Your VTT Pack Just Got a LOT Cooler
over 2 years ago – Fri, Dec 03, 2021 at 07:20:47 PM

I was hoping to be able to announce this, and thanks to some great support by Steve, Phil, and Alain at SJGames, plus Nick and Nose doing simply fantastic work, now I can.

What, then, is this about? Gaming Ballistic is thrilled to note that the "VTT Pack" is now more than just tokens...you still get the tokens, of course.

But you also get more.

The VTT Pack Includes a full Foundry VTT Asset Pack

The pack will contain tokenized images, full images, and "simplified" data that works inside of Foundry. 

N&N have designed the user interface for the creatures to resemble the layout of the actual hardcopy quick-reference cards. Here are two examples (though they're still Work-in-Progress, so forgive any data entry errors).

Here's a Red Deer or Elk:

And here is our favorite Mountain Troll (Fjallatroll)

• What's with the yellow? That shows that you're mousing over something that's clickable. Click Bad Temper (12) and it does a check to see if the disad is triggered. Click Polearm (12) and it rolls an attack against whichever token is highlighted.
• Oooo. A control point box? Yes. And as you change it, it highlights what threshold you're at in the lower right portion of the card. Why bother with a computer if you're not going to make it do simple math for you?
• Click on the image in the top right corner of the card, and it shows the player an image on their screen. The art will be the same as that in the primary book. Like below.

Watch this quick video and see how it'll work.

But I still Get Tokens, Right?

Not everyone uses Foundry, but this is the VTT this Kickstarter is supporting, and the one SJGames has given the nod to go ahead with. But everyone who has ordered the VTT pack or had it included in a pledge will get the tokens in JPG format, similar to the ones below. Those will come via Backerkit.

(It is possible that instead of full-body tokens, I zoom in farther and focus on just the torso, since these things are usually pretty small on the screen. I'm open to opinons; maybe I'll see if I can do a poll.)

How Do I get My Asset Pack?

You'll need an instance of Foundry, and the asset pack is purchased and installed through the Foundry system. It won't open until you apply a unique license key for that asset, which locks it to your account (NOT your computer, your Foundry Account). Only that account can open that copy of the asset pack.

There are certain to be some complications - this is the first time I've done this myself. But with some goodwill and patience, we'll see it done.

A Closing Word and Thanks

I am super excited to be able to provide this. VTT support via maps is something I've done for a while. The tokens are nice. But to be able to have all of those stats in place, so you can make an encounter by dragging the desired beasts onto the screen, and boom, let's play?

Oh, yes. That saves time. And I love saving time.

This of course would not have been possible without Steve, Phil, and Alain sitting down with me and being willing to encourage this VTT experiment. And they're watching closely: If this is something you want to see SJGames do more of, vote with your dollars.

The other thing about this capability is I don't personally have a flippin' clue how to provide it myself. Nick and Nose, the pair of talented and dedicated folks who brought you the GURPS 4th Edition Game Aid (Unofficial) for Foundry. They have volunteered their time and sweat equity to implement that gorgeous and helpful piece of work, and the three of us immediately saw the benefits in bringing the Bestiary into that sphere.

Doug Chats Bestiary with Shadow of the GM
over 2 years ago – Fri, Dec 03, 2021 at 07:44:47 AM

I chatted for a bit less than an hour yesterday with Barry Dewey-Robertson, who runs the Shadow of the GM podcast. 

He's a Patron of mine, and also running a Nordlond Actual Play campaign.

In the podcast, he asks a lot of the key questions. Why a Bestiary? Why now? How portable? 

Share widely!

S2E19: GURPS Bestiary KS - Interview with Douglas Cole

New Reward Level! Starter Pack, QR PDF, VTT Pack at $70
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 12:23:27 AM

A backer wanted these things together, and so I added it. For $15 extra you get the VTT Token Pack ($15) and the QR PDF ($10), plus the usual contents of the PDF Starter.

This is an all-digital package.

Note on VTT Pack: All non-retail for $100 and higher get it
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 07:48:17 PM

An astute would-be backer noted that the pledges at $100 and up didn't include the VTT token pack. That's because those pledge levels were added later in the game, and I didn't retroactively change the other ones.

So: All non-retail pledges starting at $100 and higher get the VTT token pack.

That includes:

• Bestiary PDF + Nordlond PDFs (now + VTT Tokens) for $100
• Bestiary (Print+PDF) and All Nordlond PDF (now + VTT Tokens) for $125
• I Want it All! includes the Cards, VTT Pack, and QR PDF for $400. You pays me $400 for "it all," and you gets it all.

(you really need to say that last one like a character actor in Last Action Hero to get the full experience).

Horse Sense
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 12:06:33 PM

While horses and other equines aren't terribly important (and often an active hindrance) in a dungeon (or In the Labyrinth, to borrow a phrase), they're both common and important to most daily life. 

They're used for traction, riding, and as a status symbol, and are the defining trait for cultures in reality and fiction. From the Mongols to the Turkish horse archers to the samurai, and over to Westeros and the Dothraki (though ACOUP has a few things to say about that), or the Algar clans from the David Eddings novels.

This particular "monster of the day" preview doesn't have art, but the real thing will. Ylva will of course appear, plus illustrations or photos of various horse types, from war ponies to destriers to thoroughbreds to shire horses, mules, and donkeys. Maybe a reindeer too, because it's Norðlond, and we all know how those guys are.

I'll say this: Horse people love their horses, and being specific about them. I don't think the Dungeon Fantasy RPG is the right place for the kind of details that real connoisseurs go into, but I do expect to get a lot of feedback on this, so I expect some degree of revision to take place. Heck, I've revised these roughly a dozen times already.

One thing I will say: The nearly $73,000 price tag for the heavy warhorse in the example - roughly 50× higher than a ST 20 horse with no special training - is not terribly exceptional in terms of a multiple of a "boring" horse's price. The 10th most expensive horse ever sold went for just under $10 million in 2005, and - more pertinently - I looked up historical sales records from the time periods where such horses were being trained, bought, and sold. Yeah. Big money.

In any case, I hope folks enjoy the notes on care and feeding of horses (deliberately simplified for the DFRPG, of course, of course) plus the pricing guide, for campaigns that care.