The one of the greatest TRULY resourceful PDF books that LPJ Design put out has to be the Race Creation Cookbook. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! The reason I made it was NOT to help people make balanced races, it was created to help ME make more balanced races. Any race that I made before having this books was WAY overpowered. They were basically silly and I knew it. So I decided that I need a book like this and, in turn, figured other people might find this book very useful also. With that idea and a little sweat, a few month later, we have the Race Creation Cookbook. This book was so important to me, that when Paizo released Pathfinder, I updated it with a Pathfinder version. So you can see, I am a real fan of this book.
But I got some BAD NEW from PaizoCon that looks like they book days are really numbered. Pazio announced they are doing a Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder. This is the write up for this product:
This definitive sourcebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game provides tons of new character options for all seven “core” player character races, from archetypes that allow elf characters to explore their connection to nature and magic to feats and spells that let a dwarf character carry on the legacy of his multi-generational clan or a gnome explore her connection to the First World or delve deep into her weird obsessions.
Additionally, the Advanced Race Guide offers meaty sections on a dozen “spotlight” races that make interesting and exciting player character options, such as goblins, aasimar, tieflings, dhampyrs, drow, the elemental races from Bestiary 2, and several others.
All PC-appropriate monster races in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including creatures from all three Bestiaries and The Inner Sea World Guide, receive race options equivalent to those presented for the core races in the Core Rulebook, for the first time allowing players to create and play characters like merfolk, grippli, duergar, stryx, and every other appropriate monster currently in the Pathfinder game.
Lastly, the Advanced Race Guide includes an extensive section that allows players and GMs to build their own custom races, either to emulate more powerful creatures that already exist in the game or to create wholly original characters unique to their campaign. This section will be the focus of Paizo’s next major Open Playtest effort, which will kick off in late fall 2011.
It's that last paragrapgh that has me a LITTLE MORE than worried. When Paizo releases this and it becomes the "official" Race Creation Cookbook, my original is going to suffer a serious slow down in sales. Well at least it's good to know I am a head of the curve on product planning compared to Paizo, at least in some areas. The Advanced Race Guide will not be coming out until April 2012, so It still gives me some time to make sales on such a good proejct that has sold well for me over seven years. Well played Paizo. Talk to you later...
But I got some BAD NEW from PaizoCon that looks like they book days are really numbered. Pazio announced they are doing a Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder. This is the write up for this product:
This definitive sourcebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game provides tons of new character options for all seven “core” player character races, from archetypes that allow elf characters to explore their connection to nature and magic to feats and spells that let a dwarf character carry on the legacy of his multi-generational clan or a gnome explore her connection to the First World or delve deep into her weird obsessions.
Additionally, the Advanced Race Guide offers meaty sections on a dozen “spotlight” races that make interesting and exciting player character options, such as goblins, aasimar, tieflings, dhampyrs, drow, the elemental races from Bestiary 2, and several others.
All PC-appropriate monster races in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including creatures from all three Bestiaries and The Inner Sea World Guide, receive race options equivalent to those presented for the core races in the Core Rulebook, for the first time allowing players to create and play characters like merfolk, grippli, duergar, stryx, and every other appropriate monster currently in the Pathfinder game.
Lastly, the Advanced Race Guide includes an extensive section that allows players and GMs to build their own custom races, either to emulate more powerful creatures that already exist in the game or to create wholly original characters unique to their campaign. This section will be the focus of Paizo’s next major Open Playtest effort, which will kick off in late fall 2011.
It's that last paragrapgh that has me a LITTLE MORE than worried. When Paizo releases this and it becomes the "official" Race Creation Cookbook, my original is going to suffer a serious slow down in sales. Well at least it's good to know I am a head of the curve on product planning compared to Paizo, at least in some areas. The Advanced Race Guide will not be coming out until April 2012, so It still gives me some time to make sales on such a good proejct that has sold well for me over seven years. Well played Paizo. Talk to you later...
Back when I wrote the first of the Race Creation Cookbooks, it was the most challenging design project I'd ever undertaken, and a lot of the design was based on intuition and a kind of forward-momentum guesswork. I haven't ever gone back to it to see what I'd do differently now. I'd also be curious to know what you've changed in the many moons and several editions since then.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Paizo is going to reference your book in their book's OGL.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry too much about it. Sales will slow, but the OGL movement has enough room for two- you'll still get a few sales each week from people who want a different take than Paizo's or feel you did the job better. Me, I'd make your Race Creation Cookbook a loss leader- deeply discount it for the next few months, and then make it a free product with lots of publicity when the Paizo playtest begins. Steal a bit of their thunder....
ReplyDeleteMy take on Paizo's new book is that it is very Golarion-heavy. The main reason I'd buy it is for the race creation section at the back--but then I have to pay for all the Golarion stuff I don't really want. The Race Creation Cookbook is nice and generic--and way cheaper than what Paizo's book will cost.
ReplyDeleteJust remember that Paizo can not cover everything in their race guide. I know you and others are more than clever enough to fill in those holes. Don't look at it as the end of a product look at it as a way to evolve.
ReplyDelete