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Winter 2017 Update and Convention Schedule!

Ahoy, all!

I hope that your holidays treated you well and that 2017 is off to a great start!

While we’ve had a few hiccups that have interrupted production–some torn chest cartilage, the untimely death of one of our cats, a busted dishwasher, and a bout with norovirus–we’re still chugging away to ensure that CSW: Rogues Gallery will be the phenomenal book that you deserve.

First off, the best news:  text editing is done.  Christine, Jeff, and Lauren did a phenomenal job on the text, and it’s leaps and bounds better.  Secondly, we have about 80% of the art in.  I’m still waiting on a series of pieces, but I have no doubts that these will be arriving soon.

My original hope was to have all of these items in hand by the end of December; obviously, this puts us slightly behind that original target date.  Interpret that how you will; it’s still my intent to have pdf copies out this summer, with hard copies to follow.  I heartily apologize if that leads to an actual delay, but I want to ensure that I’m proud of the book that arrives in your hands.  Your patience is surely appreciated!

Conventions and Upcoming Appearances:

With the spring approaching, that means conventions!  Andy’s busy assembling his spring and summer convention schedule, which will include the following:

  • Saturday, February 10: DayCon Game Day (Fairborn, OH)
  • Tuesday, February 28: RPG Demo Night at The Rook OTR (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Friday, March 3-Sunday, March 5: CincyCon (Hamilton, OH) (Only Saturday, March 4)
  • Saturday, March 11: UDCon (University of Dayton, Dayton, OH)
    • Andy will be the keynote speaker at the convention, in addition to running games!
  • Saturday, March 25: WittCon XIV (Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH)
  • Friday, April 28: GeekFest at the Boonshoft (Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, Dayton, OH)
  • Tuesday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19: Origins Game Fair (Columbus, OH)
  • Friday, October 8 – Sunday, October 10: CinCityCon (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Friday, November 10th – Sunday, November 12: AcadeCon (Dayton Convention Center, Dayton, OH)
    • Dates for AcadeCon are subject to change.

 

Note that, unfortunately, we will not be attending GenCon this year.  The reasons for this are twofold:  GenCon is becoming increasingly prohibitively expensive, especially for a small design company.  While we have endeavored to cut down costs–we’ve always stayed outside of downtown Indianapolis to reduce hotel costs–the expenditure for GenCon is always the highest of our convention season.  

Further, a dear friend of ours is getting married in late August.  Her wedding is in Minneapolis, so we’re taking the road trip up to see her off into married life.  Because of the time-proximity to GenCon, we elected to go to the wedding rather than the convention.  Ideally, we will return to GenCon in years to come.

But how about those convention scenarios?  What will we be playing this year?  Take a look!

CSW:  Darkness on the Edge of Town (4 hour investigation)

“Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact.  But maybe everything that dies someday comes back…”

CSW:  Bad Trip (2 hour demo)

Overdose deaths among New Corinth’s homeless lead to a harrowing realization.

De Civitates Dei:  Ghosts of Ma’ara (4 hour alpha playtest)

Wrest an ancient relic from the clutches of an evil lurking within a ruined Crusader fortress.

In addition, at WittCon and several other events, Andy will be showing off board game prototypes of Dwarven Defenders, Steel Drivin’ Man, and a few other designs that he’s been kicking about!

Art Previews:

Lastly, let’s take a look at some of that gorgeous art filtering in from our artists!

Gramma Murder (Matt Morrow)

Cadeia and the Rojo Bastardes (Dan Oropallo)

Suiting Up (Jon Gibbons)

Lobotomy (Jon Gibbons)

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A Long Overdue Fall Update!

We’ve been so hard to work out here, we forgot to update our website!

If you’ve been following the buzz on our Facebook page, you already know the great news:  our Kickstarter relaunch was a success!

By the end of August, we raised over $5,000 to help make Cold Steel Wardens: Rogues Gallery into a reality.  Thanks to all of you who backed us; we’re already hard at work on the art aspects of the book, with art direction completed and our artists pumping out some phenomenal pieces!

