In case you missed it (and I don’t know how you would have done), this year Iron Crown Enterprises had a stall at Gen Con. It was the first time in many years that we have attended and we had an absolute blast!
Firstly, we would like to publicly thank all our volunteers and helpers. We had people playing games, people manning the stand, people helping with logistics and all of them doing so out of the kindness of their hearts. A huge and heartfelt thank you to all of those people.
Secondly, we would like to thank everyone who came and said hello or played in an Iron Crown game while they were at Gen Con. The crowd were great and a lot of people were really excited to see Iron Crown Enterprises back at Gen Con. So to those people, thank you for your support. Hopefully we will see you again next year.
Now to the facts: this year we shared a booth with Pointy Hat Games and Aaron Smalley was absolutely brilliant as our man on the ground and liaison between the two companies. We had a lot of great helpers but Aaron is definitely worthy of a special mention. With all the logistics managed from the UK, preparing for Gen Con was not a particularly simple process and I cannot speak highly enough of the amount of help and advice Aaron gave. It was invaluable and a huge part of how we managed to attend and run a stall.
We took with us a large order of all the HARP and HARP SF products and the majority of the Shadow World products. We received a number of comments and questions from fans asking why we weren’t offering any Rolemaster products. The reason is simple. While we understand that Rolemaster remains very popular and people are still keen to buy the old products, we do not wish to actively promote a product that we know will be formally superseded by the new edition in the future. It just feels unethical to us. When the new edition of Rolemaster is released we will DEFINITELY be taking it to Gen Con with us.
We learned a lot of lessons from this year’s convention which will hopefully help us make next year even better. We have already agreed with Pointy Hat Games that we will once again be sharing a booth with them next year and we’re now focussed on making next year even better than this year. So, there’s just time for one more thanks to everyone. See you all at Gen Con 2018!
Want to read what Aaron Smalley thought of Gen Con? Find his report here
Iron Crown Enterprises’ Gen Con roundup
Aaron Smalley’s tales of Gen Con
A tale of incredible magic…
The essence storms were particularly violent this summer. Two Navigators, Aaron Smalley and Monte Iafrate, were swept away and landed in the land of GenCon. There, they met so many wonderful people and would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
First, we must thank the Gods of Orhan, “Nicholas Caldwell and his assistant Colin Smith”. Travelling to a new land can be tumultuous at times, but knowing we were supported in our adventures at GenCon made all the difference in the world of Kulthea. The communications we received throughout our travels were always encouraging and supportive. We cannot thank them enough for believing in us during this adventure.
We would also like to thank the Loremasters we met during our quest. The creators Coleman Charlton and Olivia Fenlon beamed with joy upon our ICE campsite. Talking with them about the past was an encouraging catalyst for the years to come. These visionaries looked forward to the future of ICE with supportive words. This is the chant of success for all of us and this is the song of our future. The artistic Bards Foxworth and Ramones spoke about working with ICE and how wonderful those time were for them. Hugs of comradely cheer were strewn about our meetings and it was humbling to be in the presence of such greatness. Margaret of RMC 4 and 7 smiles were rejuvenating and looked back with pride at the work they had accomplished at ICE.
I would especially like to thank the Changramai Monks who helped fight the battle at our table, including Mark Christiensen, Bruce Meyer and Andrew Durston; as well as a little help from a warrior from the land of GaryCon named Kevin Turner. Commerce was the fight they fought and they handled it with knowledge and information for our customers to be successful with their future battles of realism in fantasy. ICE systems that capture fantasy like no other. The knowledge they spoke of made sense to the travelers and it is with hope that they perhaps changed the thinking of all generations of gamers.
We would especially like to thank all the travelers who visited our table. Their journeys were sometimes random, yet others chose us as their destination. The weary travelers were rejuvenated to see ICE still in existence. A phantom from long ago that has proven it will never die. A phantom who has eternally shaped their view and attitude of gaming. They are forever changed to strive for a better game through ICE products.
It is with great pride that I say thank you to all.
Safe travels and Godspeed.
Read Iron Crown Enterprises official Gen Con round up here
ERA Fire and Ice The Elemental Companion out now!
Love the Electronic Roleplaying Assistant (ERA)? Then this will make your day: Iron Crown Enterprises are pleased to announced the release of yet another new module! Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome ERA for Rolemaster RMSS/FRP Fire and Ice The Elemental Companion!
ERA for Rolemaster RMSSFRP Fire and Ice The Elemental Companion
The RMFRP Fire and Ice package for ERA includes 11 professions, 9 attack tables, 2 critical tables, 50 spell lists, and 80 creature templates.
