Sell me on Burning Sky.

[Menexenus]

I'm a frugal gamer who likes the concept of purchasing Adventure Paths and who is generally happy to help support ENWorld (and its affiliated publishing division). But if I can buy a year's subscription to Dungeon for less than $40, why would I pay $50 for The War of the Burning Sky adventure path?

Some might say that if I pre-order, I can get it for less than a subscription to Dungeon. That's a fair point. But consider all the extra added value that I get from a subscription to Dungeon beyond just the adventure path. I get the occasional interesting article, the occasional fold-out map, the occasional funny cartoon, the occasional useful side-quest module, color illustrations, and a hard-copy of the adventure that I don't have to print out myself.

As I think about everything that I'm getting from a subscription from Dungeon, I'm becoming more and more skeptical that purchasing the War of the Burning Sky is a good deal for me. But maybe there are aspects of the War of the Burning Sky that I am unaware of that make it a better deal. So sell me on it! As a frugal comparison shopper, why should I buy the War of the Burning Sky? What value can I get from it that improves upon the value of a subscription to Dungeon (making the subscription to the Burning Sky worth the additional cost)?

Thanks.

 

[Crothian]

Maybe it isn't a good deal for you. I don't get dungeon because that's not a good deal for me. With Burning Sky I went ahead and got the preorder price and I doubt I'll ever actually run it. But I like the way it sounds and I like the writers. It might be best to wait until the first one comes out and see what people say.

 

[Crothian]

The DM and players guide are also now avaliable for free now.

 

[RangerWickett]

If you're motivated by low price rather than by interest in the content of the adventure, sure, there's not much to recommend War of the Burning Sky over a Dungeon subscription. They've been doing this longer, and economies of scale let them produce things much more cheaply than we can. But I'm confident we have a great set of adventures that let the players guide an epic story, and I think the difference of a few bucks over the course of a year is worth getting a look at a new campaign.

If you're not sure you'll like it, just purchase the first adventure. It'll be out before the end of the month, and you'll be able to see whether the campaign grabs you.

Versus Dungeon, we do have a few benefits because we're all-digital. With each adventure we'll provide an appendix of NPC stats which you can print out easily, or edit and finagle with if you need to adjust the adventure for your setting. If we make an error, we can fix it quickly, and we don't have to worry so much about limited page counts, so the adventures can have as much detail as we think is necessary.

Ultimately, you should just buy the first adventure either way. If you're asking this question, that means you're at least considering that it might be a good deal. And I'm confident you'll like what you see.

 

[Morrus]

Well, the first adventure isn't out yet, so it's hard to get objective opinions on it. Obviously, we think it's really good. But perhaps waiting until others have seen some of it might be a good idea?

On the supplemental stuff front, we're putting out tons of it - as much as Dungeon, albeit all digital. You'll start seeing that stuff appearing.

You could also download the Player's Guide and the Campaign Guide. They'll give you an idea of what to expect, and they're both free.

In the long run, I think, the real question is whether the Burning Sky Campaign Saga "grabs" you. And if it does, does it "grab" you as much as other things? Because exra cartoons and stuff are nice, but the real focus here, the thing you'll be doing with it for over a year, is playing it. So, if you have to choose one or t'other, I think the decision is best based on "What grabs me most for a year's gaming?" - and that's a subjective call only you can answer.

 

[Treebore]

One thing I have been hearing complaints about is that the backstory demands too much to be easily fit into camapign settings that are in use.

I know from reading it I wouldn't want to try and fit it into any camapign worlds I use, such as Greyhawk, Faerun, Erde, Kalamar, Aeroth, and the Wilderlands.

The only way I could see using this is "going off the map" of the setting I am using. Which is fine with me, but I know many won't like to do that or simply won't do that. They'll just pass on this product instead.

So you guys need to show people how to use it in various settings. How the back story can be altered to fit. Heck, write them up for the customer.

So have ENWorld's backstory, then provide write-ups of alternate backstories that can allow this to be fit in various settings you know about.

Then make sure to advertise this prominantly. People will write it off without looking any further after reading the "premise" of this AP, so put this bit of advertising even before the "description".

 

[Morrus]

So have ENWorld's backstory, then provide write-ups of alternate backstories that can allow this to be fit in various settings you know about.

We can't. The published settings are not our Product Identity. Best we can do is vague guidelines, whch are in the Campaign Guide, but there's ony so much we can say without mentioning any names or places.

People will write it off without looking any further after reading the "premise" of this AP

They're not.

 

[Crothian]

We can't. The published settings are not our Product Identity. Best we can do is vague guidelines, whch are in the Campaign Guide, but there's ony so much we can say without mentioning any names or places.

However, can't you encourage posters to come up with creative ways to set Burning Sky in the RElams or other setting and just post it on the message boards? And Couldn't you guys do the same as long as it is not published but just like every other thread we have that includes PI.

 

[Morrus]

However, can't you encourage posters to come up with creative ways to set Burning Sky in the RElams or other setting and just post it on the message boards? And Couldn't you guys do the same as long as it is not published but just like every other thread we have that includes PI.

I'd be delighted if other posters did so!

We can't do it, though, even on the boards, because if we do it it's promotional text, which the licenses apply to, too. But we could respond to specific questions.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I'd be delighted if other posters did so!

We can't do it, though, even on the boards, because if we do it it's promotional text, which the licenses apply to, too. But we could respond to specific questions.

And this right here is realy why I would buy WotBS. Can you really ask specific questions of Dungeon Magazine authors? [Perhaps you can, then this whole point is moot]

But I know several of the authors have already said that they would respond to specific questions within their module. It was said on another thread ... link escapes me, but I'm sure Morris or RW have it at hand. If you are prepping an adventure or even a single session you can get help right here from the minds that dreamed the adventure up!

There's no cost to that. No cost at all. I'd even trade that over a funny cartoon! (so long as it wasn't OotS. Then it'd be a tough choice ... no offense intended to the authors of WotBS, of course.)