Voyage of the Princess Ark 2

[BWR]

Ok, it's been about a week since Bruce Heard announced a reboot of the basic idea; who else is excited?
I've loved his Alphatia blog, and hoped he would find time to detail stuff beyond the Known World/Alphatia, but I'm ok with this too.

And BOOO!! to WOTC who didn't want to let Heard do what he originally intended: write more VotPA stories.

[Khedrac]

Ooh - news to me but sounds interesting. Presumably if I search the WotC site I will find the "Alphatia blog" you mentioned?

[BWR]

Bruce Heard's blog. (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.no/)

[Hopeless]

Is it setting neutral?

Remember reading this back in the original Dragon magazine and the dc compilation they released quite a few years ago!

Mind if I let a friend know about this as I think this might be of interest to him too?

[BWR]

Heard states that since WOTC didn't want him to have the rights to do anything with the original VotPA, this was going to be a new setting with new people.
So, setting neutral, not really, but it seems it won't be Mystara.
Which is a shame since I really like Mystara, but I'm willing to give this new stuff a shot.

And considering I made the announcement here, I don't mind if you share. :smallwink:
Not that I have anything to say one way or the other.

[Khedrac]

Thanks for the link. :smallsmile:

[Bruce Heard]

Heard states that since WOTC didn't want him to have the rights to do anything with the original VotPA, this was going to be a new setting with new people.
So, setting neutral, not really, but it seems it won't be Mystara.
Which is a shame since I really like Mystara, but I'm willing to give this new stuff a shot.

And considering I made the announcement here, I don't mind if you share. :smallwink:
Not that I have anything to say one way or the other.

Thank you very much for posting this message! :smallsmile:

[Bruce Heard]

Re-posted from elsewhere:

"I've been supporting that grand old campaign setting for the past year in my new blog, and plan to continue to do so, although at a slower pace. Following WotC's decision not to support Mystara's RPG setting in some way, or allow me the opportunity to do it in a more official capacity (I was the brand's product manager and lead creative at TSR), I am presently working on a substitute world as the basis for new adventures inspired from the Voyages of the Princess Ark. Some of you may remember the popular adventures I wrote for Dragon Magazine back in the 80s and 90s. The new world will be geared specifically for skyborne adventures. My goal is to release in E-Book format new adventures written in roughly the same format as the old Princess Ark stories (60% fiction/40% world setting). Background information will be non-game specific. Click here (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/04/OSK.html) for the original announcement I made to this effect.

Cheers!"

So, in other words, this will be written for an entirely new setting -- however it will be designed to easily convert characters from Mystara (and any other setting). A particular attention is being paid to the logic of this process, of which outer-world visitors will be conscious, at least to a point. The source material will not be written for any specific game rules. Personal adaptation to your preferred game should not be too hard. More later on this.

[BWR]

Thank you very much for posting this message! :smallsmile:

My pleasure. :smallbiggrin:

Now that I've gotten over my disappointment over Mystara not getting the love it deserves, I'm quite excited about this project. I'm hoping it will be something like how "Beyond countless doorways" (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/854/Beyond-Countless-Doorways?it=1) was not Planescape but had the same basic feel and approach - just a bit more freedom.

[Bruce Heard]

Dear Readers,

Now that the project is well under way, I believe time has come to say more about the World of Calidar and who is part of the creative team.

As I'd pointed out earlier, this fantasy setting is entirely new and does not rely on any specific game system. Calidar emphasizes skyship adventures. The final product is intended to include a gazetteer and a poster map. Written materials should amount to about 80,000 words, of which 60% will be a story unveiling the adventures of the Star Phoenix and her crew under Captain Isledemer d'Alberran's command. The latter are inspired from the Princess Ark episodes published in Dragon Magazine twenty years ago. Though the ship, her crew, and their strange new world are different from those of the original series, the analogy remains intact in style and spirit. The campaign manual (color) will be available both as an e-product and in print. Because of print-on-demand limitations, the poster map will be offered separately and in print only.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CD10d7PT5k0/Umrf1t4D0AI/AAAAAAAAFDE/H9gLg0MXL1M/s1600/Great+Caldera+Borders+&+Labels+Updated+600px.png

