Slumbering Tsar Saga (PFRPG) PDF

The Sleeper Must Awaken. Now available for preorder (cover image is not final)!

Well looky-that!

Thanks, Liz! <grin>

So this is the exact same preorder that was on the Froggod site?

Yes.

So this is the exact same preorder that was on the Froggod site?

Well, probably not a signed copy, nor with the extra bonus adventure one gets from preordering directly from thier web site...

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

bigkilla wrote:

So this is the exact same preorder that was on the Froggod site?

Well, probably not a signed copy, nor with the extra bonus adventure one gets from preordering directly from thier web site...

See last sentence in the description. "The Slumbering Tsar Saga brings you 14 chapters, each chapter the size of a full adventure in its own right (30-50 pages), but in the hardcover compilation you will get something you can't get anywhere else—the final fifteenth chapter!"

More sales for FGG :)

See last sentence in the description.

But that is the word for word (verbatim) description from their web site...

The Frog Gods obviously have the final say, but Greg A. Vaughan has said the bonus adventure (and signed copy) is for those who preorder from their site "And no-where else"...

We'll have to wait and see...

From the description it does have the bonus chapter which is why I was a bit puzzled as there were posts eluding to the fact that the preorder from froggod.com would be the only place to get the bonus chapter and that you needed to hurry because the preorder was ending soon. Neither seems to be the case from the above description and the fact that it is the same preorder from the froggod.com site.

The hardcover will contain the bonus chapter, but it will not be signed and numbered if you order it from Paizo.

The blog post says "this is the campaign where Good takes the battle to Evil, and will take you from an adventurer jumping at the shadows to a battle-hardened veteran—1st through 20th!" but Tsar starts around 7th level. I suppose you -could- roll up with four first level characters but you'd get run down pretty quickly! Nevertheless, glad to see this finally hit hardcover.

...D'oh. Fixing...Why did I ever think Greg would write a low-level adventure... I didn't see anything calling out a PC level specifically, but you *could* conceivably start out at first level. Though as you pointed out Gozuja, that would mean racking up Greg's character kill count some more...

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

So, so, so excited to see this out in its entirety. When I first met Greg, we played a gag on him. He didn't know I was a newly minted freelancer, just starting my excursion into game design, or that we had many mutual friends.

So when I cornered him on an escalator, it looked like I had just attached myself to his group. "You're Greg Vaughan!" I glowered, waved my hands. "I want to punch you in the #%^@! You're responsible for killing more of my characters than any other writer! You and Istvin! Damn you Greg Vaughan!"

Then I followed him off the escalator.

It took a bit to convince him this was a gag and that I wasn't the worst sort of rabid anti-fan-boi-stalker.

Greg - congratulations, my friend. Your work is stupendous. Please never stop writing!

when is the rough release of the book?

We want to go to print by April 15th. I'm in the middle of the layout process now (finished up the equivalent of the ST7 and started working on the equivalent of ST8 this evening).

...D'oh. Fixing...Why did I ever think Greg would write a low-level adventure... I didn't see anything calling out a PC level specifically, but you *could* conceivably start out at first level. Though as you pointed out Gozuja, that would mean racking up Greg's character kill count some more...

It's mentioned in the introduction in book one--it is suggested that you bring a party of four to six 7th-level characters who should hit roughly 11th level by the end of the Desolation. Then again, it's also suggested that you not bring characters you're particularly attached to given the lethality of the module. ;)

I've been working with a group of seven players making their way through the Slumbering Tsar Saga. We're on week seventeen of our Tsar campaign as of tomorrow's session--but I ran the Price of Immortality trilogy to get the gang up to 7th level for Tsar. I'll say that Greg's encounters are very good at handling large parties--and that even just exploring the Desolation in the first three books has been a riot.

I would absolutely recommend the saga though for anyone who wants to play an epic adventure. So far, it's definitely been some of the most fun I've had working with a campaign--so I've been keeping a blog with session recaps and whatnot and some of the players have been keeping character journals alongside it. If you're keen on taking a peek, it's over here.

