|
A problem we're starting to see if the market being saturated with Pathfinder pdfs, and they can be either a hit or miss. Unfortunately, even Kickstarter can only help so much as either works and gets funded, or doesn't. Sometimes mythic stuff sells, other times it doesn't. Sometimes adventures sell, other times they don't. Even different campaign settings can catch someone's eye or sneer.
So what I'd like to see from everyone is, what would you like to see a 3PP bring to your table and library of goodies? Race books? Monster books? Templates? Mythic? Adventures? Spells? Magic items? Composite books that have a little of everything? And then, to what extent? Do you want full adventure paths? Maybe a 3PP supplement that adds to the Advanced Race Guide? Perhaps a Savage Species style supplement? Variant monsters of what's in the bestiaries?
Personally, I tend to prefer bestiaries, races and smaller to medium-sized locations. I also enjoy templates for providing fresh takes and keeping my players guessing. There are already more adventures than I'll ever be able to play through in my lifetime, so they have to be exceptional in some way to pique my interest, but I can plop down new monsters, npc's and locations at the drop of a hat. All of that being said, I would never want to discourage writers from making what they wanted; oftentimes the best things are simple and unexpected. Sometimes a 2 page black and white pdf is all you need to get a great idea across, and sometimes it's wonderful to read a 200 page full color book.
I like "setting expansions"
It would have some cities and towns, example plot hooks, stat blocks for local important stuff (that evil wizard that lives in his tower, that legendary desert monster, ect), some additional options for various classes, maybe 1-2 PrCs, some bestiary entries, and some magic items.
They could be themed pretty easily like: Recently uncovered subteranean cavern, Egypt, the Criminal underbelly of a major city, Hidden mountain range civilization, planar adventures.
Books like these could be fun for someone who wants to "freestyle" GM, but has trouble creating living breathing environments. Players getting tired of "not Egypt," well let them brave the desert and they find themselves crossing a large mountain range that's the home of a mostly untouched civilization, or they fall into a subteranean cavern and have to find a way out or explore the unknown.
A problem we're starting to see if the market being saturated with Pathfinder pdfs, and they can be either a hit or miss.
@kevin_video - who is seeing this, and how do you feel it is a problem/what do you think is the cause?
I'm seeing it. It's like "hmm do I want this Fighter replacement or one of the other 30?"
Oh another complete campaign setting kickstarter?
Well what sets this splat book apart from all the others?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ok, well I see that there is a lot of stuff out there, and the quality is varied. This has always been the case as far as I am concerned.
"Starting to see" seems to suggest a saturation point has been reached, or some other point that is problematic. I'm just not sure that there is a general view that there is "starting" to be a "problem".
Regardless, this thread is similar to one I'd like to see - seeing as Rite and Legendary have threads dedicated to "this year's stuff" or "what would you like to see from us this year" - there should be a one-stop thread for fans of all 3PPs to request stuff from their favorite 3PP's or 3PP's that do something particularly well that they'd like to see more of.
So: What do you want to see from a particular 3PP?*
* And no-one get super clever and say "Yggdrasil Fanzine". I know I know...
|
|
A problem we're starting to see if the market being saturated with Pathfinder pdfs, and they can be either a hit or miss.@kevin_video - who is seeing this, and how do you feel it is a problem/what do you think is the cause?
Pretty much anyone can see it, but it's mostly for myself and other freelancers out there. Right now it's a number crunch. 3PP is still kind of popular, but not as much as official Paizo is, and for obvious reasons. 3PP stuff can't be used for PFS, and there's still the stigma out there that 3PP shouldn't be bought because it's unbalanced and broken, and therefore isn't allowed in that particular GM's game world.
Myself, I've tried to fund a dozen different Pathfinder compatible Kickstarters, but sadly at least half of them never got their funding. Heck, I'd say almost a third never even got to the halfway mark, and they were established publishers. The KS stigma now being "Will I ever get my product because I've been burned in the past?" and "How do I trust that you won't take my money?"
I know a couple of publishers, such as Purple Duck Games for example, are using Patreon so you can see immediate results with regards to your money.
Insain Dragoon is right. What does my splat book give you that others can't? How do I get you to buy my particular item? And the most hopeful answer we're looking for is "Because you literally asked for it." It wouldn't be custom, but if more than 50% of the poll votes say "We want mythic creatures" then that's what you get.
@Forest Guardian Press - You asked about how we see the saturation point. Well, technically we don't. It's more of a guess based on what's selling, and what's not. Last year mythic came out. It was a phase that everyone jumped on the band wagon with. Now, it's not selling too well. It's still seeing to its niche market though. It's about the new phases, and who gets there first, and who's still gambling that it'll be profitable this late in the game.
However, instead of guessing what the public wants, and then telling you "this is what we're releasing so please get it or we'll have wasted our time", I thought it'd be better to ask what you wanted to see. It just seems like the better course of action.
I like the idea of you adding the question of what product from what 3PP would you like to see.
Earning my trust and showing respect to me as a customer and as a person goes a long way. Taking feedback and communication are both important to this. I've had certain 3PPs go either way so I fund and support the ones that have been good to me and don't bother with the others.
For ones I haven't heard of, I generally wait for sales to give them a try initially. If I like what I see and they are quick to answer questions I have that goes a long way. Once you've earned my trust I buy products when they aren't on sale and even when they first go on sale. Personally I won't generally kickstart any I don't already know and trust. Been burned more than once on that and am now very careful about it. One company I've sworn off entirely due to a badly run kickstarter campaign.
