Update for April 2019
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Since its public release two months ago, the Knights of the Black Lily Quickstart BETA rules have been downloaded more than 150 times. Quite a respectable number, given that promotion for the game hasn’t even begun in earnest. Given that level of interest, it’s overdue that we give an overview over what we’ve been doing in recent months and what you can expect in the future. Both the response by gamers as well as the latest developments regarding the game itself are very encouraging and so motivation is running pretty high!

Let’s break down the update… Read More

Knights of the Black Lily Quickstart BETA is releasing!
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Great news; the Quickstart beta for the Knights of the Black Lily RPG is set to start releasing, beginning on Tuesday 13th, 2018. Initially being released for the subscribers to our Knights of the Black Lily Newsletter at the highest level (“I’m a huge fan…”) over the following weeks, it will see public release in December 2018. We have been quietly working very hard over the last 6 months on the page design and its subtler elements (plus a TON of background research for world building) – we trust you will be thrilled with the results as much as us… Read More

A New Generation in Combat Systems (Series on Crunch – Part IV)
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The heart of combat

As we have introduced in our last blogpost, the close combat system of Knights of the Black Lily works differently from nearly all other existing close combat systems in that attacks do not alternate, This is done to faithfully emulate the dynamics of cinematic combat with its sequenced attacks – this time around, we’ll have a closer look at how it works. At the center of the combat system is the Melee Attack Resolution Table, which not only gets referenced constantly in actual play but is also short, intuitive and very easy to memorize – it’s in fact so simple that you and your players will naturally know it effortlessly from the top of your heads after the first one or two sessions of play. Following the general philosophy of Knights of the Black Lily by adding mild complexity in order to greatly adhere more to genre standards, this table is what makes all the various parts of the combat system come together… Read More

First glimpse of Combat (Series on Crunch – Part III)
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A Responsive Action Economy
The stated goal of the Knights of the Black Lily ruleset is to emulate the fantasy genre more faithfully than any other game before it and to challenge its players within these confines. One of the shortfalls of traditional fantasy RPGs in doing so lies in their lack of proper interruptability and reactivity:

  • Interruptability: An enemy who has a readied arrow aimed at you is often not necessarily faster than your PC who has only a sword (or worse: a still sheathed sword) to swing at him, depending on who rolls higher Initiative scores.
  • Reactivity: An enemy that takes a longer action (running up 20 meters, casting a spell that takes the entire round to complete, unlocking a door, etc.) should give you the opportunity to realize what is about to happen this round and to act accordingly.

… Read More

Major Update for March 2018
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After some weeks of intense work on the game (including playtesting to fine-tune the numbers, editing, layout and page design), it has become apparent that we’re going to narrowly miss our goal of releasing the PDF for the Knights of the Black Lily Quickstart Beta rules in time. Instead, we’re aiming for an early Q2 2018 release now, which will probably (but don’t quote us on that) mean: late April 2018.

What is missing?

For the most part, the graphics design. Tanya Anor is busy working on the art for the outer margins of the book as well some ornamental elements. As a progress report to you, we can share with you below rough sketch that shows you where the page design of the game is headed… Read More

Good News Everybody!
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Mockup Fortune Chapter from the Knights of the Black Lily RPG Quickstart Hey, no updates in a while but it’s been quite a few busy days at the office: the upcoming excerpt chapter on Fortune Points, the metacurrency of Knights of the Black Lily, is currently undergoing editing. That means early access is just a short while away – at least for those who have subscribed to the highest level of our newsletter (“I’m a huge fan”)! The best part: the entire chapter is system independent, so it is ready for Plug & Play into the system of your choice! … Read More