The Future of the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game?

[adm]

Some bad news from the Stakeholders Report;

Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game - We have now sold the majority of what we printed. This should instantly slide the game into the "highlights" category . . . and it would be there if not for being so very late, costing more to produce than is healthy, and requiring so much of our upper management team's time and sleep. As it is, the game will likely be sold out at our primary warehouse before the end of the first quarter and will not be reprinted. The current market doesn't leave room for a game like this to succeed, and it's a great thing that we cut our planned print run by 30% or we would be stuck with copies for years to come.

First, I do truly appreciate that SJGames took the chance on such a beautiful product, and I do understand that they cannot produce it at a loss. This thread is not intended as place to vent about it's unfortunate commercial failure, but what can be done to use the material we have.

Options, as I see them, feel free to add your own;


1) Ignore the market, just make MORE!
Hopeful post that is very unlikely to happen.

2) Move DFRPG to the .pdf with POD option that GURPS in general appears to be moving to.
Best option we are likely to get.

a) Keep as separate line

b) Integrate into the existing DF line, even if it's just a quick short .pdf showing how to add currently released material, and printing all new material in DFRPG style, as opposed to rewriting everything to date. Note that rewriting everything to date will cut new material for a while, with little profit.

c) Release what SJGames already have, and any projects in the pipeline, then end additional production.

3) Sell out what they have, and end further production.
Worst cast scenario, that does not involve bankruptcy.

Assuming that some version of 2) will be done, what can we do to help?

[A Ladder]

My thoughts on the project.

DFRPG - I like that it is concentrated: trap lists, curtailed magic spell list, dedicated equipment lists, magic items, etc. It's nice not to have to homebrew everything.
I like that it comes in book form! Seariously. PDF is fine for doing my own thing, but at the table books trump everything else.

Things I'm "Meh" about: The box set: The cardboard heroes, the maps, the dice. I mean they are super sweet that I got them with the rest of the books...but I wouldn't have bought them if they were stand alone and would have backed the project without those goodies.
The adventures: meh, I make my own all the time. Though that's just me, I wouldn't have gotten into DF so deep if Mirror of the Fire Demon did not exist and am looking forward to Matt Rigsby's new adventure to hit.
That DFRPG is soooo similar to the regular DF line. Getting the class templates and exploits books were kind of a drag, I liked the clarity, but really didn't need it. It's going to make introducing new players easier, but I already good at distilling character creation down with full on gurps anyway.

So my thoughts: Integrate with the DF line, but allow POD for all of DF! I'm really close to thinking about getting Wilderness Adventures printed on Lulu or something.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by A Ladder

Things I'm "Meh" about: The box set: The cardboard heroes, the maps, the dice. I mean they are super sweet that I got them with the rest of the books...but I wouldn't have bought them if they were stand alone and would have backed the project without those goodies.

Actually, I'm still intrigued by the Cardboard Heroes. I think that SJG should have a Kickstarter just for those, as they have strong crossover appeal. It could be the classic Cardboard Heroes plus those monsters added to the boxed set.

[sir_pudding]

It's one of very few similar products with mostly reasonably dressed female heroes.

[Kalzazz]

I was thinking some of the outfits are really cute

But now that you've mentioned reasonable I just can't help but wonder how painful the dry cleaning bill is on a brightly colored floor length gown after a dungeon crawl

[Kalzazz]

I'm enjoying zuljita DoA, so I hope DFRPG stragglers on in some form or another into the future

[David Johansen]

A really nice, complete, set of Cardboard Heroes would be nice. They've already got the plastic stands. Any thoughts on changing the background to black or maybe tan?

I'd love to see adventures packaged with poster maps. I know it's a pipe dream but I'd still love it. Interlocking hex grid dungeon tiles would be sweet though I suspect the dies would be absurdly expensive. Don't tell me about all the great square gridded products Squares are for squares.

A bit of a setting would be great too. Nothing too deep or too silly, just maps and places and names.

It's a shame we'll probably never see a space opera or superhero boxed set.

I can't help but wonder if the generic aspect of the set was an issue. I also wonder if a simpler take on the rules would have broadened the appeal. But then, with TFT on the way, perhaps not.

[akfu]

Personally I hope they'll do the boxed set books in POD like they did the Companion. Otherwise I don't think I'd ever get it to the table. One set (mine) for my 8 potential players (who probably won't buy it before we get to playing it, and that's probably 6 months or more out) won't fly.

Without POD to support potential future discoverers/players (of the non- "pdf only" variety) I fear the game will be relegated to a historical curiosity/footnote. Which is a shame.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Actually, I'm still intrigued by the Cardboard Heroes. I think that SJG should have a Kickstarter just for those, as they have strong crossover appeal. It could be the classic Cardboard Heroes plus those monsters added to the boxed set.

I'd like to see the old Classic Cardboard Heroes style, the foldable ones.


AS for DFRPG, I wouldn't mind seeing it continue as pdfs, but if I have to make a choice between DF and DFRPG getting future releases, DFRPG can die in a fire.

[Andrew Hackard]

I just deleted a post and several replies to it.

"I think this whole thing is a waste of time" is threadcrapping; it adds nothing to the discussion and leads to a back-and-forth "no it isn't"/"yes it is" argument. If you aren't interested in the premise of a thread, stay out of it - don't ruin it for other people. If you think a post or a whole thread actually violates the forum rules, report it and let the mods handle it. But don't threadcrap.