New Year's Activities

This is the lovely time of year I can be heard uttering phrases such as: "Oh great, we're celebrating the calendar again" or "Another year closer to death." I find the New Year's celebration to be absolutely stupid. Like people need yet another day/reason to take off work and drink themselves into a stupor. I mean, if we're going to shut down the everything for a day, can't we do it sometime in August when there aren't other holidays around it?

Normally I stay home on this evening but tonight we're having an all-night Spycraft session. I guess spending the "holiday" gaming would be a good tradition to get into. :)

However you spend the next 24 hours, enjoy yourself.

Shatter

BtS: Shatter is up at RPGNow here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6138

I really like the way this edition turned out. The crunch is fun and the backstory doesn't include a standard humanoid race as the creator. In other blog news (see links to right), Axel and Scot are having computer woes and Brad has posted the first of his weekly NPCs: an elven supremacist assassin! My blog doesn't feel so lonely now. :)

Next!

I knocked out BtS: Shatter over the last 24 hours and have handed it in to Phil. He also mentioned starting a subscription for the series that will start Jan 2006 and likely cost $10 for 13 issues. Pretty cool! Now, I am moving on to really try and get a good chuck of Invasion: Freeport completed. Daniel has given me an update for A Matter of Faith: still in layout and should be out for sale by Feb. 1.

Now Look What I've Done

Hot on the heels of Brad's blog is another person from my roleplaying group: my brother Scot. Studying Information Systems at Drexel University, Scot has been an integral member of the group ever since I let him play D&D. His dedication to roleplaying tells me know that I'll never be able to retire from this game as long as he's around to play. :) Here's his new home on the web: http://zoomquick.blogspot.com/

Wish

Now up for sale is Behind the Spells: Wish & Limited Wish: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6124

Apologies for the delay but you're bound to have this around the holidays. I'm working on this week's issue now--BtS: Shatter. With any luck, I'll have it done and off to Phil by day's end.

Merry Christmas!

Today is the day so everyone have a safe and happy holiday. For presents, I snagged $750 (between family and work bonus), a gift card for my favorite gas/snack place, and the coveted Atari Flashback 2. Not a lot of items but definitely all good. So what did everyone else get?

Today will be Christmas dinner of prime rib and shrimp, tomorrow a shortened 3-hour work day and then my normal day off. Ah, life is good. In the meantime I'll have to decide which spell to do next for the series and tinker a bit with Invasion: Freeport.

It is Finished!

After a few days of intense thought and work, Behind the Spells: Expanded "Wish" Edition is now complete and sent off to Phil Reed. Is it the best yet in the series? I don't know. One thing's for sure, there's only so much tinkering you can do with a project before it all starts to look wrong. I figured it was time to hand it in before I really screwed it up. ;) I do think the pdf answers the "whys" in regards to the limits wish has imposed on it. And it was rather difficult coming up with a reason for anyone to create limited wish. I hope some purchasers agree with my thoughts.

Chilled Monkey Brains

No, this isn't a review of Temple of Doom (although I can give you one if you'd like). It is, in fact, a link to the new blog on the street: http://badmojo74.blogspot.com/

These are the thoughts of my best friend Brad who I've known since....well, I'd have to say birth. :) Twice as witty as I and with dynamite character-making prowess, Brad's first entry indicates he'll be offering characters once a week for reader's use. Stop by and see if that tree yields any fruit.

And here's my BtS update: not done yet. However, I've started and am about halfway through. Wish is really tough to get a handle on but I think I've found a story which answers many questions. Find out soon.

Busy Busy

Our Christmas module get-together over the weekend went off without a hitch. The extraplanar tears in the Realms are being closed, the largest of which the PCs were asked to help guard. Oh, and then two githyanki assault forts sailed through the tear flanked by numerous red dragons! The PCs were able to fly up to the fort after slaying three dragons and penetrate the structure. They are on the hunt for a glowing illithid skull which controls the flight of the Astral fortress. Unfortunately, the adventure was running long and two players had to leave before we finished. We'll see what happens next time but the word "withdrawal" was used more than once by the PCs. In any case, a good time was had by all.

With that out of the way, it's time to concentrate on Behind the Spells: Expanded "Wish" Edition. It likely won't be ready until later in the week but hopefully will be worth the wait. Next week I might skip the series in favor of concentrating on the two adventures that require my attention. We'll see.

And I was asked yesterday to choose a cover artist for Temporality. Given three choices, I went with this artist (although all were quite excellent) as I thought he fit my expectations the best: http://emptyroomstudios.com/artist.php?artist_id=5

Another *sigh* Review

Well, it had to happen eventually. This just goes to show that you can't please everyone: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=5862&reviews_id=11281

I'm not sure what else people are looking for at a $1 cost. And not creative enough? I have to disagree (as do all the other reviews before it). But everyone's entitled to their opinions. Even this guy.

Module Prep

After last weekend's successful crossover module, I'm looking forward to the high-level companion this weekend. Stuffed full with githyanki and red dragons, this is one holiday gift the PCs may not want to open. ;) It will likely turn into a big dungeon crawl (albeit in a fortress) but that should still be fun. I've got some time yet to plan everything so we'll see how it turns out.

In RPG news, just released is Highmoon Media's "No Other Gods" adventure for Green Ronin's Testament setting. With this adventure out, I'm hoping that my own GR/Mythic Vistas adventure "A Matter of Faith" is up next for release by Highmoon. As always, I'll keep you up to date.

Blade Barrier

BtS: Blade Barrier is now available at the usual venues. Not only that, but series reviewer Kajamba Lion posted a review for it already! Check it out here: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2785092

New Reviews

While I finish up my work on BtS: Blade Barrier, here's the link to a couple more 5-star reviews over at ENWorld: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php

One is the very first review of Dancing Lights and the other is Jeremy Reaban's review (slightly altered) from rpg.net--both 5 stars!

Spontaneous Pregnancy

I keep forgetting to post this little factoid. Last week my sister told me that her friend went to the doctor. I don't remember why she was there in the first place, but I guess after a scan of some kind, they discovered (yes, the girl as well) that she was 8 months pregnant!!! The girl is heavy-set to begin with but to not know that you've been lugging around an extra body just floors me. So she had to call her mom because they wanted to deliver the baby ASAP. What was that call like?
"Uh, mom, can you meet me at the hospital?"
"Oh my God, what's wrong?"
"Uh, I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"And, uh, I'll be delivering the baby shortly."
"What?!"

In other news, I've added a new link over at the side (which for some reason appears on my screen at the side's bottom!) called Wanderman's Realm. This is K. Axel Carlsson's ramblings, a newbie freelancer to the d20 arena. At least I think he's new (correct me if I'm wrong!). Axel is a frequent commenter on this blog and wrote the follow-up to my undead book for Adamant: The Dread Codex. Watch for his stuff!

Good Weekend

It was pretty busy at first, but my weekend turned out to be a good one. We had the drug store's annual Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Turned out my sister had my name for our "secret santa" gift exchange and she nabbed me a sweet Matt Stawicki artwork shirt.

Today was the first of a campaign crossover event. The low-level planar campaign PCs dealt with an aftereffect of the meteor strike from the epic FR finale (which I've mentioned previously). Next week, the high-level PCs from the finale are back to pick up the pieces and stop yet another threat to the Realms since their actions caused it. Tears in the planar envelope of Faerun itself are forming and next week the phenomena must be stopped at their source!

And what would a blog entry be without a Behind the Spells review? ;) This one for dancing lights: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2780041

Dancing Lights

Now up for sale is BtS: Dancing Lights. I didn't think I could find much to say about this spell at first but it probably turned out to be the longest word count yet. Let me know if your PCs try out the Dancing Lights Game.

Free Sunday

As much as I like participating in some RPG or other on Sundays, it's nice to have a day totally free--no work, no nothing--once in a while. It's true that I'll likely gather together my thoughts on Behind the Spells: Dancing Lights (yeah, a bit different than what I thought I'd be doing) but it's not something that has to be done today. Here in eastern PA, we received an inch or two or wet snow. Coffee is brewing, the 80s are flowing from my iTunes and life is good.

