Kobold Press Tome of Beasts Kickstarter

[kylania]

Kobold Press just opened up a Kickstarter for their Tome of Beasts and Tome of Lairs for 5E (https://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2924-TOME-OF-BEASTS-Preview-A-5E-Monster-Book-from-the-Kobolds!). Over 300 monsters and a bunch of lairs with digital battlemaps!

One can never have too many places to kill too many things!

[viresanimi]

Hmm... I didn't think Wizards let anyone else on the 5E train. Or have they changed their minds?

Vires Animi

[Trenloe]

Hmm... I didn't think Wizards let anyone else on the 5E train. Or have they changed their minds?
Publishers are getting around it by publishing under the OGL and not mentioning "Dungeons and Dragons".

You would imagine there's been some form of behind the scenes discussion/informal agreement between Kobold Press and WotC about what's acceptable or not - after all Kobold Press did develop "The Tyranny of Dragons" 5E adventures for WotC.

[jshauber]

Interesting, now if they would just add an FG level reward or stretch goal or add-on I would be all over it...

Guess I am getting spoiled, but hey, it's my money!

[epithet]

They "Tome of Beasts" also comes with a "Tome of Lairs." This will have lairs designed to host one or more encounters featuring monsters from the Tome of Beasts, each of which will have a battlemap that can be used with VTT software like Fantasy Grounds.

The kickstarter's stretch goals include tokens for all of the entries in the Tome of Beasts. Hundreds have been unlocked already, and with 2 weeks left the campaign is very close to the final token unlock.

While this doesn't yet have an official Fantasy Grounds component, it will be full of content that can be imported into Fantasy Grounds and used in your campaigns with minimal effort. I know that with the official, licensed 5e products we've started to get spoiled by "TV dinner" content that is heat-and-eat, but c'mon, man... Hamburger Helper is still a pretty easy meal.

Did I mention that this will come with about 350 tokens?

[epithet]

I note that the Fantasy Grounds module issue is being worked out:

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/avatars/223567/Kobold_Miner_Logo_Revised_2.original.gif?v=1410661 722&w=80&h=80&fit=crop&auto=format&frame=1&q=92& (https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/350683997)
Creator Kobold Press (https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/350683997) 6 days ago (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/tome-of-beasts-300-new-monsters-for-5th-edition/comments?cursor=11375788#comment-11375787)@Eric, your timing is perfect. We've been talking to Smiteworks about a Fantasy Grounds module for the Book of Lairs and/or for the Tome of Beasts itself.
If the deal comes together (note that it's still an "if"), the FG Book of Lairs would include the lairs and maps in FG format. The FG Tome of Beasts would include tokens for every monster, full art, and full stats in the FG format.
I hope that would address what you're looking for. Backers have definitely been asking for good digital assets, and we want to provide those.

[Trenloe]

FG support announced: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/tome-of-beasts-300-new-monsters-for-5th-edition/posts/1387024

[kylania]

Woo!

[Dracones]

Yeah, very nice. Also glad I can back just the FG versions.

[kylania]

So, I just saw the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fSLUsil3EY) where you state that spells will not be included with this FG product because of licensing. Will these modules be encrypted and uneditable like the other 5E content?

You state in the video how easy it is to drag over spells for a single NPC, but not for all 340 of them! Also that's only good per campaign. If we're not able to save to the base module because it's encrypted that means we'll need to make a module of our own in order to not have to duplicate effort for every time we use these things. The sheer amount of effort per beast to make them complete almost makes it more worthwhile to parse the PDFs yourself since you're basically going to have to do that manually.

Will the final price of these modules reflect this extra required consumer work? The Kickstarter add ons are pretty expensive for not having creatures that are usable out of the box. The reason we pay full price for FG versions of books we've already purchased is because we don't have to deal with "some assembly required".

This is very disappointing.

[Zacchaeus]

I don't think all 340 beatsies will have innate spell casting. If you wanted to go through all of the beasts and add in the spells at once you could then export those as a module. I'd hazard a guess that that would be a lot less time than parsing them. However I would suggest that if you prepare some for a campaign (and you won't need all 340 of them for that) you can then export the NPCs and add to that module for your next campaign as so on.

[Dracones]

It's WoTC's fault. Fantasy Grounds is their digital VTT company. Kobold Press makes official modules for them. If these two companies can't include a couple of spells Wizards has really screwed the pooch with how they're handling the licensing of 5E.

On the FG side this wouldn't be a problem if they were able to link the spells in the new bestiary directly to their official data modules. But unfortunately that ends up being real complicated because there's the PHB, class companions and custom imported user PHB modules. So either that needs to go in their long TODO list for Unity or Wizards need to get off their *** and figure out community licensing so people don't have to bend over backwards while skipping rope and whistling Dixie to support their game.

[epithet]

It is unfortunate that the program still can't pick up the save DC and spell attack bonus from the spellcasting trait.

Also, I hope very much that the tokens that were unlocked as part of the kickstarter will be real actual tokens and not those circular pogs shown in the demonstration.

[damned]

Also, I hope very much that the tokens that were unlocked as part of the kickstarter will be real actual tokens and not those circular pogs shown in the demonstration.

If the demo shows pogs then its probably pogs... if you have a preference for something different make sure it gets heard!

