Saturday, September 3, 2011

Hope Prep Designer Diary Posted

Aaron over at Roleplayers Chronicle was kind enough to invite me to write up a designer's diary for the Hope Prep setting. The entry just went live today. So, if you're interested in the processes involved in creating the setting, and the whys and wherefores, please give it a look. This was a fun piece of writing to create, mostly because it gave me an opportunity to babble on about the setting in a completely candid way. If people are interested in seeing more of this sort of material, please let me know. I'm always happy to share my thoughts, but I'm not sure how many people are particularly interested in reading them. Here's the direct link: Hope Prep Designer Diary

Monday, August 29, 2011

HPS #2 Halloween Ball Now Available for ICONS and M&M3E

In an effort to make up for lost time, HPS#2 follows fairly closely on the heels of the ICONS release of The Substitute. For the first time, we're doing a simultaneous release of both the M&M3E and ICONS versions of the adventure. It's now available on DriveThruRPG.com for just $4.99

Halloween Ball
The Halloween Ball, a night of costumes, dancing, dark arts—wait, what? It’s up to you to stop the troublemakers before the dance is ruined.

Halloween Ball is a scenario in the HPS Freshman Year story arc. It may be played as a standalone, or it may be used with first-year characters who are already established in the Hope Preparatory School setting. A map of the dorm and a range of NPCs provide everything a gamemaster needs to run the scenario and experience a day in the life of a metahuman student.

This scenario also provides background and game information on Sister Synestria’s Certified Soothsayers Society. This organization is devoted to providing the professional support necessary to distinguish between professionals highly talented in the fields of precognition and postcognition from mere charlatans. Their Certified Soothsayer Professional (CSP) certification program offers the gold standard recognized by governments and businesses worldwide.

Direct Link to the M&M3E version.
Direct Link to the ICONS version.

This is the first product that we've featured Dan Houser as our new cover artist. In honor of that fact, here's a look at the great cover art he did for us without any interference from the publishing logos.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Substitute Now Available for ICONS!

This came through a bit later than originally intended, but the ICONS conversion of HPS #1 The Substitute is now available through DriveThruRPG.com for just $4.99.

The Substitute

Dr. Bailey's acting strangely... even by his usual standards. In Super Science class, he spent the whole time asking us questions. Then, we saw him actually reading sports news. What's going on?

The Substitute is a scenario in the HPS Freshman Year story arc. It may be played as a standalone, or it may be used with first-year characters who are already established in the Hope Preparatory School setting. A map of the gym  and a range of NPCs provide everything a gamemaster needs to run the scenario and experience a day in the life of a metahuman student.

This scenario also provides background and game information on Pryde Academy. This institute is an analog of Hope Prep from a parallel dimension. Dedicated to preparing its students for global domination, the Academy’s faculty has only recently discovered the HPS earth.

The Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook provides additional details about the HPS setting used in this scenario.

This PDF uses layers for ease of printing and is sized for compatibility with popular electronic reading devices.

CLICK HERE for the direct link.

Halloween Ball, our next release is back from editing and in layout. I hope to have this one available for ICONS much sooner after the M&M3 release.

Thanks for your support!

-John Dunn
http://www.meliorvia.com

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Gen Con 2011 Report

Gen Con went very well for us this year, thanks to all who came out and played or just stopped by to ask questions. Our eight events, featuring the M&M3 versions of Orientation and the Substitute were well attended and well received. Both our players and GMs all seeemed to have a great time. Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting us. Players went home with laminated student IDs featuring the characters that they played in the events.

Over the course of the show, we handed out promotional postcards at both the DriveThruRPG and the Green Ronin booths. Many thanks to both companies for helping us to promote the setting. We also were privileged to meet quite a few bloggers and podcasters over the course of the show, several of whom I hope to be in touch with in the coming months.

On Saturday, I was able to attend Pinnacle Entertainment Group's seminar. They were kind enough to give me an opportunity to announce that Hope Prep will be coming to Savage Worlds this fall. The license has been granted and work is well underway. The current goal is to have that available in September, barring any complications with other work.

