* New Adventure – Through the Eyes of Madness

In celebration of it being 90 years (almost to the day) since H.P. Lovecraft’s story “The Other Gods” was published, and because it is spooky season, we are releasing Through The Eyes of Madness on DriveThruRPG. This Cthulhu-mythos inspired adventure takes the heroes to the lands of a strange cult, in search of kidnapped children, and will pit them against not only the cultists themselves, but dark horrors that lurk at the edge of the cosmos, and against the Blurring, where reality falls away.

You can get the adventure for only $3 at DriveThruRPG and we hope you will enjoy this creeping darkness to prolong your spooky season!

* New adventure – When Two Tribes Go To War

It is time to release a new adventure for The Lost Roads of Lociam.

A heavy stone smashes into the side of the hut, ripping a hole through the wall. A man inside gives a shout, grabs his spear and charges out, but is cut down by the woman hidden just outside the door. He falls, whimpering, as a torch is flung through the hole in the wall of his shelter, setting it ablaze. The fire seems to be hesitant, faltering and not catching on, and the woman, pulling her long dagger from the fallen man, look into the hut. She sees a woman sitting in there, a child in her arms, concentrating hard on her magic to keep the fire back. A stone thrown from outside shatters her concentration, and the fire rages out, overtaking the flimsy construction. The woman runs screaming from the hut.
The nine tribesmen rise, and look down into the valley, surveying the destruction. Nine other fires are raging in the countryside below. They have reclaimed their honor, and avenged the death of their beloved leader. The war rages on, just as the fires throw pillars of smoke high into the dawn-red sky.

When Two Tribes Go To War is an adventure for the Lost Roads of Lociam – Age of the Black Chaimara and features a multi-branching story where the outcome is dictated by the choices the players make, and the war may turn on their wisdom, or foolishness.

The adventure also includes additional information about the marshlands and living there, along with the basics of siege warfare, walls, gates and warmachines.

You can get the adventure over at DriveThruRPG – by clicking on this link.

* Launching Lost Roads of Lociam over at DriveThruRPG!

Today we are proud to officially launch Lost Roads of Lociam – Age of the Black Chaimara over at DriveThruRPG!

You can get the core rulebook, example characters and introductory adventure there for free, and you can then get the character creation ruleset and a further two adventures for a very reasonable price. Printed versions of the two books are also available.

It is through the contributions of our Kickstarter earlier this year that any of this is possible, and we are so grateful for their support, and hope that they will enjoy what they pledged for!

Additional adventures will be coming out over the next few months as well, so stay tuned!

* Kickstarter ends, and we are fully funded!

A few minutes ago the Kickstarter for the new edition of the game ended its funding period, and not only did the game become fully funded, not only did we get to the first stretchgoal, unlocking Circles Disrupted as a reward for all relevant tiers of pledges, but we also got within a hand’s breadth of the second stretchgoal, so as a bonus we are also giving the Same Old Story adventure as a stretchgoal for those same tiers.

This does not end the work with this edition. It begins the work.
Now we will make sure that the game is ready for fulfillment, getting another proof from the printer (as the first one had some errors that needed to be fixed) and then sending out all the rewards. Then we will move on towards the next part of the game, and its first expansion; The World That Is.

Thank you to all who participated in the Kickstarter campaign, making it possible to reach its goal, and we all look forward to getting the game into your hands.

* Q&A about the game at Randomworlds

I attended a Q&A session regarding the latest version of the game at Randomworlds. It was a lot of fun and we covered topics such as the basic rules, questions about monsters, how magic works in the game, artwork, and combat. You can read it all here.

* Kickstarter is now LIVE!

It is time to start the new year with a journey onto the Lost Roads of Lociam!

You can click on the link below to be taken to the project, learn what we are trying to accomplish, and join in the fun!

* Lost Roads of Lociam coming to Kickstarter!

Happy Holidays everyone!

It might have been a while since you saw any updates here, but we have been far from idle!

The Lost Roads of Lociam was published in 2010, and once the edition was completed, it went into a sort of hiatus. Well, that hiatus is now over, and we are proud to introduce Lost Roads of Lociam – Age of the Black Chaimara!

This new edition of the game, set 75 years after the last edition, has a completely reworked rule-system, from the ground up, and returns to the world of Lociam now rife with turmoil following the re-emergence of the ancient pantheon of the Black Chaimara.

What adventures wait ahead? Let’s find out together!

We have decided to make this into a Kickstarter, just to see what that is like, and we hope you will join us there. The link below will get you to the notification-page, and as soon as the project launches you will be notified! We hope to get into the thick of things in early January.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

* Presentation

The Lost Roads of Lociam is a fantasy roleplaying game set in the fictional world of Lociam, where the forces of Order can Chaos battle for supremacy.
The mortal races, championed by the numerous human peoples, are constantly struggling to survive as these diametrically opposed forces clash all around them. Neither Order nor Chaos can directly act upon Lociam, so they influence the mortal races to fight for them. Seas churn and skies burn as the champions and armies of Order or Chaos engage in war after war. When the world was created Order had the upper hand, but as time has worn on, so has the defenses of Lociam eroded under the relentless assault of Chaos, and Chaos can now project and make manifest demons, mortal projections of its power, into the world.

