Blackmoor friendly Adventure Path from Paizo?

As my friend Cthulhudrew recently mentioned on the Piazza, rumours have been spreading about Paizo making plans for a Pathfinder Adventure Path involving Numeria, which ,many see as Golarion's equivalent of Blackmoor. James Sutter, a writer/developer/fiction editor for Paizo/Pathfinder has now confirmed on his blog that there are definite plans for some kind of Numeria related AP coming down the line.

I am looking forward to this Adventure Path becoming a reality, and cant wait to see if it can be adapted to Blackmoor.



-Havard

Ed Greewood on Mystara

Ed Greenwood is probably best known as the Guru/Creator of the Forgotten Realms and Elminster, but like most of the best TSR game designers, he also ventured into the Mystara setting. The book he wrote was Gaz8 the Five Shires, the book that introduced the term Hin to describe the setting's Halflings. Ed later brought this term into the Realms as well, perhaps a nod to his romance with Mystara?

I never really got into the Forgotten Realms much, but when I saw Ed Greenwood on Celebrity D&D from GenCon2010, I just decided this guy is awesome.

On Tuesday Ed showed up on the Mystara Reborn Facebook Group offering the following comment:

"I have fond memories of each Gaz release, but I think Bruce [Heard] really brought the setting to life. The standout Glantri product, the Princess Ark series, the superb DRAGON coverage of the dragons of the setting . . . wonderful stuff that stands the test of time. I'm raising a glass of very good wine to Bruce, as I type this!"

I already talked about Gaz3 the Principalities of Glantri the other day, mentioning how it was the first product to connect the Blackmoor DA modules with the Gazetteer line.

Ed Greenwood also added:

"[...] Bruce, you're the heart and soul of Mystara. I know you had to ride herd on a lot of projects for all of TSR's lines and settings, but the Known World was your baby and a delight to write in...because of you. Don't hide; you deserve public praise you all too seldom got. (And I think it's long overdue for a publisher to give you a fat contract for, say, a fantasy trilogy, so you can show the New York publishers what you can do, and give all of us fantasy fans a new setting to fall in love with!)
We must sit down somewhere and somehow for another nice long dinner and chat..."

Now this almost ruined my image of mr Greenwood as a recluse who almost never emerged from his house in Canada (not sure where I got that image from?), but as someone who enjoyed the Voyage of the Princess Ark series at least as much as Ed Greenwood, I sure hope publishers are listening to this. I almost managed to convince the Paizo guys to publish a Voyage of the Princess Ark collection back when they were still in partnering up with WotC, but even if that boat has sailed (flown?), more fiction from Bruce is something I am looking forward to seeing.




-Havard


Image source

Paizo is 9 years

Getting into an anniversary groove here. Paizo is 9 years today. I have never gotten into playing Pathfinder, but I have been buying some of their books, just because they look so damn good.
Happy birthday Paizo!

-Havard

Necro's Clark Peterson to do Pathfinder

Clark Peterson formerly of Necromancer Games has announced his return to the gaming industry. Peterson gets mentioned in the Blackmoor blog because of his involvement with the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. On Monday he wrote the following:

I'm up to something. Not ready to say just what it is yet. But Paizo will be the first to know.
And it will be Pathfinder. Pathfinder is the game that has the soul of what D&D was coupled with proper changes for the modern game. That is what I want to support. Plus, I love all the people at Paizo and I love what they are all about. And the community here is just second to none.
You'll be hearing from me...

Judging based on his previous work, this is great news for the gaming industry. Now if we only could get him to work with Judges Guild and do more for the Wilderlands. Not quite Blackmoor, but almost the second best thing? :)


-Havard

Numeria: Pathfinder's Blackmoor

Pathfinder is doing really well these days. I am no expert on this game or its setting, Golarion, but as with everything from Paizo, the books look great. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the Golarion nation of Numeria, which seems to have alot in common with Blackmoor. I asked about this in a discussion over at the Piazza and it was pointed out to me that Golarion pays a great deal of homage to Greyhawk. Since Greyhawk has a Blackmoor, then Golarion should have one too.

A German D&D forum describes Numeria as a cross between Blackmoor and Expedition to Barrier Peaks. The most significant similarity is that during a cataclysmic event known as the Rain of Stars,

"a metal mountain fell from the sky and lit up the plains of Numeria, modern scholars believe it to be a vessel of some sort but that night it was a raging fireball."

This vessel from the stars, is apparently the source of the technological wonders which is an overarching theme to this nation. Furthermore, the capital of Starfall, shares many traits with Blackmoor's Starport and the Duchy of the Peaks in general. Numeria's ruler, the Black Sovereign, seems like a cross between the Iron Duke of Thonia and the Egg of Coot. The Black Sovereign is supported by technology oriented wizards and mechanical constructs. The people living outside the cities of Numeria are described in a way that reminds me of Peshwah. It is great to see that Dave Arneson's ideas were so strong that they keep showing up in new games and settings.





-Havard

Print copies at Paizo

In yesterday's entry I mentioned that RPGNow has pdfs of Blackmoor: The First Campaign (4E) for $22,10. At Paizo however, you can get print copies for only $36,00. Print copies of this book have been difficult to obtain, in particular in Europe.









-Havard

Well, they're still here...

Well, they are still here! In the beginning of December I suggested there might only be one month left to buy Blackmoor products. I guess I was wrong! Code Monkey Publishing (CMP) did say the lisence would end early 2010 which is a fairly vague phrase.

Having hear no word on the matter from either ZGG or CMP this year, I figured checking the online stores would be a good way of finding out if anything is happening to the situation.

 RPGNow/Drivethru have the best offers for pdfs that I have seen so far. If you have some money left after Christmas, I guess you still have a chance to complete your collection.

Edit: Paizo offers print copies of the Blackmoor: First Campaign (4E) sourcebook.






-Havard

One Month Left?

According to the recent press releases from CMP/ZGG, the lisence agreement with WotC expires at the end of the year or early next years. This could mean there's less than a month left for those of you who are interested in getting legal Blackmoor pdfs and havent done so yet. Code Monkey's Website has been problematic for ages and today I couldnt even access their store. You can get most of the pdfs in stores like drivethru.com, rpgnow.com or paizo.com. Drivethru/RPGnow seems to have lower prices than paizo does for this line of products. Robert Reed mentioned that there would be a 20% discount at some of the stores.

 

 

 

 

 

Havard