Category: Industry

Twilight Tangents 2.0 – ZOMBI

So, we decided to change some things.

  1. Twilight Tangents is by far our best selling book. People just love zombies in Twilight: 2000. It’s probably been tempered by the release of The Walking Dead but it’s still a solid seller.
  2. I had a load of writing for Zombi stuff that I wanted to use but it seemed out of place in with the psychic powers stuff.
  3. Twilight Tangents is also my oldest supplement by a country mile. It was the first thing I put together for the Free League Workshop so its update was well overdue. I mean it’s been up there for about four years!

We’re splitting Twilight Tangents into two separate books – so if you previously got it you won’t lose access to anything Zombi-like or even the rules for Psychic Abilities. You’re getting the Twilight Tangents upgraded Zombi content for free and retaining all of the previous book.

Twilight Tangents: Zombi warps the cold realism of Twilight: 2000 into a fungal nightmare of paranoid aggression, plague-scarred survivors, and walking corpses born not of mysticism, but bioweapons. Set in a world where Agent INFERNO, an engineered mould, has twisted fear into fury and death into zombification, players navigate a crumbling civilisation where trust is deadlier than bullets and infection is only a breath away.

This sourcebook reimagines the apocalypse with horrifying biological plausibility: zombis driven by neural-hyphae infestations, panicked survivors clutching to faith, violence, or denial, and institutions turning to the dead as weapons of control. It’s not survival horror. It’s a war against your own instincts, played out across ruined cities, quarantined zones, and overrun compounds. With new campaign options, adversaries, factions, life paths, and grim narrative hooks, Zombi doesn’t ask if you’ll survive, only how much of your humanity you’ll lose before the end.

We will be following this up later this year with two new books. Twilight Tangents: Espers and Twilight Tangents: Lycanthropes. I’ve not started writing them yet but the summer is coming up and I’ll have plenty of time to put stuff together.
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Twilight Tangents: Espers

The Mind Is a Weapon – But Who Pulled the Trigger?

Twilight Tangents: Espers tears back the veil on a secret war fought not with bullets, but with thoughts sharp enough to kill. Born from classified experiments and the shattered psy-ops of The 23rd Letter, these are the invisible soldiers of the Twilight War; remote viewers, psychic assassins, telepaths embedded in command bunkers, and precognitive assets burned out before their twentieth birthday.

The Twilight War didn’t just scorch the Earth. It ruptured the human psyche. This supplement brings full psychic warfare to Twilight: 2000 4th Edition, revealing how nations cultivated Espers to manipulate battlefields, undermine leadership, and rewrite reality one mind at a time. Players step into a world of neural blacksites, psionic backlash, mental conditioning, and conspiracies so deep they were never meant to be remembered.

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Twilight Tangents: Lycanthrope

We didn’t create them. We just stopped giving them a reason to hide.

In the smoke and chaos of the Twilight War, something older than humanity emerged from the forests, the mountains, and the ruins. Not a bioweapon. Not a myth. Something that had always been there, watching. Waiting.

Twilight Tangents: Lycanthrope is a savage expansion for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition, introducing werewolves not as fairy tale monsters, but as apex predators whose packs have turned warzones into hunting grounds. These aren’t cursed peasants or Hollywood beasts. They are strategic, feral, and organized and they remember what humanity has forgotten: how to stalk, how to kill, and how to survive.

From black-ops werewolf handling units to insurgent packs tearing through the last enclaves of civilisation, this sourcebook explores lycanthropy as a battlefield reality. Inside: new lifepaths, rules for transformation, hunting instincts, and feral politics. The beasts are real. And they’re not hiding anymore.

New books!

We released two books this month.

PERMAFROST for Twilight 2000. – the horrors of the nuclear winter d66 Horrid Things in an Abandoned Storage Unit
Permafrost is a battlefield where the cold itself is the deadliest enemy. In a world stripped of sunlight and warmth, survival is a desperate dance with the elements. Every step leaves a trail in the snow that can lead to rescue or betrayal. Soldiers fight not just the enemy but the creeping numbness in their fingers, the exhaustion that sinks into bones, and the isolation that whispers doubts into every sleepless night.

In this frozen world, every choice matters. The line between survival and surrender is as thin as the ice beneath your feet. Trust is a luxury. Supplies are lifelines. Every day the wind grows stronger, the silence deeper, and the darkness colder. This is the world of Permafrost, where the cold always wins.

 In this system-neutral supplement, you’ll find:

  • 66 meticulously unnerving items, from taxidermy mistakes and coded journals to whispering hearing horns and boxes of cadaver teeth.
  • Creeping lore that unfolds across entries—clues, contradictions, and recurring figures like the forgotten doctor J.H.T.
  • In-world artifacts, notes, and final confessions that suggest something in the unit is waking.
  • A perfect resource for horror RPGs, investigative campaigns, or unsettling one-shots.
Discount Link Discount Link

