Updates on the Way

 I've been learning Adobe InDesign for layout word as Word has absolutely hated the huge, graphics intensive files that I've been creating...

So I'm doing an update of the Northern Tier (details below) in preparation for a couple of packages:

First, we'll do a Virtual Boxed Set of the Northern Tier on DriveThru - basically a bundle of all of the Northern Tier materials updated with new art and new layout (and new material). This is more than a year away, probably, though as I get used to InDesign the process is getting smoother (and faster!). 

When the Virtual Box Set goes live, I'll put together some limited Physical Boxed Sets of the Norther Tier, hand assembled by yours truly. I can't imagine there is a market for more than a dozen of these (especially considering the likely price point) but I want one on my shelf so I might as well order a few extras... If, somehow, there is greater interest in the physical product, I'll think about doing a bigger run... 

Next, we'll do a Virtual Boxed Set of the Northern Tier, Legacy Edition on DriveThru - basically a permanent bundle of the original Northern Tier products (nothing new or updated) with a print your own box wrap file and instructions on how/where to maybe get this done. In light of that, some of the legacy items will have to be made available for POD, so that's on the near future radar.

Finally, we're considering doing a 5E Compatible version of all the Highlands works and put them up on DriveThru as well. But that's likely to be off in the distance (and 5.5E or whatever it's going to be called).

UPDATE DETAILS:

The Legacy Northern Tier book is 144 pages plus map and covers. It includes: 10 NPC Encounters, 48 Dangerous Encounter, 28 Special Encounters and 62 Keyed Encounters located in 42 Hexes. In addition, the Legacy Tier had 8 "Highlands Locations" that were to be separate products (the Silver Queen supplement never got written). 

The Updated Northern Tier will probably be two books comprising: at least 6 pages of rules and procedures for Hex Crawling, 20 NPC Encounters, 20 Dangerous (now called Monster and Menace) Encounters (the two tables were combined and streamlined), and 80 Special Encounters. The keyed Hex Encounters currently sits at more than 130 - the scope of the Tier has been expanded (nearly a full 24 mile hex). At 130 keyed hexes, about 1 in 4 hexes will have a keyed encounter - assuming more don't get written as the project continues. The eight "Highlands Locations" adventures will be updated - including finally finishing the writing on the Summer Palace of the Silver Queen (which will probably get a "Legacy" version to make things complete). Among the many new hex key locations are no fewer than fifteen potential "Highlands Locations" that need to be written up and published. The Chantry of the Deepflame will be reorganized and expanded to make it easier to run as well as getting the new layout and trade dress that all of the Northern Tier Boxed Set will receive. 

The reason the Updated Northern Tier base book is likely to be split into two books is that the introduction, Hex Crawl procedures and the many random encounter tables and descriptions are already projected to be least 130 pages, probably more like 150. The Hex Key encounters are likely to fill close to 200 pages, possibly 240. While a 330-390 page book is doable, and that MAY be the route we take, it feels a little unwieldy in my mind (the Chantry of the Deepflame is 240+ pages and it's kind of hard to navigate). 

In addition to expanding the encounters and the key, we're planning poster sized regional maps and a number of supplemental booklets - including a generic "running a hex crawl" with the general procedures and the addition of a ton of random tables like the granddaddy of hex crawls - Judges Guild's Wilderlands - only, hopefully, better organized :) 

First Edition Spells Link

 https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105339/http://pandaria.rpgworlds.info/cant/rules/adnd_spells.htm

Three Images

 

#Dugneon23?

 Nah. I'm not going to participate. The "megadungeon" to be constructed feels a good bit too small to me and the idea is too rigid for the way I create, frankly. I think it's  great idea in theory and I'll be eagerly watching those who participate and rooting for them to see it through. 

Rather, I'll commit to simply WORK ON A PROJECT EVERY DAY without excuse. Even if it's five minutes of writing out an empty room or creating a random encounter table or naming the blasted NPCs... I have easily 20 projects in the works, most are little more than outlines (1-3 pages each, maybe with lots of shorthand and bulleted lists) but a half dozen or so could be punched out in a few months of daily work (maybe!!). 

I've been distracted lately gathering art (purchased stock art and public domain art) and making maps for the sheer joy of making maps. But none of that is working on a project. It IS, in fact, how I AVOID working on projects.

So, every day beginning Jan 1 - at least a few minutes on a project. That's, hmmmm, #Finishaproject23? 

2022 and 2023 - Hopes and Good Intentions

 2022 was not a productive year on the "new material" front. I have, literally, 20 projects in various states of incompleteness, with two somewhat close to being PDF ready (print will take a bit longer, I think). 

Some of the Source Files for the Highlands...