Can't wait to get the physical copy of the book--between it and the Tome of Horrors Complete I'll be able to duel-wield terrifying bludgeons!

Quick clarifications:

1) It does indeed start at 7th level. So many pieces of ad copy have been written for this thing over the last eight years it's no wonder that Liz didn't see it somewhere in all that mess.

2) The pre-order from Paizo does indeed include the bonus chapter--why? Basically because when we created FGG and originally put this book up for sale we had no idea that Paizo would ever partner with us in putting it out. We figured it would be a single modest print run and then a much, much smaller print run for people that wanted it later (thus the huge price increase), so we wanted to encourage the earlier pre-orders because they're much cheaper to make in larger numbers. What Paizo has done is functionally continued the subscription pre-order that we began in order to continue to include the bonus chapter. However, only the FGG pre-orders (that end March 31st!!) will be the numbered editions signed by Bill and me. Anyway, that's the gist of my understanding of how the situation has developed. Further details will have to come from Bill and Lisa.

3) The book hasn't completed layout yet, so the 1,000 pages is still an estimate. I can tell you that the manuscript topped 550,000 words when all was said and done, whatever that comes out to page count after maps and art are added. Bill has spitballed it at about 500 words/page, which is where the 1,000 page figure comes from. Whatever the page count comes out to, it'll include all of the material from ST1- ST14 plus the bonus chapter and few other added goodies here and there.

John Benbo wrote:

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

So, so, so excited to see this out in its entirety. When I first met Greg, we played a gag on him. He didn't know I was a newly minted freelancer, just starting my excursion into game design, or that we had many mutual friends.

So when I cornered him on an escalator, it looked like I had just attached myself to his group. "You're Greg Vaughan!" I glowered, waved my hands. "I want to punch you in the #%^@! You're responsible for killing more of my characters than any other writer! You and Istvin! Damn you Greg Vaughan!"

Then I followed him off the escalator.

It took a bit to convince him this was a gag and that I wasn't the worst sort of rabid anti-fan-boi-stalker.

I'm still not convinced.

P.S. Lou was one of the first guys to pick up on Tsar a few years back and pimp it on his RPGAggression blog and get some conversation going about it among the interwebs. So I feel he was partly instrumental for Tsar getting to where it is today. It has not been forgotten, Lou. :-)

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

I get paid in the souls of the dead PCs. Muwahahahaha!

John Benbo wrote:

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

I get paid in the souls of the dead PCs. Muwahahahaha!

And this, folks, is why he writes the things he does. Now the cat's out of the bag, Greg!

Really, it's to make up for how absolutely freakin' NICE he is all the time.

So to be clear this is an adventure that starts at level 7 and goes up to level 20?

I am starting to think about putting together a campaign (looking for players in the Bay Area) and this might be a great thing to run - sounds really fun (though I had been thinking about playing in Golarion - is that possible with this adventure?) I guess I'd have to either start the campaign at level 7 or plan some other modules (either prewritten or created by me) to get the players from 1st to 7th and set up the start of this epic?

Just to check if I were to buy the PDF'S for this I would not get the final bonus chapter?

Just to check if I were to buy the PDF'S for this I would not get the final bonus chapter?

They have previously stated that the bonus chapter will only be in the hardcover.

Really, it's to make up for how absolutely freakin' NICE he is all the time.

I know, right? The man just HAS to have a vile and despicable alter-ego. As a serial killer. Hmmm...500,000 word adventures that kill characters... sort of a serial killer by proxy, no? I think we're on to something here... hm

So to be clear this is an adventure that starts at level 7 and goes up to level 20?

Yes. It is awesome.

I am starting to think about putting together a campaign (looking for players in the Bay Area) and this might be a great thing to run - sounds really fun (though I had been thinking about playing in Golarion - is that possible with this adventure?) I guess I'd have to either start the campaign at level 7 or plan some other modules (either prewritten or created by me) to get the players from 1st to 7th and set up the start of this epic?

There has been a little discussion of this previously. Here is one of the threads that includes a quote of a prior post from Greg on Tsar in Golarion.

