johnsemlak
First Post
Melan said:
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Last edited:
Necromancer Q&A: Let's ask Orcus some questions!
- Thread starter Shawn Kehoe
- Start date
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fanboy2000
Adventurer
Thanks Orcus. That's just wat I wanted to hear.
Orcus
First Post
Wrath of Orcus. Ah, yet another strange saga....
Back in the day, you may remember that when 3E was released WotC did Chainmail as a minis game. Originally it was supposed to be a mass combat game but it morphed into something different. In any event, I digress.
Wrath of Orcus was supposed to be an adventure that involved the seige of a city by an army of undead and the heros join with the city in mounting its defense and actually in a Guns of Navaronne style adventure heading into the heart of the Tomb of Abysthor dungeon to destroy the cabal of evil priests heading up the army of undead.
Originally, I was going to do our own mass combat rules. But then Chainmail was announced and so I decided why make up somehting of my own when everyone would be using the Chainmail rules (that was mistake number 1). So I started working with WotC to use the Chainmail rules and to get some official Chainmail stamp on the adventure. That was a long process. And it never really worked out. Keith Sthrom (who is a super cool guy) left WotC and then Chainmail flopped and a bunch of other things happened. Plus, Chainmail wound up not being mass combat but rather being more of a skirmish game.
So here I was, my inside guy was gone from WotC. Now no one cared about some dude from a d20 company. Plus, Chainmail...how can I put this..."failed to live up to expectations." How's that for polite? So a year later, I have no mass combat rules and no adventure structure. Plus, this was originally concieved as a 32 page adventure. The market changed and 32 pagers werent really working. So now I was faced with massive addition (only really possible by doing the mass combat rules myself) to make the product viable. So then Monte announces Cry Havoc! And I figured, well, now there is no need to do mass combat rules, since Monte is doing them. And I was back to waiting for Cry Havoc! to come out. But then we got sidetracked with other projects.
That, my friends, is the story of Wrath of Orcus. I have said on our boards that I intend to just post my campaign notes and give them away for free for those who desire to try to run the adventure. I havent done that yet.
Clark
Back in the day, you may remember that when 3E was released WotC did Chainmail as a minis game. Originally it was supposed to be a mass combat game but it morphed into something different. In any event, I digress.
Wrath of Orcus was supposed to be an adventure that involved the seige of a city by an army of undead and the heros join with the city in mounting its defense and actually in a Guns of Navaronne style adventure heading into the heart of the Tomb of Abysthor dungeon to destroy the cabal of evil priests heading up the army of undead.
Originally, I was going to do our own mass combat rules. But then Chainmail was announced and so I decided why make up somehting of my own when everyone would be using the Chainmail rules (that was mistake number 1). So I started working with WotC to use the Chainmail rules and to get some official Chainmail stamp on the adventure. That was a long process. And it never really worked out. Keith Sthrom (who is a super cool guy) left WotC and then Chainmail flopped and a bunch of other things happened. Plus, Chainmail wound up not being mass combat but rather being more of a skirmish game.
So here I was, my inside guy was gone from WotC. Now no one cared about some dude from a d20 company. Plus, Chainmail...how can I put this..."failed to live up to expectations." How's that for polite? So a year later, I have no mass combat rules and no adventure structure. Plus, this was originally concieved as a 32 page adventure. The market changed and 32 pagers werent really working. So now I was faced with massive addition (only really possible by doing the mass combat rules myself) to make the product viable. So then Monte announces Cry Havoc! And I figured, well, now there is no need to do mass combat rules, since Monte is doing them. And I was back to waiting for Cry Havoc! to come out. But then we got sidetracked with other projects.
That, my friends, is the story of Wrath of Orcus. I have said on our boards that I intend to just post my campaign notes and give them away for free for those who desire to try to run the adventure. I havent done that yet.
Clark
Orcus
First Post
As for working with Monte I love Monte and would like to do something with him for AU. We had a writer issue on Necromancer's Game, which happens unfortunately. Right now we dont have anything planned, but I am open to the idea and I'm sure Monte and I will talk about it.
Which brings me to perhaps one of my coolest and saddest D&D moments.
Not this last GenCon but the one before, I had a cool experience. My business partner, Bill Webb and I put together an impromptu Saturday night game of D&D. This was kind of "insider stuff". As a publisher, the cons are tiring. You are there all day talking and meeting and greeting and selling and scouting and just doing everything go go go all day. Then all night, if you are sick and twisted like Bill and I, you are out getting totally hammered and kicking it at the WW parties with hot larp chicks in latex and heading back to various hotel rooms for afterparties with people you never thought you'd meet. Which, I might add, doesnt exactly help you get through the next full day of talking and meeting and greeting and selling and scouting and just doing everything go go go all day. It a vicious cycle. And by the end of the con you are saying "never again" and "where did I leave my cell phone" and things like that.
So....to make a long story short, that GenCon Bill and I talked Monte Cook, Stewart and Steve Wieck (the guys who own WW) and some prominent artists and writers in the industry into meeting up real late night on Saturday night (after some warm up debauchery, though not Monte, he didnt partake in the debauchery); we met back up at the con hall and sat down and played a one-off game of D&D. Bill ran the adventure. It was amazing. Monte played a wizard, surpise surpise. Boy this story is getting long. In any event, it was pretty surreal to be there in the hall playing D&D with these guys who had such an impact on gaming. And the funny thing is there were a ton of LARP types around playing and here we are sitting at our table and the people who created LARPING (the owners of WW, Steve and Stewart) were right there and they had no clue. But the real funny part was when we needed to check a rule we didnt have to crack a book. We would say "hey Monte, how does this work." Or if a rule dispute came up we just said "hey Monte, what did you guys mean with this?" It was hillarious.
