I’ve very kindly been given permission by the good people at Pelgrane Press to publish my setting book for 13th Age. Just have to finish it now.
One of the things I simply must do is find a snappy pitch for it, because right now it goes a little like this:
It’s a setting book really, as well as a supplement. It’s got scads of adventure hooks as well as some that are fully realised. It’s got locations, items and creatures too. It’s written in a certain style that is designed to be vague, yet inspirational, yet compelling. It’s tricky to describe. It’s set in a swamp, the Knee Deep, but none of the stuff in it is totally dependent on marshes. You could pick it up and drop it into a desert without much trouble. It uses the idea of icons to generate agendas and plots, so depending on your group you’ll get a different experience each time. It’s got stacks of homages in it too, mostly to other gaming stuff. It’s got art, which I also did. And it’s free. At the moment I’m calling it “up to our necks in the Knee Deep” but that might change into something like Mire Miscellanae. I dunno.
See? It needs to be a one or two liner.
Anyhow, it’s well on its way to being done, so here’s a preview of a small chapter.
Things you might experience in the Knee Deep when it’s not important:
Sounds
Repetitive slosh, slosh, slosh, like an oar in the water
The quork of a raven
The brush of a hunting owl
A sharp crack, like a branch, or a bone
A sucking sound
The scream of a trapped animal
The lowing of an ox
A bell tolling
Laughter
Ugly rumours, unsubstantiated
Utter silence
The buzzing of flies
Sights
Rolling clouds of fog
Moss shrouded branches
Clouds of tiny insects
Stream of bubbles in the water
Snares, pots, and animal traps
A wake
A single footprint, filling with water
A smashed potion bottle
Dead fish, floating
Fungal bloom
A gibbous moon
Mozart records, copies of the Crabapple Cove Courier & the Boston Glove, letters from ‘Peg’.
Feelings
A cool breath of air
Trickling sweat
Stinging insects
Oppressive heat
Clinging humidity
Swollen toes
Clammy skin
Hacking cough
A presence
Is that… a leech?
Trepidation
Cobwebs on your face
Scents
Each other
Rotten flowers
Carrion stench
Fear
Marsh gas
Decay
Spore burst
Peaty mush
Dead leaves
Stagnant water
Ordure
Bitter almond
Fauna
Pigs, snuffling
Scavenger birds, feeding
Oxen, grazing
Birds, wading
Dragonfly, darting
Alligator!
Flying ants, swarming
Snakes!
Turtles, chewing
Toads and frogs, croaking and hopping
Rats, squeaking
Bats, flitting
