Pictured to the right is Baba Yaga’s Hut, and you’ll see the art and sculpt for the gypsosphinx down at the bottom (with art done by Darren Calvert).

The four sculptors working on this project—Jason Weibe, Fancagne Didier, Drew Williams and Tim Prow—have been busy! And, as of this writing, you’ll see on the Kickstarter page that the next stretch goal takes us into Baba Yaga’s horsemen. We’re not that far away at all! Here’s more on those three potential miniatures, including an art reference (but no sculpt) for them:

Our next 3 Stretch Goals are Baba Yaga’s Horsemen Red Sun, White Day and Black Night (also known as Red, White and Black). These three horsemen are legends throughout Midgard, and are Grandmother Winter’s faithful emissarys, scouts and warriors abroad.

So, go take a look and kick in if you can!

One of my favorite things about 4th Edition is how easy it is for the GM to assemble groups of monsters of a single theme or type and create a fun encounter for the players. Having goblins, kobolds, or undead of different roles, or with varying powers, appearing together keeps things interesting. I hope that this is something that carries over into D&D Next.

Monster groups were something we wanted to make sure we included in the Midgard Bestiary, and we found quite a few opportunities to do this. The Arbonesse elves, dwarves of the Ironcrags, clockworks, gearforged, Mharoti dragonkin, and kobold ghetto guard entries all feature several different monsters based around a single theme, making it easy for the GM to build a varied encounter.

My favorite example of a monster group is the “Mages of Allain” entry. The Magocracy of Allain, located at the edge of the Wasted West, is a fascinating part of Midgard. Here the survivors of the Great Mage War continue to practice dangerous magic, and many of them were corrupted by the alien powers of the Realms Beyond.

Josh Jarman had created a Bemmean wizard for the AGE Bestiary, a sinister hooded figure reminiscent of Ningauble and Sheelba from Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories. I have never played AGE, so I was essentially building the 4E version from scratch as a level 13 elite controller, creating new powers to capture the spirit of the AGE spells black geas and wrack. The Bemmean wizard was “accompanied by 1d3 sand devils from the Western Wastes that act as guardians and thugs.” These sand devils didn’t have their own stats, so I built them as level 10 lurkers that can unleash a blinding sandcloud, and I gave them a backstory. They are now the harborgoi, created by the warped magical energies of the Great Mage War.

To round out the group, I looked at the other cities of the Magocracy. Maillon is a swamp city where many dangerous alchemical experiments are conducted, often creating “interesting” side effects. A mutated spellcaster with writhing tentacles and a penchant for blowing stuff up sounded like a good idea, so I added the Maillon alchemist as a level 11 artillery.

Tintager is on the border with Arbonesse and attracts outcast sellswords and tiefling warmages willing to fight against the “elvish agressors.” The Warmage of Tintager is a level 11 skirmisher, capable of wielding a cold iron longsword in melee, as well as flinging blackfire bolts at anyone who crosses his path.

With three different mages of Allain, each fulfilling a distinct role, plus the invisible sand devil, we’ve made it easy for the DM to build a challenging and interesting encounter. I hope you have as much fun running these guys as I did when playtesting them in my campaign!

At the end of the alphabet comes the zmey. Originally found within the tales of the Old Margreve, the zmey is a creature of legend. These massive forest guardians have three dragonlike heads and a powerful tail, and they breathe fire down on their foes. It was a natural choice to make it a solo creature. Solo creatures that are far too easy for a party to defeat have also become stuff of legend, so we had to make sure our own would stand up to assault without being too powerful to provide a fair challenge. We continually tweaked it from inception to the very end of playtesting.

I began reading Kobold Quarterly and its print products only a couple of years ago, so I missed much of the earlier work until recently. The first version of the zmey was based solely on the descriptions from forum users. In a way, this was excellent because my first vision of the creature was based on its most memorable elements from players who had fought it. A lot can get lost in interpretation, though.

