Strongholds & Followers and Freeport

Last summer, I reviewed Matt Colville's Stronghold & Followers sourcebook for D&D 5E. This time, I'll be looking at how to use this new material in a Freeport campaign.

First of all, Freeport is a very highly detailed city that already contains many competing organizations with established strongholds. Any attempt to create a new stronghold in the Serpent's Teeth, much less within Freeport's own city walls, will be sure to experience resistance from the current powers that be. Players and DMs should not let that discourage them from using the stronghold rules--intrigue and political scheming are hallmarks of the City of Adventure, after all! And some bold adventurer is behind the founding of most of the city's iconic organizations, from the Syndicate to the Wizard's Guild to the office of Sea Lord itself. The PCs are just the latest in a long history of ambitious new arrivals, who lack the advantages jealously guarded by the members of the status quo.

In a Freeport campaign, the stronghold rules can also be useful for detailing NPC organizations, from competing guilds to military schools to pirate fleets. Even if the PCs never establish a formal base of operations, NPCs with sufficient political clout will reap the benefits of maintaining their own strongholds: followers to pit against the PCs, easier access to low-level magic items, and improved class features. (On the other hand, when faced with such resourceful enemies, the PCs may eventually seek how to gain those rewards for themselves!)

Most of the rules in S&F can be used as-is in most campaigns, but a few options deserve specific call-outs for Freeport.

The Keep: The barbarian camp option is not appropriate within the Serpent's Teeth, except when they are invading one of the settlements here (as in the northern barbarian invasion during Black Sails Over Freeport). However, this stronghold type is the norm in the more savage parts of the Continent, such as Druzhdin and the Bone Lands.

In contrast, the pirate ship variant is perfectly suited to Freeport. The Mass Combat rules can be adapted for use for sea battles between enemy ships.

The Tower: The Wizard's Guild is the epitome of this type of stronghold, while Gitch's rickety tower in Bloodsalt represents the most humble possible version.

The Temple: Freeport is littered with this type of stronghold, but not every shrine in the Temple District qualifies. (The Fool's Market as a whole might--or it might count as an establishment?--but the individual spaces within it would not.) Naturally, any new temple established within Freeport will face intense scrutiny from other faiths, who may simply be jealous of competition or who might be on the watch for legitimate threats to crusade against.

The druid's grove alternate would be appropriate to establish outside the city, in the jungles of A'Val or elsewhere in the Serpent's Teeth.

The Establishment: This type of stronghold might be the easiest to establish within the city, because Freeport is a city that thrives on commerce and trade. The covert side of the organization will need to be wary of established criminal gangs, who have well-defined territories within the city's districts.

Followers: The stat blocks for retainers are highly abbreviated, since they have a reduced role in combat. However, they can be useful starting points for creating NPC allies and enemies for Freeport adventures, apart from the stronghold rules. Likewise, the sample artisan profiles can be used as-is or as inspiration for new background characters.

The Siege of Castle Rend: This adventure is clearly not appropriate for the Serpent's Teeth. However, it could be used more or less as written in many places on the Continent. The adventure also presents many new stat blocks for orcs, which could add some variety to the inhabitants of Bloodsalt.

New Monsters: This chapter is a rich resource for any 5E game. See below for further discussion.

New Items: The codices are thematically appropriate for Freeport, given the setting's strong Lovecraftian element. However, they require attunement within a stronghold, so should be ignored if the stronghold rules are not being used.

New Monsters

This chapter can be used with any 5E campaign, whether or not the GM includes the stronghold and concordance rules. These creatures are grouped into various extraplanar factions based on the beings' origins and agenda.

Demons and devils are well represented in the Monster Manual, so only a few new fiends are needed to round out the servitors chart in the temple rules.

The remaining factions include:

