Thursday, August 16, 2012

[Q&A] James Edward Raggi IV (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)

[20:08] <+JimLotFP> I'm Jim, an American living in Finland, and I run Lamentations of the Flame Princess which is all about taking traditional old school gaming and twisting it into new and wonderful and terrible things.
[20:09] <+John_Berry> Go Finland!
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[20:10] <+JimLotFP> I've just released two new adventures this week, The Monolith from beyond Space and Time (Kenneth Hite has a couple pages of material in there) and Death Love Doom. Vornheim's nominated for the Diana Jones Award and I think the winner will be announced this weekend.
[20:10] <~Dan> (Welcome, Guest53087! You can set a nick with the /nick commend.)
[20:10] <+JimLotFP> Working on getting 10 new releases out by the end of the year. (fingers crossed)
[20:12] <+JP> Having run LotFP, and finding it immense fun and good times, I must say one thing. I really miss the bestiaries of D&D. I understand the choice to make monsters more memorable by making the GM invest into them, but a bestiary can convey such idea forming imagery.
[20:12] <+Mike> You got a timeline on when the new releases might come out?
[20:13] <~Dan> (Let's pause on the questions there and let Jim catch up, guys.)
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[20:14] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Gygeson!)
[20:14] <+JimLotFP> The Hite adventure and hardcover, late Oct. The four adventures funded in the last campaign, December. God that Crawls has gotten completely out of hand (looking at 80 pages + foldout map now instead of the promised 32) so that might not be out until early October, plus I'll have mini-adventures out for Tracon in September and Dragonmeet in November.
[20:15] <+diogenes> JP: you could use the summon spell as a mini bestiary ;-)
[20:15] <+JimLotFP> As for the bestiary, when I decided to do my own game I wanted to keep the rules skeleton of old D&D but I didn't want gameplay to mimic it.
[20:16] <+JP> Jim, right I can understand that perfectly, its just some GMs (like me) want to focus on character drama instead of creating beasties. Don't take this as damning critique, as I love the game, its just a whiner's comment :)
[20:17] <+JimLotFP> Well now that we've checked that off the list, anyone want to ask "What's weird about Weird Fantasy Role-Playing?" so we can check that off too? :D
[20:18] <+JP> hehe
[20:18] <+diogenes> indians make fine goblins in my opinion :)
[20:18] <+Neko--kun> Do you have any projects in the works collaborating with Amos Orion Sterns? I thought his art really fit the 'feel' of LotFP, or at least my understanding of it.
[20:18] <+Neko--kun> (sorry to everyone for weirdly specific and esoteric question)
[20:19] <+JimLotFP> Nothing scheduled at the moment but I usually make such decisions last minute.
[20:19] <~Dan> What's weird about Weird Fantasy Role-Playing? :)
[20:20] <+Guest53087> What are you personally interested in exploring in your future adventures?
[20:20] <~Dan> (Guest53087, you can set your nick with the /nick command.)
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[20:21] <+JimLotFP> The weird part is you scan the rules and you *think* you know what you've got ("Oh no! Another clone!"), but in play it steers you away from what you expect... like a first level Magic-User being able to potentially destroy the world with a first level spell.
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[20:21] <+JimLotFP> Also, the adventures. :D
[20:21] <+Gemini> Potentially destroy the world with a first level spell?
[20:22] <+Mike> Summoning Spell?
[20:22] <+JimLotFP> Yeah, Summon has nasty nasty side effects.
[20:22] <+Gemini> Ahhh, ok
[20:22] <+Gemini> Oh, hey - out of curiosity, would you say you've been spending more time working on or playing your game, since you decided to create it?
[20:22] <+Mike> What's Ken Hite's kickstarter adventure about?
[20:22] <+Neko--kun> (Everyone here knows the art-free rules & magic PDF for LotFP is free right? you may want to take a peek at it)
[20:23] <+JimLotFP> For future adventures... the Tracon mini-adventure, it's going to be a "one room adventure", I've always wanted to see if I can make that work.
[20:23] <+JimLotFP> I've got an outline for a political struggle in a town in 30 Years War Germany that might be the Free RPG Day thing I do for next year.
[20:24] <+JimLotFP> Hite's adventure, if it's what he originally told me about, occurs during a large battle. But I haven't actually seen it yet so who knows what he's really doing. :D
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[20:24] <+PhantomBlack> Hello.
