tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466942384193418052024-03-13T02:30:28.362-04:00The Armoured WriterOne Game Designer's Thoughts On Stuff... And Things.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-28756428228616995852016-11-06T22:34:00.000-05:002016-11-06T22:34:09.265-05:00In Praise of the Singular TheySo, yeah, it's 2016 and we pretty much live in the future. I can access all of the world's knowledge from a little brick in my pocket, drones buzz overhead recording the world in motion, and the US military is finally field testing frickin' lasers. Hell, the Cubs just won the world series, only one year after Robert Zemeckis predicted they would back in 1989. Pretty cool.<br />
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I am digressing again. Right. I am a game designer and this blog is about how I write and design games. But since this is <i>my</i> blog and I can talk about whatever I want, and today I am going to talk about gendered pronouns and the magic of the "Singular They".<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some Background</span><br />
I was born in '79 and remember the '80s pretty well. In gaming terms, this makes me a little too young to be a Grognard, but too old to be a new kid in the industry. I am pushing into early middle age, and that means I can remember the way things used to be, and they <i>SUCKED! </i>Being a geek and nerd sucked and I took constant flack for it. I felt unfairly discriminated against by all the "normal" people out there, and it made me angry, bitter, and vicious. In took me years to realize what an idiot I was. Being a gamer and nerd is a social choice that I made and kept making again and again. I <i>chose </i>to be what I was every day. At any moment I could have abandoned my hobbies and joined the mainstream (whatever that is). I already had a good job and a decent education, if I stopped spending my evenings and weekends obsessing over giant robots and magical warriors, I could have found an acceptable niche to fit in. I'm sure people would always find me a little odd, but I could have made the effort. Instead, I yelled, "FRAK THAT NOISE!" and doubled down on my geekery. It worked out well, I am doing well, and people buy my games from time to time.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Problem</span><br />
Well, that took longer than it should have, back to design. Edge and Remnants used gendered pronouns: he, she, his, hers, etc. to describe people. Specifically, the nebulous, anonymous players of the games. I tried to switch it up and give some gender balance, but the result was always kind of clunky, and I favoured the male pronouns, especially in Remnants. Now, I had multiple incentives to fix this:<br />
-Financial. I want my products to appeal to as many customers as possible.<br />
-Efficiency. I hate complex, inelegant solutions to problems (standard model, I'm lookin' at you)<br />
-Ethics. Not sure how, but somewhere along the line I picked up this idea that everyone should get fair and equal treatment regardless of race, gender, orientation, or lifestyle. Weird.<br />
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By the time Warbirds rolled around, we changed our style rules. If we knew the gender of the character or player in question, we use he or she as normal, but if we didn't, we used the singular they. Problem solved.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Solution</span><br />
For the record, I was not clever enough to solve this problem. That falls to the folks over at Post-Human studios and their game <a href="http://eclipsephase.com/" target="_blank">Eclipse Phase</a>. It's a sci-fi/existential horror game set in a post-human future where people change bodies like we change clothes. I won't review the game in full, we're here to talk about pro-nouns. Because Eclipse Phase characters can change bodies so easily, gender becomes something of a moot point. So the writers had to deal with a world where a character can have as much gender fluidity or ambiguity as they wished. The writers solved the problem the same way I just did in the last sentence. I said "a character" which is a form of singular, but then said "they wished" which is plural. Did you notice? Did you care? Did it <i>make sense</i>? Damn right it did! In one fell swoop I pissed off English teachers everywhere, and made a coherent gender-neutral sentence. Behold the magic of the "singular they" and let's thank Posthuman Studios for resurrecting it in RPG writing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Wait, What?</span><br />
Oh, you didn't know? The singular they date's back to the 14th century. Wikipedia it. I'll wait. It was only in the 1800's that modern critics started whining that it wasn't correct. Well, you know what? They are dead wrong. We need the singular they for more than just gender neutral RPG writing. It provides a grammatically simple way to solve the problem of referring to anyone of indeterminate gender. I have seen some writers use the term "Xe" for being a gender neutral term (neither he nor she, and pronounced "Zee"), it works ok, but I prefer the singular they. First, I like science and upon reading Xe, I immediately wondered what Xenon gas (chemical symbol Xe) has to do with anything, and second, I prefer simplicity. Using Xe invents new words and lexicon, whereas the singular they does neither. Most people use it anyways, and just never think about (except for English teachers).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Circling Back</span><br />
So, I started off with my background, so let's return to it. My life is pretty damn good. I have a loving family, a good job, and a kick-ass gaming company. This all came from two things: An enormous bucket of luck, and a few good choices. I thought I had it hard, but I didn't. But there are people out there that do have it hard. We push them to edges of society for being different and non-conforming, or even just looking different, but unlike me, they cannot choose to leave it behind. They are that way down to their very core and they cannot conceal it without lying to themselves and the world. The world is slowly learning how horribly it treats people, and each of us can take small steps to improve that treatment. My little step is the singular they.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-71229983466801218592016-03-20T18:31:00.000-04:002016-03-20T18:37:14.783-04:00Back With Big NewsYeah, I disappeared for a few months again. Sorry about that. I've been a little busy with life and health things. So fifty pounds lost and six months later, I am back on my blog with some cool news. Outrider Studios has two projects approaching completion, and we will be debuting them (unless we hit a snag) at the Origins Game fair in Columbus, Ohio. Hooray!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Space Age!</span><br />
The first book is Warbirds Space Age, our Space Opera conversion book for the Warbirds. It fast-forwards the timeline of the game into the stars, and the Guild starts exporting their antics to local alien civilizations. We plan to sell it as a PDF, and in a print-on-demand omnibus combined with the WWII and Jet Age Soucebooks. This book would have been out sooner, but Dim, our award winning super artist, is a busy guy and is only just now able to get to our artwork. I am super excited for this one, and it should make it easier for people looking to hack Warbirds for a certain setting that contains stars, and, dare I say it, wars.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Broken Lands II</span><br />
So this one has been an albatross around my neck for a while now. Fans always ask when the next Remnants book is coming out, and I never have a good answer. The truth is, the Broken Lands setting is hard to write for. I tried so hard with the first book to keep things ambiguous, that I struggle now that I have to dive into the specifics. There have been other problems too, the biggest being time. I just haven't dedicated enough time and energy to dedicate to the book. So despite having a full outline and a big bucket of ideas, the project languished.<br />
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But not anymore! One of the unique aspects of my day job is mandatory time off. If I don't take all of my vacation days each year, I have to go on leave to use them all up before the end of March. So I spent all of last week not at work and with nowhere to go. So I decided to write a book. I spent five days in the local Denny's restaurant and pounded the keyboard while eating mediocre breakfast food. The staff was friendly and polite as I ignored everyone and everything and blasted out 4000 words a day for five days. This is a very bad idea, by the way, and I decided to document my slow slide into bleary-eyed misery.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 1: Enthusiastic Determination</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvmR_OBv2Ot5V8frqG8QA_F0AQkqNS9L6thqwNAXVRGgVF08qYGBe4bdsPWxYyuNq5ad08jFehGGL5EtcIpKIiWChmbGueEP6sCh4uN5-qNTywztW5piTgzeqpJ_YMP0-kiNLiS4tNyab/s1600/Day1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvmR_OBv2Ot5V8frqG8QA_F0AQkqNS9L6thqwNAXVRGgVF08qYGBe4bdsPWxYyuNq5ad08jFehGGL5EtcIpKIiWChmbGueEP6sCh4uN5-qNTywztW5piTgzeqpJ_YMP0-kiNLiS4tNyab/s320/Day1.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look me. I'm almost smiling. This is especially difficult for me, as several people have claimed that I don't just write about robots, but I <i>am</i> an emotionless robot. Anyways, it only gets worse from here.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 2: Focused Intent</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eNdrlftWZMb2mEofevVJhl2T2yICNMhKXuWl8PqKvjBRri4JsasTCf2VSXyMFuYiEKyrs5DMfTnplxsDuL0JJ8-QlnNTvs7pUOV88IMrC4RhoLqXw0H9NI8VmKCE515K-c2SMNoIwBIf/s1600/Day2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eNdrlftWZMb2mEofevVJhl2T2yICNMhKXuWl8PqKvjBRri4JsasTCf2VSXyMFuYiEKyrs5DMfTnplxsDuL0JJ8-QlnNTvs7pUOV88IMrC4RhoLqXw0H9NI8VmKCE515K-c2SMNoIwBIf/s320/Day2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At 4000 words in, I still look alright, but I've got the weird look in my eyes that says my soul is screaming on the inside. I held it together, OK on Day 2, but it was my least productive day.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 3: Mounting Consternation</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLOPaAQxChO5AwavgBbvpfBAP0qPZEjCX8KYaEOIiI6cPV4soNmd-Z90PzGne5WbGSGIg1JxGSFbcBhfUxJlU2yq0vmeUWTFLqJ7QMlRpC1oN52JOFxmKQxmwfZus4VgXT8IsLhfMk-uL/s1600/Day3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLOPaAQxChO5AwavgBbvpfBAP0qPZEjCX8KYaEOIiI6cPV4soNmd-Z90PzGne5WbGSGIg1JxGSFbcBhfUxJlU2yq0vmeUWTFLqJ7QMlRpC1oN52JOFxmKQxmwfZus4VgXT8IsLhfMk-uL/s320/Day3.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where I transition from intellectually knowing that this was a bad idea to actually feeling its affects. The constant stream of diet coke and salty diner food is driving a burning dump truck through my guts as I start to lose myself to my setting. The Broken Lands might be real now; I think I live there.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Day 4: Crippling Exhaustion</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OJfQA2sGgA7WsDL6BM5s-dFFmPWIFKsgx_TfcLgibHyF5UHE5PGEVsA1W0WVf0dWLrqNyqTJEepuJG8ffePZKQf5Ii_dQ-53K2R8xaaACrHme75yi4zzO3_77Q7iRuYTrLPnZfmWDv1W/s1600/Day4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OJfQA2sGgA7WsDL6BM5s-dFFmPWIFKsgx_TfcLgibHyF5UHE5PGEVsA1W0WVf0dWLrqNyqTJEepuJG8ffePZKQf5Ii_dQ-53K2R8xaaACrHme75yi4zzO3_77Q7iRuYTrLPnZfmWDv1W/s320/Day4.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At this point I should tell you that I am power writing during the day while burning the evening hours playing The Division. Sleep is in short supply, and I am running purely on the magic of free drink re-fills and a twisted combination of determination and spite. I got a lot done on Day 4, and Day 5 only had to be a half day.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 5: Total Burnout</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wiwtnktOd6d6IYFqfNkv5pQZb3TkY-c0TTQQbZUSS6dpoRgcznw-wFbRSXrIToyfv02R0WwlO9SlUGOBH8XCdGBDwNgqRqtPiOwHthFWmvAR7mOHVFwwJa6yoO9Mnn0vHe1NetKTApIG/s1600/Day5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wiwtnktOd6d6IYFqfNkv5pQZb3TkY-c0TTQQbZUSS6dpoRgcznw-wFbRSXrIToyfv02R0WwlO9SlUGOBH8XCdGBDwNgqRqtPiOwHthFWmvAR7mOHVFwwJa6yoO9Mnn0vHe1NetKTApIG/s320/Day5.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a long road, but I crawled across the finish line with all 20 000+ words written and ready for Cait to edit. I may or may not have hallucinated things on the last day, but I'm pretty sure the gremlin insurance salesman was real. I made sure not to buy what he was offering. You can't trust gremlins.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Aftermath</span><br />
Cait edited the book in breezy, record time, fixing all the places where my ideas went of the rails. Now it heads off to Patrick for his editing touch and format standardization. Now I just have to create the art plan, wrangle the artists, go through layout, proofing, second proofing, etc. With any luck we will have copies for Origins.<br />
