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Uresia:
Incarnations
There are three different versions of the Uresia: Grave of Heaven
worldbook. In terms of setting-information, all three are mutually compatible.
Here's a quick rundown for those interested in Uresia but
puzzled by the whole multiple-incarnations thing:
- Uresia: Grave of Heaven (2003):
Guardians of Order published the original edition of Uresia
in February of 2003 as a supplement to Big Eyes, Small Mouth 2nd
Edition, the result of long work, delays and development (beginning
July of 2000). The original worldbook includes stats and character-creation
information specific to BESM2, and it's a groovy little digest-sized
worldbook that fits in your coat pocket. This is the edition most people
are probably familiar with, with the purple-background elf-chick cover.
GoO also made this edition available in electronic form for a while (2004-2005).
- Uresia d20 (2004):
The original book did well enough to justify porting it to one of
GoO's other game-systems, their hybrid of BESM with Wizards
of the Coasts' d20 System used for Dungeons & Dragons 3.x.
GoO courteously invited me to develop the d20 adaptation, but I'm no d20
scholar (I've GM'ed and played it only a few times), so I passed on it
and just pestered them about the cover, instead (it ended up with a beautiful
cover, by the talented Niko Geyer, using character-images based on
Ed Northcott's interior work). Decorated d20 veteran Ian Sturrock did officer
work handling the system-conversions, and Uresia d20 is,
in terms of content, virtually identical to the original, with only the
BESM stats replaced. The only other differences are a few
artwork alterations, some of Ian's extrapolations on how the "character
classes" relate to one another, and one omitted map (a non-critical
introduction to the world and the runic alphabet used in the page elements).
This edition was also available in PDF form (2004-2005).
- Uresia: Grave of Heaven (All-Systems
Library Edition, 2012): In the spring of 2005, I approached Guardians
of Order asking about buying all the Uresia rights. Mark
responded with an offer that suited us both, and on August 31st of that
year the material came home, as it were, to Cumberland Games. A new, 2nd
Edition of Uresia is currently in production, with new artwork,
rebuilt maps, expanded world material and so on. The All-Systems Edition
is (as I like to put it) unencumbered by crunch. Like all other All-Systems
titles (including the Uresia supplement, Caravel) this "Designer's
Cut" edition is 100% setting and gaming resources, taking advantage
of the additional space to provide a few surprises. Uresia will
be a Cumberland Games PDF, but for those fond of hardcopy, I'll make a
POCD version (or two) available at Lulu.
Coming this year, for real.
Cumberland Games has been
publishing Uresia material since the 2001 release of the Temphis
Runes and that, along with Uresia
Arcana and Caravel,
form the beginnings of what I hope will be a game line worth revisiting
and campaigning with for years to come. Uresia is a very comfy home for
the kind of fantasy gaming I like to write about, and I'll continue doing
so for as long as the fan-support remains strong. In addition to Uresia
2nd Edition, you can also find new Uresia material here on Blue
Lamp Road, and in a 2005 charity anthology for the Red Cross (Beyond
The Storm). Better still, the Uresia fan-community produces some
great stuff that appears here and elsewhere on the web. Future things you
might see include licensed Uresia titles from other
publishers (both systemless and using systems of the publisher's choice),
text-adventure games set in Uresia, official conversion documents for popular
RPGs (I'll be approaching several publishers about this), and an FRPG from
Cumberland designed with Uresia's style in mind. If odd moods strike me
I may spontaneously produce oddities like Uresia boardgames (I've got a
notion for one ?). I am fey and unpredictable.
Over time, I'll be updating both Blue Lamp Road and the Cumberland website
to reflect the central role Cumberland will play in Uresia's future. Bear
with me on this and, if it helps, mentally insert little animated "Under
Re-Construction" GIFs into the affected web pages. See you soon, back
on heaven's grave.
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