Take a look below!

In other news, the winter doesn’t mean the end of convention season!

We’ll be heading to Star City Brewery this weekend–October 22nd–for their Dayton Designed Game Night, where Andy will be running demos of Dwarven Defenders.

And, if you haven’t gotten it already, get your badge for AcadeCon, now at the Dayton Convention Center!  Andy will be running Dwarven Defenders and the premier of De Civitates Dei, while Jules will be throwing down a whole series of CSW games!

See you around the game table, friends!

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One Week to Relaunch!

Friends–

First up, thanks for your continued support of Cold Steel Wardens.  We truly appreciate each and everyone one of you–we never get tired of hearing stories about your home games, of your off-the-wall convention adventures, or your favorite comics inspirations.

If you’ve enjoyed CSW thusfar, Cold Steel Wardens: Rogues Gallery is the next step in our odyssey.  Rogues Gallery contains full write-ups for Stonegate Penitentiary, Lincroft Asylum, and a legionCSW-Rogues-Gallery-Kickstarter of mooks, madmen, masterminds, and metahumans ready to drop into your campaign.  Further, Rogues Gallery dramatically advances the New Corinth setting, as our narrator–fan favorite vigilante Sawbones–provides his own notes on the various miscreants roaming the streets.

However, CSW: Rogues Gallery cannot become a reality without your help!

We will be RELAUNCHING the CSW: Rogues Gallery Kickstarter on Monday, August 1st, 2016!

Our revamped KS drive will include a number of special events throughout the drive:

  • We’ll be hosting a Kickstarter launch party at The Malted Meeple game cafe in Hudson, OH, on August 1st.  We’ll have cake, featured milkshake specials, and demos run by Andy all evening.
  • We’ll be hosting demo events at Epic Loot in Centerville, OH on both July 28th and August 25th.  Andy will be on hand to answer questions and run demo games for anyone around!
  • We’ll be running a bevy of events at GenCon Indy!
  • We’ll be holding a “Crowdsource-A-Villain” contest on our Facebook page for the duration of the drive.  The results from the votes will become an additional villain which will appear in Rogues Gallery!

 

Of course, Rogues Gallery cannot become a reality without your help.  Please consider backing us and share/tweet/like/upvote our drive whenever you can.  

Thanks again for all of your support; we’ll see you on Kickstarter on August 1st!

–A.P. Klosky

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2016 Convention Run-Down

Happy new year, fellow gamers!  Andy’s been up to his eyeballs in drafting, revisions, and planning, but that only goes to show how much great stuff we have on the horizon!

One of our most important items on the docket is our convention schedule!  We love seeing all you fans at the various gaming conventions and throwing down some dice!  Check out the list of conventions below and see where you can catch up with Andy, play some Cold Steel Wardens, or try out one of our new designs!

 

If you know of any gaming or comic conventions in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky area, please drop us a message and let us know.  We’d love the chance to sling some dice with you!

Oh, and one last thing…

Beware the Ides of March!  New Corinth will never be the same…

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Jessica Jones, Iron Age Noir, and Sawbones

Here at Blackfall Press, we love all things superheroic. And, of course, the Marvel Comics/Netflix series have been no exception.  Daredevil really left quite the impression on us–particularly Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk and Toby Leonard Moore as James Wesley.  When Jessica Jones landed on Netflix, we knew instantly that we’d spend the weekend binge-watching.

So…we did.  Two evenings later, we finished the series and we’re still debating whether we like Daredevil or Jessica Jones better!

You see, both Daredevil and Jessica Jones stand as exemplars of what makes the Iron Age of Comics so great:  flawed heroes struggling with difficult circumstances, nuanced, complex villains, and setting that drips atmosphere from every pore.  Hell’s Kitchen is every much a character in Daredevil as Foggy Nelson or Karen Page, which provides an unparalleled tone among the current television superhero offerings.