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That's all for now. I will keep you in the loop.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-49663524450869530262015-07-21T23:38:00.000-04:002015-07-21T23:42:53.078-04:00Probability Part 1: Randomness is a A**hole<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am talking about probability in this post. All discussions of probability involve foul language on my part. Consider yourself forewarned.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Play enough games and you will start thinking about odds. How often can you succeed? How often will you fail? The fact that games use dice (and sometimes cards) to generate success and failure makes the odds easy to figure out. Rather than dig into details and figure out the odds, a lot of my gamer brethren dive into the world of luck, superstition, and even prayer (Seen it once. It worked). For the rest of us there is the angry tentacle monster known as probability theory. We are subject to its random outcomes every time we roll the dice, and most of us never really take the time to understand it.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Random?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the most infuriating concepts in probability is the idea randomness. For me, it helps to think of the concept as an old-school Greek god. His name is Kaos and he's an asshole. Kaos does not care about you at all. He gives no shits about who you are, what you've done, or what you want. He doesn't love you, but he doesn't hate you either, but he sure as hell isn't listening to you. You are less than an ant to him. In addition to the not caring about you, he has all sorts of other problems. Most important, his memory is so bad that he makes Alzheimer's sufferers look like they have photographic memories. He pretty much forgets things as they happen, leaving him totally clueless as to anything in the past. He also can't look into the future. I'm not talking about prophecy here. I mean he can't plan where to go for lunch, or even how he will spend the next five minutes, or five seconds. That shit is just beyond him.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what does this crazy bastard do? He shouts out numbers because he thinks it's funny. Every time you roll a die Kaos gleefully yells out the number he wants to see. He can't remember what the last roll was, and he has no clue what he'll want on the next one, but in the moment he will be happy with his choice and you get to suffer the consequences. On the next roll he might shout the same number, or he might not. He doesn't know what he's going to do. If you stand far enough back from this insane amnesiac bastard you can suss out a few things. Mainly, he likes all the numbers about the same, so if you listen to him shout a few million times, then all 6 numbers on your six-sided die will come up about the same amount. Thing is though, they often don't. You look in there and find the asshole deity called out 3 twenty times in a row just for shits and giggles. Another time he went over a hundred tosses without calling 6. Bottom line: randomness means there's no pattern and you cannot predict future outcomes of the dice. You are at the whim of an insane God on the worst power trip imaginable.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All you can do is play the odds and remember that each toss of the die is totally new to Kaos and you and all outcomes are equally likely. Unless the die lands balanced on an edge. In that case the asshole has noticed you and is totally fucking with you. Roll again and keep in mind he just forgot what he was doing.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Summing Up</span><br />
You cannot defeat Kaos. You cannot outplay him. His power is narrow but unstoppable. To all those gamblers out there thinking their number is due, it isn't. Kaos doesn't care about your bullshit. To all those players who think their dice are hot, cold, or hating you. You're wrong. Kaos doesn't care about you either. <br />
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But I will leave you on a hopeful note. Despite all of Kaos' power and indifference, he has a glaring weakness that we can twist and exploit: he's an idiot. He can only call his numbers. He <i>has</i> to call his numbers. Knowing this, we can bend those numbers to our will. Next time, I will explain how.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-48066969999019837142015-07-06T22:09:00.000-04:002015-07-06T22:09:57.849-04:00These Hands Are Not Idle<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
No posts don’t necessarily mean no work. I have been doing stuff, and perhaps even <i>things</i> of late. <a href="http://www.outriderstudios.com/" target="_blank">Outrider Studios</a>’ webpage, after languishing in update purgatory is looking clean and spiffy with a new sleek design that I had absolutely nothing to do with. I just saw the finished product, and said, “ Ooh, that looks good.” I might take a more active role in redesigning some of our sub-sections, but we will wait and see on that.<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As for Me<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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I’ve been working on Warbirds… stuff. We are almost there on a few new bits and pieces for the game. As per usual, I can’t talk specifics or deadlines. Keep your eyes open, and we will announce something soon enough. My other Warbirds project is one I can talk about: I’ve been running it for my weekly D&D group. We took the summer off from the 5<sup>th</sup> Edition to do some other games and give the new kids some non D&D experience. Right now I am running a Warbirds mini-series, and will follow it up with some Wars of the Star kind.<u></u><u></u></div>
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So far Warbirds has been a big hit with the players, but they keep running into what I would call “conversion problems.” The players like the setting, and they like the fast, variable air combat, but they are having some trouble with converting from the D&D mindset. Most of them build characters with good air combat abilities (a Warbirds design feature) but without great personal combat skills, and thus they should be avoiding personal combat at all costs. Yet time and again they stand their ground when they should run for the copious amounts of cover that I am always sure to provide. In other words, they keep getting shot. Now I designed the rules with a lot of give in them to allow PCs to get in Pulp gun battles without them all ending up in the ER, but I have actually had to relax the rules even further just to keep players playing. Here’s the hack I made for my own game.<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Warbirds Alternate Injury Rules “It Ain’t Nothin’”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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If you want to have maximum heroic action with minimal injury interruptions you can employ the “It Ain’t Nothin’” rules. Under these rules, characters knocked out of the fight never stay out for long. A character with the Medicine skill can make a difficulty 6 roll to immediately give a character back one point of health. This will probably take the form of a quick bandage followed by an injection of painkillers and adrenaline. On a failed roll the character remains out of the fight until the end of the scene, at which point the character gains back one health as if they were down but not out. Success on the roll immediately makes the character up and fighting, and they can act normally (with the listed penalty) on their next action. Remaining injuries heal at the standard rate. These rules no longer apply when a character’s life goes on the line.<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some Madness<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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One or two of my players fell in love with the Mad Science in Warbirds, and one made it his sole goal to become a mad scientist. Being a magnanimous being, I indulged him. He then discovered that Mad Science is <i>expensive</i>. Even buying a basic workbench requires Fame 3. The high barrier to entry keeps Mad Science rare, and makes the Mad Scientist PC really earn their cool toys. My player, however, wanted a shortcut. Being a malicious being, I indulged him. So I created a new Mad Science item:<u></u><u></u></div>
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<b>Discount Workbench<u></u><u></u></b></div>
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Cost: Fame 2<u></u><u></u></div>
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Mad Scientists love shortcuts, and starting mad scientists need shortcuts just to get started. Those who cannot afford full price for proper tools can cheap out on the hardware, and get inventing right away. This discount workbench looks like a normal workbench, but is made with defective materials, sub-standard parts, and shoddy workmanship. Its storage containers leak, its tools rust, and the whole thing starts to stink something fierce a few weeks after it’s installed. The workbench functions exactly as it should until the Mad Scientist fails a creation or maintenance roll. After the failed roll the GM may force the scientist to take a critical failure (“It’s Perfect!”) regardless of the actual dice outcome. The GM has total control over which rolls are regular failures and which ones are critical, leaving the Mad Scientist character confused as to what is actually going on. Alternately, the GM can roll a d6 with a 50/50 outcome: 1-3 regular failure, 4-6 critical failure.<u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Other Work<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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A young gamer approached me about taking a look at his game. My first action was to try waiving him off the whole RPG creation gig. It’s not that I don’ want young people creating new RPGs, I do. It’s just that I want them to do it with their eyes open. I told him all the standard stuff about how there’s almost no money to be made, and making RPGs has more to do with seeing ideas through than having the next great idea (I think everyone has the next great idea at some point. I have at least 2). After my wave-off attempts I tentatively agreed to give his work the editorial once over. I don’t know where this will go, but... I'm an editor now, hooray?<u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Cait, Patrick, I just want to be clear that I am in no way shape or form an editor and the work that you do is both brilliant and vital to the company's continued success. Love you guys!)</span></div>
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Next time I will get technical. I want to about to talk about the probability monster.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-17140502044376380562015-02-28T21:10:00.000-05:002015-02-28T21:10:46.012-05:00Steve Versus HomeworldI've been gaming for quite a few years now, but I have actually been playing video games far longer than I have been playing tabletop games. I didn't play my first tabletop game until about 1993, maybe 92. In contrast, I played my first video game on the old Vic 20 computer system in the early 80's. In honour of my long video game history, I am going to discuss my experience with a single game: Relic's 1999 RTS classic, Homeworld.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Steve's (Lack of) Skills</span><br />
First, some background on my video game abilities. Despite many, many hours of dedicated play, I am pretty bad at most video games. Over the years there has been 1 or 2 that I played enough to be passable at, but I have never been a top skilled player. The reasons for this are varied, but I will focus on a few highlights. Reason the first:I am a clumsy, uncoordinated sort of person. I don't excel at sports, music, dancing, or anything that requires grace or timing. This carries over into my fine motor skills. My so-called "twitch" reflexes are always a little behind.Playing any sort of game that requires twitch reflexes ends with me losing, especially if I'm playing against other humans. Reason the second: I have a bad habit of engaging in "non-optimal play". My competitive spirit seems to be a little lackluster, so instead of finding the optimal way to win a game, I tend to pursue a strategy that matches my mood. I know this is non-optimal, and I just don't care. Winning is just not important enough to me for me to ruin whatever "idea" I have in my head for what a game should be. These reasons, combined with several others, are why I prefer tabletop RPGs.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Damned Game</span><br />
Homeworld released back in 1999. I was in my 3rd year of college. I remember the advertisements for Homeworld in the pages of gaming magazines from the time (magazines made of real paper!). At first I was confused at what Homeworld was, then I became skeptical, and then finally excited by the hype. How could I not?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070905172507/homeworld/images/8/8f/Kushan_box_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070905172507/homeworld/images/8/8f/Kushan_box_cover.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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I pre-ordered Homeworld, upgraded my computer to run it, bought it on release day, and dived into its brilliance. The game blew me away. Its music is still with me, with its beautiful choirs and haunting melodies. The voice acting matched the music, with awesome chatter for combat ships, and subtle, nuanced voices for major characters. The game had a graphical fidelity unlike anything I had seen in 99, and ship designs were excellent.</div>
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That just leaves gameplay. Homeworld is a 3D real-time strategy with spaceships. You collect resources, build units, and wage war. The game has a limited resource bottleneck, forcing you to make tough decisions about which ships to build, how to employ them, and how much you are willing to risk. After each mission, surviving members of your fleet can carry on to the next, making risk management even more important. The other thing to note: It's <i>tough</i>. Homeworld has no difficulty settings, it has a set difficulty for you to overcome and it sets the bar high.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Repeated Failures</span></div>
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I love Homeworld, but I have never beaten it. I tried first in 99, and then again maybe 2 years later. I forgot about it for over a decade, but I found an old copy on Amazon back in 2012. I was surprised when the old game worked on my system at all, but I was most surprised when things went even worse for me this time around. I am terrible at this game.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Non-Optimal Play</span></div>
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So let's talk strategy. Why do suck so bad at Homeworld? The answer is I'm playing it "wrong". I looked at a bunch of strategy guides, and they all recommended the same optimal strategy: Don't kill enemy ships. First you damage them a bunch, and then send in your salvage ship to steal them and re-purpose them. Build your fleet up by stealing the enemy's and making it your own. This alleviates the resource bottleneck, and allows you to build a large and powerful fleet. </div>
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<b>Fuck. That. Noise.</b></div>
