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What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?

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kylleran kylleran's picture
What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Like the title says. We want to release a pdf a month. You've already seen the first two, the npc files and Bump in the Night. We have a few more adventures from Gencon that we can release as well as some other things but we're wondering what you, the fans, would most like to see us do in the monthly pdf format. Keep in mind that the releases are right about 5000 words and don't have much in the way of budget for art so graphically intense projects are something we'd prefer to do in actual books. Also we're not likely to cover something that's going to be in an upcoming book (like Hotfix, Gatecrashing or the outer rim book).So let's hear it. What do you want to see? What corners of the EP universe should we pull the veil back on?

Brian Cross
Posthuman Studios

Halloween Halloween's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Adventures that can be integrated into an on-going campaign will be great. Minor factions that could be used to spice up the setting BTW since you are talking about illustrations, the books' illustrations are awesome, but for some it is hard to figure out what they represent without a legend.
AJCarrington AJCarrington's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Would love to see more vehicles/weapons/tech. A "catalog" style format would be really neat - could print out each "issue" and add to the binder. AJC
TBRMInsanity TBRMInsanity's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
For myself I think that "minor" releases (ie weapon updates, single missions, errata, maps, single location source books, etc) should be pdf only as the cost to publish them exceeds the price people will pay for them, but they add value to players of the game (along this same line I think any magazine should also be a pdf publication). If you are going to take a series of pdfs (say several connecting missions) then it may be worth it to make all those pdfs into one bound book.
Jovian Motto: Your mind is original. Preserve it. Your body is a temple. Maintain it. Immortality is an illusion. Forget it.
Prime Mover Prime Mover's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Focused releases like the NPC files (Which has been an invaluable resource by the way). 1. Bots (Some pictures of these wouldn't hurt) 2. Mesh (malware...) 3. Vehicles 4. Morphs 5. Exurgent threats 6. Interesting Locales 7. Titan machines etc...
"The difference between truth and fiction, people expect fiction to make sense."
CodeBreaker CodeBreaker's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Would be easier to say if we knew what was going to be in HotFix *cough nudge cough*. There are a few things I would like to see. Greater detail into the day to day lives of people throughout the solar system would be nice. Not Firewall agents, or super secret research assistants, but the proverbial masses who are not really aware of the secret war that is going on. Some more information on the legality of different items throughout the solar system would be nice. Are there places where taking a Fury morph on board would be seen as a highly suspicious act that gets you followed everywhere you go by a monitoring AI? What about small arms in the Jovian stations? That kind of thing. The occasional catalogue of new gear/implants/morphs would be nice, but I don't really mind on that because those are fairly easy to brew up ourselves. Implants would be the big thing here, because the more of those we have the more creative we can be doing our own thing. Further detail on how different things in the EP universe work could be good (How do Surya see?). Primers on the activities of all the different Hypercorps could be good. Who is in charge? Where are they based? How many people have they hired? What super secret black labs do they have doing what? Stuff that as a GM I can latch onto and expand to make a kick ass adventure out of.
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raverbane raverbane's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Anything and everything. I know that is an over simplified answer. But, if releasing EP stuff in a PDF only format would expidite the process of getting new material out. Make everything PDF only. If I want to read something I have purchased the old fashioned way. I will print it out myself!
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
What Codebreaker said almost exactly, but with different priority I'd like deeper information on all of the listed hypercorps. Ditto with the Triads and Night cartel. Personally I love it when you highlight some of the personalities, Blackvein seems to have been a big hit in Bump in the Night. I'd like to have more information on the listed Stations and habitats. PLEASE, when you name a habitat or station that's configured for artificial gravity list what gravity they run at. This info is more important to any adventure I'd write or run than any of the social info. It would also be nice to have a listing of all factions with significant influence on each hab. And it would help if two or three top industries could be listed also. (How the hell did a bunch of birds build Mahogany and what are they doing to support themselves now?) Slice of everyday life stuff is also very important. I'd like to know allot more about the current environmental conditions on mars. Where can rusters breath without oxygen masks. Do Alpiners still need oxygen masks in Olympus. If there are two-hundred million people on Mars and 150 million of them live in Valles Maranaris what are the other medium sized cities besides Noctis and New Shanghai? What are all of those people doing? How many space elevators does Mars have and where are they? Most of that type of stuff can be exposed through adventures so I'd say enjoy it if you kept releasing more adventures. Mind the WMD, Bump in the Night, and Glory did a pretty good job of expanding the world. I'd like to see Mars, Lunar, Titanian, and Extropian adventures. I'm personally uninterested in seeing gear books. Sunward was a perfect balance; "this is the setting and this is the gear that is relevant to the setting."

