Necromancer games-Frog God Games
BlackMoria
First Post
Premium Full Subscription is $125 up front. Advantage: The 'free' hardcover will be signed for all the premium subscribers. Less overall money than any of the other options but as indicated, it is all up front.
Normal Subscription is pay as you go monthly but you need to be on board for the full 14 month releases to qualify for the 'free' hardcover. No guarantee the hardcover will be signed.
PDF Subscription Only - PDF only option with no hardcover. Pay up front for entire series.
Hardcover only. Only available once all the PDFs are out.
If you got the 3.5 version of Slumbering Tzar - Part 1, Bill has indicated that he will somehow discount the cost so those people are not having to pay again for those sections.
Oh. Bill indicated on the Paizo boards that the PayPal links maybe (and I emphasis - MAYBE) be active as of Friday, May 7th, assuming his testing of the pay portion of the site goes smoothly.
Only the subscription link is live at the moment, the individual purchase link should be live in the next 24 hours or so. I've seen the final proof of ST1 (i.e. the first installment), and it look great. One thing you will notice is that all maps are at the end of each section rather than embedded in the text as was in the original 3.5 version. This is simply so we can strip them out easily and put them all together in a map appendix at the end when we do the big book without having to totally redo the layout.
Elodan
Adventurer
So the normal subscription is to pick each individual chapter as it comes out? Is there a link I'm missing?
I want the whole series with book(s) at the end but I cannot afford the $125 up front.
We're working oin getting those individual links up and running too. The link for ST1 should be available shortly. The others will come up as that chapter is released. If you buy each chapter individually in this way, you still get the hardcover at the end for the cost of shipping. See the website "News" for more details.
Quick impressions from perusing Slumbering Tsar, file one...
Warning: extremely subjective and based on cursory reading.
Ratings: Very good, good, ok, ... [1], bad, very bad.
[1] A flaw, a minor one.
1. Argh! No bookmarks! Let me repeat this: this PDF, despite being made under (apparently) Adobe InDesign CS3 (5.0), contains no bookmarks. They are easily added (and the file is pretty short, so adding crucial headers should not require a lot of work), so let's hope there will be second release somewhere in the future.
Rating: Very bad.
2. Clear and legible fonts. Good fonts come with nightmarish prices (usually), and even if used, they often are not scaled properly to preserve legibility.
Rating: Very good.
3. Argh! No table of contents at the beginning... no table of contents at the end. Now, if there were bookmarks, it would not be a problem (ToC is pretty optional feature for digital product capable of producing active indicing, bookmarks or cross-references).
Rating: Very bad. Reduce to "bad", if #1 is amended.
4. Stablocks follow somewhat different format than PFRPG (creatures in PFRPG adventure products have often bonuses factored into stats with base stats appended to relevant sections), but they are well laid out and getting used to them does not seem to be difficult. Actually, after comparing entries, they seem to be very similar.
Rating: Good.
5. First paragraph under every header (and other major element) comes with a first line text-indent. It shouldn't. Same goes for paragraphs in gray boxes. This is somewhat pet peeve of mine so ignore it at leisure.
Rating: ...
6. (page 7) Hanging text. This is not a problem, however, it really stands out against the background of content literally crammed into pages.
Rating: ...
7. Very small margins and low line height values throughout the text. Allows for a lot of content, however, with register-true failing on several pages, it is somewhat painful on the eyes (basically, paragraphs under statblocks fail to follow register true).
What is "register-true"? Quoting Open-Office: If you decide to check the Register-true box, Writer will create a vertical grid on the page with a spacing between grid points that depends on the selected Reference Style. The vertical grid makes sure that text printed on adjacent columns, opposite pages, or even both sides of the same sheet of paper, is aligned—making it easier to read as well as being more pleasant to see.
Rating: Bad.
8. NPCs. Great concepts. Don't want to spoil this... so here is a tip: if you're a GM, read Camp NPC writeups. Worth using anywhere.
