# The Dying Skyseer - release date?



## Gronin

According to the Campaign Guide for Zeitgeist "The Dying Skyseer"  is slated for a September release.  I realize that September is not over and I also realize that these were estimated dates but I was wondering if there was any tighter schedule that could be given.  Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.


----------



## RangerWickett

Due to me falling behind my writing schedule and one artist disappearing, we're likely to go to layout on October 7th. So I'd expect release around October 21st. I'm sorry to have missed the mark, but if any subscriber needs to have the adventure text so they can run it before then, just email me at ryanznock@gmail.com and I'll send you the draft text.


----------



## Falkus

That's somewhat disappointing, but understandable. It shouldn't be an issue for my campaign, since it'll probably be another three sessions (six weeks) before we finish Island at the Axis of the World; but I still prefer to have plenty of time to review every detail of an adventure before I run it.


----------



## Gronin

Thanks for the quick response.  I do hope that you did not take my queries as any attempt to express displeasure or point fingers.  I am more than satisfied with the campaign path so far and I am willing to wait a bit longer to get a good product.  As an owner/operator of a small business myself I more than understand that sometimes deadlines cannot be met for various reasons both within and beyond our control.

However, I do intend to take you up on your offer for the draft text.  Like Falkus mentioned it is nice to read/review things thoroughly ahead of time and my group is probably only 2 sessions away from finishing up the first installment.


----------



## gideonpepys

This might be a silly question, but will this have a knock-on effect on the release of all the subsequent installments?  

I'd like to have a clear idea of how long I have to run #2: My group cut through #1 like a knife through butter and we now have a good three sessions before the release of _Dying Skyseer_.  I might have encouraged them to stop and smell the roses had I known better!

Still, I plan to give them some random RHC bug hunts to give them some idea of the passage of time.  (I might not even tell them when the adventure proper has started. Ho ho!)

Which artist has departed, if you don't mind me asking?


----------



## DonTadow

Bump- I'd like to know the new release schedule too.  I have a pretty good system installed where we explore the pcs back stories between adventures, but it would be great to know the timeline generally. Maybe even an updated expected sticky note.


----------



## Morrus

gideonpepys said:


> This might be a silly question, but will this have a knock-on effect on the release of all the subsequent installments?




We're not currently anticipating any.



> Which artist has departed, if you don't mind me asking?




We're not going to badmouth our freelancers.


----------



## RangerWickett

Really it was a situation of a late release for the first adventure slowing down the second one, because I wrote both. I've already received the text of adventure 3, written by Matthew J Hanson, so we'll be able to catch up easily.

Our layout artist will have everything for part 2 by Sunday.


----------



## Falkus

Woohoo! Glad to hear that 

I think I'll run an outside adventure between parts 1 and 2 irregardless, because DonTadow gave me a great idea about using 'em to explore PC backgrounds!


----------



## gideonpepys

Falkus said:


> Woohoo! Glad to hear that
> 
> I think I'll run an outside adventure between parts 1 and 2 irregardless, because DonTadow gave me a great idea about using 'em to explore PC backgrounds!




Care to share?


----------



## gideonpepys

Morrus said:


> We're not currently anticipating any.




That's great.  The three-month gap between #1 & 2 is perfect for throwing in extra adventures, but I didn't want to get ahead of myself and have to do the same for #3.



Morrus said:


> We're not going to badmouth our freelancers.




I didn't consider it to be a negative thing. Freelancers depart for all kinds of reasons. Just wondered which artist's work wouldn't be featured in future.


----------



## Morrus

gideonpepys said:


> I didn't consider it to be a negative thing. Freelancers depart for all kinds of reasons. Just wondered which artist's work wouldn't be featured in future.




Since it delayed us, you can probably surmise that it wasn't a regular departure - more a disappearance after the art deadline had passed.  It was a new artist though - not one we've used before - so you won't notice the absence.

And then the replacement did exactly the same thing. 

Luckily Shin Fei stepped up and said he could cover those pieces.


----------



## Falkus

gideonpepys said:


> Care to share?




I haven't actually decided what I'm going to do in between adventures one and two; just that I am going to do something; and tie it to my players' backgrounds! Most likely, I'll find a Pathfinder Society or Eberron adventure that meets my criteria; then convert it to the Zeitgeist setting.


----------



## gideonpepys

I'm using the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh: the first adventure ever released by TSR UK back in 1980, and the first adventure I ever DMed!

(As well as some other stuff.)

Rewarding the players with items to add to the list of stuff they can buy back from the RHC at later levels, as well as rituals and consumables.


----------



## mort655

My group is investigating a Crisillyir smuggling operation in a small Risuran Fishing town. The smugglers are controlling a local water fae to aid them, and the players are trying to solve the problem before the Unseen Court solves it for them.


----------



## DonTadow

I'll share.One of my PCs has in their background that they are from an elven clan whose women were all taken as slaves.  He and his brothers had made it their mission to find them. 

