Welcome to the Sea of Stars
The gods were thrown down and the world shattered into floating islands. The dragons now reign unchallenged under their Empress. It is a place of high magic and high adventure; where ghosts dance and trees sing, ships fly and books read their stories out loud. There are lands of secrets and mysteries; lost cities and forbidden knowledge, bound demons and dark magics.
Prepare yourself to venture out on the Sea of Stars. Explore a world of adventure without end, magic without limits, and dragons without fear.
Visit the Sea of Stars with this Adventure
For those new to the setting I have produced an adventure for 1st level Pathfinder characters:
It is a short exploration themed adventure and includes an introduction to the Sea of Stars setting. If that is to much, you can take a look at some Fun Facts about the Sea of Stars.
History of the Campaign World
The Sea of Stars has been my campaign world for the last twelve years, first under D&D 3rd edition rules, then under 3.5 and now under Pathfinder. But I have also run adventure set in it under the FATE system and the new version of D&D however it is primarily a creature of the OGL and Pathfinder.
The idea for the Sea of Stars came to me shortly after Wizards of the Coast’s setting design contest closed back in 2002 (which would eventually lead to the Eberron campaign setting). It was a combination of various influences and a reaction to my previous two campaigns which had both been low magic and focused on a limited area (and set of character options). The Sea of Stars is consciously high magic and designed to be expandable, infinite variety in infinite combination.
The Final Product
The end result of the project is to an illustrated PDF, about 150 pages, broken down (roughly) as follows:
- Introduction to and history of the Sea of Stars, 12 pages
- New and adapted species with support material, 24 pages
- Magic items, spells and such, 24 pages
- New Monsters, 20 pages
- The world and places to visit, 20 pages
- GM Advice and adventure seeds, 20 pages
- Sea of Stars Companion section of bonus material including contributions from Benjamin Baugh, Trey Causey and Brandes Stoddard! +30 pages!
Most of this, apart from the GM advice, I already have written just not organized into a form ready for publication but then it will need to be properly vetted and edited, art commissioned and proper layout to make it readable and interesting.
The Art
The main use of the funds from this will be used to procure art for the final product. I have polite commitments for at least one piece of art from each of the following artists (in alphabetical order):
Anir, a Romanian artist is doing the piece that I am using in the free adventure.
Drew Baker, whom jim pinto called “the nicest guy in the industry” (which is true) and a brilliant artist.
Talon Dunning, gamer and artist with his own game company.
Laura Heilman, a skilled artist and my lovely wife.
M C A Hogarth, artist, author and all around talented lady.
Lauralanthalasa has done some character images for me.
Bonnie Sentinel, maker of wands and part of my Wednesday night crew, has signed on.
Beth Trott, another skilled artist I know through jim pinto, whose lovely art should be perfect for the Visse.
Tier Information
Wanderer- We appreciate your support and will name you in the book if you so wish.
Ethereal Scholar- You get a copy of the finished product in glorious PDF format and your name in the book.
Librarian- You get a printed copy of the book with your name included. If you wish to pick it up in person in Athens, GA, I will be more than happy to sign and personalize it for you.
Magical Patron- As the Librarian Tier and I will work with you to design a magic item or spell. You can check my Sea of Stars RPG Design Journal for examples of the sorts of things I have done in the past. With your permission said item or spell will be included in a separate Sea of Stars companion PDF that will be distributed to all backer at the Ethereal Scholar level and above.
Summoner of Monsters- As the Librarian Tier and I will work with you to design a monster. You can check my Sea of Stars RPG Design Journal for examples of the sorts of things I have done in the past. With your permission said monster will be included in a separate Sea of Stars companion PDF that will be distributed to all backer at the Ethereal Scholar level and above.
One of the Chosen- As Librarian and I will work with you to place an iconic NPC of your design in the Sea of Stars Campaign setting book.
Patron of the Arts- As Librarian and you will help me, and an artist, craft an additional illustration in the Sea of Stars campaign setting book, the piece of art you help to provide will be noted.
Be your own Queen or King- As Librarian and we will work together to add a realm to the Sea of Stars Campaign setting based on your design. We will also design at least one regional trait for your realm.
Breath Life into Clay- As Librarian and we will work together to create a new, playable as a character species for the Sea of Stars that will be included in the book. At least two racial traits will be included as part of the writeup.
Your own (Draconic) Home- As Librarian and we will work together to create a new Draconic House, possibly the most powerful political entities in the Sea of of Stars, for the campaign setting. A unique magic item or spell will also be created for the House.
Game with the Empress- As any of the lower tiers plus I will personally GM a game for you, and up to six of your friends, either at GenCon or in the North Georgia area (within two hours round trip travel time of Athens) or over Google Hangouts if such was amiable to you. I will provide characters if such is desired.
Spices of the Empire- Everything from any lower tier, plus I will bake you a batch of homemade gingerbread. I will deliver it in person if you are within a two hour round trip of Athens, GA, otherwise I will ship them overnight. I make an amazing gingerbread, it is more of a spice cake really, for you I can even make it gluten-free. (Let us be honest, this is a pure patronage level with thanks to Harry Connolly for the idea.)
Merchant-Venturer- I work in a game store and understand the challenge of running such in this crazy high age. With proof of your status as a brick and mortar store, I will ship four copies of the softbound Sea of Stars campaign book to your store with my thanks. If you are in the North Georgia, US, area, we can see about doing some sort of event to coincide with the release.
Stretch Goals
At $1,500, Brandes Stoddard will write a section for the Sea of Stars Companion.
At $1,650, Benjamin Baugh will write a section for the Sea of Stars companion.
At $1,800, Trey Causey will write a section for the Sea of Stars companion.
At $2,000, more art will be commissioned.
At $2,200, we will do a FATE or D&D conversion PDF, as decided by the backers, at $2,400, we will do both.
At $2,600, the book will go up to 150-pages and all of the additional material from the Sea of Star companion will be folded into the larger volume.
At $3,000, we will try to get HeroLab files made for the new Sea of Stars material.
At $3,200 Howard Brandon will work with me to do a Savage Worlds conversion.
At $3,750 I will revisit the Mansion of the Shadow of Mar, the first adventure played in the Sea of Stars, as a complete adventure for all of the backers.
All of the above Stretch Goals are Achieved!
If we have a 13th Age aficionado out there who would be interested in help to craft a conversion, please contact me.
If there is anything you would like to see as a stretch goal, let us know and we will see about adding it.
Questions?
If you have any, ask away and I will do my best to answer them.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What about the Sea of Stars Companion? The Sea of Stars Companion PDF will consist of writings by the three excellent writers noted above at it core. The additional magic items/spells and monsters created for the backers will be included as well with permission. Everyone who had contributed at the Ethereal Scholar (PDF) tier or higher will be getting a copy of the Companion as well.
I realize I was not very clear on what would be included in the companion and who will be receiving it.
What exactly am I getting with Magical Patron/Summoner of Monster? I will craft a spell, magic item or monster (as appropriate) to your general specifications. You tell me what you want and I will create it for you, shaping it further with your feedback. With your permission it will be included in the Sea of Stars Companion PDF.
Risks and challenges
While I have not directly published a book before, I have worked on a wide variety of project for the gaming industry with some success. Further, I have access to a network of people who have run successful Kickstarters for RPGs and who work in the industry to go to for help and advice.
Much of the book is already written it just need to be organized, edited and made pretty. But I want to make sure I am giving myself a sufficient amount of time to do so, so I am aim for a GenCon target date for the finished product.
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Funding period
- (39 days)