The End of the Beginning of the End

When life finally starts to fall into place, it does it all at once. It's really starting to feel that way.

It's been a while since I posted anything on this here blog and it's been with good cause. I've been swamped. My personal life - or reality, since we're all online to escape from it, I imagine - has been ripe with responsibilities and adjustments that have taken priority as my family and I attempted to get ourselves back on track. Along the way, I've attempted to juggle a few other projects, run some games, play in others, and make it all work without going crazy.

I'm happy to say it may finally start paying off.

Not going into any great detail, but if you know anything about the struggles we've been going through then I can say they're finally coming to an end. Not starting to come to an end… coming to an end. For the first time in years, I feel as if I have control over my life and some room to maneuver. The timing couldn't be any better as I'm planning to officially announce my next personal RPG project in two weeks. Yep, the one I've been documenting on my Under the Hood column on Roleplayers Chronicle (hence the reason why I've barely posted here). Add to that my wife starting a new job tomorrow, a raise at my job, and so many other tiny details…

There's still some shell-shock, I'll admit. Sometimes you're down in the gutter so long that it's impossible to remember what it's like at ground level. That's all we've ever wanted, to stand at ground level for a while. Now it seems we'll have that chance. Sometimes it's not about carrying on the good fight against all odds because determination is not a guarantee for success. Sometimes it's about knowing what matters most and learning when you've been punched in the gut enough to walk away and show dignity in defeat. Sometimes that makes you a better person than sticking it out to the bitter end. Sometimes you just want to be normal again.

NOTE: One of those aforementioned projects was Mercenary Breed 2.0, a science fiction RPG project I worked on with Aaron Huss and his team from Mystical Throne Entertainment. As of yesterday, it's officially complete and ready in both Savage Worlds and Legend editions, so check it out and see if it's up your alley. My own credits include one-half of the writing team for Xenopedia (an alien guide/bestiary) and editor for many different chapters throughout the entire saga. 

Ironic Writing

I am the Warden!!

Before I get started, I've been experimenting a bit with the opening tagline. My "pregnature," if you will. Tried capitalizing the "the" in the Warden and didn't like it. Too smug, not my style. I'm humble with exclamation marks!!

Anyhow…

After two weeks away from the word processor, I was finally able to fire off a couple of entries for an upcoming project. And it felt goooooood. Under normal circumstances, I'd use this opportunity and your current attention to go into detail about what those entries are and for which project. It's part of the process and something missing from my regular activities (and I must apologize for that).

But there's a catch. For a couple of months now, I've been working on an unannounced project I can't talk or write about. Not because someone's life is at stake and if the kidnappers find out I squealed, they'll kill Victor for sure. No. It's simply not my project to announce or discuss. (So yeah, it's not a Broken Ruler project.)

So here I am. Following a routine from conception to writing to blogging and kinda hanging myself on the last part. All I'm doing is wasting your time, right? Wow, what was I thinking?

I've been itching to share something about [secret project] for a while now, especially after receiving some concept sketches this past weekend. Those very sketches forced me to plant my arse down in this chair and getting cracking, dammit! If for no other reason than to provide assurance of my involvement in something. I've been firing off about a lot of potential projects on this blog, some of them brought up earlier than I would normally reveal to provide relief when I wanted to talk about this one. With this new job, I've had to reduce my design work to a single project at a time (in a manner of speaking) and [secret project] was it.

Hence I've reached a dilemma: how to tell you about [secret project] without breaking my promise to [secret publisher]? Maybe - just maybe - I can avoid breaching my agreement and instead tease you with subtle, non-specific revelations. For now, I can leave you with this icon to indicate the system. The rest will depend on time.

The Good, The Bad, and the Surgery

I am the Warden!!!

OK, let's cut straight to the chase, shall we? I have no idea where to start, so I'm going to list the three things going on right now in the order implied by this post's title.

The Good: There's a new column that launched on the Troll in the Corner blog yesterday written by yours truly. "The Games of Wrath" is not about games that piss you off so much as it's about remaining a part of this passionate hobby without draining your wallet (or even taking anything out in the first place). It's a great opportunity to help get my work and my name out there (because that's what it's all about), particularly in combination with the Under the Hood column that runs every Sunday on Roleplayers Chronicle.

