Nosfecatu Publishing

Joining the 5mind

2012-01-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

As my Lord and Master sleeps, Nosfecatu Publishing, as a whole would remain active as a blogger, as per our earlier announcement. In the near future, look out for our articles on the nuno (a gnome subrace), as well as finishing our Winds of Change and Manananggal Vampire Bloodline series. Also, we may release some new content for 4E in the upcoming months - but it remains to be seen as to whether we'll release it as free website content or as a .pdf file. Time will tell.

As fans who are excited for the next iteration of D&D, I want to remind anyone interested in contributing to letting your voice be heard. We believe that if more fans contribute across all editions, then it could lead D&DN in a direction that will make many of us happy. To that end, I want to redirect you to WotC's polls (don't forget to join the D&D Next group to be able to vote!):

Welcome to the group: A fatal four-way between orcs, goblins, skeletons, and kobolds.
Holy and Radiant: Does "holy energy pernicious to undead" and "mystic light beams" need to be distinct?
+1 or better to hit? Damage Reduction and resistances, or, "you have to be this tall to fight this monster."

Vote, leave a comment, and let your voice be heard!

Review: 4th Edition D&D (Part 2)

2012-01-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Fluff is Only Skin Deep

I still live through my experiences with preparingfor 3E as a DM in my nightmares. At low-levels it’s alright, but the higher youget, the more complicated things become. My players used to come up with themost innovative ways to use spells, so in return I wanted to make sure that myhigh intelligence opponents can do the same. By the time my players hit level13 and above, the preparation time for 4 hours of D&D game took about twoweeks as I polished monsters, read up on their spell-like abilities, decidedhow a monster of a certain disposition would react to things player characterswill do, and track NPC activities. It came to a point where I could cite therulebook, page number, spell level, and material component of each spell andmagic item at the drop of a hat, just because I was preparing all the time.

I probably would have fared better
if I refluffed 3.5 DMing in my head
as Summer Glau.

D&D Next and Nosfecatu Publishing

2012-01-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

As many of you may already know, Wizards of the Coast announced that they are currently at work developing the latest iteration of the Dungeons and Dragons game last Monday. Precious little is known at this point, aside from their intention to cater to players of the game we love regardless of edition. In this regard, they have announced an open playtesting process that will begin on the spring of this year.

When we began to conceptualize the small group that would eventually become known as Nosfecatu Publishing, we were working on the assumption that 3.5E was the edition we will be designing for. But when 4E was announced, we decided to go through with the change, even if it meant that we'll need some time to get used to the new system and thus be behind with our release schedules.

Similarly, we welcome D&D next with the full intention of switching over. Things are not set in stone, of course, until we read and accept any new licence that Wizards of the Coast plans to release to third party publishers. But we remain optimistic for the things to come.

Consequently, Nosfecatu Publishing would like to take this moment to issue the following statements:

Review: 4th Edition D&D (Part 1)

2012-01-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

The tabletop roleplaying blogosphere is abuzz with WotC’s recent announcement of the next iteration of Dungeons and Dragons. It was not a complete surprise, as the rehiring of the somewhat controversial Monte Cook as well as the slower rate of churning out supplements led some forum regulars into speculating for a few months now. What is new is the idea that they seemed to have learned the beauty of Open Playtesting that its competitors are using and will start making beta rules available this spring. (What month does Spring start again? This tropical gamer wants to know but is otherwise too lazy to Google.) So now, the rumors of a new edition are replaced by talks of how each tabletop gamer wants the rules to look like. As expected, people have varied expectations, and flame wars have already begun. And not a single 5th Edition rule has even been revealed yet!

So instead of ironing out what I want to see out of D&D next/5E, I feel like this is a good time to review the current incarnation of the rules. Its days of being officially supported are now numbered, so I believe the 4E we are seeing now is more or less the form it will take when those who choose to stick with that edition play it next year and for the years to come. Personally, I have played 4E from the onset and have thoroughly enjoyed it from both sides of the screen. However, I do not feel as attached to it as I did D&D 3.5 (the system I played in when I first began playing tabletop RPGs) and as such will switch without that feeling of reluctance that I had back in 2008.

But why do I feel that way? Well, that’s what this review is for.
Read more »

The Winds of Change (Part 1)

2011-12-31T07:41:00.000-08:00

Introduction

Winds of Change is a short series of encounters for characters who have just arrived at the epic tier. It is loosely based on the Bukidnon epic known as "Matabagka Searches for the Deity of the Wind," which can be read at Damiana Eugenio's Philippine Folk Literature: The Epics which was published by UP Press. I say loosely because there are a lot of things that have been omitted and added in the interest of making it fit as a D&D 4E game. The result is a far cry from the original epic - nevertheless, I encourage you to check it out if you can find it.

This is not a complete adventure. Winds of Change consists of three key encounters, with fluff text on background events as well as a general flow of the plot. Encounter maps are not included for now. (But I plan on adding them, I promise, even if it's just me hand-drawing them onto some graphing paper. I may not be able to bother my artists with something that I cannot and should not earn from.)

You can say that this is me dipping my finger into the epic D&D gameplay. I want to get a feel for it before I embark on something more substantial.

Read more »

Taste Test: Batibat (Night Hag)

2011-12-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

(Taste test is a type of article that focuses on some of the fluff that have already been conceptualized for the Buan Campaign Setting. They will mostly be pure flavor, though the occasional mechanical bit will be included as well. Any material shown here is not final to the campaign setting, so feel free to add in comments and suggestions!)

