Highmoon Games

5 Years!

Daniel M. Perez — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:05:54 +0000

I’ve been so involved with other things that I almost forgot that today, as well as being my birthday, it is also the 5th Anniversary of Highmoon Media Productions!

It’s been a fun-filled ride, I have to say. Though our last year has been not the greatest, it is looking up by the day. Welcoming One Bad Egg to the Highmoon Games family has been like a breath of fresh air, and I hope to have some good news regarding some projects that had to be put on hold for a while.

The only major change to be announced is the official cancellation of The Digital Front Podcast, though that won’t be a surprise to anyone. Still, it was fun while it lasted and I thank everyone for the support they gave the show during its lifetime. A post/podcast episode on TheDigitalFront.com will go up soon.

Thanks to you, the fans and customers, because you’ve kept us going all this time. Here’s to 5 years, and here’s to 5 years more (at least!).

And what the heck, take 50% OFF our RPGnow catalog until Sunday, Oct 18!

Highmoon Games Welcomes One Bad Egg

Daniel M. Perez — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:31:49 +0000

As of today, October 1st, all One Bad Egg products are now part of the Highmoon Games catalog. We are very excited to be able to continue offering these products for D&D 4th Edition to the fans, ensuring their fantastic quality lives on.

You can find the OBE products on our vendor page at RPGnow.com and DriveThruRPG under the following categories:

Over the next month we’ll be working behind the scenes on completing the transfer process, including Highmoon Games joining Indie Press Revolution, and everything related to OneBadEgg.com and the One Bad Egg Bookshelf. Please be patient during this transition period, and if you have any questions, feel free to use the Contact form on this site or leave a comment below.

We wish our friends from OBE all the best in their endeavors (and boy, do they have them!) and promise to uphold the good name of One Bad Egg.

Egg-citing News!

Daniel M. Perez — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:36:21 +0000

The first official post has gone out, so I’ll quote in full below and offer a short comment at the end.

The Egg Goes Dark

Posted by Fred | In Main | 11 Sep 09

At any rate, thanks very much for your past and present support of One Bad Egg. We definitely got a small core group of serious fans, and that helped us keep going for as long as we did. But we know it’s time to close this chapter, and move onto our next ones. Thanks for coming along on the ride.

All is not lost, however. Our products will continue to be available — we won’t shut down the website this year or next, at least, so folks who’ve bought stuff through the Bookshelf will be able to continue to access it. Elsewhere, our products will continue to be on sale as we work in early October to transfer our product line over to Daniel M. Perez’s Highmoon Media, which should make it possible to continue to purchase OBE products you haven’t had the opportunity to pick up yet. We like Daniel a lot, and know he’ll do right by our stuff.

This probably shocks very few people, but we’ve made a decision to let One Bad Egg go dark. We’ve got a number of reasons for the decision — reasons which I’ll ask the others to chime in on in the next few days, if they’re so inclined — but it all boiled down to a collective lack of the wind staying in our sails. This is not because we’ve fallen out of love with fourth edition — quite to the contrary, in fact. But loving playing and running the game is much different beast from loving writing for and doing third party design work for the game, at the end of the day.

There’s also the matter of sales that haven’t quite been there: our best selling products never managed to break the 300 copies sold mark, and many of our catalog didn’t even hit 100. We’d have had to see significantly higher numbers for the sales themselves to make a strong argument for continuing the work. They didn’t happen. And moreover some of our products were outright disappointments to us. We really love the Purifiers and the Codex Venenorum stuff, but the sales really abandoned us there, making the hard work put in on those ones yielding us a net loss. (Thankfully, at our scale, a net loss is not a bank-buster, at least.)

But it’s more than sales stuff. WOTC is doing a great job providing support for their game, and the online tools that come with a DDI subscription have had the curious side-effect of defining a product space that we can’t even touch, as third party publishers. Creating classes — already hard work — pretty much becomes a nonstarter when there’s no way to provide a “class definition” for use with the DDI character builder, and creating monsters (even ones as oogy fun as the Death Mother) starts to be questionable when a solid Monster Builder tool debuts from the primary publisher.

