A lot of people ask me how I do it, and I like to help them wherever I can, because I always love to learn what others have come up with!
Not just how I find the time, but how I build universes, ensure that they work, make characters real and then ensure that the whole project actually ends!
I’ve done this well over 150 times now (and there’s an image on the Kickstarter with some projects you might have heard of to remind you!). Paired with The Writer’s Journey (also available if you missed it), this is pretty much everything I know about creating, condensed into a pocket-sized book!
So what’s this book about?
I take you, step by step through the process I follow to ensure my projects have the best chance of succeeding:
How I get started
How I keep the project of track
Searching for inspiration
Creating universes
Living inside a universe
Telling the right amount and leaving the rest to the reader
Making characters real
Description versus visualisation
Looking for support or a team
Common issues and how to handle them
…and much more!
This Kickstarter will bring this book to life, creating both digital versions and a print run for you to enjoy, learn from and most importantly, bring your projects to life with!
This space fighters game is an exciting and dynamic game of space-based dog fights against an unending alien armada bent on the destruction of humanity!
But you won’t be playing as just a human in this game – you will experience the unshakeable bond between a pilot and their ship as you fight for humanity!
—
In this game, you are a pilot, with your own “Paladin” one-man ship, sent out to explore space and defend Humanity! Together with other pilots, you’ll form a squadron and head out into the black…
This game offers rules for space combat, salvaging materials and upgrading your fighter, a list of bases you can visit (both friendly and not-so-friendly), space-based dogfights and a variety of weapons from bullet-based to plasma cannons!
This is the RPG for you if you like games such as Homeworld, Freelancer, No Man’s Sky or Elite: Dangerous!
Era: Balam is a Tabletop RPG harnessing the power of the Era D10System to bring a solar system at war as aliens invade!
We’re never going to give up on telling stories! We’ve been working for 3 years on a new audio drama that I know you’re going to love.
This project has been incredibly lucky to bring in the fantastic talents of Erin Nicole Lundquist, Lawrence “MasakoX” Simpson and Ryan Negrón, along with a fantastic co-writer to work with me, Leanne King.
The story we came up with focuses on being an outsider in the world of the Chosen, with no awareness of the Anonassi. So the actions of the five Chosen families seem very, very strange, right?
THE WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE IS MISSING!
Jack Bennet (Lawrence “MasakoX” Simpson) is a true genius – there’s no mystery he can’t solve.
But when he goes missing, his daughter asks her friend Olivia (Erin Nicole Lundquist) to find him.
Assuming he’s just out on a case, the cynical but ambitious young detective begins by searching his office…
Hi everyone! I’m excited to announce the relaunch of Grace Under Pressure on Kickstarter! It’s available here right now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sovcomics/grace-under-pressure-comic?ref=9o341f Your eyes are not deceiving you! It was indeed up a week ago in a different, but there was a significant change in our marketing efforts, and we decided to cancel it and relaunch under my direct influence, instead of working with an agency.
So now it’s time to enjoy a brand new story in one of our fan-favourite universes!
So what’s it all about?
Grace, Jessica and Clint are Vault Hunters who are conducting an ongoing search for the score of a lifetime. However, in the meantime, they take whatever work is going, anything from minor repairs to bounty hunting!
We start the story as they head to Crossroads, looking for their next job. After being jumped by Infected, they are forced to move in the night and reach the large town the next morning. However, a new device seems to detect any and all weapons they might want to take inside undeclared…
Before long, they get hold of a job: destroy a particularly brutal band of Raiders. However, another encounter with the Infected forces them to draw the attention of their intended prey.
How will the group overcome this obstacle and gain the money they desperately need? Find out in:
Era: Kaiju is a Supernatural Modern Tabletop RPG harnessing the power of the Era d10 system to bring to life a world of titanic monsters in the spirit of kaiju movies! You will have to work together to stop Alphas from destroying you… and to keep Humanity believing that you are overall a force for good!
Choose a form (avian, humanoid, aquatic, lizard and more – each with unique abilities) and one of 25 Kaiju Powers (energy breath, reincarnation, cyborg enhancement and more!), then just start roaring!
