File this one under "Things to keep an eye out for" - at the end of last year,
The Renaissance Troll previewed an upcoming project from Osprey Publishing* called
Frostgrave: The Ghost Archipelago. Now, I'm not much of a wargamer, but the setting description (via
Amazon) sounds like it's right up my alley:
A vast island chain, covered in the ruins of ancient and otherworldly
civilizations, the Archipelago appears every few centuries, far out in
the southern ocean. At such times, pirates, adventurers, wizards, and
legendary heroes all descend upon the islands in the hopes of finding
lost treasures and powerful artefacts. A few, drawn by the blood of
their ancestors, search for the fabled Crystal Pool, whose waters grant
abilities far beyond those of normal men. It is only the bravest,
however, who venture into the islands, for they are filled with numerous
deadly threats. Cannibal tribes, sorcerous serpent-men, and poisonous
water-beasts all inhabit the island ruins, guarding their treasure
hordes and setting traps for the unwary.
If nothing else, it sounds like it could be a great addition to the vaguely-imagined World of Pirating setting I'd like to run someday. I'm not so sure about this whole pool-granted superpowers thing, but I suppose it parallels the setup from the
original Frostgrave game** (which this announcement has got me vastly more interested in) of the party being basically an adventuring wizard and his hired help. Time will tell if the Ghost Archipelago has the staying power of the Frozen City, but given the genres involved I think it's quite promising.
* Which, in the past few years, seems to have gone from "Research materials for historical wargamers" to "Research materials for historical, fantasy, and High Weirdness** wargamers" to "You know what? We're just going to cut out the middleman here and publish the wargames themselves".
**All Drive-Thru links go through their affiliate program, which means that if you use them I get paid, and it costs you nothing extra! Such a deal.
