Congratulations to both Kevin and the staff at PB.

[pblackcrow]

Congratulations for finally coming out with a new world book in the PF line, saying that you will be publishing the 2+ books for BtS 2nd edition, and you have a chance to renewed my interest in Rift with the Secrets of the Atlanteans book. I am still waiting to know how much PPE a stone master gets, how they learn the spells to do so (by study or by intuition.), how many spells they start with, if they are indeed the grand children of Poseidon, etc.

[Shark_Force]

stone masters don't learn spells. they magically turn gems into spells, more or less, destroying the gem (in stages) as part of the process.

so, that answers at least one of your questions.

[pblackcrow]

stone masters don't learn spells. they magically turn gems into spells, more or less, destroying the gem (in stages) as part of the process.

so, that answers at least one of your questions.

Wrong...They get spells. Under Stone Magic (or at least that's how we've always interpenetrated them) They start on page 100-102 of WB 2. If they cost PPE they are spells, not abilities.

[Glistam]

I am still waiting to know how much PPE a stone master gets,

I am curious how this does not answer that question:

9. P.P.E.: Like all men of magic, the stone master is a living battery of mystic energy that he can draw on to create magic. Unlike the other magic O.C.C.s, the stone master can store and draw on vast amounts of P.P.E. through stone pyramids (explained in the section entitled, Pyramid Technology). Permanent Base P.P.E. for Atlanteans: The P.E. attribute times three, plus the usual bonus for Atlanteans and from magic tattoos. Add 2D6 P.P.E per each additional level of experience. Of course the mage can draw on energy from ley lines, nexus points, gem stones and pyramids, but not from other living beings. P.P.E. Recovery is 10 per hour or 15 through meditation.
Base P.P.E. for Non-Atlantean Stone Masters: The P.E. attribute times two plus 30 points. Add 2D6 P.P.E per additional level of experience. Also the mage can draw on energy from ley lines, nexus points, gem stones and pyramids, but not from other living beings. P.P.E. Recovery is 5 per hour or 10 if meditating.

[pblackcrow]

I am still waiting to know how much PPE a stone master gets,

I am curious how this does not answer that question:

9. P.P.E.: Like all men of magic, the stone master is a living battery of mystic energy that he can draw on to create magic. Unlike the other magic O.C.C.s, the stone master can store and draw on vast amounts of P.P.E. through stone pyramids (explained in the section entitled, Pyramid Technology). Permanent Base P.P.E. for Atlanteans: The P.E. attribute times three, plus the usual bonus for Atlanteans and from magic tattoos. Add 2D6 P.P.E per each additional level of experience. Of course the mage can draw on energy from ley lines, nexus points, gem stones and pyramids, but not from other living beings. P.P.E. Recovery is 10 per hour or 15 through meditation.
Base P.P.E. for Non-Atlantean Stone Masters: The P.E. attribute times two plus 30 points. Add 2D6 P.P.E per additional level of experience. Also the mage can draw on energy from ley lines, nexus points, gem stones and pyramids, but not from other living beings. P.P.E. Recovery is 5 per hour or 10 if meditating.

Thank you. I kept thinking it was there. But I kept missing it for some reason. Probably because unlike all the other it's listed after the skills and the like. Oh well.

[Shark_Force]

stone masters don't learn spells. they magically turn gems into spells, more or less, destroying the gem (in stages) as part of the process.

so, that answers at least one of your questions.

Wrong...They get spells. Under Stone Magic (or at least that's how we've always interpenetrated them) They start on page 100-102 of WB 2. If they cost PPE they are spells, not abilities.

*shrug* sure, if you want to call those spells, then I guess they get spells in that sense. in any event, they get the entire list at level 1.

or, more practically speaking, you figure out how many gems they can buy, and that determines what spells they have available at any given time.

[rosco60559]

you might want to wait on passing out congrats till the book is on the shelves. we've seen for years a huge list of books the big guy wants to put out and they barely get 3-5(if that) of them out and the rifter. I've been waiting for the 2 chaos earth books that have been on pre-order/in development for 10+years. I know bts fans have been waiting a hell of a long time as well.

