In the middle of the hurricane/tropical storm here in Florida, we have finished the book! It was sent off to the printers Thor's day and in a few weeks we should get back the test copy, which I will take pictures of to share/gloat.







Between now and Janicon, we will be working on the Professions module and "The West is Burning Red" campaign, as well as our next major project. Details on that project will be released at Janicon.

Lastly, I will be taking a hiatus from updates here at the blog until Janicon in November. Make sure to bookmark the OTL site to keep up to date on any news and stop by our forums to ask any questions you may have, share ideas, bug us incessantly.

Thank you goes out now and forever to all those who helped us along the way, and those who dropped by the website!

Hey folks, sorry about the gap in my posts. The book is going to print Mid August so we're making sure the book is as polished as can be before then.




I have one piece of art to share today. Another great piece by Kristina.


The Queens of Vackendour are descended from Queen Isobel who died at the end of the Tamlin War. Each queen is brought before the Tamlin King, Alberich before they can take the throne. The Nurvie Court, the mystical home of the Tamlin is hidden deep within the Forest Tam and only the women of the Damhan Encampment know the passage into their realm.


Other Developments
The book is almost complete, last few run throughs and tests to polish the book.
In the next week or so we will be announcing our Con Schedule for once the book is out, as well as our "Wooly Booly" supplements schedule for modules like Professions, and Adventures like "The West is Burning Red". These will be available free on our website.

Hi folks, sorry about the delay in posting. I also turned 22 this week.


(format spacing)




A Falcon Knight by Kristina
The people of Vackendour are ruled over by the mysterious Tamlin, faeish beastmen who have founded 5 institutions to train Vacken men and women in defense of their country. The upper echelons of these organizations eventually become part tamlin and gain features of the Matron goddess. Lainnir, Falcon Goddess of the Tamlin, trains women in the skills of scouting and light combat.


A Shock Lance by Emily
In the city of Nova, Jewel of the Patriarchy of Mithras bestriding the Tarquin Canyon, a group of scientists have learned to harness lightning and contain them within containers. In the Arcan Plains storms are quite common and the energy built up has been stored for years into both domestic and militaristic use. Shock Lances are now being issued to some test soldiers on the Lacon Wall to use against soldiers of Vackendour.



Lastly we have another piece I did!
A Core Containment unit holds a single shard of a mountain's core. Every few years as mountains grow, the core that heats the world husks leaving super heated shards that are collected by the Dwarfs and use to heat their homes, forge armor and weapons, and also to power Core Technology. Drills, torchs, even basic automotons can be powered by these semi-sentient crystals. As a single shard can power a number of objects for near an eternity, multiple ports are created on the carrying units for them. Attached to this one is a Core Torch, which is worn like a gauntlet and can be used when welding or as a weapon.


Other Developments
We got our ISBN back from...that company that makes ISBNs. So the book is almost ready to go to print. Final checks are being made on it, formatting, and space for the last few pieces of art.

We have also finalized what our next project will be. We're really excited about where we're taking that one, and it will be announced at Janicon when we release Legendary Realms.

I tried my hand at 3d modeling today. So we're subjecting to you to a Gauss Lance today.


(yay formatting spacing)






Gauss tech is a proprietary technology of the Galinans. Gaussite, a rare earth metal that runs in massive veins below their islands is highly magnetic. By aligning them up properly and releasing locks by a trigger, Gauss weapons ram forward with a massive force. In game mechanics all gauss weapons initially attack with 100% Armor Piercing. Melee gauss weapons can then be used as regular weapons or take the time to reload to regain the armor piercing quality.


Pedro turned 22 in the last few days. We let him work on the book as a birthday present.


We'll have a great picture of a Core Guard soon, along with a Core Shard containment unit. I'll try to let you know about any mechanics developments as well.

Hi folks,

Sorry about the delay between posts. We got some more art, this time from Josh.

The Dwarfs of Ehryn were the only species of that world to devise and use the Porch. Lichen Brews are a popular beverage when sitting around watching the underground go by.


The Orkan are amongst the friendliest races. Tourism is a popular pasttime for Orkan that are able to break past the Sea Elfen blockades. A number of professors from Thought Hill have written several books detailing the outside world, as well as interlingual dictionaries.


