Well, I interested a new person in the World Works line, and he is currently planning his first purchase - using a 'gift certificate' in the form of a prepaid debit card from his parents.

He wishes to get two items for his first attempt, leanibg heavily toward one full price and one low price purchase. My initial recommendation was Gothic Realms and Interior Works: Castles & Keeps, however he feels that they are too similar. (I would call them 'complimentary' rather than 'similar', each has features that the other lacks, and fit together very well.)

Currently he is considering Gothic Realms and Castle Works, or Arena Works and Dungeon Works. Of them I would lean towards the latter, Dungeon Works being a tad more versatile than Castle Works. I also mentioned the possibility of Arena Works and Castle Works being used together, but again he felt them to be too similar. (?)

So, what combinations of full price ($15) and lower price ($10 or less) do other folks recommend. (I know that Interior Works is full price for the set, it merely has a lower lower price, but close enough for his parents... )

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* And yet another commission to paint Blood Bowl teams... Four to date. The work I did on the Blood Bowl Arena seems to be paying off in odd ways... Now if only I liked the darned game!

Unfortunately, that's a very difficult one to answer.  The best two-set combo *I* would recommend to people is Village and Gothic, but that's both full-price sets.  

Honestly, I would seriously press him to go with Interior (either Pubs or Castles) and either Gothic, Caves, or (if not Pubs) Village.  Try to sell him on the idea that this won't be the only WorldWorks purchase he makes, and he wants to get the most out of both what he has currently, and what he'll potentially be getting in the future.  

I'd hate to see him get Castle with Castle-Ultimate coming down the road, or Dungeon with Gothic available (I don't even know if Dungeon's still available)

First of all thank you for dragging your friend into our crazed, little paper model world!

From my perspective I would hope that as a starter your friend would buy Gothic Realms as a "must have". While "DungeonWorks Classic" is still available, I will be taking it down soon as it lacks the visual quality, ease of construction and overall flexibility of Gothic Realms. DungeonWorks is starting to show its age and will be removed very soon. The same goes for CastleWorks Classic as this will soon be replaced by CastleWorks Ultimate.

As a secondary set I would recommend "Pubs & Inns" or "Castles & Keeps". They each bring different things to the table but in the end it really depends on what kind of campaigns your friend intends on running.

Personally I'd recommend VillageWorks and Gothic Realms.  VillageWorks is great because it has all kinds of buildings common to villages, towns, cities, farms, etc.  Gothic Realms is good because it has all manner of interiors that can be used for churches, crypts, dungeons, etc.

Hope that helps!

I have to throw in for Castles and Keeps Interiors.  Its easily the most versatile of the sets as it has a generic fantasy feel to it.  I love Gothic but there are elements I wouldn't use all that much because they're specific to, well, gothic fantasy.  Next would be Villageworks.  This is great for RPG's and mini's games alike.  Not to mention it looks pretty darn cool when its set up.    8)
Pubs and Inns is cool but I never bother with it cause I don't have a need in my games to fully model every inn and tavern the players go to.  Would be cool, sure, but not how I choose to spend my time.
Castleworks?  This one WAS a must-buy but you're better off waiting for Castleworks Ultimate.  I use it more for mini's gaming but it has its uses in an RPG.

Well, he has settled on my original suggestion of Interior Works:Castles & Keeps and Gothic Realms. After thinking it over he realized how C&K can be used to customize Gothic Realms and vice versa.

Village Works didn't interest him, I would guess that he doesn't do enough town adventuring for it to work for him. (VW was the first set I bought, along with Castle Works. I also tend to buy things in pairs, most often in 'sets'. Castle Works and Village Works, Dungeon Works and Cave Works, Castles & Keeps and Gothic Realms. The only one I purchased on it's lonesome was IW: Inns and Taverns.)

I still haven't bought Arena Works, spending too much time painting Blood Bowl minis on commission for people playing in the league a friend is running using Arena Works... mmmm, irony... When I have time to build an arena of my own it is on the list.

And I still can't wait for Sea Works.

The Auld Grump

SeaWorks?  What's that?  I have ceased to believe such an animal exists...  

I know what you mean Luthyr! Denny, are those 'sliders' showing current set progress on the front page meant to change at all? Seems like they haven't moved since the site revamp was introduced - are we any closer to seeing them?

LOL...The WIP meter for SeaWorks: "The Legend of Pirates Cove" has actually moved (although not much). The sliders will be shifting shortly as I get more information on Paul’s progress. It's looking really good so far and you guys will freak when you see what Paul has been up to. I still have a firm focus on SeaWorks: "Maiden of the High Seas". There’s just so much going on all at once that it might appear on the outside that nothing is happening. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We appreciate your patience. You'll start to see "real" progress shortly.

Yes, it's true. Seaworks marches on. I produce about 30mb per day of finished graphics.

Looking at the two Seaworks releases I'm guessing that one of the sets is a terrain set with pirate trappings and the other (Maiden of the High Seas) is actually a full-on galleon.  Is this true?
A scale ship(s) would be IMMENSELY useful for some upcoming RPG's so if thats the case then I'll hold off and run some other stuff.  

As the old saying goes; I could tell you but then I would have to kill you. Seriously though, we are being tight lipped for a reason. Sorry I cant be more forthcoming.

Hmmm....sounds like some form of licensing or something at work here - let me be the first to hazard a guess, you're doing a tie-in with some upcoming Green Ronin 'Freeport' adventure/supplement, right?  :) Or perhaps that new 50 Fathoms setting....I guess we shall see in due course.

I agree that the 'Maiden' set sounds a LOT like it will be a boat of some sort....or perhaps one main boat and some smaller ones. Either way I can't wait either!

Heh, Andrew is now making a second purchase.

I recommended Interior Works: Pubs & Taverns, but he has decided upon Cave Works. He also bought a few non-terrain PDFs for GM's Day. He apparently has decided that PDFs are good things. (He is starting his own campaign after playing in mine, and purchased Campaign Planner and Librum Eqitus Compiled. His mom has apparently decided that there are worse things for him to be spending his money on, she was a bit dubious on the first purchase but he used the first one enough to let her know her money wasn't wasted.  He has even made some suggestions that I will be adopting in order to do a steam setting. (Flexi straws painted silver, then black washed.)

I have asked him to make comments at RPGNow.com to let others know what he thinks of the sets.Hopefully he should be making his purchase this Saturday, and will remember to comment.

The Auld Grump