TrollintheCorner's page

Troll in the Corner is proud to present Devious NPCs and Curious Creatures! Just $1.99 at DriveThruRPG.

Designed to give GM's interesting creatures and NPCs to mesh in to their ongoing Pathfinder games. The creatures and NPCs are created for low to mid-level campaigns.

These NPCs and creatures are a bit different from what one may normally encounter and should give the PCs a chance to include some role playing in to their encounters, rather than a basic combat with the same old creatures and NPCs.

Included with every creature or NPC is at least one hook - an idea that can be used to make the PCs actively interested in an outcome further than simply slaying the beast or overcoming a singularly evil NPC.

These hooks can make the game that much more interesting by putting the PCs into a position where morals need to come in to play and the alignment of their characters should encourage active role playing.

In addition to unique Creatures and NPCs, you will also find several adventure seeds - ideas which can be dropped in to your current game, perhaps to germinate in to a reoccurring theme or simply for use as a one off idea.

Creatures
Beast of a Thousand Broken Hearts
The Rat King
The Wink
Sandrunners of Aolith
Vrook and Squishy

NPCs
Erkaling
Gregory deVolint
Dingle - King of the bears

Adventure Seeds
Frost Giant's Sorrow
The Show Must Go On
The Big Ones

Hey All!

Wicht, thanks for the link to my review. I've just posted it here on Piazo.com as well, because every click on the 'net kills electrons. Or something like that.

-Ben

Wow! Thanks everyone for entering. I did not expect this kind of a response!

The books are practically leaping out of my office in anticipation of finding a new home.

I've also decided that, should the kickstarter portion of this get fully funded (51% there already!) I'm going to have another give away similar to this but a bit better. :)

Thanks again for entering!

Yes, for three books it feels more like a session at the gym than a quick stroll to a friends with my RPG backpack.

Entered. I have 2 of the 3 and may get the GMG here soon, but extra copies never hurt (except to carry!).

I've been finding that the more I play, the more I enjoy the game. I've gotten to the point where I'd rather create Pathfinder content than play video games.

And I love my video games. :)

Entered!

I've already got the books, but what a fantastic way to spread the love by having extra copies to distribute to others in my gaming circle!

Just an FYI - I'm running a contest where we're giving away three Pathfinder books.

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system is one I greatly enjoy running and playing. I enjoy it so much I’ve started writing some small expansions for the system. Now I’d like to share my enjoyment of Pathfinder by giving away everything any group would need to run a full Pathfinder campaign. That means the Pathfinder Core rule book, the Pathfinder Bestiary, and the Pathfinder GameMastery Guide. All in hard cover, bundled together and shipped to anywhere in the world I can legally ship to from the US – all for one lucky winner.

In addition to winning three brand new hard covers, I’ll also include download codes for every Pathfinder expansion document I’ve created. Five other winners will also receive all of these PDFs for free, and 10 additional winners will receive one Pathfinder compatible PDF for free as well. 16 winners in all!

I'm not entirely sure if this is the correct board or not, so please correct me if I've published this in the wrong board.

Thanks!
-Ben

Hey folks,

Here's a quick magical weapon to throw at (or near) your group the next time you're in need of a little something quirky.

The Plaid Axe of the Northern Dwarf

It's d20/pathfinder compatible. A brief description:

This axe is all aboot taking down trees, vegetation and whoever may be standing near by. Forged in a vast underground empires by vast, underground Dwarves, the Plaid Axe of the Northern Dwarves was a last ditch solution to the growing problem of how to cut down and use things that weren't made of metal. Being the clever bastards that they are, the Northern Dwarves took some time away from their annual moose throw to forge just aboot the mightiest tree felling axe ever seen.

The Plaid Axe of the Northern Dwarf is a free, light-hearted magical weapon for use with Pathfinder/d20 games.

No Dwarves were harmed in the creation of this item.

The first World of Aruneus module premiered on July 11th at KantCon. Thankfully the folks who run the convention got audio of every session, including The World of Aruneus - The Haunted Mines!

You can listen online or download the audio file (about 100MB) from right here!

More info about The World of Aruneus:

Zombies rise. Heroes die. You are what remains.

The world was a large place. The four races, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs coexisted with an uneasy peace, but at the least, they were able to share the land and survive. Empires were formed, lives created and destroyed, magic flourished and for a brief time, Humanity strove to master the globe. Then the undead scourge broke the world.

