Fiery Dragon Revealed (interview with Fiery James)

[Fiery James]

Hello, my name is Fiery James. You may remember me from such d20 hits as, “There’s Too Much Treasure in that Dungeon Crawl!”, or “The Ogre Mage Could Do Better on His Own!”.

Since I’ve been fairly caustic lately, and mostly because I’m glad to see people finally complementing Piratecat on his excellent adventure, I’ve decided to interview myself to answer many of the questions about Fiery Dragon that my self-centeredness makes me assume you all have.

Fiery James: What’s with all the humor-laden rage behind the Of Sound Mind thread, buddy? Why do you feel like you’ve got to stir it up?

James: Well, it’s not rage, really. I just think Kevin – uh, Piratecat to you – did a really great job and deserves to see lots of threads about his adventure every time he logs on. I guess I just get frustrated seeing endless discussion of “this sucks” and “this sucks more” and only occasionally do I see a thread that says “5/5 Great Job!” It’s not that big a deal, really. The only other thing that gets frustrating is when I’m spending almost as much on postage for review copies as we did on the cover, and don’t see any reviews!

FJ: Well, I did see that Psion apologized for that.

J: Oh, Psion’s not the one that I was directing that comment at – no one at EN World, really. I know Psion’s got a pile of stuff on the go, and I know that he WILL write the review eventually, so I certainly don't have a problem with him. It’s some other places… no one specific… it’s just that I see more reviews by people that BOUGHT products than received for free…. I just wanna see Kev – Piratecat – get the respect he deserves.

FJ: Really? That seems awfully nice.

J: No, not really. I just want people to buy the thing. I’m hoping that frequent posts about how great it is will motivate some to go out and see what the fuss is.

FJ: Does the current d20 market require these tactics? Do you feel that Fiery Dragon isn’t selling their fair share?

J: Oh, in the scheme of things, we’re doing very well – better than most, actually! But, my feeling is that right now, there are just too many people splitting the pie.

FJ: So, you think there are too many d20 publishers?

J: Oh, no – not at all. I just think that there are too many publishers competing in the PRINT market when many of them would probably do better selling via the PDF route. I know the kind of numbers that I’m moving – and that’s with White Wolf’s distribution system and sales team, a recognizable brand (Sword & Sorcery), and frequent ads in trade magazines. Publishers that are selling half or a quarter of what I am may do better to decrease their sales by 90% but remove the cost associated with printing their product. Also, I think the low barrier to entry is allowing many companies to immediately jump into the print arena, where it might have been wise to test out stuff in PDF form first – of course, I’m just re-hashing what Ryan Dancey said in his chat with Morrus.

FJ: So how many publishers do YOU think should be in the print market?

J: One. (laughs) Seriously, I think there’s room for 5 or 6 solid publishers, easily. Not including WotC.

FJ: And which 5 or 6 would those be?

J: Oh, that’s not for me to decide. I think the market is going to decided that on its own. Eventually some companies are just going to decide that the joy of seeing your name on the Amazon website just isn’t worth a $2000 print bill and 900 hours of work. Hey – it could be us in a few years, who am I to say? But, knowing what we’re like, we’ll move to PDF-press before that happens.

FJ: So you’re not going to stir up trouble by naming any names, are you?

J: No. But, realistically, I think it’s safe to say that Atlas and Green Ronin certainly deserve to keep on chugging. And, I think my friends under the Sword & Sorcery umbrella have got the right stuff. Really, I like most of what’s come out and I don’t want anyone to fail or be kicked out, but I think, with some re-thinking, everyone could find their niche and do even better.

 

[Fiery James]

FJ: You say you’d move to PDF before losing money. No chance that you’d just pack it in?

J: No, I don’t think so. All of the Fiery Dragon guys work long hours in “real life,” and this is a great escape. I think we’ve proven that we’re all creative-types deep down, or that we at least have THINGS that we need to get out. If nothing else, FDP at nights makes going to work each day easier!

FJ: What do the members of FDP do in “real life”?

J: Well, I’m a buyer in the Home Video industry. I worked studio-side for a few years, and now I’m back on client-side. Jason [Kempton] is a manager at a digital print specialist. Todd [Secord] manages a restaurant. Mike [Johnstone, Senior Editor] just got his PhD, so now we have to call him Dr. Mike. He’s actually got a gig coming up teaching at my alma mater.

FJ: Seems like a fairly diverse bunch.

J: Sure is. And, in addition, we have an excellent extended family as well – Claudio [Pozas], Kevin [Kulp – Piratecat], Scott Holden-Jones, Brian LeBlanc, and [Mike] Mearls. Excellent guys, every one. And people that I feel I’ve become friends with beyond the FDP contracts.

FJ: So, how do you divide up the jobs in Fiery Dragon Land?

