Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009

A change in the air...and with cashflow with WOTC?

Recently, two well known PDF supporter of WOTC 4E (Alluria Publishing and Alea Publishing Group) just release several Pathfinder Roleplaying supported products. I really don't know that much about Alluria Publishing, but I have been a fan of Alea Publishing Group since I saw their Feudual Lords Campaign Setting material. They are exactly what you want to see in a new publisher: interesting new product ideas, great design work and beautiful artwork. I was a little sad when I heard they were going to support WOTC 4E exclusively with the GSL but I understood why it made sense at the time. But as of late, Aluria just released their 3rd product for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game based off of their WOTC 4E material and now I have to wonder, what is going on. Why would these two companies who supported WOTC 4E, now being supportive of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game? Now they both could just like the system and what to support it. But I think this has more to do with WOTC 4E then actually these two companies.

Back on June 19th, Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games said in a post, "4E is doing well, very well." I never really believed that. It is hard to do "well, very well" in the middle of a recession and with nearly 10% of the US population out of work. That little fact might effect sales GREATLY. I know it effected my on RPGNow.com over the last year. Now with my Pathfinder Roleplaying Game sales doing much greater than expected (Like 3.0/3.5 OGL in the early years) I think Alluria Publishing and Alea Publishing Group just wanted to cover themselves with a little extra safety of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Nothing wrong about that and it is good business to do it so I am all for it. But I have to wonder, how far down are WOTC 4E sales to look at the direct opposition of them to help you make money? Due to the GSL it is somewhat difficult to support the GSL and the 3.5 OGL/Pathfinder Roleplaying Game at the same time. So I have to wonder is it even tougher times ahead of publisher who supported WOTC 4E?

All I can say is, Thank you Paizo! Thank you of all the great work you have done supporting third party publishers and the OGL.

Must Watch: Teaser Trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Coming Soon - Heroes of NeoExodus: Brelin Swift & Enemies of NeoExodus: Brotherhood

Here is the mock up cover for the upcoming Heroes of NeoExodus: Brelin Swift which is going to be an add-on product for the other upcoming Enemies of NeoExodus: Brotherhood. What do these two products have in common? Every good villain groups need a good hero trying to stop them. Coming soon. Talk to you later...

Catalyst to offer PDFs through Retail with Catalyst RED ...Missed oppotunity for RPGNow?

Catalyst to offer PDFs through Retail with Catalyst RED, which you can read about this here. Now what does that mean for RPGNow? Good question. I don't the answer, but i do know that I said this should have been done like 5 years ago by RPGNow and repeated it often to anyone who would listen. RPGNow kept telling me they couldn't do it effefctively and profitable. Well I guess Catalyst didn't have those issue. I guess I will be making some calls on Monday to see about this. Talk to you later...

Friday, September 25, 2009

[LPJ Design] Coming Soon -- Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Louis Porter Jr. Design will be releasing an all-new product for use with The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, just in time for Halloween called Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook. Here is information on this product:

Games in the genre of dark fantasy and horror work naturally work against some of the accepted assumptions of heroic fantasy. In a typical fantasy RPG game, combat might not be as dangerous and threatening in a fear or horror based adventure. The core hit point rules allow PCs to absorb a few attacks without disrupting their abilities. In contrast, most horror movies and stories are built with devastating, direct threats that can slay even the toughest hero with a single blow. Magic, monsters, and other facets of the core rules may not match the tone and feel that you want to induce in your horror or dark fantasy gaming session. Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook presents a mixture of new options you can use to modify the core rules to make you gaming sessions fit the dark fantasy and horror better. This sourcebook is completely 100% open OGL content for use with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system that can be used with any campaign. This Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook presents quick, easy, and flexible system for incorporating the effects of fear, horror and in some cases, extreme madness into your fantasy game. Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook reminds players that hazardous adventures can bring all types of penalties and facilitate motivate role playing.

