Rune & Relic Press

I’m pleased to announce that the first published adventure module for the Formoria Setting: The Crypt of Valerius

Long ago, a company of Archatian soldiers led by the Legatus Marcus Valerius, came across the abandoned stronghold of the Formorian chieftain Feggrog, which lay at the fork of the River Byrth and the River Dyyne.

Valerius and his men claimed the castle as their own and founded the village that would one day become the Duchy of Forksdale. Upon their deaths, the Centurion and his soldiers were buried in the manner of a Northman Chief. A magnificent barrow tomb was built for them by the townspeople right over the top of another much older tomb! Over the generations, an oak grove called the Barrow Wood has grown up around this location, and the townsfolk have largely forgotten the legends surrounding the place.

Lately, however, strange men have been seen going in and out of the woods at night. Rumors of a new cult and terrible human sacrifice are enflamed by the recent preponderance of missing people in the area. South of town, reports of horrible monsters abducting people and stealing livestock in the middle of the night abound. Duke Theoderic seems uninterested in the hysterics of the local populous and refuses to spend resources to investigate the matter, trusting his brother, Sherrif Berchar, to resolve it.

The Crypt of Valerius is a 60+ page adventure module for low level characters. It contains a multi-level dungeon, several factions all with their own objectives, and details on the town of Forksdale and the surrounding region. The draft is nearly complete and is currently being play tested. Scheduled to hit Kickstarter in February!

Formoria is a campaign setting in the world of Asterra with a rich history that has been developed through decades of actual game play. “Formoria: The Dark Age,” will offer a rich milieu in which to place your adventures. It has a European Dark Ages flavor, detailed locations, cultures, religions, factions, NPC’s, and history. Although it is being designed for Shadowdark the RPG, the bulk of the content within is entirely usable in other systems. Although in my opinion the campaign setting is best fit to older “OSR” style RPG systems, it is perfectly suitable for any fantasy role playing game system you choose.

For 25 years I have run campaigns with my players in this setting, and through the years it has evolved a depth and lived-in feel that both I and my players have come to enjoy. I wanted to compile everything into an easy to reference sourcebook, so that others might enjoy the world that I have come to love. The world of Asterra was developed over two decades of actual game-play, and most of the history of heroes and great deeds, magical items and artifacts and the current state of kingdoms and empires is the result of actual gameplay.

The setting is not a complete Earth-Clone. It rhymes with, rather than copies our own history. It includes the standard fantasy elements such as Elves and Dwarves, Orcs and Giants, and of course Dragons. The setting is meant to be dark, gritty, and far less “High Fantasy” than typical modern fantasy settings, making it a natural fit for Shadowdark and other OSR systems.

Look for Formoria: The Dark Age on Kickstarter this summer.

Hi. My name is Bryan O’Doherty and I’m excited to launch Rune & Relic Press. Just one guy, a “Forever GM” like many out there, who loves his hobby and wants to put some of his creations out into the world. Rune & Relic will focus on adventures and supplements for Shadowdark RPG, Old School Essentials, and similar OSR Fantasy systems. I can thank Managerie Press for starting me on this path. I was a co-author and contributor to “Celtic Shadows,” a campaign guide, supplement and adventure collection for Shadowdark RPG.

One of the first offerings I’m working on will be called “Formoria; The Dark Age.” It will be a full Campaign Setting designed for Shadowdark RPG. Stay tuned for more on that.