Universal Horizons: Naïve or Patent Trolls?

There is has been a lot of talk in gaming circles about Universal Horizons and their attempt to patent an RPG mechanic.

You can find most of the details here:
http://www.bedroomwallpress.com/2014/06/patent-trolling-comes-to-rpgs.html
http://www.bedroomwallpress.com/2014/06/following-up-on-patent-issue.html

And here is their patent application:
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=20140038722.PGNR.

Now as is it read it is vague on what "Game 1" and "Game2" could be and some people are claiming that this patent could be used to convert from different games instead of the games within Universal Horizons' own catalog.

Also there is the fear of what happens if the patent is bought by someone else. You see it all the time in the tech market.

I don't have much more to add to this, outside of my realm of expertise, but I do know I have been converting from games to other games for years and have been posting about them for years too.

So then in my efforts to give back, here is my "super secret" method of converting and the tool I used to do it.  My "All Conversions" excel sheet.  I figured out the math and works for me. Let me know if you see ways to improve it.
https://app.box.com/s/ooffm0xcqwgy82ufnlip
You can also download this sheet from my Downloads area.

Guest Post over at The Insecure Writer's Support Group

I have a guest post over at The Insecure Writer's Support Group today.

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

I talk about game writing but also how we various "Masters" to serve while writing.  Just doing my own little bit of community outreach.

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2014/06/the-art-of-writing-for-games-serving.html

Stop by and check it out.

A Chill in the air

It has just been announced that Growling Door Games has just purchased the rights to classic horror RPG Chill.

Here is their press release:

For Immediate Release: 6-13-2014

Growling Door Games Acquires License For Chill RPG

US Roleplaying Game Publisher Brings Back Classic Horror Game

 Cleveland, OH: Today, Growling Door Games, Inc. is proud to announce that they have entered into a licensing agreement with Martin Caron, the owner of the Chill RPG. The agreement gives Growling Door Games the English-language rights to publish the Chill RPG core book and supplementary materials for that game, setting the stage for a new release of a classic property that helped make horror gaming a staple of the RPG landscape.

 Matthew McFarland, President of Growling Door Games, said, “We’re thrilled to bring such a classic of horror gaming back to print. Chill has a great history of success in the market. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm for the game even during its long stint out of print, and we hope both those fans and new ones will enjoy our revival of Chill.”

Growling Door Games is planning on releasing the new core book for Chill, 3rd Edition in August 2015, with a Kickstarter in late summer 2014 to launch the project. The initial release of the core book will be as a full-sized hardcover, available in both print and PDF.

Now I have been a fan of Chill for a very long time.  I even participated in Otherworlds Creations own Chill 3.0 playtests. A quickstart was produced after years of work but soon disappeared after dispute over who owned Chill came up.  Also all the Mayfair Chill products have been transferred to Martin Caron on DriveThruRPG.
I also wonder what this means for Goblinoid Games and their line of Pacesetter books, especially Cryptworld their Chill clone.

Of course I will be following this one closely.

Summer Reading

School is out for my kids and we did our annual Summer Reading purchases.  We head out to a couple of different bookstores and get books for all summer.

My youngest has some books assigned to him by the school so that was pretty much his choice.  My oldest is going to read the Dragonlance Chronicles.  He is 14 so that really is the best age for that.

I didn't find anything myself. But I have some Amazon gift cards burning a hole in my pocket so I need to get in and find some books.

Myself, I have fond memories of riding my bike to the local library and getting books to help out my D&D game or books on science, I have always been a big science geek.

How about you?  Do you have a Summer Reading ritual?

Zatannurday: Helm of Fate/Nabu on Constantine?

Some more images coming from the new Constantine TV show including more glimpses into the DCU.
First up the Helm of Nabu as worn by Doctor Fate.

The image, as scooped by my good friends at the Tower of Fate  Blog.

Could a Zatanna guest shot be in store as well?
Keep an eye here for any Zatanna related Constantine news and over at Tower of Fate for any Doctor Fate news.

Witch Kickstarter Goodies!

If you were a backer in the Strange Brew Kickstarter at the $25 or above level then your first PDF is on the way.

Check your email!

Friday the 13th

Well it's Friday the 13th!

And my Birthday.

And I am moving offices to the 13th floor of my building.  I just got my internet back in fact.

Hopefully I'll have something more intelligent to say next week.