Krinn of Galina is a famous playwright and composer. His theater acts both as a focal point for Magnate culture and the base for Goblin rights in human kingdoms. His disheveled clothing sets him apart from other Goblins in the Galinan Isles as most act as Butlers or Maitre'ds and wear classier clothing.

Other Developments
After a lot of discussion we've decided to pull Professions from the book. Our deadline is coming up and we don't feel it will be polished in time. But don't fear, the Professions module, along with a complete adventure will be put into the forums in a Module section that will be the place that all our freebie material will be published.

As for the rest of the book, we're mostly waiting on the rest of the art.

Lastly, we have a poll up on the main page inquiring about pre-ordering the book.

Oscar Bokuman finished up his art for us.




(spacers for formating)


First we have a North Elf of the Obsidia Obelisks, a cult that uses living, sentient weapons to combat human barbarians living in the Northern Reaches. The North Elfs (spelt Elfs, not Elves) are ruled by 3 God-Kings who must prove themselves by killing the iconic animal of their caste (Elk, Bear, Raven).



The peaceful, cultured Luftons living between the Grimmoor and Lufton ranges have been invaded over their fertile land for the last time. A group of refugees fled across the world and found amazing technology that they have brought back with them to avenge their devastated homeland, in the form of a massive air fortress. Members of the Directorate of Neue Lufton are slowly changed by the complex technologies they employ.



The Duchy of Galina is an affluent island nation that prides itself on its family values and economic savvy. The children of Magnates, families that have proven their financial power and benefit to the country, are often sent off to join the Gaussoliers, the 'Volunteer' Army of the Galinans, to learn life lessons. Magnates are, however, treated differently, often able to be drunk on duty.

Other Developments
Work is going forward on professions. Progression for this module will be based on themed actions related to the profession taken instead of being based on  "Kill/Quest Exp".

3 new expertises have been added, Fealty, Animal Fealty, and Riding Proficiency.  The first two are variations on a 'pet' or 'minion' system. A proper full version of this system will appear in our second game...oops ignore that!



Hope you all enjoy this post, drop me a comment or take it to the forums!

Just a quick update today.
Emily completed a great version of the Ehryn world map.
This map covers the eastern hemisphere.
(Putting extra spacing like this to make the image fit properly in the website.






Her next task is a Gauss Rifle.

More info to come later in the week!

Hey folks back early this morning/night. I was able to catch Pedro and make him write a biography.


Tabletop gaming began with Hero Quest in Middle school.  Used humor in campaigns to extend the life of the game. Began CCGs as more of a interim game when unable to get full sessions of gaming together. Met Matt in High School where the two played D&D in several different gaming groups. Beginning a hobby in Video Game modding led Pedro to seek a degree in Computer Science from Full Sail. During his time at Full Sail, Pedro met Dave Arneson and took a class taught by him. Pedro still takes to heart the lesson he taught him: "If a game is truely fun, it doesn't matter what medium it's on, it will still be good, and should be able to transfer from medium to medium, and retain what makes it a fun game."


Also that preview i promised is now up on the website. You can check it out for information on The Galinans, http://www.on-the-lamb.com/?q=node/17 Island humans with a pride in their economy and family standing.

Other Developments
To coincide with out testing the Capacity stats have had their base multiplier increased.
More technical designs coming this week with a Galinan flavor.

I would just like to take this moment to thanks those that came to our first playtest, or tried to make it. We've learned some interesting things so far and look forward to future tests. We're still aiming to have another session this coming Sunday.

If you are interested in playtesting, feel free to post on the OTL forums.

I'm afraid we don't have any art to drop on you today. But I'll see about the next post, which will hopefully be Pedro's Biography. Also look forward to more LR previews on the main website this coming week.


Other Developments
We have decided that while Primary stats will affect modifiers and capacity stats during character creation, after that point the primaries do not affect them. This was decided after expertises and spell effects forced players to repeatedly review the book to adjust affected stats. This change will also help balance the progression of primary stats and modifiers as the latter have a large number of expertises devoted to them. Play testing of this change as well as a few others will begin next week.

Hi folks, sorry about the delay. I have for you now a biography for Emily Fontana, our Interface Designer, who also multitasks technical designs, and 'PR'.

