Well...
I’ve spoken several times about reaching the end of various Hellfrost eras (such as the adventures and the Region Guides), but now a more final end is in sight, at least for the northern continent. All things must end, for this the Norns have decreed.
Five years and 6 months ago, if my ailing memory serves, we launched the
Hellfrost Player’s Guide. A lot of material has been produced in that time – more than I ever intended to write, that’s for sure.
A lot of the supplements are down to you demanding them, so give yourself a big round of applause.
The Atlas InDesign files are now in Rob’s hands and the PDF will soon be heading to Enno, who has bravely accepted the role of lead editor. All bar the new material has been edited before, but one pair of eyes per product still leaves room for errors and we won’t to make the Atlas as flaw free as possible. Enno has done a great job on the Land of Fire bumper-sized Realm Guides in recent months, so trust me when I say it’s in good hands. Likely we’ll get more eyes on it yet to try and spot those pesky errors that snake under the radar.
To confirm my earlier post, Matters of Faith
has been handed in. The core text (i.e. no credits page or table of contents) comes in at 130 perfectly balanced pages. It was slightly smaller, but six pages of new deities appeared demanding attention and who am I to deny the gods? There is NO official schedule for releasing this. Likely it will be a small Kickstarter, but don’t expect any stretch goals this time – this is very likely to be an all or nothing deal.
I think that out of all the products only two won’t see print – Sellswords & Soldiers and Skalds & Songs. The former isn’t going to appeal to everyone and, while the latter is one of my personal favorites, skalds/song mages probably rank low in the grand list of “character types favored by fans.”
It’s gone midnight here and as well as typing this I’m desperately trying to think of interesting new material for you (no, there will be no orc Creature guide!). I knew this day would come but now it’s here, well, I’ve had relationships last less time than I’ve spent writing Hellfrost.
Onward and upward, though!
This all seems rather morose, so let’s change the mood.
The north is not dead – it is merely dormant (Monty Python quotes begin!). At some point we’ll probably produce a few small supplements, but we cannot foresee any more big books coming out. You have something like 1.6 million words to play with, so you shouldn’t run out of material any time soon.
Land of Fire is alive and well! While we have no schedule yet, the Al-Shirkuh Expansion writing stage is almost finished and we are discussing the
possibility of an Encounters Book 2 (with colour maps if you pledge enough). Very early days yet, though. And there is always the
possibility of an Al-Shirkuh Atlas one day, of course.
After that? Well, that will depend on the health of Hellfrost. If it is still popular, we’ll open another continent. I know folks have already put money down on that being the Jade Empire (Land of Water), but I have three choices and none are currently leading the race – too much cool, not enough Wiggy.
I lie.. there is also the Creature Guides! 67 pages in the current format. Might be able to rejig these into a saddle-stitched print on demand book. Let me ponder the logistics!
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Wiggy
Triple Ace Games Creative Director
wiggy@tripleacegames.com