My boss, Steve Russell, passed away after an automobile accident. I was working hard on Questhaven's Leviathan Archipelago as a setting for Questhaven, and it's not yet finished.
If anyone wants to see the Leviathan Archipelago finished, I can ask his wife for the exclusive rights to all material thus published and collect it as a game setting for the Pathfinder game. I know it sucks.
So, who wants to see the Leviathan Archipelago as a stand-alone setting to be inserted into your campaign world?
What is Questhaven, besides a San Diego religious retreat?
I fell in love with underwater settings after Blackmoor and a couple articles in the Strategic Review introduced sahuagin, aquatic elves and that seaweed that allowed underwater breathing (what was that stuff called?).
Sounds interesting.
Questhaven is Steve's own campaign setting. I asked about doing the Archipelago last year, and he gave me the job. It was fun! :)
No, it's actually half finished.
There are places in the Archipelago that are still mysterious and not designed yet.
Would it cover strictly underwater or is it the entire chain of islands (above and below the water's surface)?
Personally, I've wanted to run an island game where there are some terrestrial and marine encounters. I would be more interested in a complete island system, even if the focus was below the surface.
The biggest trouble with aquatic settings is how to simulate the three-dimensional aspect and the influences of lighting, obstacles and such. I mean dealing with flying critters is bad enough, but the underwater battlemat presents its own problems.
Oh, and it came back to me: it was called waterweed.
Would it cover strictly underwater or is it the entire chain of islands (above and below the water's surface)?
Personally, I've wanted to run an island game where there are some terrestrial and marine encounters. I would be more interested in a complete island system, even if the focus was below the surface.
The focus is on the island chain itself. The aquatic nature gives it a more flavored outlook, though.
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The biggest trouble with aquatic settings is how to simulate the three-dimensional aspect and the influences of lighting, obstacles and such. I mean dealing with flying critters is bad enough, but the underwater battlemat presents its own problems.
Oh, and it came back to me: it was called waterweed.
The book/s Silvercat Moonpaw refferred to above by Alluria Publishing are the Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting and its carious supplements (Waves of Thought, Celadon Shores etc...). Cerulean Seas details directly just the things you brought up - the actual mechanics of undersea adventuring - in much the same way that Companions of the Firmament does for flying/aerial campaigns.
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No, it's actually half finished.
There are places in the Archipelago that are still mysterious and not designed yet.
I'm fairly certain that when Silvercat Moonpaw said:
Then again the fact that it's already available may indicate there won't be any more demand.
The "it" refers to Cerulean Seas et al, meaning that as there is already an underwater Campaign Setting there may not be demand for another one.
However, given that your archipelagic venture appears to be partly terrestrial, and given that people like new areas to explore, there may be demand after all.
I hope so. It's a beautiful piece of work already. :-)
I was going to work on the copy tomorrow.
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I would strongly urge you to get a copy of Cerulean Seas, if you don't have it, and borrow whatever water-related mechanics you might need rather than reinventing any wheels. With credit given, of course. In fact, I think that's one of the things the OGL was intended to encourage in the first place.
Plus, comparing how another product that is well-liked covers a similar topic can help your own product.
Plus, it's pretty awesome, and worth owning for its own sake.
I would love to see an undersea setting.
I would strongly urge you to get a copy of Cerulean Seas, if you don't have it, and borrow whatever water-related mechanics you might need rather than reinventing any wheels. With credit given, of course. In fact, I think that's one of the things the OGL was intended to encourage in the first place.
Plus, comparing how another product that is well-liked covers a similar topic can help your own product.
Plus, it's pretty awesome, and worth owning for its own sake.
Oh. Interesting. I already have a copy. I also have Waves of Thought, Beasts of the Boundless Blue, and Celadon Shores. And the other two.
I would love to see an undersea setting.
I get to work on a mind map, then an outline, then I'll write it. :) But first I need permission from Steve's wife.
I wonder how you will all react to the island setting. Or at least, see the creative process from start to finish.
I would only say that if this was a contracted work, then it needs to be resolved with Rite Publishing before any conversation takes place, and if it wasn't-- if it was working only on a handshake, then I would say scrub the serial numbers off the material which might have represented Questhaven and give it a shot.
-Ben.
I would only say that if this was a contracted work, then it needs to be resolved with Rite Publishing before any conversation takes place, and if it wasn't-- if it was working only on a handshake, then I would say scrub the serial numbers off the material which might have represented Questhaven and give it a shot.
-Ben.
If that's the case, then I'll have to start with a new map as well. It depends on what Miranda says this weekend. If she says no, I can't complete it, then I'll start over with some new islands and a new approach.
The focus is on the island chain itself. The aquatic nature gives it a more flavored outlook, though.Would it cover strictly underwater or is it the entire chain of islands (above and below the water's surface)?
Personally, I've wanted to run an island game where there are some terrestrial and marine encounters. I would be more interested in a complete island system, even if the focus was below the surface.