[20:24] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, PhantomBlack!)
[20:25] <~Dan> (Q&A about Lamentations of the Flame Princess in progress!)
[20:25] <+PhantomBlack> Dan, is this the right channel when i want to ask Mr. Raggi some questions later?
[20:25] <+PhantomBlack> Ah, great.
[20:25] <~Dan> No, this is the right channel to ask him some questions now. ;)
[20:25] <+JimLotFP> I'd challenged him to follow up on the Owls' Service thing from Monolith and make an adventure called Total Fucking Owlmageddon (because I like to give retailers conniption fits) but I don't think he went for the idea.
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[20:26] <+PhantomBlack> Ah, cool. Hi Mr. Raggi!
[20:26] <+JimLotFP> 'allo PB!
[20:26] <~Dan> Welcome to #rpgnet, headspice!
[20:26] <+PhantomBlack> brb
[20:26] <+headspice> tanx
[20:27] <+Mike> What did he go with?
[20:27] <+JimLotFP> I don't know yet.
[20:27] <+JimLotFP> It's sort of scary. :D
[20:28] <+Mike> ah well, looking forward to seeing what he comes up with
[20:28] <~Dan> JimLotFP: We've discussed this a bit previously, but what are the big selling points of LotFP?
[20:28] <~Dan> As opposed to, say, using another retroclone and just making up your own monsters?
[20:28] <+maasenstodt> I get a lot of mileage out of random generators, and your RECG is among the better ones.  Do you have any plans for any similar projects in the future?
[20:29] <&Le_Squide> (What's the RECG?)
[20:29] <+JimLotFP> He's the first outside-the-OSR writer I'm working with and I don't want to meddle in his affairs, that defeats the point of having him do something for me... but it leads to this sort of anxiety wondering what the hell he's going to do when given free reign.
[20:29] <~Dan> (Question pause while Jeff catches up, please.)
[20:29] <+headspice> The art sucked me in first
[20:29] <+maasenstodt> Random Esoteric Creature Generator
[20:29] <+diogenes> this -> (Link: http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/reviews/the-random-esoteric-creature-generator-by-james-edward-raggi-iv-rpg-review/)http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/reviews/the-random-esoteric-creature-generator-by-james-edward-raggi-iv-rpg-review/
[20:30] <+JimLotFP> Selling point of LotFP... attitude and presentation, mostly. I'd encourage people to check out the adventures first, they're cross-compatible with all the clones (and people have told me they've played them with the Warhammer RPGs - fantasy and 40k, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, Runequest, D&D 3.5, D&D 4, and a bunch of others I can't remember right now.
[20:31] <+JimLotFP> Using a non-robust rules set gives a great advantage to adaptation I think. But the point is, if the adventures look good to you, the game will too.
[20:31] <+JimLotFP> If you think the adventures are too out there or too deadly or whatever, then the game won't appeal.
[20:31] <~Dan> I assume the adventures all include original monsters?
[20:32] <+Neko--kun> I don't know if it's a touchy subject or not, but I've noticed you've moved the LotFP blog from a more personal one to something more akin to a company's update blog. Do you plan on continuing with them or setting up another blog for more personal posts (rants, ideas, and such about.. well anything even tangentally related to gaming) or do you not have as much time to do these kinda things now?
[20:32] <+JimLotFP> The later ones do. The first few from when I started publishing still had some familiar faces appearing.
[20:32] <+PhantomBlack> DeathFrostDoom uses some "standard" monsters...
[20:32] <+PhantomBlack> But with a nice twist to them, IMO.
[20:32] <+Neko--kun> The Grinding Gear also uses some book monsters. Not in a typical way though.
[20:33] <+JimLotFP> The blog has less ranting and blah blah because I don't need that sort of platform to express my ideas - I can put them into the writing for the books.
[20:33] <+diogenes> I think Gemini had a question about play vs. design way up a while ago, that went unnoticed.
[20:33] <+PhantomBlack> Jim, what did you think about the outrage from some customers who missed a monster section in the first edition of LotFP?
[20:33] <&Le_Squide> Is there a particular adventure you'd suggest for people who wanted to try out weird fantasy in particular with their group?
[20:33] <~Dan> (Question pause, please.)
[20:34] <+JimLotFP> Ah, Gemini's first... I definitely spend way more time writing and doing preparation for publication than I do playing these days. But that's OK with me... I don't know if this is a cool thing to say, but I enjoy the whole publication thing as an activity - from writing to taking orders to the post office - than I do actual gaming.
[20:34] <+JimLotFP> I think that is a reason why LotFP has grown each of the 3 years I've been in business and you can see it in the quality of the books I think.
[20:35] <+Gemini> I think it's a cool thing to say - assuming I'm allowed to reply :) It's just an conceptually interesting situation, to me.
[20:36] <+JimLotFP> PhantomBlack the people that complain about the lack of monsters... I think they miss the point. LotFP is not intended - on my end anyway - to simply be "D&D but replace Tolkien with Lovecraft and meet 3 shoggoths in room 2b" if you know what I mean.
[20:36] <+diogenes> I happen to know that JimLotFP runs a game once a week
[20:36] <~Dan> JimLotFP: Such people should look at Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. :)
[20:36] <+PhantomBlack> Yeah, but still, a bit "firm" advice on how to design monsters would've been nice. I was one of the customers, and  i actually wrote you an enraged e-mail or blog comment, tbh. @JimLotFP
[20:36] <+JimLotFP> Use less monsters, and make those monsters really special. If you can't think of a good monster, then it's OK to not have a supernatural threat every session.
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[20:37] <+JimLotFP> I think my home group went two months of real time worth of sessions without meeting a monster.
[20:37] <+Gemini> diogenes: That's awesome, too. I was just imagining a situation where, after making your own go-to-game/masterpiece, you instead wind up working more on the design/development of the game as opposed to running it as often as perhaps you thought. I really don't intend to sound disparaging. :-/ I'm just weird.
[20:37] <+JimLotFP> The Grindhouse Edition has a half dozen pages on handling monsters, I forget if that was in the first edition or not...
[20:37] <+PhantomBlack> No.
[20:37] <+PhantomBlack> I have the first edition. The one without the Demon-birthing woman.
[20:37] <+PhantomBlack> xD
[20:37] <+JimLotFP> Le_Squide for a first adventure I'd recommend Death Frost Doom (seems to be a continual favorite) or the new Monolith adventure. That one's jumping in the deep end though. :)
[20:37] <&Le_Squide> Hmm!
[20:38] <+diogenes> not seeing monsters all the time in a campaign does give quite a lot of contrast to the times you do
[20:38] <&Le_Squide> I have Carcosa, which has an absolutely smashing bit of pdf linkage. Was that due to the author, or are your other .pdf offerings that robust?
[20:38] * +diogenes is one of JimLotFPs players, btw :)
[20:38] <~Dan> If you had it to do over, would you include demi-humans again?
[20:39] <+JimLotFP> Le_Squide That was entirely due to the layout guy really giving it his all. It's a lot to live up to now, but Death Love Doom's linked up the map and descriptions too so hopefully people appreciate it.
[20:39] <&Le_Squide> Neat!
[20:39] <&Le_Squide> Is Monolith available right now?
[20:39] <+JimLotFP> Dan I'd leave them out. While I don't want to be "just another clone" I don't want to be a complete separatist from the old school scene, and maybe I left a bit more legacy stuff in than I needed to.
[20:40] <+JimLotFP> Monolith is available now in print and PDF from the LotFP webstore, and also from RPGNow in PDF. (it'll get to distribution later this year)
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[20:41] <+PhantomBlack> What is DeathLoveDoom?
[20:41] <+JimLotFP> (prediction: I spent over a year preparing Monolith, it saw the most pre-release play of any of my adventures, I think it's my masterpiece, so watch, it'll get less attention and critical praise than Death Love Doom which went from first concept to the printer in 2 weeks :D)
[20:41] <~Dan> Would you include guns in a new edition? It sounds like you're going for a Renaissance feel by default.
[20:42] <+JimLotFP> Death Love Doom is a haunted house adventure with really, really, really nasty stuff in there. I started off thinking of the most disgusting art I could, found an artist, then wrote an adventure around the ideas. It's a limited print run so I thought I could experiment more like than and maybe siphon some of that influence away from the retail distro books.
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[20:43] <+JimLotFP> Dan Yeah, I'd get the guns in the main rulebook (and condense Intelligence and Wisdom into one ability score) if I were to do it all over again.
[20:43] <&Le_Squide> Why condense the mental scores? Because no cleric?
[20:43] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, augury!)
