At 02:47 AM 10/4/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Wow Ed! I didn't realize all the stuff you have done for BR! I got
>looking at most of our BR stuff, and you have written just about all of
>it...Legend of the Hero Kings, Brechtur Lands, King of the Giant
>Downs...etc...Great work!!!!!! Will you be writing the Vosgaard addition
>as well? If not, tell the author to use your format! Thanks for the great
>publications in our favorite game world!

Thank you, Bond ... but you have fallen for my master plan! I have taken
over the world, and I must strap you to this exploding tighmaevril shard and--

Sorry; I'm a major James Bond fan and couldn't resist.

Thanks, though, serious. I'm glad you like what I've been doing to the
world Rich & Colin (along with Sue and Anne) created. I have written the
Vosgaard campaign expansion (TRIBES OF THE HEARTLESS WASTES) and it's due
to come out in December (a fitting time for a description of such a cold
place). It is, however, in a DIFFERENT FORMAT from the other campaign
expansions, however, for two very important reasons.

First of all, the Vos themselves are VERY DIFFERENT from the other humans
of Cerilia, as is their land. This ISN'T a land where a PC should be able
to step in and take over a realm--the place is too tough for that. It is
also not an area where anyone should have "easy access" to too much
information. DMs won't want players reading about all the different realms
and people of Vosgaard--though that might not have mattered so much in
Anuire, Rjurik, Khinasi, or Brechtur.
So, TRIBES has TWO books: a Player's Chronicle (32 pages) and a DM's
Guidebook (64 pages). The books detail all the areas of Vosgaard (though
Torova Temylatin only gets a little treatment--you'll see why, later), but
in specific ways. The Player's Chronicle covers lands where PCs could, and
should, rule. The DM's Guidebook covers everywhere else--and handles some
new rules, a lot of new characters, and some secrets the PCs just shouldn't
know about. I hope you'll appreciate this format; I think it really works.

The second reason for the change was cost. The other campaign expansions
sold really well for us (CITIES OF THE SUN is out of stock and the others
are teetering), but they cost so dang much to print we were asked to either
raise the price or save some money--we just weren't making a profit on
them. Rather than jack the price up, we cut out the box. We wouldn't have
done it, however, if we didn't think TRIBES warranted a whole new look.
Believe me, when you see it, I think you'll like it--but I didn't want
anyone surprised when they went to the store, so there it is.


Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager, BIRTHRIGHT/GREYHAWK/MARVEL Group
TSR Website: http://www.tsrinc.com