As far as products go, I heavily homebrew and customize my campaigns. Things that allow me to do that go a long way. I love bestiaries and collections of well done and unique monsters including templates (especially with fluff and plothooks already there). I also love weapon/item/armor properties, though generally won't buy items designed by others. Classes, races, and similar crunchy bits are always welcome. My current homebrew world for instance has 40+ allowed classes currently, though admittedly it is currently being revised to work with Spheres of Power. I tend to avoid adventures and modules, though like campaign settings for fluff to inspire my own, especially ones that fit the homebrew world I'm working on.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I sympathize on the getting burned aspect of KS campaigns. Trust is hard to gain, and easy to lose. I've had that twice now, although one is still promising results, albeit much, much slower than initially promised. They got burned first by their distributor, but are trying salvage what they can with a different company. That said, the communication has been stellar on her part so I'm willing to wait further.
I love magic items. Especially the Purple Duck Games Legendary items. They're like the 3.5 Legacy items, but less of a hassle, and less expensive. Templates are fun, and give your players a run for their money. Gotta keep them on their toes.
I'm starting to see a lean towards races and bestiaries, and I'm not overly surprised. The reasoning you guys are sharing makes sense.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have to admit, I'm getting a bit burned out on crunchy bits for Pathfinder; I have so much already. This year, barring a few books I know will be announced or released (the big Pact Magic compilation from Radiance House, the rest of Akashic Mysteries by Dreamscarred, future kickstarters from Interjection Games), I'll be focusing my purchases on fluffy bits I can easily slot into my campaigns. Things like Raging Swan Press' Village backdrops or dressing releases for example. That said, if I'm calling out specific 3pps, in no particular order I would personally like to see:
Purple Duck Games - Lands of Porphyra, more Fairy Tales from Unlit Shores (I know, that's for DCC...)
Little Red Goblin Games - more Necropunk. So much more Necropunk.
Rogue Genius Games - more frequent releases for the Talented class line.
Rite Publishing - more 101 Not so Random Encounters, more variant foes.
Kobold Press - more Midgard based adventures written by Wolfgang Baur, Tim Connors, Morgan Boehringer, Ted Reed, Marc Radle, etc... basically a nice hardcover sequel to Midgard Tales.
Forest Guardian Press - more alternate/hybrid classes along the lines of the Savage. Much nicer than anything in the ACG in my opinion. And, um... Yggdrasil Fanzine... please?
$4 Dungeons - please keep doing what you're doing.
Massive Subteranean Caverns. Like sectioned off underdark ecosystems.
I kind of agree a bit with the oversaturated thing. There is a LOT of material out there, and a lot of producers of 3pp material tend to work in areas which overlap with other 3rd party products. Which means we get a lot of rules sets and classes which are subsequently orphaned or ignored and reinvented by other companies.
As far as products I want to see, I look for material that is well supported by a company or shows promise of future support. I want to see niche areas, which either won't be heavily covered by Pathfinder, if covered at all, fringe themes, rule sets covering non-traditional settings. And I want material that I can easily slot into other fantasy worlds.
Examples of products I feel fall into this:
Dreamscarred Press coverage of Psionics, which fills a empty niche in Pathfinder, Rite Publishing's Kaidan setting materials, which introduces a lot of options appropriate for campaigns which incorporate elements from the Far East, or Alluria Publishing's Cerulean Seas setting, which focuses on undersea adventuring
Stuff I feel that is still pretty wide open:
Technology and Science fiction materials
Stuff for Horror/Intrigue focused games
Monsters (always room for more monsters)
Non Western European fantasy
Uncommon but established races
Stuff for Horror/Intrigue focused games
Unlike many others here, I want less fluff. I want to be able to add "X Mechanic" to my settings without having to bring tonnes of baggage along with it.
Unlike many others here, I want less fluff. I want to be able to add "X Mechanic" to my settings without having to bring tonnes of baggage along with it.
I like how Path of War did that. It was like here's these classes! Also if you want to use them, here's some pre-written organizations that teach these combat styles that are built to be easy to fit into a campaign.
I like how Path of War did that. It was like here's these classes! Also if you want to use them, here's some pre-written organizations that teach these combat styles that are built to be easy to fit into a campaign.
I was actually planning on using that specifically as an example of what I didn't like if there was disagreement or inquiry. I mean, they have roleplaying restrictions to make it more fluffy when I just wanted to take the martial discipline I wanted, when those roleplaying restrictions don't make any sense for my setting. Just wastes time iat my table to add extra lines of text to my list of Houserules to say "No, you don't have to follow those roleplaying restrictions since those organisations don't actually exist."
I'm not just talking about settings. I, personally, need something like a "Descriptions for Dummies" book that lets me look up things like appropriate cultural dress for a West African analogue man and gives me a picture of said dress with at least the names of the individual (if not descriptions I can copy) so I can look them up online.
Huh. This is the book I didn't know I even needed but now that it's mentioned I would totally buy that. Stuff that helps with descriptions especially could be extremely handy.
|
|
As far as products I want to see, I look for material that is well supported by a company or shows promise of future support. I want to see niche areas, which either won't be heavily covered by Pathfinder, if covered at all, fringe themes, rule sets covering non-traditional settings. And I want material that I can easily slot into other fantasy worlds.
Purple Duck Games follows this with their own setting of Porphyra.
Stuff for Horror/Intrigue focused gamesHello? Maybe you might have missed these.
I didn't say there weren't 3pp covering this, just that this is an area that could use more development in Pathfinder in general.