Add an elemental touch to your campaign with the hottest and coolest RMFRP content. Create an elemental specialist for any of the 6 elemental powers, or combine them all under an Arcane Elementalist. Travel the elemental planes with an Elemental Explorer, or fight alongside the elemental companions of an Elemental Champion.
Special attack tables are presented. From the gigantic Boulder, to the powerful ball attacks of Aether and Nether (accompanied by their very own critical tables).
All characters can benefit also from access to the Closed Elemental spell lists. Control light and wield fire, create ice and move the very earth under your enemies.
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Elemental creatures of all kinds can take form in your adventures. Fight against an Air Serpent, charge into battle on an Earth Steed, or roam the skies on an Ice Riding Drake.
Buy it now >>
Electronic Roleplaying Assistant
This module is an add-on feature package for ERA for Rolemaster which is available for free from RPGNow.
ERA allows players to create their characters using a step by step wizard, level them up and configure all details in terms of stats, skills and special abilities. These characters can then be added to a running campaign in the adventuring module from which the game master can control all aspects of the game including resolving maneuvers, resistances, resting, and of course, spell casting and combat.
Try ERA for free >>
Love ERA? Check out our complete range of addition modules:
Rolemaster Classic
Character Law
Spell Law
Arms Law
Armory
Shadow World Module
Combat Companion
Rolemaster Companion I
Creature Module
Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing
Core and Character Law
Spell Law
Arms Law
The Armory
Shadow World Module
Combat Companion
Mentalism Companion
Essence Companion
Channeling Companion
Arcane Companion
Creature Module
You can also now get ERA modules in one of three different bundles:
RM Classic core dataset (containing Arms Law, Character Law, Spell Law and RMC Creatures)
RMFRP core dataset (containing Core and Character Law, Spell Law, Arms Law and RMFRP Creatures)
RMFRP companion dataset (containing Arcane Companion, Channeling Companion, Essence Companion and Mentalism Companion).
Director’s Briefing – September 2017
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Welcome
To the seventy-sixth Briefing and the ninth scheduled Briefing of 2017.
ICE at GenCon 2017
Reports from our representatives at GenCon 50 indicate that the convention was a success. Many fans of ICE’s products going way back were delighted to discover that there is still an ICE, that we still make great games and that there will be a new Rolemaster edition. Colin will be bringing you the after-action reports, but I would like to say thank you to Aaron, Monte, Mark, Bruce and Andrew and all the other volunteers for all their hard work in making it possible for this incarnation of ICE to attend and have a successful GenCon.
ICE at GenCon 2018?
Yes. We’ve already agreed with Pointy Hat Games that we should combine forces again for next year’s GenCon.
Shadow World
Terry is still hard at work on the enhanced version of Jaiman. Concurrently we have Craig John creating some of his splendid illustrations for Jaiman.
HARP, HARP SF and Adventure Modules
On HARP Bestiary, Colin has submitted all his updates for the normal and dangerous animals chapter and his water monsters chapter, so only has to write his portion of the introductory chapter (he and Thom were probably hoping I would forget that they owe me some designer notes!) John Duffield is still battling demon stats in the Abyss. I should have a clear evening or two this month to work out what new art we need to commission and what of our existing art resources can be reused for Bestiary. (I can work out the big list of required art on the train with my tablet, but playing match the art need to existing art needs more screen estate and easier multitasking.) If I am really clever, I will do this in a sufficiently systematic fashion that the resulting spreadsheet / database will make the same process for RMU Creature Law much less painful.
“A Wedding in Axebridge” (by Chris Seal) is with Terry for layout, jostling for his attention with Jaiman. A firsst layout draft is expected in a week or so. Chris Seal has already sent me several large chunks of the Caer Glais draft, his followup campaign module, and I’ve made a small preview of its deep history for the Guild Companion.
I completed my editing pass of the draft of the Garden of Rain adventure module by Brad White. It is really good. I have asked Brad to add in RMSS/FRP and RM Classic stats. Brad has already written RMU stat blocks (compatible with Beta 2). Dependent on timings and whether any elements of RMU change that affect what Brad used, the RMU stats will either be in the book or will be available as a free download.
