Greg A. Vaughan's page

Hi Guys,

Here's a quick update on shipping that Bill posted on the KS website on Monday:

We have packed everything except for orders containing the Maladies cards and the metal books. The Maladies cards are proofed and go to press very soon, so it will just be another couple weeks. Metal books will be somewhat delayed, as our bookbinder is in Europe until December. We have mailed (or will mail) all of the orders as soon as the cards arrive—metal books will be shipped separately as soon as they are done! Thank you all again for the patience—enjoy those extra poster maps!
BW

Bill didn't give me a specific date, but he acted like it would not take very long. The print and shipping times on our softcovers are generally much shorter than on our hardbacks. So I wouldn't expect it to take more than a week or so. Especially since it'll be a rush order to fix a printing error that had occurred.

BTW, did anyone else notice that this book took #2 on Endzeitgeist's Top Ten of 2016 list?

;-)

Quick Update:

Bill has informed me that almost all of the backer orders for The Blight have been shipped. Apparently there was a problem with the covers of The Blight PHBs which required them to be reprinted, so my understanding is that all of the orders that didn't include the PHB are what has gone out. The Blight PHB is being rush printed and shipped to Bill so that the rest of them will go out shortly.

The Blight Maladies card decks are also not back from printing yet, but rather than hold up orders to wait on them those will be shipped separately when they are received by Bill.

Greg

Heh heh heh heh heh.

Don't leave it near any food or pets either...

To The Blight these things are synonymous.

Hey Libertad!

Sorry for the slow reply. The official FGG recommendation is the standard medium XP track. However, we generally don't ever say it because we try to make our adventures so that a GM can modify his/her pace to fit the game.

Northlands Saga is even trickier than normal. It has a great many opportunities for wandering monster encounters to try and capture the feel of the unexplored wilderness of the North which can accelerate leveling too fast for some games if these encounters are used extensively. In addition, because we know not everyone wants to do an entire campaign of Viking adventures, there is a lot of level overlap between the individual adventures in the series.

The "official" track would be Medium track, but if you do so you'll have to be careful about the number of random encounters you throw at your players to avoid leveling too fast.

My own personal preference for this AP would probably be the slow track though. That way I can use the random encounters extensively to give it that gritty edge-of-the-world feel that it's supposed to have and still not worry much about the level overlap. Plus it keeps a lower power level over all that I think fits well with the old-school vibe of the setting. The downside is that you might run into not leveling fast enough. However, because of that possibility we created the 6 Northlands Saga Series stand-alone adventures (NLS1-6) that you can use to supplement XP when needed.

Hope that's helpful. Have fun with your Viking game. Northlands Saga is pretty fun to play in, and while I haven't had the opportunity to play the AP in its entirety I have run different portions of it extensively at various cons and it's always a blast.

Greg

Woohoo! It's the meekly self-deprecating bundle o' awesome from Frog God Games, Kobold Press, and Green Ronin (and lets not forget godfather Necromancer Games lurking there in the background)! Though now that I look at the Humble Bundle logo I kinda' think that's called a bindle rather than a bundle...[insert thinking emoji]. But who cares! That's some serious loot for some not-so-serious scratch, and it even goes for an awesome cause. And as an owner of all but 3 of those listed titles (reminder to self to get those last 3) I can attest that is some awesome stuff in there.

As Wolfgang and Bill both mentioned, FGG, Green Ronin, and Kobold Press are all offering hardcopy sales on their respective websites as well. And I can't speak for KP and GR, but I know the FGG Equally Modest Sale offers a lot of those same PF titles in the Sword & Wizardry system (and some even in 5e, I think) for any non-PF players who may be hanging out here on the Paizo boards.

So get in on this Humble Bindle sale while supplies last...
Ah, who am I kiddin'? They're pdfs. They'll be around forever (or at least until the machines take over). But it'll be tough to beat these deals. :-)

You guys are correct: there's no cross-pollination between the new S&W KS and the Blight KS. In fact, I only just found about the launch of the S&W KS from reading this page. [facepalm]

Anyway, as mentioned above. I just posted a big update on the Blight page. In summary, The Blight continues, I'd be concerned too (so no worries there about asking if you are), and we're going to get stuff into your virtual hands as fast as we can while sending it to the printer, etc.

Thanks all!

Greg

D'oh! That shouldn't have been omitted. Range of the needle spray is a 40-foot cone.

Extra set of vestigial legs and of course tentacles!

