As you may or may not know, every year around this time a bunch of us indie game publishers do our best to celebrate the traditional gaming holiday of Epimas. This year the holiday has been hijacked by the Lords of Chaos, and they’ve made a right mess of it. The basic idea is the same: buy some gaming PDFs to be delivered to a friend or loved one on Epimas morn (December 24th) and get those same PDFs for yourself for free. This year you can buy two games for $5, four for $10, six for $15, or every single one of the 27 participating games for $35!
The only catch is that you do not choose the games, the Servants of Chaos choose them for you.
But there’s an older, darker tradition that remains ever untouched by the corruption of chaos. On the first day of winter each year, a solstice surprise is announced. This year’s solstice surprise is Worlds Without Master.
Every Epimas delivery this year will include the first two issues of Worlds Without Master.
That means if you have already purchased an Epimas gift for someone, or if you purchase one before December 24, 2013, both you and your recipient will receive, all with all your games on Epimas morn:
- Short sword & sorcery fiction such as “In Ssef Seat: the Cannibal Queen” by Vincent Baker, “Historia Imperio–Part 1″ by Keith Senkowski, and “Strange Bireme” and “One Winter’s Due” by Epidiah Ravachol.
- The adventure comic “Oh, the Beating Drum!” by Bryant Paul Johnson.
- Lavish illustrations by by Ed Heil, Storn Cook, Tazio Bettin, Rachel Kahn, Delfino Falciani, and Andrew DeFelice.
- Two complete roleplaying games: Enter the Avenger by Rafu and Wolfspell by Epidiah Ravachol.
- And more!
There are two ways to look at this:
- Free sword & sorcery ezines with your games!
- Or free games with your sword & sorcery ezines!
If there’s someone on your Epimas list who could use a little wonder and adventure in their life, or you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to sample the far-off pleasures found within Worlds Without Master yourself, here’s your chance! Even the lowly $5 bundle gets both you and your recipient both issues, two random games, and a stocking-stuffer, all delivered by Epiclaus to your inbox on the morning of December 24th!
Then, that evening, as you warm yourself by the hearth, you can entertain the guests in your mead hall by recounting many glorious tales of conquest, sorrow, and sorcery found within.
