Castle Shadowcrag © Wolfgang Baur, 2009

Wolfgang Baur is running another round of Open Design so this is the perfect time to get in on it.  This time is a little different as there are three proposals for people to vote on and any one or even all three can progress should they achieve enough funding.  I’ll outline below all 3 proposals, but only one is being written in 4e ~ Courts of the Shadow Fey! The Scathsidhe return from both the Ennie nominated Castle Shadowcrag and Wrath of the River King.

I have been a patron of Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design movement since Castle Shadowcrag (oh how I wish I’d signed on for Steam and Brass!).  At some point I’ll write a full description of all of the projects I’ve been a part of (Castle Shadowcrag, Empire of the Ghouls, Arabian Nights, Blood of the Gorgon, Tales of Zobeck, Wrath of the River King, and Halls of the Mountain King). For now I’d like to bring attention to the three projects up for patronage this round and a quick discussion on what is changing.

Patronage

Wolfgang Baur started the Open Design movement with the idea that during the Renaissance artists created works for private patrons, so RPG products could be written for a select small group of patrons who would provide input and direction into the process.  That simple idea has spawned a large following of people who get to watch first hand how a master writer crafts his finished works. Patrons also have the opportunity to provide input, suggest topics, pitch content, and in some cases even author some of the work.  There are two levels of patrons, the patron level which grants access to the discussion and allows patrons to provide input on the design; and the senior patron level who get advanced views of some content, is allowed to pitch suggestions, and takes part in deciding the next round of projects after the current one finishes.

In the past the projects were exclusive, only those who were patrons of the project while it was being written would get an electronic copy and would be given the ability to purchase the print on demand version. That changed a bit after the first project to allow those of the current project (ie. Halls of the Mountain King) to purchase the previous project (ie. Wrath of the River King). Only recently did Wolfgang open up the Ennie award winning Tales of Zobeck to the public because of the award.  With the three projects below, however, Wolfgang is not keeping them exclusive to patrons. Provided they achieve funding, each project will see the light of day as electronic books available for mass consumption. Patronage still has its perks as I’ve outlined above. For me the draw is seeing how an amazing adventure comes together behind the scenes.

Open Design Projects Seeking Patrons

Courts of the Shadow Fey ~ link ~ Sign up today!

Written by Wolfgang Baur, this adventure will be written for Dungeons & Dragons 4E. It has been pitched as a paragon level adventure that takes players to the Plane of Shadow when the intrigues of the Scathsidhe threaten the Free City of Zobeck.  The adventure will be one of politics, assassination, intrigue, and stealth. Personally this one gets my vote as it is both 4E and written by Wolfgang himself, oh and its set in Zobeck.  I loved both Shadowcrag and Wrath so I’m looking forward to more Shadow Fey goodness.

From the Shore to the Sea ~ link ~ Sign up today!

This one will be written by senior patron Brandon Hodge who contributed substantially to the Halls of the Mountain King project.  The project is being designed to use the newly released Pathfinder RPG rules and will hopefully be set in the Pathfinder campaign setting, Golarion (pending agreement by Paizo Publishing).  The adventure will draw players beneath the waves where an ancient kingdom of aboleth have reawakened and has enslaved an entire village.  The Pathfinder RPG shows promise and Golarion is one of the most intriguing settings currently being supported.

Red Eye of Azathoth ~ link ~ Sign up today!

Joshua Stevens is leading this Cthulhu-inspired collection of adventures.  The project will either use the Call of Cthulhu system or the Pathfinder RPG depending on how the patrons choose (talk about involvement!).  The adventures will span several time periods as sleeping elder gods seek to invade the mortal world.  These 5 adventures will be set on earth in 5 different periods of history and senior patrons for this project will get to pitch entire adventures.

Personally I wish I had funding available to join all three projects or even one at the senior patron level. As indicated the 4E adventure, Courts of the Shadow Fey is my current favorite.

