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

Sat, 2010-10-09 16:22

#52

AdamJury

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 :)

I keep meaning to ask you -- are you using your Kindle at the game table, or just for reading/prep-work?

Sat, 2010-10-09 16:39

#53

Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture

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

in my group, we use ipod and ipad, around the table -for quick rule reference -to display illustration and it's bloody handy!

—

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Sat, 2010-10-09 16:45

#54

nielsk

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

I use it only for reading between sessions. That's why I'm saying (on twitter) that the background-parts would be enough for me as an epub/mobi. When I do prep-work or when I am at the game table I am using books and print-outs. Especially books with a good index are faster (with a good index) when I'm searching than my iMac (not to speak of an iPad or a Kindle). The reason is that you get too many irrelevant hits and when I'm flipping through the book I get a feeling with time where specific rules, gear etc is located like a DJ knows where to put the needle on the vinyl

Sat, 2010-10-09 17:28

#55

Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture

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

Adam, you folks asked on Facebook what electronic project we would like? well, here's another idea, beside the one I already submitted there: application for iTouch and iPad to help manage the game both for the players and the gm -recording the morph, aptitudes, skills, rep, traits... the character sheet, actually -managing the rep and it's use -managing the gear (ammo, nanohives) -real time modification of skills and aptitude to the morph modifiers -tactical net (peer to peer sharing of ressources, or whatever other P2P possibilities)

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Sat, 2010-10-09 18:07

#56

Slicer

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

I personally have the books handy, but I have the pdf material on my laptop at the table as well. Sometimes it's easier just leafing through the books, but some things are PDF only, and sometimes it's easier to actually search the pdf for something.

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Sun, 2010-10-10 09:32

#57

Prime Mover Prime Mover's picture

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

An opposing Project Ozma team stated out. Maybe some custom morphs and unique gear to scare the players.

—

"The difference between truth and fiction, people expect fiction to make sense."

Sun, 2010-10-10 11:58

#58

wesleystreet wesleystreet's picture

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

nielsk wrote:
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.

I've never been a fan of the 'adventure seed' model. Ideas are the easy part. I can guarantee everyone posting in this thread has five or more bouncing around in his or her head and may not even know it. I don't want to purchase someone else's ideas; I want to purchase something that will make my life as a GM easier. I want a dev to actually go through the trouble of writing up the NPCs and mooks and fleshing out and balancing key encounters for me... y'know, the stuff that actually takes work. :D

Sun, 2010-10-10 12:09

#59

Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture

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

wesleystreet wrote:
I've never been a fan of the 'adventure seed' model. Ideas are the easy part. I can guarantee everyone posting in this thread has five or more bouncing around in his or her head and may not even know it. I don't want to purchase someone else's ideas; I want to purchase something that will make my life as a GM easier. I want a dev to actually go through the trouble of writing up the NPCs and mooks and fleshing out and balancing key encounters for me... y'know, the stuff that actually takes work. :D

I agree with that too. I think adventure seeds and plot hooks are good as small parts of other releases (like Sunward), but I think a PDF of just adventure seeds doesn't have much value on its own.

—

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." --The White Queen, [i]Through The Looking-Glass[/i] [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zGgz13n3uzE/TWWPdvGig-I/AAAAAAAACI8/y...

Sun, 2010-10-10 12:11

#60

Albertorius Albertorius's picture

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

AdamJury wrote:
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?

I think it would depend on the content itself, really. For me, 25 pages of variant weapons might look as a rip-off, since I don't fell you need much more other than the corebook stuff for that. On the other hand, 25 pages of more stuff about day-to-day life in an habitat, that expands the corebook's setting? I would not think of it as a rip-off, myself. As for me, I'd like to get more ready-made adventures, more in the line of "Glory" than "Mind the WMD" (so, more around the 10 bucks/15K wordcount, I guess). That is more fully fleshed-out adventures, that would serve me both to know what can be done with the setting and to add backgroud to it.

Sun, 2010-10-10 12:17

#61

Albertorius Albertorius's picture

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

AdamJury wrote:
I keep meaning to ask you -- are you using your Kindle at the game table, or just for reading/prep-work?

We use two hardcopies of the book, my netbook and my iPad. I use the netbook basically as a GM Screen/reference, and use to have the pdfs open for quick search. The hard copies are for the players, so they can look up whatever they need. The iPad I use for referencing the books (sometimes) and to show handouts to the players (photos, mails, sat images from the Moon and Mars, videos... you know, the works).

Mon, 2010-10-11 11:09

#62

Slicer

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

AdamJury wrote:
nielsk wrote:
Well, and it would be nice if you would release those in epub and mobi, too :)
I keep meaning to ask you -- are you using your Kindle at the game table, or just for reading/prep-work?

You know whats curious? Since my players and I don't live very close anymore, we have been experimenting with Infrno.net so we don't have to wait to get together. So far, it's working out interestingly. We all have our books, as well as the pdfs open while we play.

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Mon, 2010-10-11 12:38

#63

Teenage

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

wesleystreet wrote:
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.(...)

