Troll Lord Games

Bellem wrote:

Bowbe wrote:11 years in the making. Or thereabouts. I've been guiding this project for longer than my daughter has been alive!

I started working on this project a long time ago with an old writing partner Shane Glodowski, just after we finished working on Bard's Gate for Necromancer Games, and before I got put on some work with Wilderlands ...

Since you worked with Necromancer Games and the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting, how would you compare this product to City State of the Invincible Overlord? That has always been my favorite city RPG product, although one of the things I did find it lacking was a good listing of the people in power. (Some of it was there, but you had to dig for it.)

I've been told it is its own setting and doesn't tie in to any other existing worlds. Are there plans for expanding on this world? I wouldn't want to go through all of the trouble of fitting it in to a world and then find out that there will be other products for it that I then cannot use.

Thanks.

Right. Here's the thing with a lot of cities, like Waterdeep or CSotIO, or even the not Gygax City of Greyhawk... you really aren't supposed to off anybody "important" in those cities. Remember when the Forgotten Realms would have stats for some big somebody like a lord or mayor and it would be listed as "At least 10 levels higher than the PC" or some such hokum? I don't do that. You want to off anyone in most of the cities I've done (Eskadia:The Jack of Lies) being no exception... you can. Buy land. Run a business, set up a stronghold, kill civic leaders and bury them in the basement. Really! Do it! Eskadia is gritty like that. It is of course influenced by great cities of fantasy literature like Lankhmar and Sanctuary, and of course to a degree by City State as well as lessons learned from previous city endeavors. The setting encourages characters to dive in and become a part of the city structure. Be a Den lord, join a cult, form a street gang, form a guild. It would be fun as a starting place for adventurers as well as a place to continually visit for adventurers already on the march to greatness.

As for expansions> Yes they are coming. That said I keep my gods fairly generic. I mean they are unique and interesting but I don't offer much that isn't easily swappable to any campaign setting. Demons/Devils on the other hand are unique but again they could be used in any setting. Who couldn't use 11-13 more demon lords and arch fiends and several of their underlings for their game?

The expansion to the Haunted Highlands slated for a bit later this spring/early summer is also very exciting for me and for fans of the Haunted Highlands. This will be a revision of the original texts (about 160 pages of stuff) PLUS another 130 pages worth of new material that nearly doubles the existing Haunted Highlands content with detailed descriptions of the villages and ruins of the Duchy of Karbosk with dungeons, new monsters, and other surprises i'm not ready to get into yet! This is all completed material that is a bit of art and a bit of editing away from launch! That said you know, I've never really had a problem swapping in stuff from any source into any setting with a little bit of elbow grease and a crowbar!

Excellent, Casey!!

Rhuvein wrote:Excellent, Casey!!

+1

R-

Bowbe wrote:Here's the thing with a lot of cities, like Waterdeep or CSotIO, or even the not Gygax City of Greyhawk... you really aren't supposed to off anybody "important" in those cities. Remember when the Forgotten Realms would have stats for some big somebody like a lord or mayor and it would be listed as "At least 10 levels higher than the PC" or some such hokum? I don't do that. You want to off anyone in most of the cities I've done (Eskadia:The Jack of Lies) being no exception... you can.

While I'd agree this type of thing applies to Waterdeep, it really doesn't for CSIO. I haven't looked at my copy of Waterdeep in a while, but the primary thing that turned me off of that product was when I read about some special group that tracked down and removed any threat to the city or any major crime. Of course then soon published a supplement about a whole underground crime group who somehow avoids the before mentioned police type group.

CSIO on the other hand, may have high level leaders, but then I would expect a city state to do so. It wouldn't make much sense for a low level leader to be in charge. For the original CSIO, I think the ruler was set as a level 16 fighter, while the Necromancer update to 3rd ED set him as a 20th level fighter. High level, but not beyond the ability of a party to take out.

The Jack of Lies product does sound like something I would like, so I'll be ordering a copy shortly.

Thanks for the information.

The area map:



Thanks,
Steve

Placement in the World of Aihrde

As Casey has expanded his setting quite a bit placing the Haunted Highlands was a little tougher. Putting it in the Lands of Ursal would disrupt the history and culture there (the setting not the city) so after much thought I placed it on the far edge of the world near where the Empire of the Sun sat. That way you have roughly 2000 miles of unmapped territory between the highlands and the Shadow Mountains as the area map above shows about 500 miles of country south of Eskadia. This allows the CK to use the full extent of the HH setting material, but allows them to interact with the lands of Ursal of so desired, or to explore south toward the ruins of the Empire.

