Damnation Decade Developer’s Journal #3
Today we’ve posted a new Developer’s Journal for Rob Toth’s Damnation Decade. Check it out:
That’s the Name of the Game
Chris Pramas Interview in OgreCave podcast
You can hear an extensive interview with our own Chris Pramas on OgreCave.com.
With Mike, Allan, and special guest Chris Pramas of Green Ronin Publishing. An hour-long, wide-ranging discussion of everything from GR’s new products True20 and the Bleeding Edge adventure line, to the ethos behind Blue Rose, GR’s increasingly unorthodox publishing decisions, the future of D&D, the past and future of the 3-tier system, what it takes to get into the miniatures market, what retailers deal with, Shadowfist, and what punk rock has to do with roleplaying.
True20 Adventure Roleplaying PDF Released
We have made True20 Adventure Roleplaying available again in PDF form, this time as a fully-illustrated product of more than twice the size, and featuring our four True20 Setting Search winners. If you previously purchased True20 Adventure Roleplaying from either RPGNow or our Green Ronin Online Store, you may now log in and download the updated version for free.
True20 Adventure Roleplaying (PDF)
True20.com
We are pleased to announce True20.com, the official site for True20 Adventure Roleplaying and the True20 System. Look for lots of great True20 previews and exclusive articles on True20.com, and make sure to visit the new True20 and Blue Rose forums on the new site.
True20.com
The Future of Freeport
Freeport is one of Green Ronin’s oldest and best known properties. Originally launched with the ENnie and Origins Award-winning adventure Death in Freeport, the "City of Adventure" has been home to many subsequent sourcebooks and adventures since. Four years ago this month we launched what became the core book of the line, the Freeport: City of Adventure hardback. The line continued with titles like Creatures of Freeport and the mega-adventure Black Sails Over Freeport.
Moving into 2006 we had a problem though. Well, several problems really. First, Freeport: City of Adventure was sold out and had been for quite some time. Nor could we do a simple reprint because the original was written for the D&D 3.0 rules and since its publication the 3.5 edition had been released. To complicate matters further, all d20 publishers from WotC on down had been watching their d20 sales degrade after 3.5 came out. It would thus have been a risk to do a 3.5 revision of Freeport: City of Adventure. Doubly so, with 4th edition clearly on the horizon. We had already watched our 3.0 backstock rendered obsolete when 3.5 came out, so we didn’t want to do a new marquee product tied to 3.5 only to see the same thing happened when 4th edition was announced. The Green Ronin staff spent at least six months debating the problems and potential solutions. After a metric ton of e-mails and discussions, we finally settled on a plan for Freeport and now we’re ready to go public with it.
In June we’ll be publishing Crisis in Freeport, the final product of the original Freeport line. This adventure will resolve the succession crisis that’s gripped the city since the finale of Madness in Freeport. It will also lay the groundwork for Freeport’s re-launch later this year. Our plan is to install a new Sea Lord, advance the timeline 5 years, and provide a new baseline for Freeport adventures. In the Fall we’ll be publishing the Pirate’s Guide to Freeport. This will become the new core book for the line.
At this point you might be wondering what system the Pirate’s Guide to Freeport will be designed for. True20? d20? Mutants & Masterminds?! The answer is none of the above. The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport is a pure background book. It will not have game stats of any kind, but will instead spend all of its 256 pages detailing the people, places, politics, and perils of the City of Adventure. From the beginning Freeport has always cast a wide net. We used to say it was useable with any d20 fantasy setting. Now it will be useable with any fantasy setting and any fantasy RPG.
Does this mean that Green Ronin will not be providing rules support for Freeport? Not at all. We will be publishing a series of companion books in print and PDF format that let you use the Pirate’s Guide to Freeport with specific rule systems. The first of these, also schedule for a Fall release, is the True20 Freeport Companion. This book will give you all the info you need to use Freeport with True20 Adventure Roleplaying, including new feats, NPC and monster stats, and even an alternate magic system. Similar books will be done for other systems, including d20.
This plan will give us a core book that can remain in print for many years without tying its fate to any particular rule set. It will also allow us to broaden out Freeport’s fan base and really make the setting the focus. Eschewing game mechanics will allow us to pack as much background info as possible into the Pirate’s Guide to Freeport. Then we’re going to make as easy as possible for you to run a Freeport campaign with the game system of your choice.
A new day is rising for the City of Adventure. Please join us as we make Freeport bigger and better than ever before.
Chris Pramas
President
Green Ronin Publishing
Villainous Archetypes 1
Ronin Arts has put a new spin on their M&M character archetypes series, with a PDF of 10 ready-to-run villains for your M&M game. Villainous Archetypes 1 by Michael Hammes is available now.