[ddavison]

If we get some special permission to include the spell descriptions automatically, then we will do that. If we don't, it doesn't look like it will be possible per the Open Gaming License. The tokens will actually be pogs like they were shown in the preview video. If there are any other tokens unlocked and supplied by Kobold Press, then we will include these instead. Otherwise, we have to work with what we have. I will say that knowing the cost and the time delay it would take to commission 340 new top-down style tokens, I highly doubt that there will be any new tokens unlocked.

We *might* be able to solve the auto spell linking issue through some creative coding, but no guarantees here. I will bounce some ideas by Moon_Wizard to get his thoughts and will post back in time before the Kickstarter ends if I can. Getting it during the Kickstarter is definitely cheaper than it will be afterward if you also plan to get the Lairs or if you are bundling it with either print or PDF options.

[Seananigans]

Pogs for life!

So the FG product will be separated between MM-style module, and the lair map module? Or will it all be combined?

[ddavison]

Pogs for life!

So the FG product will be separated between MM-style module, and the lair map module? Or will it all be combined?

That is correct. They are separate products that will be sold independently from each other. Kickstarter backers can also choose one or the other, so keeping them separate makes the most sense, I think.

BTW, I sent my thoughts over to Moon_Wizard. We'll let you know if the approach I suggest is doable for the spells.

[epithet]

If the demo shows pogs then its probably pogs... if you have a preference for something different make sure it gets heard!

I'm doing my best.

I'm fine with the FG module being released with pogs, as long as the real tokens are released separately. I actually prefer that, honestly, because it lets me do things like stack several stirge tokens into a swarm token or add an evil glow to one worg in the pack, whereas if the tokens are released as part of the product then they're locked in the encrypted archive. The tokens should be released separately anyway, because they are completely independent of the Fantasy Grounds add-on.

These tokens were unlocked in three stretch goals, at $30,000 $50,000 and $85,000. Other stretch goals include adventures, lairs with battlemaps, and groups of 5 monsters. I don't know what kind of tokens you should expect for the cost of an adventure module, a lair, a battlemap, and 5 monsters (with art), because I am not remotely familiar with the economics of publishing. I can tell you I expect more than pogs. Let's face it--DD is making those pogs as part of the FG module creation process, which is a separate cost (for which I am gladly paying.)

To be clear, if the stretch goal tokens turn out to be just pogs, my problem will be with Kobold, not with Smite Works.

[ddavison]

I think we have solved this issue (untested, but doable.) Basically, when you open the NPC or they get added to the combat tracker, it will check for spells known that are available in other books you have opened in your library. It the spell has a name only but no description (this part might change), then it will bring over the full description. This allows us to distribute the monsters without including any IP protected by copyright from D&D or any other source and still have them be fully usable and set up within Fantasy Grounds. It does mean that you will have to own FG versions of modules which include the referenced spells though. If you have the Complete Core Class Pack, you'll have the PHB Deluxe module and it will work seamlessly. If you only have a smaller class pack, it will work for the spells that you have available in that pack. If you built your own spell library, it will use that.

By the way, the Tome of Beasts is now around 400 monsters for $39. That's only 10 cents per monster, complete with stats, description, image and pog-style token. Back now to help unlock more stretch goals. Only 11 hours left.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/tome-of-beasts-300-new-monsters-for-5th-edition

[kylania]

Absolutely brilliant solution guys! Thanks for your tireless efforts.

[Gadreun]

Sorry if I missed this..when can we buy the products for FG, approximately? I missed the kickstarter completely :(

[rob2e]

Sorry if I missed this..when can we buy the products for FG, approximately? I missed the kickstarter completely :(

Available in April for FG. Maybe earlier for printed stuff? I think the info is on kickstarter still.

[Gadreun]

Available in April for FG. Maybe earlier for printed stuff? I think the info is on kickstarter still.

Thanks!

[spite]

I think we have solved this issue (untested, but doable.) Basically, when you open the NPC or they get added to the combat tracker, it will check for spells known that are available in other books you have opened in your library. It the spell has a name only but no description (this part might change), then it will bring over the full description. This allows us to distribute the monsters without including any IP protected by copyright from D&D or any other source and still have them be fully usable and set up within Fantasy Grounds. It does mean that you will have to own FG versions of modules which include the referenced spells though. If you have the Complete Core Class Pack, you'll have the PHB Deluxe module and it will work seamlessly. If you only have a smaller class pack, it will work for the spells that you have available in that pack. If you built your own spell library, it will use that.

By the way, the Tome of Beasts is now around 400 monsters for $39. That's only 10 cents per monster, complete with stats, description, image and pog-style token. Back now to help unlock more stretch goals. Only 11 hours left.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/tome-of-beasts-300-new-monsters-for-5th-edition

Is this a way to have current Monster Manual and Campaigns that have monsters with spells work? Or is this a feature that's only going to work with the tome?
I would love the **** out of this for making fights with NPC spellcasters 10x easier to setup.

[ddavison]

It should work with any monster once we finish implementing it.

-Doug

[Patou]

Available in April for FG. Maybe earlier for printed stuff? I think the info is on kickstarter still.

I can't wait....good stuff for 2016!!