Tuesday, January 31, 2012

45 Days until the start of Origin of Man NeoExodus Adventure Kickstarter Project

While I am waiting for some artwork to come it and a few things to get settled on the Quartermaster's Handbook, I decided to start the countdown to our next Kickstarter project, the NeoExodus: A House Divided adventure, Origin of Man.  While we can't give away all the cool stuff that we have planned in this adventure, I will say that you will get a chance to meet (Did I say meet?) some of the most dangerous species that exist on Exodus Created by the First Ones, the Locari. The original pitch that JP for this adventure was great and only help expand the highly interesting and unique setting of NeoExodus.  So start saving you money and get it ready to donate.  This is going to be a lot of fun.  Talk to you later...


Ultimate Psionic Decks: Blank Psionic Power Cards for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Louis Porter Jr. Design has released Ultimate Spell Decks: Blank Spell Cards for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game at RPGNow.com and DriveThruRPG.com.  Here is information on this product:

Wish you didn't have to flip through books or searching PDFs every time you want to use a psionic power?  You can't see to remember the range, duration or Save of a psionic power off the top of your head?  Wish you could introduce unique and new psionic powers to your campaigns in an easy format.  Help is coming for you in the form of Ultimate Psionic Decks: Blank Psionic Power Cards. For use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game players and GMs!  Ultimate Psionic Decks: Blank Psionic Power Cards are printable forms for players and GMs alike which makes managing a psionic simple and easy.  Now your storehouse of psionic power will fit right in the palm of your hand with these easy to use, convenient psionic power decks. Find some psionic powers you like from 3rd Party Publishers and list that information, relevant rules and description on each blank card. Get way to add to a psionic user’s arsenal for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.  If you play a psionic weilder and like 3rd Party Publishers spells, then you have to have this product.  Created by LPJ Design.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Don't you wish you could get blank psionic cards for Pathfinder game...

So when Pathfinder was released many people asked about Psionic for the rules set and Paizo can in with the mind set that not one at the company championed the rules set so most likely it would not be covered. And with that in steps Dreamscarred Press. The had highly successfully supported psionics for 3.5 OGL so doing it for Pathfinder was a normal transition.  Dreamscarred Press released Psionics Unleashed as their start of support of Pathfinder and have continued on with several more products.  We LPJ Design have also supported them with the release of NeoExodus Chronicles: Psionic Cavian and Secret Societies of NeoExodus: Section Omega. So it was only natural to start supporting them with our PDF Ultimate Decks lines. So expect to see this and many more psionic based products on sale in the very near future to help our Pathfinder Psionic friends out there.  Talk to you later...

Friday, January 27, 2012

Origin of Man rolls on to the direction of artwork...

As always with Kickstarter projects, you have to do some advance planning to make sure you can maximize your opportunity for funding.  One of the most important pieces that I believe helps funding is the visuals and images you choose.  The old adage of one picture is worth a thousand words still holds true in this day and age.  Putting together the right combination of visuals can only help sell the experience you are looking to fund.  Right now I am working on getting artwork for project with lots on cool actions shots of the Locari doing very Locari type things, which basically means killing PCs in all kinds of extremely violent ways.  Plus we are going to have make several head shot images of the important NPCs for the adventure. Personally I like dong head shots, especially in color.  It is a great way to add color to a project while at the same time keeping cost down relatively speaking.  Why do you think you see all those head shots in Paizo products.  Better yet you then can make a deck of NPC images from those heads shots images.  You get to use the same image several times which actually brings  down the cost of the images as a whole.  Just something to think about when your putting together your next art budget.  Talk to you later..

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Ultimate Spell Decks: Player Companion Spell Cards for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Ultimate Spell Decks: Player Companion Spell Cards for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game coming soon to RPGNow.com and Paizo.com.

Wish you didn't have to flip through books or searching PDFs every time you want to cast a spell?  You can't see to remember the range, duration or Save of a spell off the top of your head?  Wish you could introduce unique and new spells to your campaigns in an easy format.  Help is coming for you in the form of Ultimate Spell Decks: Player Companion Spell Cards. For use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game players and GMs!  Ultimate Spell Decks: Player Companion Spell Cards are printable forms for players and GMs alike which makes managing a spellbook simple and easy.  Now your storehouse of magical power will fit right in the palm of your hand with these easy to use, convenient spell decks. Each card contains the significant and relevant rules and description of a different spellcaster's arsenal for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.  If you play using the spells from the Pathfinder Player Companion books, then you have to have this product.  Created by LPJ Design.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Machinesmith development rolls along...



