# Review: The Slumbering Tsar Saga



## Steel_Wind

*Pathfinder Review: The Slumbering Tsar, Greg A. Vaughan's Magnum Opus *

So here's the thing: four weeks ago, Greg Vaughan provided me with an advance .PDF copy of *The Slumbering Tsar Saga* for preview/review purposes. I had joked with Greg that I would try to get a preview article up right away that same night. I almost meant it; however, any ENWorld Review article written under those rushed circumstances would have to be described as a preview and not a review. How can I possibly "review" a 964 page .PDF with only a night -- hell, even browsing through it over a weekend -- to read it? Can't be done. It's just too big; WAY too big.

So I settled on the idea I would call the article a preview and just try to take in what I could over the weekend and try to get the article out the next weekend. It was a fine plan. Like many such plans, it did not survive contact with the enemy. The enemy, in this case, was the sheer size of this massive book. 

**Truth was, _The Slumbering Tsar_ was too big to even browse in a weekend. Sure, you can flip through the document like some flip-book for grownups, but you will be kidding yourself if you think that even a dozen hours with an IV mainlining Starbucks Sumatra blend into your veins and a half-carton of smokes at the ready is going to get you through this tome with anything approaching even a passing level of familiarity. This book is so huge that you will find yourself just losing hours of time reading it, here and there. To put it in perspective, a typical issue _of Pathfinder Adventure Path_ clocks in at 96 pages; however, the adventure itself is only about 45-50 pages. The balance is composed of introduction, ads, campaign/region specific background articles, special rules, short-story fiction, and yes, advertisements.

Take out the extraneous material from six copies of _Pathfinder Adventure Path_ and you are left with about 300 pages of adventure material over the course of six volumes. Even adding in some pages of the excised material that deals with important regions and monsters, you might reach 380 or even 400 pages - about the size of the _Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition_ hardcover, actually.

As big as the _RotRL Anniv Edition_ will be? *Slumbering Tsar is nearly 2.5 times as large.* Gamers being gamers, it's not as if many of us have not talked about doing something like this, or marveled about how cool it would be to be able to buy something as large and detailed as _The Slumbering Tsar Saga._ But to make the transition from wishing and speculation to actually doing it? To date, the only person crazy enough to do that is Greg Vaughan. 

It started innocuously enough as Greg's own home campaign as a prequel to _Rappan Athuk_. Originally, _The Slumbering Tsar_ was to be released for 3.5. The first installments of the product were literally at the printers when 4th Ed was announced at Gencon. After some soul-searching (and number-crunching), Necromancer Games decided to put _Slumbering Tsar_ permanently on hold. Vaughan was invited to shop the product elsewhere if he could, but publishing a large campaign for 3.5 just didn't seem to make good commercial sense at the time.

So in the summer of 2008, _The Slumbering Tsar_ appeared to have died on the vine; however, Vaughan was persistent and dedicated to see the final product in to print. Ultimately, Vaughan received a commitment from Bill Webb at Frog God Games (the heir apparent to Necromancer Games) to publish and release the installments to _Slumbering Tsar_ over time. More importantly, Bill Webb committed to publish them all together under one cover once the final Adventure Path was complete. Indeed, the entire initial reason for Frog God Games in the first place was to act as a vehicle to permit _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ to be published. However many pages it took to finish the task by Vaughan and get it all published, Bill Webb would see it done.

So Vaughan got to work, reworking, rewriting and expanding _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_, changing the design from D&D ver 3.5 to Pathfinder RPG. Along the way, the recrafting of many of the monsters in the _Slumbering Tsar_ to PFRPG provided the impetus for the Pathfinder version of last fall's *Tome of Horrors (Complete)* -- a project that was also overseen by Vaughan. All the while, Vaughan continued to write, continued to test the material in his home campaign, and FGG continued to release the campaign in installments. Finally, after a course of nearly 8 years, _The Slumbering Tsar_ is now complete and its release is imminent. Those who pre-order the hardcover will receive the .PDF version immediately in their downloads.

*What's With The Title?*

The thing which struck me first was the title. "Slumbering Tsar"? Is this some Russian folklore inspired campaign? What's with the title and what does it mean? 

Turns out, the "Slumbering Tsar" simply refers to the area and ruined city of "Tsar". The city was given its name by Bill Webb in his home campaign and in the original _Rappan Athuk: Dungeon of Graves_ module by Necromancer Games. The name has no tangible link to Rome nor Russian folklore, -- let alone a whiff of Tolstoy. While _Rappan Athuk_ has since become infamous as a high level dungeon with a 1st edition feel, Vaughan's plans from the outset for the _Slumbering Tsar Saga_ was to fashion it as the prequel campaign to _Rappan Athuk_. If _Rappan Athuk_ was to lead the party ultimately to combat Orcus, _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ would be the backstory of how the PCs got to be powerful enough to even contemplate that rash act. To be clear on this point, if you don't have _Rappan Athuk_ or _Rappan Athuk Reloaded_ - that's ok. You don't need any of those products to run _The Slumbering Tsar_ or to make sense of it. It's nice if you do have it of course. Happily, the Pathfinder version of _Rappan Athuk Reloaded_ is scheduled for release later this year by Frog God Games.

