What is your best product? (Publisher Challenge)

[Nightfall]

Now, Now Black. Even the losers find a nugget of gold now and again.

(informs En that he's got Good on order so he'll get a chance to look it over) Though I'm a little suprised you didn't mention Book of Hallowed Might. In any case I think these products mention here are definately the cream of the crop.

 

[blackshirt5]

I was actually asking, as most stuff needs to be consigned to a fire pit, but I'd actually be pleasantly surprised if one of their products turned out to be really good. I'd actually applaud them for a job well done.

As it is now though, I've seen several of their books, and although they were interesting, too many errors and not enough good work put into them(in my eyes, at least) have marred their rep for me. I actually walked out of a Dungeonworld game this past week after hitting my with a coup de grace by placing one of my longswords in front of my neck, one in back, and running straight on into a wall. I'm not sure if it was the product itself, or if the DM didn't know what he was doing, but it really soured me on that campaign setting.

 

[Sir Edgar]

When you come up with a shopping list, please post!

I'm also looking to buy a good batch of d20 products, so I am curious to know what you pick.

 

[blackshirt5]

Well, this is my current shopping list on ENWorld store:

Path of the Sword HC {d20} $22.46
Path Of Magic HC {d20} $22.46
Path Of Shadow Hc {d20} $22.46
Path Of Faith Hc {d20} $22.46
Quintessential Wizard $17.95
Quintessential Fighter $17.95
Quintessential Cleric $17.95
Quintessential Monk {d20} $17.95
Quintessential Witch {d20} $17.95
Ravenloft: Denizens of Darkness {d20} $26.96
If Thoughts Could Kill {d20} $8.96
Vampyre (CD) $13.49
Born Of The Night (CD) $13.49
Realm Of Shadows (CD) $13.49
Gates Of Delirium (CD) $13.49
D&D Stronghold Builders Guidebook $19.76
Aerial Adventures: Monsters, Magic, and Sky Ships {d20} $9.90
Aerial Adventures Guide Volume 1: Rulers Of The Sky {d20} $9.90
Aerial Adventure Guide V2: Sellaine Jewel Of The Clouds {d20} $9.90
Gary Gygax's World Builder Hc {d20}

It totals up to 345.89 dollars. I'm waiting for Savage Species and Quintessential Paladin to become available before I put through the order(I'm loyal to ENWorld, the shipping rules, I've gotten things in like three days after I ordered them, plus it's my fave site on the net).

Speaking of the Quint Paladin, does anybody know when it's gonna be available on this site? I know I'm a pain in the ass and I ask this question a lot, but it's one of my favorite book series for D20.

 

[baseballfury]

As it is now though, I've seen several of their books, and although they were interesting, too many errors and not enough good work put into them(in my eyes, at least) have marred their rep for me.

I have to wonder how Fast Forward stays in business. They literally have nothing to offer the d20 fan. They don't know the system, seemingly don't care to learn, have lousy art and design, and their quality control is so poor it makes Mongoose look good by comparison. There are just so many better d20 books you can buy.

I prefer to give my money to companies with a clue.

 

[RangerWickett]

*scans thread for mentions of Natural 20 Press, then winces*

Ah well, we have only sold a few thousand copies between all our products.

Anyway, Natural 20 Press has put out three top-notch books that I've been lucky enough to work on, plus one middle-notch book that I wrote by myself, and we've got an imprint publisher who has put out about a half dozen books that I'm not really confident commenting about.

Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns
For your campaign, I'd probably have to suggest "Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns," currently the #1 pdf D20 product of all time at RPGNow (and quite possibly the top non-Monte Cook D20 pdf ever, *grin*). It's a sourcebook that helps game masters run the parts of adventures where PCs just want to kick back and have some fun, without requiring the hacking of monsters. Over twenty different games are presented, ranging from default rules for jousting, arm wrestling, and getting drunk, to more exotic sports like caber tossing and magical rugby.

You can buy it at this link for $6.95, or you can wait about . . . what is it, about a month now, Doug? Mystic Eye Games liked the pdf version so much they did a print run of it, which should be coming out soon. Read reviews here, where you'll see that TFT is tied with two other Natural 20 Press books for the top-rated pdf product. Wild Spellcraft doesn't deserve that merit (that's my book, and in hindsight it's not as good as I thought), but Four-Color to Fantasy, I think, does deserve the high rating it has.


Four-Color to Fantasy
What's Four-Color to Fantasy, you ask? FCTF (or as some people prefer 4CTF) is a fully D&D-compatible and d20 Modern compatible super powers product. You can run classic comic book superhero adventures with it if you want, or take the rules to add new powers to normal fantasy characters, like having a halfling girl with a Strength of 50 (and isn't she cute?).

You can read reviews of FCTF at the same link as above, and can buy the pdf at this link. As of now there are no plans for a print release, but maybe some publisher out there will take interest when we release the revised edition, with rules more specifically suited for D20 Modern. This is my personal favorite book, since it leads to all kinds of interesting characters that go beyond the normal core classes, but it's not for everyone.

Others
If you're interested in alternative magic systems, you might also want to take a look at Wild Spellcraft (toolkit-style book for making magic more unpredictable and dangerous, plus a conversion of 2nd edition wild magic rules), which is okay, but not great. The Elements of Magic, which is a completely new spell system that abolishes the arcane-divine division and lets you use one set of rules to create the type of spellcaster you want. We have more on the way, but I guess I've raved enough, so I'll head off now.

 

[blackshirt5]

I have to wonder how Fast Forward stays in business. They literally have nothing to offer the d20 fan. They don't know the system, seemingly don't care to learn, have lousy art and design, and their quality control is so poor it makes Mongoose look good by comparison. There are just so many better d20 books you can buy.

I prefer to give my money to companies with a clue.

Yeah, I wonder that sometimes too, the FFE boards are all filled with fawning fanboys, who look up to Jim Ward like he's Jim Jones(Kool-Aid, anyone?), and he talks down like "Well, we can't do anything about the bad reviews, I know we put out a fine product, I have a dangerous and fun writing style that scares some of these less developed, less intelligent gamers."

Although I also love Mongoose products, but that's just a personal preference.

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

Speaking of the Quint Paladin, does anybody know when it's gonna be available on this site? I know I'm a pain in the ass and I ask this question a lot, but it's one of my favorite book series for D20.

Any day now - and I think you will enjoy it. Paladin is certainly one of my favourite Quintessentials to date!

 

[blackshirt5]

ALRIGHT!!! So far, I've only been even slightly disappointed by one of the Quint books, Quintessential Samurai, and even that one's still usable. Hopefully I'll have enough money to put the order through by the beginning of March/End of February.

 

[Knightfall]

Four-Color to Fantasy
What's Four-Color to Fantasy, you ask? FCTF (or as some people prefer 4CTF) is a fully D&D-compatible and d20 Modern compatible super powers product.
<snip>
As of now there are no plans for a print release, but maybe some publisher out there will take interest when we release the revised edition, with rules more specifically suited for D20 Modern.

*sigh*

You know what RW, I'd buy this in a heartbeat if you had a print version available. Of course, I need to heal, get back to work and have money again first.

Later,

KF72