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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stan Shinn" data-source="post: 5422202" data-attributes="member: 99654">Hey gang, I’ve just announced a Swords & Wizardry compatible game you should check out. Press release is below. I hope you like it! — Stan (aka Dwilimir)PRESS RELEASEFor immediate release.Rogue Comet has announced an open playtest for the beta version of Lost Empires™, a new rules-light fantasy roleplaying game available for free at <a href="http://www.roguecomet.com" target="_blank">Rogue Comet | Roleplaying Games</a>.“We’re big fans of the so-called Old School Renaissance (OSR) in roleplaying games,” said Stan Shinn, Lost Empires’ game designer. “Simple, fast-play rule games like Microlite20 inspired us to do something new with the retro-clone games now gaining popularity. The rules for Lost Empires fit on one double-sided page so it’s really easy to pass out a sheet to your friends, do a quick review of the simple rules and start playing in minutes.”The game mechanics of Lost Empires, while familiar to many, introduces several changes to broaden the appeal of fantasy roleplaying to new audiences.“We’ve eliminated many of the quirky rules and tedious bookkeeping of many legacy games,” Shinn said. “While the OSR is driven in part by the nostalgia of veteran gamers, we designed our system from the ground up to appeal to people new to the game, particularly young people.” Lost Empires eliminates class levels, gives mages greater freedom in which powers they can access, uses dice counters to track monster hit points, and removes most tables and rules which normally would require consulting a manual. “Nothing kills game-play faster than having to stop and flip through rule books,” said Shinn.Lost Empires also introduces “bullseye”™ rolls to increase the sense of danger. Damage rolls are open ended, meaning even a lowly orc can get a lucky shot and kill you, and even an out-matched warrior has at least some chance (however slim) of slaying the dragon.One notable departure from other retro-clone games is Lost Empire’s magic system. “In some games,” said Shinn, “if you want to cast a 4th-level spell, you have to be a 7th-level caster, even though you start out by casting 1st-level spells at your first class level. Lost Empire simplifies this, allowing mages to access any power, even though doing so may be deadly. Spells are not memorized or selected in advance. Instead, mages use mana to wield powers. Mana, like Hit Points, can be drained. Mages can cast any spell, but the more power they wield the greater risk they have of overcasting, which can result in unconsciousness or even death.”Lost Empires will run as a public beta from now until summer 2011 at which time a revised 1.0 version will be released.To download a free copy of the gorgeously illustrated 60 page PDF, the free 1-sheet rules summary and character sheets, visit <a href="http://www.roguecomet.com" target="_blank">Rogue Comet</a>.For more information on the Lost Empires Beta playtest, visit <a href="http://www.roguecomet.com/forums" target="_blank">roguecomet.com</a> or email games[MENTION=1307]Rogue[/MENTION]comet.com.</blockquote>

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