Vampire Bestiary

Upper_Krust · Feb 24, 2011

Dante & Vergil said:
Hey Krusty,

Ahoy there Dante & Vergil!

after the 4.0 version of the book is out, how long afterwards will there be a 3.5 conversion?

Will depend upon the people working on it I suppose, which is something to be determined when the 4E book is itself released.

The write-ups and art would be the same. So the changes would be the stat-blocks and combat/tactics sections...as well as the traps and adventure elements I guess.

Upper_Krust · Mar 6, 2011

Hi all!

Just updated the website with an article on Solo Monster Design.

Article: Solo Monster Design Eternity Publishing

I am planning another article later this week on Morale in D&D and that will be for both 4th Edition AND 3rd Edition. That will probably be up on Thursday or Friday.

scifan888 · Mar 21, 2011

Upper_Krust said:
Will depend upon the people working on it I suppose, which is something to be determined when the 4E book is itself released.

The write-ups and art would be the same. So the changes would be the stat-blocks and combat/tactics sections...as well as the traps and adventure elements I guess.

Would that be straight 3.5 or Pathfinder?

By the way UK what do you think of Pathfinder? You've said that you hated 3.5 so I was wondering what you thought of the changes made for Pathfinder.

Upper_Krust · Mar 21, 2011

Hey all!

Just a brief update on progress. Peter Szmer has turned in 18 illustrations so far, I think there are another 18 planned. As soon as thats complete we'll be good to go. It took him about 4 weeks to do the first 18, no reason to assume a similar-ish timeframe on the next batch. So I know I had hoped for a March release, I think it will slip to April but the artwork looks fantastic, every piece so far is brilliant.

Hey scifan888!

scifan888 said:
Would that be straight 3.5 or Pathfinder?

As regards monsters, I don't really see a difference...except maybe in the stat-block layout.

I'd be happy if this was a PF release rather than simply 3.5, makes no major difference to me. What do the rest of you think? 3.5E or Pathfinder?

I did give a glowing review to the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 on my website...

Review: Pathfinder Bestiary 2 Eternity Publishing

...but the more time I look at the mechanics of PF the more I long for 4E.

By the way UK what do you think of Pathfinder? You've said that you hated 3.5 so I was wondering what you thought of the changes made for Pathfinder.

Click to expand...

I examined the material closely when it came out, but conceptually it was clear the changes didn't go far enough, and on reflection Paizo couldn't make many changes because the main point of Pathfinder was a way to keep 3rd Edition on the shelves. So it had to be compatible.

I think in particular 3/3.5 (and presumably PF) are just a nightmare for running epic games. I know many here disagree with me on that, but I think a large part of that disagreement is familiarity and perserverence over actual ease of use and playability.

I also think pretty much every change 4E made to the game is for the better.

But I think we have covered this ground before and I won't begrudge people for liking 3/3.5/PF if they don't condemn me for liking 4th Edition.

scifan888 · Mar 21, 2011

Upper_Krust said:
I also think pretty much every change 4E made to the game is for the better.

But I think we have covered this ground before and I won't begrudge people for liking 3/3.5/PF if they don't condemn me for liking 4th Edition.

I don't really care for 4E myself. Who knows, maybe your 4E Immortals Handbook might change my mind. Will see when it arrives.
Is there an update as to when?

By the way, was there ever an update with the missing illustrations in the IH or were they ever released?

Scurvy_Platypus · Mar 21, 2011

Upper_Krust said:
I'd be happy if this was a PF release rather than simply 3.5, makes no major difference to me. What do the rest of you think? 3.5E or Pathfinder?

Personally, I'd prefer 3.5.

Not everyone has changed to Pathfinder (and there's still 3.0 holdouts

) and one of the things I always see Pathfinder fans talking about is how easy it is to bring 3.5 stuff over to Pathfinder. That being the case, I personally would rather take them at their word and have something released in a "standard" format.

3.5 format can be translated across by fans of 3.x-derived systems easy enough. They've been doing it for a while and most of the 3.x-derived books talk about converting other d20 material into their special version.

If someone wants to include an "appendix" of the material translated into Pathfinder terms, True20, Fantasy Craft, whatever... that's fine. But I'd personally like to see the material useable for everyone, which means 3.5 rules base. Pathfinder makes a bunch of small changes here and there to a variety of things and keeping up with those changes is like trying to deal with the 3.0 to 3.5 change. While it might not matter to some, it does matter to others.

Belzamus · Mar 22, 2011

I vote for 3.5 over Pathfinder, as all your other material is 3.5, U_K (as adapted to your system). I don't see any reason to overhaul the mechanics unless you're rereleasing both books to be compatible with Pathfinder, as well.

And lets be honest, if you were to rerelease Ascension, there's a lot more changes than those relating to PF conversion that ought to be made, but that's neither here nor there.

Upper_Krust · Mar 23, 2011

Hello again scifan888!

scifan888 said:
I don't really care for 4E myself.

Well, each to their own I suppose.

Who knows, maybe your 4E Immortals Handbook might change my mind. Will see when it arrives.

I hope so.

Is there an update as to when?

I'm useless with release dates. But its the third book on the schedule.

1. Vampire Bestiary
2. The Serpent Riders adventure
3. Immortals Handbook

When that will happen I would just be guessing. I do know that the Vampire Bestiary is basically a few weeks away, since its more or less waiting for the last half of the art.

By the way, was there ever an update with the missing illustrations in the IH or were they ever released?

My plan at this point is to use the art for the 4E Immortals Handbook in the 3.5E Ascension book. So as soon as the 4E book is done, the 3.5E Ascension will get a Print Release.

Upper_Krust · Mar 23, 2011

Hey Scurvy_Platypus!

Scurvy_Platypus said:
Personally, I'd prefer 3.5.

Not everyone has changed to Pathfinder (and there's still 3.0 holdouts ) and one of the things I always see Pathfinder fans talking about is how easy it is to bring 3.5 stuff over to Pathfinder. That being the case, I personally would rather take them at their word and have something released in a "standard" format.

3.5 format can be translated across by fans of 3.x-derived systems easy enough. They've been doing it for a while and most of the 3.x-derived books talk about converting other d20 material into their special version.

If someone wants to include an "appendix" of the material translated into Pathfinder terms, True20, Fantasy Craft, whatever... that's fine. But I'd personally like to see the material useable for everyone, which means 3.5 rules base. Pathfinder makes a bunch of small changes here and there to a variety of things and keeping up with those changes is like trying to deal with the 3.0 to 3.5 change. While it might not matter to some, it does matter to others.

I have no problem either way. In fact I don't really see what the differences are (in terms of monsters). The stat-block layout in Pathfinder is slightly superior, but I'm happy with the 3.5 style.

Upper_Krust · Mar 23, 2011

Howdy belzamus mate!

Belzamus said:
I vote for 3.5 over Pathfinder, as all your other material is 3.5, U_K (as adapted to your system). I don't see any reason to overhaul the mechanics unless you're rereleasing both books to be compatible with Pathfinder, as well.

And lets be honest, if you were to rerelease Ascension, there's a lot more changes than those relating to PF conversion that ought to be made, but that's neither here nor there.

Well I think the rerelease of 3.5E Ascension is more to do with a Print version with all the missing artwork rather than any great rules rewrite.