We have been working on the Machinesmith base class for the upcoming Quartermaster's Handbook for the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting, and it looks like this little base class has expanded to now include the original base class, a prestige class (the name of this prestige class is pending) and a few archetypes to go along with it.  I have also send over this cover as inspiration for the artist to do the character design for this class. The best part about working on this has been putting it up on the Paizo website and getting input back from the Pathfinder fan base.  It can't be said enough, they are the reason Pathfinder is doing so well and their acceptance of 3PP is awe inspiring.  I am hoping to have the latest version of the Machinesmith availbale on line by this weekend. So come over to the Paizo messageboards and give is you ideas and comments on it.  Every little bit helps us make the best products possible.  Talk to you later...

Animated Justice League: Doom Trailer

Monday, January 23, 2012

We did it! The Free RPG Day NeoExodus Adventure for Pathfinder RPG Kickstarter Project is funded!!!

I have to admit, there were times that I thought we were not going to make it, but we did.  I am happy to say that we have completely funded our Free RPG Day NeoExodus Adventure for Pathfinder!  I would like to thank everyone who supported LPJ Design through this project.  So what does this mean now that the project us completely funded? It means on Free RPG Day you will be able to have access to ANOTHER FREE Pathfinder adventure; Undying Legacy of the First Ones; placed in the setting of NeoExodus: A House Divided at your local neighborhood gaming stores that participate in this event.  I have to thank every one over at Jon Brazer Enterprises for being the inspiration for doing this proejct. I would also like to than Steve Russell At Rite Publishing who really helped me understand what made using Kickstarter different from releasing a regular product.  I would like to thank the fans of Pathfinder who supported up by donating to this project so they could help expose more people to Pathfinder, especially to a 3rd Party Publisher like me.  I could not have do this without your love and support. We have already send out our first email to donors and they can expect to see many more int he future with lots of cool stuff for Pathfinder and NeoExodus.

Now with all this excitement for getting our first successful Kickstarter project, we at LPJ Design have decided to do ANOTHER kickstarter project starting March 15th. The Origin of Man NeoExodus Adventure for Pathfinder will be an adventure for level 3rd - 5th. Here is the quick blurb on it:


The Armans and the Nasians share a number of common traits. They are taller and share the characteristic blonde hair. However they live on opposite sides of NeoExodus. One man thinks he holds the key to proving that both share common ancestry. All he needs is a group of adventurers to escort him. What's the worst that can happen...

So get your donations ready for March 15th for more NeoExodus excitement and adventure.  Talk to you later...


Thursday, January 19, 2012

More stolen good ideas from the video game industry to use for table top RPG companies...

Here are some videos of DLC (Downloadable Content if you didn't know) for various video games that would work well for tabletop RPG companies to think about doing as marketing add-ons for their big ticket items like a setting projects.  We have done this with the Psionic Cavian race release and Races of Obsidian Twilight: Uzamati for example. Small little cool items that we planned to release witht he original prodct but not may have fit that make a great add-on. Just something to think about for the future when you are working.  Talk to you later...



Sex & Violence in comic books, say it isn't so!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Working on stone monkeymen for Xao: Island of Iron and Silk


So I have been kicking around ideas of what races we are going to have in Xao and I keep coming back to the same place.  Stone monkeymen with sticky lava for a breath weapon.  I KNOW these sound more like a monster or NPC then a PC race, BUT I can’t get them out of my mind.  You can blame JP Chapleau and Igoo from theHerculoids for all for this. I like the concept of them. I like that they have sticky lava breath weapon.  I like it even more they can’t swim (no buoyancy, they are mad out of stone) and they live AKA trapped on this island.  You then add light powered P’Tan (Yes we do need another name for them) and Khaynites who have taken over the island and hidden it from the rest of Exodus (which means they have been in control of this hidden island since the defeat of the First Ones) and it only get crazier from there.  Add some cool Central & Southeast Asian influences in here and we can have a lot of fun here.   Lots of cool ideas with Xao now I have to work on the updated outline for this.  Talk to you later…

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

We made our Free RPG Day kickstarter goal, now on to the threshold goals!


