Artifacts Unbound PDF/Print Pre-Order Available Options

[Bull]

Since Jason hasn't gotten around to posting it officially to the boards...

Artifacts Unbound

Four artifacts have been found. Some of the most powerful people in the Sixth World have been after them, and many people have died in the globetrotting hunt to bring these objects together. Now that they have been recovered, their powers can be unleashed—or the artifacts can be scattered, lost again until another generation summons the courage and the knowledge to dredge them up.

Artifacts Unbound concludes the Dawn of the Artifacts campaign in a way that makes gamemasters and players free to determine many events of their campaign. Filled with plot details, adventure seeds, basic setting information, and NPC statistics, Artifacts Unbound lets gamemasters select the elements that would work best in their campaign and design a thrilling story for their game. Easy to use and flexible, this book can be used with players who have gone through the entire Dawn of the Artifacts campaign, or with players just learning about the artifacts and their effect on the Sixth World.

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Or Pre-order Print Book/PDF Combo here.

[Grinder]

There's a lot of story and plot stuff too. Hopefully some of it's fun, hopefully some is interesting, and hopefully a lot of it's useful. Since the book is out (barely), I can probably talk about it a bit more.

The book has 20 sections to it. Each section takes a plotline or a subject and opens with an "in Character " piece. Care was taken to make sure that the IC stuff was more obvious than it's been in past books (We remember this being a major complaint with War!). So you'll find that the layout is a bit different for the IC stuff, making it stand out more. The IC stuff is done up a lot like some of the old books such as "Threats", and they're presented in a variety of styles, from office memos to interviews to stories being told by the Jackpointers. And of course you get the Jackpoint commentary on it as well.

Then there's a Gamemaster section which gives background on the topic, in some cases extra rules and summaries, sometimes some NPC stats, and a bunch of story hooks and ideas to let GMs drop trhe info from that section into their game.

Then at the back there's a big "Character Trove", which is a big list of general NPCs that GMs can use as well. Anyone who's been asking for more misc. generic NPC stats will like this section, I think. There's also a few "named" characters that make an appearance in both the main sections and the Character Trove.

I'll let someone else actually review it, since obviously I'm biased, having worked on it (I wrote three sections. I'll let you guys figure out which three (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ). It was a lot of fun, and I really, really hope you guys like it.

Bull

To move the discussion about the book's content to the right thread.

[Method]

Haven't had a chance to read it in detail, but at a glance:

I have to say I really like the format. Kind of a cross between the old Threats books and the Missions alternate campaign source book (plus a bunch of stat'd NPCs, which is sweet). Hopefully we will see more campaign books following this format.

Can't say I'm a fan of the subject material (a whole book of adventures that basically redefine the super-secret magic items we already have 4 published adventures about? Seriously?)

The premise behind the The Phaistos Killer chapter is kick ass. I'll probably cannibalize that so that it has nothing to do with DotA. Any of the freelancers care to claim it?

I like the cover art more after seeing it full size with the title formatting. Finally a hot runner chick that's well drawn and not a metahuman. If only she didn't have that stupid tail... Art throughout is hit or miss. Page 44: cool. Page 22: WTF? [Edit: just noticed the dwarf sniper artwork on the Missions ad at the back of the book: awesome! Best piece in the book.]

I'll definitely have to spend some more time reading this weekend.

[CanRay]

What's wrong with the balance tail and the cyberleg? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

I've gone over it a bit myself, not much, as it's going to be a type of book I'm currently having a hard time reading (I go through phases when it comes to my reading style. No idea why.). But, were I running a campaign, I would be squeeing like a teenaged girl just handed a Hello Kitty AR-15 during the Zombiepocalypse right now.

[Bull]

Can't say I'm a fan of the subject material (a whole book of adventures that basically redefine the super-secret magic items we already have 4 published adventures about? Seriously?)

Not all of it is directly tied to the Dawn adventure series. None of the three chapters I wrote directly ties to that. (For the record, I did The Great Seattle Artifact Rush, Little Dogs, and Already Here). While a bunch of the book does deal with the Dawn stuff, others are either fallout because of the events in those adventures, or simply related stories that tie to the idea of "magical artifacts".

