Monte Cook Games’ Next Kickstarter Is Ptolus (for 5E and Cypher)

Monte Cook Games’ February Kickstarter (they tend to operate on about two per year) is Monte Cook’s massive city setting Ptolus. It will be available for both D&D 5E and for their own Cypher System.

The original was a nearly 700-page book which came out in 2006.

“The critically-acclaimed Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire is a 672-page hardcover with additional physical and digital content and premium production values. It details the fantasy city of Ptolus, an adventurer’s haven built atop vast underground dungeons and adjacent to a massive, mysterious spire. The book is lavishly illustrated and contains scores of detailed maps, along with uncountable NPCs, creatures, locations, and items. The original printing sold out upon release, and is one of the most highly sought-after RPG titles on the collector’s market. It has since been available as a print-on-demand title, but in a two-book format that lacks premium features.

The new Ptolus will release in two versions: one for 5e, and another for the Cypher System. The book will follow the format of the original as closely as possible, and retain all of its premium design features. The Ptolus Kickstarter campaign launches in February.”

 

[teitan]

As much as I love the Ptolus campaign, I would have rather seen an updated Arcana Unearthed setting/ruleset for either the Cypher system or 5e. My favorite setting for 3.x, only because it was a unique take on the fantasy genre, magic and races. Sigh... I just need to do myself, don't I?

I'd buy that. I am kind of working on a 5e setting myself with some similarities because I loved Arcana Unearthed so much. Diamond Throne was a wonderful setting. I'd back Ptolus as well if we could afford it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Obviously, we have a long way to go before the new Ptolus even ships, but it's not hard to imagine Arcana Unearthed/Lands of the Diamond Throne 5E coming after Ptolus.

 

[Carmen Sbordone]

Obviously, we have a long way to go before the new Ptolus even ships, but it's not hard to imagine Arcana Unearthed/Lands of the Diamond Throne 5E coming after Ptolus.

Thats something id like to see. Its whats missing in the 5e era. Variety of settings.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Thats something id like to see. Its whats missing in the 5e era. Variety of settings.

So at first I was like - what do you mean, we've got Ravnica, Eberron, Chult, the Underdark, and the entirety of the Sword Coast!

But then I thought about it - I'd love to have more official content that takes place on Faerun that isn't Sword Coast. Moonshae Isles; Sea of Fallen Stars (that's where one of my current campaigns is set); Calimshan; Amn; Tethyr - so much. And that's just Faerun!

Therefore, I guess I agree with Carmen Sbordone here...

 

[Carmen Sbordone]

So at first I was like - what do you mean, we've got Ravnica, Eberron, Chult, the Underdark, and the entirety of the Sword Coast!

But then I thought about it - I'd love to have more official content that takes place on Faerun that isn't Sword Coast. Moonshae Isles; Sea of Fallen Stars (that's where one of my current campaigns is set); Calimshan; Amn; Tethyr - so much. And that's just Faerun!

Therefore, I guess I agree with Carmen Sbordone here...

3 of those listed are same setting world. 1 of those JUST came out recently.

There are so much that could be but isnt.

 

[jhilahd]

True enough.
But we actually have quite a few to choose from.
Here are a few off the top of my head and in no particular order(these are either on my shelf or hard drive, supported in/on kickstarter or seen on drivethrurpg/dmsguild):

• Forgotten Realms,
• Eberron,
• Ravnica,
• Ravenloft,
• Exandria,
• Midgard,
• Seas of Vodari,
• Odyssey of the Dragon Lords,
• Dark Matter,
• Esper Genesis,
• Adventures in Middle Earth,
• Primeval Thule,
• The Spy Game,
• Humblewood,
• Pugmire/Monarchies of Mau,
• Scarred Lands,
• Filbar,
• Mist of Akuma,
• Ultra Modern 5(more toolkit but has some setting material),
• 5th Evolution from Limitless Adventures (micro settings - supers, 80's horror, and ww2)
• Arcanis
• Lost Lands
• Zodiac Empires
• Carbon 2185
• Ponyfinder
• Genefunk
• Whispers in the Dark(amazing)
• Zeitgeist
• War of the Burning Sky

And I'm sure there are more. I'm 99% sure I'm missing stuff.
The point is, there are alot of options available right now.
What else would you like to see?

The reason I pointed out the Arcana Unearthed was that it was the first time I saw a unified spellcaster system for D&D, player managed (not spell points) spell slots, non-standard races and classes that weren't traditional fantasy races.
And that whetted my imagination like no other setting has in awhile.

And when I get over my "burn-out" slump, I'll have a hard time picking a campaign setting or making my own.
I'm telling ya a Ghosts of Saltmarsh/Seas of Vodari/Ptolus campaign could work.

**edited because I'm an artist not a writer. le sigh

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm telling ya a Ghosts of Saltmarsh/Seas of Vodari/Ptolus campaign could work.

If my dad wasn't planning on making Ghosts of Saltmarsh the first campaign he'll DM (they grow up so fast!), I was going to run it, using the towns north of Ptolus. It's a really good fit, although I seem to recall a reference somewhere in the big book to sea elves not existing in the world of Praemal (which, of course, DMs are free to ignore or to replace the sea elf in Saltmarsh with something else).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You know what settings I'm surprised we haven't seen relaunched for 5E? Midnight, Dawnforge and Morningstar. All of them made a big splash in the 3E era, as two of them were developed for the same competition that gave us Eberron.

I know FFG is going through some stuff, but it surprises me they didn't sell the rights to Midnight somewhere along the line, even if they didn't want to develop it themselves.

 

[Aldarc]

You know what settings I'm surprised we haven't seen relaunched for 5E? Midnight, Dawnforge and Morningstar. All of them made a big splash in the 3E era, as two of them were developed for the same competition that gave us Eberron.

I know FFG is going through some stuff, but it surprises me they didn't sell the rights to Midnight somewhere along the line, even if they didn't want to develop it themselves.

The primary issue with Dawnforge, IMHO - and I say this as someone who loves the setting - is that it requires either removing classes or heavily tweaking them to work. The cleric and druid were replaced with the disciple and shaman, respectively. Even with these changes, I don't think that it did as good of a job at selling the D&D before D&D vibe that it was going for, because I would have also tuned-down the other spellcasters such as wizards and sorcerers. But creating a setting like Dawnforge has been on my to-do list for finding a good system that could convey the intent and feel of its original setting. Possibly a system like Dungeon World or Fantasy AGE/Blue Rose.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm happy that Green Ronin has been able to make a go of their Fantasy AGE system, but man, I would grab a 5E Blue Rose campaign setting book -- or even just a system neutral one, like the Freeport book they released back in the 4E era -- in a heartbeat.