Jamie stated just the other day on the DL3E forums that an updated schedule for 2005 will be released soon.
As soon as I spot it, I'll update my listing. Until then, we just get to sit tight.
By the way, anyone know if there are any more details regarding the oracles? What purpose does the amulet of seeing serve plotwise, things like that. Didn't know if they are supposed to play a part in things or not, so I'm a little curious. Or maybe if someone "in the know" could clarify this, so we as DMs know we have freedom to do what we want with this stuff, without contradicting the overall storyline if this is supposed to revisited in the future.
Nothing official has been stated, but I'm not sure that SoS is going to see release this month.
Jamie stated just the other day on the DL3E forums that an updated schedule for 2005 will be released soon.
Lord have mercy, not again.
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Lord have mercy, not again.
Easy now, they have *one* product announced for 2005. What's wrong with them preparing the full line-up? I'm looking forward to it.
Easy now, they have *one* product announced for 2005. What's wrong with them preparing the full line-up? I'm looking forward to it.
Well, we have up until the end of this month(Jan. 2005) to see if the release schedule(The current release schedule that is) for SoS sticks.
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No news yet about Holy Orders of the Stars.
SP really is impossible. I would like to know exactly at what stage of development the module currently is.
How many of you guys are anywhere near completing KoD, though? Between now and April is easily enough time to keep playing through that module, and even if you suspect that you might not make it, then take some of those hooks and add in some sidequests.
Though I'm certainly not unbiased here, I think the fact that updated information is being released in a timely manner is a testament to the fact that the fans are being taken into account here, which ultimately is what rests behind making sure this product is released in the best shape that it can be.
:hoppingma :headexplo
(there, I didn't actually say anything negative.)
Please my friends, let us not forget the number of closed Key of Desitny threads, let us not walk down that road again, please I emplore you. I too am sadly disapointed and dismayed by this recent turn of events. However I am not going to let it ruin my game.
Three months to 'stall' its a challenge, but not insurmountable. A dozen or so sessions, maybe less due to unforseen events... spring break... Mardi Gras and other things... but not knowing when in April I'll go with a dozen. We have the Preview Chapter... I can stretch that into maybe two or three sessions, the hostilities of the desert, maybe force them to escape THROUGH Kendermore rather than around it (with the volcanic debris making the challenges that much harder and the eruption waking up one or two particularly nasty things.) A dungeon crawl through a ruined city... that by itself could kill a few sessions... then the desolation beyond, with the events that will kill a session. The Phaethon camp can be stretched. Maybe some of the kender are injured and need a chance to heal up but durring the downtime some hostile entities of the Desolation, whose own habitat might be ruined will try to attack the camp. Flipping through The Beastiary the Disir strike me as a good possibility, using squad (true disir) and berzerker (tyin) tactics it could prove interesting.
The more I think about this the more I like this idea, throw in some class levels to mix things up a bit... might even make a particularly strong one for an antagonist. The first half of this little side story could be trying to defend the Phaethon encampment and the wounded, with the second part being the party sent as a strike team to take out The Queen. This sounds like it could keep the party distracted for a session or two.
After this we have the Darkhaven crawl from chapter one to continue with, might have to trick it out a bit but easily enough for a session MAYBE one and half.
After that we have Flotsam... which we don't have in the preview... but with the write up in Age of Mortals I have enough info to create the city and 'stall'. It'll be a nice spot for some downtime, and a decent spot to try out this anti-gods cult that I've been fooling around with in my notes. For one reason or another I'll think of a reason Toede absolutly refuses to see the PCs for awhile... and with holy relics and a cleric the party would make a bright shiney target for my new cult... With an elusive always gets away BBEG behind the cult I can probably stretch that indeffinatly untill release, at which point ridding the town of this cult might give Toede a reason to grace them with an audience.
So much for my plan of letting slowing their level progression (three characters and plenty of sidequests in the first part made them level 10 at the end) and I sure don't want them 14th level before we hit chapter 3... but sometimes life deals you lemons... its up to YOU to make lemonaide... as they say. Maybe an encounter with a level draining undead to slow them down...
I can make this work.
From my observations, game design and publishing seems an awfully analogous to software development, a subject with which I have some familiarity. That stuff gets delayed and changed etc. all the time. Stuff happens, in other words. I'd rather they get it done right than get it done quick.
Of course, I playtested KOD and am playing a white robe in the author's personal game, in the interest of full disclosure.
Well, instead of getting upset about this anymore, I guess I'll just use it as a learning experience. Take any expected release date for a product and figure roughly 90% of the time, if you tack on 7-8 months or so, you get a more realistic release date.
I was hedging my bets that my group was going to explore a little more of the volcano, but as luck would have it, they went right for the ant colony, and straight to the big confrontation with Grigolthan and Sindra (they just defeated them in the last session). I figure there will be one more confrontation before the armory, as I wanted to place a mirror in the hall (scrying purposes for Grigolthan and/or Sindra). This will be a chance to unleash a fetch on the group's NPC and eventually kill him off. All for the good of a sideplot involving the staff of Grigolthan, and a gamble with the Oracles, to see if one of the players is ready to bring in a new character they were considering or not.
