Krug
Newshound
1. Give us an overview of your product line(s).
We have a few lines right now, with our first lines being the Librum Equitis and Spellcraft lines. The lines themselves are the collections of products from the old Ambient Inc. and Natural 20 Press product lines as well as the past year’s E.N.Publishing releases. We also have products in the lines (and in their own lines in some cases) from Dark Quest Games and Goodman Games, and products written by the Brood development house.
The Librum Equitis line is flag shipped by Librum Equitis itself, Ambient Inc.’s first PDF product, a PDF of prestige classes. The rest of the line focuses on classes and prestige classes. The Spellcraft line is flag shipped by Wild Spellcraft, the premiere release from Natural 20 Press, with the rest of the line focussing on various types of magic and those who wield it.
2. Tell us at length about your most recent project (upcoming or just released).
Our most recent releases are Crystalmancy, a book of magic based on gems and crystals for just about any fantasy d20 game, and Powers that Be: City Council, a product providing a fully-detailed city council with politics, plots, setting information and a full castle where they base their operations and infighting. Both are by first-time RPG authors and we are proud to be able to release them to the public.
Our next release is “Steam and Steel – a Guide to Fantasy Steamworks”, an absolutely amazing manuscript that landed on my lap during the summer of 2003 that regretfully has still not been published due to a series of SNAFUs (now revolving around some missing pieces of art). This is what a steamtech toolkit should be, in my opinion, and I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. It isn’t ‘steampunk’ per se, but a full set of modular rules and examples for steam tech devices in the d20 game. We are also glad to be able to work with Phil Reid on this product line, with him working on some ‘support’ material using the rules presented in this volume that he will be releasing through his company, Ronin Arts. (I’m drooling at the thought of steamtech prosthetics illustrated by Chris Shy).
We also have a few other releases held up in production right now as we iron out the layout and design process. Two more books by the Brood are in the “up next” bin, including the second Quick Shots booklet of modern adventures and scenes (with a magical bent this time) and Divine Strife, the divine version of Arcane Strife, their book of spells from the world of Shtar.
3. What is your main target audience and how much of a spread beyond that do you feel is likely, first for your line(s), then for your most recent?
It’s d20 products. They are mostly aimed at an ‘everyone’ audience, with a large number being fairly Game Master specific. As d20 products, they are generally fairly to incredibly rules-heavy, so they don’t appeal to most non-d20 gamers who find it difficult to draw material from them for their own games. I’ve been looking at stretching some of our products to use other open license game systems such as Action! or to use the EABA system in appendices, but the additional development work has yet to be done and I’m not yet comfortable enough working with those systems to convert on the fly for these products. But it is still in the cards…
4. What is the main thing about your company that makes you most proud?
We made it. Ambient Inc.’s first release was -JUST- me, doing everything. With each release we’ve built up a following, and a team. E.N.Publishing is a thing of pride for me because it exists at all, from the humble beginnings of two PDF d20 products released at the very beginning of 2002, by two publishers who really didn’t know where we were going with this whole thing. Several times recently I’ve seen references to E.N.Publishing as one of the big names in e-publishing, and that’s the kind of talk that can make a man’s head swell up to dangerous sizes. (grin)
5. Where do you see your company one year from now?
Still hacking at it. I see our product lines changing and evolving. We’ve learned a lot about the PDF marketplace in the past few months, and I think the changes in our perspective will begin catching up with our products over the next few months. I love working with Russell Morrissey and the E.N.Publishing team (Ryan Nock and my lovely wife Denise) as well as our writers, artists and production teams. While the thought of scaling back had occurred to me a few times when I started school again at 32, I don’t think I could actually do it, I just LOVE doing this so much.
