Raging Swan Press
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I have bought very few 3PP products so have no capability to give an in depth survey but it would be more than remiss of me not to state that I have bought products from Raging Swan and been very impressed indeed by the quality of the product and the imagination of the content. So I would recommend them and am glad to see them showing already in this list.
J
And thanks very much for doing so! I'm very glad whatever you purchased and I hope it finds a use in your game.
Thanks for the mentions and kind words. That my little one-man operation run out of my comfy chair in my living room even gets listed with solid professionals such as Dreamscarred and Rite Publishing is inspiring.
:)
All kidding aside, I consider this to be a huge compliment.
For those who don't know, Dreamscarred Press is me and Andreas. That's the entire company structure. Anyone else who does work for us is freelance (or volunteers, who we can never thank enough for their time). Both of us have full-time jobs, families, and do RPG work on the side when other time constraints allow, so to be considered "professional" is actually a really big deal to us.
So, thank you for the compliment!
I wanted to thanks folks for the mentions of Pathways and Rite Publishing in general.
and
4 Winds Fantasy Gaming
We thank you for including us in your list!
Anyone reading my previous comments probably already knows my preference for FrogGod Games. Their style of campaigns is most suited to my rabble of players.
The next four companies are those who have produced a product that I consider to be stellar.
4 Winds Fantasy Gaming - Luven Lightfingers Gear & Treasure Shop
Open Design - Sunken Empires (Impressive work, Brandon Hodges et al)
Rite Publishing - Coliseum Morpheon (Excellent high level stuff! - Though the private spat you had with another 3pp producer on this very thread was inappropriate. To avoid annoying customers such as myself, please avoid that in the future.)
Super Genius Games - The Genius Guide to the Time Thief (I think Owen K.C. Stephens stuff has been great since The Wheel of Time 3E)
Others I have purchased products from that I was happy with:
Spes Magna Games
0one Games
Jon Brazer Enterprises
Others I have purchased products from that I was happy with:
Jon Brazer Enterprises
Oh! Oh! Thank you!
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Super Genius games (Not bought anything directly, but their work on Dungeonaday has been stellar. Note to self, I need to mail Hyrum when I get home, I see my normal subscription renewed, but didn't get upgraded to the Super Genius Pass)
Actually, email intern anthony at anthony@supergeniusgams.com if you have any Dungeonaday.com subscription issues. And email me if he doesn't get it fixed. :)
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The next four companies are those who have produced a product that I consider to be stellar.Super Genius Games - The Genius Guide to the Time Thief (I think Owen K.C. Stephens stuff has been great since The Wheel of Time 3E)
Wow, thanks. It's hard to believe anyone has kept track of my stuff since the Wot RPG. I appreciate the complement a lot!
Also, if you liked Time Thief, you should look into tomorrow's release, the Genius Guide to the Time Warden.
4 Winds Fantasy Gaming - Luven Lightfingers Gear & Treasure Shop
Many, many thanks!
Rite Publishing - Coliseum Morpheon (Excellent high level stuff!)Glad to hear you liked it. :)
Have you considered doing a review?
Not yet no. I will say that it fits very very nicely into a nefarious plan I had for my players at a certain point in their futures.
Rite Publishing - Coliseum Morpheon (Excellent high level stuff! - Though the private spat you had with another 3pp producer on this very thread was inappropriate. To avoid annoying customers such as myself, please avoid that in the future.)
Thank you for your support,
I understand your annoyance at a public debate, and apologie for it.
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Silver Crescent Publishing
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Yeah I haven't checked out your product yet. I checked out the free intro and it was pretty good for a free intro product. But 20 bucks is well above impulse buy. I am hoping you eventually make some cheaper products, something smaller to let people buy and get a feel for your stuff. Not a free preview. But maybe a cheap adventure or something.
Funny you should say that. This summer we will be releasing Lycan's Bane. An adventure for 5th-7th level characters that takes place on the continent of Kesuril, as tensions come to war between the nations of Illuria and Valin. It'll be available in PDF format as wall as print (hopefully color if the quotes I get back are what I expect them to be).
I have bought stuff from:
*Super Genius Games*, which i have absolutely loved,
*Necromancers of the Northwest*, haven't read yet, but thas cuz im lazy, but the two books I have sounded too good to pass up
*Open Design* bunch of KQs, could there be a better mag since Dragon is no more?
*Spes Magna Games*, I have only bought Masters of Disguise, but it was such a perfect fit for an upcoming game I will be co-running.
