"Factions at War" Freebie PDFs

[Adam Riemenschneider]

(I hope this is the most appropriate forum for this. If not, sorry Ron.)

Allrighty, I've compressed the core book (Factions at War) down from 386 pages to 92 pages, and will be giving it out as a freebie PDF. This *seems* to be a pretty popular way to get potential customers to look at your book (risk free, at that) and hopefully want to roll on in and buy the full version. I suppose with more brick-and-mortar store presence, this isn't quite as vital, since potential customers have a chance to check the full version of a game out in-the-flesh.

This will be up on the website soon (along with lots of other PDFs), but until then, I will be emailing the PDF out to anyone who asks.

Will all of that said, how has this type of experience worked out for others? I note that Steve Jackson Games did GURPS Lite, Ron did something similar with Sorcerer, and my regular gaming group was willing to try out Fates Worse Than Death because of their freebie download. For folks that have done this, what would you say your experience has been?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

-adam

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Adam,

It's perfect for this forum. When you're not sure, make sure to ask with a private message, OK? Because if you get it wrong, "sorry I did it anyway" is a bit of a red flag for me. And if you did it right, there's nothing to apologize for, and it so happens that the endless apologizing to moderators on many internet forums is also a red flag for me.

Anyway. It's not like I live for red flags or anything. I'm sayin', ask me first, because it's easy and fun.

OK, that's enough moderation, already. It's no big deal, Adam. Let's discuss the topic from this point forward.

Best, Ron

[Vulpinoid]

This is the way I'll be going with my game "Tales". A core set of rules (currently sitting at around the 32 page mark), which will be available as a freely downloadable PDF, then an offering of the book through a Print on Demand service like Lulu for those players out there who like to have space filled up on their bookshelves (for the minimal required cost).

Beyond this basic book, there will be a number of sourcebooks and modular component that can be used to turn the basic game into a wide variety of settings. And theoretically through mixing and matching aspects of the setting books, you can cover almost anything imaginable.

I tried to do something similar to this in the mid 90's but the world just wasn't ready for the concept then and P.o.D. companies didn't exist in any meaningful form at that stage...(not to my knowledge anyway).

It seems like a valid path to take.

Drug dealers have been using it for centuries...

Give their first hit free, and charge them for every additional one.

V