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I am not playing this game to wound and salvage the enemy. I'm playing to kill him and avenge my people! (the story of the game puts me on solid ground with this one). Wounding and stealing enemy ships gives me ZERO satisfaction. I want blast my enemy into space dust. Apparently, this desire to engage in this fun but non-optimal play style cripples my chances at beating this game. Well, I don't care. I am in this to destroy my enemies, and that is exactly what I will do.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last Chance to Dance</span></div>
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This extended rant comes on the heels of the HD re-release of Homeworld. It's a beautiful remastering of the original game, and I am looking forward to playing it one last time. Will I play the game differently? A little. I will be more careful about ship losses and how I spend resources. I will quicksave frequently and not be afraid to lose progress to try something over in a better way. But I will not abandon my non-optimal play. Doing so, despite the higher probability of success that it will bring, would make the game un-fun. I do want to win, but I want to win on my terms. Anything less would be cheating. It would not be cheating the game, but cheating myself, and that is something I cannot do.</div>
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We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming later. Right now, I have a fleet to command and enemy ships to destroy.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-50239590503051203612015-02-12T17:03:00.000-05:002015-02-12T17:03:21.856-05:00Creative Construction<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After a long absence that I will not be explaining for once, I am back. Let’s just dive right in.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My weekly 5<sup>th</sup> Edition game continues at the local game store. Life does obstruct this game from time to time, but I persevere, and my players are seeming to have a good time. Today’s blog is about last week’s adventure, and specifically, the monster I put in it. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Quick back story: the PCs are working for a powerful church in the hopes of earning a resurrection for their dead comrade. While on a mission, one player used a very unreliable artifact to save the day. The side-effect was the opening of a sealed gate to some demon dimension or other. The players had to then travel to gate and close it with the same unreliable artifact. Problem in the way: Something got out.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That something was a nameless horror. It being nameless, I get to name it, so I shall name it Phil. Phil was a fun challenge for the PCs, primarily because they didn’t know what to expect. You can’t find Phil in any monster manual or guidebook. I made Phil entirely from scratch… or did I?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Phil is a giant, blind, enormous crab monster with dozens of spear-like segmented legs. He radiates fear like a dragon, casts magical darkness at will, has 300 hp, AC 20, and a fun attack mechanism. His spear-legs tap their surroundings to echolocate their targets and then strike with such unerring precision that it’s a dex save to avoid them. Every round that a PC stays in range of Phil’s claws, more legs strike out, doing more and more damage as his targeting solution improves. For the record, I like Phil.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So why is Phil the way he is? Because he was custom built for facing the party. I designed him to take on all the PCs at once, inflict damage that got worse as the fight went along, and included multiple ways to get around him (which no one noticed or bothered to use). In the end, the party beat Phil down, but not before he savaged several of the PCs and dropped two of them to 0 HP.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Afterwards, one of my players, a young teen (most of my players are young teens), asked me how I thought him up. I didn’t give a very satisfactory response, and said something like, “I’ve been playing RPGs for over 20 years, and designing them for 5, I just kinda figured it out.” So young player (who is also an aspiring GM) here’s how I thought up Phil.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Time Crunch</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I knew I was working with limited time. My game had to run in under 4 hours, and there was a lot of stuff leading up to Phil, so I had to limit the time allotted for the final battle. That means one big boss instead of a group or team of bosses. 1 boss means less book keeping, a simpler combat sequence, and less for everyone to keep track of. Despite the Phil’s heap of hit points, and high AC, running one big bad is faster and easier than lots. Also, Phil’s attacks were all saves made by the PCs instead of me rolling the dice. This meant there was even less for me to track.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Large Party</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Phil needed to take on 7-9 PCs so to make a threat I need him to be able to do a lot in a round. He also needed to survive a lot of punishment, as I know my PCs can pour out buckets of damage. The first idea that came to mind was an octopus or other larger creature with lots of limbs. Phil got his armoured carapace (and thus high AC) from a similar monster in the first half-life video game, that giant spikey crab monster was terrifying then. I’m sure it would be now. So Phil can attack a lot, and he can hit every PC every turn. His armour class makes him hard to hit, and his high HP ensures the PCs won’t take him out with a few lucky hits.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Creating Fear</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Phil is scary. He lurks in darkness, and taps at his surroundings to “see.” I got the idea of an echolocating monster from a recent episode of NPR that talked about blind people using clicking noises to echolocate. I knew that knocking on the table like Phil’s claws would build tension before I revealed him. Phil had the magical fear spell to back me up on creating tension, but I knew it would be better to pull it off by making him menacing before the fear spell hit. Once the PC’s dispelled Phil’s darkness I tried to describe him as being as alien as possible, and tap into that innate human fear of things we don’t understand. I was aiming for something akin to a Cthulhu Mythos horror, I’m not sure how well that worked out, but the players seemed nervous and off-put, so I achieved at least some success.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Phil was not a true Cthulhu monster in that he could be killed, and he had certain built-in weaknesses. The biggest weakness, that only some of the PCs realized, is that Phil was immobile. They found him hulking over a vineyard structure in partially destroyed convent that contained the aforementioned dimensional gate (sidenote: Convent with demon gate is an idea straight-up lifted from a New Orleans ghost tour I attended the week before the game). Phil was stuck, though, he could lash out with his spear claws, but he lacked the strength to drag his armoured carapace anywhere. Several of the PCs realized this, held back, and attacked at range. Phil could only return fire with a relatively weak firebolt spell. Phil’s second main weakness was spin-up: he need several rounds of targeting a PC before his attacks did full damage. If the characters had played smarter, moving in and then out of range of his attacks, they would have faced a much lower risk.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: large;">Ultimate Demise<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those who take great risk earn great reward when they succeed. One of my PC’s allowed himself to be impaled by Phil in the hopes of getting in closer for a better attack. Phil did his level best to devour this daring fellow, but failed, so when Phil’s HP got low, I planned to let this PC land the killing blow. As it turns out, the PC landed the attack that crossed the 300 HP threshold, so there didn’t have to be any fudging of the numbers on my part. Phil died and the PC’s then closed the breach. A good time was had by all, except for Phil. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: large;">In Conclusion<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I created Phil to fulfill a specific need in a very specific amount of time. I gave him stats that I knew would work for my game, and drew inspiration from science, Cthulhu mythos, aquatic creatures, psychology, legends, and video games. No part of Phil is truly original, but my blending of so many elements hopefully made him seem as though he was. By building my own monster I put all of the players back on their heels, creating the uncertainty and fear that people feel when they face the unknown. Phil fought, Phil died, and the PCs prevailed. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Good game, Phil.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rest in peace. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-40075807192951180772014-09-29T19:15:00.000-04:002014-09-29T19:15:57.474-04:00For the People! (or Dear God, what have I done?)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Well, with Mad Science out and Gencon being merely an attend event for me this year, you would think I would be smart enough to take a bit of a break this fall, and focus in on getting my new day job in order. That is a very reasonable thought, and isn’t even close to what I ended up doing. Instead of easing off the gas, I floored it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Giving Back to the Community</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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Being new to the Panama City Area, I was looking for a way to meet other gamers and have some fun. My arrival coincided with the release of the 5<sup>th</sup> Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I offered the local game store (Comic Emporium) proprietor to run a once a week open game of the new 5<sup>th</sup> Ed so that people could learn the new game. I would get to meet new gamers and have fun, AND give back to the gaming community by teaching new players the ropes.<u></u><u></u></div>
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Now, while I have mentioned that D&D is not my preferred game, it has always been a very serviceable game, and I have burned many hours blasting through dungeons and even fighting a dragon or two. The new version of D&D is, in my opinion, the best version to date. It is fast and smooth, but keeps the heroic D&D feel. So I bought the new book at Gencon, read up on the rules, created an episodic campaign, put up an advert and hoped players would show. Due to a serendipitous event, my first session was overflowing with players. Things slowed down to a manageable 3 players the following week, and 4 players the week after that, but last Friday hit 9 players! Next week I might have more!<u></u><u></u></div>
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I will take a moment to remind you that I prefer small groups. Remnants was always designed with 3 or 4 players in mind, while Warbirds works best with 3 to 6. Dealing with 9 players in a system as complicated as D&D, even streamlined 5<sup>th</sup> Ed D&D, is a rough go, and I had one hell of a time keeping up. The saving grace of a group that large is that there was always someone who grabbed whatever bait I dangled in front of them, and there was too much chaos for the players stop each other from making foolish mistakes.<u></u><u></u></div>
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If I do hit 10 players next week, I am going to have to split the group in half. I was thinking an early game and a late game, or run two parties while GMing for both, but I think Cait has the most elegant solution: an A game and a B game that are played on alternate weeks. I have to check with my players, but while there are GM’s that can run 10+ groups, I have never been one of them.<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Opening My Big Mouth</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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So a while back, <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/2bsyp4/best_rpg_to_simulate_top_gun_or_ace_combat/" target="_blank">this thread</a> popped up on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/" target="_blank">Reddit</a>. Being the foolish fool that I am, <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/2bsyp4/best_rpg_to_simulate_top_gun_or_ace_combat/cj8pxx0" target="_blank">I replied</a> when Warbirds got a mention, and I sort of accidentally committed Outrider Studios to an unplanned project. As a result of my folly, The Jet Age Sourcebook for Warbirds is nearly finished the draft process. I hope to write up the last few jets within the week, and have it ready for editing in early October. The plan is for it to be similar in style to the WWII Sourcebook as a PDF-only release with lots of public domain photos instead of art. <u></u><u></u></div>
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In making the new book, I had to break one of my personal rules of game design and include a chart. The chart is both simple and colour coded, but a chart none-the-less. It turns out that once you explore the complexities of Beyond Visual Range air combat, a chart becomes a necessity. Cait gave the chart a very suspicious once over, but decided to let it slide on the promise that there would be no other charts in the book and I would not increase the current chart’s complexity.<u></u><u></u></div>
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Oh, and once I finish this project, I still have another bucket of them waiting to go.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Note: By “Chart” I mean that players must consult a grid to determine the result of an action(s). I don’t consider lists of stat blocks of vehicles or gear to be charts. You can just copy their statistics onto your character sheet and never look at them again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">More Theory</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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My posts of late have been more biographical and company-oriented of late. I have a few bits of theory that I definitely want to write on, and I will try to touch on them in the coming weeks and months.<u></u><u></u></div>