Throughout the mythology of Kalupaan, the image of an old hag is a familiar one. Wizened old crones who use the knowledge of the years for terrible deeds exist. And they appear in many forms: Vermin lords known as the mambabarang whisper to insects and compel them to plague their enemies. Manananggal witches, eternally youthful as they are, reveal the true wrinkled and ugly nature of their demon-bound souls when they segment themselves and fly in the night. Warlocks and witches abound, and even in the priestly caste of the babaylanes, who are vessels of the divine, there are those who become harlots to the darker gods in the process of their long lives.

These creatures may appear otherworldy, but they are just as often mortal creatures as they are actual fey creatures known as hags. The susceptibility of mortals, especially humans, to temptation leads many to this dark path. Because of this, hags, while common, are mostly overlooked. Even in isolation, they are often thought of as depraved but ultimately mortal. Because of this, the batibat, the night hags of the fey realm of Kalikasan, are unique.

Image not owned by Nosfecatu. Source from iaaaaaaaaan

Buan Creatures: Merfolk

2011-10-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

The Philippines, as an archipelago, naturally have their own variants of the merfolk. I won't dwell on how such stories start within a cultural group or whether mermaids are actually real- that is not my place. I'm just here to bring these awesome creatures to life within the context of a D&D 4E game.

The most popular variant of the Philippine merfolk is the sirena. It is, however, almost the same as standard merfolk, so I won't bother statting what I'm sure others have homebrewed already at this point in 4E's life.

Yep, that's the exact same actress that plays
Amaya in my previous post. >.>

Instead, I've decided to focus on two creatures - the male siukoy and the rarer, two-tailed mambubuno (and no, I'm not talking about the Starbucks girl).

Read more »

Buan Themes: Snake Twin

2011-10-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

(Note. The inspiration for the Twin Snake theme, as well as the photos included in this article, come from Amaya, a television show owned by GMA network. None of the pictures used here are owned by Nosfecatu Publishing, and are used for nonprofit.

The belief in the Twin Snake extends beyond that show, and I credit Willian Henry Scott's Barangay as the principal source for this idea.)

(Note2. You will need the Arcane Power D&D 4E supplement, as well as the theme rules found in Dragon 399, to use these fan-made rules.)

Marian Rivera as Amaya, the
woman with a twin snake.

Ancestor spirits called the umalagad are commonly venerated in the Buan Campaign Setting. Their deeds while they were among the living are remembered through song, empowering them in the afterlife. They, in turn, use this power to aid those who are especially attuned to them, such as characters who have access to primal powers or the babaylan.

Manananggal Vampire Bloodline, Part 1

2011-04-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

The manananggals are creatures of the night. Through ancient rituals and bargains with otherworldly entities, they are able to attain immortality with the price of eternal hunger for the fluids of the living. With their nocturnal feeding habits, familial leanings, and batlike transfiguration, it is no wonder that manananggals are often associated as a type of vampire.

There are subtle differences between the two nocturnal creatures. The manananggal is more properly a demon (and more specifically an asuang) than an undead, they feed not only on blood but on other soft, internal parts of their prey as well, and they are not as vulnerable to sunlight as their more baroque counterparts (although it still gives them discomfort). Besides these differences, they are, by and large, the vampiric creatures that plague Kalupaan.

This fan article guides you through the steps of creating a manananggal, a subclass of the vampire found in Wizard of the Coast's Heroes of Shadow. You will need that book to be able to use the content here - the subclass essentially swaps out certain vampire class features for their manananggal counterparts. It otherwise functions as a normal vampire.

For more information on the manananggal as a monster as well as the mythos of this creature, check out our own Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors.

Artwork by Corpse Corpuz

Taste Test: Dian Masalanta

2011-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

(Taste test is a new type of article that focuses on some of the fluff that have already been conceptualized for the Buan Campaign Setting. They will mostly be pure flavor, though the occasional mechanical bit will be included as well. Any material shown here is not final to the campaign setting, so feel free to add in comments and suggestions! In the spirit of the upcoming Valentines Day, Nosfecatu presents Dian Masalanta, the goddess of love. )

(art by James Macaspac)

Island Traditions and Epic Undertakings

2010-11-30T10:40:00.001-08:00

All the Essentials buzz have finally gone down (in our opinion, at least), so it's time to take a good look at the D&D 3PP landscape again. There has been a lot of talk about the State of the GSL, with Neuroglyph's efforts on the matter being of particular interest to us. It's hardly representative of the population as a whole, but so far, it seems that character options are low on the list of things that D&D 4E consumers look for in a 3PP. As our next product, Barangay: Island Traditions primarily gives a class-like option, that revelation was a definitive "aw, crap" moment for us.

Read more »

Polyhedral: Double Damage

2010-09-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

Once again, Nosfecatu will be a part of My Girlfriend is a DM's Polyhedral event!

This time, we'll be running a level 4 (or 5) game, featuring pregenerated characters tailored for the Buan Campaign Setting. Such pregens include a tikbalang wizard (pyromancer) and a razorclaw shifter assassin (executioner) to represent a half-sigbin, and a first look/playtest of our tradition system through an elf babaylan (invoker)!

We're also thinking of including a pregen named Prinsesa Dayang-dayang, which is built as a "Disney Princess," aka, a bard|lazy warlord that sings, makes friends with furry animals, and makes allies attack in her stead. It might detract from the intended feel, though, so we're unsure of this one as of now. >.>

Anyways, we'll keep you updated! I'm busy with RL matters right now, so I can't really post much. But I do see some extra time in October to toil under My Lord and Master, so watch out for that.

