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| JoJa |
 Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 2:15 pm Post subject: Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 |
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Patron
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Posts: 341
Location: The Undercity
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Hey all,
Consider this a general purpose thread for feedback, collected reviews, comments and more about the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1, for the AGE system.
If you haven't already seen them, here are some posts that lay out what the book is all about and what if offers for AGE system players and Midgard and Open Design aficionados alike:
12 adventure hooks.
Preview with Arbonesse Exile.
Preview post at Green Ronin with Eye Golem.
I'd be happy to answer any questions or take comments or suggestions here. I'll also be linking to reviews as they become available, but please don't let that stop you from posting your own reviews here.
Thanks! |
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| Saisei |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:28 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Jul 2011
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Location: Ireland
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My first post on Kobold Quarterly forums shall be a repost of my review for the bestiary 
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Bestiary bought and read. I shall now attempt a review.
First off the layout. It's really nice and simple. Each creature has a nice chunky stat block which takes up usually around half a page, the other half being taken up with creature fluff and description and a nice piece of artwork. Apart from the great looking cover there's only a spattering of colour within the book, which is fine because I assume those who would print it would print in black and white. So you won't miss much.
The artwork itself is nice. Generally strong throughout. Some pieces have clearly had more time put into them than others but there is something fitting about the 'sketchiness' of the less complete pieces. That isn't to say you're looking at an unfinished stick man; all the pieces serve to give you a strong idea of how the creatures should look.
The creations themselves in the book are pretty varied, from goblin shark to caged foetuses serving as a swinging lantern (nope, don't reread it. You read it right the first time). Despite being so varied there seems to be a very clear theme running through it. I can't exactly pinpoint it but just from reading the book I have a pretty clear idea of the type of world Midgard would be to play in. I would say there's maybe only one or two creatures in the book that boil down to reskins but the thematic fluff provided gives a strong argument for their inclusion.
I was most excited about seeing the new stunts and abilities that were promised in product overview so I paid closest attention to those. While there are some shiny new abilities that some of the creatures have there are other that are generally just a very clever usage of pre-existing rules in different ways. Whether you see that as a negative is up to you, but I liked it because everything felt familiar and gave me great ideas for tweaking other aspects for use with new monsters. It's the same with the new stunts and abilities that are introduced: having read through them it'd be very easy to pick and choose different abilities and give them to an already existing monster from Set 1 or 2 and make a brand new creature.
Stand outs for me were the Bremmean Wizard, the Gilded Devil and the Derro Fetal Savant. The Bremmean Wizard just screams "Use me as the bad guy for a whole campaign!" and I loved the fluff associated with him. I'm already planning an adventure using him. Similarly the Gilded Devil begs to be used an adventure and would make the perfect lieutenant for your campaign's big bad. With both of these it was the fluff and mechanics that really stood out. And now on to the Derro Fetal Savant, the aforementioned 'caged fetus serving as a swinging lantern'. This gets my award for Outstanding Creepiness. Great for use in any horror themed campaign. You can imagine a town of villagers worshipping this thing. As an aside, if you are looking to run a horror themed game or adventure there's bags of ideas in the book for you.
Down to the guts of the review and I'm going to analyse it from two perspectives.
As a supplement for a Dragon Age Game: Really good. Some great ideas that could be easily tweaked or explained into the Dragon Age universe. A minor quibble I have is it would've been nice to have a little sidebar for some creatures with a note on how to blend them with the DA setting. Any GM worth his salt wouldn't have to go far to do this but it would've been a nice inclusion. Very minor complaint though.
As a Midgard Supplement: Now I opened this PDF not having a clue about the Midgard setting they're working on at Open Design so I came at it from a "How can this work for me?" angle. Saying that and having read through it I am hugely intrigued by the Midgard setting now. The book gave me enough of a tease and fluff and mentions of history to really make me want to know more. And as I mentioned earlier I think I already have a good idea of what the setting is about. And I like it.