We have been able to reach our donation goal to create a free NeoExodus: A House Divided adventure, Undying Legacy of the First Ones, for the Pathfinder rule set for Free RPG Day. We have decided to raise the stakes and offer even more prizes.  With only FIVE DAYS LEFT, we still have hopes to raise additional donation to add even more interesting rewards to this project.  So please stop by our Free RPG Day NeoExodus Adventure for PathfinderRPG Kickstarter project and donate.  Even if it is a dollar, that will help us to give the best free RPG product for fans of Pathfinder.  We need your help and there isn’t a lot of time left.  Please donate! 

Monday, January 16, 2012

We did it!!! We made our goal for our Kickstarter project!!!


We did it!!! We made our goal!!!

I would like to thank everyone who supported LPJ Design on doing this kickstarter project. We are very glad to know that we will be able to share the excitement of Pathfinder to even more people with Free RPG Day.  Better still, we have 6 more days until this officially closes and we hope to raise even more money on this porject which in turn we will gain some of the additional threshold goals that we placed for ourselves.  Thank you for your support of getting us here! Support the cause! Support 3rd Party Publishers of Pathfinder!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

2nd 4-star review for NeoExodus: A House Divided Campaign Setting

Looks like NeoExodus: A House Divided Campaign Setting is moving in the right direction with it's second 4-star review. And here is the line that really says it all for me:

Overall an inspired product that I would recommend as a new campaign or (as I plan to do) an add-on to an existing campaign. The rpg community needs fresh ideas and concepts, which push the bounds of the "norm". And this pdf does just that. A solid effort.

Talk to you later...

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I was interviewed for

I was interviewed by Gamer Lifestyle about the Kickstarter project we currently raising money for to create Undying Legacy of the First Ones. Read the interview here and enjoy! Talk to you later...

Friday, January 13, 2012

We don't make bits you play with, we build worlds you play in...


When we first came out supporting Pathfinder, we started doing the same things we did when working on 3.5 OGL. We made small / short PDFs that focused on feats or spells or magic items or whatever.  These things are great to get people interested in you as a company while at the same time generating some quick cash. This is one of the tactics that I used to grow very large, very quickly in the PDF world.  It’s a solid business strategy and it works well. Except that you only have “bits” of something.  Just little bits and pieces of something. Now it is not a bad thing, but it is just a small bits of something, often not connected in anyway. 

When doing NeoExodus for Pathfinder is started with this same plan in mind, make small bits and then build the world.  But it the middle of discussing what people would want to see in the the setting I decided that doing small PDF for NeoExodus may not do as well due to the story we are trying to build with the setting. So we decided to change up ore business focus a little bit.  We made the monsters for the setting short small PDFs (5 of less pages), while the other source material like adventures and sourcebooks would be medium sized (at least 12 pages) sized PDFs.  Making this change made doing NeoExodus a little more risky, but in the longer term for the setting it would be the best business move. 

Right now, with the excitement of Pathfinder picking up, there are more and more 3PP coming into the arena with them focusing on smallPDFs to gain interest in their company.  In this day and age I would not even waste time like that.  If you are a small start up 3PP, I would focus on medium sized PDF and give small short PDF away for free at RPGNow / DriveThruRPG / One Book Shelf, but NOT at Paizo.  The reason for this is on RPGNow / DriveThruRPG / One Book Shelf you get direct access to the email address to people who give free products away to. While on Paizo you don’t get that. Getting the ability to potentially connect with a future customer is AMAZINGLY powerful and should be exploited.  Better yet giving it away from free reduces the risk to the purchaser and if they like it makes it easier for them to be customers in the future.  So when you get to the size of LPJ Design with over 500 products, you can make worlds that people play in, being long term customers and not worry about fighting over the scraps of the bits that people can play with. Only dogs worry about scraps.  Talk to you later…


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Playtesting for the Machinesmith base class for NeoExodus