Disclaimer: this is cursory reading and I am not the "John Cooper" type of person (even though I still admire his zeal), so if any of these advanced NPCs contain errors, it's not something I have problem with.
Rating: Very good.
9. New spells. Two particularly stand out: Condemned (no cures for you... no channels for you... however, there is no mention about interaction with regeneration/fast healing or heal) and Unholy Channel (Relics and Rituals spells, inverted version - basically, remote healing ability for undead). Both are very good and powerful under right circumstances. However, there are certain potential issues which may require GM to make rulings for them.
Rating: Good. May need some work.
10. Content throughout: very creative, imaginative and evocative. I know I should give some more weight to more words so (trying hard to avoid spoilers):
This is Necromancer product and this is Necromancer product writing quality. Also, check #8.
33 pages - breakdown (cannot give a table of contents as there isn't any):
- cover - p. 1
(no blank page inside)
- credits - p. 2
- internal cover for part 1 - p. 3
- introduction - p. 4 to p. 7
- the meat of the book - p. 8 to p. 29
- maps - p. 30 to p. 32
- legal appendix (OGL and designation of PI) - p. 33
Rating: Very good.
11. Maps: not many as this is just an entry point for the real thing. Very usable, won't break your printers (though printing them may be an overkill).
Rating: Good.
12. Legal appendix:
And to have a taste of sources used for this publication, here is section 15 of the product:
Looks like those who loved Scarred Lands are in for indirect treat!
(no rating for this section)
Summary
For current price ($2.00 over PayPal) - you cannot miss it.
For overall price (subscription premium) - fine [1], but the editorial problems are somewhat irritating. The delivery should have been delayed by a week and run through someone who would spot obvious issues.
Replace "fine" with "great" if the bookmarks are added.
Replace "great" with "outstanding" if the rest of editorial problems are cleaned.
Regards,
Ruemere
[1] At this moment, at the pinnacle of PDF publication editing skills, I would place Sue Weinlein Cook (for Ptolus, Banewarrens and others - this lady has produced probably the most usable and legible PDFs ever, in addition to clear bookmarking and the books themselves being very easy on PDF reading speed) ex aequo with Paizo Publishing team (since the credits did not specify who actually did the layouting, I will just applaud the whole crew) (bookmarks, cross-references, indices, a bit slow to render).
Warning: extremely subjective and based on cursory reading.
Ratings: Very good, good, ok, ... [1], bad, very bad.
[1] A flaw, a minor one.
1. Argh! No bookmarks! Let me repeat this: this PDF, despite being made under (apparently) Adobe InDesign CS3 (5.0), contains no bookmarks. They are easily added (and the file is pretty short, so adding crucial headers should not require a lot of work), so let's hope there will be second release somewhere in the future.
Rating: Very bad.
2. Clear and legible fonts. Good fonts come with nightmarish prices (usually), and even if used, they often are not scaled properly to preserve legibility.
Rating: Very good.
3. Argh! No table of contents at the beginning... no table of contents at the end. Now, if there were bookmarks, it would not be a problem (ToC is pretty optional feature for digital product capable of producing active indicing, bookmarks or cross-references).
Rating: Very bad. Reduce to "bad", if #1 is amended.
4. Stablocks follow somewhat different format than PFRPG (creatures in PFRPG adventure products have often bonuses factored into stats with base stats appended to relevant sections), but they are well laid out and getting used to them does not seem to be difficult. Actually, after comparing entries, they seem to be very similar.
Rating: Good.
5. First paragraph under every header (and other major element) comes with a first line text-indent. It shouldn't. Same goes for paragraphs in gray boxes. This is somewhat pet peeve of mine so ignore it at leisure.
Rating: ...
6. (page 7) Hanging text. This is not a problem, however, it really stands out against the background of content literally crammed into pages.
Rating: ...
