Skip to main content

Back on the Rack

It's been a long time. But I'm still here. Still working on stuff.

Over the last few months, here's what I've been up to.

I took a brief hiatus around the end of last year and the start of this year. The holidays are always busy. And work was busy as well. Work's really continued to be busy. I consider that a good thing but it does hamper my ability to devote time to writing.

During this hiatus, I took the time to explore what the tabletop RPG community had been up to. I read a number of books, played in some games, ran some games, funded some Kickstarters -- all that stuff I enjoy doing when I'm not the "Transylvania Guy". This is generally a time when I collect ideas. It was helpful when I came back from hiatus to look at Transylvanian Adventures again with fresh eyes.

I've been in contact with a potential co-author for TA. He's very interested and a legit writer to boot. Because he's legit, his schedule is just as crazy as mine, though. But I'm hoping his assistance will move this project along a little faster.

If you hadn't noticed, I also got a URL (http://landofphantoms.com/). I have seriously leveled up now. I guess I need to spruce the place up before the webcrawlers show up.

I hit a bit of a blocker on the Monsters chapter. The majority of the existing creatures have been done up in the latest fashion. But I hit a wall with one particular monster and I'm spinning some ideas on how to fix it. Would there be any interest in a PDF pay-what-you-want release of a part of the Monsters section? Like A-(something)?

Also, I've been having some deep thoughts on TA in general. Hopefully, I'll get those blogged out on my spiffy, new URL.





Comments

  1. I'd be interested in that monsters "test version" PDF

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, I'm hitting you up on the blog about a pdf. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A monster PDF would be greatly appreciated. A "future of TA" post on the blog, likewise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Been awhile. Anything else, dude? Tell us of the glorious future of TA!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Quick update.

    First, I'm shocked that it's already August.

    I made some adjustments over the last few months to, hopefully, open up more time beyond barely keeping up with the day to day. Those adjustments have not worked out as planned, however.

    I did get a little writing done last month. But I'm not tracking to any sort of milestone at present. Changing my plans regarding how I release material wasn't much help but at least underlined how little time I have to produce content.

    I do have a second writer on board. But his schedule hasn't allowed for much results yet either.

    I wish I had better news.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It worked last year, so I figure I will again request an update or preview to go along with the upcoming anniversary of TA''s release on Halloween.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-) I don't think I'll have time this year. There's a lot of moving parts for me right now. Lot of travel this month. I will see what I can do though.

      I've been doing more writing recently. And I also talked to another potential contributor.

      thanks for checking in. It's about time I did another blogpost.

      Delete
  9. Dead stop beat me to the punch -- I was hoping for a "state of the Transylvanian union" post too.
    I definitely hear you on all the ways life can get in the way through-- keep your chin up and your teeth sharp!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It has been nearly a year. Is there news?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Deadstop:
    I won't try to make excuses but it's clear that TA isn't priority #1 right now. I've tried getting help to put the final touches on with varying degrees of success. I'm talking with someone now who may be able to help and interested in doing so.

    I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses or anything like that because that's not what I'm about. Life has thrown me several curveballs over the last year plus. I have to focus on that right now.

    I got through the first book by setting aside dedicated time to achieve explicit objectives. I have those objectives now for TG. But no time to dedicate. When my schedule corrects itself, I'll go back to that plan.

    I recognized these shifts in priorities a while back. That's why I tried getting some help on the writing part. But, to date, I've had a few people interested but no one following through.

    I hope to get this ship righted at some point. But there's no real timeline I can offer right now. I'm sorry about that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for communicating. Certainly you must put life concerns first. Hope things get less hectic soon,

    ReplyDelete
  13. So, I have done some writing for TG lately. But certainly not enough to kick the can down the road. I've reviewed the content I've had and I'm in the process of removing a lot of it.

    I was in talks with another writer about the project but he disappeared as well.

    Sadly, I'm not in a financial situation to pay a writer at this time anyway. That wasn't true 12 months ago when I could've easily paid a writer to go through, clean up what I have, and flesh it out for completion. That money is no longer available for the project however.

    TA is still selling pretty well. So that's encouraging. I'm hoping that 2017 will be a better year for news on this front. But work continues to be crazy (I don't know if that is ever settling down) and every attempt I've made to hand off the project to get it closer to done has ended with nothing much getting done.

    This is a little disappointing because I feel I had offered an above market rate for the writing, as well as a share of royalties in perpetuity. Additionally, every writer that has bailed has essentially delayed me on the project for several months because I assume that things are getting done but then nothing.