I have started the revisions to the manuscript previously known as Something Wicked, carefully removing material from the professions chapter that has been covered elsewhere. There will be at least four new professions introduced – the Demonologist, the Mentalist, the Warlock/Witch, and the Wildmage. The Demonologist and the Mentalist are intended as additional variant Mage professions, such that the Demonologist is the magical counterpoint to the Elementalist and the Mentalist is the magical counterpoint to the Thaumaturge. The Warlock/Witch is intended to support the literary and fantasy stereotypes of the classical witch and witches’ coven. The Wildmage is a self-taught magical practitioner whose spell set is as individual as they are. In Rolemaster terms, the Wildmage is closest in spirit to the Rolemaster Arcane Companion’s Chaotic – unlike the Chaotic, the Wildmage does not have a fixed set of spells – they are assigned semi-randomly.
HARP currently lacks a full-blown caster of mental magic. The original College of Magics manuscript introduced a caster known as the Mystic, but for space reasons, it was omitted from the 2004 published edition. As the focus of the reworked “Mystic” spells will occupy the same conceptual space as Rolemaster’s Mentalist and Seer professions, calling it a Mentalist makes sense. Looking to the future, a HARP Mentalist profession will make it easier to support Shadow World using HARP mechanics.
ERA for Rolemaster and RMU
Max has been busy creating another dataset for ERA. This time he brings us the RMSS/FRP Fire & Ice: The Elemental Companion dataset. This is available now from OneBookShelf.
He is also carefully adjusting ERA so that it will be able to handle the transition to RMU mechanics seamlessly, and is in conversations with the RMU team on various rules issues and clarifications.
Until next time
Back to editing drafts, writing my own and gently nagging freelancers. The next scheduled Briefing will be in October 2017.
Best wishes,
Nicholas
Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
Save money on AutoHARP and ERA with e-support bundles
While some roleplaying gamers love scratch paper, friends round a table and the feeling of holding your dice in your hand, others are keen to remove what they see as some of the less exciting, more administrative aspects of gaming so that they can focus on the characters, the adventure and the excitement.
To that end, Iron Crown Enterprises has created a number of different e-support products to manage everything from character creation and combat tracking to complete virtual tabletops.
We’re really pleased with the products that we’ve produced, so much so that we want as many people to be using them as possible (if that’s how they like to game) so we have created bundles on RPGNow so that you can buy complete sets of Iron Crown e-support products all in one go.
Electronic Roleplaying Assistant for Rolemaster
ERA (Electronic Roleplaying Assistant) for Rolemaster is the ultimate companion for Rolemaster campaigns. This free application manages all aspects of your RPG including character creation, campaign management and combat resolution.
You can download the application for free from RPGNow and now you can buy add-ons for the product in three bundles: RM Classic core dataset (containing Arms Law, Character Law, Spell Law and RMC Creatures), RMFRP core dataset (containing Core and Character Law, Spell Law, Arms Law and RMFRP Creatures) and RMFRP companion dataset (containing Arcane Companion, Channeling Companion, Essence Companion and Mentalism Companion).
Each of these bundles are now available for just $20 which is almost half the original price.
AutoHARP
In addition to the ERA bundles, we are now offering two bundles for the brilliant AutoHARP e-support product.
AutoHARP combines a Character Creator and a Combat Tracker and is available for both HARP Fantasy and HARP-SF. We are now offering two bundles for AutoHARP – An SF bundle (containing AutoHARP SF and AutoHARP SF Xtreme datasets) and an AutoHARP Fantasy Supplements bundle (containing the Martial Law, College of Magics and Folkways datasets). Both bundles can be picked up from RPGNow for just $15.
For more information on Iron Crown Enterprises’ e-support offering, please visit our e-support page. For hints and tips on how to get the most out of ERA for Rolemaster or AutoHARP and to have your say on which features you would like to see next, visit the Iron Crown Enterprises forum.
Director’s Briefing – August 2017
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Welcome
To the seventy-fifth Briefing and the eighth scheduled Briefing of 2017.
ICE at GenCon 2017
GenCon is only days away. Eight large boxes of HARP and Shadow World books have safely made it to the Pointy Hat Games gathering point and will be on the road soon to GenCon. Various packs of flyers and bookmarks and assorted odds and ends have also arrived. Colin is geared up to support with some transatlantic marketing. Our representatives (Aaron, Monte, and Mark) are ready to man the stand and our GM reps have tables booked, and we wish them all every success.
ICE at Dragonmeet 2017
The call to traders to book stands went up mid-month. I had our stand and our trade badges booked that very same day.