7. Very small margins and low line height values throughout the text. Allows for a lot of content, however, with register-true failing on several pages, it is somewhat painful on the eyes (basically, paragraphs under statblocks fail to follow register true).
What is "register-true"? Quoting Open-Office: If you decide to check the Register-true box, Writer will create a vertical grid on the page with a spacing between grid points that depends on the selected Reference Style. The vertical grid makes sure that text printed on adjacent columns, opposite pages, or even both sides of the same sheet of paper, is aligned—making it easier to read as well as being more pleasant to see.
Rating: Bad.
8. NPCs. Great concepts. Don't want to spoil this... so here is a tip: if you're a GM, read Camp NPC writeups. Worth using anywhere.
Disclaimer: this is cursory reading and I am not the "John Cooper" type of person (even though I still admire his zeal), so if any of these advanced NPCs contain errors, it's not something I have problem with.
Rating: Very good.
9. New spells. Two particularly stand out: Condemned (no cures for you... no channels for you... however, there is no mention about interaction with regeneration/fast healing or heal) and Unholy Channel (Relics and Rituals spells, inverted version - basically, remote healing ability for undead). Both are very good and powerful under right circumstances. However, there are certain potential issues which may require GM to make rulings for them.
Rating: Good. May need some work.
10. Content throughout: very creative, imaginative and evocative. I know I should give some more weight to more words so (trying hard to avoid spoilers):
This is Necromancer product and this is Necromancer product writing quality. Also, check #8.
33 pages - breakdown (cannot give a table of contents as there isn't any):
- cover - p. 1
(no blank page inside)
- credits - p. 2
- internal cover for part 1 - p. 3
- introduction - p. 4 to p. 7
- the meat of the book - p. 8 to p. 29
- maps - p. 30 to p. 32
- legal appendix (OGL and designation of PI) - p. 33
Rating: Very good.
11. Maps: not many as this is just an entry point for the real thing. Very usable, won't break your printers (though printing them may be an overkill).
Rating: Good.
12. Legal appendix:
And to have a taste of sources used for this publication, here is section 15 of the product:
Looks like those who loved Scarred Lands are in for indirect treat!
(no rating for this section)
Summary
For current price ($2.00 over PayPal) - you cannot miss it.
For overall price (subscription premium) - fine [1], but the editorial problems are somewhat irritating. The delivery should have been delayed by a week and run through someone who would spot obvious issues.
Replace "fine" with "great" if the bookmarks are added.
Replace "great" with "outstanding" if the rest of editorial problems are cleaned.
Regards,
Ruemere
[1] At this moment, at the pinnacle of PDF publication editing skills, I would place Sue Weinlein Cook (for Ptolus, Banewarrens and others - this lady has produced probably the most usable and legible PDFs ever, in addition to clear bookmarking and the books themselves being very easy on PDF reading speed) ex aequo with Paizo Publishing team (since the credits did not specify who actually did the layouting, I will just applaud the whole crew) (bookmarks, cross-references, indices, a bit slow to render).
Last edited:
Ruemere, thanks for the insights. As a non-layout guy myself, a lot of this is new to me. I am going to forward this link to our layout guy to see if we can do anything about some of this stuff in the future, so thanks for pointing it out.
One quick note about TOC. There will be one in the final hardcover book to make it easier to use. Due to the length and digital format of the individual chapters we are not including one in them individually. I'll see what we can do about bookmarks though to help with that.
Thanks for the review, and I hope the future chapters don't disappoint.
One quick note about TOC. There will be one in the final hardcover book to make it easier to use. Due to the length and digital format of the individual chapters we are not including one in them individually. I'll see what we can do about bookmarks though to help with that.
Thanks for the review, and I hope the future chapters don't disappoint.
Charles Wright
First Post
Fantastic review, Ruemere!
Thank you for your honest critique, rest assured that your points will not go ignored.
Thank you for your honest critique, rest assured that your points will not go ignored.
