Props for David Hamilton

All of the interior artwork for Temporality was done by artist David Hamilton. I happened to find myself perusing his website the other day and saw several of those pieces now on display there. One in particular caught my eye (as it had the first time upon seeing it): http://www.skewedperspective.com/dangerousartist/June06Images/25-wizcoun-dq.jpg There's just something about this piece--a wizard feverishly trying to work out the specifics of a time travel jaunt (or at least that't what I think of). The piece so engaged me that I decided to ask if I could purchase the original from David. What better keepsake for my book than to have an original art piece signed and dated by the artist? To my surprise and pleasure, David agreed. He commented that he usually doesn't let originals go but, since I was the author, how could he refuse? David is very nice and my blog-readers should know that he also does art on commission for anyone who asks. Check out his site here and tell him I sent you! http://www.dangerousartist.com/

R.I.P. Mako

I knew him first as Conan's wizard companion and most recently as the evil Aku from Samurai Jack. Rest In Peace: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0538683/

Behind the Spells print requests?

If you'd like to see something included in the print compilation of my series, now is the time to make your voice heard. I've started up a thread on ENWorld not only for this purpose but also to see just how many people are interested in the book: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2974270#post2974270

Iridia

Not terribly long ago, a roleplayer named Christian Walker produced a print zine called Scrollworks. This pamphlet was a handful of pages and cost little to subscribe but was always an entertaining read and a welcome sight in my mailbox. Unfortunately, Scrollworks did not survive. But Christian was recently at it again (not able to shake that writing bug, eh CW?) and is producing another zine called Iridia; link here: http://www.iridiazine.net/index.htm

Iridia can be received in the mail by only asking, although I did originally donate $20 or so to the cost. Also, you can download neat little podcasts about each issue or even download a pdf of the zine one week after it's been mailed out to subscribers. In the most recent issue (July 25), I was mentioned both in name (for commenting that I enjoy the podcasts) and product (BtS: Dancing Lights will receive a review in the next issue). Christian is a good man and you could do worse than spend a few minutes seeing what he's up to.

In a follow-up to my art post, I believe I'll be able to sell all four of the prints to one person (thanks, Warren!). It's gratifying to know that these will be going to a good home (a new home at that...probably needs decoration!).

Art for Sale

In another attempt to scrounge up more "pay off my bills" funds, I've decided to part with some of my artwork. I wanted to offer the first on my blog to you dedicated readers. It is a Larry Elmore piece called "Mountain Conflict" as seen here: http://www.larryelmore.com/popups/color/co081.htm

This is a lithograph and, as you can see after clicking on the link, costs $45. Now, mine is nothing special except that Larry has autographed it and written "Good Gaming" underneath the picture. Admittedly, you could have him do this anyway when you order from the site. However, if you buy the lithograph from me, you get a presumably lower number for this limited edition piece (406/1500) and I'll only charge you $35 plus the cost of shipping.

I've also got a trio of other lithographs by Elmore which are no longer available in that format and are extremely low numbers in the limited edition scheme. These are "Deadlock" (6/2000), "Crystal Shard" (3/2000), and "Death of Sturm" (2/2000). However, all are not only signed like the one above but include my name--"Good Gaming, Bret" in ink below the pics. Would anyone still want these knowing this? I guess one could just frame over that bit but then you lose the name of the piece as well. So just why am I selling these, you ask? Well, I ordered these four prints back in '03 from Larry's site. When they arrived, all was as expected. However, not long after this, a second batch of the same prints arrived at my door. Huh? Being the honest person I am, I emailed Elmore's site to tell them about the mix up and prepared to return the second set (which also included the same personalizations as the first). This was the response from Andrea West via email on 4/21/03...

"Bret, this was our mistake, we realized it this morning, so they are yours. TSR owns the right to those prints, and we were recently informed that we could only sell them if they were sold as a limited edition, so we actually just started numbering them...lucky for you as you got some of the first numbers. :)"

Sure enough, the first batch of prints had no such numbering, which I hadn't even noticed. So, I decided to frame those "illegal" ones for posterity. Since I don't really need these others, I'm selling them (if anyone wants them that is). I'm not sure whether I'll go Ebay yet or not. I'll keep you informed and, in the meantime, consider picking up the first piece I'm offering above. Email me if you have any questions or would like to purchase this great work (dmbretb [at] comcast [dot] net).

