Monday, December 1, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Impossible Task.
With The Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra out and in stores, and Fantasy Fucking Vietnam having been crapped out, it's time to really settle on the next serious project. Insect Shrine is in the hands of the artist, so that's not something I can actively move towards completion myself. The State of the LotFP Union post had some ideas about where next to conquer, but my mind is swirling in other directions.
The Spell Comparisons post wasn't just done because I was bored. There are two things happening there. Number one, the "simulacra" are absolutely horrible at being publishing aids and guides. That's not their focus (especially now that OSRIC 2 is out). They're complete games, real D&D but with new branding (as opposed to fake D&D with the old branding). There isn't a comprehensive publishing guide that breaks down what terms and spells and monsters are OK for you to use in your own publishing. The 4th Edition SRD is absolutely the format that an oldschool "publishing guide" should take, and it can even be broken down by edition (of course not by name, even saying "Holmes" or "Moldvay" as identifiers may or may not be too much, but saying "1974" and "1977" and "1981" and "1983" would certainly work), and then published using just the OGL as being for "First Edition" or whatever. You still can't name the game you're actually publishing for if you're using the OGL, but you can write what you mean in the meat of your product with the OGL, without muddling the "brand" waters.
We know the score, but I really wonder if the gamer on the street knows what an OSRIC or a Labyrinth Lord are and what their relationship to each other and old D&D might be. But if you publish something just for "First Edition of the Leading Fantasy RPG" or whatever (hopefully something a little more elegant than that!), there is no confusion.
Not that this is a condemnation or criticism of the simulacra as games. I run BFRPG myself, and that's a complete Frankenstein's monster of mixed up D&Disms. But as publishing guides? Fail! Fail! That's not what they're formatted to do! The products themselves mention it's allowed but don't show how. It's just "It's possible! Go do it!" And some enterprising individuals have, but there is still a lot of confusion about how it all works and I'm willing to bet there are a lot of creative people and good writers out there that would be contributing if some of these things would just show them explicitly how.
Maybe they could have separate "publisher guide" documents with the 4e SRD formatting. When publishing your own product, you just need the terms, not the details or the rules or the explanations. In fact, most of these terms are so standardized that it's just the spell descriptions that require the OGL. Hit Points, Armor Class, and many other terms became widespread in the gaming industry (look to the computer games of the 80s for many examples as well!). Monsters are easy to get around (mainly by not naming them!). I mean, there are probably a hundred ways to put a beholder (for one example) in a module without calling it a beholder or violating a copyright or the OGL - look how BFRPG has close-but-not-quite Carrion Crawlers and Displacer Beasts!
But it's the specific spell names that are difficult to identify in a precise manner this way. If you have a high level spellcaster in your product, you need to list the spells plainly without a lot of malarkey... otherwise, the spell listing is just going to be pure compacted malarkey as you duck and dodge copyrights and such over one guy's stats. And thus, my little comparison spreadsheet as a start.
The other reason I did that is because I am beginning serious work on The Treatise of Ensorcelled and Occult Primeval Accoutrements for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games And Their Modern Simulacra, and organizing my work really does seem like an impossible task. How to create a random magic item generator in a way that's truly open-ended, putting the different elements of a magic item together much like the creature generator did for monsters, and yet not a complete unusable mess?
I thought a good second step (the first step was making a master list of physical forms the items could take) was to list out the spells and effects for all the versions of the game with which it would be used. See where things could be simplified (Control [Thing], Anti-[Thing] Shell, Resist [Form], that sort of deal) and and get an idea whether each magical item form should have its own unique list (with a compiled section at the end listing all effects) or whether there should be one Magical Effect List and each individual section merely offering guidelines on how they tailor each effect (a ring would probably operate differently than a magic rubber ducky, even with the same effect). I'll also be going through my HERO System books for inspiration... thank you UNTIL Superpowers Databases! And all those power advantages and disadvantages... that's like crack for the imagination.
So that's where I am with that right now. Hopefully in several months you'll all be making rolls and coming up with magical paintings that trap any viewer inside them and then fireball the shit out of them, but luckily you've got fingernail polish of switching places (in cases of entrapment) so it's actually the PC to your left that gets sucked in...
