davrion's page

While last weeks preview didn’t really inspire me this weeks almost pretty well sells the set by comparison.

Same for me, this week's selections look really good!

Lost Lands, so of course I'm backing it!

Frod God has released a new Kickstarter for a Swords and Wizardry boxed set, with a number of early bird pledges for the first 24 hours. Project funded in about 30 minutes, so it's already in stretch goal territory.

What is Swords & Wizardry?

Swords & Wizardry is more than a re-statement of the original rules that gave rise to 5e. It is fast-playing, easy to start, and easy to learn by anyone. Swords and Wizardry is a snapshot of the rules as they existed in 1978 right before "first edition" was released. The fifth edition game currently played, watched and beloved by millions is great fun, but the structure of the rules has changed over the course of editions, and there's a unique feel to the earlier versions of the game which you may not have encountered before.

The rules in Swords & Wizardry are based on the original 1974 game, plus all of the supplements released from 1974 to 1978, articles in the Strategic Review and the Dragon magazine from that period, plus tips for house rules choices. The rules are organized in a more modern fashion than the original books, and are more accessible to those who started gaming after the 1970s.

makes me wonder if sales were slow with this last set, since it had a number of creatures previously done (but with new art)?

At $41,576 with just under 27 hours to go, 11 stretch goals have been reached:

$12,500 - Tome Appendix Monsters Listed By Challenge
$15,000 - Tome Appendix Monsters listed by Type
$17,500 - Tome Appendix Monster Templates
$20,000 - Instant Encounter #1 (Blindheim)
$23,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book
$26,000 - Instant Encounter #2 (Crypt Thing)
$29,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book
$32,000 - Instant Encounter #3 (Salt Drake)
$35,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book
$38,000 - Instant Encounter #4 (Eye Killer)
$41,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book

It's difficult to ignore people who say that we should be moving on, letting go, stop dragging up the past, accept that we got burned, give up on the AP already, let the thread die, etc, etc, etc, as recently as the previous page. I've had PMs and messages sent that I should stop too. Especially from those who are tired of seeing this thread reappear, and seeing I'm the one who's mostly responsible for posting. They're not wrong. I think people are just tired of the bad taste that's been left in their mouths. Paizo hasn't closed this thread yet, but I'm aware of there being a petition to Customer Service to do so.

I still read the updates, so hopefully this thread is able to continue as is since it is still on topic for this forum.

At $32,566 with 6 days left, 8 stretch goals have been reached:

$12,500 - Tome Appendix Monsters Listed By Challenge
$15,000 - Tome Appendix Monsters listed by Type
$17,500 - Tome Appendix Monster Templates
$20,000 - Instant Encounter #1 (Blindheim)
$23,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book
$26,000 - Instant Encounter #2 (Crypt Thing)
$29,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book
$32,000 - Instant Encounter #3 (Salt Drake)

23 days left, 5 stretch goals have been reached so far:

• $12,500 - Tome Appendix Monsters Listed By Challenge
• $15,000 - Tome Appendix Monsters listed by Type
• $17,500-Tome Appendix Monster Templates
• $20,000 - Instant Encounter #1
• $23,000 - 5 additional monsters added to the book

Instant Encounters are short (2-4 page) encounters designed for a specific monster from the book.

I see that the cougars are showing as backordered - can the quantity be adjusted down to whatever is in stock?

Link

We have decided to return to our roots. Let us present Tome of Horrors 2020! This beast of a full-color book contains over 250 monsters for use in your 5th Edition game, and is the sequel to our prior Tome of Horrors Fifth Edition with a completely new horde of denizens.

Necromancer Games has always been known for its monsters, and we have added Instant Encounter stretch goals to help you get these guys into your game immediately after getting your book (or PDF). After all, who wants their players to know the details of what they are fighting?

Tome of Horrors 2020 is bursting with monsters which are representative of both modern RPGs and the classic, oft fatal, systems of yore. Use these dangerous creatures, sinister adversaries, restless dead, and other horrific monstrosities to gleefully challenge your players' expectations.

Bought the Dragon and the Nightmare and some of the undead here. Prices on the giants, the dragon turtle, aboleth, and the Nalfeshnee were better elsewhere (even after the PF Battles discount here).