No worries, Heine Stick. Your concerns were valid and well voiced. And I'm sure you were saying what most people thought. I didn't interpret them that way at all. I'm just sorry it took me so long to address them.

Thanks!

Hey Guys! Sorry for the long silence. Your frustrations are totally legit. Massive update on the KS page here.

Greg

Shem, I think it was a reference that was included in the update of Barakus. It's on our future products list. :-)

Quick update for Bard's Gate (and The Blight):

I'm about 80% through the development of Bard's Gate (a significantly lower percentage through development of The Blight - though other than a few odds and ends Alistair Rigg is still tinkering with, the manuscript for it is 100% in). This is just a perfect storm where products from two different arms of FGG ended up on my desk at the same time. Considering BG was about 50% a previously released and formatted book and I did the developmental groundwork for the new parts in spring 2015, it's just much faster work in progress than The Blight. I've just basically living under a rock since North Texas Con cranking on both of them. :)

So by way of update on The Blight, it's still going. It just has a lot more complexity and moving parts to it. That said, I hope to have some Tome of Blighted Horror art previews for you next week. :)

But enough about that for now. I came here to talk Bards Gate for the moment. Why should you get Bard's Gate?
Well, if you know the original, then it's got everything you liked about it refined, updated, expanded, and improved. Everything you didn't like about it has been fixed, revamped, and integrated. It's got a coherent, long-term history of the city and valley. No more guesswork about whens and how things fit together. Plus, as has been mentioned it's a lynch pin for the entire Gulf of Akados and Sinnar Coast regions and all of the books we've made to date that fall within that massive geographical area.

If you don't have the original, well then this one is worth a look because it's a big awesome city book with hundreds of keyed encounter areas, beautiful maps, a ton of built-in adventures, and gorgeous full-color art by Artem Shukaev and Colin Chan.

A few more tidbits that make this a must have:
In addition to an expansive ToC this book has
An index of important people, places, and groups;
A chapter fully describing the various guilds, military organizations, non-military organizations, and secret organizations (including hidden cults) that gives info on leaders/key members and meeting locations;
A complete city directory breaking down all of the city's locations into categories such as: city government, religious, craftsmen, hospitality, entertainment, comestibles, dry goods, services, magical services, illicit services, and much more. Basically if your PCs need to know where to find something, this handy directory makes finding it (or more likely the multiple options for it) right at your fingertips;
Two new city districts: Underhill and the Catacombs;
The long-missed Citadel of Ravens (first mentioned alongside the famed Citadel of Griffons in the original book and then mysteriously absent beyond that single mention);
Ethnographies of the various types of inhabitants of the city tying them in with the many other FGG and NG products including such classics as The Grey Citadel, fan favorites like Sword of Air, and even forthcoming products like Mountains of Madness;
Finally an explanation of what's the deal with the Duchy of Waymarch and what does it have to do with the city;
The back stories of Tomb of Abysthor and parts of The Slumbering Tsar Saga, The Northlands Saga Complete, and Shades of Gray;
And an explanation of who the heck the Bandit King was;
And much, much more.
Plus it's got so many shout-outs, Easter eggs, and tributes to 4 decades of gaming packed into it that you'll want to punch us in the face before you're through. ;)

And if all that doesn't sell you on it, you're probably a soulless zombie. In which case did I mention the City of Ashes and Cult of Orcus…

Greg

What davrion said with the addition of:
What Evil Lurks is set in Hawkmoon and was in fact the original Hawkmoon title, I believe.
Raise the Dead is multiple scenarios that do not necessarily tie in directly with Hawkmoon, but I think one or more of them might be associated with Hawkmoon. Can't remember for sure offhand.

Alright back into my working pit. Maybe they'll leave the lid open just a crack for me. :)

P.S. Legends of Hawkmoon to definitively connect and flesh all those titles out…just as soon as I get finished with The Blight…and The canon review of Bard's Gate…and the Lost Lands Campaign Setting...
I'm saying it may still be a little while. ;)

Hi All,

I'm writing this from North Texas Con...the week after Paizo Con...the week after my last med school final of third year. All that is to say, things are keeping me hopping right now and away from updating on The Blight and such. However, all is still good, and I'm goad you asked.

The writing for The Blight is finished in its entirety except for Bill's adventure and has been turned into me. It is about 80% through its first developmental pass with Al Rigg, Jeff Swank, and others, and is sitting on my desk for its final development and canon pass. Which brings me back to my hopping mentioned above.

