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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 9, 2022 13:19:49 GMT -6
Back the Indiegogo!The next printing of AA is now live on Indiegogo! With this print, we are giving the game a huge facelift and reorganization. It is NOT, however, a full new edition. Your existing books are not obsolete with this new presentation and reorganization. Here is what you can expect: 1. It will be full-color all round wih a brand new layout and new art. 2. It’s re-branded from specifically “pulp” to “multi-genre” to better reflect the original intent. 3. We will now have a traditional 3-book paradigm: a Player’s Handbook, Chronicle Keeper’s Guide, and a Codex Monstorum (monster manual). 4. The Companion is going away, but EVERYTHING from it is folded into the player’s and CK’s guides. This means that yes, the AA Player’s Handbook will have a lot more character classes in it as well as more spells and psionic powers. 5. The GM is renamed the Chronicle Keeper (CK) to fit better with C&C. 6. The rules themselves are NOT significantly changing; you WILL still be able to use your first and second prints just fine. Errata are incorporated and things are cleaned up but the game will not be heavily revised. The magic system is getting a cleanup; the psionics system may get a minor cleanup. The gadgeteering system is clarified and covers powered heroes (supers). The changes overall will be along the lines of what we’ve seen with C&C over the years. 7. Some new and expanded bits may be added – Cinematic unarmed combat, more genre advice, and things like that. Mostly this will be in the CK’s Guide to fill out the page count. 8. The monster book is still in development but expect to see a lot of Lovecraftian creatures, creatures of mythology, cryptozoological creatures (like Sasquatch and Nessie), Gothic horror monsters, sci-fi creatures, things like that. 9. The Book of Powers and StarSIEGE ARE NOT GOING INTO THE CORE BOOK. Both of these are slated for eventual updates and expansions, so they’re also not going away. The CURRENT plan (which is subject to change) is for StarSIEGE to get an expansion to 128 pages, and become a hardcover. I hope that the Book of Powers will also see an expansion to 128 pages along with a rename, and a hardcover treatment as a proper Supers genre book. We’re planning on many genre books to tie into Amazing Adventures and Castles & Crusades moving forward. Again, this is a cleanup and reorganization, NOT a full second edition. First and second print books will still work just fine, just as with C&C. For distribution purposes it’s going in as a new game, but we don’t see this as a violation of our “no new editions” policy, because it is NOT making your prior books obsolete. Back the Indiegogo!
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Post by jeffb on Nov 9, 2022 20:50:49 GMT -6
Have you all considered an only digital full core rules (PHB/CKG) or complete game backer option?
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 10, 2022 6:29:21 GMT -6
Have you all considered an only digital full core rules (PHB/CKG) or complete game backer option? We will not be doing a digital-only complete game option. I asked Steve about the PHB/CKG option, but he's on Arkansas time so he's not around just yet. There are complex economic reasons for it (not complex as in "you wouldn't understand," but complex as in "it's exhausting to try and lay it all out"; I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, I swear!), but generally speaking, you actually LOSE money by offering digital-only pledge levels when it all comes out in the wash. That being said, at least offering a PHB/CKG level is something that seems like it should be there. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 11, 2022 17:39:00 GMT -6
Have you all considered an only digital full core rules (PHB/CKG) or complete game backer option? So it's now essentially possible to do this. We have added the CKG and CK Screens as PDF add ons. So if you buy the PHB in digital, when you check out you can add on the CKG and Screens. We aren't doing digital-only for the adventures, because they are already ridiculously inexpensive, so you just get a physical and PDF of them. But there you have it. It's now possible to do an all-digital for the core rules and screens. |
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Post by jeffb on Nov 11, 2022 19:43:29 GMT -6
Have you all considered an only digital full core rules (PHB/CKG) or complete game backer option? So it's now essentially possible to do this. We have added the CKG and CK Screens as PDF add ons. So if you buy the PHB in digital, when you check out you can add on the CKG and Screens. We aren't doing digital-only for the adventures, because they are already ridiculously inexpensive, so you just get a physical and PDF of them. But there you have it. It's now possible to do an all-digital for the core rules and screens. Excellent news Jason. Is RotRG a new version? I have the original black cover version. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 13, 2022 6:36:05 GMT -6
No, Rise of the Red God is not a new version. That's as it has always been, though I believe (and sincerely hope) the map issue has been fixed and the actual temple of the red god is in there instead of the giant full-page voodoo humfor.