The Pocket Rulebook includes:
– A brief introduction to the game’s world. – Character creation, including a selection of species forms, quirks and backgrounds. – A list of 25 available Kaiju powers with a description of how each power is applied. – A complete rundown of the Era d10 Rule Set to get you playing right away. – A section filled with GM advice and tips for running Era: Kaiju. – A blank (and easily copyable) character sheet, to get everyone ready to play.
Get in on the ground level for an exciting first adventure into this brand new Era universe of monsters!
– An anthology of 16 stories, by different creators across four continents! – Over 150 pages of content! – It’s celebration of indie creators: all profits from this project go to the creators who submitted (and they did not pay to submit!). – Each story is new for 2024 – it was either released in the last 12 months or has not yet been released! – It’s the fourth New Year, New Stories Anthology (and you can get the first three as well if you want them! – Check the Rewards and the Add-Ons!). – Physical UK and European copies will ship from the UK!
I hope that you’ll join us in bringing these stories to life, and who knows? You may find your new favourite writer!
We’ve just launched our latest game, Era: Dragonsong, on Kickstarter. I say our latest game, but the truth is that this has been around for ten years, ever since shortly after I first wrote Era: The Consortium.
Era: Dragonsong is a High Fantasy Tabletop RPG harnessing the power of the Era d10 system to bring a world of ancient magic and mysterious floating archaeopolises to life!
Unlike many other fantasy settings, where wizards and warlocks are rare and treated with fear or suspicion, the world of Era: Dragonsong sees magic as a fundamental part of everyday life.
With magic flowing through every person and woven into the fabric of society on every level, spells will always be at your beck and call whether you’re a fierce barbarian, a silent monk, or an arcane sorcerer.
How you choose to use the magic is up to you…
Era: Dragonsong is a Tabletop RPG based in a world where magic is as ubiquitous as air or water.
Eight unique races dance to the tune of creation, which is known as the Dragonsong.
Giant floating fortresses of magic and riches float in the skies, moored to the ground by impossibly vast, unbreakable chains. When one of these “archaeopolises” crashes to the ground, then wealth, power – and sometimes ruin – come to those who venture within its dungeon-like halls.
The innovative and balanced approach to magic in the Era: Dragonsong rules allow anyone and everyone to wield amazing abilities, removing the harsh restriction of magic users to be unarmoured, feeble scholars.
A magic user can look like anyone, and in this case, they look like you!
Simply choose what you want from the eight magic schools, divided between Divine and Arcane spells, and set out for adventure into the wilderness beyond.
The Races of the Dragonsong world are divided into the Light races, who live above the surface, in the sunlight, and the Dark races, who dwell in caves, mines, and tunnels.
While neither are inherently good or evil, their cultures and experiences differ radically because of the environment that shaped them.
The Era: Dragonsong rules and setting provide a powerful base for you to tell any fantasy story that you wish. With a combination of races, locations, and ideas (both classic to the genre, and refreshingly original) you’re all set for any adventure your heart desires!
Think Galaxy Quest meets Mission Impossible with a superhero twist – I guarantee you’ll be trying to figure out whether the code to the door really was 1, 2, 3, 4 by the end!
Written by Johnathan Lewis and Ed Jowett, with art by Chucks Jo Seph II and lettering by Jahch, the third issue of Penumbra Adventures brings the story of everyone’s favourite shadow-controlling thief to a close for now… as told by Penumbra.
This campaign is to raise funds to print and ship Penumbra Adventures #3 (and offer you a chance to get the other books as well, if you want!).
If you want to get caught up with our other series like Empowered, Empowered Outsiders, TheBug War and DISARMed, we have tiers for that too!
We’ve just launched our latest Kickstarter, and it’s a big one: the 5th Anniversary of Era: The Empowered has prompted us to go to Kickstarter with a new Definitive Edition book and awesome deals for anyone who wants to catch up with the world!
Claudette is the daughter of an extremely wealthy father, who has lived in privilege all her life… if slightly lonely.
However, when her abilities manifested, she quickly found herself overwhelmed.
