Krake

In Calla I wanted to have several races that players would enjoy that stepped outside the normal rpg races and were something truly unique and fantastical. Tonight I have been working on the Krake. The Krake are a fungal creature, they resemble a large octopus walking around on its tentacles. They have four very large tentacles, these lack the suction cups found on an octopus. They use these limbs to move around and manipulate objects. They are an intelligent race, but lack the ability to verbally communicate. Instead they use a complex sign language. Fortunately, they have a written language and have mastered most of the common written languages of Calla over the centuries they have been in contact with other races. Krake can hear, but they lack a mouth or respiratory system.

Krake eat by burying their tentacles in soil. They can also sustain themselves with refuse, or waste if that is all there is available. Their preference is nice clean topsoil. Krake normally rest while "eating", and do sleep in a fashion very similar to other races.

At the end of their life-cycle, roughly 30-40 years, a Krake will settle down. Finding a suitable location it will plant itself in fertile soil and begin the process of reproducing. A Krake can have between 2-6 children which will sprout from their submerged tentacles and grow alongside their parent. The parent Krake will spend the next year or so teaching the children and preparing them for their lives in the world. After a year the young Krake will be fully formed and will break free from the parent's body and the soil. Soon afterwards the parent will die, it's life-cycle completed.

Krake are ancient allies of the dwarven race. Many centuries ago it was the dwarves who discovered them and helped them to develop a complete writing system. Dwarves consider themselves to be caretakers for the Krakes, and guard their homeland as if it were their own. This long alliance has helped the Krakes to be accepted in wider society, and at this point in history are not looked upon with fear or indifference as they might have been if they had not had the dwarves to speak for them. For their part the Krakes have worked hard to be a honorable people.

Krake are strong, and intelligent. They are not beautiful, they are not fast, but they are very dexterous. Not many Krake are arcane casters, without the ability to speak they are limited to what spells they can cast. Many Krake are rangers, or barbarians as they have a strong tie to the earth and the wild. Many are also rogues, fighters, or noble paladins. Krake worship the Calla dieties, and call no particular god their own.

Post Con

MEPACON was a great little convention. There was not much in the way of vendors. A couple local game stores, the con itself, an author, a custom mini painter, and a table for a RPG friendly summer camp. But, what this con did have was fun! The attendees and con staff were warm, friendly folk who genuinely loved to see our new faces, and the faces of our four kids. There were several other young gamers there, and the kids   all had a great time with their new friends. By the end of the first day, Christine and I agreed that it was a convention worth attending.

I didn't self-promote much at all while I was there. Focusing instead on playing games and talking with the other attendees. We purchased Lords of Waterdeep, and Small World Underground. I really wanted a copy of Castle Panic, but there were no copies available. It felt good to buy a couple big games from a small store at a local convention, rather than waiting until GenCon or Origins.

I did manage to finish all the artwork for my demo copy of Some Assembly Required. I located some generic bot minis, and an nice grid map to use. Now all I need to do is get that playtest group together.

on the road to MEPACON

So with my growing pursuit of game design, I have started to gain interest in attending more of the smaller conventions that take place around my area of the country. The goal is to scout out 'local' conventions where there is a large enough audience to attend and demo and sell games. There is also the added benefit of being able to take the whole family along if we go to something that is only a few short hours in a car away.

This weekend we have set our sites on MEPACON in Clark's Summit, PA. I read a lot about the convention, and it looks to be a nice laid back affair that is family friendly. I see a lot of role playing games on the schedule, but also a lot of boardgames, and other more casual games as well. This I found very encouraging. Another nearby convention I was considering was crossed off the list because it focused very heavily on tabletop wargames, with little room for anything else. I want to make sure the places I attend are open to casual games, as most of my designs are of that nature.

This weekend I plan to travel with one completed game, one game that is ready to beta test, and another that is barely able to be demonstrated, really only discussed. My goal will be to draw folks in using the completed game, and if interested play-test my other game. I will keep the raw game to pull out if there is a lot of excitement, to help demonstrate the process that I go through with game creation. Naturally this is only what I plan to do now. When there I may be too busy, or just never get past playing my completed game. But, I like to think about what could happen, and ensure I am prepared.

So all of my energy has been focused on wrapping up a play test ready version of Some Assembly Required. We are just about there. I found robots for the playtest, I just need to give them a bit of a paint job. I think having a decent mini to move around will help folks understand what the end product will look like. Here is hoping that I can finish off the rest of the cards over lunch the next couple days.

Very exciting times.