The Bad: With less than three days remaining, there's still a sliver shy of $1400 to raise for the Killshot Reloaded Kickstarter. Or the last 47%, if you look at it from another angle. While many of the backers, assassins, and good friends across the Interwebs have been incredibly supportive, I will be very surprised if this sucker makes it past the finish line. Does that mean I've given up? Nope, not yet. Come tomorrow, I'm planning on pimping the shit out of this project and give it up last good fight. Why not right now? Then let's cut to the last snippet.

The Surgery: I've spent the majority of the day today meeting with my orthopaedic specialist, going through the X-ray routine, and having professional pull on my busted foot like it was a gag at a bar, but it's not for naught. After nearly a year of tests (mostly waiting for the tests), the specialist's made a decision and has decided surgery is the only possible option to lessen the pain by restricting the amount of motion in my foot/ankle.

So here's the thing. The Good and the Surgery are all great news (with bigger emphasis on the latter, to be honest), and the Bad is very unfortunate but not tragic. It was always a possibility and, as I wrote in last week's post, not the end of Killshot Reloaded by a long shot. For the first time in a while, my personal life has started picking up steam while my freelance career has taken a backseat.

Life. Go figure.

The Waiting Game

I am the Warden!!

Running a Kickstarter is exactly as my friend and fellow game designer, Jason Pitre, once said (and I'm paraphrasing here). "It's like going to a month long convention. You meet lots of great people, talk about games, but when it's all over, you just want to crash." Yep.

The Killshot Reloaded Kickstarter currently teeters precariously on a thin ledge. With the thirteenth day coming to a close, it's currently $58 behind schedule (we need to bring in at least $100 a day to make our minimum goal of $3000) and my nerves are twitching like there's an electrical current running through my body. What started off as a rewarding and encouraging launch (over $600 on the first day), the running total's only climbed by roughly $800 in the twelve days since and that math does not bode well for this project.

Add to that a couple of problems/ego crushers to add more current to the voltage that is my nerves and it's a wonder I haven't started chain smoking again. (In my defence, I have been smoking irregularly, so maybe it's safe to say the pressure's taken a slight toll on my willpower.) On Sunday, during an update to the Kickstarter, I found out that the domain name for BRG was no longer valid and when I started looking into it, my password was no longer working. That lead to a panic and after an hour of scrambling to figure out what was going on, I learned there's a cost to having web problems on a Sunday. No one's around to solve the problem. At this moment, I still have no clue why the renewal didn't go through because I set it up with Google directly. There are no people working at Google, only codes and lines of programming and they don't speak human. With all my advertising spouting the website "brokenrulergames.com" and that very domain name connecting potential backers to a lovely picture of a young, blond student next to a list of alternate possibilities, the timing is the very definition of poor.

And not but an hour ago, I found out my work on another unrelated project has been replaced by someone else's efforts after reading about it on a public announcement on Facebook. Ouch. I haven't heard a peep out of the project lead, even going so far as to check my spam message looking for anything. There was also a link to the new edit and after watching it, my ego has taken quite a kick in the groin.

But you know what? That's the game, kids. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can't handle third degree burns, stop putting your hand in the BBQ. For every major defeat, there is a minor victory to improve the odds and make it appear that you're on the right path. For me, it was this link.

You hear me, Kickstarter? There's still 17 days remaining to meet my goal and this project's not dead yet.

Find the Lokka: Savage Insider Premium #5 Available Now

I am the Warden!!

Released today by Mystical Throne Entertainment (the same people behind our current Twilight Continuum Kickstarter project... hint!), Savage Insider Premium #5 contains my first published Savage Worlds article detailing a new alien race known as the lokka. Secretive and paranoid shape changers, they have been cast out to the fringes of society and know a life only of subterfuge and infiltration, existing as a refuge within any of the countless other races in your campaign. If you're like me and can never choose one race in particular as your favourite, this shapeshifting option may be just what you're looking for. Just look for the Racial Profiling article.

Or you could also pick up a copy for the other articles too. I'm sure they're just as good, if not better. There's a POD copy coming out soon and I just may treat myself and clear some extra space on the shelf.

On sale through RPGNow. 

Some Things Change, Others Remain the Same

I am the Warden!!

It's time for me to explain recent events to everyone. Over the past few weeks (and over the last couple of years, to be honest), I've been hinting at significant personal issues that have bogged down my work yet never got into details. I think it's time to reveal what that was all about.