The Crossing

The Wanderer rocked violently, a fragile speck in the vast, storm-beaten waters. Spicer, the captain, stood barefoot at the helm, his wiry frame braced against the ship’s shuddering frame as waves slapped mercilessly at the hull. A deep-set grin carved into his face despite the danger, he looked more at ease here, at the edge of disaster, than he would lounging in a courtly bed.
“Wizards,” he muttered under his breath, eyeing his three passengers who clung to the mast in various states of distress. “Fools, more like.”
Makaira, the once-was court wizard, clutched the tail of a line in a white-knuckled grip, his cloak pulled tight against the biting spray of seawater. He had wrapped this line three times around his waist. He was a tall, fussy man, ill-suited to the hard edges of the Wanderer and already regretting every boast he’d made. “I tell you,” he had declared to King Frey, “I shall find a dragon, speak with it, perhaps even bend its will to serve you.” And now, barely a day out of Saaland, he feared it would be the waves he’d bow to instead.
Beside him, Joy—a newly appointed wizard who had only recently left the comforts of her study—wavered on her feet, clinging to the mast with one hand and her hat with the other. The wind had whipped her dark hair into a frenzy, and her face was pale, her eyes darting between Spicer and the horizon, as if uncertain which held more danger.
And then there was Shei, a bard whose life of small misdeeds and worse luck had somehow landed him on this ill-advised voyage. Lounging near the prow, he had hooked a leg under a plank, securing his weight. Even as waves broke over the sides, he hummed with a half-hearted bravado, masking his own unease with a forced grin.
“We’ll be fine, Makaira,” he said, though his voice shook. “Spicer knows these waters, don’t you, Captain?”
Spicer chuckled darkly, his eyes fixed on the storm-laden sky. “Know of them, aye. But that don’t mean they’re kind. The Crescent Isle’s just beyond this fury,” he added, as if that knowledge alone would steady the groaning timbers of his ship.
Makaira shifted uneasily, his pride deflating with every lurch of the boat. “You assured me this crossing was… challenging, but manageable. I had no notion it was—”
“I didn’t reckon you’d care to know just how many bones lie beneath this stretch.” Spicer’s gaze was unforgiving. “These waters don’t welcome travelers lightly, wizard.”
As if summoned by his words, the waves grew fiercer, rolling over the Wanderer and crashing against the deck. Joy lost her grip and stumbled forward, barely catching herself before falling overboard. Shei lunged, grabbing her arm with a quickness that betrayed his deftness.
“We’ve made it too far to drown here,” Shei muttered, helping her steady herself. “And Makaira’s got dragons to charm, remember?”
Joy gave him a weak smile. “If we make it to the Crescent Isle in one piece, it’ll be a miracle, let alone finding a dragon.”
Spicer’s laughter cut through the howling wind. “If dragons hear you coming, they’ll laugh just as hard, I’ll wager.” He pointed to the horizon, where a shadowed line of cliffs was barely visible through the mist. “There it is—the Crescent Isle.”
Makaira’s eyes brightened. “At last! There, do you see it?” But his excitement faded as the waves grew more chaotic, as if some unseen force stirred them into a frenzy. “Captain, are we safe to approach?”
“Safe?” Spicer snorted. “No one’s ever ‘safe’ here, wizard. The Crescent Isle’s got a hunger for men and ships alike.” He glanced at Shei, who had gone back to picking his fingernails, his expression tight. “Shei, best play a tune for luck, if you know one.”
Shei shook his head but began to sing, the faltering notes wavering over the chaos of the sea. Makaira muttered incantations under his breath, his fingers tracing symbols in the air. The wind shifted, and for a brief moment, the storm seemed to calm.
But then, as if mocking their efforts, a monstrous wave rose, its peak foaming with rage. It crashed into the Wanderer, sending Joy tumbling and nearly knocking Makaira from his seat, though the line held fast. Shei was drenched, the notes silenced, and even Spicer looked grim as he fought to keep the boat on course.
Makaira clung to his staff, his eyes wild. “Can’t you do something, Captain?”
“Against the sea?” Spicer barked a laugh, though his knuckles whitened on the wheel. “Not even your dragons could tame these waters.”
As if in response, the shadow of a cliff loomed closer, jagged and unforgiving. Crescent Isle had them in its grip, pulling them forward with an invisible hand. And then, as they drew near, the waters abruptly stilled, the fury of the storm falling away into an eerie calm.
Joy looked up, her face pale. “Did… did we make it?”
The Wanderer drifted forward, its timbers creaking in the silence. The air was thick, almost oppressive, and the island loomed ahead, dark and foreboding. On the shore, shadows shifted, half-seen shapes flitting between the twisted trees.
Makaira’s voice was barely a whisper. “This is… Crescent Isle.” He shivered, feeling the weight of the island’s silent watchfulness. “Captain, I… I thought there would be… people.”
“People?” Spicer’s grin returned, sharper than before. “This isn’t Saaland, wizard. The Crescent Isle’s folk don’t welcome strangers. You wanted dragons, did you not?”
Makaira’s bravado faltered, his gaze flicking to Joy and Shei, both as uneasy as he was. But he forced himself to nod. “Yes. We’ve come to parley with dragons. To serve the King.”
Spicer’s laugh was hollow, echoing over the silent waters. “Then you’d best be prepared, wizard. For the Crescent Isle holds no love for fools, nor for those who seek to stir its ancient spirits. Remember,” he said, as they began their slow approach to the shadowed shore, “dragons don’t bargain. They devour.”
The Wanderer drifted closer to the land, the shadows deepening, and the ship slipped silently into the protected lagoon of the Crescent Isle. The air thickened with a silence that held not just menace, but an ancient promise of ruin for those foolish enough to seek what should never be disturbed.
Spicer set an anchor and then collapsed onto a pile of nets. “Now we wait,” he warned, “No-one sets foot on this Isle without invitation.” The other three peered at the silhouette of the land before them and there was no-one to be seen.

Languaging and the Naming of Things

One of the important things for the World is familiarity. I remember reading a great (and hefty) first RPG by a Scottish crowd and one of the things I remember most is not their evocative prose or the art which captured the sort of neo-victorian fantasy world, but that they took the time to use different names for things like “sword”.