As "wesleystreet" said : short adventure will be great, specially "ready to play" ones. Split into several files, so the GM could send to gamers all the necessary info : quickstart rules, pre-generated PC characters sheets, short universe and initial situation description. Adventures linked into a campaign or focused on a EP specific topic would be great.

Mon, 2010-10-11 16:45

#64

AdamJury

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

Teenage wrote:
As "wesleystreet" said : short adventure will be great, specially "ready to play" ones. Split into several files, so the GM could send to gamers all the necessary info : quickstart rules, pre-generated PC characters sheets, short universe and initial situation description.

Teenage -- The QSR is already available, and split into sections for download here: http://eclipsephase.com/qsr Nothing stops any GM from using that QSR with any of the adventures we already have available or will make available (except for rules granularity/detail ...) I think that basically covers what you want? With the exception that we don't provide pre-gens with every single adventure ... but between the pregens in the QSR, the core book, and in Sunward, there are plenty of sample characters for new players to pick before they dive into making their own, I think! Should adventures have a note indicating which of the sample characters are most/least appropriate?

Mon, 2010-10-11 17:02

#65

nielsk

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

AdamJury][quote=Teenage wrote:
Should adventures have a note indicating which of the sample characters are most/least appropriate?

That is actually a great idea. Especially for the people who want to run demo-sessions in shops or at cons. This would make it far easier to set one up fast.

Mon, 2010-10-11 17:07

#66

kindalas

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

AdamJury wrote:
Should adventures have a note indicating which of the sample characters are most/least appropriate?

It would help, or at least a recommendation on the best concepts for the mission. So that GMs immediately know what fits their groups and what changes could be needed.

—

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Mon, 2010-10-11 20:14

#67

babayaga

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

Decivre wrote:
[*]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...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.

Yes! I totally agree! Also, in the same vein it would be nice to have separate minigames (i.e., balanced, compact, but interesting mechanics) dealing with societal aspects of the setting. For example, take media ops! How do you create a media campaign in Eclipse phase? What kind of resources do you need? What can you expect? A "fluff" description isn't enough. I want concrete rules akin to those for combat or social networking!

Mon, 2010-10-11 20:46

#68

Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture

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

babayaga wrote:
Yes! I totally agree! Also, in the same vein it would be nice to have separate minigames (i.e., balanced, compact, but interesting mechanics) dealing with societal aspects of the setting. For example, take media ops! How do you create a media campaign in Eclipse phase? What kind of resources do you need? What can you expect? A "fluff" description isn't enough. I want concrete rules akin to those for combat or social networking!

I like that idea! but why limit to media? what about socialite? hypercorps? I mean, take a look on Shadowrun? didn't SR got a guide on coporations? how to play in such a setting. I know CP2020 had one, I have it somewhere, too

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Mon, 2010-10-11 22:21

#69

Rhyx

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

Quote:
I like that idea! but why limit to media? what about socialite? hypercorps? I mean, take a look on Shadowrun? didn't SR got a guide on coporations? how to play in such a setting. I know CP2020 had one, I have it somewhere, too

Yeah the Shadowrun one was named Shadowbeat and although interesting in an academic sense the book was one of the least useful one. The best thing about it was the surveillance equipment and the sample TV guide. As for:

Quote:
How do you create a media campaign in Eclipse phase? What kind of resources do you need? What can you expect? A "fluff" description isn't enough. I want concrete rules akin to those for combat or social networking!

Okay for that I'm gonna vote for an emphatic No as in "Niiiooooooo!" They have this thing called roleplaying which is pretty good for solving social interaction and requires no silly rules like: Okay you have a social defense of 72 and your opponents are both attacking you on your weak political platform and have a +30 strawman bonus to add to their memetic attack but you can still use your non disclosure agreement and you still have one blackmail token left from when you used smear campaign on them last turn... Believe me social interactions are waaay too interesting to solve with a die roll. And if you really want one I hear that Spycraft even has a game like that for seduction which is perhaps the most dehumanizing thing I've ever heard.

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[img]http://i.imgur.com/qtBZ9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AT25J.jpg[/img]

Tue, 2010-10-12 02:40

#70

Tunips

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

I'd like to see adventure modules coming out regularly. I love the setting, but condensing this huge universe down to a coherent story strains my GMing powers. (At least into a story that doesn't leave me realising I let the PCs grey-goo Saturn with replicating computronium embedded with their ego) I'm also very much in favour of getting as much stuff in kindle-friendly format as possible. Mainly the long descriptive passages. I don't use the kindle at the table, but it's a much easier format to read through the prose.

Tue, 2010-10-12 03:04

#71

CodeBreaker CodeBreaker's picture

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

Rhyx wrote:
Quote:
I like that idea! but why limit to media? what about socialite? hypercorps? I mean, take a look on Shadowrun? didn't SR got a guide on coporations? how to play in such a setting. I know CP2020 had one, I have it somewhere, too
Yeah the Shadowrun one was named Shadowbeat and although interesting in an academic sense the book was one of the least useful one. The best thing about it was the surveillance equipment and the sample TV guide.

There is also the newer Corporate Guide which I think does a better job, and is an example of something I would love Eclipse Phase to do for the different HyperCorps.

