Black Powder and Brimstone

The End is not Nigh
4 months ago – Sat, May 25, 2024 at 06:23:21 AM

Greetings Sinner,

We have done it. over 1000 people have pledged 875000 sek to make this project a possibility. Right now I am going to have a well deserved rest, but soon the hard work begins. This is a project that i have spent over a year developing, and have plans to keep working on for months or even years to come. To that promice, here is a tentetive Road Map of what to expect over the coming months. 

These are only vague for now, and things like dates will be updated as I go to keep you informed. 

Once again, Thank You for supporting me and this project. Its been a real ride and not one I am soon to forget. But soon, ADVENTURE!

cheers

Ben

The Last Day
4 months ago – Fri, May 24, 2024 at 05:54:24 AM

Greetings Sinner,

Today is the last day of the campaign, and oh boy what a ride. More than 1000 people have backed this project to make it a reality and that is just mind blowing. When I was first doing the maths to see how many people I would need to make this project possible it was about 200, so the overwhelming amount of support from you all is very humbling. 

I am already making a start on the milestone rewards including the book of spells in all its blasphemous glory.

Here is a behind the scenes look at the two world characters Mother Gothel and Lord Inquisitor Devocrox. Each character will have a page like this when completed.

Stay tuned for future updates on production as well as community resources.

Cheers

Ben

The Dark Art of Alchemy
4 months ago – Tue, May 21, 2024 at 11:02:56 PM

Greetings Sinner,

We have hit out 700k sek goal so you have unlocked the VTT and the embossed cover!

I am proud to announce that myself and Alchemy RPG have agreed to partner up to bring Black Powder and Brimstone to their site! This will feature dynamic animated illustrations as well as battle maps, the full bestiary, rule set, world map, character creation and more! 

The best part is if you are reading this I have reached an arrangement with the team at Alechemy. So, eveyone who has backed this campaign, even at the digital level will get a copy of the Black Powder and Brimstone VTT for FREE.

I am super exited about the prospect of working with Alchemy, and I already have plans for battle maps, bespoke animated illustrations and more. 

The game is going to look so good on their site, with plenty of custom colours and graphics as well as sound effects. 

Next stop is more NPCs in the bestiary, even though there are over 30 of them already, as well as the 6 imfamous NPCs. But I just cant stop making them and you all want more har. 

We couldnt have gotten this far without your support and for that I am extremely grateful. 

cheers

Ben

A Virtual World
4 months ago – Mon, May 20, 2024 at 03:24:17 PM

Greeting Sinner,

I was anxiously looking over the kickstarter campaign today between my 4th and 5th cup of coffee, when I realized 700k sek is too high for such a lowly prize as an embossed cover. That's when I got to thinking that a properly supported VTT (virtual table top) would be much more appropriate for so much support. I'm already in talks with developers for Alchemy RPG and Foundry Virtual Table Top to see what is the best fit for the game. Nevertheless I am a terrible coder and would need help, and I'll be damned if I ask someone to work for me for free or measly kitchen scraps. So if we hit that goal of 700,000 sek I will be able to pay someone a proper commission to get the system up and running and make sure it's ready to play around the same time the PDF of the book comes out. 

Needless to say it will be full of atmospheric art and some custom made battle maps painted by yours truly. Just think how cool it would be with a custom made soundtrack as well eh? eh? 

So keep up the good work spreading the good word about this project to those you think would enjoy it, not long until the finish now!

But as always, thank you again for your suport. It is a deeply humbling experience seeing so many people all over the world support me and this project.

cheers

B

Building Character
4 months ago – Sun, May 19, 2024 at 07:06:58 AM

Greeting Sinner

We have less than a week to go and we are so close to hitting another stretch goal! Then we are so much closer to geting more enemies in the bestiary and maybe even the custom soundtrack. 

The enemies will include; the night folk, cultists, vile experiments and more. 

I thought I would port over a post from my behind the scenes blog on my substack to go over the character archetypes in the game. I dint want to include these in the quick start as I feel like they are something I dont want to give away for free. but if you are reading this you have already pledged so I think you are entitled to this small preview. Bear in mind these are not the absolutly final designs as there may be changes between now and the books launch. 

So the character creation stage of any RPG is extremely important as I’m sure you know. You need a role to play at the table hah. More loosy goosy systems like Fate and Mork Borg have you able to create a character potentially within minutes with minimal fuss, maths and dice rolling. This compared to the oceans of text present in some systems is fantastic as for one you can get a new player into the game super quickly, and with such a short time creating a character I find players take more risks and really lean into a game’s tone of live fast and die as spectacularly as possible.

Now this may seem a little cold hearted, but if anything I find that relieves stress at the table and has players making bolder and more creative decisions rather than making sure every aspect of a session is to their advantage. You should be playing to get into trouble and cause a ruckus after all, not be a background character to another narrative.

So there are five classes in Black Powder and Brimstone. Each one is indicative of a style of character I could see existing in this world. And for every class there are three subclasses, so fifteen in total. I’m going to be going over each class in this post, but not each subclass, as you will have to get the game to find out what those are. 