*The Overall Story Arc *

Vaughan's initial concept for _Slumbering Tsar _was as three books, loosely broken up by adventure region: _The Desolation_, an area of desolate and barren wilderness, the _Ruins of the Temple-City _of Tsar itself, and finally, the _Hidden Citadel_ - the great temple to Orcus which provides the mega dungeon which takes up nearly half of the book.

Corresponding by level, "Book 1" of _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ is designed for characters 6th to 11th level. "Book 2" is designed for levels 11 to 16, while the final part, Book 3, is intended for characters of 16th to 20th -- and potentially achieves higher levels than that, too, if you want to kludge in an Epic/Mythic power level into Pathfinder RPG. As between the three parts, I enjoyed the first part the most as I found it to be highly evocative of the vignette style encounters we saw in the first two volumes of the _Kingmaker Adventure Path_. Self-contained encounters, small encounter maps and a high degree of variation in the challenges made Book 1 completely work for me in a way that the subsequent, and especially the third book's massive dungeon crawl sometimes did not.

*Bring out Your Dead*

In terms of power level and lethality_, Slumbering Tsar_ is Greg Vaughan at his most "over the top". Quite frankly, potential TPKs lurk almost everywhere and frequent character deaths are not simply possible -- they are _probable_. There are eight pages of a blank Obituary chart included at the end of the book just to record character deaths. While this is a bit of a prank by the author for the .PDF version, the point is well taken: this thing is deadly.

*Why* it is deadly is a more interesting topic, however, as it stems from Vaughan's own design philosophy which is reflected throughout the _Slumbering Tsar Saga_. Vaughan's approach throughout most of The _Slumbering Tsar_ is to lead the players to a general area where _mostly_ level appropriate challenges are presented in a sandbox format. Still, there are very few "golden paths" leading the characters on by the nose throughout most of the _Slumbering Tsar_. Yes, there may be a level appropriate challenge in area 1 and 2, but if the PCs go over the ridge to area 3 the challenge can often be beyond the characters' resources and experience level. Smart characters will withdraw and leave that area alone until they are ready; whereas, not-so-smart characters will quickly learn why there is a lengthy obituary chart in the back of the book.

Similarly, the random encounter charts are more fleshed out than they typically are in an issue of _Pathfinder Adventure Path_. Unlike Paizo, Vaughan gives most every encounter on the encounter chart a one or two paragraph breakdown to provide some guidance to the GM in what the encounter is supposed to represent and how it ties into the story (if it does). The encounters may be of a lethality level which can destroy the party, too. As with all things, the GM is the final arbiter of the dice and no encounter happens unless the GM says it does. While we frequently joke in our own game sessions that "once again, we blame Greg Vaughan" after a particularly nasty challenge, privately, most of us are blaming the GM -- as we well should, too.

When the sandbox nature of the encounter zones impact is taken into account and when the effect of the random encounters putting the 10 minute adventuring day firmly into the grave are added to that --_The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ is often deadly. Going one step further, even the supposed "level appropriate" encounters are very challenging, too. Add all three of those factors into the mix, and PC death is something everyone should expect. 

In fairness to Vaughan, the author underscores this throughout the book and cautions GMs about the lethality and managing players' expectations. Vaughan also builds in various opportunities for introducing new player characters and sometimes methods for reviving the slain. Whether you as the GM want to have the campaign unfold in that manner or prefer to pull punches on your players is a matter which is left -- as always -- entirely in your discretion.

The last factor which contributes to the lethality is the aspect of Vaughan's design which I enjoyed the most: the foes are largely unknown and _unknowable_. Unlike many adventure products, Vaughan is constantly reaching for new monsters, new templates, new classes and applying class levels to monsters in a manner many GMs and players will be unfamiliar with. This means that unlike most adventure products, the players (as distinct from the PCs) usually never know what they are up against and never know what the foe's capabilities actually are. This aspect of the design adds immeasurably to the difficulty of the _Slumbering Tsar Saga_. If "knowing is half the battle", then the PCs start each battle in _Slumbering Tsar_ on the losing side.