E.N. Publishing website is located here: http://www.enworld.org/enpublishing/
Their products on RPGNow.com: http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=313
Previous Friday Five's:
#3: Emerald Press
#2: Malladin's Gate
#1: Cartography Unlimited
We have a few lines right now, with our first lines being the Librum Equitis and Spellcraft lines. The lines themselves are the collections of products from the old Ambient Inc. and Natural 20 Press product lines as well as the past year’s E.N.Publishing releases. We also have products in the lines (and in their own lines in some cases) from Dark Quest Games and Goodman Games, and products written by the Brood development house.
The Librum Equitis line is flag shipped by Librum Equitis itself, Ambient Inc.’s first PDF product, a PDF of prestige classes. The rest of the line focuses on classes and prestige classes. The Spellcraft line is flag shipped by Wild Spellcraft, the premiere release from Natural 20 Press, with the rest of the line focussing on various types of magic and those who wield it.
2. Tell us at length about your most recent project (upcoming or just released).
Our most recent releases are Crystalmancy, a book of magic based on gems and crystals for just about any fantasy d20 game, and Powers that Be: City Council, a product providing a fully-detailed city council with politics, plots, setting information and a full castle where they base their operations and infighting. Both are by first-time RPG authors and we are proud to be able to release them to the public.
Our next release is “Steam and Steel – a Guide to Fantasy Steamworks”, an absolutely amazing manuscript that landed on my lap during the summer of 2003 that regretfully has still not been published due to a series of SNAFUs (now revolving around some missing pieces of art). This is what a steamtech toolkit should be, in my opinion, and I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. It isn’t ‘steampunk’ per se, but a full set of modular rules and examples for steam tech devices in the d20 game. We are also glad to be able to work with Phil Reid on this product line, with him working on some ‘support’ material using the rules presented in this volume that he will be releasing through his company, Ronin Arts. (I’m drooling at the thought of steamtech prosthetics illustrated by Chris Shy).
We also have a few other releases held up in production right now as we iron out the layout and design process. Two more books by the Brood are in the “up next” bin, including the second Quick Shots booklet of modern adventures and scenes (with a magical bent this time) and Divine Strife, the divine version of Arcane Strife, their book of spells from the world of Shtar.
3. What is your main target audience and how much of a spread beyond that do you feel is likely, first for your line(s), then for your most recent?
It’s d20 products. They are mostly aimed at an ‘everyone’ audience, with a large number being fairly Game Master specific. As d20 products, they are generally fairly to incredibly rules-heavy, so they don’t appeal to most non-d20 gamers who find it difficult to draw material from them for their own games. I’ve been looking at stretching some of our products to use other open license game systems such as Action! or to use the EABA system in appendices, but the additional development work has yet to be done and I’m not yet comfortable enough working with those systems to convert on the fly for these products. But it is still in the cards…
4. What is the main thing about your company that makes you most proud?
We made it. Ambient Inc.’s first release was -JUST- me, doing everything. With each release we’ve built up a following, and a team. E.N.Publishing is a thing of pride for me because it exists at all, from the humble beginnings of two PDF d20 products released at the very beginning of 2002, by two publishers who really didn’t know where we were going with this whole thing. Several times recently I’ve seen references to E.N.Publishing as one of the big names in e-publishing, and that’s the kind of talk that can make a man’s head swell up to dangerous sizes. (grin)
5. Where do you see your company one year from now?
Still hacking at it. I see our product lines changing and evolving. We’ve learned a lot about the PDF marketplace in the past few months, and I think the changes in our perspective will begin catching up with our products over the next few months. I love working with Russell Morrissey and the E.N.Publishing team (Ryan Nock and my lovely wife Denise) as well as our writers, artists and production teams. While the thought of scaling back had occurred to me a few times when I started school again at 32, I don’t think I could actually do it, I just LOVE doing this so much.
E.N. Publishing website is located here: http://www.enworld.org/enpublishing/
Their products on RPGNow.com: http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=313
Previous Friday Five's:
#3: Emerald Press
#2: Malladin's Gate
#1: Cartography Unlimited
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