Fight On! and first Lulu purchase...

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:34 pm

http://stores.lulu.com/fighton
http://www.fightonmagazine.com/

I had been eying this old school magazine for a good while now. On March 31 I decided to go ahead and give it a try by buying the HC offer being made at that time.

It is also the first time I have used the Lulu service. They gave themselves two weeks to actually construct the book and then ship it to me.

Well, it arrived today. I have to say I am very pleased. First off the HC seems to be as sturdy as anything I have on any of my other RPG HC's, and the stitching appears to be as good as any of the others. Due to the 400 page count they have that gap along the spine that allows the book to lay flat easier when I put it on the table.

So Lulu appears to do equivalent binding work to those any other companies use.

Now I have only spot read pieces and parts throughout the 400 page book (It is a compilation of their first 4 magazines) and I have to say I not only like what I read, but I am even more eager to find the time to sit down and immerse myself in their 400 pages of RPG goodness.

So my first impression of not only Lulu but the magazine itself is that I made a very good buy from two business' that create good product.

I'll be sure to post more as I get opportunities to read more of the content.
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zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:43 pm

Fight On! has been a tremendous resource for my table. I was so inspired by the creativity and DIY attitude of many of the authors I ended up sending in my own stuff for the next ish. Lulu also has been largely issue-free for me with the items I have purchased through their store.
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Benoist · Post by **Benoist** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:01 pm

I too ordered the FO! Compendium. I haven't received it yet! I'm jealous.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:14 pm

Benoist wrote:
I too ordered the FO! Compendium. I haven't received it yet! I'm jealous.

Your in Canada, it could be another year or two before you see it!
I have read the first 15 pages now, and I am really enjoying it. It took me a bit to figure out hit dice, wounds, and their AC values, but once I figured it out it translates well to C&C.

One thing that bothers me is the Death Maggot, they only say it swallows whole on a 20, but I don't see a damage value for just a bite, other than its apparently greater than the d4 of the acids in its stomach when your swallowed.

I liked the dedication to Gary on page 1 (and the picture submitted by Rhuvein), I have liked all the advice, adventures, magic items, spells, etc... All the ideas have a nice spin/perspective that gives me exactly what I like out of magazines like this.

It definitely looks like I am going to be a long term fan.

Plus it has a module by Gabor Lux, and as always, I enjoy his adventure.

I am already positive I am not going to regret this purchase, just possibly regret not jumping on board sooner.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:02 am

I think Lulu is by far the best POD service in the industry. They may be expensive, but they are worth it. I purchased a hardback, 350 page RPG from them mid last year, and the construction was great. All good things.

-O
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:23 am

Some pieces I am liking so far...

Enchanted Holy Symbols There are 5 of these, but I'll describe what is probably my favorite.

Talisman of 13 Runes:

This Symbol has been inscribed with the sacred runes of the gods that are part of a pantheon known to some as The Twelve. It is usable as a holy symbol by any cleric that worships any one of the 12. The owner may store a single clerical spell of any level within it, creating a 13th rune when so used. Use of this stored spell is much like using a scroll.

A old TLG board member, and some time fellow player in a few online C&C games, known as Zulgyan, contributed a bunch of clerical spells with heavy religious flavor elements.

I am not sure I agree with level/power assignments, but I definitely like the ideas.

Level 2: Bless Journey, This spell means the CK/Gods will allow the party to avoid the next tough or very hard random encounter. The reverse can cause such an encounter to occur. The duration is 1 Day.

Level 3: Condemn to Darkness, When exposed to daylight the target suffers a -1 penalty to all attack rolls, and enemies are +1 to hit the target. On the following day these modifiers double to 2 each. On the 3rd day if the target is exposed to sunlight they will turn to dust and be destroyed. The target is aware of this, so will do their best to avoid sunlight. Spells to reverse curses, dispel magic, and the reverse of thsi spell can negate this affliction.

There are 11 such spells here that have such strong flavor elements. Like I said, I am not sure I agree with the assigned levels, and part of this may be the system they are working under to write all this material, meaning it may only have 5 spell levels in total. I am not sure yet. However its easy enough to alter the level to fit what any of us think is best.

These are all "Blessings" so presumably only require a Holy Symbol and the ability to say it. Again, things CK's can easily decide upon for their own games.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:10 am

Now i am having a lot of fun with the Inn generator, which generates names.

Like:

The Flying Vast Nomad Inn

The Grey Paladin Inn

The Weeping Fighting Fighter Inn

The Creeping Lewd Elemental Inn

The Betting Purple Hound Inn

The Fleeing Drunken Madame Inn

and so on. Its 1 AM here, but I still think I would find many of these names amusing even if I wasn't tired.

Then the article goes on to help you randomly determine:

How many beds are available in the common sleeping room.