Per the email that went out, I'd like to skip the Legendary Adventures October release of PF Battles but remain a subscriber for the next case that is released down the road.

My only concern will be if "Among the many monsters in the Pathfinder Bestiary that got a makeover between editions" continues into the next set that follows. While understanding that many common figures are in this lead-off set so that new players of this new edition can get some of the more common creatures, I'd easily use PF1 minis for creatures in PF2 scenarios without any qualms.

Cheers!

Is there a cohesive overview of the Lost Lands setting available anywhere? I have some of the pdfs via bundles but I'm not sure where to go beyond the Slumbering Tsar book itself.

The World of the Lost Lands Kickstarter successfully funded in April, and last update indicates a Dec/Jan timeline for when it will be ready, which you'd be able to order it.

If you click the Frog God Games underneath "Created By" on the main Kickstarter page, you can click the "26 created" projects link to see the other parts of the world that are in the works (Grand Duchy of Reme) or have been released (Sword of Air, Borderland Provinces, etc.)

Definitely finding the number of redraws (goblins, orcs, kobolds, etc) of previously released miniatures concerning. Hoping this is just happening for the first PF2 Battles release and not a harbinger of things to come. There will be a deluge of 3PP releasing "new" PF2 modules which are just updated versions of a PF1 module, so I likewise don't want to see this become a thing for miniatures where the sets have figures that have been in other sets but look different due to new art.

Contrary to popular belief, Mark is indeed a person, and does indeed have other duties in the company than just writing blog posts. My point is mostly that if a release of the mini's lines does less than expected sales, it's not going to ruin the company as a whole. If the rulebook relaunch does less than expected, that's it, no more books, and no more minis.

I guess Mark having other duties ties into that "He's likely busy with other things" that I wrote. We've also had "My bet is that we will not be seeing any previews until after GenCon" and "Everything is being pushed around by PF2's launch" from others, so I think Popular Opinion around here is in tune with reality. I expect Mark will come through with the previews after GenCon, and we are stressing their importance to us as buyers of the product.

My point is that the next case will be coming out soon. Even if PF2 turns into a complete debacle, the next set of minis is still going to be released since they have been produced. We will still be paying for it. Say hypothetically they cancel the next Battles set because of issues with PF2 (worst case scenario), we won't be charged for it. Not a huge issue there, not being charged for a non-product.

I don't see it as a false dichotomy at all. The people that would have to write the blog posts do have other jobs to do as well

It's not "people" writing the mini blogs, it's Mark. Has he been writing these other blogs being posted? He usually has his name at the bottom of his posts, and I haven't seen that in any of the recent blogs posts. He's likely busy with other things, but I don't think the reason you provided has anything to do with this issue.

I absolutely get that minis are super important for you. I do. But for many of us we'd rather see new information about the new edition. In Pathfinder every player does need access to the Core Rulebook,because there is no separate Player's Handbook like in DND. Whether that's a copy of their own, or using someone else's, you can't build a character without one. And again, minis are not required. Other options include Pawns, Tokens, paper minis, or just using a dry erase board. I'd also like to reiterate that minis and pawns are largely edition agnostic. Any mini or pawn you already own is still usable. Nobody is going to slap your hand and say "That's a first edition mini!"

We get that there is high interest in PF2 and the new rulebook as people decide whether to invest the money in getting the new book. However, we are concerned with buying a product that costs around TEN times the price of that book. I'd wager most of us don't wish to spend that amount of money blindly (via our subscription) without knowing what's going to be in the set. Is that being unreasonable?

We all understand there is an enormous effort around the PF2 launch. We just want to make sure the PF Battles communication doesn't get lost in all of the chaos.

It looks like the PF Battles Subscriber discount for singles did not get applied to either order. Also, is it cheaper to combine these orders and ship them together? If that's the case, let's do that .

Thanks!

I received the email about the out of stock item. It's OK to cancel that one item and proceed with the rest of the order. Thanks!

Are the Ruins of Lastwall PF Battles Singles still going on sale today?

His name isn't mentioned in the comments. So either no one noticed or no one backing the project recognizes the name.