But here is what lies in the book:

USING THE WORLD OF AIHRDE
If you are placing the Free City of Eskadia or the Haunted Highlands in the world of Aihrde you have several choices.

USING JUST THE CITY
Eskadia, The Jewel of the North, The Jack of Lies serves perfectly as one of the Hanse Cit States. These cities rest upon the southern shores of the Inner Sea, which itself lies in northern reaches. The cities are controlled by merchants, guilds, tradesmen, freebooters, and the same folk one encounters in Eskadia. It is up to the Castle Keeper to physically place the town; however, Fiume is the best choice. The CK need not worry about nomenclature, for in Aihrde many regions have multiple names given to them by the dwarves, elves, various humans etc. Fiume is one of the oldest cities in the region, tracing its lineage to the days of the Ethrum ascendency; Eskadia is the name used for the city by the Trade Guilds and its use has been spreading for some time.

USING THE HAUNTED HIGHLANDS
As noted on the supplied mad the City of Eskadia is separated from the Haunted Highlands by about 250 miles. The Highlands themselves comprise about 250 square miles of terrain, the map continues south into the realm of Rodensia. Fitting this vast swath of country into the Lands of Ursal is difficult unless one shrinks the distances. However, in keeping the integrity of Casey’s distances intact, it is best to place the Highlands and City out of the Lands of Ursal, using them to detail regions of Aihrde that want for more exploration.

In the far west lies the ruins of the powerful colony of refugees, Solarian. Here people who had fled the Winter Dark fought on through the long cold centuries. But they built a network of smaller towns and colonies along the coast; they traded with the people who had long dwelt in the region. Three human tribes originated from these regions, the Engale, Ethrum and Aenocians and the Solarians began a brisk trade with them. One of the largest and most prosperous of the cities that Solarians traded with was the Free City of Eskadia that sat north of the Haunted Highlands, which in turn lay to the north by several hundred miles of the Colony. When the Colony fell apart after the Winter Dark Wars and lay in ruins the trade to the south broke up, but many peoples who did not return to the Lands of Ursal spread out, mingling with the many smaller realms of the Engale in the region dubbed Rodensia and the Haunted Highlands.

Everyone who pledge and purchased the copy of the PDF should have an email from YouSendIt in your inbox with the download link.

Please spread the word about The City of Eskadia Jack of Lies!

Thank you!
Steve

Awesome mappage Steve! Bellam you are correct about City State, it is one of my all time favorites. To be more appropriate I should have said if you plan on taking on any of its civic leaders... Good luck. I think the mayor had a mind flayer as his backup? LOL

Trying to decide if I wat the theif or burglar preorder and right now the deciding factor is what version of the PHB is included I'm assuming its the 5th edition with color, but not sure Help please, also how long did it take to get the PDF version?

Edit: did some reading again and I had forgot that it is supposed to be within 72 hours, *headdesk*

Edit: Just went ahead and got the theif preorder anyways, I can always give the PHB to a friend

Edit: Got the pdf within 3 hours, woot woot

Dracyian wrote:Trying to decide if I wat the theif or burglar preorder and right now the deciding factor is what version of the PHB is included I'm assuming its the 5th edition with color, but not sure Help please, also how long did it take to get the PDF version?

Edit: did some reading again and I had forgot that it is supposed to be within 72 hours, *headdesk*

Edit: Just went ahead and got the theif preorder anyways, I can always give the PHB to a friend

Edit: Got the pdf within 3 hours, woot woot

Excellent news that! This book rocks for a certain, we need to get the word out!

Thanks,
Steve

Can I preorder by email or call it in? The shipping calculator seems to be a bit screwy and wants ro charge large amounts for small packages to Canada.

M

I'll hollar at Steve if he hasn't checked the forum this weekend

I'm sure they can work it out for you.

C.

moriarty777 wrote:Can I preorder by email or call it in? The shipping calculator seems to be a bit screwy and wants ro charge large amounts for small packages to Canada.

M

What's it asking you mort? The scale is set and seems on target. and which package are you shooting for?

Thanks
Steve

Troll Lord wrote:

moriarty777 wrote:Can I preorder by email or call it in? The shipping calculator seems to be a bit screwy and wants ro charge large amounts for small packages to Canada.

M

What's it asking you mort? The scale is set and seems on target. and which package are you shooting for?

Thanks
Steve

It charged me about $12.50. Didn't seem too out of the ordinary.

Oops. My bad...

