Dragon 334, Malhavoc's Surprise = Ptolus

[Cergorach]

Platypus City... I think i mispelled something... Ptolus City (how the heck do you pronounce that?) sounds like an interesting city book. The invisible floating pyramid reminds me of the movie Immortel, weird as hell, but most impressive indeed.

If Monte keeps to the regular game plan, there's going to be a pdf. A pdf means copy/paste and that means you have all the tools to make your own gazeteer. I prefer making my own world guides for players (if we don't play in FR or are suddenly dumped in a completely new one), it allows me to keep the character in mind, or even append the world guide after the characters have been made (a knowledge relegion gives your more knowledge about the pantheon and temples, etc.).

Price: Arcana Evolved was 432 pages, hardcover, full color, for $50. I expect a 640 pagebook to cost $60-$65 Adding 208 pages to such an already large book don't drive up the printing costs that much.

Who's doing the art!?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Been reading the Ptolus info on his site all day and I have to say, this sounds like a very good world. The only place I'd branch away from it, and it's a matter of taste, is that I prefer worlds on the upswing, rather than the down. The world of Ptolus is heading towards a dark age, it seems, and while that's heroic, I prefer worlds on the cusp of their Age of Enlightenment.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Hi Everyone,
I have not followed this thread in its entirety so please excuse me if this has been answered elsewhere.

I understand that the big malhavoc surprise is the City of Ptolus. However, when is it slated for release?

I have had the Banewarrens adventure pretty much since it came out and I have been so eager to run my group through it. We have 6 DMs out of 7 players so getting my game in and the characters to 6th has taken a little while . However, in a fortnight's time, the group will be landing at the southern gates of Ptolus.

I have re-statted the thing to 3.5 (using the new DMGII stat layout), produced the dungeons on cardstock and balsa wood for our group's miniatures and sharpened the story up a little. I gather this Ptolus book won't be coming out for quite a while though.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Are the Banewarrens one of the dungeons below Ptolus? Hmmm.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I think it's coming out next year.

 

[yangnome]

Gencon 2006 as far as I understand it.

 

[GVDammerung]

I’ve been reading along with this thread. When people were speculating as to the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, I jokingly said to myself, "Monte is going to announce that he is having himself bronzed, and Mona is going to then announce that he is sewing his head to the carpet." Turns out, I was closer to the truth than I imagined.

Ptolus. Big city. Big magic. Big Dungeon. Big deal. Whuppty ding dong doo. Pimped in the Dragon. Surprise. Surprise.

I have never been a "fan" of Monte’s designs in the sense that I do not think he is head and shoulders above other designers. He is a good designer, and there are a number of those, but not the best. His prose can too often be torpid and his designs overly cautious in their execution, IMO.

I am a fan of city campaigns going back to the original City State, Chaosium’s Thieves’ World (Sanctuary), maybe peaking with Lankhmar, City of Adventure by Ken Rolston, Doug Niles and Bruce Nesmith, continuing through Waterdeep, Carl Sargent’s Middenheim, Huzuz (Al-Qadim, City of Delights) and most recently Shadizar for the Conan RPG and Sharn (Eberron), plus a number of other, IMO, lesser lights. So, I have interest in Ptolus just because it is an urban setting, I think.

I find it hard to immediately fathom, however, how Ptolus is going to outdo or join the above roll call of great urban campaign settings. It seems easier to imagine Monte is "bronzing" his home game and selling it as "the 3rd Edition campaign shaped by the rules, where the rules were shaped." Mona is, of course, just using the Dragon/Dungeon, again, to shamelessly pimp his favorites’ rides. Nepotism by any other name - "Downer" etc.

I will give Ptolus a chance.

I will hope at its whopping size it will be mapped to the Nth degree - city street plan (every city), city roof plan (Sanctuary), city sewers (City State), block geomorphs (Lankhmar), important buildings (Sanctuary/City Books) etc..

Beyond taking the best of what has gone before and putting it at the service of a single urban environment, I will hope Monte has something new to say about urban campaign settings.

I hope it is not a "world" setting, as I was completely unimpressed with the Diamond Throne world and would have no interest in a 640 page Diamond Throne for nearly $100 or so.

Time will tell.

 

[Wraith Form]

And a 640-page book is absolutely the wrong way to go with a setting book. Really, setting designers gotta get it in their heads one of these days that it's all good and well to sell an ultra-detailed setting book for a DM to pore over, but the players who come to the table knowing nothing about the world need a primer that answers all their basic questions--in particular, "what's cool or fun about playing in this particular world"?

Yeah, exactly. I'd also like to echo the previous poster's "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz".

 

[Acid_crash]

I don't know Ptolus...but I like Monte's style...

so I'm going to buy Ptolus next year.

 

[Razz]

What I'm more interested in is what's in Dragon #334 and could ya tell me what the previews for Dragon #335 is please? Thanks.