principlefactor

This has been an interesting week for us. We found out this week that Shawn, our partner in crime who typically resides cross-country, will be stopping in for a visit. We're working a lot behind the scenes now since we have all three minds in one room for a little while. As a result, today's post will be a bit smaller, but will cover some key things.

A few weeks ago, I promised a draft map from the Le'ahi project. As I've mentioned several times before, this is simply a draft - preparation for the real thing. We go through several of these as we're designing the world and the environment. When we finally get everything hammered out, we will actually commission a professional artist to make the final product. We're starting to think that this version of the Le'ahi map will be the final draft version before the release version.

Click here to view the Le'ahi Draft Map, or save it by Right Clicking and Choosing "Save As"

When the final version is confirmed and the artist's version is completed, I'll see if I can go ahead and release that to the public as a teaser before the release.

Now, on to another subject. Myths and Monsters was supposed to be a later project release for us, but we've decided to ramp it's release date up. We've decided to release a couple of teaser products for it soon. If we're able to, we would like to be able to release it some time next month. However, I will go ahead and tell everyone what the free teaser will be.

The Dullahan is a spirit creature of Irish descent. He rides horseback, his headless body holds his glowing head aloft as it hunts for its next victim...

The Dullahan will be a paragon tier threat, with both an early paragon and late paragon stat block for it. It is also a member of the Unseelie Court, which will play a role in Myths and Monsters.

As we near the release date of both Le'ahi Chapter 1 and various Myths and Monsters goals, we will keep you informed.

--Mark

This week marked a major step for Principle Factor Games. As a very small group, we have to keep our goals and deadlines reasonable, but for several reasons, we abandoned our website deadline and got it up and live this week.  Our website should now be completely working. Granted, this website will of course be a constant work in progress with multiple updates to it per week, but now we are able to at least say the site's functional. Additional content will be added on a regular basis. You may view the website at www.principlefactor.com. Also, check out our Forums, and remember to join the 1001 Plot Hooks Mailing List.

One of the first things that will be updated is our "About" Page. This page will go into small blurbs about each of our personal backstories. One of the things that we want to have here at Principle Factor Games is transparency. I think that, as gamers ourselves living the dream, it's a nice way to give insight into how we got here. I will personally be making available a more detailed About page for myself, as well as even posting some things here on the blog from time to time.

Another thing that's soon to be added is a Projects page. This page will give information related to each of our projects, their estimated completion amounts, and estimated release or completion dates. That, along with the blog, we're hoping will give a firm sense of accomplishment for us and everyone else by being able to compare notes with the site and the blog.

Now, for some meat and taters...

The first Chapter of Le'ahi - The Enigmatic Isle is nearing one stage of completion. The initial draft story, the draft maps, and a few other initial tasks are either near completion or completed. One of the next stages is going to be a discussion that myself and Ronny will be having in regards to artwork. Le'ahi will be a free project, but we're still going to get certain pieces of artwork for it. Next week, I will be releasing the teaser I promised with an earlier post - one of the Draft Maps. As I've mentioned before, none of us here are professional artists but they're enough to get the cogs turning.


Now, on another serious note...


I am pleased to announce that we have a new associate here at PFG... He weighs in this morning at Two hundred and forty-six grams... He hails from inside a willow boot...

Mister Buddha.

 

Buddha.


Mister Buddha is the my pet hairless pink-eyed rat, even if he's kind of evolved into community property. He is named as such because, Mister Buddha is indeed more enlightened than myself - he's got this whole life thing down pat. Get up, Eat, Get Attention, Nap, repeat as necessary. Also, as Mister Buddha, he's already bald, and we assume he's going to be fat and happy. When Mister Buddha isn't residing in his Willow Estate, he frequently vacations to people's shoulders, backs of necks, and, much to the chagrin of some, underneath shirts. Fortunately for Mister Buddha, no lawsuits have been filed. He enjoys long walks, dark places, and good food. If you wish to contact Mister Buddha, please, feel free to e-mail him at buddha@principlefactor.com. Unfortunately, Mister Buddha is a busy rat, but will do his best to respond to all fan e-mails.


--Mark

....

--Mister Buddha

(He made me do it!)

I think that a lot of DM's and Gamers are aware of various mythologies. After all, 90% of heroic fantasy's monsters came from an ancient Earth mythology. For those of you who haven't studied Greek mythology, I'm going to relay a small little story.

There was a man named Daedalus... One of his two sons, Icarus, is much more well known than his father. Most people don't know Daedalus. Daedalus was a genius. He was a craftsman, an artist, a builder of the likes which the world had never seen. He created works of art, sculptures, and other creations that were alive. An idealist, he helped craft the wings for his son, Icarus. Mere wax and feathers, they helped Icarus soar to great heights. Daedalus also helped King Minos create the great living Labyrinth which contained the mighty Minotaur.

Looking back at some of the decisions that have been made with the Principle Factor project this week, I feel that our longterm goal is to be like Daedalus. We see our projects as living works. Every day is a constant evolution for a product. We are making a lot of headway towards the release of two of our first products.

101 Plot Hooks for Lazy DM's is currently under construction. Ideally, we're aiming for a four-month release date. If the actual publishing process takes some time, it may be a hair longer, but that's our goal. Content for the project is filling at a very good pace to meet that guideline. Also, Ronny is working on the 1001 Plot Hooks Mailing List. Things are going quite well on this front.

