Immortals Handbook Epic Bestiary (now available)

[Upper_Krust]

Hey there!

Isn't there some legality with putting something up for sale with a release date and not meeting that release date twice while you already have poeple's money?

Thanks for making me feel even more guilty and panicky than I already do.

Had it not been for those pre-orders I would not be able to afford to work on Ascension. I told people the situation before I instigated the pre-ordering.

Just be patient.

 

[GQuail]

Had it not been for those pre-orders I would not be able to afford to work on Ascension. I told people the situation before I instigated the pre-ordering.

You have mentioned before that without the pre-order cash injection, the Mr Krust bank account wouldn't have been too healthy: and a bankrupted Upper_Krust would be no use to us, would he? :>

Still, I can't blame people for getting a bit tetchy when the end finally seems in sight, but the finish line keeps creeping away from them. Ah, the joys of creator owned products... ;-)

 

[historian]

Hey U_K!

Thanks for making me feel even more guilty and panicky than I already do.

LOL!

U_K I make no assumptions about your legal climate at home but, being one of America's recovering lawyers, I can assure that you haven't lived until someone has threatened you with litigation.

Seriously, I think the other poster was just busting your chops a bit. Panic and guilt aren't necessarily the best motivators for a strong and timely finish either.

Good luck, I'll try not to bug you anymore prior to release.

 

[Alzrius]

Virtually no chance, given that I haven't sent them the final draft for the printers yet*. Which I'll be doing tomorrow night/Thursday morning.

*Or rather I did, but a few things needed to be redone here and there so they sent it back for technical repair, rescanning all images at a much higher quality and so forth.

A quick note on that. For the helm of epic brilliance (the Elohim entry), in the second to last bullet point, you note "(See the Epic Level Handbook, pae 131)." However, you're not allowed, in the d20 License, to refer to specific page numbers. Likewise, I'm pretty sure (though not positive) that you can't refer to that book by name...maybe as "ELH," but I'm not too sure about that either.

 

[Servitor of Wrath]

U_K, when you get aound to writing parts 2 and 3 of the Epic Bestiary, will you be using the new stat block format? Please say no!

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

Wow, not much love for the new stat block format.
I agree, keeping the old stat block (for monsters) seems the easiest way to do things. We are all used to it, so all the information is just as easily obtainable.
I will say that the new stat block is good for NPCs. Everything is spelled out so novice DMs don't have to reference ability mods and feat uses. It is however useless if you threw the monster/NPC together yourself (I hope I know what the wizard I rolled up last night can do)
I think for aesthetic purpouses, the old format should be kept, simply because the first bestiary used it, and because most DMs who run Epic probobly have no problem reading monster information, so an improved format might not be the best option. (Note, I am assuming this. This is just my opinion, I could be wrong...)

 

[poilbrun]

Personnally, I like the new stat block format, but for the moment, I have only used it for low-level adventures, with lots of different monsters in the same encounter (Red Hand of Doom adventure), so it helped to have the information presented that way to make sure I would find quickly the information I needed.

However, I have to say to for epic monsters, it is probably not as necessary: while I easily managed in an adventure where I did not know all the abilities of 3rd-level hobgoblin warriors and their 4th-level hobgolin sergeant, I usually prepare my adventures much better with higher level baddies with unique abilities.

 

[Fieari]

The new statblock format works quite well for high level NPCs, and prefer it to all other formats... well, as long as you make 1 or 2 minor adjustments, like including the full details for HP and AC... a level adjustment entry might be nice too. And a couple other entries would be useful, such as for miss chance, regen, that sort of thing. But the cool thing about this statblock is that due to how it's organized, it's VERY obvious where such information should be placed!

Check out my version of The Angel of Death on the wiki. The Auras are important, as they're the first thing the PCs will encounter, and as such are right at the top. In the standard entry, these would be lumped in, in alphabetical order, not logical order, in the "Special Qualities" section, along with regen, immunities, resistances, SR, DR, and all the other features, making them hard to pick out. Up with the auras are all the information you need to know BEFORE a battle starts.

Then there's all the defensive information; AC, HP, Miss Chance, DR, Regen, Immunities, Resistances, Saves, Weaknesses... all in one place, not lumped into "SQ" like all the other formats do. Note how many special qualities this thing would have... an organizational NIGHTMARE!

Then theres the attack information, including "Attack Options", which highlights the feats that might otherwise be overlooked. When you have more than 30 feats, picking out that it can power attack or combat expertise would be tricky, and all too easy to miss while running the monster. The sneak attack is seperated from the "Special Qualities" and put next to the other attack info where it belongs. To save space, the "Single Attack" entry is gone; and who really needs it anyway? Just take the first attack from the full attack line!

Only then, after the IMPORTANT info is out of the way, is all the other stuff described. For -full- information, this would probably be a nice place to put the stuff that the official form of the statblock leaves out, like LA and Treasure.


I -love- the new statblock format, and can't imagine trying to run high level characters without it. There's simply so much information! If it wasn't organized, how could you expect to find ANYTHING in the heat of the moment?

 

[dante58701]

I hate the new stat-block formation...it simultaneously overcomplicates and oversimplifies things. It scatters skills all over the place, it leaves out abilities that should be listed. And it just looks really sloppy. Ive personally come to the conclusion that Im not going to buy too many products that use it.


As for death...you did some excellent work there but you neglected a few of the Akalich abilities that would make it far more potent. Like it's negative energy touch. I think it would be better served by using no weapons at all, exept vs. creatures immune to negative energy. It's speed is also wrong. It's a deity so it should be higher than the base "nondivine" akalich.

I loved the scythes...they reminded me of a certain castlevania game.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey all!

Regarding the new stats block, I won't be using it, primarily on the basis that I don't use it in the first Bestiary and I want to retain the same format for all three Volumes (notably so in case there is an eventual hardcover Bestiary - with all three volumes in the one book).

The new stat block looks clean, but in this case cleanliness is not next to godliness.

Okay, I have pretty much finished all the changes to the Bestiary for the print version (I'll be uploading it first thing tomorrow morning).

One of the problems I just noticed with including the Ring of Unelemental Command is that I don't seem to have enough room on the credits/contents page to add in the names of all those concerned.

However, I can always add it to the grimoire instead and give people the appropriate credit. So your efforts will not be in vain!