Status Quo

Looks like some dust is collecting on the 'ol blog since Wednesday. Sorry but I've got nothing new to report. We played another bit of Lost Vault of Thazhar Rho (probably butchered that name as usual) and no one died. I enlarge person'd my cleric of Torm to deal with some kobolds. At a suggestion from my brother, I decided to trample the little devils, slaying at least 8 of them in one fell swoop. Well, the heat of the moment must have clogged my brain because I soon after recalled that, unless I actually have the trample special attack then I shouldn't have been able to use it. Brad (the DM) let it slide. I still feel kinda bad but the whole scene was pretty amusing and, in the end, that's all that matters.

Piracy

No, this isn't a movie review for Pirates of the Carribean 2 but rather my own brush with identity theft and internet piracy. A few minutes ago, I encountered a blog where the person was listing the nationalities who use his P2P files on E-Mule. That rat bastard has many WotC, Green Ronin, and Mongoose titles as well as numerous Behind the Spell issues! I emailed Phil Reed about it since he's dealt with this before. Although, to be honest, I don't know what can be done.

And I can't believe I didn't mention this on the 'ol blog before but I had a brush with identity theft a couple weeks ago. It was on a Wednesday, I recall receiving an email from my Discover card account verifying my change in email address. Huh? For some reason, I didn't bother to investigate until the next morning. I typed in my user ID and password--invalid!!! Thank goodness I was able to verify who I was by using the other security stuff like card #, mother's maiden name, etc. When I clicked on the new user info, I found that I had moved to the Bronx and possessed a yahoo email (which I do, but it sure as hell wasn't this one!). And then I realized that someone had gotten ahold of my personal info.

Despite the fact that I should be getting ready to go to work, I immediately changed the info back to what it should be and called Discover. Two very nice English-speaking (because you know that's rare!) women helped me. My card was shut down and a new one issued to me immediately. It was only by some fluke that the identity thief had not charged anything to the card yet. Crisis averted...this time. Be vigilant my blog-readers!

Review and a New Dragonlance Novel

Just saw a review pop up for BtS: Prestidigitation here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6746&reviews_id=13537 I've also started the next issue--BtS: Cure Wounds. I've already come up with some neat spell secrets. The origins of these healing spells may also be a cool read.

Stayed inside yesterday to try and beat the heat. After a hectic morning getting the first batch of Ebay books to the post office, I started reading Outbound Flight and also constructed the book shelf bought with Linda while in Delaware last Sunday. Yeah, I know that shelf construction isn't exactly conducive to beating the heat but it had to be done and I needed a solid block of time. Now that it's erected and holding some stuff, I feel better (and feel like buying more books!).

In addition to the Star Wars novel, I started to re-read Dragons of Autumn Twilight on Saturday in preparation for Dragons of the Dwarven Depths. If you haven't been paying much attention to the new WotC novels, you may not realize that Weis and Hickman have returned to the Chronicles trilogy to fill in the gaps between novels. The first of these has just been released and I plan on reading it after Autumn Twilight to see how it "fits" in terms of feel. Read about the new book here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dlnovel/956467200

"New" Books

Just a quick note that I've been assembling some of the ficiton I've queried folks about here. I received Swords Against Death by Leiber and Night Arrant by Gygax and have other Gord books--Sea of Death and City of Hawks--on order. I'll also be picking up the other requisite Lanhkmar books (thanks Steve for your list!). If you're looking for older titles like these, you probably can't do much better than to shop the other sellers on Amazon for great prices.

Art Stuff

I've sorta kinda fell into art director boots with the Hoards project. I've forwarded a cover suggestion from Brannon Hollingsworth but otherwise came up with 20+ art requests for the interior as well as a page border description. I though it would take more time to come up with these but the text fortunately speaks for me (or maybe to me). Hopefully the entire process is as expedient.

