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The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Goodman Games joins the high-priced market...
- Thread starter DaveMage
- Start date
Yair
Community Supporter
I'm not really in the market for anything like this right now, but it does look interesting. A tad expensive (hey, you may get a lot but 70$ is still a lot of money!), but not overly so and I trust Goodman Games.
It looks like it has a nice Mystara feel to it. If I were looking for a standard setting to set some fun dungeoncrawls in, this would be it.
It looks like it has a nice Mystara feel to it. If I were looking for a standard setting to set some fun dungeoncrawls in, this would be it.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
If I wasn't a pre-paid Ptolus purchaser, this would be my new campaign world.
Mystara: Year Zero? Oh yeah, baby, that's the good stuff ...
Mystara: Year Zero? Oh yeah, baby, that's the good stuff ...
Treebore
First Post
I'll get it. I like buying setting books whether I run them or not. They are usually a great source of ideas. I can't think of any settings put out for d20 that sucked in the giving me many great ideas department.
BTW, Wilderlands is on Amazon for a good price. Something like $44.00 and free shipping. Still one of the best "generic settings" ever done.
As for the Goodman module staying generic after this setting? If everyone else, from Dungeon to WOTC, to Necromancer, to Goodman has done just fine staying generic up to now, whats going to change?
How good are the DCC's? I own 9 or 10 of them. I intend on buying more. I would have if my LGS had supported and passed along the 20% discount Goodman did, but my LGS didn't/wouldn't, and I couldn't justify doing it on line with the shipping.
some of them are OK/good, and some of them are very good. It is really going to be up to the tastes of the buyer. I'm happy with a module if it at least gives me good maps with a good "locaton" and good NPC's to use. So I find every module worth at least that much and am happy because of it.
Personally I don't like Bloody Jack's Gold, others love it. I at least am happy that it gave me an interesting location with an interesting layout and some cool ideas and Bloody Jack is a cool NPC. The adventure itself left me lukewarm, even after surviving it. It was tough, maybe too tough in some areas. Unless you have a powerful cleric or two good at dealing with undead. Then the challenge level is probably fair. Our cleric wasn't powerful enough (multi-classed or under optimized, don't remember) and my being a Druid was helpful, but if I had been playing a pure cleric things would have went better for us.
So I say check out the DCC's.
BTW, Wilderlands is on Amazon for a good price. Something like $44.00 and free shipping. Still one of the best "generic settings" ever done.
As for the Goodman module staying generic after this setting? If everyone else, from Dungeon to WOTC, to Necromancer, to Goodman has done just fine staying generic up to now, whats going to change?
How good are the DCC's? I own 9 or 10 of them. I intend on buying more. I would have if my LGS had supported and passed along the 20% discount Goodman did, but my LGS didn't/wouldn't, and I couldn't justify doing it on line with the shipping.
some of them are OK/good, and some of them are very good. It is really going to be up to the tastes of the buyer. I'm happy with a module if it at least gives me good maps with a good "locaton" and good NPC's to use. So I find every module worth at least that much and am happy because of it.
Personally I don't like Bloody Jack's Gold, others love it. I at least am happy that it gave me an interesting location with an interesting layout and some cool ideas and Bloody Jack is a cool NPC. The adventure itself left me lukewarm, even after surviving it. It was tough, maybe too tough in some areas. Unless you have a powerful cleric or two good at dealing with undead. Then the challenge level is probably fair. Our cleric wasn't powerful enough (multi-classed or under optimized, don't remember) and my being a Druid was helpful, but if I had been playing a pure cleric things would have went better for us.
So I say check out the DCC's.
JoeGKushner
First Post
Looks fun.
JustaPlayer
First Post
*Click*Psion said:
Speaking of Accordlands, have you gotten any of your books yet? I have two of mine, must say I am more impressed than when I flipped through them at the store. I think most of the things on the other thread were overblown. Would like to see your review on some of the products.
*Click*
Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming.
That boxed set does look sweet. Thus far the only thing I have picked up from GG is the Blackmoor setting, but things could change soon.
Renshai
First Post
I'm a regular over there at Goodman Games forums and was the original poster that came up with the idea of mining the DCC adventures for geographical and settlement names and making a mini-setting out of them. I released a CC2-PRO map over there too, so its neat to see them run with that idea and take it to the next level.
