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.