Tuesday 26 February 2019

Rangers of Shadow Deep – In Progress


Having posted about what is coming to the world of Frostgrave in 2019, I thought readers might also enjoy hearing about what is in progress for Rangers of Shadow Deep. Now first, I just want to explain that Rangers is a very different beast than Frostgrave in terms of my work schedule. Since Frostgrave is published through Osprey, all of my work is scheduled 1 – 2 years in advance. Thus I have a much firm grasp of what is coming out in a given year. Rangers, purposely, has a much more ‘free form’ publishing schedule, which allows me to write to my own whims and publish when a given work is ready. With that said, here is what I am planning for Rangers of Shadow Deep.

Temple of Madness – this expansion has just been sent to the designer, and I am hopeful that the PDF will be available in March, with the print not too long afterward. This supplement is divided into two sections. The first section greatly expands the magic options for Rangers and companions. It increases the number of spells up to 30 and introduces new Heroic Abilities, companions, and equipment that are specific to spellcasting. The second half of the book includes a 4-scenario mission. It’s kind of a dungeon crawl, with a little bit of puzzle mechanics thrown in.
Temple of Madress is about 15,000 words long, which, by comparison is the length of some of the shorter Frostgrave supplements. That said, Rangers scenarios, especially ones with notes, are much more ‘word intensive’ than the Frostgrave equivalent. 

Ghost Stone – I have just finished the first draft of this expansion. I’ve turned it over to Barrett to start on the artwork, while I do some playtesting and editing. I have no target date on this yet, but hopefully a couple of months after Temple of Madness. When I started working on Ghost Stone, I thought I was working on a short supplement, akin to Blood Moon, but it ended up growing to about 17,000 words. It is also divided into two main parts. The first part is a 4-scenario mission in which players will need two different Ranger bands, one of starting level, one much more experienced. Each Ranger band will play in 2 scenarios, with all of the scenarios interlinking. Don't worry, this can also still be done solo if that is your preferred method of play. If Temple of Madness is a dungeon crawl, Ghost Stone is more like a war movie.
            The second half of Ghost Stone is a collection of 52 unique weapons that can be found, each with their own detailed description and potential abilities. Of course, Rangers will be forced to study these weapons in order to unlock their full potential.

Menagerie?? – I have just started working on this, and I hope it will be a shorter supplement. The plan is for this to contain a 2-scenario mission and a section that expands the types of animal companions that are available to Rangers. Like I said, I just started on this, and even the title is subject to change.

So, that’s where I am with Rangers of Shadow Deep at the moment. Hopefully this gives players something to look forward to. Please remember though, these books are all self-published, and subject to delay from major life events! Also, I will only put the product out if I'm happy with it. I'd rather wait and get it right, than have it out and regret something.

27 comments:

  1. I know there’s been a lot of pressure to make RoSD multi-player, but I hope you’ll keep it primarily solo. That’s what initially drew me to it. I don’t have anyone to play this with, and I’m not a big fan of running multiple parties.

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  2. I have no intention of making Rangers a player vs. player game, if that is what you mean. Nor will you ever have to run more than one party at a time.

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  3. I'm looking forward to more releases for RoSD. I'm currently trying to put together the minis and terrain to play through the missions in the basic rules. I'm going to be playing them with my Inq28 grim-dark future sci-fi minis.

    I'm just using "counts as" to translate my characters in to the RoSD system; so my retinue is a Rogue Trader (Ranger), backed up by a few Voidsmen (Archers) and a Servo-skull (Raptor) to fill out the band.

    Fingers crossed, I'll be able to get some traction on the project and maybe even blog about it.

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    1. Neat, I also want to use RoSD as a base for for a fairly Warhammer Old World/Mordheim/Hidetaka Miyazaki style game.

      I'm hoping to use Empire figures for the support characters and hopefully some pieces from the Dark Souls/Bloodborne board games for a few of the enemies.

      GW new Warcry game looks like it could provide some good wild and slightly feral ranger figures.

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  4. Euan, I think that's a great idea, and I can't see any reason it wouldn't work well. 40K is really more of a fantasy setting anyway, with wizards and swords and whatnot. Shadow Deep / Warp it's all the same big evil nothingness!

