‘In the Footsteps of Hercules’ Released by Skirmisher!
Skirmisher Publishing is very excited to announce its release of In the Footsteps of Hercules, a beautiful system-free sourcebook devoted to a pilgrimage trail that can be used in conjunction with any fantasy role-playing game! This 44-page publication is available as a PDF download at the Skirmisher Publishing store for $3.99, 20% less than on other retail sites. It was written by author Michael O. Varhola and includes illustrations by fantasy artist Amanda Kahl and a regional map by RPG cartographer William T. Thrasher.
In the Footsteps of Hercules describes the various sections of the title trail and the prevailing terrain and conditions associated with them; how most pilgrims travel them; alternate ways some pilgrims choose to approach the trail overall or specific parts of it; things they generally hope to accomplish along the way; and things they might encounter on it.
There are many ways this book can be used and enjoyed. One is to simply read it as a work of fantasy fiction inspired by the myths, legends, history, and geography of Greece. Another is to use it as inspiration or a model for pilgrimage trails in your own stories or role-playing game campaigns. Yet another is as a setting for roleplaying game adventures of various sorts.
This book was created as a specific example of a Pilgrimage Trail, one of the 85 general sorts of places that appear in Skirmisher Publishing's Adamantine-bestselling City Builder: A Guide to Designing Communities. As written, this trail is dedicated to the titular demigod and is set in a Dark Ages fantasy version of the Peloponnesian Peninsula of Greece and located within the company’s Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting. It can easily, however, be dedicated to any other appropriate deity or cause and dropped into virtually any other existing milieu and has deliberately been designed to be compatible with any of what Gary Gygax used to refer to as “a traditional fantasy campaign setting.”