Pavis & Big Rubble Companion: The Directors' Cut Relaunch

[Fedman Kassad]

5 minutes ago, Ian Thomson said:

This is the classic period when Pavis City was a booming metropolis, so I deliberately wanted an incongruent image with the idea of the Rubble, and at this time wyrmish influence is big in the city too 🙂

 

 

All super awesome things the read about on the back cover...  where that image would be perfect and get a potential purchaser thinking about the how cool this is going to be...  but a front cover has to stop a person as they walk (browse) by and say "HEY, YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS OUT" - so no Rubble is perfect - but the Ostrich Carriage and some of the other things you have talked about in this thread have made my imagination soar and my desire to buy this book overwhelming...  Now you need an image that does the same for someone who hasn't read this thread  😉

[Ian A. Thomson]

You speak with the dragon tongue of wisdom, sir. Consider me to be considering! :)

[10baseT]

14 hours ago, Ian Thomson said:

What do people think?

I will be buying this regardless, but man, do I love a good RQ cover. Seeing some of the covers from the Jonstown Compendium: Legion, Men of the West, Six Seasons in Sartar, The Throat of Winter, The Sandheart series, Holiday Dorastor - Temple of Heads, The Gifts of Prax, Life of Moonson, Alogo's Caravan... I can really go on. But my point, they evoke the feeling. I feel an instant immersion into Glorantha, into the scenario, it pulls me the f$#k in... makes me want more.

[Ian A. Thomson]

6 minutes ago, 10baseT said:

I will be buying this regardless, but man, do I love a good RQ cover.  I can really go on. But my point, they evoke the feeling. I feel an instant immersion into Glorantha, ... makes me want more.

Yes it's a really good point, yet I have to consider finances. As authors will know the cash return is laughable compared to the hours put in. (You make way more per hour serving behind a fast food counter.) But I am now interested to get a good cover, and have a couple of questions I'd be grateful to hear back about:

Since it's a series, I do have the option of maybe commissioning just one or two covers and then simply changing the text on them to give new volume number and title

IE the first two volumes are set around Pavis City in the second age, so I could commission a view of the city at its height in 894 ST and use that same image for the cover for both of these

And I could at the same time commission a cover of the identical scene but set in 1619 ST

Maybe somewhere like the Wyvern Gate with an angled view of the street within (fancy in 894ST and ruined in 1619ST) Both images have the option for intriguing characters to be lurking around

I'm pretty sure I can't afford big scene covers, unless anyone thinks some kind of gofundme would make sense. (Not something I envisioned, but a very cool pair of broader panorama cover pics as above might be practical if I get some help.)

[Bill the barbarian]

24 minutes ago, Ian Thomson said:

I'm pretty sure I can't afford big scene covers, unless anyone thinks some kind of gofundme would make sense. (Not something I envisioned, but a very cool pair of broader panorama cover pics as above might be practical if I get some help.)

Some on the JC have put out what they could afford for art and when money started rolling in, would issue an update for free with better art.

[10baseT]

12 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Some on the JC have put out what they could afford for art and when money started rolling in, would issue an update for free with better art.

I was about to say the same thing. Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass did it (another glorious cover), did Sandheart? I think they added updated art. But anyways, like mentioned, some add a very nice cover (or more art) after some $ has come in making it more feasible or for other reasons.

[Bill the barbarian]

Just now, 10baseT said:

I was about to say the same thing. Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass did it (another glorious cover), did Sandheart? I think they added updated art. But anyways, like mentioned, some add a very nice cover (or more art) after some $ has come in making it more feasible or for other reasons.

I like to say "great minds think alike", my mom used to say "fools seldom differ"...

[Nick Brooke]

4 hours ago, 10baseT said:

I was about to say the same thing. Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass did it (another glorious cover), did Sandheart? I think they added updated art. But anyways, like mentioned, some add a very nice cover (or more art) after some $ has come in making it more feasible or for other reasons.

Jacob Webb painted a new cover for the remastered version of Tales of the Sun County Militia (Sandheart Volume One).