[Shark_Force]

you might want to wait on passing out congrats till the book is on the shelves. we've seen for years a huge list of books the big guy wants to put out and they barely get 3-5(if that) of them out and the rifter. I've been waiting for the 2 chaos earth books that have been on pre-order/in development for 10+years. I know bts fans have been waiting a hell of a long time as well.

it's the book he's working on right now. there are sometimes delays, but unless he literally just stops working on it entirely and starts another project, it is extremely improbable that the book would remain unfinished this year.

now, the other books on his list... yeah, I wouldn't expect all of them this year (we've been getting "several splicers book this year" for the past few years, officially). but the PF book? it's pretty danged likely to happen.

[rosco60559]

shark force i'm sorry to offend but tossing around congrats before that book appears is a lot like going to a guy running race and saying congrats on finishing and all he did was walk to the starting line.

[Shark_Force]

no, it really isn't. kevin has already done a bunch of work on it. no, it isn't published right now. but it's getting there. the book is not just "on the list", it's the one that kevin is getting ready right now. it might not get done this week, or next week, but it is the book at the top of the priority list, work is progressing fairly rapidly from all we've heard, and there is a reasonable expectation for it to be completed.

the book may not be finished, but it is quite far past the starting line at this point.

[rosco60559]

sharkforce, I'm sure if you ask the big guy about any of the books on the list they're all far along. all I'm saying is hold off on patting them on the back till the book actually shows up.

[palladiumjunkie]

Shark_Force is right, though, in that this is the only actual proof we ever get that Kevin is actually in the final stages of a book. When he is talking about the specifics of the editing/writing in the updates, then you know he is actively working on it. Otherwise, I would agree that it would still be considered vaporware. Granted, it still may take him months to finish, but this is definitely the next book in the pipeline based on how things have gone since the CoT.

I am with you, though, the congrats are still premature and I would have waited until the book was shipping. There are many of us that have been asking for a Palladium Fantasy book for quite some time, though, so I can understand the enthusiasm of the OP.

-Chris

[Shark_Force]

sharkforce, I'm sure if you ask the big guy about any of the books on the list they're all far along. all I'm saying is hold off on patting them on the back till the book actually shows up.

sure. but if we ask him which one he's writing today right at this very minute (well, ok, possibly not right at this very minute), he won't tell you that he's doing 6 splicers books and 2 PF books and 3 BTS books and a robotech book and a dead reign supplement... he'll tell you that he's writing bizantium.

[rosco60559]

Trust me I understand the op being excited bout the new book. After being burned on the extra source books for chaos earth, splicers, and a couple other lines so I don't bat an eye till I see the book on the shelf at my local shop.

[Forar]

I'm surprised this is even being debated with PB's track record. I mean, wasn't NG-1 being worked on and 'close to release' for like a year and a half? I wasn't around here back then myself, but it was still a hot topic when I joined up just before RRT's campaign went live.

Yes, progress being made and a book *ostensibly* being on the verge of release is great news indeed, but this seems very much like a 'don't count your chickens before they're hatched' situation. Cheer them on, be enthusiastic, but kudos and congratulations should probably wait until the book is at least at the printer, if not on store shelves outright.

[Shark_Force]

I'm surprised this is even being debated with PB's track record. I mean, wasn't NG-1 being worked on and 'close to release' for like a year and a half? I wasn't around here back then myself, but it was still a hot topic when I joined up just before RRT's campaign went live.

Yes, progress being made and a book *ostensibly* being on the verge of release is great news indeed, but this seems very much like a 'don't count your chickens before they're hatched' situation. Cheer them on, be enthusiastic, but kudos and congratulations should probably wait until the book is at least at the printer, if not on store shelves outright.

and yet NG 1 did come out. it took a long time, but once it was at the front of the line, that meant it was going to be released. in the same way, yes it may very well be quite a while before bizantium is released... but it made it to the front of the line.

[Forar]

It sure did. But congratulating them half a year before it came out would've been just as silly.

Congratulations are for when something is done or exemplary, not for saying something has seen progress, unless it's an incredible milestone.

"It's at the printers" is congrats worthy. "We wrote some more pages" is just another day at the office.

