Musings About the Monolith

As Seen Yesterday on Google +...

First:

I think I'm going to use IndieGoGo to get sponsorship for the upcoming Monolith adventure. I think I've come up with a few interesting perks for higher-grade sponsorship. I just need a good naming scheme for the sponsorship levels (Gold, Silver, etc is LAME).

Kickstarter is the big name in "crowd funding" but last I checked isn't non-US-resident friendly as far as payouts. Also, IndieGoGo is not all-or-nothing like Kickstarter, which is very important since the project is not dependent on sponsorship -- this is just an effort to break the "spend all the money up front and then scramble to make it back" cycle I've been on, so I can get the next thing into production quicker.

Also:

Are "how to use this adventure/how to include this adventure in your campaign" sections in modules really useful to anyone in the year 2012? Don't people largely figure that out for themselves after reading an adventure?

The adventure is basically about a valley that maybe wasn't there yesterday that has a weird thing in it. It's an alien thing so it's not supposed to fit into a campaign (therefore fitting equally well into any campaign!), so I can't think of any plot hooks that aren't just so generic as to be insulting.

Speaking of those Author's Notes:

"You don’t want to do this to your players very often, mind you. You probably don’t want to do it to them at all. You’re their Referee, likely their friend, and feelings would be hurt. Well that’s what I’m here for. You’re not doing it to them, I am. You’re not responsible."

What My Players Taught Me Today: No Rope, No Problem! and What to Call the Natives?

In hostile territory with a number of incapacitated foes? Want to take prisoners but have nothing to tie them up with?

"Kill half of them and use their intestines to tie up the other half."

OK then.

Also, today's game was the first session that the PCs were stationed in St. Augustine as foreign mercenaries to do the dirty/dangerous jobs the Spanish don't want to risk their own men with.

I've been having the Spanish colonists there refer to the natives as, well, "natives."

The question came up, "Were they using the word 'Indians' at that time?"

Yes! Columbus thought he'd landed in the East Indies in 1492, which is why the indigenous people of the Americas were called Indians from the start.

However, another player a different point of view:

"I just call them goblins."

I think the garrison at St. Augustine needs a staff psychiatrist.

The fun part? Today's session was a murder mystery where it turns out the culprit had committed the deed in the name of peace, compassion, and Christ -- and the PCs let him get away with it.

Edition Wars = Blog Hits

Yesterday's Open Letter to 4th Edition Brothers & Sisters is now the 10th most viewed post in the history of this blog.

"Naked Elf" is the 6th most-used search phrase used this month to find this blog.

3 people found this site today with the search phrase "hot naked guys with horses."

What the hell is wrong with people?

Carcosa Update

There are just 10 sets of extra maps and posters left for Carcosa, so if you want it, better act quick. These extras are LotFP Store exclusives.

Special thanks to Noble Knight and Troll & Toad for helping me out, they both allowed me to basically tell them what would be good orders for me to ship (the advantages of having an excellent sales history, eh?) and both those stores have limited numbers of Carcosa and Isle in stock right now ahead of the more general US retail availability coming this spring.

If you're on the fence about either book or just want to keep up with the scuttlebutt, I've been updating the reviews pages quite often, so click those links on the upper left and see what people have to say about both books.

Here's an interesting Men and Monsters Matchup table for Carcosa.

An Open Letter to my 4th Edition D&D Brothers and Sisters

You've been telling us since 2008 that it's the in-print version of D&D that's important, and it's the current version bearing the name Dungeons & Dragons that's the best and brings the most gamers together.

I'm sorry I disagreed all this time.

Really, I apologize. I was out of line.

You were totally right all along.

So on April 17, forget about your old, dusty, has-been, canceled D&D. Don't be an old grognard and look at its outdated and broken mechanics like feats and powers and healing surges through nostalgia-colored glasses, instead stop living in the past and pick up the brand spanking new, hot off the presses,  official AD&D 1e books and start playing the newest and best edition of D&D available!

Our games together will be epic.

(Sorry, I know I'm being a bad bad edition warrior and I'm going to hell for it but I totally could not resist. I cared enough to be pissed in 2000 and 2008, so I can care enough to gloat a bit now. At least I didn't say "Your D&D is canceled and ours is going to be in print? How do you like them apples?")

