Hirelings, a Review

So while we were at GenCon Indy this year (for the first time) we met John Harris, an awesome fellow with a board game to kickstart. That board game was Hirelings: the Ascent, and its family friendly, putting you and your companions in the shoes of level-less hirelings who's adventurers are dead. You're carrying their backpacks, stuck in the bottom of a dungeon (in this case a dragon's cave), and the dragon is about to breath a roaring cone of fire through all the tunnels and scorch you alive.

Sound like an amazing game premise? It is. Being level 0 stuffhaulers and bodymen, you come into the dungeon with a backpack full of stuff that belonged to the (now dead) adventuring party. However, as it isn't your pack you don't really know what's packed in there. Magical items, generally helpful, fill it to the brim. You have a limited supply of these and they may help you to get out... but you don't get to decide what you're grabbing, you simply dip your hand in and pull out something that may (or may not) be worthwhile to you.

But don't be fooled! Those items are ALSO your health! If the fireball catches up to you, you need to lighten your load to put on some extra speed, thus throwing off one of your treasures from the backpack. If you have none left to ditch, you're done, mate: fried, cooked, annihilated! No more running for you. This simple game design manages to capture the frantic frenetic pace of a real escape very well.

GenCon Digestion, the Report

We set off for GenCon a merry crew, three travelers in a tub-sized ship with naught but the endless stretches of I-80 before us and nothing behind save the lives that we had lived. We had stocked ourselves with provisions and then made off into the wild blue; our GPS told us where to go and we had no other thought but than to follow it to the ends of the earth or Indiana: whichever came first.

We found ourselves rather quickly entering Pennsylvania hill country along the great stretch of the trucking route I-80. On either side rose the wooded climbs, wild and mountainous. Occasionally a dell or little vale would be visible, the hills drawing back for a brief moment to reveal a steep fold in the land populated by pines and hardy oaks. The cocooning webs of spiders were everywhere, lending the endless forest a sinister aspect and the settlements of man were thin and far between. There were lonesome farmsteads and isolated cottages but it was a long way between the coal-mining villages that were speckled across the hills.

From Pennsylvania to Ohio we came, barreling out of the high hills and into the great level lowlands of the plain. Forbidding wilderness was replaced with girdles of tamed land: farms, acres and acres of them in all directions. Trucks along the great arterial road were now seen to be carrying massive blades, as of wind-farms that must reside somewhere in the state. We stopped but once at Grandpa's Cheesebarn along the road to stock up on delicious delicacies before we shipped out once more towards Indiana.

Crossing the border, we encountered more churches than I have ever seen before in my life. Billboards proclaiming the religious epiphanies of Christ and Tom Raper were everywhere. I don't think I've ever felt so uncomfortable before, or so much like an East Coast Librul.

More GenCon

Spotty internet connections in the hotel (the Clarion Northwest) mean that I've been unable to post another blog. I don't have a whole lot of time now, either, because the Con is closing down at around 5 today and we got some serious gaming to do.

I will briefly mention John Harris and Prolific Games as they have built (and taught us, through a playable demo) a great boardgame known as Hirelings, the ascent. I'm definitely going to do a review of it when I get home, since it was amongst our favorite things at the Con entirely -- we played it twice through and considered playing it a third time.

Of course, True Dungeon was also amazing and we're looking forward to doing that again next year. Yeah, I know, it uses the 3rd edition (d20) rules as a base, but what can you do? I'm sure no matter how hard I ask they won't revert it to AD&D.

Plenty of other stuff to talk about, but I want to take my time and compose my thoughts properly before I post about 'em. For your benefit, here are some pictures of Frank running from a dragon.

GenCon, The First Day

So we arrived in Indianapolis at around 8:45 last evening. I hadn't had a WHOLE lot of sleep, what with preparing the adventure and all, so I slept until 10am this morning, missing the entire wizards panel and announcement about the future of D&D and all that jazz.

The room is ungodly hot and the air conditioning doesn't really work, so we have to stew in a roomful of hot air. We discovered a repetition on one of the pages of the Adventurer's Guide to the Imperial City, so now anything I hand to Bruce Heard or Ed Greenwood is gonna have this weird page duplicate.

