Ascending….

Monday Meeting

I’m busy putting the finishing touches on the Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary Kickstarter page, and since we absolutely need to submit this to KS week, I’m going to try and keep this brief.

Talked with Eddy, and we mostly focused on reviewing the state of our approval processes- things are good, we have a good rhythm right now of getting things to the Approval Board and them responding in a timely manner. Which is especially important now with the new T-shirt initiative looking to be a flood of shirt designs headed their way.

Talked a bit about the Onyx Path Writer All-Call being spearheaded by Black Hat Matt MacFarland. We’re looking for writers who love to write RPGs, folks who can do both setting and rules writing, newbies or seasoned professionals. If you think you have what it takes, check it out here: http://theonyxpath.com/do-you-want-to-walk-the-onyx-path/ and then this follow-up: http://theonyxpath.com/writer-all-call-follow-up/

Now speaking of Kickstarters, which Eddy and I did as well, I did want to touch on a couple of things that have come up this last week. There were lots of folks sending me congratulation emails about the finished Deluxe Anarchs Unbound KS that we wrapped up last Friday, but there were also some who hoped I didn’t feel bad because AU was a bad Kickstarter. Well, fear not! I don’t feel bad about it because it wasn’t bad at all. I’m focused on whether the KS hits funding and thereby allows us to create the book’s Deluxe version, which AU did. We get to bring another beautiful book into the world- that’s the bottom line. Without Kickstarter, we would not be able to do so. (Now if we ever do a KS where the goal is to get a game book- not a deluxe version of that book- created, completed, or published, then my emphasis will no doubt shift).

Now, I love when the Kickstarter can be a fun experience for everybody, particularly when we can change or add to the book in some way, and if these can snowball into an exciting series of cool Stretch Goals, then so much the better. So again, I’m glad that we had a few AU Stretch Goals passed: an additional physical bit for the book with the bookmark, and additional bit of content with the extra Anarch Free State write-up, and then the special Anarchs Unbound t-shirt that will inaugurate our t-shirt store on RedBubble. At the end of the day, getting to do any extra stuff for a very focused book like Anarchs Unbound is pretty much all a bonus after funding is reached.

Which brings me to my final point: every Kickstarter is different. Anarchs Unbound is a supplement that features a group that aren’t necessarily going to be of interest to the majority of V20 fans. A Kickstarter for this sort of book needs to be, and simply will be, different than one for a new line core book such as Demon, or one of our 20th Anniversary books like Mage20. And much different than a Kickstarter for bags of miniatures, or an RPG that will only be created if the KS funds, or frankly, any other KS. They are all different and what we can do with any given KS is not the same from one to the next. And of course, as we keep saying, we’re still learning with each one we do.

And here’s the voodoo, that we do, so well:

– Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle (VtR) Both the PoD and the PDF are available on sale on DTRPG! B&S Screen PDF has been approved and the B&S Condition Cards are on sale at DTRPG, too.

– Mummy the Curse – Cursed Necropolis DC is in editing. We actually had an editor have to drop off this, so this editor is a new editor.

– Exalted 3rd Edition: While John hunkers down to rewrite the Charms chapter he is also changing some of the ways he’s been doing these to enable more to get finished, the rest of the team is working on a couple of EX3 chapters that continue to be finalized for Editing. On the Charms: Medicine Charms are now complete, as are Investigation Charms. Some touch-ups are being done to Larceny (the first Charmset handled post-Gencon) to bring them in line with the more polished Investigation ones, before we move into Bureaucracy later in the week. The remaining Abilities, for those keeping score, are Bureaucracy, Lore, Occult, and Craft. Light at the end of the tunnel is starting to appear! Meanwhile, the Merits are still undergoing a final set of touch-ups– they were the first wordcount laid down for this entire project and as such, some of their original projections don’t quite line up with the rest of the book any more, since they touch on -every- part of the system, from combat to basic action resolution to backstory to Survival’s familiars to finance to equipment. Now that everything else is in place, they needed a bit of work to bring them up to date so they can go to the editor.

Zub’s EX3 Comic is about halfway finished being illustrated and both EX3 novels are being worked on. Starting to get one of the EX3 Music Suites to a finished state, the Dragon Blooded theme.

– V20 Hunters Hunted 2: US/Canadian missing packages being gone through case by case. International packages being re-sent this week. Of Predators and Prey: The HH2 Fiction Anthology PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions are on sale at DTRPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/124845/Of-Predators-and-Prey-The-Hunters-Hunted-II-Anthology

– V20 Anarchs Unbound – funded successfully, and three Stretch Goals achieved. Waiting for Amazon Payments to finish in about two weeks and then some fun for our AU backers including first shot at AU t-shirts featuring Smilin’ Jack himself.

– Deluxe Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition: As with HH2, US/Canadian missing packages being gone through case by case. International packages being re-sent this week. The Heavy Metal Deluxe W20 is slowly being assembled- the current delay being a glitch on the W20 disc on the spine that’s being fixed by the printer. Mike Lee has a new batch of chapters of the W20 “Houses of the Moon” novel for Bill to review. Jess Hartley has the White Howlers Tribe Book in red-lining. W20 Wyld West patch writing is in editing and is being art directed.

– Mage the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition has Phil on the very last sections of the book. Finishing the Deluxe M20 Kickstarter KS page, the KS video is being created with Phil’s dramatic voiceover, and we hope to submit to KS before the end of this week.

– W20 Changing Breeds PDF and PoD versions are on sale at DTRPG! Deluxe files are with the printer- proofs were shown to backers and are back with the printer. The Changing Breeds Fiction Anthology is in progress with only two more second drafts needing revisions.

– W20 Book of the Wyrm is in layout. A couple of additional art pieces still coming in including a Ron Spencer full page piece! One of our artists was in a car wreck, and so we may need to reassign.

– V20 Rites of the Blood: is ready for layout, but layout is not yet ready for it, art finals rolling in.

– Dark Ages: Darkening Sky (classic Dark Ages): PDF is available on DTRPG. Physical book PoD waiting for proofing approval..

– Trinity Continuum: New System ideas continue being hammered out. Most of the Aeon setting material is in. Logo discussion has started. We’re looking at starting some preliminary blog posts.

– Scion: New Systems discussion continue. Both Scion and the TC above are now moving into active mode for 2014. Contracts and art notes out for the Scion: Origins cover.

– Demon: The Descent: We delivered the Demon PDF to KS backers before the end of December, and the backer PDF has been updated and the PoD version is awaiting PoD approval (I sent for the PoD proofs). Now to create the traditional printing files. The Demon: Ready Made Characters set is in editing and the artist is working. Demon Seed Collection is in first drafts.

– Hunter: Mortal Remains: Art coming in and going in for approval to CCP, and is in layout.

– Book of the Deceived (MtC): Redlines.

– nWoD: Dark Eras: Writers are writing.

– V20 Dark Ages: Scribes are scribing 2nd Drafts. David Hill has recently moved to a new country and is still acclimating, more info once he is settled in.

– DtD Players Guide: Flowers Of Hell?: In editing and being art directed.

– V20: Ghouls: First drafts coming into to the developer for redlines.

– V20 Red List: In final draft stage.

– The Making of the Art of Children of the Revolution: Out to backers who pledged for it. Creating PoD files to go with PDF for sale on DTRPG.

– W20: The Umbra: First drafts being written.

– WtF: The Idigam Chronicle: First drafts being written.

– GtSE: Geist Ready Made Characters: Being written. Just thought we’d throw this in.

Reason to Drink: To Harold Ramis: RIP.