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Fire Mountain Games is pleased to announce its next product line. Starting in early 2013 we will be releasing "Throne of Night".
"Throne of Night" will be a campaign where your characters need never see the sun. Build an empire in the depths of the earth and defend it against all foes. Explore an alien world beyond imagination and make it your own.
Two adventure paths in one, you can play either noble settlers epitomized by the dwarves or wicked overlords exemplified by the drow. Though there will be notes on playing any race and class, the campaign will focus on those two points of view.
We'll be releasing more details all day today so visit the web site or our facebook page for preview art and further information.
Of course we welcome your questions!
And to answer your first question: Aboleth? Yes, lots.
Fire Mountain Games is the ENnie award nominated publisher of Pathfinder's only evil adventure path the critically acclaimed "Way of the Wicked" for sale now at Paizo.com and DriveThruRPG.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Excellent good - sounds great! Look forward to seeing the nitty gritty.
Keep up the good work Gary!! I owe you some scotch!
Ahh, had forgotten that you were meant to be announcing this after GenCon. Awesome, I shall ready the box of replacement F5 keys :D
Edit: Just had a chance to read the website, really awesome sounding. 3d Hexmap? Interesting... I do hope this doesn't preclude the potential WotW Sequel/Kingmaker hybrid that was proposed in your suggestions thread, I believe called Tyranny something?
Further Edit: Hmm, I almost want it to be a 3-in one AP though, Drow, Dwarves, and frail, pathetic humies stumbling around in the dark to try and stake a claim on the underworld for themselves. The third, 'neutral' path :) It would be a very different tone to the other two though, so I spose it might not fit too well...
Peanuts,
This AP will allow you to play "frail, pathetic humies stumbling around in the dark". Much like Paizo's "Skulls and Shackles" allowed you to introduce firearms, there will be sidebars supporting that option.
But the focus of the AP is drow or dwarves.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
PATRONS
One of the unique aspects of "Throne of Night" will be that every party has the option of having a patron. The Patron is a minor deity or demon lord who all or most of the PCs revere. The Patron helps tie together parties and it allows all the PCs to participate in a mini-game before the campaign begins so that cooperatively they can design their own. Faithfully serving your patron and making sacrifices grants you minor boons as the campaign progresses and is a source of unique treasures and rewards.
With Patrons the dwarves could end up being servitors of Father Mountain or the Queen of Mithral. Drow could end up serving the Demon Lord of Curses, the Master of Secrets or yes even the Spider Queen. The PCs choose their own reasons for being bound together in service to this master. This is one of the ways we help even a potentially predominantly chaotic evil party stay together and cooperate. But even with lawful good dwarves a Patron can provide an intense focus for the adventures to come.
Patrons will be an optional sub-system that can be exported to any campaign. The full system will be presented in Throne of Night Book One: Dark Frontier available early 2013.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I noticed "dwarves" and "drow". Do duergar count as being a replacement for the dwarves, or the drow?
The duergar assuming they are evil duergar will be more like the drow part of the path -- slaving, pillaging and seizing control of an empire.
The duergar will, in later books, almost certainly get their own article in the appendix discussing how to better integrate them into the AP.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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.....its almost like they listen to what people want.....
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A long while back I posted an idea about Kingmaker II: Dark Kingdom. Which focused on dwarves and kobolds building a kingdom beneath the Stolen Lands in previously unknown sections of the Darklands, ultimately clashing with a Drow empire.
So to say I'm excited about this path is an understatement.
I have some questions, although its pretty soon in the process:
1) Can this adventure path be run competitively? Two parties (one Drow, one Dwarf) competing simultaneously? So the Drow build up, the dwarves dig down and when they meet in the middle WAR!?
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DM,
You are not the first person since the announcement to ask me about this. I can honestly say that before today it never occurred to me.
So, let me just say officially now... "YES!"
It won't be required and it won't be in Book One (which is already largely plotted and planned). It will likely be supported by an article later in the AP that will fully layout how to play "Throne of Night" as a true two party PvP adventure path.
I am going to have to give this some serious thought how to make this work. More later...
