Tzzarg's page

I would recommend Epidemic Books' Oathbound Bestiary: http://paizo.com/products/btpy8ogh?Oathbound-Bestiary Endzeitgeist's review is pretty good and sums up what I like about the work, its a pity that it did not get more attention.

Taking a page from Doug's Workshop:
Quality: Highly unusual monsters that your players will not peg right off the bat, and, presented at 3 cr levels (or 3 at the same cr level but with variant abilities) so that if they run into them again, they are in for even more surprises.
Substance: Yes.
Full color art: Yes.
Print: Sadly no.

Several questions:

1) Is there a listing of the adventures and what level they are for?

-- david

To answer your first question (these are based on the PF version of Quests of Doom that I got, Swords and Wizardry and 5th ed is likely different)

Also, most of the adventures can be used with any mix of classes, but there are a few that have been designed with specific classes or types of class (i.e. spellcasters) in mind.

As a KS supporter, I've been going over this and it looks great. One question, when will The Book of Lost Spells be available?

Thanks so much for the previews. Northlands Saga and Cults look to be worthy additions to the bookshelf. Can you say anything about Richard Pett's The Blight? A massive tome that crosses the Styes with a heavy dose of Cthulhu/Ravenloftesque weirdness is probably the FGG book I'm most excited about.

Lost City of Barakus is an excellent low level sandbox with a variety of city, wilderness, and dungeon encounters. I got the D20 version back in the day and picked up the PFRPG version when the KS was announced.

Imnotbob, I would say that the PFRPG version is 90-95% of the D20 version updated and 5-10% new stuff. There are new encounters, a new dungeon level and wilderness encounter or two, but most of the book is the same as the D20 version.

Bill, glad the KS did so well and hope you do more of them. When will the pdfs of items that are already released or close to release (Cyclopean Deeps, RA, the desert book, etc.) be sent out to backers?

The artist and blogger Stefan Poag has posted a 399(!) page draft of the Mines of Khunmar over on his Aldeboran blog at blogspot. The post can be found at: http://aldeboran.blogspot.com/2014/03/mines-of-khunmar-draft-march-2014.htm l The Mines are a megadungeon that he has been working on for many years. Although incomplete, the draft is incredible and illustrated with his work throughout. Several caveats:

1) While he's working to make it fully S&W compatible, there are portions of the draft that are not fully compatible with S&W yet. But if you're familiar with old school rulesets, converting those parts should not be much of a challenge.

2) The draft will only be up for a limited time. He posted it on 3/29/14. So grab it while you can.

3) Levels 9 and 10 are incomplete and fragmentary. Still, what's in the draft is more than enough to occupy most parties for numerous play sessions and months of play time.

Many thanks to Stefan for making this available to the community, its an incredible locale that has an awesome oldschool vibe.

.

Whatever happened to Throne of Night from Fire Mountain Games? Weren't they supposed to come out with a half-a-dozen part adventure path, one a month or so?

Fire Mountain has unfortunately been slow with actually releasing the supplements and has been uncommunicative as to why. If you check Kickstarter, Gary posted an update earlier this month stating that the second installment will be released by the end of March. I have every confidence that he will release the entire path, just nowhere near the timeline he initially stated. While there are quite a few folks on the board who feel very passionate about this subject, I would still recommend you check out Throne of Night and the first path he put out, Way of the Wicked. Both are well written and designed.

You may want to also try posting something about the contest at the cartographersguild site. I can think of any number of enthusiasts over there that would jump at the chance to enter the contest and show off their mapping skills. Good luck and I hope AdventureAWeek gets quite a few entries.

I've enjoyed the levels of your Purple Mountain megadungeon as they've been released and I'm looking forward to the Monster Book. Could you give us a brief overview of: How many monsters are in the book? How many templates? If you can, can you give us the monster CRs? Finally, will you be posting a sample monster or two to give us a sense of what kinds of monsters are in the book? Thanks.

