D&D 5E Necropolis: the lone and level sands.......

[GuyBoy]

Just noticed that this adventure is being produced by Necromancer Games. In my view, it’s a Gygax classic and I have very fond memories of running it in 3e, with a large party of players and some excellent role play.
A couple years later, I was lucky enough to go on a dig in the Valley of Kings and was able to “review” the campaign among the incredible monuments of the entrancing civilisation of Ancient Egypt. Also to meet the wonderful, friendly and welcoming people of Egypt.
I plan to run this again!

 

[Rabulias]

Only 5 days left! Here's the link: Necropolis: An Epic Adventure in the Desert Sands

 

[GuyBoy]

As I recall, the party in 3e included:
Akilleos; an exiled fighter from the land of Mykenae to the north
Farella; a ranger from a desert tribe to the east of Khemit
Bansutu; barbarian warrior from Nubaia to the south
Shirthoth the Jackal; Khemit rogue
Horeb; Khemit mage
Ankh-Aten; Priest of Ra

We had a blast. I remember hyper-tough ghouls and awakened crocodiles of Sobek.
Highly recommend this campaign.

 

[Quickleaf]

Been intermittently following Alyssa Faden's cartography and interview series on the conversion of Necropolis. I backed the Kickstarter (5e) and am looking forward to the book arriving in time for when my current campaign gets to the Necropolis.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Just curious, is this a true remake or more of an homage to the original? It says that there is no affiliation with WotC or the Gygax estate, so I assume they don't have the rights?

 

[GuyBoy]

I could be wrong here but I think Necropolis was written by Gary for Danjerous Journeys rather than D&D and then converted to 3e by Necromancer Games? Whether that makes any legal difference is not known to me.
Certainly the Kickstarter blurb refers to Rahotep as the key villain, just like in the 3e version.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I could be wrong here but I think Necropolis was written by Gary for Danjerous Journeys rather than D&D and then converted to 3e by Necromancer Games?

That is correct. I own both versions.

 

[Retreater]

Just curious, is this a true remake or more of an homage to the original? It says that there is no affiliation with WotC or the Gygax estate, so I assume they don't have the rights?

I've watched a lot of the streams with the creators. They do own the rights - but the Gygax estate doesn't own the rights, so Necromancer/Frog God can do whatever they want without the estate's control.
So the Dangerous Journeys one was expanded and converted to 3e by Bill Webb, Clark Peterson, and others from Necromancer Games back in the early 2000s.
This version on Kickstarter took the 3e conversion, was redesigned with more modern sensibilities (fewer insta-kill traps, looking at what encounters should be challenging in 5e instead of just porting over the same encounters, etc). Sometimes the writer went back to the DJ edition, sometimes to the NG version, and sometimes re-writing the thing whole-cloth.
So he pretty much re-wrote the adventure from the ground up for 5e. They are converting that new version for their OSR system Swords and Wizardry.
That's my understanding from sitting through hours of streams, following Discord for close to a year, etc. But if you want any more info, let me know.

 

[Nikosandros]

Just curious, is this a true remake or more of an homage to the original? It says that there is no affiliation with WotC or the Gygax estate, so I assume they don't have the rights?

The d20 version was published under license from WotC (which had acquired the rights for all DJ materials). I don't know if that license is still valid or if they negotiated a new one.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I've watched a lot of the streams with the creators. They do own the rights - but the Gygax estate doesn't own the rights, so Necromancer/Frog God can do whatever they want without the estate's control.
So the Dangerous Journeys one was expanded and converted to 3e by Bill Webb, Clark Peterson, and others from Necromancer Games back in the early 2000s.
This version on Kickstarter took the 3e conversion, was redesigned with more modern sensibilities (fewer insta-kill traps, looking at what encounters should be challenging in 5e instead of just porting over the same encounters, etc). Sometimes the writer went back to the DJ edition, sometimes to the NG version, and sometimes re-writing the thing whole-cloth.
So he pretty much re-wrote the adventure from the ground up for 5e. They are converting that new version for their OSR system Swords and Wizardry.
That's my understanding from sitting through hours of streams, following Discord for close to a year, etc. But if you want any more info, let me know.

This sounds like plenty of info to me! I probably won't back the Kickstarter, just because I'm currently waiting on a different KS. But whenever this product releases, I'm likely to buy a copy of it to help run a Har'Akir game or something!