Letters from the Flaming Crab Kickstarter

Alex Abel — the Flaming Crab himself — is Kickstarting the 2017 Letters from the Flaming Crab series.

These are small (15-20 page), flavorful supplements that explore topics often overlooked in many roleplaying games, topics that help round out a setting and make it more than a murderhobo arena.

Topics from 2016 include:

  • Winged Cavalry Welcome to our first issue: Winged Cavalry! Our team of writers brings you the master of aerial combat: the wind warden, an alternate class for the cavalier. And 4 orders for the wind warden: the order of the feather (pegasus), order of the hunt (pteranodon), order of the spire (magic carpet), and the order of talon and mane (griffon). In addition, we have a few advanced flying maneuvers in the book. “Do a barrel roll!”
  • Culinary Magic Within Culinary Magic you’ll find rules for culinary magic, a variety of recipes, new items, feats, and traits for magical bakers and chefs, and two new archetypes: the kitchen witch and the performing chef.
  • Haunted Places Within Haunted Places, you’ll find four haunts (one is sometimes also a loci), one new medium spirit, and three new archetypes inspired by those haunts just in time for the spookiest day of the year.
  • Wheel of the Year Wheel of the Year features 9 pagan holidays, from Yule to Samhain!For each holiday we have a brief description, the types of deities that are revered, mystic resonances (each holiday has a school of magic that’s enhanced and one that’s weakened), and a specific ritual/spell that may be cast during these events. Without celebrations, a campaign world is a sterile place. Breathe some life into your game with holidays!
  • Iconic Princesses Iconic Princesses features 4 women from classic fairy tales ready to be introduced into your campaign as NPCs or even as PCs.Each “princess” is detailed in the established iconic format (1st, 7th, and 12th level) along with a unique magic item, feat, or spell. Inside you’ll find:
    • Beauty. A vengeful witch that protects the powerless and curses their oppressors.
    • Mulan. A resourceful brawler that defends her homeland in her father’s stead.
    • Rapunzel. A disciplined monk with a hardened mind and barbed hair.
    • Snow White. A wandering occultist with a zest for battle.
  • Here There Be (tiny) Dragons Here There Be (tiny) Dragons presents six new Tiny sized dragons to be used as friend, foe, or improved familiar! It also features new archetypes and a new class of scaling wondrous item, dragonstones, that can only be used by a dragon and non-dragon in cooperation!
  • Her Story In honor of Women’s History Month, Her Story tells the tales of 8 incredible women (from Earth). It also features “crunch” inspired by each woman. (For example, Saint Clare Assisi inspired a pious Inquisitor archetype and 5 new virtues.) Inside you’ll find:
    • Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed
    • Queen Boudicca
    • Saint Clare of Assisi
    • Doctor Marie Curie
    • Hatshepsut
    • Joan of Arc
    • Osh-Tisch
    • Mary Shelley
  • Coins & Credit Within Coins and Credit (our biggest Letter, yet!), we cover the topic of money and how to make it fit in your campaign (and your bag of holding).
    The first part of our 8th Letter is all about coins. We cover mundane and magical currency crafting, counterfeiting, coin size, exchange rates, and transportation of coins. Slaying the dragon is great and all, but how many coins can you fit in a leather bag? And is the party barbarian strong enough to carry the whole hoard? Part two is on banks. Surely you don’t want to lug around all that gold? Even if you got it converted to mithral pieces, tens of thousands of metal coins is a lot for our heroes! We cover the different types of banks, account types, loans, account tiers, the likelihood of finding banks in different settlements, and example banks!Finally, part three covers credit. Don’t worry if your head is still spinning from tax season. We make things simple for you and your adventuring party! We cover tabs, letters of credit, promissory notes, banknotes, and magic items to assist in the transfer of wealth!
