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Hi, everyone! Kickstarter looks to be an effective tool to add to Interjection Games' arsenal, and I'd like to make pushing nice hardcovers out the door a fairly regular thing, quarterly/every 4 months or so. Of course, there will still be bandwidth left for a maestro or two each month, so the crazy little ideas will continue to happen. If anything, should this book thing continue to work as well as it is, I'll be able to be more experimental with what I used to call "flagship" products.
Anyway, enough of that! Let's talk about the next big book while I'm still motivated and vibrating on my yoga ball chair.
Hardcover #2 proposals.
#1: Ultimate Lovecraft
A book containing base classes inspired by characters in HP Lovecraft's stories, including Joseph Curwen of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Dr. Armitage and Wilbur Whateley of The Dunwich Horror, the fish people of The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the time travelers of the Great Race of Yith, and more. My own take on sanity rules, a small bestiary of some of the Lovecraftian horrors that have yet to be written up by Paizo itself, and stricter codification of research and investigation rules to help along mystery games round out the base concepts of this tome.
Possible stretch goals include Ultimate Campaign plugins for the investigation rules, such as bonuses granted by libraries or well-stocked alchemical laboratories, as well as Ultimate Campaign rules for malevolent cults that drag down their home city like a malignant tumor.
#2: The Brewer, the Baker, and the Remedy-Maker
A book containing the brewmaster, herbalist, and not-yet-produced battle baker/breadmaster base classes, complete with loads of new options and archetypes, such as a gun-toting, moonshining brewmaster modeled after my own great-grandfather and sylvan forests and graveyards set up as new herbalist biomes.
#3: Nightmares of a Dead God
I've been dropping small pieces of my home campaign setting for years now. Nightmares of a Dead God is a subterranean campaign setting that began with the idea that the classic Underdark, a Mexican stand-off between a number of evil races that effectively spell the doom of the overworld were they ever to agree on something, is honestly fairly illogical and needed some actual checks and balances inserted. In the NDG world, everything is significantly less black and white, and even the local kobolds can end up being the ally-of-the-week. Featured races and plot points include:
* The Wyrmward, a proud and territorial race of kobolds raised up from their whimpering, hiding ways by the great (and late) black dragon Veskala
*The Puddlings, sentient, always-curious oozes who were born in the death throes of their creator god, the Lord of Facets, and have to deal with pieces of their god's fragmented consciousness, whether benevolent, malevolent, or just plain insane, on a day-to-day basis.
*The dwarves of Dun Armag, a small fortress dedicated to the prospecting of the region's rich mithril veins. The dwarves are in direct competition with the Wyrmward.
*The Gardener, an artistic being of crystal modeled after Dale Chihuly who is the largest remaining fragment of the Puddling god's personality, and is the best chance it has at reachieving divinity.
*The Godslayer, an enigmatic creature who slew the Lord of Facets many eons ago for reasons now completely forgotten. Trapped by the corpse of its victim, the Godslayer has relentlessly flailed at its cage all the while, and it's finally starting to budge.
*Clacker, an enormous and greedy "walking garden", or 15-foot-wide sentient crab with magical mushrooms on its back, who has dominated a small tribe of kobolds and transformed a crossroads into a mercantile and entertainment hot-spot. Though fat and lazy at this point in its life, Clacker keeps very few soldiers, for he knows that, by this point in the game, nearly all the big players in the subterrane depend on him somehow.
*The Cliffhanger, Shinysnatcher, and Flame Eater kobolds, each with their own unique culture and tactics (bats, rust monsters, and religious fanatics who kill with fire, respectively).
*The Psyches and Puffs, two races of mushroom men who have been killing each other for centuries over a small altar of intense religious significance.
*New Travon, the core of a city translocated to the subterrane centuries ago to escape their total annihilation at the hands of an invading empire. To this day, New Travon hides under a modified antimagic bubble kept intact by their lord and master for the last nine centuries, the deathless Lord Tssarion. Agents of New Travon, known as Travonian Seekers, are deployed all across the world in search of magic items, which power the antimagic bubble and, once enough have been collected, will allow for Travon's glorious return to its old home topside, proud and powerful, ready to destroy its age-old enemy once and for all.