Design, too, has turned out to be less fun in practice than in theory. It’s a hard slog, and the only stuff that’s truly easy to cook up is the stuff on the margins. That makes it hard to keep a small stable of creative writers and designers motivated.

Finally, there’s been a simple issue of time. None of the founders have the kind of spare time that One Bad Egg demands, if the product output we think it needs to sustain is to happen.

I’m sure there’s more factors afoot, but that’s what I can tell ya from my perspective right now.

I am thrilled and honored to have been approached by OBE to continue their legacy, and I hope to do well by them and the fans. Details will continue to come out during the month, so keep an eye here and at One Bad Egg.

Find our products at RPGNow.com – http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=63?affiliate_id=17008

Thoughts on Pathfinder

Daniel M. Perez — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:51:32 +0000

David Miller of Purple Pawn posted a news story announcing the release of the Pathfinder edition of The Dream Healers. He also sent me two questions to answer, in order to add a more personal touch to the story rather than it being only a new release notification. In my typical fashion, I wrote a lot, and only a bit from that was used in the Purple Pawn post (thankfully). However, the questions addressed some interesting issues regarding the Liber Sodalitas line and the Pathfinder RPG, including why I chose to produce material for it.

Below are the unedited answers to David’s questions; feel free to leave a comment if you’d like to discuss anything further.

What is your goal with the Liber Sodalitas series?

Liber Sodalitas was Highmoon Games’ first product line. It was meant to provide new options for the game (the usual crunchy stuff) but presented so as to give customers a way to introduce those elements into their campaigns, rather than just putting out a laundry list of new material by itself. I chose the concept of societies because it is those groups that most call my attention in fiction and games (anything from the Fellowship of the Ring in LotR to the Knights of Myth Drannor and the Harpers in Forgotten Realms). Organizations are a very easy way to add depth to a game world.

Why Pathfinder? Is this a strategic decision? For business reasons or do you feel Pathfinder offers something special to RPG players not available in the alternative systems?

The Liber Sodalitas products were originally released for the d20 System over the past few years. I’ve chosen to updated them to the Pathfinder RPG rules for two reasons:

1- Pathfinder represents the new face of the 3.5 fantasy RPG rules system. Frankly, the unofficial name of 3.75 carries a lot of truth to it. Pathfinder sleeks out the rules in line with developments seen in both official and 3rd-party releases over this decade, breathing new life to that system. I don’t think 3.5 fantasy, as a whole, was broken, but it certainly had a few spots that needed major work and a general revision was overdue. When you looked at the 3.5 SRD and what was coming out of the home office in Renton, WA, sometimes you had to ask yourself, is this the same game we’re playing? Pathfinder levels the field, and being released through the OGL, it guarantees that any evolution that may come can be incorporated into any game product without a problem.

And to be clear, at least to me this has nothing to do with 3.5/3.75e vs. 4e. The rules systems were created to deliver very specific and different play experiences, and each does what it’s supposed to do well. It’s a matter of taste, not an absolute.

2- Updating to Pathfinder makes perfect business sense. Fans of the type of game experience 3.5 fantasy delivered now have a new banner under which to rally and that is an exciting development in our opinion. We want to be a part of this new surge, and a quick entry into that wave was the updating of our existing material. We’re actually updating so that the product matches the rules in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, even if the game is backwards compatible with 3.5 fantasy. In some cases, the 3.5 and the Pathfinder version will differ more than just a bit, so it won’t be like you’re buying the same product twice. I can’t say we’ll update all of our previous releases, but all the existing Liber Sodalitas releases will get the treatment. We’ll also release new, original material specifically for Pathfinder a bit down the road (I can say we have at least one new Liber Sodalitas in the works as well as an adventure).

Liber Sodalitas: The Dream Healers (Pathfinder edition) now available

Daniel M. Perez — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:30:55 +0000

Highmoon Games presents Liber Sodalitas: The Dream Healers.

