#and 2. a more expensive classic in hardcover. hoping i end up liking it...

[mihai-florescu]

It's crazy to me how popular buying erotica books is. Mostly because i still live in the parts of the internet where smut is free? More than free even. There are topgun or harry potter x reader fanfics blazed every other day on this website crossing my dash despite me really not seeking them out ever

[kickstarter-promotion]

Another Amazing Kickstarter (30th Anniversary Edition by ZiLa Games (K. David Ladage) —Kickstarter) has been published on https://crowdmonsters.com/new-kickstarters/30th-anniversary-edition-by-zila-games-k-david-ladage-kickstarter/

A NEW KICKSTARTER IS LAUNCHED:

Back in 1983, a company called Bard Games released some books: The Compleat Adventurer, The Compleat Alchemist, The Compleat Spellcaster. These three books would later be combined into an omnibus called The Arcanum.

The Arcanum, in addition to repeating an edited and cleaned up version of the three previous books, added an entire game engine to the mix. The two follow-up books (The Lexicon, and The Bestiary) became a trilogy allowing gamers to explore The World of Atlantis.

Arcanum Covers

 The Arcanum had three editions. Bard Games released the first two; the third was released by Death’s Edge Games. A new version of The Lexicon, combined with The Bestiary was released as well. Over time, this small press game was all but forgotten. The author, Stephan Michael Sechi, had moved on to write Talislanta. Then, after some more time, he left game writing to focus on his music career. He is truly a multi-talented man, and a fine human being.

I purchased the rights to all three editions of The Arcanum (text and artwork 1); another company (which also ran a Kickstarter campaign for the setting) purchased the rights to The Lexicon and The Bestiary well before I first spoke to Mr. Sechi. In other words, these two books are in very good hands.

30th Anniversary Edition logo

The Arcanum was far from a perfect book. It had some editing and typographical errors, some issues with formatting, and so on. In other words, it suffered the issues associated with a small group of enthusiasts trying to publish an RPG in the days before desktop publishing. I am working on the 30th Anniversary Edition 2 of this book; my goal is to make this the end-all, be-all of The Arcanum Role-Playing System. I am cleaning up the text, re-arranging items; breaking up the book into true chapters, and creating a cohesive flow making the rules easy to follow.

What I am not doing is substantially altering any aspect of the game 3.

Some things are quirky. This is not a flaw, or an error — it is a matter of style. To do this, I have to strive for two secondary goals:

This edition is setting free. The game will have reference to some things (certain classifications of higher and lower powers, types of undead, and so on). But no established setting is to be assumed. The Atlantean Setting is the property of Khepera Publishing. I have spoken with Jerry D. Greyson (great guy, by the way) — he and I have a gentleman’s agreement. Where the information in The Arcanum makes reference to The Atlantean Setting, I am free to deal with that as I wish. Anything strictly within the pages of The Lexicon and The Bestiary is off limits. This is a very fair arrangement.

I will have to develop a standard system for creatures. Since the animals, beasts, monsters, and other creatures are all described within the pages of The Bestiary, I will have to take every creature that has information or has references to it made within The Arcanum and flesh them out in some way. This adds a chapter (Bestiary) within The Arcanum that was not there before. Without this section, the RPG is sorely lacking as a stand-along system.

The money is needed to handle normal publishing expenses (e.g., ISBN, printing). To keep costs low (and to maintain the feel of the game), just about every piece of artwork from the original three editions of the game will be used (after all, I already own them). The rest is being donated (Whoot!).

My name is K. David Ladage. I am the founder of ZiLa Games — and this role-playing system is my flagship project. As a freelance writer, I have written for Steve Jackson Games, Sword and Sorcery Studios, and others. I am a tinker of games and a natural game designer (meaning that I love coming up with games, and when I play games I begin looking at how I would have done things almost immediately). I have high hopes for ZiLa Games. I have a lot of ideas and notes that need an outlet.

The book is done (save a few pieces of art, and editing). So… very little is left to do.

Yes and no. I ran a Kickstarter campaign some time ago for this book. I asked for far too little and it succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Then things went south. I had two artists filch me out of a couple thousand dollars. I let my eyes get too wide and started envisioning things far outside the scope of the project — that I laid out money for. Then all things went to hell as the scope of the project’s text started to get violated. Weeks turned into months. Months into a year and more.

I realized I needed to make my backers whole again . So I took out a small loan and used my income tax refund to refund every dollar that had been donated to that last attempt. Then, outside of a pressure caused by my desire to get a product out for 90+ backers, I started working on the material when I could. It is now done.

Some editing remains. Some artwork needs to be put in. But it is fundamentally done. All it needs now is you: pledge and help make a dream come true.

The higher level pledges get custom dice and a custom dice bag. Below are pictures of what they will receive. These are not available as add ons. Supplies are limited.

Dice Bag (outside) and custom dice

  Dice bag (inside) and custom dice

The Paladin level includes a one-of-a-kind dice tower. This is what it looks like (dice are shown for scale).