[20:43] <+augury> (thanks, Dan)
[20:44] <+JimLotFP> There is a cleric, but I just don't see the need mechanically for two different mental stats, considering that they really aren't used for that much.
[20:44] <~Dan> (Here for the LotFP Q&A, augury?)
[20:44] <+augury> (yes)
[20:44] <~Dan> (Cool. Feel free to ask any questions you have. :) )
[20:45] <+JimLotFP> (if I've missed any questions, let me know)
[20:45] <+augury> what are the next products coming?
[20:45] <+PhantomBlack> Why is there no non-gory edition of the Grinshouse edition rules so maybe more people could try LotFP without being averted by the grisly artwork?
[20:46] <+Neko--kun> Do you intend to release the firearm supplemental rules from God that Crawls seperately as well? I noticed some references to firearms in DLD, and being that I have almost no knowledge of guns (not tp mention pre-rifling ones) it has me a bit stumped on what to do when I run it.
[20:46] <+JimLotFP> Next up will be The God that Crawls and an as-yet-unnamed thing dealing with an artist's studio in Amsterdam during the Twelve Years Truce.
[20:46] <~Dan> (Question pause while he catches up, folks.)
[20:47] <+JimLotFP> The firearms references in DLD are incidental, you can just have crossbows or something on the walls instead of guns (that was done intentionally). I will have a sum-up free download but the rules and such for guns will be part of the God that Crawls book.
[20:49] <~Dan> (Did you see augury and PhantomBlack's questions, Jim?)
[20:49] <+JimLotFP> Releasing two editions of the same game simultaneously isn't feasible for a publisher of my size - it would mean double costs for art and printing, without knowing if it'll make any appreciable difference. When Geoffrey McKinney released the expurgated version of Carcosa after people said they wanted it, it barely sold any copies at all, people kept going
[20:49] <+JimLotFP> for the full nasty version.
[20:49] <+JimLotFP> (I think those responses covered their questions)
[20:49] <~Dan> (Cool.)
[20:49] <+augury> I'll offer "Pijkman's Model" for the title :-)
[20:49] <+PhantomBlack> Why not publish a nongory PDF version?
[20:50] <~Dan> So has historical Earth become the default setting?
[20:50] <+Neko--kun> There is a nongory PDF, at least of the rules and magic book
[20:51] <+Neko--kun> it's the Art-free free version on jim's blog
[20:51] <+JimLotFP> There is the free PDF download which is art-free. But paying for good "clean" art to replace the "bad" art would use money better used for new products.
[20:51] <+Neko--kun> (Link: http://lotfp.blogspot.com)http://lotfp.blogspot.com
[20:51] <+Neko--kun> it's on the left hand bar
[20:51] <+PhantomBlack> Ah, thx, i didn't know that there's a free version of the grindhouse edition as well.
[20:51] <+JimLotFP> Yeah, I'm working with real-world Earth as a setting now, but I'm careful to make them self-contained to still be used in people's home campaigns that don't use Earth.
[20:51] <+PhantomBlack> I know the blog, Neko-kun.
[20:52] <+JimLotFP> Death Love Doom says it takes place outside 1625 London, but you can put that estate anywhere.
[20:52] <+JimLotFP> The artist studio thing, Amsterdam is just for flavor, you can stick in in Lankhmar or Vornheim or wherever.
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[20:53] <~Dan> Was the original implied setting a dark medieval fantasy world?
[20:54] <+JimLotFP> The original implied setting was later than medieval but I didn't really know much about the time period. In the past few years I've spent ungodly amounts of money on history books.
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[20:54] <+JimLotFP> The more I read the more I think "This is more exciting and nasty and cruel than any setting I'd come up with."
[20:55] <~Dan> How do you reconcile the "high fantasy" classes with a historical setting?
[20:55] <+JimLotFP> And so the supernatural elements just gets slid into the shadows so history can continue as it should.
[20:55] <+PhantomBlack> But doesn't that alternate history always deviate at some point?
[21:05] <+JimLotFP> Perception. Clerics become Inquisitors/WitchHunter types, Magic-Users are seen as the meth dealers of their day. "What? Our next door neighbor is a WIZARD? Great, he's going to burn the village down. Call the watch!"
[21:06] * ~Dan nods
[21:06] <+Silverlion_> Heh.
[21:06] <+diogenes> there have been real alchemist and occultists throughout history, who's to say some of them didn't actually succeed in their spells ;)
[21:06] <~Dan> How do firearms relate to class weapon restrictions?
