Maybe I should turn Pirates of the Bronze Sky over to a freelance writer so I can focus on NeoExodus?

With NeoExodus: A House Divided taking such a focus in my head, I might have to turn over the duties of Pirates of the Bronze Sky to a writer / editor / project manager team like the Werecabbages. Of course I would deal with the graphic design of the project but I would turn everything else over to someone else.  I have done this before on a few projects and I found it to be quite helpful and the fans seem to like it. But only when the project manager had a lot of experience in the are of product development and management.  I don't know.  I am going to have to think this over. Talk to you later...

[NeoExodus: A House Divided] The Phoenix Guard sketch

Just so you know, I am going a head with the character design work for the Phoenix Guard soldier for the "hopeful" upcoming adventure series, Insurrection: The Rise of the Phoenix Guard. I am hoping to get the Werecabbages working on this and making out own adventure path series out of it. It still is in the deverlopment stages, but I don't care I think this is going to be BIG and COOL so just hang on. Coming soon ... maybe. Talk to you later.

Six months without an update at the Werecabbages website...WTF????

Everyones know how I feel about the Werecabbages and the quality of work they do. If you don't, I think they are perfect and great to work with. If you are not using them, then you should. BUT...there is on thing that really pisses me off about them. They have not updated their website in 6 months. Do I really need to say more than that? Talk to you later...

LPJ Design 2008 Third Quarter Report

The third quarter of 2008 is over, and it is an even more hectic time for RPG publishers of both 4E and OGL. 4E has been selling for a few months and the GSL was release, rejected by the publisher and taken back to be “revised”. While all this has been going on, LPJ Design has been doing what we do best, putting out all kinds of new products for its OGL fans and customers.

The second Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series; The Undead Chronicles; has been released with the first three adventures receiving excellent reviews from several of the major 3E and OGL blogs websites and specifically at RPGNow.com with its five out of five star review by Peter Ingham. The high interest level, excitement altitude in this adventure series has propelled it into one of the best selling adventure series on the OGL PDF market today. While most would be satisfied with all this going on, LPJ Design is kicking it up a notch working hard on the third Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series; Empire of Tears. As with the first and second series, this one looks to be another superstar in the making. With all the great work Werecabbage Publishing has done on this with series, lead by the amazing leadership of Line Editor Greg Oppedisano, the Sidetrek Adventure Weekly brand is a continued success.

In addition, the collection print-on-demand version of the first Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series Sidetrek Adventure Weekly Present: The Trodoon Gate Saga has been a great seller at our Lulu.com store.

On the NeoExodus: A House Divided front, we had a “slow” period with only 5 product releases. The two most recent releases; Races of NeoExodus: P’Tan and Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle; have both received four out of five star reviews at RPGNow.com from Nathan Collins. With the release of Races of NeoExodus: P’Tan, longtime LPJ Design writer, Joshua Cole returns to the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting. Joshua Cole’s work on the campaign setting has been invaluable and with the several new projects planned like Lexicon Chronicles: Arcane Intelligence, Monsters of NeoExodus: Dragons and the upcoming book of evil for the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting, Forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Woe. These products should be hitting the digital shelves of RPGNow.com very soon.

With all this new excitement we have also brought the incredible artwork of Jason Walton to this fantasy punk setting. Jason Walton well known to LPJ Design fans as the original artist for the Haven: City of Violence Setting. It is great once again to be working with him again.

On the 4E front, LPJ Design has tested the gaming waters of 4E with the release of the free Initiative Cards: 4E. The Initiative Cards: 4E has proven to be a winner with fans and with that we expanded this idea with the release of Initiative Cards: 4E Custom Version. This version comes with a limited licensing agreement, that this resource can be used by RPG publishers in any of their upcoming RPG ideas or projects and use the Initiative Cards: 4E Custom Version in any of their own products as if they owned it them. With so many 4E publisher hitting the RPG PDF market daily we are planning to expand our limited licensing agreement products and line with lots of great product that will help 1st time publisher not only save money but make the right entrance in the PDF market.

With the third quarter completed, LPJ Design looks forward to the fourth quarter, better known as the “Holiday Season” with a lot of great RPG releases, monthly One Day Sales; including the once a year Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale; and some great free product releases. The first three quarters have been solid in helping grow business for LPJ Design and this fourth quarter looks to be no different. Thanks for your support and check out our online store at http://lpjdesign.rpgnow.com.

5 Star Review for The Blood Rush...

Read it here! The Werecabagges are doing a great job on all the Sidetrek Adeventure Weekly work. Talk to you later...

