More mercenary adventures!

[Burchard]

Last year my group picked up EmeraldPresspdf's The Key of the Fey. our first foray into the Mercenary style of combat (as described in Combat Advantage #14 by the same company). Today they released a new product designed as a One Night Stand, or a quick One-Off with minimal prep time. It's called The Endless Vault and was a steal at the price point.

It is designed for multi-tier selection thanks to pdf layers, so if you're feeling Epic, you're covered. If Heroic is your thing, click a button and all the stats are corrected. Very cool idea. We're toiling in Paragon tier, and it's got that as well.

The plot is great for a merc campaign, but could serve a standard campaign as well. I'd love to hear from anyone else that has picked this up and what their experience has been. As the DM for a weekly group, this has a lot of promise!

 

[DNH]

That pdf layers thing is just genius! Kudos to them and here's hoping more publishers take note.

 

[JoeGKushner]

That pdf layers thing is just genius! Kudos to them and here's hoping more publishers take note.

Very promising. PDF map makers have been doing this for a while with layers.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

I have no idea what you said.

Could you explain this sans jargon, as much as possible?

What is the "Mercenary style of combat"? Why would you assume we've read "Combat Advantage #14"?

Anyone who claims to be able to write an adventure that satisfies all three tiers with just the click of a button is a liar.

Who are these PDF map makers of which JoeGKushner speaks?

Honestly, this thread reads like astroturf to me.

 

[SoulsFury]

I have no idea what you said.

Could you explain this sans jargon, as much as possible?

What is the "Mercenary style of combat"? Why would you assume we've read "Combat Advantage #14"?

Anyone who claims to be able to write an adventure that satisfies all three tiers with just the click of a button is a liar.

Who are these PDF map makers of which JoeGKushner speaks?

Honestly, this thread reads like astroturf to me.

Seems like one big bad advertisement to me.

 

[Burchard]

Wow, are you too lazy to look up emeraldpresspdf or combat advantage? Need someone to type that into google for you?

If you're not interested, move on. No need to be a jerk.

And should we limit the forums to Unboxing Videos and Pimp My Dwarf threads? What's wrong with finding a nice product from the third party and recommending it to others? Maybe we should stick to the flavorless crap that WOTC puts out?

 

[Neonchameleon]

Wow, are you too lazy to look up emeraldpresspdf or combat advantage? Need someone to type that into google for you?

If you're not interested, move on. No need to be a jerk.

And should we limit the forums to Unboxing Videos and Pimp My Dwarf threads? What's wrong with finding a nice product from the third party and recommending it to others? Maybe we should stick to the flavorless crap that WOTC puts out?

It's not so much laziness as informed apathy. I might have looked up Emerald Press before you'd mentioned it if someone had casually dropped it into a thread as a recommendation. But this thread is meant to be about Emerald Press and Mercenary Adventures. What I pick up from the thread is that the people who recommend Emerald Press open threads saying they want more of something, use an impenetrable wall of jargon (right down to "the price point"), get defensive when asked to clarify, and generally want to keep others out of their sandbox. Now it's possible that the adventures are wonderful (although I sincerely doubt that from anyone who thinks the tiers are interchangable) but I'm probably less likely to look at them now than before I knew they existed.

That wouldn't be so bad if the whole thing didn't read like a sales pitch ("as described in Combat Advantage #14 by the same company", "was a steal at the price point", "As the DM for a weekly group, this has a lot of promise!"). But if this is a recommendation, make it one. Tell us why we should care. Not everyone likes the same sorts of games - I for one am unlikely to look at a Dungeon Crawl Classic product not because I think Goodman are a bad company but because that's not the sort of game I like to run or play in. And jargon that looks utterly unrelated to play at the table doesn't tell me where the product's being pitched.

 

[Piratecat]

Guys, don't be jerks to one another. And certainly don't threadcrap.

Burchard, Neonchameleon has some great points in there - I'd love to here more about the product, but that probably means explaining what the heck it is if you want it discussed.

 

[Burchard]

Ok, here's a link to emeraldpresspdf's site where EONS #1 : The Endless Vault is explained.

The mercenary concept is one in which you are out for yourself. None of this heroic business, just business. You might work with others, only as long as it suits your needs. It is described at length in Combat Advantage #14, available for free.

It's not just running Chaotic or Evil characters. It's putting yourself in position for maximum gain, each and every time. It is NOT intended for new groups or open play. Rather, it is best served at a table where everyone has played with each other before and understands that each character is out for himself.

You also might undertake jobs that a Hero would NEVER do. But therein lies the fun. The opportunity for role play is huge, especially interplayer roleplaying. Now you're not out to fight amongst each other. It can happen, but should be avoided.

This adventure (Emerald's One Night Stand) is a product that is intended for those times when you want a one-session break from the norm, want to throw together a quick session, or are unprepared for the normal campaign that week. Everything you would need is included, maps, pre-gens (doesn't have to be) and player motivation cards.

Basically, you are hired to infiltrate the basement of a large manor house wherein lies a mysterious object (The Endless Vault). There are opportunities for roleplaying the terms of the agreement as well as a skill challenge or two and a few combats. It is NOT a straight slugfest through four rooms like some first party products.

And certainly there is more to the three tiers than just changing the stats. But the purpose of this product is to provide a quick session.

If you have tried a mercenary adventure, like The Key of the Fey, then this product certainly deserves a look. If you are a DM looking for something to have in your toolbox, this gets my recommendation.

Four dollars well spent.

 

[EP]

Anyone who claims to be able to write an adventure that satisfies all three tiers with just the click of a button is a liar.

I'll take that challenge.

I'm the publisher for EONS #1: The Endless Vault and we have provided a means for one adventure to work over multiple levels and tiers of play. Now, I will clarify that EONS #1 only works across TWO tiers, heroic and paragon, but not epic. However, that being said, we have written and, more importantly, playtested this adventure for levels 6, 11, and 16. Extensively playtested.

To offer the same adventure at different levels, we've used PDF layers to create substituted text. It's something we've played with before and we call it the "Gem of True Seeing layers." This applies to all DCs and stats, but it's not just number changes. As monsters/NPCs get higher in level, their powers, auras and other traits change. The plot remains the same in all three levels, but the difficulty can be modified to suit your party's desires. As a one-shot adventure, the concept was for your group to choose which level they wanted to play should you simply need a quick filler game and DMs looking to insert this adventure into their regular campaign would have three times the possibility of using it.

We have two free previews available on our website to demonstrate this effect, including a complete combat encounter at three levels. I'll even include it here for convenience. Anyone who's curious to check it out and see if it actually works is welcome to try it out for themselves.

As for Burchard, he is a very loyal fan of Emerald Press and our mercenary adventures. To clarify, as this is the impression I'm getting, he is not affiliated with Emerald Press as a contributor, designer, or employee in any fashion but he is one of our playtesters. He is someone who has not just read the material and played it, but dove into it head on and challenged our work on a repeated basis. On his own time, for free. Promoting our work is not his responsibility - he does so because he appreciates our work and wants to see us succeed as a fan. For that, I want to make a point and say thanks for putting in the effort in starting this thread.