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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Did I mention yet that one entire adventure of "Throne of Night" takes place on the water? "Sailors on a Sunless Sea" will be a subterranean seaborn sand-box adventure detailing a submerged ocean. What lurks in those seas of endless night? Herein you will find out.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Sounds good.
ERMAHGERD
I'm excited. I'm really excited. The drow are something I've always wanted to try out, but haven't had the chance yet. A dwarf-focused adventure is something I'm interested in too, as are several of my players. With "The Hobbit" coming to theaters soon I'm sure the interest in dwarves will skyrocket!
Very interested!
Aww man, am I sensing a Journey to the Centre of the Earth vibe?
PATRONS
One of the unique aspects of "Throne of Night" will be that every party has the option of having a patron. The Patron is a minor deity or demon lord who all or most of the PCs revere. The Patron helps tie together parties and it allows all the PCs to participate in a mini-game before the campaign begins so that cooperatively they can design their own. Faithfully serving your patron and making sacrifices grants you minor boons as the campaign progresses and is a source of unique treasures and rewards.
With Patrons the dwarves could end up being servitors of Father Mountain or the Queen of Mithral. Drow could end up serving the Demon Lord of Curses, the Master of Secrets or yes even the Spider Queen. The PCs choose their own reasons for being bound together in service to this master. This is one of the ways we help even a potentially predominantly chaotic evil party stay together and cooperate. But even with lawful good dwarves a Patron can provide an intense focus for the adventures to come.
Patrons will be an optional sub-system that can be exported to any campaign. The full system will be presented in Throne of Night Book One: Dark Frontier available early 2013.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Oh yes, now this is something in particular that I'll be looking forward to. And I wonder; will this underworld be set below Talingarde? I can only imagine the amusement if the PC dwarves or drow meet up with the rulers of the new kingdom o' darkness on the surface.
Exactly where Azathyr (the section of the Dark featured in this AP) is located is left very nebulous. There will be a few local details of the surface revealed (necessary for trade routes to surface kingdoms or moonlight raids for slaves and gold) but "Throne of Night" will be almost entirely focused on the world below.
This will make this one of the easiest APs to important to the fantasy world of your choice ever published. And yes, I already have a solid idea how to connect this location to Talingarde. No doubt a sidebar in the book will reveal all.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
While tying it to Dwarves and Drow is definitely the way to go, I think I'd enjoy twisting it to the minor races - like Trogs or Dark Creepers or Swirfneblin... or even a kobold nation ;)
Mark,
I think it will be almost trivial to adapt "Throne of Night" into the campaign of building the great underground kobold nation.
In fact, this campaign will be a great opportunity to play a great many monstrous races that are usually forbidden. Just make sure they have darkvision.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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When I was reading the details of Throne of Night, the first thing that came to my mind was that it was an awesome idea. Aftet, I thought that making it a dual (or triple) AP was something really difficult to do right. But, then I remembered that it was Fire Mountain Games the ones doing it. And really, without any disrespect to other companies or writers, but I think if there is any people able to take that challenge and make something playable and amazing, those people are you, Gary.
So, I'm really looking forward to how the last chapters od Way of the Wicked unfold and the beginning of Throne of night, which with the more details you give, seems more and more promising.
Sergi,
First wow! Thanks for the kind words but more importantly thank you for your confidence. I'm glad to see we've engaged your interest with "Throne of Night".
Yes, it is ambitious. But let me be absolutely clear. It's about drow and dwarves (two points of view). I believe that this AP will be incredibly easy to convert to other races and builds and we'll have some support material in later books to make this even easier, but at its core "Throne of Night" is about playing wicked, evil drow or virtuous, heroic dwarves.
Two well-supported points of view is ambitious enough.