• The Celestial Court: Angelic beings who (in Freeport's default D&D cosmology, at least) hail from the outer planes of good. These beings are the natural allies of pure-hearted crusaders against demons, devils, and other evils.
• The Court of All Flesh: Chaotic aberrations. "Primordius" is roughly cognate to Limbo, but the Changing Ones are not affiliated with the slaadi or other denizens of that plane. (Slaadi have never been Open Game Content, so Colville had to invent new servitors for this niche.) In a Freeport campaign, this court might have ties to realms corrupted by the Unspeakable One, but are not inherently evil themselves.
• The Court of Arcadia: Chaotic fey (and one dragon), appropriate to the fairy realms (and some elven woods). These are likely to be popular among clerics from Rolland on the Continent, but apart from the oleander dragon, the Court of Arcadia are unlikely to have anything in common with the more reptilian fey native to the Serpent's Teeth.
• The Court of Elements: Neutral elementals, ruled by the Lady of Brass. In a Freeport campaign, may be the noble efreeti ruler of the City of Brass, or the sovereign over all of the ruling class of genies from all four elemental planes.
• Gemstone Dragons: These neutral dragons are the one group of new monsters that were not designed for use as extraplanar servitors. Instead, they form a third category of dragons between the more extreme alignments of the metallic and chromatic species. Gemstone dragons have psionic abilities rather than the usual magical powers of dragons. A limited, self-contained psionics system is presented to support these creatures. This section also includes a gemstone variant for dragonborn (who comprise the only method presented in this book for accessing those psionic powers as a PC). In a Freeport campaign, gemstone dragons might have connections to, or secret forgotten knowledge of, the ancient civilization of Valossa, or its serpent god Yig.
• The Inexorables: Lawful constructs that embody the plane of pure law (called "Axiom" here, which could be considered the same as Mechanus in the default D&D cosmology). They presumably operate independently from the modrons.

For my past columns about using D&D Fifth Edition sourcebooks with Freeport: The City of Adventure, see the Freeport 5E Index.

Strongholds & Followers

Strongholds & Followers is the primary physical reward from the wildly successful Strongholds & Streaming Kickstarter by MCDM Productions. This book for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition presents Matt Colville's rules for mid- to high-level heroes building strongholds, recruiting followers, and using those resources to wage war, indulge in intrigue, and improve their heroes' personal abilities.

Previous editions of D&D assumed that most of the wealth that adventurers collect will be spent on magic items to boost their own power. However, such items are much rarer in 5E, and the default assumption is that characters cannot simply buy, sell, or craft magic items at will. Colville's solution is to give characters the option of using that money to build a stronghold, which allows them to attract followers and gain other tangible benefits. It also gives them more motivation to get involved in the politics and intrigue of the region around their new base, which can lead to new kinds of adventures.

The book is divided into six parts (three main chapters, plus substantial appendices which make up 40% of the book):

• Strongholds: Rules for building a stronghold, and the benefits characters gain from that investment.
• Followers: Details on the army units, retainers, and other followers a character can attract to their service, as well as special allies who help out from time to time.
• The Siege of Castle Rend: An adventure designed to introduce players to many of the new rules in this book.
• New Monsters: A bestiary of new extraplanar and draconic servitors that can be summoned by characters with a temple stronghold, and a few other methods. 
• Warfare: Rules for mass combat, using army units gained as followers and/or hired with gold.
• New Items: New magic items referenced elsewhere in the book, or that use the new rules presented here (such as battle magic or new monsters).

Strongholds

A stronghold is a structure that provides a base of operations, a home for followers and allies, and enhanced personal abilities to its master. There are four basic types: a keep allows you to raise an army and defend the local populace; a tower helps with spell research and learning battle magic; a temple allows the summoning of divine servitors and learning battle magic; and an establishment allows you to perform espionage and generate income. A castle combines more than one type of stronghold, allowing a larger complex to be built and run by multiple characters. A stronghold's size (1-5 levels) is a measure of both its cost to build and the benefits received.

In addition, the leader's class determines a number of the stronghold's features. Each class's entry lists a few possible demesne effects (ways in which the leader's power manifests in the local area) and stronghold actions (special abilities that the leader can use in combat). The leader also gets an improved class feature, which they can use a number of times equal to their stronghold's level before needing to take an extended rest (a week spent at the stronghold, re-attuning oneself to the site and recharging one's influence).

These abilities are typically very powerful, in order to make building a stronghold more attractive to players. They are not designed to be "balanced" (an overrated idea, in Colville's philosophy), but to give a cool reward to players who invest time and effort in this part of the game. In effect, the land responds to the leader's influence by granting them these special abilities, but they require the leader to periodically return to renew that bond.

Colville never says this explicitly, but the demesne effects and stronghold actions are an obvious parallel to the regional effects and lair actions associated with a powerful monster's lair. Once a player character has the resources to build and maintain a stronghold (at least 5th-7th level), they have arguably become powerful enough to manifest similar effects in their own "lair." Because the game is focused on the PCs, these stronghold actions and related effects will likely see more use than any NPC monster's lair would, so DMs will want to think about whether to use them and how often. The improved class features, on the other hand, have a built-in limit, and seem much more reasonable in their scope when you consider what a character could accomplish in a campaign that allowed them to invest the same amount of gold in portable magic items.

