Hmmm, looks like the merger between DTRPG and RPGNow has cause several PDF publishers to band together to create their own e-tailer service, ....

I am familiar with at least a few of the companies involved.

The Auld Grump

I see they carry the VBAM line (Victory By Any Means). Anyone have any experience with it? It seems interesting.

I helped with the playtest of the VBAM age of sail module, and it was a blast working with them. I have the VBAM campaign book and one or two other modules. I was looking for something I could run campaigns in for the Starfleet Wars minis of the late '70s, and I find VBAM is flexible enough to take just about any space minis game you could think of and make a campaign for. There are generic races as well, if you want to habitate random worlds without taking a lot of time working up each one. One thing that suprised me and may be a standard for the online rules sales, but they send you a notice for a download any time there is a revision to the materials. I think I am on the second version of the VBAM campaign manual. They do have great support on their website, and a good Yahoo discussion group.

The 'YourGamesNow' CO-OP is a fantastic concept and I really hope that people use their service. WorldWorks was asked to join after the OBS fallout but I'm still chewing that one over as we have a pretty stable customer base here and some healthy momentum.

That said I would STRONGLY encourage you guys to shop with Your Games Now as it really puts the vendor first and supports them without restriction in a way that "other" PDF markets simply do not. It's not a monopoly where the bottom line is more important than the individual vendor.

Don't hesitate to buy your RPG materials there.

As a semi-connected aside, during an interview Mr. Browning had this to say about publishing - I have highlighted the part that I thought most relevant:

6. If you were just starting out today and were ready to try and break into the RPG business, what would be your first step?

Have a goal of what you want out of the business and try to make a plan that fits what you want. If you just want to be creative, don’t try to publish. Publishing isn’t creative work, it’s just work. If you’re going to publish accept that a lot of your time that you could spend on doing something creative is going to be spent doing something else. But more than that realize that people make buying decisions on appearance, marketing, and content. I wish things were more content driven, but that’s not the case. But to be honest, appearance and marketing ARE content, just of a different sort than what many think of as the content of a game.

Sound familiar, Denny? Publishing eats up a lot of time....

The Auld Grump