Hall of Judgment for the DFRPG: Now LIVE!

[Dominator]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

What city/state are you in? Trying to get a feel for the spread of this thing.

I'm in Olathe KS, right by Kansas City.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Dominator

I'm in Olathe KS, right by Kansas City.

440 miles, then. Yay.

[Tom H.]

I received my Hall of Judgement book today (Mon. 9/10).

My wife brought in a package around lunch time. Of course I had wishful thoughts but dismissed such a quick arrival. I thought it was something else but couldn't ignore the perfectly sized box for the awaited book.

I'm sure I not alone in marveling how such projects actually come to fruition.

I'm most impressed by the page quality; it feels so smooth without being glossy.

I like the matching size of the book to the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, but it does sometimes seem like the pages could use the full room of letter size.

I also noted that some of the artwork came out a bit dark and would benefit from some more contrast or brighter colors. It does seem that the PDF provides this upon comparison.

These are just observations that don't much deter my appreciation of the product.

It may take me some time to fully delve into the game as I have other gaming irons in the fire.

Speaking to that, I'm a bit put off by the supposed trend that a new game has to make a quick splash before it's surpassed. When it comes to the depth of RPGs, their assimilation and appreciation would seem to be on a different time frame than burning out a new video or card game in a week or two.

Thank you and your team for your work on this Doug. And thanks to SJ Games for going for the license.

[DouglasCole]

Thanks for the capsule review!

Originally Posted by Tom H.

I received my Hall of Judgement book today (Mon. 9/10).

My wife brought in a package around lunch time. Of course I had wishful thoughts but dismissed such a quick arrival. I thought it was something else but couldn't ignore the perfectly sized box for the awaited book.

I'm sure I not alone in marveling how such projects actually come to fruition.

My records show the USPS took possession of your book at 2pm on Friday Sept 7, which means it took the minimum 2 days (!) to get to you. That's the lower bound of turn-around for Media Mail, so you did very well!

I'm most impressed by the page quality; it feels so smooth without being glossy.

I won't lie: I love the paper as well. It's 140gsm (93#) silk-coated matte paper, which provides that feel that you like, without the glossy glare. I don't like glossy pages on the inside of a reference book.

I like the matching size of the book to the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, but it does sometimes seem like the pages could use the full room of letter size.

It was definitely a balancing act. I wanted to get the maximum on the page without it feeling cramped; this was occasionally hit-or-miss.

I also noted that some of the artwork came out a bit dark and would benefit from some more contrast or brighter colors. It does seem that the PDF provides this upon comparison.

This is a flaw in the business process of the printer I used. They go *fast*, but you only get digital proofs, not hardcopies, and I've found that without the hardcopy, you really don't get a good feel for color matching. The Dragon Heresy proofing process with the Far East takes much longer (12-14 weeks vs a total of 4-6 for both print and ship with the UK outfit) but I got to see color print proofs and folded signatures, and wound up adjusting the color balance on two important pieces of art, and even reprinting one of my signatures to correct errors at the last moment.

I was trying to meet a very tight schedule and was two weeks late to "all books in hand by August" as it was for Hall of Judgment, so there were a few places where I just went forward to save time. I think the book turned out fairly well, but if there's enough repeat interest to drive a reprint, I might look into a few different options. I recently found a printer in Texas (Taylor Specialty Publishing) that does sewn bindings and high-quality print. They're twice as expensive as overseas (boo), but they can get me everything in four weeks from order placement (yay), which is extremely fast turn for sewn projects.

These are just observations that don't much deter my appreciation of the product.

It may take me some time to fully delve into the game as I have other gaming irons in the fire.

I hope it plays well at the table. I'm just writing up my impressions of using Fantastic Dungeon Grappling as a *player*, and was pleased at the results.

Speaking to that, I'm a bit put off by the supposed trend that a new game has to make a quick splash before it's surpassed. When it comes to the depth of RPGs, their assimilation and appreciation would seem to be on a different time frame than burning out a new video or card game in a week or two.

Thank you and your team for your work on this Doug. And thanks to SJ Games for going for the license.

You're quite welcome. And I can assure you: that same team, and more, is ready to do additional stuff if we can swing it.

[InfinitePudding]

My package is in De Moines. That's only 7 and a half hours away :D I'm really excited!

[adm]

I received mine today. Very nicely done.

[Dalin]

I've read a fair bit now. Enjoying it immensely.

I'm struck by two things. First, the setting is rich and well-developed. It reminded me of cracking open the old World of Greyhawk gazetteer for the first time: intriguing adventure options on every page. I appreciate the notes on history, social structure, and religion. The deliciously extensive array of festivals was entirely over the top, in the best possible way — so many fun options for bringing the setting to life.

Second, the book provides useful expansions to the DFRPG rules. I was expecting the excellent grappling rules, of course, but it has a lot more than that. It contains information on pack animals, dressing game, climate extremes, etc. Much of this might be available in other GURPS or DF volumes, but not as part of DFRPG.

Impressively good value. (And the paper is silky heaven.)

[AOTA]

Got mine today! Looks great.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Dalin

I've read a fair bit now. Enjoying it immensely.

I'm struck by two things. First, the setting is rich and well-developed. It reminded me of cracking open the old World of Greyhawk gazetteer for the first time: intriguing adventure options on every page. I appreciate the notes on history, social structure, and religion. The deliciously extensive array of festivals was entirely over the top, in the best possible way — so many fun options for bringing the setting to life.

Second, the book provides useful expansions to the DFRPG rules. I was expecting the excellent grappling rules, of course, but it has a lot more than that. It contains information on pack animals, dressing game, climate extremes, etc. Much of this might be available in other GURPS or DF volumes, but not as part of DFRPG.

Impressively good value. (And the paper is silky heaven.)

Do you mind if I quote this in some buzz notes about the book? I'd like to draw attention to the product on ENWorld, RPG.NET, theRPGsite, and Geek and Sundry.

[voodoo54]

I received mine yesterday in the Tar heel state. The book looks and feels amazing. Thanks Doug for all the hard work you put into this. Now we need a Dragon Heresy powered by GURPS edition!