Friday, April 23, 2010

Things They Are A-Happening

Ever have one of those sessions? Well I'm stubborn, and one of those sessions turned into two sessions. The first session went differently than I thought and following the logical outcome of the PC actions led to nothing much happening. "nudge nudge wink wink" to open the second session, and as it turned out my original adventure idea didn't have much juice to it either. Shit! No Ravencrosses in my publication future.

I've seen another update of the main cover art, the first time I've seen anything with both figures on it. Looking good, both models approve of how their likenesses are being used (which I honestly don't have to care about, but I know both of these people so it's good to keep on their good sides... I may want to use them again :D), so hopefully it's just a matter of weeks before it's done and I'm able to amaze you with its splendor.

I also took a look at a to-size blank box mock-up. All of the contents (which were similarly mocked up) comfortably fit inside with a little room to spare, so no worries if I go over my planned page count somewhere. The one problem might be shipping costs. If this weighs as much as I think it will, airmail shipping for one box to non-EU areas will cost 23,80€, nevermind the cost of the product itself or packing supplies, which I can't do half-assed with a box set.

Current plans are for the thing to cost right around 50€ in Finland (including the 23% sales tax) and $65 in US stores (not including sales tax, and currency fluctuations could still change that). For direct orders from foreign lands, I think I'm going to charge 50€ and have economy shipping included in that price (takes up to 4 weeks to arrive), with the option for you to spend another 10€ and get the priority (airmail) shipping option that usually takes a week or less.

I keep thinking of this as a premium-priced product, but honestly, that's not really true, even if it is a significant chunk of change. This is more like an average-priced RPG product in 2010. None of us like that, I'd love to say "Yeah, you get this great frickin' box for 20€!" but I have to be responsible. LotFP is a business, and however unprofessional I act (and will continue to do so... I'm making game stuff, not negotiating world peace, and if I have to be tight-lipped and on a leash, I might as well get a Quickie Mart job), the products themselves and how I handle them are professional and awesome and it takes time, effort, and money to make it so.

My art budget is coming to just under 2000€. There will be seven booklets in this box (Tutorial, Rules, Magic, Referee, the two adventures: Tower of the Stargazer and Weird New World, all of these with color covers, plus the Reading Guide pamphlet), plus dice, the pencil, character sheets, all that fun stuff. Not to mention the box itself.

Hammers of the God and Death Frost Doom 3rd Printing will be released separately but at the same time as the box. I suspect my readers here who want Death Frost Doom already have it, but you won't want to miss Hammers.

Brave Halfling Publishing, Expeditious Retreat Press, Goodman Games, and Rogue Games are participating in my Ropecon vendor plans, so all you Finns reading this can pick up a wider variety of old school items right there at the con. Thanks to the publishers for the wholesale rates on small numbers of books and deferred payment due dates!

The wife yesterday brought up the idea of a vacation. Just going off in the country somewhere with no TV, no internet, no nothing (although I do insist on indoor plumbing), just reading and relaxing and taking nature walks and screwing for a week or so. I think we're planning this for right after Ropecon, so we'll debut the game at the con, then ship all due freebies and pre-orders and distributor orders, and then it's hibernation for a short time and taking a damn break. I think I've gained 20 pounds in the last few months working on this, it's driving me nuts and ruining my health, and it'll be good to say "It's done, the world can go fuck off for awhile."

And then it'll be back to packing orders and working on the next nowhere-near-as-high-pressure release.

2 comments:

  1. Will the box have enough space to put inside my copies of Death Frost Doom, The Grinding Gear, No Dignity in Death and People of Penbrooktonshire? If taking the dice out, of course.

    If I could put Carcosa and Green Devil Faces inside too it will be awesome. ;)

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  2. If taking the dice out, you might - might! - be able to fit three other modules in there.

    I think you'd have to take a few things out to fit Carcosa though - that thing is HUGE and not very well suited to flattening. Actually, I don't know if Carcosa would fit even if the box is empty - European A5 is a different size than US Digest. There is some extra space in the box, but whether it would accommodate that difference, I don't know.

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