[Cinos]

Almost got excited because I assumed 'Congratulations' meant the book was shipped. Only the shipping delays was the reason in the back of my mind why I hadn't seen it at my stores shelf.

While this is a book I really would like to come out, I'm also not going to put in any pre-orders until PB gets their track record back in shape with release dates. That said, I really hope this goes off smoothly and PB gets a little win in their corner.

[Shark_Force]

from what i can tell, the PB track record of publishing as much as they say they're going to publish has never been in shape in the first place.

yes, congratulations are probably a bit premature. but it's silly to paint this picture of a book that's never coming out. it will come out. perhaps not soon, but eventually.

[Cinos]

from what i can tell, the PB track record of publishing as much as they say they're going to publish has never been in shape in the first place.

yes, congratulations are probably a bit premature. but it's silly to paint this picture of a book that's never coming out. it will come out. perhaps not soon, but eventually.

Well, I'm still waiting for my LoD3. When they've cleared their backlog of 'coming soons', you can say it will come out eventually. Right now, there are obvious projects that are dead as far as any sane consumer is concerned.

[The Galactus Kid]

When I turn in the project I'm editing right now, I will have three manuscripts in (Sovietski and two Splicers manuscripts) and I'm hoping to get them through to print this year. Societski will be the biggest endeavor there, but the Splicers books will be smaller and more manageable.

[Shark_Force]

from what i can tell, the PB track record of publishing as much as they say they're going to publish has never been in shape in the first place.

yes, congratulations are probably a bit premature. but it's silly to paint this picture of a book that's never coming out. it will come out. perhaps not soon, but eventually.

Well, I'm still waiting for my LoD3. When they've cleared their backlog of 'coming soons', you can say it will come out eventually. Right now, there are obvious projects that are dead as far as any sane consumer is concerned.

the difference between LoD3 and bizantium is that kevin is working on bizantium now. not eventually, not some day, not "coming soon", he's working on it now. it's the next thing to come out.

now who knows how long it'll take to go from "being worked on right now" to "published", but it isn't just a thing that's been promised at some point, it's something where the fulfillment of the promise has begun.

[Kryptt]

Still it's a wee bit premature. Many of us are waiting on wave two of RRT, but there's been no word on what's going on with it. No one, absolutely no one who is backing RRT is giving them a premature pat on the back just because wave two might be getting worked on. That's why some here might be confused as to the point of this thread. Don't get me wrong I hope your book comes out this year and soon. It just feels like you might be jinxing yourself by congratulating them way too early. Many of us were told we don't know anything when some us said RRT won't be out by Christmas of 2013. Then we were told we don't know what were talking about when many of us said it'll take months to ship the game to non US backers. All I'm saying is don't get too excited so you won't be disappointed later.

[Reagren Wright]

The book as of 2/22/2014 is getting assembled. They are putting in the artwork and working on additional
maps. Its coming folks. I believe Kevin's done adding material. Now if Chuck of course puts in his typical
awesome artwork about some sea creature, well maybe they will have to take the time to stat it out.

[Cinos]

the difference between LoD3 and bizantium is that kevin is working on bizantium now. not eventually, not some day, not "coming soon", he's working on it now. it's the next thing to come out.

Yeah, you could have said that when LoD3 was first set up as "coming soon" too. The literal only thing that will convince me to put a dime on it is when it's at my store (or at the least, when I'm looking over the stores orders and see it is at a distribute and I can order it). Palladiums release rep is so damaged, I am forced to consider anything I cannot order or hold to be vaperware, it's gotten that bad as a consumer. Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked to see them working on PF, and baring the book some how being awful (which would be a big stray from their track record in PF), I'll buy it. But trust isn't something I'll give them for the time being.

The book as of 2/22/2014 is getting assembled. They are putting in the artwork and working on additional
maps. Its coming folks. I believe Kevin's done adding material.

Great to hear, but again, you could give me pictures of Kevin putting the manuscript in a box and mailing it to the printer, still wouldn't pre-order it. No offense to ya'll or anything, I do want this book, I really liked the first glance at the region in High Seas, and there was a lot of cool material. My biggest complaint about it will likely be because it has been a semi-blank space for so long, my head canon for the area, much like southwind, is pretty established, so this will likely over write some or all of that. Less a 'problem' more of a side effect of long lasting blank spots.