The Horrific Terror: The Fear and Terror sourcebook includes rules for:

  • The Template Approach to Fear and Horror
  • Character Health and Mortality
  • Constitution and Health System
  • Wound Levels and Injury Penalties
  • Rules for Fear, Terror, and Madness with Madness Points for Long-Term Insanity
  • And much more.

Available for $5.99 this October exclusively only at Paizo.com.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Did you write a business plan for your business?

After yesterday blog post I got a few comments here and on twitter about One Bad Egg and their business plan. All of it got me thinking, do most RPG publishers have a actual written business plan? LPJ Design (as the PDF publisher) does not; but I have written two business plans for spin-off business (One died in it initial creation; the other one is for Grammar and is currently in process). While writing both business plans I think it gave me a real understanding of what a business is and should be. Paizo, to me, feel like a company that had a great business plan in place, and they have followed the business plan to success. Why don't we "business people" in the RPG industry do business plans? We spend all this money on making products to sell online and at con, but we miss the most basic step to help make our business a long term success by not doing a business plan. Why? Is is too much like "real work" and as publishers that happen to be gamers and fans that we want to avoid that?

The RPG industry is dying a slow death. While we don't like to admit it it is happening, the only way to really save it is to start thinking long term what we can do to keep the industry healthy. The sad part is that most of us are not thinking our doing long term things, we are just doing things to boost our own egos and expand our personal brands without look finding ways to get new people interested into the gaming industry. We all need to get together and create a long term business plan for the success of the gaming industry and how we can help individually. I hope this inspires you to do something. Talk to you later...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

One Bad Egg...Now cooked!

Well it looks like One Bad Egg is going out of business as of TODAY. While they have supported 4E WOTC since the beginning, their inability of getting big sales (300+ on their products with most of them did even reach 100. His words not mine!) and not enough creative desire to keep themselves going is what killed them. While it sucks that ANOTHER RPG company has gone down in flames , I have to wonder, if they had followed mine or even Gareth's business model, maybe they would still be operational. It is not really that complicated to stay in business if you are a RPG publisher. I mean if I have been doing this for nearly a decade and my business has brought me 5 computers (4 desktops and a laptop), several trips to Indianapolis, New Orleans, Baltimore, California and Las Vegas, countless meals, hundreds of thousands of written words, thousands for pieces of artwork and my 2003 Honda Civic, so you could do it too. But don't forget, it is actual work I am doing. Maybe One Bad Egg forgot it was. Talk to you later...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Back to Grammar

While I am waiting for several RPG projects to come back for me to work on, I start back on some work on Grammar: The Sentence Creation Card Game. The playability of the game was done a long time ago, I am working on the actual business plan. Since I have been watching shows like Shark Tank and Dragons Den UK and Canada, I have gotten a better idea on how to pitch this business for outside investors (By the way if you are interested in investing I am looking for $100K for 40% of the business. Contact me via of the website if you are interested.) Best of all I have hired an freelance witer/editor to hand all the written work to make sure everything is actually grammatically correct when you see it. I hope to have everything with Grammar: The Sentence Creation Card Game done by November/December and have it in the stores by May/June at the latest. This is going to be a busy summer. Talk to you later...

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Two more Pathfinder products out this weekend...

As you can see that we had a very busy weekend here at LPJ Design with the release of two more products for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game line. Both Ultimate Spell Decks: Paladin Spell Cards and Weapon Cards Fantasy are avilable for sale at RPGNow.com, and soon at Paizo. Keep working hard and enjoy your weekend. Talk to you later...

Friday, September 18, 2009

Hard work does pay off with Paizo!

So today is a good ego stroke day, since Paizo was kind enough to write up LPJ Design in their Store Blog! It is nice to know all the hard work that all the people who have done on Pathfinder projects has not been ignore, especially by the folks at Paizo. So thanks for your support of LPJ Design! Talk to you later...