Until next time!

Updates!

2010-07-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's been awhile. Hope you guys are still here.

We would firstly like to apologize for the lack of updates. As we mentioned before, things usually get real hectic for us from June onwards, but we didn't expect our full-time jobs to get in the way of publishing this much! We want to provide more material for the Buan Campaign Setting at the soonest possible time, but I admit that our progress has been terribly slow these days. And like many other fans of D&D 4E, we're watching out the Essentials line with bated breath. The Internet is rife with speculation on what it exactly means for the game, and we believe that it's best to release something after a major WotC release instead of before, to prevent too many updates to our products after people have started buying them.

Speaking of updates, however, I'm sure youre all familiar with the latest update from WotC. In it they made a bunch of rules changes (including the reworking of Magic Missile to mirror it's classic form), and the most important change for publishers like us are the new guidelines for monster design. We've taken a look at the new damage values, and decided to mix it with our own design principles. As such, we are pleased to announce that we have updated the monsters in both Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan and Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors to reflect the latest updates.

In addition, since we were messing around with the tikbalang statblocks anyway, we decided to update them to the new format, making these tikbalangs easier to read during combat.

We also took the time to fix some minor grammatical errors that you, our readers, have pointed out. We would want to thank you for helping us increase the quality of our product, and we hope to hope to continuously hear from you as we churn out more material.

That's all for today. Keep in touch!

Shapechanging Monster Standards

2010-06-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Those of you who purchased a copy of Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors have seen how we incorporated the new standards for monster statblocks that appeared in the latest Monster Manual. The response to that move was positive, and we're glad we made the choice so soon after seeing the format ourselves for the first time.

Now recently, we were made aware that other things have changed in the MM3 besides the aesthetic presentation of the statblocks. It has come to our attention that, like MM2 before it, MM3 made changes to the formulas that govern monster creation. The most important ones seem to be:

Paragon to epic-tier monsters have had damage values increased by 30-40%.
Brute, controller, and soldier attack bonuses have been standardized. Now the only major differences left between the roles are defenses and damage values (of course, design expectations such as artilleries having ranged attacks and controllers having attacks that impede opponents are still there, but I didn't include that here because that's not part of the formulas)

Monsters in general have also been noted as being able to do more interesting things. We don't think we have a problem in that department - the asuangs can be pretty interesting in their own right! As for the above concerns, however, we do know about them and we plan on releasing an update.

However, we would like to mention the somewhat limited flow of knowledge going in our direction. Our country has rather substandard shipping practices, which means, among other things, that we can only expect books to arrive at least a month after its actual release. Now I won't get a copy of MM3 myself (I'm reserving my funds for Dark Sun), but one other minion of my Lord and Master will. We expect to see a copy of the MM3 by late July.

But all is not lost. I do have an active DDi subscription, so I will see the statblocks with the upgraded standards through the compendium starting on the first Tuesday of July. We can then review the changes and extrapolate new values for the various asuangs, and then upload an updated file. While we're at it, we'll fix some of the typos pointed out to us (and fix that darned Bookmarks tab, too, once we figure out what exactly went wrong - yes we know it's broken). Don't worry about re-purchasing, either. rpgnow.com and its sister sites allow you to make the download up to five times after purchasing.

In the meantime, what's left of my spare time (my full-time demands my attention again, and preparing and running my own D&D games take up some of those too) will be used for the Barangay project. The Asuang update will have to wait until early July at best, and we would like to apologize for that. :-(

Incoming! (Some Thanks and Talking About the Future)

2010-06-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

As things begin to slow down once again here at Nosfecatu Publishing, we took a moment to evaluate where we currently stand. We are proud of our first two works, Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan and Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors. We have seen a number of people talk about our products in their blogs, and there's an immense sense of satisfaction for trusting us to be a part of your gaming table somewhat (some examples are Sea of Stars' L5R game and Sabrecat's tikbalang witch dotor). We would like to thank everyone who believed in our ideas and purchased our products.

Now on to the future! As I've mentioned in an earlier post, the nuno/diwata idea wan't working for me, so I don't think I'll focus on that as our next project. That being said, we do want to alternate between player and GM resources. The tikbalang was predominantly player-related (though that one was a mix), while the asuang was certainly for GMs. So another player-related ebook is in order.

If you're one of the few people who have been paying attention, you know that one of our writers is currently at work with incorporating the Arnis martial art onto D&D 4E. We can't touch on the monk according to the GSL (which would have been perfect), but we have a good amount of ideas, and we're making progress.

We're also taking a good look at how to incorporate the Arnis to the Buan Campaign Setting. Ultimately, we feel it best to fold them into a slew of character options in an e-book we're tentatively calling Barangay: Mysteries of the Isles. In it we'll also include the concepts that we've had for the pintados (painted warriors) and the babaylan (possessed by the gods), two other themes that we want to tackle as potential character options. We will also dabble into the epic tier for the first time in this e-book, as we gear up to designing our first epic destiny. Barangay is our current focus, and we hope to get it out by the time the -ber months roll in.

After that, our next project would be a full-pledged supplement that focuses on the epic tier. As an avowed Dicefreak and as a fan of Upper_Krust's Immortal's Handbook, I believe in statting up deities. It's a win-win scenario - if you want your gods to be defeatable (a common fantasy trope), then the stats are readily available. If you prefer them to be unkillable, then you are free to ignore the stats for your game. As such, we plan on introducing the deities of Philippine Mythology, as well as the dread dragons (including but not limited to the Bakunawa, worshipped by our asuang), in an e-book that we hope to release late this year.

