So my subscription should be ending just after the last AoW adventure. I'm debating renewing my subscription, and I'm wondering what Paizo has lined up for Dungeon Magazine after AoWAP is completed.
Creative Director
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That's a good question! The Adventure Path concept has been so successful (both Shackled City and Age of Worms) that we'd be crazy not to follow up Age of Worms with a third one. We've got the outline for Adventure Path 3 (which doesn't yet have a name) about 98% finalized and about ready to go to WotC for approval, and we'll hopefully be starting it up sometime later this year, a few issues after Age of Worms wraps up.
In the issues between Age of Worms's end and Adventure Path 3's beginning, we've got some big plans too. I don't want to get too detailed about what we have planned, since things can change drasticaly by the time we start working on an issue, but two things you can look forward to in this gap include:
1: We're hoping to present another level of Maure Castle in the July issue (#136).
2: Issue #138 is Dungeon's 20th anneversary. We're still solidifying plans for this issue's contents, but I'm really excited about what we've got lined up so far.
We'll probably have more to say about what's coming in the editorial for issue #135 (the last Age of Worms adventure issue); so for now these little teasers'll have to do.
While I like the AP, I think having a few month gap between them is a good thing, as it gives us a chance to "recalibrate" from 20th level adventures and earth shaking events to simpler concerns. It also gives us an extra few adventures that aren't automatically tied to the AP at whatever level its currently at, and makes some room for specials like the Marue Castle adventures, or perhaps FR or Eberron campaign arcs, without feeling like too much of the magazine is tied to a multi part epic.
The AP's are huge. i'm loving Age of Worms, and i'll be quite happy to see another one come into print.
however, one thing i'd like to suggest (a suggestion only) is that you break up the AP just a little bit - instead of running 12 issues back-to-back, why not run 4 ap issues, 1 issue of other content, 4 ap issues, 1 other content, and another 4 ap issues?
now, aside from the general impatience of the gamer populace, this kind of break would give you guys the opportunities to stop and catch your breath every once in a while, catch up on some of the other things that need doing, and give you more opportunities to put in more fun non-AP content, like Maure Castle.
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Creative Director
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One of the main reasons we chose 12 parts for Age of Worms is so that someone who subscribes at part 1 will get a compelte campaign over the course of his subscrption. So breaking AP3 up so it's in 14 issues isn't really an attractive choice, in this light. Additionally, a lot of our readers seem to be playing the adventure paths as fast as they are printed, so gaps in its release would cause problems there too.
So AP3 will certainly be sticking with the 12-issues-in-a-row theme.
One of the main reasons we chose 12 parts for Age of Worms is so that someone who subscribes at part 1 will get a compelte campaign over the course of his subscrption. So breaking AP3 up so it's in 14 issues isn't really an attractive choice, in this light. Additionally, a lot of our readers seem to be playing the adventure paths as fast as they are printed, so gaps in its release would cause problems there too.
So AP3 will certainly be sticking with the 12-issues-in-a-row theme.
cool, i figured those were the reasons, i thought i'd just throw out a suggestion. :)
i'm already looking forward to the next AP - though i will be no where near ready to run it by the time it actually sees print, considering my group's play schedule/style (we're still slogging through 3foe).
That's a good question! The Adventure Path concept has been so successful (both Shackled City and Age of Worms) that we'd be crazy not to follow up Age of Worms with a third one. We've got the outline for Adventure Path 3 (which doesn't yet have a name) about 98% finalized and about ready to go to WotC for approval, and we'll hopefully be starting it up sometime later this year, a few issues after Age of Worms wraps up.
James, do you care to share any hints as to what the next AP will be about?
James, do you care to share any hints as to what the next AP will be about?Nope, not yet. Once the outline's approved by WotC we can start dropping hints, but until then...
I'm curious as to how the relationship between Paizo and Wizards works. I know that you guys are able to use Wizards property that isn't necessarily OGC, but I had thought that Paizo was an entity independant of Wizards and was surprised to hear that you needed to get approval. How does that work?
Cheers
Llowellen
I'm curious as to how the relationship between Paizo and Wizards works. I know that you guys are able to use Wizards property that isn't necessarily OGC, but I had thought that Paizo was an entity independant of Wizards and was surprised to hear that you needed to get approval. How does that work?
Because of that little D&D logo on the cover of the magazine.
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Creative Director
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I can't wait to hear what AP3 is all about!
One quick question:
Would'nt an AP-series not be perfect for having Designer Notes sidebars?! ;)
Perhaps. But we're always scrounging for space in the magazine, so I doubt we'll do something like Designer Notes in the adventures. That said, many of our writers are active on thes messageboards and are generally more than willing to discuss their decisions and design methods. I'm certainly always available for questions about why we did something the way we did in any of the adventures in Dungeon.
