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Only 12 hours left to back Serenissima Obscura!
A 400-page setting and campaign guide for Magical Renaissance roleplaying in the most incredible city ever built: Venice. For Fifth Edition, as well as for the newly kickstarted Ars Magica Definitive Edition (via a dedicated Ars Magica guide) and any other rules system (via the built-in Shorthand system).
Play the campaign or just use the adventure modules on their own – your choice!
Explore quasi-historical Venice in 1507, and its supernatural shadow twin as well!
Use the setting with any game you like!
- - -
>> Serenissima Obscura if you don’t play Fifth Edition
No matter which rule system you prefer, Serenissima Obscura works with it.
We have statted each and every one of the more than 250 NPCs and creatures mentioned in the book with our Shorthand Universal Notation, a very compact and simple way of statting characters or monsters with a mix of 4 attributes and a handful of keywords.
If you want to know more about how that works, follow this link to a short blog post explaining it: Shorthand Universal Notation – Vortex Verlag
With Shorthand stats you can quickly and easily stat each individual in your preferred system. Add the fact that the setting guide as well as the adventure modules are practically system-agnostic and you should be good to go whatever you play: narrative or simulationist, rules-lite or crunchy, detailed or fast and furious.
In addition to the Shorthand stats for easy access we have made it easy to dock your preferred game system onto the specific mechanics featured in our setlets, such as naval combat or social warfare, using our rough-and-ready Handshake Protocol.
What is a setlet, you ask? Setlet is our own term for a focussed micro-setting, but it can encompass anything from specific party setup guidelines to an actual campaign frame. All of these can of course be played with any rule system, but you might have strong ideas about which one fits best in each case.
Play the command crew of a Venetian war galley in the Eagles of the Adriatic setlet, and if you want, combine it with the Green Company mercenary ops setlet to integrate your away team when the mission calls for it. All the setlets we describe are intercompatible - just plug any two together and see what happens. Maybe play the gifted and rather secular nuns of Sisters of the Sable House as they pull strings and investigate occult mysteries, and for at least some of the leg work use the Bruni family and their skullduggery detailed in the Grimy Hands setlet. Rock the tightest stripy trousers and organize carnival entertainments, plays and processions as the Nightingales compagnia della calza, and maybe do some delicate backup work for the Lambs of God, a group of mostly unwholesome counterintelligence has-beens. Or play the Men of Ink, the shadowy professionals running Venetian intelligence for the dreaded Council of Ten, who work by report and letter and instruct lesser men and women to do the dirty work, like maybe those seasoned travellers of the Marcantonio Magno “island books” writers group. Use troupe-style play with multiple characters to play in different places and situations.
Or mine any of them for NPCs, factions and adventure hooks.
And you can of course just play the modular adventures involving you in conspiracies in brightside and shadowside Venice, either independently or strung together into a mighty campaign to uncover, and hopefully overcome, an ancient power.
- - -
>> Serenissima Obscura if you do play Fifth Edition
Everything we said for people who don’t play 5e applies here, too. While we have statted about 80 characters and monsters for 5e, all those mentioned in the book can be easily statted with the help of the Shorthand Stats - yes, they work for translating characters into Fifth Edition, too.
Any of the setlets can be played as well, of course, probably once you’ve played through the grand campaign, exploring both brightside Venice with its many pitfalls and human villains, and the depth and breadth of Shadow Venice with its many supernatural threats and mysteries, all rooted firmly in the cosmology and lore of the Magical Renaissance. If you want to keep it traditional, treat the shadowside as a city-sized dungeon to explore and clear of dangers.
There are also mechanics for the supernatural effects of Venice as well as two entirely new character classes for Fifth Edition, the magical wheel-lock shooting Gonneslinger and the supernaturally gifted Merchant as well as the City Druid, who can speak to the Stone of Venice.
- - -
But is it any good, you ask? Well, here’s something Matthew J. Constantine said in his review of our first book, The Straight Way Lost, a prequel of sorts to Serenissima Obscura:
“The Straight Way Lost is an impressive work. I often say that I like roleplaying games that are “opinionated.” By that I mean games that aren’t just meant to be blandly inoffensive to the largest number of potential buyers, but instead have something particular to say. Is The Straight Way Lost going to be for every game table? No. However, for the right table, this is going to be an adventure folks will remember for the rest of their lives. For people who prefer delving into their characters, immersing themselves in a setting, and solving problems without flashing blades, this might just be the book for you.”
