Another Deck Completed

Caught up on expenses, and received proof for Ninja Chick Deck. Everything looks good, so this will soon join the Steampunk Deck in the store. I wanted to do one more theme deck of cards, but I'm not sure when I will get to it.

It is either going to be a Military theme, or a Sword and Sorcery theme. I'm up in the air on that still as well. The decks worked well to keep my hand in game design while changing over to a new profession for my day to day job. Apple has proven to be an excellent company to work for, and the position will give me a lot more time to design games, instead of working 40 hours a week in the office.

Beer Garden looks ready to go, I have to make a print and play version of the game to put out at Patreon so it can get play testing and feedback. Once that ball is rolling I will return to thinking about one last deck.

Beer Garden Ready To Playtest!

Micro Game

So there is an upcoming contest for micro games that I plan on entering. A game has already come to mind and I am going to sort it out right now.

Each player has a meeple (little wooden person looking thing) and a six-sided die. A card to use as a privacy shield and a hand of five cards. Each card is an attack. Every turn the meeple is positioned in a stance and an attack card is played face down while the die is turned to the number player you are targeting with your attack.

So there are 4 stances and 5 attacks. Each attack requires a stance to launch and can only effect a target in certain stances.

Jab, Kick, Headbutt, Upper Cut, Roundhouse Kick for example.

And, Standing, Diving, Rolling, Flipping for stances I guess.

Each time you are hit you choose one of you attack cards to set off to the side face down. When you are out of moves, you lose.

Stances are limited by which stance you are currently in. From standing you can either roll or dive. From roll or dive you can either go to standing or flipping. Flipping can go to either rolling or diving. In this way players have a chance to determine what moves the opponent will use next.

I'm going to put this together and play around with it a bit more.

Next steps?

Now that I have something more than my own work to stare at I will continue to push ahead with the design of my classes. My Bravo, or Tough class is sitting around waiting for the perfect feeling name to fall into place. The core mechanics of the class however are quite solid, the concept is great, its just the darn name doesn't feel quite right.

I will continue to refine the ideas and make them ready to begin play-testing. New Archetypes keep sprouting up and I have to set them aside to remain focused on the primary ideas.

My prototype cards for Some Assembly Required arrived today. So, I will be taking a short leave from the Pathfinder classes to put some finishing touches on this game and make it ready to have folks try out and give me more feedback. Until now, it was playing with slips of paper and whatever minis we could dig up.

So good things are happening.

Me Vs. Them Part 2

Now let me show you the same classes as sketched by the artist I contacted.

Me Vs. Them

First I am going to show you the concept sketches for my Pathfinder classes so far. Three originals, and one archetype.

Long Overdue Update

While I have not been active on this blog, I have been active in creating games. I would like to get back to focus on some of the games I have been unable to work on. However, I do not see that as feasible in the immediate future. There are a large number of uncertainties in my professional and personal life currently, and I may have to relocate to another part of the country. So needless to say, I have no time to go through the process of photo shoots, prop building, and the like in order to follow through with Amazons. Instead I have kept myself active making smaller casual games, and working on my Pathfinder Campaign Setting.

My current goal is to complete a set of five core classes for Pathfinder to release as a short supplement via Kickstarter. I believe I can put together a cool set of Steampunk flavored classes that will appeal to the Pathfinder community. Through this release I hope to broaden interest in my campaign setting, and make use of that for future releases both Pathfinder related and tabletop games.

I imagine this sounds a bit far-flung and hopeful. I know that I have created great games. I know that I will continue to create great games. My hurdle is getting them in the hands of players. I plan to create some print and play versions of my current games to help broaden interest and get my games out there being played. This particular part, I am a bit unsure how I will implement at this time. It looks like the future will be social media. I just don't have the white space for that level of interaction though. So I am trying to think of something smart and awesome.

Sigh.

Anyway. Not dead. Haven't stopped making games. Still working on the plan that will be the next step on this grand adventure. Stay tuned true believers.

Flyers

An Update?

It has been a very busy time for me. With our news coverage, we gained a lot of interested models for my upcoming Amazons game. This has put me under a lot more pressure than I was prepared for. I took a week off from work to focus on game design. That was a good choice, I have learned that next time I will sequester myself with a staff someplace away from the day to day. Meaning, I did not get as much accomplished as I had hoped, but I still made progress.

My main focus right now is feeling out some of the tribes of Amazons. I started writing a back story for the whole game to pull everything together, and some elements no longer fit and feel silly. I've started working out what I need to do, but now its back to work. Sigh.

Some days there simply is not enough time.

In the meantime, Some Assembly Required playtested rather well. We made some changes, and decided the legs were all under-powered. The game itself is so simple, I have to fight not to add more complexity to it every time I work on it. Must keep game design pure!

Everyone enjoyed the easy to follow combat mechanics. This coming weekend I hope to test again with some new elements, and a cooperative mission.

All good things.

We're on TV!

Got interviewed by Channel 7 news!

Coolest thing to happen to a little game developer like me. Go watch me look silly. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!

Wadda yah mean...?

For my Amazon game I really want to create jaw-dropping imagery with lovely, deadly looking ladies. This has left me approaching women asking them to pose in very little with very large weapons. By and large the women I have spoken with think the game sounds great and are excited about posing for it. However, the significant others in their lives have been less open-minded.