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Until then…</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-32061580184243928972014-08-07T16:46:00.000-04:002014-08-07T16:46:38.735-04:00The Problem in Sidonia<div class="p1">
So, the print version of Mad Science is in the <a href="http://thearmouredwriter.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-thrill-of-victory.html" target="_blank">dreaded proofing process</a>, and it looks like I will make Gencon this year, but that’s not what this post is about. Today, I am going to talk about anime, specifically, Knights of Sidonia and my thoughts on it.</div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Some Background</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I am not an anime aficionado, nor am I a <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/weeaboo" target="_blank">weeaboo</a> or a japanophile. I was enamoured with some aspects of anime in my late teens and early twenties (sorry Kirk), but my tastes drifted away from anime with time. These days, a show has to really stand out to grab my attention.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s been a long while since any anime show caught my eye for any length of time, let alone an entire season. Knights of Sidonia managed this by shamelessly pandering to my interests. It has:</span></div>
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<span class="s1">-Giant Robots</span></div>
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<span class="s1">-Giant Monsters</span></div>
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<span class="s1">-Space Battles where Giant Robots fight Giant Monsters.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you follow my blog, or have read my RPGs, then you know that I am into these things pretty hardcore, so I hung in for all 12 episodes. Now, having watched the series, and in the spirit of my rants on <a href="http://thearmouredwriter.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-damned-map-and-other-things.html" target="_blank">Pacific Rim</a> and <a href="http://thearmouredwriter.blogspot.ca/2014/04/stuff-and-things.html" target="_blank">Titanfall</a>, here are my thoughts on Knights of Sidonia. Spoilers will follow, so read at your own risk.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The Cliches</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Serialized anime is loaded with clichés and Knights is no exception. We could dive down the TV tropes rabbit hole, and look at how the main character, Nagate Tanikaze, is a teenage (maybe 20 years old?) boy with superhuman mecha piloting skill who needs to use a special weapon to defeat the alien monsters attacking his home. But I am not too concerned with the plot and tropes here. I can accept that the show follows the typical Campbellian hero’s journey, and encounters the standard trials and tribulations along the way. I am more concerned with how well the series pulls these tropes off, and where it stumbles.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A Weak Protagonist</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">There are some serious problems with our hero, Nagate Tanikaze. In short, he lacks agency and has a weak story arc. We will tackle each of these in turn.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">First off: agency. Nagate doesn’t do much. Instead, he has stuff done to him and he reacts. He is essentially forced to become a pilot, dropped into his first mission, and then is a pawn caught in the schemes of Sidonia’s captain and council, while being fought over by a small harem of love interests (more on that in a second). We never learn what motivates Nagate, nor how he feels about any of the larger issues in Sidonia. By the end of the season he manages to claim that he wants to defend Sidonia because he likes the people there, but he is still mostly incurious and passive.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Number the second: weak story arc. The very first scene of the series establishes that Nagate isn’t just a good pilot, he’s a great one. He has mastered the art of mecha combat. He is so awesome that the only time he makes a serious tactical error, it turns out to be a rival sabotaging him rather than a true error on his part. In later episodes we learn that he has special training (never mentioned up to that point) on weapons that no one else knew existed. So, as far as character growth is concerned. Nagate does not grow as a pilot. He starts off as the best of the best, and stays there.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">So how about personal growth or relationships? Well, there isn’t much there either. Nagate is too passive to take any chances in his personal dealings, and despite multiple opportunities, never really makes any attempt to connect with the people around him. Oh, they all try to connect with him in some way. His bevy of girls literally fight to be with him. His rival tries to discredit him, the cook (who’s a bear, don’t ask) tries to mother him, and the ship’s captain tries to control him, but he is too imperceptive to catch that most of this is going on. Even when he almost forges a relationship with another pilot, Shizuka Hoshijiro, the series brutally kills her one episode later. She is resurrected as an alien mute creature captured by the humans. After that Nagate has the perfect companion. They just sit and stare at each other through a piece of armoured glass.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Portrayal of Women</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">At first glance, Knights of Sidonia seems to do a good job in the world of gender politics. Sidonia’s captain is a powerful, competent woman, Women can and do become mecha pilots and a woman is one of the main squadron commanders, and there is even a gender-swapping character who is genetically androgynous. Past that veneer lies a <i>very</i> sexist show.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">First, there’s the character design. Every female character (except for the cook, who I once again remind you is a bear) has the overdeveloped proportions of typical male fantasy. They also have the high-pitched teenage girl voices that have become default for anime (I watched the dubbed version, I didn’t want subtitles distracting from the action). You could explain this away in-universe by talking about why would a world with genetic engineering accept anything less? Well, there are male characters in the show who have less than perfect looks, and wouldn’t a society that uses genetic engineering and cloning progress beyond such simple sexual aesthetics? There should be more characters like the cook with widely varied body plans that follow either practical function or whimsical invention. No, the girls in the show are pretty so the guys who watch it have something to look at. The show even throws <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_service" target="_blank">fan service</a> at its audience with characters having to get naked to photosynthesize. It’s strange how only female characters are shown doing this…</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Next we need to talk about the purpose of the women in the show. They nearly all exist to serve Nagate in some way. In twelve episodes he has no less than 3 women that are madly in love with him. Even the androgynous character immediately falls for the guy. The weird thing is that we never find out why these girls find Nagate so attractive. It certainly isn’t his charm or warmth, or even his looks. My best guess is they like him because he is an outsider, and he’s a good pilot. These traits don’t seem like a good basis for a relationship, but these one-dimensional women are hard to read. So maybe his skills make him seem like the badboy transfer student who also turns out to be an ace football player? These are pretty shallow reasons to like a guy. But Nagate lacks depth, so I guess this is all we’re going to get.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Finally, we need to talk about a minor character, Eiko Yamano. She is only in episodes 1 and 2. She is important because: </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1">a) She does not give a shit about Nagate, </span></div>
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<span class="s1">b) We immediately learn through flashback that she is personally motivated, and has her own reasons for becoming a pilot, and </span></div>
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<span class="s1">c) She is immediately killed. </span></div>
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My wife does not watch much anime, but she caught the first episodes of Knights. Her immediate reaction to Eiko, “I like her.” My immediate response, “She is so dead.” When I was proven right just minutes later, my wife stopped paying any attention. Knights took less than two minutes of screen time to establish Eiko as an interesting, driven, and conflicted character. It then killed her outright. This would be ok if there were other characters with comparable depth, but instead the series hamstrings itself by leaving less interesting characters alive. We could dig deeper and talk about how male writers punish female characters who dare to be interesting on their own merits, but I think I lack the background to discuss those ideas with authority, and there are <a href="http://www.gamingaswomen.com/" target="_blank">some bloggers</a> already doing a better job of it than me. </div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Redeeming Qualities</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Ok, I just spent a lot of words slagging this show, and its problems do run deep. But believe it or not, I liked it. The animation is beautiful. The mech and monster designs are well done. The setting is weird and interesting, and the central mystery of what the monsters are and what they want is compelling. I thought some of imagery was a little heavy handed in its attempts at symbolism (the neo-natal nature of the monsters and the spears that kill them pretty much screams “abortion”), but over-all I enjoyed the ride. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">What I really saw in Knights of Sidonia was a series of missed opportunities. The show has so many chances to make interesting and mature choices, but instead bogs itself down with mediocre execution of genre tropes that make it so much less than it could have been. It’s still enjoyable to be sure, but it was like hoping for a ride in a fighter jet but getting stuck playing a flight sim. Maybe things will pick up in season 2.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-22393614456534056942014-07-24T22:22:00.000-04:002014-07-24T22:22:17.509-04:00Good News, EveryoneWell, I've been busy. I live in Florida now, and the locals have been nothing but friendly. So far we are having a great time, and we are happy to be visiting the US for a few years.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ENnie Nomination!</span><br />
Warbirds was nominated for an ENnie for best setting. Hooray! please <a href="http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/the-2014-ennies-voting-booth-is-now-live/" target="_blank">go and vote for us</a>. While you're at it, vote in all of the other categories too. The ENnies are the closest thing that gaming has to the oscars, so I'm hoping for the best for us, and wishing the best for all of the other nominees.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mad Science!</span><br />
If you backed our indiegogo campaign, then you got a little surprise the other day. The Mad Science book is out for backers. Yay! We hope to have the PDF up for sale on DriveThru early next week, and the print-on-demand version in a few weeks (we have to go through the dreaded proofing process again).<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Gencon?</span><br />
I still don't know if we can attend. I am willing to offer a fairly strong <i>maybe</i>, but I can't go further than that. Assuming we can go this year, I am stoked. It's been a few years since I attended the con just for fun, and I am looking forward to getting lost in the dealer's hall, finding random pickup games, and generally goofing off with friends old and new.<br />
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If I do attend, and you do find me, and say, "I voted for Warbirds for the ENnies!" I will immediately owe you one demo session of Warbirds before the end of the weekend. A few caveats though, this offer is not valid if you are a member or affiliate of Outrider Studios (Derek, Desi, Patrick, Kevin, Andrea, this includes you), and I will run a demo for no more that 4 people, so this offer is only open to the first 4 people who give me a shout. While I am not expecting to have anyone take me up on this, I really hope someone does, as it would be incredibly cool.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What's next?</span><br />
Well, with Mad Science out, I can take a short breather, but there are more supplements to write and other projects to develop, so we will see what we can get done this year. There are a few options, and I have a plan. Let's just hope this new job lets me stick to it.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-77859494422613363322014-06-28T20:58:00.000-04:002014-06-28T20:58:27.307-04:00Good News and Bad NewsAs the title of the post says, the last month has brought some good news and bad news. So without any further adieu, bad news first.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bad News:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No Outrider Studios booth at Gencon</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Sadly, Outrider Studios will not have a booth at Gencon this year. We had everything all booked, but if you remember my rant about moving to Florida, well, that’s happening. And it’s happening too close to the Con for us to be ready for it. So, we have deferred until next year. If we are lucky, and I mean <i>really </i>lucky, we might get to attend as just attendees, but if you want Outrider games you will have to go to the IPR booth to get them.</span></div>
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If we go, and if you see us, please feel free to say hi. We always love to meet fans of the games. I hope we can make it, but no promises.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Good News:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mad Science Art</span></div>
