Crowdfunding Spotlight: Realms of Atrothia

Today we’re talking about a Kickstarter I’m super excited for: Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion which just launched this morning! I’ve already made my pledge (although my children are urging me to give more) and  today we’re doing our part to make this book a reality!

So what is Realms of Atrothia?

Realms of Atrothia Primary Expansion

In short, Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion is a high quality hardcover d20 book that offers players a rich new campaign setting, imaginative character options, and exciting game mechanics to play around with. It’s Pathfinder First Edition compatible, and scheduled to be released this fall. Realms of Atrothia is the brain child of my brother, Kris Leonard. Kris is the founder of Sunburst Games, an independant Tabletop RPG company focused on Pathfinder Compatible content for the next generation.

I’ve had the opportunity to create plenty of content for this amazing book already, which has been an awesome (and time consuming!) experience. Even more exciting, my daughter’s rabbitfolk race will be featured as a new primary race in Realms of Atrothia! She’s over the moon with this development!

Want more details? Read on for more information straight from the source: Sunburst Games mastermind: Kris Leonard!

“Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion is a hardcover book that will surely be the newest addition to any Tabletop Gamer’s library. With an expected release in fall 2019, our Kickstarter just launched this morning. Building upon the legacy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the existing d20 game system which is over 35 years in the making, Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion includes all new game mechanics, and player options.

Featuring the Realms Campaign Setting, the Ascended system for running a game beyond 20th level, and expanded player content, including new archetypes, base classes, feats, gear, magic items, races, and spells, Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion is sure to capture the imaginations of Players, and GMs alike.

You can adventure through a whole new world with lost civilizations, unexplored jungles, and political intrigue abound. Dine with the Hegemony of Kalmarune’s vampire aristocracy. Contend with the Trennian Empire’s claim of national superiority through widespread use of black powder. Push back the ever-expanding armies from the forsaken lands of Xer-Kol whose fanatical peoples serve the whims of the god of corruption bound within their borders. The Realms of Atrothia await.”

Awesome! But, what will we actually be getting?

New Races

Packed with over 25 new playable races, Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion features an expansive array of racial options including Alternative Racial Traits, Favored Class Bonuses, Racial Archetypes, and Racial Feats. Including fully re-balanced Legacy Races already seen in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as well as new Primary Races such as the Anithrope, Caitsith, Giantborn, Half-Troll, Hecavus, Immortis, Lupine, Minotaur, Rabbitfolk, Tortoisefolk, and Volaris. If that’s not enough, get ready for dozens of Monstrous Races, such as Cyclops, Dracolyte, Gargoyle, Harpy, Oni, Medusa, Moonbeast, Pixie, Sphinx, Treant, and Yeti! These are powerful races which are modified for play at 1st character level, but cannot reach full strength without pursuing the Exemplar Primary Class for one or more levels.

New Classes

New heroes have arrived with Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion. Featuring seven new Primary Classes including Artificer, Erudite, Esoteric, Exemplar, Knight, Priest, and Spellsword, as well as dozens of new Class Archetypes for both the Legacy Classes already seen in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Primary Classes. In addition they’re introducing a new kind of archetype: Universal Archetypes, which can be taken by any class.

New Worlds

Get ready for a whole new world of adventure! Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion includes a new Campaign Setting, the World of Atrothia. Featuring over 25 new deities, including the redeemed knight Davros, and the corrupter Xeronoth, and more than 50 regions to explore, such as the undead aristocracy of the Hegemony of Kalmarune, the pinnacle of prosperity that is Palisade, and the unexplored reaches of the Mogen Wildlands.

New Equipment, Spells, and Game Mechanics

But, that’s not all! There’s new equipment, magic items, spells, and feats for characters of all kinds. There’s also new game mechanics, including the Ascended System, which allows for high level play past 20th level, and ascending to godhood!

To learn more about Sunburst Games, Realms of Atrothia, and their products be sure to check out their website: SunburstGames.com! Want to support the Kickstarter, see some awesome artwork, or find out more? Click here! You’ll be happy you did!

Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoy taking a look at Realms of Atrothia!

Dream big,

Jessica

Check out some of the wonderful art that will be featured in Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion! Art courtesy of Sunburst Games. Illustrated by Rigrena

A Trip Down Memory Lane…

I recently started watching iZombie (iZombie: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)) on Netflix. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a show about zombies that is currently starting its fifth season. Now, this isn’t some depressing ‘Walking Dead’ (The Walking Dead: Complete Series) type show (although I also love that…). It’s more like a funny cop/murder mystery show. Except if one of the main characters was a zombie who needed to feast on brains in order to retain her humanity. Oh, and she works in a morgue. It’s loosely based on the comics (iZombie Volume 1: Dead to the World) that were written by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, and published by Vertigo.

My husband and both thoroughly enjoy it, and are currently nearing the end of the third season. Anyway, we were watching last night and suddenly came upon an episode entitled “Twenty-Sided, Die” wherein our beloved zombie heroine devours the brains of a dungeon master in order to help solve his murder. It was a hilarious episode, and completely absurd, but halfway through she convinces her friends to play a session with her, in order to help stimulate memories of the deceased. So there they are, sitting at the table: four people attempting to humour their friend. One secretly wants to play, one’s there to give it a shot, and the other two would rather be doing anything else. By the end of their session nearly everyone has had a blast, and gotten right into it. At the end the episode one of the serious cop characters tells the zombie girl that she should run a game every week. It was just SO refreshingly entertaining.

Which got me thinking.

It’s rare you get to see d20 games featured in popular media. I adored this episode of iZombie, and of course, there’s plenty of wonderful Dungeons and Dragons cameos and references in Stranger Things (Stranger Things (Season 1: Collector’s Edition))). But where else have I seen good d20 references? I know there’s others out there, but I couldn’t recall any specific instances.

More than that, though, it brought back memories.

The first time you played a d20 game.

Remember that?

Trying to figure out the rules while you make your first character? Being a little nervous at first, as you figure out what you can and can’t do? Finding your voice? The laughter?The nerves?

The first time I made a character for Dungeons and Dragons I was in high school. A friend had insisted a big group of us make characters and get together to play. Most of my friends said no, but I was one of the few who said I would. A few years before that I had stumbled across a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook (3.5) in a bookstore and flipped through it. I wanted the book so bad, but had no idea what it was. I must have looked at it over the next twenty trips. Passing by, browsing, but never buying. Flash forward a few years and I suddenly went ‘A-ha! That’s how you use that book!’ I made myself a dual-wielding elven ranger with long red hair named Meloriel. We went to the store and browsed minis until I found the perfect one. And then…. Nothing. We never played.

It wasn’t until many, MANY years later that I finally had the opportunity to play again. This time I made a half-elven bard named Lorelei. My husband (we had just started dating at the time) played her boyfriend, a gnome illusionist named Blount who worked as her stage-hand. My brother played a fierce minotaur warrior, while co-workers of my brother and husband played a lizardfolk and a half-orc monk. It was DMed enthusiastically by another co-worker of my brother’s. The game wasn’t very long-lived, but it sure was fun. We immediately began buying the rulebooks and campaign settings. I got addicted to Dungeon Magazine. We went out and bought pewter miniatures, only to paint them ourselves with whatever we had on hand. I even cracked out my pencil crayons and drew my own character art. Sadly, the campaign came to an abrupt end when my husband and I went on a vacation, but we never lost our love of the game. We were hooked from that first roll of the dice!

In the years since we must have remade our characters at least three times. But, each time, they never get further than a few sessions into their tales. Maybe we’ll make them again one day. Perhaps as Pathfinder Society characters, or in a home game with my kids.

It’s funny, I suppose, that something as simple as playing a game for the first time can change your life so completely. But, here we are.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Have any stories to tell me about your first characters or first experiences playing a d20 game? Know any awesome shows or films that reference d20 gaming? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Jessica

 

%d bloggers like this: