The official Bastion Press Q&A thread

In a thread about Oathbound, one of the points that was indirectly brought up was that there seemed to be a lack of knowledge about Bastion Press' extensive line of products. So in order to help educate EN Worlders about our products, this thread has been set up to answer any and all questions you may have about our books or pdfs.

To kick this off, I'll point out something that comes up from time to time with Torn Asunder: Critical Hits. Exactly, how does magical healing like cure spells heal the damage dealt from a critical wound?

The answer can be found in Table 2-8 on page 37 of the book.
* cure light wounds will heal Mild critical wounds but no hit point damage.

* cure moderate wounds will heal Mild critical wounds plus 1d4 points + 1 per level of caster or Moderate critical wounds and no hit point damage.

* cure serious wounds will heal Mild critical wounds plus 1d8 + 1 per level of caster or Moderate critical wounds plus 1d4 points + 1 per level of caster or Serious critical wounds with no hit point damage.

* cure critical wounds will heal Mild critical wounds plus 2d8 + 1 per level of caster or Moderate critical wounds plus 1d8 points + 1 per level of caster or Serious wounds plus 1d4 points plus 1 per level of caster.

* Heal will handle Mild effects plus 8 hp/caster level (max. 150) or Moderate wounds plus 6 hp/caster level (max. 150) or Serious wounds plus 4 hp/caster level (max. 150).

So there you have it. Any questions from the masses, especially concerning Arms & Armor v3.5??

Questions? Sure...

1. I've heard rumors of a new campaign setting coming out from Bastion. Were those rumors incorrect or just refering to the new modular nature of the Oathbound products?

2. Is there anything you wish you could've added or changed about Arms & Armor 3.5?

3. What was it like putting together the dataset for A&A 3.5? Have you personally used the e-tools program with the dataset loaded?

4. What product coming out are you most excited about?

5. If you could've changed one thing about Torn Asunder, what would it have been?

6. Do you find yourself in odd situations as you work for Bastion and do other work including d20 Magazine Rack and other writing like DC: Familiars?

7. Do you find that publishers need to developer a thicker skin?

8. Do you think that the 3.5 change hurt Bastion's sales as you had several recent books out at the time?

9. I see that you haveBook of Curses coming out. Does that have any relation to the PDF Book of Curses already out? Heyoka Studios

10. Where's the errata? I find that most publishers have a fire and forget mechanism for their products. Take Doom Striders. I love the concept but found in game play a lot of issues (collected in my review.) What would you say a reasonable amount of time to wait for errata is?

11. Certain publishers have mentioned that electronic reviews are worthless, but at the same time, if there is any negativity associated with those reviews or negative comments on positive electronic reivews, they take offense. What is your take on electronic reviews?

12. What's the most time consuming part of being in the d20 business?

13. Are there enough questions here?

Okay Joe, I wasn't expecting a shotgun's worth but here goes...

JoeGKushner said:

Questions? Sure...

1. I've heard rumors of a new campaign setting coming out from Bastion. Were those rumors incorrect or just refering to the new modular nature of the Oathbound products?

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Yes, we do have a new campaign setting coming out sometime mid to late next year. However, I cannot discuss what it is about just yet. rest assured, you will hear more when the time is right. This project has been in development for over a year and a half so far.

2. Is there anything you wish you could've added or changed about Arms & Armor 3.5?

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There's a whole bunch of stuff I wish I could have added. I'd still be writing it now if that was the case and it would be getting to be the size of the World's Largest Dungeon too (with the same price tag)...

3. What was it like putting together the dataset for A&A 3.5? Have you personally used the e-tools program with the dataset loaded?

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The datasets were completely handled by the simians over at Code Monkey Publishing. All I had to do is clarify a few things over the phone. I've used it a few times with e-Tools and it seems to work just great.

4. What product coming out are you most excited about?

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Personally, it's Lore of the Gods just because it's been such a long and ardous journey to make the book the best it can possibly be. I'm also quite excited about the current Oathbound project that Tom is working on. It's something that gamers have been asking for.

5. If you could've changed one thing about Torn Asunder, what would it have been?

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I would have included the more complex critical hits rules we developed as a third option for those that wanted really realistic combat.

6. Do you find yourself in odd situations as you work for Bastion and do other work including d20 Magazine Rack and other writing like DC: Familiars?

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Nope.

7. Do you find that publishers need to developer a thicker skin?

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Not really. If anything, I think publishers need to be more outspoken. There is an underlying belief among gamers that all publishers should be quiet and take their lumps whether they are deserved or not. I think publishers shouldn't be afraid to speak out when they are taken to task, especially if it isn't something that is rightfully deserved. Often times, by saying something, the publisher can clear up a misconception that is prevalent.

8. Do you think that the 3.5 change hurt Bastion's sales as you had several recent books out at the time?

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I think the switch hurt all third party publishers and possibly even doing irreparable damage to some. There's no doubt that Into the Green took a hit being released only three months before the release of 3.5, but I don't think it diminishes the quality of the book in any way. That is something I think a lot of gamers tend to forget. Just because a product was written for 3.0, doesn't mean that it cannot be used now. There's a of good stuff out there.

9. I see that you have Book of Curses coming out. Does that have any relation to the PDF Book of Curses already out? Heyoka Studios

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No relation. This product will go a lot deeper and in different directions than Hekoya's does. Tim Hitchcock delivered a great manuscript to us that I think will really be a homerun to a lot of GMs looking to add more to their game.

10. Where's the errata? I find that most publishers have a fire and forget mechanism for their products. Take Doom Striders. I love the concept but found in game play a lot of issues (collected in my review.) What would you say a reasonable amount of time to wait for errata is?

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Many times the errata shows up in the forum postings. What Bastion has been doing is inserting the errata into the product when we release it as a pdf. In some cases, yes that is a long time. But at least we make an attempt to fix our products unlike some other publishers.

11. Certain publishers have mentioned that electronic reviews are worthless, but at the same time, if there is any negativity associated with those reviews or negative comments on positive electronic reivews, they take offense. What is your take on electronic reviews?

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There is no solid statistical evidence that online reviews affect the sales of print products. Electronic releases, yes. But not print ones. However, going back to my earlier comment, I think a publisher should speak out when there is an error present or when comments that are unfounded are either in the body of the review or left by others in the comments sections. It's in the publishers best interests to become more involved because it raises awareness of the product and it shows a level of passion about their products that often seems to be lacking in the public arena.

12. What's the most time consuming part of being in the d20 business?

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Answering emails.

13. Are there enough questions here?

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No, you're slipping.

BastionPress_Creech said:

I would have included the more complex critical hits rules we developed as a third option for those that wanted really realistic combat.

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Any chance of these ever been released?

Lore of the Gods,

Is this the same format as the 3.0 pdfs updated for 3.5 with the Mesopotamians thrown in on top or is it significantly different?

Will the avatars be 20 level creatures or will they be expanded to use epic and or divine rules now that these are in the srd?

Is there an illustration for every god, hero, and monster?

Is the art all new and or will we see any photo type images like in two of the pdfs?

BastionPress_Creech said:

Many times the errata shows up in the forum postings. What Bastion has been doing is inserting the errata into the product when we release it as a pdf. In some cases, yes that is a long time. But at least we make an attempt to fix our products unlike some other publishers.

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A suggestion: Make the errata available via your own website as well, possibly as a subsection in your downloads section. A message board is a poor errata repository - it's great for gathering it in the first place, but you should have a more permanent location for it.

I have a question -

Will Bastion ever try a full-color product again?

I sure do miss that...

Their errata, if it exists, is usually found on the individual product's page. The main listing is here:

http://www.bastionpress.com/products.htm

As an example, click on Faeries and look at the bottom of the page.

My own question is when is the in depth errata for A&H going to be placed on the BP site? I still have the emails from Steve S, unedited, if you want them again.

DaveMage said:

I have a question -

Will Bastion ever try a full-color product again?

I sure do miss that...

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Yeah, me too. I haven't bought as many books since they stopped being full color. I used to "have" to buy every single Bastion book, but now... I just pick and choose. The color really adds to the reading experience, and I feel more fulfilled, and not a waste if I don't end up using much of the product in play.



Chris

Unfortunately, I don't think Bastion will go back to color products. Obviously, they cost more to print, and sales did not increase to make up for the increased cost. At least, this is what Jim has indicated in the past. I agree its unfortunate, I loved the color products as well. However, I'd rather have quality black-and-white art vs. no product at all.