Mantic Games Logo FIND A CLUBCLUBS  |   FIND A STORESTORES Companion  |   Vault
 

Building Worlds Together – Introducing the Lore Committee

14th Jun 2024

Dan Mapleston



At Mantic, we’ve always done things a little differently! Over the last (almost) 15 years, we’ve been privileged to have incredibly positive and enthusiastic communities spring up around our games and miniatures – always willing to help and welcome new players into the world of our hobby.

Here at HQ, we're busy creating amazing worlds for you to play in - coordinating a team of super-talented sculptors, artists and writers that lay out an epic stage, just waiting for the next chapter in the story to unfold...

And the magic ingredient is YOU, and YOUR GAMES! Every time you bring your Kings of War or Firefight (or Deadzone, or Armada...) army to the table - something incredible happens.

When you're playing great games with characterful rules and Mantic miniatures that match the latest art and lore, these exciting worlds come alive on your tabletop!

This is one of the most exciting things about the hobby - everyone having enormous fun playing within Pannithor and the Warpath Universe as properly-realised living, breathing tabletop worlds that look the part. Close your eyes for a moment and you can hear the crunch of Abyssal Dwarf boots, and smell the foul breath of that two-headed Goredrake as it closes with your front line...

Every game you play, every new player you introduce, every story you read, really ignites these universes that we all enjoy together! And 'together' is the important bit: we really do believe that collaborating with real players makes for better games for everyone to enjoy.

Today, we'd like to spotlight just some of the ways that some extra-special community members are helping to do exactly that - including the introduction of a brand-new Lore Committee! But more about that in a moment...


Pathfinder Demo Team

Pathfinders are our community demo team – passionate real players that run organized demo games at their local FLGS (or events) to share the fun with everyone else, and help to recruit some new opponents for you all!

Some of our current staff team originally started as Pathfinders...time to dig out an old photo....here's Matt (now Head of Studio, right) and Dave (now Sculpting and Product Co-ordinator, bottom left). Interested? You can find out more HERE.


Rules Committees

Our rules committee for each game system is made up of community members that are not only experts in playing, but also have the skills and objectivity to help keep them balanced and fun – and collaborate with our studio team to introduce fresh new content in a way that avoids ‘new release power creep™’.

The rules committees are very active within the community, typically playing both narrative games and competitive events that give them a thorough appreciation for the system as a whole. They're also often found jumping in to help with answering the trickiest rules questions – and noting the most common ones to update our rules FAQs. If you happen to meet a member of the rules committees online or at a big event, please do remember to give them a big 'thank you' for everything they do!


NEW: Lore Committee

We currently advance the worlds of Pannithor and the Warpath Universe onward in interesting and exciting new ways with every book release, plus through an ongoing series of novels. As the story marches onward and the world grows more and more detailed, it’s important to make sure that our lore is not just entertaining and immersive, but also consistent.

We’ve now gone one step further and created a Lore Committee for the world of Pannithor, comprised of authors of our existing novels and background material. They will meet and discuss the development of the background for our fantasy games and establish experts in various fields and factions.

Assuming this approach works well, then in the future we will look to do the same for the Warpath Universe. There are certainly exciting times ahead for our worlds and storytelling - watch this space!

Team Mantic

Related Products

Kings of War: World of Pannithor FREE Background Book

The World of Pannithor is a free downloadable PDF containing the background and setting for Kings Of War.

This book (with more than 300 pages!) is YOUR guide to the world of Pannithor.

*Download requires a webstore account.

Add to wishlist

MGDG204
Digital

Ascent of the Goblin King – Digital

Grogger Split-tooth is a goblin with ambition. Big ambitions! After a mysterious vision shows that Grogger could become the king of all goblins, he sets out on a perilous quest to become the supreme ruler of all Pannithor’s greenskins. There’s just one problem: only he believes the vision!

First though, he needs to rescue a goblin wizard that’s being held captive by a group of salamander corsairs. These man-sized, lizard-like creatures aren’t going to give up the wizard without a fight, which means Grogger’s going to need all the help he can get.

Unfortunately for him, he’s joined by a goblin with a love for high explosives, a troll that wants to kill him, and a beast handler who is ready to stab him in the back; Grogger’s journey to becoming king isn’t going to be an easy one.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG214
Digital

Broken Alliance – Digital

The Halfling Shires had been members of the League of Rhordia for over a hundred years. The alliance had been mutually beneficial from the start; the humans of the League received the surplus of the Shires’ bountiful farms and pastures, and the Shires received the additional security of the League’s powerful military in a very dangerous world.

But recently the relationship has begun to sour. For reasons no one understands, a darkness is poisoning the once-strong friendship between the peoples. Suspicion, anger, and even violence has begun to tear the alliance apart. The threat of war, something once unthinkable, has become very real.

Halfling Aeron Cadwallader, a cadet at the League’s prestigious College of Warcraft, finds himself caught between the two sides. Cast out by the League, mistrusted by his fellow halflings, he struggles to survive amidst the war that soon erupts, and find a way to help his people defend themselves against the powerful League.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG213
Digital

Drowned Secrets – Digital

From the depths of the Trident Realms, treachery and war impact the lands of Mantica.