How many single rooms and Master rooms are available.

IT suggests when to have additional Craftsmen available, such as Blacksmiths, etc...

It then goes on to suggest role playing ideas, the numbers and personalities of various NPC employees and even the owners of the Inn. Even ages are covered.

Regular visitors are discussed, and a table for random visitors and another for special visitors is provided. Descriptions and role play/encounter suggestions follow on the next few pages.

A very nice little article to help a CK make an Inn used as a base of operations come alive within their campaign. I think I will use this to liven up The Dirty Maiden Inn I have been using in my Punjar game.

More to come, and I have only commented on various things up to page 44 at this point. This is a 400 page book!
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:52 pm

Benoist wrote:
I too ordered the FO! Compendium. I haven't received it yet! I'm jealous.

How is Lulu shipping it? This is the main reason why I've refused dealing with them in the past since they have a tendency to ship via UPS. If you happen to live in Canada as I do, a package from the States using UPS means ridiculous brokerage charges upon delivery. I'd be happy to hear if Lulu had come to their senses regarding this practice.

M
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Benoist · Post by **Benoist** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:29 pm

moriarty777 wrote:
How is Lulu shipping it? This is the main reason why I've refused dealing with them in the past since they have a tendency to ship via UPS. If you happen to live in Canada as I do, a package from the States using UPS means ridiculous brokerage charges upon delivery. I'd be happy to hear if Lulu had come to their senses regarding this practice.

M

They haven't, unfortunately. I was willing to pay the outrageous shipping charges in this particular instance (and a few others), but that's really what's keeping me from ordering from Lulu regurlarly, you got that totally right.

Some French gamers I know have been pooling their orders together. When received by one of them, s/he would reship the stuff to each of the recipients, from France this time. This limits the damage of shipping charges by splitting it between recipients. Maybe we could work something out similarly for Canadian gamers in the future?
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:54 pm

moriarty777 wrote:
How is Lulu shipping it? This is the main reason why I've refused dealing with them in the past since they have a tendency to ship via UPS. If you happen to live in Canada as I do, a package from the States using UPS means ridiculous brokerage charges upon delivery. I'd be happy to hear if Lulu had come to their senses regarding this practice.

M

I believe shipping to me was about $5.00 US. If you ship it to me, and I then to you, shipping would probably be under $15.00, total, in US dollars.
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Benoist · Post by **Benoist** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:23 pm

Treebore wrote:
I believe shipping to me was about $5.00 US. If you ship it to me, and I then to you, shipping would probably be under $15.00, total, in US dollars.

That's an awesome offer! Thanks for that!

Could I benefit from it myself, if need be?
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:30 pm

Benoist wrote:
That's an awesome offer! Thanks for that!

Could I benefit from it myself, if need be?

Certainly.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:40 pm

OK, I read through Chapter 3 now. Talk about a walk down memory lane! Full blown Judges Guild and Wilderlands goodness! Including new material from our own James Mishler as well as nice stories and Fight On! being given permission to reprint some good old JG pieces.

Anyone who is a JG completist, or wants to get a very in depth taste of what Judges Guild and their products are all about should at the very least buy the PDF of this issue. Tons of old school goodness and old school love in this part/issue.

Plus an all new 5th level to the classic JG INFERNO!! Done by the original author Geoffrey O. Dale! If you love the INFERNO! and want more, you want to get this! About 24 pages of all new material!

To give you an idea this part of my book, the 3rd issue, is 151 pages long! Most of which is old and new Judges Guild material!

Yes, I am definitely not only very happy with buying this, but I am sure I am a new fan of the magazine.

Now on to chapter 4.
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LordSeurek · Post by **LordSeurek** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:42 am

SO Tree, are you enjoying your new find
I may have to investigate this one further me thinks.

L.S.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:51 am

LordSeurek wrote:
SO Tree, are you enjoying your new find
I may have to investigate this one further me thinks.

L.S.

Yep! Issue 4 is about Arduin, another of my "Old School" loves! SWEET!
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:57 am

Sounds great! It's very sad that I only just found out about the compilation but sadder still that it is no longer available.

I posted on the OD&D Discussion boards about this and I would certainly love to see the idea of a compilation 'revisited' -- it needn't be Hardcover but the option would certainly be nice.

I checked Lulu, and just a single issue would cost $20 to ship and that is not including any brokerage charge but I may take you up on your offer Treebore at some point because, as it stands, to pay shipping to you... and then pay the shipping from you to me, at the very worse I will still break even without worrying about any additional or excessive brokerage charges!

All this to say that... I *REALLY* hate Lulu.

M
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:33 am

You can't buy the PDF's and get them printed in Canada?
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Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:43 am

I'm seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on these. I may wait a bit and see if, by chance, the compilation option comes back.
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:59 am

Treebore wrote:
You can't buy the PDF's and get them printed in Canada?

