To get everyone prepared for the awesomeness that is DCC #79: Frozen in Time, the 0-level Party Generator can now spit out primitives constructed by Michael Curtis to meet the challenges of the frozen waste! Just select 'Frozen in Time Primitives' in the Occupation Source drop-down. The characters would also work well for any campaign needing a dollop of rampaging neo-cavemen!
(And pre-order the adventure from Goodman Games today, it's a blast!)
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Help the Sorcerer Decide...
*** Update 2: We have a winner! New school wins out this time, but if I run another test sale, it will involve Perils of the Sunken City. :)
Update: Ooh, it's neck and neck as we approach the finish line! I'll cut off the voting in less than two hours, so if you have a preference, let me know!
And why is there never any love for The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk? I can understand the 'first in the line' vs 'the most expensive' conundrum for Perils and Gathering, but still... Ooze Pits rocks and has some of my favorite situations and personalities. Middle child syndrome? ;) ***
The Sorcerer was pleased by the sales numbers during the Christmas in July sale, but he needs to know whether it was the increased traffic at RPGNow that accounted for the boom or simply the bargain prices.
So, I think I'll run my second ever sale on one of the adventures during normal traffic to see what happens, and you dear readers will decide which one goes on the block! Select one title from the list below, and this evening I'll put the leading title on sale for a day or two to see what transpires. :)
Update: Ooh, it's neck and neck as we approach the finish line! I'll cut off the voting in less than two hours, so if you have a preference, let me know!
And why is there never any love for The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk? I can understand the 'first in the line' vs 'the most expensive' conundrum for Perils and Gathering, but still... Ooze Pits rocks and has some of my favorite situations and personalities. Middle child syndrome? ;) ***
The Sorcerer was pleased by the sales numbers during the Christmas in July sale, but he needs to know whether it was the increased traffic at RPGNow that accounted for the boom or simply the bargain prices.
So, I think I'll run my second ever sale on one of the adventures during normal traffic to see what happens, and you dear readers will decide which one goes on the block! Select one title from the list below, and this evening I'll put the leading title on sale for a day or two to see what transpires. :)
Crawler at Amazon
Wow, the App Store at Amazon has really upped their game: I submitted the newest version of the Crawler last night and already got a successful device test report for six different categories of Android devices back within hours. Cool stuff, and the newest version should now be available for all our Kindle Fire users. :)
Monday, July 29, 2013
Spellburn Podcast
If you haven't been listening to the Spellburn Podcast, you'll want to check it out: It's an awesome, entertaining resource for all things DCCRPG!
In the latest edition, the Three J's (Jim, Jobe, and Jeffrey) have the inestimable Harley Stroh on as their guest. Well worth your time.
In the latest edition, the Three J's (Jim, Jobe, and Jeffrey) have the inestimable Harley Stroh on as their guest. Well worth your time.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Crawler's Companion Minor Update
To shake the programming rust off, I've updated the Crawler's Companion with 2 new small updates:
The app now remembers your last choice between roll mode and lookup mode on the dice rolling screens, and chooses that mode for all the dice screens on your next launch. So if you're a lookup mode person, the app will honor that each session.
I've also added a third 'blood red' die set.
The update is now available at Google Play, and also on the web version. It should arrive on the Amazon and Nook stores within a week. iOS being iOS, it could be a few weeks before the update shows up on iTunes. ;)
The app now remembers your last choice between roll mode and lookup mode on the dice rolling screens, and chooses that mode for all the dice screens on your next launch. So if you're a lookup mode person, the app will honor that each session.
I've also added a third 'blood red' die set.
The update is now available at Google Play, and also on the web version. It should arrive on the Amazon and Nook stores within a week. iOS being iOS, it could be a few weeks before the update shows up on iTunes. ;)
Saturday, July 27, 2013
All Good Things Must Come To An End...
We've entered the last day of the Christmas in July sale at RPGNow and our local store. If you'd like to take advantage of 25% off each of our adventures, now is the time to act!
Thanks to everyone who has purchased something during the sale: we've seen 4x our normal weekly sales, which is very gratifying!