You gotta makes changes where it matters but also remember that the language you’re using to write the game (British English in this case) is different to the language they’re using in the world (which I’ve named ilsien). Things will be translated if they’re common enough. It was one of the issues I had with Skyrealms of Jorune, which being one of my favourite games, I tried to foist on players a couple of times. And while they got to grips with Thriddles, Shanthas, Muadra, Dyshas…they struggled with Shenters, Iscins and Incleps.

So, language has to be “common” but there has to be rules for adding new words.

Below are a list of the words I’ve used so far and the meaning for them. This will be the start of the Lexicon.

Places

L-ilsien – the name for the archipelago, containing all of the domains who are enjoined to the Shining City and the Court.

Inis – a city on the northmost coast of the island of Erea

The Shining City – city on the eastern coast of Plattesaal, home of the Court

The Court – political centre of the isles, where all Princeps and Families attend

Privetch – city on the North coast of Prive, an island south of the Saaland

Saaland – a large island with the most important cities

Plattesaal – the flatlands on the eastern side of the Saal range

Hindersaal – the rural western side of the Saal range.

The Saal – a mountain range reaching across Saaland

Lenut – a small village on the western side of the Saal located in a dense and lush forest

Alben – port town on the north coast of Saaland

Erea – a large crescent-shaped island east of Saaland.

Losung – a volacanic island south of Erea and East of Saaland

Terona – a small island between Erea and Prive

Wizardry

Wizards – the spellcasting caste of L-Ilsien society

Wizards Staff – symbol of a Wizards craft

Charms – small, usually non-magical tokens, necklaces or bracelets. May be imbued with wizardry to provide protection or other small advantage.

Runes – written language representing concepts in the True Speech which may accompany a small instance of wizardry. If used with actual wizardry, the roll gets a +1 boon (not stackable)

  • Shoth – the rune for Courage
  • Lir – the rune for Freedom
  • Sakkin – the rune for Sharpness
  • Seher – the run for Protection

Signs – these are like charms, but used by simpler folk. These can be enhanced by wizardry and provide a +1 boon (not stackable)

  • Hold – this movement of an open palm to close the tips of the fingers is used to evoke silence among those who see it.
  • Ward – the open palm with the thumb tucked to the centre, pointed at whatever offends you – this operates as a shield. Reflexively used when people don’t like something, it can act as a magical defence.
  • Calm – placing your left hand, palm to their right, fingers pointing to your right on the head of someone else can help, if they are willing, bring them into a meditative state.
  • Spit – spitting at a person is a surrogate for a curse. Used along with a rhyme by children.
  • – thumb and first finger, held aloft is a sign of defiance and resistance. The meaning is lost to time, but it is most often used by disobedient children when called to bed.

The Guild – the organisation responsible for training, certifying and policing wizards

The Hall of Scrolls – a large library of papers, scrolls and books

The Questioner – one of several mentors within the Guild

Ilsien – the language and the people of L-ilsien (the speakers)

True Name – the secret name given to every person at their majority

True Speech – the language by which the world was made, the root language of all

The Balance – the metaphysical representation of how much change a Wizard can make in the world before there are consequences

Becoming – the simple ceremony of giving someone their True Name at their majority

Unbinding – the Last Rite given to the dying where their name is taken back and their spirit is set free to be reincarnated from the Sunless Lands

Handfasting – the non-magical rite where a couple bind themselves together (with symbolic string or rope) as a form of marriage. This rite is renewed after 1 year, after 3 years and after 7 years.

Bane – any wizardry used to harm another.

Things That Go Bump

Dragons – older than writing or speech, the Dragons are forces for the Balance, attracted to Imbalance, representing air and fire. Millennia old, knowledgeable and fearful of their True Names being discovered.

Old Ones – older than writing or speech, the Old Ones represent darkness and earth. They are ravenous for worshippers (who become their agents in the world) but despise light. They can invade the dreams of those close to their temples, creating nightmares of tentacles and unbound malleable flesh.

Kobalos – creatures of darkness who service the Old Ones in their dark places. Smaller than humans but capable of dark wizardry. They despise the light but can cloak themselves in the flesh of others.

The Silver Lake – the metaphysical representation for the barrier between the Living and the Sunless Lands (this was the Black Gate but I’m rethinking it.)

Sunless Lands – the realm of the dead, a static and unchanging place of eternal twilight with no sunshine or stars where the spirits of the dead wait to be reincarnated

Shades – spirits who, for whatever reason, retained their name after they entered the Sunless Lands. They roam these lands, retaining their memory, oftimes resenting the living.

Revenants – a shade which has managed to return through the Black Gate. They often re-inhabit their previous body but can also occupy the bodies of others.

Talking to Dragons

Dragons of all shapes and sizes occupy this world but due to the spread of wizardry, they are most often found on remote islands or on lonely peaks. A solitary race of oviparous hermaphroditic flying lizards capable of parthenogenesis and, when mature enough, breathing fire.

It takes a dragon over a hundred years to go from hatchling to hazard and live for thousands of years. When younger, they are much quicker and only with maturity do they become more sedentary. They consume around 1 hefty meal a month and spend much of their time sleeping while they digest it. Their conflict with people comes from how they source their meals – usually from livestock but it is not unknown for them to take people (as they only consider Wizards to be intelligent).

Dragons speak the True Speech, part of the song which separated the lands from the seas and sky, but their words do not change the world as wizards do. They do not work wonders, they are wonders.

