Hey, sorry about the hiatus. Here’s all the Promethean news that’s fit to print:
Last week, Michelle wrapped up editing of the Firestorm Anthology. This anthology is a little different from the ones for the God-Machine Chronicle and Vampire, and for the upcoming ones for Werewolf and Mage, because unlike those lines, Prometheans doesn’t have a surplus of existing fiction to draw on. Also, the fiction pieces in the Promethean sourcebooks were strangely written; you had an opening piece of about 3000-5000 words, but then the full-page chapter openers throughout the book continued the story. As such, rather than try and wrangle those pieces into a format that would make more sense, we decided it was easier to commission all-new Promethean fiction.
So what you’re getting with the Firestorm Anthology is 10 original fiction pieces, arranged into three sections: Beginning, Middle, and End. The Beginning stories are about Prometheans at the start of the Pilgrimage: “My Father’s Habit,” by first-time author Jose R. Garcia, tells the story of a demiurge losing his family to his obsession. “La Familia de Sicaria,” by Peter Schaefer, is the tale of a Promethean roped into doing some very violent work for some bad people. “My Body” is a song by Young the Giant is Eddy Webb’s story about a Promethean separating herself from the notion that she is who she’s made of.
And then we move into the “Middle” stories, which focus on the Pilgrimage itself and the trials and tribulations of the Prometheans walking it. “Beautiful Strange” is Mark L.S. Stone’s tale of a nuclear Promethean encountering supernatural strangeness and trying to avoid poisoning the world around him. “Dedication,” by Sarah Dyer, is a meditative look at an Unfleshed Promethean taking time away from her throng. “To Each Her Adam,” by Meghan Fitzgerald, deals with the pain and difficulty of a Promethean trying – and failing – to make a new creation. Finally, Andrew Atramor’s “Brothers” is a story of friendship and violence.
The Pilgrimage always ends, one way or another. The three “End” stories examine some possible conclusions. My story, “Love is Action,” deals with a Promethean “parent” and how his biases and experiences affect his Pilgrimage – and his “children’s”. Tanya Cohan-Diaz gives us “Some Running Night,” which looks at a Promethean after she reaches the New Dawn, and how she adjusts. And lastly, Wood Ingham revisits some familiar faces with “Talk About the Weather,” which I’m linking to this post so you can read it.
Next Sunday, a new poll, I promise.
I think that the lack of ‘pre-existing’ fiction for Promethean actually made the game easier to jump into than others, but no doubt, mileage varies from table to table, if I may mix metaphors. The snippets in various books gave peeks into stories that didn’t really start or end, allowing for me to fill in the blanks and find inspiration for what my games could look like…
That said, I’m very much looking forward to this anthology in a way that haven’t looked forward to World of Darkness fiction since Vampire: the Masquerade’s Clan Novel series! Getting proper tales of the pilgrimage is something that I didn’t ever imagine seeing.
That was beautiful.
Now I am definitely buying the Anthology.
These aren’t tears! Just– just something in my eye!
(Also: Oh hi Frances.)
*Crying a river*
Ah, it’s so good to hear from these old friends! Hendaid Bran is one of my favorites. This fiction is stellar; I’ll be buying the book for sure.
Wow, dem feels. I don’t actually know who those characters are, but holy moly.
It’s not often that game fiction actually makes me *feel* something, but right now I want to go out, hug a loved one, and do a good deed.
I admit, there’s a reason I led with Wood’s story. It’s pretty intense. 🙂
Several of the others are, too, but this one calls back to some 1e folks that I figured people would like to see. Meghan’s story packs a punch in a different way.
Oh my… How could you punch me right in the feels! I thought we were friends. No wait, I NEVER thought that, and even if I did, don’t you ever, EVER stop treating me this way. 😛
Will the qashmallim be changed significantly?
Tell you what: I’ll put qashmallim up for vote on Sunday.
Yeay!!!!!!!
Qashmallim or the Principal?
Hello again Old Old Crow. And I suppose goodbye.
excited, I’ve recently bought Demon: Interfaces and the Strix Anthology and am enjoying them both, this is on my to buy list, happy to have fiction to have an example to follow.
CCP, can we get a movie… or like, a whole damn line, like what Disney is doing with Avengers, but for WoD… but way darker…