New 5E Epic Books coming in 2020

[Upper_Krust]

Hey UK,

Howdy Rhuarc amigo!

I'd vote for 'B'

Thanks for the input.

I think they run from most legible 'A' to least 'C'. With 'B' being legible enough while still being interesting. The latter two don't have any lower case option though and that might sway me a tiny bit.

'A' looks slightly creepy - which suits the alien theme. But 'B' is suitably EPIC so it might be a better fit for a series of books.

I'll go ahead and input 'B', if (for some reason) I don't like it later its not a massive problem to change the headers.

and agree that the shorter version is much better in my opinion! The pdf description can then elaborate on what the book is exactly and where it has its roots.

Yes it was a bit of a mouthful.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm in agreement with Rhuarc. Option C's use of straight lines feels a little too "techno" for a book about gods and angels. While option A has some pleasingly-understated uses of how the letters are shaped, it feels too understated for something that's supposed to have a cosmic feel to it. So I say option B it is.

As for the title, I personally like it longer, but then again I had no problem saying things like "Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium Appendix" without abridgement when referring to the old monster books, so take my opinion with a grain of salt there.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Alzius mate!

I'm in agreement with Rhuarc. Option C's use of straight lines feels a little too "techno" for a book about gods and angels. While option A has some pleasingly-understated uses of how the letters are shaped, it feels too understated for something that's supposed to have a cosmic feel to it. So I say option B it is.

I appreciate the feedback.

I purchased Affinity Publisher so this past week has been more about getting familiar with it (its all pretty straightforward) and picking my font styles for the new book, I'll start the writing in earnest this Friday (need to divide time between this and the comic book) although I have been doing a lot of my prep and research in the evenings.

As for the title, I personally like it longer, but then again I had no problem saying things like "Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium Appendix" without abridgement when referring to the old monster books, so take my opinion with a grain of salt there.

I might sneak a small Immortal's Handbook on the front cover somewhere. But I think Addendum 'X' is obsolete given the sub-title Alien Gods & Fallen Angels.

 

[Rhuarc]

Glad to hear you are not waiting until the comic book is finished and only then devote 'real' time and effort to this project, but develop both simultaneously.

Good luck in managing the two things in a satisfying fashion and I hope you won't get overwhelmed with the work! Really eager to see something new being published

 

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy Rhuarc mate!

Glad to hear you are not waiting until the comic book is finished and only then devote 'real' time and effort to this project, but develop both simultaneously.

Yes I'll try and split my week between the two and see how I get on. As one project nears completion I might spend a bit more time on it. My guess is the Bestiary will be finished before the comic - still a good bit to do on that and artists can only work so fast.

Good luck in managing the two things in a satisfying fashion and I hope you won't get overwhelmed with the work!

I'll try not to. Really enjoying getting back into the Monster Designing.

Really eager to see something new being published

I think its going to be a really interesting mix of monsters (even though I am trying to keep the number of entries down), perhaps leaning towards a horror theme for many of them.

Also got a lot of cool lore for different groups planned to really make epic gaming feel like a 'real' thing with all these races, groups, factions and pantheons jostling for supremacy. I mean the original Bestiary hinted at some stuff with the Dimensional Races but they are sort of fixed 'cogs' in the Demiurge. These new races (a few of which I detail in this next Bestiary) are the ones that stir things up and actively attack gods and pantheons...and then those races have their own enemies (who themselves may not exactly be friendly to the gods). So its opening up a whole new cosmic tapestry where there is a heck of a lot more going on than just Gods out there. I hope people get a kick out of it.

On top of which I also have some of the types of gods and epic monsters you'd expect from the Immortal's Handbook, including something big and dangerous...even for me.

 

[Rhuarc]

Hey UK,

just a quick note: It would be awesome if you could include short adventure ideas for three different tiers in these addendums again, like you did in the bestiary. Always loved the inspiring ideas you had, especially towards the higher scale of tiers.

Also, looking forward to the lore you are planning to include, was a highlight of the previous books as well!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey UK,

Hey Rhuarc buddy!

just a quick note: It would be awesome if you could include short adventure ideas for three different tiers in these addendums again, like you did in the bestiary. Always loved the inspiring ideas you had, especially towards the higher scale of tiers.

Absolutely. I will definitely include those and I am thinking I may add sections for "Quotes" (as in what the creature might say - for a bit of roleplaying flavour) as well as "Inspiration" (mentioning what inspired me to add or create the monster, for further investigation from readers).

Also, looking forward to the lore you are planning to include, was a highlight of the previous books as well!

Thanks very much. Hopefully this time the highlight will be everything in the book - but I understand you can't please all the people all the time.

 

[Rhuarc]

Hey UK,

so, how is it going? You mentioned you planned to start writing in earnest last Friday. Did that work out? How did the first week go so far?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey UK,

so, how is it going? You mentioned you planned to start writing in earnest last Friday. Did that work out? How did the first week go so far?

Hey Rhuarc buddy!

Its going okay. I did spend a bit more time than I wanted sorting out the fonts and general layout. Its been a while since I have used a Publishing program and this is a completely new one (Affinity Publisher). So it took a day or two getting everything right, and I also wanted to go back to the sub-heading font I used in the Epic Bestiary (Not the crazy one from the original pdf that got changed after a week or so, but the font used in the Hardcover print version) but of course I could not find it (nor even remember its name and weirdly my original docs don't show its name if you can believe that) so I had to go with something very similar (after spending literally hours searching for the original font online).

Also having a bit of a 'mare' getting back into 3.5E to the extent that I'll probably make the book 5E (which is SO much simpler) and then get someone to help me convert it to 3.5E and make an alternate version available. For me, looking at 3.5E epic stat-blocks now are like trying to decode Hieroglyphics without the Rosetta Stone.

So initially I'll concentrate on the non-stat parts of the entry to find my feet and get a few monsters typed up this weekend.

 

[Rhuarc]

I wholeheartedly support your idea of going with 5E for the start and then let the helpful community here make the conversion to 3.5. Would hate for you to feel forced into something you clearly don't want to do (getting back to creating 3.5 statblocks) and eventually prefer to give up on the project altogether than hitting your head against this wall over and over again. I'm convinced people here will not mind if you do it this way, especially if it might get done a lot sooner than the other way around.

Keep us posted how the weekend went then (and maybe a teaser or two about what monsters you worked on?)!