Design Diary: Monsters of Verdune

I was working on Monsters of Verdune today, thought I would give you some excerpts of my work..

Blato-prvo (The Primordial Ooze)

DESIGNER’S NOTES
Oozes, slimes, and jellies, oh my! There is something primal about the fear of being surrounded by a viscous substance you know is not water. Striking you with disease, acid, and/or poison, these things tend not to kill you. They diminish you. Perhaps that is a worse fate than death.

“The Kallethan did reach into the forge of life and steal away its essence. Taking this fluid form, he did corrupt it to his cause with surpassing ease and named his creation blato-prvo.” Excerpt from The Kallethan Testament as translated by Stave Beast-Speaker.

Fascination (Ex): A blato-prvo secretes a euphoric hallucinogen. A creature engulfed by the blato-prvo, or attacking with natural weapons or unarmed strikes, must roll a DC 20 Will save or be fascinated for 3d6 rounds. The ooze can automatically engulf a fascinated opponent. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Kavilljor Ur-rathi (Knight of the First Wrath)

DESIGNER’S NOTES:
The Black Knight of Ivanhoe, The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hallow, The Ringwraiths of
Middle Earth, The Death Knights of Krynn, The Sith of Star Wars are mounted shadows that creep into some primal place in your mind, bringing a level of fear that is both visceral and ephemeral. It would be lax of me not to attempt to create a dark knight that will fill this vacuum in the lands of the Diamond Throne with myth, legend, and a little fear.

“I must apologize for in this section. I cannot stomach the terror this creature has put into my bones and perform a proper interview...

...I am ashamed to admit that I did flee upon first seeing her smoke-filled visage, leaving the fearless Sir Elidyr Gyvarwydd “Lion of Verdune” to stand-alone. I know she let me live just so that I could die a coward’s death.” – Excerpt from The Doom of Verdune by Stave Beast-speaker.

Arms of Wrath (Su): Any melee weapon wielded by a kavilljor ur-rathi (including natural weapons and unarmed strikes) with which it has Weapon Focus deals wounds that are beyond the healing skills of most, and even then, these wounds never fully heal. Upon a successful hit that deals damage, a creature must make a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 +1/2 the kavilljor ur-rathi’s hit dice+ the kavilljor ur-rathi’s Charisma modifier) or suffer one point of Constitution damage.
Damage dealt by the arms of wrath cannot be healed normally, (including regeneration and fast healing). Magical healing will not heal damage dealt by the arms of wrath unless a specific creature type chosen by the kavilljor ur-rathi (see the bane special weapon property) casts a remove curse. Once chosen this creature type can never be changed. A Delve the Collective Memory, Heal, or Knowledge (religion) check (DC15 + CR) can be made to determine this creature type. This is a necromantic-curse effect.

The Rituals of Choice Adventure Path Patronage Project for Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved

The ultimate goal of which is to create a campaign saga that takes player characters from 1^st to 25^th level with an adventure specifically designed for Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved. 

You can now sign up for A Witch's Choice HERE. 

Also The Rite Fourms are now open as well

My favorite project and Dungeon Magazine

I made a major decision about the future of my favorite Rite Publishing project, it was spurred on by a number of factors from the success of Heroes of the Jade Oath, to the record setting sales of Items Evolved Rituals, to the excellent artist I have been working with (such as Jonathan Roberts’ cartography)

However, this did mean that the project I had planned to do with Valmiras got pushed back for a month or two. I think this is a good thing as it gives us time to hash out our ideas, hmm now I must see about recruiting him to join my favorite project.

Oh and if you follow some of my silliness I picked up a thread called
Lets Read Dungeon Magazine from the Beginning (I picked up doing it at issue #7)

A ranging I will go, beyond the Diamond Throne

Today I finished writing a non rite publishing article, that had to do with rangers it has been a while since I had done something non-AE; it was stimulating to touch on old tropes such as destiny. When I can talk about it I will let you know so you can run right out and buy it.

:)

Interview with Soren Kies Thustrup (The Living Airship Part IV)

My conversation with Soren Keis Thustrup concludes  as we discuss 4E, the OGL, and  his new adventure The Living Airship, amoungst other things, you can start at the beginning of the interview HERE .

31.     Are you playing 4^th Edition? Why/Why not?

No. I simply don't have any interest in it. I've tried a short launch game, and it was okay, but I simply don't feel I'm done with AE/Ptolus.