It's these days inside, with unsavory elements outside, that I feel like curling up with one of the many many books (RPG and otherwise) I've never touched. Why is it that I'm always new stuff when I've got half a library that is untouched? Must be an 80s mentality. And speaking of the 80s, how about the new ATARI Flashback 2.0: http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/flashback2/

I tell you, if I don't get this for Christmas, then I'll be buying it myself soon after! Let the old times roll!

Also, I've removed my Most Recent Work link on the side here and simply dropped in a Behind the Spells link to magic missile. From there, I'm sure folk can navigate themselves to the other releases in the series. As non-BtS releases appear, I'll mention them and provide links in the main log entries. But for the moment, BtS is getting my primary focus. Thanks to everyone for your support!

Review Quartet

Someone at RPGNow has reveiwed all four of the Behind the Spells now available. You can click my Most Recent Work link or use this link to access the most recent reviews on that site: http://www.rpgnow.com/reviews.php?

How About Another Review?

First review is up for BtS: Animate Dead: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2761190

BtS: Magic Missile review

The review by Jeremy which I mentioned a few days ago is now up at rpg.net: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11783.phtml

Adventure Writing for the Masses

Since I started DMing full time back in the early 1990's, I've written over 130 adventures for my home group. Each is crafted lovingly from scratch, written out long hand using the same mechanical pencil I used in high school. Do I shortcut sometimes? Sure, especially in the stat-happy 3rd edition I've been forced to use NPCs and especially maps (I hate making maps) from published products. And why not? That's why they're there. From brainstorming to the finished product, I take about a week to fashion a module for my group (yeah, OK, sometimes I don't get quite finished writing it). What I'm getting at is that I have a system for my modules--and it works.

Now, when you're writing for adventures for people you don't know, it's a whole different ballgame. Instead of a tight week of work, I take approximately a month. "Why," you ask? I think it has to do with needing to tweak my work to the widest possible audience. There's also a healthy helping of second guessing myself. I know what my group would likely do in a given situation but I have no clue how other groups will react. I find myself listing the options but, in the end, you can't guess every possible scenario for a given situation.

For example, in brainstorming for Invasion: Freeport, I'm looking to make one area extremely spooky. How do you write that for the masses? What's scary for some isn't or others. If I write something really disgusting, I risk alienating people from buying future stuff I write (assuming they check authors before they buy). So instead of pegging down an exact description, I'm leaning towards giving examples of what the DM can do in his gaming environment (lights, smells, sounds, props) to make the section more creepy. There will be gross-out "read aloud" text to be sure, but perhaps it's what you're not read that matters most. RPGs, after all, are exercises in imagination.

I guess my advice for today's blog is that if you do find yourself writing adventures for publication...don't sweat it. Write whatever comes naturally, drawing from your own game experiences. In the end, a group will make the module it's own anyway.

Animate Dead

Now available is the latest release of the Behind the Spells series: Animate Dead. Grab it here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6001

That is all.

And Yet More Shopping

Today saw Linda and I out in the Allentown/Bethlehem area in our continuing shopping saga. Got my mom finished so now it's down to my brother and his wife and Linda herself. Not too shabby for not even being December yet.

In RPG news, I handed BtS: Animate Dead in to Phil today before I left so it should be out on the market any time. The current trilogy of the series just got new reviews for each on RPGNow yesterday (4 out of 5 stars all). I've also started brainstorming ideas for my group's Xmas adventure to be played next month. We'll be using the PCs whose campaign just ended for some high level holiday excitement. Nothing like exchanging gifts and slaying imaginary beasties to celebrate the season.

Slow Going

Jeremy Reaban, a frequent reviewer of things d20, has posted a review of BtS: Magic Missile on his review blog. It should be hitting rpg.net sometime in the near future, but here's an advance preview: http://jeremysreviews.blogspot.com/

Didn't get much accomplished this weekend. Invasion: Freeport didn't go anywhere and I only made some preliminary notes for Behind the Spells: Animate Dead. Should be finishing the latter this evening. I guess I had too much turkey and just lounged around for the weekend. :) Now, back to work!

The Shopping Season Begins

Today is known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when people go bananas for the sales that shops dangle before them like carrots. Sometimes I like shopping on this day but most times I don't. Today after work, I decided to take my sister Katy (who can't get out all that much between working and her two children) out for the evening. After a quick pit stop for dinner we cruised the MacArthur Rd. strip in Allentown. I got a little more shopping done for Christmas (having already started weeks ago with my friend Linda). Katy had fun and got some things bought as well.

One of our stops was at Borders (a coffee/music/books place for you readers not in the US). Now, this place isn't that big but when I wanted to leave I couldn't find Katy. I meandered through the store, eventually getting looks from those I'd passed several times. Eventually I gave up and had the information desk page her. I made a conscious decision to use her maiden name and a minute later her voice behind me said lovingly, "That's not my name." Now how did I know she was going to say that? ;)

Life Is Good

With BtS: Mirror Image already fast climbing the vendor hot sellers list, I think I might have a hit pdf series on my hands. Heck, I had Chris from TwinRose software (who apparently handles webwork for the ENWorld Game Store) email me to say that a customer was literally waiting for mirror image to be posted to the store so he could check out. How cool is that?! This coupled with two developing Green Ronin pdf adventures, being on the home stretch for Temporality's completion, and the imminent release of my MPM adventure though Highmoon Media all make for things to be thankful for in the publishing world. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be safe, eat lots, and rest comfortably.

Mirror Image

Now on sale is the latest in my series: Behind the Spells: Mirror Image. On a related note, Magic Missile is now a "copper pick" on RPGNow. I'm not sure how many sales you need to reach this, but hitting it after only 2 weeks feels pretty satisfying. :)

I'm taking Thanksgiving Day off to snuggle up with the new R.A. Salvatore book. I loved the Artemis/Jarlaxle pairing from Servant of the Shard and am eager to see where this book takes them. Well, I know it takes them up to the Bloodstone Lands but you know what I mean. This is Salvatore's old stomping grounds, as he wrote the 2e D&D supplement by the same name--good stuff!

Guess I'd better start Invasion: Freeport sometime this weekend as well. My other adventure, Vengeance in Freeport, seems to be holding its own so I'm eager to see how an adventure not related to the current stuff does.

I'm Number One!

Or at least I was. For a time, BtS: Magic Missile had nabbed the #1 spot on the month's top d20 releases at RPGNow. I handed in BtS: Mirror Image and it should be out sometime today. These are really fun little pdfs to crank out. It's amazing what's possible just using the rules as presented in the PHB. I may or may not take next week off of the series for turkey day (yeah, I know it's this week). We'll see how my schedule works out.

Two More Reviews

Someone has kindly reviewed both of the Behind the Spells pdfs out so far. Check them out here: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php

After considering the requests for the next installment, I've decided to go with mirror image after all. Look for that in a few days. And if you haven't checked out this series yet...well, what's wrong with ya?!

Special Ebay Auctions

I'm in the process of placing a few autographed items from my collection onto Ebay. The first are a set of Elmore Masterworks miniatures--sets 1 & 2 are the "limited edition gold" versions which come with 6 normal minis plus a gold one. They each come signed and numbered (only 99 made) with a certificate of authenticity. The second group (sold separately) are Foul Locales related. These are a trilogy of books which I contributed to for the now-defunct Mystic Eye Games. Besides signing each book, I'm throwing in my original handwritten notes for the locales I contributed. Will anyone care? I don't know. Personally, I love behind the scene author notes, but maybe that's just me. To the highest bidder of this trilogy, I'm also sending along my notes for the 4th Foul Locales book--Slum Lords--that never saw the light of day.