I like the cover art more after seeing it full size with the title formatting. Finally a hot runner chick that's well drawn and not a metahuman. If only she didn't have that stupid tail... Art throughout is hit or miss. Page 44: cool. Page 22: WTF? [Edit: just noticed the dwarf sniper artwork on the Missions ad at the back of the book: awesome! Best piece in the book.]

The cover is excellent. And I dunno, I kinda like the tail myself. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As for the art piece you mention... That's actually the cover art from SRM 04-02: Extraction by Ian King, who's done several awesome covers for me for Missions. Here's the full image, in color. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/bull...FINAL-PROOF.jpg

(Which reminds me, I should poke Matt and see about getting more of the SRM covers put up as Wallpapers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) )

Bull

[hobgoblin]

Heh, given various postings people had made on this forum about balance tails, or tails in general (miao (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) ), my first thought when seeing the cover was "this will be controversial".

[Fortinbras]

This thing is enormous for an adventure book. Clocking in at over 140 pages, this thing is the biggest adventure book since Ghost Cartels. The last several adventure releases have been more like extended Missions documents in terms of length, but this thing values at about 13/14 cents a page. Can't speak to the content yet, but I'm glad to see some of the bigger, globe spanning adventure books making a break for it.

Bull, can you speak to how Artifacts Unbound will intertwine with and relate to the treasure hunting factions in SRM4 and what you hoped to accomplish with both?

[Shortstraw]

I want to see the Shortcake character put on the cover of a book and see what reactions that gets.

[Prime Mover]

I'm good with the cover, eager to read the hard copy and see how the DoTA story has changed and if its still as epic as the original concepts that grabbed my attention and imagination. (Starting DoTA2 this weekend good times so far.)

Oh and I've added a contender for quote of the year to my list.
"I would be squeeing like a teenaged girl just handed a Hello Kitty AR-15 during the Zombiepocalypse right now."

[Stormdrake]

The cover art is very shadowrun, like it a lot. Really hope they kept the epic ideas they were hinting at rather than saying after the adventure is over it is back to normal.

[CanRay]

All I can say is that I like a bit of tail.

...

*Sighs* That's going to get me hit repeatedly and sent to The Special Hell, I know, I know...

[Bull]

Bull, can you speak to how Artifacts Unbound will intertwine with and relate to the treasure hunting factions in SRM4 and what you hoped to accomplish with both?

I'm not really sure at this point, but probably not a ton. We deliberately separated Seattle and the artifact rush going on there from the main plotline so that we were free to do what we wanted. We wanted to show the impact that the Dawn series was having, but most of Season 4 was actually plotted out before Dawn or AU was finished being plotted. It's early enough we can still change things, but... Whether we do or not depends on what the Missions writers want to do, and honestly how AU is received.

(My own personal timeline for how I plot Missions is that each adventure is set roughly and very loosely one month apart. 04-00 took place in December, and 04-04 takes place in April. So Missions is currently "early" in the AU plot line.)

It's also why we included the Great Artifact Rush as a chapter in AU. Well, one of several reasons. those reasons were:

1) Missions Promotion. Pure and simple, I had selfish reasons for writing it up, and that was to cross promote Missions in a print book to the wider print reading audience (Which is MUCH larger than the online fanbase. The PDFs are still largely an unknown factor among a lot of players out there becuase they don't get online much and we hadn't been promoting the eBook stuff much in print until recently).

2) To present the material in a way that let home groups use the basics without getting Missions. Yes, we want Missions sales, but there are some cool characters and I think the idea of a shadow war between the two foundations in Seattle is a fun one, and could make a good campaign (or good material to drop into a campaign).

3) To show where the Artifact Rush plot in Missions fits into the larger Artifact Hunt (And more importantly, why it's a little bit separate).

Bull

[Method]

(Which reminds me, I should poke Matt and see about getting more of the SRM covers put up as Wallpapers...

Yes please!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/love.gif)

[CanRay]

My desktop could use a new wallpaper. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (I have a widescreen, BTW!)

[Slithery D]

I'm only 40% of the way through this, but I mostly like it. But as usual, the character stats too often make me ask WTF.

