Indie RPGs     


 

Coming Soon:

The Dragon vs The Gun - Ashcan version

Labyrinths & Lycanthropes - Ashcan version

Best Men: Elizabethan Super Heroes

News of Darkness

29/09/2007 -    Oncoming Darkness.

 The print version of Piledrivers & Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness is  released on November 5th. Bonfire night battle royale!

I'm hosting a P&P launch party on Saturday 3rd November. There will be drinks snacks and wrasslin action a plenty.

It's an impending ashcan frenzy! Labyrinths & Lycanthropes , The Dragon vs The Gun and Game X are all pencilled in for an ashcan release at Dragonmeet, in December. This may be pushing it a bit but that's the fun part...

The pdf prices have been slashed on the online shop - don't say I never do nothing for ya!

 

26/08/2007 -    There goes the summer.

 The madness of summer is now subsiding. I made it over to Finland for RopeCon. It was great to experience the Finnish gaming scene, a very cool con. thanks to everyone involved for inviting me!

I've got the proof for Piledrivers & Powerbombs from Fidlar Doubleday. It looks very good indeed. Watch this space for a release date...

Labyrinths & Lycanthropes has been getting some serious play lately. Things seem to be working well. This one might just sneak out for Christmas.

Fragtown has just had a new draft written up. The new rules make the game work a lot better. I'm taking down the old version for now.

The Dragon vs The Gun. Playtesting continues... Download the latest draft and get involved in the creative process.

 

30/06/2007 -    Ordered chaos.

 Been a while since the last update. Games Expo 07 came and went, it was an enjoyable experience. Contenders did good business and the Collective Endeavour presence was well received.

I'm finalising the Piledrivers & Powerbombs layout for the print version.  It'll be going to the printers very soon.

Next priority is The Dragon vs The Gun. Playtesting continues... Download the latest draft and get involved in the creative process.

 

18/05/2007 -    Survive if I let you.

 Much news and gaming since the last update. Piledrivers & Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness dropkicks it's way onto IPR! Only avaiable as a PDF at the moment, but you can get your hands on the excellent value sportsfan double pack, if you're still to pick up a copy of the award winning Contenders.

 It does look pretty awesome, thanks to the Paul Bourne cover.

Tomb Raider in space is off, sadly. Verde Neon were unable to pay me, so I was unable to give them the work I'd done. Look out for my Heavenly Bodies Sci-fi system in the distant future...

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01/04/2007 -    Onwards and sideways

Conpulsion, last weekend was a good experience. Great to see my fellow CE members as always, also got a bit of gaming done. Shame the con wasn't as well attended as the previous year, it was lots of fun.

 I managed to get my Game Chef entry in on time. I've been role-playing during the competition and posting as an alter ego - it's very refreshing! I'm really pleased with my game, the mechanics are totally awesome and stand alone as a very cool card game. Stay tuned here and at the CE site for the big reveal.

DvG also got a long overdue update just now, I've linked to the latest draft and uploaded a character sheet.

Piledrivers and Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness edges closer...I've got Paul Bourne of CGS fame doing a front cover, so you can  wait for that, I reckon it'll be worth it!

I've also accepted a commission for a new RPG, things are hush hush at the mo, but think Tomb Raider in space and you're not too far off. How cool's that?

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10/03/2007 -    Convention season is upon bonny Scotland .

I had a great time at Conflagration, now my local con. Thanks to everyone at Glasgow University Gaming Society (GUGS) for putting on the event. I ran plenty of games and had loads of fun.

Conpulsion, Edinburgh's premier convention is looming - march 24th & 25th. The Collective Endeavour is going to have a strong presence there. So come along - they'll be games for all!

 My free trial for WoW has expired thankfully, so I should be able to get some work done on P&P, DvG and L&L...

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08/02/2007 -   Swansong is now available from premier independent retailer IPR.

It's a Contenders frenzy! About time too.

Thanks to Matthew Pook for his review (in Steve Jackson's Pyramid ezine) and to Greg Wilson for these helpful boxing tactics cards. While over on the Collective endeavour, Umlaut, Revolutionaries and Gladiators all put a spin on the Contenders engine.

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05/01/2007 -   Happy New Year!

Lots of excitement all round, things are now starting to calm down after the festive period.

Contenders has spawned not one but two fine entries in the Transatlantic Setting Design Challenge. Malcolm Craig's fine Revolutionaries and Rich Stokes' mighty metal Umlaut. Both are well worth a read or even better a quick game. It's been really cool to see the Contenders mechanics adapted to very different environments. Good work guys!