... and you'll never have to look at a Sword +1 again in your life.
The Spell Comparisons post wasn't just done because I was bored. There are two things happening there. Number one, the "simulacra" are absolutely horrible at being publishing aids and guides. That's not their focus (especially now that OSRIC 2 is out). They're complete games, real D&D but with new branding (as opposed to fake D&D with the old branding). There isn't a comprehensive publishing guide that breaks down what terms and spells and monsters are OK for you to use in your own publishing. The 4th Edition SRD is absolutely the format that an oldschool "publishing guide" should take, and it can even be broken down by edition (of course not by name, even saying "Holmes" or "Moldvay" as identifiers may or may not be too much, but saying "1974" and "1977" and "1981" and "1983" would certainly work), and then published using just the OGL as being for "First Edition" or whatever. You still can't name the game you're actually publishing for if you're using the OGL, but you can write what you mean in the meat of your product with the OGL, without muddling the "brand" waters.
We know the score, but I really wonder if the gamer on the street knows what an OSRIC or a Labyrinth Lord are and what their relationship to each other and old D&D might be. But if you publish something just for "First Edition of the Leading Fantasy RPG" or whatever (hopefully something a little more elegant than that!), there is no confusion.
Not that this is a condemnation or criticism of the simulacra as games. I run BFRPG myself, and that's a complete Frankenstein's monster of mixed up D&Disms. But as publishing guides? Fail! Fail! That's not what they're formatted to do! The products themselves mention it's allowed but don't show how. It's just "It's possible! Go do it!" And some enterprising individuals have, but there is still a lot of confusion about how it all works and I'm willing to bet there are a lot of creative people and good writers out there that would be contributing if some of these things would just show them explicitly how.
Maybe they could have separate "publisher guide" documents with the 4e SRD formatting. When publishing your own product, you just need the terms, not the details or the rules or the explanations. In fact, most of these terms are so standardized that it's just the spell descriptions that require the OGL. Hit Points, Armor Class, and many other terms became widespread in the gaming industry (look to the computer games of the 80s for many examples as well!). Monsters are easy to get around (mainly by not naming them!). I mean, there are probably a hundred ways to put a beholder (for one example) in a module without calling it a beholder or violating a copyright or the OGL - look how BFRPG has close-but-not-quite Carrion Crawlers and Displacer Beasts!
But it's the specific spell names that are difficult to identify in a precise manner this way. If you have a high level spellcaster in your product, you need to list the spells plainly without a lot of malarkey... otherwise, the spell listing is just going to be pure compacted malarkey as you duck and dodge copyrights and such over one guy's stats. And thus, my little comparison spreadsheet as a start.
The other reason I did that is because I am beginning serious work on The Treatise of Ensorcelled and Occult Primeval Accoutrements for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games And Their Modern Simulacra, and organizing my work really does seem like an impossible task. How to create a random magic item generator in a way that's truly open-ended, putting the different elements of a magic item together much like the creature generator did for monsters, and yet not a complete unusable mess?
I thought a good second step (the first step was making a master list of physical forms the items could take) was to list out the spells and effects for all the versions of the game with which it would be used. See where things could be simplified (Control [Thing], Anti-[Thing] Shell, Resist [Form], that sort of deal) and and get an idea whether each magical item form should have its own unique list (with a compiled section at the end listing all effects) or whether there should be one Magical Effect List and each individual section merely offering guidelines on how they tailor each effect (a ring would probably operate differently than a magic rubber ducky, even with the same effect). I'll also be going through my HERO System books for inspiration... thank you UNTIL Superpowers Databases! And all those power advantages and disadvantages... that's like crack for the imagination.
So that's where I am with that right now. Hopefully in several months you'll all be making rolls and coming up with magical paintings that trap any viewer inside them and then fireball the shit out of them, but luckily you've got fingernail polish of switching places (in cases of entrapment) so it's actually the PC to your left that gets sucked in...
... and you'll never have to look at a Sword +1 again in your life.
Friday, November 28, 2008
"The 'reality' AD&D seeks to create through role playing...
