It took weeks to find enough interested players with both time to commit and dedication to try a new system out, but we’re underway. With finished books in hand, this isn’t a playtest, it’s a stress test. My job is to use the resources at hand to both construct a story and maintain it while the players abuse the system. So far, it’s revealing both what would be nice for a more fun, less tedious character creation and for an introductory scenario.

Thus far, our “possible” heroes have been rounded up more or less without their say and deposited into a barren land. Just as everyone was getting chummy, a fair-skinned, fair-haired, frail female with feathery wings came running in from nowhere, her voice lost in her panic. Before any answers could be given, sandlike hands from the shadows of the beacon began to drag her from the sanctuary and back into the dead realm outside…