Marvel Comics/Netflix's "Jessica Jones"  (Image is copyright the original IP holders)

Marvel Comics/Netflix’s “Jessica Jones”
(Image is copyright the original IP holders)

It’s that atmosphere in setting that struck me, specifically, in Jessica Jones.  At its core, the comics that inspired Jessica Jones–particularly Brian Michael Bendis’ phenomenal Alias series–have their roots in noir-style private investigation more than spandex-clad superheroics.  Certainly, while classics of Marvel’s stable showed up in Alias, the focus of the series lay in Jessica’s own investigations, which relied more on stake-outs than on super-hearing.  Further, like the hard-drinking private eyes of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, Jessica spends much of her time as a woman apart, holding the world at arm’s length, hoping to keep from harming it…and to keep from having the world harm her any further.

Honestly?  I was pleased most of all that showrunner Melissa Rosenberg chose to uphold the tradition of maintaining Jessica’s inner monologue:  a staple of pulp detective fiction rooted in the first-person perspective.  So many of the great Iron Age comics have utilized this trope, from Rorschach’s journal in Watchmen, to Batman’s brooding narrative in The Dark Knight Returns, to the awe-struck narration of the appearance of The Avengers during Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil.

CSW_10So, where does this leave Cold Steel Wardens?  Well, of course, CSW is no stranger to the private-investigator archetype and our forthcoming Rogues’ Gallery serves as something of a love letter to this pulp-inspired trope.

Allow me to introduce the not-so-humble narrator of CSW: Rogues’ Gallery:  Sawbones.

Sawbones, better known as private investigator Joe Bryson, is one of our convention-favorite characters.  We’ve always billed as something of “the bastard love-child of John Constantine and Kitty Pryde.”  A chain-smoking ex-paramedic, Sawbones put his paramedic and police training to good use, especially when coupled with his ability to phase through inorganic matter. After all, it’s so much easier to find evidence when you can simply walk through a vault wall and take it!

Having worked the mean streets of Smoke City for years, Sawbones has assembled stacks of police reports, psychological profiles, photos, and other evidence into a series of case-files on the various metahumans, mobsters, and menaces that roam New Corinth’s darkest alleys.  Naturally, these pieces of evidence come coupled with Sawbones’ own notes on these  ne’er-do-wells.  The vast majority of Rogues’ Gallery, as such, comes from Sawbones’ perspective–we wanted to build a setting book that a CSW GameMaster can literally hand to their players and say, “Here.  These are the files you find.”

Look for CSW: Rogues’ Gallery to hit Kickstarter this coming spring.  And, as always, keep your eyes peeled here for more info and sneak previews!

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Happy Halloween! Here’s a Rogue’s Gallery Treat!

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He11ion

No tricks here, friends!  Just a treat for you for this Halloween:  a preview glimpse of our forthcoming Cold Steel Wardens book, CSW: Rogues’ Gallery.

Unlike most “monster manual”-type rpg books, Rogues’ Gallery is written from the perspective of an in-game character, the cynical, phasing, private-detective Sawbones.  Do keep in mind, this is preview material and is subject to change, as we’re in development and revision.  Regardless, here’s Sawbones’ view on He11ion!

Street Identity: He11ion (also, Hellion)

Civilian Identity: Simone Kirkman

Sawbones’ Narrative:

The first time I met He11ion, she shot me in the face.  

Granted, I was kind of sneaking up on her, trying to figure out who the pistol-packing looney-toon was that was prowling around St. Ignatius, but she whipped around and unloaded four rounds into my head.

Remember how I said that the whole ‘phasing through bullets’ thing was easier said than done?  Yeah, well…let’s just say that I’m glad that I had all that practice.  Otherwise, yours truly wouldn’t be able to write all this down.

He11ion’s a study in contradictions to be sure.  On the outside, she looks like she belongs in the crowd at a Slipknot concert or working at the Hot Topic in the Miatanka Mall.  Trip pants, ripped up wifebeater tank-top, shoulder holsters, you name it.  But in reality?  She’s every bit the good little Catholic girl that her appearance screams to the contrary.

