A Product Showcasing Locations - With Stats or Without?

[Napftor]

We've seen products like this before. So I wonder what will make it more useful or interesting. (Though I credit Bret. Behind the Spells was a really cool series.)

Examples:
Foul Locales (Mystic Eye Games)
Rooms With a View (Vanishing Goblin)

You have a good point here, varianor: what makes these new locations better/different than what's already been or being produced? To my mind, it's a locale's reusability that makes it good. These aren't one-shot dungeons, but rather places wherein lucky PCs might find repeated refuge, information, aid, and/or equipment. And of your examples above, MEG is gone and I don't really hear too much about Vanishing Goblin. Are there really alot of "Locales" type products around? I haven't seen them which is what made me talk to Daniel about a possible series. The MEG books were always a great deal of fun and I still pull them out for game use today.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Agreed. The Vanishing Goblin product (I was an author) sold around 200 copies after release in 2005. I believe sales for the MEG products were higher, but I don't know how high. They came out in 2001-2003 I believe.

Tiles are a hot item right now. They fulfill a lot of needs - slap them down, and presto, no need to map. That's another competitive item. What is it about the locale that makes me a) want to use it and b) want to buy it? Reusability seems to be a potential hit for markets such as here and RPGnet, but until you put the products out, it's hard to say.

(I know one reason Behind the Spells was a hit with me was that there were new variants included. That's usable for me and my players.)

 

[Voadam]

The Foul Locales series are a great resource and I would like to see more like that, little areas with adventure hooks/mini adventures and stats. Plus its horror D&D. I like the one I have, Beyond the Walls.

 

[Napftor]

The kind of information you got with Foul Locales you'd find with these locations I'm working on--location details (fluff and crunch), map, NPC(s), adventure hooks/ideas, and perhaps some new crunch like a creature, item, or spell. It all fits together in a neat package.

Oh, and thanks for the FL and Behind the Spells love.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Well, I can't close the poll, but I think it has run its course and told us what we needed to know. Feel free to vote if you haven't (we'll keep checking it).

Consensus seems to be: release statless and with rules addendum (taking a [very neat] page from Green Ronin).

First release in this series coming soon (I'd say 3 weeks or so).

Thanks for your help!