Official Barrowmaze Miniatures by Otherworld on Indiegogo

[Kiltedyaksman]

A couple years ago I created a old school fantasy megadungeon called Barrowmaze.

I've partnered with Richard Scott of Otherworld Miniatures to create a boxed set of 16 Official Barrowmaze figures in 28mm.

In addition to a hard copy of the dungeon with cover art by ex-TSR artist Erol Otus, there are all sorts of stretch goal miniatures that could push the total number of miniatures close to 30.

I'll save the rest for the campaign site:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/barrowmaze-complete-official-miniatures-by-otherworld/x/533405


Be sure to check out this cool trailer we made for the campaign. I'd certainly appreciate it if you would help me spread the word.

[Elbows]

So, a rulebook and 16 minis for $190?  That seems extremely steep...a shame too because I love me some Otherworld minis.  I understand the price is probably supposed to reflect the presumed unlocked bonus items etc., but that is an immediate turn off.

 

PS: I do understand it would be reasonable for the 30-minis you mentioned and a rulebook, but as a buy in with no guarantee of stretch goals that's way too rich for my blood.

[Kiltedyaksman]

I understand. Please don't over-simplify. Allow me to explain.

Nte that you aren't getting minis thrown together in a plastic container. These are nice cases and very cool art. Style counts in my book.

Also, the prices include shipping for both the minis and the book.

This isn't just lame art either. I have a number of artists who were foundational to the hobby of tabletop role-playing.

Moreover, the dungeon is so vast it can support play for years. Literally.

If you want to compare that's cool, but let's compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges.

[Elbows]

Can you elaborate on the book, and moreover the dungeon?  What is the dungeon exactly?  Is it maps or do you mean the book's contents which allow players to create a dungeon of their own?  Regarding apples to apples...that's precisely what concerns me.  I have a lovely set of Otherworld minis, 12 to the case - with the nice foam case, metal sculpted bases, slotta bases, felt for the metal bases yada yada...and it cost me $75+ a couple bucks shipping.  I'm all about art, and I understand that appeal.

I'm just not entirely sold on the value proposition at the moment.  How big of a book are we talking?  Will this be a nice 200+ page full colour tome of awesomeness? 

[Kiltedyaksman]

Hi Elbows and thank you for the questions:

First, here's the Barrowmaze teaser:

Local villagers whisper of a mysterious place deep in the marsh - a place shrouded in mist and dotted with barrow mounds, ruined columns, and standing stones. The tomb-robbers who explore beneath the mounds - or rather the few who return - tell tales of labyrinthine passages, magnificent grave goods, and terrifying creatures waiting in the dark. Are you brave (or foolish) enough to enter the Barrowmaze?

Barrowmaze is a vast sprawling megadungeon of 600+ rooms and sub areas. Above the dungeon is a vast field of barrow mounds that provide fun adventuring on their own. There are new monsters, treasures, magic items, and a custom illustrated character sheet. There are illustration booklets ala the Tomb of Horrors, the list goes on and on.

Barrowmaze can sustain play for years, many of the session reports can be found here starting with number 16 (lots of great mini pics too):

http://redboxniagara.wikidot.com/session-summaries

Sadly, a full colour book is simply too expensive. I'm not WotC or GW. I cannot offer economies of scale like a large company can. It will have a hard colour covering a brand new design and cool layout.

I should add that the aesthetic of the old school is very much black and white. There are many art samples from my previous campaign here (also click the gallery):

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/barrowmaze-ii/x/533405

In terms of review, Barrowmaze I and II both have 5 Stars on RPGnow. It finished in second place for the Three Castles RPG Design Award in 2013. Take other people's word for it:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/98978/Barrowmaze-I?manufacturers_id=4249

Keep in mind that if you select level 4 you'll be getting not less than 20 miniatures (16+4 stretch minis) at a minimum, likely a lot more than that.

Let me know if you have anymore questions

[phreedh]

Greg, a few more questions...

Exactly what components are included in the physical product? It's not clear from the IGG campaign description. You say "an illustrated character sheet" - is that one page in the book for me to copy or a supply to last a playthrough of the dungeon? Art booklets?

I think you need a few page counts and book measurements to sell this without having to justify the pricing. I've seen comments about poster maps and other stuff too. Are those included? Are they in the book as pull-outs or provided separately?

I also think a few sample pages in the gallery would help a lot!

How many players are needed at a minimum? How many players can it accomodate? I realize there are no limits, being an RPG, but still... there must surely be a sweet spot somewhere for the amount of players for which the adventure campaign is designed?

Are the miniatures included enough to cover the amount of miniatures needed in the encounters in the book?

