Age of Iron: Known Lands

I think I have figured out the core region that this 'new' format for Age of Iron would take. Basically, it's my take on WH's Old World, but I'm sure you already know that. However, I have a few changes that I hope will make it stand out.

KNOWN LANDS
Aquilla: Aquilla is my 'Empire', but is instead based on the later days of the Byzantine Empire. It's the major power in the region, but it is waning. It also contains the megalopolis of Lygos, which is my Constantinople and is an important place in the setting's lore.

The Barrens: A buffer area between Aquilla and the east, haunted by goblinoids and bandits. Basically the Badlands, but patroled by pseudo-templars

Couronne: Bretonnia without the Lady of the Grail, but still with knights and decadent nobility

Drakenlanda: Scandinavian raiders mixed with a bit of Anglo-Saxon, but not explicitly chaotic like most Norscans. They are generally just untrusted. Think Ferelden from Dragon Age

Hespia: Spain/Estalia, but more at the beginning of their empire rather than post-Reconquista. A little more Arabic influence too

Khazagul Dum: The realms of the dwarves, I'm highly considering this being placed in the Alps rather than in an eastern range of mountains that serves as a border.

Marcher Baronies: This is my Holy Roman Empire, and is a bit more true to the reality of the HRE - a loose collection of kingdoms united under a figurehead emperor. Basically, I switched the Border Princes and the Empire.My not-Netherlands is also here.

Ruthen: My Russia/Poland, pretty similar to Kislev but more explicitly descendants of nomadic Scythian-esque cultures. I might put my Sylvania here, maybe in Aquilla depending

Tir Annwn: Wood elves, but a lot more Celtic/Pictish than WH makes them out to be. Tir Annwn is my version of Athel Loren.

Viteli: Italy, with pretty similar ideas to Tilea as a state of merchants and mercenaries. One of the more cut and dry places, but it DOES include a Sartosa-type area for pirating.

My plan is to do how WFRP 1e did and keep the rest of the world at about a paragraph per area. A quick overview is:

West: High Elves in a psuedo-England, the Caribbean, S America ruled by lizardmen, N. America by the way of colonial America via siabra
South: Otttoman Empire, Undead Egypt, Mali/Ghana, Ethiopia, and Bantu states
East: Darklands-like area, Mongol-esque Ogres, China, India, Japan and SE Asia
North: Chaos Wastes combined with Eastern steppes
Other: Skrzzak empire underground

Hopefully, this organization will help me get a little more focused and reduce the work down a good deal, as well as leaving the rest of the world relatively mysterious

Age of Iron Update

Hello all, hope everything is going as good as it can in our modern age (which is saying a lot, sadly). I'm here with some updates about Age of Iron!

Sadly, the update is I've somewhat hit a wall. I look at the earliest files for the setting (back when it was called the 300 Years War), and I realize I've been working on this thing for nearly two years. Which isn't expressly bad, but the amount of work I've put in isn't nearly close enough to legitimize two years of work.

It has basically fueled a drive in me to get rid of the damn thing - not trash it, but get it to as close as a publishable form as I can get it. Which kind of results in my analyzing the content and seeing what I can drop or alter.

I'm starting to see the merit of a more 'regional' setting instead of trying to cover the whole world. Blue Rose's Aldea, Warhammer's Old World, Kings of War's Mantica, Forgotten Realm's Sword Coast, Dragon Age's Thedas, The Witcher's Continent, Warmachine's Iron Kingdoms and many other settings pack their entire narrative into concentrated regions - leaving the rest of the world implied or vaguely described.

This solves a lot of issues I was running into, such as unfamiliarity/lack of expertise with non-Western nations, trying to compact global religions into a few broad archetypes, and making the scope too 'epic' for a dark fantasy game.

I've been trying to figure out how to best progress with this change, but any opinions or guidance ya'll can offer regarding it would be much appreciated

The Sixgun Hack - Released!

It's finally here! Strap on your spurs and mount your stallion, because we're headed out! Pick it up for free at my itch.io page!

https://tanneryea.itch.io/the-sixgun-hack

As for what's next, I'm still working on a Weird West expansion for it which should be done hopefully soon-ish. Mostly I'm stuck on how many magical classes to have, but it's going good so far!