Finally, many thanks to all who took advantage of our "We Broke Even" bundles. The sale was a great success. I look forward to any feedback from those who chose to purchase the PDFs!

Monday, August 1, 2011

We Broke Even! Bundles

Yesterday something very exciting happened in the course of Melior Via's history. We have now sold enough copies of the Hope Preparatory School Freshman Handbook to cover our development costs. I guess since I'm admitting my excitement about this, it makes it pretty clear that none of our other products have gotten to that level of success yet, but the fact that one of them has is a major milestone for us.

So, we decided that we need to do something to celebrate the success. I realize that one sale just ended, but I think we can still launch another. For the next week, there are two Hope Preparatory School bundles available through DriveThruRPG. They're each priced at $5.00 and include the Freshman Handbook along with the introductory scenario - Orientation. One is for M&M3 and the other is for ICONS. That's like buying Orientation and getting the Handbook for just a penny!

Here are the direct links:
We Broke Even! M&M3 Bundle
We Broke Even! ICONS Bundle

This week is Gen Con - we look forward to a lot of great gaming at the show and hope to see folks who have enjoyed the Hope Prep setting. For those who can't attend, I hope you get a chance to get some games in at home.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

HPS Freshman Character Pack for ICONS now available

June flew past, and now we're more than halfway through July. Wow, this summer has been busy. I hope everyone is enjoying the season and finding time to play some great games.

In spite of the lack of activity on this web site, Melior Via has been active behind the scenes. We had a great deal of success at Origins, running 8 full tables of Hope Preparatory School scenarios for many enthusiastic fans. Thanks to all who came out and took the time to play. We hope to meet many more players at Gen Con in two weeks. (Seriously. Two Weeks. Wow.)

This morning, I just uploaded the Freshman Character Pack for ICONS to DriveThruRPG.

The HPS Freshman Character Pack includes six fully statted Freshman Characters for the Hope Preparatory School setting. The characters may be used as PCs in Freshman year scenarios, NPC class rivals, or a field trip group for a more traditional supers campaign. These characters are all for use with the ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying rules. Printable character standups are also included as a substitute for tabletop gaming miniatures.

Priced to move at $2.99.

We're currently working on completing the ICONS version of The Substitute.

HPS #2 Halloween Ball is currently on its way to our editor. Artwork solicitations have begun for that as well.

Good gaming!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

HPS #1 The Substitute is Now Available

Dr. Bailey's acting strangely... even by his usual standards. In Super Science class, he spent the whole time asking us questions. Then, we saw him actually reading sports news. What's going on?

The Substitute is a scenario in the HPS Freshman Year story arc. It may be played as a standalone, or it may be used with first-year characters who are already established in the Hope Preparatory School setting. A map of the gym and a range of NPCs provide everything a gamemaster needs to run the scenario and experience a day in the life of a metahuman student.

This scenario also provides background and game information on Pryde Academy. This institute is an analog of Hope Prep from a parallel dimension. Dedicated to preparing its students for global domination, the Academy’s faculty has only recently discovered the HPS earth.

Click Here for a Direct Link

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Substitute - Cover Preview

Jeff Preston just delivered a cover for our upcoming release - "The Substitute" and I wanted to go ahead and share it. We should have this available for purchase next week.

Earlier this week, the ICONS edition of Orientation released. We're currently working on the Freshman Character Pack for ICONS as well.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Open House Sale and ICONS character sheet

Some may have noticed that we're currently running a sale on the OneBookShelf sites. This continues through Sunday. All of our products are currently 20% off. That means the Freshman Handbook for ICONS and M&M3 are $3.99 each. It also includes the Freshman Character Pack and the introductory adventure - "Orientation" for M&M3.

We're still in the process of getting Orientation and the Freshman Character Pack ready for ICONS release. As I've worked on the characters, I needed to create a Hope Prep themed character sheet for ICONS. That sheet is now available for free download. Click on the thumbnail to grab the PDF from acrobat.com.

