Immortals Handbook Epic Bestiary (now available)

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Ltheb matey!

U_K!
Definitly interested in the portfolio rules you mentioned. Several characters in past games from my gaming group would need converting, and a couple of players have already eyed up appropriate portfolios. One of them being a deity of archery (A Deepwood Sniper ) and a druid would want a nature portfolio and some archery-related portfolio. (An object porfolio (Bows) or possibly the Sky Porfolio)

Well I am not sure exactly how much (if any) of Chapter 3 you will see. I sort of need Chapter 4 finished before I can finish Chapter 3.

Awesome that the resolution turned out so nice. Any chances on uploading to Enworld the crisper bestiary?

I think it would be 60 meg+ (I had to split it into six pdfs for the publisher and each pdf I sent them was over 10 meg if I remember correctly) so I am not sure thats feasible.

Though with it being released in print around October, I know if I dont preorder it from the Borders near me, I will definitely pick it up by the end of November, as a Birthday present to myself.

I appreciate the love dude.

On a related note I was told earlier that I'll have to do the cover myself, so the second Ascension update on the 21st may not be as big a leap as I would want - since I'll have to do the new Bestiary cover.

However, I'll be working on the painting during the daytime, so I should still be able to finish off a couple of pages each night.

By the way, what appears on the back? Is it just black, or will their be a review/overview? Or does the image wrap arround the book. (That would look pretty cool, though a bit overused.

The back cover of my design was the same as the front but with the book 'blurb' replacing the titles.

Perhaps a hardbacked Ascension would be more appropriate for such an illustration)

You understand that I don't get paid extra for a wrap around cover.

Hopefully we will get to see the bulk of Ascension on friday (A quick glance at the ToC says all the good bits I would need would be there. My players are definitely going to be wanting some Divine intervention pretty soon!)

Well I don't know about 'bulk', although there will certainly be a lot to keep people going until the next update.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey U_K!

I hope all is progressing well for you.

Hey dude!

Slower than expected...but then I should have expected that I suppose.

This is probably a stupid question but I was wondering about the mechanics of downloading Ascension from Enworld this Friday. Will it be a standard dowload from the website, e-mail or some other?

I'll upload it to ENWorld Gamestore, then I will email everyone who bought it and let them know what the situation is (vis-a-vis its not yet completed but take a look if you want to).

On an unrelated note I'll keep it at pre-order price until such time as I at least have all the text finished.

Thanks and sorry to bother you with it.

No bother at all.

I'm just very excited about seeing the work at this point.

Me too.

Alzrius feedback so far has been a great help, and I expect getting things out there will only be a good thing too.

I'm interested to know what people think of the event system and the divinity templates.

Mods, please feel free to delete my previous post as an inadvertant keystroke caused me to send it out early.

You could have just edited it.

 

[historian]

Hey U_K!

I'll upload it to ENWorld Gamestore, then I will email everyone who bought it and let them know what the situation is (vis-a-vis its not yet completed but take a look if you want to).

Cool.

On an unrelated note I'll keep it at pre-order price until such time as I at least have all the text finished.

I'm curious as to whether you're doing any advertising of this outside of the forums you usually visit?

I knw you're feeling hamstrung by limited financial resources at this point but there should be ways to get full product exposure without signing your soul away. Of course, I would certainly expect your venture with Mongoose to help in that respect but there might be other means as well.

No bother at all.

Thanks.

Alzrius feedback so far has been a great help, and I expect getting things out there will only be a good thing too.

I think you're right and it goes to the penultimate point above. I have a great respect for your zealousness in creating a perfect product but I feel like, from what I've seen of your existing work, that the conceptual design and execution behind your work is far, far better than most of what's out there.

In net terms I think you're making the right decision to go with a beta/pre-release pending a definitive version and I hope to see your reaping the fruits of your labor in short order.

I'm interested to know what people think of the event system and the divinity templates.

I know what a divinity template is but not an event system.

I'm certain it will be well received.

You could have just edited it.

I already did, I just didn't like it wasting space.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey U_K!

Howdy!

I'm curious as to whether you're doing any advertising of this outside of the forums you usually visit?

Not really, but I may have to start.

I knw you're feeling hamstrung by limited financial resources at this point but there should be ways to get full product exposure without signing your soul away.