—

-

Tue, 2010-10-12 08:22

#72

Teenage

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

AdamJury wrote:
Teenage wrote:
As "wesleystreet" said : short adventure will be great, specially "ready to play" ones. Split into several files, so the GM could send to gamers all the necessary info : quickstart rules, pre-generated PC characters sheets, short universe and initial situation description.
Teenage -- The QSR is already available, and split into sections for download here: http://eclipsephase.com/qsr Nothing stops any GM from using that QSR with any of the adventures we already have available or will make available (except for rules granularity/detail ...) I think that basically covers what you want? With the exception that we don't provide pre-gens with every single adventure ... but between the pregens in the QSR, the core book, and in Sunward, there are plenty of sample characters for new players to pick before they dive into making their own, I think! Should adventures have a note indicating which of the sample characters are most/least appropriate?

Great, I didn't know that my suggestion comes true : http://www.eclipsephase.com/heres-split-version-quick-start-rules-pdf ! (By the way I don't find any link that point to all my posts on this forum, am I dumb ?) About Pre-gens, I agree there are plenty available, so a note giving an idea about a standard team composition, minimum skills and some links to known preg-gens that could fit the adventure should be enough.

Tue, 2010-10-12 08:57

#73

babayaga

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

Rhyx wrote:
Okay you have a social defense of 72 and your opponents are both attacking you on your weak political platform and have a +30 strawman bonus to add to their memetic attack but you can still use your non disclosure agreement and you still have one blackmail token left from when you used smear campaign on them last turn...

Wow, I'd really love something like that!

Rhyx wrote:
Believe me social interactions are waaay too interesting to solve with a die roll. And if you really want one I hear that Spycraft even has a game like that for seduction which is perhaps the most dehumanizing thing I've ever heard.

Actually, I agree that perhaps for "one-on-one" social interaction roleplaying is best. But for I'm not sure for a media campaign. A media campaign game is very much like a war game - a strategic, partial information resource management game. Sure, you can "tack" roleplaying over the war background, but suggesting that roleplaying is the best way to play a wargame is not something I agree very much with.

Tue, 2010-10-12 10:54

#74

wesleystreet wesleystreet's picture

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

CodeBreaker wrote:
There is also the newer Corporate Guide which I think does a better job, and is an example of something I would love Eclipse Phase to do for the different HyperCorps.

I think that's a line that needs to be carefully treaded. The fictional megacorporations are the keystone of the SR universe and, along with the mob and the government, are the primary employers of shadowrunners. And as such they receive a heavy focus. But they also receive a heavy focus because there's 20 years of continuity to keep track of. EP is a lot more broad in scope. If there was a product that focused on the hypercorps I think it would be of a greater benefit to explain how enterprise works in a trans-/post-human post-scarcity society scattered through space. Keep it on the broad picture and let the GMs fill in the details of what each hypercorp does to make a profit.

Tue, 2010-10-12 11:34

#75

Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture

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

wesleystreet wrote:
I think that's a line that needs to be carefully treaded. The fictional megacorporations are the keystone of the SR universe and, along with the mob and the government, are the primary employers of shadowrunners. And as such they receive a heavy focus. But they also receive a heavy focus because there's 20 years of continuity to keep track of. EP is a lot more broad in scope. If there was a product that focused on the hypercorps I think it would be of a greater benefit to explain how enterprise works in a trans-/post-human post-scarcity society scattered through space. Keep it on the broad picture and let the GMs fill in the details of what each hypercorp does to make a profit.

I think a hypercorp book would benefit both from the overview on post-scarcity economics but also from in-depth pieces on major hypercorps like those that run the Planetary Consortium. In a way, I look back at the old [i]Corporate Shadowfiles[/i] model from much earlier [i]Shadowrun[/i], which had a lot of information on Sixth World economics (and remains one of my favorite SR books ever). But that's sort of aside from the point of this thread, because I think the above deserves a full book and not a PDF-only release. But I think PDF-only releases would be fine for smaller or more localized hypercorps.

—

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." --The White Queen, [i]Through The Looking-Glass[/i] [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zGgz13n3uzE/TWWPdvGig-I/AAAAAAAACI8/y...

Tue, 2010-10-12 11:44

#76

Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture

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

Hey Adam, Amazon might be sending you this, but I just saw it and figured it might contribute to this conversation:

Quote:
Amazon is announcing that a new kind of content will soon join books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs in the Kindle store. Called Kindle Singles, the 30-to-90 page e-chapbooks aim to split the difference between feature-length magazine articles and shorter books. “Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format,” said Amazon’s Russ Grandinetti. The costs of print production, marketing and distribution have historically driven the page-counts of book monographs up and the word-counts of magazine and newspaper articles down. Amazon said that Kindle Singles will have its own section in the Kindle store and will be priced “much less than a typical book.” Amazon will also grant authors and publishers the same royalty split for singles as on the Kindle Digital Text platform: 70% on books costing between $2.99 and $9.99. There are print precedents for 10,000-to-30,000-word works — novellas, chapbooks, long pamphlets, extended journal articles, among others — but they’ve usually been either tied to specific genres or downright exceptions to the form. They’ve never been a central part of the publishing model in either fiction or nonfiction. Kindle Singles is also unusual in calling on publishers to produce stand-alone “born-digital” works that may not ever be traditionally printed. Some publishers may use the form to sell individual sample or advance chapters of longer print books. Individual writers may benefit the most from the program, as it makes it easier for them to self-publish works that precisely for reasons of length can’t find support from traditional publishers. Two further possibilities, particularly if other e-book retailers follow suit with similar chapbook-length offerings: digital-only publishers (or offshoot imprints) could emerge to produce works specifically for this format, or the additional revenue and marketing stream of electronic publishing could lead print publishers to produce more short-form books in print. I wouldn’t discount this last possibility. In 2005, philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s On Bullshit became a surprise hardcover bestseller. Frankfurt’s “book” was a reprint of a journal article that had already been collected and published in a longer anthology. It sold over half a million copies and spawned a sequel, despite being just 67 pages long and printed in an unusually small 4″ by 6″ format.

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"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." --The White Queen, [i]Through The Looking-Glass[/i] [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zGgz13n3uzE/TWWPdvGig-I/AAAAAAAACI8/y...

Tue, 2010-10-12 13:48

#77

Rhyx

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

The thing I love about EP is that it's such a wide spanning universe rife with conflict that you can have many different games that are other than the Sentinel/firewall based framework. In being looser than let's say Shadowrun it leaves itself open to more different types of games. One campaign could be about a bunch of scavengers around Luna picking up detritus and rare materials for nanofab feedstock while another could be industrial espionage that is much more shadowrun-esque. You could run a reporter driven story on Venus, a team of Paramedics on Titan or an outright military campaign with a black ops team stationed on a Jovian Battleship. And I think these are the kind of things that could be easily made in a short book. Yes I know that there's been some griping about Adventure seeds but you could easily have a short publication with the following: Setting location and highlights (what does a scavenger ship look like, information about Fresh Kills), NPCs (competitors, Buyers), Specific Adventure seeds or a short adventure (a derelict habitat still partially inhabited by Titan constructs), New gear, morphs, variants and equipment. So when you buy this thing you're not just buying a supplement you are buying something that will deepen any EP game AND have the potential to spawn a whole different campaign from it. Then eventually you get enough slices like that, You make a club sandwich and send it off to the printer's to make it a hardbound.

—

[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/A_Rep.jpg[/img] 2 [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/R_Rep.jpg[/img] 7 [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/C_Rep.jpg[/img] 2
[img]http://i.imgur.com/qtBZ9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AT25J.jpg[/img]

Wed, 2010-10-13 20:52

#78

AJCarrington AJCarrington's picture

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

AdamJury wrote:
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?

Definitely not - I would much rather pay a little more to support a higher quality product (art/writing/production values). The value of the core books is pretty clear; the investment to buy in and support this game is extremely reasonable (IMHO). AJC

Thu, 2010-10-14 10:06

#79

TBRMInsanity TBRMInsanity's picture

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

When it comes to pricing for PDFs I have been quite happy with PHS pricing. Here is my break down: Major book (over 150 pages with core material in it) max $20 Minor book (over 150 pages with "fluff" material) max $15 Supplementary (less then 150 pages but more then 75 pages with mix of "fluff" and "stuff") max $10 Specific publication (anything less then 75 pages) max $7 I have seen companies (Purple Duck Games comes to mind) that sell subscriptions of Specific publications where you get several "issues" in PDF format for around $25 a year. With that you get 12 "issues" of material you can use in your games. I find this acceptable pricing as well.

—

Jovian Motto: Your mind is original. Preserve it. Your body is a temple. Maintain it. Immortality is an illusion. Forget it.

Thu, 2010-10-14 11:01

#80

Slicer

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

Rhyx wrote:
The thing I love about EP is that it's such a wide spanning universe rife with conflict that you can have many different games that are other than the Sentinel/firewall based framework. In being looser than let's say Shadowrun it leaves itself open to more different types of games. One campaign could be about a bunch of scavengers around Luna picking up detritus and rare materials for nanofab feedstock while another could be industrial espionage that is much more shadowrun-esque. You could run a reporter driven story on Venus, a team of Paramedics on Titan or an outright military campaign with a black ops team stationed on a Jovian Battleship. And I think these are the kind of things that could be easily made in a short book. Yes I know that there's been some griping about Adventure seeds but you could easily have a short publication with the following: Setting location and highlights (what does a scavenger ship look like, information about Fresh Kills), NPCs (competitors, Buyers), Specific Adventure seeds or a short adventure (a derelict habitat still partially inhabited by Titan constructs), New gear, morphs, variants and equipment. So when you buy this thing you're not just buying a supplement you are buying something that will deepen any EP game AND have the potential to spawn a whole different campaign from it. Then eventually you get enough slices like that, You make a club sandwich and send it off to the printer's to make it a hardbound.