Followers

The leader's class determines what table to roll on for followers, which fall into five categories:

• Units are military forces that can be used to defend the stronghold or wage war against enemies. They have special stat blocks used in the warfare rules.
• Retainers are lower-level adventurers who help the leader in their adventures, and can serve as lieutenants in the leader's absence. They use simplified stat blocks that give them a few cool powers but make them easy to run in combat.
• Artisans attach a shop to the stronghold, and can provide benefits such as reduced construction costs (carpenter, mason), magic item production (alchemist, scribe), training of troops (captain), or specialized knowledge (sage, spy). 
• Ambassadors are members of local nonhuman tribes who act as liaisons between their people and the stronghold's leader. They allow the recruitment of army units from their ancestry. 
• Allies are powerful local monsters who are impressed by the leader. They do not take orders, but can provide special help from time to time. 

The Siege of Castle Rend

This 5th-level adventure is designed to introduce players to many of the new rules in this book: seizing and restoring a stronghold, attracting followers to serve there, and a mass combat battle to defend it. The adventure has several tough encounters, but there are also opportunities to resolve a couple of them through clever play rather than violence.

New Monsters

The new rules for temples involve tracking concordance, a measure of how pleased the character's god is with them. A god's favorites can call upon divine aid, which can take the form of an extraplanar servitor arriving to aid the petitioner. The Monster Manual provides numerous examples of fiends that can fit this role, but far fewer celestials and elementals, and not many extraplanar creatures of other origins. Therefore, as a stretch goal, Colville created over 30 new monsters, grouped into several planar factions in the unique cosmology he has created for his own campaigns. Each faction contains creatures of Challenge ratings 5-10, providing a good spread of foes and allies over several levels' worth of play (much as the MM's demons and devils do).

While all of Stronghold & Followers is lavishly filled with gorgeous artwork, this chapter shines brightest of all. Almost every new monster gets it own illustration, many of them full-paged pieces.

The largest section of this appendix is devoted to a new category of dragons, the gemstone dragons. Unlike metallic or chromatic dragons, these creatures are at least partially neutral in alignment, and wield psionic rather than magical powers. Of the handful of short fiction pieces in this book, the gemstone dragons get the two longest, to help convey the author's intent for how to use them in game.

Warfare

Colville's rules for large battles are a highly abstracted system, with stats based on ancestry, experience, equipment, and type of unit. It isn't a wargame, but a simplified system to run in parallel with the heroes fighting enemy leaders while their armies clash around them. And for DMs who want resolve battles even faster, there is an even simpler option presented at the end of the chapter.

MCDM's next book will be Kingdoms & Warfare, which will expand on the mass combat rules presented here. Colville makes a number of references to that book throughout Followers & Strongholds--to battle magic, provinces, etc.--but because he doesn't want to overwhelm the reader with two books' worth of new rules at once, he keeps them to a minimum. For example, there is very little battle magic available in this first book, with most of it being provided by codices.

New Items

This chapter presents several new magic items, including objects that can be installed in a stronghold to gain various benefits; artifact-level, reality-bending books of battle magic known as codices; and powerful weapons capable of summoning many of the new servitors introduced in this book.

My Conclusions

I have a few quibbles with Colville's writing style, which tends towards an overly conversational tone for a gaming rules supplement, with far too many "Gee, ain't this cool?" asides for my taste. (And smiley-face emoticons in a professional book, Matt? Really?!) But that's my personal opinion, and I have to admit that, like it or not, that choice does set his brand apart from other RPG books.

That said, Strongholds & Followers is a very useful book for 5E DMs who want to include some of the fun of earlier editions' "name levels," when PCs were assumed to have acquired enough wealth and renown to build strongholds and attract followers. Colville presents a fairly cohesive system for players to invest in such projects and reap in-game rewards for their efforts. The time that he and his team put into play-testing those rules shows--they cover a great deal of material and options in an easy to understand way, and there is ample advice for tweaking things to suit your own game.

This system isn't for every campaign--it requires a game where characters will be regularly returning to a home base, and a GM and players who want to explore political and military challenges. But there is material here that will be useful even if you don't use the strongholds and warfare rules on a regular basis. The appendix of new monsters is a lovely addition to any 5E library by itself, and will help immensely in fleshing out a campaign's cosmology outside of the lower outer planes.

Kickstarter and Me: 2019 Update

I backed a number of new Kickstarters in 2017-2018, all for D&D Fifth Edition products. I have received my rewards for most of them over the past couple of months, so it seems high time to give an update. Here are links to my earlier columns about projects I've backed:

• Kickstarter and Me (5/25/2016)
• Kickstarter and Me, Revisited (9/6/2017)

First, here are a few quick updates on some of the projects listed in those previous columns:

Fate Core: The last remaining stretch goal reward, Shadow of the Century, was delivered to backers in January 2019. I haven't read through all of the most recent digital stretch goals, but the core rulebook and first few supplements were solid work.