Now I want to talk about the Buan Campaign Setting more, but I realy have to get back to writing now. And running my Dark Sun game. Until next time!

The Vampire Kitten is on Facebook!

2010-05-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

For an increasing number of people, Facebook is turning into the Internet for them. While we want to remind everyone that there is more to the Internet than status updates and profile pictures, Nosfecatu Publishing cannot deny that an active presence in Facebook helps. With that in mind, we recently launched our Facebook page to better connect with the people who support our endeavors:

Nosfecatu on Facebook!

We know that for some gamers out there, Facebook is synonymous with the devil. We disagree but respect that opinion, and as such we will maintain both the facebook page and our blogspot.

Until next time!

Tikbalang and Psionics

2010-05-24T01:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've finally had the time to read the PHB3 thoroughly. And for the most part, psionics has been redefined from sci-fi telepathic powers to either (publicly) as "the weapon forged to fight the far realm" or (privately) as the power within oneself. This is why they've placed the monk in the psionic power source: Under this concept, the monk's ki is a natural fit.

By and large, however, we at Nosfecatu Publishing would do not want to look at psionics as not as a distinct discipline of its own nor as powers related to the Far Realm, which is not too prevalent in the Buan campaign setting. Instead, we want to look at psionic as a specific type of magic. Looked at in this way, psionics can be differentiated from arcane, since arcane has a flavor of being acquired "externally." Wizards study their power through moldy tomes. Warlocks enter bargains to fulfill their desires. Even sorcerers, who have a "natural" affinity for magic, gained this power through the intermingling of outside supernatural blood with their own mortal origins. In contrast, ardents, battleminds, monks and psions all all manifest their inner magic - natural, but requiring intense meditation and focus to manifest.

As magic, psionics' trademark abilities in my opinion are charms and illusions, something that the tikbalang have always been portrayed as being good at. It also helps that their stat abilities are well-suited for ardent and battlemind, and they can make decent monks and psions as well. So if you have tikbalang player characters that want to take on a psionic class, here is our proposal: Reflavor the psionics' power source as the tikbalangs' trademark magic. That is, when someone says "tikbalang magic," they would would be referring to psionics. Deception is natural for them as a race, and through the harvests, they taught this ability to harness such power to the other races. Thus psionics continue to exist in Kalupaan.

Oh, and by the way, we're back from our vacation. We'll probably link to our private blog once we finish writing a review of our trip.

Asuang Feedback, Tanning for the Vampire Kitten

2010-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

As you may already know, we are always open to any and all feedback from our customers. Asuang: Shapechanging Horros is no different. So if you have any queries, suggestions, or even downright disapprovement over how we presented our latest project, then don't hesitate to comment here!

We'd also like to use this opportunity to tell you guys that the Vampire Kitten will be offline for around four days as we enjoy the last few days of summer here in the Philippines. Leave your feedback here, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!

Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors out Now!

2010-05-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

That's right! After the irritating delays, we finally got to finish the pdf. A copy of the e-book is available at rpgnow:

We're still hashing out a tiny little problem: The previews portion of the page doesn't seem to be working as of this writing, which could really affect the product's performance on the marketplace. We've contacted rpgnow about it, though, and hopefully things will turn out well.

Getting Closer

2010-05-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the ten days came and went, but Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors still isn't here. On behalf of my Lord and Master, I would like to apologize for that. However, things are looking up. The interior design made by John Corpuz has just been finished, and as James returns as both our Layout and Cover artist, it's all in her hands now. I have seen the lineart of the cover, and I can confidently say that the release is very close now.

In fact, since we might go out on vacation next week, our Lord and Master insists that we finish it before then! I suppose he's right - it just doesn't seem right to go on vacation when you have somehting unfinished that's waiting back at home.

In other news, I am well at work with the nuno and the diwata (gnomes and eladrin in the Buan Campaign Setting), but the path that we're taking just doesn't feel right yet. When incorporating real world mythologies into a game, a certain balance between staying true to the original stories and keeping it within the context of the game should be attained. Currently, our most recent writing endeavor is too much of the original story. It ends up not making sense in play. Pardon me if I keep mum about the details for now.

The arnis pdf is also beginning to shape up. I'm not the author for that one so I can't delve into the specifics, but I have it on good authority that the martial art will be represented by a multiclass feat, and will favor the various two-weapon builds.

Fey Folio, Random Shoutouts

2010-04-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Even though we have only officially released one product, we here at Nosfecatu Publishing are glad to have made new acquaintances in the GSL world. Most notably, I would like to give a shoutout to Neuroglyph Games, who maintains one of the most frequently-updated sites dedicated to D&D 4E, and to the folks at Emerald Press, who've been kind enough to give some space for the gigantic kapre in their bi-monthly Combat Advantage ezine. We've been pleasantly surprised at how friendly the 3rd party-publishing market is, and it makes us push even harder to release new products.

With that said, we are always on the lookout for other 3PP products that may catch our eye. And thanks to Neuroglyph, we came upon a very interesting product from Alluria Publishing. Entitled the Fey Folio, it presents over 20 fey creatures for any D&D game, mostly centered on the heroic tier.

Neuroglyph Games' Review of Fey Folio

The Buan Campaign Setting is a natural place for fey creatures, as can be attested by the two creatures that we have released so far being fey. Also, on that note, we've been informed that the kapre also makes an appearance in the Fey Folio, and we're really interested in seeing how the build differs from each other. We're glad to see that more and more publishers are working on Filipino myths.