[21:07] <+JimLotFP> History will deviate, but if you keep watch over the scope of the adventures you can keep things on track. Don't make an adventure about the assassination of Queen Elizabeth if you don't want Queen Elizabeth to die early!
[21:07] <+Silverlion_> Someone told me my setting were dark...
[21:07] <+JimLotFP> There are no class weapon restrictions in LotFP.
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[21:07] <+JimLotFP> Or armor restrictions.
[21:07] <~Dan> Well, there you go, then. :)
[21:07] <+PhantomBlack> What do you mean by "scope", Jim?
[21:07] <+JimLotFP> With Fighters being the only class that improves in combat, there's no reason on Earth to impose any restrictions on the rest.
[21:08] <~Dan> Yeah, about that... Are the PCs assumed to be dead meat?
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[21:08] <+PhantomBlack> Any intrusion on the course of history can have cascading backlash, even if it's just a minor thing on the begin of the cascade.
[21:08] <+JimLotFP> Scope... keep the adventures local in nature so even if everything goes to hell history doesn't change in general.
[21:08] <+Silverlion_> wise to know when to run as well.
[21:08] <+PhantomBlack> Uhm.
[21:08] <+JimLotFP> I mean, if you want it to change drastically, go for it, but there are ways to do things so it won't.
[21:08] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest18100! You can set your nick with the "/nick" command.)
[21:08] <+PhantomBlack> Jim, sorry, but that does seem strange to me.
[21:09] <+PhantomBlack> Because a GM hardly can know as much about history as a true historian.
[21:09] <+PhantomBlack> Except when he IS actually a historian and specialized in late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
[21:09] <+JimLotFP> So you make up an answer on the spot and that's what's true for your campaign from that point forward.
[21:10] <+PhantomBlack> Well, but how is that "history" if not outright alternate history from the beginning?
[21:10] <+diogenes> the historical facts ammount to mostly color elements, they can be as accurate or inaccurate as you will
[21:10] <+JimLotFP> The idea of using Earth is just for familiarity, people know what "France" or "England" more readily than "Fantasy Kingdom A" and "Fantasy Kingdom B".
[21:11] <+Guest18100> As somebody who studies history, there is a practical limit, it seems to me, on what you can profitably include in a game.
[21:11] <+PhantomBlack> I see the starting point being "history", but the moment the game starts it deviates... I don't see anything wrong with that.
[21:11] <+JimLotFP> The accuracy of the history really is up to the individual group.
[21:11] <+PhantomBlack> Uhm, i tend to disagree, Jim.
[21:11] <+Guest18100> Too much history is like too much campaign background; it can easily overwhelm them.
[21:11] <+Guest18100> And then they ignore it.
[21:11] <+augury> does LOTFP ever plan to publish materials for other systems?
[21:12] <+PhantomBlack> You do not know what Germany was at that age. Only an approximation. Even something as "simple" as language won't be documented well.
[21:12] <+JimLotFP> I don't see that as a problem for game play.
[21:12] <+JimLotFP> Just go with what you know and make up what you don't.
[21:12] <+maasenstodt> Jim,  I get a lot of mileage out of random generators, and your RECG is among the better ones. Do you have any plans for any similar projects in the future?
[21:12] <+JimLotFP> Not doing academic papers here.
[21:13] <+JimLotFP> Ah sorry missed that one early. No immediate plans for random generators from me (although Vincent Baker's Seclusium sounds like it'll be that sort of thing).
[21:13] <+Silverlion_> Its awesome
[21:13] <+PhantomBlack> Why bring up historical "facts", then?
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[21:14] <+diogenes> for color
[21:14] <+diogenes> and context
[21:14] <+JimLotFP> Dan I don't assume the Player Characters as a group are doomed, but I do assume there will be reliable attrition as not everybody will survive a given adventure.
[21:14] <+maasenstodt> Looking forward to Seclusium.  I'd love to see a Raggi version of the Ready Ref Sheets.
[21:14] <+PhantomBlack> diogenes, why then no language advice?
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[21:14] <~Dan> What is the reason that only fighters advance in combat?
[21:14] <~Dan> Seems like the other classes would be unsurvivable.
[21:15] <+diogenes> PhantomBlack: what do you mean? there is a language skill for checking wether your character happens to know a particular language
[21:15] <+JimLotFP> Dan The utility and value of the Fighter character class is entirely in their ability to fight. Other classes get other abilities. The fighter fights, that's his whole and only thing.
