Frostgrave: The Hunt for the Golem

The Hunt for the Golem is a PDF mini-campaign for Frostgrave. It features three new scenarios, a unique monster, and a few new treasures. It will probably be especially interesting to Enchanters and other construct lovers. I originally wrote it as a part of the Frostgrave 'Nickstarter' pre-order campaign. Now, Osprey have put it up for sale so that everyone who wants can get a copy. It is currently available as a PDF on Wargames Vault. It's a US company, but I'm pretty sure it will sell to anyone anywhere. It will also be for sale on the Osprey website soon. A kindle release is also planned, but I'm not sure of the time scale on that.

So, if it sounds like something you might like, head over to Wargames Vault! I have purchased several ebooks through Wargames Vault in the past and always found them a top-notch company.

The Order of the Sword and Dice

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

The above quote is generally attributed to the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, although there is no direct evidence that he ever actually said it. Regardless, it is a hugely powerful line, and one that has followed me my whole life.

I was raised on the tales of fantastical heroes like Gawain, Aragorn, and Spider-Man. Heroes who fought against evil monsters to save lives, free the oppressed and protect the powerless. It was my childhood desire to be a hero like them that first drove me into fantasy gaming, first as a role-player and later as a wargamer. I wanted to be the hero that smashed down the walls of the tyrant's castle and freed the captive people. In fact, even today, when I play an occasional solo wargame, it usually includes a clear good vs. evil set-up, and I have even been known to cheat a little to ensure that the good guys win.

As I've gotten older, wiser, and more self-aware, it has become clear to me that I will probably never be on the front line of the fight against evil. I don't posses that kind of strength or courage. Yet, the quote stays with me.

A few years ago, I had an idea to found my own knightly order, The Order of the Sword and Dice. It would be a collection of wargamers, role-players, and other dice-flingers, who felt like I did, who wanted to change the world for the better but weren't quite sure how. Together, I thought, we could raise money for organizations that really are on the front-lines tackling problems like refugees, human-trafficking, and disaster relief. I even got as far as getting my friend, the noted historical artist, Peter Dennis to paint up a heraldry for the order, which can be seen above.

As I was getting it all organized, I shared the idea with a few people. Some were supportive, but a few others thought the idea was 'silly' or even 'dangerous'. Sadly, these comments were enough to dishearten me, and I ended up putting the whole thing away. In fact, I was convinced to do nothing.

Well a few more years have passed, and my world has changed. The birth of my daughter has caused a huge shift in how I perceive life and the things that I value. I have come to realize that even if it is silly, The Order of the Sword and Dice is important to me. It is there as a reminder to do something, to try and be the good man I want to be. If it is dangerous, it is only dangerous in the way that any call to action can have unpredictable results.

Thanks to the publication of Frostgrave, I currently have a bit of a 'voice' in the gaming community. That may or may not last, but while it exists, I would like to try to use it to do some good. And so, today, I am officially founding The Order of the Sword and Dice. Later today, I will start its first campaign, a campaign to raise £500 for Save the Children to aid their work during the current Syrian refugee crisis. To start the campaign, I will be posting up a new Frostgrave scenario on my blog. I will ask that anyone who plays the scenario, prints it out, or otherwise adds it to their collection of Frostgrave material, to please kindly donate at least £1 to Save the Children through a MyDonate page that I have set up.

If you join in this campaign, you can consider yourself a member of The Order of the Sword and Dice, or not, as you choose. Either way, I hope you will help out, and maybe we can all be heroes, at least in some small way.

Numinous Occulum

The biggest news in the wargaming world over the last year has been the release of Warhamer: Age of Sigmar, or the destruction of the Warhammer Old World, depending on your personal feelings about it all. I actually don't have any strong feelings about it. I liked the Old World well enough, but I didn't play the game and only rarely bought any of the figures. I think it is clear that Games Workshop had to do something in order to preserve fantasy as a core part of their business, and so they went with a bold new redesign.

I haven't read the Age of Sigmar rules or played a game, so I can't really comment on it. However, I am a big fan of some of the terrain kits that they have put out for it. I think they are some of the coolest, most interesting fantasy terrain pieces I have seen in a long time. Some of them, dare I say it, would look really good in a game of Frostgrave. In fact, I have been so struck by the terrain that I recently ordered my favourite, the Numinous Occulum (great name). I ordered from Firestorm Games as they had a competitive price, and they have been a good supporter of Frostgrave. My order came quickly and well packed.