He has been meeting a "deep throat" throughout Adventure 1 Zeitgeist who has information on the slave trade. Right now they are chasing down one of these leads, which happens to be the home town of another PC, whose father went crazy when she was a teenager while he tried to create the anti-life potion.  They end up finding out that a scientist has been buying elven women as slaves and experimenting with old notes of the other PCs father.  As a matter of fact because the other PC is an aasimar, the mad scientist is a distant relative her father sired after he went crazy and left home. 

I chalked a third PC's background in the mix because her father and brother are pirates and may apart of hte slave trade. The pcs found a ship with the manifest of part of the fleet, and her last name was on there twice. 

In a nutshell, the PCs investigate slave trade, stumble upon zombie epidemic, chase down rogue pirates, find themselves in "The Thing" movie. 

Adventures I am using
Mansion of Deceit by Blackbyrne Publishing - this sets the basic frame of the adventure. 

A 4th edition D&D insider Zombie Siege - I found the ending to deceit to be anti climatic, so I wiped it and installed this zombie siege replacing the orb with the PC's father's book.  Essentialy the mad scientist accidently created an undead army.  

Custom Ship to Ship Combat Rules - The PCs find evidence of where the slave ships come and go and track them down.  I spent a week creating ship to ship combat rules that could be used for any ship to ship encounter. I find the current rules to only cater to a couple of PCs and not try to incorporated everyone. It uses 4e Skill challenges. 

Cold Visitor by LPJ Design - The captain is long gone, but if tracked leads to an island "like Axis Island" controlled by the Ber. Everything else is like the adventure except they are not on another plane persay. Created a skill challenge combat for the end of this one and inserted a Capture the Flag encounter from Kobold 13.


----------



## RangerWickett

I'm interested in your ship rules, because we're putting a sample of our ship rule system into adventure 2. The full version will come out in 2012, so there's still time for me to fiddle if I see useful ideas.


----------



## Goldkatana

Most highly regarded RangerWickett,
Does the eta still stand at 10/21 (i.e. this Friday!)?  Sorry, my players and I are chomping at the bit and wondering if we'll actually have a campaign to play in two days.

Thanks!


----------



## Morrus

Goldkatana said:


> Most highly regarded RangerWickett,
> Does the eta still stand at 10/21 (i.e. this Friday!)?  Sorry, my players and I are chomping at the bit and wondering if we'll actually have a campaign to play in two days.
> 
> Thanks!




It's in layout now.  We hope to have the 4E version done by Friday (but with time zones, it depends what time on Friday it's done - it takes me several hours to upload the files to all the different outlets and versions they need to go to, and I'm 6 hours ahead of the US - and much as I love you guys, I'm not sacrificing my Friday evening to do that!), with the PF version days afterwards.


----------



## RangerWickett

Goldkatana, are you a silver subscriber? If so, send me an email at ryanznock@gmail.com and I can send along the final text of the adventure. It's not fancy-looking, but it has the information you need.

Oh, also key: are you playing 4e or PF?


----------



## Goldkatana

No.  Just a poor schmuck that's paying as he goes.    We are playing 4e.


----------



## gideonpepys

Any sign?


----------



## Morrus

Not quite ready yet; sorry!  It's a BIG adventure, this one (Ryan tells me it's roughly the size of the first adventure, the Player's Guide and the Campaign Guide combined).  Eric is still poweriing through the layout!


----------



## RangerWickett

Due to the length of the adventure (60,000+ words), and our need not to drive our layout artist into the gibbering depths of madness, we're now expecting it by Wednesday.


----------



## Falkus

I'm glad I decided to run Shipyard Rats this weekend as an intermission adventure!


----------



## gideonpepys

I've been running intermission adventures for five weeks now and I'm starting to run out of ideas!

My players will have been level 2 fo a long time.

I'm rewarding them with story-related bonuses, giving them their treasure this week (before the start of #2) and explaining the lack of levelling as a result of these adventures being spread over 6 months.  So you need intensive adventure to level up (which is why most of the world never does...)

I'm enjoying having them adventure as plain old RHC officers and watching them grow stronger as a team, so the hiatus in release dates has worked out for the best.


----------



## RangerWickett

Falkus said:


> I'm glad I decided to run Shipyard Rats this weekend as an intermission adventure!






gideonpepys said:


> I've been running intermission adventures for five weeks now and I'm starting to run out of ideas!
> 
> My players will have been level 2 fo a long time.
> 
> I'm rewarding them with story-related bonuses, giving them their treasure this week (before the start of #2) and explaining the lack of levelling as a result of these adventures being spread over 6 months.  So you need intensive adventure to level up (which is why most of the world never does...)
> 
> I'm enjoying having them adventure as plain old RHC officers and watching them grow stronger as a team, so the hiatus in release dates has worked out for the best.




Did either of you contact me for the adventure draft text?


----------



## Falkus

RangerWickett said:


> Did either of you contact me for the adventure draft text?




It wasn't an issue for me; I had decided to run an intermission adventure irregardless of whether or not Skyseer was available.


----------



## gideonpepys

RangerWickett said:


> Did either of you contact me for the adventure draft text?




I did, thanks, and it was gratefully received. But I only wanted to read it ahead of time so that I ould seed elements from adventure #2 into the 'buffer' sessions.  I didn't want to get started on #2 until I had the finished product. 