Freeport: The City of Adventure for the Pathfinder RPG: The sixth and final part of Return in Freeport was released in late 2018. The collected edition is available in PDF now, with the print version coming very soon (it's currently available to preorder). I provided feedback and errata for each installment as they came out, so earned a proofreading credit in the final book. 

Just last month, Green Ronin announced to backers that the long-promised Freeport Companion for Fantasy AGE will finally be released later in 2019. That will be the last promised reward for this 2013 Kickstarter.

Spirit Island: This boardgame's Kickstarter is long over, but it recently had a follow-up campaign for an expansion, Spirit Island: Jagged Earth (which I believe we backed through my wife's KS account).

Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition: I had just received this book before my last update, and--like every other Green Ronin book I've funded--it has proved to be one of my better investments on Kickstarter. The book contains a great amount of detail about its unique pantheon of gods, some solid new crunch for 5E games, and lovely full-color art throughout. Since then, I have written two blog posts about using this book with the Freeport setting (here and here). 

Next, here are details on the four projects I have backed since my last update, and their status:

Mini-Dungeon Tome for 5th Edition or Pathfinder RPG, by AAW Games (September 2017): I only backed this for a PDF of the 5E version, which was delivered last year. A few bonus mini-dungeons, including a half-dozen holiday-themed adventures, have been released since then. Because I only got the PDF, I haven't yet read the entire book; in retrospect, I should have sprung for a print copy so that I could browse it more comfortably. 

A larger obstacle to me getting full use of the book is that many adventures use monsters from third-party sources that I don't own (such as Open Design's Tome of Beasts). The book contains an index with highly-abbreviated stat blocks, but that's not nearly enough information for a GM unfamiliar with the source.

Tome of Horrors: Reborn for Fifth Edition, by Frog God Games (November 2017): The original Tome of Horrors (by Necromancer Games, the precursor to FGG) was a ground-breaking work that converted hundreds of monsters from previous editions of D&D to the v.3.0 rules set. The later Tome of Horrors Revised updated it to v.3.5, then the Tome of Horrors Complete did the same for Pathfinder, and the book also spawned a couple of sequels of all-original monsters. The Reborn version offers a selection of monsters from all of those previous Tomes, updated to the 5E rules. I owned the v.3.0 edition in print, and the v.3.5 in PDF, so only backed the Kickstarter at the PDF level. That delivered this past fall, and I'm still making my way through it. (The parts that I've most read most carefully are the handful of entries that converted monsters from Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, which I hope to run using 5E someday.)

Strongholds & Streaming, by Matt Colville (February 2018): Colville's "Running the Game" series, which strives to demystify the experience of becoming a good DM, quickly became a runaway hit on YouTube. This allowed him to take a pet project and spin it into a full-fledged book, Strongholds & Followers. The Kickstarter also funded the creation of a studio setting for livestreaming his next D&D campaign--in fact, the Kickstarter was so overwhelmingly successful that Colville has formed his own company, MCDM Productions, and quit his former day job. The book is complete, backers have received the PDF, the print version is in production, and Colville has started planning his next book (for 5E mass combat rules). His D&D campaign, "The Chain," streamed its first episode in January 2019.

I backed this project for both the PDF and print book. I won't be reading the book in great detail until I receive the hard copy, which is still a few months away. (When I do, expect to see a review here, slanted as usual towards how useful it would be for a Freeport game.) I still haven't decided whether I'll be watching any of the streamed game yet, because I have many other ways that I'd rather spend my free time (like playing games myself). But I backed the project because people like Colville, who has many great ideas to share with the RPG community, deserve to be supported and encouraged in what they do. Even if I never watch the streamed game or use any of the material in the book, I'll be satisfied in having backed his Kickstarter.

Pirate Campaign Compendium for 5E and Pathfinder RPG, by Legendary Games (February 2018): I backed this project for the 5E version, and have recently received both the PDF and the print copies. I've only read about half of this book so far, but am already more disappointed than thrilled with the result. While the book does update a huge amount of existing nautical-themed material for Pathfinder into 5E mechanics, the published text seems rushed and in dire need of extensive editing. After creating and maintaining my unofficial RPG errata archive for most of two decades, I find it very hard to shut off my "editor mode" and ignore grammatical errors, sloppy implementation of rules language, and incomplete conversions. When I feel compelled to correct the text multiple times per page, as I have for many chapters, reading a book like this one becomes far more exhausting than fun. This book has put me off of buying any future Legendary Games products--in fact, at the moment, I'm rather dubious about whether I'd ever want to try to use anything from this title in my future campaigns. Which is a damn shame, because this book should have been a go-to reference for anyone who, like me, is thinking about running a 5E Freeport campaign. But, to put it very bluntly, if this book had been produced by a company with more rigorous standards, such as Green Ronin, Paizo, or Wizards of the Coast*, it would never have been allowed to go to print in the form we received it.

