Sword and Board

Just a bit of advice for rpg publishers: when you are writing sections like "What is Roleplaying?", keep it short. If it goes over four or five paragraphs, most people aren't going to read it. In any case, if you don't have Dungeons and Dragaons on the cover of your game, 99% of the people buying and reading it have already played D&D and know what roleplaying is.

I highly recommend you take a look at THIS THREAD on the RPGSite. A poster named harpy has done some very interesting research on what kinds of projects succeed and which ones fail, using the Kickstarter method of getting funds.

His main point is that you really need to establish yourself to have a chance of making your goal. But even that isn't enough. Read his linked papers and the actual thread for some excellent information.

Both are good games, and the core rules are fairly simple (3d6 roll low). However, they both offer tons and tons of options. This is kind of like having a $10,000 mechanics tool chest with all the doodads, when all you really need is a ratchet set. While everything you can possibly want is in there somewhere, you have to basically know ALL of the rules in order to find the things you want, and to know how the various skills or powers you are not allowing will affect a game.

While you can maybe get away with a general knowledge of stuff to make your decisions, you still have to read everything. I think many people who make the argument that the "base rules are really simple" just completely miss that fact.

What also has really hurt both games, IMO, is that they are now split up into two separate books. Instead of having everything organized in just one rulebook, you now have to have both books open if your running combats (unless you're one of those people who has actually memorized everything). This is clumsy to handle at the table, and also makes looking up rules during play a major hassle. Especially if you think a rule is in book two, but is actually tucked away in a powers description in book one.

This is one of the areas that D&D has improved. By moving characters and combat into the same book (and lately even treasure), players and the DM can find everything much more quickly, if there's a question during play. Hero and Gurps are moving in the opposite direction, and I believe that's a big mistake.

Lately, I've been buying products for games that are published by basically one-man companies. Part of this is that I think some of these games are just plain better than those published by WotC. However, I'm getting frustrated.

It seems many games come out with the base rules. Following this, there's lots of chatter from the writer and his supporters. There will likely be a few pdf's released. Maybe, and I mean maybe, there will be a print supplement.

It is driving me crazy! I like to buy supplements for games I like. Especially a setting book, monster books, and even an adventure or two. And getting other people to play a game can be difficult, as many players see that the game has no supplements, they consider it to be "dead", even if it is still in print.

While I realize many publishers are just guys doing this in their spare time, I also see companies like Hero Games (which is only two or three people) pumping out books every month. And those books are well done and worth having for that system.

While some games have tons of pdf support (BFRPG and BASH! are good examples), there just isn't any print support. It feels like lots of promises are made early, and then everything just becomes vaporware. I really, really hope when D&D 5e is released, that it is a great game. I'd love to have good quality supplements available on a regular basis.

Blah. Just minor stuff, but I wanted to put it out there. I updated the file for the print copy, but it may be a few days until it goes through. I fixed a couple typos, and had two corrections.

Onyx Dog
It adds +2 to its rolls to detect hidden objects and for surprise rolls.

Silver Raven
Another command sends it off into the air, bearing a message to its target. The message is delivered in the mage’s voice.

The Dog was just a screw-up, since I didn't change the number from the D20 version. The Raven I just changed the description, since the description referred to a D20 spell not in BFRPG.

Not really major stuff, but damned annoying.

The book is here

For the low cost of $3.19. It's a softcover black and white 6"x9" book, and it looks amazing. I have nothing but high praise for Lightning Source and RPGNow. I am very, very happy with how the book has turned out. I hope some of you will purchase it and find a use for it at your gaming table.

Can't wait! I ordered it on Saturday, and it was placed in the mail yesterday afternoon. That's only two business days, which is pretty awesome. Once I get the book, I'll post a picture or two and put the print version up for sale, barring any major layout problems.

I've got my fingers crossed. It was a lot of work to get the book done, and if it comes out nice, it will be worth it. Now I'm just worried that I'll receive my copy and the layout will be messed up somehow.

For those of you who think the guys who publish game books don't have much work, you'd be surprised, especially if they are using a print-on-demand service. I imagine that it gets easier once they have done a book or two, since they know what's needed. Lord knows, I've learned a lot. The writing was the easy part. I can easily come up with ideas and write them, but the layout and publisher submission process is a completely different beast. Lots of things seem unnecessarily complicated, while a couple issues that I thought would be difficult were really easy.

I also had a lot more success dealing with RPGNow than I did with Lulu. If you haven't done a print-on-demand book before, I recommend using RPGNow. They are easy to contact via email and very helpful. Lulu provides no easy contacts, with no emails, just a forum that they may or may not answer questions on (I had one question answered and one ignored). I hope Lulu gets this sorted out, but I am really, really glad RPGNow was available, as while it isn't perfect, I got help with my problems quickly.