Presenting my third review article this week, we move on to Wolfgang Baur’s projects Open Design and Kobold Quarterly.  This is an exciting week for both as 4E content accelerates as Halls of the Mountain King moves into the 4E conversion phase and Kobold Quarterly releases more 4E content then ever before. It looks like votes from last week are in and the 4E Halls will be for levels 8-11 ushering in Paragon play.

Note I am going to leave out the duplication of content and announcements.

Open Design

Note that these articles require a subscription to Open Design to access.

Playtest Reports

More playtest reports come in for the 3.5 version of Halls of the Mountain King. Each of these encounters reported on sound exciting and unique. The senior patrons who have designed these encounters sound like they’ve done a terrific job. I hope to get both the 3.5 and the 4E version of both Halls and the Gazetteers so that I can report on all content from the project.

• Heartsblood Forge
• Dark Was the Night
• Dark Was the Night (2)

Iron Gazetteer ~ link

While design on the Dwarves of the Ironcrags Gazetteer for 3.5 continues with Wolfgang writing the entirety, the Iron Gazetteer kicks off this week.  Discussion begins with suggestions on the content to include. It looks like many people are looking for paragon paths, rituals, and equipment.  Wolfgang has indicated that he does not want to include any of the culture pieces from the Ironcrags Gazetteer so this will be all fresh content. Join now and you can join in on the discussion.

Monster Conversions

The first of the senior patron work for 4E has been delivered to all supporting patrons in the form of three creatures. Discussion is raging on each of the creatures already, but I can tell that the patrons are getting into the swing of things with 4E design.  All of these will pass through Wolfgang’s development once the community has provided feedback.

• Fledgling Roc – a large roc that can pick up opponents and drop them prone
• Cavelight Moss – an obstacle or a soldier, you decide in discussion
• Gilded Devil – a controller that wields a golden flail and is covered in golden armor

Kobold Quarterly

Note Kobold Quarterly links are open content.

Kobold Quarterly #9 was released this past week and it is a phenomenal issue which will be reviewed in a subsequent review.  What was nice to see was additional 4E support in the magazine. Wolfgang has run an article in issue 7 and a few on the site, but this issue had 3 and now additional support online.

Monster Monday – Maenad [4E] ~ link

Presented in depth in the print magazine, the Maenad is given a 4E monster treatment by Matthew Hanson online. Matthew gives us the Maenad Warrior and Maenad Wilder as opponents for your PCs. They are interesting low level heroic tier creatures that provide an alternative to the more primitive humanoids in the Monster Manual.

Kitsune [3.5E] ~ link

The Kitsune are presented in the print magazine as a player race for 4E.  Scott Gable gives us a 3.5 version of these 9-tailed foxes of Japanese folklore as a player race as well.  Along with the stats to play these sneaky tricksters, Scott gives us details on the Star Ball as a wizard spell and Fox Possession as a ritual.

Interview with Aeryn Rudel ~ link

Well known creature crafter Blackdirge is interviewed by Jeremy Jones on his recent work with Goodman Games and his history with creating some of the most detailed and nasty creatures for 3.5.  Aeryn has written many products for his own PDF publishing company but was recently hired on as a staff writer for Goodman Games. At Goodman he has been given the position of senior editor for the new Level Up! magazine for 4E.  I look forward to seeing the fresh content that Level Up will bring to the 4E 3rd party publishing world with a dedicated magazine for this edition. I also learned a new word that I’m not sure I want haunting my head any more ~ autophagia.

Monster Monday – Buggane [3.5E] ~ link

Richard Pett returns to Kobold Quarterly with the latest Monster Monday. The buggane is a devilish looking creature from the folklore of the Isle of Man. Buggane gather in the cacophonous Great Hunt in the forest wielding scythes as they chase their chosen prey.

Until tomorrow when I’ll tackle some of the blog posts from the last week that have caught my attention that I’d like to promote and discuss.