On the plus side, the company promptly sent me a replacement copy when I discovered that one of the signatures (16-page sections) of my book was missing, and the previous signature duplicated instead. But that's small consolation for the other issues.

-----

This past year's Kickstarters have rather polarized me regarding future campaigns. I'll gladly back interesting projects by companies that I already know well and trust to deliver high-quality products (like Green Ronin, Greater Than Games, and potentially MCDM), but I've grown more and more leery of projects by companies I've never bought anything from before.

* Just yesterday, I heard that Wizards has revealed that its next D&D hardcover, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, will include rules for ships and related nautical subjects. That's sure to be a better investment by a long shot.

Kickstarter and Me, Revisited

A little over a year ago, in "Kickstarter and Me," I listed the various Kickstarters that I had backed. At that time, The Book of the Righteous Kickstarter had just recently concluded. I received my copy of the book last week, so it seems to be an appropriate time to revisit that list.

First, the following projects have updates since that column:

Freeport: The City of Adventure for the Pathfinder RPG: Half of the six-part Return to Freeport adventure path is now available, and I've been told that Part 4 will be released later this month. (Green Ronin has announced a February 2018 release date for a print edition of Return to Ftreeport, but that omnibus is not part of the KS rewards.) The final backer reward, a Freeport Companion for the Fantasy AGE system, still has no scheduled release date.

Prospero's Price; A Lovecraft and Shakespeare Tale: This graphic novel is still in limbo. The authors have sent out brief updates once or twice a year to say they're making progress, but I have serious doubts whether I'll ever see this book.

Epyllion, a Dragon Epic RPG: I have received the book, and my kids are very curious about the game, but we've not yet made the time to try it out. (Between school, continuing our D&D 5E game, and my other GM duties, we simply don't have the time to try to teach them another system right now.)

Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy: This game has been released, and the book is both huge and stunningly gorgeous.

Spirit Island: This game (and its first expansion) shipped earlier this summer, and we've been able to play it a couple of times so far.

The Feminomicon: This book has arrived, and is solidly on par with Stoll's earlier book, A Natural History of the Fantastic. He has started new Kickstarter projects along the same lines as those two art books, but I've decided to save my money for more games instead. Those seem to give a bigger return for my investment.

Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition: I've only just started reading this, but it's a very pretty book, and full of richly detailed pantheons. The new crunch for 5E is very intriguing as well, and I will definitely be writing one or more blogs about how to use The Book of the Righteous with Freeport.

I have only backed one new Kickstarter since that previous column:

Isometric Gaming Paper Rolls by Erik Bauer (October 2016): This project produced mapping paper with an isometric grid for drawing 3D or forced perspective maps. The product funded and shipped quickly, though the erasable isometric mats that some backers have only recently been produced and shipped due to difficulties finding a manufacturer. I did not choose that reward, just the paper map sheets. I have yet to try them out, but they would be perfect for something like the maps of Castle Ravenloft in Curse of Strahd.

#RPGaDay 2017: Day 29

29th) What has been the best-run RPG Kickstarter you have backed?

Pretty much all of the Kickstarters by Green Ronin that I've backed (Advanced Bestiary, Freeport: The City of Adventure, Blue Rose AGE, The Book of the Righteous). They've had their hiccups and delays, as most Kickstarters do, but the Ronins have always been very up-front about any issues and how they were going to be resolved, and the final product has always been worth the wait.

#RPGaDay 2017: Day 3

3rd) How do you find out about new RPGs?

1. Publishers: I follow a handful of my favorite publishers (such as Green Ronin) through their company websites and social media, so I see their announcements about upcoming releases and Kickstarters. (In the case of Green Ronin, this is how I learned about Spaceship Zero, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, both editions of Blue Rose, and Fantasy AGE, among others.)
2. Podcasts: I follow the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff podcast, so I hear about the projects they're working on, as well as games that are advertised during the podcast. (I regret not having the disposable cash to back Robin Laws' Yellow King RPG, which recently concluded its Kickstarter.)
3. Game-related forums: I'm active on a few gaming forums, and members frequently post about newly announced or released games. (For example, a member of The Piazza posted some very nice previews and reviews of the Tails of Equestria RPG, which have made me consider buying it for my kids.)
4. Friends: I have a lot of gamer friends, who share links about new games on social media, and talk up new games in person, too. (One of the players in my regular gaming group backed the Pugmire Kickstarter, and is eager to try it out.)