*The gorgers, chaotic aberrations that consume everything they find, breed rapidly, and turn on each other even more rapidly when the food runs out.
*Grikkin's Keep, formerly the first Dun Armag. Taken decades ago by the Shinysnatcher kobolds, and steadfastly kept for most of the intervening years, it is the scene of an enormous siege at least twice a decade. Through clever alliances (the Wyrmward and Clacker both are at a disadvantage if the dwarves hold the area), the Shinysnatches have managed to barely keep hold of the dwarven fortress, though it's certainly looking more ramshackle and "koboldy" than it did three sieges ago.
*The Drow still hold their head high in the subterrane, but do not enjoy the dominance that they have elsewhere. Between a permanent state of war with the Wyrmward thanks to the assassination of Veskala, staunch opposition by the Puddlings and their crystalline arcanotech due to their ancient alliance with the adorementioned kobolds whose mistress liked shiny things, and domestic civil revolt by drow males who have had enough of this matriarch crap, the drow of the subterrane have had to forge ties with all who will listen, such as Clacker, just to remain a major player in the area. In an effort to quickly assert dominance, the drow have taken to experimenting with the Nexus Crystals that keep the Godslayer held in an effort to tap some of that power.
*Scar, a wealthy male drow wizard raised up to a level the matriarchs really dislike thanks to quick thinking at the beginning of the revolt. He now runs a chain of gladiatorial rings, and is always on the lookout for beasts of monstrous size and hapless contractors to put on a show for the night. Quick to anger when losing money, Scar has been known to quietly off any contractors who kill a particularly valuable beast.
#4 The Tome of Invention
Take the tinker, clean up some of the insane edge cases people have come up with over the last year and a half, double the amount of content available to this most insane of base classes, then tack on the gadgeteer with some new content for good measure. Possible stretch goals include pads of automaton character sheets and automaton miniatures. Really stretchy stretch goals include a Super Mega Ultra Mecha miniature.
Gotta say my vote goes to #1. I'd be so excited to see those classes and themes covered in another way.
I vote for second option: brewer, baker and remedy-maker.
I do not like Lovecraft and the third option is too complicated.
#3 would be my favorite. I've thought about cobbling a world together from pieces of other settings (different continents, underdark, hollow world) and it would be really fun to read and use.
#2 could be interesting. Herbalists, brewers and such are themetically not something I am super interested in, but I love good mechanics.
I've never been much of a fan of Lovecraft, so #1 is my least favorite, but as in my comments to #3, it could help define an aspect of a world that way.
#3 would be my favorite. I've thought about cobbling a world together from pieces of other settings (different continents, underdark, hollow world) and it would be really fun to read and use.
#2 could be interesting. Herbalists, brewers and such are themetically not something I am super interested in, but I love good mechanics.
I've never been much of a fan of Lovecraft, so #1 is my least favorite, but as in my comments to #3, it could help define an aspect of a world that way.
Aye, given it's one of THOSE kinds of settings, the ones where you can use different pieces for totally different campaigns, the pieces are readily interchangeable if you just erase the ally/enemy section for each civilization (Careful, though! That's the section that makes the world believable.). A group of mine used New Travon as a hub for "Star Trekking across the universe" as a group of Travonian Seekers. I'll need to find a replacement for Githyankii as the Klingons of that kind of storyline, though.
Grikkin's Keep is also excellent for handing to the PCs by handing at least one of them the chiefdom of the tribe, then having one of those like-clockwork dwarf sieges hit it. It's Fort Condor all over again. And I'm going to need to come up with a more streamlined VP and resource system for running that type of event. Ten pages of troop blocks for the various allies you can bring in and such.
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Number 1!!!!!
Lovecraft: 2
Brewer/Baker/Remedy : 3
Nightmares: 1
Tinker: 1
Particularly when it'd take the bandwidth of two books to write Nightmares of a Dead God, I agree.
I've spoken with the family regarding this, and my dear, sweet mother has offered to do watercolor landscapes featuring various real-world plants for The Brewer, the Baker, and the Remedy-Maker. She needs something to go by and is an absolute stickler for photorealism, so fantasy plants are a no-go, but I daresay her output quality can kick most of the industry's artists to the curb once she gets fifteen years of rust out of her wrist.
