compatible) and The Gods Have Spoken (5E).
- John has done the layout for all the Dread Unicorn Games products
- Nikole McDonald-Jones, cover artist
- Nikole is a fantasy artist whose work can be seen in Gods and Icons and The Gods Have Spoken.
- Keith Garrett, editor
- Keith is a freelance editor, and also a writer who has worked on such products as the Gongfarmer's Almanac (Dungeon Crawl Classics) and The Gods Have Spoken.
Set Your Chronometers to Transdimensional Time!
Adventures in other dimensions, travel to the planes, whatever you want to call it, we're flipping planes and visiting alternate worlds left and right.
The Overworld and Beyond is all about bringing planar fun to the 13th Age RPG.
The Sun Below: That's How the Light Gets In is all about tracking down transdimensional thieves who have stolen the Sun Below itself for Numenera.
What about our Fifth Edition fans. Would you like to see some plane walking fun? Something else? Let us know.
The Overworld and Beyond
The cover is coming together!
Cover image by Nikole McDonald-Jones. Text by me, so don't blame Nikole. :) I'll be tweeking that all the way to ship.
Kickstarting May 1st!
Friday the 13th Age
That's right, 13% off on 13th Age products, from Friday the 13th to Sunday the 15th. Use voucher code FRI@13THAGE to claim your rightful discount.
Overworld and Beyond Art Preview
Here's a work-in-progress of the art for the cover of The Overworld and Beyond by Nikole McDonald-Jones. I can't wait for the final, full color version.
This 13th Age adventure by Ash Law will take you to the planes. But will you return?
Kickstarting soon!
April Game Sale!!!
April Sale! This is no joke.
30% Off on all Orders of $5 US or more!
Use promo code: APRIL2018 in checkout
The Gods Have Spoken at Guardian Games
This young gamer has found what he wants, The Gods Have Spoken: Deitites and Domains at his friendly local game store, Guardian Games. Ask for Dread Unicorn games at your local game store. Savvy game store owners can order them for our distributor, Indie Press Revolution.
As I'm sure all Portland, Oregon gamers know, Guardian Games is a fantastic place to find great games (like The Gods Have Spoken!), play games, and have a brew. If you're in Portland, you owe it to yourself to check it out!
Want to highlight your FLGS? Send us a picture of your store displaying Dread Unicorn Games' adventuring goodies, and we'll post it!
Overworld and Beyond Preview: The Carrow Hills
Though a backwater, the Carrow Hills does have a claim to fame—the barrier between dimensions is weaker here than in many other places. In some places it is even possible to step from one world to another. Very few know of this fact, save for a handful of wizards who have made their home in Harrowbridge to take advantage of the transdimensional ‘shallowing’.
The Carrow Hills and their settlements are the starting points for the plane-spanning adventures of The Overworld and Beyond by Ash Law, Kickstarting soon for the 13th Age Roleplaying Game.
Today is a normal day, but with a spectacular (and obviously supernatural) sunset—a byproduct of the thinness between dimensions in the area. Locals see such sunsets regularly, and don’t find them in the least unusual.
There are three major settlements in the Carrow Hills: Shank (a small town and overnight stop on the trade road), Shriveport (a fishing village and minor trade port), and Harrowbridge (a larger town and minor rtade hub). Shriveport lies on a spur that breaks from the main trade road at Shank—although it is quicker to get to Harrowbridge through the wooded and hilly region between them, the hills are dangerous.
Where are the Carrow hills?
If you are using a published setting you can slip the Carrow Hills onto any coastline—between two large cities, or near the boarder of two countries or regions. It’s just the kind of backwater that gets left off official maps.
The Carrow Hills is a mini-setting that can slot easily into another setting with minimal changes. If the area of the setting you normally play is a non-human kingdom or empire, then mayhap the Carrow Hills are a small human enclave within the larger non-human realm.
If you aren’t playing in an established setting and haven’t fleshed out your own home-brewed gameworld, then the Carrow Hills can be the starting point for the players to explore a wider world that you create as you go along.
See also: Announcing The Overworld and Beyond
Women in Gaming
It's International Women's Day, and here at Dread Unicorn Games we'd like to salute all women gamers. We believe that the great strides made in the past by the hobby to welcome and include girls and women will look like baby steps to our future selves. This is a hobby for anyone with an interest and an imagination.
In Appreciation of Our Women Creators
- Alicia Severson, art (The Sun Below: City on the Edge, The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady)
- Alison Wells, editing (The Sun Below: City on the Edge, The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady, The Sun Below: That's How the Light Gets In, Gods and Icons, Gods and Icons Player's Companion, Gods and Icons Upgrade Pack, The Gods Have Spoken, Tower in the Mist, The Gray World)
- Alysha Lach, art (The Sun Below: City on the Edge, The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady, The Sun Below: That's How the Light Gets In, Gods and Icons, Gods and Icons Player's Companion, Gods and Icons Upgrade Pack, The Gods Have Spoken, The Gray World)
- Britanny Zendegas, art (The Sun Below: City on the Edge, The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady)
- Chole Wenz, art (The Gray World)
- Megan Tolentino, writing (The Sun Below: That's How the Light Gets In)
- Nikole McDonald-Jones, art (Gods and Icons, Gods and Icons Player's Companion, Gods and Icons Upgrade Pack, The Gods Have Spoken, The Overworld and Beyond)
- Sparrow Buerer, art & cartography (The Sun Below: Sleeping Lady, Gods and Icons)
- Vanessa Rose Phin (nonbinary), writing (Gods and Icons, Gods and Icons Player's Companion, The Gods Have Spoken)
Art by Nikole McDonald-Jones
Map Preview 2 for That's How the Light Get's In
Adrift between dimensions lies a place for characters to get information, equipment, and betrayed. The Crystal Market has what you need. And what you should fear.
Map by the amazing Miska Fredman.
Check out a map of a transdimensional ship from this adventure here.
The Sun Below: That's How the Light Gets In, a Numenera adventure for all tiers.
Status: In production
5E Condition Cards are in Print and Look Great!
High quality cards in their own tuckbox. Plus, your deck comes with a free Print and Play PDF.
