Carl Meyer's page

I'm sorry to hear web-sales of the Compleat Encounters hasn't been so great. I think it is such a fantastic idea, one that has been percolating in gaming circles for years (I have always known gamers who have wished there was a "complete package" adventure product available). It has troubled me how little discussion there is of these products online. Between these boards and EnWorld I expected a lot of enthusiasm. I assume the unpainted minis is what has deterred a segment of the potential buyers. D&D Minis have spoiled us. I like the plastics, they are convenient, but cannot hold a candle to my own paint jobs, and I'm a pretty crappy painter! The sculpts so far in the Compleat Encounters have been amazing. I have such a hard time appreciating even the "rares" in D&DM when I have the Horned Demon (from Dark Elf Sanctum) sitting in front of me.
As far as Italy and Japan being large markets, I can't say I'm surprised. I work at an agricultural research station with a lot of foreign scientists. So far, every Italian male I have met is into D&D (usually 1st ed., strangly enough). When I studied in Italy, I was amazed at how huge Tolkien was, and how every bookstore had a big fantasy display in one of their windows. This was in '97, before the LotR films even. Man, the Italian editions of the Tolkien books had spectacular cover art.
And Japan, well hell, look at all the fantasy anime and video games. I wonder if tabletop RPGs have a sort of "retro-coolness" about them there.
Apologies for the length of this post. I just really want the Compleat Encounters to be around for a long time, with many, many installments.

Good to see the line up. I hope this means that The GameMastery line is doing well. I'm doing my part!
I do have a question: Why a Graveyard for the second map pack? Not sure how useful that will be. I assume I am way off, and there will be more to it than 18 tiles of 6 headstones spaced equidistantly on each card. Guess I was expecting more standard and multi-use maps this early, like a castle or basic dungeon.
Thanks for the news, Vic. I can't wait to see these all showing up at my FLGS.

Thanks for the update, Vic. I will put in an order with my FLGS for both sets next week.
This is actually kind of exciting, kinda like Christmas (especially if I can get the Dragon Compendium in the same order)!

Any news on the Ninjas? I haven't seen them in any game stores this weekend (I've been in 4 already, great weekend so far!). Are the various GameMastery products still in line with their release dates, or are they all being pushed back?
Well, still excited for everything on the slate, I'll just work on being patient.

Any previews on these? Are they still slated for November and December? I am excited for both, they are great ideas.
Now that I finally have the first compleat encounter, I have very high hopes for the graphic qualities of these two.
Thanks!

It can be either, really. I guess I would describe it as a single encounter location expanded to short adventure level detail. For example, the Dark Elf Sanctum is really just one room (the cleric's bedchambers being ajoined). But there is a lot going on in that one room, and the bedchamber really just serves as a starting location for the cleric, who will enter the main sanctum shortly after the PCs.
There are suggestions for how to expand the encounter into more of an adventure (an encounter for on the way to the Sanctum, and a "what's next" section following).
I posted a review for Dark Elf Sanctum over at EnWorld, there is some more info there.

I just posted a review over at EnWorld. I hope it doesn't sound too critical, as I really LOVE this product, and have very high hopes for the rest of the line.
http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2584724

Carl Meyer was the name of a great king from the early medieval period of. . . OK, I'm lying. It's just my real name. I'm not sure why I used my real name, though, as I love coming up with new names for boards with what I think are clever little allusions.

For example, on EnWorld and many other boards I am Sleepy Voiced (formerly sleepy voiced narrator), which is a reference to an episode of MST3K in which Joel is referred to as the "sleepy voiced narrator".

At one time I used Sir Simon Milligan on the Necromancer Games boards, as Sir Simon Milligan is the host of "The Pit of Ultimate Darkness" on Kids in the Hall.

Looks good from here!

I just picked it up yesterday (evidently my FLGS had it for quite a while, just neglected to tell me). I am impressed. The minis are by far the best part, though. In addition to being good looking creatures, they are probably the best produced minis I have ever seen. I can't even find seams on them! I do have a few little nits to pick with the product, but overall, I think it is a fantastic start for a line. I will try to put up a review over on EnWorld in the next few days.
Thanks for the cool new toy!

