Highmoon’s Ponderings

Highmoon Media Productions and MonkeyGod Enterprises present At the Edge of Dreams.

The body of a Faean lord is found skewered by an iron lance, one of his retinue surviving long enough to whisper, “Mortals” An entire human family is found ruthlessly slaughtered in their sleep, traces of Faean magic still lingering in the air. Ancient pacts between the Faean and the village of Graymeer have ensured a lasting peace over the centuries. Now, however, with ever increasing atrocities occurring to both sides, the pact is strained to the point of breaking. And if they break, there will be a war between the Mortals and Faean, a war that will escalate to throw all of the Shield Islands into chaos.

Something, or someone, has been purposefully trying to drive the Faean and Mortals into direct conflict. The heroes have one chance - they must find the true culprit behind these incidents, and then travel to the mysterious Faean Realm, At the Edge of Dreams, to convince the Faean Court to halt their attacks, before it is too late.

At the Edge of Dreams is a d20 fantasy adventure for 6th- & 7th-level characters.

Written by: Christopher Coyle
Cover by: Scott Fischer
Artwork by: Theodor Black
Fully Bookmarked

NOW AVAILABLE from RPGNow.com!

Highmoon Media Productions is proud to present Heroic Moments #5: SEPULCHRE Strikes.

The international terrorist organization known as SEPULCHRE has its target set on disrupting the gubernatorial elections in The City. Can you stop twin agents Tom and Godiva from eliminating the candidates and thus throwing The City into turmoil?

Heroic Moments is the aschan series of single action scenes for four-color superhero games. This series is designed to be dropped seamlessly into any existing superhero campaign. No prep: just a set-up, some bystanders and a villain for your heroes to clobber.

NOW AVAILABLE from RPGnow!

Heroic Moments uses the free 4C System of marvelous superheroics.

Come and join the conversation at the 4C System Forum.

Highmoon Media Productions is supporting The Tome Podcast’s Summer Contest with three “gift cards” worth of HMP products. The Tome also has other sponsors for their contest and in episode 78, Jeff takes the time to talk to all of us about our companies and the products we are giving away.

The Tome Show: Episode 78 - 2008 Summer Contest (HMP interview at 7:58)

Check out the episode to learn how to enter The Tome’s 2008 Summer Contest and win some great prizes.

For various reasons the entire MonkeyGod catalog of products had been unavailable at RPGnow/DTRPG since the beginning of this year.

Not anymore!

All of the MonkeyGod products we were distributing are now back on sale at RPGnow/DTRPG, including such critically-acclaimed titles such as From Stone to Steel and Frost & Fur, and adventures like The Hero Snare (learn to fear kobolds), Hellstone Deep (venture to the lowest layers of hell) and ENnie-nominated Song of Storms.

And to celebrate, from July 4-7, the entire MonkeyGod Presents line is on sale at 50% off!

Enjoy.

I’m super busy getting ready for my trip to Seattle, so I won’t be doing a long post about this. Short version: the GSL sucks and I don’t see Highmoon Media using it to produce D&D 4e-compatible products in the near future. The license is horribly restricting in what I can and cannot do, reference, or develop, but the dealbrakers are the clauses dealing with OGL conversions (6.1, 6.2), with beyond-termination limitation of my GSL-released products (6.1), and the draconian sections dealing with litigation and damages (10), especially the one where you waive your right to a jury trial for any legal proceeding dealing with the GSL (19).

There’s more stuff that annoys me about it (like the fact that the license seems to put a clamp on anything I develop for 4e/GSL to be used solely for that or not at all), but it will have to wait for me to break that down further.

Honestly, I feel they should just have closed the whole game. I know some folks with use this GSL to release products, but in general, it feels like a forced participation in the idea of Open Gaming, and only in the most bitter of ways.

Wizards of the Coast continues to become a company that I more and more do not want to support with my dollars.

I miss very much the Wizards of the Coast of the Peter Adkinson years, but that’s a different post.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHMOON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS TO PRODUCE TRUE20 ANCIENTS

May 12, 2008 (MIAMI BEACH, FL & SEATTLE, WA) — Highmoon Media Productions has reached an agreement with Green Ronin Publishing to produce the new True20 Ancients line of sourcebooks, bringing the critically-acclaimed historical Mythic Vistas settings to the True20 Adventure Roleplaying game. Highmoon Media Productions will act as a design studio for Green Ronin, performing the conversion to True20 of all the game material—done by True20 fan-favorite author Matthew Kaiser—as well as producing the finalized version of the product.

True20 Ancients will bring to the True20 game all the material previously found in Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era, Trojan War: Roleplaying in the Age of Homeric Adventures, and Eternal Rome: Roleplaying in the Age of Gods and Emperors, with some new material added in. The new line will reorganize the information and present it by cultures, making it easy for True20 fans get all the pertinent information for a specific culture in one package.

“I have been a passionate fan of Testament since its release, as well as of Trojan War and Eternal Rome,” said Daniel M. Perez, owner of Highmoon Media Productions. “Green Ronin did a fantastic job with these books, which is why I actively support them via Ancient World Adventures Magazine (formerly Targum) and why I sought to do this project as well. I am delighted that Chris Pramas accepted our proposal and entrusted us with this endeavor. I can’t think of a more fitting project to mark our entry into the world of True20 publishing than True20 Ancients.”

“I’m a big fan of historical gaming,” said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, “which is one of the reasons we did the Mythic Vistas line in the first place. No one has been a more ardent supporter of that material than Daniel Perez, which makes him the perfect choice to develop True20 Ancients for us. This is great news for fans of True20 and historical gaming.”

