Home>2015

Year: 2015

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Merry Christmas!

I haven’t been working myself to death this holiday season, just almost. Along with my job, I’m taking two Masters courses and the along with 4-8 page reports every week, sometimes – when I’m very lucky – with one week off, I also have to write two short essays of 500 words – properly sourced – for the forums, and then need to discuss with properly sourced 250 word responses. That’s at least 2,000 words of academic work per week, usually closer to 9,000.

For the most part, it’s okay, but around Christmas, it’s a bit much. I fell a bit behind, but am catching up, which means I’ve been playing some modded Fallout 3 and – my Christmas present to myself – a few hours of modded New Vegas today.

And I hope you’re treating yourself to whatever you consider a treat. Whether you are a religious or secular celebrant of the season, I hope you’re able to decompress a bit, enjoy whatever you enjoy, and share some happiness with your fellows.

 

All the best!
Fraser

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Sales for November, 2015

No love for Kiss My Axe in November, but then it is the least popular of the games I have published. Not quite sure why that is, though it may be its size. It is the smallest game I’ve published. Perhaps I have also not marketed it well – that can honestly be said about all of my games.

Other than Nefertiti Overdrive, everything is getting back into the regular groove. Sales were relatively high as a carryover of the release of Nefertiti Overdrive, but December will likely be a slow month as everything settles back into its usual rhythm.

And this brings us to the present. No promises that I’ll be more up-to-date with these in the future, as I think they are more for me than for you.

Sales for November, 2015
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 1
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Centurion, 3
Nefertiti Overdrive, 13
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 26

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 1
Kheufer Scrolls, 1
Sword’s Edge System, 15
Sword Noir, 6

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 42
Khorforjan Gambit, 12
Qalashar Device, 135
Raid On Ashkashem, 177

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 111
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 182
In Her Majesty’s Service, 156

Other
Centurion, 177
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 23
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 570
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 149
Kheufer Scrolls, 195
Kiss My Axe, 207
Suffer the Witch, 94
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1669
Sword Noir, 637

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Sales for October, 2015

The last post was kind of a catch-up on sales data, something I used to release every month. It might be of interest to those thinking of entering the RPG indie scene, or maybe other indies looking to benchmark their sales. It’s also useful to me as a moment to consider what has been happening and how it has maybe effected my sales.

Something that was missing from my other data was the Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules. This was due to a glitch in how that gets reported from OBS. Also, I’ll never have a real number for that because it was available through other methods which are not tracked. I’ve included the historic numbers downloaded on the Totals, but have just October’s downloads in the monthly numbers.

This was also the month that saw the release of Nefertiti Overdrive. 295 people received this through Kickstarter, but I’m not including those numbers. I’m sure they have an impact on sales, but in my mind, those aren’t sales.

Total Sales for October, 2015
Other
Centurion, 19
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 1
Nefertiti Overdrive, 10
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 30

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 1
Kheufer Scrolls, 2
Kiss My Axe, 1
Suffer the Witch, 1
Sword’s Edge System, 8
Sword Noir, 28

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 41
Khorforjan Gambit, 121
Qalashar Device, 134
Raid On Ashkashem, 176

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 110
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 181
In Her Majesty’s Service, 155

Other
Centurion, 174
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 10
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 544
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 148
Kheufer Scrolls, 194
Kiss My Axe, 207
Suffer the Witch, 94
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1654
Sword Noir, 631

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Sales for a Darn Long Time

Wow, the last time I did this was for first quarter 2014 (Jan to Mar). That’s a long time with now data. Not that anyone was hanging their business plans on this, but I wanted to be transparent. So let’s dive in and get you the rest of the picture. I’m actually going to start with Total to Date before diving into a year’s data (Apr 2014 to Mar 2015) and then the second and third quarters of 2015.

One very interesting result is that of free products switched to pay what you want. Both Operation Nearscape and the Sword’s Edge System were switched, and the number of downloads in a year went from hundreds to under ten. I think this better represents the actual interest, meaning very little. Although the two games that use the Sword’s Edge System, which are not pay what you want, outsell it.

I have some theories but no actual evidence, so I’ll keep those to myself.

On to the numbers!