So the last few days over at the Paizo messageboard we have showing off the new playtest version of the Machinesmith base class for the upcoming Quartermaster's Handbook for NeoExodus: A House Divided. So if you you want to comment, make changes or even suggest something better, just let us know. We want to know so we can create the best products on the 3PP for Pathfinder market. Thanks for the help. Talk to you later...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Marketing and selling strategies I like Mass Effect Pre-Ordering

Here is something that might surprise you to know, I don’t have a video game system to play video games on. I don’t even have any games on my home personal computer. Not Skyrim. No KOTOR. No Splinter Cell. Nothing. But anyone who knows me that I spend A LOT of time watching video game trailers. I LOVE game trailers and the business strategies that companies use to get you interested in their products. One of my favorite video game series to watch is Mass Effect. They know how to make a trailer. Something else they know how to make is a cross over marketing strategy for two products for example The Mass Effect / Dragon Age cross over marketing:



Better yet, I love when the do the Pre-order special with Gamestop like these:








So after looking at all these video I am thinking, why aren’t RPG companies doing pre-order specials like these? Just something to think about. Talk to you later…

Monday, January 9, 2012

My comment on WOTC and 5E Dungeons and Dragons...

My feeling on WOTC and 5E Dungeons and Dragons are similar to my ex-girl friends; What do I care what they do, our relationship is over and I have moved on.  Talk to you later...

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Only 2 weeks left and less than $350 from our Kickstarter goal


Here we are in the last two weeks of our Free RPG DayNeoExodus Adventure for Pathfinder RPG Kickstarter project with just under $350 to go to get funded.  I hope that those who have not donated yet take a second out to donate to this project. It only means good things for Free RPG Day and the Pathfinder RPG since we will be able to not only provide all new free adventures to players, but we get to expand the influence of Pathfinder to more fans. With Paizo doing MMO and comic books the influence of Pathfinder is only getting biggest and LPJ Design wants to help grow that influence. So go now and donate for this project. Support the cause! Support 3PP of Pathfinder!  Talk to you later…

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Review and playtest our upcoming Machinesmith base class for NeoExodus: A House Divided

So we need you help. Take a second and head over to the Paizo messageboards and read our playtest our upcoming Machinesmith base class for NeoExodus: A House Divided. Please feel free to comment in the thread of what you like, don't things we should change and things you would not change.  Thanks for you help with this. Talk to you later...

Friday, January 6, 2012

Two upcoming projects for NeoExodus: A House Divided

Just because we have been focusing on our Kickstarter project doesn't mean we have not been working on more new NeoExodus products. Here are the covers of two projects that well be releasing soon. In addition, I am still waiting to get back the new base class, Machinesmith soon that will need to be playtested.  So as always we are busy, busy and more busy.  Talk to you later...



Thursday, January 5, 2012

Only 17 days left on our Free RPG Day Kickstarter project!

I must say that this is the exciting part of this whole Kickstarter process.  We are very close to meeting out goal with only 17 days left.  I am hoping we can raise higher then the amount we have asked for to add on some fun threshold goals that we have planned.  So if you could do us a favor and stop by and donate some money to this project. Every little bit helps and best of all, this will give us the ability to help spread the excitement of Pathfinder to more people.  So as always, thanks for the help and support!

Wish you had a free sheet for your Animal Companion, Cohort, Eidolon, Familiar, etc…


We at LPJ Design have just created a record sheet for Animal Companion, Cohort, Eidolon, Familiar, Followers, Mount, Summoned Monster, etc in addition to the other the other freebie sheet we have created for fans of Pathfinder. So stop on by, read our post, grab a few of the NeoExodus freebies and enjoy yourself.  You have earned it.  Thanks for your support. Support the cause! Support 3rd Party Publishers of Pathfinder!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

LPJ Design Business Judo: DC Comics' Second Feature Idea and how LPJ Design used it


On November 16, 2009 I wrote a blog post called DC Comics'Second Feature Idea. So with this basic idea I used it to do something similar with it the NeoExodus product line.  For example we have Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle and connect with that product we have Heroes of NeoExodus: Brelin Swift.  This was my first attempt of doing a Second Chance for LPJ Design.  It was an easy way to make one product into two. Better yet this gave me the opportunity to sell the same products two different ways: as separated products or and joined bundled product.  Each product has its own separate price but if you purchase the bundle, you get them both for the same price as the larger product. So fans of NeoExodus can purchase the bundle and save money. While first timer customers can “test us out” by purchasing the “Second Chance” product first at the lower cost and if they like it they can purchase the larger, more expensive add-on. 

