Re: [DL] Why do people grumble about deadlands d20?

[PEGShane@aol.com]

Hi Nick,

I appreciate your opinion, but I'll have to respectfully disagree. First, I didn't write it--John Hopler did from my notes, and I think he did a fine job. In fact, I've got scads of fan mail here that agrees. Yours is the first truly negative reply I've received.

Our major distributor, Alliance, is also using it as an example of how to sell dual-statted books, and are very happy with its sales.

That said, not everything works for everyone. Hell, I like Something About a Sword, but most folks on here don't. ;) I also thought "Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger" was no better than any other HK action film, yet it goes up for Academy Awards. Go figure! And I'm constantly amazed that people don't want more British Colonial movies! ;)

Back on topic. Since LC is a core rulebook, the amount of statistics (particularly for vehicles and character types) is fairly thick. I can certainly understand that this makes half of that material unuseable for those who only want in one system (yes, there are many who actually want both as they don't know which version they'll eventually use someday--some prefer our original but believe they'll only get new folks to play if they do it with d20). I'm afraid there's nothing I could do about except to try and keep the descriptions to a minimum to include as much good, crunchy stuff as possible.

Going forward, I've made a change to all of our books to decrease the margins, and (slightly) the type size as well (you'll see it first in Epitaph #4). That gives you more words per page (20-24% more!), though I suspect most folks won't even recognize it. I won't go to the tiny type WOTC uses in their core books--I really don't like aesthetically or to read, but I think the new type size you'll see is a good compromise between readability and words per page. (Remember that we strive to make our books useful but also fun to read.)

As Ray said (and I most appreciate the kind words, Ray!), I've made a committment to supporting both systems, and that's what I'll do. If you don't like it, of course you have the right to vote with your dollars, and you're of course welcome to say so in this forum as well. I *always* welcome constructive criticism. I'm also *very* happy that those folks who defended LC on here also did so in a polite way without turning this into a flame war. You guys and gals really are the best fans in the industry, and I tell my peers that all the time (they're very jealous ;) ).

Shane