Kickstarter and Me

Get Lucky and The Gamers: Hands of Fate

As I was waiting for the last day or two of the Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition Kickstarter to count down this week, the following article appeared in my Facebook feed: "Old-fashioned boardgames, not tech, are attracting the most money on Kickstarter." This news did not really surprise me, as my own pledges have been primarily for games, particularly RPGs. And even those that weren't games themselves have tended to be tied to them in some way.

Here is a quick review of the projects that I've backed in the four years that I've been involved in Kickstarter.

Re-Creating my Art from S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Jeff Dee (March 2012): Jeff Dee was one of the more prolific artists employed by TSR in the early years of the D&D game. At some point, the company lost or destroyed most of his originals, so Dee has spent much of the past few years recreating those pieces for his portfolio, as well as producing some new pieces for gods, monsters, etc., that lacked art due to time constraints when the books were published. One of his first art Kickstarters was for "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks," one of my favorite 1st edition adventures. That was the project that persuaded me to try out this whole Kickstarter thing, and I now have a signed print of my favorite Dee piece from S3 (a mind flayer) displayed above my desk.

The Gamers: Hands of Fate by Zombie Orpheus (September 2012): I am a fan of The Gamers and The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, so happily contributed to this sequel. I didn't yet own the second movie at the time, so pledged at a level that included that as a reward.

Fate Core by Fred Hicks / Evil Hat Productions (January 2013): Fate is a system that I have had little experience with, but find intriguing enough to want to explore more fully. This Kickstarter provided an updated rulebook plus a staggeringly long list of stretch goals that are still being produced. Among the ones released so far are Fate Accelerated Edition (a streamlined version of the rules), Do: Fate of the Flying Temple (a Fate Accelerated setting), and the Fate Freeport Companion (for Green Ronin's Freeport setting). A friend of mine has recently started up a Do game, and I'm greatly enjoying a chance to finally learn Fate through actual play. And the Freeport book is a welcome addition to my sizable collection for that setting (I'm a bit of a completist there, as the next item will make more clear).

Freeport: The City of Adventure for the Pathfinder RPG by Chris Pramas: Green Ronin Publishing (April 2013): I've been a fan of Freeport ever since finding the first adventure, Death in Freeport, in my FLGS. My love of this product line prompted the start of what became Tim's Errata Archive, which in turn led to me becoming an official contributor to the setting (through revising the Freeport Trilogy to v.3.5, then writing, editing, and proofreading other titles). Green Ronin's announcement about this massive update to the setting persuaded me (and my players) to convert my most recent (v.3.5) Freeport campaign to Pathfinder. We ended up making that change well ahead of the book's completion, so I have not yet used as much of this book as I would have if we had been using it from the beginning of a brand-new campaign. But it's a solid resource that will ensure that I will return to Freeport for future campaigns.

The last few physical rewards for this Kickstarter (a miniature and a bookplate) finally shipped recently, but a few electronic rewards are still in progress. The first installment of the six-part Return to Freeport adventure path is now available, and the rest will be released over the rest of 2016. Green Ronin has promised to produced a Freeport Companion for their Fantasy AGE system, but that product is still in the very early development stages and does not yet have a release date. (Blue Rose for AGE--see below--has priority at the moment.)

Get Lucky, the Kill Doctor Lucky Card Game by Cheapass Games (November 2013): I have enjoyed many Cheapass Games, including the original Kill Doctor Lucky, since I first discovered the company quite a number of years ago. James Ernest reserves the deluxe color treatment for his company's very best games, so I was pretty confident of getting a good game from this project, and was not disappointed.

Advanced Bestiary for the Pathfinder RPG by Chris Pramas: Green Ronin Publishing (December 2013): The original Advanced Bestiary, for v.3.5, is my favorite non-Freeport book from Green Ronin: its diverse collection of templates adds value to every other monster book you own. With my gaming group's shift from D&D to Pathfinder, I was eager to see this book updated to those rules. The new book has been expanded to include even more templates, some of which I've already put to very good use in my games.

Prospero's Price; A Lovecraft and Shakespeare Tale by J Kovach (March 2014): This graphic novel, which promises a Lovecraftian retelling of The Tempest, has suffered delays due to health issues and other obstacles. It's impossible to tell at this time when or if the book will be completed.

MUNCHKIN® BRICKS - Accessories for your miniature figures by Crazy Bricks (June 2014): This Kickstarter produced LEGO-compatible bricks based on Steve Jackson Games' Munchkin games. Of all the projects I've backed, this one probably delivered the most promptly.

