NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="scourger" data-source="post: 2121548" data-attributes="member: 12328">Fair enough.  Thanks for the reply.  I've been looking at the Star Fleet Universe web site and disucssion board and web site quite a bit.  Here's what I found in the future multi-system books forum:  We plan to publish 12 books: GURPS PRIME DIRECTIVE D20 PRIME DIRECTIVE D6 PRIME DIRECTIVE GURPS FEDERATION D20 FEDERATION D6 FEDERATION GURPS KLINGONS D20 KLINGONS D6 KLINGONS GURPS ROMULANS D20 ROMULANS D6 ROMULANS After that, we have an open mind. Here's my expereince and suggestions.  Please pass it along to Steve Cole or your other contacts at Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.  Two things spark my interest in Prime Directive 20 (PD20).  First, the name and likenesses are known to me from Star Trek and evoke that genre.  Second, and more importantly, it carries the d20 brand.  The decision to use d20 rule in lieu of d20 Modern rules is a wise one in my opinion.  It will prompt me to buy PD20 whereas I probably wouldn't buy a d20 Modern version.  I can't get my players to embrace very much that is too far from D&D as it is.  If I just  wanted a Star Trek role-playing game there is another slick-looking one at my favortite local game store that has the more recent material in it.  I'm interested in d20 games (hence my reading and posting here).Without adventure modules, I might buy the PD20 book.  I may even include some federation characters in a game I'm running.  If I'm really, really captivated by the game, I might buy some of the other planned sourcebooks.  Eventually, I'll turn my attention to other games that do have published adventures.  I've done it with many, many d20 games in the past; so I've learned my lesson.  Without modules, I'm probably a one-book sale at best.  With published modules, I'll have a chance to actually run PD20.  Then, I'm even more inclined to buy the core book and other sourcebooks, even though I probably will not use them all.  I don't like rules inflation.  I have done this with a couple of other d20 games.  I still have those games on my shelf in hope of running those modules.  It may never happen, but now I'm a more dedicated consumer.  You see, I believe that sourcebooks exploit the market whereas adventure modules grow the market.  Modules get and keep people playing.  Sourcebooks are often just so much extra reading and rules material.  A game that is being played will drive sales of books as more people play it.  I think Wizards of the Coast has realized this marketing strategy.  I believe it explains why Eberron has adventures being published for it.  I have read in the past that publishers avoid modules because they don't sell as well as sourcebooks.  That may be true for a one-on-one comparison.  My experience has been that usually only one person in the group has the books anyway--the person running the game.  I know lots of people with Player's Handbooks, fewer with Dungeon Master's Guides or Monster Manuals, and even fewer with other d20 games.  The only exception is Star Wars, but most of us just have the core book.  Only the games master has some of the other books.  A few of the rest of us bought core books so we could play the game after he had the game ready to run.  The same thing happened with Wheel of Time, but only two core books and one adventure were sold among the seven of us at the time.   I can assure you that I will be the only person in my group to buy PD20 since I would like to run the game.  So, I am your target in this micro-market.  And what gets me to buy the game is adventure modules.  They are like loss leaders in retail and grocery stores.  Lower profit or magin sales of those products get customers in the store to buy more profitable goods with higher margins.  It is possible that some players might buy the core book if I run the game and it is good.  The bottom line is that modules drive sales of other books.    So, those are my opinions and experiences.  Thanks for listening and for passing it along.</blockquote>

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