Did you buy Dryden or Valley of Frozen Tears? Tell me what you thought about them.

[FoolishFrost]

I think I'm following your Line Of Sight now... I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me about this, arwink. Please be aware your time is appreciated.

I actually considered making it the way you mentioned: Expanding the book with power groups, events, and building a network of characters and their relations.

I decided against it. Here were my reasons:

1. I wanted the book to fit into the GM's needs, not to replace them. I made it to ALLOW conflict and story without forcing the background on all involved. I decided to make it a people, places, and thing style book instead of a complete world, not because I didn't want to; but because I thought that it would be easier for the GM to use that way.

2. To add in everything I wanted to do the above would have raised the book to a full setting, with 128 pages and increased production/art costs. This would have raised the price for buyers of the PDF to possibly as much as $10 or more. Now I don't have a problem with that, but it was my first product, and I didn't want to bankroll too much on an experimenal project.

3. I could have kept writing on the valley for years. It's one of my and my wife's most beloved settings, and we generally had to force ourselves to stop. As it is, I have enough customers now to make building a set of expansions for it possible. I've have 44 PDF sales, 3 print sales, and a handful of comp copies for contests and reviews. I really wanted to wait until I sold 100 copies before making suppliments, mostly because they ALWAYS have a smaller audience than the inital product.

I would love to expand on VoFT, and would even more love to revise (no change anything, just add and expand) the original book to include more characters, a trilogy of modules... Generally make it even more fun to play in...

Anyway, what do you others who bought it think? Was it a one shot deal, or would it be better to expand on it? Your thoughts matter, so let me know.

It's the only way I can make the products you want...

Later,
John Bowden

 

[DMH]

Since no one mentioned the Dryden, I will. I bought it yesterday and have to say that it is a superb book. I hope that more publishers will use the fantasy, modern, future break down. The best thing for me is the absence of rules through out much of it (makes it easier to convert to my prefered system.)

The only thing I find annoying is the absence of an easy to print copy- I really don't want to take it to the place I have pdfs bound with the art.

 

[FoolishFrost]

Since no one mentioned the Dryden, I will. I bought it yesterday and have to say that it is a superb book. I hope that more publishers will use the fantasy, modern, future break down. The best thing for me is the absence of rules through out much of it (makes it easier to convert to my prefered system.)

The only thing I find annoying is the absence of an easy to print copy- I really don't want to take it to the place I have pdfs bound with the art.

Good point!

I can have that fixed... Would you prefer an art-free 'tall' version, or do you want it wide as well?

On a side note, I had no problem getting it printed at Office Depot, though I got an interesting grin combined with a raised eyebrow from the girl behind the counter.

I'll send the upgrade info by RPGNow when I get it done.

Later,

 

[DMH]

Portrait would be better than landscape (I doubt the mom&pop shop I use can even bind books in landscape).

Since I have just started buying from rpgnow, how would I go about getting the upgrade?

Edit: I forgot to ask- how do Dryden reproduce with egg layers like lizardmen or kobolds?

 

[FoolishFrost]

Portrait would be better than landscape (I doubt the mom&pop shop I use can even bind books in landscape).

Since I have just started buying from rpgnow, how would I go about getting the upgrade?

Edit: I forgot to ask- how do Dryden reproduce with egg layers like lizardmen or kobolds?

You'll get an e-mail (if you turn it on at RPGNow) when the update is complete.

Depends of the gestation version used. Normal=Normal for the race, Fast=Normal for the race, Instant=as written.

Then again, it's your book now: Make it what fits the plot and setting your developing.

Later,

 

[FoolishFrost]

Dryden: Hero or Horror upgrade [AAP]

While Dryden: Hero or Horror has gotten no complaints, there were a few requests for improvments and additions.

First, the Original Dryden book has been corrected of a few of the more irritating typos.
Second, the OGL logos on the front have been changed from vector graphics to bitmapped. This was done to prevent viewing slowdowns on some slower computers and PDAs.
Third, I updated the bookmarks in the screen version to allow slightly easier viewing of the PDF.
Fourth, a clean-art version of the book was layed out in standard book format. While not as pretty as the original, it should allow printouts without fear of the more exotic art pieces offending someone.
Fifth, a clean version of the Dryden Racial Class has been added as a booklet PDF. This is to allow the GM to offer all of the basic rules without the additional material from the book (does not include the fantasy, modern, or future examples nor the mating information.)

I want to thank everyone who bought my product, and I couldn't think of a better way than to add on a few features.

The offer to download the upgraded version was sent out today, so if you didn't get one, might want to let me know.

You can purchase it here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3617&

Merry x-mas!

 

[FoolishFrost]

Dryden: Hero or Horror upgrade [AAP]

While Dryden: Hero or Horror has gotten no complaints, there were a few requests for improvments and additions.

First, the Original Dryden book has been corrected of a few of the more irritating typos.
Second, the OGL logos on the front have been changed from vector graphics to bitmapped. This was done to prevent viewing slowdowns on some slower computers and PDAs.
Third, I updated the bookmarks in the screen version to allow slightly easier viewing of the PDF.
Fourth, a clean-art version of the book was layed out in standard book format. While not as pretty as the original, it should allow printouts without fear of the more exotic art pieces offending someone.
Fifth, a clean version of the Dryden Racial Class has been added as a booklet PDF. This is to allow the GM to offer all of the basic rules without the additional material from the book (does not include the fantasy, modern, or future examples nor the mating information.)

I want to thank everyone who bought my product, and I couldn't think of a better way than to add on a few features.

The offer to download the upgraded version was sent out today, so if you didn't get one, might want to let me know.

You can purchase it here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3617&SRC=EnWorld

Merry x-mas!