I agree with your first statement. As a GM, I enjoy the possibilities of playing Firewall campaigns, but my players are creative fellows, and we end up playing non-sentinel things in detail. I enjoy the fact that so far, the Core book and Sunward give some details that flesh out places like Mars and Venus, and give ideas for some important habitats, so I can flesh out non-Firewall things. But, more info on, as many have mentioned before, on habitats (derelict, scum, etc), the criminal underground, etc. I wholeheartedly agree that adventure information that could also spawn non-Firewall adventures would be well received. Not that Firewall story arcs should be left behind. I believe that it actually would be easy to strike a balance there. If with the way the books were written so far has given me (and probably many of you) sufficient ideas to get my brain cooking things for my players, in and out of Firewall, I don't think the pdf publications would have to stretch too far to please us.

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Thu, 2010-10-14 17:28

#81

Teenage

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

Maybe an "Practical guide to everyday life" could be also interesting : societal changes due to new tech. or the Fall, new ways of life, utopias, super (secret) projects (swarming the galaxie, ...), religions, ... each along with a list of plots. May be cut in two parts : a public one for players and a "secret" one for GM. The GM part could helps him dealing with all this new world means in term of mastering a party : players are always in contact, they can access almost any info, most can learn any skills in minutes, or can contract a skilled person from anywhere to do the job remotely (puppeteer), they can't forget anything (their muse could search through 3d view of all their live from personal or public records), and so and so and so. So many "new" things could break your perfect story...

Sat, 2010-10-16 16:15

#82

pytorb

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

Teenage wrote:
Maybe an "Practical guide to everyday life" could be also interesting : societal changes due to new tech. or the Fall, new ways of life, utopias, super (secret) projects (swarming the galaxie, ...), religions, ... each along with a list of plots. May be cut in two parts : a public one for players and a "secret" one for GM. The GM part could helps him dealing with all this new world means in term of mastering a party : players are always in contact, they can access almost any info, most can learn any skills in minutes, or can contract a skilled person from anywhere to do the job remotely (puppeteer), they can't forget anything (their muse could search through 3d view of all their live from personal or public records), and so and so and so. So many "new" things could break your perfect story...

This sounds like a really good idea. it would presumably need to cover everyday life in a variety of different settings (Luna/Mars/Venus, Jovian Republic, Outer Planets so probably three different pdfs) as well as contrasting planet-side vs. habitat and rich vs. poor living in each setting. An interesting linked idea (either as a guide or as accompanying fiction) could be childhood in Eclipse Phase in different settings. I think short pieces of a typical childhood in the different settings would make a wonderful introduction to the world in more detail for the players or GMs wanting to take it to the next level.

Sat, 2010-10-16 21:27

#83

cenrae

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

Please make the PDFs printer friendly. Both Bump in the Night and NPC Primer 1 have layers yes but neither of them allows you to completely deselect the background and have only a white background. That option in the layers seems to work for only a few pages not the entire file.

Sat, 2010-10-16 23:34

#84

AdamJury

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

cenrae wrote:
Please make the PDFs printer friendly. Both Bump in the Night and NPC Primer 1 have layers yes but neither of them allows you to completely deselect the background and have only a white background. That option in the layers seems to work for only a few pages not the entire file.

Bother; it looks like Bump in the Night victim to the same CS4 -> CS5 bug that hit Sunward; I thought I had it licked but apparently not. I double-checked the version of NPC File 1 that is currently up on DTRPG (the update that was posted a few weeks ago) and it seems to work correctly for me. Can you download that updated file and check it?

Mon, 2010-10-18 05:20

#85

SJE

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

I'd like to see some 'what if' scenarios. For example the book mentions one possibility of a Titan remaining in-System. Give me 5000 words on who it is, what their resources are, and what they are up to. Stat him up if necessary- how many infomorphs will it take to battle it in the mesh? Give us a small release detail on post-Fall London or NYC - who still lives there? What typical secrets or technologies still remain- what threatens it still. Or is there a Babylon 5 style habitat where the factions meet and mix and negotiate? Perhaps a series of these monthly releases detailing the personalities and locations and plots of such a place? SJE

Mon, 2010-10-18 06:38

#86

kowalzcky

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

I´d would like to see "one-shot" adventures, detailed settings for some places and habitats, and will be good too detailed articles about political and society stuff, like the inner politics of some big Hypercorps or the authonomist alliegance. Most of this is already said by others, but probably the most interesting thing is the concrete background information about factions and habitats, it can be a seed for its own "long book" later

—

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Tue, 2010-10-19 00:36

#87

Doc Solomon Doc Solomon's picture

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

I'd like to see some details on Exhumans & the Factors. Maybe an "Art of Eclipse Phase" along with some in-character game artifacts to help sell the mood; Jovian propaganda, new morph adverts, personal accounts of the Fall.

Tue, 2010-10-19 09:21

#88

Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture

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

Doc Solomon wrote:
Maybe an "Art of Eclipse Phase" along with some in-character game artifacts to help sell the mood; Jovian propaganda, new morph adverts, personal accounts of the Fall.

While I absolutely love the idea of someday coming out with an "Art of Eclipse Phase" book, I would want that in hardbound, not as PDF-only. I still love to have physical art books on my coffee table.

