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This year at Paizocon I ran I3: Pharaoh, the classic second edition module from Tracy and Laura Hickman.
Leading up to Paizocon I spent several months porting the entire module over to the Pathfinder ruleset from second edition. Today I got around to uploading the results; the master pdf can be found here.
Everything else, including a MS Word version, battlemaps, pogs, stat blocks, a maptools .cmpgn file, and a complete herolabs .por file, can be found packaged up in a zip file (warning ... 200 plus megabytes).
Like most labors of love, this project took a lot of time and energy, and so any feedback, bugs, issues, commentary, etc on the port would be appreciated! If you end up GMing it, I'd love to hear how it went for you, and would be happy to answer questions about how to make the experience better for yourself and your players.
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This year at Paizocon I ran I3: Pharaoh, the classic second edition module from Tracy and Laura Hickman.
Leading up to Paizocon I spent several months porting the entire module over to the Pathfinder ruleset from second edition. Today I got around to uploading the results; the master pdf can be found here.
Everything else, including a MS Word version, battlemaps, pogs, stat blocks, a maptools .cmpgn file, and a complete herolabs .por file, can be found packaged up in a zip file (warning ... 200 plus megabytes).
Like most labors of love, this project took a lot of time and energy, and so any feedback, bugs, issues, commentary, etc on the port would be appreciated! If you end up GMing it, I'd love to hear how it went for you, and would be happy to answer questions about how to make the experience better for yourself and your players.
Actually the 1st I3 was 1st Ed. But this is a great adventure I have often wanted to see redone. Now here it is.
Good job Sozin, the entire package is very impressive. I especially like the redrawn maps (and unlabeled maps!).
It looks like the PDF file by itself doesn't have stat blocks in it, so anyone wanting those needs to download the entire package and open the master PDF file from within the folder structure provided with the .zip file.
I don't know if it would be too much effort, but including the stat blocks at the end of the PDF file would be a nice addition.
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I don't know if it would be too much effort, but including the stat blocks at the end of the PDF file would be a nice addition.
This is done and uploaded here (pdf format). Note I didn't upload a new .zip file cos it is so darn big. I'll add the new .pdf to the .zip when I accrue enough changes. Note that if you download the pdf, the stat blocks hyperlinks don't scroll you to the right spot in the pdf, but instead try to shell out to the relative path from the unpacked folder structures (/StatBlocks/statblock.htm). I'll fix that later :-)
This is AMAZING! Though, I do have to ask, Pogs?
Full pog set in the .zip file.
This is just... wow. I had such fun running this back in the day, now I can inflict it all over again. I gotta ask - any plans for the rest of the Desert of Desolation series?
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Sozin thank you.
I have down loaded the zipped file...this looks like it will be allot of fun.
I both ran and played in these modules a long time a go, and i really enjoyed them.
Poking through your file, with all of the maps, and inscriptions and stuff, it makes me realize just how much stuff we got in one of those old moudles, and how much work this must have been.....again Thank you.
I'm plotting and planning how i can try and run this module at home.
This year at Paizocon I ran I3: Pharaoh, the classic second edition module from Tracy and Laura Hickman.
I am sure someone pointed this out, but this was actually a classic 1st Ed Module published in 1982. I have SERIOUSLY considered trying to find the PDF's and converting them to an Osirion campaign.
any plans for the rest of the Desert of Desolation series?Maybe. I've been pondering how to handle Bralizzar, Northknife, and the Sunken City of Pazar, versus jumping right in and doing Oasis of the White Palm (which I kinda prefer doing). Stay tuned :-)
Well, thanks for the hard work! I shall indeed stay tuned.
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I am sure someone pointed this out, but this was actually a classic 1st Ed Module published in 1982.
Thanks, corrected.
I meant, Why Pogs?
I believe they are called pogs because of an old 1980's game called 'Pogs' (Wikipedia article). But if your question is, "I know what pogs are, why did you include them?", then the answer is, so people can play through it using a RPG virtual table top.
It's a nice piece of work but there are some ethical issues involved here. You're altering the work of another artist without their permission and effectively self-publishing it. (That's leaving aside the IP issue if any, with WOTC) Doing this and keeping it to yourself would have been one thing, but publishing opens a can of worms here.
Very fair point. I've updated the pdf to include due credit to all the original authors. I admit to being totally clueless on the IP side of things for this module - my intention being simply to share a module that I dearly love with a community that I feel very much a part of - but if this group, or paizo, thinks that I've acted unethically or that I'm unnecessarily risking the wrath of The Man, then I'll take down the links.
