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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Jan 2007 : 18:07:51
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The Previews for January and Beyond discusses this product, including the blurb from the back.
quote:
Delve into Darkness, Bring the Truth to Light
Beyond the pristine façade of the Temple of Mystra, a sinister conspiracy threatens the future of Cormyr. Profane acts within the temple hearken to a mounting threat in the Vast Swamp. Heroes must cross into the Plane of Shadow to unlock the truth about this growing darkness in time to thwart an attack against Cormyr and the goddess of magic herself.
This Forgotten Realms® campaign adventure is designed for characters of levels 4-7. It can be played as a stand-alone adventure or as the first adventure in a three-part series. Each encounter contains special tactical information for the Dungeon Master and expanded map features for ease of play.
That Vast Swamp reference certainly gets my attention...
Edit: Correcting the typo, then giving Kajehase a raspberry *bppp!*  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 20 Jan 2007 19:21:45 |
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jan 2007 : 18:39:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
The Previews for January and Beyond discusses this product, including the blurb from the back.
quote:
Delve into Darkness, Bring the Truth to Light
Beyond the pristine façade of the Temple of Mystra, a sinister conspiracy threatens the future of Cormyr. Profane acts within the temple hearken to a mounting threat in the Vast Swamp. Heroes must cross into the Plane of Shadow to unlock the truth about this growing darkness in time to thwart an attack against Cormyr and the goddess of magic herself.
This Forgotten Realms® campaign adventure is designed for characters of levels 4-7. It can be played as a stand-alone adventure or as the first adventure in a three-part series. Each encounter contains special tactical information for the Dungeon Master and expanded map features for ease of play.
That Vast Swap reference certainly gets my attention...
The big question obviously being...swapped with what? |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jan 2007 : 19:20:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
The big question obviously being...swapped with what?
D'oh! I am usually good at catching my own typos...  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2007 : 01:59:33
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| OK. But how much fluff will there be? |
When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight. |
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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2007 : 21:14:14
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quote:
Originally posted by MerrikCale
OK. But how much fluff will there be?
I suppose nobody knows yet since WotC didn't say too much about it. Still, I'm afraid it is going to be something like "Mysteries of the Moonsea" - meaning loads of crunch and not enough fluff. |
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Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 07:27:47
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Eric Boyd said earlier in this Thread that it would not be using the format of "Mysteries of the Moonsea". But it's pretty clear that it is an adventure, so I suppose the format will be similar to that of "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft" or "Scourge of the Howling Horde" (i.e. tactical maps for each encounters, encounters presented on one single or on two opposite pages, etc.)
What Eric might have been hinting at is that they might have intersped encounter pages with lore pages on the locales being visited.
Bocklin |
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Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 17:48:29
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Okay! Just as chance would have it, Rich has just posted this over at WotC:
quote:
Originally posted by Rich Baker
Cormyr and Shadowdale are really adventures; I think our marketing folks are stretching the definition of accessory. However, each includes an appendix that discusses source material relevant to each adventure. For example, Cormyr has an appendix discussing the region around the Vast Swamp, where the adventure takes place. Shadowdale obviously includes an appendix on Shadowdale. These bits of source material really don't account for more than 10 pages or so of each adventure, but it's certainly more than you will find in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardbound on those areas.
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Edited by - Bocklin on 23 Jan 2007 14:25:08 |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 18:37:27
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| The Vast Swap is a fabled meeting, held every 17 years in what is said to be a demiplane reached by a gate from somewhere in the Vast Swamp. There, mages and priests perform great rituals in which a characteristic of one person -- a such as personality trait, friendship, or skill -- is exchanged for that of another. |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 22:19:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Bocklin
Okay! Just as chance would have it, Rich has just posted this over at WotC:
quote:
Originally posted by Rich Baker
Cormyr and Shadowdale are really adventures; I think our marketing folks are stretching the definition of accessory. However, each includes an appendix that discusses source material relevant to each adventure. For example, Cormyr has an appendix discussing the region around the Vast Swamp, where the adventure takes place. Shadowdale obviously includes an appendix on Shadowdale. These bits of source material really don't account for more than 10 pages or so of each adventure, but it's certainly more than you will find in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardbound on those areas.
Wow 10 pages!!! Yep Cormyr and Shadowdale really are a decent replacement for those 160 page regional source books. 
Which ever Wizards employee came up with the idea should be collecting unemployment 
Other than Expedition to Undermountain I do not intend purchasing any other FR or D&D roleplaying books in 2007
Hopefully sanity will return to FRs marketing department in 2008 |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
Edited by - Dargoth on 22 Jan 2007 22:20:20 |
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Uzzy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
618 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 23:21:37
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| I for one am looking forward to these adventures. Never saw them as a replacement for sourcebooks. |
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Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 14:23:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Which ever Wizards employee came up with the idea should be collecting unemployment
I guess selling quotes will decide the future of that employee... I hope for him he did his market study properly before pitching the idea to his boss.
Bocklin |
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Njord
Acolyte
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 15:41:32
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| Can you really be suprised? Maybe I was the only one who thought all they would be was adventures. I like adventures but i probably won't buy them for a while (at least until we get a release date for the 3rd one.) Still, I hope in 2008 they do more regional stuff. |
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Bakra
Senior Scribe
628 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 15:45:50
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| I will purchase this product and depending how well it is put together will determine the purchase of the rest of the adventure supplements. I liked Sons of Grumsh and Mysteries of the Moonseas. I will take what they decided to give me on tidbits of lore/updates for certain regions… for now. |
I hope Candlekeep continues to be the friendly forum of fellow Realms-lovers that it has always been, as we all go through this together. If you don’t want to move to the “new” Realms, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with either you or the “old” Realms. Goodness knows Candlekeep, and the hearts of its scribes, are both big enough to accommodate both. If we want them to be.