Piledrivers and Powerbombs is edging ever closer to the next edition. Now featuring GMless play.

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05/12/2006 -   Dragonmeet 2006 was a great success for the Collective Endeavour. It was fantastic to meet everyone I ran a few demos and sold some games. Swansong sold better than Contenders, which surprised me a bit.

The Swansong book is now available to buy for £10.

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29/11/2006 -   Dragonmeet is upon us this weekend. I'll be journeying to this London based convention for the first time this weekend. I shall be on the Collective Endeavour booth demonstrating my games. I'm looking forward to it, but have to admit I'm also a little nervous at how it's going to go, a one day con must be pretty pacy.

The Collective Endeavour, a cabal of UK based games designers has just been unleashed upon the world! Hopefully this will help unify and promote independent role-playing games in the UK. I'll be blogging over at the CE site from now on.

Swansong is about to be finally launched in book format. After Dragonmeet Swansong with be available to buy from my online shop.

I'm developing an Elizabethan setting for Swansong, the player characters are supernaturally 'Talented' individuals recruited into Francis Walsingham's secret service. I'm running a game using this setting for my Tuesday night GUGS group. I'm  going to enter it in the trans-Atlantic setting challenge, mainly to give me a deadline!

 

15/11/2006 -   Another update, how quaint. I've had a fantastic birthday weekend. I couldn't tell you who was better - The Cuban Brothers on Friday or Art Brut on Monday!

I also played in an ace game of The Dragon vs The Gun with some of my best mates on Sunday. You can read all about it here.

Last night I went along to the Glasgow University Gamers Society (GUGS). It was cool, everyone was really nice. I somehow won a game of Gang of Four then ran some Contenders using the demo pack characters. Next week I'm going to run a Swansong game, I've already got some ideas brewing!

The second printing of Contenders has arrived with IPR, thanks Fastserv.

The rather splendid Swansong books are now in my grubby mitts courtesy of RapidPOD. I'm looking forward to unleashing them on the world at Dragonmeet. 

 

08/11/2006 -   Man I've been slow at updating. But look, now I have a brand new shop! In other news, PoD Games has increased its miniscule prices. Partly because of the RPGnow/DTRPG merger thing and partly because I have no other source of income at present. Yeah I'm a pro-games designer. Huzzah.

The second printing of Contenders should be on their way to IPR, from Fastserv. Swansong should be  winging its way to me courtesy of RapidPOD.  It's my birthday this weekend so hopefully I can wangle a day of  gaming out of it.

Piledrivers & Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness edition is coming along nicely. This new version is totally gonna rock your everloving socks off!

Swansong picks up another rave review and entertaining play report in Cainite Gamer issue 2.

Labyrinths and Lycanthropes has been the subject of some heavy playtesting. As a result something special is emerging...

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17/10/2006 -   Woot, PoD Games has relocated to Glasgow. After moving in shenanigans, I have the internet back. I've updated the Contenders page. The demo pack is now online. I got to play some Labyrinths & Lycanthropes and Contenders on Sunday. L&L needs some mechanical revisions and more playtests, but it was still a lot of fun! I shall try and do an actual play post at some point.

I'm now focussing on Piledrivers & Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness edition. This will be a much expanded version of the original rules. Look out for many of Yoki's house rules making it into the new version.

Contender's gets proper love on storygames.com. Hoorah!

In non-roleplay news, there's a special MP3 treat for everyone here - Roger Jolly & the Pirates of Pizzaz. Featuring Big Jordan and yours truly it's a pilot of the kind of madness we're capable of generating...

 

03/10/2006 -   Finally! We're off to Glasgow next week. So don't expect updates anyttime soon. I'm rather busy. Then, the next stage of the PoD Games master-plan can come into effect. Mwhahahahaha.

I'm a proper blog monkey now - I've got a blasphemous LiveJournal and everything!

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26/09/2006 -   I'm gearing up for the big move, heading to Scotland soon!

 But, before that, not one, not two but THREE new games available from this very website!

Labyrinths & Lycanthropes - D&D on 'phet. Check out the playtest version.

Alien Hominid - based on the awesome video game by Tom Fulp.

This Place - An absurdist drama game born of the Rev Enge competition. 

 

08/09/2006 -   Online shop launched for UK customers.

For UK customers, Contenders is available to buy direct from my online shop and will soon be available from Leisure Games too. 