The kit comes with four sprues of pieces, all of which are cast in heavy plastic. I have no doubt they will easily withstand the rigours of the gaming table. I started assembly while watching the new Godzilla movie. Assembly required a lot of clipping, cutting and filing. I've probably put in about an hour's work all told, and I would guess I'm a bit less than halfway done. That said, it is look pretty cool so far. What the picture here doesn't related is just how big a piece it is. I suppose it is designed for the new, extra-large Age of Sigmar figures, which means for standard 28mm figures, it is a big piece of terrain. I'll try to get a shot with a figure in it next time for scale purposes.

So far, I'm really pleased with the kit and look forward to getting some more work on it.  I might even have to write some Frostgrave rules for playing with such a terrain piece.

Merry and the One Ring

Of the four principle hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, two carry the One Ring - Frodo, who carries it all the way to Mount Doom, and Sam who takes it off Frodo when he thinks he has been killed and who returns it when he realizes his mistake. The other two hobbits are never directly tempted by the ring. I think, however, it is safe to assume that Pippin could not have handled it. He couldn't even resist the temptation posed by the Palantir. Which leaves just Merry. It's hard to say how Merry would have handled the One Ring, had he been forced to carry it. He was certainly brave in battle, but that is no measure of resistance to the Ring (see Boromir). 

So, we are left to our own thoughts on the subject. Personally, I believe Merry could have carried the ring, and, while I think he would have found it more difficult and more tempting that either Frodo or Sam, with support, he could have made it. Feel free to disagree.

All of this is just a long-winded introduction to show off the two miniatures I have managed to paint lately. The first is Merry in his Rohan equipment as produced by Games Workshop as part of their The Lord of the Rings line. A very nice little figure and fun to paint. Strangely, as far as I know, GW never produced a figure for the One Ring itself, at least not all on a base of its own. It seems a bit of an oversight somehow. My One Ring is one of the Frostgrave treasure tokens that were originally made as giveaways during the Nickstarter, but are now generally available.

It's not a huge painting output, but it's not bad considering the time I've had lately. It is funny how even a little bit of quiet hobby time, and a little bit of progress on some miniatures really improves my general outlook.

Coming in July 2016!

With this new supplement for Frostgrave, players can lead their warbands into the vast network of catacombs, sewers, and dungeons that run underneath the Frozen City. It was in these dark confines that the ancient wizards known as Beastcrafters experimented on living creatures, creating strange hybrids and deadly monsters, many of which still roam the forgotten passageways. Along with a host of new scenarios, treasures, soldiers, and creatures, the book also contains rules for the traps and secret passages that are often found in the dungeons. With the wonderful and rare magical treasures to be discovered, will players risk taking their warbands down into the Breeding Pits?

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So, here is what I'm working on at the moment. Right now it's just a bunch of scattered pieces, but slowly I am pulling it together into a coherent manuscript! I think Dmitry Burmak has done another amazing job on the cover artwork. It's a testament to his own imagination that he can take my notes and turn it into something like that!

Frostgrave – The State of Play

It is now just over a month since Frostgrave was officially released, which is hard to believe. So much has happened in that time, it is hard for me to process. So, I thought I might try and summarize everything that has happened, as much for my own benefit as anyone who might be reading.

Frostgrave officially launched with a pre-order campaign from Northstar known as a ‘Nickstater’. The various deals in the Nickstarter included the book and a load of figures, some of them official Frostgrave figures, others just great figures that could also be used. The Nickstarter raised just shot of £40,000 in sales, and, I believe, had about 1,000 participants.

The game officially went on sale on 20 July. It sold out in the UK about two weeks later, and in the United States about a week after that. A second printing is now all but exhausted and a third is on its way. I think it is safe to say that both Osprey and I have been a bit caught off guard by how quickly the book has sold!

In September, the mini-campaign Frostgrave: The Hunt for the Golem, which was originally given away as part of the Nickstarter will go on sale as an ebook. In November, The Thaw of the Lich Lord, a 64-page print expansion will go on sale. This will be preceded by a second Nickstarter which will feature a second set of plastic soldiers and a bunch of new metal figures.

I can say that I have now been commissioned by Osprey to write more Frostgrave material. There will be a second ebook mini-supplement in January and more beyond that, although I have been asked not to reveal too much about anything at the moment.

As for the rules themselves, the reception has been generally very positive. I think people have been most attracted to the game for three reasons. The central theme of magic and wizards, and the wide variety of spells to choose from; the openness of the setting that allows almost any fantasy miniatures and terrain to be used, and the narrative feel of the game that encourages storytelling and has an rpg-light feel to it.

