These three books are what's been eating all my time since wrapping up work on the Tyranny of Dragons set of adventures for Wizards of the Coast. Converting monsters and spells to the new system has presented a chance to really delve into the design of 5E and see what makes the system tick.
I can't guarantee that every monster and spell in these books will be structured exactly the way the design team at Wizards would do it -- but that's largely the point. The PHB is already filled with spells designed the Wizards way, and the Monster Manual will be filled with great monsters by the same team. I know those guys, they're my friends, and I have nothing but respect for their work. Everything they've done for 5E is top notch.
The Necromancer approach is slightly different, especially where monsters are concerned. The project's slogan -- "Fifth Edition Rules, First Edition Feel" -- does a good job of summing that up. Read the Kickstarter page and check out some of the online previews for more info.
I'm looking forward to Necromancer's monsters. I've always been a fan of their conversions. Kudos on 5e and keep up the good work Steve!
ReplyDeleteany more updates on these books???
ReplyDeletejust wondering. i cant find much info.
ReplyDeleteHey Jason; I've been so busy trying to get the work done that I have no time (or maybe just no energy) left for promoting them around the web. We're cranking through the monster conversions now. There's some measurable probability that the delay of the DMG will also delay our books, because we'd like to check our work against whatever guidelines the DMG will provide. Just like the crew at Wizards, we'll sacrifice the deadline if that's what it takes to get it right. But nothing is definite in that regard yet.
DeleteOh shoot, but I guess that's a good point about the DMG.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think official 5th edition monsters are too simple. Way too simple. At least it makes it easy to modify them, but I don't want to do that, I want them to be the way I want them out of the box. That SAID, if there was a sourcebook or database to layer on more complex attacks by HD, monster type and attack type, that would be amazing.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the relative simplicity of 5E monsters. I say relative because they're simple only when compared to 3rd and 4th edition monsters. Compared to earlier editions, they're complex.
DeleteAn appendix containing an ala carte menu of attacks and abilities that could be layered onto any monster is a cool idea. Unfortunately, I doubt we can find room in the time budget on this project for something like that. But it certainly will go in the thought file for further down the road.
Yeah, 3e had something like that with the Monster's Handbook, and 4e did it beautifully in the monster builder (although I wasn't a fan of 4e). Maybe the Dungeonscape thing will have a way to import custom powers. That would be...ideal. Amazing really. You'd be able to kitbash your own monster manual. Think about that!!!! A DM's dream.
ReplyDeleteyeah, i saw your post about the delay. Probably best, things could get messy. On another note, i've been adding 13th Age monster powers to 5e monsters and it works great, for that extra oomph i was looking for.
ReplyDeleteSo is this thing postponed until they officially release an OGL?
ReplyDeleteNot at all. It's just turned out to be waaay more work than any of us expected up front. The monster book is in layout, the adventure book will hit layout this weekend, and then the spells need to be finished and double-checked for compatibility. We're making rapid process . . . just not rapid enough to meet our optimistic predictions.
ReplyDeleteThat should be progress, not process. For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me edit my comment.
DeleteSo maybe...well, I'm hopeful anyway that the backers get PDFs by late February.
ReplyDeleteEnworld had this, is it accurate?
ReplyDelete5th Edition Foes
Necromancer Games
Fri 30 January 2015
Bill Webb, Matt Finch, Michael Curtis, J. Collura, Casey Christofferson, Steve Winter, James M. Ward, Skip Williams, Ed Greenwood,
Hardcover
$40
OK, had to remove my own reply because I misspoke. The PDF should go out to backers by the end of January, not "just another day or two." Physical printing hasn't begun yet, so that's still going to take a while.
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