Laid out files of book redux!
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 30, 2017 at 01:49:17 AM
All,
I sit down after eating lunch and touch my mouse which is resting over the "publish" button on my work in progress update. So, disregard the previous one!
What I meant to say:
While we still do not have a final page count, according to the work in progress laid out files, chapter 3 (out of 10) ends on page 98. This is going to be a very long, very heavy book, very possibly clocking in at over 300 pages. I don't know if it will reach 350, but there's a very good chance. This is massive, and I think the content, layout and art will speak for itself.
In any case, enjoy these quick images of some of the final laid out content:
Sent via BACKERKIT!
almost 7 years ago
– Sat, Jun 17, 2017 at 12:39:14 AM
All,
In my previous update, I accidentally wrote that it was emailed via CrowdOx. This is because we have used CrowdOx for our pledge manager on almost every Kickstarter - except THIS one. So it was just my error.
You should have gotten an email via BackerKit, not CrowdOx. I apologize for this confusion!
And as I wrote before, please do not share or give the PDFs or download link to anyone. This is for you as backers, for your patience (and so we can help crowdsource proofreading).
While Petersen Games generally may want to sow Chaos in the world by Awakening Cthulhu and other great old ones, sharing the results of our hard work for those who did not pay for it will just make it very difficult for us to make more in the future!
Thank you!
It's here! Well, in TEXT form
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 01:11:49 AM
Shortly I'll be sending an email via BackerKit that has a link to a folder in my Dropbox containing PDFs of the 9 original chapters of this book (chapter 10 contains previously published versions of various Mythos monsters that we did not create, so I'm not bothering to share those).
This is now going to layout - which already has borders, styles, fonts, etc.; it will just be a matter of slotting in the text - which is no small task, I might add! But the initial artistic parts of lay out are at least taken care of.
Note that while this has been edited (with what is termed a HEAVY copy-edit), standard practice is to have a final proofread AFTER layout as well. So, we will do that at the very end also - but in the mean time, if you catch any errors, feel free to note them on this very basic google form; it will certainly help speed up the final proofing after layout!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uMTL0Y9-4hcxcvzgDC7zyWeg7yLCkYrGULhHz_iqizM/edit?usp=sharing
Also, since I'm the one who posts these updates (usually), I get to brag here as well. Well, I’ll get to that. Let me back up a bit.
So, here was our process. Sandy, while a serious veteran of writing role-playing games and supplements, has never written for Pathfinder specifically. But this is obviously HIS (updated) interpretation of the Cthulhu Mythos. So, he generated the ideas and wrote extensive design documents for the chapters and specific sections. He also wrote specific notes, sidebars and essays that have no rules that are essentially retained as he wrote them.
All the things that require rules and mechanics (which is the majority), had to be “translated” so to speak from Sandy’s design documents into Pathfinder-ness. That was done primarily by two people who I believe did an excellent job – James Jacobs and David Ross. Also, our two main editors, Eytan Bernstein and Erik Scott de Bie actually did a little bit of development as well, but mostly in clarifying and tidying rules things up (you don’t want your editors doing full development, obviously). Like I said, they did a HEAVY copy-edit, and deserve key praise for their work.
In any case, so that was our basic process. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to do some design as well. So, here I’ll inflate my head like a hot air balloon and say that I did the design for the majority of the spell descriptions and ritual descriptions (though not the basic ritual RULES themselves, which were a collaboration between Sandy and Ian Starcher). I also designed the majority of the various items/artifacts. Of course, a huge amount of these are really based on “classic” Mythos ideas, or even some stuff from Sandy’s Cthulhu Wars. And, of course, Sandy reviewed it all and accepted it with his Mythos stamp of approval.
I also designed the Byakhee, Dark Young, Dimensional Shambler, Gnoph-keh, Hunting Horror, Leng Spider, Servitor of the Outer Gods, and, my very favorite, the horrific Daughter of Shub-Niggurath. So, I sincerely you hope you really like all of those monster entries. I certainly had a lot of fun designing them. And if you don't like them, well, then you know who to blame!
Sandy did virtually all the rest of the monster designs (though James Jacobs did a small handful), except for the various “collaborative” designed monsters that some of YOU backers designed (such as the Abyssal Custodian and Eremite, among others)! All the monsters were translated expertly into great stat blocs by James Jacobs and David Ross.
Sandy designed 100% of the Great Old Ones, and then James Jacobs crafted an entirely new Pathfinder format for them as stat blocs (since they can’t really be encountered in the same way as a “monster”).
The Races were primarily designed by Sandy, but Ian Starcher, our business manager and brainchild of this project, also lent some design to the PC races (that was his main contribution in terms of design).
The rest of the book was effectively designed by Sandy, with various additions from James Jacobs and David Ross. We also had minor help from a variety of folks who lent a hand along the way.
Thank you to all for your long-suffering patience as we finished this massive mythos tome! Man, we should have called it the Necronomicon or something.