I'm a backer and saw the name, but I didn't mention it because I didn't want to detract from the FGG KS. (Plus I'm going to North Texas Con in 3 weeks and may see if one of the Frogs could relay a message to Gary about the WotW print books for me...#EternalOptimist )

Just wish I could have gotten the print copies of the WotW books I added on during this KS (have the PDF's but still....)

Fixed the link

Aegis of Empires update

Down to the final 5+ hours, campaign is now over $150,000.

Free PDFs for $15 pledge levels and up (your choice of Pathfinder, Swords and Wizardry or 5th Edition)

Adventures

The Missing Pin by Alex Kammer (for 4 to 6 characters from 2nd to 4th level)
Nightstone Keep by Ed Greenwood (for 4 to 6 characters from 4th and 6th level)
The Covered Bridge by Kevin Wright (for 4 to 6 characters of 4th to 6th level)
A Midnight Council of Quail by Lance Hawvermale (for 4 to 6 characters from 3rd and 5th level)
MCMLXXV (1975) by Bill Webb
Grimmsgate by Matt Finch (for 4-6 characters of 1st Level)
Rogues of Remballo, by Matt Finch (for 4-6 characters of 1st Level)
The Riot Act by James Spahn (for 4 characters averaging 2nd level)
New Adventure: Isle of the Angry Apes. PDF is free, a softcover module will be available for a $15 add-on

Supplements

Bard's Gate
The Borderland Provinces Gazetteer
The Player's Guide to Barakus
The Player's Guide to the Sundered Kingdoms
The Player's Guide to the Northlands
The Player's Guide to the Blight
The Player's Guide to Bard's Gate
The Borderlands Provinces Journey Generator
The Tales of the Lost Lands Volumes 1-3 (short fiction)
The Tales of the Lost Lands Volumes 4-6 (short fiction)
Bill Webb's Book of Dirty Tricks

Down to the final 5+ hours, campaign is now over $150,000.

Free PDFs for $15 pledge levels and up (your choice of Pathfinder, Swords and Wizardry or 5th Edition)

Adventures

The Missing Pin by Alex Kammer (for 4 to 6 characters from 2nd to 4th level)
Nightstone Keep by Ed Greenwood (for 4 to 6 characters from 4th and 6th level)
The Covered Bridge by Kevin Wright (for 4 to 6 characters of 4th to 6th level)
A Midnight Council of Quail by Lance Hawvermale (for 4 to 6 characters from 3rd and 5th level)
MCMLXXV (1975) by Bill Webb
Grimmsgate by Matt Finch (for 4-6 characters of 1st Level)
Rogues of Remballo, by Matt Finch (for 4-6 characters of 1st Level)
The Riot Act by James Spahn (for 4 characters averaging 2nd level)
New Adventure: Isle of the Angry Apes. PDF is free, a softcover module will be available for a $15 add-on

Supplements

Bard's Gate
The Borderland Provinces Gazetteer
The Player's Guide to Barakus
The Player's Guide to the Sundered Kingdoms
The Player's Guide to the Northlands
The Player's Guide to the Blight
The Player's Guide to Bard's Gate
The Borderlands Provinces Journey Generator
The Tales of the Lost Lands Volumes 1-3 (short fiction)
The Tales of the Lost Lands Volumes 4-6 (short fiction)
Bill Webb's Book of Dirty Tricks

I see the same price listed on my subscription:

Your Subscription Price
Pathfinder Battles—Ruins of Lastwall Case
511.68 358.18 358.18

davrion wrote:

Most of what I get for PF1 is through Kickstarters.

Really? So if a company doesn't do much/anything with Kickstarter, does that mean you pay them less attention?

Just making sure: I'm just trying to understand the market and customer behavior, not accusing.

For the most part, I've moved towards larger compilations for PF1 and not picking off smaller works like in years' past. I'm more likely to consider a bundle of shorter related pieces than one by itself.

Part of it is looking towards PF2, and part of it is a shift in what we play for d&d (more 5e and more old school). Aside from the larger KS stuff, most of my PF1 purchases tend to be things that are useful in an almost system neutral fashion.

