Louis Porter Jr. Design, has released its next preview for the upcoming post apocalyptic survival horror fantasy setting, Obsidian Twilight for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Here is information on the Races of Obsidian Twilight: Osirian (PRPG) Preview:
According to ancient lore the Osirians were the first intelligent species to emerge on Abaddon, chosen by the gods to be their first creation on this world. They were, and are, a regal and proficient people famed for their skill with their hands and their swiftness, as dangerous archers and fencers and the makers of technical wonders and fine crafts. The position of the Osirians as the favored of the gods did not spare them from the cataclysm that turned Abaddon upside down, already giving way to some of the other species the Osirians were struck a hammer blow by the fall of the meteor and their ancestral homelands were some of the worst affected by the necromantic miasma and negative energies released by the impact.
Written by Written by James Desborough with Louis Porter Jr. Available Here!!!
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Notwithstanding all that, who did your cover art?
I kinda dig it :)
Downloaded it.
Nothing wrong with the similarities. As does anyone knows, there's a lot of primal creation myths that overlaps. Who's to say that it doesn't occur across different campaign setties and galaxies. Ad nauseum.
Director of Brand Strategy
|
Osirians? Hit by a meteor? Sounds awfully familiar...It might sound similar, but the outcome is VERY different.
It just seems like a PFRPG product using names and concepts from the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting (even if those names and concepts were public domain before Paizo used them) risks contributing to brand confusion. I could see someone who is only slightly familiar with Golarion and the difference between the CUP and the PCL seeing this product and assuming it's compatible with Osirion, Land of Pharaohs, or Paizo's setting in general. I guess this confusion benefits a smaller publisher because the end user won't necessarily know they're different until after they've bought it from you. I also don't think sowing brand confusion is healthy for the industry as a whole. It just seems like, knowing what names Paizo had already used in their setting, you could have designed a setting without such obvious overlap.
Perhaps so, but anyone can easily download the free product and determine that for themselves. Since he's not charging anyone for the sneak peek, he's not causing a bait and switch situation by misleading for the ill intent of self profit.
If we were to go that route, it wouldn't be difficult to draw conclusions from the current Golarion setting to other fantasy or real world references.
When read, there's really not much in the way of cross correlation, IMHO. And no one is out money, but maybe a few minutes of their time if it doesn't suit their needs.
It just seems like a PFRPG product using names and concepts from the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting (even if those names and concepts were public domain before Paizo used them) risks contributing to brand confusion. I could see someone who is only slightly familiar with Golarion and the difference between the CUP and the PCL seeing this product and assuming it's compatible with Osirion, Land of Pharaohs, or Paizo's setting in general. I guess this confusion benefits a smaller publisher because the end user won't necessarily know they're different until after they've bought it from you. I also don't think sowing brand confusion is healthy for the industry as a whole. It just seems like, knowing what names Paizo had already used in their setting, you could have designed a setting without such obvious overlap.
Well I don't see that happening for several reasons:
1) Obsidian Twilight is a Post Apocalypse Survival Horror setting which is inspired from the Ravenloft & Dark Sun setting. Osirion is an Egypt inspired land in the Paizo world setting.
2) Osirion is a PLACE in Paizo' world setting. Osirian are a necromantic infused RACE of humanoids in the Obsidian Twilight.
3) Since the full name of the product is Races of Obsidian Twilight: Osirian, I think that it should be enough to realize that this product while using the Pathfinder approved logo, that this is not a Paizo created product, just on the basic graphic design differences of the products.
These three facts should be more than enough to notice the diffenece in the two products. But if you think there might still be some confusion with the products, just remember Races of Obsidian Twilight: Osirian is ABOSOLUTELY FREE available at RPGNow only while Osirion, Land of Pharaohs cost $9.99 and is available at Paizo.com. I think that should be enough of a difference in the products. Thanks for your support of Paizo and LPJ Design!