So rest assured the product exists in almost its entirety and is now at the mercy of one guy trying to get through the quantity of writing that has amassed. The good news is it's happening. :-) But unfortunately, it's happening at the speed of Greg. :-(

Anyway, I wanted to pop by and give an update since folks are asking to let you know where we are in its progress.

Thanks for your support!

Greg

It's not ready for layout yet, so it hasn't become an issue at this point. Though I do anticipate that it will cause some delay. We're just going to have to see how things go with Chuck day to day and what we're able to do with what. However, in the meantime, the development of the book continues. Never fear, FGG will still publish the book. :-)

We'll definitely release a pdf version of the book for sale when the book comes out and, as always, the purchase of the physical book thru FGG will include the pdf for free.

Greg

The Borderland Provinces are mainly due south of the area covered in Sword of Air, and the Sundered Kingdoms are southeast or it. Southwest of the Sword of Air areas would be the Kingdoms of Foere, which we have not yet published.

Greg

You're welcome! :-)

From what I understand, QoD3 is the adventures from the environment books (Fields of Blood, Dunes of Desolation). These were PF only, so this new book will be conversions of the adventures (but not the rules?).

And from Glades of Death as well, but this is otherwise correct.

The environment books (Perilous Vistas) are PF-only books that rely on the intricacies of the PF rules system that do not correlate well with the more simplified 5e and S&W systems (no point in converting feats for S&W, for instance, since it doesn't use feats). Anyway, the resulting conversions of actually relevant rules material would be so thin, they would hardly qualify as "books" really. Rather than try to tack such a sparse product onto the adventures within (which convert just fine between systems) we figured it would give a better product value to just combine those adventures into products (i.e. the QoD line of books) to make them available for the other systems in addition to PF.

Because of the vagaries of the original QoD 5e KS and the fact that some adventures featured in the QoD series already existed in PF and/or S&W and therefore did not need a reprint just to try and grab dollars from fans, the series got off to a bit of a tangled start. Below is the general translation (it's actually not that difficult once you see the mechanism behind the madness). Also, we're starting to put an "Other FGG Products" page at the front of all our new books (starting with QoD2 I believe) to help folks keep things straight. The initial volume issue aside, for everything else it's just a matter if the adventures within already exist in a given system.

Explainer:

Quests of Doom, Vol 1 - 5e only
--6 adventures previously published in 3.5e by Necromancer Games (updated to 5e) and 6 new adventures written for 5e. This was our original promotional project to test the waters of the nascent 3PP 5e market.

Quests of Doom, Vol 2 - 5e only
--6 original adventures written for 5e and included as stretch goals in the original QoD KS, but the stretch goals were not met so they could not be included. Rather than waste the adventurers, they were compiled into a second volume of the QoD and released as a short second book.

Quests of Doom - PF and S&W
--This is all 18 of the adventures found in QoD, Vol 1, and QoD, Vol 2. The outcry from fans was so great for PF and S&W versions of the above adventures, that they were updated to those systems as well. Since it wasn't tied to KS stretch goals, it didn't make since from a publishing standpoint or a consumer standpoint to have it split into two smaller volumes, we combined it into one.
This is the book that most folks refer to as QoD 1 (though we don't call it that to prevent confusion with QoD, Vol. 1 which only has 2/3 of the adventures. Some people call it QoD Complete (which I like, but since we decided it would be the launch of an entire line we thought that would be confusing as well).
To be clear: All of the adventures in QoD are the same as in QoD Vols. 1 and 2 combined, just for different game systems. And NONE of the 18 adventurers found within had ever been updated to PF rules before.

Quests of Doom 2 - 5e only
--This book has 6 adventures that already exist in various FGG products in PF and S&W versions, so there was no reason to make it for those versions as well just to try and squeeze more money out of our PF and S&W customers. However, our new 5e fans did have an appetite for more adventures and did not have access to 5e versions of these 6 unless they converted them themselves. We decided to save them the trouble and do it for them. :-)

Quests of Doom 3 - 5e and S&W (the current KS)
--This book has 8 or so (can't remember the exact number) adventures that already exist in FGG products for PF (or are in the works, such as Glades of Death which is undergoing a PF update and is the source of a couple of the adventures herein). So this book only needed to be updated for 5e and S&W versions.

Quests of Doom 4 - PF, 5e, and S&W (upcoming in late 2016)
--This is the first QoD volume of ALL original adventures. That means there aren't any of them already published in any version. So like QoD (or QoD, Vols 1 & 2 depending on the version you play), this is the first one to be made for all three systems since then.