IAmElemental Action Figures for Girls by IAmElemental (June 2014): This Kickstarter produced a series of superhero action figures designed to appeal to, and empower, young girls. My wife and I appreciated the project's reaction to the over-genderizing of children's toys, and backed it for a full set of the Series 1 toys. This past Christmas, we gave the set to our two children (a girl, 11, and boy, 10) to share, and they both seem to enjoy these toys equally. 

Iron Atlas: Digital Miniatures System for Roleplaying Games by by Lifeform Entertainment, LLC (July 2014): This is the one and only Kickstarter that I've pledged to that did not successfully fund. I was not nearly as invested in this one as most of the RPG books in this list, so was not heartbroken by its failure,

Epyllion, a Dragon Epic RPG by Marissa Kelly (May 2015): This premise of this rules-light RPG could be summarized as "My Little Pony, but with dragons." My children are obsessed with both of those things, so this Kickstarter was an easy sell for our household. The game is very close to completion: a PDF preview (with the full text but without the final editing pass or art) has just been released to backers.

Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy by Nicole Lindroos of Green Ronin (July 2015): I enjoyed the original True20 Blue Rose RPG, though I never had much opportunity to play it. The setting is based on the "romantic fantasy" of writers such as Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey. As such, it was controversial for its inclusion of characters of sexuality and gender minorities. Green Ronin felt that the current state of LGBT politics, as well as the release of their Fantasy AGE game, made the time right for a new edition of Blue Rose, using those new rules. I'm intrigued by Fantasy AGE, and the tropes of Blue Rose match my children's (especially my daughter's!) tastes in fantasy quite well, so I look forward to trying out the new game with them. It's scheduled for release this summer.

A Natural History of the Fantastic by Christopher Stoll (July 2015): This art book is a bestiary of classic fantasy creatures, much in the style of Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. The author/artist gives his own unique twist on each creature, which frequently prompted me to think about how to adapt the material to use in an RPG. (I may do some of that in future columns, once the promised concept sketchbook reward is available.)

Spirit Island by GreaterThanGames (October 2015): This boardgame was created by a good friend of mine, Eric Reuss. My wife and I helped playtest an early version of the game, so we are very much looking forward to seeing and playing the final, polished version. (As an aside, I highly recommend Eric's game Fealty, published by Asmadi Games.)

The Feminomicon by Christopher Stoll (March 2016): This sequel to A Natural History of the Fantastic addresses female gods and monsters, presented in a format inspired by the fictional Necronomicon. The book is currently in production.

Book of the Righteous for Fifth Edition by Chris Pramas: Green Ronin Publishing (May 2016): The original Book of the Righteous, for D&D Third Edition, provided a highly detailed pantheon of gods, including full details on each god's mythology, religious organizations, and relationships to other priesthoods. It follows Green Ronin's modular approach toward gaming supplements, allowing GMs to drop as much or as little as they wish into their own campaigns, regardless of setting. The new book will update the mechanics to Fifth Edition, as well as expanding on the background information. I usually prefer to build my own worlds and cosmologies, so I never bought the original book, but have regretted that from time to time since. The new book will provide a wealth of new material for Fifth Edition, with new options for many classes besides just clerics. I have recently started exploring the new edition, so very much look forward to adding this to my (currently quite small) collection for it.

In conclusion, the Kickstarters that I've been most excited about involve games by people whose past work I enjoy a great deal, and who I want to see continue to make incredible stuff. I would love to have the freedom to pledge money to a wider spectrum of projects, in order to expand my horizons even further and encourage more new creators. But for now, my limited budget demands that I save it for projects that I can be confident about investing in from the beginning. So, for starters, expect to see Green Ronin continue to dominate my list of backed Kickstarters.

TBT: Blue Rose Freeport

This week, Green Ronin Publishing launched a Kickstarter campaign for Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy. This new edition will translate the World of Aldea setting from the True20 System (first designed for Blue Rose in 2005) to the Adventure Game Engine (first designed for the Dragon Age RPG). The game reached its funding goal within hours and has been blowing through stretch goals all week. If you're a fan of the sort of character-driven fantasy written by authors such as Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey; a gamer who wants to see a setting that addresses issues involving gender, sexuality, and human rights in a positive, inclusive way; or even just a fan of intelligent psychic animals or the art of Stephanie Pui-Min Law, then Blue Rose will have a great deal to offer you!

Once of the newly unlocked goals is a subsetting by Jeb Boyt, "Game of Thorns," detailing the Pirate Isles and protagonists of a less savory sort than the Sovereign's Finest. Reading this news reminded me of some thoughts I posted online some time back (10 years this week, to be exact) about mixing Aldea and Freeport. I fully anticipate that Jeb's work will make much of this column woefully obsolete, and I'll welcome that. Nevertheless, I've decided to share these old ideas here as my own personal way of celebrating the resurgence of Blue Rose.

