Mike Shel's page

Howdy people! Remember me?

A friend of mine has recently published an ebook on fantasy worldbuilding. Though it's geared towards fantasy fans and writers, I really think it would be a treasure for any GM working on building their own campaign world, or further fleshing out an existing one.

No, I have no financial stake in this. It is well worth the modest cover price. Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089GKQYVP

This blog post by Matt also gives a taste of what's in store:

https://www.mdpresley.com/post/worldbuilding-for-fantasy-fans-and-authors

Kanebaenre wrote:

In Wrath's Shadow http://paizo.com/products/btpy8r0c, one of my favorite PFS scenarios is also near Hollow Mountain and from Mike Shel too... Any relation?

Not intentionally, no.

Other than they're both potential deathtraps, no.

My debut dark epic fantasy novel, Aching God is available now in print and digital formats at Amazon.

Here's a recent tweet about it from fantasy author Phil Tucker (of Black Gate fame):

"ACHING GOD is live! If you like classic fantasy told with compelling characters and a modern sensibility that really drives home how traumatizing and intense exploring ancient, evil tombs would really be, grab yourself a copy .

Mike,

I love the sound of that name. ;) As for "define lots" More than two but less than a hundred?

More than one, less than 100. Truth be told, it's mostly just a bunch of cranky CR 1/2 kobolds armed with clubs. Nothing to worry about.

Of course, you never know what James Jacobs will do during development...

So Mike, does that mean there's lots of qlippoth in this book?

Define "lots." ; )

But I'll leave you with a name: Vexenion...

I took my lead from the excellent article on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion - I can't recall who's responsible for it (Jason Bulmahn, Matthew Goodall, Brandon Hodge, or Anthony Pryor), but it provided a great framework for a multi-level crawl I hope people will love (even if they fail to survive).

The talented Matt Goodall wrote the chapter on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion. Thanks for those nasty hooks you planted there, Matt!

For better or worse, I've joined Twitter. God help me.

@MikeShelAuthor

Howdy, all!

For those of you who haven't been following my occasional posts, I am in the process of self-publishing my first epic fantasy novel in a planned trilogy. I've gotten my manuscript back from my editor and I am working through her edits. I anticipate the final version landing in the hands of my e-book formatter on Monday.

The next step will be identifying a group of people - readers of fantasy fiction - who would be willing to read the book in advance of its release and commit to post a review to Amazon on the day it goes up for pre-sale. With indie publishing, reviews are absolutely essential to garnering the attention of Amazon's algorithms so that a book is put in front of the reading public's fickle, constantly darting eyes. An unknown author such as myself needs this more than anyone.

If you've enjoyed my work for the Pathfinder RPG, I think you'll also enjoy the novel I've written. If you have any interest in being a part of this advanced reader team, you can get additional information at a hidden page at my author website, made exclusively for you lovely people: CLICK HERE.

Thanks for your time.

Are you allowed to tell us just how much of the dungeon you used? Considering that the deep levels are basically 15th level plus possibly mythic.

Nope!

With that said, since this is chapter 2 of the AP, there are limits, and the levels listed in Dungeons of Golarion were used as a guideline.

Except for my BBEG:

I loves me some dungeons!

It remains to be seen what the cruel and clever James Jacobs will do to my turnover, but what I sent in is packed with nasty, dungeon-crawling badness. I took my lead from the excellent article on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion - I can't recall who's responsible for it (Jason Bulmahn, Matthew Goodall, Brandon Hodge, or Anthony Pryor), but it provided a great framework for a multi-level crawl I hope people will love (even if they fail to survive).

This is crazy, guys. Phil hit it on the head at Slack: this is gonna be a blast playing this thing with a bunch of writers.

Phil: Great opening scene; reminded me that my posts need to be scintillating.

Benedict: Good Christ, man. You really raised the bar to a ridiculous height. I laughed and shook my head through the whole post, wondering how I could top that. Decided it would be silly to try.

Bryce: Continuing the crazy good. "I'll have to think of an ending for that joke..." Perfect.

We really should think about letting the PF community in on this stuff, if not contemporaneously, then after the fact.

Do we have anyone else joining us?

For those folks who own Nooks, Lost Lore is available for FREE at B+N now.

It's also FREE at Google Play.

Howdy, all!

The indie fantasy anthology, Lost Lore is available now at Amazon and Kobo. It's free at Kobo and will be soon enough at Amazon (they're offering it for 99 cents right now).

Included is a short story I wrote called "Barrowlands," set in the world of the epic fantasy trilogy I'm hard at work on. I'd love to hear what people think.

And please post a review at Amazon and/or Kobo as well! That helps give the book greater visibility.

I am also glad I am not dead.