—

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." --The White Queen, [i]Through The Looking-Glass[/i] [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zGgz13n3uzE/TWWPdvGig-I/AAAAAAAACI8/y...

Tue, 2010-10-19 10:28

#89

CodeBreaker CodeBreaker's picture

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

The trouble with an "Art of..." article, I imagine, is that it would either just be reprints of the art we already have (Which I believe you can extract from the PDFs anyways) or you would have to put out the call for more, nice shiny art pieces. And those are expensive as hell, not the kind of thing I imagine making a profit over on a low price PDF product.

—

-

Tue, 2010-10-19 12:34

#90

sndwurks

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

I have to agree with the sentiment on the "Art of Eclipse Phase". While the visuals in this game are stunning (as much as I dislike the idea of surya, I have to admit that the cover of Sunward makes me go "Cooooool..."), they are not cheap. However, the idea of incorporating setting invoking visuals inside the PDF products builds a portfolio that can be released as a hardbound edition certainly works. Or, alternatively, you could have a supplement of 'Visual Aids' which have the prerequisite of having to be submitted gratis from the community, though that winds up more falling under the auspices of what the Fanzine should be doing. The problem with Faction guides is you run into the World of Darkness failing... Why would I want to read a book about Faction X when I only play Faction Y? Also 5000 words (the length put in the OP) is too shallow of a write-up to describe a Major Player in the EPverse. However, interestingly enough? I think something that EP could do as a 5000 word document PDF supplement? Style Guides. The base EP is a game where you are playing Firewall Sentinels battling X-Threats. How about a supplement which details how to run a Project Ozma game (using the Planetary Consortium information in Sunward) or a Gatecrashing game (see: Gatecrashers)? Or how to run an Ego Hunters game (see: Cowboy Bebop)? Or a Open Source Resistance Movement in the Jovian Republic? Or a grim military slugfest against the TITANs in the final days of the Fall? A Style Guide would have a section for Players and a section for Game Masters. The Player section would detail what sort of characters would work in that Style, and detail any style specific equipment (including morphs), new backgrounds, and new factions. The Game Mastering section would have plot hooks, pacing advice, and themes. This even serves the same niche as what most people want out of a Faction guide, as certain styles will be tied to certain Factions. Ultimate Mercenaries, Project Ozma and the PC, deep-cover Jovian spies... The Player section sells the guide to those who just want nifty new toys, and the Game Mastering section sells it to the rest of us, who look at the EPverse as one of the most open and interesting new worlds out there.

—

Doomsayer

Wed, 2010-10-20 11:43

#91

Decivre

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

babayaga wrote:
Yes! I totally agree! Also, in the same vein it would be nice to have separate minigames (i.e., balanced, compact, but interesting mechanics) dealing with societal aspects of the setting. For example, take media ops! How do you create a media campaign in Eclipse phase? What kind of resources do you need? What can you expect? A "fluff" description isn't enough. I want concrete rules akin to those for combat or social networking!

I love this idea! New alternate rule mechanics expanding on the setting. Here are a few starter ideas: [list=1][*]Expanded reputation system rules. Something more complex and deep than the current "rep score and skill" system the game currently has. Maybe borrow a little from the old contact mechanics of SR. Speaking of borrowing from SR.... [*]Lifestyle rules. Something to better deliver how to deal with day-to-day living in Eclipse Phase. Expenditures, home design, and rules for income from your day job would be excellent. [*]Expanded combat info: martial arts, expanded tactical info on the various environments that people will fight within in the world of Eclipse Phase. [*]Management rules for various elements of the setting: rules for running your own hypercorp, habitat, or even ship (and not necessarily combat, of course) could be an enjoyable addition to the game.[/list] I also thought of a few setting books that could be interesting: [list=1][*]Exsurgent Dossier: A book of all the known strains of the Exsurgent Virus, along with info on its effects and tactics. Everything from the forms the strain takes (does the Watts-Macleod strain come in digital form?) to the effects that it has. it would be written as an in-setting book detailing the info that Firewall has on the virus for its sentinels to read. [*]Proxy Archives: A book series designed for GMs but written in-setting as classified dossiers for Proxy eyes only. These could be the books that continue the saga of Chapter 12 of the core book, and bring GMs further into the rabbit hole with secrets about the system. Books could detail things like the individual Prometheans, known TITAN personalities, ongoing conspiracies that Firewall is keeping tabs on, other known sapient alien races besides the Factors, and other juicy secrets for GMs to splice into their games. [*]Worlds Within: This one came to me after an extended bout of insomnia. The mesh and simulspace both open up a plethora of possibilities for the setting, essentially creating entire realities within reality itself. Worlds Within could be a set of mini-books which detail these simulspaces to such a degree that they could be treated as campaign settings unto themselves. Think about it: a fantasy-based simulspace might be the setting for a fantasy RPG utilizing a modified version of Eclipse Phase's mechanics, that is both an independent game yet set inside the Eclipse Phase universe. It could be Posthuman Studio's way of toying with other campaign settings without necessarily taking attention off of Eclipse Phase... all extra settings are actually set within Eclipse Phase as virtual worlds. Solipsistic madness meets roleplaying! These might even warrant full game books, depending on how interested you are.[/list] There, I'm drained of ideas for now.