Thanks to everyone who has purchased something during the sale: we've seen 4x our normal weekly sales, which is very gratifying!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Perils of the Sunken City in Color
Wrapped up the color version of Perils of the Sunken City and shipped it off for a quick look from the usual suspects. I think it looks quite nice. :)
So shortly I'll be launching the pre-order for the Sunken City Omnibus and Guide. You'll be able to order either hardcover or softcover versions of the book, in either premium or standard color. My biggest concern has been how to deal with the various shipping costs depending on where you're ordering from. I've decided to create order buttons for the most common locations, and for more exotic international locals, I'll create a 'base international' order button: if you order using this option I'll simply contact you with the additional shipping costs based on your location that you can make up with PayPal.
Everyone who pre-orders (and all Crawler's Companion Kickstarter backers with the Sunken City in their reward package) will immediately be able to download the color version of Perils of the Sunken City. As soon as the PDF version of the Omnibus is ready (likely 2-3 weeks after the pre-order begins) everyone who has ordered will be able to download the digital versions of the book while I go through the back and forth of the print proof process. (Digital versions will include desktop, large tablet, and small tablet formatting, with the possible additions of ebook and text versions!)
Once the print version is available, the PDF will go on sale individually, and there will be a discount available to folks who have purchased all four adventures previously. (In addition, these loyal customers will receive the first Sunken Sidetrek for free as well. I hope to have that ready mid-August.)
Thanks to one and all for your support!
So shortly I'll be launching the pre-order for the Sunken City Omnibus and Guide. You'll be able to order either hardcover or softcover versions of the book, in either premium or standard color. My biggest concern has been how to deal with the various shipping costs depending on where you're ordering from. I've decided to create order buttons for the most common locations, and for more exotic international locals, I'll create a 'base international' order button: if you order using this option I'll simply contact you with the additional shipping costs based on your location that you can make up with PayPal.
Everyone who pre-orders (and all Crawler's Companion Kickstarter backers with the Sunken City in their reward package) will immediately be able to download the color version of Perils of the Sunken City. As soon as the PDF version of the Omnibus is ready (likely 2-3 weeks after the pre-order begins) everyone who has ordered will be able to download the digital versions of the book while I go through the back and forth of the print proof process. (Digital versions will include desktop, large tablet, and small tablet formatting, with the possible additions of ebook and text versions!)
Once the print version is available, the PDF will go on sale individually, and there will be a discount available to folks who have purchased all four adventures previously. (In addition, these loyal customers will receive the first Sunken Sidetrek for free as well. I hope to have that ready mid-August.)
Thanks to one and all for your support!
Active Military?
PDF versions of all Purple Sorcerer adventures are free to active military personal who are running things for fellow soldiers. Just send me an email and I'll get you set up.
If any visitors have DCC loving friends in the military, be sure to let them know. :)
If any visitors have DCC loving friends in the military, be sure to let them know. :)
Monday, July 22, 2013
Christmas in July Sale
We're participating in the Christmas in July Sale at RPGNow, with good deals on everything in our product line!
The sale prices are also reflected in the Purple Sorcerer Store.
This the the first sale we've ever participated in, so act fast. ;)
The sale prices are also reflected in the Purple Sorcerer Store.
This the the first sale we've ever participated in, so act fast. ;)
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Ennie Award Voting is Now Open...
If you'd like to support the Crawler's Companion, please vote for us in Best Software category. Thanks!
Thinking we know what others know...
This evening I mentioned to a friend online that the blank upper-level character sheet is form-fillable, which elicited a 'how the bleep had I not heard about that?' kind of response. :)
It made me ponder once again that when we're wrapped up in our own projects, it's easy to assume that everyone is just as aware of what's going on as we are, but that's almost never the case! Our one brief announcement about a new development (that we assume everyone sees) is easily missed in the massive stream of data that each of us swims in every day. So I thought I'd do a quick rundown on what's available here at purplesorcerer.com, eventually integrating the information into the 'about us' portion of the website.
Background
For those new to the site, welcome, my name is Jon Marr. By day I work for a large corporation as a graphic designer and web developer. At night, I create adventures and utilities for the Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game from Goodman Games as Purple Sorcerer Games, an an official DCC third party publisher. (Which means everything we publish for DCC goes through an approval process from Goodman Games to get the 'Compatible with DCC' logo.)
My son Benjamin assists with the graphic work, and as he matures is contributing more and more to what we do. (He's about to turn 14.)