I also wouldn't worry about any familial renegging. We're all industrious crafters around here. Half the furniture and half the artwork are made by us, and the old coal room is absolutely full of canned goods. Even now, my father's occupation is "vintage and antique tool picker and refurbisher," so we have a long track record of getting things done. Heck, I'll have thirteen years of craft show experience behind me when I finally hit my first gaming convention. What other newbie can say that?
All of these sound great, though agree with Lindley- 1 and 2, with 1 first.
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Alright, sounds good! Unless there's a huge influx of new opinion, I think it's best to go with #2 first if only to make sure I don't disappoint my mother, who's vibrating about as hard as I was when Strange Magic pulled in over $1,000 its first day.
The Tome of Invention gets my number one vote! Really, I'll be happy with any of the books suggested; campaign settings seem to be a bit of a harder sell through Kickstarter than crunchier player-centric material though. The thought of more print books from Interjection Games itself is pretty thrilling to me.
I'll admit - I expected the tinker to have a better showing than it has had so far. I'm glad I asked! I'm also surprised that Brewer/Baker/Remedy is the only book that hasn't been specifically smacked down by a respondent.
I'll admit - I expected the tinker to have a better showing than it has had so far. I'm glad I asked! \
That is because I didn't see it under the setting book material.
That is my #1.
So, just my €.02 -
#1 - I'm totally burned out on everything Lovecraft; there's just been more than enough for me in recent years, and as much as I look forward to next year's Occult Mysteries book from Paizo, the 'Mythos' section is going to pretty much get ignored at tables I GM. If I wanted Cthulu, I'd play Call of Cthulu (and there's more than enough places where I could play it.) That said, investigative things are always welcome for a good mystery, so I'd actually watch more for the stretch goals than anything else.
#2 - Oh He77 yeah. Gimme. Hand-painted watercolors? EVEN MORE GIMME.
#3 - As cool as this setting sounds, I already have settings I'm waiting to play around in so... yeah. I'm hesitant to add another to my growing pile of 'things to use'. THAT said, if the whole thing was done in a totally modular, plug-n-play format, I could probably find things I could use by cutting & pasting certain elements to fit whatever else is going on in any other game.
#4 - Certainly one of the higher interest items on this list (for me). Not as high as #2, but all told it takes the number two spot.
So, in order of interest:
#2
#4
#3
#1
Alright, so you're suggesting #3 gets turned into a series of 32-page or 64-page softcovers? I could do that. Is there a good example of somebody doing similar so I can get a theoretical budget sorted out for that?
I vote for #3. It seems that everybody these days is doing Lovecraft and Cthulu. I don't care if you do, but I won't vote for it. If you don't believe me do a search for Cthulu in RPGs.
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I vote for #3. It seems that everybody these days is doing Lovecraft and Cthulu. I don't care if you do, but I won't vote for it. If you don't believe me do a search for Cthulu in RPGs.
I think we're getting the wrong kneejerk reaction here. What defines the Cthulhu Mythos is the fact that its powers that be are, with the exception of Nyarlathotep, mindless forces of nature that don't give a used fig for the puny and insignificant lives of the mortal beings that cling to the areas of the universe to which they are adapted. This goes for humans just as much as it goes for Great Cthulhu, Hastur, and the rest of the gang.
Obviously, given how much "setting railroading" that sort of insert requires, and given there's a whole bloody game for that sort of thing, any Lovecraftian work I do will be missing that core element and will instead be focusing on broad, non-central Lovecraftian themes.
Besides, Lovecraft isn't only Cthulhu, and if everyone else is doing Cthulhu, then I'd have an advantage by throwing my lot in heavily with his non-Mythos work. There was the Lord Dunsany phase, which put strong emphasis on dreams and a sort of twisted high fantasy. There was the Poe phase, which he never really grew out of. And then, of course, there were the more standard tales that he produced whenever the editor of Weird Tales was really on his case. See the content produced after the rejection of At the Mountains of Madness.
Let me rephrase it this way.
Ultimate Lovecraft would contain the following:
- an investigator/occultist base class and carefully expanded investigation rules
- a half humanoid / half outsider mutant base class who fills the gap of full BAB shapeshifter.