We DID add a "Friends of the Highlands" subcategory - some folks have begun creating material based on the material published for the Rosewood Highlands (maps and a one sheet overview of the Highlands thus far, but maybe more). It's cool to interact with people who are enjoying the setting and the adventures and hear how they are adapting things for their own campaigns. Check out the PWYW items in the Friends section and maybe drop a little cash - all the profits (what Drivethru doesn't take) goes to the Friends - so you'll be doing them a favor and encouraging them to maybe keep creating things.

As the year closes, I'm truly evaluating the projects that are on the cusp, to see if we can start 2023 strongly.

The Swords and Wizards in the Highlands (SAWITH) player's book is in playtest now - layout is about 80% complete - needing to place some more artwork and proofread the rules about ten more times. Once we are out of playtest (and I might put a Beta up on DTRPG) I'd like to hyperlink the PDF...that takes a ton of time - but it's so much more important I think in a rule book than it is in an adventure or sourcebook. Also, it'll probably get renamed as the house rules stray a good bit from the core of what S&W really is... 

Speaking of adventures and sourcebooks. Newtown, the capital of Clan Gallien, the last bastion of civilization before embarking on the long trek through the Great Barrier Crossing and braving the Untamed North, is another project about 80% complete. Art and layout are nearly finished, but a number of loose ends need tidying up before we ship it. 

Newtown was detailed because of a new series of adventures/campaign (yes, ANOTHER series - not the Unto the Face of the Deep Campaign, but another) that we are, tentatively, calling "A Song of Chaos and Eternal Night" (from Milton "I sung of chaos and eternal night" - Paradise Lost) which takes PCs into the Untamed North. As such, Clan Gallien Region free sourcebook is going to get a bit of a rewrite and some new maps.

Upon the Face of the Deep campaign adventures are either outlined or mostly written (two are at least half written). The scope of the campaign has changed a bit and some of the existing material might need some minor rewriting... which I HATE doing. Still, there should be some new adventures coming out the door in the first quarter. That's the target, at any rate.

Speaking of doing what I hate doing - the Rosewood Highlands regional gazetteer which has been in the works for decades is about half out of date now - so a complete overhaul and rewrite are necessary... I have thousands of pages from the past 40 years that I want to sort through to draw out the bits that can be refined... but it's tedious work. Still, it's on the horizon (hopefully the 2023 horizon). 

I'd hesitate to call anything for the future of Rosethrone Publishing "set in stone" - more hopes and good intentions than plans and solid work flow. But it's my hobby. Even the drudgery has it's satisfying moments, so there's that.

2023 - the year of Hopes and Good Intentions... 
 

On Making Up The Canon...

 I was contacted the other day by someone trying to reconcile all the lore in the Rosewood Highlands. I'm honored (and a little bit intimidated, to be honest) that someone is enjoying things I've written so much that they are studying the connections. 

My problem is that I'm a "pantser." That is, I write "by the seat of my pants." While I do outline everything I write, I rarely "fact check" it against anything else I've written - never mind some of the many throw away details. What are all the various saints patrons of? What are the southern lands and western lands called? Well... ideas evolve over the years. The broad strokes of the Rosewood Highlands go all the way back to 1983 or 1984. Almost 40 years... Dang.  I have a whole filing cabinet filled with dungeons, adventure notes, maps (oh so many maps - I mean, they're terrible, of course, but I have maps by the folder full...). The general shape of the continent of Daen-Ral (the Midlands, at least) has been relatively unchanged since the late 80s, though the nations and peoples have evolved. 

Around 2010 I started codifying things and writing my first adventures - The Shrine of the Fallen Angels and the Hall of the Gnome King and the barest seeds of what became the Chantry of the Deepflame were those first adventures. Then I set those aside for some time to put together the Northern Tier as an experiment in a regional setting. Looking at the Tier now, it's pretty crude and incomplete, but it was a giant leap forward for me in adventure writing. Slowly, I populated the Tier with various adventure settings (Blackfalls Hall and the Sepulcher of the Burning King and the others) and added a few unexpected adventures (The Keep of the Broken Saint came in a flurry of writing over about three weeks, Goblin House in just a few days and The Ghost Downs, while it took some time to complete, began as a generic, ten page "quick adventure" location that might be dropped in anywhere). 

So that's how the Highlands have come to be - or at least some of the highlights. I've had a couple people aske me specific questions about details of the Highlands and I've done my best to answer those questions consistently. But I think now is the time.

I need to set other things aside and put together the "Setting Bible" so that as I write, I have an accurate frame of reference for the adventures and various other setting products I write. Or, at least I can try to devote the time and energy to the endeavor. 

So - Thanks Eloy! You've given me a ton to think about and lots of great notes on the inconsistencies in the Highlands. 

I'll try to keep things updated!!

 

More Maps

 Been working at too many projects... I don't seem to get any of them done. I'm pretty stoked about what I'm working on now, though

Song of Chaos and Eternal Night 

A Campaign/Hexcrawl in the Untamed North/Endless Mountains. 

Just finished sketching out the Guildhall in Newtown (based on St. Mary's Guildhall in England)