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Dimitris, our esteemed Warbirds artist, delivered some of the pieces for our Mad Science supplement, and they look fantastic:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdGhyz5iaf3ACam1fjKzT08ZoU8JMH9-8376bTs6YeluTFgEqHP8PrUxVMlpIItFfbD-cgEAsCQZfpEYYtZiNPznY-9Kz-E9kjJLrxiQ2x5olNZ45CqbIJlDFWLWeRy6RDPtZuzh8Z_Bq/s1600/Warbirds_Madscientist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdGhyz5iaf3ACam1fjKzT08ZoU8JMH9-8376bTs6YeluTFgEqHP8PrUxVMlpIItFfbD-cgEAsCQZfpEYYtZiNPznY-9Kz-E9kjJLrxiQ2x5olNZ45CqbIJlDFWLWeRy6RDPtZuzh8Z_Bq/s1600/Warbirds_Madscientist.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This will be an NPC in the book. Note the little imp in the foreground.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguvyYz8Ksmb1KZBFaUAeWEChYL8nYjaA7T78F-TQ1iRU-MWuMNBaAiZyWTg-Dns7YHFomGYg4JDMWAR70LoaY4kbce6Lv5cxWahuz_JmJpi8tnYjB8kjQYD-YIXLxcasCOKXaGXNtzJZs/s1600/Warbirds_Rocketman+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguvyYz8Ksmb1KZBFaUAeWEChYL8nYjaA7T78F-TQ1iRU-MWuMNBaAiZyWTg-Dns7YHFomGYg4JDMWAR70LoaY4kbce6Lv5cxWahuz_JmJpi8tnYjB8kjQYD-YIXLxcasCOKXaGXNtzJZs/s1600/Warbirds_Rocketman+%25281%2529.jpg" height="640" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything about this picture is awesome</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bad News:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">More Delays</span></div>
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We still have more art on the way, but even once all of the pieces are in, construction of the book is going to have to wait until we arrive in Florida. We may miss our Gencon window on this one. That is great sadness.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Good News:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">More Warbirds and Remnants Products Planned</span></div>
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Once we get established in Florida, I am getting back on the writing train. We have at least one product planned for each game for next summer. As per usual, it will be a terrible slog to get them made, but here's hoping that we have a bunch of new stuff ready to sell at Gencon 2015.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Random News:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dragoncon?</span></div>
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Panama City is within striking distance of Atlanta. Maybe we should give Dragoncon a shot (as attendees only). It doesn't sound like a place where a little indie RPG company like ours can make a profit, but it does sound like a heck of a lot of fun. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-75600152851473762972014-04-08T22:34:00.000-04:002014-04-08T22:34:20.287-04:00Stuff... and ThingsSo, What's on my mind? I could talk on any number of subjects today, but I will limit myself to a few odds and ends.<br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Mad Science Update</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The Mad Science sourcebook is in the final edited and ready for layout. There is a slight delay, however. The esteemed game designers over at <a href="http://www.modiphius.com/" target="_blank">Modiphius</a> had a brilliantly successful kickstarter for their Achtung! Cthulhu game. First off, I have met several of their designers and they are all brilliant people doing excellent work, and I highly recommend you check them out. The problem is that we share an artist (the irreplaceable Dim Martin) with our British brethren, and they have first dibs. As I would never dream of violating the ancient and rarified rules involved in the system of dibs, I must wait until they are done with him before he can make our art. This pushes the PDF for Mad Science into the June timeframe, and means we just might get the print version in time for Gencon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">History</span><br />
RPGs turned 40 this year. Holy crap! Personally, I have been gaming for a little over half of those years. I look back and remember things like the satanic panic (<a href="http://disinfo.com/2014/03/mazes-monsters-charlatans-satan-suicide-short-history-satanic-panic/" target="_blank">summarized here</a>), the rise of White Wolf, the Magic card explosion, the D&D collapse, the Wizards resurrection, 3rd Edition, the OGL, the indie movement, the backlash to the indie movement, the war between Paizo and 4th Ed, and a million more little changes and details. Time is weird.<br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Winter</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As a Canadian, it is my duty to complain about winter. This one has been brutal. It's supposedly "spring" but snow lingers like the creepy weird guy that hangs around the game store who doesn't buy anything, but never leaves. As a protest, I ceased all winter snow removal activities. I stopped shovelling my driveway, and just rammed my Mazda through the snowbanks instead. I am sure that my neighbours think I am some sort of lazy slob (I'm not saying I'm not), but I am acting on principle, dammit! Winter is done. It's supposed to be spring. You know what, screw this. My day job is sending me on an exchange position in Florida for a few years. I am getting away from this winter insanity.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Titanfall</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">It's time for a giant robot aside. As a person who designed an entire game about robots beating the shit out of each other, I feel as though I should comment whenever a new piece of giant robot media makes waves. This time it's Titanfall. It has a story... but it's neither good nor engaging. It has first person shooting... it's nothing special; I'd rather play Halo. The big deal is that it has giant robots that beat the shit out of each other. Titanfall's robot combat is fast, brutal, tactical, and incredibly addictive. It's not perfect, and at times it can be frustrating, but I keep loading up to play another mission. There are hundreds if not thousands of Titanfall reviews out there so go check them out, and then figure out if you want to give the game a go. So, to summarize:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Cons</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">-Terrible Story</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">-No Single Player</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">-So-so first person shooting</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pros</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">-Giant robots with guns and missiles and stuff</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">-See above</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Other Projects</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I said I was working on other stuff. That stuff will become more apparent as time goes on. Some things are being shuffled in the schedule right now, and I will see what will be done when. Something just fell onto my plate recently and it requires immediate action.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-45804821500695614602014-03-07T21:12:00.000-05:002014-03-07T21:15:33.266-05:00The rumours of my demise have been greatly exageratedI swear I'm still alive. It's been 6 months since I wrote anything, but my existence was not snuffed out. I have some announcements listed below, but lets start with a question. Where the hell have I been? It's complicated but I will attempt to answer.<br />
<br />
First off, that con plague I had turned into full-up bronchitis and persisted for over a month. It wore me down like an old set of brakes. At the same time, my day job reared its ugly head and saddled me with far more extensive duties than I was expecting. My days became longer, and I was burning out pretty badly. There were dozens of times that I tried to write, but I froze every time and just stared at the blank page on my computer.<br />
<br />
Not writing is bad. Even worse is when I get into the <i>habit</i> of not writing. I procrastinate and put things off again and again. Weeks of not writing stretched into months, and next thing I knew, Christmas was fast approaching. When December rolled around, I was heavily distracted by another of my many chronic issues: physical fitness.<br />
<br />
My day job is military. Even though I work at a desk, I am expected to maintain a certain level of physical fitness. Those who know me know that I am not the most fit/athletic of people, and this is made worse by some long-standing knee problems that required surgery two years ago. I had a fitness test to do in December, and I was officially "freaking out". I should not have been so worried, I passed the test without issue, hooray! With that out of the way, I thought<i> I will totally write over Christmas break!</i> Nope.<br />
<br />
Turns out, passing that fitness test put me in the running for a software job down in the States. They let me know about it the day before I left for vacation, and I immediately lost two months to the incredibly elaborate, immensely complex, Canadian Forces Foreign Posting Screening process. I have spent the last few months doing meetings, appointments, training, and it culminated in getting a wisdom tooth ripped out on Tuesday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mad Science</b></span><br />
Now you would think that being that busy would preclude me from writing at all, but for some reason, it didn't completely. As the screening process neared its end (still not quite done) I found time to sit down and type out all of my ideas for a Mad Science book that had been knocking around in my head for the better part of a 8 months.<br />
<br />
I finished the draft last week, and Cait edited it immediately. It is now in Patrick's hands for copy-editing and proofing, and we are working on the art plan. The book did grow a little in the writing. What was originally going to be a little PDF expansion pamphlet expanded into a full-fledged supplement, complete with some rules expansions, NPCs, places, organizations, gear, creatures, and more. <br />
<br />
The plan right now is to send out the PDF to everyone who backed us, and then make it available for Print-on-Demand at DriveThruRPG.com. Give us a bit of time to work on art and layout, and the book will be ready soon.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Other Plans</b></span><br />
I have some other ideas on the go. Nothing solid, or confirmed yet, but once I figure out a direction, and solidify it somewhat, I will chat about it here. I will say that I hope to make another book before Gencon this year, but I am not quite sure what that book will be yet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-18395796532658012142013-09-02T23:16:00.000-04:002013-09-02T23:16:19.786-04:00Plague, Hacks, Odds, and EndsThe Con plague lingers. I am almost over it, a full 2 weeks later, but I have managed to pass it to my wife and daughter who are none too pleased with me. I wonder if the illness was worth the trip to Gencon? EVERYONE in my house is miserable right now, our Labour Day long weekend consisted of us sitting around being sick.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hacks</span><br />
Warbirds is doing well. People are buying it and stuff. That is good news. What I think is great news is that people are already <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?700753-Warbirds-How-about-a-Macross-Saga-conversion" target="_blank">hacking it</a>. I started my game design adventure hacking games over a decade ago, and to see people to the same thing with my stuff is really exciting.<br />
<br />
If you go to the thread, they are using Warbirds to hack Macross/Robotech. Now if you have been reading the blog for a while, you know I have a special place in my heart for that weird, flawed, anime. However, the license for producing Robotech RPGs is firmly in the hands of Palladium. I have <a href="http://thearmouredwriter.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-mechanics-of-combat.html" target="_blank">criticized their work</a> with the license before, but it is theirs, and they also have a history of litigation, so as much as I want to contribute to the hacking, as a writer I choose to err on the side of caution, and keep my fool mouth shut.<br />
<br />
Keep hacking, guys. I am waiting for a Top Gun hack (be sure to include rules for shirtless volley ball).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Odds and Ends</span><br />
I recently fired off emails to everyone who bought stuff at Gencon. I had to deal with more than one mailer daemon telling me I had the wrong email. I was able to fight through most of them, but there are still a few that stumped me. If you are reading this, and you were supposed to get PDFs, leave a comment and I will sort it out. Next year, people will type their email addresses into my laptop.<br />
<br />
In other news, I have a few return to sender books that need to be re-sent out tomorrow. After that, all Warbirds commitments will be met... except for Mad Science. Still got mad science to do.<br />
<br />
My work is never done.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-75289053974369806342013-08-25T00:43:00.002-04:002013-08-25T00:43:50.925-04:00Con PlagueFirst off, my plan to blog each day of the con fell through. I was up late at parties and social events, and my need for sleep defeated my need to blog. Now it's a few days later, we've done the 16 hour drive home, and things should be back to normal.<br />
<br />
But now I am suffering from a severe case of con plague. Lack of sleep + improper diet + close quarters with thousands of people = one very sick armoured writer.<br />
<br />
Still, I feel obliged to deliver a Gencon After Action Report. So here we go:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Company</span><br />
Outrider Studios did very well at Gencon. We sold a lot of games, met a lot of fans, and made some new industry contacts. Cait, Derek, and Desi all worked tirelessly to promote our products. We did a few book trades and came out of them with some very interesting products.<br />
<br />
