Wrath of the River King - Wolfgang Baur's Open Design

Monkey King · Dec 25, 2008

One of the patron projects has been made entirely public; it's called the Zobeck Gazetteer, and it's a sourcebook for clockwork magic and a free city. Available at Koboldquarterly.com in print or PDF, also at Paizo and RPGNow.

That said, though, you may already own some of the work I've done for Paizo, WotC, TSR, and others. Here's the list, minus some of the recent Pathfinder work like Fortress of the Stone Giants.

The next Open Design may be 4th Edition based. It starts up around the New Year.

catsclaw227 · Dec 25, 2008

Monkey King said:
The next Open Design may be 4th Edition based. It starts up around the New Year.

This is good news.

I would have to bow out if it was going to be a 3.5 or Pathfinder adventure. Not because I dislike the systems, but I am not planning to DM 3.x anytime in the near future and I have a full library of 3.5 stuff already.

Zaukrie · Dec 25, 2008

Mr. Baur, I've read and admired much of your work. That's why I was nearly in this last project, but I missed it.

MacMathan · Dec 25, 2008

Kind of kills the point of a review, I guess.

I must not have been reading every forum close enough and missed the announcement.

Rechan · Dec 26, 2008

Seravin said:
Don't think of it as a marketing strategy so much as fairness to the initial investors. The patrons have a much higher cost of entry because they have to donate their money up front and the donations have to hit the target number before the project even starts.

IMO, the fairness to the patrons is that they get say in what goes in, and get to review every step of the process. That's what the point of the whole thing is.

The problem with the patron business is that it requires, well, time and effort to the project. Those that don't have the time or energy to poke and prod and get into the process are shut out. And if you don't have the time, then it's silly to become a patron when you aren't using the very thing you're paying for: contribution.

catsclaw227 · Dec 26, 2008

Rechan said:
IMO, the fairness to the patrons is that they get say in what goes in, and get to review every step of the process. That's what the point of the whole thing is.

Actually, there are different levels of patronage. And only after a certain amount are you entitled to help shape the process. You can be a supporter and get the adventure, but your patronage level will not provide you with special access. Some patrons get to be playtesters.

Rechan · Dec 26, 2008

catsclaw227 said:
Actually, there are different levels of patronage. And only after a certain amount are you entitled to help shape the process. You can be a supporter and get the adventure, but your patronage level will not provide you with special access.

So then the $30 is just "pay more than a standard adventure to get access to the adventure, but only before it's finished"?

Starglim · Dec 26, 2008

Rechan said:
So then the $30 is just "pay more than a standard adventure to get access to the adventure, but only before it's finished"?

In recent projects the "supporter" level has been less than the patron level, has only been available up until the project is commissioned and has not given access to any design discussions, only the choice of project (by contributing proportionally to the ransom) and the finished product. Any of this may work differently in the future.

Rechan · Dec 26, 2008

Starglim said:
In recent projects the "supporter" level has been less than the patron level, has only been available up until the project is commissioned and has not given access to any design discussions, only the choice of project (by contributing proportionally to the ransom) and the finished product. Any of this may work differently in the future.

So I was correct: $30 buys you the privilege to see the end product.

So it's $30 for a product that you can't even buy after the fact.

Like I said, smart marketing strategy.

Baron Opal · Dec 26, 2008

I don't know how it is now, but when I was a patron from Empire of the Ghouls, I had the option to purchase the previous project, Shadowcrag (I think.). So, if you wish to be a patron of the next project you may have to option of buying the previous (this) one.

I do find the concept a bit limiting, as I would have like to have acquired a copy of Steam and Brass and I didn't hear of Wolfgang's project until it was too late. But I kept an eye out for a project I might like to see, Ghouls came on the docket and I lobbied for it and got what I wanted.

By the nature of the patron system, his projects either have to be wide ranging or narrow in scope. I would love him to write a clockwork supplement for 4e, but that isn't likely at the moment. I may get what I want when I see the completed artificer. At least, it will be something I can reskin.