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Against the Darkmaster

Created by Open Ended Games

An Epic Fantasy tabletop RPG inspired by the great classic fantasy sagas, built for heroic action and Heavy Metal combat.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Monthly Update
over 3 years ago – Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 01:41:47 PM

Welcome back, heroes!

Progress Update

The layout process took us a bit more than we anticipated, but we’re finally seeing the end of the tunnel. The rules and appendix are basically done, lacking just the last few pieces of artwork, and we’re now putting the finishing touches on the adventure. We know that many of you found the Critical Strikes Tables in the Quickstart Rules a bit difficult to read, so we’ve put extra attention on that, and reworked them to make each table easier to read and consult during the game.

And speaking of the adventure, we’re very happy to announce that Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing joined the team as cartographer for the Shadows of the Northern Woods campaign! You can have a sneak peek of the wonderful maps he made for the adventure here: https://monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/2020/07/07/against-the-darkmaster-maps/

Character Sheet Redesign

The character sheet is perhaps the most important piece of the players' equipment. After all, it's probably gonna be the first thing they see when they sit down to create their heroes and will be with them through all their adventures. That's why we asked certified UX designer Amber Seger to redesign the Against the Darkmaster character sheet from the ground up for us.

Amber has already started using her skill and experience to create a character sheet that's both more accessible to everyone and easier to use and reference during play. You can watch her design process live on her Twitch Channel at: https://www.twitch.tv/rocketorca

Once completed, this new, improved character sheet will be included in the Core Rules and available as a free download on our website.

Progress Update and Licensing
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 07:12:40 PM

Greetings heroes, and welcome back to our monthly update!

General Progress

Let’s start with the bad news. Unfortunately, we suffered a small setback while working on the layout. We discovered some errors in one of the early chapters and had to redo a large part of the book.

We planned on releasing the PDF in early summer, but, as things are now, it looks like that won’t be possible.

We’re in the process of finishing the Bestiary right now (sneak peek below!), which leaves just the Grimoire, the adventure, and the appendixes before the final revision. So, most of the book is done, but we’re not quite where we anticipated being at this point.

We know this sucks, and really wanted to release the PDF sooner, but we also think the final quality of the product is more important, and we promise the result will be well worth the wait!

Bestiary Sneak Peek!

Licensing

We’ve got quite a few people asking us about this, so we decided to shed a little light on the subject.

The engine upon which Against the Darkmaster is built, the Open00 system, was born as an “open” set of rules straight from the beginning. In other words, we want you to be able to publish your own “Powered by Open00” content freely.

We’re working on an open license to allow you to do so without having to ask for our permission, but at the moment finishing the Core Rules takes precedence over anything else.

Still, if you want to start creating your Open00 content, we’ll be glad to support you! Want to publish an original adventure, collection of new Spell Lores, monsters, or additional rules? Or maybe you had a complete hack of Against the Darkmaster in mind? Simply email us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to discuss your ideas and concoct a license for you!

Thanks for your patience, we’ll be back next month with more news!

Last Call!
almost 4 years ago – Tue, May 19, 2020 at 04:33:52 AM

Attention heroes!

Our industrious Redcaps will soon start counting heads to prepare for the last stages of our quest. For this reason, we’ll start locking backers’ orders on the 31st of May.

This means that the 31st of May is the last day to make final updates to your order. After this date, we will lock your reward selections and charge cards for add-on item purchases, pledge upgrades, shipping, and pre-orders.

You’ll still be able to update your shipping address up until we lock addresses for shipping.

If you haven’t answered your survey yet, please do it now. If you fill out your BackerKit survey or pay for extra shipping after the 31st of May, we’ll still receive your information but your shipment may be delayed.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://vsdarkmaster.backerkit.com/.

Don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or need help with your survey.

Thanks, everyone for your support and cooperation!

Character Creation Preview Incoming!
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 01:07:47 AM

Greetings valiant heroes, we’re back with our monthly update and some great news for you!

Character Creation Preview

The layout process is proceeding speedily. I know you’re all waiting impatiently for the final release (we can’t wait for it, too!) but believe me, Nik and Tom are really outdoing themselves here. The book is coming out gorgeous!

Even better, why don’t you check for yourself! We’re sending you a preview of the first chapter of the Core Rules, including everything you need to create your own characters. Backers of Adventurer level or higher will soon receive an email with a link to download the file (remember to check your Spam folder if you don’t see it).

Let us know what you think of it!

Also, keep in mind that, while the text has been thoroughly revised, we may have missed some (hopefully) minor typo here and there. If you think you’ve found something, please report it on our forum: https://www.vsdarkmaster.com/forum/topic/early-access-feedback/

Backerkit Orders Lock in May

Backers’ orders on Backerkit are going to be locked at the end of the next month. We initially planned to lock them in April but, given the current situation, we thought it would be better to give everyone a little more time.

If you’ve already completed your survey you’re good, you don’t need to do anything else for now. Otherwise, please remember to complete your survey as soon as possible, or send us a private message if you didn’t receive it.

In any case, don’t worry, we’re going to send out another reminder next month, before locking the orders.

Quickstart Rules Available in Spanish

We’re also very excited to announce that the Against the Darkmaster Quickstart Rules, together with the free introductory scenario and the ready to play characters are now available in Spanish, thanks to the heroic efforts of our allies at Other Selves: you can grab them right now on DriveThruRPG!

Even Darkness Must Pass
about 4 years ago – Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 03:32:58 AM

Mighty heroes,

A menace far more hideous than the Darkmaster threatens our world these days. As you might have heard, Italy has gone under a total lockdown due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The outlook is grim but luckily we’re all safe for now.

The good news is that this shouldn’t impact on the PDF delivery. In fact, we’ve just finished editing the original manuscript (AKA the pre-alpha version)! Sándor, our editor, did a fantastic job and made several passages much clearer and easier to read. You’ll be able to see the fruits of his labor pretty soon, when we’ll release the updated version of the Early Access document.

Unfortunately, we can’t predict how the COVID-19 outbreak will influence production and delivery of the physical books but we remain hopeful.

We’ll be back very soon with another update and the updated Early Access document. Until then, stay strong and safe in these dark times.