Pathfinder in eBook formats?

[ladyofdragons]

Hi. I got an Amazon Kindle for christmas, and one of the first things I realized is how great it would be to be able to carry all the books for an RPG in my Kindle, unlike now where playing D&D 3.5 I have a huge bag of books to bring if I need to play at a friend's house. Using the kindle's search feature, to be able to search across all the books for a certain spell or class and pop to it automatically.

eBook formats such as amazon's kindle format, ePub (adobe's proprietary DRM), .mobi and others are different than PDFs. While I could read the PDF on my kindle it's definitely not the same as a version made specifically by the publisher for eBooks. And with the kindle I could actually read for hours, vs. PDF on a laptop screen where I have to quit after a while due to eyestrain.

Just wondering if there's any interest out there for an eBook format of Pathfinder.

[Legora]

First of all, LUCKY YOU!! We here in Canada just got access so it will take some time before they are down to prices that the normal man may pay.

Secondly. Doesn't the kindle let you read PDF's? You can purchase most of the Pathfinder books as pdf's and just load them on?

[hogarth]

Legora wrote:

Secondly. Doesn't the kindle let you read PDF's? You can purchase most of the Pathfinder books as pdf's and just load them on?

I gather that PDFs are annoying to read on a Kindle just like they're annoying to read on any device with a small screen (i.e. you choose between seeing the full page with teensy writing or not having the full page on the screen at once).

I suspect there's not enough of a market to make it worth paying editors to redo a 400+ page book in some e-book format.

[Andrew Betts]

It has been attempted, Kobold Quaterly #1 is available on the Kindle, but from what I can tell it did not translate very well. I've personally been manually converting the fiction from the APs to the Kindle for personal reading, but I don't think a gaming book will translate well ever. Here's to hoping when the fiction line starts they have something like non-drm PRC files.

[Cpt_kirstov]

This has also been brought up before... I think in the website feedback forum... it would also create issues with images and map sizing.... I think that they said the future would depend on the demand

[Victorious]

RPG's are mostly reference books. These types of books do not translate well when using a kindle or any other ereader. (I have a sony ereader BTW.)The only thing I use my pdf books on is a netbook with acrobat. This allows me to search and have multiple books open for reference, notes, etc.

Few if any RPG Manuals are written in a form that is fluid enough to be read comfortably on an ereader. Until E-Readers get better in terms of tech. They are only good for reading "traditionally" written text.

[Tilquinith]

A kindle or something similar with it's long battery life sounds like a good idea if the books would translate well. Although I have considered getting a netbook for quick book reference while gaming since there more portable than my laptop.

[Cyd the Arcmagi]

Just wanted to say if your looking at getting a Netbook, they Rock!
I have an Acer, I have my groups entire game library on it which is like 100 book. The biggest selling point for me was the fact it weighs 5-lb.
I'm planing getting Hero lab for it.

[Gorbacz]

My only gripe is Companions vs. Chronicles. I still don't get why Katapesh book is in one line and Andoran/Cheliax/etc in the other. But with the Adventurer's Armory, I believe that Companions are on the right track.

[Cpt_kirstov]

Gorbacz wrote:

My only gripe is Companions vs. Chronicles. I still don't get why Katapesh book is in one line and Andoran/Cheliax/etc in the other. But with the Adventurer's Armory, I believe that Companions are on the right track.

I think that this was in the wrong thread, but I'll respond to it anyway... Katapesh is not a nation represented in PFS play. those factions are:

Andoran Faction
Cheliax Faction
Osirion Faction
Qadira Faction
Taldor Faction

So every faction in PFS org play is getting a book that allows the players of said org play write more complete backstories.

[SirUrza]

I want a kinkle too.. it's the price that's keeping me from getting it. I've seen ebook readers come and go for the last 10 years and I'm worried the kinkle and nook are just another attempt at bringing back that dead horse.

[Gamer Girrl]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

My only gripe is Companions vs. Chronicles. I still don't get why Katapesh book is in one line and Andoran/Cheliax/etc in the other. But with the Adventurer's Armory, I believe that Companions are on the right track.

I think that this was in the wrong thread, but I'll respond to it anyway... Katapesh is not a nation represented in PFS play. those factions are:

Andoran Faction
Cheliax Faction
Osirion Faction
Qadira Faction
Taldor Faction

So every faction in PFS org play is getting a book that allows the players of said org play write more complete backstories.

