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It occurred to me that I should really jump in and let the Paizo community know about the Third-Party Thursdays (3ppt for short) event I've been running.
Every Thursday, I'm running an event at our local game store featuring adventures and materials from some of the great third party publishers out there. Our last event featured classes from Rogue Genius Games' Adventurer's Handbook: Vol. 1 and Amora Games' Liber Influxus Communis. The adventurers got to run through the excellent Twin Crossings adventure from adventureaweek.com.
Our initial announcement can be found here and the recap of that evening can be found here. We had a great time, and Owen K.C. Stephens even provided me with a couple copies of the Adventurer's Handbook that I was happy to send home with a couple of the GMs who showed up to play so they could share the awesome materials they got to test out with their home groups!
Our next adventure will feature a variety of teamwork oriented pregens from Dreamscarred Press and Amora Games running The Midnight Mirror, a highly reviewed adventure from the 2011 winner of Paizo's RPG Superstar contest, Sam Zeitlin. Read more about it here, with weekly updates every Sunday and adventure recaps every Friday at somnambulant-gamer.com.
Slated for future events, we're already looking for an adventure that will best showcase Legendary Games' new book, Gothic Campaign Compendium (definitely looking for something with a great horror vibe), and I personally want to give more people a chance to play around with some of the excellent classes and mechanics from Drop Dead Studios' Spheres of Power.
If you happen to be a third-party publisher who'd like us to showcase your products at the event, please feel free to pop me a PM. I'm more than happy to feature classes, mechanics, or adventures from the great writers and designers out there who are still looking for a little extra exposure at both our live games and on our blog. My only request is that you provide me with a table copy of your .pdf or print product for easy reference (assuming I don't already have it).
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Excellent! I can't wait to read more about future events. :)
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Thanks for following us Liz!
I also see that Endzeitgeist is watching the thread; I have to give him credit, it was his excellent review of Twin Crossings on his site at endzeitgeist.com that led to me picking it up and using it for our first event. Thanks Thilo!
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I love what you're doing here and am really glad I could contribute in some small manner to the fun you're bringing when doing these events! Kudos for promoting some of the excellent 3pp-stuff out there and thanks for the shout-out! (Plus, as an aside, Bravery Feats will hit site this week.)
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It happened by accident, but my pathfinder group actually ended up with all third-party classes: an onmyoji, a tinker, a herbalist and a marksman. The combats are so weird! Nobody has a frigging sword!
I really like Pathfinder, but I prefer my fantasy a little bit more strange, more non-standard - I hope Paizo embrace the oddness with the Occult Adventures classes, and with a probable occult adventure path.
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Nice!
Sounds like you need to add some New Paths Compendium classes to that mix! ;)
I think you may be absolutely right! I hear a lot of good things about your Spell-less Ranger.
I love what you're doing here and am really glad I could contribute in some small manner to the fun you're bringing when doing these events! Kudos for promoting some of the excellent 3pp-stuff out there and thanks for the shout-out! (Plus, as an aside, Bravery Feats will hit site this week.)
Excited to see another one of my supplements hitting your site Thilo!
I think that one of the best things anyone with aspirations to write can do is promote the things that are so great about the 3pp industry. I appreciate the role you play in that, giving great insights into what's being done right and where 3pp can do better. I honestly tend to find that dollar for dollar, anything with your seal of approval is on par with the materials from companies like Paizo and WotC, and that's something I'd love for more people to get to see.
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It's been really exciting to hear from so many great publishers! I think we're going to be able to showcase a lot of cool stuff!
I think we've found the companion pieces to complement Legendary Games' Gothic Campaign Compendium: Ascension Games' Path of Shadows and Four Dollar Dungeons' Dance Macabre!
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I had to pop in and apologize real quick; things got away from me over the last week and I wasn't able to get the 3ppT articles up in a timely manner. Here's the article for the 3/19 game, and I'm working on the 3/26 recap now. I'll be posting it up tomorrow afternoon.
One thing I definitely discovered though; Michael Allen's Twin Crossings has seriously raised the bar for me on what I want from an adventure module. The flow charts, inserts, organization, and tables have seriously spoiled me, and it's hard not to be a little disappointed by almost anything else.
