Pathfinder Lead Developer, Frog God Games. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber. Pathfinder Society Member. 1,590 posts (1,594 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Pathfinder Society character. 3 aliases.
hello, can me anyone say, how I can get my money back? I hav Lou written a few months ago, but never get answer or the money back.
Lou doesn't have anyone's money and is not giving refunds. You have to get a hold of Nick for that. Which, of course, is the trick. I know that's not much help, but I just wanted to let you know that Lou will not be able to give you a refund so you wouldn't be expecting it from him. Sorry that's not much help.
BTW Lou, I'm very excited to get the your adventure that Frog God will release! Hope it comes out soon.
Thanks, man! It was the first piece I ever collaborated on, when Nick was still showing me the ropes.
I just heard about it while reading this thread. I don't have enough material to fill out 2012 with releases from Frog God so I'm sure it's in the works.
We're currently pushing hard on getting Slumbering Tsar finished so that might be why I hadn't heard anything yet.
Can't wait to see the "Scorned" manuscript, Lou!
I've got the "Scorned" manuscript, Chuck. Slumbering Tsar has been throwing everything off, but THE END IS NEAR! [/crazy man rant]. Scorned is currently number 2 in my queue behind an adventure by Dane Pitchford (also of these messageboards) called "Curse of Shadowhold" that I'm nearly done with development on. I'm still finishing out the last bits on Tsar also, but Scorned is definitely a 2012 release, and maybe even a summer release depending on how fast things go through the printer.
Hi Greg sorry in advance for being off topic but I couldn't find a direct contact. I am playing "Hateful Legacy" but I'd like to stick to official pathfinder or pathfinder licensed material, so I won't use the Angel of Decay write up. Do you have ideas how to replace it? Maybe some monster from Tomb of Horrors or one of the Bestiaries?
Wow, Hateful Legacy! That's awesome, Beek. Honestly I don't have any suggestions off the top of my head. Those Libris Mortis monsters were fairly unique, so there hasn't been a lot of crossover with them. Maybe some sort of demon or daemon specializing in disease? Alternately, though it's flavor is a little different, the black jinn from LoF (PF #23) might work in a pinch. If I think of something else, I'll post it. I hope you enjoy the adventure!
Interesting...wonder how Frog God is getting away with it then. They are even including proper names like Gaurak Troll. Weird. Fair enough. That's too bad though because there are a lot of cool monsters in those books (the various hags, savant hydras, et al).
Creature Collection Revised and Creature Collection III were 3.5.
I imagine that with the various Pathfinder AP entries and other stuff you have plenty of monsters for the next Bestiary anyway.
FGG has a special relationship with the Creature Collections through Necromancer Games (Bill's prior company) which originally helped produce the Creature Collections. So that has given us some leeway that is not otherwise extant for everyone. There has been debate in FGG about whether to keep the non-OGL Monster Manual monsters in Rappan Athuk (beholders, mind flayers, and such) since it was a NG product and NG had special permission from WotC to do so, but ulimately we opted to not go that direction just to avoid any potential entanglements.
It is unfortunate about the weird "names being non-OGL" thing for the CC books, so we'll try to get them as much exposure as possible on behalf of the old books through some FGG releases, but unless White Wolf rescinds that policy somehow, I think James is right.
Shoot an e-mail to Lilith (Liz Courts at Paizo) if you're interested in retaining the pens of any of the WereCabbages, and I'm sure she would spread the news through the patch for any that had openings in their writing schedules. A great number of them are established names that you would recognize from Paizo releases--(in no particualr order) Hitchcock, Cortes, Agresta, Ling, Logue, Baur (probably too busy with his own stuff ;-)), the aforementioned Courts, Boomer, Daigle, Hodges, Hall, Healy, Barton, Scott, etc., etc. ...I know I'm missing a bunch but it's late and I've got brain fatigue, so apologies to the many I'm leaving out. But you get the idea.
When are we going to see a difference in how Frog-God Games does there maps?
Or is that not going to happen?
Was disappointed again in the difficulty in reading the maps in this.
Chuck has talked to our catrographer and discussed your concerns. However, a lot of maps had been done for books in production prior to the issue being raised, so the changes will have a trickle-through effect as more products are released. Hopefully you'll be seeing more and more that are to your tastes.
