terraleon
Explorer
I know someone mentioned Open Design's 4E project, but I thought I'd post about the 3.5 projects that are also currently open for patronage. (http://open-design.livejournal.com)
The first is:
"Tales of Zobeck, the Clockwork City
The Tales of Zobeck anthology is in some ways similar to the Six Arabian Nights project, in that it would feature at least 6 and maybe as many as 10 short adventures, playable in one or two nights and for a variety of levels.
Depending on how long people are willing to wait, I could write all of these, and I'd love the adventures to be fairly open work, shared with the patrons. If people want a shorter turnaround (say, September), the adventures could include some familiar names, such Jeff Grubb, Clay Fleischer, Zeb Cook, Joshua Stevens, Nicolas Logue, Tim Connors, James Jacobs, plus at least one or two new authors drawn from the senior patron ranks. This portion of the commission would be a limited edition.
In addition, this project would include a 30,000 word city summary/sourcebook by me, Wolfgang Baur. This material is half-written and it is a bit of an oddball, since I'm kind of overprotective of the setting bible/writeups. I'd want to complete this first, then share it with senior patrons and other designers, rather than sharing a lot of it in the Open Design style. This would cover most of the crucial locations in the city, the use of kobold PCs and the Kobold ghetto, a quick overview of history and pantheon, and a bit of clockwork magic.
This sourcebook is NOT a Ptolus-length treatment of the city, but it is enough that the shared world can truly be shared. Some version of the sourcebook would be made available to the broader public, a bit like the Player's Guides for the Paizo adventure paths.
...
Tales of Zobeck offers a combined MINIMUM length of about 80,000 words (about ~128 pages), plus eight design essays on NPCs, culture jamming, creating PC races, or whatever topics the senior patrons request. Senior patrons may pitch Tales of their own, and patrons who donate $100 will receive a signed print copy of the final book."
The second is:
"Court of the Shadow Fey
The party visits the Plane of Shadow and becomes embroiled in dueling, attempted assassinations, and infiltration of the Queen's bedchamber to defeat the Queen of Night and Magic and her Moonlit King. This builds on some themes first brought up in Castle Shadowcrag). In the grand finale, the party defeats the Queen and her Moonlit King, and then must flee the wrath and wreckage of the shadow plane, scarred somehow by the price of the high magic they invoked. The adventure includes at least a half-dozen Shadow plane locations, a new type of badass fey, as well as riddle and trickery encounters, lots of stealth and social skills, and a major dueling scene versus a shadow fey master of the blade or a shadow fey sorcerer.
About third of this is planar journeying, such as visiting the Sun God for help. Other encounters involve disguises and court politics around figures such as the Blind Seer and the Black Prince, and the last third of it requires fighting the unique monstrosities that lie just behind every shadow, from the Snake-Godling of Eternal Darkness to the Black Crone and the million-footed Lord of Roaches. Layers of dark fey nastiness present the party with some tough trade-offs ("Should we really be bargaining with this twisted servant of evil?").
What other sorts of encounters would you like to see? What stealth or political elements might you want or NOT want? And what makes a trip to the Shadow Plane memorable?
Minimum length of about 50,000 words (about ~72 pages). Everyone who has participated in the past knows by now that every project I write in this format seems to run over... Court of the Shadow Fey also includes FOUR design essays on the Fey, planar adventures, social encounters, stealth, or other topics as chosen by the senior patrons."
All senior patrons will have the option of contributing a Courtier or Servant of the Queen as part of the NPC roster for the Court."
Both projects are for 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons and if you sign on now, you can have a voice about that adventure's development.
"How?"
Step 0: You'll need a livejournal account and some money.
Step 1: Login to Livejournal, and go look at the Open Design page...(http://open-design.livejournal.com).
Step 2: Review the premise and decide if you want to join as a Contributer, Patron or Senior Patron.
"But how do I help develop it?"
By signing on at any amount, you'll get the pdf of the adventure and access to the Print-on-Demand mechanic through <a href="http://www.lulu.com">Lulu</a>.
By signing on at least the Patron level ($30), you'll get to vote in polls, make some suggestions and participate in the discussion throughout development with other Patrons and the Author-- Wolfgang Baur. You might know him from _Expedition to the Demonweb Pits_ or his stint as the editor for _Dungeon._ That's a lot more input than you'll get in just about every other game company's adventures... Senior patrons get an even greater say and can even submit some material for incorporating into the final product. For instance, I got to create one of the monsters in the _Six Arabian Nights_ project for Open Design #4.
"Is it any good?"
I've gotten the chance to develop NPCs and playtest material, look at the manuscript ahead of time, comment on art and maps, and get some good ideas from the design essays. I've participated in the last 3 of these projects and bought the last 4. It's good quality material and the access to the designer combined with the opportunity to make your voice heard throughout the development process is pure gold. I've yet to hear a complaint about this shop and have nothing but good experiences with it so far.