The game has not been without its controversies though. Most of these have revolved around the campaign system and the potential imbalance between wizards of different levels. The single biggest controversy has been about wizards getting experience points for killing opponents. Some believe this too greatly favours wizards who feature more offensive spells. I understand the logic here. Certainly, a wizard with a powerful attack spell has more chance of getting experience points for defeating an enemy than one who does not. However, I have found that such wizards also have a greater chance of death. They have to put themselves in harms way in order to use their spells. That said, the play-testing I was able to conduct while working on the game is nothing compared to the thousands of games that will hopefully be played over the next year. The experience system is something I’m very interested in, and I hope to see a lot of reports so I can better determine if there is an issue.

On a similar subject, there has been a lot of talk about the lack of a 'balance system’ in the game, meaning some kind of rules that attempt to create an even game between two warbands of differing experience and wealth.  There are two reasons I didn't include such a system. First, I think, so far, most people greatly over-estimate the actual power difference between warbands. The difference between a level 1 wizard and a level 10 wizard is noticeable, but it is unlikely to dictate the outcome of a game. Secondly, I believe that the players in a given campaign are actually in a better position than I am as the author to determine if there actually is an imbalance and what to do about it. A lot of the power of a warband is situational. In truth, the spells you pick for your wizard, compared to the spells your opponent picks, combined with what scenario you end up playing and/or what random monsters you encounter is far more likely to effect the outcome of a given game than a difference in experience level or wealth level.

I do believe there is a potential problem with wealth level right at the beginning of the campaign. A couple of lopsided games to start a campaign can see one warband jump quickly ahead of the other – especially if the winner spends all of his money just on improving his warband to buy the best soldiers possible. This problem tends to fade away as a campaign continues, but can be very disheartening to a new player. I’m not quite sure what to do about this at the moment, but am continuing to think about it. In the meantime, once again, I think the players are probably in a better position to determine if this is actually an issue in their own campaign than I am.

A lot of people have already introduced house rules to work on these issues. I try to read them all. Some I contain very good ideas that I might want to incorporate into future supplements, or a future ‘Second Edition’ should I be that lucky. However, the game is still very young, and I don't want to be hasty about introducing rule changes unless I think they are absolutely necessary.

One thing that has somewhat surprised me is the number of people playing 3 and 4 player games. While I designed the system to handle this, I assumed most people would be playing 2 player games. In many ways helps mitigate some of the perceived issues discussed above. Multi-player games tend to naturally help balance a campaign due to the extra chaos generated and the gang-up effect on anyone who appears to be getting too powerful. However, in the future, I need to give more consideration to what effect given rules and/or scenarios might have on a multi-player game.

In the main, it’s been really exciting watching the chatter and hobby activity that the game has generated. I love reading the back-stories that people have created for their wizards and their warbands. I also really enjoy seeing after-action reports. It is extremely gratifying to hear about people having fun in part thanks to my rules, and also these help inform my opinion on the game going forward.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone who has given the game a try. The support from the gaming community has been wonderful and a great encouragement to keep working on Frostgrave.

Historicon Meetings

Although it seems a long time ago, around the end of July, I was in Fredericksburg, Virginia, running demos of my new fantasy game Frostgrave at Historicon. At the time, the game was getting a little interest on the forums and such, but I had no idea how the game would actually be received. I ran a lot of demos that weekend, met a lot of nice people, and even sold a few books. However, there were two people in particular that I met that really made it a stand out show for me. The first was Howard Whitehouse. Howard is the writer of many wargames, probably the most famous are Astounding Tales and Science vs. Pluck. Howard came up, introduced himself, chatted for a bit, and then bought a copy of Frostgrave. After only a few minutes of conversation, it was easy to see why he is such a popular guy in the wargaming world. The next day, I ran into him again. He held up his copy of Frostgrave, and said 'There's some good stuff in here'. He then gave me a little piece of terrain he had made to sell at show. It is in the photograph above. It's just a couple of pieces of wood, with, I think, a bit of old jewelry glued to it, but it such a perfect piece of Frostgrave terrain that I could believe it had been made for the game. Thanks Howard!

Later that day, a guy came up to the stand carrying a box of plastic Frostgrave soldiers that he'd bought from another dealer. He introduced himself as Bobby Jackson. It took me only a second to realize he was 'the' Bobby Jackson, who had sculpted so many of my favourite figures for Reaper Miniatures! In fact, I was using a wizard that he had sculpted to lead one of the warbands in my demo. His enthusiasm is completely infectious. He too went away with a copy of Frostgrave. It was only when I got home that I realized that Bobby Jackson also sculpted the last miniature I had painted before I left for the show, the Elf Ranger (seen in a previous blog).

So, while most of Historicon has been pushed out of my memory by jet lag and everything that has happened since, those two meetings have stuck in my memory and made it one of the best wargaming shows I have attended.