Very cool cover - Joe definitely did right by you with that! I was surprised to see Kali there, but the entire thing does indeed scream "EPIC" very loudly!
I can't wait to see it, though I know the conversion process will likely be long and painful, considering how things went with Cloverfield (which I still need to get back to...oi).
Good luck with the rest of the book, U_K!
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Good to see something coming along. The cover art looks fantastic; A bit of a stylistic clash with the previous covers, but interesting nonetheless.
I hope to see you get this book out before 5E.
On a more serious note: Is there going to be much internal artwork in this new bestiary? (much like the old one) And, if so, what kind? (I did like your B&W artwork; it gave the book a sort of 'story-board" feel; but if the possible interior art is also by the artist, that would be awesome too)
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Originally Posted by Anabstercorian
What if someone wanted to play an Awakened Neutronium Golem Wizard?
I don't know whether this is a thing of beauty or evil.
I'd be happy to help with converting. I know I haven't been on these boards before, but I used to be fairly regular on the monster boards in the 3.x days.
Probably stupid questions, but I don't see the answers immediately on the website: Is it pdf-only, and how much is it expected to cost?
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Very cool cover - Joe definitely did right by you with that! I was surprised to see Kali there, but the entire thing does indeed scream "EPIC" very loudly!
Well I wanted something that was vampiric and immortal (since its me). So Kali seemed the obvious choice in a sort of Blood Goddess with vampiric (Dakini) servants kind of way.
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I can't wait to see it, though I know the conversion process will likely be long and painful, considering how things went with Cloverfield (which I still need to get back to...oi).
Fortunately you have, in me, someone who doesn't have a leg to stand on with regards criticising others for delays.
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Good luck with the rest of the book, U_K!
Thanks. There is still a good bit of work to do, but I only have to work 2 more days over the next four weeks (albeit 10 days of those will be spent by me gaming in London), so I'll keep everyone informed of progress.
I already have the next update planned, although it may not be a Vampire Bestiary update this time but rather a combined 3.5E/4E dimensional magic system article...or first of a series of articles.
I also think the cover is amazing! I cannot wait to see what goodness this book brings.
I'll try and cram as much cool stuff in as possible. As I have noted, while the book is primarily vampire-centric there are a couple of surprises in there.
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Originally Posted by dyspro
Please let me know what I can do to help with the conversion to 3.5.
Lets wait until I have the text 100% completed and then we can worry about the conversion.
The cover art looks fantastic; A bit of a stylistic clash with the previous covers, but interesting nonetheless.
The difference between a journeyman illustrator and a professional. Joe is amazing, not only did he do a better job that I ever could, but seemingly it only took him about a quarter of the time it takes me to do a cover!
I only wish I could have had him for the interior illustrations as well, but he had a ton of commissions already and his wife is expecting a baby soon so I think he had enough on his plate. Hopefully next time I can snare him for more than just a cover.
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I hope to see you get this book out before 5E.
If I didn't have to do any illustrations I think it would be on sale by early September. Unfortunately I will have to do at least 12 illustrations for the book, so that is hanging over me somewhat.
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On a more serious note: Is there going to be much internal artwork in this new bestiary? (much like the old one) And, if so, what kind? (I did like your B&W artwork; it gave the book a sort of 'story-board" feel; but if the possible interior art is also by the artist, that would be awesome too)
There will be less than 20 internal pieces (Between about 16-19). I do have one other artist who is doing pieces for certain "personalities" shall we say, and these will be in a totally different style to my art.
So the bulk of the interior art will be my work, some from another artist.
In what has become established 4E style, some art pieces will be 'group shots', because as I have noted there are a large number of monsters (as in stat-blocks*) but only about 20 'main' entries.
*Nosferatu, Feral Nosferatu, Nosferatu Shadow Knight etc.
Unfortunately, commissioning all the artwork for the book would have cost me about 75% of the profit (assuming sales similar to the Epic Bestiary and Ascension) and I can't really justify more than about 50%.
If this book sells well (and I am still unsure of the 4E market) then I'll have the confidence to commission more professional art for future books.
Thanks. While it sort of evolved out of me playing about with designing for 4th Edition I think books with stronger themes will work better in 4th Edition. So in this book you will be able to feature some vampires in your campaign no matter what the level. Or at least levels 6-40. I initially had monsters for levels 1-5 as well, but they will probably be cut from the book itself to keep it at 64 pages.
I think it might also be cool for someone doing WotC's adventure path series, since it has a heavy undead theme.
I did specifically set out to design the entries around campaigns in that I wanted to have a good mix of monsters of a specific role and power role for the immediate spread of levels. So for instance between levels 21-25 you might want to use Nosferatu (of which there are six types), Moon Wights and a few other monsters that fall in between that level spread.
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I'd be happy to help with converting. I know I haven't been on these boards before, but I used to be fairly regular on the monster boards in the 3.x days.
I appreciate the offer. I'll concern myself with the delegation of those duties when I get the writing 100% completed.
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Probably stupid questions, but I don't see the answers immediately on the website: Is it pdf-only, and how much is it expected to cost?
Not stupid at all, I should have more details on the website...and will do as the release gets closer.
At the moment there should be a pdf released followed shortly by a print release (although I actually haven't spoken to Mongoose in a few months so I should let them know what I am up to). Then a few people will be handling the 3.5E conversion which will be a pdf release. I'm not sure if the 3.5E conversion will have a print release or not. I'd be skeptical.
The page total currently looks about 64 pages, which is almost set in stone at this point. Assuming that page count I think the pdf will be about $8.95 ish.