It's well worth the money and the time; come check it out!
-Ben.
The first is:
"Tales of Zobeck, the Clockwork City
The Tales of Zobeck anthology is in some ways similar to the Six Arabian Nights project, in that it would feature at least 6 and maybe as many as 10 short adventures, playable in one or two nights and for a variety of levels.
Depending on how long people are willing to wait, I could write all of these, and I'd love the adventures to be fairly open work, shared with the patrons. If people want a shorter turnaround (say, September), the adventures could include some familiar names, such Jeff Grubb, Clay Fleischer, Zeb Cook, Joshua Stevens, Nicolas Logue, Tim Connors, James Jacobs, plus at least one or two new authors drawn from the senior patron ranks. This portion of the commission would be a limited edition.
In addition, this project would include a 30,000 word city summary/sourcebook by me, Wolfgang Baur. This material is half-written and it is a bit of an oddball, since I'm kind of overprotective of the setting bible/writeups. I'd want to complete this first, then share it with senior patrons and other designers, rather than sharing a lot of it in the Open Design style. This would cover most of the crucial locations in the city, the use of kobold PCs and the Kobold ghetto, a quick overview of history and pantheon, and a bit of clockwork magic.
This sourcebook is NOT a Ptolus-length treatment of the city, but it is enough that the shared world can truly be shared. Some version of the sourcebook would be made available to the broader public, a bit like the Player's Guides for the Paizo adventure paths.
...
Tales of Zobeck offers a combined MINIMUM length of about 80,000 words (about ~128 pages), plus eight design essays on NPCs, culture jamming, creating PC races, or whatever topics the senior patrons request. Senior patrons may pitch Tales of their own, and patrons who donate $100 will receive a signed print copy of the final book."
The second is:
"Court of the Shadow Fey
The party visits the Plane of Shadow and becomes embroiled in dueling, attempted assassinations, and infiltration of the Queen's bedchamber to defeat the Queen of Night and Magic and her Moonlit King. This builds on some themes first brought up in Castle Shadowcrag). In the grand finale, the party defeats the Queen and her Moonlit King, and then must flee the wrath and wreckage of the shadow plane, scarred somehow by the price of the high magic they invoked. The adventure includes at least a half-dozen Shadow plane locations, a new type of badass fey, as well as riddle and trickery encounters, lots of stealth and social skills, and a major dueling scene versus a shadow fey master of the blade or a shadow fey sorcerer.
About third of this is planar journeying, such as visiting the Sun God for help. Other encounters involve disguises and court politics around figures such as the Blind Seer and the Black Prince, and the last third of it requires fighting the unique monstrosities that lie just behind every shadow, from the Snake-Godling of Eternal Darkness to the Black Crone and the million-footed Lord of Roaches. Layers of dark fey nastiness present the party with some tough trade-offs ("Should we really be bargaining with this twisted servant of evil?").
What other sorts of encounters would you like to see? What stealth or political elements might you want or NOT want? And what makes a trip to the Shadow Plane memorable?
Minimum length of about 50,000 words (about ~72 pages). Everyone who has participated in the past knows by now that every project I write in this format seems to run over... Court of the Shadow Fey also includes FOUR design essays on the Fey, planar adventures, social encounters, stealth, or other topics as chosen by the senior patrons."
All senior patrons will have the option of contributing a Courtier or Servant of the Queen as part of the NPC roster for the Court."
Both projects are for 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons and if you sign on now, you can have a voice about that adventure's development.
"How?"
Step 0: You'll need a livejournal account and some money.
Step 1: Login to Livejournal, and go look at the Open Design page...(http://open-design.livejournal.com).
Step 2: Review the premise and decide if you want to join as a Contributer, Patron or Senior Patron.
"But how do I help develop it?"
By signing on at any amount, you'll get the pdf of the adventure and access to the Print-on-Demand mechanic through <a href="http://www.lulu.com">Lulu</a>.
By signing on at least the Patron level ($30), you'll get to vote in polls, make some suggestions and participate in the discussion throughout development with other Patrons and the Author-- Wolfgang Baur. You might know him from _Expedition to the Demonweb Pits_ or his stint as the editor for _Dungeon._ That's a lot more input than you'll get in just about every other game company's adventures... Senior patrons get an even greater say and can even submit some material for incorporating into the final product. For instance, I got to create one of the monsters in the _Six Arabian Nights_ project for Open Design #4.
"Is it any good?"
I've gotten the chance to develop NPCs and playtest material, look at the manuscript ahead of time, comment on art and maps, and get some good ideas from the design essays. I've participated in the last 3 of these projects and bought the last 4. It's good quality material and the access to the designer combined with the opportunity to make your voice heard throughout the development process is pure gold. I've yet to hear a complaint about this shop and have nothing but good experiences with it so far.
It's well worth the money and the time; come check it out!
-Ben.