(Note: They may have had this idea before I had it, I don't know. I just know it was cool to make that map, post the idea, and a few months later see an actual product coming out along the same lines. Well, the same lines but much bigger than what I ever did with that CC2 map.)
I'm going to repost some tidbits about the setting that the authors have released. These posts were by Harley Stroh and Jeff Lasala.
Overview of DCC World
I know this is a bit generic, but we'll start here and focus in more as we get closer to GenCon. The boxed set details three continents:
the Northlands, a collection of isolated kingdoms, faded empires and majestic forests and mountains;
the Southlands, a land of dense jungles and forgotten cities occupied by snake-men and the ancient nagas;
and the Lostlands, once the cradle of civilization, now a place of fearsome monsters and ancient, sand-swept ruins.
The Northlands are at the heart of the world, and are home to the majority of the DCCs, so let's begin the tour there.
An Introduction to the Northlands
A grim cloud hangs over the North. At the time of the scribes' feeble scratchings, scarcely one-third of the North can be properly termed civilized. The great empires of yore have all slipped beneath the march of time. Where great cities once thrived, tall forests now stand. The great works of wizards abound, but few can lay claim to their arcane might. Ruins of old whisper of long lost secrets, waiting only for those bold enough to uncover them. Fell monsters prowl the borderlands, while barbarian raiders grow ever bolder. And civilized nations of mankind, once the shining rulers of the North, are poised on the brink of ruin.
Majestic Crieste, whose empire once spanned the Northlands, has shrunk to a handful of baronies. Its emperor, a mere child, is counseled by corrupt barons and a vizier of unchecked wickedness. Once again monsters and monstrous humanoids roam the darkness, setting upon the helpless and weak. The Priest-Kings of old have returned, and wage a secret war for control of the empire.
To the east the Grand Duchy of Leherti stands in smoking ruin, its cities put to the torch and its people enslaved to monsters. The surviving free cities are hard put to hold their own, let alone retake that which was lost. The armies of the Scourge, far from defeated, bide their time and recoup their forces, waiting only for the time to finish what they have begun.
To the south and the north are smaller nations, once beholden to the Emperor of Crieste, that now strike out for their own. They carry humankind’s fiery torch, but are threatened on all sides, contesting as much with one another as with monsters.
Travel between nations grows ever less frequent and ever more dangerous. Meanwhile, barbarians of the North and Abylos of old, threaten at the borders, raiding deeper into the heart of civilization. Dark seers consult their fiendish masters and declare an end to the Age of Man.
And yet, not all is lost. In Crieste, the Knights of the Sable fight in the name of the Emperor and wage a secret war against their wicked Vizier. Dwarven warlords hailing from the Holdfast of the Steel Overlord take up axe beside elven knights of Blackbriar, Corsan and Anseur. Knights of the Lance ride to the ends of the North, fighting for justice and good. And everywhere, adventurers fight their way into forgotten ruins and ancient dungeons, returning with untold riches and arcane relics.
It is a time of heroes, when power, riches and honor can be won by any hero courageous enough to take risk the threatening darkness.
If you happen to want a more foreign and exotic campaign, of if you’d like your campaign to at least extend into the wilder parts of the world, look no further than the Southlands or the Lostlands. So let’s see if I can offer another tiny slice of the world…
An Introduction to the Southlands
Antediluvian magic and spirits as old as the world itself dwell in the continental region known as the Southlands. The name is a misnomer, since the Southlands are more west than south, but the names that stick are the ones explorers first write on their maps. To those who sail westward across the great Empyrean Ocean the Southlands may seem like the New World at first, but the glyphs carved into the ancient temples and great megaliths beg to differ.
The Southlands are a vast geography ranging from towering, ice-capped mountains to humid, burning jungles. The climate is decidedly tropical, but numerous anomalies of nature confound all but the local druids—and the priests of the Mighty Eye, the ancient creation god Madrah.