The final book is a signed copy of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed which I got at GenCon '03. In the same vein as above, Mystic Eye Games had a good relationship with Monte and, besides the adventure they put out for AU, the company also planned for a Foul Locales book. You guessed it, I made notes for that book as well and am selling them along with the book. Interested? Link: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1

Approvals and Another Review

I had two adventure ideas awaiting Green Ronin approval and I've received the green light for both. Invasion: Freeport and Beware the Minotaur are now officially on my "to do" list. The first is self-explanatory and the second is the much talked about (at least in this blog) sequel to my MPM adventure A Matter of Faith (which is in layout now with Highmoon Media). If I'm lucky, the development of these adventures won't put too big a crimp in my Behind the Spells series.

Speaking of which, BtS: Magic Missile received its second review today from frequent commenter here, K. Axel Carlsson. 4 out of 5 stars! Thanks, bud; glad you liked it. I'm happy to see that Magic Missile has hit #2 on Ronin Arts' vendor hot sellers list and Fireball has zoomed up to #7 in its first 24 hours up for sale. Does this mean I'm making any money? Lord, no, but it's still fun.

New pdf and a review

As expected, Behind the Spell: Fireball went up for sale today. Use my "Most Recent Work" link as always to take you to it. Also, BtS: Magic Missile has gotten its first review from Derek Holland: 5 out of 5 stars! I suspect Derek has been taking a look at my stuff since my Complete Guide to Dragonkin book for Goodman Games was released. He appreciated the section which described how to change unhatched dragon eggs into virtually any other creature before their birth.

It should be feasible to put together a BtS pdf every week or so. Phil tells me that the frequency of a series' releases does have an affect on sales. I guess we'll see. At the very least, each new pdf in the series should spur sales of the older ones. Thanks to everyone who takes a look at these little works.

Turning Down Work--Do What's Right for You

[Caveat: I am a hobby-lancer and do not need to write to survive. The information in this entry is geared toward those writers/artists in similar positions, so take this for what it's worth to you.]

It's not easy to turn down work, but sometimes it has to be done. Once you're "in" with a company, they tend to funnel more work your way. The unforunate part of this is that if you get "in" with multiple companies you'll eventually bite off more than you can chew. Suddenly your freelancing schedule is anything but free, to say nothing of those random open calls which catch your interest and you want to apply for.

As a hobby-lancer I can pick and choose my assignments. Part of the selection process is knowing what's right for me and the other part is knowing how it fits into my schedule. I don't want to spend every waking moment writing (as I have over the last couple years). My name is "out there" to my satsifaction that working like a Benedictine illuminator isn't necessary anymore. As to the first point, when Neal mentioned a few months back about hooking my up with the Clothing project, I immediately frowned at the screen. It's not that I thought the topic was bad, just that it wasn't right for me. But, as I detest turning away work, I followed along. Mistake.

I've been nothing but happy with my Dark Quest relationship and I hope to continue writing for them (especially since they're putting out my masterwork--Temporality) but I had to email Neal today that I was off this project. With the holidays right around the corner, a new MPM adventure, my new Behind the Spells series, and discussion for a new Freeport adventure (oh, did I say that out loud?), the Clothing project just doesn't fit into the puzzle.

So how does back out of work with some kind of grace? I don't have definitive answers since I don't make a habit of it but here's some criteria to consider:
* Contract: Is there a signed contract for that project? If so, you're locked in unless you and the publisher can come to an agreement.
[the criteria below assume lack of contract]
* Due Date: How far are you from the assignment's due date? If less than a month, you might want to just stick it out if you've already begun.
* Number of Writers: If you are the sole author, opting out is easier sooner than later (although that's true of any situation, really). You've got more leeway if there are multiple authors. Just be certain that at least a month's notice is given. As a goodwill gesture, hand in whatever materials you've written up free of charge.
* The Price: Is this assignment really worth it monetarily for you? If you need this money to pay the rent, then you need to sit down and finish it (assuming the publisher pays in a timely fashion). If not, backing out may cost you money but actually be better mentally.
* The Publisher: Is the publisher someone you want to maintain a working relationship with? This criteria really must be dealt with on a case by case basis. Are they easy going and willing to overlook your backing out? Are they a big company that cannot afford even minor setbacks to a busy schedule or are they more casual in their business plan? If the former, you're in trouble. If the latter, you should be in good shape to back out with some dignity.

That's it for now with my unsolicited advice. Oh, and my concerts went quite well this weekend, thanks for asking. ;)

Busy Weekend

This weekend I'll be singing as part of the Hamburg Community Concert Choir. This is a local gathering of approximately 100 people who practice from the end of August to the beginning of November, with the concert the second weekend of Nov. For a "throw together" group it's really not bad. We have folks ranging from high schoolers to a 90-year-old. This is our 11th season and I've been around for all 11 years. Concerts used to be an ecletic mix of classical, religious, and cultural (Americana or Broadway). But for the last number of years we've had a theme--Christmas, all Broadway, Jazz, and this year is the 50s and 60s. Concerts are tonight and tomorrow afternoon with likely a sold out 500+ seats for each inside my local church.

While the concerts are a nice change of pace, they leave me little time for continuous writing. I'm working steadily on BtS: Fireball (which should release this coming week if we're lucky) and less than steadily on a Clothing project for Dark Quest. I'm pleased to see BtS: Magic Missile getting higher on the lists for both Ronin Arts and this month's top d20 on RPGNow. I wish someone would review the first before the second comes out so I have some kind of feedback as to the structure and content of these short pdfs.

Fast sales

Wow! Although barely out for 24 hours (and not even a press release about it yet), BtS: Magic Missile is just two places behind The 11th Hour on Ronin Arts' Hot Sellers list. Not too shabby, methinks. Can't wait to see what happens after some advertisements are in place. Guess this means I should start writing BtS: Fireball soon.

Magic Missile!

After a very fast turnaround, the first pdf as mentioned in the previous blog entry is out! Click the Most Recent Work link over there to get to Behind the Spells: Magic Missile. Now, it's only 4 pages with the OGL license, but these pdf's aren't meant to be large. Just some alternate ways to look at your favorite spells. And while you're considering this pdf, don't forget about all the other goodies out there by me including: Mallyate, The 11th Hour, Substandard Magic Items, the Dread Codex, and Vengeance in Freeport. :)

New pdf series

As if I didn't have enough to do, my idea for a new pdf series for Ronin Arts was approved yesterday. I'm not complaining, mind you. These pdfs will be short and be a great way to vent any pent up creativity that cannot be channeled into a current longer project. The series is called Behind the Spells and each pdf will take one of the quintessential spells from the PHB and examine possible uses aside from the one normally associated with it. I think the series has real potential because it isn't introducing yet more spells into the already huge repository out there in the d20-verse. Each pdf features the creator of the spell, alternative uses utilizing only the spell's definition, and possible variations of the spell. Players get new ways to use favorite spells and DMs get some plot hooks and new ways to use these spells against the PCs. Everybody wins. Look for the first Behind the Spells: Magic Missile soon.

Creativity Swings

Like mood swings, I've been wondering for awhile if creativity is partially affected by the phases of the moon. During new moon this week (yesterday I think), I felt incredibly ambitious, even to the point of firing off a new pdf series concept to Phil Reed last night. I'll have to see if my creativity waxes or wanes as the moon emerges. Then again, it could be from watching the Revenge of the Sith documentaries.

Happy Samhain!

Today (or rather last evening) began the Celtic new year. If you survived the rift that opened between this world and the Otherworld last night, I wish you a great new year.

Have you watched your copy of Revenge of the Sith yet? I bought mine today for $14.99 (widescreen naturally) and have been slowly going through the extras. It was great to see Yoda going to Degobah. Even though this deleted scene wasn't integral with Anakin's storyline, I felt it belonged in the theatrical release.

Finished up my outline for the next MPM adventure and sent it to Daniel. Now I've got to start on my part of another project for Dark Quest Games. I can't say I'm looking forward to it but maybe that'll change as it goes along.