Business cards were exchanged, and deals were struck. We submitted Warbirds for next year's Ennies (you never know), and Indie Press Revolution agreed to start carrying the book as well. Our Broken Lands supplement also did very well. We sold all but 2 of them (out of 25) and those last 2 are now for sale at the Kingston Gaming Nexus (a game store that I have been frequenting since college). Our custom dice, always a favourite, sold right out, and we plan to have more for next year.<br />
<br />
All told, Gencon was a huge success for Outrider Studios. Hooray!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Haul</span><br />
We managed to buy a few things despite our time spent in the booth. While there we picked up:<br />
-Iron Kingdoms RPG<br />
-Star Wars - Edge of the Empire<br />
-Victoriana<br />
-The new Firefly RPG<br />
-Achtung Cthulhu<br />
-Cards against Humanity<br />
-Call of Cathulhu<br />
-Other stuff I haven't gone through yet.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Downside</span><br />
While the company did great, I did not. I spent most of my time on the dealer floor in our booth. The only game I played all weekend (other than 5 minute in-booth demos) was a 2 hour Warbirds demo. I didn't spend much time wandering the halls or finding fun pick-up games. It was far too much of a business trip and far too little of the gaming pilgrimage that it has been for me for over a decade. I woke up exhausted, and went to sleep even more burned out. I ate on the convention floor (bad idea), and considering my physical state, I am not at all surprised I caught the con plague.<br />
<br />
Cait experienced similar issues (minus the plague), and we've agreed that next year we are registering for more events. There are 4 of us at the booth (plus a few friends now and then) and we can afford to not be there for every hour of every day, So next year will be about fun, in addition to selling stuff.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What's Next</span><br />
First off, my lungs have to stop trying to drown me, my throat needs to stop feeling like it's on fire, and my head needs to stop hurting. Once we have those sorted out, I have to send out drivethru coupons to all the people who bought at the Con.<br />
<br />
After that, I have a ton of writing to do. I also have a full-time job, and a 1 year old daughter to manage... I may have to give up on sleep for a few months.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-27500478585003866972013-08-17T01:13:00.003-04:002013-08-17T01:13:42.658-04:00Gencon Adventures Day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Fridays are always slow for sales at the con. But while sales are slow, lots of other stuff happened today. Let's review:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
-Visa! That's right, we got Visa working for the first time ever. Hooray! This has made sales way easier. Thanks random customer who suggested <a href="http://stripe.com/">stripe.com</a>!<br />
<br />
-Fantasy Flight games: seriously guys, I want to buy your stuff. Stop with the half hour+ lineups so you can shut up and take my money!<br />
<br />
-We talked to our artist cousin Chris, who wrote <a href="http://www.modiphius.com/achtung-cthulhu.html" target="_blank">Achtung Cthulhu</a>. He has some brilliant ideas and nothing beats WWII Mythos. Our Warbirds artist, Dimitris, works for Chris as well.<br />
<br />
-We chatted with Kevin of <a href="http://2gms1mic.com/" target="_blank">2gms1mic</a>. He ran a Remnants game for 5 months for the podcasting team. He rocks, and they rock.<br />
<br />
-Monte Cooke. We met him. he promised to sign my copy of Numenera. That is all.<br />
<br />
We watched the Ennies for a bit, and then took a trip to Steak n' Shake. We ended the evening at the annual party hosted by our friends over at <a href="http://gamerconcepts.com/catalog/" target="_blank">Gamer Concepts</a>.<br />
<br />
There is a little photo evidence on the day:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn01eqx5GeB3xoxxhGNi6gp013lxZepuaBlDbNgXb7iYwmT1Iok8lhVdK1ZP_73zvTFj9sg1Fqqj95t63B7qWNDc4eCuRj1YQNsf5F8AEdB6FaUFFHQQQ3zDZD_wpP4a1jwt418PpF4NIQ/s1600/IMG_1968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn01eqx5GeB3xoxxhGNi6gp013lxZepuaBlDbNgXb7iYwmT1Iok8lhVdK1ZP_73zvTFj9sg1Fqqj95t63B7qWNDc4eCuRj1YQNsf5F8AEdB6FaUFFHQQQ3zDZD_wpP4a1jwt418PpF4NIQ/s320/IMG_1968.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even though sales are slow, I ran a lot of demos on the day.<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgLyRdpvFi5mokYt0Rp5gD0VEFYU9PVWTRpX_4K4o6_XCKvEaSU2NMA7h6FJyKd1jro0HFvG3gdxd_n_bfI2SdWYSp0kzy2fJUTwpsDGSbanre8qgr0dP0tkO6aUpMsbIUeIc0yk8qGdd/s1600/IMG_1969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgLyRdpvFi5mokYt0Rp5gD0VEFYU9PVWTRpX_4K4o6_XCKvEaSU2NMA7h6FJyKd1jro0HFvG3gdxd_n_bfI2SdWYSp0kzy2fJUTwpsDGSbanre8qgr0dP0tkO6aUpMsbIUeIc0yk8qGdd/s320/IMG_1969.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pilots Derek and Duffy looking sharp.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDa0sBYGwOUEDzMyNOEKVN5y6ZU6s3sOoe4Ayax2LaH23DCcVSpnUZJbrmsQCMfDtD_M4J_VOCaXEvhVLU9eON-XzRuKG3YorqS1po53MpBYUz8O_ux7h31WEHrBd5h-YDxt0QCbN-udD/s1600/IMG_1972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDa0sBYGwOUEDzMyNOEKVN5y6ZU6s3sOoe4Ayax2LaH23DCcVSpnUZJbrmsQCMfDtD_M4J_VOCaXEvhVLU9eON-XzRuKG3YorqS1po53MpBYUz8O_ux7h31WEHrBd5h-YDxt0QCbN-udD/s320/IMG_1972.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wandered a bit and found this dangerous alien. He talked, moved, and threatened the local con goers with extermination.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-51921939766647421512013-08-15T22:01:00.000-04:002013-08-15T22:01:14.242-04:00Gencon Adventures Day 1Well, day 1 of 4 is done. Sales were good, the fans were many, and people seemed to like our new game. Highlights of the day:<br />
<br />
-We almost made sales equal to our last Gencon total. That's the old 4 day total. In 1 day. Tomorrow I am handcuffing the team to the booth. Sales are best when they are all there.<br />
<br />
-Strange man thinking I would trade him one of our custom dice for a business card for an Indian restaurant. I do not understand.<br />
<br />
-A customer cried in front of Cait because he loves gaming <i>that much. </i>He has real passion and we applaud him for showing it.<br />
<br />
-A visit from the awesome podcasters <a href="http://2gms1mic.com/" target="_blank">2 GMs 1 Mic</a>. They bought some Warbirds stuff. They played Remnants last year, maybe they'll start up a Warbirds game...<br />
<br />
-The valiant comrades from <a href="http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/" target="_blank">Indie Press Revolution</a> agreed to carry and distributeWarbirds. Yay!<br />
<br />
-<a href="https://wilwheaton.net/" target="_blank">Wil Wheaton!</a> So the patron saint of geeks everywhere happened to walk down our aisle. Desi squeaked and elbowed Cait. They both froze in awe. I, strangely emboldened, jumped up, grabbed a copy of Warbirds and planted myself in front of the man and gave him a free review copy. I hope he likes it. I got him to wave to the team. I think it might have been the highlight of their weekend.<br />
<br />
I hope tomorrow will be as awesome as today was.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-18911845504184370922013-08-14T21:52:00.001-04:002013-08-14T21:52:35.823-04:00Gencon Adventures Day 0<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Today was a good day, but maybe a little too long.</div>
<br />
So last night's budget motel made sleep difficult. I didn't fall asleep until 4:00, and Cait woke up at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep. It was an uncomfortable night. The morning brought a quick trip to Target for supplies, a stop at the McDonalds for breakfast, and some navigation to get to Indy itself.<br />
<br />
We checked in, grabbed the boxes that the Holiday Inn Express graciously held for us, and then went to the convention center for booth setup. Cait's organizational skills once again made this a relatively quick and painless process. By 1 pm the booth was ready to go:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wVf0BXIyez0n4Fjkr2f-Pt5kHB08UZKiLeoq8Onq8vggqco7zmBmL3r2WsIkuSa4-gEEOFzA-LwltTYyA7KvqxlsC5jRI81Wb2P5I2fdCCgcJDEgTkYX-Mge-JD2H5Vg3ASiyHk9FldB/s1600/photo+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wVf0BXIyez0n4Fjkr2f-Pt5kHB08UZKiLeoq8Onq8vggqco7zmBmL3r2WsIkuSa4-gEEOFzA-LwltTYyA7KvqxlsC5jRI81Wb2P5I2fdCCgcJDEgTkYX-Mge-JD2H5Vg3ASiyHk9FldB/s400/photo+%25289%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That is our daughter's Duffy bear dressed up as a fighter pilot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />We spent the afternoon wandering the halls of the convention center and the streets of Indy. It took longer to find a place to buy shampoo than it did to set up the whole booth. After dinner at the pub next door, we came back to the hotel room. Derek and Desi headed back out to a party, but Cait and I are exhausted, and bedding down for the night. Cait is asleep next to me, and I will be going the same way soon. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tomorrow is day 1 and I am excited to meet fans and sell a few books. I will let you know how it goes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-74608191039482361232013-08-13T22:33:00.000-04:002013-08-13T22:33:27.273-04:00Gencon Adventures Day -1So we began our annual pilgrimage to Gencon today. Our team consists of myself, my lovely wife Cait, The Great Derek Breedon, and the wonderful Desiree Barlow. Unlike previous years, where there was always some sort of insanely early morning start combined with some sort of transport calamity, this year Cait planned the routing and the stops, and the trip is going smoothly thus far.<br />
<br />
We began at the leisurely hour of 8:30. We left little Alanna with her grandparents, and then picked up the team. Traffic was light, highway speeds were high, and we passed the day arguing Breaking Bad and Doctor Who theories, among other things. We didn't quite get to Indianapolis today. We are actually in the town of Anderson, about 45 minutes outside the city, and we won't venture into the city proper until tomorrow morning.<br />
<br />
Our hotel in Anderson is... interesting. The staff is very nice, but we immediately witnessed an "altercation" at the front desk with an angry octogenarian from Arkansas who didn't want to pay full price for his budget room. We then discovered our extremely lumpy beds, 70s-tastic ambiance, and the decorative used condom in the parking lot. We locked the car up <i>tight</i>.<br />
<br />
The good news is it's one night. We are moving to the Holiday Inn Express tomorrow, and this should be a little nicer.<br />
<br />
The high point of the day was dinner. Our motel is right next to the Red Lobster, and it was amazing. We ate far too much, and our server, Jason, was top-notch. Here's some photo evidence:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvndy0sIQVnrQnAdpf1HdjCCtiShpZlJy0wUjJHiNHSrD8ROkB4a15JlWSPxh6gtwt0pCwm2Dx1-MAvQrlHYxGx1auk48DV67FPJnVy9o4RluPCeyBMqUh7t_zcWv7DG7Yrt8gdJqhBlb/s1600/photo+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvndy0sIQVnrQnAdpf1HdjCCtiShpZlJy0wUjJHiNHSrD8ROkB4a15JlWSPxh6gtwt0pCwm2Dx1-MAvQrlHYxGx1auk48DV67FPJnVy9o4RluPCeyBMqUh7t_zcWv7DG7Yrt8gdJqhBlb/s400/photo+(7).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cait and I with all of the ocean's shrimp.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ0wk0sFK_C9DvLWrBMH2ezIHuSu1xWakC-KxfTLC9AE2Ml3C2XJO_OiIXT1XowZNzgCvxXnrIgpS3nGlhTWctIWUlD8MrU9ZdDD0X6aZIALQup2ffN6ywRm5HH4G3nIfX0_FzKriAa71/s1600/photo+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ0wk0sFK_C9DvLWrBMH2ezIHuSu1xWakC-KxfTLC9AE2Ml3C2XJO_OiIXT1XowZNzgCvxXnrIgpS3nGlhTWctIWUlD8MrU9ZdDD0X6aZIALQup2ffN6ywRm5HH4G3nIfX0_FzKriAa71/s400/photo+(8).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desi and Derek.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Tomorrow we go to Indie itself, and set up our booth. Tonight, we will make a valiant attempt to sleep. We may yet fail...<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-42848330388600975872013-07-25T23:02:00.000-04:002013-07-25T23:02:10.871-04:00The Books Have Arrived! (And Other Stuff)So, after much waiting, Warbirds has arrived in late July as promised! Photographic evidence follows, and there are some more notes below, so read to the end if you are curious:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20ls3nt_nfsCHMFuYX2HpvT5YrwCBpcQ44Loz6IhW3kqICvECVSIW2crzTtTyXudcr8ey_iSBT-TrBczQIGIPjQo3qZWEy6s9k7aP4cHtUHLngiYHblVR3P6_9ZC-TGpKXqJgKSbwpnPC/s1600/photo+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20ls3nt_nfsCHMFuYX2HpvT5YrwCBpcQ44Loz6IhW3kqICvECVSIW2crzTtTyXudcr8ey_iSBT-TrBczQIGIPjQo3qZWEy6s9k7aP4cHtUHLngiYHblVR3P6_9ZC-TGpKXqJgKSbwpnPC/s400/photo+(6).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fedex boxes in their natural state</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsxDydibtgr8t8OHwAZf5qkk8eVoBT5kneJE0bviYrwCN1pWMgjmdxO4xyqpvjXU8jiRKZAtseEcLmnlWb0q9O9lGJyDyefoqCxwwfdOm1f9akRCNUC0VxWgLW8mgNVxZvyldDlhRgmjw/s1600/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsxDydibtgr8t8OHwAZf5qkk8eVoBT5kneJE0bviYrwCN1pWMgjmdxO4xyqpvjXU8jiRKZAtseEcLmnlWb0q9O9lGJyDyefoqCxwwfdOm1f9akRCNUC0VxWgLW8mgNVxZvyldDlhRgmjw/s400/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cracking open the first box to find the the Warbirds books inside.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_yUrMI3uomnB8WCOV6YD5i1crJ9qasm4gKwDeCb1fPwQUMM0tJVXvAw9KcYJP8RdAuI6gbcJ_SQPb8ksySsSUCJl_jorbqWJ9ynODdsf-3uDnoR_tW-_DoyfdbUSWB4Dq_fUHIiACgJ-/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_yUrMI3uomnB8WCOV6YD5i1crJ9qasm4gKwDeCb1fPwQUMM0tJVXvAw9KcYJP8RdAuI6gbcJ_SQPb8ksySsSUCJl_jorbqWJ9ynODdsf-3uDnoR_tW-_DoyfdbUSWB4Dq_fUHIiACgJ-/s400/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had 75 envelopes to fill with all the books and goodies.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESPyrcbTbnbtrIEqutplVjpdlI7EQJ70jO-IhGCpVLiIovD1gfu2bNIZJGns6fliZMycIXsojsIS1i3J-_QKPhPf_zhGSFo7W8hakhtzLNKRne7EfFbDPHcg88i0fxoy1JLvaQvTsWirO/s1600/photo+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESPyrcbTbnbtrIEqutplVjpdlI7EQJ70jO-IhGCpVLiIovD1gfu2bNIZJGns6fliZMycIXsojsIS1i3J-_QKPhPf_zhGSFo7W8hakhtzLNKRne7EfFbDPHcg88i0fxoy1JLvaQvTsWirO/s400/photo+%25283%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took me and Cait a few hours to pack everything up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1IUjg8bvvqTchKo2nmUELgfyLOIRnKteTXFyR4fD0evaJTpE1DTkXN4-WQVwXQ5WYrCT4x4Zs-SnNEadXx4iWOVKK0aqTshEihlFCtapW3oov7JI3CYsfUUMrQowKcVNBtP-TlYWTzs/s1600/IMG_2353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1IUjg8bvvqTchKo2nmUELgfyLOIRnKteTXFyR4fD0evaJTpE1DTkXN4-WQVwXQ5WYrCT4x4Zs-SnNEadXx4iWOVKK0aqTshEihlFCtapW3oov7JI3CYsfUUMrQowKcVNBtP-TlYWTzs/s400/IMG_2353.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All 75 packages made up with our daughter's help.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Shipping Notes</span></div>