... is that of the mythical heroes such as Conan, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Kothar, Elric, and their ilk."
Gary Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide, page 90. Notable as much for what is stressed as for what is not.
Also some bits from Mr. Mornard here that calls back to some of my ranting here:
"Greyhawk didn't restock instantaneously, so areas you'd cleared out stayed clear. And, UNLIKE CONVENTION MODULES, there was a lot of EMPTY area, so you could, with caution, navigate around encounters with your only worry being wandering monsters.
...
Most modules were convention adventures.
Convention games must produce a 'winner'.
The easiest method of finding a winner is 'Whoever's body lands furthest from the entrance wins'. This makes your modules tend towards a linear kill zone design."
Gary Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide, page 90. Notable as much for what is stressed as for what is not.
Also some bits from Mr. Mornard here that calls back to some of my ranting here:
"Greyhawk didn't restock instantaneously, so areas you'd cleared out stayed clear. And, UNLIKE CONVENTION MODULES, there was a lot of EMPTY area, so you could, with caution, navigate around encounters with your only worry being wandering monsters.
...
Most modules were convention adventures.
Convention games must produce a 'winner'.
The easiest method of finding a winner is 'Whoever's body lands furthest from the entrance wins'. This makes your modules tend towards a linear kill zone design."
Two more Creature Generator reviews!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
D&D vs. the Simulacra Analysis - Spell Lists
First, here is an Excel format file that lists all the spells in OD&D, the Supplements, B/X, BECM, AD&D, Unearthed Arcana, Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC 2, Swords & Wizardry, Microlite74, Basic Fantasy RPG, and Spellcraft & Swordplay.
Cross-referencing the spell lists, here's what we find... by game:
Cross-referencing the spell lists, here's what we find... by game:
Spells Comparisons Between the Source and the Simulacra
(note that the exact spell name may not be identical - having "Darkvision" instead of "Infravision" is common, for example, and are not noted in the Excel sheet above. For example, Basic Fantasy as Flesh to Stone as an other example, where almost all the other games list Stone to Flesh. But they're all reversible... so it's really the same spell and is counted as such. Still, I may have missed combining certain spells that have different names but are really the same thing. Corrections are welcome and begged for.)
OSRIC 2
All Spells from AD&D 1E PH are in OSRIC 2
None of the AD&D 1E UA spells are in OSRIC 2
Swords and Wizardry
All Spells from OD&D Box are in S&W
Spells in Greyhawk but not in S&W
- Darkness 5' Radius (but see below)
- Explosive Runes
- Mind Blank
- Phase Door
- Prismatic Wall
- Raise Dead Fully
- Ventriloquism
(All but the Darkness 5' Radius are in the SRD...)
Spells in S&W but not in OD&D
- Cacodaemon (from AD&D)
- Darkness 15' Radius (from AD&D) (that 5' radius crap in GH... what is that?)
- Enchant an Item (from AD&D)
- Prismatic Sphere (from AD&D)
Labyrinth Lord
Spells in B/X that are not in LL
- Create Food (but see below)
- Create Water (but see below)
Spells in Labyrinth Lord but not in B/X
(these seem to be filling in high level cleric and magic-user spells, since B/X goes to level 14 and LL goes to level 20)
- Animate Objects (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Antipathy/Sympathy (From AD&D)
- Blade Barrier (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Clenched Fist (from AD&D)
- Clone (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Conjure Animals (from Greyhawk)
- Create Food & Water (from AD&D)
- Crushing Hand (from AD&D)
- Cure Critical Wounds (from AD&D/Mentzer)
- Delayed Blast Fireball (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Detect Lie (from AD&D)
- Duo-Dimension (from AD&D)
- Earthquake (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Find the Path (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Flame Strike (from AD&D)
- Glassteel (from AD&D)
- Grasping Hand (from AD&D)
- Heal (from AD&D)
- Holy Word (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Imprisonment (from AD&D)
- Incendiary Cloud (from AD&D)
- Instant Summons (from AD&D)
- Irresistible Dance (from AD&D)
- Limited Wish (from Greyhawk)
- Magic Sword (from SRD?)
