I Will Begin the 'Codex Slavicorum' Next...So Be Ready!

My 'Awen' (Inspiration) is propelling me to continue on writing the next Codex in the series even though I want to finish my fourth Steampunk Horror novel, it is weird how creative energies work though. Since I am on a roll and these are becoming a deeper interest of mine than they already were, I will start on the fourth Codex, the 'Codex Slavicorum' - putting the many myths and tales of the Pre-Christian Slavic world into gaming terms for all. If you have this ancestry it will be a chance to place it into a game now and then some!

I have it set up and laid out ready to go now, slowly I am revving up to begin on this next Codex and it will be fun!

Codex Germanorum is Now Absolutely Finished!

I know for months we have been saying that the German and Viking codices were 'finished', they were in a manner of saying. After many months I spent time fine tuning them, specifically the German Codex because it was the unfinished book by former TSR Game Designer Robert Kuntz going back to 2002. In the wake of the publication of my own old project that became the 'Codex Celtarum', now every book that follows in the series must be as good or better since it is a hard success to top if the books were to be sub-standard - and these are not! They are amazing!

I do not know when production starts on the next Codex but be ready for the news, it will be shake the many worlds when it is time and it can stand beside the Codex Celtarum in the gaming shelf proudly. There is so much useful stuff packed into these codices that gamers will have to take time figuring out what to do first! Keep in mind that this German Codex is purely my own creation and composition and not derived from Kuntz's own early drafts, I do not think they still exist after all of these years really. Steve couldn't find them in his archives. In this you can emulate Beowulf, Siegfried and other classic Germanic heroes and tales at the table.

Next it will either be the Classical (Greek/Etruscan/Roman) Codex or the Slavic, I am not sure yet, but whichever it will be mythic and epic and ready to be added to your collection and gaming soon...

Black Coach, High Midnight is Nigh....

This is the official cover for my new upcoming novella 'Black Coach, High Midnight' due out soon! This cover is made by Dawne Dominique, who has done all of my covers with Damnation Books/Eternal Press since I first signed on as an author!

The Teutonic Furor is Coming Soon! (Codex Nordicarum et Germanorum)

The final 10,000 words on the Codex Germanorum is taking place this week, and gamers won't be disappointed! If my Celtic book has made an impression, I think this will be complement it and the Nordic Codex as well. Once this Codex is finalized and done and sent off to the Head Troll Lord to be readied, I will begin on the next in the series.




What culture I am not sure yet, either Slavic or Classical (Greek and Roman), but this will put the initial part of this series through a large part of ancient Europe and prepare everyone for some truly unique, and never written or published in gaming history, cultures (Native American, Mesopotamian/Egyptian, Meso-American, etc).



Each Codex has more monsters, character classes, magic and items exclusively taken from those cultures and translated into gaming terms using a minimalist system for rules. I am extremely proud and honored to be the author in these works and hope that the response by gamers everywhere is as positive as it is for my Celtic book as they come out. Don't worry, I will use the same system of writing, research and design as I had in my initial 20+ year project to keep the consistency and approach identical!

Get a Print Copy of the Codex Celtarum!

The Codex Celtarum is now available in print! We have shipped out all of the Kickstarter copies (should be arriving in the mail in a few days most) and it is now being made available to the general public. If you didn't get in on the Kickstarter for the Codex Celtarum, now is your chance to own this highly anticipated book. Over 170 pages of new spells, new gods and monsters, and much much more. Click here for more information.

Module # 8 Is Completed!

Adventure module #8, 'The Idle Wizard' is now written and it takes things to an even more epic level than before...yes, it is possible! This adventure involves a war against the dreaded 'Host of Annwn' and its feared King Arawn. Unlike the previous adventures, this one incorporates the mass combat system 'Fields of Battle' in it, or can be plugged into another such system of the GM's choosing. I also include a quick chart to determine the results of the epic battle at the end as well for those GMs who want to keep it quick, rules-light, and simple.

The next module, "A Dark Burden: The Tale of the Doom Child" is being laid out so that I can get to work on it soon! These adventures are complementary with my Codex Celtarum, using the same setting, rules, etc found inside the 178 page book! Things are only getting better and my Awen, or inspiration is stronger than before!

Game on!

Adventure Modules!

For those of you who are gamers and also collect, here is my list of adventure modules produced so far (in italics) and projected titles for future adventures in my Celtic fantasy series:

1. Goblins of Mount Shadow
2. The Crimson Pact
3. The Giant's Wrath
4. A Sylvan Gambit
5. To Kill a King
6. Goblin Night
7. A Shattered Night
8. The Idle Wizard
9. Dark Burden: Tale of the Doom Child
10. The Torc of Serpents
11. Revenge of Arawn
12. Witches of the Phantom Queen
13. The Accursed Kingdom
(These are additional modules for separate sources)
A Pot of Broken Bones & Halflng Broth
Dwarven Glory II: The Reaping

I also have a mega 40 adventure (two campaign book set) idea of an Arthurian series that is proposed. It introduces everything in the Codex Celtarum even more than the module series listed above. Book one culminates in the Battle of Badon Hill, and the second finishes with the Battle of Camlan. There would be no other set of adventures out there that would even come close to this if published. There is more gaming here than most are used to....

FreeRPGDay and my adventure module for it! Here it is!