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The face of Erebus of the Brotherhood

It looks like this new artist is going to work out fine. She really does great work and I can't wait to see her do more great artwork on NeoExodus. Talk to you later...

New Headquarters for LPJ Design is days away...

It looks like by this time next week, I will have bought a new house with my own office just for LPJ Design. I can't wait to move in an everything should be up and running by and back to normal by late October / early November. So now I guess I am official adult. Now, that is really scary. I guess this is a great 1st anniversary present for my wife and myself. Talk to you later...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Monday, September 14, 2009

Some new artwork...

Here is some new artwork for the upcoming Enemies of NeoExodus: Brotherhood. We have three of the main villains Erebus, Lo-Dora the Scion of the North Wind & Elon Mournsong. This is our homage to B-list villains who still are quite dangerous becuase the know how to work together. Teamwork works. Talk to you later...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Something an artist might want to pick up...

I saw this online I though it would be something great for my artist friends to pick up. Just thinking of all you hard working artist who need help to make you more productive. Pick up The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics at Amazon.com.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

My name is death and the end is near...

Call Of Duty 4, Meet Star Wars

[NeoExodus] The Brotherhood - Focus on Erebus

With the creation of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, LPJ Design always planned to shift to support that game system since it being so close to 3.5 OGL. While waiting for the Pathfinder GRD, Neal Bailey completed the last 3.5 OGL only NeoExodus: A House Divided product that we would be working called Enemies of NeoExodus: The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood were influenced by B and C level super villains groups that never get the respect they deserve. So with that goal in mind, Let me introduce Erebus.

Erebus
Erebus was not born into the most promising situation. With his father a victim of war and his mother dead of plague, Erebus found himself abandoned and living a dangerous life from a very young age. The existence of a street urchin in the darker alleys of the Dominion is not an easy one, but Erebus always survived - he, along with a small group of other children, served as scouts and burglars for a local thieves’ guild called the Barad Aku (the Black Hand) He had a prodigious talent and was well-loved by the entire guild.

Erebus grew up amongst the thieves and learned their ways, but his heart was always just. He only took what he needed to survive, distributing the rest amongst other orphans who he would take in and train. As he grew into a man, his inherent decency held true – he became a pillar within the Barad Aku and worked to steer it into an upright organization that worked to defend the weaker classes. All this evaporated, however, leaving his life entirely changed after one fateful burglary.

Stealing from wizards is always a risky if rewarding business. The potential gain was great – enormous wealth and a magical horn of plenty that could feed hundreds of poor families. Erebus took it upon himself to obtain these treasures alone, as he was unwilling to endanger any of his underlings in the heist. He traveled to the soaring parapets of the Ajrad Mikurk, the Sky Gardens, and broke in without any difficulties. He slipped into the treasury without a sound, grabbed some jewels and the Horn of Plenty, and was about to leave when an unusual artifact caught his eye - a full-length mirror, clearly steeped in powerful magic. Erebus felt his gaze drawn to it and resisted at first, but eventually chanced a glance. What he saw was himself… himself, but slightly different. He saw his own image, but older and vastly more powerful. Scenes played out where he headed the Barad Aku, helped entire cities, rescued the beleaguered, and saved lives. Yet the scenes were gradually changing. He saw himself aging, and turning away from helping others. Allowing friends to die. Ordering their deaths. Committing murder in cold blood. Horrified by these strange portents, Erebus lashed out and destroyed the mirror, sending shards of magical glass in all directions. Shaken, he gazed down at his bloodied hand, heard the sound of the guard gargoyles approaching, and made his retreat - but not before grabbing a shard of the mirror. He had to know what those images meant, and secretly, somewhere within himself, he had a twinge of desire for the power he had seen.

After the heist, Erebus was hailed as a hero. He made excellent use of the Horn of Plenty, distributing food to the underclass of the entire city. Within months he was ‘elected’ to head the Barad Aku, which he quickly worked to transform into a charitable organization of freedom fighters. Most alarming to him, however, was that the first vision came true. Erebus decided it was time to take the mirror shard to Tarbath, a famous diviner from the Caneus Empire.

