Kiss the Frog!

Question: Are these different iterations of the same basic plot or is each version (mega adventure, trilogy, mega-trilogy, et al)completely different/new. I'm basically wondering if this product is the same story as the original that has basically 'grown in the telling.' Thanks for the info :)

Well, when it was planned to be released by Necro, it was once supposed to be a trilogy that tells one story. However, only the first part has been released by NG and only as a Pdf. 4th Ed came and NG went into slumber.

Fans like D_M, D_F, Aberzanzorax and myself continued bickering until Bill opened FGG to release Slumbering Tsar and now, more stuff.

This new subscription/mega-adventure is released in parts due to the fact that it's easier for a small company to handle than one huge book at once.

The new incarnation of ST includes the never before released Parts II & III is thus complete, PFRPG-updated, has more artwork, better editing, better formating and so on.

There is only one storyline and one ST, the previous versions it went through never really saw the light of day until now.

I hope that helped.

Cheers,
Endzeitgeist

Correct. That being said, the unpublsihed 400,000 or so words are all new, unseen before words...well, at least in the order they are in:)

Correct. That being said, the unpublsihed 400,000 or so words are all new, unseen before words...well, at least in the order they are in:)

Thanks for the replies. I got a few 3.0 Necromancer products and was thinking about getting this when I read about it a few weeks back :)

Lots of news and updates will be posted here

http://www.talesofthefroggod.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=cate gory&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=61

almost weekly:)

Lots of news and updates will be posted here

Link

almost weekly:)

Fixed the link for you.

Question: Are these different iterations of the same basic plot or is each version (mega adventure, trilogy, mega-trilogy, et al)completely different/new. I'm basically wondering if this product is the same story as the original that has basically 'grown in the telling.' Thanks for the info :)

What everyone said above it correct. All that was ever released in 3.5 was part one of the trilogy (the original mega-adventure was broken up into a trilogy because it was too big even for Necromancer :-)). That part is composed of ST1 and ST2 available now through Paizo and FGG, and ST3 that will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks. It is all revised, reedited, and updated to PFRPG, but is essentially the same as what was released in 3.5.

However, starting with the August release (in time for Gen Con is the plan) and following will be ST4 through ST14. These comprise the last two parts of the original trilogy and, as Bill mentioned, have never been seen before outside Necromancer Games and my playtests. So it is indeed all new material for public consumption though it is simply a PF RPG updated version of what I originally wrote and has sat on the shelf for half a decade.

Hope that all makes sense:-)

If you're considering buying it, might I suggest purchasing ST1 for its $2.00 introductory price. It'll give the background and initial staging area for the saga as well as a really good idea if its going to be to your tastes or not at an extremely low-risk price.

If you're considering buying it, might I suggest purchasing ST1 for its $2.00 introductory price. It'll give the background and initial staging area for the saga as well as a really good idea if its going to be to your tastes or not at an extremely low-risk price.

I've already skimmed a look at the product page and saw it was $2 :) Probably buy and download once I'm home today.

Yea. I will have to pick this up and the WotC Orcus mini.

Yea. I will have to pick this up and the WotC Orcus mini.

Better hurry Sharoth or they'll all be gone like that Russian spy the Cyprus cops let go on bail. *facepalm*

Mistress...do you have a marketable skill for producing games? The pay sucks, but I want to find some way to get you involved. You alweays seem to have my back.

Bill

Mistress...do you have a marketable skill for producing games? The pay sucks, but I want to find some way to get you involved. You alweays seem to have my back.

Bill

Reviewing seems to be about it and why people actually like my reviews is beyond me. My grasp of the rules is plenty good to run, but then I just don't worry about minor stat block errors and have no issues with a NPC having one more feat than they should or not. Nor am I likely to notice such in a product. I have tried writing but yeah, that didn't work out. I can't draw a stick figure, nor am I good at maps.

Hmm other than reviews I would say idea's, but I am biased there since they are my idea's. :) So in short? No not really. :)

Greg, I'm curious if you have any ideas for placing ST in Golarion? You have done quite a bit of work in Golarion, so I figured that you may have some ideas.

Greg, I'm curious if you have any ideas for placing ST in Golarion? You have done quite a bit of work in Golarion, so I figured that you may have some ideas.