The struggle has had a magnificent by-product; magic seeps through everything, and nearly all living things can use magic in one form or another, ranging from a scholarly wizard able to transform his (or someone else’s) physical form as he wishes, or hurl streams of fire from his fingertips, all the way down to a carpenter able to mend his tools with a simple touch and a focused thought. Even plants and rocks contain a small measure of magic, and carefully studied, craftsmen and alchemists can extract this magic into wondrous things.

The creators of the mortal races have not abandoned them in their struggle to survive. The gods are part of everyday life for the devout, and they can pray to their deity for advice, support or a miracle. Some are even elevated to higher standings, able to make manifest the will of the god they champion.

The humans of Lociam are divided into nine races, spread across all of the known world, and they have taken it from the older races that used to rule it. The humans now number greater than most other sentient creatures combined, and their many kingdoms reach across entire continents. They form communities, realms and congregations, expand and explore, invent and toil, war and marvel at the world they inhabit.

Bound into kingdoms modeled on the First Kingdom founded now almost fifteen hundred years ago, humans now strive to uphold a higher standard then they once did. Gone are the darker ages of slavery and oppression, and now, under the guidance of their churches and rules, human kingdoms flourish and grow more powerful with each passing year.

Nearly all humans have an active faith, and while some practice it with a greater devoutness than others, the powers of the gods are not to be denied on Lociam. They are very real indeed, and their influence reaches far. The most powerful religious organizations among humans is the Salvation-church, founded by a near-mythical human over thirteen centuries ago, walking the land to stop an all-consuming war which was raging at that time. This church has formed cathedrals and congregations everywhere, and one of the mightiest cities known to man is formed around the very mausoleum of the fallen savior.

The mighty church was challenged some three generation ago when an ancient pantheon was reborn in the darkness. The Black Chaimara now tears across the world, a new ravaging faith that pits brother against brother in huge and bloody wars unlike anything seen for hundreds of years.

Not all of the older races are gone from the world of Lociam. Hidden away in their secret realms can still be found elves; immortal keepers of nature, dwarves; tempered fury with cunning crafts, and the animal-peoples; half form of each realm. Trolls still wander the back roads, and giants can be found in the high hills. Rumors of dragons stirring mingle with tales of new horrors; demons of chaos, walking dead and giant beasts that would feast on a human should they encounter them. The vigil of the humans of Lociam is never ending.

Lociam is a world of a million opportunities, if one is cunning, courageous, crafty or conniving enough. Groups of adventurers seeks their fortune in far-away lands, and bring home both riches uncounted and stories almost too impossible to believe. Some study their entire lives to perform a task for their church or king, while others just leave their homely hearth to seek glory or gold in foreign lands. Some are strong of arms, others carry magic to blast or smooth out opposition. Epic tales of adventurers are handed down generation to generation, inspiring many young folk to seek their fortune away from their homelands.

This, is the world of Lociam, where the Lost Roads are found, and traveled.

The Lost Roads of Lociam is a fantasy-roleplaying game built on a novel, sturdy, and very flexible rules-engine using the hundred-sided dice (D100). It has been scaled back to be as small as possible, and not get in the way of play, while still able to handle diverse situations that player-characters can get into.

The Core Rulebook contains everything you need to start playing, and this Core set is then possible to expand with later publications, including adventures, background-material, new rules and epic campaigns. You can get characters from the homepage, or make your own.

Character creation, in the book The World to Be, is large and varied, where random chance is combined with choices to let you form an interesting character. Parts of the character creation can be done a few different ways, to give you more or less control over how the character forms. It is all up to the players and gamemaster.

The core rulebook itself is divided into chapters, starting with an introduction, followed by a chapter about the world of Lociam. Each trait has its own chapter of rules in the Core rulebook, with the rules for each situation that that trait governs in that chapter.

This is followed by a chapter on the human races of Lociam, known as “The Second People”. The chapter contains some of their history, their differences and their similarities. The human races of Lociam are diverse, even though they all stem from the same ancestry, they gain strength from their diversity, as the races band together.

Once the humans have gotten their time in the spotlight there is a chapter on the the other creatures of Lociam; a collection of monsters that can be encountered in the wild. More monsters will follow in later publications as well, along with articles about other sentient creatures like the elves, dwarves and animal-people as well as the mortal half-demons.

The rulebook is richly illustrated by a diverse collection of artists and contains several optional rules to make the game more interesting, without being vital to running the game itself.

The game has been playtested by hundreds of players worldwide and in later publications the game will expand, including more races, more magic, more monsters and more adventure. For a start the first adventure; “Lights in Old Houses”, will be available when the game launches, and more will follow.

Welcome to the Lost Roads of Lociam.

• 4th draft is done – let’s get printing!

