What do you want to see at the Nyambe HQ? Let me know!

Alex Knapik
Atlas Games

We received the proofs from the printer today. Boy the color section looks sharp! We OK'd everything and sent it back, so production remains right on schedule. Barring delays at the printer, we should have the book at Gen Con AND have it on the shelves of most stores around the US (and many overseas) at the same time!

John Nephew * President, Atlas Games * www.atlas- games.com

651-638-0077 voice, 651-638-0084 fax

But your map is titled Nyambe-tanda. That's Tanda with 2 A's. Hope that's not a misprint. Looks good BTW. I'm very interested in non-standard D&D worlds.

Take care, Zoombaba

DIRE SPIRITS
A D20 System(tm) Adventure by Chris Dolunt
suitable for use with Nyambe: African Adventures(tm)

The fearsome bounty hunter KanUk -- a kosan orc from the Mythical Ages of Nyambe-tanda -- was long ago bound into the body of an undead dire lion. His savagery knew no bounds among the helpless slaves of his land until he was defeated in the Great Rebellion, and his spirit was shunted into his own still-beating undead heart. This heart has rested undisturbed in a foul shrine for thousands of years, protected by the magical wards erected by the kosans before they fled. But not even kosan magic is eternal, and just over a month ago, the wards collapsed, exposing the shrine to the outside world.

When this malignant heart begins to assemble animal slaves intent on locating a new body for their evil master, a group of brave warriors must find and destroy it before it orchestrates KanUk's rebirth, and all of Nyambe-tanda falls beneath his claws!

Dire Spirits is a D20 System adventure for 1st-level characters. It provides an introduction to the Nyambe: African Adventures campaign setting, though it can also be used as a stand-alone scenario. It is recommended, but not necessary, that players own the Nyambe hardcover sourcebook (stock number AG3700).

This 48-page module includes:

* A map and description of the village of Mounchili, a typical community in the Empire of Mabwe, that can become the PCs' base in a larger campaign.
* Rules for generating the family compounds typical of Nyamban villages.
* Maps and descriptions of the ancient temple that contains KanUk's still-beating heart.
* Pregenerated PCs and stats for agogwe halfling warriors, wakyambi elf adepts, and Nghoi human commoners, to start any GM off right in an African Adventures setting.
* New D20 material like the howling fern monstrous plant, rainforest zombies, the fearsome pseudo-lich template, rules for monkey traps and trip line and spikes traps, the wondrous linguist's staff, and the magical disease called wound rot.

Stock Number: AG3701 • ISBN 1-58978-029-9 • SRP $12.95 (US)

Shipping to Distributors in November 2002
(should be in stores before Christmas)

Are there any chances of seeing more sourcebooks are is the adventure a way to 'feel' around and see how the market is taking the book?

It's doing pretty well, but it will be doing a lot better, I think, when I get the Borders/Waldenbooks order that has been promised by mid-week. ;-)

> Are there any chances of seeing more sourcebooks are is the
> adventure a way to 'feel' around and see how the market is
> taking the book?

I'd really like to do more material for Nyambe, and I'd love to get other publishers involved took, for that matter.

There's a real strategy behind the adventure, though -- the November release is designed to get retailer attention right at the start of the Christmas season. It should remind folks to restock the main book, and pay attention (we hope) to restocking it as the holidays progress.

So many huge releases come out around Gen Con (just look at the roster of major RPGs, D20 and otherwise, this past month), it's easy to get missed and forgotten. Since I believe Nyambe will have a long and healthy shelf life -- it really should be an "evergreen" staple for game stores, I hope -- I want to make sure it's on retailer radar this fall.

Are there Nyambe character sheets anywhere? What about a Nyambe-specific discussion forum, either here or at gamingoutpost or wherever?

Thanks.

Dale

I'm Will, the "new guy" here at Atlas. We're doing some housekeeping across the forums in general, but I can tell you that this is the new home for all official Atlas Games discussions. You want to talk "Nyambe?" Terrific! This is the place to do it.

