[Perfect] Extending the Setting information

[joepub]

So, I wrote this game called Perfect.
And now, I've kinda got this cool idea: Elaborate on the setting, the history of Cadence, create some game fiction, collect some AP reports, take some quotes from source material... and publish this as a free PDF on my site.

Cadence: The Perfect World

So, someone who's read Perfect can pick it up, read more into the setting, flesh out their narration. There might be a few NPCs or locations they can work into the game if there are openings. There is genre fiction to totally hammer home what Perfect is about (to me.)
There are AP reports (mine, Ron's, any others that come to light*) so that people can get an idea of how play works, what are some pitfalls, and tips.
Maybe there is a set of sample characters (for Con games and quick demo sessions), and a blank character sheet.

*Assuming those people gave me permission to publish their AP reports, of course!

So.
Questions:
1.) Is this a cool idea?
For the people who have Perfect or are interested: Would you grab this free PDF and read it?

2.) Is this a cool way to... I dunno, continue offering my customers support beyond the book itself?

3.) Will this somehow promote people reading the PDF of the world and then buying the game?
Will it do the opposite? Will people feel less motivated to buy the game if they already have the Cool Colour?

4.) What would you want to see in such a PDF? How long would you want it to be?

5.) There is a bunch of setting stuff in the book proper. Should that info be repeated in the PDF, or should it be assumed that people who have the PDF have already read the book?

6.) Other feedback and comments welcome and wanted!

[Malcolm Craig]

1.) Is this a cool idea?
For the people who have Perfect or are interested: Would you grab this free PDF and read it?

Yes, yes I would. With gusto!

2.) Is this a cool way to... I dunno, continue offering my customers support beyond the book itself?

I think so. It's the kind of thing we did with a|state, offering further info and support in a free format. Support is always good.

3.) Will this somehow promote people reading the PDF of the world and then buying the game?
Will it do the opposite? Will people feel less motivated to buy the game if they already have the Cool Colour?

This is only my personal opinion, so please don't place any credence in it as a market research tool! I'd say that online support for a game would make me more keen to purchase it in the first instance. Certainly, this has been my experience with my own games: people have checked out the online support, been enthused about what they've seen and gone out and bought the full game. Hell, even a 72 page playable preview of the game didn't affect sales in a negative way, and you could run the game with just the preview and the free stuff on site.

4.) What would you want to see in such a PDF? How long would you want it to be?

Tough one. How much stuff would you want to have in it?

5.) There is a bunch of setting stuff in the book proper. Should that info be repeated in the PDF, or should it be assumed that people who have the PDF have already read the book?

Well, are you intending this as an introduction to the game for new purchasers, a expansion for people who have the game or a combination of the two? I think you want to go for the latter: provide something to pique the interest of new people and give something of value to existing fans (I count myself amongst those people!).  However, if you do put expanded stuff into the PDF, then it would need to be clear to people buying the game that some of this stuff doesn't appear in the book. Unless you do an expanded version of the book...

Regardless of what you decide, feel free to give me a shout as I'd love to contribute any help I could in the way of writing and stuff, because I think Perfect is a very cool game.

Cheers
Malc

[Valamir]

Love it.  But I wouldn't make it free.

The AP reports and such yeah.

But the setting dive, depending on how deep you get I think a 5$ or 10$ PDF would be a great follow up product assuming there was enough additional content to deliver in that regards.

In all seriousness Cadence is such a deliciously cool setting outside of Perfect that it would make a heck of a d20 supplement.  I mean that sincerely.  Of all of the forgie games I've seen recently Perfect is one of the few (9W being the other one that comes strongly to mind) that has a definite setting featured at the core of the game.  That sort of setting has value, people pay money for settings, especially ones they haven't seen a dozen times.  9W would fall apart done in d20.  But Cadence would fit very well and give some neat opportunities to stretch what d20 is capable of.  It wouldn't be "Perfect"...you already have that...but it would be entirely viable as a d20 setting.