(Also a lot more Call of Cthulhu as compared to PF/d&d, though that's not really relevant to what you were asking)

Most of what I get for PF1 is through Kickstarters.

For non-KS stuff, it's DTRPG for PDFs, and the odd print product either through Paizo or Amazon.

Frog God has released their World of the Lost Lands Kickstarter today, and it has an option for a 5e rules addendum as well.

Over 42 years in the making, this is the definitive guide to the world of the Lost Lands!

This massive volume includes the history of the Lost Lands, a wealth of detailed maps, cultural information about its nations and peoples, and a huge gazetteer containing descriptions of the world's countries, cities, waterways and geography. For the first time, readers can explore the length and breadth of the great continent of Akados, including regions never before described, and far Libynos, home of the Desert Kingdoms and many ancient cultures alien to the folk of Akados.

The book weighs in at approximately 700 pages in full color, with maps by award-winning cartographers and beautiful, original artwork to place you directly into the world itself in all its glory and terror.

5th Edition Addendum--An addendum book providing for rules for including the Lost Lands in a 5th Edition game, including things like cleric domains and deities, as well as archetype character classes: $40 color softcover book, $20 PDF.

Frog God has released their World of the Lost Lands Kickstarter today, and it has an option for a Pathfinder rules addendum as well.

Over 42 years in the making, this is the definitive guide to the world of the Lost Lands!

This massive volume includes the history of the Lost Lands, a wealth of detailed maps, cultural information about its nations and peoples, and a huge gazetteer containing descriptions of the world's countries, cities, waterways and geography. For the first time, readers can explore the length and breadth of the great continent of Akados, including regions never before described, and far Libynos, home of the Desert Kingdoms and many ancient cultures alien to the folk of Akados.

The book weighs in at approximately 700 pages in full color, with maps by award-winning cartographers and beautiful, original artwork to place you directly into the world itself in all its glory and terror.

Pathfinder Addendum--An addendum book providing rules for including the Lost Lands in a Pathfinder game, including things like cleric domains and deities, as well as archetype character classes: $40 color softcover book, $20 PDF.

Awesome, thanks! I hedged my bets to try and get this before it was packaged and shipped and sent an email to Customer Service as well, but that is for this same request. Thanks again!

I am ordering a lot of single minis and getting the "cart too big" message. Can the current contents of my Cart be added to this order to ship together using the holiday19 code? Also I'd like to add the mini below as well to the single shipment, which isn't in my current cart since it is too big again:

https://paizo.com/products/btpy7sal?DD-Miniatures-War-of-the-Dragon-Queen-W ar-Weaver

Thanks!

New Kickstarter for 5e and Swords & Wizardry launched today! This is an update to the classic Judges Guild product.

First published in 1977, Tegel Manor is the oldest of “Haunted House” adventures in fantasy roleplaying, and probably the very first megadungeon ever published. The Manor is a sprawling edifice of 250+ rooms filled with tricks, traps, puzzles, monsters, and situations both humorous and horrific. The huge manor house has been the curse of its owners, the Rump family, for generations – no matter how many times they have tried to get rid of it, the ownership manages to come back to them.

Honestly I am more excited about the big Falling Star ship. I agree that this set was a little too much "more of the same" in regards to the types of figures. I'm not interested in seeing more figures for creatures we already have (i.e. common PC races, giants, trolls, manticores, etc.) at the expense of creatures we don't have any minis for.

The ones I had contained the putty, and they were OK when used. We liked the Combat Tiers better for larger minis, though the base Elevation Indicator was preferred when just a M creature needed it.

davrion wrote:

I believe this is what you are remembering.

Thanks, Davrio! For some reason nothing showed up for me in your post, but when I quoted it I can see a link to Emeralds Emporium.

Paizo also carries Dr. Wizard's Patented Elevation Indicator at https://paizo.com/products/btpy87no?Dr-Wizards-Patented-Elevation-Indicator &fbclid=IwAR1ab2EMVqhW28RuUcteJJGHri40QqmO3plm_9zWchA9srJthBKV-z5dlJk I just bought a bunch of them! :-D

I was looking for the original on the Store here first, but I only found the Large and Huge extenders. I have them too, and they are pretty handy.

