Fiery Dragon's plans for 2004

[Klaus]

I'm looking forward to the summoning counters.

Will it have short stat blocks for all the critters? It is pretty easy to use the base creature out of the MM and slap on the fiendish and celestial templates but it is still an extra step for a DM/player in the middle of combat that quick stat blocks would eliminate.

If not with the counters themselves, perhaps as a web enhancement?

We talked about doing that as a web-enhancement, so it's quite possible.

 

[Fiery James]

I'm looking forward to the summoning counters.

Will it have short stat blocks for all the critters? It is pretty easy to use the base creature out of the MM and slap on the fiendish and celestial templates but it is still an extra step for a DM/player in the middle of combat that quick stat blocks would eliminate.

If not with the counters themselves, perhaps as a web enhancement?

Yeah, what Claudio said. It's not that we don't want to add more stuff -- it's just that we can't. Really, the Summoned Creature tin is so crammed full that there is literally no more room. Not for another slip of paper, not for another 1 inch counter, none.

I cannot guarantee it, but I'm fairly certain that the Summoned Creatures counter collection could stop a bullet. It's gonna cost us a fortune to ship, but what the heck -- we like the challenge!

- James

 

[allenw]

I'm looking forward to the summoning counters.

Will it have short stat blocks for all the critters? It is pretty easy to use the base creature out of the MM and slap on the fiendish and celestial templates but it is still an extra step for a DM/player in the middle of combat that quick stat blocks would eliminate.

If not with the counters themselves, perhaps as a web enhancement?

Note that stat blocks for all 3.5 SRD Summonable creatures, organized by spell, can be found at http://www.greyhawkonline.com/smetzger/ (the new web address of Yoyodyne Technolgies).

p.s. So, when are the release dates for Counter Collections 6 and Gold?

 

[Fiery James]

Latest Releases

Note that stat blocks for all 3.5 SRD Summonable creatures, organized by spell, can be found at http://www.greyhawkonline.com/smetzger/ (the new web address of Yoyodyne Technolgies).

p.s. So, when are the release dates for Counter Collections 6 and Gold?

The Summoned Creatures collection is shipping to distribution as we speak, and should be available at finer retail outlets over the next two weeks! Really, I'm holding a copy in my hand right now! It looks amazing, and feels great. It weighs in at one pound. Brutal shipping cost, but the heft of the thing just feels so...impressive.

GOLD will be out in one more month, near the end of April.

It should be noted that there won't be any repetition between these two collections, so if you want dire creatures and dinosaurs, get the Summoned Creature pack. If you're looking for (just about) everything else, get Gold. Or, actually, get both!

(The Summoned Creature pack also contains the counters for some new familiars, with stats available on our site).

- JB

 

[allenw]

The Summoned Creatures collection is shipping to distribution as we speak, and should be available at finer retail outlets over the next two weeks!
GOLD will be out in one more month, near the end of April.
It should be noted that there won't be any repetition between these two collections, so if you want dire creatures and dinosaurs, get the Summoned Creature pack. If you're looking for (just about) everything else, get Gold. Or, actually, get both!
- JB

Thanks for the quick response! You gave me exactly the information I was looking for, as I was considering ordering one or both from Warehouse 23 (which lists them both as coming out March 15; might want to have that updated), but now I know not to order Gold yet (it would slow down the order). I advise posting this information other places as well, such as your site.

I do have a few other comments and suggestions (hopefully constructive):

1: I fully understand the decision (and probably practical necessity) to have Summoned Creatures and Gold not overlap in content. However, note that your publicity (both the above-mentioned "plans for 2004" article on your website, and the Warehouse 23 order page (http://www.warehouse23.com/item.cgi?FDP4013)) explicitly says otherwise: "Counter Collection Gold is the natural progression from Counter Collection I and II, taking all the creatures from the SRD and updating them to their 3.5 sizing." You'll need to publically correct that claim quick, or else you're going to have some mighty dissatisfied Gold customers, and lose potential customers for Summoned Creatures (who decide to wait for Gold to come out rather than get Summoned Creatures, under the assumption that everything in S.C. will also be in Gold).

2: Your Products page (http://www.fierydragon.com/Products/products.htm) still lists S.C. as coming out in February, and Gold as coming out in March, and the page count for both is "4+10" (presumably incorrect, though more likely than the "8" shown at Warehouse 23). Also, none of the "Available Now" links to Warehouse 23 work properly.

3: There's quite a few critters covered by the Summon Monster spells (and some by Summon Nature's Ally) that aren't dire animals or dinosaurs. I assume they, too, will be in S.C. but not Gold? Will the various Celestial/Fiendish animals from Summon Monster be visibly Celestial/Fiendish in S.C.? Will the "normal" animals be in Gold?

4: I assume that Gold won't include every size of every dragon. What sizes/types will it have?

Thanks again.
-Allen W.

 

[Fiery James]

Thanks for the quick response! You gave me exactly the information I was looking for, as I was considering ordering one or both from Warehouse 23 (which lists them both as coming out March 15; might want to have that updated), but now I know not to order Gold yet (it would slow down the order). I advise posting this information other places as well, such as your site.