I eventually got my hands on the version as it was originally. I adapted the design to make sure I stayed true to the history of the zmey. This version allowed you to target a head and sunder it like a weapon. There are no rules for sundering in 4th Edition, but we wanted to retain the feel of this mechanic. Striking at the heads needed to be risky, and it needed to be distinct from the experience of fighting a hydra. An early feature allowed the zmey to attack any creature that missed with a melee attack. Combining this with the increased defenses when targeting a head proved to be a little too deadly in actual play.

The final result is a hardened foe that viciously cuts into the party at the start of combat. Each head represents a turn in combat, with a new chance to trample the group or recharge its breath weapon. The party will need to choose its tactics wisely. Will they slowly hack away and risk its continued attacks, or target the well-armored necks? Choose the latter and face a panicked rampage if you survive long enough to reduce the beast to a single remaining head.

You’ll discover many interesting creatures within Midgard. When selecting monsters for the 4th Edition bestiary, we had five years of Kobold Quarterly history at our disposal. The end result is an incredible menagerie featuring selections from nearly everything the kobold scribes have printed.

The Goblins of the Wasted West stick out in my mind as something I wanted to work on. Long before the bestiary was a live project, patrons of the Midgard Campaign Setting were discussing different goblin tribes that formed in the shadows of the Old Ones. One talented patron even began sketching some incredible images. That was all it took to hook me. These goblins were destined for my game table. I began writing example members of each tribe, and I continued to come up with ideas once the book got the green light. Not all the tribes I worked on made it into the final product. The Scarlet Rovers, for example, were eventually cut. These master warriors would have broken the mold on how mighty a single goblin’s martial prowess could be. The tribes that made into the bestiary, though, should do well to twist the traditional goblin on its head. We kobolds love flipping goblins.

One of the tribes that did make it is the Ghost Goblins. These goblins take reverence of their dead to a new level. They don’t just worship their ancestors; they raise them up to continue to fight for the tribe. Our representative of the tribe is the Ghost Goblin Horror. This grisly goblin did not fall in battle, but rather devoted itself wholly to the tribe’s strange gods and the veneration of undeath. Eventually this practice takes its toll and a horror is born, a being torn between life and undeath. With but a glance, it can creep inside its enemy’s mind, curse it with thoughts of its own death, and force its target to become paralyzed with a false rigor mortis. Hardly a hero’s death, since the rest of the tribe leaps at your stunned form.