The 11th Hour

After one week, my 11th Hour pdf has reached #7 on Ronin Arts "hot sellers" list. Does this mean people are really starved for adventures or is it the adventure's unique concept that is drawing folks? Now, I don't really know if being on the hot sellers list means anything, but it makes me happy. Thanks to those of you who've bought it and to those who haven't...what are you waiting for? ;) I appreciate any feedback on my stuff, so those in the former group of folks can feel free to email me their thoughts (find my email addy by clicking the "Writing Credits" link). And if your in the latter group, click on the "Most Recent Work" link to see what I'm chirping about.

Fantasy Art Legend Keith Parkinson Dies

See here for more info: http://www.darkswordminiatures.com/

I had the good fortune to meet Keith at GenCon '03. I recall him being very nice as he signed and personalized a print for myself and my brother. Like many people, I encountered his magnificent artwork on the covers of Dragon magazine and on/within the pages of my favorite older edition D&D products. Like the rest of the "fab four" mentioned in the link (Parkinson, Caldwell, Elmore, and Easley), Keith's work was and will continue to be an inspiration to me and countless other gamers. This is the legacy we all crave--to be remembered fondly after departing this Earth. Keith has achieved this in spades. Rest in peace.

Fashioning a Good Adventure & "Railroading"

Well, I'm still at work on the next outline for my Medieval Player's Manual sequel adventure. It's still a bit odd working on the sequel to an adventure that hasn't even been released yet. Guess that goes to show that Daniel has some faith in me (*waves to Daniel*). I thought I had the plot of this adventure worked out months ago. Hah. Not so!

When I write adventures, everything (or at least most things) have to feel right. My original outline had some holes but when it came time to fill in those holes and really work on it, it felt as though I was trying to put square pegs into round holes. Even if I were allowed to explain the adventure's particulars, I wouldn't have to--you know what I'm talking about. What seemed good then seemed now to be, well, sloppy. The problem? My villain(s). As I mentioned a few entries ago, every good adventure needs an equally "good" baddie. There was none, hence my lackluster plotline.

Unfortunately, I despise backing off a plot I've given even half-assed attention to. So we keep the core of the story the same--a quest for something. Our backdrop is also the same--Chester, England in June of 1104. Previously, I had an unnamed group with unknown goals (aside from being the obstacle between the PCs and their goal). As a player that's fine since you're not privy to the bad guy motives anyway. But as DM, to really make the adventure your own you must have a concrete vision of the villain. So I sat down and sketched out an organization whose roots date back to the Roman Empire, who have a need to be in Chester at this time, and whose goals clash against the characters' goal. After fully realizing this organization, the rest of the adventure's outline is coming into focus pretty easily. Additionally, when the bad guys have a defined attitude and goals to the DM, he can that much more convinceingly convey them to the players. The result? A better adventure for all.

For some reason, I approach writing for publication in a totally different manner than writing for my own group. Somehow, I lose sight of the fully realized bad guy truth. After over 135 adventures written for my group over the years, I've hit upon the ideal formula for a 6-hour session.

Nothing groundbreaking here, but I've found it to work quite nicely: Introduction/roleplay -- conflict -- roleplay -- conflict -- roleplay/puzzle -- final conflict -- resolution. In nearly every one of these steps, there should be a clue available which points the PCs to the final conflict.

Tangent: At this point, some of you might cry, "Railroad!" In my opinion, no adventure written for publication cannot have some railroading elements. If an adventure has absolutely no planning or order, you might as well publish a random encounter table. So maybe the PCs don't find a vital clue. Or maybe they just decide to deviate from the storyline to follow up on a red herring. That's the nature of roleplaying, of course. But the adventure writer has to assume that the PCs run his planned gauntlet (at least eventually) to arrive at the written conclusion. He cannot account for every possible move the players might take and so should not be penalized when a laundry list of "what ifs" doesn't get written into the story. The DM must shoulder this off the cuff responsibility. At least he doesn't have to write the adventure! ;)

New monitor

Received my DELL monitor today and I couldn't be happier. Now I can really get back to work here. Researching online is a bitch when your screen is dark and text streaky. The next obstacle, once the researching is complete, is to come up with a great outline for my oft-mentioned HMP's Medieval Player's Manual adventure. I've got a general idea but every adventure needs a good foe. Not necessarily a villain, but a foe--someone or something dedicated to a viewpoint opposing that of the characters. It's an easy thing and yet not when working within the confines of actual history. I'm leaning toward creating my own clandestine organization whose roots go back to Roman times and whose members are alive and well in early 12th century England.

New pdf

Just released yesterday is my short adventure from Ronin Arts called "The 11th Hour". I can't say much about the adventure because it has a special twist. I will say that it's for any number of first level characters and that no one will consider a tavern as just another place to lounge and pick up work. :) Follow the link over there on the right for more info.

In other news, my monitor is on the blink. I was researching a long document online about medieval Chester in England when I noticed the screen getting darker over time. Wondering if it was just my eyes, I looked away for a few seconds. But when I turned back, it was the same. Now, my colors and brightness are fading and the text I'm typing is streaking its way across the screen. Blech. I have to say that this old Compaq monitor has served its purpose over the last whatever number of years. My new monitor is on its way--Dell 19" flat screen. Let's hope this monitor holds out until the new one arrives on Tuesday.

Why did it have to be snakes?

I was out for a hike yesterday amidst the moderate winds and 70 degree-ish temps (a damned fine autumn day) and, while coming back down the mountain, encountered a black form across the road. At first I thought it was yet another of the many sticks I'd been flicking from the road with my walking stick. But no, this was no stick! A long black snake lay on the road, its head on the side with the most space to go around. Well, I'm no snake fan and, with both sides of the road choked with vegetation, I stopped. After asking the snake to move didn't work, I prodded its back end with my stick. The serpent immediately rose up on one coil and turned in my direction. So, I backed away. The snake stayed coiled, watching my movements. I proceeded to throw acorns, twigs, and small rocks at it from a safe distance in an attempt to make it flee. No dice. Then I tossed a larger branch onto it. Heh, the damned thing rested a second coil on it and kept watching me. After about 10 minutes of this little game, I threw another larger branch at it and the snake finally slithered off-road, allowing me to pass safely. In retrospect, I suspect the snake was sleeping and I could have stepped past without harm (and without the embarrasing foolishness on my part). Oh well.

my XP: 15
snake XP: 15,000

The Next Big Villains

In writing up a plot for my Castles & Crusades adventure, I decided to inaugurate this variant game system by trying to come up with the next big villain. Where D&D has dark elves and Star Trek has the Borg, I wanted C&C to have something all its own--creatures both familiar and alien with malevolent intelligence, a mysterious past, and dreadful purpose. Did I come up with such villains? Only time will tell.

Dog Days

Sorry for the lack of recent updates, but I've been away house/pet-sitting in a nearby town. I still stop home everyday but it leaves little time for blogging (especially when there's not much to say). So I'm playing with the dog and one of his tennis balls yesterday when I accidentally hit him in the head with it. I threw the ball onto the floor but instead of waiting, the dog dashed and the ball never even made it to the floor. Since then he's been keeping his right eye shut alot. I imagine it's just sore but I hope no permanent damage has been inflicted. :( The dog's "parents" return home tomorrow and with any luck the eye will be well on its way to recovery.

I've finished looking over the C&C handbook and glossing over the Monsters & Treasure supplement and must say that I'm looking forward to writing for the system. No more skills and handfuls of rules to worry about while writing this time! Hopefully the creativity quotient will rise with this decrease in rules-worry. Time will tell. I've also begun discussion on the Super Secret Project. Just idea tossing time right now but there's plenty of time for development. I've also started on the outline for the next Highmoon Media adventure for Green Ronin's Medieval Player's Manual. My first adventure is still looking good for release in a month or so and it looks like it'll be getting more mileage than I thought. Can't say much more, but see "Highmoon's Ponderings" in my Links column for more.

Winging It

We had an excellent game on Sunday with the planar campaign; this despite the fact that I'd done very little prep work for it. No a couple hours before I finally realized the plot (which is usually handled days in advance). I wrote the initial exposition scenes and the first combat. The rest was pretty much made up using a variant on standard goblins and a map ripped from Green Ronin's very useful Dungeons of Doom supplement. It's been a while since I winged an adventure and it was quite refreshing. I think the players enjoyed themselves. I know I did.