At long last I have gone through all of the 4th draft of the game, and after getting a new desktop layouting program (Affinity Publisher), I have done a complete re-work of all the layouting, including character sheets, and gotten a lot more art lined up.

I think we are nearing completion of the first batch of books.

Next on the to-do is to check out costs for printing and shipping, so that I can do some math regarding Kickstarter.

* Rules

Originally the rules for the Lost Roads of Lociam were far from uniform and a bit of a mess. With revisions being made the rules were streamlined and simplified, and finally made into a bit more of a cohesive whole.

The base of the rules-engine is the hundred-sided die, or the D100. This is normally rolled with two ten-sided dice (D10), with the darker one being the multiple of ten and the lighter one the single digit (so that the dark die landing on 8 and the lighter on 4 would result in an 84 and so on). The D100-test is used for all skill-tests, all basic attribute-test and a lot more. There are some exceptions, but using two ten-sided dice you can get through all of them.

Traits for humans are rolled with 1D100 meaning that the attributes range from 1 to 100, normally spanning between 20 and 75.

Player characters have ten attributes

• Athletic – reflects the physical strength of a character along with speed, dexterity, coordination and balance. Feats like breaking up doors, climbing, sneaking and lifting heavy loads are dependent on this trait.
• Perception – the general alertness and ability of the character to notice and spot things.
• Communication – tells us about how charming, manipulative or intimidating the character is. This trait also reflects language-skills.
• Knowledge – holds the common sense and general wealth of information the character has. Did they pay attention to the stories grandmother told them about all the dangers of the world? This trait also has two sub-traits.
  • Academics – looks at the book-smarts of the character. Did they ever learn how to read and write? Do they know their numbers? Have they spent time in the library, learning all the obscure history and customs of far-removed exotic lands?
  • Forester – is all about how comfortable the character is in the great outdoors. Can they find their way? Can they find food? Can they build a shelter from the storms?
• Martial – draws all the blades of the character at once. This trait not only reflect weaponskills but also experience in the theaters of war, hardiness and aim. It can be augmented by adding armor and weapons.
• Magic – reflects the magical potential and skill of the character, ranging from their perception of the magical world, lower magic and finally higher magic, where the true power resides. Lower magic is divided by profession, and higher magic by sphere, such as the Sphere of Fire, or the Sphere of the Body.
• Faith – is more about the faith and attention the gods pay the character, rather than the other way around. Even a zealot may have prayers go unanswered, while an innocent may attract the attention of their divine patron to grant miracles.
• Street-smarts – is a derived trait, decidedly urban, including things like pick-pocketing, disguised, forgeries and stalking through the towns and cities.
• Wealth – is divided into Means and Investments, reflecting the monetary power of the character. Are they wealthy or poor? Can they afford all they desire, or is their purse light on coin?

Challenges are resolved with a single roll most of the time, so no matter if you are sneaking by a guard, forging a document, casting a spell or wading into battle you do so with a single roll of the dice and comparing it to the appropriate trait, possibly modified by the situation, preparation, equipment and so on.

A character can also choose a margin of success in most situation, but at a cost. This sort of exertion takes its toll and will make subsequent rolls for that trait harder for the rest of the adventure. It is a resource that has to be used wisely!

The magic rules have been streamlined to minimize the number of rolls, both for Lower magic (which is part of most everyone’s professional education) and Higher magic (which is the more complex arcane art used by magicians and others that study it in more depth). The magic rules are mostly concerned with these two kinds of magic and with rules for spotting/sensing magic nearby. These are dependent on the innate magical talent of a character, both for their type and range.
Lower magic is learned as part of a character’s education; thieves have one kind, warriors another, traders a third, and so on. If you want to learn more magic you can study the entire “package” of another education, and, depending on your talent, master some or all of them.
Higher magic is divided into Spheres, each concerned with a specific topic. The Core Rulebook contains five Spheres; Change, Fire, the Body, Water and Wind. In this game you do not learn one spell at a time, but an entire Sphere at a time. Learning even a single Sphere requires a fairly high Magic trait, and if the character is to master more than one then Magic has to be very high indeed.
Lower magic is commonly quick, immediate and low-powered; useful in situations you get into in your professional life, but not more. Higher magic, on the other hand, can literally move mountains, given enough study, preparation, energy and time. The quicker and more subtle the effect, the lesser power can be used through it, normally. The rules also include things like runes, enchanted items and magical combat.

The rules for religions govern what sort of things certain deities consider to be good offerings, rules of conduct and traditions, along with how prayers and miracles work. Prayers are rolled to overcome a difficulty; the greater the favor asked of the deity the higher the result must be. Asking for your god to make you a copper coin so that you don’t starve a devout follower can succeed with about four tries out of five. However, the same follower asking for the god to make them a private floating island would take a month of prayer and fasting, a suitable offering and a one in one hundred roll.

The rules are easy to learn, and there are examples to the more complex rules in the rulebook itself. In addition to this, there are several examples on the homepage, of both characters and various rules, to walk you through the process, and make it even easier to learn.