Why release a new edition? (part 2)

Embark on new journeys into the untamed heart of Elizabethan England with the Monad edition of The Dee Sanction. You might have read Part 1 and thought that was reason enough for a new edition — expand the detail, enhance accessibility, and add more hooks and investigations. But I also want this revised edition to weave a stronger bond with the Fae, the folklore, and the enigmatic threat of the Green Wood.

The Dee Sanction is a fantastical little offering of desperate horror and occult investigative roleplaying in a different age, but one with which we will be familiar from our fascination with the period.

— pookie, Reviews from R’lyeh

Embracing the Unravelling

Part of the game’s premise is the Unravelling, the concept that the Dissolution of the Monasteries weakened the barrier protecting the known world from those that lie beyond. While the original rules included Lost in Translation — the adventure that you participated in about a broken bargain between a mortal farmer and the Fae — many of the later adventures focused on the machinations of ordinary folk seeking power, freedom, or an end to tyranny — or, at least, what they perceive to be tyranny.

I plan to release the new Dee Sanction with a light revision of the rules and focus on Fae and folklore — offering the opportunity to wade into the grey territories where right and wrong can be hard to perceive. The Fae bargains and folkloric twists won’t necessarily dominate, but I’d like to sway the focus. The threats of the Green Wood offer otherworldly perils and lies hidden in plain sight, with all kinds of potential for a moral dilemma, uneasy pacts and potential bargains that threaten to bind the Agent’s souls in timeless servitude.

To that end, I want to include more references to the fae and folklore in my core rules, the adventures, and the varied illustrations that will pepper the pages. I’m progressing with a commission for a brand-new illustration for the front of the softcover edition with artist Melissa Spandri and working with the talented Evlyn Moreau to expand the range and number of illustrations for the rules and adventures and update some of the existing work.

You can expect greater detail and plot hooks around the creatures included in the Bestiary, whether or not they’re Fae, with more consideration of all factions that benefit from the supernatural threat against the Crown and the people of England. The core book will contain ideas and short hooks for your mission creation and more adventures — like those featured in the Adventures book — that you can use straight off the page. I plan to have the adventures primarily bedded in early Elizabethan history — with a preference for the mid-1560s through to the late 1570s — and with a particular interest in the Fae and folklore of the period.

What if I already own The Dee Sanction?

You won’t lose anything while seeing the Monad edition released. The existing softcover edition will remain functional and usable and will be the only place to find the Lost in Translation adventure. The Monad edition will provide a barrel load of new adventures and hooks for missions, plus a greater depth of detail to the setting. The rules will remain compatible — the Sanction ruleset at the heart of the game isn’t changing – but presentation, explanation, and perhaps execution will receive a measure of clarity and detail not present in the current edition.

The crowdfunding for the Monad edition will give you everything you need to play The Dee Sanction in a smashing new red fabric-bound hardcover with a black Monad motif. If you have the softcover, you will have more adventures, setting material, and detail while still having an essential reference point at the table. The Monad edition will offer everything you need if you have never dabbled in the world of John Dee and the Sanction. And it’s all usable with Sanction material, so nothing stops you from exporting creatures, concepts and mechanics if you’re the sort of Game Moderator who likes to hack and tinker.