That was my thought (about the metal bases being more sturdy). I get tired of my Chainmail Naresh gnolls falling flat on their faces because the plastic bases aren't heavy enough to hold them.
Oh, and since I'm here, how about future sets that loosely tie in with the old Chainmail factions? I'm not sure how many buyers Chainmail had, but I'm sure there are some who got into it for D&D applications (as I did), that would appreciate a scenario that would work well with minis they may already have. F'rex, one of the things that really got me stoked about Dark Elf sanctum is that I plan to use my Kilsek drow as extras to further flesh out the encounter.
Anyway, glad you guys are on top of so many design aspects, like sturdiness, etc., as a buyer I really appreciate it.

I saw them in a game store tonight (Millenium Games in Rochester, NY). They look pretty nice. I was surprised by the packaging. I'm not sure what I expected, some kind of box or something, but I am pleased that it doesn't have much in the way of packaging.
I was also surprised by the pewter bases on the minis. From the previews I had kind of assumed they had plastic bases. Don't know if there was anything that bothered me about that, just surprised me is all.
Hopefully my FLGS will have the copy I ordered in THIS week, then I can give a full review.

Will we be seeing Dark Elf Sanctum on store shelves this week? I ordered it through my FLGS. Have copies been sent to distributors yet? I am pretty stoked to get this (I plan on picking up a bunch of new Vallejo paints as well, and get these drow prettied up and quick!).

I was just kidding about the size of the tiles, they look great (and easily portable). Will an effort be made to make tiles from different sets usable together? If not, that is cool, but I would love to piece together huge, weird, dungeons from disparate sets (Dark elf monkey ninja cult of liches!).
Mr. Radney-McFarland is a pretty talented painter, he really did a great job of showing the potential these minis have.
Thanks for the updates!

Maps look great! Just what I was hoping for (well, I would have liked them to be about twice that size and twice as many in a set, but I understand the scope of the product limits these things).
Who painted the minis? They look pretty sweet.
I can wait on sculpts for the next set. This preview made me wish it was the end of August (what is wrong with me? It's summer!).
Thanks for the heads up again Vic!
ps- I had a room mate in college named Nick Wertz, so every time I see your name I think of him, drunk at 3:30 am, folding laundry, and singing songs from "The Little Mermaid". I guess that sounds weird, but he was a great guy, so you can take it as a compliment.

I have to agree, I love Kyle's little monsters (I know I should show my proper appreciation by having one as an avatar, but, well, there ya go). It is always fun to open a new Dungeon and see these reinterpretations of D&D classics.
Hey! I've got a great idea! Seriously! Why not make a mini-game (like used to appear in Dragon long, long ago) to insert in Dungeon, following a dungeon theme, with all of Kyle's creations duking it out to control the dungeon! Or something! Too many exclamation points?!
Not yet! I have been getting ready to see my eight year old nephew in a couple of weeks and play the D&D basic game. I would love a simple two person game that "looks" D&D that he and I could play. It gets difficult trying to convince my sisters and their SOs to play D&D with us.
OK, that was a weird tangent. My apologies. I really just wanted to chime in and say I love Kyle's art. Oh, and I have really been enjoying Downer - keep it up sir!

And if you don't have a copy of MMIII, you can save yourself some cash as the Kenku was posted on the WotC website as a preview (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20040912b&page=4).
Although I do recommend MMIII, it has a lot of great stuff in it.

Great! Thanks Vic!

It has been a couple of weeks since there has been anything new on this board. Just hoping for some more info (perhaps map previews? Concept art for the next two compleat encounters? More greens?). I am excited by what I see about the Shackled City HC, but the GameMastery line seems to address more of my gaming needs. I can't wait to see these things in my FLGS!

Awesome! The role-player was comedian Patton Oswalt. He also did a voice on Home Movies as an obsessed role-player at a ren-fest. I think it is in the 3rd season of that show (hopefully will be coming out on DVD soon). I have Reno 911 on my netflix queue, this little taste might push those discs up to the top!

So I just read the description for the Campaign map packs. Looks like tiles are the plan. Great! So now my question becomes: 2-sided or 1? Oh, and how many in each Compleat Encounter? Oh Oh, I also noticed that the mappacks will be a series, not just a one time product. Does that mean that we will be seeing more than one "theme-pack" in Nov.? That would be awesome if it was the case.

Just a quick question about the maps. Are they going to be cardstock mapcards that can be recombined in different ways, like the new D&D Basic set? I got the impression early on that that would be the case, but lately it sounds more like a fold-up paper map.
I myself would much prefer the former. 2-sided map cards (preferably of the same size as in the Basic set) that can be used in a variety of ways would be great.
Whatever way you go, I'm sure it will turn out great. But right now the mapcard route seems the most useful.