The Sixgun Hack - Delta Available

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bf6rjdh9vblv5b2/sixgun%20hack_delta.pdf?dl=0

It's an exciting day, as I can present to you the Delta of the Sixgun Hack! By Delta, I mean this is basically 100% complete besides some numbers being moved around or slight layout changes. Hopefully you all like it!

Changes to the Delta:

-Added starting gear for each class
-Removed Hazards, replaced with Loot & Bounties and Crime & Justice sections
-Added a map for Durango County

What's next for the Sixgun Hack? I will hopefully get it uploaded to either OneBookShelf or itch.io (probably itch.io) in the coming weeks. I also have an expansion in mind - a Weird West one! This will feature four new classes, magic for each, fear mechanics, playable revenants, and a whole pacel of monsters from American/Native folklore and Weird West stories. I also want to include a similar setting to Durango County, but it might be a more macro overview of my Weird West America.

The Sixgun Hack - Ruffian or Settler?

First off, I hope all of you who have looked at the Sixgun Hack have been enjoying it so far. I hope to have a new beta in a few days - nothing major, just some clean up.

However, I did have a question: I am currently batting around the idea of replacing the Settler class with a melee focused class called the Ruffian. The Ruffian could be any kind of rough and tumble laborer, ranch hand or wandering Eastern monk type.

My reasoning for this is I am on the fence on if 'mundanes' should be playable in the game or just background color. I know doctors, dentists and lawyers feature in Western stories, but they generally fold into a person's past. Doc Holiday was a dentist, but he was really a Maverick as an example.

If I did this, I'd also have to change the Trailblazer into a Scout, as the ability overlap would be too great between the two.

Please let me know which you would prefer - the Trailblazer and Settler or Scout and Ruffian. I do want to keep the class selection at 4, so that's why the question is posed.

Let me know in the comments!

Edit: Here are the drafts of the two classes for comparison purposes

Scout

Starting HP: 1d8+4

HP Per Level/Resting: 1d8

Weapons: All, prefer long range

Attack Damage: 1d6 Armed/1d4 Unarmed or Improvised

Special Features

Survivalist: When in a natural environment, roll with Advantage when tracking, moving silently, navigating, finding food and calming wild animals.

Alert: Roll with Advantage when testing WIS to notice danger, detect traps and avoid ambushes. Scouts can also never be surprised.

Hunter: A Scout can spend an action to declare a creature their target. When attacking the target, Scouts add their level to the damage dealt. A Scout can only have one target at a time.

Leveling Up

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for CON and an attribute of your choice.

Ruffian

Starting HP: d10+4

HP Per Level/Resting: 1d10

Weapons: Any, prefer melee

Attack Damage: 1d8 Unarmed or Armed/1d6 Improvising

Special Features

Athletic: Advantage on tests to jump, climb, tumble, swim or perform any other feat of athleticism.

Tough: Ruffians have 2 AP. This can stack with a shield, but nothing else.

Brawler: Gain an additional attack per turn when fighting unarmed or with melee weapons. Gain a further (3 total) per turn on reaching 5th level.

Leveling Up

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for STR and an attribute of your choice.

Age of Iron Update

Hello all! Sorry for no AoI update in a while. That doesn't mean I haven't been working on it!

Basically, I realized doing these blog posts put me back at square one production wise. I was basically re-writing the whole supplement/setting again, which I didn't want to do considering all the work I've already put into it.

I have gone back to editing my main Google Docs document, and I'm getting to a good point. I've also included two new entries - an entry for Lygos, elevating its importance and basically turning it into AoI Marienburg, and most likely an entry for the as-of-yet unnamed southern continent that is my not-Southern Wastes/Terra Australis.

In addition to finishing the broad descriptions of the regions, I need to go back and punch them up to make them more dark fantasy. They aren't exactly high fantasy right now, just more historical fantasy. Just want to put a slightly grim sheen on everything if I can.

So that's that, and hopefully I'll have more updates soon. Thanks for sticking around!

