I figured with it creeping up on 15 years since Vol II of my trilogy came out (2006-ish) it was time to get serious about wrapping things up with Vol III before it hits 20 years!
The Gathering of the Horde was started in 2002 and would have come out in late 2003 or early 2004. The Destruction of the Tomes was started in early 2004 and I rushed to finish it before I got too swamped with PhD thesis stuff... although I put a lot of notes down hastily for volume 3, it was clear that it wasn't really thought out at all. Not only that, but technology was rapidly moving. I was very unhappy with my old 72 DPI maps and cards, which were still passable in 2002, but were looking not-so-hot by 2006 and onward. I also didn't have time to invest in sorting out all my own templates... but I've luckily waited long enough and some great folks have made amazing contributions to this and other forums that I'm able to piggyback on!
I should hasten to add that it wasn't all technical stuff that was holding me up, the story I had wasn't any good... but after quite a bit of time late last year and off-and-on this year I've finally got what I think is a great story that ties in some of the subtle side-story things from my first two expansions and also some new content that makes this a suitable end-point for the Heroes 3-part campaign.
I desperately want to update the look of volumes I and II (quest books and cards) but that's going to take more time than I have at the moment. In any event -
Volume III: Rogue Wizardry is split up into 3 chapters, each with a very different feel and focus.
Chapter 1 - Takes place almost 2 decades after Volume 2 (a coincidence??!?) and focuses on the Barbarian, Dwarf, and Elf getting news that their old friend and companion, the Wizard, is missing, and some other really bad stuff that shouldn't be spoiled.
Chapter 2 - Follows the Wizard's journey as he unlocks hidden secrets from the past and gains access to some pretty powerful new magics. Plus (spoiler) he has an optional pet that can hide out in his robes or come out and do some scouting. Why? Because I have kids now, and this chapter is pretty grim otherwise. He's also traveling with some muscle... so it's not totally a solo-thing, it can still be played with 5 players, but it doesn't go well for most of them...
Chapter 3 - I can't say much without giving away every possible spoiler, but eventually all the "Heroes" meet back up and there's a huge showdown. Oh, and there's some stuff in here I've wanted to put into my campaign since Vol 1... and epic battles and Quests that I've been wanting to do since the beginning as well.
Here's the screenshot of where I'm at with everything... Chapters 1 and 2 are totally finished, and I'm done the 3-part Quest for Quest 1 of Chapter 3. I've still got two Quests left to go with Chapter 3 but they're two pretty ambitious ones, and the final one is going to be at least two boards long, similar to the final Quests in the BQP and EQP.
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