D&D 5e Conversions below
In the early 2000s I got involved with a play by post forum RPG. I spent several years developing the ongoing story with the others there. I made friends and experimented with ideas and styles that still play a part in my writing and my games. This RPG became the home of my character Alto.
​
What started out as a fun pastime grew into a more serious endeavor, and the New Horizon RPG was born. I came on board as a writer and our ragtag group tried its best to make our dreams come true. We managed to put out a few books, and I learned a lot. In 2015 the project went in hiatus. In 2018 the website closed down. I saved the text from an archived copy of the site, some of it is available below.
​
We produced several books and previews in different stages.
​
Version 1.0 was the initial writing. I wasn't involved yet, but it pulled from some of the groundwork I had helped with in the forum RPG.
​
I came on when we were starting Version 2.0. This was mostly a cleanup of 1.0. The mechanics were still the same with only a few tweaks.
​
While were working on 2.0, the mechanics system we were using went through a major update. Since we were only halfway finished with the 2.0 update, we decided to just go ahead and update everything to the new mechanics. This was version 3.0.
​
Various books and previews from the different versions have been available as free downloads at different times. Several of them can be downloaded below.
PLAYER'S MANUAL
Your distant ancestors weren’t born under Eridani, like you. Hard as it is for some believe, they were born under the light of a softer, more yellow star almost ten light years away. Even though the world they called Earth had suffered a savage blow, they came not as refugees, but settlers. Intent on spreading humanity’s seed to the stars.
​
Your forebears struggled to make this world livable for all the generations to come, from the day they landed on New Horizon to they day you were born into it. Humanity's place on this wild new world has become more stable, with many strong, technologically advanced and well-defended cities acting as almost unassailable bastions of the Earths children. Now the time has come for the brave young men and women of New Horizon to step out of our comfortable cities, to pave the way for a greater future by unraveling the puzzles of this world's long and tortured past.
​
They come from all corners of the globe and all walks of life. Some call them Walkers, others Ronin. Some eschew romanticism and simply call them what they are, adventurers. These adventurers, whether they travel the world in search of fame, gold or glory, all share one thing in common: They can feel that a change is coming to this world. And they all turn their eyes towards the future, eager to meet the new challenge.
​
When your ancestors landed, the greatest threat was the savage native wildlife. But since the day they came to this world, little by little, strange and otherworldly phenomena called ‘æther’ have been creeping into the world. Storms of otherworldly energy, space twisting back on itself and bottomless fonts of water and fire now plague the land.
​
New Horizon is no tame world. It gives up its secrets only with great reluctance and much blood, sweat and tears. Will you stay within our cities and fight the strange encroaching supernatural phenomena and wildlife, or will you seek to meet it head on in the wild places of the world?
​
Whether you hail from the progressive north of Aquilon, the Earth nostalgia obsessed League of Xanadu or anywhere between, the world is beckoning you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a prince or a pauper, your sword can cut through the obstacles. It doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran of war or a civil servant who’s never heard a gun fired in anger in your entire life. The only thing that matters is your desire to affect change. Adventure awaits you in as many forms as you can imagine. So no matter how unlikely it seems, trust in yourself, and take that first step out of our front door. New Horizon has been waiting a long time, don’t make it wait any longer.
​
Archive
The links below contain information from the no longer active New Horizon website.
New Horizon Stories
These are pieces written within the world of New Horizon.
Alto's Journal: Alto was my original character in the New Horizon forum RPG. When I started writing for the RPG itself, I began writing down his story. These are sections from that story, the entirety of which has never been written down.
​
Astaria's Final Day: Tied in with Alto's story is the story of Astaria. She was the woman he loved, and her death set him on his path
Gedrin's Story: Introduced in the New Horizon starter guide, Gedrin was an enemy soldier who began to doubt his ways.
​
Greeting the Corridor: Set during the Great War, this short story follows an aesir soldier as he meets the mysterious Corridor XII
​
Morning on the River: The story of a journey down the river in the Narehl Jungle
D&D 5e Conversion Project
With the official New Horizon RPG on indefinite hiatus, I will be working on an unofficial conversion for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. This project is a bit of nostalgia for me. After spending so many years playing and working in the world of New Horizon, I don’t want to see it disappear. I am doing this conversion project to try and keep New Horizon alive in some form or another. To that end I will endeavor to keep this a place where new material is developed until such time as an official project gets under way again.
Join me on this little ride. Feedback is welcome. You can reach me on facebook and twitter.
​
Wizards has already addressed some of the things I will be using as I make these conversions. Some useful material to look at is the article "My New d20 Modern Campaign" and the Races of Eberron (Specifically the Warforged). I will also be taking a look at Modern Magic when I work on the æther system.
Conversions:
My first conversion work will focus on the animals and plants of New Horizon.