Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
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More Lost Lands Canon from FGG! The Lost City of Barakus (Gold Ennie for Best Adventure in 2004) is being revised, expanded & updated!
The Lost City of Barakus Returns!
Frog God Games strikes again. More material from The Lost Lands is on the way, and while we finish up the massive Sword of Air, we decided to go ahead and get the next volume of material going.
Winner of the 2004 ENWorld Gold Ennie for Best Adventure, this hardcover book is the original (revised and expanded) work by WDBK Kenower and Bill Webb. The book will be produced in 2 versions, one for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and one for the Swords & Wizardry Roleplaying Game.
For all you Lost Lands fans out there, this one is canon — it interfaces with Stoneheart Valley, Rappan Athuk, and Sword of Air, and represents the next of many ongoing chronicles of the Frog God Games/Necromancer Games home world. A MUST HAVE book for any fan of our material.
Our base level of funding is small — we wanted to keep the price point down on this. We listened to your feedback from our last few Kickstarters — and we are adding more new material based on stretch goals as detailed below.
The Lost City of Barakus, designed to take characters from 1st to 5th or 6th level (or higher), is as much of a campaign setting as an adventure. Detailed within these pages is the great, bustling metropolis of Endhome, the Penprie Forest and Duskmoon Hills located north of that city, and, finally, the huge dungeon that is the Lost City of Barakus. Within all these areas are many adventures, NPCs, and locations for the party to explore, interact with and conquer. How and in what order the party chooses to take on the various challenges before them is entirely yours (the GM’s) and the players’ choice.
Though given specific location names, the adventure herein could easily be modified to fit in any campaign world. As always, change, add, modify, delete and alter as necessary to meet the needs and desires of you and your gaming group.
Adventure Background
Centuries ago, a race of humans built an elaborate underground city beneath the Duskmoon Hills called Barakus. These were a magic-loving people, and for hundreds of years they dwelled peacefully in their subterranean home, delving into the arcane arts. Eventually, however, one of their number, a necromancer named Devron, rose to great power and transformed himself into a lich. The wizards of Barakus banded together, and after a great struggle, banished him to a prison far below the city. Before his banishment, however, Devron forged the helm of power, which he could use to restore his power at some future point.
Though Devron was locked away in a magical prison, the wizards of Barakus knew that someday he might use his powerful magic to somehow free himself, and so they created a weapon, the sword of Kell, which a mighty warrior could use against him. Because they wanted control over who got and used the sword, it was forged such that unless empowered in a specific room in Barakus with the use of three orbs of power which were themselves powered by three “flames” — small geometric shapes scattered throughout the city. The idea was that the three elders of the city must agree on a champion before they offered their flame: without complete agreement, the sword was useless.
However, before a suitable champion could be found to battle Devron, the lich played a risky gambit. At great expense to personal power, he summoned a stone of madness, which erupted through the floor near the gates to his prison. This magical stone had the power to drive all sentient creatures mad. This it did, and the good people of Barakus soon destroyed themselves, and the city fell into ruin.
Centuries passed. The stone of madness’ power diminished and most of the city was freed from its effects. Eventually, creatures from the Under Realms and the surrounding wilderness began moving into the city and using its many halls and chambers for their lairs.
Barakus is now a massive dungeon, filled with creatures that have their own designs and desires. Many of the inhabitants over the years have altered the layout of the city slightly to fit their needs, and hundreds of years of monstrous habitation has left the city’s once-great halls filled with forgotten treasures and un-sprung traps.
Of course, Devron still dwells deep beneath the earth in his magical prison, and as is the wont with trapped liches, he would like nothing more than to escape his prison and find his helm of power, which would restore the power he lost during his captivity. While exploring the city, the party may decide to find the sword of Kell, empower it, and go after Devron. The battle between the heroes and the lich is likely to serve as a climax to this adventure.
Stretch Goals
All stretch goals for this Kickstarter will focus on additional content.
$20,000 Bonus Dungeon Level 4B - "Hall of the Shield" (written by WDBK Kenower, Bill Webb.) This level will add a new and powerful shield that the players will find highly useful during the end game and battle against Devron. Further, after the players leave the environs of Barakus, both the shield and Sword of Kell could take them to the next stage of their adventure in the depths of Rappan Athuk or in their quest for the Sword of Air.
$22,500 New Wilderness Encounter - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.
$25,000 New Wilderness Encounter - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.
$27,500 New Wilderness Encounter - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.
$30,000 Player's Guide (Free PDF to all backers) Add $5 per player's guide for softcover (price goes up to $10 after the Kickstarter.)
Additional Stretch Goals to come.
Chuck Wright Layout and Design, Frog God Games |
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Here's a sneak-peak at some of the art.
