You won't have to wait long. The proof copy has been shipped. Assuming there are no printing problems... Soon. It will be for sale soon.
"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen." -- Palpatine
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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Here's a tricky subject that I'm forseeing in book 2 with my group. Spoilerized since I know at least one of my players reads these forums.
Three of the people playing in the Kingmaker game I play in also play in my Way of the Wicked campaign. At present pretty much everyone besides myself (this includes the GM) Abhors the kingdom turns to the point where I literally just do the kingdom turns myself. So when I read through book 2, I foresaw the possible problems with running an evil organization.
I decided to be proactive, expressed how the rules work, tried modifying the rules to be a tad easier to handle, and thus far I've gotten the doom'n'gloom spiel that this is just going to be evil kingmaker. FYI, they have immensely enjoyed everything thus far (they're working on Act 4 of book 1 now).
So my question is how important does the whole evil organization factor into the next 4 books? I'm working on how to make part 2 work without any minions for them to use, but my concern is how much I may need to further modify the path with a group that will mostly consist of 5 people without any minions to utilize?
Thanks in advance!
Xzaral,
This is a valid concern and certainly one we are sensitive to.
The minion rules remain completely optional through all six books.
Everything can be handled narratively -- "Yes, we have a group of minions. Do we care about specifics? No." Largely the campaign focuses explicitly on the things that minions can't do.
Minions don't hold the Horn for 7 months. Minions don't see the ritual successfully done. Minions don't organize an army and storm the Vale of Valtaerna. Minions don't treat with the great wyrm Chargammon. Minions don't raid the Agathium and slay their one time master. And minions certainly don't lead the forces of darkness to glorious victory at the Second Battle of Tamberlyn.
The mini-game gives the players a potential little diversion and a possible source of 'minion antics anecdotes'. It might also give little benefits. But ultimately, it is not the focus of the campaign.
Hope that helps,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Over the last weeks we've released a lot of beautiful art by Michael Clarke, our in-house artist. But so far we haven't shown you much of his cartography. Let's change that.
This is Talingarde where the entirity of the "Way of the Wicked" adventure path is set. This is the player's map and is spoiler free.
This is where your wickedness will be wrought.
Enjoy.
"Way of the Wicked" is the only evil adventure path for the Pathfinder RPG. It is for sale at Paizo.com and DrivethruRPG.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
New preview art for Book Three of "Way of the Wicked" is available. This is the Nessian Warhound by Michael Clarke.
Though in black and white, the final piece of art will be in full color.
Enjoy.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Very cool
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Bruce,
This is probably best relegated to spoiler-land...
If they can keep them alive, they should get to keep the nightmare and the hellhounds. And in fact, in book three they can elevate their hellhounds to Nessian War Hounds.
But if your knight wants a nightmare and you feel this is a reasonable request, I would handle it one of two ways. First, let the wizard find a way to repeat the ritual once more and just summon such a beast. After all, what could be cooler than a hellknight in dastard plate charging around on a nightmare?
Second, wait till the beginning of book three. In fairly short order, they will meet the devil Dessiter, a contract devil who has taken an interest in our party of villains. Dessiter will happily trade souls and services for servitors like more nightmares. And remember, your soul is something you never miss till its gone.
Hope that helps,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Visit us on facebook to get exclusive preview art. This week, we have the statue of the daemon prince who plays such an important role in Book Two of "Way of the Wicked" -- Call Forth Darkness.
Check it out here.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
OOh, in the next adventure the villainous PCs not only get hellhounds AND a nightmare, but they can potentially upgrade the devil-puppies over time? You know what your audience wants, sir!
OOh, in the next adventure the villainous PCs not only get hellhounds AND a nightmare, but they can potentially upgrade the devil-puppies over time? You know what your audience wants, sir!
Thank you, we do try.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
"Way of the Wicked Book Two -- Call Forth Darkness" is now available in print here
You've raided plenty of dungeons.
Isn't it time you had a dungeon of your very own?
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I just ordered the print edition.
