Interesting Patronage Project - Kaidan (eastern horror)

[MichaelTumey]

I already pledged at $45, Michael It was too good a deal to pass.

Also i applaud your decision to let d20pfsrd upload your samurai rules. I think it will only add to sales for your products. I'de be delighted if i find the Yakuza rules there too. (But... if I understand right, if your rules are OGL, then d20pfsrd could just upload them if they wanted to. Difference is only that one of them would have to pay for the pdf. )

The Yakuza archetypes and prestige class is currently uploaded, as well (this happened over the last week). It is OGL, but then I use d20pfsrd.com for my own work, as I don't have all of Paizo's Pathfinder releases (only about half of them). I contacted Caedwyr, one of the d20pfsrd people that regularly post on the Paizo boards and sent him the PDF pubications direct. Caedwyr mentioned on a d20pfsrd thread, that they only upload what they have access to, and as many of us, we cannot purchase every 3pp supplement - who can afford that. So I decided to go ahead and give that material to Caedwyr and facilitate getting my Kaidan content into the site. I may yet send him the "In the Company of..." series of supplements for Kappa, Tengu, and Henge, but haven't done so yet.

However, there is still content in those supplements that aren't in d20pfsrd.com, so those PDFs still have value.

But I agree the best way to proliferate Kaidan as a setting and concept is by getting the PC class rules freely accessable by the public. I realize that Kaidan, Japanese horror for PFRPG, is a niche within a niche, within a niche; not the most general use product, however, though I might be biased, I think our team at Rite Publishing has done a tremendous job of bringing more authenticity and excitement to oriental settings, that have never been approached this way before - it's worthwhile material and should be proliferated, if possible.

And Giamarga, I appreciate the support!

[MichaelTumey]

So I've been thinking about a new supplemental series for Kaidan, that I may be the author, designer and cartographer. While I will definitely be busy over the next few months working on the setting guides, I'm already developing ideas for this.

I'm wondering what kind of interest it might have.

The Haiku of Horror series would consist of singular mapped locations serving as encounter-ready sites, complete with both GM labeled and unlabeled Player maps, general description article describing typical details pertaining to such sites, and fully included statted NPCs of varying CR, statted monsters of varying CR (with full backgrounds and agendas), and all associated curses, traps, haunts, hazards, magic items, treasure - any additional details required for the detailed encounter.

It's not intended to serve as an adventure, nor even a one-shot, rather a very detailed plug-in-play encounter ready to be placed in any Kaidan or dark horror Asian set piece. The benefits would include iconic mapped Japanese locations that don't rely on the specified encounter for use in games. Additionally it would serve as ready adventure seeds and plothooks that could launch an adventure built around it, or serve as a side quest to the GM's normal story plotline. Allowing for varying CR could make such an encounter easily inserted into a low, medium or high level game.

I'm calling it Haiku of Horror, as I intend to precede the content with an evoking poem illucidating the mystery behind the prepared encounter, in proper 5-7-5 syllable haiku format.

So ideas percolating on my first try, I'm thinking...

Haiku of Horror #1: Autumn Moon Bathhouse - a 4 storied bathhouse with tea house (restaurant), hostel chambers and extensive oriental gardens. The location will include the bathhouse owner, several important staff members, a murder mystery six months old involving a female bathhouse employee and her client samurai lover - in a tryst gone bad. The ghost of the slain girl is said to haunt the bathhouse. NPCs, a ghost, several haunts, a curse, magic items, treasure and a murder mystery to be solved, will be included. The Japanese horror trope of long black, wet hair hidden in water and possibly attempting to strangle victims is at the heart of this encounter. It's a murder mystery and a 'lay the ghost to rest' encounter.

The haiku for this one will be (I think):

Scented waters stir
unbound strands aching in search
for a lover's touch.

Might it seem a worthy product (if priced no more than $3 or $4)? I could see one released a month for a year or more worth of possible locations. I'm even thinking of doing the first one for free to get people to look at the concept as a test sample. I can see doing ones for: brothel, bakuto parlor (casino), sake tavern, temple complex, a rural shrine, small castle, reclusive monastery, a cemetery, execution block, a prison, a daimyo's field camp, etc.

