Avatar’s Update #407: Player-Owned Town Light Limit Increase! Latest News Q&A Friday the 13th Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Governors, stewards, and Player-Owned Town (POT) residents in Shroud of the Avatar can now enjoy a much larger limit for POT light decorations. For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Player-Owned Town Light Limit Increase!

Governors! Stewards! Player-Owned Town (POT) residents! Take heed! POTs of Shroud of the Avatar will now be even MORE illuminated! Every POT has decoration limits based upon the town size, and every town size has just received an approximate 50% increase in decorative light limits.

Old POT Decorative Light Limits:

  • Holdfast: 30
  • Hamlet: 40
  • Village: 50
  • Crossroads Village: 60
  • Town: 80
  • City: 100
  • Metropolis: 130
  • Municipality: 160
  • Megalopolis: 200
  • Gigalopolis: 240
  • Teralopolis: 300

New POT Decorative Light Limits:

  • Holdfast: 45
  • Hamlet: 60
  • Village: 75
  • Crossroads Village: 90
  • Town: 120
  • City: 150
  • Metropolis: 200
  • Municipality: 240
  • Megalopolis: 300
  • Gigalopolis: 360
  • Teralopolis: 450

Keep on the lookout for more amazing Quality of Life improvements coming your way! For more information about Player-Owned Towns, please visit the POT store entries, the Players Guide, or the Player-Owned Town (POT) FAQ on the forums.

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

The weekly Community Livestream is this lucky Friday, November 13th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other members of the development team for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “Autumn Leaves and Pumpkins Please” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Jenn Gilbert Memorial Fund

Through years of gameplay and attendance of live Shroud of the Avatar events, community members might have had the opportunity to meet developer Justin “oneandonly” Gilbert. Justin has been a most valued team member for many years, but is now experiencing an immense loss in his life and could really use our support. Tragically, Justin’s wife, Jenn Gilbert, has passed away. Please, for those that have met Jenn or Justin or simply have love in their hearts for the team, please reach out and offer your condolences. On Justin’s behalf, Chris Spears has launched a GoFundMe page to help the family in their great time of need:

“No amount of money could ever replace the love, laughs, and comfort that Jenn Gilbert brought to her family. But we are hoping to help raise enough to help make life for her husband, Justin Gilbert, and her three children a little more bearable while they work out how to move forward without her in their lives. Jenn and Justin had been together over 20 years, having started dating in high school. Justin and Jenn’s mom, Judy, will now be trying to fill the hole her sudden passing has left in the lives of their three children, JJ, Jax, and  Jayla…” (more at GoFundMe.com)

Even if times are hard and a donation to the memorial fund is not possible, please visit the Jenn Gilbert Memorial Fund page to learn more about Justin’s beautiful wife, Jenn. May she always be remembered, and may the memories of her always be cherished. Any contributions to the Gilbert family, no matter how small, are so greatly appreciated.

New Store Additions: Conversationalists & Seasonal Items!

Additional Inky NPCs have been added to the store with MANY more soon on the way! Players can now enjoy customizing the dialogue for a variety of Lich, Bandit, Underdweller, Ebon Dawn, and Skeleton Conversationalists!

    • Conversationalist, Lich Fighter
    • Conversationalist, Lich Archer
    • Conversationalist, Lich Mage
    • Conversationalist, Human Underdweller Male 1
    • Conversationalist, Elf Underdweller Male 1
    • Conversationalist, Bandit Male 1
    • Conversationalist, Ebon Dawn Mage
    • Conversationalist, Ebon Dawn Fighter
    • Conversationalist, Ebon Dawn Archer
    • Conversationalist, Skeleton Mage
    • Conversationalist, Skeleton Fighter
    • Conversationalist, Skeleton Archer

The fall, Thanksgiving, and winter store seasons are upon us, Avatars! The following items will be available either in the Vault or as recurring seasonal items:

  • 2016 Winter Holiday Soundtrack
  • Autumn Fairy Crown
  • Autumn Fairy Outfit
  • Autumn Fairy Wings
  • Autumn Leaf Mask
  • Autumn Leaf Shield
  • Autumn Leaf Trident
  • Banded Turkey Decoration Pet
  • Breathe Blue Fire Emote
  • Breathe Emote 6-Pack
  • Breathe Snow Emote
  • Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
  • Brown Pilgrim Hat
  • Ceiling Yule Tree
  • Dark Yule Outfit
  • Fall Wreath 2017
  • Fall Wreath 2019
  • Fountain of Frozen Waters
  • Frozen Bagpipes
  • Giant Haunted Yule Tree
  • Giant Scarecrow
  • Giant Yule Tree 2015
  • Giant Yule Tree 2016
  • Giant Yule Tree 2017
  • Giant Yule Tree 2018
  • Haunted Snow Family
  • Haunted Snowman Mask
  • Haunted Yule Tree
  • Holly Wreath with Candles Hat
  • Holly Wreath with Sparklers Hat
  • Ice Elemental Statue
  • Ice Hot Tub
  • Ice Nightmare Mask
  • Ice Wings
  • Icy Ancient Stone Cathedral
  • Icy Ancient Stone Room Fishing Grotto
  • Large Haunted Yule Tree
  • Large Yule Tree 2016
  • Large Yule Tree 2017
  • Large Yule Tree 2018
  • Menorah 2014
  • Menorah 2015
  • Menorah 2016
  • Menorah 2017
  • Menorah 2018
  • Ornate Cornucopia 2014
  • Ornate Cornucopia 2015
  • Ornate Cornucopia 2016
  • Ornate Cornucopia 2017
  • Ornate Mantle Garland 2017 12-Pack
  • Ornate Mantle Garland 2018 12-Pack
  • Ornate Replenishing Snowball Box 2014
  • Ornate Replenishing Snowball Box 2015
  • Ornate Replenishing Snowball Box 2016
  • Ornate Scarecrow 2016
  • Ornate Sled
  • Ornate Sleigh
  • Ornate Snow Family 2015
  • Ornate Snow Family 2016
  • Ornate Snow Family 2017
  • Ornate Snow Family 2018
  • Ornate Wall Garland 2017 12-Pack
  • Ornate Wall Garland 2018 12-Pack
  • Ornate Yule Music Box
  • Ornate Yule Wreath 2015
  • Ornate Yule Wreath 2016 3-Pack
  • Ornate Yule Wreath 2017 3-Pack
  • Ornate Yule Wreath 2018 3-Pack
  • Reindeer Decoration Pet
  • Scarecrow Mask
  • Small Ornate Wall Garland 2017 12-Pack
  • Small Ornate Wall Garland 2018 12-Pack
  • Snow Emote
  • Snowdragon
  • Snowflake Pattern Cloak
  • Snowman Mask 2015
  • Snowman Mask with Hat & Moustache 2018
  • Snowman Mask with Stovepipe Hat 2016
  • Snowman Mask with Stovepipe Hat 2017
  • Speckled Turkey Decoration Pet
  • Tabletop Elf Statue with Yule Hat
  • Tabletop Haunted Yule Tree
  • Tabletop Yule Tree 2014
  • Tabletop Yule Tree 2015
  • Tabletop Yule Tree 2016
  • Tabletop Yule Tree 2017
  • Tabletop Yule Tree 2018
  • Traditional Yule Hat
  • Turkey Decoration Pet
  • Virtue Ice Crown
  • Virtue Ice Gown Outfit
  • Virtue Ice Shield
  • Virtue Ice Sword
  • Virtue Ice Wand
  • Virtue Icicle Cloak
  • White Raven Decoration Pet
  • White Reindeer Decoration Pet
  • White Rottweiler Decoration Pet
  • White Squirrel Decoration Pet
  • White Turkey Decoration Pet
  • Winter Lynx Decoration Pet
  • Winter Pattern Glass Chandelier 3-Pack
  • Winter Pattern Glass Floor Lamp 3-Pack
  • Yule Card 2017 5-Pack
  • Yule Card 2018 5-Pack
  • Yule Gift Box 2016 3-Pack
  • Yule Gift Box 2017 3-Pack
  • Yule Gift Box 2018 3-Pack
  • Yule Hat
  • Yule Stockings 2016 3-Pack
  • Yule Stockings 2017 3-Pack
  • Yule Stockings 2018 3-Pack
  • Yule Tree 2014
  • Yule Tree 2015
  • Yule Tree 2016
  • Yule Tree 2017
  • Yule Tree 2018
  • Yule Velvet Bodice Ensemble

New Vault Round! It’s time to start thinking about the holidays, Avatars! Don’t miss out on this one-week opportunity to get your hands on these must have holiday items before the door on the Vault closes next week. The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, November 19th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for one week, and then the next, etc.

  • Icy Ancient Stone Room Fishing Grotto
  • Speckled Turkey Decoration Pet
  • White Squirrel Decoration Pet
  • Dark Yule Outfit
  • Yule Hat
  • Virtue Ice Crown
  • Virtue Ice Gown Outfit
  • Ice Hot Tub
  • Snowdragon

November Login Reward: Autumn Leaf Pavers!

Just when you thought you got all your raking done, more leaves have fallen from the trees! Simply log in during the month of November, and these amazing Autumn Leaf Pavers will become available in the Rewards Window.

Release 83 Rewards Program Login Items: Spooky, Autumn, & Lord British Themed!

Avatars! Rewards Program login items for Release 83 are Lord British, autumn, and spooky themed! Reward Program members must login during Release 83 to receive these login items:

  • Conversationalist, Pumpkinhead Minion
  • Lord British 2-Handed Sword
  • Autumn Leaf Piles

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Monthly Login Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
  • Exclusive Title every 3 months
    • 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
    • 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
    • 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
    • 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
    • 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
    • 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
  • Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
  • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
    • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
    • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
    • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
    • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
    • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
    • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams

Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!!




Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues:

Are You a Livestreamer?

Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar!

Bug Brigade & Testing Directives!

The Bug Brigade was established to improve how the community and the development team work together to improve the game. Since the Brigade’s inception, the program has gone through a number of changes and was eventually placed on hold. The stability of the game is as important to the development team as it is to the players, therefore the program was revamped and was recently relaunched.

The Brigade has been up and running for two months now, and the volunteers are getting into a good rhythm for verifying and submitting bugs to the developers. If you have reported a bug that has not yet been addressed, please be patient while the backlog is being worked. The Brigade is working diligently to cleanup the backlog of bug reports posted by players on the forums.

As was recently announced on a Twitter post by Chris “Atos” Spears, the upcoming development time for Release 84 will be primarily spent working many of the verified bugs which have been submitted to the team by the Bug Brigade. This focused effort on bug fixes would not be possible without the recent efforts of the Bug Brigade. Please take the time to thank these bug hunting aficionados when you encounter them in your travels!

In turn, the development team would like to express a big thank you to the Bug Hunters! These community members are doing a fantastic job bringing so many bug reports to the team, and they’re doing it in a way which makes the process smooth and efficient. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Already, much improvement has been noticed by the development team, and we’re so very excited to see the program successfully back in action!

The development team would also like to thank all of those who took time out to participate in the QA Testing Directive for the upcoming Mount System. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, many issues and bugs were identified and fixed prior to the system going to the Live Server! Keep up the great work! For those that wish to participate in future bug hunting endeavors, please check the forums regularly for upcoming QA Testing Directives.

Also, the Bug Brigade would like to welcome its newest Bug Moderator, Echondas! Please congratulate him the next time you see him in-game or on the forums. This new member expands the Bug Moderator team to: Alley Oop, Echondas, and Justyn. Thank you Moderators! Your efforts are highly valued by the development team!

Don’t forget, the Bug Brigade is open to all players in good standing, and the bug rewards are back! And they are SWEET! They will be awarded on a monthly progression basis with only minimal requirements to qualify. The available rewards to receive in progression via qualifying participation are as follows:

  1. Antennae Head Gear and Forum Title 1: “Bug Hunter”
  2. Single Ant Cloak
  3. Lady Bug Backpack
  4. Bug Painting A and In-Game Title 2: “Associate of Aphids”
  5. Ant Farm
  6. Insect Leg Table
  7. Many Ants Cloak and In-Game Title 3: “Bachelor of Beetles”
  8. Bug Painting B
  9. Bug Sprayer
  10. Bug Painting C and In-Game Title 4: “Master of Moths”
  11. Butterfly Chair
  12. Corpion Chair (Pictured Below)
  13. Yellow Fireflies VFX and In-Game Title 5: “Doctor of Dragonflies”
  14. Hacked Oracle Flyer
  15. Giant Blue Butterfly Pet
  16. Butterfly Mask
  17. Dragonfly pet
  18. Fairy Wings
  19. Monarch Butterfly Pet
  20. Dragonfly Wings
  21. Hacked Oracle Crawler
  22. Blue Butterfly VFX
  23. Orange Fireflies VFX
  24. Orange Butterfly VFX

The following bugs and quality of life improvements are being released to QA in the coming weeks, please keep checking QA, testing and giving feedback on these items:

  • One hit to Zero Durability Root Issue
  • Durability on Crafted Items
  • Potion of Shadow Form Useable on Combat Bar
  • Desolis: Corsten now correctly asks for a taming necklace for a Blanket Horse in exchange for a rideable Blanket Horse
  • Player Owned Town light counts increased by 50%
  • Shard of Night Pattern
  • Daemon Trident Pattern
  • Halberd of the Sun Pattern
  • Xen Penetrator Pattern
  • Ancient Essence Yield: Uncommon and Common yield 1. Rare yields 2. Legendary yields 4. Epic yields 8.
  • Find Out Why Owl’s Nest Has No Ale quest updates
  • Arabella Cloak deco types revised
  • Meticulous Collection while Harvesting to yield XP Rewards in Loot
  • Quiver of Jealousy masterwork and enchant updates
  • Player Instruction Updates
  • And much much more!

If you’ve come to think of Shroud of the Avatar as your home, signup and help make New Britannia a better place to live! To learn more about joining the Bug Brigade, please read the announcement thread by Ravolox in the main Bug/Feedback forums.

Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles

As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold!

Complete List of Rewards:

  • Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land!
  • Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle
  • Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above)
  • NEW – Lord of the Isle Fishing Expedition (This scene version will work like a large instanced property such as a basement and will feature decoration surfaces to further beautify the scene.)
  • Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Teralopolis size just became available!)
  • Choice of 1 House currently available in the store
  • Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice
  • Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot)
  • Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (To be revealed later)
  • 140,000 Crowns
  • 1000 Bank Slots
  • Pick 12 Prosperity Tools
  • Lord of the Isle Crown (In-Game Wearable Item)
  • Unique In-Game Teachable Emote (/radiate)
  • Early Access to Episode 2
  • Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team
  • 1 hour one-on-one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference)
  • One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8
  • In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version)
  • Tour of Lord British’s property
  • Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, and Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC.

NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD.

NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Catnip Games for Tour & Dinner.

Upcoming Events Calendar

Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums:

2020/2021 Release Schedule:

  • Release 84 – Nov 19
  • Release 85 – Dec 17
  • Release 86 – Jan 28
  • Release 87 – Feb 25
  • Release 88 – Mar 25
  • Release 89 – Apr 29
  • Release 90 – May 27
  • Release 91 – Jun 24

Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney

Greetings Anglers! The weekly Catnip Games Fishing Tourney is live! These contests run for 1 week intervals, Friday Noon to Friday Noon CT.  We’ll announce the winners every Friday during the livestream.

Town Registration: Each week, the contest takes place in 3 Player Owned Towns, 1 Random PvP location and 1 Random Lava or NPC Town Location. Please register your Player Owned Town of choice in a reply to this thread, 1 entry per player, and these entries will be added into the town registry. The contest will cycle through the towns in the sequence they entered the town registry, then loop back again to the beginning. The town registry will be reset/wiped for new entries periodically to ensure only active/interested towns are within the registry.

Fishing Prizes & Objectives: All prizes will be no-trade. Players may donate additional prizes in the name of their guilds or towns to sweeten the pot. This event timeframe is Friday the 13th at Noon CT to Friday the 20th at Noon CT, and these are the prizes and goals for the indicated week:

  • Largest FETID WATER Fish (Town):
    • Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns. Governs can request loaner water conversion statues.
    • Prizes: Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy
  • Largest Fish (PvP):
    • Rules: Must be caught in Paladis Shardfall
    • Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy
  • Largest Lava Fish:
    • Rules: Must be caught in Oracle Colossus
    • Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy
  • Participation Prizes:
    • Rules: Everyone who caught at least 1 trophy fish in this week’s locations
    • Prizes: Small Silver Fishing Trophy

Cross-Over Events: Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for participants and winners of the Fishing event, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the PvP and Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Please submit links to event threads which take place in the spotlighted towns, PvP zone or PvE zone.

  • Current Crossovers:
    • Lained: The Player Owned Town Lained is calling all anglers, large and small to participate in the week 28 Fetid Fishing Tournament. They will be holding a daily crossover from Friday noon CT to Friday noon CT with daily prizes, as well as a weeklong tournament in conjunction with the Catnip Event. Fish must be placed in the heraldry chest found on the town water lot next to the main docks. For more information, please see the main forum post for this topic on the official forums.

How to Participate: To participate, players need merely catch trophy fish in the 5 locations indicated above. The locations will change every week at Noon CT on Friday, so be sure to pay attention to the announcements for new locations each week! Please do not send your fish to Elgarion via the in-game mail system. Through data logging, he’ll be able to determine the winners. SO please hold on to your fish, and feel free to use them in any fashion after the catch.

Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars!

Community Event: Jackal Hunt

Avatars! Recently, the members of LAMP spotted the elusive Jackal in Dysborg Ruins during this past week. Players engaged in combat in an attempt to bring this Jackal to justice! LAMP believes this villain might travel to other lands every week, so be on the lookout! Rumors indicate the location will vary each week with the PvP location for the Catnip Games Fishing Tourney, so be vigilant!

Here’s how you participate… Bring Sorgin Txakal the skull of the Jackal and he’ll pay you a handsome sum. No questions asked. For more information about this event, please see the main forum post on the official forums.

Community Event: Island of Wonders Monthly Fishing Contest

Each month, the anglers of New Britannia can enjoy a fantastic fishing competition in the Islands of Wonders! So many fantastic prizes await thee, Avatar! Crowns of the Obsidian! A troll horde containing valuable loot! Don’t miss out!

  • When: The Month of November!
  • Where: Islands of Wonders

Please message Rook Strife on the forums or in-game if you have any questions / feedback. For more information about this event, please see the main forum post on the official forums.

Community Event: SotA Tales Episode 1

A player-made interactive quest has been created by Tristano Sforza, and is available to players of Shroud of the Avatar! Explore New Britannia, solve puzzles, gather resources, catch special fish, craft and use new powerful artifacts, kill mobs and more… but most importantly save new Britannia!

This quest is enhanced by a LUA application, and is intended for medium to high level players. Please be sure to provide Tristano Sforza feedback about this interactive quest, and encourage him to make more! For more information about this event, please see the main forum post on the official forums.

Community Event: Crafters Town Shopping Spree

Greetings Avatars! Starting this month, a new Shopping Spree contest will be running in Crafters Town! Lots of prizes are available, including Crowns of the Obsidian!

  • Where: Crafters Town
  • When: November 1st to November 30th

For more information about contest guidelines and prizes, please see the main forum thread on this topic in the official forums. Happy sales hunting, shoppers!

Community Event: Beran’s Reach Auction

Ladies and gentlemen! The Citizens of Beran’s Reach welcome you the weekly auctions! The auctions are about bringing together people from all corners of the community, with the Beran’s Reach market being the perfect place to do so!

  • When: Sundays, 2PM CT
  • Where: Beran’s Reach

For more information about the auction house event, see the main thread on this topic on the official forums. Happy bidding, Avatars!

Project to Support: Shard RPG

Shard Studios invites you to enter the fantastic world Dárdünah, the vast shard of a shattered realm, as presented in the colorful pages of the SHARD RPG! Many years in the making, this system allows players to choose from a wide variety of animal people who are the main cast of the many adventures this otherworldly setting offers. Skyships glide through shimmering clouds past majestic crystal peaks. Giant insects prowl alien jungles or lurk in the sparkling emerald seas. Warriors with blades of diamond and amber duel across crimson sands. And mystics chant in shadowy chambers as their spirits wander abroad.

  • Intro Sheet: For a quick glimpse into the world of Dárdünah, be sure to download the intro pdf! It’s packed with great information and features beautiful artwork, not unlike the artwork found throughout the many pages of this gaming system’s gorgeously designed manuals.
  • Core System Manuals: It’s easier than ever to delve into Dárdünah, World of the False Dawn, with the Core Books Bundle! If you’ve never had the opportunity to experience this unique gaming system and setting, now’s your chance! This bundle includes two beautifully illustrated, full-color, hardcover books: the original Basic Compendium and the Magic and Martial Arts book! They contain everything you need to begin your adventures, and include instructions for the ritual magic and martial arts combat systems. These manuals also include 90 new Animal Templates upon which to base your character!
  • Other Shard RPG Products: So many more manuals and gaming materials are available! Everything an avid tabletop role-player and game master needs to delve into the world of Dárdünah!

So if you’re ready to experience a gaming world like no other, check out what Shard Studios has created for tabletop role-players on the Shard RPG official website! You’ll most certainly be immersed and amazed by the offerings of the Shard RPG!

Project to Support: Shadow of Valhalla

Shadow of Valhalla is a visceral physics-based VR combat game with dynamic RPG elements, set within an ancient realm of Viking lore and mystic powers! Early Access beta includes “endless horde mode” featuring a variety of enemies with progressive difficulty. Also, players can discover many magic spells to unlock! So much more is coming!

Finn Staber with Chicken Waffle, will join the Shroud of the Avatar team on Twitch during their Friday the 28th livestream to showoff this new Early Access game! Also, here is a teaser video on YouTube:


The development team is working hard to create additional environments and new quests! Shadow of Valhalla is available on Steam as Early Access. Additional features coming to the game:

  • More Enemies!
  • More Environments!
  • More Magic Spells!
  • RPG Quests!
  • Weapon Forging and Crafting!
  • Much, much more!

If you would like to learn more about Shadow of Valhalla, be sure to stop by the main webpage for the game as more news becomes available!

Project to Support: Jar Wars


While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam!

Project to Support: Dragon Fight

Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey:

  • Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you
  • Using a sword and a shield
  • Fire!
  • Nowhere to run!

This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam!

Project to Support: Crowfall

Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion!

Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power!

Project to Support: Avatar Express

[Forum post by Vladamir Begemot]

I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site.

If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening.

You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like.

Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game.

It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts!

So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us!

Resources: Players Helping Players

SotA_NewPlayerWelcome_Forum

The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.

Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.