Author Topic: Shadow World Player Guide (Read 11687 times)

NicholasHMCaldwell · « **Reply #40 on:** June 20, 2010, 03:14:31 AM »

The Player's Guide is in the final stages of production. The index is being built, final interior art and the cover being produced, proofreaders looking for residual typos, layout being finalised, and other final tweaks.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

craggles · « **Reply #41 on:** June 20, 2010, 04:03:14 AM »

In a rather bizarre turn of events, since my last post here looking forward to purchasing it, I'm actually doing the illustrations and page layout for the book (which I'm very pleased about).

The page layout is complete barring a few last minute text changes and finishing a couple of illustrations and I'm working on the cover image as we speak so I can say with confidence - soon.

This baby will be available as a PDF and also a full colour printed version shortly after.

Guillaume · « **Reply #42 on:** June 20, 2010, 06:48:14 AM »

rofl

I know that there's been some work on the Player guide since october and I just can't wait to see the final product.

And the SW part of the forums is not stale... it's just that most of us have already asked ( and eventually got answers ) to our questions...

Some of them having been rehashed over time... from the RM Mailling List to the SW Mailling List to the first instance of the forums to the second instance of the forums...

Some of us have been around since... the epoch...

(click to show/hide)

craggles · « **Reply #43 on:** June 20, 2010, 07:24:11 AM »

Quote from: Guillaume on June 20, 2010, 06:48:14 AM

(click to show/hide)
what would happen if I say that I supposedly have the [more or less] complete SW Mailling List Archive ( I just need to remember where I stored the files ) ?

(click to show/hide)

Elrik · « **Reply #44 on:** June 20, 2010, 11:52:30 AM »

@Nicholas
Thank you.

@craggles
I stumbled across your blog by dumb luck which lead me back to the Forum. You have some excellent design work.

@Guillaume
When I go to post and the Forum tells me that it has been over 14 days since someone has posted and that I should probably start a new conversation and I post anyways, that is waking a stale channel.

I have been around since the mailing list. I was active on these board for a while but eventually I just moved away from it. I come back every so often because I want to see what Terry is up to.

Is there an Epoch Membership I can apply for? There are a few of us up here that would be proud to sign up.

craggles · « **Reply #45 on:** June 20, 2010, 01:35:24 PM »

Quote

I stumbled across your blog by dumb luck which lead me back to the Forum. You have some excellent design work.

Thank you. Odds are that you'll like the Player's Guide in that case.

Elrik · « **Reply #46 on:** June 20, 2010, 01:52:54 PM »

... that could back fire on you... now that I know you are a professional, I expect more.

NicholasHMCaldwell · « **Reply #47 on:** June 20, 2010, 01:57:24 PM »

Quote from: Elrik on June 20, 2010, 01:52:54 PM

... that could back fire on you... now that I know you are a professional, I expect more.

I can confidently state that you will be astonished at how good the Player's Guide is when you see it.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

craggles · « **Reply #48 on:** June 20, 2010, 03:03:07 PM »

Thank you Nicholas.

Elrik · « **Reply #49 on:** June 20, 2010, 03:25:24 PM »

I look forward to being astonished.

vroomfogle · « **Reply #50 on:** June 20, 2010, 03:53:17 PM »

I feel as though the Players Guide will add a lot to users of Shadow World by really engaging the players more with the setting. I added what I thought was some innovative ideas (Knowledge Tiers to explicitly describe what Lore in certain categories means) as well as some diagrams to better illustrate and explain things. However Craigs work or page layout, illustrations, and redoing many of my diagrams, really brings it to a whole new level.

I'm also very happy with the decision to go ahead and print this in full color since a B/W print would really lose much of the impact.

One thing to keep in mind however is that this is a Players World Guide - what it does not contain is any regional specific information, it is global in nature and thus only includes information that pertains to the world at large such as Magic, general Geography & Ecology, Gods, rough global history, etc.

egdcltd · « **Reply #51 on:** June 20, 2010, 05:30:46 PM »

What's the international shipping going to be like on the printed version? And will you be offering any deals for buying both the pdf and printed versions?

Elrik · « **Reply #52 on:** June 20, 2010, 05:54:49 PM »

@Vroomfogle
Sounds interesting

I am curious to know how much you have broken things down and how they interact.

At the same time, if this helps young players acclimatize to the Shadow World then best of luck. Lets me honest, DnD has spoon fed players for so long I often wonder at how easy it is to sway them away from their Wizard produced nectar.

Excuse me while I rant...

Do you guys have a marketing plan for this or just boarding it? Seriously, I read things like "revitalizing Shadow World" but I don't see a general time line, or a price range. In this economic market you have to give people a few timed samples to wet their appetite. Then a time line to budget and a price range to see what they have to do without for a pay cycle to get them to buy. My one son would have to mow lawns and shovel drive ways to buy the book(s) and that is if he doesn't decide to drop that $20 on his PSP Go.

From the sounds of it you have put a fair bit of time and energy into this project, you seem to have other things on the go but there is no easy list to access, no general time line, no nothing.

