Status of Narosia

[Steve]

I was wondering if there was any Narosia news? Is it still being published in January 2013?

[gojira]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

A recent update:

Narosia is still underway!

 

Update #10 · Dec. 10, 2012 · 1 comment

 

 

Hey all! Sorry it's been so long since we had a new update. Various minor obstacles have been thwarted, and we're still knee-deep in the rewrite of the Hero basic rules that will be included in the book to make it the all-in-one standalone product we promised. We're going as quickly as we can, and as soon as we have actual news and completion dates we can stand behind we'll post them. This is going to be one very cool book, and we can't wait to start sharing it with you! dw

 

[Steve]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

Have some "thank you" rep.

[Lightning91]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

I am thoroughly looking forward to the release of Narosia. At the risk of sounding impatient, I was wondering if there was any recent status update. The last update on Kickstarter was on January 19th.

 

I figure that good news is better then bad news, but that bad news is better then no news. By any chance could we get an update (or better yet, pseudo-regular updates)?

[Steve]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

I'd love to hear some news too.

[Ternaugh]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

I've asked for regular updates for Kickstarters in a different thread. I would like to remind the folks who put these out that I'm much more likely to invest in future Kickstarters if I'm happy with the level of communication of past Kickstarters. So far, the bar has been set by my experiences with the Traveller5 and Fate Core Kickstarters. Hero-related Kickstarters have so far received a failing grade, and I won't invest in future ones unless this improves.

 

Sincerely, one of your investors,

JoeG

[Darren Watts]

Re: Status of Narosia

 

Hey guys! Narosia has run quite a bit slower than we'd originally hoped, between the extra work required to convert it from a supplement to a standalone product, to Shane's day job taking up a lot more of his time than expected, to Ken getting his new full-time position at Pelgrane. I had hoped to meet with Shane at Dreamation this past week to work out final details on the manuscript, but his day job forced him to cancel the trip. It continues to be worked on, and as soon as we have useful, reliable news about hitting its various milestones we'll share that with everybody. In the meantime, if you have any questions you can always check in with me, but I promise if the answers are anything other than "we'll let you know as soon as it clears the next hurdle" I'll publish that info. Our sincerest apologies for the continued delays! dw

[Steve]

Is there a status update?

[Ternaugh]

Is there a status update?

There's an update for folks in the Kickstarter as of May 10. Looks like they are having a few issues but are on track to fix them.

[Legendsmiths]

A little thread necromancy to get the word out. Communication indeed!

 

The End Is Nigh: http://www.legendsmiths.com/news/theendisnigh

[Steve]

So where are things at now?

[Ternaugh]

There are a couple of updates on the Kickstarter page for backers, including a rough cut of the book, HD files, and divine intervention cards. Looks like it's gone to layout as of Sept. 14.

 

It appears, from recent posts, that a bunch of stuff has been cut out to be moved to a future product (Narosia Resource Kit), which they plan on Kickstarting. Going to be extremely interesting to see if they do, and if it is funded. It's generally a big no-no for perpetually delayed projects to announce a new KS before delivering the first one--and especially so if you tell the first group that you're planning to charge them for stuff that you originally were going to include.

 

They might be able to get this KS into print so that they can get a few copies to a convention (U*Con in Ann Arbor) in mid-November. Another sore point with delayed projects is making the stuff available to stores or conventions before everyone who backed it has their reward. Unfortunately, fairly common, as it's a way to get revenue for a project that's frequently over budget, at the cost of alienating your most loyal fans.

 

They haven't decided if they need to ask overseas folks for more money to pay for shipping. Apparently fairly common with delayed projects, especially those which are over budget. Shipping costs tend to be estimated for the original delivery date, and of course they go up the longer the project is delayed.

[Legendsmiths]

Thank you, Ternaugh. That is mostly correct. 

 

At this point we have not actually cut anything from the book. Our budget was 190K words and we are sitting on 300K. I'm making my judgement to cut things based on what the ultimate impact to cost to print will be. We are over budget, so this means we do have choices to make. So, anything we include is bonus material beyond what we originally were going to include. We can meet our obligation for the KS with the reduced material, but I want to include as much of it as I can in the main book because I believe that's where it should be.

 

That material will also be available (and is available now) to backers as part of this KS (not the next). The question is one for printing, not content availability. We may hold back some of that material to be printed during the next KS.

 

Backers will get access before anyone else. The physical books are being warehoused at DOJ, so they will be shipped to backers essentially when they are available through the Hero Store, but not necessarily before they are available anywhere else. That's just how the logistics will work. We could delay availability to stores/disty but I'm not sure that will really have a big impact. 

 

The delay was unfortunate and we know what the bottleneck was (me) and why. Getting the foundation of the setting/game unfortunately could only fall to me. However, now that we have that we can continue with our plans for greater support by assigning the additional development to additional writers. 

 

So, what is it that you would like to see once the main book is available? I know what I want to do/see, but from a fan perspective, what would be of the greatest value? Right now I have 2 adventures queued  up, we have the cards, 4 more races, more spells/orisons, plus a ton of additional equipment. Feedback is welcome.