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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This year at Paizocon I ran I3: Pharaoh, the classic second edition module from Tracy and Laura Hickman.
How long did it take to play through? I remember these modules taking a few days back in 1st Edition. What happened with the PFRPG session?
It's a nice piece of work but there are some ethical issues involved here. You're altering the work of another artist without their permission and effectively self-publishing it. (That's leaving aside the IP issue if any, with WOTC) Doing this and keeping it to yourself would have been one thing, but publishing opens a can of worms here.Very fair point. I've updated the pdf to include due credit to all the original authors. I admit to being totally clueless on the IP side of things for this module - my intention being simply to share a module that I dearly love with a community that I feel very much a part of - but if this group, or paizo, thinks that I've acted unethically or that I'm unnecessarily risking the wrath of The Man, then I'll take down the links.
Is this very different from the other conversions in this section of the messageboard then? Such as the Hall of the Fire Giant King and Paladin in Hell? I haven't compared them, but what differentiates this, or places it in the 'potential ip infringement' category?
Hi sozin,
Great job! I know all about module conversion being a “labour of love, the project taking lots of time and energy”. I’m particularly interested in your work on a presentation and technical level and noted several things you did that I learned from and will incorporate myself…so thanks a bunch.
I could go through and suggest a list of presentation improvements like…
Change the text from left-aligned to justified
Delete the section break on page 29-30 in the word doc
Replace “litch” with “lich” on page 31
…and so on but that would be like telling you to suck eggs.
I suspect using Hero Lab saved you a massive amount of time on creature stat block creation, accuracy and consistency though I’ve not used the program myself.
Providing everything as a bundle (in addition to the PDF) is awesome and the word doc allows people to manipulate the file for their needs. A fantastic effort and thank you for sharing it.
Cheers,
Silke
Is this very different from the other conversions in this section of the messageboard then? Such as the Hall of the Fire Giant King and Paladin in Hell? I haven't compared them, but what differentiates this, or places it in the 'potential ip infringement' category?I do know that Paizo sells licensed conversions on some of the old modules, but most of the other "conversions" here are either just discussions or posts. What he did was take an entire published work and redo and reprinted it digitally. It's a shame to bring up the issue because he did a real first class job on it. But it doesn't change things. Also because of the nature of the work it seemed like a good opportunity to remind others who might pursue a similar course the issues they need to be aware of.
In this case, given the work that has been done I would advise the author to contact Tracy and Hickman and seek out their advice on the matter. It may be that rights have been allowed to lapse and you'll have full steam ahead.
Fair points - but the two that I specifically cited are full converted downloads from hosted sites, exactly as this is. And the very existence of a 'Conversions' thread implies that conversions are ok - there's no disclaimer stating that only discussion not actual recoding or rewriting are permitted. Same went with the old ENWorld conversion forums (although now you mention it, I do seem to recall some issue around those). Not arguing, just genuinely interested. Are you aware of instances where not-for-profit conversions of old works have drawn the ire of the IP owners?
I just think singling out Sozin is odd - especially when he ran this at Paizocon - when the Hall of the Fire Giant King thread isn't similarly called out. Ok, it doesn't have pogs, but otherwise it's just as detailed a conversion. Or when people happily post links to Night Below conversions without anyone objecting.
Really, I think this should either be a policy for the Conversion forum as a whole, or not - ie, no full conversions - rather than suggesting particular threads break copyright.
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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Most of the stuff that's in the Conversion's thread, I quite frankly don't bother to read, and I'm confident that hardly anyone else will either.
It's not so much that I singled out Sozin. It's that most of the stuff that's posted is not nearly as worth the effort, nor is it of any real interest. As such, it would not draw anyone else's notice. His stuff is good enough to go viral, it's a fairly major piece of work, and that's the kind of thing that might get him in trouble.
So the fact that I did so is actually a compliment.
I read it as a compliment, as well. You're trying to make sure it can stay out there by being sure he's within the rules. I think Sozin appreciates that.
But don't knock a lot of what goes on in those threads. Other conversions that are as professionally done, and that have never been shut down due to IP issues are available. A small list:
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
I've also seen White Plume Mountain and Keep on the Borderlands, amongst others. Watching the Conversion threads often turns up nuggets of gold like that.
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So the fact that I did so is actually a compliment.
You guys are looking out for me; I seriously appreciate that.
I suspect using Hero Lab saved you a massive amount of time on creature stat block creation, accuracy and consistency though I’ve not used the program myself.
It did - Herolabs was a huge boon to me on this project.
I’m particularly interested in your work on a presentation and technical level and noted several things you did that I learned from and will incorporate myself…so thanks a bunch.