32.     What is (was) your home game currently like? (Describe it in a paragraph if you would please)

I play with 5 friends every third week. I've known most of them for nigh-on 10 years or more, and to the best of my knowledge, it's really like any old regular game, where stories are told, jokes are made, and monsters are killed. My group is quite an eclectic one: We have a bricklayer (he's the smartest of the bunch), a software designer who specializes in special effects, a driving school owner, an architect, and a geologist who works with finding oil. 3 of them are Danish, one is Canadian, and one is from Alaska (so in addition to him being an architect, he is also a specialist on US-Russian related matters).

33.     What is the Patronage Product you want Rite Publishing to produce?

Anything AE that is so whacky that we wouldn't think it could be sold through the normal channels.

34.      Can you name for us a totem type, champion type and a witch type that would be cool but you have never seen from the fans?

I haven't kept up with fan productions, so I'll just name the types I haven't seen: A feline predator totem, a champion of War (I still can't believe they didn't make it for the Children of the Rune anthology), and a song witch.

35.     What kind of player experience did you hope to create with The Living Airship? Did your goals change during the design process? Do you feel that you met them?

I want to give the group a good action adventure with a frenetic pace. That was what I wanted to give my players, and that's what I shot for when I designed it. Off-hand I should hope that you have thought hard enough about your goals for the adventure before you put finger to keyboard.

36.     What does the 3.X/OGL Community need more of? (Besides customers!)

Don't know... Unity, maybe?

37.     What advice would you give to 3.X/OGL fans?

Buy, buy, and buy the published modules. And go to cons to meet others and keep it alive!

38.     What do you think the future is for the 3.X/OGL fans?

I'm afraid we are going to be a dwindling flock that will keep to ourselves playing whatever they're feeling for. Hence, my second advice in 37).

39.     Is there anything else the world should know about you?

As I said in my first interview: Between my blog and my posting at Monte's I should think the world would mostly like me to shut UP for 24 hours. I've ignored the online petition for the moment, though

40.     Is there anything else the world should know about The Living Airship?

It's a fun (hopefully), and action-packed adventure that can be played on its own for the weekend where you can get your buddies together for a one-off game.

 

I would like to thank Soren for taking the time to answer my questions, as always a joy of an interview to read. Perhaps we will have him back again talking about The Rituals of Choice Adventure path. 

I hope you enjoyed!

Interview with Soren Kies Thustrup (The Living Airship Part III)

My conversation with Soren Keis Thustrup continues as we talk about his new adventure The Living Airship, amoungst other things, this interview will appear in 4 parts over the next few days .
1. What is your opinion of the Heroes of the Jade Oath Patronage Project?


I think it will be amazing to finally see Frank Carr's magnum opus get off the ground. And it is a testimony to the faith the fans have in HotJO - and in Rite Publishing, that we have managed to get the required number of patrons without a massive marketing effort.

22. What role do you think Patronage Products will play in the future of the gaming community (such as those by Open Design, Rite Publishing, and Chatty Studio)?

I think it can certainly be a good way for small-scale publishers to survive - here I'm not talking OD who has a much wider readership (I think) - but I would prefer it if quality products were available to the masses rather than the few.

23. What is your favorite Non-Soren, 3.X/OGL product and why?

Ptolus, hands down, tied with AE. AE showed what d20 could really do, and Ptolus is simply the benchmark against which all future city projects must be mentioned.

24. What is your favorite Soren Keis Thustrup product (other than The Living Airship) and why?

Circle of Rites from Fiery Dragon. I don't care, you always love your first-born more.

25. What is your favorite Rite Publishing Product?

I really like how Veiled Denizens pushed the envelope in quite a few directions, so I'm going to go with that.

26. What has been your most memorable fan response to The Living Airship so far?

There hasn't been any, really, because I believe that at this time of writing, it's still in the pre-order stage.

27. What is your favorite 3.X/OGL product that you use in design?

Since I write AE modules, it's Arcana Evolved.

28. What are you design plans for the next year?

Due to real-life factors, I'm not that good at thinking ahead right now, but I plan to tackle one part of our adventure arc.

29. Could you tell us a little about how you went from fan to game designer?

I started off making some NPC level progression tables for diamondthrone.com. Fiery Dragon then asked if they could use them and then said that they would publish anything I wrote, so I had a go at it. Then we (the Council of Magisters) also designed the runes of revival trilogy of adventures, so that was also quite a leap. And finally, in November 2007 (I think), Monte asked if I wanted to co-author Vault of the Iron Overlord, and that was really when I felt that I could say that I, to a small degree, was a game designer.

30. What gaming products are you looking forward too?

I am looking very much forward to the products Rite Publishing is putting out. Partly because I know that, they will be good in their own right, but also because I look forward to seeing their effect on the fan base.