Four months ago, my income replacement benefit was cancelled by my insurance company as well as the retraining plan submitted to the same company intended to help me return to full-time employment. After two years of being unable to return to a gainful life due to physical and cognitive issues, I was dumped and left to fend for myself. I began the search for a new means to support myself and my family.

Simultaneously, my fiancee (who suffers from epilepsy) has been vigorously trying to return to school herself, an effort equally complicated by our dire financial situation. Ironically, she had more options to work with than myself because of our province's student loans program. (I'm ineligible for these programs because I'm currently unable to pay for my previous student loans.) For the last few months, she's been searching for an online diploma program that would allow her to return to a normal life without her condition interfering with her efforts.

Today, we both received some outstanding news. Then one of us had our news trashed by bureaucracy.

Every Dragon Ever Made

I am the Warden!!

Just popped onto the laptop this morning to post links and comments for last night's High Plains Samurai and wanted to share something sweet with you. And by sweet, I mean the clinically awesome definition of sweet.

An online archive of every single printed issue of Dragon Magazine is now available through the Internet Archive. This was actually brought to light on EN World a couple of days ago and there's still some uncertainty about its authenticity and if they actually have legal permission for this, but it remains sweet for as long as it lasts. Every issue. Dude!

The sweetest part of all this sweetness is that I finally have a PDF of issue 287 and my one and only Dragon submission: When Celestial Attacks.

Sweeeeeeet. 

The Editing Booth [Twilight Continuum]

I am the Warden!!

Look to your right and check out the Twilight Continuum Kickstarter launched by Mystical Throne. If you've checked it out before, take a look at the new video and look at this project with new eyes. There's also a pound of new info and previews of what's to come.

In between two days of meetings and commuting, I whipped up the intro for what will become the Video Continuum promoting Twilight Continuum. After some feedback regarding the original video, I offered to put something together as a teaser trailer for the project and an open for regular video/audio updates by everyone involved in the project.

With my own upcoming Kickstarter plans (currently on temporary hold while I sort out a few other issues and clear my slate), having an opportunity to test out this laptop's editing capabilities is exactly the kind of practise I need to prep the half-dozen videos I plan to release, including a how-to-play Killshot video. (Unfortunately, I can't make a simple video. The old film school student in me simply has to try and push that tiny envelope.) As the month continues, keep your eyes peeled for updates on the Continuum and there'll be some posts discussing my plans and dreams for Books 2 and 5 right here on this blog.

Kickstart the Continuum

I am the Warden and holy crap am I involved in a lot of Kickstarter this year.

I have a little confession to make, dear readers. I've been keeping a secret from you, but before you start throwing emoticons of disappointment, there is a valid reason. It's a professional secret, one I could not talk about because it wasn't my secret to keep.

Last month, I was approached by Senior Aaron Huss from Mystical Throne Entertainment, publisher of Savage Insider (and my latest article set to release in April of this year) and webmaster for Roleplayers Chronicle (and home to my pride and joy, Under the Hood). He was putting together an adventure path for Savage Worlds called Perilous Journeys and wanted to know if I would be open and available as a campaign/adventure writer for two of the six-part series. Attached was an amazingly detailed plan of attack to get this project kickstarted and launched for release in the middle to late months of this year.

You know what, let's get you a link to check it out first. Behold the Kickstarter that is Twilight Continuum!! 

The initial goal is to raise funds to complete the first adventure in the series, Vanguard. Once it passes the initial $11,000 goal, every additional stretch goal brings the next step closer to reality. To make the entire series a reality, we're looking at $66,000 for the complete 6-part series in PDF and print with additional goals to produce sweet features, including a hardcover compilation of Twilight Continuum.

Should everything work out and this project becomes a reality, I'll be handling Book Two: Enemy At The Gates and Book 5: Final Destination. What are they all about? Uh-uh, that's what the link is for. As time goes on and this project climbs higher and higher up the ladder, I'll be sure to tease up what's in store for our intrepid band of future warriors. Until then, check out Twilight Continuum and offer up your support for independent game publishers. 

Organizing the Chaos [Fires Across the Plains]

I am the Warden!!

This week is committed to the completion of Fires Across the Plains first complete draft. I have to admit that this project was not underestimated so much as my plot was underestimated. It's typical of me to overshoot my expectations and find myself adapting to the complexity (if anything, it's very inspirational and gives me a real swift kick in the butt to get going) and, in its own way, has made me more confident for another one. Down the road, after getting some other major projects out of the way (Reloaded and Optional Core).