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

kylleran kylleran's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Keep em coming. But in reply to CodeBreaker's request regarding what we have planned I can lift the lid on that a bit. This is also what we've already mentioned in interviews and at Gencon. Keep in mind though that all of this is still what is planned and nothing is finalized so any of the chapters of Hotfix could go bye-bye if we don't like the way they end up or if something else seems more important. With that in mind however I can tell you that you will be getting a lot of gear with Gatecrashing, especially gear that pertains to exploration missions (go figure right?). As for Hotfix we are currently looking at having chapters that deal with uplifts, crime, habitat design, everyday life, privacy and surveillance, and potential new existential threats that Firewall is tracking. So we are unlikely to want to do pdfs of any of these things right away. And the outer system book will cover places like the Jovian Republic and the Titanians in much more detail.

Brian Cross
Posthuman Studios

artemis2 artemis2's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
¡More backgrounds! And rules for spaceships.
Extrasolar Angel Extrasolar Angel's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
kylleran wrote:
And the outer system book will cover places like the Jovian Republic and the Titanians in much more detail.
A big request-please, pretty please don't make the JR a comic relief-there was a bit of undertone in the main book that spoke to me of portaying it as criticism of conservatives and Bush years. I would really prefer if you would make it a very credible and serious power, with a considerable degree of complexity. As to single PDF files-gear collection, NPC's or Foes and Villains could be good, in addition of course to adventures.
[I]Raise your hands to the sky and break the chains. With transhumanism we can smash the matriarchy together.[/i]
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
raverbane wrote:
Anything and everything. I know that is an over simplified answer. But, if releasing EP stuff in a PDF only format would expidite the process of getting new material out. Make everything PDF only. If I want to read something I have purchased the old fashioned way. I will print it out myself!
We are not giving up print publishing. Bear in mind that to make an electronic book the quality of say, Sunward, takes exactly as much of our time, money, and effort as the print version: just without the print bill (and the print sales ...) If we went electronic-only, we would not be able to publish books like Sunward or the EP Core Rulebook. Electronic sales just aren't big enough to fund the expenses of such books.
Ferretz Ferretz's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I would basically love to see more of the good stuff that has been coming out so far. In other words, keep up the good work. :) But to be specific, adventures are always good. Maybe short pdfs giving more details on each of the major hypercorps and other factions, including specific gear, weapons and morphs, and of course plenty of plot elements and new locations. Also, I would love to see a pdf with "official optional rules" and other ways to tweak your game towards certain play styles. -Eirik

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-GRAHAM CHAPMAN (1941-89)

OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Also: Since you'll be doing alot of gear in the next book; with major pieces of gear like Morphs it would be cool to get a little bacground info such as: Who are the major manufaturers/Designers of the Morph/gear and what are some other competing brand names of the same class of morph. I can, and have, done it myself but I'd like to see something like expanded models and competing brands of Case morphs, CM machines, and vehicles. It usually only adds a line or two to the descriptions.

