Dragon 334, Malhavoc's Surprise = Ptolus

[Gold Roger]

Re

This really makes sense to me and I may at least take a close look at it.

One thing is that i remember what monte said was the first goal when creating ptolus:
A setting that is completely adjustet to 3rd edition rules. That's where the "at the heart of 3rd edition" comment comes from and addresses the problem I've had with 3rd Edition for a long time: It makes no sense in most settings.

The second thing is that it was allready said that its not the content of the product, but the presentation that should be great and set new standarts. Thats interesting.

 

[JediSoth]

I really didn't believe JediSoth.

I guess I don't post enough to have established any sort of credibility. I can say for myself though, that I don't speculate much about upcoming products. I was always the type of person in school to never answer a question unless I was absolutely sure I was right (of course, sometimes I was still wrong). But hardly anyone here would know that about me.

In coming months, Monte-bashers will call this project self-aggrandizement.

This strikes me as funny. It seems they would say that about anything he writes, because it's something he's interested in and that doesn't jive with what they're interested in. The kicker is: why in the world would he write, for his OWN company, about something he's not interested in?

I'm looking forward to Ptolus. I like campaign settings and city books, if nothing more than for ideas they provide me. And though I may get bashed for this, I like much of what Monte produces. Most of it goes well with the type of campaign that I run (not all of it though).

JediSoth

 

[Erekose13]

Rock on! Thanks JediSoth for the announcement. Got any more copy from it that you want to share, maybe just a couple of highlights so as not to spoil the whole article.

 

[reveal]

Yeah, you know, at this point, that would be my reaction too.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of months where I can talk a lot more about this product and hopefully show that it's really not like anything that's been done in the game industry so far. There's a lot of info in the Dragon article, and there will be a LOT more in coming months at our website.

At this point, I'm not terribly thrilled about it, as I've said before. However, I will be paying attention to it in the coming months and, you never know, it may turn out to be a "must have" product.

 

[seankreynolds]

Monte's pretty up-front about the fact that he wants his D&D setting served up like one big over-the-top Star Wars cantina. That's not really for me. I don't want my gamers to feel like they're in a place that's too bizarre and inaccessable for them to really ever immerse themselves.

I played in the Praemal/Ptolus campaign for four years, and I never felt that the world was too bizarre or inaccessible for me to immerse myself in it.

 

[Ozmar]

I actually was speculating something of this nature on the Ryan Dancey "products other than rulebooks" thread.

I could easily see Monte using Ptolus as a vehicle to present an ultra-detailed gaming experience right out of the box. That's a hugely attractive proposition, however you feel about Ptolus itself.

If that's the case, it's a way of selling adventures in such a way that publishers can make money off them, and gamers can enjoy them. The computer gaming industry makes money selling consoles (gaming mechanics, if you will). They then make money selling toolkits of rules combined with interface and story (programs). That's an interesting paradigm for the RPG industry to consider emulating. To draw an analogy, if 3e is an Atari 2600, maybe Ptolus is "Combat." As to why Ptolus? Well...why not? Since it was Monte's campaign while 3e was in development, 3e was sorta designed for Ptolus. So if any setting can be viewed as a program for 3e, it's Ptolus.

If I'm right, and it succeeds, I predict we'll all be marking it as the moment that RPGs turned a corner.

Jeez! I've got to be one of the biggest Monte fanboys out there (if buying and loving everything he writes qualifies for that status), but still, what is up with this, JohnSnow? We all know he's a genius, but I'm amazed at how much faith you put in him with this. You make it sound like he's developing the Second Coming of the RPG hobby. And based on what? A few months of obscure hints (Monte's a master of many things, including building anticipation) and a product announcement for a really big city book?

I don't intend this to be a rant or a put-down (and I apologize in advance if I come across that way), but I would like to caution us all against creating unreasonable expectations for this project. To do so risks disappointment on what may be an otherwise fine gaming product simply because it doesn't reform all your troublesome players and teach you how to metaphorically walk on water. I am not sure what to expect, and look forward to hearing more about it, but I definitely don't think we should expect (at this point) that it will remake all RPGs as we know them.

(Reserving the right to change my opinion as future details are revealed.

Ozmar the Cautious Fanboy

 

[Tolen Mar]

At this point, I'm not terribly thrilled about it, as I've said before. However, I will be paying attention to it in the coming months and, you never know, it may turn out to be a "must have" product.

What he said.

On the other hand, I felt much the same way about Arcana Unearthed and it far exceeded my expectations when I finally got to read the book.

I like Monte's work, I use most of it. But every once in a while, one comes out that just doesnt do anything for me. I dont know much about Ptolus...so this really at the moment doesn't do much for me. But Ill look at the previews as they come out and we'll see if he can't change my mind by next year.

 

[GrayLinnorm]

If someone has already gotten this month's Dragon, could they PLEASE tell us what else is in it?

 

[Len]

(I mis-posted, so I'll have to edit this into something relevant.)

It's good to see Ptolus coming out as a product, since Monte has put so much work into it over the years, but I don't think anyone in my group will be interested in "yet another campaign setting".

As for it being too bizarre, it doesn't seem any more bizarre than "normal" D&D or the Forgotten Realms or whatever. It's just different from most D&D settings. But if it was similar to other settings there would be absolutely no point in publishing it.

 

[Selganor]

I have #334 in my hands. It's............................Ptolus.

Full-color. 640 pages. Sweetness.

JediSoth

I am not through this thread, but I somehow thought it would be Ptolus at page 3-4 of the thread...

So... Any other mysteries I should try to "divine"?