 I am also planning to do something similar to this when we start releasing new products for NeoExodus. One big book with a smaller book attached to it.  While it is not a revolutionary idea, it is proven and one that does work. While DC Comics might have stopped using it due to the rising cost of printing, since I am digital based it really cost me nothing to do, helps lower the production cost on a product and makes LPJ Design more streamlined and profitable. And that is what is best for up long term.  Talk to you later…

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

LPJ Design Business Judo: Doing the Clockworker right for NeoExodus


 A few weeks ago, we at LPJ Design were also discussing about adding a steampunk influenced class to the NeoExodus setting since the Arman Protectorate with their golems and warmachines seemed having it only logical.  While in the middle of our discussion, Headless Hyrda Games came up with the product the Clockworker.  This was a class they were looking to use in their Mor Aldenn setting to add the genre of steampunk to their setting.  This was perfect for us.  This would give us a chance to see what the Pathfinder fanbase wanted to so, compare some good ideas based on what they did and what worked and what didn’t. Initially it got some 4 and 5 star reviews that got me very interested, but then there were some comments on the Paizoboard that got me little worried about this actual quality of the product.  But then the one name in reviews that I always trust, Thilo Graf, commented on the product giving it a 2 star review

Now I have been on the receiving end of Thilo Graf 2 starreview many times (hard but honest and fair reviewing) so that was enough to interest me to purchase the product.  Now while there were issues, I did find enough quality material to see where the designer was going and what they wanted to do.  So based on the work that was done, the reviews and commentary, I decided that we would use the Clockworker as our guide to create our "steampunk" influenced class.  

While I like steampunk as a genre and concept, I never really though it made sense in a magic based setting.  So instead of focusing the “steampunk” quality of it, I wanted to focus on the engineering and scientific methodology of the technology as the magical element.  I was inspired by the Marvel comic series S.H.I.E.L.D. which focuses on the great scientific minds in Earth's history including Galileo Galilei, Leonardo Da Vinci and Nikola Tesla as the basis for the story, in turn as a basis for this new class. And with the quote from Authur C. Clark, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I knew this would be great for the creation our new base class, the Machinesmith.

Best of all with using the Clockworker’s OGL material as the basis of the Machinesmith class I could avoid a few of the missteps that were discovered during it first draft that Headless Hydra Games release.  Sometimes it’s better to be second.  Talk to you later…

Monday, January 2, 2012

A new year with an absolute focus on LPJ Design


2011 was a good year. I am happy for what happened in LPJ Design business wise. We did as well as I expected.  Released most of the products we said we would. All in all, a good year for us.
But 2012 is going to be different. 2012 is going to be an AMAZING year for us.

The reason that is it going to be an AMAZING year for LPJ Design comes down to one little phrase: When in doubt, proceed.

Last year I was worried and doubted a lot of things when I was making products.  I let my fear hold me back on what I was going to do, how I was going to do it and what I was not going to do. Never make decides out of fear. It is a time waster and only slows you down from making the right decision. 

So in the year of 2012 we are living the idea of when in doubt, proceed.  That mean things I might have said or done out of fear and safety last year are now null and void.  It means LPJ Design is ramping up what we do.  It means we are going to do a many things that are going to shock, surprise and amaze a lot of you out there.  We are going to cross the lines we said we wouldn’t. We are going to take on people you never thought we would. We are going to team-up with the last people you would expect we would. If we hear about a good idea, no matter where it is from, and we think when can use it then we are going to use it. We are killing any and all sacred cows that we once held. Nothing is safe. Better yet if it is safe, then it is dead to us.  Deadly precession is what LPJ Design is going to be now.   The next quest you have to ask is where do you think LPJ Design is going to start with?  

When in doubt, proceed.

Talk to you later…

Sunday, January 1, 2012