It's been just a short while that Transylvanian Adventures has been available as a PDF download and there've been some common questions brought up about its future and what's coming up. I'll try to answer the biggies here...
For a time, I will be giving those who buy a hardcover at Lulu a free PDF. I only have so many free PDFs I can give out. Fortunately, I'm pretty stingy with them. So there's a good number of them.
Conversely, I will try to give a decent discount for hardcover copies to those who buy the PDF. I'm still working out the details but it should be pretty comparable to the other route as well.
After I get the book up at RPGNow, there will be a print+PDF bundle. Until then, I'll have to do it the hard way. But the hope is that everyone who buys a hardcover gets a PDF free. And, for a limited time, everyone who buys a PDF while the print-on-demand is getting going will get a good discount on a hardcover through Lulu.
Transylvanian Adventures includes 8 character classes for DCC RPG, a sample 0-Level funnel, a large number of tables for lots of Hammer-themed fun, a bevy of rule enhancements, and -- well -- general awesomeness. It's 300 pages and it ain't in 34 pt font. There's a whole lot in there. It has one spellcasting class, three rituals, and some guidance on what spells in DCC RPG might work well with Transylvanian Adventures. I'll just say this: I've been playing TATG for years now with nothing but the DCC RPG spells and the bare bones of what will become the Grimoire and I've had a fine time. The Grimoire will be great. But there's a lot of fun to be had with Transylvanian Adventures.
The Hanging Judge's Guide to Transylvania is the next release on the schedule. It will happen sometime next year. The reason it's #2 is because it was mostly written but soon became apparent that Transylvanian Adventures would be way too big a book (and it would take too long to finish properly) if all that content was included. So instead of waiting a whole 'nuther year to release a nearly 600 page book, I opted to release a working and complete Transylvanian Adventures without the items that will be featured in the Judge's Guide. Included in the Judge's Guide is a full hexmap of Transylvania, a few of the more radical rules hacks that were excised from Transylvanian Adventures, factions, adversaries, monsters, and a crazy amount of setting info on Transylvania. This will be a healthy-sized book but it will likely be the smallest of the three. Still easily past the 200 page mark.
The Transylvanian Grimoire is the magic book. It will feature the Theorist class, spells, rituals, potions, patrons, and setting hacks. I'm also writing up monster character classes in the Grimoire. It's the last book because it's the least written. I'll be able to give a better timetable on it when the Judge's Guide is done.
I think it should be apparent that, if the first book does well, the other two will come out sooner. If it doesn't do so well, the other two books are more likely at risk.
As I complete some sections, I'll make portions of The Transylvanian Grimoire available for purchase. These will be things like the Mercurial Magic tables. Patrons. Maybe a setting hack or two. Enough stuff to give people who want to play TATG long-term a boost.
At some point, I'm hoping to revisit The Winter Home and make it available for print-on-demand. That's low on the list. But could bump up higher if a strong demand is there.
Print Copies?
The plan is to go print-on-demand as soon as possible. First, through Lulu, so my Canadian pals can get copies without paying ridiculous shipping. Then, through RPGNow. I'm trying to get that process underway this weekend.For a time, I will be giving those who buy a hardcover at Lulu a free PDF. I only have so many free PDFs I can give out. Fortunately, I'm pretty stingy with them. So there's a good number of them.
Conversely, I will try to give a decent discount for hardcover copies to those who buy the PDF. I'm still working out the details but it should be pretty comparable to the other route as well.
After I get the book up at RPGNow, there will be a print+PDF bundle. Until then, I'll have to do it the hard way. But the hope is that everyone who buys a hardcover gets a PDF free. And, for a limited time, everyone who buys a PDF while the print-on-demand is getting going will get a good discount on a hardcover through Lulu.
What happened to the Grimoire?
About a year ago, it became clear that I would have to split the books up into 3 books -- Transylvanian Adventures, The Hanging Judge's Guide to Transylvania, and The Transylvanian Grimoire.Transylvanian Adventures includes 8 character classes for DCC RPG, a sample 0-Level funnel, a large number of tables for lots of Hammer-themed fun, a bevy of rule enhancements, and -- well -- general awesomeness. It's 300 pages and it ain't in 34 pt font. There's a whole lot in there. It has one spellcasting class, three rituals, and some guidance on what spells in DCC RPG might work well with Transylvanian Adventures. I'll just say this: I've been playing TATG for years now with nothing but the DCC RPG spells and the bare bones of what will become the Grimoire and I've had a fine time. The Grimoire will be great. But there's a lot of fun to be had with Transylvanian Adventures.
The Hanging Judge's Guide to Transylvania is the next release on the schedule. It will happen sometime next year. The reason it's #2 is because it was mostly written but soon became apparent that Transylvanian Adventures would be way too big a book (and it would take too long to finish properly) if all that content was included. So instead of waiting a whole 'nuther year to release a nearly 600 page book, I opted to release a working and complete Transylvanian Adventures without the items that will be featured in the Judge's Guide. Included in the Judge's Guide is a full hexmap of Transylvania, a few of the more radical rules hacks that were excised from Transylvanian Adventures, factions, adversaries, monsters, and a crazy amount of setting info on Transylvania. This will be a healthy-sized book but it will likely be the smallest of the three. Still easily past the 200 page mark.
The Transylvanian Grimoire is the magic book. It will feature the Theorist class, spells, rituals, potions, patrons, and setting hacks. I'm also writing up monster character classes in the Grimoire. It's the last book because it's the least written. I'll be able to give a better timetable on it when the Judge's Guide is done.
I think it should be apparent that, if the first book does well, the other two will come out sooner. If it doesn't do so well, the other two books are more likely at risk.
Anything else to add?
Once the print-on-demand is good. I'll be working on an artless, cheapo copy of Transylvanian Adventures. It will most likely be free and will be a nod to those who are either too cheap to buy a copy or on-the-fence in making a decision. It will have a subset of the classes in Transylvanian Adventures but will feature the full set of Rules Enhancements. It will not have all of the tables in Transylvanian Adventures. If you want the Mad-Libs, you'll have to buy the real thing. Same with all the adventuring tables and Investigation tables. The cheapo version will have 4-5 classes and the rule enhancements and that's about it. It will only be available as PDF.As I complete some sections, I'll make portions of The Transylvanian Grimoire available for purchase. These will be things like the Mercurial Magic tables. Patrons. Maybe a setting hack or two. Enough stuff to give people who want to play TATG long-term a boost.
At some point, I'm hoping to revisit The Winter Home and make it available for print-on-demand. That's low on the list. But could bump up higher if a strong demand is there.
In the UK here so look forward to seeing the Book+PDF bundle... Really excited about books 2 and 3 as well!
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about Kickstarting these? Would be a shame to not see them and KS would help fund it (assuming the target you set is reached).
Cool. I'm still trying to get Phase 1 of print-on-demand going (Lulu) with Phase 2 to follow shortly.
DeleteKickstarter is an interesting topic that deserves a blogpost all its own.
I also need to do an update on the status of TATG and where it's future may be headed.