Goldleaf Games Will Open Soon
Thanks Wil!
Yes, Goldleaf Games is not open yet. There's quite a bit to do to get an online store ready.
We had a good Gen Con and are just now starting to hype the book. Advertising has yet to hit. There are some free downloads at
www.goldleafgames.com that you can peruse. We'll have more soon. Right now there are character sheets, a 21-page adventure (written by me), a 1-page setting overview and the start of a series of letters (written by Wil Upchurch) between two powerful figures within the world. We'll have another adventure up in about a month (written by Richard Tomasso).
Our boards have been up for some months but have not (as yet) been used for the game (because we weren't launching it till Aug.)
Here's a long post to get you all some info
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First, we initially developed Code of Unaris for tabletop AND chat play. But players kept telling us that our system for chat play was what really set it apart. (As you'll see below, there are things you can do in chat that can't be done well in person.) This game is not for core gamers who play around a table (unless you like big settings.) It's made for people who have trouble finding gamers in their area, people who like to chat, and (as I found out at Gen Con) military folks. Many were picking it up so that they could give one to their buddy (they were shipping out soon.)
Code of Unaris is meant for the short-sentenced environment of chat. It's diceless, yet strategic. I've incorporated a lot of German board game thinking into taking actions. This is not a free-form system.
All characters have 5 skill they're really good at. This makes up their profession. Everything else they do at an average skill rating. To succeed at an action, you have to compare the appropriate skill # verses the difficulty number of the action you're attempting. So, a Pick Locks of 6 would be successfull against a Locked Door with a rating of 5. During the game your actions can modify your skill #. Say you have a Fight skill of 5 verses an opponent who has a Fight skill of 7. He would do 2 damage to you each round unless you do something to stop it. So you could...pick up a bigger weapons (i.e. barstool) that would add +1 to your skill, get behind him which would add another +1, and so on. This is how you adjust your skills on the fly. Same thing goes for charming someone, lying, jumping a pit, etc.
Taking advantage of the chat environment again, players can also "hack" what the gamemaster types (to a point). A player can spend a hack point to edict "It was a dark and stormy night" to "It was a dark and clear night". Changing the word "stormy" to "clear" in the process. A player can hack words that don't derail the plot, and some words are totally off limits. This works well in the text-based environment that is chat. The fact that you can save your chat transcripts also makes for fun reading later. Players often try to top each other in their creativity.
It is the fact that this game is made for chat that sets it apart. Don't try to play it in person, it's not made for that. There are character sheets online at
www.goldleafgames.com that you can check out. They'll give you a feel for the characters, system, and the world.
There is a 1-page setting overview in our downloads section (again, free) for you to look at. The Sunset Kingdoms, the golden Age of Unaris was one of the WotC 11.
We'll be posting a free PDF on the system soon. This will allow you to play any fantasy, spy, space, etc., etc. online.
One last thing, the system requires a GM. It's not software. We wanted as many players as possible to be able to play this over IM, AOL, ICQ, etc.
If you have any more questions don't be afraid to ask.
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Gary Pratt
