Cover Art – Or Lack Thereof

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Iron Tavern Press has two products out in the world now, with more Pocket-Sized Encounters on their way. One decision that is now obvious to the public is that I chose to go the no cover art route with these products. This was not a decision made lightly and this post looks at what went into this decision for Iron Tavern Press.

The primary factor is of course cost. Artists deserve to be paid for their talents. But with the somewhat steady release cycle I have in mind for the launch of Iron Tavern Press, my up front expenses to put a unique cover on each product was a very real cost that I might not see return on until the venture gets it feet under it.

These funds seemed better spent to me by putting it into editing services, the tools to publish a clean product, and interior art that spruced up the product. With the release schedule I had in mind this is the decision path I leaned towards to get Iron Tavern Press established.

The other factor is the quality of that art. Given a limited budget there is a question of what quality of art would be on the cover if I went that route. I did some mock-ups a few months ago with some images. Frankly, they had a more amateurish look to them than the minimalistic covers I have launched with. Just as great cover art can help a product, bad cover art can hurt a product.

The decision is not without its risks. Who doesn’t love cool cover art? I see it all the time – a cool cover gets posted to a social network, it gets shared around and that is all based on the appearance of the cover. Very little is said about the actual content of the product. Cool cover art definitely can help with exposure and generate some excitement about a product.

My feedback from the mock-ups I sent out was mixed. Some encouraged using cover art and others understood why I would make the decision to launch products with no cover art. Even those that encouraged the use of cover art acknowledged the cover mock-up was very clean and looked well done. It at the very least gave a professional appearance, even if it did lack cover art.

In the end I chose the clean, minimalistic covers for the Pocket-Sized Encounters line. I am happy with the choice and it has allowed me to use quality interior art (some stock art, some commissioned pieces) and hire an RPG editor to make sure the words in the product are the best they can be.

All of Iron Tavern Press’ products are currently on sale as part of the GM’s Day Sales going on at the beginning of March. This is a great opportunity to check them out (cover art or not!) at either shop.d20pfsrd.com or RPGNow.

Iron Tavern Press – GM’s Day Sale

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

March 4th marks GM’s Day – a day to show your GM how much you appreciate them. What started as a post on EN World way back in 2002 has evolved into a major sale day/week at many of the online RPG stores. How big? About 30% off big!

Iron Tavern Press is happy to participate in the sale at the two locations our products are sold – shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow.com. Both Kajak’s Kave and The Hive are at the lowest prices you are likely to see them. In fact, once the GM’s Day sales end, The Hive will be going back up to normal pricing, its introductory price it was release at expiring. If you have been curious about what I’ve been releasing under the Iron Tavern Press name this is a wonderful opportunity to check them out.

Pocket-Sized Encounters are small scenarios ready to be dropped into your campaign with very short notice. Whether to offer a side-trek to your players or using one of the ‘Where To From Here’ hooks to expand them into more is up to you. The product includes maps, adventure hooks, suggested ideas for expansion, and in some cases new monsters and new magic items. And don’t forget the random treasure hoard tables useful in any situation.

Written to be compatible with the Swords & Wizardry system, these products are easily converted to your fantasy system of choice.

Here are the summaries from each.

Kajak’s Kave

Livestock disappearing from their pastures, children discovering large humanoid footprints along the creek, rumored sightings of a lumbering giant, and Shaerie the Huntress’ disappearance several weeks ago leave only one conclusion. An ogre has taken up residence too close to town! Are you the brave adventurers to help rid the town of this threat and discover the whereabouts of Shaerie?

Available at shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow for $1.93.

The Hive

Lord Oakensun was fascinated by insects, spending hours cataloging and classifying his collection. Discontent led the man to experiment with forces he did not fully comprehend. Now farms outside the village have been found abandoned. Lord Oakensun’s daughter is missing, last seen near rocky hills a short distance away. A local thief reports his partner was snatched away in the dark amidst sounds of buzzing and chittering. Has Lord Oakensun’s experiment gone wrong? What is behind the rash of disappearances from the village?

Available at shop.d20pfsrd.com and RPGNow for $1.40.

The Hive Now Available

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

The Hive, written by Dustin Clark, is the second release in the Pocket-Sized Encounter line and is available at RPGNow and shop.d20pfsrd.com.

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 4th to 6th level characters.

Pocket-Sized Encounters are designed to drop into an existing campaign with ease. Several adventure seeds are included and a Where To From Here section if you want to expand the scenario beyond what is written. The Hive also includes a set of new monsters and a new magic item.

More questions about Pocket-Sized Encounters? Check out the Iron Tavern Press page.

Behind the Curtain: Default System Choice

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

In the week following the debut of Iron Tavern Press and our first product, Kajak’s Kave, I suspect some folks are wondering why I chose Swords & Wizardry for the “default” system. There is a plethora of well-written OSR systems available today and to choose one seems a very difficult task.