*New Monsters Galore*

Moreover, this approach adds immeasurably to the sheer value of the product as well. Vaughan uses a lot of monsters from Paizo's various _Bestiary_ products throughout _Slumbering Tsar_. However, just as often, Vaughan is using a monster from the _Tome of Horrors Complete_ (each stat block is reproduced in _Slumbering Tsar_ so you do not have to have _TOHC_ to play). There are other "go-to" books constantly referred to by Vaughan throughout the Saga. For example. _Creature Collection Volumes I,II_ and _III_ make frequent appearances throughout - with each stat block updated to Pathfinder RPG format by Vaughan. This approach greatly adds to the utility of the work and makes _Slumbering Tsar_ as much a Pathfinder _Bestiary _as any bestiary product on the market. 

It's an effect which Vaughan repeats in other ways and times throughout _The Slumbering Tsar. _While new monsters are presented throughout the work, the same thing can be said for new NPCs, too. Some of these NPCs are monsters with strong motivations and backgrounds. Others are humanoids detailed as you might expect them to be in an issue of _Pathfinder Adventure Path_. Other times, the monster is templated or has class levels added to it together with a backstory and character history which makes all the difference. What would otherwise be an encounter with a nameless, faceless monster in most books becomes an epic showdown with a NPC who simply happens to BE a monster in _Slumbering Tsar_. This approach has been tried before and has literally been around for decades (Lord Soth is a classic example). However, I don't think I have ever seen this design philosophy resorted to as consistently -- or as extensively -- as Vaughan does in _The Slumbering Tsar. _

The payoff is sheer gold. The pages leap to life with encounters that feel markedly different from those presented in most other adventure products -- even Paizo's own _Adventure Path_ series typically don't present most of their encounters with as much of an NPC feel as Vaughan does. The overall impression is often one of stat blocks of monstrous NPCs, not simply encounters with monsters. 

This approach allows most GMs to use _The Slumbering Tsar_ as an ore rich deposit to mine gold for their own campaigns. It isn't hard to do as the nuggets are everywhere and on _at least_ every other page. Even if you never ran a single adventure as intended in _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_, most purchasers will get their money's worth just by mining the book for monsters, NPCs and encounter maps alone. We've seen this before with adventure products. Indeed, before the _Adventure Paths_ were introduced by Paizo to _Dungeon Magazine_, most people would buy the magazine but would rarely actually run the adventures as written -- if at all. Often the main "value-in-use" of _Dungeon Magazine's_ adventures were to act as a stat block source and inspiration for a home brewed encounter. It's a noble cause and my guess is that for many people who purchase _The Slumbering Tsar_, this will be the principle practical use the book will receive for them, too.

*But How does it Read?*

The other main use of the book, however, is not simply as a source of new monsters, NPCs, magic items or spells and prestige classes (though it has all of this and more). The main way that _The Slumbering Tsar_ can be used and enjoyed is as a work of fiction. And it is here that Greg Vaughan's unique talent for writing highly entertaining adventures rises to the top. Greg Vaughan has been the most prolific adventure author for Paizo not simply because he is capable of delivering a large volume of work on time which requires little developmental polish -- but because Vaughan understands that for many people who buy the product, they will never actually run the adventure. For those customers, the value-in-use presented by the product is simply to be able to read it and be entertained by it as they read. It's a rare skill to be able to pull this off given the limited prose opportunities that highly technical writing can require. Nevertheless, Vaughan does it consistently throughout_ The Slumbering Tsar. _

*Presentation and Artwork: Yes and ... maybe.*

_The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ is a massive work with over a half a million words of text. The layout of the book, in 256 greyscale, is surprisingly easy to read and I enjoyed the 2 column format and font selection in both the heading, box text and main text and stat blocks. While the overall presentation of the book is necessarily less "gee-whiz" that we have come to expect from Paizo -- the book presents much better than you probably expect. The artwork, in particular, was rather well done I thought. The illustrations, while not excellent, are good to very good and the overall art direction in the book is far more unified in approach and impact than the hit-and-miss illustrations we saw in _Tome of Horrors Complete_.

For the most part, this is because there is a lot less art in _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ than there is in a monster book like _Tome of Horrors Complete_ which provided an illustration for each monster on each page. All of that extra art required by a monster book lead to a large number of artists being engaged on the project with distinctive -- and often clashing -- art styles and skill levels. In contrast, while there are still a lot of contributors to the artwork in _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_, far and away the most prevalent of these are the illustrations of James Keegan which appear as half page panels throughout. As a consequence, the greyscale art in the book seems to tie everything together _much_ better and with a consistency that I found pleasing.

But it's not all roses. The one problem in the book where the art style failed to engage me was the style used for the maps. I am told that the initial maps designed for the first part of _Slumbering Tsar_ when it was a 3.5 product were maintained throughout the balance of the book for consistency's sake. The problem is, the map style is too much a throwback to "1st edition feel". If these maps were on a blue inked map on the inside cover of a TSR 1st edition module, many would not feel out of place. While the artstyle IS more refined than TSR's maps circa 1980, they certainly are a far cry from the cartography of Chris West, Rob Lazzaretti and Jared Blando. The overall quality of the book suffers for it and reduces the impact of _The Slumbering Tsar_ from its otherwise "Triple A" writing impact.

