Hi everyone! The Anonassi are not stupid. They realise they are beginning to lose in the Third Era, and they begin to deploy new weapons to the battlefield. These take two major forms, each as horrific as the other. Of course, being the Anonassi, these won’t be mechanical weapons… ———————————————————————————————————————– A cold grey sky swept…
Hi everyone! What music enhances your game? There’s no way I could answer this question without mentioning two people. The first is Leo Cosh, who was a fan when I first met him, interested in doing a university project about Era: The Consortium for his dissertation. Now, he’s working as the head of EraScapes, our…
Hi everyone! Home Base, the latest of our Era: The Consortium expansions, is now available on our Store in both Digital and Paperback versions! Digital: https://www.shadesofvengeance.com/product/era-the-consortium-home-base-expansion-digital/ Paperback: https://www.shadesofvengeance.com/product/era-the-consortium-home-base-paperback/ This expansion allows you to define your base – you can choose an on-planet facility, a mobile spaceship, or a space station: each has its own benefits and drawbacks….
Hi everyone! I’m going to fast-forward once again, this time to the third era of the Anonassi War. Here’s a story from the start of that era… but things won’t always be so easy… ———————————————————————————————————————– The small group of Chosen lay quietly on the crest of a nearby hill, they looked down at the group…
Hi everyone! Another day, another RPG question! What art inspires your game? As most of you know, I have a tradition of getting the best art that I can. I feel it’s really important to explain the feeling of the world, which is really the key to people understanding the game overall. I’ve had the honour…
Hi everyone! And we have now reached the final Chosen Clan, the Chike. The Chike do not believe in relying on Human-made weapons to combat the Anonassi. Instead, they choose to enhance their biology, mutating themselves when in the presence of their enemies. This leads to powerful abilities, from near-invulnerability to superior Strength, similar to…
Hi everyone! Artwork is still proceeding. I know, I have said that quite a lot recently! I have several more sketches from Keith now, which represent all of the remaining images for Era: The Empowered. He has also finished a few more – the featured image has gone from nothing to a finished piece since…
Hi everyone! Today, I’m to “Describe the best compliment you’ve had while gaming.” That’s not an easy one – as most people know, very few GMs get much in the way of compliments. I think there are a few which I particularly remember, even if they weren’t directly meant as compliments: – “We’ve been playing…
Hi everyone! Era: The Chosen is taking a lot of the headlines this week (unsurprisingly, as it launched yesterday on Kickstarter! Don’t forget to check it out if you didn’t already). However, there’s a lot of other stuff going on over here at Shades of Vengeance! Evil Overlord is still in printing (see below), but…
Hi everyone! Dark Fever continued to be a killer in Harbour City for generations. No-one knew how to stop it until one of the Chike family, one of the larger clans present in the city finally figured it out. As they had got too close to the truth about the Anonassi, in the eyes of…
Hi everyone! Today, I’m supposed to “Describe your plans for your next game.” As I released a game on Kickstarter, I find that question just slightly ironic! My next game is going to be the second session of my hitherto very successful Era: Lost Legend playtest campaign! The characters managed to escape Stardust City and have…
Hi everyone! Today, I’m asked to “Describe a tricky RPG experience that you enjoyed.” Again, I am not having too much trouble with this one, as one particular occasion stands out in my mind – Con-Tingency 2018. Con-Tingency is a UK convention run by a fantastic team of people and, if you live in the UK,…
Hi everyone! And another “Describe”. I think these ones will tend to be a little longer! Describe a failure that became amazing. Only one thing comes to mind for that, from an early playtest of Era: “High Fantasy”. A character called up to a fort, asking to be let in in an area which had…
Hi everyone! Some great news for fans of Era: Hitman, our modern, “assassins with superpowers” game today: a number of support materials have just been released on DriveThruRPG! For the first time, you can get hold of a campaign which we wrote specially for Era: Hitman’s Kickstarter, “Two Wrongs”. This 3-session story follows a “simple…
Hi everyone! Getting to the CEO’s office only opened the door to new problems, as the team now have to deal with the CEO’s assistant, who is present. How will they hide their activities from her watchful eye? Find out here: https://youtu.be/s5hQ43ItCF8 Join Ed (the creator of Era: The Consortium) and the regular crew as they…