Here's the full "Kiss the Frog" thread if you want to pick through that for ideas
Kiss the Frog

I am really tempted to run this, Orcus being a favorite of my players since the H series.

So, how does Slumbering Tsar actually play? The desolation and early city exploration parts sound very interesting. But how do things unfold in the later part of the city and the actual temple statue of Orcus?

Unless you have a perfectly stealthy party, what is the premise of them not getting immediately steamrollered by the armies of Orcus? Also, is there enough variety (also including roleplaying interaction with NPCs) instead of room-after-room-after-room (419x, from what I hear ;-) dungeon crawling, possibly again with extremely frequent (continuous?) combat once the inhabitants become alerted?

Curious,
Gnorr

@Gnorr: I've reviewed the first 12 installments of ST, so if you're interested on how it runs, check them out!

So to be clear this is an adventure that starts at level 7 and goes up to level 20?

I am starting to think about putting together a campaign (looking for players in the Bay Area) and this might be a great thing to run - sounds really fun (though I had been thinking about playing in Golarion - is that possible with this adventure?) I guess I'd have to either start the campaign at level 7 or plan some other modules (either prewritten or created by me) to get the players from 1st to 7th and set up the start of this epic?

Quite frankly, it is very feasible for a party to bury the needle -past- level 20 by the end of Tsar if they're trucking through all the content. There's just so -much- to explore and duke it out with that it really boggles! CR 16 - 20 encounters become fairly regular in the later chapters.

I am really tempted to run this, Orcus being a favorite of my players since the H series.

So, how does Slumbering Tsar actually play? The desolation and early city exploration parts sound very interesting. But how do things unfold in the later part of the city and the actual temple statue of Orcus?

Unless you have a perfectly stealthy party, what is the premise of them not getting immediately steamrollered by the armies of Orcus? Also, is there enough variety (also including roleplaying interaction with NPCs) instead of room-after-room-after-room (419x, from what I hear ;-) dungeon crawling, possibly again with extremely frequent (continuous?) combat once the inhabitants become alerted?

Curious,
Gnorr

Well part of the premise is that Tsar works in tandem with Rappan Athuk insomuch that a large part of the armies of good and evil have 'left the field' so to speak. I don't want to spoil anything in the latter material, but I can say that there are inclusions both story-wise and mechanically to address the party drawing attention to themselves and there -are- situations where a group just trucking along will bring the house down on themselves if they're not careful.

This is definitely not just a room-by-room battle march--there really is a huge variety of environments and styles of encounter to be found. There's tons of exploration and if anything, variety is one of the Tsar saga's biggest strong points. Even insofar as getting -into- the temple city there's multiple divergent paths depending on a party's approach which could potentially eschew a 'dungeon' altogether.

As far as play, the first three chapters can be very sandbox-style hex-crawl if someone is inclined to run them that way (and there are some very good maps available for this as well.) There's four 'areas' in the Desolation and between the lot of them there's something in the neighborhood of thirty or forty 'sites of interest'--some of which are effectively mini-dungeons. Navigating the environment itself can be pretty challenging sometimes for parties as well.

The Camp, which is the respite in the Desolation for any endeavoring adventurers, has a good number of NPCs going for it--but the nature of the place suits itself very well for the inclusion of additional characters as well. If you run a 1 - 7 campaign leading up to Tsar, you can introduce a lot of extra story and character elements and work them into the Tsar run pretty smoothly.

There are also fairly frequent NPCs baked into the various environs which can be scooped up (and may potentially serve as replacement PCs as well, depending on how your group handles the campaign.) I think it's fairly safe to say that each group who runs the gamut of the full saga is apt to have different experiences (and I'd like to read how those of others go, so share them if you've got them! :)

If absolutely nothing else, I can definitely say that a full run of the Tsar Saga will get you more than your money's worth in raw game time. Our group convenes for what are generally 10 hour long sessions to play this campaign and after seven sessions since we entered the Desolation we're maybe halfway done with the temple-city's approach. Obviously different groups will vary a lot in their pace, but this is a campaign with a -lot- of staying power and plenty of challenges.