A Few Words About Calidar

The vast majority of its population came from three lunar empires—the humans from Manaan, the elves from Alorea, and the dwarves as well as their gnomish cousins from Kragdûr. The fellfolk, a race of small but fierce people, are the planet's original inhabitants. Calidar is imbued with a feral magic hostile to the expansion of civilization, a dangerous world only partially settled by the three outer world empires. A central region called the Great Caldera, a three-thousand-mile-large crater partially filled with an inner sea and ringed with towering mountains, serves as the cradle of civilization. There, the empires overcame nature’s ferocity and established sprawling colonies. But over time, they rebelled and, after a long period of conflict known as the Sky Wars, the new realms earned their independence from the overlords. A fragile truce now remains between the three empires and their former colonies. Beyond the Great Caldera lies what is known as the Dread Lands.

The truth is that two lunar empires are overpopulated and exceeding their natural resources. The other, more attuned to nature, now stagnates, unwilling to further harm its own world. It was the reason for the rush to establish colonies on Calidar. There was, and still is, another reason. Traveling the immense distances between Calidar and its moons, and reaching other worlds gravitating around the Great Soltan is only possible with a certain type of magic. At the heart of imperial rivalries lies a strange substance called Seitha, which enables skyships to become incorporeal and travel at fantastic speeds. Though it can be found on the moons, the existence of the precious Seitha has been declining there since its discovery. The Dread Lands now remain its principal source and the origin of many conflicts to obtain it.

The appearance of the substance in Calidar’s soil is predicated upon the health of that world and its moons. It is believed that all magic comes from the beating heart of Calidar, tying together not only Seitha but the souls of the dead and the very lifeforce of all that dwells on its surface, in the skies, and beyond—be it flora, fauna, or sentient kind. It is strong enough to enable gods to spring from the inhabitants’ spiritual beliefs. Indeed, Calidar is unique in that the divine did not create this universe and its people. It is quite the opposite. To each world its own gods, demi-gods, epic heroes, and demons competing to retain the favors of mortals who created them, and to sway the minds of others for the sake of eternal hegemony. . . or oblivion.


***

The remainder of the article posted on the original blog, goes on to describe the various skyships of Calidar, the contributing artists, and key details about the upcoming kickstarter campaign scheduled for December 2013. It also provides surveys to help better tailor the project's funding. Your interest and feedback are highly welcome!

Bye-Bye Princess Ark. . . Hello Calidar (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/10/Calidar.html)

Thank you!

[refaderh]

It's incredible! Give me more information, if you can.

[BWR]

I'm squee-ing like a giddy schoolgirl!

[refaderh]

I'm squee-ing like a giddy schoolgirl!

So am I:smallsmile:

[Bruce Heard]

Just dropping by.

There are discussions going on in various places, such as Facebook, Google+, and the Piazza. Bits and pieces come up there which help paint a bit more character. Thorfinn will be releasing early prototype maps showing how he developed them from my original outlines. I plan on releasing a series of short adventures during the weeks leading to the kickstarter coming this December-January. These are teasers that unveil various aspects of the world, one layer at a time. You should find the first on my blog in the coming days. Others will follow, here and on other forums. Hope you'll enjoy them. If you plan on backing the project's KS campaign, do fill out the survey on my blog (on the upper right-hand corner) so I know what to expect. I just extended the deadline for this survey until mid December. Thanks!

Bruce

http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/

[BWR]

I'm so happy right now.

And slightly confused, because now I want to start a new campaign in Calidar, but that would mean canceling my Mystara campaign.
ARGH, first world problems!

[Bruce Heard]

I'm so happy right now.

And slightly confused, because now I want to start a new campaign in Calidar, but that would mean canceling my Mystara campaign.
ARGH, first world problems!