True20 Ancients: Rome will be the first book in the line, followed by True20 Ancients: Israel & Canaan, and by the rest of the ancient world cultures presented in the original settings afterwards. True20 Ancients will be available in PDF from the Green Ronin webstore and vendor sites at RPGnow.com and DriveThruRPG.com.

Find out more about True20 Ancients at www.highmoonmedia.com/true20ancients

ABOUT HIGHMOON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS Highmoon Media Productions is a Miami Beach-based e-publisher of gaming products, including Ancient World Adventures Magazine (formerly Targum), a magazine supporting Ancient World campaign settings. Highmoon Media Productions also produces The Gamer Traveler Podcast and The Digital Front Podcast. Learn more about Highmoon Media Productions at www.highmoonmedia.com.

ABOUT GREEN RONIN PUBLISHING Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle-based company known for its dedication to quality books and games. Founded in 2000, Green Ronin has won more awards for excellence and innovation than any other game company in the new millennium, and took home the coveted ENnie Award for Best Publisher an unprecedented three years running. With great licenses like Thieves’ World and the Black Company, groundbreaking games like Mutants & Masterminds and Blue Rose, and a roster of top flight designers and illustrators, Green Ronin Publishing is a leading light in the hobby game industry. Learn more about Green Ronin at www.greenronin.com.

# # # Highmoon Media Productions Media Contact Daniel M. Perez daniel@highmoonmedia.com

Green Ronin Media Contact Nicole Lindroos nicole@greenronin.com

My name is Daniel M. Perez, owner of Highmoon Media Productions, and producer/host of The Gamer Traveler and The Digital Front podcasts. I have been a freelance author since 2001 and an e-publisher since 2004, and I am offering all the various skills I have gained during this time on a freelance basis to fellow gamers, authors and publishers.

Services I can provide include:

• Proofreading and Copyediting - I have a BA in English and previous editorial work during my academic years, as well as being the editor for all material published through HMP.
• Translating - I am fully bilingual English/Spanish and have college-level writing training in both languages.
• Development - I have experience developing gaming products and/or lines, taking them from concept to final form, handling freelance contracting and art direction, helping authors get the most out of their work.
• Graphic Design - I can do graphic design for web and print, including logos, banners, business cards, postcards, electronic and print layout, image correction and other graphic solutions. I will always tell you if a particular job is within or beyond my skill.
• Web Design - I can create basic websites that highlight elegant simplicity over flash, whether in HTML or via a CMS. I can also manage existing sites as well as social network sites and/or help you make the most of your current web presence.
• Podcasting - I have two years of experience producing podcasts and I can help you with information or with the creation of a show suited to your needs.
• Consulting: Judaism for the Game Designer - I can provide assistance in getting the details right whenever you include Judaism (in any facet) in your project. I specialize in Orthodox Practices and in Jewish History, but I can help out with other areas of Jewish knowledge as well.

With any of these services, please feel free to ask for references and/or samples. You may view my recommendations at LinkedIn, and you may see some of my work online already at www.highmoonmedia.com, www.thegamertraveler.com, www.thedigitalfront.com, or www.chabadnorthbayvillage.org.

Rates are negotiable on a client-by-client basis and decrease when combining multiple services.

Please feel free to email me at daniel@highmoonmedia.com for more information. I’m looking forward to helping you make the product you want.

Hey all. Just sending a quick hi from GTS in Las Vegas.

Yes, those are slot machines in the airport, right outside my gate…

What a weird place this is; so fake, so constructed, so artificial. Everything is AN EXPERIENCE!!! But it’s just a facade, and honestly, a very thin one, too. I’ll have more to say once I get back; right now I have to use the most of my time here for biz stuff (and I start my Day 2 account with a quick trip to Kinko’s to print business card, since I left mine in Miami - doh!).

The trade show is going good, and Pulp Gamer has been kicking ass in getting awesome podcasting coverage. Today I will be doing some interviews as well (hopefully). Fear the Boot’s Dan Repperger is here as well (schoozing like a pro), as is Ed Healy from Dark Whisper (or as he is better known, the Kobold Quarterly Ad-Pimp Master), Fred Hicks from That’s How We Roll, The Butcher Block and Evil Hat, Chris Hanrahan from 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction, and Allan Sugarbaker from OgreCave Audio Report. A podcaster takeover could very well happen, watch the gaming news just in case.

WotC is being tight-lipped about the 4e GSL and its rammifications, Paizo is secretely dancing the fandango, Green Ronin is cursing WotC for outstaging their press release about the True20 open license, and the World of Wardcraft pre-painted minis are OMG incredible.

More later. Have fun.

“And the Lord said unto Moses […] Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them.”
- Exodus 7:1-6

Passover explores how to use this pivotal holiday in your Testament games. Use it as presented, or as inspiration for adding depth to a culture in your campaign setting.

This article first appeared in Targum Magazine #3.

Now Available from RPGnow.com!

I started this series of posts with HMP Experiments: Domains of Adventure a few weeks back. Since then I’ve been busy with a bunch of different things and have not taken the time to sit down and write the other posts I had planned. My apologies.

The one good thing about that is that in the interim, the first quarter of 2008 has ended and I now have some numbers to show when I do write those other posts. I’m actually waiting until for the 18th of April to pass so I can get the final numbers on another one of my experiments as well.

This weekend starts Passover, and next week I’ll be in Vegas for GTS, so the rest of the series will have to wait until at least two weeks from now, but by then I will have all the numbers I have been waiting for and hopefully I’ll be able to give you a much better picture of what I’ve been doing with HMP and what I hope to accomplish.