Dragons guard their True Name even more than Wizards do. Their vulnerability to wizardry means they are hesitant to cross Wizards of the Guild. They’ll be much keener to negotiate and keen to share their experience. Dragons don’t just talk, they gossip, building a skein of history lasting millennia.

It therefore takes courage to seek a dragon out and it is a fools errand to do so without a Wizard. Beware of anyone claiming to be a Dragonslayer.

(all this and more on the Patreon)

The 23rd Letter, 3rd Edition playtest doc

It’s out there in the wild. We are inviting you to the Playtest.

Either join our little Discord or, if you already own The 23rd Letter 2nd Edition, check your inbox as you’ll have been sent a link.

The highlights are

  • New character options in a new archetype-based system
  • More focus on The Network
  • Explosive escalation of Psychic Talents with Stress
  • New system compatible with Year Zero Engine (allowing you to take advantage of supplements for Twilight 2000 or even Blade Runner)
  • Foundation of a new story arc for the mid-21st Century

Where you can help?

  • Tell us what you like and what you don’t like.
  • Help us decide the final art style for the game
  • Find us on the Discord and chat about what you want or need in a game.

The 23rd Letter 3rd Edition

So, we have been working a lot on this. The rules are probably 90% complete but we keep finding little places where we think a rule or guideline is needed. Like today it was clarifiying how Hideouts function mechanically in relation to Heat from the authorities.

We are starting to look at design and layout and starting to put together an art list. Art? I mean, there was zero art in the first two editions. Yes, there will be art in this edition. Some of the new concepts need some art to illustrate.

Changes we can talk about?

  1. It’s less of a gun game. We have greatly simplified this.
  2. It’s still lethal. It’s easy to be taken out of the fight.
  3. We have changed the system considerably
  4. Psychics are much more powerful, but still vulnerable
  5. Greatly expanded rules for running the Network
  6. Oh, the metaplot. Play it or ignore it. There’s a metaplot

And we are looking for a couple of playtesters. Get in touch.

New Release: CONTRACTORS for Twilight 2000

It’s been a while and a lot of research but also a lot of fun.

CONTRACTORS for Twilight 2000

CONTRACTORS is a supplement for Twilight 2000 4th Edition detailing the operations of private military contractors in the years leading up to the Twilight War. It provides a slightly different backdrop to the game but could be an excellent introduction to the Twilight War for intrepid players who want a little more story before the war.

Build your ex-Special Forces team and then construct your Private Military Company. Choose from more than a dozen mission briefs and get your Merc team out into the world.

New Equipment. New Specialisations. New Rules. Just add Soldiers of Fortune.

23rd Letter, 2nd Edition PDF

After a lengthy delay, I released the PDF of the second edition of The 23rd Letter.

Anyone who has the print edition gets it free (so, if you have it, get in touch).?

There’s a third edition (different time period, different metaplot) coming so don’t rush out and get it unless you want some amazing stuff. ?You’ll see it and all of my books at https://www.lategaming.com/buy-the-books/

New Release: Kick Murder

Well, tonight we hit publish on our new #TTRPG: Kick Murder

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/419543/Kick-Murder

“Your Emotions Make You Human, Even The Unpleasant Ones Have A Purpose”

In Kick Murder, the players are catapulted into a world of danger and uncertainty. Their humdrum jobs, their dangerous jobs, the sorts of jobs that no-one would want to do – no human anyway. And the moment they discover that they’re not so different from their human masters is their first Moment – the first opportunity they have to escape the Containment of their life.

Kick Murder is a tabletop roleplaying game inspired by great movies – Blade Runner, Equilibrium, Never Let Me Go, THX1138, GATTACA, Logans Run, Cloud Atlas, It’s an interpretation of this seminal science fiction in RPG form.

We examine the hubris of humanity, the moral implications of genetic engineering and of making moral shortcuts. Repros represent an underclass of humanity, discriminated against from birth for what they are and what they represent. Their creators, like mythological counterparts, left the Promethean fire of “emotion” available to them and for that they strive, juxtaposed with a cold and un-empathetic Natural upper-class of human.

We do not dwell on the Naturals outside of their position as oppressors. We wish our Repros to defy social conformity and revolt against a social order which conspires against them even before they are born. The Repros therefore represent innocents (though they may be far from innocent) attempting to return to Eden (Earth) where they can live out what remains of their lives in peace.

Kick Murder is a 32 page core book with three additonal PDFs of Adventures (Furukontakudo, The Prodigals and Ad Terminum)

Return to Jorune

I am in the middle of a writing project (Twilight Invasion, if you must know) but this just means I have extra procrastination for other writing projects. I’ve written about Jorune before. There’s some activity on the Jorune Facebook page for a resurgence into the BRP version but honestly I don’t think I can face rolling a d100 again. It’s too heartbreaking.

From Wikipedia

“Skyrealms of Jorune was based on a science-fantasy background (of the planetary romance subtype) created by Andrew Leker, initially for a school writing assignment. The setting was somewhat comparable to the Barsoom of the John Carter novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, in that it was a barbaric fantasy world populated by sword-wielding heroes who encountered strange alien beings and technologies.”

What appeals with Jorune?

Jorune is a multi-layered tale. Humanity is shipwrecked and orphaned. An indigenous alien, possessed of dangerous quasi-magical species is passive and hostile. Complex narratives on bio-engineering and the sanctity of nature versus colonialism and cultural integration. And an amazing community of creators and Gas who have put together so much more than was originally envisioned.