Hi everyone! Week 3 is a sequence of “Describe” questions… beginning with: Describe how your play has evolved. My play primarily involves being a GM. I think the way I plan has changed a lot since I started creating games. Now, while I have the option to plan sessions in endless detail, I more often give…
Hi everyone! Today’s question is (What is your) Wildest character concept? I think I’m probably relatively boring when it comes to concepts! There are so many in my group who have come up with better than me. However… One of the early Era: The Consortium games included a character named Mary, who was a Hayden Bank…
Hi everyone! I have some great news for all fans of Sci-Fi out there, as Era: Balam is now not only available in the Era d10 Rule Set, but also running on the Savage Worlds rules! This special version of Era: Balam was written as a Kickstarter reward for our space fighters game, and is…
Hi everyone! Day 11 and the #RPGaDay2018 guys are asking: (What is the) Wildest character name (you have come across)? Well, I have quite a few. There’s one member in my regular group in particular who has come up with gems (Martian Pants Man, who wishes he was called “Forethought”, but the name stuck and…
Hi everyone! Even though I don’t have a huge amount to show, I wanted to assure you that we are still working, and new images are coming in daily. The featured image might look pretty empty (and, in fact, it is, because that’s the Training Ground with no-one in it for the “Locations” Section of…
Hi everyone! For Day 10, the question is almost impossible for me to answer: How has gaming changed you? I am a tabletop RPG creator, I’m a writer, an art director, a project manager for the books, a publisher, a distributor, I run a company which does all of these things and more. Without gaming, my…
Hi everyone! I have another story today, from our amazing writing team. This one takes place in the Second Era, when scientific research begins to make progress, and new ways of fighting the Anonassi are discovered… – Ed ———————————————————————————————————————– It had taken years of constant change, upgrades, additions and even the building of a new…
Hi everyone! In about a week, we’re going to be putting Era: The Chosen – our horror game – up on Kickstarter. So I thought now would be a great time to remind you what it’s all about! Our universe is under siege. Most people don’t realise it – that feeling of a hand reaching…
Hi everyone! I suspect my answer to this question will be a little unique, because of my perspective as a creator: How has a game surprised you? For me, I’ve never been more surprised than about the fact that people like Era: Survival so much! I worked hard, as I do on every one of my…
Hi everyone! I have great news for everyone who likes Era: The Empowered today – Violete: Unstoppable, our fifth comic in the Empowered Universe, is available now on our Store! https://www.shadesofvengeance.com/product/violete-unstoppable-digital/ https://www.shadesofvengeance.com/product/violete-unstoppable-paperback/ Violete is a superhero with super strength and flight, but that doesn’t mean life is easy. She thought “the hero thing” wouldn’t be…
Hi everyone! Day 8 asks one of my favourite RPG questions: How can we get more people playing? I think it’s about offering more than just one thing, and raising the visibility of the indie community. There are hundreds of great games out there, and you don’t have to play D&D to enjoy Tabletop RPGs. Some…
Hi everyone! Day 7’s question is How can a GM make the stakes important? I have a couple of ways I do this and it actually features in one of my demo sessions, which I run regularly at conventions. The stakes that most players care about are their character’s survival and prosperity. In Era: Survival and…
Hi everyone! I have some fantastic news for you today, because Free Trader, the first of our Wave 2 expansions, has just been released on DriveThruRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/247173/Era-The-Consortium–Free-Trader Some of you may be familiar with this book already, but for those who aren’t, it provides the rules and information for trading and piracy within the Consortium!…
Hi everyone! With Nara rescued, the team proceed to the CEOs office. Join me (Ed) as the GM and the rest of the crew as they enter the world of Era: The Consortium: https://youtu.be/ffcoFS6z1o8 But when the lift does work “properly”, they are forced to improvise and adapt. How well will the team cope with this…
Hi everyone! Onto week two, and the list asks How can players make a world seem real? I think that players can make the world seem real by immersing themselves into it. I am running a playtest for Era: Lost Legend at the moment and, although the world is a little ridiculous at times, I think…