Imperial Age Omnibus?

[Walt C]

I've posted this elsewhere, but I thought I might solicit opinions here as well.

Adamant Entertainment has been discussing the possibility of creating an Imperial Age "omnibus" that would also be available for print. Initially, we considered giving the Imperial Age the same treatment given to the Thrilling Tales omnibus: bundle all of the rules-related products as a supplement for d20 Modern.

However, d20 Modern has been out of print for quite some time now and even Amazon no longer carries it (although they do link to 3rd party sellers). In addition, the d20 Modern pdf sells for $40, which is a bit pricey by electronic standards. Given this, we were wondering if it might be getting difficult for new gamers to utilize our Imperial Age products. This has led us to wonder whether we should instead release a full-on self-contained OGL version of the Imperial Age.

So my question is this: would you rather see a d20 Modern omnibus supplement for the Imperial Age or a standalone book that contains everything you need to play in the Imperial Age?

Thanks!

Walt Ciechanowski
Imperial Age Line Developer
Adamant Entertainment

 

[Treebore]

I am always a fan of everything in one book. Plus I have been looking at getting something that covers the Imperial Age (its one of the BIG time periods I have yet to play in). I looked at the Imperial PDF's during the GM day sale and I didn't get them because they were based on d20 Modern, and I own the D20 Modern book.

So yes, I would be much more likely to get this if you turn it into a one book game setting, with rules to play included. With customized character sheets, etc...

 

[Ilium]

I did go ahead and get a bunch of Imperial Age stuff during the big sale, and it all looks great. I'm going to use Imperial Magick for a Piratin' one-shot I'm doing soon.

I would gleefully pay for the material again (since I got it so cheap the first time) if it was all together in a single self-contained rulebook that was NOT based on d20 Modern. I don't have anything against d20 Modern, but I don't actually own it, and am not interested in tracking down a copy at this time.

 

[Bretbo]

Imperial Age with the striped-down D20 Modern rules seems like a wise way to go given the future of Modern. Note that striped down means not including material you don't needed for a Imperial Age game (certain Feats, certain Skills, certain critters, ect.).

 

[Merova]

I don't mean to sound negative, but I can think of a few dozen things that I would prefer to see you do rather than spend time rewriting Imperial Age products into some new OGL system. I have zero interest in a standalone book. Since I already own the entire product line, I'm not interested in the Thrilling Tales-like collected omnibus either. Of the two options, I'd rather you spend your time collecting the products into an omnibus than create an even slower release schedule by devoting time to an OGL product. YMMV.

Honestly, the first Imperial Age book, the Scientific Detective advanced class, was released eighteen months ago, October 2006. Since that time, books have been released at a glacial pace. It was nearly a year after the line was launched that the GM's Guide was released! IMO, a well supported line ought to have one release a month, if there is a demand for the product. It's been 18 months and Adamant has released only 13 products. And many of those are under 20 pages in length!

I can sympathize with the difficulties of being a small publisher. The Imperial Age brand has been a mostly solo project (Scott Carter worked on Magick and Grimoire; Scott Rhymer worked on London) while you've also worked on all of Adamant's other brands. That's been a good effort. I've been happy with the books, but I want more. IMO, anything that slows down your production schedule is a BAD thing.

I want books on Africa, China, Russia, Prussia, Paris, Southeast Asia, New York City, polar exploration, trains of the Imperial Age, the US Southwest, Japan, the Near East, and Latin America. Just brousing through my copy of the Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death setting book, I can see many potential advanced classes like the charlatan, the metaphysician, the explorer, the shootist, the Imperial Age doctor, the parson, the shaman, the journalist, the dandy, the antiquarian, and the artifact hunter. I want more Penny Dreadful adventures. Oh, and I want Faeries!

If Adamant wants to make an OGL Thrilling Tales product, I have no gripe with that. The brand has received strong support. Nearly every major aspect of the "pulp" genre has been covered. This isn't true for the Imperial Age brand. Until the brand builds a comprehensive catalog, I would not welcome an OGL distraction project. YMMV.

Also, isn't the modern srd still available for free download at the WotC site?

OT, what's coming up on the release schedule? I'd really like to get my hands on that Faeries book.

Thank you for reading.

---Olivia

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Oh, for the love of God, please, please please release a compilation!!

 

[Bretbo]

Of the two options, I'd rather you spend your time collecting the products into an omnibus than create an even slower release schedule by devoting time to an OGL product. YMMV.

It shouldn't be much more than a copy/paste function of the SRD. Unless there is more to it than I know, that shouldn't take a great deal of time.

I want books on Africa, China, Russia, Prussia, Paris, Southeast Asia, New York City, polar exploration, trains of the Imperial Age, the US Southwest, Japan, the Near East, and Latin America. Just brousing through my copy of the Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death setting book, I can see many potential advanced classes like the charlatan, the metaphysician, the explorer, the shootist, the Imperial Age doctor, the parson, the shaman, the journalist, the dandy, the antiquarian, and the artifact hunter. I want more Penny Dreadful adventures. Oh, and I want Faeries!

Good list! Totally agree with you here.

 

[Stormborn]

Faeries is coming! I have been assured that its been edited and is (or has been) in layout. It and the Penny Dreadful swapped places on the schedule and it should be forethcoming soon.

I appretiate Merov's comments about desired products, as I see several things in that list I could work on myself. I have been waiting until I saw some of the reactions to it to decide what direction my next IA pitch should take. By this point it should be pretty obvious that I like doing the magic stuff and don't think I have exhausted that for IA by anymeans. My question is pitching products is always: What can I do well that hasn't been done (or overdone) before? I have a ton of Victorian Age stuff lying around the house and have no desire to duplicate it unless I think I can add something that might make the product worth buying.

As for delays, while I am not involved with the production aspects of the line I think I can say that a lot if it had to do with Gaerth's health concerns about a year ago as much as any of the delays of being a small publisher. Personally, I take a great deal of pride in turning around my assignments in a timely fashion and my experiances with Adamant are some of the most positive in regards to turning in work and it seeing print. Typically when there are delays I am told why or given an idea of what it going on, not typically the case with some other publishers for whom I have worked.

I promise, once Faeries is out, if people will post some specifc desires for faeries or magick related IA products I will be more than happy to pitch them to Walt and write them just as fast as I am able.

 

[GMSkarka]

I'll let Walt address specifics (he's the line developer), but this gave me a smile, so I had to comment:

It's been 18 months and Adamant has released only 13 products.

What a brave new world we live in, where 13 releases in 18 months is described as a "glacial pace!"

 

[Inferno!]

I've purchased many of the IA and Thrilling Tales titles. I've never had any intention of using d20 modern as most of the titles make for useful reference materials. So, yeah I'd like to see you write for rules other than d20M. At the same time, as Merova mentioned, I'd also like to see you work on new projects instead of recycling old ones.

BTW, I'm just curious, have you guys ever thought about writing products for other systems like such as Savage Worlds? Yeah, I can convert the stuff myself, but I'm lazy and would rather pay you to do it for me.