Five suggestions for products I would love to see from FGG:

1. Iron Gods got me thinking, a fantasy/sci-fi module inspired/influenced by Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I would be curious to see what Bill and the gang could come up with when they mix some sci fi and fantasy.

2. The frozen realm ruled by vampires adventure that Logue and Pett were going to do after Razor Coast. Cool concept, and I would love to see how both executed it.

3. A wizards/hierophants/psyurges dwelling/adventure/setting. Tegal Manor, the Ghost Tower of Inverness, and the Lost Island of Castanamir were all neat settings that had hooks that made for memorable sessions (beware the portraits in Tegal Manor).

4. Exploration of a ruined civilization/site. While Slumbering Tsar provides a huge sandcrawly area thats great for exploration, it would be cool to have something less in the Citadel of Orcus/everything is evil and out to kill you vein and more in the clyclopean/realms of the unknown/Robert Howard-Lovecraftian weirdness vein. Some of the settings in All That Glitters and Against the Cult of the Reptile God come to mind.

5. A murder mystery/deduction adventure. Although the authors would have to figure out how to block/sidestep divination (or make it low level enough that those spells could not be used), something in the vein of the Assassin's Knot would be interesting if well executed.

Thanks for your help I will look into that I had no idea it was made for 3.5 that is a step in the right direction.

More than happy to help! Also check out two other Judges Guild Classics that Goodman converted to 3.5 while you are at it: JG1 Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor and JG2 Citadel of Fire. There were plans to publish a conversion of the classic module Tegel Manor (beware the hall of portraits!), but the passing of Mr. Bledsaw led to their cancellation.

I wanted to upgrade my 1st edition D&D "Dark tower" by fantasy game aid.

if anyone can give me a hand "the sons of set" how to bring this creature to Pathfinder. I mean what creature should I use?

Look for the pdf of Judges Guild JG3 Dark Tower at the usual online rpg and pdf stores. Goodman Games converted it to 3.5. Still very much the same deadly adventure. You should be able to use the free 3.5 conversion guide hosted here to convert from 3.5 to Pathfinder. If there is a fan made conversion to Pathfinder, I am not aware of it.

DaveMage, not sure what is going on. I was not aware that the Stoneheart Valley pdf was available until I saw your message (I thought FGG was going to release Tome of Horrors 4 this month). I ordered it, and there was a link to it in my receipt after paying via paypal. The link worked for me with no problems. Check your electronic receipt if you still have it. If not, Bill and the FGG crew frequent these boards and should be able to help you soon.

Thanks for the feedback! Tzzarg - Funny, I went over and pulled my copy of Firestorm Peak and, reading it, got chills. You are right! It's been so long since I had looked at it, but it's eerie how the "feeling" is so similar. Cordell is one of my favorite rpg authors (after the paizo folks, Gygax, and Carl Sargent), and I love the art by Arnie Swekel.

I should update the file soon (this weekend?) with some fixes (Thanks so much Makhno for your help!).

I thought perhaps I could compile a bit of a "Player's Guide" here (and would certainly would love ideas/help). First things first: Traits. -...

What can I say Daemonslye? Your work has that oldschool vibe, in a good way.

As for your player's guide, there are quite a few things I can think of that might be in it. You've already got traits, but how about archetypes, feats, spells, equipment pc's can use, maybe a prestige class or two, background information on the area the information is taking place in, and adventure seeds? And while you are at it....

Excellent module Daemonslye. Although it's aboveground, I was also getting mixed Night Below and Gates of Firestorm Peak vibes from it. I also would like to see Book 2.

Exist there conversions for either of these publications? Since Advanced Bestiary is a book of templates, is it alright to play pretty much as is? I hear there's going to be a kickstarter goal reward conversion of Dead Man's chest, but will it be available commercially eventually?

To my knowledge, Advanced Bestiary has never been updated for Pathfinder. Most of the templates should work as is, but you may want to ask around to see what rule-fu is necessary to convert some of them.