Dragonmeet will be Saturday 2nd December. This year, they have added a new hall, increasing the gaming, seminar and demo space considerably.. Tickets are now available from www.dragonmeet.co.uk
Shadow World
The time window for Terry to get Jaiman complete for a last-minute print run for GenCon has already closed. Which is a shame, but looking on the bright side, I will have a less madcap editing phase, which means fewer typos in the pdf and the ability to release the pdf well ahead of the print books (so hopefully even fewer typos in print).
HARP, HARP SF and Adventure Modules
The adventure module, “A Wedding in Axebridge”, is now ready for its layout phase – again too close for GenCon safety. A real cover by Raymond (rather than giving the game away with a location map on the front cover as in the previous edition), new interior artwork by Raymond and Maria, and refreshed maps and layouts by Joel. I completed the stat block update to be consistent with HARP Fantasy. Once Terry completes his writing work on Jaiman, I will edit Jaiman while he does layout on A Wedding in Axebridge.
I am now embarked on my editing pass of the full draft of Brad White’s Garden of Rain adventure module.
Rolemaster
Nothing new to report from Jonathan and Joeri from the RMU Creature Law trenches
Computer Software Projects
We are very pleased to announce the release of the latest AutoHARP dataset, namely AutoHARP Folkways. This has all the new races and cultures from HARP Folkways plus a random culture generator based on the tables found in that volume.
AutoHARP Folkways is available now from OneBookShelf.
You will note that this dataset has been priced at 7 USD. We have listened to customer feedback and we have repriced all of the AutoHARP products. In addition, we are now offering two bundle products – an SF bundle containing AutoHARP SF and AutoHARP SF Xtreme, and an AutoHARP Fantasy Supplements bundle containing the Martial Law, College of Magics and Folkways datasets.
Similarly we have held discussions with Max regarding ERA and we are now very pleased to offer three bundle deals for ERA – a RM Classic core dataset deal of Arms Law, Character Law, Spell Law and RMC Creatures, a RMFRP core dataset deal of Core and Character Law, Arms Law, Spell Law and RMFRP Creatures, and a RMFRP Companion dataset deal of Arcane, Channeling, Essence, and Mentalism Companion datasets. Each of these bundles is priced at 20 USD, so an effective saving of almost 20 USD compared to purchasing each dataset of the bundle individually.
The validation event for the new MSc Computer Games Development degree at the University of Suffolk took place today (1st August). I essentially invited myself – there have to be some perks to being a professor! – but made it clear that I was attending on behalf of ICE.
The degree was successfully validated. Some modest conditions for the course team, but nothing that they cannot handle trivially.
One of the course team has already been in discussion with me regarding possible projects, including a possible project that he could undertake himself as a way of encouraging students to engage with us. We look forward to setting the students some significant challenges which will hopefully lead to some great computer games and apps.
Until next time
For those of you fortunate to be attending GenCon, have a great time.
For me, it is back to a mix of writing Something Wicked and editing manuscripts. The next scheduled Briefing will be in September 2017.
Best wishes,
Nicholas
Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
Green Gryphon Inn now an electrum pick!
Iron Crown Enterprises are thrilled to announce that Shadow World: Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn is now an electrum pick product on RPGNow!
Very few products on RPGNow ever reach the level of ‘electrum pick’ and we’re incredibly proud that Green Gryphon Inn has now received this accolade and that it has achieved it quite so quickly.
Huge congratulations and thanks to Terry K. Amthor and everyone involved in creating the product and thanks to everyone who has bought it, played it and loved it. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Shadow World: Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn
Terry Amthor brings you a brand-new adventure module for Shadow World. Set in northern Rhakhaan on the continent of Jaiman, this module includes:
- Nine complete adventures, plus several adventure seeds
- Complete plans of the Green Gryphon Inn, along with profiles of the eccentric staff.
- Complete stats for major NPCs in Rolemaster Second Edition/RM Classic and RMRFP /RMSS.
- Charts for area encounters, pricing charts for food and lodging. Information about the Kingdom Highway crossroads.
- Powers of the ancient Gryphon Bridge, built by the mythical Earthwardens.
- Layout of the town of Gryphonburgh, including important locations.
If you haven’t bought your copy of Shadow World: Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn yet, you can get your copy from RPGNow where you can also get a wide range of other Shadow World setting material from Iron Crown Enterprises.
What makes a game great?
Regardless of which tabletop roleplaying game is your favourite, everyone who has ever played an RPG, whether as a GM or as a player has got a story to tell about it. Whether they are perfectly timed critical hits, hilarious critical failures, epic stories, life-long friendships or perfectly rounded characters, everyone has something to say about “this great game I played in once”.