The World of Aruneus project is already well under way! With 6 digital publications available for Aruneus (11 total including other projects) at this time. Included in these are unique rules for Contagion Infected Human Zombies - a special breed of undead that are necessary for a world breaking apocalypse. Also, Orcs as a player character race - modeled on early medieval Huns, our Orcs are different. They have Style!

Wandering through forests, or in the deeps, pretty much anywhere adventurers can be found, the Exasperating Ooze is a strange, blob like ooze. Ranging in color from dull orange to dull red, with black vein like structures, it slowly moves through any terrain. What it survives on, where it comes from and even why it exists are all questions that have not satisfactorily been answered. Current speculation leans towards a minor deity, displeased with its followers who sought only to advance themselves.

Inside every Exasperating Ooze, directly at its center, are 2,000 GP worth of gold coins, just visible to anyone observing the Ooze.

What gives this ooze its name is the inability to actually affect it, gain any treasure from it and learn from the experience.

With seemingly every hit, this amorphous blob grows larger and as it grows larger and angrier, it becomes worth more XP to the party and becomes harder to kill, making it a more tempting target for the party to attack, making it worth more to the party and making it harder to kill.

A creature to confound your experience goggle wearing party.

Hey!

As the author of the review, and the owner of Troll in the Corner, let me reiterate - this is a great expansion for PFRPG (and I expect, though I don't play it, 4e).

For the record, I'm in no way affiliated with Matthew or the folks at Alluria. I just enjoy well made books for the games I play.

-Ben
Troll in the Corner

The first review is in of the Fey Folio: Clans of the Fey Realm.

Check it out here

Zombies rise. Heroes die. You are what remains.

The world was a large place. The four races, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs coexisted with an uneasy peace, but at the least, they were able to share the land and survive. Empires were formed, lives created and destroyed, magic flourished and for a brief time, Humanity strove to master the globe. Then the undead scourge broke the world.

The World of Aruneus project is already well under way! With 6 digital publications available for Aruneus (11 total including other projects) at this time. Included in these are unique rules for Contagion Infected Human Zombies - a special breed of undead that are necessary for a world breaking apocalypse. Also, Orcs as a player character race - modeled on early medieval Huns, our Orcs are different. They have Style!

The goal is to raise enough money to create the Essential Aruneus - a hardcover source book and digital document that would contain the everything players and Game Masters would need to start a full campaign in the world of Aruneus.

This project is under full steam! I'm using Kickstarter as a way to pre-order the finished products (PDF or Hardcover) with a few extra goodies thrown in for those who've contributed early.

This book would be approximately 100 pages in length and would contain the following publications. A * means the product is already published. Unpublished products are all currently in progress, being actively worked on and have artists assigned to them.

*The History of Aruneus - a time line.
Aruneus - life in a post-apocalypse world - featuring an Atlas style map, and detailed history.
*Contagion Infected Zombies. 3 different zombie types, a new feat, and a cure.
*Zombie Cards - for Contagion Infected Zombie management.
*Orcs! A new Player Character Race, Prestige class and more.
Two new full character classes, including the Quantamancer.
The Gods of Aruneus - detailing the six gods of the pantheon, new divine magic and more.
*Clerics and Wizards - the struggle between the ruling Clerics and outlawed magic.
*The Dwarven Empire - the rise and fall of the Dwarves.
The Elves - a history of the race of Elves and their struggle with the human undead.
The Haunted Mine - The first adventure in the Aruneus world for 1st level characters.
New Enemies - A second adventure for 1st level characters.

Head over to DriveThruRPG for what's already been published.

The money raised from Kickstarter would go towards offsetting publication costs (and fulfilling pre-orders), paying artists, editors and Pathfinder subject experts and getting this book to various conventions over the next year where players like you can enjoy the heck out of it!

Some additional information:

I have two ongoing projects at the moment.

1 - a source book for my own world, Aruneus, which uses the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system at it's core. This is a high fantasy, zombie apocalypse setting.

2 - magic items through the "Troll in the Corner's Magical Emporium" moniker.

I've been publishing through DriveThruRPG for the last month with some success (average 4.3 out of 5 for reviews) but I'm about as indie as you can get when it comes to indie press and currently a one man operation.

-Ben

I'm looking for two individuals who would have the below qualities and be able to fill the following roles:

1.) Be cool. Enjoy working on RPG stuff with a desire to maybe even get into the industry at some point in a non-indie way.