[21:15] <+Doyle> Raggi version of the Ready Ref Sheets = Pure Awesome.
[21:15] <+PhantomBlack> No, diogenes, i mean why aren't GM and players advised to speak the language of the age they're trying to portray?
[21:16] <+JimLotFP> PhantomBlack Because that would be a pain in the ass.
[21:16] <+PhantomBlack> Exactly.
[21:16] <+PhantomBlack> As are "historical facts"
[21:16] <+JimLotFP> As are any facts from any setting, homebrew, published, or historical.
[21:17] <+JimLotFP> Go with what works for you and you're allowed to ignore or change as much of what you're using as you want.
[21:17] <+PhantomBlack> Well, researching historical "facts" is a pain in the... reading settings not necessarily so.
[21:17] <+JimLotFP> Dan as for other classes being unsurvivable, it depends if the game being run is just fight fight fight. (I don't do that)
[21:17] * ~Dan nods
[21:17] <~Dan> Is there any sort of skill system?
[21:17] <+JimLotFP> I buy history books by the truckload... can't remember the last gaming setting I've even attempted to read.
[21:17] <+Doyle> Do you use a campaign background in the usual sense of the term?
[21:18] <+Doyle> In your own campaigns, I mean.
[21:18] <+JimLotFP> There is a skill system, based on d6s... 10 skills.
[21:18] <~Dan> What are clerics like, if they aren't the second-teir fighters?
[21:19] <+PhantomBlack> "second-teir"?
[21:19] <+PhantomBlack> second-tier?
[21:19] <+JimLotFP> The background I gave my current group when we started was "It's 1600, you're in London." That's about it. Then they went to Dover and Scotland and to America and generally destroy everything along the way. :P
[21:19] <~Dan> Well, I mean, in most D&D-based games, clerics come in second behind fighters in fighitng ability.
[21:20] <+JimLotFP> I've rearranged the spell lists so the Cleric gets all the anti-magic stuff and there is very very little duplicate spells between the Cleric and MU lists (just 2 spells I think?).
[21:20] <+PhantomBlack> No. they come before fighters.
[21:20] <+PhantomBlack> (regarding the official D&Ds)
[21:20] <+Doyle> So you use campaign backgrounds the way the original Traveller rules use an assumed background; only as much as necessary. Right?
[21:20] <+Mike> I got a level 1 dwarf all the way up to 7th level, it's not that hard so long as you play smart. I even survived one of Jim's adventures, sort of. he did end up ruining my PC in a way haha
[21:21] <+headspice> What is your biggest market? I'm guessing it's the US and if so have you considered printing in the US to bring down costs and possibly increase distribution to brick and mortar stores here?
[21:21] <+Mike> I've also seen many MUs with 1hp make it to at least 3rd level. so a PCs survival is really based on how a player goes about adventuring, not really the stats
[21:22] <+JimLotFP> Doyle yeah. The important thing is the individual adventure, which may or may not have anything to do with the next adventure. I never know who's showing up week to week so most adventures are pretty self-contained.
[21:24] <+Doyle> I get the impression that in the grindhouse edition, Clerics are lawful casters, and MUs are Chaotic casters.
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[21:24] <+JimLotFP> The US is my biggest market but I like the oversight I have by printing locally. Running a business where everything is across the ocean just doesn't sit well with me. Also, direct orders are the lifeblood of the business so if I had nothing here (or if I got the books after it goes into stores) I'd take a huge income hit.
[21:25] <+PhantomBlack> JimLotFP, how many copies of LotFP did you already sell in Germany via "Sphärenmeisters Spiele", approximately? *asking out of sheer curiosity*
[21:25] <+JimLotFP> Plus paying into the printers and post office here is pretty much the only way I pay into the system here in Finland. My personal income is so low my income tax is negligible. Ah, the benefits of being an RPG professional. :D
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[21:26] <+Silverlion_> Heh
[21:27] <+JimLotFP> PhantomBlack Not sure, I don't keep individual vendor info in my sales database. I'd have to dig out the individual invoices.
[21:27] <+PhantomBlack> More or less than 200 copies?
[21:28] <~Dan> If I can touch on the historic aspect again for a moment, how (if at all) does the presence of clerics with verifiable miracles affect the setting?
