Saturday, June 18, 2011

Carcosa Update!

Looks like this is going to be the next thing to the printer as it's in layout right now.

The art isn't finished but we're going to do the layout and then have the art made for the layout instead of doing the ton of art and then figuring out where it goes. I'll post some art samples soon as things get finalized... we're going for a 3 color interior so some of the art might not just be black and white line art as originally planned. Each of the hexes will have an extra feature in it (we're incorporating Chris Robert's Strange Sights of the Doomed World Carcosa into the work, and most of those are longer than the original hex features), we've added encounter tables, Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer will be part of the book, there's an extra little bit about life on Carcosa, the terrain maps will be in full color, and we could have up to 40 total pages of art in this thing (each piece approved by McKinney). Total page count is going to be somewhere between 200 and 400 pages depending on how it's laid out.

There will be no pre-orders. Due to the nature of the cover art being dependent on the physical material to look impressive and not the art itself, plus the fact that I'd like to be sure I get the shipping weight right, this won't go on sale until it comes back from the printer.

There will be full color cloth maps made of for Carcosa, but they're a bit too expensive to manufacture to just give away as freebies. I'll figure this out.

Not sure if I'm doing Carcosa shirts, but if so I'll just order a bunch and then sell them instead of doing shirt pre-orders..

What I'm stumped about at the moment is how to structure the giveaways for Carcosa. I always like to do giveaway contests leading up to a release. What would be appropriate for Carcosa?

And for those that missed it the first time around, here's the tryout piece that got Rich Longmore the Carcosa art job:


19 comments:

  1. Free hand-flaked obsidian sacrificial knife with every purchase of a dozen or more!

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  2. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!!!

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  3. Your LotFP game is wonderful, but THIS is what I've really been waiting for. Thanks for the update.

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  4. Layout now means printing sometime in the early fall? Should be a fun one. I held off getting Carcosa 1.0 when I heard it was getting the LOTFP treatment.

    And then once the initial excitement wears off, we'll have the fun of all the 'this should have never been published' crowd.

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  5. I'm hoping it'll be at the printer in July, but that may be optimistic. Longmore's speed in getting the art done will be the final determining factor, but I don't want him to rush it. This is to be a masterpiece both in its content and in its presentation.

    (yeah, ambitious, but why aim low? it's gonna KILL!)

    Meanwhile the art for Isle of the Unknown is being done first and then layout done around that later, and the text is 100% written, so hopefully that goes to the printer hot on Carcosa's heels.

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  6. For a contest I'd have people contribute something that a GM could use in a Carcosa game -- describe a tribe or village, a ritual or cult, or a monster/robot/alien with an "adventure hook", to use.

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  7. Freebie suggestions? A 666 limited edition 12" record featuring chants and incantations from the rituals. Get Lustmord or Drudkh to do it.

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  8. For freebies how about special Carcosa/LotFP box-cutters?

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  9. You mentioning the possibility of Carcosa shirts reminded me to mention that I wish there were LotFP t-shirts with THE LotFP image on mottled wintry gray The Mountain t-shirts. If there were, I'd buy at least two of them.

    Mikemonaco's constest idea sounds good to me -- but, personally, I'd limit it to just rituals. Specifically, I think the contest should be to see who can come up with the ritual that's the most evil, immoral, atrocious, depraved, execrable, foul, heinous, hideous, loathsome, malignant, nefarious, obscene, offensive, pernicious, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, vile, villainous, wicked, and just plain wrong for anybody to even just imagine.

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  10. Beautiful pic! I can't wait for the scolds to complain that you and Geoffery have once again broken the RPG Social Contract (which is on display at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard."*). I've got just the response primed and ready.

    *Apologies to the late Douglas Adams.

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  11. @Ed Dove:

    "This ritual is called... The Aristocrats!!!"

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  12. Purchased LotFP:Grindhouse and Vornheim, and have read a good 1/2 of the content of Lamentations. It is a great take on my classic roleplaying game. Vornheim has some fantastic material I am using now in my world building. I am now even more eager to give you more of my hard earned cash for Carcosa and its cloth map when it is released.

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  13. I'm SO FUCKING BUYING THIS! Thanks James for having the balls to Keep D&D Evil. (That's a play on the whole Keep Music Evil deal...)

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  14. "This ritual is called... The Aristocrats!!!"--School Master

    HA!!! Good one!

    So it involves every imaginable variation and permutation of group incestuous sodomy with urine, feces and menstrual blood -- but what does it DO?

    And does it include Drew Carey's finger-snapping flourish?

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  15. Shouldn't the giveaway prize be something like the hearts of three ulfire virgins sacrificed in the name of the Unspeakable Lord of Fire?

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  16. @ Ed Dove: "And does it include Drew Carey's finger-snapping flourish?"

    Of course! I'm glad someone besides me has seen that film.

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  17. This looks amazing! Looking forward to it :)

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  18. This thing is going to be outstanding. How about sets of Carcosa dice as a giveaway?

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  19. If the map looks nice, I would probably be willing to pay up to 12$ or so for it.

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