I believe this is what you are remembering.

Have the playtest, still need to play it, but will play 2e or not at all.

Just wanted to check in on these 2 PF Battles orders, both Pending:

Order 5238709 - submitted this order today, and I noticed it prompted me for a CVC code for my credit card which I provided, but the process seemed to hang upon the submit of it. Did it go through? Also, it looks like the PF Battles discount for singles didn't go through?

Order 4898106 - this is the subscription case and incentives and hasn't shipped. Is there something holding up this order? Is is the same CVC issue for the card above? I did get an email that it was being processed and saw the PF2 Beta credit included, but I did not see any emails indicating any problems with the order.

For those interested in the dungeon dressing (and others of course), CoolStuffInc has the singles up for pre-order.

Have to admit, not feeling much enthusiasm for this set other than the incentive and the elephant.

Frog God is testing a limited print run approach for smaller scale adventures, with smaller price points than the epic-sized mega products they have been creating from their Kickstarter campaigns. The first one, The City That Dripped Blood, ends in 10 days.

The City That Dripped Blood—available in either Fifth Edition or Swords & Wizardry versions—is an adventure for mid-level characters. After taking shelter in an ancient, abandoned desert ruin, characters discover that the city isn’t as abandoned as they thought, and its vampiric rulers would like nothing more than to slake their thirst with the characters’ blood. New creatures and variants, NPC Cultists, and unusual citizens are spread across various districts and factions.

If you ranked the product sales by ruleset, 5e clearly outsold the other 2. Even S&W outsold Pathfinder. The Starfinder KS had to be cancelled due to low support, and other products meant for that product line became system neutral.

Given the low sales of their PF products, coupled with the whole PF1 vs PF2 factions, a system neutral type of book is the best hope going forward for Pathfinder players unless PF2 (and 3PP for it) takes off and products get revisited.

Based on the original Necromancer Games boxed set, but with 150,000 new words of adventures and material added to it. Campaign currently is at $32k/$40k with 29 days to go.

Link to Project

Beginning with low-level challenges in the familiar confines of the Lost Lands, the adventure leads characters on a thrilling journey through multiple planes of existence culminating in the exploration of the City of Brass itself. The gleaming towers and floating platforms of the city hold terrors and wonders such as the Great Repository and the Minaret of Screams. Characters may choose to take a turn in the Circus of Pain, raid the floating Pyramid of Set, or join the resistance to the Sultan’s oppressive rule and lead an assault on the palace itself! A phoenix rises fully formed from the ashes of the past. The City of Brass is re-imagined for the new renaissance of fantasy role playing games, brought to you in the epic style of old school fantasy campaigns of yesteryear.

Guessing that PF options in upcoming Kickstarters may be in limbo or at least delayed for PF2, as I remember NG getting burned by their 3.0 books that arrived shortly before 3.5 was released.

I have had other Kickstarters crash and burn. What adds insult to injury is that I added on the Ways of the Wicked books 1-6 in print, which is easy to fulfill through DTRPG and shipped. Send a few messages to Gary and even offered to pay for shipping. Silence is not golden....

Can my sidecart ship out? MY only subscription would be the PF Battles in October, and I don't think you can ship anything with the case + incentive anyway.

What happened with this? It wasn't my choice to have 2 orders, but the "cart full" message was the driver why. The instructions said to contact Customer Service, which I did. I certainly didn't want one part of the order to ship out at under $100 (no discount) when I spent over $200 on the should-have-been one order. Now with no other subscriptions other than PF Battles, the rest will have to ship out as a second shipment with more money towards shipment 2.

What is the game plan for this to never happen again?

Can we get the 30 day window for singles back, since lower than expected counts of a few figures is what led to this additional order? That is the most frustrating part of this, since the old system worked. Singles being available before you receive your shipment means guesswork, and waiting too long leads to certain singles selling out before you order.

The first order is in my sidecart - can it be combined to ship out with the second order? My cart was full, so I sidecarted one order and then added the second order. I'd like both to ship out together when ready to ship.

Thanks!

I'm betting that wolf has been there for quite some time - can you cancel that from the sidecart altogether? The rest can ship out.