In fairness -- and to the credit of Greg Vaughan -- the key to a great map is not simply in the presentation of the cartography, it's also in the underlying design of the map. Indeed, I've seen some pretty iffy maps from Rob Lazzaretti that have made it into print at Paizo. They are iffy maps not because of Rob Lazzaretti (he's generally a brilliant cartographer/illustrator) but because the original map turnovers Lazzaretti was working with were poorly conceived. That's the saving grace with _Slumbering Tsar's_ stylistically challenged maps: Vaughan's map turnovers are crisp, make sense and are all highly serviceable. 

In the end, "highly serviceable" is how I would describe the maps in _Slumbering Tsar_. They aren't going to make your eyes fly wide in awe the way some of Jared Blando's masterpiece art-masquerading-as-a-map illustrations can evoke -- but each map in the book works well and makes sense. 

*The Verdict *

By now, it should be quite clear that I really liked _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ in almost every aspect of its design. While the first point to take away is that _The Slumbering Tsar_ _Saga_ is *massively big*, *it's massively good, too*. Yes, it's an epic styled Adventure Path for Pathfinder RGP, but it's so much more than that: it's a treasure trove of encounters, maps, NPCs, stat blocks and 100+ new creatures for Pathfinder RPG. If you do not already have _Tome of Horrors Complete_ - then there are literally HUNDREDS of new monsters in this book for you. Vaughan doesn't stop there, either. New magic items, new templates, new spells, new sorcerous bloodlines, new prestige classes. The list goes on and on. _The Slumbering Tsar_ just delivers so *much* new material that trying to drink it all in is like trying to sip from a fire hose.

After spending a month with this thing, I would go so far as to say that in terms of sheer usable content in this book, it easily fulfills the "content requirements" of most any other accessory book that you would ever buy for Pathfinder RPG. There is a _reason_ this book is 964 pages long. The book overflows with gaming goodness from beginning to end. 

Above all, the thing that struck me most about _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_ was the realization that I would probably never run this as an entire adventure path -- at least not any time soon. However, unlike other massive adventure and setting books published during the 3.5 era, Vaughan's _Slumbering Tsar_ towers above them all for one central reason: _he's a superior writer_. That difference in the author's fundamental writing talent made _The Slumbering Tsar_ FUN TO READ. If you've got a copy of _World's Largest Dungeon, World's Largest City _or even _Ptolus_ on hand, *I* *dare you* to randomly choose a page and start reading for five pages and call it "fun". In the case of _Ptolus_ - it _might_ happen. In the case of _WLD_ and _WLC_, it almost _never_ will. And that's the single greatest difference with this book. Vaughan makes it all fun. Seeing as we are talking about a game, it doesn't get much more fundamental than that.

Greg Vaughan is, in my opinion, the best (and certainly the most prolific) adventure author in the RPG games field currently working. The reason why he is the best is on display throughout _The Slumbering Tsar Saga_. If you were on the fence about pre-ordering this book -- you can hop off that fence right now.

*Highly Recommended: All Pathfinder GMs*

*Title: The Slumbering Tsar Saga*
*Author: Greg A. Vaughan*
*Publisher: Frog God Games*
*Price: $125.00 (Print) $89.99 (.PDF)*


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## DarkSasha

I promised Greg and Bill I'd respond to this, so here goes. *clears throat* (figuratively)

Greg Vaughan is a stud! 
You won't regret putting your players through the torture that is the City of the Slumbering Tsar. 
It ranges in difficulty from CR "Ow!! Damn that hurts" to a full-out CR "Hand-em-yur-Asses in a Pail".


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## ruemere

This is a classic. And to think that it was probably intended to be released for 4E... 

Regards, 
Ruemere


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## howandwhy99

Steel_Wind said:


> The last factor which contributes to the lethality is the aspect of Vaughan's design which I enjoyed the most: the foes are largely unknown and _unknowable_. Unlike many adventure products, Vaughan is constantly reaching for new monsters, new templates, new classes and applying class levels to monsters in a manner many GMs and players will be unfamiliar with.  This means that unlike most adventure products, the players (as distinct from the PCs) usually never know what they are up against and never know what the foe's capabilities actually are. This aspect of the design adds immeasurably to the difficulty of the _Slumbering Tsar Saga_.  If "knowing is half the battle", then the PCs start each battle in _Slumbering Tsar_ on the losing side.




In terms of lethality I think this can be balanced based upon your judgements, but each part is more or less difficult to do. First, if the overall challenge level is out of bounds, just leave it until the PCs are a level or two higher. That might mean 7th-12th level instead of the suggested 6th-10th. 