If I were to d20ify Cadence, I'd center the game on the Crime Cycle as the equivalent of the "adventure".  Of course, playing out the actual crime would be more important than in Perfect given the focus of d20.  I'd have no traditional XPs rather each complete Crime Cycle you go up 1-3 levels.  1 Level for successfully completeing the crime with the basic classes being the types of criminal activity as in Perfect.  1 Level gained in the "Suspect" Class every time you get Interrogated, and 1 Level gained in the "Conditioned" Class every time you get Conditioned.  That way getting Interrogated and Conditioned aren't seen as "losing" (hey leveling up is leveling up) but rather they have certain negatives "feats" attached to them as opposed to the positive "feats" you can gain in other ways.

Transform Hitpoints from a "damage tracker" to a "conflict tracker" similar to APs in HeroQuest and you can base all of the criminal action on a modified combat system where you're rolling "to-hit" to sneak past the guard, and plant the bomb, and steal the painting, as well as just to kill people.

Anyway...kind of an out there idea, and I'm not sure I've ever said "you should totally make that d20" before in my life...but in this case...I think it has some legs.

[joepub]

Interesting. Part of what I want to do with this PDF though is give a little extra to the people interested in Perfect. If I were charging for the PDF it would contradict that goal.. but maybe I could give people who order the book from my site the PDF for free?

Okay... I've typed out a post and deleted it like seven times over now, because each time I go to hit "Post" I completely rethink the idea.

So, taking Ralph's post into consideration (the idea was something I'd previously mused upon), I could:

1. Turn Cadence into a d20 setting. Stat out the Inspectors, provide alternate rules for levelling and such. Create a fairly large product, which was solely d20. Charge for it.

2. Create my free PDF, and include rules for converting the game setting to a d20 game, or other.

3. Create a large, systemless setting PDF. Charge for it.

4. Create a free product which includes setting ephemera, fanfic, and AP reports. (the original plan). ALSO create #1 - the d20 book.

Hm.
Thoughts, people?

[daMoose_Neo]

Well, on the one hand, you have a powerful item: supplemental content. Its what drives the sale of CCGs. AP posts, some neat things about Cadence, etc. are all wonderful draws and neat little rewards to be sure. But if you're going to go through the trouble of laying out the entire nation in fine detail, thats more than a free PDF should be. A free PDF is ideally a sneak peek for someone who isn't exposed to the world/game and a bonus for people who are. For Final Twilight, I have an "Ashcan" collection on RPG now for a free download. Twelve cards, including some alternate artwork, cards that were cut from the print releases of the game for one reason or another, and some of the original borders and logos that were designed for the game, all with commentary, kind of like on DVDs where you have the extra content thrown in.

And maybe that isn't such a bad scale. Look at this and ask yourself "If this were a DVD, would this be a feature presentation or would it be bonus content, like all of the trailers or storyboards or actor interviews?" - Bonus content, thats the stuff that should be free, but if you give away the feature presentation you're missing a golden opprotunity to make a little extra for yourself, and its an opprotunity many people wouldn't begrudge you- people who like your stuff will like paying you for making the cool stuff.

[joepub]

Hm. I'm musing over this concept of Cadence as a d20 setting.

I have a couple questions to ask, of those that might think it a good idea.
I am exploring this idea, not commiting to it.

1.) Can someone link me to information about working with d20? Like... the licenses and whatever.
Also... if it's written in cryptic legalese, can someone give me the most base rundown?

2.) Would a systemless setting book about Cadence be more or less useful/desired than a d20 setting book?

3.) What would you want to see in such a book? Fiction? Setting info directly out of the Perfect book, or different info?

4.) I was originally planning to do a collection of "fanfic", AP reports, sample characters and con resources, setting ephemera, etc...
Could this been done as well as the d20 setting supplement?