  • Hygiene In the days of old, the public bathhouse was as much of a social center as any tavern. So why not mix things up and start your adventure somewhere a little more clean? Sure, the half-orc may object to soapy water (after all, he’d get a -2 penalty on Diplomacy checks against his own people for being dishonorably cleansed of his enemy’s blood), but I’m sure the elf noble wouldn’t object to spending time in a more refined and relaxing establishment.Within Hygiene, we cover both the effects of neglecting cleanliness and places where you can scrub after delving in a mucky dungeon! Included are maps for each of the 6 locations inside, including 3 bathhouses (Japanese, Roman, meditative), a barber shop, laundry pools, and a salon.
  • County Faire Within County Faire, we take a trip to the fantastic Fantasia County Faire! It’s the perfect location to take a break from dragon slaying and dungeon delving! There is plenty to do!Play a variety of games of skill and chance! Can you hold your alcohol like a dwarf during the chug run? How many hot peppers can you handle in the flame mouth competition?See one of a kind spectacles and events! The finest cows, goats, sheep, and pigs are on display at the livestock contest! Watch a variety of animal races, everything from horses to humans to rats!Between events, be sure to pick up delectable treats. The faire has anything and everything you crave (most of it is fried, of course)! Children and adults with a sweet tooth will especially love dropping by Sugar’s Sweets!We’ve also included a mini adventure for 1st or 2nd level characters! The PCs are employed by the fireworks specialist– the Splendiferous Spranza– to guard her tent from nosy locals and mischievous children. While the default setting is the Fantasia County Faire, it can be used at any faire, festival, or celebration.
  • Inspired by Heraldry Within Inspired by Heraldry…We bring you 5 new unusual creatures for Pathfinder that are often featured as decorations upon a shield of arms: biscoine, enfield, lepus hositili (murder bunny), talbot hound, and yale.We also introduce heraldic feats that allow characters to draw power from their noble bloodline, familial history, and the spiritual patron of their clan. We feature the following patrons: allocamelus, basilisk, bear, biscoine, boar, bull, dragon, enfield, griffin, lepus hostili, manticore, phoenix, serpent, talbot hound, toad, unicorn, and yale.And we finish Inspired by Heraldry with the heraldic knight, an alternate class for the cavalier that invokes the power of their family’s crest.
  • Strange Weather Within Strange Weather…We bring you a dozen new Conditions and Hazards more magical and exciting than a mere thunderstorm! Acid rain, aurora hypnosis, ball lightning, blood storm, ectoplasmic storm, fire whirl, hailstorm, pollen storm, skyquake, blood moon, dread moon, radiant moon, and the solar eclipse!We also introduce the Storm Elemental with four variants: the blizzard storm elemental, dust storm elemental, hurricane elemental, and lightning storm elemental!And we finish Strange Weather with two weather related archetypes: the Stormcaller (Shaman) and the Child of the Sky (Barbarian)!
  • Dinosaur Companions We introduce 25 new dinosaurs (and pterosaurs and a crocodilian) to choose from to be your new best friend! Every dinosaur can be an animal companion/mount or familiar!15 of these prehistoric pals are animal companions/mounts: Argentinosaurus, Baryonyx, Concavenator, Corythosaurus, Deinocherius, Dilophosaurus, Dracorex, Excaliborsaurus, Maiasaura, Neptunidraco, Scipionyx, Stygimoloch, Tethyshadros, Tupandactylus, and Utahraptor!10 of them are familiars: Coelophysis, Jinfengopteryx, Leaellynasaura, Mei, Micropachycephalosaurus, Microraptor, Nyctosaurus, Parvicursor, Scansoriopteryx, and Sordes!
  • Household Magic

In 2017 they plan to drop to bimonthly (i.e. every two months, not the misbegotten twice per month) in order to accommodate the request that they make each issue longer. Topics planned include:

  • The Puppet Show
  • Gremlins
  • Libraries and Research
  • Imaginary Friends
  • Religious Communities
  • Dangerous Spores
  • 3 personal letters (topics chosen by high-rolling backers)

If you’re interested in an eclectic mix of topics that can help you flesh out your world, I recommend you check this Kickstarter out and consider backing.

Tenkar’s Disclosure: Alex is a friend of mine online, I backed his Archetype Compendium, Echelon Explorations: Polyhedral Pantheons was an add-on for $30+ pledges for the Letters from the Flaming Crab (2016) Kickstarter last year, and we’ve been talking about my writing about Small Gods for one of the Letters.

Letters from the Flaming Crab (2017)
Letters from the Flaming Crab (2017)

 

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