—

Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]

Thu, 2010-10-21 13:11

#92

Slicer

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

Decivre][quote=babayaga wrote:
Yes! I totally agree! I also thought of a few setting books that could be interesting: [list=1][*]Exsurgent Dossier: A book of all the known strains of the Exsurgent Virus, along with info on its effects and tactics. Everything from the forms the strain takes (does the Watts-Macleod strain come in digital form?) to the effects that it has. it would be written as an in-setting book detailing the info that Firewall has on the virus for its sentinels to read. [*]Proxy Archives: A book series designed for GMs but written in-setting as classified dossiers for Proxy eyes only. These could be the books that continue the saga of Chapter 12 of the core book, and bring GMs further into the rabbit hole with secrets about the system. Books could detail things like the individual Prometheans, known TITAN personalities, ongoing conspiracies that Firewall is keeping tabs on, other known sapient alien races besides the Factors, and other juicy secrets for GMs to splice into their games. [*]Worlds Within: This one came to me after an extended bout of insomnia. The mesh and simulspace both open up a plethora of possibilities for the setting, essentially creating entire realities within reality itself. Worlds Within could be a set of mini-books which detail these simulspaces to such a degree that they could be treated as campaign settings unto themselves. Think about it: a fantasy-based simulspace might be the setting for a fantasy RPG utilizing a modified version of Eclipse Phase's mechanics, that is both an independent game yet set inside the Eclipse Phase universe. It could be Posthuman Studio's way of toying with other campaign settings without necessarily taking attention off of Eclipse Phase... all extra settings are actually set within Eclipse Phase as virtual worlds. Solipsistic madness meets roleplaying! These might even warrant full game books, depending on how interested you are.[/list] There, I'm drained of ideas for now.

Those ideas would be awesomeness.

—

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Fri, 2010-10-22 11:13

#93

root

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

root@pdf-only releases [hr] Here is a format that I would enjoy in a pdf only release:

Start with a fiction piece; the ones already published are the most effective introductions to the setting short of taking a class on transhumanism.
After the fiction piece, present the characters in the fiction as NPCs, statted out for gamemaster use
Similarly, any new setting, equipment, reputation network, or whatever that was presented in the fiction should be statted out
Finish with a small summary which includes information on how much impact the story has on the rest of the setting

Now each pdf release is self-enclosed, and any new information is presented in context. Plus, the fiction makes the price of the pdf worth it, even if the buyer doesn't really care about the statted out parts.

—

[ @-rep +1 | c-rep +1 | g-rep +1 | r-rep +1 ]

Mon, 2010-10-25 09:47

#94

Gee4orce

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

What's going to be a really big help as time goes on is a unified index of all the monthly PDFs and core rules - Shadowrun does this very well, something similar for EP will save a lot of headache.

Mon, 2010-10-25 10:09

#95

Prime Mover Prime Mover's picture

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

Slicer][quote=Decivre][quote=babayaga wrote:
Yes! I totally agree! I also thought of a few setting books that could be interesting: [list=1][*]Exsurgent Dossier: A book of all the known strains of the Exsurgent Virus, along with info on its effects and tactics. Everything from the forms the strain takes (does the Watts-Macleod strain come in digital form?) to the effects that it has. it would be written as an in-setting book detailing the info that Firewall has on the virus for its sentinels to read. [*]Proxy Archives: A book series designed for GMs but written in-setting as classified dossiers for Proxy eyes only. These could be the books that continue the saga of Chapter 12 of the core book, and bring GMs further into the rabbit hole with secrets about the system. Books could detail things like the individual Prometheans, known TITAN personalities, ongoing conspiracies that Firewall is keeping tabs on, other known sapient alien races besides the Factors, and other juicy secrets for GMs to splice into their games. [*]Worlds Within: This one came to me after an extended bout of insomnia. The mesh and simulspace both open up a plethora of possibilities for the setting, essentially creating entire realities within reality itself. Worlds Within could be a set of mini-books which detail these simulspaces to such a degree that they could be treated as campaign settings unto themselves. Think about it: a fantasy-based simulspace might be the setting for a fantasy RPG utilizing a modified version of Eclipse Phase's mechanics, that is both an independent game yet set inside the Eclipse Phase universe. It could be Posthuman Studio's way of toying with other campaign settings without necessarily taking attention off of Eclipse Phase... all extra settings are actually set within Eclipse Phase as virtual worlds. Solipsistic madness meets roleplaying! These might even warrant full game books, depending on how interested you are.[/list]

I gotta say after reading this list I gotta agree this would make a fine release schedule.

—

"The difference between truth and fiction, people expect fiction to make sense."