Chapter One of Spectre of Sorrows is more or less about getting the heck out of the Desolation, meeting the phaethon, running into the Dark Knights and then trying to get the tear of Mishakal out of Darkhaven. What's driving things in the chapter, initially, is the eruption of the Peak and the need to leave before things get worse. You also have the goblin catacombs to worry about.
There is a lot more adventuring left in the Desolation, and expanding the events above is easy, especially if Darkhaven becomes more of a threat. Consider that the Desolation is populated by many tribes of various kinds, from the Kor-Tai nomads to the gnolls and the sligs. The dark knights are well-situated at the pass out of the Desolation towards Flotsam and the north, so it's possible the various tribes are going to run afoul of them now that the hold on the Desolation that Sindra represents is over.
You could stage a war between various allied tribal groups and the Dark Knights, with the heroes in the middle. Make the tear of Mishakal the phaethons give to the heroes part of the quest. Rather than having the phaethon just hand it over, make the heroes look for it in the Desolation somewhere. Perhaps the Oracles know more about it. Maybe it's east of the Peak, in another part of the Desolation, being worshipped by Kor-Tai or sligs as a holy artifact. Once they get that, they need to deal with the dark knights, and Darkhaven is a big place.
Just some ideas. I could have put a lot more into that chapter if I'd had the space, so feel free to make the most of the opportunity.
Cheers,
Cam
Perhaps if they continue to charge about $50 for a book (though it is of high quality) they can afford to hire a few more people to get their products out in a timely manner?
It's not so simple, really. There's tons of factors to consider.
Let's say they did raise prices by $5 a book. How many people would suddenly not buy those books due to higher prices? Do they stop printing nice looking color books to ensure a salary for a full-time staffer? What if they go beyond Dragonlance and Sovereign Stone? Plus, how long do they have to have that higher price tag to bring in enough profit to pay that salary. Things don't change overnight.
I'm sure there's half a dozen other factors I didn't cover either.
That is all true. However, should the fan base, their clientiele, be forced to deal with the companies problems? Is it our fault that they are unable to do what is necessary to get us what we need to support them?
Well, no, of course not. That's why they won't charge more for the book just to hire new people. The book price will always be based off of page count, cover, quality of printing, etc. So, I don't think there's any worry of price increases (unless the book is of the enormous size that WotL was. And I know, I was one of those upset with the price of that book...but holy crap was it ever worth it)
According to the http://www.dragonlance.com/products/ website, the product in question is now scheduled for April.
No news yet about Holy Orders of the Stars.
SP really is impossible. I would like to know exactly at what stage of development the module currently is.
April ? This is hilarious, really.
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Or take up juggling.
Or perhaps ballroom dancing. ;)
Especially since getting upset(And this will happen alot if one does not like delays in the product DL product schedule.) is not going to speed the SP release schedule up in the least.
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I find it to be a riot personally.
I can tell you from firsthand experience that the folks working on it do not. I sincerely doubt the delay was a decision easily or cavalierly made.
Especially since getting upset... is not going to speed the SP release schedule up in the least.
On that much, we certainly agree.
Just laugh at how often they happen, and if you can, play something else. The Eberron Campaign Setting does not seem to be plagued with this problem, nor does the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
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Just laugh at how often they happen, and if you can, play something else. The Eberron Campaign Setting does not seem to be plagued with this problem, nor does the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Totally. If only there were five other Dragonlance hardcovers to build adventures around and mine for ideas. Oh well. Over to my giant shelf full of Eberron material I go....
I mean honestly, Cam is working as fast as he can, and had nothing to start with. Think about it, dude. There is a reason Chris Coyle's name isnt anywhere on the product anymore.
On with the conversation...
Totally. If only there were five other Dragonlance hardcovers to build adventures around and mine for ideas. Oh well. Over to my giant shelf full of Eberron material I go....
Did you pick up the Sharn: City of Towers accessory yet(for your Eberron game) ? If not, I reccomend it the book is amazing.
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Did you pick up the Sharn: City of Towers accessory yet(for your Eberron game) ?
No. I was joking, I don't play or own any Eberron materials. There's what, two books and a pair of flimsy modules? Aside from the fact that its a vastly inferior world to Krynn I see no reason to ignore the fact that there's more DL game material right now than in the setting's entire history and jump ship over one adventure trilogy.
Key of Destiny was worth the wait, and Specter of Sorrows might be as well. Until then you can play a War of the Lance campaign, another Age of Mortals campaign, blaze your own trail after Key of Destiny, or build a camp fire and sing a couple of songs. You've got 17 days after being declared overdue before you can expect a rescue and they mostly come out at night...mostly.
Just laugh at how often they happen, and if you can, play something else. The Eberron Campaign Setting does not seem to be plagued with this problem, nor does the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
No...they just print books with missing pages. ;)
Anyway...the WotC release schedule not being riddled with delays is a pipe dream. Even they have schedule problems...although I only see them in Dragonlance. So, maybe only Dragonlance has problems, but I doubt it. Novels are late all the time, and until they really got going, when WotC first purchased TSR it was awful with delays. It's just the nature of the beast...for all companies. Either that, or I just have bad luck.
