[Bastion Press] First Preview of Wildwood now available!

[Ghostwind]

The first preview of Bastion Press' upcoming book, Wildwood is now available for download. This little tidbit gives readers a glimpse into the Forbidden Forest.

http://www.oathbound.net/modules/mydownloads/

"Dark legends reach out across the ages to speak of a forested land ruled over by the might of an ancient and powerful creature. Known as Haiel, he visits the shores of other lands to whisk away the brave and show them fear, experience terror, and prove their worthiness and cunning. Adventuring companies, villages, and even entire civilizations have been swept into the Wildwood. The few pockets of humanity scattered throughout this untamed wilderness struggle to survive. Countless hordes of fearsome predators and foul beasts—including the green dragon Mastuu Dargus—freely roam through the twisted, overgrown forests and jungles of Wildwood, preying on the weak and unwary. Yet, concealed within the dense greenery of this heartless domain lies a wealth of undiscovered mysteries and limitless riches for those brave enough to navigate the endless gauntlet of horrifying monsters and lethal dangers. Behind it all is the harsh and cruel master of the lands, Haiel, manipulating all of those within his domain."

Wildwood may be used as a standalone campaign setting or to expand your game into the familiar domain for the Oathbound world.

 

[DMH]

So when might we bash down doors and buy this book?!?

 

[DaveMage]

I think it's extremely cruel to have a color preview if the book is in black and white!

Looking forward to it, Steve!

 

[Ghostwind]

Just wait till you see the maps. We should have those available for download shortly.

 

[tf360]

The maps are absolutely incredible and should be available for download shortly. As far as a specific release date, my best estimate is mid to late April. I know it's been a very long wait but it will be worth it. Much of the delay hinged upon completing the 3.5 update to the core Oathbound book, which is also nearing its conclusion. What seemed like a simple update turned into a major renovation.

 

[Razuur]

Updating Oathbound CS for 3.5 for print? or PDF only?

Same art and text?

Keep those Oathbound products coming....

 

[Teneb]

The 3.5 conversion will be PDF, as far as I'm aware. Conceivably, if there was absolutely crazy demand, there could be a print run, but I find that highly unlikely (unfortunate, but true). The text should be mainly the same, the mechanics were obviously tweaked to match 3.5. There's been some discussion of different art, but I don't know if any decision has been made on that front.

 

[tf360]

As it stands, the Oathbound CS 3.5 will be pdf only unless as Teneb pointed out, demand clearly warrants it. If that's the case, any reprint would probably be on a print on demand basis.

Nearly all of the flavor text remains unchanged, except for edits and corrections. The mechanical aspects will be updated to 3.5 including major revisions to some of the races and prestige classes. Prestige races are still being debated although changes are also likely in that arena as well. As far as art goes, there may be a few changes to individual pieces, but redoing all of the art for what in most likelihood is going to be a pdf release only is far too cost prohibitive. I know that interior art for Oathbound CS has been a topic of debate on these boards more than once, but the vast majority of the art will remain. It's simply a matter of cost.

 

[Razuur]

I love the art in the original Oathbound setting. It made it really unique and alien.

I have no qualms with it going.

Sad though, I wish Oathbound was doing better than it apparently is.

Razuur

 

[Ghostwind]

Oathbound is doing a respectable figure as far as sales go, but when you look at the costs of development, redoing art and releasing a new print version costs vs. likely income from sales, it just isn't a good business decision. The market simply isn't supportive of it, specifically from the retailers and distributors (who are reluctant to make additional reorders beyond the initial one), at this time.

However, to shed a little good news about Bastion, in the March issue of Comics & Games Retailer, Bastion Press was number ten in the rankings of average unit sales for retailers' best-selling roleplaying games. These rankings would reflect sales only for the month of December and are based on the number of retailers who reported and, more specifically, what they reported to the magazine for that month's sales. Prior to this issue, Bastion has never made the Top 20.

This means that more gamers are talking to their local retailers and asking that they carry more Bastion products and that those gamers are then buying the products. So there is improvement but gamers still have to do more if they want to see future Bastion products on the retailers' shelves. You have to create a demand that the retailer will react to accordingly. Do that and you could one day see color products from Bastion again.