Works and Memoirs (update)

It's easy for me to lose track of what I've written and/or contributed to and, naturally, the list needs updating now and again. Here's the link to the first of two posts where I list what I've been involved in: http://dmbretb.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-body-of-work-and-some-memoirs-part.html and you can find the second post here: http://dmbretb.blogspot.com/2006/04/works-and-memoirs-part-ii.html

Since that time, Temporality and Hoards have been published and the Behind the Spells series ended up with 36 issues. And I have to add a new publisher to the list.

Skortched Urf' Studios: This is a relatively new pdf company but their body of work is adding up fast. As far as I can tell, it is run by one man named Mark who is from Virginia. You can read about the company here: http://www.skortchedurfstudios.com/ What caught my attention with SU was their Adventurer Essentials line. After taking a look at the entry for Holy Water, I released how similar this pdf line was to my own Behind the Spells. When I looked at the company's freelancing page and saw they actually pay per word, I knew I had to submit something for the AE line. Mark is easy to work with and I think his podcast commentaries for the products will be something that is copied by others in the not too distant future.
Works (pdf):
Adventurer Essentials: Torch
AE: Waterskin (in development)

And speaking of the torch, the first review just rolled in: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=21163&reviews_id=15378

Minor Fame

At work yesterday I greeted the wife of one of the local doctors. Her son Rob was a friend of my brother, Scot. She mentioned that Rob was involved with the special effects that went into the new movie Zodiac. Neat, I thought. Apparently, Rob works for a company headed by one of the first guys to be involved in George Lucas' ILM (Industrial Lights and Magic). Knowing I was a writer, she asked if I had any books published lately. For just such an occasion, I keep a copy of Temporality at the store. She was impressed and asked how many books I had solo credit for, to which I replied 3 but there was a 4th on the way--Complete Guide to Dragonkin, Dread Codex (print through RPGNow), Temporality, and Behind the Spells. It floored me when, some time after she left the store, she called back to ask if she could buy one of each and then have me autograph them to Rob. She thought it would be a real treat since we're sort of connected via Scot. Needless to say, I was shocked but of course agreed to let her know when the lot was assembled (whenever BtS makes it to me).

Today I'm hoping to put the location pdf to bed for Highmoon (did I mention we're making this statless and then have rules releases to follow for d20, etc.?). Then I guess it's on to AE: Waterskin for Skortched Urf. Oh, and check out the new blog in my Links section--Tricky Owlbear Den!

Sequel Anger

Are you okay with the way games and movies are numbered/named for their sequels? Well, don't be this guy's friend! Hilarious stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEVzPCY2T-g

Review and Planar Fun

Before the last review has even grown cold, here's yet another staff review of Hoards: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=21028&reviews_id=15299

I DM'd the season 1 finale of our planar campaign this past Sunday and had a blast. As usual, I didn't completely write out the adventure but it went pretty well and ended as I'd hoped. The PCs were transported into an alernate reality where the events of TSR's adventure Die Vecna Die! had played out in the Maimed Lord's favor. Deities across the multiverse had either been slain by the wave of power following Vecna's ascension in Sigil or, as in Toril's case, but been toppled to the earth in mortal form.

Sigil was a wasteland with all bodies missing their left hand and eye (which the PCs soon discovered were used to make great flesh golems). A gate leading to Waterdeep from the Protectorate Embassy was used to return to Toril to see what was going on. Turns out a Realms-wide inquisition was going on to capture the fallen gods. Vecnan troops were in power in major urban centers and the PCs almost fell victim to them after Scot's hound archon picked a fight with a street patrol. After a Prot. agent contacted them (recognizing Heather's PC Ahre, albeit from this alternate reality), the PCs knew their only way out of this preedicament was to ask one of the gods (who were forming a sort of Divine Cooperative in a dead magic area to the north).

The PCs took a portal or two to help get to the community and met Lathander and Azuth, the latter telling them that a portal existed which can penetrate into alternate prime material worlds. It's guarded by a lesser beholder, naturally. At that moment, the mortal form of Bane arrives with Vecnan troops, having betrayed the Cooperative's location to the Maimed Lord. The dead magic area drops and the ensuing melee challenged the PCs to the fullest. Probably the best part was when Bane held Greg's character and then one of the skeletal reaver's (a monster I adapted from the persistent soldier from my Dread Codex book) beheaded him with a scythe coup de grace! Now that's a way for a PC to go! Woofgar nearly suffered the same fate but, after he died, Scot realized that the hound was immune to hold person! A lucky survival thanks to a rules loophole. :) The adventure ended with the Cooperative victorious and my favorite line being uttered by Scot, "I loot Bane!"

Hoards Review

This is the third very positive review for the treasure resource. I'm pleased this latest makes mention of the interior art since I had on the art director cap for this book. Read it here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=21028&reviews_id=15290

Providing Light and Heat for Generations...

Skortched Urf' has released my contribution to their Adventurer Essentials line. AE: The Torch also has a neat little podcast describing the pdf. This is a cool feature I hope other publishers get on board with as it really is nice to get the publisher's voice and perspective. Check it out here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=21163

Research

I'm doing a little research over on ENWorld as to what drew people in to our favorite game. By better understanding the emotions of gamers (especially those deep core emotions of their first D&D experiences), it may be possible to build products that tap into those emotions and, thus, guarantee some sales. It's just a thought. See the thread here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=188535

And if you don't want to post there, leave a comment here! What drew you to D&D and perhaps continues to be a factor in your continued gaming? For me, it's the interactive storytelling; to be able to craft a story and have instant feedback on it. I also love the fantasy genre, so that helps too. ;)

General Update

Research and preparation continues for Tricky Owlbear Productions. I am hopeful that before too long we will have a functioning framework from which to produce some cool pdf products for your game! I've decided that, appropriately enough, the first product should be a free pdf about owlbears. :)

We had a game this past Sunday with our high level FR PCs that was pretty much a throw-together last-minute adventure, but still fun methinks. This Sunday sees the season finale of my planar campaign where the PCs have ended up in an alternate reality! I should be done with a rough outline today so hopefully I'll be ready for this nail-biting adventure.