- a "dreamer" class who walks through life in a waking dream, altering the world in his general vicinity
- a necromantic class that burns the bodies of the dead, raises corporeal shades inhabited by the original owner of the body, then coerces/tortures that being into service
- Possible sanity rules
For an additional benchmark, consider that I'd consider the ethermancer Lovecraftian enough for this book. Of course, it's already been claimed by Strange Magic, but still.
I vote for #3. It seems that everybody these days is doing Lovecraft and Cthulu. I don't care if you do, but I won't vote for it. If you don't believe me do a search for Cthulu in RPGs.I think we're getting the wrong kneejerk reaction here. What defines the Cthulhu Mythos is the fact that its powers that be are, with the exception of Nyarlathotep, mindless forces of nature that don't give a used fig for the puny and insignificant lives of the mortal beings that cling to the areas of the universe to which they are adapted. This goes for humans just as much as it goes for Great Cthulhu, Hastur, and the rest of the gang.
Obviously, given how much "setting railroading" that sort of insert requires, and given there's a whole bloody game for that sort of thing, any Lovecraftian work I do will be missing that core element and will instead be focusing on broad, non-central Lovecraftian themes.
Besides, Lovecraft isn't only Cthulhu, and if everyone else is doing Cthulhu, then I'd have an advantage by throwing my lot in heavily with his non-Mythos work. There was the Lord Dunsany phase, which put strong emphasis on dreams and a sort of twisted high fantasy. There was the Poe phase, which he never really grew out of. And then, of course, there were the more standard tales that he produced whenever the editor of Weird Tales was really on his case. See the content produced after the rejection of At the Mountains of Madness.
Let me rephrase it this way.
Ultimate Lovecraft would contain the following:
- an investigator/occultist base class and carefully expanded investigation rules
- a half humanoid / half outsider mutant base class who fills the gap of full BAB shapeshifter.
- a "dreamer" class who walks through life in a waking dream, altering the world in his general vicinity
- a necromantic class that burns the bodies of the dead, raises corporeal shades inhabited by the original owner of the body, then coerces/tortures that being into service
- Possible sanity rules...
...oh come on guys! This stuff sounds epic, especially considering it is a Interjection product; even if you don't want it can you do me a solid and change your vote to this? C'mon, I'll make it up to you guys. At least do it to support the dreamer class- I have tried making a class for years now that manipulated the world like a waking dream. From magic to psionics to even incarnem, I have tried it every way I can think of only to have it fall apart on me. But I know Interjection can do this idea justice, as well as the rest outlined. So c'mon guys, please? For me?
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Yeah I don't know why everyone was immediately discounting it so fast. It sounds -amazing-. I don't know why everyone was immediately leaping to Cthulhu when the original write-up didn't even mention it...Lovecraft isn't automatically Cthulhu.
Really, really would love to see how he'd do it.
Don't give a stuff about Evolcraft, but your book inspired by his works sounds good.
I like the Campaign plug-ins concept if based on some of your campaign notes above. Forgot you did the Puddlings (though I never bought it) and the Clacker is perfect for a crabophile/sentient forest fan like me.
I'm well aware that Lovecraft is more than just Cthulhu; As I'd said, I'm just rather burned out on everything Lovecraftian. Alternative Investigators and/or Occultists would also drive my interest further down, especially since Paizo already has an Investigator and diverse Occultist things are coming with the aforementioned Occult Mysteries HC. Things to support the official stuff or make it even better, that I could get behind. 3pp is already a hard-sell at most gaming tables (my local ones especially); and essentially 'official' trumps 3pp 9 times out of 10 because it's... well, 'official'. It's not fair, I admit, but that's kind of how it tends to play out. (fwiw, I tried getting folks I know behind Strange Magic, but they were hesitant to try it, especially with no names they recognized from any of Paizo's books.)
A half-humanoid/half-outsider as a class instead of a race holds zero interest for me.
I'm really not trying to be negative; I'm just giving feedback from my own experience, preference, etc. etc., so include all necessary disclaimers, ymmv, so on and so forth.