Also, in a trend I'm going to try really hard to stick to, I've posted up a brief review of the adventure and a star rating here on Paizo.
Sslarn, would you like a copy of Spellstaff to bring to your 3pp games? It might be useful for your magic users.
One thing I definitely discovered though; Michael Allen's Twin Crossings has seriously raised the bar for me on what I want from an adventure module. The flow charts, inserts, organization, and tables have seriously spoiled me, and it's hard not to be a little disappointed by almost anything else.
Assuming you are going to do Dance Macabre next, that's quite a challenge!
I hope you enjoy it as much!
Richard
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Sslarn, would you like a copy of Spellstaff to bring to your 3pp games? It might be useful for your magic users.
That would be amazing! I'm sure we can find a place for it ;)
One thing I definitely discovered though; Michael Allen's Twin Crossings has seriously raised the bar for me on what I want from an adventure module. The flow charts, inserts, organization, and tables have seriously spoiled me, and it's hard not to be a little disappointed by almost anything else.Assuming you are going to do Dance Macabre next, that's quite a challenge!
I hope you enjoy it as much!
Richard
Yep, Dance Macabre is going to be the next featured adventure following the completion of our current Paizo module, "The Midnight Mirror" (there's starting to be a real horror trend developing in our games, and I'm loving it!). There'll be characters from Legendary Games' Gothic Campaign Compendium and Ascension Games' Path of Shadows. Chris Moore is even putting the PoS characters together, so our players will be running them exactly as the author intended, how cool is that?
I just realized I won't be shortening Path of Shadows to an acronym again. That's.... unfortunate.
I've been reviewing Dance Macabre getting ready to run it, and I will say two things I love about it already:
1) The download automatically comes with a folder full of player handouts and references, and a separate GM's folder. That rocks serious socks.
2)Organization is top notch, with handy notes for the GM interspersed in appropriate places and detailed charts and stat blocks where needed.
Looking forward to digging in deeper!
Sslarn, would you like a copy of Spellstaff to bring to your 3pp games? It might be useful for your magic users.That would be amazing! I'm sure we can find a place for it ;)
Excellent! PM me with a DriveThru account, perhaps, and I'll ask Alex to send you a "review" copy.
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Just been inspired to buy Twin Cities after those glowing reviews! Thanks for spreading the word
It's actually "Twin Crossings", just in case you're having trouble finding it :)
And of course! That's kind of the point of the whole event, to find those 3pp products, whether they be classes, feats, archetypes, or entire adventures, and get them out on a table where people can see them, talk about them, and get interested. There's so much amazing stuff out there that people don't get to see because they're not familiar with the 3pp publishers or products, and I really want to open people up to how cool this stuff is, and dispel some of the myths out there.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is the assumption that 3pp materials are mostly broken, designed for power-gamers (I hate that label, it doesn't have any meaning and is always used derogatorily) who want things that no "sane" publisher would put in a book.
In our current adventure, we've got the Momenta from Liber Influxus, a literal henchman class whose brutally small list of spells can only be cast out of combat, running alongside the Tactician from Ultimate Psionics, a guy who can set up telepathic networks between the entire party and use his mind to hit people. The Momenta is basically Subotai from Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian, while the Tactician falls somewhere between Jedi and Justice League. But you know what? They're both so well balanced, they play perfectly naturally together. Despite the variance in theme and the fact that their basic premises exist in almost completely different worlds, they're so well developed and designed that when they're at the table you know that they're intended for the same game. My group was actually a little blown away when they saw these disparate classes coming together and complementing each other so well, and probably the high point of the evening was watching someone who'd banned psionics from his game as a GM come to love the only psionic class in the session.
So coming back around to my point - I'm so glad you bought that adventure based on this event and my reviews. I'm sure you'll love it, and that's exactly why I'm doing this. Hopefully there's more and more people like you who follow this thread or read the blog and end up doing the same thing. My one big request - review it yourself! The more that people talk about a product, the more exposure it gets, and the more likely it becomes that it's going to be allowed at a table, and every time that happens the 3pp market grows just a little bit bigger, and some writer/publisher/designer/developer/editor/cartographer gets just a little bit closer to their dream of being able to do what they love for a living.