<div>
It will be a few days before the books ship out, as I will probably have to take time off work to harass the Canada Post people for a few hours to get all these books shipped. Also, once you receive your package, please contact us if there is something missing, and we will send you a replacement via express post. </div>
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Be careful opening your packages when they arrive; the ziploc bags holding the tokens for the Dogfight Tracker are right at the top of the envelope. Careless use of scissors might cause damage.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Electronic Products</span></div>
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The PDF version of Warbirds as well as the PDF for the WWII source book are done (we ended up with 25 aircraft in the source book). We will be rolling them out to backers next week, and will become available for purchase on DriveThruRPG on the 14th of August.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Gencon</span></div>
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We are getting all of our materials together for Gencon and we couldn't be more excited. We will be selling Warbirds, Edge, and Remnants. We have already set aside books for backers who requested a Gencon pickup, and your books will be waiting for you at booth 1653. If you drop by the booth, we will be happy to give you a quick demo of any of the games, and I will be willing to run a 2 hour session by request if there is enough interest. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Final Note</span></div>
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We are nowhere near done the summer rush yet, and there will be more posts soon.</div>
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"Very exciting times."</div>
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-Tank</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-48259619506347696792013-07-19T23:59:00.000-04:002013-07-19T23:59:21.331-04:00The Damned Map and Other ThingsI know you are all hoping for more Warbirds updates, but things with printers move slow, so you're going to have to wait a bit more on that one. Sorry.<br />
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What I want to talk about today is the map for Remnants. When the game came out it had very little space for a map (that is one of the few problems with a 6x9 format). To make up for this, I spent a few hours in Photoshop labeling a high resolution map and then hosting it on our website.<br />
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My error, and it was a grievous one, was to host on my old website and then link to it from the far superior Remnants website. Things were OK until I forgot about my old site. It eventually crashed, and then the registration expired. The hosting company had the wrong email address for me, so I received no updates when it went down.<br />
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The first sign I had that something was wrong was when people started telling us that the Remnants map wasn't working. Confused, I looked into it, and eventually found the problem. I contacted the web host, renewed my old site, and discovered that all my old data was gone. I tried for a long time to recover it, but it's lost. Recently I thought I had someone who happened to download the map before it dropped, but no luck.<br />
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So, I finally went back to Photoshop and built a new map and hosted it in the right spot (with all the maps for Edge). You can take a look at all 2.6 megs of it:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.edgerpg.com/maps/BrokenLandsHiResMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.edgerpg.com/maps/BrokenLandsHiResMap.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be sure to check out the full size map.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Going to Gencon</span><div>
Cait and I are taking Outrider Studios to Gencon this year. We are bringing the Great Derek Breedon and the wonderful Desiree Barlow with us. We should also have Warbirds, Remnants, Broken Lands, and Edge with us. If you're going, you can come visit us at booth 1653. We'd love to meet you and give you a 5 minute demo of one of the games. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Go See Pacific Rim</span></div>
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As a person who made a game about giant robots beating the shit out of giant monsters, I was pretty stoked to see a movie about giant robots beating the shit out of giant monsters. The movie exceeded my expectations. It was hundreds of tons of rocket punches, power swords, and armoured goodness. Go see it and watch the awesome.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Other Games</span></div>
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I backed Jason Pitre's <a href="http://www.genesisoflegend.com/spark/" target="_blank">Spark RPG</a> and I have been reading through it. Jason has created a brilliant, intellectual game. If you remember my old Grognard/Warhol comparison, it falls squarely in the Warhol camp. It is a game designed around structured narrative building and examining deeply held beliefs. I have to admit, it is very different from the games I like to create. My games are about nostalgic wish fulfillment and focus on emulating a single concept in a fast and simple, but not <i>too</i> simple, manner (robots, dogfights, etc), and creating something beautiful in that narrow focus.</div>
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Jason is far more ambitious. He has created a setting generator that treats the setting as an expansive, powerful character. His pre-generated settings are full of contentious issues, moral dilemmas, and multiple layers of complexity. The characters reflect and are directly linked to the setting as well as each other. The mechanical system that pushes his game is simple and easy, and if you remember my previous posts about mechanics, his design hits all the high points. </div>
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So, I am not in the business of game reviewing, nor do I intend to start, so I will not give Jason a score or any such thing, but if what I have said so far intrigues you, you might want to check out his game. Oh, and the cover art is pretty cool:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZdppnrQGuZ4Sn92cYvMBOLMWqAnwDP5ohsgY7-72TX8E2MibInSF0N-wYw3a5US4xFNFtqb2JQzEd1nGPJ4CeoHR-l0x38iAMXzokFY7u1ffnRXT1boOI5WnzIp5zgX0CwcfQGG03nQO/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZdppnrQGuZ4Sn92cYvMBOLMWqAnwDP5ohsgY7-72TX8E2MibInSF0N-wYw3a5US4xFNFtqb2JQzEd1nGPJ4CeoHR-l0x38iAMXzokFY7u1ffnRXT1boOI5WnzIp5zgX0CwcfQGG03nQO/s640/photo+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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It took me 5 photos with my Iphone to get 1 that wasn't blurry</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That's all for Now</span></div>
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I will update here the moment I have some Warbirds news for you.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-56856462897681603322013-07-11T23:20:00.000-04:002013-07-11T23:20:27.308-04:00The ProofAfter some absolutely gut-wrenching delays, we received the Warbirds proof today. It is, in a word, beautiful. I snapped a bunch of photos with my iphone:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdWWFcP8ZMvvOg43myuupk7FJu0V5YyVc2Ofbwz_1TSIYQ-f-wDq5OL8K1FqVShe9N7TXQM3a8VxSKNnzDccdej77wdyfW0SL1Fh6riL-ReFQt7VJheXhnk9fNLYiYR68Fq3kR_FjzCiX/s1600/IMG_0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdWWFcP8ZMvvOg43myuupk7FJu0V5YyVc2Ofbwz_1TSIYQ-f-wDq5OL8K1FqVShe9N7TXQM3a8VxSKNnzDccdej77wdyfW0SL1Fh6riL-ReFQt7VJheXhnk9fNLYiYR68Fq3kR_FjzCiX/s640/IMG_0038.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front cover. The framed photo style is repeated throughout the book. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFhB7SH_0elrP9DN7M6LeuaUD4ZVhV6YkJVSBMuElW48dGh0b1gjU_hdMIbzmRYn_8f4hC_EKVF2r2pnHFGTjXW-I8Vs9Nd7A4bLwNbtxFvGxhZGMqWO1l1D7OcrZCviZJ0bPH4M7F1Yi/s1600/IMG_0040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFhB7SH_0elrP9DN7M6LeuaUD4ZVhV6YkJVSBMuElW48dGh0b1gjU_hdMIbzmRYn_8f4hC_EKVF2r2pnHFGTjXW-I8Vs9Nd7A4bLwNbtxFvGxhZGMqWO1l1D7OcrZCviZJ0bPH4M7F1Yi/s640/IMG_0040.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back cover. We agonized for days trying to decide what to say, but I am very happy with what Cait and I (who am I kidding? It was almost all Cait) came up with. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-tFGrUj83owbXOxOkJ50EVaDzKCodiF6LjUpBoV_F3c9oDxXh6ak_Vv7stbjp4HzasMu1gjwtS1OsQ_N7irJIHP4Z6zMTTXsDjgYfkOvfnWuigAbW-fcssZMpx_pEdwz_RAtAkyT2aJc/s1600/IMG_0041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-tFGrUj83owbXOxOkJ50EVaDzKCodiF6LjUpBoV_F3c9oDxXh6ak_Vv7stbjp4HzasMu1gjwtS1OsQ_N7irJIHP4Z6zMTTXsDjgYfkOvfnWuigAbW-fcssZMpx_pEdwz_RAtAkyT2aJc/s640/IMG_0041.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kind of a blurry shot of one of the nations. It has been noted several times that my photography skills are lacking.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknNdKu7LIrjIoPLR4-x-_gEYtISCqpHGHEFhksHGg_kPLpGeAppI4shn0PA6yX-DOxB6yEamY1TgDQyd4Gr3KXIYMcXTsJisXHnt4Ig_g4P9xM9ckbn2BE48B2X2KICfITlc8mzOaY_rg/s1600/IMG_0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknNdKu7LIrjIoPLR4-x-_gEYtISCqpHGHEFhksHGg_kPLpGeAppI4shn0PA6yX-DOxB6yEamY1TgDQyd4Gr3KXIYMcXTsJisXHnt4Ig_g4P9xM9ckbn2BE48B2X2KICfITlc8mzOaY_rg/s400/IMG_0043.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a page showing an air combat example. The comic ties nicely into the text. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuaRPaX8sM91mpFMRZsuqbEH86ZRUzAnJBCBdb3A68NIwuLkWp3V-hViB0YJR3Jj21fEVxLw4AuYEUdtujHJabtIW-qzqw4cwgEiiMU6_pCq-fFVg0N67lWdiJwKH1Q1xf0-BQZrpQe1g/s1600/IMG_0044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuaRPaX8sM91mpFMRZsuqbEH86ZRUzAnJBCBdb3A68NIwuLkWp3V-hViB0YJR3Jj21fEVxLw4AuYEUdtujHJabtIW-qzqw4cwgEiiMU6_pCq-fFVg0N67lWdiJwKH1Q1xf0-BQZrpQe1g/s400/IMG_0044.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You might have notice that the border changes colour. Each of the first 4 chapters has a different coloured background, with colours repeating for the last 4 chapters. I am a big fan of making the book easy to navigate, so in addition to the colours, we put the chapter name at the top of each page, and a counter showing the chapter number in each outside margin. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCfmTeWY36ebV8fGUhSc5oOmEZuIju7-8og0rN2NOLGH2KkDmiUdK84ozs98q35fN3hUuht6OdFH_yzWQCNUXA3wAxN9JRiWwBSXa6fAsjgRlSSExGKo4YZ4gZ8RaM96Hj3jvFThz7pP9/s1600/IMG_0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCfmTeWY36ebV8fGUhSc5oOmEZuIju7-8og0rN2NOLGH2KkDmiUdK84ozs98q35fN3hUuht6OdFH_yzWQCNUXA3wAxN9JRiWwBSXa6fAsjgRlSSExGKo4YZ4gZ8RaM96Hj3jvFThz7pP9/s400/IMG_0045.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is from our plane creation chapter. Those of you familiar with Remnants will recognize our "start with a generic design and then customize it with traits" system of vehicle design.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmF4Fp37mp2lf3PnV7qIHpRctV8b-sZFTz09mC3lC9KmFvrX5H01cy3mq0zN4tk6y2b7nmZRVGsyDAEpayYdZodHQRDlqk-JCPimyVpLj0EU3eWVvXss3oIlEx-YJim9w6rqTF7DW_9vU9/s1600/IMG_0048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmF4Fp37mp2lf3PnV7qIHpRctV8b-sZFTz09mC3lC9KmFvrX5H01cy3mq0zN4tk6y2b7nmZRVGsyDAEpayYdZodHQRDlqk-JCPimyVpLj0EU3eWVvXss3oIlEx-YJim9w6rqTF7DW_9vU9/s400/IMG_0048.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very blurry shot of the Character and Warbrid sheets at the back of the book. We are going to put some larger and more robust sheets on the Warbirds website.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Next Step</span><br />
So now we have the proof, hooray! Our work is not done yet. Now we need to review it, decide if we need to revise anything, and then order the first bulk shipment of the book. While that's going on, we need to finalize the PDF version of the book, and make sure it matches up with the print version. We are also working on the WWII PDF, and the Mad science book is waiting in the wings. After that, we are supposed to start on Broken Lands II. The work is never done...<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-47568043154147104542013-07-07T21:20:00.003-04:002013-07-07T21:20:44.512-04:00Tokens, Lots of TokensWith Warbirds at the printer for proofing, Cait and I have time to do all sorts of fun stuff. Today we spent five hours putting almost 4000 tokens into 102 tiny plastic ziplock bags. But the counters for the dogfight tracker are done. I have photographic evidence:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMh3i7qTEC0EeoJl9SrApnyC9AfgnrIEIeDm19p6ylykgZsrHqE3tnucf0JhYICE_0Jf0DG1k5L7bdiYG73FI7hRPOyi0WDuY-Z0aUGg2j8oH4e64d_rINjd0P7yUZSawkCBRQRTvmQ4N/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMh3i7qTEC0EeoJl9SrApnyC9AfgnrIEIeDm19p6ylykgZsrHqE3tnucf0JhYICE_0Jf0DG1k5L7bdiYG73FI7hRPOyi0WDuY-Z0aUGg2j8oH4e64d_rINjd0P7yUZSawkCBRQRTvmQ4N/s640/photo.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
If you look at this photo you can see the templates that held the counters. We popped them out 8 at a time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AL47m5o6Yb9jN07MMsWi3t_fDZVV4WsKDPNjKgTqhMAGp8xc1fMILr-DbEXIzUeKp4Ykk5HjwDMJB40Omwa24HlefP6g_bzxh_w7hEjf6ckXE_IsgtcLxLbm6NoA120PSZMSXlIWdar1/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AL47m5o6Yb9jN07MMsWi3t_fDZVV4WsKDPNjKgTqhMAGp8xc1fMILr-DbEXIzUeKp4Ykk5HjwDMJB40Omwa24HlefP6g_bzxh_w7hEjf6ckXE_IsgtcLxLbm6NoA120PSZMSXlIWdar1/s640/photo+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
