Happy New Year

A look behind, a look ahead

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest issue of Lazy Wolves, the newsletter for Lazy Wolf Studios and the Thrones & Bones games for Tales of the Valiant and Dungeons & Dragons.

2024 was a busy year for the wolves. We put out the Player’s Guide to Norrøngard, an overhaul of the original 5e retooled and expanded for use with Tales of the Valiant.

We released Keeper of the Drowned, a follow up to 2023’s Banner of the Bull, both of which were included in Kobold Press’ two Tales of the Valiant Kickstarters as part of their third-party Adventure Packs. Keeper was written by Brian Suskind, who has gone on to be a full-time employee at Kobold Press (congratulations Brian), so we’re excited to have worked with him one last time before he was taken off the table!

This was followed up by Troll of the Town, written by Kelly Pawlik, as the third Thrones & Bones adventure to be released for Tales of the Valiant. Troll was given away free as part of a promotion to folks who signed up for this newsletter, so maybe that’s how you got here!

Then a not-yet-released adventure was penned to be included in Kobold Press’ forthcoming Labyrinth Adventure Book. This is a fun and unique tale, as it “crosses the streams”, beginning in Thrones & Bones’ city of Aarvik in the land of Norrøngard and jumping into Kobold’s new Labyrinth multiverse setting. That will be out from Kobold Press in 2025.

Then we put out the PDF-only Tomb of the Frost Giant, a short adventure for 5th level characters that introduces some new monsters.

Finally, we ended with The Aptrgangr’s Challenge, a ToV-conversion of the original starter adventure from the 5e Norrøngard Campaign Setting. This PDF-only offering is currently being given away free to folks who sign up for this newsletter, so maybe that’s how you got here! (It’s also free here if you are already signed up and want it.)

And throughout the year, we really upped our VTT game with a host of products added to Shard Tabletop.

All things considered, it’s not been a bad year wolf-wise. And, of course, a lot of work has been done that you don’t see yet, on projects coming out in 2025 and beyond.

I can spill some beans on that now.

Early next year, we are going to launch our next Kickstarter, a two-book project that will feature Fury of the Forsaken and The Bense Trilogy. Fury of the Forsaken is an adventure for 4th level characters. Written by Richard Pett with Yours Truly (Lou Anders), it is an intense, moody, atmospheric tale with a dark mystery at its heart and a dramatic battle at its finish. The Bense Trilogy, meanwhile, is a new hardcover compilation of the three adventures previously released in softcover—Banner of the Bull, Keeper of the Drowned, and Troll of the Town. Together with expanded setting material, these three adventures are designed to take a character from 1st to 4th level, preparing them for and leading into Fury of the Forsaken. The two books together make for an exciting Tier One adventure path.

But the Kickstarter may unlock two more hardcovers. I’m keeping one a secret for now, but the other is Battlecraft, a system for handling mass combat, expanded vehicles rules, and fortresses in Tales of the Valiant (and D&D compatible). A simplified version of the mass combat system is used in the climax of Fury of the Forsaken, but unlocking the full, stand-alone rulebook is a major stretch goal of the Kickstarter.

Then, the next project, for late in 2025, is another two-book Kickstarter, the Bestiary of Katernia and Chronicles of Katernia. Katernia is the continent of which Norrøngard is a small portion, but it’s home to quite a number of other countries and cultures. The bestiary will feature over 100 new monsters for ToV, with details on where in the world they dwell, and the Chronicles will be a BIG book of adventures set all over Katernia. Already we have tales from Sarah Madsen, Kelly Pawlik, and Sebastian Rombach, with other writers working on more. I’m really excited for this project as it will be the first time (outside of the fantasy novels) that we’ve visited a country other than Norrøngard. It will also feature an updated layout/design for non-Norrøngard books.

Then there are a few more projects on the horizon, including something very exciting and “fae-ish” that’s been in development a looooooong time, but whether that’s a ‘25 or ‘26 project depends on how the year goes.

As to how the year goes… of course, everyone in gaming is waiting to see whether tariffs and trade wars affect production and shipping costs. There are a lot of unknown and known hurdles to come. Without straying too far into real world issues, I’ll just say that these are turbulent times we’re living through, but I really believe in the power of gaming to bring people together as well as the value of escapism to heal and refresh the soul when one just needs somewhere else to go for a while. I’m really grateful to be able to make worlds full time for people to escape into. These imaginary lands mean a lot to me, and I thank you for visiting them with me! I promise there are exciting things ahead.

Happy New Year, or as the Norrønir might say, godt nytt år!

Be healthy!

Click to follow Fury of the Forsaken on Kickstarter