@Gnorr: I've reviewed the first 12 installments of ST, so if you're interested on how it runs, check them out!

Read End's reviews, they're what got me on board and pumped up to run the campaign and I've not regretted it. :)

Thanks! And I think Gozuja has a blog with some rather extensive journals here. ^^

The group I am running for is to level 13 and inside the Tsar. The only complaint I have had so far is that the encounters are too easy. The only character that has died was during the run up to the game. The story is great but if a part is careful and set for combat (lets face it that’s all this campaign is about) then this is more of a walk through the park. In fact my players have talked about starting new characters because their getting bored of the ones they have been playing for over a year. I have been adding my own NPCs because the ones they have are not fleshed out enough or invested enough for my tastes. Also converting this over to Golarion is a pain. Play it in it’s home world, whatever that is. That is what it was written for and converting it no mater how hard you try will not catch all the bits with gods and cities mentioned through the campaign.

It is possible to do a bit of work ahead of time to find comparable gods and settings for Slumbering Tsar in Golarion. There are plenty of similar themes. Some folks discussed altering the setting of Golarion's Worldwound. Others placed it off the map east of Taldor.

As for ease of passage through the city, the Pall over the city should take some of that ease away. Also there are a few places sprinkled throughout with a significantly higher difficulty. If your players are playing it smart and careful, they are doing it right. I don't believe in killing PC's off just to show them how hard an adventure is rumored to be.

@ Russell - If your players are getting bored, however, perhaps some of the more dangerous denizens of the city can actively impede their progress. This is all in the hands of the GM. ST is a somewhat sandboxy campaign. Plot lines and events are in the hands of the GM and the PCs. It's your story. Each group should have a different tale.

Also the tie to Rappan Athuk is strong and your players idea of starting fresh characters could play into that as well. Just a couple of suggestions that I hope you find useful!

From my paizo newsletter this last week I quote
"A 10,000 year old legacy and a vow by the Demon Prince of the Undead to overrun the world stands against you—will you fight against his forces, or will you cower in fear? Preorder this one-of-a-kind adventure written by one of the best writers in the industry now and save $25—AND get all fourteen of the individual Slumbering Tsar adventure PDFs!"

so that we all understand what this says

if i preorder the massive volume of sinful adventures....I GET ALL THE PDFS TOO>>>>because of the preorder???

please clarify......cause if i do....then i will preorder
if i don't....then ....nuff said

if i preorder the massive volume of sinful adventures....I GET ALL THE PDFS TOO>>>>because of the preorder???

please clarify......cause if i do....then i will preorder
if i don't....then ....nuff said

Yes, if you get the Print/PDF bundle, you'll get the PDFs as well. I'm not 100% sure if you'll get the PDFs immediately or when the hardcover ships (and I'm not at the office to test this). I'll check Monday though. :)

So yes... please do pre-order! <grin>

I had purchased some of the PDFs previously. I put in the pre-order for the Print/PDF bundle a short time ago, and the remaining PDFs immediately appeared in my downloads.

1000 pages! Shipping costs to europe will be enormous. :(

What Paizo has done is functionally continued the subscription pre-order that we began in order to continue to include the bonus chapter. However, only the FGG pre-orders (that end March 31st!!) will be the numbered editions signed by Bill and me. Anyway, that's the gist of my understanding of how the situation has developed. Further details will have to come from Bill and Lisa.

Just to be clear- the only difference in ordering from FGG rather then by paiso, by the 31st, is that its signed by you and bill and numbered. No different cover, both will have the bonus chapter. Correct?

Just trying to decide if my wallet wants to rest into april or push on for the 31st deadline.

The only difference is that it will not be signed and numbered.

This looks Awesome. Any chance that those who purchase the Print/pdf bundle will eventually get a copy of the final chapter in PDF form?

I think this is a great product BUT to people like me who were buying each of the print editions as they came out is not very nice to leave out the final module and expect us to buy this hardback just to get the last module. I will not be buying any further series modules from Frog God Games to avoid this in the future. This is from a person who has ALL of their products including Necromancer Games products.

