$30 for a pdf? Seems too pricey to me. Maybe $5, $10 if it's really large. Perhaps Paizo broke the bar with the pricing for PathfinderRPG's pdf! :)

Considering this book is OOP, and that copies on Amazon and ebay are going for 75+, its not a bad deal.

I'm very glad that Privateer has done this. Now I can stop losing auctions!

This is a really good deal and one I will be adding to my pdf collection. I am hoping that paizo and PP are going to be joining forces

While it is a setting I'm interested in, there is no way I will go anywhere near this for $30.

That's a shame, because the book is worth every penny. It's 400 pages, and in my opinion the absolute pinnacle of 3.5 ed campaign setting books. I paid $54 CDN for my hard copy, and it's seen more use than any fire-and-forget WotC release after the PHB, most of which are more expensive than this anyway.

Spend wisely this month- skip a dinner&movie night and buy this instead.

That's a shame, because the book is worth every penny. It's 400 pages, and in my opinion the absolute pinnacle of 3.5 ed campaign setting books.

That does sound pretty awesome, but I've already got a few 3.5 settings, none of which are currently being used. I usually buy a product not because I need it but because I want it. I believe Privateer Press is making a mistake with this pricing scheme because it deters people such as myself, who enjoy supporting creative efforts, from contributing to their success. They will definitely attract the people who want the setting and plan to use it, but those who might otherwise make a purchase even though they wouldn't necessarily use the material may be put off.

I just believe that pricing the pdfs at, say, $30 for BOTH the character guide and the setting book would attract more than twice as many buyers as the current pricing scheme. But what do I know, I just code web pages for a living. ;)

Are the illustrations color or black and white?

Is this a scanned image book, or a full-fledged text book (like a Word Document)?

Just wondering. I love this campaign setting. It allows you to mix so many elements toghether, and is, in my opinion, the embodiment of a true rpg campaign, because it is so similar to our world, except with a strong dose of magic.

I own this book in hardcover. I'd love to legally own a pdf, so that when the binding finally disintegrates on my hard copy, I won't really need to worry about it. If you can get a copy of this book, do so - it is some of the best material I've ever read and used for D&D 3.5.

That said, this price is absurd for a pdf, and I will not be buying it. While the material is wonderful, no pdf is worth as much as a hardcover book. I believe the main reason this is posted with such a high price is because it goes for so much on Ebay. Drop this down to $15 or $20, and then we can talk. It is absurd to charge as much as a physical copy costs for a pdf.

Where I come from, some stores charge around $40 for hard copies, usually more.

Are the illustrations color or black and white?

The interior is all black and white, though the cover is in color.

Again I ask: "Is this a scanned image book, or a full-fledged text book (like a Word Document?"

I don't own it (though I would love to, but not for 30 dollars) so take what I have to say with a grain of salt...but EVERY pdf I've ever bought has been a scanned image book. The only exception I can think of was maybe the Pathfinder pdf...as there are hyperlinks in the text that take you to different parts of the book...so that probably doesn't count as just a straight up scan of a hard copy book.

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask if it's a word document. Though I think the price is just plain funny, I couldn't imagine anyone (maaayybe wizards) charging thirty bucks for an actual word document of one of their books.

Again I ask: "Is this a scanned image book, or a full-fledged text book (like a Word Document?"

If it is anything like the World Guide pdf, it doesn't have hyperlinks. It looks like a book scan to me but I can't be sure. Of course, that is a different product, but I would be very surprised if the Character Guide was any different.

Before folks get too confused here, there are a few ways that books can get made into PDFs.

Ideally, the PDFs are made directly from the same electronic files used to create the print edition; these PDFs tend to have the highest quality, include selectable (and searchable) text, and often extractable images (with the appropriate PDF viewing software).

If those source files aren't available, the most common way to make a PDF of a book is to scan in each page. Usually, such PDFs then go through the process of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which attempts to figure out what the words are in order to make text selectable and searchable, though it's not a very reliable process. Scanned PDFs vary wildly in quality.

Either type of PDF can be bookmarked and/or hyperlinked.

I believe Steamjack Junkie is really asking whether this PDF is the first type or the second; the answer is that all of the Privateer PDFs are the first type, made digitally from the original files.

This one has rudimentary bookmarks (mainly just for each chapter) and no hyperlinks (but hyperlinks are rarely implemented, as it takes a *lot* of effort).