The mighty City-States of Xulmec (pronounced shul-mec) are by far the dominant power of the Southlands, a proud and mystic people who’ve learned the hard lessons of the nagas who once reigned supreme millennia before. Devotion to their gods and the primeval belief that they must protect the world from ultimate destruction keeps the Xulmecs from the manifest destiny of which the Northlanders seem possessed. They stave off the expansionist-minded foreigners, hold at bay the unspeakable horrors of the jungle, and remain ever vigilant against the evil schemes of Ssorlang, a would-be empire of human-snake hybrids intent on conquering the Known Lands.
The Xulmecs are as diverse as they are mysterious. While the fire priests of the city-state of Chuzec regularly cut out the hearts of their captives upon their burning altars, the adolescent king and queen of Teotcoatlan host elegant ceremonies at the summits of their majestic pyramids. Acolytes of the Rain Queen pray for life and healing...even as the bloodthirsty warlords of Coatlimict plan their next raid. A Northland visitor to the jungles of Xulmec is as likely to be welcomed with gifts of food or scalped and later sacrificed to the gods—it all depends on which Xulmecs he meets first.
But that’s just on the surface. The expansive Zimala, the old homeland of the nagas, and the monstrous Isle of Tarras are locales not conducive to long lives—to say nothing of the wyvern-infested marshes of exotic Dujamar. If there is a place of safety, it might be found in the Criestine Colonies, where the famous Emerald Cobra once reigned, or the safe harbor of Halcyon.
But a poisoned kris blade is hiding in the shadows somewhere...
The following is by DCC line editor, Harley Stroh. (For those of you worried about the DCCs being generic).
Adventure placement:
The modules will continue to be very portable, even inside DCC World. According to the adventure, Ripper takes place in Porthmeor, but there is no reason it couldn't be ported to Arvale City or Freeport, or any one of the dozens of large cities scattered across the North.
For me it is a question of the type of game you want to run. These days I'm the sort of GM that will rip up entire continents as needed to make it work for my vision of the world and for the player's enjoyment. But back in the day, I adhered to the Greyhawk canon (mostly because it allowed a 12-year old Harley to sustain belief in the world).
Will the DCCs be placed? Yes (with the exceptions of some dungeons that might move. ).
Do you have to follow our suggestions? Absolutely not.
The first and last rule: it is YOUR game. Never let anyone else tell you how to run it.
(Note: They may have had this idea before I had it, I don't know. I just know it was cool to make that map, post the idea, and a few months later see an actual product coming out along the same lines. Well, the same lines but much bigger than what I ever did with that CC2 map.)
I'm going to repost some tidbits about the setting that the authors have released. These posts were by Harley Stroh and Jeff Lasala.
Overview of DCC World
I know this is a bit generic, but we'll start here and focus in more as we get closer to GenCon. The boxed set details three continents:
the Northlands, a collection of isolated kingdoms, faded empires and majestic forests and mountains;
the Southlands, a land of dense jungles and forgotten cities occupied by snake-men and the ancient nagas;
and the Lostlands, once the cradle of civilization, now a place of fearsome monsters and ancient, sand-swept ruins.
The Northlands are at the heart of the world, and are home to the majority of the DCCs, so let's begin the tour there.
An Introduction to the Northlands
A grim cloud hangs over the North. At the time of the scribes' feeble scratchings, scarcely one-third of the North can be properly termed civilized. The great empires of yore have all slipped beneath the march of time. Where great cities once thrived, tall forests now stand. The great works of wizards abound, but few can lay claim to their arcane might. Ruins of old whisper of long lost secrets, waiting only for those bold enough to uncover them. Fell monsters prowl the borderlands, while barbarian raiders grow ever bolder. And civilized nations of mankind, once the shining rulers of the North, are poised on the brink of ruin.
Majestic Crieste, whose empire once spanned the Northlands, has shrunk to a handful of baronies. Its emperor, a mere child, is counseled by corrupt barons and a vizier of unchecked wickedness. Once again monsters and monstrous humanoids roam the darkness, setting upon the helpless and weak. The Priest-Kings of old have returned, and wage a secret war for control of the empire.
To the east the Grand Duchy of Leherti stands in smoking ruin, its cities put to the torch and its people enslaved to monsters. The surviving free cities are hard put to hold their own, let alone retake that which was lost. The armies of the Scourge, far from defeated, bide their time and recoup their forces, waiting only for the time to finish what they have begun.