Now I'm looking at the Castles & Crusades books--not a difficult task since they're only a core two of them at this point. I may have to run a trial game for my group and see what they think. More on the system can be found here: http://www.trolllord.com/candc.htm

"Librarian Kid"

Where I work, there's a curse. Mention someone's name and invariably they arrive at the store within 48 hours. One of my bosses mentioned off hand, "Gee, I haven't seen librarian kid the whole school year yet." Let me explain. Librarian kid is a very young Chinese boy that comes in for candy once in a while. His nickname comes from the glasses he wears which have a cord attached to them, allowing for the classic librarian position of glasses dangling about the chest.

So, doesn't this kid come in an hour or two after he was mentioned. Until that night (Wednesday), I'd had no problems with him. This time, he had questions out the ying-yang. Why is the fountain closed? Do you still have ice cream? What can I buy for 25 cents? How much are the pretzels? How much is this/that? And on and on and on it went until he bought 10 pretzels. Well, there was one with a shaved side so he couldn't buy that one as it was "broken." Argh!!!! Next he leaves but by the time I shake off the dirt mop out the back door, my boss is giggling hysterically. "He's back," she whispers.

Now, we were getting ready to close so I was in no mood for 20 questions again. This time he had a quarter to spend and it started all over again--"What can I get for 25 cents?" 'How about a swift kick in the ass?' I thought. This time he eyes up the candy cigarettes--How much are they? How many are in a box? I don't want to buy any broken ones. Argh!!!! (again) So he buys a box of candy cigs and states he's going to eat at the fountain. OK, fine, at least I can continue to clean up. When it's finally time to leave, I'm turning out the light up front and say, "It's time to go." he repies, "Now?" 'Yes now you little bastard,' I thought. He leaves, hangs around on our porch for a minute before finally departing. Very strange and I have my boss to blame for mentioning him. Next week I'll have to mention her stalker to get even, but that's another story.

As for rpg news, it looks like I might be penning a Castles & Crusades adventure for an agreement which hasn't been announced yet. I can only tell you that it bodes well for C&C customers who would like more support for their game. Guess I'd better sit down this week and have a look at the C&C core books. ;)

Now it's time to throw together a last minute adventure for the planar campaign for tomorrow. Have a great weekend all.

Serenity

You know, I probably haven't been to the movies since Revenge of the Sith so I was pleased to get out today to see Firefly-turned-movie Serenity. I didn't go in expecting anything special but boy was I surprised. It was great! I'd go back in an instant to see this flick. You know a movie's good when every main character gets punched, stabbed, and/or shot. Story was good, acting was spot-on just like in the series, and the f/x were wonderful and not overbearing (are you listening to me Lucas?!). If you're a sci-fi fan (even if you haven't seen the tv show), go see this movie.

Um, no rpg news today. Just my spoiler-free review. Move along. :)

Let's Get to It

Vacation is almost over. Friday turned out to be a repeat of Wednesday, except with more dollars spent. A nifty new shop called Six Feet Under Games has hidden from me for a year across the street from the Rockvale Outlets I visit every few months or so (boy, was that a run-on sentence!). I was pleasantly surprised to find not only the new d20 stuff but a bunch of older products I would have shoveled onto Ebay--Temple of Elemental Evil, S1-4 (can't recall the name), old 1e hardcovers (including a reasonably priced Manual of the Planes), original D1, D2, G1, G2, G3, etc. A very nice find. My admittedly hasty estimation of the prices for this older stuff is likely what I'd spend to get them off of Ebay (except here I can forgo the whole bidding and shipping cost crap). I picked up a booster box of D&D minis, a couple older Dragon mags, and Mongoose's new Tome of Drow Lore.

But let's get to the title of this entry. After a week of zero design work, I'm ready to jump back into the freelance world and shake things up. Sometimes during down time I consider retiring from this whole writing thing. But I just can't; creation is in my blood. Maybe people like my stuff, maybe they don't. As long as one person enjoys what I write, then I'm happy. Up first is that adventure outline for the next Medieval Player's Manual*, followed by another clean-up project for Dark Quest, and then onto whatever Fate/Destiny hands me.

*The first adventure for this, by the way, is due out in Nov/Dec so keep your eyes peeled for its release.

Lottery

In spite of my lackluster performance at the casinos, I decided to buy $10 worth of Powerball tickets for yesterday's app. $150 million prize. Didn't win the grand prize but I was lucky enough to win $100. That covers gas for my vacation travels this week so it's good enough for me. And speaking of travelling, the one new shop I visited yesterday was indeed a good find. Can't recall the name (something like the Abington Game and Hobby Store) but it is near Willow Grove, PA. They were nice and had a very good selection of d20 materials. Picked up the Monster & Treasure book for Castles & Crusades as well as Book of Roguish Luck by Malhavoc. These weren't discounted, but when I mentioned requiring an hour and a half to get there, the guy said to mention that next time and I would get a discount. Cool! I'd much prefer to support a LGS where I can examine the exact book I'm buying and talk to live people.

A storm is passing my area today so it's another vacation day of reading. A-OK with me.

New Shops

Well, I didn't win big yesterday. In fact, I barely won. As it turns out, my best win was with the Big Six I mentioned yesterday. Out of desperation, I put a $5 chip on the $10 spot and it won! I came home with just under half what I had taken. Eh, could have been worse. My friend Linda and I ate at a 50s themed burger joined called Johnny Rocket on the boardwalk and had a great time.

Today I'm flying solo and looking for new D&D-carrying stores in which to spend my money. I'm always on the lookout for stores that carry older edition products so I can fill my collection. Once I find such a store, it gets added to my roster of possible daytrips for my normal schedule (one weekday off during normal work hours). Since driving for me is a creative recharger (see that earlier blog entry for details), it's always fun...even in my gas guzzling 18.2 gallons per mile Grand Cherokee.

Gone Gamblin'

In a few hours I'll be leaving for a day trip to Atlantic City. I'm taking a fair bit of cash because like they say, "You've got to play big to win big." OK, maybe I just say that but hopefully it proves true. I'm feeling very lucky today. Oddly enough, one of my favorite casino games has the very worst odds, yet I've had some pretty good luck with it--Big Six, aka the Wheel of Fortune. You have 6 demoninations on a table in front of a large wheel with the same denominations ($1, 2, 5, 10, 20, Joker, and house). The payoff is exactly what the numbers say: $1 gets you 1-to-1 payback, a dollar on the $2 spot gets you 2 bucks and so on, with the Joker and house logo spot granting, I believe, 45-to-1 payback. Naturally, the $1 and $2 come up the most, but there seems to be more of a fairness in someone spinning a wheel than in dealing with the one-armed bandits, where a microchip or two determines whether you win or lose before the scrolling items/numbers even start to spin. The bottom line is the fun you have trying to win and I embrace it wholeheartedly. Wish me luck!

As for my RPG thoughts for the day, I was reading through the intro to Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary last night and came to the section about time needed to apply the templates therein. They've got three levels of difficulty that a template falls into. The worst of which is stated to take up to 30 minutes to apply to a creature. I'm thinking, "That's ridiculous." Why should I spend half and hour doing math on a creature who will be slain by my PCs in less than a third of that time? It really irks me that this edition has become so math-heavy that I can't make my own creatures or NPCs for a game unless I devote hours to do so during my busy week.

Understand, I suffer for my game as much as the next DM, but in no previous edition of D&D did I need to devote so much time to pre-game mechanics or balance concerns. If I didn't own so many sources of NPCs, monsters, and maps, I don't think I'd DM half as often as I do. (OK, I would but I wouldn't like it.) Back to the templates, there's gotta be an easier way to apply the ideas than with cascading calculus. I'm going to find a way, mark my words.