A little surprise dropped into my Inbox this evening in the form of Vegeance in Freeport fan mail. A purchaser of the adventure found it to be a "darn good adventure" and asked for tips given the nature of his campaign. He was also surprised that I would include my email within the module and encourage comments/questions. In truth, feedback is always welcome (whether it's fan or hate mail) as it makes me take a more critical look at my stuff. In this case, pondering changes to the adventure given that the person's campaign was forwarded 2 years from when Vengeance should take place was fun.

Ah, I almost forgot. A comprehensive review has appeared for BtS: Fireball from reviewer extraordinaire Chris Gath: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=5926&reviews_id=13514

Extreme Heat = Writing

For today and the next few days, we here in PA (and elsewhere I'm sure) are suffering with 90+ degree weather. Yeah, people have it worse elsewhere but I can still bitch on my blog about it. :) So instead of going hiking and risking heat exhaustion, I'm working inside. My first round of Ebay auctions went better than expected and here's hoping the next round does as well. As I type this I'm finishing up BtS: Sleep, quite happy with the result (considering I did not have a backstory 48 hours ago).

Also on the docket today is the creation of art requests for a long-ago finished project called Hoards. Originally started under the auspices of Enkwell Press (a company which never got out of the gate), this d20 treasure resource brings you many new items of wonder. Here's the official blurb I wrote when this book had a slight chance of being published through Green Ronin...

""Players and Game Masters alike, take heart! Here, at last, is the supplement you've been waiting for! Hoards provides the d20 community with all-new, fully fleshed-out treasures from every category--coins, gems, art objects, mundane, and, of course, magic items. This useful tome comes ready to work alongside your DMG when treasure is rolled for randomly. Hoards doesn't replace that favorite treasure book, it expands on it. Each of these fantastic new items also comes complete with the appropriate skill or Bardic Knowledge check a character needs to roll to know its unique background. No more grasping for that elusive DC, it's all right here! Add to this sample hoards of every Encounter Level, themed hoards for oft-encountered situations and environments, the riotous Appearance Anomalies table, and the Antique Item Generator, and you've got one handy book which belongs on any d20 enthusiast's shelf. Allow the hoards of Hoards to jumpstart your imagination today!"

Hoards is now under the care of Dark Quest Games after I brought it to them following the implosion of Enkwell. I spent a great deal of time on this book and really believe people will enjoy it. Acting as editor, developer, and author, I did not want to see the project evaporate. Neal said he's got a hole in the schedule and wants to push Hoards to the front. I'll be working up those art requests this evening so here's hoping this book finally makes it to market!

Lastly, another brief review of Vengeance in Freeport has appeared. At least it is again favorable: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=4950&reviews_id=13481

Wall of...

I keep forgetting to post that the newest Behind the Spells is out. This one focuses on the various wall of spells: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7319 I just can't seem to hit upon a good backstory for BtS: Sleep which is still on the to-do list. Hopefully I'll put it in the can this weekend. As for tonight, the Stargates return!! I'll be plopped in front of my TV between 8 and 11pm tonight if anyone needs me. :)

Twilight Falling

I finished this book by Paul Kemp the other night and must say I enjoyed my first exposure to the man's work. The other two books in the Cale trilogy are on the shelf but I think I'll space them out between other books (much like I would have to if reading book as they were published). Perhaps next I'll jump into Outbound Flight by Zahn or some of the Coming of Conan the Cimmerian I just picked up this week. Either way, I look forward to seeing what happens to poor Erevis Cale when next we meet. I was happy to have identified the slaadi before they were named (and without reaching for the Monster Manual) and was surprised by the book's cliffhanger ending (which doesn't happen normally in FR books). My only complaint is that Cale still doesn't feel fully fleshed out. This may be because it's not the first story to feature him. In any event, it was still a good yarn that clipped along well with some above average writing.

In drug store news, here's a quote of the day I wanted to post from Wednesday: "Come here, I have to smell you!" This was spoken with heartfelt longing by a younger woman to one of our middle-aged female customers when the latter entered the store. What?! I thought while walking into the back. Sometimes the workplace is stranger than the fiction I read.

Out With the Old...