(PS. Dear new Blogger interface: You are ass and should die. You suck. Fuck you.)

What Interests Me About the AD&D 1e Reprints

Wizards reprinting AD&D 1? That's certainly news to wake up to.

The books will be going for $34.95 (PH & MM) and $44.95 (DMG). Old copies are available from Ebay for far less. Should be interesting.

The first printings of these books from the 70s were top quality and if they haven't been flat-out abused, still hold up just fine today. Printed as books should be. If I get to see one of these I'll be very interested in the binding (and paper stock) and how the books compare physically to the originals.

How will the books be produced? The PDFs from a decade ago were bad scans, and there is no way the original production masters (in whatever form they used) could be used for a new print job, right?

New covers? Not necessarily a bad thing (that early printing Sutherland MM cover is terrible, for starters), but what will the new covers be? I think they're smart enough to not put 4e style art on the covers but being mindlessly old school will end in tears as well. I hope the Gygax memorial flyer next to the announcements (see here) is not an indication of what the covers will look like...

The Store is Back Up

Europeans will now find they are being charged shipping. Couldn't be helped, as explained here. Unless you're in Finland, shipping is free in Finland, as if there weren't enough reasons why it's awesome to live here.

However, if your order comes out to 100€ or more (before shipping or VAT), use coupon code LOTFP for a 15% discount. This is good for everyone and will be an ongoing thing - no expiration date.

And someone's made an order before I even told anyone the store was back up. Yay!

Store Update

More complicated and taking longer than expected (thus my sparkling mood in the now-deleted posts earlier today), but expecting to wrap up and reactivate before bedtime.

Torches Blazed and Sacred Chants were Praised

As of today, LotFP Weird Fantasy Role-Playing Grindhouse Edition has sold 666 print copies.

Cool Isle of the Unknown Reviews!

How to Succeed in RPGs or Die Trying has a good one here. If that doesn't sell you on the book, what could?

Here's one from Dragonsfoot.

Suvudu has a Carcosa review as well.

I Guess I Must Comment: Do I Care About D&D 5e?

Don't know yet.

Will Wizards license Death Frost Doom for release for 5e? If not, would I be able to release Death Frost Doom as a third-party 5e release?

Would it still essentially be Death Frost Doom if converted to 5e? Would I feel dirty for seriously attempting it?

When these questions are answered, I'll let you know if I care about 5e.

Changes to Shipping in the LotFP Store

At 1pm Helsinki time on Thursday, I'll be taking the LotFP store down to change how shipping is handled. The most important bits:

• Free EU shipping for most orders is coming to an end.
• Free shipping (with tracking #) for European orders totaling 125€ or more
• Free shipping (with tracking #) for non-European orders totaling 140€ or more

Get your orders in before that time to take advantage of current conditions.

The full explanation or whats and whys can be found here. Any comments or questions can be left in that thread or emailed to me directly.

I'll notify the winners of the What the Hell is That on the Table? contest and post the results in the next couple of hours.

What Went Wrong: A Carcosa Character Generation Supplement

Jeff Rients put it together. And he put that togethered thing here.

I'm a bit concerned about risking LotFP's good name by associating it with such a profanity-laced document, but hopefully damage control won't be too difficult.

What the Hell Is That Thing on the Table? VOTE!

The entries for the What the Hell is That Thing on the Table? contest are in.

Read them here.

Now vote for your favorite! The author of the entry that gets the most votes gets a 5€ coupon code for the LotFP store. A random person voting also gets a 5€ coupon code for the store. Good through 2012!

How to vote: Sent an email to lotfp@lotfp.com. The subject should be THING and the body of the email should be the post number of the entry (from the thread linked above) that you

Contest ends Sunday 11:59pm Helsinki time.

(I'll announce my own pick for the 10€ coupon code winning entry on Monday along with the winners here. I wouldn't want to influence the voting by revealing my pick now. Or maybe I got Elder Sign over the weekend and I've been playing with myself too much to have taken more than a quick glance at the entries as of yet.)

"The most beautiful RPG book I have ever seen or, equally importantly, held"

Yeah, that quote is about Carcosa.

Read all about it here.