Wow, James, are you always lurking around to answer questions like this?

Cool to see some new blood in the iconics. I really enjoy seeing how all of the great artists who contribute to Dungeon interpret these characters. Brings me back to my days when I read X-Men and looked forward to new visions of those characters.

I think these iconics are a good idea, it really brings a nice visual representation of the "shared experience" aspect of D&D. Not only do the characters connect all the variety of adventures Dungeon provides, but it also creates an artistic common ground to show off the talents of the various artists who make D&D eye-candy as well as a game.

I really appreciate all the attention you guys pay to these little details, it is clear you care as much for the institution that is Dungeon (and Dragon) as all of us fans do.

It looks like our favorite half-elf paladin-in-blue and the red elf rogue have some new pals. It looks like one is a tiefling fighter-type and the other, well, I have no idea. She may be a cleric, and she has all those blade-looking things on her clothing.
I am basing this on the fact that those two new images appear both on the cover and in a couple of other interior illustrations with the elf and the paladin.
Did something happen to the ranger-ish woman and the sorcerer guy?
I can't believe I am this interested in this. Wow, I need to get out more.

I just got #124 today, excellent monsters indeed. I love the Maure castle stuff (the monsters in the first instalment were classics).
I guess I will keep my eyes on Dragon for monsters from now on. Thanks for the update James!

Subject says it all. This feature was announced several months ago and I have been eagerly anticipating it. I'm a big sucker for new monsters, so the sooner it starts appearing the better.

AWESOME! Great talent on this project, I can't wait to get my shaky-from-too-much-caffeine fingers on it.
I am especially pleased with the art for the Ninja entry. The look is clearly "ninja", but doesn't necessarily scream "Asia, you know, on Earth!". They could fit in my Greyhawk campaign, yay!
The Dark Elf entry also looks promising (I was hoping for a good drider, ah well, Reaper here I come). I never got into drow in the last 20 or so years of gaming, and they are just now becoming interesting to me. I'm looking forward to using the Dark Elf Sanctum with all my Kilsek Drow from Chainmail and the "Fane of the Drow" from WotC this fall.
Thanks Paizo! Rock, Rock on!

OK. I am so thrilled. This line looks like exactly what I had hoped it would be. Wow. I can't wait to pck these up. Wow again.

Are wew going to see previews of the mini sculpts? I'm pretty stoked for those, as someone who loved the 3E and Chainmail minis. I like the plastic ones enough, but I much prefer a good metal one that I can paint to my own specifications.

Again, you guys are the best. Between the magazines becoming my favorite (and most useful) D&D purchases, the adv. path HC, best of Dragon, and now this, you've got me hooked for the long haul.

Ok, it's been a couple of weeks or so since I pestered about this line. Any news?

So, since it has been a week now, I'm sure everything is lined up and you can give us a full-color-glossy-eight-page-pamphlet-with-diagrams-cross-
sections-teasers-concept-art-a-stick-of-gum-and-the-full-release-
schedule-for-the-next-three-years type of announcement. Right?
I am just chomping at the bit for this stuff. I'm not sure why, but I just have a good feeling about this stuff.
Well, if you can share any more info I'd appreciate it, and if not I will continue my vigil in front of my Paizo DM screen.

Thanks for the update Erik! This sounds like it's going to be unbelievably cool. After seeing what you guys have been able to do with Dungeon and Dragon, I have the highest confidence this stuff will be of incredible quality and utility. Anxious to hear more (or just to get the stuff, but I'll settle for info for the time being).

Anything? Maybe just a "we'll have more info next week"?

Any word on when we will hear more about this line? I am very excited for "Dark Elf Sanctuary", and I would like to hear about what other things are in store.
I apologise if this isn't the right forum for this (I just went with Dungeon is primarily for DMs, the GameMastery line is tools for DMs, therefore. . .).

Just a little bump for my own gratification. This line has really piqued my interest, I'm excited to hear more about it.