I am open to ideas...?

Of course, I would certainly expect your venture with Mongoose to help in that respect but there might be other means as well.

Well certainly they are going to publicise it, but not before I get the cover done, and even then thats not going to help me in the short term which is the main problem.

September is starting to look very scary (financially speaking). Since the chances are (now that I have to take time off to do the cover) that I won't have the finished Ascension until early/mid September at the earliest, which means even if its on sale at rpgnow and drivethru I basically won't see any of the profits until October, which then take another week to clear anyway. So there is a window of about five weeks starting in September for which I have no actual money.

...and just to prove my lucks in, the next invoice for the website is due at the start of October.

I may have to take a part time job just to survive September, which will almost certainly impact release dates...just as well I don't do release dates.

To be honest though I only have myself to blame. Ascension should have been finished months ago and we should be talking about the iminent release of the Grimoire at this stage of the year.

I think you're right and it goes to the penultimate point above. I have a great respect for your zealousness in creating a perfect product but I feel like, from what I've seen of your existing work, that the conceptual design and execution behind your work is far, far better than most of what's out there.

In net terms I think you're making the right decision to go with a beta/pre-release pending a definitive version and I hope to see your reaping the fruits of your labor in short order.

Well I don't really have another choice at this stage.

I know what a divinity template is but not an event system.

I'm certain it will be well received.

As with the initial Bestiary release (pre-art version) I totally hate giving people an unfinished book. But theres nothing else for it.

 

[Rockhoward56]

thanks

Thanks U-k!
About the Nerashimic dragons , how a Nexus Great Wyrm (CR 600+ could challenge Dabbat CR 10 000+ or Tetragrammaton CR 32 000 000+???)
I don"t know anything about the transelemental or strong symetric matter golem but i think only a High Lord could beat another High Lord .
Have you some names about powerful beings who had successfully passed the challenge of the twelve spectrals? Been in the 10 th dimension?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hiya mate!

Thanks U-k!
About the Nerashimic dragons , how a Nexus Great Wyrm (CR 600+ could challenge Dabbat CR 10 000+ or Tetragrammaton CR 32 000 000+???)

Well two things.

Firstly, demiurges are eternals who are not quite as powerful as time lords.

Secondly, the nexus dragon listed CR is wrong when we start using CR multipliers for transcendental and omnific abilities.

I don"t know anything about the transelemental or strong symetric matter golem but i think only a High Lord could beat another High Lord.

Strong Symmetric Golem doesn't really roll off the tongue, I prefer Quantum Golem...which is incidently the fourth opponent named as a possible eternal threat.

Have you some names about powerful beings who had successfully passed the challenge of the twelve spectrals? Been in the 10th dimension?

Usually they go on to become Supreme Beings.

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

U_K!
Wow, it is quite intimidating when ten things jump you all at once.
This tends to happen to me quite more than I would like. Your best bet is just to plug away at what needs to happen. A few corners may be cut here and there, But as historian said, your level of professionalism (release dates aside) and product quality are vastly superior to most every publisher I can think of.
I think the issues lie in that you do all the work. You can only do so much at once, and if one problem arises, it affects the project as a whole. Granted, hiring other people to assist with the production of the book reduces your net profit significantly, which is something I know you don't need.
However, I am sure there are a few in your gaming circles and some on EnWorld who would like to contribute to such projects, possibly without making any profit themselves. Your skills lie greatly dispersed in many areas, but trying to cover all of those areas at once is futile.
Your stuff is great; don't get me wrong, I don't think that many of us are as inspired as you are when it comes to these things.
Though, once Ascension is released, I am sure that all the tasks after this will go quickly, especially if you plan to release the Immortal's Index books, which, for the most part, will just require generating large numbers of deities and recording the information of their teachings, with a handful of new material thrown in. (Like in the Bestiary, new PrC's Weapon powers, and some unique divine+ abilities)
The real difficulty in creating a work this large is (at least as it seems to me) arriving at the ideas themselves, not writing the mechanics. The evil eye power is potent, cool, and mechanically simple. I'd place my bets on your creating the idea of deity of fate "cursing" via divine decree another deity and hindering his actions. I doubt it started as "Hey, what if a deity could make his foes roll all 1's," or at least not directly.
If I were you, I doubt I would have even arrived at the Idea of such powers. Until I saw the Immortal's Handbook, the Idea of things greater than Over gods, and the like, were beyond my train of thought.
I really hope this all works out for you, but don't give up. Then you can't win.
(If it matters any, a friend of mine, told me he may be purchasing Ascension soon, probably around when Chapters 3-4 are totally done.) (Of course, it could be worse. Enworld could start charging you for all the bandwidth your threads use up. ) (And sadly, with my posts being as long as they are, they would likely also float me a bill too)