Thoughts on these ideas?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

sounds like a fantastic idea to me.

[The Giamarga]

Michael, looking at this thread on paizo where a publisher gauges RPG demands for PFRPG 3PP products, small encounter set pieces seem to be quite in demand.

[MichaelTumey]

Thanks for the link, Giamarga. I agree. Many GMs take apart adventures searching for decent encounters to use in their own games, because often the module storyline is not where they intended to go. Rather than try to shoehorn every GM into one writer's particular storyline, I think it's far more useful to create modular encounters that GMs can integrate into their own storylines, as they need it. Creating a single encounter is far less work, far less expensive to produce, and far more useful than producing entire modules - it's a smart concept to pursue. And luckily for me, I have the skillset to do all of this on my own - maps and all.

[MichaelTumey]

I'm going to try to do my Haiku of Horror #1: Autumn Moon Bathhouse idea as an entry for the Cartographers' Guild October (Halloween themed) map challenge (contest). I haven't participated in a challenge this year, so we'll see how it goes. I'll post what I create here.

[MichaelTumey]

Head's up on current and upcoming Kaidan development activities and product releases:

Not up yet, but I'm working with 'Caedwyr' one of the editors at d20pfsrd.com, and I plan to get the current Kaidan race guides mechanics loaded on: traits, favored class options, height/weight/size tables, racial archetypes, a 20 level racial paragon class, feats, weapons and equipment. The first rules being uploaded is for Way of the Tengu, which will be followed with Way of the Henge, and Way of the Kappa.

Regarding my Haiku of Horror series project, I've got a couple designers looking over it. It turns out that I used an ability for a Paizo non-OGC class archetype, which forces me to recreate the mechanic, slightly altered with it's own name - good thing to learn from "designers who know", vs. a hack like me. Things are moving forward, looking like early 2013 for a release.

I'm currently working on page layout for the second 'bonus' adventure provided in the this summer's successful Kaidan Campaign Kickstarter, The Tolling of Tears. A one-shot designed for a party of 3rd level characters revolving around a cursed and haunted temple bell - it's an investigation adventure, a creepy "Scooby Doo" scenario, if you will. It will also be concurrently released as a paid for one-shot - probably a January release.

[MichaelTumey]

Kaidan current update of schedule...

January 24th will see the public release of the Tolling of Tears one-shot module for a party of 3rd level characters (for Pathfinder). This is the second adventure from the Kickstarter that was offered to patrons of $40 or more, and having reached our second extended goal. The Tolling of Tears features a cursed and haunted temple bell, that a party of exorcists have been sent by the Imperial capital to resolve. It's an investigative adventure, or as the author Jonathan McAnulty suggests... a Scooby Doo adventure.

My Haiku of Horror #1: Autumn Moon Bath House supplement is in editing at this time, which should be finished in editing at least by the end of this month, with an expected release in February.

While the Kickstarter did not achieve the $12,250 goal for releasing a 150 page Players Guide to Kaidan, talk with Steve Russell of Rite Publishing, suggests we'll fold in the 3 race guides to Kaidan (In the Company of... Tengu, Kappa and Henge), the 2 faction guides (Way of the... Samurai and Yakuza), along with the material created by the Kickstarter to give inhabitants of Kaidan the setting as they perceive it (incorrectly), where the truth of the setting will be in the GM's Kaidan. So hopefully the paid for 30 pages of content from the Kickstarter will be extended with the above mentioned previous publication releases to create a more substantial Player's Guide.

So many things coming up soon!

[MichaelTumey]

Beware the mournful tones of the bell.

The great bell of the Kinogasa-Taisha shrine has a history almost as colorful as the village in which it dwells. The villagers believe it is the ringing of the bell, during the annual rice planting festival, which brings them such a bountiful harvest each and every year, and they cherish it above all they own. Though the bell has seen rebellion, death, and destruction in its time, it has always rung true, each and every dawn.

Until now.

Now, the bell lies cursed and its dread tones strike fear in all who hear it. As the planting season and the time for the annual festival draws nigh, the plight of the villagers, as expressed by the local priest, has reached the ears of officials in the capital, and imperial exorcists have been sent to deal with the problem. These investigators must deal with angry ghosts, hungry ghouls and dark magics as they seek to unwind the mystery of the bell and its curse.