We will definitely purchase this product in the near future, and we hope you check it out, as well.

Getting Antsy (Short Update)

2010-04-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

So some of you may be wondering what's keeping the Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors from hitting the shelves. Well, there are two reasons, really:

Edits - My editor and I want to keep the statblocks as idiot-proof as we can. Most recently, we found an unusual loop that may be done with the manananggal's disjoining/rejoining ability. Now, this is 4E D&D, and I like to think that the Dungeon Masters will understand the intended use of the ability. Nevertheless, we have an obligation to our readers to keep it as clear as possible. The challenge, however, is writing the powers clearly while preventing it from becoming a wall of text.
Art - Currently, we have two artists working for the asuang. John (the one who did the kapre vs tikbalang art) is the one in charge of all the interior art, while James (who did all artworks for the tikbalang) will be doing the cover. I've seen the sketches, and all that's left now is inking and scanning them in. But we can't really rush art, so I'm not pressuring them too much. Our Lord and Master doesn't have problems with reminding us that he'll suck the blood out of us if we don't meet our deadlines, however. >.>

With any luck, and if Our Lord and Master gets his way, we can have it out within the next ten days.

So What's New?

2010-04-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

As of this writing, the supplement, "Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors" are out of my hands. I finally had the time to finish it last week, and I sent it over to my fellow servant of the vampire kitten for editing. Everything looks solid so far, and if the artworks finish at around the same time, we'll be able to release the product by mid-April.

So what's in this particular e-book? This supplement, intended for GMs, will present eight new monsters (or nine, if you count the manananggal twice :P) that are commonly referred to as asuangs. We're also introducing a new monster format that will be similar to upcoming official monster products that promises to be easier to read at the gaming table. There will also be a GM Toolkit that allows you to 1) tailor encounters that include the asuangs, and 2) lets you use thematic elements to give existing shapeshifters an asuang feel.

Without any of the artworks included, the e-book is a little over 15 pages long. As it is going to be a few pages longer than "Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan," it will likely be priced at around $2-$2.50 (depending on how our talks with the artwork commissions turn out).

Once Asuang is released, what will be next for Nosfecatu Publishing? As mentioned before, one of our writers is already at work incorporating arnis-themed martial arts into 4E D&D. There is still no release date for that, but I'll update here as often as I could. As for me, I'm still deciding about what I will write next: It will either be a treatment of barangganic elements as character options (ie, the tattooed Pintados, the divinely-possessed babaylan, and potentially the warrior-smith Panday) or a short module that focuses on giving Buan-themed options for the gnomes and eladrin. In addition, we also plan on releasing a short update for Tikbalang to keep it in line with new PC race expectations.

We are now very close to the release of the Asuang! Prepare to terrorize your players with these horrific shapechangers!

Dissecting the Manananggal

2010-03-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

While the tikbalang could very well be the most iconic creature of Philippine Mythology, the asuangs would certainly fit the niche of the most iconic Philippine monster. And among these asuangs, none could be more awe-inspiring than the manananggal. It seems that whenever we talk about our country's mythologies and how I will be adapting it to the game, people ask us when we'll be making the manananggal. The Dream King himself describes the manananggal as his most-liked Filipino mythological character.

Manananggal comes from the root word "tanggal" (remove/disjoin), and taken literally, it means "one who removes." Essentially, the creature is a witch that has a specific power at night - it disjoins from the lower half of its body, changes its upper limbs into wings, and flies off into the night in search of innards to consume. In this form, it feeds via its elongated tongue that it uses like a straw. Once it finds a suitable prey, it injects its tongue through the belly and feeds.

Most stories about the manananggal ended with someone (be it the child or spouse of a former victim, or a trio of crafty teenage boys) finding the manananggal's lower half and destroying this this immobile half. Without the lower half as a sort of compass, it cannot find its way back before dawn, and the light of the sun will destroy it eventually. That makes for a good story, for sure, but we felt that more should be done with the lower half for 4E. So we made a decision to make the lower half more than just an immobile phylactery of sorts.

Thus, when the asuang disjoins (an event that can happen in combat), the lower half fights on. The destruction of a lower half endangers the manananggal, however, so it is usually inits best interest to keep the lower half hidden while the upper half wades on fearlessly. Guess what the combat role of the lower half will be. :P

Because of its hunger for flesh as well as its vulnerability to sunlight, the manananggal is usually referred to as a vampire. Our upcoming ebook explores this connection, but vampires in D&D are undead, and all things considered, the manananngal do not qualify as such. Instead, we looked at the origins of the monster, and derived its creature type from there.

It is said that the source of power for the manananggals reside in a black chick hiding in their bodies. These demonlings can be forced out by tying the asuang upside-down and turning the creature over and over. Eventually the creature will vommit, and the demonling can be caught and killed.

Unlike other asuangs who have inherited their condition, manananggals are not born. Instead, manananggal families keep tiktiks, as we decided to call these black demon chicks. Each tiktik is the blessing of a mighty demon lord or one of its vassals onto the family. Most frequently it is a demon lord of elemental air (Pazazu, Puzaza? Puzuza?). In addition to the manananggal statistics for the manananggal, there will be stats for the tiktik in Asuang: Shapeshifting Horrors.

Combat Advantage #16 Out Now!

2010-03-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

The March-April Issue of Combat Advantage is out, showing the kapre to the world!

...