2.) Be willing to work on a co-op basis. That is, you'll receive 10% of the total profit made from a title you work on, paid via paypal on a monthly basis. There are more details but we can work that out via email. Oh, and you'll also get free copies of everything I put up for publication, your name in the credits and my undying gratitude.

3.) Be committed to not vanishing on me because that's just not cool.

Mapmaker: I need an individual who's good at making simple maps for use in game. Primarily these maps would be included as 8x10 (or smaller) inserts into campaign modules and world building documents. I may require a small region to be mapped out (i.e. town goes here, forests, mountains roads) or a village/town/city. If you're also good with vector graphics and able to make a 1" to 5' battle map for tactical situations I will think you an even more amazing person.

Pathfinder Subject Expert: You must have at least 4 years experience running Pathfinder games and also be able to detect the joke in this sentence. You are intimate with the Pathfinder rules in a non-biblical sense and can immediate spot flaws in such things as magic items created, new character classes, races and other things that have to do with game mechanics. Being a GM with a stable group is a plus.

I would send you documents that are somewhere along in the editorial process and you would point out all the things I did wrong because I've stared at these things for 14 hours straight and can't see colors or taste apples anymore.

If you're interested and would like to talk further, please email me at ben at trollitc dot com.

For a look at works already available using artists working via co-op agreements, see here.

Thanks! -Ben

We here at Troll in the Corner's Magical Emporium were recently approached by our Goblin counterpart, Mirkmoot, with a cross promotional offer we found ourselves unable to refuse. Magical items for small beings such as Gnomes, Halflings, Goblins and many others!

Initially skeptical about this cross promotion, we decided to move forward with it because the items are uniquely designed for players of smaller stature and we owe Mirkmoot a good deal of money.

Mirkmoot is the Goblin people's premier Wizard extraordinaire! He is quite possibly the only Goblin in living memory to attain the rank of Wizard, 3rd class or master the art of multiplication.

He brought us a whole wheelbarrow full of items and we've had to use every available wizard to work out exactly what they are and how they work. And why some of them are pink. His grasp of the common language can be a bit wanting and he insisted on naming his items himself, hence the unorthodox, wonderfully quaint naming scheme. It's ah, enbeautiful!

These items, they are certainly . . . unique! Never before have we come across a group of magical items so striking. Mirkmoot's sense of style and his near mastering of the art of creating magical items is unmatched by anyone we've ever met before. He has a certain ability to bring out qualities in magical items that are both unexpected and unique!

This expansion contains the following Items for use with creatures of Small size:

Mirkmoot's Belt of Enbiginating (Magical Item)

Mirkmoot's helm of Engoblinating (Magical Armor)

Mirkmoot's helm of Unenngoblinating (Magical Armor)

Mirkmoot's Dagger of Enstabbing (Magical Weapon)

Mirkmoot's Fob of Unenincarcerating (Magical Item)

Mirkmoot's Glorious Helm of Engloryating (Magical Armor)

Mirkmoot's Short Bow of Redeadifying (Magical Weapon)

Mirkmoot's Bardy Lute of Unbardsuckifying (Magical . . . er. . . Instrument?)

Mirkmoot's Tube of Fabulous Enseeing (Wondrous Item)

Mirkmoot's Ring of Encursing (Magical Ring)

Mirkmoot's Helm of Enseeing Really Far (Wondrous Item)

Mirkmoot's Tablet of Easy Writingness (Wondrous Item)

Since posting this morning, we've received our first review. 5 out of 5 stars!

Troll in the Corner proudly presents The World of Aruneus - Orcs! A player character expansion.

This supplement contains everything you will need to insert the Aruneus Orc Player Character into any Pathfinder campaign. Whether you're basing your campaign on the world of Aruneus or simply want to include Orcs in your campaign world, this supplement is for you.

It contains:

* A History of the Orcs
* Descriptions of Orcs and their society in the world of Aruneus
* Orc Racial Traits
* Two new Creatures: the Hram and the Penumbral Atavus
* Prestige Class: The War Leader
* Three Orc NPCs: The Herd Rider, the Bardic Herald and the Clan War Leader
* Two Magical Items: The Bridle of Control and the Scimitar of Command

"For thousands of summers we have fought each other and laid our souls under the feet of others. When they first set on us, we had no War Leader and we died. For a hundred summers we have died. Now, now you've chosen me as your War Leader and we live! We rip our own gold out of our hills! We forge our own steel with which to slay! Our bards sing songs of glory and of learning now! Our builders have learned the art of stone and our cities prosper! You have chosen me as I have chosen you and we will never more lie under the feet of another race! We will forge our empire with our steel, build our cities with our own gold and become a mighty, mighty race! A race that fears no enemy, living or dead!"