(It's the banner created from the new title and an early version of the cover art)
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Me too Greg--its just has the right "feel" to the book. I could keep price similar if I went back to (industry standard) glue bindings--but I won't.
Its still my belief that the large amount we pay extra for the textbook binding is worth it in the long run. Our books will almost never fall apart (think I have had 3-4 defective ones out of maybe 50,000 so far).
You should expect your grandchildren to be able to use our books. If I go to al color--unless we start selling 5x as many books, the price just goes up a lot. Sometimes it makes sense--like RC or SOA, because the book is so big the extra $15-20 in cost per book is not a big deal.
Most of the time we will stick to BW books I think. I would rather have you all to be able to buy 2 different books for $80 bucks than one for $60.
I (personally) also prefer the black and white look to the shaded style art that Artem and others are doing. Its just, well, creepier looking.
Laric |
As I said above, I prefer B&W as well, especially if it is cheaper.
Still, I have to say that the new color artist that FGG has been using has been doing an amazing job.
The art samples that have come out for Sword of Air surprised me by how good they were.
And the Sword of Air cover is among the best I've ever seen. So very evocative with that cat in the foreground, and those stained glass motifs.
I also love the new Barakus cover by the way!
Grimmy |
Still, I have to say that the new color artist that FGG has been using has been doing an amazing job.The art samples that have come out for Sword of Air surprised me by how good they were.
Wow, those are fantastic!
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Chuck Wright Layout and Design, Frog God Games |
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Auxmaulous |
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I was like pulling teeth to get WDB Kenower back on the job--This book is going to be great. Kenower really has a great way with low level dungeons.
I can only take credit for the wilderness on this one.
I am glad to see that he has moved on to better things, but damn - I wish he wrote more adventure content. The man is a master at low to mid level adventure design and creating environs books.
Lost City and Vault of Larin Karr are some of the best gaming/mini-campaign books ever written. They are excellent for new/novice DMs and are a fantastic starting point for experienced DMs that want to expand on their content. I may be biased a bit since Larin Karr was the basis for a long term campaign for me - running it for 8 years.
I hope the outcome and experience for Mr Kenower brings him back to do some "occasional" game writing. Everything gaming related that he has touched, I own - everything that had his name on it from Necromancer (RA Reloaded, Larin Karr, Lost City) is some of the best gaming material I have come across.
Getting him on project gets me off the fence.
Bill Webb Publisher, Frog God Games |
Skeeter Green Pathfinder Rules Conversion, Frog God Games |
John Benbo RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8 |
Mark Hoover |
Bill, you must currently be wearing a ski mask, black and white striped shirt and carrying a big sack with a dollar sign painted on it, because you intend to rob me blind. You're telling me that, with this kickstarter, I'll have the opportunity to get in on past deals or books that I've missed? Sadly my financials have been so bad that I have never been able to participate in ANY FGG campaigns. Since my fortunes have had the opportunity to change lately... well, let's just say I'm looking to make up for lost time with a vengeance. Now if only I can somehow weasel an RA hardcover out of your hands...
Mÿcerranin |
Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!! I'm currently using Barakus as the starting point of my campaign. I found it is the perfect adventure to bring the group to the proper level for the next leg of the journey - Slumbering Tsar.
I really love these adventures (Rappan Athuk, Barakus, Tsar, Abysthor). They are built on great creative thought and stand as some of the best adventures ever written for RPG.
With this and Sword of Air being done, it can't be much longer for Larin Karr and Demons and Devils Right? nod nod wink wink.
Skeeter Green Pathfinder Rules Conversion, Frog God Games |
I'm in. I missed out on all of these back in the day. I'm hoping that Frog God Games gets to run some S&W games at Paizocon this year (I've gotten to run it a few times, but never get to be a player!).
John- Bill and Jillian both run S&W games at PaizoCon, look for them when registration opens. If we're not overwhelmed by other duties, we typically have a pickup game going in the evening, as well.
You could always make the trip to NTRPGCon, in Dallas, as well. Its a LOT of S&W.
SG
John Benbo RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8 |
John Benbo wrote:I'm in. I missed out on all of these back in the day. I'm hoping that Frog God Games gets to run some S&W games at Paizocon this year (I've gotten to run it a few times, but never get to be a player!).John- Bill and Jillian both run S&W games at PaizoCon, look for them when registration opens. If we're not overwhelmed by other duties, we typically have a pickup game going in the evening, as well.
You could always make the trip to NTRPGCon, in Dallas, as well. Its a LOT of S&W.
SG
Thanks, Skeeter! Glad to hear their will be some games. I'll definitely have to check out NTRPGCon at some point.