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| Tip of the hat to +S Robertson |
The Folio #4 is a 1st Edition & 5th Edition combined gaming module. It will be produced as an 8x11”, removable cover [11x17" once removed], adventure with mostly b/w interior artwork. There are two interior booklets, The Gazetteer and The Dungeon, with the final size being roughly 40 pages of content.
The bulk of the module is complete, we only need to be funding so we can begin the full printing process. This means that PDFs will go out after the campaign wraps in September, and the physical copies should be to you no later than November!So much good gaming material, so little free time...
In Foot Soldiers, you are not what we consider "the hero." Characters in Foot Soldiers have no plot armor. Every violent encounter is a brush with death. A weapon is a weapon, intended to maim and kill, and even the unskilled can deal serious damage to an unlucky foe.
Foot Soldiers models locational damage, which means that every hit lands on a body part. Its location chart is based on a bell curve, meaning most unaimed hits will land on the torso, followed by the waist and head, with arms and legs being less likely, and a hit to the foot or hand being the least likely of all. However, in real combat, both opponents look for an opening wherever available, and will not hesitate to strike an extremity if it may be done without counter-attack.
Foot Soldiers also models bleeding, limb crippling, and dismemberment. It is a real possibility that your character may be disfigured or killed every time he or she enters combat. Medieval fighters played with live weapons, and armor was sparse. Not every injury will be a permanent one, and your characters will likely rack up more scars than missing limbs (after all, emotional investment in a character is difficult to justify if they could die at a moment's notice), but Foot Soldiers simulates the real fear of violence and encourages players to avoid combat where possible.
When played with a grid, proper positioning, tactical planning, and decision-making are vital to survival. The depth of the combat system allows for real teamwork and ensures that no one build is too overpowered. The acquisition of better equipment, skills, and knacks will result in a noticeable improvement in combat prowess.
Of course, physical violence is not the only threat to your life. The English landscape is harsh, and characters will need to ensure that they have enough to eat and drink, and a warm place to sleep at night, both of which cost money. Traveling too much without equipment is rough, and characters must ensure they dress appropriately, which also costs money.If nothing else I'll be using the art above on a personal level.
Now The Northlands Saga Complete updates and expands those original adventures with new material, completing the saga with six more adventures by Ken Spencer, Greg Vaughan, and Kevin Wright that follow directly after the originals. If you want, you can resume campaigns that “ended” after the last adventure was released in 2011, or start fresh. In addition, an eleventh new adventure is added as a “prequel” to the original four, so you can play an entire adventure path to take PCs from level 1 to 20 (about level 1 to 9 in the Swords & Wizardry version). You can play any or all of the eleven adventures as standalone sessions, or you can use them as a single continuous campaign to explore the Northlands and beyond. And as a bonus, authors Ed Greenwood, Ken Spencer, Kevin Wright, and Jeff Provine have committed to write four more adventures as stretch goals to take your campaign beyond the adventure path. This book has an estimated page count of 800-900 pages (this will vary depending on the number of stretch goals reached), and will be library bound, for years of use.
As a part of the Lost Lands campaign world, The Northlands Saga Complete includes a full-color poster map as well as a complete campaign guide detailing the cultures, history, races, nations, languages, geography, new monsters, magic, and equipment unique to those lands. In the Pathfinder version there is also a chapter dedicated to new optional rules that you can use in your game to capture the authentic spirit of the Northlands with rules for things like a character’s wyrd, death speeches, becoming a jarl, the examples of early representative politics in the Things and Althing, and trial by combat in the holmgang. In addition there are a multitude of new archetypes, feats, player-character races, and character traits for use in your Pathfinder game! (emphasis mine) When you delve into The Northlands Saga Complete, you step into the living, breathing world of the Northlands.Actually, maybe change the page count for the Swords & Wizardry version to 65% or so of the Pathfinder version. I guess the PF page bloat is paid for by the higher print run, as the Pathfinder / Swords & Wizardry pledges are running about 3 to 1 right now.
Recently, I discovered the one page zine called the Tolling of the Great Black Bell by +Christian Walker . I ordered an issue and a few days later open the mailbox and there I am again some thirty plus yearsago with excitement to see what awaits inside.
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| Not me, but probably how I will look tonight |
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| Now THAT's a Dead Goblin |
Tonight has the potential for overtime. It is likely I'll miss again.
1000 pm Eastern for those that can attend.
Have a beer for me :)
At DriveThruRPG, we trust publishers to upload and activate their own
new releases without anyone at DriveThru reviewing the product before
it goes public. Because this system worked so well for the past 14
years, we had no need to create an "offensive content guideline.” To
avoid anything approaching censorship, we simply adhered to an
unwritten policy of not banning any RPG product.
There is, however, a growing problem. Sometimes, RPG creators design
content that goes beyond disturbing. For example, we recently — and
rightly — received criticism for selling an RPG supplement called
"Tournament of Rapists" for four days on our marketplace.
In hindsight, we realize that we should have suspended that product
from sale immediately, pending further internal review and discussion
with the publisher. For a variety of reasons, we relied on our
standing policy of not banning RPG titles, even in the face of a
product so offensive that the policy was inadequate. We understand
that we were wrong to do so.
A New Policy
It is time to change the approach we have used on DriveThru. Our prior
stance, that "censorship is unacceptable," was tantamount to shirking
our responsibility. As market leaders, we are in a position that
requires us to be leaders also in keeping the RPG hobby inclusive and
safe.
We do not believe there is any set of bright-line rules that
adequately define what content is offensive, so going forward, our
offensive content policy will simply be as follows: We'll know it when
we see it.
We will tend to err toward including content, even where it challenges
readers and deals with sensitive issues, as long as it does so
maturely and not gratuitously. Any product in which racial violence,
rape, torture, or a similar subject is a treated as a central feature
will be subjected to careful scrutiny.
We will also code customer-facing options that allow customers to
report potentially offensive content to us. If a reported product
seems questionable, we will suspend it from sale, pending a full
internal review of its content.
We appreciate all of our customers and publishers, who have been
patient with us while we examined our policies and processes. Thank
you for giving us the benefit of the doubt; like you, we are human
beings trying to do the best thing. Like everyone, we sometimes make
mistakes along the way. We will strive to learn from those mistakes.
For more information, please see our CEO Steve Wieck's post on our blog here:
http://oneblogshelf.blogspot.com/2015/09/offensive-content-policy.html