I'm just wondering what the rest of the schedule is going to look like now? Does anyone affiliated with SP know when the whole schedule will be released?
Probably the only one that is set in stone is the source book based on Legends. It probably be like the War of the Lance book, released at GenCon, then widely released in September/October time frame.
Other than that, it's all probably still up in the air (hopefully this is just a module related problem and not one that effects all the books like last year). Just keep your fingers crossed.
No. I was joking, I don't play or own any Eberron materials. There's what, two books and a pair of flimsy modules? Aside from the fact that its a vastly inferior world to Krynn I see no reason to ignore the fact that there's more DL game material right now than in the setting's entire history and jump ship over one adventure trilogy.
Key of Destiny was worth the wait, and Specter of Sorrows might be as well. Until then you can play a War of the Lance campaign, another Age of Mortals campaign, blaze your own trail after Key of Destiny, or build a camp fire and sing a couple of songs. You've got 17 days after being declared overdue before you can expect a rescue and they mostly come out at night...mostly.
Ah I see, my bad. It seems as if you have some sort of bias towards Eberron. The two books they have out are of a much higher quality than the DL books IMO. Not to bash DL(As I like DL as well. I was only insisting that there are other worlds to play, that are not plagued with delays, DL is not the only setting out now. Eberron is generating more of a fanbase IMO.) but IMO they have much more to work with.
Also, I don't see the modules as flimsy, the role playing opportunities appear to be much greater in the Eberron modules as there is not a fight every step of the way. IMO they are better than the DL ones. War of the Lance is a good book but going out and buying the WoTL book, a book I was never interested in, was not on my agenda. I read it in the bookstore and it was.....ok, but not all that.
I also feel as if I should not have to buy X amount of DL books to suffice for yet another delay. This is not an attack against SP just some clarifications(I was not saying discontinue DL completely. Why would I say that when I bought the DL books ? Would that not be wasting my $$$ ?) I felt should be lain out. I was not saying discontinue DL completely. Why would I say that when I bought the DL books ? Would that not be wasting my $$$ ? Just because one does not engage in rampant DL fanboy/girl-isms does not mean that suddenly they are leaving DL completely. Common sense would tell one that when I, or any other gamer, purchase a gaming product I/they most certainly intend on using said product(s).
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Especially since getting upset(And this will happen alot if one does not like delays in the product DL product schedule.) is not going to speed the SP release schedule up in the least.
While I think you may have meant it a bit differently, this really is the truth. Getting upset won't speed things along. It got ugly around here when we had all the threads about Key of Destiny. Did it help matters? No.
I'm not trying to make excuses for Sovereign Press. They're late. It happens.
I'm just offering a suggestion on how to pass the time by while you wait. Seriously, this is not that big of a deal. It's just a game. Yeah, you have to wait a bit on this one. I can empathize with that. Yet there's no reason why one can't play DL in another era, or maybe even try out another setting. Eberron is fairly new, so give it a try. Or check out Green Ronin's upcoming Blue Rose RPG.
Or, better still, see what you can do to help out the tsunami relief effort, or volunteer at a homeless shelter for a bit. You may have to wait, but at least you would feel good about helping your fellow man.
Point is, there's a couple of ways to handle the situation. We can either stew around here complaining, which will only result in hurt feelings, or we can be productive, and find something else to keep us busy. I don't know about anyone else, but I vote for the latter.
Why is it that WOTC books don't get 4-6 month delays??
Because WotC is a big corporation with a sizable staff. Sovereign Press is a handful of people.
Take a look at Green Ronin. They have about 7 people in their office, and they experience similar delays. I remember waiting about 6 months for their Mindshadows book to come out when it should have been out in time for GenCon.
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I heard rumors of a movie deal for it at one point...Sorry, totally off topic I know, but I couldn't resist- DH, love that signature. That show (Firefly)was so awesome, and mores the pity that it was cancelled.
Firefly was one of the BEST sci-fi shows, ever. The writing was phenomenal.
There is a movie in the works called Serenity. Check out this site for more info:
Serenitymovie.com
If you want to talk Firefly some, feel free to send me a PM.
And, for those of you who are looking to pass the time by while waiting for Spectre, grab yourself a copy of the Firefly DVD set right away and watch it! Tobin, Jamie, and Margaret all got me hooked on the series, and it is fantastic.
Sorry, totally off topic I know, but I couldn't resist- DH, love that signature. That show (Firefly)was so awesome, and mores the pity that it was cancelled.
I got this one, Trampas.
Frostdawn, the movie is done being filmed, (it's called Serenity) it comes out September 30 of this year!! Can I get a "woo woo"!?! ;) And from the reviews I've read from the special preview last month, the movie is gonna rock.
Personally...I've always felt that people who were fans of Chronicles would enjoy the story and story telling of Firefly...the crew has a strong "Companions" feel to it. (no pun intended, for the fans of the show) :D
EDIT: Damnit, Tramp...you beat me to it.
This thread will be locked. Do Not Restart It. Again.
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