Quests of Doom 5 - 5e and S&W??? (not sure on release date)
--I'm going from memory here, but I think this is another book where the adventures have already been/are being published for PF so this book will only need to be made for 5e and S&W versions.

The plans for the line continue, but that's as far as I can remember. QoD6 may also be underway with all original adventures for all 3 systems again, but I honestly can't remember for sure.

Anyway, I hope that clears up the muck some. Hopefully by QoD6 all of the QoD vs. QoD, Vols 1&2 will be well behind us. :-)

P.S. Book of Alchemy is still in the works. It's just a project that, being true to its subject matter, requires a slow simmer. I can't begin to guess what kinds of lymphomas and neuro deficits John Ling is going to develop from being steeped in all those alchemical reagents for so long. But, it's cool, we always told him he was expendable...or maybe we didn't, I don't recall at the moment. Meh, either way.

Exactly what Matt said! :-)

Durbenford is not regionally a part of the Borderland Provinces (so it didn't make it onto the edge of the map), but it is politically a part of the BP (so it's included in the book).

.

I think that just about sums it up perfectly.

I love big books and I cannot lie....

:)

Backed!

Your anaconda* will give you flack

*The CR 10 advanced-HD version of the constrictor snake as described on page 255 of the PF Bestiary. What'd you think I was talking about?

Quick Update:

We hit the button on the Blight KS page earlier this morning. It is now in the hands of the Kickstarter approval process to be launched. Supposedly this can take up to three days. In our experience with KS in the past, this has taken about 10 minutes. Apparently we're falling somewhere in between. But what that means is that it can appear at any moment. So if you see it, start a thread here with a link. I'm on a short lunch break but will be in clinic the rest of the afternoon, Bill is at a game convention, and Matt is out Matting like a Matt (I don't actually know what Matt is doing). I'm just saying, we may not be the first to see it, so be sure and let the cat out of the bag if you do.

Hi all,

We're diligently getting the KS together to go live with The Blight. Unfortunately my rotations schedule picked this time to switch away from midnights (yay!) to 5-to-5s (boo!). So we're putting it together as we can. Anyway, it should definitely be up this week. I'd like to have it launch by Tuesday, as I told Rich, but sometime in there will do. :-)

Anyway, we'll keep you posted.

So watch the skies!..er, gutters...I guess...

Greg

Yes, Greg, I want an appendix about the deities of the Lost Lands.

Me too! With this thing about to fund, I think we should be hearing from Matt soon about some stretch goals. And I think a deities appendix would probably be a pretty high priority for that.

P.S. ONLY $502 AWAY FROM FUNDING!!!

Matthew Finch wrote:

Dragnmoon wrote:

Woot! Looking forward to this!

Any of the books come with Deity information?

Some. There's a lot more about the temples, organizations, worshippers, and religions than about the deities themselves. This area is right in the center of the best-known gods mentioned in the adventures, like Thyr, Muir, Jamboor, Kamien, Freya, Telophus, Mitra, and Belon the Wise, so it focuses more on the influence of their various temples.

What there is, in terms of new information on religions, is a detailed discussion of how heresy functions.

Too bad, would love to see a chapter dedicated to the major deities/religion in the area kind of like the inner sea world guide.

Well...now that you mention it, there are about to be some stretch goals on the table. And with all this deity stuff we've written, we'd sure like to put it somewhere. :-)

Will there be any method to combine postage on any of the KS's? Since there's so many abound, I think I've spent over $100 on shipping alone - money I prefer to give to you guys; even if it meant waiting a while for the next KS project to be printed.

I don't know the answer to that, but it's worth it for you to shoot Bill an email and ask I'd think. He might be able to help you out with that and potentially save you a bundle.

Hi mach1.9pants,

We know that there is 5e support out there. The question is if it is there for campaign materials and adventure paths or not. The Kobold's monster book is just that, a monster book. Our own monster book, Fifth Edition Foes, sold very well. But Borderland Provinces is a campaign setting book, and WotC has been focusing a lot of attention on their own setting of the Forgotten Realms, so it's not an unfilled niche like additional monster books are.

We're not testing to see if there is 5e support (we know there is). We're testing to see if there's 5e support for a product like Borderland Provinces.

And I'm with you, I hope there's a ton of support. I'd love to see Rappan Athuk, Slumbering Tsar, Barakus, etc. emerge with 5e versions to terrify and abuse a whole new edition of gamers. :-)

Love the new avatar, Matt!

Four thumbs up, heh, heh. ;-)

Have any delays been noted on delivery of the email link? I've gone through the ordering process twice now for the preview pdf and all I'm getting is the eerie silence of the grave.