As a low-level soldier, it’s the Horror’s job to lock down opponents. Instead of using a traditional mark, its curse of rigor ability allows it to immobilize a target that’s within 5 squares. It can then close in to melee a new target, trying to keep two foes engaged. These creatures can make a powerful pair with artillery and controllers by keeping melee heroes at a safe distance. They can even work as a melee leader, fighting at the front of a pack of zombies and goblin skirmishers.

~~~

Now for those links we promised, but first, a special shout-out goes to game designer extraordinaire Rob Heinsoo, who became a backer for this project recently.

Gearforged Zobeck legionnaire
Pact drake

Now, we invite you to take a look at those stretch goals. As of this writing, the first stretch goal is within reach. For convenience, here they are:

If the Bestiary Reaches $4,500

The Bestiary adds 8 pages to every backer’s version of the final project, adding more monsters and art at the same pledge levels. Yes, you just get more!

Since these additional pages are monsters taken from the Bonus Bestiary, backers at the Iron Ghoul level get Bonus Bestiary 3 instead of Bonus Bestiary 1. Backers at the Fellforged level and up also get a collection of monster art from the book, formatted to easily print out and use as paper minis. Backers at the Isonade level and up also get Fury of the Lord of the Sea, a short adventure featuring the biggest nasty in the book!

If the Bestiary Reaches $5,500

All backers get the Iron Secret adventure using monsters from the book—AND a set of newly-commissioned, full-color PDF battle maps for the adventure! Suitable for online play or printing out to slap down on the table, your choice!

Homebrewers Guide to RPG Worldbuilding
Admit it: Sometimes the fun of a game is not playing the game–it’s building the world! RPG designers sit down and talk about how to make your world sharper, more exciting, and 10 pounds lighter.
Panelist(s): Wolfgang Baur, Kenneth Hite, T.S. Luikart, Richard Thomas, Rodney Thompson
Time/Place: Thursday, 12 Noon, Room 210

Better Adventures
Bored with store-bought adventures? Want to write better adventures quickly? Learn some of the techniques that RPG freelancers use when writing or prepping for a game! Practical advice any GM can use.
Panelist(s): Wolfgang Baur
Time/Place: Thursday, 2 PM, Room 211

RPG Freelancing 101
Come talk with established and emerging RPG freelancers about what it takes to break into print, in venues like Kobold Quarterly, Open Design, and other markets.
Panelist(s): Ben McFarland, Wolfgang Baur, Christina Stiles
Time/Place: Friday 9 AM, Crowne Plaza : Grand Central Bllrm

Creating and Improving Your Homebrew RPG Setting
Come hear about developing a larger setting and talk about the considerations, scope, details, and pitfalls learned through the Midgard Setting project.
Panelist(s): Ben McFarland, Wolfgang Baur
Time/Place: Friday, 10 AM, Crowne Plaza : Grand Central Bllrm

+5 Sword of Epublishing
The games industry was an early adopter of the digital publishing business model. Join our Industry Insider Guests as they discuss ways you can bring your game project to life as a digital release.
Panelist(s): Wolfgang Baur, Susan Morris, Gareth-Michael Skarka, Stan!
Time/Place: Friday, 1 PM, room 210

Fund Your Game Project With Kickstarter
From publishing your RPG or board game to opening a gaming café, learn how crowdfunding can help you achieve your dream from those who have succeeded (and failed) with Kickstarter.
Panelist(s): Tavis Allison, Wolfgang Baur, T.S. Luikart
Time/Place: Friday 3 PM, Room 211

Meet the KQ Minions!
Ever wonder what’s keeping a small publishing company like KQ or the Open Design community running smoothly? Minions are the answer! Come meet several of the KQ minions and hear how they do it!
Time/Place: Saturday at 9:00 AM, Crowne Plaza : Victoria Stn C/D
Panelist(s): Ben McFarland, Christina Stiles

How to Start an RPG Publishing Company
Ever wanted to start an RPG Publishing company, but didn’t know where to begin? Come listen to Wolfgang Baur share his experiences as he explains how he started Open Design and Kobold Quarterly— and what you need to know to start publishing yourself!
Panelist(s): Wolfgang Baur
Time/Place: Sat 10 AM, Crowne Plaza : Victoria Stn C/D

Everything You Don’t Need to Know about the RPG Industry
What was the dress code at TSR? What was playtesting like for 2E? Why did Gary make that table? All this & less will be revealed at our sekrit panel seminar! Expect nothing & be pleasantly surprised!
Panelist(s): Colin McComb, Ben McFarland, Wolfgang Baur
Time/Place: Sat 11 AM, Crowne Plaza : Victoria Stn C/D

See you at the show!

Once this kickoff funding period ends, to join the crew you’ll have to pay some shifty, toothless old salt a criminal amount of money to row you out. In other words, you can still be a patron, but prices will go up. So why not join now? (Read what we have to offer beyond the jump!)

With the support from awesome backers this project has gone far beyond just designing and publishing the anthology. It now offers you:

• An expanded 128-page book
• An ocean chart poster map
