These stories have been rounded up from all over the internet but many of them come from GamingReport which, as a partner site, remains GameWyrd’s number one choice for industry news. Direct quotes from GamingReport appear in blue text.
- Topics
- DawnForge rejected by Wizards.
- Mutants & Masterminds forgoes d20.
- Expert links roleplaying to Washington Sniper
- EverQuest blamed for suicide
- CyberCon around the corner
Fantasy Flight’s Rejected Proposal to WotC: Dawnforge
Were you one of the 11,000 people who submitted a campaign world to Wizards of the Coast? Were you one of the 10,997 people who’ve had their campaign world idea rejected? Others, many others, share your pain. The professional RPG publishers Fantasy Flight We’re reprinting their ideas in its entirety. What’s this? Sounds like another generic fantasy game to you? It made the final eleven you know!
CORE ETHOS SENTENCE
DAWNFORGE is a primeval world where the great empires have not yet fallen and magic still courses through the earth like a raging river.
WHO ARE THE HEROES?
The heroes of DAWNFORGE emerge from unexpected places and unforeseen twists of fate. Some are the trueborn children of kings, the offspring of ancient and noble bloodlines. They are knights of the Kingsmarch, trained from birth to honor the crown and defend the realm. They are high elven lords, heirs to a magical legacy and a terrible war. They are merchant-princes of gilded Ebernath who venture into the unknown to claim new lands, wealth, and glory for their families. From the shining city-states of the Dreaming Isles to the dwarven courts of the Mountain Kings, the world of DAWNFORGE is home to great houses, exalted birthrights, and proud dynasties founded on magic, conquest, and trade.
Other heroes claim less-glorified origins or have lost their heritage. They are Korish sellswords, nomadic warriors of the Durning Highlands, or Valhadrin initiates whose power and lore is drawn from a source far older than the entitlement of noble birth. They are freeborn adventurers who quest for fame and fortune in untamed lands where sword and spell are stronger than privilege and status. Whether king or commoner, all must find their destinies in an age of legend that will inspire epic stories and songs in times to come.
WHAT DO THEY DO?
Brave warriors battle legendary monsters in the rugged wilds of Tamerland and the shadowed jungles of Zangala. Elven archmages craft artifacts of terrible power in the arcane shrine at Cardas Fane. Rogues and sellswords seek their fortunes with blade and bravado amidst the dreaming spires and brooding idols of ancient Valhadar. Kings and warlords win and lose empires on the unforgiving battlefields of Dor Erlon. The warrior-priests of Stoneguard wield the magic of earth and flame against the hunger and hate that dwells in darkness. Griffon Company rangers hunt the savage goblinoids that threaten the frontier with iron and fire. Whether driven by duty or longing, vengeance or faith, heroes quest for honor and glory in a land where legends walk the earth.
THREATS, CONFLICTS, AND VILLAINS
It is the dawn of an age of heroes, and the course of the world’s destiny has yet to be charted. It is a time of beginnings, when great empires reach the zenith of their power, yet countless futures balance on the deeds of heroic champions and corrupt villains. Mighty forces clash, and factions with competing visions strive to master the threads that weave the patterns of history. DAWNFORGE is a world of a hundred epic stories that have yet to be told.
The Valhadar Dominion, a great empire built on dark sorcery and fiendish pacts, reaches for the feuding realms of the Kingsmarch with greedy talons. In Sildanyr, the enchanted homeland of the elves, the ageless lords of light and darkness fight a civil war to determine the future of an entire race. A secret society of enigmatic shapeshifters, the elusive Black Circle works subtle treacheries and dark intrigues to corrupt the good and noble from within. The ancient civilization of the yuan-ti spreads across dark and mysterious Zangala like a virulent plague. A storm is coming, and black clouds gather on the horizon.
THE NATURE OF MAGIC
Magic is the lifeblood of the world, the primal essence of creation that flows through all living things and wells in the bones of the earth. No gods have established dominion over the world of DAWNFORGE, and the mortal realms are the source of both arcane and divine magic. A thousand small gods of a hundred races, nations, cities, and clans struggle to win the faith and obedience of their willful children. The spirits of tree and stone grant their servants the power to guard and protect the wild places. In this age of legend, no gods have yet been crowned and divinity is a prize to which even mortal heroes and revered ancestors can aspire.