[Ternaugh]

From a fan perspective, I'd be most interested in adventures (maybe as a combination adventure/gazetteer detailing an area), but I don't know if that would be profitable (adventures generally don't sell well). I don't usually find extra races all that useful for an established game. Extra equipment's really not a selling point; I have enough material (Hero and non-Hero) from which to borrow equipment (tons of GURPS 3 books, and ...And a 10 Foot Pole is lying around here somewhere). Spells/orisons could be useful, if only to save time with writing my own.

 

Of course, that's after I get the finished book from this Kickstarter in my hands.

[Legendsmiths]

I think with a Kickstarter model, adventures can be viable, if not profitable. Here again it's about expectations management. What does an "adventure" mean in terms of structure, art, length, and so on. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I like to see in an adventure write-up and the Ruins of Baradahm adventure in the Narosia book is an example of my approach/structure. If that style jives with people, then I think we have something on which to build. I have been writing a Narosia adventure every year for about the last 10 years, so I have something to build on. None of them are "production ready" but they are tested adventure plots that have been run and revised multiple times, so I am confident they are at least fun. 

 

Equipment: the main thing I want to focus on are special materials and expanding into some of the "special equipment" for adventurers. I'm with you on having good sources of generic equipment, as I think most of the fans of the genre are. 

 

The races, spells, and orisons are about expanding the scope of the defined world. We aren't introducing things that aren't already a part of the setting, we just knew that we would not be able to fit them in the first book, so we focused on the most common races/spells/orisons. 

[Ternaugh]

To be blunt, I'm not certain that you'd be able to raise funds for adventures through Kickstarter. Having a project that's been delayed for 2 years isn't a very good track record, and I know that I'd be hesitant to invest in new projects from Legendsmiths. You'd basically have to take a page from how Blackwyrm does it (everything already written, Kickstarter is really just to pay for final production and distribution) before I'd drop more money through Kickstarter.

 

From what I've seen in the sample adventure, there would need to be a lot of supplementary materials added in order for me to make a buy. It would need an expansion of the actual adventure, good maps, more setting background, and so on. I'd assume somewhere between 32 and 64 pages, and a price between $5 and $10 for PDF.

[Legendsmiths]

Absolutely. Everything we do from here on out is going to be written before it goes to Kickstarter and will be available when you back it. Regardless of our track record, I think there have been enough issues with KS from many sources that such an approach is a requirement for me, personally (having backed 42 projects). 

 

We are on the same page for the structure of the adventure. I appreciate the feedback.

[LouGoncey]

On G+ Legendsmiths has stated that the Narosia book is near layout, and the pdf should be out within a month. That is just me hoping to get the info correct though. Maybe Legendsmiths could stop by and give an actual update on what is going down.

[Scott Baker]

Interesting. I don't see that post.

 

Since it is/was a Kickstarter project, I'd much rather see such updates on Kickstarter first. It's been nearly a month since the last update.

[Legendsmiths]

The post to G+ was just an expanded update of went out to backers about a month ago. 

 

The layout was supposed to have been done last week. I, unfortunately, have not seen it. I was hoping to have reviewed at least the first pass on the layout by now and I am working to find out where things are. However, I am not the one doing the layout so I can only do my best to elicit a response from the layout designer, which has not been successful yet. I shared the preliminary stuff in November, and sent out a survey to backers soliciting feedback and I have provided that feedback to layout. My hope is that, in spite of no comms, that any day I will see the preliminary full layout. 

 

The G+ post was also about communicating that, as the designer and custodian of the setting, we need to keep moving forward. We have two adventures in development (and I have shared them on the site), in addition to the system expansion. 

 

I also have the iOS app nearly complete (last bit is hold/abort actions in the initiative tracker), and I am talking to an Android developer about porting it over to that platform. 

 

While there has been a long delay in the delivery of the project, that does not reflect our intent and goals for the game/setting. We are actively working on this now that the setting has been completed (well, the core foundation anyway - lots of expansion to do), and that's what we are doing to move forward.

 

Here is the G+ post:

 

 

 

I apologize as I have had a whirlwind 4 weeks, with 2 cons, Thanksgiving, and a trip to Disney/Universal. Fantastic times all around, and I've finally gotten my posts up. 

The biggest news of late is the Narosia System Expansion. While we finish the layout on the current version of the game I have assembled a fantastic team to bring this all together: +Rik DesChain , +Brendan LaSalle , +Rob Donoghue , +Ryan O'Grady , +Shawn Dry , +Richard Bellingham , +MonkeyBlood Design , +Alex Greenshields .

We are already fast at work on the D&D 5E version of the game, which will be the first out the door. Playtesting has been a great success, and we will be sharing as much of this process with you as we move forward. 