Artwork for our next Hope Prep Scenario - the Substitute - has started to trickle in, and it's looking terrific. I hope to have that adventure heading into layout early next week. We're on track for a mid-June release for M&M3. The ICONS release will likely slip into July.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Convention Scene

This past weekend, we attended AnCon in Hudson, Ohio. It's a very friendly local annual game convention. We had a great time talking about Hope Prep with other attendees and running HPS #0 Orientation, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Players were also given HPS Student ID badges, as a memento of their session. (We'll have these at Origins and Gen Con as well.)

These were our first public sessions of the scenario, as we gear up towards the summer convention season. Thanks to all who played or just stopped by to say hello. It's always great to get a chance to talk about Hope Prep with enthusiastic gamers.

Origins Game Fair registration doesn't seem to be selling quite as quickly as Gen Con sold through. The good news is that for those interested in playing HPS adventures at Origins, there remain a few tickets available. At this time, two of our sessions of Orientation each have a single ticket available. Three sessions of The Substitute also have tickets remaining. We're looking forward to attending both of those shows and running as many games as we can.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Projects Status Update 5/14/11

I thought today I would give a quick update on various projects so that readers might learn what Melior Via is currently pursuing. We have a number of irons in the fire, so this may seem just a wee bit unfocused. Fortunately, we have a number of people working on these projects, so the workload is nicely diversified.

The next Hope Preparatory School scenario (The Substitute) is making solid progress. Scott Schletz's draft is currently in editing. Jeff Preston is once more handling the cover. Wesley Street is working on the maps. Interior art descriptions need to be revised and assigned. We are on schedule for a June release for the M&M 3rd Edition release. For those following the convention scene, the description has already been posted among our Gen Con and Origins events.

The ICONS conversion for Orientation and the Freshman Character Pack are also both making solid progress. We should have those ready for a June release as well.

In the longer term, we have a few other projects in the works. Without going into too many details, here's a brief list of things we're working on:
-We have another system conversion for the HPS Freshman Handbook in progress.
-We recently contracted Dan Houser to create several pieces. These will go into a new HPS Character Pack.
-We have an additional setting in development. This one is not a supers setting, and it uses another licensed system.
-Preliminary writing on the third HPS scenario has been contracted. It's due for an August release in the M&M system.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Hope Prep comes to ICONS

We're happy to announce that Melior Via has just released the Hope Preparatory Freshman Handbook for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying from Adamant Entertainment. This is the same core material featured in the Super-Powered by M&M version, but the Game Mechanics section covering character creation and the freshman faculty members has been modified for the new system.

Moving forward, Melior Via will offer Hope Preparatory School materials that support both game systems. Our current plan is to release the Freshman Character Pack and Orientation! for ICONS next month.

Previous buyers should receive a coupon from OBS to purchase the ICONS version at a substantial discount. (If you have not yet received your coupon, please drop a line to info@meliorvia.com)

Monday, May 2, 2011

Hope Prep Events for Gen Con Indy 2011 SOLD OUT

Well, that went fast. We're thrilled to report that all of our Hope Preparatory School events for Gen Con Indy 2011 were sold out within about an hour of event registration going live.

There were a couple of instances where a ticket showed as available later in the day, but they were soon snapped up once more. As of this posting, none are showing as available. If you were hoping to play in one of our events, we have two suggestions:

#1) Keep an eye on the event listings. It's not uncommon for a ticket or two to reenter circulation over the next few days and weeks.

#2) Show up to the events with generics. Many of our events are scheduled for 8AM. It's not at all uncommon for folks to choose to oversleep. All of our scenarios are intended for six players, and we'd vastly prefer to accommodate that number.

#3) It's unlikely, but we might manage to scare up another GM between now and the convention. If we can obtain another Gamemaster, we'll keep that person on standby to run tables for players who arrive with generic tickets.

Thanks for the support! We look forward to meeting with as many players as possible at the show.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Origins Game Fair 2011 Events Posted

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but Origins has posted their 2011 game schedules.