I won’t get into her past; she’d be pissed if I did, but after we worked together a few times and shared a bottle of Captain Morgan, she opened up a bit.  That girl had a hell of a life as a kid.  It probably fucked her up something fierce, hence the mask, guns, and tendency to wander the streets at 2am, looking for a fight.

He11ion’s quite the pistolero and is fairly good in a scrap, but the church has got its hooks in her something fierce.  She never misses mass at St. Iggy’s, going at least twice a week, plus a weekly trip to Saturday confession.  Her apartment is outright covered in crazy religious books; she calls most of them ‘Apocrypha’–books that were excised from different versions of the Bible over time.  Yeah.  Pretty intense, that.

It all comes down, I suppose, to the pistol she keeps slung across her back.  She calls it the Sangraal, and I’ve never seen a gun like it.  It definitely doesn’t look like the .357s she keeps in the shoulder holsters, and certainly not like anything I ever fired on the academy firing range.

Have you ever seen a gun breathe?

The Sangraal did.  I nearly jumped out of my skin.  It looks like it’s made of metal, though it has this ornate carving across the barrel and stock that would make you think it’s a piece of art and not a real gun.  When He11ion picked it up, the damned thing literally let out a sigh.  Barrel moved and everything.  

Look, I don’t don’t truck much with the crazy, wack-a-doo occult stuff that goes in the NC.  I know there are plenty that do:  cultists and street-preachers and worse.  But on the whole?  I don’t think that there’s one big Creator up there and even if there was, I’d probably give him a piece of my mind about making New Corinth such a shithole for his beloved children.  

He11ion claims that after she ran away from home for the fourth time, she ended up living in an alley near St. Ignatius.  It was February, so she was half-frozen and starving to death, when she claims she was visited by Saint Malachi, glowing with streaming light and holding a burning spear.  Apparently, Saint Malachi thought it’d be a great idea to turn her into an “instrument of Heavenly retribution” and handed her the spear, which turned into her pistol as soon as he passed it over.  

The details are a little sketchy from there–He11ion cites a bunch of Biblical bullshit from her books–but she says that Malachi marked her forehead with the Mark of Wormwood, which allows her to detect “unrepentant sin”.  The Sangraal, meanwhile, fires bullets of flaming brimstone, which have to be harvested from the bodies of unrepentant sinners.  The gun holds 11 rounds:  one for each of the “true apostles of Christ.”  Yeah.  I know.  Creepy.  I’m not touching that mess with a ten foot pole.

Since that day, He11ion’s been floating around New Corinth, mainly in North Arlington, Grey’s Park, and Carriage Hill, taking down whomever needs taken care of.  No idea how, but she’s managed to stay off the news thusfar; that’s got to be a lot harder when your sidearm shoots fireballs!  We’ve worked together on a few cases here and there…and I might have made a drunken pass at her.  Yeah, so sue me–Captain Morgan fucks with my head.  Turns out she’s playing for the other team, actually.  No harm, no foul, though; we’re still on pretty good terms.  

In-Character Document: News Article–Aftermath of He11ion’s Escapades

New Corinth Post-Tribune: March 14th

“Rape Suspect Found Dead; Body Burned”

The Miatanka County Coroner’s office is piecing together a strange case this morning as the body of James Ratliff, 34, of Carriage Hill was found in an alley in the suburbs surrounding Adams College.  Ratliff was burned over 85% of his body, though none of the area surrounding Ratliff showed any signs of fire, burns, or destruction of any sort.

Crime scene investigators were quick to note that the cause of Ratliff’s death was, in fact, the fire itself, which would imply some sort of self-immolation or method of suicide.  However, investigators detected no traces of gasoline, lighter fluid, or other combustible.  Medical examiner Paul Arnleif commented that he had “never seen anything like this.  It’s almost as if he just burst into flame on his own.”  Arnleif added that he believed a full autopsy would provide more answers.