- Mass Charm (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Mass Invisibility (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Maze (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Meteor Swarm (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Mind Blank (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Phase Door (from Greyhawk)
- Polymorph Any Object (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Power Word Kill (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Power Word Stun (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Prismatic Sphere (from AD&D)
- Raise Dead Fully (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Regenerate (from AD&D)
- Restoration (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Reverse Gravity (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Shape Change (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Simulacrum (from Greyhawk)
- Statue (from AD&D/Mentzer)
- Stone Tell (from AD&D)
- Symbol (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Temporal Stasis (from AD&D)
- Time Stop (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Trap the Soul (from AD&D)
- True Sight (from AD&D/Mentzer)
- Wind Walk (from Greyhawk)
- Wish (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
- Word of Recall (from Greyhawk/Mentzer)
Microlite74
All Spells, and only spells, from OD&D Box are in Microlite74
Basic Fantasy RPG
Since this is a bit of an amalgam... let's see what we find.
Spells in both Mentzer and B/X not in BFRPG
- Contact Higher Plane
- Control Weather
- Know Alignment
- Move Earth
- Read Magic
- Snake Charm
- Aerial Servant
- Animal Summoning I
- Anti-Animal Shell
- Anti-Plant Shell
- Call Lightning
- Charm Plants
- Clone
- Control Temperature 10’ Radius
- Control Winds
- Creeping Doom
- Cure Critical Wounds
- Delayed Blast Fireball
- Earthquake
- Gate
- Heat Metal
- Hold Animal
- Holy Word
- Legend Lore
- Mass Charm
- Mass Invisibility
- Maze
- Meteor Swarm
- Mind Blank
- Obscurement
- Pass Plant
- Permanent Spell
- Plant Door
- Polymorph Any Object
- Power Word Blind
- Power Word Kill
- Power Word Stun
- Predict Weather
- Prismatic Wall
- Produce Fire
- Protection from Lightning
- Reverse Gravity
- Shape Change
- Statue
- Symbol
- Time Stop
- Transmute Metal to Wood
- Transport via Plants
- Turn Wood
- Warp Wood
- Weather Summoning
- Wish
- Raise Dead Fully
- Contingency
- Create Any Monster
- Create Magical Monster
- Create Normal Animals
- Create Normal Animals
- Cureall
- Dance
- Detect Danger
- Dissolve
- Explosive Cloud
- Force Field
- Immunity
- Locate
- Magic Door
- Protection from Poison
- Summon Object
- Survival
- Teleport Any Object
- Travel
- Wizardry
Spells in B/X not in BFRPG
- Part Water
- Transmute Rock to Mud
- Wall of Ice
Spells in BFRPG not in either B/X or Mentzer
- Heal (from AD&D)
- Magic Mouth (from Greyhawk)
- Regenerate (from AD&D)
- Spiritual Hammer (from AD&D)
- Charm Animal (from SRD)
Spellcraft and Swordplay
Spells from the Original Box but not in S&S
- Death Spell
- Lower Water
- Read Magic (but is now class ability)
Spells in Greyhawk that are not in S&S
- All except Magic Missile!
Spells in S&S that are not in OD&D or any of the Supplements
- Circle of Death (from... ?)
- Heal (from AD&D)
Spells from Unearthed Arcana that Appear Elsewhere Besides the SRD
- Contingency (in Mentzer)
And that's it. Haha!
Verdict: The most faithful of the simulacra noted here, based on spell lists, are Microlite74, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord. Swords & Wizardry and Spellcraft & Swordplay are real close. Basic Fantasy is other.
(I don't have Castles & Crusades to include them in this comparison)
(in the next few days... Monster List comparisons)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
6 Page Preview of the Creature Generator is Online Now!
Goodman Games has posted a 6-page pdf sample here.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
State of the LotFP Union
'allo...
Two releases out! The Goodman Games version of the Creature Generator... and Fantasy Fucking Vietnam.
I hope the Creature Generator finds its audience. It was specifically made for older versions of you-know-what, but it's being marketed as being for any fantasy RPG. I know that people have used it for all sorts of games, so hopefully the people that do buy it find it of great use, because it does do what it's supposed to do.