To the south and the north are smaller nations, once beholden to the Emperor of Crieste, that now strike out for their own. They carry humankind’s fiery torch, but are threatened on all sides, contesting as much with one another as with monsters.
Travel between nations grows ever less frequent and ever more dangerous. Meanwhile, barbarians of the North and Abylos of old, threaten at the borders, raiding deeper into the heart of civilization. Dark seers consult their fiendish masters and declare an end to the Age of Man.
And yet, not all is lost. In Crieste, the Knights of the Sable fight in the name of the Emperor and wage a secret war against their wicked Vizier. Dwarven warlords hailing from the Holdfast of the Steel Overlord take up axe beside elven knights of Blackbriar, Corsan and Anseur. Knights of the Lance ride to the ends of the North, fighting for justice and good. And everywhere, adventurers fight their way into forgotten ruins and ancient dungeons, returning with untold riches and arcane relics.
It is a time of heroes, when power, riches and honor can be won by any hero courageous enough to take risk the threatening darkness.
If you happen to want a more foreign and exotic campaign, of if you’d like your campaign to at least extend into the wilder parts of the world, look no further than the Southlands or the Lostlands. So let’s see if I can offer another tiny slice of the world…
An Introduction to the Southlands
Antediluvian magic and spirits as old as the world itself dwell in the continental region known as the Southlands. The name is a misnomer, since the Southlands are more west than south, but the names that stick are the ones explorers first write on their maps. To those who sail westward across the great Empyrean Ocean the Southlands may seem like the New World at first, but the glyphs carved into the ancient temples and great megaliths beg to differ.
The Southlands are a vast geography ranging from towering, ice-capped mountains to humid, burning jungles. The climate is decidedly tropical, but numerous anomalies of nature confound all but the local druids—and the priests of the Mighty Eye, the ancient creation god Madrah.
The mighty City-States of Xulmec (pronounced shul-mec) are by far the dominant power of the Southlands, a proud and mystic people who’ve learned the hard lessons of the nagas who once reigned supreme millennia before. Devotion to their gods and the primeval belief that they must protect the world from ultimate destruction keeps the Xulmecs from the manifest destiny of which the Northlanders seem possessed. They stave off the expansionist-minded foreigners, hold at bay the unspeakable horrors of the jungle, and remain ever vigilant against the evil schemes of Ssorlang, a would-be empire of human-snake hybrids intent on conquering the Known Lands.
The Xulmecs are as diverse as they are mysterious. While the fire priests of the city-state of Chuzec regularly cut out the hearts of their captives upon their burning altars, the adolescent king and queen of Teotcoatlan host elegant ceremonies at the summits of their majestic pyramids. Acolytes of the Rain Queen pray for life and healing...even as the bloodthirsty warlords of Coatlimict plan their next raid. A Northland visitor to the jungles of Xulmec is as likely to be welcomed with gifts of food or scalped and later sacrificed to the gods—it all depends on which Xulmecs he meets first.
But that’s just on the surface. The expansive Zimala, the old homeland of the nagas, and the monstrous Isle of Tarras are locales not conducive to long lives—to say nothing of the wyvern-infested marshes of exotic Dujamar. If there is a place of safety, it might be found in the Criestine Colonies, where the famous Emerald Cobra once reigned, or the safe harbor of Halcyon.
But a poisoned kris blade is hiding in the shadows somewhere...
The following is by DCC line editor, Harley Stroh. (For those of you worried about the DCCs being generic).
Adventure placement:
The modules will continue to be very portable, even inside DCC World. According to the adventure, Ripper takes place in Porthmeor, but there is no reason it couldn't be ported to Arvale City or Freeport, or any one of the dozens of large cities scattered across the North.
For me it is a question of the type of game you want to run. These days I'm the sort of GM that will rip up entire continents as needed to make it work for my vision of the world and for the player's enjoyment. But back in the day, I adhered to the Greyhawk canon (mostly because it allowed a 12-year old Harley to sustain belief in the world).
Will the DCCs be placed? Yes (with the exceptions of some dungeons that might move. ).
Do you have to follow our suggestions? Absolutely not.
The first and last rule: it is YOUR game. Never let anyone else tell you how to run it.
Last edited:
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