Announcing another product in the line of Adventure Path Plug-Ins by Legendary Games: The Construct Codex!
Read about it on the Adventure Path Plug-Ins Products page on the Legendary Games site.
More info below:
Construct Codex: From the crowflight carriage, a shining black carriage construct drawn by spectral horses used by vampire lords, to the living crematory, an automaton that roams battlefields disposing of the dead in a frighteningly efficient manner; from the stained glass knight, a gleaming construct designed to defend cathedrals, to the dire organ, a magnificent instrument possessed of prideful majesty and dire dirges, and 6 others, the Codex is a supplement containing 10 gothic-themed constructs to flesh out a world of gothic horror.
What You Will Find Inside the Codex
This supplement contains 10 constructs and their variants designed to fit perfectly in any gothic-themed campaign. One problem with Adventure Path-based campaigns is that they are written to appeal to all adventurers with all of the basic resources for their campaigns, and sometimes in print publications interesting and evocative creatures and abilities need to be cut or diminished to ensure they meet tight page count requirements. This Construct Codex allows you, the GM, to insert new and unexpected types of constructs into the Adventure Path to personalize the adventures as your own and enhance the creepy horror atmospherics with interesting and innovative monster mechanics. Of course, for those of your not running the gothic Adventure Path, these items bring a hefty dose of the macabre and can fit easily into any campaign. Who better to provide you with alternate magic items for your Adventure Path campaign than the very writers of those adventures themselves? Answer: no one.
Constructs in Horror
Much of classic horror centers around the things that should not be: the dead rising, the alien horror from beyond the stars, spirits reaching back from beyond the grave, and foul cults or bestial hunters that prey upon the living and consume the unwilling flesh of the dead. One consistent trope that appears is simultaneously less grotesque but perhaps more frightening, however, and that is when ordinary objects spring to life. Fascination can turn to terror as the simplest of implements becomes an implacable menace, cold, pitiless, and incapable of reason or remorse. Good and evil are irrelevant, for here is an unthinking thing that is bent only on a senseless rampage against any that cross its path, or that stand against the creator that holds its leash.
On the other hand, the iconic construct is the golem, no ordinary object but an extraordinary creation of ritual and craft that stands silent and eternal guard, or perhaps broken free of its master’s command and rampaging beyond control, scarcely aware of its surroundings but inflamed with the need to kill. Flesh golems are the most horror-iconic of these constructs, but other types of magecrafted colossi can serve a horror story in RPGs.
The interesting middle ground of constructs and their use in the game comes in between these two extremes. Can most animated things be handled simply as animated objects? They can, after a fashion, but could be made much more interesting with a more detailed treatment. Yet, a construct that is more than an object is not necessarily a golem either, with their hulking humanoid physique and unique magical immunity. It also seems useful to explore constructs created outside of the wizard’s laboratory; while that class is certainly best suited for experimentation, they hardly possess an exclusive patent on the creation of automata.
This product highlights 10 new constructs devised specifically for use with a horror-themed game, but which might find a home in any kind of campaign, including for crafters outside the wizard class. Some of these constructs are mindless automatons typical of their kind, though flavored to evoke the classic tropes of horror.
Look for this Adventure Path Plug-In soon (at or around GenCon at the earliest) on Paizo.com!
By your friends at Legendary Games!
Clark
Sounds cool I especially like the crowflight carriage.
(I really like that one too)
Looks very interesting, are you planning on getting the all of the Gothic AP plug-in material out by GenCon?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Looks very interesting, are you planning on getting the all of the Gothic AP plug-in material out by GenCon?
That all depends on art and layout. Things are underway. But I have high standards. Plus, we are trying to push the envelope of what an electronic product is. Right now, most pdfs are just electronic versions of a print book. That is not that exciting. Its pretty underwhelming. Portable, yes. And if you make a print product, easy to do in pdf. But if our products are pdf-native, shouldn't they actually take advantage of what the format can do? That is our goal. We want to do something new for you guys. Change the game. Make a product that really takes advantage of the format. We are working hard on that.
|
... if our products are pdf-native, shouldn't they actually take advantage of what the format can do? That is our goal. We want to do something new for you guys. Change the game. Make a product that really takes advantage of the format. We are working hard on that.
I love this, and top-marks for taking full advantage of the format.
However, please 'play test' them on an iPad or similar and offer a stripped-down version if they are sluggish. Trying to flip through or search the core rule book on mine never fails to make me glum.
Looks very interesting, are you planning on getting the all of the Gothic AP plug-in material out by GenCon?That all depends on art and layout. Things are underway. But I have high standards. Plus, we are trying to push the envelope of what an electronic product is. Right now, most pdfs are just electronic versions of a print book. That is not that exciting. Its pretty underwhelming. Portable, yes. And if you make a print product, easy to do in pdf. But if our products are pdf-native, shouldn't they actually take advantage of what the format can do? That is our goal. We want to do something new for you guys. Change the game. Make a product that really takes advantage of the format. We are working hard on that.
Awesome. Keep this approach and I will not be qble to stop buying your products!!!
Jason's been working pretty hard on this one. I think he got really inspired by the genre.
As for making the most of the PDF format, we're really hoping we can be pretty innovative in that area. We had lots of brainstorming at PaizoCon in that regard and I'm looking forward to the final layout as much as anyone.
I do so love my constructs...