Good question that I would like to know as well as I am getting ready to run Some of the old Necromancer Games stuff in Golarion.

First ones that spring to mind for me is Worldwound obviously at and Ustalav or Lastwall remains from the war against the Whispering Tyrant.

Reviewing seems to be about it and why people actually like my reviews is beyond me. My grasp of the rules is plenty good to run, but then I just don't worry about minor stat block errors and have no issues with a NPC having one more feat than they should or not. Nor am I likely to notice such in a product. I have tried writing but yeah, that didn't work out. I can't draw a stick figure, nor am I good at maps.

Hmm other than reviews I would say idea's, but I am biased there since they are my idea's. :) So in short? No not really. :)

I've found my twin!

A question for you guys...what would the audience here think of one-nighht stand modules. You know, the play for 5 hours things. 12 encounters, couple maps, cool art. Maybe $5 pdf and $9 pod. 24-36 pages each.

What if we did a lot of them?

What if we did a few a year only?

What levels would be good/bad?

What if cover art was repeated to lower pricepoint?

What else would make these good or bad?

A question for you guys...what would the audience here think of one-nighht stand modules. You know, the play for 5 hours things. 12 encounters, couple maps, cool art. Maybe $5 pdf and $9 pod. 24-36 pages each.

What if we did a lot of them?

What if we did a few a year only?

What levels would be good/bad?

What if cover art was repeated to lower pricepoint?

What else would make these good or bad?

I responded on Necro forums already. :)

What else would make these good or bad?

What I am really looking for are one-night modules that are somehow connected (three to five in a row) – like PF Modules D0, D1, D1.5 and E1. It should be possible to complete the module in one session and be able to play with the same players and their characters a month later without sending them across the world to their next adventure.

A question for you guys...what would the audience here think of one-nighht stand modules. You know, the play for 5 hours things. 12 encounters, couple maps, cool art. Maybe $5 pdf and $9 pod. 24-36 pages each.

What if we did a lot of them?

What if we did a few a year only?

What levels would be good/bad?

What if cover art was repeated to lower pricepoint?

What else would make these good or bad?

However many and with what frequency is not as big an issue as quality, for me.

I think Sasha nailed my main idea. Art will be good, but cover art may be a series (very expensive). Maps and quality of material will be high, of course, and I would not have posted here if I wasn't thinking Pathfinder versions of everything at least (and not dual statted, versions).

A question for you guys...what would the audience here think of one-night stand modules. You know, the play for 5 hours things. 12 encounters, couple maps, cool art. Maybe $5 pdf and $9 pod. 24-36 pages each.

What if we did a lot of them?

What if we did a few a year only?

What levels would be good/bad?

What if cover art was repeated to lower pricepoint?

What else would make these good or bad?

Definitely interested.

That about sums it up Elorebaen. They woould be pretty frequent, totally plug and play, short prep required, variety of levels. Think of these as subplots you can insert when you need a 5-8 hour session w/ little prep that won't derail your main campaign.

That about sums it up Elorebaen. They woould be pretty frequent, totally plug and play, short prep required, variety of levels. Think of these as subplots you can insert when you need a 5-8 hour session w/ little prep that won't derail your main campaign.

I'm in. :)

This is what seems to be the theme form feedback so far:

Still thinking on this--this is market research at this point...all I'll say is probably. But my (preliminary) plan is 2/month, about $5-6 pdfs, $9-11 PODs <30 pages, repeat cover art (maybe 1 new per 6 or 12?, per year?), some one shot, some series, a select group (small) of authors, cool maps, some new, some reused interiors, level <12 in most cases. Hard core, gritty Bill Webb style adventures. Oh yeah, and by request, few humanoids threatening villages. Probably two versions (not dual stats) 1) Pathfinder, 2) 0e/1e..something like that

This is what seems to be the theme form feedback so far:

Still thinking on this--this is market research at this point...all I'll say is probably. But my (preliminary) plan is 2/month, about $5-6 pdfs, $9-11 PODs <30 pages, repeat cover art (maybe 1 new per 6 or 12?, per year?), some one shot, some series, a select group (small) of authors, cool maps, some new, some reused interiors, level <12 in most cases. Hard core, gritty Bill Webb style adventures. Oh yeah, and by request, few humanoids threatening villages. Probably two versions (not dual stats) 1) Pathfinder, 2) 0e/1e..something like that

Would this line have a subscription?