PathfinderFan64,
Thanks for supporting the line. It is a gorgeous looking book, if I do say so myself. Mike's cover truly makes it pop.
Anyways, enough gloating. Thanks again and enjoy the exclusive preview sketch for book three at the back.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Bought printeditions of Book I and II. After reading Book II for some time, I realized I had to have this is dead tree.
"Way of the Wicked Book Two -- Call Forth Darkness" is now available in print here
Bought it!
Thanks for your support everyone!
Today -- another day of working on Book Three.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I think this adventure is a genius idea, haven the PCs fend off waves of adventurers. I guess I will get players from my other groups to play their parts once we'll get there. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Zaister,
Thanks for the kind words. I like the idea of letting there be "guest good guys" to play the NPCs. Of course, you have to be careful that they realize that there are VERY likely to die. The Horn of Abaddon was not a nice place to dungeon delve even before the PCs turn it into a death trap.
Oh, and...
I've gotten a big chunk of Book Three: Tears of the Blessed in the can. I think if I were going to give the elevator pitch, it would be "Red Hand of Doom but instead of defending Bristol against the monstrous horde, you build the monstrous horde and sack one of the holiest sites in Talingarde."
Should be a blast.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Finally got this! Now just waiting for it to download (and the two weeks or so for the print to get to me). Aaaaaargh!
Peanuts,
Thanks for buying our book and thanks for supporting "Way of the Wicked"!
Hopefully it won't take two weeks to get your book. I remain pleased with the POD turn around time.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy "Call Forth Darkness" and I'd love any feedback you care to give.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Finally got this! Now just waiting for it to download (and the two weeks or so for the print to get to me). Aaaaaargh!
If you ordered from RPG Now, no worries, I got mine (the first book) two days after they told me it shipped. Now that's fast!
If you ordered from RPG Now, no worries, I got mine (the first book) two days after they told me it shipped. Now that's fast!
I concur. I've received all my proof copies very quickly and in great shape. Go RPGNow!
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Generic Villain,
First and foremost, I'm glad you like the AP and plan to follow it to its end. We try to price all of our products both to make them a great value and to allow us to continue to make more.
As odd as it may sound, I actually thought about this and there is a reason that our PDF is $10 and our POD are $24.99.
If you would like a very friendly introduction to the psychology of pricing, might I recommend this article.
Hope that helps and regardless, thanks for supporting "Way of the Wicked."
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I just can't hold it in any longer. I really like this AP so far, and plan on following it to the end, but regarding the price:
** spoiler omitted **
I hate that reasoning so much. Even if it is true, I want to be told how much the thing actually costs rather than having to manually add the 1 cent for the correct price *sigh*
Peanuts,
Thanks for buying our book and thanks for supporting "Way of the Wicked"!
Hopefully it won't take two weeks to get your book. I remain pleased with the POD turn around time.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy "Call Forth Darkness" and I'd love any feedback you care to give.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Well that may be the case, but I have the misfortune (as far as getting products quickly goes) of living in Australia :p That being said, the few PoD books I've ordered from RPGNow have gotten to me faster than Paizo shipments usually do :)
One thing that I would love when part three comes around would be for me to be able to buy the PDF when it's available and upgrade later to the print/PDF bundle once that's out for the price difference. I like having the print versions too but it's a pain to have to wait until the print becomes available. What do you think, would something like this be possible?
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Peanuts,
Ah, well. Making the Pacific smaller is completely beyond my abilities, alas.
But, I would say that living in Australia is its own reward. I visited there in '99 and absolutely fell in love with the country. I went to the WorldCon in Melbourne, scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef and spent almost two weeks in Tasmania.
Relentlessly beautiful country.
I would love to return.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Zaister,
We will have some very relevant announcements in April. That's really all I can say for now. But I do hear you.
DSRMT,
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, we're not #1 this week. Call is down to #2 and Knot is up to #5.
Regardless, we remain pleased with the growth of our sales.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Peanuts,
Ah, well. Making the Pacific smaller is completely beyond my abilities, alas.
