Can anyone nail an estimated arrival date on Haarlock III: Dead Stars?

Well, Leisure Games in London is getting their copies this Tuesday, for sale on Wednesday.

A pre-order for a Ebay store (sorry, name slips my mind at the moment) stated the book is released on 5/20.

-Cynr

That is pretty quick!

It usually takes quite some time for such books to cross the Atlantic to the Old World, but this is hopeful.

This is odd .. Amazon says the book will not be available before August 2010, and my FLG says September ...

... why is it always such a puzzle when FFG books are coming out ???

The Laughing God said:

Because you continue to use Amazon. They have routinely posted erroneous information about FFG releases; whether by accident or deliberately is unknown. If you look in the upcoming products, Dead Stars shows as "shipping," and has been so listed since at least Saturday when I checked the listings. This means we should see the book starting hitting shelves this week or next. I've stopped looking anywhere but at the official FFG upcoming site for releases. Also, Deathwatch and Into the Storm both show as "at the printers."

-=Brother Praetus=-

It's not just Amazon, also my FLGS. And the publication data offered by FFG have to be taken with a grain of salt as well, as we have seen in the past

MILLANDSON said:

LOLWUT??? I was certain it is coming not earlier than in August. I'm off to Amazon... Thanks, Millandson (and thanks for taking part in Lure of the Expanse - I've received it yesterday, and I seem to like it).

Seems like several FLGS' have it in stock now.

egalor said:

Well I'm signed up to Leisure Games' e-mail list, so they tell me what they are getting delivered each week.

However, that doesn't mean Amazon will have it, they've been rubbish with FFG products in the past.

Finally, cheers! LotE was the first book I've ever playtested, and I think it went pretty well. I enjoyed it, anyway. Plus, it's always awesome to see your name in print

egalor said:

Will help you not. Amazon still has it listed for a release date late this summer.

The Laughing God said:

Actually, the Upcoming listings have been pretty well spot on. The old release schedule they posted for DH last year has been horribly inaccurate, to which I say good. I'd rather an off and late release than something feeling even more rushed. But my FLGS typically gets books in within 4-7 of the product showing as "shipping" in the Upcoming list. As a matter of fact, I was gonna head out and see if I can grab a copy today; if not should be tomorrow.

-=Brother Praetus=-

What would be nice would be if they could release the electronic version at the same time as the print version. The print copy of Dead Stars costs £15.99 over here, which is extremely expensive given its low page count. The PDFs however are excellent value for money.

My one of my friends said it was up at our local store. Given they always have things a couple of days before most stores in the US. You guys should see it any time now unless you ordered from amazon.

Its out in the UK, I have my copy in my hands right now...

InfinityDoctor said:

Is there a Dusk Gazatteer in the book, just like there is a Quaddis Gazetteer in Tattered Fates and a Sinophia Magna Gazatteer in Damned CIties? What kind of place is Dusk???

Jan Solo said:

I'm still reading it (just having a break) - Dusk is a murky, misty swamp world - but it doesn't play as big a part in the adventure as Mara does - Dusk IS the location of the adventure's climax, but its a very specific location - the PCs aren't off exploring the planet or anything, so no Dusk Gazeteer I'm afraid.

Oh, ****.

Don't worry - Mara is cool (and not just in the frozen sense)

To whoever may have it- I have to ask. What, if anything, does it reveal about the Tyrant Star? What was Haarlock up to? What were your impressions of the adventure overall? (I've pretty much liked the adventure path so far, except for Tattered Fates)

I'm eagerly looking forward to getting Dead Stars, and would like to foreshadow more stuff in my adventures.

InfinityDoctor said:

When you finish reading it, I'd appreciate if you would open a new topic to give a little overview of the Dead Stars as a trilogy finale.

Amazingly I picked up Dead Stars and Talisman: Highlands yesterday, just as they arrived in the store. Up to now Vancouver has usually been a couple of weeks behind FFGs release schedule, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

FurtiveNoises said:

The Tyrant Star does indeed play a part - although there are no explicit revelations regarding its nature, it is entirely central to the final act. For those folks familiar with the Warhammer Fantasy rpg (any edition), following this book, the Tyrant Star reminds me of Morrsleib, the Chaos Moon, and seems to serve a similar purpose. Again though, thats personal interpretation, nothing is explcitly laid out in the book.

The PCs have known Haarlock's plan pretty much from the start, that hasn't changed, only things didn't quite work out the way he expected.

With regards the overall adventure - It moves at a pretty rapid pace, the PCs are flung headlong into a bad situation right from the beginning, and Mara is a suitably creepy locale, forming the backto a race for the Blind Tesseract - the PCs aren't the only ones looking for it. (And on Mara, just knowing its there doesn't mean you can actually find it! If you've read "The House Of Leaves" by Mark Z Danielewski, the whole planet is like that!)

There are plenty of opportunities for unlikely alliances and last minute betrayals before they get a chance to use the Blind Tesseract and follow in Haarlock's footsteps (passing through the Tesseract, and what the PCs find there, is one of the best parts of the adventure) and face a pretty big choice at the end of it.

The conclusion is handled well, and rather than being spelled out for the GM, its left for them to determine the consequences for their own campaign (although they should be suitably dire if the PCs chose badly) - this might not be to everyone's taste though, some folks prefer to see everything in black and white.

The adventure also, rather oddly, leaves the PCs dumped in a very unhealthy location with no obvious way of getting back to more civilised regions of space. I suppose you could do a quick "Five Years Later" jump prior to starting the next session - its also a good cut off point to make that move to Ascension!

Overall, I've really enjoyed the trilogy - its open enough to let GMs tailor them to their own campaigns and players while still providing a decent narrative to keep things moving. I would advise anyone who hasn't started yet to pick up and read all three before they do though - they are indeed more effective with a little foreshadowing (as you mentioned).

Hi, I'm in Vancouver too! (B.C. that is.) Got mine on wednesday at Stratagies Games for 27.99 Cdn. I've only read through it half way, but I have to say I like it almost as much as Lure of the expanse. But in a far different way. I like the feel of it. Lot's of creepy spooky tension. I plan on running this in a slightly Cthulhuish way.(SPOILER AHEAD!) I would have liked to see Haarlock statted or described more at the finale. Not that the P.C.'s would even be able to scratch him, though...Reminded me of "Prince of Darkness" as the shadowy satanic figure steps through the portal at the end. muahaha!

Mithras said:

Its a bit faster moving than your average Cthulhu scenario

I can see why there are no stats for Haarlock though - in the first instance, he might not actually appear at all in any kind of physical form (depending on what the players choose to do at that final critical juncture), and if he DOES return, remember he's not exactly Haarlock anymore - he's more akin to the Dust Hag (who also receives no stats, on account of her not being something you can just take down with a chainsword and a storm bolter...)