Amboria: Roleplaying in the World Under Starlight

Holiday Update
about 1 year ago – Tue, Dec 05, 2023 at 02:06:06 PM

Hello Backers,

Strange Owl Games here. We wanted to give you an update on where the project is currently at.

As you may have heard, our production manager – J-M DeFoggi – almost died this summer with a case of bacterial meningitis. He has slowly been recovering, and working on Amboria as his energy levels have allowed, but it has been a slow process. He is working with Bob on art direction for Amboria, and Bob is killing it! Here are some of the great pieces he produced for the book (some of which we have shared, others which are brand new).

You may have noticed that the draft for Thunder in the North has been delayed. This is due to several things. One is the difficulty (hinted back in the November update) of compiling the material. It's just taken longer than Richard expected it to, since although all of the adventures are written, many of them have needed converting to the Clash System and major edits to bring them together in a more cohesive way.

The more serious reason for the delay has been Richard's health. Over the summer, Richard was diagnosed with a severe case of heavy metal poisoning (lead and mercury). In retrospect, this explains several symptoms he has experienced over the last 2 years--memory loss, aphasia, and other neurological symptoms. He had to undergo chelation therapy, which he considers a great example of the cure being "worse than the disease." 

Although his levels are much better, he is still waiting to find out if he will need to do another round of chelation. He appreciates your prayers for his health. It has been difficult for him to work with his normal focus, but he's feeling better overall, and is in the home stretch with Thunder in the North.

Let us be clear. None of this is going to prevent Amboria or Thunder in the North from being completed. It just means that we are not as far along as we had hoped we would be at this point. The layout template is complete and as we move through the layout process, we plan to keep updating you with samples as they come together.

Thank you for your support and patience. As a thank you, we want to give you all a free STL file of our mascot – Kosh the Strange Owl. You can find the download link to that STL here.

We are still furiously working on Amboria, and look forward to getting the rulebook into your hands in 2024.

Strange Owl Games

A Missive from Rinsos
about 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 06:47:58 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

The Call to the Midnight War
about 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 09:30:03 AM

My dear friend,

Please excuse the brief and direct nature of this missive, but time is of the essence. As you know probably all too well, the situation in the Leopard Isles has become increasingly perilous. Rebellion has been stirring there since the year 454 of this Eon, when in response to heavy taxes and the grave mismanagement of Onwae’s local administrator, the people of the archipelago rose up in revolt. This uprising had no real leadership and as a result was quickly suppressed, but during the rioting Mother Zishunei of the Convent of the Ram of Dawn distinguished herself as the spiritual leader of those dissatisfied with Onwae’s reign, and many people believe it was she who engineered the movement in the first place. Whether or not this was the case, what we know now is that the rebellion was anything but over.

Recently, during the Siege of Sencankarr by the traitorous nation of the Njeitbori in the year 456 of this eon, the Leopard Isles declared its independence once again. This time, the royal administrator fled the isles in secret under the cover of darkness, and the rebels occupied the gubernatorial palace. But although these rebels were led by a number of knights of the Order of the Leopard-skin, they claimed to be only the servants of their lord, the Midnight Prince – the true lord of the Leopard Isles and the true heir of Orusen. This enigmatic “Prince” has yet to reveal himself openly, and yet it is said now that he has eyes and ears in ever city, harbor, and sheep pasture throughout the isles. What seems certain is that, if such a man truly exists, the servants of Onwae – not to mention the partisans of the lost Prince Galal – cannot allow him to rule in the Leopard Isles, or lay claim to the rest of the kingdom.

But Onwae is weak, and Prince Galal has not been heard from in nearly two decades. You have every right to be concerned about the rumors you have heard concerning Onwae. It is whispered in the streets of Sencankarr that the king keeps to his own quarters, ranting and raving for hours at a time. Only his Grand Vizier, the Baron Kjavista, is invited to his councils, and many people believe Kjavista is now running the palace—though they would never dare say so to his face.

In these uncertain times, the people of the Royal District, and of the Islands, are forced to look within their own communities for the strength to stand in times more evil than anything anyone remembers since the Civil War—or, as people are now calling it, the First Civil War…

---

Dear Knights Errant,

Hail and well-met!

As previously announced, all of you who backed at the Hero Errant I and Hero Errant II levels will be participating in a series of linked one-shot adventures which will determine the fate of the Leopard Isles in the official “canon” of the history of the World Under Starlight. These events will be known collectively as the Midnight War. Here’s how it will work.

The campaign will be played out in three phases. Each phase will consist of three games, and each game can have up to five players signed up to participate. Each one of these three games will focus on a small group of adventurers recruited by one of the three main factions operating in the Leopard Isles at the time of the campaign’s beginning. For now, those factions are codenamed “Pelican,” “Cormorant,” and “Panther.” You’ll have to wait to find out more about your faction (although if you’ve been paying attention you can likely guess which is which) after you sign up for one of the games, which you can do at the link below.

There are about 40 of you, and only 15 total slots in this first phase. That means that most of you will have to wait until the second or third phase to get involved. But don’t worry – I promise that no matter which phase you play in, shenanigans will abound. I plan to kick off the second phase somewhere around the week of October 16th, and the third and final phase in the first week of November, but stay tuned for more details. For now, signups for Phase 1 of the Midnight War are available at this link on a first-come, first-served basis:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044CA9AF29A1F85-44583581-themidnight

If you are feeling brave and want to try creating your own character for the Midnight War, you may do so (but no Njeitbori characters for this campaign, for reasons which will become clear). I will also have a digital “stack” of pregens for you to choose from.

Please reach out via the Strange Owl Discord if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you all in the World Under Starlight!

- Richard

Orders Locking This Friday
over 1 year ago – Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 04:18:33 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

BackerKit surveys are coming!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 17, 2023 at 07:00:24 AM

Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your BackerKit survey. It’s essential to respond to your survey as quickly as possible since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.

You do not need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email!

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.

Due to the volatility of shipping prices globally right now, shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date once we have the best estimates for everyone. We plan to enter & charge backers for shipping a month or two before fulfillment when we have better estimates of what it will cost to ship backers rewards. We will alert backers when shipping costs are finalized & before we charge your cards in your BackerKit survey. We will keep you informed all along the way!

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under “Lost your survey?” on our BackerKit project page at https://amboria.backerkit.com.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://amboria.backerkit.com/faq.

If you do not receive the email, after surveys are sent, and you Signed in with Apple through Kickstarter, your email address might be a private relay email address. We can help locate your survey and update your email address, please message us through Kickstarter with your Backer ID # found on your Kickstarter confirmation. You can learn more about your email hiding for your Apple ID here.

Strange Owl Games