*Dreamscarredpress*, I have most of their 3.5 stuff, and provided a lot of input on both Psionics Unleashed, and the upcoming Psi Expanded books.
*Rite Publishing* I have their issue first issue of Pathways, and I will be buying Cloaks of Deception asap, which looks to be utterly awesome!
there are a few other companies I plan to check out, partly due to this thread, and partly due to that Thank You Paizo thread :)
I'd like to appologize to Brandon Hodge for misspelling his name!
Also, did I read correctly Wicht, were you involved in both Sunken Empires and Coliseum Morpheon? I thought that Clinton Boomer was the brain child behind the Coliseum?
Also, did I read correctly Wicht, were you involved in both Sunken Empires and Coliseum Morpheon? I thought that Clinton Boomer was the brain child behind the Coliseum?
It was a patron project initially conceived of and led by Boomer. He encountered some unavoidable difficulties, there was some internal work done by regular freelancers for Rite, then Wicht came and sealed the deal, writing a pretty hefty chunk in a fairly aggressive timeframe.
-Ben.
Dark Sasha you read correctly.
What Terraleon said.
I'd like to appologize to Brandon Hodge for misspelling his name!
Awww, shucks! You might be the first person to ever correct that extraneous "s" that has haunted me since my earliest days at school! =-)
And thank you very much for the kudos. Sunken Empires is something I am immensely proud of. Or is that "of which I am immensely proud?" Either way! =-)
I'd like to appologize to Brandon Hodge for misspelling his name!Awww, shucks! You might be the first person to ever correct that extraneous "s" that has haunted me since my earliest days at school! =-)
And thank you very much for the kudos. Sunken Empires is something I am immensely proud of. Or is that "of which I am immensely proud?" Either way! =-)
And I hate misspelling people's names.
As for Sunken Empires, I have an anthropology/archaeology background and a love of ancient myths. So I loved that first chapter of yours, I though it was very well researched and written.
Have you (or any of your cohorts) considered writing more on setting of Cassadega, the half sunken city of treasure seekers?
Have you (or any of your cohorts) considered writing more on setting of Cassadega, the half sunken city of treasure seekers?
*cough*Midgard*cough*
;)
-Ben.
Have you (or any of your cohorts) considered writing more on setting of Cassadega, the half sunken city of treasure seekers?*cough*Midgard*cough*
If you've ever liked anything from Open Design you should come join the Midgard project. It'll be like OD's Magnum Opus, and set the stage for a lot of future material to come.
Right now we are talking about Lost Towers in the Western Wastes and Great Old Ones.
Have you (or any of your cohorts) considered writing more on setting of Cassadega, the half sunken city of treasure seekers?
Thank you, again. I was exposed to archaeology at a young age through my father, and earned a degree in history later in life, so that Sunken Empires chapter let me put that education in research to work enough to finally justify that degree somewhat. Hahaha. Now I only have to do it 6000 more times to pay back those student loans!
As other mentioned above, we are indeed talking a lot about Sunken Empires in the current Midgard Campaign Setting in Open Design. We've officially made Cassadega a part of that world (along with Freeport!) and the setting will include more history of the Ankeshelians and how they and their technology fit into the broader picture of Midgard. It won't be a BIG expansion, mind you, and I'm not trying to tease you or pitch you on the project by mentioning its inclusion, because Sunken Empires is still the sourcebook, but it'll get a little play.
But I do get an awful lot of inquiries on opening the book back up on Sunken Empires, and expanding on the setting in a way similar to the adventure anthologies of Streets of Zobeck and Tales of the Old Margreve, so you never know!
And, last thing. A lot of those themes introduced in SE and From Shore to Sea got new life in my chapter for Lost Cities of Golarion. You kind of get to see what happens when modern settlers start messing with that old forbidden technology. Fun stuff!
Alright...done with my threadjack on my 3PP accolades. Now back to your regularly-scheduled recommendations! =-)
Ya know, it doesnt matter what I like; none of its allowed in the local games. If it aint Paizo, it aint welcome at the tables. I find it hard to justify buying stuff for my hobby when I cant use it.
would your group consider running a 3P adventure path/campaign setting?
Ya know, it doesnt matter what I like; none of its allowed in the local games. If it aint Paizo, it aint welcome at the tables. I find it hard to justify buying stuff for my hobby when I cant use it.
If you're talking about Pathfinder Society, then perhaps true, you can't use 3pp material. But the vast majority of us PF gamers aren't PFS, so 3pp stuff is more than welcome. If you're not talking about PFS, then my guess is you have a bunch of anal DMs in your local area (move to where the reasonable DMs are - since there is no PFS here, here is a good place...)
