I posted this first in the other DL forums at www.dragonlanceforums.com, but I know some of you don't make it over there, so I wanted to post it here as well.
I want to find out what it is about Dragonlance that has you all gaming in this world as opposed to the myriad of other worlds out there. Why Dragonlance?
Also, I want to get your thoughts and feelings on how we at Sovereign Press are handling the world. What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What can we do to make things better/easier/more fun for you?
I realize that everyone will have different ideas and opinions on everything, so I ask that you don't post any disagreements with others in this thread. I'm just trying to get a feel for what our core audience, you guys, thinks about DL and the direction it is going.
Thanks!
As for Sovereign Press, so far so good. :D My only gripe with a product is with Key of Destiny (pretty much the same complaints a lot of people have). I guess one other complaint would be a tendency to not include some major NPCs eg. Galan Dracos, Guerrand DiThon, Lyim Rhistandt etc. (who all could have been included in Towers of High Sorcery and it would have still been shorter than War of the Lance). War of the Lance included a huge collection of NPCs from the era but the other books don't. There is also a minor tendency to have typos and the like which really should be caught by the editors (eg. see the Afflicted Kender section on page 26 of Holy Orders - all those x's inside boxes really should have been caught!).
One thing that would be nice would be to include more spells that are used in the novels, eg. the spell that Raistlin learns from Fisty during his Test in Soulforge, the spell Galan Dracos used to wipe himself from existence in Legend of Huma, etc. After all, the WoHS are supposed to have an incredible number of spells which have been researched over the years.
Barring the above the products have been great and I intend to keep buying them the moment I can get my hands on them. Also, I particularly like that we can talk to an insider (Cam Banks and on occasion Jamie Chambers) about the products which shows that you guys are in touch with the people who buy your products instead of being aloof.
Also, I want to get your thoughts and feelings on how we at Sovereign Press are handling the world. What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What can we do to make things better/easier/more fun for you?
Just as soon as I see a Knightly Order book (which include the Knights of Solamnia, Knights of Takhisis, etc.) and the Taladas region sourcebook (which will include reprint of minotaur-favored classes and prestige classes from Age of Mortal), I'll let you know.
I really like the books, especially ToHS. I think some of the prestige classes are a little unbalanced sometimes (war mage, the magic item merchant in ToHS), but great flavor.
Better indexes. This is a complaint with WoTC as well. Sometimes I need to find something quickly, and it's hard without a good index.
I play dragonlance because they were the first fantasy novels that I read, and I love the world. Lately I feel like there's been a tendency to make NPC's a little too powerful. I remember in 2nd Ed most of the NPC's were below 20th level, and very, very few were above 15th. That could be my bias against epic level games. The great thing about DL is that the game has these fantastic novels backing the main storyline, where other worlds that have novels (FR, Dark Sun, etc) have writers who are not ... well, my favorite.
I would definitely like to see the knightly orders book, as well as some regional books. A supplement for Solamnia, Abanisinia, Ergoth, etc. More details on those realms.
I'll second REG's call for a Taladas sourcebook. Some more development of the desert and mountain barbarians would be nice as well.
Oggie
Not only is Taladas radically different from Ansalon, there is no pressure to abide by "official" history when you play there. No Raistlin, no Tanis, no Lord Soth, no nothing. Yay!
A minor request. As a RL fan, it would make me smile if you could include a reference (even a footnote would be great) in the Thenol section about Vlad Drakov ;)
Better editing of the books would certainly be a plus, although I'll admit the situation has improved since the first DL accessory came out.
One thing I am a bit angry about is that you're going to publish a revised (all errata included), expanded version of the Bestiary in June 2006. Don't get me wrong, a better Bestiary is certainly something to look forward to.
Unfortunately, the 1st one is barely 2 years old and - once again, as when WotC went from 3.0 to 3.5 - I feel a bit cheated. Since it will be an expanded version, most DM will feel the need to buy it. Granted, that's good for SP sales but it means we [loyal fans] end up with two books (in 2 years time). Had I known this was in your schedule, I wouldn't have bought the 1st print at all. So, unless you're planning on offering a discount to those who had already bought it, I'll count this as an evil marketing plot.