Secrets of the Jaguar

This is the first adventure's title of the new planar campaign. We played it yesterday and I had a blast (and think everyone else did too). Here's the rundown of whacky PCs--air mephling, tiefling, neraphim, hound archon, centaur, a spiky race from the Planar HB (spiker?), and my kenku NPC (a last minute change from the githzerai). I started them off as if they were already on a mission searching a "tomb" of unspeakable "horrors" on Oerth. This was played out in the Protectorate Embassy's "danger room" which is an illusionary-based extradimensional pocket where the environment is programmed and run from a set of control crystals on the outside. They floundered around inside to most comedic effect for about an hour before I had their commanding officer walk into the simulation and ask if they were through fooling around yet.

Then they were handed their first mission--someone stole a jade jaguar statuette from a curio shop merchant in Sigil. Tannen (a person and locale ripped from MEG's Urban Blight) gave them the basic info and suggested that it would turn up where almost all stolen merchandise does in the Gatehouse Night Market. The PCs were distrustful of Tannen when a Sense Motive check revealed he was holding something back. As it turns out, he was simple holding back miscellaneous information on the jaguarfolk since the PCs didn't really ask about them. [Jag-folk are my own race modified slightly from the cat folk in WotC's Races of the Wild. They were an expansive empire on the their home planet until finally overthrown by a goodly coalition half a century ago. The jade statuette was one of six such precious cat figures that, when brought together, would open any of the treasure vaults hidden away by the jag-folk emperor. In this module, a small band of jaguarfolk happened to locate all of the statuettes and they were opening the vault of a small imperial outpost udiscovered by the rebellion]

So the PCs headed to the Night Market. En route, an alleyway detour turned into an ambush by three wisplings (Fiend Folio demon-halflings) who had stolen the statuette from Tannen's. They would not be paid in full until their employer at the Market sold the cat to the jaguarfolk who tapped him to get it, hence the ambush. This trio was handedly defeated. At the Market, some information gathering led to the tent-stall of a githzerai named Raz'jik. He claimed to know nothing about the statuette but some tells from his body motions and the fact that two jag-folk were watching the stall from afar tipped off the PCs. One jaguar took off down an alley with the jade statuette while the other shot Raz'jik with an arrow and tried to hold off the PCs pursuit. This jag-folk was slain but the first escaped into a sewer grate-turned portal to jaguarfolk homeworld.

Taking a jade-piece necklace from the slain jag-folk, the PCs were also able to activate the sewer portal and follow the other to a ruined village next to a ziggurat. Inside, the force of jag-folk were placing all six statuettes in the necessary positions to open the vault. They were defeated as was a feline-headed obsidian quasi-elemental (Tome of Horrors II from Necromaner Games). In the best of tradition of adventurers, the PCs opened the vault themselves and took the jag-folk's treasure back to the Protectorate Embassy. After a 15% cut of the find, they were handed the rest. A module well played!

In other news, it's good to sit back and start enjoying my vacation. Maybe I'll play around with the outline to my sequel Medieval Player's Manual adventure. Maybe not. There's a lot of reading I can catch up on and with the overcast skies today, that seems like a good course.

Do I Want What?!

For the second week in a row, a scruffy looking guy has come into work and asked if I like steak. Seems there's a new distributing company in the area and their local recipient said the company should inquire as to whether anyone else in town would want any. I don't think so! But I'm being diplomatic and leading them to believe that I'm a vegetarian. Didn't work the first week but maybe the second time's the charm. To say the least, having a hippie come to your place of employment and offer you cheap mystery meat is a bit odd. I'm sure that can be worked in to my next writing project or adventure though. ;)

Resting is Good

Although I'm working on the campaign premiere for this Sunday, at the same time I'm taking a freelancing break. It's quite nice not having anything truly pressing to work on. I can ad-lib the module this weekend if I have to, but freelance work needs to be spot-on. It's truly nice to step back from that over this week and the next.

But even as I embrace the peace, storm clouds gather for the future. I spoke with Steve Creech the other day about a super secret project he'd like me to help write. Let me tell you, this thing is big, real big. It's risky but could really pay off. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought to work on such a project. This is something to be worked on over the months to come and still leave time for other freelancing so I agreed. It's also a good feeling to be at the top of someone's short list of wanted writers. :)

Illusions on Hold but a New Campaign Begins!

After some consideration, I've decided to put the Guide to Illusionary Characters on hiatus until later this year. Things just weren't clicking for my self-imposed deadline of next week. The whole concept needs a little more stewing in the brain to bear real fruit. Oh, I still want to write it, just not yet.

What this means is that I have ample time to devote to my group's campaign "series premiere!" I've been running games in the Forgotten Realms since 1992 and now we're veering slightly off course of that. I say "slightly" because, while the characters are working for an adventuring group with a base in Sigil, the group itself is actually based in the Realms. That group, the Protectorate, has been around since 2nd edition and I'm happy to introduce some new players into it. The Protectorate has a heavy Lathanderite and Hoarite influence--one of the previous players actually becoming the Hoarite "Pope."

In its years of existence, the Protectorate has saved the Realms from a psionic threat from a Shou Lung organization (albeit in an alternate timeline so no one knows it), saved Waterdeep from certain doom, and gained use of several spelljamming ships. Now, the group has come into possession of a Stargate-like device which takes travelers to other planes and dimensions. It seemed only natural to house such a device, as well as those who will journey through and man it, in the City of Doors itself. The PCs begin as novice members of the Protectorate and have literally the entire multiverse to explore.

Beginning as members of an organization, especially a quasi-military one like the Protectorate, allows a DM some leeway in creating adventures. Instead of concocting plausible reasons to help others or explore ruined dungeons, the DM can simply assign the PCs to do so by their superiors. The orginzational startup also grants the PCs access to equipment and to allies. The flip side of this, of course, is that they inherit the Protectorate's enemies as well. In response to this odd starting location, my players have come up with some out of the box planar choices like a nephilim (sp?), a tiefling, a hound archon, and my githzerai NPC, among others. I can't wait!

Illusionary Woes

I wanted to be deep into writing this by now, but I'm only in the idea-scraping phase. The Guide to Illusionary Characters has much potential for PC expansion but I'm just not sure how to present the material. Originally I was going for a racial template but there's too many abilities that only higher level characters should have, to say nothing of the dangers of giving them all at once via a template. So that's out.

Then there's its own racial class. I was sold on this idea until today. It still doesn't *feel* right. I'd rather merge the typical classes with the idea of exploring this strange heritage of being an illusion. But is there a cohesive and balanced way to do this besides as a racial class? I don't know...yet.

Medieval Approval

When I arrived home from work today, there was a pleasant email waiting for me from Highmoon Media's head honcho Daniel Perez. Seems the adventure I wrote for Green Ronin's Medieval Player's Manual was approved--this for the temporary license GR put out almost a year ago for third party publishers to support that company's Mythic Vistas books. What I penned was a short adventure which really does more in introducing a reusable setting for PCs to call home. Not only was the adventure approved, but I'm now in talks for possible sequel adventures! Yeah, this gives me a tingly feeling (in a good way). There was another tie-in discussed with another company's use of my adventure, but I'm sure that's still on the hush-hush. I like where all this is heading.

I also figured I'd better post so the three people that read this blog know I'm still alive. You'd think I'd have posted once since Monday. Oi, these lazy freelancers. ;)

[And for you folks who feel it necessary to comment with spam posts, I can only say this, "Spam your own f***ing blog!" That is all.]