I'm enjoying the opportunity to throw some monsters at the PCs!  (So far they've taken on a troll, countless giant insects, gnolls, lizardmen and a rage drake.)


----------



## gideonpepys

Can we expect adventure #2 today?


----------



## Morrus

gideonpepys said:


> Can we expect adventure #2 today?




Just doing a final read-through for errors, but I have the PDF right here!  Assuming we don't find anything catasrophically wrong, yes.

(The Pathfinder version is still in layout; the 4E version is done).


----------



## Goldkatana

Standing by with money in my hand (well, at least symbolically).  Thanks for the rough-cut ahead of time.  It was very helpful for my group, as well as being incredibly intruiging!  Properly complex, fleshed out NPC's, wicked fights.  It's beyond nice to have a campaign that doesn't treat the whole adventure as one long slash-n-bash (not to drop corporate names  ).


----------



## Morrus

Just a quick update - we have the final files of the 4E version, but physical upload times are gonna prevent us getting it up tonight.  It takes bloody ages to upload all the files to all the places they need to be.  I'll have to do it first thing in the morning (my time).

I'm really sorry.  There's just no physical way to speed it up.


----------



## Marius Delphus

Hope everyone likes the finished version. It's nearly twice as much material as the previous adventure....


----------



## Rugult

Marius Delphus said:


> Hope everyone likes the finished version. It's nearly twice as much material as the previous adventure....




Yeah...  tell me about it!  

On another note, the Pathfinder version is done and ready for layout!


----------



## RangerWickett

If any subscribers need the PDF urgently, I can send it to you tonight if you email me at ryanznock@gmail.com. Otherwise, I can't wait to hear folks' opinions when they read it tomorrow.


----------



## Skywalker

Its up!


----------



## Noodle

Awesome!  Anyone know how long it generally takes for RPGNow to have the softcover version available?  I see they only have it as a PDF so far.


----------



## gideonpepys

Is it on this site yet?


----------



## Morrus

gideonpepys said:


> Is it on this site yet?




Yes.


----------



## Morrus

Noodle said:


> Awesome!  Anyone know how long it generally takes for RPGNow to have the softcover version available?  I see they only have it as a PDF so far.




As far as I can tell, 4d10 days.  It's been as quick as 4 days before; it's taken 40 before.  Nobody knows why!


----------



## Colmarr

Downloaded. Will read through it tomorrow after I print it off.

Just one initial comment: Honey badgers?!


----------



## Goldkatana

4e, pg 8 "The late spring morning is warm and muggy"
It is VERY late spring, as the date given on the previous paragraph announces it's the first day of summer.


----------



## RangerWickett

Calendars in fantasy settings have to include a lot of wiggle room for people spontaneously altering the seasons or teleporting the sun through time. Stuff like that. 

D'oh. *puts it on the list of 'stuff to fix if we ever do a hardcover'*


----------



## Ajar

Sweet! I have plenty of time to peruse it in time for next week's session.

I already have one quick question, RangerWickett: Does the Cloudwood Switchback encounter have any plot links to the rest of the adventure, or is it just there to give the area a dangerous feel?


----------



## RangerWickett

It's intended to establish the feel of the Cloudwood, give the PCs a potential ally or enemy in that region, and make the party aware of the gang-vs-gang conflict, so they understand the context of what the Family is up to.


----------



## Ajar

Cool, thanks. That's really helpful for me. 

I think it's awesome that we can interact with you guys here and get this kind of info so quickly. It's a huge boon. Thanks a lot for being so available!


----------



## Falkus

I've finished reading through it; and while I'm running it on Pathfinder, I'm glad to get a chance to read the story flow beforehand; since that's more important to me in running a session than the stats.

My summary: Very well written! I can't wait for the Pathfinder version; and I certainly can't wait for the chance to run this for my group!


----------



## Falkus

Say, is there an ETA on the Pathfinder version? I really want to start my prep-work for my group's first session of Skyseer


----------



## Morrus

We're aiming for the weekend.


----------



## Falkus

Sweet! That'll give me plenty of time  Thanks!


----------



## Morrus

Pathfinder version is up.


----------



## Falkus

Woohoo! Thanks!


----------



## Noodle

Morrus said:


> Pathfinder version is up.




As is the softcover of the 4e version at rpgnow!  Ordered it + PDF this morning and am now hungrily devouring the adventure!  I've never run an investigation anywhere near this complex .. I hope my DMing skills are up to the challenge of the excellent source material.


----------



## Cheezmo Miner

*Pathfinder version at Paizo*

Pathfinder version at Paizo.com

Going to make some dinner and have myself a read.


----------



## Morrus

Pathfinder softback version now available.


----------



## Falkus

Just finished running the first session of the Dying Skyseer a few hours ago. While my group has suffered some unfortunate player attrition (we're down to four players); we all had an insanely good time with it. They loved it!

It is, by far, the best adventure I've ever read and ran.

Also, and minor spoilers: 



Spoiler



Doctor Wolfgang von Recklinghausen is an amazingly fun name to say


----------



## RangerWickett

Isn't it, though? One of my players gets props for coming up with it.


----------