One thing I am a bit angry about is that you're going to publish a revised (all errata included), expanded version of the Bestiary in June 2006. Don't get me wrong, a better Bestiary is certainly something to look forward to.
Unfortunately, the 1st one is barely 2 years old and - once again, as when WotC went from 3.0 to 3.5 - I feel a bit cheated. Since it will be an expanded version, most DM will feel the need to buy it. Granted, that's good for SP sales but it means we [loyal fans] end up with two books (in 2 years time). Had I known this was in your schedule, I wouldn't have bought the 1st print at all. So, unless you're planning on offering a discount to those who had already bought it, I'll count this as an evil marketing plot.
Good morning! I've read several posts where folks have expressed feelings like yours. We want to please our customers, but as a company we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Here are a few facts.
1.The Bestiary of Krynn is sold out. Except for the occaisional handful of returns that come in from the book trade, we have had zero copies in our warehouse for pretty much the entire year of 2005.
2. The Bestiary is our most-requested product, something that most of our customers want to see back in print. We have no way to sell it to them without printing more.
3. The existing book has a lot of problems. There is a lot of errata to correct and most fans weren't crazy about the original "chapter" organization of the book. In addition, it was the first and only time Sovereign Press used the program Adobe Framemaker for layout. We thought it would be a good choice for "catalog"-style book because of its organization and cross-referencing features. Unfortunately we found the book to be a nightmare when doing graphics-heavy work, and now Adobe no longer supports the program. One way or another, I would have to go back into layout to re-do the book anyway.
Our conclusion, rather than just do a straight re-print of the original Bestiary with all its warts, is to release a revised version that corrects the issues the earlier version of the book. The only other option is to simply not reprint the book at all, forcing the current fans wanting it to either do without or purchase the PDF version.
We're not asking current owners of the Bestiary to purchase the new book! By using the posted errata, you can make use of your current book just fine. If you decide to purchase the new book we certainly appreciate your business, but this new printing is for all those who weren't able to get the book in the first place. There is demand and we're trying to meet it.
Jamie Chambers
Sovereign Press, Inc.
We're not asking current owners of the Bestiary to purchase the new book! By using the posted errata, you can make use of your current book just fine. If you decide to purchase the new book we certainly appreciate your business, but this new printing is for all those who weren't able to get the book in the first place. There is demand and we're trying to meet it.
That covers the "revised" part of the book, but what about the "expanded" part? I doubt the errata deals with that. Ah well, I'll probably end up buying it anyway :surrender
That covers the "revised" part of the book, but what about the "expanded" part? I doubt the errata deals with that. Ah well, I'll probably end up buying it anyway :surrender
Yeah, me too.
GCS
My only complaint against SP is the price of the books, when we are paying 30 bucks a book it should be atleast the size of the Bestiary, I know you guys are a new company but still, and your not the only ones i paid 30 bucks for Heros of Horror the other day that book is so thin it should have gone for 22.50. Also I would like to see things come out a bit faster but i know you can only put out so many products and you are acctually doing a great job of smoothing out the process, now if I could just make enough money to afford them. Also I would like to see SP getting their name out there a little more or a bigger DL name, maybe go to some game shop openings or a few more Cons, I know its expensive but it also boosts customers. Otherwise you all are doing great. You all are incredibly awesome and nice and that works in your business's favor. Sean I hope the Sturm-stach is still growing well for you.
Meh. You have to keep in mind that SP does not own Dragonlance IP, they're licensed to use it. IOW, WotC still get a piece of their revenue.
What ever happened to the decendants of Kaz? I mean they are talked about in the new dragonlance source book, and haven't hear about them in any novels? Don't they exist anymore? Let me know what you think of this.
As you said they are talked about Holy Order of Stars, and yes they still exist.
What ever happened to the decendants of Kaz? I mean they are talked about in the new dragonlance source book, and haven't hear about them in any novels? Don't they exist anymore? Let me know what you think of this.
These are being discussed in Races of Ansalon. They are still around!
Jamie Chambers
Sovereign Press, Inc.
Sean I hope the Sturm-stach is still growing well for you.
Actually, I had to shave it off
for the Air Force Reserves, which I joined a little over a year ago. I've pretty much been clean-shaven ever since. I'll probably grow it back one day, but it'll have to be after I'm done with the military again.