Ken

Reposting for Dan...

Tales of the North v4.pdf

Welcome to the North! 

I am thrilled to present my first ever collection of home-made scenarios for Conan by Monolith. Tales of the North is a collaborative effort between Ken Meyri and myself to collect 6 scenarios based on the Norheim expansion in a nice downloadable PDF booklet format. 

Tales of the North features a 3 page fan fiction intro, 3 scenarios that have been previously posted on the Overlord, along with 3 brand new scenarios exclusive to this booklet. 

Kunnia: a brand new scenario that involves sled dog racing! Fast, furious and replayable. Try it as a tounament. 

The Blasphemy of Gwaednerth: more of an encounter than a scenario, written to highlight a new miniature from Barbaric Splendor. (www.barbaricsplendor.com) Includes a new Hero card. 

Rescue in Nordheim: co-written with Ken, this scenario brings the story begun in the introduction to a chilling conclusion. 

Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Maybe, if there's enough interest, we will do a booklet for one of the other big box expansions in the future. 

(Tales of the North requires a King Pledgle and the Nordheim, Vanir Valkyrie, Demon of the Earth, Giant Wolves and Crossbowmen expansions. Components from Stygia and Corinthia are also used but substitution suggestions are made within the scenarios.)

10 minutes ago, Matt John S said:

Is there a French version of the PDF in existence or planned? I want to post a KS update about this campaign, but would like to include a French version as well. 

Yes, Chips made one and posted it on the French website.

Here is the link:

https://the-overlord.com/index.php?/topic/2445-lombre-venue-de-stygie-fren/

32 minutes ago, drmauric said:

@Neil Amswych I am also inclined to say anyone. 

Agreed. Anyone can carry it.

By the way, I guess that rule should hold for every scenario, but this is the only scenario that it isn't usable.

19 minutes ago, Matt John S said:

@Ken @Primeval @Neil Amswych @drmauric 

 

Oh, I just got another one: are the armor bonuses granted for the last scenario (as well as Xuthai's crown) always active, or do you have to actually launch at least a defense orange die in order to benefit from it?

I can answer this one: Always active.

Neil Amswych @Primeval @Matt John S  @drmauric

It looks like some members of the French community are working on a translation. If no one objects, I am going to offer them my source files so they can compile the translation into the same package. Does that work for everyone?

@Neil Amswych @Primeval @Matt John S @Footballzs  @drmauric

Has anybody had trouble printing the first few pages of the campaign?

On 10/6/2018 at 10:26 PM, Ken said:

@Matt John S @drmauric @Primeval @Neil Amswych

 

OK, here is the updated PDF of the printable cards: Card Bonus.pdf

 

I also attached it to the Whispers from Stygia PDF, which is ready to go.

 

Matt, should I go ahead and create the post in Downloadable Scenarios, or do you want that under you?

 

Here is a screenshot of what I was thinking:

I went ahead and posted it under downloadable scenarios. I will also post a link on Board Game Geek, but Facebook will have to wait until tomorrow.

Whispers from Stygia

"Know, O Prince, that in the time when Conan the Cimmerian sat upon the Throne of Aquilonia there arose whispers from Stygia. Whispers of a scheming sorcerer whose black heart
was set upon vengeance..."

Whispers from Stygia is a campaign designed by the Conan Overlord Community at the-overlord.net. It requires the Core game, as well as the following expansions: Stygia, Khitai, Nordheim, Yogah of Yag, and the Crossbowmen. The outcome of each scenario will determine how well equipped the heroes and overlord are when they meet in the final scenario, which will determine the winner.

Download campaign: Whispers from Stygia.pdf

@Matt John S @drmauric @Primeval @Neil Amswych

OK, here is the updated PDF of the printable cards: Card Bonus.pdf

I also attached it to the Whispers from Stygia PDF, which is ready to go.

Matt, should I go ahead and create the post in Downloadable Scenarios, or do you want that under you?

Here is a screenshot of what I was thinking:

1 hour ago, Footballzs said:

It’s embarrassing to admit but I didn’t think of that. It may have worked.

Nevermind. I forgot that Atali is already using the Kiss of Death, so that option is out. Regardless, I think the better option is to change the bonus.

