[E.N.Pub] The Arsenal Begins NOW!

[HellHound]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (well, what is more immediate than just posting it here anyways?)

Contact: M Jason Parent (mjasonparent@ambient.ca)

THE ARSENAL BEGINS NOW!

[Vankleek Hill - yes, the middle of nowhere] We are finally launching the E.N.Arsenal line of products announced during the winter. E.N.Arsenal is a series of short PDFs, each focusing on a single weapon or a group of weapons. The first release in the E.N.Arsenal line is "Spiked Chain", to be followed in the next few months by e-releases about whips, pistols, gnomish hooked hammers and nunchaku.

The spiked chain is one of the most versatile weapons in the d20 arsenal. Accordingly, it is the weapon least founded in actual history. This book explores the spiked chain with 18 pages of material about the weapon itself, variants thereof, and those who wield them.

E.N. Arsenal books are "crunch-intensive" - a majority of the PDF is devoted to rules-based material regarding the topic of the book; in this case, the Spiked Chain and variants.

E.N.Arsenal: Spiked Chain includes:

Statistics for Spiked Chains of Tiny through Colossal size.
Optional rules for dwarves and other medium-sized creatures of short stature, stowing spiked chains, and wielding them as double weapons.
8 variants of the spiked chain, including some historical chain-based weapons.
Rules for grappling and swinging with spiked chains.
10 Feats for the wielders of these versatile weapons.
An alternate 20 level character advancement for roguish monks who master the spiked chain.
Two prestige classes dedicated to the weapon.
The Scorpion Warrior who wields the spiked chain in a devastating whirlwind of blood and destruction.
The Raveller who masters the magic of chains.
6 Spells for the Raveller and anyone else seeking more spikes and chains in their magic.
6 Weapon Enhancements for crafting magical spiked chains and similar weapons.
7 Specific magical spiked chains including the Gravestone Gyr and the Ribbons of Yamashiro.
Darreal, the Binder, a deity of chains along with the Chains Clerical Domain.

E.N.Arsenal: Spiked Chain will be available for download from our RPGnow storefront on Thursday, July 22nd, 2004.

 

[GreyShadow]

Cool.

Cost?.... check link... ah! $3.95

 

[Eridanis]

Just glanced at it briefly (I'll be able to look it over more this weekend), and it looks really cool. Looking forward to reading in depth, and seeing what comes next!

 

[Acid_crash]

ya know, three years ago stuff like this would have been free for downloading and it's a shame that people write all these smaller booklets to sell...goes to show how capitalistic all this is.

4 bucks for 16 pages, give me a break.

 

[Morrus]

ya know, three years ago stuff like this would have been free for downloading and it's a shame that people write all these smaller booklets to sell...goes to show how capitalistic all this is.

4 bucks for 16 pages, give me a break.

Awww... don't I give you enough for free?

 

[HellHound]

Alright, I'll bite on this one, Acid_Crash. (although I've been dabating it with myself for a few minutes now, I figured you deserve a reply instead of being ignored).

First off, the PDF in question is 18 pages, not 16. The full PDF is 21 pages counting cover, credits & OGL, 18 pages of actual content, including some excellent pieces of art by our illustrators.

This product would never have been free, even two years ago. There is a significant investment in time and money into each product we release, as well as artists to pay. The only releases I have ever done for free were the Portable Hole series of PDFs and a web-enhancement for Necromancer's Legacy. And the reality is that these free releases do little if anything to improve the sales of our other products.

In addition, the PDF buying market has shown, in many cases, that consumers enjoy shorter products such as these (as discussed in the "Invasion of the 5-10 page PDFs" thread).

Effectively, where I am going with this, is that the cost to produce these PDFs is far too high to give it away for free (unless I decide to turn into a charity to pay artists and writers without actually collecting any benefit). Thus we have to charge for it.

Three years ago, in the beginning of the PDF market, a product of 34 total pages (of which 30 were content, and there were many pages that were 2/3 white space - a total of 22 pages of actual content) written by a new writer without credentials and without professional layout, art and so on would fit in at a price point of $5.95 without issue. (This PDF would have been called Librum Equitis volume 1, which became the best-selling PDF on RPGnow for nearly 6 months).

In this case, what would you feel is a fair price-point for 18 pages of content / a 21 page PDF, written by a professional instead of an amateur, and illustrated?