Thank you very much Vic! As much as I love RPG's, I do not know a lot of the technical jargon. I am very grateful

(mainly just for each chapter) and no hyperlinks (but hyperlinks are rarely implemented, as it takes a *lot* of effort).

It's a shame no one has created a decent GUI typesetter, LaTeX makes bookmarks and hyperlinks trivial, but makes correcting your own layout hard. If someone tweaked the layout tool, to accept LaTeX markup for hyperlinks, and then gave you a render button, you'd be all set......

Vic Wertz wrote:

(mainly just for each chapter) and no hyperlinks (but hyperlinks are rarely implemented, as it takes a *lot* of effort).

It's a shame no one has created a decent GUI typesetter, LaTeX makes bookmarks and hyperlinks trivial, but makes correcting your own layout hard. If someone tweaked the layout tool, to accept LaTeX markup for hyperlinks, and then gave you a render button, you'd be all set......

Actually, bookmarks are pretty easy in Adobe Indesign, if you're using styles properly. You can have it automatically create bookmarks for any header level. An editor still needs to check them—the most common problems are weird typesetting things and incorrect assumptions about nesting, but it's usually 98% of the way there. Hyperlinks, though, are both painful and tedious.

Though the name says Steamjack Junkie, my primary interest is any rules set that allows PC's to alter the biology of creatures in the game. The Chapter "Abominations of the Drow" in Pathfinder Adventure Path #16 is absolute gold to me. Malhavock Press' "Chaositech", esp. the chapter titled The Betrayal of Flesh is also ecstasy. Note that these names have a twisted poetry to them. Anybody got some other good recommendations?

I have to agree with those saying this is a must-buy. Of all the D20 settings I've played in, this is by far the best... even better than Unearthed Arcana. I have yet to see any other system go into as much detail as the Privateer Press folks have with the world and cosmology of Immoren, while still leaving just enough crucial bits unexplained to let the GM (and the players) take a heroic place in the goings-on of the world. Very malleable, and very adaptable to an epic experience as well. My only gripe is that 3.5 really isn't geared toward crafting, and there's a lot of gritty bits when it gets down to crafting gear (an essential part of the game for some classes). Still though, it's worth the $30 for the PDF. I'd also greatly recommend the Five Fingers book... I've run over a year's worth of campaign out of that book and still haven't even nearly exhausted its contents.

As far as the cost being absurd for a PDF... it's not absurd when the book itself is out of print, yet still has a good following. $30 for an electronic book that you can't get a hard copy of *anywhere* is a pretty good deal.

Second only to Pathfinder or Ptolus, Best RPG Purchase EVAH.

I was resistant to 3.5 altogether until a DM running a Ravenloft game allowed me to 'port in the "Gunmage" class and have me come from the Victorian Era Domain of Falknovia.

One of the most enjoyable characters I have played to-date, and technically the very 1st third-edition/3.5 Setting I bought for the purpose of the mechanics.

The fluff is excellent as is the story. I may wait for a while before purchasing the PDF, but knowing that it is of Type 1 (The original file from which the print edition is made) as opposed to a Book-scan is what I needed to know to justify the price. It is still high, but that is a quality guarantee right there. And in a market flooded with incorrect or just plain horrible book scans, that statement above works for me as a "Seal of Quality".

To date one of the most truly innovative RPG products I have seen.

I really wanna try this but at the same time I'm a huge fan of hardcovers. So I guess I have to decide 30 for the PDF or 60 for the hardcover and used at that.

... my brain hurts T_T

I really wanna try this but at the same time I'm a huge fan of hardcovers. So I guess I have to decide 30 for the PDF or 60 for the hardcover and used at that.

... my brain hurts T_T

just persistently monitor ebay..... i lost a few auctions and it took me a couple months but I ended up getting this one for 20 bucks.... the world book for 51.... lock and load for 15... the only one I went a little nutty on was liber mechanika. I think I paid around 60 for her.

Misery wrote:

I really wanna try this but at the same time I'm a huge fan of hardcovers. So I guess I have to decide 30 for the PDF or 60 for the hardcover and used at that.

... my brain hurts T_T

just persistently monitor ebay..... i lost a few auctions and it took me a couple months but I ended up getting this one for 20 bucks.... the world book for 51.... lock and load for 15... the only one I went a little nutty on was liber mechanika. I think I paid around 60 for her.