• A set of player handouts including treasure maps, a logbook, secret aboleth glyphs, additional art to show players, and deck plans!
• A complete 16-page pirate secret society writeup
• Print copies of the softcover book for all backers who pledge just $25 or more
• All backers’ print copies autographed by the lead designer

Here’s one last reward the project offers if you help Journeys meet its last goal before the deadline this Sunday night:

• A standalone 16-page adventure at the edge of the world by Wolfgang Baur

Run, row, or swim to Kickstarter today and sign up for Journeys to the West!

Also, those of you who have already joined the crew might want to visit the Kickstarter page to see what new expanded rewards have been added to the package.

Those of you who haven’t joined in yet should also go take a look to see what you could join in on. Much has happened in the past week—including the creation of Behtu, the half-ape, half-pygmy creatures with demon blood in their veins!

Behtu     CR 4

With a face like a mandrill and tusks like a great boar, these ferocious half-ape, half-human pygmies have demon blood flowing in their veins. One does not travel to the volcanic temple-islands of the Behtu unless desperate or suicidal.

XP 1,200
CE Small Humanoid
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6

DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 16, flat-footed 16; (+1 armor, +2 Dex, +6 natural, +1 size)
hp 22 (4d8+4)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +2
Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +7 (1d4+2), spear +7 (1d4+3)
Ranged spear +7 (1d4+3)
Special Defenses demonic resistance
Special Abilities demonic sorcery, ichorous infusion
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st)
1/day—burning hands

STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 7
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 20
Feats Iron Will, Weapon Focus (spear)
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +6, Perception +6, Stealth +12, Survival +6
Languages Abyssal, Ape, Common, Infernal

ECOLOGY
Environment warm and temperate forests
Organization troupe (3–6) or war party (6–12, including 1 “witch doctor” [sorcerer or druid])
Treasure NPC gear (rattan [hide] armor, small spear, other treasure)

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Demonic Resistance Behtu have cold resistance 5, electricity resistance 5, and fire resistance 5

Demonic Sorcery Behtu sorcerers treat their Charisma score as 2 points higher for all sorcerer bloodline abilities. All Behtu sorcerers have the Abyssal bloodline.

Ichorous Infusions Behtu troupes and war parties carry 1d6 vials of ichorous infusions. They may ingest an infusion as a standard action; often they do this in preparation for ambush. For 2d6 rounds later, the behtu gain a +4 sorcerous bonus to their Strength and Constitution scores, as well as doubling their base speed (including their climb speed) and gaining an extra move action each round. Behtu also take a –4 penalty to their Intelligence and Wisdom scores for the duration. If a non-Behtu PC ingests the infusion, treat as if the PC had been poisoned with black adder venom (afflictions/poisons, PFCR).

Languages Behtu begin play speaking Abyssal and Ape. Behtu with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of the following languages: Common, Draconic, Goblin, and Orc. (The creature above has its two additional languages noted already.)

Skilled Behtu have a +2 racial bonus to Stealth and Survival checks.

Spell-Like Ability Behtu can use burning hands once per day as a spell-like ability. Caster level is 1st or at the Behtu’s sorcerer level.

Lore
Mechuiti (meh-CHOO-ee-tee), the demon lord of apes, cannibalism, and torture, combines the cruelty of a demon with the cunning of a human and the ferocity of an ape. He has bred the same qualities into his people, the Behtu (BAY-too—singular and plural are the same). In his volcanic temples, his idols weep with his ichorous demon blood, which the Behtu use to create infusions to give them inhuman strength and speed. The Behtu also use the infusions to etch demonic glyph-tattoos on their skin to grant them infernal powers and protections. The Behtu are known to breed demonic dire iguanas as war mounts. The most powerful Behtu sorcerers and druids have been known to ride large lava drakes and small volcano dragons as personal mounts.

What other sorts of trouble can your PCs get into? Go visit the Journeys to the West Kickstarter page to find out.

(This post is Product Identity.)

1. Life vests not yet invented in your world.
2. For 200 years after life vests are invented, they will come only in human sizes. Demi-humans on sinking ships watch bitterly as humans bob cheerfully on the waves.
3. Island paradise is actually the forested back of a giant marine creature that will submerge ten minutes after you step onto it. Also, the fresh springwater is poison and the trees are homicidal plant-men. The island maidens explode in fireballs when you say hello.
4. Huge rocks inexplicably crash together, smashing ships between them. What the hell, rocks?
5. Zeus releases the Kraken.

Join Journeys to the West today!