RAIDERS OF THE SERPENT SEA

Veteran game designer and writer Brent Knowles (Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age: Origins, Baldur's Gate II, Axis & Allies 1942 Online) takes the helm on a new book under the ARCANUM WORLDS banner. Brent will continue the tradition of high quality art and epic storytelling that James Ohlen, Jesse Sky, and Drew Karpyshyn demonstrated in Odyssey of the Dragonlords with the release of a stand alone campaign sourcebook, Raiders of the Serpent Sea.

Raiders of the Serpent Sea is an epic adventure book for the 5th Edition of the world's greatest roleplaying game.

In the nearly forgotten long ago, the survivors of a vanquished civilization fled the cruel giants and demons devastating their home world. In desperation, the heroes of that time unleashed primal magics to create a safe haven for those they protected. They ushered the last of the mortals through a portal into this new world.

Covered in dark forests, ruled by sinister monstrosities, and with a storm-tossed sea connecting the many disjointed islands, this new world, Grimnir, is full of dangers. To survive, the people, now known as raiders, learned to sail that serpent filled sea, learned to survive in this impossible world. They sail with pride... and the strongest take what they need from both the land and any foolish enough to stand in their way.

Yet things are changing. In the recent long winters, and in the eerie colors splashing against the winter night's sky, the seers have seen troubling signs. Have ancient evils from the long ago finally found Grimnir?

You are a heroic raider with dreams of glory and you have been summoned to prepare for the final conflict. Will you fail Grimnir and watch it sundered by cataclysm and doom? Or will you defeat the threat from the eaters-of-worlds and finally put to an end the great cycle of doom?

Modiphius Entertainment has signed a worldwide co-publishing deal to handle marketing, logistics, and production for Raiders of the Serpent Sea. The Arcanum Worlds team is preparing to run a Kickstarter for a hardcover adventure and campaign setting guide and a softcover player's guide.

A preview version of the Player's Guide to Raiders of the Serpent Sea will be available to download in a couple weeks. Once it is available, you'll be able to learn more about this savage world, its inhabitants, and the new player characters rules being developed.

The Arcanum Worlds team is providing Brent with guidance as he prepares this exciting addition to their library of roleplaying books. Many of the amazing artists who populated Odyssey of the Dragonlords with fantastic creatures, landscapes, and characters, are on board with this new project!

Brent previously worked with James Ohlen at BioWare for ten years, starting with Baldur's Gate II and later sharing lead credits on Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age: Origins. Like James, Brent has been a prolific tabletop gamer for decades. Brent has also had roleplaying articles and rule system variants published by Dragon Magazine and Pyramid (Steven Jackson Games) and was a winner in the Writers of the Future Contest (#26).

Brent has played (almost) every edition of the world's greatest roleplaying game as well as numerous other tabletop gaming systems and has been currently running an almost two year campaign through Odyssey of the Dragonlords.

"I enjoy all things roleplaying and have been extremely grateful for my long career making video games. But my love of gaming always stemmed from those early tabletop experiences, and it is amazing that I've been able to spend the past couple years running several campaigns again, as well as writing this new adventure setting. It certainly reminds me of the hours I spent in my youth dreaming up characters, plots, and doodling maps. Now, after many years of game development experience, I get to apply all that I learned about gaming in general to this new book. And I get to work with fantastic people like the amazing artists James & Jesse have connected me with. I'm hopeful that this is just the beginning. After this book I'd love to expand both the Raiders of the Serpent Sea setting and the very popular Odyssey of the Dragonlords setting with new locations, monsters, and adventures."

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SUMMARY

  • 250-page hardcover book with spectacular illustrations
  • 50-page softcover player's guide
  • An epic campaign that takes player character's from levels 1 to 10 (and beyond!)
  • Details the new world of Grimnir -- a land inspired by the mighty Norse gods, the historical vikings popular today, and all centred around the cycle of Ragnarok. Raiders of the Serpent Sea is compatible with other popular campaign settings.
  • An optional bridging scenario connects Thylea (Odyssey of the Dragonlords) and Grimnir (Raiders of the Serpent Sea)
  • Written and designed by Brent Knowles, lead designer on Neverwinter Nights & Dragon Age: Origins
  • Visit https://www.arcanumworlds.com for regular blogs about the development of Raiders of the Serpent Sea
  • A 30-page preview edition of the Player's Guide to Raiders of the Serpent Sea (in pdf format) will be released during fall 2021.