I'll do that and thanks a lot for the advice ^__^

Odds are though I'm likely to still end up getting this sooner than later. This may sound odd but I have never played steam punk world and yet somehow I've always found them way more fascinating and intriguing to me then normal fantasy.

... how does that even happen?

I love the Iron Kingdoms setting. I've played it and the Warmachine/Hordes Games, and everything I have seen from Privateer has been top notch. However, I do have qualms about spending only ten bucls less than cover price for a pdf. This is one of those rare gems that just might compell me to spend that amount though. I took a look at Amazon only a day or two ago and prices for this book in hardcopy started around $55 for a used copy, or $160 for a new copy.

Personally, I think this is one of those rare books that would lose some of its inherent flavor had it been loaded with color artwork throughout. The black and white printing...it reads more like a journal than a rulebook, what with mock oil and drink stains and other faux imperfections smattered throughout the book, the line drawings in certain areas and so on...it all adds to the gritty feel of the book and the world that it describes.

In the end, I could probably see my way to dropping the thirty they ask for a Type I PDF file of this book, if only for the time and effort they will have put into its creation and my love of the setting itself. I will cringe at the thought, much like the thought of a trip to the dentist, as I punch in the data for my credit card, but I will probably get it all the same.

So, I bought this in the last couple weeks as part of a list of things with a hefty gift-card I received. And I have to say, that I love it. I mean love it. I am actually currently grinding away figuring out how to Pathfinderize it, so I can have my cake and eat it to. I love the world, and really, who doesn't love a 6-ton metal behemoth wielding an axe that could cut a volkswagen in half? Or playing as a guy that makes those things? Plus, I love guns. Especially the older flint/percussion/matchlock. And the gun mage is just too cool for school.

So, I bought this in the last couple weeks as part of a list of things with a hefty gift-card I received. And I have to say, that I love it. I mean love it. I am actually currently grinding away figuring out how to Pathfinderize it, so I can have my cake and eat it to. I love the world, and really, who doesn't love a 6-ton metal behemoth wielding an axe that could cut a volkswagen in half? Or playing as a guy that makes those things? Plus, I love guns. Especially the older flint/percussion/matchlock. And the gun mage is just too cool for school.

There is another thread somewhere hereabouts where we are discussing the finer points of kitbashing and converting Iron Kingdoms to Pathfinder rules. I'll see if I can find it again and send you a link to it.

EDIT: Here is the IK to PF Conversions.

Fafhrdnorseman wrote:

So, I bought this in the last couple weeks as part of a list of things with a hefty gift-card I received. And I have to say, that I love it. I mean love it. I am actually currently grinding away figuring out how to Pathfinderize it, so I can have my cake and eat it to. I love the world, and really, who doesn't love a 6-ton metal behemoth wielding an axe that could cut a volkswagen in half? Or playing as a guy that makes those things? Plus, I love guns. Especially the older flint/percussion/matchlock. And the gun mage is just too cool for school.

There is another thread somewhere hereabouts where we are discussing the finer points of kitbashing and converting Iron Kingdoms to Pathfinder rules. I'll see if I can find it again and send you a link to it.

EDIT: Here is the IK to PF Conversions.

Your link is broken it just links back to this thread. Interesting looking book still deciding whether to get it.

Is it true you cannot copy/paste these pdf's? I saw someone claim that over on ENWorld.

If you have the right software, you can pull pieces out of a pdf. I have used Acrobat Pro, and can do almost anything I want with a pdf. Otherwise you can only copy images with Reader. There have been other programs listed that allow you to edit, copy and paste as such, but I don't recall the names off hand. I think one was something like Foxit Pro.

Is it true you cannot copy/paste these pdf's? I saw someone claim that over on ENWorld.

Paizo does not limit copy/paste on any of the PDFs we sell, but some other PDF resellers allow publishers to limit that. That is to say, I know you can copy/paste if you buy it here, but if you buy it elsewhere, you may or may not have that option.

Robert Miller 55 wrote:

Is it true you cannot copy/paste these pdf's? I saw someone claim that over on ENWorld.

Paizo does not limit copy/paste on any of the PDFs we sell, but some other PDF resellers allow publishers to limit that. That is to say, I know you can copy/past if you buy it here, but if you buy it elsewhere, you may or may not have that option.

Cool, I am so sick of publishers doing things that only impede people who do things legally.

Take a RPG with the initials HMb as an example, there is no legal PDF available for it yet, but its already available illegally. So who is the publisher hurting? Me, the guy who wants to buy a legal PDF.