Our intent is to support Narosia across its core system, D&D, Fate, and possibly Savage Worlds. This means that every adventure we produce will have triple or quadruple stats. We think we have figured out the best approach to that, so as part of our system expansion will be the inclusion of 3 adventures:

Ruins of Baradahm
Depths of Bardahm
Village of Gillkas

Combined this should provide about 10 or more sessions of play just following the storyline, as well as providing a solid base of operations for future adventures. Brendan, Alex, Monkeyblood, and I are all collaborating on this to create the best experience possible. Last Saturday I had the pleasure to run an episode of Village of Gillkas for this team, plus +Carter Adams   and it was a blast. 

Now that I am back from my whirlwind travels, I'll keep you all better informed. 

For more information, visit us at:http://www.legendsmiths.com/news/narosiasystemexpansion

[Scott Baker]

Thanks for the update. I never saw that post on G+ even though I'm following Legendsmiths. I did see the KS update last month.

[Legendsmiths]

Just a little update on Narosia from us folks over at Legendsmiths. We have gotten ourselves back on track and have revised timelines for the publication of Narosia: Sea of Tears. Since the start of the project many things have changed in the industry that caused us to question some of our approach and our overall goals with the project. 

 

Last September we completed the content for the game. Since that time we have been fighting to get back on everyone's schedules to complete the publication and it has been a struggle. That is the danger of slipping on your production schedule — it can absolutely snowball, and it did. However, we have smashed that snowball and put everything back together and now we are back on track.

 

Our current estimate is PDF layout by end of January, back and forth with the printer end of February, and then off to print. Does that mean March for print product? Probably, at the earliest, but we will make the PDF available as soon as the proofs for print are finalized. Backers will have access to the pre-proof PDF as soon as we get it from layout. 

 

We aren't entirely behind the curve however. But for the addition of Fel Essence and Corruption text, the iOS app is complete and we are waiting on an estimated timeline from my Android developer looking at the conversion. 

 

Additionally, the cards are finished. For those of you unfamiliar with the project, the cards are used as a metagame mechanic to simulate divine intervention. We will make these for sale likely in February, the timing will align with the PDF as well as our next project. 

 

As the scope of this changed over the life and time of the project, we have too much content. The additional content will be made available online and incorporated into future projects. Speaking of....

 

We haven't announced the start of our next Kickstarter, but we already have the majority of the content completed. We have learned a lot during this project, and we certainly have taken our lumps. But, we suck it up, drive on, and keep striving for our objectives anyway. One of the key changes we made is to diversify content creation now that we have established the core of what Narosia gameplay is about. We also have the resources to invest in getting this content produced prior to our final push for publication to ensure that we have everything as ready as possible before any funding initiatives. 

 

This next project has many different goals, but three of them are likely to interest Hero players the most. 

1. A complete village/base of operations for your adventurers, including a multi-episode adventure that takes the players from dealing with a local threat to a regional one.
   
2. A 5-7 session sequel to the introductory adventure that explores lost and forgotten deepland halls and provides the characters to add a critical resource to your campaign to be leveraged in future scenarios.
   
3. The possible (via stretch goals) expansion of the setting, with additional spells, orisons, races, regions, and cultures. 
   

Even if you aren't a Narosia fan, the adventures can be fit into any Fantasy Hero campaign. Even more exciting, if you are a fan of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, Fate, or Savage Worlds, the adventures will be designed for those as well. We have some great authors lined up to work on those conversions if those goals are funded, which will increase your options for how you use the content. 

 

Narosia has three setting-level antagonists that these adventure engage with, and are very likely in your own campaigns. This axis of evil are sourced from: 

1. A fallen god, Endroren, with his fiendish minions.
   
2. Elemental evil known as the Fel and manifest by the undead.
   
3. The Qliphothic, with its unknowable intent and as manifest in its demons and mutant voidspawn that stalk the ruins of the fallen empires of Narosia. 
   

As a demonstration of our commitment to our efforts, we have joined DoubleExposure's Envoy program. We will announce more on this when our term begins in March, and we will certainly be looking to arm its Heralds with all the content we can.

 

So, that's it. We are excited. We have big things planned and we are looking forward to sharing them with you. 

 

- Shane Harsch 

[Legendsmiths]

Backers already know the drama around getting this done, but I am happy to say that we are nearly complete. We had to change layout designers as the original project team member was not getting it done (and hadn't been for a couple of months). I wish I had changed designers earlier than now, but it's always tough, espeically when you think the work just needs one more push. 

 

Anyway, we've changed designers and have made more progress in the past week than we have in months. The book has a real shot for being on the shelves at GenCon, but if we don't make it (I'm not going to compromise on quality at this stage of the game), it will be out shortly thereafter. 

 

I'm really excited to see this done as well. There are so many things I want to do with it, but I have been held back. I have been posting a spell per day over at www.intrepidgm.com if you want to see some of the expanded magics. Those will be folded into future products now that we have a base on which to stand.

 

Thank you all for your support and patience as we, basically, learned how to publish a book. It was a school of hard knocks on all fronts, but I'm happy to say that graduation day is around the corner (finally). 

[Nolgroth]

Good luck on your Gen Con release. I have to admit that I was starting to lose faith. Glad to see that you are getting back on track.

[Legendsmiths]

It is going to be tight, but right now our shipping schedule says yes!