Color me intrigued then.
I was and am a Questhaven fan, in spite of its incomplete state (and the fact that it may never be finished given the car crash situation). I already have Cerulean Seas, though, so anything you put out in this space is going to have to compete with it for my attention.
Speaking of which, what's happening with your In the Company of Dragons adventure given Rite's situation?I would only say that if this was a contracted work, then it needs to be resolved with Rite Publishing before any conversation takes place, and if it wasn't-- if it was working only on a handshake, then I would say scrub the serial numbers off the material which might have represented Questhaven and give it a shot.
-Ben.
Neat, I have Cerulean Seas too!
Aside from that, it will compete for your attention. That's why it is partly terrestrial.
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Speaking of which, what's happening with your In the Company of Dragons adventure given Rite's situation?
This was contracted, playtested, paid for, and off to layout, as I understand it. It will be a part of the completed project.
-Ben.
Well, Miranda said she can't give rights to Questhaven at any time soon. What I can do is make another archipelago setting.
I'd love to have another (semi)aquatic setting and an Archipelago setting would be great.
And with the announcement of the Azlant AP, that would be a good combo I'm sure.
Great. I can't do my Atlantis RPG until at least Starfinder is out and they make a Mecha sourcebook. I've got all the other Atlantis RPGs in existence.
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Great. I can't do my Atlantis RPG until at least Starfinder is out and they make a Mecha sourcebook. I've got all the other Atlantis RPGs in existence.
Great. I can't do my Atlantis RPG until at least Starfinder is out and they make a Mecha sourcebook. I've got all the other Atlantis RPGs in existence.Are you sure about that... :-)
Okay, not yours. :-)
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Well Trevor Gulliver and I are writing a series of one-shots for Pathfinder/Starfinder, and we're not going to wait for the release of Starfinder before we release our works. Though we might update the material once Starfinder is released just to maintain close compatibility.
And as far as Atlantis is concerned, I'm thinking about the premise that Atlantis was not an "island that sank" rather an orbiting space stations that fell out of orbit, and building a space station map deck plan to meet that premise.
Does Miranda need to release Questhaven in order for your project to move forward? Why can't you continue working on your archipelago intended as a Rite Publishing release? Kaidan is still going to be released through Miranda's management of Rite Publishing (even though Kaidan is my IP, not Miranda's). Just because we lost Steve doesn't mean we're losing Rite Publishing. Products will continue to be published.
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Does Miranda need to release Questhaven in order for your project to move forward? Why can't you continue working on your archipelago intended as a Rite Publishing release? Kaidan is still going to be released through Miranda's management of Rite Publishing (even though Kaidan is my IP, not Miranda's). Just because we lost Steve doesn't mean we're losing Rite Publishing. Products will continue to be published.
Interesting premise.
I'll ask Miranda if it's okay to continue under Rite Publishing.
Does Miranda need to release Questhaven in order for your project to move forward? Why can't you continue working on your archipelago intended as a Rite Publishing release? Kaidan is still going to be released through Miranda's management of Rite Publishing (even though Kaidan is my IP, not Miranda's). Just because we lost Steve doesn't mean we're losing Rite Publishing. Products will continue to be published.Interesting premise.
I'll ask Miranda if it's okay to continue under Rite Publishing.
Okay,
I just asked Miranda if I can continue the Leviathan Archipelago under Rite Publishing. If she's not keen on the idea, then I'll have to do something else. I would like to finish it.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well as I said, I'm finishing the GMs Guide to Kaidan under Rite Publishing in support of the Kickstarter to fund that guide, and plan to continue to release Kaidan material through Rite. That said, the project Trevor and I are doing, I'll be publishing under my Gamer Printshop publishing business. Also Jonathan McAnulty is writing a single level module of an orc raid (where the PCs are orcs) for a map and "children's book" I wrote back in 2009, also will be published by Gamer Printshop.
So I'm still doing work that will be published by Rite Publishing, but I am also publishing my own work myself.
Well as I said, I'm finishing the GMs Guide to Kaidan under Rite Publishing in support of the Kickstarter to fund that guide, and plan to continue to release Kaidan material through Rite. That said, the project Trevor and I are doing, I'll be publishing under my Gamer Printshop publishing business. Also Jonathan McAnulty is writing a single level module of an orc raid (where the PCs are orcs) for a map and "children's book" I wrote back in 2009, also will be published by Gamer Printshop.
So I'm still doing work that will be published by Rite Publishing, but I am also publishing my own work myself.
Hopefully, so will I. Phaeselis is a city setting meant to be inserted into other people's campaigns or be played with as a stand-alone setting. But my magnum opus is Atlantis, a Global setting. Set ten thousand years ago, the setting is ultra-tech and high magic. The first adventure deals with time travel, as the PCs are whisked away to Atlantis.
I've contracted to make it with BESM d20 instead of Pathfinder, so it should be interesting.