(Strikes dramatic pose, raises sword to gleam in the sunset, and hopes breeches won’t fall down.)
Enough for now. The Realms lives! I have spoken! Ale and light wines half price, served by a smiling Storm Silverhand fetchingly clad in thigh-high boots and naught else! Ahem . .
So saith Ed. <snip>
love to all,
THO
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Archwizard
Learned Scribe
USA
266 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 21:47:27
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I feel WotC really miscalculated their scheduling this time. Even though I have little to no use for adventure supplements, I won't begrudge WotC publishing them for those who want them. I can even forgive Mysteries of the Moonsea for its format which takes up one of the full-sized FR accessories for the year (though I still dispise the marketing that pretended it was a regular regional sourcebook). Thus I'm okay with the new mega-adventure that Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave starts off.
However, I am extremely disappointed that from what the schedule shows, the mega-adventure trilogy completely dominates FR's releases for the entire year. One of the reasons given for WotC's sudden interest in adventures was because third party publishers have scaled back on production of adventures, so WotC is here to pick up the slack. This contains some faulty logic because regular FR sourcebooks (like the regional format) do not exist outside of WotC. It's not like some third party can suddenly start publishing a FR regional book. Who's going to pick up that slack?
If they kept up a quarterly release (which they haven't done with FR for a while now), have the adventure trilogy but also throw in a regular sourcebook in the mix. Or, knowing they only have three accessory slots to work with this year, they could have put a regular book somewhere between the trilogy. Ideally, for this big mega-adventure event, WotC should have promoted the annual 32-page adventure into a 160 page component of the mega-adventure in addition to maintaining a quarterly supplement release, broken into two parts of the mega-adventure and two regular sourcebooks. This gives us a balanced product line for the entire year, enough to keep the vast majority of consumers happy. They could have used the two sourcebooks for tie-ins with the adventure, like a Cormyr/Dalelands regional sourcebook.
This sort of organization is not beyond WotC, they managed to organize the Year of Dragons. They could have made this something more interesting. |
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Reefy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
892 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 22:56:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Archwizard
I feel WotC really miscalculated their scheduling this time. Even though I have little to no use for adventure supplements, I won't begrudge WotC publishing them for those who want them. I can even forgive Mysteries of the Moonsea for its format which takes up one of the full-sized FR accessories for the year (though I still dispise the marketing that pretended it was a regular regional sourcebook). Thus I'm okay with the new mega-adventure that Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave starts off.
However, I am extremely disappointed that from what the schedule shows, the mega-adventure trilogy completely dominates FR's releases for the entire year. One of the reasons given for WotC's sudden interest in adventures was because third party publishers have scaled back on production of adventures, so WotC is here to pick up the slack. This contains some faulty logic because regular FR sourcebooks (like the regional format) do not exist outside of WotC. It's not like some third party can suddenly start publishing a FR regional book. Who's going to pick up that slack?
If they kept up a quarterly release (which they haven't done with FR for a while now), have the adventure trilogy but also throw in a regular sourcebook in the mix. Or, knowing they only have three accessory slots to work with this year, they could have put a regular book somewhere between the trilogy. Ideally, for this big mega-adventure event, WotC should have promoted the annual 32-page adventure into a 160 page component of the mega-adventure in addition to maintaining a quarterly supplement release, broken into two parts of the mega-adventure and two regular sourcebooks. This gives us a balanced product line for the entire year, enough to keep the vast majority of consumers happy. They could have used the two sourcebooks for tie-ins with the adventure, like a Cormyr/Dalelands regional sourcebook.
This sort of organization is not beyond WotC, they managed to organize the Year of Dragons. They could have made this something more interesting.
I agree pretty much wholeheartedly. I can't argue with the logic of producing mroe adventures if there's a market for them. But your point about nobody else writing regular Realms products is also true. I currently don't think I will be running the series any time soon, so therefore am unlikely to pick it up, particularly as I don't have a lot of spare cash. Also, adventures are only bought by DMs, which means that while two or three of a group might potentially pick up a regional sourcebook or something, a maximum of one person per gaming group will be buying the adventure. This strikes me as a slightly odd marketing ploy, as it's putting all its faith in the adventures, rather than a two adventures and two other sourcebooks policy. Not only would Cormyr and the Dalelands tie in with the modules, as very popular regions of the Realms, I would expect sales for those products to be high, and able to compensate if necessary for less profit being generated from the adventures. I can't see Wizards getting a lot of my money this year. |
Life is either daring adventure or nothing. |
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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2007 : 19:06:14
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| I concur in the opinion. And like Dargoth, I do not intend to buy any of the adventures. I would rather wait for some regional sourcebooks to be published, if it happens at all. |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2007 : 23:55:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Uzzy
I for one am looking forward to these adventures. Never saw them as a replacement for sourcebooks.
Me too. I have actually run some adventures in the Vast Swamp, so I am drooling with anticipation... I just hope that they don't retcon the origin of the Vast Swamp from Minauros to the Plane of Shadow.
I am more than happy with those 10 pages of Realmslore... there is always the alternative that we would get NO lore or fluff (or FR tomes) at all.
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"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Dhomal
Senior Scribe
USA
565 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2007 : 05:26:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
I am more than happy with those 10 pages of Realmslore... there is always the alternative that we would get NO lore or fluff (or FR tomes) at all.
Hello-
I agree. Plus - we know that there will be little tidbits of lore throughout the adventure sections. Certainly might not be as concentrated or juice as a whole as the 10 pages will be - but its more lore nonetheless!
Dhomal |
I am collecting the D&D Minis. I would be more than willing to trade with people. You can send me a PM here with your email listed - and I can send you my minis list. Thanks!
Successfully traded with Xysma! |
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Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave?