I have no idea if a subscription would work; I asked my paypal html guy to look into it. The trick is it would need to charge you when each book was released--since it could be anything from, say, 0-4 books/month (assuming the model I stated above), it would be tough to fix fee that.

I do like the idea of subscriptions though--its pretty hassle free for all involved.

I'll keep you posted on that.

I'd sign up for the above.

BTW, Slumbering Tsar 1-2 are great. I've partially digested the first two and I am blown away: epic premise, great/spooky locale, textured monsters/bad guys. My players are going to love it.

Sozin, thanks for the praise. FGG definitely prides itself on spooky:)

ST3 off to layout.

First ones that spring to mind for me is Worldwound obviously at and Ustalav or Lastwall remains from the war against the Whispering Tyrant.

The way I see it (so far), we need an analogue for the wastes, temple-city, trade route, and bard's gate.

- Aye, Worldwound is definitely a shoe-in. Shudderwood as the "Forest of Hope" perhaps? The big question, where is the temple-city? Iz, or Storasta perhaps.

- Trade Route: Perhaps Karcau as "Bard's Gate", and the trade route is going to Tolguth, and/or some pass has been found through the ice to reopen trade with Tian Xia, or some such.

- I'm thinking the Mendevian crusades may fit better, if we go with the Worldwound. Need to think on this a bit more.

Just thinking out loud.

Well for one wanting to make it fit. The best thing would be to change Golarion history a bit and ST a bit. Say the worldwound is a bit newer than it is and before that, there was a evil nation there and this was one of the cities. Then old trade roads make sense etc.

I wrote a big post on this and it was eaten somehow, so I'll try again.

Basically I one point in the real-life Slumbering Tsar saga while Necromacner Games remained on haitus and Frog God Games was nothing more than a gleam in Bill's eye, I spent somet ime pitching ST to Paizo as a Pathfinder product. Ultimately it didn't fit any of their subscription models and they took a pass, and the rest as they say is history. However, when pitching it I made recommendations of how I would modify it to fit Golarion.

Basically the setting and background are too sweeping ot fit neatly into Golarion as is. The Worldwound, as mentione3d, is a good idea, though. What I did, htough, was to ask for a little bit of the world just off the edge of the map where I could play at my leisure and make stuff fit.

My primary attempt was placing it all just off the map to the east of Taldor's Fog Peaks, on the cusp of Casmaron. I made the Battle of Tsar take place about 700 years previously (longer than my originally envisioned 300 years) and tied it into the ultimate downfall of the Taldan hegemony.

The other option that I had just started playing with when I received the final "no thank you" was to place it in southern Garund just off the map. This would have involved a significant change in flavor from its current Eastern Euoprean feel, but I was really getting excited about some of the stuff that could be done with regards to things like the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a book like Nyambe, and the concept of a once-powerful and sophisticated Garundi empire south of the jungles where most folks think of nothing but savages. I was going to go a little more Robert E Howard with it, but ultimately it too got shelved befoer I really developed much of anything.

So suffice it to say, while I had some ideas, I had no good answers to the question in regards tot he existing Inner Sea Region map.

My primary attempt was placing it all just off the map to the east of Taldor's Fog Peaks, on the cusp of Casmaron. I made the Battle of Tsar take place about 700 years previously (longer than my originally envisioned 300 years) and tied it into the ultimate downfall of the Taldan hegemony.

Oh Wow! This is exactly where I decide to place ST in my Golarion campaign. I'm glad I have confirmation this was indeed the spot you envisioned. Only in my campaign the area will have a west to east trend with Tsar lying further to the east.

Cool. :-)

July 2010 News and Updates
July 16

Oops--I messed up and missed 2 pieces of art in the Tsar 3 file. Its being fixed currently, and should be posted for subscribers and for sale here on Saturday night. As I am out of town until Sunday, Drive Through and Paizo won't be posted until late Sunday.

Much apologies for the delays.

In other news, I got the test proofs of Tsar 1 PODs from Drive Through this week. The color and quality of the Lightning Press print on demand was very good. I am not sure how long it will take to get these up for sale, but Tsar 1 will cost $9.99 as a print on demand module, with remaining volumes priced at $13.99. I'll get links for sale for the PODs as soon as they become available.