You can't give people something to look forward to when there is nothing to look at. Consider a developers log, with updates that could say anything from sharing an idea, to 'into editing run 2' or even 'back into production writing...'. Not only do you give people the tail of it, but you start to engage them. Regular news letter, once a month, simple and to the point, advertise you other books at the same time. Or talk to the ICE crew and piggy back on their newsletter. Facebooks Page updates, there are free programs that let you update all social media devices at one time. Have you talked to Kobold Magazine, and asked if they would do a review? What about other RPG Mags?

You are competing with Wizard and Mongoose for market share, and they are very good at getting their message out there. YES there is a huge money difference... Wizards has the bank account that never seems to end, and Mongoose produces some excellent books, have you looked at their products? Mongoose is quality... expensive but you get what you paid for.

... just my 2 bits. I hope you guys sell like wildfire.

Elrik

vroomfogle · « **Reply #53 on:** June 21, 2010, 11:05:01 AM »

Here is the final, barring any last minute changes, Table of Contents for the Players Guide:

1.   Introduction
Lore Skills
Knowledge Tiers

2.   Overview
Calendar
Seasons, Months, and Weeks
Days and Hours
The Wonders of Shadow World

3.   The Heavens
The Moons
Celestial Events

4.   The EssÃ¦nce
Flowstorms
Spells
Spell Casting
Spell Manifestation
Realms

5.   Geography
Climate
Weather
Magnetosphere
Tides
Ecology
The Continents

6.   Gods and Religion
The Orhan Pantheon
The CharÃ´n Pantheon
Suggested Patrons by Profession
Religions

7.   Races
Non-Humans
Humans
Immortals

8.   History
The First Era
The Interregnum
The Second Era
The Third Era

9.   People and Groups of Note
Loremasters
Navigators

10.   Languages
Dictionaries

11.   Appendix
Gems & Metals
Cultures
Regions

NicholasHMCaldwell · « **Reply #54 on:** June 21, 2010, 01:11:44 PM »

Quote from: egdcltd on June 20, 2010, 05:30:46 PM

What's the international shipping going to be like on the printed version? And will you be offering any deals for buying both the pdf and printed versions?

The expectation is that the print-on-demand service that we will be using will have (at least) two outlets, one based in the USA, one in the UK. Customers will receive their books from the nearest outlet, so North Americans would use the US point, Europeans the UK point, and everyone else whoever is cheapest for them.

On behalf of Guild Companion Publications Ltd, I wish to state explicitly that we will not be using Mjolnir/ICE for shipping and handling of any print products. I also wish to state explicitly that our customers will not be relying on my ability and/or availability to process print order, deal with customs forms, or physically pack products. We are leaving that to professionals.

(Anyone who has seen my efforts at giftwrapping will doubtless be breathing a sigh of relief at this point.)

In terms of pdf/print bundles, that is a decision that we cannot currently finalise as it depends on what our print-on-demand supplier can support and they are still making final fine-tunings to their system..

Best wishes,
Nicholas

craggles · « **Reply #55 on:** June 21, 2010, 01:35:54 PM »

Quote

we will not be using Mjolnir/ICE for shipping and handling of any print products. I also wish to state explicitly that our customers will not be relying on my ability and/or availability to process print order, deal with customs forms, or physically pack products.

That's fortunate! I'm still waiting on an order for well over a year now. (Perhaps I should stop being so patient).

NicholasHMCaldwell · « **Reply #56 on:** June 21, 2010, 01:38:59 PM »

Quote from: Elrik on June 20, 2010, 05:54:49 PM

Do you guys have a marketing plan for this or just boarding it?

Yes, we do have a marketing plan, and elements of this will start becoming visible in the days and weeks to come. Currently your best and most reliable source of news is my monthly editorials in the Guild Companion magazine where I report on project progress and sometimes give previews.

However I am very mindful that none of the twenty-plus people working on GCP Ltd projects are doing that work as their day job. All of them work on these projects in their spare time and I do not like committing them in public to timelines that they may not be able to achieve for no fault of their own. Thus I only discuss projects that have made steady progress and are relatively mature. As more of our projects reach that maturity, more will be revealed.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

ICEBruce · « **Reply #57 on:** June 21, 2010, 01:49:24 PM »

Craggles all the orders in your profile show as PDFs or Shipped. Send me a PM as you are not anywhere on my current CS list

egdcltd · « **Reply #58 on:** June 21, 2010, 01:59:24 PM »

Nice to know shipping will be from the UK. That will be much, much cheaper than from the US.

Regarding in-progress projects, I understand that these annoying job things do make it unfair to try and force people to work to a timeline, but a list of current projects and a rough %done would be nice. I do read the GC editorials, mostly to check up on progress, but I'm sure there are some things in the works that haven't been properly announced that it would be nice - and quite possibly useful - to know about.

EDIT: Also, you could post news about project X but say that people who are needed to do Y things on X.

craggles · « **Reply #59 on:** June 21, 2010, 02:20:40 PM »

Quote

Craggles all the orders in your profile show as PDFs or Shipped. Send me a PM as you are not anywhere on my current CS list

Hi Bruce - PM sent and I've forwarded our previous email communications as well. Thanks.

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Author Topic: Shadow World Player Guide (Read 11687 times)