With that in mind I wanted to see if there was some commonality about these ‘great’ games. Is there a recipe for success? Can GMs follow a step-by-step guide and create a game that people will be talking about for generations to come? We asked our fans and followers what they thought made a game great and here are the results.
First off, we asked people how much they felt certain aspects of a game contributed to making it great. What follows are the game elements from most popular to least popular with their weighted scores. To be clear, we weren’t asking what made an RPG system great but what made an individual game run by a GM great.
An engaging story – 2.78
A talented GM – 2.68
A well thought out and fleshed out world/setting – 2.51
The opportunity to develop your character – 2.49
Players that you get along with – 2.41
Playing a system that you know and understand – 2.27
Excitement and high stakes – 2.22
Funny moments – 2.12
A sandbox type environment – 2.10
Puzzle solving – 1.90
Politics and intrigue – 1.90
Lots of combat – 1.80
A clear beginning, middle and end to the game – 1.73
While the results don’t show an obvious winner, it is clear that an engaging story and a GM with the talent to carry the story off and help players remain immersed in their world for the duration of the game are the keys to success.
While it doesn’t show any huge surprises in terms of what people look for in a game, I was a little surprised to see that “players that you get along with” and “lots of combat” were as low as they were.
In addition to this, we asked respondents if they had any other comments on what they felt made a game great. Though we can’t show all the responses, below are a few of the more thought-provoking ones:
“Players who play well”
“Snacks”
“Allowing players to be anything they want and develop their characters however they want”
“An environment for playing that has very few distractions”
“A well-balanced adventure in which each player has a chance to shine”
What are your thoughts on what makes a game great? Is there anything you think we have missed or anything you disagree with? The survey is now closed but you can still have your say on the ICE forum.
Director’s Briefing – July 2017
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Welcome
To the seventy-fourth Briefing and the seventh scheduled Briefing of 2017.
ICE at GenCon 2017
GenCon approaches. An order for several hundred HARP and Shadow World books has been placed through OneBookShelf to LightningSource. It’s a mixture of hardcovers and softcovers, so hopefully something for everyone’s budget. We will be watching with baited breath as the books are printed and dispatched to the Pointy Hat Games gathering point. We don’t know whether we have underestimated or overestimated demand and one of the jobs of our reps will be to keep a close eye on sales. Regardless, those boxes of books will be giving an important message to GenCon goers – ICE is back.
Shadow World
Terry is back from his short vacation and has been going all out on an enhanced version of Jaiman. Craig John is already working on the art. As soon as Terry can send me the complete manuscript, I will commission the RMSS/FRP stats and undertake an editing pass. Terry is hoping that he can get Jaiman ready in time to sneak some hot off the press print copies to GenCon.
Terry has put Haalkitaine and the editorial work into holding mode so that he can focus on completing Jaiman in this narrow time window. (We will aim to have Haalkitaine available for Dragonmeet. Which reminds me that it is nearly time for the call to book stands for Dragonmeet 2017 to appear.)
HARP, HARP SF and Adventure Modules
While Terry is focusing on Jaiman for GenCon, my focus is on A Wedding in Axebridge. Joel has transformed Chris’ sketches in a set of wonderful and effective maps and location layouts. I am labouring away on getting all the stat blocks in place. I still cannot tell if the final version will be large enough for print-on-demand. If it is, then it will be a softcover only, probably staple bound like the Shadow World Player Guide rather than the slender perfect-bound edition of Tales from the Green Gryphon Inn. Again, it’s a hard push to get it ready for GenCon, especially if it is a print-viable product.
Rolemaster
Jonathan and Joeri are working furiously on monster skill bonuses (so that you have plausible and consistent numbers for when you need a creature’s skill in Perception or Stalk/Hide). They are also figuring out the best split of Creature Law into two volumes.
Computer Software Projects
The validation event for the new MSc Computer Games Development degree at the University of Suffolk has been set for 1st August. A validation event is where a panel including external experts from academia and industry reviews a proposed new degree and determines whether it has been appropriately designed and developed, and whether the proposing department and staff are able to deliver. I may be invited to attend – if so, I will be attending as a Director of ICE to give my views on how ICE can work with course academics and students to create innovative computer games which will be good for the students in terms of gaining experience and building portfolios, and good for ICE fans in terms of new stuff to play with and to support all our games.
Until next time
Back to a mix of writing and editing as we race to GenCon. The next scheduled Briefing will be in August 2017.
Best wishes,
Nicholas
Director, Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.