Aegis of Empires Adventure Path for 5E, Pathfinder 1E and 2E

First VTT Pawn Set is Up!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 11:33:27 AM

Hi all,

Quick update on the pawn sets. It may have taken us four people but we finally found someone who hasn't flaked out! Woohoo! The first set for The Book in the Old House has been sent out through Backerkit to the folks who ordered that add-on. The pawn set includes all monsters for all three versions of the adventure (since there are some differences in monsters for each version). We are looking to also provide rectangular "handout" JPG versions of each piece of art, and those should be ready soon for set #1 and for future sets as well. Given the delays on this little corner of the project, I was just excited to get the first ones up and out to everyone! 

Layout is nearing doneness on the Pathfinder RPG compilation, waiting for Greg's updated frontmatter pieces. Should be soon, but I'll update more when it's up and ready. Once Greg and I have given the PF1 version the full once-over and fixed anything that needs fixing, that one will go out and we'll turn our attention to the other two versions. 

Once the compilations are ready, PDFs will go out for each version as they are finished. Print books will start shipping once approved at the printer for people getting just one version. For people getting multiple versions, we will ship all versions together. 

Compilation Progress Report
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 02, 2021 at 12:48:01 AM

Hi all,

Compilation work continues apace as we continue:

1.  Compilation: We're well into the second half of the first version of the compilation (layout started with the Pathfinder 1st Edition version). We'll be reorganizing some of the support text, with some elements like player handouts and city information staying with the respective adventure where it appears to minimize flipping around through the book, while monsters, magic items, and similar rules elements are consolidated in a set of appendices at the end of each book. This is mostly for structural uniformity across the three versions of the book, since there is considerable variation between the three versions in terms of new rules elements like monsters and magic items. 

The Pathfinder RPG has six full-sized bestiaries in the core rules, for example, whereas the 5E and PF2 game systems have far fewer core system monsters and so needed more new monsters in this adventure saga, but having a "monster appendix" where all of the new monsters go (whether it's a small number or large number) keeps each book much more structurally similar than if we had tried to drop monsters into the running text, where you might have had one new monster in an area in the PF1 version and half a dozen monsters in one of the other versions. 

We hope you'll find the organization of the compilation version logical and user-friendly, easy to reference for the information you need and with a great flow.

We've also been tinkering with a variety of "chapter spread" sections to separate each section and ideally include chapter tabs. We've tried several different versions but the version we've come back to and think we probably like the best is to evoke the individual module covers. We tried tinkering around with other ideas and it still might change, but for now we're planning something like this to separate each chapter.

2.  Fantasy Grounds: We're still waiting on the Aegis of Empires adventures #3 to get processed by SmiteWorks. We had just loaded them up before our last update on Feb 5 and we had expected they'd be available by now, but perhaps their queue is unusually full right now. We've got several other products uploaded even earlier than Aegis #3 that we're still waiting to see go live. We'll update you and send out the keys as soon as we get the word that they're ready to go.

Meanwhile, work continues on all three versions Aegis #4 and we'll get them into the pipeline as soon as we are able. The last three adventures in the series are much longer than the first three but we're working away to get them up and ready for you.

3.  Sea Monsters Quick-Starter: While basically a solid year of tragedy for our primary layout artist has slowed down progress on the Aegis of Empires compilations, Legendary Games has been busy in other areas. This year we've started a series of Quickstarters, short-duration, highly focused Kickstarter projects lasting just 2-3 weeks and ready for delivery immediately when the Kickstarter ends. January saw our Mythos Monsters project, with over 40 eldritch abominations from the mythos for 5E campaigns. It's out to backers and now available on sites like DrivethruRPG.

Today we are getting ready to launch the next installment in this series of softcover bestiaries with the 80-page Sea Monsters, with over 60 spectacular sea creatures from deep tiger anemones and shipwrecker crabs to scylla, charybdis, and the Midgard Serpent! You can check out the preview page right here (which will also take you to the project page as soon as the project launches). 

Plus, you can bundle your pledge with our fantastic 448-page Pirate Campaign Compendium to bring you everything you've ever needed to launch a nautical campaign, including adventures, spells, character options, magic items, quick-play fleet battles, and so much more. If you like aquatic adventures, we hope you'll check it out while we wait for the Aegis of Empires compilation versions to get finished up! 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/sea-monsters-60-savage-creatures-of-the-deep-for-dnd-5e

Fantasy Grounds for Aegis #2 are out! All versions for #3 are on the way!
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 06, 2021 at 07:19:37 AM

Hi all,

Work has resumed on the compilations. They're big so it'll be a minute, but things are moving once more and that's a good feeling.

We also just emailed out the Fantasy Grounds links for adventure #2, so each backer who supported that should be able to activate them any time. All three versions of adventure #3 are complete and uploaded to Fantasy Grounds, so those should be processed sometime soon and be ready for you. One new development on the Fantasy Grounds side is they have now implemented a "key" tool for publishers so we can create activation keys ourselves rather than having to put a request into the SmiteWorks queue and wait. I just used it to create the keys for adventure #2 and it was pretty simple and straightforward, so we should have a quick turnaround once Aegis #3 is ready for you! 

We had a question in the comments about the VTT tokens, and after following up it looks like the person we were originally planning to use is not going to work out. Frustrating but things happen so we move on. We're already talking to a new VTT guy and we hope he can get the job done. We'll update you as we go along and hopefully have something to preview. 

Thanks for your support and your patience and all the best to each and every one of you! Stay safe and happy gaming! 

Greg's Design Journal Incoming and more updates!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 07:12:14 AM

Hi all, 

We appreciate your patience in our COVID-induced delay. Our layout artist is funeralizing his mom this week (and also is recovering from having caught the virus himself in the meantime--when it rains, it pours), so hopefully next week we'll be able to get things going again.

In happier news, one of our backers inquired about Greg's Design Journal, which we finished putting together back in December. I thought I had sent it out already, but on looking in Backerkit I had set up a distribution rule for the print version, but apparently I forgot to set up the download for the PDF. I've just done that today and sent out the Backerkit updates, so you should have it in your downloads now! We hope you enjoy this inside look at the design decisions in the project, a variety of work-in-progress and abandoned art concepts, the history of how it all came together, and more!

For Fantasy Grounds VTT backers, we have completed adventure #2 for all three systems and #3 for one system already, with the other two set to be completed in the next week or so. Once they are onboarded at SmiteWorks, we'll be able to send out updates for those two adventures through their system. The last three adventures will likely go out as a single batch once they are completed. 

We look forward to bringing this fantastic project to its conclusion and getting the compilations finalized in PDF and then to start shipping your books by March. Meanwhile, stay safe, mask up, be smart, and tell your friends and family you love them whenever you can. 

COVID claims a casualty
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Jan 12, 2021 at 02:45:36 PM

Hi all,

It turns out our hope of her recovery was unfortunately premature, as the mother of our layout artist passed away from COVID this past week. He is attending to the necessary responsibilities of the situation and grieving her loss. All thoughts, prayers, and well wishes are appreciated. Everyone out there stay safe, care for yourselves and your loved ones, and let us hope the vaccines finally rolling out now can tame this plague soon.

We'll get back to the task of finishing layout for the compilation books as soon as we are able, but family comes first. Much love and appreciation to all of you for your patience.