Random encounters in a territory are probably balanced with the area. However, while I don't know how big the populations are I like to integrate random encounters just in case 3 goblins ones in a row doesn't also end up in a full tribe still left in the lair. Shrinking the population matters even with random scouting patrols. 

The quote above is about increased lethality due to not knowing and I think that's best mitigated by adding a information / rumor system. Creatures in shared and neighboring territories, especially ones in common alliance, know about each other. Finding out who they are, what they can do, what treasure they have, what they know (second hand, of course), and anything else in their history can be part of the game. It can also make combats considerably easier. Of course, creatures can more or less lie too and lead others into more dangerous situations, so this portion of the game isn't' necessarily sweetness and light either. 

Besides the potential for more rumors to mitigate going into harder territories, the most difficult part of changing a finished module is in how the dungeon level by challenge level is actually laid out. The example ridge means high ground, so that may be the better territory to hold - treasure-wise too. But if the divisions don't hold in their own right, nothing is keeping the higher level monsters from swarming into more valuable, less defended territory, then the environment is going to change pretty quick. Part of this has to do with adventure design and may just be ignored altogether in this case. The key part to insure would still be distinguishable borders even if they're the proverbial "wrong side of the tracks" rail line. If you want to go further, you can redraw stuff, restat stuff, or even rewrite things, but there's a point where it stops being pragmatic.

From the review this really does sound like a great product. I count myself lucky to own the Rappan Athuk boxed set since it came out and it is one of the best big dungeons around. Unfortunately, I'll probably be picking this one up second hand sometime in the future as my gaming funds are currently strapped. Definitely on the To Buy list though. Thanks for the review.


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## TarionzCousin

The hardcover costs $125.00. That seemed like a lot to me until I thought "Is this worth four or five other game products?" I don't know for certain yet, but I think the answer is "Yes."

I've pre-ordered it.


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## son_of_frumm

*Player's Opinion*

Hi all. I'm a player in Greg's home game and have played through Slumbering Tsar. It's pretty awesome. 

People aren't kidding about how lethal it can be. I personally had four characters over the course of the campaign and died at least eight times. Those deaths were some of the most fun I've ever had gaming. Some of them were "heroic" stands to defend my allies, some were my own stupidity, and some were just dumb luck, but the story behind it all is great.

I agree with the review. Greg's adventures are a blast to read, but they're even more fun to play.


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## Greg V

It's interesting that I'm not entirely sure which one of my players is son_of_frumm (none of the PCs had that name). Based on the number and types of PC deaths, though, I'm guessing...James. 

TarionzCousin's comment below is extremely apt, because Steve actually is James' brother...but I never killed Steve.


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## Grumpy RPG Reviews

I appreciate dedication and detail... but the size of the thing is a turn off. It is too much to digest, too specific in its usefulness.


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## DaveMage

RobertSullivan said:


> I appreciate dedication and detail... but the size of the thing is a turn off. It is too much to digest, too specific in its usefulness.




I can certainly understand the size being intimidating, but too specific in its usefulness?  I don't understand that one.  There are many, many encounters and areas that would easily work by themselves if ported to one's own setting.

While it does have a backstory that links areas together, the whole thing is basically a sandbox.


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## Mr Baron

Steel Wind - Many thanks for the detailed review.  I have always enjoyed your thoughtful commentary on products.  I have the PDF chapters and I agree with your assessments.  Just by flipping through the adventure, you can tell that this was a labor of love from Greg.  A very talented writter that just keeps cranking out high-quality work.  Hands down, one of the best writters in the business.

Greg V - Glad to see that you stuck with the project, to see it through.  Looking forward to the end of May!


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## Grumpy RPG Reviews

DaveMage said:


> ...but too specific in its usefulness?




I am always a fan of pillaging supplements for useful material. However, in my experience using material from books of this kind (extensive Adventure Path works) requires changing the material so much, you might as well just wing it or start from scratch. Unless you are running something similar to what is in the book.


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## son_of_frumm

Greg,

You weren't sure that it was James?


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## kitsune9

Wow, that's just big.

[MENTION=31270]Greg V[/MENTION], from outline concept to final draft, how long did it take you to write this?


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## Greg V

RobertSullivan said:


> I am always a fan of pillaging supplements for useful material. However, in my experience using material from books of this kind (extensive Adventure Path works) requires changing the material so much, you might as well just wing it or start from scratch. Unless you are running something similar to what is in the book.




I think you'd be pleasantly surprised just from the first part of the adventure alone (the wilderness area). You can always check out the pdfs of one or more of the 14 individual adventure chapters that are sold through Paizo.com and talesofthefroggod.com to check it out and see if your suspicions are true. Heck, the first chapter, ST1: Edge of Oblivion, is still available for $2.00, so it's not even a financial risk.

I sometimes run sections of the adventures at cons with little or no attachment to the overarching adventure, and it has always worked out just fine. The encounters are not wrapped in a specific story nearly as much as often happens in adventure paths.