Magic courses throughout the earth, but its flow is not without pattern. It eddies and pools, creating ancient places of power that channel and change the magic coursing through them. Some of these magical nexuses-elemental furnaces in the hearts of volcanoes or abyssal pits in the oldest and deepest parts of the earth-are inaccessible to all but a powerful few. Others are the arcane foundation on which empires and fortunes are built, and all are highly coveted by those who know how to tap and harness their power. A battle rages in the heart of Sildanyr, as elf lords struggle for dominion over the First Tree and the fey magic that flows from its timeless roots. The explorers who push ever farther into the wilds of Tamerland seek ancient treasures more priceless than gold.
WHAT’S NEW AND DIFFERENT?
The world of DAWNFORGE is a mythic land rich in magic and wonder where great empires clash, intrepid explorers journey beyond wild frontiers, and mighty heroes brave epic dangers. It is a land where familiar and beloved races and archetypes are reaching the pinnacle of their glory and wonder. It is a vast and rich realm where newborn nations are still islands of civilization in a dark and unexplored wilderness sea. The world of DAWNFORGE is a land where the greatest deeds have yet to be done and epic heroes are wrought in the crucible of legend. “
GamingReport has word that Fantasy Flight plan to publish DawnForge as a hardback on their own anyway.
Mutants & Masterminds RPG to be OGL only
[2002-09-30]
Green Ronin Forgoes d20 Logo on Signature Supers Game
September 30, 2002-SEATTLE, WA: Green Ronin Publishing today announced that its ground-breaking superhero roleplaying game Mutants & Masterminds will be released under the Open Game License only, thus making it a stand-alone game.
The game was originally to have borne the d20 logo, as all Green Ronin Products have since the Origins- and ENnie-award winning Death in Freeport.
“The game was so close to being complete on its own,” explained Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, “that we decided to go for it and let Mutants & Masterminds’ quality speak for itself.”
The Mutants & Masterminds core rulebook will now contain all the rules you need to play, from character creation to powers to campaigning. It will be the first non-fantasy RPG to be released using only the Open Game License.
Mutants & Masterminds Fact-File
Author: Steve Kenson
Cover: Ale Garza
Size: 192 glossy, full-color pages, hardbound
Release Date: October, 2002
Price: $32.95
Highlights Include:
· Complete point-based character creation system that allows for maximum customization while retaining important game balance.
· Dozens of feats and super-feats.
· More than 100 pre-designed powers with complete rules for creating countless more.
· Twelve “ready to play” hero archetypes: Battlesuit, Elemental, Gadgeteer, Martial Artist, Metamorph, Mimic, Mystic, Original, Powerhouse, Psychic, Speedster, and Totem.
· Complete rules for technological devices, weapons, vehicles, headquarters, sidekicks and more.
· An introductory adventure.
· A streamlined system that requires only one die, a d20, to play.
· Stunning art from such comic-industry talents as Dan Brereton, Sean Chen, Kevin Sharpe, and Cully Hamner.
Mutants & Masterminds is a trademark of Green Ronin Publishing.
So, what does that all mean? For one, the next time someone confuses the d20 system and D&D you’ve got reason to give them an extra poke in the ribs.
Also, Green Ronin’s own website has this to say:
Yep–the whispered rumors and wild speculation can now come to an end: Mutants & Masterminds is being released as an OGL-only RPG, not a d20 System game. What does this mean for you? We can make it a complete and total game system, including character generation and much, much more, and thanks to the Open Gaming License, other publishers can make use of all sorts of crunchy rules goodness. Win-win, baby!
CyberCon – October 25 -27
The internet’s most successfull RPG convention is on this weekend. RPGHost presents CyberCon. This time round the guest list inclues the likes of Sean Reynolds, Jim Butler, Steve Jackson, Greg Dent, Matt Staroscik, Steve Long, Rick Loomis, Elaine Cunningham, Dale Donovan, Hal Greenberg, Shane Hensley. If you can make US timezones and don’t mind talking over the internet then CyberCon’s a great way to network with other roleplayers.
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