Our main presence is this website, but we can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
The Website
The Purple Sorcerer Games website is broken into two broad areas. The original site houses most of the static content about our adventures, as well as the launch pages for most of the tools. The News section contains most of the dynamic content, and has grown of late to mirror much of the content of the original site, as well as house the new storefront.
You can also sign up for our newsletter, which was recently relaunched with renewed vigor, and is occasionally the source of cool offers and goodies.
The Adventures
I've created four adventures for the DCCRPG: three funnel, or 0-level adventures, (Perils of the Sunken City, The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, and A Gathering of the Marked) and one first level adventure (Lair of the Mist Men). Each are set in the crumbling ruins of a great swamp known as the Sunken City, designed to easily integrate into your existing campaigns to get your DCC campaigns started.
All of the adventures can be purchased directly as PDF's from this site, or from RPGNow or the D20pfsrd store. Additionally, Perils of the Sunken City, and The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, can be ordered in print from RPGNow.
My adventures are known for being a bit warped, with the darkness and brutality of the environments being offset somewhat by the often whimsical characters the players encounter. Perils of the Sunken City is now a 'Popular Electrum Pick' on RPGNow, putting it in the top 2% sellers there all time. Ooze Pits is a silver pick (top 8%), and Lair of the Mist Men is a copper pick (top 20%).
A staple of the adventures are the battlemaps and paper miniatures that come with each, available either with the adventure or as separate free downloads from the adventure pages. I've created a couple of short videos on how I go about preparing and using the miniatures.
I'm currently working on a combined 96 page print omnibus of all four adventures, The Sunken City, that will be available for pre-order in the next week or so. In addition to the adventure, it will contain a patron write-up, adventure seeds, gameplay advice and more! It will be available in both hardcover and softcover formats. The solo print version of A Gathering of the Marked is being prepared along with the Sunken City. Lair of the Mist Men is only planned in print as part of the omnibus at this time.
When the Sunken City is complete, I'll continue work on the first of the M-Series adventures, Against the Vortex Temple. The M-series will consist of five loosely connected adventures that will rise from first to fifth level. How quickly they are released will depend largely on how well the series sells. I hope to complete one every 3 months.
In addition, I'll be releasing a number of 2-4 page 'Sunken Sidetreks' as time goes by designed for sandbox style play. The first should be available mid-August.
Tools and Utilities
We've created a number of free utilities for DCC that have proved quite popular. :)
0-Level Party Generator
The 0-level Party Generator spits out a PDF containing 4 random characters ready to be sacrificed to DCC's awesome funnel. As time has gone by, I've added additional customization features. You can now choose from multiple lists of background occupations, and change how the hit points are rolled at zero level. You can also download a blank version of the sheet to fill out by hand with your own rolls. Finally, if you are a judge, you can create your own list of occupations and trade goods, so that the generator can spit out characters unique to your campaign. Click here for instructions.
At last check, the generator has created nearly half-a-million characters.
Upper Level Character Generator
The upper level generator allows you to enter a class and a level, and the generator does the rest in creating a basic character for you. In addition, you can download a blank version of the sheet that can be form-filled out on your computer.
I have many enhancements planned for the upper level generator, including smart magic item acquisition, stat progression or regression, and more!
The Crawler's Companion
The Crawler's Companion is a computer and mobile device utility, that provides funky dice rolling, chart and rules referencing. and combat management. The latest version allows you to create an account through the Purple Sorcerer website, so that you can create your own adventure/encounters, and player parties that can be referenced from within the Crawler. Other enhancements are coming soon. It has been nominated for an Ennie Award in the best software category for 2012.
Last august, a successful Kickstarter made it possible to acquire the equipment to bring the Crawler to iOS devices, and the Crawler works well on many iOS and Android devices.
The Crawler is free, and will always remain so. This spring, a successful fundraiser raised enough to cover the costs of the robust hosting required to handle the new Crawler data tools, as well as the yearly iOS fees. Thanks to one and all for your support!
I've created a series of short tutorial videos that are absolutely the best way to learn about the Crawler and it's features. Each is only 2-5 minutes long, and will teach you everything you need to know to get started!
O-Level Charts
I've compiled a single-page PDF of charts and tables, that when combined with the 0-level character sheets give your new players almost everything they need to get started on their first funnel experience.