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 41
Khorforjan Gambit, 121
Qalashar Device, 134
Raid On Ashkashem, 176

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 110
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 181
In Her Majesty’s Service, 155

Other
Centurion, 155
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 42
Line Zero, 40
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 147
Kheufer Scrolls, 192
Kiss My Axe, 206
Suffer the Witch, 93
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1646
Sword Noir 603

It’s a bit astonishing to me that Sword Noir has sold over 600 copies now. That’s kind of amazing. Centurion is also doing really well, considering that 169 people also have copies of it through the Kickstarter. It’s honestly a bit humbling.

So, what does a year of sales for SEP look like?

Sales for Apr 2014 to Mar 2015
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 3
Khorforjan Gambit, 3
Qalashar Device, 3
Raid On Ashkashem, 4

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 6
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 5
Covert Forces Redux, 7
In Her Majesty’s Service, 7

Other
Centurion, 27
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 3
Line Zero, 2
Operation Nearscape, Pay What You Want, 3

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 15
Kheufer Scrolls, 16
Kiss My Axe, 17
Suffer the Witch, 2
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 9
Sword Noir, 36

This shows which products are SEP’s strongest sellers, and there is no surprise there. Also, many of our products sell only one or two copies per year. Sales of For Simple Coin, my sword noir fiction collection, have pretty much dried up. Gift of the Elder Gods sold a stunning one copy.

That’s not really fair as these numbers are from an RPG sales site. Still, my fiction does not sell well. Kind of makes me sad.

To get better into the weeds, let’s go to the quarterly reports.

Second Quarter 2015 (Apr to Jun)
Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 1
Covert Forces Redux, 1

Other
Centurion, 4

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 2
Kheufer Scrolls, 1
Kiss My Axe, 2
Sword Noir, 5

The second quarter of 2015 looks pretty familiar. This is what sales are like outside of periods of heightened interest – such as around a Kickstarter or when a product is otherwise showcased, like in a Bundle of Holding. You’ll notice the almost complete lack of d20 sales, although still a couple. Even the Sword Noir products are having a hard time holding on. Still, the main games – Sword Noir and Centurion – sell a game a month. Not a huge amount of money here (for your edification, the take home from this period was $94.35 USD, or $31.45 per month . . . beer money).

Third Quarter 2015 (Jul to Sep)
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1

Covert Forces
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Centurion, 23

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 2
Kheufer Scrolls, 2
Kiss My Axe, 2
Suffer the Witch, 2
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 1
Sword Noir, 21

I am wondering what happened in the third quarter, and my suspicion is that this was the Gen Con effect. Now my actual sales at Gen Con were 9 Centurion and 10 Sword Noir. That’s not bad. Also, I think there was some spillover into August and September sales from people I met at Gen Con, or from interest due to Gen Con posts. The other possibility is a higher profile due to daily posting at SEP during August. It’s hard to say, but it was a good quarter.

I’ll do posts for the last two months in the coming week, just so I am up to date.

Isn’t this riveting? 😉

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Nefertiti Overdrive in the Bundle of Holding

I’m home now and the paper I’ve been working on for school has been handed in. Is there anything more awesome than that?

Well, maybe Nefertiti Overdrive being available in the Bundle of Holding along with Circle of Hands, Starfall, The Clay That Woke, The Gaen Reach, Urban Shadows, and Blood Red Sands.

If kicking Assyrians in the face in Ancient Egypt isn’t enough to get you excited, a bundle that includes Mark Diaz Truman, Robin D. Laws, Ralph Mazza, Paul Czege, and Ron Edwards certainly should be.

Head over to the Bundle of Holding and get your indie on.

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State of the Sword

Just checking in to let you know I am still here. With Nefertiti Overdrive finally done (if anything is truly done) and having embarked on my master’s course, I have very little time for game design.

I will be running a one-shot of a friend’s game – ScreenPlay. You can read about it at G+. If you are interested in joining the on-line game on Monday, 1 Dec, be sure to drop me a line and let me know.

Play-testing of Dream Riggers continues apace. The foundational elements of the game appear sound, and now I am adding on more parts to see what can fit and what can’t, and how it will all interact.

