A Designer's Work Is Never Done
Hello again!
I know it's been a while since my last post, which is the result of two things: being very busy, and troubles with getting the Welcome to Newbieville campaign going. Today I'll get you up to speed on what's going on lately, starting with the aforementioned Newbieville D&D game.
Newbieville was supposed to start two Sundays ago. Unfortunately, due to issues ranging from anxious children to scheduling miscommunications, that session had to be canceled. Tried again this past Sunday, and a combination of severe weather, car problems, and work schedule changes resulted in only one player arriving. I mention this because two weeks ago—back when it hadn't been so long since I'd posted—I was planning on having my next post be the big fancy kickoff for Newbieville. After the first missed session, I had a busy week, and figured that it would still make a good next post while being only a little late. Then this past Sunday happened, and Newbieville still isn't enough to write a whole post about, so here we are.
Funny how it doesn't take long before you're suddenly waaaay behind schedule. Ah, well.
In any case, I had a good couple of hours chatting with the one newbie who showed up, teaching her how the game works and helping her make her very first D&D character—a blue dragonborn sorcerer (with a brass dragon ancestry). I'll tell you more about them once I can introduce the whole party (whenever that long-awaited post ends up being.
Side note: Part of the point of Newbieville is to open the doors to folks who have faced barriers in the past, which includes making sure I don't require monetary investment from them. If you'd like to help cover the cost of the books and dice that I'm providing, you can do so HERE.
Meanwhile, I've been pretty busy lately with other game-related work as well. For starters, remember my original non-challenge-based RPG that just launched at the end of December? Well, the print-on-demand version is now available! If that's your jam, you can get it HERE, although at the time of this writing the site is down for maintenance.
Additionally, I've got two new products in the works: a dice game (not a full RPG, just something you'd play in one sitting) and a card-based game aid for D&D and other tabletop RPGs. The dice game is about the less glamorous aspects of becoming a legendary dungeon-delver. You have to manage limited time to not only go adventuring in the dungeon, but also recruit party members, buy equipment and food, work for extra cash, and of course talk yourself up in the tavern. I plan to release a "beta" version on DriveThruRPG very soon, so stay tuned!
The card-based game aid is meant to help you come up with the most basic information of new NPCs on the fly. Most experienced DMs will tell you it's wise to have a list of names handy so that if the players interact with Random Guard #3 a bit more than anticipated, you can bring them to life without just calling everyone "Sam". This product would take that a bit further by having cards that present a name, gender, age category, and fantasy species (human, elf, etc) so that you have a bit less to fill in on your own when that situation comes up. Plus, you don't have to scratch out the name from your list; just keep the card set aside. Easy-peasy! This will probably involve hiring a lot of freelance talent (designing the card faces, prepping print files that I don't know how to make for cards, and so forth), so it's very likely that I'll need to run a Kickstarter first. Again, stay tuned!
Last but not least, the time has come for my next monthly D&D design giveaway! For those who aren't familiar, every month I custom-design a piece of D&D content, then give it away for free to the community. You can read about how the giveaway works (including how to make a request) HERE.
Coming Soon: I'll probably discuss how dragons (and dragonborn) fit into the setting I've been developing sometime within the next couple of posts. In the meantime, take care of each other, okay?
I know it's been a while since my last post, which is the result of two things: being very busy, and troubles with getting the Welcome to Newbieville campaign going. Today I'll get you up to speed on what's going on lately, starting with the aforementioned Newbieville D&D game.
Newbieville was supposed to start two Sundays ago. Unfortunately, due to issues ranging from anxious children to scheduling miscommunications, that session had to be canceled. Tried again this past Sunday, and a combination of severe weather, car problems, and work schedule changes resulted in only one player arriving. I mention this because two weeks ago—back when it hadn't been so long since I'd posted—I was planning on having my next post be the big fancy kickoff for Newbieville. After the first missed session, I had a busy week, and figured that it would still make a good next post while being only a little late. Then this past Sunday happened, and Newbieville still isn't enough to write a whole post about, so here we are.
Funny how it doesn't take long before you're suddenly waaaay behind schedule. Ah, well.
In any case, I had a good couple of hours chatting with the one newbie who showed up, teaching her how the game works and helping her make her very first D&D character—a blue dragonborn sorcerer (with a brass dragon ancestry). I'll tell you more about them once I can introduce the whole party (whenever that long-awaited post ends up being.
Side note: Part of the point of Newbieville is to open the doors to folks who have faced barriers in the past, which includes making sure I don't require monetary investment from them. If you'd like to help cover the cost of the books and dice that I'm providing, you can do so HERE.
Meanwhile, I've been pretty busy lately with other game-related work as well. For starters, remember my original non-challenge-based RPG that just launched at the end of December? Well, the print-on-demand version is now available! If that's your jam, you can get it HERE, although at the time of this writing the site is down for maintenance.
Additionally, I've got two new products in the works: a dice game (not a full RPG, just something you'd play in one sitting) and a card-based game aid for D&D and other tabletop RPGs. The dice game is about the less glamorous aspects of becoming a legendary dungeon-delver. You have to manage limited time to not only go adventuring in the dungeon, but also recruit party members, buy equipment and food, work for extra cash, and of course talk yourself up in the tavern. I plan to release a "beta" version on DriveThruRPG very soon, so stay tuned!
The card-based game aid is meant to help you come up with the most basic information of new NPCs on the fly. Most experienced DMs will tell you it's wise to have a list of names handy so that if the players interact with Random Guard #3 a bit more than anticipated, you can bring them to life without just calling everyone "Sam". This product would take that a bit further by having cards that present a name, gender, age category, and fantasy species (human, elf, etc) so that you have a bit less to fill in on your own when that situation comes up. Plus, you don't have to scratch out the name from your list; just keep the card set aside. Easy-peasy! This will probably involve hiring a lot of freelance talent (designing the card faces, prepping print files that I don't know how to make for cards, and so forth), so it's very likely that I'll need to run a Kickstarter first. Again, stay tuned!
Last but not least, the time has come for my next monthly D&D design giveaway! For those who aren't familiar, every month I custom-design a piece of D&D content, then give it away for free to the community. You can read about how the giveaway works (including how to make a request) HERE.
Coming Soon: I'll probably discuss how dragons (and dragonborn) fit into the setting I've been developing sometime within the next couple of posts. In the meantime, take care of each other, okay?
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