Design Blog, #1

Ok,

Going to attempt to create a design blog here for all my projects.
Until I get the ok I am going to have to use code names, sorry. But I’ll describe them here.

Secret Project #1
This project is a modern “Action Horror” using the True20 system. I am not the primary author on this one. I was pulled in because I expressed an interest in the subject matter and I really wanted the chance to write for True20. Now I know that True20 has some detractors. My own group’s regular GM has described it as a watercress sandwich. Which is kind of funny. I was at lunch with the IP owner and the primary author yesterday and they used more or less the same words to describe True20, but only they meant it as a positive thing. That is True20 provides the bread and the watercress, it is up to us to provide the meat for this sandwich. If that is the case I am certainly in charge of bringing the cheese on this project. Not cheese as in cheesy, but cheese as in that thing I really, really love on my own sandwiches.
My current task with this one is to build some background on the setting, build the Sanity rules and then work out the morality system we want to use. I was happy to see agreement with all of us, that heroes in a game need to be heroes. That is they don’t kill people and take their stuff, they protect the helpless and the innocent.

Secret Project #2
Ok this one has a name! “Eldritch Witchery” for the “Spellcraft & Swordplay” Classic-style Fantasy Roleplaying game from Elf-Lair Games. EW will bring the witch character class into the fold of the classics game with the likes of the Fighting Men, Clerics and Wizards. Why an “Old Skool” game? Why not. The time seems to be right for these things. Nostalgia is high and OGL allows for such creations.
Why witches? Well, you are reading my blog right and have to ask? Witches have long been part of the periphery of the FRPG scene and for D&D in particular.
“Spellcraft & Swordplay” is something of a retro-clone, but also it is a new game designed to emulate an old game, namely Original Dungeons & Dragons, also called the “White Box” or “Brown Box” rules. My friend Jason Vey is the head of the company and author of the ruleset. It is a very nice game if you want something for a rainy Sunday afternoon and want to recall a time when dungeons were dark, the quest was all important and you knew you were done when you had killed the monster at the end of the tunnel.
To get myself motivated to write this new book I am taking a different approach. With Ghosts and SP1 I dove head first into the source material. I don’t need to do that with witches. I have written and rewritten this class for almost every version of the D&D game there is or was (oddly enough never for Original D&D). No for this I am going back to the source. The Source really. I am going back to read the Lord of the Rings and Elric. I want to get a good feel for what was in the mind of the original creators of the games of the time. I want a real 70’s occult revival for this witch, but also something that could have been on the Fellowship of the Ring. Imagine the Fellowships’ only female member. What would she have been like? Her history, her reason for being on the Fellowship. She would have been some sort of witch, with powers different than Gandalf’s. THAT is who I want to create with this book. She was not Arwen (who was not that prominent in the book anyway) not Galadriel or even Eowyn. I am also pulling heavy from fairy tales, but I want a witch that works well in a group of adventurers.

Working on my outline for Eldritch Witchery now.

More soon...

The Dragon and the Phoenix: No Other Troy

Here is the cover for the series of adventures I did for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. This is the season finale, Episode 12: No Other Troy. It was a lot of fun and I am posting this here as a big test.


Episode 12 No Other Troy by ~WebWarlock on deviantART

Updates

Well I am going to update this some more.

In particualr I think I might start a design log (DLOG?) for some of my upcoming projects. Secret Project 1 - Modern Horror / Comicbook action. I am not the main author, but got pulled in. I am enjoying the hell out of it.

Secret Project 2 - This is the one that Jason Vey has announced. Old Skool Fantasy RPing and yeah I am doing witches.

New Art

This is a test. This should link to my new cover over on DeviantArt.


W+T RPG Semi-Charmed Life by ~WebWarlock on deviantART

Character Sheets

Ok, I added two character sheets for the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SPLAYER RPG or the GHOSTS OF ALBION RPG. They are, of course, Willow and Tara. The game takes place in what I am calling "Willow and Tara the Seires". The season long arc is "Season of the Witch" and this represents the girls at the start of the arc in 2006. Yes Tara is alive, like she should have been all along.
You can find them on my DeviantArt page here:
Willow, http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54124696/
Tara, http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54124550/
Anyway, just a bit of photo manip. If you play either of these games and want a blank sheet, go to RPGSheets.com. I made one and posted it there, http://www.rpgsheets.com/cgi-bin/arcdb.cgi?action=dl&id=3562

First Post

Well, here is my first blog post. Not sure what I want to do here yet. I guess what I need is 3 blogs, one for my educational work, another for my RPG work and one more for my "nom de net" and insane ramblings. But I can barely think of what I want to put in one, let alone three. So I'll have this one for now.