This incident comes just four days after Ratliff was released on bail; Ratliff was arrested three weeks ago as the primary suspect in the rape of Adams College student Gennifer Strickland, who was on her way home from a party off-campus.  Strickland successfully identified Ratliff from a police lineup, and his DNA was a 94% match to that found via a police rape kit.  Ratliff was being held on $40,000 bond, which was paid by an unknown benefactor.

Plot Hooks:

The dead, slain by He11ion’s Sangraal pistol, have begun to come back to life, swearing to continue the crimes perpetrated during their lives.

He11ion has a deep-seated fear that the being that called itself Saint Malachi was not actually an angel or a saint.  Rather, the hellfire pistol is, quite literally, the right hand of the devil itself.

What happens with an artifact like the Sangraal falls into the wrong hands?  Who knows how much damage the Sangraal might cause when the user runs out of the ‘living bullets’ that the gun feeds upon?

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AcadeCon Plans and Project Juggling!

 

As the leaves are falling and the nights grow longer, we’re keeping busy over here at Blackfall Press!

First up, take a look at this awesome new website!  Thanks to one of our associates, BlackfallPress.com has never looked so awesome!  Thanks again to our favorite faerie imp for all the help.  Take a look around and enjoy the new digs!

Also, we’ve got AcadeCon incoming!  AcadeCon is the brainchild of the gang over at The RPG Academy, whom I first met over at CincyCon earlier this year.  The RPG Academy guys are huge fans of Cold Steel Wardens:  I ran them through one of my exclusive adventures, On Gossamer Wings, as part of their RPG Academy podcast.  Take a listen, if you haven’t heard it already!

So, what are we doing at AcadeCon?  Well, firstly, Jules will be running a whole series of CSW demos all weekend, so if you’re attending and haven’t yet tried Cold Steel Wardens, your seats will be waiting!  Andy, however, will be doing something a little bit different.  He’ll be running demo sessions of his new board game prototype, Dwarven Defenders!

Wait…what?

Oh, yes, friends and neighbors.  Andy’s keyboard has been ablaze with new projects over the past few months, not the least of which has been the aforementioned Dwarven Defenders.  So, what has he been working on so fervently?

  • Cold Steel Wardens Studio 2 re-release.  Andy’s made some minor changes (mainly in terms of readability and ease of use, but a few bits of errata), which are now in the hands of our layout designers.  After that, it’ll be sent off to the gang at Studio 2 for publication and the subsequent print run.
  • CSW: Rogues’ Gallery.  Andy’s got the draft of this done and it’s now in the hands of his lovely and talented development team.  Keep your eyes peeled for news on the upcoming Kickstarter for this one in early 2016.
  • Dwarven Defenders.  A board game, rather than an rpg, Dwarven Defenders casts players in the role of stalwart dwarves attempting to defend their ancestral tomb from the machinations of the necromancer Jaegren Lern.  A combination of a dungeon crawler (in the vein of Descent or Castle Ravenloft) and online tower defense games, players must carve runes, scavenge relics, and build temple defenses by day, in the hopes to stave off Jaegren Lern’s undead hordes.  It’s a one vs. many game that carries 3-7 players and plays between 60 and 120 minutes.
  • Deus Vult: Occult Horror in 1135 Jerusalem.  Andy’s next rpg project, Deus Vult whisks players away to the Holy City of Jersualem at the foundation of the Crusader Kingdoms.  However, even as the Levant faces the man-made horror of war and religious hatred, yet darker demons lurk in the night.  Jerusalem’s sacred walls are home to horrors sealed away in ancient catacombs, eldritch tomes meant for no man’s eyes, and foul occult rituals chanted by moonlight,  Andy’s still writing the rules for this one, but expects to have a full rule-set by the end of the year and hopes to have it ready for playtest during the 2016 convention cycle.

 

Keep your eyes peeled here, friends, for all the news on these upcoming projects as well as where you can try these games out!

 

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