Villainous Archetypes 1 in our Green Ronin Online Store
World of Aldea Print Available Now
World of Aldea is now available in print in our Green Ronin Online Store. Get yours today!
World of Aldea in our Green Ronin Online Store
Damnation Decade Developer’s Journal #2
In the second installment of his Damnation Decade Developer’s Journal series, Rob Toth writes more about the process of creating the book, and provides us with a Damnation Decade glossary.
Damnation Decade Developer’s Journal #2
Ask Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil submitted this new Ask Dr. Evil article back in December, but the Webmaster messed up and lost it on his hard drive. Until now! In the article Dr. Evil takes inspiration from Trojan War and The Black Company Campaign Setting to create d20 stats for six mythological creatures.
And to celebrate this article’s newfound freedom, we’ve placed Trojan War and The Black Company Campaign Setting on sale, at $23 and $40, respectively.
Ask Dr. Evil
True20 On the Way!
True20 Adventure Roleplaying, our new 224-page core rulebook by Mutants & Masterminds designer Steve Kenson, is now at print. This beautifully illustrated hardback is the culmination of three years of design and development. While first designed for the fantasy setting of the Blue Rose RPG, True20 has been expanded to handle nearly any genre. The four winners of our Setting Search (Borrowed Time, Caliphate Nights, Lux Aeternum, and Mecha vs. Kaiju) wonderfully express this flexibility and provide new GMs with a variety of ways to enjoy the True20 experience.
With the game finished at last, I thought this would be a good time to reveal some of our plans for True20 Adventure Roleplaying. The first question, I’m sure, is “when can I get it?!” The game went to print a little later than we had planned due to some unexpected production difficulties, so True20 won’t be in stores until March. We have stopped selling the old PDF and the new core rulebook will become the standard entry point for True20. A week before the book arrives in stores, we’re going to be sending out a link for a free update to the new edition to everyone who bought the original PDF. We’re doing this for two reasons. First, we want to give a “thank you” to all the early adopters of True20. Second, we hope this sneak peak will encourage you to go down to your Friendly Local Game Store and pick up a print copy of the game. We’re confident that you’re really going to like what you see in the finished rulebook and we hope you let the owner of your local store know that True20 is the next big thing in roleplaying.
Over the next few weeks we’re going to offer several previews of True20 Adventure Roleplaying, so those of you who haven’t checked it out can see what all the fuss is about. We’re also going to be launching a dedicated True20 website, which include forums for all things True20 (including Blue Rose). We’ll be showing off True20 for the first time at the GAMA Trade Show in March in Las Vegas, where hundreds of the country’s best retailers will have a chance to check out the finished book. GTS provides an ideal launching point for one of our most important releases of the year.
Moving ahead we’ve got several True20 support products in the works. Releasing concurrently with True20 is the World of Aldea. This is the campaign setting book for the Blue Rose RPG, but it works equally well with the True20 core rulebook. Another option in March is Damnation Decade, Robert J. Toth’s dystopic campaign setting inspired by the sci-fi cinema of the 1970s. Although originally designed for the d20 Modern RPG, this book includes a thorough True20 Appendix that will have you playing Omegaball and dancing in BootyDome 57 in no time.
Next up is the True20 Bestiary by Matthew E. Kaiser. This 192-page softback provides a host of monstrous adversaries for your True20 campaign. From fantasy staples to horror movie nasties to predatory aliens, this book has something for every True20 game. This is currently scheduled for a late April/early May release.
June brings us Robert J. Schwalb’s True Sorcery. This 128-page softback presents a revised and expanded magic system based on the award-winning Black Company Campaign Setting rules. Rob has really outdone himself with this alternate magic system that gives you complete flexibility and customizability. Appropriately enough, True Sorcery includes all the info you need to incorporate the system with a slew of different games and settings. It works for not only True20, but also Thieves’ World, Black Company, d20 fantasy and d20 Modern. We’ve also gotten permission from Malhavoc Press to include conversion info for their Iron Heroes game. True Sorcery indeed!
In July we present True20 Worlds of Adventure. This book includes four runners-up from our Setting Search and one new original setting from Robert J. Schwalb (The Razor in the Apple). Between True20 Adventure Roleplaying, Damnation Decade, and World of Aldea you’ll have 11 settings to choose from within six months of True20’s release. And if you still can’t find just the right one, True20 Adventure Roleplaying gives you all the tools to make your own.
So that’s where we’re going over the next half a year. Please join us for the RPG experience of 2006. True fun, true excitement, true adventure, True20!
Chris Pramas
President
Green Ronin Publishing