Take a walk on the wild side with Streets of Zobeck...
The rich in Zobeck are very, very rich. And the poor kobold miners, dwarven smiths and human adventurers who clip a few coins and mug a few merchant princes... Well, who can blame them? The city is filled with the dark plots of evil men, and some of the darkest will provide the basis for our next Open Design project. Rob the Thieves’ Guild, buy your own brothel, or double-cross the captain of the guards; it’s time to ditch the monster-bashing and live a life of real adventure.
The Streets of Zobeck: Tales of Treachery adventure anthology for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a grittier set of adventures than the award-winning Tales of Zobeck anthology -- and one filled with more trickery, more hard-boiled action, and more anti-heroes and women of easy virtue.
Meet the crimelords of the Cloven Nine, tangle with the kobold smugglers in the Cartways or propose your own dark urban adventure. Open Design veteran Ben McFarland (Tales of Zobeck, Breaking of Forstor Nagar, that's me!) is the lead designer, and you could design one or more chapters of the anthology as well.
Visit the Kobold Store and add your two cents to this Open Design project today! (Note: For this anthology we will be checking everyone’s two cents to see if they’re forgeries. You know what they say about honor among thieves...)
-Ben
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Small but Fierce.
Kobold Quarterly's News Minion.
Commission is at ~38% for this book!
-Ben.
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Small but Fierce.
Kobold Quarterly's News Minion.
I'm in!!
This is going to be totally cool, and will be a great way to utilize some of the new ideas in the GMG.
We've powered through the holiday weekend and picked up a few more patrons-- we're at 42% now!
-Ben.
This week's brought in further thugs and ne'er-do-wells to the project... we're at ~50%...
You know you want in on this--come get your cut of the action.
-Ben.
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Herder of Alleycats
and Lead Designer for Streets of Zobeck
Suh Weet!
I want to put a plug in for this specific Open Design project...
Patronage for it has been steady and strong, but frankly I'm surprised that this baby isn't being snapped up a whole lot faster, because this is really a gem of an idea.
Let me make some observations:
1.) Urban and gritty adventures- In my opinion this is still an under-utilized arena of adventure possibilities. There are a few great products out there, but traditional dungeon style high fantasy still outnumber them.
2.)Not-so-traditional roles for the PCs- while this anthology is not about how to play "evil characters" it is unafraid to open up Players to the freedom of street level adventure. I'm talking about Ocean's Eleven style heists, to co-opting a brothel and deciding what to do with it next. Blackmail, kidnapping, politics, and the underside of religion. That's a step away from fighting the old crazed undead cultists lurking underneath some pile of rocks. And that makes it both ambitious and cool.
3.)Senior Patrons can pitch their own adventures and pay for the patronage if they're good enough- Listen up. I'm gonna connect a few dots for you. I'm a patron of a couple other projects, and I think patronage is wonderful. I strongly support it. What sets this project apart right now is that it is an ANTHOLOGY where PATRONS CAN PITCH AND WRITE ADVENTURES. Currently many of the other projects aren't following this mode. Yes, in all cases you can have input and have it used in the product. As Senior patrons in any project, you can steer the developers in a particular direction and have special insight. Even get your name in the book as a contributor.
But when you pitch an adventure, you get a contract. If you fulfill that contract- you get paid. You get your name in the credits, not as a contributor, but as an author. CHA-CHING. You cease being a Patron and you become an Author. You get street cred for the next opportunity. That's where Ben McFarland, Brandon Hodge, and Dan Voyce got their start. It can happen to you.
But your stuff has to be good, and people have to like it of course. Nothing is guaranteed and nothing comes easy. It’s an opportunity. Anthologies offer those opportunities. Not every Patronage Project offers that opportunity to the same degree. (Don’t mistake me as knocking the other projects though- they all strive to deliver value for their Senior Patrons! There is just a distinction I’m drawing your attention to..)
But that's the fundamental difference between an Patronage Project adventure anthology and a sourcebook (besides the obvious content). The opportunity to really stand out and shine is so much more tangible.
4.)Ben McFarland is a name worth noting- this guy has written and published a fair number of adventures (one of them was in the Ennie Award winning Tales of Zobeck) and is responsible for a number of extremely large conversions. He's the writer on Rite Publishing's Breaking of Foster Nager. If his name is not jumping out at you, it's because he hasn't been given enough credit.
This is an exciting and interesting project.. and the adventures will fit into niches that have not been explored thoroughly. You're going to find fresh new ideas that are going to enrich your urban campaigns.
To add to that, if you love Wolfgang Baur's Free City of Zobeck, this is only going to build upon and expand the work that has come before. This is going to be a "must have" for any Zobeck fan.
I really encourage people to give it a look, and at least offer it your standard patronage. If you like what you see- you can always upgrade. It hasn't been fully commissioned yet- so you haven't missed a thing.
Give it a shot!
Patronage for it has been steady and strong, but frankly I'm surprised that this baby isn't being snapped up a whole lot faster, because this is really a gem of an idea.
I suspect this is partly because there are two (actually three now) projects launching at once. Not everyone can afford to jump into all of them, so our standard patronage pool is probably being split. I know my budget this month is extra spent because of Paizo's release schedule. :P
I plan on jumping in early next month, this project looks very fun. I love urban adventures, and there are definitely not enough of them!
I suspect this is partly because there are two (actually three now) projects launching at once. Not everyone can afford to jump into all of them, so our standard patronage pool is probably being split. I know my budget this month is extra spent because of Paizo's release schedule. :P
I plan on jumping in early next month, this project looks very fun. I love urban adventures, and there are definitely not enough of them!
I actually agree with you. Sometimes there is too much choice, or when there are multiple options offered- it's during a busy season. (My opinion, but the publisher is welcome to disagree)
If at all possible I would encourage at least standard patronage, when you can, and then upgrade later if so desired.
As a side note, my own RPG budget is in peril, and I'm waiting on a call for a day job this afternoon. <fingers crossed>
Kobold Press
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One small correction: there's just two projects for Pathfinder at the moment; Tim Connors Tales of the Old Margreve is complete and in editing. Two is still more than one, of course, but the adventure book and the sourcebook are different animals.
I'm confident at least one and possibly both Pathfinder projects will reach the commission.
(And good luck on that phone call, Watcher!)
(And good luck on that phone call, Watcher!)
I got it!
And like a good supporter I joined another project!
That is true, I was counting Lost City as I'm more system agnostic. I will likely get all three eventually, the question for me is which to join first.
(And good luck on that phone call, Watcher!)I got it!
And like a good supporter I joined another project!
Congrats Watcher!
(And good luck on that phone call, Watcher!)I got it!
And like a good supporter I joined another project!
Gratz!!!
This project's at 55% and we're starting to spin up some preview material while we discuss some of the background material for Zobeck.
Why not join us and help? :)
-Ben.
This looks promising. Potential to be a really good product.
Big announcement for this project coming tomorrow! :) If you were on the fence, this might help you make up your mind!
-Ben.
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Lead Designer for Streets of Zobeck
The adventures have been selected and a lot of the manuscript's been generated.
Now we move on to development of the adventures-- there's still time to get in and do some playtesting, that hidden opportunity to really influence things.
-Ben
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Lead Designer for Streets of Zobeck