So firstly is the Mercenary Deserter.

This is the pure fighter warrior class that is good with big armor and big weapons. The kind of character that takes the front of the marching order and is a cynical professional. 

With each character I wanted to have a random table for you to get a glimpse of a backstory that you can take or leave as a way of making this character your own. For the Mercenary Deserter I wanted to focus on trauma, something you saw that haunts your dreams. Also the fact that you are a deserter could come up in a storyline and give you all sorts of complications that you will have to deal with. 

Next we have the Bounty Hunter.

With this class i was inspired by The Witcher and the antihero’s of the old west. A hunter for coin that lives for the thrill of the chase. With the random character trait I wanted to focus on childhood memories, the wound or event that made the character what they are. These are a little more abstract than the Mercenary Deserter but are more for the player to interpret.

Now one of the more special characters. 

The Witch. 

The witch character type is one that is very close to my heart, and encompasses a lot of what I want to achieve with the tone of the game.  So firstly, Magic is Rare and Dangerous, not just to others but to the wielder as well. As such those that practice magic are persecuted by the church, and if you use magic in front of the wrong people, you will have to deal with the Inquisition. 

Secondly, magic, especially magic in the realms of folk horror is inherently a feminine trait. The witch of the woods, as depicted here is a powerful and esoteric presence. As such I decided to make the decision to make magic rare and special, so only witches can use magic, and only women can be witches. So no wizards, warlocks or natural philosophers. Obviously once you have the book, any game you make is yours, I dont have the time or the power to bash your door down and dictate the rules as written, but know this was a design decision I took a lot of time working on and it wasn't just an off the cuff decision for brownie points online. 

To fit the theme of the Witch being at once powerful, but also hounded, the random character traits are all about your witch running from something, you can't just be comfortable, something is out to get you, and it will catch you sooner or later. 

Next we have the Opportunist.

My take on the Rogue archetype. 

Opportunists are morally gray bastards that want one thing and one thing only, to get filthy rich or die trying. These are highly driven characters that have a clear want, something they are after. That’s why the random character aspects are all about solidifying these wants so you have a clear motivation. The Adventurer as shown here is a kind of swashbuckling Indiana Jones type character. The kind to delve into ancient tombs and cursed cities for the chance at that big payday. It's something that a lot of players gravitate towards, stealing everything that’s not nailed down just in case you can either use it or flog it for a few coins later to make your life just a bit easier. And hay, a war’s on, you best seize this opportunity or someone else will. 

The idea of the class aspect is to be more athletic than the Mercenary or the Bounty Hunter. Where the player uses feats of dexterity or talking bullshit to create their own advantages rather than brute forcing their way through a tricky situation. 

Lastly we have the Practitioner. 

I went back and forth a lot about this character type, initially I was thinking of not having a Paladin/ religious character in the game at all. But seeing as faith and religion is such a large part of the world, the war itself is a religious conflict inspired by the European Wars of Religion, especially the 30 Years War, that it felt wrong not to include a paladin type class. 

Now I’m sure you are thinking “then what's the point? If only the Witch can cast magic?”. 

Well the way I figured it, these practitioners of faith can perform more earthly miracles than the full fat power of Witch magic. But that doesn't mean they aren't useful in a pinch. For example the VOwe of war, shown here a sort of warrior Monk/ Nun is inspired by the Knights Hospitaller in their defense of Malta against the Ottoman Empire. A fantastic episode of Lions Led by Donkeys is linked for you to listen to. 

Where the Knights would fight on way past physical exhaustion to defend the island. With some knights so injured they demanded to be strapped to chairs so they could keep swinging at invaders as they went through the doors. That sort of indomitable spirit is what I wanted to get across with the Vow of War at least. 

As for the random character trait, I often find characters of faith are more or less defined by that faith in modern media. If you are a monk or a Nun that's all you are, no ambitions or inner monologue. So I thought to give a good heft of spice if you want to play a practitioner you should have a secret, one you may or may not share with the table (but should do with the GM hah). 

That way no matter how you roll play the character, you and the table know there is something else beneath the surface, that you hold something within you that is not as it seems. 

So there we have the characters, I may add more, but that will likely come with the expansions I have brewing in the back of my mind and won't even touch until much, much later. 

Now something you may have noticed about all the characters so far is they are kinda, well, hot. Not gonna lie about it or try to make excuses. At the end of the day the advantage of making your own project is you can do what you want without anyone telling you no. So I decided not to have everyone as battered and grimy as in Mordheim or other grim dark worlds and lean into the “Slut at the ren fair” look. I feel also with the world of the game, it's so bleak and horrific and nasty you may as well look cool in your imagination, something a lot of cyberpunk games lean into as a way of not making the world so nasty that you have to lean into parody and absurdism to not give everyone at the table a real case of the blues. 

As for the project, it's coming along, only two pages left to illustrate and myself and my wife (who is the inspiration of the Woods Witch) are going to go over the spelling with a fine tooth comb so that my dyslexia is not on full show. 

Let me know which character you think you would want to play first?

Cheers

B