Charity Work

There's some rpg charity stuff going on to benefit Katrina victims this month. I'm involved in two of them and thought I'd mention it here. The first is Adamant Entertainment donating all of its profits to the Red Cross for September. Gareth also asked freelancers if he could donate their royalties as well. I can't speak for anyone else but I agreed to give my profits from The Dread Codex and NPC: Volume I. Adamant's online RPGNow catalog is here: http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=470

The other endeavor is from Dog Soul Publishing, a fairly new d20 company (as far as a I know). These people offered to layout and organize a pdf, the profits of which go to Katrina victims (although to what organizations I'm unsure). They have an open call for art and writing and I agreed to set the Illusionary PCs books aside to write something over the holiday weekend for it. I'm penning a swamp-based bandit team with a very curious style. This is turning out to be more fun than I'd planned and the piece, called "Captive Audience", includes a two new magic items, a new spell, and a new monster. For more on this pdf, see here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=146260

Also new for the weekend, a pdf from Dark Quest Games was released which I worked on. Fell Beasts: Goblins was one of the first pdfs from the company I helped to "clean up" from their large backlog of products. When DQG agreed to publish Temporality, Neal Levin (the company's head honcho) asked if I'd like to work on some other books. My agreement then has since led to the finishing/fleshing out of 3 books with more on the way. You can pick up the goblins one here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=5384

Illusionary Thoughts

The first thing I normally go for is a title to a piece. Doesn't always happen but it's nice to have a guiding figurehead like a title. This latest endeavor will likely be called The Guide to Illusionary Characters. I'm willing to take a little feedback on this so leave a comment! I've considered other titles but for the consumer to know what the book's about you need something like the one above. If it was titled The Illusionary Guidebook or Manual of Fictions you wouldn't really know what you're getting.

And then there's OGC considerations. I'm a big proponent of using open content when I can. It just seems more reasonable to use/warp someone else's work then to fashion my own stuff and add yet more material to the d20 world (an already massive pile). Of course, you need to find the best stuff you can (or at least the stuff that's closest to your vision). I'm looking over Mongoose's EA: Illusionism as well as FFG's School of Illusion and even Unearthed Arcana. At the moment, I'm leaning toward doing the illusionary PC as a racial class. A player starts with a normal character with a race and class from the PHB (or other source) and then has the option of exploring some strange quirks he has at first level as an illusion.

The other debate within me is to how to present the material. Obviously, the book should be as much interest to players as it is to DMs. I'll likely throw in a short chapter discussing how these new types of being can be used in a campaign. It would be cool if a player was given the option of using an illusionary PC but not actually knowing the character was an illusion. The DM might slip the player a note at level-up time that he now has the option of exploring his unique and unusal heritage by taking a "special class level" or some such explanation. But, it's still just the beginning of this book's creative process--one of my favorite times. :)

Typical Day Off

Sometimes I go shopping. Other times I go for a hike. And then, there's days like today. Get up feeling like I'm going to relax and then wind up writing. Can't say I'm that suprised since I had only a few hours work yet on the Alchemy NPCs. High level characters take sooooo long to finish but now the project is behind me. This was followed by a cleaning of my room and Jeep and then a trip to Borders. Picked up Stormwrack for 30% off. Normally I would have skipped this one but, with my planar campaign coming up, I'm convinced that every book might see some use.

Now it's on to illusionary characters!

New Links

If you've visited here more than once over the last week or two, you might have noticed two new links over on the right there. "Highmooon's Ponderings" is the blog of Daniel Perez, who I just finished a project for. His pdf company, Highmoon Media, is on track to release several pdf adventures to support Green Ronin's line of Mythic Vista books. I wrote one for the Medieval Player's Manual. It took awhile to complete (and not because it is long, cuz' it's not) but turned out to be more of an introductory adventure to a locale the PCs can use as a home base. Every single person belonging to an outpost on the England/Wales border circa 1100 is detailed with stats and personalities. I suppose if this first is successful, I could be persuaded to pen follow-up adventures using the background/over-plot of the major NPCs. This is far off, so anything could happen.

The other link, "Thoughts from the Gerbil" is by a web-friend of mine named Warren Bailey. He was an editor on one of Mystic Eye Games' Foul Locales books (which I had the pleasure of writing for in their entirety). Warren is a good man and, for some strange reason, a fan of my work. No accounting for taste, I suppose. ;) Thanks, buddy!

A Campaign Ended

George Lucas once said (and I might be paraphrasing) that, "Movies are never finished, they're only abandoned." Besides feeling satisfied, I also think George's thought here is applicable to RPG campaigns. It's great that the story arc of these characters has been wrapped up pretty comprehensively but there's so much more that could have been done. My Realms campaign ended last night (or 3am this morning rather) and fun was had by all. The planet was saved from Orcus' meteor thrower and the only "casualty" was PC kobold monk (although he escaped into the Ethereal Plane when a meteor destroyed the tower controlling the weapon). There's plenty of stories left for these PCs but, like a good TV show, you have to know when enough is enough for now. How many seasons (my campaigns are typically made up of TV-like seasons where 10 modules equal one season) can a PC adventure without becoming tiresome for the player? By the same token, how many adventures can be written for the same PCs? The answer is: Always more than the GM writes. This party of characters lasted for 3 and a half seasons (I ended early because of a looming military deployment for one player) and more could have been done. However, ending a campaign doesn't mean you can't go back later. That kobold PC needs saving and, perhaps in a few months, the players will want to revisit these old friends/PCs.

The next campaign, which everyone appears to be embracing, is a planar-based one. Using an organization founded by 2nd edition characters, the new PCs begin as 1st-level agents of the group (called the Protectorate). This group is based in the Realms but has recently broadened its "do-gooder meddling" to include the planes themselves. The PCs will be based in Sigil, City of Doors, which gives me the opportunity (that I didn't use when it came out) to jump into the Planescape setting. Right now, I'm feeling a Stargate type vibe for the campaign where the Protectorate sends the PCs on missions to other dimensions/worlds/planes just to see what's out there, catalog threats, and return with cool new stuff.

In freelancing news, I'll be finishing up the NPCs for the Alchemy project within the next 48 hours. Once that's done, I need to jump into a project for Ronin Arts concerning using illusionary PCs in your game. As I've mentioned before, I love Ronin Arts for allowing the creative freedom to really push the gaming envelope and I think PCs that aren't "real" fit that bill nicely.

Crikey!

So I'm at work yesterday when a customer with a large handbag says, "I brought my kangaroo to show you." "Oooo-K," I replied. "You don't believe me do you?" she asked. Of course I said, "No."

Well, she reached into the bag and out came a wallabee! About the size of a cocker spaniel, this kangaroo relative was soooo cute. Seems the woman works at the Philadelphia Zoo and they have to raise these things after birth or they are usually killed (something about them being especially fragile). The wallabee was gray-black in color with very soft fur and curly nails. The customer even let the beast hop around the shop a bit since no one else was there. A very cool experience! Who needs to spend money at the zoo when I can earn money while seeing animals at work? ;)

Still hard at work on the Alchemy project. Just a few NPCs yet and I'm home free to start my Realms campaign finale happening Saturday night. Wish I could type more about it here but my players are everywhere...

Busy, Busy, Busy

In about an hour I'm driving my parents to a train station where they'll begin their 5-day vacation to Georgia. That means I'll be alone at home with my grandmother and dog. Should be fun. I like a little change of pace at the homestead once in a while.

I'm knee-deep in the Alchemy project mentioned previously. I've finally finalized formulas for calculating DCs and prices for alchemical items. Now I have to make sure that the items in the manuscript bits I was given matches up with it. Since I was tweaking the calculations while figuring them out, I've got a bad feeling that there are things awry in the beginning sections before I really got the hang of it. After that, there's some NPCs to writeup and then I think I'm done.

Movement on my time travel book, Temporality, is proceeding apace. This is the best thing I've ever written, if I do say so myself. It's jam-packed with rules/discussions on time travel, alternate realities, and the geography of the Continuum itself. This will also be published by Dark Quest Games later in the year as a pdf and after that in limited edition print version (if the info I have is still correct). I know a few folks in the community are waiting with baited breath and they will not be disappointed.

More Industry Chatter

Just when you thought you had enough web-stops to make already...

If you like Ronin Arts' pdfs (and who doesn't?), you could do worse than to head on over to their new fan forums: http://www.raforums.com/

"May discolor urine or feces"

Working at a drug store, you get to see such wonderous phrases as the above. But for some reason, this one gave me a writing idea. Maybe there's an alchemical substance or magic that slowly transforms the user into something else (another subtype perhaps). The first indication of this transformation is the discoloring of excretions. As I was busy at the time, the thoughts on this weren't allowed to continue. Maybe that's for the best...

