Auran Empire Sourcebook

What is Barbarian Conqueror King? Also, how is your experimentation with variant Thief skill progression going?

BCK is developed by Omer Joel. It’s a campaign supplement for a post-apoc barbarian planetary romance fantasy. Barbarians riding dinosaurs confront spaceships.

Sounds like one can run a Thundarr the Barbarian campaign with it. I’ll look forward to seeing more about it.

I would say Thundarr is probably one of Omer’s biggest inspirations, though he really is better suited to confirm that than I.

The Heroic Companion will be awesome for crafting campaigns similar to early fantasy (Howard or Leiber).

tell us more :slight_smile:
very interested in the Heroic Companion what’s there beyond the new magic system

Here’s what is currently in Heroic Companion, Fabio:

New Healing Mechanic (variable healing from spells based on the target’s level)
New Classes: Ecclesiastic, Elven Spellsinger, Loremaster, Nobiran Champion, Nobiran Wizard, Occultist, Runemaker, Zaharan Sorcerer
New Proficiencies: Bright Lore of Aura, Ceremonial Magic, Ceremonial Focus, Destined, Farseeing, Second Sight
Heroic Deeds
Heroic Codes
Heroic Funerals
Heroic Fate Points
Heroic COmbat
Revised Natural 20 Rules
Critical Hit Rules
Special Maneuver: Clamber
Special Maneuver: Sweeping Attack
Thievery (buffs to thieves)
Attack and Armor Penetration of Large Monsters
Eldritch Magic
Shades of Magic
Corruption
Spellsinging
Ceremonial Magic
Ceremonial Traditions - Antiquarian, Chthonic, Liturgical, Runic, Sylvan, Shamanic, Theurgical
Ceremonial Trinkets
Ceremonial Talismans
Eldritch Spell List - 50+ spells
New Monsters - Draugr, Hag, Haugbui, Hoarflesh, Nosferatou
Heroic Secrets
Naming Arms and Armor
Pinnacles of Good & Recovery from Corruption
Custom Classes (updated rules)
Custom Spells (updated rules)

That sounds awesome!

can’t wait… I just love this game :slight_smile:
and with POD it’s even better :wink:

cross posting from a conversation on Discord today.  The gist of that conversation was An Auran Empire Sourcebook KS is no where near a possibility at this time.

I imagine finalizing the Auran Empire sourcebook will be a significant effort. There's plenty of other areas that I'm sure would be able to occupy Autarch for the next couple years. However, I wonder if a different approach might be considered. Perhaps a Gazeteer per province/region would be a more fruitful approach. One would have to have the discipline to not try to make each new gazetteer more 'awesome to the extreme' than the last, but I think Alex has that discipline. Another consideration with the gazetteer approach is that it may turn out that some provinces just may not be interesting enough to justify the effort for it to have its own gazetteer. Perhaps such provinces could be viewed as reserved for each individual GM to flesh out on his own.

[quote="wmarshal"]

I imagine finalizing the Auran Empire sourcebook will be a significant effort. There's plenty of other areas that I'm sure would be able to occupy Autarch for the next couple years. However, I wonder if a different approach might be considered. Perhaps a Gazeteer per province/region would be a more fruitful approach. One would have to have the discipline to not try to make each new gazetteer more 'awesome to the extreme' than the last, but I think Alex has that discipline. Another consideration with the gazetteer approach is that it may turn out that some provinces just may not be interesting enough to justify the effort for it to have its own gazetteer. Perhaps such provinces could be viewed as reserved for each individual GM to flesh out on his own.

[/quote]

This raises an interesting question. Which areas of the Auran Empire would people be most interested in playing in?

 

 

 

 

[quote="Alex"] This raises an interesting question. Which areas of the Auran Empire would people be most interested in playing in? [/quote] Well, since you ask... Kemesh. Definitely Kemesh. My players have encountered a magic portal to that desert land because my campaign's backstory involves [SPOILER OMITTED IN CASE MY PLAYERS READ THIS], and it'd be handy to have a resource to draw region-appropriate locations and cultural details from.

I also think Kemesh would be interesting as well as the territories that border Kemesh. With the leaders of the Auran and Somirean Empires seeming defeated both Somirea and Opelenea could be ripe for trouble-making by emigres from Kemesh or Syksostan.

My group has just spent several in-game years in Opelenea and Kemesh, so I guess I should second this.

Where are the greatest political conflict and greatest potential for PCs to become rulers?

Rorn.  I ran a roughly reskinned Karameikos campaign there several years ago.  Would be interested in seeing the "book" Rorn.

 

Thanks! Good feedback.

Kemesh would have a feel very akin to the world of Conan's Stygia, Zamora, and Ophir. I could see it being very fun, although the domain-level play is largely "evil" in Kemesh. Opelenea is more neutral and so it might be better - it's still exotic but less chaotic.

Rorn would have a feel akin to Dark Ages Briton after the death of King Arthur. The ersatz Saxons and Danes are pressing in (from Jutland) and the Roman Empire (Aura) has abandoned the region. A high king briefly unified everyone but now it's back to squabbling. There is huge potential for domain play here, but it's much more "vanilla". 

 

I like the way 'Sinister Stone' and the upcoming 'Nethercity' are expanding the same region in Southern Argolle. Depending on how much more you plan on placing here, it'd be nice to have a closer look at the region for some wilderness exploration here and across the southern border. Maybe a player's guide with tips on what kind of races are common there and organizations they can belong to/compete against.

Fletch137, the Capital of the Borderlands book (sister book to Secrets of the Nethercity) will include a map of the Borderlands region with about 50 points of interest for exploration. There are also several freelance adventures set in the Borderlands that are being developed by some great writers!