Author Topic: ICE Adventure Modules  (Read 10075 times)

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Offline Elton Robb

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #40 on: October 06, 2012, 01:11:19 PM »
That's going a little too far.

At least we aren't getting chits.
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Offline RandalThor

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #41 on: October 07, 2012, 07:16:15 AM »
Actually this just came to mind...what if these adventures where created specifically for the new RMU. Have a packaged deal, make the new RMU a BOXED SET complete with adventure series, dice, GM screen etc.
Y'know? I would probably buy this. What am I saying? Of course I would buy it. The only question is: Would I buy two? (Probably....)
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Offline ironmaul

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #42 on: October 07, 2012, 07:43:40 AM »
Yeah, I'd buy one as well. Send it through a distributor like Schoolastic and you've hit the jackpot!

Offline Wolfhound

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #43 on: October 09, 2012, 07:46:07 PM »
So much stuff in this thread to talk about.
,
Some official answers:
Adventures and settings are coming, not just TGA#4 but full-blown adventure modules.

Some of the adventure modules underway are part settings as well (nod to Aaron Smalley upthread and Chris Seal)

We will be doing calls for adventure sets for Shadow World and Gryphon World in the future, but current priorities are the HARP relaunch of its core books and RMU into and through Playtest.

Someone mentioned cities... in addition to the campaign module I'm working on, there are dozens of "forts" and other places that are detailed within the setting spread out around two fairly well developed continents (have had plans for another half-dozen modules set in or around the Archendurn Kingdom (see "City of Archendurn" or "Dun Cru" e-modules) but had not bothered to make much progress on them due to the previous ICE's management teams lack of serious direction.  But with Nicholas heading things up and the serious work towards actually making Rolemaster a viable system again, I'm going to do my best to make progress on these again.  And on the comment about cities, I'd love to eventually publish the Channel Cities (ChannelCities.com, opening page is a blog of sorts, but click on the right side link to the wiki for at least a tiny taste of the setting info), as either a large setting book or a series of modules each covering one of the scores of districts of this huge medieval 5-city metropolis that has been in development since the mid 1980's. 

This setting also has contributions from many other people as well as lots of space where others could contribute (as it was intended to be a group project from the beginning, but most other contributors so far have concentrated on small parts of background info rather than adding details to areas that haven't yet been detailed or covering adventure locations.

But first need to get the current project completed, which has a bit of a twisted (and not very linear, which is adding to the difficulty of figuring out the most logical way to organize the material (including a plethora of critters and maps: fortresses, castles, cavern complexes and a few hundred square miles of wilderness)).  As there are several aspects of this campaign module that could make it a very good fit for release as one of the earliest such products under the new system.
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Offline Wolfhound

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #44 on: October 10, 2012, 08:41:46 AM »
Adventures need to be easily transferrable to VTTs like Fantasy Grounds IMO as well.

But yes, more adventures are key especially if they give you copious amounts of information about the area.

I'm planing to run one of the play-test groups for the campaign module mentioned above (and by Nicholas) via Fantasy Grounds, so if there is interest in such maybe I should talk to Nicholas about also offering it in that format (and the previous modules as well as possible future modules).

I've been wanting for a long time to run a series of short city based adventures, a city like Waterdeep. You know, something like the PCs being a part of a local "special force" or something, having usually straitforward missions. My goal is to account for player variability with attendance as this is an issue with student players (during exams and holidays). And it could be easier this way to introduce new players almost anytime.  :)

See my above post for info on the city setting that I've been using extensively (kind of the center piece of the setting that all the modules take place in).  If there is truly an interest in such a setting, then I could possibly (if time permits) pull together info on a regular basis for such things (had written a series of articles in the first few issues of the GuildCompanion.com covering this city setting, but then due to a new job started lacking time to work on it).  However life is at a point now were I do have some free time for gaming and as such I could probably start producing such things again, similar to the "Red Hooded Traveler"- an Inn/Tavern set in the Channel Cities that appeared in TGCA1 (and is just one of more than 50 inns/taverns and other several-hundred businesses and places of interest or the more than 1,000 NPC's that have been detailed within the massive Channel Cities that has been detailed so far). 
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World of Aernth/Channel Cities setting: www.ChannelCities.com
City of Archendurn & Dun Cru author (for RM/HARP)
Cur. projects: RMU Creature Law 1 & 2, No Quarter Under the Crown (campaign module for RMU)

Offline Wolfhound

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #45 on: October 11, 2012, 03:45:38 PM »
And on the comment about cities, I'd love to eventually publish the Channel Cities (ChannelCities.com, opening page is a blog of sorts, but click on the right side link to the wiki for at least a tiny taste of the setting info), as either a large setting book or a series of modules each covering one of the scores of districts of this huge medieval 5-city metropolis that has been in development since the mid 1980's. 