In other news, I received my contributor's copy of Goodman Games' Complete Guide to Liches (v3.5) yesterday along with check. Besides my new feats and prestige classes, the book has new artwork. For some reason, my section on the lich's voice box was not included from my submission of materials. Kind of annoying but I think I still got paid for it. Perhaps it'll surface in a web enhancment.

Alchemy Made Difficult

I'm currently working on the alchemy book which Dark Quest Games has on their upcoming products list (which hopefully means I can mention it without getting bitch-slapped) and it's turning out to be pretty cool. This company's got some extremely detailed stuff coming out. It's a shame they seem to fly under the radar of the community (at least it seems that way to me). Anywho, I've been tasked with coming up with more items (no problem) and text but at the same time try to determine WotC's scheme for the pricing and DCs of alchemical items.

This is no picnic. If you've looked at the magic item price calculation page in the DMG, then you know what I'm getting at. Why can't any calculations with 3rd edition be easy? I've come up with a pretty good system for calculating DCs (although the tindertwig defies this) but the market prices are pretty mind-boggling. That's the problem with fleshing out a minor part of the system with new stuff--figuring out how the designers came up with the originals. I suppose consumers won't settle for new alchemical items without crafting DCs or prices. No? Oh, well.

Unexpected Turns

There I am, minding my own DMing business, when my player characters of today's Whispers of the Vampire's Blade Eberron adventure start to really damage my bad guy. I kept him in the ballroom as long as the adventure dictated, even skipping a minor plot point of going after the hostess, and then attempted escape once his sister had bit the big one. Much to my surprise, the PCs kill him during the attempt! We were 15 pages into the 30+ page adventure and, you know what, I didn't much care.

For you see, DMs tend to lost sight of the "big picture" during the game. It's not all about what the BBEG will do next or what cool encounter locations are coming up. Nope, it's all about the fun. Published adventures rarely go as planned and to have one "end" in the middle doesn't matter so long as everyone enjoyed themselves. I think my players did that and we had gone up to the normal quitting time anyway. So all's well that ends well. Besides, I'm sure the cool set pieces that were not reached can be recycled into future games...

Recharging Your Battery

Maybe you call it writer's block, but the idea is the same. Sometimes you just don't feel like writing. A fellow freelancer (thanks, Chad!) inspired today's blog about what you do when you're just feeling lazy. Here's a few tips I've either used on their own or in combinations...

* Go for a Walk: I live in sight of the Appalachian Trail and would be a fool not to use it. I try to hike at least once a week, getting in 3 miles around town if I cannot have 5-6 in the mountain. Either way, getting fresh air into the 'ol brainpan is a great creativity recharger.

* Music!: One of my favorite recharging methods is to settle into some music. I'll pop in a favorite 80s album and whip out the lyric sheets from inside the case and follow along. Actually reading the words with the music often inspires ideas I just wouldn't have come up with on my own. Or, if you're already hard at work, try changing the genre of music you're already listening to. Switch from pop to soundtrack scores or from classical to new age. Ideally, I would prescribe a change from lyric to non-lyric (or vice versa).

* Read, read, read: As a freelancer, you should be reading anyway; not just as a way to jumpstart your creative drive. Words are the writer's bread and butter and to exist in a literary vaccuum is not a good thing (although this is something I've been guilty of and find hard to break out from).

* Drive: In the same vein as taking a walk, you might want to take a drive somewhere. Nature is just as beautiful when you're wandering around the backroads as when you're marching through the woods. The added bonus whe driving is that you can combine with one of the above suggestions--music! Sights and sounds together are often creatively stimulating.

* Just be Lazy: If you don't have a looming deadline, why not just take the day off? Everyone has days off. 9 to 5'ers get weekends--freelancers usually work through the weekend so please take at least one day for yourself. Everyone needs rest from the routine.

That's it for now. Do you have some others? Leave a comment!

Proving Ground

In yesterday's entry, I mentioned a publisher contacting me for work. Alas, it was not meant to be. In the past, when I felt I had to prove myself to the d20 market, I grabbed every job I could put time aside for. And now that I'm "known" (at least to the limits that I'm happy with--very minor I'm sure), it means I don't have to take everything that crosses my path. It still hurts to turn things aside, but I've got many unread books lying around and more projects in front of me. Besides, I'd be taking up a spot for another freelancer who either: a) needs work badly or b) works for less than myself. At least that's how I'm rationalizing it.

In other news, I've decided to hold off on the big Forgotten Realms campaign finale (as one player cannot attend) and instead run the next installment of the Eberron adventure path (Grasp of the Emerald Claw I believe). Eberron seems like it could be alot of fun--many things to explore in terms of game mechanics and setting alike.

New music

While out on my day off yesterday, besides dropping $140+ for gaming stuff I also picked up a couple new cds from Best Buy. The first is Native American flute player R. Carlos Nakai's Inner Voices, which I believe was grammy nominated a few years back. The last album I bought was not quite up to snuff but I wanted to give Nakai one last try. This album is accompanied by "lush harmonies of strings in new arrangements of classic Nakai melodies."

"Alright," I thought, "if this isn't good, then I suppose nothing will be."

It was good! Very mellowing and just some great emotions in here. The second cd I'll mention is from Vangelis (you know, "Chariots of Fire" guy) and is called Odyssey: The Definitive Collection. Must have been in a risk taking mood because I own no Vangelis in my already large collection. It was also good! Met and exceeded my expectations. I don't think there's a track on it I don't care for.

In other news, a publisher contacted me for work today. That's always a nice feeling when a potential boss makes a conscious decision to email you. We'll see what happens with that.

New d20 pdf

After two weeks of tinkering, my newest work for Phil Reed's Ronin Arts company is on the market. Mallyate (see "Most Recent Work" over there on the right) presents a new special material for use in a high magic d20 campaign. This hunk of Astral plane stuff shapes itself to its wielder's desire to take the form of any weapon, armor, or shield he is familiar with. I hope people enjoy it!

Behind the Scenes: The idea for Mallyate came about from a one-shot 2nd edition game. The PCs were sent to meet a Zhentarim (Forgotten Realms world baddies) that defected from that organization. Before defecting, this Zhent stole an unusual item that could shape itself into any weapon the possessor could think of. Naturally, the Zhents were in hot pursuit. I remember the PCs successfully rescued the defector and took "the Shaper" for their own use. For whatever reason, I thought this might make a great new special material for d20. Maybe I'll have to sift through some other old campaign notes for ideas.

Working for Ronin Arts: I enjoy working for Phil Reed for a number of reasons. First, he's pretty accessible. Communication is important (at least to me) in this business. Second, Phil is open to my wacky new ideas for pdfs. Mallyate and Substandard Magic Items speak to this. And third, the turnaround for completed projects has been very quick. Thanks, Phil! Here's to many more pdfs together.

Bundle on the Doorstep

Nope, not a baby.

So I'm going for coffee from the shop next to my workplace this morning and notice something odd on the drug store's sidewalk--a Winnie the Pooh hamper in a, shall we say, heavily used state (stained, hole in the bottom, etc.). I give it a cursory look and then head into my store to see if anyone knows what it's all about.

"It's got porn tapes in it," is the reply.

"What?!" I ask. "Who would put porn tapes in a ratty Pooh bear hamper and leave them in front of the store?"

Well, there were no answers forthcoming but it was pretty damned funny. I went next door for the coffees for my mom and I and couldn't help but open the hamper on my way out. Sure enough, three cassette tapes were inside. I nudged one but felt very self-conscious looking at this outside so left the mess go. Quite an interesting encounter so early on my day off. I can only wonder what's next?

New Car Smell

Stepping into this blog space, it's as if I can smell the inside of an unused vehicle. But just like that vehicle, I can also imagine the future spills and other uncleanly disasters that might occur in here. With that, welcome to my blog! I'm a bit late to the blogging "craze" and I doubt anyone wants to read my ramblings, but it might be a nice place to unwind in the virtual world. Well, we'll see.

Cheers!
Bret