We have added an artist, Rowena Aitken will be doing cover work and interiors for us on a regular basis. her bio will be up soon, and she is incredibly talented. Go check out her portfolio at http://www.rowenaaitken.com/. Look at the Fantasy Art tab...wow.

Interiors are all sketched for Fane of the Fallen (by Ms. Aitken), and now the long process of grey-scale begins. Rick assures me the cover is on the way, and the maps and text are done and finalized. Interiors are in process for Splinters of Faith, and maps and text are done as well. As soon as Rick is done with the fane cover, its off to the races on Splinters.

Greg will be at Gencon, working at the Paizo booth, and he "might" have a few special items for subscribers and those who wish to become subscribers. If you are there, i suggest you find him.

Finally, a huge announcement coming in about a month or so. I can't disclose what it is yet, but I think you will all be very happy; I know we are.

ST/Golarion stuff

Thanks G, I really appreciate the ideas!

Greg will be at Gencon, working at the Paizo booth, and he "might" have a few special items for subscribers and those who wish to become subscribers. If you are there, i suggest you find him.

If you buy the full subscription you get a kiss from Greg. If you have already bought the full subscription and have proof, you get a kiss with frog tongue.

...As I am out of town until Sunday, Drive Through and Paizo won't be posted until late Sunday.

Which means it won't actually go up here until Monday...

A question for you guys...what would the audience here think of one-nighht stand modules. You know, the play for 5 hours things. 12 encounters, couple maps, cool art. Maybe $5 pdf and $9 pod. 24-36 pages each.

SO. IN.

That's a great price point; I can't afford to subscribe to both the Pathfinder APs and Slumbering Tsar at present, but I could kick in $5-10 for a great little dungeon or something, that I could work into an existing plot or story.

B&W art is something I'd prefer; it's much easier to print out or photocopy as a player handout.

Wanna bet Vic? :)

It went live 10 minutes ago...subscription and 9.99 is live on our site. Paizo copy live tomorrow.

Wanna bet Vic? :)

It went live 10 minutes ago...subscription and 9.99 is live on our site. Paizo copy live tomorrow.

I think Vic meant not going live up on Paizo until then. :)

Wanna bet Vic? :)

It went live 10 minutes ago...subscription and 9.99 is live on our site. Paizo copy live tomorrow.

Downloading! Thank you.

Side note: It would be great to receive an e-mail notification when the subs go up, and if the notification can include the download link that would extra cool.

Best.

lol; was just teasing Vic; and I got it up on all sites last nite late.

The email thing has been in the works; it does not seem to be working still (probably due to code error on my part). But yes, that is the eventual plan.

lol; was just teasing Vic; and I got it up on all sites last nite late.

Yep... what I meant was that, since I have to do some manual pokey-pokey stuff on PDFs before customers can buy them (mainly just verifying that everything's set up correctly and that the html won't bust our site), a Sunday upload from you means a Monday release.

sweet--its up and rolling. Now I just have to get you guys to do PODs...

Thanks, Vic!

* After looking at ST#3 I was having the same thought DM mentioned in her review, I would really like to see a map of the entire region with all of the various areas. I'm assuming we will eventually see this? If not, consider this my vote. :)

* Question: Does anyone have a list of the gods used in ST? Or could point me to the product where they are discussed? I'm trying to figure out their Golarion analogues.

Thanks!

* After looking at ST#3 I was having the same thought DM mentioned in her review, I would really like to see a map of the entire region with all of the various areas. I'm assuming we will eventually see this? If not, consider this my vote. :)

* Question: Does anyone have a list of the gods used in ST? Or could point me to the product where they are discussed? I'm trying to figure out their Golarion analogues.

Thanks!

They was the default Necro world gods. There use to be a list of them over at the Necro site but i can't think of where it is off the top of my head. Also i am not 100% positive that's true anymore.

What about a subscription for this PDF series, to culminate in an order for the hardcopy ? Great stuff, Sir Vaughn. Your work has long been present in my gaming circle's youthful memories of gaming carnage, specifically Greyhawk. Good times ... good times...

Say that the sub starts with [select issue #], ends in #14, then maybe a discount for the whole kaboodle for a print copy pre-order ?