There are not many 3PP items that I have bought or looked at that stand up to Paizo standards. However, I have found Frog God Games books every bit as professional as Paizo.
That's awesome, Galvatron! I look forward to following them. Here's the link for anyone who's interested. Tsar Journals Warning to all: spoilers abound.
My players shudder when I mention Frog God Games as they hold their precious character sheets tight. They were almost eaten last night by a dire worg from Slumbering Tsar #7.
Wow. And if they're in ST7 then that means you're just getting warmed up. :-)
I bought this PDF last saturday. So far so good. Being that it's for a level 7 start, I have a humble query or two for anyone of the Frog God folks...
I vaguely remember something mentioned about plans for Crucible of Freya or Tomb of Abysthor or both. Or I'm on glue. :/
Any chance for more information about this?
This would be a dreamy possible prequel to Slumbering Tsar, perhaps even ending with Rappan Athuk as a supercampaign along the lines of the old GDQ series. I got a tad curious when I read the beginning of this volume and the mention of Bard's Gate, etc.
Good question, Sunderstone. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we have kicked around the idea of updating Crucible of Freya, Tomb of Abysthor, and Bard's Gate (which is a huge stat block hog, so would take some doing). We've got to see how Rappan Athuk and all does, but those are absolutely on the table as possibilites that we would like to do along with a few others.
We are committed to bringing new stuff from FGG, but if there is a demand for an update of the classics we are taking that very seriously too.
Would the magical protections of the Grand Vizier's curse prevent a character from retrieving materials stored on the ethereal plane via a Secret Chest spell?
Yes, since the spell accesses the ethereal without allowing them to leave the actual palace grounds, then it functions normally.
Hmmmmm...Paizo reverse engineered the neh-thallgu/brain collector. How hard would that be to do with the gibbering orb? To a manageable non-epic mid-level CR I mean.
There is one (well a lich version) incidentally in Slumbering Tsar 9 that performs that exact function. A fact probably not lost on Skeet in his conversions. :-)
Rappan Atthuk for PF?? Exciting! I own the first two parts of the original publication (and part 3 as .pdf). Never gotten around to play much of it though.
Question: Will there be a map booklet?
At this time, I do not believe there is going to be a stand-alone map booklet, but there IS going to be something nice and new regarding "maps"...
I wasn't able to get Rappan Athuk Reloaded so I'm kind of curious what you've done to replace certain major non-OGL monsters in the book:
** spoiler omitted **
They're being replaced with OGL-compatible monsters.
Thank you...I think. I suppose specifics were out of the question. Oh well.
Sorry. Not trying to be snarky. I'm not involved on this project other than in a sort of advisory capacity. This is really Skeeter Green's baby, so I really don't know specifics. But like Zherog said, I know they are looking not only challenge levels but also thematic compatibility and mechanical similarity wherever possible.
For example, in Slumbering Tsar I had to replace an umber hulk. I ultimately replaced it with a gug. Not a perfect match, but both are creepily humanoid shaped aberrations that are otherwise completely alien to the average humanoid. Not a perfect CR match, but I was replacing an advanced specimen, so I was able to match it up pretty well. One has fairly insectoid characteristics and the gug has, well...whatever you would call it that a gug has. A gug can't burrow, but it's an expert at squeezing through small spaces underground. No mandibles, but a big ol' honkin' bite. The claws do less damage but there are more of them, and both once again give a very alien vibe in similar ways. Really the only thing missing is the confusion gaze.
So that is an example of the replacement philosophy that I believe Skeeter is exercising if that helps any.
I've been trying to get a grip on how everything in this adventure is connected up before I run it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong - it appears to be possible to finish without a single combat.
** spoiler omitted **
If they manage something like this or wrangle a deal without freeing Ezer, I'd go with it and just give a big story award for XP and maybe cash to do some shopping int he City of Brass to make up for the items they missed out on. No need to punish them in the next adventure due to clever play in this one.
P.S. Mr. Pett, that's second time I've run We Be Goblins now, and it was even more fun the second time. Special thanks for that one! :-)
Ah Joseph, I thank you very much, and can see you're a man of very fine and discerning tastes.
Huzzah!