You could extend your Mystara campaign to include Calidar.

[BWR]

But...but...there's so many Mystara products I haven't thrown at my players yet.:smalleek:

Screw it, I'll just have to give up on sleep.

[Bruce Heard]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdEYbbMV7uo/UqW9x2TeXNI/AAAAAAAAFig/mwFw6h79HZE/s600/Calidar-ks-advert-5.png


I now have the pleasure of announcing the official LAUNCH DATE for the Kickstarter campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/679733356?token=2991f4c7).
Click here for details (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/12/KS02.html).
The big day will be this Wednesday December 11th at 10:00am central time.

[Bruce Heard]

The Calidar project has gone live on Kickstarter -- right here:

http://kck.st/1bxqSgl

[Bruce Heard]

Greetings all,

I posted a new short story related to Calidar -- click here! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320204) Have fun!

[Bruce Heard]

A new episode has been posted featuring a neat battle between elven and dwarven skyships in The World of Calidar (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar)'s Great Vault.

http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/12/ISS11.html

[BWR]

Anyone else enjoying this as much as I am?
Because I'm enjoying the hell out of this.

[Bruce Heard]

Anyone else enjoying this as much as I am?
Because I'm enjoying the hell out of this.

Well, thanks!

Here's a bit more to enjoy:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FC6P7oEoQoU/Ur7EKsnd4YI/AAAAAAAAFuY/GGrt7utxHkM/s600/Kragdur+Runes.png

This new article features Calidaran dwarvish "common", but in truth this can be used in any campaign world in need of an alternate language. :smallsmile:

Click here for the article (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-primer-to-kragduras-v03.html)

And by the way, the Calidar kickstarter has BUSTED its second stretch goal, meaning that the project will yield TWO poster maps, one a natural map of the Great Caldera, and the other a Gazetteer-style hex map representing the Kingdom of Meryath, one of the realms of the Great Caldera.

If you want to support this project and have your name printed in the book -- the very first in the new Calidar series -- now's your opportunity to do so. There can only be ONE first book. It's now or never! :smallcool:

Click here for the Calidar Project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar)

[Bruce Heard]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jJyAQRVy3Hw/UsOsLqR4bJI/AAAAAAAAFzg/0YIVr3sfk3c/s600/Happy+New+Year+2014.png

The Calidar team has the pleasure of announcing a new stretch goal. Since we're getting close to unlocking the third goal, with less than $400 needed and a week still to go, a new milestone now becomes possible.

$15,500: Ship Profiles

Five full-page color ship profiles by Ben Wootten will be included in the book, with performance statistics and text descriptions. They will include the Star Phoenix, Eternal Glory, Wind Thorn, Scion of Kragdûr, and Queen’s Fury.

Save for the Star Phoenix starring in the main storyline, the other four skyships are introduced in the promotional short stories and will emerge once more, either as part of the episode "In Stranger Skies" or a later one. Pass the word to friends you know will be interested. The more of you back this project, the better the chances this extra goal (or another one yet) will be met. Click Here for the project. (http://kck.st/1bxqSgl)

Short Story Episode 12 -- In the Belly of the Beast -- was recently posted. Another four are planned. Click here for the short stories' listing. (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2013/11/ISS01.html)


Until then, the Calidar team thanks all of you and wishes everyone a

Happy New Year!

[Bruce Heard]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-snSoAXekFeo/UsaE8Pi9e4I/AAAAAAAAApw/5p0sOwMZu9Q/s640/9e5fe765cc6efc6872dc6ca867f305fa.jpg
A few updates about the the World of Calidar

Stories:

The first update is about the latest promotional short story Episode 14 "The Anger Within." This last part was posted recently on my blog (links are listed at the end of this post). It gives a first look at Calidar's Dread Lands. The next episode, coming on January 9th will delve a little deeper into the secrets of these strange lands. It will be the last episode posted publicly. The final short story, Episode 16, will remain an exclusive reward for all Calidar backers, part of your PDF file. So thank you all for your support, and I do hope you'll enjoy the next few tales.

