Vampire Bestiary

Upper_Krust · Aug 9, 2009

Hi all!

Okay the cover illustration for the Vampire Bestiary is now on my website. Its by artist Joe Slucher, hope you all like it?

The Vampire Bestiary, as its name suggests is a 64 page monster book primarily (but not exclusively) about vampires and vampire-type creatures.

The book will initially be for 4th Edition, with a 3.5 Edition conversion to follow shortly thereafter.

The book covers a fairly even spread of monsters from levels 6-40. There are over 50 monsters in the book.

If you have any comments or questions about the book, then this is the thread for them.

Alzrius · Aug 9, 2009

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!

dyspro · Aug 10, 2009

I also think the cover is amazing! I cannot wait to see what goodness this book brings.

Please let me know what I can do to help with the conversion to 3.5.

Ltheb Silverfrond · Aug 11, 2009

U_K!

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)

Khisanth the Ancient · Aug 11, 2009

This book sounds really neat...

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?

Upper_Krust · Aug 12, 2009

Howdy Alzrius mate!

Alzrius said:
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.

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.

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.

Upper_Krust · Aug 12, 2009

Howdy dyspro dude!

dyspro said:
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.

dyspro said:
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.

Upper_Krust · Aug 12, 2009

Ltheb Silverfrond said:
U_K!

Hey Ltheb matey!

Good to see something coming along.

Its about time I know.

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.

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.

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.

Upper_Krust · Aug 12, 2009

Howdy Khisanth!

Khisanth the Ancient said:
This book sounds really neat...

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.

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.

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.

Khisanth the Ancient · Sep 6, 2009

Will Alabaster be in this book? I think he was mentioned on the website, but would he really be sub-Level 40?

As for Kali - she's a very complex being in the original mythology, I'm very interested to see your take on her.

When is the currently proposed release date? - immortalshandbook.com seems to be down.