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February 1999--Knuckleduster Publications has announced the creation of a line of solo role-playing products set in the Old West. The first offering, The Devil's Addition, a Knuckleduster Interactive Western Adventure, is designed for solitary gaming where the reader chooses the story path, accumulating points, keeping track of cash, and rolling dice to win gunfights and determine non-player character reactions.
The Devil's Addition, which contains 400 passages (encounters) and more than 40 endings, is set in Abilene, Kansas, 1871, and is brought to life through period engravings and illustrations by veteran RPG artist Rick Harris. The reader steps into the shoes of Red Lewis, a fictional lawman who must find and capture a wanted man, "dead or alive," during the space of one evening in Abilene, Kansas, the first of the legendary cowtowns. There are opportunities to explore saloons and brothels, get into gunfights and brawls, play poker, faro, and roulette, and exchange shots with legendary gunfighters Wild Bill Hickok and John Wesley Hardin.
Knuckleduster hopes to give gamers a different type of solo adventure than they may be accustomed to. The text is written in the style of a novel, not a game. Instructions are contained in italics at the end of each encounter and include all information needed for play. The rules are contained in the book's first few pages and are simple enough that no cross-referencing is needed. No core rule books, source books, or supplementary materials (other than a handful of six-sided dice and a pencil) are needed for play.
Plans for future releases include adventures set in southwestern New Mexico and central Kansas. Raining Hammers, which takes place in the mountains near Deming, New Mexico, is a story of greed and revenge, incorporating elements of the life of Billy the Kid and a westernized version of the massacre of the MacDonalds at Glencoe, Scotland! Its anticipated release date is Labor Day, 1999. It will be followed by They Say That Drink’s a Sin in Kansas, which takes place during one fateful night in 1873 when whiskey, cards, and firearms caused tragedy to strike Ellsworth, Kansas at the hands of the notorious Thompson brothers.
The Devil's Addition retails for $17.95 and is distributed by Alliance, Black Hawk Hobby Distribution, Berkeley Top Line Distributing, FM International and RPV. For more information, see Knuckleduster's Website at www.knuckleduster.com. If you have questions or comments, send them to Forrest Harris at webwrangler@knuckleduster.com, or drop him a note at Knuckleduster Publications, P.O. Box 1024, Normal, IL 61761.
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