Okay, maybe that was a little too cheesy. Nevertheless, we here at Nosfecatu Publishing hope that you find the time to check out these tobacco-smoking tree giants. Also, as you may well know, we're on a constant quest to make our products better. So any questions and feedback that you may have regarding the kapre can be posted in our comments section here. I'll make sure to clarify anything vague that may come up. Of course, suggestions on where we could have been lacking would also be appreciated.

So go ahead, and check out rpgnow!

The Kapre Advantage (Part 1)

2010-03-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

In Dragon magazine's latest Ampersand (DDi exclusive) article, Mr.Bill Slavicsek revealed the statblocks for some monsters appearing in HS1: The Slaying Stone. The monsters themselves were not new (kobold dragonshield, ankheg, and gray ooze all appear in published monster Manuals), but it was still quite a reveal. You see, they showcased a new format for the statblocks themselves, which is the same format that they will use for the upcoming Monster Manual 3.

That got us really excited over here at Nosfecatu Publishing, and we immediately set about checking out ways to go with the new statblock. And as it turns out, it actually looks better than our previous monster statblock template. But hey, you be the judge: Here's the kapre, coming on as a full article at the upcoming issue of Combat Advantage by Emerald Press, in both the old and new formats!

Old format (click on image to enlarge):

New Format (click to enlarge):

Notes:

The whitespace increases the readability of the new format, and the separate lines for attack and hit helps too.
All in all, it's easier to think of the best combination of actions that you'll have the monster do while DMing because of the way powers of certain action types are grouped together.
Drawback: The statblocks generally take more space, and they are harder to fit in a page of pdf.
I didn't know where to put the aura description, so I placed it in traits, which seemed most appropriate.

The kapre and it's huge cousin, the kapre titan, will be seen with the classic statblocks once Combat Advantage comes out (for free!). Be sure to check it out - for in it you will find notes on the kapre mythos and how they can be adapted into any D&D 4E game.

Meanwhile, we're hard at work on Asuang: Shapeshifting Horrors. Each asuang presented in the upcoming e-book will have the new formats (since we like them that much). If things go well, we could start discussing the monsters in-depth by next week's update. Our day jobs are paticularly booked this month though, much to My Lord and Master's dismay, so that's not guaranteed to happen. But rest assured - we're doing our very best to churn out our second product as soon as we can. :)

Third Time's the (Goldenmane) Charm

2010-03-02T07:39:00.000-08:00

It goes without saying that we here at Nosfecatu Publishing are very big fans of 4E Dungeons and Dragons. We just wouldn't be able to design proper 3rd-party products for an RPG if we didn't have a certain amount of love for the game, after all. So it comes as no surprise for us to eagerly anticipate the Player's Handbook 3, which is the newest addition to the core rules of the game. The book itself will feature four new races and six new classes, not to mention the addition of the much-awaited psionic power source for the game. At least two members of Nosfecatu are planning to get one as soon as it hits Philippine shelves (we'll be a month or two late, I'm afraid). As for me, I will make do with the information that I'll get for being a DDI subscriber.

Unfortunately, there aren't any news regarding the inclusion of any of the content found in PHB3 n the GSL, so we will be unable to expand upon any of the options presented in that book for the time being. However, that doesn't mean that Nosfecatu products won't be influenced by that core book. we've been scouting out for any Internet rumors like many of you, and we have stumbled upon the idea that the four new races follow a different type of format. Should the rumors turn out to be true (and we're fairly positive that it will be), we will use the opportunity to put an extra feature to our beloved tikbalang.

Those of you who've seen the tikbalang may have wondered why they didn't have a racial bonus to their dexterity scores. As an equine race well-known for their speed, such a feature would seem like a natural thing to do. And for the most part, we agree with this notion. However, as the theme of 4E PC races went, we were limited to only two racial ability score preferences.

As we were deciding which ability scores the tikbalang race would get, we took a look at the themes that tikbalangs in Philippine myth and popular culture portrayed. the most prolific themes were: The tikbalang that provided boons for those who outlast the creature in wrestling it and stealing the mane (con/str), tireless tikbalang that galloped at the speed of cars for miles on end (con/dex), tikbalang who charmed or kidnapped women to take home and be their bride (cha), trickster tikbalang that used illusions (cha), and the tikbalang hunter that used bows, spears, or two swords (dex/possibly str). There were other themes, but these were the ones that stood out the most.

Constitution was the most prominent racial characteristic that we could slap onto the tikbalang, so that one was almost a no-brainer. We determined that strength would be out once we determined that, since tikbalangs were a borderline large race and we didn't want to stick with the str/con archetype of borderline large creatures. Besides, strength didn't seem like a major point with the tikbalangs, so it was something we could do without.

So it came down to dexterity versus charisma for the secondary score. In the end, we decided to choose charisma over dexterity. Ironically, this was due to some half-orc influence. You see, half-orcs managed to be tough SoB's even without a constitution boost, thanks to their Half-orc Resilience racial feature. They were tough, but not necessarily enduring (did that make sense?). On the other hand, tikbalangs are fast, but not necessarily nimble. If half-orcs can be tough without a con boost, we can make fast tikbalangs that didn't have a dex boost.

All in all, we liked how we handled the tikbalang as a PC race. However, there were people who disagreed with the race's lack of a dexterity boost, since it makes the archer-tikbalang concept (most recently popularized by Skyworld's Makabo) a little difficult to execute. Personally, a build that features a starting primary stat of 16 is still worth taking, but we understand the sentiments of those who called for a dexterity increase.

