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Welcome to my GURPS Saduria gameworld website

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

Saduria is an unofficial GURPS gameworld and source set in a period closely resembling Earth's own 1530.

GURPS is Steve Jackson Games' Generic Universal Roleplaying System; a set of role-playing rules for tabletop RPGs that allows almost unlimited flexibility in building your campaign and character.

Saduria, fun with farthingales and pollaxes*.

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* A farthingale and pollaxe, for the curious.

My Campaign Philosophy
 
I like gritty campaigns where the players and characters are challenged by their lifestyle, geography and society as much as by huge monsters. Saduria is very much a reflection of that philosophy.
 
Magic is a rare thing and not to be taken lightly, the gods empower their priests but not to the level of demi-gods, thieves are criminals liable to be arrested and punished, and fighters are treated with suspicion by ordinary folk.

 
What is Saduria all about then?
 
History - how and why it came about
 
I have played RPGs for nigh-on 25 years, and GURPS for around 10. My preferred period was always late medieval fantasy, and my preferred style was gritty and realistic, with just enough magic and monsters to be fantasy rather than historical. I tried Chivalry and Sorcery and liked the setting and details while despairing of the complexity of the rules. I enjoyed the historical "realism" of Pendragon without fully feeling at home in the High Chivalric setting. Warhammer FRP introduced a superb setting let down slightly (for me) by the system. (A)D&D was always a staple, but I grew weary of facing down veritable armies of fantastic creatures that lost their exotic mystery by becoming regular enemies rather than unique occurances.
 
So, I wrote my own setting. It started as a draft for Fantasy Hero many years ago, and has grown, been edited, altered again and was finally dragged kicking and screaming into the light when I decided to put the whole lot on the web for others to enjoy (or mock).
 
The Setting
 
The basis of the setting is a dark and realistic world of bickering noble houses and poisoned chalices. Armed conflict has been reduced by the Empire defeating the last of its foes, but those with power and money have never stopped fighting. Their weapons are intrigue and espionage; a dagger in the dark and a cloaked figure retrieving treasonous letters.
 
The PCS, therefore, can be as active in the relative safety of the city as they are in the depths of a deserted tomb. Devil worshippers and sorcerors plot and call forth undead spirits, political rivals send armed men against each other, and on the fringes of the Empire orcs and monsters threaten to encroach upon the terrified villagers.
 
The Time Period
 
The late medieval/early renaissance period sees improved steel and armour, increasing scientific discovery, and a growing power in the merchant class. Gunpowder is a discovery that the mages and priests keep secret, ensuring that those who dabble with the black powder disappear. The sidesword and rapier are making the brutal broadsword redundant, and mail armour slowly disappears from the battlefield as improvements in plate make it lighter and cheaper than before. In short, the world is a-changing but should still be familiar enough to anyone who has played a medieval fantasy game.

Saduria? What's that?

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Well, though I didn't know it at the time I named my gameworld, the saduria entomon is a little Baltic water crustacean. I say "little", but he apparently grows to up to 10cm and is a predator. Kind of cute, isn't he? I may have giant ones appear in the northern waters of Saduria, just as a nod to this real-life sadurian.

Read all about the real saduria here.

Navigating the links at the top of the page
Home
Returns you to this page.
Campaigns
My campaign scenarios, organised into mini-campaigns. Includes Word (.doc), Acrobat (.pdf) and Winzip (.zip) files of the same document.
Gameworld
 
All the supplementary information I have produced to define Saduria. Contains such useful information as an extensive Marketplace equipment list and guide, a look at Sadurian religions, and a Sadurian bestiary.
 
Seperate files list the documents in .doc, .pdf and .zip formats.
Art Gallery
I've created several illustrations for Saduria. They are embedded in documents, but are also presented here.
Miniatures
Photographs of my miniatures.
External links
Links to sites I find interesting or useful. Also has a link to Amazon where you can buy GURPS gaming books.
Downloads
Downloads of viewers to view my files, for those who don't have the associated programs. Word, Acrobat and WinZip viewers, all from their respective manufacturer's sites. 

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Not GURPS. This is a little about my Runequest 2nd edition campaign. Includes a .pdf of the rulebook.

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My campaign for a Call of Cthulhu genre campaign using GURPS. Plenty of downloads regarding Sanity, the 1920s Setting, and tips on Character Creation. 

Debates

My chance to put forward my opinions about various gaming-related issues. I may be right or wrong, what do you think?

Feel free to download and use any or all of the files, just remember to mention the site if someone comments favourably!
 
However, this site does cost money to run. If you feel the material is good enough to use then a small donation would be highly appreciated! Who knows, if I get paid for my work I might be tempted to write even more.

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Click the scroll to email, or email mike@saduria.co.uk
Feel free to email me with any comments, suggestions or even criticisms. I am open to any feedback and would especially be interested in hearing how you are using the campaign info.

Updates

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Saduria is an ongoing and ever-changing project. Maintenance and updates will be frequent but irregular. To find the latest additions, check my Updates schedule below.

Added the Jazz Age Mythos page and files.
A little tidying up. Added the contact link to the bottom of all pages instead of just the front page. Removed links to Word versions of the documents (the pdfs are better to download because you don't need to worry about formatting). Removed the Artwork page (what was I thinking!?).
Added my GURPS conversion of Call of Cthulhu, GURPS: Jazz Age Mythos. I haven't forgotten or abandoned Saduria, but work commitments have been very time-consuming over the last few years and I've had little chance to really get stuck into the material.
At long last I have added the full scanned version of the Runequest rulebook to the Runequest page (it seemed a good place to put it).  This adds the Monsters section to the existing rulebook.
Debates page finally added.
 
My opinions on various gaming-related topics. A place for me to spout my 'wisdom' like some geeky dalai lama.
Runequest Houserules updated.
 
A3 scanner now ordered (no, I didn't win the lottery) so I shall be working on the maps.
WebRing removed as it was trying to take over the site everytime the Link hyperlink was clicked.

Links updated. A new character sheet and updated houserules added to the Runequest section.

Trust me that I have not abandoned the GURPS Saduria content of the site. I am working on maps, but I need to be able to scan them on an A3 scanner so they'll probably have to wait until I win the lottery.
Broken links fixed and new ones put up.
Guest book removed thanks to constant spambot attack. Email contact put in its place.
Notice put up about updating Ritual Magic in the Sadurian Magic section.
Files retrieved and uploaded once more.
Files converted to .pdf versions and uploaded.
Maps refined by adding computer text (rather than handwritten).
Artwork reduced in size.
Note
Site was rebuilt in October 2007 after I managed to lose all my online data in a single unfortunate mouse click. As I had just lost my laptop with all the saved data on it, I had to download everything and rebuild the site.
 
Don't do this - it is very frustrating!

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