Funded Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2E

[SamuraiJack]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1806106772/astonishing-swordsmen-and-sorcerers-of-hyperborea-0?ref=category_newest

 

The premier sword-and-sorcery RPG now in 2E hardback format! Inspired by Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith!

Edited November 21, 2016 by Darsc Zacal
Tag updated

[SamuraiJack]

About this project

ASTONISHING SWORDSMEN & SORCERERS OF HYPERBOREA 2nd Edition

The premier sword-and-sorcery RPG, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboreaâ„¢, will be rereleased in Second Edition hardback format!  

This award-nominated tabletop RPG will be presented in a single tome, expanded to include new classes, spells, monsters, magic items, and more.

AS&SH cover art by Charles Lang

AS&SHâ„¢ Second Edition will come bundled with a massive, 32 × 40-inch, full-colour map of HYPERBOREA. 

HYPERBOREA map sample by Glynn Seal

The Second Edition also will feature hundreds of new illustrations, as well as new layout and typography.

AS&SH art by Val Semeiks

What is AS&SH?

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is the creation of Jeffrey P. Talanian (Castle Zagyg, Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent, Mystery at Port Greely). It is a role-playing game inspired by the fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith, with rules descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 

The heroes of an AS&SH game delve dungeons filled with horrifying monsters, lethal traps, and bewildering puzzles; they explore savage wilderness frontiers and hostile borderlands; they probe ancient ruins and investigate cursed tombs; they match steel against sorcery and sorcery against steel; and they plunder for gold, gems, and magical treasure.

AS&SH art by Johnathan Bingham

HYPERBOREA is the default campaign setting for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. This “flat earth†realm is hemmed in by the mystical boreas (“North Windâ€), and under the scarlet light of a bloated, dying sun, its roiling seas spill eternal over the world’s rim. Hyperborea is in a perpetual state of decay, populated by disharmonious men, hostile monsters, and weird, alien beings.

AS&SH art by Jason Sholtis

What Kind of Character Can I Play?

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea embraces traditional character archetypes with subclasses thereof. The 4 principal classes are as follows:

- Fighter: a swordsman, bowman, or other warrior type
- Magician: a sorcerer who memorizes arcane formulæ and casts spells   
- Cleric: an armed and armoured mystic sorcerer   
- Thief: a nimble swordsman possessed of numerous specialized skills

The game also features 22 subclasses from which to choose:

FIGHTER SUBCLASSES

- Barbarian: an outland warrior possessed of feral instincts 
- Berserker: a rampaging shock trooper renowned for unbridled battle rage   
- Cataphract (Knight): an armoured horseman and warrior elite
- Huntsman: a wilderness warrior who glories in the hunt   
- Paladin: a champion who crusades for justice and Law   
- Ranger: a borderland fighter, frontiersman, and defender   
- Warlock: a spell-weaving fighter who wields steel and sorcery interchangeably 

MAGICIAN SUBCLASSES

- Cryomancer: a sorcerer who commands the elemental power of ice
- Illusionist: a sorcerer who evokes phantasms and manipulates shadows and light
- Necromancer: a sorcerer who practices black magic and communicates with the dead
- Pyromancer: a sorcerer who commands the elemental power of fire
- Witch (Wizard): a sorcerer who brews potions, divines portents, and lays curses

CLERIC SUBCLASSES

- Druid: a mystic sorcerer empowered by ancestral, elemental, and animistic spirits
- Monk: a warrior-priest who strives for physical and mental mastery
- Priest: a chaplain mystic of prodigious spell-casting capacity
- Runegraver: a mystic warrior who carves runic spells on bone, metal, stone, and wood
- Shaman (Witch Doctor): a primal sorcerer who confers with ancestral and totem spirits 

THIEF SUBCLASSES

- Assassin: a thief who specializes in murder and intrigue
- Bard (Skald): a warrior, scholar, and weaver of enchanted lyrics and/or music
- Legerdemainist: an adept thief who also commands the power of sorcery
- Purloiner: a religious thief who also practices the esoteric mysticism of a cleric
- Scout: a lightly armed explorer, intelligence gatherer, and stealth master

Some of the above mentioned subclasses (huntsman, cryomancer, runegraver, purloiner) are new to AS&SH, making their official debut in this Second Edition hardback!

HYPERBOREA is home to various races and cultures of mankind. Some examples include Amazons, Atlanteans, Esquimaux, Hyperboreans, Ixians, Kelts, Kimmerians, Lemurians, Picts, and Vikings. These are inspired by pulp fiction, mythology, and history.