Having never been to GenCon before and having failed to get up early enough to go to the Wizards panel or any of that I don't have a whole lot to report right now. That will change as the day goes on, and further reports from GenCon will come in as the day progresses.

BEHOLD AND TREMBLE

Well, my friends, the day has come. The Adventurer's Guide to the Imperial City is now available for download absolutely for free.

What's still coming? Well, more 10th Age character sheets, two adventures (Sordid Stories of the Mother City and Malvolio's Universal Mind), and other great stuff including a hard copy of the Guide to the Imperial City available through Lulu.

Buckle in, kids. It's gonna be a wild ride.

Excerpt 2: Miles and more Miles

Since this is what I'm working on at the moment and because its consuming every spare moment of my time, this is what you guys get to see. Today, it is Hamish writing about the history of Miles.

Ancient History

Miles was originally settled in the late 3rd or early 4th Age by southmen fleeing from the jungle-land of Zesh. The first settlers founded their hilltop town on what is now Pillar Hill. The artisanal class from Zesh built the original Faberlaine wall which girdles the central hill.

In those days it was the only city for rods and rods around, and it commanded a view of the river-fords as well as the great Gigantine lowlands. The original city was very small, composing only the narrow lanes of the hill. It wasn’t until the middle 4th Age that it began to expand, spilling its boundaries. It was during that time that the Tour Wyrmais was built. If you can believe it, this ancient Milean tower was constructed on a hill outside the city, though it is now well within the outermost set of walls.

Excerpt: The Adventurer's Guide to Miles

Rough Map of Miles

We've been preparing rapidly to take the 10th Age on the road to GenCon. Our offering this year is going to be a free booklet (though it is starting to look more like a book now) and we're really struggling to get all the art and text in on time. Here are some entries from the book, culled at random, and above is the rough map that I've worked out for Stephen and Danny to turn into a real piece of art.

Enjoy, and look for more (free!) at GenCon!

Wizards and Weapons, sketches for Gencon

So, my faithful friends and I are putting together a quick book on the city of Miles to hand out at GenCon in about a month. Of course, this means a frantic scramble to get the thing completed, but it has caused my two artistes to bloom in ways I never thought possible: the rapid approach of a deadline seems to encourage prolificality.

For today, then, I present to you some sketches by Stephen Doolittle and Danny Perdue, the two artists who are imagining the 10th Age right alongside me. They are liable change, and I will try to give a little info about each one.

Figure A is a study of a Milean sword; the lack of cruciform hilt here is important; I've tried to stay away from any and all cruciform weaponry.

Figure B is a goblin sailor of some kind who has presumably shaved his natural fur, perhaps to better facilitate his work at sea.

Figure C are some of Steve's other sword designs and a wizard with a cowl lurking away on the right.

Figure D is one of my favorites, a Dorlish wizard (note the near-Renaissance garb common in Dorlan) staring at his cat familiar who apparently has been telling him lies.

Figure E is, of course, the venerable Solon the Silent who will eventually be in full color.

Figure F is Danny's study of various sword types. Starting at the upper left, we have a Milean arming sword, an ancient southman escurus (so arcane and obscure in today's Age that no one except a scholar of ancient history would even recognize it for what it was), a dwarven shortsword wrought with runes, and an elven scimitar designed, like so many elvish weapons, to mimic shapes found in the natural world.

If you're looking for a copy of the Miles book, we may make it available after GenCon. It's a player's sourcebook for the city, written by Hamish Letterfriend and directed specifically to adventuring audiences. We hope to include a short adventure pamphlet for DMs as well as a map and some other incidentals.

The Great Gencon Adventure

Having never been to GenCon before, this trip is assuming something of a Meccan quality to it. I have been in consultation with some of my players and we are working on producing a free hand-out by the time GenCon rolls around—an "Adventurer's Guide to the City of Miles" with a small DM's pamphlet which will contain an actual runnable adventure.

IF you're going to GenCon, I hope to see you there. For now, I'm in overdrive as I try to finish my second manuscript (Heavenly Devices) as well as the Adventurer's Guide.