LPJ Design 2008 First Quarter Report

What a great year we are already off to! Our first quarter of 2008 has been a great improvement over last year and each month of these first three months, LPJ Design has had an average 5% month-over-month increase in sales, even with some fans waiting for 4E release.

The Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series has been a qualified success! The first series has done so well for LPJ Design, that we have already started and released the second Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series; The Undead Chronicles. There has been a great interest in The Undead Chronicles plus with such well know and respected writers like Nicholas Logue, Adam Daigle and Tim & Eileen Connors, only helps solidify the series as the premiere 3.5/OGL adventure and module path series on the market today.

We are also proud to announce that Neal Bailey has been hired to the position of Line Editor to the NeoExodus: A House Divided gaming line. Neal well known RPG companies including Fifth Element Games, Old Kingdom Games and RPGObjects, in addition to his work on the Race Creation Cookbook and the Prestige Class Creation Cookbook for us. Neal has been a fan of the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting since day one and it seemed a perfect match for both of us. With Neal at the helm, we have already set up several all-new projects for NeoExodus: A House Divided including Enemies of NeoExodus: The Folding Circle, Lexicon Chronicles: Arcane Intelligences and Lexicon Chronicles: Lazarus Brand. Look for these projects over the next few upcoming months.

LPJ Design has also been listening to our fans and supporters and we have made business alliance with several of the well-known and respected d20/OGL companies on the market to create the best products possible. With that, when you get the PDF version of Wolfgang Baur’s Kobold Quarterly #4, you will receive the FREE BONUS GIFT of Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle – Brothers-In-Arms. Brothers-In-Arms is a 9-page supplement focusing on 2 NPC associates of the upcoming Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle, which reveals the history of the greatest and most powerful criminal/terrorist organization in the setting. So if you are interested in NeoExodus: A House Divided and Kobold Quarterly, now is your time!

Even with all this, we have even greater plans for products in this upcoming quarter. Once again thanks to everyone support of LPJ Design and Devil’s Workshop!

Paizo changes the game...

I looks like WOTC has accidently created a new opponent for themselves. Paizo in a little statement made yesterday, has decided to stick with the 3.5 OGL license and support it with their upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game which will have the 3.5 rules in a printed for that people can pick up after WOTC stops selling the 3.5 edition of the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master Guide. Best of all Paizo has hired Werecabbage writer superstar Nick Logue to be in charge of thier organized play campaign called Pathfinder Society.

What does this mean business-wise? Well you have a company that has the manpower, knowledge and fan base to create viable products for the 3.5 license, for those that are staying, on a regular basis and best of all due to their previous relationship with WOTC they had access to tons of marketing material from WOTC on how to reach WOTC customer base. But best of all, Paizo don't need to sell any where near the HIGH number WOTC has to sell for 4.0 to be a success. What happens of WOTC sell only 80% of the amount it plans to sell? Hell, even 10% loss of sales could be an issue for them. Just having 10% of WOTC market is a HUGE amount of money!!!! Do I think Paizo can do it? I don't know, but this is the right first step. Talk to you later...

Split up my workload...

Right now I am splitting myself over the workload of LPJ Design, RPG Publisher and Louis Porter Jr. Freelance Comic Book Writer. LPJD is doing fine right now with the great work from Greg and the WereCabbages so I can focus on comic book work. I have a few scripts that I am finishing and getting ready to submit. Plus I am doing more research on my Comic Book Dream Project. And I still have everything going on with the wedding too. My life is a whirlwind of excitement right now. Talk to you later...

Still waiting on a cover..

I am still waiting on the cover for Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #5. I hate waiting, but the good news is that I do have the cover in for Tim Hitchcock's NeoExodus: A House Divided Adventure, Three Sides of the Truth. I plan to release it this week BEFORE I head off to MegaCon. So stay tuned. Talk to you later...

Three Sides of the Truth

About 9 months, Tim Hitchcock of the Werecabbages did and adevnture for NeoExodus: A House Divided called Three Sides of the Truth. The adventure was very intersted with a lot of twists and turns in the adventure. I though it would definately help sell the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting to more people. But all it needed was new cover art (we were using a variation of this cover art for placement) and the maps done. So I plut this on the "back burner" until I could find art and maps. Fast forward 9 month, well it finally looks like I found an artist for the cover (see the image here), and I have done the majority of the maps myself. So it looks like FINALLY, Three Sides of the Truth will be released in March some time. Here is a quick write-up on the adventure. Enjoy:

Throughout the civilized nations of Exodus, the Imperial Alliance provides a neutral forum for political negotiations, diplomatic relations, and international trade. While they have made incredible steps towards keeping peace and unifying the empire, breaking down longstanding racial and political tensions between the varied nations remains a difficult task.

