GURPS 2013 Wish List

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by hal

What keeps either of you or Dan Howard, from putting together said "books" in PDF format, and then selling them on RPGNOW.COM?

Dan's already doing it with his Castles books, but what's stopping me are quality of finished product and return on investment.

For the first, if I'm writing for a publisher, there's a QA process. There's an editor, and there's someone who does layout and pre-press stuff. The editor doesn't just fix spelling and grammar. The editor asks questions I haven't thought of and points out more than just technical flaws with the writing which I haven't noticed, and the man who many who does his own editing has a fool for both patron and client. There's also a skill set for laying out text for publication, and it's more complex when you throw a bunch of graphical elements like maps into the equation. That's a skill set I don't have. Both of those people make my book better, so I want them involved. It's certainly possible to hire such people, but I'm intensely averse to being a manager (another key skill set!), and it costs money up front, and that takes us to point #2...

For the second, the impression I've gotten is that, in the final analysis, I'm likely to make more money if I'm writing for a publisher than self-publishing. I know a number of people who have gone the self-publishing route, and some back-of-the-envelope math suggests that my royalties for the GURPS books I've written are better than the lion's-share-of-the-proceeds for most books they've written. There are exceptions, to be sure, but the math doesn't look like it's in my favor, and the obstacles posed by working with a publisher (for example, giant cybertanks blocking the way) are worth it in the final analysis.

This is not to say that things might not change that equation at some point in the future, but for the moment, if I'm going to write professionally, I'll work through a process which produces what I feel is the best work and the most pleasing profit. If I write stuff which I'm confident will never see professional publication but want to put out anyway, I'm likely to just put it up on the web somewhere without the expectation of it being salable.

[Jovus]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Locations don't need to be DF related. I want a book of generic low-tech locations that can be dropped into any setting from DF to historical. My castles book was supposed to do that but I also want inns and taverns, temples and abbeys, wind and water mills, iron mines, shops, various workshops (smithy, bakery, glassblower, potter, etc), houses of various sizes, theatres, senate houses...

True, and the only reason I haven't picked up your Compact Castles is because it would find use in my next game, and that seems a bit premature. However, a DF-centric Locations book (line) could include things like how to deal with the place as a 'dungeon' - what traps, even monsters; what skills, etc - and could easily include places that wouldn't fit a generic low-tech location book, like a crypt of a lich king or magma flats or whatever.

Not but what the low-tech location book wouldn't be useful anyway.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Jovus

True, and the only reason I haven't picked up your Compact Castles is because it would find use in my next game, and that seems a bit premature. However, a DF-centric Locations book (line) could include things like how to deal with the place as a 'dungeon' - what traps, even monsters; what skills, etc - and could easily include places that wouldn't fit a generic low-tech location book, like a crypt of a lich king or magma flats or whatever.

That could probably be handled with genre-specific lenses. Just about any building would have a floor plan which could be used in a historical or DF campaign, and would have largely the same description and stats (doors here and here, cooking is done here, the scriptorum is over there, walls have DRx/HTy, etc.). Another paragraph or three could provide less realistic adventuring suggestions: a secret door (marked X on the map) doesn't exist in the realistic version but does in a cinematic/adventuring/DF version, the depression in the floor is a baptismal font in the real version or a sacrificial lava pit (with such-and-such stats) in the unreal version, and so on.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Locations don't need to be DF related. I want a book of generic low-tech locations that can be dropped into any setting from DF to historical. My castles book was supposed to do that but I also want inns and taverns, temples and abbeys, wind and water mills, iron mines, shops, various workshops (smithy, bakery, glassblower, potter, etc), houses of various sizes, theatres, senate houses...

Also think about how useful such supplements can be for non-GURPS GMs. There are a lot of Ars Magica GMs who can make good use of TL3 (and TL2) floorplans. There's a fairly big market for that kind of material, but ever since 4th Edition got published, SJ Games have drawn inwards, focusing very strongly on material that is of little use outside of GURPS.

[Ketsuban]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

There's a fairly big market for that kind of material, but ever since 4th Edition got published, SJ Games have drawn inwards, focusing very strongly on material that is of little use outside of GURPS.

Why wouldn't said non-GURPS GMs be happy with the data from the 3e books which you already acknowledged? What do they stand to gain from SJG investing resources in putting out the same books again with the same information and game mechanics updated for 4e?

[Jasonft]

GURPS Hirelings

Lists and commentary for various settings for Hirelings and Minions of all sorts. How expensive is that good lawyer? How hard should it be to convince that scholar to translate the parchment written in Old Elvish? Just how loyal is that small army of mercenaries? That hacker we hired turned out to be part of a sting operation, why didn't we spot this in time?

You get the idea. Makes Wealth a bit more... interesting in how it affects play.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Ketsuban

Why wouldn't said non-GURPS GMs be happy with the data from the 3e books which you already acknowledged? What do they stand to gain from SJG investing resources in putting out the same books again with the same information and game mechanics updated for 4e?

That pretty much nails it. And what's limiting new publications like this is the fact that the market for "fact books" useful in any system appears to be dead. Supporting the mechanics of a game that we know people actually buy and play is more practical. We gamers can moan all we want about not liking that status quo, but that won't change market realities . . . which are that in the current era, what sells to gamers is games for the sake of gaming (i.e., stats and rules), not games as an excuse for source material.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Ketsuban

Why wouldn't said non-GURPS GMs be happy with the data from the 3e books which you already acknowledged? What do they stand to gain from SJG investing resources in putting out the same books again with the same information and game mechanics updated for 4e?

Where have I asked for SJ Games to re-issue 4th Edition version of old books? I'd like SJ Games to resume the old 3rd Edition trend of commissioning and publishing research-intensive supplements of real-world relevance. There's lots of real-world aspects they didn't get around to covering.

[ericthered]

G: Vehicles yeah, I'm asking for it.
G: Naval Combat I so want this, if only for ship statistics, and the fact it will force the cannon damage ship hp issue to be resolved. True, spaceships can be warped into this, but its just not the same.

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Also think about how useful such supplements can be for non-GURPS GMs. There are a lot of Ars Magica GMs who can make good use of TL3 (and TL2) floorplans. There's a fairly big market for that kind of material, but ever since 4th Edition got published, SJ Games have drawn inwards, focusing very strongly on material that is of little use outside of GURPS.

Lets finish what we started with 4E first!

[Armin]

Originally Posted by Grouchy Chris

GURPS Character Assistant V2.0. The current version is…how old? I don't know, but I know that I find it slow and clunky. I'd like to see it load faster, crash less often, and be easier to navigate.

Technically, it would be v5.0, but otherwise I agree with you. That's why I'm in progress on it right now. No particular ETA, but it's coming along.

Armin