Deciding to leave the rest of the world behind for some peace and quiet, she leaves on a long trip…
However, she runs into an unexpected (and perhaps familiar) face, which changes her life for ever.
Her free will removed, she is turned into a weapon by Jan.
This story is my twist on the “Hulk story”
When a person has an amount of power that makes it hard to be around others, they often find themselves wanting to retreat from the world.
While Vigilance’s power is not physical strength, her access to almost infinite knowledge is just as dangerous to the people targeted by her or her controller…
But it’s not possible to keep anyone under control for ever…
We’re still working away over here, and the team and I have been working in particular on the next novel that we want to bring to you, Stardust Falling!
This novel follows the main story of the Core Rulebook, with some awesome and cool additions to the story that we were unable to fit in the Rulebook when it was printed.
Don’t forget to share it, if you think there’s anyone you know who might be interested in an epic novel, whether they are a fan of Era: Lost Legend already or not!
I’m pleased and proud to be able to tell you about our latest Kickstarter, which is a major new direction for Shades of Vengeance, Era: The Empowered and me personally!
OCCUPIED has been brought to life by an amazing team, which includes old favourites such as Jennifer Martin’s writing (Era: The Empowered, Era: Survival) and Leo Cosh as Production Assistant (EraScapes)… as well as brand new people who I am thrilled to add to the team!
This short movie takes place in the Empowered universe, during the time when the Old Gods have risen, claiming the world (“Event Four”).
We’re very grateful for everyone’s support of New Year, New Stories 2023, but we’re still hoping to grow further and give all of these amazing creators more money.
I wanted to take a moment today to talk about the back issues, and remind you that they are obtainable, both in Digital and Physical formats.
These anthologies are an attempt to help indie creators bring their comics to life and they have more or less succeeded in doing that! We’ve been able to give just under $1500 to creators across these two projects, helping them to create more stories for you to enjoy, or even just paying that bill.
At SoV Comics, we believe in good stories, and New Year, New Stories is a great way to help creators who we know well or have never met before bring them to you!
Thanks again for your support, and I’ll be back soon with another update!
New Year, New Stories is a celebration of indie creators, and all profits from it go to the creators who submit. No-one has to pay to be a part of it, either! This project aims to give a voice to amazingly talented people who might otherwise be ignored.
You will find 15 stories in this anthology (and we’ll look at all of them over the next several days!). With creators from SoV Comics affiliated to friends to people we only just got to know, it’s a tour de force from many amazing people. Whether you like superheroes, sci-fi, fantasy, noire or legends in your comics, you’ll love this book!
The anthology book itself will be around 150 pages long, printed on full gloss paper with a finish that will make you smile!
We hope you’ll join us for this project to help support talented but underrated creators across the world (4 continents!).
We believe that everyone has the ability to create! We feel that people should be helped bring their stories and visions to life as a creative project!
After a decade of experience in publishing a variety of critically-acclaimed books, games, comics and audio dramas, we want to help others do the same!
Our veteran creative team have been on stage at conventions all over the UK. We have run over 30 panels at MCM Comicon, plus at UK Games Expo, StrategyGamingCon, and even Animé North in Canada!
Unfortunately, these panels don’t give us the time we want to explain everything in detail!
We have therefore decided to create a podcast to detail how you start, work through and complete your creative project. 17 episodes of this podcast have been recorded, but we want to deliver you the best possible quality production, so we’re seeking a small amount of funding for editing and distribution. This will allow us to bring the podcast to anyone who wants to learn how to be creative!
Hi everyone! Today, we’re doing the third and final post about what’s coming this year, exploring what’s coming from Shades of Vengeance in terms of RPGs, Card Games, Novels and more!
What games have we already had?
We’ve had a pretty busy year! Delivering the artwork for the Era: Forbidden project has continued to be challenging. We have hired two new artists to deliver our latest Core Rulebook as soon as possible.
Enter Era: Survival’s world with Life on Gaia!