Supporting the Free Tools
You can support our tools in a number of ways, by purchasing an adventure, buying a t-shirt, or donating directly. Links to all three can be found on the support page.
I have many new exciting things planned for the future, so stay tuned. I really enjoy working on our gaming projects, and truly appreciate the wonderful support we've received in our first year. If you enjoy the things we produce, please share the word with your gaming friends, and be sure to review our products at RPGNow and other venues. The larger our audience grows, the more time I'll be able to devote to creating new things. Believe me, nothing would make me happier!
It made me ponder once again that when we're wrapped up in our own projects, it's easy to assume that everyone is just as aware of what's going on as we are, but that's almost never the case! Our one brief announcement about a new development (that we assume everyone sees) is easily missed in the massive stream of data that each of us swims in every day. So I thought I'd do a quick rundown on what's available here at purplesorcerer.com, eventually integrating the information into the 'about us' portion of the website.
Background
For those new to the site, welcome, my name is Jon Marr. By day I work for a large corporation as a graphic designer and web developer. At night, I create adventures and utilities for the Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game from Goodman Games as Purple Sorcerer Games, an an official DCC third party publisher. (Which means everything we publish for DCC goes through an approval process from Goodman Games to get the 'Compatible with DCC' logo.)
My son Benjamin assists with the graphic work, and as he matures is contributing more and more to what we do. (He's about to turn 14.)
Our main presence is this website, but we can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
The Website
The Purple Sorcerer Games website is broken into two broad areas. The original site houses most of the static content about our adventures, as well as the launch pages for most of the tools. The News section contains most of the dynamic content, and has grown of late to mirror much of the content of the original site, as well as house the new storefront.
You can also sign up for our newsletter, which was recently relaunched with renewed vigor, and is occasionally the source of cool offers and goodies.
The Adventures
I've created four adventures for the DCCRPG: three funnel, or 0-level adventures, (Perils of the Sunken City, The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, and A Gathering of the Marked) and one first level adventure (Lair of the Mist Men). Each are set in the crumbling ruins of a great swamp known as the Sunken City, designed to easily integrate into your existing campaigns to get your DCC campaigns started.
All of the adventures can be purchased directly as PDF's from this site, or from RPGNow or the D20pfsrd store. Additionally, Perils of the Sunken City, and The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, can be ordered in print from RPGNow.
My adventures are known for being a bit warped, with the darkness and brutality of the environments being offset somewhat by the often whimsical characters the players encounter. Perils of the Sunken City is now a 'Popular Electrum Pick' on RPGNow, putting it in the top 2% sellers there all time. Ooze Pits is a silver pick (top 8%), and Lair of the Mist Men is a copper pick (top 20%).
A staple of the adventures are the battlemaps and paper miniatures that come with each, available either with the adventure or as separate free downloads from the adventure pages. I've created a couple of short videos on how I go about preparing and using the miniatures.
I'm currently working on a combined 96 page print omnibus of all four adventures, The Sunken City, that will be available for pre-order in the next week or so. In addition to the adventure, it will contain a patron write-up, adventure seeds, gameplay advice and more! It will be available in both hardcover and softcover formats. The solo print version of A Gathering of the Marked is being prepared along with the Sunken City. Lair of the Mist Men is only planned in print as part of the omnibus at this time.
When the Sunken City is complete, I'll continue work on the first of the M-Series adventures, Against the Vortex Temple. The M-series will consist of five loosely connected adventures that will rise from first to fifth level. How quickly they are released will depend largely on how well the series sells. I hope to complete one every 3 months.
In addition, I'll be releasing a number of 2-4 page 'Sunken Sidetreks' as time goes by designed for sandbox style play. The first should be available mid-August.
Tools and Utilities
We've created a number of free utilities for DCC that have proved quite popular. :)
0-Level Party Generator
The 0-level Party Generator spits out a PDF containing 4 random characters ready to be sacrificed to DCC's awesome funnel. As time has gone by, I've added additional customization features. You can now choose from multiple lists of background occupations, and change how the hit points are rolled at zero level. You can also download a blank version of the sheet to fill out by hand with your own rolls. Finally, if you are a judge, you can create your own list of occupations and trade goods, so that the generator can spit out characters unique to your campaign. Click here for instructions.