Back us now:
www.backerkit.com
A 400-page setting and campaign guide for Magical Renaissance roleplaying in the most incredible city ever built: Venice. For Fifth Edition, as well as for the newly kickstarted Ars Magica Definitive Edition (via a dedicated Ars Magica guide) and any other rules system (via the built-in Shorthand system).
Play the campaign or just use the adventure modules on their own – your choice!
Explore quasi-historical Venice in 1507, and its supernatural shadow twin as well!
Use the setting with any game you like!
- - -
>> Serenissima Obscura if you don’t play Fifth Edition
No matter which rule system you prefer, Serenissima Obscura works with it.
We have statted each and every one of the more than 250 NPCs and creatures mentioned in the book with our Shorthand Universal Notation, a very compact and simple way of statting characters or monsters with a mix of 4 attributes and a handful of keywords.
If you want to know more about how that works, follow this link to a short blog post explaining it: Shorthand Universal Notation – Vortex Verlag
With Shorthand stats you can quickly and easily stat each individual in your preferred system. Add the fact that the setting guide as well as the adventure modules are practically system-agnostic and you should be good to go whatever you play: narrative or simulationist, rules-lite or crunchy, detailed or fast and furious.
In addition to the Shorthand stats for easy access we have made it easy to dock your preferred game system onto the specific mechanics featured in our setlets, such as naval combat or social warfare, using our rough-and-ready Handshake Protocol.
What is a setlet, you ask? Setlet is our own term for a focussed micro-setting, but it can encompass anything from specific party setup guidelines to an actual campaign frame. All of these can of course be played with any rule system, but you might have strong ideas about which one fits best in each case.
Play the command crew of a Venetian war galley in the Eagles of the Adriatic setlet, and if you want, combine it with the Green Company mercenary ops setlet to integrate your away team when the mission calls for it. All the setlets we describe are intercompatible - just plug any two together and see what happens. Maybe play the gifted and rather secular nuns of Sisters of the Sable House as they pull strings and investigate occult mysteries, and for at least some of the leg work use the Bruni family and their skullduggery detailed in the Grimy Hands setlet. Rock the tightest stripy trousers and organize carnival entertainments, plays and processions as the Nightingales compagnia della calza, and maybe do some delicate backup work for the Lambs of God, a group of mostly unwholesome counterintelligence has-beens. Or play the Men of Ink, the shadowy professionals running Venetian intelligence for the dreaded Council of Ten, who work by report and letter and instruct lesser men and women to do the dirty work, like maybe those seasoned travellers of the Marcantonio Magno “island books” writers group. Use troupe-style play with multiple characters to play in different places and situations.
Or mine any of them for NPCs, factions and adventure hooks.
And you can of course just play the modular adventures involving you in conspiracies in brightside and shadowside Venice, either independently or strung together into a mighty campaign to uncover, and hopefully overcome, an ancient power.
- - -
>> Serenissima Obscura if you do play Fifth Edition
Everything we said for people who don’t play 5e applies here, too. While we have statted about 80 characters and monsters for 5e, all those mentioned in the book can be easily statted with the help of the Shorthand Stats - yes, they work for translating characters into Fifth Edition, too.
Any of the setlets can be played as well, of course, probably once you’ve played through the grand campaign, exploring both brightside Venice with its many pitfalls and human villains, and the depth and breadth of Shadow Venice with its many supernatural threats and mysteries, all rooted firmly in the cosmology and lore of the Magical Renaissance. If you want to keep it traditional, treat the shadowside as a city-sized dungeon to explore and clear of dangers.
There are also mechanics for the supernatural effects of Venice as well as two entirely new character classes for Fifth Edition, the magical wheel-lock shooting Gonneslinger and the supernaturally gifted Merchant as well as the City Druid, who can speak to the Stone of Venice.
- - -
But is it any good, you ask? Well, here’s something Matthew J. Constantine said in his review of our first book, The Straight Way Lost, a prequel of sorts to Serenissima Obscura:
“The Straight Way Lost is an impressive work. I often say that I like roleplaying games that are “opinionated.” By that I mean games that aren’t just meant to be blandly inoffensive to the largest number of potential buyers, but instead have something particular to say. Is The Straight Way Lost going to be for every game table? No. However, for the right table, this is going to be an adventure folks will remember for the rest of their lives. For people who prefer delving into their characters, immersing themselves in a setting, and solving problems without flashing blades, this might just be the book for you.”
Back us now:
Serenissima Obscura – Setting Guide & Modular Adventure
Serenissima Obscura is a setting guide & modular adventure for Venice in the Magical Renaissance. Face conspiracies, mystical convergences and a realm of unspeakable terrors! Play with 5e, Ars Magica or your favorite system!
www.backerkit.com