To placate social unrest in its most volatile regions, the Alliance initiated an outreach program based on the construction of protasylums, independent settlements governed by Alliance consulates and mostly occupied by Alliance troops. Protasylums have become crucial in Alliance efforts to bring resolution to the war-torn nations of Abbaddon, Cordel, and Sametia. These three vehemently opposed nations border along a fertile and heavily populated stretch of land divided by the Abbaddon River known as the Axis Region. To help ease hostilities, the Alliance built one of their largest protasylums to date, known as Protasylum-Six. The settlement has grown rapidly and spawned several large ghettos representing the region’s vast ethnic diversity.

Recently, resource shortages caused by the repeated caravan strikes of desert clan raiders has caused industry to suffer, and the settlement is wallowing in wake of unemployment and increased criminal activity. Hardest hit were the hundreds of disenfranchised youth who came seeking jobs under the Alliances free-trade edicts. Anti-Alliance gangs solicit many of these youths to serve as frontline terrorists and street soldiers opposed to foreign occupation or participants in century old rivalries between the Armanian Protectorates and Dominion supporters still loyal to the Khagan.

Alliance chancellors are at odds over current proposals to cope with these rising threats. Most of the senior council members remain supportive of House Senator push to further nonviolent, open negotiations, though few support those initiatives that would permit Armanian Clans to join or even represent themselves within the Alliance. In direct opposition, chief military chancellor Vassim Isylar’s push for temporary martial law is gaining popularity. Upon his orders, police forces have doubled and dozens of arrests seem to have slowed some of the criminal activities. In truth, his aggressive policing only drove dissenters underground, and if anything, increased the fervor of ethnocentric insurgents who martyr arrest victims.

As a result, political rivalry between the remaining chancellors has weakened the overall authority of the Alliance, spinning Protasylum-Six precariously towards political implosion. Now the shadows quell with Dominion warlords and hungry splinter-cells of Protectorate insurgents, all waiting for the collapse of the Alliance leadership and poised to seize control of the strategically located settlement.

nfrom here it only get crazier. Look for Three Sides of the Truth available soon at RPGNow and Paizo.

Modern Adventure Weekly

Since Sidetrek Adventure Weekly (SAW) has been selling SO WELL I am thinking we might have to do a D20 Modern version, Modern Adventure Weekly (MAW as it would be called). I am enjoying SAW (since all the "heavy lifting" is being done by Greg and the Werecabbages) but I am not sure about doing MAW.  My buddies at Skortched Urf Studios are going to be doing a modern adventure series and I don't want to cause problems with them (we are friends after all), so for now, most likely no MAW.   Maybe Pulp Adventure Weekly. PAW.  I know someone who would love that. Talk to you later...

Sidetrek Adventure Weekly for NeoExodus

With the success of the current Sidetrek Adventure Weekly, and the upcoming Sidetrek Adventure Weekly, I think we will have to do a Sidetrek Adventure Weekly for the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting. I am thinking of going with a LONG (read: at least 12, most likely 18 parts) sage with this one. Make it a politcal thriller (Imagine 24 and Babylon 5 mixed togther) and let the Werecabbages at it. But this most likely is going to be a summer project and event. Well something to think about. Talk to you later...

Work in progress...

With the release of Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #3: The Bloody Dog's Den, we are working on the release of Monsters of NeoExodus: Wyrms of Wrath. As you see here is the new artwork form artist, Ryan Orosco. Ryan's portfolio has really impressed me since he first contacted me. These are the rough sketches of the Bile Crawler and I can't wait until I get the final verion of the art.
Also I am waiting for the outline for the next Sidetrek Adventure Weekly series. Greg really pitched a great idea and got some of the more well known Werecabbages interested on working on this one. Plus, I am working on the new layout on this series; to keep it similar while at the same time being seperate enough to know they are different. Back to work. Talk to you later...

Five out of Five Star Reviews ... Two of them

It looks like people seem to like what we are doing with Sidetrek Adventure Weekly. Read the five Star Reviews for Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #1: Blood on the Waterfront here! and read the five Star Reviews for Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #2: The Blood Stained Trail here! I can't take any of the credit for all the great work the guys at the Werecabbages have been doing. They really seem to love the series and can't wait to do more. So for all of them, Thanks for all the hard work you have done!

Sidetrek Adventure Weekly 2.0

Well since this first Sidetrek Adventure Weekly has been doing so well I (with the help of Greg) have decided to start working on the second volume of Sidetrek Adventure Weekly, written by several members of the Werecabbages. This time around there are going to be a few minor changes with S.A.W. (as we call it) that we think will help you enjoy the series even more.