In the meantime, if you want to be kept abreast of my projects, sign up for my mailing list. No more than one email a month and your address will not be shared with anyone.

Help! Bob has me tied up in his basement!

MIKE'S WIFE CHIMES IN
Hey, folks. My wife says I talk too much. She says I should just say, "Please sign up for my mailing list. I need this." So...

Please sign up for my mailing list. I need this. Thank you.

MIKE'S MAILING LIST

>>HEY! LOOKEE HERE!<<

Let me just give a push to all Pathfinder fans and fans of epic fantasy to sign up for my mailing list.

MIKE SHEL'S MAILING LIST

"Why?" you ask. "Why should I let Mike Shel clutter my inbox with his marginally entertaining word-like products? What possible advantage could there be to handing out my precious e-mail address to this maniac, responsible for the death of my favorite character <insert name of poorly built character killed by your own sad negligence or crap luck, not by my clever and flawless adventure design>, whom I will talk with you about until you are forced to shove a large article of clothing in my mouth to get me to stop prating on endlessly?"

Well, I'm glad you asked, even if your manner of asking was inexplicably insulting. If you would be so kind and trusting and, if you'll permit me to say so, beautiful as to entrust me with your sacred e-mail address (which is doubtless already in the hands of countless predatory scammers and soulless, mercenary multinational corporations, already exploiting you in a thousand ways), I make the following promises slash guarantees.

1) I will not darken the door of your inbox more than once a month, unless something truly earth-shattering compels me to send an extra unscheduled missive;

2) I will not share your e-mail address with anyone else, ever;

3) You can unsubscribe at any time

My monthly mailers will keep you updated on the status of my impending epic fantasy trilogy, Iconoclasts, as well as any other fiction or RPG products I have a hand in. I will also alert you to other indie fantasy fiction of interest. I will also offer (on occasion, so as not to spoil you shamelessly) special deals and incentives as they become available.

So whaddya say? Why not sign up and receive these unobtrusive, yet somehow priceless monthly gems? What's the worst that could happen?*

MIKE SHEL'S MAILING LIST

* - Do not answer that question. That way lies madness.

ABSOLUTELY FREE INDIE FANTASY AUTHOR ANTHOLOGY

Howdy, all!

On January 15, 2018, an anthology of stories by 16 indie fantasy authors, including yours truly, will be available free of charge in electronic format across platforms.

It's entitled Lost Lore and includes such indie luminaries as Dyrk Ashton, Alec Hutson, Phil Tucker, Timandra Whitecastle, Steven Kelliher, Benedict Patrick, TA Miles, and TL Greylock.

There's a placeholder for the anthology at Goodreads. I'll post the Amazon link when it's live.

My own contribution to the anthology is entitled "Barrowlands" and is set in the world of my epic fantasy trilogy, Iconoclasts. The first book of the trilogy is currently in edits and slated for release later in 2018.

In the meantime, check out Lost Lore for a taste of my world and the worlds of fifteen other talented fantasy writers. There's also a cool interview with three of the anthology's authors at Fantasy Book Critic as well.

OK, that thread title is admittedly a bit over the top.

Nonetheless, I'd like to draw the attention of fans of my Pathfinder work to some other projects at which I'm laboring away in my foreboding, cavernous lair (actually, it's a condo in Indianapolis, Indiana).

This will be the space to check on the glorious Paizo Messageboards. I'll make a point of dropping updates here, but for all things related to my RPG and fiction work, check out my brand-spanking new, still-in-development website:

https://www.mikeshel.com

Hey, why not join my mailing list?

Finally had a chance to dig into this, and I love it. An elegant and straightforward way to infuse madness into your game. Great job!

Write and post a review!

Egads! I always find things out late!

Wes, hope you're new endeavours are rewarding and fun. I will never forget your immensely encouraging notes on my first feeble attempts returning to RPG writing. Thank you.

My wife and I also had the pleasure of having lunch with Wes at GenCon two separate years. What a fine person you are. Hope you will still make it to GenCon sometime in the future so we can have lunch again!

I am only capable of writing kittens and rainbows. Everyone knows that.

Chaotic evil kittens and rainbows.

Oh, hey Jason, I just noticed you gave Mike Shel and me credit for the adventure in your blurb. That should actually be the esteemed Richard Pett. :)

Don't believe him! I wrote everything!

Whoa! You guys are still at it?

The newly updated OGL for Bestiary 5 has a capital "U" in "AUthors" and capital "H" in "Mike SHel".

This must be corrected iMmediately!

Thanks, Mike.

Despite my best efforts as Lady Devy, the players insisted on going straight to Hunclay's tower. I had Deputies Hodde and Mulle show up and try to persuade them they did not have the authority to enter until they heard back from the next of kin.