What’s less appealing with Jorune?

The older rules sets are awful but the real elephant in the room is the status of the intellectual property itself. It’s been handed from pillar to post – the old creators aren’t interested and don’t seem to be friends and it’s languished for decades in a perpetual no-mans land.

Soooo…

So, I figured why not do what I’ve been doing with many of my other games and convert Jorune. Or at least provide a model for it.

Background

I can’t help you much here. There’s plenty of materials out there for learning more about Jorune. You can also still buy the older Jorune rules from Chessex.com which, frankly, I would buy again just to make sure I had a copy. The rules are outdated; the content is gold.

Over a thousand years ago, humans arrived on the planet Jorune and came into contact with the native Shantha. Jorune had had at least one previous colonisation attempt in the past and the Shanthas reacted gracefully. However a civil war on Earth cut off contact with the humans on Jorune and in their panic, they trespassed onto Shanthic sacred lands, sparking off a violent war between humans with advanced Earthtec and Shanthas with their devastating Dyshas. Everyone lost that war and the Shanthas retreated into a seclusion as a dying race.

Jorune is a unique world due to the ambient energy that flows through and around the planet, called Isho. According to the Shanthic religion, each type of Isho has a colour which they associate with the moons of Jorune and with the different capabilities of the Isho forms. Some can be used to hurt, some to heal and some to form shields or create warp gates. The Skyrealms, for which Jorune is most famous, are floating islands which move above the land on currents of Isho, held aloft by naturally occurring crystals which focus the Isho stream into movement. Isho is the fuel for Dyshas and dyshas are strongest in areas with high Isho flow.

The game is set much later when humans have settled into Jorune as their permanent home. Their upper class, the Drenn, are selected from useful citizens who have completed Tothis (a community service). There are three breeds of humans (pure, Muadra and Boccord.) Pure humans can use Earthtec with no issues. Muadra can weave Dyshas and Boccord can interfere with Dyshas.

In essence, there are multiple races, some native, some migrant and some uplifted. Some of them (Shanthas, Crugar, Woffen and Muadra) can weave Dyshas (magic) and some of them can Interfere with Dyshas (those who have that skill are called Hishtins).

System

The system I propose is similar to the SixSimple I’ve posted about before.

Keys and Flaws

Each character chooses 5 Keys. These can be chosen from background prose, written as a list or selected in play. A sixth Key can be chosen if the player decides the character has a flaw. No, it’s not very good game balance but who said things had to be balanced? Each Key is an advantage for the player in resolving conflicts. If choosing the Key in play, you must start with at least one.

Conflicts are abstracted into multiple rounds of a blackjack-type mechanism. The first to reach or exceed 21, wins the round though players are limited in the number of cards they can spend based on what’s in their hand and how many of their Keys they can bring into the conflict.

Unopposed conflicts

If a conflict is unopposed, the Referee may still require spending of cards, needing a target number for success. 7 for easy, 14 for hard, 21 for impossible.

Opposed Conflicts

Opposed conflicts can have the same target numbers, but now you have two characters trying to achieve the target number in the least number of cards.

Making a character

The Keys chosen are important. They determine species, culture, abilities, background, strength and weaknesses, family and resources. You can’t be good at everything and a Referee must be prepared to make ruling on whether a key phrase is too broad or too narrow.

Species: This makes a good Key as it’s really identifiable. It is possible to have species as part of the description but not as a Key. This would mean they don’t get an advantage based on what they are. For example, Woffen have cultural access to a single dysha color but cannot use other colours. This is only available if Woffen is taken as a key. If it isn’t taken as a key it’s assumed this Woffen didn’t choose to study it. Similarly a Bronth character who does not take the Bronth key would be recognisable as a Bronth but would not be able to use it as an advantage.

Example 1:

Drenn Cala Borg is an attractive and imposing woman who achieved Drenn in a relatively short period of time due to the connections of her family. Despite the accusations of nepotism within the Drenn system (which she undoubtedly benefitted from), she is highly capable, fairly skilled with the sword and has access to the family Earthtec cache. She makes friends easily and, possibly as a result of wealth, is generous to a fault.

Cala is a Human, but it’s not a Key. She’s attractive, but it’s not a Key. The words “highly capable> are too vague to be allowed as a Key. Generosity is also not a Key.

Example 2:

Hishtin Ler Mala:

  • Boccord
  • Cerebral
  • Hishtin
  • Reputation as dangerous
  • Strikes fear in the heart of Dyte Punks
  • Good with a spear
  • Gambling Debts

Ler Mala has Boccord (larger human subspecies) as a Key so it can be used when the larger size of the Boccord subspecies is useful. He is Cerebral, proving that he’s not all brawn but implying his intelligence is academic. His key of Hishtin indicates he will have Interference abilities. Having gambling debts asa Key not only means they’re serious but people know about them.

Example 3:

Vacy Desti-Sa
Vacy is a Dyte Punk. (Vacy’s player will pick more when she feels they’re needed in the story).

Vacy can choose Keys later at the Referee’s leisure. She might get into fight and choose the key “Scrapper”. She might need to squeeze into a chimney and chooses the key Contortionist. The keys chosen will indicate the type of character that Vacy’s player wants to play.

Now that you have a baseline for the character, how does the system work?

This system uses Cards for resolution (but these can be changed out for dice if you like). Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are left in the centre as the card pool

When trying to achieve something challenging, a single card is selected from the card pool and has a face value. The player may add to this face value but explaining how their Keys help them in this situation. Any number of cards up to the maximum may be used but when used these are lost until the Referee moves to the next scene.

