[E.N.Pub] Powers that Be - City Council!

[HellHound]

A holiday season "press release" from the hoopy froods at E.N.Publishing.

"For Immediate Release" (I admit it, I only put that in the beginning because I see it on all the other ones posted at Gaming Report). We (especially my daughters who are itching to get at the laptop where their precious "The Hobbit" game is - which has been the primary layout system for this product) are excited to announce the release of Powers that Be - City Council, the first book in the Powers that Be line.

Written by E.N.World community member Fred Wolke (Vaxalon here on the boards), and fantastically illustrated by Hannah M.G. Shapero, this book brings a complete city council to your fantasy d20 game.

Running a game in an urban setting? Slipping towards politics & intrigue? Want to know who runs the show above the local guildmasters?

The first book in the "Powers that Be" series, City Council details each member of the city council, their background, motivations and role-playing notes, as well as the requisite d20 stat block. Seperate from the 77-page book, each major character also has a colour illustrated card designed to be shown to the players, with the character's notes on the back for the GM to refer to. Also included are maps of the palace and a selection of adventure and campaign notes for use with the city council in question.

But this is more than 'just' the city council and the politics and adventures surrounding them. This book also includes a fully detailed palace within which these intrigues occur and the council meets. Each room is detailed, and all NPCs are statted out. The book is polished off with rules for voting and influencing the voting procedures, as well as some social feats and prestige classes used for the Council members.

The institutions developed and described in the "Powers that Be" line are designed to be easily placed in any major fantasy or magical medieval city. While "Everyone Else" detailed everyone else needed to populate a city, "Powers that Be" details specific institutions and characters within them.

Powers that Be - City Council is now available at RPGnow for $6.95.

Click here and pick up a copy!

 

[Vaxalon]

And of course, if anyone has any questions about the product, I'll be glad to answer them.

 

[Pagan priest]

I have a question, what is the size of the city? This looks like something I might be able to use, but I have already added certain details to the city where it would be useful, I need to know how much I would need to change...

 

[HellHound]

From the PDF, page 55:

This book assumes that a few things are true about the city. If these are not true of the city where you use this product, you will need to make some changes to make it fit in.

The city is assumed to be a coastal city, and a trading center. It has some manufacturing, but the primary function of the city is to exchange goods. If you change the mix, you may want to change the balance between the merchant houses and the craft guilds; make one or two of the merchants into masters of crafting guilds.

The city is assumed to me mostly human, with a few other races here and there. If there are numerous other races in the city, you may need to explain why all of the members of the council are human; on the other hand, it wouldnt be much of a stretch to say that someone like Guildmaster Laretta is a Gnome, or Dame Colanto is a Half-elf.

The culture is assumed to be only slightly patriarchal; men occupy a majority of the positions of power, but there is little to no censure of a woman who decides to pursue a career in business or government. In a more patriarchal environment, you may want to add reasons why the female members of the council are there.

The general climate of the city is assumed to be basically peaceful, with no significant outside threats. If there were threats from outside, it is likely that the council members would put aside their differences and work together more efficiently than they do.

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The actual city size is not referenced directly, as the city council could fit any city from the smallest to the largest. The size of each councilperson's entourage and organization will obviously vary based on the size of the setting they are in.

I've already started using this council for my "Adventure Path" city from Dungeon magazine (which I had to adapt a bit from the city of Cauldron as presented in the modules - making it more like the city of Sanctuary from the Thieve's World books).

 

[HellHound]

for a sample of this product, we now have a free download with one of the councilors in it available @ RPGnow.

Just follow the link to our $1 SALE! and it is the first product on the list (and it's free, not $1)