Tarbath worked his strange magic over the shard, and came away pale and drawn. “This is a piece of the Mirror of Fate, an artifact believed lost to the sands of time. By gazing into the mirror, a man reveals what fate could hold in store for him. But this mirror is no mere augur; its visions are hints of what a man can accomplish if he were to use its true power – the power to bend his own fate to his heart’s desire.”
Erebus was silent, mulling over the images he saw. He had seen visions of himself as both a savior and a killer.
“Does it create false visions?”
“The visions it creates are neither true nor false. They are merely potentials. A man may see signs in it of both great evil and great good, but ultimately the outcome will be steered by his heart.”
Erebus was relieved by the seer’s words. “Thank you, Tarbath. I don’t yet know what I’ll do with this, but I hope I make the right decision.”
“So do I, Erebus.”

Five years passed. Vision after vision shown in the mirror came to be – Erebus formed a nation-wide network and worked hard to assist the downtrodden. All the while, he found himself gazing into the shard of mirror he kept carefully hidden in his chambers; it showed only the ghostliest of visions now, difficult to decipher.

Soon, a more immediate threat confronted the humble rogue. A local Vizier, Ashra, had outlawed the Barad Aku for acts of grand larceny against the nobility. Erebus knew the only way the Vizier could have discovered that the Barad Aku were behind the thefts was if an informant was in the ranks. Paranoid, Erebus sought out possible leaks. All the while he gazed deeper and deeper into the shard, trying to glean any clue he could find as to who was damaging his organization.

The more he used the artifact, the more its power to affect fate gradually tempted him away from his ideals and closer towards the dark visions he had forseen. He refused to allow the Barad Aku and everything he worked for to fall to ruin. He would use the shard’s power. And so he did.

Erebus altered fate in small ways at first. He arranged a few accidents for those he suspected of undermining the Barad Aku. These people, some personal friends, ‘vanished’ and everything seemed stable for a while, yet his paranoia was showing and the atmosphere in the guild had shifted from “help the less fortunate” into “preserve ourselves”. Even with these efforts, a few accidents were not enough to maintain security and Ashra was capturing members of the Barad Aku. Erebus decided that Ashra himself had to go; with the prophetic powers of the shard, it was all too easy.

Something inside him began to slip. Erebus wanted to be seen as a savior, but he wanted the superiority of a savior as well, he wanted that power to control and command. With the shard in hand, he could control and command fate itself. Even as the Barad Aku continued to function normally on the surface, Erebus’s mood darkened. He became distrustful and concerned that Ashra’s allies would come for him. He believed this so completely that the shard, unfortunately, responded, and one day they did.

Erebus was nothing if not adaptable; he bent fate and made his escape even while the rest of his organization was butchered and burned. Left without a home and under serious threat from the law, Erebus was approached by one of the men who he had hired to ‘vanish’ a few old friends in the Barad Aku – a man who revealed himself to be an unusual spirit named Ram. “You are being called in for your favor now, Erebus,” the creature said. Erebus was cornered and had little ability to resist, and quickly found himself diving deeper into the underworld than he had ever wanted.

Appearance
A thin man of average height, Erebus has close-cropped, black hair, a smooth face, and sharp features. When out on a mission, he usually wears a fine porcelain mask painted dark red, light armor, and a cloak.

In the Brotherhood
Erebus serves as a second in command in the Brotherhood, dealing with stealth training. His skills center around theft and subtle murders within the criminal element itself. Erebus will never be called in to deal with people on the right side of the law.