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
OTP beat me on the gear background! No matter.. what I'd love to see is some stuff about the "cast". novellah characters like Sava or Vijia, NPCs like Gray, Prof Magnus, Mason, Patrona... I confess having a soft spot for both Gray and Patrona. With that suggestion, though, I'm shooting myself in the foot, sortoff Why? because I'm planning portrait of the ladies for the zine. Should I send the material to you to see if it doesn't conflict with whatever metaplot you might have with them? though you mentioned earlier that Hotfix would be including some part about crime, I'd love to see a supplement about law enforcement the different kinds of public and private agencies. carreers, education and concepts. That, to me and my group, are a vital part of a rpg setting. Especially in games like EP, Shadowrun, Fading Suns and the like. The education part is important for the background of the characters. some players, like us, like to the write rather complete backgrounds (the record I've seen of it was in a Nephilim game: 85 pages, each of his incarnation described in details, where he lived, who were his loved onces, his good and bad deeds. it really helped the GM to set up the Mnemos Effects (flashback in the memory of the character))
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Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Things I'd like to see in mini-book form? Lemme count them: [list=1][*]Faction books. Just something to give us a deeper detail into them. If you like my suggestion, start with the Ultimates! [*]Location books. Deeper info on the biggest locales in the Eclipse Phase Universe. The smaller ones can be detailed just fine in the bigger books, but there isn't much info on places that you know are very vast, like Elysium (which only takes up 3¼ of a page, even though it's one of the most happening places). I don't think any single locale needs to be delved into with a book the size of Shadowrun Seattle books. [*]Pure crunch books: I'd like to see a new book that gets more deep into psi, or spaceships, and maybe even implants. Books with pure rules are funtastic. Of course, some of us really want to play with the mechanics of the games ourselves, which brings me to the last and best suggestion (in my opinion).... [*]Construction rules: This game is teeming with the potential for homebrew morphs, equipment, psi and ships. Some decent rules on how to produce it, while maintaining balance, would be awesome beyond belief... especially with balancing morphs and character points. To that end, figuring out a decent formula to produce our own psi sleights while knowing how much strain it should require, or how to design a balanced permanent psi effect, and maybe even some decent custom spaceship rules. These things would make the best mini-books in my opinion, because they would allow us to exploit the license and really expand the setting ourselves. It means you can sit back for a bit and see how the kids play with your tools. Who knows, we might even make some material good enough that you can throw it into an official book.
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Kitsune1842 Kitsune1842's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Lets see, you mentioned doing gear and stuff for uplifts already and those were two of my top things I wanted. I would love to see more on vehicles, and not just space ships. I would love to see rules for using, and even creating, things like motercycles and vehicles for more planet bound missions on Mars, or things like Powered Armor. I would also love more info on the other groups out there, the main book has refferenced other semi-secret groups that Firewall has delt with in the past and I would love to know more about them. Thier history, what they are after, and even what they think of Firewall and its goals. A suplement on both Crime and Law Enforcment would be awsome too. Get to see the differences in how crime is delt with in the Jovian Republic, on Mars, or in the outer system areas. Also, Adventures adventures adventures.
kindalas kindalas's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I'd like to see PDF releases on specific groups and organisations. Be it criminal groups, hypercorps or titanian communes. I'd also like to writeups on specific parts of EP life. Such as the average Darkcasting facility, or red marketplace. So that the smaller things in EP that are currently glossed over can be expanded.
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wwwjason wwwjason's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I would love to see adventures (maybe inter-related) covering a "Grand Tour" of the Solar System, including the planets, moons, TNO's, centaurs, etc. Also include exoplanetary systems following Gatecrashing? I think it would be a great way to flush out the minor bodies of the Solar System beyond the surveys in the books. Whatever you decide to do, thanks for asking for the input! J
Rhyx Rhyx's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
The more I read and the more a Faction Guide would make sense for a short PDF. I'm not saying to go the old White Wolf way but giving a background, interests, maybe special equipment, morphs and maybe new positive and negative trait that center around the faction's interest. Bright side is let's say you make about 5 of them as PDF and then..boom! Pack them up, bind them and send them off to the printer's. It's a relatively painless way of keeping interest going in the PDF realm while working towards a painless print book. Just a thought.
CodexofRome CodexofRome's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
An intro to the setting itself. Something I can hand players who haven't read the main rulebook that will help them get into the game.
