Newmoren's Vault 20th Anniversary Edition

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APPENDIX VIII:
COUNTERS

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APPENDIX IX:

HANDOUTS + PRE-GENS

HAND-OUT #1

HAND-OUT #2

HAND-OUT #3

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HAND-OUT #4
HAND-OUT #5

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AFTERWORD *Revivify the Vivid – late 1999; the home brew
adventure that planted the seeds for Fiery Dragon fun!
BY JAMES BELL
Years later, in 1999, dystopian Y2K concerns were brewing
t’s cliché to say that this 20th Anniversary Edition and hyper-nostalgia was taking hold, Todd got in touch
with a bunch of the gang with an idea: “Let’s play a D&D
Iof NeMoren’s Vault was “twenty years in the adventure, for old times sake.” While we all kept in touch,
making,” but really, it’s not entirely true either. we didn’t see each other nearly as much as any of us would
Much like the vault, the real secrets of this like. We were all at those transition points, leaving our 20s
adventure, and Fiery Dragon Productions itself, goes back and settling into new homes, growing families, careers… It
much further. would be nice to touch base and share some of that old
magic. So, as the new millennium was approaching, we
Let’s go back in time… dusted off old characters and went on one last adventure.

HISTORIC ORIGINS FIERY DRAGON PRODUCTIONS

Just about 38 years ago, some friends and I sat down for our Or so we thought. Turns out, that “last” adventure was just
first game of Dungeons & Dragons. It was the Erol Otus the beginning of something new. We had fun, and more to
cover version of the revised Basic Rules. We were at a the point, we enjoyed hanging out together again. Looking
classmate’s house during lunch, and he’d just got the book for a reason to be more active in each other’s lives, and also
the week before. Our friend JK assumed the role of the to celebrate our recent game, we talked about figuring out a
Dungeon Master, and after about 15 minutes we were way to maybe formalize some of those old adventures from
fighting kobolds. We didn’t quite know what we were doing, our teen years. JK was involved in digital printing and had
but a spark was lit that would last for decades. experience with layout programs. Todd had gone to art
school and could maybe illustrate the adventures. And I
A few months later, I got the Mentzer version of the Basic offered to type up Todd’s old notes!
rules, and shortly thereafter, the Expert set. We weren’t the
first kids to play D&D in our school. By that point, Todd had And that’s when we found out that Wizards of the Coast had
already been playing for years, part of the first wave of D&D just purchased TSR and was planning on releasing a 3rd
players that explored fantasy worlds from the extreme Edition of the game. Not only that, they were working on an
suburbs of Toronto. While JK and I were becoming Open Game License so that third-party publishers could
“Experts” Todd was already “Advanced” with hardcover release supporting material for the game. We felt like the
rulebooks and years of legendary exploits.

For the rest of the decade, rumors would circulate of epic
adventures and a call for heroes would go out – and JK and
I would be recruited into Todd’s campaign to help
investigate the latest flying fortress or stone giant garden
or other mystery of Todd’s world. And mirroring what
happened at the end of many D&D adventures, we
celebrated our victories but eventually hung up our swords
and spell books and retired to our separate lives.

*Much later, one of many Gen Cons; likely the only family
friendly picture you can find of the 3 of us; that’s JK on the
left, Todd in the middle, and James with the all systems go!

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cosmic tumblers had lined up and opened up a whole new We formed partnerships and alliances with other D20
opportunity for us. A new edition inspired us to not only companies and publishers in the RPG world, including
update and release those old adventures, but maybe to Monte Cook’s Malhavoc Press, Green Ronin, Expeditious
create new material. We devoured Eric Noah’s 3rd Edition Retreat Press, White Wolf’s Sword & Sorcery imprint, Flying
rumor site and began laying the foundation for the next Buffalo, and others. We’ve lost touch with some of those
decade of our lives. connections over the years. Others, we touch base with once
or twice a year (usually at GenCon) and are still friends. And
NeMoren’s Vault wasn’t the first third-party 3rd Edition some, like Claudio, are practically family.
adventure (we picked up Green Ronin’s Death in Freeport
and Atlas Games’ Three Days to Kill alongside our D&D
Player’s Handbooks at GenCon in August 2000), but we had
a website up quick and an adventure ready to go just after
the 3rd Edition Monster Manual had been released – just
enough time to make sure we’d included the latest stat
blocks.

*Fiery Dragon Website circa 2000; there was this thing *Gen Con circa something-or-other; Fiery Dragons on
called the internet y’see… deck starting from the left: Claudio, James, JK, and Scott.

So, 20 years ago, the three of us – JK, Todd, and I – sat PLATINUM DRAGON
around a kitchen table as our first product was released to
stores. Over the next decade, we released over 70 products, Fiery Dragon slowed down after that first decade and had
working through the D20 boom, and bust, shifting our focus pretty much wrapped up a few years later. We’d been
from adventures to accessories to wargames and whatever through two-and-a-half editions of Dungeons and
odds and ends we could find. We worked with a bunch of Dragons, Tunnels & Trolls, several off-shoots and other
awesome freelancers, including Monte Cook, Ed Bourelle, licenses, and we couldn’t keep the company going as it was
Kieran Yanner, Phil Reed, Jay Stephens, Peter Bergting, by sheer willpower like we somehow had in our thirties.
David Sourwine, and so many more! Plus, of course,
Brazilian artist Claudio Pozas, who’s style and ability But, a year ago, as Todd, JK, and I sat with our friends at
became a key factor in so much of our early success and was GenCon, we couldn’t help but feel nostalgia and pride when
integral to our decade of releases. looking back at our run. And then we dreamed about
somehow celebrating that fun adventure from 20 years
earlier, if only we could find a way to take some time and
work up some kind of tribute. Still, we were all too busy to
really invest in that idea.

Or so we thought. Turns out, 2020 had a plan to really focus
our attention and remove a lot of distractions. So, while on
furlough this year, Todd has been able to build this 20th
Anniversary Edition of NeMoren’s Vault. We’ve shined it up
and polished some of the rougher spots, removing some
rust and grit, but leaving it mostly as it was when released
back in 2000, but updated for the latest edition of the game
that started it all.

And now, during this pandemic, we’ve launched Platinum
Dragon – a new reason for Todd, JK, and I – along with our
friends Scott, John, Rob, and Mario – to video chat regularly
and give us something to focus on during these isolating
times. The dragon is a little shinier, but the spirit is the
same.

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So, here’s to NeMoren’s Vault, forty years of *In the beginning; Nominated at the 2001 ENnies for Best
friendships, and coming out of retirement for Adventure and James for Best Writer. We’d get an additional
new adventures… 4 nominations that year, including Best Publisher!

*Soon after; Upon NeMoren’s release the feedback was
overwhelming positive but like everything, there were
issues – aside from the debate on the cover, the hidden
treasure room really freaked people out. We thought it
would be treated as a hilarious wink to the GM, but
reviewers were really latching onto it as a “flaw”. The Quest
for Amelia was the answer to that conundrum, offered as a
free download PDF.

*Right – 2006; It was time for an upgrade. With the
advent of the 3.5 edition we consolidated all things
NeMoren and gave it a re-brand. New cover, new art, all in
an effort to make it a complete campaign starter.

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NeMoren’s Vault: 20th Anniversary Edition Facebook, Twitter: @1PlatinumDragon pg. 65