As Life on Gaia was so successsful on Kickstarter in January, we will be looking at the collected stories from some of our other games. The History of the Future, the Era: The Consortium novel, was also received very well. We’re planning to continue with Era: Lost Legend’s story next!
We have finished writing and editing Era: The Consortium’s four new expansions. In fact, they are either with the proofreader or with Kickstarter backers already! I’m very pleased with our third wave of expansions, and I know you’ll love them too. I’ll be bringing those onto the store before long, but I don’t have any further plans for Era: The Consortium until next year apart from that!
The first of our 5th Anniversary projects has also complete, with Era: Hitman v1.1 over 350% Funded on Kickstarter. We hope to update several games during the rest of the year, including Era: Balam, a new version of Era: The Empowered (read on to find out more!) and the possibility of an Era: The Empowered Definitive Edition all being discussed within the team! Which would you most like to see?
Encouraging Creativity!
The Writer’s Journey, our “Choose Your Own Adventure” book which helps you learn to write is now available on our store.
After a successful Kickstarter in March, we will be looking at what more we can deliver!
I have an idea about turning our frequent panel, “How to be Creative” into a book. Does that sound interesting to you?
RIGHT NOW: Prototype Games!
We’re in the process of bringing you the chance to try out our prototypes! I’ve been playing several of these at conventions on Discord in recent years, and they are 90% there. I decided that The Era Zone could take on a new form, delivering new games that work with just the Era d10 Fundamentals: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/prototype-era-games?ref=3c3i7m
Upcoming Games
We also have two more games coming this year:
Era: Deadwest has been in a similar difficult place with artwork for some time. This pocket game is otherwise ready, and I’d like to get it out to backers by the end of the year! I will post more about what to expect soon, so keep an eye out!
Adapt has been waiting an extremely long time to come to the world! This light-hearted game came out at work one lunchtime recently and restored my faith that people will enjoy it. I’ve decided to put it on Kickstarter a little later this year, so keep an eye out!
And that’s everything that I have planned right now! I hope that’s enough for you – with at least 2 new games, a novel, prototypes of upcoming work and several expansions, it’s going to be keeping us busy!
This #AudioDramaSunday, join Elliot Draigon as he enters Consortium society on Taranis, something which is much harder than he could ever realise as a 10-year-old child! A Titan’s Rise is one of our major audio dramas. It’s the best time to get acquainted with it, because we just funded Season 2!
A Titan’s Rise is the story of a cyberpunk future where corporations rule three solar systems, and a boy who is separated from his parents by the actions of the corporation-controlled Senate of the Consortium.
We follow Elliot’s life as he grows up alone on Taranis. He quickly learns that his new home has huge secrets, that everyone around him has a hidden agenda. Even an intelligent and driven young man like Elliot is not free of the corporations’ influence on Taranis. As a result, this young man fights back, trying to make his own destiny. His path leads him to Smertios Security, where he trains for the one thing he cares about: commanding a starship.
When the starship Elliot serves on is called into battle to fight the largest enemy fleet encountered in centuries, he is already one of the senior officers. His actions in the fight influence the outcome of this battle, and the shape of the Consortium for years to come.
Can he become the person the Consortium needs him to be? Only time will tell…
It’s a full-cast Audio Drama, voiced by professional voice actors.
Each of the 4 episodes is 20 minutes long, for a total running time of about 1h20m.
Elliot Draigon is destined for greatness…
One day, Elliot will be a powerful voice in the Big Eight! But he has a long way to go.
Era d10 is a fantastically adaptable Rule Set! Over a decade, we’ve brought 10 different game lines to life with Era d10… and we’ve had dozens more ideas that we haven’t managed to publish yet! We’ve also published many issues of The Era Zone, bringing new content for each of our existing games.
Building a Tabletop RPG properly takes a while! There are many aspects to consider, from playtesting new rule ideas to artwork and setting material. But sometimes, you have a quick idea which “just works”, and it has to be put on one side for the ongoing projects. Over the years, we’ve built up a number of these concepts. We hope to publish them one day, but for now, we’re too occupied with other projects.
Enter ZineQuest, bringing you The Era Zone 2022!
