Saturday, June 11, 2011

MY LATEST PUBLICATION: "THE LOST CITY"

So, today I saw for the first time an in-print copy of my latest publication: THE LOST CITY, a D&D (4th edition) adventure that lacks both Cynideceans and Yuan-ti but has plenty to make up for them. Being neither a reprint* of module B4. THE LOST CITY (one of Tom Moldvay's fondly remembered classics or, in this case, near-classic) nor a revisiting of DWELLERS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY (an early work by TSR stalwart Zeb Cook that introduced Howardesque snake-men to D&D), it's an all-new adventure by Logan Bonner, et al.** I think elements of both precursors found their way into this, though, in the form of the lizard-like folk lurking in the city who behave in interestingly peculiar ways that shd lead to lots of role-playing opportunities (for thems that likes to actually role-play in their role-playing games).

Anyway, it's all-new, 96 pages, 4e D&D from the good folks*** at Open Design/Kobold Quarterly. Here's the link:


Nor is this the only roleplaying credit that shd have been included in the updates I've been meaning to make on Sacnoth's Scriptorium. A few months back saw the release of THE FAEIE RING by Scott Gable, which I also edited:


Actually this is just the Introduction to a much longer work. Originally it was to be ten chapters, of which six are already fully edited; I understand the plan is now to divide this into two volumes, each detailing five Faerie Lords (think the old Ravenloft Darklords each with his or her own realm and you'll get the idea). What I've seen of it so far is really intriguing and well done, with some highly unusual takes on the material that really break away from the fey stereotypes into something much darker and more horrific, on the whole. Hence my own private nickname for it, the 'Feyonomican'

And finally there's one more that's finished but not yet come out: a five-part CALL OF CTHLUHU adventure, RED EYE OF AZATHOTH, in which the characters play through five segments of the same campaign set in five different historical eras: Lindisfarne during the Viking Age, Feudal Japan in the 12th century, Inquisitorial Spain, colonial Roanoke (want your characters to find out what happened to the Lost Colony by being part of it?), and the Wild West. I thought it was a fascinating concept, and used the hook of similar events playing out in wildly divergent places to great effect -- although be warned that the scenarios are quite gruesome, much more so than is usual with C.o.C. Here's the link:




If you pick up any of these three, let me know what you think.
--John R.


*nor updated expansion, a la the Silver Anniversary 'Return to" series, several of which I worked on

**i.e., Logan is the author responsible for the overall project, with Jobe Bittman, Michael Furlanetto, Tracy Hurley, and Quinn Murphy joining him in writing individual chapters detailing adventures in different parts of the underground city; I edited the whole, smoothing out the occasional disconnects between the different chapters.

***hi Wolf! hi Shelly!

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