After a bitter betrayal a young naiad, Ashal, and her bodyguard, are exiled from their home in the watery depths of the Trident Realm. Swearing revenge against those who have wronged her, Ashal begins her quest to seek out and destroy the people responsible for her sorrow.

Written by Ben Stoddard

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG157
Digital

Edge of the Abyss – Digital

This anthology is a collection of ten short stories that span the Edge of the Abyss campaign in the Kings of War universe. Each story has been tailored to fit into the overall lore of the universe, having worked closely with Mantic, as well as unified under my guidance to create one overarching universe for our fiction. Even though the stories can be read in any order, we’ve purposely ordered them as so that the first is the earliest in our narrative.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG159
Digital

Faith Aligned – Digital

The fragile alliance between Basilea and the Order of the Brothermark is holding together, but increasingly under strain. With the Order of the Brothermark suffering both the demons of the Abyss and from the influence of their former comrades from the fractured Brotherhood, the Basilean Duma knows that it is time to act. Even a simple gesture could symbolically prove their good faith and intentions for the future of this vital alliance. Paladin Defender Kateryn is charged with leading a small force to escort a relic of deep spiritual importance from Spartha, back to its rightful home in the Brothermark. With her is Paladin Defender Orion, freshly promoted and still in the limelight after the heroic stand against the forces of the Abyss at the Battle of Andro.

When news of this vital task grabs the attention of Teynne, champion of the Abyss, however, a dark plot is hatched to drive a wedge between Basilea and the Order of the Brothermark. Am’Bira, a disgraced former temptress, is tasked with leading a force to obtain the relic under Kateryn and Orion’s charge. After an initial failure Am’bira is left with no choice but to attempt to manipulate the secretive, underground forces of the undead simmering beneath rural Basilea’s surface in an attempt to achieve her mission. With the dead rising within Basilea itself, Kateryn and Orion are left isolated and alone at the head of a small band, desperately attempting to fight off the forces of evil as well as the bitter politics driven between two factions aligned by faith alone.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG215
Digital

Hero Falling – Digital

The fame and success following the Battle of Andro has left ex-Sisterhood mercenary and adventurer Aestelle both wealthy and famous, but also spiritually unfulfilled and disenchanted. Knowing that her actions in the lead up to that battle have awakened an evil in the Mountains of Tarkis, she assembles a group of adventurers from her past to return to the mountains and put right her mistake

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG212
Digital

Nature’s Knight – Digital

A legend meets up with his past and must redeem his name.

Dillen Genemer is a Basilean legend, his tale told by bards across the land of how he singlehandedly slayed an Abyssal Champion and met with the Green Lady to be personally dubbed her knight! During the Abyssal War, he was the key in uniting the Basilean forces with those of the Green Lady’s to turn the tide in the favor of good. Now, Dillen serves as a knight of the forest, working alongside those who once served the now severed Brotherhood. Beyond coming to terms with what it means to abandon civilization and fight as members of the Green Lady’s forces, Dillen struggles with the truth of his legacy. With every step he takes, a bloody path filled with regret and sorrow follows in his wake. Can he walk a path of redemption, or will he forever be cursed to sow discontent and pain?

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG216
Digital

Pious – Digital

Lieutenant Jaymes Ellias is ready to leave the Basilean Navy. A career spent in coastal defense and administrative positions has left him dejected and resentful, and he has a plan for life outside the military. But when he is suddenly sent to the ship’s company of the HW Pious, an elohi-class frigate, he is propelled into action under the command of the harsh, sardonic Captain Charn Ferrus.

A novel set in Pannithor based on the game of fantasy naval warfare: Armada

Written by Mark Barber

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG155
Digital

Pride of a King – Digital

On the frigid steppes of the Halpi Mountains, Lord Sveri Egilax has led his clan of Free Dwarfs and their allies to a pyrric victory to reclaim the lost hold of Cwl Gen. Devastated by their losses, and with winter closing in, they are bitterly forced to turn to their reluctant allies to the south: the Dwarfs of Golloch’s empire.

Banick Kholearm is dispatched as a hero of his people to Caeryn Golloch to try and parlay with their imperial cousins, but his reception there could be described as lukewarm at best. Frustrated and despairing at his lack of progress in King Golloch’s courts, Banick struggles with his own demons and begins to suspect that there is more to the lackluster response that the “Imps” are giving him. Ghosts from the past begin to whisper of secrets and lies that hide a bigger, and more shocking reason for Golloch’s reticence.

Meanwhile, back at Cwl Gen, the famous ranger Herneas has uncovered a dangerous conspiracy within the Free Dwarf ranks. One that threatens to unravel the frayed sense of community and hope that their recent victory has won them, even as the snow begins to descend and close them in for a winter of suspicious solitude. With enemies both outside the fractured walls of the keep, and potential traitors within, the mighty hunter begins to doubt the wisdom of trying to take the lonely hold, and whether or not they can maintain their tenuous grasp on their homeland.