When my Kaidan demo adventures are created, my local game store has already asked me to run games in their shop when its ready. So it sounds like only your LGS's have the problem, not mine.
I just wanted to chime in and say that this thread, and reviews by a few posters but most notably Dark_Mistress, convinced me to dip my toes further into the 3PP waters. I had already picked up Dreamscarred Press's psionics pdf for Pathfinder, which I feel is a fine product, but I've also looked into material from Rite Publishing, Purple Duck, and Super Genius Games.
So far everything I've picked up, mostly cheaper pdfs, has been interesting and well worth the money and I'd recommend people interested in quality pathfinder materials check out all four of those companies. I can't really comment on anyone else yet but eventually I'll have to check out products from some of the other companies people here have recommended.
If it aint Paizo, it aint welcome at the tables.
I know what you mean. My players hate it when I bring in monsters that I publish. They prefer stuff out of the Bestiary (stuff they know pretty much by heart). So I understand what you're saying.
EDIT: And when I say "they prefer stuff out of the Bestiary" I mean, they don't like monsters unique to the adventure path published by Paizo, monsters in bestiary 2. You name it. If its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.
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I just wanted to chime in and say that this thread, and reviews by a few posters but most notably Dark_Mistress, convinced me to dip my toes further into the 3PP waters. I had already picked up Dreamscarred Press's psionics pdf for Pathfinder, which I feel is a fine product, but I've also looked into material from Rite Publishing, Purple Duck, and Super Genius Games.
So far everything I've picked up, mostly cheaper pdfs, has been interesting and well worth the money and I'd recommend people interested in quality pathfinder materials check out all four of those companies. I can't really comment on anyone else yet but eventually I'll have to check out products from some of the other companies people here have recommended.
*adds a new name to the crazy list*
If its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.Just throw nothing but lamias (with fighter or monk levels as needed) at them. After their 4th character each falls unconscious from having their Wisdom drained to 0 through touch attacks, they'll beg you to use monsters from elsewhere. :)
LOL *Evil Grin* Steev, did you read that? Guess what's coming tomorrow! >:D
I know what you mean. My players hate it when I bring in monsters that I publish. They prefer stuff out of the Bestiary (stuff they know pretty much by heart). So I understand what you're saying.EDIT: And when I say "they prefer stuff out of the Bestiary" I mean, they don't like monsters unique to the adventure path published by Paizo, monsters in bestiary 2. You name it. If its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.
It is precisely that reason that I like using stuff that isn't in the Bestiary. "Oh! It's a Glabrezu! I know what to do to beat it guys!" became all too common in the 3.5 days and I made more liberal use of 3PP creatures, and my players found they liked it better because it was a true challenge when they weren't tempted to metagame the combat.
And my players did hate it when I threw in creatures from our upcoming Tome of Monsters for playtesting purposes - but that was because they freaked them out. "What do you mean it's an undead kid?! Good god, you're twisted!" One of my players still has nightmares about the drekavac climbing up his character's body. Mwahahahaha!
I know what you mean. My players hate it when I bring in monsters that I publish. They prefer stuff out of the Bestiary (stuff they know pretty much by heart). So I understand what you're saying.EDIT: And when I say "they prefer stuff out of the Bestiary" I mean, they don't like monsters unique to the adventure path published by Paizo, monsters in bestiary 2. You name it. If its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.
It is precisely that reason that I like using stuff that isn't in the Bestiary. "Oh! It's a Glabrezu! I know what to do to beat it guys!" became all too common in the 3.5 days and I made more liberal use of 3PP creatures, and my players found they liked it better because it was a true challenge when they weren't tempted to metagame the combat.
And my players did hate it when I through in creatures from our upcoming Tome of Monsters for playtesting purposes - but that was because they freaked them out. "What do you mean it's an undead kid?! Good god, you're twisted!" One of my players still has nightmares about the drekavac climbing up his character's body. Mwahahahaha!
My group yells at you if you try to metagame how monsters work. If you fail your Knowledge check (or don't have the skill), too bad.
