RIFT: Herald of Oblivion AN EPIC GAMEBOOK by Paul Partington

RIFT: Herald of Oblivion

An epic SAVAGE REALMS GAMEBOOK adventure by Paul Partington, author of the GNAT gamebook, Temple of the Skull God, and several Dragon Warriors solo adventures for Red Ruin Publishing.

Written in an interactive style that is similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books, but with dice mechanics, YOU, the reader, will determine the outcome of the story by the choices that YOU make! Sometimes, however, your very fate might even depend on the roll of the dice themselves! 

BLURB:

When a tear in reality allows demons to enter your world and cause chaos and devastation, YOU volunteer to end this incursion. Your travels will take you from the world you know, to strange and dangerous planes of existence ― and ultimately, through the gates of hell, itself! Can you unravel the mysteries set before you, or will the fiends from the Abyss be free to roam Ataraxia?

THE OPENING NARRATIVE

1

A recommendation from a wandering bard has brought you to the town of Tarrin and you arrive late in the evening.

'You really should see the magnificent church there,' enthused the bard, 'with its stunning stained glass windows. They tell the story of Saint Hild and her journeys across the wilderness. I, myself, have composed a song about her adventures,' he continues, and before you can object, he starts strumming his lute and singing.

Despite having to endure this performance, you decided that the story of Saint Hild was intriguing enough that you would pay the church a visit. After all, as an adventurer yourself, there are always new things to learn.

However, when you arrive at Tarrin, you find that the light is too poor to admire the church windows. The church, itself, is a handsome example of its kind and you wander around for a while, looking at the fluted columns and the intricately carved pulpit. Eventually, night draws in, and you need to find somewhere to sleep.

The Flashy Flute, which despite its name is fairly rundown, has a room available for a few gold pieces and you settle in for the night. Your room is sparse and basic, but better than spending the night on the streets. Soon, you fall asleep.

You are woken in the middle of the night by the sounds of shouting and screaming coming from the street below. You look out of the window to see a large group of people running down the street, many still in their night clothes. It is every person for themselves as they shout at each other to get out of the way. What could have caused such a commotion?

If you want to go down to the street to investigate, turn to 273

If you would rather ignore the excitement and go back to bed, then go to 134

ANOTHER SAMPLE SECTION...

You approach the portal. The red oval hangs in the air, and, just like the one in the church, you cannot see through it to the other side. You briefly wish you had asked Tess a few more details about portals, as you don't know what will happen when you step through. You are here now, however, and so you steel yourself and walk into the oval. There is no resistance; it is like walking through an open doorway. Unlike an open doorway, the scene on the other side is completely different.

You find yourself on a barren plain. The sky is a dull grey colour, but cloudless. In the distance, you can see a line of jagged, black mountains. Underfoot, is a layer of fine grey powder, which you initially take to be snow, but further examination proves it to be ash, such as might be found when wood is burnt, although, the air smells of nothing at all.

Between you and the mountains is a curious sight ― a huge, grey cube, three hundred feet on each side, floating high above the ashen ground. Thick chains hang from the lower corners of the cube, and you can see drag marks in the ash and hear the clanking of the chains. The cube is moving in your direction, or more likely, towards the portal which hangs in the air behind you.

You set off towards the cube, wondering what you can do here to close the portal. And will you be trapped here if you do? You push such thoughts aside and continue onwards. After a little while, you see another feature on the bleak plain ― a red glow off to your right.

If you want to investigate the red glow, turn to 45

If you want to continue towards the cube, then go to 106

THE COVER ARTIST...

It's been said, "Never judge a book by its cover." Well, we at EndGame Gaming believe that a great gamebook cover is everything! That's why with every single release, we have partnered with high-caliber artists, and this title will be no different!

For this project, we've chosen two spectacular artists to do the covers for the paperback and the limited edition hardcover ― John Dotegowski and Lucas Panda! 

What follows are some samples of their ability...

John Dotegowski

Lucas Panda

THE INTERIOR ARTIST...

In addition to great storytelling, one thing that you can always expect when opening up one of our gamebooks is kick-ass art! Artist MARCINsRPGart (Against the Darkmaster rpg and Weird Frontiers) will be lending us his extraordinary talents to breathe life into this epic adventure.

Below are some samples of his phenomenal work...

BOOK SPECIFICATIONS...

The paperback of this book will be approximately 6" x 9" and will be between 400 and 500 pages in total length, depending on the final number of illustrations.

Should you decide not to partner with us in this campaign, paperback copies will eventually be available on Amazon and all of its affiliate worldwide markets.

REWARDS...

Rewards include:

• a virtual HIGH-FIVE and YOUR NAME in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• DIGITAL WALLPAPERS featuring the exclusive, FULL-COLOR ARTWORK from both the paperback and special edition hardback covers
• a BOOKPLATE STICKER signed by author, Paul Partington, and featuring EXCLUSIVE ARTWORK by artist MARCINsRPGart
• a PAPERBACK COPY of Rift: Herald of Oblivion
• THREE PRINTS featuring ARTWORK by Michael Sheppard inspired by Rift
• a PAIR of CUSTOM DICE (2 dice total) featuring the company logo
• THREE exclusive FULL-COLOR BOOKMARKS featuring ARTWORK by artist MARCINsRPGart
• TWO EXCLUSIVE FULL-COLOR prints featuring the COVER ART for both the paperback and the special edition hardback
• a LIMITED-EDITON HARDBACK of Rift: Herald of Oblivion, with a BOOKPLATE STICKER signed by author Paul Partington. This special edition hardback will feature an entirely different cover than the paperback and is exclusive to this Kickstarter. It will NOT be available anywhere else!

PLEASE NOTE: Some pledges and rewards will be shipped from the EndGame Gaming base of operations in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO in the United States, while others may be drop-shipped.

Please message us with any feedback, questions, or concerns at: endgamegamingcompany@gmail.com

Thank you in advance for your support!