Did Silverhair's instructions work for you Unclefes?

Backed. Yes, need to pay more attention to the current project.

Sorry for the Blight distraction. We just wanted to use the Halloween period to plug the upcoming project as well. After today we will return you to your regularly scheduled Borderland Provinces KS.

Hey Rich, did you get my inside joke about the Lantern Man?

:-)

P.S. One of those photos was taken in Rich's basement. I'll let you guess which one...

Day 7 is upon us at last.

The link is up here. (And it will materialize that instant for you this time.) :-)

We're still working on a link that will accept your money through your computer screen.

The link is up from now until midnight tomorrow.

Just like the title said. Tonight at midnight begins the 7th Day of Halloween (as we at Frog God Games count such things), so in celebration we're releasing a free preview pdf of the first 10 pages of Richard Pett's much-anticipated master campaign and adventure path.

This is the campaign from which Richard originally spawned his classic modules set in "The Styes" back in Dungeon Magazine. He's written the complete campaign book and a 9-module adventure path set there, and Frog God Games is going to launch a Kickstarter for it on November 15th. But before then, we're releasing a free pdf preview of the Guide to the Blight's first 10 pages to let you get an idea of the madness...ahem, mayhem...erm, masochism...having a hard time coming up with a non-perjorative term...no, madness is probably most accurate that is The Blight: Richard Pett's Crooked City.

So check it out here under the Updates tab to download your pdf.

But beware. The free pdf will only be available from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow.So don't miss out.

THE TERROR RETURNS TONIGHT!!

Do you have fond memories of "The Styes" from the halcyon days of Dungeon Magazine?
Perhaps a bit of lingering PTSD?
Were you afraid that it was gone forever? (or maybe you wanted it to be?)

Well fret not, friends and fiends, because Richard Pett's very own campaign from which "The Styes" was spawned lives on...lives again...whichever...in The Blight: Richard Pett's Crooked City forthcoming from Frog God Games.

See where the madness began and where it was first afflicted upon the poor souls who have had the misfortune to be trapped in Rich's home game for the past few decades (usually strapped to a chair in a bricked up room is my understanding)

And tonight at the stroke of midnight, a special preview pdf revealing the first 10 pages of this dastardly edition of devious d...something (writing is hard!) will be released for free download here under the Updates tab. Previous updates on this page also include special treats from the previous 6 days of The Blight reveals in anticipation of this Halloween release.

But this special release will be available only from midnight at the eve of All Hallow's Eve until midnight at the eve of...post-All Hallow's Eve...that's probably not very clear. Okay it's available from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow. After that the link will be taken down and this special free preview pdf will disappear into the aether...forever.

Actually, it'll probably pop back up at some time during The Blight KS that will be launched by Frog God Games on Nov. 15, but Halloween is the only time you will be able to get it before then. So don't miss out!

The Lantern Man gives it four thumbs up!

We would love to see the 5e market open up to our big books like The Blight and such. So far we've seen a really good response to our adventure anthologies (the Quests of Doom series), but it remains to be seen if they're looking for campaign material as well, like these big books. Fingers crossed.

Only 1 more day 'til Halloween...do you know where your children are?

They just might be here...

Naw, I'm just joshin' ya. That's just the latest update on The Blight for the 7 Days of Halloween from Frog God Games. I actually don't know where your children are. Last I heard they were waiting for you by the creepy van that was parked over there. I told them only one piece of candy each. Come to think of it haven't seen them since that van left.

Hey! What kind of parents are you anyway, leaving me to watch your kids in this parking lot? You don't even know me!

Sheesh! Some people.

The Fifth Day cometh.

It will have all the info of the original plus a lot more. So it will actually be significantly different but will not leave out any of the prior information.

Well, it's good enough that both Jeff and I feel weird admiring it so much.

Like butter...

:-)

I hope we get a Jack the Ripper like character wandering the Blight...and if not that, then at least a whole cult comprised of them.

Perhaps you haven't heard of a fellow known by some as Bloody Jack Carver. He visited PaizoCon, NTRPGCon, and Pacificon a couple years back in an epic three-day game. Bloody Jack is one of the add-on modules that are going to be available with the Blight KS.

Haven't had a chance to delve into the previews yet, but on the surface looks good. Is the Blight set within the Lost Lands?

Yes, it is. It lies at the western edge of the continent of Akados. roughly due west of the Kingdom of Suilley on the Sinnar Coast Map but on the opposite edge of the Kingdoms of Foere.