And I've finally put some stuff on Myspace!    www.myspace.com/princeofdarknessgames

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31/08/2006 -   I'm back in the UK after an incredible month in America. Indy Gen Con was amazing, I've posted about it in the forum here. I've got loads of game design projects in the pipeline, but the next big step is going to be moving to Scotland in October.

Contenders was received very well at Gen Con and is now available in book form from Indie Press Revolution, alongside a lot of other great indie games. For European customers, Leisure Games is going to start carrying Contenders, date TBA. 

Swansong has unfortunately run into a few problems. After printing a few copies, Lulu are now unable to print the file. I suspect this may be due to some discrepancies between the Spanish and US printers. I'm looking at digital printing options for the book version, but it's unlikely to be available until after I move - sorry everyone.

In other RPG news, I've been hooked into the Reverse Engineering RPG challenge, devised by the Primitive Kevin Allen Jr.

I've also started on a new RPG project Dungeon Dudes: Labyrinths & Lycanthropes - it's like D&D on  vodka red-bull and cheap amphetamines. In addition there are two Shakespearian RPGs and a revised version of CTA in the pipeline. But first I'll be working on Piledrivers & Powerbombs: Chokeslam of Darkness edition.

I'm quite busy...

 

01/08/2006 -   This will be the last update for a while as I'm off to the US for a month to see the folks.

I will also be at Indy Gen Con  launching the hard copies of Contenders - drop by the Adept Press booth to say hi or even play a demo game. If you can't make it to Gen Con then don't worry, Contenders will be available to order from this website come September.

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19/07/2006 -  Swansong is finally released in book form, via lulu's print-on-demand service.

 

10/07/2006 -  Swansong has received a very thoughtful and positive review, courtesy of Charles Green over on RPG.net.

It's only a month to Indy GenCon. I can't wait, but still have a few things to get ready...

 

2/07/2006 -  It's Sunday and I hate soccer. England go out on penalties. Again. Curse you Sven.

But on a more positive note, I've got my first print run of Contenders ready to sell. Look out for the world premiere at Indy GenCon. I've also got some rather splendid #1 Contender T-shirts which I shall be modelling at GenCon. My first Swansong  proofs arrived from Lulu, a few minor printing errors but nothing too major, so still looking at a late July release for the Swansong book.

I've also finished the playtest version of The Dragon vs The Gun. Hopefully I can get some feedback on that and get the final version out by Christmas.

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09/06/2006 -  Most of the site has had a wee revamp. Swansong is set to be the first PoD game that's POD via Lulu. The proofs for my first print run of Contenders should be arriving soon and I've just ordered some #1 Contender T-shirts. Sly Stallone has been inspired to do a new Rocky movie and Emu is set to make a comeback sans Rod.

Coincidences?  I think not.

FragTown is up on the Game Gamies thread over at the Lumpley site.

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12/05/2006 -  PoDG now has a new front page and I will be updating the rest of the site, um when I get round to it...

FragTown also has it's own page now, and a pdf version is available for download.

Swansong now has a very splendid character generator courtesy of Mr McGray at dubdown media

In other news, the Prince of Wales may be helping out the Prince of Darkness. Us royals stick together. I've applied for a Prince's trust award since I'm not 30 yet.

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28/04/2006 - The Pod Games forum is now online! Come join the fun. Contenders has also received a very favourable review on rpgnow. Today was a good day. I didn't even have to use my AK.

27/04/2006 - Lots of projects on the go at the moment. I'm  working on a POD version of Contenders (that's a book to you).   My epic re-write of The Dragon vs The Gun is also coming along  & I've got the best public domain artwork ever for it!

Also, in PoD Games' first foray outside the world of RPGs, I'm designing a wargame called FragTown for Lumpley's Gamie Gamies competition. (The Real) Rod Hull's gonna kick the shit out of 40k.  Rod Hull vs Roddy Piper. No contest.

*Breaking News* - Former SW minister for England spearheads US initiative.

Cheers Pops.

18/04/2006 - I've just moved house and only recently got my internet access back. In a completely different vein, barring an act of God, I'm going to be on The Forge booth at Indy GenCon this year! Can't wait for that - come and see me if you're there. 

Also, check out Henbane, it's an awesome RPG of witchery by Chad Barber. I'm proud to say I've had a hand in it's development too.

The RPG behemoth that is Game Chef also rumbles on. I somehow managed to do a dozen reviews for the competition. My god it was tough. I have even more respect for Ron Edwards Herculean efforts with the Ronnies now.

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