Atlas Update?

[JoeGKushner]

So what are the new D20 products planned from Atlas? More adventurers? Sourcebooks or combo books? Any more crossover products planned?

 

[JohnNephew]

Apparently our web updates have been a bit slow to get uploaded...

Here is our release calendar for the upcoming several months, D20 and otherwise:

July

AG6020 Unknown Armies 2nd Edition Hardcover (ISBN 1-58978-013-2), $39.95
A Hardcover Core RPG Rulebook by Greg Stolze and John Tynes (starting to hit stores right about now)

AG4007 On Location: The Feng Shui GM Screen (ISBN 1-58978-024-8), $17.95
A Feng Shui Supplement by Jeff Tidball

August

AG3700 Nyambe: African Adventures (ISBN 1-58978-023-X), $37.95
A Hardcover D20 Sourcebook by Christopher Dolunt

September

AG3215 Unhallowed Halls (ISBN 1-58978-022-1), $16.95
A Penumbra D20 Adventure by Christina Stiles

AG0269 Blood & Sand: The Levant Tribunal (ISBN 1-58978-025-6), $29.95
An Ars Magica Sourcebook by Niall Christie

October

AG3216 Lean & Hungry (ISBN 1-58978-026-4), $12.95
A Penumbra D20 Adventure by Chad Brouillard

AG4008 Thorns of the Lotus (ISBN 1-58978-028-0), $27.95
A Feng Shui Sourcebook by Rich Warren

 

[JohnNephew]

So what are the new D20 products planned from Atlas? More adventurers? Sourcebooks or combo books? Any more crossover products planned?

To answer more directly: We have Nyambe in August; then we have two adventures in September and October. Beyond that, I am expecting a city-based campaign for November (by David Chart, known in D20 circles for the Akrasia book from Eden) and, we hope, the enormous Bestiary in December.

We have a lot of really cool and, IMHO, innovative projects in the work for 2003, but we're not quite ready to blab about them. (We tend to wait on formal announcements until 4 months before release, in an effort to cut down on missed release dates and the like -- the farther out you make commitments, the more likely curve balls get tossed your way and mess up your plans...)

 

[JoeGKushner]

An enormious beastiary eh? Now that sounds promising. I'm looking forward towards African Adventurers as something to read. Don't get me wrong, I love alternative settings but players quickly wear out the new feel and move back to the old stomping grounds. (Looks at piles of OA and L5R books...)

 

[JohnNephew]

Nyambe is really cool -- I hope you have had a chance to download the free Player's Lorebook from www.nyambe.com to check out a taste of what it's like. The finished book is loaded with things from classes to feats, monsters, magic items -- all kinds of goodness that I hope will be of use to people who aren't even planning to use the setting itself.

The Bestiary is looking really huge. We're trying to figure out details like the page count. 352 pp is our working guess -- maybe more.

Earlier today I also sent out the details on the November campaign/sourcebook, Shattered Peace, to our distributors. It should be up on our website soon, I hope.

 

[JoeGKushner]

352 pages or more? Sheesh. I can tell that's going to be another $30+ book. Black & White I take it?

Can you tell me which type of format it'll most closely follow based on some of the Monster Manual style books currently out? Will it be 1 creature to a page, 1 creature to however many pages it takes, etc...

Will creatures playable as races have racial traits as those in Liber Bestarius do? (Great job on most of 'em. Little disappointed that the ones with medium playability didn't all have that info.)

 

[JohnNephew]

Yeah, it's going to be an expensive one, I'm afraid. At this point the plan is to go B&W for the interior.

I think our layout is going to be a little different from the usual, based on experimenting we've been doing, but the basic plan is to have each monster be its own 1 (or more) page. However, Michelle has also been working on consolidating entries, as one way to do this while still saving some space (similar to the way the MM has the oozes all as one entry, for example).

I honestly don't know the answer on the racial traits question (though it sounds like a good idea). The last I actually did work on the project myself, before handing it off to Michelle, was more than a year ago...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well it'll be fun to see the final result of all the hard work. I love monster books mainly because they A. Help spice up encounters and B. Provide fertile seeds for further games.

I agree with some that monsters variants were originally designed to increase resistance when the normal orc wouldn't cut it any more, you went to a black orc, or something of that nature but with levels and various classes now available for different creatures, it makes designers look more carefuly at what's needed. Makes a nice bit of variety.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

352 pages? Whew, glad I'm getting a copy free as a contributor, this way it gets mailed to my home and I don't have to worry about throwing my back out carrying it home from the gaming shop

 

[Mixmaster]

John,

Thanks for the information. Will copies be available at GenCon??