Mark Smylie created new covers for both Martin’s books (Armies & Enemies and Men of the West) after they’d been out for a while.

[AndreJarosch]

22 hours ago, Ian Thomson said:

I feel like going old school with the cover

Bucking the trend of really fancy covers and staying with something more basic like a rough guide in different times might have

Future volumes can have more elaborate covers of course

What do people think?

 

My advice: 
Go with old covers, but (if time permits) let get them coloured by Dario. 

Give the whole line the same cover layout. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by AndreJarosch

[Ian A. Thomson]

2 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

 

>>Go with old covers, but (if time permits) let get them coloured by Dario. <<

That might be possible for later issues, but I'm not sure he has the images anymore. Hopefully he does. But the first two volumes have no detailed image for 894ST so we need a new one I have decided

>>Give the whole line the same cover layout. <<

I am definitely considering getting just one image as a cover to use for the whole series, and change the text each time of course

With one exception. The first two volumes are about 894ST, and the rest about 1619 onwards, so it would have to be an image of the same scene but in the first two volumes it would be 894 and the rest 1619

OR I just get Dario to slightly alter them each time, to show the different states of the Rubble over time, in order over the eight volumes. A little story in slightly changed images

[AndreJarosch]

5 minutes ago, Ian Thomson said:

>>Go with old covers, but (if time permits) let get them coloured by Dario. <<

That might be possible for later issues, but I'm not sure he has the images anymore. Hopefully he does. But the first two volumes have no detailed image for 894ST so we need a new one I have decided

>>Give the whole line the same cover layout. <<

I am definitely considering getting just one image as a cover to use for the whole series, and change the text each time of course

With one exception. The first two volumes are about 894ST, and the rest about 1619 onwards, so it would have to be an image of the same scene but in the first two volumes it would be 894 and the rest 1619

OR I just get Dario to slightly alter them each time, to show the different states of the Rubble over time, in order over the eight volumes. A little story in slightly changed images

I am sure that Dario has ALL the artwork he has done in his files. 

DON`T use the same cover on all books. 
Use the (coloured) original cover, but make sure that the layout of the cover makes clear that these books belong together: Same font, size, colour, position, etc. 

I agree that it will be no prpoblem if the style of the cover of the 2nd Age booklet will differ from the rest of the series, but also this should use the same cover style in font, colur, etc. 

[svensson]

OK, because I'm a little bit lazy and didn't read all 6 pages of this thread [Bad, svensson, BAD!], I'm gonna ask what is probably a dumb question...

Is this going to be an update of Prax to 1625, or updating the RQ2 material of 1610-15 to RQG rules?

Either way, I'm buying the product about 45 seconds after I'm aware that it's available.

[Bill the barbarian]

It is set in 1619, but... the first two volumes will detail the far past of 894 S.T. 

2 hours ago, Ian Thomson said:

With one exception. The first two volumes are about 894ST, and the rest about 1619 onwards, so it would have to be an image of the same scene but in the first two volumes it would be 894 and the rest 1619

 

 

[Fedman Kassad]

If there were pre-sales (like video games do) I would buy the first book now so you could use my money to commission cool covers!  Hell, I'll donate money for cool covers and still buy the whole series as they come out!

I might be just a bit thrilled this series is actually happening!

[Richard S.]

I'm a sucker for old-school covers so I really like the first version

[Akhôrahil]

If you're going to put resources into a cover, the first volume is the one to go for - after that, people will probably buy other volumes based on vol. 1 rather than on the cover.

[Ian A. Thomson]

1 hour ago, Richard S. said:

I'm a sucker for old-school covers so I really like the first version

Me too!

But I think people are right in general. That covers attract the eye and attention. I did think of releasing two versions so people have a choice :)

[Ian A. Thomson]

8 hours ago, svensson said:

OK, because I'm a little bit lazy and didn't read all 6 pages of this thread [Bad, svensson, BAD!], I'm gonna ask what is probably a dumb question...

Is this going to be an update of Prax to 1625, or updating the RQ2 material of 1610-15 to RQG rules?

Either way, I'm buying the product about 45 seconds after I'm aware that it's available.