[21:28] <+headspice> I know LotFP was the name of your metal zine awhile back, but where did that name come from originally>
[21:28] <+JimLotFP> PhantomBlack I'd think less than 200.
[21:29] <+JimLotFP> Dan It doesn't really since pretty much everyone was very very religious anyway.
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[21:32] <+JimLotFP> They believed in it in our world without the verifiable miracles anyway.
[21:33] <+JimLotFP> headspice It was inspired by a girl with really really long really really red hair and a desire to be poetic like the songtitles from bands like Opeth and My Dying Bride.
[21:35] <+headspice> I was first intrigued by the game because of the name. I really love it,
[21:35] <+PhantomBlack> Interesting. A former love interest or just an acquaintance? @JimLotFP
[21:35] <+JimLotFP> Love interest.
[21:35] <+PhantomBlack> Fascinating.
[21:35] <+JimLotFP> Well, "love" might be overstating it.
[21:36] <+JimLotFP> I was her break from her boyfriend and girlfriend and it lasted about a month. :D
[21:36] <+headspice> hey...red hair? say no more...
[21:37] <+PhantomBlack> Suddenly the pictures of the bleeding redhead make all the more sense now...
[21:38] <+JimLotFP> nah, she was cool. I just thought mangling the "title character" would be a not-so-subtle way to push the idea that characters are not supposed to have plot protection in this game.
[21:38] <~Dan> Do you have any plans for a second edition incorporating the evolutionary changes?
[21:38] <+PhantomBlack> But a slime? Come on! :D
[21:38] <+JimLotFP> But she is going to appear in future art with a peg leg and no fingers on the one hand. :D
[21:39] <+headspice> I had to step away for a bit earlier and might have missed this, but as far as the fire arms rules go, in what and when might they be published? I had an idea for a weird civil war setting, the rules would be a huge boon.
[21:39] <+JimLotFP> I printed 2000 copies of the Grindhouse Edition and there's a looong way to go before they're gone, but when they are, yeah, the next edition will be an update.
[21:40] <+JimLotFP> Firearms rules will be in The God that Crawls with a free PDF summary made available.
[21:40] <+headspice> is the hardcover going to be an updated edition?
[21:40] <+JimLotFP> The hardcover will have a new layout and errata included but it will be the Grindhouse rules, not Grindhouse.5 or anything.
[21:41] <+Silverlion_> Awesome
[21:41] <+JimLotFP> Releasing a revised edition to such a limited pool of people wouldn't be good business.
[21:41] <+PhantomBlack> ("Grindhouse.5, now with more viscera and deadly wounds!")
[21:41] <~Dan> How extensive will the firearms rules be? All the way up to cannons, or...?
[21:41] <+headspice> gotcha
[21:42] <+JimLotFP> Cannon rules will be included.
[21:42] <~Dan> Nice.
[21:43] <+Doyle> If I know my players, I am going to have to figure out how mobile artillery was. :)
[21:43] <~Dan> So how many monsters generally show up in a LotFP adventure? Just one Big Bad at the end?
[21:43] <+JimLotFP> I want to do an adventure with a dragon just so I can get a piece of art with the dragon strafing an army's wagon train carrying their powder supplies... BOOOOMMM
[21:43] <+Silverlion_> Heh.
[21:44] <+JimLotFP> I seem to come up with art ideas before actual adventure ideas. :P
[21:44] <~Dan> :D
[21:45] <+Doyle> :D
[21:45] <+JimLotFP> I actually wanted to be an artist but I couldn't get stuff from my mind onto paper at all... writing was so much easier. :D
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[21:46] <+JimLotFP> Thing about this publishing gig is I throw some money at people and I get the pictures in my mind out to the world. :D
[21:46] <+Doyle> Is Death Love Doom and the other new adventure going to be available for a while, or is it a limited print run?
[21:46] <+PhantomBlack> JimLotFP, what would i have to do if i wanted to write an adventure for LotFP?
[21:46] <+JimLotFP> Dan It's never just one monster in the published stuff (home games turn out like that sometimes though). It's usually a tight thematic group of enemies, with some incidental creepy crawlies that make sense to be hanging around.
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[21:47] <~Dan> Welcome to #rpgnet, Stytch!
[21:48] <+JimLotFP> Monolith got a full 2000 print run so it'll be around forever. :P Death Love Doom has 89 copies left and then it's out of print (original print run 200).
