Progress Report: Things moving along well
about 6 years ago – Thu, Apr 05, 2018 at 11:31:24 PM

Well, we've funded. So that means that even with some "oops, I had a financial crisis" type stuff, we're far enough in with long enough to go that I felt comfortable getting stuff moving.

Layout and Editing

As such, I have initiated the editing work. I've hired Vince Harper, who has worked extensively with Broken Ruler Games' Todd Crapper, to edit Dragon Heresy. He has all of the files.

(Todd did my layout on Lost Hall of Tyr, and we have become friends and collaborators.)

Anyway, that's going on right now, during the Kickstarter. Speed is good.

I also got some nice work back from Michael on new layout for monsters, and I think I've got what we need. 

 This first one is a snapshot of the entry for Goblins. We've got smallish goblins, larger hobgoblins, and hobs bred for nothing but war and battle. The left column can support some art, as well as what will be a recurring theme in each entry: Identify Fiend or Foe.This will cover using the various skills (Nature, Religion, Arcana, Survival, History, etc.) that might provide tactically useful information, so that GMs and players can resolve some of that. These sorts of tidbits also provide insight into unique things about each creature. 

Here's a second one, on some undead:

 You can't really do Norse mythology without Vaettr and Raiðr. The Vaettr are dangerous, CR 3 foes, and that's all by their lonesome. If they show up in groups, worry. If they show up in groups, with additional zombies they've created . . . run.

More Podcasts

I'm currently setting up two more podcasts and interviews. One with Matt Finch, who invited me on his show during the Tavern Chat yesterday.

The second . . . may be more interesting. No promises yet, but I'm working with the Delve Podcast guys and trying to see if we can do a short actual-play example.

Mostly, I want to try and kill 'em all. With Dragon Heresy, if they decide to just wade into the fray, I will certainly be able to do so. 

Mwa. Ha. Ha.

Talk to y'all later!

The Established Facts Podcast
about 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 04, 2018 at 05:36:09 PM

I was on The ESTABLiSHED FACTS podcast with Derek Knutsen-Frey the other day, and it just went live today.

We talk about all sorts of thing s

• How I got into the business
• The Dragon Heresy system
• The Kickstarter (now funded!)
• Gaming and Game Design
• Gaming as a Business
• Getting into game writing
• Vikings

. . . and a lot more!

Check out THE ESTABLiSHED FACTS

Designer's Notes, and Shields with at least 12% more Viking
about 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 04, 2018 at 11:19:31 AM

 Over the weekend and the last few days, I filmed a bit of "Doug talking, mostly about Vikings" as something like a "Designer's Notes," or really, just talking about the inspiration for the game.

In this particular case, I really was convinced that shields were way more useful than the +5-10% decrease in hit chance they're typically given. I decided to try and find some Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) classes local to me to find out, and lo and behold, I found Asfolk. Not only was it "using a shield," it was "using a Viking shield," which fit in with the themes I was exploring for Dragon Heresy.

I talk a lot about shields on my blog, both for D&D5 type games, as well as GURPS, and general principles as well.

I think you'll find Dragon Heresy adds just the right amount of cool options to go along with the shield in the game.

A Nice Compliment

David Pulver is a prolific game writer, and we've corresponded about things for a while. Heck, he's working on a game with Gaming Ballistic, called Venture Beyond. In any case, he has seen some of the early rules and layout work, and he dropped this nice little compliment on my blog. I repeat it with his permission:

"I’m very pleased this is happening at last!  

When you showed me the manuscript, one thing besides the new combat options that I was really impressed with was the new rules you added to 5e for marching, exposure, hunting, and so on – I liked the strategic options (trading speed for stealth, etc.) which is good game design. They seemed a lot more detailed and interesting then I recall from D&D (and a lot more playable than anything similar in GURPS). I suspect I might use them even if I wasn’t running a Viking game…"

Next Stretch Goal

Well, we've pretty much crushed the $3,500 basic funding goal. I like crushing goals.