Hope the information is in some way helpful to you.


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## Greg V

son_of_frumm said:


> Greg,
> 
> You weren't sure that it was James?




I did the math and figured it pretty much had to be; I just wasn't familiar with the son_of_frumm handle.


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## Greg V

kitsune9 said:


> Wow, that's just big.
> 
> @Greg V , from outline concept to final draft, how long did it take you to write this?




Including the PF RPG conversions and final retooling for the combined book, just a shade under 8 years.


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## Azgulor

Sorry if this is dumb question, but I take it that Slumbering Tsar has evolved beyond its origin as a prequel to Rappan Athuk?

I'm trying to reconcile a product that takes you to level 20 as a prequel to anything...  

Thanks!


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## DarkSasha

It isn't necessarily a prequel as much as the two are very much linked together. You could conceivably run one as a continuation of the other generationally, with the sons and daughters (ie: brand new characters) of the heros or survivors of one (assuming there were any) delving for answers as to why the minions of Orcus remain active in the other. Story-wise, the Slumbering Tsar is where an important historical siege took place. When the forces of evil withdrew from ST, they vacated to Rappan Athuk.


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## DarkSasha

*Rappan Athuk Kickstarter*

Incidentally, we are currently offering Rappan Athuk in both the Pathfinder RPG rules and Swords & Wizardry rules via kickstarter. I had attempted to create its own thread, but EnWorld doesn't seem to want to let me.

Here's the Link


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## Greg V

Azgulor said:


> Sorry if this is dumb question, but I take it that Slumbering Tsar has evolved beyond its origin as a prequel to Rappan Athuk?
> 
> I'm trying to reconcile a product that takes you to level 20 as a prequel to anything...
> 
> Thanks!




Yep, what Dark Sasha said.  It's a prequel background story-wise.  It's very much it's own campaign, though they are linked.  You could run one or both in either order, but it'd probably be two separate parties/campaigns unless you wanted to do a serious rewrite of one of them to amp it up to levels 20+.


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## Gozuja

Just wanted to chime in and say that Slumbering Tsar has been some of the most fun I've ever had running a campaign--and getting a rousing endorsement from Steel Wind is particularly keen and somewhat serendipitous in particular from my personal standpoint because I ran the Price of Immortality trilogy to get our party up to 7th level so that they could segue into Tsar--and listened extensively to his podcast when re-tooling and making adjustments to those modules. 

We're running with a quite large party with players that are very mixed in experience (from some who have gamed since first edition to those for whom 3.5 was their first, and one who has played through the entirety of Rappan Athuk--and their Tsar character is their successor!) and we've been going for 22 weeks of 10+ hour sessions and we're just -barely- into the fourth and fifth book of the originally separate fourteen.

The amount of content is mind-blowing, frankly; there's so much to explore and encounter in the Slumbering Tsar Saga that a group can absolutely get a ton of bang for their buck out of it.  I think the biggest factor in this is the sheer variety of the environments and encounters; all too often, material that even begins to approach this magnitude has a tendency to begin forming gluts and ruts of similar situations--but even in a party's first forays into the Desolation you're dealing with everything from a half-blue dragon greater basilisk with a mad derro sorcerer companion to an Army of Darkness style battle royal with waves of undead.

Greg has really done a terrific job with Tsar and I am so glad that something of this size and magnitude made it through the journey that it did to be available for folks to play; the story behind the whole of the work is epic in and of itself.  Even if you don't foresee being able to run the Saga in its whole form, there's so many things that could certainly be lifted whole cloth and added to other adventures (such as the mentioned Army of Darkness fight, which was really a ton of fun at the table, or the entirety of the Crooked Tower, which is a roughly 80 room dungeon home for a powerful vampire lord.)

So overall, I highly recommend the Slumbering Tsar Saga as well and am also eagerly looking forward to the fruits of the Rappan Athuk rebirth--and definitely encourage folks to bip over to the kickstarter and help show that there is still a desire for such detailed, devious and deadly dungeons.  If you're interested in the Tsar Saga at play, I've been blogging with session recaps, player journals, photos from the table and other such things over at Stranger Sojourns as well; Greg's labor of love has been a lot of fun for both sides of the screen!


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## gambler1650

So, I preordered this and in the review above it suggests that those who preorder automatically will get the PDF file.  Should I see this already in my downloads?  Because I don't, so I'm just checking...

Thanks.


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## Greg V

The pdf Steel Wind used was the proof for printing the hardcover book.  The actual retail pdf is still in layout. It should be available and in your downloads at roughly the same time that the big book gets shipped.  I was originally thinking there would be some lag in the pdf being completed due to the Rappan Athuk furor, but Chuck our layout guy has reassured me that this should not be the case. So look for it around Memorial Day. We'll send a mailing out to all the subscribers.


