FASA Games, Inc.

Trejes wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:59 pm

Will there be a poll which book should be first? My personal (maybe not THAT important) opinion on the order of publication is:
- Companion (because it seems to be almost finished)
- Elven Nations
- Iopos (bring it on! new cool background stuff )
- Disciplines
- Mystic Emporium

There will not be a poll. Release dates will be based on how much work is needed to get the books into publishable shape.

Here's what we're looking at currently:

* Companion
* Elven Nations
* Questors
* Mystic Emporium

After that is less locked down. Iopos has a writer (Allen Farr, who wrote Travar), and he's working up an outline and concept. Morgan is handling the Disciplines book. Those two will probably be the next ones in the queue.

Mixed in with all that are the next few chapters of the Legends of Barsaive adventure series. I'm hoping to have the 25th-Anniversary adventure I'm writing for this year's GenCon published.

Beyond... we've got a proposal for an Arancia book (west of Vasgothia/Talea). I'd like to see a Urupa/Aras Coast book (since that area hasn't seen much development). There's new fiction on the horizon. I'm thinking about the next big event for Barsaive, and how we might build up to that. Another possibility is revisiting some of the Theran provinces as stand-alone books.

@Mataxes:
When you describe your work with the books it always seems that your team is just a few people. Less than 5? How many authors are you?

Have you maybe thought about working closer with Ulisses Spiele? (The German translator of Earthdawn) They manage to publish a lot of books every year despite the German RPG print market being a niche market. A lot of authors work for them or with them and there are still a lot of German Earthdawn fans. You could commission some books to them and just translate them...

Urupa would be great.
What about Jerris, will it be included in Iopos? If not, Jerris and the Wastelands would be interesting, too.
And more storyline? Yeah!

Bonhumm wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:13 pm

Let's not forget the Questors book

That was with intention. In my imaginary poll I wouldn't vote for Questors. One of he points I liked most about Earthdawn was that it didn't include a lot about Gods and Religion. But just my personal opinion. If a lot of people look forward to the Questors book, so be it. Everybody go for it.

Previously, the developers have alluded to a sourcebook about magic being in developement. Is "Magic Emporium" the said sourcebook?

If so, are there any chances that any of the following will be included in that book:

- an in-game spell design mechanics, 1ed-style;
- some mechanical guidelines for the (out of character) spell design;
- some thoughts or loose guidelines concerning spell-design.

I understand that it may be way to early to ask, but I think this would be increadibly useful.

Trejes wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 01, 2018 12:05 pm

@Mataxes:
When you describe your work with the books it always seems that your team is just a few people. Less than 5? How many authors are you?

It depends on the book, but we're a small outfit (like most RPG outfits outside Wizards of the Coast and Paizo). Our core team is:

Me. I'm Line Developer, which means that I'm the one who decides the overall plan, what books will get produced, lays out the goals for setting, story, and rules development, and (more or less) has final say on stuff.

Morgan Weeks. He's my right-hand man, focused mostly on the mechanics end of things, but is a helpful sounding board for other stuff as well.

Since my project management skills are pretty awful, that end of things is now handled by Andi Watson. She's the one who sets deadlines, and makes sure things are making progress.

Tiffany Ragland is head of editorial (not just for Earthdawn, but all the FASA Games lines). She's stepped up to oversee the Elven Nations project so that I can focus my attention on the Questors book.

Jeff Laubenstein is art director, overseeing the artistic end of things.

Beyond that, everybody else involved are freelancers. Copy editors, layout, most of the supplemental writers (like Allen Farr or Joshua Fontany, along with many others), and artists. And I have to fit my development work, editing, writing, etc alongside my day gig. Which goes for the other folks as well, because there's not anywhere near the money for one person to do this full time, let along multiple folks.

Have you maybe thought about working closer with Ulisses Spiele? (The German translator of Earthdawn) They manage to publish a lot of books every year despite the German RPG print market being a niche market. A lot of authors work for them or with them and there are still a lot of German Earthdawn fans. You could commission some books to them and just translate them...

We already have an arrangement of sorts with Ulisses. They have a couple of advantages in that they are large enough to have at least some dedicated full-time staff, a longer history and established stable of freelancers, and money. I know they have some books in production for the German market, and while I don't know the details of their license, I'm fairly certain there are options for us to publish English versions of their stuff if we want. I just haven't seen anything yet.

Urupa would be great.
What about Jerris, will it be included in Iopos? If not, Jerris and the Wastelands would be interesting, too.
And more storyline? Yeah!

I don't know how much Jerris will be included with Iopos. It depends on what the outline looks like. Personally, I think I would rather see Jerris as its own book, but that remains to be seen.

BRW wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 01, 2018 5:03 pm

Previously, the developers have alluded to a sourcebook about magic being in developement. Is "Magic Emporium" the said sourcebook?

I believe so. I can't think of anything else it might be.

If so, are there any chances that any of the following will be included in that book:

- an in-game spell design mechanics, 1ed-style;
- some mechanical guidelines for the (out of character) spell design;
- some thoughts or loose guidelines concerning spell-design.

I understand that it may be way to early to ask, but I think this would be increadibly useful.

I don't know. The plan is to have a bunch of spells in the book (both ED4 version of old stuff, and a few new ones as well), but there almost certainly won't be an ED1-style spell design system. Of the three options you listed, the third is most likely, but we haven't gotten to that stage of things yet, and any kind of system put in place would need to be closely examined to avoid potential abuse.

Thanks a lot for that detailed answer.

I'm curious as to why an Arancia book? Of all the provinces outside of Barsaive it has to be one of the least interesting. The Theran Empire book didn't even bother detailing it outside of saying; 'basically the same as Talea'. With high-adventure provinces like Marac and Vasgothia just begging to be expanded upon and played in I don't see the appeal or interest in Arancia.

Geekabilly wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:41 pm

I'm curious as to why an Arancia book? Of all the provinces outside of Barsaive it has to be one of the least interesting. The Theran Empire book didn't even bother detailing it outside of saying; 'basically the same as Talea'. With high-adventure provinces like Marac and Vasgothia just begging to be expanded upon and played in I don't see the appeal or interest in Arancia.

In some ways, that's the best reason to have an Arancia Book. There's almost nothing to retcon and lots of opportunity to create something interesting where once there was none.

etherial wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 02, 2018 3:30 pm

Geekabilly wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:41 pm

I'm curious as to why an Arancia book? Of all the provinces outside of Barsaive it has to be one of the least interesting. The Theran Empire book didn't even bother detailing it outside of saying; 'basically the same as Talea'. With high-adventure provinces like Marac and Vasgothia just begging to be expanded upon and played in I don't see the appeal or interest in Arancia.

In some ways, that's the best reason to have an Arancia Book. There's almost nothing to retcon and lots of opportunity to create something interesting where once there was none.

That is true, I just hope that whoever is pitching that book isn't just basing it on Talea, like it is in Theran Empire. Talea really doesn't fit in with the other Earthdawn provinces and on a personal note is my least favourite province or at least a close second with Cathay.

Just my two cents: a spell design system would never interest me. Guidelines are a great idea, but the amount of work that would go into making an honestly balanced system ... the amount of work it would take to become familiar enough with said system to use it in game ... ugh. Now customizing existing spells? Allowing spellcasters to research and tinker with what they already know? Sure! And maybe even let it coexist in the same matrix as the base spell ... sorry, I'm on a tangent.