As we wrap-up 2020, I’m going to change up this December Throne Report to do a 2020 Year in Review.
Last year I had to take a step back and really examine our catalog. We have always published “pocket sized” releases, in addition to our main releases, to be mixed, matched, and added in where desired with a particular game’s mechanics embedded in the publication. To support multiple systems required multiple releases. I was facing an obsolete catalog with the release of EGS 2.0 and SWADE; not a big deal, but it would mean the revision of many books and the potential to need revising them in the future. So I changed things up a bit and published sourcebooks and various types of supplements with no mechanics. All the mechanics are to be placed in printer-friendly How to Guides. This allows me to release a single book, that never needs mechanical revision, and add the system mechanics as desired. This year has primarily been driven by that decision along with the release of EGS 2.0.
In 2020, we re-released a number of “universal” supplements with How to Guides covering EGS 2.0, SWADE, Legend, and even Five Points and Shadowed Earth. We’ve also continued with our EGS 2.0 releases with an update to Warfare and Xenopedia and a complete, standalone overhaul of Entropic Science Fiction. The only actual new release was Cryptozoology #03: Heretics which includes mechanics for EGS 2.0, SWADE, and The Fallen (Powered by the Apocalypse). Entropic Science Fiction and Psionics were given considerable revisions with lots of new content, otherwise everything else was a minor revision – of course, now with one purchase you get the mechanics for multiple systems instead of before when you would have to purchase multiple books.
For 2021, we finish the effort started in 2019 with the upcoming releases of The Burning Crow and Knights Templar. After that, we have a handful of books that will be given considerable revisions with new content – Entropic Fantasy (it will also be standalone), Three Kingdoms China, and hopefully Pirates & Privateers. Judgment Day is currently being completely reconstructed for SWADE with lots of setting material. The basics of the game are the same (supernatural hunting Inquisition) but everything else will be new and a new Quick Start (Jumpstart?) will be developed.
Most likely beyond 2021 are a number of planned releases including the completely overhauled Faith & Demons: The Rising (2nd Edition), a standalone Judgment Day for EGS 2.0, and the planning for some new Shadowed Earth games that reside on different points in the all-encompassing timeline. (Not in release order) The first is Antiquity, a game that takes place in classical and late antiquity. This is currently planned to be a d100 game system but it might end up as PbtA. The second is Eerie Railroad, a game that takes place in the early 20th century. This is currently planned to be based on PbtA, but with a unique design. The third is Terrestrial, a game that takes place in the far future. This is currently planned to use the same system as Eerie Railroad, but I haven’t decided yet.
I love history and I love providing just enough historical source material to incorporate into any game. With that in mind, I have brainstormed a number of different supplement series focusing on certain aspects of history, such as Progressive Era and Indigenous. This is all brainstorming way out there in development plus I have a number of Tabletop Gaming Guides I want to write. First things first is to finish revising our catalog. We have a number of legacy products that aren’t planned to be revised, but I haven’t made a final decision on all of them.
I’ll let you know more next year in each month’s Throne Report! But until then, here’s a look at all the publications we released this year:
Thanks for your time!
Aaron T. Huss
President
Mystical Throne Entertainment