Transcription - Clan Moot at Highpass, 97 AA, War Leader Garak in a speech to the gathered clans

Could be worse - I mean, you'll be on vacation, right? :)

We've just released Masks of Magic & More! Featuring 10 new magical items which were created with the help of a real, live, in the field Anthropologist. It was an interesting process working with a Mesoamerica expert. You can find it righ here at DriveThruRPG.

We have for you today a selection of magical masks utilized in esoteric rituals by the most barbaric of peoples! And we mean that in no sense to portray barbarians as anything other than the fine, upstanding and occasionally psychotic individuals who are always welcome to spend their hard earned coins at our Emporium!

In addition to our selection of magical masks, we've unearthed the rarest of intellectual weapons! Strange shamanic talismans guaranteed to bring luck and vision! A cursed item that is so vile we can only sell it to licensed collectors! Licenses are available via our scribe for 10 GP per person.

Inside you will find:

The Mask of the Hunter (Wondrous Item)
The Mask of the Prey (Wondrous Item)
The Powder Mask (Wondrous Item)
Quietus Mask (Wondrous Item)
Bag O Bones (Magical Item)
Sword of Minkin'Mar (Intelligent Magical Weapon)
The Ethereal Hook (Magical Item)
The Heart Plug (cursed item)
The Button of Charming (Magical Item)

And a bonus item: The Orcish Mask of Atavus (Wondrous Item) to go along with our soon to be released The World of Aruneus - The Orcs!

This sounds fantastic! Do let us all know when this is available. I could use 100 new beasties to throw at my unwitting party. :)

-Ben

That’s right – go download a whole empire for yourself! Or at least this bit:

The once great Dwarven Empire has been decimated by the zombie hordes. Now, one hundred years after the first undead attack the Dwarves of Aruneus are rising again as a political force.

This supplement explores in brief the history of the Dwarves on Aruneus and the fall of their greatest city to the undead.

Grab it now for free at DriveThruRPG!

I am proud to announce the arrival of a nasty horde of shambling, ravenous undead!

Get them now at DriveThruRPG

This supplement contains everything you will need to insert Contagion Infected Human Zombies into any Pathfinder campaign. Whether you're basing your campaign in the world of Aruneus or simply want to include a zombie outbreak in an existing or new campaign world, this supplement is for you.

Aruneus is a source book for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game detailing the world, politics and life of those living in a high fantasy world one hundred years after a cataclysmic zombie apocalypse.

Pathfinder Logo

This publication conatains:

A brief history of Aruneus

Stat blocks and Special Attributes for three types of Contagion Infected Human Zombies

A new rule: Head Shot

A new feat: Decapitate

Demographics for the world of Aruneus before and after the zombie apocalypse.

Encounter Charts

New Magic Item: The Vial of Life

Also - Zombie Cards! Manage your hordes with style and grace. No more overlooking that stray zombie!

-Ben

Another free release via DriveThruRPG of Aruneus source material! Clerics and Wizards sets the stage for power, intrigue, conspiracy theories, hysterical behavior and possibly unwarranted incarceration for your RPG party! High Fantasy has never been so low ball political.

Even after the zombie apocalypse, power attracts. Factions via for pollitical mastery while countless beings are consumed by the ever hungry undead. In the world of Aruneus, the undead aren’t the only danger.

This supplement contains details on the Order of the White Cloth and magic users in the world of Aruneus, including the rise to power of the Order of the White Cloth and the fall of the Wizards under the Order’s rule.

-Ben

Hey everyone, thanks for the great discussion on this.

I've since modified the supplement I'm working on to be completely OGL compliant and with the exception of some artwork that I have permission to use but don't own, and the name of the world I'm creating, everything is open.

As someone just getting started out in publishing Pathfinder compatible supplements both for free and for sale, I learned a ton from this conversation and all of the links people referenced, as well as from re-reading the actual OGL itself.

I do have a few products out there on DriveThruRPG that are compliant but not fully open. I'll be updating them as I have the time.

-Ben

Hey folks,

As a small publisher (very small) who embraces openness, if I want an entire publication to be available via OGL, can I simply state that fact?