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  5. Looks like a lot of great stuff to throw my money at! As I was reading through, I noticed a sneaky 'r' in "Temple of Madress is about 15,000 words long" ^_^

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  6. The new releases sound excellent; indeed the scenarios thus far have been delightfully varied. I find the event deck adds a level of unpredictability that makes play exciting. Can you kill off the terror wing before it unleashes one of its special attacks? Or does an ally get miraculously healed.

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  7. As a huge fan of the game, Bravo. Thanks so much for keeping the momentum going with continued releases! these all sound excellent!

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  8. I cant wait. Me and my friends have been devouring this game and we are desperate for more!!

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  9. I must admit I'm really looking forward to some more stuff for RoSD. My buddy and I are really enjoying the game and the mechanics. We've the very last game of the Burning light scenario left to play and were just about to start adapting the D&D scenario you suggested.. That has some promise.
    Thanks again Joe for an excellent game
    Roger

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    1. The chapel on the hill scenario, Joe's recommendation in January http://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-chapel-on-cliffs-by-joseph-crawford.html
      It'll take a bit of manipulation but it should be do able .

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    2. Thank you sir. I had missed that.

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  10. Can’t wait, I have drawn my entire family into this game

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  11. These are fantastic news for a fantastic game.

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  12. Cool stuff ;). I am looking forward to the release of the pdfs/books.

    One thing that would also be really awesome for me, is if you would release some kind of bestiary book with all the creatures from frostgrave and ghost archipelago + supplements for rangers of shadowdeep. That would be really cool ;)

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  13. Just found your game two weeks ago and I've had a blast putting together all the necessary terrain. I want to say I am super excited to play and I definitely look forward to everything you have in production! Both as an excuse to make more terrain and because the game itself seems awesome!

    I just wanted to note: I know we have a list of monsters at the beginning of missions, but it would be neat to maybe also add a terrain list. It helps a lot for people like me who are building their collection.

    Either way, thanks for making something so great. It's the first miniatures game I have actually gotten my wife to sign up for, and that's saying something!

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  14. Keep working on RoSD. Its a great game and i love it. It become the first game here, even it even passed by Frostgrave ;)

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  15. This may be too much to ask but I will anyway. In Frostgrave there are spell cards. Now that the spells are increasing and so are the weapons, it would be nice to have cards. Not printed cards, but in PDF that we can print ourselves. If that is too much effort, how about a template that we can import and use ourselves that fits the graphic aesthetics. I have actually started to do this for myself for my own use. Was hoping for something official as my art skills are lacking so I have been taking art I find on pinterest and use that. Since I only play solo only me and the cat use the cards and she can be a noisy critic sometimes.

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  16. Some fantastic future releases toppers look forward too, especially the Temple of madness. I also would love to see some kind of scenario creator in the future, but the menagerie and extra items Will already help out a lot.

    Hopefully it won't be too long before I have everything ready to start playing.

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  17. Great news! The temple of madness DC flavor looks very promising^^

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  18. I'm loving this game and very excited by your plans. In the campaign I'm struggling to put together the scenery to be ready for when the action takes you indoors. Any tips for some modestly priced terrain that can help create the suggestion or rooms whilst keeping up the immersion would be great. There are some great terrain systems out there but they can get pricey fast when you're trying to lay out multiple large indoor chambers.

    In every other respect the game is easily accessible to the average war gamer and a feast for the imagination.

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    1. Check out the Terrain crates by Mantic. Lots of little bits for cheap.

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  19. Bought it a few days ago, and started reading it.
    I'm very impatient to play with my kids (they are 8 and 10).
    Is a french version on the way?
    Happy that you produce some more material for this game!

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    1. I am in talks about a French version, but it will probably be awhile.

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  20. Wow, what a game. My group and I are absolutely loving it. I have taken a break after running a weekly campaign for D&D 5e the last 4 years. My group are are really into board-games while myself, not as much so this was a perfect middle grounds for us. I love that there is story and narrative to this and really look forward to seeing more of that in future releases as I just picked up all the released material for this and ordered a Print copy of the deluxe edition. Thanks for such a great game!

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