The Tolling of Tears is a PFRPG compatible adventure for 3rd level characters set in Rite Publishing's dark realm of Kaidan.

Released today is the Kaidan one-shot adventure module for 3rd level characters (PFRPG), The Tolling of Tears.

It is available as a PDF download for $4.99 or as a POD printed full color softcover for $9.99 at DrivethruRPG.com

[MichaelTumey]

Coming Thursday!



Scented waters stir,
unbound strands aching in search
for a lover’s touch

The Haiku of Horror series depicts iconic mapped locations for use in Kaidan or other Asian based settings with labeled maps with complete descriptions and full-scale maps ready to print and use. The location includes a complete, detailed, complex encounter featuring new monsters, haunts, and all necessary mechanics to run it. The mapped site is designed for ‘plug-in-play’ use ready to insert into any existing module or Asian campaign.

Autumn Moon Bath House serves as the oriental version of the typical fantasy tavern where adventures begin and end. However, rumors persist of a spectral woman with long black hair, who is seeking vengeance against the living and redemption for her soul.

This is Michael K. Tumey's (Creator of Kaidan) first work as the primary author

The product will retail for $2.99

This is the map product described above, as well as posted to the Drawing a Map thread.

Link to product in the Paizo Store...

[MichaelTumey]

In the included custom haunts of this release, I've opted to add a Knowledge DC check as part of the stat block. RPGChronicle.com review of #30 Haunts for Kaidan, included a mis-step of not including a Knowledge DC check - even though Paizo's own standard haunt stat block has no reference to such. I agree with that review's point, so have included that in each haunt stat block.

Also, I've included a new trigger for haunts - specific time. In ghost lore it is believed some ghosts reenact the final moments of their life, at the same hour every day, like a recorded event. Which means, to me, that some haunts might not be triggered by proximity - entering into the affected area. One of the custom haunts in this production has the trigger of midnight (hour of the rat) - the haunt manifests whether anyone is around to witness it or not. This should attract the PCs attention, and begin a series of related haunts that lead to the first encounter with the yurei no kami ghost of the site.

I can see many haunts triggered by a specific moment in time, depending on the backstory of the event that caused the haunt to form.

[MichaelTumey]

Well the first 5 days since this release, Haiku of Horror has had explosive sales, and it doesn't even have a review yet. Between DrivethruRPG and the Paizo store, we've sold 50 units in 5 days, which is a record for Rite Publishing (and there has been a general lack of advertising for this). We think part of this is because we offered a discount price ($1 off) to Kaidan Kickstarter contributors. Hopefully gamers are finding this product useful and gives incentive to creating more for the series soon.

I might be running a poll or request for suggestions for the next released versions. I know a Japanese castle will rank pretty high on that to do list, but I plan to hold that one off until the third or fourth product release.

[MichaelTumey]

Looking for ideas for the next few Haiku of Horror releases.

While I do plan to do a Japanese castle, which I'll be doing as 2 releases (1 for gate/walls/fortresses/baileys and 1 for offices/ residence/court chamber) probably as 4th and 5th release, what should the next few be, and the ones after the castle?

I think I'm going to do a Kabuki theater next - I started a thread like this post on my facebook page, and 2 responders thought that would be a good one.

I plan to do: geisha house, temple complex, rural shrine, bakuto gambling parlor, 3 shops in town, 3 shops in the red light district, brothel, cemetery and shrine, and many others.

What are your thoughts and suggestions?

Michael

[The Giamarga]

I wish i could get you interested in fleshing out Scattered Lotus Archipelago cluster (i.e. the oriental domains of Ravenloft)

[MichaelTumey]

I wish i could get you interested in fleshing out Scattered Lotus Archipelago cluster (i.e. the oriental domains of Ravenloft)

Not that that's not a viable way to spend my time, I'm not uninterested in doing so, it's just that I've been extemely busy for the last couple years, mostly doing work for my Kaidan setting, but also a few side 3PP map commissions - which I have even less time than I use to.

If I ever have the luxury of extra time, I'd be more than interested in the possibility of doing something like that. It's just that 'extra time' is something I don't see available any time soon... wish I had a different answer for you, The Giamarga!