Alright, so what I'm taking home from this is making my own game system so I *am* the official source would be a good idea.
Also, freelancing for Paizo once or twice would help, but I have no idea where to start with that. It just feels locked down by fancy secret handshake.
Alright, so what I'm taking home from this is making my own game system so I *am* the official source would be a good idea.If that is how you choose to interpret what I'd said, then by all means.
I'll be taking a look at their investigator when I can do so without throwing money at it. Rest assured, if the chassis can be hijacked, I'd go for that instead. Mr. Russell shows us that being utterly ridiculous and making 30-page archetypes isn't the sort of thing that makes people flip tables at you.
And, I must admit, I'm actually very, very upset that an AP with a little tech in it is making some people worried that the tinker will be made obsolete by a first-party move. It's the first time the "pregenerated audience coupled with competing Big Brother" issue really slapped me in the face. Having something independent from that Big Brother might be a good idea if I can get my ducks in a row for my own independent online presence.
Good points, mate. This adventure path will be going on into the next year, so I'll have plenty of time to get the tinker in on the shenanigans. For now, since there's some actual success popping up here, I'm going to stay the course, do up Brewer/Baker/Remedy-Maker because A: watercolor art, B: nobody DISlikes the idea, and C: I can probably get it done the fastest.
Lots of new options pop up from this. Heck, maybe I can build my first card game around a theme that goes well with watercolors to get it off the ground for cheap. Never wanted Interjection Games to be beholden to Paizo for its entire future, anyway.
"and not-yet-produced battle baker/breadmaster base classes, complete with loads of new options and archetypes"
Excuse me good sir but you missed a pun there. It should have been "complete with loaves" of new options and archetypes :-)
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I'm thinking this project will hit top priority when Bradley kneads the dough..."and not-yet-produced battle baker/breadmaster base classes, complete with loads of new options and archetypes"Excuse me good sir but you missed a pun there. It should have been "complete with loaves" of new options and archetypes :-)
I did, didn't I? Oh well, I suppose I doughn't have your rye sense of humor, but if you egg me on like this, the yeast I could do is milk it for all it's worth.
Nearly every dime of profit from Strange Magic's Kickstarter is falling into a backlogged pit that was created by me working to get the Kickstarter engine primed and going. At this point, I believe I've actually *made* $100, so the big bet is in a big, attractive final product acting as an evergreen flagship. Given the minimalism that is my life currently, 400 units of that product over the next year is just about enough to pay off all of my bills, and expecting this thing to go tinker seems fairly reasonable to me. Heck, if it goes half that, and I make two other products of similar size a year, plus a 30-page PDF a month on top of that, Interjection Games still becomes a career.
TL;DR - It cost way too much for me to get the Kickstarter engine going, and it's already paid for its energy of activation. There's no way I'll let it stop now!
I'd also expect the battle baker to play out something like this.
Deployable blocking terrain dinner rolls are definitely on the agenda, as are customizable, temporary gingerbread golems and customizable, temporary gingerbread vehicles. Whereas the brewmaster and the herbalist are more down to earth, the battle baker is a meant to be a laugh out loud riot of a good time, but, then again, when you have a spell-less 1/2 BAB class, there's really no other way to design them without them being not worthy of play.
I generally think #3 and #4 sound best.
I am also going to advocate against #1: Paizo really has included so much H.P. Lovecraft content that I am not sure there is much viable material to really mine. For instance, practically every copyright free monster has been statted up, and Paizo has already done several adventures dealing with those themes.
I generally think #3 and #4 sound best.
I am also going to advocate against #1: Paizo really has included so much H.P. Lovecraft content that I am not sure there is much viable material to really mine. For instance, practically every copyright free monster has been statted up, and Paizo has already done several adventures dealing with those themes.
It's starting to look that way, yes. Well, at least I know the Randolph Carter has an unfilled niche to tap.
You can put my vote in for # 4 & then # 2.
Righto, we'll see #2 in January, #4 in May or so, and #3 shattered like the Puddlings' god and released in 32-page and 64-page chunks over a period of a couple years.
Brewer the baker and the remedy maker is my vote, I've gotten heavily invested in studying brewing just for flavor!
By your will, n-n-n-necromancer, so shall it be done.