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wesleystreet wesleystreet's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I would find 'traditional' 32-page, one-shot adventure books helpful. I know they don't sell (well) in stores so a PDF-only release seems an ideal format. I would also like to see more NPC Prime releases. Really, anything with stats that doesn't fit with a print release would be perfect. Maybe even a 'monster manual' of Exsurgent and other threats; bioplagues, digital critters, nanoswarms, gray goo, etc. etc.
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I would like either a short sourcebook or an adventure that would shed some light on the mysteries of Zrbny Limited. The possibilities are devouring my brain. Also, an in depth supplement on Firewall: their tactics in detail, short and long term mechanics, internal divisions (their interaction, hidden and not so hidden agendas, how it affects Firewall's integrity), resources, etc. The information on the books is enough to get a nice taste of their workings, but more information would be enjoyable. Also, I agree with my fellow forum EP freaks that an equipment sourcebook would be quite lovely. I can keep adding ideas, since they keep popping in my head. I would love adventures in Earth, as well as more information on Gatecrashing and Exoplanet colonization (and the subsequent odd discoveries). That, again is in a solid agreement with the rest. I'm extraordinarily interested in more details about the TITANs. I have a gnawing curiosity about the ruined habitats, asteroids, bases that were abandoned, destroyed, or went "inactive" when the TITANs left. For example, Vanya Ilyanovitch and Caloris 18, the possibilities of P/2019, Earth, Martian Express, Martian Isolates, Venusian TITANs, etc etc ad nauseam. There is a specific detail that is never mentioned directly, only hinted at, which we can get a gist of, but I would love to know more about TITAN forced-uploading. To be quite honest, there is so much material that can be expanded upon that it's very difficult to go wrong with any release. Maybe later on I'll add more ideas. I have Eclipse Phase on the brain.
The Doctor The Doctor's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
CodexofRome wrote:
An intro to the setting itself. Something I can hand players who haven't read the main rulebook that will help them get into the game.
Have you seen the quickstart rules? They have what you speak of.
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Ah... reading the previous posts I have an idea I needed to get out before I log off. I would like a sourcebook PDF on daily lives in different parts of the solar system, under different factions. Especially some concepts like, now under resleeving and the current state of engineered transhumanity, like the propagation of the species (child birth, rearing children, and the genetic question involved in resleeving), uplift mentality, etc. The question of how transhumans view reproduction and the family unit, in different parts of the system, would be an interesting one to answer.
Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I like the idea of detailing factions, though I could easily see that being a full print book, so maybe lesser known factions or factions local to a certain area would work well in a PDF-only release. Gear is always good for PDF releases and short adventures are great. Because space is so big, you could easily add a few habitats, orbitals, or notable ships in a PDF-only location book without taking away from books like Sunward. Same with hypercorps; I imagine the major ones will get fleshed out in a full book somewhere down the line, but smaller hypercorps could be great material for a PDF.
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AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
The Doctor wrote:
CodexofRome wrote:
An intro to the setting itself. Something I can hand players who haven't read the main rulebook that will help them get into the game.
Have you seen the quickstart rules? They have what you speak of.
And if you HAVE seen the Quick-Start Rules -- let me know what's in the core book but NOT in the QSR, that you think should be in the QSR or otherwise more available to new players, please!
Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I think it's only the major ones that are mentioned in the game. Experia, Omnicor, Direct Action, etc but aside of them, or part of them, there are countless smaller companies that don't fall under the hypercorps label. you have Skinthetic that produces hundred thousands Morphs a year, and then, in a non-major habitat, a virtuose genehacker has opened a shop that will craft you a morph just fit for you, while his daughter is keeping the books. They're not well known, they're not advertising on the Mesh, but the Morphs he crafts and customize leave those commercial one-fit-all models wayyyyy back. those companies would so deserve a pdf book. the most notable ones, the rules to create one, etc a book about the factors, Iktomi and other races Transhumanity might have been running into, and told nobody about.