Another tiny negative I have on the book (and it is just a minor one) is that some of the stunts and abilities are a little vague at times. Only some mind but it's still confusing. The Bone Crab's 'White Ghost Shivers' for instance says that if a player fails 3 tests they succumb to the sickness. It doesn't however say how many they must pass. A little issue but I felt it worth mentioning.
So would I recommend the Midgard Bestiay? Given the slim selection of creatures for Set 1 and Set 2, having 50+ new creations to choose from can really help. As well as that I think any GM would find it hard to read the book and not get at least a half dozen ideas for adventures. For the cost of 5 dollars (only cost me 3.50 euro) and if you play Dragon Age alot or want to use AGE for another setting (Pathfinder or Freeport etc) I absolutely recommend this book. It's a great resource for a low price. |
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| JoJa |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Posts: 341
Location: The Undercity
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@Saisei,
Awesome review! Thanks for stopping by and letting us know what you think.
I totally understand what you're saying about the bone crab, so just to clarify you only need one success. It's not an advanced test, a player who passes it once fights off the infection.
Because it's a relatively low power creature, it's not supposed to be too big a threat for PCs, thus the low threshold for success. As a threat for NPCs, however. . .
I appreciate the feedback, though. Thanks again. |
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| Saisei |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:59 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Jul 2011
Posts: 44
Location: Ireland
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Thanks for the reply.
And the review was my pleasure. It should be going up on Dragon Age Oracle tomorrow, so hopefully you guys will get some more feedback there too.
Looking forward to throwing these guys at my party. Thanks for all the great work. |
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| mach1.9pants |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 10
Location: amongst the vines, NZ
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Is this supposed to be available as part of the Midgard Patronage project? I am totally out of the patronage loop, snowed under with work, but I'd like to read this. If so, as a patron, where do I get it from?
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| JoJa |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Posts: 341
Location: The Undercity
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@Mach,
No, sorry, as a side project to the overall campaign world, the book is not freely available to patrons as part of their patronage. Much of what was developed into the book was discussed in this thread, which as a patron you had access to and could have helped influence the final design and even had a chance to contribute your own monsters and conversions.
Not to rub your nose in it, I realize you were busy with other things.
Should we do a second volume, you'll have the chance to critique and contribute again, which will be announced in the update threads and in the crossroads folder.
For now, the only way to get the book is to purchase it at the KQ store, but rest assured its very, very reasonably priced for the amount of work and quality of content. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line here or over on the Green Ronin boards. Thanks! |
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| JoJa |
| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Posts: 341
Location: The Undercity
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And the reviews keep rolling in. The estimable NewbieDM reviewed the Bestiary book amongst a collected review of great new offerings that also included the excellent Kobold Quarterly #18.
Want to read it? Click here. |
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| JoJa |
| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:20 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Jan 2011
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And yet another great review!
This time from across the pond, as Stargazer's World does a quick-hit review that really gets to the point. The verdict:
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| So is the Midgard Bestiary Volume 1 worth it? If you want to use the AGE system for the upcoming Midgard setting it’s definitely a must-have. If you want to keep playing in the Dragon Age setting you should at least consider it. You can never have enough monsters and the bestiary also provides you with a few new powers, stunts and even a couple new weapons. And since it only sets you back $4.99 for the PDF, you really can’t go wrong! That’s an excellent price for a great and very useful product. |
You can read the full review here. |
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| JoJa |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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A five star review from newcomer to the site DarkSasha, check it out over in the KQ thread!
Thanks again Dawn! |
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| deinol |
| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:37 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Aug 2008
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Is there any chance we'll see a print version of this? Even if it is just print-on-demand?
Love the PDF, but I need more AGE books for my shelf!
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-Jesse Butler
Fanig Entertainment or Apathy Blogs |
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| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:36 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Dec 2007
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There's no plan for a print edition just yet. The hope was that we'd do a Volume 2 and then the print edition would combine the two.
Based on current sales, it's too soon to tell whether it will happen (all that art makes monster books expensive to produce!). Ask me in October.
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Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
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| BrianLiberge |
| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:15 am Post subject: |
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