Here are the cards to keep track of the bonuses for review. I'm not an expert with print dimensions, so let's consider this a rough draft until I get to see what they look like printed. I will attach the high quality PDF version to the campaign when we are ready.

1. Do these look good? Did I miss anything?

2. Based on Footballz's feedback, we brainstormed an idea that the VP Bonus could be limited to non-spell damage (see the playtest hub thread for more details). I included that limitation in these cards, but I can easily change it back. If we go this route, I will change the VP section of the rules.

4 minutes ago, Footballzs said:

 

One option is to make it that the plus 1 amour does not apply for spell attacks. 

@Footballzs

That's not a bad idea. The limitation could apply to both sides to equal it out. 

By the way, how would Kiss of Death have affected your recent playtest? I assume the heroes would have won, since Hadrathus could have sacrificed himself to do that last point of damage, but would it still have come down to the wire? 

On 9/29/2018 at 6:51 PM, Footballzs said:

The plus 1 armour along with Set’s Halo made Thoth very hard to injure. If I didn’t throw a 6 with Lightning Storm then it was almost a wasted throw (I spent a lot on rerolls). Bori’s Rage is not helpful as the maximum throw is 4 which means Thoth couldn’t be hurt if he had Set’s Halo cast. Also the sacrifice skill of the Bossonian Guards is very handy for the OL (I assumed that if the OL activated the event card but did not use any gems for Mind Possession the OL still got the reinforcements).

 

Basically both sorcerers are VERY hard to hurt.

 

This one is not impossible for the heroes but it is very difficult, it may have been different if the plus 1 armour wasn’t there but that was the way the Victory Points went.

I was worried about how the victory points would affect The Streets of Khemi. I am also concerned about how they will affect The Trap. 

Here are some options:

1. Change The Streets of Khemi to make the hero spellcaster more powerful. Unfortunately, the best spells to use are from the King set, which we aren't using. Alternates include:

a) Pestilential Swarm (which I think is WAY too powerful if carried by Hadrathus), and
b) Kiss of Death (which might be climactic because Hadrathus would have to sacrifice himself to use it, but it is also pretty powerful with 3 red re-rollable dice.).
 

2. Change the Xuthals Crown to provide +1 spell damage. This would compensate for the OL VP armor bonus. However, if the OL doesn’t get the VP armor bonus, it might make it too easy for the heroes.
 

3. Leave it as it.

Thoughts?

37 minutes ago, Footballzs said:

One question, I forgot about the bonuses for Victory points🙄 The campaign book does not show the ratio I have. OL has 3 Victory points, the heroes have 2. So I have assumed the bonuses are the same as if it was 2:2.

We revamped the VP rewards. At 3:2, I am pretty sure it is +1 armor for both sides. 

OK, here is the latest and greatest version.

Changes include:

1. Revised version of Dreams of Atali. (Note: Matt, I fixed a typo in the Overlord's Objectives section (thier instead of their) and I tightened up the spacing to eliminate white space. Please check that everything is accurate.)

2. Updated the table to include the reference to Attack and Defense bonuses

3. Fixed the opening sentence of the Carryover Items section

4. Fixed a typo in the Prologue.

I am waiting for Footballz feedback on the Streets of Khemi before I call this thing finished, but we are pretty darn close. I also plan on tacking on a page at the end with the printable cards. I will include enough for each hero to have their own.

@Matt John S @Primeval @Neil Amswych  @drmauric 

I was brainstorming our launch plan once this is finished. What do you all think of the following?

1. Create a new thread here on the-overlord.net with a title announcing the completed book.

2. A thread on Board Game Geek pointing to the-overlord.net thread.

3. A thread on the on the-overlord.com pointing to the-overlord.net thread.

4. A post on the Facebook Conan group. I think we should lead with the cover image to grab attention and point to the-overlord.net thread.

5. A duplicate post on the Monolith Conan Facebook group. There is probably a lot of crossover in terms of membership, but it still is worthwhile. 