Color Plates:

There only is a little over two days left before the end of this Kickstarter event. We're still trying to reach the last stretch goal, which will enable us to add another five color plates by artist Ben Wootten, illustrating skyship archetypes of Calidar -- the Star Phoenix, the Draconic Knights' Queen's Fury, the Alorean elves' Wind Thorn, the dwarven dreadnought Scion of Kragdûr, and -- last be not least--the Eternal Glory, royal flagship of the Kingdom of Meryath. Be sure to let friends know about this kickstarter so we can all benefit from these illustrations.

Poster Maps:

Many of you have pledged for one of the books, softcover or hardcover, securing one poster map in the process. Please do remember that stretch goal #2 has made a second poster map available (the Kingdom of Meryath in hex grid format). Basic pledges at First Mate and above only provide the first poster map. If you wish to secure the second one, use the add-ons feature. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter and add-ons, you can manually modify your pledges to account for any add-ons you choose (use the "Manage Your Pledge" button for this). There are still plenty of slots available for RPG characters and Skyship names.

Pathfinder:

Stretch goal #3 was reached recently, which includes a set of guidelines to be part of the book. These guidelines will focus on hope to adapt Calidar, a system-neutral campaign setting, to game mechanics.

Thanks to all of you for your help, and Happy New Year!

Bruce Heard's Blog: www.Bruce-Heard.Blogspot.com
Calidar Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar

[Bruce Heard]

Greetings to everyone,

Deck Plans: It is with a mix of pride and sadness that I see the end of this Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar) fast approaching. Today is the last day. We've done well. There is still time to snag some funding for snazzy deck plans illustrating the skyships. These are tied to the last Stretch Goal at $18,000. There is now less than $1K left to actually reach it. Will we succeed? (Suspense...) We might during this last and fateful day!

Dread Lands: To accompany this announcement, I've also released the last publicly posted short story: World Souls. The next one (Episode 16) will part of the promotional PDF provided exclusively to Airman and higher pledge levels. Click HERE for this episode (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/01/ISS15.html) which reveals mysterious aspects of Calidar's Dread Lands.

Poster Map: One last call regarding that extra poster map. If you have made a pledge at First Mate level or above without any add-ons, please understand that the second poster map which came with Stretch Goal #2 is not included in your pledge. This is the one that depicts the Kingdom of Meryath in Gazetteer-style hex grid format. To remedy this, you can manually update the amount of your pledge to include the value of that extra poster map and any additional postage to ship outside the USA. Just click the "Manage Your Pledge" button, and go from there!

Thanks to all! This was a glorious experience!

Bruce

[Bruce Heard]

Hi all, it's been while since I last visited. Things have been busy. We're getting very close now to submitting the print-ready files to DTRPG. Good news then. If you'd like to watch a neat video about the main poster map, come and visit us here:

Thorfinn's Presentation (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/08/thorfinns-calidar-presentation.html)

It'll give you a good idea of what went into this project.

Cheers!

[Bruce Heard]

Click here for the latest details! (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/08/OffToThePrinter.html)

[Khedrac]

Excellent news!

[Bruce Heard]

A copy of the hard cover book has been issued by the printer for verification, and it looks good. Details and additional pictures are available at:

http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/08/printers-proof-received.html

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EsqR2KuRvpo/VAHBdD51qYI/AAAAAAAAGns/KO-ghN07_Mc/s1600/IMG_5729.jpg

[Bruce Heard]

The fulfillment process has started. Click here for details and updates. (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/09/sending-kickstarter-rewards.html)

[Bruce Heard]

Calidar Sales Kickoff

Many among you who have missed Calidar's original Kickstarter event, along with backers who picked an entry-level tier, have been asking: "when and where will I be able to get all that good stuff?"

Fret not! This day is fast coming.

