Conan and the Shadow of the sorcerer boxed set

[The King]

if you wanna see it released, give it a bump so that it doesn't sink in the depth of oblivion

 

[toothill man]

will also keep it bumped as want this product as in yesterday

 

[Arkobla Conn]

a damn shame....Mongoose!!!! Be upset with a late submission if you must, but life happens and why should the customers be punished??

 

[toothill man]

we would love this especally as I think Im right in saying it is now finished if it still was not written then they would have a stronger point :?

 

[The King]

Indeed the campaign is finished only waiting to go to the printer. So Mongoose, what are you waiting for?

 

[toothill man]

same question here :?

 

[VincentDarlage]

Ummm, Jason said, "it is nearing completion." That means it is not just waiting to go to the printers. It still needs completed, I believe, by the author.

 

[The King]

Just an example: The realms of sorcery for warhammer RPG was announced when the core book was released some 20 years ago. It was finally released after 15 years. I think it's a record.

So even if it still is not completed to go to the printer, we may well wait for 2 or 3 months. After all it was scheduled for last april. Thus one year delay is aceptable if the campaign rocks.

Vincent, reading your posts of this thread you don't seem very enthusiastic over this project, do you?

I am sure Howard would have written more full-length novels than just The hour of the dragon if he hadn't committed suicide because he clearly liked this hero.

 

[toothill man]

why does vincent not like this :? is it because their not conan enough or not the epic he was after as looking forward to statues release and gooses change of heart but what I what is a epic conan super adventure maybe even like the drow war or horned god campain(ie multible hardbacks or the mother of box sets) which will spand the globe abit like masks and also horror on the orient exspress did for COC

 

[VincentDarlage]

Vincent, reading your posts of this thread you don't seem very enthusiastic over this project, do you?

That is not it at all. In truth, I was looking forward to its publication just because of the esteem I hold for the author. I think it is a shame it won't be published for that reason, but not because it is a "campaign."

I just don't understand why someone would state that without this sort of campaign he would put away his books (which was stated by someone) or be this insistant about it. But I generally don't use modules, myself. I have always made up my own adventures, so it is probably just me having a different mindset.

I have tried premade modules, but found it takes me longer to prep for one of those than for my own - in my own, I know the characters' motivations and plots without need for notes or reference. I can only imagine how much prep time it would take me to prepare a premade campaign of this magnitude, to learn and understand it to the degree I need in case the characters do the wildly unexpected. I could create the adventure in less time than it would take me to prepare one someone else has written.

I don't know about everyone else, but with a full-time night job as an accounting instructor, a job writing freelance for Mongoose, three children, and school (I am pursuing my Master's degree), I try to keep my prep time to a minimum, so writing my own adventures fits the bill in that regard. On the other hand, I did actually play "Heretics of Tarantia" and had a blast with it. It still took me more time to prep than to write my own, though.

I like the author and am quite sure he wrote one heck of an adventure; I would have bought it simply for that reason. So it is not so much lack of enthusiasm, just a curiosity on why a campaign project is considered so vital.

I could play for years with just the Core rules. I played AD&D for thousands of collective hours through high school and college without ever owning a module - just the main books of the time. I played for 13 years before I ever bought a module.

Also, with quality adventures like "Heretics of Tarantia" being published, I just don't get the fervour for a "campaign." It is a shame that this one didn't meet the deadlines, but there are adventures in Signs and Portents, Messantia, Tales of the Black Kingdoms, Shadizar, Across the Thunder River and other printings...

While I would be very pleased to have seen this product published, I just don't see it as any more "essential" than any other product outside of the core rules. To me, it is just an enhancement of the whole. My "lack of enthusiasm" is just me not understanding why it is treated as more essential than just an enhancement. Admittedly, though, with Jason at the helm, it would have been an impressive enhancement - one that I was actually looking forward to - not because it was a campaign but because it was this particular author's work.

I am sure Howard would have written more full-length novels than just The hour of the dragon if he hadn't committed suicide because he clearly liked this hero.

I think it is unlikely that the novel would have been a Conan novel; he wanted to write a Western novel, though, set in Texas. The last Conan story he wrote ("Red Nails") was finished a year before he committed suicide. He wrote at least one letter fretting how dishearting writing Conan stories had become because Weird Tales takes years to pay him.

Howard, in that last year, did not write fantasy - he focused on Westerns, IIRC. Many Howard scholars have postulated that if he had not killed himself, he would probably have established himself as an author of Westerns, not unlike Louis L'amour or some of the other more prevalant writers of Westerns.

