Flying Mice Games is proud to announce the release of Sweet Chariot 2nd Edition on January 1, 2008.

Sweet Chariot was originally released in 2003, and was our oldest product until the 2nd Edition release. The game is set within the StarCluster Universe, on the planet Chariot. Chariot was the first world colonized by humans in the Cluster, by the last slowboat to leave the doomed Earth before the catastrophe. Along the way, it was the subject of an attempted hijacking by desperate people fleeing Earth, and in the fight, irreparable harm was done to the colony's machines, and to the fauna onboard, and the landers were destroyed.

The hijackers were somewhat integrated into the system by the time the Gloria Syatem was reached, but makeshift landers had to be cobbled together out of ceramic scrap, and the crew diverted to the planet Chariot, where the thick atmosphere made landing more practical in the crude landers.

Chariot is a brutal planet - too hot for humans in some areas. The atmosphere is mostly argon at a toxic pressure. Only in the mountains and plateaus is the pressure low enough to let people and animals live. Uranium is common here, in some places so rich it makes natural reactors moderated by groundwater. The Charioteers shovel it into crude furnace/reactors to heat steam to power their cities. Mutations are common, especially in the lower lands, and some land has to be remediated by special plants which absorb heavy metals.

There are a billion humans on Chariot, crowded into bare mountaintops and high plateaus. These mountain nations are all separated by the low "deathlands" where humans cannot breathe the air. Steam airships ply the trading routes between nations, like islands in a planet-wide sea. Life is cheap, brutal, and exciting on the world of steam and sparks.

http://jalan.flyingmice.com/chariot.html

This is excellent news Clash. I must check this out.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabeThis is excellent news Clash. I must check this out.

You will, my friend!

-clash

Hah!. Sweet! Thanks buddy.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabeHah!. Sweet! Thanks buddy.

Let me know what you think, Rich!

-clash

I'm reading it through, and I just love the ideas in here.  What an amazing place!

Quote from: Zachary The FirstI'm reading it through, and I just love the ideas in here.  What an amazing place!

Thanks, Zachary! Whenever I pick up Chariot, game ideas start whizzing around in my head like fireworks. I know this is the best setting I've ever written. Usually the worst places to live are the best places to adventure.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceUsually the worst places to live are the best places to adventure.

-clash

I hope this doesn't mean you'll be putting off some other project so we can see Cold Space: The East St. Louis Colony.

Quote from: Zachary The FirstI hope this doesn't mean you'll be putting off some other project so we can see Cold Space: The East St. Louis Colony.

OOoooh! That sounds like fun! :O



-clash

I just got my print version of Sweet Chariot 2, and it's beautiful. The only problem I see is the grayscale maps are not as clear on the altitude of the lands as the color maps in the pdf. This is important on a world where altitude is life. The greyscale maps actually look nicer than the color maps - more realistic - because I used sharply contrasting colors to indicate Deathlands, Fringelands, Mainlands, and Bestlands, which tends to blend together in the grayscale.

OTOH, the illos look awesome in greyscale, probably because all of Chet's and some of my illos were actually done in greyscale by hand. This was before I'd evolved my current painting technique. I also didn't use photgraphic models, and the anatomy is a shade off. Some of these illos were the first serious efforts I'd done in over thirty years, beyond quick character sketches.

The book is big. It's the biggest RPG I've ever done, at over 300 pages. Most of it is setting material - explaining why Chariot came to be the way it is, an overview of the planet, and detailed information on each of the major nations.

I'm very happy at the way it came out!

-clash

Clash, I just wanted to let you know that I still haven't downloaded this baby, thanks to Drivethru RPG's crappy download protocol.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabeClash, I just wanted to let you know that I still haven't downloaded this baby, thanks to Drivethru RPG's crappy download protocol.

Idiots! I'll send you a copy when I get home!

-clash

Ah, merci. You are a scholar and a gentleman.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabeAh, merci. You are a scholar and a gentleman.

Not to mention elderly and feeble-minded.

-clash

Rich - did you get my email, and did you get the game? :O

-clash