This will be available on June 15th 2013 from all game-shops that are participating in this fun event around the country. This adventure is based from the very first one that I devised (with some obvious improvements and extras) on my own when I first GMed in 1984 with MERP. I took that basic story and kept faithful to it yet made more depth and a back-story where I never had before. I wrote it to be a fun, slightly scary adventure that can be ran for tournaments at conventions, etc.

I also have an adventure for the recent ReapCon last month called 'Dwarven Glory II: The Reaping' that I will soon show here with cover and info on how to obtain. It is the sequel to the infamous 'Dwarven Glory I' and takes place in the world of Airhde with a return to the deep levels under Aufstrag where Unklar the Unclean once dwelt.

For more information on FreeRPGDay click here:

To Kill A King

Product Type/Format: 8.5 x 11 Saddle Stitched, 24 pages
Price: $6.99
Ordering Info: TLG 8324, ISBN 978-1-936822-59-1


Beyond the comforts of home lie worlds of epic adventure.

Queen Adyna is unhappy. Her King is not her lover and her lover is not the King and such accidents of fate often need a guiding hand. The goodly King Gwgon ap Gwron has ruled the realm for many years but he has not ruled his wife and it is her design to bring him low and the character’s task to do it.

In this complex adventure of court espionage and skullduggery, the adventurers must slay a king. To do so is no mean feat, for they must track him, watch him, weaver their way through the forest of court intrigue to unseat him and even then it is best to be wary. For hired assassins are often loose ends that themselves need tied. To Kill a King is an adventure of betrayal and backstabbing; a story steeped in intrigue and regicide!

Those noble born and good of heart may shy from the task at hand for a certain, there will be blood tonight!

Set in a semi-historical mythical Post-Roman Britain, in the North of Wales in the little kingdom of Penllyn (‘Pen-thlin’) and has the strong element of the faery-folk and druidic magic about it. This module can be easily placed in the Airhde world setting or any other with a change of names and places and taken out of its historical and geographical settings and refitted for one of pure fantasy.

To Kill a King is an adventure for 2-5 characters of around 4th level.

The First Reviews are in for the Codex Celtarum!

When someone starts a project the worry logically creeps in that someday people may not view it in the same way, or see the 'plan'. I had this worry many, many times over the last two decades of fine-tuning, modifying and creating the many elements that compose this setting. For the size of the book, 174 pages, I could easily add more and round it out at 200 pages, plus trim some places and streamline it even better (now that I see it in its final state), but who knows, that may happen with a 2nd edition someday?

With as many play-testers this game setting has had there was never anyone who disliked it, in fact they embraced the new angles and possibilities given within. Since no RPG has produced anything comparable in its history (although there were many 'Celtic' themed supplements, etc), this introduces all new ground and gaming possibilities that I knew would find eager gamers. Our groups loved them, why not others?

Contrary to the first reviewer on Diehard Gamefan', the majority of the faery races can be played as characters, or they can be adapted to by the GM. These races were not meant to be stuck only as NPCs because there are too many options with the abilities provided for the purpose of playing by players. So make characters, use the abilities and spells, and more when you make them, have fun!

The first review is here!   Once you have read it, please move onto the next. When more come in I will post links, etc about them, good or bad. The response by others is important since this project was intended for others, and it will prepare everyone for the upcoming Codices in the series, and there are about ten planned. What are they you ask? Steve has been working on the large Codex Airhde which is over 250+ pages in length so far, and I have the Viking and Early German books finished. After which I will work on the Slavic, Classical (Greek & Roman), Japanese, Native American, Mesopotamian & Egyptian, and Central and South American codices, all will follow the identical format you see in the Celtic codex. This means you will be able to plunder these cultures and make your world and campaign filled with the multitude of mythical beings, monsters, new classes, etc at your heart's content!

Quoting some of the comments made by reviewers:

"The Codex Celtarum contains a little bit of everything you could want for a Celtic-influenced campaign. I should point out that the Celtarum is not a source book for 100% accurate real world Celtic mythology, folklore and culture. It’s an adaptatiom of Celtic culture for the Castles & Crusades setting. There had to be some give and take which the author, who has a Masters in Arthurian Studies realized full well. The end result is one that should please fans of Celtic myth and role players used to generic high fantasy settings alike. The Codex Celtarum is something that every Castles & Crusades fan should be able to enjoy and appreciate, even if they don’t actually use it in their game."

"Aside from a few minor quibbles, the Codex Celtarum is simply an amazing book. It’s not just one of the bestCastles & Crusades sourcebooks ever, but it’s something that ANY fantasy game setting can pick up and use/adapt, especially if they are looking for a Celtic flair for their homebrew world and stories. There is so little in the way of mechanics, that you won’t ever have to do that much converting, especially if you already use an OSR system. As usual, the new Celtic content line for Castles & Crusades continues to impress."

"So, how does this book measure up? Well, the only other gaming book that I have that comes to mind is from TSR's excellent historical reference series. The Celts Campaign Sourcebook was certainly well put together but there is certainly something 'more' to this new offering. I'll be perfectly honest, the Celts were never a big thing for me -- I was always more interested in the ancient lands of Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire though I do have a soft spot for Vikings. Unlike the Celts, the Codex Celtarum leaves me with the desire to at least use *some* of the material and adapt it for my own campaign -- particularly when it comes to the Fey. The Codex Celtarum certainly has some substance to it there's enough to pillage for your own game even if you are inclined to run a Celtic themed game."

If you have a question about any aspect of the Codex Celtarum please let me know and I will reply!

Good Gaming!
Brian N. Young