Thanks for your interest and I can't wait until we're deeper into this project.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Did I mention yet that one entire adventure of "Throne of Night" takes place on the water? "Sailors on a Sunless Sea" will be a subterranean seaborn sand-box adventure detailing a submerged ocean. What lurks in those seas of endless night? Herein you will find out.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
you are a lovely man and deserve a medal
you are a lovely man and deserve a medal
Glad to be of service. I actually just made a preliminary map of the sunless seas. I think my favorite part so far is the Cradle of Charybdis.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I so want to play this... It may be a bit early, but I already have a PC all geared up to go for this AP: Roger Goldscale, dwarven knight with gold dragon blood (paladin4/sorcerer2/dragon disciple10/eldritch knight4) and his cohort, the redeemed drow Noa'zir (oracle of life 5/paladin2/holy vindicator 10).
The only thing I don't like? The aboleths.
Wicked cool
And to answer your first question: Aboleth? Yes, lots.
Derro too?
I came up with a homebrew mine-cart ride minigame, I'm TOTALLY throwing it in. :D
I so want to play this... It may be a bit early, but I already have a PC all geared up to go for this AP: Roger Goldscale, dwarven knight with gold dragon blood (paladin4/sorcerer2/dragon disciple10/eldritch knight4) and his cohort, the redeemed drow Noa'zir (oracle of life 5/paladin2/holy vindicator 10).
The only thing I don't like? The aboleths.
Very cool character.
I'm afraid the aboleth will remain, AW. I can only promise that I'll try to make those wicked tentacular cthulhoid fish-monsters as cool as I possibly can.
Thanael, it is unthinkable that we will go twenty full levels of underdark exploration and empire building without at least some mad derro presence.
Anyways, this is only the beginning of our previews of Throne of Night. Over the coming months many previews will be released here and on our facebook page.
Thanks for the support everyone.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I so want to play this... It may be a bit early, but I already have a PC all geared up to go for this AP: Roger Goldscale, dwarven knight with gold dragon blood (paladin4/sorcerer2/dragon disciple10/eldritch knight4) and his cohort, the redeemed drow Noa'zir (oracle of life 5/paladin2/holy vindicator 10).
The only thing I don't like? The aboleths.
Very cool character.
I'm afraid the aboleth will remain, AW. I can only promise that I'll try to make those wicked tentacular cthulhoid fish-monsters as cool as I possibly can.
Thanael, it is unthinkable that we will go twenty full levels of underdark exploration and empire building without at least some mad derro presence.
Anyways, this is only the beginning of our previews of Throne of Night. Over the coming months many previews will be released here and on our facebook page.
Thanks for the support everyone.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
It's just that they are an entire race of evil overlord masterminds. I don't like much "there is no hope, the denizens of the dark are unknowably powerful and we will never be free of them" in my fantasy (one of the reasons of my love for the Mass Effect series, punching cthulu on the face). But I've loved all you've published so far, so I'm sure I'll be amazed by Lord Slimy & Co as well. Derro on the other hand... I love those crazy buggers.
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When you do this up, Gary, don't forget to put a small side note regarding familiars and animal companions that'd do well in the underground.
Another suggestion would be items that extend your darkvision or give you darkvision. Infrared vision would be nice too when you face off against undead. There are a lot of creatures that have way better vision, blindsense, or blindsight than a mere 60 ft. ahead. And half-drow are even worse with only 30 ft. When you're up on the surface world during the day, you can see for miles around you, if you're in an open area. Underground it doesn't matter where you are. You either see 60 ft. in black and white, or you don't see at all.
kevin_video,
We will definitely be doing some player support material in Book One and familiars is a great idea for the subject of a sidebar.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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kevin_video,
We will definitely be doing some player support material in Book One and familiars is a great idea for the subject of a sidebar.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
And animal companions. The first thing I looked up were those two when I talked to my players. All of them are wanting to play the campaign that hasn't come out yet because the underdark never gets explored. Especially not as an adventure path. However, we have to get through Way of the Wicked first. That being said, the ones who were most intrigued were the players who almost always play an arcane caster and a divine caster. Somehow I don't think mounts are going to get darkvision, but I couldn't mind much on familiars or animal companions for underground, short of using 3.5 materials, and even those weren't all that great because more than half of them don't exist in Pathfinder.
So you giving some support will almost be mandatory. I mean really, who's not going to want to be a drow wizard? That and clerics are the very personification of the race. :D
I'm not sure everyone will want to be drow wizards and clerics. Surely there's also room for drow anti-paladins and assassins and monster-hunting rangers and ....
