Ugh. I suppose I could sum up the last few months with that classic scene from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The one where Shelley Duvall finds Jack Nicholson's manuscript...
I haven't lost my mind or anything. But time devoted to anything outside of paying the bills has been hard to come by.
I haven't lost my mind or anything. But time devoted to anything outside of paying the bills has been hard to come by.
The Good
- +Doug Kovacs. Just Doug Kovacs. He was the sole representation of Transylvanian Adventures at GenCon and continues to be an amazing supporter even through this relatively dark period in my productivity. Thank you, Doug.
- +Joseph Goodman gave me a very generous opportunity to put an ad in the GenCon program. Much thanks to him. I appreciate that he hasn't given up on me.
- I've finished re-writing the Monsters section. I still have about 18 or so new monsters to add in. But progress has been made.
- 5e. I've had the opportunity to play and peruse the latest edition of The World's Most Popular Fantasy Roleplaying Game. It's good and is the first official edition that's been released since 2e that has made me okay with the edition switch. I don't know if we'd have 5e without the infamous 4th edition. But I'd say it was worth it. The right edition at the right time. Good job, +Mike Mearls.
- Following on 5e, I'm taking this opportunity to "future proof" TA to an extent. I want these monsters to be maximally useful. I wouldn't mind even giving some guidance on bringing some of the good parts of 5e into a DCC RPG game. Maybe some good article material when I get the chance.
- With all the changes in my life at this period (new house, new job, and personal stuff going down), I think I was over-optimistic with how much I could put together on The Hanging Judge's Guide and the Transylvanian Grimoire. That's on me. Stuff happens and I apologize for the wait. That said, I've reached out for reinforcements. I'm not stopping. Not at all. But I've contacted one of my favorite DCC RPG authors with the hope or idea of collaborating and partnering on the last two books. Tentatively, we are a go and I'm excited. I don't want to prematurely drop names but this is a bellwether moment in TA. More details as they become available. The cavalry is coming. And the cavalry is bad-ass.
The Bad
- I can't report much bad that directly relates to the books, other than the pace is about 1/5 of what I'd hoped I could commit to. I'm just dreadfully busy and have no time for anything. That's bad, I guess.
The Ugly
- Apparently, the character sheet in the PDF is still giving some people problems. I apologize for that. I've contacted RPGNow/DriveThruRPG about updating the PDF without taking it down and... well, they're not very responsive. I'll continue efforts in that regard.
Scott, we're coming up on Halloween (and the anniversary of TA). Any chance you'll be able to throw us fans a well-gnawed bone or two from the material in development?
ReplyDeleteI'll see what I can do. There's some content out there I can maybe get together in time.
DeleteHello, Scott.
ReplyDeleteI lost track a bit of your efforts regarding the Grimoire. I have a DCC adventure out that could do well with a TA conversion, but I'm not sure as of how to work the magic in, especially quick cast spells. SO, what are your plans for the Grimoire currently?
Quick cast spells are spells whose casting time is the same round in which they are cast. Traditional D&D spells.
DeleteWhen I've run TATG without the spells from the Grimoire, I generally let the Theorist or Polymath pick any spell from the DCC RPG spell lists that has a casting time of 10 minutes or so. On the fly, I treat all casters as DCC Wizards.
I also have a part in the Sword & Sorcery variant where the DCC RPG Wizard is adapted to a TATG character. This has been play tested and fits in well with the other two spell casting classes.
I could release that as its own thing if DAMN #2 isn't released in the near future.
As far as TATG...
Life, work, and other demands have limited the time I have to work on TATG. I was hoping things would level out but, sadly, that has not happened and does not look to happen in even the distant future.
I'm working on bringing in a co-author to work with me to finish up TATG. In the next week or so, we're meeting to discuss pertinent details. Once those are cleared up, I'd expect an epic announcement.
Thanks for contacting me.