Melior Via is supporting the Hope Preparatory School setting with a number of events. Unfortunately, the Origins spreadsheets do not yet show a location. (I also couldn't track down when event registration was set to open.) Regardless, I'm happy to see that there are now event lists available to download.

As with Gen Con Indy, we'll be running four sessions each of two different scenarios. (Yes, they're the same scenarios for both conventions.) Both use the M&M 3rd Edition rules set.

Orientation (HPS #0)
As new students to Hope Preparatory School, your characters get to tour the facility, meet your classmates, and save the planet. All that before classes even start! Dive into a game that covers all the ups and downs of an elite metahuman high school.
Event #Date and Time
6105Thursday 6/23/2011 8:00AM
6348Friday 6/24/2011 8:00AM
6590Saturday 6/25/2011 8:00AM
6654Saturday 6/25/2011 12:00 Noon
The Substitute (HPS #1)
Dr. Bailey's acting strangely... even by his usual standards. In Super Science class, he spent the whole time asking US questions. Then, we saw him actually reading the sports section. What's going on?
Event #Date and Time
6120Thursday 6/23/2011 8:00AM
6362Friday 6/24/2011 8:00AM
6605Saturday 6/25/2011 8:00AM
6661Saturday 6/25/2011 12:00 Noon
We're working on a (small) something special for all of the players who are able to attend our events.

For anyone else who is interested in running a Hope Prep game at their local convention or game day, please drop a line to info@meliorvia.com We'll do our best to help you out.

Also, as a reminder -- Gen Con event registration opens up at Noon EDT, this Sunday 5/1/11. Get those trigger fingers ready to register.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Gen Con 2011 Schedule Posted

Gen Con Indy has just posted their 2011 Event Catalog.

Melior Via is supporting the Hope Preparatory School setting with a number of events. Currently, all of our events are scheduled to take place in the Pennsylvania Station Room A of the Crowne Plaza. If past history is any indication, though, these might end up with their locations shuffled, so be sure to check the catalog at the convention to verify your locations.

We'll be running four sessions each of two different scenarios. Both use the M&M 3rd Edition rules set.

Orientation (HPS #0)
As new students to Hope Preparatory School, your characters get to tour the facility, meet your classmates, and save the planet. All that before classes even start! Dive into a game that covers all the ups and downs of an elite metahuman high school.
Event #Date and Time
RPG1120085Thursday 8/4/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120086Friday 8/5/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120087Saturday 8/6/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120088Saturday 8/6/2011 12:00 Noon

The Substitute (HPS #1)
Dr. Bailey's acting strangely... even by his usual standards. In Super Science class, he spent the whole time asking US questions. Then, we saw him actually reading the sports section. What's going on?
Event #Date and Time
RPG1120089Thursday 8/4/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120090Friday 8/5/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120091Saturday 8/6/2011 8:00AM
RPG1120092Saturday 8/6/2011 12:00 Noon

We're working on a (small) something special for all of the players who are able to attend our events.

For anyone else who is interested in running a Hope Prep game at their local convention or game day, please drop a line to info@meliorvia.com We'll do our best to help you out.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Two new releases for Hope Prep School!

Melior Via has two new releases for our Hope Preparatory School setting. Both are now available on DriveThruRPG, and both use the M&M 3E rules system.

Orientation! Is an introductory adventure for Hope Prep. Players get to learn about the school at the same time as their characters, who are among the incoming freshmen. The scenario includes background information on the sinister Alchemical Cabal, full color maps of the school, and player handouts in 49 digest-sized pages. Regularly priced at $4.99, we’re offering a special introductory price of $2.49 through the end of April to those who use this discount link.

The Freshman Character Pack provides a fully illustrated set of six PL7 characters for use with the Hope Prep adventures. For those who do not have an opportunity to create characters, these provide a variety of options with detailed backgrounds and personalities. The freshmen students could also be used add additional NPC students to a Hope Prep campaign, or even as a group of metahuman students on field trip for a more conventional supers campaign. A page of stand ups for the six characters are also included. This 20 letter-sized page PDF is priced at $2.99.