We hope to have the Warbirds proof soon, and then we will send all of this great stuff to our backers (and bring the leftovers to Gencon).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-32468526805809992892013-06-20T16:13:00.000-04:002013-06-20T16:13:58.098-04:00A Long Silence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">Ok, I have been quiet for a little too long now. Sometimes work, life, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">and projects get the better of me and I go quiet for awhile. But, not </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">to worry, we have been busy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Warbirds!</span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">So Warbirds, where are we? Well, I am touching up the last of the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">layout and we are submitting the book for the printer on Monday (June </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">24th). We had some delays in art and editing, and a few last minute </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">changes, but the book is looking pretty awesome. I would like to thank </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">our artist, Dimitris, and our copy editor, Patrick, for turning in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">some excellent work.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">Proofing the book with the printer will take a few weeks, but I expect </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">to have copies to ship to backers in mid to late July. In the meantime, here's a little teaser art:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoe41iVpKvRLH7Ay2m0liJjh4Z5E5AYXcSAL2NA0z9A_ROxTqUj1nAy0kCFIRdPAA4Haj64TsCSsfvZiBiue8NjMkZPwNYFfWcyw_8ECNBu29QJxF-O2kiWdjWehFIE9210C5ZR3JNjQV/s1600/Teaser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoe41iVpKvRLH7Ay2m0liJjh4Z5E5AYXcSAL2NA0z9A_ROxTqUj1nAy0kCFIRdPAA4Haj64TsCSsfvZiBiue8NjMkZPwNYFfWcyw_8ECNBu29QJxF-O2kiWdjWehFIE9210C5ZR3JNjQV/s640/Teaser.jpg" width="508" /></span></a></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Warbirds Extras</span></h2>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We've also been working hard on all the little extras we promised. </span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Dice – Done!</span></h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dwtr5frqMfdtU8H9kUiy5ySKVtIh5i48kWCAIfZiHwj72YZk1V30M2z_CF2CFrZg9940sbKuqySGupyQ3Iu9Ppz9Z6iQ-Q5zSUdGXYMc8qYEL7FemGlF8cBlId1kbbSVsINrhUxg5zQD/s1600/3d6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dwtr5frqMfdtU8H9kUiy5ySKVtIh5i48kWCAIfZiHwj72YZk1V30M2z_CF2CFrZg9940sbKuqySGupyQ3Iu9Ppz9Z6iQ-Q5zSUdGXYMc8qYEL7FemGlF8cBlId1kbbSVsINrhUxg5zQD/s400/3d6.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">here's a few loose ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JpxV-bygSqcaDsd-ha9ILr2V7ezdOVLIP0S970dE3eEJstA1m32TT6L8QeDHIc5zNYJXzP39hKPfqkFgnHFeoiBw4f0hpQhuFKPknd_hqJzMeAhHgZ-JAVOajSldQPzsYjBq9e__qH8A/s1600/Dice+bags.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JpxV-bygSqcaDsd-ha9ILr2V7ezdOVLIP0S970dE3eEJstA1m32TT6L8QeDHIc5zNYJXzP39hKPfqkFgnHFeoiBw4f0hpQhuFKPknd_hqJzMeAhHgZ-JAVOajSldQPzsYjBq9e__qH8A/s400/Dice+bags.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's all 200 dice from Chessex</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">GM Screens – Done!</span></h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1M4vv_FiBVoev2jb3a4uQqEfRPTYsnVkuY6ZkMePmGEctiDlPdDuUZfaperixR5__SPll2kja1TLsrSDFhtiZ43jUAqwCkv7Mf_qBzRIzBUPHFlVX-OzkqrYO3mT3bmugMcYnYxxaQbQ/s1600/screenback.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1M4vv_FiBVoev2jb3a4uQqEfRPTYsnVkuY6ZkMePmGEctiDlPdDuUZfaperixR5__SPll2kja1TLsrSDFhtiZ43jUAqwCkv7Mf_qBzRIzBUPHFlVX-OzkqrYO3mT3bmugMcYnYxxaQbQ/s400/screenback.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">100 screens all neatly stacked</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60ohTnsPDjCUwhpv_ppNHT6zOVPrHNSjFwsHEarxIONqeH1zbRO3-LdQ9ux4XRlybIvNBxoloQ4DrpkFNLb4or-i7-PjnjYnDx9qSpjme_EAJAP9sWTZE5nZ7q2BXiADX0XtTU-IqcsIc/s1600/screenfront.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60ohTnsPDjCUwhpv_ppNHT6zOVPrHNSjFwsHEarxIONqeH1zbRO3-LdQ9ux4XRlybIvNBxoloQ4DrpkFNLb4or-i7-PjnjYnDx9qSpjme_EAJAP9sWTZE5nZ7q2BXiADX0XtTU-IqcsIc/s400/screenfront.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here they are from the front</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Dogfight Tracker – Done!</span></h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTnCSGE6Uw0c1Ee5z1P8wLHTDao8XmMpTxz80lPEFETCelKhsFC8Iv38gk-rGGxaO-lJR7OUiOUqK1yBJ_-ouj0Q0_3YfbjZIha710NwPEysz6sjERMjdFX4weBkznfIrlnnTCpW92mry/s1600/Trackers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTnCSGE6Uw0c1Ee5z1P8wLHTDao8XmMpTxz80lPEFETCelKhsFC8Iv38gk-rGGxaO-lJR7OUiOUqK1yBJ_-ouj0Q0_3YfbjZIha710NwPEysz6sjERMjdFX4weBkznfIrlnnTCpW92mry/s320/Trackers.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tokens – Not quite done. </span></h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">They are printed, and should be done before </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">the end of the month. We are just waiting on a custom die-cutter to </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">cut out the 2000 circles we need.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">WWII Aircraft PDF - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In Progress </span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">We have written the few modifications needed for a gritty </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">WWII game, and we have compiled the most “well-known” fighters of the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">era. We are now working on some bombers as well as conversion notes </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">for naval ships.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">Fighters on the list so far:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Supermarine Spitfire</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Hawker Hurricane</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-F6F Hellcat</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-P-38 Lightning</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-P-39 Airacobra</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-P-40 Warhawk</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-P-47 Thunderbolt</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-P-51 Mustang</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Messerschmidtt BF-109</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Messerschmidtt ME-262</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Focke-Wulf Fw190</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Junkers Ju 88</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Mitsubishi A6M Zero</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">Bombers:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-B-17 Flying fortress</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Avro Lancaster</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Ju 87 Stuka</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Heinkel He 111</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;">-Mitsubishi G4M Betty</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222;">If you think there is a plane vital to the list that I missed, leave a comment and let me know. There's still time to add it in.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">You Must Be Mad! - Early Planning</span></h4>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">The Mad Science book is still in planning stages. Writing on the first draft will begin after Warbirds is sent to the printers. We are planning on a fall release as we laid out in the Indiegogo campaign.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">That's About It...</span></h2>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">I could go on about my personal life, and I have a post I want to write about the new Superman movie, but I'll save that for another time. For now, back to InDesign and touching up some more Layout. </span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-71791835502902843932013-04-13T13:08:00.000-04:002013-04-13T13:08:19.458-04:00Modifications and TweaksSo we just have a few days left in the Warbirds campaign, and we just breached $4000 (woot!). While all of this amazing fund raising has been going on, we have been playtesting the game and Cait and I are almost done the final re-write before we send the whole thing to our copy-editor to get rehashed one more time. After all the playtesting, the final rewrite is changing things I never thought to change and fine-tuning the game in some very awesome ways. So lets talk about some of these changes.<br />
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<h4>
Thach Weave</h4>
That is not a misspelling of thatch. Admiral John S. Thach was an American naval aviator during WWII, and one of the best aerial tacticians in history. The Thach Weave was a defensive tactic that he devised that allowed the aerodynamically inferior F4F Wildcats of the US navy to fend off attacks from Japanese Zeros. It required two wingmen to fly together in a weaving motion that protected both from trailing enemies.<br />
<br />
I really wanted to fit the Weave into the Warbirds ruleset, but we already had a mechanic for fighters working together, and it seemed to overcomplicate things. I finally figured it out just a few days ago, and added it to our Advanced Stunt list. This makes it an optional move, but one with huge benefits when employed correctly. The text reads like this:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><b>Thach Weave</b> - This is the only stunt that requires a wingman. After dodging enemy fire, the pilot weaves in front of his wingman in order to drag an enemy into the shot. The pilot’s Dogfighting roll counts as a 1 in the next round, but their wingman gets a +3 to the Dogfighting roll. This is an excellent stunt to use when facing a smaller number of highly skilled opponents.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
The Skill List</h4>
<div>
The Rapidfire system has never had a very long skill list. We try to keep it short and simple. For Warbirds, though, we had to change a few things. The first thing was adding the 4 skills for when characters are in their planes. Those were pretty easy and obvious. What was less obvious is what we needed for characters out of their planes. It took a lot of playtesting to see where the skill list fell short, and where we had too much.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For those of you familiar with the ruleset, there will be some differences. First, There are a lot fewer personal combat skills. Everything is covered with just Close Combat, Shooting, and Athletics. We dropped Archery/Throwing, Unarmed Combat and Dodge. We collapsed the skills down so that players would have less to deal with if they want to be good at combat, and still have skill points left over to diversify.We also collapsed all of the science skills (Sciences, Social Sciences, History) down to the single skill "Academics". It makes it easier to be an educated character, and, as above, have a diversified character.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We also added and expanded skills, especially those that deal with social situations. There is now Persuade and Publicity to help characters deal with their adoring fans, and we added Mechanics, of course, so characters can modify their planes. The functions of other skills has changed slightly, all in the service of making the game smoother, faster, and more run. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Tweaks</h4>
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There are all sorts of other tweaks and alterations being made to the manuscript, but we are almost finished with the final re-write. I can't cover them all here, but the book is going to be awesome when it's done. </div>
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I am incredibly excited about our campaign, and where things are going. We are creeping ever closer to the $5000 stretch goal, and we just might make it. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-746694238419341805.post-40541422074376307232013-04-04T23:53:00.000-04:002013-04-04T23:53:47.080-04:00Credit Where Credit is DueWe just got a massive donation from my old friend Chris, and now the book is going to be in colour. So huge props to Chris, but that's not what this post is about.<br />
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I haven't been giving enough credit to my wife and co-designer on this project, Cait. I've mentioned before that collaborating is hard for me, and I continue to struggle with it, but the results that Cait and I get when we work together are so much better than what I can make alone that it is always worth the effort.<br />
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So how does collaboration work? Well, we brainstormed the setting together, I wanted islands in the sky, and Cait came up with the idea of using the Caribbean. The rules were mostly my purview, but when we needed something to give the game a unique spin, Cait came up with the Fame system.<br />
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In terms of writing, Cait wrote a lot of the country info, and re-wrote sections of the book where I let the topics get away from me. She has a talent for communicating clearly and concisely, and can take something that I take 20 words to say and cut it down to 8 (and those 8 words will be better than my 20). She is also in charge of structure and layout, and even determines things like chapter order, and the order of subjects in each chapter (we've been using her character creation step by step process for 3 books now)<br />
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Outside of the book itself, she helps manage our website and Facebook page, and most importantly, she vettes pretty much anything I say on behalf of the company. Any time anyone reads a forum post by me, chances are it has Cait's touch on it. She even coaches me on how to run our playtests (they're getting better, I swear!).<br />
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She helps shoot and edit our videos and she will be starring in the next two. And she just spent the last 4 hours building our art commission list with me for our artist.<br />
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In short, Cait makes this whole adventure possible. If not for her, Edge and Remnants would not exist, and if not for her, then Warbirds would not be the success that it is going to be.<br />
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Thank you Cait.<br />
I love you, even when you're mad at me for accidentally a word.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116272454808169929noreply@blogger.com0