To start a new discussion, just click the button on your upper-left, here on the Delphi forum pages. Select the "d20" folder, name your subject and then pose questions, offer advice or whatever you want.

I'll see you there.

word,
Will Hindmarch
Atlas Games Webjack

I love the idea of one person in a group buying the C$60.00 book and everyone else just using character creation guidelines, but it only works if the two are in sync with each other. Was the pdf intended for a purpose other than the one to which I am using it? How are other people handling stuff like character creation when the setting is so different? It hardly seems like we're using Nyambe if everyone just makes PHB-class characters.

Dale

Yes...originally Chris Dolunt was just doing Nyambe as an online PDF publication. In addition to the Player's Lorebook, there was going to be a separate GM book. We asked him to keep it online as a free taste of the setting, even though the finished book got a lot of changes as a result of additional design, development, and playtesting.

Our hope, naturally, is that players will ultimately want to own a copy of the book for themselves. There's an awful lot of good stuff in the free PDF -- but the printed book is better. (I guess it's a little like a demo version versus a full version on software.)

Thanks for clarifying the purpose of the pdf. It's different enough from the finished product that I don't think I'll suggest it again for character creation. If we add more people I'll either lend them a book or work out something else. What's your feeling about people putting OGL character creation information onto a web site?

Has anyone coded the Nyambe stuff for PC Gen?

Cheers.

Dale

I doubt there's been time for anyone to code Nyambe into PC Gen, but I'll be delighted if it gets added.

Anyhow, I've had the pdf for some time, and picked up Nyambe a week ago (the first time I saw it on a shelf; I ignored the two books I had actually gone in for just to get it!).

So, I've got it, flipped through it a few times, and I must say that I absolutely love it! Having an African-esque continent in my campaign, I've found this book ripe for plundering. Just what I needed and when I needed it most.

Great job from Chris and you folks!

Anyhow, I've got a question or three, so I'm gonna go start a thread on those. I've added to the hype on this one long enough. :)

Sorry I've been away so long, but between getting ready for the arrival of my son, extra demands from my day job, and a Neverwinter Nights scripting addiction (bless/curse you Bioware!), I've been pretty busy lately.

Anyhow, if anyone has any comments or questions, I'd be happy to field them.

I've also got some material planned for web supplements, like stats for the orisha, and some more prestige classes like the Kuitika and Bangu (which were presented as core classes in the original PDF). Hopefully I can get them out by the end of the year - and finally update my 6-month-out-of-date web site. If anyone has requests, I'll try to do what I can (I've already had a request to write up stats for African fishing boats and sailing ships).

Dale

Dale

Question: Is the leaf spear a two handed weapon? It seemed like it was doing a heck of a lot of damage (1d10) to be used one handed with a reach.

You'll notice the scimitar does 1d6 and threatens on an 18-20, but the longsword does 1d8 and threatens on a 19-20. Continuing the pattern, the leaf spear does 1d10, but only threatens on a 20, so criticals will be rare and not particularly impressive. I fully intended for the leaf spear to be a "no brainer" weapon choice for Nyamban warriors, much like the longsword is in European-style campaigns. That being said, if you think its too mighty, you might consider making it an exotic weapon instead of a martial one.

Chris Dolunt

An "ikilwa"...wow that is a new one for me. It is rare that I don't know a weapon. Now I'm curious. What culture gave rise to this weapon? Is this a Sudanese weapon?

Spears generally get short shrift in fantasy settings. I was very pleased to see them included here and given some character and purpose. Generally speaking as some one who has seen spears used in combat, IMO I think most of them should be given reach.

By the way, Shaka also upped the size of the typical Zulu shield, since they were made out of lighweight leather, there was no reason not to make the shield as large as possible to hide the user from arrows and other attacks. In the original Nyambe playtest, I had leather shields provide concealment rather than armor or cover, but the playtesters complained they had to roll too many % dice.

Chris Dolunt