I just realized I won't be shortening Path of Shadows to an acronym again. That's.... unfortunate.
Yyyyyyep. I noticed that when I was writing it. I usually abridge it as "PS" to reference it in places like the d20pfsrd. ;)
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I just realized I won't be shortening Path of Shadows to an acronym again. That's.... unfortunate.Yyyyyyep. I noticed that when I was writing it. I usually abridge it as "PS" to reference it in places like the d20pfsrd. ;)
Noted and adopted for future reference. I have similar issues with DSP's Path of War; for me personally that full acronym is reserved for a much more somber and serious subject, so I may start using PW to refer it.
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So, the next 3ppT article should be posting just ahead of tonight's game on our site at somnambulant-gamer.com, but I wanted to pop in for a quick update:
For the 4/9 game, due to delays that are entirely my fault, we won't be able to run Dance Macabre from Four Dollar Dungeons alongside our characters from Ascension Games' Path of Shadows and Legendary Games' Gothic Campaign Compendium as planned, so instead we'll be saving those for our return in May. Tonight's game will instead be the 1st level adventure Murder's Mark by Jim Groves, with characters from Northwinter Press' Mystical: Kingdom of Monsters. I've reviewed M:KoM here on the Paizo site (linked to just prior to this) and I highly encourage everyone to check it out. I'll be leaving for my wedding and honeymoon in the Caribbean this weekend, so 3ppT will be on a 2-3 week hiatus until my return. Talk to you then!
Wish I was in the area. Those summaries make it sound like the games were a blast!
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Yeah, last week's adventure, despite ending in a TPK, was actually a blast! We were drawing in quite the crowd of onlookers, and the party's emotions and opinions were creating a palpable presence around the table.
We had a few people sick or otherwise detained for tonight's game, but the Monster Trainer characters actually won over a couple grizzled old gaming vets who were positive they'd hate the whole thing, premise and execution alike.
When you say that they were "positive they'd hate the whole thing," do you mean 3PPT itself, or just the Monster Trainer?
Shame they couldn't rescue the barony though. Darn you Shae monster!
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gotta ask, is anyone looking to play fighters?
With Feats of Bravery and the Fighter Nuances, it is practically a new class. I hope someone is looking to play a fighter.
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When you say that they were "positive they'd hate the whole thing," do you mean 3PPT itself, or just the Monster Trainer?
Shame they couldn't rescue the barony though. Darn you Shae monster!
The Monster Trainer. I said something to the effect of "It's a bit like Pokemon for Pathfinder" and I got these flat, unfriendly stares that made it clear that from that second forward only the faith I'd engendered from the previous games was keeping them onboard. That changed pretty quick though, and they really came around to liking the class.
gotta ask, is anyone looking to play fighters?
I'd been kind of reserving Fighter stuff for the second half of next month. The Genius Guide to Bravery Feats was one of the things I wanted to showcase and that shows off a bit better at the levels where the Fighter starts to lose traction (like 7+).
But if the real question there was "Would you like a copy of my Fighter Nuances supplement for your players to mess around with?" the answer's "Yes please!" :D
But if the real question there was "Would you like a copy of my Fighter Nuances supplement for your players to mess around with?" the answer's "Yes please!" :D
daww you read me like a book ;) let me know when you wanna copy.
Review of Dance Macabre is now available here: http://endzeitgeist.com/dance-macabre/
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Sorry for the delay in getting a new article posted! This one is from our last April game before I left for my wedding and honeymoon. As I mentioned earlier, this was the one where we playtested the Monster Trainer from Mystical: Kingdom of Monsters.
I read the article, but there is no wrap up!
Thoughts on the relative power and fun factor of the Monster Trainer class? I have the PDF, but have yet to see one in action...
That sounds like a really eventful session! Those meddling monster trainers sure saved the day.
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I read the article, but there is no wrap up!
Thoughts on the relative power and fun factor of the Monster Trainer class? I have the PDF, but have yet to see one in action...