I do have a few other comments and suggestions (hopefully constructive):

1: I fully understand the decision (and probably practical necessity) to have Summoned Creatures and Gold not overlap in content. However, note that your publicity (both the above-mentioned "plans for 2004" article on your website, and the Warehouse 23 order page (http://www.warehouse23.com/item.cgi?FDP4013)) explicitly says otherwise: "Counter Collection Gold is the natural progression from Counter Collection I and II, taking all the creatures from the SRD and updating them to their 3.5 sizing." You'll need to publically correct that claim quick, or else you're going to have some mighty dissatisfied Gold customers, and lose potential customers for Summoned Creatures (who decide to wait for Gold to come out rather than get Summoned Creatures, under the assumption that everything in S.C. will also be in Gold).

2: Your Products page (http://www.fierydragon.com/Products/products.htm) still lists S.C. as coming out in February, and Gold as coming out in March, and the page count for both is "4+10" (presumably incorrect, though more likely than the "8" shown at Warehouse 23). Also, none of the "Available Now" links to Warehouse 23 work properly.

3: There's quite a few critters covered by the Summon Monster spells (and some by Summon Nature's Ally) that aren't dire animals or dinosaurs. I assume they, too, will be in S.C. but not Gold? Will the various Celestial/Fiendish animals from Summon Monster be visibly Celestial/Fiendish in S.C.? Will the "normal" animals be in Gold?

4: I assume that Gold won't include every size of every dragon. What sizes/types will it have?

Thanks again.
-Allen W.

Curse you, Allen! Stop paying attention!

Here's my preface: We're just finishing up the CC:Gold layout, so everything's still a little fluid. Truthfully, we had fully intended to include everything possible in the Gold Collection -- except maybe the Tarrasque, which just won't fit. (Look for Web Downloads on that and possibly some of the bigger creatures to make up for this). However, there are a lot of creatures in the SRD, and it turns out that not all of them are Tiny or Small sized! So, in order to actually cram everyone in, we're going to have to make some sacrifices.

For me, the easiest thing to do (at this point) is remove some of the repeated creatures that are in the Summoned Creatures collection. That thing is full -- and it's done, so I know what I'm working with. The Summoned Creatures collection will be the source for all the appendix stuff -- animals and vermin. It's also got all of the dire animals, dinosaurs, and mephits, so I think that we'll just leave them in that collection. We could really stretch things and include them in CC:Gold, but then we'd likely have to lose something else and really limit the humanoids (wow, I got 1 orc! Great!)

So, we've had to compromise a bit and leave some critters out of the Gold Collection -- but only the ones released in the Summoned Creatures collection.

As to your direct questions:

1) Yes, we will have to update those things. To be fair (I'm cheating here), those were our announced plans -- we did plan to have that all in there, but we've since changed plans.

2) Yeah, we have to update our product pages. I've just created a complete (and reliable) catalogue for 2004 for the GAMA Trade Show next week. I will use that info (now that everything's finally set up) to update the website. I mean, we still list Of Sound Mind 2 and Beyond All Reason on there -- and I can't really say when those will appear. (Some day, but not this day).

3) No, the celestial/fiendish animals aren't visibly different than normal animals. We like to think that this broadens the potential use of each counter, and it saves us some space recreating the same critter without adding a glowing aura or something to distinguise. Animals will (at this point) likely not be featured in Gold so that we can add dragons and monsters to the mix.

4) What sizes/types of dragons would you like to see? I'm setting that up right now, and very interested in input.

In short, we're trying to get a counter out for everything possible, and buying the Summoned Creatures and Gold Collections will pretty much accomplish that -- far cheaper than buying 600 miniatures, that's for sure! And if, in the end, someone wants 1,000 orcs, well there's always the Digital Collection coming out later this year.

Thanks for your interest, and throw me some ideas on what dragons to include -- give 'em a priority ranking, so I know what's most important and what's least important.

Thanks,

James

 

[Red Baron]

I mean, we still list Of Sound Mind 2 and Beyond All Reason on there...

Dude, didn't we already print Beyond All Reason???



Borken!!

 

[Fiery James]

Dude, didn't we already print Beyond All Reason???



Borken!!

LOL, Borken indeed! Of course, I meant Nature's Fury.

 

[Klaus]

Just beware the frods...

 

[allenw]

Thanks for your interest, and throw me some ideas on what dragons to include -- give 'em a priority ranking, so I know what's most important and what's least important.

Let's see:
- Chromatic Dragons show up a lot more frequently than Metallic in most campaigns, so I'd concentrate on them (though you still ought to have at least one of each color of Metallic dragon, perhaps the "Adult" size).
- Dragon species all seem to come in 5-6 size categories each, with the range depending on the color. What about including 3 sizes of each Chromatic Dragon: one at Very Young size (in my experience Wymlings don't show up that often), one at Adult size, and one at Great Wyrm size? Though if the Tarrasque is too big, a Great Wyrm Red Dragon (also Colossal) might also be problematic. Alternately, you could just print all the Chromatic dragons at Medium, Large, and Huge sizes, which would cover most age categories. If you've got space for Gargantuan versions of a couple of colors, IMO you can't go wrong with Red and Blue.