Emily's Biography
Being a long time comic book fan, Emily drew scrapped comic ideas in her early life. Her first introduction to Tabletop gaming was the CCG  'Marvel OverPower'. In High School CGI art became a career goal for her, which led to a degree in Computer Animation from Full Sail University. Out of college, Emily began developing a portfolio and took ownership of a small Anime kiosk, moving it into a Brick and Mortar store as well as an internet business. During the store's duration she created two 'fanmercials',  spoofing anime to drum up interest for the store. Working with Matt to promote unique products, designed 'GunplaScape' a hex-grid conversion of Gundam Collection war minis. The game was demo'ed twice, at MegaCon and Jacon before the physical store was closed. Still making sales online, Emily manages both on-the-lamb.com and lazyotaku.com.


Other Developments
On-the-lamb.com has been updated to php and now has the forums integrated into the main site. Readers can now comment directly onto news posts.

Our first playtest since proto 2 was published will be this Sunday. If you're interested and live near Palm Coast, PLEASE contact us soon and we can see about getting you a spot. We have plenty of pizza and soda to go around! We can easily get more players in for successive sessions but starting now is ideal.

We're now writing up the first adventure for Legendary Realms "The West is Burning Red" which will be included in the book. Additional adventures will be posted on the forums or included in packs. We won't try selling a single adventure by itself.

Professions design is proceeding. Gonna drop a bit of info on the primary 12 professions. Remember that with the branches and epics you'll be able to change the basic image of these professions to tailor your playstyle. Sellsword - Heavy-handed mercenaries. Duelist - Dodgy fencers. Ranger - Ranged trackers. Merchant - Intelligent tricksters. Thief - Sneaky backstabbers. Knight - Armored guardians. Brawler - Reckless fighters. Sellspell - Warrior aetherwarpers. Mage - Resourceful wizards. Scribe - Learned scholars. Spy - Hidden messengers. Priest - Faithful practitioners.

Yeah I know thats kind of vague and not really anything to go on.....here have a rifle

Edit: Em added angled views to image and messed up the fixed image size, had to resize.

I got one of the links to Emily's work on designing our tech weapons:

'The Saw' a Cepholeum(totally not gasoline) powered weapon increases the amount of random damage done by the amount of fuel expended (which is based on how well you hit someone with it.) This setup allows Ceph tech to have a incredibly high damage cap, but also risks eating up their fuel in the first few rounds of combat. The name for the weapon comes from the Orkan's inability to name things other than based on what they are.

She spent 2314231234125 Hours in MSPaint. I swear.

Also as a neat little piece to drop on you:

That's the base page for an LR character sheet. As we built the game around customization, The Expertises, Professions, Miracles, Technology, and Aetherwarping pages are all separate, so you are not forced into having sections of empty character sheet should you decide to forgo any of the modules. The logo up there is sorta nice, but we'll be getting a different one closer to release.

Still havent pinned down Pedro for that biography...I'll get one with Emily tonight if I cannot catch him.

For those that are interested, OTL now has some simple forums up for you to post questions, write up suggestions, blabber inanely, or anything else you may decided to do on our forums. The link is logically: http://on-the-lamb.com/forums/

Edit: Resized 'The Saw' so it didnt muss up my pretty pretty blog.

I wasn't able to pin Pedro down this weekend to get a biography out of him. So, Instead I worked on the book like a good boy. Professions have been returned to Legendary Realms after some debate about including 2 different progression systems. It was finally decided that including both in the Handbook would allow us to include more variations in supplement books at a later date.

Professions Module
The Professions module will provide a class based progression system to LR, an alternative to the Expertise systems open-ended purchase style. Professions will be divided into 12 Primaries, 24 Branches and 32 Epics. The primaries will have 5 ranks to them which include stat boosts and unlock expertises for purchase. Exp will be tracked in both current and total amounts. A profession will rank up when the required total is reached (like most class systems) but expertises will be purchased with the current amount, in a narrow scope of the Expertise Module. Additionally, at rank 3 of your primary profession players can select 1 of 3 Branch professions which will include additional expertises and stat boosts. Each primary profession will share 2 branches with 2 other primaries and have 1 branch unique to it. Only one branch may be selected and they will lean a character towards a certain playtype. After all 5 ranks have been completed, Epic Professions, based on the 32 Organizations listed in the Kingdoms chapter will provide Characteristics for each rank taken (5 total).