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[21:48] <+JimLotFP> PhantomBlack do you mean you want to be a third-party publisher, or you want to write something that I'd publish?
[21:48] <~Dan> Howdy, ttmrichter!
[21:49] <+PhantomBlack> Just well... stuff that's similar in nature like Savage Worlds fan material.
[21:49] <~Dan> Lamentations of the Flame Princes Q&A in progress!
[21:49] <+PhantomBlack> No, free stuff, i mean.
[21:49] <+headspice> is green devilface 5 going to only be available as a pdf? i was just looking for a print copy to order but don't see it.
[21:49] <+PhantomBlack> (wouldn't want to actually charge for an adventure i'd write)
[21:49] <+JimLotFP> GDF#5 print copies are an exclusive to the people that contributed to the Monolith/God that Crawls crowdfunding campaign.
[21:50] <+headspice> yeah=don't know where the hell i was...didn't even know that was going on.
[21:51] <+JimLotFP> If you're doing a free publication to give away on the web, just make sure nobody will mistake it for an "official" release and that LotFP and Lamentations of the Flame Princess are owned by James Edward Raggi IV. If it's something short like a blog post or whatever you don't even need to do that.
[21:52] <+Doyle> What was your explanation of the CthulhuJesusBaby statue that you recently ran a contest on?
[21:52] <+JimLotFP> James Desborough posted a new class for the game just a few hours ago on his blog, no big deal there.
[21:52] <+PhantomBlack> Ah, ok. Good to know, Jim.
[21:53] <~Dan> GrimJim?
[21:53] <+JimLotFP> yeah I think that's the handle he uses.
[21:53] <+Crazy-Cabal> Jim>And I certainly don't want to derail this or that but my first contact with LotFP came from the SA WTFD&D piece on it. Was it an internal idea to do that?
[21:53] <+JimLotFP> The CthulhuJesusBaby thing? (that pic is here: (Link: http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/discussion/)http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/discussion/ ) oh hell that was forever ago, I forget. :D
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[21:54] <+JimLotFP> Crazy-Cabal I sent a copy of the Grindhouse Edition to Something Awful hoping they'd do exactly what they did.
[21:54] <+Crazy-Cabal> Cool
[21:54] <+Crazy-Cabal> It certainly put it on my radar!
[21:54] <+JimLotFP> As an added bonus the SA forums seem to have a couple people that think I'm the worst human being that's ever been involved in gaming. :D
[21:55] <~Dan> Do you have any game plans beyond LotFP?
[21:55] <+Crazy-Cabal> That's SA for ya. ;)
[21:55] <+PhantomBlack> Luckily i had enough brainbleach stacked when i read the arrrticle on SA.
[21:55] <+John_Berry> JimLotFP: Sounds like a win win.
[21:56] <+JimLotFP> I just think it's funny that movies and music and regular books can have so much more graphic content than games are supposed to be allowed to have.
[21:56] <+headspice> worst hb in gaming? i thought that was reserved for carlton mellick III if you can ever get him to write an adventure for LotFP. :D
[21:57] <+PhantomBlack> But i like Mellicks novels. xD
[21:57] <+JimLotFP> I just got into his stuff a month or two ago.
[21:57] <+PhantomBlack> Cannibals of Candyland is nice!
[21:57] <+PhantomBlack> xD
[21:58] <+JimLotFP> The Kobold Wizard's Dildo of Enlightenment +2 isn't just a goofy book, it's an adventure with maps and room descriptions and everything.
[21:58] <+PhantomBlack> (wrote a review about it for a German page, dunno if it was the D&D gate or Blutschwerter/Aktion Abenteuer)
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[21:58] <+JimLotFP> And pregens on character sheets and everything. :D
[21:58] <+PhantomBlack> Ah, that's what the "dildo book" is about. wow.
[21:58] <+JimLotFP> Ryan Harding is my favorite author so far in the "bizarro" genre.
[21:59] <~Dan> Guys, I need to turn in for the night, but you're welcome to continue for as long as you like, Jim.
[21:59] <+headspice> can you easily port Kobold to LotFP rules?
[21:59] <+JimLotFP> A lot of that stuff seems to just be trying too darn hard, but Harding's stuff seems more natural. Reminds me of some of the sicker Barker stuff from Books of Blood.
[21:59] <+JimLotFP> oh yeah.
[22:00] <~Dan> Good night, folks! Thanks again for coming, Jim!

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