All characters reluctantly agreed to leave except for one half-orc fighter that refused to go. The deputies then started questioning him about his motives. He became belligerent and I had the deputies say he was under arrest for trespassing. The player then chose to run off "into the woods somewhere outside of town."

I decided that by coincidence he ran to the flooded quarry right into the kobold guards at area B1. The rest of the party told the deputies they would track down fighter and arrived just in time to help in the battle.

Now they are all outside the kobold caves anyway. Problem solved.

It takes a clever GM to get some players back on track (I can hear you: "YOU MEAN THE RAILROAD TRACK!"). Nicely done. Of course, the folks of Belhaim may not warm to them as they might have if they had headed out to the kobold warrens at the request of the baroness. How are you going to handle things when the PCs get back to town with their fugitive colleague?

You can pronounce Aeteperax however you'd like. My pronunciation would be ay-TEH-per-AX.

Witch's Tower:

Hunclay's Manor:

Truth be told, I'm an old school GM who gets impatient with players who refuse to follow obvious storylines, seemingly out of spite or plain orneriness. Yes, I know the kids these days (GET OFF OF MY LAWN!) bemoan anything that smacks of "railroading," but for Pete's sake, can't we tell a story here? Why are you playing a published adventure? Why not just roll on random encounter tables?

If your players won't follow the bread crumbs, let them do whatever they want. However, I'd have the town of Belhaim and its ruler respond logically at what would likely be perceived as an arrogant and lawless challenge to her authority. There are cells in the town jail for them if the free rooms kindly provided at the Wise Piper aren't to their liking, after all.

As Neil Spicer would say, that's my two cents.

Sigh...

What gives, fellas? Posts are really trickling in slowly! I thought the idea was everyone posting daily. C'mon! Snap to it! This spectator is very much looking forward to a few upcoming encounters that make those fish look like a pleasant interlude.

Map updates?

Blood! Blood!

Guys:

I'm already enjoying the in-game banter and paranoia.

Good luck!

- Mike

I'm starting to feel bad for the poor ol' residents of the Tomb.

I'm going to be so bummed if they just waltz through the Tomb. I want tears! Blood! Broken bones! Shattered spirits! Minds teetering on the precipice of madness!

GM: A couple friendly suggestions:

1) Due to typical PbP attrition, you may want to designate a couple of alternate players to step in should anyone go AWOL, despite everyone's best intentions. I'm sure a few of the players whose PCs weren't chosen will be watching play anyway.

2) When boosting the module for 6 players, remember that action economy is a b%!#@--more players = it's far less likely that single foes can put up much of a fight, even if you bolster them with a couple of mooks. Consider going a bit further than you might initially believe is necessary. You can always pull some punches if you find that you've overdone it.

Needless to say, I'll be eagerly anticipating the gruesome deaths...ahem...I mean, watching with interest as the intrepid PCs bravely face the tomb’s challenges.

Yeah, this is Mike Shel's first module.

** spoiler omitted **

We can run with archetypes, standard Paizo of course. I think we've got enough interest that I can start a Recruitment thread. I'll put one up shortly and link to it here.

Thanks for the compliments! I'd love to follow along with play to see how you Pathfinderize it and how it stands up to more sophisticated (read: paranoid) players.

However, Mud Sorcerer's Tomb was my second adventure for Dungeon. My first was called Sleepless, about a wizard who rather unethically sold his soul to multiple buyers, unbeknownst to the various purchasers.

Ditto on the words of Sir Pett!

Had fun with the interview, though people should note that it took place OVER A YEAR AGO.

Glad the Chronicles miscreants are back at it!

Oh wow, you wrote this? The module is awesome.

I don't think my players are breezing through it even with me adding encounters to make up for experience (and because I have other story stuff I want to do as our game will continue on past the module).

My players are a mixed bag, one experienced DM who is playing, a couple of guys who grew up and playing D&D and haven't played in a while (first time in Pathfinder) and a new guy who hasn't played anything.

There have been about 5 fights where someone has dropped unconscious, and at least twice as many where they have gotten really darn close. I generally don't pull punches, so I actually feel for a group with just 4 if the GM is playing it right.

I really think if the GM is playing smart a party of 6 would have a rough time in many places still and I'm only up to the auction place. As a GM some of the more deadly encounters caught me off guard (Ludo especially, he wrecked the party).

That's Lodo. Just for that, Lodo...

Glad Dragon's Demand is still beating up your party. WRITE A REVIEW!

Well as a wrapup, I gave the Wizard a peek at the spellbooks for a number of hours (he had 47+ stealth check # of hours based on the fact he had to sneak in while they were inventorying the manor)then we just sat and rolled to see what all he could successfully write down.