As I've written about before, learning the best approach to handle the chaos that is a gamebook required some early research and has since been adjusted. There have been some hiccups along the way and corrections have been made, which is predominantly why this draft has taken a couple extra weeks to complete. As promised, I thought I'd take some time to go over that very process.

Stating the inevitable here, but writing a gamebook carries one major distinction to writing a regular game or short story: the chronology is out of whack. Keeping it organized is the key to not screwing it up and organization is still a significant aspect of this work I'm struggling with. (Just this past weekend, I lost my playtest character for Fraser Ronald's Centurion RPG and had to start over, despite the fact that I'm playing from home at the same desk using Skype and the character sheet shouldn't be anywhere else but my desk.) For many, the entire plot is laid out in great detail using post-it notes and flowcharts, leaving the bulk of the writing centring on filling in the details and descriptions. As previously discussed in the above link, it's a process I have difficulty with because it feels stifling. When I write, I love to experience the story unfolding as I write it. In a way, it's how I verify the errors in my plot before making a second pass to fill in any gaps, beef up the details, and flesh it into something real. I needed a way to accomplish both the organization and freedom without sacrificing either.

2013: The Year of Reality

I am the Warden!!

That's right, kids. It's time for yet another blog to recognize the end of 2012 and talk about everything he wants to accomplish in 2013, AKA New Year's resolutions. My mind is flooded with them at the moment and, as I always do in times of uncertainty, I turn to my blog for guidance like a purse snatching victim turns to Batman as the scumbag runs away with her bag.

As much as I could spend time going over the good and bad of 2012 (with much of it awesome, despite the numerous difficulties still going on in my personal life), my focus remains on the coming year. There's great doom ahead; I can feel it. Based on how certain events have closed out this year, I can tell the early months of 2013 will be incredibly challenging and what kicks me in the balls hardest is that I can't talk about them in any detail online or in any public forum. Hell, even being vague is probably not a smart move, but a writer expresses himself through his craft because he knows no other way. The ongoing lawsuit for my accident makes it incredibly difficult and unwise to freely share my views and comments on such matters because it's incredibly easy for such posts to be taken out of context. Don't believe me? There's a giant stack of papers bound in volumes as thick as Senate committee reports for my online posts alone, including my Kickstarter project for Killshot, my Twitter account, Facebook, and everything else. So while I would love nothing more than to include these details as part of my own healing process, it's not a smart thing to do right now. As always, you'll just have to trust me on a few matters and allow the topic to move on without explanation.

Let The Gamebooks Begin!!

I am the Warden!!

As regular readers may know, my current project is a gamebook adventure for the Adventurer solo RPG titled Fires Across the Plains. It turns out there's a whole slew of fellow crafters plugging away at their keyboards as well, as announced on the Adventure Games Guild (yon publisher) site over the weekend. Plus a couple more announced Monday morning. That makes a total of ten (10) gamebooks scheduled release in 2013, an impressive tally for something just starting out.

If you're an aspiring freelance designer as well and haven't considered submitting something for this line, it's a great opportunity and solid tool to display not only your adventure design skills, but fiction writing as well. In other words, you're not limited to just read-aloud text blocks to get cah-razy with da text. I'm currently half way through Fires and truly enjoying the entire process to the point that I may consider trying another one if the audience shows even a little appreciation. (If the reviews and comments indicate my need to return to my old career, I won't bother gamebook fans any more. That's my risk and a sign I need to take a step back and tackle those issues. I was actually being sarcastic when I first wrote this, but now I'm considering it a real possibility. What can I say? I'm Canadian and modesty is a national sport up here.)

Balancing Precariously

I am the Warden!!

It's been said before and will likely find itself repeated all over the blogosphere from every other aspiring freelance game designer, but what the fuck, eh? Being able to balance your workload with your personal life is a significant key to your success. And last week was a major test of mine.

For details, wander over to this link and then come on back. (P.S. I'm still not going into any details on these personal issues, but I will say things are in full swing to get back on track.) Those of you sticking with me and this blog may remember my current projects include the Adventurer gamebook, Fires Across the Plains, Killshot: Reloaded, the newly announced Optional Core, and the next issue of Killshot Files. Add to that my desire to submit something for Kobold Press' Valhalla Calling open adventure call and it's already a hefty workload for a relative newcomer. Plus I'm juggling weekly articles for Broken Ruler and Under the Hood, running online demos, and creating promotional videos for said projects.