Though often seen as a priestly order, the dream healers follow no set god. For them, the power of healing lies within the patient and their dreams. Able to enter another’s dreams, they guide their patients through past events, allowing them to relive them and heal many wounds that other healers cannot touch. The journey is not without risk, for the world within a dream becomes a new reality, and death there comes just as easily as in the waking world.

The Dream Healers is a 10-page ebook detailing a drop-in organization for your Pathfinder game, complete with history, tenets, organizational structures, ways of joining, and ready-to-use NPCs. It also includes the dream healer prestige class and two new magical items.

Written by: Lonnie Ezell, with James Gabrielsen, Mark Gedak & Daniel M. Perez
Artwork by: Anthony Cournoyer

Now available from RPGnow.com.

Now Supporting Pathfinder

Daniel M. Perez — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:39:48 +0000

Just a quick post to let all our customers know that we are now supporting the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, published by Paizo Publishing.

We at Highmoon Games are big fans of the 3.5 edition of the d20 System and are happy to see that Pathfinder now carries that torch high and proud, taking the system presented in the SRD into bold new directions that are innovative and yet remain faithful to the core of the system we all know and love.

We will begin by updating some of our 3rd Fantasy (3.5 Fantasy) products to the Pathfinder rules, and later we’ll follow with new material.

We hope you enjoy the new and updated products.

The Not-Going-to-#GenCon Sale!

Daniel M. Perez — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:04:01 +0000

Since we won’t be going to Gen Con this year, we decided to have a little party along with all those not going as well.

From Wednesday 8/12 thru Monday 8/17, all Highmoon Games products are on sale at 50% Off at RPGnow.com & DriveThruRPG.com.

Grab some games and play along at home in the spirit of the Best Four Days in Gaming.

Highmoon Games in 2009

Daniel M. Perez — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:01:00 +0000

I had intended to write a more thorough post on the state of the company back in March, but things have continued to transpire which have both kept me from doing that and made anything I was going to write at the moment very much invalid at this point.

As we near the end of June, and thus the first half of 2009, Highmoon Games remains in, essentially, hiatus from publishing. It has not been a good year (so far) for Highmoon Games, partly due to slumping sales and partly due to personal issues dominating my time. We were able to publish Jeremy Puckett’s Ronin: Oriental Adventures in Tokugawa Japan in its d20-compatible format but that has been it on the game supplement front. We do have other projects caught in various stages of production, including other versions of Ronin (True20 and Savage Worlds have been explored), a couple more issues of Heroic Moments, Issue 5 of Targum Magazine, a FATE/Spirit of the Century-compatible mini-setting, and True20 Ancients: Rome (this last one is done and in layout). There is also a secret project being done in conjunction with another gaming company that has not been announced yet.

On the podcast side of things, The Digital Front remains on hiatus since the beginning of the year, and as much as I want to cover certain events happening in the field of tabletop e-distribution, it has not been possible to do so. The Gamer Traveler, however, has been going very well; since turning into a blog as well as a podcast, I have been able to ramp up the number of stories published significantly, mainly because I don’t have to wait for a chance to record an episode to get them out. Episodes of the podcast have been released, but now they form an audio companion rather than the sole medium for my travel & gaming niche.

So what does the second half of 2009 hold in store? Frankly, I don’t know. The personal issue that has kept things on hold so far continues to be a major factor, so effectively Highmoon Games is to remain on hiatus until further notice. As I am able to work on some projects and bring them to fruition I’ll release them, but take those, if/when they happen, as happy surprises, not something to be expected. I am, however, not closing the company nor declaring any of the podfading any of the podcasts; I very much want to return to this endeavor once life returns to normalcy, whenever that is.

To all our customers, colleagues, supporters and friends, thank you so much for caring and inquiring and sending many well wishes.

Ronin: Oriental Adventures in Tokugawa Japan

Daniel M. Perez — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:49:11 +0000

Welcome to Ronin: Oriental Adventures in Tokugawa Japan, a world of honor and steel at the edge of the modern age.