Well, problem number one would be cover/binding. Though getting the contents printed shouldn't be an issue, most wouldn't provide me with the kind of cover/binding I would like within a reasonable price point.

Combine that with the PDF cost and you being to think twice. The PDF's are basically only a couple dollars cheaper than the print editions that lulu is offering. This wouldn't be a problem with the first issue but the last couple of issues are very large in comparison.

M
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:07 am

So Canada has nothing equivalent to Lulu or printme1.com?

If so I bet I could get the owner, Ignatious, to upload it to such a site.
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:25 am

Treebore wrote:
So Canada has nothing equivalent to Lulu or printme1.com?

If so I bet I could get the owner, Ignatious, to upload it to such a site.

I'm not saying it doesn't exist... I'm just not aware of them. If there was a Canadian one and they had reasonable rates that did a professional job, I'd love to give them a shot but I'm looking for something that is 'perfect bound' with a nice 'finished' cover. If I'm paying some good money for this, I also would like something that looks good.

If I didn't care about the format, then I could just go to Staples or something and get a spiral bound copy there.

At the present time, my best option is to buy it to ship to someone in the States and then pay them to ship it to me. A bit ridiculous but so are Lulu's shipping prices and practices outside the US.

Aren't I just picky?
M
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:30 am

moriarty777 wrote:
I'm not saying it doesn't exist... I'm just not aware of them. If there was a Canadian one and they had reasonable rates that did a professional job, I'd love to give them a shot but I'm looking for something that is 'perfect bound' with a nice 'finished' cover. If I'm paying some good money for this, I also would like something that looks good.

If I didn't care about the format, then I could just go to Staples or something and get a spiral bound copy there.

At the present time, my best option is to buy it to ship to someone in the States and then pay them to ship it to me. A bit ridiculous but so are Lulu's shipping prices and practices outside the US.

Aren't I just picky?
M

Well, they definitely exist in Canada.
http://www.printthree.com/print-on-demand.html

So there has to be one like lulu.

I found that with2 minutes of google searching.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:31 am

Toronto:
http://www.printshopscanada.com/Service ... n-Demand/1
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:52 pm

Treebore wrote:
Well, they definitely exist in Canada.
http://www.printthree.com/print-on-demand.html

So there has to be one like lulu.

I found that with2 minutes of google searching.

I found that one too however, certain POD places don't do single copies of products but an actual run. I was unable to determine this from their pretty yet badly designed site. They seem to be geared towards businesses as opposed to individuals. I still need to look at them more closely to be sure but the more I look, the more I'm convinced I should try elsewhere.

The other link seems to lead to a bunch of other stuff in the Toronto area and, I've checked a few but I've found more 'spiral' bound models (which I already have plenty of access to) but no perfect bound options. I need to go through each of them but looking in Montreal is another thing I need to do.

Hell, maybe I just need to consider getting my own bloody equipment!
Anyway, I appreciate the links but I'm still looking for that 'elusive' Canadian lulu clone.

M
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K2h2m3 · Post by **K2h2m3** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:45 pm

Hey Tree, care to elaborate on the JG stuff in there? JG seems to be my newest binge.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 5:04 pm

K2h2m3 wrote:
Hey Tree, care to elaborate on the JG stuff in there? JG seems to be my newest binge.

Sure. I would think the new layer of the Inferno would have been all you needed to hear about. I'm going to finish reading issue 4 first, then I'll back track a bit and give you a more detailed break down.
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Coleston the Cavalier · Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:44 pm

Lulu and international shipping is why we print and ship our own modules now.
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:49 pm

Coleston the Cavalier wrote:
Lulu and international shipping is why we print and ship our own modules now.

Just for that -- I'll have to make a point to buy some BHP and maybe even sending you an adventure proposal soon!

M
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Coleston the Cavalier · Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:39 pm

moriarty777 wrote:
Just for that -- I'll have to make a point to buy some BHP and maybe even sending you an adventure proposal soon!

M

That would be sweet!

BHP is made up of three guys in the US (including me), 3 in Germany, 1 in Austria, one in France, an Irish guy in England (ATOM) and a guy in Tasmania. Really.

We have C&C and 4ed D&D submissions from the US, England, Canada, and Chile.

So we are VERY CONCERNED about international shipping!
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grodog · Post by **grodog** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:20 am

I haven't had a chance to read FO#3 or #4 yet---they're sitting in queue after arriving as part of a large Lulu order from just before the end of March (to help support the contests, of course!).

Has anyone checked out Knockspell yet? (A slight pimp, since I am writing a column in KS, but I also have an as-yet-unpublished adventure in FO too).
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