Updates from the Forge 22: February 2018

[Jubal]

Issue 22: February 2018

EDITORIAL

Exilian is nearly ten years old! That's a slightly terrifying margin for anyone who's been here since day one, and of course it's the big story of this editorial. It's been a quiet month for major announcements, but we had another good Cyril & Methodius Day, including raising £68 for the Room to Read charity, which we're very pleased with. The coming month will be a lot busier, as we've got the anniversary celebrations coming up, and a couple of game projects closing in on releases and completion which should hopefully lead to some major newsposts in the next few weeks. We're also advertising for some new staff, so there's a good chance that someone else may be taking on more of the writing and editorials for these in future (the imaginary llama's job is secure, though, don't worry...)

We can kick off the month's celebrations with this another *actually on time* issue of Updates, and bringing us ever closer to this newsletter's two year mark! This February, we're featuring two tabletop and three computer game design projects, including one new one for the site and exciting updates on a range of others. From beer to barbarians, and Olympus to olive branches - read on!

CONTENTS:

• Innkeep - a tavern with bards in
• Master of Olympus - behold the gods!
• War and Peace in Epicinium
• Son of a Witch's Barbarian Challenges Await...
• The World of Kavis

Innkeep - a tavern with bards in

We've had some news from BeerDrinkingBurke recently, as he's showcased a key part of his game "Innkeep", which will place you as the eponymous character as you listen for rumours, serve ale, and of course make money looking after your various tavern patrons! This month, we've finally got to hear the lovely main theme of the game, which you can listen to here:

This beautifully evocative tune is by composer John Halpart. BeerDrinkingBurke posts regular updates on his Exilian thread, which it's worth going and taking a look at - pull a pint,
sit by the fire, and come and have a chat!

To the Inn!

Master of Olympus - behold the gods!


Rbuxton's "Master of Olympus" has seen some wonderful new artwork updates this month, with great art and WIP shots provided by the game's character artist Tadas Sidlauskas. As a result, we now have our first showcase view of some of the Greek deities - take a look here at Zeus, Artemis, and Hera!

Zeus, worryingly, has his "I'm going to turn into a swan" expression on...

Master of Olympus takes literally the premise that the gods play games with the lives of men, placing the players as various Greek deities in a struggle for supremacy. Players can use their deities' awesome powers, but also build armies and fleets, train heroes, conquer cities, and recover mysterious artefacts in pursuit of victory points that will show who the true Master of Olympus is at the end of the game. You can find out more on rbuxton's Exilian forum!

Climb Olympus Here

War and Peace in Epicinium

"I guess these machine guns beat thneeds as a cause of deforestation"

The Epicinium team are building a wargame with unique environmental mechanics, challenging players to score high points by not only winning the war, but protecting enough of the earth to secure the peace. New mechanics have included changing how some weather effects on the map work, and an improved UI. One major change is also the ability to make peace - is it worth stopping a game early and taking the points offered to you, or will you press on for total victory and risk a lower score as the environment degrades further under firestorms and tank tracks? Only you can decide! You can find more fresh updates from the game here:

To War... or Not?

Son of a Witch's Barbarian Challenges Await...

It's not about the size of your axe...

Bigosaur's Son of a Witch is soon coming to the end of early access, and has recently released a new update with the Barbarian Challenges! These twelve fiendish high-difficulty modes add extra twists to the game - ranging between the low-health scraps of "one shot", the insane enemy numbers in "Overdrive", the huge enemies in "Trolling", the bomb-fuelled insanity of "Master Blaster", and many more! Those who complete all twelve of the fiendish challenges get access to the barbarian, a new character type with serious penalties to magic use and a special combo attack which boosts damage and protects from ranged attacks whilst it's in effect.

Visit the Bigosaur Forum!

The World of Kavis

Jubal's new project, the World of Kavis, is an RPG setting that builds on two of his previous PC adventure game projects. The World of Kavis is an early medieval style fantasy setting with a wide array of cultures and creatures across a vast world. It combines a fairly small-scale scope, focussed on individuals and the machinations of rulers and kingdoms, with a light-hearted "bright realism" of theme that rejects both high epic struggles of clear-cut light and dark and the dark "gritty" theming of some of other more prosaic fantasy worlds. Drawing on his experiences as a historian, game designer, writer, storyteller and mythology geek, Jubal will be releasing world-building notes and more onto the project's subforum. The creator will be regularly checking the forum, so do head over and chip in with thoughts, suggestions and ideas if the mood takes your fancy!

Enter The World of Kavis

By the time we next release Updates from the Forge, we'll hopefully have a new general editor and Exilian will be into its eleventh year of existence. There'll be a lot happening before then, though - including our birthday celebrations around the 18th, which will include a special competition. Hope to see you for that, and at any other time in the month you care to drop by -
and of course in a month's time for another issue of Updates from the Forge!