Homebrew Publication

[Fax Celestis]

Tell me something: if I were to compile a majority of my homebrews together into one compendium (called, say, The Celestean Concorde, Volume I), would you purchase a copy, assuming it were reasonably priced? Would your answer change if I were to have other prominent homebrewers aid me in this endeavor?

EDIT: Pricing would probably be around $15-20, depending on formatting, final length, and whether or not I go color.

[Weezer]

Depending on pricing, I'd probably buy it if i could convince my DM to allow me to use your stuff. He's a little paranoid:smallfrown: about homebrew/3rd party stuff.

[Piccamo]

I could see myself purchasing it. Would you be able to sell it in .pdf format and do you need any help compiling it?

[Fax Celestis]

I could see myself purchasing it. Would you be able to sell it in .pdf format and do you need any help compiling it?

I would certainly offer a discounted .pdf version, and my main problem with compliation right now appears to be two things: formatting (nesting tables are the devil); and nonproprietary artwork.

[henebry]

The paradox of the internet is that we all expect to get things for free but all want others to pay us for our expertise.

I'm behind you, though. I'd like to see more of us supporting one another.

[ishi]

I'd buy it, though my group may need some convincing before I would use it.

Good luck with the publication, and let us know when it's ready.

[TempusCCK]

I'd definately be more enthusiastic if you had other people working on it with you, just because it would probably have more information that way.

[Assassinfox]

If you had others contributing too and the content sounded interesting enough.

[Piccamo]

I would certainly offer a discounted .pdf version, and my main problem with compliation right now appears to be two things: formatting (nesting tables are the devil); and nonproprietary artwork.

Yeah...they do really suck. Unfortunately I cannot help in either capacity, but if you think of anything else you need help with feel free to hit me up.

[knightsaline]

As I have said to you before via PM, I would buy something like this. the only problem is possibly the cost and shipping (my country is one year behind, as no one seems to be able to get me a copy of Nine Swords).

[Stormcrow]

I'd publish it through lulu, that nets it to a world marketplace and they take care of all the printing stuff.

[Fax Celestis]

I'd publish it through lulu, that nets it to a world marketplace and they take care of all the printing stuff.

Exactly what the plan was. I'd also offer a .pdf through some alternative means.

[PnP Fan]

No offense Fax, I don't generally use 3rd party material, so I probably wouldn't buy your book (or generally anyone else's). However, if I had the opportunity to review some of it (say on a bookshelf in my local gaming store, or in excerpts at whatever print by order site you use) I might be persuaded.

[Stormcrow]

LuLu allows for a PDF Download also as far as I know. I'd buy it. Shipping charges and all. So long as the content isnt setting locked.

[Bears With Lasers]

Sorry, dude. I wanna change D&D, I can do it myself.

[clericwithnogod]

Probably not. Using the breakdown from the FAQ:

Homebrew:
A class, feat, skill, PrC: I don't use 3rd party versions of these when I DM, very rarely run into games to play in that do, and have disliked the games where they were in use.

campaign setting: I'm pretty happy with the Realms, Eberron and stuff that I do myself. There could be something that would make me change my mind if it really struck me as great, but flavor-wise, from your posts, I think we like different things in a game.

rule: I hate house and 3rd party rules, and try to avoid them whenever possible. Those I do make are to give players more options (or make things that should be possible actually possible like a sorceror getting into the Fiend-Blooded prestige class before 14th level without jumping through hoops). I tend to look at everything, so something might be something I'd use, but again, I think we want different things out of the game (such as the Cloistered Cleric/no Divine power stuff from your Balancing Casters post which limits clerics of Thor and Tyr to fighting well only once out of every four encounters before rest and a cleric of Hercules to not fighting well at all).

other piece of game material: If there's stuff like pre-made NPCs and encounters and stuff, which I can drop straight into an adventure without needing to adjust out homebrewed rules, classes, feats and PrCs, then this would be where I'd look at buying. I love nicely crafted individual encounters and short side-track adventures. Premade NPCs like 20 different blacksmiths, 20 different sages, and such so I can just pull one up when the party enters a shop make running a game a lot easier. Having them pre-statted with significant skill checks and DCs for eliciting certain reactions from them adds a lot of value.

I don't mean any offense or anything personal by the differences I have in what I want from the game and what I perceive that you do from your posts and those differences would keep me from buying something only insofar as they directly related to whether I would find the book useful.

Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Sean Reynolds, Rich Baker and others designed or contributed to the design of a wonderful game system that revitalized and improved one of my hobbies. But, I don't like Monte Cook's third-party stuff (with the exception of his 3.0 ranger variant). Sean Reynolds has 3.5 house rules posted on his website, some of which I think some are awful. And, the campaign Jonathan Tweet had always wanted to run (as described on his site) leaves me cold.

I like the things that work their way through the Wizards system. They're usually focused on adding more options for players. It seems that a lot of the homebrewed and third party stuff directly or indirectly adds more limitations on players. As a player, I like having options. As a DM, I've become mindful of the fact that every limitation has the potential to make the game less fun for a player, possibly costing me the chance to have a great player in my game.

[Fax Celestis]

This would be exactly why I asked.

Now, Cleric, let me clarify a bit: what I'd be putting out would look a good deal like one of the Complete books, with a few base classes, a bunch of PrCs, some feats, spells, and items, and then, say, an adventure. When I homebrew, I tend to leave my houserules out of it. I also try very hard to make sure that my houserules not only make sense, but don't overly limit the player (or even grant them a new avenue to power).

I know I'm not going to convince you, and I don't really expect to (or even want to, since I'm not a slimy used-car salesman), but I thought you should know.

[Zeta Kai]

Well, I have to say, although I've disagreed with some of your opinions in the past, I've come to respect your creations as well thought-out & imaginative. So, finances-permitting, I would be interested in something major that you cooked up.

