Kickstarter: OL Fantasy Bestiary

TheIceborn · February 7, 2018, 1:22am

Hi everyone!
I’ve been working on a Kickstarter project recently, a fantasy bestiary for Open Legend.
I posted the (not finished) D&D 5th edition Monster Manual conversion in the resources section of this site a few months ago, and have recently switched to a private page for lore and everything else I was considering for the project to contain.

The Bestiary would be complete with:

200+ monsters
Lore for each one of them, generalized just enough to be able to be put in use in any setting; as an inspiration, if nothing else
Tips on how to run said monsters
Lair maps for Boss monsters
Approximately 50 pieces of artwork (more if the Kickstarter reaches stretch goals).

The campaign should launch in a week or so (maybe a bit sooner). Would you be interested to pledge for such a Bestiary? If you would, do you have any ideas for monsters you’d like added (that aren’t copyright protected)?

Brycelor · February 7, 2018, 2:47am

I think it would help to have at least a few specific ones for each general type of popular genre.

TheIceborn · February 7, 2018, 9:42am

It would, yes. But there are so many creatures that a book encompassing multiple genres would be huge.

Nightsky · February 7, 2018, 10:16am

Do you have an artist in mind that you are going to use? Also are you good at formatting pages / making nice looking layouts?

Just checked out your other post. the formatting does look good.

TheIceborn · February 7, 2018, 10:34am

I do think I’m good at formatting pages, yes; there will definitely be a screenshot of the file on Kickstarter for you to see for yourself.
I have an artist in mind, she’s making the Kickstarter cover at the moment; I can post the picture here in a couple of days when it’s finished, so you can judge do you like it yourself.

Nightsky · February 7, 2018, 10:39am

I mean I would be willing to back it. I’m looking for more books and adventures for open legend. so much work is being done on the book behind the scenes there is almost no information on the future of open legend.

Shashi · February 7, 2018, 10:19pm

I would throw money at you. Please make my GM life easier.

TheIceborn · February 7, 2018, 10:56pm

I’ll let you all know when the Kickstarter goes up!

Mork · February 8, 2018, 9:38am

I would also be interested in such a book. Do make sure you are not infringing on any copy rights though. The following monsters are I think property of WotC, so even using their names might be a thing… ?

From the SRD
Q: Why are some monsters missing from this site?
A: The following monsters are considered “Product Identity” by Wizards of the Coast and are therefore not part of the SRD:

beholder
gauth
carrion crawler
displacer beast
githyanki
githzerai
kuo-toa
mind flayer
slaad
umber hulk
yuan-ti

TheIceborn · February 8, 2018, 12:02pm

I am using the SRD for reference on D&D 5e monsters conversion, and I am (alongside 2 other people that are on the project) making a new lore for those monsters. We’re not violating any copyright laws.
In addition to that, we have created a few of our own creatures, and are always looking for inspiration for more; so if you have a (non-copyrighted) creature you wish to see in the book, do let me know!

Nightsky · February 14, 2018, 10:13am

Any update / art to show off.

TheIceborn · February 14, 2018, 10:36am

Kickstarter should be up in 3-4 days; here is the piece of artwork commissioned for the title.

Nightsky · February 14, 2018, 10:42am

I like it a lot. do you have any experience in publishing?

TheIceborn · February 14, 2018, 11:15am

I do not, no. I have several friends who do it for a living, and they promised to help me out when we get there; but, there is still a lot of work to be done. About a dozen out of 200 monsters are complete, and the PDF should be ready at around March 2019 (per my Kickstarter goals).

Crazy_Weasel · February 14, 2018, 5:11pm

@TheIceborn

Let us know when it goes live, and maybe provide a link because I think this is an incredible addition to the community.

TheIceborn · February 14, 2018, 6:00pm

I most definitely will provide the link to the Kickstarter project. It’s ready to go, just have to make a separate bank account for it.

Salvonian · February 14, 2018, 10:40pm

Hello,

I really do like this idea and would def aim to support it. However, are you just focusing towards fantasy? Would be a good idea to do a Sci fi one, or even have the book cover basic ideas for all eras.

TheIceborn · February 14, 2018, 11:02pm

We are at the moment focusing on fantasy. There is plenty of material there, and as I usually run it lately, we have plenty of reference material and inspiration for it.
If the project proves to be a success, we will most likely make a sci-fi one as well. Do note that you can reskin every single monster in the book to fit a sci-fi setting, too.

Salvonian · February 15, 2018, 2:38am

That is true, can’t wait to see this link.

TheIceborn · February 15, 2018, 5:29pm

Alright, so: update!
As we will open the bank account on Wednesday, the Kickstarter will be up on Saturday, 9 days from now. Sorry for the delay, but we’re trying to get as much work done as needed for it to be a good project that will properly demonstrate our goals and hand out proper pledge rewards.
Thanks for you patience, everyone!