February Release Video - Come and meet the Vampires (Patreon)

Hello Dear Patron,

It is the moment you are probably waiting for: the video of this coming month's release! 

It is there! Yeahhh!!!!

Dark, decadent and majestic... We hope you'll love it :)

Full REZ image here 

A little apology

But first, I owe you a little apology: Every month I like to make a video going through your comments and suggestions for the coming month release. It's a great opportunity to immerse myself in your ideas and share a bit of what we are planning based on them.

I recorded this video twice because the recordings got corrupted... twice. And when I would have been ready to record the video again, we were already starting to edit the final version of the trailer, so somehow it wasn't making sense anymore.

Anyway, be sure that we read and discussed your comments and ideas and they definitely shaped this release as you'll realize reading the following.

SO, WHAT ARE THESE VAMPIRES ABOUT?

The  biggest ask in your messages was to make this release related to a masquerade ball. Something with noble, haughty Vampires that could evoke French or Russian nobility or maybe an elegant Victorian / Steampunk vibe. 

Some of you also talked about Castlevania or the ball sequence in Van Helsing. 

So we went all the way for that, setting up our Vampire party in a place that would be reminiscent of a twisted Venice palace, somewhere between the XVIII and XIX century. That is why we absolutely needed to have a death gondola to bring the Vampires to the Ball...

There were also asks for non human vampires, especially Dark Elves ones. And while many wanted sophisticated characters, there were also a few asks for some battle hardened, heavily armored vampire hero and giant mount. And there were some asks for a Man-Bat vampire, something feral and scary...

So we did all of that too :)

MORE THAN VAMPIRES!

Someone talked about the Dance of Death and we though that we could not miss the opportunity to create a twisted bard. Because a Bard is always cool, and you can use this one in many different situations.

We added Levinda, a character that you could play as a Vampire, but also as a Vampire Hunter, an Assassin or a Thief. 

We also created the nefarious Cardinal Blasphemius, a character who could make a really creepy vampire or just some kind of evil religious creepy boss. 

This way, even if you are not playing Vampire themed adventures at this time, you'd be able to find a way to use these characters in your current games. 

A DIFFERENT KIND OF TROOPS

Instead of adding some zombies or ghouls or skeletons you probably already have tons of, we decided to add some unusual "troops".

First there are the Cardinal's Blood Sucker Sycophants, a group of unholy men turned into giant creepy mosquito men. They will be perfect to be used as a group of sick Chasmes or simply as some sort of blood sucking flying ghouls. Blood sucking flying ghouls are the best kind of ghouls...

Then, there are the lascivious Blood Cats, the feline slaves of the Vampires' court, seductive, wild and deadly. Don't come too close...

ONE OTHER THING IN YOUR COMMENTS

Of course there were also many other ideas in your comments, one of them being about making Vampires from many different cultures. 

This is definitely a great idea. However, it is very hard to deliver inside a single release. It demands a lot of research work to do justice to each different culture and, in my opinion, it is hard to produce a set that will come as a group of miniatures you could use in a single game or at least in your current campaign. 

And it looks like this is what most of you are looking for: to get a full set that you can use right away in your game. 

So we are definitely keeping this idea of going for different cultural influences to shape future releases but we will probably explore one culture at a time.

HAVE FUN!

We hope you like this release and it will inspire you some new adventure ideas.

And yes, I know, this centerpiece is BIG, but to me, more than anything, it is there to get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to create a crazy climax scene at the end of your adventure, something that your players will never forget, whether you print that piece or not. Think of it as the cover illustration that ties all the characters of the release together. 

Imagine your party looking at the scene, when all the vampires finally gather for their big ball. How will they manage to enter this palace, how will they defeat them all... so much crazy stuff can happen here... It's your turn to bring it to life!

SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT?

We are currently working on many new things for the upcoming months to make this Patreon even closer to what you want to get. We will soon tell you more about it and ask you some specific questions about what you like, want and need. 

But in the meantime it is time to ask...

What should the next month theme be ?

Based on your comments in the last update, it felt like a Greek Mythology theme was something a lot of you wanted. 

Should we go for that? Should we do something else? You tell us :)

Have fun, and don't trust beautiful people with long teeth ;)

Cheers,

Benoit