Rich
People don't generally know this, but I wrote We Be Goblins and sold it to Rich for a can of hash and a rock from Stonehenge. The hash was awful and the rock turned out to be a marble so I'm a little suspicious of its provenience, but I thought it might help Rich get some work. :)
I'm reading through the book for the first time, and I'm at room 13, where it speaks of a ladder going up to room 22... What ladder? and I can't seem to find room 22 on the map... Is it just me?
Ultradan
The ladder in 13 is labeled T1. There is also a T1 on the 2nd Floor map where the ladder emerges, but unfortunately the room 22 map tag was omitted.
No problem! I appreciate the critical eye that folks are giving this book, because we are using it to make corrections in the final. If one just happens to be okay after all, that seems like good news to me. So keep 'em coming, you and everybody. A thousand sets of eyes making an editorial pass is WAY better than my two. :-)
And swami, if that is not an example of what you were talking about, let me know that too, because I do want to get that fixed if it is an issue. Thanks!
Just wanted to pop in say that the Dire Worg is awesome. I was disappointed that in book 2 of Kingmaker there is a reward poster for what ends up being a run of the mill worg (and a worg was my PCs 1st random encounter at 1st level and almost ate the halfing). I now have my solution!
A big mistake you guys are making throughout this series that I've noticed is in the stat blocks. You are giving favored class hit points to monsters that only have racial hit dice. A comparison with the two Paizo Bestiaries reveals this to be an error. This is presumably because you've misread the line from the first Bestiary that says the first class listed in a monster's stat block is it's favored class.
No Bestiary monster gains favored class hit points or skill points and thus you might want to clean up your monsters before the big book comes out. It's not a game breaker and plenty of GMs will be happy to leave the hit points as is to keep the critters on their feet longer. Just wanted you to know about this because it is so prevalent.
I'm not aware that we've done that on any monsters. Could you provide an example? I'm curious to know how that might be creeping in there.
Sorry for butting it, but I was posting on TS #7, and I had still had my PDF when I read this post- Would an example be something like the Lurker Wraith in TS #7? A couple of the monsters in #7 have a "plus XX" listed in their HP line in addition to HP gained by their Con bonus. I'm not sure if that's what the poster above was thinking or not.
Hmmm, could be. In the example of the lurker wraith you mentioned, the additional hit points are from the application of its Toughness feat. That might be what Gururamalamaswami was interpreting as favord class hp.
A big mistake you guys are making throughout this series that I've noticed is in the stat blocks. You are giving favored class hit points to monsters that only have racial hit dice. A comparison with the two Paizo Bestiaries reveals this to be an error. This is presumably because you've misread the line from the first Bestiary that says the first class listed in a monster's stat block is it's favored class.
No Bestiary monster gains favored class hit points or skill points and thus you might want to clean up your monsters before the big book comes out. It's not a game breaker and plenty of GMs will be happy to leave the hit points as is to keep the critters on their feet longer. Just wanted you to know about this because it is so prevalent.
I'm not aware that we've done that on any monsters. Could you provide an example? I'm curious to know how that might be creeping in there.
You win the Easter Egg hunt! That particular typo has been carefully nurtured ever since it appeared in the first TOH back in 2002. It's just too good to fix. :-)
A funny story related somewhat to this. When I was writing lair encounters for the Tome, I opened the original grimstalker (banaan) word file. And the entry started like this:
"The grimstalkers or bananas (as they prefer to call themselves) ..."
Now, it's been corrected to banaan in the book, but it was there in the original file and I wanted to preserve it in some little way. That's why if you look at the grimstalker lair in the SW Tome or the free download, you'll find the lair a banana plantation with the banaan riding in a banana tree treant.
Jeff
Jeff e-mailed me when he found this typo, and it was SO tempting to leave it in there, but I thought it might be over the top and Jeff fixed it. Still, love the banana plantation!
Another solid entry. Regarding some errata: in the sidebar for some of the R&R spells, the damage for the spell Chaos Flame isn't given.
Should be 4d4 fire damage and strike as a ranged touch attack by the caster. Since it requires an attack roll, ignore the part about a Reflex save for half. That shouldn't be there.
You win the Easter Egg hunt! That particular typo has been carefully nurtured ever since it appeared in the first TOH back in 2002. It's just too good to fix. :-)
I've sent a web copy off to the normal people I send web copies off to and I sent one off to our printer just in case it hasn't gone past the point of no return (I'm 99% sure it has, but we'll see what happens).