Hope Preparatory School is a privately funded institution dedicated to preparing tomorrow's metahumans for whatever paths might lie ahead. With a tradition that stretches back over 60 years, a world-renowned faculty, and affiliations with all of the best universities, HPS is the place to send your child to prepare him or her for life.

Please note that all of our releases use PDF layers. By selecting which layers to print, the printer-friendly version is built right into the main document.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Orientation is off to Layout!

The last few pieces of art for the first scenario - HPS 0 - Orientation, came in over the past few days. The scenario text has also just returned from Editing. Now, it's just a matter of getting everything assembled and making it look pretty. If all goes according to plan, the scenario should be available through DrivethruRPG next week.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

HPS Character Sheet for M&M3E

In between working on other materials, I went ahead and assembled a Hope Preparatory School themed character sheet for M&M3E. I've hosted it at Acrobat.com, where it's freely available. (No login is required.) Please let me know if you have any difficulties using or obtaining the sheet.

Like the HPS Freshman Handbook, this PDF uses layers. I've placed the blue-grey page background on its own layer so that anyone who wishes to save ink can turn that off prior to printing.

Here's a quick preview of the sheet, so that folks can see it. Behold the standardized testing bubbles!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

HPS 0 - Cover Art Preview

Jeff Preston did a fantastic job on the cover for our first Hope Preparatory School Adventure. This should be available in a few more weeks. For now, I thought an early look at the cover might whet some appetites.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

3/22/11 - Weekly Update

HPS #0 - Orientation!
The last of the interior artwork solicitations for the first scenario  were sent out last night. Both Mike Munshaw and Patrick Sullivan have agreed to participate in this project. We've also recruited Jeff Preston to provide a cover. Wesley Street is designing a series of detailed maps of the school that should be a big help in this scenario and future ones as well.
John is writing this scenario, and the current draft is progressing smoothly.

Freshman Handbook Revised File
A minor revision to the Freshman handbook has been uploaded to DriveThruRPG, and an e-mail was sent to all buyers. This revision addressed the white on black text present in the sidebars. Anyone using a PDF reader that supports layers (including Acrobat Reader 6+ or FoxIt) can now turn off the sidebars layer to reveal a black text on white background box. This should be a bit friendlier for everyone's toner/ink supplies. The revised file is immediately available to all new purchasers as well.

Early Sales Figures
We're very happy with the preliminary sales reports that we've seen from DriveThruRPG regarding our numbers on the Hope Preparatory School Freshman Handbook. We were briefly ranked in the 30s in the Small Press Top 100. For a first product from an unknown publisher, that's not too shabby. Thank you to everyone for the support we've received.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Freshman Handbook Buzz

I had a great, brief discussion last night with a prospective buyer about the Hope Prep Freshman Handbook last night over on The Atomic Think Tank.

He initially expressed some dismay over the content included in the preview on DriveThruRPG. So, I tried to explain what was included a bit more thoroughly, explaining that what I thought he hoped to see in a preview wasn't really present in the ebook.

Much to my surprise, my attempts to dissuade him from buying talked him into a purchase. He then provided some excellent feedback on the book, which we'll certainly be keeping in mind as we move forward.

Mike Munshaw, the artist who handled all of the teacher artwork for the Freshman Handbook posted a collage of the interior artwork on his DeviantArt page. If you're trying to decide if our art is up to your taste, it's well worth a look.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

HPS Freshman Handbook Now Available

Today, the Hope Preparatory School Freshman Handbook went up for sale on DriveThruRPG.Com. This is Melior Via's first release, and I'm pretty excited to have it out there.

Mind you, this just means that the deadline for our next release is looming ever closer.

Hope Preparatory School is a privately funded institution dedicated to preparing tomorrow's metahumans for whatever paths might lie ahead. With a tradition that stretches back over 60 years,  a world-renowned faculty, and affiliations with all of the best universities, HPS is the place to send your child to prepare him or her for life.