When I do have some time, I am slowly working on a minor update to Sword Noir. I’ve learned a lot about game design since I released Sword Noir, but I am not intent on a major overhaul – it seems to be well-enough liked – I just want to tweak it to make it work better.

All that aside, I won’t be coming by that often unless I have something momentous to tell you. And I really don’t expect to have anything momentous to tell you.

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The Good, The Bad, The Weird . . . Overdrive

 

Sorry I’ve been so quiet. I am actually getting work done – both coursework and a little RPG work which I’ll share shortly.

For now, I just want to remind you that the Good, the Bad, the Weird was an amazing movie, and you could probably run it using Nefertiti Overdrive (sure you could)

Take the character of Park Do-won (the Good). Let’s stat him out.

Concept d6/d10 Bounty Hunter; Reluctant Paladin
Elements d6/d8 Lever-action Rifle; Fearless
Traits d6/d8 Physical; Social
Drivers d6/d8 Empowered by the hunt; Justice and profit

Pivots
Find the Finger Chopper and bring him to justice
Oppose the Japanese when I can

Although Park is a bounty hunter and he is interested in both profit and the chance to discover treasure, he can’t help but protect the weak when he sees injustice. He is definitely a reluctant hero, but if you consider that the institutions of law in Manchuria at the time were controlled by the Japanese, who were as bad as any other colonial masters, it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to be a sheriff or other sort of law enforcement official. And while he has the good sense to know when the odds are stacked too high against him, threats to life and limb don’t seem to slow him down at all, and he’ll run through a hail of bullets or swing one-handed high above every one else, firing with his rifle as he does, in his pursuit of his quarry.

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On The Edge

Not exactly true, but at a loss for catchy titles.

First, I’ve been getting lots of notice from people who are receiving their copies of Nefertiti Overdrive. For those who didn’t back the Kickstarter (what, no love for Egyptian kung fu?), the book+PDF package will be available from Indie Press Revolution on 19 Oct for $25.95. The book should be available from Amazon on the same day at the same price (so you should buy the book from Indie Press Revolution if you can). I still have not received my proof from Drive Thru for the POD, so I’m not comfortable going live with the POD until I’m certain of its quality. The PDF will be available on 19 Oct, but probably not the POD.

Second, the big announcement I’ve been hinting at won’t be happening. I was planning on starting a Patreon dedicated to adventures. I have plenty of adventures for Sword Noir, Centurion, and Nefertiti Overdrive that I thought I could get into publishable condition with the help of Patreon. Now, that’s not going to happen because . . .

Third, I have started a Master’s program. The first two weeks have royally kicked my ass. Part of the problem is I am in the middle of a temporary assignment that is a nice promotion, but is a lot of admin work and cat-herding. I come home pretty burned out. There’s no way I’d survive working full time, seeing my family, getting my course work done, and writing RPG stuff, so something had to give.

That something is going to be SEP.

This isn’t permanent. I am hoping that as I get further into my Master’s program, it’ll get more manageable (or I’ll just get better at managing it). As of April, I go back to my regular job, which is busy but which I actually enjoy, so I’ll be coming home with a bit more gas in the tank. At the very worst, I should be done my Master’s by Apr 2017 (I have money for this fiscal year and the next to study from my work, so either I graduate or that dries up).

At some point SEP will be back. I hope everyone that’s been so supportive remains interested in games like A League of Extraordinary Misfits and Dream Riggers. For now, SEP is going into hibernation.

Expect little on this channel except static and the occasional burst transmission of information.

Stay frosty.

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Overdriven

I’m actually really tired. All the Nefertiti Overdrive Kickstarter rewards are in the mail, so it feels like it’s done. It won’t actually be done until everyone gets their rewards, but given our postal system, I can’t even guess when that will be. I know some backers have already received their books, so that makes me happy. Now I just feel like I want to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. Day-job has been ass-kickingly brutal, so that hasn’t helped.

On or around 19 Oct – depending on how well I can get the various storefronts and distributors to play nice with my attempts – Nefertiti Overdrive will be available for sale. I will, of course, be posting an announcement here.

And once I am up to it, I’ll have an announcement about what I’ll be doing next. I hope it’ll be welcome and possibly even exciting.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall go collapse.