All the King's Men - Softcover

Tresca, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0971772924 ISBN 13: 9780971772922

Publisher: Monkeygod Enterprises, 2002

Synopsis

Alas, Poor Yorrick!

Filled with bizarre characters, twisted plots, and a macabre sense of humor, All the King's Men takes the PC's on a wild romp through the dark underbelly of Hamdon, a fantasy version of renaissance London. When the archbishop turns up dead at the production of the latest play, the acting troupe known as The King's Men is accused of murder. It's up to the PC's to track down the killer and prove the actors innocence. But not everything is as it seems in the world of acts and actors. All the King's Men is a d20 System adventure suitable for characters of 7th-9th level.

About this title

From the Author:

So what is All the King's Men? It's a mystery. It's about Shakespeare. It's a mystery for people who like Shakespeare.

Can you tell I was an English major?

This is a departure for me. I'm a big fan of Mervyn Peake, writer of the Gormenghast series. I wanted to do an adventure with strange, memorable characters whose very names identify them from the start. So to come up with those names, I looked through my deck of "Forgotten English Knowledge Cards"

And thus we have: Niblick Flibbertigibbet. Theobold Quikclaim. Mungo Putsch. And my personal favorite, Miss Flagella Whip.

Okay so that last one isn't from Forgotten English. Actually, Miss Whip (and really, you just have to love the alliteration of "miSSSSS whIIIIIIp") came to mind after listening to the Red Hot Chili Pepper's rendition of "Roller Coaster of Love".

It's tough to talk about the module because it's a mystery. So speaking too much about any of the characters spoils the plot. But here's a basic overview:

1) It's about plays, acting, and entertainment.

2) There are references to Shakespeare's plays throughout the text.

3) Bear-baiting and the theatre take center stage.

4) It involves lots of acting. In fact, the delicious irony of the game is it's about gamers acting out their characters who are investigating NPCs (acted by the DM) who are in turn actors, who are actually acting what is supposed to be their "reality."

This adventure is different. I hope it's fun as well!

About the Author:

Michael "Talien" Tresca is a writer, communicator, speaker, artist, and gamer. He has an 11-year-old D&D role-playing campaign, Welstar, which is one of the six worlds in RetroMUD and where many of his short stories take place. Michael has published three D20 modules: "Tsar Rising", "All the King's Men," and "The Dancing Hut" from MonkeyGod Enterprises. He has written numerous supplements, including "Frost and Fur" and "Abyss," also from MonkeyGod Enterprises, "Mercenaries: Born of Blood" from Otherworld Creations, and "Combat Missions" from Paradigm Concepts. Michael has also contributed to "Relics" from AEG and "The Iron Kingdoms World Guide" from Privateer Press.

Michael has also written magazine articles for D20 Weekly, Dragon Magazine, Imaginary Realities, The MUD Companion, Pyramid Magazine, RPGTimes, Scrollworks, and Spectre Press' Survival Kit series. He has reviewed a multitude of role-playing and computer games for Allgame.com, Gamers.com, RPG.net, and Talien and Maleficent's Bazaar. Michael has presented at various panels, including Bakuretsucon, Dragon*Con, and I-Con. When he's not writing, Michael can be found as his alter ego, Talien, on RetroMUD as an administrator.

Michael lives in Connecticut with his wife, who is an editor, and his cat, who is fluent in English.

About this edition

• Publisher: Monkeygod Enterprises
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0971772924
• ISBN 13: 9780971772922
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48