1 on 1 Adventures

[Netwatcher]

I just purchased a couple of the one on one adventures (#1 and #2, hey, I like to go in order<shrug>) and I am very impressed. First off I saw the hard copy adventures in my local gaming store, but they were out of any thing remotely 'thiefy', which is the prime interest of *most* of my players, this was a drawback for the gaming store as I did not purchase any fantasy adventures through them. This leads to my first question, does xrp make more profit from download sales or is it better overall to the bottom line to purchase from a bricks and mortar store? I would think profit would be higher without the print and transport costs, but having material in front of the consumer has to have advantages too. This will influence future purchases.

Next question, Character descriptions! Where are they? I have only dm'ed the “Gambler's Quest” and was at a bit of a loss when it came to describing the various participants in the game. I had literally overlooked that until the introductions came. I kind of trailed off lamely, “Lord Kent, is, uh, human, uh male, um, he is wearing robes and ah, shoes. Yep that’s Lord Kent for ya!” I recovered a bit better for the next few NPCs, and the motives and such for the characters were absolutely fine, I knew why everyone was there. This is a very minor complaint for the module, which overall is very well done and can fit into virtually any game or be ran as a one shot adventure when the whole group can’t make it to the table.

I have converted the Gamber’s Quest to a tournament style module and I am running each player of my group through it so they can all see ‘who is the best’ at being a rogue, this has provided great entertainment for all of us so far and I can imagine that when they finally all get together afterwards to compare notes they will be amazed at what they missed and how everyone else solved the puzzle of “Why Lord Kent raided Rhiannon”.

Keep the 1 on 1 adventures coming, especially the thiefy ones, in my opinion there is no better class for role playing 1 on 1 or 2 on 1 than a rogue or a mixed rogue.

[xrpsuzi]

Hey Netwatcher,
Glad to hear that you liked the 1 on 1 Adventure line! The concept of the line (making it easier for 2 people to play while making things easy to scale for more people) came about when Joe and I were living in the Himalayas. Talk about having a tough time finding a gaming group

To answer some of your questions....

First off I saw the hard copy adventures in my local gaming store, but they were out of any thing remotely 'thiefy', which is the prime interest of *most* of my players, this was a drawback for the gaming store as I did not purchase any fantasy adventures through them.

Yeah, the thiefy ones are a lot of fun, but we also realized that people liked playing different character concepts too. While some classes are harder to run solo, we're trying to get a selection for maximum enjoyment: barbarian, ranger, cleric, monk, and even bards.

This leads to my first question, does xrp make more profit from download sales or is it better overall to the bottom line to purchase from a bricks and mortar store? I would think profit would be higher without the print and transport costs, but having material in front of the consumer has to have advantages too. This will influence future purchases.

Tough question. Strictly on a per unit bases, we make more selling a PDF than selling a book at the brick and mortar. We know people like having the physical book, so we put them into game stores and sell from our on-line store. But in the end, buying an XRP product from any location is appreciated.

Next question, Character descriptions!

Sorry about that. Each author has a slightly different style and focus when they put a 1 on 1 Adventure together. For example, Shroud of Olindor (the sequel to Star of Olindor) is very detailed on character descriptions and interaction notes because the adventure is a different structure than Star of Olindor. It is event-based and highly dependent on the PC's decisions, so fluidity of plot was very important and the NPC's motivations and reactions were more central to the plot.

I have converted the Gamber’s Quest to a tournament style module and I am running each player of my group through it so they can all see ‘who is the best’ at being a rogue, this has provided great entertainment for all of us so far and I can imagine that when they finally all get together afterwards to compare notes they will be amazed at what they missed and how everyone else solved the puzzle of “Why Lord Kent raided Rhiannon”.

Very cool idea! You'll have to tell me who wins.

Keep the 1 on 1 adventures coming, especially the thiefy ones, in my opinion there is no better class for role playing 1 on 1 or 2 on 1 than a rogue or a mixed rogue.

Sixth Cavalier (#4) was written with a Bard in mind, but the author also made it very easy to play as a rogue (yeah skill points out the wazoo!)

Shroud of Olindor (#6)is the follow up to Star of Olindor, and I just heard from the author that the third adventure in the trilogy will be the Vengeance of Olindor!

And there was talk of making a follow up to Gambler's Quest, but the author was getting married and had a little one coming shortly, so it's still in the development stage.

Thanks for picking them up and posting!
Suzi

[Netwatcher]

Star of Olindor was the other pdf I picked up, I will be buying the Shroud and Vengeance of Olindor as well; the groups response to the 'tournament' has been pretty amazing. A lot of trash talking and commiserating so far, and I still have a couple people to run through it.

I am still debating on the electronic versus hard copy purchase. I started "DMing from the laptop" about 3 months ago and love it, so it looks like I will be staying with electronic versions of the modules as long as I can get them. There is nothing quite like curling up with a module to read on these cold Iowan nights, curling up with a laptop has too many disadvantages, though it does generate heat.

Gambler’s Quest could so use a follow up, marriage-smarriage! And kids just make the creative juices flow stronger than ever (as you daydream of things you used to have like free time and sleep), crack the whip and get a sequel going. I could see the sequel starting with the rogue taking Lord Kent up on his offer to enter the tomb. That would be so cool. An actual trap filled dungeon, plus you just know Kent is going to…well I don’t want to give too much away for any players. Even if the good Lord Kent should, say, not make it to the sequel, the PC should have gained enough information to find the place without him. Oh yeah, I am ready for GQ Part 2.

[xrpsuzi]

Gambler’s Quest could so use a follow up, marriage-smarriage! And kids just make the creative juices flow stronger than ever (as you daydream of things you used to have like free time and sleep), crack the whip and get a sequel going...... Oh yeah, I am ready for GQ Part 2.

I'll pass this along to William. It will put a smile on his face.

-Suzi

[sagestl]

Any updates on Vengeance of Olindor (or an follow-up to Gambler's Quest)? Just bought the first two Olindor, and Gambler's Quest, tonight, and would like to pace myself accordingly...

[xrpsuzi]

Any updates on Vengeance of Olindor (or an follow-up to Gambler's Quest)? Just bought the first two Olindor, and Gambler's Quest, tonight, and would like to pace myself accordingly...

Serendipitiously, I recently spoke to the author Matthew J. Hanson and Vengeance of Olindor should be out by the end of the year.

I can give you a hint on what the Vengeance of Olindor is..... Stabby Mc Stab-stab!

And no, it's not Scottish

-Suzi

[sagestl]

Any updates on Vengeance of Olindor?

[xrpsuzi]

Any updates on Vengeance of Olindor?

I am waiting on cartography, and we will have a finished product!

It should be released in PDF at YGN in early February, and the printed book will be at FLGS and XRP's on-line store in April.

I'm putting the cover together for solicitations to stores this week, so I'll post the link to the cover preview when I put it up at our web-site.

Incidentally, 1 on 1 Adventures #9: Legacy of Darkness was just released last month in PDF. It's for wizard 8-10. And the book will hit FLGS and our in-line store in February.

-Suzi

[xrpsuzi]

Just wanted to let you guys know that the PDF of 1 on 1 Adventures #10: Vengeance of Olindor is available at YourGamesNow.com

http://www.yourgamesnow.com/index.php?m ... ts_id=2065

The book will hit shelves and our on-line store in April 2008, and you can stop by our web-site for a peek at the full cover:

http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/page/page/4295097.htm


-suzi