This brings up a question...what is FGG's policy on errata? Will all errata be incorporated into the PDF versions of your products? If so, will some sort of notification be sent out? And will the 3-downloads counter on the file storage system that you use (bytes interactive at www.aplusdownload.com) be reset if the files are updated?
Thanks.
We'll definitely be incorporating errata into the final compilation. Don't know about the individual adventure downloads yet. This particular bit of errata in question was just so egregious that it broke the game subsystem in the encounter, so we went ahead and did it. I don't know that I've seen any others that were to that level of errata. We'll look into it to see what it will take and if it is feasible to do for the individual pdfs.
Hmm... is it just me, or is there an error on pages 42/43, when discribing the Kerouz game?
The table conatins numbers from 2 to 16 (rolled on 2d8), whereas the description on page 43 refers to 'nubers from 2 to 20', referencing the roll of 20 repeatedly...
Do'h, when I tinkered with the chaos globe stat block to streamline it a little bit, I forgot I had tied the odds of the Kerouz game in with it so closely. I have returned the stat block to its original number options, which should fix the discrepancy. We'll fix that in the hardback and the pdfs. Unfortunatley it has already gone to print for the soft covers, so I don't believe we'll be able to correct it there. However, just print this stat block and use it with the print version if you prefer dead tree adventures. Sorry about that folks.
Spoiler:
CHAOS GLOBE CR 6
XP 2,400
Creature Collection II: Dark Menagerie 37
N Large construct
Init +0; Senses blindsight 90 ft.; Perception +0
Aura chaos strike (30 ft., DC 14)
<RULE>
AC 22, touch 9, flat-footed 22 (+13 natural, –1 size)
hp 74 (8d10+30)
Fort +2; Ref +2; Will +2
DR 5/law and magic; Immune construct traits
<RULE>
Speed 25 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +7 (2d6)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
<RULE>
Str 10, Dex 10, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
Base Atk +8; CMB +9; CMD 19 (can’t be tripped)
Skills Fly +6
<RULE>
Chaos Strike (Su) Each round as a free action a chaos globe emits a field of random magical instability, inflicting random magical effects on anyone within a 30-foot radius. Roll 2d10 on the following table to determine the effect for that round.
2d10 Effect
2 5d10 points of random energy damage (roll 2d3–1: 1—acid, 2—fire, 3—cold, 4—electricity, 5—sonic; Reflex half)
3 4d10 points of random energy damage (roll 2d4–1: 1—acid, 2—fire, 3—cold, 4—electricity, 5—sonic; Reflex half)
4 3d10 points of random energy damage (roll 2d4–1: 1—acid, 2—fire, 3—cold, 4—electricity, 5—sonic; Reflex half)
5 2d10 points of random energy damage (roll 2d4–1: 1—acid, 2—fire, 3—cold, 4—electricity, 5—sonic; Reflex half)
6 1d4 points of damage to a random ability (roll 1d6: 1—Strength, 2—Dexterity, 3—Constitution, 4—Intelligence, 5—Wisdom, 6—Charisma; Fortitude negates)
7 1 point of damage to a random ability (roll 1d6: 1—Strength, 2—Dexterity, 3—Constitution, 4—Intelligence, 5—Wisdom, 6—Charisma; Fortitude negates)
8 5d10 points of force damage; Fortitude half
9 5d8 points of force damage; Fortitude half
10 5d6 points of force damage; Fortitude half
11 5d4 points of force damage; Fortitude half
12 Target rendered deaf (50%) or blind (50%); Fortitude negates
13 Target rendered blind and deaf; Fortitude negates
14 Target fatigued; no save
15 Target exhausted; no save
16 1 negative level; will negates
17 1d3 negative levels; Will negates
18 1d6 negative levels; Will negates
19 Target subjected to baleful polymorph; Fortitude negates, Will partial
20 Target subjected to greater teleport 2d10 miles in a random direction; Will negates
I can't seem to get my head around C4 of Ravenscraeg. My assumption was that it would be nearly impossible for the FS thugs and ninja in the adjoining rooms not to hear the sounds of battle when the raven swarms attack. Given this, why wouldn't they investigate? Given that, how does the party not get overwhelmed at this point? I could re-write it, but I feel as though I must be missing something about the scenario...or perhaps I don't undestand perception checks at all!