Of course, as with every splatbook, I would probably just pick & choose a few choice mecahnics, & let the rest hold down the shelves, so to speak. But more power to you, if you decide to publish.

[Tormsskull]

Tell me something: if I were to compile a majority of my homebrews together into one compendium (called, say, The Celestean Concorde, Volume I), would you purchase a copy, assuming it were reasonably priced?

Nope. I'm generally not interested in other people's homebrew as my opinions on D&D/magic levels/character power levels/etc seem to be pretty divergent from the norm.

However, I will say that I think the Monsters in the Playground idea that you had would probably sell. The reason being that DMs can ALWAYS use more baddies to throw at their group, and if you have a review system set up where someone looks over the submissions to make sure that they are reasonably balanced then it could be an excellent resource.

Print-on-Demand technology almost always results in an expensive final product, unless you're going to go all the way of publishing it through Barnes & Noble and Amazon (which lulu offers for $100 or $150 depending on which way you go). Then you MIGHT get a decently priced item. But even if you do, you would have to sell a LOT of decently prices books to recoup the cost of publishing.

And of course, if you accept submissions from people they will generally want to be compensated if you make any money off the deal.

All in all, not a bad idea though.

[Fax Celestis]

I might resurrect a slightly modified Monsters in the Playground if enough interest is shown (and if I got some help this time).

[Annarrkkii]

I'd not, under any circumstances, buy it in hardcover. Unless it was 300+ pages. Period. That is nothing personal in any way, simply that Wizards has made my livid about... well, buying things in general.

Were it in a highly reasonably priced .pdf (ideally <$10), then almost certainly. I'd prefer, of course, a simple compilation of your work posted here, as I could search that and everything, but you deserve profit for your work.

I'd be extra interested if you could grab a few other homebrewer's variants for it, especially if their contributions could beef it up a few dozen pages. That larger it is, the more likely I'd pay money for it, though I doubt I'd go above $15, simply because I can no longer justify paying money for RPG things to myself.

[Were-Sandwich]

Under £10, I might consider it. My group is pretty lenient on what we allow, so I'd be able to use it.

[Marius]

Probably not, since I don't really buy almost anything. Here in Argentina your reasonable price of U$S15-20 translates to $45-60 plus shipping and to make matters worst the salaries are lower than in the states. So unless your product is REALLY REALLY outstanding I don't think I'll buy it.

Looking at the bright side, now everybody want to come since everything is very cheap and the tourist industry is growing so fast that is almost scary!

[Zeta Kai]

I had seriously considered waiting to publish the Oaves (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37855), as it is a rather large article to post for free (it's 40-some-odd pages in MSWord), but I ultimately decided that as much as I like them, they're better served as practice for something even more ambitious. One day, far in the future, when that project gets completed (to my satisfaction), then I shall publish.

Fax, if you think you're ready, go for it.

[Matthew]

Probably not, I am afraid. As much as I like the stuff that turns up on this Forum, there are too many other things that command my limited fiscal attention. Good luck with it, though.

[EvilElitest]

I'd have to see more of your homebrew before i made a judgment. Have you made some on other forums?
from,
EE

[Fax Celestis]

Nope, though you can see a good deal of my creations on my wiki (http://corporation.walagata.com/fax/wiki/index.php).

[Gralamin]

might wanna remove that bit at the end of the link Fax.

I would Defiantly Buy it as long as I don't need to pay with a credit card.

[Fax Celestis]

Link fixed. As for credit card? I dunno how to work it otherwise. PayPal? I'll research.

[lumberofdabeast]

I'd consider it. How much stuff would be in it that I couldn't find by just looking on the forums?

And would it live up to the name and have a ton of celestial stuff in it? I'd love to have a book centered around Good-aligned outsiders.

[Fax Celestis]

I'd consider it. How much stuff would be in it that I couldn't find by just looking on the forums?

And would it live up to the name and have a ton of celestial stuff in it? I'd love to have a book centered around Good-aligned outsiders.

You'd be able to find approximately half of it on the forums, though the stuff that is getting transported is also going to be receiving a major face lift. In most cases, this'll merely be the addition of blocks of fluff information (such as a Brawler's reaction to other classes and how to adapt the Daggerveil to your own campaign), but in a few cases (in particular, the Dreadnaught and Wanderer classes) what will be in the book will be significantly different from what's on the forums.

As for celestialness, that'll probably be a second project if this one goes well, and I'll probably end up using a different name for this one.

[Annarrkkii]

Isn't the word Celestiality? Spellcheck says no, but it doesn't like celestialness either...

Anyway, looking at your wiki, I'd say I'd most definitely pay for a .pdf, if you didn't waste too much space, or at least didn't add price as a result of, the considerable amount of campaign-specific material on there.

[Fax Celestis]

Isn't the word Celestiality? Spellcheck says no, but it doesn't like celestialness either...

Anyway, looking at your wiki, I'd say I'd most definitely pay for a .pdf, if you didn't waste too much space, or at least didn't add price as a result of, the considerable amount of campaign-specific material on there.

Campaign specific material on my wiki is going to probably warrant its own collection. :smallwink:

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

What I'd buy is a compendium of the greatest stuff from these boards. It would probably be massive and expensive, but you know I'd buy it.

[Maerok]

How much stuff do you have?

[Fax Celestis]

How much stuff do you have?

Quite a good deal, actually. Enough that I have 120 pages of material (fluffless) prepped, and I'm not counting tables or page breaks.

[KoDT69]

Who are the other major homebrewers you were contemplating for this project?

[Fax Celestis]

Who are the other major homebrewers you were contemplating for this project?

They shall remain nameless for now, unless they should choose to reveal themselves.