If anyone tried to follow that link and found that it wasn't working, it is because the server that it was hosted on crashed (and burned???) with the hosting company saying that the data is unrecoverable (luckily what was there was just small samples from a massive word document that I've been compiling (more than 350 pages)  by pulling or scanning from a couple thousand pages of info and maps that fill multiple 2" and 3" 3-ring binders and more than 1,000 index cards of NPC's.  But since the server belongs to a friend (who is also an RM fan) and he is in the process of trying to get everything moved over to a newer and more reliable server and the ChannelCities.com web site is more of a hobby thing (as opposed to some businesses that I think he also hosts) the ChannelCities.com site is a lower priority (he gave me the call as to if I wanted it back up right away and I told him to worry about his other commitments first due to the nature of the ChannelCities.com wiki) so it may be a couple of weeks before it is back up and functioning (and even then it will take some time to get the wiki set back up). 
Wolfhound (aka Aaron Smalley)
World of Aernth/Channel Cities setting: www.ChannelCities.com
City of Archendurn & Dun Cru author (for RM/HARP)
Cur. projects: RMU Creature Law 1 & 2, No Quarter Under the Crown (campaign module for RMU)

Offline Guillaume

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #46 on: October 13, 2012, 01:59:22 AM »
I didn't notice the poll until now in that thread, As the vote count is low I suspect it has been added lately :D

a few comments about the choices in it :

- In the First part :
    Don't close the door to other style of books. It's not because you start with Setting Detail [choice 3] books that you can't do also extensive linear detail [choice 2] books too. ( actually they would complete each other perfectly )
   Don't close the door to the possibility to mix two kind of books into one product ( Divided detail, with 1 adventure in Linear detail [choice 1 and 4 mixed]

- In the second part :
  Map choice ( I voted hand drawn color, I've always been biased to the MERP maps ) is IMHO dependant on what information you want to pass along. A Black and White hand drawn map will work great as a player handout, and CGI maps are great when you want an overall picture.

- In the third part
  As for the first part don't close the door to the other ones when applicable.
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Offline ironmaul

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #47 on: October 13, 2012, 06:53:02 AM »
I'm interested in the quality of hand drawn maps you have in mind. For me to make a decent coloured map would take considerable time and effort. And to put it bluntly, would the sales of the adventure be enough to cover costs of the artist creating the map? even if it was b&w. And that's not mentioning illustrating for the NPC's and maybe pre-gen characters portraits(as you know is my specialty).

So what it comes to is, what amount of money would you invest upfront into an adventure project that will give you a professional looking product? And will it give a return that covers those costs?

Offline egdcltd

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #48 on: October 13, 2012, 07:08:56 AM »
Not sure where to place my votes, as I'd be interested in all variations of 1, all of 3 and not really fussed which option is picked for 2.
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Offline Wolfhound

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #49 on: October 13, 2012, 08:43:28 AM »
Yes, the poll was just recently added. 

Ultimately it is Nicholas' call on this anyway since he is managing things from that perspective.  But with the discussions and people putting forth their opinions on the subject, thought it might be good to try to get a count of who leans in which direction on these topics, thus the poll.  Although as someone else pointed out in another thread, the responses of polls here may not be all that representative of the market's feelings on these matters. 

And as far as the choices, more thought could have been put into it (as was pointed out by Guillaume), but I just threw it together quickly.
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Cur. projects: RMU Creature Law 1 & 2, No Quarter Under the Crown (campaign module for RMU)

Offline GrumpyOldFart

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #50 on: October 13, 2012, 08:57:31 AM »
For the details, I tend to want more than just things that apply to that one adventure. I feel ripped off if once I've played the adventure once, I no longer have any real use for the book. In fairness, I also feel ripped off if I buy a book (like a novel), read it, and don't want to put it on a shelf and read it again a few years later. I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near the norm in that.

Maps.... maps are a judgment call depending on what you want the map to do. If you want the players to know what they'd see if they were looking down from an aircraft or right there at the scene, then accuracy is everything, and yes you'll want full color. But would the characters ever have such knowledge under any circumstances? Right there at the scene, sure, but the bird's eye view.... really? If not, then you can immerse them in the setting as well or better by, rather than drawing a map whose accuracy rivals that of a satellite photo, drawing a map whose accuracy rivals the kind of map you could expect typical people in the area to have. In other words, hand drawn B&W.

The third one is purely subjective according to how much stuff the player wants for his money, how much he's willing to pay to get it, and how much work (and thus cost) the authors/designers are willing to put into a single product which may or may not produce a return.

Me personally, I like all of them, they serve different purposes and which one I'll want varies with which purpose I'm trying to find material for.
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Offline egdcltd

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #51 on: October 13, 2012, 08:58:39 AM »
Although as someone else pointed out in another thread, the responses of polls here may not be all that representative of the market's feelings on these matters. 