Tue, 2010-10-26 00:32

#96

panda00x

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

To throw in my two cents, I'd like to see: 1. Setting-based fiction. I've noticed in other games I play, having an abundance of fiction available based on the setting helps to get everyone on the same page for the way things work and how the world generally [i]is[/i]. Also goes a long way to fill in the little gaps of details about day-to-day life and other things that we may not be immediately familiar with in our own world. 2. slice-of-life portraits of figures and places around the solar system, from big names to small. What's a day in the life like at Syd's Last Resort Bar and O2 Fill? What about for xp-star Mia Jago? 3. New toys and gear. Gear in the core book is open ended and broad guidelines for stuff is left so the GM can make their own, but it's also nice to see what other people are coming up to compare your own designs against. 4. New baddies. Exsurgents, shadow organizations, AI death machines, crazed cultists, terrorists groups. Pre-made things that I can tweak for my own needs that I know will fit into the overall flavor of EP. 5. More adventures. I like the 20+ page adventures that have been put out already. for some sort of monthly format, maybe shorter 5-10 page one shots that I could run in one or two sessions?

—

Me @ Penandpapergames.com

Tue, 2010-10-26 10:35

#97

lorcan nagle lorcan nagle's picture

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

Echoing some of the above posts, here's what I'd like from PDF products: 1. Fiction. The EP universe is rich and varied and there's plenty of story potential out there. The stories in the core book and Sunward were both entertaining and interesting, and we need more stuff like that. The suggestion of a serialised novel is also cool. 2. more adventures. 3. Antagonist files. A PDF detailing a crime lord, corrupt politician, military leader, dangerous singularity seeker, Project Ozma team and so on. Give a fair bit of detail including stats, modus operandi, organisation, details for the antagonist's NPCs. Basically giving GMs a bunch of info that gives them a foil for the PCs and is easy enough to plug in to any campaign. You could easily use the format to do files for hypercorps and other orgs. 4. more NPC files 5. Location files. I can see three potential products here. Details on habitats/settlements: Take a named location and give a rundown on the important players (criminals, government officials) in the area, where's good for Biz, good sites for flavour, maybe a map. Generic Habitats/Settlements. Maps of standard Cole Bubble/O'Neill Cylinder/Scum Barge layouts, Martian mining towns, stats for generic NPCs, and a few unique locations that can be plugged in to make the place stand out. specific small locales: detail up a bar, hotel, military base, office block or other generic location that will be used in a lot of games, again give generic NPC stats for the kinds of people typically encountered there.

Tue, 2010-10-26 13:07

#98

Teenage

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

panda00x wrote:
To throw in my two cents, I'd like to see: 2. slice-of-life portraits of figures and places around the solar system, from big names to small. What's a day in the life like at Syd's Last Resort Bar and O2 Fill? What about for xp-star Mia Jago? 3. New toys and gear. Gear in the core book is open ended and broad guidelines for stuff is left so the GM can make their own, but it's also nice to see what other people are coming up to compare your own designs against.

I'm not a big fan of gears catalogues, but Panda00x is right : gears from the core book are a bit too generic. Don't misunderstand me : don't add an endless list of objects with different specs, but a list of Branded ones, each with a strong identity (just like Arasaka, Aztechnology, Biotech Euphrates,...) and description.

Tue, 2010-10-26 15:36

#99

kindalas

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

Teenage wrote:
panda00x wrote:
To throw in my two cents, I'd like to see: 2. slice-of-life portraits of figures and places around the solar system, from big names to small. What's a day in the life like at Syd's Last Resort Bar and O2 Fill? What about for xp-star Mia Jago? 3. New toys and gear. Gear in the core book is open ended and broad guidelines for stuff is left so the GM can make their own, but it's also nice to see what other people are coming up to compare your own designs against.
I'm not a big fan of gears catalogues, but Panda00x is right : gears from the core book are a bit too generic. Don't misunderstand me : don't add an endless list of objects with different specs, but a list of Branded ones, each with a strong identity (just like Arasaka, Aztechnology, Biotech Euphrates,...) and description.

To expand on this perhaps we need instead of pages and pages of different gear a detailed list of brand names, and how a brand's reputation ties into the game's reputation system.

—

I am a Moderator of this Forum [color=red]My mod voice is red.[/color] The Eclipse Phase Character sheet is downloadable here: [url=http://sites.google.com/site/eclipsephases/home/cabinet] Get it here![/url]

Wed, 2010-10-27 04:01

#100

Teenage

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

To anyone who wants a bit more info about Branding and its impact on our live, I recommend the reading of [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/2290333123/ref=mp_s_a_10?qid=1288165928&sr... Klein's No Logo[/url] A bit old, but could give GM some good ideas about a corporate settings.

Wed, 2010-10-27 04:47

#101

Albertorius Albertorius's picture

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

Teenage wrote:
I'm not a big fan of gears catalogues, but Panda00x is right : gears from the core book are a bit too generic. Don't misunderstand me : don't add an endless list of objects with different specs, but a list of Branded ones, each with a strong identity (just like Arasaka, Aztechnology, Biotech Euphrates,...) and description.

Hmm... And how about a manufacturers' listing, including sets of standard modifications of stats for the common tech based on the corp that does it, or the "torrent" of the Open Content avenue it comes from? That way you could get some variations of gear, but without bogging down the equipment, which I'd really rather no get out of hand...

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

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