Pulp Mill Press Is Open for Business

I am excited to be a part of Pulp Mill Press. We are looking for fantasy short story submissions. Here's more info:

During the golden years of pulp fiction, mighty heroes wielded ancient swords, power-mad sorcerers imperiled their souls and their sanity seeking forbidden lore, two-fisted heroes battled opium-crazed arch-villains, cosmic horrors shattered minds and worlds, and xeno-archaeologists sifted the ruins of Martian civilizations.

These are the stories that we at Pulp Mill Press love best and hope to revive in a series of forthcoming fiction anthologies.  We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting submissions for our first anthology: Libram Mysterium.  This anthology will contain the best pulp-inspired sword & sorcery, sword & planet, and weird horror stories.

While we aren't currently looking for science fiction stories, pending the success of Libram Mysterium, we plan to publish a follow-up volume of science fiction, Libram Scientifica.

Libram Mysterium will remain open to submissions from now until September 1st, 2013.  Please refer to our submission guidelines page for more information on how to prepare and submit your stories.  Thrill us, chill us, and enthrall us; we look forward to hearing from you!

Adventures in the Unnamed City 3: Restrictions & Limitations

Pic by Alan Lee

One of the draws of a medieval urban fantasy campaign is the potential for a very different approach to gaming than the usual wilderness and dungeon setting. In the typical dungeon or wilderness, players are typically limited only by character ability and by resources. Fireball a cave full of trolls? Sure, if you have the ability to do it, then go for it. There are usually no legal or social consequences for toasting up some trolls. You may wish you had the spell when you meet the army of giants ten minutes later, but that is a resource consideration. Legal and social considerations matter little deep underground.

In an urban setting, player characters are not so much restricted by resources as they are by other factors. Unlike the remote wilderness, legal and social consequences loom large in a typical city. For example, if I am use Constantinople as my historical foundation for the campaign setting, there are a couple of legal items that are big deals:

• Most Forms of Magic Are Highly Illegal
• Being Armed and/or Armored Is Illegal for Most People

This urban setting creates a very different set of circumstances than the troll-infested cave under the mountain. Imagine the consequences of tossing a 10d6 fireball into a crowded market to kill of a couple of thugs near the basket weaver's booth. The characters would be pursued to the ends of the earth in the name of justice.

To be clear here, I am not trying to do a historical simulation as I create my setting, so I do not feel bound by these two provisions. However, the idea of keeping some of these restrictions and watching how the players work around it might end up being one of the best aspects of the setting.

I can really see how this would work well with the system like GURPS. There might be a premium on unarmed combat, stealth, social skills, creative spell selection/use, and socio-economic status. Reputation and connections become critically important even as the importance of a shiny suit of armor fades into the background.

I think the challenge is in the implementation. I do plan to keep the setting as simple as possible, particularly at the start of the campaign. I also think it would be great to have the players participate in the creation of the setting. This assumes that they are interested, but that is a topic for another post.

Adventures in the Unnamed City 2

Astute readers will note that the title of this post reads "in the Unnamed City" rather than "in an Unnamed City" (in my last post, I used an, not the). I decided that that city for my in-the-works medieval urban fantasy campaign setting does not have a name. The city did have a name long ago, but then it was Unnamed. How and when and why that happened, no one can say. These are questions that are best left unasked and unanswered.

Image source: http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/DIVE_INTO_FANTASY_CITY_Wallpaper_70tj3.jpg

2013 Gaming Goals Intentions

Goals for gaming seems a bit grandiose to me, and also a bit of a fun-kill. It is not like I will keep score. So these are nothing more than my gaming intentions-at-the-current-moment. Here are my three gaming intentions for 2013:

1. Run a GURPS campaign. It would be my first attempt at running GURPS. The Monday Night Gaming Gang would likely be the victims.
2. Run a FATE campaign. This, too, would be my first attempt at FATE. I am hoping to get our scattered in-house-face-to-face group together for some seasons. It is tough when half the group are college students, although the parent half of the group could threaten to withhold funds to get them to all come home on the same weekend once a month.
3. Create an medieval urban fantasy campaign setting I can be run with GURPS (see #1 above), FATE (see #2 above), or an OSR d20 game (probably Swords & Wizardry).

What are your gaming intentions for 2013?