Intrigue in the courts of Annwyn

The next kickstarter for The Woods is rolling out next week. I managed to splash some paint around on holiday and now have all the initial figures done.

The idea was to take the venetian/renaissance aesthetic I'd set for the fae and use it to put out some figures that would have other uses in other places. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up some lady pirates from Charlie Earl which have formed the bulk of the nobles (with addition of masks, variant poses and assembling them into single-piece castings). The fae martial I scaled to fit in with 4th ed Empire halberdiers which I'm told are curiously hard to come by. I'll almost certainly be getting a unit of them cast up for a certain birthday game.

The donkey-headed Hobyah (a-la Puck from midsummer Night's Dream) are dual-purpose. I've sculpted some axe heads which may supplied as separate pieces to make single or double-headed axes for them. In this form though they make up the bearers for a faerie palanquin which I'm hoping to get some paint on over the weekend.

Also in the sculpted but not cast pile are three faerie commanders which can either be mounted or on foot. The horses have been built onto the old sidhe horse that featured in the first Oakbound kickstarter. I'm toying with whether to have the commanders' torsos separate so they can be glued to standing or riding legs or whether to make up a full standing and riding figure for each option. I think probably the second, nobody likes having spare legs lying around.

 

 

There should be an article in the October Miniature Wargames magazine (out 13th September) discussing the use of fae in The Woods, with a scenario and look at the miniatures in the kickstarter.

 For anyone interested the kickstarter is going to officially launch on Saturday 14th after earlybird pledges open on Friday 13th. There's only one pledge level and essentially everything is an add-on so you can make up whatever combo you like. Earlybirds get you an extra 10% free to spend on miniatures. The campaign will run until Sunday 29th.

Intrigue in the courts of Annwyn

Warbands in the Woods

For the second GROG game of the year we gathered for a 4-player session of The Woods, testing out the new warbands lists and scenario generator that Chris and I have been working on. As always Harry's table boasted a beautiful array of scenery breathing life into the ancient woodlands...

 



A Myeri Losbast makes his way through a shadowy mushroom glen...

Standing stones and caverns in a corner of the forest...

Tall conifers dominate the centre of the board, rising above the remote settlement...

Swampy pools and stone buildings on the border of the woodland...

Much of the terrain was courtesy of the companies that have put their support behind The Woods- Fogou Models (Dark Age buildings), Scotia Grendel (fungus, standing stones, ruined city) and Model Tree Shop (Trees, assorted, and a goodly amount of flock!).

The first game was a 4-warband confrontation in the middle of the wood. Mike's Wulver Cult were aiming to waylay Chris' Tuatha Bears, in particular their leader who had slighted the honour of the cult. Chris' outcast Bears were already carrying a wounded member (perhaps from their last encounter with the cult) and were simply trying to reach safety. A member of Harry's Fae Rade had been captured by my Myeri warparty and needed rescuing whilst my Myeri were trying to retrieve an ancestral artefact stolen by the leader of Mike's cult. The four warbands converged on an island at the heart of the forest...

The Myeri were hoping that speed and discipline would win the day. Their Draoi Geomancer cast a shroud of mists to conceal the group as the Losbastun took the lead with their Meirge and his totem. The captive Fae was given into the care of the group's Scealai so as not to slow down the warriors' advance.

Across the other side of the wood the Wulver Cult were advancing quickly towards their quarry. With their high Decisiveness and frightening weaponry they looked like they would have the edge over their foe.

The Tuatha Bears advanced steadily, keeping their distance from the cult. With a wounded member they couldn't move fast without splitting up.

The Fae made as much use of cover as possible, keeping their options open.

The pack of Whist Hounds manoeuvred into position to attack the Myeri from behind, but the mists prevented them from using their great speed to charge. The Fae Rademaster moved into position to dispel the fog.

The Tuatha were preparing for their clash at the centre of the board. Chris' Comlann formed up into a unit in shieldwall formation whilst slingers attempted a few shots at the shadowy figures in the trees. The cult's deerhound bounded ahead of the band, intent on taking down the quarry.

As the mists dissipated the Whist Hounds pounced upon the hapless Scealai, tearing his limb from limb. The uilleann pipes deflated with a pitiful rasp. As another of the Fae wove fate to elevate the captive to safety the Myeri formed up to perform the terrifying Peru-Peru dance. The Fae fled whilst the exhausted Whist Hounds cowered with fear.