Is there anywhere you could post it to get a broader representation of the market?
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Offline RandalThor

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #52 on: October 13, 2012, 10:40:51 AM »
Maps.... maps are a judgment call depending on what you want the map to do. If you want the players to know what they'd see if they were looking down from an aircraft or right there at the scene, then accuracy is everything, and yes you'll want full color. But would the characters ever have such knowledge under any circumstances? Right there at the scene, sure, but the bird's eye view.... really? If not, then you can immerse them in the setting as well or better by, rather than drawing a map whose accuracy rivals that of a satellite photo, drawing a map whose accuracy rivals the kind of map you could expect typical people in the area to have. In other words, hand drawn B&W.
For me, the maps aren't for the players, but the GMs. (Usually, me.) It is good if the GM knows all the specifics of the area, like exactly how far it is from the town to the dungeon, and where along that path the nasties are located. Now, I am not averse to including some rough, hand-drawn looking ones that may be able to be handed out to the players as ones their characters might get access to.

Plus, pretty maps are, well, pretty.
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Offline GrumpyOldFart

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #53 on: October 13, 2012, 11:54:36 AM »
Then again, the "player map" that represents the quality of map you could expect them to have... well it could be something full color, digitally or hand drawn, which ever the artist gets the most realism from... so that it looks like a photo of a map drawn in the mud with a stick.

 :o

The map you provide for the GM, well... pretty is nice just because it's pretty, which is justification in itself, but in functional terms what matters is whether it has all the information he requires. Beyond that, pretty is a luxury, and I won't try to advise anyone on how much luxury their customers will pay extra for.
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Offline RandalThor

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #54 on: October 13, 2012, 12:51:44 PM »
Actually, pretty is a selling point, and does not negate the ability to have it be functional, so can only serve to increase the chances of a product being bought/sold.
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Offline GrumpyOldFart

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #55 on: October 13, 2012, 02:34:05 PM »
Sure it's a selling point, like any other luxury. I'm not saying it has no value, I'm saying I have no ability to judge that value.
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Offline RandalThor

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #56 on: October 13, 2012, 03:04:07 PM »
Sure it's a selling point, like any other luxury. I'm not saying it has no value, I'm saying I have no ability to judge that value.
You gotta be better than Brittany Spears and Demi Lovato.  ;D

I know, for me, I am willing to pay quite a bit more for what I call "quality suppliments." (Those with higher production values such as, full-color cover-to-cover, lots of maps, good art, etc...) I think I put up a list on another thread - too lazy to look for it, sorry. But, I do know I am willing to go up to $60 for a really good book, that wasn't small either, of course. (Possibly even more, depending upon the material - like RM vs. D&D.)
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Offline GrumpyOldFart

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #57 on: October 13, 2012, 05:21:20 PM »
You gotta be better than Brittany Spears and Demi Lovato.  ;D

It'd be nice to think so, but the facts don't support the idea. They make a lot more off their "creative drives" than I do, I can tell you that. I'm fairly certain that Britney had made more than I've earned in my entire life before she went through puberty.

So on the one hand, if the module designers took Britney Spears' advice on what should be done "creatively" with it, I suspect that would drive my likelihood of wanting to buy it WAY down... but somebody who's a millionaire before she's 30 has every right not to sweat too much over my approval. If it hurts her feelings too terribly badly, she can cry all the way to the bank, ya know?

Quote
Brittany Spears and Demi Lovato.  ;D

A very good example of things with purely subjective, luxury value that I obviously don't have the ability to judge. I would long since have expected Britney to be one of those "where are they now?" used-to-be-child-stars, the ones you can't remember their names until someone reminds you. "Oh yeah, them."
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Offline Old Man

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #58 on: October 13, 2012, 09:22:43 PM »

Btw, I'd like to see all 3 of item 3 ... Item 1 is an interesting question and elsewhere I've asked the same - "What will be ICE's standard adventure template/outline." Item 2 - I like handdrawn maps and then you can computer-overlay the grids, keys etc.
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Offline egdcltd

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Re: ICE Adventure Modules
« Reply #59 on: October 14, 2012, 04:01:49 AM »
Sure it's a selling point, like any other luxury. I'm not saying it has no value, I'm saying I have no ability to judge that value.
You gotta be better than Brittany Spears and Demi Lovato.  ;D

I know, for me, I am willing to pay quite a bit more for what I call "quality suppliments." (Those with higher production values such as, full-color cover-to-cover, lots of maps, good art, etc...) I think I put up a list on another thread - too lazy to look for it, sorry. But, I do know I am willing to go up to $60 for a really good book, that wasn't small either, of course. (Possibly even more, depending upon the material - like RM vs. D&D.)

My personal opinion is $60 for a supplement is too much. I think that sort of price would stop a lot of people from either being willing, or able, to buy it. I believe RM needs to get some mass market appeal again, and that's going to mean making supplements that are more reasonably priced. Not that a good $60 book wouldn't be nice.
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