Personality
Erebus still wants to be seen as the good guy. He gets along very well with Lo-Dora (who he considers a decent person) and Silence (who he treats something like a sidekick or younger brother; he’s been instructing silence in the arts of subterfuge). He still has a lot of good qualities – he’ll help people out, make secret charitable donations, and so on. However, he works as an assassin for the Folding Circle and is well aware that he’s murdering people for dubious reasons. He tries to switch his regret off when he’s on the job and generally succeeds with the help of an increasingly grim, fatalistic philosophy, but when left to his own designs he spends a lot of time brooding and staring into the shard to perchance catch a glimpse of what he might yet become.

Erebus Likes
-Being offered the opportunity to help a good cause (+4 diplomacy)
-People reinforcing or accepting his rationalizations for his actions (+2 diplomacy)

Erebus Hates
-Being taken to task or judged as evil (-4 diplomacy)

Rogue 5 / Assassin 6
Size/Type: Medium humanoid (Human)
Hit Dice (max): 11D6+33 (99)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 24 (+3 armor, +7 dex, +2 deflection, +2 greater dodge), 21 touch, 24 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+8
Attack: Mirrorshard +21 melee (1d6+4+laceration, 19-20/x2)
Full Attack: Mirrorshard +21/+16 melee (1d6+4+laceration/1d6+4+laceration) or Mirrorshard two weapon fighting +19/+19/+16/+14 (1d6+4+laceration, 19-20 x2, all)
Space/Reach: 5 ft / 5 ft
Special Attacks: Death Attack, Dimension Door, Mirrorshard, Mirrorshard Twinning, Sneak attack +6d6, Spells
Special Qualities: Evasion, Greater Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Laceration, Poison Use, +3 saves versus poison, Mirror Images, Ray Deflection, Trapfinding, Shattering Death, Trap Sense +1
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +9, Will +3
Abilities (52 point buy): Str 12, Dex 24 (+2 level, +4 item), Con 16 (+2 item), Int 22 (+4 item), Wis 12, Cha 14
Skills (160): Balance +9, Bluff +14, Concentration +11, Diplomacy +14, Disable Device +19, Disguise +14 (+16 in character), Forgery +16, Gather Information +16 Hide +19, Knowledge (local) +14, Listen +9, Move Silently +19, Search +18, Sleight of Hand +21, Spot +9, Tumble +19
Feats (5): Dodge, Improved Two-weapon fighting, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse (shortsword), Weapon Focus (shortsword)
Environment: NA
Organization: Second in command of the Brotherhood
Challenge Rating: 11
Equipment (66,000 gp): Amulet of Health +2 (4,000), Gloves of Dexterity +4 (16,000), Mask of Intellect +4 (16,000), Mirrorshard (cursed artifact, 21,000), Potion of Haste (750), Padded armor +2 (4,155), Ring of Protection +2 (8,000), Thief’s gear (100)

Racial Abilities
  • Bonus Feat (ex): Humans gain a bonus feat at first level.
  • Bonus skills (ex): Humans gain 4 bonus skill points at first level, and an additional bonus skill point at each subsequent level.
Spells (5/5/2)
3rd – Deep slumber, Misdirection, non-detection
2nd – Darkness, invisibility, pass without trace, spider climb
1st – Disguise self, feather fall, jump, obscuring mist, true strike

Special Attacks
  • Death Attack (ex): After observing a victim for 3 rounds and making a successful sneak attack against them, Erebus can choose to either kill them instantly or paralyze them for 1d6+6 rounds. There is a DC 23 fortitude save to prevent the effect.
  • Dimension Door (su): Erebus can literally use the Mirrorshard to cut a hole in the world, forming a dimension door, as per the spell. This requires a standard action, and is cast as if by an 11th level wizard. Erebus will use this ability to escape if necessary.
  • Mirrorshard (su): This is Erebus’s shard of mirror. It is a potent magical weapon (considered a +3 shortsword), set with a silver pommel. The Mirrorshard allows Erebus, through the power of his belief, to alter fate over long periods of time (this is a powerful background ability and plot point). In combat, it functions in a more limited fashion. The mirrorshard can be called upon to perform any of the following functions as free, immediate actions 1/round at any time (including after rolls are already made).
  • Cause a melee attack with the Mirrorshard to automatically critical. (3/day)
  • Cause a melee attack with the Mirrorshard to automatically hit. (5/day).
  • Cause an incoming attack on Erebus to miss. (5/day).
  • Cause a saving throw made by Erebus to automatically succeed (3/day).