I placed the answer to your question in a separate page to be easier to locate later on. Sorry for the redirect. Click here (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/p/where-can-i-get-calidar.html) for the right location, or at the top of the blog page on the tab labeled:

Where Can I get Calidar? (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/p/where-can-i-get-calidar.html)

[Bruce Heard]

Greetings all,

I'm currently working on the next book for Calidar. It focuses on the Gods of the Great Caldera. A number of blog articles present an overview of Calidar's limbo and a summary of the gods. There's enough free material there to keep you reading for some time. I'm looking for feedback from the gaming community before I roll up all this material and finalize it in the book. We can discuss this here. The two key articles to get you started are:

Death and the Netherworld (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/11/Death01.html)
Gods of the Great Caldera Pt. 1 (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2014/12/Gods01.html)

To start the year on a good note, the price structure for the book's various formats (PDF, soft cover, hard cover book, and poster map) have been lowered, some substantially. Take advantage of this before it changes. Click here to find Calidar. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/133973/Calidar-In-Stranger-Skies)

Another piece of very good news is Calidar's Number One rating on EnWorld (http://www.enworld.org/forum/productforums.php?do=chart) for the past several weeks, ahead of the mighty D&D rulebooks.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Bruce

[Bruce Heard]

If you haven't seen this yet, I recently posted an article on the next book in the Calidar series. It unveils a lot of about the contents and the goal of this new title. CC1 "Beyond the Skies" (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2015/01/CC1.html) is Calidar's "Deities & Demigods," describing the gods of the Great Caldera, their temples, sects, knightly orders, and politics among the mortal and not so mortal. There will be a kickstarter during the first half of this year, essentially to finance the acquisition of cover art and internal illustrations. The books will also be packed with color floor plans. Feel free to comment here. Though much of this has already been written, I'm always open to suggestions or comments. Cheers!

[Bruce Heard]

Greetings all,

Just dropping by to let you know that the World of Calidar (http://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2015/07/Website.html) is about to launch its new web site. More details right here in this fun video. Hope you have a great weekend.


www.strangerskies.com/calidar-video-stranger-skies-launch.mp4

[Bruce Heard]

As promised, Calidar is launching its web site, complete with blog and public forum. Please visit us at www.StrangerSkies.com!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MAD-9vk7-Sg/VbzIRLKo3EI/AAAAAAAAHjw/JthXJqAP_g4/s1600/Web%2BSite%2BAdrvertising%2BCalidar%2Bsmall.png

[Bruce Heard]

It's been a while since I last posted here. This looks like a good opportunity to go over all that's happened since then.

CC1 "Beyond the Skies:" It is my present project. I just finished the writing part and am working on the upcoming Kickstarter event. This book is, as you might guess, the second release for my campaign world, Calidar. It details 89 gods spread out among eight pantheons (one elven, one dwarven, one fellfolk, one gnomish, one half-elven, and four human) plus one monotheistic cult. A good deal of the book focuses on outer planes, servants of the gods, divine alliances, secret societies, powers granted to the faithful based on their levels of piety, histories of the cults and therefore of their people, as well as shamans of the Dread Lands, and mechanics on how to handle the Great Caldera's "haunted" wilderness. All told, the book should exceed 250 pages, small type (akin to the presentation style of GAZ3 "Principalities of Glantri" for those of you familiar with this old series of D&D accessories.)

The Kickstarter Event: Funding is needed essentially for the cover art, internal illustrations, and final editing. It is currently projected for December 2015, ending early in January 2016. The book's final release date should be in the summer of 2016, depending on the availability of the artists I'd like to see involved in this project. This Kickstarter is crucial, since it will determine how much internal art will illustrate the various gods. Diagrams, temple floor plans, geographical maps, and godly symbols have already been secured. If you aren't familiar with Calidar, the original Kickstarter took place in 2014 -- click here for that page. (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar)

New Website: Calidar Publishing now owns its own website, (http://strangerskies.com/) which gives an overview of Calidar, the game world, the product, and the first book. It includes my blog (http://strangerskies.com/blog/), a webstore, (http://strangerskies.com/get-calidar-2/) and an official forum (http://www.strangerskies.com/bbforums/index.php) which turned out to be pretty snazzy! Give us a visit and tell us what you think. You can still get your copy of CAL1 "In Stranger Skies," the first book in the series via DTRPG. (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/133973/Calidar-In-Stranger-Skies)

Events: I will attend Lake Geneva's Gary Con in March of 2016, as well as North Texas RPG Con in June 2016. I'm looking forward to meeting D&D Mystara and Calidar fans.