Yes, this was stated in one or more threads somewhere (too lazy to go search 'em up), but I do remember it. Because these are the factions for PFS play, they wanted to get out the info in an easy format for all the PFS folks to justify purchasing, and in a timelier (if that's not a word it should be ;p) manner than the Chronicles line would allow at the time.

[Rezdave]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

My only gripe is

I think that this was in the wrong thread

Yes ... clearly wrong-threaded, probably the old "two open Replies" glitch.

Would be nice to end that discussion, or link it into a new thread and put it to bed here.

ladyofdragons wrote:

Just wondering if there's any interest out there for an eBook format of Pathfinder.

I would say this is inevitable for the future, but it will takes a "rules breaker" in the category. Perhaps the forthcoming Apple Tablet will be that device. It's certainly the best bet so far, but we'll have to see.

As has been commented by others, the layout of a product optimized for Print vs. eBook is different. So, a direct translation of the print material to any eReader format is an inferior product.

Paizo is operating on margins and a staff that do not allow for it to get out Web Supplements. Unless they decide to go entirely electronic (which I don't foresee any time soon) then the likelihood of them having the time/staff/budget to re-design all of their material for eReaders simultaneous with the Print release is minimal, and with their deadlines going back later to redo them isn't really feasible (or of any interest or priority from a management standpoint).

The other option is to optimize for electronic and make print secondary. Either way, you'd want the layouts and pages to match as close as possible so that a DM hard-referencing the adventure portion of an AP installment can have a page-to-page correlation with a Player looking up some PrC or Feat or Spell in the same volume's supplemental section.

It is, at best, a tricky proposition. Again, with time, budget and staff issues, I don't see it happening too soon. So PDFs it will remain for a while.

IMHO,

Rez

[ladyofdragons]

A follow up after some thought. From working with publishing software (this was years ago, but I'm pretty sure the same concept still rules) the actual text of books lies in textboxes that are positioned on the master pages, flowing from one column to the next. The text itself (especially that of the main "story", which is a continual text box flowing from page to page) is separate from the background, images, or layout and could be saved in a text-only format. However, the biggest problem I would see would be the many tables. They are definitely not ebook friendly, and would have to be skipped or converted into images (skipping would reduce value, converting into images would take time and effort).

Then again, I own the pathfinder book and I'm not looking for something to replace it, but more to supplement it so I can read through the pathfinder manual away from home (since it's huge and heavy) and search through it at gametime. PDFs for now it is.

[uriel222]

I've been dealing with this for a while now. Here's what I've figured out:

First, you can "re-flow" the pdfs manually if you have a pdf writer (and an unlocked pdf). This can be tedious, and some DRM schemes don't allow it, but it provides the best results for dedicated ebook readers like the Kindle or PDAs.

Second, the next big coming thing is ebook readers for college textbooks, which means large format screens that display RPG pdfs beautifully. Plastic Logic's QUE is aiming at this market, and Apple's new tablet should be great for this as well.

Failing that, tablet form factor laptops are the best way to read on the screen. Motion computing makes a great line for this, and they can generally be found on eBay quite cheaply (large companies tend to buy them for ungrateful employees...).

Supposedly, jailbroken iPhones do a good job displaying pdfs, but I haven't had the chance to see it in action, myself.

[AlQahir]

I have the pdf's on my iPhone and they work fine. It is not the easiest way to read them, but works well enough. The biggest problem is the need to zoom in and then slide the page around, which isn't that big a deal except it slows things down if you are just trying to look up one thing.

[GeraintElberion]

Cyd the Arcmagi wrote:

Just wanted to say if your looking at getting a Netbook, they Rock!

I have an Acer, I have my groups entire game library on it which is like 100 book. The biggest selling point for me was the fact it weighs 5-lb.
I'm planing getting Hero lab for it.

Must agree.

I have everything on an Acer AspireOne. I only take a few key books to the table and use this to look up everything - as it's online I've also got the Pathfinder Reference Document at my fingertips.

[SirUrza]

AlQahir wrote:

I have the pdf's on my iPhone and they work fine. It is not the easiest way to read them, but works well enough. The biggest problem is the need to zoom in and then slide the page around, which isn't that big a deal except it slows things down if you are just trying to look up one thing.

Try GoodReader, it's onsale right now, only 99 cents! :)