But, it's why I like when the GM uses off-the-wall, Bestiary 2 / etc monsters that I've never seen before, since I'm the one of the group who tends to know more of the content =D
LOL *Evil Grin* Steev, did you read that? Guess what's coming tomorrow! >:DIf its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.Just throw nothing but lamias (with fighter or monk levels as needed) at them. After their 4th character each falls unconscious from having their Wisdom drained to 0 through touch attacks, they'll beg you to use monsters from elsewhere. :)
Hey, you leave me out of it! I'm not the one who complains. :)
Hey, you leave me out of it! I'm not the one who complains. :)
Ok. "They all leave the baron along for some unknown reason." ;)
Ya know, it doesnt matter what I like; none of its allowed in the local games. If it aint Paizo, it aint welcome at the tables. I find it hard to justify buying stuff for my hobby when I cant use it.
Well, that's a tough situation to be in, but if your group won't go for 3PP material, then you're right, you can't use it. I hope your situation changes, because there's an awful lot of good stuff out there.
Publishers I have purchased from
0one games – great work on the blue prints and color prints. I have really enjoyed the material I have purchased.
4th Dimension Games – bought the skill encounters books. Lots of great ideas, a great purchase.
Adamant – Tome of secrets, I like the greater flavor this brings to my table.
Dave Graffam Models – Love the detail and work on these, being in a small military house, I have not the room to start producing these and all of the other amazing paper scenery I have seen on the web. My loss.
Dreamscarred Press – Thanks for adding Psionics to Pathfinder. Looking forward to running one in an upcoming game.
Frog God Games- Pure awesomeness.
Jon Brazer Enterprises – I enjoyed the river kingdom/mass combat rules.
LPJ Design – Adventure planner, a great resource, I love check lists, and this helps plan and daydream about the game.
Paizo – nothing else needed to be said for them, a whole shelf of material!
Raging Swan Press – Retribution is in my cart for May, I have to get my order to $100 for the $10 off shipping. I am looking forward to reading this, and hopefully getting more of your products.
Rite Publishing – All 9 101 spells. Looking forward to the 0 level spells. My GM and fellow players enjoyed the expanded spell options. Not everyone works for our group, but they were well worth the price of entry. A great way to get the creative juices flowing. Evocative city sites, I own two, planning on buying more.
Super Genius Games – enjoyed what I have purchased
EN products – bought a bunch when they were on sale, I have enjoyed reading through them
Other publishers I look forward to getting products from:
Cubicle 7 – Coliseum Morpheuon sounds amazing, Empty Room Studios – Tavern Menus I love this idea, Frog God Games just about anything they put out, Open Design I guess I should subscribe, Spes Magna Games looking forward to getting the Making Craft Work,
I end up basing a lot of my purchases on Dark Mistress’s and Endzeitgeist’s reviews, so keep on reviewing them. I don’t believe I am alone in this regard, so it might be worth it for DM and End to become professional reviewers. I would vote that all material be sent to them for review. It would simplify my life. On another note, the bickering is very unbecoming for professionals, and there really was not benefit to it. Just turns me off.
I am recently returned to the RPG scene, and fresh to the 3PP phenomenon. Overall the quality of product is very high, and rivals material put out by Paizo and WoTC. One problem I have had is that there is so much material out there. For me, it is not so much a $ issue but a time issue. Even being a government employee, I work over 60 hours a week, which leaves not a lot of time for family and then even less time for gaming. I have already purchased more material than I can use, let alone read through all of it. I am still working on the Pathfinder back log. This is what is slowing down my consumption of material from all publishers. I would like to purchase more, but if I can’t even read it, why would I. So this goes back to my reliance on other people’s reviews of the product before I make a purchasing decision.
Seeing a product featured in the RPG Now newsletter or on the front of Paizo’s page has also driven me to purchasing a product. Crazy how that works. I also scan the message boards to see what is generating a lot of buzz, and then will investigate further to see if it makes sense for me to purchase.
I am grateful that there is so much variety of material that I can pick and choose, outside the main publishers. I am thankful that Paizo allows/encourages this work from other publishers, a major reason why I don’t play 4E. I believe the more the merrier, I just would be able to support everyone financially, just not feasible.
I would also not rank the publishers. Everyone has decent, good and great products. Just keep creating material and it will find a home. Looking forward to seeing where this train is headed, and I am looking forward to being able to share adventures with my friends and with the creators of such great material.
Cheers
Ya know, it doesnt matter what I like; none of its allowed in the local games. If it aint Paizo, it aint welcome at the tables. I find it hard to justify buying stuff for my hobby when I cant use it.
There is an option to help encourage it to be allowed in local games, beyond the demo teams we work with. The idea would be to run your own game that does allow it, or use nothing but that.
My other question would be how do they react to official third party published content (not compatible) like KQ (they just published an official adventure by Mark Moreland) or From Sea to Shore by Brandon Hodge (both created by Open Design not Paizo)? Those two things could be your foot in the door.