[Bruce Heard]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cqr6YAZS9Fc/VjSs0zKmWmI/AAAAAAAAHvQ/aEW7J2jCCMA/s1600/Headerboard%2BHappy%2BHalloween%2BCalidar%2B02.png

[Bruce Heard]

http://strangerskies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/photo-original1-1024x768-300x200.png

Greetings all!

I'm very excited to be able to share with you the link to Beyond the Skies' preview page. This presentation is very close to its final version, which should go live during the first week of December 2015.

This page says a lot about the new book in the Calidar series as well as the people behind it. As this still is work in progress to some degree, the link is made public mainly for the opportunity to return feedback about its contents. Have a look at the project's general description, pledge levels, add-ons, and stretch goals. Tell us what you think. You can do so here, or directly via the preview page (use the feedback box near the top of the kickstarter page).

This kickstarter makes it possible for new backers to acquire the original book at a discounted price, and other titles strictly restricted to kickstarter supporters. As always, the success of any crowd funding depends directly upon its backers. So please, do share this post as much as possible with friends you know may be interested in Calidar.

Thank you so much for making this book a reality!

Click here for the preview page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/690270773?token=029ea213)

[Bruce Heard]

Ever wanted to have your campaign game's skyship drafted neatly but never had the time or the tools to do so yourself? If yes, this is may be for you! Ideal for Mystara, Spelljammer, and of course, Calidar. Click here for details... (http://strangerskies.com/lady-karevena/)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SYNhc5ia8VU/VlMZAaLM8KI/AAAAAAAAH0Y/uwAA3QH0Prs/s640/Lady%2BKarevena%2BBlog%2BFormat%2B1200%2Bpx%2B120% 2Bdpi.png

[Bruce Heard]

Black Friday & Cyber Monday. (http://strangerskies.com/get-calidar-2/)

Missed the previous Kickstarter but still want to test the waters (or the skies)? Here's your opportunity just in time before Christmas! Good until Nov 30th.

http://strangerskies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hard-cover-black-friday-bundle.jpg

[Bruce Heard]

I have the pleasure of announcing that the kickstarter page for Calidar's CC1 "Beyond the Skies" HAS GONE LIVE! We're open for business. Thanks for your patience and your support.

The link is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/calidar-beyond-the-skies

If you're new with Calidar, now's the time to look for yourself and get started at the best possible value.

[Bruce Heard]

In case you wondered, this book does offer *quite a lot of game mechanics* -- what some of you refer as crunch. A massive chapter details *a myriad powers* granted to mortal followers based on their not only on their cult but also their piety, from the casual follower to the firebrand zealot or dedicated priest of the cults. Additional powers can be granted over time based on behavior, along with short term *Divine Favors* for those who distinguish themselves. On the other hand, *Divine Wounds* await those who chose their paths most unwisely. Aside from stories and the description of gods, a host of denizens are also described which are likely to interact with your favorite party of adventurers, from a panoply of *hallowed servants* of the gods to the worst of *demon princes.* More mechanics describe Calidar's *Dread Lands,* the harvesting of seitha, and a system to run the *spirit lords* defending the world's massive wilderness from intruders. Of course, secret societies and a collection of *floor plans* for their lairs also offer as *many opportunities for adventuring* and tangling with the hidden affairs of the gods.

Posted exclusively on EnWorld's front page is a story that gives a good indication of this project's nature. Right here! (http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3059-BEYOND-THE-SKIES-Kickstarter-From-Bruce-Heard-Is-Live#.VmBSROJAqYS)