-------

Placing Freeport in Aldea

There appear to be two possibilities for locating Freeport within Aldea:

1. The Scatterstar Archipeligo: Freeport is located within an island chain, but the Scatterstars seem to more extensively settled than is really appropriate for Freeport.

2. The Leviathan's Teeth: This evokes the Serpent's Teeth name, plus Jarzon's coast is known to be difficult to navigate, making this a probable pirate haven. But the core book doesn't describe this specific area. 

[The World of Aldea sourcebook, released later, provided much more information about both these regions, including a number of pirate groups operating in the Scatterstar Archipeligo.]

Blue Rose Backgrounds in Freeport

Freeport has the staggering variety of races common to most d20 games; Blue Rose does not. Certain races common in Freeport translate easily to the backgrounds given in the Blue Rose core book: orcs and half-orcs (and probably hobgoblins) become night people; elves and half-elves become vata; merfolk and nereids become sea-folk.

Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings have no equivalents in Blue Rose. Either remove those races and characters from Freeport, change NPCs of those races into humans (or possibly vata or rhydan?), or convert these races' abilities into True20.

Freeport has limited precedent for the presence of rhydan as hero characters. Druids and rangers' animal companions and paladins' special mounts might be replaced with rhy-bonded companions. Dolphins are an obvious option for an aquatic campaign (especially as allies of sea-folk). Beyond this, intelligent animals without humanoid companions do not really fit into the Freeport setting as written. GMs are free to modify these assumptions, of course!

If using the backgrounds in Blue Rose, humans in Freeport would most likely be Aldins, Islanders, or Jarzoni. Others would be rare, but possible. (And Freeport almost certainly has one or more backgrounds unique to itself.)

Using Blue Rose Gods in Freeport

From the start, Freeport was designed to be inserted into any campaign world with minimal effort, by leaving the background fairly generic: few specific details of geography outside the immediate islands, most gods identified by sphere rather than name, etc.

I've recently reread the history chapter of Blue Rose, and decided to figure out how the gods mentioned in Freeport would match up to those of Aldea. Freeport itself has four favored gods, those of Knowledge (NG), Pirates (CN), the Sea (N), and Warriors (N), plus a host of other gods with much smaller followings.

Gaelinir (Light) is god of both learning and the sea, while Braniel (Twilight) is associated with the element of water in general. There are two possibilities here: 1. Gaelinir has separate temples to two of his aspects, or 2. He is the Knowledge God, while Braniel is Freeport's Sea God. (The former fits Gaelinir's portfolio better, while the latter fits their respective alignments better.)

The Warrior God is likely Anwaren (Twilight). The Warrior King also has an aspect related to madness, which could more closely tie this god's followers into the secret cult wars afflicting the city.

The Pirate God, Harrimast, does not have an obvious match. As suggested in Freeport: The City of Adventure, he may be Freeport's unique aspect of a better-known mainland god. If this is the case, he may be related to either Braniel or Anwaren, or possibly an Exarch of Shadow in disguise.

Two gods are given greater detail in the Freeport Trilogy and Freeport: The City of Adventure: Yig and the Unspeakable One. In Aldea, Yig is likely an aspect of one of the Gods of Twilight, perhaps Maurenna (civilization) or Selene (arcane arts). The Unspeakable One is either an Exarch of Shadow, or something even more alien.

Other gods mentioned in the Freeport line include (but are not limited to):

• Death: Most death gods would be aspects of Selene.
• Justice/Retribution: Aulora. Alternately, this could be a sect of Jarzon's Church of Pure Light, which would fit well with the fact that this temple of crusaders has had a difficult time operating in a pirate city.
• Luck: Athne (good fortune) seems to be the closest match.
• Magic: Selene.
• Murder: This could be one of many Exarchs of Shadow, but most likely Tyrexxus (wrath).
• Orcs: Krom is almost certainly an orcish [night people] interpretation of another god, perhaps Anwaren (war).
• Rogues/Trickery: This may be a Shadow-perverted cult derived from Selene's (secrets).
• Smiths: Goia.
• Sun: Hiathas.

-----

Afterword

At that time that I originally composed the notes above, I didn't continue my thoughts to the point of answering a few critical questions that would be necessary for actually running a Blue Rose Freeport game. The foremost of these was how to adapt the serpent people to Aldea. Green Ronin partially solved that problem themselves a few years later, when they released a version of Death in Freeport that used the True20 System rules set that succeeded Blue Rose. 

Well, if the new edition and "Game of Thorns" stop short of introducing Freeport's unique brand of Lovecraftian pirate horror into Aldea, then I may just have to tackle converting the serpent people into AGE myself. Ye be warned, 'lubbers...