Fantasy Fucking Vietnam... is a real release! I've gotten some reactions from friends (who aren't RPG players, but find my rants amusing anyway) that the announcement the other day was a joke ad for a product that doesn't exist. Not so! But the announcement had to match the tone of the product itself. It's a combination (in spirit) of S1 and the EX series, with some, ahhh, topical content that's supposed to be a more lighthearted (or lightheaded, depending on your reaction to the 'jokes') tweak to the nose than a mean-spirited punch to the gut. I like this small format. It's the exact opposite of fancy, without artwork (save the map) or a cover. Just the adventure. I'm a no-frills guy in any event. FFV is the only thing mentioned here that's not 100% serious, by the way.
Of course I've got a pile of other things in various states of readiness:
Insect Shrine of Goblin Hill... same as always. Waiting for art. Jalo has moved far, far north but that's not really an issue. She'll need to roll up those A3 sheets she's doing the art on so I can get them scanned (or she can do it up there and just send me the files)... when I was having FFV printed up I found out how much it costs to use the print shop's big scanner. Scanning the ten pieces is going to cost me 60€! Eek! I need to find someone who has one of those big boys at home. Still trying to find someone to do the color for the cover as well.
Deranged and Insane: The Lunatics of the Stone Hold Asylum has several issues. The basic writing is done (and was done since I opened my 2006 campaign with it), but two artists have been assigned and either dropped out or disappeared, the person filling out the journal entries never started, and because of all that I dragged my butt big-time working with the one person who was doing what they said they'd do - the mapmaker! ay ay ay. But I like the idea of this project just because of the journal prop. It was a big deal to my players when I handed it to them in play, and I want to give the same feeling to everyone that buys it. It will be a hand-assembled book, aged with special processes (that I hope don't attract bugs), and now possibly with hand-made leather covers freakily adorned.
Those two will be 'full' releases, with color covers and everything. The price may be a bit high, especially the Asylum adventure, because of the nature of the materials, but if I ever do anything that will be a collector's item, it would be that one. I wonder where I can find a supply of 200 squirrel skulls?
Duvan'Ku. My undead kingdom concept. I envision several releases: A series of undead-related short adventure anthologies that introduces the concept of Duvan'Ku. Evil stuff. I have a handful that I've run for my groups, so it's just a matter of reorganization and formatting for release. "Dreaming of Duvan'Ku" is the working title for this one. Then there would be some sort of "Magical Items and Spells of Duvan'Ku" release. Then, finally, the Duvan'Ku sourcebook itself, dealing with the damned and defiled city of Those Who Had Challenged the Gods... and Lost. I have encounters and rosters for that one but nothing coherent.
Then there's my home campaign, which has stalled the past few weeks do to real-life issues that really haven't been getting addressed, or at least addressed correctly. Need to get that back on track. And then OD&D hack I haven't looked at in a month. Of course the mega-dungeon I'm thinking about running with that could be prepared for release as mini-modules as well. A lot of the plans for this are completely random encounter matrices for large areas, with specific keyed "theme areas," with the random areas being made up of geomorphs rather than randomly generated dungeons. A lot of my previously-made dungeons for my home game can just be dropped into this thing. But what to call the thing? I have an idea that it reaches down to the fabled Lost Palace of the Flame Princess, sort of in opposition to the Duvan'Ku concept, but my twisted mind can't think of a title that doesn't sound like a sexual reference... and there will be enough of that in the primitive fertility cult area of the mega-dungeon.
Buccaneers of the Bahamas... is still an idea, but really, all I know about pirates comes from watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I fear it would suck for that reason. I just had the idea of a couple of pirate havens, rough details on a few settlements, a couple dungeons with "plot items" in them, and then a big old "random island generator." But would it have the right atmosphere? ehhh, I dunno. But unlike any other of the mentioned things, not a single bit of work (beyond "thinking") has been done on this one.
Then there's the Aino Challenge! I told her to come up with ten fantasy drawings, and I'd make an adventure (or anthology) built around those art pieces. We'll see how that develops.