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sndwurks sndwurks's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I think I have to agree with the avoidance of further "Gear" books. The current gear set up you have in just the main book is fairly exhaustive, and a creative GM or player can do whatever they want with it. As for the other half of the "Gear" equation, morphs, mods, and cyberware... I would think that making a book of them would be a little too much, and allow for an element of power-creep. Considering the format (Monthly, 24 to 32 page .pdf, released online), your production costs are low. You're only paying for (legitimate) data transfer and the initial investment of production. As such, materials which would ordinarily sell mediocrely at best in a FLGS should be considered. With that in mind, I think that the best options would be as follows. 1) Adventures: Scenarios for Firewall Sentinels to deal with make for perfect, workable modules. I would suggest that steering away from a metaplot with them would be useful, as the limited publishing schedule means it could take years to fully flesh out an interconnected arc. These will sell as GMs can use them to plug and play. 2) Locations: While Sunward gives us the run down on many habitats, it is a world of difference from the detail that could be afforded by going into detail. Giving us 32 pages on Nectar, with specific neighborhoods, businesses, and individuals that someone would run into there, could go a long way to making such a place a hub for recurring adventures. Include any sort of specialty gear that would apply to only that location. These will sell to GMs looking for plot hooks and setting detail, as well as people who just enjoy the setting. 3) NPCs: Dossiers on pre-built NPCs would be extremely useful to GMs. You could also couple this with Exsurgents or other threats to the PCs. If you include a new morph or two as well, then it will sell to players as well as GMs. And, always, I would love you guys to open submissions for these, as well as fiction. I love reading the fiction at the start of Sunward and the main book, and I think the Eclipse Phase setting is truly rife with story potential.
Doomsayer
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Regarding submissions: you can _always_ email info at posthumanstudios.com with a product pitch. Please include writing samples, resume, etc.
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Adventures for Firewall Sentinels, as well as Detailed Location PDFS would be right on the money. The sample NPCs, if they were movers and shakers, would also be a good idea. I agree wholeheartedly on that.
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
What is a "location?" An entire aerostat, or a dive bar?
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Well, the idea I am referring to is mostly the concept of the entire aerostat, including the dive bars within it ;) That being an example, of course. It would be awesome for in depth look at some aerostats, or some habitats, or bases and whatnot. The format I visualize is mostly an adventure taking place in one or more of them, including the in depth look into said habitats. Of course, just a supplement with more information, plot hooks, secrets, factions, historical background, and juicy details would also work just fine and I'd buy it without compulsion.
Prime Mover Prime Mover's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
AdamJury wrote:
What is a "location?" An entire aerostat, or a dive bar?
You mean like a seedy cantina were they don't allow agi's but you might find a smuggler pilot? Nah but a city/hab/barge etc.. with a basic map and some of major players would rock.
"The difference between truth and fiction, people expect fiction to make sense."
sndwurks sndwurks's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I think it's a variable concept? At its base, a Location would be a setting with enough traction and room to be used as a hub for at least three adventures. That's the way I look at it when I make my notes for my long-running games. A good Location for Eclipse Phase could be a sizable habitat (Nectar, Extropia, a significant exoplanet colony), a major threat area (TQZ, the Kilimanjaro Space Elevator, a derelict Scum barge), or even a Simulspace. For examples from other games, major White Wolf supplements for their nWoD line have been Location books. WotC has been putting out their Gauntlgrym and other location books for adventure material. I think the best example, though, are the Legend of the Five Rings RPG boxed sets of City of Lies, and Otosan Uchi. EP has a lot of flexibility when it comes to what makes a Location. Going back to the Nectar example, a Location book on it would cover both Old Nectar and New Nectar, and give names to specific places and prominent / notable NPCS. A detailed map would also be excellent. Write up on the various factions and how they interact, along with interesting plot hooks, would flesh it out to the point where any GM can pick up the Nectar supplement, and easily run three "adventures" in it. Is that clear?
Doomsayer
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Thanks for the clarification, guys. (I'm not trying or wanting to argue terminology at all ... I just want to make sure we understand you. :D )
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
No problem at all, Adam, I understand perfectly the need for clarification. Just ask away and we'll keep tossing in ingredients for the EP melting pot.
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Exactly. Completely agree with that idea. (referring to sndwurks comment)
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
[Edit] r.e. the quickstart rules... (could have sworn I quoted th post above.) I'm currently writing this as a submission for [u]The Eye[/u] the new fanzine you requested. Unfortunately, we're very tight-lipped about release dates. ;) LOL :D I'll send you a copy if you want. As to Locations; I would love to see some of the major stations and habitats allready named get expanded. The ones that come to mind immediately are: The Korolev Shipyards The Hexagon Cognite's offices on Phobos Pathfinder City . Especially Pathfinder City. New Mumbai (maybe) I would request that you [i]Don't[/i] try to cover places like Locus, New Shanghai, with a small pdf release. The really big places probably deserve more writers and more art than I've seen in the typical pdf release.