As for Dead Man's Chest, as a backer of Razor Coast, I can tell you it is still being converted and worked on. Even the backers have not received pdf copies of it yet. While I can't be sure, I saw nothing in the KS that indicated it is an exclusive, so I'm pretty sure it will be available commercially at some point (and backing up that hunch is they've started to release separately some of the pdfs that were part of the KS for Razor Coast on RPGNOW).

Soon the players of Pathfinder will be able to curse Bonjo-Tombo!

Welcome back, the new site looks pretty good. Do you have any plans to update the Fane trilogy (Cult, Shadow, Tower) to PFRPG?

That must be a silly question but as someone who just discovered that something called "Razor coast" existed : is that a 1-20 campaign ?

Anyway, I was not home for Rappan Athuk and I'm still regretting it, this time, I'll be there.

No, see Lou's post from Wednesday above. Its a large book (guessing 128 pages +) that will take pcs from 5th through 12/13th level. I have a suspicion that indulgences/side adventures may be included or recommended to get your pc's up to 5th.

I am glad that the adventure does not start at first. There are quite a few of those around and many are excellent. There are not so many that enable you to take an existing party of medium to high level and plug it in to the adventure.

If you like RA, take a look at Slumbering Tsar. It is a deadly half a million word exploration/dungeon crawl from Greg Vaughan. You won't be disappointed.

Tzzarg wrote:

Although the delays with this have left a bad taste in folks mouth, I'd love to see an expansion scenario as a stretch goal. I was a patron of Blood of the Gorgon and have never had a problem with Nick's writing. RC is pretty large on its own, but it would be nice to see a sequel or prequel scenario if the Kickstarter does well enough.

What and where is Blood of the Gorgon?

It was published in 2008 by Kobold Press as a limited edition, Patron only adventure for D&D 3.5. The info page at KP can be found at http://www.wolfgangbaur.com/projects/Blood_of_the_Gorgon.php

It is classic Logue at his most creative, operatic, and goriest best. Without giving much away, I will say that it has one of the most unusual villains I have ever seen in an adventure. Think Phantom of the Opera mixed with Fight Club and a strong dose of Sweeney Todd. An odd mix I know, but Nick makes it work. It requires a smart dm, but it is a great adventure for an Urban setting. I would love to see it updated to Pathfinder one day (but the nature of the patronage may not allow it). Folks who like alchemist characters would love this adventure, although any group of adventurers will have a fun (if deadly) time with it.

A or B. Please leave the maps in (Sean MacDonald had done the initial maps for RC and they truly look professional quality).

What would happen to Fire as She Bears? Would that be included in the base product or is it likely to be a stretch goal?

Although the delays with this have left a bad taste in folks mouth, I'd love to see an expansion scenario as a stretch goal. I was a patron of Blood of the Gorgon and have never had a problem with Nick's writing. RC is pretty large on its own, but it would be nice to see a sequel or prequel scenario if the Kickstarter does well enough.

Arnwyn,

As someone who has bought the four available installments of Way of the Wicked and will definitely be buying the last two, maps are probably one of the few quibbles I have with FMG products. Download the free preview available here at Paizo, a map for the Kingdom of Talingarde should be in the preview.

My quibble lies with the location maps that are found throughout the modules. The maps are generally in color and very functional, but rarely does something really stand out about them. They don't draw the eye in the way that Ed Bourelle's maps for Ptolus or Christopher West's or Jared Blando's maps for Paizo do.

Please do not let that stop you from taking a look at Way of the Wicked though. The premise, monsters, characterizations, and writing are quite good and I am very happy with the path so far. I will definitely be taking a look at Throne of Night and hoping FMG is able to step up its game as far as cartography goes (again, this isn't meant as a fully fledged criticism, cartography in a published product can be very expensive and the cartographers mentioned above probably do not come cheap).