I'm genuinely interested in this project, mainly for the book part - not so much the minis. Find it hard to get in to though... it feels a bit like episode three of an ongoing series, with no recap for us late comers.

[Kiltedyaksman]

Hi,

I don't equate page length with quality. A concise writer can do a much better job in a small space than a poor one

To your question, Barrowmaze I is 84 pages and Barrowmaze II is 154. That's with a two-column layout. Overall, about 80-90,000 words. Barrowmaze Complete will be larger than those two combined.

Are you familiar with Gary Gygax's killer dungeon the Tomb of Horrors? Inside was a booklet with full page illustrations front and back. Two booklets were created for locations in Barrowmaze. Those will no longer be separate but part of the Barrowmaze Complete book. The poster map file will be both in the book and part of the pdf package. In order to cut down on rising international shipping costs (learned from my last crowdfund), the paper map is not included, but that is easy enough to take to any kinkos or business depot.

I'm not at the layout stage. When I get there examples will be put in the gallery forsure.

You can play with any number of people, as with all RPGs. We use hirelings so it doesnt matter whether 2 people show up to pay or 6, we just cut back on the number of henchmen. If you look at our session reports noted earlier on Red Box Niagara, you'll see we play with anywhere from 2-6. You can certainly accommodate more depending on how large a table you like to run.

Barrowmaze is a megadungeon with great breadth. That includes breadth in monsters too. So, no it would be impossible (for me) to create a single boxed set that encapsulated all the monsters. As much as it would be super cool, it just isn't realistic.

A recap? Sure. In my homegame we decide on gaming nights via email group. They would say on Tuesday "Ya, we want to go check out the goblin caves to the west" and then on Friday night decide they wanted to go down into the city sewers to look for the outlaw thieves guild. That's great, but it took all my prep and threw it out the window. So I created a megadungeon, based on the principles that informed the early history of the hobby. Although a lot of work initially, it decreased the overall amount of prep. It brought consistency to our game. We enjoyed it so much, I thought that other people might like it too. So I brought all my notes together and put the pdf on RPGnow. It did very well. But Barrowmaze I was only half the dungeon. It was simply too vast to put forward at the time so I cut the dungeon in half. About a year later, I ran the Barrowmaze II campaign on Indiegogo. It raised almost 13k. I brought in awesome artists, we did maps, and dice, and dice bags, it was super cool. I learned a great deal. Barrowmaze I and II were out and came very close to winning a design award judged by founders to the hobby.

I then decided, because I am very tall, that I wanted some cool gamer tees that actually fit me so I ran a much smaller campaign to create tshirts. Again everything went well and on time.

So, Barrowmaze was born in two volumes but only because of circumstances -- it was too vast, too expensive to do all at once, and made sense at the time. I'm at the point now were Barrowmaze needs to be combined in a single volume for posterity -- as all good megadungeons should be.

So, that's the extent of the story, basically what I paraphrased on the campaign page.

[Elbows]

Okay, so the megadungeon is essentially a mapped area with supporting content, ie. a huge RPG sourcebook style product?  So it's not so much a "build your own dungeon" thing as it is a layout for players to play through at their leisure, etc.  I assume it's also a game system to support it.  I have to agree with Phreed that the KS was not entirely clear.  One of those "if you loved Barrowmaze..." ---- but I don't know what Barrowmaze is. 

It makes more sense now.  You mention "modified" Otherworld minis.  Of the 16, how many will be new sculpts?  Will they match the Otherworld design theme, or be substantially different?

[Kiltedyaksman]

Yes, Barrowmaze is designed ready-for-play but also includes random tables for those who prefer a more organic game.

Barrowmaze is compatible with all old school rpg systems and early versions of the world's most popular rpg.

The majority of the 16 are conversions are based on the monster section of Barrowmaze. We used the standard group of OW sculptors to ensure consistency of the aesthetic. The majority of the stretch minis are new sculpts. Richard Scott and I have the same taste in miniatures and work together well.

The majority of the conversions are complete. I hope to post more pics when I have better quality ones to show.

[Kiltedyaksman]

New pics of completed miniatures. More on the indiegogo campaign page.

Sons of Gaxx (2)



Fossilized Skeletons (2)



Mummy Lord





Juju Zombies (left will have crossbow on back, right with throwing daggers)



Barrow Harpy (wings not shown)





Be sure to take a look at the campaign! Greg

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/barrowmaze-complete-official-miniatures-by-otherworld/x/533405

[Thorlokk the boneless]

Will you kick start the hero's from page 202-203 ?

Monsters I can find everyplace but D&D style adventurers with sacks and packs is never quite as easily found