Athana Chronicles

[META UPDATE 4/4] The Launch Update

Added 2024-02-27 18:55:15 +0000 UTC

Hello Founders, Free Members and anyone visiting! This is the last of the updates for Athana we’ve been putting out over the last month as we’ve decided on what Athana Chronicles means, what we do and how we do it. The other 3 of these can be broken down into the:

Items & Spells Update

Monster Update

Searchability & QOL Update

If you haven’t read all of these yet, or are a new member, or just passing by I suggest you take a look at these so you can see where we have come from, and what we offer going forwards. Though that will be covered in this final update.

So, first a massive massive thank you to the founders of Athana Chronicles who have given us the belief to really put effort and start something here we’re so excited to put our all into. And that we’ll be making the Founder’s Circle legacy in the coming days - so you guys will be grandfathered in as our highest tier.

We’ll be covering a fair bit in this final update post before our “launch” so I’ll cover off some headings here so you can jump to sections should you wish:

Athana Chronicles Monthtly Offering and Schedule

The Settings and Structure of Releases

The 4 Tiers of Athana

Next Steps

So with these four main topics to be explained, put your feet up and enjoy the read - we made some images to help explain where possible!

Monthly Offering and Schedule

Starting effectively immediately (but not really because I’m on vacation 2nd-16th March in the USA, so AFTER I GET BACK) we’re going to officially launch and work on a monthly content system. We’ll still post some items, spells and monsters through the month so it isn’t a month long wait for everything, but it won’t be daily.

Every month we’ll be putting out a large PDF based around some Athana content which will either be 1. A Core Setting Module, or 2. An Adventure based in a Core Setting (more on these later). However, regardless of whether it’s option 1 or 2 for any given release period, every single release will contain:

10-15 Magical Items - thematic to the release, with virtual integration links, concept images, downloadable and printable item cards.
3-5 Spells - as with the items also thematic to the release, with virtual integration links, concept images, downloadable and printable spell cards.
4-5 Monsters - often with varying stat blocks for juvenile and elder versions of the creatures. The monsters include virtual links, topdown and portrait tokens for VTT.
2-3 Character Options - Depending on the monthly release, this could be a race, subrace, new class or subclass.
4-5 Feats and Backgrounds - On top of the main character option, there will always be a handful of feats and backgrounds related to the monthly setting.
1-3 Area Maps - these maps will provide handouts and context to the wider area, being country maps, province maps, or city / town maps with labelled buildings and districts.
Setting NPCs (Adventure) with NPC cards, stat blocks, descriptions, images and DM notes to allow for effective storytelling within the adventures. Or Guilds and Factions (Setting).
4-5 Battle Maps - on top of the area maps, there will also be PNG and VTT ready battle maps relating to the core theme and story of the monthly content release.
2-3 ‘Quick Quests’ - The Quick Quests are a part of the wider module that reuse the battle maps for shorter, oneshot level encounters. These can be used in any setting, and are not specifically tied to a story or a setting within Athana.

All of these will be available in a monthly release folder, with the relevant tier getting the relevant content all in one spot, while every item, spell and monster will be going onto the Master Directories. Okay cool, sounds good so what is this Core Setting / Adventure in Core Setting stuff about? Good question, so…

The Settings and Structure of Releases

The monthly release, as previously stated, will be one of 2 possible things: a Core Setting Release or an Adventure which will be based in a core setting. The way this will work is that we intend to have 2-3 Core Settings (eventually) all based within Athana. For ease we’ll align these timelines and locations with the time and places of our tables campaign, with the first setting being Daragaard.

So whats the difference?

A Core Setting will be several months of releases of effort to be completed, but will be broken down into 3 parts, each of which can stand alone as a release containing the previously defined content. However, once completed we will compile the entire 3 months of releases in a Core Setting Book. This book will act as a large all in one module which will contain 3x the amount of content stated above, with absolutely everything a GM or player would need to run an entire campaign within the setting. With 40+ items, 10-15 spells, 12-15 monsters, 6-9 character options, 12-15 feats and backgrounds, 5-10 area maps, NPCs, 12-15 battle maps and 6-9 quick one shots within the setting. Regardless of these being their own settings, their will be self contained adventures, items and quests that can be plug and played into any setting.

The alternative to a Core Setting Release will be an Adventure based within one of these settings. This content will work as a standalone adventure, with the entire lore and plot of the adventure being able to work regardless of setting, but would be enriched if used in addition to the core book. This type release would be targeted at a specific level range, but will have adaptive tables and combat encounters for differing levels. This type of release is exciting, as down the line we could continue storylines or expand on previous adventures that were particularly enjoyed.

An example of how this works can be seen below, here showing the possible collection of content after 4 months:

This particular example would take place over 4 content releases, all building to one complete Core Setting book on release 3, with the 4th release being a plug and play adventure, but fits into the Core Setting.

The Four Tiers of Athana

At the time of writing, of course we only have Free Patrons and Founder’s Patrons, but this is going to change imminently, with the Founder’s Circle being treated forever as the highest tier of Patron. These Four Tiers will be the Virtual Hoarder, Collector, Warden and Chronicle Keeper. These have different offerings, for different needs of patron, we understand not every DM or player wants access to full settings, maps, lore and encounters! The main differences are:

Virtual Hoarder - This is our tier for those that want access to our database of online items and spells. This tier gets items and spells from the monthly theme in the form of a link in D&D Beyond to add it straight into an online collection. These items and spells are created on the platform with the modifiers, charges and everything built in - so all you have to do is plug and play!

Collector - This tier moves into the physical realm, though while still gaining access to the virtual items and spells via the master file and D&D Beyond, they will also get access to their printable cards, concept art and the segment of the monthly release containing the items and spells. This tier includes access to the Item and Spell Master Directory.

Warden - This tier is for those that want access to all of the above, plus the Monster stat blocks, VTT tokens (top down and portrait), and their D&D Beyond links for integration virtually. For the monthly release they will gain a PDF with the Item, Spell and Monster sections, as well as access to the Monster Master Directory.

Chronicle Keeper - The final tier with access to everything. All of the virtual links, all of the physical cards and art for Items, Spells and downloads for Monsters, as well as the Area Maps, Battle Maps, Encounters, Monthly Module Story, Quick Quests and basically anything we ever release!

This can all be seen in this nifty GIF:

Next Steps

As mentioned at the top of this post, I’ll be ON VACATION 2ND-16TH MARCH and as such will be queueing some of the last ‘Pre Launch’ content while I’m away, but will be starting with this release schedule upon my return, when I’m back after catching up with work etc, will decide on the first release date and we’ll officially be off.

Before I go away however I’ll be putting out that Master Post I mentioned in Update 3, as well as creating the new tiers and generally updating the page. As well as a free map of Daragaard.

The first 3 monthly releases will be Daragaard Core Setting 1, 2 and 3. With the 4th being the first adventure set in Daragaard. From here I may either make a few more adventures or will go right into a 2nd Core Setting. One of the main reasons I want different Core Settings is to change things such as biomes, environments, technology levels as core to the settings, the wider the variety, the more choice for every patron!