I wanted to take a little time and explain why that choice was made, specifically for the Pocket-Sized Encounters series I launched Iron Tavern Press with.

Background

I got my start in the role-playing world with D&D Basic, the Moldvay version. Even today the cover of that boxed set is etched into my mind. That set is what launched me on what has proven to be a lifetime hobby. From playing games, to running games, to blogging, to starting Iron Tavern Press. The roots can be traced back to that system.

Of course over the years I drifted away from that initial edition. 1st Edition AD&D, then on to 2nd Edition, and even to D&D 3.x. From there I drifted to Pathfinder and in recent years even more dabbling in various systems. Some just picked up and read through and others taken for more extensive test drives.

Regardless of system I will hold a fondness for the OSR. Especially as my available time diminishes and I need to work the hobby into a fuller and fuller schedule. The light nature of many of the OSR systems allow me to spend more time on the creative and less time on the “crunch”.

System Choice

When I first wrote Kajak’s Kave and the idea of Pocket-Sized Encounters percolated the adventure was written to be systemless. The creatures were simply referenced by name and how many were present with directions to look up the actual creature stats in your rule system of choice. While this led to great versatility it did push work off on the GM.

Around this same time I was doing on the fly conversions of some Dungeon Crawl Classics and Labyrinth Lord adventures to Swords & Wizardry. Converting on the fly was pretty easy, but I was glad I had at least some stats to work off of. Even the inclusion of basic stats for a different system gave me the ballpark of what I would use in Swords & Wizardry.

This experience had me second guessing my choice to go completely systemless for this series. But what system should I use as the default assumption?

It came down to three top contenders for choice of system that I felt were good fits for the series and still adaptable for people to convert to their system of choice. OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, and Swords & Wizardry.

Each of these systems have their strengths, but in the end I chose Swords & Wizardry for the default system for the Pocket-Sized Encounters line. Let’s take a closer look as to why.

Swords & Wizardry

I’ve posted before about why I like Swords & Wizardry as a foundation system. But there are some factors that also influenced my decision from a publisher’s point of view.

The biggest factor? Swords & Wizardry stat blocks include both ascending and descending AC. To me this is huge. Yes – one can convert even AC on the fly, but to some that seems a mystery or at the very least, not something they feel like doing at the table. Swords & Wizardry includes both a number for ascending and descending AC in the same stat block which removes what I consider one of the larger hurdles for at the table conversion. It also lends itself well to conversion to more complex rule systems such as Pathfinder as well.

Another major reason I like Swords & Wizardry is that the ruleset is available online at d20swsrd.com. It is easily searchable and very handy for a rule lookup when you are away from your books. I find online resources such as these invaluable. Having the ruleset online in such a clean format simply lowers the bar to entry that much more. It even makes things easier for me as I write to be able to look things up quickly.

Though the decision was made after I had chosen Swords & Wizardry as the default assumption for Pocket-Sized Encounters, the fact the Swords & Wizardry Complete PDF is now free to the public doesn’t hurt! Yet another step to keep the barrier to S&W low.

In general I find S&W a very solid foundation for people that like OSR gaming. It is easy to build upon by “borrowing” rules from other places or layering your own house rules on.

All of these factors contributed to why I chose Swords & Wizardry as my default system for this line of products.

Kajak’s Kave Now Available

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Kajak’ Kave Now Available!

Kajak’s Kave, the first release in the Pocket-Sized Encounters line is now available at RPGNow!

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 4th to 6th level characters.

Questions about Pocket-Sized Encounters? Check out the Iron Tavern Press page.

What is Iron Tavern Press?

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Iron Tavern Press Teasers

During the previous few weeks I have slowly been dropping teasers for one of my 2014 projects – Iron Tavern Press. First the Iron Tavern Press ads you might have seen popping up here, in your social media streams, and even over at d20swsrd.com. Then there was last week’s blog post about Pocket-Sized Encounters explaining a little more about that product line. This week we look at Iron Tavern Press itself!

What is Iron Tavern Press?

Iron Tavern Press is a venture I have wanted to try out for a while. Over the years I have read a lot of advice about RPG publishing and I’ve also experimented with several different aspects of the RPG world – some public and some not so public. 2014 is the year I bring Iron Tavern Press to life.

The initial product offering is the Pocket-Sized Encounter line which I’ve described previously. I have several products in this line already lined up and they will be releasing on a semi-regular basis over the course of the next several months. Pocket-Sized Encounters are something that would handily fill a niche in my own gaming and campaigns. Shorter scenarios that can be run in single session or dropped into an existing campaign as an option without derailing the whole campaign.

While Pocket-Sized Encounters are the initial focus point for the launch of Iron Tavern Press – I do have some other products in mind as well. Some are one-offs and some are entire lines. Some are already in motion and others are waiting until the time is right (or perhaps more appropriately – for a gap in time!).

Keep an eye out for the first release from Iron Tavern Press coming later this month!

The Iron Tavern

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