I need to thank James and his Dreams of Mythic Fantasy blog for bringing Cataclysm at the Acaeum to my attention. If there is one thing horribly missing in our hobby these days, it's boxed sets. That is part of the appeal of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria and Delving Deeper (if and when we finally see the boxed set of the second), its a box. It can sit on a shelf, it has heft and most importantly, you don't need one gigantic awkward book for the contents. Instead, numerous smaller booklets are a viable choice.
So, besides it being a boxed set, what else do we know about CatA? From the Kickstarter we get the following details:
Cataclysm at the Acaeum is a megadungeon boxed set that is compatible with the First Edition game (as well as the OSRIC system) (They are now adding the option of receiving a S&W version instead of or in addition to the 1e / OSRIC version). This boxed set will include four 36-page adventure books (each containing 4-6 scenarios), three 32-page adventure books (large scale adventure), 24+ cardstock maps and a poster map of the acaeum complex. There will also be a separate book detailing all significant NPCs, New Monsters and New Magic Items. When complete, this will be the largest boxed set produced for the First Edition game!That is a lot of gaming. There are also some stretch goals, which is good, as it already has hit its funding goal with 27 days to go (it's currently sitting at $4770 with a base goal of $4000). It's being done by Pacesetter Games and Simulations. They have a few dungeons up on RPGNow. I may have to check one out to see the quality of product they bring to the table.
There is no PDF version being offered, and the lowest buy in is $65 (includes shipping in the states)
It looks promising, but the cover art has to go. I'm going to work on the assumption its a placeholder at the moment.
Pacesetter has been around for a while. They've published 20 or so 1e and basic modules, but have only recently dipped their toe into the pdf market.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pacesettergames.com/
Very much an "old guard," pre-blogosphere publisher that sticks to advertising on the forums.
Does anyone know the level of completion at the time of the kickstart? I realize they will need to add in all the NPC submissions, but is it at an edit-and-art stage or a draw-the-maps-and-write-encounters stage?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd back something that didn't offer a PDF or some other electronic format.
ReplyDeleteI;m trying to contact Bill Barsh for a refund but no answer...It's been 2.5 half years...Lost any and all interest for this project.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually supposed to be shipping in the next few weeks but I've about given up. It has been just one delay after another after another after another with no deliveries what so ever.
DeleteOn the upside he does claim he is giving us the PDF as well. We'll see how it works out.