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## Greg V

Thanks, Gozuja.  I'm glad you guys are having fun with it.


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## TarionzCousin

Greg V said:


> It's interesting that I'm not entirely sure which one of my players is son_of_frumm (none of the PCs had that name). Based on the number and types of PC deaths, though, I'm guessing...James.
> 
> TarionzCousin's comment below is extremely apt, because Steve actually is James' brother...but I never killed Steve.



w00t! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





  Wild Guess for the win. Obviously Steve needs to have one of his characters killed... stat!


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## Greg V

TarionzCousin said:


> Obviously Steve needs to have one of his characters killed... stat!




I'm on it.


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## gambler1650

Ahh... Ok, thanks!


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## DarkSasha

Rappan Athuk Players!

Is your GM going to run Rappan Athuk? Has he pledged enough to get the player's guide? Perhaps he is waiting to purchase his copy at his local game store come August when it arrives. Whichever is the case, it pays for an experienced party to BE PREPARED! You know this is the deadliest dungeon ever to hit the shelves since the glory days of the Tomb of Horror. Have what you need to help keep your character alive! And get a spiffy "I went down the well" pin or even T-shirt. 

Here's the link to the latest pledge awards for Rappan Athuk, Dungeon of Graves, the grand daddy of all dungeons and the predecessor to The Slumbering Tsar Saga.

P.S. We are dangerously close to our next stretch goal. Give your feedback on what you think you'd like to see for the next one. There are just over 30 days left to pledge.


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## Ihsahn Satyricon

This book is going to be freakin awesomely epic! I can't wait to pick it up!!


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## Roland55

OK ... you've (all) talked me into it.

Order placed.


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## thrilled

DarkSasha - I have pledged for the Leather-Bound Hardcover of Rappan Athuk, now I wonder if it would be possible to order Slumbering Tsar as well when you are about to ship Rappan, so I can avoid having two shipping costs? I live in Sweden so the cost for shipping here can be quite extensive so for me it would be much better if I could have them both bundled and shipped.

Sincerely!

/Mikael


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## TarionzCousin

[MENTION=6683137]DarkSasha[/MENTION] Just in case you missed this. Please see below. It doesn't appear that this Mikael in Sweden knows how to contact Frog God Games.



thrilled said:


> DarkSasha - I have pledged for the Leather-Bound Hardcover of Rappan Athuk, now I wonder if it would be possible to order Slumbering Tsar as well when you are about to ship Rappan, so I can avoid having two shipping costs? I live in Sweden so the cost for shipping here can be quite extensive so for me it would be much better if I could have them both bundled and shipped.
> 
> Sincerely!
> 
> /Mikael


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## thrilled

Thanks Tarions!

I could as well have tried their normal website, or maybe more easily asking the question after the pledge is done. I just happened to be here on the site and saw DarkSasha active so I thought I could as well send a question 

But thanks for your support anyway!

/Mikael


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## thrilled

One more question... since this campaign starts at lvl 6 then I would be in dire need of your advice for an adventure pack that I can use to get my players started and ending at lvl 6 when the campaign/adventure is done.

So give me your personal favorites that matches the above criterias.

I will buy that along with the Slumbering Tsar so I would also appreciate if that was available for purchase at paizo.com as well.

Thanks in advance!

/Thrilled


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## DarkSasha

I just now noticed this. For some reason EnWorld sends links to an old email of mine that I don't often check. Also, we Frogs have been in Dallas this past weekend attending the North Texas RPG Con where we had a huge announcment, more on that in a bit. 

To answer your question Thrilled, you can indeed get both, Slumbering Tsar Saga and pledge to get Rappan Athuk sent to your home together once RA is printed and ask Bill to hold Slumbering Tsar Saga for shipment with Rappan Athuk. You need to send Bill an email to request he send them in the same package to get charged only one postage fee. Here is Bill's email address: bill (at) talesofthefroggod (dot) com


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## DarkSasha

*Frog God Games Acquires Necromancer Games*

Here's the link to the press release: LINK


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## mach1.9pants

Is the full PDF available yet? I have the hugely scrumptious physical copy here in my hot hands in NZ, and wanted the PDF to help with searching. SO is the full monty out yet?
If so I can't find it... in fact my DL link that I got the individual ones off is giving me an incorrect password error?
Any body else...


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## DaveMage

No, the single PDF is not up yet.

Soon, they say...


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## mach1.9pants

Thanks [MENTION=10447]DaveMage[/MENTION]. Any idea how we will get it? As I said my ezine subscription link with Bytes now doesn't work. Does yours still?

And anyone else getting bruising on the chest when resting it there whilst reading it in bed?


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## DaveMage

Apparently the person at Bytes who would post it has been on vacation but is due back this week at some point.

I had to reset my password at Bytes, which was weird (using the "Forgot Password" link on the main page).