You are welcome! I just wish I had the time to get good enough to make my stuff look as slick as the Paizo AP modules.
Most of the stuff that's in the Conversion's thread, I quite frankly don't bother to read, and I'm confident that hardly anyone else will either.
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So the fact that I did so is actually a compliment.
That's a very fair point. But I'd definitely say that's a little harsh on the other 'converters' - there is some cracking work going on there. And, to be honest, it's not really a case of no one else bothering to read their work - it's either an IP breach or it isn't. Otherwise, it's making Paizo culpable. If it's illegal, claiming it's ok because it's on an obscure part of their messageboard that no-one reads and therefore it won't go viral is hardly a defence that would stand up in court.
For instance, I'm a member of the Gallifreybase message board, and they don't allow posting of links to copyrighted material on Youtube. It doesn't matter that Youtube host it, or that it might be on the most obscure thread of the most obscure part of their forum - it's not permitted, full stop. So, if this is a breach of IP, then so is every other conversion, and there should be a clearly stated policy that conversions per se won't be allowed - only discussion about conversions.
But all credit to you for taking the time to raise a warning flag for Sozin, which is what this is really about.
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After investigating this topic for bit I've decided to pull the files. While the trademark "Desert of Desolation" has lapsed, the copyright has not. I'm probably going to reach out to WoTC to discuss the issue privately. For anyone coming across this thread for the first time, please refrain from asking either myself or the few people that have the pdf/zip for the work.
Not gonna lie, am a little disappointed that the Files aren't available, but I understand the reasoning behind that. Here's hoping things get settled to the point that this will see the light of day again, cause I'd love to get my hands on a copy.
This is too bad - sozin didn't 'publish', he shared. If he set up a site and said hey pay me 99 cents (or even 1 cent) for my conversion, he'd have some ethical (legal?) issues to worry about. Sharing something for free seems perfectly acceptable:
• Fair-use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. Check out how to be licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-3.0 License - permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
• Learn about fair-use at the Center for Social Media: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org
Attribution and a lack of desire to be paid protect fair use of materials in my understanding.
Definitely disagree, but YMMV. Ultimately up to sozin and how comfortable he is with fair use.
It really is too bad this is no longer available. I'm planning on using that old module for an upcoming adventure in my campaign (just using the maps and dropping in new encounters, as I did earlier for a side adventure that borrowed from Steading of the Hill Giant Chief), and I surely could have benefited from Sozin's work with Pharaoh.
Alas, IP law can be serious business. Those of us in creative hobbies are so accustomed to seeing retooled, revamped, revised and house-ruled material that the laws don't always seem right to us. When the idea of OGL first came about, it went a long way to alleviating such concerns. But OGL doesn't cover everything, and it certainly doesn't cover material from 1st or 2nd ed.
(I've run into this problem myself when I completely reworked Steve Jackson's Evil Stevie's Pirate Game. My edition of that ruleset was meant for use at conventions and at home only, but an IP lawyer friend was very insistent that I should not share - not even freely - my documents online without express contract from the original copyright owner. And this was in a case where even the original work is offered freely online! So clearly, the law is pretty tight when it comes to distribution, no matter how good your intentions.)
Anyhow, sorry for the lengthy comment. In the end, I sincerely hope that maybe a deal can be worked out wherein the owners do make a Pathfinder compatible Pharaoh adventure legally available. And it would be particularly nice if they did so with some of the work that Sozin has already done for them (with credit and compensation for him as well). It is evident from the early posts in this thread that what he developed was worthy.
...Though I enter into this thread over a year late. Has there been any news?
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I've received 30+ requests for the files via google docs request since I cut the files off from public access. Sadly, I have not granted anyone access due to legal concerns cited above :-(
I'd love to be able to open it up but don't have the time or the energy to navigate the wild shoals of copyright and IP infringement law. If there is a Pharaoh wanting, copyright/IP savvy lawyer out there with a desire to sort this out on their own dime, I'd be happy to chat! sozinsky at gmail dot com
EDIT: Alternatively a publisher who is willing to take a project like Desert of Desolation Pathfinder port on! This is such an epic and awesome fantasy series, it would be fantastic to see it get re-printed in full Pathfinder glory as a lvl 1-16 or 1-20 campaign and let a whole new generation of gamers experience it.
I'm working on a conversion of this (to follow the extended version of The Lost City, another great module from back then) as a Mini-AP for my home group. While I appreciate your position, re: your files, I'm going to be posting a few ideas about specific elements and I hope you'll weigh in.