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Creative Director
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Not everyone has access to the internet, so, because there must be some errata for the AoW series, why not print (some of) them between AP2 and AP3 in the magazine? Just an idea. I know that the editors don't make mistakes, but sometimes things just slip through... ;-)
Again... we generally don't have room for this in the magazine. The frantic pace at which magazines have to be edited more or less guarentees that errors will creep in, and if we take time out of that schedule to track down old errors and compile eratta, well... that means less time to edit the current issue, which further compounds the problem.
That said, if we compile Age of Worms into a hardcover release, we'll certainly go over the campaign with a fine-toothed comb and fix as many as the errors as we can.
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Creative Director
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I'm curious as to how the relationship between Paizo and Wizards works. I know that you guys are able to use Wizards property that isn't necessarily OGC, but I had thought that Paizo was an entity independant of Wizards and was surprised to hear that you needed to get approval. How does that work?
Paizo holds the license to print Dragon and Dungeon, in a similar way to how Hasbro has the license to do Star Wars action figures. Everything that goes into either magazine has to be approved by Wizards of the Coast. Every month, the editor in chief and the managing editor for the magazine heads on down to WotC (it's only a 20 minute drive, assuming no traffic) for a meeting with Rich Redman (the guy in charge of licenses for WotC) and Ed Stark (the representative for R&D) and sometimes a few other folk from various departments over there. We present all of the issue's articles, and they reccomend any changes and have final approval over what we print. This is why we can pretty much use anything they publish as resources for our articles and adventures, and in many places, once a book is published by WotC, the only place that product gets support is via the magazines.
For something huge like an Adventure Path, we write up a detailed outline of each of the 12 adventures and submit that to WotC for review. The R&D staff looks it over, as does Rich, and again they suggest changes as neccesary.
James,
Thanks for this window into the Paizo-WoTC (Hasbro) relationship.
James, I'm getting curious (and a bit impatient)... when will you be able to tell us more about the next ap?
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Creative Director
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James, I'm getting curious (and a bit impatient)... when will you be able to tell us more about the next ap?
We're going to unveil Adventure Path 3's details in the editorial to issue #135. which is scheduled to hit newsstands in the first or second week of May. Once that comes along, the curtain of secrecy will be lifted. Until then... I'm afraid it's radio silence regarding AP3.
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We're going to unveil Adventure Path 3's details in the editorial to issue #135. which is scheduled to hit newsstands in the first or second week of May. Once that comes along, the curtain of secrecy will be lifted. Until then... I'm afraid it's radio silence regarding AP3.
I know you guys work really hard, but it sure sounds like a whole lot of fun too. Keep it up!
Paizo holds the license to print Dragon and Dungeon, in a similar way to how Hasbro has the license to do Star Wars action figures. Everything that goes into either magazine has to be approved by Wizards of the Coast. Every month, the editor in chief and the managing editor for the magazine heads on down to WotC (it's only a 20 minute drive, assuming no traffic) for a meeting with Rich Redman (the guy in charge of licenses for WotC) and Ed Stark (the representative for R&D) and sometimes a few other folk from various departments over there. We present all of the issue's articles, and they reccomend any changes and have final approval over what we print. This is why we can pretty much use anything they publish as resources for our articles and adventures, and in many places, once a book is published by WotC, the only place that product gets support is via the magazines.
For something huge like an Adventure Path, we write up a detailed outline of each of the 12 adventures and submit that to WotC for review. The R&D staff looks it over, as does Rich, and again they suggest changes as neccesary.
I can see it now...
RICH REDMAN: I'm sorry boys, if you print that article on the mating habits of the fiendish dire weasel, no one will buy our new hardcover, Complete Weasel. Without its flagship product, the whole Complete Animal line will be dead in the water.
ERIK MONA: But how are we going to fill the anniversary issue? We haven't had this much trouble agreeing on content since the anniversary issue we published last month! This is all because I refused to dedicate an entire issue to converting d20 Modern ninja pirate dinosaurs to D&D, isn't it? Look Rich, I love ninja pirate dinosaurs as much as the next guy, but...
RICH REDMAN: That has nothing to do with it! And by the way, we've decided that Dungeon will now be called Fluffy Bunny Adventures Quarterly.
ED STARK: Why not Playboy Bunny Adventures Quarterly? Heh, heh, heh.
ERIK MONA: NO!!!
Until then... I'm afraid it's radio silence regarding AP3.
Fine by me. How about AP4? 5? C'mon, how about a little hint about the tenth adventure path?