I've got a short notice about ownership and copyright on my works but I'd rather just make them, at least the majority of them, open and available.

-Ben

I’m very proud to announce that Troll in the Corner’s Magical Emporium: Spring Sale! is now available from DriveThruRPG! This supplement contains 5 new magical items, ranging from fun party conversation starters to some pretty interesting weapons.

Hello folks, it's that time again! Here at Troll in the Corner's Magical Emporium, where we have the finest magical accoutrements this side of. . . of . . . of a place that has not so fabulous stuff.

Spring is a special time for us. The boss makes us root through the cellars looking for anything even vaguely magical and then we get to practically give it away to you, the discerning adventurer.

This year our theme is Party at the Inn! All of these items are guaranteed to spice up your next party and make your soiree the to-go-to event of the year! Caution: Some items may cause permanent, irreversible damage to the wielder, creatures in the immediate vicinity and possibly minor deities.

If you're willing to write a quick review for DriveThruRPG and/or this board, let me know and I'll get a promo copy over to you.

Thanks,
Ben

Thanks folks!

I'm planning on putting out several inexpensive (~$1.99 or less) supplements very soon now. I'll also keep the free ones rolling out as well.

They're fun to create!

-Ben

Ever find yourself and your party in the middle of the wilderness or the deepest dark of the dankest dungeon just yearning for a pony? Perhaps you’re looking for a pack animal to cart around the myriad +1 short swords you’ve found. Perhaps you’re just hankering for roast pony.

Hanker no more brave adventurer! The Stone Pony Bag is THE stylish and economical way for modern adventurers to produce ponies at need.

A new magical item for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system and other d20 systems. Available for free from DriveThruRPG!

It is with great pleasure and a very tired brain that I present to you the first official, published Aruneus supplement!

The World of Aruneus - A Brief History is now available through DriveThruRPG for free!

Aruneus is a new world for use with the Pathfinder Role Playing Game. 100 years past, Aruneus experienced an apocalyptic event. Starting in a small village, a family infected by a strange sickness died, only to rise again several days later. Within weeks hordes of undead were roaming the Human empires, ravaging any warm blooded creature that fell in to their grasp. Aruneus was devastated – losing in a few years over 10 million sentient beings.

After 100 years of fending off a complete collapse, the sentient races are rebuilding their societies and for the first time there is hope that the undead menace can be destroyed and life given a chance to flourish again.

Presented here is a brief historical timeline of Aruneus from the arrival of the four races to the present day. This overview is to give game masters and players a historical perspective on the world of Aruneus.

I’d love for you to grab a copy for yourself and check it out. Feedback is of course always welcome! Also, look for more supplements, with new creatures, classes, races and all new artwork coming soon!

Just an update - the wiki will contain all of the world information while I'm working on a massive campaign complete with NPCs, villains and whatnot as well.

I'd love to hear your opinions on this!

-Ben

Actually, my sister is a zombie. It's not that I'm against zombies in general, just the ones that try to eat my worlds.

-Ben

Mindless! MINDLESS!!!! Why do you people insist on perpetuating this cruel myth about the heart beat challenged? And what's this about a cure! Like we're some kind of disease! Just because we go a little overboard and wipe out a civilization!

Enough is enough! Zombies were people too, you know! Stop the hate!

I'd like to invite you to check out a world and campaign being developed for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game universe. Aruneus.

Aruneus is a source book for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game detailing the world, politics and life of those living in a high fantasy world one hundred years after a cataclysmic zombie apocalypse.

Please fee free to check out individual updates at Troll in the corner or the wiki for more information.

I've included the background in this post (below) as well.

Thanks for checking us out!

