The mysterious costs of publishing revealed

Here's an interesting article about the costs of publishing (including writing, editing, art, layout, printing, shipping, distribution, and marketing) for both low-end and high-end options. If you're planning to start a (self-)publishing business, I'm sure it's a useful read!

8 reasons I love the Pathfinder Card Game

I'm always thinking about new ways to improve my blog and make it interesting to more people. I'm currently in a phase where I play a lot of Pathfinder, but I also play (or want to play) a number of other games, too. One of those games is the Pathfinder Card Game. I love it, it's excellent, and I'm going to tell you why.

I might occasionally also post some design articles about D&D 5E or Star Wars (Fantasy Flight Games). My main focus is still Pathfinder, though.

In my next update I'll go back to analyzing monster stat blocks!

Excellent freelancing advice from Jessica Price

I just read an excellent article written by Jessica Price (project manager at Paizo Publishing). Jessica discusses women in the gaming industry and also gives very good advice on how to get your foot in the door.

Read the article here.

Lessons in Monster Design, Part I: Descriptive line

The first part of a monster entry is the descriptive line. The first thing to remember is to include it. In the Here Be Monsters contest there were four or five entries that didn't have one at all. While I didn't consider it an auto-DQ, it did mean that those four or five entries weren't considered very seriously for the top 5.

The second thing to remember is to italicize the descriptive line. Nearly everyone (who included it) remembered to italicize it, and it wasn't a deal-breaker, anyway.

The third thing is to understand that the descriptive line serves a dual purpose: In the contest it's what makes the reader intrigued and willing to read more. When you're actually playing the game, it's something the GM can use as read-aloud text when the monster is encountered.

Let's have a closer look at what you should avoid if you want that little piece of text to be suitable for these two purposes!

Thanks to everyone!

The five interviews with the Here Be Monsters finalists have been published this week, and all the prizes have been sent to the winner and the runners-up. Thanks to everyone who was involved, and I hope to see you again next year when hopefully there'll be a second Here Be Monsters!

Here's a shout-out to our excellent sponsors!

Rite Publishing is an ENnie award winning gaming company that has produced over 350 products for Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, FATE, and Erick Wujcik's Diceless Roleplaying (Amber Diceless Role-Playing) as well as a burgeoning fiction line. Its CEO Steven D. Russell has worked as a freelance game designer for Paizo Publishing, Green Ronin Publishing, and Expeditious Retreat Press. He spends his free time listening to audio books, co-hosting The Demiplane of Gaming videocast, playing games, and trying to find that elusive creature known as free time.

Some related links:

• Interview with Steve Russell
• In The Company of Dragons, written by Wendall Roy (one of our finalists), published by Rite Publishing 

 

Legendary Games is an all-star team of authors and designers, coordinated by award-winning game designer Jason Nelson. Legendary Games is committed to bringing the busy GM or player the absolute best 3rd party support for your Pathfinder campaign. To deliver on that commitment, Legendary Games has assembled the best of the best of current gaming authors, designers and layout experts such as Superstar design contest winners Neil Spicer and Matthew Goodall and finalists like Clinton Boomer, Jim Groves, Jason Nelson, and Russ Taylor, industry veterans like Greg A. Vaughan, Tim Hitchcock, and Clark Peterson, and stellar new talent like Todd Stewart, Tom Phillips, and Jonathan Keith.

• Interview with Jason Nelson

Raging Swan Press publishes GM resources designed to help GMs prepare quicker and prepare better. The products are richly detailed, easy to use material designed to be compatible with almost any GM's campaign.

•  Interview with Creighton Broadhurst

Dreamscarred Press is a publisher of resource books for tabletop role-playing games, primarily focusing on psionic rulesets.

Some related links:

• Path of War
• Interview with Jeremy Smith & Andreas Rönnqvist

Interview with a Designer: Wendall Roy

Here's the last of the Here Be Monsters interviews: Wendall Roy, whose entry was the taniwha, a creature from the Maori mythology.

Interview with a Designer: Mike Welham

Here's the third runner-up interview: Mike Welham! I'm very glad to interview him, not only because he was a finalist in Here Be Monsters, but also because he won RPG Superstar a few years back. Welcome, Mike!

Interview with a Designer: Douglas Schaub

Here's the second runner-up interview: Douglas Schaub, the creator of the enigmatic warpstar.

Interview with a Designer: Joe Kondrak

I'll be posting the remaining four interviews in the order I received the answers, and here's the first one! Among other things, Joe Kondrak tells us more about the sianach, whose bone-shaking rattle everyone remembers, I'm sure. Please also check out punctalucis.com, where you can see examples of Joe's creative work.

Interview with a Designer: Nicholas Wasko

The Here Be Monsters contest ended last week with Nicholas Wasko as the winner! Read on to learn more about Nick and his thoughts about monster design!

Interview: Five Moons RPG Kickstarter

I interviewed Sean K Reynolds about the Kickstarter for the Five Moons RPG. Among other things, Sean talks about design choices that make the game easy to play.

Please also check out the Kickstarter page and Sean's blog, where he also discusses the Five Moons RPG!

Nicholas Wasko wins Here Be Monsters!

Nicholas Wasko's entry, the nightbloom got the most votes, which means Nick wins the first Here Be Monsters contest! It was a really tight race between the two most popular entries, with just three votes separating the two entries!

Thanks to all voters, entrants, judges, and sponsors! I'll email the winner and runners-up about the prizes within 24 hours.

Interview: Southlands Kickstarter

I interviewed gaming legend Wolfgang Baur about the Southlands Kickstarter. In keeping with my blog's recent monster theme, there's a lot of discussion about monsters, including information on how you can design a monster for the Southlands Kickstarter!

As of today, there are nearly 600 backers and more than $50,000 of the $16,000 goal has been pledged, meaning that many, many stretch goals have already been unlocked! So check out the Kickstarter page as well, pledge, and reap incredible rewards!

So close! Please check out this Kickstarter!

The Veranthea Codex Kickstarter is now over 80% funded! There's still more than two days until the funding period closes, so if you haven't pledged yet, please have a look at the Kickstarter page!

Interview: Cross of Fire Saga Adventure Path Kickstarter

Today's Kickstarter interview is about the Cross of Fire Saga Adventure Path. Louis Porter Jr. tells us about the AP, and also discusses Kickstarters in general. Please, read on, and check out the Kickstarter page as well!