Update August 2018

Post by **Halaster Blackcloak** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:36 am

Finishing this project feels like trying to write freaking War and Peace, I swear! Real life has been interfering on an incredible level for years now. Anything and everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Hell, we've even had cartographers kill themselves while working on the project!

Thing is, HALASTER NEVER GIVES UP!

I've been reading over the material again - which means hundreds of pages of written material, notes, etc. I'm very inspired. I'm very happy with the quality of what's already written. I'm amazed on just how much stuff I managed to pack into the dungeon. There are so damned many cool continuity points and revelations, that it makes me drool just reading it.

So...

I'm currently wrapping up writing the next adventure for my latest (small, but very satisfying) campaign. It's a massive Underdark adventure. Wait till the players find out!

That should be wrapped up shortly, and that adventure, along with the current one we're playing, should take us easily into the new year at the rate we play. Can you say "free time during the holidays"? (Defined as Oct. 1st thru New Year)

Couple that with the burst of inspiration and it means lots of writing and hopefully...HOPEFULLY...the ability to wrap up the writing by the new year. Hell, perhaps even by Xmas! Now even if the art isn't done or the layouts not converted to PDF, etc...the fact that it's complete would certainly be a great Xmas present!

So hopefully everyone will be happy once they see what they've been waiting for all these years. I'm checking it as I type, and I'm freaked out that I've forgotten how far we've come!

Level 7 - Every room (43 core rooms, 26 areas of interest) is completely done.

The Sub-Level - Not releasing the name of this nightmarish level yet, but all rooms (23 core rooms, 12 areas of interest) are completely done.

Level 8 - There are 42 rooms here and 26 areas of interest. Of those, all 26 areas of interest are finished and 11 of the 42 core rooms are done.

That means 141 of 172 rooms is finished, or 82% of it!

Yes, there are also two smaller sub-levels we're including, but those are not more difficult than writing several major room-groups (as I call them - i.e. Room #3A, 3B, 3C, 3D would be a "room group").

Wish me luck...and endurance! This is going to be so much fun when released, I can't wait to see the response!

Post by **Beowulf** » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:15 am

Very cool!

Post by **Halaster Blackcloak** » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:28 am

I honestly cannot wait to release this! There will be a mixed reaction:

1. The hateful idiots at DF who would condemn me for rescuing kittens and children (I know how Trump feels, trust me!), all of whom will say "Eh. It took too long."

2. The Bunker Buddies - aka the sycophant idiots at DF, K&K Alehouse and elsewhere, who will immediately and gleefully run squealing like the pussies they are to WOTC in the hopes of getting me a cease and desist order (which I will use for toilet paper).

3. The good and normal people, who will enjoy all the new material and give feedback so that the next release is even better.

4. The FR and Undermountain fans will see their heads explode in glee, so they need to approach the product slowly and gently.

Remember these predictions.

Post by **McDeath** » Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:09 am

I have projects from 30 years ago I still envision on finishing but not to this extent that you’ve built from the ground up. EXCELLENT material is ALWAYS worth the wait.

Website · Post by **Tawnos76** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:42 pm

Yup, those would be the 4 responses I would expect as well.

Number 2 always bothers me as every hobby has those that cannot stand someone else loving the hobby (RPG, Games. etc) so much that they would dare do a fan expansion or fan fiction.

Never understood that group.

fixed to show group 2

Post by **Halaster Blackcloak** » Fri Aug 31, 2018 1:32 am

Tawnos, numbers 3 and 4 are the good groups!

The ones who will enjoy it and the ones who will love it. The first two groups are the party poopers who want to ruin a good thing for everyone out of hatred and jealousy.

Post by **McDeath** » Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:22 am

Surprised there isn’t a 5. Ones who use undermountain in all their worlds, base their world from Undermountain, and live in undermountain.

When I found a used boxed in a comic store I picked it up because the dragons I had subscribed to mentioned it and it looked interesting.

I had lots of old modules and a few D&D basic boxed sets. I couldn’t believe how much was packed in the box and it wasn’t “fluff-filler” but usable ready to go delving content with tons of room for expansion. If I had a color printer and computer back then I’d probably have made maps myself.

My hand mapping skills are ... well... amateursnd sorely based in old commodore c64 games (sticking to gridlines) Bards Tale, night & magic, ULTIMA 1-5, etc etc.

The days when I had to find used comic shop deals and be picky and choose carefully. Now days it’s pretty limbo and physical stuff is vaulted up. I use this phone more than an actual laptop computer (my old win 98-xp beast died earlier this year).

Post by **Halaster Blackcloak** » Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:50 am

Well I'm just breaking it down into the largest chunks -

Those who shit on anything done by someone they dislike.
Those who will attempt vindictiveness to get at someone they dislike (with no concern for ruining others' fun).
Those who will enjoy the material (as part of the FR, or as you suggested, as part of another campaign).
Those who are FR/UM fans who will love it.

Post by **McDeath** » Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:31 am

Tried to read the update on PlanetADnD but of course my old account was lost and registering just isn’t working. Contacting the admin failed too. Next time I hit library I will try as cell phone fails.

Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:04 pm

I just gave the maps for the sub-level and Level 8 a good looking over after having not seen them for a couple of months. I have to say, all I could think of is: "My god! I created that?" It's mind-boggling!

The sub-level (wait till you all get to know what that sub-level is all about!

) is a twisted nightmare. I remember to this day the moment Doirche (who was working as the cartographer at the time) called me (the moment he got the map to the sub-level) and said:

"You bastard! You evil, cruel bastard! And I'm gonna take a baseball bat to your knees when we meet, for making me map this goddamned insanity!"

I don't care if your campaign merges with Gamma World and your PCs get a GPS device...they're getting lost here!

And the sheer magnitude of Level 8 - I still have no idea how I created that damned map!

Oh god, I cannot wait to release this!