Bloodstone Press
Explorer
Greetings all!
I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you about the biggest project to ever come across my desk. For several months now (since the release of Modern Eras 1939-1945 in December), I’ve been kicking around some ideas for a retro-sci-fi-horror-war campaign setting that focuses on an alternate history of WWII. About three months ago, I resolved to develop such a setting and to title it “1948,” and alternately “1948 Adventures,” and alternately “Tales of 1948.”
Recently, I’ve completed the outline and about 150 pages of a rough draft. Play-testing of the setting has also begun. I hope to have it released by late fall/early winter, but I won’t know for sure until I get a little further along with it. However, what I do know for sure is this:
1. 1948 will be rolled out in approximately 4 different volumes. I know, I know. It sucks when material is broken down into multiple volumes like that. It’s not something that I wanted to do, but it looks like the final version will come in at about 250-300 pages or more. That’s too big of a project for me to tackle all at once. By breaking it into 4 smaller volumes I can better focus my efforts and I can make each volume available for only $2.50 each. Plus, the 4 volumes will each be relevant to other d20 Modern games that are not based in the 1948 setting. The Player’s Guide to 1948 will be released first and will feature more than 20 advanced classes, another 15-20 prestige classes, more than 100 feats, over 30 allegiances (many of them are secret societies), and much more. The Campaign Guide will feature a lengthy discussion on the setting as well as NPCs, adventure synopses, and perhaps one complete adventure. The Equipment guide will feature tons of sci-fi equipment, unusual real-world items and, perhaps, guidelines for inventing your own sci-fi weapons and vehicles. The FX Guide will include dozens of monsters, spells, psychic powers, and magical items.
2. 1948 is Lovecraftian horror + modern conspiracy theory + pulp sci-fi from the 40s and 50s + WWII history + metaphysics + ancient legends + a certain popular 80s cartoon series about an elite paramilitary team that I can’t mention by name. 1948 features witches, psychics, ninjas, commandos, demons, aliens, snipers, mad scientists, mutants, mega-monsters, secret societies, and much, much more. Ray guns, jet packs, lost cities, eastern mysticism, impossible science, and alien horrors are the stock elements of this setting. Although it is “modern,” it also features organizations of knights (Templars, Teutonic Knights, and others), wizards (occultists, mystics, and others) and priests (voodoo shaman, Catholic bishops, and others). There are also plenty of roguish associations available in the setting including Muslim assassins and spies from every nation.
3. There will be collections of short stories published in PDF format, featuring the NPCs from the Campaign Guide. These stories will be written by a number of different authors, several of whom I hope to recruit from these boards. I’ve been reading the Story Hours and looking for those writers that have the right stuff, and I've a spotted a few. I’ll be contacting them in a few weeks with a proposal. In the mean time, if you are an aspiring writer and this sounds like the sort of thing you’d like to write about, contact me at jalger@bloodstone-press.com and we can discuss the terms in more detail.
4. There will also be a web site dedicated to 1948, but it probably won’t be up for a few months yet.
5. There will also be T-shirts and posters featuring some really sharp art work (some of which I’ll also post in this thread in the months to come)
A few questions you might have:
Q. Why “1948?”
A. It’s a transposition of 1984. It also gives my three years (from December 31, 1944 to January 1, 1948) to adjust history and develop the fictional aspects of the setting. Note that the primary premise of the setting is that the year is 1948 and WWII is still going on.
Q. When will it be released?
A. No official date is set yet, but I’m shooting for later this year. As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know
Q. Where can I find out more about this very interesting and highly exciting setting?
A. For now, I’ll be posting some small bits of info in this thread and on my web site (bloodstone-press.com) periodically. In late summer/early fall, when the 1948 web site is launched, the flow of information will grow from a trickle to a torrent. At that point I’ll also announce an official release date.
I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you about the biggest project to ever come across my desk. For several months now (since the release of Modern Eras 1939-1945 in December), I’ve been kicking around some ideas for a retro-sci-fi-horror-war campaign setting that focuses on an alternate history of WWII. About three months ago, I resolved to develop such a setting and to title it “1948,” and alternately “1948 Adventures,” and alternately “Tales of 1948.”
Recently, I’ve completed the outline and about 150 pages of a rough draft. Play-testing of the setting has also begun. I hope to have it released by late fall/early winter, but I won’t know for sure until I get a little further along with it. However, what I do know for sure is this:
1. 1948 will be rolled out in approximately 4 different volumes. I know, I know. It sucks when material is broken down into multiple volumes like that. It’s not something that I wanted to do, but it looks like the final version will come in at about 250-300 pages or more. That’s too big of a project for me to tackle all at once. By breaking it into 4 smaller volumes I can better focus my efforts and I can make each volume available for only $2.50 each. Plus, the 4 volumes will each be relevant to other d20 Modern games that are not based in the 1948 setting. The Player’s Guide to 1948 will be released first and will feature more than 20 advanced classes, another 15-20 prestige classes, more than 100 feats, over 30 allegiances (many of them are secret societies), and much more. The Campaign Guide will feature a lengthy discussion on the setting as well as NPCs, adventure synopses, and perhaps one complete adventure. The Equipment guide will feature tons of sci-fi equipment, unusual real-world items and, perhaps, guidelines for inventing your own sci-fi weapons and vehicles. The FX Guide will include dozens of monsters, spells, psychic powers, and magical items.
2. 1948 is Lovecraftian horror + modern conspiracy theory + pulp sci-fi from the 40s and 50s + WWII history + metaphysics + ancient legends + a certain popular 80s cartoon series about an elite paramilitary team that I can’t mention by name. 1948 features witches, psychics, ninjas, commandos, demons, aliens, snipers, mad scientists, mutants, mega-monsters, secret societies, and much, much more. Ray guns, jet packs, lost cities, eastern mysticism, impossible science, and alien horrors are the stock elements of this setting. Although it is “modern,” it also features organizations of knights (Templars, Teutonic Knights, and others), wizards (occultists, mystics, and others) and priests (voodoo shaman, Catholic bishops, and others). There are also plenty of roguish associations available in the setting including Muslim assassins and spies from every nation.
3. There will be collections of short stories published in PDF format, featuring the NPCs from the Campaign Guide. These stories will be written by a number of different authors, several of whom I hope to recruit from these boards. I’ve been reading the Story Hours and looking for those writers that have the right stuff, and I've a spotted a few. I’ll be contacting them in a few weeks with a proposal. In the mean time, if you are an aspiring writer and this sounds like the sort of thing you’d like to write about, contact me at jalger@bloodstone-press.com and we can discuss the terms in more detail.
4. There will also be a web site dedicated to 1948, but it probably won’t be up for a few months yet.
5. There will also be T-shirts and posters featuring some really sharp art work (some of which I’ll also post in this thread in the months to come)
A few questions you might have:
Q. Why “1948?”
A. It’s a transposition of 1984. It also gives my three years (from December 31, 1944 to January 1, 1948) to adjust history and develop the fictional aspects of the setting. Note that the primary premise of the setting is that the year is 1948 and WWII is still going on.
Q. When will it be released?
A. No official date is set yet, but I’m shooting for later this year. As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know
Q. Where can I find out more about this very interesting and highly exciting setting?
A. For now, I’ll be posting some small bits of info in this thread and on my web site (bloodstone-press.com) periodically. In late summer/early fall, when the 1948 web site is launched, the flow of information will grow from a trickle to a torrent. At that point I’ll also announce an official release date.
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