My gaming group doesn't tend to use a whole lot of 3PP material, and for the record, none of us do PFS or any FLGS game store games. For our 3.5 campaign that ended 18 months ago, we were primarily straight WotC, with allowable content also from Dungeon and Dragon magazines. Our last adventure was The Quicksilver Hourglass from a Dungeon Magazine somewhere. My character was a straight Shadowcaster from Tome of Magic. To make him Epic we mined content from a few online sources that had explored the nature of what an Epic Shadowcaster would look like. Eight epic levels later he was done. Overall minimum 3PP.
Within our current Pathfinder campaign, we are almost straight Paizo, although one player is using the Artificer from Tome of Secrets, which has been...interesting. I just convinced the DM to let me use a couple of feats from SGG's Feats of Battle as they mesh nicely with the character concept I have. For 3PP I don't think most of the group pays attention to any of it. I DM'd a short section and ran the players through a Pathfinder conversion of The Grey Citadel from Necromancer. Our DM has just added, as third party content to Paizo, some WotC material including Tome of Battle and since we are spending lots of time at sea, Stormwrack.
For the campaign I am working on writing, my "Player's Guide" has content from Open Design, SGG, Bad Axe Games, Malhavoc Press, Spes Magna Games and Green Ronin, as material here fleshes out the world vision I have in my head.
For content they will eventually explore, it already includes material from SGG, Open Design, Oone, Tricky Owlbear and probably Frog God. I am definitely looking forward to the Tome of Horrors Revisited as well.
And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.
And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
*nods*
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*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
So says one of my prophets.
So says one of my prophets.*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
Listen to Dark Mistress. You can trust her. She's a succubus.
I know what you mean. My players hate it when I bring in monsters that I publish. They prefer stuff out of the Bestiary (stuff they know pretty much by heart). So I understand what you're saying.EDIT: And when I say "they prefer stuff out of the Bestiary" I mean, they don't like monsters unique to the adventure path published by Paizo, monsters in bestiary 2. You name it. If its not in Bestiary 1, they speak up.
It is precisely that reason that I like using stuff that isn't in the Bestiary. "Oh! It's a Glabrezu! I know what to do to beat it guys!" became all too common in the 3.5 days and I made more liberal use of 3PP creatures, and my players found they liked it better because it was a true challenge when they weren't tempted to metagame the combat.
And my players did hate it when I threw in creatures from our upcoming Tome of Monsters for playtesting purposes - but that was because they freaked them out. "What do you mean it's an undead kid?! Good god, you're twisted!" One of my players still has nightmares about the drekavac climbing up his character's body. Mwahahahaha!
Amen to this. If I had a player or players that told me I "couldn't" use anything but the monsters that <s>he was familiar with, then all they would see are new things. The worst thing for your game, is to have players that know everything about everything. You can even just reskin monsters, mix and match abilities with looks and names, and when they cry foul, just smile evilly and say its all from the book they wanted.
..from the other side of the table, I dont get it..why would you play..if you didn't want those magic "what the hall is THAT" moments...
So says one of my prophets.*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
So say we all!
So say we all!So says one of my prophets.*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
Jeebus man, she's a succubus, not a Cylon!
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Raging Swan Press
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Raging Swan Press – Retribution is in my cart for May, I have to get my order to $100 for the $10 off shipping. I am looking forward to reading this, and hopefully getting more of your products.
I hope you enjoy it. Also, don't forget that there are lots of free web enhancements available for Retribution. You can find them here. If you've got any feedback, I'd love to hear it.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Jeebus man, she's a succubus, not a Cylon!So say we all!So says one of my prophets.*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
Actually it would be 'By Your Command' if she was a toaster. ;-)
(aside, does anyone besides me wish we'd seen more of the colonies ala Caprica?)
Jeebus man, she's a succubus, not a Cylon!So say we all!So says one of my prophets.*nods*And yes, Dark Mistress, if you happen to read this, I also look at your reviews along with End's as an assist to my 3PP material selection about 80% of the time.*adds yet another name to the crazy list*
Perhaps instead of crazy list I should just accept they are acolytes of my cult.
Actually it would be 'By Your Command' if she was a toaster. ;-)
(aside, does anyone besides me wish we'd seen more of the colonies ala Caprica?)
He's got a point, Sean, and besides, you tell me that Six wasn't part succubus. Seriously. :P
And, yeah, I do wish we could've seen more. Maybe if Caprica hadn't been canceled...