As far as experience I've added a few encounters to pump their XP up, I'm happy with what I've added so far (a CR 5, 6, and CR7 right before the auction). Also I generally add a couple of mooks depending on how they're doing. Maffei also wrecks shop against a bunch of these monsters if they're struggling.

Note that one reviewer gave the module a mediocre review because it was a "cakewalk" for his party of 6. Remember that due to action economy, bigger parties quickly overwhelm the CR. It's pretty tricky to get it right. Throwing in one or two mooks to compensate may not be enough to ramp up the challenge.

Remember to post a review!

DrSwordopolis wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

The adventure in this book ran a bit long, so we essentially have an additional 6 or so pages of adventure content and only one support article. It's not something we do often, but in this case, the adventure simply needed that extra space to do what it needed to do.

Speaking for myself, I honestly don't mind more content at the expense of additional support articles. The support articles are usually great, of course, but I'm just as happy to have additional adventure content.

Same here... but the amount of extra time it took me to develop the adventure is part of the reason WHY we rarely do this, frankly. If we did this for every volume, then the AP would quickly turn into a once every other month product instead of a monthly product.

In my defense, I came in at word count.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

The irony.

I can confirm that the first Southlands packages are in the mail. There's quite a few still left to put together, of course, but it's a start!

Bestiary PDF is.... Well, it gorgeous. And the development work by Jason Nelson of Legendary Games really helps these monsters shine, as well.

From what I heard at Gen Con, some of these monsters will appear in the upcoming Legendary Planet adventure path, at least in installments by Legendary Games designer Mike Shel.

Shhhhhhhh...

What man has not been driven to acts of diabolical evil by Male Pattern Baldness?

Let the Rebellion begin!

Swashbucklersdc wrote:

The verdant sorceress iconic is looking kinda male in all these covers, =)

I suppose plant-based races don't have quite the same degree of secondary sex characteristics as the St. Pauli Girl. :)

Where's the "like" button when you need it?

Let me loudly echo Jason's post: this is a truly amazing project, with some your favorite adventure authors, a multiverse-spanning story that takes you to incredibly diverse settings and introduces a bevy of new monsters, aliens, and NPCs. I'm hard at work now on my chapter, The Scavenged Codex and am really excited by the artwork I'm seeing. Check out Jason's latest update for a preview of the cover!

As Judy mentioned above, Mayor Ballard issued an executive order essentially countermanding the governor's bill in Indianapolis. This was especially unusual as Ballard and Pence are members of the same party: no way not to see this move as anything other than a thumb in the governor's eye. Much of the politics driving this discrimination-sanctioning bill originated in the far more reactionary rural areas of the state, which exert outsized influence in the halls of government.

What made me really proud of GenCon and the values of the gamer community that it reflects (acceptance, not tolerance), is that the Con was the FIRST entity to take a public stance on the dubiously titled RFRA. All other corporate and organizational announcements followed in GenCon's wake.

I've lived in Indianapolis for the past 20-some years. Let's hope that the blowback from this ill-considered act teaches the haters that the times, they are a-changin'. With gamers in the vanguard.

See you in three weeks!

On a side note, will the idea of the Dark Tapestry play any factor in this? I am kind of hoping so as they were used to great effect in Iron Gods.

You may be aware, Kodyax, that was responsible not only for a direct Iron Gods dose of the Dark Tapestry, I also wrote the support article on the Dominion of the Black in Pathfinder #88 and had notable DT elements in both the Dragon's Demand and Pyramid of the Sky Pharaoh. So, I loves me some DarkTap. Since DT is Paizo intellectual property, however, there won't be any development of that aspect per se in the LG AP (though a DT mystery oracle or the like is certainly a possibility). That said, nothing would stop you from porting DT into your own use of the Legendary Worlds Campaign Setting. It's built specifically to accommodate "crossing the streams," so to speak.

It looks like the Legendary Games website domain has gone down. Has Legendary Games moved addresses?

*keeps trying to find more sources to fuel Legendary Planets excitement*

It's back up...

Who doesn't want to be killed by Owen K.C. Stephens?

Neil Spicer wrote:

But, I consider myself quite lucky to have the support of more than a few industry veterans in writing and publishing it. .

There are a lot of industry vets that are excited to be part of it too!

Part of what? What are you guys talking about?

There's minimal info re: the Order of the Torrent in currently available publications. For instance, they're historically centered in Kintargo and have dwindled to a rather small sect in more recent years. Turn of the Torrent fleshes them out a bit more.

Also: you'll become acquainted with the Silver Ravens over the course of the Hell's Rebels AP. Intimately acquainted.

Congrats, Amanda! You left Indiana just in time...