...and in with the, well, old (sort of). My trip to Days of Knights today was quite pleasant. The people were sociable and the selection was very good (although I already owned much of the d20 I wanted). I did pick up the print version of Hot Pursuit (the chase rules from Adamant), some new minis, Coils of Set (Necromancer/Kenzer), and something I've been looking for--the Maztica box set (this being the old mentioned above). In an effort to gain back some of the $$ spent, I've dumped more stuff onto the altar of Ebay: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1QQhtZ-1

Delaware Day Trips

On Sunday, Linda and I took a trip to Dover Downs just to have a change of scenery for the 'ol slot machine trip. It was alright but nothing we have to rush back to. For the amount of time it takes to get there (2 hours from Birdsboro), we might as well just go to Atlantic City. However, we did enjoy some tax-free shopping at places like Big Lots!, Borders (where I picked up my first fiction involving that most famous of barbarians Conan), and Staples. Since I spent more money than I should have that day, I was going to spend my day off today at home/hiking. But after seeing a thread about game stores in the Philly area on ENWorld, I planned an impromptu trip today to a store called "Days of Knights" as seen here: http://www.daysofknights.com/

Oddly enough, I'll find myself back in Delaware. I suppose this will be another 2 hour one-way trip but that's no big deal. Driving gives me more time to brainstorm adventures and rpg writing. I might just drop by the Christiana Mall while I'm close since we missed seeing it on Sunday. With nothing that sorely needs my attention (except maybe my bank account), it'll be nice to have yet another day trip where I don't really have to return at a special time. Wish me luck finding some rpg bargains.

Ebay Sales

If anyone is interested in picking up some cheap d20, head over to my Ebay sales page: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1QQhtZ-1

I unfortunately make a habit of collecting whatever interesting d20 titles cross my path (especially if those books are on sale). But facts are facts and my shelves are way too crowded. I may add more to that sale list over the week so keep watching. Of course, I might just advertise some titles here for direct purchase. Can't hurt and then you don't have to worry about getting sniped!

Well Met!

Yesterday I saw a thread over on rpg.net looking for gaming-related blogs. 24 hours later I get some comments from new people who followed my link here. This is a post to say "Hi!" to everyone visiting for the first time. If you have a few spare minutes, feel free to dig around the archives here. I've almost been blogging for a year so there isn't overly much compared to other industry blogs. Sometimes I'll blab about my writings and other time my life at the local drug store where I toil. With luck, half of the time I'm interesting and the other half amusing. You be the judge.

With the new flow of traffic, I decided to link to two of the newcomers' own blogs. The first is noted author Paul Kemp, of Realms fame. The other is fellow freelancer Michael Ferguson (see the Emerald Lich link) who I see lives dangerously close to me in Phillipsburg, NJ. He has penned, among other things, the Complete Guide to Liches (to which I added some content for that book's 3.5 revision) as well as being contributor to Goodman's The Adventure Begins. And speaking of that newest Dungeon Crawl Classic, it is now available for sale at your favorite web and brick and mortar stores. I wrote an adventure called "By Invitation Only" which my home group playtested around the beginning of the year. Here's a link to the book ( http://www.goodman-games.com/5028preview.php ) and the blurb from my adventure...

"The heroes are invited to a remote mountain dwelling where a dying adventurer wants them to take his treasure. But to gain the treasure, the heroes must first beat his dungeon and thereby prove their worthiness."

Here's another sound byte, this one from work today: "I'm not an idiot." This spoken by pharmacist Loralee to about the 5th or 6th person in a chain of transferred insurance people on the phone. She was attempting to discover why a promised prior authorization for a prescription was not being filled by the company (Express Scripts if you're interested). This particular man was being rude and Loralee gives as good as she gets. She demanded to know his name (which he gave as "Max") and to speak with his supervisor. Instead, he shunted her back to the main phone menu. After a half hour or so, she called EXP back to lodge a formal complaint. The woman she reached said it would be looked into. Ah, another fun day at the store.

Writing Style Ramblings

(Hmm, I just noticed that my thumb is stained...hope it's not from these Pepperidge Farm pretzel fish I'm eating! No matter, on with the blog!)