Just to be clear- the only difference in ordering from FGG rather then by paiso, by the 31st, is that its signed by you and bill and numbered. No different cover, both will have the bonus chapter. Correct?

Just trying to decide if my wallet wants to rest into april or push on for the 31st deadline.

You are correct.

I think this is a great product BUT to people like me who were buying each of the print editions as they came out is not very nice to leave out the final module and expect us to buy this hardback just to get the last module. I will not be buying any further series modules from Frog God Games to avoid this in the future. This is from a person who has ALL of their products including Necromancer Games products.

Send an e-mail to Bill at bill[at]talesofthefroggod[dot]com. I don't know for sure, but he might be able to convert your purchases (if they were through FGG) to the subscription and credit you for what you had already paid. I'm not sure if this is actually possible, but I know it was something that he and I have discussed in the past. If your purchases were through Paizo or Drive-Thru then we wouldn't have any ability to do that with them I think.

Hopefully we can work it out with you, and I'd hate for a hard core fan to jump ship over something like this at this late date, however, that was always how this saga has been marketed. The simple fact is we had to sell advance pre-orders to be able to fund the individual print products, so we had to make a premium offer for folks to get on board with us early on so the company could exist long enough to get the full series out.

This looks Awesome. Any chance that those who purchase the Print/pdf bundle will eventually get a copy of the final chapter in PDF form?

I don't know for sure, but I think there will be a pdf of the whole big book that comes with it, which would include the bonus chapter. I am not aware of any plans to release the bonus chapter as its own stand-alone pdf product, though.

As a bonus Greg will sign any PDFs and any and all body parts at Gencon, provided you call him 'Mr. Vaughan'.

ewww...

I think this is a great product BUT to people like me who were buying each of the print editions as they came out is not very nice to leave out the final module and expect us to buy this hardback just to get the last module. I will not be buying any further series modules from Frog God Games to avoid this in the future. This is from a person who has ALL of their products including Necromancer Games products.

In any case, it's NOT the final module. It's a short bonus chapter and not a gimmick to mess with people.

I'm sorry that you feel cheated in some way, but we have been very forthright about the bonus chapter for at least year now if I'm not mistaken.

Again the "Bonus Chapter" is not "the final module". If you have purchased ST1 through ST14 then you have not missed out on any of the story.

PathfinderFan64 wrote:

I think this is a great product BUT to people like me who were buying each of the print editions as they came out is not very nice to leave out the final module and expect us to buy this hardback just to get the last module. I will not be buying any further series modules from Frog God Games to avoid this in the future. This is from a person who has ALL of their products including Necromancer Games products.

In any case, it's NOT the final module. It's a short bonus chapter and not a gimmick to mess with people.

I'm sorry that you feel cheated in some way, but we have been very forthright about the bonus chapter for at least year now if I'm not mistaken.

Again the "Bonus Chapter" is not "the final module". If you have purchased ST1 through ST14 then you have not missed out on any of the story.

You might like to have someone change the last paragraph of the product description above, where it actually says, "the final fifteenth chapter!" then, because that's the impression I got as well.

Hope too many people dont get too mad...if you bought them all from me, I can perhaps make an upgrade for you--but no, the bonus material is not a pdf and will only be in the book...said that since April 2010--its always been planned that way as a bonus to subscribers.

Ping me and I'll see if I can help you out. Its just like the R247 deal I did in Rappan Athuk 1--bound to make someone mad...not our intent of course.

Tsar subscriptions were intended to make it possible to make other books--it was a risk to people, based on experiences like "Razor Coast"--and I want to reward the folks that stuck with us from the beginning. That being said, Tsar 14 completes the series...Chapter 15 is the lead in/transition to the next big series..involving a sharp object and stuff you breathe..written originally by me, and being rewritten by Greg.

This thing has been 13 years in coming, and I have been teased by some that it is the "Temple of Elemental "Sword of Air", or that "Sword of Air is Vapor"...well..here it comes:)