Dice Tower: Lower Front

  Dice Tower: Back

  Dice Tower: Two Parts

  Dice Tower: Upper Front

  Stretch Goals

$10,000 — The dice and the dice bag will become an add-on items. You can order them, order additional sets, etc.

$15,000 —  The hardcover edition will become a numbered, limited edition item where no more than 500 will ever be printed in that format. The Paladin-level donor will get book #001 of 500.

$20,000 — The limited edition hardcover will get the number in gold on the cover as opposed to the inside of the book.

$25,000 — A Game Master’s Screen will be produced and made available as an add-on item.

$30,000 — I cannot imagine this campaign reaching this level… but if it does, I will add more stretch goals. Right after I change my pants. 🙂

$15 — Additional PDF (only available to Gladiator and above)

$30 — Additional soft cover (only available to Sorcerer and above)

$60 — Additional hard cover (only available to Assassin and above)

1 — I own the rights to all of the text and artwork for all three editions of The Arcanum. However, one exceptions was made: one of the races in the book became a major part of Talislanta — Mr. Sechi maintains the rights to that one element of the game.

2 — The original material was published in the mid 1980s. The combined book (the actual Arcanum releases) came shortly after. Thus, the 30th Anniversary of this RPG classic.

3 — The bestiary is the only major change to the system.

Risks and challenges

The rights are secured. ZiLa Games owns the text and art — so this is already taken care of.

The book writing and layout are complete. I have the dice (Chessex) and the dice bags (Custom Dice Bags). I have the dice tower (Unique Dice Towers). I have an artist who is donating his time and effort for the last few remaining spots where artwork is needed. The biggest hurdle will be in the editing. I am estimating how long that will take. If it runs over, I will let you know.

I am hoping to get it printed by a local printer in Cedar Rapids, IA — CEDAR GRAPHICS. If all else fails, I can do the printing through Lulu or CreateSpace.

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[winedarkwords]

Rating: 5/5 stars

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD!! I’ve been watching this book for years out of the corner of my eye, waiting for a paperback copy (because let’s be real, hardcover versions might be pretty but they are an expensive pain in the ass to carry around), and the wait was so worth it. For those of you who are into the YA scene I would call this reminiscent of Six of Crows, and for those more inclined towards the classics By Gaslight has an excellent blend of the Dickensian coming-of-age novel meshed with the dark, anti-hero vibe of Stevenson. And if you aren’t into either of those I hope you know what I mean when I say it came across as a lighter episode in Showtime’s Penny Dreadful.

I’m giving this book 5 stars not because it was absolutely perfect but because what wasn’t was overshadowed by how much I enjoyed the book as a whole. I haven’t been invested in a book like how I was with this one in a looooong time. It even had me pulling near all-nighters AND waking up early (and I love my sleep ok) and here’s why:

#1. The atmosphere of the book is phenomenal. From what I’ve seen in this book Price has a gift for building an atmosphere that effortlessly sinks into the reader. There’s no major info dumping or artsy fartsy purple descriptions that sure are beautiful, but can leave the reader bored and grasping for the point. I’m not big on poetry but the lyrical way the grimy streets of London or the desperation of the war back in Virginia crept up on me felt real and effortless and spoke of the author’s background as a poet.

#2. By Gaslight is driven by the characters rather than the plot (which is a huge part of what really attracted me to it and could be a problem if you’re more of a plot-based go-go-go reader). As opposed to sliding into 1 dimensional stereotypes of jilted thieves and bleak detectives Price’s characters grew from these templates into unique individuals that immediately captured my attention. Of course there’s plot underneath it all, but the characters and their relationships with one another are what push it forward. their dialogue was clever, each had a tone of voice that separated them from the other and I wanted to know more, and more about them.

#3. The atmosphere worked hand-in-hand with the historical context of the novel in a way that made it feel real, without coming across as a stuffy textbook (hallelujah!). So often when I read historical fiction it’s either inaccurate or boring due to the fact that author is so concerned with being historically correct that the reader is weighed down with random dumps of lingo and facts that draw away from the voice and plot of the book. There was none of that with this book. Steven Price is excellent at the art of “show” rather than “tell” (same diatribe English teachers have been spouting since the kindergarten) and I was hooked from the first page. Due to the feeling of the novel and the characters, the events that took place in the novel felt real and I never questioned the where, why, or how of those events.

My only drawbacks were that I felt some of the time skips slightly jumpy and I wanted to know more about Molly, and Fludd, I wanted to know more about Foole’s past, I wanted more of Rose’s creepy seance ghosts…the list goes on. But I think a lot of that feeling of needing to know more stems from the fact that I’m so used to single novels growing into duologies, trilogies, series, etc. In the end I just have to deal with the fact that it’s over :’(

In the end this book won’t be for everyone (everyone has different tastes blah, blah, blah) but if your reading tastes are similar to mine, and this review pushes you to read this book and you end up loving it then I’m glad I could do my civic duty.