Esper's Emporium of Esoterica

Update - August 2021
over 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 06, 2021 at 09:34:03 PM

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's getting bigger and bigger. I just wanted to drop a quick update here for you all to let you know that progress continues to be made every day, from lore and editing, to layout ... lots and lots of layout work, which is sort of like putting together a thousand different puzzles. As always, thank you for your continued support. With each day that passes, I see this dream getting closer to being realized. I'm doing my best to finish strong here, to stay focused and do a great job until the very end.  Of course I have a biased opinion, but I truly feel something special with this book. It is truly a tome of wonders in the making.

Here are a few screenshots from InDesign, where I and the graphic designer are doing a lot of work these days.

Time is flying by, but I will continue with the updates until the Emporium is in your hands. I can hardly wait!

—Esper

July 2021 Update
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jul 04, 2021 at 11:07:23 PM

Hello everyone and Happy Independence Day from the United States!

I have continued to work a ton on the Emporium, and lots of progress is being made. The graphic designer and I are deep into laying out the master document now, which is very exciting to see. There are still lots of tweaks and edits to get things looking their best, as well as empty spaces to fill in, but this tome is coming to life before my very eyes. I keep inching the delivery date back little by little, so again, thank you so much for your patience and support. As I have said already, each time that I have taken extra time to really get a section well developed, I feel that it was the right thing to do.

I'm done with posting the progress stats by this point because the only thing needing major work at this point is lore for a number of creatures and the adventure. Everything else is either complete or nearly complete and in the midst of being formatted in the master InDesign file. Let's keep our Constitution saves rolling strong and full stream ahead till this project is finally realized in totality!

Below are a few screenshot to give you some more previews ;)

Wishing you all the best,

Esper

June 2021 - Update
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 10:23:08 PM

Hello everyone!

I’m continuing to make progress on the Emporium. Many sections are now completed or close to completed. There have been a number of hurdles and unforeseen challenges to sort through, but you know, you just slay one goblin at a time (apparently there are infinite numbers of goblins out there).

I just uploaded a video to YouTube where talk more about where I’m at with all this.

And here are the progress estimates as best I can figure for the time being:

Art pieces: 189/194 (97%)

Monster stat blocks: 164/164 (100%)

Paragon Class: Finalized (100%)

Subclasses: 5/5 (100%)

Races: Finalized (100%)

Magic Shops: 14/14 (100%)

Spells:  81/81 (100%)

Feats: 30/30 (100%)

Magic Items: 53/53 (100%)

Cursed and Flawed Items: 30/30 (100%)

Skill Encounters: Mid development stage (60%)

Traps and Hazards: 60/60 (100%)

GM Advice: Finalized (100%)

Arena Combat: Final development stage (90%)

Map Pack: 12/15 (80%)

Adventure: Early development stage (25%)

Weapons and Armor: Late development stage (80%)

Graphic Designer: Late development stage of layout (80%)

Editor: Late development stage (85%)

Estimated product delivery: August

Onwards we press!

Esper

May 2021 - 2nd Update
almost 3 years ago – Sat, May 29, 2021 at 05:46:35 PM

Greetings once again everyone,

Here is a stats update on the Emporium. I'm continuing to make progress, and the biggest news is that I finally wrapped up the paragon, which was such a whopper of a class to develop and fine-tune. But we got there! Other recent milestones are wrapping up the magic items, cursed items, and traps.

Art pieces: 188/193 (97%)

Monster stat blocks: 164/164 (100%)

Paragon Class: Finalized (100%)

Subclasses: 5/5 (100%)

Races: Finalized (100%)

Magic Shops: 14/14 (100%)

Spells:  81/81 (100%)

Feats: 30/30 (100%)

Magic Items: 52/52 (100%)

Cursed and Flawed Items: 30/30 (100%)

Skill Encounters: Mid development stage (40%)

Traps and Hazards: 60/60 (100%)

DM Advice: Early development stage (20%)

Arena Combat: Final development stage (90%)

Map Pack: 12/15 (80%)

Adventure: Early development stage (25%)

Graphic Designer: Late development stage of layout (80%)

Editor: Mid development stage (70%)

Estimated product delivery: July

As always, thank you so much for your support and your patience. I can't wait to have this book done and in everyone's hands!

Esper

Update - May 2021
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 07, 2021 at 04:13:05 PM

Hello everyone!

I continue to work on the Emporium day and night. Working on this project is my life. Thank you all for your patience and understanding as I take the time to develop things well. I am so glad I did not rush the book out, as every week we find things that need revision.

But many sections of the book are highly developed now. Such as, I finished all the monster and NPC stat blocks! WOO-HOO! In fact, I recently added some additional monsters, as I struck upon a vein of inspiration for a series of skeletons. So, you'll actually be getting a little more than 150 monsters/NPCs ;) As I mentioned before, several monsters still need some lore or edits, but the heavy lifting is done. I also finished the spells, feats, and magic items.  As well, the paragon is getting so close to being ready (we just wrapped up its playtesting), and it's a whopper of a class!

Anyhow, here are the stats and two preview images in honor of the upcoming Mothers' Day. 

Art pieces: 187/192 (97%)

Monster stat blocks: 160/160 (100%)

Paragon Class: Final development stage (98%)

Subclasses: 5/5 (100%)

Races: Late development stage (80%)

Magic Shops: 3/11 (27%)

Spells:  80/80 (100%)

Feats: 30/30 (100%)

Magic Items: 51/51 (100%)

Cursed and Flawed Items: 10/30 (33%)

Skill Encounters: Mid development stage (40%)

Traps and Hazards: 28/60 (46%)

DM Advice: Early development stage (20%)

Arena Combat: Final development stage (90%)

Map Pack: 12/15 (80%)

Adventure: Early development stage (25%)

Graphic Designer:  Late development stage of layout (80%)

Editor: Mid development stage (70%)

Estimated product delivery: July

I will see you in the next update, brave companions!

Esper

Imogilda the Zograturgist is a fey mage-artist whose power to create demiplanes with her paintings is both a blessing a curse.

Tyra Tavoros is a paragon-bard from a tropical archipelago society. She once led an initiative to educate and broker peace with a goblin tribe.  Her family maintains a generations-old reliquary.