The HPS Freshman Handbook provides the background material and character creation rules compatible with M&M 3rd Edition for Melior Via's line of Hope Prep Adventures, as well as plenty of information and adventure hooks to run a campaign set within a metahuman high school.

Direct Link.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Home Stretch - HPS Logo

Our draft came back from the editor, and I'm very happy with how things looked, so it went directly from there to layout.

Layout went smoothly, and now the Hope Preparatory School Freshman Handbook is in the hands of our trusted proofreaders. In just a few more days, I hope to be making the final tweaks and uploading it for sale.

In the meantime, I thought it might be worth talking about some of the artwork.

While it may not be the most comic-book style piece, I wanted to start out by talking about the HPS logo. That's partly because it's a core part of the project -- it's featured on the cover and on the books' watermark. But, it's also because it's something that I had a lot of fun working with Wesley Street to design.

So, let's break down the elements of the logo.

The Inscription:
It's Latin. Why? Because I studied Latin for too many years to not take advantage of it in situations like this. It translates, roughly to "Saving the World, One Student at a Time."

Inside the circle:
The Sphere is meant to represent the Globe, indicating that HPS is a global organization.

The Torch is meant to represent the light of understanding.

The Book represents education.

The Atom in the book represents knowledge. As the school does cover far more than just the sciences, this might seem a bit specific. However, the it harkens back to the Latin (OK, I was focused when I designed this.) "scientia" meaning knowledge.

The Balance represents justice. I particularly liked the center of this scale as it seemed sword-like. Particularly appropriate for a school that focuses on educating those who might one day see justice carried out.

Finally, the wings on the outside of the circle are meant to represent the superhuman.

So, what's it all mean together?

Hope Preparatory School is a place where those with special abilities can come to a greater understanding of the world, balancing knowledge with justice.

At least, that's the intention. I'm sure others may interpret it differently. Or tell me my Latin's out of practice.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Dimensions

So, as we're getting down to the final stages pre-release, I wanted to babble a little bit about a design decision.

Early on in the process, I decided that Melior Via products would all be digest sized. That means 5.5" x 8.5" aka, the size of a piece of letter paper folded in half. It's not a conventional size for RPG publishing, but it seems to be garnering support. I think that increasing support has good reason. I didn't make the decision lightly, so I thought it might be worth sharing the logic that went into it.
  • We're an electronic publisher. That seems obvious, but it's worth pointing that fact out. Because we publish electronically, I think it's important that our books are as friendly as possible for digital media. There are very few electronic readers currently available that are well suited for displaying a letter-sized sheet of paper. Lots of people have posed workarounds for this. My solution was easier: Make the page smaller.
  • Digest is booklet friendly. If you don't want to read your materials on a screen and you don't have an ereader, then digest is just easier to print out and make a booklet than letter sized pages. PDF readers can send a print job to the printer in booklet format so that a user can print the book, fold it in half, and staple it along the midline. Bam! Instant (short) book.
  • Digest works with Widescreen. For those who are using a widescreen laptop or desktop display, most PDF readers enable the user to display two facing pages. With a digest sized book, both of those pages remain readable. 
  • Digest works with POD. Finally, I'd like to keep our options open for eventually doing Print on Demand releases. And, at the end of the day, even allowing for an increased page count, it's much cheaper to print on digest sized pages than it is on letter sized pages. That means more affordable books for our customers.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Development continues

Several pieces of artwork for The Hope Preparatory School setting book came in this week. When things get a little closer to release time, I plan on posting a few selections.

Also, this week, development on the introductory scenario - Orientation, has begun in earnest. This scenario will be available as a free download to add more information, NPCs, and sample characters to the HPS setting. Melior Via will be releasing that a few weeks after the setting book becomes available.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Progress is slow, but steady.

Last night, the draft of Hope Preparatory School: Freshman Orientation Guide was delivered to the editor for review.

At the same time, the last two artists contracts were signed for interior art.

Things are progressing nicely to have the game setting PDF ready to hit sale in March.