As far as mounts go -- mounts can see in the dark if you pick the right things to ride.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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I'm looking forward to reading the AP - especially since Adventureaweek.com's 3-part Rise of the Drow mega-module has set the bar quite high regarding underdark modules!
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It looks very interesting.
The only thing that is putting me off slightly is that we have just finished Night Below, with a party consisting mainly of dwarves. We've just started Curse of the Crimson Throne, so hopefully by the time we have finished that everybody will be ready for another epic foray into the Underdark.
Will you be referring to the Sunless Sea(s) in the adventures? I used to be under the impression that it was WotC IP, but it turns out the phrase is in the poem Kubla Khan so I guess anyone should be able to use it.
Certainly adventures set in the underdark are nothing new. What will make "Throne of Night" very different is this is not about a raid by surface dwellers to defeat some creeping evil in the depths. You are definitely here to stay and for good or ill, the lands below will be your home.
One of the books will be entitled "Sailors on a Sunless Sea" but the seas themselves (and there will be more than one) will have other names.
But no there will no direct reference to the Sunless Sea of Greyhawk fame.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
The patron sub-system will let you write up any sort of demon lord or dark god you care to revere (as well as more noble dwarven demi-gods and ancestors).
I personally think spiders and drow are very over done. You may note that our sample art here shows a spider-free drow.
But if PCs want to be spidery drow, there will be an example that includes a generic "spider queen" demonness without mention of the L-word.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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I'm not sure everyone will want to be drow wizards and clerics. Surely there's also room for drow anti-paladins and assassins and monster-hunting rangers and ....
As far as mounts go -- mounts can see in the dark if you pick the right things to ride.
That's true. Not everyone will be wanting to be a drow wizard or cleric, it's just the classic type to take. Especially if you've never been allowed to play that before in your entire gaming career. And unfortunately I've known too many players who've never been one because the DM doesn't allow it.
No I mean literally, mounts. As in the paladin's and antipaladin's. Where it's essentially a horse, pony, or riding dog. Thankfully the write up does say "druid equal to your paladin level" so hopefully there'll be enough room for players to convince their GMs that a dire bat could possibly be summoned.
Bookkeeper,
Being as I know nothing about the mythic rules save for the little revealed at panels and the now one blog entry I skimmed, its really difficult for me to make any pronouncements about how this AP might use those rules.
That said, I would be interested in seeing how they could be integrated. And I suppose that yes, if you ever wanted to actually meet your Patron and perhaps slay its most hated rival, mythic rules would be perfect for that.
This is a great time for me to discuss another part of the Patron sub-system -- rivals. Every Patron has an arch-enemy, another faith that is inimical to it. As you are picking what qualities your Patron has you are also giving the GM tools to design its opponent.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Fire Mountain Games is pleased to announce its next product line. Starting in early 2013 we will be releasing "Throne of Night".
"Throne of Night" will be a campaign where your characters need never see the sun. Build an empire in the depths of the earth and defend it against all foes. Explore an alien world beyond imagination and make it your own.
I now have a reason to hope the Aztecs won't destroy the world this year.
I now have a reason to hope the Aztecs won't destroy the world this year.
Glad to have been of service.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Terrain in "Throne of Night".
Yes, there will be different kinds of terrain in Azathyr. It will not just be "cave". There will be the desolate dry caverns, where little can survive. Forest of fungi, rich with food and alchemical components. Hot springs. Underwater rivers, seas and lakes. Bat caves near the surface -- rich with guano. Fallen jungles where rare orchids thrive touched only rarely by the sun's light. Fields of cave lichen where the under-auroch graze. And more...
Cave? This is more than just a cave. This is a domain worth fighting for.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Mark,
I think it will be almost trivial to adapt "Throne of Night" into the campaign of building the great underground kobold nation.
In fact, this campaign will be a great opportunity to play a great many monstrous races that are usually forbidden. Just make sure they have darkvision.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Wow this excites me to no end, that is basically exactly what I asked for in your "what do you want to see an in a new AP?" thread :D