Yes, like Bill says, Vol 01 is Pavis City in 894ST

Vol 02 is how to set up and run a campaign in Pavis City 894ST (because why not!!!) :)

Then Vol 03 is New Pavis 1619 ST, and the volumes role on from there :)

[Ian A. Thomson]

6 hours ago, Fedman Kassad said:

If there were pre-sales (like video games do) I would buy the first book now so you could use my money to commission cool covers!  Hell, I'll donate money for cool covers and still buy the whole series as they come out!

I might be just a bit thrilled this series is actually happening!

That is a great idea, since Vol 01 is now complete except for the final small amount of proofing and the cover. So the product is not speculative. Vol 02 also is in an advanced stage of completion and should be done within two weeks to the same level. But I doubt if this is possible on Jonstown Compendium

[Ian A. Thomson]

Thanks to a bunch of volunteers, and my own insane 12hr days, Vol 01 of the Pavis & Big Rubble Director's Cut 'The Rough Guide to Pavis City' is now complete. All that is required now is a cover, which we are still pondering on the best way forward with that. (So it might still be a while before it sees release.)

Thanks in particular to Bill the Barbarian and 7Tigers for long hours of work also, and to Simon Phipp, Graeme Prowse and Harry Grawe for very helpful support.

[Bill the barbarian]

Totally a pleasure. It was a great read and you were quick with needed responses. Now, if my work actually helped it rather that harmed it, we are golden!

Edited March 14, 2022 by Bill the barbarian

[Ian A. Thomson]

Your work was epic of course!! Absolute working partner in the enterprise. Huge appreciation as always!

[Ian A. Thomson]

Looking at the notes on the Jonstown Compendium, it says that HeroQuest stats are permitted in Jonstown publications. I had thought that I heard the exact opposite. That they are not permitted.

Can someone clarify this for me please. A lot of the material in the later Companions had full HQ stats in, and if this is possible to be used, then what I will probably do is produce separate supplements for each volume, containing HQ conversion notes.

As much as I wasn't a huge fan of the system, the work has already been done, and it would be crazy to just throw it away if it's permissible. Potentially I guess I could just include it in the publications, but that would ramp up the page-count and probably be useless to most people. How popular is HQ these days?

[Richard S.]

55 minutes ago, Ian Thomson said:

Looking at the notes on the Jonstown Compendium, it says that HeroQuest stats are permitted in Jonstown publications. I had thought that I heard the exact opposite. That they are not permitted.

Can someone clarify this for me please. A lot of the material in the later Companions had full HQ stats in, and if this is possible to be used, then what I will probably do is produce separate supplements for each volume, containing HQ conversion notes.

As much as I wasn't a huge fan of the system, the work has already been done, and it would be crazy to just throw it away if it's permissible. Potentially I guess I could just include it in the publications, but that would ramp up the page-count and probably be useless to most people. How popular is HQ these days?

HQ - or QuestWorlds as it's known nowadays - has mostly been overshadowed by RQG from what I've seen (though that may change once we get actual Glorantha material for QW, since it's just a generic SRD now). Fortunately due to how the system currently works, you don't need any stats provided to run anything with it, the narrator and players determine target numbers and abilities during play.

TLDR, there's no need to add anything to the Companion to use it with HQG/QW.

[Ian A. Thomson]

8 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

HQ - or QuestWorlds as it's known nowadays - has mostly been overshadowed by RQG from what I've seen (though that may change once we get actual Glorantha material for QW, since it's just a generic SRD now). Fortunately due to how the system currently works, you don't need any stats provided to run anything with it, the narrator and players determine target numbers and abilities during play.

TLDR, there's no need to add anything to the Companion to use it with HQG/QW.

OK, yes that's what I had heard about QW

There are extensive HQ rules across the Companion series as it stands now, and I am about to start the edit/delete process. For instance I have extensive HQ notes on how to run the troll contests, and wonder if I should just delete them

Mind you, probably the easiest answer is to delete them from the re-release series, and then just include them all as an optional-extra pdf per volume. Then anyone who wants them has that option

Thanks for the info