Two things I want to bring up about releases...
First, I kind of feel guilty that I'm intertwining my "play" with "releases." But... ahhh... it seems really backwards and counterproductive to write and release things for release that I wouldn't sit down and want to run for myself. Writing something intended for release and then "playtesting it" with my group seems like I'm treating them as guinea pigs. But treating "potential releases" and "next week's game" as one and the same... well... shouldn't they be nearly the same thing anyway? While I'm going to make some of my future offerings fancy-looking, I certainly do not wish to be seen as "professional" in the way that it means in today's current market. I want to have things in print (without POD fulfillment) that I'm proud to have written, I want to recoup costs, and I want to have people tell me, "This is cool!" That's it. (I do find it interesting that there are so many professionals that tell us these days, "These are the trends, this is what fans today want," out of one side of their mouth, and, "The market is shrinking and gets smaller every year," out the other side. Am I the only one who sees this and thinks Something Is Very Wrong and It Doesn't Have to Be This Way?)
Second... you know what? I don't want to release anything under the banner of any specific simulacra, just because the things I'd write and release are made for an entire family of games. Sitting down and labeling something as being for "That one!" is madness, because that's not my intent. I don't even feel comfortable listing a darn armor class anymore. Go up or down? Start at 10 or 9 or 11? Shiiiittt... "AC: Plate + Shield" You can figure it out quite nicely yourself for your game.
And lastly in our little update, I Hate Fun continues to be the most widely read, and most commented-on, article on this blog. I am linked from TVTropes.com, which has gotten me mentioned on a few other blogs... so a lot of people lately are looking at that article... a lot... but I think people are just looking at what it's saying and not at all looking at its meaning. Now, there is the matter (that one of my players keeps telling me) that not so many people play for the challenge. But you'll never get me to believe that challenge isn't a valid method for delivering... hehe... wait for it... fun. "Set everything up so my enjoyment is guaranteed, or it's not good!" No way.
Two releases out! The Goodman Games version of the Creature Generator... and Fantasy Fucking Vietnam.
I hope the Creature Generator finds its audience. It was specifically made for older versions of you-know-what, but it's being marketed as being for any fantasy RPG. I know that people have used it for all sorts of games, so hopefully the people that do buy it find it of great use, because it does do what it's supposed to do.
Fantasy Fucking Vietnam... is a real release! I've gotten some reactions from friends (who aren't RPG players, but find my rants amusing anyway) that the announcement the other day was a joke ad for a product that doesn't exist. Not so! But the announcement had to match the tone of the product itself. It's a combination (in spirit) of S1 and the EX series, with some, ahhh, topical content that's supposed to be a more lighthearted (or lightheaded, depending on your reaction to the 'jokes') tweak to the nose than a mean-spirited punch to the gut. I like this small format. It's the exact opposite of fancy, without artwork (save the map) or a cover. Just the adventure. I'm a no-frills guy in any event. FFV is the only thing mentioned here that's not 100% serious, by the way.
Of course I've got a pile of other things in various states of readiness:
Insect Shrine of Goblin Hill... same as always. Waiting for art. Jalo has moved far, far north but that's not really an issue. She'll need to roll up those A3 sheets she's doing the art on so I can get them scanned (or she can do it up there and just send me the files)... when I was having FFV printed up I found out how much it costs to use the print shop's big scanner. Scanning the ten pieces is going to cost me 60€! Eek! I need to find someone who has one of those big boys at home. Still trying to find someone to do the color for the cover as well.
Deranged and Insane: The Lunatics of the Stone Hold Asylum has several issues. The basic writing is done (and was done since I opened my 2006 campaign with it), but two artists have been assigned and either dropped out or disappeared, the person filling out the journal entries never started, and because of all that I dragged my butt big-time working with the one person who was doing what they said they'd do - the mapmaker! ay ay ay. But I like the idea of this project just because of the journal prop. It was a big deal to my players when I handed it to them in play, and I want to give the same feeling to everyone that buys it. It will be a hand-assembled book, aged with special processes (that I hope don't attract bugs), and now possibly with hand-made leather covers freakily adorned.
