The Return From Milwaukee [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting

Sorry for posting this so late tonight, it was a long but uneventful trip home from the Mid Winter Convention in Milwaukee, but I did so much and talked to so many people that catching up on meetings and talks today has been a bit like pushing a great stone uphill. Nevertheless, here we are. So since our meetings today were mostly about things we learned at the con (Eddy and Monica Valentinelli and Matt McElroy and myself), I’m going to start there.

This was my first year attending, but I’ve been hearing great things about Mid Winter for several years. What I heard was not wrong. Anne and Bill Holmes run an amazing crew and really made me feel welcome. There’s a dealers’ room, at least one big space for board/card games, and several tabletop rooms (I heard there was a lot of Pathfinder going on but didn’t see that). Since it started with Live Action RPing, there continues to be a wide variety of events as the core of the con. The real strength here, though, were the people involved. While I’m sure there was plenty of drama like any conglomeration of gamers, none of that was anywhere near as overt as I’ve seen over the years. Maybe there’s more of a relaxed feeling because the inner workings run so well, or maybe folks just appreciate anybody else who dares a MidWest winter to attend (our weather was cold but clear, btw). Whyever, I don’t know, but thanks to all of you who took the time to chat, to playtest, and to give me Riot Juice, my two Brazilian friends, the OWBN collective late Saturday night, the entire BNS crew who made it there, and all of Eddy and Michelle’s friends who were so welcoming.

We ran and sat in on multiple panels all day Friday, and while we enjoyed each and every one of them for various reasons, like seeing and hanging out with Ken Meyer, Jr and Shane Defreest again, panel attendance was much sparser than, say, Gen Con. Matt and I already gave some suggestions to Anne, and have a few ideas of our own, to maybe compel larger panel attendance, so we will see for next time. Here are some shots from the Pugmire panel before the playtest when I suggested the dice in Pugmire be named “dog-bones”. Here, Eddy seems…dubious:

But he realizes the brilliance of it after a second:

Both Friday and Saturday evenings Eddy ran Pugmire playtests. I sat in on the first one and had a blast. In fact, the sketch (just a concept sketch, kids, no details are at all decided based on it) above was based off one of the characters, Sgt. Leo Bulldog, and was inspired by how the players picked up on and used the first tenet of the Code of Man: “Be a good dog”. I’m thinking of a series of ads each featuring a different character that quotes the line in a different way. Obviously, Bulldog’s use is more of an aggressive one. One thing both Eddy and I were gratified about was that each of the player’s realized that despite the light adventure feel and humor built into the concept, there’s a real pathos to this race of uplifted animals wondering where their creators have gone. Eddy should have a much more detailed look at this in a blog later this week, but meanwhile, here is a link to some photos of the playtest in action: http://honestliardigital.smugmug.com/Midwinter-2015/Pugmire/

Saturday was pretty much meetings for me, including one where very serious fiction plans were seriously laid out. More on that in a different blog. Sunday came and I was pretty much a zombie, but after a delightful VIP brunch and meeting with Anne and Matt, Bill Holmes graciously drove Ken Meyer, Jr and I to the airport and I stumbled right into a huge crowd of football fans. I swear they were delaying their flights in order to find out the Packers’ fate (spoiler: not good). After a long drive home it was 12:30 Monday morning and I needed to collapse in my own bed. And did.

Meanwhile, back in Onyx Path land, plans continue on the nWoD Dark Eras Kickstarter project. Mirthful Mike sent Impish Ian this teaser for the KS as a kind of sketch for the KS video, and we thought you all might like to see it:

This week includes the Dark Eras KS work, and lots of schedule scheduling. And this stuff:

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (Projects in bold have changed listings)

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Cursed Necropolis: Rio (Mummy: the Curse)

Secrets of the Covenants (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition) – In Open Development

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Demon Storytellers’ Guide (Demon: the Descent) Extension to writers was given.

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

“Sardonyx” System Rules (Base rules set for Scion and the Trinity Continuum) 3/4s of the first drafts are in.

M20 Anthology (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Redlines

Mummy Fiction Anthology (Mummy: the Curse)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

W20 Shattered Dreams (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition, featuring the Fallen World Chronicle (Mage: the Awakening) – In Open Development

W20 Novel by Mike Lee (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

Second Draft

Beast: the Primordial core book (Beast: The Primordial)

V20 Black Hand: Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

V20 Red List (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Ghouls (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition, featuring the Firestorm Chronicle (Promethean: the Created) Being playtested.

M20 How do you DO that? (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Editing

Sothis Ascends (Mummy: the Curse)

World of Darkness Dark Eras- Vampire chapter (WoD Dark Eras)

Development (post-editing)

World of Darkness Dark Eras core book (WoD Dark Eras)

V20 Lore of the Clans (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exalted 3rd Fiction Anthology (Exalted 3rd Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE