The Secret Art of Abduction

And a Reveal of the Cover for ACKS Imperial Imprint's Revised Rulebook

Today at Arbiter of Worlds, we discuss the secret art of abduction. This powerful technique enables gamemasters to transform their settings into living breathing worlds.

But before you watch the video, please take a moment to admire the wonderful cover art that my friend Michael Syrigos has painted for the upcoming Adventurer Conqueror King II Imperial Imprint Revised Rulebook.

Those of you who are familiar with ACKS will recognize the scene — this is the moment after the scene presented in the original ACKS Rulebook. Even those of you familiar with the old cover, however, probably don’t know who the heroine is. Her name is Allyria and she was my wife’s player character, the first bladedancer, in my earliest iteration of the Auran Empire campaign setting. I sent Michael Syrigos a photo of my wife from around the time of the original campaign (2008) and he did an amazing job illustrating her features.

Despite the distractions of YouTube and Twitter, work continues to progress nicely on the upcoming ACKS Imperial Imprint (ACKS II), which is being re-designed to make full use of the techniques for agency-focused sandbox gaming that I describe in Arbiter of Worlds. My hope is that if you’re a GM who has found my blog or YT channel useful, you’re going to find ACKS II to be your taste. ACKS II will be crowdfunding this summer, with sneak previews on my Patreon including complete drafts for King-tier and above.

That’s all for now — Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel, then head over to the links below for others ways to get involved in my recently-declared Simulationist culture movement. If you’re already a fan, be kind and spread the word!

• Autarch Discord with the smartest, nicest gamers around¹

• ACKS Patreon with sneak previews of ACKS II every month

• Ascendant Patreon with a new character and story hook every month

• Autarch Facebook page with news and updates about our projects

• Autarch Twitter channel with brief comments and witty quirks

• Ascendant Comics Facebook page with sneak previews of the upcoming comics

• Ascendant Comics Instagram page with tons of art and cosplay

• Ascendant Comics Twitter channel with short messages and quirky wit

• ACKS Forums with discussion for the game

• Ascendant Forums with FAQ and Errata for the game

Thanks for reading Arbiter of Worlds!

1. Predictive programming. The propaganda will continue until this becomes true.