Thus begins the first book of “The War of the Stone” saga, the tale of the Free Dwarfs bid to retake their lost homes in the Halpi Mountains.

This is the digital version of the Tales of Pannithor novel: ‘Pride of a King’ by Ben Stoddard

Check out a FREE sample of the book HERE.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG222
Digital

Rise of the Celestians – Digital

A new age descends on Pannithor when elven mages invoke powerful rituals that cast open the barriers between worlds. Through arcane gateways arrive beings of incredible might and wisdom, the star-flung Celestians! Entities whose names will echo down through the ages. Mescator. Valandor. Liliana. Kyron. Karinna. Fulgria. Belkon. Oskan.

The Celestians have journeyed to Pannithor to bestow on its inhabitants their great knowledge and by their guidance bring to the mortal races an era of peace and prosperity. But the powers that hold sway in the ancient kingdoms will not meekly fade into nothingness. The cruel priesthood of Bhanek dominates Elvenholme. In the human realms of Primovantor and Ahmun, the sinister disciples of Shobik hold sway. If they would free the people they’ve come to help, the Celestians must set themselves up as new gods and sweep away the vestiges of the Primogenitors. But there is one ancient god that is far more than a mere echo of former power. Before they can truly free the mortals of Pannithor, the Celestians must defeat not merely the followers of their greatest foe, but the god himself, the savage Korgaan!

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG217
Digital

Steps to Deliverance – Digital

Over a decade after violating his ruthless orders from his superiors in the Basilean military, ex-legion captain Dionne emerges from hiding in the Mountains of Tarkis, leading a force of rebels against the dark forces of the Abyss. Desperate to clamp down on the popular rebel leader, the Basilean Duma dispatches a force to bring the former legion officer to justice. Leading the paladins of this force is Tancred, freshly promoted and harboring political ambitions of his own. Under the brutal leadership of Hugh, the commander of the force, Tancred must struggle to find the balance between obeying orders, following the path of righteousness, and advancing his own ambitions.

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG158
Digital

Warpath Universe Sourcebook Digital

The galaxy is a dangerous place. From the brutal pitches of the DreadBall Leagues to the war torn Battlezones of the Frontier, everything is up for the taking.

Within the GCPS, whole planets are sold, annexed or stripped to feed humanity’s vast greed. the Forge Fathers implacably stand against them, fighting for resources and wealth, meanwhile the mysterious Asterians fight for their own agenda.

Threats long ignored, such as the terrifying Plague or the insidious Veer-myn, strike civilised worlds. Deadzones – enacted by the ruthless Enforcers, quarantine these threats from the rest of humanity.

As powerful races clash over the fate of whole worlds, devastating weapons, swift aircraft and formidable tanks are brought to bear. Mighty armies take to the battlezones of the far future to fight for their leaders, as the galaxy is plunged into war.

The Warpath Universe Sourcebook provides an unprecedented view of the depth of the Warpath universe, the races who live there and the state of warfare across the galaxy.

 

Add to wishlist

MGDG039
Digital

First Strike DIGITAL

He moved with a calmness that was cold and impassive in its ef ciency, but when he struck he did so with a brutality that was breath-taking. A Stalker dropped squealing to the ground, blood fountaining from numerous puncture wounds across its torso. Another was dead before it hit the packed earth outside the marine base. He did not rush, he did not speak, and he showed no fear. He simply killed and killed again as if nothing could stop him executing every single Veer-myn on Acreon.

When a backwater world is invaded by ruthless aliens, the Drakenhof Corporation’s best marines are sent to repel them. But they are not the only interested parties, and the Council has also sent Lieutenant Commander Roca of the Enforcers to investigate. Why has Acreon been targeted by the Veer-myn? And what secrets are hidden beneath the planet’s surface that, if uncovered, could threaten the stability of the galaxy itself?

Add to wishlist

£4.99
MGDG044
Digital

Ghosts of the Past DIGITAL

Ghosts Of The Past is a novella by Christopher Verspeak, putting readers into the boots of a soldier in the futuristic Warpath Universe!

Add to wishlist

£4.99
MGDG088
Digital

The Last Hurrah DIGITAL

Ex Corporation Striker Leeland Roth teeters on the horns of a dilemma: return to the sport that once defined his life, or continue to drown his sorrows in booze, babes, and back alleys.

A novel in the Warpath universe based on the fast-paced futuristic sports board game Dreadball

Written by Robert E. Waters

Add to wishlist

£7.49
MGDG156
Digital

Deadzone Dossiers DIGITAL

Deadzone Dossiers – A Deadzone Anthology

Containing:

  • The Han Narita by John K Webb
  • The Condemned by Nicholas Hagan
  • Noises Underground by Emma Burton
  • Median by Rob Corrina
  • Junkerstown by Rob Knipe
  • Cold Harvest by Shane Storey
  • Acceptable Losses by Brian Dyer
  • A Cold Day in Hell by Mark Rhind
  • Heartbreak Holiday by John Roberts

Add to wishlist

£4.99
MGDG033
Digital