    So it's up to me to figure it out. November is a terrible month for me on that front. December slightly better and then January on... who knows?

    Thanks again for keeping track. After going over the content, as well as getting realistic with what I can do, I believe there is just one last book instead of two. The publishing model I'd hoped would advance things in 2016 was obviously a bust. And I've given up on getting another writer to help out.

    But that's often when things get interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey, I just bought a copy of Transylvania Adventures on Lulu and I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll be crossing my fingers for the monsters and the Grimoire. If you get it finished, I'd be happy to buy it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks, Chase. I'm slowly working through the monsters. There was one monster type that was/is really giving me fits. Doesn't help that my usual game group has been on a Traveller binge. Kind of limits my playtest ability.

    I will put up a blogpost after the New Year to tell everyone where I'm at with things and all that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds good, Scott! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for your blogpost. I definitely know what its like when your group gets on a certain game binge (especially when you're trying to work on a campaign for another game).

      I finally managed to get my group to switch over to Darwin's World and we've been playing that for a while now. In my spare time though, I'm already getting ideas together for a Transylvania Adventures campagin! I think I may spring it on my group after the holidays.

      For what its worth... If you need any volunteers to test some things out in there own campaign, feel free to ask!

      Delete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Scott, I'm wanted to ask you a few questions. Could you maybe hit me up on Facebook or Google+?

    ReplyDelete
  18. There is currently an RPGnet thread in which the OP expresses interest in TA but deep concern about the missing bestiary and grimoire. Is there any good news we can supply?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Scott,

    We're a small Spanish publishing house, and we're interesting in translate and publishing "Transylvanian Adventures" to our language. Is there any chance to write you and talk about this?

    Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. That’s awesome! Sure. What email should I contact?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yo can write us at hola@edicionestyt.com

      Thanks!!

      Delete
  21. I saw a person post a bad review of the game cause of the missing books on rpgnow.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Mike,
    Thanks for the heads up. I can't fault the author of the review. It's a little harsh but truthful from his perspective. I, too, am bummed that the follow up book did not work out. I'm not sure why he thought there were two more books in the works.

    ReplyDelete
  23. At one point, you were advertising a grimoire (with magic-using classes) and a hexcrawl setting book (with monsters and such).

    Will we never see any of that, now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Deadstop,

      Never is a strong word.

      I can say definitively that they won't be appearing in book form. I've tried unsuccessfully for years now to get that going.

      The only delivery model I can see as viable at this point in time would be a print-friendly pay-what-you-want PDF. I've spent a big chunk of last year trying different layout programs and familiarizing myself with them.

      It's not out of the realm of possibility for this alternative delivery model to work out.

      If I get time from my day job and family, I can try editing and laying out what I have. The challenge is the spells. Working through those will take a long while.

      But I can say that book form with art and everything is not viable at this time. If I can get 2 PDFs in PWYW format by the end of 2019, I would be ecstatic. I feel I will be fortunate to get one and that may be a stretch.

      Delete
  24. My wife and I love your book (she is a big fan of fearless vampire killers) and I hope to run a game as soon as my fiend’s MCC game finishes. You’ve done a great job of emulating the genre (w/ the tongue in cheek). I would be happy to buy a PWYW w/out art etc (although I liked the pseudo gorey art of the main book)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

House Rule: Solving for Hit Point Inflation

A character's Constitution score is the lowest a character's maximum hit points can be. Changes & Examples A character's Constitution modifier is no longer applied to the hit points a character gains each level. The character's Constitution score, instead, sets the minimum threshold for the character's maximum hit points. Example: A 2nd level fighter in B/X, for example, with a 15 Constitution would not have a maximum of 2d8+2 hit points but, instead, would have rolled only 2d8 for her maximum hit points. No bonuses or modifiers applied. If the rolled hit points were lower than the fighter's Constitution score, she would take the 15 Constitution as her max hit point total instead of what she rolled with her hit dice. What is this? This house rule is a lot simpler than it seems from the description above. I tried to make it easy to understand but, even reading it, it seems a lot weirder on the page than it is in practice. In pretty much all

Happy Halloween

Don't thank me. Thank Deadstop. Here to add some treat to your holiday are some of Dr. Frankenstein's prized creations with a few tricks up their sleeve. This is the first entry in the monsters section of The Hanging Judge's Guide to Transylvania . Enjoy. And don't forget to leave the lights on when you go to sleep. Transylvanian Adventures' Abominations