(doh, ninja'd by Gary)

I pledged at the $250 (well, $300 for the subscription) level for a PF print version - I'm assuming that, since the extras are PDF, I should have both PF and S&W versions of the Cyclopean Deeps and Bestiary, yeah?

No biggie, no rush, I'm just not seeing clearly that I *should* have it, and that's what I wanted to verify.

Hey Brian, I also pledged at the $300 level. While RA and the base files were available for download in both PFRP and SW, the Bestiary and Cyclopean Deeps 1 and 2 downloads were only available in whichever system you specified in the survey Frog God sent out(for me PFRP). They look great, looking forward to the printed material later this month.

I like your conversions Demiurge. Don't worry about rigid adherence to how the monster was presented in 3.5. So long as the "flavor" of the monster is maintained, I don't worry too much about maintaining the same cr or exact specific abilities. If you find a suite of powers and abilities that works better than some of the monsters were initially designed with, go for it.

I'm curious to see your takes on the Blaspheme, Blood Amniote, Dream Vestige, Hooded Pupil Template, Slaughter Wight, and Visage.

This year has been interesting for me. Normally round 4 boilds down to one good submission and runners up with one or more serious flaws. But this year had two really good submissions. Scarlet God speaks to my love of Howard and Wagner, Doom Comes to Duskspawn speaks to my love of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and Lovecraft. It was close, but Doom Comes to Duskspawn got my vote.

Skeeter, I can understand where FGG and its personnel are coming from. You folks have access (or at least Bill does) to the sales data, we don't. So going with what sells the best makes sense.

As much as I would like to see it, I doubt that I will see anything like Tsar released for Pathfinder ever again--the financial risk is too much (although a great proposition for a megaadventure from a well known author and Kickstarter funding it might not be out of the question). But there's a niche in PFRP that you folks have done a great job of filling--the arc campaign that spans several levels.

I like Paizo's modules a lot, but at times they seem like cotton candy--impressive appearance and maps and good writing, but the 32 page length means when you are done you don't always feel that you accomplished something epic. The APs are great as well, but they require a long term commitment from lvl 1 to 12+. That sweet spot adventure where one can take an existing party of levels 5-8 and do something epic/heroic (GDQ Series and Red Hand of Doom being prime examples) is a niche that some of FGG's products fill very well.

I hope FGG keeps putting products out that fill that niche and mining the back catalog for gems. For all the requests I've seem for conversions of Abysthor and other old NG modules, I know they are in there.

I'm with Dr. Fever on this one. I don't want to see FGG only do retreads/conversions either. I'm looking forward to Richard Pett's decadent/decaying/Styes like city state sourcebook and associated adventures later this year or next and hoping they convert some to the oldies as well. Tomb of Abysthor is at the top of my list followed by Vault of Larin Karr. Maybe a megaproduct that combines several together for a setting?

Not sure all of what FGG has planned for the year, but something that I am really looking forward to late in the year or next is a project that Greg mentioned in a post on the Necro boards last year:

"Great review, laricq! Thanks!

The Pett thing is still a ways off. We're in early development still. It'll be very much an urban decay type of setting a la The Styes or China Mieville. He's got one adventure basically written with plans for several more plus a number of source books to highlight his blighted city. I think it's already all in his head, it's just a matter of him finding the time to write it down, and rather than release one every blue moon I'd like to have them all pretty much done so we can release on a regular schedule. So I'd guess we're still a year away, maybe longer, but I can't wait to get to them. Plus I submitted an adventure idea to him, and he liked it, so I get to write one of them too! Woohoo! There's nothing quite like writing in Rich's world.

Thanks again for the comments and queries.

Greg"

Although the Styes is Wizards IP, a Styeslike/Bas-Lag setting from Pett with adventures from Pett and Vaughan? Sign me up!

