Dreadmire - Necromancer Involvement? Reviews?

[DM_Jeff]

OK, I'm reading this promotional stuff about this giant d20 book on FRP Games called Dreadmire. Does anyone have this or can comment on it or the author? There's a lot of names on there claiming it to be great, but I don't recognize any of them.

http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=27577

What also caught my eye was the following: "There were some false starts and delays before Dreadmire came to print. First I submitted it to Necromancer Games, but we had creative differences and parted ways."

Wonder what that was all about? It seems like he did a lot of work, but something about this, in the back of my head, yells "warning-danger will robinson." Has anyone actually seen or purchased this book in person?

-DM Jeff

 

[Pinotage]

I believe there are a couple of reviews here on ENWorld. I seem to have seen some in the past. There have also been a few threads about this, though I can't remember the details. Perhaps somebody can dig them up.

Pinotage

 

[DM_Jeff]

You're right, I found them, thank you. Also did a bit of searching on Google and discovered a lot of weirdness surrounding this book. I don't know how I missed it, apparently the book is nearly 2 years old and I never heard anything before this? The author's comments on places like Amazon give me even greater pause, and I'll certainly not be putting money out for this

Still, if anyone could dig up those threads or more info, I'd be appreciative.

-DM Jeff

 

[Crothian]

It's just a lot of drama that really does not need to be revisited. Since you are not personally involved I wouldn't worry about it at all.

As for the book, I liked it. It is mechanics heavy so if you plan to upgrade it would take work.

 

[BluSponge]

The writer is a long-known plagirist whose manuscript to Necromancer was full of (by his own admission) thinly veiled Greyhawk references. After learning about this, and doing their own subsequent fact checking, Necromancer Games parted ways with the author.

Furthermore, the company that now publishes Dreadmire claims to have once been in the book publishing biz, but no one can find a record of the books they claim to have published. While they claim this is because Katrina wiped out their old warehouse, there is no record of said books on hand at the Library of Congress. This has led many (including myself) to believe that the company is nothing more than a fiction for the writer to give his work "legitimacy." This is not so ridiculous an assumption given the guy's track record.

If you poke around the Necromancer games forums and the Canonfire site, you'll find the whole sordid story. So, by all means, don't take my word for it. There are plenty of folks far more respected in these parts that will tell you the same thing.

Tom

 

[DaveMage]

Yeah, Jeff, this is a can of worms you might not want to open.


(But if you are *really* curious e-mail or PM me and I'll give you some links.)

 

[Voadam]

It was also recently put up on rpgnow as a pdf. If it was significantly cheaper I'd consider getting it for the monsters and other things it says are in there.

 

[takasi]

How strange, I just saw the link to this for RPGNow and considered purchasing it. I've been running the Mere of Dead Men series for the past five months and wanted more material. However, Bayou halfling boat races? Is this book really something I'd want in my campaign?

Does anyone have other suggestions for swamp material? I already have Monster Geographica: Marsh & Aquatic.

 

[DM_Jeff]

The writer is a long-known plagirist whose manuscript to Necromancer was full of (by his own admission) thinly veiled Greyhawk references. After learning about this, and doing their own subsequent fact checking, Necromancer Games parted ways with the author.

THAT's right, that sounds familiar now. Oofah. Thanks folks for the proper steering!

Does anyone have other suggestions for swamp material? I already have Monster Geographica: Marsh & Aquatic.

As chance would have it (I must have swamp on the karma) I was running randomly over my D&D collection, and decided Secrets of the Alubelok Coast for the Kingdoms of Kalamar had sat there for too long, and now I am having a very nice read tonight. It's not huge on crunch, but that's not why I enjoy Kalamar anyway, it's culturally deep and filled with good ideas. Nice maps, too. So far so good.

-DM Jeff

 

[Greg V]

It's really quite entertaining.

The controversy, I mean (having watched the whole sordid affair evolve over the messageboards like a slow-motion train wreck)...I don't have the book, though.