Age of Iron: Al-Hilal

Inspiration: Morocco post-Reconquista, transitioning from the Almohad to the Marinid dynasty, but also a general 'Arabia'

Stretching from the shimmering southern shores of the Middle Sea into the deadly majesty of the Great Desert, Al-Hilal is a land rife with mystery and conflict. Originally founded by desert tribesmen led by the man who would later be called Mazdah, Al-Hilal grew to such heights and riches that for a time it held Hespia under its sway. This all ended with the Great Crusade, which not only weakened the country but planted sedition within it. Though the nation is still powerful and rich, rebellion and hubris has slowly been eating away at it internally - threatening to consume the empire in a civil war or perhaps something worse.

Lay of the Land

Al-Hilal overall is a dry, arid and blisteringly hot country. Most settlements lie either on the coasts of the Middle Sea or the Great Ocean where the land is fertile and trade routes are plentiful. Past the sprawling Atla Mountains, the country quickly turns into the untracked and golden Great Desert - where water is a dream outside of a few rare oasis. Many nomadic tribes live in the desert, making their living as guides and merchants, but countless beasts and bandits also hide among the dunes. Al-Hilal shares a border with Khmet, but so far the Caliph's forces have been able to pick off the few undead sent beyond the cenotaphs.

Politics and Government

Al-Hilal is a theocracy that strictly follows the faith of Mazdah, interpreting most secular and religious matters from the holy text The Word of Law. Caliph Abu Dabbus serves as both the head of state and head of the faith, administering all the land that Mazdah once conquered centuries ago. In reality he only directly rules his imperial holdings - the rest of Al-Hilal is divided between sultans, emirs and sheikhs who have varying alliances and loyalties to the Caliph. Many in the north still pledge allegiance to the Caliph and Al-Hilal, but more and more southern settlements are rebelling or declaring outright independence from the nation.

People and Culture

Many in Europa, especially in Hespia, view Al-Hilal as aggressive, war-mongering fanatics, but the opposite is more true. Al-Hilal's booming trade and centers of learning have made its peoples rich, educated, proud, determined and spiritual - in fact, in very few places will you find better hospitality than a Sultan's household, a Mazdahan temple or one of the country's universities. Unfortunately, not everything is so progressive - inequality is rampant thanks to a fairly strict class system, not to mention much of Al-Hilal's economy is built upon a massive chattel slavery trade across the Great Desert that has flourished over the centuries.

Locations

The cities of Al-Hilal are large and grand, built out of sandstone, granite and marble and replete with gardens, baths, domed palaces, resplendent archways and beautiful temples. They are built to keep the buildings cool during the blazing days and warm during the frigid nights. Many settlements within the Great Desert are just sprawling nomadic camps, able to be struck down and picked up with relative ease.

Anfa is known as a city of thieves, trade and danger. Almost anything you desire can be found for sale in the markets of Anfa, from the most innocent kettle to dark artifacts of Corruptive power. Much of the city is indirectly controlled by a large network of thieves, assassins and bandits, so illicit trade is often under constant watch by those who would prefer to keep the upper hand in all the transactions that enter Anfa.

Murrkus is the capital of Al-Hilal, located near the coast of the Great Ocean. Murrkus is full of sprawling bazaars, esteemed universities of scholastic and magickal study, beautiful temples, and of course the royal palace of the Caliph. Murrkus is also considered the most holy city in the Mazdahn faith, meaning thousands of supplicants across Tellus make pilgrimages here yearly to best honor the great prophet of their creed.

Salli is oftentimes known as the 'pirate city.' Located on the Middle Sea coast, the corsairs of Salli sail throughout the sea performing razzias (raids) on coastal Europan towns - capturing their residents to eventually sell back in the slave markets of Salli. The navies of Europa have tried to prevent these raids as best as they can, but the corsairs are too well armed and too efficient to slow down very significantly.

Ubar is a lost city supposedly deep within the Great Desert. Once grand and opulent, it's said Corruption consumed the city in fire and violence. Now Ubar shifts in and out of the Material Plane, occasionally unleashing demons or dark warriors into Al-Hilal's wilds. It's believed Ubar holds many treasures, but those explorers who have tried to approach the 'Mirage City' are either slain or disappear without a trace.

Conclusion

Sorry for the delay on this one. I've noticed the hardest part of these entries is writing the locations. They aren't difficult, just kind of more research and time consuming than general research/development on the region as a whole. As for what's next I'm not sure - might go eastward into Aswai, might do dwarves, or I might just do one or two smaller posts about the setting in general. Stay tuned!