 

[Rockhoward56]

Thanks as always!
Quantum Golem.......hum interesting! but WHO could craft this things ?
Would mention the mezaaroth in one of your books?
I'm very interested to play one Spectrals
Good luck!

 

[Upper_Krust]

U_K!

Hey Ltheb mate!

Wow, it is quite intimidating when ten things jump you all at once.

Tell me about it.

This tends to happen to me quite more than I would like. Your best bet is just to plug away at what needs to happen. A few corners may be cut here and there, But as historian said, your level of professionalism (release dates aside) and product quality are vastly superior to most every publisher I can think of.

Well I don't know about 'cutting corners' but I was thinking I might release Ascension (on drivethru and rpgnow) initially with about 30 illustrations, rather than the 45 or so I was planning. Then update it a week or two later with the rest of the images.

I think the issues lie in that you do all the work. You can only do so much at once, and if one problem arises, it affects the project as a whole. Granted, hiring other people to assist with the production of the book reduces your net profit significantly, which is something I know you don't need.

Well certainly thats a part of it, but I know myself I am a procrastinator. I spend as much time studying and thinking on a project as I do writing.

However, I am sure there are a few in your gaming circles and some on EnWorld who would like to contribute to such projects, possibly without making any profit themselves. Your skills lie greatly dispersed in many areas, but trying to cover all of those areas at once is futile. Your stuff is great; don't get me wrong, I don't think that many of us are as inspired as you are when it comes to these things.

Thats okay, I have a few ideas that will help me sort things out.

Though, once Ascension is released, I am sure that all the tasks after this will go quickly, especially if you plan to release the Immortal's Index books, which, for the most part, will just require generating large numbers of deities and recording the information of their teachings, with a handful of new material thrown in. (Like in the Bestiary, new PrC's Weapon powers, and some unique divine+ abilities)

...yeah and that art just draws itself, those Index books will go quickly.

The real difficulty in creating a work this large is (at least as it seems to me) arriving at the ideas themselves, not writing the mechanics.

Its not even so much the ideas as the writing between the ideas.

The evil eye power is potent, cool, and mechanically simple. I'd place my bets on your creating the idea of deity of fate "cursing" via divine decree another deity and hindering his actions. I doubt it started as "Hey, what if a deity could make his foes roll all 1's," or at least not directly.

Immortals make deals which are ratified by the fates. Then if they break those deals they are cursed.

If I were you, I doubt I would have even arrived at the Idea of such powers. Until I saw the Immortal's Handbook, the Idea of things greater than Over gods, and the like, were beyond my train of thought.

Well I like stoking peoples imaginations.

I really hope this all works out for you, but don't give up. Then you can't win.

Don't worry about that, the Krust is like an eternal, he can't be permanently defeated, only stymied.

(If it matters any, a friend of mine, told me he may be purchasing Ascension soon, probably around when Chapters 3-4 are totally done.) (Of course, it could be worse. Enworld could start charging you for all the bandwidth your threads use up. ) (And sadly, with my posts being as long as they are, they would likely also float me a bill too)

I totally appreciate the help of everyone who has pre-ordered, thats been a big help.

As for tomorrow, it looks like chapters 1, 2 and half of chapter 4, and I don't know how much I will be able to have for the second update on the 21st (since I'll have to do the new bestiary cover), maybe the rest of chapter 4 (although its a pretty big chapter).

So, I think your friend will be waiting until the end of the month (31st) before I have the first 4 chapters completed.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey dude!

Thanks as always!
Quantum Golem.......hum interesting! but WHO could craft this things ?

Quantum golems could be a universe where the dimension of time so dominated that it turned itself into a single

Would mention the mezaaroth in one of your books?

I mention them in all of my books (so far).

I'm very interested to play one Spectrals

You are crazy!

Good luck!

Thanks! I need it.