The next two are kinda out there. The $10K goal is definitely within reach, and while projections are always uncertain, if we have a few more good days like we just did, we'll pass the "more content" goal mid-campaign. 

If we do, I'll send out a poll and let folks force-rank what additional inclusions there will be. There are potentially three more extra races, at least a dozen backgrounds, and of course both classes and archetypes/sub-classes that could be included in that sweet spot from Level 1-5. 

Beyond that, there's the offset color print run, hanging out there at $16,000. Truth be told, that's the one I really want to hit, because I've always dreamed of Dragon Heresy getting the kind of quality print job that Symbaroum, ACKS, or the Dracula Dossier's Director's Handbook got.

Talk to you guys soon!

A Great Beginning: the first 24 hours
about 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 03, 2018 at 09:05:39 PM

Well, this is April in Minnesota, so naturally I woke to find about six inches of snow on the ground. Sigh. This state . . . 

We had a great 24 hours, with over 80% of required funds collected. It was an excellent first day!

Podcasts Fall Like Rain

Over the next few days, you'll probably see podcasts drop: Table Top Babble, Down with DnD, and Hobbs and Friends of the OSR. I've got a few more planned, and I could always use a few more suggestions.

What's Up Next

This week is all about monsters. Right now, the monsters section lays out to 110 pages, which makes 260 pages of as-is layout. Toss in a title page, Kickstarter backer page, one or two pages for a Table of Contents (call it two), and roughly one page of index per 50 pages of book (call it 5-6 pages), and that's about 10 extra pages. Makes for a single 270-page book, which isn't bad, though it's a bit longer than I'd like. If we hit the $10,000 stretch goal, there are about 14,000 words of pre-written content I'd like to add . . . another 23 pages.

There's a lot of extra white space in the Foes section, though. I'd wanted to try and get each creature type on the top of a page, for easy reference, and to avoid the statblock from (say) one creature on a left-hand column, and a new creature on the right. Potentially confusing.

The counter-argument here is that for all the benefits of this strategy, it's very space inefficient.

For every layout example we have of this:

You sometimes get some thing like this:

 These are about half-empty . . . 

 ...with some that show empty columns, though in this case, I'd rather leave it there and start Humanoids on the next page.

 This is not an insurmountable problem, of course, and there's lots of time. But it's where I am right now. If you've got suggestions, leave 'em in the comments!

Major Milestones

The biggest milestone here is, of course, to fund. That's a double-tap, though, because if we hit the funding goal, it means that I am guaranteed the funds to pay my editor. He's already been selected, and he's committed to timely delivery.

Once that happens, the only major task left for completing the book is indexing, then assembling the book pieces into a final draft, with all the small bits that make it a complete book. Then, of course, the process of layering and hyperlinking and bookmarking the PDF.

The project is far enough along that, presuming we fund, I can more or less promise that each backer will receive a playable copy of the rules (maybe with editing, maybe now) the day the Kickstarter funds settle: sometime mid-May. 

From there, you'll get 4-6 weeks to play the heck out of the game and ask questions and suggest tweaks should they be necessary. The game was playtested pretty well, but you'll find things. Those will be tweaked by the end of June, and then we'll get a final PDF and printable PDF going. That will take a few weeks to get proofs, then the bulk order . . . 

So, that's the plan! Thanks for joining early. If you can, throw down some social media boosts where you're able, and let folks know that Dragon Heresy is happening.

Have a great week!

Hail to the Shield-Guard! The Skjald-hirð carries the day! (FUNDED!)
about 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 03, 2018 at 02:12:27 PM

And with a mighty pledge, backer Mark S takes us well into final territory!

That's it. We've crossed the goal, and if we keep on this trajectory, I will begin letting contracts to get the work needed to complete the book going.

 the "real" shields will be slightly different than the above:

• I have secured an awesome source for more historically accurate bosses. Mild steel, proper weight, pressed rather than spun.
• The hide edging will be 1oz goathide instead of 2-4 oz deer hide. More historical on the thickness and weight.

Thanks to you all for your contributions so far, and let's spread the word and keep it up!