Celtic-themed fantasy roleplaying after the Shrug

 

  

 

I am the Wind that blows over the sea;
I am the Wave of the Ocean;
I am the Murmur of the billows;
I am the Ox of the Seven Combats;
I am the Hawk on a cliff;
I am a Ray of the Sun;
I am the fairest of Plants;
I am a Boar for valour;
I am a Salmon in a pool;
I am a Lake in the plain;
I am the strength of Art;
I am the word of Knowledge;
I am the Spear-point that gives battle...

Amairgen

The world changed forever in the rapid climate change known as The Shrug and the social upheaval that followed. In Britain the Order of Druids rebuilt, drawing inspiration from the past. Gradually, magic became accessible again; and the doors between worlds swung wider.

The land feels the tug of forces out of common sight. There are groups who believe technology or magic can save or damn humanity. The otherworld is inhabited by powerful and ancient races who have their own plans for Albion. The spirit world holds both helpers and terrible threats. The way the world is responds to what people do - a skill performed well enough can have a semimagical result, and equipment used in such deeds can take on legendary qualities.

The rules resolve actions simply and quickly by counting successes on a pool of six-sided dice. Characters start out pretty competent, and there's less emphasis on improving abilities than on doing stuff. Features include making that extra effort, mowing through groups of henchmen, and a freeform system for developing extraordinary ability in specialised feats.

 

 

FROM THE DESIGNER'S DESK

The previous version of this page began: "Albion is very much a long-term project; and perhaps the one I feel most strongly about. I chewed on it for at least a decade, through various incarnations, before the Player's Book came out." It went on to talk about plans for the GM's Book, and the release of The Little Book of Samhain containing some of that material in the meantime.

Well, the GM's Book never happened in the end. Mea culpa. And looking back at the Player's Book it's not actually very well done, though the seeds of a good game are in there. Looking in my hard drive I see that the earliest files for Albion are 15 years old. Yikes.

However, the time in between hasn't been entirely wasted. I've had a lot of practice at game design and putting books together, and have played and discussed a bunch of games. So now I'm applying that to Albion. "Nothing is ever forgotten." Let's see if finally, finally, I can make a gamebook that does justice to my vision for the game.

Then I can spend some time working out what I've been forgetting to do for the past 15 years. Did I leave the gas on somewhere?

 

 

CONTACT

To get further information or give feedback, please mail Tim Gray at info@silverbranch.co.uk.

You can also use our Yahoo group to talk to Tim and other Silver Branch customers.