I'm not aware of any book thats a one stop shop, but there are several that come to mind. A Medieval Magical Society: Western Europe by Expeditious Retreat Press in the downloads part of the Paizo store is excellent. Although not all of the book deals with cities, the information in the book you'll find useful and maybe closest to what you are looking for. Ptolus by Monte Cook is another great resource. Although its for 3.5, there's a whole bunch of locations and npcs that you would find useful. If you can find any of the Citybook Series by Flying Buffalo, you find a great resource with shops and npcs you can drop into your campaign. A final mention is Cityscape by WoTC for 3.5 D&D. Although some folks were not fond of it, there's a grab bag of items in it that you could use to spice up or help your campaign.

Any ETA as to when Part 12 of ST will be available? As of two weeks ago it was in final editing. Still waiting on the art?

Found it! For now... Try going to http://dungeonaday.live.subhub.com/ to access the site. I was able to get to it as of 8/19/11. I see rooms 18, 19, and 20 of the Necropolis. No idea what the guys have as a benny for subscribers due to the outage, but I'm sure it will be good. Here's hoping its back to the regular URL soon.

[Update] Can't access the forums or the current map page. Some of the major menu choices on the top and upper left just lead to the investment club or 404's, but Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's content is up and accessible.

Looks like they got hit by a cybersquatter. Hope they're able to get the site back up or an alternative online soon.

Tzzarg wrote:

Any updates on Tsar 10, the Spire of Iron and Crystal and Splinters 9 and 10?

Tsar 10 should be on its way to or at the printer. Not sure about the others.

Thanks Greg. Any idea when the pdf will be available? I actually prefer that to the dead tree version. Hopefully Bill will post something up either here or at FGG about the other products.

Any updates on Tsar 10, the Spire of Iron and Crystal and Splinters 9 and 10?

Try also looking over at cartographersguild.com, they have some talented people there and a forum for this kind of thing. Two talented cartographers that I can think of who have worked on Pathfinder compatible stuff posted lots of samples there before getting paying jobs--Jonathan Roberts and Robert Altbauer. Roberts has done work for Rite Publishing and Altbauer is Frog God's "house" mapper.

For a cartographer, try posting on the jobs forum of www.cartographersguild.com. Make sure you mention that the job is paid and are able to provide at least a rough sketch of what you are looking for. Some of the mapmakers on the site (Torstan, SteelGeneral, Ramah, and A2area to name a few) are quite good.

Ruleset. The version for sale at Rpgnow is for 3.5. Greg Vaughan is converting it to the Pathfinder RPG Rules Set for the PDFs and the hardback book that will be released wtih all 3.

Bill on the Necromancergames messageboards said that while Clark had signed off on the project, for legal/liability reasons he will be releasing it under his own imprint. That being said you might want to google his screen name (Tsathoggua) and take a look at the name of his "new" company, Frog God Games ;)

Ninja'd by Endzeitgeist

All of the submissions had elements that caught my eye: unusual terrain, extraplanar antics, or echoes of lost Azlant. But Matt Goodall's proposal got my vote with its tight focus and it's evocation of memories of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom:

death cult with crazed fantatics: check
nobility and potentates that are not what they seem to be: check
temple with a grand showdown: check
banquet with monkey...eww, glad some things didn't make it in there ;)

Congratulations to all though. I hope to see more from each of the final four.

Arnwyn,

The cartography is by Rick Sardinha, who also did the cartography for Necromancer's Elemental Moon. You can find examples of his cartography at his website, http://www.battleduck.com/pages/main_pages/cartography.html Included in the gallery are numerous maps from the Eamonvale Incursion.

I find Sardinha to be a great cover artist, but I prefer Ed Bourelle's maps, they seem to me to be a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

Minorelementx

Given what actions the party actually undertakes in the module, the ending level can vary, but I would say levels 11-12 on average. If you have any spoiler questions about the module, just look in my profile and email me.

Have not played it, but I did get the pdf. If you have the Grey Citadel, this adventure complements it well, but Grey Citadel is not necessary to play this (but GC does provide helpful background).

