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Interesting Statistics for Moebius Adventures

February 10, 2011 in News, Publishers by Fitz | 2 comments

With all the recent activity on the blogosphere regarding 2010 results for small RPG publishers (Nevermet Press here, Stargazer Games here and Rite Designs here), I thought I’d throw mine out there too because I was curious.

When I first published the Moebius Adventures Core Rules book back in 2007, I gave away more than 1100 copies in a big promotion RPGNow was having that Thanksgiving. Since then I have sold 3 copies. Not a biggie, as like most independent writers/designers I honestly wasn’t planning on making a mint doing what I love. (By the way, if you’d like to purchase a copy for $3 off, click here.)

But the more interesting stats for me revolve around the freebie I put out about the same time. The Moebius Adventures Core Rules Sample Adventure amounts to one chapter in the Core Rules book that details a quick spin through roleplaying and combat in the system.

Again through RPGNow, I had 161 downloads in 2007, 113 in 2008, 65 in 2009, 56 in 2010, and 6 so far in 2011.

What does this show? It shows that people are looking at freebies at RPGNow, even really old ones like mine, and that could possibly lead to future sales down the line.

I’m not convinced that this will lead to sales of my next project, whenever I actually get it done. But it does convince me that I will be putting out a freebie PDF ahead of the project (probably a short PDF of NPCs & Creature stats) to try and gain a bit of traction.

Question: How are other small publishers using freebies to drive product interest? And is it working for you? Call me curious.

Tags: freebies, Moebius Adventures, Publishing, RPGNow, sales, statistics

Book Review: Martial Flavor – Chaotic Shiny Productions

October 21, 2010 in Books, Chaotic Shiny Productions, DriveThruRPG, Hannah Lipsky, Martial Flavor, Reviews, World Building by admin | No comments

When you look up the word “martial” in the dictionary, most definitions tend towards the use of a few key adjectives – warrior, warlike, or military. So I’d be lying if I said that the Martial Flavors book from Chaotic Shiny Productions focuses on mostly peaceful people. Most of these cultures could be described as mercenaries, raiders, or warriors whether they believe in the chain of command or the power of the strongest sword.

At a mere 55 pages, Martial Flavor has to be one of the most colorful supplements I’ve seen in a while. Color, art, fonts, and text boxes are used to provide a layout that’s easy on the eyes and convey details on multiple levels.

The use of color works well to denote different sections, such as green for the titles, introduction, and table of contents, and a red/green pattern for The Daikort Pack, a green/brown pattern for The Elessim, etc. And each section is laid out consistently from group to group – starting with a vignette, an overview, appearance, hierarchy, rituals, races, sample characters, powers, and feats.

The full color and black and white artwork used on the front and back covers and inside provides not only a great way to break up the text, but provide a feel for each culture’s dress and appearance as well as what’s important. For example, for The Daikort Pack, we see a full color picture of an fair-haired elven maid wearing leather and a plate breastplate, which tends to indicate she’s more ready for a fight than to go frolicking in the woods in which she’s standing. But for The Elessim, there are three horses in the picture on a broad grassy plain and one rider. Something tells me the horses are important!

The black and white art was also quite striking...

→ Read More at Game Knight Reviews here...

Tags: Arts, Book, Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Games, Roleplaying, RPGNow

Pre-made Art for Independent Publishers

August 16, 2010 in Resources by Fitz | 1 comment

Let me start out by saying that I am definitely not an artist. My artistic skills peaked when I was 12 or 13 and have had plenty of time to regress since then. But I understand the importance of artwork in roleplaying materials. Text by itself, even when you play with layouts, fonts, and lines – simply isn’t sexy enough. You have to add a few splashes of art to break up the monotony of line after line of rolling text.

Now, when I published the Moebius Adventures Core Rules book a couple of years ago, I used a combination of pieces. I contracted out the cover, redo my logo, and a few black and white pieces from Jason Adams (Rogue-Artist.com). Jason did an awesome job and if I ever get the oomph to put out another book, I’ll have him do more art and another cover. His prices were extremely reasonable and he worked with me to get things just right. I couldn’t have asked for more.

The other place I used may surprise you. I have a subscription to Clipart.com. They literally have millions of pieces of art available, including some great black and white shots of castles, knights, priests, and so on. My subscription also comes in handy when I design the occasional t-shirt to sell at my CafePress store or whatnot.

But beyond that, many artists have come forward and started producing commercial-use collections available at places like RPGNow.com.

Sade is one of the independent artists providing collections for use and has nearly 200 in RPGNow.com as of today. And she provides a ton of options – everything from computer-generated art to black-and white and inked pieces – from dragons to steampunk, weapons to templates, even cards for treasure and paper minis. Prices are great too – everything from $0.50 to bundles going for as little as $9 or as much as $65.50. Her Templates collection provides a ton of amazing stuff that an enterprising publisher could use out of the box to make an outstanding book. And her many collections of weapons are simply amazing.

Other companies – from Action RPG Counters to Ye Olde School Stock Art provide an amazing array of bits and pieces that could be used. Everything from fillers to amazingly detailed pieces and even cover art is available.

So if you’re thinking of publishing a book and you (like me) are not an artist, don’t fret. There are lots of available options that are available now. There are some amazing artists out there who will work with you to get you exactly what you want, but there are also some collections of stock art that might be right up your alley. Make sure you look around, check out the licenses for these beasties, and look for something that will work for you.

–Fitz