Ronin brings you to Japan during the Edo Period, characterized by the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868). This is the height of samurai culture, when feudal lords commanded fearsome warriors and ruled vast lands, when the mysticism of the past clashed blades with the coming of the modern age. Will you be a samurai beholden to a master or a free-ranging ronin? Will you follow the way of the sword or call upon the arcane spirits? Will you explore high society or delve into the commoner’s world? A world on the edge of turmoil awaits you.

Ronin gives players and Game Masters will find invaluable information to bring the rich historical era of the Edo Period to their games, including:

An introduction to Tokugawa Japan, covering topics such as geography, culture, daily life, nobility, commoners, outsiders and outcasts, magic and mysticism.
A primer on samurai culture.
New Rules systems, such as the all-important Honor, as well as Flaws.
New Basic Classes, such as the courtier, shudoshi (Zen seekers), and vagabond.
New Prestige Classes, such as the blade saint, blind swordman, hedge witch, medium, merchant, and shinobi.
New Feats, 16 in total.
New Magic, including 12 new spells.
A Bestiary of menaces from the natural, magical and ghostly realms.

Ronin: Oriental Adventures in Tokugawa Japan is a sourcebook in the 3rd Fantasy line, compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game.

Written by: Jeremy Puckett
Art by: Zach Ashmore (Cover), public domain Japanese artwork.
Layout by: Mark Reed
Developed by: Daniel M. Perez

Now Available from RPGNow.com!

BATTLES BC Brings the Ancient World to Life

Daniel M. Perez — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:49:49 +0000

Fans of Targum Magazine will have a field day with History Channel’s new series, Battles BC. Here’s the blurb from HistoryChannel.com:

Their feats are legendary. Serving as a blueprint for warfare thousands of years later, the strategic military prowess of ancient warriors are still analyzed today. The new HISTORY™ series, BATTLES BC, uses a stunning graphic style comparable to 300, the hit feature film, to show leaders from the ancient world in some of the greatest conflicts in history. The eight episode series premieres Monday, March 9th at 9pm ET/PT on HISTORY.

These are the tales of historic battles and bloodshed. Now, with cutting edge animation techniques, and the expertise of military historians—BATTLES BC explores the strategies, tactics and weapons used by ancient commanders such as Hannibal, David, Caesar and Alexander. The truths and myths behind these heroes and villains are brought to life, in dramatic and epic proportions.

BATTLES BC provides fresh insight into the icons and events that helped shape the course of ancient history.

The series plays new episodes Mondays at 9 PM on the History Channel (check your local listing) and each episode gets replayed a few times during the week. You can even head over to the Battles BCerbium doped fiber amplifier website and see a full episode, Hannibal the Annihilator.

Gamer fans of the Ancient World will find plenty of inspiration in this series. I know I am absolutely loving it so far.

Have a Super St. Paddy’s Day with Highmoon Games

Daniel M. Perez — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:07:16 +0000

As any fan of Highmoon Games knows, International Ireland Day is a big deal around here. Every year I put together an Irish-themed product and release it on this day for your enjoyment.

This year, due to a family issue, I was not able to get anything ready. I couldn’t let the day pass unnoticed, however, so I had to take action!

RPG Blog Carnival

Over at The Gamer Traveler, I put together a special, St. Patrick’s Day RPG Blog Carnival. I posted an article entitled “The Banshee of Kilmainham Gaol” which you should go and read, and will gather a host of other Irish-themed posts during the day. Later today or tomorrow, there will be a round-up with all the posts.

Free Game Product

Second, I am giving away for FREE (March 17-18) our St. Patrick’s Day product from last year, Heroic Moments: St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Special Edition), for the 4C System of marvelous superheroics! In this ready-to-run scenario, an ancient Celtic goddess seeks to ruin the St. Paddy’s Day parade in The City and the heroes are called in to save everyone. It comes with two pre-made heroes, too, so combine it with the free 4C System Core Rules, and you have your game set for tonight!

Enjoy this St. Patrick’s Day as much as we will and raise a pint to good gaming!