We’re not changing what The Era Zone is about – it’s a celebration of universes brought to life by Era d10. But we are changing how we deliver that! This year is going to bring you multiple new worlds to explore and new rules to play with.
Each zine will contain a unique, never-before-printed game that our team has been messing around with for anywhere up to a decade!
We’re starting with our long-awaited fantasy offering, Era: Dragonsong, and then our Era d10 Lite rule set will be introduced with the first Stretch Goal!
Get more games the more we are Funded!
The more we are funded, the more games we will be offering you in the form of Zines. We aim for every Stretch Goal to bring you a new world and game style to experience!
Hi everyone! Today, we’re continuing our series of posts about what’s coming for the rest of this year. Today, I’m talking about each exciting comic that is on its way from SoVComics!
We’ve had a great year already, with Kickstarter funding New Year, New Stories 2022 and Melqart. There’s a lot more to come, though…
I’m finally ready to announce all remaining comic titles that will be part of what we have dubbed “Phase One”!
Comics in Phase 1 so far…
You might be trying to remember all of the comics we have delivered so far, so I thought I’d help!
Of course, these three were combined into the Empowered Volume 1 Trade Paperback!
Blue-Shift #2: Mindgames
Violete #2: Backlash
Penumbra: Tide
These three were combined into the Empowered Volume 2Trade Paperback
Fauna: Community
Lobo: Dauntless
Melqart: Unity
Penumbra Adventures #1 (originally published as Penumbra #1)
Penumbra Adventures #2 (originally published as Penumbra #2: Rise of the Bunny Lord)
Kazuki and the Deathseekers
Cascade, Part 1 Penumbra, Lacuna, Violete and Blue-Shift team up to fight a giant robot in the first of a 3-part series!
And now, onto the new…
Previously Announced Comics: Cascade Parts 2 and 3
The first Empowered team-up faces down Cascade, a robot with seemingly unlimited powers…
We have already announced that Cascade is a 3-part series!
We have completed the Part 2 script, and are writing Part 3. We’re giving our hard-working artist Rahmad Wisnubroto a break for a short while (keep reading to find out why!).
We hope to deliver you Part 2 by the end of the year, assuming schedules allow! We have no wish to work with any other artist, as Rahmad has defined our Empowered Comics from the start.
Cascade is going to be the crowning glory of Phase 1, but it’s far from the only thing we’re working on!
Drift: Heroism (Upcoming Comic)
Drift takes off to fly over her city with her power of density adjustment! Her comic is coming soon.
“Captain Speed”, her city’s favourite hero, makes everything worse! He continually tells her that she should give up – it’s much too dangerous, being a hero.
But the call of heroism is strong for Jessica. Will she choose to give up, or keep trying, despite repeated humiliations? And what’s really behind Captain Speed’s attitude?
The opening of this comic appeared in ‘New Year, New Stories’, but the full comic will be on Kickstarter soon!
Vigilance: Escape (Upcoming Comic)
Claudette’s journey to become Vigilance is not as easy, or voluntary as you might imagine… Find out more in this comic!
Ever since she guest-starred in Penumbra: Tide, we’ve been asked more about Vigilance. This comic is set before her first known appearance, and explores not how she got her powers (I’m well-known for disliking origin stories!), but how she donned the green outfit and learned to fight, given her background.
Claudette begins her adventure by heading out into a remote area. She hopes to avoid using her powers by accident – knowing everything about everyone is not a lot of fun.
However, when she meets a familiar face, she is profoundly affected…
Lobo 2: Suppression (Upcoming Comic)
Lobo is back, and he’s not alone. In this comic, he has allies to help take his fight to the Empress…
That’s right, he’s back! Everyone’s favourite non-Empowered intends to tangle with the Empress of Bones once again.
However, he’s learned his lesson in direct combat, so he goes out to find help. He doesn’t want to team up with someone famous, known to the Empress – he wants the advantage of surprise. As a result, that help takes the form of Savannah, a talented fighter and relatively unknown Empowered.
The Empress of Bones has not been sitting idle during Lobo’s search for help, however. After outfitting her people with a new weapon, based on her own powers, she plans to take over the other cartels and rule the city.