Cut in editing.
Spoiler:
Development: If the occupants have already been alerted to the PCs, then when they enter here the cultists and ninjas in C8 and C9 are waiting to ambush them, the ninjas hiding among the tables on the balconies and the cultists, led by Jorgan the Knife, with their troll ally waiting behind the doors of rooms C7 and C9 to rush out and try to take the PCs by surprise after having dealt with the ravens. The ninjas do not engage the PCs while the ravens remain in the room unless their hiding places are discovered by the PCs, when they attack normally (the ravens do not attack the ninjas). The cultists and troll are terrified of the raven swarms and do not emerge form their rooms for any reason as long as the swarms remain in C4. Jorgan does not personally attack the PCs in battle at this point, but can be seen giving orders from the rear. If engaged, he attempts to retreat and regroup with his cultists in C16 to make his stand. If Jorgan is killed or retreats, each remaining cultist has 25% chance to flee for the exit at C3 at the beginning of each round.
Pett is first, but I collect rivals like pocket lint. Booms and Logue being two notable examples of said lint...and actually the only other ones I can think of right now, but I have openings for more, I promise. What can I say, I'm an antagonistic jerk. :-)
This announcement made me just realized 10 was out, so I just downloaded it.
ummm, I am having problems with it.. All the maps are difficult to read because of the B&W but the shading on the map on page 47 make it impossible to read, I can barely tell what is what on that map, the map on page 48 is difficult to but not as bad as the prior.
Dragonmoon, I just pinged Chuck on this to see if we can fix it.
Thanks for all your replies! I have never played a Necromancer product before, so I was unsure about the general no holds barred type of game play. I am very excited about running this, and after reading the opening of the series, I informed my players that there was a high potential for death and they seem to be excited by the prospect of such danger. I did allow them to make multiple characters (so they had a back up if their character was killed) and I am using hero points and I let them use a 30 point buy (if i got a good written backstory for the character). With the perks I have given them, I am planning on running everything as is, and let the chips fall where they may. If I am killing a lot of PC's and the players seem frustrated, then I'll look at toning it down a bit.
Also Greg, I wanted to let you know that though I have never purchased a Necromancer or Frog God product before, I am now on my way to owning the entire ST series and I am sure I will be picking up other things in your product line. I wanted to say thanks for giving out free copies of ST1 at Gencon 2010. When I was given it, it just went into my bag and got stuck on my shelf when I got home. Its was a few months later that I was looking something to read and happened upon it sitting on my game shelf. I picked it up, started reading, and knew half way through that this was going to be my next campaign. The NPC's and the Camp itself really drew me in. I can't wait to run it. Sorry for my babbling wall of text, just wanted you to know that giving away the free product at Indy last year has netted you at least one happy customer. Thanks again!
Thanks a bunch, galvatron. It was a bit of a gamble for us to give those out in 2010, but the thinking was if just a few people bought Tsar as a result, then it was worth it. Of course, there's no way of knowing how many folks bought Tsar because of the special edition mod giveaway (I suspect most just went on the shelf like you described--heck I gave one to a WotC Magic card designer on the plane ride home), but hearing a story like yours is really fulfilling to me. Thanks for sharing your road to Tsar and getting hyped about the series. I'm excited that you're on board. I apologize in advance to your players. ;-)
While I love that FGG seems to be expanding the loose campaign setting that Necromancer Games created, to be honest, past Rappan Athuk, I'd rather see FGG focus on creating it's own new additions to that setting, rather than becoming the Necromancer reprint publisher, as some people seem to want.
Necromancer Games produced some brilliant stuff. But that stuff is pretty compatible with Pathfinder as-is, and some of the same people work for Frog God Games. So I'd like to rally for more NEW Frog God Games stuff.
That being said, I'm a sucker for FGG and NG stuff, and buy the PF and S&W versions of whatever you guys put out. If all you do for the next few years is reprint all the old Necromancer Games stuff, I'll be slightly disappointed, but I'll also probably grab it up.
And damn it, I can't seem to get the Crystal Skull anywhere, so there is that....
Don't worry. While we may hit old NG titles as there is demand for them, we'll keep doing new stuff too. Ideally it'll remain compatible. I'd love to see a Necro-Frog campaign setting myself.
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