Example 4:
Vacy is angry at Ler Mala and fires a Desti dysha. Her player pulls a card from the pool, getting a 7. Ler Mala’s player pulls a 6 from the pool but not wanting to take a hit, decides to go all in with Hishtin and Strikes Fear into the Heart of Dyte Punks. This allows Ler Mala’s player to select two cards from his hand and add them to the pile. He choose a 4 and a 3 from his hand. They’re low value but they push his score up to 13. Vacy can still win though and adds her Dyte Punk keyphrase card – choosing a 10 from her hand and bringing her score to 17. She wins! She describes how a Desti bolt catches Ler off guard and knocks him off his feet. With no alternative in mind (and feeling a little foolish for being arrogant), Ler Mala takes a Dysha hit and loses 1 card from his hand. He’s down to 2 cards now, while Vacy has 4 in her hand, severely hampering his ability to retaliate. However, as Vacy’s player hasn’t chosen her extra Keyphrases, she’s can’t play her cards this scene unless the Referee allows her to take another keyphrase mid-fight. She watches as Ler Mala clambers to his feet, dusts himself off and inspects the scorch marks on his tunic. Ler Mala shouts “Right, you’re dead” in an attempt to intimidate. He argues his Strikes Fear and Dangerous reputation allow him to use the last two cards, two 8s, in his hand. He pulls a third card from the pool, a 7. This pushes him over the 21 he needs for an absolute success. Vacy is intimidated and decides to run for it….

Flaws are something that can be taken advantage of by other players. They can choose any opposing card which is relevant to their Keys and completely remove one card of their choosing from the deck without having to play a card.

Example 5:
Drenn Cala Borg has an advantage over Ler Mala because she has a Wealth key and he has Gambling Debt. Without playing a card, she can manipulate him and remove one of the cards he has in play without sacrificing a card in her hand. How this is done must be role-played.

Resetting Your Hand

The Referee will let players know when they can refresh their hand from the pool. Injuries still represent a loss of a card from the hand.

Example 6:
At the end of the Scene above, Vacy and Ler Mala are allowed to refresh their hand from the Pool. Vacy is allowed to have all of her cards back, Ler Mala’s hand is still reduced by 1 due to the Desti bolt injury he received. Until he gets that healed, he’s going to be at a disadvantage.

Advancement

There are two tracks for advancement within Jorune: Social and Personal.

Social Advancement comes from gaining Marks which, when they reach a certain level, allow a person to progress from Tauther (the term for someone trying to achieve Tothis) to Drenn. Marks are received by doing services for Drenn and impressing them enough that they will mark the Challisk of the character. In game, Challisk marks can be hoarded until the character completes Tothis and becomes Drenn or they may be spent as social currency. A Mark may be traded for a favour. A Referee has final say on this but it can be used to influence success on a challenge as well.

Example 7:
While she was still Tauther, Cala Borg needed help as she had been tasked with helping remove a stubborn tree by a Drone. She bargained with another farmer, to use his farm animals as lifters. She sacrificed a Mark for this, rationalising that she would get it back but also all of her group would still get their Marks. A net gain for the party.

Personal Advancement comes from receiving 1-2 points for advancement: one for experience and one for role-playing. The roleplaying is based on the assessment of other players. The Referee asks the players: Who roleplayed well? If a player is mentioned, they get a point. The second point, for experience, comes from the Referee asking the players themselves: What have you learned? This can be from successes or mistakes.

When they have the Personal points, they can use them to be improve their chances of success.

  • 10 points will increase the hand of the player by 1.
  • 5 points will allow the selection of a new Key or buy off their Flaw.
  • Personal points can be used in game to allow the player to refresh their hand (1 point = 1 card).

Isho

Isho is a Shanthic concept for life and breath. It’s generated by the planets crystal core (similar to the ferrous magnetic core of Earth). Native species on Jorune use Isho as naturally as breathing but even non-jorunn species can be sensitive to it.

There are seven Colors of Isho in the Shanthic religion.

  • Desti – Red – Isho related to electricity and lightning
  • Du – Orange – Isho related to heat and light
  • Ebba – Yellow – Isho related to force and motion
  • Gobey – Black – Isho related to shields, solidity
  • Launtra – Green – Isho related to healing
  • Shal – Blue – Isho related to minds and nerves
  • Tra – White – Isho related to warps

There are three other abilities which are relevant.

Tra-Sense – possessed by Shanthas, Muadra, Woffen, Crugar and most native species. this is the ability to see Isho ripples – including the shape of the land, the Color of others and perceive the world. Tran sense does not need light and it offers a 360º perception of the world.
Signature – possessed by Shanthas, Boccord and Bronth. This allows the user to see Isho use, including the ripples within an individual. It can tell the user when someone is preparing to use a Dysha, and what the dysha is.
Interference – possessed by Boccord and Humans. This ability allows the user to attempt to unweave any dysha they can perceive.

Shanthas and Muadra have access to all Dyshas. Dyshas are Isho-constructs that use the colour Isho to affect the world. A Desti dysha might be a lightning bolt, a Du dysha could be used to heat soup. Dyshas commonly have three shapes – auras, orbs and bolts.
Crugar have access to Desti bolt dyshas and Woffen have access to Ebba orb dyshas (but only if they have taken the appropriate Key)

A Muadra (with that as their key) has access to any dysha from any Color but that single card draw alone may not be enough for them. To get better at the individual Colors, they have to take them as Keys.