-Ben

~~~~~~
The world was a large place. The four races, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs existed if not in peace, at least able to survive with each other. Empires were formed, lives created and destroyed, magic flourished and for a brief time, Humanity strove to master the world. Then the undead scourge broke the world.

It started with a single child. Then a family. Soon, a whole village succumbed. Within weeks hordes of mindless, always hungry undead swarmed over the Human empires, destroying any creature that was foolish enough or unlucky enough to fall into their path.

Although the disease effected only humans, rendering them first dead and then undead in less than two days, the hungry corpses would eat anything warm blooded that fell into their grasp. Mice, cattle, even the great dragons. none were immune. They were not fast or overly strong but their numbers became massive. Weapons proved to be nearly useless against a horde. Magic and fire could do more but sheer numbers, the undead in the thousands proved too much. Worse, they did not seem to decay or become weaker. Years would pass before even the hint of corruption appeared on their bodies.

One organization, the Order of the White Cloth proved to be a counter to the undead scourge. Able to organize to the point of defending a small but determined group of Human settlements, the clerics proved invaluable. Able to destroy the undead through sheer power of will their protection became vital.

The Order have become the new nobility. Their upper echelons have become the wealthy elite, admitting very few in to their ranks and supplanting kings and emperors as the new, untouchable power. Anger them and their protection can be withdrawn, leaving you and yours to fend for yourself.

The Elves and Dwarves too have been decimated by the undead. Their cities ravaged and their population has plummeted. Fear of Humans is a normal reaction. Any who may have been bitten will turn and in turning they will eat flesh endlessly until put down.

While the Orcs of the north have suffered as well, their frozen country and nomadic ways have gone far to preserve them. For the first time in centuries, a new Orc empire is rising.

Magic users have become something of a rarity, as the practice and study of magic is a luxury not often had when fighting for mere survival. The Order of the White Cloth has all but outlawed the practice of magic unless it is done on their license, in their temples. The lay people see mages as a curiosity and a person to put their hope into. What is left of the old nobility would seek to manipulate them in their secret war against the Clerics. The Order of the White Cloth simply seeks to use their power without them becoming a threat.

There are rumors of a small island containing the last operating wizards collage not under the thumbs of Clerical overlords but at this point, they may just be rumors.

When the undead scourge, some called it the apocalypse, spread through the world it was the grimmest of times. Societies collapsed and Empires fell in the span of a few years. Over ten million sentient beings vanished from Aruneus in a matter of years, many returning as mindless undead. It is only now, one hundred years since that ill fated child destroyed the world that hope can once again be seen in the faces of man, dwarf or elf.

Walled cities are for the first time in a century growing. The undead are finally succumbing to time and literally falling apart. While still out there, beyond the safety of walls, their numbers are slowly dwindling. The invention of lighter than air craft have reintroduce trade and communications.

The Order of the White Cloth, seeing their reign beginning to slip, are tightening their yoke on the human population, quashing rumors and allowing only those communications they see fit to pass through their censors. Still, it is hard to stop a rumor.

A rumor, recently surfaced, hints at a possible cure. A means from keeping a living human infected with the undead Contagion from turning in to one of them. If this were to be true it could be the final answer to the prayers of hundreds of thousands of humans.

The nobility would kill for this and a chance to seize the reins of power from the Order of the White Cloth. The Order would kill to keep this from dwindling their power. Whole cities would become mobs should they learn that the cure was being withheld from them, or was within reach.

Should you be given this power and asked to save all of humanity, what would you do with it? Where would you turn and who would you pick to live or to be condemned to shamble and moan and wander always lost?

How much of the expense of a boxed set is the box itself? How much cheaper would it be if the material were, say, a hardcover book, and sandwiched between it and a piece of cardboard all the softcover/looseleaf additions, all shrinkwrapped?

My nephew (and now my son, too) is into Playmobil toys, and I know that that company sells a lot of their toys at a huge discount if you buy them bagged instead of boxed.

Hell, I'd buy your stuff if it were shoved into a large zip-lock bag, or possibly a $0.19 trash bag. I'd even re-use the trash bag. :)

I think the point is that *if* you, Piazo in general, were to come out with a Pathfinder set of some sort, regardless of packaging many of us would be happy to purchase it. Digital, print, shoved into a trash bag, etc.

I agree. One can't save the world. But there will be more than one. In fact, there will be 5 at the start (still not world saving). One to stay in the initial settlement the party starts at and 4 to go with the party to be distributed, along with instructions on how to make more.