The second product that's nearing completion is Le'ahi - The Enigmatic Isle. I am in charge of a lot of aspects of Le'ahi. As a result, I have one of the best insights in the group for the project. Le'ahi is a 4e Module that we are going to be releasing for free. Every so often, a new chapter of Le'ahi will be released. Our current goal (subject to change) is that Le'ahi will be a place where characters can go from levels one through ten. Le'ahi will be complete with maps, story, and even new monsters. Each chapter will be released as an Adobe PDF. Upon completion of the entire story, each chapter will be compiled into a larger, and still free, PDF with some new content as well.

I'll leave everyone with this small teaser for Le'ahi, a mere paragraph, but hopefully enough to get everyone wondering...



    The young boy carefully approaches the prone bodies. He knew they were not dead. They were unconscious, still breathing. They were not members of the village. They were not apart of the feral pack, either. The island doesn't receive visitors. Visitors don't exist. Only a madman would dare come to this place of his own accord. Only twelve, he fully understood the horrors of this place. He wondered where they had come from, and then realized that had circumstances been slightly different, they would be dead instead of laying here. Further one way of the island and the Kumorachs would have slowly devoured them. Further down, the Inagrecks of the deadlands would have made their bones into a fine powder. Or, had they landed to the north, the ferals would have enslaved them, or worse. Their situation was no where near as bad as it could have been.



--Mark

En garde!

In all seriousness though, I want to start this off saying I don't think actually think of other publishers as my opponents - I respect them a great deal and all the things they have done for the industry. What I'm trying to do is identify other successful 3rd party campaign settings, and study what they had done to become so successful. By knowing your opponents, you can improve upon their successes and avoid their pitfalls. This allows us some perspective on our own project, and through those improvements gives a better value to you! (Gotta love basic marketing.)

What does this have to do with you? Well, we are seeking your input! What 3rd party settings have interested you? How did you find out about them and what drew you to them? We can and will be doing our own research, but there is no better informant then your own target audience. Feel free to leave comments with your favorite 3rd party campaign setting and any information you care to divulge about what drew you to it in a comment. Your help in this is greatly appreciated.

-Ronny

As of today, I will be one of the major contributors to the Principle Factor project, and as such, I figured it was only proper to give a brief introduction to the blog. On the internet, through various circles and games, I've mostly been known by the adopted surname of "Goda". I've been a lifelong gamer, part time writer, and probably done a little bit of everything else. As of Friday, 12 June, I am now married. I'm a student of history, actually working towards a degree in it. Due to my background, I've been mercilessly hounded and eventually conscripted...

...er...

I mean, due to my background, I have been carefully chosen by the head designer to be a mouthpiece for the blog, and to work on various parts of the game itself. Then again, it's kind of hard to say no when the head designer is your roommate. (That's a joke, Mr. Ronny)


--Mark

Greetings blogging world! I struggled for some time on what to do for my second post on this blog; should it be a design conundrum, some Principle Factor content, or something else. I decided to use this opportunity to give back a little to two people who are helping make my dream of publishing become a reality, Johnn of Roleplaying Tips Weekly and Yax of Dungeon Mastering. They are giving many aspiring new designers what they need to succeed through their Gamer Lifestyle program and I can't thank them enough for all they do to give back to the community.

I encourage any gamers who haven't heard of them to head over to those websites and do some exploration. Heck, maybe you will learn something, they have certainly taught me a lot over the years.

I'd also like to recommend some of the other members of the Gamer Lifestyle,

Sean has an amazing campaign setting brewing over at The Sea of Stars journal and The Sea of Stars website that I am honestly looking into playing with my own gaming group. It's just that good.


Hannah over at Chaotic Shiny has a huge array of content generators for gaming, which are sure to make any DM's job easier. I wish I had discovered her website years ago.


The other Sean has some interesting ideas brewing over Swords & Sorcery, I can't wait to see what bubbles to the surface over there.

-Ronny

Welcome to the Principle Factor Designer's blog! I'm Ronny, co-creator and designer of Principle Factor, my partner in crime is Shawn who is also co-creator and is the developer of Principle Factor, and our blogmaster and contributor to the project is Mark. This blog will give you a window into our lives as we build the world of Principle Factor, and hopefully give you some insight on both the world of game design and the ingame world we are creating. First though lets give you some background on our work.

Principle Factor is a D&D 4th edition setting based in the world of Tero, a fantasy world in which people have gained the power of the elements and channel them to rain destruction upon their foes. The world is on a brink of a war of almost mythical scale, with cultures clashing and blood being spilled. Only you, one of the principle factors in this war, can make the choice to bring back the world from the precipice of destruction or to lead your nation onto the slaughter of your enemies.

Principle Factor is characterized by an incredibly detailed world for your exploration, a focus on individual characters and how their actions can shape the world, throwback to classical mythology to bring back memorable and awe-inspiring encounters with the monsters of this world, and the clashing of the various cultures and politics within Tero.

We are shooting for a Sunday update schedule, though additional posts may be made during the week as things occur and ideas come to us.

What you should expect from this blog?

Insight on the process of working on and publishing a D&D book in the RPG market.


Inside information on the Principle Factor campaign setting. Insights on what choices we made during our creative process and why.


Information on RPG's in general.


Expansions to the setting material as a bonus to our bloggers, much of which won't make it into the core book.


When we open the doors to our closed playtesting, our bloggers will be the first people we go to find playtesters. We will also be releasing one of our core classes at that time on the blog as an open playtest to all of our bloggers.


And close to release time we will be releasing a detailed major city/region to give our bloggers a taste of what to expect from the book, as well as several weeks of previews.

I think we've thrown enough information at you for the first day. Hopefully we will live up to all of your, and our own, expectations



-Ronny