Stockholm Spelkonvent 2011

So last fall we visited the Stockholm Gaming convention and sat in what amounts to be a cold airplane-hangar which is a bit out of the way. Last year the convention was really small, but this year the attendance had picked up a bit.

This year the convention sported a Mythos-theme, and we wrote up a Mythos-inspired scenario called “Through the Eyes of Madness” which was available at the convention for the very first time. It is hard to introduce such a big and complex setting as the Mythos into the Lost Roads of Lociam with just a small adventure, and it won’t be a lasting element in the world, but as a one-off it fun.
The module ties in with an upcoming article in the Swedish gaming magazine Fenix which will be coming out in the coming weeks. The article there is on “Lost Treasures” and one of these lost treasures is located in the dark vaults of this horrible cult which is found in the adventure we sold at the convention. The other treasures are linked into other adventures, so stay tuned.

For more news as they happen in this project you can visit our -page.

Lincon 2011

Again this year Lost Roads of Lociam travelled to the Linköping Gaming convention to be part of the fun. This year they had a post-apocalyptic theme and it inspired their entire place, the staff, everything. It was very neat.

Right in through the door of the main hall you came onto this notice-board in the form of a tire-tower, and here you could see out poster.

Ours is hte big one at the bottom, scroll down for a better picture.

For this convention we had written a special scenario, a post-apocalyptic adventure-setting called “In glorious ashes”. My sister made this wonderful poster for it too.

And in English it reads "Post-apocalyptic fantasy? Is there such a thing? Oh yes - in limited print. Specially written for Lincon."

Then there were directions to the room where we were set up. We shared the space with the great guys of Goblin Games.

Here we sold our games, handed out free stuff and talked to players and testers for a few days. Loads of fun.

The armband was part of the theme, all the organizers got them, had their signature unicorn on it, and of course, given the theme, it was wearing a gas-mask!

Fore more news as they happen in this project you can visit our -page.

GothCon XXXV

I just came back from the 35th annual Gothenburg Gaming Convention, or GothCon as it is known.

Lost Roads of Lociam was represented at this event in the independent game-makers room, and below are a few pictures of how we were set up.

The event was a lot of fun, and thanks are owed not only to the other game-developers in the room, but also of course to the organizers and to Kenneth Hilte who was the guest of honour, who chatted briefly with everyone in the room, taking time out of what must have been a hectic weekend to get into the “indie-vibe”.

Entry into our room

The booth where we sold the game

The author displaying the buttons from all previous GothCons

We had a great time at the convention and look forward to the next one!

This convention also saw the launch of the Wanderer’s Compendium Volume II which will be finding its way out into distribution near you shortly. Watch this space.

Fore more news as they happen in this project you can visit our -page.

2010 Roundup!

2010 – what a year it has been!

In February of this year the first copies of the book Lost Roads of Lociam – Core Rulebook, was ready, and the homepage was rolling out.
The launch of the game happened at Linköping Gaming Convention in May of this year, and it was a great success, with great feedback and a lot of laughter as we tried out the adventure Lights in Old Houses, made sample characters and discussed ideas.

If you have not seen the pictures from the launch you can do so here

https://lociam.com/news/launch/

The game then went public, selling on lulu.com, off the webpage www.lociam.com and, a few weeks later, in a few stores around Sweden. Currently we are working on getting the game up on Amazon and then further spread.

Each month since the launch the Contributors (illustrators, playtesters and others) have been treated to a special article, optional rules, new background and such on the homepage forum. If you are a contributors or wish to be, you can look there for these articles, ranging from rules to how to cheat at magic, martial arts, rules for disease, and a few new religions.
You can look and apply at the link below

https://lociam.com/forum/index.php?topic=4.0

Next, at the start of the fall, the first of the Wanderer ‘s Compendiums was released and sold at the Stockholm Gaming Convention. This contained some of the material published on the homepage, a basic all-you-need-to-play kit for the Core rulebook.
If you would like to check out this product over at lulu.com you can do so through the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/lost-roads-of-lociam-the-wanderers-compendium—volume-i/9834877

Next on the agenda there was a revision of the Core rulebook text, removing typos and updating the errata. In any book this size errors are bound to creep in, and while this revision may not have gotten them all, it caught a lot of them. The playtesters that helped finding actual bugs in the rulesystem, and helped correct them are eternal heroes.
If you have not gotten your copy yet and wish to get your hands on this, the second printing, you can do it at lulu.com through the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/lost-roads-of-lociam/8634610

All of this information has been streaming out over the project’s page on Facebook throughout the year. If you have not gotten connected to this you really should, as it features the most up-to-date information outside the official forum.
You can view the Facebook-page through the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lost-Roads-of-Lociam/305868981447

Finally, for those of you who are or want to draw for this project, there is an updated illustrationlist in the illustrator emailgroup.
If you are not a member of this then you can get connected through this link

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Illuminious/

So what is happening in 2011 then, I hear you ask.