Lonnie Ezell Wants to Help You Go From Zero2Novel

Daniel M. Perez — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:41:22 +0000

Friend and HMP Freelance Author Lonnie Ezell (Daughter of the Sun, Liber Sodalitas: The Dream Healers) has been busy this year with various personal projects.

LonnieEzell.com: Updates, New Fiction and a New Course!

Lonnie’s working on developing a new iPhone application (the nature of it is still hush-hush), has launched a new look for his website, and made his Fantasy Thriller novel, Daughter of the Sun, available for the Kindle and iPhone platforms.

Two items in particular, however, have us really excited:

Lonnie is soon to begin publishing more fiction set in the thrilling world of Daughter of the Sun. First off is “Raising the Sun,” a short story set a millennium before the events of DotS and which will be serialized on Lonnie’s website and Facebook Fan Page; and news of continuing work on Heir of Fire, book two in the Sundered Breath trilogy.

The second item is the launch of Zero2Novel.com, Lonnie’s online course on novel writing.

The course pulls together all of the tips and techniques from my years of studying the craft of writing, along with some brand new ideas that I’ve just found on the best ways to use the mind to help you out.

Lonnie has been working on this course for a couple of years now and we are excited to see it finally done and released. If you are an aspiring novel writer, drop by Zero2Novel.com and check it out.

We wish Lonnie all the best, and we’ll continue to update everyone on further news.

4C System Heroic Moments Intro Pack [Bundle]

Daniel M. Perez — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:20:30 +0000

Jump into a world of marvelous superheroics with the 4C System Heroic Moments Intro Pack.

Emulating a well-loved superhero game of marvelous proportions, the 4C System is an easy-to-use engine to power your quest for truth and justice. With the Intro Pack, you get the core rules and two Heroic Moments scenarios, enough to get you and your friends clobbering villains in no time.

Grab some dice, don the spandex, and live your own Heroic Moment with the 4C System!

The 4C System Heroic Moments Intro Pack includes:

4C System Core Rules
Heroic Moments #1: My Favorite Charity
Heroic Moments #2: Unregistered Mutant

All for only $1.00!

Now Available from RPGNow.com!

[Press Release] Highmoon Media Production Launches HIGHMOON GAMES

Daniel M. Perez — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:12:41 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHMOON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS LAUNCHES HIGHMOON GAMES

January 6, 2009 (MIAMI BEACH, FL) — Highmoon Media Productions launches today its new division, Highmoon Games, transferring all of its hobby game-related business and products to it, effective immediately.

Highmoon Games will continue to produce and distribute the same excellent gaming products in support of the Open Gaming License as always, as well as expand into new areas, acting as a design studio for other 3rd-party companies, and producing materials for new game systems.

“Highmoon Media Productions was always meant to be an umbrella for various projects,” said owner Daniel M. Perez. “By launching Highmoon Games, we can use the new brand to emphasize our work in the hobby game industry, and let Highmoon Media Productions take its role as the parent company for a variety of endeavors, including The Digital Front and The Gamer Traveler Podcasts.”

You can find Highmoon Games‘ products on RPGNow.com and DriveThruRPG.com, and on the web at www.highmoon-games.com.

ABOUT HIGHMOON GAMES
Highmoon Games is a Miami Beach-based e-publisher of hobby gaming products, including Ancient Adventures Magazine (formerly Targum), and designers of True20 Ancients. Highmoon Games is a division of Highmoon Media Productions, which produces The Gamer Traveler Podcast and The Digital Front Podcast. Learn more about Highmoon Games and Highmoon Media Productions at www.highmoon-games.com & www.highmoonmedia.com.

# # #
Highmoon Media Productions Media Contact
Daniel M. Perez
daniel@highmoonmedia.com

$1 Sale Extended

Daniel M. Perez — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:45:50 +0000

We have decided to extend our $1 Sale until the end of the year.

All our d20/OGL products will be deactivated for the time being while we remove all traces of the d20 license, which expires on Dec. 31, 2008. So if there is something in particular you wanted, your best bet is to get it in the next two days for only $1.00!!!

RPGNow.com: Highmoon Media Productions