Huh, I appear to have forgotten to hit save after the wrap up paragraph before publishing. I'll fix that.
The Monster Trainer is great fun. I really just want to run a whole campaign using that book at some point. I'd say the Monster Trainer leans a little on the strong side at low levels, but no more so than any other pet class. As it moves into higher levels the limitations on spells tied to your active monster and the shared action economy on monster and trainer prevents the class from escalating as quickly as most other 9th level casters, something I actually appreciate. The total power of the class at any level is dependent on its monsters though, something I think is awesome and appropriate. Most of the monsters are fairly well balanced to other monsters of their CR, but the combinations of spells and abilities you get from them can drastically change the way you play.
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The article about Dance Macabre and the Path of Shadows characters should be going up today :)Any more news?
Richard
"Should" became "didn't" this evening, but the article is mostly done and if I wasn't falling asleep at my keyboard I'd finish it and post it up tonight. Instead I'll be wrapping it up first chance I get tomorrow and posting a review here on Paizo as well.
Obviously I'll go into much more detail in the article and review, but I will say that my favorite thing about Dance Macabre is that it's as fun for the GM to run as it is for the players to experience, and for me that's not exactly common. I occasionally fall into the bad habit of thinking of GMing as a chore and investment in hopefully prepping future GMs so I can go back to playing, and Dance Macabre definitely didn't evoke that mindset. There's tons of wonderful inside jokes for the GM that keep it light and entertaining (a hard task given the pretty dark and twisted story-line), even if they're things the party will never see or know (like a joke about how an innkeeper's bagpipes appear to have been successful at keeping ghosts away since the inn has never had any evidence of a haunting).
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In a desperate attempt to get caught up on the articles I owe you, here's the 5/21 recap, which featured Four Dollar Dungeon's "Dance Macabre" adventure and Ascension Games' "Path of Shadows" sourcebook.
Expect to see more articles including the Nightblade at different levels, and definitely more of Four Dollar Dungeon's awesome adventures!
The next article will be for 6/4 and 6/11, as a party of Dreamscarred characters using Bloodforge races and Akashic Mystery classes take on Legendary Games' "Rise of the Drow"!
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This is a really cool idea and I'm kind of bummed I didn't notice it earlier. You make me wish there were two more days a week so I could volunteer to DM a similar project in my town.
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Dance Macabre sounds ridiculously fun. I think I might have to check it out.
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@Adam B. 135: There is a reason I consider 4$D-modules to be pretty much as close to art as one can get when writing modules. My players actually asked to play this one AGAIN after finishing it.
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In a desperate attempt to get caught up on the articles I owe you, here's the 5/21 recap, which featured Four Dollar Dungeon's "Dance Macabre" adventure and Ascension Games' "Path of Shadows" sourcebook.
Expect to see more articles including the Nightblade at different levels, and definitely more of Four Dollar Dungeon's awesome adventures!
The next article will be for 6/4 and 6/11, as a party of Dreamscarred characters using Bloodforge races and Akashic Mystery classes take on Legendary Games' "Rise of the Drow"!
Thank you very much for the write up. You did only scratch the surface of the module - the fun really starts once the PCs get to Twisted Bridge - but I really enjoyed reading about your experiences.
All the best
Richard
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In a desperate attempt to get caught up on the articles I owe you, here's the 5/21 recap, which featured Four Dollar Dungeon's "Dance Macabre" adventure and Ascension Games' "Path of Shadows" sourcebook.
Expect to see more articles including the Nightblade at different levels, and definitely more of Four Dollar Dungeon's awesome adventures!
The next article will be for 6/4 and 6/11, as a party of Dreamscarred characters using Bloodforge races and Akashic Mystery classes take on Legendary Games' "Rise of the Drow"!
Thank you very much for the write up. You did only scratch the surface of the module - the fun really starts once the PCs get to Twisted Bridge - but I really enjoyed reading about your experiences.
All the best
Richard
The least I could do! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to dip in to such an awesome adventure. I'm definitely going to be running it again at some point, even if I have to swap a few names around and graft it into a larger campaign.