But, I would say that living in Australia is its own reward. I visited there in '99 and absolutely fell in love with the country. I went to the WorldCon in Melbourne, scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef and spent almost two weeks in Tasmania.
Relentlessly beautiful country.
I would love to return.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Mmm, it does have it's benefits :)
Zaister,
We will have some very relevant announcements in April. That's really all I can say for now. But I do hear you.
Thanks, that sounds good. I'm looking forward to part three.
Bruce,
Glad you enjoyed "Call Forth Darkness". Replayed twice already. Wow! That's dedication. Anyways, thanks for supporting "Way of the Wicked".
Gary "Should be working on book three" McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Hmmm... I wonder how cool it would be to have two groups playing this campaign at the same time--one evil, one good--and interweave their stories together as Mitra and Asmodeus vie for Talingarde through their champions.
Hmmm... I wonder how cool it would be to have two groups playing this campaign at the same time--one evil, one good--and interweave their stories together as Mitra and Asmodeus vie for Talingarde through their champions.
I haven't done the following with Way of the Wicked obviously but about 10 years ago my nere-do-well friends and I embarked on a pretty successful evil campaign. At the end of it we turned in our character sheets and rolled up new characters.
We had to defeat our horrid lot of villains by beginning that mountain-climb as goody two-shoes baby level 1's. Might be a fun way to continue the fun of WotW beyond Gary's awesome published content.
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DystopianDream,
This is a very cool idea and one that could really work.
Obviously the evil group is going through Way of the Wicked as written. The good group...
Let one of the PCs play a paladin son of Lord Havelyn. He serves as sort of a focal point for keeping the group together.
The good guys go adventuring through your favorite 1st-3rd level adventure set in Talingarde. Really, many have been published. Pick one you like. Personally, I would adapt The Godsmouth Heresy to Matharyn (which is detailed in book four). At the end of that adventure *wham* there has been a prison break at Branderscar and the good guys are off to capture the escaped prisoners.
They fail to trap the prisoners but they do find a small cult of Asmodeus in the nearby town. It was from this cult that Thorn recruited the servants in the manor. The Good Guys arrive to discover the manor after the PCs have left it and Thorn has abandoned it. So left over monsters in the basement (maybe Thorn had a few more caged away he never used for the Nine Lessons) provide some challenges.
They learn that the Frosthamar has left and is headed north. They have their own sea-going adventures and travel up north. They meet the same traders (assuming the evil team doesn't slaughter them) and learn about their route. They venture into the savage north and learn about the growing alliance among the bugbears. They get to fight some humanoids and keep a tribe from joining beneath the Fire-Axe's banner.
But they are too late to save Balentyne. Daddy is murdered! REVENGE! They keep on the evil PCs trail, investigating, fighting off Thorn's assassins and arrive just in time for the big finale of Book Two. That's when the two groups of PCs get to fight for the first time. They should both be Level 10 by then and let them play it out fair and square.
If Team Evil wins, the Tears are recovered. If Team Good wins, the ritual is disrupted and Team Evil has to fall back on plan B.
Thorn saves Team Evil from a TPK by teleporting them away. Mitra saves Team from a TPK by teleporting them away.
The battle continues...
Sound interesting?
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Oh, and you can now get a preview of one the major opponents from this book here.
Warning! Following that link is a minor spoiler.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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DystopianDream,
This is a very cool idea and one that could really work.
Obviously the evil group is going through Way of the Wicked as written. The good group...
** spoiler omitted **...
I was thinking of something quite similar:
The bugbear war also has some great opportunities for heroics. I'm guessing there are thorps and hamlets in harms way after Balentyne burns? A high ranking cleric in the Holy Order of Saint Macarius has relatives there, perhaps, and cannot go himself to save them? Show off the horrors of war and such, and I can take advantage of the power that sparks from that narrative movement as evil rises and good falls, with the characters at the epicenter.
Hmmm...Now you've got me thinking seriously about it. It's madness I tell you! But it could work...
Thanks for the suggestions Gary, and keep up the great work. This should be an interesting summer, regardless.