6. A duplicate post on the Facebook Miniatures A-Z group. Again, probably some crossover but well worth it.

7. Remove links in our development and testing threads to the campaign book and individual scenarios.  

8. Perhaps we could make a note at the top of these other threads indicating the project is done and provide a link to the new, finalized thread.

Note: This is to prevent version control issues. Nothing can be done about already downloaded files, but we want newcomers to only have access to the final, approved version.

That's it. I'm out of ideas, but open to additional thoughts.

7 hours ago, drmauric said:

I applied the Reroll and Yellow die to any action. But I like it this way better. It's a little more straight forward. If we go this route we may want to clarify it in the book.

@Matt John S @Primeval @Neil Amswych 

What do you all think of this idea?

So I was working on a first draft of the Victory Point Bonus and I have a question:

Should the +1 Reroll and +1 Yellow Die bonus be limited to attacks (like I have on the card)?

I think I just assumed this, but I don't recall if we ever discussed it. Otherwise, it seems like there is a lot of defense on the board.

Here they are:

2

Thoughts?

I finished recreating the data I had overwritten and I made some tweaks. The previous version had converted some text into an image, which was causing blurring. I discovered the culprit (it was Photoshop's built-in BOLD functionality that was causing the issue) and have uploaded a much cleaner version.

I am also in a better position to make any additional updates, with appropriate cloud backups.

Oh, and I updated the cover.

New updated verison:

Note: I plan on making printable cards to help players remember their bonuses going into the final scenario, but that is for another night.

5 hours ago, Epaka said:

Wow! Great work you guys. Seriously impressive. I wish I could have helped out in some way... I was on the road too much the last few months to try and lend a hand, but I will try to playtest this with my gang ASAP. 

 

Minor Nitpick Suggestion:

For the cover art, perhaps try moving the Outer Dark Demon behind the Dark Demon, shrinking him by 10%-20%, moving him up and to the right, and rotating him to the right (like he’s in the background swooping in). Then the Dark Demon can be the focal point and can be shifted over closer to the center of the image. Without being able to tell if that will actually look better, I just feel that it might be more compositionally appeaing.  Also, the ‘Whispers’ title could be a bit larger and lower than it is now, to give it some emphasis. Apologies in advance if this kind of suggestion isn’t actually wanted or needed. It really looks great already. 😁

No apologies necessary. All constructive feedback is welcome. As a matter of fact, Neil had also mentioned bringing the Dark Demon to the front. Unfortunately, the image of the Dark Demon was already flattened, so it required time and effort to separate the demon from the background. That being said, I think it looks better this way.

The good news: I updated the PDF with all the updated rules and scenarios. 

Update: I reformatted two scenarios (The Time for Flight is Nigh and Dreams of Atali) to remove large chunks of white space to save paper. Dan & Matt, can you check to make sure these changes are acceptable (i.e. you approve the new format and I didn't accidentally delete any thing (I'm good at that)).

The bad news: I accidentally overwrote my PSD file with a flattened version of page 3, so basically I lost hours worth of work that will need to be recreated if there are any changes. 😞 

Update: I found a backup file from June, so I only need to recreate these most recent changes.

OK, so I updated the Streets of Khemi. Here are the changes:

1. Reduced Shuan Mings life points to 4.

2. Removed one of the Bossonian Guards.

3. Updated Mind Control to allow the Overlord to also use a Hero's spells. (Thanks for the idea Neil!) And I wrote it so the limit of 2 only applies to action spaces.

Unfortunately, all of the really cool offensive spells are not in the Core game, so Thoth is stuck with Set's leftovers. 😞

I also clarified how Atali interacts with Heroes, other OL units, and Xuthal's Crown.

I'm looking forward to it!

14 hours ago, drmauric said:

@Epaka

 

This is a fan made campaign. Nothing more, nothing less.  We intend to bundle it into a super cool looking PDF and make it available for download right here on The Overlord. Stay tuned 🙂

Monolith could take certain actions that show they endorse the campaign, such as play-testing and promotion. I wouldn't object to that.

I also wouldn't object to them printing and shipping it, although I agree with Epaka that the vocal minority have probably ruined that hope.  

I like the new chart!

I agree with the October deadline. It would be nice to see some action on this.