Apparently I had a couple items saved in my cart from a 2-3 months back. Removing those items fixed that problem.

Thought now, to be entirely honest, I think shipping might still be a problem. Just for the book, (plus PDF at cutpurse level), it only wants to charge me $3.90

I really like that price but don't want to take advantage of the Trolls.



M

Hah! Did you fix that on your blogspot!
Either way I'm glad its all sorted out for you! Hope you like the product!

Bowbe wrote:Hah! Did you fix that on your blogspot!
Either way I'm glad its all sorted out for you! Hope you like the product!

I have just done so. I have added a comment to the original post as well as noted the error in the post itself plus added a new post explaining the error. Crossposted to Facebook, Google+, and Twitter for good measure!



The cart system is a bit screwy though. Casebound C&C screens cost $14.90 to ship to Canada but the book costs only $3.90 to ship?? I have the screens now (and they are AWESOME) but that really doesn't make much sense to me.

M

Tick tock! Still time to make sure we get this in hardback!

It would be a deserving fit to the Haunted Highlands. A nice, big ole', hard cover book. Does everybody know this book is the prelude to the entire Haunted Highlands setting coming out? I'm not sure we have seen that fact advertised enough.

~O

Omote wrote:It would be a deserving fit to the Haunted Highlands. A nice, big ole', hard cover book. Does everybody know this book is the prelude to the entire Haunted Highlands setting coming out? I'm not sure we have seen that fact advertised enough.

~O

What totally did not know that now I'm excited, I kept getting the feeling that this was a side project with no canon relationship to the haunted highlands but was easily combined with it

As I understand, this book is set in the north of the Haunted Highlands, and is definitely a part of the overall setting. TLG NEEDS TO PROMOTE THIS FACT MORE!

~O

You are right.

The Free City of Eskadia is a Port on the Northern Peninsula about two "Haunted Highlands" maps away from The Duchy of Karbosk, home to the Haunted Highlands saga of adventures. It uses the same pantheon, with a few new gods thrown in. There are alliances and ties to the Haunted Highlands setting as well as descriptions that expand the "world" of the Haunted Highlands beyond the bounds of the original adventures.

Forthcoming are further expansions, but if you are a Haunted Highlands fan, Eskadia will not only be a welcome expansion, but also a more "familiar" urban type campaign.

It's familiar in two ways... Its got that grittiness that Haunted Highlands offers, and its a city setting that offers a break from having to camp outside. Unlike Dro Mandras it isn't a complete ruin or a city under siege... well not from the outside anyhow...

At the same time the overall vision of the HH setting has always been... slap it into your own world... or slap it into whichever pre-purchased campaign world you like. GH, FR, Airde, The Known World, Wilderlands... it works as a good violent hillbilly cousin to all of those and more!

Thanks again, and lets get this baby printed in the Hardback!

C

I can't wait to see more Haunted Highlands. I've perused it over the years, but haven't had a chance to use it (outside of running the Mythnoc Cairns at a con). By the time my players finish the A series, we'll be looking for something else. HH could be it. Not to mention these add on products. Here's hoping some of this will be available at my next TLG convention booth.

I've already gone over $400.00 in gaming purchases, thanks in no small part to the TLG PDF sale, as well as the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter, buying Munchkin Quest and its expansion, etc... so unless this carries over into June I'll just have to wait until the normal release. (Fixed income, only get paid at the beginning of the month.)

Out of curiosity, how large in population is Eskadia?

garydee wrote:Out of curiosity, how large in population is Eskadia?

Large, i think almost 100,000

Dracyian wrote:

garydee wrote:Out of curiosity, how large in population is Eskadia?

Large, i think almost 100,000

Ok, thanks!

garydee wrote:

Dracyian wrote:

garydee wrote:Out of curiosity, how large in population is Eskadia?

Large, i think almost 100,000

Ok, thanks!

Quick go and put a 1000 dollar preorder in so we make the 4000 and we all get hard covers lol

Dracyian wrote:

garydee wrote:

Dracyian wrote:

garydee wrote:Out of curiosity, how large in population is Eskadia?

Large, i think almost 100,000

Ok, thanks!

Quick go and put a 1000 dollar preorder in so we make the 4000 and we all get hard covers lol

Nah, I'm too broke to do that.

I noticed somebody on the website got an electronic version of this book for their pre-order. Did this go out to all pre-orders for Jack of Lies? I did not get an e-mail for this book yet if so.

Omote076 [AT] aol [DOT] com

Thanks.

~O