J: Lately, Jason’s been using a high school analogy. I’m the principal – I work on organizing stuff and try to be the “public face” since I’m usually the one who phrases everything very carefully. Jason is the Vice-Principal – when someone’s going to call you out, it’ll be Jason. You DO NOT want to be called into his office. Todd is the teacher – he’s the one who does all of the “real” work but gets no credit or respect. Mike and Scott are the editing machines – you’ll be seeing their names popping up in Scarred Lands products soon too. Beyond that, we all contribute ideas and design work, as well as helping with everything that’s got to be done!

FJ: What are some of the upcoming things from Fiery Dragon that you’re excited about?

J: Beyond All Reason just came out. It’s an epic adventure by Todd that I’m totally in love with. I think there are more ideas per square inch in that product than anything I’ve yet seen. Next month we release Queen of Lies by Monte Cook. I think Erik Mona hit the equation right in the latest Polyhedron: Monte Cook + Dark Elves = Piles of Dead Characters and Loads of Fun!! After that, we finally branch out of the adventure business with Mike Mearls “Psionics Toolkit” – a sourcebook for a DM who’s either using psionics or thinking about using them. Not so much rules-fixes, like you’ll find in Bruce Cordell’s “If Thoughts Could Kill”, but along the lines of “How” and “What” do I use the rules for. Very cool stuff. Then, we’ve got a great collection of adventures including Of Sound Mind 2 over the next few months. After that, we’ve got a few more Toolkits from Mearls, and then a very cool project we’re working on with comic book guru Jay Stephens

FJ: We’ve gone on pretty long here, so let’s start wrapping up. Is there anything you’d like to clear up about Fiery Dragon? A misconception or rumor? Final statement?

J: First off, what’s with this “we” stuff? There’s only one of us in the room. But, yeah, I can wrap it up with a few FDP facts.

Number One: OK, we’ve had our fun poking at the cover for NeMoren’s Vault, and we’ve had all of our debates about whether it’s too cartoony or an apt tribute to Erol Otus or whatever – so just leave it alone from now on. NeMoren’s Vault sold more than 95% of the d20 products released. It’s still the best-selling thing we’ve put out. It’s a fun little adventure, and it got us to where we are today. Treasure your copies, ‘cause I think there’s only about 100 or so left. Though I agree the treasure is a little steep – but what can you do? We got the DMG 2 days before we sent it to the printer!

Number Two: Yes, I think the counters will be removed from our adventures for the next little while. Like I said, the slices of pie are currently too small to justify the HUGE cost of inserting counter sheets into an adventure. We’d have to increase the price to $15 for 48 pages to make it work right now, and as much as I love the counters, I can’t imagine that people are willing to pay $5 extra for 1 counter sheet when they can buy an entire collection for $15 total.

Number Three: Yes, we listen to everyone’s opinion. There are smaller dragons in Counter Collection 2 because Psion wanted them. Really – and he was right. They should have been in Collection 1, but then we wouldn’t be able to put a million in Collection 2! But, he was wrong about Todd drawing the elementals, so we’re even! If you don’t like Claudio’s CG work, that’s fine, but stop blaming Todd!

Number Four: Half of our country watched the USA-CANADA gold medal game. It wasn’t quite the ’72 Summit Series, but what is? Good stuff!

FJ: OK, then, let’s finish off here. I’d like to thank you for taking the time to type all of this, and now I’d like to open the floor up for general questions, if that’s ok?

J: Sure, no problem. Thanks to all involved in organizing this.

 

[Fiery James]

Let me be the first to say that you are TOTALLY SHAMELESS!

 

[Red Baron]

Edit: Scratched the public advice about the counselling. I'll keep it private and send you an emai... D'oh!!

 

[Fiery James]

Riiight!

Gotta save something for our own boards, my dear Baron!

Which, of course, can be found here:

Fiery Dragon Message Boards

I'm, like, 5'9". Not huge by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd better post a link to this thread on the FDP boards!

 

[333 Dave]

First, lemme say that I like your style.
Second, I'm going to damn you for coming up with the idea first, now I can't do it without looking like a copy cat.

 

[Fiery James]

Well, newly-named 333Dave, since you're much younger than I am, I think that, relatively speaking, you've come up with the idea MUCH earlier than I did - in terms of position within our lifespans.

That really doesn't make much sense to me either.

Anyway, thanks for posting, though I do miss your old handle.

- Fiery James

 

[Zaukrie]

James, my shortest post yet,

That was entertaining, like your company's products.

 

[Fiery James]

James, my shortest post yet,

That was entertaining, like your company's products.

Thanks! I amused myself as well! Mostly I just surprised that I'm still awake - I know it's only 10:43 here, but lately I've been going to bed around 9:00!!

I think it's the result of sickness in the house - I've so far avoided it's effects, but the Cute Slaad and Mrs. FJ both felt ill, and it's tired me out watching them beg me for more kleenex!

- Fiery James,

showing signs of obvious sleepiness.

 

[Zaukrie]

Ah, family illness. My 4 and 6 year old boys have used more tissues in the last week than the average family uses in a year. Hope yours all feel better soon.