Of course, there's no way I can continue with this topic without using some form of analogy to simulate the upcoming point, so here goes. A freelancer's life is much like carrying water in cupped hands. Too much and you'll lose half of it. Not enough and you'll never be able to quench your thirst. And to complicate matters, you have to keep a tight seal between your fingers and palms or else by the time you make it to your destination, there won't be anything left to drink.

While I've been dealing with serious personal issues, I have been reflecting a great deal on my current strategies and whether or not there are any major flaws in the forecast. More importantly, how can I arrange my work flow so that I can handle these last minute and unexpected changes, including additional work? (Hey, it can happen and a true professional would be prepared for such an event, right?) It's a process that's taken months of trial and effort, success and heartache, to get to a comfortable and reliable point. It's not perfect and remains constricted by other factors, yet has given me enough confidence to start taking on a decent workload.

This is where the topic gets a bit interesting and I want to stress a vital fact. Due to the accident, I have some severe problems with concentration, memory, and multi-tasking. This changes the "hand of water" analogy to carrying the water in only one hand. It brings up a valid question, one that has lead to some unexpected reactions: How the fuck do I expect to do the work with these problems? Read on and I'll tell you.

Overshooting the Market?

I am the Warden!!

A thought occurred to me earlier today while walking the dogs (as it always does) and I mentally broke down my objectives for the week. Am I expecting too much of Killshot?

Let me explain a little further. My editor, Chris, sent in the edits for Killshot Files #1 and this is what got the ball rolling. I've made a point to stay one issue ahead with article production so that as soon as an issue is released for sale, there are already articles ready to edit for the next. After quickly scrolling through Chris' corrections and suggestions, I started my final consideration on which articles should go into the second issue. All this while adjusting in the work required on the Adventurer gamebook, the BRG website, Killshot: Reloaded and its Kickstarter project, getting the house ready for winter (and a Canadian winter at that), putting up a door to my office, and many other upcoming events.

Now I want to make something perfectly clear at this point. I am not wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew and thinking about cutting ties with Killshot or the ongoing issues of Killshot Files. Aside from the obvious benefits of putting these products together (and I should finally start making a profit on it by the year's end), the entire endeavour is a huge experiment and effort to gauge some future ideas. One of those ideas is the feasibility of releasing RPGs with only one or two core releases or as part of a large brand comprised of at least 6-12 products. Hence, Killshot Files.

Attention All Gamebook Fans

I am the Warden!!

As I'm about to let the cat out of the bag, there was an ulterior motive for this past weekend's Under the Hood article on gamebooks. Not in writing it, but researching it. With all the paperwork signed, sealed, and electronically delivered, I can officially announce my involvement in a new gamebook for the upcoming solo RPG, Adventurer.

The concept of this game is to create a core RPG system allowing players to create their own character and maintain an ongoing campaign throughout a series of gamebooks instead of switching characters with every different book. It's an interesting and unique concept put together by Shane Garvey and Stuart Lloyd combining the individuality of 1980s style gamebooks with the flexibility and character development of RPGs. You can even gain experience and levels with each gamebook adapting to your level. Its publisher, Adventure Games Guild, release a beta version of the game's rules last week, so feel free to check it out and judge for yourself.

My particular entry is currently titled Fire Across the Plains and involves the sole adventurer encountering a rising escalation between an isolated community of half-breed (half-elves, half-orcs, etc.) and the noble Emerald Knights. As each side accuses the other of instigating the conflict and threatening the other with war, the adventurer must get to the bottom of this predicament and find a way to keep the peace between them. It's a sandbox style adventure rather than a dungeon crawl and I'm really looking forward to putting the pieces together.

I have to admit, it's going to be a challenge putting it all together for the sheer reason that I've never written a gamebook before in my life. Played, yes, but never written. I've pulled out my reprinted special edition of Warlock of Firetop Mountain as inspiration, but the trick to making this book work will be allowing fluent choices without overwhelming the player with too many options. I want to set it up so that the player can choose which side to align themselves with and still reach the same conclusion, even play both sides and choose whom to align with. All I can say is that I'm glad I have a giant bulletin board in the office, cause I'm gonna need it.

As I get cracking on this project (with a projected first draft due date of early January 2013), stay tuned to this very blog for updates and thinking-out-loud posts as I do with all my work.