Will Alabaster be in this book? I think he was mentioned on the website, but would he really be sub-Level 40?
Yes and no.
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As for Kali - she's a very complex being in the original mythology, I'm very interested to see your take on her.
Well its worth noting this is the 'Vampire' Bestiary, so that should give you an idea as to which aspects of Kali I'll be concentrating upon, that said I plan to have multiple 'takes' on Kali.
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When is the currently proposed release date? - immortalshandbook.com seems to be down.
I need about 8 weeks to get it sorted, primarily my portion of the interior art and some final elements and general cleaning up of the entries themselves.
Are there any updates on the Vampire Bestiary's progress - is it close to going to the publisher?
I will have some news and updates by the end of next week (I am off work for another week and a half and I want to try and get it to something close to an editing stage in that time). Fingers crossed.
Incidently, I know I haven't updated the website recently, there is a minor problem in that I recently shifted over to another computer which doesn't have the latest updates to the Index page (past 3 months) saved. So I have just been dragging my heels because I knew I had to rebuild those.
There's also the problem that your site's homepage has a bad trojan on it, or at least, it did a few months ago, which is the last time I went there. Nearly took out my computer completely.
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I have given proud Atlantis to the sea,
shattered ancient Lemuria beneath my fist,
and razed the arrogant spires of Ys to gleaming rubble...
This is the end of your world!
I shall remake all creation in my image!
I am the Omega.
And as all life was created from Chaos...
so shall it be DESTROYED!!!
There's also the problem that your site's homepage has a bad trojan on it, or at least, it did a few months ago, which is the last time I went there. Nearly took out my computer completely.
Yes apologies for that, somehow I was hacked shortly after joining the new webserver. I actually didn't think it affected anyone but me? I had some of my friends visit the webpage and nothing happened to their computers (which was why I didn't mention it here) - I presume in hindsight some anti-virus softwares blocked the virus from even appearing and some didn't...? Can't apologise enough to anyone affected.
I know it was a nasty b@stard. It actually did take out my computer completely (although I was hit with a triple whammy all at the same time: hacked; accidentally downloaded a virus looking at some comic book scans (for debate purposes) someone posted on a forum; then S'mon gave me some pdfs on a memory stick his wife had from work and the bloody thing was riddled by them). Though fortunately it was my ancient 10 year old computer I was ready to retire and I didn't lose anything except the last 3 months website updates, which were few and far between anyway.
Everything seems fine on the website now and has been ever since I heightened my security and did a clean sweep about 4-5 weeks ago.
Though remember there are no downloads or pop-up ads on my website, so if the unthinkable happens again and anything tries to install on your machine from visiting my site don't let it and exit the website immediately.
Belzamus, can you do me a massive favour and visit the website to check its okay for you (call it a vote of confidence if you will). If something happens to your computer I promise to reimburse you for any damages done.
Will the 4e Godzilla appear in the next website update?
Possibly, I am still having kittens over these Mega-size rules. I keep changing my mind on this and that.
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I made some stats for him at the WotC forums, but I'd like to see yours (which will undoubtedly be more interesting and powerful).
Pretty cool, don't sell yourself short, I doubt my own will be too different - dependant upon how much of the mega-size rules I reveal at this time I suppose.
I really wanted to get the Godzilla: Final Wars dvd before I finished his stats, but you can't actually buy the darn thing here. I know the Japanese region code is the same, I wonder if it has an english dub on it. I'll have to do some checking on that.
Well, my AV didn't go crazy like it usually would, so I'd guess that you're in the clear, U_K. Glad you got rid of it, he was a nasty little monster.
__________________
I have given proud Atlantis to the sea,
shattered ancient Lemuria beneath my fist,
and razed the arrogant spires of Ys to gleaming rubble...
This is the end of your world!
I shall remake all creation in my image!
I am the Omega.
And as all life was created from Chaos...
so shall it be DESTROYED!!!
Pretty cool, don't sell yourself short, I doubt my own will be too different - dependant upon how much of the mega-size rules I reveal at this time I suppose.
Yeah, I suppose there is only so many ways it can be done - in some sense Godzilla is a fairly 'simple' monster (compared to a superintelligent god or sorta-god like Orcus, Galactus, Surtur). Also there've been enough movies that his abilities are pretty well defined.
One difference, though, is without the Mega size rules my Godzilla is stuck being "only" tarrasque sized. Big and scary enough for most purposes, but he should be about 160 feet tall (Showa) or 330 (Heisei).
Also, the 3.5 version you have is the Heisei Godzilla, while I just grabbed the powers I liked from all different versions (Supercharged Atomic Breath is from Godzilla: Final Wars, though sadly 4e doesn't allow for ranges of "into orbit", but otherwise he's more or less Showa Godzilla, minus the flying-on-his-own-atomic-breath power.)
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Thanks for taking the leap of faith there, much appreciated.
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Originally Posted by Belzamus
Well, my AV didn't go crazy like it usually would, so I'd guess that you're in the clear, U_K. Glad you got rid of it, he was a nasty little monster.
It was indeed an epic level virus...I'll have to incorporate such things into the Bi-Sect race, perhaps they are the physical manifestation of a computer virus given (demonic) life/possession.
Interestingly enough I have been working out all the different sizes and levels of parasites and blood cells based on Mega, Giga and bigger ctreatures. For instance, the Cloverfield monsters has basically lice which are medium size, other monsters may have 'sentient' blood cells attack you, actual viruses, nanobots and so forth.
So this way you could actually use even Level 60 Monsters (indirectly) at the Heroic Tier.
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