5.) If I did do a d20 setting supplement, what would audiences want to see in it? I frankly haven't played any d20 stuff except for d&d 3.5 in a homebrew campaign setting... I don't know what's useful to d20 audiences.

6.) What would be the ideal length of a d20 setting supplement, and what would that PDF cost?

[dindenver]

Hi!
  I had to think about it, but here goes:
1.) Is this a cool idea?
For the people who have Perfect or are interested: Would you grab this free PDF and read it?
  I think people would pay for it, I don;t think it even has to be free! This is a cool idea, I think there might be people out there who dig the distopia, but need a little leg up on the victorian stuff

2.) Is this a cool way to... I dunno, continue offering my customers support beyond the book itself?
  Yes, any updates work to keep people interested in your game and let them know you care about their gaming experience.

3.) Will this somehow promote people reading the PDF of the world and then buying the game?
Will it do the opposite? Will people feel less motivated to buy the game if they already have the Cool Colour?
If it were a free download, I think it might be treated as a brochure or quickplay rules. and if it doesn;t deliver on that front, it might disappoint. But, I think anyone who downloads it and actually reads it cover to cover will probably buy your book if they don;t have it already.

4.) What would you want to see in such a PDF? How long would you want it to be?
Quick play rules, setting material not in the main book, sample adventure maybe.

5.) There is a bunch of setting stuff in the book proper. Should that info be repeated in the PDF, or should it be assumed that people who have the PDF have already read the book?
Well, if its a free download, you shouldn't be afraid to reference stuff in the main book, but should explain stuff that is not intuitive or obvious.

6.) Other feedback and comments welcome and wanted!
  I really think you should make a for-sale supplement and not a gimme. Unless you can come up with a demo game or quick play rules. Then that might be a GREAT way to get people hooked. But that's just me...

[daMoose_Neo]

If you want, hit me up on MSN and we can talk some about it. I'm only dipping my foot in the d20 pool right now, but I've been working on some material since early last year, so I know my way around the SRD at least.
Writing for d20 is kind of like using buckshot as opposed to using a regular bullet- you're bound to tickle the fancy of a lot of people, not so often having a driving, narrow effect. This is the type of thing regular PDF publishers have learned to exploit- rather than concentrate on large game texts and what not, they pop out a couple d20 supplements a week and put them up for a couple bucks. I'm attempting a hybrid- I have a couple of neat "settings" I'm exploring with d20 and releasing them as a series of PDFs detailing one aspect (Prestige Class, Race, Creatrures, etc). Eventually I'll get it all done and collect it with some extra material, but we'll see how the short PDFs for a buck something work (started putting them up this week).

In terms of how best to package Cadence, you've got the right idea. Typically GMs are the kind to pick up a setting book, but some players scout for their group too. So, ideally, you'll want to make it a powerful tool for the GM managing the game, so you'll want a lot of the leg work done, simple conversions for the things that you are changing, maps, NPCs, and flavor up the yin-yang, anything to immerse a GM in the setting and say "YES! It IS this freaking cool!"- you win over the GM, you win over the players in the group as the GM, typically in groups like this, is the barometer for what they consider "cool".

[Danny_K]

• 1. Yes, very interested.
• 2. Absolutely. 
• 3. It might.  Perfect is a game I'm unlikely to see on a game store shelf, so reading more flavorful tidbits is likely to push me closer to buying it.  Also, a particular tidbit can generate its own waves of interest, leading more people to be interested in the setting and the game.  See RPG.Net for lots of examples of this.
• 4. Things that are evocative of the setting, bits of detail or history that might be interesting, cool bits of business or locations that the GM might find useful.  I've had bad experiences with games that provide vital, setting-changing information in supplements, so I would much prefer to see free-standing articles which can be used independently of one another.
• 5. See, this might be going too far, and be redundant for those who own the game already.  Just explaining that the Inspectors are the black-clad political police might be enough.

Thanks for asking an interesting question.

Danny