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.

This place is as awesome as ever, and I cannot believe it is only Friday. I arrived Wednesday afternoon and shortly thereafter met up with Ed Healy of Kobold Magazine & Atomic Array Podcast, and it has not stopped since. Pretty much everywhere you turn there’s an old friend you haven’t seen in a year and it’s like it was only yesterday we last said hi. And honestly, that’s one of the biggest reasons to come to Gen Con.

The gaming has been fantastic as well so far. Wednesday night I played in a pre-con session of Vegas After Midnight with co-creators Mick Bradley and David Moore which was a hell of a lot of fun. Last night we played the next chapter in the Star Wars Episode LV Primetime Adventures game and that was something truly worth waiting a year for. The episode was dark and exciting and we ended up with enough time that we went right into a second episode right there. We might play again, we’ll see.

I have to run to my panel now, but I’ll try to update again. FROM GEN CON!!!

The Impact of Podcasting on the Gaming Industry (SEM00185)
Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 1:00 pm
Westin, Congress Room
Hosted by Daniel M. Perez of The Digital Front Podcast & Highmoon Media Productions.
This panel explores the ways podcasting has affected the general Hobby Games Industry, from creating new forms of expression for the regular fan and establishing a new grassroot media outlet, to aiding in breaking down the barrier between designers and gamers and promoting a wider variety of products. Join panelists Micheal A. Stackpole, Chris Hanrahan and Don Dehm for a look at the past, present and future of this phenomenon.

E-Publishing: Bringing RPGs to Market in the 21st Century
Friday, August 15, 2008 - 2:00 pm
Embassy Suites, Chancellor II
E-Publishing has helped many companies reach thousands of new customers, and it has made it possible for new, talented folks to enter the playground with wonderful new toys. Whether you’re an established creator looking for ways to bring your product to market, or a new talent looking for a low-cost way to get your game out, DriveThru’s panel of experts are more than happy to share their ideas and support. Come discover the future with us!

Hope to see you there!

Click here to see the MonkeyGod d20 adventures. 

Sale is in effect from August 13 - 31, 2008 at RPGnow and DriveThruRPG.

Grab some good d20 fun and head off to the dungeon in style. After all, who knows if these adventures will be seen again after the end of the year, once the d20 System license and logo have expired.

1. You will never charge as much as a job is really worth and/or ends up really costing vis-a-vis the amount of work, the number of hours and the quantity of “feedback” your client gives you.
2. You will make a website twice: first, the way you envision it based on the very vague descriptions given by your client, and second, the way they actually want it once they see your first draft and don’t like anything about it.
3. Even if you are 100% upfront about what you can and cannot do on a site (based on what you’re charging, personal limitation, etc.), the client will always want something beyond what you stipulated.
4. When a site is “done” is entirely subjective and your perception of that time versus that of your client always vary.
5. You will never charge as much as a job is really worth. It bears repeating.

I’m sure there are other lessons yet to be learned. It really makes me wonder if this is worth doing on a consistent basis.

I have to say I really hate that lackluster (really, the completely unexistent) marketing campaign that went into 4e. I really wanted to like this game, honestly; I like D&D, and I wanted to be excited about the new edition and whatever improvements it brought. But Wizards didn’t sell me on it, and the bits and pieces being released over blog posts, forum posts, news and cryptic articles were just not enough, and in fact damaged the whole game in my mind.

What I’m seeing so far is a very tight game focused on tactical combat (yes, I know there are other parts to it, but at page 101, all I’m seeing are tons of combat powers). It even looks kind of exciting at parts. We’ll see once I get to skills and feats how the general focus fares.

Will this game be D&D for me? At this point, no, I don’t think so, but it can still be a cool game. I actually hope it is, for what I paid for it.

I can tell you that I have already seen a few things that I will definitely change/expand:

• Dragonborn will not be mammals. This was a stupid concesion, in my opinion. In my book and world, dragonborn are warm-blooded, egg laying reptiles. The females will be differentiated by a having a more lithe build than the males, and they will certainly not have breasts.
• Halflings receive a +2 History racial skill bonus. By default they get +2 Acrobatics and +2 Thievery, which matches the (1e-3e) pre-conceived notion of halflings as sneaky bastards, but then the background goes into how halflings are nomads and collect stories and how they are so awesome at being able to know bits of lore and legend about pretty much anything they encounter. So where’s the mechanical reinforcement for that? Shoddy design work. In my book and world, they get the skill bonus to History over Thievery.
• Warlocks will get more pact choices. I like the Fey, Infernal and Star pacts in the book, but I want more out of the box. I’m going to check if there are some fan-designed pacts I can add to my notes, and if not, I’ll design a couple more.

I already have an idea for a character, but I’ll post it once it’s done.

ENnies Voting Page

Here are my suggestions for some of the categories; I worked on these, or in the case of Witch Hunter, I love the game to death:

• Best Rules - Witch Hunter: The Invisible World (Paradigm Concepts, Inc)
• Best Supplement - Spirit of the Season (Evil Hat Games)
• Best d20/OGL Product - Codex Arcanis (Paradigm Concepts, Inc)
• Best Game - Witch Hunter: The Invisible World (Paradigm Concepts, Inc)
• Product of the Year - Witch Hunter: The Invisible World (Paradigm Concepts, Inc)

If you’d like some more suggestions, check out the Summer Revolution.

Go vote!

EN World

• Witch Hunter: Are you playing? Yes? No? Why?
• Witch Hunter: Invisible World - my impressions

RPG.net

• Witch Hunter: Are you playing? Yes? No? Why?
• Witch Hunter: Invisible World - my impressions
• Witch Hunter: What character are you playing
• Savage World of Salomon Kane vs. Witch Hunter … which one?

Paizo

• Witch Hunter: the Invisible World

And of course, check out the Witch Hunter forums at Paradigm Concepts’ website as well.

I’ll be able to be online and use Photoshop to finish the website I’m working on now until the box from Dell arrives and then I’ll endure being without my laptop for however long just so they can fix it for good.

I’m so not a happy camper right now…