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## DarkSasha

DaveMage is correct. The A+ Downloads person is on vacation. I don't have the exact date that he'll be back. I do know that our layout person has sent the file over for uploading. Hopefully this will be soon.


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## DarkSasha

*Rappan Athuk Kickstarter - new stretch goal*

If we reach 1000 pledges, we are offering to give a set of custom Orcus dice (3-six siders and one 20 sider) to all those who pledged $20 or more, in addition to any other pledge awards and bonuses already earned! So tell your friends! We have three player-only pledges too!


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## DarkSasha

*Vying for Top RPG of Kickstarter to date!*

9 Days Left for Rappan Athuk Kickstarter!

We are close but just ahead of the Traveller kickstarter in dollar amount, but not in backers!

We've reached the $180,000 level which means that we will add in an Appendix of Gods & Demons from the World of Necromancer Games to the Rappan Athuk book, updated to Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules and Swords & Wizardry.

It also means that all of our backers who pledge $500 or more will receive a Frog God Games GM Journal. The journal will have a black cover with a hot foil seal of the Orcus and our name.

We have new pledge awards!

800 backers - We will have Bill Webb create a subscription service, starting this fall, for new added levels to Rappan Athuk. The $59.95 Subscription will be good for one year and provide 6 new levels (published by pdf every 2 months. At the end of the year you'll receive an actual book. If we get more than 250 subscribers the book will have a hardcover, otherwise a softcover.) All Kickstarter backers will receive a $10 discount on the subscription for the first year, resulting in a $49.99 price.

1000 backers - If we hit 1000 backers we will give everyone who pledges $20 or more a set of dice! That's three custom D6s and one D20.

*$200,000 Bonus Goal:*
If we make this goal, all of our backers who pledge $10 or more will now receive the PDF of The Libram of Fortunate Happenstance players booklet *PLUS *We will add a PDF windfall booklet for the GM to respond with their own windfall parchments.
If we make this goal, all of our backers who pledge $10 or more will receive an Orcus Decal.

And Finally!! 
If we reach *Highest Funded RPG on Kickstarter*
at close on Jul 2nd we will give everyone who pledges $10 or more a sew on patch custom made for this celebratory event!


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## Aberzanzorax

[MENTION=6683137]DarkSasha[/MENTION]

I've pledged for the RA kickstarter...I'm very excited about it!

A question: has it already been written/laid out/converted/etc?


I'm wondering what kind of timeframe to expect for the final product.

Thanks.


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## DarkSasha

We are pushing for it to be in print by GenCon. So August is the target date. As for layout, etc., we should be done with that soon. Some of the extras will take longer, but the book - out by August and hopefully for GenCon.


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## DarkSasha

*ST full pdf available at Bytes Interactive*

For those who subscribed to Slumbering Tsar, by request we have the full pdf of the entire thing (sans bonus chapter) up on the A+Downloads. It's a big one, so be prepared for slow download speed.


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## DarkSasha

*Subscriptions for Rappan Athuk now available*

And you can add them onto your original pledge now for 50 dollars more. See this link for more information: http://tsathogga.blogspot.com/2012/06/subscription-for-ra-now-available.html


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## DarkSasha

*Fans win!!*

In our friendly competition for the Highest Funded RPG on Kickstarter, you, the fans win out. We are offering you even more at fantastic prices via this project only.
*Add $100 to receive The Slumbering Tsar Saga. (Retail $149.95). *Clocking in at 950 pages, The Slumbering Tsar Saga is the largest adventure ever written. It is only available in the Pathfinder Games System.
*Add $75 to receive Tome of Horrors Complete for Swords & Wizardry only. (Retail $99.95). *Monsters of all types! The Pathfinder Games System version is regrettably sold out.
*Add $25 to receive The Black Monastery (Retail 33.99).* You choose the version. 
*Add $15 to add a t-shirt to your pledge (Retail $20)*
*Add $8 per additional players guide (Retail $8.95)*

*See our Rappan Athuk Kickstarter: Rappan Athuk by Frog God Games  Updates &mdash; Kickstarter*


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## thrilled

Dark Sasha - I had to up my pledge now to include Slumbering Tsar as well 

Another question - Could you possible add the GM Screen as an optional purchase as well?

Thanks in advance!

/Thrilled


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## Nookie

Is there a list of all the monsters in slumbering tsar. Im trying to compile a list of all the monsters from Scarred lands and i understand that many of them appear in there.


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## DaveMage

Nookie said:


> Is there a list of all the monsters in slumbering tsar. Im trying to compile a list of all the monsters from Scarred lands and i understand that many of them appear in there.




There is no such list in the product.


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## Nookie

DaveMage said:


> There is no such list in the product.




Darn, Oh well


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## Jan van Leyden

merryflip said:


> ...




Spam reported.


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