Sell me on Dawning Star

[Colonelpuddinhead]

Glad to see it's hitting some stores. Thanks, Chad, for "spreading the word." I'm a big proponent of the FLGS.

Well, not so fast Justin. The only problem with that is "employee factor". Like many game stores, part time employees are paid in product, or if not... then the employees get huge discounts on product. I mention this, because the later happen in my local game store. They came back from a convention, and had your book (Dawning Star) to display. I barely even got a whiff of it (I think I read the first page of Intro.... maybe) as soon as it was put on the shelf. It was removed almost as fast, and put "away". I was told "it is spoken for by another customer"... which was baloney because later I found out one of the employees got it. Perhaps better distribution is needed. I'd like a copy, but I have no credit card - so buying online is a no go. Bad enough I live in Canada and have to 2x American price when the exchange is nowhere near that.

CP

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Well, not so fast Justin. The only problem with that is "employee factor". Like many game stores, part time employees are paid in product, or if not... then the employees get huge discounts on product. I mention this, because the later happen in my local game store. They came back from a convention, and had your book (Dawning Star) to display. I barely even got a whiff of it (I think I read the first page of Intro.... maybe) as soon as it was put on the shelf. It was removed almost as fast, and put "away". I was told "it is spoken for by another customer"... which was baloney because later I found out one of the employees got it. Perhaps better distribution is needed. I'd like a copy, but I have no credit card - so buying online is a no go. Bad enough I live in Canada and have to 2x American price when the exchange is nowhere near that.

CP

I hear you. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can do. IPR was started because the traditional distribution model simply does not work for the smaller press publisher. The natural by-product of this is that there will be gaps in the distribution network--particularly at the beginning. IPR is only just beginning their retailer outreach program. Ask your local game store to special order it for you through IPR. IPR offers competitive rates to retailers, and they would be foolish not to use the service if they have a guaranteed sale. Encourage them to take a look at the site and see some of the other great products available through IPR that will provide them with product diversity not available through regular distribution channels. The hardest part is trying to get retailers to use IPR the first time. If all else fails, contact me directly at justin[at]bluedevilgames[dot]com. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.

 

[Colonelpuddinhead]

The hardest part is trying to get retailers to use IPR the first time. If all else fails, contact me directly at justin[at]bluedevilgames[dot]com. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.

I understand. Acually I emailed customer service at IPR. If I can get a decent price even with exchange and shipping (I do actually live in Canada), then you have a customer for life. I've really do like your setting as presented by the free stuff on your site, and am quite pumped to play it at my local club. It seems to me this is the hard science version of Star Wars that I've been trying to create myself.

CP

 

[Colonelpuddinhead]

on sale!

Hey! I just saw that Dawning Star is on sale at IPR! That rocks! its only $19.95 plus shipping now. Cool.


Hey Justin, when are the other books that were already slated to be release, going to be released? I seen that Helios Rising is being further delay (past Gencon), which I can understand, if you're shooting for quality crunch over quantity (fluff). Ialso seen that something else was being released instead though. What is it? How much is it? When is it going to be at IPR? I thought I seen you had some PDFs too for Dawning Star, how can I get those without going to RPGnow?

CP

 

[Wycen]

Shadow Falling is an adventure for Dawning Star and most d20 future games geared toward lower and mid (6th) level groups. It Starts as a relic hunt. And then things go very very wrong.

Essentially the party is hired to retrieve "something". They don't know what, neither does their employer. They must navigate their way to a large ruin and then find "X marks the spot".

Lastly, they must then tend with the hornet's nest they've awakened.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Wycen (a/k/a DS design team member Chad Barr) has it right. Shadow Falling is 56 pages and $12.95. I'll also note that Lee went out of his way to design SF so it's usable in most any star-faring sci-fi campaign. It will be available through IPR after Gen Con. As for pdfs, everything we sell is available through RPG Now and DTRPG. I also have an unofficial policy of sending a copy of the pdf for any DS print book you buy; it's sort of a word-of-mouth promotion.

Helios Rising is looking to be 350+ pages, which is a darn sight more than we originally planned, causing the delay. Realistically, we won't be able to get back to work on it until after Gen Con. To incorporate some more detailed playtesting and finally give Danilo a reasonable time for art and layout, I'd say we're looking at November 1st.

After that, we will continue with the products in the original order planned, which means Silver Eclipse (new starship construction and combat rules), then Heroes of Helios (d20 Future player's guide). We'll take stock from there. My guess is we might skip to Shadow War, which is our 1-20 mega-adventure.

 

[Kanegrundar]

November 1 for Helios Rising?!?!?! I guess I have to get out the horsewhip!!!

Seriously though, I'm really looking forward to HR and Heroes of Helios. If they are half as good as Dawning Star, they'll be excellent.

Kane

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

November 1 for Helios Rising?!?!?! I guess I have to get out the horsewhip!!!

Seriously though, I'm really looking forward to HR and Heroes of Helios. If they are half as good as Dawning Star, they'll be excellent.

Kane

I know. I could probably promise something sooner. Heck, we could probably even finish it sooner. But, without the artificial deadline of Gen Con, I'd rather invest a bit more time to make it top-notch. FWIW, the writing is about 90% done. So the extra time will be going into playtesting, graphics, and editing--all the things I'm loath to skimp on.

 

[Capt_EVIL]

Just recieved Dawning Star in the mail! Great looking book!

I'll start going through it this weekend, well, and today at work no doubt

Colonelpuddinhead, for what it is worth, I live in Canada as well. Book took a week from ordering to arrival.

Brian K

 

[Kanegrundar]

That's good to hear. Most companies would just rush it out the door. I was just kidding around about the horsewhip. DS impressed me so much, that I'm anxiously awaiting more books in the series.

Kane