Angered by the presence of the Fae the Myeri abandoned their mission and tried to take down their hated enemy. The Whist Hounds recovered, however, and the result was a stand-off until the Fae gathered enough stamina to magic their adversaries across the board. There they finally caught up with the Wulver cult, but by that time they were on their way off the board having completed their objective with only the loss of their deerhound. The Fae were successful in retrieving their captive colleague and the cult had exacted their revenge, leaving the Myeri and Bears to lick their wounds.

All in all happy with how the warbands lists played out. There are a few points values to tweak and a bit of wording to change but none of the bands seemed excessively overpowered. When it came to picking objectives some seemed more suited to particular warbands than others, as would be expected, but the next games showed that none of them was a walk in the park.

Warbands in the Woods

A look inside Secrets of Shandisholm- part 2: The Fae

Today's visit to the world of The Woods takes us to see the Fae, and really THEY STARTED IT!

Fairies are these little people with wings that grant wishes, right?
Not really no. If you asked some of the Tuatha that question they'd probably say yes, but he Tuatha don't really remember what the Fae were like. They think of all the folk from other realms which live around them as faeries but the Fae are quite different.

And the Fae brought the other folk into the Mortal Realm?
As servants, labourers beasts of burden and creatures to be hunted, yes. Only the Myeri and the Nuckelavee aren't Fae imports.

What are the Fae like then?
Tall, athletic, beautiful, graceful, delicate and incredibly cruel. One of the things I love most about folklore is that it tends to turn expectations on their head, beautiful characters are often evil- there's a lot of moral ambiguity. We went for the same idea with The Woods, fair is foul and foul is fair etc. The Fae are haughty, proud, decadent and conniving. They are organised into Rades, a powerful noble and their sycophantic followers. They come from a realm called Annwyn which is ruled over by the courts of the king and queen. These sovereigns have ruled for as long as any of the immortal Fae can remember and have been at war with each other for just as long. Their battles are fought with intrigue and manipulation, playing the Rades off one another to gain leverage over their opponent. Scheming and plotting the downfall of another is the Fae's chief pastime.

They sound nice. How do they get on with the Tuatha?
They got on with them very well. The Fae are a sterile people and when they discovered the Tuatha they saw something in the mortals which reminded them of themselves and decided to adopt them as children rather than press them into servitude. The Tuatha were give privileged position in the Fae cities, but the Fae had misjudged their character. As the Tuatha grew more like the Fae in cunning and manipulation their capacity for violence also increased. The Fae are a bit squeamish about actual violence, they like to see it but not to participate. The Tuatha had no such trouble with it and seemed to enjoy inflicting physical pain in person. The Fae became anxious about the Tuatha's capacity to rise up against them and so they fled the Mortal Realm, leaving their servants behind and a handful of Fae to watch over the mortals and see that they didn't grow strong enough to threaten the Fae realm.

No Fae left in the Mortal Realm then?
There are the watchers- the Fae Walkers who are charged with oversight of a particular region. Then there is always the occasional Rade which decides to go hunting in the Mortal Realm for sport. Many of the animals the Fae reared for hunting were left in the Mortal Realm when they abandoned it so are prized trophies for a Rade. There's also the Fae Martial, the standing army of Annwyn which is responsible for keeping check on the errant Rades and guarding the borders of the Fae realm.

There are rules for creating Fae characters in the book, what's distinctive about them?
The Fae are very different to Tuatha. They are limited in some capacities, most of them aren't physical strong for example, and their dislike of proximity to violence means they don't do well in a fight. However they have some unique special abilities to make up for their shortcomings. They are all Augurs (that is, they can Fateweave through natural ability) and they have the ability to 'dance' in and out of the Void which surrounds the Mortal Realm which means they can appear and disappear all over the board.

Very irritating I'd imagine.
They can certainly be a nuisance if you don't know how to deal with them.

Where to next?
We're heading down to the swamps of Mael Fen to see the Myeri. As always, any questions just leave a comment and I'll pick them up next time.

A look inside Secrets of Shandisholm- part 2: The Fae

The Woods: Secrets of Shandisholm- Pre-orders now live!

Secrets of Shandisholm pre-orders are now LIVE over at Oakbound.co.uk/systemmech and Oakbound.co.uk/the-woods

I've become aware over the last few weeks that having spent 6 months writing the book I somehow expect everyone else to know it intimately... so I got a friend who has only heard me mention it to ask some things they'd want to know. Here are my replies, an introduction to the world of The Woods:

What’s this Woods thing about then?
The Woods is Oakbound Studio’s fantasy world, a world based in the myths, legends and folklore of the Celtic people. Secrets of Shandisholm is the first sourcebook set in this world and explores the lowland regions of the Mortal Realm.