Example 8:
Vacy is a Dyte Punk (a subculture of Muadra society). After a few more gaming sessions, she has chosen the keys Scrapper and Thief (which both reflect her character idea). She wants to get good at Desti and Tra dyshas ands the Referee rationalise that she has found a teacher and is permitted to take them as Keys. She just got a whole lot more dangerous. She can use three cards when using a Desti lightning bolt but also combining Tra means an extra card is used and can literally shoot thorough walls.

Regaining Isho

The advantage of Natural Isho for Shanthas and Muadra is that even after they have exhausted their cards, they may replenish their hand by spending their turn “gathering” Isho. Each turn, they gain one card back. Knowing your enemy is important as the Caji (Shanthic term for a Dysha user) is vulnerable during this time.

Isho Storms
Isho flows across the planet like weather and Isho storms are when a large concentration of Isho pours through a place. Depending on the Color of the storm, this can cause spontaneous dyshas which is dangerous but Muadra (including Caji, Copra and Dytes) have to be careful. During an Isho Storm, the referral may ask the player to make an unopposed challenge on the strength of the storm (usually 21). If the player fails, they and anyone near them (within 10 metres0 take a hit (losing one card from their hand due to injury). This hit can be healed using Launtra auras and orbs. If the storm is still raging an hour later, they make need to make another.

Crystals
Crystals store Isho belonging to one Color. If a Caji has a Desti crystal, they can expend it and get an extra free Pool Draw when using Desti dyshas. Once it’s gone, it has to be recharged.

[Hiring] Comic Book Superheroes for an RPG

Hi folks,
After a somewhat abortive attempt on Fiver to get some superhero art for my upcoming RPG, I thought I would try here.

I’m looking for panels which wouldn’t look out of place in “Planetary” (John Cassaday) or “Captain Britain” (the early Alan Davis). (I mean, just look at this stuff. It’s top notch.)

It doesn’t have to be new. I am as interested in your existing portfolio – and I should see stuff in your portfolio.

I’m not trying to get stuff on the cheap. I’m looking for an artist or two that I can work with for maybe a dozen or more pieces.

Depending on the art I’ve paid for before was $25-75 per piece.

Copyright should remain with the artist with the proviso of a license to use the pieces for my books and promotions. I’m strictly small press so let’s chat about it.

It’s mostly illustrations of how the powers work for the powers section.

Would like a link to portfolio and we can chat about rates.

1: I’m not looking for cheesecake. If I don’t see superheroes in your portfolio, well, that’s going to sway me. Sorry. I have a lot of profiles to go through.

2: if you don’t offer commercial licensing then don’t waste our time. I need to use this for a book that I make as a hobby sideline on DTRPG.]

Announcing Twilight Tangents – a multi-world sourcebook for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition

I’ve produced a couple of books for T2K4e but I’m really enjoying putting together this latest one. This book describes three alternate futures for the T:2000 game. Things to spice up the game.

GET IT NOW on DTRPG

Here’s some of the opening prose from one of the Tangents.

For your own reasons, you joined the Army and when SPR came looking for recruits, you volunteered. You were put into a squad with ten others. You trained together, you ate together and you slept in the same billet. You had to talk to doctors and psychologists – and then they gave you some injections which knocked you out.?

When you woke, you could feel something was wrong. For one thing, eight of the beds were empty. You and one other person were lying in bed. But that wasn’t the worst of it. There was something in your head – a tickle you’d not felt before – a feeling that wasn’t quite an irritation.?

Later that day, Staff Sergeant Mottram came in and sat with you. She told you that you were special. She told you she was there to help you through it. And she told you all this without her lips moving at all.?

Next day, you were alone in a room with Sgt Mottram; a room with a glass window on one side. You heard her voice in your head again and she told you something was going to happen and to just relax and let it happen.?

And then it happened. You felt the tickle, heard a noise like the rushing of blood in your ears and the world changed. You were special. You could do something special. You were unique.?

Then you were filed into a room for paperwork and then back into your uniform to join all of the other special, unique people in SPR. It’s like Basic all over again, except after your morning run you’re all filed into warehouses and made to set fire to things, read minds, and delve into people’s memories. Usual stuff.?

But at night you think about those eight empty beds and you wonder where they took number 9. Because you haven’t seen her since.?

Astute readers and fans of this site (both of you) may notice that this sounds a little like The 23rd Letter. And indeed it is. I’m debating whether to make a full sourcebook for T:2000. It’s a similar game to The 23rd Letter – actually slightly less crunchy but that’s no bad thing. T23L was always described as a bit of a deadly gun game.

T2000: CZTERY – Four Mystery Scenarios for Twilight:2000

Now available through the Free League Workshop, four mysteries for Twilight: 2000 referees who want something mysterious in their game. Ready to slot into an existing campaign or you can use the places (and maps) provided.

This does the work of expanding the environment of post-apocalyptic Europe from military missions and bleak survival to mystery, conspiracy and mythology. From the fertility gods of old, to a modern curse, from a lost child to revenge beyond the grave. In the lonely forests, there are things that move unbidden and mysteries that should remain mysteries.

The stats within are for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition but the scenarios and encounters can be used for any WW2 era or modern day mystery game

Includes high res maps of important locations and also a lower res doc for reference.

Download here on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/385349/CZTERY–Mystery-Scenarios-for-T2K4

An old ZOMBI review…

Because ZOMBI is back on sale, I figured looking at an old review might be timely.