Like anything, when the process is more thoroughly understood and more research can be done, the cost is driven down and the output is driven up.

Or at least, that's the hope. :)

Dont be sorry about a long post, world building cant be done in short strokes :P. Interesting that the vial of life replenishes, but takes a month, and the cure cant be stored elsewhere. So they better not screw up more then once in a game month, or be mostly non-human. As good as this cure is, i dont know if it can possibly be world saving because of it's volume limitations. 2mil gold each means there will be very, very, VERY few or these. I dont think this will save anything at all. A zombie cure needs to be able to be mass produced to protect large portions of potential new zombies (read: people). A battalion of archers is a better zombie plague cure then this (and cheaper to equip and maintain as well).

Paizo's not quite ready to fully enter the digital world. We're still as much a print company as a digital one... MORE a print company, in fact. At this point, we don't have the plans or resources or (to be honest) the desire to produce extensive digital offerings. We DO regularly offer Pathfinder Society scenarios as digital only products, though... but if we're going to go through the trouble to produce a boxed-set's worth of content, we don't want to limit that content only to people who want PDF stuff.

But. . . you could tie in to the iPad! ;)

It's hard to move a previously wholly printed product into the digital age. And I agree that not everyone would be happy with a few PDFs when they could be holding glossy print items in their hands.

You just don't get that new RPG book smell with a PDF.

I can also tell you that I'd be happy to pony up $100 for a great boxed set. Hell, I just spent $90 on a new RPG system that's only in PDF format for now (pre-order) and when it gets printed, I'll get shipped 2 books. $100 for the extra content that would come with a boxed set isn't really all that bad at all.

We've looked into doing boxed sets, and we KEEP looking into doing them. As Paizo gains more resources, the idea of publishing a boxed set gets closer and closer to reality, but the last time we ran the numbers, it ended up looking like a boxed set on par with, say, Dragon Mountain would need to be priced well over $100.00 for us to not lose money on it (I want to say we came to a conclusion that such a set would need an MSRP of something like $250.00, but I could be mis-remembering).

I hear you, and I'm sure we'd all rather you continue to publish cool products than go bankrupt on a box set.

What about some sort of middle ground? A digital boxed set? Publish a physical book and sell it for a percentage more than normal (what that % is you math and finance whizzes would have to find out) and then make additional content available online or on a cd.

PDFs of maps, NPC and Monster cards, notes to party members for in-game secrecy, back story, etc would be pretty cool and I would pay extra for it.

You'd still have to pay for the production but the materials, shipping and printing costs would be virtually gone on everything but the book itself.

-Ben

I'd love to see a boxed set adventure with scale maps. Even better would the the inclusion of a cd or download code so I could get all that stuff on my computer at the same time. :)

A cure is great, but is the supply sufficient that the party can keep an ample amount for themselves? I mean i dont know much about your table, but i believe most parties will have trouble with a 1 bite kill horde particularly with the absence of a powerful magic user for battlefield control. Flying over the zombies is great, but it wouldnt be a zombie apoc game if you dont have to face down a swarm of the walking dead now and again.

(Sorry for the long post)

Well, that's gonna be a fun thing for the party to figure out. There's a twist to this as well - the cure is self generating but it takes time.

Also another twist - the Contagion only affects humans. So if you're half elf, dwarf, etc. then the bites sting like hell but won't turn you in to a zombie.

I'm planning for the party to be in plenty of gray-areas throughout this campaign. They're going to have to make some interesting choices and these choices will certainly change their world and how they as a group are viewed in it.

And they won't have access to lighter than air travel always. But - the actual zombie apocalypse was 100 years ago. There are still plenty of zombies out there but no where near the world consuming hordes of 100 years ago.

Here's the item that effects the cure:

Vial of Life

For a century, scholars, magic users and clerics have been desperately searching for a cure to the contagion without success. Now a conclave of outlawed wizards, nobility friendly with the League of the Earth and a rogue Order of the White Cloth priest, one has been found. Taking incredible magical powers based in both knowledge and the divine, along the the presence and blood of a contagion infected zombie, the Vial of Life has been created.

The Vial of life

Aura: strong abjuration; CL 20th
Slot -; Price: 2,000,000+ gp; Weight -

Over the course of a month, this small vial which appears to be constructed out of drab, grey soapstone slowly fills up with a sweet smelling, light green liquid. Once the vial is 3/4 full, production of the liquid stops until the vial is emptied.

If drunk, the light green liquid will cure heal 1d6+6 HP of damage. If drunk by a human who has been bitten by a CI Zombie but who is still living (has not succumbed to the effects) that human will endure several minutes of pure agony, after which they will be cured completely of the Contagion. They will also be healed up to 1d6+6 HP of damage.

If the liquid is poured out of the Vial of Life it will lose its healing and curative properties in 1d4 minutes.