Let's see, what else is going on...Phil mentioned that the cover artwork for the BtS collection is underway. I'm still working on the first locale pdf for Highmoon. The Adventurer Essentials: Torch pdf for Skortched 'Urf has a cover and will likely be available soon. Finally, Hoards hasn't been racking up high sales yet but has garnered its second positive review: http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/index.php?article=2845&visual=4

And today's day off is a snow day. There's been significant snow and ice accumulation here so it's a good opportunity to catch up on, well, everything.

The WotC Response

Believe it or not, I received a timely response today from Rich Redman about my Tricky Owlbear inquiry. The crux of the reply was, and I quote..."I’m not a lawyer, and we don’t provide free legal advice, so I can’t answer that question. I guess the bottom line is that we won’t grant permission for this sort of thing. If you’ve got your heart set on that name, you really ought to consult a lawyer with expertise in copyright and intellectual property law – but for all I know you are that sort of lawyer."

Sort of a no/maybe answer, if you ask me. As Rich is the Asst. Brand Manager of Licensing, I don't really no how much weight his opinion holds. Legal or not, I can't really see Wizards hounding us for a name change given the amount of OGL infractions I've seen them let through in the past. And thanks to Joanna for her input in the last post. I didn't really think a lawyer was necessary either. If anyone has any pointers for starting and growing a company, I'm all ears.

Enjoying the Ride

Freelancing (or hobbylancing as I like calling it) has been a real pleasure over the years. Is it really 2007? Have I been published now for 6 years? It's almost been like a dream and I've been enjoying every moment (even though I'll never be paid for all of those moments). Despite the fair number of print books my name has been attached to, I'm also grateful to have carved a little niche in the pdf community. Sales of gaming pdfs can only be on the rise with the advent of newer and faster technologies to download, transport, and read them. Guess I'll be sticking around to give gamers something to read.

Which leads nicely into more discussion of Scot's and my new company venture--Tricky Owlbear Productions. I just emailed WotC to see if using the owlbear name in our company's name would be OK. I'm sure it will take a few days to reply, knowing Wizards. In the meantime, we downloaded the publishing start-up package available from RPGNow and Scot has been perusing its contents. He plans on retaining a lawyer's services to incorporate our little venture once a name is decided upon (or cleared for use). I'm looking forward to putting out products my way (although, admittedly, I did that with my Ronin Arts stuff as there was little, if any, interference from Phil). Certainly, the whole thing will be a learning experience if nothing else. Does the pdf world need yet another company in the already muddy waters. Nah, but there has never been a better time to jump in and give it a go!

In writing news, my pdf for Skortched 'Urf has been accepted and my payment already delivered (a sure-fire reason to write more for them). Adventurer Essentials: Torch will hopefully be ready for sale before too long. I've been given the go-ahead for another one. Now I'm working on the locales project for Highmoon with all due diligence. The "Museum of Infamous Histories" will, at this point, be a multi-system pdf, featuring stats for d20, True20, Castles & Crusades, and perhaps even OSRIC. A fine looking map of the museum was done by Lonnie Ezell of the Dragons Landing podcast fame: http://www.dragonslanding.com/dli/

It seems where the latter part of 2006 was on a steady decline, work-wise, that was only a slope before the next hill. I've built up plenty of steam during the descent. Whether or not I shoot over the next rise triumphantly, I've sure as hell been enjoying the ride.

Flashback: 1983

I was 8 years old (and not quite playing D&D yet) but I have fond memories of the D&D Cartoon. Today, those memories are refreshed with the purchase of the cartoon's shiny new dvd box set. At Best Buy, the set even comes with a unique mini of a silver dragon, which is what sealed the purchase there as opposed to a cheaper online buy. The set comes loaded with extras including a radio drama-style presentation of the unaired finale entitled "Requiem" written by long-time toon scribe Michael Reaves. Although I've been viewing the series off and on since buying a bootleg set from Ebay, I've long salivated to have a nice official version in my collection. Welcome home.

A small addendum to the post--Chris Gath gives us the next in his ongoing Behind the Spells reviews with Shatter: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3321354

PDF Marketplace Changes

Besides the upcoming formation of our own company, the pdf world was shaken up a bit today when Ronin Arts and Expeditious Retreat Press pulled their roots from One Book Shelf, Inc. (formerly the RPGNow.com and DriveThru.com merger). One place I see as blossoming from this is the new site for pdf buying: http://www.yourgamesnow.com/

My dad is doing fine (thanks again for all the well wishes!) although he's already stretching the limits of doctor's orders by carrying groceries and driving! We Boyd men are a stubborn lot. ;)

Forgot to mention previously that I finished Ed Greenwood's Hand of Fire the other week. Not to spoil anything, but I can tell you that this is the final book of that series, for sure. Greenwood wields his Realms' villains effortlessly but, unfortunately, wields them rather unweided-ly. It was tough to keep the bad guys straight without a score card--Thayans, Zhents, Cult of the Dragon, independant assassins and wizards, Harpers, etc. Still, it was better than City of Splendors. Now I'm halfway through Keith Baker's The Shattered Land for and it really is good. As readers of shared world fiction, we are too lucky to have the opportunity to read stories by the creators of those worlds themselves. Much like his first book, Baker's prose speeds along effortlessly and is a pleasure to read. If you're playing a warforged PC in an Eberron game and need some roleplaying help, grab these books.