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

akfu23 akfu23's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Well most of this has already been suggested in one way or another, but just to throw my hat in the ring too with my particular spin on it... I personally think the 5k word count is just right for some "drop in" content. By that I mean not an actual full-plot adventure but something that could be used either on the fly or incorporated into an existing campaign easily. Examples of what I mean are: 1. Locations like habitats or planet-side bases. Have a map, history/background, a couple important NPC's, and some hooks/suggestions on what's going on there. 2. Ships and their crews, either short or long haul. This is a mobile variation of #1 above, but it would be nice to have if the PC's suddenly need to have transport someplace to have a fully fleshed out ride with a hook/suggestion or two of what might happen along the way. 3. Patrons/Antagonists. Write-ups of rival faction/corporate teams, or gangs, or someone who might hire the PC's between Firewall missions and why/what for Things I personally do not think would be good for the 5k word-count are: 1. Detailed ship construction & rules. If or when this type of stuff comes out I would like to see an entire book sized release on it to do it justice. 2. Gear. I can come up with my own, or just put relevant gear & their rules in the applicable supplement for it, i.e. Gatecrashing gear in the Gatecrashing book etc 3. Morphs. For the same reasons as #2 above
--Aaron the Akfu
sndwurks sndwurks's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
AdamJury wrote:
Thanks for the clarification, guys. (I'm not trying or wanting to argue terminology at all ... I just want to make sure we understand you. :D )
Sorry if I come across as a little didactic! Too much time in professional, college-level academia as a worker drone has had an impact on my writing. And while I am a huge fan of the "5k Plug and Play" approach to gaming materials, I feel that that would be more appropos for The Eye, than a monthly publication which is being sold. Personally, I think they would be better off looking at the 10k to 15k materials. Which can be a lot, but is definitely feasible on the monthly schedule, especially if it is open for freelancers.
Doomsayer
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
sndwurks wrote:
Sorry if I come across as a little didactic!
No no, that sort of clarity is exactly what I want. :-)
Quote:
And while I am a huge fan of the "5k Plug and Play" approach to gaming materials, I feel that that would be more appropos for The Eye, than a monthly publication which is being sold. Personally, I think they would be better off looking at the 10k to 15k materials. Which can be a lot, but is definitely feasible on the monthly schedule, especially if it is open for freelancers.
The issue with going bigger is, as always, budgets. Since our prices for PDF versions of core books is very low, our window of "acceptable" prices for electronic-only projects is smaller. If we published a 15K word (roughly 25 pages all-told) PDF for $10, is that a "rip off" compared to Sunward, or is it merely proof of Sunward's good value as a PDF?
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Two questions regarding submissions... 1) How long should I expect to wait for a response on a pitch? 2) If I've already submitted an item which has been accepted for publication, should I still include resume, writing samples, etc. with future submissions? (For anyone who is interested, the best proposal template I am aware of is care of Shadowrun at Catalyst labs: http://www.shadowrun4.com/catalyst/writers_guidelines.shtml )
AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
nezumi.hebereke wrote:
1) How long should I expect to wait for a response on a pitch?
This varies incredibly depending on when/if we want to use the pitch. We don't really have a "standard" for that yet, especially for PDF stuff -- all our PDF-only projects so far have been material that was supposed to be part of another book and was split off, or material that was written for convention games. But typically, Rob does not read-and-respond to unsolicited queries as they arrive.
nezumi.hebereke wrote:
2) If I've already submitted an item which has been accepted for publication, should I still include resume, writing samples, etc. with future submissions
Naw. :)
Extrasolar Angel Extrasolar Angel's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
From a practical point of view single locations aren't productive in terms of supplements. A single location might be useful to one group but completely irrelevant to another. Such supplements should cover versatile content-something that can be used in many situations and for various gaming groups different in character-thus NPC's, general gear(weapons, ships, vehicles), morphs, bots are good choices in my opinion. For example I think that for a SF setting EP lacks somewhat in the category of bots, combat drones and other similiar constructs. Another category would be adventures-a couple of short ones combining both locations and adventure would be good.
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AdamJury AdamJury's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Extrasolar Angel wrote:
From a practical point of view single locations aren't productive in terms of supplements.
This is one aspect where small electronic books shine, though -- because the customer can better pick-and-choose which ones they want. Same sort of logic behind us recently splitting up the Gamemaster's Pack!
nielsk nielsk's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
I'd like to see specified pdfs that handle different topics: 1) Missions. But I'd also like to see something like "adventure-ideas". Those should not be complete missions but just a compilation of ideas that could be used for creating our own missions that we can include in our campaigns. 2) Details on single groups/factions (like more detailed informations on single Hypercorps) 3) NPCs of note - legendary FW-agents, people who come up in the news of the world of EP… 4) Gear - modifications of existing weapons, new implants etc. 5) New types of TITAN-artifacts/enemies 6) More short stories. They help to get how the "world of EP" works - and it would be nice that those are short stories that do not get recycled in the books (or the other way around) 1 PDF == 1 Topic; no mix-up except those PDFs would be in a magazine-like format. That would be nice, too. But I think I'd prefer the 1PDF==1Topic-idea.
nielsk nielsk's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Well, and it would be nice if you would release those in epub and mobi, too :)
Slicer Slicer's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
Nielsk hit one nail on the head on something I had in the back of my mind. I absolutely love the short stories. They help convey the flavor of the EP universe with crystal clarity. The format of interlacing the short stories with the supplemental information is the best way to get readers to immerse themselves better in the EP reality. So... we want more of those!
Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
nielsk wrote:
Well, and it would be nice if you would release those in epub and mobi, too :)
that's a great idea! what about a serialized story?
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nielsk nielsk's picture
Re: What would you most like to see as pdf-only releases?
A serialized story would be pretty awesome. One more comment to the short stories. A lot of my fascination when I started with Shadowrun (a long long time ago ;) ), the novels helped me more to find my way through the world than the rule books did.

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