The rumored racial format change for the PHB 3 lets us address the dexterity-void. We stand by our premise that charisma is more important to a tikbalang than dexterity, but if the rumors turn out to be true, then we'll go ahead and create a free update for the tikbalang. In the update, we'll give the option of choosing dexterity over charisma, and add in a few options geared towards the concept of the Nimble Tikbalang.

Until next time!

Fixing Up, Tree Giants

2010-02-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

I'll keep this one short, in contrast with the previous Tianak post.

My Lord and Master has recently commanded me to fix the site. I won't do a massive overhaul - I'll just add a few gadgets here and there to (hopefully) make the site more appealing. The fix will be done to address certain issues, one of which is the utter lack of explanation as to what we are supposed to be.

There aren't a lot of things to say regarding product updates at the moment. But we did manage to work on the kapre, popularly known as the tree giant of Philippine Mythology. The material is short, so we decided to offer it up to the Combat Advantage e-zine.Watch our for that when Issue #16 comes out this March, absolutely free!

Conceiving the Tianak

2010-02-10T06:22:00.001-08:00

Anyone familiar with the various horror stories that are prevalent in Philippine culture would know about the myth of the tianak. Numerous local movies were dedicated to the tianak in the past few decades, after all. And to this day, Filipinos will be reluctant to pick up actual babies that will have been left behind by parents who simply could not afford them.

For the uninitiated, the myth of the tiyanak goes like this. A person lost in the woods hears the crying of an infant in the distance. Likely to have been moved by the apparent helplessness of the child, the person looks for this infant that has been left in the middle of nowhere. After finding the child, the person is compelled to pick it up, only to have the baby revert to its hideous form to attack the kind victim.

After some digging around in local libraries, I found out that the tianak were originally thought of more as a mischievous gnome than as a monster that kills its victims. After biting the victim, it hops away (for one of its legs are stunted) shouting, "Ha! I've tricked you!" At the time, we were still planning on making the Buan Campaign Setting in one big drop, and we were wondering about how to incorporate the halflings (which is somewhat out of place in our setting). This is what we came up with:

Tianak

Tianaks are souls made flesh; a second chance for those who have died at a very young age.

The sight of a tianak is unsettling; having crawled out of their former graves, they have inherited many traits that could associate them with the undead. They are typically identified by their gaunt form. Wide mouths with sharp teeth further their reputation as undead, what separate them are their large, pitch-black eyes. Unlike the undead that they resemble, those fierce eyes show a resolve that is unmatched by many among those who can say for certain that they are “alive”.

Being very young at the time of their untimely demise, they tend to lose features that identify them with their former race. The earth has nurtured them somewhat; they crawl out of their graves at about the same size of a humanoid child of about eight harvests. After this event, however, their growth ceases. They will stay as tall as children for the rest of their lives.

The tianak is a halfling subrace (see the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook); they are a small people that are favored by chance.

Background and Myth

While the above descriptions are accurate, you will rarely see a tianak in his or her natural form. Misunderstood by the larger folk and lacking a community of their own, they have resorted to trickery and disguise. They will typically wander the barangay disguised as a child, resorting to stealing to keep themselves fed.

Stories hold that the tianak as malicious undead that disguise themselves as infants. They pretend to be lost in the woods and feed on any foolish enough to take pity on them. These legends hold a small shard of truth; some tianaks have been known to engage in cannibalism, as well as disguise themselves to avoid the ire of those who fear their unnatural nature.

However, only the most malicious of tianaks do such things, for the greater majority believes that they are the children of Dian Masalanta. They associate their imperfect state of being to that of the goddess’s shattered soul, and they believe that the earth from which they have sprung is the goddess’s womb.

Thei lifespan of tianaks are as varied as their differing lineage; besides, this is not a concern for them. They have died once, and what matters now is how they live their second life.

Many among us were happy with this adaptation, which presented them as a subrace of halflings (and thereby sharing their mechanical traits). However, our Lord and Master disagreed, saying that it goes too far from the original visage of the tianak. Also, the official Revenant race was released some time after we conceptualized this, and our vision of the tianak as a playable race became too close to something else for our tastes. So it was back to the drawing board for us.

For a time, we did not know what to do with the tianak. While something that tiny could pose a threat to normal people, we had trouble visualizing how it would trouble a party of seasoned adventurers. Then one day, I came across the Filipino comic book series entitled "Trese," which details the cases tackled by a detective of the supernatural in modern Manila. In one of the issues in particular (Embrace of the Unwanted), Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo offered their take on these little monsters.

And that's where the idea of making them into a swarm of hungry little asuang came up. Come to think of it, they do fit the asuang MO of shapeshifters that have a taste for the entrails of the living. We're still getting the kinks worked out - a swarm of tianak would look silly if they all shapeshift into babies, for example. But you can expect these nasty little guys to torment your players when Asuang: Shapeshifting Horrors come out.

Until next time!

Hunting the Asuang

2010-01-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hello, everybody! Nosfecatu Publishing is back on track - our Internet connection is finally stable again, all the writers are busy with their work, and our Lord and Master has a fresh supply of ~~the blood of its minions~~ delicious anchovies! We are all excited with our next slew of products, and can't wait to have them finished.

Firstly, I want to update you guys on the status of Asuangs: Shapeshifting Horrors. Tech work on all six monsters are just about done, and we are currently focusing on fluff work on how to make it fit into the world of Buan. Of course, we also want to present the material in such a way that will make these creatures easy to integrate into any Campaign Setting, so currently we are trying to avoid too many name drops of Buan-specific names. If we finish this as early as we expect, we'll try to see if we can fit another monster or two into the ebook.

