Yes, another. The update a few days ago was in response to concerns around the accuracy of the converted 5E statistics. Today's update is a response to formatting and layout concerns.
It Looks Great!
Thanks. But credit really goes to the several backers who cancelled their pledges out of reaction to the "spreadsheet-ness" of the layout as it was, and a few backers in particular who DM'd me to advise as to how important layout and cosmetics are to certain backers.
I'm too busy to download the new version... what does it look like?
Take a gander below.
5E Skelettin Layout Revamp
What Are the Differences?
All of these were to improve how useful and neat the end product will be:
Fonts: I picked TypeKit and CC fonts that echo the official fonts used in 5E products.
Shading & Icons: I really liked these, but I must admit it's a bit crisper and less busy to have text be, well, just text.
Common Stats Up-Front: On the first page is a summary of the vital stats of the monster, presented as the monster is typically encountered. That is, it reflects the Quadded Statblock stats from the default challenge level (Low, Moderate, Advanced, or Elite, in my parlance) of the monster. This makes the monster usable from a visual and core rules standpoint on a single page.
Variant Statistics & Details as Suffix: If you need a reminder as to what Low-Light Vision means, I do feel it's useful to have this stuff in the monster's entry, but realistically, how often are you gonna reference that? Hence the suffix. Variant Stats displays the stats most likely to vary from one challenge level to another in full Quadded Statblock format, but blown up so it's a bit more readable and less like an Excel document.
Feedback Welcome!
This is, at the end of the day, your product, really. As you've seen, I do strive to react to feedback, both to improve the product as well as to make sure it's as much in line with your expectations and desires as I can make it.
Hopefully you like the revised approach. Maybe you don't. I'd love to hear your thoughts either way if you're so inclined. It can only help the end result!
Updated 5E Skelettin Available
over 6 years ago
– Mon, Nov 06, 2017 at 09:20:00 AM
An updated version of this file is now available on RPGnow; if you have the old version already, RPGnow likely has auto-notified you of the update.
For those who haven't checked it out, it's free; if you haven't grabbed it already, give it a try.
Art credit Ethan Slayton
What's New?
Specifically, this version is much more 5E than the prior version, which still had some Pathfinder-specific language and artifacts around it.
Today's version has been refined to better represent 5E rules and to reflect the monster in the context of Fifth Edition.
In addition to simply being more accurate and usable, this update is intended to address concerns that some backers and potential backers have voiced regarding the 5E aspect of this project.
Feedback
I rely on feedback--from friends, fellow GMs, players, and backers--to further enhance the tools and routines I use to take Pathfinder monsters and adapt them to 5E. I will admit that my approach for historical projects has been less than the throughness that the Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm endeavor will require, and I'm glad of the opportunity to make it better.
I greatly appreciate the feedback that I've received thus far; it helps me further hone my Pathfinder-to-5E conversion skills, and will ultimately help make the Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm product significantly more useful to all!
15 Stretch Goal Unlocked; New Stretch Goal Identified
over 6 years ago
– Fri, Nov 03, 2017 at 03:54:51 PM
Huzzah! The following Stretch Goal has been unlocked:
UNLOCKED! $15,000: FlexAI support and tables for OGL monsters: The same concept described in an earlier Stretch Goal, but applied to the hundreds of OGL monsters as well. Greatly expands the versatility of a beloved set of beasties!
This makes Volumes 1 and 2 even more useful than they were going to be already. Psyched!
New Stretch Goal: Popularity Contest
192 Backers: Additional Monsters: Swarms. If this Bestiary becomes my most popular Kickstarter, surpassing Artifacts & Artifice, I'll add some additional new custom monsters of the Swarms type. Get it? Swarms of backers? Eh.
New Pledge Level: Crunchmaster
over 6 years ago
– Fri, Nov 03, 2017 at 03:54:31 PM
By Request: New Pledge Level
I've had some requests for this type of thing, so I figured I'd add it in case it's helpful: Crunchmaster is now a live option for your pledge.
All of the crunch I plan to publish in the timeframe of this Kickstarter. In PDF and full-color hardcover. More than 2,700 statblocks, probably closer to 3,000 all told.
Also includes the opportunity to design-a-monster with full-color custom art commission, and a PDF and premium-color hardcover of the ABR Art Folio.
Specifically, you get all of the following in hardcover and PDF:
That's 7 books chock full of content. It's expensive, but it's a huge discount off of retail.
Hundreds of monsters, hundreds of PCs / NPCs, and dozens of villains, henchmen, and lairs.
I can't really guarantee that you'd never, ever, need any other form of stats for your campaign or game. But it's a fair bet that you can run a robust, years-long campaign solely from the crunch in this offering.
Hopefully that's useful.
Why Isn't There a Crunchmaster for 5E?
Simple answer here: there aren't 5E versions of the Character and Villainous Compendium books.
16k Stretch Goal Fallen: Undead Preview
over 6 years ago
– Fri, Nov 03, 2017 at 03:25:02 PM
Huzzah! We've hit 16k, and as a result, we've unlocked more Undead monsters.
So pumped: I love undead beasties. Like oozes, there's something fundamentally other about Undead of any variety, lending an otherworldly tint to even the tamest, lowest-level critter.
Not that dragons, devils, and other beasties can't be scary as all get-out, to be sure. But the whole point of a well-structured Undead is that it's the monster equivalent of the Uncanny Valley: Close to normal, but purposefully other.
Preview Thoughts
So without further ado, here's a sampling of thoughts around potential additional new monsters of the Undead type. These--any, all, some, others--would be in Volume 3 exclusively, btw.
Ghosteel
Nightbite
Graveling
Grimkitten
Plugtraute
Skuttel
Darkpatch: a combination disease and monster, this is a semisentient hiveminded fungus that spreads through the air. If more than two creatures suffer from Darkpatch in the same area, the link among them forms a sentience that is capable of acting on its own whim and exerts a limited control over those afflicted. The control strength, and what can be controlled, grow as does the number of victims.
Dreadmold: Undead Ooze. TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ALL IN ONE.
Graveworms
Grimthing
Mortalisk
Nightmare Thread: A decomposed filament from the marrow of an evil corpse, given a maddening sense of purpose but little mobility. Threads drift through calm areas, nearly invisible, but so fine and sharp that simply brushing against them unprotected can sever a limb. Remember that scene with the lasers in the first Resident Evil movie? Yeah, that, except the lasers are necromantic, semi-sentient dead tissue.
Nocturne Dragon: Oh, yes. Undead dragons are almost too easy to make awesome. So I'll have to try and make this even more awesome. Thankfully, the artists I get to work with are extraordinarily capable, and like any good RPG artists, they LOOOOVE the opportunity to draw dragons, particularly new-ish ones, so this one will be super fun.
The Stitched: A monster, but also a range of monsters--a new template.