While I wait for BtS: The Walls to make its apperance for sale, I'm starting BtS: Sleep. After that it's five more issues and then done. I'm eager to start on that fiction piece for Reality Deviant Press (as mentioned a few entries ago) but find myself stalled. I mean, I'm eager to write but hate outlining everything out first. I have a basic plot in mind and my protagonist and the sidekick are fully realized but shouldn't one have the plot fleshed out at the beginning? I feel I'm an author who just throws the characters into the story and then sees how they react. Unfortunately, a good story this does not make.

The trouble is that I've been writing these very small pieces for Behind the Spells. Once I have the story in mind, I just start it and then somehow the whole thing falls together en route. With 1,200 words, that seems to be working. But with between 15,000 and 20,000 words, I think not. It's been so long since I wrote fiction that I can't remember just how I went about it. I could just start and then go back and revise but you have to understand that I hate revision. The piece should be like Mozart wrote it--bam!; there it is...fin. Well, no Mozart genius here but I believe I've lived longer than he did so that's a plus.

Another of my problems is vocabulary. I've noticed that my online-speak contains the same words over and over. They say an author should read alot (to help in that department as well as in others I imagine). Chalk that up as another problem. My mastery of the written word is stagnant but at least I realize it. I'm hoping to improve that by reading more each day even if it's just the newspaper at work.

However, while grammar and vocabulary may have atrophied over my d20 career, I'm pleased to say that my writing method has vastly improved. Did I ever mention that I used to write everything out longhand before moving to a computer (which was a typewriter when I started)? Short stories were drafted by hand and then the major revision process would be while typing it up. Yeah, I know it sounds archaic but it worked for me. When I started to get more business after the d20 boom, this process continued. In Mystic Eye Games' Foul Locales: Beyond the Walls, I wrote a locale called "Am'Elvat." This elven festival included not only the customary 5,000+ fluff but also about 3 dozen NPCs statted out and described. I can still remember penning all of that out on many pages of legal pad (which I've since sold as part of an Ebay auction).

The change came with Goodman Games' Complete Guide to Dragonkin. I knew that there was no way to write a 45,000-word book out longhand and then go the computer and expect to keep a deadline. After extensive notes, I went to the computer right away. Thank the gods this broke me of the longhand curse! Since then I don't think any of my projects have been wholly penned by hand (the exception being NPCs and monsters which still have their mathematical portions sketched out on paper for safety's sake).

Ah, I forgot to mention that I did indeed send off a proposal for 3 articles to Dragon. The first idea was to use regular objects as familiars (which are animated in the process). The second highlights a beholder's spellbook and the unusual (and deadly!) spells kept inside. The third and final idea involves a generic secret society I've had at the back of my mind for many years called The Circle. They revere the natural cycle of the world and therefore their chief foes are the undead. This article for "Bazaar of the Bizarre" describes six or seven magic items commonplace to this group's members.

Soundtrack Chat

Inspired by Ari Marmell's recent livejournal entry (see here: http://mouseferatu.livejournal.com/) about James Horner's Troy score, I'm posting this little soundtrack question: Are special effects killing soundtracks? This isn't aimed at Troy but rather at the newest Star Wars trilogy. All three movies had sub par scores (in my opinion) from John Williams. Think about this. Williams is responsible for a bevy of fantastic scores from Indiana Jones to Superman to Jurassic Park to the original Star Wars trilogy and so much more. Why would the latest trilogy's score not be up to the challenge. From what I've read, Lucas tweaked with the films until the very last second--tweaking the special effects, naturally, because he has that power. Nothing wrong with this, of course. It's a director's right I guess. But what does this do to the soundtrack? I'm betting that Williams never even saw bits that made it into the movie long after he finished scoring. Especially Episode I where bit of tracks are actually recycled. I was severely disappointed.

So what do you think? As big-budget special effects movies increase their technological development, will the soundtracks to them suffer? Maybe my whole reasoning is off here but I'd like to see some evidence.
Edit: Oh, and Happy 4th everyone!!!! I'll be staying indoors for most of the day; pehaps getting out for a short hike despite the heat and humidity. Hope everyone remains happy and safe.