Lobo has to contend with not just her plans, but Savannah’s mysterious secret…
Penumbra Adventures #3 (Upcoming Comic)
Penumbra was in a fix at the end of #2…
We left Penumbra in a precarious position at the end of her second “Adventures” comic. John and I felt strongly that we wanted to finish that story, as well as introduce some more characters.
We’ve written the script and I’m looking for the right artist to finish off this short series. That means you can expect it to come out soon!
Fauna #2: Rampage (Upcoming Comic)
Quinn / Fauna returns in another comic, following his previous adventure.
Fauna’s in a bit of a fix in his latest comic. His sister remembers everything since Jan released her from the mind control, so she now knows his secret.
That’s not going to stop him helping his community, of course. But stories of a man-sized lizard attacking people in the city has everyone concerned, even Fauna himself.
Could he be sleep-changing and giving in to his feral instincts?
And, if he is, what will Jasmine do about it?
Empowered Comics Phase Two
Of course, that’s not all we have planned. Once the above comics are all complete, we’ll be pushing on into Phase Two.
Things are going to change for many of the characters. We’ll see the return of Violete for a three-issue arc, Blue-Shift for two adventures, and Lobo and Fauna will be back of course.
Penumbra won’t be far away, and we’ll have a few new characters joining as well, including Bastion and Wallflower, who will be known to fans of the Era: The Empowered RPG.
We’re very excited for what’s coming, so keep an eye out for some amazing stories!
I’ll be back next week with information about our upcoming RPG releases, so watch this space and I’ll see you then!
This #AudioDramaSunday, you can experience the post-apocalypse in the safest possible way: listen to it, read by a scotsman! Life on Gaia explores the wasteland from our Tabletop RPG, Era: Survival.
Both Life on Gaia and Tales of the Outlands are also available on Audible!
The amazing Leo Cosh reads the stories, bringing the characters to life with his own take on their personalities.
Thanks to careful and detail-oriented directing and editing by Ed Jowett, this horrifying world has come to life in vivid detail!
The Plot of Life on Gaia
A hundred years ago, a biological weapon was set off… or did a parasite evolve? Who cares, really? It was airborne, infectious and attacked Humans – that’s the point.
It’s been a century, 100 years, since the parasites first spread across Gaia. No-one knows where Infection came from and, honestly, no-one cares all that much anymore. Over the last ten decades, one thing has become clear: there will never be a cure.
The number of Humans left alive dwindles every day. Society has splintered, forming Factions. Some promise to save us, offer medicine that can temporarily immunise people against Infection, while others are bent on imposing totalitarian regimes across what remains of society.
This collection of stories is set in the aftermath of a cataclysm. Survivors adapt, and some have goals beyond living each day as it comes, while many form factions, some allied and some pitted against each other in the struggle for limited resources.
This anthology explores the world, factions and dangers of Gaia. Join those who fight to save humanity, those who wish to cleanse the world in flames and those who hide underground waiting for time to be their saviour.
Therefore, in this world, surviving is a matter of wits and cunning….
Hi everyone! Our latest comic brings a new hero to life, as we explore the life of Jessica in Drift: Heroism!
This hero’s journey is a little different to the ones we usually see: while her life is pretty much as perfect as anyone could hope for – friends, good grades in college, and so on – being a superhero is… less than perfect.
The Plot of Drift: Heroism
With only limited ability to control her powers, the city’s favourite hero Captain Speed always telling her to go home to be safe and a lowly mugger outdoing her seemingly at every turn, everything is not simple for Drift.
But there are those who want to see her succeed, as well… and dark secrets that she will uncover about the way crime is fought in this city if she continues.
Hi everyone! I thought I’d take a moment to give a quick glimpse of what’s coming in the rest of this year! We have so much planned that I’m splitting it into three parts. Today, we are looking at the audio projects coming out of our EraScapes division in the near future!
The first thing to say is that A Titan’s Rise Part 2 has been funded. We’re just waiting for our editor to recover from COVID and deliver the version with credits to deliver. Even better news: ATR (as we call it) not one of the things I am counting as “coming”!