What’s this Mortal Realm like?
This part of the Mortal Realm is very much like Britain in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. It is a place of enormous and dense woodland, barren heath, fens and downs crowned with monolithic stones. The inhabitants of the Mortal Realm are the Tuatha, a human-like people whose lives are governed by superstitions and beliefs about the little people who live in the forests around them.

Only these aren’t mere Wives’ Tales….

A long time ago the Myeri and the Fae found a way into the Mortal Realm. The Myeri came from the seas, fleeing some ancient horror which had pursued them across the Void from their own homeland. The Fae were drawn to the Mortal Realm by the great power possessed by the Myeri. The Fae are a beautiful and proud race, and also cruel beyond belief. They placed an enchantment over the Myeri, took their power and cast them into the desolate fens and swamps. Then the Fae turned their attentions towards the other inhabitants of this land they had discovered.

The Fine Folk, as the Tuatha called the Fae, do nothing for themselves. They live in luxury, surrounded and served by countless slaves they have taken from the many realms they have conquered. These slaves they brought to the Mortal realm to build their palaces, mine for rich minerals and gemstones, weave their clothing and forge their jewels and armour. In the Tuatha, however, the Fae recognised something of their own qualities and the people of the Mortal Realm were not subjected to slavery. Instead they were nurtured as pets, almost as children, living alongside the Fae in their great cities. But over time the Fae realised the Tuatha were more like them than they could have imagined. The mortals learnt cruelty and violence fast and the Fae fled from the Mortal Realm in fear of the beings they had created. Their servants they left behind to fend for themselves. And so it came to be that the secluded, hidden parts of the Mortal Realm were populated by weird and mystical creatures from myriad other realms, trapped and far from home.

As civilisation fell apart around the Tuatha they reverted to a primitive state, abandoning the cities of the Fae and rebuilding ancient homesteads. Their memories faded and the stories became twisted with time so that now they barely remember the Fae. But still their paths cross those of the stranded folk, former servants of the Fae, some of whom are kindly, many who are not.

And that’s all in the book is it?
Yes, that’s the beginning anyway. Then there’s an explanation of the region around Shandisholm, the principle Tuatha settlement in the lowlands, a study of the nature of the Fae and Myeri, a comprehensive bestiary of folk and animals (native and other-worldly), a bunch of scenarios, a full adventure, some modelling guides and the SystemMech rules.

Ah yes, the SystemMech rules, tell us about those.
We’ll have a more in-depth look later in the month, but if you want you can download the core rules right now at oakbound.co.uk/systemmech and see for yourself. It’s a tabletop roleplay game, that is, it is miniatures-based and narrative-focussed. Each game tells a small part of the story. SystemMech is quite different to other RPGs as it uses no dice rolls or card drawing. Each model has a Decisiveness value which determines when in the turn they activate and a Stamina value which determines how much they can do, then players choose from the action tables what combination of actions they want the model to take. Some actions are more effective if others have been performed first, or if the model can’t be seen doing them for example, so you have to think ahead a bit to make your actions effective. Everything is tied to five core aspects of your characters (Wisdom, Perception, Courage, Agility and Strength) so it’s quite ‘realistic’ in terms of how well an individual can perform.

And lastly, something a lot of people have commented on, the cover?
Ah yes, the wonderful Alan Lee Fomorian painting. It’s a favourite of mine and so I got in touch with Alan to see if it would be possible to use it, to my amazement he said yes! He’s such a nice guy. The painting was used on the cover of a book of Irish folktales by Michael Scott, whose retelling of the Fomorian myth I drew on heavily in creating the Myeri.

This character has appeared in fantasy gaming before though?
Yes indeed. I believe he and the story were also part of the basis for Games Workshop’s Fimir race, which sadly didn’t develop very far. My first miniature gaming experience was playing Heroquest as a child and the Fimir were my favourite monsters so the Myeri are definitely a bit of a tribute to them. They’re very different as a race though (as we’ll see next Friday) being a blend of the Skeksis and Mystics from The Dark Crystal, the Irish Fomorians and Polynesian tribes and myths.

I look forward to seeing more.
We’ll be looking through the book every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in July. If anyone has specific questions leave them in the comments below and I'll try and answer them when we get to the appropriate section.

The Woods: Secrets of Shandisholm- Pre-orders now live!