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    Canonfire :: View topic - A business question
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    A business question
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    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: May 14, 2003
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    From: the Free City of Dyvers (Kansas City, MO)

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    Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:55 am  
    A business question

    How much would you be willing to pay for a pdf only book of quality
    d20 material? Magic items, spells, monsters, adventures, etc. Each
    book being about 32 pages, little to no art, and cahock full of
    usable, quality stuff. Kind of a "no frills" game product. Would you
    be interested, and how much would you pay?
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    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Jul 06, 2009
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    Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:40 am  

    Wow, no one ever answered this? 2 years? Personally I do not play using the D20 system. However I think something like that could easily go for somewhere between $5 and $20.

    I wish I could give a smaller range. It is just that I have seen things like that priced fairly high but do not know if they sell. And I know they would sell for the lower estimate, but would probably go for more.

    Personally, if the content was grand enough, and I played using the D20 system, I would be willing to part with about $8 - $12 for it depending on quality of the substance.

    Now if you have something more along the lines of AD&D then we're talking.
    Adept Greytalker

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    Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:11 pm  

    Thank you for your response. I still have this as a "back burner" project, though most of the comments I've received elsewhere are less than encouraging. Confused Thanks again.
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    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
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    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

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    Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:02 pm  

    First time seeing this. Embarassed

    Being "old school" I'd probably go for something along these lines. $15 to $20 sounds quite reasonable. Cool

    I know that newer edition stuff goes for more than that, but I don't pay it. I'm really not that interested in the newer systems and so I won't pay those prices for them. 4e doesn't interest me at all. Neutral

    Hope you keep the "burner" on simmer and let me know what happens with it. Stay encourage. Happy
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    CF Admin

    Joined: Jun 29, 2001
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    From: Wichita, KS, USA

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    Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:08 pm  

    I wouldn't be willing to pay more than $3-5 or so for such a book, from an unknown publisher. From a known/trusted publisher, or from an unknown with very good preview material, I'd perhaps go $5-8, but once you get too much past $5 I'd much rather buy a book in some format, truthfully vs. a .pdf.

    I find that if I have a book, I use it; if I have a .pdf, it gets downloaded and ignored (or, downloaded and printed, then either used or ignored based on how well it fares vs. the other books :D ).
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    Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
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    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 01, 2007
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    From: On a Cape on the East Coast

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    Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:48 am  
    PDF prices

    Since the OP, I think that PDFs have become way more common.

    I was just looking at Paizo the other day, and their smaller-sized PDFs go for $3.99 USD, and their large 100+ page PDFs go for $9.99USD.

    I think that I agree with grodog about the ranges he gives, and whether the publisher is well known to me or not ... or at least whether the writer and artists are known to me.

    Icarus
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    Adept Greytalker

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    Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:02 pm  

    Thanks all for the feedback. I have decided to go forward with this project. I'm debating between calling the company "Gray Order Press" and "Skeleton Key Press". I plan to hit GenCon next year, and likely more as time and money affords.
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    Adept Greytalker

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    Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:15 pm  

    One product I'm thinking about is a series similar to the old Flying Buffalo Citybooks; sourcebooks that detail certain businesses, NPCs, goods and services, complete with stats, plot hooks and sample establishments. Each could be dropped into an existing campaign, either within an existing city or a new location, as an addition or an adaption. For instance, a book of inns and taverns could detail the types of goods and services, the patrons and the workers (NPC stats), things to do and hear, tables to generate names and rumors, and provide a sample inn. What do you think?
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    Master Greytalker

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    Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:22 pm  

    I'm not sure a book on inns is the best idea since there are already so many out there. If you go that route, I would think a fully detailed inn would be your best best - provided that the NPCs are interesting and that there is something unique about the inn. Plot hooks would be very useful as well. Also, one of the first things I look for in an inn is usable maps that are more than just floorplans.

    my 2cp
    Adept Greytalker

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    Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:46 pm  

    The inn was ust an example. The idea would be about discussing the entire range of possibilites within the group for the sourcebook. One on festivals would cover NPCs at the festival, games and other entertainment, advice on designing festivals for your game, etc. Another on city government would cover city officials, laws, crime and punishment, the kinds of govenrment offices, and so on.
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    Black Hand of Oblivion

    Joined: Feb 16, 2003
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    Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:08 am  

    Detail an entire large town or small city. Do it in such a way as it could be dropped into any setting(especially Greyhawk Wink).
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    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
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    Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:01 am  

    I'm thinking both. We need a "detailed" town, to be sure, but I think a detailed festival, inn, hostel or some such could be done much more quickly. Happy

    Perhaps detailing individual establishments as "piecemeals" of an eventual town or city. I think it could work well, that's what I'm trying to do with Dark Gate. Wink

    (Yeah, yeah, I know . . . GET A MOVE ON!!!) Evil Grin Laughing
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    Adept Greytalker

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    Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:07 am  

    Yes, yes; piecemeal. After all, I'm still looking at the 32 page model. So instead of an entire large city (like Ptolus), some of these could cover neighborhoods/districts. Market square, seaside docks, temple district, etc. No maps, just NPCs, plot hooks, a sample structure and generic descriptions so they could be dropped into any setting.
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    GreySage

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    Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:22 am  

    That's what I'm concentrating on, but eventually, it will all become Dark Gate in my world. Wink

    That's not to say that individual establishments won't be usable in any campaign city/town. I'm hoping that many here will use each establishment created for just that purpose. Happy
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    Adept Greytalker

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    Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:59 am  

    I've got another question for the previously discussed sourcebooks: would you like to see "low fantasy" material or "high fantasy" material. Here's what I mean. "Low fantasy" means that while this is a fantasy game, it is still grounded in a "real" world that just happens to have fantasy elements; ie, midieval Europe with wizards and elves. "High fantasy" means most everything is magical; every shopkeep has a wizard on hand (or is a wizard), government agencies regularly employ heroic classed NPCs, etc. (think Eberron). Continuing the inn example, would you want to know a low fantasy inns or high fantasy inns? Low fantasy inns would have normal commoners, maybe an expert, while high fantasy inns could be operated by illithids or ogre magi, feature psionic construct bouncers and have drinks from the various Planes. That kind of thing.
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    Black Hand of Oblivion

    Joined: Feb 16, 2003
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    Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:35 am  

    I should have been more specific and said to break the areas of the town/city down by quarter, similar to these:

    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/thievesquarter.asp

    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/templequarter.asp

    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/arcanequarter.asp

    Such a format makes things more manageable, yet still allows for decent presentation.
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    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
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    Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:11 am  

    gargoyle wrote:
    I've got another question...


    Low fantasy, please, or maybe just a step above. But definitely not high fantasy.
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Tue Sep 15, 2009 4:47 am  

    Low to mid(at the most). Definitely not High.
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    GreySage

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    Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am  

    Cebrion wrote:
    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/thievesquarter.asp
    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/templequarter.asp
    http://www.thegamemechanics.com/products/arcanequarter.asp


    Never even heard of this site before. Very much appreciated, Cebrion. Very much appreciated. Its on my "favorites" list now. Happy

    Low fantasy, yes, perhaps some "mid" fantasy, but no "high," no high. Enough Faerun, thank you. Evil Grin
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    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Jul 12, 2001
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    From: Ithaca, New York

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    Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:08 pm  

    First off, Skeleton Key GAMES already exists, so Skeleton Key Press might be a bit confusing.

    Secondly, while I understand how you're using "high" and "low" fantasy, you're still misusing them. "High" and "low" magic is what you mean.

    Third, go low-magic. Otherwise people just complain about magic-marts and how the game is going to the munchkins and Waldorf.
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