The summer heat has delayed a few of our Kickstarters, but we plan to get them to you soon…
Radio Free Taranis Season 2 (Audio Drama, 6 Episodes)
Midnight Terry returns to the airwaves in season 2 of our first Audio Drama!
The second season of our first ever audio drama is complete, edited and will be heading to Kickstarter soon. This exciting second season features more of Terry’s sister faith, played by the amazing Jennifer Hale. And, of course, Midnight Terry has some personal decisions to make now that she has reappeared. With Smertios Security closing in on his secret location, will he decide to continue broadcasting?
Coming soon: An Audio Drama version of our fan-favourite issue 1 to date!
Violete: Unstoppable has been turned into an audio drama, as Lacuna: Revelation and Blue-Shift Frenemies were. It’s ready to go, and we’ll be bringing it to you on Kickstarter as well, after the summer. I’d like to take a moment to thank all involved, but particularly Adam Dergiman for his amazing performance as Rampage and Jade Melhuish for her tenacity as Violete!
A Podcast about being Creative!
I’ve been talking about creating for almost a decade now, visiting conventions around the world. I pride myself on having advised many people on how to approach the significant challenges that exist when approaching a project, especially for the first time. My long-time co-panelist Leo Cosh convinced me that I need to be recording this advice for the benefit of everyone!
As a result, we’ve recorded a podcast, which has just finished editing, called “Trades of Vengeance”. This podcast aims to talk people through my creative process, the rules I follow and the ways I deal with upsets like “Someone else did my idea” or “I don’t know which project to start with!”. If you can’t make those conventions we attend, this should give you everything you need!
As you can see, we’ve been working hard on Audio, and we intend to continue doing so! Join me next week for Part 2 of this series of posts, to find out what else we have planned…
This #AudioDramaSunday, you can enter the Consortium with Midnight Terry as your guide!
Radio Free Taranis is an audio drama based around the life of a disenfranchised member of Taranis’s population. Midnight Terry speaks to anyone who wants to listen every week via pirate radio, informing them of the Big Eight’s activities, the Resistance’s faults and making suggestions about how people can more constructively stand against the Consortium’s evil.
This is a great way to get an idea of how the ordinary people on Taranis see the Consortium and truly experience the world as created!
Get three episodes for free this #AudioDramaSunday!
Midnight Terry is an independently-minded individual whose sister disappeared shortly after getting an excellent job at Hayden Bank. Lost and confused, he began broadcasting, hoping to reach Faith or someone who had seen her.
He quickly realised that he has more to offer than just calling for her. Taranis is crying out for help and advice, and there are very few people willing to give it. As a result, he decided that he would be that person, research the Big Eight’s and the Senate’s corruption and reveal it to the people.
Quickly becoming a hero to many, Terry teamed up with an advertiser and began improving his broadcast…
The Cast
Leo Cosh as Midnight Terry
Ed Jowett as the Edvertiser and the Smertios Security Officer
Hey everyone! This week we have a special #GamemasterMonday with not only a GM, but the creator of the Era Universe – Ed!
Ed’s love for tabletop gaming can be traced back to his youth. When he was five, he received the RPG computer game Megatraveler 1 and fell in love with it. The expansive universe, hundreds of people to talk to and breadth of the world led to him taking notes about who wanted emeralds or what cargo sold best! He later played D&D 2nd Edition and then 3rd Edition.
His first experience as a GM was with running a game of Paranoia, mainly because the large group had to split in two and didn’t have a second GM! As the group explored various games, he also took a strong liking to Vampire the Masquerade, the Storyteller system from which eventually inspired the Era d10 rule set.
When I asked Ed what his favourite book to write was, he answered “Era: The Consortium” without hesitation, going on to explain that it is the culmination of his lifelong love of sci-fi.
His favourite game to GM is Era: Forbidden, however, because it runs with smaller groups and allows you more time to have character development. You can find him running these two games almost weekly on our Discord server!