Continue to part IV

Interview with Soren Kies Thustrup (The Living Airship Part II)

Part II of the interview with Soren Keis Thustrup as we talk about his new adventure The Living Airship, amoungst other things, this interview will appear in 4 parts over the next few days .

11.     How did you feel when you first saw the cartography by Jonathan Roberts?

It completely blew me away. The Vallorians' three spires are not the easiest setting, and the maps really, really help. The sense of depth is certain to help all the DMs who'll be running this.

12.     Describe your best moment working on The Living Airship?

When I thought up the flesh golem with the attack from within spell inside. What can I say; I'm a rat bastard DM, sometimes.

13.     What do you feel was the most ingenious part of The Living Airship that you devised?

That's really for others to say. I hope people will agree I made some good choices with regards to the Vallorians, their equipment and their tactics. But other than that, I doubt it's that ingenious a module.

14.     What specific design choice are you most happy with, and why?

Well, part is answered above, but I'm also particularly fond of the scree slope, which puts all non-flying PCs at a distinct disadvantage. Anything that forces PCs to waste resources on just getting from A to B is nifty in my book.

15.     Which design element was the hardest to figure out, and why?

Well, there was a spot of bother figuring out heights etc. on the pillars, but otherwise things went pretty smoothly.

16.     What did you learn about design while working on The Living Airship?

Not that much. Although, because it started off as a thing in my own game, re-writing it into a (hopefully) complete adventure was a challenge and quite educational.

17.     What did you learn from playtesting The Living Airship?  What did you change as a result?

Nothing, really. The "playtest" consisted of me running the adventure through, and my crew of 5 8th-level PCs proved up to the task, so that was nice enough.

18.     Did you make any other mistakes or miscalculations in the early stages of The Living Airship? How did you fix them?

None, really. I'm a bit worried that a bunch of 10th-level will just fly up the pillars. I might include some metal nets to keep flyer in their place.

19.     When I look at a setting and an adventure I always think of the Tropes of that setting. What Arcana Evolved tropes does The Living Airship take advantage of?

None that I can think of! This adventure is as action-filled adventure as you could wish for. But of course, with choice and free will being so prevalent in Arcana Evolved, there's nothing that prevents the PCs from taking over the living airship. 

20.     Are you happy with where The Living Airship is today?

As long as it's out where it belongs, with DMs who want to run it, I'm happy.

Continue to Part III

 

Interview with Soren Kies Thustrup (The Living Airship Part I)

I finally got a chance to sit down with Soren Keis Thustrup and talk about his new adventure The Living Airship, amoungst other things, this interview appears in 4 parts.

1. Please, provide a brief bio about yourself, you gaming habits, and your professional work.
I live in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I work as a copywriter. I run an AE/Ptolus game once every three weeks, and once a month I play in a high-level GURPS game (300 CP for those of you who swing more ways than d20). In my copywriting job, I have done as varied things as designing a marketing campaign that involved Lego bricks, designed a role-playing game, and done a bit of voice-over work for a regional TV ad campaign.

2. This year one of the books you worked on Vault of the Iron Overlord earned an ENnie nomination how did that feel?
Well, naturally, I was exceedingly proud. Unfortunately (although fortunately for the industry), we were up against some very good competitors.

3. Beyond Creation came out this year; do your three AE adventure (Circle of Rites, Beyond Creation, and The Living Airship) constitute an Arc story?
As a matter of fact, they do. Or they did in my own campaign. Basically, Beyond Creation dealt with my PCs being told where their missing airship was, The Living Airship was the adventure where they got it back, and Circle of Rites was the adventure they had in Thayn when they went back to settle the question of ownership. Beyond Creation also dealt with the PCs wanting to destroy the Ebonring (from Mystic Eye Games' Siege on Ebonring Keep)

But they aren't related in their present form.

4. Could you please sum up The Living Airship in a sentence or three?
The Living Airship gives the PCs a chance to obtain an actual airship, but they will have to fight for it, and even if they win, the prize may not be all it's cracked up to be.

5. How did you first become interested in creating the The Living Airship as an action/adventure story rather than a murder mystery like Circle of Rites?
I had a lot less time to think up the original Living Airship, and besides, it was originally designed as a tie-in with Mike Mearls' Siege of Durgam's Folly. And because that adventure was so action-packed, it just made more sense to keep Living Airship the same.

6. How did it feel, to work with a start up publisher like Rite Publishing? What were your initial misgivings? Did any of those prove True/False?
Well, with regards to my adventure, I've only encountered strong commitment and complete professionalism. I didn't have any misgivings - especially since I got to pick my editors!