The Vial may be stoppered by a simple cork with no ill effect.

Construction Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Wish or Miracle, Cure Light Wounds, Channeled Energy ability, soapstone vial, blood from a still functioning Contagion Infected Zombie.

I find it interesting so far. I guess in your world PCs have to do alot of running, or make alot of backup PC's. The romero 1 bite is 100% fatal is problematic in a high fantasy game (in my opinion). But if this is meant to be more in lines with horror gaming it makes sense.

Well, two recent (in Aruneus, not real life) developments deal with that.

1. The pioneering of lighter-than-air craft. Float carefree above the slavering zombie horde on your way to your next destination. Whoops! Watch out for that Roc!

2. An actual, honest to goodness cure. It's horribly expensive and extremely rare and my party is going to be charged with delivering it to several major settlements. Which will threaten the Order of the White Cloth who are ruling because folks depend on them to ward off zombies. It's also cause for the underground nobility to rejoice.

All advertising aside (you know where to transfer my percentage to, Paizo ;-)), what will be the tech level in your campaign? Magic level?

Will it all be just artefacts from the Past, like players finding a magic sword or a Druganov? Was the magic there before or did it only appear after some half-zombies (or something like that) developed weird powers?

Tech level will be standard high fantasy medieval-like-but-with-renaissance-armor-and-other-anachronisms. Magic level will be low to start off with but not because the magic ain't there, more because of the political situation and the fact that it's really hard to study magic for 20 years when things keep trying to eat you.

Basically I wanted to see what a standard high fantasy RPG world would look like 100 years after a massive zombie apocalypse. So I created the world and then destroyed it (on paper, I've not yet mastered actual universe creation) and now here we are.

I don't want to link spam my blog all over the forums but up in an earlier post on this thread I have a link to all of the stuff I've detailed about the world. I've got a good 30k words worth of stuff done so far and I'm cranking out more every day.

It's a sickness.

I don't know whether to thank you Kolokotroni or curse you as I've just added another book to my wishlist.

Although having just gotten the core rules, I'll be needing the bestiary first before I get anything else.

Please do have a look at the world I'm cobbling together. Let me know what you think.

Is there an actual world building discussion on the Piazo messageboards?

-Ben

I think you'll find that your players will treasure their magical items if your run a low magic campaign as well.

I've been in campaigns where players would find a new +2 bastard sword or a ring of protection +1 and just throw it into the cart with the rest of the junk because the party already has more of them than they can use.

Low magic settings makes every magical item found a real treasure. Either to sell and capitalize on if the party can't really use it, or for personal use by a player who'll be boggle-eyed at their shiny new cloak of shadows.

Don't keep the magic out of the game, or what's the point but certainly make it great fun to find/steal/kill for.

Thanks for the welcomes!

Anburaid - they're slow zombies. Traditional, shambling, flesh eating, head shot needing undead. :)

Here's Aruneus or everything I've shared with the world about it so far.

The world is a standard, high fantasy world but the population's been reduced from 11,500,000 sentient beings (mostly humans, elves, dwarves and orcs) to about 800,000 sentient beings.

The zombie contagion only affects humans, but infected zombies attempt to catch and eat any warm blooded creature.

The setting is going to be low-magic(ish) as well. There's the potential for high-magic but because of the current political situation, magic users and particularly wizards have been either hunted down or must be licensed by the dominant church.

The Order of the White Cloth (the dominant church) found themselves in power politically amongst the human kingdoms as their clerics could destroy the undead. That's caused lots of havoc with the now ex-ruling class as well.

There's lots of detail on the site so I won't clutter up this thread with it but I'm certainly looking for feedback if you all have any!

Hi Folks,

I'm pretty new to Pathfinder. I just got the core rules last night. And finished reading it this morning.

I'm familiar with D&D 3.0 and to a lesser extent 3.5. I can see where Pathfinder veered away and I heartily approve of the changes made.

I'm still digesting the rules set a bit.

I stumbled into Pathfinder at just the right time it seems, as I'm creating a world and campaign which was in need of a system. I was debating creating my own but that wheel has been reinvented an awful lot. My world fits very nicely into the Pathfinder mechanics.

I'm tackling the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in a high fantasy world. My campaign will take place 100 years after the initial outbreak, in a world which is just starting to bootstrap itself back into functioning societies.

I've gotten some public input into the history and basic mechanics and just today released my zombies and a new head shot rule for Pathfinder.

This Friday I'm doing an initial test with a few PCs verses a whole mess of zombies.

This is a bit lengthier than I initially planned for a "hi there" post. So hi there! I'm looking forward to cruising the boards and learning the intricacies of the system and how you all use it.

-Ben