“I always felt like I was destined to tell stories, and when you’re GM’ing and you have a committed group in the right place, the story flows naturally. The kind of stories that unfold there can move you, or surprise you, or make you feel like humanity can achieve anything. It stops being only you who has a say when that happens.”
When I asked him what he wanted to say to new players, Ed replied that he wants you to know that all of our GM’s are experienced in helping new people and a vast majority of them had never run a game before… but it’s also super easy to pick up and learn. Most people can pick up the system and be playing within 20 minutes!
You can always join our Discord (https://discord.gg/6C4H9Cv) and play for free before you buy a Rulebook to see if it’s the right fit for you!
Everyone is welcome to join us for that, for as long as there are spaces (and if we run out, we’ll be pleased to offer more sessions!). Just hop on Discord (https://discord.gg/6C4H9Cv) and let us know that you’re interested in playing!
If Discord doesn’t work for you for some reason, let us know in the comments below, we’ll find a way to let you play!
I don’t believe that our games are finished when they are printed and sent into the world.
The only way that the best quality can be delivered consistently is by being aware of what it takes beyond the playtesting and printing. Some of the additions that I created for The Era Zone, along with thoughts I’ve had about the character sheet, make excellent improvements to this game, so I decided to re-visit our most popular Pocket game.
I’ve been working on improving Era: Hitman for some time, and I’m certain that you’ll like the results. The book now includes: – A mission generator, originally published in The Era Zone, which I have used a dozen times at conventions to create instant, awesome sessions! – A brand new character sheet, which includes usage costs for the Kinetic Abilities and a rearrangement of the elements. – Several small fixes / typos / rewordings that were needed from v1.0 – and much more…
Join us to bring this new version to life by funding a print run of physical copies and making the dream of a bigger, better Era: Hitman a reality!
This is the culmination of almost 4 years of work, through adversity, the fall of governments, the pandemic and more, so we’re very happy to present this second chapter in the story of Elliot Draigon.
But it’s more than that…!
A Titan’s Rise Season 2 also goes beyond everything we have explored in the Consortium so far, pushing into the end of 452CE and hinting at what’s coming next in the universe’s epic story. You’ll hear what’s coming here first, as well as starting to get some hints about how all of the disparate events in the Consortium fit together!
For anyone who already knows the Audio Drama, there are options to just get hold of Season 2, but a remastered version of Season 1 with additional music has also been created for your enjoyment by the amazing Michael Herrman who took over the editing of Season 2!
I hope you’ll join us in making this dream, and the next step of the Consortium’s story, a reality.
–It’s celebration of indie comics which are new for 2022!
The project was conceived as a way to raise awareness of the indie comic artists who would normally rely on conventions to spread the word about their work.
With 2019 and 2020 seeing loads of cancelled conventions, the SoV Comics team came together with several other indie creators to share their expertise in crowdfunding and generate the deserved excitement about some of the stories that you probably didn’t even know were published!
–An anthology of 15 comics between 6 and 12 pages long.
That’s right, there are 15 separate stories in this anthology, which comes to 156 pages in total!
These are just a taste of the work of these amazing creators – each story also features a “links page” which allows you to find out more about your favourite creators in the anthology.
And don’t worry, there is plenty of material from me, including sneak peeks at the upcoming Vigilance: Escape and Drift: Heroism Empowered comics, and a re-write of the older Kazuki and the Deathseekers, which I was never entirely happy with!
There’s loads more detail on the Kickstarter page, so check it out to learn more about the stories.
–It’s the second anthology of its type.
The level of support that appeared for the indie creators who submitted to the anthology last year was amazing! Don’t worry if you missed it, we’re offering the chance to catch up by getting hold of New Year, New Stories 2021 through this Kickstarter…
Check the Kickstarter to see photos of the previous print, giving you an idea of what to expect from 2022’s anthology!
–They all came out during 2021 or are yet to be released…
Every story in New Year, New Stories 2022 either came out in the last twelve months… or hasn’t been published at all elsewhere yet!
Nothing’s stopping the creators doing that, if they wish, but these are some of the freshest stories from these amazing creators, so check them out and help bring them to reality!