Without giving spoilers away, Eamonvale is a semi-sandboxy type of investigation/intrigue adventure. There is a definite start and a definite end, but there is a great deal of latitude for the pcs to proceed inbetween.

If you like to have an area that you can use as a springboard for further adventures, Broadwater and the Eamon River Valley have enough detail that you can use the area for further adventures after the module is over.

The adventure features a great deal of wilderness traveling and while having plenty of combat, leans towards more the deduction/intrigue side. I found it a welcome change from the usual types of adventures I've seen published, but this adventure will not fit every play style.

Its possible Paizo may not release this until next Wednesday. They usually release the PDF when the print product is available in stores. Amazon is currently showing a print date of 2/17/10 for this: http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-Council-Thieves/dp/16012519 98.

* more high-level adventures (especially ones you could run after finishing an Adventure Path)

These are hard to do, given that high level groups can diverge so wildly in abilities and power level, but I would love to see more modules set at levels 15+. The important thing to me is making them feel epic. Save the city or barony just does not cut it at these levels, the threat needs to feel larger than life and out of the ordinary.

* larger adventures, like "supermodules" (though we aren't sure how we'd fit that into the line, which currently only has 32-page adventures)

These I definitely would like to see (Slumbering Tsar would be a great candidate for this type of treatment), providing there is some way to do them profitably. The GDQ supermodule remains one of my favorites. I find the best modules mate a good story with an interesting location (which I can reuse later). So a supermodule set in the HQ of the Red Mantis, or ancient Azlanti magic research facility, or Test of the Starstone would grab me.

* prequels or parallel adventures relating to an AP, so your players (who may or may not be playing the same PCs you have active in that AP) get additional information or another perspective on the events of that AP

I find a lot of Japanese RPGs and Anime use this technique. If its done well, I think I would be interested in a side story to an ongoing AP. Many of them have hooks that are left to the DM to expand, it would be interesting to see Paizo take a few and run with them.

As for the other types, I might be interested, so long as the rail roading has an interesting hook. Forced to do something for the noble/ruler/king to avoid x is old, but something like War of the Wielded, while railroady in a sense, feels fresh and something my pcs would like.

Wolfgang's Livejournal site can be found at http://open-design.livejournal.com/ I did not find it all that hard to access. However, it's layout can be confusing to first time customers as some of entries posted on the Livejournal site are only visible to paid patrons of the varying Open Design projects.

For instance, if you are not a patron and you go to the Livejournal site now (7/8/09), you might see the journal entry Bruce Cordell Shares Some Psionic Psecrets and then the entry where he talks about the Far Realms. Paid patrons would see those entries, as well as patron-only entries about Encounter Areas, 4E Paragon Paths, and Epic Destinies for Halls of the Mountain King.

In a nutshell, you sign up and pay at KoboldQuarterly.com. The Livejournal site (once you become a patron) gives you peeks, updates and a chance to participate in the crafting of a project (depending upon your level of patronage and if you get in early enough).

Erol Otus and Jim Holloway. Nothing says "Oldskool" more to me than the art of those two.

Tzzarg

Although these are probably not what you are looking for, I have seen one or two high level mariliths statted over the years. Hope these provide some support on how to design Alistraria into a fearsome challenge.

Knightfall over on EnWorld came up with Doodvrouw (http://www.enworld.org/forum/homebrews/163952-knightfalls-fiend-lexicon-up dated-sept-22-07-a.html) a CR 25 marilith/half-vampire/mortal hunter 10. (see post #11)

Robert Wiese for the Fight Club feature over on the Wizards site came up with Aishapra, a marilith dervish, who was statted at cr 17, 21, and 24. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fc/20050921a)

Good luck.

Post your thoughts and impressions of Second Darkness #5. How are Treerazor and the rest of the bestiary's monsters? The main and side adventures? The gazetteer of the Tanglebriar? Please hide anything spoilerish with a spoiler tag.