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REIGN of Ardwin

For $2,500, I'll release this 25,000 word fantasy setting as a .pdf, for free, for everyone, forever.
108 backers pledged $2,545 to help bring this project to life.
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Aurora, IL Mobile Games

$2,545

pledged of $2,500 goal

108

backers

ARDWIN is a setting for the REIGN tabletop fantasy RPG rules. Ever since REIGN was first released, there's been discussion of how to incorporate the traditional fantasy races -- elves, orcs, dwarves -- and with ARDWIN I've tried to provide those templates in a way that's faithful to expectations and, at the same time, lets them move in unexpected new directions.

The land of Ardwin has no king and no central government: It's a collection of six racial enclaves who share a language and a general culture, while maintaining their unique identities as well. But Ardwin deviates from typical fantasy in two key ways. First, there aren't humans. Second, the races are not separate species: If an elf and a dwarf fall in love and marry, their union can produce offspring.

ARDWIN, then, is a setting based on fantasy genetics. (Note that the name's an anagram for "Darwin.") Conflicts arise between groups competing for resources: Since orcs eat only meat and animals instinctively dislike them they must perpetually hunt, or raid their more agrarian cousins. But there are also frictions within groups as biology goes head to head with culture. Who is the better elf? The child born with elfish nature, but raised among the gnomes? Or the child who spent her whole life in the elfin forests, despite being born a dwarf? Natural abilities and achievements of education are both provided for every group.

Support ARDWIN and bring a new take on classic fantasy to REIGN!

-G.

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  1. Select this reward

    Pledge $20 or more About $20

    It's a blasphemous amulet! If you're familiar with REIGN's Ob-lob culture, you know they revere their uncaring abyssal creator god with a spiral design indicating the sixteen syllables of its name. But reversing the spiral is the ultimate act of blasphemy. Carrying the reflection of the holy name indicates a willingness to degrade and corrupt oneself in order to express contempt for all creation.
    Now you, too, can express that contempt! Or, if you prefer, use this woodcut print on archival paper as a prop for a game involving Ob-lob blasphemy. Or you can just use it as a handsome decoration.
    -G.

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    Pledge $50 or more About $50

    Be Greg's editor for a day.
    A fair amount of the fiction I've written has been "We need something that shows off this element of the setting, it needs to have a big betrayal of trust, and, also, a monkey." Editors and publishers get to do this -- set parameters for fiction writers who then, like chefs with limited ingredients, try to produce a delicious meal.
    If this ransom clears, I'll write a short story (probably 2-5,000 words) and release it for free through my trusty internet library. But if won't just be ANY story. If you pledge $50+, you can dictate ONE element that must be present. I'll limit that by saying no fanfiction, but stuff in my established settings -- eCollapse, Milonda, PROGENITOR -- are all fair game. (I'll just have to hope and pray there's no crossover.) Or maybe you want a love story. Or a revenge drama. Or for someone to get caught in flagrante delecto with the babysitter. You name it, I'll do my best to put it in there.
    Will it be a hilarious mess, or an exquisite corpse? Only the high rollers get to decide.

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Funding period

- (30 days)