Also, I am not sure Hour of the Dragon qualifies as a "campaign" example taking characters through multiple levels. It was just a long adventure. Conan did not drastically "improve" like characters would.

 

[The King]

... While I would be very pleased to have seen this product published, I just don't see it as any more "essential" than any other product outside of the core rules. To me, it is just an enhancement of the whole. My "lack of enthusiasm" is just me not understanding why it is treated as more essential than just an enhancement. Admittedly, though, with Jason at the helm, it would have been an impressive enhancement - one that I was actually looking forward to - not because it was a campaign but because it was this particular author's work.

I didn't want you to justify yourself but knowing you're a Conan fan (I know you Conan website since 2001 or 2002) I was wondering at your tone.
IMO a campaign isn't essential but it would fit naturally in the "gear". And it could become a reference because many GM's prefer already made works (even if they meddle somewhat with it).

...

I am sure Howard would have written more full-length novels than just The hour of the dragon if he hadn't committed suicide because he clearly liked this hero.

I think it is unlikely that the novel would have been a Conan novel; he wanted to write a Western novel, though, set in Texas. The last Conan story he wrote ("Red Nails") was finished a year before he committed suicide. He wrote at least one letter fretting how dishearting writing Conan stories had become because Weird Tales takes years to pay him.

Howard, in that last year, did not write fantasy - he focused on Westerns, IIRC. Many Howard scholars have postulated that if he had not killed himself, he would probably have established himself as an author of Westerns, not unlike Louis L'amour or some of the other more prevalant writers of Westerns.

Also, I am not sure Hour of the Dragon is a "campaign" taking characters through multiple levels. It was just a long adventure. Conan did not drastically "improve" like characters would.

I don't know Howard as you do but I remember he was trying to have his Conan novel released but was met with illluck. IIRC he tried unsuccessfully with too US publishers and with one British publisher but it did bankrupt before the release.
Now imagine he had success with it (and lived long enough to see it released) don't you think he would have tried more lengthy stories? True he liked boxe and adventures and western stories and above all historical setting, but I am sure that with the encouragement of his peers he could have go on with Conan.

Of course this all belong to the theory of assumptions but to my knowledge he is one of the rare authors who wrote a whole comprehensive and coherent setting for these short stories of "Sword and sorcery" which he called the Hyborian Age.
And for me, this means he has other ideas for Conan but he didn't developped them at that time (proof of this are his letters on Conan).

This second such author also wrote shorts stories and poems (at the beginning) and wrote then a novel. This novel, "There and back again", had so much success that he, J.R.R. Tolkien, was asked by his publisher to write another one which became a giant fresco "War of the Ring". He also wrote a setting for himself in which his stories would take place and the Silmarillion was to Tolkien what the Hyborian Age was to Howard.

 

[Lucius]

BUMP!

Take notice Mongoose! Take notice!

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The more material the better. I can cannabilize anything for my campaign. Like Dr Frankenstein, the more stuff I can dig up- the more raw material to work with. 8)

 

[AURIKALKO]

I'm wondering, if anyone here will vote for options 2-4?

I believe many people want it but there are also some GM's who only play with their own adventures.
Didn't you know: I'am doing some marketing for Mongoose. :wink:

HI!

DUMB QUESTION:

What would be "Conan & the Shadow of the Sorcerer" box set? What would it include? Would it be like their other boxed (city) sets?


Sorry if this has been discussed before...
AuriK-o

 

[The King]

What would be "Conan & the Shadow of the Sorcerer" box set? What would it include? Would it be like their other boxed (city) sets?

it should be a full campain in 3-96 pages books with other materials.

 

[Seanv]

Bump

A pipe dream but I would love mongoose to reconsider the canning of this project.

 

[toothill man]

welcome too the boards and I think it is worth a bump too

 

[René]

Bump

A pipe dream but I would love mongoose to reconsider the canning of this project.

My intuition says, that "whining" will not help in this thing. To me the decision looks definitive - unfortunately.

 

[The King]

you folks are a way too pessimistic! :wink:

 

[Maximo]

I would call it realism, after reading Jason's sad story on page 1. Bussiness works that way, which is ironical, since there are quite a lot of GMs (customers) who want the book badly.

However, I voted (obviously) for inmediate release of the book. Not that I think it's going to make Mongoose change their mind, but hope is the last thing you can lose, whatever the odds...