Well, there is another adventure coming out, and more Contributors’ Treats.
For Easter there will be another Wanderer’s Compendium, as we set up shop at the Göteborg Gaming Convention.
After that there will be an adventure compilation published, as we get ready for the first expansion of the game – The World that Is.
The speed we can get this published comes down largely to illustrators and playtesters that volunteer their time to this project.

It has been a great year for the project, the fruition of a lot of hard work by you guys, random strangers, project staff and contributors, and we would like to thank you all for your continued interest, efforts and encouragement.

Happy New Year everyone!

More on this roundup can be found here.

Errata

There’s something wrong!

Even with the most well-planned project errors are bound to creep in. So too in this project.

You can find the official errata below in PDF-form.

The file has been updated to include errors in the 1st printing as well as the 1st POD-version.

Errata 1.0

If you find an error or something you think is an error post about it in our forum, and it will be investigated. We learn by our mistakes, and grow better from doing so.

Adventures

The world of Lociam is one of adventure and majesty. As adventures become available they will be presented here.

Lights in Old Houses

First up is one of the very first adventures ever made for this game. It is called “Lights in Old Houses” and was originally written back in 1996 for a roleplaying-convention. It is illustrated by some of the talented artists that contributed on the Core Rulebook.

It is free to download, and works well with the example characters found on this page, if you do not have a character of your own yet.

Lights in Old Houses

The Same old story

Next up is the tale of a poor village, a violent gang of bandits and a strange noise in the far distance.  It is a hunting-story where the characters are thrust into the action, and not only contains some artwork from contributors to the Core rulebook and more, but also an article with additional equipment that you cannot obtain in the rulebook itself.

Just like the Lights in Old Houses it is free to obtain through the link below.

Same old story

Circles Disrupted

The third adventure is one of the politics of magic, and the stuff of nightmares. It is about he hunting of a rogue warlock and the lands which he has moved through. The adventure also contains rules for Magical Circles (the organizations in which magicians gather), magical rocks and crystals, and a new Sphere of Higher Magic; The Sphere of Nightmares.

Just like the Lights in Old Houses it is free to obtain through the link below.

Circles Disrupted

More adventures will follow, you can check out the outlines of some under “Future” in the “Lost Roads”-section

Examples

Whenever there are new rules, new stories and new systems some things are evident and obvious, and some things are trickier. That’s where these examples come in.
Below you will find a few things to help you along, resources to make things a bit clearer if you find them difficult now. If you, on the other hand, find that everything is already crystal-clear, you need not mind these things. They are not mandatory reading.

Please note that the page numbers given here correspond with those in the 1st printing. The POD has slightly different pagenumbers. Updated examples will follow.

First up we have some example characters for the Core Rules. Five characters ready to be printed and used with most any basic adventure.

Example Characters

Secondly there is a combat example which details two fighters in single combat, walking you through the steps of a few combat rounds.

Example Combat

Thirdly there is an example of character creation, which takes you through the steps of the character -creation outline of the Core rulebook.

Character Creation Example

Then we have an interactive character sheet. This handles some of the basic math of character-creation, calculating things like secondary attributes and attribute-rolls.

Interactive Character Sheet

Launch

The launch of the game Lost Roads of Lociam took place at the annual Linköping roleplaying convention the weekend of Ascension (fitting, somehow), 13-16 May 2010.
The game arrived Wednesday night but got unpacked in the morning of the 13th (Thursday). We were set up in a room of our own next to the big stores, and people passed the door looking in, bewildered, thinking there was something else going on in our room, like a three-ring circus or possibly a kiddie-pool. However, there were just us; me, and two helpers, and for three days we helped people create characters and held sessions to play the game.

You got a discount if you made a character on the spot, but if it was too good then you didn’t get any discount. One should never be greedy; if you get a great character you should just pay full price.
Friday night and Saturday noon we played two games, testing out the adventure Lights in Old Houses, with six players one session and seven the other. Both groups did really well considering their knowledge going in, and that they didn’t know one another, and accomplished their tasks. Well, almost. One magician did botch a “Spontaneous Combustion” and set fire to his friend, and when he tried a “Smother fire” to put him out, he botched again, and put out all the lights in the room instead. These things happen.

Some long-gone playtesters also dropped in, honoring us with their presence and buying their own copy.

We had a great time and greatly look forward to seeing those of you who attended on the forum, and on our next event, which is being planned right now.

Here the author shows off his collection of convention-badges.

Fore more news as they happen in this project you can visit our -page.

Gamemaster Screen

For further aid to gamemasters and players alike, here is a reference-screen. This is in six pages, with page 1, 2 and 3 faces the gamemaster and 4, 5 and 6 towards the player, like this.

Gamemaster Screen

Character Sheets

In the Core rulebook you can find the four page character-sheet, but if you need to print some rather than photocopy those, they are found below.

Character Sheets (Core Rules)