Sports and Games in a Fantasy Setting

This week, I'm a guest once again on the wonderful Dungeon Master's Block where I talk with hosts DM Ian and DM Neil about using fictitious sports and boardgames in your fantasy worlds. The focus is, of course, on enhancing Dungeons & Dragons play, but we cover a wide range of games in narrative and what we say is applicable to both role playing games and fiction writing. It's a fun episode. Check it out on iTunes or follow the link.

The World's Most Beautiful Thrones & Bones set

Readers of my Thrones & Bones series know that each book's appendices includes rules for an original board game, games that actually appear in and are important to the plot of their respective story. For the very first book, Frostborn, the game was called Thrones & Bones. A popular pastime among the people of Norrøngard in the world of Qualth, it is inspired by a real-world Viking game called hnefatafl. The rules borrow from several hnefatafl variants (no one knows how the actual Vikings played the game but there have been many diverse reconstructions) and add some new-to-Thrones & Bones elements that make it a unique game in its own right. In fact, I was deeply honored when Board Game Geek created a page for it christening Thrones & Bones a real game!

But one of the best things about being an author has been interacting with my fans and a real delight has been seeing the amazing Thrones & Bones fan-made sets that readers around the US and in the UK have created! Then, earlier this year, my good friend and fellow author J. F. Lewis (Staked, Grudgebearer) decided he wanted a really nice, wooden Thrones & Bones set. He commissioned an artist named Jack Windsor of Ignited Arts & Design to craft one. And suddenly the world's most beautiful Thrones & Bones set was born. And it held that position... until now!

Behold! This is a custom hand-made Thrones & Bones set, created for me by the very same Ignited Arts & Design. The board and pieces are all built and decorated by hand; all components made from hard maple wood.

The playing pieces are based on the designs done by Justin Gerard for the novel itself, while those dragons in the corner are inspired by a shield carried by my character Ynarr Ulfrson of Norrøngard, as drawn by Andrew Bosley. The Shield Maidens stand on raised spaces decorated with, what else, their shields, while the throne where the Jarl starts play features the Norse rune known as the Ægishjálmr, the Helm of Awe, a powerful symbol of protection. Meanwhile, the barrow mounds, the starting position for the Draug attackers, are decorated with the swords and axes that the playing pieces themselves wield.

Frankly, I'm blown away! Grateful to Jack Windsor for his talent and J.F. Lewis for being driven to finding him.

(And I'm happy for Lewis' set and mine to jointly hold the title of "Most Beautiful Set(s) in the World.")

Wow!

Is This The World's Greatest Thrones & Bones Set?

I saw something utterly stupendous this week. My good friend and amazing author J. F. Lewis (Staked, Grudgebearer) decided he wanted his own Thrones & Bones set, Thrones & Bones being the board game played in Frostborn, the first book of the series of the same name. And he didn't just want any set. He wanted a beautiful, wood-carved set that could be an objet d'art as well as a playable game.

After some scouting, he found Ignited Arts & Design, the company of an artist named Jack Windsor. Jack does amazing work, and he specializes in hnefatafl boards, the real world Viking game that served as inspiration for Norrøngard's Thrones & Bones (though there are a few differences between Earth's game and the Qualth game).

And just look at the result! Notice the shields marking the spots for the shield maidens, the barrow mounds with broken corpse doors, the design on the edges! I think they've put my own prototype to shame.