For those of you who loved the art of Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan, you will be delighted to hear that our friend James will also be doing the cover for the asuang supplement. As for the interior art, however, we are looking into a new artist - the asuang are horrors of the night, and we think that our new artist's talents will be perfect for them.

We did encounter a few setbacks, however. Most notably, I lost my flash drive a few days ago. As it contained the most recent copy of our fluff work, we have about two weeks' worth of material that would have to be rewritten. My Lord and Master isn't pleased at my infrequent backups, and frankly, I myself can't believe that I made such a base mistake. I apologize to those who are looking forward to the supplement.

It is just a few weeks worth of work, however, and I am confident that I can rewrite the material that I lost in half the time.

So, what else is new? After we are done with Asuangs: Shapeshifting Horrors, we plan on moving to another player supplement. By popular demand, we'll be exploring the Kali, and thinking of ways to introduce them to the game. One of our writers are already taking lessons to get a better feel for it, and official work on the supplement begins on February. In addition to that, we're also working on the Pintados and the Babaylan (both mentioned once in the Tikbalang book) as player options. We're still deciding if they will appear as one product, or as distinct from each other.

So, until next time! Hopefully by next post I can preview something from the Asuang supplement.

We Are Listening!

2009-11-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

On behalf of my lord and master, I would like to thank all those who patronized "Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan."

We realize that any publication, whether electronic or on dead-tree format, will not be perfect. As the tikbalang are our first foray into the world of 3rd party publishing, it would be surprising if no such errors are found. As such, we invite you to post any and all inconsistencies/errata that you find here. Once the majority of these errors have been collected, we shall upload an updated pdf that fixes such errors.

In addition, we welcome your feedback regarding our product as a whole. ^__^

Thanks!

Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan Out Now!

2009-11-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

Finally, my master has decreed that our first pdf is ready for release. So, not wanting to displease him, I immediately uploaded the product at rpgnow:

We hope that you'd enjoy this product, and we're looking forward to any reviews and criticisms. ^__^

Typhoons and Webcomics!

2009-10-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Ondoy really left its mark here in Metro Manila. At its worst, there was shoulder-deep water in our home; I had to make sure that my lord and master was safe and dry upstairs. We're all okay now, though, and life has generally returned to normal.
An unfortunate side effect of the typhoon, though, is our persistent lack of Internet connection at home. My ISP was hit real hard, and we won't have reliable Internet access until the 2nd week of November. Once our Internet's back, we expect to upload Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan at the soonest possible time.

Updates: The cover art is nearly done, and I may be able to preview it by next week. Our artist is doing a tremendous job of bringing these fey warriors to life. It isn't 100% completed yet, though.

In the meantime, here's an old comic strip that features my lord and master and one of his other minions, Phelanw0lf:

Nefarious Schemes

Enjoy!

GSL SOA Signed and Delivered!

2009-09-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

My lord and master demands that I apologize to you all: My Internet connection was shot for about a week, but that is certainly not an excuse to refrain from posting updates. So let me apologize and reassure you that everything is still going on schedule.

So what have we been up to? My master has been sending me out to do some paperwork, and I'm glad to say that we're now signed up with RPGnow, which is where we'll host our products. In addition, I've been to the Post Office today, and I sent along our Statement of Agreement for the D&D Game System License. It will get to them in approximately two weeks, and I should give them a grace period of 15 days after that so that they could reject our application for whatever reason.

We expect no problems, however, so the plan is to release our first pdf in a moth's time. So basically, my lord and master insists that I should finish the layout of Tikbalang: Guardians of Kalikasan by then. As with the legal paperwork, there should be no problem in that respect.

We might post previews of the product here in a week or two, though my lord and master is doubtful about showing prviews on such a modestly-sized product. I will update you on his decision as soon as I can.

Until next time!

Greetings to all!

2009-09-09T05:33:00.000-07:00

My master (who insists that he does not sparkle) bids you welcome to our blogspot. Until this humble servant finds the time to setup a site, this is where we will preview and discuss our upcoming products. Our current big project is the Buan™ Campaign Setting, a gaming world operating under the Game System License for 4E D&D. Buan derives its main influence from Philippine Mythology, but our goal is to make it adaptable to your own gaming world.

To accomplish this, we will be releasing elements of the Buan Campaign Setting bit-by-bit. Eventually, there will be enough material to run a game set in our gaming world. At the same time, those who just wish to take certain elements of the setting are given the full freedom to cherry-pick those things that fit their world best.

So, what can you expect from our humble Publishing Company in the near future? We currently have two items slated for release:

*TIKBALANG: GUARDIANS of KALIKASAN will be the first product out in our stores. Featuring tough and agile creatures noted for their horse-like heads, this PC race is far removed from their fairer fey cousins.

*ASUANG: SHAPESHIFTING HORRORS stalk the hoofprints of the tikbalangs closely. These diverse shapeshifters consume and devour in the name of the Bakunawa, their draconic primordial master. Statblocks for creatures such as the manananggal and the sigbin are found in this collection, ready to torment and consume adventurers that delve into the darkest corners of the world's forests.

My master commands me to finish the Tikbalang at the soonest possible time, while the Aswang are currently under development. Once we finish the necessary paperwork, Creatures of Kalikasan: Tikbalang is sure to gallop after. Hopefully, the Aswang comes out of hiding two months after.

We encourage you to check out this site periodically for updates! Now if you'll excuse me, my master demans that my attention be focused elsewhere for now.