Reading · Arbiter of Worlds

This page did not load. You can still read it on the original site — the toolbar below keeps your place in the directory.

Friends, Aurans, Countrymen -

I’m delighted to announce that the ACKS II Treasure Tome is now available in PDF format on DriveThruRPG. As a newsletter subscriber, you can use this coupon code to purchase the PDF at a 10% discount.

The ACKS II Treasure Tome is the fourth volume in the Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint. Designed as a sourcebook for judges, it contains:

A comprehensive compendium of over 1,300 new magic items, meticulously designed and lavishly detailed;
A customizable treasure placement system that lets you fine-tune the flow of treasure from gritty to heroic levels;
A robust item creation system capable of crafting anything and everything, from simple scrolls to awe-inspiring artifacts;
A dynamic weapon development mechanic enabling adventurers to transform personal weapons into legendary arms;
A procedural generator to catalyze your creativity with infinite items on demand;
A potion miscibility system, a curse and corruption mechanic, and more!

Never before has there been a sourcebook that combines the extravagance and imagination of the earliest old-school fantasy with the coherence, detail, and structure found in ACKS II! Here’s a few sample items and illustrations from the Treasure Tome, ready for use in your campaigns. After you’ve perused them, head over to DTRPG to get your PDF.

Predator’s Mantle: This regal black cloak is trimmed with white tiger fur across its shoulders. Once per 3 turns, by making a guttural roar, the wearer can evoke a predatory aura around himself that unnerves normal beasts. Each animal that begins its initiative or moves within 90’ of the wearer must make an Implements saving throw. If the save fails, the animal falters that round, suffering a -2 penalty to attack throws, proficiency throws, and saving throws against the wearer. T he aura lasts for 3 turns or until dispelled.

Saddle of the Bearmaster: While dwarves have little love for horses, bears are a different matter, with dwarven affinity for the creatures dating back millennia. This hard war-saddle is sized and shaped for use on a bear. A short poem in Dwarvish praising the valor of bears is embossed forward of the seat; reading it aloud in a boastful tone while touching the saddle will call a brown bear (see ACKS II Monstrous Manual p. 44) to serve the user. If called in a hex of its native terrain (e.g. forest, hills, or mountains), the bear will arrive in 1d6 turns, otherwise taking an additional 2 hours of travel per 6 mile hex to arrive from the nearest suitable terrain. Upon arrival, the bear will allow the saddle to be attached, understanding the reciter’s speech and serving him faithfully as though it were a trained war mount. The bear departs if dismissed or left unsaddled for 1 day. If the bear departs, is slain, or is dispelled, the saddle can call a new bear after 1 day passes. Most such saddles are sweat-stained from their hairy mounts, but a seat which has ever had its enchantment dispelled while being ridden is likely also heavily stained in blood (and usually has other substantial damage).

Talking Head: This small shrunken head hangs from a leather loop. When the head is worn around the neck like a macabre necklace, the wearer hears the tiny voice of the head rambling at a low volume, though the head’s stitched-together lips do not move. The head has a lot to say: it will complain about the weather, disparage the looks of passersbye, mock local fashions and customs, catcall attractive strangers, and (if all else fails) deride the wearer for walking too fast or walking too slow, for sitting in the shade or standing in the sun. Though the dead head is as irritatingly obnoxious as any living curmudgeon, the wearer can occasionally pick up useful information from its jabber. In a single day of wandering an urban settlement the head has visited before (either with the wearer, with a prior wearer, or in its life), the wearer can learn 1d4 interesting rumors from the head’s remarks on the events and circumstances of the settlement. Like the venturer’s rumormongering power, the head’s power can be used but once per month per settlement – the head is easily bored, and if taken on a tour of the same urban settlement in the same month, it will simply complain continuously without offering any fresh insights.

Attempts to converse with the head are largely futile, as it simply spits out its stream of (un)consciousness without concern for what the wearer is saying. Targeting the head with speak with dead has no effect other than to make the head stubbornly fall silent for the duration of the spell. Bringing the head within earshot of a creature plagued by whispers from beyond the grave (due to a dark whisper spell or a side effect of Tampering with Mortality) causes the creature to hear the head’s ramblings instead of the grave whispers. The cursed creature will unfortunately still suffer the -2 penalty to Listening throws and surprise rolls, as the head (delighted to “have someone who listens”) will be even more talkative than before. The unfortunate victim often f inds he prefers the whispers of the grave.

The Living Ascendant Campaign is… Alive!

The Living Ascendant campaign is our new multi-GM living campaign set in the official Ascendant universe. It’s based on the Ascendant: Platinum Edition RPG rules and it’s open to every free member of the Autarch Discord and Patreon. The campaign began on November 5; since then we’ve had 4 gamemasters and 21 players register, and seen an average of two sessions every week run by our GM team. You can read about the Living Ascendant Campaign here. We’re actively recruiting both players and gamemasters; join the Discord as the first step.

Next Month: The 20th Anniversary of the Auran Empire

The Auran Empire is best known as the default setting of ACKS and ACKS II, but it’s more than that - it’s my own personal campaign setting, one that I’ve used to run BX, D&D 3.5E, and even RuneQuest, in campaigns that long predate ACKS.

As it happens, next month will actually mark the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Auran Empire, with my earliest files dating to January 6, 2006. To celebrate this milestone, I’ll be announcing a major new project. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but it involves the illustrious author John C. Wright. Stay tuned for details next month!

All Other Things Autarch!

Our latest crowdfunding campaign, Before All Others: The Cyclopedia of Elven Civilization, reached 1300% funding on October 15th. However, the project remains open for late backing and we if we can reach $150,000 in pledges by March 2026 it will unlock the Bitter War campaign. If this is your first time hearing about Before All Others, check out the special 16-page full-color sneak preview of the book. By This Axe has proven to be one of my most enduringly popular books, and I think Before All Others will prove equally well-loved, so don’t miss out!

Meanwhile, Autarch has begun manufacture of the print rewards for Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II graphic novel and the ACKS II Treasure Tome sourcebook. Both books should be dispatched to backers in Q1 2026.

Support the Community

Here’s the links to everything you need to get involved in the Autarch Community:

Thanks for reading Arbiter of Worlds! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

ACKS II Treasure Tome Now Available

The Living Ascendant Campaign is… Alive!

Next Month: The 20th Anniversary of the Auran Empire

All Other Things Autarch!

Support the Community

Comments