[Shark_Force]

Still it's a wee bit premature. Many of us are waiting on wave two of RRT, but there's been no word on what's going on with it. No one, absolutely no one who is backing RRT is giving them a premature pat on the back just because wave two might be getting worked on. That's why some here might be confused as to the point of this thread. Don't get me wrong I hope your book comes out this year and soon. It just feels like you might be jinxing yourself by congratulating them way too early. Many of us were told we don't know anything when some us said RRT won't be out by Christmas of 2013. Then we were told we don't know what were talking about when many of us said it'll take months to ship the game to non US backers. All I'm saying is don't get too excited so you won't be disappointed later.

it isn't my book, and i'm not in the habit of getting excited about PB stuff "coming soon".

i've been looking forward to the eventual time when someday in the distant future all those splicers books that kevin keeps promising us will actually see the light of day. i've been telling people for over a year now that there is no rational reason to expect them to come out when PB expects them to (which at this point i think was also over a year ago that PB was expecting several splicers books to be released).

but i do expect them to come out.

palladium has a really bad track record of getting stuff published within a certain time frame. but once kevin starts actually working on a book, they have a really good track record of getting it published eventually. now that he's started working on it, there is no reason to expect that it won't come out. perhaps not soon, but eventually.

which is why i think it's weird that people are expecting PB to not release robotech wave two for that matter. being worried about *when* it will come out i can totally understand (for example, i consider not expecting it this year to be somewhat pessimistic, but certainly not completely irrational). but it just seems weird to expect that it won't come at all. delays all over the place i think you would be fairly irrational to not expect, though.

[Forar]

Wave 2 is an entirely different kettle of fish.

It involves over twice as many figures as wave one, and Palladium has spoken of rising costs on several fronts (2 wave shipping dramatically increasing those costs, and the molds costing twice as much as anticipated, for example). Despite telling us repeatedly that work is happening, there is almost nothing to actually show for it.

Note; not to drag this into yet another Wave Two discussion, but since the matter came up I think it's worth looking at the context and perspective as to why someone might be concerned about that particular project. This is a company that not too many years ago was on the verge of crumbling. When talking about an aspect of their work that probably costs at least an order of magnitude more (financially at least, if not in terms of other resources), that is more understandable.

I don't buy into it myself, but I also roll my eyes when people claim that we might see it in the next couple of months.

Them folks are flat out delusional.

[Premier]

The book as of 2/22/2014 is getting assembled. They are putting in the artwork and working on additional
maps. Its coming folks. I believe Kevin's done adding material. Now if Chuck of course puts in his typical
awesome artwork about some sea creature, well maybe they will have to take the time to stat it out.

Incredibly humbled !!
Great book and fantastic script Reagren, so much refreshing material with Palladium Fantasy!!! Man... I wish there was more time as the ideas were flowing just reading what I was assigned for this book.

I can attest as ALL of my art assignments for Bizantium have been fulfilled (completed & approved) with interior artwork and the cover. Coming from the office, I can tell you all, that indeed Bizantium is the book being keenly worked on and it is on deck. I can't say the same for any other title (wish I could get that Splice through the pipe), but Bizantium is indeed on the launch pad.

[Hotrod]

I'm always stoked about seeing your work, Chuck. I can't wait to see some of these sea serpent ships detailed out inside.

I've also completed a map for Bizantium that Wayne and Kevin seemed to like. I'm hoping it makes the final cut.

As for the timing of it, Kevin's weekly update last week stated that Bizantium was supposed to go to the printer this week. I'm sure Kevin and his crew are as eager to get this thing launched as we are to see it, but I don't begrudge a few more days to make this book as good as they can reasonably make it.

[Reagren Wright]

Kevin and Wayne were up unitl 1:00 a.m. est Friday doing the final touches on Bizanitum to get it to the printer . So I
expect we should have a book sometimes in the next two or three weeks just in time for SPRING BREAK reading material if
your in highs school.

[Hotrod]

Hey, it's at the printer according to the latest update, so yay! I can't wait to see it.

[The Galactus Kid]

YEAH!!! i can't wait to get my hands on this book.