The sad part is that earlier in the day I watched as Gygax ran an adventure for a table full of poeple on some side table outside of the main halls over in a corner. And thousands of people walked by and no one really knew who he was. Maybe he watned it that way, but it was sad to see the house he built--literally--and her he is running a game in obscurity on a side table. I like Gary alot. Bill and I took him out to dinner the previous year to this great steakhouse. And we all drank expensive wine and Gary regaled us with tales of the heyday of TSR. Man, those were some stories.
I dont know why I got on all of this. Ohj yeah, I just scrolled up. Working with Monte led me to think about that game I played where Monte played a wizard and how cool that whole thing was. That night will probably be one of my most beloved memories from all of my involvement with d20 and D&D. That game was just pure unadulterated fun playing D&D. I guess somewhere in my heart it makes me happy to know that the guys who write the game and who own the companies love to game so much. Seriously, Steve Wieck (who is my height--about 6'5"--and who is a black belt martial artist, and who is the most cool, mellow, unassuming guy you could meet) playing a halfling rogue was unforgettable.
Clark
Which brings me to perhaps one of my coolest and saddest D&D moments.
Not this last GenCon but the one before, I had a cool experience. My business partner, Bill Webb and I put together an impromptu Saturday night game of D&D. This was kind of "insider stuff". As a publisher, the cons are tiring. You are there all day talking and meeting and greeting and selling and scouting and just doing everything go go go all day. Then all night, if you are sick and twisted like Bill and I, you are out getting totally hammered and kicking it at the WW parties with hot larp chicks in latex and heading back to various hotel rooms for afterparties with people you never thought you'd meet. Which, I might add, doesnt exactly help you get through the next full day of talking and meeting and greeting and selling and scouting and just doing everything go go go all day. It a vicious cycle. And by the end of the con you are saying "never again" and "where did I leave my cell phone" and things like that.
So....to make a long story short, that GenCon Bill and I talked Monte Cook, Stewart and Steve Wieck (the guys who own WW) and some prominent artists and writers in the industry into meeting up real late night on Saturday night (after some warm up debauchery, though not Monte, he didnt partake in the debauchery); we met back up at the con hall and sat down and played a one-off game of D&D. Bill ran the adventure. It was amazing. Monte played a wizard, surpise surpise. Boy this story is getting long. In any event, it was pretty surreal to be there in the hall playing D&D with these guys who had such an impact on gaming. And the funny thing is there were a ton of LARP types around playing and here we are sitting at our table and the people who created LARPING (the owners of WW, Steve and Stewart) were right there and they had no clue. But the real funny part was when we needed to check a rule we didnt have to crack a book. We would say "hey Monte, how does this work." Or if a rule dispute came up we just said "hey Monte, what did you guys mean with this?" It was hillarious.
The sad part is that earlier in the day I watched as Gygax ran an adventure for a table full of poeple on some side table outside of the main halls over in a corner. And thousands of people walked by and no one really knew who he was. Maybe he watned it that way, but it was sad to see the house he built--literally--and her he is running a game in obscurity on a side table. I like Gary alot. Bill and I took him out to dinner the previous year to this great steakhouse. And we all drank expensive wine and Gary regaled us with tales of the heyday of TSR. Man, those were some stories.
I dont know why I got on all of this. Ohj yeah, I just scrolled up. Working with Monte led me to think about that game I played where Monte played a wizard and how cool that whole thing was. That night will probably be one of my most beloved memories from all of my involvement with d20 and D&D. That game was just pure unadulterated fun playing D&D. I guess somewhere in my heart it makes me happy to know that the guys who write the game and who own the companies love to game so much. Seriously, Steve Wieck (who is my height--about 6'5"--and who is a black belt martial artist, and who is the most cool, mellow, unassuming guy you could meet) playing a halfling rogue was unforgettable.
Clark
BSF
Explorer
Clark,
Thanks for the info. I have been waiting for Grimtooth's for an age it seems.
I'm glad to hear that Bard's Gate is coming out soon too. I did a submission for that way back when. I didn't get accepted but it was fun to try. It also made me really think about the mechanics. If I did the submission now it would be much better because I have learned a lot more since then. I won't say that doing the submission made me more astute, but it did give me a nudge.
Thanks for the info. I have been waiting for Grimtooth's for an age it seems.
I'm glad to hear that Bard's Gate is coming out soon too. I did a submission for that way back when. I didn't get accepted but it was fun to try. It also made me really think about the mechanics. If I did the submission now it would be much better because I have learned a lot more since then. I won't say that doing the submission made me more astute, but it did give me a nudge.
RobNoxious
Explorer
Y'know Clark, Grimtooth's was one of the main reasons I started posting on the Necro Boards. </Grin>
I'm fully geeked over this. Glad to finally see a release date. Thanks for putting out so much cool stuff to keep me patient in the meantime.
And great story.
-The Noxious One
I'm fully geeked over this. Glad to finally see a release date. Thanks for putting out so much cool stuff to keep me patient in the meantime.
And great story.
-The Noxious One
Nightfall
Sage of the Scarred Lands
Just want to say Undying One, because of you, I know modules thrive. Oh and no matter what others do, No one can replace the meatgrinding power of Rappan Athuk. PERIOD. Well except yourselves. 
Oh I was supposed to ask a question?
Right. ToH III. Did Scott work on this one too?
Oh and no matter what others do, No one can replace the meatgrinding power of Rappan Athuk. PERIOD. Well except yourselves. Oh I was supposed to ask a question?Right. ToH III. Did Scott work on this one too?
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