I ordered a proof copy this morning. Once I receive it, and it's ok, I'll post it. I ordered media mail because the damn shipping is so expensive, so it will take a week or so to receive the book.

Good news is that the book will likely be $3.00. Bad news is the cheapest shipping to PA was $4.90. At least, at this cost, you'd actually be better off buying multiple copies at once, in case you have a group of players. Even if you only buy one copy, it's going to be super cheap.

I did redo the layout a bit from the pdf version. Because of the way the gutter and margin worked, and the page requirements, I used a better version of my original layout, especially regarding page breaks. It would have been too much hassle to bother someone else about yet more potential layout issues. Even so, I think it looks pretty damn good this time around. The book won't win any layout awards, but it also won't have strange spacing.

I'm sure at least one or two reviewers will be irked at the amount of white space, but at the size and cost of this, I really don't care. I'll be happy if even one book sells and it actually gets used at a game table. If it does, I will think my book is a success.

Also, good editors and layout people should consider contacting Chris Gonnerman, as he has a number of books that just need edited, so that they can be put into print.

I got some great help from Talysman/John Laviolette with the cover upload. I submitted the file, and it looks like the print cost is going to be around $3.50 (I forget the exact number). I should be getting a proof copy sometime next week. If it looks good, I'll let everyone know.

I plan on never doing another book again on my own. From now on, if I have an idea, I'm just submitting it to Fight On!. Layout and art is way too much hassle for me to bother with. It just seems like POD publishers go out of their way to make publishing with them difficult.

Regards the print version, I have the text uploaded. I have no way to do the cover, since I don't have a program that works with the cover template formats. I have sent emails out, so hopefully I will hear something back by Monday. At least RPGNow and Lightning provide avenues of communication, unlike Lulu.

It's written. It's formatted. It's ready to go.

Lulu submission process doesn't work.
Dragonsfoot does not accept pdf files.
I had to print out and sign some weird contract for RPGNow and scan it and email it back.
I emailed Chris, asking him to put it up on the BFRPG website. Hopefully that will happen, but the site has not been updated since November.

I'm sick of this crap. Why does everyone make it so damn hard to just publish a free pdf and not-for-profit POD book? I will never do this again. I don't know how the normal publishers don't go crazy messing around with stupid BS.

Their site is about as unhelpful as it can be. The directions for the cover don't work. I uploaded my text, after multiple attempts, and then Lulu says it can't make the file print-ready. However, it doesn't bother to give me even a little clue as to why it isn't print-ready.

I know RPGNow has recently gotten into POD publishing. Is their formatting and submission stuff easier to use?

There is a thread with physical proof. I used to be a huge fan of C&C, and still have a lot of stuff for it. I kinda wandered away, though, after the Zagyg line got axed by the Gygax family. I'm glad to see this book is finally being released. Hopefully, it will jumpstart the company a bit, as I do like the guys at TLG. I suspect many old schoolers will pick this up, in any case, as it will likely be useful for any clone of D&D. Here's a pic of the Table of Contents, click for larger version:

There's some new info about this game on RPG Site that I think is interesting. I do think the retro game field is pretty damn full already, so ASS&H is already fighting an uphill battle.

This game appears to offer a lot of magic using classes, at least more than I would expect from an S&S game. Not sure if it will help or hurt the system overall. I also think the subclass Legerdemainist is a terrible name, with no basis in any S&S books. But it appears that it will be staying.

Ghul does make an appearance in the thread and allowed Benoist to post a first draft of the Hyperborea map, which looks pretty good. Anyways, this game has been in development for a long time, so hopefully it will knock my socks off.

I really like this game, as I've noted in previous posts. Unfortunately, the main publisher has not been able to publish anything other than the rulebook and Morgansfort (both of which are excellent). I kinda wish some of the supplements that are currently on the website could get finalized and put into print. I do believe that it was a mistake selling the books at cost.

There's no reason that a publisher should not make money from his books. There is a lot of work involved in getting a book finalized and into print, and doing it for free, while really cool, is not something that an author is going to do for too long. It's just not worth the effort, especially considering the majority of publishers do this as a side gig. I'd hate to come home from a long day of work to spend 3 or 4 hours working on a supplement to a game, if I knew I wasn't going to make any money on it. And I think it shows when you compare publishers and how they charge. Guys who charge more and make a profit publish more books. Guys who publish at cost put out a couple books and stop. Good intentions only last so long, unfortunately.

(Of course, when I win the Powerball, I'll be funding several publishers so they can work full time on games :)).