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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rob Lajoie" data-source="post: 2248201" data-attributes="member: 26750">Explanations and RevisionsGood evening,First up: The email address to contact me for questions, problems, errata, suggestions, etc. is <a href="mailto:beardeddragonpublications@gmail.com">beardeddragonpublications@gmail.com</a>.Next, I'd like to thank John personally for his very in-depth  and professional look though this product - it is much appreciated and I'll explain why a little later in this response.I thought I was having a bad week before, and then I read this review -- now I know how the folks that made Creature Collection 1 must have felt. Unlike that ill-fated volume gathering dust on my shelf, this is in PDF format and much easier to fix.There is also a version problem here. Given the mention of the incorrect email address in the review as well as the its/it's problem, it is apparent that the first draft copy was being reviewed by John, and not the final version currently on sale (that has most if not all of the spelling/grammar problems taken care of along with some of the stat problems). I think this was noted in a different thread and I am confirming here although I will make note of it in the other thread as well."Amateurish" I can accept considering it was our first venture out into the world of d20 publications. This PDF was ultimately supposed to be on par with #2 and #3 of the series, although technical problems and tight production deadlines limited it to its current incarnation.Ok, now back to my appreciation. I personally find stat errors untenable, and errata annoys me. That is why this review pained me so much and why the in-depth look will help considerably. I see three main reasons behind the stat problems:1) Tight deadline - I left the stat checking to my rules guy only when it should be a job for more than 1 person. In #2 and #3, myself, my proofreader and my rules guy have all checked the stats. For #1, instead of stat checking, I was up to my ears in layout. After #1 though, I had a base template and that freed up more time for checking. (...and yes I did mention proofreader. I made it a point to break that out as a credit on #3. As noted above, the problem on #1 is with the version being reviewed.)2) Last minute changes - I noticed that many of the errors stemmed from changes made during the final crunch to get it completed and corresponding values were not adjusted - the ocelot is a good example.3) Sheer number of stats and monsters. The amount was too large to handle effectively in the timeframe for our first pdf. We've decreased the number of monsters to the low twenties for #2 and #3, increasing quality at the same time.None of these are excuses, just reasons. As a result of the significant amount of errors, I feel terrible. I would ask that everyone who purchased the pdf email me at the above address and I will personally make sure that you receive the revisions. If you know others that purchased it, please direct them to this thread.On another note, a revision was actually planned prior to seeing this review to bring #1 in line with #2 and #3, adding knowledge tables, counters, links, bookmarks, more information on the environment and converting it all to full color. Unfortunately due to production schedule, this has taken longer than expected. Seeing so many stat errors, I will be posting a revised version at the beginning of next week to cover any new purchases. It will have the minor and major corrections suggested by John included, as well as at least half a dozen of the pictures converted to color. Again, I appreciate the corrections and agree with almost all of them. Making sure stats are 100% takes quite a bit of effort as there are so many things to consider - doing this project gave me new appreciation for the folks putting together the other creature books out there. The one correction I disagree with is the Balam Chac saves -- outsiders of 22 HD have all saves as good, and the good save for a 22 HD creature is +13 (not +12) if I am following the save progression correctly (I double-checked the 24HD elder earth elemental just to be sure) then 16-17 HD = +10, 18-19 HD = +11, 20-21 HD = +12, 22-23 HD = +13 and 24-25 HD = +14. It's easy to miss details with stats, especially when dealing with large numbers of them.Regarding the non-SRD creatures, those references will be fixed as well. My rules guy and proofreader missed them, as did I. Tanar'ri and yuan-ti, fairly easy calls, but displacer beasts hurt. Those have been a staple creature since the first AD&D monster manual (yes I admit to playing that long). I guess the key to the SRD is to assume nothing.Regarding the artwork -- usually the coloring process tightens it up and improves it, but we ran out of time and opted for the black and whites. Another limiter of monster type books - considering the expected revenue from them, it's tough to pay artists enough to justify the number of illustrations needed. Many of the other PDF products I've seen are fairly light on number of illustrations. So why make a product like this? Love of the game and love of drawing really. Of course, I imagine that's why most of the folks putting out d20 pdfs these days are doing it.That reminds me: The E.N. Critters series was designed as a set of theme-based monster books with the emphasis on monsters not the theme. It appears folks took the title to mean more of a campaign supplement. My apologies to anyone who purchased it looking for such a supplement - hopefully the nature of the monsters presented will make up for it. To reduce confusion and to respond to popular requests, I've done two things. The line 'A Creature Compilation' has been added to the cover to reinforce the name of the line (E.N. Critters) as a monster collection, and I am including several extra pages of text on the environments for those tied to specific ones (#2 Beyond the Campfire wouldn't qualify, but #3 Tulenjord: Land of the Fallen One would), though not necessarily any maps. We'll save those for any adventures we may write for these environments <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  On a final note: John, if you have a moment, could you email that list of corrections you mentioned to my correct email address listed above? I'll make certain you receive a revised PDF when it becomes available. Thanks again for your input! Should there be anything I didn't address that you would like to know, please post here or in the other thread about this pdf and I'll endeavor to respond quickly.Thanks!Rob Lajoie</blockquote>

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