I've just released a short supplement for 'Truth & Justice', the superhero game from Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Entitled 'More Power', it's a resource for creating powers in any T&J game, building on my experience of converting my Legends Walk setting.
It contains:
* A few short optional rules ideas.
* Mini-articles about the versatility of Super Scale and
Vulnerabilities, size levels and themed powers.
* Over 40 power write-ups - some familiar, some widely applicable and
some just a little bit quirky.
It's a 24-page PDF, price $3.95, available from Indie Press Revolution, Your Games Now, RPGNow and DriveThru.
That's a very evocative
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Wed, 26/03/2008 - 15:34.
That's a very evocative cover Tim - is that a Storn Cook?
Cover
Submitted by Tim Gray on Wed, 26/03/2008 - 18:24.
That's a very evocative cover Tim - is that a Storn Cook?
Actually, no - though I've used his stuff before (eg for LWTJ). This is from a clipart pack by Talisman Studios, which I'd fancied for a while and snagged in the GM's Day sale. So, art budget for this product = less than $20! (Internal art from a LPJ collection I've had for ages - say what you like about the man, it's very cost effective for publishers.)
Tim Gray
Silver Branch Games
www.silverbranch.co.uk
I'm a big fan of LPJ's
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Thu, 27/03/2008 - 10:51.
I'm a big fan of LPJ's clipart packs actually - if you like the strong line art b&w style (which I do, especially for sci-fi/supers stuff), it's great.
Hey Tim
Submitted by Gregor Hutton on Thu, 27/03/2008 - 14:06.
That's a really great price for that book. With the pound killing the dollar did you have any difficulty on deciding on a price that low? Or is that the going rate for these kindof things?
Pricing
Submitted by Tim Gray on Thu, 27/03/2008 - 16:14.
That's a really great price for that book. With the pound killing the dollar did you have any difficulty on deciding on a price that low? Or is that the going rate for these kindof things?
PDF pricing is a bit of a dark art. From what I've picked up, first you arrive at a figure based on $1 per 10 pages, then you fudge it till it looks right. For particularly large or small page counts, for instance, that breaks down. Then there's stuff about different publishers' tendencies to undercharge or overcharge, and all sorts of imponderables like art content.
You're right that it means profit per unit sold is very small - something like £1.25 at OBS. But that's the way the market is.
There's also the fact that each product you release through these channels is not just its own sales but a shot in the arm for your existing catalogue. The line between production and marketing is really blurry. Which is one reason why the model of a steady flow of small products can be commercially successful.
I dunno, maybe in hindsight I should have done it in a smaller format for a pagecount that's halfway viable to do by POD. If I end up doing more T&J supplements I might well consider collecting them in print, but I've no plans in that direction just now. (And actually pricing of small print books through IPR is at least as tight when you figure in the retailer discount.)
Tim Gray
Silver Branch Games
www.silverbranch.co.uk