I'm surprised I haven't seen more (or any) posts on this new line. I guess part of the issue is I wasn't even sure which forum to look in.
Anyway. This looks AWESOME! Metal Miniatures! How many? Map cards! Like in the Basic boxed set? The press release says "A complete schedule for the GameMastery line will be released shortly after the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, March 14-17." Well, it's the 19th already! I need more info. Thats two whole days! Are you guys "enjoying your weekends" or "sleeping off jet lag" or some other poor excuse? I suppose I can be patient. I just wanted to let you guys at Paizo know that I think they have a winner of an idea here ($14.95!).
Between this and the two hardcovers being put out this year I think I have a new favorite D20 publisher (well, tied with Malhavoc).
You guys are awesome.

Unless there aren't more details coming in the next week or two.

Then you are just horrible teases.

You know, I always forget the appearance-shifting abilities of magic-users. Makes sense though.
I didn't know Iggwilv was the mother of Iuz. Good to know. I am a recent convert to Greyhawk (no little thanks to Erik and the efforts made in Dungeon lately). I love all the history of Greyhawk I am picking up in these adventures.
As far as controversy over the cover itself, I hope not. This is the type of cover I love to see. It gives us a glimpse into the events precluding an adventure. Good work WAR and Dungeon staff.

Wow! I assume that is Graz'zt and Iggwilv on the cover. I guess I never imagined Iggwilv as that, well, hot. Maybe it's her name, but Iggwilv sound more crone-like. Well, I guess if she had a demon-prince's attention, she must have been fairly attractive.
Regardless, great cover, I can't wait to get this one!

I would like to second Jack Flynn’s suggestion in #329’s Scale Mail. Including counters of wagons, caravans, etc would be great. It is his suggestion of a poster map for a ship that is the real gold to me. I have considered writing to request something along those lines recently, so I am glad to see I am not alone in wanting one. A ship is such a great adventure location, and one that can be used over and over again. To take Mr. Flynn’s idea a step further, why not a series of maps with above- and below-decks views of each of the ship types listed in the DMG? Maybe fold-up models of the smaller ships? How about a D&D minis tile of a small boat?
I seem to recall something about the return of Maps of Mystery to Dungeon. Perhaps some of those could be of the poster variety, scaled for table-top use? I love the maps of Greyhawk we have gotten in Dungeon, and I would love to see more little extras like that for in-game use. Well, I better stop for now, I can only get this worked up over an idea every 1d4 rounds.
-Carl

I just ran this last weekend (along with Obsidian Eye - on a a desert kick right now). It was great. I added a large earth elemental outside the way station as the characters I was running were a bit higher in level. The players and characters both got pretty freaked out by the meenlocks, especially after dealing with the elemental they were expecting big, straight forward bad guys. At one point the meenlocks managed to blind one PC and paralyze another, out of 3 PCs, leaving the last one to deal with the king and the last two meenlocks. It was close, but the group survived, and had a great time. One of the best sessions we have had.

So here's an idea: Instead of a critical threat or some other statting of them, make minis of them as some sort of promotional dealie, and include blank stat cards. Then have readers send the stats in they created, both RPG and skirmish stats. There's your contest! You can print official cards as an insert of the best entries. Heck, each year have a new sculpt and a new stat contest! It's so crazy it just might work! Or maybe it won't work at all, and I just happened to have one glass of wine too many with dinner. Anyway, I think they look cool (but I guess that is obvious by now).

I just got 117 today, and these guys are in the art at the start of 3 articles (the backdrop on Istivin and the two non-Eberron adventures)! Their depictions seem cooler even than on 114. I like the idea of having these guys be the "stand-ins". I always enjoy seeing how different artists depict the same people (especially if they are fictional). Good idea guys.
PS- Andrew Hou, awesome stuff.

Thanks for the quick response Erik.
I'm not surprised to hear about the extent of the maps, I am still very excited for them though. I have been planning on running some of the classic adventures, and it will be nice to know where they are located in relation to each other. I guess I'll just have to keep my subscription current until that westward expansion appears;). By the way, great job with Dungeon, Erik. I couldn't be more pleased with what I have seen lately and with what is on the horizon. All of the Dungeon staff's hard work has been greatly appreciated.

I too was wondering who these guys are. If Dungeon were to have its own iconics I would find that quite cool. I agree with Cold Steel that they look better than the WotC iconics.

Howdy all,
Just wondering, will these maps go beyond the borders of the map from the LG gazetteer? I would love to see some more detail on areas to the west especially. Perhaps if not in these maps, maybe a future map freebie? I've been playing since 1e, but 3e is the first edition in which I have made use of Greyhawk, so I'm not familiar with any past explorations of these "off-the-map" areas in TSR products.