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I know.99% of products like this are a sourcebook maybe one or two followup books and that is it.
Believe me, I know.
I know.99% of products like this are a sourcebook maybe one or two followup books and that is it.
An entirely average Kickstarter it appears to me. In fact, even if there's no product for another year, the Kickstarter would still not be inordinately catastrophic. Sorry.So Kickstarters slip, maybe this is a normal amount, but Green Ronin is supposed to be a grownup company and I expect that they do better communication and better than missing release dates by an entire year.
It is 100% accurate what I said. I am not pulling from a "press release". This is from the Kickstarter itself. It's not alterable. The original text is still there, and that portion is controlled by Kickstarter and has never changed. It says, right in black and white in the kickstarter, exactly what I said for the PDF and print dates - ESTIMATED DELIVERY DATE: November 2018. It says exactly what I said for the print date: ESTIMATED DELIVERY DATE: JANUARY 2019. They're off by only a few months, not a year. All the stuff about Gencon is not in that text at all. That apparently was their hope, but not the commitment of the kickstarter.I wish people would stop saying this it is not accurate. The ORIGINAL release by Green Ronin in January 2018 stated a full release date of Gencon 2018. They have since changed the press release but retconning their press release does not make it fact. They stated that a limited run of hardcovers would be available at Gencon and that did not come anywhere near to happening.
If you were part of the kickstarter, you were sent an email for download of the PDF.FYI. Just checked the PDF of the rules still states coming soon on their website, so anyone that says it is available right now, that is not true.
They made a stretch goal to include an adventure and I received the PDF of it. It is called the Ganymede Insurance Job, a 28-page adventure for a crew of level 1-3 characters.Question: during the Kickstarter, was there ever any plans for a campaign.
Just yet another ruleset with a light Expanse skin doesn't do it for me.
If I'm going to invest in a new RPG I'm going to do it for the stories. The stories I can purchase as ready-made published campaigns, that is.
(Far too many licensors just write a rulebook, maybe a couple of campaign world supplements, and that's basically it.
Me, I've got a dozen perfectly serviceable rules engines already, and far too many sourcebooks I haven't even read.
What I'm after is quality adventures. Stories that give my players a similar look and feel as reading the source material.)
It is based on the Adventure Game Engine (a/k/a AGE System). I was not familiar with AGE before playing the game but the mechanics are pretty easy to pick up. You roll three six-sided dice, two are the same color, the third is a different color and is the "drama" die. You are trying to meet a target number. Rolling high is better. You add the three dice together, your ability score, and if you are "focused" in that ability, you add 2 more. Some "tests" require focus to attempt them. If the degree of success is important, that the drama die tells you how well (or not) you succeeded (e.g., you succeed on your roll when doing a quick patch up job to your ship, but a drama die of 1 will mean that the repair may not even last the encounter, whereas a 6 makes it good as new).Question for those who have got the PDF. Is it any good?
No that is accurate, when the Kickstarter launched the PDF release date was Nov 2018 already after Gencon 2018 and the hard copy in January.I wish people would stop saying this it is not accurate.
This is also accurate, but by the time of the Kickstarter when people could actually invest money they had already updated the expected release date to Nov 2018 and Jan 2019.The ORIGINAL release by Green Ronin in January 2018 stated a full release date of Gencon 2018.
"Retconned" or released updated press releases when they had a more accurate idea of what was involved?They have since changed the press release but retconning their press release does not make it fact.
This is true, but very few projects meet their original deadlines, they made their first announcement when they got the license, probably estimating on how previous projects had run. However perhaps not releasing what exactly was involved, also a very successful kickstarter allows more money to perhaps include more things than they originally planned, which also means more delays.They stated that a limited run of hardcovers would be available at Gencon and that did not come anywhere near to happening.
Seems you belong to the 90%.I bought it for the occasional one-shot and don't plan on running an entire campaign (or "series" as the rule system calls it).
The initial game where this rules engine came into being is Dragon Age (the TTRPG adaptation of the CRPG).It is based on the Adventure Game Engine (a/k/a AGE System). I was not familiar with AGE before playing the game but the mechanics are pretty easy to pick up.
I feel you. I've put down a lot of money on third-party adventure books recently, but they are generally for 5e.Seems you belong to the 90%.
Myself, I yearn for the days of yore, when games were made because writers had to publish lavish campaigns dripping with detail: Warhammer's Enemy Within, Call of Cthulhu's Orient Express or Beyond the Mountains of Madness or Masks of Nyarlothep...
Nowadays far too many publishers are only in it for the quick cash grab: the main rulebook that sells the best, then maybe a generic sourcebook, and then getting out before sales drop.
:-(
PS. Sure WotC keeps publishing adventure campaigns for D&D. But man cannot live on D&D alone.
I would hope that that the popularity of the books and TV series would make an exception for the Expanse. On the other hand, its strengths are its weaknesses. The Expanse is a science-based scifi setting where both the protagonists and antagonists are almost elusively human. It is not a kitchen sink Fantasy in Space setting like Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, or Starfinder. But the lack of diversity in settings, species, class options, etc. could lead folks to tire of it quickly. This is an argument for publishing well-written adventures to support it. Give some more options, perhaps create an "expanded universe" setting for the RPG.The initial game where this rules engine came into being is Dragon Age (the TTRPG adaptation of the CRPG).
Much later the IP specific details were stripped out and a generic Fantasy AGE product was published.
However, with the exception of M&M, and Freeport, Green Ronin is notorious for abandoning properties as soon as the easy initial sales are done.
(It doesn't take a genius to explain why you haven't heard of AGE before - there's simply no support. Of course the engine languishes in obscurity!)
A six part campaign were part of the stretch goals (all met) if you backed $30 or more then you get them as a pdf, it is called Abzu's Bounty campaign (not sure if it will be released along with the rule book or follow later, I suspect later). When they announced it in an update it was "Announcing the First Campaign!" so I'm not sure if that means they have others in mind and in the pipeline.Question: during the Kickstarter, was there ever any plans for a campaign.
Yeah the emails have mentioned that the EU and Australian orders will be behind the US ones as they need to go to a fulfilment company in the country first rather than shipping direct.Nothing here yet, but I'm an ocean away.