From Caliverbooks (Valkyrie mag)

Zombi RPG
Crucible Design

Zombies have appeared in RPGs since D&D first appeared. Those early zombies were the sword fodder for many questing bands. Recently though the zombie horror movie has become a focus for games. Zombi, along with All Flesh Must be Eaten (AFMBE) from Eden Studios, are both part of this new wave, yet they take very different approaches to the same subject.

The skeleton of a character is similar to Crucible’s earlier game Space Ninja XDO Cyber Crisis. Ten traits (including close combat, scrounging and medicine) along with a character’s panic statistic (which simulates their reaction to the presence of the zombi menace) define a character. This system leads to characters that are significantly less detailed than those found in AFMBE but are also quicker to generate from scratch.

The game’s muscles are embodied in its simple mechanics. A dice roll, modified by the panic statistic if there are zombies about, is compared to a trait or an opponent’s roll. This mechanic is readily applied to a variety of death dealing methods. Zombi relies more on a referee’s judgment than providing rules, and so this section is considerably less detailed than AFMBE combat rules. Then again, how often do you need rules for dogfights in a zombie horror game?

The meat on the carcass in Zombi comes in the background section. The setting is detailed in a few pages and is straightforward enough. The Zombi plague-infected dead rose from the ground at the end of 1999 and shortly afterwards the widespread collapse of civilization ensued.

A wide variety of encounters with other survivors, from a loner in a recreational vehicle right through to major settlements, are suggested. This is where Zombi really shines. Instead of a long list of optional twists on the zombie, as found in AFMBE, they are treated as a force of nature. Zombi suggests they are used to force disparate groups of survivors together, creating the tensions from which great stories spring.

Zombies aren’t neglected though, along with game statistics come a random appearance generator and rules for the zombi plague. The book is rounded out with over thirty short adventure hooks.

Zombi is a sixty-eight page, A5 booklet. The layout is clear and effective with competent black and white, full-page illustrations. It certainly isn’t as pretty as AFMBE but the presentation certainly doesn’t detract from the product either.

While the system is competent, the focus on the living rather than the dead is where Zombi’s real strength lies. Anyone considering running a game in the zombie horror genre would make a wise investment of a bit of cash if they picked up a copy of Zombi. A nice little game that won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Zombi is a game very much like the films that inspired it. There are zombies everywhere, it wasn’t made on a blockbuster budget and it’s full of interesting ideas.

ZOMBI now available on DTRPG

ZOMBI is now on DTRPG. Originally distributed in hardcopy through the US and Europe, this is the first digital version.

The first few pages of this journal have been destroyed by fire and by weathering. The actual location of the structure is unknown. It becomes legible halfway down page six.

“Though the sun overhead had been baking the skin from their backs, his men had been digging without pause for several hours. After all, they were two hours behind schedule and they were losing money with every minute that passed.”

Some pages have been damaged describing the outer defenses of the structure.

“The stone rolled away quite easily, surprising two of the men who panicked in their attempt to get out of the way. The stone rolled on, oblivious to their cries and over a mans leg, crushing it from toe to knee. I didn’t notice until later for my attention was riveted to the space the stone had left. A hole, an opening!”

“Laverne could not decipher the hieroglyphics. He would shake his head and mutter about eternal life and how there was no opposite to eternal life. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I had what I wanted. In a few days I would be recognised among my peers with this discovery”

“Two men in the workforce have died. The first one, the man whose leg was crushed, was stricken with a strange fever that seemed to abate but an hour later he was awake again and attacking the other people in the camp. He’d managed to kill his nurse before the men subdued him. Apparently they had to smash his skull open with a spade to stop him.”

“Five men came from the village today. They spoke to the workers in private. First they herded all of us into a single tent. Maurice shot two of them before they knocked him senseless. Then have taken the charges and the equipment and resealed the chamber. They are returning now. I think we may be in hot water.”

Transcript from the journal of missing archaeologist Alain LaFontaine unearthed in Egypt, 1992. LaFontaine discovered an unknown pyramid and went missing after a workers dispute in 1907. Translated from the original French.

What if the people who were dead got up one day?
What if they got up and started killing other people?
What if the people they killed just got back up and killed some more people?
What if it had already started?
What if that day was yesterday?
Zombi is a roleplaying game set in the world of the Zombi. The Dead walk the lands, killing and eating the living. Society has fallen and the only thing left now is to break out, find an island somewhere, live a little…before then end. But there must be more than just static and deserted cities out there? Sometimes you hear the radio talk for a while, sometimes you see lights in the sky and they remind you that even as the streets are haunted with shambling, rotting monsters, humanity is out there waiting for a chance to reclaim everything.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/380498/ZOMBI

And we released the chargen and combat rules for ERIS MODERN, the system used in The 23rd Letter and our upcoming superhero game.

Nor Gloom Of Night – now available on DriveThruRPG

Nor Gloom Of Night is a post-apocalyptic setting for your favourite modern RPG. Become a horse-riding agent of the Reformation States twenty years after the fall of the United States of America. The dangers out there are many; from self-proclaimed warlords to diseases long thought eradicated by modern medicine, from the people themselves to the harsh winters of the North West of North America.

You, and your compatriots, as Greycaps, are the line drawn between the rebirth of civilisation and the fall into a dark age. It’s up to you to uphold the ideals of the past and propel us into the future.

Today I released Nor Gloom Of Night on DriveThruRPG for $5/Pay What You Want.

I’d love for you to give me some feedback after a read.

Now – back to writing our superhero game and the third edition of The 23rd Letter.