DystopianDream,
If you pursue this madness, be sure to post a link to the campaign journal. I definitely want to read it.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I'm thinking using Dreamscarred Press' updated Psionics rules when I run this campaign and was wondering if there were any suggestions on how to approach the Organization rules if one of the characters decides to make a Thrallherd*.
It's a real possibility that someone will make one, and I figure that since the class itself is a souped up version of the Leadership feat (your "leadership score" calculated as Cha mod + Total of all Character Level + Thrallherd class level) it might make some difference. Especially since nothing actually reduces a Thrallherds leadership score. This makes them perfect leaders for evil organizations, but it also means that their minions (aka Believers) are totally and utterly loyal as a class feature.
For that matter, any suggestions on how to approach Brandscar using psionic characters? Using their powers creates detectable manifestations, but they can still use them even if bound and gagged.
Generic Villain,
Hey, I'm glad you are enjoying the adventure path! We are happy to feed your adventure path addiction.
Yes, we have something planned for after "Way of the Wicked". And it is too early to make any announcements yet.
Right now our focus is getting "Way of the Wicked" done by Halloween!
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Tobias,
Missed your post about the Thrallherd. I can't say I'm the world's greatest expert on psionics but I have this general advice about psionics.
First, there is absolutely no psionic related treasure in the campaign so that will need adjustment.
Second, allowing Thrallherd to up the number of actions (i.e. adding to the leadership score for purposes of minion actions) makes perfect thematic sense. I would guess it will add a considerable number of weekly minion actions and that might slow down the game. So keep an eye on the total and be prepared to finesse the chart so that the action number is kept within the realm of reason later in the campaign.
But honestly, I wouldn't worry too much. The character focus on being a creator of brain-washed minions should have piles of brainwashed minions.
Third...
I do not believe that Branderscar needs too much adjustment. After all, what is the difference between a starting psionic and a starting sorcerer? Remember that the psionic characters have no gear either. I would also say it is difficult to acheive focus while shackled to a wall.
In general, it is always a good idea to understand your PCs abilities and adjust challenges to make them both useful but not overpowerful. Also, if psionics is common in your version of Talingarde, maybe there is a minor psionicist on staff at the prison.
Hope that helps,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I finished reading my print copy yesterday and I have to say that I am very disappointed. Disappointed that it came to an end and I don't have the next 4 parts to read. The adventure was great and the art inside was also great. The group I dm for back in the 1st and 2nd edition days would have loved this. We even did an evil campaign that we started at 1st level and went to the mid to upper 20's. I love the ability of the players to make their own defenses in Call Forth Darkness. Most players would enjoy this. I bet many groups spend hours just working on better defenses. Great job Gary. I do have one sugestion for future modules. Don't forget about Grumblejack. You may want to have something written about him since I think many groups will have him with them still. Maybe some treasure that only he or another ogre could use.
PathfinderFan64,
Glad you enjoyed the book! The rest is on its way.
Hmmm...right now Grumblejack is not slated to play a major party in the AP. Of course, he could very well be a major player if the PCs keep him alive and keep him along. But plot events? Book Two was Grumblejack's zenith honestly. I suppose if there is enough outcry for More Grumblejack we could see about putting a few more words in about the ogre.
Anyways, I've got to finish prepping for Gamestorm.
Game on!
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I will be unavailable from now till Monday for more questions.
Fire Mountain Games is at Gamestorm here in Portland, Oregon.
Game on!
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
PathfinderFan64,
Glad you enjoyed the book! The rest is on its way.
Hmmm...right now Grumblejack is not slated to play a major party in the AP. Of course, he could very well be a major player if the PCs keep him alive and keep him along. But plot events? Book Two was Grumblejack's zenith honestly. I suppose if there is enough outcry for More Grumblejack we could see about putting a few more words in about the ogre.
Anyways, I've got to finish prepping for Gamestorm.
Game on!
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
I admit, I'd like to see more of Grumblejack.
And have fun at Gamestorm!
If anyone else wants to see more about Grumblejack you need to post asap to get it into part 3.