At last check, the generator has created nearly half-a-million characters.
Upper Level Character Generator
The upper level generator allows you to enter a class and a level, and the generator does the rest in creating a basic character for you. In addition, you can download a blank version of the sheet that can be form-filled out on your computer.
I have many enhancements planned for the upper level generator, including smart magic item acquisition, stat progression or regression, and more!
The Crawler's Companion
The Crawler's Companion is a computer and mobile device utility, that provides funky dice rolling, chart and rules referencing. and combat management. The latest version allows you to create an account through the Purple Sorcerer website, so that you can create your own adventure/encounters, and player parties that can be referenced from within the Crawler. Other enhancements are coming soon. It has been nominated for an Ennie Award in the best software category for 2012.
Last august, a successful Kickstarter made it possible to acquire the equipment to bring the Crawler to iOS devices, and the Crawler works well on many iOS and Android devices.
The Crawler is free, and will always remain so. This spring, a successful fundraiser raised enough to cover the costs of the robust hosting required to handle the new Crawler data tools, as well as the yearly iOS fees. Thanks to one and all for your support!
I've created a series of short tutorial videos that are absolutely the best way to learn about the Crawler and it's features. Each is only 2-5 minutes long, and will teach you everything you need to know to get started!
O-Level Charts
I've compiled a single-page PDF of charts and tables, that when combined with the 0-level character sheets give your new players almost everything they need to get started on their first funnel experience.
Supporting the Free Tools
You can support our tools in a number of ways, by purchasing an adventure, buying a t-shirt, or donating directly. Links to all three can be found on the support page.
I have many new exciting things planned for the future, so stay tuned. I really enjoy working on our gaming projects, and truly appreciate the wonderful support we've received in our first year. If you enjoy the things we produce, please share the word with your gaming friends, and be sure to review our products at RPGNow and other venues. The larger our audience grows, the more time I'll be able to devote to creating new things. Believe me, nothing would make me happier!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Where are your gaming dollars going?
I'm assuming there will be lots of 'other' responses, and I'll add many of them to the list as we go along. Let me know what you're playing. :)
[yop_poll id="7"]
[yop_poll id="7"]
Thanks for the feedback...
I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to answer the various polls I've put up. The results are interesting, and helpful.
Expect more in the future!
Expect more in the future!
Opossumen Fever!
Things have moved a bit slowly in the Purple Tower as I recover from our family trip, but progress is being made. The color layout of Perils of the Sunken City is complete, and I'll be sending it off for some quick proofing in the next day or two. I'm still working out how I want to approach the pre-order of the Sunken City, chiefly on how I want to handle the variable shipping amounts. So I've got until Perils is ready to make a decision. :)
For the additional features included in the Sunken City, I've completed a race write-up for the Opossumen, for which I've actually had numerous requests! I've added some fun new merchant tales from Honest Orkoff (first encountered in Crawl #2). I'm adding a selection of delightful new magical oddities, since additional magic items were a popular request in our recent poll. And I've formatted and have begun doing some quick editing on IronWolf's great write-up of the patron Malloc. I can't wait to wrap things up so we can get this into everyone's hands!
For the additional features included in the Sunken City, I've completed a race write-up for the Opossumen, for which I've actually had numerous requests! I've added some fun new merchant tales from Honest Orkoff (first encountered in Crawl #2). I'm adding a selection of delightful new magical oddities, since additional magic items were a popular request in our recent poll. And I've formatted and have begun doing some quick editing on IronWolf's great write-up of the patron Malloc. I can't wait to wrap things up so we can get this into everyone's hands!
Monday, July 15, 2013
2013 Ennie Awards
The Crawler's Companion has been nominated for an Ennie Award in the best software category! How cool is that?Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Tomorrow we start the drive home...
Wish I had something new to put on sale. ;)
Had a fun vacation, but haven't gotten any writing accomplished. I'd like to think i'll return home tan, rested and ready, but the vacation is actually much more demanding than home life! Oh well, it's been great to see family, especially my two little grand nephews.
And my Bones miniatures await!
Had a fun vacation, but haven't gotten any writing accomplished. I'd like to think i'll return home tan, rested and ready, but the vacation is actually much more demanding than home life! Oh well, it's been great to see family, especially my two little grand nephews.
And my Bones miniatures await!
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