Big shock right?

I'd like all of these folks to know that I have not created and elaborate ploy to see your girlfriend, wife, significant other in her underpants. My girlfriend of over three years will be taking the photographs for this project. She is also to my endless joy, going to pose for it as well. I am completely aware that other people will see her image and they may have lusty thoughts about her. Good because she is gorgeous. I long ago came to grips with the fact that she is beautiful and lots of other people will notice this fact.

I've worked hard to make an awesome game. I continue to work hard. I've started putting together costumes and props that will be needed for the photos. Tonight I was up late making pieces of armor. I'm sure I have a few late night ahead of me. We shoot this coming weekend.

Enough said. End of rant. I forgot to take out the trash. So it's back out of this warm bed and into the cold night I go!

Amazon Update

Tomorrow is our first meet and greet with one of the models who will be working with us on Amazon Warrior Queens of the Forbidden Planet. We have lined up ten models now, with two others as maybes. So this covers me for around 20 of the 120 cards I need to make. Fortunately a few of those are gear cards and resource cards. But, I am still in what they call... dire need.

This is why wigs and masks and other costume props exist I say to myself. However, that is only going to get me so far. My current focus has to be getting a solid demo version of this game put together. In order to pitch this outside of my friend circle I need to be able to show folks what they will be helping to create.

It looks like some late nights for me. :)

Better Days

The last few days have started to look a bit brighter. I've gotten replies from real people. Started laying the groundwork to hold an Unpub Mini here in town. Feeling really excited about getting some actual progress. I had a few sales this holiday season, and I am looking to ramp that up going in to the spring with at least one new release.

For the next couple weeks I'm planning prop making and costume design. Which always makes me think about my dice blade project and how I need to return to working on that and getting it done.

Feeling Stuck

So far creating my new game has been simple, my idea of getting my girlfriend involved and shooting the photos for this game has not been simple. I've had to reach out to friends, post Craigslist ads and deal with some real creepers, and generally feel like I am spinning my wheels more than I am getting somewhere.

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.

The Holidays

Its not often you hear from someone that they have been unable to work on projects due the holidays in October. But, around my house we take our Halloween very seriously. Everything is decorated, and this year's costume is almost ready for paint so I thought I'd take a few minutes to put up the old "I'm not dead post".

You're welcome. I plan to be back to work next month. See you then.

I'm never far from Calla

Work has been super slow, so game design has had a chance to shine lately. Although today I spent most of the day working on my Calla campaign instead of robots. Once Halloween has come and gone I'll be able to setup a nice playtest area for games.Until then, it won't make much sense with big party on the horizon.

My current efforts are focused around the magical side of Calla. I've spent a good deal of effort on those who hate magic, and even the divine, but not many words have been laid down on paper about the arcane masters of the world.

I started by working on two types of casters that displayed modern and ancient methods of weaving magic. The ancient method is code-named the naturalist. while the modern is the mechanic. A naturalist harness the energy found in physical objects and focuses that to cast spells. They craft "wands" which are capable of producing a specific spell effect. Focusing this energy depletes the stamina of the naturalist himself, which limits the number of times a day they can cast spells like a normal caster. The number of wands they can create is limited by experience, lesser spells (wands) allow a naturalist to select a higher level version of that spell later when they progress through levels. However, stats limit the maximum number of spells they can know per level just like a normal caster.

Now mechanics have studied how arcane magic works, and have applied this learning to creating spell effects without the need for spells. By performing complex calculations they can manipulate the energies found around them. They are limited in casting scope, by the nature of spells they can cast which are limited to effects based on the elements and the primals. (earth, air, fire, water, rage, fear, joy, sorrow)

A mechanic requires his calculator (abbacus or similar calculation device) to cast spells. Both hands must be employed and concentration is required. They learn spells (new calculations) as they progress in level. Their spells are unique in that they cause an immediate side effect when cast. For instance, when a mechanic casts sleep he selects a friendly target which has all fatigue removed from it. When he he casts heat metal, another target is cooled by the same amount.  A mechanic does not have to memorize calculations prior to using them, rather he must eventually rest to clear his head in order to perform more calculations. This limits the mechanic to a set number of spells per day much like a normal caster.

So you can see that both example casters manipulate energy naturally found in the world to cast spells. I want a world where magic can be created in a myriad of ways, but is founded in the same basic understandings. Much like the sword, it will take a variety of forms and it will be made from many different materials, but the basic idea will be the same.

Reaching Out

Posted an ad on Craigslist tonight to see if I can find local artists who want to work on games. I've decided that I need to have other hands doing some of the work involved in making a great game. So my first obvious choice is to start finding talented artists. My second will be to develop a team of dedicated play-testers.

This way I can focus on the design, instead of trying to create every aspect of the game. And, when a playable version is ready, have a group that I can call upon to provide feedback. So the search for artists has started, and the search for playtesters will go out on Facebook shortly.

In the meantime, I have almost finished all of the available strips for my webcomic. Once it is completed, the whole thing will get compiled into a book. Mostly this is so I can keep a copy on my shelf. Then it will be back to writing comics in a couple months, always a good way to eat up free time during the winter. Expect that I will plug it a bit here, even if it is a bit off topic.