For a magic heavy book I have to wonder if Centering metamagic somehow is a fantasy of mine and doesn't actually exist in the rules. Certainly none of the mid-to-high level initiates I've seen (including the Character Trove in the back) have it. Sure, Geomancy makes much more sense for a Grade 11 Frosty, because shadowrunners spend months attuning power sites, not throwing mana fast and furious where they could use an extra 11 dice of drain soak...

The Phaistos Killer section, while a perfectly good adventure framework, wins the character stats booby prize with an MIT&T professor (p. 42) with no mental stat over 5 and only one knowledge skill as high as 4. That skill? Radical groups. I can see how that got him hired as a department chair of Requilary Studies at one of the world's premier universities. And our killer (p. 41), who was supposedly on a fast track as a professor at the same university has straight 4's for mental stats and no skills over 4.

Picador (p. 49), supposed prime runner, has 1.1 essence, 1 IP, and two cyberarms that provide almost no benefit over flesh. Wow. Surprisingly, Black Mamba on the same page is actually quite reasonable.

I'm glad the bodyguard walking around the streets and highly secure train stations and casinos of Cairo thought to bring his MMG (p. 55).

I could go on (and may, if I see anything similarly egregious as I finish it). These sorts of things aren't hard for a GM to fix, and the MIT&T profs stats are very unlikely to matter to the game, but this sort of incompetence really pulls me out of my enjoyment of the rest of the book.

[CanRay]

Considering the places Picador goes, the Essence drain might not be from Cybernetics. And the cyberlimbs might be replacements for limbs lost in battle before cloned replacements became common, and she hasn't had time to get them swapped out. Just sayin'.

[Stormdrake]

For some reason I thought we were going to get some new magics available to players because of the big ruckus with the artifiacts? It sounds like that is not what Artifacts Unbound is but that it is rather another campaign book. Nothing wrong with that (and I will be getting it) but was hopeing for something more.

[Slithery D]

Considering the places Picador goes, the Essence drain might not be from Cybernetics. And the cyberlimbs might be replacements for limbs lost in battle before cloned replacements became common, and she hasn't had time to get them swapped out. Just sayin'.

I'm saying she has cyber eyes, rating 3 reaction enhancers, and nothing else that provides any real benefit. There's no way she survives long enough doing the sort of things to get the rep she has with those "augmentations."

[Slithery D]

Gaaaah! Goat Foot (p. 66) has Ally Conjuration as a metamagic but no conjuration skills (not reasonable for a mystic adept with 6 points in magic power) and no ally listed.

Helpfully, the stock Templar Combat Mage (p. 145) meant to be a base for 25(!) of them, is a troll armed with only a claymore and an HMG. You'll encounter 25 of these guys in a hotel conference room in Quebec, apparently.

[CanRay]

Helpfully, the stock Templar Combat Mage (p. 145) meant to be a base for 25(!) of them, is a troll armed with only a claymore and an HMG. You'll encounter 25 of these guys in a hotel conference room in Quebec, apparently.

That sounds about right for Montreal, from what I understand. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Shortstraw]

And god help you if you speak English from what I understand (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[CanRay]

Montreal is supposedly not so bad.

[hobgoblin]

Considering the places Picador goes, the Essence drain might not be from Cybernetics. And the cyberlimbs might be replacements for limbs lost in battle before cloned replacements became common, and she hasn't had time to get them swapped out. Just sayin'.

Try getting cloned arms provided while your stationed in one hell hole or another (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

And i suspect with cyberlimbs the recuperation time is one of days, meaning you can be back in the field quickly. Even more so if the MASH unit can have a stash of them on hand that can be adjusted in the field with a toolkit or something. I suspect that by now the process is more or less plug and play, with things like lower arms or hands being able to plug either into a upper cyber part or a surgically attached socket with equal ease.

[hobgoblin]

I'm saying she has cyber eyes, rating 3 reaction enhancers, and nothing else that provides any real benefit. There's no way she survives long enough doing the sort of things to get the rep she has with those "augmentations."

These days i think she is more a commanding officer then a ground pounder.

[Bigity]

Which doesn't negate the statement. Unless we are supposed to infer she removed cyber just because.