We feel this system provides a good starting point for players of other RPGs (who dislike the open-ended style of the Expertise Module) but also adds some unique twists along with connecting to the game's lore.


Other Tidbits
Obisdia Tech's evolving weapons have been finished.
Emily has done some great 3D designs for our Cordite and Cepholeum tech weapons which I'll get a link of tommorow.
Avatars have now been finished for every Faith, only thing left to do in that chapter is fill out lore information on the different gods.
Aetherwarping is now a complete chapter to go with Creation, Prologue, Kingdoms, and Races.
Expertises will be getting 2 new Charm Expertises, Riding Proficiency and Animal Training (names subject to change) to go along with:
We'll be adding a mini-module for Mounts which will be made into a full module in RAYGUN as a Vehicle module.

Matt's Biography

My first introduction to the idea of tabletop gaming beyond the realm of monopoly was HeroQuest. A joint effort of Games Workshop and Milton Bradley, it was a beginner's rpg that used skulls and shields to determine the success of a roll. Although I didn't know at the time, it started me on that long dark path to nerd-dom. The game was often played at my elementary school while waiting for parental pickup.

While I have played many different tabletop games over the years, including CCGs and Wargames, I continually came back to HQ and always found a ready group of players willing to try something as campy and easy to understand as Hero Quest (Because everyone loves it when an elf is a class). When the pre-made quests ran out I began taking my first steps into house rules and writing for tabletop gaming.  I created new classes for characters and took our HQ sessions beyond just an advanced board game and encouraged roleplaying/alternative thinking on my players. (Some of these mad scribblings survive to this day)

During High School when scheduling conflicts led to an end of HQ sessions, I joined in on other gaming groups playing D&D 3E. I had played lightly with ADnD a few years earlier but found few players willing to stumble through the complexities of the system.  With CCGs seeing a resurgence in my area, campaigns rarely saw more than a few sessions before petering out.

By then the MMO era was at its peak with Warcrack stealing a nickname and people thinking they were being original for calling it that. Of course, I too was entangled in it and spent more time at the desktop than tabletop. As we all know, college and MMOs don't mix so I dropped out just a year into college, secondary reasoning being that C++ made me want to murder my computer.

Taking a partnership in Emily's anime store we moved it into a larger location and picked up products from overseas. One of the new products was a box of Gundam miniatures. The uniqueness to them was that they were for a minis wargame. HeroScape had just been released using a variation of the HeroQuest rules and I saw a chance to cross sell the products! (Well, actually I attempted to translate the Gundam rules into English, but then remembered that i dropped out of college and had only taken supplemental Japanese courses. But that sounded better without that failure in there didn't it?) GunplaScape was unofficially released with free rules to customers at the beginning of 07. The rules can still be found at http://gundamscape.lazyotaku.com (GunplaScape is an unofficial supplement, bla bla bla, don't sue me)

While the store's brick and mortar location is currently closed, we still do online sales as supplement to our other jobs. With the mild success and customer feedback we received from the custom wargame, we decided to write from the ground up our own RPG system.


Other Developments

Schools of Magic available : Elemental, Desert, Necromantic, Shamanism, Runesmith.
Elemental Summons are going to be customizable familiars/pets.
Because i talked about GunplaScape in this post I'm gonna go watch some Gundam and work on additions to that instead of working on the book. (Thats what Emily gets for going away for a week and leaving me alone to work on the book!)

Next blog entry will be a completely faked interview with Pedro to get his biography.

Hi folks,

I'm Matt, lead designer for Legendary Realms, a pencil and paper RPG, from On The Lamb productions. The book will debut at Janicon in November so I hope to see interested folks there!

I'll be using this blog to detail my work on the book and interesting updates that come along. You can also check out Emily's Production Blog over at on_the_lamb. That blog will have more press release style information in it. Here I'm going to try giving a more personal look at the writers behind  OTL and our books.

Our currently epic sized staff of 3 writers includes:

Matthew Whitehouse (myself) - Lead Designer
Pedro Panzardi (not me) - Editor and Mechanics Designer
Emily Fontana (also not me) - Interface Director

We also have hired some very nice artists who will be doing some great art for the book. Information on them can be found on our website.

In my next post we will begin recounting the lives of our writers and what lead them to write their own RPG.