Whenever the Mirrorshard is called upon, it briefly flashes.

  • Mirrorshard Twinning (su): As a swift action, Erebus may command the Mirrorshard to Twin, producing a second, identical weapon in his offhand.

Sneak Attack (su): As per standard sneak attack. +6d6 damage on a flat-footed or flanked opponent.

Special Qualities

  • Evasion (ex): Erebus takes no damage on a successful reflex save.
  • Greater Dodge (ex): Erebus’ extreme agility increases his dodge bonus from dodge to +2, and it is applied to anyone who tries to strike him. This bonus applies at all times.
  • Laceration (ex): The mirrorshard is a brutally sharp weapon, and strikes with it cause the Laceration effect. This is a stacking effect that causes all subsequent attacks with the mirrorshard to deal 1 additional point of damage. Laceration is removed when the sufferer is healed to full.
  • Mirror Images (sp): As a standard action, Erebus can manifest 3 mirror images around himself. These mirror images are unlike those created by the Mirror Image spell. Each has 10 hit points and the same armor class, movement, saving throws, special qualities (except shattering death), and BaB as Erebus himself. Each can make the same number of attacks per round at the same attack bonus, but their attacks only deal 1 damage under regular circumstances. However, they cause and are affected by the laceration effect. Additionally, Erebus can flank with them, but the mirror images cannot sneak attack. Whenever a mirror image is destroyed it breaks and fades away, causing Erebus to regain 10 hit points.
  • Ray Deflection (ex): Any ray or beam attacks cast on Erebus are automatically reflected back upon their caster by the power of the Mirrorshard.
  • Shard Attunement (su): For better or for worse, the Mirrorshard has become attuned to Erebus and cannot be separated from him. Any attempt to disarm the shard or grasp it has a similar result – horrible laceration of the person interfering with the shard (4d6 damage +2 bleed damage per round until magically healed), and the shard stays in Erebus’ hand.
  • Shattering Death (su): If Erebus is killed, he collapses into hundreds of shards of razor-sharp, scintillating glass. This causes 8d6 damage to all within a 10 foot burst of Erebus. Each shard features a frozen image of a younger Erebus as he first gazed into the mirror.
  • Uncanny Dodges (ex): Erebus retains his dexterity bonus to armor class when flat footed. Additionally, he cannot be flanked, and may not be sneak attacked except by rogues of 15th level or greater.

In Combat
Erebus is deadly serious and doesn’t fight for sport. He will only fight if he’s trying to kill someone and does his level best to make an escape after the job is done. He is a calculating genius and never gets into a fray without some type of ace up his sleeve. Any fight with him is a losing situation for the opposition unless they manage to catch him unawares – something that is not very likely.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

update Phoenix Guard Artwork!!!

Looking good! This is just a typical Phoenix Guard soldier. I can wait to see the high ranking leaders and important NPCs. This is going to be a lot of fun. Talk to you later...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Sometimes you have to do it for the money!!!

In this tough ecomony sometimes you have to whore yourself out to make ends meet. Look what Kid of famed rap duo Kid N Play had to do. I am sorry Kid and don't forget to save those paychecks!

Insurrection seems to be taking shape...

By this time next week, I plan to have a few HUGE announcements about Insurrection: The Rise of the Phoenix Guard, but today I can tell you that the complete adventure series will be at least 10 adventures in length minimum with the possibility of being 18 adventures in total. I guess with that many adventures it would make it an epic campaign. So if you are a fan of NeoExodus: A House Divided, or the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game then you are about to get some very happy news. Talk to you later...