Whatever happened to Necromancer Games?

[Greg V]

Regardless of why or how Necromancer is in the state that it's in (as well as a lot of other d20/3ed companies), the thing that bothers me the most is how difficult it's becoming to get certain products.

Writing and play-testing Trailblazer (shameless plug, sorry ) really rekindled my enjoyment of playing d20/3ed. I'm sure a lot other people feel the same way with systems like Pathfinder, Fantasycraft, etc.

Because of that, I've been trying to track down some of the Necromancer modules lately and finding it rather frustrating - and expensive! Seems to me that there are still customers out there to justify a reprint of modules like Lost City of Barakus for example.

I think they are pretty much all available at Drive Thru RPG which should have a print-on-demand option soon, but finding them in print copies is getting more difficult (and expensive on sites such as eBay). I don't think they're looking at doing any more print runs of existing works.

 

[Mistwell]

Also things change with time. Back when Clark was willing to support 4E he liked 4E as his system, as was posted lately, he has gone back to 3E. So now neither primary owner of Necromancer likes 4E as "their" system. So now they are going to continue on supporting a system they do like, which is 3E/Pathfinder.

To be clear to 4E lovers, this is just a statement of system preference, so please, no one jump on this for a new edition war.

I agree with you. It's one of the reasons I had in mind when I said I think he backed off 4e for mostly non-GSL reasons.

It's perfectly fine for him to decide he likes 3e and wants to support it. I just wish he would say more of that, and less of the "It's the GSL's fault" stuff.

When a well known attorney in the field says the GSL is so flawed he wouldn't publish anything under it, it can influence other 3rd party publishers to not want to do it. But, if the primary reason is actually he just isn't much into 4e, that changes the tone of his opinion and possibly can change the mind of others who backed off based on his legal reasons.

 

[ggroy]

When a well known attorney in the field says the GSL is so flawed he wouldn't publish anything under it, it can influence other 3rd party publishers to not want to do it. But, if the primary reason is actually he just isn't much into 4e, that changes the tone of his opinion and possibly can change the mind of others who backed off based on his legal reasons.

Fast forward to today, is it "too little too late" for that? (ie. The damage is already done, and no turning back).

 

[Wicht]

I agree with you. It's one of the reasons I had in mind when I said I think he backed off 4e for mostly non-GSL reasons.

It's perfectly fine for him to decide he likes 3e and wants to support it. I just wish he would say more of that, and less of the "It's the GSL's fault" stuff.

When a well known attorney in the field says the GSL is so flawed he wouldn't publish anything under it, it can influence other 3rd party publishers to not want to do it. But, if the primary reason is actually he just isn't much into 4e, that changes the tone of his opinion and possibly can change the mind of others who backed off based on his legal reasons.

Mistwell, you keep insinuating that Clark is lying. Were he the only 3pp to say that the GSL had problems and that it would be a mistake to get involved in it, then that would be one thing. But when almost every large 3pp says the same thing with only one exception (Goodman, but are they actually even using the GSL?) then perhaps you would be better served by taking them at their word.

Have you stopped to consider that Clark's dissatisfaction with 4e may be a result of lingering hurt caused by the GSL fiasco? That is at least just as plausible as his words about the GSL being the result of not playing 4e anymore.

Still, I think you should be more careful about insinuating people are lying without evidence to back it up. You never actually used that word but you have implied it several times now.

 

[ggroy]

(Goodman, but are they actually even using the GSL?)

Some of the later 4E Dungeon Crawl Classics modules released during 2009 appear to be GSL. The 4E DCC modules released during 2008 appear to be OGL.

 

[darjr]

level up is gsl

#3 just went to the printers!

I think Amethyst is as well.

 

[Alzrius]

level up is gsl

#3 just went to the printers!

I think Amethyst is as well.

From what I understand, Goodman is the publisher for Amethyst, but the creator company (who, I believe, would have been the one to sign the GSL) is Dias Ex Machina Games.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Just the most recent news from Greg over at Necro, just going to quote his post from the Necro forums.

Bill is still working out the logistsics of making everything work, but we've agreed on the form of the thing in principle, so the details are still pending, but this is the general overview.

Conversion to PF RPG (including ST 1)

Each of three adventures broken up into multiple pieces (probably about 30,000 words each) and released in order as pdfs for about $10 apiece. So that means starting with ST 1 again (this time updated to PF RPG) released as the first three chapters. For those who have already purchased the ST 1 pdf on DT RPG, we're looking at some way to deeply discount those first three releases to maybe a couple bucks each or something. Bill's going to figure that out. We don't want to punish those people who jumped on board early and purchased the original pdf, and we want to make the new ones worth their while at the same time.

When the whole run has been published as pdfs, then anyone who purchased all the installments would receive a hardcopy book of all three combined shipped to them (should be anywhere in the world as far as I know). My understanding is that this hardcover is at no additional cost and is included in the price of purchasing all 15 (or so) of the pdfs. Bill is figuring that stuff out too.

Obviously if the pdfs are $10 each and there are 15 of them, then the final cost would be $150 rather than the $125 Bill was spitballing earlier, but maybe we make the first one really cheap as the hook to get everyone desperate to buy all the rest ;-), which could offset that by some.

Finally, though I am estimating 15 total chapters, I have not done the breakdown yet to see exactly how it will all shake out word count wise, but it should be around that number given the length of the three adventures together. I know the first book will be in three chapters and the other two books are both significantly longer than it.

We've got art lined up as well as layout, so the final piece is cartography, which I haven't heard back on yet. I've started the conversion work on ST1.

 

[humble minion]

Is there an overview of Slumbering Tsar available anywhere? I don't own the first module and I'm very tempted by the hardback, but that's an awful lot of cash to hand over on a campaign without some idea of where it's going...

 

[Keraptis]

even though I have completely given up on trying to like 4E I still buy Goodmans modules. I think the "STORY" content has been the best they have ever done, for the most part. I have gone nuts over Harley's Punjar modules, and that Death Dealer module RAWKS!

Far better that what WOTC put out, thats for sure. Well,, early on. I haven't even risked wasting my money on their modules for about a year now. So maybe they have gotten better.

Definitely a huge thumbs up for Goodmans modules from me, especially the Punjar series and the Death Dealer module.

To be fair Harley only wrote one Punjar module. Chris Doyle wrote the second one and Rick Maffei wrote the 3rd. I only mention this cause Chris wrote Smugglers Cove and Castle Whiterock with Adrain Pommier (two awesome adventures) and Rick wrote Scaly God (another great one). Just think credit should go where credit is due.

I would give Goodman Games a thumbs up for the 3.5 adventures they put out. And I really like the 4e modules they put out too. However they havent put out anything since GenCon last year. They used to put out a module or two a month, now its more like one every six months. And they promised stuff like Punjar paragon adventures that never showed up. Considering how they said 4e was selling great for them last summer I find that really weird.

Quite honestly I was thinking what happened to Goodman Games?

Theres no DCC Tournament this year and Joseph said on the GG boards that they won't be at GenCon. Again since they said that 4e was selling great for them, then they asked everybody if they wanted different systems, then there working on a new DCC RPG - I don't know, its weird. They kind of seem all over the place.

Anybody know whats up with them?