7. Could you list some of your major influences in the creation of The Living Airship?
Airwolf, for one. And Monte's advice of always looking to make combat more interesting. And some of the Vallorians described in Poisoncraft from Blue Devil Games.

8. What are the strengths of The Living Airship over other adventures? Over other Arcana Evolved Adventure? Over your earlier work?
I wouldn't presume to say that the adventure has anything on other adventures. Compared to other Arcana Evolved adventures, it may be simpler. It's definitely something that can be played over one marathon session, or maybe two regular ones. And compared to my earlier work, well, it was actually written at approximately the same time as Circle of Rites and Beyond Creation, so I'd expect it to be pretty similar.


9. Can you tell me about your experience working for Rite Publishing as opposed to Malhavoc press (Ruins of Revivl) Goodman Games (Vault of the Iron Overlord), Fiery Dragon Productions (Beyond Creation)?
Well, because of my stronger involvement with RP, I felt a more direct connection to the entire process. My work on Ruins of Revival was more in the line of overall design and specific character design. Vault of the Iron Overlord was a two-week masterclass where I got to work with one of the best designers there is and just learn from him. Beyond Creation was quite a finished product when I handed it over to FDP.

10. Can you tell me how you felt when you first saw the cover art for The Living Airship by Kurt A. Taylor?
Pride. Simple, utter pride. I was privileged enough to see it grow from concept sketch to final work of art, and the end result is nothing short of amazing.

CONTINUE TO PART II OF THE INTERVIEW.

Vaporware vs. vaporware (The Living Airship has arrived)

The Living Airship is no longer Vaporware! (Wait it's an airship, so it is vaporware, but not Vaporware, whatever you know what I mean!)

My Coauthor on The Rituals of Choice Adventure Path and ENnie nominated designer Soren Keis Thustrup has a new adventure that uses a monster race that I greatly favor the Vallorians (Legacy of the Dragon). The adventure is called The Living Airship and it is now availabel at 30% off cover price, direct from out website you can find it HERE.

A new preview has been released for the Heroes of the Jade Oath Patronage Project

Rite Publishing is proud to present a new player race for Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved, compatible with the 3.5 version of the world's most popular roleplaying game. Mandragorans are an exotic plantlike humanoid species known for their unique, tapered, head-vines called "nahmaun gorah". Mandragorans consider signed contracts as binding and unbreakable no their part. Paper is sacred and the written word is just as sacred as the paper it is written on. The spoken word is another matter altogether

Design Diary: Rituals of Choice (The Chosen Change)

“Nothing’s the same anymore” –Jeffery Sinclair, Babylon 5 “Chrysalis” by J. M. Straczynski

Well I made a decision

I cannot complete The Rituals of Choice Adventure Path by myself in a timely fashion, this has more to do with the work I am doing running Rite Publishing than anything else. Therefore, I am happy to announce that Soren Keis Thustrup (Circle of Rites, Vault of the Iron Overlord) is now looking over the outline to adventure #6.

I made a major design change to adventure #4 Ceremonies of Sacrifice today shifting to a more open location based encounters (along with event encounters). I also brought back a NPC that died in a previous adventure.

I wanted to show the true power of choice in this game. There is no alignment so undead can choose to act as they will they are not compelled to acts of evil, simply by being undead. In this way the NPC becomes a helpful spirit, but I made him more of a poltergeist so that he is not used as a DM’s mouthpiece. It also let itself to the idea that when you die you might stick around because of unfinished business, which this NPC will have because he got the whole ball rolling that could end all existence and knows that the PCs are the best chance of causing this to happen and preventing it based on their choices.

I just realized this NPC changes he does not stay as one thing throughout the course of the adventure he was A and death has caused him to evolve in to B, I think the next time he will change one more time and that will strike at the AE them of Evolution.

Thus "The Chosen Change".

Steve “Quillion” Russell
Rite Publsihing

Wayne Reynold's cover for Heroes of the Jade Oath is now online

The Time of Waiting is Over!
The Heroes of the Jade Oath Patronage Project!
It arrives before Chinesse Democracy.



Rite Publishing is happy to release the cover for Heroes of the Jade Oath, with artwork by Wayne Reynolds, layout by Corey Graham. The Project currently only needs 11 more patrons to meet thier production goal for this fan-favorite project of Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved, the Sign-up deadline for the production goal is Oct 22nd

My newest work: Items Evolved Rituals

Rite Publishing has released Items Evolved: Rituals for Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved and the 3.5 version of the world's most popular roleplaying game. This supplement offers 10 new theme specific magic items in a simple reference format that includes read-aloud text descriptions, object loresight, and Lore DCs for each specific item.