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 13, 2022 8:11:38 GMT -6
On the fence with this one. (1) I think I own pretty much everything AA already (with the exception of leather versions) going back to the original KS, so there is a lot of duplication with what I already own. (2) While multi-genre is cool, the original "pulp" flavor was really cool as well. Part of me hates to see this change. (3) I'm a little bummed that the Monster Manual is still in development and not part of the deal, and sorta want all three at the same time. (4) I do love to support TLG and pretty much anything Jason works on. Top notch stuff! I guess I have 3 weeks to contemplate. Knowing me, I will wait a while in deliberation and then jump in at the last minute.  |
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Post by jeffb on Nov 13, 2022 11:18:03 GMT -6
On the fence with this one. (1) I think I own pretty much everything AA already (with the exception of leather versions) going back to the original KS, so there is a lot of duplication with what I already own. (2) While multi-genre is cool, the original "pulp" flavor was really cool as well. Part of me hates to see this change. (3) I'm a little bummed that the Monster Manual is still in development and not part of the deal, and sorta want all three at the same time. (4) I do love to support TLG and pretty much anything Jason works on. Top notch stuff! I guess I have 3 weeks to contemplate. Knowing me, I will wait a while in deliberation and then jump in at the last minute. While I do not own everything AA, I'm with you on points 2,3, and 4. This is why I'd like to go digital on this- I want to support the project, but I can't justify going all in with the high $ print products. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 13, 2022 13:45:26 GMT -6
To elaborate on my point #2 above, one thing that I liked the most about the original AA is that Jason spends time discussing "Robert E Howard" style play. I think it's in the Companion book. 4. The Companion is going away, but EVERYTHING from it is folded into the player’s and CK’s guides. Anyway, REH is one of the greatest authors ever and few RPGs really capture that flavor as well as AA can do. I mean, some of REH's stuff is fantasy/ancient (Conan, Kull, etc) but a lot more is pulpy adventure (El Borak's Afghan adventures, Solomon Kane's puritan stuff, the pirate stories, Steve Harrison detective, weird westerns, etc.) and that kind of play was always in AA's wheelhouse. I'm kind of excited to see what the new edition looks like, and I hope those REH-style elements don't get lost during the process of making the new version more universal. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 13, 2022 14:17:44 GMT -6
To elaborate on my point #2 above, one thing that I liked the most about the original AA is that Jason spends time discussing "Robert E Howard" style play. I think it's in the Companion book. 4. The Companion is going away, but EVERYTHING from it is folded into the player’s and CK’s guides. Anyway, REH is one of the greatest authors ever and few RPGs really capture that flavor as well as AA can do. I mean, some of REH's stuff is fantasy/ancient (Conan, Kull, etc) but a lot more is pulpy adventure (El Borak's Afghan adventures, Solomon Kane's puritan stuff, the pirate stories, Steve Harrison detective, weird westerns, etc.) and that kind of play was always in AA's wheelhouse. I'm kind of excited to see what the new edition looks like, and I hope those REH-style elements don't get lost during the process of making the new version more universal. Aside from reorganizing the rules and cleaning up errors and errata, literally the ONLY thing that is changing from a "feel" standpoint is we are changing the word "pulp" to "multi-genre," or "film, TV, and literature." The game's feel will not be changing in the LEAST. I'm actually doing minimal rewriting. I did get strongarmed into renaming the gumshoe to the investigator and the Gadgeteer to the Powered, but I drew the line there. Sadly, it was because Steve had a bunch of Zoomers tell him that they would never buy a game if they didn't know what the characters were and they had no idea what a "Gadgeteer" or "Gumshoe" were. Which to me is sheer idiocy. When I was a kid if I looked at a game and I didn't know what a character class name meant, that made me want to investigate it MORE. It was a chance to learn something. In the case of the Gadgeteer it made sense because it now covers superpowered characters as well as superscience characters, so Powered just worked for it. I flat-out refused to change the Pugilist or Hooligan's name, though |
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 13, 2022 16:38:41 GMT -6
...they had no idea what a "Gadgeteer" or "Gumshoe" were. They didn't know what a Gumshoe was?  Maybe they should get out more and read books. Gadgeteer is a bit more odd of a term. The new 5E stuff uses "artificer" to represent a gadgeteer, and artificer to me sounds like an Indiana Jones explorer type, so maybe it's not so odd that these names are confusing. I assume they want every class to be named the same thing as they find in the 5E core rulebook. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 14, 2022 7:20:52 GMT -6
...they had no idea what a "Gadgeteer" or "Gumshoe" were. They didn't know what a Gumshoe was? Maybe they should get out more and read books. Gadgeteer is a bit more odd of a term. The new 5E stuff uses "artificer" to represent a gadgeteer, and artificer to me sounds like an Indiana Jones explorer type, so maybe it's not so odd that these names are confusing. I assume they want every class to be named the same thing as they find in the 5E core rulebook. I agree about Gumshoe 100%. Go pick up a dictionary, or just go to dictionary.com and punch the term in. I disagree about artificer sounding like Indiana Jones. To me artificier sounds distinctly high fantasy. But everyone is different. And again, gadgeteer needed to change just because I was adding the superpowers element the core, and "Gadgeteer" doesn't make sense for your typical superhero that has innate biological powers. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 28, 2022 11:29:14 GMT -6
I'm down to the wire, folks - 9 days left and at least $6,000 to go to finish unlocking the first four stretch goals (and keep this in line with other TLG campaigns).
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Maybe they should get out more and read books.