Our Kickstarter launched today!
We are kick-starting our first project: a brand new, three part horror fantasy adventure path for The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
We have joined forces with Paizo's 2013 RPG Superstar Winner, and two-time Iron GM World Champion, Steven T Helt, along with fellow co-writers Gillian Fraser - Lead Designer of the widely successful Wicked Fantasy, and Steve Rowe - the reigning Iron GM World Champion.
Thank you in advance for your support!
Tony Troskoski
The Unhallowed
http://www.theunhallowed.com
looks good. If i see what I like can I upgrade from skeleton to (international) zombie ? Have you got something to make us drool?
Best of luck!
@Major Longhorn: Yes, you can. We plan to provide more information on the Adventure Path via the Kickstarter page very soon. We will announce it here. Thanks!
@Seth Parsons: Thank you for the support!
Tony Troskoski
The Unhallowed
OK I subscride... Hope we got plenty of additional stuffs ^^
OK I subscride... Hope we got plenty of additional stuffs ^^
We do too! ;)
Help us spread the word, and let's unlock ALL our stretch goals.
I posted an Adventure Synopsis of the first adventure, per your suggestion. I hope you drool!
Tony Troskoski
The Unhallowed
Unhallowed Kickstarter Update:
The Unhallowed Kickstarter launched three days ago. Our first day we achieved 20% of our funding goal, and we made it onto Kicktraq's Hot List at #24! At the beginning of day 4, we are at 39% towards total funding. Thank you to all the supporters!
Please help us Kick our project by backing and sharing this link:
Tony Troskoski
The Unhallowed
Thanks Tony.
It looks like it could be a sequel to the brilliant Way of the Wicked by Gary.
After having settled an evil asmodean empire, they have to free from it...
Anyway it looks cool. Hope we reach the stretch goals for the players guide. ^^
How would you guys describe the adventure path? Beyond being a game focusing on horror themes, would you say there is a lot of event based encounters - more roleplaying and political interaction than say combat against undead horrors (although I'm sure that's there).
Will there be new monsters and templates in addition to unique NPCs?
L
RPG Superstar 2013
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Thanks for you question, Legendarius.
The adventure path does make of of some fantasy horror tropes, like combats against hordes of undead or wilderness adventures in a spooky environment. But we are really good at making the NPCs real, so interacting with them gives you some freedom in the adventure path to change the outcome of the adventure.
We want a place where players of every style can be happy, and we are pretty picky gamers ourselves. So there are going to be hard combats for the optimizers, politics and roleplaying and shocking horror twists for those who want to role play being afraid. I know when I play a PC, I want to dominate combat with our party, but I also want to be excited and pushed in a dangerous encounter. I also want to talk in character, change the plot with my PC's motivations, and either enforce or suffer the consequences of decisions made during the campaign. We don't want your game to be any different.
We are pretty good at designing monsters and archetypes, and as we build the history of our world and the nations outside the first adventure path, you can trust we are going to have playable monster races and archetypes that run with new and classic horror ideas. In fact, there's a place on the kickstarter that allows you to work with one of our Four Horsemen designers to bring a PC archetype to life. We'll let you name the iconic character and give us direction and input for designing the build for the NPCs that help shape our world.
We have big plans, and want to be fan driven, even letting organized play events shape the world and the adventures to come. But of course, in order for us to reach those goals, we need backers, and we need a lot of them. War is expensive, the cost to treat Pestilence is high, and Famine...
...well, I eat a lot.
I don't think I saw this anywhere but will you create iconics for this adventure path?
We'll have free NPCs you can print at theunhallowed.com. We'll also include iconic PCs that are in part designed by backers at the full retail ($150) level. Several of these iconics will become important NPCs and/or showcase new archetypes designed with our diverse horror setting in mind.
How would you guys describe the adventure path? Beyond being a game focusing on horror themes, would you say there is a lot of event based encounters - more roleplaying and political interaction than say combat against undead horrors (although I'm sure that's there).
Will there be new monsters and templates in addition to unique NPCs?
L
Legendarius,
I’ve started some topics over at our forum where I talk about some of our setting ideas and the thought processes behind them. One of those topics regards the Adventure Path. I will cover the basics here and would absolutely love if you’d share your thoughts!
Per the Kickstarter page:
"The people of Stragus have made many sacrifices in the name of security. They have given their freedom to pampered nobles, dark priests, and foul necromancers who have promised them safety. They have given their lands to starve behind the high walls of overcrowded cities. They give their lives to the Draft so that the war effort can enjoy a constant stream of corpses. Peace must be coming. Soon these necessary evils will no longer be needed and they may get back to the business of living.
When one cleric’s drive for revenge against her faith and father threatens to renew hostilities, the high costs of conflict will be borne by the weak and poor.
In order to avert a war, the PCs will be forced to face insane fey, shapeshifting assassins, and an army of the dead. Can they convince the deceptively beautiful cleric to abandon her quest for revenge or will they be forced to watch their loved ones die screaming?"
We are working hard to create a first adventure that gives a really strong introduction to the world, carries themes of gothic horror, and still could be reasonably dropped into a large number of other settings without gross modification. The first AP is designed for 4 PCs starting at 1st level and runs to 3rd level on the medium advancement track (they may reach close to 4th by the end).
To name just a few things planned at present for the first adventure:
1) NPCs - At least one potential love interest and a built in incentive for the PCs to create family and friends through campaign character traits. The adventure features a complex antagonist that at no point holds the stupid stick and to whom the PCs have the opportunity to not only roleplay with extensively, but possibly even redeem before the end of the adventure.
2) Encounters - Varied and unique encounters that are challenging enough that we (grudgingly) recommend GMs consider starting the PCs at level 2 instead of 1. =) Each of the encounters either has an interesting story of its own or ties into the greater plot or setting. There will be no random or throwaway encounters. The adventure includes a number of unique spins on classic monsters and situations that are sure to make for memorable combats.
3) Plot – The plotline centers around the drive for revenge, what makes a person 'evil', and the possibility of redemption. The very first adventure allows the PCs to make their mark upon the world for the better by potentially averting the extension of a terrible war. By the end of the whole Adventure Path they may (possibly) bring some much needed hope and light to the world in general!
To answer your specific inquiries, the first adventure alone includes a bunch of cool event based encounters, important roleplaying encounters that shape the outcome and difficulty of the adventure, political interactions with lives at stake, plenty of combat against undead horrors, unique NPCs, and yes, new monsters or variations on the classics.
What I realise after years of D&D (25+)is that combats breaking the horror ambiance. IT's good to have fights but it's somewhat hard to settle the horror feeling when you go into rules and combats.
that's my 2 cents.
Except for the occasional perception rolls or alike.
What I realise after years of D&D (25+)is that combats breaking the horror ambiance. IT's good to have fights but it's somewhat hard to settle the horror feeling when you go into rules and combats.
that's my 2 cents.
Except for the occasional perception rolls or alike.
That is a fair opinion and a good point. Nobody has to run the combats with hard line mechanics if they don't want to. The most complex encounter in the first adventure even suggests running it cinematically partially in order to avoid those sorts of breaks in immersion.
In my opinion, I can get just as much horror out of an extremely difficult, well described, and interesting combat, as long as I have an emotional connection to the outcome. That requires caring about the fate of my character or the NPCs at risk, but you can't get to a point like that without a solid foundation of roleplay and narrative. So, we are trying hard to create a best of both worlds situation, with plenty of RP and good mechanics. The GM can then concentrate on what will work better for their group and their own individual style of storytelling.