Those two will be 'full' releases, with color covers and everything. The price may be a bit high, especially the Asylum adventure, because of the nature of the materials, but if I ever do anything that will be a collector's item, it would be that one. I wonder where I can find a supply of 200 squirrel skulls?
Duvan'Ku. My undead kingdom concept. I envision several releases: A series of undead-related short adventure anthologies that introduces the concept of Duvan'Ku. Evil stuff. I have a handful that I've run for my groups, so it's just a matter of reorganization and formatting for release. "Dreaming of Duvan'Ku" is the working title for this one. Then there would be some sort of "Magical Items and Spells of Duvan'Ku" release. Then, finally, the Duvan'Ku sourcebook itself, dealing with the damned and defiled city of Those Who Had Challenged the Gods... and Lost. I have encounters and rosters for that one but nothing coherent.
Then there's my home campaign, which has stalled the past few weeks do to real-life issues that really haven't been getting addressed, or at least addressed correctly. Need to get that back on track. And then OD&D hack I haven't looked at in a month. Of course the mega-dungeon I'm thinking about running with that could be prepared for release as mini-modules as well. A lot of the plans for this are completely random encounter matrices for large areas, with specific keyed "theme areas," with the random areas being made up of geomorphs rather than randomly generated dungeons. A lot of my previously-made dungeons for my home game can just be dropped into this thing. But what to call the thing? I have an idea that it reaches down to the fabled Lost Palace of the Flame Princess, sort of in opposition to the Duvan'Ku concept, but my twisted mind can't think of a title that doesn't sound like a sexual reference... and there will be enough of that in the primitive fertility cult area of the mega-dungeon.
Buccaneers of the Bahamas... is still an idea, but really, all I know about pirates comes from watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I fear it would suck for that reason. I just had the idea of a couple of pirate havens, rough details on a few settlements, a couple dungeons with "plot items" in them, and then a big old "random island generator." But would it have the right atmosphere? ehhh, I dunno. But unlike any other of the mentioned things, not a single bit of work (beyond "thinking") has been done on this one.
Then there's the Aino Challenge! I told her to come up with ten fantasy drawings, and I'd make an adventure (or anthology) built around those art pieces. We'll see how that develops.
Two things I want to bring up about releases...
First, I kind of feel guilty that I'm intertwining my "play" with "releases." But... ahhh... it seems really backwards and counterproductive to write and release things for release that I wouldn't sit down and want to run for myself. Writing something intended for release and then "playtesting it" with my group seems like I'm treating them as guinea pigs. But treating "potential releases" and "next week's game" as one and the same... well... shouldn't they be nearly the same thing anyway? While I'm going to make some of my future offerings fancy-looking, I certainly do not wish to be seen as "professional" in the way that it means in today's current market. I want to have things in print (without POD fulfillment) that I'm proud to have written, I want to recoup costs, and I want to have people tell me, "This is cool!" That's it. (I do find it interesting that there are so many professionals that tell us these days, "These are the trends, this is what fans today want," out of one side of their mouth, and, "The market is shrinking and gets smaller every year," out the other side. Am I the only one who sees this and thinks Something Is Very Wrong and It Doesn't Have to Be This Way?)
Second... you know what? I don't want to release anything under the banner of any specific simulacra, just because the things I'd write and release are made for an entire family of games. Sitting down and labeling something as being for "That one!" is madness, because that's not my intent. I don't even feel comfortable listing a darn armor class anymore. Go up or down? Start at 10 or 9 or 11? Shiiiittt... "AC: Plate + Shield" You can figure it out quite nicely yourself for your game.
And lastly in our little update, I Hate Fun continues to be the most widely read, and most commented-on, article on this blog. I am linked from TVTropes.com, which has gotten me mentioned on a few other blogs... so a lot of people lately are looking at that article... a lot... but I think people are just looking at what it's saying and not at all looking at its meaning. Now, there is the matter (that one of my players keeps telling me) that not so many people play for the challenge. But you'll never get me to believe that challenge isn't a valid method for delivering... hehe... wait for it... fun. "Set everything up so my enjoyment is guaranteed, or it's not good!" No way.
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