Midnight returns?

[Alzrius]

Actually, just a Pathfinder update of Midnight would almost certainly be a commercially viable product for a small publishing house. But for FFG, Midnight would need its own system to once more become a viable product line.

I confess myself confused, here.

Given that Pathfinder is (by circumstantial evidence) the biggest table-top RPG right now, why would "Pathfinder Midnight" not be a commercially viable - if not successful - product line for FFG, as opposed to a smaller publishing company?

I suspect that the answer is some sort of combination of requiring greater sales to provide the revenue necessary to make it worthwhile to FFG, as opposed to a smaller third-party publisher, but surely an intelligent analysis of how much/what part of the market to target, and a pretty- and high quality-enough book, they'd be able to make it worth their while?

Further, even if that wasn't the case, why would an original system be the answer?

 

[hbarsquared]

Count me as a Midnight fan, too.

I have each of the releases as well, and of course ran into the same issue with running adventures. I would be happy seeing some published adventures.

I'm less a fan of a railroading Adventure Path, but I really like the idea of some interconnected adventures and encounters.

I'd be all over a Midnight novel line, too!

 

[Dimitri Mazieres]

Further, even if that wasn't the case, why would an original system be the answer?

I don't think that a Pathfinder version would be unsuccessful but, as I said before, an original system, or one derived from another of FFG's games, would make the brand independent of another company's fate.
Plus, when Midnight was first released d20 was king of the hill all across the RPG board, and FFG wasn't as big as it is now, with quite a few recognized RPG brands under its belt.

Don't get me wrong; I'd rather have a Pathfinder compatible new edition of Midnight, but I think it would probably be more sensible for FFG to go the other way.

 

[NewJeffCT]

That adventure path would have two endings...

The First, by slaying the Night King you discover a way to banish Izrador from this plane of existence. Your epic midnight campaign ends with saving Eredane. Dawn at last.

The second, by slaying a Night King, you have earned Izrador's true emnity and, though you may have delayed his plans for a moment, it is a victory you will not survive to enjoy. Izradors destroys these upstart heroes. You were fools to oppose the Lone God. Against the Shadow that has risen in the North there can be no victory.

My idea for the first ending was somewhat similar, but instead of banishing Izrador, the players would have found a way to allow the other gods access to the world again - it could culminate with maybe some prophesied child or teen becoming a cleric of one of these deities. So, while it's not a total victory, they'd have at least started the side of good on the path to victory. (the victory that allows the good deities back in again could also be because the PCs sacrificed their lives to do it.)

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I like the idea that the ends with a small glimmer of hope, but that the heroes can't really take advantage of it. Instead other heroes need to do it... in the next adventure path (maybe a generation down the line).

The darkness might be to big to defeat in any one character's lifetime, but maybe subsequent generations can slowly chip away at Izrador's might.

 

[Jester David]

It might just be FFG seeing if they can still sell PDFs. That might also be a good basis to determine if they should go into Print on Demand like White Wolf.
Midnight was quite popular and has some die-hard fans, so it's a good test.
If it can garner enough attention and sales to be profitable then they can try the other settings and products. If it falls flat then they can stay in the IP vault.

I'll say this right now. If I'm still gaming in three years with the same group, my game then will likely be set in Midnight. I'm doing Ravenloft with Pathfinder right now and plan to follow that with Rise of the Runelords, but after that a trip under the Shadow would be a nice change of pace.
If Next keeps going in the direction it looks to be going, I might even try that. As it will have been out for a year or so by then and I can judge WotC's follow-through with the line.

 

[Alzrius]

I don't think that a Pathfinder version would be unsuccessful but, as I said before, an original system, or one derived from another of FFG's games, would make the brand independent of another company's fate.

The nature of the OGL makes such products independent of any other company's fate anyway. The worst that could happen would be that the Pathfinder Compatibility License gets mass-revoked, in which case the only practical impact would be to remove the Compatibility Logo from the front cover - none of the mechanics would need to change.

 

[Jester David]

Really, even if FFG did publish a 3.X OGL version of an Adventure Path, it would not be that hard to convert that to Pathfinder.
And if the product was a digital/Print-on-Deman product it wouldn't be that much work to release two versions of the same product, or a separate conversion document.

 

[gdmcbride]

I love Pathfinder, Alzrius. You know that. But 3PP do have some limitations. You have to be very careful not to tread too close to something Paizo is doing and you have to play well with their release schedule. Also if, for any reason, Pathfinder has trouble (something I definitely hope does not happen) then FFG's products could be sunk as well. That sort of insecurity can be very unsettling when making business plans.

For Midnight to truly be its own line long term, it would need its own system.

Either that or in that hands of a much smaller company than FFG.

Just my opinion of course.

Anyways, I have no idea if recent developments will lead anywhere. I suspect they are just trying to energize PDF sales of the old books.

But in case they're not, perhaps threads like this one will show them that love for the Midnight setting yet persists.

We shall see...

Gary McBride

 

[Nikosandros]

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