1) Adventure Numbering: Starting with the second volume, we are going to change the numbers of the series. Instead of just numbering the next number in the line (like #1, #2, #3, #4 and so on) the second and future numbering will be base on the volume and standard number (like this #2.01, #2.02, #2.03, #2.04 and so on). The reason being that many of those involved have had an interest to re-visit some of the settings, characters and adventures they have created or worked on after the S.A.W. volume has ended and this makes it easy to do without having a break in the numbering. Plus, on sight you know what adventures will belong together.

2) Shorter Arcs: After seeing some of the initial comments we decided to keep the size of the series arcs down to 6 to 8 episode/issues in length. We will keep the 12 or longer arcs for very special and unique events (like the 18 part Cross of Fire S.A.W. we have planned). Plus it makes it possible to keep the price of the S.A.W.s subscriptions down. And who doesn't like to save money.

So when everything is finalized we will have a press release on who is doing what and when. So stay tuned. Talk to you later...

Imagine the Wire as an Adventure Path...

You know what would be my dream, if I could do The Wire as an adventure path for a D20/OGL fantasy setting. Now that would be a great adventure series that people would be talking about, FOREVER. I guess I have to start working on that with the Werecabbages. Talk to you later...

...and one more artist, make three!

I am in talks with another new artist I found on DeviantART. We are working out some of the finer points but I feel that we will meet somewhere in the middle on what we both want. I have seen his artwork for a while and I though it might go very well with the work I am currently doing. Well this is the third artist I have been in talks with in the last few weeks. Now that I have began working with the Werecabbages I really need good artists who can complement their written work. This should be a nice team up. Talk to you later...

Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #1 finished

Last week, I got the first of the Sidetrek Adventure Weekly adventures written by Louis Agresta with Greg Oppedisano. This adventures is called Blood on the Waterfront. This is a very cool adventure with a lot of fun for with a great set up that most will find enjoyable. I am not going to spoil it for you, but combat in the adventure is what many would consider extreme. Even better is the Sidetrek Adventure Weekly Rating system. I feel that once this is seen it will be copied by ALOT of RPG Publishers. Sidetrek Adventure Weekly #1: Blood on the Waterfront will be available for sale February 1, 2008 at both RPGNow and Paizo. Talk to you later..

Announcing new product line, Sidetrek Adventure Weekly

Louis Porter Jr. Design, in association with Devil’s Workshop, is proud to announce its newest RPG gaming line, Sidetrek Adventure Weekly. Devil’s Workshop Line Editor, Greg Oppedisano; superstar RPG writer who has worked for such game companies as Paizo, Goodman Games and Oone Games; has been working on the creation and development of this new gaming line with his other members of the Werecabbages Publishing. The following best describes the rationale and purpose of Sidetrek Adventure Weekly:

Sidetrek Adventure Weekly can best be described as all the heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping action your players can handle! Each Sidetrek Adventure Weekly episode throws characters into an action-packed encounter designed to electrify your game. Drop any Sidetrek Adventure Weekly directly into your adventure as a stand-alone combat. Or, if you dare, link the initial 12 Sidetrek Adventure Weekly serials into one pulse-racing, white-knuckle fantasy adventure path. Get ready to jump aboard Sidetrek Adventure Weekly!

The Sidetrek Adventure Weekly serials will be written by Werecabbages Publishing members Rob Manning, B. Matthew Conklin III, Adam Daigle, Greg Oppedisano, Greg Ragland, Ted Reed, Brendan Victorson, and various other members. Sidetrek Adventure Weekly will be available at exclusively at Paizo and RPGnow.com in the very near future.

[LPJDesign] Greg Oppedisano hired as Line Editor at Devil’s Workshop

Louis Porter Jr. Design, in association with Devil’s Workshop, is proud to announce that Greg Oppedisano; superstar RPG writer who has worked for such game companies as Paizo, Goodman Games and Oone Games; has just been hired as the Line Editor on Devil’s Workshop upcoming secret new project.

“While working with Greg on Monsters of NeoExodus: Harvester of Sorrow, I pitched him an idea that I wanted to do with this project. Greg loved it, took off and ran with the whole project. I think when we announce this secret project a lot of people will be amazed and astonished that we are doing something like this,” commented Louis Porter Jr., owner of Louis Porter Jr. Design. “When this project is released, I believe it will draw a lot of new interest to Devil’s Workshop and Louis Porter Jr. Design.”

Greg Oppedisano’s first duties as Line Editor with the aforementioned secret project will be released sometime in early 2008.