Reading · Arbiter of Worlds

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Friends, Aurans, Countrymen -

I haven’t been as active on this newsletter this year as I would have liked, so it is possible that you might not yet even be aware of the existence of the upcoming Annals of the Auran Empire anthology.

Annals is not just an anthology that brings together an extraordinary roster of fantasy authors to explore the Auran Empire’s dangers, dungeons, and doomed champions. Annals is an anthology inspired by and based on the recently-completed ACKSII Treasure Tome. Each and every short story in the anthology is centered on a different item from the Treasure Tome, allowing you to glimpse how magic items appear and influence the game’s world.

The longest story in the anthology is “Shadowblade,” by Nebula Award finalist John C. Wright, featuring a Sword of the Manes. “Shadowblade” unfolds in the kingdom of Rorn during the dark days following the death of Arëtar Pendaelen. If you follow the project on BackerKit, you will unlock an exclusive preview of Chapter 1 of Wright’s story, so be sure to click the link and follow the BackerKit page to get your sneak preview.

The other amazing stories in the anthology are:

“By Axe and Blade” by Zane Voss, featuring the battle axe Brine Cutter, tells the story of a Jutlandic exile who reluctantly joins forces with a swaggering ex-legionnaire to rescue slaves from an orc camp in the Borderlands, forging the beginnings of an adventuring party.
“Debts on the Long Road” by Ruth Clara, featuring the Hidden Tent, tells the story of a fugitive Shebatean prince who uses the magically invisible pavilion to evade the elite trackers pursuing them across the mountains toward the Auran Empire.
“Expendable” by Sam Robb, featuring a Death Shroud, tells the story of a scholar named Ptolemaios who guides a band of brutal mercenaries to an undead city on behalf of a cruel and mysterious dark captain.
“Family Honor” by A. Kristina Casasent, featuring a Ring Against the Wolf, tells the story of a Tirenean nobleman struggling with the challenge of producing an heir with his new wife.
“Shieldbearer” by B.K. Gibson, featuring the Shield of the Iron Curtain, tells the story of a lowly torchbearer who finds a strange shield during a goblin assault and discovers a heretofore undiscovered gift for combat.
“Siege on the Borderlands” by Nathaniel McIntyre, featuring a Sword +1, Lone Hero, tells the story of an Auran legate who must defend an undermanned border fort against an orc horde and a sinister sorcerer.
The Seat of Contemplation” by Brian Renninger, featuring a Hand of Calamity, tells the story of a grief-stricken Somirean mystic who has spent decades mourning his dead wife when he discovers a way to have all his wishes be granted.
“Falling from Oblivion” by Jonathan Oldenburg, featuring a Helm of Alignment, tells the story of a Zaharan Ruinguard who is captured and converted from darkness to the Empyrean cause.

Many of you will know Jonathan Oldenburg as Andravus of the Grey Brotherhood YT series (and hence one of my West Point classmates.) He is also the author of Tears From Iron, an epic fantasy novel published by Autarch. Tears From Iron is on sale now on Amazon, and the sequel will be released by Autarch in 2027.

Meanwhile, if you are active in the speculative fiction writing community, you might recognize that Casasent, Gibson, McIntyre, Robb, Thompson, and Voss are all members of an elite writing circle known as the Alpha Mercs. The Alpha Mercs have been instrumental in assembling Annals of the Auran Empire, with Mr. Zane Voss serving as a managing editor / writer-wrangler for the affair. I am extremely grateful for the Alpha Merc’s support and contribution. If you are an RPG designer looking to work with talented writers to help expand your IP, I highly recommend them.

Annals of the Auran Empire will crowdfund on BackerKit on June 8th. Again, be sure to click the link and follow the BackerKit page to get your sneak preview!

The Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Vol. II and ACKS II Treasure Tome Are Late But En Route

I had hoped that this week’s newsletter would also be an announcement of the arrival of Star-Spangled Squadron Vol. II and ACKS II Treasure Tome at our warehouses.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. For reasons outside my control, the logistics company was not able to get the books loaded onto the transport ship before the start of the Lunar New Year Celebration in China. Instead, the books languished in the warehouse during the multi-week festival. I made a number of attempts to work around this, but China simply shuts down during the holiday; there was no one to even communicate with, let alone to arrange alternate freight.

Now that Lunar New Year is past, the books have been loaded but the net result is that they will not arrive until the end of this month or early next month, and thus shipping to you will not take place until mid to late April. My sincere apologies for the delay.

The ACKS II Second Printing Books Are Also En Route

The same freighter that is carrying Star-Spangled Squadron Vol. II and ACKS II Treasure Tome is also carrying the second printing of the ACKS Imperial Imprint. Our US, UK, and Canadian warehouses will therefore be getting a “resupply” of ACKS II books in mid-April. This will supplement the ACKS II inventory that was dispatched from our UK warehouse last month.

I know that many of you are waiting to order the second printing books, either because you missed the original ACKS II Kickstarter or because you are hardcore collectors who want an updated version of the books with errata fixed. Here is how the timing of that will play out:

Treasure Tome backers who ordered ACKS II books and haven’t yet received their books (because they didn’t select Expedited Delivery last year) will get first priority on delivery, likely end of April 2026
Before All Others backers who choose Expedited Delivery in BackerKit will then be sent ACKS II second printing books, likely end of May 2026
Before All Others backers who choose Standard Delivery in BackerKit will have their books set aside for delivery alongside Before All Others in Q1 2027
The remaining inventory will be made available for sale on the Autarch Emporium, Compose Dream Games, and Studio II Publishing websites, going on sale in June 2026

I will, of course, make further announcements at each stage of this process. If you’re waiting for your books, that’s the timeline!

A Conversation on “4D Gaming”

Better With Bacon recently invited me to join him and ‪Tablerunner Crispy‬ for a discussion of “4D Gaming.” 4D Gaming is an emerging method of playing tabletop games that seeks to maximize immersion in the diegetic world of the game.

On first impression, the simulationist crunch of ACKS II would seem to be an odd choice for an immersive RP methodology, but first impressions are often wrong. It turns out that the fanbase for 4D Gaming has a surprising overlap with the fanbase for ACKS II, because both communities prioritize diegetic plausibility as a means of creating player agency.

In the video we streamed below, the three of us delved deep into issues of game theory for over an hour, along the way finding both fundamental agreement and points of friction. It was the first time I have streamed in many months, and I was grateful for both the opportunity to participate and the good health to do so.

Substack Stacking Up

We’re beginning to develop quite a community of ACKS-related blogs here on Substack. Here’s some of the latest offerings from ACKS and ACKS-adjacent substackers.